(STICKY) (TALKZIMBABWE) MDC-T embarassing behaviour in Kenya
This article was written by Our reporter on 11 July, at 04 : 11 AM
A PLAN by the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Prime Minister Mr Morgan Tsvangirai to grab international attention through tantrums on Thursday in Kenya flopped spectacularly when it was exposed and resisted by alert organisers.
The plan, hatched around MDC-T youth leader Solomon Madzore (pictured) involved smuggling the regime change and security sector reforms agenda in an exchange programme for peace building for youth leaders from Zimbabwe and Kenya.
The event, organized by Silveira House has youth representatives from Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations.
Silveira House is an NGO founded in 1964 by the Jesuits in the person of Fr. John Dove.
According to sources who attended deliberations held at Chemchemi Ya Uzimba, a nunnery in Nairobi Kenya, MDC-T’s Madzore threw a fit after Zanu-PF politburo member and youth secretary general; Lesley Ncube was assigned by the Zimbabwean delegation to do closing remarks at the event.
Kudakwashe Munengiwa of the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube was given the slot to make opening remarks. Seeing that, there was no slot for the MDC-T, which had, according to sources, a dossier on alleged Zanu-PF offenses; Madzore led his team outside the plenary discussions hoping to attract media attention.
“They walked out of the meeting room sloganeering and shouting. The scene was just unpleasant and annoyed the organizers.
“Such attitude and behaviour was unexpected and intolerable from a party that claims to be a party of excellence,” said a source.
When the MDC-T stunt was ignored, the party’s representatives decided to boycott meals and threatened to stay out the hotel – this annoyed the organizers, sources say.
Political parties from Kenya who were present are the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), Forum for Restoration of Democracy (FORD), Amani Coalition and Jubille.
Jesuit priest, Father Fidelis Mukonori, who chaired the session, confirmed that there was chaos caused by the MDC-T delegation.
“There was a problem which started with the MDC-T protesting for a slot to make a presentation. The organizers handled the case.
“I am informed that the MDC-T delegation is on hunger strike and they have threatened to stay out of hotels, I am yet to get to the bottom of the matter,” said Fr Mukonori yesterday.
Former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, gave a lecture to the youths where he stressed how elections in Kenya were rigged.
He cried foul that nothing was done despite his party presenting 800m pages of evidence of vote rigging.
Madzore threw a tantrum after the MDC-T was denied a chance to give closing remarks to Raila Odinga’s lecture.
Odinga’s security personnel did not entertain the MDC-T’s stunts and quickly shoved them out of the room, said a source.
Contacted for comment via email, Madzore denied that they had any hunger strike but confirmed that they had problems with the event organizers.
“It is true that we registered some concern with the organisers of this exchange visit to Kenya, the Silveira House, as regards some treatment which we feel was uncalled for and depicted our movement as a junior partner and at the peripheries of the programme.
“We are yet to have a formal meeting and we expect an official apology from the organisers, failure of which the MDC-T Youth Assembly will be forced to distance itself from the same. I thank you,” he wrote on Friday.
On Friday the youths went to Eldoret a town which experienced the most election violence in Kenya.
When departing from there, MDC-T’s treasure general, Mukobwe Dube of Binga was left by the bus, sources say. He was latter rescued when a call was made to the bus driver to get him.
Labels: MDC, MDC PROPAGANDA
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(STICKY) (HERALD ZW) Sanctions cost Zim US$42bn
Wednesday, 10 July 2013 02:58
Farirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
THE West’s illegal economic sanctions regime has cost Zimbabwe at least US$42 billion since 2001, with negative effects on vulnerable groups that saw their livelihoods decline to pitiable levels.
In its manifesto, dubbed
“Taking back the Economy: Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment,” launched in Harare last Friday, Zanu-PF equated the illegal sanctions to a declaration of war.
“Apart from the debt burden, which threatens the goals of the people, there is also the very serious threat from the sanctions burden in terms of what they have cost the country in monetary terms.
“The illegal sanctions imposed by the West have been equivalent to a declaration of war on Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.
“Since 2001, the illegal sanctions have put the Zimbabwe economy under siege with negative downstream effects on vulnerable groups, communities and civil society.
“These sanctions manifested themselves as financial, trade, cultural, academic, sport embargoes, diplomatic isolation travel bans, freezing of financial accounts of the national leadership, influential individuals in the business community and strategic entities and generally worsening Zimbabwe’s sovereign risk,” the manifesto reads.
The US promulgated the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act in 2001, that has since been renamed Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, that cut all lines of credit from multilateral lending institutions prompting an assault on, and decimation of the Zimbabwe dollar.
Actually ZDERA is still in force and has not been repealed. The ZTDERA failed when the bill's sponsor, former US Senator Russ Feingold, lost hIs seat in 2010. The Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2010 did not make it into law. - MrK
Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF says, lost donor support amounting to approximately US$36 million annually since 2001, US$79 million in loans from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and African Development Bank, commercial loans of US$431 million and GDP reduction of US$3,4 billion.
“The negative publicity created an artificially induced negative national image which attracted high-risk premium on alternative sources of offshore lines of credit and killed the tourism market. It also scared away potential creditors and reduced commercial loans by US$431 million per annum during the 200s.
“Furthermore interruption of trade and constraints on manufacturing and general economic activities saw GDP almost halving from US$7,49 billion in 2000 to US$4 billion in 2010,” the manifesto reads.
The revolutionary party added that a number of NGO funded by the same countries that imposed the sanctions emerged in the same period as part of the wider regime change agenda as they were funded so that they could fill the gaps left by Government’s failure to fund social services.
“An obvious and unacceptable threat to the goals of the people is posed by the NGOs that roam the country to peddle influence and whose number of more than 3 000 is scandalously disproportionate to the country’s population.
“Virtually all these NGOs have been founded and funded by the same countries that have imposed illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe for purposes of effecting illegal regime change outside the constitutional and democratic purposes,” the manifesto reads.
The EU and its allies who met in London recently under the banner of ‘Friends of Zimbabwe’ announced that they had poured at least US$2,6 billion into the MDC-T aligned NGOs during the lifespan of the inclusive Government under the guise of humanitarian assistance.
Zanu-PF also said as a result of the illegal sanctions the health and education sectors havd been “donorfied” by the ministries that are in the hands of the MDC-T.
“Over the last four years of the GPA Government, a cluster of regime-change donors have taken advantage of the fact that the Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare fell under the opposition formations and they have been pouring funds into the two ministries through illegal parallel structures,” added the manifesto.
The party said illegal structured like the Education Transition Fund controlled by David Coltart had been established with the fund being used to undermine local publishing houses as books supplied were printed by foreign companies.
“Even more worrying is the fact that the donor-driven ETF has been specially targeting School Development Committees to transform them into political structures of opposition formations that run schools while also linking up with headmasters, teachers, school children and parents for purposes of political mobilisation at the grassroots level,” the manifesto reads.
While Zanu PF has exposed the cost of the illegal sanctions to the country, the MDC-T is however, silent on the issue in its manifesto that was launched on Sunday.
Its manifesto is a regurgitation of the widely discredited JUICE (Jobs, Upliftment, Investment Capital and Environment) policy with the party’s emphasis being on attracting Western funders to revive the economy and disbanding the command of the defence forces and boards of public media organisations.
While the GPA categorically condemned the sanctions US embassy diplomatic cables released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks revealed that the MDC-T secretly urged the US and its allies to maintain the sanctions regime.
In April MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai came under attack when he abused his Government website to run a poll asking Zimbabweans whether they wanted sanctions to go.
The “survey” was open to anyone including foreigners and at one showed that 59 percent of the respondents wanted sanctions to stay.
The US and its Western allies imposed the illegal sanctions at the turn of the century as a response to the land reform programme that is meant to correct historical imbalances in land ownership as a result of colonialism.
This was after the Western powers reneged on their promise to fund the resettlement of indigenous Zimbabweans during negotiations at Lancaster House in 1980.
Labels: SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Leaders on their own cannot deliver
By Editor
Fri 05 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
We are all responsible for what is going on in this country; none of us is just its victim: we are all the co-creators of what is happening in this country.
Why do we say this? It will be very unreasonable to understand the failures by our successive governments and their leaders to deliver on their promises as something alien, which was imposed on us. On the contrary, we have to accept all the failures of this country as sins we have committed against ourselves.
If we accept things as such, we will understand that it's up to us all, and up to us only, to do something about what is not going well, what is wrong in this country. We cannot blame our rulers, our leaders for everything that has gone wrong or is not going well in our country, not only because it would be untrue but also because it could blunt the duty that each of us faces today to make things work.
Let us not be mistaken: the best government, the best president, the best ministers, the best members of parliament, the best councillors, the best chiefs, cannot achieve much on their own. And it would also be wrong to expect a general remedy from them only. Citizenship and democracy include participation and, therefore, responsibility from us all.
And Reverend Penias Mbewe of the Reformed Church of Zambia, Chilenje Congregation is right when he says that "It is up to us, the Zambians, to help the government fulfil its promises. Every Zambian has a role to play in the development of the country. We also know that each and every citizen expects so much from the government but we should also work hard and contribute to the economic development of the country. As Zambians, we need to continue praying, supporting and encouraging our leaders. We should also try all possible means to offer solutions to the many problems that people are facing". If we realise what Reverend Mbewe is saying, hope will return to our hearts and things will cease to appear so terrible.
