Tuesday, 14th July 2009
Howzit
First of all, there was this: "Militants from President Robert Mugabe’s party disrupted the opening of a national conference to draw up a new constitution for Zimbabwe.
Monday’s opening remarks by Parliament Speaker Lovemore Moyo were drowned out by militants singing revolutionary songs.
Moyo is a member of the former opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, which is headed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Under Zimbabwe’s unity government agreement that brought Mugabe and Tsvangirai together in February, a new Constitution must be drawn up ahead of new elections within two years.
Moyo was forced to withdraw from the hall after ululating militants began dancing in front of the stage.
Other former opposition delegates walked out in protest.
There are no details on when proceedings will resume."
It is very easy to sit here in the United Kingdom and pass opinion on events in Zimbabwe some 6000 miles away - but then there are some political decisions in that country which are ludicrous and will do very little more than invite some stinging criticism from far and wide.
Monday’s opening remarks by Parliament Speaker Lovemore Moyo were drowned out by militants singing revolutionary songs.
Moyo is a member of the former opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, which is headed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Under Zimbabwe’s unity government agreement that brought Mugabe and Tsvangirai together in February, a new Constitution must be drawn up ahead of new elections within two years.
Moyo was forced to withdraw from the hall after ululating militants began dancing in front of the stage.
Other former opposition delegates walked out in protest.
There are no details on when proceedings will resume."
It is very easy to sit here in the United Kingdom and pass opinion on events in Zimbabwe some 6000 miles away - but then there are some political decisions in that country which are ludicrous and will do very little more than invite some stinging criticism from far and wide.
Before we even start on the article, Tsvangirai is not Mugabe's deputy. He is the Prime Minister...
"Zimbabwe
However, one of the councillors, Gilson Chitakunye, sustained serious head injuries after he was brutally assaulted by the ZANU PF thugs who were also openly filmed on camera.
"The question of whoever orchestrated that disruption is neither here nor there. We need to move forward for the benefit of the people. Let us put national interests above partisan interests," Tsvangirai said."
I am staggered by this decision. It is obvious just who broke up the meeting, and it is obvious who handed out the beating - yet Mugabe is happy to have the facts hidden, while Tsvangirai is obliged to play the same game or there will be more violence to follow.
One wonders if anything has changed at all in Zimbabwe.
"On the other hand President Mugabe would say, "We are here to say that we will not brook any further disturbances in the future.
We must have this Constitution done."
Mugabe systematically blocks any probe that might show his party in a bad light. The Gukurahundi, Operation Murambatsvina, Willowgate, the diamond fields...
-o00o-
"A planned urban clean-up campaign inZimbabwe Harare
Operation Murambatsvina left hundreds of thousands of people homeless after "illegal" structures were demolished by soldiers and police on the orders of the then ruling ZANU PF government, and was widely seen by analysts as the punishment of city-dwellers for giving their overwhelming support to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
However, the proposal for an urban clean-up this time comes from the MDC city council, in the wake of a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 4,000 people and affected about 100,000 others, and the growing perception that Harare is turning into "another Kibera", a reference to one of Africa's largest slums, on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi."
If the 'clean-up' were to be re-visited upon the Zimbabwean people, then I really don't know anymore. A repeat Murambatsvina would be catastrophic - and if it is something put forward by the MDC, then I really am going to be confused.
I was under the impression that the MDC represented the people, whilst ZANU PF represented every fear and loathing - and if the MDC propose a new clean-up, then they make the difference between the two parties almost indiscernible.
"We should not promote anarchy; let us remove all the illegal structures as soon as possible and bring back order," said deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto.
The mid-winter timing of the clean-up project is reminiscent of Operation Murambatsvina (Throw out the Trash), which left more than 700,000 people homeless, and affected more than two million throughout the country.
Murambatsvina drew international outrage and prompted the United Nations to dispatch Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka, who condemned its "indiscriminate and unjustified manner" and "indifference to human suffering."
"A planned urban clean-up campaign in
Operation Murambatsvina left hundreds of thousands of people homeless after "illegal" structures were demolished by soldiers and police on the orders of the then ruling ZANU PF government, and was widely seen by analysts as the punishment of city-dwellers for giving their overwhelming support to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
However, the proposal for an urban clean-up this time comes from the MDC city council, in the wake of a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 4,000 people and affected about 100,000 others, and the growing perception that Harare is turning into "another Kibera", a reference to one of Africa's largest slums, on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi."
