Monday, 29th June 2009

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated...

-o00o-

Last evening, I happened upon a forum page on which the members were ripping into me and my book, "Without Honour". Given that it is more than apparent that those who try to portray the events of the Gukurahundi as run of the mill, there are also those who will attempt to excuse Mugabe for that action - and try to lay the blame at my doorstep, based on the idea that I am white.

A friend told me by email that "there is not such thing as bad publicity" and so I will refrain from entering the fray.

Those with delusions can carry on - my writings will remain available for free reading.

-o00o-

Normally, I would start a posting with something a little more palatable, but today I begin with news that an alleged killer within the ranks of the ZRP has been promoted by the Commissioner-General, himself man whose political alliance is against the Police Act in Zimbabwe.

"Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri has promoted Inspector Mawone, the alleged killer of a female police recruit during training in November last year, to the position of Chief Inspector. It was not possible over the weekend to ascertain the first name of Mawone, an instructor at Harare’s Morris Depot police training school. Sources in the police force say, however, that he has also since been drafted into a team of police officers due for deployment on a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo in August.

Mawone was accused last year of viciously assaulting police recruit Pamela Mudzingwa resulting in her death. Mudzingwa was 26 years old.

Those who witnessed the assault said the attack was so savage that the recruit soiled her pants before she lapsed into unconsciousness."

In Zimbabwe, if your are connected to ZANU PF in any way, then no matter what you do, you are protected. I fail, however, to understand why the death of a recruit at the hands of an instructor should get so much attention from Mugabe's party.

There are now at least three known killers in the ZRP that I can list - and all of them have not faced any charges, let alone spent a minute in police cells.

• the officer that shot dead an MDC activist who was celebrating the New Year in Bulawayo about two years ago...
• ZRP spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena who killed a child with his motor vehicle whilst allegedly drunk. He paid the family of the child off and has not faced any criminal charges...
• Inspector Mawone who killed this female recruit.

I am sure that there are many more known killers in Zimbabwe.

I believe that Mugabe likes to play his cards close to his chest and will only demand some sort of pay-back from these people as and when their position allows them to assist Mugabe. Failure to respond to Mugabe's orders will result in criminal charges being brought against them.

Murder is a 'continuing' crime and has no statute of limitation.

"Mudzingwa was rushed to the Morris Depot clinic from where she was referred to Parirenyatwa Hospital. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

Mawone, who was not formally charged with murder or assault, was later "exonerated" on the basis of a postmortem report which claimed the death was caused by a low sugar level in the blood of the deceased.

Mudzingwa’s relatives insisted the postmortem was falsified to protect the police instructor.

There were claims that Deputy Commissioner Barbara Mandizha ordered police details from Harare’s Homicide section not to prefer any charges against Mawone, who is said to be related to her. Mandizha is said a powerful force in the police force."

The ZRP, once a symbol of law and order in Zimbabwe, has sunken to a new low where killers and criminals are hidden within their ranks structure to await their further instructions.

"Mawone’s promotion and deployment for peacekeeping duties is a reward for the ‘good job’ he is doing," one of the police sources said.

"It is highly unlikely that one can be deployed for UN duties when the police command is not satisfied with one’s performance."

It is the ambition of all police officers in Zimbabwe’s police force to take part in the lucrative UN missions.

Those successfully deployed for such duties are paid US$130 per day for the entire one year duration of their mission. Civil servants in Zimbabwe currently earn $100 per month across the board."

I think that the correct expression is 'filthy lucre'.

-o00o-

I do find myself of late, reporting more and more stories about Zimbabweans who have fled the homeland and now find themselves in prison cells elsewhere in the world. Obviously, the experience is not as bad as living in Mugabe's prisons in Zimbabwe, but there are exceptions to that rule.

"Zimbabwe’s 100m sprint record holder Fabian Muyaba faces a lengthy jail term in the United States after he was convicted of preparing and filing false and fraudulent income tax returns.

Muyaba, 39, was convicted by a federal jury on Tuesday after a three-day trial along with another Zimbabwean, Joseph Mudekunye, both residents of Dallas, the third largest city in the state of Texas.

Sentencing has been set for September 24.

Muyaba, who represented Zimbabwe at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul and the 1992 Games in Barcelona, has been warned to expect a lengthy jail term for the fraud running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Muyaba and Mudekunye were each convicted on one count of conspiracy to aid and assist in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent returns.

Separately, Mudekunye was convicted on three counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent income tax returns and two counts of using a means of identification of another to commit a federal offence.

Muyaba was also convicted on six counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation and presentation of false and fraudulent income tax returns."

I have no sympathy for the convicted person, although I am aware that some people are in a quandary as to whether they should better their lives through crime, their life style being reduced to an almost unbearable low because of their enforced departure from Zimbabwe.

But something tells me that Muyaba was voluntarily in the USA.

"The defendants concealed the fact from their clients that they deducted substantial fees from the clients’ Refund Anticipation Loan checks. They also submitted returns using others’ electronic filer identification numbers, rather than their own, to prevent the conspiracy from being discovered."

