VP Mujuru calls for Zim to uphold Unity pact
Sunday, 23 December 2012 00:00
Sunday Mail Reporter
Vice-President Mujuru has called on Zimbabweans to continue to uphold the 1987 Unity Accord between Zanu and PF-Zapu, saying the pact consolidated peace and unity in the country.
In a speech read on her behalf at the Harvest Time Ministries Annual Conference in Bindura yesterday, she said it was important to cherish and safeguard such unity. Cde Mujuru also said Government looks up to the church to reinforce the message of peace and harmony.
“It is important that the church itself guards against falling into the trap of divisions. I urge you all to be alert and know that destruction and disunity are the work of the devil,” she said.
“The world today is faced with a number of ills that are affecting the spiritual, social, physical and economic well-being of the people.
“Our challenge as the church is to empower people to live more fulfilled lives and also pass on good values to future generations.
“Hence, it is important that the church and its leadership, as role models, lead exemplary lives.”
The Vice-President said Government appreciates Harvest Time Ministries’ charitable work.
“Through passionate ministering, you are helping to improve the quality of life of orphans and widows and those who are less-privileged. “Government looks up to the church as a partner in socio-economic development. We need to open our eyes and hearts to the needs of others because there is so much we can do to transform the lives of the underprivileged.”
She added that Government was promoting economic independence through indigenisation and land reforms.
“We should, therefore, take up the challenge through the opportunities that are being opened up for us. I believe hard work and self-reliance preserve the dignity of individuals, families and the nation,” she said.
Vice-President Mujuru donated five tonnes of maize and soya bean seed to the less-privileged.
Labels: JOICE MUJURU, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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PM overestimates his power: Madhuku
10/02/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
A LEADING constitutional lawyer says there is nothing to stop President Robert Mugabe renewing the contracts of the military and police top brass.
Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, says Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara negotiated a flawed power sharing agreement which left all executive authority at Mugabe's discretion.
Tsvangirai and Mutambara are fuming after Mugabe extended the term of Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri to 2014.
Mugabe’s announcement of the move came a day after the MDC duo came out of a meeting with the veteran leader and told journalists that the police chief was in the position in an acting capacity while consultations continue.
Mugabe’s rivals are keen to see the back of Chihuri, accusing him of presiding over a partisan police force and unprofessionalism.
But Madhuku says Tsvangirai and Mutambara are seriously constrained by their lack of authority on the matter.
"This is what we have always seen with the inclusive government,” Madhuku told the Voice of America’s Studio 7 on Friday night.
“The reality is that power resides with the President, but the other players in the inclusive government will always want to pretend that they also have some power, some responsibility, and this is what keeps creating this circus.”
Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Luke Tamborinyoka, insisted on Friday that Mugabe had agreed in meetings with the Prime Minister on Monday and Wednesday to delay Chihuri’s appointment until further consultations had been held.
“We refuse to be seduced into believing the position being articulated by Cde George Charamba [Mugabe’s spokesman] merely because it is averse and allergic to common sense; it is allergic to the constitution and it is allergic to the agreement by the principals themselves.”
He described Mugabe’s decision to extend Chihuri’s term as mischievous and called it a “technical coup”.
“I would assume that the principals will put finality to this whole issue when they meet again on Monday,” Tamborinyoka added.
Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, LOVEMORE MADHUKU, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Tsvangirai’s letter to President Mugabe
Posted by By Our reporter at 5 February, at 05 : 58 AM
MEMORANDUM
TO: H.E. President Robert Mugabe
cc: D.P.M. Mutambara
FROM: The Right Honourable Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai
RE: Status of the Inclusive Government
Date: 2 February, 2012
Your Excellency, in just over a fortnight, the Inclusive Government will have been in existence for three (3) years. I believe that it is proper for us to reflect on the state of the Inclusive Government particularly over the last twelve months in order for us to chart a way forward.
Although there have been some notable achievements that have been made by the Inclusive Government, it is undeniable that this Government has not “fully” achieved what it set out to do in February 2009. This Memo brings to your attention some of the critical issues that we need to address although the list is not exhaustive.
1.0 The GPA
In 2008, we entered into an agreement which amongst other things sought to achieve two broad objectives.
(a) Restoration of Economic Stability
(b) Restoration of peace, stability and implementation of democratic reforms including a new constitution.
The pursuance of the above broad objectives were intended to prepare the country for a fresh election, which is free, fair, credible and respects the will of the people.
2.0 PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES
2.1 Restoration of Economic Stability
l We have largely restored basic services although more work is needed
l We have recorded modest growth rates
l Our industrial capacity utilisation is improving although we still face challenges of liquidity in the economy and access to credit lines
(i) Sanctions and Measures
The parties to the GPA agreed that all measures must be removed. SADC on its part has been engaging the EU and the USA without success. On our part we established a Reengagement Committee headed by our Foreign Affairs Minister and no progress has been made to date. Your Excellency, I believe that we should resuscitate our committee in order to keep this matter alive. I believe it is only through dialogue and our unwavering commitment to the implementation of our agreement that will resolve this matter.
(ii) The Government Work Programme (GWP)
Non-attendance by Ministers to the Council of Ministers’ meeting
There remains a disturbing trend where some ministers and in particular Zanu-PF ministers are not attending the Council of Ministers, thereby derailing the implementation of the Government Work Programme. Some of the ministers who have been invited to be part of my tours have not shown up. This trend, Mr President, if allowed to continue, will make this government totally dysfunctional. It is also disturbing to note that some of the Zanu Pf meetings, especially the Central Committee meetings, have been slated for days meant for the Council of Ministers’ meetings. We must speak with one voice in urging all Cabinet Ministers to respect our State institutions.
iii) The Land Commission
Cabinet in 2011 mandated the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement to recommend to the Principals and Cabinet persons fit for appointment to the Land Audit Commission which will be given the task of undertaking the Land Audit.
The Minister of Lands has not recommended any names as directed. Neither Cabinet nor the Principals have yet received any recommendations relating to this resolution.
I must point out, Mr President that the failure to fully implement these decisions impacts on the extent of government’s ability to fund and source other support for the agricultural sector. Secondly, the maximum utilisation of the land cannot be ensured when government remains in the dark on the current patterns of land possession and use. May I implore you to urge the Minister to comply with Cabinet decisions?
2.2 Restoration of Peace, stability & implementation of democratic reforms including the constitution making process
(i) Violent Acts
Your Excellency, up until the tripartite Meeting of the parties and Government, there was tension in the country with reported incidences of violence in urban areas, some of which occurred in our Parliament Building. Whilst the perpetrators of these acts of violence are known, both the Attorney General and the police are yet to act. May I implore you to urge the Police to act.
(ii) Disruption of PM’s Government Programmes
The Prime Minister’s supervision of Government programmes such as the Marange Diamond mining operations or drought mitigation programmes in the provinces have been deliberately disrupted by public officials including the police. Of note is the police role in the Lupane incident on Saturday, October 29, 2011. I was prevented from touring St. Paul’s Hospital in Lupane after police unlawfully barricaded the entrance with chains. Hospital staff were chased away from the hospital premises by armed riot police who threatened to shoot and intimidated residents gathered there. This happens nowhere in the world where a Prime Minister is treated like a common criminal. May I implore you to instruct the police to respect members of the Executive in the discharge of their duties.
(iii) Arrest of Ministers
During the period under review, two Cabinet Ministers from my party namely Hon. Elton Mangoma the Minister of Energy and Hon. Jameson Timba the Minister of State in my office were arrested on flimsy charges which our courts threw out. The same kind of harassment also visited three Ministers from MDC-N who were kept at a police station for hours for no justifiable reason. This environment of harassment Your Excellency does not promote cohesion and mutual trust amongst parties in the same government. May I implore you to instruct the police not to be overzealous in the discharge of their duties and to be sensitive to the fragility of our transition.
(iv) Attorney General’s Office
The Attorney General’s Office Bill has been passed by both houses of Parliament yet the responsible Minister Hon Patrick Chinamasa has not caused it to be gazetted as required by law. A professionally managed and fully equipped Attorney General’s office is a key ingredient of our stability. May I implore you to urge the Minister to gazette the bill.
(v) Appointment and promotion of Service Chiefs and other Security personnel
Your Excellency, I believe you are aware that our amended constitution requires that all appointments that you have to do under the constitution or any act of parliament have to be done in consultation with the Prime Minister. I deal with some of the recent appointments and also under separate cover and as an annexure to this memo bring to your attention the issue of the impeding appointment of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander and the Commissioner General of Police whose terms of office have expired.
(a) Promotion of Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba
In June of 2011, a senior member of the Zimbabwe National Army, Brigadier-General Nyikayaramba labelled me a security threat in an article that received prominent coverage in the Herald newspaper. He then proceeded to state that Zanu-PF and the security forces were inseparable. The Minister of Defence then issued a statement dissociating the security forces from Nyikayaramba’s. I am of the view that Nyikayaramba’s statements should have attracted sterner action from his superiors other than a mere repudiation of his statements.
