Via Veritas – Ceremonial Opening of Second Session of Seventh Parliament

Tuesday 1st September

The President will make the customary opening speech to a joint sitting of both Houses, outlining the Government’s legislative agenda for the new session. The Houses will then adjourn for a week before commencing normal business.

Update on Inclusive Government

The inclusive government formed in February has now been in existence for six months. There has been much talk, but much of the promised action seems to be stalled by lack of agreement between the three parties.

Ministerial Review – Ministers spent the weekend of 21st and 22nd August in “retreat” at Nyanga to review progress on the 100-day Action Plan. The Prime Minister admitted that “progress has been disappointingly slow” – he mentioned slow economic growth, continued violations of the rule of law, delays in launching a land audit, and inability to stop the brain drain and revive health and education. A promised report on the review has not yet been released.

Impasses to be discussed with President Zuma – South African President Jacob Zuma, current SADC chairperson, will be on a two-day working visit to Harare arriving late on the 27th and is due to meet the three GPA [the Interparty Political Agreement commonly known as the Global Political Agreement] principals, the President, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara, to discuss problems in the inclusive government ahead of next week’s SADC Summit. (more…)

No rumour in Zimbabwe spreads quite as fast as news of Robert Mugabe’s ill-health or imminent demise. The recent South African Times article, reporting that Mugabe was whisked out the country for treatment in Dubai over the weekend, has inflammed the gossip.

Rumours like these are usually short-lived, squashed like a tick, with a fit looking Mugabe making an appearance somewhere, but not before every detail of his appearance has been analysed.

One colleague of mine refers to him as “Schwarzkopf Bob” – attributing his youthful hair colour to this popular brand of men’s hair dye. “Never mind ‘quite your grey’s’”, my friend always quips, I assume referring to one of the company’s marketing slogans, “How about its time to quit office!”

When news of Mugabe’s ill-health surfaces, this quip is invariably changed to, “Have you heard Mugabe might be about to ‘quit his days’”. (more…)

Violet Gonda has had the Minister of Education in the Hot Seat in two interviews broadacst in the last two weeks. This is a transcript of the interviews, circulated by email by SW Radio Africa. You can email Violet with your comments and feedback.

Broadcast 14 August 2009

HOT SEAT: Education Minister and Khumalo Senator David Coltart was a guest on SW Radio Africa’s Hot Seat Programme. He tells interviewer Violet Gonda that his MDC party had to act against three rebel MPs who have been expelled for defying the party leadership. He also reveals why he believes Paul Themba Nyathi would have made “an outstanding Speaker of Parliament”.

Broadcast: 21 August 2009

VIOLET GONDA: On the Hot Seat programme we bring you the last segment of the interview with education minister David Coltart. Last week the minister gave us his thoughts on the in-fighting in his party, the issue of sanctions and the progress of the inclusive government. In this final part we take an in-depth look into the crisis in the education sector, and I started by asking the minister to give us an insight into the state of his ministry.

Interview:  Broadcast 14 August 2009

VIOLET GONDA: Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture is my guest on the Hot Seat programme. In this two-part discussion the Minister talks about the crisis in the education sector, the in-fighting in his party and the progress of the coalition government. I started by asking Minister Coltart to give us his position on the issue of the targeted sanctions.

DAVID COLTART: Well our position is governed by the terms of the GPA. The GPA is very clear that sanctions should be lifted. However, and this is an important rider, you cannot look at any provision in the GPA in isolation, it has to be looked holistically and we have to look at it not just in the way it is implemented as to its letter but also as to its spirit and this is a real chicken and egg situation – which comes first and I think that we’ve got to see a couple of simultaneous acts taking place. (more…)

Toll gate set up near Esigodini

With effect from the 8th August 2009, road tolls were introduced on Zimbabwe Roads. Charges range from 1 to 5 US$ per vehicle, payable at several points on the city to city trunk roads and at entry points into the country. Collection is done by ZIMRA agents (customs and excise) in conjunction with Zimbabwe Republic Police roadblocks.

The roadblocks are causing confusion amongst Zimbabweans, and a colleague of mine relayed a conversation he had with a farmer in the Esigodini area, which conveys the impact the toll gates may have on daily lives. (more…)

Paul Mangwana – Zanu-PF Chivi Central legislator and co-chairman of the Constitutional Select Committee – has made the news.  I find this an astonishing article, my emphasis added, and more  via The Zimbabwe Times:

Parliament’s Constitutional Select Committee co-chairman Paul Mangwana of President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party has said the lifespan of Zimbabwe’s current inclusive government will be five years because the majority of legislators across the political divide want to serve their full term of five years.

Mangwana’s disclosure is in sharp contrast to the widely held belief that the duration of the hybrid government was two years, with the specific objective of writing a new governance charter for the country before fresh, free and fair elections are held.

The Zanu-PF Chivi Central legislator warned journalists attending a media workshop in Mutare Thursday on electoral reforms in Zimbabwe that linking the process of making a constitution to elections was attracting resistance to the making up of a new Constitution. (more…)

Public Hearing on the Current State of the Public Media in Zimbabwe
on Saturday 22nd August at 10 am

Via Veritas — The House of Assembly Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology is holding a public hearing on the state of the public media this Saturday at 10 am

Venue: Government Caucus Room, Parliament Building, Harare – entrance on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, [between 2nd and 3rd Streets]

Interested members of the public – individuals and organisations – are invited to attend and express their views.

Both written and oral submissions are welcome. If you are making a written submission it is advisable to take as many copies as possible for circulation at the meeting. If you are able to take a copy to Parliament before the meeting and give it to the Committee clerk [see below] she will duplicate copies for the members of the Committee.

This is a good opportunity to air views on the process of setting up the Zimbabwe Media Commission whose functions include “to uphold and develop freedom of the press; and to promote and enforce good practice and ethics in the press, print and electronic media and broadcasting”.

Chairperson of this Portfolio Committee Gift Chimanikire [MDC-T]

Members of the Committee Fungai Chaderopa [ZANU-PF], Peter Chanetsa [ZANU-PF], Makhosini Hlongwane [ZANU-PF], Noel Mandebvu [ZANU-PF], Bright Matonga [ZANU-PF], Eliah Jembere [MDC-T], Pishai Muchauraya [MDC-T], Simbaneuta Mudarikwa [ZANU-PF], Shuah Mudiwa [MDC-T], Edward Musumbu [MDC-T], Jani Varandeni [MDC-T]

Committee clerk Mrs Nyawo

This great image was circulated via the MDC-T mailing list, showing people attending the party’s 10th anniversary celebrations held in Manicaland. Click on the image to enlarge.

Latest news is that Air Zimbabwe is in dire straits and will have to shed 500 jobs – a third of its workforce – to stay afloat. The fact that things are not well with Air Zimbabwe is no surprise to the few who use (or have used) the service.

A week or so ago a friend of mine arrived at Bulawayo airport to catch a flight to Harare only to find that the flight had been cancelled. The flight from Harare to Bulawayo arrives at 8pm in the evening, and then takes off to go back to Harare at 7am the next morning. You can imagine the annoyance of the passengers who had an extremely early start, arriving at 6am to comply with Air Zim requirements to be there an hour before the 7am flight takes off, only to be told there were too few passengers, that it was uneconomical, and the flight was cancelled. Presumably far too many passengers though, to be courteous and phone and warn them! Or maybe the airline can’t afford phone calls either…? (more…)