Wednesday, 30th June 2010

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated...

-o00o-

I read an interesting article late yesterday afternoon which suggested that political power in Zimbabwe is largely based upon who has control over the diamonds... which would make sense to me.

Mugabe's mines minister, Obert Mpofu, is intent upon trading the diamonds whether they have Kimberley Process clearance or not. The KP system seeks to prevent the sale of diamonds that are mined under questionable circumstances and sold where the proceeds are used to fill 'war chests' to facilitate oppression of a given people.

Whilst Zimbabwe diamonds cannot be correctly classed as 'blood diamonds', they are at least 'blood-stained diamonds' given the brutal nature of the Mugabe control of the diamond fields.

"An international group of diamond industry stakeholders has denied reports that it gave Zimbabwean Mines Minister Obert Mpofu the ‘green light’ to sell the country’s controversial gems.

The Zimbabwe Guardian reported on Monday that the World Diamond Council, which monitors diamond trade standards, had given Mpofu the go ahead to sell Zimbabwe’s precious stones. This is despite an international suspension of sales remaining in place, after a meeting of the Kimberley Process last week ended with no agreement on how to deal with Zimbabwe’s diamond crisis.

Monday’s report quoted Minister Mpofu as saying that the stones were already being sold, adding that the World Diamond council had given Zimbabwe 'the green light'. The report said the alleged decision by the World Diamond Council was 'a slap in the face of the Kimberley Process and further discredits that organisation'."

This is the way the Mugabe operates. Instead of concentrating on the problem at hand, his administration seeks to undermine international bodies, using threats and open bravado to achieve their goals. Mpofu has obviously been told by Mugabe to get the stones onto the open market by any means, and he is intent on just that.

"But World Diamond Council President Eli Izhakoff has denied the claims, calling them 'erroneous and absolutely not true'. He told SW Radio Africa by email that only the Kimberley Process can make that decision, and 'as everyone is aware, that did not happen'.

The legal certification of gems from the Chiadzwa diamond fields, which would allow their sale, was suspended after evidence surfaced of massive human rights abuses, as well as high level corruption. Human rights groups have been calling for Zimbabwe’s complete suspension from international trade until the abuses stop. But the Kimberley Process, tasked with ending the trade in conflict diamonds, refused to listen to these calls, instead deciding to grant Zimbabwe more time to meet international standards."

I am of the belief that the confusion arises from the Zimbabwean certification of the stones for sale. The Zimbabwean authorities will apply their own certificate on any and all of the stones in their rush to sell the stones as Mugabe and his party are desperately short of cash.

Any sale will result in Mugabe and ZANU PF being enriched, and little or nothing will end up in State coffers.

"...last week’s meeting of the Kimberley Process in Israel was set to decide Zimbabwe’s trade future. Australia, Canada, the European Union and the United States all opposed a recommendation to approve diamond sales from Chiadzwa. But other Kimberley Process members voted to give Zimbabwe diamonds certification. The lack of consensus means no decision has been taken and yet another meeting has been set down for next month to find a way forward. In the mean time, Minister Mpofu has threatened to sell the stones, regardless of certification."

And because the majority of countries that oppose the clearance are Western, Mugabe has already suggested that this is an orchestrated punishment of Zimbabwe.

-o00o-

The diamond question in Zimbabwe is set to deepen with cabinet approving the sale of the stones.

This is done without Kimberley Process certification, and it will be very interesting just which unscrupulous countries and companies are prepared to do business with Zimbabwe.

Of course, with the cabinet being incomplete (there is no deputy minister for agriculture as Mugabe refuses to swear in Senator Roy Bennett, the MDC's choice, as he says Bennett's terrorism trial acquittal is being appealed) and laced quite liberally by Mugabe-ites, the approval was not much more than a formality.

"Cabinet has approved the immediate sale of diamonds mined in Chiadzwa in a move set to fast-track economic turnaround.

Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu confirmed the development in an interview with The Herald yesterday.

The decision followed his presentation of a report to Cabinet on last week’s Kimberley Process Certification Scheme meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel.

He said the report had been well-received by Cabinet.

"It was clear from the meeting that Cabinet agrees with the immediate sale of our diamonds," he said.

Zimbabwe has stockpiled over four million carats of diamonds worth about US$1,7 billion extracted from the Chiadzwa fields.

"However, we need to come up with a mechanism of proceeding with this process. The mechanism will be transparent and accountable," Minister Mpofu said."

The need that Mpofu has to make such a statement means that there will be sales that are open to the public, whilst there will be a lot more that are carried out behind closed doors. The government of Zimbabwe will not realise as much in financial gain as reported as much of the proceeds will be swept into Mugabe's personal and party coffers.

Yes - I do maintain that the financial gain will be 'liberated' by ZANU PF...

"The minister said the Joint Work Plan was clear that Zimbabwe could trade in its diamonds once it met minimum KP requirements, which it has since done.

The JWP was drawn up and agreed upon by the KP and Government at a plenary session in Namibia last year.

It is designed to address allegations of non-compliance arising from the rudimentary operations by Marange Resources prior to new investment by Canadile Miners and Mbada Holdings.

Minister Mpofu said Zimbabwe would sell diamonds through the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe as the KPCS-designated exporting authority.

"The country’s diamond exports would be accompanied by the KPCS certificates issued by Zimbabwe," he added."

Please note that the certificates are issued by the Zimbabwean government...

"After hostile nations like the United States, Canada, Australia and civil society failed get support at the Tel Aviv meeting to discredit (KP monitor for Zimbabwe) Mr Abbey Chikane’s report, the KP chair advised the Zimbabwean delegation that based on the KP monitor’s report confirming compliance, there was nothing stopping Zimbabwe from exporting its diamonds," he said.

In Tel Aviv, most delegates supported the immediate exportation of Zimbabwe’s diamonds.

Zimbabwe’s supporters included Israel, the United Arab Emirates, China, India, Russia and African countries."

Now Mugabe will set about ensuring that bank accounts are suitable bolstered with the diamond sales...

It was a no-brainer insofar as this article was written for the Mugabe mouthpiece, The Herald.

-o00o-

"In a shocking and inhumane move, the Manicaland Province authorities have banned the distribution of free food aid by non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) to vulnerable rural communities who are in urgent food aid.

The Manicaland Provincial Administrator Fungai Mbetsa, who is a known ZANU PF activist shocked the province when he acknowledged that the province was facing a disastrous situation as many people were on the verge of starvation but surprisingly insisted that no NGO would distribute free food aid.