If the 'clean-up' were to be re-visited upon the Zimbabwean people, then I really don't know anymore. A repeat Murambatsvina would be catastrophic - and if it is something put forward by the MDC, then I really am going to be confused.
I was under the impression that the MDC represented the people, whilst ZANU PF represented every fear and loathing - and if the MDC propose a new clean-up, then they make the difference between the two parties almost indiscernible.
"We should not promote anarchy; let us remove all the illegal structures as soon as possible and bring back order," said deputy mayor Emmanuel Chiroto.
The mid-winter timing of the clean-up project is reminiscent of Operation Murambatsvina (Throw out the Trash), which left more than 700,000 people homeless, and affected more than two million throughout the country.
Murambatsvina drew international outrage and prompted the United Nations to dispatch Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka, who condemned its "indiscriminate and unjustified manner" and "indifference to human suffering."
-o00o-
I read this article with some interest. An election is private and confidential - but if someone wishes to show their ballot paper to another, that is their choice and does not render that election null and void.
In my understanding at least...
"The High Court has indefinitely reserved judgement in a case in which independent MP, Prof Jonathan Moyo (Tsholotsho North) is seeking to reverse the election of the mainstream MDC chairman, Lovemore Moyo, to the position of Speaker of Parliament.
Justice Bharat Patel reserved judgement on the legal challenge by Moyo seeking to invalidate the Speaker’s historic election, in a plot said to be spearheaded by a number of so-called hawks within ZANU PF. The party’s own candidate for the position of speaker, who was a member of the smaller MDC party led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, was defeated in the election.
MP Moyo, represented by lawyer Terence Hussein, has declared his ultimate objective as being to bring the tenure of Moyo as Speaker of the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe to a premature and inglorious end.
He says the election of Moyo breached Parliamentary rules as it was not a secret ballot, with legislators showing each other their unfolded ballot papers.
Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma was accused of dereliction of duty by failing to call the House to order amid the alleged chaos."
Moyo is an independent member of the house - but a former member of Mugabe's ZANU PF. His need to bring this action is just another case against the MDC - of either faction - and shows the real colours of Moyo.
He hasn't left ZANU PF. All he has done is dress himself in clothes that he believes are more acceptable to the voting public.
"The Speaker has come out fighting, insisting that the doctrine of separation of powers outlawed the courts from interfering with parliamentary processes.
Speaker Moyo’s opposing papers state that the applicants should have brought a motion in Parliament seeking the reversal of the Speaker vote instead of rushing to the law courts.
Speaker Moyo has also queried Prof Moyo’s standing in the case and questioned why the aggrieved party, Themba-Nyathi, had not brought the challenge and what Prof Moyo’s interest was in the matter.
The Zimbabwe Times understands the legal challenge was mooted at the Kadoma Ranch Motel during a so-called strategy workshop of the Mutambara faction in September last year.
Prof Jonathan Moyo, who by all indications has now returned to the ZANU PF fold, checked into the motel for the duration of the workshop, sources say.Zimbabwe
-o00o-
The diamond question in Zimbabwe comes up with frightening regularity. If the fields are as big a find as indicated, then I do wonder how big a chasm is Mugabe and his loyalists intend to fill with money that is not going into State coffers?
Is there no end to their avarice?
"Zimbabwe
Following the launch of Operation Hakudzokwi (No Return) in Marange last year, human rights groups say dozens of panners were killed by troops, although the government insists there is no evidence of this.
Only last week, the international diamond certification group, the Kimberly Process, released a preliminary report accusing the army and police of looting diamonds in the area.
But in a report on Monday, ZBC radio reported: "Operation Hakudzokwi which was jointly carried out by security personnel to restore sanity at Chiadzwa diamond fields is bouncing back bigger and more re-invigorated to deal once and for all with illegal diamond dealers and panners, says the Governor and Resident Minister for Manicaland province, Cde Chris Mushohwe."
Two questions I would care to raise here.
1) If the crackdown was the success that Mugabe's people say it was, then why do the State coffers remain empty?
2) If the fields were as uncontrolled as alleged, then how was Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank, able to quantify the losses so easily?
"Following the launch of the operation last year, Herald columnists Nathaniel Manheru - thought to be President Robert Mugabe’s press secretary George Charamba - described Marange as the “wild-wild East” where security forces were employing "shock therapy" against panners.
He wrote that captured diggers were being made to use their bare fingers to refill gullies they dug."
