Crisis Coalition Press Release – 13 Feb: Dark clouds hover over constitution-making process as arrests and intimidation of MDC supporters continue.

While the Parliament Select Committee, which is spearheading the constitution making process, is set to deploy teams for the outreach meetings, a dark cloud hovers over the success of the process owing to the arrests and intimidation of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters in mostly peri-urban and rural areas. According to a member of COPAC, the committee is expected to gazette names of teams carrying out the outreach program today, 3 February 2010. A total of 630 people are carrying out the outreach over a period of 65 days countrywide.

Although the process is witnessing significant progress following almost two weeks of uncertainty owing to disagreements between the political parties, arrests of MDC supporters on trumped up charges and terror campaigns by suspected state agents, members of the uniformed forces and ZANU PF supporters in mostly peri-urban and rural areas continue. According to reports received by The Coalition, the terror campaigns are aimed at ensuring the adoption of the Kariba Draft constitution or maintenance of the current constitution, amended 19 times over a period of 23 years. These reports could ultimately result in a skewed outcome.

On Saturday 30 January 2010, 62 members of the MDC were arrested under the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for allegedly holding an unsanctioned meeting at the party’s district office in Mount Darwin. This was despite the fact that the meeting was internal and thus, did not require a clearance. Although 50 of the 62 supporters were released on the same day, 12 remain in police custody at Bindura Police Station and were scheduled to appear in court yesterday, 2 February 2010. In Binga, on Tuesday 26 January 2010, eight members of the Morgan Tsvangirai led party were arrested and later released for convening a meeting without police clearance. As in the Mount Darwin case, the meeting was an internal gathering where members of the political party in the area were discussing constitutional matters.

An independent constitution monitoring project, ZZZICOMP comprised of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) released a report which stated that there are at least eight documented and confirmed cases of assault, torture and other forms of intimidation perpetrated against MDC supporters by suspected State agents and ZANU PF supporters in Mudzi, Kuwadzana, Domboshawa, Chimbondora, Harare, Cheramwiwa and Mashonaland Central. The report also mentions that there are some politicians holding meetings suggesting answers to what they say are the talking points which the Parliament Select Committee will use during the outreach phase and demanding that people adopt the Kariba Draft constitution. This is allegedly happening in areas such as Matabeleland North, Chitungwiza, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Midlands and Masvingo.

[Sokwanele note: For more on the concerns expressed above, please read our previous post titled Zanu PF’s dirty tactics in Zimbabwe’s constitution making process. The post looks closely at a document drafted by Zanu PF for the sole purpose of enabling “Zanu PF political mobilisation teams to concentrate on the issues that are likely to be contested in the constitution-making process”.]

According to a source in the Eastern border town of Mutare, reports of intimidation and threats of violence against MDC supporters are escalating in the Manicaland province particularly in Chimanimani East (from Cashel valley and Nedziwa) and Buhera North. ZANU PF supporters and some members of the uniformed forces are allegedly hosting meetings telling people not to participate in the constitution making process unless they are advocating for either the Kariba draft constitution or the continued use of the current constitution. At the meetings, participants are allegedly receiving information that the MDC is advocating for ‘inhumane’ rights such as abortion and homosexuality regardless of the fact that both rights hinge on the respect of Freedom of Choice and thus should not be classified as ‘inhumane’ rights. The leaders of these groups are also threatening villagers with assault and ex-communication from their areas if they take part in the constitution making process.

These developments in the political arena are an indication of ZANU PF’s determination to ensure that the envisaged constitution suffers a still birth. The former ruling party continues to use uniformed forces and the police to intimidate the people of Zimbabwe giving credence to the argument presented by The Coalition during a discussion on Thursday 28 January 2010 that although ZANU PF lost the 2008 election to the MDC, the political party retains significant power over MDC as they are in control of the security forces.

There is thus need for civil society and Zimbabweans at large to advocate for institutional and legislative reforms during the constitution making process for a democratic constitution to come out. As long as repressive laws such as POSA still exist and security forces remain under ZANU PF control, the outcome of the constitution could be pre-determined by President Mugabe’s party.

Prudence Mabhena - lead singer for Liyana

So incredibly exciting! A film about a Zimbabwean band has made it onto this year’s Oscar nomination list, in the  ‘Best Documentary Short Subject’ category.

‘Music by Prudence’ tells the story of Prudence Mabhena, the lead singer of Bulawayo band Liyana.

Zimbabwean singer songwriter Prudence Mabhena, age twenty-one, was born severely disabled into a society where disabilities carry the taint of witchcraft; she is more likely to spend her life hidden away in a tiny hut than on a stage in the center of a city. Her story is the story of many of the disabled kids of Africa, a story of abandonment and abuse. But Prudence and her seven young band members, all disabled, have managed to overcome stereotypes and inspire the same people that once saw them as a curse (taken from the documentary website)

These are all the incredible Liyana band members:

Prudence Mabhena is Liyana’s lead singer. She also composes in a wide range of styles and many topics. While challenges with Arthrogryphosis have placed her in a wheel chair, she is an independent, assertive woman, whose voice has been likened to the great South African liberation singer, Miriam Makeba.

Tapiwa Nyengera sings back-up, plays keyboard, and is the front man. He is a passionate and eloquent voice for the contribution the disabled can make to Africa and the world. He has spina bifida.

Energy Maburutse is first marimba player and back-up vocalist and the band’s resident jokester. He has Osteogenesis Imperfecta, brittle bone syndrome.

Honest Mupatse plays tenor marimba. He has hemophilia.

Marvelous Mbulo is a back-up singer and has muscular dystrophy.

Vusani Vuma, the bass marimba player, is hearing-impaired and has spent much of his life in silence.

Goodwell Nzou, plays traditional drums and percussion and sings back-up. A snake bit him when he was 11, requiring amputation of his leg.

Farai Mabhande, lead keyboardist, is an orphan from Bulawayo, who suffers from arthogryphisis.

Liyana (the name means ‘it’s raining’ in Ndebele) grew out of an arts project at King George VI, a school and centre for children with physical disabilities, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

One of the amazing success stories the school has achieved is its band, Liyana. This year the group of eight students, five in wheelchairs, two on crutches and one deaf, took second prize in an all Africa music competition. They were the only group in the competition who were disabled. The amazing thing about this band is its ability to get the audience to forget the disability and see only the entertainment. In 2006 Liyana toured Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands as their prize for the competition and in 2009 they spent a month in America wowing and inspiring audiences in California and New York (KGVI website).

Listen to them sing!

More on their YouTube channel. Become a fan of the film on Facebook.

These are all the films nominated for an Oscar in the ‘Best Documentary Short Subject’ category:

Best documentary short subject Oscars 2010 Nominees:

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
  A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
  A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
  A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence”
  An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution)
  An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

We have just included content from the National Constitutional Assembly Draft Constitution (2001) in our online constitution resource page.

The NCA’s Draft constitution emerged from public inputs which the NCA, working through its own structures and those of its member institutions, received between May 1997 and December 2001 (a period of four and a half years). The final draft of the NCA constitution was published in September 2001, and public debate encouraged through October and November 2001. The draft, included here in our constitution resource, was agreed and finalised at an all stakeholders conference held in December 2001.

A full copy of the draft constitution, in PDF format, is available for download from the ‘Constitution Documents’ tab on our resource page.

The NCA provide the following summary of the key features of its 2001 draft constitution.

Key Features of this Draft

This draft seeks to address the key issues of governance in Zimbabwe and has taken into account the NCA’s major concerns about the Draft of the Constitutional Commission. Its main focus is on having an accountable government through various checks and balances. Here are the main features:

Non Executive President and an Executive Prime Minister

The executive presidency was overwhelmingly rejected. This draft proposes a ceremonial President and an executive Prime Minister. The latter is a member of the National Assembly and is responsible and accountable to it. A unique feature demanded by the people of Zimbabwe is that the Prime Minister be directly elected by voters, not by Parliament.

Parliamentary System of Government

The Prime Minister, as head of government, is required to appoint most of his or her ministers from Parliament. Parliament has been given power to pass a vote of no confidence in the government, in which case, the Prime Minister will be required to resign. Parliament is also empowered to pass a vote of no confidence in a Minister, in which case that Minister must be removed. Although the Prime minister is directly elected by voters, Parliament may, by a 60% majority, remove him or her from office and this emphasises a fundamental departure from the executive President who has powers to dissolve Parliament should it pass a vote of no confidence in him or her.

Two Chamber Parliament

Parliament is composed of two chambers; a National Assembly and a Senate. There are adequate provisions to make Parliament really powerful. For example, most appointments by the executive require the approval of either the National Assembly or the Senate.

Representation of Interest Groups in the Senate

The Draft proposes the representation of interest groups in the Senate. The groups include women, youths, the disabled, trade unions, ex-combatants, farmers and business. These representatives will replace presidential appointees and will be elected by the National Assembly from a shortlist submitted by members of the public.

Mixed Electoral System

It is proposed that for the National Assembly, half the MPs be elected to represent constituencies under the “winner-take-all” system and the other half under a system of proportional representation.

Recall of Members of Parliament

There is a proposed provision for the electorate to be able to recall an incompetent or underperforming Member of Parliament.

Meaningful Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights proposed in this Draft is broad and meaningful. In addition to the well known civil and political rights, some of the rights included are: right to education, right to health, right to a clean environment, right to strike, rights of disabled persons and so on. Minority rights have also been protected.

Death Penalty

As part of the Bill of Rights, this Draft proposes that the death penalty be abolished in Zimbabwe in respect of all other offences except serious cases of murder.

Free and Fair Elections

The Draft guarantees a multi-party system based on regular, free and fair elections. To achieve this ideal, the Bill of Rights provides a set of political rights and the Draft creates a truly Independent Electoral Commission to manage the whole electoral process.

Independent Commissions to enhance democracy

A number of independent bodies are created to enhance democracy. These include a Human Rights Commission, an Anti-Corruption Commission and a strong Auditor-General.

Devolution

The Draft answers the call by many Zimbabweans for the devolution of governmental powers to people in provinces and other levels. To this extent, it provides for a system of provincial governments with a provincial assembly and an executive council headed by an elected Governor.

Land Question

This Draft recognises the critical importance of land. It therefore allows government to compulsorily acquire land for equitable redistribution but requires fair compensation to be paid.

ZLHR Press Release – 1 Feb: Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana on Monday 1 February 2010 conceded that his law officers and prosecutors had at times misjudged when they unnecessarily invoked section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to effectively reverse the granting of bail to accused persons.

Prosecutors and law officers from the AG’s Office have on numerous occasions abused a controversial provision of the CPEA by invoking section 121 to keep accused persons in custody despite them being granted bail by the courts. This practice has had the effect of keeping individuals in custody for a further seven days to allow the State time to appeal the granting of bail. In almost all cases the appeals were either never filed, or were dismissed by the superior courts.