"No NGO’s will be allowed to give out food. This is meant to ensure that our communities do not lag behind in development. We want to remove the donor dependency syndrome that our communities have become addicted to," said Mbetsa.

"The government banned the distribution of free food aid to vulnerable families to pave way for the re-introduction of the food for work programme to facelift critical infrastructures in the affected areas," he added."

What Mbetsa means really is any distribution of food aid should be overseen by ZANU PF, ensuring that Mugabe's people get food, whilst suspected MDC supporters are left to fend for themselves.

I understand the point that Mbetsa is putting forward - but starving people is not a way to teach them to provide for themselves.

Of course, the fact that there is no food is because ZANU PF have forcibly taken the land from the white commercial farmers and the new owners - predominantly ZANU PF big wigs - have no idea about farming leaving the country in need of assistance to feed the population...

"Political commentators last week said the move to stop free food aid in Manicaland was a desperate move by ZANU PF to win back its supporters who have crossed the floor to the MDC.

Albert Madore a political commentator said: "ZANU PF perceives NGOs as tools that want to effect regime change. But, it is now not a secret that the rural communities are aware that ZANU PF has failed.

"People do not eat politics. They want food. So if ZANU PF stops NGOs to distribute food aid, it is actually making it unpopular to the communities. On food for work, it is ZANU PF’s strategy to deny food to those that are perceived to be aligned to the MDC," added Madore.

A district administrator who declined to be named said: "This is a very sad scenario. People are dying of hunger. We need these NGOs to feed the people. I do not see the logic of banning them. ZANU PF does not have the capacity and resources to embark on food-for-work programme. This programme will only benefit ZANU PF supporters."

He added: "Most people in the wards are suffering. As district administrators, we have been sending food requests, but the situation has been seriously compromised by the winding up of NGO operations by the authorities in ZANU PF."

We also have to be cognisant that ZANU PF may hold the authority in the country, but they are not the party of the people's choice. Therefore, they have to stoop to such measures in an attempt to 'win back' their flagging support.

Which, in any self-governing country, is NOT the way to garner support. If anything, it will divorce the potential voters from the party which wants their vote.

-o00o-

Whilst Mugabe will really not be impressed by being added to the security listing, he will be secretly pleased with the moniker of being a terror financier.

"The US Treasury Department has placed Zimbabwe's president, his wife and his nephew on its list of people believed to have funded terrorist groups.

Robert, Grace and Leo Mugabe were added to the "Specially Designated Nationals" list, which is run by the Treasury office that enforces economic sanctions against those listed.

Businessmen Billy Rautenbach and John Bredenkamp, who have close ties to president Mugabe and his ZANU PF party, were also added.

The Treasury Department did not give a reason for its moves."

Sadly, Mugabe uses his inclusion on various listings in the Western world as a weapon to belittle the West. He is of the opinion that the targeted sanctions - which he calls 'illegal economic sanctions' - are the real cause of the demise of Zimbabwe's economy. The truth is that Mugabe's wanton wastage of State money, his oppression of the people of Zimbabwe, and his death-like grip on power in that country are the real cause of the virtual collapse of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe is very quick to point fingers at the West and make all manner of accusations, and we have never seen him actually do anything positive for the people of Zimbabwe. He is happier when the people are subservient, harassed, starving and struggling to maintain life.

Mugabe is probably more upset with being ranked just the second worst dictator on the globe today, placed second behind Kim Jong-Il of North Korea.

-o00o-

More fighting within ZANU PF ranks - but I do wonder what crime Mliswa is supposed to have committed in insulting Chihuri...

"Controversial ZANU PF official and businessman Temba Mliswa has been arrested for a yet undisclosed offence a few hours after launching an astonishing attack on police commissioner Augustine Chihuri whom he described as the most corrupt person in Zimbabwe.

Mliswa and Chihuri clashed over a vehicle repairs company Noshio Motors, which the maverick former fitness trainer said he bought majority 51 percent of the company from Hammerskjold Banda. Banda was said to be in partnership with a Paul Westwood who had remained with 49 percent.

Westwood was claiming that Mliswa fraudulently acquired the shares from Banda and made a police report which led to Mliswa’s arrest. He was believed to be detained at the notorious Matapi police station in Mbare. Westwood and Chihuri were said to be close partners in business.

Speaking Monday on his way to the police station on learning that police were looking for him, Mliswa blamed his woes on Chihuri saying Zimbabwe’s top cop was corruptly conniving with Westwood to have him arrested and possibly tortured.

"I am on my to the police station and I know they want to arrest me on the instructions of Chihuri who is the most corrupt police officer in the country. He is promoting corruption in country instead of stopping it. Right now he is being involved with Westwood to have me persecuted just because he is corrupt. They want to take my company after making sure I rot in jail.

"President Mugabe must fire Chihuri because as long as he is at the helm of the police, corruption will never stop in Zimbabwe. He is tarnishing the image of the police through what he is doing. The police here just arrest people for doing nothing and abuse people’s rights through people like Chihuri," said Mliswa."

Mugabe has used worse language than this when insulting political foes. If I am not mistaken, he called Simba Makoni a 'prostitute' and has happily maligned and insulted Morgan Tsvangirai. If 'insulting' Chihuri is a crime, then what of Mugabe's utterances?

Or has he got 'diplomatic' immunity? I see nothing 'diplomatic' is his speeches...

"Asked if he was not scared of attacking Chihuri given the ruthlessness of his police officers, Mliswa was unrepentant.

"I’m not afraid of anyone. I fear God only, not Chihuri, not any human being. They will arrest me on trumped up charges but they will not kill me. The courts, not the police, will determine whether I committed a crime or not.

"They are claiming that I was involved in some form of fraud. Two days in custody is not much because after that I will go to court and prove my innocence. I will prove that I am being harassed by Chihuri in connivance with Westwood," he said."

Time will show that Mliswa is probably right, even if the courts decide that he HAS committed a crime...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 29th June 2010

Howzit

As fast as the "Gono Is Dead" fiasco hit the headlines, I see that stories have stopped being written about the 'late departed' Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, because I was really getting quite sick of it. But, no doubt, we will hear and read more of it as the ZRP are searching for the people that started the story.

And whilst the pro-Mugabe police endeavour to catch someone who isn't there - especially if that individual is a ZANU PF member/supporter/official - we have the mines minister, Obert Mpofu, making equally pathetic allegations about the diamonds fields.

