Messages From Zimbabwe

Educationists and development practitioners last week criticised African governments that prioritise the military in their budgets ahead of education saying this threatened regional integration.

Zimbabwe is among countries that have been criticised in the past for devoting a large proportion of their budgets to the military ahead of education and health among other competing needs.

Analysts say this has contributed to the collapse of Zimbabwe’s education sector, once regarded as among the best on the continent.  

Participants at a panel discussion at the Africa Day celebrations organised by The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) said it was saddening that funding for education was not prioritised despite its capacity to propel the continent’s unification project.

The discussion was part of commemorations to mark the 46th anniversary of the African Union (AU), which brings together 53 countries on the continent.

“For a long time now we have been urging governments to give us just 25% of their military funding and see how we can transform the education sector,  Matlotleng Matlou, the chief executive officer for the Africa Institute of Southern Africa (AISA), said.

“But those calls have been falling on deaf ears for most governments, including those whose countries are not at war.” Matlou debated the theme “Unifying Africa Through Education and Culture” with six other panellists from various regional education institutions.

These included Enver Surty, South Africa’s deputy minister of education and chairperson of the Conference of Ministers of Education for Africa (Comedaf).

Among other recommendations for improving education in the region, the panel urged African ministries of education to insist on more resources for the establishment of first language-based education and also an education system centred on African values.

In an interview on the sidelines of the event, Surty said African governments were committed to improving education but their efforts were being derailed by a myriad of problems, among them lack of competent and qualified teachers, language barriers and lack of resources and good infrastructure.

Nepad chief executive officer, Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, said it was crucial for Africa to acknowledge its past and heritage.

Mayaki said there was so much to be researched and learned from the continent.

He said it was unfortunate that despite the availability of a great deal of information, this was not being shared widely among citizens of the continent.

The resolutions from the panel discussion would form the basis of a Nepad Legacy Project which is expected to benefit in particular the continent’s youth.

(Source)

Vice-Prseident Joseph Msika is reportedly on the verge of quitting due to deteriorating health and resurfacing power struggles in ZANU PF involving two rival factions and his restive former ZAPU colleagues. This came as ZANU PF finally set in motion a formal process to manage President Robert Mugabe’s controversial succession.

ZANU PF spokesman Ephraim Masawi last night confirmed his party’s extraordinary politburo meeting yesterday set up a committee chaired by party chairman John Nkomo (pictured) to deal with the succession problem.

The committee also includes rival faction leaders and stalwarts Solomon Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa, Didymus Mutasa, Nicholas Goche, Oppah Muchinguri and Sydney Sekeremayi.

As revealed in the Independent last week, there is a fierce debate going on in ZANU PF over Mugabe’s succession.

In 2003 a ZANU PF succession committee headed by Nkomo was disbanded after it fuelled infighting over who was to take over from Mugabe. Masawi also said the party had set up four other committees to deal with party issues. Mutasa will head a research and ideology committee, Mnangagwa constitutional reform, David Karimanzira finance and economic development and Angeline Masuku mobilisation and media strategy.

The move by Msika to retire, coupled with problems buffeting co-vice-president Joice Mujuru in the party, might leave Mugabe exposed in his party’s intensifying battle over his succession. Msika particularly has been a stabilising factor in ZANU PF which is riddled with divisions, factionalism and infighting.

Sources said Msika who is not attending cabinet and ZANU PF meetings, including politburo ones has told close family and senior party officials that he wants to step down. Msika is battling with health problems and has been in and out of the country for treatment.

However, Mugabe is said to be reluctant to let Msika retire, preferring to keep him in office for life as happened with Joshua Nkomo and Simon Muzenda.

Nkomo and Muzenda died in office due to ill-heath.

“Msika wants to quit because he is not feeling well and the situation has of late been further deteriorating,” a source said. “Close family and party members are aware of this and there are moves to manage his departure well to avoid the usual infighting over his position.”

After’s Nkomo death in 1999 ahead of the party’s congress in December that year there was a battle between Msika and former ZANU PF Women’s League chairperson Thenjiwe Lesabe to succeed him.

