Saturday, September 17, 2011

(NEWZIMBABWE) Charles Ray: white kisses through dark lips

Charles Ray: white kisses through dark lips
17/09/2011 00:00:00
by Nathaniel Manheru

A STORY is told of a rasta-man who somehow found himself in the United Kingdom. Neither spectacularly educated nor gifted with a voice hoarse enough to chant any psalms to Nyabinghi, the brother-man knew he had to invest heavily in very long locks and his very hard African features which at once proclaimed iconoclasm and the archetypal virility of the raw African proverbially regarded as so appealing to fanciful minds of young English college girls.

Better still if these girls happen to hail from a monied upper class, in which case his would be a double catch of passion with a purse.

It so happened that he went into an English pub one day, less for a drink and more to find a public convenience. Overseas, the mad white man levies taxes on just about anything, including accessing those vital small houses within which unfold processes which nature deems, and deems irrevocable.

Clearly our poor, virile, locked man could not afford the going rate. Soon a presentable white lady joined our man from the Nyabinghi sect, choosing to sit right behind him, all to furtively feast long and uninterrupted on his adorable mien. Here was the virile African "Mwangi", live, of English colonial lore. And Mwangi's long, unwashed dreadlocks added to the fascination.

The odour the locks emitted was part of the overall allure, she convinced herself, savouring every visible inch of the man, imaginatively meeting the deficit on the unseen. It was a mealy site to behold and the mem-sahib ate, ate and ate hardly ever reaching satiety. She devoured the locks - strand by strand, long by long - from fontanel to neck, and back.

Enter the red-shot louse

In the busy, absorbing process, her eyes caught a fat, red-shot louse lazily battening on one lock, barely embedded. So overfed was the louse that it was sure to fall off with the spiritual man's slightest stagger or stumble. But she would not wait for such a contingency.

She chose to intervene and wasted no time. Here was a golden opportunity to be both useful to African humanity and to pursue enlightened bodily self-interest. Armed with a compassion far greater than David Livingstone's, or that of any of his successors combined, the girl leapt, and then leered, aiming for the parasite which she knocked and tossed off with one deft, liberating fling of her delicate fore-finger.

Repelling kind cruelty

"What you doing white lady," chanted the rasta-man, a chant made harsher by a raw cockney accent.

"Excuse me, Sir. Sorry to startle you if I did. But there was this big, bloated bloody louse on your lovely locks. I have tossed it off you. You should be alright now," came a thin, soothing voice, cracking with a satisfying sense of duty if not mission successfully accomplished. Another white-man's burden discharged, this time by a saintly missus!

"Put it baa-ack, put it baa-ck," screamed the locked, black ingrate. "White ma-aan fond of taking blaa-ack ma-aan's property!"

The yell was sharp and hard, clearly presaging dire action in the absence of instant restitution. She stood transfixed, pale with fright.
The day the black American left the chill

This week Charles Ray, America's ambassador here, called on President Robert Mugabe at the President's Munhumutapa Offices. It was a meeting so long in coming, one heralded by "shadow" meetings involving both bureaucrats and party officials. In the end, the President obliged, thereby lifting the envoy from a long diplomatic chill.

Whatever personal pride says, it is the wish of every ambassador to be in touch with his or her hosts. No amount of meeting with the nearly men and women of the Inclusive Government we have here will ever be satisfying to any ambassador, let alone one from a country which knows only too well where power lies.

The meeting could not have taken place in more foreboding circumstances. Unfolding in an atmosphere clouded by WikiLeaks, the encounter was bound to trigger media frenzy.
Madame and a B-MATT officer

Besides, the meeting took place a matter of days from the presentation of credentials by Britain's new lady ambassador, itself clearly an important development both on its own, and from messages swapped by the two antagonistic sides.

Please get these odious sanctions off our back, madame. We don't deserve them, we have never deserved them, came a plea from President Mugabe, a plea whose vehemence was disguised by false plaintiveness and a show of acute vulnerability.

My Prime Minister has asked me to send weekly reports so he is kept informed on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is very important to the United Kingdom, stressed the lady ambassador, likewise hiding the awesome menace of her message in stylistic matter-of-factness.

The new ambassador is no stranger to Zimbabwe. She came here in the early eighties, at the dawn of our Uhuru, wife to a B-MATT officer. On this day, Her Excellency brought the officer in tow, his significance hopefully pared down to that of a mere husband. I actually wonder whether upon hearing the afore-quoted words from the envoy the President felt profoundly cared for by the "mother country"!
A hunter hunted

Thirdly and lastly, the week before Zimbabwe's Attorney General had given notice to the EU bloc of Zimbabwe's intention to sue Europe for the imposition of illegal and unfair sanctions on the country, on 160 or so Zimbabweans, and on about 31 companies, mostly parastatals.

It is an action sure to cause a stir, sure to give Mugabe yet another notch higher in fame or notoriety, depending of course on your vantage point.

The norm has always been one of the white man hauling the native to white courts, principally the ICC. What is this Mugha-bi up to, again?

In between these momentous events, some little civil servant of the EU bloc had passed through the country, en route for South Africa for an annual EU-South Africa consultative meeting which has just ended and at which Zimbabwe came up for discussion. But his meeting with the President had revealed the other side of R.G: that of cynical tolerance.

He let the EU civil servant bubble and rumble on and on, even superciliously, before abruptly cutting in to end the small man's lofty talk: "One has to be a faithful servant of his master, is that not? That is what loyalty means, isn't?"

It was a parting shot, literally, as the Briton and civil servant immediately picked himself up to leave, fresh wound gushing scarlet. A week of both hard and soft balls, it was.
Using CIA to sell safe sex

A bit of winnowing so we quickly remove the chaff for real tare. Someone has to tell our journalists and editors that WikiLeaks are not an issue at all in diplomacy. Only very naïve people imagine that Americans set up a whole embassy here, deployed CIA operatives in industrial quantities here, all to fund borehole drilling, teach and fund safe-sex, or to sell Monstanto's wonder seed.

They are here to spy on us, here to further their geo-strategic interests which may or may not coincide or cohere with our political arrangements as we have them here and now. If they judge that our present politics are opposed to their long-term interests, they will, quite naturally, try and find ways of changing them for more amenable ones.

We similarly deploy to Washington and New York for no less reason, only diminished by our smallness, both by size and means. We might fall short by way of capacity and reach but, hey, that is the goal.

We have our own reports on American leadership and politics. We have our own impressions of American personalities and events. I bet my bottom dollar, these impressions are no less irreverent, no less melodramatic, no less mischievous. The only difference is that we have been able to look after our cables better than the Americans.

Serious governments do not waste time asking for the whys and wherefores. They get down to business behind penned offices. Outwardly, they smile, conveying huge hospitality!
So stale a news, so new a story

Secondly, there is hardly anything new to emerge from WikiLeaks. Details maybe. Nuances and brilliant quotes probably. But generally who was doing what with the Americans, all that was quite known. And such contacts went beyond Americans, to encompass many other western embassies. Assange just happens to have caught up with the blunderous. They are not the only ones; not even the worst.

By way of the actual substance itself, there was no news in the fact that some Zanu PF elements had a hand in the formation of the MDC, let alone in the subsequent fall-out between the MDC leadership and those elements in Zanu-PF. There was no enigma in the formation of Mavambo, or those inside Zanu PF who were behind it. What was rather surprising was why this element in Zanu PF balked from the ultimate, namely excising themselves from the main body to join their project.
Zanu PF and Marx

Nothing new in that as sanctions deepened, a few influential party stalwarts and officials, principally those who had acquired significant assets and/or had banked their savings abroad, would deviate from the party line, all to cut deals with the enemy.

Only a naïve Zanu PF would not know the political consequences of an African petit bourgeois element born out of a national democratic movement or a patriotic front. Equally, only a naïve Zanu PF would not know that once challenged, imperialism will recruit from this class to mount a challenge to radical politics it would want exorcised from the Zimbabwean body-politic.

Out parties, in classes

The past 31 years have been years of independence, true. But they have also been years of embourgeoisification, of pseudo-class formation founded not so much on relations of property and production, but on relations with those who own or control the means of production in our country. Or relations with those countries from where such persons hail.

We are looking at the political behavior of a servile, intermediary class for whom confrontation with imperialism bodes ruin for their little businesses and token shares. They are called "reformers" in current, trendy nomenclature. They do cut across the political divide, something which certain naïve sections in our media cannot comprehend except with deep anguish and agony.

For them, the essential dynamic of our turbulent politics are party formations: Zanu PF, MDC formations, Zapu, etc, etc. Between these lie unbridgeable chasms! So when they are confronted with new behaviours which confound these party dichotomies, they find refugee in loose words like "betrayal", "sell-outs", "turncoats", etc, etc.

This group is still a long way from grasping that politics and political formations crystallise class interests, indeed to grasp that symbolically overwhelming though Zanu PF is and may be, in the final analysis it will stand or fall by whatever class interest emerges dominant. It certainly cannot remain an omnibus front it was during the days of the nationalist struggle against settler colonialism.
When age does not matter

Similarly, President Mugabe may have risen to power on the history and aura of the liberation struggle. But he owes his political sustenance now and in future to class choices he makes, namely between his bourgeois colleagues so keen to cut deals with imperialism, and the broad and impoverished masses by way of peasants and workers, still hoping that Uhuru can one day smile on them, all to better fortunes.