In an attempt to deflect the attentions of the world on the proposed trade of diamonds whether it receives the Kimberley Process clearance or not, Mpofu claims that England 'planted' up to 40000 illegal miners so that they could steal the precious stone...

"Zimbabwe's mines minister, Obert 'Chiadzwa' Mpofu has made the astonishing claim that Britain 'planted 40000 illegal panners in the country's violence-riddled Chiadzwa diamond fields two years ago in an attempt to plunge the southern African country into open conflict.

Announcing Zimbabwe's intention yesterday to sell diamonds without approval from the Kimberley Process - the international body which certifies the origin of the precious stones - Mr Mpofu said the UK "looted" gems from the eastern fields before 2008, using diamond giant De Beers and the LSE-listed African Consolidated Resources (ACR), which owned the original claim to the fields.

"The western countries are a consortium of looters," Mr Mpofu said, blaming the UK and its backers for the Kimberley Process' inability to reach a final position on allowing Zimbabwe to resume gem trading at a meeting in Israel last week.

"We will no longer engage them when it comes to our diamonds," the minister told the official Chronicle newspaper.

"The British… planted more than 40,000 illegal panners in the Chiadzwa diamond fields with the aim of creating chaos leading to war, but the uniformed forces drove the people away without any problem," he said, in an apparent reference to a bloody military clampdown at the fields in late 2008."

I don't suppose Mpofu has any substantiation to back these allegations... well, none that he is prepared to table, primarily because he has no proof. This is the sort of thing that we have come to know and recognise from the Mugabe administration.

Allegations - without substantiation - and using these, he will proceed down the path of illegality and violence without a thought for the people of Zimbabwe.

40000 miners is a lot of people. Surely, if his allegations held any water, he would be able to produce some evidence to back his claims. But he doesn't have any proof. Just the mad idea that the English have 'stolen' diamonds from Zimbabwe...

"Human rights groups say at least 200 people died when soldiers with dogs, backed by helicopter gunships, descended on hundreds of panners who had until then been given free rein to dig and trade in gems.

Locals had been told the diamonds - first discovered in 2006 - were a gift from the ancestors to help them weather Zimbabwe's economic crisis.

President Robert Mugabe's side of the coalition government has always denied anyone died in the operation, which lasted several weeks.

Mr Mpofu said: "We have instructed the industry to start exports of the diamonds. Everything is going ahead." Zimbabwe is sitting on a diamond stockpile of more than four million carats now being mined by two South African-linked companies.

Mbada Holdings Ltd and Canadile Miners were personally selected by Mr Mpofu to mine the Chiadzwa claim - though neither has a proven track record in large-scale diamond mining. A company with alleged links to the Chinese army has also recently been granted a mining licence.

The authorities were exasperated by the failure to get the green light to sell diamonds following an apparently positive report from the diamond watchdog's South African monitor, Abbey Chikane.

On a visit in May, Mr Chikane said he was "pleased by improvements" he'd seen in Chiadzwa. But he noted that Zimbabwe was already selling diamonds to Dubai without Kimberley Process approval. Local reports put the value of those sales at $11.2 million (about £7.4m)."

Mpofu is unhappy with the failure in Israel of Zimbabwe being given clearance by the Kimberley Process to trade diamonds on the open market. So, by way of retaliation, Mugabe's administration intends to deal in the dubious diamonds - 'to hang' with the consequences.

At least the Zimbabwean authorities are at least intending to trade the diamonds openly... It will be most interesting to see who is prepared to deal with them.

-o00o-

And when you are on a roll, it makes no sense to stop with the allegations.

Mpofu has also claimed that two human rights groups tried to bribe him...

"Zimbabwe's mines minister says two international human-rights groups tried to bribe him over Zimbabwe's controversial diamonds in the Marange area in south Eastern Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu claimed in the pro-ZANU-PF Sunday Mail in Harare that two international rights organizations, Human Rights Watch and Partnership Africa Canada, tried to "bribe" him at the Kimberley Process Certification conference in Tel Aviv to financially support their work. Mpofu, who is a top member of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF, is trying to persuade the international regulator, the Kimberley Process, to certify its stockpile of diamonds for export. Mpofu made his 'bribe' allegation after returning to Zimbabwe from a Kimberley Process conference in Tel Aviv that deadlocked on certification of Zimbabwe's diamonds from the Marange area.

Alan Martin, from Partnership Africa Canada, denied Sunday any bribe was offered to Mpofu. Martin said civil-rights groups oppose certification of diamonds from the Marange area because they are not compliant with the Kimberley Process, which tries to stop sales of so-called 'blood diamonds." He said the Kimberley Process monitor, South African Abbey Chikane, who cleared Zimbabwe to export the rough stones from Marange, had ignored smuggling of diamonds from Zimbabwe."

Mpofu is determined, if nothing else, of having Zimbabwe's name 'cleared' of double dealing and human rights abuses in the Marange fields.

We have read enough reports of the abuses, killings and intimidation in the diamond fields to realise that there cannot be smoke without fire. Instead of agreeing to allow a body in to investigate the alleged abuses, Mpofu and his ministry officials prevent anyone who is not ZANU PF and pro-Mugabe from entering the fields.

That, in itself, is a tacit admission of guilt.

"Human-rights groups monitoring the Marange diamonds say they were astonished when respected Israeli diamond analyst Chaim Even-Zohar last week backed Zimbabwe's bid for its diamonds to be certified by the Kimberley Process. Even-Zohar said if the Zimbabwe diamonds were not exported legally they would all be smuggled out and would upset the prices of diamonds on the international market during a world wide recession.

Even-Zohar said the Kimberley Process is not a human-rights organization and its mandates assumed sovereign and legitimate governments were, as he put it, "OK." He said the Kimberley Process only has mechanisms to deal with rebel groups using diamonds to oppose or undermine sovereign governments. Even-Zohar said the Kimberley Process has no mechanism to deal with a country like Zimbabwe, which is itself what he called a "rogue actor."

De Beers diamond group executive director Jonathan Oppenheimer said Sunday there is "concern" over diamond mining in Zimbabwe, but there is no "blood diamond conflict" and there is a legitimate government in place in Harare. He said the Kimberley Process is therefore in a difficult position."

So the KP have failed to clear the Zimbabwean diamonds for trade, but find themselves unable to label the stone 'blood diamonds'. And much of that problem is found in the report by the KP monitor, Abbey Chikane, who wrote that he felt the Zimbabwean authorities had done enough to trade the precious stone freely.