It was with a sense of shock and profound sadness that I learnt through the press in December that you had promoted Brigadier-General Nyikayaramba to the rank of Major General, barely six months after he had committed what can be at the very least described as a serious act of misconduct.
The impression that his promotion creates in the minds of the public is that not only do you condone the statements that he made in June 2011, but that you have also rewarded him for making them. This inevitably undermines the Inclusive Government.
(b) Appointment of the ZDF Commander and the Commissioner General of Police.
See attached letter.
(vi) State Visits to Zimbabwe
Your Excellency, we have an embarrassing situation in which foreign Heads of state visit our country and there is no courtesy from your office to advise my office of an impending visit. In most cases the delegations of the Head of State would send emissaries to my office when my office is not briefed. I believe this matter needs to be regularised to avoid embarrassing our country.
2.2.2 Implementation of Democratic Reforms
2.2.2.1 Constitution Reform Process
The Constitution Making Process is at drafting stage as you are aware. It is important that you and I ensure this process continues with minimum disruptions so that we can proceed to a referendum in the shortest period of time and thereby prepare the next phase which calls for the realignment of some of our laws which might be in conflict with the new supreme law.
2.2.2.2 Media Reforms
The reforms that we have agreed to as Principals have failed to take off. For instance:
(a) Mass Media Trust Board
The 7 trustees were to be selected on the 3:3:1 agreed ratio. To date notwithstanding the letter written by the Chief Secretary to the President instructing the Minister of Media to facilitate the same nothing has been done. (See attached letter). May I implore you to urge the Minister to comply with our directives without further delay.
(b) Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe Board (BAZ)
The negotiators, the principals and the Prime Minister and the President agreed that the board was unlawfully constituted and that the Minister was supposed to regularise the same in terms of the law. Several attempts by myself and yourself to have this done have fallen on deaf ears. The issue of the BAZ Board has been further complicated by the fact that the current board, which the Minister of Media has failed to reconstitute despite express instructions for him to do so by Cabinet and the Principals, has issued radio licences in circumstances that have generated controversy. The applicants who were not awarded radio licences by the un-constituted BAZ Board have since petitioned the Administrative Court seeking the nullification of the awarding of the radio licences. The letter and spirit of the GPA is such that we must immediately process applications for new broadcasting licences for new players. We also agreed that in order to deal with the issue of extra-territorial broadcasting, we should encourage Zimbabweans working for those stations to operate locally. One of the companies operating outside the country applied for a licence and it was denied. May I implore you to urge the Minister of Media to comply with our directives and reconstitute the Board which must in turn licence other broadcasters in a fair manner.
(c) Hate Speech
As a direct consequence of the Minister of Media’s refusal to implement the Media Reforms that we have agreed on, the State controlled media has embarked on an overt and relentless campaign to demonise and denigrate me and the party that I lead. This onslaught has been led by The Herald, The Sunday Mail and the ZBC.
The state media routinely propagates hate speech against me whilst occasionally publishing stories that are designed to incite public disharmony. Only a few weeks ago, the ZBC ran a story falsely accusing me of bribing some journalists in the independent media in an effort to induce them to run favourable stories about me.
This story was gleefully published by the Herald on their front page when it should have been abundantly clear to them that these allegations were totally without substance. All this is happening under the watchful eye of the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity.
I must emphasise that I do not expect special treatment from any media institution, state controlled or otherwise.
A democratic society requires a vibrant, impartial press. The manner in which the state-controlled media institutions are operating, however, is unacceptable in any peace-loving society. The Minister of Media must take full responsibility of this current state of affairs and I implore you to urge him to regularise this matter before our political environment is further poisoned before the next election.
(d) ZBC Board — The 12 Board members were to be selected on a 5:5:2 ratio.
Your Excellency, the principals agreed that in the spirit of inclusivity we should appoint a new Board for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings. We agreed this had to be done on the basis of the above ratio. To date, the Minister of Media is yet to facilitate this notwithstanding the letters written to him by the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet. (See attached letter). May I implore you to urge the Minister to comply with our directives.
(e) Reform of Media Laws
Your Excellency, in 2009 we adopted a Government Work Programme that had a comprehensive legislative agenda. One of the key pieces of legislation that required attention was the media law AIPPA. It was agreed that two bills would replace it i.e. a Media Practitioners Bill and a Freedom of information bill. To date nothing has been done, instead the Ministry of Media have come out public in the media that such reform is not going to take place. May I implore you to urge the Minister to comply with a government programme.
2.2.2.4 Electoral Reforms
* The Draft Bill is now in parliament and must stay there until enacted
* Parliament has decided to exercise its independence as a way of resolving differences within the Executive on certain clauses, particularly the one referring to polling station based voters roll. Let us allow our Parliament to go through its normal process and assist us in resolving any disputes amongst the executive on aspects of that bill.
NB. We must also resolve other electoral discussions left outstanding by the negotiators.
Your Excellency, all the issues that I have mentioned above deserve our urgent collective attention and I propose that we discuss them on the occasion of our next meeting. I am of the view that failure to address these issues effectively will undermine the efforts of the entire Government as well as the public confidence in our collective willingness to fully implement the GPA. I believe that you have the authority to instruct and censure any of your nominees to government who are incapable or unwilling to carry out Cabinet decisions on our programme to fully implement the GPA. Failure to do so might be construed to mean that they are defying us and Cabinet with your blessing.
3.0 Election Road Map Issues
Your Excellency, our negotiators have met countless times and there are still areas of deadlock which we must resolve.
These areas can be summarised as follows:
3.1 Enhancing free political activity
My party and our coalition partner MDC-N agree that there is need to enhance the freedom of our people by amending those aspects of our Public Order and Security Act which curtail freedom of association. Your party does not seem to see the need for increasing the freedoms of our people. It is my view that we must facilitate the amendments by our Parliament through an Amendment Bill to be presented to our Parliament as this will be beneficial to all parties. The fastest way of dealing with this matter is for our negotiators to inherit the Private member’s amendment Bill currently in Parliament and agree on the required amend-ments.
3.2 Realignment of our Security Establishment to a multi-party democracy
Your Excellency, I have no doubt in my mind that you are a firm believer in the doctrine that the military must subject itself and owe its allegiance to the civilian authority. During our struggle for independence and after it you have always maintained that “Politics leads the Gun” and not vice versa.
My party and our partner MDC-N agree that the statements issued by some of our Security personnel to the effect that they will not recognise the outcome of an election where their preferred leader and party is not elected is in conflict with your own belief and our constitution.
In this regard, our negotiators resolved that Service Chiefs should publicly state that they will respect our constitution and the will of the people after an election. Your party seems to think that this must not be done. It is also within your power to ensure that members of the security sector submit to the supremacy of the Constitutional order.
Our two parties also agreed that in order to enhance the public accountability of our State Intelligence services, there is need to enact a law governing them. This is now a trend in the region and recognised as best practice internationally. Your party seems to be happy with the status quo arguing that it is modelled around the British system. Why Your Excellency should we maintain this colonial relic thirty two years after our independence? I believe that we should facilitate the enactment of an appropriate Act of Parliament and also instruct Service Chiefs to publicly withdraw the unconstitutional statements they made.
3.3 Professionalisation of the Zimbabwe Elections Commission Staff (ZEC)
My party and MDC-N agreed that there is need for ZEC to instil confidence in contesting political parties and the generality of the people of Zimbabwe by ensuring that the staff who work for them are considered and viewed to be non-partisan.
My party’s view is that considering that over the years the institution has been staffed by both serving and retired security personnel whose leaders have publicly declared their allegiance to your party it is important that ZEC because of the new order is seen to act on this.
A case in point is Brigadier Nyikayaramba, who is now Major General Nyikayaramba and used to work for the Electoral Supervisory Commission that was succeeded by ZEC whilst still serving and several other security personnel who are still with ZEC. On the basis of this, I believe you will understand the apprehension of the other two parties.
I maintain that we should facilitate the professionalisation of ZEC staff which your party does not seem to support.
3.4 Amendment of Section 121 of the Criminal Code
All negotiators agreed that there is need to amend aspects of the above Section of our criminal code which over the years has been used by the Attorney General to deny bail to members of my party. To date nothing has been done. The responsible Minister to facilitate this is the Minister of Justice and may I implore you to urge him to do so without further delay.
In summary, my views and position on the way forward with respect to the matters I raised above is as follows:
Sanctions and Measures
Let us resuscitate the re-engagement Committee and accelerate the implementation of the GPA
Attendance at Council of Ministers
Let us speak with one voice urging all Ministers to respect Executive State institutions
Land Audit
May I implore you to urge the Minister to comply with decisions of Cabinet.
Violent Acts
May I implore you to urge the police to act on the perpetrators who are known.
Harassment of the PM by the police
May I implore you to urge the police to respect the office of the PM
Arrest and harassment of Ministers
May I implore you to urge the police not to be overzealous and to be sensitive to our fragile transition.
Attorney General’s Bill
May I implore you to urge the Minister of Justice to gazette the bill
Appointment of Service Chiefs (ZDF & Police)
May I implore you to allow a discussion and agreement between us on suitable appointments as provided for in our constitution.