So far he has stood by the latter, which is why he has been so difficult to dislodge, whether at home or abroad. American cables run the risk of creating a false impression that age and claims of infirmities are behind the leadership challenge to President Mugabe, both by America itself, and by the comprador element in Zanu PF which wants him "to go".

Shorn of radical policies on land and the economy, Americans and many western interests would not care a hoot that Zimbabwe is being run by an 87-year old president. Ready to renounce a radical agenda and ready to secure their material interests, the so-called "reformers" will wish the President many, many more years.

The issue is not age. The issue is saving and serving western interests and what role each one of us plays in that equation. Similarly, in Morgan Tsvangirai the issue is not education. It is how well he provides leadership in the fight to safeguard western interests. In the present circumstances, such leadership translates to challenging Mugabe's presidency and dominance in Zimbabwean politics.
Tools of tools versus tools of imperialism

It is significant that the only difference between MDC politicians and those drawn from the so-called Zanu PF reformers is that in the case of the former, a local white man - best exemplified by Clive Puzzey and Roy Bennett - hovers above the local politician, mediating between him and his American interlocutors.

That makes the MDC politician a tool of a tool, twice removed from source. In the case of the latter, we see a boldness to engage Americans directly with the hope of offering oneself as the direct fixer and direct point-man of American interests.

MDC politicians are tools of tools; Zanu-PF's "reformers" exhibit a certain aggressiveness of a measured urge to own and control, albeit within strictures of imperialism. Often, that entailed blackmailing conglomerates for protection, with the demand for shares as the quid pro quo. That makes the reformers tools of the source. I leave you to judge whether there is much difference between the two.
Entering from below

I said the American envoy called on the President. Yes, he did. The only link between this courtesy call and WikiLeaks is the American continual search for a key to unlock the Zimbabwe enigma, which for Americans translate to the Mugabe enigma.

America has just told its envoys all over the world, principally those serving in Africa, to re-engineer American foreign relations towards greater business with and in Africa, which in their own mythology, amounts to the last resource frontier.

The statistics are glaring and exhorting enough. America has managed a mere US$24bn business with Africa. In sharp contrast, China - America's main competitor and foe - has managed US$54 billion on the same continent which big American business has regarded as an investor's cesspool.

China's winning formulae has been to harness the power of the State to underwrite the risk, whether real or imagined. Now America wants to copy, hopes to improve.
Americans SMEs on the continent

Such a thrust would allow US to re-enter Africa from on below, from bottom going up. Predictably, such an approach allows it to circumvent the larger political question of dealing with Africa's so-called strongmen, but while being able to subvert him from this grass-root re-entry.

All that puts into context what America and the EU have been doing around agriculture and the so-called livelihoods boosting, does it not? This is the context within which Ray's mission must be understood and appreciated.
No business outside ZIDERA

Time for some nasty truths which must confront this black-man on America's employ. He seeks to circumvent the issue of sanctions, of ZIDERA, which his country has invoked against Zimbabwe. About ZIDERA, he says he cannot help, but still wants us to forge ahead building on the tenuous grounds that unite us.

He is anxious to do business with Zimbabwe, in spite of ZIDERA and we are supposed to be most grateful about that! In other words ZIDERA now hampers American interests here and Ray wants Mugabe, himself a victim of ZIDERA, to help him out in the name of wealth-creation through SMEs.
Predictably, a few months down the road Ray will brag that indeed ZIDERA is not about sanctions, only restrictive measures!

Who would contradict him?

The real issue is that America is hamstrung by its own sanctions law. It can only get more and more hamstrung as Zimbabwe's pressure against EU begins to bear fruit.
After all, the Europeans have no law in place, only a sanctions resolution which can be scrapped at a seating. Not so America.

The new thrust of mobilising the broad masses against sanctions leaves America on very slippery ground. America is most vulnerable to a sentiment that resonates right down to the butt of society. They don't like it as that denies them the leverage of social engineering and social change.

Still, white man's fondness through black

So? Well, this black-man must be told unambiguously that relations between Zimbabwe and United States of America cannot be normalised outside of the removal of sanctions by the rescind of ZIDERA. That must be the bottom line.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe must help the Americans decide by cutting more irrevocable deals with the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Brazilians and Iranians. Real deals that throw America and the West into a fit.

Besides, we must learn from Gaddafi and Libya. Western interests are not to be appeased. The West cannot be placated, except to one's peril, whether in the immediate or in the long run.

We are no Gaddafi for we have only taken what is ours.

That means apart from the forbidding example of Libya, we have very solid reasons to be adamant and insistent. The tables may have turned and, hey, we should tell America and the rest of Europe that, white man fond of taking black ma-aan's property.

It does not matter that there is a red-shot louse, and a heart that might mean good. The point is the West has poisoned its relations with Zimbabwe that even love gets suspiciously harmful.

More so when its lips are thick and black!

Icho!

Nathaniel Manheru is a columnist for the Saturday Herald. E-mail him: nathaniel.manheru@zimpapers.co.zw

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(NEWZIMBABWE) What US cables reveal about Zimbabwe politics

What US cables reveal about Zimbabwe politics
17/09/2011 00:00:00
by Ibbo Mandaza

THE most obvious of all the implications that flow out of the WikiLeaks revelations is the extent to which they provide an insight into the nature and content of contemporary Zimbabwean politics. All this notwithstanding the fact that what is being revealed confirms, at least to those familiar with the Zimbabwean political process, the most obvious.

Otherwise, the biggest casualty of the WikiLeaks saga is, of course, the United States, exposing as it does the superpower’s foreign policy operations in Zimbabwe –– and the world over –– during the period since March 14, 1988. This has opened a rare window through which to study US foreign policy, however inadvertent such an opportunity has presented itself.

Ordinarily, there would be little or nothing at all untoward about such revelations; this is the normal order of operations in any diplomatic mission: namely to scour and scrutinise, in the greatest detail possible, the nature and pulse of the country in which it is stationed.

Indeed, both the efficiency and effectiveness of any ambassador –– or his/her key functionaries in the mission –– is judged on the extent to which he/she can render the country as much an open book for those who are thereby better-placed for the design of the appropriate policy option back home.

So, as the Zimbabwean case refers, Washington has been obsessed with the exit of President Robert Mugabe from the political scene, albeit through a peaceful process in which Zanu PF insiders themselves would be the catalyst.

This is what the official propagandists in Harare have termed "regime change" (which may assume a new meaning and usage after the WikiLeaks exposé).

[The official propagandists for which government? - MrK]


But it is an obsession that has pervaded almost the entire international community (West and East), the African continent in general, and the Southern African sub-region in particular, including former presidents Kenneth Kaunda, Nelson Mandela, Joaquim Chissano, Thabo Mbeki and Benjamin Mkapa –– all of whom have, in one way or another, tried to plead with Mugabe to retire from politics.

As it is now, there is unlikely to be a single head of state in the region who believes that Mugabe should remain another day in office.

As the WikiLeaks revelations testify, almost everyone in Zimbabwe, not to mention Zanu PF itself, wherein, from the Vice Presidents, throughout the politburo and central committee, and even among ordinary functionaries, the call, albeit in whispers, has been that Mugabe must go, not now but yesterday!

[Obviously the ZANU-PF and the people of Zimbabwe, including 43% of voters in 2008, don't believe any such thing. However, it is generally accepted outside of the MDC and some voices within, that Morgan Tsvangirai is unfit to lead the nation. - MrK]


The question that ponders even now is how and why Mugabe has so far survived such a universal disapproval.

[Because he isn't an Uncle Tom, who depends on his survival for the approval of western powers. - MrK]


This is an attempt to answer the question against the background of the WikiLeaks revelations and in the context of highlighting some of the poignant issues that characterise Zimbabwe’s politics today.

As I have already intimated, there is nothing new in these WikiLeaks revelations for those of us who have been writing and speaking openly on the country’s political process over the decades since Independence in 1980.

First, the gradual erosion of the political, ideological and organisational fabric of the party of liberation, to the point wherein Zanu PF is in disarray; this is the main import of all that the WikiLeaks has revealed through the alleged utterings of all the Vice Presidents departed and current, a cross-section of politburo and central committee members, a variety of ministers and MPs, academics and businessmen associated with the party, and, allegedly even the First Lady and such of the president’s close confidantes as Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

[And pray tell, what do Wikileaks reveal about the MDC? - MrK]


Now, it is doubtful that there is anybody in the party’s leadership who can confidently assume the moral high ground in this regard; not even Didymus Mutasa and his inane threats of disciplinary action against alleged "sell-outs".

Likewise, my brother Jonathan Moyo and his call (as part of his vain attempt to clear his name) "for the nation to remain united and move forward under the leadership of President Mugabe" (The Herald, September 13) does not have the moral high ground to do so. His remarks are as hollow as they are likely to be interpreted as grossly false when all is said and done; not even he believes that!

For the reality is that Zanu PF, under the current circumstances, is unlikely to survive the post-Mugabe era, unless and until the real comrades, many of whom have been marginalised by a party increasingly identified with the person of Mugabe, can re-organise and coalesce around a new vision, profound enough to infuse the younger generation with the hope of a better existence after Mugabe’s exit.

Second, Mugabe’s Zanu PF –– and the state with which it has been conflated –– has yielded a schizophrenic political class which sings for its supper during the day, but connives and conspires towards the earliest exit of the “Great Leader” during the night. In this regard, Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC are only marginally better off than Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, with all the indications that, once in the real saddle of power, they could find themselves fatally afflicted by the same disease, one borne out of the twin pillars of the contemporary Zimbabwean state: violence (or the threat of it) and patronage.