Four years later when Muzenda died in 2003, a scramble for his position erupted between Mnangagwa and Mujuru ahead of the party’s congress in December 2004. Mujuru beat Mnangagwa, but the issue continues to fuel power struggles in the party.

Sources said Msika’s decision to leave has triggered a new fight to succeed him. The race is between ZANU PF chair John Nkomo, politburo member Obert Mpofu and Bulawayo governor Cain Mathema. Nkomo is seen as the frontrunner as Mpofu and Mathema are relative lightweights.

Sources said Nkomo, Mpofu and Mathema have been hectically lobbying party stalwarts and ex-combatants to support them in their succession bids.

“There is serious campaigning going on because it is now well known in the party that Msika wants to quit,” a senior ZANU PF official said. “A number of people are interested in his position.”

Sources said one of the reasons Msika wants to leave, apart from ill-health, is the attempt by former ZANU PF politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa and colleagues to revive ZAPU. Msika is said to be in sympathy with Dabengwa and has refused to castigate him in public while many other former ZAPU leaders have been doing so to distance themselves from the initiative that has angered Mugabe.

“Msika supports Dabengwa in principle because he believes he has legitimate grievances, but he does not agree with the approach,” a source close to ZANU PF said. “Even when the issue came up last year he did not confirm or deny he was part of it.”

Former ZAPU leaders, a number of them who are still in the politburo and government, feel Mugabe has only used the merger of the parties to entrench himself and his regional clique, not push a national agenda.

Mugabe has accused Dabengwa of being a tribalist because he wants to resuscitate ZAPU, but Dabengwa’s supporters have rejected this, saying it is Mugabe himself who is a “notorious tribalist”. Dabengwa last year said he left because “I was never Zanu anyway”, prompting Mugabe’s angry attacks.

Dabengwa’s ZAPU held a congress in Bulawayo on May 17. The event was attended by about 3 000 party members from around Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as ex-combatants from the region. Dabengwa was elected party leader and his deputy is his former ZAPU colleague Canciwell Nziramasanga.

Dabengwa, a close friend and ally of South African President Jacob Zuma, is reportedly being funded by liberation struggle comrades in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

(Source)

President Robert Mugabe’s controversial “land reform programme” took a new twist Wednesday when a court ordered the eviction of a white farmer who was not a farmer.

Ian Campbell-Morrison, 46, lives in the Vumba Mountains in eastern Zimbabwe, next to a tourist hotel where he is the green keeper for its golf course. He and his wife live in a cottage on a plot not much bigger than a suburban garden, where she tends flowers.

The Campbell-Morrisons used to farm tobacco and coffee there, but the government seized their land and the farmhouse and gave it to a government official, leaving the couple their cottage and the garden around it, said Hendrik Olivier, director of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, made up mostly of Zimbabwe’s remaining 350 white farmers.

A magistrate in the nearby city of Mutare nevertheless sentenced Campbell-Morrison to a fine of 800 US dollars for “illegally occupying state land” and ordered the couple to be off the property by Saturday.

The Campbell-Morrisons are one of 140 white farming families facing eviction from their land in the latest tactic regime in Mugabe’s violent, lawless campaign to force white landowners - numbering about 5,000 when it started in 2000 - off their farms.

The action is in the name of a redistribution of white land to blacks, but which has instead made a million former farm workers homeless and set off the collapse the once-prosperous country’s economy into famine and ruin.

Mugabe has declared all white-owned land to be state property and banned farmers from taking the government to court.

The evictions and violence have continued despite the establishment in February of a power-sharing government between Mugabe and former pro-democracy opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, with an agreement to restore the rule of law and to “ensure security of tenure to all land holders.”

Tsvangirai, now prime minister, began by promising to end the lawlessness, promising that “no crime (by invaders on white farms) will go unpunished,” but police - under the control of staunchly pro- Mugabe security chiefs - continued to refuse to act against the mostly well-heeled Mugabe loyalists grabbing productive farms and selling their crops.