I was saddened to note that Muyaba was a student at the same school as myself, although many years after me.

"Muyaba, a former Churchill Boys High School student, clocked a Zimbabwean 100m sprint record of 10.15 seconds in 1990. The record still stands."

-o00o-

Adding to the burgeoning number of Zimbabweans that are finding themselves stripped of their jobs and/or freedom, this story made the internet a day or so ago...

"A Zimbabwean nurse who stripped and shouted at an elderly British woman before leaving her standing in full view of other patients has been struck off.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council heard that Memory Musekiwa, 35, of Walsall, shouted at the weeping pensioner who had wet herself while she was being treated at Worcester Royal Hospital. Musekiwa allegedly yelled at the pensioner: "I give you a buzzer and you wet all over the floor, now I've got to clean this mess up." She appeared before the NMC’s Conduct & Competence Committee this week charged with shouting at a patient, failing to promote a patient’s privacy and dignity, using force with a patient, and refusing to wash a patient."

It takes a special sort of person to be a nurse. A giving person with loads of patience and understanding - I should know, I am married to a retired nurse! - and yet this 'nurse' decided that her mouth did the job better than her heart...

"The patient, who was in her late seventies, "cried and cried" following Musekiwa's "brutal" behaviour, the NMC heard at a hearing on Tuesday. Musekiwa, shouted, removed the woman's nightdress and then left her with no curtain around her, said Salim Hafejee for the NMC. "She then pushed Patient A on to a commode and told her to stay there while she went to get a mop," he told the panel.

"When Patient A asked to be washed, she refused and put a clean nightdress on her."

-o00o-

"To celebrate newly-found peace and unity"? Surely it is a good idea to have first achieved that which you would celebrate?

"President Robert Mugabe is expected to declare through a proclamation a weekend or three days of national dedication to celebrate newly-found peace and unity.

The Herald reported on Saturday that the Minister of State responsible for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration John Nkomo made the remarks when he addressed the Zimbabwe Council of Churches conference held in Harare on the role of the Church as a reconciler, healer and peace builder He said the proclamation was part of the program of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration’s activities over the next six months. "It is further proposed that traditional leaders and faith leaders in Zimbabwe will take the people through a process of dedicating the country according to the various cultures and religious practices of our Zimbabwean people," he said."

There is no unity in Zimbabwe.

There is no peace in Zimbabwe.

There is no healing in Zimbabwe.

So the idea that the country in unified, peaceful and healing is totally and utterly incorrect. And for the President to spend money - which would be spent feeding the people - and time misleading the people on such an exercise is just plain foolhardy.

"Although Nkomo did not give any dates, he said the national dedication would be followed by the official launch of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration by the principals to the Global Political Agreement.

Thereafter, the organ would embark on provincial and district consultations targeting opinion makers, traditional leaders, faith-based groups, civil society and others concerned with national healing. Workshops with local, regional and international experts to consider best practices and formulate recommendations for appropriate mechanisms and systems to guide the implementation process would be held.

Nkomo said a stakeholders’ conference to define the work of the organ would also be held with members of civil society, political parties, churches and other interest groups."

What a waste of resources!

But there is no telling those that will sell the concept to the world.

You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.

-o00o-

One of Mugabe's best known ploys is to deflect attention from one area to another by passing on misinformation. And I wonder, with the negative publicity right now on the diamond fields, if this is not another of his plays...

"Hundreds of "fortune seekers" have invaded Zouma resettlement area in Gutu following the rediscovery of alluvial gold at a disused mine - raising fears of massive land degradation and proliferation of illegal panning.

Fears abound that the latest gold rush in Gutu could ignite full-scale illegal panning by thousands of unemployed youths in scenes reminiscent of the infamous Chiadzwa diamond mining in Marange.

The Zouma area already has hundreds of illegal miners from all parts of the country, scrounging for gold after some resettled farmers accidentally stumbled upon gold late last month.

Illegal gold mining in the Zouma area started at the beginning of land reform, but abruptly stopped after all the gold in the first find was mined out."

Especially since this story appeared in Mugabe's mouthpiece, The Herald...

Whilst people rush to Zouma to seek thier fortune, Mugabe will continue with the rape and pillage of the Chiadzwa diamond fing in the Eastern Highlands.

And, it has to be asked again - where has all the money for the diamonds gone?

"However, in the latest gold rush, villagers, communal farmers, resettled farmers and even teachers and their pupils, reportedly have joined in the hunt for newly discovered treasure - raising fears of massive land degradation in the area.

Sources said on Saturday that the proliferation of illegal mining had heavily scarred the environment in the Zouma area.

"There is indeed a gold rush in the area and people from all walks of life are joining in the gold craze after the discovery of the mineral in the area by some resettled farmers.

"This has indeed changed the face of the area as scores of illegal miners from all over the province have joined in damaging our environment," said Mr Lovemore Matuke, the former House of Assembly Member for Gutu North."

I see that the police say they are investigating... Investigating what? How to chase the people away so that the bigwigs can get involved - assuming that the gold find is true...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu