SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The ministry of foreign affairs is considering a controversial proposal by a parliamentary committee to have its members included in all of President Robert Mugabe’s foreign trips. A Daily News report Tuesday quoted Joey Bimha, a permanent secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, saying his ministry was ‘ready to engage on that issue’ and would ‘forward the request’ to Mugabe’s office for consideration. Bimha was responding to a proposal tabled Tuesday by ZANU PF MP for Makonde Kindness Paradza during a hearing by a parliamentary portfolio committee on foreign affairs. Paradza, who is a member of the committee, argued that it was their ‘oversight role’ to join Mugabe in his foreign trips because they ‘over shadow the ministry of foreign affairs.’ The former journalist also added that the committee wanted to be ‘involved in the re-engagement with the foreign government’. According to the report the committee members also asked Bimha to help them acquire diplomatic passports ‘so that they can have easy travel on parliament business.’ Committee chairman and ZANU PF MP for Chipinge South, Enock Porosingazi said they were keen to learn about ‘diplomatic duties’ and called for workshops on international relations. The potentially costly proposals come at a time when the country is seen in the jaws of a credit crunch. According to the report Bimha admitted that his ministry was ‘facing financial challenges.’ Former Finance minister Tendai Biti revealed in his July 2011 medium Term Budget that ‘excessive travel’ by government officials was one of the issues gobbling public funds. At the time Mugabe’s trips were reported to have chewed $20 million which was way beyond the $15 million annual presidential travel budget. Former St Mary’s MP Job Sikhala said Mugabe should trim his entourage to cater for the committee members so that they monitor his activities abroad. Civil society organisations said the committee members had a duty to explain how their intended activities abroad would benefit the country. They urged the ministry of foreign affairs not to rush the issue through before consultations with the broader Zimbabwean community. Bulawayo Agenda Executive Director Thabani Nyoni said the committee should ensure that their planned activities do not duplicate the Presidential entourage’s mission.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The Ministry of Local Government has no plan in place to assist Harare residents whose homes and businesses will soon be demolished, according to a legislator who described the pending ‘cleanup’ campaign as “vindictive”. The deputy Local Government Minister confirmed on Wednesday that the demolition of structures built illegally in Harare will begin soon, after an ongoing audit of properties in the capital is completed in the next couple of weeks. But he did not spell out what government plans to do with those residents facing evictions. Joel Biggie Matiza, the deputy to Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, tackled questions from legislators during question time in parliament, and was grilled on what alternatives are being planned for those who were allowed to build on illegal sites. Matiza spelled out clear examples of situations considered “illegal” by the Ministry. He is quoted as saying: “Government will not tolerate people staying in wetlands; government will not tolerate people staying on top of sewer lines. Government will never, never tolerate people building on school sites”. But when MDC-T MP for Kuwadzana, Willas Madzimure, asked what alternative plans are in place for displaced residents, Matiza simply said: “We have come up with a programme where we did meet the people who are affected. We have met them and we have told them what we want to do and they fully understand.” Matiza provided no other details regarding this “programme”, which was dismissed as “vindictive” by MP Madzimure.“ZANU PF has no alternative plan because ZANU PF is a broke government which has no money at all. What they are doing to try and appear to be correcting wrongdoings,” Madzimure told SW Radio Africa on Thursday. He added: “All the people who are said to be the illegally settled were put in those places by ZANU PF. And ZANU PF officials are the people who have been benefitting from them, parceling out land and asking people to pay for it when the land was not actually allocated by the City of Harare.” Madzimure explained that this is not the first time that ZANU PF has victimized people in this way. He pointed to the government’s Operation Murambatsvina, a so-called cleanup campaign that displaced nearly one million people in 2005. According to Madzimure, nearly 300,000 structures were destroyed and only 10,000 houses have been built so far to accommodate those displaced people. “This is ZANU PF, they are vindictive. And after having settled those people there before the election, whatever they do now is being fully vindictive.” The cleanup campaign was due to start in Harare last week but government suspended it for a period of two months, following strong outcry from residents, civil groups and ZANU PF supporters who benefitted from illegal land allocations. But sadly, bulldozers had already demolished more than 200 tuckshops and houses destroyed in Runyararo, Zimre and Damofalls.