Chikane report fails to detail the horrors within the fields, and the rampant smuggling of diamonds out of Zimbabwe by senior ZANU PF personnel. Too much, too little, too late - and Mpofu will stick to his guns (pun intended) that the English 'stole' Zimbabwe's diamonds, and that attempts were made to bribe him.

With that, he believes that the Zimbabwean government has enough to allow them to trade diamonds - without KP approval.

-o00o-

Having enjoyed the backing of the RBZ governor for many years as Gideon Gono used money from wherever he could get it, Mugabe now feels obliged to protect the bank from its creditors who want their money back.

"President Robert Mugabe has invoked the Presidential Power (Temporary measures) Act to stop any legal action against the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) after the central bank was slapped with several lawsuits for failing to pay its creditors.

"In a government gazette released on Friday, any legal proceedings against the bank, will be suspended for the next six months. The regulation means that any creditor who has been seeking recourse in the courts to force the RBZ to pay its debts will not be entertained in the next six months."

Which is ridiculous. Mugabe is complicit in the banks and its debt. It was his rule which led to Gono having to use every trick in the book to provide money for the dictatorship to continue - and for Mugabe to travel all over the place.

Gono even helped himself to foreign currency held on accounts in the bank, and this money has never been paid back. Mugabe claims that this was not theft.

What of the creditors? Have they themselves not got bills to pay? If the RBZ doesn't pay them, then how can they pay their bills?

Six months is a long time in the financial world, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear of failing companies because of the money they are owed - and invariably, these companies will then be bought for a song by senior ZANU PF members and officials.

It's easy - when you know how.

-o00o-

What we should realise is that Mugabe doesn't change in his oppression of the population. With Mugabe, nothing changes, except the date...

"Armed and uniformed soldiers have been threatening and intimidating villagers to support ZANU PF views in many districts of Manicaland and Masvingo provinces. On Thursday Senator Morgan Komichi told us they were receiving reports that in some areas the soldiers were toyi-toying and chanting ZANU PF slogans.

ZANU PF is eager to include in the new constitution the contents of the so called 'Kariba draft'. It makes Mugabe eligible to continue in office with entrenched powers, for another 10 years, which means he would die in office and avoid prosecution for human rights abuses."

There is nothing new in this. Mugabe has used the army, air force and police together with his war veterans and youth militia to rubber stamp his authority in the land.

The fact that he is unelected does not enter into the discussion as he forbids it. Thirty years of lying and bullying, pressuring and oppressing - it all pays off in the end, I s'pose.

-o00o-

Why is it that nothing in Zimbabwe is plain sailing? Why do the people involved always have to have the threat of legal action, or marches, or violence lace everything?

"Four former Zimbabwean ministers who lost their jobs in a Cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are demanding severance packages including the retention of their high-end ministerial vehicles.

Sources said the irate ex-ministers - Elias Mudzuri, Fidelis Mhashu, Evelyn Masaiti and Thamsanqa Mahlangu - demanded Mr Tsvangirai engage his fellow unity government principals as to their compensation.

Sources said the four are demanding three months pay and allowances plus pensions, among other perks.

Labour experts said the ex-ministers are entitled to most of these benefits even if the government cannot afford to pay them at present. None of the sacked ministers could be reached for comment on the reports."

Is it right that failed ministers be given a severance package when they, of all people, know the financial status of the country's coffers? Simply put - they are empty.

And the idea that they should keep their luxury vehicles? Is that not counterproductive - apart from the fact that they want to enjoy the perks of jobs that they did not and no longer fulfil?

"Tsvangirai spokesman James Maridadi told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that the "redeployed" ministers must follow proper channels when negotiating terminal benefits instead of doing so through the media. "It’s a contract between two parties and as such I think it is unethical for us to make this an issue of public debate," he said.

Labour expert Davies Ndumiso Sibanda said the fired ministers should receive decent severance packages even if this placed a burden on taxpayers. "I want to believe that there is a special provision on ministerial vehicles which will ensure that they will retain them without any hurdles," said Sibanda."

How absurd...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 28th June 2010

Howzit

I went out early this morning and many people were taking the "England" flags down that were adorning their houses following the football team's 4-1 defeat and exit at the hands of Germany.

One bloke slowed his car down and shouted at one of those removing flags, "It shouldn't read 'England', but 'Rest In Peace'!" to which the householder quipped, 'They're not coming down, I'm just resetting them so that they fly at half-mast..."

-o00o-

And following the rumour that swept over Southern Africa at the end of last week that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono, had been killed in a road traffic accident, we have heard from Gono that he is 'safe and well' although we haven't seen him in public yet.

Then we read about the pro-Mugabe Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) taking steps to find out who began the rumour.

And this morning we read that Gono says two senior ZANU PF officials are responsible for the incorrect reports.

"Two government officials who are all Senior ZANU PF officials are behind a false rumour that claimed that Dr Gideon Gono died in a car accident on a Chiredzi road Wednesday.

The officials who all belong to President Mugabe’s ZANU PF party have begged for anonymity on the story which they may be protected under journalistic ethics and certain legal codes.

On Friday, the same officials confirmed to The Zimbabwe Mail that Gono would be declared a national hero and that everything was held up by President Mugabe's absence.

Dr Gono has refused to reveal the names of some the people who he described as his ‘enemies’ who want him dead but he indicated that they are ZANU PF officials who want him dead."

Now, even if the two are identified, and even if they are 'protected under journalistic ethics and certain legal codes', just what 'crime' have the committed? I know it sounds like I am protecting them, but that is not the case. There are hundreds of cases - if not thousands - of violence and theft cases that have been reported to the ZRP by members of the MDC, and the police have failed to follow up, using their old excuse that the cases are 'political'.

Even if there was a crime committed by announcing falsely that Gono was dead, would the police fail to act again, saying that the case was 'political'.

In Zimbabwe, it is 'do as I say, not as I do'...

"Speaking to independent journalists for the first time Saturday, Dr Gono said that the reports were "rubbish" manufactured by people who want to destroy him but refused to give names. Speaking to RadioVOP, the central bank governor described as madness reports in the media that he had died in a car crash in Chiredzi, dismissing the rumour.

As late as Saturday morning however, blogging journalists such as Denford Magora were still reporting that although Gono may have not died, the car accident to them is still 'fact'. In addition to this, writing to ZimEye Saturday afternoon after our editorial team had made repeated efforts, one of the sources said:

"Lets wait and see the next two days if he will appear in public to prove it that he is alive."