Western governments have refused to provide finance for the recovery of the country’s economy from world-record inflation and decimation of production under Mugabe, until there are “clear signs of reform” in the re-establishment of the rule of law. The restoration of peace and security on the farms is cited as a key condition.

But there was shock this week when Tsvangirai, referred in an interview to “isolated incidents of so-called farm invasions” that had “been blown out of proportion.” Said a Western diplomat: “He’s talking like Mugabe now.”

Throughout Tuesday night on Mount Carmel farm in the Chegutu district, farmer Ben Freeth and his family were terrorised by a mob of invaders who rolled blazing tyres at their thatch-roofed homestead.

At the weekend, an 80-year-old woman was assaulted by police removing her son from his farm. On Friday, another farmer was beaten up by a Mugabe supporter trying to force him to leave.

“There has been absolutely no resolution or even recognition that there is even a problem,” said CFU president Trevor Gifford, who is trying to stop a government official cutting down what is left of his timber plantation, and is selling it to the government of neighbouring Zambia for telephone poles. Gifford is due to appear in court on Friday for “illegally occupying state land.”

“This is happening in a country that has become the world’s most dependent on donors for food,” he said. “Until this government respects the rights of its own citizens and investment agreements, no-one will look at this country.”

(Source)

At noon central Harare came alive with singing of members of Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA/MOZA). The protests started simultaneously from three different directions arriving in waves at the parliament entrance. The protests were conducted to hand over a list of demands to legislature in the power-sharing government. All three protests were conducted peacefully and no arrests have been recorded at this time.

At parliament the activists spent some minutes handing over the demands newsletter and handing over their placards to the security guards and some Senators who were at the door of parliament. The previous song - “Government don’t torment us” changed to “We have lost patience, we are tired of waiting for change”.

After some minutes a police officer made a sign to disperse us. A signal was then given for the activists to disperse peacefully. As this was happening someone identified as an intelligence officer came forwards and started to ask - ‘what is your message?’; taking this as a delaying tactic, the newsletter was placed in his hands. He then became insulting and discriminating, saying - ‘don’t these women have husbands’. It is likely he is the same officer who then instructed officers who arrived in a police pickup to look around town for Jenni Williams and arrest her.

At least 2 truckloads of Riot police arrived after the protest had dispersed and finding no one they kept circling the CDB. Several times in the past they have arrested members at the bus terminus. As one protest went past a bank, vendors seen being chased by municipal police, proof of continued harassment.

The placards being carried had the following messages – ‘give our children an education- urgent’; ‘Restore the rule of law’, ‘police stop harassing us’. In the Harare consultation the top 3 priorities members wanted the government to address are: Fix the education system; Create employment and opportunities and Restore the healthcare system (full list follows).

Bystanders came forward to accept the newsletters and give words of encouragement saying - WOZA women your message is correct; you have been quiet; - keep up your pressure until GNU delivers its promises.

The protest and the list of demands handed over to the government complex today follow wide consultations with members in Bulawayo and now in Harare, the consultations continue. The objective to keep WOZA members focusing on holding the power-sharing government accountable for the promises they make. These activities are a continuation of WOZA’s Take the Step campaign, designed to encourage Zimbabweans to continue with the civic participation.

(Source)

ZESA Holdings is struggling to pay Mozambique’s Hidroelectrica de Cabora Bassa US$43 million for power imports.

Zimbabwe imports most of its power from Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

In an interview ZESA public relations manager Mr Fullard Gwasira said the Mozambican company threatened to pull the plug on the country’s electricity if ZESA did not pay.

“The Mozambican power bill is accruing and we are failing to pay the accruing bill. Only 10 percent of the total bills from local customers have been made,” said Mr Gwasira.

Consumers are not paying for the services rendered by the power utility, thereby ZESA failing to pay its debts.

This comes amid revelations that ZESA is failing to meet customer demands, giving them shoddy services.

“Let customers complain after paying the bills, where is the 90 percent?” he added.