[They are already there. There is plenty of violence during MDC rallies. And patronage - Morgan Tsvangirai's brother Casper Tsvangirai owns a goldmine, and is the organizing secretary and treasurer of the Zimbabwe Gold Millers And Miners Association. Gee, I wonder who will benefit from the sell-off ('privatisation' and 'deregulation') of the Zimbabwean people's natural resources. Even worse, how many Zimbabwean are going to die when they trie to evict over 150,000 families from the land they received under the Fast Track land reform program? This is why they keep lying about only 'friends and cronies of Mugabe' receiving land. They are going to set off a real civil war if they try. And Matabeleland will try and break off from Zimbabwe. - MrK]


These twin pillars account in large measure for Mugabe’s survival so far; and as long as state-related violence (or the threat of it) and state-sponsored patronage remain so institutionalised in Zimbabwean society, so, too, will the Great Leader syndrome remain with us, on the back of a schizophrenic political class that is clearly a product of these twin pillars of the state.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the current political pathology, through the systematic restoration of our national institutions, at least to the level they were at Independence in 1980: as non-partisan, efficient, of sound and tested leadership, conscious of the national interest, nationalist, and thereby not given to corruption and political sycophancy.

Hopefully, the current constitution-making exercise will also attend to the main task of providing the framework through which we can begin to restore our national institutions, de-couple the party and state, institute a limited term (at most two, if not one!) for the CEO of the State, and provide the strictest possible separation of powers.

In the meantime, it would be advisable for the Zanu PF leadership to embark on a reality check, not least Mugabe himself whose political legitimacy has been openly questioned, thanks also to the WikiLeaks revelations.

Surely, it is long overdue for him to have called it quits and allow both his party (or whatever is left of it) and the nation to turn a new leaf. To continue to contrive a critical mass around the politburo and central committee on a monthly basis will henceforth appear as farcical as the WikiLeaks revelations have confirmed.

And the forthcoming Zanu PF national conference in December should be the occasion for one or two of the party heavyweights to stand up and be counted (like the late General Solomon Mujuru, Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa tried to do in the run up to the Zanu PF extraordinary congress in 2007) if, as is likely to be the case on the backs of those still given to the political sycophancy that has helped him to survive thus far, Mugabe himself does not call it a day by the end of 2011.

Mandaza is a Zimbabwean academic, author and publisher. This article was originally published in the Zimbabwe Independent


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(NEWZIMBABWE) What US cables reveal about Zimbabwe politics

What US cables reveal about Zimbabwe politics
17/09/2011 00:00:00
by Ibbo Mandaza

THE most obvious of all the implications that flow out of the WikiLeaks revelations is the extent to which they provide an insight into the nature and content of contemporary Zimbabwean politics. All this notwithstanding the fact that what is being revealed confirms, at least to those familiar with the Zimbabwean political process, the most obvious.

Otherwise, the biggest casualty of the WikiLeaks saga is, of course, the United States, exposing as it does the superpower’s foreign policy operations in Zimbabwe –– and the world over –– during the period since March 14, 1988. This has opened a rare window through which to study US foreign policy, however inadvertent such an opportunity has presented itself.

Ordinarily, there would be little or nothing at all untoward about such revelations; this is the normal order of operations in any diplomatic mission: namely to scour and scrutinise, in the greatest detail possible, the nature and pulse of the country in which it is stationed.

Indeed, both the efficiency and effectiveness of any ambassador –– or his/her key functionaries in the mission –– is judged on the extent to which he/she can render the country as much an open book for those who are thereby better-placed for the design of the appropriate policy option back home.

So, as the Zimbabwean case refers, Washington has been obsessed with the exit of President Robert Mugabe from the political scene, albeit through a peaceful process in which Zanu PF insiders themselves would be the catalyst.

This is what the official propagandists in Harare have termed "regime change" (which may assume a new meaning and usage after the WikiLeaks exposé).

[The official propagandists for which government? - MrK]


But it is an obsession that has pervaded almost the entire international community (West and East), the African continent in general, and the Southern African sub-region in particular, including former presidents Kenneth Kaunda, Nelson Mandela, Joaquim Chissano, Thabo Mbeki and Benjamin Mkapa –– all of whom have, in one way or another, tried to plead with Mugabe to retire from politics.

As it is now, there is unlikely to be a single head of state in the region who believes that Mugabe should remain another day in office.

As the WikiLeaks revelations testify, almost everyone in Zimbabwe, not to mention Zanu PF itself, wherein, from the Vice Presidents, throughout the politburo and central committee, and even among ordinary functionaries, the call, albeit in whispers, has been that Mugabe must go, not now but yesterday!

[Obviously the ZANU-PF and the people of Zimbabwe don't believe any such thing. However, it is generally accepted outside of the MDC and some voices within, that Morgan Tsvangirai is unfit to lead the nation. - MrK]

The question that ponders even now is how and why Mugabe has so far survived such a universal disapproval. This is an attempt to answer the question against the background of the WikiLeaks revelations and in the context of highlighting some of the poignant issues that characterise Zimbabwe’s politics today.

As I have already intimated, there is nothing new in these WikiLeaks revelations for those of us who have been writing and speaking openly on the country’s political process over the decades since Independence in 1980.

First, the gradual erosion of the political, ideological and organisational fabric of the party of liberation, to the point wherein Zanu PF is in disarray; this is the main import of all that the WikiLeaks has revealed through the alleged utterings of all the Vice Presidents departed and current, a cross-section of politburo and central committee members, a variety of ministers and MPs, academics and businessmen associated with the party, and, allegedly even the First Lady and such of the president’s close confidantes as Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

Now, it is doubtful that there is anybody in the party’s leadership who can confidently assume the moral high ground in this regard; not even Didymus Mutasa and his inane threats of disciplinary action against alleged "sell-outs".

Likewise, my brother Jonathan Moyo and his call (as part of his vain attempt to clear his name) "for the nation to remain united and move forward under the leadership of President Mugabe" (The Herald, September 13) does not have the moral high ground to do so. His remarks are as hollow as they are likely to be interpreted as grossly false when all is said and done; not even he believes that!

For the reality is that Zanu PF, under the current circumstances, is unlikely to survive the post-Mugabe era, unless and until the real comrades, many of whom have been marginalised by a party increasingly identified with the person of Mugabe, can re-organise and coalesce around a new vision, profound enough to infuse the younger generation with the hope of a better existence after Mugabe’s exit.

Second, Mugabe’s Zanu PF –– and the state with which it has been conflated –– has yielded a schizophrenic political class which sings for its supper during the day, but connives and conspires towards the earliest exit of the “Great Leader” during the night. In this regard, Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC are only marginally better off than Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, with all the indications that, once in the real saddle of power, they could find themselves fatally afflicted by the same disease, one borne out of the twin pillars of the contemporary Zimbabwean state: violence (or the threat of it) and patronage.

These twin pillars account in large measure for Mugabe’s survival so far; and as long as state-related violence (or the threat of it) and state-sponsored patronage remain so institutionalised in Zimbabwean society, so, too, will the Great Leader syndrome remain with us, on the back of a schizophrenic political class that is clearly a product of these twin pillars of the state.

Therefore, there is an urgent need to address the current political pathology, through the systematic restoration of our national institutions, at least to the level they were at Independence in 1980: as non-partisan, efficient, of sound and tested leadership, conscious of the national interest, nationalist, and thereby not given to corruption and political sycophancy.

Hopefully, the current constitution-making exercise will also attend to the main task of providing the framework through which we can begin to restore our national institutions, de-couple the party and state, institute a limited term (at most two, if not one!) for the CEO of the State, and provide the strictest possible separation of powers.

In the meantime, it would be advisable for the Zanu PF leadership to embark on a reality check, not least Mugabe himself whose political legitimacy has been openly questioned, thanks also to the WikiLeaks revelations.

Surely, it is long overdue for him to have called it quits and allow both his party (or whatever is left of it) and the nation to turn a new leaf. To continue to contrive a critical mass around the politburo and central committee on a monthly basis will henceforth appear as farcical as the WikiLeaks revelations have confirmed.

And the forthcoming Zanu PF national conference in December should be the occasion for one or two of the party heavyweights to stand up and be counted (like the late General Solomon Mujuru, Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa tried to do in the run up to the Zanu PF extraordinary congress in 2007) if, as is likely to be the case on the backs of those still given to the political sycophancy that has helped him to survive thus far, Mugabe himself does not call it a day by the end of 2011.
Mandaza is a Zimbabwean academic, author and publisher. This article was originally published in the Zimbabwe Independent


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(COUNTERPUNCH) Libya, the Lie

Libya, the Lie
The Real Reason the US Wanted Gaddafi Gone
by MURRAY DOBBIN
Powell River, BC
Weekend Edition, September 17-18, 2011 41

When the U.S. invaded Iraq riding a pack of lies and monstrous manipulation, the entire U.S. elite, including major news services, academics, and politicians from both parties, lined up to cheerlead and off they went to war. It was one of the most shameful chapters in the long history of shameful acts of U.S. imperial foreign policy.

But it actually didn’t take too long for dissenting voices to come out of the woodwork. The lies were exposed, the liars identified, the manipulation denounced. The war went ion but at least we knew the lies.

Watching the sorry media spectacle of the tragic farce unfolding in Libya, one has to wonder if anyone will ever expose the lies and hubris that have characterized the coverage of this faux Arab spring.