Because of this practice Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) had, in recent months, protested that the section was being used selectively and unlawfully by the AG’s office against human rights defenders and legitimate political activists in order to persecute these individuals, even where courts have found no evidence that they would pose a threat to the interests of justice, society or the State, if they were to be released on bail.

Tomana told the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, chaired by Masvingo Urban legislator Hon. Tongai Matutu, when he appeared before it today, that he could not rule out malice, corruption, misjudgment and human error on the part of his law officers in invoking section 121.

Tomana is the first and highest ranking State legal officer to admit the abuse of section 121 which ZLHR contends has been invoked on numerous occasions merely to punish or further harass human rights defenders and continue the incarceration of such individuals in appalling conditions of detention, and not because an appeal would have prospects of success.

Already prominent human rights lawyer and ZLHR member Alec Muchadehama is awaiting a determination from the Supreme Court on his application challenging the constitutionality of section 121 of the CPEA.

Evidence compiled by ZLHR makes it clear that, in the majority of the cases recorded, the State had not filed an appeal after the expiry of the statutory seven days. In the isolated cases in which an appeal was pursued, not one appeal filed by the AG’s office has succeeded.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) feels that there is an urgent need for intervention in order for such repressive and unconstitutional practices to be brought to an end and for accused persons to be afforded their basic rights and freedoms. The exposure of such practices in public hearings is the first step in this process, but requires that further corrective measures to be taken, together with a change of attitude on the part of the AG and his subordinates, including the Director of Public Prosecutions, if it is to have any real meaning for those who have fallen, or may fall, victim to such abuse.

Section of leaked Zanu PF document

Recent media reports have argued that the Zanu PF party has “no intention whatsoever of sharing power in the future”. The reports refer to an internal Zanu PF strategic working document drafted by the ‘Zanu PF Constitution Making Process Working Group’ in November last year, which was apparently ‘leaked’ to the media in January this year. You can download a copy of the leaked document here (PDF – 41 pages in length, 3.13 MB).

The document outlines different positions on a future constitution between the Zanu PF and MDC parties. Some of the perceived differences of opinion are subjective, and there is not necessarily any evidence that the MDC party does think the way Zanu PF assumes it does. The purpose of the document is clear: it is “to enable Zanu PF political mobilisation teams to concentrate on the issues that are likely to be contested in the constitution-making process” – and as becomes obvious in the reading of the text, to give those teams the arguments for the Zanu PF position.

On individual human rights:

The authors of the strategic document outline several fundamental rights which they state the MDC will seek to include in a future constitution that the Zanu PF has not listed as individual human rights. These are:

1. Right to health care, food, water, and social security
2. Right to education
3. Worker rights
4. The right to a clean environment
5. Freedom of speech and expression
6. Minority rights

The justification for the exclusion of rights 1-4 above is that these fall under ‘national objectives’, and therefore are not in themselves individual human rights. However the authors acknowledge that the party may need to re-think this view.

On the ‘right to freedom of speech and expression’, the Zanu PF authors argue that these rights include the media, and they accordingly argue that they do not fall within the remit of ‘individual human rights’ under a future constitution.

The authors do not acknowledge that excluding ‘the right to freedom of expression’ as an individual human right allows for the infringement on many aspects of individual expression. Both the Kariba Draft and NCA Draft (2001) detail what freedom of expression includes:

1. freedom to hold opinions;
2. freedom to seek, receive and communicate ideas and information regardless of frontiers;
3. freedom of the press and other media of communication;
4. freedom of artistic creativity;
5. freedom from interference with correspondence or other forms of communication, including electronic and telephonic communication; and
6. academic freedom and freedom of scientific research.

Zanu PF’s historical issues with a free press and their efforts to control and curtail the media have always been unacceptable. Their position is made doubly unacceptable when their political desire to control the media is allowed to infringe on the protection of individual freedoms and rights as well.

The working document reveals several lines of strategic controversial attacks that the Zanu PF party plans to employ against the MDC party in the constitution-making process.

The document suggests to its political mobilisation teams that the MDC party wants to include abortion rights in a future constitution. It is important to note that this claim is assumed by the authors and not necessarily a statement on the MDC parties position. This is  clearly seen in the language used by the authors – their inference italicised for emphasis:

Equality of women to men and equal enjoyment with men of fundamental human rights and freedoms [...] and that in addition a women must have preference over her own body (i.e. the Constitution must legalise a women’s right to abortion for any reason the women might deem fit) (Page 8-9).

In fact, without a clear position statement from the MDC parties, we can make no such assumption at all. It is reasonable and fair that a woman must have preference over her own body – she has, for a example, a right not to be raped or abused! The authors of the document extrapolate their assumption of what “preference over her own body” might mean to undermine their view of the MDC’s position on ‘the right to life’. They say that the MDC seeks ”the right to life to be absolute” – i.e. an abolishment of capital punishment. They then comment that the MDC’s favouring of a ‘right to abortion’ contradicts the MDC’s position on the abolishment of capital punishment.

Sceptics amongst us will remember the many times the Zanu PF party has hauled opposition members – including Morgan Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti – into court on ‘treason charges’. Treason carries a penalty of death, so its a useful threat and the ultimate tool for political harassment and intimidation. One can’t help wonder if the convoluted argument on the ‘right to life’, built on nothing more than a baseless assumption, doesn’t have more to do with Zanu PF trying to find any kind of justification to keep capital punishment in the constitution to ensure its favourite weapon of choice is ready to be used against future political opponents.

There is another assumption contained in this document on yet another explosive social issue in Zimbabwe. The authors write (their assumption italicised again) that the MDC wants

Freedom from discrimination to be broad to include the protection of personal preferences (i.e. gays and lesbians should be protected by the Constitution)

Again, this is not a stated MDC position so we do not know if this is the case. All we know is that Nelson Chamisa was quoted last month, saying:

Zanu PF is peddling a lot of lies about the party of excellence, the MDC. They are going around telling people that our party supports homosexuality and abortion. These are all lies meant to disturb the masses attention on the new constitution process (Zimbabwe Mail).

Regardless of the MDC’s position – stated or otherwise – there is no question that there is massive prejudice against homosexuality in Zimbabwe. Abortion too is a contentious issue in any nation in the world. The fact that the authors have sought to find  tenuous reasons to muddy the waters with these volatile issues by putting unproven ideas into the minds of their political mobilisation teams suggests that the party’s intention is more to stir up public controversy and prejudice than it is to have a meaningful debate on a new constitution.

There is another right that Zanu PF note that they have not included in the list of individual human rights: these are ‘Minority rights’. To justify this exclusion, the authors write:

This reminds one of the minority rights included in the Lancaster House Constitution that guaranteed them a number of seats in parliament that was larger than their proportion of the population and that protected them against expropriation of land by the State to redress colonial injustices and imbalances.

As the real owners of the MDC are the whites the Minority Rights which the MDC refer to must be those that were entrenched in the Lancaster House Constitution and which could not be amended for ten years after independence in order to protect white colonial interests.

This is not acceptable to the people of Zimbabwe. They did not engage in an armed liberation struggle in order to protect the British and white colonial interests that subjected them to tyranny, racial domination, oppression and exploitation.

The Zanu PF authors fail to acknowledge that ‘whites’ are not the only minority group in Zimbabwe. So the party’s personal hatred and racism towards all white people – unacceptable enough as it is -  is allowed to have an impact on all other minority groups as well.

This kind of self-serving agenda suggests that the Zanu PF party does not understand that the only qualifier for having a human right is to be human! If they understand this but ignore it anyway, then we can assume that the Zanu PF does not take these profound social values seriously at all.

Ultimately, the document’s stance on individual human rights, and its manipulation of facts and argument, suggests that party’s intention is to serve itself in the constitution-making process, and not the people of Zimbabwe.

You can browse through individual human rights using the menu on our constitution resource page. This is being updated with new content from different draft constitutions all the time.

On citizenship:

Comments left on Sokwanele’s constitution resource reveals that ‘Citizenship‘ is a major concern for many Zimbabweans. The Zanu PF document highlights some key difference of perceived opinion between the MDC and Zanu PF parties.

On ‘citizenship by birth’, the MDC, the document argues, wants everyone born in Zimbabwe to be a citizen of Zimbabwe; Zanu PF, however, will only afford citizenship to the individual if the person is born in Zimbabwe to parents who are citizens  at the time of his/her birth.

Zanu PF believes that the MDC would like the rights to dual citizenship to be enshrined in a future constitution; Zanu PF will allow for an Act of Parliament prohibiting dual citizenship.

According to this document, the MDC party will seek to guarantee the right to citizenship acquired through secondary means (marriage, descent etc); Zanu PF however do not support those guarantees, and will allow for an Act of Parliament that provides for the circumstances in which people can lose their citizenship.

On executive powers:

Zanu PF is keen for full executive authority to be retained by the President and the authors of this strategic text go so far as to describe the Prime Minister as “only a senior minister appointed and accountable to the President”.

It is much easier for executive power to be streamlined into one office, that of the President. It is unworkable for executive authority to be divided between Prime Minister and President.  The experience of the people of Zimbabwe with the inclusive government since February 2009 has shown that a sharing of executive power by a President and Prime Minister will result in there being always a fight for power rather than progress.

If there has to be a Prime Minister, he does not have executive authority. He is only a senior minister appointed and accountable to the President. In the SADC region, the prevalent arrangement is Head of State and leader of government (Page 16).

Presidential immunity is another point of conflict for Zanu PF: “No contestations except on [...] immunity of the President from prosecution during Presidential tenure which the MDC want removed” (Page 17 – see relevant clauses in Sokwanele’s constitution resource here).

Zanu PF also wants to restrict any constitutional clause that allows for the impeachment of the President. The document notes that the MDC wants parliament to “have oversight on executive powers and have the right to impeach the President” while Zanu PF  argues

Parliament may pass a vote of no confidence in Government though a resolution passed by at least two thirds of members of parliament at a joint sitting of both Houses (Page 19).

(Clauses on ‘removing the President from office’ here, and on  ‘vote of no confidence’ here in our constitution resource.)

On Presidential powers:

The document states that there are ‘no contestations’ between the MDC and Zanu PF on ‘The Legislature’ “except on the appointment of Members of Parliament by the President which the MDC does not want” (Page 20).

Zanu PF also want to retain the President’s right to appoint the Commissioner General of Police. The document states that the MDC position is “The appointments of service Chiefs should be approved by parliament after recommendation by the executive”. ZANU PF argue instead that: “The Commissioner General of Police should be appointed by the President”. They hold the same view for the appointments of the Commissioner of Prisons and the Auditor General. (Relevant clauses in our constitution resource: Commissioner of Police here, Commissioner of Prisons here, and Auditor General here).

Zanu PF wants to retain the President’s right to appoint the Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission (albeit on consultation with two other commissions), while the MDC, according to the authors of this strategic document, wants Members of Parliament to select the Chairperson after a series of interviews. Zanu PF aims to retain the President’s right to appoint all other members on the commissions, from a list presented to him. (For an insight into the various Commissions proposed and/or included in the constitution, select ‘Independent Commissions’ from the menu bar on our constitution resource page).

The Zanu PF document notes too that the “MDC may be opposed to the appointment of Provincial Governors by the President”. The Zanu Pf position is that this is not a matter for the constitution, but “should be detailed in an Act of parliament” instead (Page 38-39).

On Independent Commissions:

On the subject of independent commissions, Zanu PF’s working document reveals their perception that the MDC wants a ‘Land Commission’ included in a future constitution, as well as a ‘Labour Commission’ and a ‘Children’s Right’s Commission’;  however, Zanu PF does not want these (Page 34-35).

According to the authors of the document, the MDC seeks a ‘Land Commission’ on the grounds that the land reform programme has not achieved a perfect outcome and there is a need for a land audit; for individual rights and property rights to be upheld; for just and fair compensation paid by the State; and for unfettered rights of farmers to approach the courts. The document infers that Zanu PF does not see a need for a land commission because

All land acquired by the acquiring authority and listed in the Gazette remains State land. No compensation shall be paid over that land and the improvements effected on it. No court shall have jurisdiction to entertain and challenge to the land acquisition (Page 10).

On the law:

The 41 page working document ends with the authors infusing more ideology and hate-speech into their discussion of allegedly differing positions between the parties of the law to be administered in Zimbabwe, especially with regards African customary law. They highlight the section in Zimbabwe’s constitution which says that African customary law is not inconsistent with the constitution or any law in Zimbabwe (see here), and then state that there have been

No publically stated contestations [on this point between Zanu PF and the MDC] although the conduct and behaviour of the MDC suggests that their favoured position is that customary International Law should take precedence over the provisions of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and laws made thereunder. This demonstrates that they have not recovered from colonial brainwashing and indoctrination leading to their acceptance of the notion of superiority of the white race to the black race in furtherance of neo-colonial and imperialist ideology and interests of the former colonial power in Zimbabwe and its Rhodesian kith and kin.

The fact that there have been “no publically stated contestations on this point”, but the authors nevertheless made their own presumptions and launched into an astonishing rant – employing classic Zanu PF anti-imperialist propaganda and race hate speech – is a warning sign of how Zanu PF may seek to colour and influence the constitution making debate. This type of irrational rhetoric has typically been used by Zanu Pf in the past on emotive issues among Zimbabwean audiences  – most notably the land issue. In the process, the hate-speech and anti-imperialist rant has tacitly justified Zanu PF’s stranglehold on democracy and freedom in Zimbabwe (for example, through top-heavy Presidential powers) as rightful in a nation ‘fighting imperialism’.

Zimbabweans should be mindful of what we have gone through in the last ten years in the struggle for meaningful freedom and democracy, and we should not be distracted by hate-speech. Our task is to ensure we have a future constitution which enshrines fundamental values and rights, protects democracy, and ensure peace.

Zimbabweans should also critically engage with any kind of propaganda rhetoric. For example, this particular rant by Zanu PF authors belies inherent contradictions within Zanu PF’s own position. One should note that the Zanu PF document allows for the inclusion of a ‘Gender Commission’, something that is not included in the current constitution. (One hopes they have done so because the party acknowledges there is gender inequity in Zimbabwe and not because they want to white wash this deep rooted issue).  African customary law – ostensibly a beacon of fairness in the eyes of the authors of this document – sometimes erodes gender rights. WOZA point to this in their guidebook on helping Zimbabweans to understand and write their own constitution. They write: “Some forms of discrimination are allowed in family and personal matters or on the application of customary law”. Writing specifically on the issue of a “Right to equality”, WOZA say

The constitution now allows discrimination against women in some situations in which customary law is applied. We may want to remove this. We may want to strengthen the right of women to access land, especially in communal areas (page 7).

The point being that criticising or seeking to amend customary law is not evidence of anything other than a natural step for a forward thinking nation to take in seeking to address fundamental issues in a modern era. It is extremely self-serving for Zanu PF to argue that this is evidence of “white supremacy”, “brainwashing” and “indoctrination”. It also begs the question that if this is the way Zanu PF really think, how committed will they be to fundamental issues of equality that may be undermined by customary law?

Similarly, seeking to amend the constitution is a necessity for our country to be genuinely free. The constitution is not a tool to strengthen one or another political party, and Zimbabweans must collectively work hard against allowing that to happen.

Magistrate Samuel Zuze's offer letter

Please see our Action Alert below.

Farmers in Chipinge have been having a terrible time in recent days. SW Radio Africa reported yesterday that two farmers, Dawie Joubert and the ex-President of the CFU, Trevor Gifford, were arrested yesterday for apparently being ‘in contempt of court’. SWRA reported that the men had been going to the assistance of four other farmers – Algernon Taffs, Mr Z.F Joubert (Dawie Joubert’s father), Mike Odendaal and Mike Jahme – who were all convicted for refusing to leave their properties. (The full details affecting these farmers on SWRA).

We have just been advised that Trevor Gifford and Dawie Joubert are now facing the weekend in a Mutare cell, after a court case organised from Chipinge failed to take place today because there was no magistrate available to hear their case. The CFU’s current president, Deon Theron, told SWRA yesterday that lawyers in the Chipinge area were refusing to take the case, and that they were also battling to find legal representation for the men.

In fact, both men should not be imprisoned at all.

A last minute stay of eviction was granted by the High Court on Wednesday after an urgent application was filed by the farmers’ legal representatives shortly after their sentencing. The High Court ruled that they could remain on their properties until the appeal against their conviction and sentences were concluded. But Magistrate Dzuze on Thursday refused to recognise the High Court order and is being accused of ‘grossly exceeding his jurisdiction.’ Joubert and Gifford had tried to deliver a letter to Dzuze clarifying the High Court’s position, but the Magistrate instead responded by ordering their arrest  (via SWRA).

Sources told us yesterday that the real reason for MagistrateZuze’s zeal is because he is lined up to be a beneficiary of Trevor Gifford’s farm. Zuze’s position of power affords him the opportunity to ignore the rule of law, and use it to achieve his own personal objectives. His actions make a total mockery of any principle of justice, and reveal him to be unfit for his job.

ZLHR Press Release – 25 Jan: High Court Judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, on Monday 25 January 2010 declared Peter Michael Hitschmann an adverse or hostile witness, whom the State is at large to cross-examine.

Justice Bhunu, who delivered his long-delayed ruling in an application filed by the State seeking to impeach its main witness in the ongoing trial of Deputy Agriculture Minister-Designate Roy Bennett said Hitschmann’s demeanor in the witness box constitutes that of a hostile or adverse witness.

The Judge said Hitschmann portrayed the demeanor of a deeply aggrieved citizen who has an axe to grind with the State and its functionaries.

Justice Bhunu ruled that Hitschmann presented himself as a “melancholic wounded weeping soul who has been gravely brutalized and tortured at the hands of the State, its organs and functionaries.”

The Judge said Hitschmann still views the State as an adversary because he has a pending appeal case against the State in the Supreme Court on related charges.

The Judge said Hitschmann gave his evidence at the instance of the State with the greatest reluctance.

Justice Bhunu also stated that Hitschmann engaged in slanging matches with Attorney General Johannes Tomana, whom he sought to portray in open court as an incompetent State functionary who was wasting the court and everyone’s time by calling him as a witness when he knew that he was not going to implicate Bennett.

However, Justice Bhunu ruled that the alleged previous inconsistent statements which Hitschmann allegedly made and which the State intended to use as one of the basis for impeaching Hitschmann cannot be used for impeachment purposes because the statements were inadmissible in his own trial and hence are equally inadmissible against Bennett.

After ruling and proving that Hitschmann is a hostile witness Tomana proceeded with the impeachment process starting with cross examining the firearms dealer. The trial continues on Tuesday 26 January at 1000 hours.

Much has been made of the change trading in dollars and rands. Shops shelves are full, and prices are now quoted in stable currencies. Apart from the obvious good news that food is available in Zimbabwe once again, what is the impact on the economic lives of ordinary Zimbabweans? The table below lists common shopping items, with their prices in US$ and Rands (working at the commonly used conversion rate of $1 = R7.50).

Imagine that you are a teacher, earning approximately US$150 a month, and that this salary has to cover rent, lights and water, phone bills, transport, medical costs etc etc – as well as your daily shopping. How would YOU economise?

The highlighted section at the end of the table features a handful of well known brand-name items to enable you to do direct price comparisons with shopping wherever you are in the world.

In December 2008 a close relative of a colleague of mine skipped the country – I’ll call her Tandy. She told her daughter she was going to town to do some shopping, but said nothing to her family members. They worried themselves senseless when they didn’t hear from her for days. Eventually they were told she had gone to South Africa to look for a job – this news only added to their worries: she didn’t have a passport so would be bribing her way across the border, and being a pretty young women, the thoughts of what could happen to her were especially frightening.

It was a few weeks before they received a sms message, sent via a borrowed phone, to say she had arrived and was well. Understandably, anger set in; her father was especially incensed at her actions.

It emerged some time later that Tandy had been pestering her husband for some years to leave Zimbabwe, for them to try and start a better life in South Africa. He had been refusing, and it seems she decided to take matters into her own hands. We can only speculate on why she didn’t say goodbye, but most assume that her father – a fierce individual – may well have gone nuts with anger and done all he could to stop her going. As for not saying goodbye to her daughter: I raised my eyebrows at this, but my colleague commented that lots and lots of people in Zimbabwe have been forced to leave their families behind so this in itself was ‘normal’ – saying goodbye might have been unbearably hard for her to do.

Phone calls from Tandy to her family through 2009 were rare, and most of the contact was restricted to sms messages. On one occasion she told her daughter that when she saw her next she’d be bringing her “lots of things” – toys and clothes – but she refused to give a contact telephone number saying her phone had been stolen. This was the first indication that all was probably not well.

After a full year of sporadic and minimal contact, Tandy returned to spend Christmas 2009 with her husband and daughter. She was empty handed, had no money, and was very underweight. There were no Christmas presents and no money to leave with the family. All the questions we’d had running through our minds would now be answered, I thought, but Tandy was tight-lipped, refusing to discuss her life in South Africa with anyone.

