Links ~ 28 September 2008

World ready to help Zimbabwe if democracy respected: Miliband (AFP)
Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Saturday said the world stood ready to assist in Zimbabwe’s reconstruction but only if a new government reflecting the will of its people is formed… But the top diplomat said this would happen only if “the democratic process is respected, the new government is formed reflecting that process and action on the ground reflects a new approach.”

Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo vs Lovemore Moyo (Zimbabwe Times)
The full court submission provides enlightening political background information produced in High Court Zimbabwe Case no. HC4540/08 held at Harare in the matter between:- Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo First Applicant…

Power sharing no substitute for reform (Sunday Nation)
The recent Zimbabwe power-sharing agreement, fashioned with the involvement of outgoing South African President Thabo Mbeki, raises familiar questions. What’s in a name? What do power-sharing accords signify? How much do they accomplish? What does power sharing have to do with democracy, or with the reconstruction of weak or failed states? In some ways power sharing has become a “flavour of the month,” succeeding another one that gained ascendancy earlier in the era of democratic transitions — “pact making.”

Zimbabwe now 14th most corrupt nation (Zimbabwe Times)
Zimbabwe has been ranked as the 14th most corrupt nation out of a total of 180 countries recently surveyed by Transparency International (TI). TI said the ranking was a result of the breakdown of formal procedures and structures at most institutions that are now operating in an unstable economic environment.

New Council For Zimbabwe Business (Zimbabwe Standard)
Largely operating independently over the years, the various business organisations which came together to form the council are CZI, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz), the Chamber of Mines, Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT), Bankers’ Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ), Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU), Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers’ Union (ZCFU) and Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU).

MDC National Council Member Hopeful Of Deal (Radio VOP)
“How would he (President Robert Mugabe) be able to continue running a country like this without seeking a solution to the crisis?; a country in which there is so much hunger and you don’t even know what to do to get food for the starving children; a country in which people like you can no longer afford to travel even to nearby Gweru because of high transport costs; a country in which there are ten parallel rates for hard currency, where you have people devising numerous crooked ways of making money,” said Cecil Zvidzai.

Tsvangirai may yet be proved right (Zimbabwe Times)
MUCH is being said about the “poor judgement” of Morgan Tsvangirai for signing a “bad deal” with President Robert Mugabe. I aver that these sentiments are right, in the short term. But in the long term, Tsvangirayi will be proven right. The agreement, which was actually signed in private three full days before the public ceremony before the SADC leaders, might as well have been the death warrant for Zanu-PF.

Cholera Deaths: “criminal negligence”- lawyers (Zimbabwe Standard)
THE frail-looking woman with wrinkles of grief etched all over her face like permanent scars is devastated. At the mention of her only son, Joy Kabande (29), tears well up in her sunken eyes and rain down the creased cheeks. Joy succumbed to cholera early this month. Evidently, the wrinkles are not from age, but a month of pain and grief. Joy’s mother, Mai Kabande, is just 54 years.

Msika Backs Dabengwa Over Zapu Revival (Zimbabwe Standard)
Vice-President Joseph Msika has once again publicly backed former Home Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa who is leading calls to revive PF Zapu and abandon the 1987 Unity Accord. Dabengwa rebelled against President Robert Mugabe ahead of the March presidential elections to support former politburo member, Dr Simba Makoni. The ruling party’s secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, is on record as saying the veteran politician had expelled himself from the party.

Zim Dollar Plunges To New Lows (Zimbabwe Standard)
The plunge has had an effect on the prices of goods which had been reduced following the signing of the power-sharing deal. A loaf of bread whose price had been halved to $500 was back at the old figure last week. The price of a two-litre orange crush juice rose to $3 000 from $2 300 the previous week. A one-way trip into town increased by 25% to $500 last week.

Speaker Accuse State Media Of Bias (Radio VOP)
Newly elected Speaker of Parliament and MDC national chairman Lovemore Moyo has accused state controlled media of failing to embrace the spirit of the unity agreement between the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Zanu PF. “Despite the signing of the political agreement by political parties,” Moyo said to guests at the National Journalistic And Media Awards (NJAMA) dinner at the Rainbow Towers Friday night, “we have sections of the public media that have the audacity to continue to report negatively about the opposition leadership.”

Scrap Current Approaches To Cash Crisis (Zimbabwe Standard)
THE measures previously undertaken by the Reserve Bank to increase the maximum bank withdrawal limits for individuals and companies have amply demonstrated the futility of such approaches. What is clear is that the solution cannot emanate from the central bank. It has to come from elsewhere, including the lessons of countries that have suffered similar crises, although on a more limited scale compared to Zimbabwe.

Gukurahundi Documentary Set For Local Screening (Zimbabwe Standard)
A documentary on the 1980s Gukurahundi atrocities in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces which has been circulating in neighbouring countries since its launch last year will be finally introduced to local audiences at the end of next month, its producer said last week. Gukurahundi: A Moment of Madness, produced by Zenzele Ndebele who is a human rights activist, was the highlight of a Gaborone film festival organised by the Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo) in March.

This entry was posted by Link Round-up on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 8:27 pm. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.