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Civil servants who are due to receive their annual bonuses, and others whose minimum wage was recently increased by government, have expressed concern that they may not be able to withdraw their money, after some local banks imposed a limit on cash withdrawals. There has been much talk about a liquidity crisis in Zimbabwe and long queues have been forming outside the local banks as workers try to collect their wages before the Christmas holiday. Economic analyst John Robertson explained that liquidity is simply the conversion of assets into cash, and Zimbabwe is importing more goods than it is exporting, which means more money is leaving the country to pay for the goods. Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Friday, after some banks announced a $200 withdrawal limit in Harare, Robertson said: “The banks have loaned their money to people who borrowed to buy stock. These people have not been able to sell the stock and they don’t have money to pay back the banks. So there is money tied up in stock that is sitting on the shelves.” He added: “Many people lost their jobs recently. Contract workers have simply been told ‘your contract has now expired’. Others have been retrenched and are unwilling to spend money because they are not sure when they will see more of it.” Robertson explained that there was some stability during the days of the Government of National Unity (GNU) because investors had faith in the stability of the government. But the controversial and disputed election victory claimed by ZANU PF led to potential investors holding back their money. Meanwhile, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai blamed ZANU PF for the current economic meltdown that has gripped the country. In a statement released Friday, Tsvangirai said: “Robert Mugabe has created a national crisis, a crisis of legitimacy, expectations and a crisis of the economy where everyone is now turning into a vendor as companies are closing and there is no employment.” The statement came after Tsvangirai concluded meetings with his party structures in Harare province, which started at the beginning of November and were meant to solicit the concerns party officials following the disputed July 31st elections. The MDC-T leader said ZANU PF had created the national crisis and only the MDC-T, “as an alternative party”, can revive and turn around the economy. He added that the MDC will not participate in the next elections without reforms being implemented first.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Executive Director Abel Chikomo Friday walked out of court a free man after a magistrate acquitted him on charges of running an ‘unregistered’ organisation. A statement from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said Elijah Makomo found Chikomo not guilty of contravening Chapter 17 of the Private and Voluntary Organisations (PVO) Act. In his ruling Makomo castigated the state for dragging Chikomo to court because there was ‘absolutely’ no case against him lending credence to the widely held view that it was all part of the judicial harassment of human rights activists. The case collapsed after a second witness Sydney Mhishi, who is also the director of social services in the Ministry of Labour, told the court that he was not sure if Chikomo had breached the law as he could not ascertain his organisation’s registration status. Moreover, Mhishi told the court that he had neither interacted with Chikomo nor seen the constitution of his organisation. Chikomo was facing accusations of conducting a survey on transitional justice without registration as required by the law. The state also alleged that Chikomo instructed two of his subordinates to ‘unlawfully’ source people’s recommendations on what kind of transitional justice they would prefer in the country. Chikomo was arrested in February 2011 and since then his trial has suffered four false starts with the state at one time dropping charges against him. At the start of the trial last week Chikomo, who was represented by Selby Hwacha, pleaded not guilty. In his defence Chikomo argued that he was wrongly charged and that the forum was not a private voluntary organization which requires registration under the PVO Act.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Villagers relocated to make way for diamond mining operations in Marange are in mourning after a nine year old girl died this week, after drowning in the Odzi river. The body of Jane Chirasika Dirikwe, a grade three pupil at the relocation compound in Arda Transau was found on Friday afternoon, four days after she disappeared in the Odzi river. The girl had gone to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) compound to fetch water for her family, after supply to Arda Transau had been disconnected on 16th November. The girl and others reportedly left their buckets at ZINWA and walked to the nearby Odzi river to swim. But the detour ended in tragedy, with the girl disappearing. It’s understood that it took the police water unit over 48 hours to attend the scene. Although police were alerted immediately after the girl disappeared on Tuesday afternoon, they only arrived at Arda Transau on Thursday. SW Radio Africa was told that the girl’s body was eventually found on Friday afternoon. The death is the latest blow to face a community already battling issues like poverty and hunger. The firms who took over their residential plots for diamond mining were meant to ensure the wellbeing of the families they relocated. But promises to provide food support, new houses and more have been broken. James Mupfumi, the acting head of the Centre for Research and Development (CRD) told SW Radio Africa that the situation is “tragic.”“This situation is so sad especially coming from a beleaguered community who has been abandoned by the government, and abandoned by the firms that promised to take care of them,” Mupfumi said. Reasons for the disruption of water are said to be the result of a blown transformer. But it is understood that there is also an ongoing dispute between ZINWA and Anjin Investments, one of the diamond mining companies in Marange, over non-payment of water services to the relocated families. “The diamond mining giant is reportedly refusing to pay ZINWA its dues arguing that the government of Zimbabwe is responsible for supplying water to the community. Water supply has been intermittent since the beginning of relocations in 2010. Other residents say ZINWA regularly switches off water supply and claim there is a technical fault in order to press Anjin for payment,” the Centre for Natural Resource Governance said.