“If given the total support from electricity users definitely we are going to meet consumer needs. The current scenario between ZESA and consumers is of a hen and an egg, we cannot do without consumers,” said Mr Gwasira.

He added that ZESA is geared to ensure that its service tallies with the bills paid by the consumers but this can only be done in a manner which benefit the two sides.

“Customers should pay the electricity bills as recommended for the power utility to services its transformers,” he said.

He added that to construct a power station it costs US$2 billion and in the mean time the power utility is looking for investors to partner with to operate at full capacity.

“Harare only requires 2000 transformers and each transformer costs US$8 000,” he said.

However, the power utility has failed to cope with a steady rise in demand due to an investment drought. Zimbabwe generates power at Kariba South Hydro-Electricity plant and Hwange Thermal Power Station.

Kariba produces 750 MW when operating at full capacity and Hwange generates about 900 MW.

However, due to the recurrent breakdowns and coal shortages, Hwange is producing less than 250 MW.

South Africa’s power utility Eskom, cut electricity exports to Zimbabwe owing to recurrent breakdowns at its power station.

(Source)

Lee Johns an Australian businessman who used to own the Globe Phoenix Mine in Kwekwe was forcibly deported from the country on Tuesday. This follows reports he was locked in a fierce dispute with the Reserve Bank, who through their subsidiary Carslone (Private) Limited had taken over his mine. Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme reports that Johns was suing the central bank over several as yet undisclosed issues. But before he could get his day in court four men in a metallic brown car abducted him some nine days ago in Harare. Johns was thrown into detention at an undisclosed location for a period of seven days before being conducted through a hurried court process, resulting in the revocation of his residency permit sometime on Monday. On Tuesday 4 plain-clothed policemen in a car driven by a Mr. Chimungu escorted him to the airport and got him on a plane to South Africa. It is not clear whether he managed to get any legal representation during the process. The manner of the hurried deportation has been likened to that of journalist Andrew Meldrum who in May 2003 was illegally expelled after more than 23 years of working in the country.

Newsreel sought comment from the Australian Embassy in Harare who however refused to comment citing, ‘confidentiality issues.’ Saungweme says the whole affair looks like an attempt to get rid of someone who was suing the Reserve Bank, and is now probably owed lots of money which the bank has realised they are not able to pay. One resident in Kwekwe told us the whole town was abuzz with the story that Johns had fallen out with the Reserve Bank this week, but he was not able to give the exact nature of the dispute. The history of the mine has pretty much mirrored Zimbabwe’s decline. Around the 1900’s it was reputed as one of the biggest gold mines in the world. An economic crisis that affected many other gold mines in the country saw the mine shutting down in 2004. The Reserve Bank as part of the much-condemned quasi-fiscal activities made moves to take over the mine in 2006. In March 2007 government announced it was closing down the mine over environmental concerns. Newsreel was not able to establish exactly when the RBZ took over the mine and what sort of agreement was thrashed out with Johns.

(Source)

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party on Sunday invited the African Union (AU) and a regional group to help break a deadlock in its unity government with President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was committed to the power-sharing agreement, but wanted to see more respect for civil rights, the rule of law and the implementation of political reconciliation.

Long-time rivals Mugabe and Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formed a unity government in February after months of wrangling but sharp differences remain over issues such as the review of the posts of central bank governor and attorney general.

On Sunday, the MDC’s National Council agreed that the AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - which brokered the Zimbabwe power-sharing deal - should step in to break a deadlock with Mugabe on issues still unresolved under their Global Political Agreement (GPA).

“The National Council resolved that all outstanding issues be referred to SADC and the AU as guarantors to the GPA,” the MDC said in statement.

“The transitional government should also urgently deal with issues of governance, national healing, democratization and the rule of law,” it said.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe’s formation of a unity government in February raised hopes of an end to years of political tensions and an economic meltdown. But progress has been slow because of turf wars in government departments and the appointment of some senior state officials.

The MDC is angry at what it says is the persecution of its supporters, many of whom have cases pending in the courts for allegedly plotting to oust Mugabe.