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, described as madness reports in the media that he had died in a car crash in Chiredzi saying the rumour could probably have been spread by his enemies who wish him dead."

It stands to reason that if Gono made a statement denying he was dead, that the idea was 'rubbish', but I do note that he still hasn't come out in public so people can see him, thereby dispelling the rumours.

"Does a dead man comment? The reports of me being dead are nonsense, I am okay and nothing of that sort happened, not even a puncture. When I talk people complain and when I keep quiet people say I’m dead.

"All those wishing me dead or some such development because they are tired of seeing me around and quietly going about my daily chores, may have to bear with me a little longer because my time for accidents or death isn’t, according to my creator, not yet up.

"I and my family and friends don’t mind however receiving condolence gifts and messages from the same quarters responsible for this nasty rumour so we can have a feel of how generous they will be with their words and pockets when I’m really gone.

"Please send condolence gifts to your nearest charity and messages to your favourite newspaper. It’s real fun up here and no sweat guys," said Gono sarcastically."

I will state again what I said to a fellow Zimbabwean when I first heard the 'news': "Of course, I wouldn't put it beyond Mugabe to engineer the death of someone like Gono. It would save him losing face if he is forced to sack him from the RBZ. A coincidental and advantageous departure into the nest world could suit Mugabe and his administration down to the ground.

But the question I have is, who would have started such a rumour and to what end?"

-o00o-

Given that Mutsekwa was a co-minister of Home Affairs with Kembo Mohadi of ZANU PF, it would be impossible for him to fulfil any function without setting up some sort of parallel structures, but these would and should only be used for ministry use...

"Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has accused recently demoted minister Giles Mutsekwa of creating "parallel party structures" that threaten and undermine his leadership of the embattled Movement for Democratic Change party.

Former co-minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa, who was recently demoted in a move masked as a "restructuring exercise" or "reshuffle", Mr Mutsekwa was given a less influential post of Minister of Housing.

An MDC-T official who refused to be named told the Zimbabwe Guardian on Sunday that Mr Mutsekwa will go before a disciplinary committee of that party together with Prosper Mutseyami, the MDC-T provincial organising secretary in Manicaland."

Last week there was an article that Mutsekwa was filing a legal case to overrule the re-appointment, whilst I also read an article - yesterday, I think - saying that Mutsekwa had 'accepted' the new ministerial appointment.

Why, when a country is struggling for economic viability and the return of law and order, would a minister actually believe that his movement sideways can be negated by a legal fight? Does Mutsekwa not realise that his actions are not just been watched by the eagle-eyed ZANU PF malcontents and the Zimbabwean population, but by the world at large? Surely he must understand that his unhappiness cannot be read as party tension?

"In an interview, a senior member of the MDC-T, Mr Tapiwa Mashakada, who is also the newly appointed Minister of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion told this reporter that Mr Mutsekwa and Mr Mutseyami will be reined in and that the decision was made by the party’s national council.

"This is not witch hunting but every party has a disciplinary procedure and that's what the prime minister will be following," said Mr Mashakada.

"Why do you always speculate about issues. Mutsekwa is answerable to the prime minister, so there's no news here," he said before cutting the phone.

Mutsekwa is a more popular figure in Mutare than the prime minister."

-o00o-

Sometimes, when Christmas and New year straddle weekends, the whole rubbish collection schedule here in the UK has to be rethought. In years past, we have had to remain with our bins nearly overflowing for an extra week - and that is not always fun...

So, what must it be like in Zimbabwe where refuse has not been collected for months... years even?

"At the side of the southern entrance to Mkambo market in Makokoba suburb is a stack of smelly rubbish, almost one and half metres high.

Dwarfed by the heap of rubbish is Precious Mlilo, 36, who sits by daily, roasting corn cobs she sells to earn a living. More heaps of uncollected garbage ring the busy market. Young boys, unshod and shirtless, play soccer along the road, sometimes climbing the heap of garbage to collect a stray ball.

A few metres away, at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Parish, a burst pipe spews sewerage, which flows along the side of the road into a nearby stream.

Mrs Mlilo is unworried by the unsanitary surroundings that make some visitors uncomfortable. "The garbage is my neighbour. There is no problem. I am used to it. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. It is better now. They collect the refuse once or twice a month," she said."

If they 'collected the refuse' then surely there shouldn't be a backlog?

But I am sure that there is no sewerage or refuse problem at Mugabe's Borrowdale Brook mansion - or, for that matter, at the houses of his loyalists and senior officials.

Which I find very sad. The one thing that I was aware of whilst living in Zimbabwe was that the people are a very proud people and hygiene comes very near the top of the list. But when the destructive 30 year rule of ZANU PF shows itself which such enormity that there is nothing anyone can do, then the people just have to suck it in and live with it...

"Bulawayo municipality, the country’s second largest with 1.5 million people, is failing to collect refuse, repair roads and sewer pipes. This has angered residents who feel that the municipality is shortchanging them by levying for non-existent services.

The situation in Harare is worse. The eastern half of the city has been receiving water erratically for years. a situation that health experts say precipitated an outbreak of typhoid, which killed five people in the populous Mabvuku suburb in February and infected hundreds.

During the past nine years of economic crisis, towns and cities effectively stopped discharging some of their responsibilities such as collecting rubbish, providing clean water and attending to burst sewer pipes and damaged inner-city roads."

But Mugabe doesn't care. As long as he doesn't have to see it or smell it, or experience any of the accompanying discomfort, it remains a problem that is not his.

-o00o-

I suppose Mugabe wants some sort of pat on the back for this. Whilst I am pleased to read that the ZRP have actually done something constructive and got two potential terrorists off the street, I do have to question why it is that he insists on giving solace to the former Ethiopian leader, Mengistu Haile Miriam?

"Two terror suspects arrested in Zimbabwe last week were attempting to cross into South Africa, media reports said yesterday.

The two men of Pakistani origin were using fake Kenyan passports to enter South Africa, where the World Cup is being held, DPA reported.

Interpol is now investigating claims that one of the men has connections with the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 which killed 200 people, it said."

-o00o-

Just as Mugabe and his administration govern who can and cannot enter their country, so foreign governments have that control within their own countries as well. The difference that their preference is that Mugabe and his hierarchy are included on the list of 'undesirables'.

Mugabe insists that this is 'illegal' and often describes it a 'economic sanctions' even though it is not.

But Mugabe believes his own lies.