Constitution Making Process
Let us see the process through.
Media Reforms
May I implore you to urge the Minister to comply with all our directives.
Electoral Reforms
May I suggest we let Parliament go through its constitutional role and enact the Electoral amendment Bill as it sees fit.
Election Road Map Issues
(i) Free Political activity (POSSA).
Our negotiators should inherit the POSSA Private members bill in Parliament and agree on amendments.
(ii) Realignment of Security Sector.
May I implore you to instruct the service chiefs to publicly state that they will respect our constitution and the will of the people after an election.
(iii) State Intelligence Service.
Let us enact an appropriate Act of Parliament which our negotiators can agree on.
(iv) Professionalisation of ZEC Staff.
Let us urge ZEC to professionalise their staffing in order to give confidence to all parties.
(v) Amendment of Section 121 of the Criminal Code
May I implore you to urge the Minister of Justice to bring the proposed amendments to Cabinet without further delay.
Finally, Your Excellency, time is not on our side as we move towards the next election. Let us give momentum to our agreement by facilitating the creation of an enabling environment for our people to exercise their right to choose their leaders freely and fairly. This is one of the principles of our liberation struggle and we owe it to current and future generations to ensure that it is upheld.
Sincerely,
Morgan Tsvangirai
Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, ROBERT MUGABE, ZANU-PF
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Bennett out as Tsvangirai appoints new ministers
10/10/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was forced into a mini-reshuffle of his government team following the death of Public Service Minister Elphas Mukonoweshuro in August, and Mugabe’s trenchant refusal to swear-in Roy Bennett as Deputy Agriculture Minister.
Trade unionist Lucia Matibenga stepped into the vacant Public Service portfolio and Seiso Moyo, MP for Nketa, was named Deputy Minister for Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation Development. Moyo, a first term MP, said he “felt honoured” by Tsvangirai’s appointment.
His swearing-in ends Bennett’s long-running saga after Mugabe refused to accept him into Cabinet, originally citing treason charges he was facing.
Despite telling CNN last year that Bennett, who now lives in exile, would be sworn in should he be cleared of the charges, Mugabe went back on his word after the former Chimanimani MP was acquitted in May this year.
Matibenga, surprisingly overlooked in Tsvangirai’s Cabinet team which took the oath of office back in February 2009, said: “I realise the mammoth task that lies ahead. I assure you, I will be there whether it will be tough or easy."
Tsvangirai and Vice Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo attended the swearing-in ceremony at State House.
Tsvangirai's MDC-T party, Mugabe's Zanu PF and a second MDC faction led by Welshman Ncube share power in a shaky coalition which could be dismantled as early as next year when new elections are set to be held.
Labels: JOICE MUJURU, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, ROY BENNETT
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Tsvangirai using 'deceit' to remain PM
By: Feature by Nancy Lovedale
Posted: Saturday, March 12, 2011 6:41 am
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has mastered the art of deceiving people and sometimes openly telling people what they want to hear in order to retain his position as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
On Thursday he told reporters that the inclusive Government was not working and that it should be ended, despite having expressed that the same government should run for five years last month. He told reporters that the "marriage" (inclusive Government) had led to confusion and a paralysis of leadership.
Tsvangirai's statement denouncing the inclusive Government was immediately echoed on Friday ambassadors from eight Western nations who appealed to the inclusive Government and the political parties to “respect the spirit and the letter of the GPA”.
The appeal was signed by envoys from Canada, Denmark, Australia, Germany, France, Austria, the Czech Republic and the European Union.
This has raised speculation that the prime minister is back to his tactics of using the EU to ensure that his party remains on the political map.
It has now emerged that Tsvangirai is hoodwinking the people of Zimbabwe to believe that there is no consensus in the inclusive Government, while he has a near-perfect working relationship with President Mugabe.
A day before telling reporters that the inclusive Government was not working, Tsvangirai had told 300 business executives from South Africa, London and the United States of America at a Euromoney Conference in Harare that the inclusive Government was "working very well" and that Cabinet business was proceeding smoothly.
On Tuesday this week, the PM had carried out an interview with a Financial Times reporter where he repeated that the government was working well.
In the interview with FT's Alec Russell, Tsvangirai said of the Cabinet meeting earlier that day: "“It was very good, very productive ... It’s enlightening that everyone was serious about addressing the concerns.”
He added: “If you were to enter the room you would not know who was who, MDC or Zanu-PF. The seating is Zanu-PF, MDC, Zanu-PF, MDC ... and he [Mugabe] and I direct.
"We really do consult when things get out of hand.”
Russell also reveals that the PM had also told David Cameron at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos (Switzerland) at the end of January that the inclusive Government was working well.
Shocked by this revelation from PM Tsvangirai, journalist Russell wrote: "So I am all but lost for words at Tsvangirai’s Milquetoast reference to his and Mugabe’s latest meeting – as, I have been told, was David Cameron when he was given a similarly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed account by Tsvangirai at Davos earlier this year."
It is now not clear what the PM's position is.
It is, however, clear that he does not want elections this year and wants the life of the inclusive Government extended, creating confusion among his followers.
He should tell the people of Zimbabwe what exactly is at play here.
If the inclusive Government is that bad, why is he still in?
The tactic of hoodwinking Zimbabweans at an opportune moment and openly telling lies to an increasing naive media audience will soon thin out. The West, we all know, has already revealed via WikiLeaks what it really thinks of the PM.
Only Zimbabweans are currently following the man blindly and the Zimbabwe media's toothcomb was lost a long time ago.
____________
Nancy Lovedale can be reached via nancy_lovedale@yahoo.com. She reports from Beijing, China.
Labels: 2011 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), LYING, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NANCY LOVEDALE, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Mugabe must hear our case: Ncube
by Staff Reporter
05/02/2011 00:00:00
MDC leader Professor Welshman Ncube says he plans to hold a meeting with President Robert Mugabe over the disputed deputy premiership post amid reports the party may pull-out of the coalition government over the issue.
President Mugabe has insisted Ncube cannot become Deputy Prime Minister unless Professor Arthur Mutambara – replaced by Ncube as leader of the MDC in January – quits the post. But Ncube said Mugabe could not take a position on until the matter is officially presented to him.
“We do not believe he can have any official position before he has heard us. If you were a lawyer, you would understand that. A judge cannot make a determination before the case has been formally placed and argued before him,” Ncube told the privately-owned weekly newspaper.
“The President must hear our case first. We will not therefore engage in any speculative debate. We cannot cross the bridge we have not arrived at.”
Following the MDC’s January congress the party reshuffled its representatives in the coalition administration with Ncube set to take over as deputy premier from Mutambara who was re-assigned to the post of Regional Integration Minister.
However, Mugabe said removing Mutambara from the deputy premiership was easier said than done
“They were able to remove him politically, but legally he was sworn in as a Member of Parliament,” Mugabe was reported as saying.
“I swore him in as Deputy Prime Minister. It’s up to him if he wants to resign, but if he refuses, well, we are stuck, but the Global (Political) Agreement (GPA) will go ahead.”
Mutambara -- who has been out of the country – has not commented on the developments with local media reports indicating he would not resign.
Sources told the Financial Gazette that Mutambara was keen to remain in place to complete his projects that include the rebranding of the country and the promotion of public-private sector partnerships in infrastructure rehabilitation and development.
“Mutambara said he should be allowed to remain as the Deputy Prime Minister to see through two of his initiatives: rebranding Zimbabwe and the triple Ps. He said in return for that Ncube would have all the powers and would have the ultimate say on everything,” the newspaper quoted a source close to him as saying.
Ncube however, warned Mutambara – who said he was now an ordinary MDC member -- that “instruction(s) of the party” must be obeyed.
“Here we must always understand that loyal party cadres obey the instructions of the party when they are given,” Ncube said.
“In our view, as a party, it’s never about an individual stepping down from this or that post, it’s always about accepting the deployment, the command or the instruction of the party.”
Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, MDC, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, ROBERT MUGABE, WELSHMAN NCUBE
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Power sharing cannot continue: Mugabe
by AFP
17/12/2010 00:00:00
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe told his party conference Friday that the country's messy power-sharing government “can't be allowed to continue.”
“We agreed to work together... as a compromise to enable us to sort things out, establish peace, political stability, now some are dragging their feet,” Mugabe told members of his Zanu-PF party.
“The GPA can't be allowed to continue,” he added, referring to the Global Political Agreement with the ex-opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party of his prime minister and arch-foe Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing administration six months after a chaotic presidential vote in 2008 but they are now in the throes of a vicious battle over when the next national elections should take place.
Mugabe said the deal with the MDC had failed.
“What it has done is to reveal and expose to us what we did not know, now we know this creature the MDC, has no policy, no ideology, no philosophy except change, change,” he told delegates at the official opening of the conference.
More than 4 000 Zanu-PF delegates assembled in the eastern city of Mutare where they are expected to rubber stamp Mugabe's push for polls in the first half of 2011.
“Every delegate is ready for the battle of elections next year,” Mike Madiro, a Zanu-PF provincial chairman, earlier told AFP.