The party has also protested against a fresh wave of farm invasions by Mugabe’s ZANU PF members and last week’s arrest of two independent journalists and a top human rights lawyer.

Tsvangirai told an MDC rally in southeastern Zimbabwe after the party’s national council meeting that there was no alternative to the power-sharing deal with Mugabe.

“This was and is the only practical solution for us to move forward and it has to work for the sake of all Zimbabweans,” he said.

“We are committed, and the others must show their commitment too by addressing what we are raising on political freedoms, rule of law, respect for the agreement,” he added.

The MDC council also said Mugabe - who has quietly refused to remove ZANU PF political allies he appointed to head the central bank and the attorney-general’s office - should allow government-owned media more freedom.

Western donors have demanded that the unity government carry out wider political and media reforms and release all political prisoners before committing funding.

The southern African country, ravaged by a decade of economic decline blamed on Mugabe’s policies, urgently needs cash to revive its stricken industries. It estimates it needs a total of $8.3 billion to restore the economy.

(Source)

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to come under pressure from members of the MDC-T National Council meeting in Masvingo today as frustration grows in his party over failure to resolve outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement.

Senior party officials are among those who have become disillusioned as hardliners aligned to President Robert Mugabe continue to harass party activists, lawyers and journalists.

The sustained harassment comes at a time the inclusive government has pledged reforms to allow national healing and create a conducive environment for economic revival.

The officials, some in government have all but watched as Mugabe refused to rein in individuals accused of working against the spirit of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

MDC-T sources yesterday said there was growing concern in the party over what they perceive as failure by the PM to stand up to Mugabe.

They pointed out that of late Tsvangirai had sought to defend Mugabe or project an image of a normal working relationship between him and the President, yet evidence to the contrary abounds.

MDC-T activists accused of terrorism and banditry last week continued to have a torrid time in the courts, they said. Mugabe has also stalled the swearing in of Roy Bennett, the deputy of Minister of agriculture-designate.

They also said Tsvangirai wanted it to appear as though outstanding issues were being resolved yet Mugabe was clear in his determination to retain Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

Tomana was heavily criticised last week after he was named as the man who gave the directive to arrest two Zimbabwe Independent journalists.

The AG’s office also came under the spotlight after persistently invoking a section of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, which allows the state to continue to detain MDC activists. A judge ruled last week that the state’s case against the activists was weak.

MDC officials said while the arrests escalated, the PM’s office sent signals that all was well in the GNU. The office said a breakthrough had been reached between the principals and an announcement would be made early in the week.

Later the office said an announcement would be made by Friday. Up until the time of going to press last night, no statement had been issued.

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson James Maridadi could only say: “The principals met and agreed on a position and that position will be announced in due course at a time that is appropriate.”

Party insiders said failure to make the announcement was hardly surprising given that no firm resolution had been made on the outstanding issues.

While Mugabe had pledged to meet Tsvangirai and iron out the outstanding issues early last week, he had changed his tune by requesting a postponement of the meeting until ZANU PF’s politburo meeting on Thursday.

On Wednesday night, ZANU PF politburo members were told the meeting had been cancelled. MDC-T officials saw the cancellation of the politburo meeting as a delaying tactic.

“Mugabe has succeeded for three months in delaying the resolution of these matters. He gives one excuse after another,” said an official yesterday.

The sources said little progress had been made on the crucial issues and the MDC-T’s supreme decision making body would debate the way forward in view of ZANU PF’s intransigence.

There were suggestions yesterday that Mugabe had backed down on removing the communications portfolio from Minister Nelson Chamisa. A 100-day action plan unveiled by the PM and Vice-President Joice Mujuru appeared to confirm that.

The plan approved by cabinet on April 28, gives Chamisa the overall authority to conduct a national communications infrastructure audit and improve by 30% telephone and mobile communication services.

Chamisa is also expected to officiate at tomorrow’s World Telecommunications Commemoration ceremony in Harare.

The Standard understands that although Chamisa may have won the fight, hardliners in ZANU PF insist Chamisa cannot be trusted with managing the Interception of Communications Act, the law that gives the state legal basis to spy on citizens.