"Eighty-seven foreigners, most of them West Africans and Asians who were involved in diverse business ventures, have been deported from Zimbabwe over the past five months for violating the country's immigration laws.

The illegal immigrants were from 14 countries with the bulk of them being Chinese and Nigerian nationals.

Investigations showed that some of the affected immigrants had entered into marriages of convenience with Zimbabwean nationals while others were involved in illicit deals that included human trafficking.

The majority of the deported immigrants were operating small businesses in Harare.

Their illegal stay in the country came to an end after they were rounded up in a routine joint operation carried out by the Department of Immigration and police."

One thing I cannot fathom is why someone would want to enter Zimbabwe, either legally or otherwise? Are their present living conditions so bad that a move to Zimbabwe would be an improvement?

"We have deported foreigners from Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya, China, Mali, Ethiopia, Britain, Zambia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo."

Did anyone notice "Britain" hidden in that list?

"One of these 87, a Briton, had come into the country on the pretense of being a tourist on holiday and extended his stay, which is a violation of the Immigration Act."

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Sunday, 27th June 2010

Howzit

Once again, news coming out of Zimbabwe is a little thin on the ground. I think that a lot of it is to do with the World Cup as the last sixteen teams are set to begin the knock-out stage in a bid for a place in the last eight.

Here in the United Kingdom, you cannot move for tripping over someone in an English football shirt, whilst people have made arrangements to watch the German match this afternoon in various pubs and clubs around the country.

I do not like football so will probably watch F1.

-o00o-

At the end of next month, my mother and I are running a stall at the July Braai organised by the Pioneer Club. Yesterday I went up yo my Mum's and took snapshots of all of the paintings that she has done, and thought I might share a few here in a bid to raise some interest for that weekend...

Okay, my photography is probably not the best, but just love my mother's work!

Last week, one day my wife and I were up very early as she was struggling with asthma. She did go out into her garden early, and brought in the most beautiful pink rose which I then photographed. Perhaps my photography skills aren't that bad after all...

-o00o-

The row about whether the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's governor, Gideon Gono is dead or not continues, and this is an article published by one website that went ahead with the story, even though they had not verified the story...

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has for the first time responded to a rumour which claimed that its governor 'Dr Gideon Gono has died'.

Subsequently a Zimbabwe website frantically attempted to make mockery of us, falsely suggesting that our editors edited the public-open source website, Wikipedia.

We shall now promptly respond to all the myths and present the facts both in brief and also in detail.

We do hereby state that we are not the only publication which received the alleged news on Dr Gideon Gono and we tolerate all the criticism received. A number of journalists have however without revocation written in their view stating that the governor 'was indeed involved in a car accident', contrary to the verbal denial by the state media. These include the Zimbabwean newspaper (article deleted Saturday) and Mavambo information guru, Denford Magora who for instance, states categorically that the RBZ govenor was indeed involved in a car accident despite the denial by the Herald which claimed to have interviewed him 'while at home' via phone and in which Gono is quoted saying he was never involved in any car accident. The claim also said that Gono reported at work Friday and was 'alive and well'.

Writes Magora: "The bit about him being at work is rather doubtful because the Governor was indeed in a car accident and was not shown on TV speaking for himself, which is chance he would not have missed, knowing him."

An announcement published on the RBZ website stated Friday saying:

"Rumours of the governor’s death are malicious trash." The Spokesman began.

He added: "The governor notes with regret that any fool, and most do, can create a website and spread lies with no regard for the truth, the feelings of the people they write about or their families. This report appears to have been prepared by very sad individuals who want to project their sadness onto others. We will pray for them."

We do note however that a number of Zimbabwe high profile deaths have been kept under the carpet for years and the latest one being that of former Vice President Joseph Msika (Ref: http://www.zimeye.org/?p=7787) We note that our publication was the first to break the ice on the Hon Joseph Msika’s death (http://www.zimeye.org/?p=7763).

A most classical account is the death of former DRC president Laurent Kabila who was assassinated in January 2001 and which death the same Zimbabwe government through their mouthpiece media refused, reporting in Harare and all over Zimbabwe that Kabila was alive and was 'on his way to Harare'. Had it not been for the Belgian media who made an announcement of his death on Tuesday 16th Jan 2001, the Zimbabwean government may have successfully kept the news secret for more days, even weeks. Alas, the world became aware 3 days later when news-houses such as the BBC verified and published the truth.

A number of protesting comments have been received, one of them challenging us to present photos of the reported accident – of which we are not able to do and we have neither claimed to have been there at the scene.

As a publication we sincerely apologize for anxiety and confusion this might have caused to family, friends, and the rest of Zimbabweans. As a publication, we state that if there is an error of fact, this would be the first our two sources (government figures) who are most trusted and with a 2 year history of impeccable accurate information relaying, have made, this is sincerely regretted."

In the five-plus years that I have been writing on Zimbabwe, I have had a few run-ins with Zimbabwean publications - both here and in Zimbabwe. As a consequence there are some 'sources' that I now choose to ignore.

When a rather large 'story' breaks, I tend to look at the larger publications for some sort of verification. This, however, does not make me bulletproof.

Luckily, when it comes to this story, I had a 'heads up!' from a reliable Zimbabwean source that there was no accident and that Gono was alive in Harare.

This doesn't make me better than other bloggers, writers and publications - but, as with most things coming out of Zimbabwe, we need to be aware of deliberate disinformation and rampant rumours.

-o00o-

"The ongoing FIFA World Cup, which roared into life a fortnight ago, has not provided any joy for Zimbabwe's listed companies, especially counters in the tourism sector, who were expecting a windfall from the soccer showcase.

In fact, such is the gloom besetting the industry that leading hotelier and CEO of Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG), Chipo Mutasa, says the potential benefits of the World Cup were exaggerated.

The RTG counter ended the week retreating, losing 20 cents to close the week at 1.40, from 1.60 at the beginning of last week.

Mutasa told shareholders at the 11th Annual General Meeting that business from the World Cup was far below that expected by the group and the tourism industry."

Of course, it doesn't help when there is the spectre of violence, abductions, arrests and killings going on in the country which make it unattractive to tourists.

In fact, just last week I happened upon a book in our local library, about Zimbabwe and what it has to offer the travelling public. I was amazed to read that the author deems the country 'safe' to travel within - the book was written just last year!