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It never rains but pours for Senator Morgan Komichi, the MDC-T deputy national chairman, after the state intimated they will appeal against his ‘lenient’ community service and intend to ask for a custodial sentence. Komichi was early this month convicted of fraud and contravening the Electoral Act and sentenced to a wholly-suspended 18-month jail term after a full trial before Harare provincial magistrate Tendai Mahwe. Komichi was arrested two days before the general elections in July after he was allegedly given a stray ballot paper found in a bin at the Harare International Conference Centre, and handed it over to Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. He spent 100 days in remand prison from the time of his arrest on July 28th. Mahwe set aside eight months of the sentence on the condition that Komichi not commit a similar offence in the next five years. He further suspended the balance of the sentence on the condition that the senator performs 350 hours of community service at Mabelreign Clinic in Harare. But the office of the Prosecutor General, headed by the controversial former Attorney-General Johannes Tomana on Friday said they viewed the sentence as too lenient. They are expected to file the papers at the High Court soon. The Herald newspaper reported that the state intends to file a Chamber application for leave to appeal against the sentence before filing the proper notice of appeal. Contacted for comment, Komichi told SW Radio Africa that it was unfortunate that the state has decided to appeal against his sentence. “I think the state is now personalizing the case, I just read about it in the Herald and will obviously wait for their next move. But it’s not a very good start by the state,” Komichi said. He added: “The state should have the trust in its own system because this case went through a trial were a magistrate used his own judicial assessment as a trained law officer. And came out with a sentence he found suitable.” The legislator continued: “But if the state thinks otherwise, I believe they are no longer interested in the case, but interested in the person, which is the persecution of Morgan Komichi.” Promise Mkwananzi, the MDC-T youth assembly secretary-general said they always believed Tomana was being used by ZANU PF to persecute Robert Mugabe’s opponents.“The effort by Tomana to jail Komichi reeks of political intimidation. We will urgently be meeting as the youth assembly to discuss this and we will issue a statement after our deliberations,” Mkwananzi said.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Foreign shop owners have once again been threatened with prosecution if they do not comply with Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws by the end of this year, being told to relinquish their businesses or be jailed. This latest ultimatum was voiced by the Secretary for Youth, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment George Magosvongwe who told a parliamentary committee meeting on Thursday that the foreigners who defied the law would be prosecuted. “I confirm that some non-indigenous entities are still operating in the reserved sectors and there is a deadline (of) January 1 for them to comply with the requirement to relinquish their holdings in that sector…and we are putting in place measures for enforcement in the event that they do not comply,” said Magosvongwe. Magosvongwe also said that the ZANU PF government was in the process of identifying indigenous Zimbabweans who would take over ownership of those businesses in the particular sectors. Under the country’s Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, foreigners operating in the ‘reserved sector’ are not welcome, with the law making it mandatory for the business owners to produce compliance certificates. The certificates are only eligible for indigenous Zimbabweans. This requirement was first gazetted in May this year, with foreign traders being warned about the penalty they faced if they did not comply. According to the Act, reserved sectors include agriculture, transport, retail, barbershops, hairdressing and beauty salons, employment and estate agencies, bakeries, tobacco processing, advertising agencies and even arts and crafts provisions. Economist Masimba Kuchera told SW Radio Africa on Friday that the threats “follow the pattern of how this government deals with investors.” He said the ultimatum is unrealistic, and does not allow for enough time to prepare locals to take over the sector.“It would be better for the government to build local capacity first, because if they chase out foreign traders without ensuring the capacity and resources are there for locals, then it will be very difficult for local traders to take over,” Kuchera said.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Police in Bulawayo were Friday accused of assaulting MDC-T activists including party executive member Sekai Holland’s driver. SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme said Tinevimbo Hove and Elton Sibanda sustained what are feared to be serious injuries forcing Holland to send them for medical check ups. By the end of the day on Friday their results were still unknown. Both Hove and Sibanda are well known MDC-T activists in Bulawayo. Hove is also the nephew and former driver to Holland who was the co-minister of national healing in the erstwhile Government of National Unity. Hove was Thursday driving with fellow activist Sibanda and other male passengers when a driver of another vehicle demanded that he pull his car over. On asking the other driver to identify himself Hove did not get any reply forcing him to speed away, suspecting he was about to be a victim of a car-jacking. The other vehicle gave chase to the next traffic lights whereupon the occupants pointed an AK47 at Hove accusing him of ‘disrespect’. It is then that they identified themselves as police officers before forcing everybody out of the vehicle and forcing them to lie down on their stomachs. One police officer kicked Hove in the face while other officers assaulted the rest of the passengers as they lay helplessly on the ground. The police then drove their victims to the Criminal Investigation Department homicide section where they proceeded to assault them. According to Saungweme the police freed their victims after Hove recognised one of the officers assaulting them. It is then that the police forced their victims pay a $20 fine each for “conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace.” This incident comes at a time when the state is seen increasingly becoming heavy handed in its dealings with human rights and democracy activists. Almost every week the courts hear cases so petty that even Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba recently complained.