My colleague, still annoyed at her behaviour in 2008, has been venting her frustration. I asked what Tandy was doing for a living, because we all know life as a refugee is hard. My colleague said, “Well, she SAYS she is working as a cleaner”. There was a tone of disbelief in her voice so I dared to ask the unthinkable:

“Is it possible her loss of weight might be because she is sick – do you think she might be selling her body?”

My friend was careful in her reply, suggesting to me that the thought had occurred to her too, but she said, no, she didn’t think so, because Tandy was not that sort of girl. And also, she pointed out, Tandy didn’t have any money on her and women with sugar daddies often do! She then hesitated and said to me that Tandy’s brother, who still lives in Zimbabwe, had warned Tandy’s husband that both of them needed to be tested when Tandy eventually came back. So the element of doubt, and a misery of uncertainty, hangs in their minds.

And so Tandy came back for Christmas in 2009. It is important to note that life in Zimbabwe has changed dramatically since she left. In 2008, Christmas was bleak: there was no food in the shops and poverty still bit hard. People were risking police wrath by illicitly trading in forex and Zimbabwe dollar transactions involved figures too large for calculators to cope with. Today the shop shelves are full again, openly priced in $US and Rands and the Zim dollar banished – what would Tandy make of it?

My colleague came back to work today after leave and told me that Tandy had been subdued throughout her stay but that she had left again. During the time she was here she’d kept saying she planned to come back to Zimbabwe. But, as before, she had left the country once again without a word to anyone. And once again, Tandy left without money, and again braving an awful illegal journey across the border without a passport.

I was stunned: “Why?!”

My colleague replied that yes, the Zimbabwe shops are full, but the only money Tandy had to spare was five Rands, which she gave to her daughter for sweets just before she left. The shops are full again, “…but you need money to be able to buy the food” said my friend. She noted too that Tandy had lost her job in Zimbabwe, and that her family would now have to support her without even the paltry income she had before she left in 2008.

“But surely you’d have found a way” I said, shocked.

“Maybe, but it would have been very, very hard”, said my friend. “We’re struggling even now to be able to keep going. Things are very expensive. We would have helped her, but it would have been hard”. The difference between 2008 and 2009, she said, was that poverty and hardhsip is not as obviously in people’s minds (and the minds of media) as it was once before. “People think because the shops are full, that everyone can afford to buy: but it is EXPENSIVE!”, said my friend.

I asked then if Tandy had left because this had been explained to her. “No one said anything”, said my friend, “but Tandy can see with her own eyes”.

It was a raw reminder that shelves bulging with food are just a veneer of change for many, that poverty still bites hard, that the choices people make – in the name of survival – still make the mind boggle and the heart ache. A story so close to home makes me think of the thousands of other Zimbabweans, struggling just like Tandy. Many of them must feel they’ve been lost in the middle of ‘change’. This post is riddled with opportunities for people to judge Tandy, but I feel I must stress is she is a good person, a really nice girl. She is utterly ordinary, but because she is a Zimbabwean, her choices have been extraordinary.

My heart ached when my colleague told me that they all felt her main reason for leaving again, this time in 2010, when things are supposedly ‘better’, and again without goodbyes, was “because she is ashamed”.

“Why” I asked, immediately thinking the worst and thinking that they had discovered she DID have a sugar daddy. My friend’s answer revealed the intense pressure on parents to provide: “She is ashamed because she left thinking she would come back with money for us all, but instead she came back with nothing. I think she wants to try again. I think she still wants to return home, but with what we need to improve our lives.”

As before, no one has heard from Tandy since she left, and once again we are worrying that she is safely over the border and that she has made it to wherever she goes. Tandy told her family that the next time she came back, it would be for good; we are all hoping to see her home soon, but we don’t know when that will be.

Sokwanele is pleased to announce that we have launched a constitution resource on our website. We hope that this online information system will provide users in Zimbabwe and in the diaspora with an simple way to familiarise themselves with the details of the current constitution, and with forthcoming drafts towards a proposed future constitution.

Zimbabwe’s new constitution, when it is finally enacted into law, will shape all of our futures, define our fundamental human rights, provide limits on political powers, outline rules shaping the police, defence forces, prisons and public services … and more. The constitution-making process encompasses all Zimbabweans. We encourage all Zimbabweans, no matter where they are in the world, to take part in the critical task of interrogating and thinking about the laws that will define all of our futures and establish the rights of Zimbabweans everywhere.

Zimbabweans will be asked to vote on a new draft constitution when it is finally ready. The public outreach programme, intended to gather the views of the people, is scheduled to start early in the new year. The outreach timeframe below comes via a recent Veritas mailing:

• 4-5 January 2010: MPs and Senators will be trained on their own on Tuesday 5th January [arrival and registration on Monday 4th]
• 6-10 January 2010: The remainder of the outreach personnel will be trained in a four-day workshop running from 7th to 10th January [arrival and registration on Wednesday 6th].
• 11 January 2010: Outreach teams will then be deployed to the provinces where they will meet officials and representatives of civic society at provincial level to explain their programme before starting work the next day.
• 12 January 2010: Consultation with the people will start on Tuesday 12th January.
• 18 March 2010: End of outreach. [The consultations are expected to last 65 days but this time will be extended if necessary].

We all have a right to add our voices to this process, and we have a right to reject any document that fails to live up to our expectations. So it is important that Zimbabweans are informed about what the documents and drafts say, and that we all think carefully about the rights and standards we want enshrined in our future constitutional law.

Sokwanele’s online constitution resource aims to help Zimbabweans become more informed, and it offers a platform for comment and debate as well. The tool currently draws information from three key documents: the Constitution of Zimbabwe (at 13th Feb, 2009), Amendment 19, and the Kariba Draft Constitution. This is just the start: the information system will be developed to include more voices, more drafts proposing future changes, and a wider selection of thoughts on the constitution as we go forwards. We hope that the comments system will gather the views of Zimbabweans everywhere and help to develop a rich source of information and insightful opinion.

The resource provides audiences with a variety of ways to explore critical documents. We have simplified the process of accessing information from long legal documents by breaking the nitty-gritty detail into maneagable relevant chunks. Visitors to our site can explore the content of these documents by filtering through clearly defined sections, or by finding areas of interest flagged by ‘key phrases’, or by using a special predictive search tool.

The system enables users to compare and contrast the different approaches to constitutional law – as they appear in different texts – by filtering on and displaying entries on related topics right next to each other on the screen. In other words, users can easily and quickly see exactly how the Kariba Draft Constitution differs from the current Constitution of Zimbabwe (for example) on a section by section basis.

We invite people to give an anonymous personal ‘approval rating’ to sections of the law by awarding stars to entries (1 star reflects a damning public approval rating of “rubbish”, while 5 stars is a high scoring “excellent”). The final average score for each entry will give an approval rating for the way the law has been dealt with in each document. Our online system has a section that highlights which entries have the highest ratings and it also flags those that score low in our audiences opinion.

Visit www.sokwanele.com/zimbabweconstitution to explore the constitutional law as it currently is today, and to see what the Kariba Draft Constitution has to say about the shape of our future. Be informed of both the strengths and weaknesses accross different texts; look carefully at the detail and consider the implications that detail has for all of us as we go forward; think about what’s missing and what you would like to be included.

Be involved and be aware. Get ready to discuss and debate. Above all, prepare to vote in the referendum from an informed perspective.

November saw news on Zimbabwe dominated by the on-going political differences between the Zimbabwe’s three main parties. More than a year after it was signed, the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which was meant to address the many crises facing Zimbabwe, has yet to be fully implemented. In amongst the many media reports discussing the persistent tensions and debates between the parties, there were other reports reflecting the unavoidable reality that Zimbabwe is still a nation in turmoil. These news reports do not speak of failures to implement the process, but point instead to brazen breaches of sections in the agreement.

An overview of the November news items highlighting breaches of the GPA throws up repeated mentions of wide-ranging human rights abuses involving Zimbabwe’s soldiers.

At the start of the month, The Zimbabwean newspaper described a horrific incident at the Chiadzwa Diamond Fields, where army personnel took it upon themselves to ‘punish’ three men who had entered a secure area. The men were taken to the army base where they were severely beaten. The next day they were taken back to the mines where they were reported to have been forced to carry four corpses (the bodies of civilians allegedly killed by the army) from the mines and back to the bases.

Christopher Mushowe, former Zanu PF Minister of Transport who was this year controversially appointed to be the Governor of Manicaland, was accused this month of instructing soldiers to harass and intimidate villagers in Muromo, Mutare West constituency. The soldiers have been active, and villagers have complained and pointed out the partisan nature of the harassment, saying that those citizens who are seen to attend MDC-T functions and rallies have been specifically targeted.

Soldiers have also been accused of targeting villagers in Chivi (Masvingo Province). According to one news report: “Chivi villagers were [...] forced to abandon their day-to-day duties to attend [...] meetings called by soldiers from 4.1 infantry battalion in Masvingo.” The meetings were to force villagers in these areas to accept the Kariba Draft constitution as Zimbabwe’s new constitution – this being the draft favoured by the Zanu PF party. In another constitution related incident, a man wearing a “No To Kariba Draft” T-shirt was attacked by soldiers who tore off his shirt and beat him using their hands and booted feet.

An orphanage in Bulawayo received an unwelcome and unpleasant visit by soldiers who accused the authorities at the centre of harbouring MDC activists. It was reported that the soldiers were armed with AK-47 rifles, they arrived in an army truck, and they apparently ransacked Thuthuka Orphanage, beating up orphans in the process.

In Banket, Father Wolfgang Thamm, a priest in his late 60s, was viciously assaulted by a soldier at a roadblock:

The armed man ripped off his glasses and gave him a full punch to the right eye [...] He was then hauled out of the bakkie, punched again and shoved into a large muddy puddle, where he was kicked in the stomach twice and beaten again. They then used a container to pour muddy water over him from head to toe, until even his shoes were full of mud. He was then told to get out of there.

The GPA demands that “all state organs and institutions strictly observe the principles of the Rule of Law” and that “laws and regulations governing state organs and institutions are strictly adhered to and those violating them be penalised without fear or favour”. The law does not permit Zimbabwean soldiers to beat orphans or attack elderly priests at roadblocks. The GPA also specifically requires state organs and institutions to and “remain non-partisan and impartial” – the use of soldiers by Zanu PF loyalists to campaign for acceptance of the Kariba Draft is a blatant violation of this clause.

There was much made in November news reports about so-called “pirate” radio stations operating outside Zimbabwe, with increasing pressure and calls from the Zanu PF party for them to be ’shut down’. These demands ignore some fundamental points about the media environment in Zimbabwe, and again, the ZIG monitoring project highlighted breaches which illustrate why, even now, the “pirate” stations still provide a service to information starved Zimbabwean citizens.

In early November the media reported on a potentially serious air accident: one of Zimbabwe’s Chinese-made MA60 passenger planes crashed into a warthog on take-off. It took the emergency services five minutes to reach the plane but, in an act which exemplifies the suppression of freedom of expression and denial of news to Zimbabwean citizens, the rescue team were beaten to the scene by a contingent of secret police, “whose first act was to arrest two passengers for taking photographs”. The two passengers were interrogated until 1am in the morning and were eventually released, but without their cameras.

If photographing a plane that crashed into a warthog is enough to attract arrest and intense interrogation, it is not difficult to understand why it was reported in November that journalists within Zimbabwe avoid investigative journalism. The Zimbabwe Independent assistant editor Dumisani Muleya was quoted as saying that Zimbabwean journalists should weigh the excitement of publishing a ground breaking story against the cost of exposing the murky activities of powerful individuals and organisations in society [...] because they did not know what would befall them if they wrote controversial but revealing stories.

Journalists who are aware of terrible atrocities and want to honour their mandate to the public only need to look to the experiences of The Zimbabwe Independent Editor, Vincent Kahiya and News Editor, Constantine Chimakure to get a sense of what might befall them. Both men were arrested for publishing a story that exposed the role of named CIO agents and police officers in the highly publicised abductions of human rights activists. It’s worth noting that one of the abductees, Jestina Mukoko, has since won a case that acknowledges her human rights were violated and that she was viciously tortured. Despite this, Kahiya and Chimakure’s ordeal drags on: in November their case was further remanded to February 2010 pending a constitutional challenge. Journalists have reason to be fearful, and this obviously impacts on the quality and type of information Zimbabwean citizens have access to via the media.

These tensions are not limited to the independent media: employees of the state-controlled media, much maligned for its partisan and biased reporting, have expressed dissatisfaction and concern at the amount of power wielded over their work. An Open Society Institute of South Africa report released in November revealed that journalists, editors, and board members were unhappy with the control that Robert Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, had over their affairs and that some were ‘afraid of him’:

One journalist who refused to be named said that Charamba was running the corporation like his personal fiefdom and this was demoralising staff as they felt that the core business of the broadcaster was no longer taking precedence [...] All this has made journalists believe that whatever they do they have to be answerable to the government or individuals in the ministry rather than the general public.

If it is recognised and understood that the role of the media is to provide impartial, objective and factual information to Zimbabweans citizens, then it is only fair to argue that the role of “pirate” radio stations has to be considered in the light of Zimbabwe’s broader media environment. The examples cited above are drawn from reports in November alone, and these are enough to point to a fundamental problem within Zimbabwe. It is reasonable to suggest that external radio stations currently broadcast news into a country where the news circulated is limited or not trusted. One could argue that addressing the media issues within Zimbabwe – issues which impact on the personal security of journalists and the integrity of their broader profession – is of far greater significance to the fundamental rights of Zimbabwean citizens than calls for the dissolution of “pirate” radio stations.

This issue has primarily discussed breaches of the GPA involving soldiers and Zimbabwe’s suffocated media environment. The scope of this mailing does not permit extensive discussion of the other breaches that occurred in November. These, plus links to original sources for all cases mentioned above, are available online at www.sokwanele.com/zigwatch. Brief examples of other breaches occurring in November have been provided below.

Please note: ZIG Watch Issue 12 will be mailed at the end of January 2010 to accommodate the holiday period

Zanu PF Threatens To Interfere In Relief Food Distribution
RadioVOP: 02/11/2009

The Zanu PF executive in Chimanimani has threatened that no relief food will be distributed in the area without the presence of the party’s members. Secretary for External Affairs in the youth league, Joshua Sako, is said to have said this at a Chimanimani rural district council meeting. [...] An official of Save the Children, who spoke to Radio VOP strictly on condition of anonymity, said his organisation will pull out of the area if the directive is enforced. “We will be definitely pull out if politicians are allowed to interfere with our operations. We have our own strict and open way of identifying beneficiaries of aid and we will not succumb to politicians‘s wishful orders,” he said

• ARTICLE XVI : HUMANITARIAN AND FOOD ASSISTANCE
• ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

MDC Living In Fear In Zaka
RadioVOP: 17/11/2009

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) provincial officials here on Tuesday said they were living in perpetual fear following abductions of their members in recent weeks. [...] “The general membership in the province is now in a state of shock. We are receiving reports that some of our supporters are being persecuted by war veterans, soldiers and Zanu PF youths,” he said.

• ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
• ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
• ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

Four men survive planned execution – ROHR
Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe: 19/11/2009

Four MDC activists from Muzarabani south have fled their homes after they were tipped of a death threat on their lives following a resolution to wipe out all MDC party position holding activist was passed from a ZANU PF meeting that was held on Friday the 13th of November at Chawarura business centre in Muzarabani. [...] Kiswell Masimbisa, MDC district secretary for Muzarabani South told ROHR Zimbabwe that six men, two of them armed with guns stormed his home the night of the ZANU PF meeting around 12 midnight looking for him. The six men gang is said to have paid a visit to Masimbisa’s other three colleagues Jackson Rumero- district vise chairman, Stefan Sado- organizing secretary and Joram Frank- director of elections but could not find them at home.

• ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
• ARTICLE XII : FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
• ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

Tortured MDC employee applies for bail after charges dropped
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 19/11/2009

The MDC transport manager, who was severely tortured after he was abducted by state security agents last month, was finally allowed to apply for bail on Thursday, after serious charges laid against him were dropped this week. [...] Bail could be the only way Gwezere will be able to receive private medical care, care he urgently needs after being severely tortured while in the custody of his abductors. His lawyers have been fighting for Gwezere to be seen by private doctors and transferred to a clinic for treatment. But Gwezere is still being denied the necessary care, in what his lawyers say is a ‘calculated’ and ‘deliberate’ act by the state.

• ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
• ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS

Consultation Period on Constitution cut
Zimbabwe Independent, The (ZW): 19/11/2009

Public consultations on the crafting of a new constitution are now expected to start in January, with a referendum pencilled in for September — cutting by nine months the timeframe for the constitution-making process set out in the Global Political Agreement.

• ARTICLE VI : CONSTITUTION

State Invokes Act To Keep MDC Transport Manager In Custody
RadioVOP: 20/11/2009

The State has invoked the notorious section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) to deny Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) transport manager Pascal Gwezere, who is being accused of stealing 20 AK47 riffles and a shotgun from an army barracks, his freedom. High Court Judge Justice Charles Hungwe had granted Gwezere a US$500 bail. Tawanda Zvekare, representing the state, invoked the section , saying to appeal against the judgment. The State is given seven days to appeal against a judgment by invoking section 121 of the CPEA and the suspects will have to remain in custody during the same period.

• ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND INSTITUTIONS
• ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

Lands Officer Kunonga leading a seige on another farm in Chegutu
Sokwanele.com: 26/11/2009

26 November 2009: Lands officer Kunonga along with invader Hanyani and other thugs arrived early at the Beattie’s home early in the morning to demand that the Beattie’s vacate their home. A report was made to police. At time of writing the situation is very threatening and Chegutu police still refuse to stop the harassment. Strategic fires have been lit around the thatched double storey homestead and the threat of being burnt out is very real. The member in charge Chegutu Police Station, Inspector Zengeni, the stood down lands officer Kunonga and Edna Madzongwe are all allegedly involved in this lawless attack.

• ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
• ARTICLE V: LAND QUESTION
• ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
• ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE

Mahoso invades Mutare farm
Zimbabwean, The (ZW): 27/11/2009

President Robert Mugabe’s former chief media policeman Tafataona Mahoso has invaded a commercial farm near Mutare, giving the white owner only 48 hours to vacate the property that had been his home for years. [...] Earlier Bezuidenhout had accepted a government offer to subdivide his farm between himself and state-appointed “settlers”, an arrangement government officials assured the farmer would allow him to continue farming. But that was until Mahoso turned up demanding the piece that Bezuidenhout had kept after subdivision of his farm. Mahoso did not answer his phone when The Zimbabwean on Sunday tried to contact him last Friday for comment on the matter.

• ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY AND GROWTH
• ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS

Finance Minister Tendai Biti ‘s 2010 Budget theme is Reconstruction with Equitable Growth and Stability. He summed up the budget as “a pro-poor, broad based and inclusive development framework” with “a strong emphasis on the key issues of education, health and social services”.

No Early Reintroduction of Zimbabwe Currency

The budget is in US dollars, and the Minister made it clear that it was the unanimous Government position that a return to the local currency could not be seriously considered until there is evidence of a strong economy, with annual sustainable GDP growth rates of over 6%, high exports and high foreign exchange reserves, plus a balanced budget and institutional credibility. Government has, however, started consultations on an optimum currency regime, which will be followed by democratic debate and public discussions commencing next year.

Minister Biti said he had anchored the budget on the Three Year Macro-Economic Policy and Budget Framework: 2010-2012 [STERP II] which the inclusive government had come up with as the successor to the Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme [STERP].

Estimated Income and Expenditure

Income: The total budget for 2010 is estimated at $2.25 billion, made up of projected amounts from:

• Revenue [taxes, fees, rents etc.] of $1.44 billion [64%]
• International aid grants of $810 million [36%]

Line Ministries, departments and parastatals had submitted estimates for expenditure totalling $12 billion; but these have had to be cut down to fit the $2.25 billion that will be available to spend. [The Revised Estimates for 2009 authorised total expenditure of $1.39 billion.]

Expenditure:

• Recurrent expenditure will account for $1.678 billion [117% of projected revenue and 75% of the total budget]. [Note: Employment costs will account for over 60% of projected revenue and 33% of the total budget.]
• Capital expenditure will account for $571.8 million [40% of projected revenue and 25% of the total budget]

How the International Aid Grants Will be Used

The $810 million in international aid grants will be accounted for in the Budget Vote of Credit controlled by the Ministry of Finance and will be used for specific programmes and projects prioritised by Government and allocated as follows: Health 26%; Social Protection 15%; Agriculture 12%; Water and Sanitation 11%; Transport and Communications 7%; Energy and Power 7%; Education 5%; Other 17%. [Note: Under “Other” the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs is allocated $43.7 million for the constitution-making process, and $28.7 million for “governance and human rights”.]

Allocations to Ministries and Departments

There are 36 Ministries in all – a few are listed below and each allocation is shown as a percentage of the total budget:

Health and Child Welfare: $358 081 186 [16%]

Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture: $312 720 700 [14%]

Higher and Tertiary Education: $70 264 000 [3%]

Labour and Social Services: $147 000 896 [6.5 %]

National Housing: 5 786 000 [0.25%]

Ministry of Defence [including Army and Air Force]: $98 293 00 [4.3 %]

Ministry of Home Affairs [including Police]: $103 613 000 [4.6 %]

Office of the President and Cabinet: $50 568 000 [2%]

Office of the Prime Minister: $6 078 000 [0.27%]

Note: allocations to Service Delivery Ministries [e.g. the first four in the above list] are made up of funds derived from revenue and from international aid grants [see above]. The revenue funds will be allocated directly to the Ministry, but the funds from international aid grants are controlled by Treasury through the Vote of Credit.