If it were in my powers I would email the author and tell him that such a conclusion potentially endangers the lives of those who travel on his opinion. We have all read the many reports and have received emails that detail the chaos on the country's highways with groups of robbers holding up travellers. I suppose we should be grateful that there has been no loss of life - as yet - but we have read of the beating issued to the travellers if they do not obey the instruction of a modern day Dick Turpin...

"The reality on the ground, however, is that very few corporates stand to benefit from the extravaganza.

Zimbabwe boasts the mighty Victoria Falls and its national parks, but it seems that despite these huge attractions, the industry is going to attract very few visitors during this event taking place for the first time in Africa.

Zimbabwean firms have been compounded by liquidity challenges and high interest rates.

Mutasa, however, said the business environment has significantly improved but her group's performance in the resorts remains worrisome."

Should the likes of Mutasa and his fellow hoteliers have a very close look, it is more than apparent that the political tensions within the country do not help their turnover, whilst the extremely high cost of living limits the traveller from really having a good look around the country.

"The World Cup is in South Africa, 99.9% of arrivals will be in South Africa. The benefit for Zimbabwe will be for future marketing. However we received significant business this week when a group of 225 Mexicans checked in at Victoria Falls."

-o00o-

I fully realise that many people will either watching the England versus Germany football match in a couple of hours and many will be making their way to various pubs and clubs and so blogs like mine will be left to their own devices, whilst others will be enjoying the hot weather here in the UK.

Then, of course, like me, other would prefer to watch the F1 race.

So, this posting will finish with this article.

It is said in educated circles that if you want a true look at the humanity of a government you only need to look at their prisoners.

In Zimbabwe, life in the prisons is hell and inmates have to contend with little or no food, filth, violence and squalid cells. But this article brings up the question of the street urchins in Zimbabwe.

"Child scavengers in Harare bear tragic witness to how little has changed in a society brutalised by Robert Mugabe’s cynical rule.

Rotting food scraps picked out of the dirt and the bins of the backstreets of Harare are piled together in a slimy heap on the ground with torn cardboard as a serving plate.

Elias, 15, squats and pushes both hands into the pile, scooping out a chunk of something pink. He gnaws on it, then shouts: "Dinner! Come and eat."

The other boys shush him. "The police will come," says Lloyd, "and we will have to run." There are more than 20 of them, gathered on a small piece of waste ground around a thin fire. The youngest is 8, the eldest 18. Lloyd used to have a blanket, but the police took it last time he was rounded up. He is among the older children who have been living on the streets since President Robert Mugabe’s infamous Operation Murambatsvina, the slum clearances that began in 2005 and left hundreds homeless. But now they are seeing new, younger kids drifting in day after day from the countryside, looking for protection and a share of whatever has been scavenged or stolen or begged.

"Zimbabwean society is splintering, breaking, the family is not working the way it used to," said an official at the ministry of health. "The gap is increasing between the rich and the poor, the middle classes are moving out into the high-density suburbs where the poor used to live, and the poor are ending up on the streets."

At the Makumbi children’s home, half an hour’s drive from the city, Sister Alois is upset to report she has had to turn away three abandoned babies brought in by social workers in the last week.

"More and more children abandoned, it’s not the African way. There are so many now. They are being left in the bush, some are eaten by the ants," said the nun, who has always been strict on taking in a manageable number of orphans to give each child the best possible chance: 10 children to each of her "house mothers". She says "poverty, and poverty leading to girls being abused", is the cause."

As the article says, this is a situation exacerbated by Murambatsvina in 2005 - not, as Mugabe would have the world believe, since the inception of the coalition government. Y'see Mugabe will blame anything on the MDC...

"But after years of financial mismanagement at the hands of an ageing dictator and his corrupt cronies that saw this country decline into chaos amid food and energy shortages, sky-high inflation and political violence, Zimbabwe is entering a new era. In the two years since the election that nearly tore the country apart before resulting in a national unity government between Mugabe and opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, there have been dramatic changes.

There is food on the shelves now, and the trillion-dollar banknotes are gone. Since 2009 citizens have been free to use the South African rand or the US dollar, and all do. A human rights commission has been sworn in. A media commission has licensed newspapers independent of government control and one, Newsday, began publishing this month. There are more cars on the road, some traffic lights work and the big four-wheeled drives no longer mainly have white faces behind the wheel. Vast diamond fields discovered at Marange have the potential to bring prosperity, and work on a new constitution is under way.

But what has really changed? Zimbabweans still top the world list of asylum-seekers. On Monday, Mugabe was ranked the world’s second-worst dictator behind Kim Jong-il of North Korea, and Zimbabwe rated in the top 10 failed states.

The report by the US-based Fund for Peace stated: "Mugabe has arrested and tortured the opposition, squeezed his economy into astounding negative growth and billion-percent inflation, and funnelled off a juicy cut for himself using currency manipulation and offshore accounts."

On Thursday, the international watchdog, the Kimberley Process, failed to reach agreement on Zimbabwe’s diamonds, concerned at human rights abuses and corruption. So the ban on the country exporting diamonds remains in place. And Mugabe’s government remains disdainful of international opinion. The mines minister, Obert Mpofu, responded by saying Zimbabwe would sell them anyway. "Those of you who dream of regime change," he told his critics, "there will never be regime change in Zimbabwe. We fought for our liberation and we are ready to fight again."

Typical Mugabe-esque words. But people like Mpofu are aware that the continuing tenure of Mugabe is essential to their own survival, so we fully expect these utterances.

Will regime change ever happen in Zimbabwe? I don't know - but the truth of the situation in Zimbabwe is a simple requirement - even though Mugabe and his cohorts prefer that it doesn't...

"Tsvangirai has been accused of ineffectual leadership, of doing the "Mugabe shuffle" - making small changes that mean nothing for the people. As one businessman told the Observer: "There is a saying in Shona, 'It’s best to take an enemy inside your hut and there kill him'. That is what Mugabe has done to Tsvangirai. We are betrayed."

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Saturday, 26th June 2010

Howzit

News on the ground in and about Zimbabwe this morning is very sparse. Perhaps the political wheels in Zimbabwe are taking a short break to recharge their batteries, or perhaps the people are genuinely tired and are more interested in the FIFA World Cup.

But it doesn't mean that the whole country has stopped.

The rumour mill in Southern Africa - soon followed by the world - worked overtime yesterday. Stories began to be spread that Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, unilaterally appointed by Robert Mugabe, had died in a car smash on Wednesday on his way to Chiredzi.