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The ZANU PF extraordinary politburo meeting on Saturday is expected to be turned into a mini battlefield for the two main factions vying for control of provincial structures, crucial in the battle to determine President Robert Mugabe’ successor. ZANU PF, which romped to electoral ‘victory’ in the July elections but is failing to lift millions out of poverty, is embroiled in an internal struggle between two factions led by Vice President Joice Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Justice Minister. The recent provincial elections have brought tensions to a boil between the factions as the two party stalwarts try to position themselves to take over when 89 year old Mugabe steps down. The provincial structures are seen as vital in choosing members of the presidium at the December 2014 elective congress. This is why they’ve now become the battleground between the warring factions. Anyone who can control six out of the 10 provinces will eventually ascend to the party presidency. The party was on Monday forced to cancel this weekend’s provincial elections to pave way for the politburo meeting, in which Mugabe is set to intervene in the factional fighting. National chairman Simon Khaya Moyo said a new date for the elections will be decided at Saturday’s meeting. This development follows public quarrelling by Mugabe’s loyalists over the results of the Mashonaland Central, Midlands and Manicaland elections which were held two weeks back and were reportedly marred by rigging and vote buying.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Barely two days after a High Court order barred the destruction of Reigate compound outside Bulawayo, the Umguza Rural District Council Friday resumed its demolition exercise. Council workers on Friday evening moved into the complex and immediately set about destroying toilets and cutting electricity supplies. There are fears that water supplies could be cut anytime this week. Only on Wednesday last week the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) announced that it had won a High Court order barring the council from ‘demolishing 75 houses’ at the complex. SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme said the pattern of destruction suggested the council was deliberately targeting facilities which are not mentioned in the court order, such as the toilets. The destruction seemed to have been calculated to resume at the close of business on Friday so that the residents would not have any immediate recourse, as the courts are closed throughout the weekend. However, on Monday the residents approached ZLHR again but by the end of the day it was not yet clear if the rural council was in defiance of the court order or not. About 300 families stand to be rendered homeless if the compound is finally destroyed. Earlier this year the council started evicting the compound residents to make way for planned new structures, only to backtrack due to the widespread public outcry and intense lobbying from the human rights community. The destruction was to resume a fortnight ago forcing the residents to approach the courts leading to last week’s order. The council wants to turn the Reigate area into a residential suburb and has reportedly started selling some stands. The residents argue that the council is violating their right to shelter because they have lived in the compound for close to 30 years, paying rentals to the local authority.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Vice President Joice Mujuru has taken a firm lead in the race to succeed President Robert Mugabe, after Saturday’s no-holds barred special Politburo meeting endorsed results in provincial elections held earlier this month. However, the meeting acknowledged that polls in the Midlands, Manicaland and Mashonaland Central provinces were poorly organized. The elections in the three provinces were won by allies linked to Mujuru, who is fighting a bitter battle with party stalwart Emmerson Mnangagwa to replace Mugabe in the event of his death or retirement. The ZANU PF elections were rocked with chaos following accusations and counter-accusations that the candidates engaged in vote buying and rigging of the polls. In the last week daggers were drawn against ZANU PF administration secretary Didymus Mutasa and party spokesman Rugare Gumbo, as the party’s faction led by Mnangagwa accused them of allegedly trying to manipulate the provincial elections to favourably position Mujuru. Mnangagwa’s faction went into Saturday’s meeting seeking to have a re-run of the poll, citing irregularities during voting. But this was shot down after intense debate during the meeting, which lasted over six hours. The meeting also agreed that elections in the remaining provinces will be held this weekend. Out of the seven provinces left, Mujuru needs the support of three provinces to ensure she stands a chance of succeeding the long serving Mugabe. Any endorsement for a position in the ZANU PF presidium needs to garner the support of at least six out of the country’s 10 provinces. However Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, thought to be aligned to the Mnangagwa faction, issued a statement on Sunday dismissing the notion that the outcome of the meeting favoured one particular faction of the party.‘It is neither true nor correct that the confirmation of the elections in Manicaland, Midlands and Mashonaland Central means that the Politburo endorsed a real or perceived faction against another real or perceived rival faction.‘That assertion is nonsense. The Politburo is an organ of the party and not an organ of a faction. Any attempt to factionalise the Politburo is doomed to fail because it will be resisted by the ZANU PF membership which is solidly behind President Mugabe as the leader of the party, government and country,’ Moyo said. Gumbo, who had been a victim of Moyo’s vitriolic statements in the state media told journalists after the meeting that all the bickering and complaints about election irregularities were now water under the bridge.“The first decision was to reaffirm the provincial elections for Manicaland and Midlands and the second was the endorsement of the provincial election for Mashonaland Central,” Gumbo said.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The emergence of yet another picture showing President Robert Mugabe fast asleep during proceedings at a two-day Arab-Africa Summit has reignited calls for leadership renewal in the country. The summit, held in Kuwait on November 19th-20th, was aimed at improving economic and trade links between Gulf and African states. The 89-year-old Mugabe was accompanied by his customary large entourage of ZANU PF gurus, who included Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi – with most of them captured asleep. Nixon Nyikadzino, of lobby group Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, slammed Mugabe’s sleeping habits which he said “were now out of hand”. Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Monday Nyikadzino said: “Mugabe and his ministers should distinguish between a bed and a meeting. They are doing the nation a disservice by sleeping even during meetings that should define the economic development of the country.“This also shows that these people should not be occupying these Cabinet positions because they are all well past the retirement age and should be at home playing with their grandchildren.“Zimbabweans deserve to be represented by people who are able and energetic and not this current crop. These people are draining the economy by taking large delegations to such summits to simply go and sleep,” Nyikadzino added. Another commentator, Mkhululi Moyo, said given his crimes and the problems bedevilling the country, it was surprising that the president can actually manage to fall soundly asleep. “Any other person with so much on his conscience will sleep with one eye open, but Mugabe manages to sleep soundly,” Moyo said. Nyikadzino agreed, adding that “under the current circumstances, even Chinamasa can’t afford to sleep. The announcement of the 2014 budget is overdue which has ramifications on the way the country will function next year.” This is just one incident in which the president has been caught napping. At a summit for African Heads of State held in Ethiopia in May, Mugabe and his entourage “tuned to sleeping mode and dozed off completely,” the Nigerian press reported. One of the reports, which appeared on Nigeriafilms.com, blamed, “these sleeping dinosaurs like Mugabe” for the political, social and economic mess that continue to haunt the continent.” The report added: “When the veteran ‘warlord’ is asleep when the battle is so fierce, obviously, the other soldiers are fighting a lost battle, and if the president and his entire cabinet are a group of sleepers, what becomes of the nation they represent?” Last year, then Industry Minister Welshman Ncube also called for a new leadership for the country and sensationally revealed that Mugabe was sleeping through most international meetings. In widely-circulated remarks Ncube also took issue with the undignified nature of Mugabe’s naps: “If you are strong and young, you sleep in a dignified way, but his whole body collapses when he sleeps. We need fresh leaders with power and strength who you do not have to look at and check if they are still awake,” Ncube added. In 2010, MDC-T secretary-general and then-Finance Minister Tendai Biti, also stated that Mugabe was in the habit of sleeping through meetings, saying the old leader was “now tired” and should step down. According to the Zim Independent newspaper, Mugabe spent almost “$50 million in foreign travel last year,” while important and beleaguered sectors, such as education and energy, received $25 million and $16 million respectively. Despite the Zim delegation apparently sleeping through the recent Arab-Africa summit, the Kuwaiti government announced that it was “rescheduling” Zimbabwe’s unspecified debt. Speaking after the summit, an official said Kuwait was doing so in recognition that Zim was facing economic challenges as a result “of hardships, embargoes and sanctions” and that they will be resuming operations in Zimbabwe. However, Nyikadzino said it is not altogether surprising that the Arab state was choosing to ‘cancel’ Zimbabwe’s debt at this point. He said Zimbabwe had seen the worst of these economic hardships in 2008, yet Kuwait did not reschedule the debt then. “We are seeing a slow but gradual acceptance of this illegitimate government by the international community. We saw another example of this in September when the EU lifted restrictive sanctions on the (ZANU PF controlled) Zimbabwe Mining Development Community, despite evidence that this entity funded ZANU PF’s ballot theft,” Nyikadzino added.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The ultimatum given to foreign owned businesses by government last week is an attempt by ZANU PF to appear to be delivering on promises made during the election campaign earlier this year, an economist has said. The ultimatum came from George Magosvongwe, the Permanent secretary for the empowerment ministry, who on Thursday told a Parliamentary committee that regulations which reserve specific sectors of the economy for black Zimbabweans would be enforced as of January 1, 2014. According to the state run Herald newspaper, these “reserved sectors of the economy” include hairdressers, beauty salons, bakers, employment agencies, farmers, transport companies, estate agencies and retail and wholesale businesses. The Herald said those who fail to comply will be arrested. Robert Mugabe also used empowerment as the key theme of his presidential campaign in the July 31st election. Mostly Chinese and Nigerian businesses will be affected as shops mushroomed all over the country and provided cheap products and services. It is not clear how government plans to replace them with locals. Economic analyst Professor Tony Hawkins told SW Radio Africa that ZANU PF is planning to enforce these laws now because they are under pressure to deliver on promises that they made ahead of the last election. “The current government won the election in July on a manifesto that made a whole range of promises about indigenization of businesses and empowerment of people and so on. And now it is time to deliver and that is why now we are having this sort of initiative. So there is enormous pressure to deliver,” Hawkins said. He explained that the ultimatum “is largely an attack on small businesses owned by minorities like Nigerian and Chinese people”, adding that there are quite a few of them running businesses in Zimbabwe.