Those in leadership or power, on their own and without our support, cannot deliver on their promises and on our expectations. Similarly, on our own, without leadership, we cannot deliver. An authority is needed to guide the energies of all towards the common good, towards the desired results or outcomes of the efforts going on in this country. And government, at all levels, is the instrument by which people cooperate together in order to achieve the common good.
As citizens, we must be conscious of our specific and proper roles in the political community, in the governance of our country.
Let us not allow the legitimate expectations and desires of our people for a better life to be lost through our becoming entangled in the jungle of skirmishes for power. Let us not allow the desire to serve oneself to bloom once again under the fair mask of the desire to serve the common good.
We should cooperate, we should collect together, we should coordinate so that everyone can contribute and everyone can benefit, everyone has responsibilities, everyone has rights. That is how we can make the leaders deliver on their promises and on our expectations and desires. That is how we can make the weak strong, that is how we can lift the needy, that is how we can make the sick whole, that is how we can give talent the chance to flourish, that is how we can turn the unemployed into the working contributor.
No matter how entertaining, how fulfilling to short-term egos, one can't play politics with people's lives and future. Our politicians and ourselves cannot continue to be in orbit around the realities of our nation.
There is a yearning for new hope among the people. But the mistake is that for most of the time, they are spectators waiting to see what the leaders will do for them.
Our leaders will lead us where we deserve to be led. Leaders lead, the people govern.
The wealth of society is created by its people - the workers, working intellectuals and peasants. If they take their destiny into their own hands and take an active attitude in solving the problems of society instead of evading them, there will be no difficulty in this world which they cannot overcome.
And it is said that "a free man, when he fails, blames nobody". It is also true for us as citizens of this country who, finally, must take responsibility for the fate of the society in which we ourselves have chosen to live. In the end, we get a country and a life we deserve.
Labels: LEADERSHIP
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UPND wants Dora
By Kombe Chimpinde
Fri 05 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
THE UPND wants MMD's Dora Siliya and Maxwell Mwale to stand on the party ticket in Petauke Central and Malambo respectively, sources within UPND have revealed.
But UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema yesterday said he had no comment to make on the issue.
And UPND vice president Dr Canisius Banda, who refused to mention names, said UPND was in talks with a number of members of parliament and non-members of parliament from other political parties including the PF because UPND was now the 'most attractive party'.
Highly-placed sources within the UPND confirmed that there were consultations going on with Siliya and her supporters and that overwhelming response had been received from Mwale.
The source said that the duo had a better chance of re-scooping their seats on the UPND.
Siliya has however not given a substantive position on the matter.
"Yes consultations are there and we have received a good response from Mwale. In fact Mwale is more like one of us because he was our provincial chairman before he went to MMD. So for Mwale, it will not be a difficult decision to make," the source said.
"On Dora, I cannot confirm if she has accepted but yes it is true that we courting the two individuals to re-contest the seats on the party ticket."
When asked to confirm or deny reports of the UPND move on Siliya and Mwale in an interview, Hichilema said that he had no comment on the matter.
"Ask your sources to elaborate more. I have no comment," said Hichilema.
In April when Dr Banda resigned from MMD to join UPND, Nevers Mumba said the MMD felt betrayed by UPND for cannibalising its members.
Mumba, stated that the UPND, its alliance partner, was creating a lack of trust and confidence by it's continued poaching of MMD senior members.
But Hichilema in April justified the poaching of MMD senior members, saying it was one way of consolidating the opposition in the country.
Hichilema said by poaching from MMD, UPND was ensuring that members were not lost to PF.
And Dr Banda yesterday said there would be a lot of pronouncements very soon.
"The decision to join us is entirely their own. We are flatted as a party that we are receiving so much attention," he said.
"So in the next coming months, you will see a lot of announcements on who has joined."
Mwale was UPND Eastern Province chairman before he resigned from the party to join the Forum for Democracy and Development and later joined MMD.
When he defected in October 2001, Mwale said UPND was not a mass movement.
He said a party should be founded on a common national cause.
Mwale said UPND had failed to address the tribal tag which had continued to haunt the party.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, MAXWELL MWALE, MMD, UPND
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We don't need GMOs to end hunger in Africa - FAO
By Kabanda Chulu
Fri 05 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
WE don't need genetically modified food to end hunger in Africa, says Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) director general Jose Graziano da Silva.
And agriculture minister Robert Sichinga says Zambia is reluctant to support and contribute money to the proposed Africa Solidarity Trust Fund for food security since the country is still struggling to meet the 10 per cent budgetary allocation requirement and facing other challenges.
Answering questions from journalists at the end of the high-level meeting of African and international leaders themed 'Renewed partnership for unified approach to end hunger in Africa by 2025 within the CAADP framework' in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Graziano da Silva said there was need to promote the right to food.
"As we promote the right to food, we should not mix bio technology with genetically modified organisms because the two are different, bio tech is a new science that uses biological processes, organisms, or systems to manufacture products intended to improve the quality of human life. Its application can result in increasing yields, prevent damage from insects and pests and reduce farming's impact on the environment," said Graziano da Silva. "So we don't need GMOs to end hunger in Africa, what we need is to empower small-scale farmers with technological tools that will make them effective. There are concerns with GMOs but it is a science that, probably, we will need in future."
On concerns that Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has failed to make positive impact since inception in 2003 and that resolutions of the meeting would just be another piece of paper, African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said progress had been made by some countries.
"Our strategies require political commitment; we need policies that should take a multifaceted approach, which is addressing challenges in growing of crops, production, processing and markets, we also need to invest in people because economies requires skilled people, we also need to invest in infrastructure, for example, if women spend longer hours fetching water, this reduces their productivity," she said. "This meeting is not a decision making body but resolutions will not become a piece of paper but will be taken to Heads of States summit for adoption, actually most of the issues are being addressed because no nation can afford not to do anything about hunger. It is a threat to development. Progress has been made with CAADP, we have seen some countries attaining and even exceeding the 10 per cent budgetary allocation and six per cent growth but we are not satisfied since several goals have not been reached."
Last year, during a regional FAO meeting held in Brazzaville, Congo, a proposal was made that a trust fund for food security in Africa and other financing mechanisms be established as a catalytic fund to existing funds.
Giving an update on the fund, FAO deputy general Helena Semedo said FAO would head the steering committee that would involve the AU Commission to provide guidance.
"The fund will help improve productivity, promote climate resilience, and contribute to knowledge promotion and strengthening south-south cooperation. So far, a US$30 million donation was made by Equatorial Guinea, and pledges have been made by Angola, Gabon and Civil Society consortium and the private sector from Congo, DR and Cameroon," said Semedo. "Solidarity among African countries is needed and hunger will be eliminated through a unified approach but we know the fund will not be enough so countries should also look at domestic financing."
But Sichinga said clear guidelines on how the trust fund would be used have not been presented to delegates.
"We have just developed the national agriculture investment plan and it has shown a 50 per cent financing gap on intended projects, and many countries including Zambia are failing to meet CAADP requirement of 10 per cent agricultural budget so how are they going to contribute to this fund?" asked Sichinga. "The guidelines are not clear about this fund and I will have difficulties to convince my government to have additional funds for this trust when there are projects like roads and other infrastructure needed to boost agriculture. We are not rejecting the contributions but there is no concept paper to present to our governments so we need to discuss this further."
In response, Semedo said the fund would be an addition to existing funds.
"This is just a catalytic fund, it is up to AU and NEPAD to decide how to use the funds," she said.
Labels: FAO, GMOS, JOSE GRAZIANO DA SILVA
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Leaders deserve respect - chieftainess Malembeka
By Fridah Nkonde
Fri 05 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
ZAMBIANS should not only support and encourage those holding influential positions but should also respect them, says chieftainess Malembeka of the Lamba people in Mpongwe district.
Commenting on Reformed Church of Zambia Chilenje Congregation Reverend Penias Mbewe's statement that Zambians should support and encourage people holding influential positions in the country, chieftainess Malembeka said leaders also deserved some respect.
"It is true that we need to support and encourage our leaders. But what we should not forget is that as Zambians, we should also respect our leaders because respect is part of our culture. If you fail to respect those holding influential positions, don't expect anyone to respect you when you become a leader," chieftainess Malembeka said.
"We should also support our leaders because if we do not give them the support that they need, it would be very difficult for them to work accordingly. And when our leaders are wrong, the best we thing to do is to sit them down and see the way forward. We should not be insulting our leaders. Insults are not part of our culture. We should always learn to offer solutions instead of condemning them,"
Chieftainess Malembeka said Zambia was a Christian nation, adding that there was need for people to respect one another.
In an interview last week, Rev Mbewe said every Zambian had a role to play in the development of the country.
"As Zambians, we need to continue praying, supporting and encouraging our leaders. We should also try all means to offer solutions to the many problems that people are facing. We all know that each and every citizen expects so much from government, but we should also work hard and contribute to the economic development of the country," Rev Mbewe said.
"Leaders are also human and they can make mistakes. It is up to us as citizens, the Church and other organisations to talk to them and find solutions to some problems. It is up to us, the Zambians, to help government fulfil its promises."
Labels: CHIEFS, CHIEFTAINESS MALEMBEKA
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Tobacco earnings top US$577 million
03/07/2013 00:00:00
by NewZiana
ZIMBABWE has earned US$577.3 million from the sale of 156.2 million kgs sold at an average price of US$3.70 per kg since the marketing season opened at the beginning of February.
