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Zimbabweans should brace themselves for a lasting economic crisis as long as the ZANU PF government is at the helm, speakers at a panel discussion said Thursday. The discussion, organised by rights lobby group Crisis in Zim Coalition, focused on the 2014 national budget and the government’s ZimAsset economic blueprint.“The overarching view from the panelists was that the budget and ZimAsset are just propaganda because ZANU PF has neither the funds to implement this economic blueprint, nor the political will to do so,” according to Nixon Nyikadzino, one of the organisers.“We wanted the Finance Minister and ex-finance ministers Tendai Biti and Simba Makoni to answer the questions whether ZimAsset is implementable on the current budget, but Chinamasa did not turn up,” Nyikadzino said. Speaker after speaker tore into the government’s economic policies, with Biti saying that ZimAsset is anchored on the controversial indigenisation policy, which he said promotes capital flight rather than investor confidence. Biti said the government’s $4 billion budget lacks credibility and that while it identifies the problems facing the economy, the solutions it suggests only feed those problems.“The biggest problem with ZANU PF is that they don’t understand money and the economy. They are functionally illiterate. They think that money grows on trees,” Biti told the meeting. The former minister urged ZANU PF to humble itself and engage the international community for financial assistance, and also to revise its investor-hostile empowerment policies. “We need to stem the tide of de-industrialisation, we cannot celebrate informal businesses,” Biti said, adding that the informal sector was not taxable and could not be depended on as a revenue stream for Treasury. Turning to Chinamasa’s projection that the country’s economy will grow by 6.1%, economist Godfrey Kanyenze said this is “grossly inaccurate and is illogical”.“Domestic arrears are not included in the budget, they are over $97 million. The budget doesn’t have priorities, it contains projections and assumptions but the cash just isn’t there,” Kanyenze said. Kanyenze said there was a need for the system to be completely overhauled but said he did not see this happening under the current set up. “Any reform agenda cannot be done overnight, it takes years. Reforms will affect those who are benefiting from the current state of the economy, and they will not stand by idle,” he said. Mavambo/Kusile/dawn party leader Simba Makoni slammed the ZANU PF government for blaming targetted sanctions for the self-inflicted economic decline. “We need to stop blaming other people for our own problems. Corruption continues to weigh heavily in our everyday lives, all the problems Zimbabwe faces are caused by politics and power struggles,” Makoni said. The former finance minister said the government needs to be receptive to new ideas and advice because “the government does not know it all”.“Problems can never be solved by their creators. We need the government to be open to advice from wherever it comes from,” Makoni told the meeting.

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About 30 rowdy ZANU PF youths Wednesday barged into a US Embassy function in Masvingo, disturbed the proceedings and assaulted one journalist forcing the event to end prematurely, reports said Friday. A Southern Eye report said the youths, who were apparently drunk, stormed the venue of the US President Barack Obama’s Washington Fellowship Young African Leaders initiative at a local theater. They then mobbed Corra-Leigh Magiya, an embassy official who was speaking at the time, and demanded that Washington lift the targeted sanctions imposed on President Mugabe and his inner circle. The youths, who outnumbered the invited guests, also shouted their anger at Obama for not inviting Mugabe to the US-Africa Summit in August. This was after reports Wednesday said Mugabe will not be among the 47 leaders to be invited by Obama to a landmark US-Africa summit in August. The summit seeks to widen US trade, development and security ties with Africa to which the US president traces part of his ancestry. Gang leader Talent Majoni, who is also ZANU PF youth league national deputy commissar, asked why Obama had excluded Mugabe from the August summit. He claimed that the sanctions were hurting the ordinary masses and shouted out saying ‘we do not need your scholarships.’ Ironically, as the youths were railing at the embassy officials over the omission of their leader from the forthcoming event, Mugabe’s spokesperson George Charamba was saying the Zimbabwe government was not bothered by it. As the ZANU PF youths were shouting Magiya frantically tried to explain that she was not the right person to comment on the targeted sanctions issue but her every word was drowned in the din, forcing her to adjourn the meeting. A year ago, another ZANU PF youth Sheila Mutsenu, confronted US Ambassador Bruce Wharton during his brief tour of the American Corner at the Turner Memorial Library near the Civic Centre in Mutare. Mutsenu took off her clothes leaving her in her undergarments. She further railed against the US targeted sanctions and in the process claimed that they were hurting ordinary people. Daily News reporter Godfrey Mtimba confirmed the Masvingo incident and narrated his ordeal. He told SW Radio Africa that he was taking pictures at the event when he was pounced upon by the rowdy youths. Mtimba, who is also the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists national executive member, said the youths manhandled him and in the process tore his jacket. In a related incidence of harassment of journalists, the Media Institute of Southern Africa reports that Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs Minister Abedinico Ncube has twice this year threatened Southern Eye correspondent Albert Mazhale over stories the Gwanda-based reporter has written about him.