Other Noteworthy Allocations

• Procurement of seeds and fertilisers: $84.5 million
• Procurement of text books for primary schools: $28.15 million
• National Land Audit: $31 million
• Constitution-making process: $43 million
• Human Rights and Governance: $28.7 million
• Procurement of drugs and medical supplies, medical equipment and health infrastructure rehabilitation: $285.4 million.
• Social protection programmes [including $25 million for the BEAM scheme for supporting school students, support for the elderly, chronically ill and other vulnerable groups]: $119 million
• Crop input packs for vulnerable rural households: $98 million
• Water and Sanitation Programme: $109 million
• Rehabilitation of roads, bridges, railways, airports: $58.5 million
• Energy and power development: $57.6 million

All these allocations will come from international aid grants administered through the Treasury Vote of Credit.

Innovative Constituency Development Fund

The Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs will administer a new Constituency Development Fund of $8 million, to be divided equally among the country’s 214 House of Assembly constituencies [approximately $38 000 per constituency]. The money will be used for construction of boreholes, repair of schools and clinics, purchase of generators, etc., in accordance with an annual development plan drawn up by a committee of elected councillors chaired by the local MP. There will be strict accountability, with the Ministry paying suppliers and service providers direct.

Upliftment of Women

The emphasis on education, health and social services and social safely nets will help the majority of women in the country who are the poorest of the poor. Help given to vulnerable rural households and communal land farmers will benefit women. Rural communities will be capacitated through training and provision of start-up capital for income-generating projects. $23 million will go to supporting micro, small and medium enterprises and co-operatives, youth projects, mining loans for small miners and rural electrification. Under each scheme 60% of funds for on-lending will be earmarked for women, as lobbied for by stakeholders.

Taxation Proposals

[most changes to be effective 1st January 2010]

Corporate tax will be reduced from 30% to 25%.

For individuals the tax free threshold will be increased from $150 to $160 and the highest tax rate will be reduced from 37.5% to 35%.

Tax-free thresholds for annual bonuses and retrenchment packages will be increased to $400 [effective 1st November 2009] and $15 000, respectively.

Excise duty on spirits will be doubled, from 20% to 40%.

Customs duty on half-tonne trucks and motor vehicles of engine capacity below 1500 cc, will be reduced from 40% to 25%.

Presumptive tax [$300 per quarter] will be imposed on restaurants, bottle stores and cottage industries not already covered by informal sector presumptive taxes.

Presumptive tax on commuter omnibus operators will be reduced slightly.

Rates of interest on unpaid taxes will be aligned with rates being charged by banks to borrowers [this means an increase].

VAT will be rationalised, resulting in some presently exempt or zero-rated commodities becoming subject to VAT.

Mining Fees and Royalties

Implementing the use it or lose it principle, unworked claims will attract a fee to discourage the holding of claims for speculative purposes.

Royalties on precious metals will be increased from 3% to 3.5%

Diamond producers will have to reserve 10% of production for the local cutting and polishing industry.

Looking Ahead – in the Longer Term

New Income Tax Act being prepared

A committee of experts from the Ministry, ZIMRA and the private sector has been working on the preparation of a new Income Tax in simplified language easily comprehensible by tax-payers. This will replace the present Act, which is more than forty years old and has lagged behind modern trends in tax law and international best practices. Aspects being studied include: changing the basis for income tax from source of income to residence [meaning that all income accruing to a resident of a country is subject to tax in that country, regardless of income source]; a flatter tax regime; and provisions to incorporate standard transfer pricing guidelines based on international best practice.

Public Service Pension Reform

The current Defined Benefit Pension Scheme will be replaced by a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme which will entail the establishment of a Civil Service Pension Fund in 2011. Changes to present legislation will be needed.

Getting the Budget Package Through Parliament

Portfolio Committees have been conducting Post-Budget Analysis meetings since Thursday 3rd December. These meetings will continue on Monday 7th December.

Commencing on Tuesday 8th December the House of Assembly will:

• debate the Minister’s Budget presentation, and if it is approved, the Minister will table a Finance Bill to give effect to his taxation proposals.
• consider the Estimates of Expenditure. This is done in a special committee of the whole House called the Committee of Supply. If the Estimates are approved, the Minister will then introduced the Appropriation (2009) Bill which will authorise expenditure in accordance with the approved Estimates.

Once passed, the Bills will be transmitted to the Senate for consideration. As both are “Money Bills”, the Senate cannot amend them, but may recommend amendments to be made by the House of Assembly. If amendments are recommended, the House must consider them but is not obliged to accept them, and the Bill may be presented to the President for assent in the form passed by the House, with the amendments, if any, made by the House on the Senate’s recommendation.

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, at a press conference in Cape Town today (Thursday, December 3), said that he, together with number of senior representatives from parties that constitute the country’s Inclusive Government, is visiting South Africa to hold a series of meetings with leading figures from the Zimbabwean Diaspora to discuss ways to fast-track sustainable economic growth in that country.

Tsvangirai, leading a government delegation, is meeting with prominent figures in Zimbabwe’s Diaspora coming from 14 countries. The meeting entitled, “The challenges of Economic Reconstruction” began in Franschhoek earlier today.

The meeting is aimed at facilitating dialogue between the Inclusive Government and Zimbabweans in the Diaspora.

The meeting is hosted by the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), a South African non-governmental organization that promotes transitional justice initiatives across the African continent.

Tsvangirai noted that he “recognizes and values Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and the critical role they can and should play in bolstering sustainable economic growth in Zimbabwe.” The Prime Minister stated that he “wanted to achieve a closer working relationship with all Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, many of whom are nfluential Zimbabweans working in leading international intergovernmental-, business-, and finance institutions.”

Dr. Fanie du Toit, executive director of the IJR said that these sessions were a means to facilitate dialogue amongst Zimbabweans and create conditions for sustainable economic growth, which is a deliverable of the Inclusive Government under the GPA.

“The IJR is regularly requested to facilitate these kinds of conversations across political and social fault-lines. As South Africans, we experienced the value of conversations such as these which paved the way for our democracy.

“We have facilitated this engagement at the request of Zimbabweans both within the country and those outside. The GPA, despite its difficulties, continues to provide us with a window of opportunity to get certain basic building blocks of a democratic transition in place. Economic success, for one, will be vital, not only for democracy, but also for social cohesion.” Du Toit added.

Press Release issued on behalf of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation by HWB Communications ( Pty) Ltd.

A Paper Presented at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Association  of Third World Studies, Cape Coast, Ghana, November 21-24, 2009

Author: John Hickman

Introduction

Are post-election intimidation and violence attributable to intense electoral competition? This paper presents answers to that question based on empirical findings from an analysis of the events immediately following balloting in the 2008 general election in Zimbabwe, a time period marked by thousands of incidents involving threats and physical attacks. The scholarly warrant for this research is that post-election intimidation and violence merit research as political phenomena that are important for reasons that involve both normative and practical policy-making interests and that have not been much studied. Indeed, while the published research about intimidation and violence before and during balloting comprises a small literature, the published research about post-election intimidation and violence hardly comprises a literature at all.

The general normative interest in electoral intimidation and violence is that safeguarding the right to vote without fear is that people appear to value the right to participate beyond the specific outcomes of elections (Benz 2007: 210; Guth and Weck-Hannemann 1997).  The procedural utility they derive from participation in elections is an enhanced sense of personal well being from the, “feeling of being involved and having political influence” and “inclusion, identity, and self-determination” (Benz 2007: 212). These feelings fulfill innate needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness (Benz 2007: 203). That probably accounts for the determination of some voters to participate in elections despite the risk of threat or physical attack. Notwithstanding the courage of some voters, public opinion research suggests that the experience of intimidation deters some from voting both in the near term and over the long term (Bratton 2008: 626). The general normative interest in electoral intimidation and violence is independent of both the purposes sought by its perpetrators and its effectiveness. These behaviors are morally repugnant whether their purpose is simply retributive or instrumentally rational.

The general practical or policy-making interest in electoral intimidation and violence is that they constitute what liberal societies would otherwise deem to be criminal behavior (Bratton 2008: 623). Policy making about electoral intimidation and violence begins with moral outrage but then moves to consideration of he economics of crime: “the cost imposed on society by the criminal act; the benefit to the criminal of committing the act; the cost of resources used to maintain the expected punishment” (Winter 2008: 13). Where the authorities are not among the perpetrators or otherwise complicit, then a straightforward economic policy analysis may be warranted. How much effort should the state devote to preventing and punishing electoral violence and intimidation? Beyond the importance of deterring violent crime of any sort through prevention and punishment, the importance of specifically deterring electoral intimidation and violence lies in the value of deterring highly publicized violent crime that may have a demonstration effect by indicating the weakness of social restraint and in its instrumental effectiveness either by reducing voter turnout or by enhancing the chances of winning by parties and candidates whose supporters are perpetrators. Therefore, if the authorities are not among the perpetrators or otherwise complicit, and if electoral intimidation and violence are neither highly publicized nor effective, then they may not merit policing and prosecution efforts different in intensity from ordinary violent crime. However, if the electoral intimidation and violence are highly publicized and effective, and if the authorities are among the perpetrators or otherwise complicit, then straightforward economic policy analysis of crime is insufficient. In such circumstances the equality of treatment expected under the rule of law is violated, and the practical or policy-making interest therefore becomes inseparable from the normative interest. So powerful are the normative interests implicated in widespread electoral intimidation and violence by the authorities that some citizens may ignore patriotic pride and willingly endorse international investigation to expose the pathology (Gettleman November 6 2009: A6). As such it may internationalize what would normally be a national political controversy. Independent news coverage indicates that the state was complicit in the highly publicized and widespread post-election violence in Zimbabwe in 2008 (Shaw June 22, 2008).

This research is justifiable because it attempts to answer, however preliminarily, an inquiry about a contradiction between moral goods: legitimacy and contestation. Beyond the toll of emotionally traumatized, wounded or dead, post-election intimidation and violence threaten the legitimacy of immediate election outcome, and more generally of elections as a method of selecting officials. If the intensity of electoral competition is associated with post election intimidation and violence (Manning 2005: 721), then that poses a fundamental conflict in moral goods because electoral contestation is crucial if elected officials are to be responsive and accountable to citizens.

Download the full paper here

Our recent action alert (please click here to take action), asking everyone to demand for an end to the lawless activities affecting several farmers and their families in the Chugutu area, briefly mentioned the situation on Wakefield Farm (Selous neighbours the Chegutu area). Ken Bartholomew, the farmer, has detailed his family’s experiences since Friday last week. The following was circulated by JAG email.

FRIDAY 27TH NOVEMBER 2009

12.30PM: Felix Pambukani and about 15 to 20 other men arrived at my house gate demanding to know from me why I was still on the farm and why was I planting tobacco and what was I doing? 2 Ministry of Lands men from Chegutu – one of them being a Mr. Tony Makoshoni – ID number: 70-010006 G 38 and a Mr Chikadayi was also amongst these men and Kunonga was waiting at the Selous Police station.. DESPITE being told by myself and shown a letter from the Governor and Provisional Lands office – clearly stating that I have been given permission to carry on farming for the 2009/2010 season they still demanded that I stop all farming at once. They then left and proceeded to the house that they have already evicted my manager from.

SATURDAY 28TH NOVEMBER 2009

2.15PM: I was called out by my guards to the house gate where I was met by a man stating his name as Cde Jesus and a good 20 or more men claiming to be “ex-combatants”, all clearly drunk. This Cde Jesus – claims to have been sent by the President with orders to have me evicted! He told me to get out the house and off the farm within 30 minutes and that we were to take only personal belongings, as everything else belongs to themhe stated that he and his men would forcibly remove us and would “help” us pack if we did not comply. My 10 year old daughter at this stage was getting overwrought and visibly upset at what was happening. My wife and I decided that in their best interests we would send our 10 year old and 2 year old daughters and a friend that was staying with them off the farm for their safety. My eldest daughter’s last tearful words to my wife were “Will I see you again Mommy??” My driver managed to get them off the farm to friends for safety.

I decided to carry on as normal – having phoned the police for assistance and being told to wait as they had no police vehicle with which to react.the “thugs” had returned to Mr Pambukani’s place of residence – my manager’s house and proceeded to drink and carry on loudly. Quite a few vehicles arrived during the afternoon – adding up to about 15 vehicles in all.

In the meantime I was giving out rations to my labour as normal .. my labour sensing that trouble was brewing, decided to stay in the workshop area and near my house.

Mr Pambukani had also chased my guards away from my gates and placed his own locks on the gates.

The “thugs” were overheard talking and saying that “someone would die if we did not vacate the farm”. They were milling around the workshop and keeping a presence known.

8.00pm: – the police eventually arrived. The police talked to Mr Pambukani and the men that were there and told them not to incite violence of any nature and that they had no right in trying to evict us from our house. The police also had words with me – asking why had I “mobilized” my labour-force? After a lengthy talk – the police left at 10pm.

At midnight I was awakened by my guards as other vehicles had arrived and this time with armed men. I was informed that these new arrivals were guards and that they had been brought in to guard the workshop area as this area belongs to Mr Pambukani and that we had in fact been the ones inciting violence and that I had mobilized my labour force against them.

SUNDAY 29th NOVEMBER 2009

10am: As I write this they are still here but not doing anything. I just do not know why they are spending all their monies playing all these games instead of using it on production on the land they have being given.

MONDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2009

I just do not know what today is going to bring.

Please Take Action

Please see our Action Alert posted yesterday (click here). Please take action to support the Chegutu farming community.

In Chegutu the dire situation continues at Sue and Thomas and Beattie’s Umvovo Farm. Burning tires are constantly being lit around the house in the past few days to try to intimidate or choke the Beattie’s out. The tires were being burnt again as I spoke to Sue yesterday over the phone, her house was full of smoke and she was choking on the acrid smoke as we spoke. Her daughter, Sarah-Jane Keevil, was trying to get to her mother in the house, but the thugs refused to let her through the gate. They threatened to touch her `inappropriately’ if she dared come there again. Sarah-Jane was thrown out of her own house on Dodhill Farm by Lands Officer Clever Kunonga’s brother-in-law in May this year. As we spoke the tires were burning so close to the Beattie’s house, a thatched one, that the fear in Sues voice was palpable. I vividly relived my own situation a few short months ago as the same thing had happened to us – and eventually our house was burnt down taking everything we owned.

Last night at the Beattie’s from midnight, the drums were beating constantly outside the house. The invaders lit a fire on the porch under the thatch, flames rearing dangerously close to the tinder dry grass. Sleep was out of the question as they banged on the windows, chanted and sang. The SMS from Sue at 5.30 this morning read “drums and raucous singing outside bedroom windows from midnight. Large fires-one on porch nearly lit the thatchthis is too scary.”

Just after 5.30 am this morning, Thomas tried to leave the house to attend to the work that had to be done but found he was barricaded into his own house. His eldest son Douglas contacted him on the phone and heard his father’s voice – “They are breaking in.”, then banging noises and his father voice asking the invaders, “what’s the plan now?” The phone abruptly went dead. The invaders had broken the lock and entered the verandah area of the house. At the police station we went through the torturous process of filing an official report [Report Received Book number 0699176] but we know that there will be no arrests. There never are. This kind of harassment is allowed to continue until the owners are either burnt out or the leaders of the thugs run out of money to pay them – or of course the owners cave in and leave their home and livelihood as so many thousands have done before with no repercussions to their tormentors.

There is only so much, mentally and physically, a person can take. In the last few months Thomas and Sue and their workers have been through a seemingly endless nightmare. In amongst the political upheaval Thomas and Sue tragically lost their second son Hamish. They have never had time to mourn or grieve his loss as parents should. The day they left the farm to arrange and attend their son’s cremation the mob took the opportunity to invade the yard and tried to break into the house. The police were notified but no decisive action taken and certainly no arrests made. With this personal tragedy they have had to bear being assaulted, robbed, chased with sjamboks and sticks, locked in their house, locked out of their house, threatened, stopped from farming, deprived of sleep. It is a litany of torture- nothing that most farmers and farm workers haven’t been through; but that doesn’t make it any easier.

One does wonder what is in it for the Chegutu police except an indictment to an International court at the end of the day. Of course, in the short term they are being paid by the invaders. When invaders are allowed to steal whole crops and other possessions at will, there is more than enough with which to pay police to turn a blind eye and allow it all to continue. It is clear however that the instructions are also coming from above. This renders the law immaterial in the face of opposing instructions. I asked one policeman recently whether he took his direction from the law or from his superiors, he immediately replied, without batting an eyelid, that his orders were from his superiors. I told him about the 1.4 million railway workers in NAZI Germany that had been involved in transporting 6 million Jews to the extermination camps because they were simply `following orders’. I asked him whether he cared about the future of his children. A country without the rule of law will self destruct leaving all its children education-less and lost.

Where are these orders coming from? The Chegutu lands officer, Clever Kunonga, is a pivotal figure in the organization of illegal invasions in Chegutu. He was prominent again this week organizing invaders when the new invasion started on the Beattie’s and at Umfuli Banks farm over the last few days. He spent almost the entire day at Selous police station yesterday – one wonders why? Persuading or intimidating Selous police to make the law take a back seat there as well? He hasn’t let himself go unrewarded; he has allocated himself a farm and recently, flouting a High Court order against him, has chased Kevin du Boil and his workers out of their houses to take over the home for himself. But who Clever Kunonga is acting for is not immediately apparent. The Senator for the Chegutu district, Edna Madzongwe, led the violent takeover of Stockdale farm earlier this year just before the 6000 ton orange crop was due to be reaped. It is evident from information that has been given to us that she has put an end to the prosecution of Gilbert Moyo and his gang. This gang is up for various serious charges including our own abduction and kidnapping; the violent beatings Moyo administered to other farmers leaving permanent physical and mental damage; looting of numerous homesteads; shooting at my brother-in-law and peppering his vehicle with 14 bullet holes when he was trying to follow us when we were being kidnapped – the list could go on. He obviously has some powerful political backing: his name is not even up on the wanted list in the Chegutu police station.

The Chegutu police would not be able to act with such impunity over so many months if it weren’t for someone powerful like Edna Madzongwe [and her backing authority]. It is clear though that there are key people at the station. They are from the infamous PISI – the plain clothes men to which the uniformed branch are obliged to defer – Assistant Inspector Bepura being their leader. No one messes with them and they are never investigated. The rest of the police have to follow their orders. The higher ranks always have to have them in the office when it is a “political issue” – the break in to a farmer’s home or the stealing of his crops. The lower ranks are even afraid to talk to us now. They know that if they are seen talking to white people they might get disciplined, or they might simply disappear like Constable Tomano did some months ago after privately collecting statements of rape and beatings and severe violence, including killings, from the rural areas that the Chegutu police had allowed to take place last year.

The day before yesterday I phoned the joint Minister of Home Affairs who is supposed to be in charge of the police, Giles Matsekwa, and informed him of the invasions in Chegutu and what was going on. He said to me “I am in a crucial meeting.” I remonstrated with him calmly and tried to explain that what was happening was crucial to the lives of thousands of people not just the affected farmers. He eventually put the phone down on me. He knew he could do nothing. In the meantime thousands of people are losing their homes and livelihoods in our Chegutu district. Just like the railway workers in NAZI Germany who kept the death trains running, the lawless destruction of peoples’ lives is being allowed to continue unhindered month in and month out in Zimbabwe. Through this process, power is being consolidated and with the impotency of the democratic side of government, it unfortunately seems likely to simply continue to its logical and tragic end unless something is done very soon.

Ben Freeth. – Chegutu

Details of how you can take action to support the affected people in Chegutu at the end of this post, where we ask you to call or sms Inspector Biperu, Clever Kunonga, Kembo Mohadi and Herbert Murewa.

There is chaos in Chegutu. Several farms have been experiencing an upsurge in harassment and intimidation by thugs trying to force the farmers to vacate their land. The harassment is continuing today. The reports seem to indicate that the thugs are splitting up and re-grouping on different farms, the fact that they are being ‘bussed in’ pointing to a higher level of coordination with access to resources beyond the reach of a typical poverty-stricken opportunistic ’settler’.

There are allegations that Edna Madzongwe – Speaker of the House of Senate – is linked to the upsurge in harassment in the area and possibly orchestrating the invasions. Mudzongwe has already stolen land in the area: Aitape and Stockdale Citrus Estate. The rumours are that she is desperate to acquire another farm close-by before any agreements regarding land are formalised between South Africa and Zimbabwe.

We reported on Thursday about the harassment at Umvovo Farm – the family have been under continuous intimidation since then.

In addition, Wakefield Farm, owned by Ken Bartholomew and close to Umvovo Farm, was jambanja’d by a group of “invaders”. We have been advised that approximately 200 of Bartholomew’s workers and well-wishers turned out to support the farmer and cordoned off the area, averting the danger. News today is that Wakefield Farm is quiet again. However, it has to be noted that Bartholomew has been experiencing a great deal of harassment recently, and today’s quietness may not last very long.