The volume of tobacco sold to date is a 20.4 percent improvement from the 130 million kgs worth US$480 million sold during the comparable period last year.
Data released by the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board show that of the total tobacco sold 103 million kgs were through contract sales while the remainder went under the hammer.
The 2013 flue-cured tobacco selling season will close on Friday, July 5 after 99 selling days while the 2012 selling season lasted 145 days.
Last year, the country produced about 144.5 million kg of tobacco against a projection of 130 million kg, with sales raking in US$527.6 million.
This season, 170 million kgs were targeted to go under the hammer.
Since the adoption of multiple foreign currencies the tobacco industry has become one of the fastest to recover from the economic meltdown of the past decade.
The sector has been on a rebound as over 70 0000 farmers registered to grow the crop this season.
Many farmers have been shifting from other crops such as cotton to tobacco due to the favourable prices.
Tobacco is one of Zimbabwe's major agricultural exports, accounting for 10.7 percent of gross domestic product.
South Africa is the leading market for Zimbabwe's tobacco this year with 10.1 million kgs worth about US$30 million having been exported so far.
Other major export destinations for Zimbabwean tobacco include China and Russia.
Labels: TOBACCO
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Mugabe warns Zanu PF against ‘Bhora Musango’
04/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe called on Zanu PF candidates to reach out to colleagues defeated in divisive party primaries as he rallied his troops for general elections which will now go ahead at the end of the month.
Zanu PF is working to prevent a number of officials who registered to contest the elections as independent candidates after either questioning their defeats in party primaries or being completely blocked from contesting.
The party is concerned the rebels could fatally divide its support base in the key elections which will choose a successor to the coalition government.
Mugabe told a meeting of Zanu PF’s central committee at the its Harare headquarters Thursday that the party must fight the forthcoming elections as a united front.
“The duty that we all have now and especially those of us who have won and been nominated to stand for the party is to ensure that those who opposed us will support us,” he said.
“You have to sit with them individually and talk. Work out a common strategy so that there is no Bhora Musango. Let us win them over. We must go into the election battle united.
“Apart from individuals, our organs must now also assist the process of unity by appealing to those who lost to become supportive of those who won and support the national struggle. This election is a national struggle.
“Let us also try as much as possible if we are in a better situation financially to assist those in situations of need … All of us must arouse the people’s revolutionary enthusiasm which I noticed from the queues we had exist among us. Get as many people to vote as possible.”
The Zanu PF leader, who turned 89 this year and his ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, will seek another five year-term in office when he leads Zanu PF in the crucial elections.
In 2009, he was forced to share power with bitter rival Morgan Tsvangirai who won the first round of the presidential ballot in 2008 before pulling out of the run-off vote, claiming the Zanu PF leader had unleashed violence against his supporters.
But on Thursday, Mugabe said the coalition arrangement had been a “strategic retreat” for his party and not a humiliation.
“Yes, we have had four and half years, going to be five years perhaps, of this ugly creature - the inclusive Government that we went into because we had slept and missed our revolutionary step . . . A disastrous fall,” he said.
“It was a sudden (fall) from which we rose and looked around and said the time demands that we use tactics. Some might not have understood us but revolutionaries when they suffer a reversal they do not call it defeat.
“It was time for us to reflect and assess the mistake we made along the way and try to win as much support as possible. It was time for us to walk cautiously . . . All this after humiliation of having to work with those who never believed in the ideals of the revolutionary struggle.
“If you are to supper with the devil you must have a long spoon. We had a very long spoon indeed and we knew how to use it to feed ourselves.”
The veteran leader said the coalition arrangement had given Zanu PF time to recover and regroup.
“It was a backward step we had taken in order for us to recover,” he said.”
“The moment has come indeed for us to assert ourselves once again and say we are out of this shell. We are growing out of this shell, global national whatever, and we want to become ourselves; pure, pure, pure revolutionaries!”
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), ZANU-PF
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Renamo leader says ready for talks
04/07/2013 00:00:00
by AFP
MOZAMBIQUE’S former rebel commander said Wednesday he was prepared to leave his bush camp for talks with the government after strained relations boiled over into deadly violence this year.
"The day President Guebuza withdraws the forces that are encircling Satunjira, Gorongosa, I can go to Maputo. It could be tomorrow [Thursday]," Afonso Dhlakama, president of Renamo, said from his camp in the centre of the country.
Bloody clashes since April marked increasingly strained relations between ruling party Frelimo and Renamo, which is also the official opposition.
On Sunday, President Armando Guebuza said he was willing to meet with Dhlakama, 60, in the capital.
Thousands of army troops and crack riot police contingents converged around Dhlakama's base after armed men attacked civilian vehicles travelling along the country's main north-south highway late June.
Renamo had threatened such actions, but denied responsibility for the attacks.
"Since (Guebuza) has problems pulling his troops out I invite him to come to Gorongosa … so that we can bring this to an end. Because I cannot be fingered for blame when I am not guilty," Dhlakama said in a statement broadcast by independent television TIM.
His movement demands a change in electoral laws, which it claims unfairly privileges Frelimo.
It also wants more representation of its soldiers in the country's armed forces.
Several rounds of talks between their movements failed, the latest last Monday.
The unofficial ceasefire as well as parliament's announcement of an extra-ordinary session to allow Renamo deputies to table changes to the election law may signal a thaw in relations.
Though the government has played down the violence, there are fears of a return to a 16-year civil war that had destroyed the economy and killed one million people by the time it ended in 1992.
But Dhlakama signalled bringing him back from political isolation would not be easy.
He slammed his Frelimo counterpart as "not a serious leader".
Guebuza, in power since 2005, has meanwhile come under fire for his lack of negotiation.
Independent local media have branded him "arrogant".
"Guebuza has gained a reputation for being an anti-dialogue person and needs to use this opportunity to change perceptions," Victor Igreja, researcher with the University of Queensland, told AFP.
Frelimo won 75% of the vote in 2009-polls, but has been criticised for politicising the state and corruption.
Labels: ARMANDO GUEBUZA, MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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An unpatriotic and unattractive opposition
By Editor
Thu 04 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
The opposition leadership cannot totally absolve itself of blame for the parliamentary by-elections that are resulting from opposition members of parliament crossing the floor to the ruling Patriotic Front.
Yes, the Patriotic Front in government may today be more attractive to some opposition members. But there were also ruling MMD members of parliament who were attracted to the Patriotic Front in opposition. We had Maynard Misapa, who resigned from his position of deputy minister and MMD member of parliament for Mporokoso to join the Patriotic Front in opposition. Misapa won the parliamentary by-election that resulted from his crossing the floor from the then ruling MMD to the opposition Patriotic Front.
We also had some MMD members of parliament like Lameck Mangani and George Mpombo, who withdrew their loyalty to and support for the then ruling MMD and started to openly support and identify themselves with the Patriotic Front in opposition. It was okay then, to some people, for ruling MMD members of parliament to defect to the opposition Patriotic Front, but it's not okay for them to cross the floor from today's opposition to the Patriotic Front in government.
Nobody stopped the then ruling MMD members of parliament from joining the Patriotic Front in opposition. Why should it be an issue today if those in the opposition now want to join the Patriotic Front in government?
The challenge is for the opposition to make itself more attractive to ruling Patriotic Front members of parliament. And we actually don't think there is any opposition political party in Zambia today that can reject a Patriotic Front member of parliament applying to join them by crossing the floor and causing a by-election.
What the opposition should concentrate on is finding out what makes the Patriotic Front more attractive to their members of parliament and work on that.
One thing that is clear is that right now, the opposition is in disarray - they don't seem to know whether they are coming or going. They are all the time issuing contradictory messages that offer no direction to the nation. They need support but they don't know how to get it; they don't know how to conduct themselves in a way that would make them attractive. Some of them are outright regional and tribal political parties. Which sensible politician would resign his position as a member of parliament in a broad-based national political party that is in government to join a Bantustan-like political party? And which sensible politician would resign his position as a member of parliament with the ruling party and join an opposition political party whose corrupt activities when it was in government are every day being exposed through the nullification of its election results? And which politician would leave his position as a member of parliament of the ruling party to join an opposition political party whose key leaders are in court for corruption?
And the opposition is increasingly becoming associated with the most disagreeable messages and thoughts. Which member of parliament would leave his position with the ruling Patriotic Front to join an opposition that is clearly unpatriotic, an opposition that is campaigning for sanctions against the country for the purpose of protecting its corrupt and criminal-minded leaders from legitimate prosecution?
As things stand today, the opposition - the MMD and UPND - is thought to favour greed and corruption. Look at how they are defending the corrupt! Look at how they behaved when the issue to remove Rupiah Banda's presidential immunity so that he could be prosecuted for corruption came to Parliament!
Is this a recipe for the opposition to be elected or re-elected to government? The answer is a categorical no. This being the case, which sensible member of parliament can cross the floor to an opposition that has not only lost its moral standing, but is also seen to be unfit to govern, an opposition that stands no chance of being elected or re-elected?