“A lot of the businesses are very small and it would not be a question of a lot of resources needed. It would be possible I think to strong arm some of the banks into providing some resources,” Hawkins said. He added: “The problem is the practical issue. Do you go and say you must close your business and someone else is going to come take it over tomorrow. I mean who is going to come? Who is going to be either trained or able or have the resources to do that?” Chinese products in particular have made their mark on Zimbabwean culture, with locals referring to their cheap imports as Zhing-zhongs. But according to Hawkins, the Chinese government is more concerned with bigger business projects, and is not likely to change their policy towards Zimbabwe if a few nationals are affected by indigenization. He said the Chinese recently loaned $320 million to Zimbabwe to build a power plant. George Magosvongwe, the Permanent secretary for empowerment, gave no details of government’s plan to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee last week. But his ultimatum came at a time when many companies are reportedly closing down. Many have lost their jobs and those still in employment are withdrawing their money from the banks, showing no confidence in the economy.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The number of Zimbabwean workers being retrenched in recent weeks has soared to alarming levels, leaving thousands of people facing desperate times. This is according to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which has raised concern about the government’s failure to encourage investment and job creation. ZCTU Secretary General Japhet Moyo told SW Radio Africa on Monday that figures, revealed during recent meetings of the government-created Retrenchment Board, indicate that retrenchments are affecting as many as 300 workers per week. He said that the figures indicate that over the past three months there have been retrenchments of up to 150 per week. But in the last two weeks of November the figures have risen to almost 300 per week. “We are aware that the economy has not been doing very well, but we didn’t think the figures would be so high. So it’s very disturbing. We didn’t expect this to happen just two months after an election, where promises of economic change were made,” Moyo said. He explained that the retrenchments, taking place in a country with over 80% unemployment, affect thousands of people as many families are dependent on single salaries. He explained this puts even more pressure on these families, predicting more school drop outs, rising poverty and rising crime. Moyo said that government policies which scare away potential investment were a serious problem, explaining that legislation like the Indigenisation Act “does not give confidence to those who want to invest and create jobs.”“I don’t see the problem being resolved until the government retracts such policies,” Moyo said.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Three MDC-T activists, still facing charges of murdering a policeman in Glen View in 2011, will remain detained for an indefinite amount of time after their trial was deferred on Monday. Justice Chinembiri Bhunu indefinitely postponed the case, in which a total of seven MDC-T activists remain charged for the murder. 29 activists were originally arrested after the death of Inspector Petros Mutedza at a bar in the high density suburb two years ago. Most of the group spent more than a year in prison, with the case slowly dragging on. This is despite a significant lack of evidence to implicate the group. Last month, 21 of the arrested group were acquitted after the High Court ruled that none of the evidence put forward by the State implicated them on the murder charge. But seven of the accused will still need to face court action. These are Tungamirai Madzokere, Yvonne Musarurwa, Last Maengahama, Lazarus Maengahama, Edwin Muingiri, Phineas Nhatarikwa, and Paul Rukanda. Rebecca Mafukeni, one of the activists, died last month while still detained at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison following several unsuccessful bail attempts. Last Maengahama, Madzokere, and Musarurwa remain detained at Chikurubi.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The city of Bulawayo has been labelled the knife capital of Zimbabwe after two young men were stabbed and robbed on Sunday night. SW Radio Africa correspondent Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, who ferried the two victims to hospital, expressed shock at the amount of force used by the thugs to rob Bongani Donga and Greg Nxumalo of their mobile phones and “just a dollar”.“I was just passing near TM Hyper Supermarket when I saw the two writhing in agony and covered in blood. Just to think they could have been killed for almost nothing really shocks me.“I first took them to the police station so they could get a police report to facilitate treatment at the United Bulawayo Hospitals. The police did not even bother trying to make a follow up on the criminals and this is frightening given the prevalence of this crime in Matebeleland,” Sibanda said. Sibanda blamed the high levels of unemployment (more than 90%) for the rise in criminal activity in Bulawayo, saying the majority of the criminals were young people deported from South Africa and Botswana after fleeing poverty in Zimbabwe. “When they return, they still find themselves unemployed and without any prospects and most of them then resort to crime, robbing and terrorising residents, with young women turning to prostitution, he added. He said Donga and Nxumalo were lucky to have survived but warned that “someone might be killed in future if these thugs terrorising our people are not stopped immediately.” Sibanda said most people were not bothering going to the police after being robbed, saying the police were concentrating more on policing the roads where they were making money through bribes and fining motorists for minor traffic offences. Earlier this month, a Bulawayo judge said he was alarmed by knife crime in Matabeleland North. Justice Martin Makonese said the use of specified weapons such as Okapi knives in the province called for stiffer penalties.