The sad thing is that until and unless Mugabe allows a strict procedure to be introduced in the diamond fields, very little will ever be realised except further death and anxiety, whilst the country will continue to lose money hand over fist.
"Several months ago it was reported that there were buckets of rough diamonds kept inside the vaults of the Reserve Bank ofZimbabwe
All these events have combined to expose the key role played by the diamonds (and the country’s other mineral wealth) in keeping Mugabe in power. The diamonds, as one analyst put it, helped Mugabe keep the army happy at a time when his government did not have the money to pay proper salaries. With the soldiers turning the diamond fields into a lawless 'wild west' there was, and continues to be, no accountability over proceeds and this suits ZANU PF in the current unity government. Mugabe’s reluctance to remove Central Bank governor Gideon Gono, even at the cost of the coalition government, has pretty much given the game away. Gono remains a key figure in this diamond syndicate.
I will state it again. If the government is in control of the diamond fields, then why is the country broke?
Where has all the money gone? Who took it and for what reason?
The diamonds in the Marange/Chiadzwa fields are a national resource - they are not the property o Robert Mugabe of ZANU PF...
"Newsreel spoke to a businessman who explained how the transactions are supposed to work. The Central Bank buys the diamonds from those doing the mining. The bank then sells the diamonds outside the country and retains the profit. This profit, or agency fee, then goes into a fund run by the Reserve Bank. The government, through the Finance Ministry, will only get money from these transactions via taxes. Given that the former mine owners in Marange, the London-listed African Consolidated Resources, were kicked out of the claim, it means the army is effectively mining the diamonds, while exploiting cheap labour from both adults and children in the area.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu last week told a mining publication that there was no dispute over ownership of the Marange diamond fields. This is despite owners African Consolidated Resources still challenging the matter in court. Mpofu insists the government is the sole owner of the claim, through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation. But judging from last week’s press conference in which police, army and CIO provincial chiefs in Mutare put their foot down and said they were not leaving the diamond fields, the army appears to be running the show."
Military insubordination... which won't worry Mugabe - as long as he keeps the armed forces sweet with the illegal proceeds from the sale of the diamonds.
"The big tragedy is that with an estimated US$200 million per month being generated from the various diamond mines in the country, that money could take care of many ofZimbabwe
It’s a reminder once again, that rebuilding a country is never about a shortage of money - just a shortage of political will."
I couldn't have put it better myself...
-o00o-
And then, when a Mugabe big-shot is implicated, strange things begin to happen. People die suddenly, or leave the country unexpectedly, and paperwork just disappears...
"A police docket implicating two ZANU PF stalwarts who include President Mugabe’s blue eyed boy, Emmerson Mnangagwa along with ZANU PF longtime guru, Webster Shamu has vanished from Zimbabwe Attorney-General Johannes Tomana's office.
As the MDC sought a probe into the matter, efforts to provide Tomana a copy of the docket saw the police superintendent who was in charge of the investigations being immediately transferred from his posting at Bulawayo Central police station to a rural centre in Mashonaland Central’s Nzvimbo, a growth point in Chiweshe, more than 500 kilometres away from Matebeleland.
The two high-profile figures had been implicated in massive poaching of rhinos inZimbabwe Hwange-Bulawayo Road
And the matter will just be allowed to amount to very little. No further action will be taken - even if the ZRP wanted it...
Mugabe has a habit of making things happen that appear to exonerate his colleagues - bu,t in reality, these cases are held in abeyance, to be reignited if the person concerned steps out of line.
"Mnangagwa, who earned notoriety as the head of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) ministry in the early 80s, is the current defence minister in the government of national unity.
Shamu is the media and information minister.
The two government ministers are said to have been launching their operations from HKK Safaris, a conservancy Shamu co-owns together with South African businessman, Charles Davy. Davy is father to English-Royal Prince Harry’s former girlfriend, Chelsy.
Davy has in the past been accused of violating hunting quotas andZimbabwe
"The President (Mugabe) is very, very embarrassed," said environmental and natural resources management minister, Francis Nhema, last week. "He asked me for the names of the ministers involved."
Nhema, however, refused to admit or deny the two Mugabe right-hand men were the ministers in question."
Mugabe embarrassed? That'll be the day! But he must be approaching the "enough!" stage...