If the opposition wants to stop its members of parliament from crossing the floor to the Patriotic Front, they should face these questions head-on and deal with them. The last few months profoundly disappointed many of their supporters and disgusted many others. Few expected them to support and defend corruption and the corrupt. And MMD in government has a record of removing the immunity of their former party president to get him arrested and prosecuted for corruption. The MMD in government under the leadership of Levy Mwanawasa turned its back on Frederick Chiluba and his corruption. Today's MMD of Nevers Mumba is defending the corruption of Rupiah Banda and his league. Compare the MMD of Nevers and that of Levy and see whether it really deserves public support and can be attractive to any member of parliament who hates corruption! Which decent member of parliament can cross the floor to join the MMD? Equally, the leadership of the UPND is busy defending the corruption of Rupiah and his league and they went to great lengths to try and protect his presidential immunity so that he wouldn't be prosecuted. Which dignified person can leave the ruling Patriotic Front to join the UPND? The flow can only be in one direction - in the direction of the Patriotic Front.
It is the opposition's unprincipledness, dishonesty that is making its most sensitive members leave or risk being expelled.
The other issue is the opposition's lack of patriotism. We have an opposition leadership that cares so much about its own plight and doesn't care much about the interests of the Zambian people. They would rather have Zambia ablaze if they don't get what they want. They would rather paralyse the economy of this country, if they can, to remove the Patriotic Front from power. That's why today they are seeking international sanctions against their own country. For what? Just to get the Patriotic Front discredited and out of power. Patriots don't behave that way because with or without them, their country should make progress; with or without them, they would wish their government well.
The current opposition is not one of patriots who wish to see their country succeed; it is one of elements who only want to see their country succeed if they are the ones in power.
There is no patriot who can accept to be dictated to by such elements.
And this is why today the opposition is losing members and is continually being defied by its own members of parliament. And if they do not change this negative attitude, parliamentary by-elections will continue.
Labels: BY-ELECTIONS, MMD, OPPOSITION, UPND
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ActionAid calls for end to harmful tax breaks
By Gift Chanda
Thu 04 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
ENDING tax breaks on corporate profits could help developing countries like Zambia improve public services such as health and education, an ActionAid research revealed yesterday.
The research, 'Give us a break - How big companies are getting tax-free deals', showed that tax breaks on big companies' profits cost developing countries, Zambia included, over US$138 billion in tax every year.
ActionAid's findings, which are likely to heap more pressure on African governments to relook their business models with multinational companies, show that the tax breaks given by developing countries to big companies could put about 57 million children who currently do not go to primary school, into the classroom with enough cash left over to meet international targets on basic health care provision and provide agricultural investment needed to end hunger.
An ActionAid investigation earlier this year found that British-owned company, Zambia Sugar, took the Zambian government to court to win the right to benefit from a tax break that reduced its corporate income tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent but now 10 per cent.
This has resulted in an estimated loss to the Zambian government of US$3.6 million per year.
"Big companies are doing deals to avoid paying tax on their massive profits. They're playing developing countries off against each other to get good tax deals for them, but bad deals for the world's poor," ActionAid advocacy manager, Soren Ambrose, said.
Ambrose explained that governments were not collecting the tax which is rightfully theirs.
"They're openly letting big companies pay less tax," he said.
"Some countries are even offering completely tax free deals - a lose-lose for all involved, especially poor people in urgent need of services like schools and hospitals. In the long run, governments and companies are sabotaging the development of the skilled and healthy workforces that could lift their countries out of poverty."
The UK-based charity called for an end to harmful tax breaks and urged for increased cooperation between governments to prevent tax competition which leads to a 'race to the bottom'.
In addition to an end to harmful tax breaks, ActionAid is calling for an end to tax havens and an increase in tax transparency.
Labels: ACTIONAID, TAX EVASION
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MMD just have to excuse me - Evelyn
By Allan Mulenga, Misheck Wangwe and Abigail Chaponda
Thu 04 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
MMD candidate for Kafulafuta constituency Evelyn Mwanawasa has withdrawn her participation in the by-election scheduled for July 25, saying the MMD forced her.
And family spokesperson Gladys Lundwe yesterday confirmed that Evelyn had been admitted to Ndola Central Hospital due to severe high blood pressure.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Mufunga, who was the MMD aspiring candidate for the forthcoming Solwezi East parliamentary by-election has defected from the party to join the PF.
In an interview from her hospital bed yesterday, Evelyn said she had asked the party leadership to be excused on account of ill-health.
"They the MMD have to excuse me. It is my health. I was not willing to participate in the by-election. They just forced me. I didn't even apply to contest. I never even lodged in an application. I feel very weak, I cannot comment on this further," said Evelyn.
And Lundwe, who is also former Masaiti member of parliament and lands minister, said the family had decided that Evelyn withdraws her nomination for the by-election.
"Evelyn Mwanawasa has been admitted to Ndola Central Hospital, early this morning yesterday actually due to severe high blood pressure. We have discussed here that she withdraws before she goes for those hectic campaigns," she said.
"The family has got history of high blood pressure which has claimed not only the late Levy Mwanawasa, but even the sister. This has brought fear among family members that she is the surviving one."
Lundwe explained that the family was concerned about Evelyn's health.
"Politics will always be there and life is more important. She is ready to withdraw in the by-election. She is the one looking after the uncle and the aunt who also have stroke. The aunt is actually bedridden imagine if she was also in the similar situation what would happen," said Lundwe.
And sources within the Mwanawasa family have revealed that they disapproved Evelyn's decision to contest the Kafulafuta by-election on the MMD's ticket.
Family members said the Mwanawasa family had a meeting where they all disapproved Evelyn's involvement with the MMD.
"In the family meeting we all agreed that we are going to support the PF government. We even pressured ba Eva and demanded to know why she decided to involve herself with the MMD when the whole family is now supporting the PF government because we are happy with their policies. We were disappointed and told her to withdraw. We told her if she did not withdraw, she was on her own without the Mwanawasa family's support," said the source.
The source said because of the pressure Evelyn received from her family, she developed high blood pressure and was rushed to the hospital to seek medical attention.
And Masaiti council returning officer Darwin Chila said once the nomination goes through, candidates could not be replaced.
"We had meetings with candidates and we explained to them that if they wanted to withdraw from the race, they should do it the same day of the nomination before 15:00 hours. If the candidate has withdrawn, nothing can be done but the name will still appeal on the ballot papers," he said.
And Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) director Priscilla Isaac said despite Evelyn's withdrawal, the by-election would go ahead as scheduled.
Isaac explained that the by-election can only be cancelled in the event of the death of participating candidates.
"The by-election will continue because it is not death. We only consider changing the dates in the case of death of any candidate.
Withdrawal should be done before the filing in of nomination papers which was done last week Thursday. It is too late for her to do that," she said.
Isaac said the MMD would not be allowed to replace the candidate who has withdrawn.
"There is no replacement. It should be done on the day of nomination. Anyway, I have not received official correspondence from the MMD," said Isaac.
But when contacted, MMD chairperson for elections Kenneth Chipungu declined to comment on the matter.
Four candidates successfully filed their nomination papers for the Kafulafuta by-election. These include; Evelyn, NAREP's Jimmy Kasabwa, UPND's Brian Chitafu and PF's James Chishiba.
Meanwhile, the MMD candidate for Solwezi East has resigned to join PF.
Confusion marred the MMD camp during the filling of nominations in Solwezi East last week with its aspiring candidate Mufunga threatening to ditch the part for the PF after he was told to withdraw from the race by MMD leader Nevers Mumba and other senior party officials.
In an interview yesterday after his decision to leave the MMD, Mufunga who was well-known for his translations at Rupiah Banda's rallies including the late president Levy Mwanawasa in North Western Province, said after deep reflection on what transpired on June 27 when he was directed to withdraw from the race at the 11th hour, he had decided to defect and join the PF.
He said he was extremely shocked that despite his adequate preparations for the filing of his nominations and the money he spent on campaigns and mobilisations, the MMD traded the seat with the UPND.
Mufunga said Mumba's leadership had literally leased the MMD to the UPND without considering the interests of the general membership of the former ruling party.
He said the MMD was heading for doom and there was no reason for him to stay in a party that had already been destroyed.
"I even announced this at a rally that was addressed by Gabriel Namulambe who is the campaign manager for the Solwezi East parliamentary by-election and I have in fact joined the campaign team for the PF candidate Peter Ilunga together with all my supporters. We can't have a party full of confusion in the name of the MMD and expect to win elections. That party has been destroyed and it has no value for Zambians," he said.
Mufunga said Zambians would not trust Mumba or UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema because there was a lot of crookedness in the manner the MMD and its ally the UPND were handling politics in the country.
He said his decision to join the PF was because of its undoubted commitment to uplifting the living standards of Zambians.
"Even if they have formed the so-called alliance, do you think Zambians will trust the MMD or the UPND? Never! The mistrust between the two parties can be seen from a very long distance even by the people in rural areas. Knowing Hichilema, he will never leave anything for anyone. His ultimate goal is to be in State House although it will not happen and Nevers Mumba is just being used. I decided to leave the MMD because they've destroyed the party. My family was hurt with the manner the party treated me by ordering me to withdraw form that the race," said Mufunga.
Labels: EVELYN MWANAWASA, MMD
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Nevers' attacks on Judiciary unnecessary, says Mangani
By Christopher Miti in Chipata
Thu 04 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
PATRIOTIC Front Chipata Central candidate Lameck Mangani says MMD leader Nevers Mumba's attacks on the Judiciary are unnecessary.