In March 2008, Tsvangirai won the presidential election against Mugabe but fell short of the required majority, resulting in a run-off ballot which the MDC leader refused to take part in, allowing Mugabe to triumph unopposed.
On Thursday, Tsvangirai said only a presidential vote would address the issue of “illegitimacy” following the disputed run-off poll, but he refused to specify any date when elections should take place.
The MDC has previously said that credible polls are not possible until 2012 at the earliest.
Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, MDC, MIKE MADIRO, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, ROBERT MUGABE, ZANU-PF
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MDC-T ministers defy Tsvangirai, attend Cabinet meeting
By: Floyd Nkomo
Posted: Sunday, October 17, 2010 3:00 am
THE Movement for Democratic Change party is back at work despite claims that there is a 'constitutional crisis' in Zimbabwe by the prime minister. Although Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Thokozani Khupe did not attend the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, business of government went on as usual with President Mugabe chairing.
Most ministers from the MDC-T, including Finance Minister Tendai Biti, were in attendance, making Mr Tsvangirai's boycott meaningless; and showing a rift that is developing in the party.
Minister Biti is said to have been critical of Mr Tsvangirai's latest blunder to send letters to western countries and the UN were President Mugabe reassigned diplomats.
Mr Tsvangirai went ahead with the team in his office to write the letters which caused a lot of embarrassment for the MDC-T and exposed its ignorance in international affairs and diplomacy.
The prime minister made a last minute decision to go to Nyanga to attend a Rights and Interest Cluster review meeting on Wednesday instead of Thursday, so that he could avoid meeting President Mugabe in Cabinet.
The prime minister was originally scheduled to open this review meeting on Thursday, in deference to a session of Cabinet deferred to Wednesday on account of the President’s Libyan fixture.
The prime minister would have been confronted on his decision to write to western embassies calling for the nullification of ambassadorial appointments made by President Mugabe earlier this month.
Zimbabwe's Short Term Emergency Recovery Plan divided all the Government Ministries into five clusters, namely the Economic cluster; the Infrastructure cluster; the Social cluster; the Rights and Interest cluster; and the Security cluster.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for example, belongs to the Rights and Interest Cluster.
Rift developing
Reports from the capital say Finance Minister Biti went ahead with his usual meetings with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr Gideon Gono, in clear defiance of his boss's statement calling the appointment of Dr Gono a nullity.
Mr Tsvangirai says his party will not recognise Dr Gono as Governor
While Mr Tsvangirai continues to talk about “restrictive measures”, Mr Biti boldly declares that Zimbabwe is under sanctions.
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, TENDAI BITI
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Tsvangirai should quit coalition govt: Madhuku
by Staff Reporter
02/07/2010 00:00:00
NATIONAL Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairman, Lovemore Madhuku says Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai should pull out of the coalition government to prevent his Movement for Democratic Change party from becoming irrelevant.
Madhuku, who is also a law lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe told a conference held by Zimbabwe human rights groups at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa on Thursday that the MDC could lose credibility and support if it did not act soon.
He also said the next election should take place before May next year.
"If the MDC is not careful, it will be difficult for it to stand on a platform and promise change, because the people will not believe it.
“(The unity government) is a clear strategy on the part of Mugabe to cheat the people. It has succeeded in divorcing the MDC from its partners in the 2008 election," Madhuku said.
The NCA chairman said there were unbridgeable differences over ideas for a new constitution for the country.
He said it appeared Tsvangirai had believed that the formation of the unity government would lead to the writing of a new constitution.
Drafting a new constitution for the country was one of the key tenets of a power sharing deal agreed by President Mugabe and Tsvangirai after the inconclusive 2008 general elections.
However, Madhuku claimed the whole process had since degenerated into a farce.
"I have reports from reliable sources that whenever the constitutional consultation team is headed to a particular area, (it) is often completely evacuated.
"The 700 people involved in the (constitutional reform) exercise have no option but to just sit in a hotel in Harare. I can assure you that no people-driven constitution is being written," Madhuku told the conference.
Madhuku’s NCA has been campaigning for a new constitution but refused to back the current effort to write a new charter for the country arguing it was not “people-driven”.
The new constitution, once completed, would be put to a referendum leading to elections for a substantive government, possibly next year.
Labels: CONSTITUTION, LOVEMORE MADHUKU, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, NCA
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Tsvangirai says Mutsekwa creating parallel party structures
By: Ralph Mutema
Posted: Sunday, June 27, 2010 7:07 pm
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accused recently demoted minister Giles Mutsekwa of creating "parallel party structures" that threaten and undermine his leadership of the embattled Movement for Democratic Change party.
Former co-minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa, who was recently demoted in a move masked as a "restructuring exercise" or "reshuffle", Mr Mutsekwa was given a less influential post of Minister of Housing.
An MDC-T official who refused to be named told the Zimbabwe Guardian on Sunday that Mr Mutsekwa will go before a disciplinary committee of that party together with Prosper Mutseyami, the MDC-T provincial organising secretary in Manicaland.
The two are accussed of creating parallel structures in Mutare.
In an interview, a senior member of the MDC-T, Mr Tapiwa Mashakada, who is also the newly appointed Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion told this reporter that Mr Mutsekwa and Mr Mutseyami will be reined in and that the decision was made by the party’s national council.
"This is not witch hunting but every party has a disciplinary procedure and that's what the prime minister will be following," said Mr Mashakada.
"Why do you always speculate about issues. Mutsekwa is answerable to the prime minister, so there's no news here," he said before cutting the phone.
Mutsekwa is a more popular figure in Mutare than the prime minister
Reports of infighting within the MDC-T have taken centre-stage in various online and print media. The PM is said to be getting increasingly paranoid as his two terms are coming to and end. The MDC-T says a party leader cannot hold more than two terms.
Labels: GILES MUTSEKWA, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, TAPIWA MASHAKADA
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Zimbabwe: Bloody, triad Dominions against clean diamonds
WAS it Thomas Carlyle, the only literate English witness to the millenarian French Revolution, who wondered why Paris beheaded a king one Monday, only to turn out so noisy, selling sugar, a mere five Mondays later?
Was it not he who, led by this dramatic shift in national feeling and purpose, concluded that cities in revolution are subject to puzzling alternations, indeed are given to short memories, short spurts of sense of sin and guilt, to great confusion of philosophers so given to interpreting reality in terms of cause and effect?
He, indeed it was, who noted that politically, scarcity is always factitious. Spectacular non-event.
This week bore witness to a meaningless political spectacle by way of a recall and reshuffle of Morgan Tsvangirai’s faction in the MDC, itself a fraction in the larger inclusive government.
I have a feeling the reader's sense and expectation is that I devote some time and space to a gloating analysis of this non-event which the media would want to thrust upon us as the major development of the week, if not of post-rapproachment Zimbabwe.
Sorry, good reader, I disagree.
There is nothing much to think about, or write home about regarding this empty gesture from the MDC leader, a gesture which he himself now regrets ever making anyway. The consequences are coming, fast and thick.
Not even Personnel Officer.
Originally calculated to demonstrate untrammelled power and say over men and women of faction, the reshuffle has demonstrated the exact opposite.
It has shown the full length and breadth of his own powerlessness as a political leader and a premier of this country.
Firstly, it has shown his own powerlessness against powerful donors who willed the reshuffle, thereby showing they will not allow the man even the marginal role of a personnel officer of (t)his party.
He cannot move his cadres at will, whether out of, or in Government.
Secondly, it has shown his powerlessness against those he imagines he has neutralised, hindsight-ly realising he has indeed released them from the constraining chores of government to brew more deadly mischief against him within the party — singly and in alliance, within and without his formation, under and beyond his party.
If Tsvangirai sought to demonstrate power, he would have done so not by having the reshuffle, but by not having one when donors demanded it.
If Tsvangirai was secure in his party presidency, he would not have precipitated a reshuffle when everyone expected him to make one.
Like the proverbial hare with something after its life, he has run in broad daylight towards a homestead full of meat-hungry humans.
Something must be after his life and journalists shall, in the intervening weeks feed with remarkable frenzy on the decaying carcass of such an intimation.
Darting arrows against ambitions
Today Tsvangirai has given new and unsavoury meaning to his premiership: far from being a platform for genuine public service, for proving a far better governor than Zanu (PF)’s Mugabe as his donors want him to, he has shown his post in Government is utilitarian: a selfish extra string on his bow, from which darts deadly arrows against any who threaten him, or who seek to read the party constitution against him.
That constitution will not go away with Mudzuri’s departure from Government. Nor will the inner drive to succeed Tsvangirai diminish in the hearts of those men he blames for having it in their bosoms, or fanning it in those with it.
Not even his own fears of being succeeded will go away. What is worse, Tsvangirai has told his partners in the GPA that his men and women are judged, not by how well they serve Zimbabwe, but rather by how well they work towards narrow "change" which his ambitions pursue through his party.
So Mugabe will be justified to dig in on strengthening sovereignty.
So Mutambara will be justified in digging in on seeking a generational mandate that excludes Mugabe and Tsvangirai, both on grounds of age.