"Tomana’s appointment as attorney-general and Gideon Gono’s re-appointment as central bank governor have been referred to SADC for arbitration as they were unilaterally made by Mugabe without the consent or agreement of the two MDC leaders. This matter has also seen a bitter feud between Finance minister and Mugabe appointed central bank governor, Gono.
Under the new global political agreement (GPA) senior appointments such as these have to be agreed to by all parties in the unity government. Since the year 2000, many dockets implicating ZANUF PF members have disappeared into 'thin air' In March 2000, another docket implicating then leader of the war veterans, Chenjerai Hunzvi disappeared after a week of having been opened. Many other dockets would soon follow the same trend that has seen many ZANU PF members protected by loopholes in the state security structures.
In my understanding at least...
"The High Court has indefinitely reserved judgement in a case in which independent MP, Prof Jonathan Moyo (Tsholotsho North) is seeking to reverse the election of the mainstream MDC chairman, Lovemore Moyo, to the position of Speaker of Parliament.
Justice Bharat Patel reserved judgement on the legal challenge by Moyo seeking to invalidate the Speaker’s historic election, in a plot said to be spearheaded by a number of so-called hawks within ZANU PF. The party’s own candidate for the position of speaker, who was a member of the smaller MDC party led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, was defeated in the election.
MP Moyo, represented by lawyer Terence Hussein, has declared his ultimate objective as being to bring the tenure of Moyo as Speaker of the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe to a premature and inglorious end.
He says the election of Moyo breached Parliamentary rules as it was not a secret ballot, with legislators showing each other their unfolded ballot papers.
Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma was accused of dereliction of duty by failing to call the House to order amid the alleged chaos."
Moyo is an independent member of the house - but a former member of Mugabe's ZANU PF. His need to bring this action is just another case against the MDC - of either faction - and shows the real colours of Moyo.
He hasn't left ZANU PF. All he has done is dress himself in clothes that he believes are more acceptable to the voting public.
"The Speaker has come out fighting, insisting that the doctrine of separation of powers outlawed the courts from interfering with parliamentary processes.
Speaker Moyo’s opposing papers state that the applicants should have brought a motion in Parliament seeking the reversal of the Speaker vote instead of rushing to the law courts.
Speaker Moyo has also queried Prof Moyo’s standing in the case and questioned why the aggrieved party, Themba-Nyathi, had not brought the challenge and what Prof Moyo’s interest was in the matter.
The Zimbabwe Times understands the legal challenge was mooted at the Kadoma Ranch Motel during a so-called strategy workshop of the Mutambara faction in September last year.
Prof Jonathan Moyo, who by all indications has now returned to the ZANU PF fold, checked into the motel for the duration of the workshop, sources say.
Is there no end to their avarice?
"Zimbabwe
Following the launch of Operation Hakudzokwi (No Return) in Marange last year, human rights groups say dozens of panners were killed by troops, although the government insists there is no evidence of this.
Only last week, the international diamond certification group, the Kimberly Process, released a preliminary report accusing the army and police of looting diamonds in the area.
But in a report on Monday, ZBC radio reported: "Operation Hakudzokwi which was jointly carried out by security personnel to restore sanity at Chiadzwa diamond fields is bouncing back bigger and more re-invigorated to deal once and for all with illegal diamond dealers and panners, says the Governor and Resident Minister for Manicaland province, Cde Chris Mushohwe."
Two questions I would care to raise here.
1) If the crackdown was the success that Mugabe's people say it was, then why do the State coffers remain empty?
2) If the fields were as uncontrolled as alleged, then how was Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank, able to quantify the losses so easily?
"Following the launch of the operation last year, Herald columnists Nathaniel Manheru - thought to be President Robert Mugabe’s press secretary George Charamba - described Marange as the “wild-wild East” where security forces were employing "shock therapy" against panners.
He wrote that captured diggers were being made to use their bare fingers to refill gullies they dug."
The sad thing is that until and unless Mugabe allows a strict procedure to be introduced in the diamond fields, very little will ever be realised except further death and anxiety, whilst the country will continue to lose money hand over fist.
-o00o-
"Several months ago it was reported that there were buckets of rough diamonds kept inside the vaults of the Reserve Bank of
All these events have combined to expose the key role played by the diamonds (and the country’s other mineral wealth) in keeping Mugabe in power. The diamonds, as one analyst put it, helped Mugabe keep the army happy at a time when his government did not have the money to pay proper salaries. With the soldiers turning the diamond fields into a lawless 'wild west' there was, and continues to be, no accountability over proceeds and this suits ZANU PF in the current unity government. Mugabe’s reluctance to remove Central Bank governor Gideon Gono, even at the cost of the coalition government, has pretty much given the game away. Gono remains a key figure in this diamond syndicate.
I will state it again. If the government is in control of the diamond fields, then why is the country broke?
Where has all the money gone? Who took it and for what reason?
The diamonds in the Marange/Chiadzwa fields are a national resource - they are not the property o Robert Mugabe of ZANU PF...
"Newsreel spoke to a businessman who explained how the transactions are supposed to work. The Central Bank buys the diamonds from those doing the mining. The bank then sells the diamonds outside the country and retains the profit. This profit, or agency fee, then goes into a fund run by the Reserve Bank. The government, through the Finance Ministry, will only get money from these transactions via taxes. Given that the former mine owners in Marange, the London-listed African Consolidated Resources, were kicked out of the claim, it means the army is effectively mining the diamonds, while exploiting cheap labour from both adults and children in the area.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu last week told a mining publication that there was no dispute over ownership of the Marange diamond fields. This is despite owners African Consolidated Resources still challenging the matter in court. Mpofu insists the government is the sole owner of the claim, through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation. But judging from last week’s press conference in which police, army and CIO provincial chiefs in Mutare put their foot down and said they were not leaving the diamond fields, the army appears to be running the show."
Military insubordination... which won't worry Mugabe - as long as he keeps the armed forces sweet with the illegal proceeds from the sale of the diamonds.
"The big tragedy is that with an estimated US$200 million per month being generated from the various diamond mines in the country, that money could take care of many of
It’s a reminder once again, that rebuilding a country is never about a shortage of money - just a shortage of political will."
I couldn't have put it better myself...
And then, when a Mugabe big-shot is implicated, strange things begin to happen. People die suddenly, or leave the country unexpectedly, and paperwork just disappears...
"A police docket implicating two ZANU PF stalwarts who include President Mugabe’s blue eyed boy, Emmerson Mnangagwa along with ZANU PF longtime guru, Webster Shamu has vanished from Zimbabwe Attorney-General Johannes Tomana's office.
As the MDC sought a probe into the matter, efforts to provide Tomana a copy of the docket saw the police superintendent who was in charge of the investigations being immediately transferred from his posting at Bulawayo Central police station to a rural centre in Mashonaland Central’s Nzvimbo, a growth point in Chiweshe, more than 500 kilometres away from Matebeleland.
The two high-profile figures had been implicated in massive poaching of rhinos in
And the matter will just be allowed to amount to very little. No further action will be taken - even if the ZRP wanted it...
Mugabe has a habit of making things happen that appear to exonerate his colleagues - bu,t in reality, these cases are held in abeyance, to be reignited if the person concerned steps out of line.
"Mnangagwa, who earned notoriety as the head of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) ministry in the early 80s, is the current defence minister in the government of national unity.
Shamu is the media and information minister.
The two government ministers are said to have been launching their operations from HKK Safaris, a conservancy Shamu co-owns together with South African businessman, Charles Davy. Davy is father to English-Royal Prince Harry’s former girlfriend, Chelsy.
Davy has in the past been accused of violating hunting quotas and
"The President (Mugabe) is very, very embarrassed," said environmental and natural resources management minister, Francis Nhema, last week. "He asked me for the names of the ministers involved."
Nhema, however, refused to admit or deny the two Mugabe right-hand men were the ministers in question."
Mugabe embarrassed? That'll be the day! But he must be approaching the "enough!" stage...
"Tomana’s appointment as attorney-general and Gideon Gono’s re-appointment as central bank governor have been referred to SADC for arbitration as they were unilaterally made by Mugabe without the consent or agreement of the two MDC leaders. This matter has also seen a bitter feud between Finance minister and Mugabe appointed central bank governor, Gono.
Under the new global political agreement (GPA) senior appointments such as these have to be agreed to by all parties in the unity government. Since the year 2000, many dockets implicating ZANUF PF members have disappeared into 'thin air' In March 2000, another docket implicating then leader of the war veterans, Chenjerai Hunzvi disappeared after a week of having been opened. Many other dockets would soon follow the same trend that has seen many ZANU PF members protected by loopholes in the state security structures.
-o00o-
Take care.
'debvhu
'debvhu
posted by Robb WJ Ellis at 6:54 AM
Union Jack (1963 - 64, 1998 - ??)
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