Zimbabwe Weekly Update – week ending 8 March 2010

Posted by ZDN on March 9, 2010

Politics

The MDC on Sunday said it was seeking SADC intervention to help resolve outstanding issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA). The decision will be passed to the party’s national council, due to meet in Harare on March 12.

In a government gazette issued on Friday, President Robert Mugabe reassigned powers from the Ministry of Information and Technology and the Ministry of Labor, both allocated to the MDC, to ministers loyal to Zanu-PF. Finance Minister Tendai Biti condemned the reassignments, saying it was not “the unilateral right” of the president. Mugabe also re-allocated the Interception of Communications Act to the president’s office, which houses the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

In a similarly provocative move, Mugabe also transferred responsibility for Zimbabwe’s Human Rights Act and Electoral Commission Act to the Justice Ministry controlled by one of his top advisers, Patrick Chinamasa.

The United States on Tuesday extended targeted sanctions against Zanu-PF elite for another year, stating the political crisis remains unresolved, President Barack Obama announced.

SA President Jacob Zuma attracted criticism during his state visit to the UK last week for campaigning for the removal of EU sanctions against Mugabe and his cronies. A crowd of angry demonstrators greeted Zuma outside the South African High Commission in London, urging him to take a tougher stance against Mugabe and to urge early elections in Zimbabwe. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown however declared that the sanctions would remain in place until the GPA was fully implemented. Winding up his visit, Zuma said on Friday he was satisfied that he had put his point across.

South Africa’s main opposition party the Democratic Alliance (DA) last week lashed out at Zuma, accusing him of failing to take a principled stand against Mugabe.

Neighbouring Botswana, which is negatively affected by fallout from the Zimbabwean crisis, last Tuesday called for the West to lift sanctions against Zanu-PF elite, saying they are impeding efforts by the unity government to bring stability to the country.

Mugabe last week said fresh elections would be held next year “with or without a new constitution”. He said the GPA has a two-year lifespan, and said he would stand for re-election.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday called for an African Union (AU) and SADC peacekeeping force during the forthcoming elections to ensure a “free and fair environment.”

First Lady Grace Mugabe has ordered the destruction of 100 households in a Mazowe suburb to make way for the expansion of an orphanage her aides claim she is building in the area. The households have been promised land elsewhere, but angry residents say they are being unjustly removed, and don’t believe she plans on building an orphanage.

The MDC has released a code of ethics to govern the behavior of its members elected to public office. The party’s ‘Real Change Code of Ethics and Values’ seeks to promote and entrench accountability by its top officials. This is the first of its kind to be crafted and implemented by a political party in southern Africa.

According to his officials, Tsvangirai narrowly escaped death last month when his official vehicle burst a rear tire during a trip to Matabeleland where he had gone to assess the food security situation in the region. Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) chief Happiton Bonyongwe has ordered a probe into allegations that Tsvangirai was issued with a defective vehicle. The vehicle importer, a German expert who examined the car afterwards, reported evidence which suggested the vehicle had been tampered with.

Governance

An ultimatum issued by striking civil servants expired without a response from the government in the four-week-long industrial strike. The workers insist the government could afford their requested quadruple wage increase if it tapped the revenue from Marange diamond sales. The Apex Council representing the civil servants will meet early this week to review the situation.

Business

Industry Minister Welshman Ncube said Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere had prematurely pushed through the regulations of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act without Cabinet’s legal committee’s approval or input. He said the government was now revising the regulations.

Trading on Zimbabwe’s stock exchange has plummeted from a daily average of US$2 million to US$500 000 since the controversial indigenisation law was published.

Zimbabwe’s House of Assembly on Thursday ratified the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) signed by Zimbabwean and South African officials last November. The move means that South African firms would likely be exempt from the indigenisation law.

Kasukuwere ordered foreign banks operating in Zimbabwe to start financing black businesses or leave, in remarks that are likely to further unsettle foreign investors. As locals do not possess the capital to participate in the new indigenisation programme, the government may force banks to fund the buy-in transactions.

Government is planning to raise mining taxes amid projections of growth in the sector this year. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said the country was not capitalising on the “vast mineral deposits” being exploited by foreign firms. The revelations are likely to further unsettle investors.

ArcelorMittal’s bid for Ziscosteel may be withdrawn after the steel giant expressed major concern over Zimbabwe’s new indigenisation law. A globally diversified steel company with its headquarters in Luxembourg, ArcelorMittal, through its South Africa subsidiary, is one of the two firms short-listed by the government to take over a significant part of its interest Ziscosteel.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) has urged the repeal of the National Incomes and Pricing Act as it deters investors seeking a free-market economy. The Price Control Act is blamed for hastening the collapse of the economy.

Economy

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is set to retrench 2 157 “idle” workers countrywide due to viability problems and the liberalisation of the grain market.

Six ageing and faulty generation units at the Hwange thermal power station may be decommissioned as repairs become non-viable. This is despite the fact that Namibia pumped US$40 million into the refurbishment of the plant three years ago.

Agriculture

The landmark South African High Court ruling in February, which upholds the 2008 SADC Tribunal ruling and allows dispossessed farmers in Zimbabwe to attach Zimbabwe government-owned property in South Africa as compensation for lost farms has paved the way for justice.

Lawyers for commercial farmers who were dispossessed of their Zimbabwean farms are planning to start using the law to seize houses in Cape Town that are owned by the Zimbabwean government.

In an about turn on Saturday 6 March, Lands Minister Herbert Murerwa (Zanu-PF) announced that the Zimbabwe government was setting up a Compensation Fund to assist commercial farmers who had lost their farms in the “resettlement programme”. However, he stressed that this would apply to “genuine cases” and that the farmers would not be compensated for their land.

After several court battles initiated by parents through the Association of Trust Schools (ATS), Mugabe has barred Presidential Affairs and former Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa’s lawyer, Gerald Mlotshwa, from taking over Enthorpe farm in the Karoi district where Rydings Primary School is situated. Mugabe told journalists that the farm allocation by Mutasa was “an abuse of power” and that the offer letter given to Mlotshwa should be withdrawn.

More than 200 000 hectares of the current maize crop in Zimbabwe has failed after a dry spell during December and January.

Zimbabwe’s state-owned Agriculture and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) plans to lease out to private companies all its estates that lie derelict after years of mismanagement. ARDA owns land totaling more than 450 000 hectares, which agriculture experts say could produce half of Zimbabwe’s grain needs on a commercial scale.

Law

A High Court judge on Monday dismissed last week’s bid by Deputy Agriculture Minister (designate) Roy Bennett’s lawyers to bar state witness Forgive Munyeki, allegedly a telecommunications expert, from presenting evidence in court. The ruling allows the State to call upon the TelOne employee to give his testimony.

Constitution

In its latest report on Zimbabwe released on March 3, the International Crisis Group (ICG) listed public consultations on a new constitution as one of the key areas blocking the progress of the GPA. Additional blocks included a land audit, appointment of MDC governors, an end of arbitrary detentions and arrests, regular functioning of the National Security Council in place of the infamous Joint Operations Command (JOC) and preparation for elections. http://www.zimbabwedemocracynow.com/2010/03/05/

An opinion piece published by the Zimbabwe Independent on Friday March 5 noted that, while Zanu-PF, the MDC-T and the National Constitutional Assembly agree on many aspects of what should be in the new constitution, the three disagree on fundamental areas to do with the executive, commissions, land, systems of government and on how the bill of rights should be expanded.

Violence

Three teachers in Masvingo were severely beaten by Zanu-PF youths for refusing to demonstrate against Tsvangirai for failing to end targeted sanctions on Zanu-PF elite. The teachers were on Saturday still recovering at Gunikuni clinic.

Civil society organisations warned that in the last three months there has been an escalation in the number of threats and incidences of intimidation and harassment against its members at the hands of state security agents. The warning was made during a press conference in Harare on Wednesday, convened by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights).

High profile union leader Gertrude Hambira, Secretary-General of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers’ Union (GAPWUZ), remains in hiding in neighbouring South Africa because of “fears for her life,” after repeated raids by the police on her offices.

Education

National University of Science and Technology (NUST) authorities have expelled student leaders, banned student activism on campus and imposed a curfew over the university. Armed youth militias from the Border Gezi training camps are allegedly being deployed every evening to arrest and beat up any students seen out at night.

Humanitarian

Matabeleland South and North provinces will require urgent food aid in the next two months owing to the failed crop season. 1.3 million people are in need of food aid, with Matabeleland South being the most affected as 700 000 face starvation. Angeline Masuku, the Matabeleland South governor, on Thursday said the province had only 600 tons of maize for drought relief.

About ten families were left marooned after flash floods swept across the low-lying Mbire rural District in Mashonaland Central near Zimbabwe’s border post with Zambia and Mozambique. Three of the families were trapped in trees before being rescued. The floods could worsen when floodgates at Kariba Dam are opened next week, March 15.

Diamonds

An independent monitor appointed by the Kimberley Process (KP) arrived in Zimbabwe. Abbey Chikane, the head of the South African Diamond Board and a former Chairman of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, is expected to visit the Marange fields.

The Zimbabwean government has hired Namibian consultants to train locals and help clean up its diamond industry to meet KP requirements, Secretary for Mines Thankful Musukutwa told members of parliament. Musukutwa said Marange has produced 2 million carats of diamonds so far this year. However, Finance Minister Tendai Biti (MDC-T) said that the fiscus has not received any revenue from Marange.

The government has accused mining giant De Beers of looting tons of diamonds from Marange over a period of fifteen years, keeping its discovery of the gems quiet. The government is alleging that it could have lost billions of dollars in revenue as a result. Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said the government at the time believed De Beers was only prospecting, but in reality the company was carrying out covert mining activities.

Diaspora

The UK is holding at least 209 Zimbabweans at its immigration centres and prisons, according to the British government, which has over the years suspended deportations to Zimbabwe due to the ongoing human rights abuses in the country.

The influx of refugees from Zimbabwe is placing “significant strain” on South Africa’s capacity and resources, President Jacob Zuma told British parliamentarians in London on Thursday.

Media

In a surprising rebuke to Media, Information and Publicity Secretary and Zanu-PF spin doctor George Charamba, Mugabe told the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) to get on with its duty of expanding the industry.

Andrison Shadreck Manyere, an award-winning photojournalist, was arrested for the third time in five weeks. The constant harassment of Manyere has sparked anger from New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Manyere was freed after spending a night in police custody.

The Good News

“Music by Prudence,” a film about singer/songwriter Prudence Mabhena and seven other disabled young musicians in Zimbabwe, won the Academy Award on Sunday for best short documentary.

Human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, who in 2008 was abducted and tortured by state security agents, is one of ten winners of the 2010 International Women of Courage (IWOC) Award. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will present the award.

A massive commemoration rally was held for the late Susan Tsvangirai in Harare. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced the launch of a new charity foundation in her name. Mrs Tsvangirai died in a controversial car crash on March 6 last year.

The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has partnered with the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) to launch the ‘Fan Park’ concept to promote tourism during this year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Fan Parks are places where the public can gather to watch matches during the tournament.