To be sure, as more journalists, aid workers and human rights representatives arrive in the country the more some of the obvious facts trickle out. The “freedom fighters” — more like soccer hooligans with guns — have looted dozens of arms depots of the Libyan military. According to Peter Bouckaert of Human Rights Watch, “Every time a city falls, they end up being looted. . . Every facility we go to where there were surface-to-air missiles, they’re gone.”

Just what will these lovers of democracy do with these weapons? The U.S. and E.U. might just start to worry that no matter who buys them on the black market, they will eventually end up in the hands of al Qaeda or other militant groups. As NATO knows full well, some of the so-called rebels have ties to al Qaeda. Or perhaps the missiles will end up in the hands of the Taliban where they will be used to shoot down U.S. helicopters. Talk about blowback. Too bad the Americans have never quite grasped the meaning of irony.

The photos of the revolutionaries give any thoughtful observer pause. Almost every photo of the victorious rebels show aggressive, undisciplined, young men armed to the teeth holding their guns high in the air (often firing randomly). Boys with their (lethal) toys.

And while the Western media repeatedly imply that the Nation Transitional Council is in control of these dangerous gangs the truth lies elsewhere. Several rebel groups have denounced the NTC and said they don’t recognize its authority. So not only does the council not represent anyone, it doesn’t even control its own “army.” The NTC is little more than a group of greedy opportunists salivating at the thought of getting its hands on the billions in state funds that NATO is now handing over to them. Only with the constant disciplinary efforts of its NATO handlers does the council manage to maintain a semblance of decorum and credibility.

In other situations where dictators were deposed the seizing of their assets was justified – because they were in personal bank accounts. But the tens of billions illegally seized by Western countries was money belonging to the Libyan state and its national bank. That no one has commented on the casual elimination of sovereignty, someone should. NATO has effectively destroyed the Libyan government — not just Gaddafi’s regime. Tens of thousands of foreign workers have left Libya, many of whom were critical to the running of the country. Rebels have been accused of randomly executing blacks, many of them students and workers. Who will fill their critical roles now?

But none of this bothers the Canadian political elite and its intellectual hired guns. One of the most shameful examples is Lloyd Axworthy, the “highly respected” former foreign affairs minister under Jean Chretien. He penned an op-ed for the Globe and Mail in which he waxed on romantically about how the NATO bombing of Libya is a huge advance for the principle of Responsibility to Protect – a UN principle promoted by Axworthy in in 1999-2000.

According to Axworthy, “We are seriously engaged in a resetting of the international order toward a more humane, just world.” I predict that instead NATO’s grotesque manipulation of the UN mandate to impose a “no fly” zone to protect “civilians” (a violation Axworthy doesn’t even mention) will in fact do more damage to the responsibility to protect principle than any similar action to date. It will tarnish the UN, too, which has allowed its mandate to be used for imperial gain. The rush by France, Britain and Italy in particular, to get their hands on Libyan oil will soon be too obvious to cover up. The revolutionaries are no doubt busy signing deals handing over that previously nationalized resource to the neo-colonialists who put them in power — robbing the real civilians of their birthright.

We should ask who will take the “responsibility to protect” Libyans from this new gang? Who will protect the people of Libya so that they continue to enjoy a literacy rate above 90 per cent, the lowest infant mortality rate and highest life expectancy of all of Africa, free medical care and education and the highest Human Development Index of any country on the continent?

Do the boys firing their guns in the air even have a clue that their living standards — subsidized by nationalized oil — were among the highest in Africa? Who will they blame when medical care disappears and their kids have to pay to go to school? Western, free-market democracy will come to Libya at a very high price when designed and delivered by the neo-colonial powers.

Why does virtually no one in the mainstream Canadian media even mention the fact that Libya was the biggest obstacle to the continued super-exploitation of Africa and its vast resources. This is, after all, the principle reason for NATO’s determination to turn a ‘no fly zone” into regime change. On a whole number of fronts, Libya was using its oil wealth to gradually close the doors to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the hegemony of the U.S. dollar in the economic domination of Africa.

Africa’s role as a giant pool of cheap resources was being threatened just as the U.S. and E.U. faced economic catastrophe because of the failure of their own neo-liberal policies. Gaddafi’s determination to eliminate Africa’s dependence on Western financial institutions was one of the most serious threats faced by global capitalism. Gaddafi was not only in the process of creating the African Investment Bank (providing interest-free loans to African nations) and the African Monetary Fund (to be centred in Cameroon) and eliminating the role of the IMF. It was also in the planning stages of creating a new, gold-backed African currency that would seriously weaken the U.S. by undermining the dollar.

It is almost certain that in return for putting the new bunch in power, and freeing up the billions in state funds, NATO will demand these new institutions be smothered in their cribs. Gaddafi was also instrumental in killing AFRICOM, a new U.S. military command and control base intended to add military intimidation to American economic domination. Look for that initiative to be revived.

It’s easy to be gratified getting rid of a brutal dictator. But when will we learn that waging war has enormous, long-lasting consequences? Already, the head of the new “government” is calling for legislation based on Sharia law – reversing 42 years of secularism in Libya. Western-style democracy is an unlikely outcome in a country consisting of many different and hostile tribes – unified only by Gaddafi’s iron fist and socialist policies which distributed wealth equally amongst them.

So if we are going to feel triumphant – Prime Minister Stephen Harper boasted about Canada “punching above our weight” – let’s be clear what we have accomplished. We got rid of one moderately nasty dictator. But we have eliminated a government which distributed its oil wealth more equally than any other Arab state, will impose on Libya a new market imperative, likely eliminating most social programs and making Libya less equal, may well end up with a government based on Islamic law (if it doesn’t fly apart in tribal warfare) and have destroyed Africa’s best hope for independent development.

How shall we celebrate?

MURRAY DOBBIN, now living in Powell River, BC has been a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for over forty years. He now writes a bi-weekly column for the on-line journals the Tyee and rabble.ca. He can be reached at mdobbin@telus.net.

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Friday, September 16, 2011

(NEWZIMBABWE) WikiLeaks: Generals face court martial

WikiLeaks: Generals face court martial
16/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

TWO senior officers who criticised Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) chief, General Constintine Chiwenga, dismissing him as an inexperienced political appointee during secret meetings with US diplomats could face a court martial, an army spokesman has confirmed.

Secret communications from the US embassy in Harare leaked by a whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks, show that Brigadier General Herbert Chingono, the Inspector General of the ZNA and Major General Fidelis Satuku, the ZDF Director General for Policy and Personnel, made the damning remarks about Chiwenga during separate private meetings with Ambassador Charles Ray between January 5 and 6 in 2009.

Army spokesman, Colonel Overson Mugwizi, said the army is now carrying out its own investigations as the fall-out from the WikiLeaks revelations begins to unravel.

“WikiLeaks is a new phenomenon. But in internal matters to do with discipline, we investigate and then take appropriate action,” Mugwizitold the Zimbabwe Independent on Friday . “Where there is need for public consumption of the findings, we make our findings public. In this case we are likely to do that.”

Mugwizi said the officers were still reporting for duty but admitted that they could be court martialed, depending on the outcome of the investigations.

“Normally as the military, we don’t take time investigating. We will be advised by the outcome,” he said. “Court-martialling depends on the nature of the offence. Investigations will determine the next plan of action. They are (the generals) at work – remember you are innocent until proven guilty.”

Satuku and Chingono explained to Ambassador Ray the power dynamics in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the senior officers’ links to Zanu PF and involvement in violence during the disputed 2008 elections.

They allegedly dismissed Chiwenga as a “political General” with “little practical military experience or expertise”.

Ambassador Ray admitted that the officers had taken grave personal risk in agreeing to meet him adding they could easily be charged with treason.

“These two serving military officers took a grave personal risk meeting with us, and their identities should be strictly protected,” Ray wrote after the meetings.

“In the current environment, they risk being charged with treason for an unsanctioned meeting with US officials, and that could have fatal consequences.”

Chingono was the last Zimbabwe National Army commander to train at the United States National Defence University under the International Military Education and Training programme, while Satuku received his military training in Britain.

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(NEWZIMBABWE) Zimbabwe, South Africa snub Libyan rebels at UN

Zimbabwe, South Africa snub Libyan rebels at UN
16/09/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE and South Africa stood shoulder-to-shoulder on Friday in refusing to recognise the Libyan Transitional National Council – but the opposition was only symbolic as the UN General Assembly voted 114-17 to approve a seat for the rebels who toppled the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.

Fifteen countries, including Saudi Arabia, abstained from the vote. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) had called for a decision to be deferred to get more information on events in Libya.

The African Union has not yet recognised the transitional government, although individual countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Sudan have. The AU is to meet again on Monday in New York in a new bid to take a stance.

Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Lesotho were some of the SADC countries who voted in opposition to granting a UN seat for the rebels who took power with the help of military firepower from western countries led by France, Britain and the United States.
They were joined in this cause by Kenya and Latin American countries including Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has been on the record saying the Libyan uprising was a false revolution engineered by "vampires" that seek to drain the North African country's oil.

“We do not agree with the form of government that was in Libya," Mugabe said. "We looked forward to it reforming its system in its own way, not in the way they (the West) desire."
Nicaragua said it objected because the Libyan revolution against Gaddafi was backed by NATO and it was "not a real revolution."

"Revolution cannot be but authentic, not made by proxy or can never be seized by a cupola of states with clear hegemonic interests," said the Nicaraguan envoy Maria de Chamorro.