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The trial of prominent human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa finally ended Tuesday with a magistrate finding her not guilty of obstructing the course of justice. Mtetwa was arrested on 17th March and has been defending the matter in court since 10th June. Following her arrest Mtetwa spent eight nights in prison until she was granted bail by Justice Joseph Musakwa. Police accused her of interfering with a search in one of former Prime Minister Morgan’s Tsvangirai’s offices in Avondale, Harare. But magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa on Tuesday delivered a verdict of not guilty. Mtetwa was acquitted at the closure of the case by the state and was not required to respond to the evidence. According to a Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum statement, Mugwagwa said Mtetwa had ‘done nothing to interfere with investigations the police were conducting.’ An inspection conducted at the premises where Mtetwa was arrested, established that she could not ‘have interfered with what was going on in an area of the house where she could not see what was happening’. Mtetwa was ‘guarded and in handcuffs in a vehicle outside the premises’. According to the statement the magistrate ‘castigated the police for presenting contradictory testaments when they are professionals whose work relies on observation.’ Mtetwa told SW Radio Africa that her case was a ‘deliberate persecution meant to take me out of the legal space for a couple of months, particularly ahead of the election’. Mtetwa said the state had achieved its goal because she spent ‘a lot of time’ defending herself ‘instead of defending other people’ as a result of her persecution. She added that her acquittal was not a matter for celebrating because she ‘ought not to have been brought to court in the first place.’ Mtetwa added that she feared that more people will still be persecuted in future. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Executive Director Irene Petras said ‘retrogressive forces sought to use scurrilous charges to soil Mtetwa’s name and the 30years of sweat she has put into building her reputation as an honourable lawyer’. Metwa’s acquittal follows that of another human rights activist and lawyer, Abel Chikomo, who was last Friday found not guilty of running an ‘unregistered’ organisation. As in Mtetwa’s case the magistrate said there was ‘absolutely’ no case against Chikomo.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The ZANU PF mouthpiece Herald newspaper has taken its propaganda campaign about western targeted restrictions to new levels, publishing calls for new legislation that punishes anyone who denies that the measures affect Zimbabwe. The calls were contained in an opinion piece, calling on Parliament to enact an ‘Anti Sanctions Law’, in order to “bring before the courts of law anyone accused of breaking the laid down provisions of the law.”“People who deny the existence of sanctions will have the great chance to tell the courts why they say there are no sanctions. But there could be stiff punishment for them to suffer if they fail to convince the courts with their denial arguments. The Anti-Sanctions law will also enable our nation to deal effectively with saboteurs and locally-based individual or institutional Western proxies that daily work clandestinely to ensure that the sanctions are biting,” the piece by a person called Shortie Bwidi reads. Bwidi adds: “The anti-sanctions law will clip the long tails of quisling politicians with inflated egos who, whenever they open their mouths in public, leave no one in doubt that they are citizens of a country other than the Zimbabwe they disparage all the time. An anti-sanctions law will place bits in the mouths of the Deborah Bronnerts and Bruce Whartons of the diplomatic world.” Political analyst Clifford Mashiri said such publications suggest that ZANU PF is “desperate” to maintain the illusion that the targeted measures are to blame for Zimbabwe’s myriad of problems. He told SW Radio Africa that such threats against public opinion are indicative that nothing has changed in the party.“This is only an attempt silence the opposition, silence critics, cause fear and appease Mugabe. People know the so-called sanctions are not the problem in Zimbabwe, so they (ZANU PF) are trying to make anyone who criticises the party on the sanctions an enemy,” Mashiri said. The ZANU PF rhetoric about the measures has been consistent for years, but in recent months the campaign has been ratcheted up to new levels. Mis-information about the measures and the affect they have on Zimbabwe have been published and vocalised repeatedly, with the restrictions being used as the scapegoat for all the problems caused by decades of ZANU PF mismanagement, greed and destructive policies. The latest issues to be blamed on ‘sanctions’ are widespread hunger, the poaching crisis at the Hwange national park, the cholera outbreak of 2008 and, most recently, the water crisis in Harare. Stanley Mungofa, the City of Harare Director for Environmental Health, on Monday said the measures were to blame for the Council’s failure to provide clean water and proper sanitation to Harare residents. Mungofa made the remarks during a media briefing held at the Ministry of Health offices, where officials were quizzed on their preparedness to deal with potential disease outbreaks that traditionally accompany the onset of the rainy season. SW Radio Africa’s correspondent Simon Muchemwa reported that Mungofa was put on the defensive after saying that ‘sanctions’ were to blame.“When asked to explain what he meant, he indicated that when it comes to the issues of the Morton Jeffrey waterworks, no new infrastructure and no new system has been installed since it was built over 20 years ago, and they can’t make any new changes because of the sanctions,” Muchemwa explained. He added: “They (the City Council) should have seen the problems coming even since 1998, but they failed to utilize the opportunities to build new dams and new reservoirs. Instead they chose to reward themselves high salaries, at the expense of service delivery in Harare. That is not the fault of sanctions.”

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The globally commemorated 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence kicked off Monday, amid reports that the abuse of women and children is on the increase in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean women are no strangers to gender-based violence as, over the decades, they have suffered all sorts of abuse including rape, forced marriage, torture and death at the hands of their male counterparts. In response, many advocacy and rights groups have been working to explore ways of raising awareness in the hope of curbing this abuse. Despite these efforts, reports point to a rise in cases of gender-based crimes across the country, with the highest numbers recorded in Mashonaland Central Province, where politically-motivated violence is also high. In Harare alone over 650 women and girls were raped in the last 10 months, according to a Herald newspaper report. The report also noted that in June this year, 12 cases of murder were before the High Court, an increase of 60% on last year’s figures. A statement posted on Facebook by the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe – an umbrella body representing more than 200 women’s rights groups – called on Zimbabweans to use the 16 days campaign to denounce all forms of gender-based violence. The group expressed alarm at the “increasing cases of gender-based violence in the country” where “68% of women have experienced some form of violence”. Msasa Project, one of the first groups to provide counselling and temporary shelter to women survivors of domestic violence, is recording an average of 300 cases of violence against women each month. Speaking to SW Radio Africa Tuesday, Msasa Project director Netty Musanhu said the figures are worrying and called for serious reflection on the part of all groups working in this area, the government and society at large. “The statistics gathered through cases reported to us, the police and the courts are very worrying and indicate an increase in the number of women and girls being raped.“So we are using these 16 Days to urge everyone to reflect on what these numbers really mean and represent. Does it mean that as a society we have lost our values when newspapers frequently carry reports of babies being raped?” Musanhu blamed the political and economic conditions in the country for the rise in crimes against women and children. “I think when a country is experiencing political, and economic problems the social fabric also breaks down with the stronger members of society preying on the weaker ones and in this case, women and children become the victims,” she said. Musanhu also took a swipe at some churches which she said had become “havens of abuse”, saying the “get-rich-quick” gospel that has taken the country by storm is part of the problem. She said religious and cultural beliefs, as well as downright criminality, were responsible for the disregard for women’s rights as indicated by the figures. Asked whether these figures mean that Zimbabwe is failing in its fight against women’s human rights abuses, Musanhu said huge strides have been made in the policy area, including the passing of the Domestic Violence Act.“But good laws are useless if they do not translate to positive action. The paltry sentences given to sexual violence perpetrators are a case in point,” she added. The 16 Days of Activism is an annual global campaign that starts on November 25th (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and ends on Human Rights Day on December 10th. The theme for this year is ‘From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence against Women’. Zimbabwean groups are focusing on sexual violence against women and children, in response to the surge in recorded incidents.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Villagers relocated from Chiadzwa to the Arda Transau resettlement area, to make way for diamond mining operations in Marange, on Tuesday blasted the Chinese run firm Anjin investments for being ‘cruel and insensitive’ to their plight. When the 471 villagers were relocated to the Transau area, Anjin reportedly promised to provide the villagers with clean water, electricity and food. They were also promised farming inputs to restart their farming activities. But Cephas Gwayagwaya, a spokesman for the villagers, told SW Radio Africa that three years down the line they’re still waiting for Anjin to provide what they promised.‘The only way I can describe Anjin is that they are worse than the devil himself. They are cruel, insensitive and perennial liars,’ Gwayagwaya said. He claimed that while the extraction of diamonds from where they used to live continues to benefit outsiders, their welfare remains in the doldrums. ‘We led self sustaining lives before we were forcibly removed from Chiadzwa. We had a good life, we farmed on good land and we produced enough for our families and the surplus we sold to the Grain Marketing Board,’ he said. Under a memorandum between diamond firms and the government, each company was supposed to build a primary and secondary school and clinic and provide clean water and income generating projects. ‘We were promised irrigation pipes by Anjin that would have helped us start our farming projects. Nothing has materialized and we are penniless and living on hand to mouth.‘We do not want to be spoon fed, we want them to empower us, we’ve got the hands and skills to survive on income generating projects like we used to do before we were relocated,’ Gwayagwaya added. He explained that they have tried to visit government officials from district, provincial and cabinet level to air their grievances, but to no avail. He accused ZANU PF officials of pretending to sympathise with their plight before the elections, only to disappear after the July 31st polls.