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A growing number of public institutions, businesses and individuals are beginning to abandon the use of the South African rand, with the value of the neighbouring currency continuing to weaken. The rand’s value has been steadily falling this year, reaching a five year low in recent weeks. The exchange rate against the US dollar has been fluctuating between R11 and R12 to the $1, and this is causing serious problems in Zimbabwe. With a multi-currency system in place since 2009, both currencies are legal tender in Zimbabwe. However, there is no set exchange price for the numerous businesses and organisations trading in the two currencies. And for those customers and consumers who often only have access to rands, the situation is becoming worse because more places have stopped accepting the neighbouring currency. According to a snap survey conducted by the Chronicle newspaper, government institutions such as schools and the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) were refusing rands and insisting on US dollars. The paper quoted several individuals being turned away and told to bring back ‘real money’. Economic analyst Masimba Kuchera said the weakening rand was a serious problem for Zimbabwe, which is heavily reliant on imports from its neighbours. “Our import/export ratio has grown over the last few months, and it means we are importing a lot more than we are exporting, particularly from South Africa. So the weakening of the rand will mean an increase in prices, and a distortion in terms of currency conversions in terms of the US dollar and the South African rand, which causes chaos and confusion in the market,” Kuchera said. He explained that there is no easy solution for how this affects Zimbabwe, particularly while there are still damaging government policies in place that prevent the country’s economy from recovering.“What we need is a strong internal solution. We need a strong economy, an economy that can manufacture the goods we consume. We also need policies that can make that happen,” Kuchera said. He added: “But in this case and at this moment, it will be very difficult for that to happen because of the policies, like indigenization, that are inconsistent with the needs for investment that Zimbabwe requires.” For individuals Kuchera suggested that they increase their cash reserves of US dollars if possible, and to avoid using street vendors for currency exchanges. “They must try to us the banking sector. In the past it was the street that was the favorable exchange compared to the banks, but in recent times the banks seem to have better exchange rates. So you may be charged a little for your transaction in the bank, but at least you know you are getting the correct money,” Kuchera said.

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MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday moved a motion to call for an early congress in March, in an attempt to head off an expected challenge from his political rivals. The top leadership of the opposition party, the standing committee, met in Harare where Tsvangirai called for a snap party vote in a bid to end uncertainty over his job. SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that the motion was not seconded by anybody, amid reports Tsvangirai had also put up his name for re-election. He told the meeting he was prepared to face any challengers. Instead, party members implored Tsvangirai to concentrate on restructuring the party in preparations for the 2018 elections. The meeting unanimously agreed the next congress will be held as scheduled in 2016. The vote will have brought to a head months of tension within the party over who will lead it into the election in 2018. It would also have helped settle Tsvangirai’s long-running leadership tussle with his rivals, who were reportedly orchestrating a revolt that would have seen the veteran trade unionist ousted as party president. Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that the issue of leadership renewal was discussed and that after some debate they felt there were no compelling reasons for having an early congress. The outcome is a major boast for Tsvangirai who was facing increasing pressure from within his party to call for an early congress to deal with the leadership renewal or step down and make way for another candidate. A source told us he emerged from his party’s meeting emboldened with the knowledge that no one had the guts to stand up and challenge him in a leadership contest.‘It’s like he’s received a vote of confidence from his standing committee and all talk of a leadership contest or him stepping down will be put on the backburner for the next two years. It has given Tsvangirai some breathing space which he will use to rebrand himself as well as the party,’ our source said. Despite their loss at the hands of ZANU PF at last year’s elections Mwonzora says he is optimistic about the MDC-T’s chances of rebuilding, saying the labour backed party needs to rebuild and show Zimbabweans it can be ‘united, stable and focused on them, and not ourselves as leaders.’

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The International Committee of the Red Cross has ended its support for 33 healthcare institutions in Zimbabwe. The relief agency intervened in 2006 at a time when social service delivery in the country had collapsed due to ZANU PF’s destructive policies. The agency spent $3 million supporting 16 rural health facilities, 13 facilities in Harare, and four other hospitals with medicines, equipment and personnel training. Some of the equipment installed at the health facilities included baby resuscitation machines, electricity invertors and generators and waste incinerators at maternity clinics. Waiting facilities for expectant women in rural areas were also refurbished. Zimbabwe’s Health Minister David Parirenyatwa last week said the humanitarian group terminated its assistance because the country is no longer in “crisis”. This is despite another humanitarian agency, the World Food Programme, saying 2.2 million Zimbabweans are in critical need of food assistance. Tendayi Sengwe, the spokesman for the relief agency, said the ICRC had achieved its objective of rebuilding the capacity of municipalities to provide health services. “We succeeded in ensuring that health services were available between 2006 and 2008 when a lot of communities increasingly didn’t have access to these services,” Sengwe told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday.“Our intervention also helped these local authority facilities to achieve a level of stability that wasn’t there when we started the programme in 2006.“We now feel that local authorities are now more in need of organisations that specialise in longer term, aid development-type situations, rather than our emergency-focused mandate.“The hand-over of these completed programmes has been amicable and gradual and we are confident that we have adequately prepared and trained the local authorities to carry on with the programmes,” Sengwe added. The relief agency will still lend support to Zimbabwe’s health ministry through the Health Transition Fund, a multi-funded initiative.“But starting this year, our main priorities are now on working with the country’s prison services where we will be monitoring the treatment of inmates, as well as the de-mining programme in south-eastern Zimbabwe,” Sengwe said. The just-ended programme benefitted more than 180,000 people who sought treatment at municipal health centres in Chivi, Makoni, and Tsholotsho. In Harare, 1.2 million people received medical assistance through the programme. In recent years, the city’s health facilities have struggled to cope with outbreaks of waterborne diseases, with humanitarian groups stepping in to provide support. All 92 local authorities in the country are facing unprecedented cash-flow problems which have further compromised service delivery after ZANU PF ordered them to write off rate payers’ debts, as part of the party’s poll gimmicks.

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The Chitungwiza City Council is reportedly preventing some residents from fetching water from a borehole located in one of the municipality’s suburbs. The authorities blocked access to the sole borehole in the city’s Unit O high density suburb, accusing residents of failing to pay for water bills. Hundreds of households were relying on the borehole as the council supply of potable water is limited to just once a week, according to a Daily News report. The residents told the newspaper that they now feared contracting waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery after they resorted to using unsafe water from nearby streams. Chitungwiza Residents Trust coordinator Marvelous Kumalo told the newspaper that the council blocked access to the borehole a week ago, because residents were no longer paying their water bills as they had access to free water. The borehole is one of many sunk by non-governmental organisations across Harare and Chitungwiza. Some residents said boreholes built by the government under the Constituency Development Fund were either broken down or had been locked. Chitungwiza resident Donald Makuwaza told SW Radio Africa that council authorities were claiming that the boreholes were undergoing maintenance work. “But we know that the real reason is to try and stop people from accessing the water and maybe force them to pay their water bills.“The council has no authority to do this because the borehole was provided for the use of residents by the donor community,” Makuwaza said. It was not possible to speak to Kumalo as he was at Chitungwiza police station after being arrested for conducting a residents’ meeting to discuss the demolition of homes in the city. Kumalo was arrested Tuesday afternoon, together with five other officials from the Chitungwiza Residents Trust.

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MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, in his most crucial political fight, is to go on a massive charm offensive to reinforce his support base. From next week Monday, Tsvangirai will embark on a tour of provinces and put the question of leadership renewal to the grassroots supporters, the majority of whom still back the former trade unionist. A highly placed source told SW Radio Africa that Tsvangirai will begin his tour by visiting Manicaland province, where it is believed those orchestrating his removal have been operating from. ‘He plans to visit all the provinces and meet the structures from wards, districts and provincial leaders and hear their views on the leadership renewal, as well as articulate his plans for the party.‘When he has finished with the provinces, Tsvangirai will ask the national council to convene a meeting where a motion will be moved to debate the leadership renewal with a view to tacitly decide on what needs to be done next,’ the source said. Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that Tsvangirai will be embarking on working visits to update the grassroots structures on the state of the party. ‘He will also receive feedback from the structures and help map the way forward as he seeks to ensure that the MDC is a structurally efficient organization,’ Mwonzora said. Tsvangirai has indicated he will not be stepping down as demanded lately by his deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma, whom he has accused of putting a price tag on his head following reports that he offered the party leader $3 million to relinquish power. Since last Friday, when Mangoma’s open letter to Tsvangirai was discussed in a standing committee meeting, Tsvangirai has been on the phone to his allies seeking support and their views on the way forward. This charm offensive seems to have worked. Since Friday, he has received support from the MDC-T’s women’s assembly, the youth league and several party stalwarts, who have used social media to attack Mangoma.

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The ZANU PF government is reportedly conducting an audit of the seven firms mining at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, in an alleged bid to improve transparency and accountability there. According to a Herald newspaper report, only one firm will be allowed to carry on its activities, and the decision will follow the audit. The seven companies in Chiadzwa are Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources, Anjin Investments, the Diamond Mining Company, Jinan, Kusena and Gye Nyame. The firms are all joint ventures with the government, and the main investors have been Chinese. Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa told the National Assembly last week: “Firstly, we will look at a particular company and demand information on how many diamonds have been taken from the country and secondly how much they have been sold for.” He added: “We need to know that as a country. What we want to do is to cut down on these other companies and identify a company which will work in conjunction with the government so that we do not have these small companies working on our diamonds.” A lack of revenue from the alluvial fields has been an ongoing issue ever since ZANU PF started forming the joint ventures in 2008. Human rights and civil society groups have insisted that the proceeds are lining the pockets of a select few within ZANU PF, who are operating as part of a larger criminal network controlling the Zim diamond sector. It was also claimed by the Global Witness group that the proceeds were being used to run a parallel government during the tenure of the coalition government, with the intention of cementing ZNAU PF’s position in power. With the party now firmly back in control, there are questions being raised about how it plans to promote ‘transparency’, when it has benefited from the industry’s murky nature. As this online commentator stated: “Some of those companies are run by police commissioners and army generals who are the backbone of ZANU. I do not see them being asked to close shop. Chinamasa, are you hoping to get anything from those companies? You let them do braais (nyama yekugocha) with our diamonds while you and your party condoned looting.”

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Leaders in the Southern African region have been urged to follow the lead of Botswana’s President Ian Khama in condemning Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections as neither fair nor credible. In an interview aired on Botswana’s national television station, BTV, Khama said the Zim elections were neither free nor fair. He also announced that Botswana will no longer participate in any SADC election observer missions, because the leadership bloc appears to have let Zimbabwe “off the hook”. The Botswana President insisted that the elections were never fair, and that the rules that govern democratic elections in Southern African were not followed in Zimbabwe’s case.“SADC has set itself guidelines for the conduct of free and fair elections…And in Zim, we sent 80 plus or so observers and almost every one of them said there were irregularities in that election, and there were. I am convinced of it,” Khama said. He added: “So, the point was just to say that we must fix the problem because if the guidelines were violated and you create that precedent in Zimbabwe, then it means the next election, because Zimbabwe is going to have elections again, they are likely to repeat the same irregularities. So, do we say Zimbabwe is an exception to the SADC guidelines?” Khama’s comments fly in the face of SADC’s endorsement of Zimbabwe’s elections, which have also been disputed by the opposition MDCs in Zimbabwe, civil society groups and regional observer teams present during the polls. One of the observers, Masizole Mnqasela, the South African Shadow Minister for Home affairs from the Democratic Alliance (DA), refused to sign off on a SADC report that endorsed the polls. He defended his position this week and said other SADC leaders should learn from Khama’s statement.“The election process could not be regarded as a process that was free, or proper. It was a process that lacked credibility and was unconstitutional. So one could not help but declare them unconstitutional and they could not be condoned,” Mnqasela told SW Radio Africa’s Diaspora Diaries series. He explained that the principles that govern SADC’s commitment to democracy and development need to be upheld, for the good of the entire region.“If we as a region are able to stand up together, it would be good not just for Zimbabwe’s future, but other countries too. So any country and any leader will know that if you do what happened in Zimbabwe, we will not support you. If you break the rules, you won’t be supported, as Khama has rightly said,” Mnqasela added. Piers Pigou, the Southern Africa Project director at the International Crisis Group, meanwhile questioned what has prompted Khama to voice his concerns, so long after Zimbabwe’s July polls.“Botswana is often singled out and accused of not following the regional line, and we knew that they were unhappy about Zimbabwe’s polls before and even wanted an audit,” Pigou said. He added: “So we are left speculating about what has prompted this. What is outstanding from the observation process is the publication of a final report on the elections by SADC itself, and it may have something to do with that.” That report is understood to be in the hands of Namibia’s President Hifikepunye Pohamba, the current chair of the SADC Troika. Pigou said the “cynical argument” about the delay could be that this is a deliberate attempt to put as much time as possible between the polls and report.“So Khama’s comments could reflect a level of desperation and exasperation with SADC and the failure to address the issues in Zimbabwe’s elections,” Pigou said. Meanwhile Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo, gave a scathing reaction to Khama’s comments, saying the Botswana President was only seeking the attention of the European Union (EU), ahead of an EU meeting on Zimbabwe’s targeted restrictive measures.“We are of course aware that the EU’s annual review of its illegal sanctions is scheduled for around February 19. Nobody should be surprised that the usual voices that have traditionally supported the self-indulgent and evil Anglo-Saxon sanctions about this time of the year since 2003 are at it again ahead of the February 19 EU meetings in Brussels,” Moyo said.

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Two members of Zimbabwe’s army are facing criminal charges after being caught during a heist at a Chiadzwa based diamond mining firm. At least 12 members of a gang, which included the two soldiers, were reportedly involved in the heist earlier this month, which saw 10kg of diamond ore being stolen from the Anjin diamond firm. The gang, dressed in army uniforms and armed with AK47 rifles, stormed a processing plant at Anjin on January 18th, and used bolt cutters to cut the security fence while threatening to shoot the security guard on duty. They later broke into a cage where the diamond ore was stored and loaded an estimated 10kg of the unprocessed ore into bags. The Mutare magistrates’ court heard on Monday that other security guards intercepted the gang who fired warning shots into the air before making off with the stolen ore. Five people were eventually tracked down by police, but only four were arrested after one of the suspected gang members fatally shot himself when he was facing arrest. The four arrested are Harare-based soldiers Lieutenant Victor Zindonda and Brighton Mazo, and two civilians from Mutare, Tazeni Machingura and Tinashe Mwashita. They have been remanded in custody until February 5th. Seven more people, who escaped with the stolen diamond ore, are still at large.

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A former senior manager at Air Zimbabwe has issued a damning verdict on the failures at the national airline, saying government was aware of the rot for ‘many years’ but turned a blind eye to protect individuals with links to ZANU PF. He said people should not be fooled in believing government was unaware of the malpractices at the airline as it was always informed of the situation by workers union representatives. The former manager, who asked not to be identified, said reports that the national carrier failed to resume flights to London last November because of a $3 million outstanding debt for airport, navigation fees and catering expenses just goes to show how badly managed the airline is. ‘Air Zimbabwe has failed to make any headway because the parent ministry allowed the board to hire the wrong people for the top positions. What you got were the wrong people in the top management, also hiring the wrong people for very crucial jobs just because they wanted to safeguard their positions,’ he said. He said this malpractice saw the airline have excessive layers of management, poor communication between management and employees, expanding too quickly, misjudging the market, inept marketing strategy, underpaying or overpaying some employees and failure to plan for contingencies. Analysts believe that recruiting the right people for the job and restructuring to downsize on the number of employees will be the first major task of the board following a string of revelations about the gross financial mismanagement at the airline. This week a financial audit company, hired by new management at Air Zimbabwe, uncovered an insurance scam that netted about $10 million for senior staff. The report alleges that Air Zim’s company secretary, Grace Pfumbidzayi, authorised fraudulent payments to Navistar Insurance Brokers in a four-year aviation insurance scam. Pfumbidzayi is alleged to have acted in cahoots with Air Zim’s acting group chief executive officer Innocent Makore and together they are accused of having prejudiced the company of millions of dollars. Other senior staff members have also been implicated. The money was allegedly paid out to Navistar “for services rendered”, and invoices were provided, but no services were rendered. The Secretary for Transport and Infrastructural Development, Munesu Munodawafa, is also alleged to have acted to protect Pfumbidzayi, who is said to be his niece. Munodawafa is not named as a beneficiary of the scam.

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Harare Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi, and 18 other Town House managers, take home as much as $500,000 in monthly salaries, reports said Tuesday. A NewsDay report said the December 2013 salary schedule shows that Mahachi earns $37,642 a month while seven other managers earn $36,999 each. These include Treasurer Misheck Mubvumbi, Human Capital Director Caino Chingombe and Director of water engineering Christopher Zvogbo. The report said the December salary schedule was signed by Mahachi, Finance Director Cosmas Zvikaramba and Human Capital director Cainos Chingombe. Council spokesperson Leslie Gwindi, who is also a controversial football administrator, is also among the top earners at town house, with a monthly salary of $15,204. Other middle managers earn between $12,500 and $17,000. These include deputy director of housing James Chiyangwa and Godfrey Kusangaya who is the Harare Water manager. These developments have caused a storm at Town House where tension has been bubbling under the surface over the issue of top management’s salaries. Harare Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni told a press conference Tuesday that the issue of salaries has been ‘a thorny issue for a long time.’ The mayor said that in December he wrote a letter to Mahachi requesting details of management’s salaries, but town house remained evasive. Manyenyeni said rather than supply the requested details Mahachi supplied ‘documents vaguely resembling what we were asking for.’ He said he was ‘dismayed’ by the latest revelations and was not buying claims by the named people that press reports are incorrect. These revelations come at a time when workers in the water department have not been paid for three months. Last week local government minister Chombo revealed that the government will not be approving the 2014 budgets for Bulawayo, Chitungwiza and Harare if the councils don’t supply the salary details for managers. This followed reports that executives at the ZBC and the Premier Medical Aid Society (PSMAS) were earning ‘obscene’ salaries. ZBC chief executive Happison Muchechetere was forced into leaving after it was revealed that he was earning a monthly salary of $40,000. PSMAS boss Cuthbert Dube was last week said to be earning over $230,000 from the troubled medical aid society. Dube was Monday forced to retire following these revelations. A Daily News report Tuesday said Dube could pocket about $20 million as exit package. The report said normal human resources practice dictates that terminal benefits should be calculated at between three to four months’ salary for every year served in the organization. Dube has been with the medical aid society for 27 years. What this means, said the paper, is that PSMAS with a $38 million debt could be forced to fork out as much as $18,6 million in terminal benefits as part of Dube’s exit package.

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The UK has been criticised for giving credence to the disputed 2013 electoral process in Zimbabwe, by hosting a delegation of business leaders, some with links to ZANU PF. The delegation, which includes some of Zimbabwe’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen, was invited by the Chatham House think tank to be part of a meeting at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London on Tuesday night. They were greeted by angry demonstrators from the London based protest group, the Zimbabwe Vigil. Coordinator Rose Benton told SW Radio Africa that by giving the delegation a platform, Chatham House was ‘condoning’ the disputed elections in Zimbabwe last July.“The delegation arrived while we were there, and when they saw us they fled. And our people followed them to the side door (of Chatham House) and shouted at them, because they’re angry. And we’re angry with the British for hosting these people,” Benton said. She added: “We shouldn’t engage with an illegal regime. By re-engaging we are saying the elections were free and fair and they weren’t. What should happen is a new, free and fair election.” The business delegation includes former Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Kumbirai Katsande, Douglas Mboweni of Econet, Chamber of Mines president Alex Mhembere, Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe president George Guvamatanga, Agribank chief executive officer Sam Malaba, MIMOSA executive Winston Chitando, African Sun CEO Shingi Munyeza and businessman Shingi Mutasa. The high-powered business team is being led by current CZI president, Charles Msipa, who is also the managing director of Schweppes Zimbabwe, which was seized from businessman Mutumwa Mawere. Msipa, the son of ZANU PF politburo member and former Midlands Governor Cephas Msipa, is allegedly also a close ally of former Mines Minister Obert Mpofu. The London meeting was one stop on the delegation’s European tour, which is aimed at engaging potential investors. Before embarking on the tour Msipa was quoted as saying that a negative perception of Zimbabwe was being perpetuated by ‘skewed’ media coverage, and this was affecting the foreign investment critically needed to help turn the economy around.“We want to complement government efforts to attract foreign direct investment into Zimbabwe and open dialogue about the country and its potential as an investment destination for Europe,” said Msipa. Economic analysts have said that ZANU PF’s indigenisation policies, which legalise the 51% takeover of foreign owned firms, is standing in the way of new investment in Zimbabwe. UK based political analyst Clifford Mashiri, who was at the Vigil demonstration on Tuesday, agreed and said the ZANU PF government had a “strange way of doing business.”“It is a strange arrangement to lure foreigners into the country where 51% of their businesses will be seized. These businessmen may be rich and allegedly apolitical, but they are being used by the regime to sanitise the wrongs committed by the Mugabe government,” Mashiri told SW Radio Africa.