And that Tsvangirai has sacked so many and moved so many around, is proof enough of what we have always known: that Zanu (PF) rules the roost of inclusivity, to the utter disgust of Tsvangirai's regime-change minded donors. His party is not having its way in government.
Give a dog a bad name . . .
Hardly a week after this misdeed, Tsvangirai faces great anger; greater danger, greatest vulnerabilities presently only masked by thin bravado and clumsy role acting.
He is a sleepless man, and mumbles loud enough to be heard by his opponents.
His supposed victims — Mudzuri foremost, Mhashu most wronged — surely saw this coming?
The approach of this non-event was uproarious, waking up even those soundly sleeping and snoring in the vertiginous heights of Shawasha Hills?
From the day of his swearing on that fateful day in February 2009 — mwedzi waKukadzi in Shona — Mudzuri became twice bigger than the proverbial dog to whom a bad name is thrown to ensure it is suitably hanged.
To his ill-fated name were added two bad ones — Zesa and Noczim — both deadly but sweetly, ornately and volubly packaged as "the Honourable Minister of Energy".
Today he knows there was a dagger in his president’s smiles.
This appointment, this assignment, guaranteed him a double noose, a double execution and, as the Prime Minister hopes, double death. What was he to do with a USD$10 million budget, against such hungry, badly starved dogs?
This man is from Zaka rinopisa.
But the Prime Minister needs to know that Mudzuri is an angry man from Zaka, Zaka rinopisa.
He will come back, either directly from Zaka or from the Mbudzi political cemetery. Or from both, to kick over filled bowls, plates and cups, thereby ruining the happy dinner.
Like Macbeth, Tsvangirai has killed sleep.
Mudzuri knew his fate — some would say courted it even — which is what makes his fall padded; which is what makes all this drama a perfect red herring which is being drawn at great expense to real issues confronting our nation.
More important, the certainty of a fourth MDC formation after the first three led by Tsvangirai, Mutambara and Sikhala, has been so overbearing to require any crystal ball looking or seers.
There have been enough factors within Tsvangirai's faction and leadership style to guarantee such an eventuality, enough factors and calculations within western interests to compel it.
The report on the wanton violence and wanton sexual abuse of female staff at Harvest House was but a tip of a big iceberg.
MDC-T is organised around slaves in the kitchen, slaves in the field. It has a two-tier rewarding system, yielding two economic types from its own supporters: the obese, the starving. Indeed, scarcity factious.
Politics’ great alchemy.
Yet in terms of national politics, such splits count for little, if not for nothing. Of course Zanu (PF) must exploit them, to the fullest.
But it must know that the country's political scene will remain a two-horse race, with little ones paling into mere shades of the dominant two.
The Mavambos, the MDC-99 or whenever, will always be shades of the dominant two. Carlyle put it so well when Insurrectional France seemed on the brink of being fractured into as many parties as there were opinions, which he counted to be seven hundred and forty-nine!
Far from fearing this seeming looming chaos, he found comfort in two contrapuntal human tendencies: an individual nature and necessity to follow one's own road; a gregarious nature or necessity to travel by the side of others.
The endless turbulence of politics derive from these two contradictory impulses which keep repelling and attracting, till once the master-element get evolved, and this wild alchemy arranges itself yet again.
He concluded: "To the length of seven-hundred and forty-nine parties, however, no nation was ever yet seen to go. Nor indeed much beyond the length of Two Parties; two at a time; — so invincible is man's tendency to unite, with all the invincible divisiveness he has!
Two Parties, we say, are the usual number at one time: let those two fight it out, all minor shades of party rallying under the shade likest them; one the one has fought down the other, then it, in its turn, may divide, self-destructive; and so the process continue, as far as needful.
This is the way of Revolutions, which spring up as the French one hasdone; when the so-called Bonds of Society snap asunder; and all the Laws that are not Laws of Nature become naught and Formulas merely".
Is this love?
But a quick postscript to this dramatic non-event. I feel for Minister Mangoma whose Medium Term Policy (MTP) will now have to conclude without him.
He had worked so hard, braved repeated indignities from his colleague in Finance to be denied the crowning moment. But he has to make way to a more cosmic fight.
Much worse, what is the man supposed to do with Zesa and Noczim so the two bad names won't guarantee him an limping exit?
What can he do against a harsher verdict on Mudzuri, the legendary parsimony of Biti and against withering anger from a frustrated consumer?
And the lively Theresa Makone — vaChihera?
Whereas it is in her totem to swim against the current, and even win, u-uhh, what her husband engineered this time is a heavy one. Do I hear Bob Marley humming: "Is this love/ Is this love that I am given?"?
One day the kingmaker in the Prime Minister's Office might have to answer to a song, the same way Biti might have to answer why he attracts the support of western NGOs, and that of Ian Kay, the face of Rhodesia's white landed Noblesse.
Given his support catchment, his clear lack of a personality for the demos, outside convincing answers, he is a man not likely to end well.
Bloody nations, clean diamonds.
Sorry for this long digression which was meant to ensure the rest of the readership is spared from devoting much thoughts to the inane.
The real issue for the nation remained diamonds, our diamonds bloodied by immigrant, dominion, nations of America, Australia and Canada, reinforced by this who-ever-has-money-can-bed-me tribe called NGOs.
As I write, the Kimberley Process meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, has broken up inconclusively. Another meeting has been scheduled for mid-July in Russia.
The issue will be Zimbabwe and her diamonds: that tiny country at the centre of an enormous controversy threatening to rip apart a 75-nation voluntary world organisation.
Gentle reader, your country has already forced the Kimberly Process meeting to go beyond it scheduled three days, into a fourth day, a first in the ten-year record of this voluntary body of diamond producing and buying nations.
It is clear we deployed hard diamonds to drill through the hard pedestal the KPC thought it rested, while keeping the gem quality shimmering tantalisingly to keep and sustain the interest.
See where we stand: an unacknowledged sixth member of the Security Council!
We do matter, gentle reader. Our small nation shall determine the course of history, thereby making prophesy come true.
We got all the attention, quality attention too as a diamond producing nation. Another exhilarating statistic: we command 25 percent of the world’s diamond sales!
Flotilla of NGOs!
Before Tel Aviv, Zimbabwe merited three major reports ostensibly from powerful NGOs, in reality from powerful nations, led by America. The only other thing that worried Obama this and last week, over and above the oil spill, was Marange, our Marange!
He now can pronounce this founding home of the Hera people, my people. Human Rights Watch wrote. Global Witness wrote. So did PAC from which I drew an outrageous quote last week. Two of the reports had sixteen pages each, one twenty-eight.
All had one mind, one language, same malice to clearly show the idea was to replicate one lie in true Goebellian style.
As if this was not enough, the three Governments mobilised and funded these writing pimps, all to create a spectacle in Tel Aviv.
It was a massive flotilla of NGOs far more deserving of bombs and guns than the humanitarian one attacked by Israel a few weeks back. But Israel's arms are American, and shall not be used against America's cause and crusaders.
It’s the land again, stupid!
The script was a simple one. Zimbabwe should not get certified an exporter of good diamonds. As if that epithet makes our diamonds any less refulgent.
What is more, Zimbabwe had to be expelled or at the very least suspended from the Kimberley Process, itself a precursor to similar graduated agitation at the UN for Security Council action. Yes, you re right, gentle reader.
It recalls a similar action at the UN Security Council a few years back, only thwarted by a double veto — another first in history — by Russia and China, themselves supportive members of the KPC.
One report made it very clear: the issue of Marange was a continuation of the great fight for white property rights in Zimbabwe, against marauding Zanu (PF).
This is why these reports are copious in their condemnation of River Ranch Mine which is co-owned by Rtd General Mujuru and some Saudi investor, while being loudly quiet about the bigger Murowa Diamond Mine which is owned by the West through Rio Tinto.
The racism is so blatant. Why should Mujuru not mine diamonds? What is it that makes Saudis unacceptable as investors that Westerners are?
Thieving De Beers
And the Zimbabwe Government comes in for a withering attack for not following due diligence in selecting partners for Marange, and for allowing these "dubious" companies to sideline ZMDC which belongs to Government.
Is this real concern on the part of these dominion nations to protect Zimbabwe's national interest? Why put ZMDC under sanctions then if there is so
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Zimbabwe: Bloody, triad Dominions against clean diamonds
from Page 4
much love for it?
Why rip us through Rio Tinto and De Beers, if there is genuine concern for Zimbabwe? For a very long time, De Beers (may the whole lot get drunk!) would ship our massive mounts of ore to South Africa in the name of further metallurgical tests. It was already mining diamonds, smuggling them out as ore illegally. History will some day tell us what we were prejudiced as a Nation by these crooks who initiated the KPC to salve their bloodied consciences. No one raised a finger against De Beers whose hands were long bloodied in history to get any redder! It was only when Zimbabwe woke up from its slumber that De Beers ran away, abandoning the diamond field to a phantom creature called ACR, Andrew Cranswick's ACR. Today Cranswick poses as a bona fide informant to these highly judgmental reports. My foot!
The 1% triad.