And Mangani (left) says Mumba went too far by attacking him that he was prompted by poverty to petition the election of Mtolo Phiri.
Mumba has questioned the credibility of the Supreme Court following the nullification of Dora Siliya's seat for slandering the Patriotic Front candidate in 2011.
"The people of Zambia cannot be surprised with the outcome of the Chipata Central petition, they know what happened; the outcome of the Petauke Central petition. The Judiciary, in my view, has been very impartial and they have done their work properly," Mangani said.
And Mangani says the diminishing fortunes of the MMD will be made public on July 25, 2013.
Reacting to attacks on him by Mumba, Mangani said being a religious man, he did not expect Mumba to use bad language.
He said Mumba knew deep in his heart who was practicing politics of the belly between the two of them.
"He knows how I joined politics; he knows my position and my standing in politics. Up to now he (Mumba) is a president of a political party but he is still living in a rented home. So I don't expect him to say those things. I respect him he is my traditional cousin but I think he went too far," Mangani said.
He said Mumba knew that the fortunes for MMD were quickly diminishing in the province.
"The diminishing fortunes of MMD will be seen in the outcome of the elections of Chipata Central, Petauke and Mambwe. You will see the outcome very soon. So he (Mumba) doesn't need to go to the radio and insult me. He is getting angry because he knows that he is almost losing in these three constituencies," Mangani said.
And Mangani said the people of Chipata Central and Eastern Province in general had resolved to work with the government.
"The people of Chipata cannot be shy to indicate their position on this matter. So everywhere we go I think the mood has changed, even some of the people that I thought were staunch MMD, they have resolved that for the sake of the Eastern Province and for the sake of Chipata, we are going to give the Patriotic Front a vote on 25 July, so the mood is very good," Mangani said.
Labels: JUDICIARY, LAMECK MANGANI, NEVERS MUMBA
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Judiciary has been above partisan lines - Mpombo
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 04 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
GEORGE Mpombo says it is morally and politically unjustifiable for the MMD to attack the Judiciary because the party engaged in a lot of electoral lawlessness during the 2011 election campaigns.
Commenting on MMD president Nevers Mumba's questioning of the Supreme Court ruling on Dora Siliya's election and saying that President Michael Sata wanted to use the Court as a slaughterhouse and an abattoir for democracy, Mpombo said the attack on the Judiciary was a blunder of major proportion.
"There was a lot of electoral lawlessness on the part of the MMD. They ran the most expensive election campaign in Zambia and in the SADC region. I think the complaint is morally and politically unjustified if you can go by what MMD did. The amount of electoral extravaganza that the MMD put up was immense. So far, the courts have performed very well and we must continue to demonstrate that kind of confidence in our Judiciary. They have been above partisan lines. They have been a shining example," he said.
Mpombo said it was grossly unfair for the MMD to attack the Judiciary, saying the opposition political parties should instead support the courts because they were the fountain of justice.
He said in order to uphold the rule of law and support justice, the Judiciary should never be attacked even if some of its decisions might be uncomfortable.
Mpombo advised the MMD to address their internal squabbles and find out the source of the squabbles.
"At the moment, MMD has got to put its house in order in terms of internal squabbles. The MMD should concentrate on picking up its broken pieces and forging ahead. It will not help to attack the justice system," he said.
Mpombo also called on the PF to stop inducing what he termed as unnecessary by-elections.
"PF cannot run away from the fact that they have been inducing these by-elections by flashing deputy ministerial positions in the faces of opposition members of parliament. They cannot deny that, because all members of parliament that have crossed the floor have ended up being appointed deputy ministers. PF can help the country to douse the feeling that they are infiltrating the Judiciary. The number of by-elections that the PF has caused is a source of concern," said Mpombo.
Labels: GEORGE MPOMBO, JUDICIARY, MICHAEL SATA
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Choma receives 200 bags of fertiliser for wetland farming
By Ben Mbangu in Choma
Thu 04 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
CHOMA district has received 200 bags of both top and basal dressing fertiliser under the food security pack meant for the vulnerable but viable people practicing wetland farming.
District commissioner Golden Nyambe confirmed the development adding that the government would endeavour to use all possible means to address the challenges the vulnerable in society face by empowering them to eradicate the high levels of poverty they had been subjected to since independence.
Nyambe disclosed that the district had also received 100 bags of five kilogrammes seed to be shared among the beneficiaries for the 2013/2014 wetland farming season.
He said the PF government was committed to ensuring that farming was encouraged and improved in the country, hence its timely support to the vulnerable groups in society.
And Choma district acting community development officer Esther Siyumbwa and assistant community development officer Mumbula Mwiya, who were on hand to receive the fertiliser and seed, said farmers would each get two bags of fertiliser and five kilogramme bags of seed.
Siyumbwa said some of those to benefit were female headed, terminally ill-headed, and disabled-headed households.
"Others are the widow-headed households, child-headed and unemployed youth-headed households," she said.
She named the areas to benefit from the programme and the number of beneficiaries as Manguunza, 40 , Chipande, 20, Popota, 10, Batoka, 20 while Sibanyati would receive 10.
Meanwhile, Mwiya urged the would-be beneficiaries to use the fertiliser for the intended purpose so as to uplift their standard of living and be able to help others in future.
He advised them not to lose the privilege the government had accorded them of boosting their agriculture ambitions, hence the need for them to put much effort in order to succeed.
"As an office entrusted to spearhead this programme, we will be very disappointed to hear that a beneficiary has sold either fertiliser or seed," said Mwiya.
Labels: CHOMA, FERTILIZER, FISP, GOLDEN NYAMBE
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(ZIMBABWELAND) The people’s declaration: land in South Africa
zimbabweland
July 1, 2013 · 6:20 am
A hundred years ago, the
Natives’ Land Act was passed in South Africa. The implications of this far-reaching legislation are still felt today. This was discussed at the important
Land, Race and Nation Conference held in Cape Town recently. As part of this,
the People’s Assembly, representing a network of small-scale farmers, workers and urban dwellers, issued a Declaration.
It opens: “Nearly twenty years after the end of apartheid, the 1913 Natives’ Land Act continues to haunt the South African countryside. The land question, which was so central to the struggle against apartheid, remains unresolved”.
The Declaration argues for a “comprehensive land and agrarian transformation”. They note that:
“Only limited mobilisation and organisation around land has taken place since the end of apartheid. Struggles have been isolated and sporadic. But only mass mobilisation and sustained organisation will lead to meaningful land and agrarian transformation. We can no longer wait for the government. Action needs to be taken now. We will take action….These struggles must be based on a new imagination that is based on a total re-configuration of South Africa, re-connecting the urban and rural areas and breaking down the racialised apartheid countryside
Among 27 different demands, the Declaration identifies several major priorities. The echoes with the Zimbabwe experience are very clear. These include an approach to ‘land occupation’, defined as “a legitimate form of land reform”. The Declaration goes on to demand that ”we not be criminalised when we occupy land to build homes and to grow food for ourselves”. Further, in relation to ‘land acquisition’, the Declaration demands that “land reform be fast-tracked to enable black people to get access to land and also to change the land ownership patterns. Scrap the willing buyer, willing seller approach, to allow people to access land. There must be expropriation of suitable land for land reform purposes”. And in relation to ‘land redistribution’, the Declaration argues that there must be “a transparent way of government informing everyone about public participation, including in identifying land and identifying who should get it. We need information about land in our areas; we are sick of being sent from pillar to post… We want to be part of policy formulation and decision-making about acquisition, expropriation without compensation, and the creation of land reform projects in our areas”.
The Declaration continues through a series of demands to argue for subdivision, security of tenure, effective land governance, research support and so on, all towards a vision of food sovereignty. It concludes: “Now we are organising. Our movements are growing. We are organising across urban and rural divides. …We are not going to go away”.
Of course there have been attempts to forge a social movement around land and landlessness before in South Africa. But the earlier Landless People’s Movement faltered, and other civil society attempts have foundered on internal disputes and lack of organisational capacity. Is this different? Just maybe. This time there has been an active attempt to forge alliances between rural and urban social movements, and make links between workers and farmers. Only with such a wider alliance, in the context of South Africa’s fractured politics, can political traction really be achieved.
The future is of course uncertain, the current consensus in South Africa fragile. South Africa is of course not the same as Zimbabwe. But as Brazil and Turkey have found in recent weeks, the transition to an ‘emerging economy’, a ‘rising power’ can carry with it unexpected political unrest, with discontents unearthed, inequalities exposed, and past injustices revealed, even in a seemingly booming economic context (although less so in South Africa these days). Who knows, but the racial inequalities of land use and ownership, the violent inheritance of apartheid, may yet act as the flashpoint for South Africa, making the alliances formed and the demands made by the People’s Assembly 100 years after the Natives’ Land Act especially important.
This post was written by Ian Scoones and originally appeared on Zimbabweland
Labels: IAN SCOONES, LAND REFORM, ZIMBABWE
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Villagers in court for invading State farm
02/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
COMMENT - Oh yes, the 'Africans as destructive farmers' myth, regurgitated by this MDC slave. I guess we are going to get more MDC articles during election time, at Newzimbabwe.com. This article is of course woefully short on detail. Who were these villagers, what was their relation to this land, who called the police on them, etc. Context, as it is called. - MrK
A GROUP of nine villagers have appeared in court charged with illegally invading a State-owned farm in Umzingwane District and
wreaking havoc on the property as they allocated themselves farming plots and housing stands.