Then we discovered that only one internet newspaper had been taken in by the story, and last evening I was reading stories that said that Mugabe's office had delayed the announcement of Gono's death because the President was in Maputo in Mozambique.

Gono's own newspaper published a story stating that reports of the accident and Gono's death were false.

In conversation with a fellow Zimbabwean yesterday I wrote: "Of course, I wouldn't put it beyond Mugabe to engineer the death of someone like Gono. It would save him losing face if he is forced to sack him from the RBZ. A coincidental and advantageous departure into the nest world could suit Mugabe and his administration down to the ground.

But the question I have is, who would have started such a rumour and to what end?"

And I see that the pro-Mugabe police, who very seldom react to serious reports of violence and abduction, are falling over themselves to investigate the source of the rumour. What measure do the ZRP use when dealing with various reports?

"A senior police officer in Harare yesterday said police were now trying to establish the source of the rumour of that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono has died when the central bank chief is alive and well.

Harare is awash with rumours that Dr Gono died in a car crash on Wednesday and the news was picked up by a UK-based online publication and blogs who have been running the story without verification.

The reports said the RBZ boss was involved in an accident while travelling from Chiredzi."

I see also that Gono was gushing with compliments for The Herald for not running the story. Based upon that logic, how come Gono hasn't complimented me as well for not running the story?

"Speaking from his home where he was watching the FIFA World Cup match between the Netherlands and Cameroon, Dr Gono said: "I am shocked to hear that. I am okay and I am at home watching a soccer match with my family.

"I never even had a tyre puncture or stopped anywhere on the road.

"Why do people wish me bad things?"

He even gave his mobile phone to his wife and his 10-year-old son to confirm that he was fine and at home."

How does giving your mobile phone to your wife and son prove that you are alive?

I ask again, why would someone begin such a rumour and to what end?

"The Zim Diaspora.com was also inundated with calls from across the world inquiring whether Dr Gono had actually died. This was after the UK based Zimbabwean on-line publication had unjournalistically and recklessly published the false story claiming Gone was dead.

"For someone masquerading as journalist and the just publish news without verifying it’s a travesty to journalism which calls for the need of journalism training. It is a clear sign that this online publication (named) is being run by someone who needs training," said Themba Nkala a journalism lecturer."

What kind of word is "unjournalistically"? And this from a lecturer...

-o00o-

Whatever the story, Mugabe's hand is more than evident when it comes to the diamond fields. And when it comes to just who has any authority over the diamonds find, Mugabe likes to appoint people who he knows will exert whatever pressure is required to underline ZANU PF's autocracy.

"President Robert Mugabe appointed pal Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba to command the Chiadzwa diamond fields, according to The Zimbabwean newspaper. Nyikayaramba's promotion gives him power to run the third infantry brigade in Mutare and replaces Brigadier General Richman Ncube, who, it was alleged, was demoted for "failing to rein in junior [sic] who were scrambling for diamonds. There have been reports of soldiers shooting each other in squabbles over the gems".

The Zimbabwean, which is based in the UK and often viewed as critical of Mugabe's party, printed: "Our military source said the swift movement of Nyikayaramba is designed to restore discipline and sanity. It is also meant to ensure the loyalty of the senior military commander by giving him illicit access to Zimbabwe’s mineral wealth"."

Restore "sanity"? There never was such a thing in the diamond fields!

The mining of diamonds in Zimbabwe continues to be a huge thorn in the flesh for all Zimbabweans as it has brought nothing but death and destruction to the area, whilst Mugabe's administration have obviously got no intention of playing the find fairly.

The diamonds are a natural national resource that Mugabe has turned into a ZANU PF acquisition and he has no intention of the proceeds of the precious stones' sale ever reaching national coffers.

"Nyikayaramba was described as being a longtime loyalist to Mugabe's ZANU PF party and played "crucial roles" in the past two elections in as much as "covertly" taking control of the "presidential election machinery to ensure (Mugabe's) victory in the 2008 run-off vote...

Meanwhile in Harare this morning, Zimbabwe's government controlled newspaper, The Herald, told its readers that Israel - the Kimberley Process country chair this year - called for "everything possible to be done to ensure Zimbabwe remains within the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme saying the country has the potential to supply nearly a quarter of global demand".

The newspaper only named Israel's diamond controller Shmuel Mordechai and industry consultant Chaim Even-Zohar as making this call for support and aligned comments with Zimbabwe's mines minister Obert Mpofu who told delegates that his nation had met minimum Kimberley Process requirements."

Zimbabwe's mine minister's announcement that the country intended to trade the diamonds whether they got KP clearance or not is highly indicative of the disdain they hold for not just the KP, but any international body that could stop or slow down Zimbabwe's alacrity to dispose of the diamonds of dubious source.

"The Herald quoted Mpofu telling Kimberley Process delegates in Tel Aviv this week: "I would like to take this opportunity to advise that Zimbabwe will be immediately exporting its diamond stockpiles because we are Kimberley Process compliant and we need the money to drive the economy forward."

Mpofu was quoted saying that Zimbabwe would be contributing "more than 30 percent of the diamonds produced in the world."

"We shall be selling with certificates issued by ourselves and in this regard the Kimberley Process monitor (Abbey Chikane) will be free to supervise the exports," the mines minister said."

The statement is also indicative of the self-importance that the Mugabe administration has placed on the diamond find, although there have been human rights abuses and rampant theft of the diamonds by those who are supposed to safeguards the resource.

I often talk about the comment made by a soldier detailed off in Marange to protect the diamonds from illegal diamond miners, who supported the idea of helping himself, saying: "It is hard for someone to die of thirst when they are standing in a river".

-o00o-

And while everyone was trying to find out if Gono was indeed dead, it was ZANU PF business as usual elsewhere in the country...

"Three MDC activists were on Thursday abducted by State security agents in Chief Svosve area’s in Mashonaland East province and their whereabouts remain unknown.

According to eyewitnesses, Rodreck Shamu and Temba Masimara of Marondera East were abducted by a group of armed men who were driving a white double-cab CAM truck.

Shamu was the first to be abducted at Twoboy business centre while the same people followed Masimara and kidnapped him at Village 17 in ward 21 of Marondera East. Another MDC activist, only identified as Makunyadze, was later abducted by the same people outside Marondera Hotel.

The three had been instrumental in mobilising MDC supporters in the area to participate in the on-going Constitution-making process.

The whereabouts of the three remains unknown and the MDC fears for their safety."

But I doubt we will see the police investigating the report - they are probably too busy looking for the source of the Gono story...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu