COMMENT - This is not an American issue, or even a British issue. This is an oligarch issue. The irony that in fact it is possible for a Zambian politician with deep enough pockets (HH, are you listening), to 'sponsor' an American senator or representative, and get pro-Zambian policies passed in the American houses of Congress. (I'm being sarcastic, but that is the system that exists today.) As we speak major political commentators are in fact lobbyists for the countries of Honduras, Georgia, and of course China. Courtesy of Citizens United, which of course is a direct assault on the sovereignty and democratic content of the nation state it was passed in.
The trillionaire oligarchs are all about the destruction of national sovereignty - national identity, national monuments, national language, national solidarity, national borders, national religion, because strong nations make for strong states, and states are the only competition that is left to them, all that is left between them and world domination. And they fear the sheer numbers of the people, so they need to manage their minds and their psychology. Also read:
Zambia: King Cobra Disappoints and Confounds
President Sata's many promises in 2011 have so far amounted to little but disappointment.
Article | 16 July 2012 - 5:15pm | By Robert Rotberg
Subordination must disappear before democracy can exist
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:20 CAT
No nation has the power to impose its will on other countries. It is said that the social furniture of modern society is so complicated and fragile that it cannot support the jackboot. And it is also said that we cannot run the process of modern society by attempting to impose our will on other nations. And those who have not learnt that are said to have learnt nothing.
We know that what President Michael Sata is saying about some foreign diplomats interfering in the domestic politics of Zambia is true. They are interfering. And they are doing so because we have allowed them the right to interfere in our politics for the last two decades.
And there is no Zambian president who has not complained, in one way or another, about foreign diplomats accredited to Zambia interfering in this country's domestic politics. Dr Kenneth Kaunda used to complain about such interference. Frederick Chiluba did the same. And even Rupiah Banda complained about foreign interference in the domestic politics of this country. Therefore, the threat to expel foreign diplomats accredited to this country if the government finds that they are interfering in Zambia's domestic politics is justifiable and not without basis.
We therefore urge those concerned to realise that if they are to live in the world and to be be regarded as decent nations, decent citizens in the world, they have to act up to different standards than the ones they have so far been following.
The democracy they talk about cannot be realised by any of our countries under the conditions they are imposing on us - conditions of subordination.
The subordination of one country to another must disappear before democracy can exist. How can a country that is subordinated to another country, politically and otherwise, be democratic? Under such conditions, the whole political system becomes nothing but a tool of imperialism for maintaining its domination.
Michael did not mention the countries involved in the interference he is complaining about. But we can mention those countries. It is the United States and British missions in Zambia.
Professor Robert Rotberg was brought here by the United States embassy in Lusaka to do what he did.
This is the article that got things going (also read the comments):
Zambia: King Cobra Disappoints and Confounds
President Sata's many promises in 2011 have so far amounted to little but disappointment.
Article | 16 July 2012 - 5:15pm | By Robert Rotberg
The professor has also written: China Into Africa - Trade, Aid, and Influence, by Robert I. Rotberg
From the description at Amazon.com:
" About the Author
Robert I. Rotberg directs the the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and is president of the World Peace Foundation. He is the author or editor of numerous books including Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations (Brookings, 2007), Building a New Afghanistan (Brookings, 2007), and Battling Terrorism in the Horn of Africa (Brookings, 2005). "
Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation is Alex de Waal.
And also from Think Africa magazine:
" Robert Rotberg
President Emeritus of the World Peace Foundation
Robert I. Rotberg is President emeritus of the World Peace Foundation. An American professor in governance and foreign affairs, he was director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict, Conflict Prevention, and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government (1999-2010), and has served in administrative positions at Tufts University and Lafayette College. In 2003-2004, he served as a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Africa, and was a Presidential appointee to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities."
Also, here he blames the effects of the World Bank's structural adjustment programmes on Africa's leadership. He doesn't mention that Asia moved ahead by steadfastly ignoring the three horsemen of the neoliberal economic apocalypse, deregulation, privatisation and free trade. In the Rockefellers' Council on Foreign Relations's (CFR) magazine Foreign Affairs, from back in 2000:
Africa's Mess, Mugabe's Mayhem, by Robert I. Rotberg
And from 2010, inferring that President Mugabe is Adolf Hitler:
(FOREIGN AFFAIRS, CFR) Mugabe Über Alles
The Tyranny of Unity in Zimbabwe
By Robert I. Rotberg
July/August 2010
Did he or Foreign Affairs complain about democracy and apartheid when their Anglo-American Corporation freely benefited from both colonialism and apartheid, systems put in place largely if not completely to execute on their business plans? But now, President Mugabe is 'a tyrant', a title they never applied to, say, the South African president under apartheid or any white minority regime in the 1970s or 1980s. They thought it was 'normal' exclude 90% of the population from national elections, when it came to Africa. Anyway...
From Keith Harmon Snow:
BLOOD DIAMOND
DOUBLETHINK & DECEPTION OVER THOSE WORTHLESS LITTLE ROCKS OF DESIRE
Rick Hines & keith harmon snow
PEACE IS WAR, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
In 2001, the World Peace Foundation Program on Intrastate Conflict at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government organized a conference on conflict diamonds that “involved stakeholders of diverse interests.” WPF program director Robert Rotberg chaired the meeting. Rotberg also directs the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Human Rights, whose directors are the core of the defense and intelligence establishment, men like John Deutch, former CIA director, and Richard Darmam, partner, Carlyle Group. The Harvard diamond conference actually normalized De Beers’ relations with the U.S. Government: De Beers reps received a special government amnesty to attend the conference after years of exile from the U.S. due to anti-trust law violations.
In 2002 the WPF produced a report Diamonds in Peace and War: Severing the Conflict-Diamond Connection. The report lauded the Kennedy School’s efforts based on a rush of activity that followed the conference at the end of November 2001.[31] The “rush of activity” included the U.S. government’s Clean Diamond Trade Act (H.R. 722), born in November 2001, passed in April 2003. All bluster and polish, the Act gave the U.S. President authority to institute “War on Terror” sanctions against any country that deals in dirty diamonds. The U.S. General Accounting Office noted in 2006 that the law is weak and deeply flawed. Since at least 1996, the campaigns of Russ Feingold (D-WI), who co-sponsored the Senate version, have been frequently funded by Leon Tempelsman & Son (1, 2). (Who also contributes to ZDERA co-sponsors Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.)
Comment - Russ 'The Progressive' Feingold was one of the co-sponsors of ZDERA (along with Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Jesse Helms), which put the Zimbabwean government under a credit freeze through Section 4 C. The language in this section he tried to continue in his personally sponsored Zimbabwe sanctions law, the Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2010. And then he mysteriously lost his senate seat.
SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY.
(d) Multilateral Financing Conditions- The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to oppose any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe unless...
{exemptions follow}
Maurice Tempelsman was heavily involved in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, worked for Lazard Freres and De Beers, and as such is basically the Rothschild's representative. This would also explain the centrality of both the language about the DRC and diamonds in both the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 and the Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2010. (Gossip: he was also a companion to Jackie O., also see here.)
Maurice Tempelsman is also close to the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 co-sponsor, Hillary Clinton, and her husband Bill. From the Washington Post, from 1997:
" A longtime companion to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Tempelsman has been a guest at the Clinton White House nearly a dozen times, enjoying two private chats with Hillary Rodham Clinton. He flew to Moscow and back with President Clinton on Air Force One in 1995, and has accompanied the president and first lady sailing on Martha's Vinyard during their vacation trips. "
Source: (WASHINGTON POST) DNC Donor With an Eye On Diamonds
By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 2, 1997; Page A01
NM Rothschild provided "funding for the creation of De Beers in 1887", which trades and mines 40% of the world's diamonds. Zimbabwe has 20% of the world's known diamond reserves in the Chiadzwa and Marange diamond fields.
- MrK
The British High Commission in Lusaka, together with DFID, are also involved in similar things. They have all sorts of activities that are aimed at giving them some say in the politics of this country. Even their programmes to help 'strengthen' our political parties are also aimed at that. They have been bringing in all sorts of 'researchers' for the same purpose.
We have no doubt that what they are trying to do in this country they would not allow anyone to do in their own countries. What the United States and British diplomats are doing here, our diplomats cannot do in their countries.
But let's not be naive and forget that all these foreign missions are here to serve the interests of their own countries and not ours. But sometimes we have been so naive to think that whatever they think is correct and good for us. And as such we have been very eager to work for them against the interests of our own country.
Some opposition politicians and other civil society elements think the only way to succeed is to be assisted and promoted by these missions. But this is clearly not true because the Patriotic Front won last year's elections without money or the political support of these missions. And our whole liberation struggle in this region succeeded without them. They were actually on the opposite side. They were the sympathisers of Apartheid and white minority regimes in our region. We fought them and triumphed.
And let's not also forget that the problems in Zimbabwe, the decimation of that country's economy are partly due to their interference in the internal affairs of that country. But in Zimbabwe they met their match. For more than a decade, they have failed to impose their will on that country in the way they are doing in other countries. They wanted a regime change, they didn't get it in Zimbabwe.
[Partly? Knowing the sequence of events and the role of the knowing destruction of the Zimbabwe Dollar, I would say all of it is Blair and Bush administrations' doing. They wanted to prevent the success of land reform, which was a raging success in the first two years (2000, 2001) until the implementation of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, going into effect on Jan. 1st 2002. Only from 2002 onwards did we see the destruction of the Zimbabwe economy. - MrK]
A regime change will come in Zimbabwe and this is inevitable. But it will not be, and should not be, because of their will and their interference. Change should come in Zimbabwe as a result of the people of that country's desire and will to change their political leadership; as a result of a growth in the confidence in the power of ordinary Zimbabweans to transform their country, and thus transform themselves. This is the type of democracy we are seeking and should be seeking - a growth in the appreciation of people organising, deciding, creating together.
It is not a secret that the Zimbabwean opposition is under their control and funded by them. The opposition leadership in Zimbabwe is, in one way or another, an agent of theirs. We don't want the same to happen in Zambia. We want political parties that truly arise from the people and are pushed into power by the support of the people and not through the machinations of British or American imperialism.
We have been very quiet on these issues for many years and it's time we start resisting; it's time we started denouncing this undesirable behaviour which is not even in accord with acceptable international norms as stipulated under the Geneva Convention.
No one from our part of the world tells the Americans or the British how they should govern themselves. Even when we try on matters of common global interest, they never listen to us; they always do as they please.
Here, the United States ambassador or British high commissioner is made to believe he is at the same level with the president of our Republic. How is this possible? Is it simply because they represent rich and militarily very powerful countries? Look at the arrogance! Look at the lack of respect! What is its source? Is it money? What is it? Is it imperial might?
[Who owns Anglo-American De Beers? - MrK]
They are entitled to be treated with great respect by all of us because they are representatives of nations of people we respect and love. Zambians love the British people a lot. And they have a duty to love them. And no British citizen should be mistreated by anyone in this country. We have a long history we share and we have a future we can share through cooperation and solidarity. But that has to be a product of mutual respect and solidarity. We would like to see more British people come and invest and settle in this country and make it their homeland.
Equally, no Zambian has the right to hate, mistreat or humiliate any American citizen. Many ordinary Americans supported the liberation struggles of our region, sometimes against the wishes and positions of their government. We have no right to be ungrateful to them. We have a duty to respect and love them and indeed defend them when they are unjustifiably attacked by some insane people like it happened on September 11, 2001.
But again that type of solidarity and love is only possible under conditions of mutual respect and reciprocity.
It is time our politicians and other leaders from civil society start to see the world the way it really is. What is needed here is a government of the people by the people for the people, to borrow from Abraham Lincoln's wisdom. What we need are governments that arise from the people, have the support of the people and devote themselves entirely to working and struggling for the people and the people's interests.
And moreover, democracy implies the defence of all the rights of citizens, including the right to independence, freedom, national dignity and honour. There can be no independence, freedom, national dignity and honour in a country whose president and other political leaders are remote controlled by the missions of powerful countries.
We can't have a president of a country who is controlled by remote by the missions of the financially powerful countries. We can't also have opposition leaders whose political agendas are designed by the foreign missions of the United States and Britain in our country. Yes, they have the money and through their agencies they can fund a lot of things. But we should not allow this to be a ticket for their interference in the domestic affairs of our country. We don't want political parties that are run by these missions to decide the destiny of our country.
There is need for patriotism on this score. There is need for vigilance on this issue. We need to be fully aware of what damage this interference can do to the self-confidence, dignity, honour and independence of a people, a nation.
And we close this comment with some guidance from the apostle of our independence struggle on this score:
"No Zambian diplomat is allowed in any way at any time in the country he has gone to serve Zambia to interfere with the affairs of that country. This is not allowed by the government. Any diplomat who does that will be dealt with very severely. In the same way, we expect those who come here as diplomats from other countries never to interfere in our own affairs."
Labels: AMBASSADOR, HILLARY CLINTON, MICHAEL SATA, NEOCOLONIALISM, TREASON
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Sata warns diplomats - Diplomats interfering in domestic politics will be expelled
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:30 CAT
ZAMBIA will expel foreign diplomats accredited to the country if the government finds that they are interfering in domestic politics, says President Michael Sata.
President Sata yesterday warned "some ambassador", who was in the habit of going directly to State House without seeking appointment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to respect Zambia's territorial integrity.
President Sata said this at State House when he received credentials from newly-appointed German Ambassador to Zambia Bernd Finke, Somalia
Ambassador to Zambia Mohammed Hassan Daware and Nigeria High Commissioner Sitemu Inu-Umoru Momoh, and conferred justice minister Wynter Kabimba as State Counsel.
"Remove this habit, you can speak to me on the phone but don't make a habit to see me," President Sata said.
"Go through foreign affairs. I am not going to mention the names of those ambassadors who have the habit of thinking 'I can go to State House'. Even if in your own house, if your own son or your own daughter is in the toilet, you can't go in. Please go to foreign affairs and foreign affairs will clear you but we will always like to exchange… and you ambassadors and high commissioners, find time to tour Zambia."
President Sata said some ambassadors accredited to Zambia were interfering in the country's domestic politics because natives were indolent.
"Because you are being so lazy, you are being idle, that's why some of the embassies are trying to entertain or interfere in our internal politics. I am sure you know what I mean by that," President Sata told Ambassador Finke.
"If you want to interfere in our internal politics, you are under the Geneva Convention, and it will be very embarrassing for His Excellency or Her Excellency to be expelled from a country where they have gone for tour of duty. Please stay away. Leave our internal politics to ourselves and because some are boasting that we are going to be funded by such and such…at the moment, we have our intelligence within your own missions; before they report to you, they have already told us what's happening."
President Sata told foreign diplomats accredited to Zambia to visit beyond Lusaka.
"Go to all the 10 provinces. Go to all the districts so that you know all our difficulties," he said.
And Sata said Zambia was happy that the Nigerian government was helping Zambia to probe an oil deal in which Rupiah Banda's regime allegedly paid for oil to Nigerian dealers although the commodity was never delivered.
"Please convey to His Excellency President Goodluck Jonathan; we are very grateful that without the current government in Nigeria, we would have not known for the oil which we paid for which has never arrived in Zambia and with the help which we are getting from you country, we are very grateful and we are always," President Sata told High Commissioner Momoh.
And President Sata said the government was ready to be sued for the planned cancellation of the concession agreement of the Zambia Railways from Railway Systems of Zambia.
President Sata told Kabimba to work with the government's legal team to ensure the country's interest in the running of Zambia Railways was protected.
"Yesterday, some man was threatening to take me to court and I am waiting for him to come and serve me with the writ of summons," he said.
"Some man from Zambia Railways, you have a number of people who will assist you with that. There are so many things which…Zambia is our country and we only have one country and we have no any other country. You have capable hands to work with. Some of them are very radical, some of them are very radical. Like the Attorney General is very gentle like a pastor."
He also urged Kabimba to help in justice delivery system in the country with a focus on improving conditions of service for judiciary officers.
"Prisons are for poor and illiterate people. Let's bring justice to the people…people working in justice are working in deplorable conditions," said President Sata. "We have shortages of courtrooms, manpower. I have seen your predecessor asking me to fire a judge for failing to write judgment. The conditions, we still have some retired judges who have gone without writing judgments."
Kabimba replaced Sebastian Zulu as justice minister.
Labels: JUDICIARY, MICHAEL SATA, RAILWAY SYSTEMS OF ZAMBIA, WYNTER KABIMBA
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'Concessioning of railway line was a raw deal'
By Moses Kuwema in Lusaka and Roy Habaalu in Sesheke
Fri 07 Sep. 2012, 10:29 CAT
THE Railway Systems of Zambia says it is fully committed to discussing and clarifying any issues related to the concession agreement for Zambia Railways for the sake of the nation and the company's employees. And an expert says the concessioning of Zambia Railways Limited to New Limpopo Project Investment was a raw deal for the country.
Responding to a press query following President Michael Sata's directive to justice minister Wynter Kabimba to examine the Freight and Passenger Concession Agreement between the government and Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL), RSZ and New Limpopo Bridge Projects Investment Private Limited, RSZ deputy general manager for corporate affairs Charles Phiri said his company would always respect Zambian laws and the president.
"So far RSZ has received conflicting reports on the actual content of the press conference and is now in the process of studying the information received.
However, suffice to mention that RSZ has been and will always respect the Zambian President and leadership, Zambian laws and the Zambian nation and will therefore be fully committed to discuss and clarify any issues which are related to the Concession Agreement for the sake of the nation and company employees," Phiri said.
He said the authorities in the country have over the years been misled on the concession agreement.
Phiri said there have been attempts by various interested parties and individuals to reverse the government's decision to privatise the Zambia Railways through a Concession Agreement.
"In the course of these attempts, these parties and individuals have misled the authorities in Zambia with unfounded allegations and misrepresentations. Many of these attempts to undermine the Concession Agreement were made by parties who formerly enjoyed unrealistic commercial terms from Zambia Railways for its transportation services. In addition, following the privatisation process and signature of the Concession Agreement, other parties and individuals felt under pressure because they could no longer act freely and treat the Zambia Railways' assets their own, by, for example, stripping the company of its assets for their own gain at ridiculous prices," Phiri said.
Phiri said the situation prior to the Concession and the establishment of RSZ led to the bankruptcy of Zambia Railways and its inability to pay employees' salaries.
He said furthermore, pensions and social benefits for railway employees were non-existent and basic rights were not being fulfilled and as a result, the authorities came to the conclusion that they could no longer run the railway independently and decided that the solution lay in privatising Zambia Railways.
"The bidding process was managed by the World Bank, with the willing participation of ZPA and all other official stakeholders. RSZ won this bidding process and started its activities. RSZ negotiated the Concession Agreement on the basis of putting in place acceptable and normative commercial terms. As a result, RSZ were able to run the railway successfully without the need of government subsidies. Furthermore, the Company's employees and their related salary benefits such as pensions were now secured and respected," he said.
Phiri said RSZ inherited a very old rail network, which had been neglected for many years.
He said RSZ had invested in renewing and upgrading the railway network in a long-term, cost-effective programme of works.
Phiri said the company had approached the relevant authorities on numerous occasions with appeals to support its services but that this was met with limited success.
"The company's competiveness has been further damaged by vandalism to the railway line and equipment and ineffective policing where trouble-spots are identified. Furthermore, the RSZ has been hampered by non-competitive terms when required to pay a Road Levy in its fuel costs, thereby subsidising its competitors," he said.
Phiri said despite the fact that the passenger service should have been handed back to the government under the Concession Agreement, RSZ accepted the government's request to continue operating it.
He said if the government was now seeking a more rapid pace for railway sector infrastructure improvements to meet its own and the country's needs, they would have to cooperate with RSZ in sourcing additional finance to support a faster and expedited cost-effective upgrade plan.
In March 2000, the MMD government decided to concession the freight and passenger services of Zambia Railways to the private sector.
After a process of competitive bidding, the then Zambia Privatisation Agency (ZPA) awarded the concession to Railway Systems of Zambia.
And on February 14, 2003, the MMD government signed a Freight Concession Agreement with RSZ and on August 18, 2003 signed the Passenger Concession Agreement.
RSZ took over operations of Zambia Railways Limited on December 3, 2003. The concession covered the whole inter-mine railway network on the Copperbelt as well as the long haul railway network from the Copperbelt to Livingstone.
On Wednesday, after swearing in Kabimba, President Sata emphasised the need for the government to look into the Concession Agreement with RSZ in order to preserve the national railway infrastructure from further deterioration given that RSZ had failed to invest in the railway assets and improve operations; and to allow government to reposition itself in improving the railway sector which was critical to the country's economic development.
But Phiri could not address the concerns raised by the head of state regarding RSZ's failure to invest in the railway assets and improve operations.
Meanwhile, Ernest Silwamba, a railway engineer, said in the nine years that RSZ had been operating the railway line, it had deteriorated to unbelievable standards.
He said during its time, RSZ had not done any maintenance on the tracks and abandoned the main workshops in Kabwe, the former headquarters of the railway company.
"In the last years before concessioning in 2002, Zambia Railways used to move 1.8 metric tonnes of goods but from the time RSZ took over, this declined to about 700,000 metric tonnes. The train speed has reduced from 65 kilometres per hour to 20 kilometres per hour for both goods and passenger trains because of a deteriorated railway track because there was no maintenance. Traffic volumes have gone down," said Silwamba.
He said the concessioning of the railway line did not add value to the country as RSZ was using machinery left by Zambia Railways.
According to documents obtained by The Post, RSZ had stopped servicing the local industry but was moving goods from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the concessioning agreement among its many objectives, RSZ was supposed to inject fresh capital to enhance service delivery and ensure workforce is adequately motivated and well remunerated.
But documents reveal that the workforce had reduced from 1,500 to about 500 employees.
"RSZ is no longer servicing the local industry like the mines, Chilanga (Larfage) Cement, Ndola lime and the government through products like fuel, maize and cattle, instead, they are now moving their own products like sulphur, coal bought from South Africa. Sometimes coal is bought from Wange in Zimbabwe but by agreement they are not supposed to do that. RSZ only paid US$150,000 as entry fee in the first quarter and stopped paying concessioning fees to the government," the document read in part.
Meanwhile, the Southern Africa Railway Association (SARA) said Zambia under RSZ was the worst performing in the region.
The association according to its submission to the government under MMD stated that there was need to repossess the railway line because the country had not benefited economically.
"Tanzania and Mozambique got back their railway lines after they realised that the countries were not benefiting while Zimbabwe refused to concession its line to the private sector. The government under MMD was under pressure from the World Bank to concession Zambia Railways to the private sector which is now a failed project. Under ZRL rehabilitation works had started and by now works would have ended by now. All RSZ did was to get and enjoy the money. After take over, they got all ZRL coaches, wheels and kept them elsewhere and when ZRL demanded for them there was no explanation and for now the coaches are vandalised and reduced to scrap," read another document submitted to the ministry of transport and communication then.
The concessioning was to last for 20 years according to the agreement.
Labels: PRIVATISATION, RAIL, RAILWAY SYSTEMS OF ZAMBIA, WYNTER KABIMBA
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Police dare UPND to go ahead with rally
By Allan Mulenga
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:10 CAT
POLICE in Lusaka has warned opposition UPND members of arrest if they go ahead with their planned rally in Kanyama Compound. But SACCORD says there is no need for the police to stop the UPND rally, especially that they had earlier on sanctioned it.
Police have cancelled the UPND planned rally in Kanyama saying officers had been deployed in Ndola to police the Zambia Vs Uganda match today, but the opposition party has vowed to go ahead with their rally.
In an interview yesterday, Lusaka Province police commissioner Solomon Jere urged the UPND to heed police instructions to cancel the rally slated for tomorrow.
"The police have said there will be no rally. Those who want to go to the rally in Kanyama will be conducting unlawful assembly and they will be arrested. Let them go there at their own risk because we shall be there to make sure that we enforce the law," Jere said.
"As police, we are not involved in politicking. Let them stay away from the rally, we don't want to be blamed. We have warned them in advance and we are not joking. If they want to test us, let them go ahead and they will see!"
He said that Kanyama Compound was a volatile area which needed adequate security personnel.
"Kanyama is very volatile area. That is an area where you need adequate security personnel or else they the UPND will be lynched and they will be the first people to attack us. They should know that not everybody in Kanyama is UPND," he said.
Asked on assertions by some quarters that the tomorrow's Zambia-Uganda game which police had given as reason for cancellation of the UPND rally was not convincing, Jere said
the police had other security commitments that he would not disclose to the public.
"We have security commitment which we cannot disclose. Of course, apart from that, we have got the soccer match and then the conferment (of freemen of the city of Lusaka status) of the national team players here in Lusaka after the soccer match. We have got various 'potholes' of criminal activities that we need to cover. Even that, it depends on our action and advice to those who want to conduct public procession," he said.
On assertions by UPND senior officials that the police's decision was politically motivated since the law requires that a party gives notice, Jere dispelled the claims and said the move was purely based on police operational reasons.
"I know that the UPND will say that this is because of political instructions. We can advise even in less than 24 hours to stop doing whatever somebody intends to do because there is life at stake. We have that mandate to do that.
I know that they are talking about the expenses and so on, but what is more valuable, life or those expenses? They have argued that we have never covered them in their political activities, this is a different government. This government wants us to cover everybody and we are doing that," said Jere.
But Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) information officer Obby Chibuluma said the move was a clear attempt by the police to deny the UPND members their constitutional right to assemble and express themselves.
Chibuluma said Jere ought to know being an educated person that the current public order Act had received interpretation by the Supreme Court which clearly stated that the police had no power to license people's meetings.
"The judgment also makes it clear that the police do not have the powers to deny citizens these rights, but rather, have a responsibility to ensure these events receive police protection. Dr Jere wants to use the excuse of the Zambia vs. Uganda match as a reason to suspend people's rights; one is left to wonder whether football is more important than rights which our people are supposed to enjoy. How can the police cancel the UPND rally 'until further notice' as though it were a police event?" he asked.
"We therefore find it strange that the police want to take this country back to the old days when they violated people's rights with impunity going by the way they administered the public order act."
Labels: POLICE, SACCORD, UPND
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UPND sides with govt on Sinjembela development
By Roy Habalu
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:20 CAT
Sinjembela UPND member of parliament Njeulu Poniso says
it is retrogressive for the opposition not to work with the government. And transport, works, supply and communication deputy minister Colonel Panji Kaunda has ordered the demolition of the district commissioners' office that houses other government departments, saying it was poorly done.
During a conducted tour of the new Shang'ombo district hospital scheduled to be handed over to the government at the end of September Poniso, who accompanied Col Panji said he would continue working with the government to ensure development of the people, adding that constant criticism by the opposition on the government's performance would retard development.
Poniso also said the roads in his constituency were pathetic and required the government to work on upgrading them.
The MP then embraced Kaunda and thanked the government for consistently sending ministers to remote areas of the province to see how people were living.
"Our common goal is to see that people develop and that infrastructures are constructed. I belong to government because I am a legislator, so all of us are government because when we see government officers coming, we need to work together. That's why we are appealing to government to quickly come and look at our problems. We cried and now we have a post office constructed, so we want them to come and construct houses. You can't commission a post office without houses; where will the post master stay?" he said.
"We have to partner because at the end of the day all of us will be praised because when I push government and they come through all of us will benefit. We in opposition advise government and if they get our advice they will have achieved what we told them and our people will benefit from that. Therefore there is no such thing as 'these are government officials and these are opposition'; we are all in government."
Earlier, Col Panji told Shang'ombo district commissioner Martin Mwauluka that works on his office were shoddy and that contractors should be recalled to reconstruct it to required standards, adding that it was this kind of negligence that was deterring the government from progression.
"The district commissioners' office must be pulled down. Why should we have such a poor structure between two modern structures? The magistrates' office and the post office are modern and then you have a ramshackle for the DC! It's useless, it must be pulled down; they just went to the archives and got what my father left. We can't have such a structure. This is what you find in Nyimba buildings that were left by Kenneth Kaunda," said Col Panji.
Meanwhile Poniso said that since two schools in Sinjembela have remained closed since January this year, teachers had subsequently been transferred to other schools.
"As I am talking to you, at Lupuka Basic School and Sinjembela Basic School, there is not even one teacher, so in terms of staffing levels, we have nothing and that's the biggest challenge. So as government employs new teachers, they should concentrate on rural areas. These schools have been closed since January and children are just staying at home," he said.
Labels: PANJI KAUNDA, UPND
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Give up party position, Mambo urges Kabimba
By Ernest Chanda in Lusaka and Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:28 CAT
BISHOP John Mambo has asked justice minister Wynter Kabimba to relinquish his party position in order to de-link the party from government.
"Let him relinquish his party position because we cannot go back to the Second Republic where the party secretary general had also a government portfolio. This has a danger of taking us back to the days of 'the party and its government', which later resulted in a one party state. Otherwise, Wynter has done well so far in local government and we expect him to deliver in the Ministry of Justice as well, especially in fighting corruption and carrying out judicial reforms," said Bishop Mambo who is Chikondi Foundation president.
He said the fight against corruption needed a person with a strong character like Kabimba, especially in a situation where there was a lot of public expectation.
"We have cried for judicial reforms for a long time now and the situation has been desperate still. And we need to fight corruption with vigour because corrupt people have stood up to fight back. Therefore the situation needs to be presided upon by a courageous person like Wynter. Looking at the public expectation from this government on that score, Wynter is the right person because we know that he stands by his position, even in the face of enormous opposition," Bishop Mambo said on Tuesday.
"These corrupt elements have turned themselves into generals and they have ganged up against the Zambian people who are pursuing them. They will not sleep until they fight back, so you cannot treat such people with tenderness. You need a general also in the name of Wynter to hold the bull by its horn. Some people may not like him but I think he will deliver, just like he did in local government."
And Reverend Richard M'bao said Zambians expected Kabimba to succeed in creating an institution of justice that could secure the country's democracy.
Rev M'bao, chairperson of the Pastors Forum for Eastern and Southern Africa, said Zambians expected Kabimba to play a pivotal role in transforming the judiciary to ensure equitable access, efficient and effective delivery of justice.
He said corrupt judges that have compromised judicial integrity and exposed the institution to serious ridicule must be gotten rid of.
Rev M'bao said Kabimba must consider his appointment as a turning point for the country's judicial system, adding that Zambians would never have confidence in the judiciary if radical measures were not taken to stop corruption that had deprived the poor of the much-needed access to justice.
"Kabimba has a proven record of excellence in his career as a lawyer and politician. We have been told he is a man of integrity who has over the past years organised the PF as a party well and contributed significantly to the change of government by making the PF a credible party. We expect his vast experience as a legal practitioner to help stop the miscarriage of justice the country has experienced over the past years," Rev M'bao said.
He said transforming the Judiciary and restoring its integrity calls for political will and the new minister of justice must play his part in a professional manner to the satisfaction of Zambian.
Labels: JOHN MAMBO, WYNTER KABIMBA
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3 ZNS trainees die in training
By Mwala Kalaluka and Kombe Chimpinde
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:29 CAT
THE Zambia National Service command has dispatched several of its health personnel to Kabwe Training Camp following the death of three recruits during military training over the last two weeks, according to sources.
And a relative of Rosalyn Chanda, one of the recruits who died in the course of training at the ZNS camp, insists that the deceased was severely beaten and starved by the instructors prior to her demise.
Ministry of Defence sources told The Post yesterday that Chanda, 25 was the first recruit to die after she was admitted to Kabwe General Hospital, where
the other two were also later referred to.
"The matter was actually being dealt with by police officers at Prospect Police Station," the source said. "The girl was vomiting blood."
Other sources said the ZNS top brass had dispatched medical personnel from some of its other camps dotted countrywide to the Kabwe camp with the aim of attending to the recruits' health needs and to also carryout random medical tests on the over 600 recruits and those who were found unfit to continue with the training are being told to leave.
The sources said the ZNS medical personnel would be at the camp until around December when the recruits are expected to complete their training.
And Chanda's relative who sought anonymity said in an interview yesterday that although the postmortem examination conducted on Chanda did not establish the cause of death, it was clear that she died due to intense beatings.
The source said Chanda secretly complained of the beatings they were getting in a phone conversation with her relatives between July 20 and 22, 2012 and where she informed them that she had since been admitted to the Camp clinic for about four days as a result.
"You know when they are in there, they are disconnected from the rest of the world. They are not allowed to make calls but she managed to make a secret call to inform us that she was admitted on 22nd July 2012 a few days after she got in camp," the source said.
The source said Chanda complained of excruciating pain and swelling of the body.
"A week later, she was vomiting severely but they kept her, maybe because they were hiding the fact that she was severely beaten," the source wondered.
The source said on August 18, the family was shocked to receive information of Chanda's sudden death.
The source said a named lieutenant colonel who is the training commander, explained that Chanda had died after experiencing a health complication caused by twisting of her intestines and vomiting.
The source said the family learnt that Chanda had been admitted with the condition for a week and later evacuated to Kabwe General Hospital where she was pronounced dead within two hours of admission.
The source said a private meeting held with the pathologist that had conducted a postmortem on Chanda could not however confirm their suspicions over her death.
"I was told another guy in the camp had died in his sleep, while another girl had remained unconscious for two weeks in Kabwe General Hospital. I do not know if she is still alive," the source said.
The source said Chanda did not have a history of health complications and that she had gone through all the necessary health tests, including HIV before being incorporated in the training.
About 658 trainees where recruited in the routine ZNS training, whose training is strictly military.
ZNS director of public relations Lt Col John Ndhlovu said he had to gather the facts before he could deny or confirm that three recruits had died during training at the Kabwe camp.
Labels: ZNS
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Magande ready to provide facts on RSZ Concession Agreement of 2003
TIME PUBLISHED - Friday, September 7, 2012, 7:22 pm
Former Finance Minister, Ng’andu Magande has called on President Michael Sata to constitute a commission of enquiry into the Zambia Railways Concession Agreement of 2003.
Magande who signed the agreement on behalf of government, says he is ready to give information regarding the concession, once called upon. He says as a former custodian of government property, he is obliged to put the record straight.
Mr. Magande has told ZNBC news that it is important for government and the public to know and understand issues surrounding the concession agreement.
And Railway Systems of Zambia Chief Executive Officer, Benjamin Even has said his organization is committed to discussing and clarifying the various issues over the concession agreement.
Mr. Even has told ZNBC in a statement that his organisation will respect the process to be determined by the government.
On Wednesday, President Michael Sata directed newly appointed Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba to revisit the Railway System Concession agreement.
ZNBC
Labels: DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS, MICHAEL SATA, NG'ANDU MAGANDE, ZAMBIA RAILWAYS
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President Sata dares RSZ to sue him , confers State Counsel (SC) title on Wynter Kabimba
TIME PUBLISHED - Friday, September 7, 2012, 3:12 pm
President Michael Sata has dared Railway Systems of Zambia to go ahead and serve him with writs of summon.
On Wednesday, President Sata directed Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba to use all legal means at his disposal to return Zambia Railways to the rightful owners the Zambians.
President Sata says he is aware of the threats and is patiently waiting for the writs of summons.
And President Sata has instructed Justice Minister Winter Kabimba to ensure that problems being faced by prisons in the country are addressed.
He notes that it is difficult for justice to prevail when the Justice department is operating in a deplorable condition.
President Sata says there is need to ensure that citizens do not fear the law but instead need to be protected by the law.
He was speaking at Statehouse this morning when he bestowed Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba with the honor of State Counsel.
And speaking when he received letters of credence from three foreign envoys accredited to Zambia, President Sata cautioned diplomats in the country not to interfere with the country’s internal politics.
President Sata has also advised diplomats to change their habit of visiting him at Statehouse without following the right procedure of going through the ministry of foreign affairs.
The three envoys that presented their letters of credence are Somalia’s Mohamed Hassan Daware, Sifamu In-umoru Momoh of Nigeria and German’s Bernd Finke.
And speaking when he presented his credentials, Germany Ambassador to Zambia, Bernd Finke disclosed that a group of German businessmen is in the next few months expected in the country to explore more investment opportunities.
QFM
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, RAILWAY SYSTEMS OF ZAMBIA, WYNTER KABIMBA
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Full text: Locardia Karimatsenga affidavit
Wedding bells ... Tsvangirai plans to wed new love Elizabeth Macheka on September 15
07/09/2012 00:00:00
by
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE CASE NO…………………/12
HELD AT HARARE
In the matter between:
LOCARDIA KARIMATSENGA APPLICANT
AND
MORGAN RICHARD TSVANGIRAI 1st RESPONDENT
AND
ELIZABETH MACHEKA 2ND RESPONDENT
AND
BISHOP KADENGE 3RD RESPONDENT
AND
THE REGISTRAR GENERAL
TOBAIWA MUDEDE 4TH RESPONDENT
APPLICANT’S FOUNDING AFFIDAVIT
I, LOCARDIA KARIMATSENGA, do hereby make oath and state that:
1. I am the Applicant in this matter and the facts stated herein under are to the best of my knowledge and belief, true and correct. My address for service for purposes of this matter is c/o Messrs Venturas and Samukange, corner third street and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Harare.
2. The 1ST Respondent is Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, my husband the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe and the President of MDC- T, whose address for service is c/o the Prime Minister’s Office, Munhumutapa Building, Samora Machel Avenue, Harare.
3. The 2nd Respondent is Elizabeth Macheka, the second wife to the 1st Respondent and who the 1st Respondent is proposing to marry under the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11, whose address for service is 49 Kew Drive Highlands, Harare.
4. The 3rd Respondent is Bishop Kadenge, who is the Bishop of the Methodist Church, whose address for service is Central Avenue, Harare.
5. The 4th Respondent is the Registrar General and custodian of marriage registry documents, who is cited herein in his official capacity as such and whose address for service is Makombe Complex, corner Herbert Chitepo and Harare Street. The fourth Respondent has been cited in his official capacity, and is responsible for issuing the marriage certificate and registering it as such. The 3rd Respondent actually acts as his agent. He is capable of withdrawing the marriage and preventing the 3rd Respondent from issuing out the marriage certificate.
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6. I would also want to give details as regards the 3rd Respondent. The 3rd Respondent is going to preside over the marriage ceremony on the 15th of September 2012. See Annexure A, which is the wedding invitation. He is required in terms of tradition not to proceed with the marriage if any party including myself has any complaint against the parties getting married. Because of the status of the 1st Respondent, I would not get an opportunity to appear before the 3rd Respondent and object as required by tradition. In terms of tradition, the 3rd Respondent upon receiving my objection is supposed to adjourn the ceremony. This is not going to happen because I will not be allowed to appear before him at the ceremony on the 15th of September 2012.
7. I must point out that the aforesaid objection is only made at the ceremony before the parties are united in Holy Matrimony. I should hope and trust that after receiving this application, the 3rd Respondent will not proceed in performing the marriage ceremony as he is now aware that I am objecting to my husband marrying the 2nd Respondent.
8. The 1st Respondent is my husband who is married to me in terms of our customary law which marriage still subsists. The marriage details are contained in my affidavit in the application for maintenance under MC 2712/12, attached hereto as Annexure B.
9. The 2nd Respondent is the second wife of my husband, whom he has married in terms of African Customary Law but whom 1st Respondent is proposing to marry in terms of the Marriages Act, Chapter 5:11. This forms the basis of the present application.
10. This application is urgent for the following reasons;
a) The 1st and 2nd Respondents have invited people and are intending to get married on the 15th of September 2012, almost a week from today.
b) I only became aware firstly through rumours and only confirmed this today, the 6th of September 2012 when I managed to get hold of Annexure A and confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt that the 1st and 2nd Respondent intends to get married next week.
c) The intended marriage between 1st and 2nd Respondent is to effectively divorce me by operation of law.
11. Unless this Honourable Court stops the marriage, the 1stand 2nd Respondent will be married within the next 7 days. It is for this reason that this matter is very urgent. I have no other remedy other than to approach this Honourable Court for the relief I seek. As can be seen in the letter to the 1st Respondent, I have tried to engage my husband in the hope that these issues can be resolved amicably. My husband, I believe is still angry with me for the miscarriage. My husband I believe could be suffering from a psychological and mental problem as a result of this miscarriage
My husband has been looking forward to having a child with me and the issue of the child had bonded us very very close and he has not accepted the fact that I have had a miscarriage. The miscarriage has mentally devastated him and is using me as a scape goat. I have not blamed him for the miscarriage. I have accepted it as God’s will. My husband has not come to terms with this. He is mentally unstable in that he has gone to marry the 2nd Respondent whom he met a few months ago, whom he had not even introduced to his family and his family still considers me as his wife. This shows his mental state and that is why I question his mental ability to even engage in this marriage. I believe that he is taking his frustrations of the miscarriage by marrying the 2nd Respondent. I believe my husband needs psychological evaluation and assistance.
12. Despite all I have said above, I love him very much and would want to remain married to him. I believe that his psychological problems can be resolved by him seeking counseling from qualified psychologists or mental specialists. I have known him for a long time as we had been dating for some time before he married me. He is a good man and if he seeks psychological and psychiatric assistance, he can return to his old condition of being a caring and loving husband.
13. The basis of seeking an interdict against all the Respondents is for the following reasons,
a) If my husband marries the 2nd Respondent next week, by operation of law, I will seize to be his wife. This is the advise I have received from my lawyer, Mr Jonathan Samukange.
b) I will not be entitled to any of the privileges and rights that I have been entitled to as a spouse, such as conjugal rights, love, affection and companionship.
c) The marriage I have contracted with my husband in terms of African Customary Law and Tradition is potentially polygamous and this is the reason why when he married the 2nd Respondent I did not complain or protest. If my husband married the 2nd Respondent it mean I can no longer have sexual intercourse with him as this would mean if I were to do so I would be committing adultery.
14. I have been advised by Mr Jonathan Samukange, my lawyer that a number of other disadvantages will flow if my husband married the 2nd Respondent in terms of the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and that I will suffer irreparable prejudice. I must point out that my husband has never said it in my face that he no longer loves me. As stated above and in Annexure B, my husband has not spoken to me from the day I miscarried and when I was informed of the same.
15. I have a right to stop my husband from marrying the 2nd Respondent and I have no objection to him being married in terms of the African Customary Law as the 2nd Respondent is his second wife. That I am prepared to live with and to condone but I am not prepared to allow my husband to marry the 2nd Respondent in terms of the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and thereby rendering my marriage to him, which still subsists, void.
16. I must also point out that I will not give up my right to be my husband’s first wife. I believe I am entitled to protect my interests and rights and I can only do so by coming to this Honourable Court.
17. WHEREFORE, I pray for an order I terms of the draft.
THUS DONE AND SWORN TO AT HARARE THIS 7TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2012.
SIGNED ……………………………………………….
LOCARDIA KARIMATSENGA
BEFORE ME …………………………………………………….
COMMISSIONER OF OATHS
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE CASE NO…………………/12
HELD AT HARARE
In the matter between:
LOCARDIA KARIMATSENGA APPLICANT
AND
MORGAN RICHARD TSVANGIRAI 1st RESPONDENT
AND
ELIZABETH MACHEKA 2ND RESPONDENT
AND
BISHOP KADENGE 3RD RESPONDENT
AND
THE REGISTRAR GENERAL
TOBAIWA MUDEDE 4TH RESPONDENT
CERTIFICATE OF URGENCY
I, TAWANDA KANENGONI, a legal practitioner practicing under Messrs Munangati and Associates do hereby certify that this matter is urgent for one or more of the following reasons;
1. The 1st and 2nd Respondents are due to be married within the next seven days on the 15th of September 2012.
2. Applicant will suffer irreparable prejudice if 1st and 2nd Respondents proceed to marry on 15 September 2012 in that her marriage to the 1st Respondent, which still subsists, will become void by operation of the law.
3. The Applicant is entitled to protect her interests and rights as 1st Respondent’s wife. The law cannot allow a legally married wife to suddenly become a nobody without following the proper procedures prescribed.
4. If the 1st and 2nd Respondents get married, the Applicant’s rights including love, affection, companionship and consortium ominus vitae will be terminated by law.
5. I submit that this matter is of extreme national interest and should be resolved by the court on an urgent basis. The nation and the international community at large is interested in the outcome. This matter has been reported internationally and is on the electronic media today and has been on the Herald, Daily News and Newsday.
6. The effect of the event scheduled for the 15th of September 2012 is to render Applicant divorced to the 1st Respondent. This would mean that any post association of Applicant with 1st Respondent would be adulterous. This is obviously untenable and must be stopped now.
7. It is for these reason that this matter must be treated with urgency and the prominency that it deserves and that it should be allowed to be argued on the merits and urgency it deserves.
DATED AT HARARE THIS 7TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2012.
SIGNED ………………………………………………..
TAWANDA KANENGONI
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ZIMBABWE CASE NO…………………/12
HELD AT HARARE
In the matter between:
LOCARDIA KARIMATSENGA APPLICANT
AND
MORGAN RICHARD TSVANGIRAI 1st RESPONDENT
AND
ELIZABETH MACHEKA 2ND RESPONDENT
AND
BISHOP KADENGE 3RD RESPONDENT
AND
THE REGISTRAR GENERAL
TOBAIWA MUDEDE 4TH RESPONDENT
PROVISIONAL ORDER
TAKE NOTICE THAT on the ……………. day of September 2012, Honourable Justice …………………………….. sitting at Harare, issued a Provisional Order shown overleaf. The annexed Chamber Application, Affidavits and documents were used in support of the Application for this Provisional Order.
If you intend to oppose the confirmation of this Provisional Order, you will have to file a Notice of Opposition on Form No. 29B, together with one or more opposing affidavits, with the Registrar of the High Court at Harare within ten (10) days after the date on which this Provisional Order and Annexures’ were served upon you. You will also have to serve a copy of the Notice of Opposition and affidavit/s on the Applicant at the address for service specified in the application.
If you do not file an Opposing Affidavit within the period specified above, this matter will be set down for hearing in the High Court at Harare without further notice to you and will be dealt with as an unopposed application for confirmation of the Provisional Order.
If you wish to have the Provisional Order changed or set aside sooner than the Rules of Court normally allow, and can show good cause for this, you would approach the Applicant’s Legal Practitioners to agree, in consultation with the Registrar, on a suitable hearing date. If this cannot be agreed or there is a great urgency, you make a Chamber Application to notice to the Applicant for directions from a judge as to when the matter may be argued.
DATE ………………………………………………
TERMS OF THE FINAL ORDER
1. That the Respondents are called upon to show cause why a final order should not be made in the following terms;
1. That the 1st and 2nd Respondents are interdicted from marrying each other in terms of the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11) on the 15th of September 2012 or any other day.
1. That the 3rd Respondent and any other priests in his church or any other church are interdicted from consummating the marriage between the 1st and 2nd Respondent on the 15th of September 2012 or any other date.
1. That the 4th Respondent be interdicted from issuing a marriage certificate to the 1st and 2nd Respondents.
1. That the 1st Respondent pays costs of suit at an attorney and client scale.
INTERIM RELIEF GRANTED
Pending the return date and the determination of this matter, it is hereby ordered that:
a) That the 1st and 2nd Respondents are interdicted from marrying each other in
terms of the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11) on the 15th of September 2012 or
any other day.
b) That the 3rd Respondent and any other priests in his church are interdicted from marrying the 1st and 2nd Respondent on the 15th of September 2012 or any other date.
c) That the 4th Respondent be interdicted from issuing a marriage certificate to the 1st and 2nd Respondents
DATED AT HARARE THIS 7th DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2012.
………………………………………………….
BY THE JUDGE/ REGISTRAR
Labels: COURTS, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
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Tsvangirai 'mentally unstable': ex-lover
Marriage doubts ... Morgan Tsvangirai and new love Elizabeth Macheka
07/09/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
MORGAN Tsvangirai is “mentally unstable” and needs urgent “psychological evaluation”, his estranged wife Locardia Karimatsenga sensationally claimed on Friday as she launched a court bid to stop the Prime Minister’s marriage to his new love, Elizabeth Macheka.
Karimatsenga, whose marriage to Tsvangirai lasted 12 days last November before the MDC-T leader publicly announced they were splitting, insists in court papers that their marriage is still subsisting.
She claims in court papers that Tsvangirai “has never said it in my face that he no longer loves me”, while admitting that the 60-year-old stopped all communication with her after she miscarried their baby.
Locardia, who is represented by top lawyer Jonathan Samukange, says Tsvangirai’s decision to get engaged to Elizabeth barely six months after marrying her during a customary ceremony in Mt Darwin points to someone who is unstable.
“My husband, I believe, is still angry with me for the miscarriage (and) could be suffering from a psychological and mental problem as a result,” she said.
“My husband has been looking forward to having a child with me and the issue of the child had bonded us very close and he has not accepted the fact that I have had a miscarriage. The miscarriage has mentally devastated him and he is using me as a scapegoat.
“My husband has not come to terms with this. He is mentally unstable in that he has gone to marry Elizabeth whom he met a few months ago, whom he had not even introduced to his family and his family still considers me as his wife.
“This shows his mental state and that is why I question his mental ability to even engage in this marriage. I believe that he is taking his frustrations of the miscarriage by marrying Macheka. I believe my husband needs psychological evaluation and assistance.”
[Ex-wife, divorce court, take it for what it's worth. - MrK]
Tsvangirai’s lawyer, Innocent Chagonda, dismissed the application, claiming it was driven by politics.
“There is absolutely no basis at law for the order sought. The only thing we can think of when looking at the papers, is that it is meant to either politically harass the PM or settle personal issues through abusing the court process,” he said.
In her affidavit, Karimatsenga said the September 15 wedding would effectively deny her “privileges and rights that I have been entitled to as a spouse, such as conjugal rights, love, affection and companionship.”
“If my husband married Elizabeth, it would mean I can no longer have sexual intercourse with him as this would mean I would be committing adultery.”
Karimatsenga says she is customarily married to Tsvangirai – the most common form of marriage in Zimbabwe in which the man pays lobola (bride price) for the woman and is effectively married.
Zimbabwean law recognises three types of marriages – civil, registered customary union and unregistered customary unions.
Unregistered customary unions – the most common in Zimbabwe – are not considered as valid marriages for the purposes of sharing property acquired during the existence of the union, although they are applied in inheritance and guardianship.
The law obliges a man in a customary union to have the marriage registered, with the threat of prosecution for those who fail to comply. But legal experts say there is no record of such prosecutions.
If Tsvangirai marries Elizabeth under the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11), his new marriage – a civil union under the law – would supersede any other marriage and forbid him from engaging in a romantic relationship with any other woman.
Chagonda said: “The Prime Minister says no to the claims that Karimatsenga is his wife. Even if what she claims is correct, there is no basis for the order sought.
“If such applications are granted, then no-one will ever wed in Zimbabwe. Even girlfriends will stop legitimate weddings.”
Tsvangirai initiated traditional marriage rites with Locardia last November but announced they were splitting within days, claiming state security agents and political rivals had hijacked the intended nuptials to damage his reputation.
By then, Karimatsenga had moved in with Tsvangirai’s mum in rural Buhera to complete the marriage rites. She stayed there for two months before returning to Harare where she claims Tsvangirai leased a pad for her.
Karimatsenga insists Tsvangirai never formally divorced her, adding the MDC-T leader was just upset after she lost their baby through a miscarriage.
She said she still loved Tsvangirai and had no objection to him taking a second wife under customary law.
“I have no objection to him being married in terms of the African Customary Law as Elizabeth is his second wife,” she said.
“That I am prepared to live with and to condone, but I am not prepared to allow my husband to marry her in terms of the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and thereby rendering my marriage to him, which still subsists, void.
“I must also point out that I will not give up my right to be my husband’s first wife. I believe I am entitled to protect my interests and rights and I can only do so by coming to this Honourable Court.”
She is seeking an order from the High Court stopping Tsvangirai from marrying Elizabeth; an order directing a Methodist bishop from marrying the couple and an interdict against the Registrar General from issuing the couple with a marriage certificate.
In a separate lawsuit filed Wednesday, Karimatsenga is demanding US$15,000 in monthly spousal maintenance from Tsvangirai, who is known to pay maintenance to Bulawayo woman Loreta Nyathi, with him he had a child in 2010 – a result of brief fling.
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
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COMMENT - More courage. Neoliberals don't need to be taught graft by anyone. Trying to blame ZANU-PF for the corruption shown by the MDC is a matter of cowardice.
Tsvangirai’s politics of self-enrichment
07/09/2012 00:00:00
by Courage Shumba
WHAT on earth is Morgan Tsvangirai thinking moving into a multi-million dollar mansion, paid by the taxpayer, amid chronic poverty, failing hospitals, ruined railway and road infrastructure, homelessness and acute joblessness in a country in which he is the Prime Minister?
What exactly are Tsvangirai’s priorities as he wakes up and goes to bed each day? What truly are the motivations of this man as he accommodates himself in a grandiose mansion whilst sewers are bursting all around Harare and going for weeks without being repaired? How is he different from the Solomon “Koka Kola” Tavengwa's, that late ex-mayor who built himself a sprawling mansion in a sea of poverty?
What sort of culture is it that allows politicians to use public resources for purposes of making themselves comfortable? What sort of characters would partake in such a culture without challenging it? Are such characters truly the messengers of the depressed, oppressed and deprived majority of our people?
Clearly, Tsvangirai is not a modest man. He is not even a patriot. He is a man obsessed with shallow pleasures demonstrated by his weaknesses for women and wealth. He is a man who loves to treat himself to flashy and expensive nice things. He is not embarrassed to be using millions of taxpayer money on himself in a manner so public when his public responsibilities as a Prime Minister are telling him to watch the purse.
For how long have civil servants been calling for a stipend against hardship caused by low pay? Tsvangirai's slap in the face message to these poor workers is to demand a mansion for himself and his wife. In total, the bill to the taxpayer is said to run into $3.5 million.
It makes no difference that this mansion is taxpayer-owned. What matters is that Tsvangirai, against his better judgement, allowed himself the luxury of a million dollar house at a time most of his countrymen could have better benefited from all that money in a very public way. That tells us something very unpleasant about the Prime Minister and his choices. He is a man who puts himself first before his country and people.
Tsvangirai's actions clearly demonstrate that the MDC-T is not a viable alternative to Zanu PF. If anything, these two are sides of the same coin. His actions are a statement of man who is easily swayed, easily satisfied, easily forgetful and stupidly dishonest if not corruptible.
Does it not concern him that the University of Zimbabwe has no running water and that the thousands of students there would want government to act?
Tsvangirai’s calibre of leadership is worrying in that it seeks from the very onset to display overt self interest without shame or guilt. This is a leadership that seeks luxury and pleasure from offices that must serve. The worst thing that can happen to Zimbabwe is for its people to be handed over from Mugabe's mob to this hungry wolf clan.
traigh
The time has come to call a spade a spade. This man called Tsvangirai is a liability to the struggle for a democratic and equitable Zimbabwe. He acts without thinking, without budgeting, without insight, without foresight making his words and actions all a political boomerang that comes back st for his neck and in the process costing everyone, everywhere very dearly.
There is no evidence that such a leader wants any fundamental change. He wants to be part of the looting, milking lot. Nothing more. He is an empty head. A man like him must never be allowed to be in power for whatever reason.
In Tsvangirai, one can see the likes of Mobutu Seseko and other unsavoury characters that are easily readable who are a high risk liability to the security and well being of a nation because of their gullibility.
The nation and supporters of the MDC-T should have learnt from the Ben Manashe incident that Tsvangirai is unfit for leadership. Today, within a few months of tasting power, he is consumed by it. Yet this is not the power that he holds on any mandate save that two freaky political outfits usurped the authority of the people and formed some shaky administration to accommodate one another.
What a tragedy it would have been had such a character proceeded to become a full executive state president! We would be in trouble.
Because of his own display of self interest as a celebrity politician, Tsvangirai must step down if the MDC-T must stand as an alternative to the politics of self enrichment which he now personifies. His new style adds to his long history as a trade unionist – a dark and ugly mercenary outlook. To save face and the party, Tsvangirai must walk out the door and let someone else takeover.
The people of Zimbabwe are still suffering hence the need for a leadership that continues to focus on the delivery of basic necessities: clinics, drugs, farm inputs, good roads and education. Tsvangirai must remember that the energy ministry which is overseeing the electricity crisis, led by Elton Mangoma (MDC-T) could have done with the US$3,5 million lost to his palatial new residence.
Tsvangirai exhibits a strong Zanu PF naturalisation in many of his ways. He holds on to power within the MDC-T as if only he can topple Mugabe. In the process, he changes rules and orders to weaken the party by dividing it to remain in control. He speaks left and acts right.
[And how does the MDC blame ZANU-PF for this? - MrK]
To simplify it, Tsvangirai has never been really a man of the people has he? He ran away from the liberation struggle and left other cadres to fight for his freedom in the bush whilst he fended for himself and his family. He is at it again now in free independent Zimbabwe, using scarce public resources to build himself a mansion amid suffering and deprivation. What sort of a cowardly, cold-hearted leader is this excuse of a Prime Minister?
Those University of Zimbabwe students, if they had any fight left in them, they would pay the new home a visit and demand clean water from there. To have a man like this as a candidate for president is a kick in the teeth for those who want to see far reaching political and legal changes in how Zimbabwe is governed.
Tsvangirai is completely unelectable. He has no message, no vision, no clear heartfelt driving spirit behind him: all one can see is just the greed of a celebrity politician who wants to get into power to live large.
That is not acceptable. Someone somewhere must know that it will be wrong for this kind of man to end up in a position where the whole country must rely on him. It’s a real, breathing risk our country can’t take.
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI
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South Africa and Angola to collaborate on infrastructure development
July 22, 2012
Luanda, Angola
South Africa and Angola, through the Regional Spatial Development Initiative Programme (RSDIP) and the Industrial Development Institute of Angola (IDIA), have signed an agreement on technical cooperation.
The agreement is aimed at further stimulating infrastructure development in Angola, according to South African deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe on Sunday.
“The intention of the agreement is to support the infrastructure development that is currently taking place in Angola and make sure that small and big industries are supported through such programmes,” Thabethe said.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Thabethe said the South African government was committed to taking the implementation of the programme to the next level, as infrastructure development was high on Pretoria’s priority list.
Angola’s deputy Minister of Geology, Mines and Industry, Kiala Gabriel, said the agreement would assist with the infrastructure backlog that his country was currently facing.
“We acknowledge the work done by the South African government and businesses in our country. We are now saying our market is ready for investment and cooperation with other countries,” Gabriel said.
The agreement emanates from the Memorandum of Understanding on Trade and Industrial Cooperation the Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies and his counterpart in Angola signed in 2009.
The agreement also marks a great step forward for South Africa – Angola relations. South Africa had until 2009 largely ignored the Angolan market and South African business activity in that country was mostly driven by private businesses mainly in the IT and financial sectors and such businesses rarely liaised with the South African government.
The move also opens great opportunities for an ailing South African economy, with Angola needing an estimated ZAR 20bn spending on infrastructure following years of civil war. Angola is also a top exporter of oil and draws the greatest foreign direct investment (FDI) on the African continent; mostly from China, Russia and Brazil.
- Political Analysis South Africa/APA/SAN
Labels: ANGOLA, INFRASTRUCTURE, SOUTH AFRICA
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COMMENT - It is the question to ask, however the article doesn't answer the question. Why and who charged the surviving miners under the old 'common cause' laws apartheid was so famous for? Is the ANC sending a message to the business community? If the ANC is behind the prosecution, and not some local prosecutor. The article doesn't say.
Who’s behind the Marikana murder charge?
Posted by: Michael Trapido
Posted on: August 31, 2012
Posted in: News & Politics
The decision to charge the protesting Marikana miners who were arrested by police with the murder of their 34 colleagues who died at the hands of the authorities is patently misguided. In this regard not only will the state’s efforts to prove the necessary dolus required for murder remain elusive but the alleged employment of common purpose as a means of tying everyone together appears to demonstrate ignorance about where this doctrine has application.
This aspect of the charge has been covered elsewhere by colleagues and will not be repeated here, what I would like to question is the motive behind utilising it.
Why charge these protesters with murder?
The answer lies in the impact of the charge rather than any sustainable belief that the state will be able to secure any convictions.
If the Marikana miners are up on a charge of murder their prospects of obtaining bail are drastically reduced. Murder is a Schedule 6 offence requiring the accused to demonstrate exceptional circumstances that make it in the interests of justice that they be given bail.
If the accused fails to discharge that onus he or she could spend years in jail awaiting trial.
As my learned colleagues are aware, multiple accused often means substantial delays in getting to trial. One need only have regard to the Boeremag trial to understand that where you have many accused the task of getting everyone the necessary documents, finalising applications and getting legal teams to agree trial dates is a nightmare.
Where you have over 200 accused it does not bear thinking about.
The questions therefore are why would anyone try to incarcerate these accused for years, over charges which are clearly unsustainable and in respect of which the cost involved in keeping them imprisoned and running a trial of this magnitude appears prohibitive?
If you can answer that then you will also be able to tell us who is the driving force behind the decision to do so.
The fact that the decision was made before the inquiry designed to ascertain what transpired on that terrible day has even begun its work says a lot about vested interests pulling against each other and demonstrates clearly the problems experienced in allowing politicians and others to tamper with the criminal justice system.
Labels: MASSACRE, MINING, STRIKE
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COMMENT - Lunacy is the attempt to justify the continuation of neoliberal economic theories in the face of their abject, repeated and spectacular failure. The more dubious statements are in italics, the ones I agree with in boldface.
State capacity key to economic growth
Posted by: Lee-Roy Chetty
Posted on: September 7, 2012
Posted in: News & Politics, Perspective
Historically, in the developing world, active macro-economic and industrial policy on the part of the state is more often than not greeted with pessimism and scepticism. This very prevalent competency and trust-deficit emanates from valid concerns that the state — specifically in the developing world — is often too inefficient and too corrupt (sometimes both) to successfully and efficiently implement policy pertaining to balanced economic growth and development, both in their own country and region.
But despite the shortcomings of government, real and imagined, the state realistically remains the only viable institution able to manage and facilitate the required large-scale economic and social development that can influence levels of employment, the production and allocation of goods and services, the distribution of income and assets that can ultimately be held accountable for its decisions and policy implementations by its citizenry through the process of democratic elections every election cycle.
Within this framework it has become increasingly imperative that state actors reduce various crippling institutional weaknesses they experience to ensure greater levels of development in their countries. Counter-productive variables such as corrupt bureaucracies, inefficient markets, weak state-run institutions and ineffective public services must be urgently addressed.
For any successful state to ensure inclusive economic growth and development for their citizens, governments must strengthen and solidify their own state capacities. Once this is achieved it would facilitate the promotion of cooperation as well as the deepening of various institutional networks crucially required by non-state actors – such as the private sector – to ensure sustained long-term growth and innovation, specifically in a context where traditionally market failures have been consistent.
Specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, various states in the region over the past few decades have failed to successfully implement the required structural adjustment programmes required to promote and facilitate the required levels of inclusive growth desperately required in the region. The nefarious combination of macro-economic austerity, unrealistic levels of rapid liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation not only contributed to a failure to create and produce a supply-side boom, but also counter-productively, set the region back economically. This led to productivity growth in most sectors in the region stalling which in turn exponentially grew the informal economy throughout the region with negative consequences.
However over the last decade overall GDP across the region has grown consistently at an average of 6% a year. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development this translates to approximately 3% of real per capita growth. In addition growth has also been widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa with only a handful of economies in the region contracting. There was of course a steep downturn experienced in 2009 due to the devastating effect of the global financial and economic crisis but in the sub-Saharan region overall growth rates have managed to remain largely positive.
While the welcomed economic growth is incredibly encouraging it’s important to understand the nature and context of this growth. The fact that there has been a wide variation in individual state economic performance across the region is largely due to the exponential growth rates of oil and mineral-producing countries. Added to this, in terms of comparing the economic growth with other developing world regions, sub-Saharan Africa still lags behind East and South Asia in terms of economic growth and development.
To ensure more balanced and equally dispersed levels of economic growth and development in the coming decades it’s crucial an alternative and equally realistic development agenda be implemented by various state policymakers in the region.
This development agenda will require a more fluid connection between macro-economic policies coupled with tighter sectoral measures that would prove vital in effecting long-term structural transformation in various state economies in the region.
Measures which could be implemented to achieve this sought after – yet elusive – structural transformation include;
* Building a solid policy framework that takes into account a strong growth/investment/employment axis.
* A real focus on active fiscal measures that would include counter-cyclical measures and a greater commitment to public investment.
* A crucial management of monetary policy that would focus on ensuring interest rates remain low and conversely, exchange rates remain at stable and competitive levels.
In addition to the potential policy framework measures and considerations outlined above, various countries in the region must also place greater emphasis on positioning their respective states in a wider regional and global context. This would include greater importance and focus on developing “South-South” links and relations beyond the region. Through developing greater relationships with trading partners in South-South nexus this would potentially also align strategic economic ties with other countries around the world in terms of trade, foreign direct investment, finance and technology.
The reality of attempting to induce and ensure economic growth and development in the uncertain times we’re experiencing is proving to be challenging for many states. Therefore countries must be more innovative and creative when it comes to economic policy development and implementation.
A more flexible approach that is still able to operate within the remit of the rules and norms of economic development and growth strategies will prove crucial for raising the probability to success for developing world countries, specifically in an African context in the decades to come.
Labels: DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE (SOUTH AFRICA), NEOLIBERALISM
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Vavi: Marikana an 'exploding bomb'
07 Sep 2012 13:22 - Sapa
The violent protests at Lonmin's Marikana mine reflected an "exploding bomb" created by poverty and inequality, says Zwelinzima Vavi.
"We have warned over and over again that South Africa is sitting on a ticking bomb – the recent Marikana mine massacre was an exploding bomb, sending an alarm signal to us all, [saying] 'Wake up, do something about this situation'," the Congress of South African Trade Union's (Cosatu) general secretary said on Friday.
"That seems to be a very clear message, not just from the workers in Marikana, but across the mining industry."
Vavi was speaking at the annual summit of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) on the East Rand.
He said it was unsustainable for the country to maintain its current levels of inequality. Youth unemployment required particular focus.
"If we fail to provide these young people with the hope of work and an income, the consequences for us all will be catastrophic," he said.
"Very many of the unemployed youth should in fact be at school, acquiring skills and increasing their employability potential."
'Free-market policies'
South Africa could not claim to have achieved the goals of the national democratic revolution when wealth was still unevenly distributed.
"The Freedom Charter ... and the Polokwane ANC conference resolutions are at one in rejecting neo-liberal, free-market policies," he said.
"They all insist that the state must intervene to plan the use of the country's resources in the interests of the people."
Vavi said more needed to be done in furthering education in the country, which was one of its "most powerful weapons in our struggle against poverty and inequality".
"We must retain our best teachers and provide professional support in order to improve the quality of education," he said.
"The salary structures of teachers must motivate them to remain in education and help us to lay the foundation to produce the knowledge [for] workers of the future."
– Sapa
Labels: MASSACRE, NEOLIBERALISM, ZWELINZIMA VAVI
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Diamonds: treasury gets 9pc of US$456m
06/09/2012 00:00:00
by Garikai Chaunza
ZIMBABWE sold diamonds worth about US$456 million by August this year but Treasury only received US$41 million from the proceeds, Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said.
“We are disappointed to note that diamond revenue continues not to reach the treasury. If we look at diamond sales as of the end of August, we had sold Diamonds worth US$456 million,” Biti told NewZimbabwe.com Thursday after presenting his monthly economic review statement for last month.
“Mbada Diamond Company sold gems worth at least US$200 million and Anjin Investments about US$125 million but nothing was remitted to the Treasury.”
Four companies, all of them joint ventures between the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and private investors, are operating at the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the eastern Manicaland province.
However, Biti said the country was not benefiting from what officials claim to be one of the world’s richest diamond finds in recent years and called on his Mines counterpart to ensure transparency in the exploitation of the gems.
“So we are pleading with the Mines and Mining Development Minister, Obert Mpofu, to give us the diamond money so that we can be able to pay our struggling government workers,” he said.
“We are also saying Mpofu give us the diamond money so that we give some of it to the Energy and Power Development Ministry for electricity. If we get that money we will also be able to pay school fees for the country’s vulnerable children.”
Biti has since cut his 2012 national budget from US$4 billion to about US$3,4 billion blaming poor revenue inflows from diamond mining where he had expected about US$600 million this year alone.
The Chiadzwa diamonds remain a source of constant friction in the coalition government with Biti and his MDC-T party accusing Zanu PF of deliberately diverting the revenues from Treasury.
However, some of the companies operating in the area said Biti overstated the potential contribution of diamond sales when he put together his 2012 national budget and was now trying to blame them for his mistake.
Labels: DIAMONDS, OBERT MPOFU, TAXATION, TENDAI BITI
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