Venezuela's ambassador, Jorge Valero, called Libya's rebel leadership "a group under the guidance of the United States and NATO which has no legal or moral authority."

Cuba's ambassador Pedro Nunez Mosquera said NATO had staged "a military operation to change the regime to promote their political and economic interests." He said "thousands" of civilians have been killed in NATO airstrikes since March.

But the 193-nation assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of allowing the council's envoys to take over the UN seat of the Gaddafi regime and to participate in the debates of the 66th session.

The move allows interim government leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, to attend next week's UN gathering of world leaders in New York. Jalil is to meet US President Barack Obama and other key figures on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

The UN Security Council was to vote later Friday on a resolution that would ease economic and arms sanctions against Libya and set up a political mission in Libya to help the government organize elections and write a new constitution.
About 90 countries now recognize the transitional council, whose leaders moved to Tripoli this week.

Libya has had no official UN representative since March, when Gaddafi withdrew the credentials of the ambassador, Abdulrahman Shalgham, who went over to the rebels.

Shalgham, a former foreign minister under Gaddafi who gave a tearful speech to the Security Council in March supporting international action against the former strongman, is expected to be the transitional council's envoy to the UN.

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C/Belt PF vow not to accept rigged polls

C/Belt PF vow not to accept rigged polls
By George Chellah and Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Fri 16 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT

THOUSANDS of PF supporters on the Copperbelt have vowed not to accept defeat if the elections are rigged in favour of President Rupiah Banda. And the emotional cadres openly warned PF leader Michael Sata that they will not entertain any appeals for calm from him once it becomes apparent that the elections have been rigged.

Meanwhile, Sata told the crowd that President Banda is scared of leaving State House because he knows that he has vandalised the country. During a mammoth public rally at Freedom Park, the slogan-chanting cadres pledged not to allow those scheming to interfere with the electoral process and subsequently steal the people's victory.

The thousands of cadres and sympathisers who thronged Kitwe's Freedom Park were led into taking the oath by Get Involved Zambia executive director Fr Frank Bwalya.

"…balefwaya ukuchita rig ama elections nomba tafyakabombe, bushe mukasumina? (…they MMD want to rig elections, are you going to accept it?" asked Fr Bwalya as the jubilant crowd shouted: "Awe! (No!)."

"Bushe mukasumina?" Fr Bwalya repeated: "Awe! Awe!" shouted the crowd again.
At this point Fr Bwalya requested everybody present to raise their right hand symbolising the taking of an oath.

"Kanshi pakulekelesha bonse imyeni ukuboko mwakulakonkeleshapo ifyo nakulalanda. Ifwe fwe bena Zambia, Ifwe fwe bena Zambia! twasosa apabuta tatwakasuminishe umuntu ukutwibila amavote, pantu nishi atwibila future, ninshi aiba future yabanabesu. Uyo muntu tatwakamusuminishe natumona ichilangililo kufyalo fimbi uko bashisuminisha ama nonsense naifwe bene tatwakasumine. Nachi ilanga ati Ba Sata ebakawina!" (In conclusion, I would like each one of you to raise your right hand and repeat after me: We the people of Zambia, we the people of Zambia, we affirm publicly that we shall not allow anyone to steal our votes because that would amount to stealing our future and that of our children. Such a person we shall not allow because we have seen examples from other countries where they do not tolerate such nonsense; even us we shall not allow. It is very clear that Mr Sata will win!)", the PF supporters passionately repeated the words after Fr Bwalya in unison.

And the cadres warned Sata that they will not entertain any appeals for calm from him once it becomes apparent that the elections have been rigged.

These sentiments were being passed as Sata's vehicle struggled to pass through a sea of people mostly comprising youths that wanted to catch a glimpse of the PF leader.

"Bashikulu uno mwaka nga baiba amavote mukatuleke tukachite efyo tulefwaya pantu fwebalechula nifwebo not filya mwatemwa ati lekeni. Nga mwatweba ati lekeni naimwe bene tukamichinjisha ilinso pantu ninshi twaishiba ati naimwebene mulalyamo! (Grandfather, please this year just let us do what we want to do if anyone steals our votes because we are the ones who suffer; please do not make your usual appeals for calm. If you stop us from doing what we want to do, then we shall turn on you because we will conclude that you are also a beneficiary of this regime)," shouted one of the youths while banging on Sata's window in an attempt to catch the PF leader's attention.

And Sata's helicopter which landed at Kitwe Basic School had problems with taking off for the return trip to Lusaka as scores of excited youths clang onto it to prevent it from taking off.

"Bashikulu tabaye lelo! (Our grandfather is not leaving today!)" shouted the youths as they dusted the chopper with handkerchiefs.

The situation created panic among Sata's security personnel who swang into action by pushing the surging mob away from the chopper.

But the crowd pushed back in retaliation: "Iwe wilatutamfya tulekefye teiwe tukonkele. (Please, do not push us, we did not come here for you.)" It took passionate pleas from the PF officials in order for the crowd to allow the chopper to fly to Lusaka.

"Iwe ubenshe bwino bashikulu waumfwa ayi? (Make sure you grant our grandfather a safe flight, do you understand?)" one of the youths was heard shouting whilst pointing at the pilot.

And Sata told the crowd that President Banda is scared of leaving State House because he knows that he has vandalised the country.

He said people who were responsible for destroying the country through corruption would never go scot-free when PF forms government.

Sata said only President Banda and Dora Siliya were in a position to tell the nation how much they had received from the sale of Zamtel.

He said after September 20, the PF would bring in a new practical approach of developing the country by wiping out corruption and giving meaningful empowerment to the people.

"This country would have been destroyed further without your voice through members of parliament like Chishimba Kabwili, Wylbur Simuusa, Yamfwa Mukanga and many others. Dora Siliya and her man Rupiah Banda wanted to sell all government schools. You Zambians must say no to this corrupt MMD government," Sata said.

He said it was sad that President Banda had continued to cheat people of Kitwe that he had performed wonders through the construction of hospitals when the town still had old infrastructure.

He said the hospitals that were in Kitwe like Central Hospital and Wusakile were old and the residents have never seen any meaningful development in terms of the health sector.

Sata said the people of Kitwe have never seen development even in the education sector because schools like Helen Kaunda, Kitwe Boys and others were built by the first Republican president Dr Kenneth Kaunda.

He said the people of Kitwe should never pay attention to the lies of the MMD who were busy cheating people that Sata would destroy houses and Chisokone market in Kitwe.

Sata said he would not destroy Chisokone market because he initiated it when he was local government minister.

He said the focus of PF would be to improve the market so that people could have conducive trading places.

"I started selling council houses when I was minister of state. Chiluba came to take over from me in the selling of houses. Today they say Sata will take out houses. Where will I take them to? When Rupiah Banda gave away the houses, he never thought about the defence and security personnel," Sata said.

Sata further said he had received reports that Chinese investors wanted to block miners from voting by denying them permission.

He said investors must refrain from such schemes because they had no right of stopping miners from exercising their right.

Sata said it was sad that despite working hard and contributing greatly to the national treasury, miners were left with nothing by the MMD government that had abandoned the people.

He said the PF would work hard to correct the situation in the mining sector so that the country could see true benefits of its national resources.

Sata advised people to ignore MMD propaganda.

"These people they are saying ‘Sata is going to remove ARVs.' I brought ARVs. These people they say ‘Michael Sata will kill all old people.' Am I young myself? They say when Sata comes he will make boys marry other fellow boys," said Sata as the crowd erupted into chanting slogans: "We want change! We want change!"

Sata then called his three children Mwelwa, Chilufya and Mwango to the podium and asked them to introduce themselves to the people.

"Now can someone who is married to a man have these children?" he asked.

He also warned the state media namely the Times of Zambia, Daily Mail and ZNBC against their biased coverage of the elections.

"Ukutangila tekufika" warned Sata.

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Let's do the right thing and avoid post-electoral conflict

Let's do the right thing and avoid post-electoral conflict
By The Post
Fri 16 Sep. 2011, 14:00 CAT

IF next Tuesday's elections will be free, fair, transparent and honest, it will be difficult for losers not to accept the judgment of the voters. But if the great majority of the voters feel next Tuesday's elections have not been conducted in a manner that can be said to be free, fair, transparent and honest, it will not be easy for the losers to accept the result.

It is therefore very important that anything that may make the result of next Tuesday's elections unacceptable to the losers needs to be cleared. It is not enough for us to persuade people to accept an election result of a process they see as being unfair and fraudulent.

If election results are to be easily accepted by the losers, the primary requisite is to eradicate the possible causes of such rejection by making the whole process visibly free, fair, transparent and honest. And these should not remain just mere words to be bandied around; they have to be visible in concrete actions.

What is happening now is that the MMD and its supporters or sympathisers are trying to blackmail people into accepting an election result without regard to whether or not it was free of fraud.

Listening to Patriotic Front supporters, it seems they are very convinced that nothing other than electoral fraud will stop Michael Sata from winning this election. And there are pledges being made not to accept any result they believe to be a product of fraud. They seem to sincerely believe that without fraud, Michael is winning.

How does one convince them to accept a different result from that which they believe should be the result? For sure, it is not through blackmail or coercion. This can only be done through the organisation and conduct of elections whose fairness, freeness, transparency and honesty cannot be questioned by any reasonable person.

This can only be done by conducting elections in a manner that makes the rejection of the result unreasonable or stupid on anyone's part. Forcing people to accept the result when everything in the organisation and conduct of the election points to unfairness, malpractices or fraud will not do.