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Friday’s national executive meeting of the MDC-T in Harare threatens to be an explosive affair. The MDC-T has been plagued by recent reports of factional discord, with a leading senior figure calling for Morgan Tsvangirai to step down. Analysts believe the MDC-T crises have been left to fester for too long and the likelihood of them becoming lethal cannot be ruled out. Elton Mangoma, the deputy treasurer-general and former Minister of Energy in the inclusive government, has joined forces with exiled party treasurer Roy Bennett in intensified efforts to stop Tsvangirai from standing again as the presidential candidate in the 2018 elections. The meeting on Friday promises to be raucous, with Mangoma’s four page letter to Tsvangirai coming under the spotlight. Under Mangoma’s proposals, Tsvangirai should resign immediately and hand over power to his deputy, Thokozani Khupe, pending an extraordinary congress that would choose a new leadership for the party. Khupe has already shot down this proposal, saying she’s solidly behind the party leader. A defiant Tsvangirai has said he will see out his current five-year term, which ends in 2016, and seek another mandate then. Charlton Hwende, a national executive member in charge of Mashonaland West province and a Tsvangirai loyalist, told our weekly Hidden Story program that Mangoma should ‘put up or shut up.’‘If Mangoma is a democrat he should bring his position paper to the meeting on Friday and put his proposals for leadership renewal up for vote. If it finds no takers, he should drop his proposals,’ said Hwende. Asked what will happen if the wealthy businessman wins the vote, Hwende retorted: ‘He won’t.’‘He’s (Mangoma) quite aware that he doesn’t have the numbers, doesn’t have popular appeal and doesn’t have popular support. If he loses Friday’s vote and insists on the leadership renewal outside party structures, that will become a disciplinary issue,’ Hwende added. However, an ally of Mangoma, a senior party member from Manicaland, told us there is not going to be any let-up in the war to force Tsvangirai to step down. ‘If he’s popular why is he resisting an early congress and we also want him to explain to us the issues that Mangoma raised in his letter,’ said the former MP, who explained that the much publicised letter will be high on the agenda on Friday. Tsvangirai did table a motion for an early congress at last week’s standing committee, but it found no takers. SW Radio Africa has been speaking to figures sympathetic to both Tsvangirai and Mangoma who told us there are plans to bring this war of attrition between the two men’s camps to an end.‘Democracy comes with a price and this is what Mangoma has found out. He has put his case across and I think its time for him to take a back seat and see how things play out in the background.‘Already a message has been sent to him to cool down following a meeting today,’ said the MDC-T legislator, who preferred to remain anonymous. Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora attempted to put the best face on the divisive mood and some outbreaks of violence. ‘The MDC is not under siege, never mind what people are saying or writing, the party and not individuals will emerge strong from this passing phase,’ he said.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Police have arrested and detained leaders of Harare residents organisations for addressing a meeting to discuss the proposed demolition of 14,000 homes in Chitungwiza by the State. Representatives from two residents’ associations were arrested in Chitungwiza’s Unit L Tuesday evening for addressing more than 800 residents who had gathered to discuss the state-sanctioned destruction of the homes. Those arrested are Jacob Rukweza and Tinashe Kazuru of the Chitungwiza Residents Trust and Simbarashe Moyo of the Combined Harare Residents Association – who attended under the banner of the newly-formed Harare Metropolitan Residents Forum. Also being held are George Makoni and Janet Kanavete from civil society groups the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe and ZimRights respectively. The police accuse the five of holding an illegal meeting and inciting public unrest. They first detained them at Chitungwiza station before transferring them to Harare Central where they are still being held without charge. But Marvellous Kumalo, a coordinator at Chitungwiza Residents Trust who organised the event, denies the allegations. “This was a consultative meeting on the State-sanctioned demolitions, and at no point did residents mention or discuss using violence.“Residents were clear during the discussions that our resistance to the destruction of our homes should be peaceful. The police allegations are untrue,” Kumalo said. Kumalo said the arrests and detentions were part of police attempts to thwart residents from showing their discontent at State-sponsored victimisation. He called on Chitungwiza residents not to give up fighting for their rights. “As residents’ leaders we are not going to accept any arbitrary evictions and demolitions of our people’s homes and properties without any court order,” Kumalo added. The demolitions were temporarily halted Friday after Chitungwiza residents formed a human wall to block a bulldozer which had already destroyed one property. An official at civic group Youth Agenda Trust criticised the police “for arresting the ‘wrong’ people, following the detention of one of their board members, Simbarashe Moyo.“It is surprising that the police have chosen to arrest the affected people instead of corrupt politicians.“They should release these people and instead jail those who have brought untold suffering to the people of Chitungwiza,” Lawrence Mashungu, a manager at the youth group said Wednesday. Thousands of families face homelessness after the State and Chitungwiza council said the homes were built on land allocated illegally, and should be destroyed. The residents say they are being unfairly punished while the land barons, who include top government and council officials, are not facing censure. Municipal officials have claimed that the stands were allocated without approval, but some residents dispute this and say they have been paying rates to the council. Since the recently-elected ZANU PF government gave indications that it will be destroying homes last year, rights campaigners have expressed concern that those affected will be left destitute as the authorities are not offering alternative shelter. The pending demolitions are reminiscent of the ZANU PF government’s 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, which left 700,000 Harare families homeless. ZANU PF claimed it was a clean-up exercise but Zimbabweans said it was the ruling party’s way of punishing poor city dwellers for voting for the opposition. The operation outraged the international community, with United Nations special envoy Anna Tibaijuka calling it “indiscriminate, unjustified” and indifferent to human suffering”.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