The nine villagers, from Mbalabala farming area appeared before Esigodini magistrate Lungile Ncube on Tuesday after they tried to take over Mziki farm without following laid down procedures. They however pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody to Wednesday.
Prosecutor Eric Murinye said the villagers invaded the farm at the start of last month and proceeded to allocate themselves plots, in the process cutting down trees and burning vegetation as they prepared to build their homes.
The court heard that the farm had in fact been allocated to the 35-member Phambililokuthula Cooperative under the government’s land reform programme.
The case was reported to the police at the end of last month leading the arrest of the nine villagers.
Labels: LAND REFORM, LAND RIGHTS
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Prove poll fix claim, Mudede tells MDC-T
02/07/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
REGISTRAR General Tobaiwa Mudede has challenged the MDC-T to inspect its systems and prove allegations that plans are underway to fix the next elections.
Mudede said Tuesday that his office and its systems were open for inspection by all interested parties as he revealed that the country’s registered voters had now reached more than six million.
“Those who are worried on what we do are free to come and see our systems,” he said. “It is not proper for us to discuss those issues in newspapers,” Mudede told a press conference in Harare.
Zimbabwe is due to hold fresh elections to choose a substantive government at the end of this month.
But the MDC-T and other political parties have expressed concern over the state of the country’s voters’ roll as well as the way in which the current registration exercise was being carried out.
"Clearly the voters roll is a shambles. The registration is often chaotic and frustrating in urban areas and we see this as an attempt to rig the elections before voting has even started," MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said.
Party leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai also urged Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair Justice Rita Makarau to investigate allegations of the involvement of a firm said to be linked to Israeli intelligence services in in the on-going voter registration exercise.
Meanwhile, Mudede said the more than 400,000 new voters had registered to vote increasing the number of people on the voters’ role to six million.
He rejected criticism by political parties that the process was too slow.
“As at June 30 2013, the total voter population recorded stands at 6 082 302,” he said.
“(Our officers) are not slow; they are examining a variety of things. Our people are working hard and in some cases they have gone as far as 10pm,” he said.
“Reports that we are registering 100 people at some centres are not true. There has been a lot of registration and the average number of people we are recording is 400 per day.”
Labels: MDC, TOBAIWA MUDEDE
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SADC must thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique
By Editor
Tue 02 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
The threats to peace and stability being posed by Renamo in Mozambique are very worrying. And the Southern African Development Community must step up efforts to thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique and the region by Renamo.
We are very worried about possible instability in the region if a civil war breaks out in Mozambique. There is need to support unity in Mozambique. We also want continued peace in Mozambique, and we should not entertain a situation that will be against the interests of Mozambique and the region.
The recent utterances and threats issued by Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama are extremely worrying. Dhlakama has made it clear he is preparing to go to war to achieve his demands: "If it is necessary, we can go backwards. We prefer a poor country than to have people eating from our pot. I am training my men up and, if we need to, we'll live here and destroy Mozambique."
The war in Mozambique will bring untold suffering to the people of that country and our region. And it will reverse all the economic, social and political gains that have been made so far.
We therefore urge the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, to deal with the disturbing development in Mozambique as a matter of urgency.
The conflict in Mozambique threatens not only the gains we have made but also our collective future. One destablising conflict anywhere in our region is one too many.
We should treat the question of peace and stability in our region as a common challenge. We all know where we are coming from. We also know the history of Renamo. We have not forgotten the fact that Renamo was originally founded with the help of white-ruled Rhodesia's intelligence services and then backed by apartheid South Africa. Renamo was used to destabilise Mozambique, which was then a host to the African National Congress and the Zimbabwean freedom fighters under Robert Mugabe's Zanu. They caused a lot of damage to that country.
Renamo accuses the ruling Frelimo of maintaining a stranglehold over politics and the economy and stacking the election commission to ensure victory in a presidential vote next year. Renamo and its followers think that the political system is not inclusive enough. Resentment at Frelimo's dominance of politics and elections since the end of the war has also been accompanied by opposition allegations that the party's leaders are not hogging the spoils of the coal and gas bonanza. There is a feeling that an elite is getting rich and becoming wealthy, and that others are not.
And for as long as the majority of the people anywhere in our region feel oppressed, are not allowed meaningful democratic participation in decision making processes, and cannot elect their own leaders in what are seen and are accepted to be free and fair elections, there will always be tension and conflict.
The Frelimo government should try to diffuse tension by opening up economic and political opportunities for Renamo, for example, by addressing its demands for a more independent and representative electoral authority.
Of course, right now neither Renamo nor Frelimo seems to have the military capacity to go back to fighting an all-out conflict of the kind that left Mozambique in ruins two decades ago. We may also be lucky that there seems to be zero popular support for war from a Mozambican population of 23 million which has come to appreciate an existence of peace but still remains among the poorest in the world, scraping by on an average income of only US$400 a year.
There is need for a spirit of give and take in Mozambique. The peace that Mozambique has enjoyed over the last two decades was, to some measure, a product of a negotiated peace settlement.
There are today fears that even sporadic attacks could badly undermine Mozambique's recent economic gains. It might start as a small fire now. But a small group of determined, disgruntled people with some military training could still cause havoc and suffering.
Mozambique has made some progress that shouldn't be thrown away so easily. Hailed as a post-conflict success story, Mozambique has emerged as one of the brightest stars in the rising Africa narrative, enjoying growth rates of more than seven per cent. Surely, this is something that shouldn't be thrown away so easily because of political disappointments.
Attacks and disruptions to key exports and transport corridors could badly choke the enthusiasm of investors.
The danger is that, if not well managed, we will see increased polarisation as we move towards next year's elections. There is time to step back, but it requires genuine give and take.
There is no need to return to the bush. But if situations like these are not handled well, the bush will return to us. There is no need for violence. A decision on which the future of a country will depend should not be left to the impulses of emotion and passion. Violent changes in structures would be fallacious, ineffective in themselves, and not conforming to human dignity, which demands that the necessary changes take place from within - that is to say, through a fitting awakening of conscience, adequate preparation and effective participation of all. We believe in the productiveness of peace in order to achieve justice. We also believe that justice is a prerequisite for peace.
This situation demands all-embracing, courageous, urgent and profoundly renovating transformations. We should not be surprised, therefore, that temptation to violence is surfacing in Mozambique. One should not abuse the patience of a people that for years has borne a situation that would not be acceptable to anyone with any degree of awareness of human dignity.
If it is true that insurrection can be legitimate in the case of evident and prolonged tyranny that seriously works against fundamental human rights, and which damages the common good of a country, whether it proceeds from one person or from clearly unjust structures, it is also certain that violence generally generates new injustices, introduces new imbalances, and causes new disasters; one cannot combat a real evil at the price of a greater evil.
If we consider, then, the totality of the circumstances of our countries, and if we take into account our general preference for peace, then enormous difficulty of a civil war, the logic of violence, the atrocities it engenders, the risk of provoking foreign intervention, illegitimate as it may be, the difficulty of building a regime of justice and freedom while participating in a process of violence, we earnestly desire that the dynamism of the awakened and organised community be put to the service of justice and peace.
It is up to us to denounce everything which, opposing justice, destroys peace.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO, SADC
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Nevers' anger with Supreme Court
By Editor
Wed 03 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
Nevers Mumba has every right to disagree with the decision of the Supreme Court to nullify Dora Siliya's election as member of parliament for Petauke Central. But Nevers doesn't have the right to insult the Supreme Court.
The decision by now suspended High Court judge Charles Kajimanga to uphold Dora's election as member of parliament for Petauke Central was clearly faulty, but no one denounced him in the manner Nevers is insulting the Supreme Court.
No one raised against Kajimanga the questions Nevers is raising against the Supreme Court. This is not because people had nothing to say about Kajimanga's judgment; it is simply because that is not the right way to deal with decisions of the courts one does not agree with.
If the courts have abused their powers, there are many legal avenues to address that. A complaint can be made against any judge one feels is corrupt and is handing out judgments in a manner that is corrupt.
But we understand where Nevers is coming from. Nevers is a leader of a political party that had a habit of abusing the Judiciary to procure judgments they desired. They had compromised some judicial officers to give them what they wanted. And today they think the Patriotic Front in government is doing what they used to do. If the Patriotic Front is indeed doing what the MMD used to do in government, let's have that addressed more openly and in accordance with the law.
The judges who presided over Dora's case are all identifiable. Let Nevers point out which of those judges has been compromised by the Patriotic Front leadership to deliver judgments in their favour.
It seems Nevers has no problem with the High Court of Zambia but has serious problems with the Supreme Court. Why? Is it because they have been getting their way with High Court judges whom they themselves had appointed or promoted? And how many judges both at the High Court and Supreme Court level have been appointed or promoted by the Patriotic Front government?
We think there is much more to learn from Nevers' claims and he should be asked a few questions so that more can come out from him. Let there be contempt proceedings against Nevers so that he can come and ulula - reveal everything that he knows about the alleged corruption and abuses of our Supreme Court judges.
But again, what will happen if Nevers is called to account for his claims against the Supreme Court is that he will cry victimisation, persecution. That's what they do. They do wrong things, injure other people's reputations but they don't want to account for what they have done. The best defence to any such claim is truth. If what Nevers is saying is true, there is nothing one can do against him. But let him come and show that his claim against the Supreme Court is true.