Worse happened in Tel Aviv. Faced with a clear stalemate, the chair of the meeting called for a vote. Zimbabwe won overwhelmingly, with the three British dominions standing on their own, their paltry worth augmented by a noisy flotilla of hired NGOs. Even European Nations who do not have an iota of goodwill against this Nation voted against the ban, voted with Zimbabwe. The report under debate was a KPC-written report, for goodness' sake. It came from a monitor KPC appointed. The West wanted an American. We did not want him and said so. Zimbabwe wanted a Namibian. The West did not want him and said so. The compromise was Chikane, a De Beers employee. He came, he saw, he wrote, he tendered. Now those who commissioned him no longer liked what he saw and reported. They want him investigated. What kind of people-nations are we dealing with? Not to embarrass these big boys, the chair asks for a vote on the Chikane report. The vote comes down in favour of Zimbabwe which secures almost all the votes, including that of the host nation, Israel. To save the big bullies again, the chair suddenly remembers KPC is not governed by vote, but by consensus. So the vote is put aside for further consensus-generating negotiations.
Biti's name, Maguwu again.
At that stage stunning proposals are made, seemingly by NGOs, basically by the bloody dominion triad. Chikane must be dismissed and disciplined, to be substituted by a new monitor commanding the trust of the unholy triad's NGOs. Who be this? Some gentleman called Tendai Biti! Yes, our Finance Minister in the Inclusive Government under President Mugabe being redeployed by NGOs on the instigation of three British dominion states! Back home, Tsvangirai is failing to convince donors that the same Biti must be axed! I wonder what would have happened if Zimbabwe had conceded to this one. When this demand is thrown out with Minister Mpofu's well-known manner of showing contempt, a second name is tendered. Who be it this time? Maguwu! Yes the same Maguwu who faces serious charges that are before the courts. What is it that made the two men so favoured? Again, this is thrown out with the contempt of an angry war-veteran minister. But the worst was still to come. It came. Zimbabwe should only be certified on condition it cedes 1% value of its total diamond exports to US, Australia and Canada through their NGOs! Aahh? I am not bluffing. That demand was made by this Mr. 1% triad in full view of all the delegates. Can anyone tell me who is bloody? Picking our pockets in the broad lights of 21st Century? Does imperialism have to be so brazen? Kugona muroyi humupa mwana adye. So sang Oliver Mutukudzi in relation to the KPC process he will never get to know about. Icho!
Labels: MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Donors save Biti from sack
by Staff Reporter
26/06/2010 00:00:00
DONORS supporting the MDC-T reportedly saved Finance Minister Tendai Biti from either being sacked or re-assigned as prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai reshuffled his cabinet ministers on Wednesday.
Media reports in Zimbabwe had also claimed President Robert Mugabe intervened on Biti’s behalf but this was dismissed outright by Mugabe’s spokesperson, George Charamba.
"It is not true, plain and simple. The President’s views on Minister Biti’s performance in Government were neither volunteered nor sought.
"That claim that was published (on Friday) can only be a creation from the finger of the journalist who penned it. It cannot be considered a position well-sourced," Chramba said.
MDC-T sources claimed Tsvangirai had planned to either axe or re-assign Biti, the party’s influential secretary general, but relented after donors allegedly threatened to stop funding the former opposition party.
The prime minister said the cabinet shake-up had been inspired by the need to strengthen the MDC-T team in government adding those sacked had failed performance audits.
High profile exits included former energy minister Elias Mudzuri and Fidelis Mhashu who was in charge of housing. Both were reassigned to party duties but did not hide their disappointment at the demotions.
"He who appoints has the right to recall you . . . but as far as I know, I have done my job professionally and I was never told that I was underperforming.
“(Again) how could I underperform when I was working without the needed material resources?" said Mudzuri.
Mhashu, who was assigned to sort out the party’s troubles in Chitungwiza, insisted poor performance had nothing to do with his dismissal.
"I was not fired because of incompetence. Being moved from a fully-fledged minister to a junior position in the party is a demotion,” he said.
The sacked ministers were replaced by officials from the prime minister’s inner circle with observers claiming the shake-up could deepen divisions within the party.
Party insiders said Tsvangirai’s loyalists were keen to have Biti and Mudzuri sidelined as they were seen as a threat to him and possible leadership contenders.
Labels: DONORS, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, TENDAI BITI
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Axe hangs over 7 ministers
Herald Reporters
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is reportedly set to drop and seek the reassignment of several Cabinet ministers from MDC-T in what has been interpreted to be another manifestation of divisions within the party.
At least seven ministers and deputy ministers are likely to be affected by the changes, which sources said the PM could announce today.
Insiders yesterday said those who could be changed are Engineer Elias Mudzuri (Energy and Power Development), Giles Mutsekwa (co-Home Affairs), Theresa Makone (Public Works), Nelson Chamisa (ICT), Jameson Timba (deputy Media, Information and Publicity), Thamsanqa Mahlangu (deputy Youth) and Evelyn Masaiti (deputy Gender).
Minister Makone is likely to get the energy portfolio while Deputy Minister Timba could move to the Prime Minister’s Office.
On the other hand, Minister Mutsekwa could be dropped altogether.
Deputy Minister Mahlangu could see his job being taken over by MDC-T’s Masvingo provincial chair Tongai Matutu.
It was not clear at the time of writing what would become of Ministers Mudzuri and Chamisa and deputy ministers Masaiti and Mahlangu.
However, the PM cannot appoint ministers or their deputies and can only submit a list of his preferences for the President’s consideration.
It is understood that he last week communicated to President Mugabe that he wanted to recall some MDC-T Government staff, but was advised against doing so.
A senior aide of his said: "He told us he talked to President Mugabe about it and he was advised to slow down. However, he is determined to see through the changes.
"He has not, as far as I am aware, formally written to the President to ask him to effect any changes."
Another source said: "The changes have been discussed at the highest levels in the party for about four months now. An announcement was supposed to be made on Monday but it seems it will be made tomorrow (today).
"Any changes will require President Mugabe’s approval."
On Monday an official in the PM’s Office called The Herald to a Press conference at Harvest House — MDC-T’s headquarters — but it was subsequently cancelled.
Yesterday, another official told The Herald to be on standby for the Press conference, which again did not materialise.
The changes, insiders said, are meant to neutralise a faction said to be insisting on holding a scheduled congress next year during which a new leader should be elected to replace PM Tsvangirai, whose constitutional mandate will be up.
It is understood that the changes were initially targeted at Finance Minister Tendai Biti, but donors had impressed on PM Tsvangirai that they would not countenance his removal from his current office.
Party spokesperson Mr Chamisa declined to comment on the matter.
However, another official said: "Heads are set to roll. Big names are going to fall in this reshuffle. A number of new guys will come in.
"The idea is to allow other people to try their hand and maybe they will run the portfolios in a better way for the good of the nation."
Apart from recalling the seven ministers, the party has asked all party employees based at Harvest House to re-apply for their jobs.
"Interviews will be held next week on Monday. Deputy party president (Thokozani) Khupe and deputy secretary-general (Tapiwa) Mashakada have been assigned to carry out the interviews," an official said.
The power struggles in MDC-T saw party director-general Mr Toendepi Shonhe being assaulted by youths in April for allegedly undermining PM Tsvangirai’s authority.
The youths were later fired from the party while senior officials in five provinces have been suspended.
Labels: CABINET, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Inclusive govt will survive: Mbeki
By: Floyd Nkomo
Posted: Saturday, June 19, 2010 7:20 am
FORMER South African president, Thabo Mbeki, says the power-sharing agreement signed by President Robert Mugabe and former opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara will last its course.
Speaking on public radio NPR, Mr Mbeki said in response to a question on Zimbabwe, " I am quite confident that that government will survive, that they will work together."
He added that no outside power can force Zimbabweans to come up with solutions to challenges in the country and Zimbabweans themselves can determine their own destiny.
"The solutions to the problems of Zimbabwe must come from Zimbabweans. We can't impose solutions from outside without creating new problems," said Mr Mbeki who made history by facilitating dialogue between former rivals President Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
Mr Mbeki spent a significant period of his presidential tenure as a Sadc-appointed facilitator in Zimbabwe and, in large measure, was directly involved in the design and implementation of Zimbabwe's power-sharing agreement, dubbed the Global Political Agreement.
His successful role as facilitator was heralded by critics as a triumph of African diplomacy as it was devoid of western or non-African influence.
On Sudan and the World Cup
President Mbeki also expressed optimism in the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan in 2005. He said the January 20, 2011 referendum to be held in that country will determine its future.
He also expressed his reservations for calling African countries "failed states" without considering the challenges they face in the post-colonial era.
"But when the matter is raised, which is leadership in Southern Sudan of the possibility of them being a failed state, we actually take great exception to this because they say that indeed when many countries on the African continent gained their independence, the people who led them had no experience of government."
Mr Mbeki said South Africa was glad to host the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament adding that it was a proud moment for all of Africa.
"We took a decision that it would be important to have the World Cup hosted not only by South Africa, but by Africa ... to make a statement about Africa — [about] Africans on the continent and Africans in the diaspora ... Africans everywhere.
"We're very much part of this common humanity. How many Europeans have hosted the World Cup? Latin America, Asia has hosted the World Cup. Why not the African continent?"
Labels: FOOTBALL, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, THABO MBEKI
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Mugabe, Tsvangirai barely talking?
by Sports Reporter
16/06/2010 00:00:00
DEPUTY Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara says progress in the coalition administration is being held back by the principals’ inability to subordinate their party political interests to the national good.
Mutambara - who leads the MDC-M formation - told supporters at a rally in Makokoba, Bulawayo, at the weekend that the working relationship between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was frequently frosty.
“We had a meeting last Tuesday. Mugabe can’t speak to Tsvangirai and vice-versa; I had to intervene and urge them to be mature.
“When the history (of this country) is written correctly people will know what a wonderful job our party did to bring sanity to this GNU (government and national unity),” Mutambara said.
President Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara established a coalition government following inconclusive general elections in 2008 but the administration continues to be threatened by disputes over full implementation of the political deal which facilitated its formation.
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party wants “outstanding issues” in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) addressed.
On the other hand Zanu PF counters that it has fully met its end of the political bargain and accuses its partners of not doing enough to have western sanctions imposed on the country lifted.
However Mutambara urged his coalition partners not to be consumed by narrow and selfish party political interests and instead train their focus on rebuilding the country.
He said bickering over the so-called outstanding issues should not overshadow the achievements of the coalition government citing the economic stabilization as well as the establishment of media, electoral and human rights commissions.
The MDC-M leader said progress has also been made in the constitutional reform process adding that his party would push for devolution of power and proportional representation to ensure that “every vote counts and that the interests of the minorities are also represented”.
Labels: ARTHUR MUTAMBARA, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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Some ministers under-performing: PM
by Staff Reporter
05/06/2010 00:00:00
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has conceded that some ministers were not “performing” dismissed speculation that a reshuffle of the coalition cabinet was in the offing.
There has been widespread speculation that the coalition principals – concerned about the performance of some ministers - were planning to reshuffle the cabinet and possibly bring in new faces.
However Tsvangirai ruled out a reshuffle of the cabinet but conceded that some ministers were not performing. The premier also moved to clarify his party’s position on the next elections insisting that the ballot would not be held unless a new constitution was in place.
President Robert Mugabe indicated in an interview coinciding with his birthday in February that elections to choose a substantive government would be held whether or not there was a new constitution.
The constitutional reform process – part of the package of reform measures agreed under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is being held back by unending squabbles between the political parties and inadequate funding.
President Mugabe said with donor support not matching expectations the country did not have the resources to ensure a new constitution was in place before elections must be held next year.
However in article carried by a newsletter published by his office Tsvangirai said holding elections before the constitutional reforms are concluded was akin to putting “the cart before the horse”.
“Elections will be held after the constitutional reform process. You cannot talk about a date for the elections when the constitutional reform process has not been carried out. You will be putting the cart before the horse,” said Tsvangirai.
His position mirrors recent remarks by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara who said the government needed to ensure the country’s economy was firmly on a path to recovery as well as finalise all political reforms agreed under the GPA before elections could be held.
"The question should not be about how soon elections should be held, it should be how to organise quality elections. There will be no elections until such time that we are ready. (But) It will not go beyond 2013. We want to make sure that everything is set before elections are held," Mutambara said.
Labels: MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, MUGABE, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Zimbabwe talks are very fruitful: Zuma
By: Ralph Mutema
Posted: Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:47 pm
South African President Jacob Zuma (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai before discussions on the Global Political Agreement (GPA) at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in the capital Harare, March 17, 2010.
VISITING South African President and Sadc-appointed facilitator to the power-sharing talks in Zimbabwe, Mr Jacob Zuma said his talks Thursday with Zimbabwe's leaders were "fruitful".
"I am very encouraged by the spirit of cooperation displayed by the leaders and all the parties," Mr Zuma said after nearly three hours of round-table talks with President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.
"I have had fruitful discussions" with the leaders, he said.
According to Zuma, the "parties have agreed to a package of measures to be implemented concurrently as per the decision of the Sadc troika (on politics, defence and security) in Maputo. I believe that the implementation of this package will take the process forward substantially."
But he gave no indication of what measures had been agreed or when they would be implemented, saying only that negotiators will continue meeting next week to discuss how to reach goals set out months ago.
"The leaders have instructed their negotiating teams to attend to all outstanding matters during their deliberations," he said.
Negotiators will discuss all the outstanding issues and report to Zuma on March 31.
Zuma will then present "a comprehensive progress report" to the chairperson of the Sadc troika, President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique.
President Mugabe signed a Global Political Agreement with the two leaders of the MDC formations PM Tsvangirai and DPM Mutambara in in September 2008. The GPA paved the way for the formation of an inclusive Government in February last year.
But the leaders remain sharply divided on the issue of illegal sanctions imposed by the EU and US on the behest of the MDC. The MDC-T in turn would like key appointments reversed and the treason charges against PM Tsvangirai ally, Roy Bennett dropped.
President Mugabe maintains that Western sanctions should be lifted before he makes further concessions to the MDCs.
Both the United States and the European Union this year extended their sanctions for another 12 months, insisting that President Mugabe implement reforms before the restrictions are lifted.
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Parties near Gono, Tomana deal: Ncube
by
04/03/2010 00:00:00
THE three parties in Zimbabwe's power sharing government are on the verge of resolving outstanding issues in their power-sharing deal, according to Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube.
The three parties — Zanu PF, led by President Robert Mugabe, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and a rival MDC led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara — signed the Global Political Agreement in September 2008 and formed a coalition government last year.
A number of sticking issues, however, emerged which the parties have been grappling with since last year but Ncube told business leaders on Wednesday that virtually all the issues — except two major ones — had been resolved.
“We are on the verge of resolving virtually all of them except the difficult ones, mainly the two appointments," he said, referring to the appointment of central bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana which the MDC views as irregular.
“One appointment has been resolved but one of those two appointments remains contentious. We have not been able to find each other yet and we are still talking,” said Ncube, who is also one of the negotiators for the Mutambara-led MDC.
Ncube, who said he was not at liberty to disclose which of the two appointments remained unresolved, did say that the swearing in of Tsvangirai's pick for Deputy Agriculture Minister, Roy Bennett, was on the verge of being finalised.
Bennett is currently in court on charges of possession of firearms, a charge which Zanu PF felt should be finalised before he is sworn in. Ncube said the issue would be resolved in the next meetings of the party negotiators.
He said the parties had also agreed on an implementation plan to be announced as soon as all the issues had been resolved.
Although reports indicated that the list of outstanding issues had grown to 27, some of the top ones also included the issue of sanctions, pirate radio stations and the alleged parallel government, which were raised by Zanu PF. — New Ziana
Labels: GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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Zuma takes sanctions war to London
Herald Reporter
South African President Jacob Zuma has said he will take on Britain over the illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe because the embargo is "suffocating" the inclusive Government. President Zuma is expected in the United Kingdom for a state visit next week.
In an interview with the Financial Times in Pretoria on Wednesday, President Zuma questioned the motive of the illegal sanctions, saying they had not achieved anything for Zimbabweans.
"What have sanctions done to help the situation? Zanu-PF says (it is) in a Cabinet of this unity government. But part of the Cabinet can go anywhere in the world for their work and part (the Zanu-PF members) can’t go out of the country. This unity government is being suffocated. It is not being allowed to do its job by the big countries," he said.
President Zuma accused partners in the inclusive Government, formed in February last year after the Global Political Agree-ment between Zanu-PF and the MDC formations, of using the sanctions against each other ahead of a possible election.
Under the agreement, parties to the GPA agreed to hold elections after the crafting of a new constitution for Zimbabwe.
"Suppose somebody in Zimbabwe is using these issues to maintain tension until elections. You are playing into the hands of such a person," Mr Zuma said.
The Sadc-appointed facilitator challenged Western nations to prove what the illegal sanctions had achieved in Zimbabwe.
He said Zimbabwe was at risk before South Africa moved in to assist.
"South Africa has been one of the major players that actually pulled Zimbabwe back from getting into a disaster."
President Zuma said Europe and the United States had, in contrast, continued with sanctions as if no agreement had been made.
"If we were in the shoes of the big countries, I would have said ‘here is an agreement, we are in support of this agreement and lifting sanctions, even conditionally, even for six months to a year, give a chance for this agreement’ (to work)," he said.
The South African president last week blasted the extension of the illegal sanctions at a time when the inclusive Government was celebrating its first anniversary.
The European Union and the United States, at the behest of Britain, slapped Zimbabwe with economic sanctions following the implementation of the fast-track land resettlement programme as part of the agrarian reforms.
The EU recently extended the sanctions by another year, citing what it called "lack of progress in the implementation" of the GPA.
However, President Mugabe has urged Zimbabweans to ignore the latest EU move calling for the country to fully utilise its vast natural resources.