It is therefore important that those who want the losers to accept the election result should be in the forefront of demanding an atmosphere that will make it impossible or unreasonable for anyone to reject the result.

As things stand today, the suspicion of electoral malpractice and fraud is very high. And this is not without a basis. It is a suspicion based on past experience. We shouldn't forget that the Electoral Commission of Zambia failed to account for 600,000 ballot papers that were brought in late. No one to date has explained where those ballot papers went.

We also have a Supreme Court judgment by the current Chief Justice, when he was an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, rejecting the re-election of Frederick Chiluba in 1996 due to electoral malpractices. This of course was a dissenting judgment by justice Ernest Sakala. But it points to the reality, to the fact that electoral malpractices are possible in our system.

The 2001 elections also brought out great suspicions in terms of electoral malpractices. Many people, including ourselves, sincerely believe that Levy Mwanawasa did not win that election - it was rigged for him by Chiluba and his people in parts of Northern Province.

Equally, the result of 2008 election that made Rupiah Banda president also raised serious suspicions which no one, including the Electoral Commission of Zambia, has not cleared. And next Tuesday's elections will be held under great suspicion arising from the corruption of the company that was awarded the contract to print ballot papers. And this is the company that printed previous controversial elections' ballot papers.

If they can bribe some Electoral Commission of Zambia officials to get contracts, what can stop them from printing additional ballot papers for those in power in order for them to retain their contracts? Worse more in this election, this company knows very well that if Rupiah and the MMD lose this election, that will be the end of their contracts in Zambia and their agents - local and otherwise - may face corruption and bribery charges and may go to jail.

So it is in their own interest, and in their own self-preservation, to do everything possible and ensure Rupiah and MMD's victory. There is growing talk of extra ballot papers having been brought into the country illegally for the purpose of rigging next Tuesday's elections.

People are talking about it openly. No practical measures are being undertaken to increase transparency in the organisation and conduct of our elections to remove these growing or ever-increasing suspicions of rigging. People are talking of over 200 cadres who have been trained to rig elections and infused in our electoral process and our state intelligence and security agencies. There is talk of close to a million ballot papers being pre-marked and to be introduced into our electoral system to enable some candidates win.

People are talking about all these things but the response to this is less intelligent; it is not inspiring. All we hear and read are appeals to accept the election result whichever way it goes. Yes, we should all work towards coming out with an election result that is not only accepted by the winners but also by the losers. But words alone will not produce that outcome.

Practical deeds are required to render the system credible and the result from it acceptable to all the competitors and their supporters.

What will make the result acceptable to all is increasing the confidence of our people in the fairness, transparency, honesty, integrity and accuracy of our electoral system.

This can be achieved by clearing all areas, by doing away with all practices that generate or fuel suspicions of rigging or electoral malpractices. All that is needed to make people accept the election result is simply to increase their confidence in the accuracy of the results and make them feel that the result truly reflects their wishes and that the government does, indeed, rest upon their consent.

Instead of public confidence in our electoral system increasing, it has been diminishing over the years. We all know that degeneration has a limit. At some point, a crisis is bound to emerge, people are bound to rebel against what they find unacceptable. Fraudulent elections are not acceptable to the great majority of our people. And for a political party or candidate to engage in electoral malpractices, in fraud or in rigging of elections, it means that they are not popular, they are not wanted by the electorate. A popular candidate doesn't need rigging to win.

It is an unpopular candidate who needs rigging to win. And it is not difficult to guess what happens or what can happen if an unpopular candidate - a candidate who wasn't supposed to win - wins! Rejection sets in. And usually rejection is accompanied by protests. And protest can sometimes be violent, uncontrollable and anarchic.

All this can be avoided by simply doing the right thing; by simply organising and conducting our elections in an honest, transparent, free and fair manner. These are not difficult things to achieve because no one was born dishonest, or with injustice and unfairness.

We consciously or unconsciously acquire these negative things out of greedy and vanity. Let's do the right thing and avoid post-electoral conflict.

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Sale of FBZ saddens Mahtani

Sale of FBZ saddens Mahtani
By Amos Malupenga
Fri 16 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT

DR Rajan Mahtani yesterday said he is saddened to read about the government's sale of Finance Bank, the bank he struggled to build for over 20 years with other stakeholders.

And Finance Bank Zambia (FBZ) employees have expressed displeasure at the bank's new owner, South Africa's First National Bank (FNB), decision to force them to resign and re-apply for jobs without getting their redundancy packages for the many years they worked.

In an interview from Johannesburg where he has been recuperating after undergoing open-heart surgery over a month ago, Dr Mahtani, a former Finance Bank executive chairman, said he had decided to return home against the doctors' advice because he wants to continue his legal battles and prove his innocence. He said no matter how long it would take, the truth about Finance Bank will eventually come out.

"Contrary to the advice of the physicians and specialists who insist on my recuperating for eight weeks after surgery in Johannesburg, I have decided to return to Zambia and recuperate at home instead (in the fervent prayer that there would be no complications)," Dr Mahtani said.

"This will give me the opportunity of continuing the legal battles to prove my innocence to the many allegations made against me and to regain my integrity and dignity. I believe in the rule of law in Zambia and the judiciary's ability to maintain the highest ethics in the legal profession.

"I am indeed saddened to read about the sale of Finance Bank Zambia Limited which took twenty three years to establish through the hard work and dedication of all stakeholders and the employees who built a Zambian institution of pride and to whom I salute with gratitude. These matters are in court and since that makes it subjudice, I will refrain from expressing my sentiments except to assure my colleagues that ‘truth and justice will finally prevail' and that is a Biblical principle."

Dr Mahtani said he was grateful for the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ, the government of Zambia, the churches, the staff at Care for Business in Lusaka and the University Teaching Hospital, all friends and family for the support, prayers, and kindness during his ordeal of a major cardiac open heart surgery.

The surgery consisted of a quintuple coronary artery by pass grafting following his heart attack in Zambia.

"It is sad that this medical condition could have been avoided had I been allowed to seek medical reviews on a regular basis," Dr Mahtani, who was expected in Lusaka last evening, said. And over 1,000 FBZ employees are affected without government's intervention forthcoming.

According to sources at the bank, FNB officials addressed the workers on Wednesday where they told the workers to resign.

"FNB announced during a meeting at Mulungushi International Conference in Lusaka that the only way they could accept to employ us under FNB was if we could write letters to resign our positions under Finance Bank," the source said.

"But workers feel aggrieved because most of them had no plans of resigning, perhaps throughout their work career. It's very unfair for First National Bank to run away from its obligations of paying us our benefits. This situation was not caused by the workers, so there is no way we can lose our benefits which we have worked for, for as long as Finance Bank has been in existence. Some of us have worked for up to 20 years."

The sources said the government had not disclosed the details of the sale of FBZ to FNB and how it would affect the workers.

The sources said the government had not even met the workers to address their problems, particularly the resignation and reapplication process.

"According to a bit of knowledge we have is that labour laws in Zambia do not allow someone to move from one employment to another, like it is happening with FBZ and FNB, without the involvement of the union and the labour commissioner," the sources said.

"Workers don't even know their future under this circumstance. We need to understand the nature of transaction and how it affects us. FNB asked the workers to resign and accept new employment. But the workers are asking, ‘what about the years we have worked? Where are our benefits?' Let FNB declare us redundant or put us on early retirement and then pay us our money after which we decide whether to take up the job offers they are giving us or not."

The sources said FNB was only ready to pay leave days to workers, which was unfair to the employees.

"They are asking us to resign from an organisation that had conditions of services and that we should join an organisation without a signed collective agreement…no signed conditions of services, it's like verbal agreement."

The sources explained that throughout the period, December 2010 to date, workers had not been given a salary increment because the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) refused to do so under the pretext that the FBZ was under repossession.

BoZ this week announced the sale of FBZ to FNB for about K27 billion.

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Heed KK's advice, Chief Nalubamba urges govt

Heed KK's advice, Chief Nalubamba urges govt
By Roy Habaalu
Fri 16 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT

SENIOR chief Bright Nalubamba of the Ila people of Southern Province says only corrupt leaders can take offence over Dr Kenneth Kaunda's statement on peace.

Commenting on Dr Kenneth Kaunda's appeal to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to let the will and interest of the people prevail without let or hindrance so that Zambia can maintain its historical reputation as an oasis of peace and tranquility, chief Nalubamba said if people were fed up with a particular leadership, it must go.

He said the MMD government should learn from Dr Kaunda's exemplary leadership where he humbly conceded defeat in 1991.

"If people don't want you, you go! Yes, and that's why Dr Kaunda is respected. I support Dr Kaunda and I hope everybody else will follow his wise advice. He even cut short his term of office by three years just to respond to the wishes of the people. Such kind of leadership is exemplary and I hope that these young men can take a leaf from that. He did not only cut short his term, even when he was defeated, he humbly handed over power. He was a very clean man, he didn't want to think power, Kaunda is a model," chief Nalubamba said.

He said stakeholders should take heed of Dr Kaunda's concerns over the corruption of United Print group (UPG), the South African company that was engaged to print ballot papers.

On Thursday, Dr Kaunda, who has been engaged by ECZ to promote peaceful elections, said the commission's silence on the matter threatened the country's peace and stability.

"The revelation that the printing company selected to print ballot papers for next week's elections has been involved in acts of corruption with Electoral Commission of Zambia officers is a grave indictment on the election process that is currently being facilitated by the commission. This, in itself, threatens the peace and stability of our country because it undermines the credibility of our electoral process in the eyes of our people," Dr Kaunda said.