The three principals - Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara - have met eight times in the past three weeks without agreement on the future of Gono and Tomana.

The MDC-T wants this matter referred to SADC.

MDC-T sources say Mugabe is determined to retain Gono and Tomana even at the cost of collapse of the GNU.

In Masvingo, the council will meet ahead of the party’s 10th anniversary celebrations scheduled for Mucheke stadium later in the day.

(Source)

A storm is brewing between ZAPU and MDC-T over the use of the Large City Hall in Bulawayo this weekend, with the former accusing the city fathers of favouritism.

The clash over the Large City Hall erupted after ZAPU reportedly had its booking to use the facility for its conference cancelled and the hall offered to the MDC-T to hold a memorial service for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s late wife Susan, on Saturday.

ZAPU wanted to use the hall on Saturday and Sunday.

Sources said council offered the venue to the MDC-T for free while ZAPU was prepared to pay.

However, the Mayor, Councillor Thaba Moyo, denied that the hall was offered to MDC-T at no cost.

ZAPU spokesman Mr Smile Dube yesterday fired a broadside at the city fathers for giving preference to the MDC-T instead of his party, which had booked the hall earlier.

He said an official from ZAPU responsible for logistics entered into an agreement with the city council for the use of the Large City Hall.

“When our official went back to the city council to make payment, he was told that the booking had been cancelled without notice. What is bothering us is that we had initially agreed over the use of the Large City Hall,” said Mr Dube.

“The city council told us that the hall had been taken up by the MDC-T for the memorial service of Mrs Tsvangirai. While we don’t have anything against the memorial service, what we wanted was for justice to prevail. We had agreed with council that we were going to use the hall and the cancellation leaves a lot to be desired.

“Fairness should be beyond political parties and we want council to note that,” said Mr Dube.

He lambasted the city council for turning the Large City Hall into an MDC-T hall.

“The City Hall is for the people and not for a certain political party or an individual. If we had agreed on the city hall why shifting goal posts, it’s not fair. We are not complaining but we want justice and fairness to prevail,” noted Mr Dube.

The Mayor reacted angrily, saying ZAPU must provide evidence that they first booked the city hall.

“I’m not aware that ZAPU were the first to book the hall. They must provide evidence. What I know is that the MDC-T asked to use the hall and their application was considered by a committee, which has no political bias towards any political formation,” he said.

Clr Moyo said if ZAPU had a problem, the party should register their concern with the local authority.

In response, the MDC-T deputy spokesperson and Bulawayo East Member of the House of Assembly, Ms Thabitha Khumalo, ruled out any favouritism by council, saying the party applied for the use of the Large City Hall following proper channels.

“It’s not about favouritism whatsoever. What we know is that anyone who wants to use the hall will just walk into council offices and make a booking. ZAPU’s claims are not true,” she said.

Ms Khumalo said the memorial service was not even organised by the MDC-T but by the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe since Mrs Tsvangirai was a member of that congregation.

(Source)

A Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party activist has died from injuries he sustained after being tortured by ZANU PF supporters.

The MDC member was tortured by ZANU PF militia and supporters in the run-up to the bloody June 27 presidential run-off elections.

According to the Masvingo MDC provincial chairman, Wilstuf Sitemere, Costa Saliwa (29) who was a youth chairman for Ward 38, Gutu Central constituency, was thoroughly assaulted for being a polling agent in last year’s disputed elections.

Sitemere said Saliwa was admitted at Mukaro Hospital in Gutu where he was discharged although his health deteriorated and was admitted at Masvingo General Hospital where he passed away on 10 May.

“His health deteriorated from there on as he was admitted at Mukaro hospital. From there, he was continuously in and out of hospital. He was admitted at Masvingo General where he latter died on Saturday,” noted Sitemere.

Saliwa will be buried on Wednesday in Wazuka village, headman Gadzingo, in Gutu.

ZANU PF has continued persecuting political opponents regardless of the inclusive government.

(Source)