In our view, it is not really what the Patriotic Front wants from these election petitions that matters. What matters is what the MMD members of parliament whose elections have been petitioned did. If they did not engage in any electoral malpractices whatsoever, there is nothing the Patriotic Front and the courts can do against them.
But the reality before us is that electoral malpractices had become the order of the day for the MMD. Electoral malpractices were increasingly becoming the accepted way of conducting election campaigns. It had become normal in Zambia to bribe or corrupt the electorate. It had also become normal or acceptable to slander opponents in an election campaign, and this is why Nevers has difficulties accepting that an election could be nullified on account of slandering an opponent.
There is no doubt that Dora and her agents did slander their political opponents for the sole purpose of making them unelectable.
Dora is a liar who went around telling lies about her political opponents. And Dora's lies were brought to court. She could not deny them. And Kajimanga could not deny that Dora lied about her political opponents with the aim of discrediting them so that they are not elected and she is elected. This is an electoral malpractice that is not permitted under our electoral laws. Dora violated this and no fair court can ignore this fact and allow it to go unpunished. Dora is paying for her dirty, filthy and deceitful mouth.
There is need for our politicians to respect truth and their political opponents. Our courts of law have a duty to teach our politicians decent politics in this present atmosphere of fierce competition and character assassination. Election campaigns must be carried out in peaceful and honest ways, devoid of violence and slander of opponents. All must be guided by truth, integrity and justice.
Whatever the deficiencies some of the election petition judgments may have, what cannot be taken away from all these election petitions is the fact that our electoral system is being cleansed by the Judiciary. For this, our Judiciary deserves a lot of credit. There is no electoral malpractice that should be tolerated. We need zero tolerance to electoral malpractices.
And whatever motivation the Patriotic Front might have had in initiating these election petitions, they also deserve credit because our electoral system wouldn't have been subjected to this cleansing without their actions.
Nevers says the nullification of some opposition seats will create a one-party state. This is nonsense. What is he talking about? Does Nevers know what a one-party state is? And what did Nevers do to dismantle the one-party state that was in this country? Challenging electoral fraud through legitimate actions in the courts of law is not creating a one-party state. What is dangerous to our democracy is the perpetration of electoral fraud. And Nevers' party led the worst and most corrupt election campaigns ever known in the history of this country. They went too far and probably that's why even the election petitions against them have followed them that far.
We know Nevers and his friends are becoming desperate. Their numbers in Parliament, which they tried to use to protect their criminal behaviour, are no longer there. The only thing that will now save them is doing the right thing and sticking to the truth, and not insulting Supreme Court judges whose judgments they don't like.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, NEVERS MUMBA, SUPREME COURT
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Nevers is a mouth for hire - Sata
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 03 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
PRESIDENT Michael Sata has described Nevers Mumba as a mouth for hire whose recent views on the Supreme Court are reckless and bankrupt.
But Mumba yesterday maintained that President Sata wanted to use the Supreme Court as a slaughterhouse and an abattoir for democracy.
On Saturday Mumba, leader of the opposition MMD, questioned the Supreme Court ruling on Dora Siliya.
The Supreme Court overturned suspended High Court judge Charles Kajimanga's declaration that Siliya was duly elected as member of parliament for Petauke Central.
But Mumba doubted the legitimacy and fairness of all Supreme Court rulings on parliamentary election petitions.
However, President Sata (left) said in a statement issued by his special assistant for press and public relations, George Chellah, that Mumba was petitioning his own competence as leader through his irrational verbal attack launched on the Supreme Court.
"His recent reckless and bankrupt view tells it all," he said.
"Regrettable as it might be, Pastor Mumba appears to be a mouth for hire. How can a clergyman denounce the Judiciary for standing up against corruption? His complaint that the opposition and the MMD are being targeted by the Judiciary is ridiculous."
President Sata urged Mumba to halt what he said were ill-advised and misplaced attacks on the country's judiciary.
"Pastor Mumba has distinguished himself as an inconsistent clergyman who is comfortable supporting wrong things as long as it rewards him the possibility of personal sustenance," he said.
President Sata further urged Mumba to concentrate on resolving the internal problems facing the former ruling party rather than attack the Judiciary.
"Problems can't be solved by blaming others. Lies and noise cannot mitigate on his incompetence. Let pastor Mumba look at himself and be honest for a change," President Sata said.
"I would also like to advise him that as somebody who aspires to lead this country, he must learn to respect the Judiciary."
But Mumba yesterday continued with his attacks on the Judiciary and called on judge Lombe Chibesakunda to resign.
Mumba said his claim was evident by the concurrent nullification of three MMD-held seats.
"Hon Maxwell (Mwale), Malambo Constituency was nullified. Shortly after that, Mutolo Phiri of Chipata Central was nullified. Shortly after that Dora Siliya's seat Petauke Central was nullified. That now agrees with the information we had received," Mumba claimed.
"President Sata wants to use the Supreme Court as a slaughter house for democracy, as an abattoir for democracy. There we appeal to the President to remove the acting Chief Justice and present to parliament," said Mumba.
Labels: MICHAEL SATA, NEVERS MUMBA
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Kunda can't add value to PF - Chali
By Isaac Zulu in Kabwe
Wed 03 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
HOWARD Kunda cannot add any value to Patriotic Front, says Central Province PF chairman Benson Chali.
And Central Province PF treasurer Louis Chikoka says Kunda is not a factor in Zambian politics.
Commenting on Kunda's statement that he would only join the ruling PF if he were given the position of Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia, Chali said the PF would only give positions to politicians that would add value to the ruling party.
"We recently had two by-elections in his constituency, namely Chibale and Masaninga wards, and Howard Kunda and his MMD performed badly in those by-elections," explained Chali. "That shows you that he is a politician without value. The PF can only give positions to politicians that will come and add value to the Patriotic Front. But Howard Kunda cannot add value to the PF. Even at ward level, the PF would beat him."
And Chikoka said that Howard was not a factor in Zambian politics.
"Who does Howard Kunda think he is?" wondered Chikoka in an interview. "Howard Kunda is not a factor in Zambian politics. He won the Muchinga Constituency seat through a sympathy vote."
Chikoka advised Kunda not to ride on his late father's fortunes.
"He thinks just because his late father was vice-president, then he can also become vice-president of the Republic of Zambia!" Chikoka said. "This is not a monarchy. If he thinks this country is a chiefdom, then he is dreaming."
He said Kunda needed orientation in politics.
"This young man needs extra lessons in politics. He needs orientation in this field…he needs to be trained," Chikoka said. "And I would suggest that he picks on 'Bowas' Bowman Lusambo as his coach in politics. Lusambo will show him how we do politics."
Kunda recently stated on a privately-owned radio station that he would only defect from MMD to join PF on condition that he is given the position of Republican Vice-President because he was "beyond a deputy minister."
Labels: BENSON CHALI, HOWARD KUNDA, PF
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Mulongoti questions 'quality' of PF deputy ministers
By Kombe Chimpinde
Wed 03 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
MIKE Mulongoti says the PF is lacking in the area of infusing brains to help them push the development agenda.
In an interview, Mulongoti, who is also the People's Party president, said some of the individuals the PF was picking for deputy ministers were not adding any value to the government.
"If a government does not care about quality of those they co-opt, they are inviting mediocrity in their presence," Mulongoti said.
"Any government must look for quality people to help it. For that, everyone will support but they are lacking in this area of infusing brains to help push the development agenda."
Mulongoti said that people must be appointed on the basis that they can deliver, not to just add numbers.
"People must go into positions to deliver. If you are just going to get quantity, that is not good and that is where immorality starts from," he said.
And Mulongoti said there would be trouble if the PF failed to give a proper constitution to the Zambians.
"We don't want shoddy work or work that will be hurried. We want to promise PF that we are alert, we are watching and I can tell you over the constitution, we are going to do battle. We would like a logical conclusion that is good for all of us," said Mulogoti.
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SADC must thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique
By Editor
Tue 02 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
COMMENT - RENAMO has always been an outfit for hire, and was run out of South Africa during apartheid. The question is hiring and funding them now? - MrK
The threats to peace and stability being posed by Renamo in Mozambique are very worrying. And the Southern African Development Community must step up efforts to thwart plans to destabilise Mozambique and the region by Renamo.
We are very worried about possible instability in the region if a civil war breaks out in Mozambique. There is need to support unity in Mozambique. We also want continued peace in Mozambique, and we should not entertain a situation that will be against the interests of Mozambique and the region.
The recent utterances and threats issued by Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama are extremely worrying. Dhlakama has made it clear he is preparing to go to war to achieve his demands: "If it is necessary, we can go backwards. We prefer a poor country than to have people eating from our pot. I am training my men up and, if we need to, we'll live here and destroy Mozambique."
The war in Mozambique will bring untold suffering to the people of that country and our region. And it will reverse all the economic, social and political gains that have been made so far.
We therefore urge the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, to deal with the disturbing development in Mozambique as a matter of urgency.
The conflict in Mozambique threatens not only the gains we have made but also our collective future. One destablising conflict anywhere in our region is one too many.
We should treat the question of peace and stability in our region as a common challenge. We all know where we are coming from. We also know the history of Renamo. We have not forgotten the fact that Renamo was originally founded with the help of white-ruled Rhodesia's intelligence services and then backed by apartheid South Africa. Renamo was used to destabilise Mozambique, which was then a host to the African National Congress and the Zimbabwean freedom fighters under Robert Mugabe's Zanu. They caused a lot of damage to that country.
Renamo accuses the ruling Frelimo of maintaining a stranglehold over politics and the economy and stacking the election commission to ensure victory in a presidential vote next year. Renamo and its followers think that the political system is not inclusive enough. Resentment at Frelimo's dominance of politics and elections since the end of the war has also been accompanied by opposition allegations that the party's leaders are not hogging the spoils of the coal and gas bonanza. There is a feeling that an elite is getting rich and becoming wealthy, and that others are not.
And for as long as the majority of the people anywhere in our region feel oppressed, are not allowed meaningful democratic participation in decision making processes, and cannot elect their own leaders in what are seen and are accepted to be free and fair elections, there will always be tension and conflict.
The Frelimo government should try to diffuse tension by opening up economic and political opportunities for Renamo, for example, by addressing its demands for a more independent and representative electoral authority.
Of course, right now neither Renamo nor Frelimo seems to have the military capacity to go back to fighting an all-out conflict of the kind that left Mozambique in ruins two decades ago. We may also be lucky that there seems to be zero popular support for war from a Mozambican population of 23 million which has come to appreciate an existence of peace but still remains among the poorest in the world, scraping by on an average income of only US$400 a year.
There is need for a spirit of give and take in Mozambique. The peace that Mozambique has enjoyed over the last two decades was, to some measure, a product of a negotiated peace settlement.
There are today fears that even sporadic attacks could badly undermine Mozambique's recent economic gains. It might start as a small fire now. But a small group of determined, disgruntled people with some military training could still cause havoc and suffering.
Mozambique has made some progress that shouldn't be thrown away so easily. Hailed as a post-conflict success story, Mozambique has emerged as one of the brightest stars in the rising Africa narrative, enjoying growth rates of more than seven per cent. Surely, this is something that shouldn't be thrown away so easily because of political disappointments.
Attacks and disruptions to key exports and transport corridors could badly choke the enthusiasm of investors.
The danger is that, if not well managed, we will see increased polarisation as we move towards next year's elections. There is time to step back, but it requires genuine give and take.
There is no need to return to the bush. But if situations like these are not handled well, the bush will return to us. There is no need for violence. A decision on which the future of a country will depend should not be left to the impulses of emotion and passion. Violent changes in structures would be fallacious, ineffective in themselves, and not conforming to human dignity, which demands that the necessary changes take place from within - that is to say, through a fitting awakening of conscience, adequate preparation and effective participation of all. We believe in the productiveness of peace in order to achieve justice. We also believe that justice is a prerequisite for peace.
This situation demands all-embracing, courageous, urgent and profoundly renovating transformations. We should not be surprised, therefore, that temptation to violence is surfacing in Mozambique. One should not abuse the patience of a people that for years has borne a situation that would not be acceptable to anyone with any degree of awareness of human dignity.
If it is true that insurrection can be legitimate in the case of evident and prolonged tyranny that seriously works against fundamental human rights, and which damages the common good of a country, whether it proceeds from one person or from clearly unjust structures, it is also certain that violence generally generates new injustices, introduces new imbalances, and causes new disasters; one cannot combat a real evil at the price of a greater evil.
If we consider, then, the totality of the circumstances of our countries, and if we take into account our general preference for peace, then enormous difficulty of a civil war, the logic of violence, the atrocities it engenders, the risk of provoking foreign intervention, illegitimate as it may be, the difficulty of building a regime of justice and freedom while participating in a process of violence, we earnestly desire that the dynamism of the awakened and organised community be put to the service of justice and peace.
It is up to us to denounce everything which, opposing jutice, destroys peace.
Labels: MOZAMBIQUE, RENAMO
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(STICKY) (NEWZIMBABWE) Zimbabwe one Africa’s most democratic countries
02/07/2013 00:00:00
by Garikai Chengu
CONTRAY to the Westernized popular belief that Zimbabwe is synonymous with ‘Mugabe’s dictatorship’, the country is, in fact, one of Africa's most democratic states.
If Robert Mugabe is indeed a dictator, he has a peculiar way of showing it: the President liberated Zimbabwe from white minority rule and established a thriving parliamentary democracy, which has held multi-party elections ever since Independence in 1980. In fact, this year at least twenty-eight political parties will contest Zimbabwe's upcoming, general elections.
Few dictatorships in history have held an election like Zimbabwe did recently. Mugabe upheld the constitution in order to allow the opposition to win a majority in parliament and appoint their choice for a Prime Minister. Even fewer dictatorships have encouraged tens of thousands of people to take part in hundreds of open meetings, nationwide. This culminated in a truly people-driven constitution that entrenches democratic freedoms.
However, what sets Zimbabwe apart from other African nations is the fact that the ruling party firmly believes that democracy extends beyond merely political and civic rights and includes equal social and economic rights.
For African nations that have endured colonial dictatorships for centuries, democracy and decolonization are two and the same. The goal of colonialism was certainly not to teach natives English, table manners and double-entry book-keeping; nor was colonialism merely created to ensure that white settlers simply retained power for power’s sake.
Colonialism is an economic system designed to systematically exploit indigenous Africans for the betterment of Europeans. Thus, electing a black man into State House does not constitute freedom or decolonization. The true form of post-colonial independence is defined by African economic policies that promote land democratization and economic indigenization.
During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the United Nations Committee on Decolonization recognized that freedom and decolonization cannot be attained through merely political processes. Both processes require economic democratization.
The most significant legacy of colonialism is that it robbed the Native of any meaningful inheritance and, thus, the platform from which to advance his economic freedom. Zimbabwe's land democratization program is designed to restore that platform for many indigenous generations to come.
At face value, Zimbabwe’s agrarian revolution may appear to be simply about land. But it is about so much more. Land is not merely land. Land is a place to be born, a place to grow up, a place to call home, and a place to be buried. Land is a source of food, a livelihood, and an asset to bequeath to our next generations. Above all else, land is a source of African pride. Land is never merely land.
Often, we see democracy, in its essence, as the freedom to vote, the intrinsic right of free will. But choice is nothing without the freedom from poverty. Economic prosperity stabilizes and empowers free will.
President Mugabe did not spark the land revolution; landless Zimbabweans did. The President only stepped in to provide leadership and a legal framework. By successfully transferring land from 4,000 white farmers and re-distributing it to half a million landless blacks, Mugabe has shown the world that a truly democratic, political system inevitably leads to a truly democratic economy.
Economic democratization not only corresponds to political empowerment and stability, but also economic prosperity. Recent studies by British and Zimbabwean academics suggest that the new African Socialist, agricultural patterns are more economically productive than the previous white-led, Capitalist modes of agricultural ownership and production.
As it turns out, a few thousand white farmers who under-utilized their farms, which were the sizes of small nations, and stashed their profits in Swiss bank accounts did not benefit Zimbabwe's economy; nor did they benefit the political system.
A half million new farmers are forming a formidable indigenous agrarian middle class. These farmers serve as the drive-chain of an agriculturally fueled, economic recovery. They symbolize a regional beacon for the attainability of agrarian, economic independence.
Brave men and women fought and died for Zimbabwean independence to establish a free democracy and to indigenize the economy. The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act is not merely a moral initiative designed to redress the wrongs of the past. It is both a pragmatic growth strategy that is designed to realize the nation’s full economic potential and a means to strengthen the nation’s democracy.
In the past, the top ten percent of businesspeople in Zimbabwe - a great deal of whom were foreigners or whites - owned 40.3 percent of the nation's wealth according to the World Bank. Indigenisation will strengthen Zimbabwe's democracy by redistributing this wealth.
Equal wealth benefits democracy because, in any given economy, the first significant portion of a person’s income is allocated to fundamental necessities, such as food, clothing, and shelter. The second allocation, or the “wealth segment”, provides access to “higher activities”, such as leisure, educating oneself, saving, investment and democratic participation. An individual is 'free' in a democratic sense, if they have the means to participate in society beyond the boundaries of basic human survival.
When all is said and done, people cannot eat freedom, democracy, or human rights. They need social welfare and civic infrastructure. Over the next five years, President Mugabe’s Indigenisation policy has primed itself to redistribute US$3 billion from foreign investors to local community trusts, in order to ensure the development of clinics, roads, and schools. Indigenisation will also create over one million jobs. In short, Indigenisation will re-orient Zimbabwe’s democratic economy to empower and benefit the Native first and the foreign profiteer second.
President Mugabe's Indigenisation and Land Democratization policies form the cornerstone of Mugabeism. This ideology is a new brand of African Democratic Socialism that is becoming increasingly resurgent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Recent presidential elections in Kenya and Zambia have been won by candidates, espousing African Democratic Socialism; whereas the candidates that favored pro-Western, neo-liberal policies, lost their elections dismally.
Mugabeism is an ideology that believes in not only transferring political power from the minority elite to the masses, but also an unwavering commitment to the transfer of the means of production – land, minerals, and corporations – from the privileged white minority to the Zimbabwean majority.
Garikai Chengu is a Fellow of Harvard University's Du Bois Institute for African Research. Garikai can be contacted at chengu@fas.harvard.edu
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZW), DEMOCRACY, GARIKAI CHENGU, LAND REFORM
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