Lawyers for three MDC-T activists who have spent two years at Chikurubi Remand Prison on a murder charge have secured their release on bail. Last Maengahama, Yvonne Musarurwa and Tungamirai Madzokere were arrested together with 29 others and accused of murdering police inspector Petros Mutedza in 2011. They all denied the charges. Lawyer Jeremiah Bamu told SW Radio Africa that the three were granted bail Wednesday morning in response to a petition filed last week. “The court agreed with us that it is time to release the trio on bail and we are processing their release. They should be out today,” Bamu said Wednesday. The lawyer said the three will appear in court on February 24th, together with four of their MDC-T colleagues who are already out on bail. The four co-accused are Lazarus Maengahama, Edwin Muingiri, Phineas Nhatarikwa and Paul Rukanda. Twenty-one other activists were acquitted last September, while Rebecca Mafukeni died in custody after prison officers denied her access to medical help. Lawyer Bamu said his clients are confident that justice will be served and they will be cleared of the murder charges. “As their lawyers, my team will do its best to ensure that they get the best possible legal representation,” Bamu added. The MDC-T has said it will not celebrate the release on bail of Maengahama, Musarurwa and Madzokere. “As a party, the MDC is not celebrating their release on bail because justice delayed is justice denied.“It was unfair and unconstitutional for the courts to deny them bail when the same courts have ruled that the charges that the three are facing are weak. However, we are happy that at last, the three will unite with their families, friends and party members,” the party said in a statement released Wednesday. The MDC-T supporters were arrested in Harare’s Glen View high density suburb following the death of officer Mutedza during alleged political skirmishes. The State alleged that he was murdered by the MDC-T activists, an allegation that prosecutors have failed to prove. The MDC-T maintains that the case is just one example of the political and judicial persecution of its supporters by the ZANU PF government.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

A transgender activist says she felt violated when six police officers stripped her naked after she was arrested for using a female toilet. Bulawayo-based businessperson, Ricky Nathanson, was two weeks ago ‘arrested’ by ZANU PF youths at the city’s Palace Hotel after they saw her entering the women’s toilet. The youths, led by Farai Mteliso, later handed Ricky over to the police who are charging her with criminal nuisance. She is due in court on February 4th. Ricky however told SW Radio Africa that trouble started when the ZANU PF youths tried and failed to extort money from her. “I was having a business meeting at the hotel’s gardens when some drunk ZANU PF youth league members asked me to give them money because they said they do not like what I do.“I asked them what it was exactly that I had done but they were evasive. They arrested me and called the police after I refused to give them the money,” Ricky said. Speaking on this Thursday’s Big Picture programme, Ricky said anti-riot police in two vans seized her and at the station, six male officers ordered her to strip naked while they confirmed her gender.“It was the worst day of my life. They were laughing and jeering and they did not even have a search warrant. I felt violated and humiliated.” Ricky, who runs a modeling agency in the city, said her business has suffered since the incident two weeks ago. “Most of my students at the agency have pulled out and I can no longer move around the city, where I have to do most of my business, without being mobbed and jeered at.” Ricky says two doctors confirmed to the police that although he is biologically male his hormonal, chromosomal, psychological and physiological make up is that of a female. Sexual rights lobbyist Mojalifa Mokwele criticised the media for its sensational and homophobic coverage of Nathanson’s case.“The media in Zimbabwe have never bothered to ask Ricky for her side of the story or even dug deeper to highlight the violation of Ricky’s rights by the police,” Mokwele said Thursday.“There is a lot of ignorance and bias on sexual rights issues in Zimbabwe and this is fuelled by the media and politicians,” he added.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The staff at Zimbabwe’s public broadcaster ZBC, many of whom have not been paid for several months, were dealt another blow Wednesday when the information and broadcasting Minister announced their salaries will be cut back to the levels they earned in 2010, with immediate effect. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, who took over the portfolio in Mugabe’s new cabinet after the disputed elections last July, addressed journalists in Harare where he revealed more details of how senior managers criminally abused funds and other assets at ZBC over the last four years. Moyo said salaries had been negotiated and approved by the former board chairman, Cuthbert Dube, “without the knowledge of the ZBC board” and they were therefore “illegal”. The controversial Minister sacked Dube and the entire board last week, accusing them of abusing funds. The former chief executive, Happison Muchechetere, was reportedly earning $40,000 a month at the time he was fired, while ordinary staff have gone without wages for the last 7 months. It was also revealed Wednesday that ZBC’s top four executives received home loans of about $200,000, paid by the public broadcaster, and also received various other housing allowances. These were also approved by Cuthbert Dube. Moyo told reporters that about 85 permanent employees at ZBC were also only receiving wages as part-time workers. In addition 99 students were earning salaries while claiming to be interns. The Minister explained that as a result, the state broadcaster was insolvent and could not sustain the current wage bill. He further warned that those found guilty “shall with immediate effect be dealt with in terms of the law in order to hold them to account and recover from them any proven loss of ZBC funds of assets”. But Moyo’s sincerity and motivation are being questioned by observers and activists in Zimbabwe, who say they want to see how far the ZANU PF minister will go to prosecute officials from his own party. Journalist Francis Rwodzi, who has been speaking to ordinary Zimbabweans and human rights activists in Harare, Gweru and Kwekwe, told SW Radio Africa that many believe Moyo’s actions are part of a broader ZANU PF plan to divert attention from the real bread and butter issues.“Civil society players say we need to be careful about this so-called blitz on corruption and trusting Moyo. ZANU PF is failing to deliver on their election manifesto and don’t want the people to focus on that,” Rwodzi explained. Meanwhile Muchechetere has also been linked to $1 million scandal in which he is accused of inflating the purchase price of a radio outside broadcasting (OB) van from a Chinese company. According to the Daily News newspaper, the State broadcaster entered into an agreement with the China National Instruments Imports and Exports Corporation sometime last year, for the purchase of an OB Van worth between $100,000 and $200,000 on the real market. But Muchechetere is alleged to have connived with officials at the Chinese company and inflated the price to $1,050,000. Some Zimbabweans, commenting on developments at the ZBC online, said they want to see real action taken to hold those responsible to account. One reader said: “Hapana nyaya apa (There is nothing to talk about here), we all know this government has a lot to account for in the past 20 years. If they are serious they should set up a commission of inquiry to look into all government expenditure for the past 20 years. Panofiwa”. Another questioned Moyo’s sincerity and motivation, saying: “Ane vanhu vake vaanoda kuisa mumaposition iwaya. zvingwarirei izvozvo”, meaning “He has his own people that he wants in those positions. Be aware of him”. And yet another had a suggestion: “Cut the salaries for the executives, not the rest of the employees wanzwa. Please bear in mind these people are already earning peanuts.” Journalist Rwodzi agreed, saying: “People are really concerned about the amounts of money that chefs are taking home at government institutions while the other workers are failing to get anything for months. They are concerned about the state of the country when these chefs are not being held accountable.” Minister Moyo told journalists that the process of selecting an independent auditor to look into ZBC will start next month and a new board would be appointed soon, after the forensic and audit are completed.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