Labels: JACOB ZUMA, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT, SANCTIONS, ZDERA
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MDC-T contraditions hurting Zimbabwe
by Jambezi Ncube
01/02/2010 00:00:00
ZIMBABWE'S headline chasing Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party aligned to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has plunged into confusion with officials making conflicting public statements.
The level of desperation and confusion has reached unprecedented heights and now threatens party unity and with it, the hopes of many Zimbabweans for democracy and freedom.
Worried supporters are beginning to question MDC’s wisdom in pursuing unending “pending issue” negotiations, rising corruption in the party, and a lack of real power in the GNU. Civil servants are already threatening strikes and civil society is losing patience over delays in writing a new constitution.
The question is not whether or not the MDC are sincere. They say they are committed. What appears to be happening is what former South African President Nelson Mandela, two years ago, called “a failure of leadership in Zimbabwe.”
MDC are rushing to press with half cooked ideas, making unrealistic promises and signing deals they appear to have little understanding of.
When things fall apart, they quickly blame the notorious ZANU PF party of tyrant Robert Mugabe. Blunders and poor political judgements seem to be happening all the time with no lessons learnt.
A few weeks ago, PM Tsvangirai, implied there were no elections in 2011. This was in response to South African President Jacob Zuma who had appealed to Zimbabwean parties to the GPA to shelve some disagreement and work on constitution to allow for early elections. A number of MDC supporters praised Tsvangirai for his stand. But those that know Tsvangirai no longer trust what he says. He will say one thing in front of Zimbabweans, and another elsewhere. This issue of elections is no exception.
A few days ago, Finance Minister and MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti warned that: "if there is a fear that there is arrested development on the things that gave rise to (the government) such as democratization, writing of a new constitution and economic reforms, it (inclusive government) will collapse.”
But as soon as Tsvangirai landed in Davos, Switzerland, two days later on the 28th January, he told a group of journalists that he expected that the referendum on the new constitution of Zimbabwe would be in October leading to new elections in 2011.
More interestingly Tsvangirai invited foreign investors to Zimbabwe reassuring them that "the inclusive government process is a process which is irreversible.”
Assuring investors and donors that the country was not sliding back into chaos, PM Tsvangirai added that: "Certainly the country is moving forward and this is a time to look at the country in a more positive light."
In another part of the world and almost at the same time, Tsvangirai’s party spokesman Nelson Chamisa was giving radio interviews, one to Radio VOP in which he noted that there was no progress and the GNU and GPA were on stretcher beds.
Chamisa said of the crisis following ZANU PF’s announcement that no further concessions were feasible: “One way forward to resolve this is for our guarantors to come ascertain the status of this marriage certificate which is now in tatters. We appeal to our guarantors to intervene and help us agree to disagree and find and locate exit points to this political logjam.”
So you have three senior figures in the party giving conflicting statements about the same situation. Who should Zimbabweans believe? Who should foreign investors believe?
Then there is the case of white Bulawayo legislator Eddie Cross. Unconfirmed reports said he had been suspended after writing and saying things in public that did not reflect party policy. Predictably, the clash, if true, will be on what MDC’s policy is on land and farm invasion.
Cross is believed to be on the side of white farmers who have lost their farms because of Mugabe regime’s land grab.
The official MDC position is found in the agreement they signed with ZANU PF, the Global political Agreement (GPA) of 15th September 2008. Article 5.1 of the said agreement, praised as the best for Zimbabwe by PM Tsvangirai, describes white ownership of land in Zimbabwe as “... colonial racist ... not only unsustainable, but against national interest, equity and justice.”
The hammer blow for Cross and other white Zimbabweans is the emphasis by the MDC and their partners in the circus GNU that compulsory land acquisition done violently by Mugabe and his cronies since 2000 is irreversible. Nothing is going to be done about it. This explains why MDC leaders have not been able to conduct themselves in a manner that demonstrates a commitment to stop farm invasions since joining hands with Mugabe.
This is contrary to what the MDC has preached for years.
There is no doubt that MDC got the support of the West and white Zimbabweans on the promise that the party would deliver on issues of land and address their distress over property rights. Eddie Cross and Roy Bennett have been at the fore-front, ensuring that these commitments are not reneged on. They have worked their socks-off for the party.
Now that Tsvangirai is in Government, he is going back on the promise to address the issues for this important constituency.
Still, this is not new about PM Tsvangirai.
Between 2000 and 2005, when the bulk of MDC leadership were from Matabeleland and the Midlands, Tsvangirai promised to deal with Gukurahundi and address developmental imbalances relative to Matebeleland regions.
But, in October 2005, in what others have called a moment of democratic madness, Tsvangirai split the party after refusing to accept the outcome of a constitutional and democratic vote he had called.
From that moment on, Tsvangirai rubbed Matabeleland issues off his agenda. He no longer speaks about Gukurahundi. He no longer talks about Mugabe, Perence Shiri and others facing justice for genocide; rather defending them and erroneously claiming that Zimbabwe cannot progress to democracy without them.
If there was any doubt by those who were thinking twice about rejoining ZAPU, Tsvangirai showed his attitude to Matabeleland by ignoring MPs from the region when the gravy train and jobs for the boys in the GNU came by.
There comes a time in a human being’s life when patience wanes, tolerance becomes compromised and trust evaporates.
When MDC signed the GPA, it was obvious to all that they had been out-manoeuvred by Mugabe. The deal was necessary, yes, but not its form.
When MDC brought the signed GPA document to their masters in the West, they were told to renegotiate. This to their credit, they did that immediately leading to the SADC additions in January 2009. But because they are playing catch up all the time, they are still renegotiating the deal, 18 months after signing. They call this process, outstanding issues.
If there was anything the MDC leadership will be legends for, it is their lack of capacity to understand politics and diplomacy. This has nothing to do with Tsvangirai’s well known lack of education. He should have advisors and teams of experts that wear political binoculars to see beyond Harvest House. Instead, MDC recklessly talk themselves into trouble and confusion all the time. This is usually in search of headline stories as well as to score political points.
Before, this involved lying about their involvement with those on the wrong end of the boulevard. They did that by dissociating themselves from that Kariba draft that they co-authored and signed on the 30th September 2007. The Kariba draft today still remains a deliberate appendix to the GPA document. If they have nothing to do with it, why is it not an outstanding issue to unclip the Kariba draft from the GPA?
This has been followed by MDC’s confusing position on the issue of sanctions. At times they deny there are any sanctions at all.
Depending on who they are addressing, they acknowledge sanctions are there but are not their responsibility. Now the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth David Miliband appears to “helpfully” clarify the issue by saying: “In respect of sanctions, (on Zimbabwe) we have made it clear ... We have to calibrate our response to the progress on the ground, and, above all, to be guided by what the MDC says to us about the conditions under which it is working and leading the country.”
So first, the Rt Honourable Secretary of State acknowledges that there are sanctions. Secondly he tells us that the MDC provides guidance to the British, and it is this guidance that will have a bearing on whether the sanctions are lifted or not.
I have not said here, whether or not the sanctions should be lifted. All I am doing is expose the circus and confusion, dishonesty within MDC ranks. ZANU PF, for their role in the Zimbabwean crisis deserves to be condemned, but MDC are beginning to breed and feed problems that will hatch into their downfall.
MDC accepted in Article 4 of the GPA that Zimbabwe was under sanctions. They also claimed that in 4.5 “... the consequent contribution of this isolation to the further decline of the economy.”
Most Zimbabweans would be more comfortable disagreeing with the MDC and ZANU PF view. Zimbabwe is in the crisis it is now because it has been poorly governed. Dictatorship, discrimination, economic incompetency, farm invasions and abuse of human rights has brought Zimbabwe to this point.
How about a referendum on whether sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies should stay? That would give MDC an opportunity to campaign publicly for a yes or no vote. After the process, no one will be left confused by this flip flop.
The MDC led by PM Tsvangirai does not appear to know what they are doing. They are repeatedly plunging themselves and Zimbabwe into political sewage. When people tell them it was a mistake, they then seek to spin their way out of the mess, by abusing young Chamisa’s eloquence, and ability to create phrases never heard before. Yes beautiful words put together but in the end meaningless.
Politics needs strategic thinkers, risk assessors who can see beyond the hills. MDC need to revise their blind sticks or their guide dogs. Time is running out for MDC with ZAPU gaining ground all the time. Otherwise, like others, Tsvangirai will go down in history as one of those who came so near to the State House but only thus, near.
The Zimbabwe crisis cannot continue to be prolonged because of failure of leadership. This is hurting the ordinary people. It has been more than ten years and many deaths, since the MDC promised to “get rid of Mugabe.”
In Africa, if a man fails to impregnate his lovely wife, village elders organise capable men to do it instead. ZAPU has already delivered liberation for Zimbabwe through ZIPRA and the leadership of the late Lookout Masuku, Dr Dumiso Dabengwa and Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo.
I understand that of all Zimbabwean political parties, ZAPU is the only one that has always had a workable and equitable land policy. Maybe it is time that people begin to talk to them about bold strategies they might have to deliver Zimbabwe from this mess.
Chief Jambezi Ncube can be contacted at Jambezi7 *** gmail.com
Labels: EDDIE CROSS, MDC, NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT
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