"It breeds justifiable suspicions of possible collusion and electoral malpractices that may lead to the election results not being accepted by both losers and the winners. Already, warnings are being issued of possible election rigging. It is therefore in all our interests that the Electoral Commission of Zambia rises to the challenge and deals with the complications that have been created by the revelations of the character of the company chosen to print our ballot papers to the reasonable satisfaction of all key political players.

Ignoring such a serious problem may prove to be a naïve and costly mistake that our country cannot afford."

Chief Nalubamba said the MMD wanted to cling to power because they were hiding something.

"I hope people will follow his (Dr Kaunda's) advice and whoever loses will lose with dignity and whoever wins will take it humbly as well. We need a peaceful Zambia; we don't want Zambians in pieces because of selfish leaders to destroy the country. We pray for that day, come September 20, Zambians will vote for whom they want to be president of this country and members of parliament. No threat of violence should stop them from doing that. That's my prayer," he said.

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ECZ seeks ZAF's help to transport ballot papers

ECZ seeks ZAF's help to transport ballot papers
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 15 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT

ECZ chairperson Justice Ireen Mambilima says the institution has solicited the help of four Zambia Air Force helicopters to be used in airlifting polling materials to far-flung areas.

In an interview, Justice Mambilima said the Electoral Commission of Zambia had to learn from what happened in the past, especially in areas such as Western Province and Luano valley in Central Province.

"Also some areas like Nyimba and maybe somewhere in Chama so what we have done is that we have delivered most of the non-security items and we have solicited the help of ZAF, they have availed us four helicopters which we shall use to airlift the staff and some of the polling materials required for the polling stations.

"Let me say that the problem we had in the past in places like Shang'ombo and Sinjembela is that you would send your materials there, the truck sending the material gets stuck, you are not aware that the truck is stuck. You send another, one it also gets stuck so this time around we have given our officers in those far-flung areas satelite phones so that they are able to communicate with us in case there is any problem so that we can direct the choppers where to go. So that much we have done for this election," said Justice Mambilima.

On the issue of voting two days after the official polling day in some areas, Justice Mambilima said all poll staff have been asked to be in the polling station a day before the voting day.

"We are going to pay full subsistence allowance for out of station so we are insisting that all poll staff must sleep at their respective respective stations and be able to open the station on time on September 20 so we don't anticipate that we shall have such delays. If there will be any problem we anticipate that we shall be informed because of the communication which we have unveiled to our officers in the field," said Justice Mambilima.

Justice Mambilima said the ECZ's target was to deliver all the election materials in far-flung areas such as Northern Province, Western, North-Western and Luapula Provinces, not less than 48 hours before the election date.
She said all non-security materials were already in the districts and only the ballot papers were remaining.

Justice Mambilima said ECZ staff and officers had gained a lot of experience in the conduct of elections, adding that most of them were geared for this year's polls and were working under minimum supervision.

"The challenges have been different, if you recall in 2006 we were recovering from 2001 which many people thought was not a very good election and we think that in 2006 we did our best and we had the by-election in 2008 and I can say that the officers and staff of the ECZ have gained a lot of experience. They all know what they are supposed to do, so as for me the way I'm feeling, while...we shall take the bull by the horns, this is something we are supposed to do and we are going to do it," said Justice Mambilima.

And Justice Mambilima said the entire consignment of ballot papers including those which were reprinted was in the country, and what had remained were polling station posters and pallets for Central and North-Western provinces but that they too were expected in the country yesterday Wednesday.

"We have been told that the airline when they were packing, the cargo was too much and they left eight pallets, so we have been in touch with the people concerned in Durban so they have chartered a smaller plane which would bring the pallets tomorrow Wednesday seven are for Central Province and one for North-Western, they had to break up one of the pallets because of the height so they will be eight altogether including our posters."

Justice Mambilima appealed to Zambians to turn up in large numbers and cast their votes, and observe peace by respecting the outcome of the election.

Meanwhile, earlier at the airport PF Kanyama aspiring candidate Colonel Gerry Chanda queried the ECZ deputy IT director Brown Kasalu on who would keep the keys to the warehouse where the ballot papers would be kept, to which the latter responded that it was the ECZ.

However, Col Chanda proposed that political parties should have their representatives at the warehouse, to which Kasalu said the police officers would guard the warehouse.

"But the police are part of the system" said Col Chanda as Kasalu responded: "We must learn to trust our institutions," as Col Chanda shook his head in disagreement.

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Kabimba opposes Kabonde's ‘no bond' directive

Kabimba opposes Kabonde's ‘no bond' directive
By Chibaula Silwamba
Fri 16 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT

FRANCIS Kabonde's decree that persons accused of electoral violence should not be given police bond will lead to abuse, according to Wynter Kabimba. In his letter to Kabonde, the Inspector General of Police, dated September 13, 2011, Kabimba, a Lusaka-based lawyer of WM Kabimba and Company, described the directive as arbitrary.

"On Wednesday 7th September 2011, while addressing police officers in Lusaka you issued a directive to the effect that no person arrested for an offence relating to violence during the run-up to the 20th September 2011 elections should be granted police bond by the police. Although police bond is granted at the discretion of the arresting officer, once the suspect has shown that he is of fixed abode and unlikely to commit the same offence or tamper with witnesses, police bond is almost a matter of right under our legal system," stated Kabimba, who is also secretary general of the opposition Patriotic Front (PF).

"Your decree is, therefore, arbitrary and will only lead to abuse and unreasonable exercise of police discretion against individual liberties as provided for in our constitution."

Kabimba copied his letter to the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission.
Zambians will hold presidential, parliamentary and local government elections next Tuesday.

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(HERALD) Rupiah promises EP victory party

Rupiah promises EP victory party
By Joseph Mwenda and Christopher Miti in Nyimba
Fri 16 Sep. 2011, 13:55 CAT

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda is promising Eastern Province a victory party, saying triumph for the ruling MMD in next week's elections is certain because the opposition is barren. Addressing his last campaign rally of Eastern Province in Nyimba on Thursday, President Banda said demagogues would never be allowed to lead the country.

"Victory for the MMD in next week's elections is certain, the remaining few days are very key to us. If you vote well on Tuesday, I will be back to dance and celebrate our victory here," President Banda said.

He said his strongest opposition, Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata should get ready to kiss the dust on Tuesday.

"They have to fall again. We have to defeat them as we have defeated them before. In the case of the Patriotic Front, their leader has kissed the dust three times and this will be his fourth kissing of the dust. We must show them that Zambians don't want their kind of politics because they are threatening bloodshed in this country," he said.

He accused the opposition of planning to start war if they lost the elections.
"You have seen them on TV sharpening their pangas, but don't worry, you have a very powerful government that will protect you. No demagogue will be allowed to lead this country," President Banda said.

He said the opposition made a lot of noise demanding that the election date be announced and that when the date was set, the opposition complained that it was too soon.

"They are like ngomwa, a man who fails to perform in the bedroom.

When he sees women he follows and brags that he is a real man but when a woman invites him inside the house and undresses in front of him, he begins to give excuses," President Banda said.


Ironically though, President Banda told resident in Lundazi on Tuesday that his campaign team was running out of time.

"We have to hurry, we have run out of time. We are trying to be everywhere at the same time in these remaining few days," he said.

Later after his address in Nyimba, President Banda spotted an old UNIP friend who he introduced to the crowd.

"Mwale, welakuno weo, (come here). This was my best friend. We worked together in UNIP. Awisi mphundu… eniphunzisa nane mochitila neona kuti panthawi imozi basi tubili twawela (He is a father of twins. I was also taught how to do it and I saw two babies come at once)," President Banda said referring to his twins with the first lady.

Earlier at another rally in Petauke, President Banda tried to boost Dora Siliya's morale to a non-respondent crowd that visibly attended the rally to watch music performances by Angela Nyirenda, Dalisoul, Runell, Oga Family, Kings and Diffikoti among others.

Shortly after arriving at the rally, President Banda called Siliya, who is Petauke Central MMD parliamentary candidate and conferred with her for about 10 minutes.

Siliya then forwarded her accomplice Precious Zulu to denounce The Post for publishing the story in which she revealed that she divorced her husband because he was lazy in bed.

Zulu then asked President Banda to give her 30 minutes in order for her to attack The Post , but the President refused saying: "Yayi (No) we don't have that time".

When Siliya who was in a sombre mood finally went on the podium to be introduced, President Banda came in and instructed Thomas Sipalo (Diffikoti) who is in charge of his campaign entertainment, to play a special song for Dora Siliya to boost her morale.

Siliya then spoke briefly, urging the electorate not to follow her main rival Leonard Banda because he had nothing to offer them.

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(HERALD) 300ha wheat wilts, power cable thefts cited

300ha wheat wilts, power cable thefts cited
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Agriculture Reporter

SOME Beatrice wheat farmers have begun counting their losses after over 300 hectares of their winter wheat crop is wilting due to power outages caused by electricity cable thefts in the area. The power outages have affected Nengwa, Denby and Welcome home and Innsfree farms.

The farmers say they have gone for more than two weeks without electricity and their crop is now a write off. Mr Nyasha Mangena, said the situation had gone out of hand as their crop will never recover even if electricity was restored.

Other farmers in the area were contemplating feeding the wheat to their livestock, as they no longer expect any returns.

"There have been numerous cable thefts and Zesa Holdings has been taking very long to replace the stolen equipment.

"We once had the same problem in May when we were planting and now our crop has reached the flowering stage, which requires enough water and we do not get the electricity," he said.

Mr Mangena said the thefts were so organised that some farmers were beginning to suspect Zesa Holdings officials.

"It is so strange how the thieves will quickly know that new cables have been put in place. Soon after replacement, the cables are stolen and we do not have resources to investigate," he said. Another farmer, Mr Simon Mawarure, said it was disturbing that police and Zesa officials' investigations were yielding nothing.

"The police and Zesa officials take long to investigate the issue and this is raising our eyebrows," he said.

Mr Mawarure said instead of replacing the cables, a Zesa depot manager for Beatrice only identified as Mr Nyakungu was harassing farmers and accusing them of stealing the cables.

"How can we steal the cables when we have a crop that requires irrigation and how much can we get from the cable compared to the profits we get from the land," said Mr Mawarure.

The affected farmers said Mr Nyakungu was in the habit of misrepresenting information to his superiors.

Farmers in the area have now employed people to guard the cables.

Another wheat grower, Mr Godfrey Muradzikwa, said he was now depending on generators to irrigate his crop although the other 25 hectares were now a write off.

Besides wheat farmers, the power shortages have also affected dairy, poultry and pig farmers in the area.

Mr Noël Chikuvanyanga, said he was now giving his pigs and chickens dirty water from the swimming pool.

"Now my layers are dying and I am suspecting it could be this contaminated water but I have nothing to do," he said.

The farmers appealed to the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Joseph Made to intervene.

"Minister Made is the only person who can save us because the other methods are not working," he said.

Zesa Holding spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said he needed time to investigate the issue.

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(HERALD) US ambassador admits Zim agricultural sector’s potential

US ambassador admits Zim agricultural sector’s potential
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Agriculture Reporter

UNITED States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Charles Ray recently admitted that Zimbabwe's agriculture sector had "unlimited potential for growth" and was poised to witness a "quantum growth" in the next decade if farmers got the necessary support.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with Zimbabwe's Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made to which he had accompanied the incoming USAid Mission Director, Melissa Williams, Ambassador Ray said the current climate problems were the biggest undoing to the sector.

"This makes it necessary for developmental efforts to focus on revitalising the irrigation capacity of the country to mitigate the effects of drought. Once agricultural productivity is re-invigorated, the other sectors of Zimbabwe's economy will start operating viably while farmers can also practice crop diversity and even value addition," said Ambassador Ray.

He said he had in the past season been assisting smallholder farmers doing agricultural projects in the country's rural areas with a view of increasing productivity and consequently food security.

"Last season alone we funded small projects across the country to the tune of US$300 000 while we started off with 45 000 beneficiaries, a number that later rose to 120 000.

"We are looking forward to an increase in the number of households as well as the funding this season," he added.

In expressing his appreciation, Minister Made also added that Zimbabwe and the US were to sign four agreements to enable USAid to mobilise resources for more projects to help poor rural households.

"Under the arrangement, farmers with the potential to produce surplus will also be assisted so that they produce in excess to boost food reserves and at the same time make available raw materials for

the manufacturing and processing industries.

"The funding will not be free but on loan basis. Some of the farmers may even be asked to make down payments for the loans before they can access them," Minister Made said.

Prior to meeting US ambassador, Minister Made had also met the First Secretary at the Embassy of India, Mr Mukesh Kumar who revealed that his country would be sending 33 companies to Africa under the India-Africa forum to explore ways of co-operation with African business companies.

The Indian delegation will be in Botswana from 18-19 September 2011, then Zimbabwe from 19-20 and finally South Africa from 21-22. This is a follow up to the invitation the Indian Prime Minister extended to African governments to start business partnerships with companies from his country.

The companies will seek partnerships in sectors of mining, agriculture and manufacturing among others.

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(HERALD) Tobacco clean up sales start Tuesday

Tobacco clean up sales start Tuesday
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Obert Chifamba Agriculture Reporter

TOBACCO mop up sales will start on September 20, 2011 and run until all the tobacco delivered to the floors this year has been sold. Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri yesterday said the mop up sales would be conducted at all floors.

He urged farmers who still had undelivered tobacco to take advantage of that window period. "There are chances that there are farmers who may still be holding on to their tobacco for unknown reasons or after facing challenges in beating the dates for the closing of the marketing season.

"It is such farmers who should now deliver their produce without fail," said Dr Matibiri.

In a related development, burley tobacco sales will also be conducted at Boka Tobacco Floors every Tuesday.

A total of 131 million kilogrammes of flue cured tobacco with a value of US$358m were sold at the country's four tobacco floors this year.

TIMB and other stakeholders in the tobacco industry had estimated that more than 170 million kilogrammes of the golden leaf would go under the hammer this year.

Dr Matibiri also took the opportunity to warn farmers against leaving tobacco stalks in their fields saying the deadline for stalk destruction was May 15.

There should be a dead period during which there is no tobacco or any crop related to tobacco growing in the field after one tobacco crop is harvested to break pest and disease cycles.

Meanwhile, planting of the 2011/12 irrigated tobacco got underway last week on Thursday amid indications that there may be a bigger hectarage this time around compared to last season.

"Most big farmers have indicated that they intend to increase their hectarage this season. There is still a lot of excitement about the crop and so far the number of farmers who have registered to grow the crop has doubled what we had at the same period last season," he said.

He added that from the look of things, only a quarter of the farmers expected to grow tobacco this year has registered.

TIMB would soon make the figures available, said Dr Matibiri.

"The deadline for registration is October 31 so farmers must make sure they register within the intervening days to avoid the last minute rush that has over the years seen some growing the crop without

growers' numbers," added Dr Matibiri.

TIMB has also decentralised the registration process to all tobacco growing districts to help farmers cut on travel costs.

For inputs, farmers should deal with their contractors or banks so that they get into the season adequately prepared, said Dr Matibiri.

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(HERALD) ZOU runs training programme for farmers

ZOU runs training programme for farmers
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Agriculture Reporter

ZIMBABWE Open University in conjunction with Zimbabwe Progressive Tobacco Farmers Union has launched a farmer- training programme to equip growers with requisite skills and knowledge on tobacco production.

The 14-month programme, which is being run in Marondera, was introduced after a realisation that many people were venturing into tobacco farming but lacked adequate skills thereby reducing the quality and quantity of the crop. Speaking at the a launch of the training programme, ZOU Vice Chancellor, Dr Primrose Kurasha said the university was now moving into the people to educate them.

"Every willing farmer can participate in the programme. Farmers will get certificates at the end of the programme and those willing can continue upgrading themselves up to the degree levels," she said.

The programme covers all aspects of tobacco production from seedbed to the time it is sold at the floors. The lessons also follow the tobacco calendar with the bulk of the training being done practically.

Tobacco Research Board official, Mr Ezekia Svotwa said most tobacco growers were getting low yields hence the need to educate them to boost production.

"We are having problems with farmers who do not pay detail to important aspects in tobacco production. Planting should be done timely. Some incur losses as they delay to harvest while others do not know how to grade their crop.

"This has resulted in many getting low prices for their crop at the auction floors and in the end farmers cry foul," he said.

He said the farmer-training programme was a noble one and would allow the farmers to learn together with their families.

ZOU director, Centre for Professional Development, Dr Miidzo Mavesera said the programme would begin with farmers in Mashonaland provinces and spread to other provinces.

"The tobacco cycle starts in June from the seedbed and runs to selling of the crop. We will make an evaluation after the selling season to assess the impact of the training on farmers," she said.

Dr Mavesera said the open distance learning aspect would allow farmers more time at their farms and therefore will not affect production.

There are 600 farmers undergoing training in Marondera and the programme will benefit 22 tobacco districts in the area.

Mashonaland East Provincial Governor, Cde Aeneas Chigwedere, said the Svosve people were the pioneers of the land reform and now they are pioneering the farmer-training programme.

"Tobacco production is a business that requires adequate knowledge if one is to make meaningful profit from the industry," he said in a speech read on his behalf by Marondera district administrator Mr James Chiware.

He encouraged the community to practice safe farming practices that do not harm the environment.

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(HERALD) Co-Minister Makone hails police force

Co-Minister Makone hails police force
Friday, 16 September 2011 02:00
Herald Reporters

HOME Affairs Co-Minister Theresa Makone yesterday lauded the Zimbabwe Republic Police as a disciplined and professional force. This is a major climbdown by an MDC-T senior official, whose party for a long time has been condemning the force.

Minister Makone said while the media had portrayed the ZRP as an unprofessional body, the force was indeed a professional entity that was a "source of pride". The Minister said this during a welcome reception for the ZRP team that brought 55 medals from the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-orporation Organisation held in the DRC recently.

Minister Makone said she was happy that the force had continued to raise the country's flag high. She lauded it as a disciplined force.

"ZRP has been quoted in some sections of the media for wrongdoing but today we are happy that this is a disciplined force because without discipline, you will have not achieved results like these," she said.

MDC-T has been at the forefront of castigating the ZRP as an unprofessional unit, accusing it of applying the law selectively.

The party's chief whip, Mr Innocent Gonese has since come up with amendments to the Public Order and Security Act, which seeks to limit powers of the police.

The Bill, which sailed through the House of Assembly, was shot down in Senate after it emerged that it was not consistent with the spirit of the Global Political Agreement. In presenting the Bill, Mr Gonese submitted that POSA, as currently constituted conferred too much powers to the police.

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