The MDC-T deputy treasurer-general Elton Mangoma on Thursday refused to speak to SW Radio Africa, claiming the station was biased against him. He had written to party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, asking him to step down, so SWRA wanted to give him the opportunity to put the record straight. But Mangoma said he was unhappy that we had linked him to exiled party treasurer Roy Bennett in the intensified efforts to stop Tsvangirai from standing again as the presidential candidate in the 2018 elections. The senior MDC-T official berated this writer: ‘I always thought you were a fair journalist, but to me personally you are not,’ said Mangoma, accusing the station of being used by someone to fight their wars. SW Radio Africa had tried on many occasions to speak to Mangoma, but his phone had remained unanswered, until today. But he remained adamant that he was not going to give us his side of the story. ‘This is why I don’t speak to the Herald. So you can write that I refused to speak to you. We want to be civil, you can admit your errors, we patch up and we move on but for now, I cannot comment on this story because you have already judged me without seeking my side of the story,’ When he insisted that all the stories we wrote about him were wrong, we asked him to point out the mistakes. ‘The only thing that is correct in your articles is that we met as a standing committee last week Friday, otherwise most of the stuff is wrong,’ he added. Last week we reported that MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai moved a motion to call for an early congress in March, in an attempt to head off an expected challenge from his political rivals. We said that the top leadership of the opposition party, the standing committee, met in Harare, where Tsvangirai called for a snap party vote in a bid to end uncertainty over his job. But party members implored Tsvangirai to concentrate on restructuring the party in preparations for the 2018 elections. The meeting unanimously agreed the next congress will be held as scheduled in 2016. We then reported that Mangoma had presented a letter to Tsvangirai, asking him to step down while an interim leadership, under vice president Thokozani Khupe, took over. SW Radio Africa remains mystified as to why Mangoma would not take this opportunity to present his side of the story, particularly as he was reportedly happy to be interviewed by Daily News and ZiFM radio.

SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe

President Robert Mugabe has approached a Hong Kong court over a luxury home which was reportedly bought by a middleman for use by his daughter, Bona, while attending university in that country. When the deal was revealed in 2009 Mugabe denied owning the property claiming that he was only renting it for ‘our daughter and her friends.’ At the time Mugabe insisted that he did not own any other property outside Zimbabwe. But according to a Wednesday report in the South China Morning Post, the government of Zimbabwe, led by Mugabe, is suing businessman Hsieh Ping-sung and a company, Cross Global. In 2009 it was reported that Mugabe forked out HK$40 million for the three storey pad. Reports then suggested that Ping bought the property on behalf of Mugabe through Cross Global, in which he was the sole shareholder. The company is reported to have then sold the property to Hsieh in 2010. According to the report, court papers show that Ping then transferred all his shares in Cross Global to a South African named as Johan Carel Nel. The report said the Zimbabwean government is claiming that Cross Global is holding the property for it in its trust. It is also asking the court to order Cross Global and Ping to transfer the property to it. Mugabe is also asking the court to nullify the transfer of the property between Cross Global and Ping. Reports this week said Ping and Grace Mugabe fell out over a botched deal to buy trucks in which Grace is claiming that Ping had stolen $1 million from her. Grace’s aide is reported to have told the Sunday Times of South Africa that the money was sent to Ping in South African to buy trucks, which were never delivered. Grace, who was also said to be involved in a mining joint venture with Ping, has previously tried to have the businessman arrested and extradited to Zimbabwe.