Friday night was a very difficult night for the Beatties on Umvovo Farm, as per Sue Beattie’s sms messages sent to a friend, who has in turn been emailing them to Sokwanele:

00.06 am No sleep tonight. Drums and singing outside our bedroom window

5:37 Drums and raucous singing outside bedroom windows from midnight. Large fires one on porch nearly lit the thatch. We will move out today and Thomas will come each morning to see to the milking etc. This is too scary

5:38 They won’t let Thomas out this morning. Officer in charge did not come last night but think he phoned because it did quieten down. This am he has switched his phone off.

5:57 Drums have started again. They won’t let Thomas out until he brings his lorry to remove stuff.

11:44 We are making inroads packing 30yrs of stuff

Tensions on Umvovo Farm reached a high point this morning, Sunday. Ben Freeth was at Tom and Sue Beattie’s home, where he and the Beattie’s daughter and son-in-law (Simon and Sarah Jane Keagal) were being held hostage – locked in and denied permission to leave the farm – until such time as they agreed to take all possessions off the farm. In other words, they were told they could only leave if they took everything with them and left for good, paving the way for the invaders to take over the homestead.

They were eventually allowed to leave Umvovo Farm. The family have removed most of their valuables and the rest of their goods have been listed in an inventory, photographed and locked in four rooms in the homestead. The invaders finally relented and released them when, in response to their taunts that the Beatties must get out because ‘they are not Zimbabwean’, Sarah Jane, Beattie’s daughter burst into tears and in her impassioned response let them know she is Zimbabwean, she is born here and asked them where else is she meant to go.

Rainbow’s End Farm, owned by Doug and Charmaine Beattie and also in the area, was also subjected to harassment by the thugs. Sue Beattie sent these sms messages today:

8:12 am Today they are over at Douglas and Charmaine’s house (Beattie – Rainbow’s End Farm). Told them they have one day to get off. Thomas [Sue Beattie's husband, Umvovo Farm] now has an interdict to say we stay but sure it won’t hold water.

8:40 We are at Rainbow’s End. Did not see Kunonga. Saw Nico and Zvaita and then just rabble.

Some names recur through all reports of the cases. Edna Madzongwe is repeatedly alleged to be the ‘big-wig’ behind the intimidation; Clever Kunonga, former Lands Officer in Chegutu has been seen in more than one of the invasions and has been identified as one of the key organisers. Sylvester Hunyani has been named as the ‘Chief-thug’. His wife has been identified as accompanying him on at least one of the invasions. Hunyani’s brother-in-law, named as Nicolas (referred to as Nico in Sue Beattie’s sms messages) is also making an appearance on different farms under siege. On Umvovo Farm he ‘prowled around’ carrying a large wrench in a threatening manner.

Reports from the farm suggest that some of the thugs are losing their passion for the job at hand. According to sources with the group of thugs, they are meant to be paid US$160 per month to do the job and their pay is not always forthcoming. Their “work” of forced eviction is bolstered by the amount of marijuana in their systems and they are now losing heart and energy. The knowledge that money, a supply of drugs, and access to transport to move between farms, all supports the perception that someone at a higher level is organising this – that ’someone’ is rumoured to be Edna Mudzongwe.

As one person who contacted us commented: the invasions have nothing to do with ideology, it is all about greed and ethnic cleansing.

NB: This footage does not show what happened today. It reveals that Kunongo has done this before.

It has been a day of hell for Tom and Sue Beattie of Umvovo Farm in Chegutu. Justice for Agriculture (JAG) provided a distressing timeline of experiences for the Beatties (included in this post), culminating in today’s events, which began when Chegutu’s Lands Officer, Clever Kunonga, arrived at the Beatties home and demanded they leave the property.

The YouTube clip at the top of this post gives some sense of what the Beatties must have experienced. This clip does not show what happened today: it was filmed in March this year when thugs led by Clever Kunonga invaded Reydon Farm. The chaos and sense of imminent danger are palpable – something most people cannot comprehend.

Sue Beattie’s sms messages to a friend throughout the day today captured her sense of alarm, fear and despondancy:

9:19 am At the moment they are all around the house . Police doing nothing. Waiting for Land Officer Kunonga to bring official letter but he himself was fired by the governor last week.

9:23 am Stolen all the milk from the dairy. Dogs and horses all on the loose.

9:56 am Officer in charge Chegutu is outside on back of truck asking Tom what is way forward!

10:17 am Tom under physical threat.

10:23 am Appealed for help from deputy ass commissioner police

13:11 pm Tom has agreed to move furniture out even tho the governor says we should stay. They lit a huge fire outside the window. Scared it will set the house on fire (the house is thatched).

13:46 pm Hunyani is invader. His brother-in-law Nico is leader of invasion. Police member in charge is Zengeni. Kunonga is fired land officer. believe that Madzongwe is behind it. The supposed mediator is Madzongwe henchman.

17:20 Situation not changed altho authorities say it must not happen, it is happening and I am sitting amidst boxes in empty sittingroom.

That was today, but as the JAG email outlines, the Beatties have been under considerable pressure for some months now.

Background: The Beattie family were some of the most productive farmers in Zimbabwe.  When the rule of law prevailed they used to grow 1300 hectares of crops under irrigation and 1700 hectares of crops dry land. They also had a substantial livestock production enterprise.  In 2009 the 300 hectares of citrus trees are now all but completely ruined.  The approximately 3000 tons of commercial maize off 400 hectares and 600 tons of seed maize off 100 hectares is not able to be planted this planting season.  The 800 hectares of soya beans that they grew each year producing approximately 2000 tons of soya is not able to be planted in 2009 either.  The 800 hectares wheat crop which produced 5000 tons of wheat each year was also nonexistent this winter.  This year the invaders stopped all wheat from being grown on the farm and did not grow any themselves.  With the Zimbabwean national crop in 2009 the lowest ever at approximately 20,000 tons, the Beattie family alone could have increased the national crop by 20 percent if law and order were allowed to prevail in Zimbabwe.  The Beattie family used to employ between 1200 and 1400 workers in peak season.  This year the majority of these workers are unemployed.  63 double houses as well as 5 managers’ houses and 7 cottages on their estate have been taken over with the occupants being removed without eviction orders from any court.

Below are just some of the events that the Chegutu police have allowed to take place over the last few months that have led to such a dramatic break down in this once very productive farming operation:

14 August 2009: Invader Hanyani and people from the Ministry of lands came to demand use of cottage in garden of main homestead.

15 August 2009: The front gate was smashed and the locks removed.  5 vehicles drove into the garden and the invaders spent the whole night drinking and dancing.  Fires were lit on the lawn. A police report was made RRB no. 0611011 but Chegutu police did nothing to arrest the perpetrators.

16 August 2009: A goat was slaughtered and cooked on the lawn by the invaders while invaders carried on getting drunk.  Invader Hanyani and Nicholas led the break in to the main house area.  The cottage was then occupied and the furniture removed.  Sue Beattie was assaulted and threatened with a large iron bar to her neck.  Mr. Thomas Beattie finally got a police team out which included Assistant Inspector Bepura; Inspector Sasa and Inspector Zengeni.  Mrs. Beattie laid a charge against those who had assaulted her.  Police put pressure on Mr. Beattie to allow invader Hanyani and his wife to move into the cottage that they had broken into.

17 August 2009 and beyond: Sue Beattie had a doctors report regarding her bruised neck from the assault.  Given previous severe medical problems with her trachea the assault was potentially life threatening.  This report was taken to police Inspector Sasa in Chegutu police.  As at 24 November 2009 no follow up or arrests have been made.  Invaders Hanyani, Nicholas and others moved into the cottage.  Sue Beattie was then away until 10 October 2009 attending to her sick son, Hamish, who died at the age of 39 on the 5 October.  In the meantime the pressure and harassment from the invaders continued with them parking their vehicles in the garden by the main homestead, drinking, playing loud music at all hours of day and night and letting the Beattie’s dogs out.

9 October 2009: The invaders stole pipes and 95 liters of milk.  This was reported to Chegutu police but no arrests were made [RRB no. 0694062].

23 October 2009: The lock was broken to the stable office by the invaders .  This was reported to Chegutu police but no arrests were made [RRB no. 0699144].  Thomas Beattie was threatened by the invaders.  This was reported to Chegutu police but no arrest were made [RRB no. 0699145].

28 October 2009: Nicholas demanded of Sue Beattie, with threats and abuse, that the garden equipment be removed from the shed next to the back door of the homestead.  Sue Beattie made a report to police on 29 October and when police did nothing made a second report with Thomas Beattie on the 30 October.  When nothing happened to restore law and order they also submitted a letter to the Officer in charge Chegutu police but still nothing happened to stop the invaders.

1 November 2009: Police told Thomas Beattie that he must remove his guards.  Invader Hanyani threatened Thomas Beattie with violence.

2 November 2009: The stable block of out buildings near to the homestead was taken over by invader Hanyani.  Invader Hanyani vandalized the stables by knocking down the interior walls and blocking up the doors.  A lock was removed from the access gate.  Buckets and a watering can and a badza were stolen by the invaders from the garden.

5 November 2009: Sue Beattie wrote a letter to invader Hanyani which was copied to the police asking invader Hanyani not to continue to harass her and disturb the peace and to return her stolen garden implements.

15 November 2009: Thomas Beattie was threatened by Nicholas and another new invader called Seti who said he was there to make sure that he evicted the Beattie’s.  Thomas Beattie left to get his guards and make a report to the police.  The police came out and invader Nicolas made a false report that Thomas Beattie had made racist comments.  The police threatened to arrest both parties.

22 November 2009: Invader Hanyani put his own lock on the main gate.

23 November 2009: Invaders locked the Beatties out of their home.  They chased Thomas Beattie with sjamboks and sticks.  The Beatties workers in the citrus orchards were also chased away.  A report was made to the Chegutu police but no arrests were made [RRB no. 0699145] and the Beatties were blocked from getting to their home that night.

24 November 2009: Another report is made to the Chegutu police.  Invader Hanyani said that he would give the Beattie’s a key to the gate where he had also put an armed guard.  He did not do so.  Invader Seti threatened violence with a sjambok but eventually allowed Sue Beattie to her house on foot.  The oil from the generator was stolen as well as the diesel from the tractor in the invaded stable yard.  A report to Police was made but no one was arrested [ report RRB no. 0699159 ]

25 November 2009: Sue Beattie took video footage of invader Nicolas coming at her in a very threatening manner.  He proceeded to swear abuse at her and threaten her.

26 November 2009: Lands officer Kunonga along with invader Hanyani and other thugs arrived early at the Beattie’s home early in the morning to demand that the Beattie’s vacate their home.  A report was made to police.  At time of writing the situation is very threatening and Chegutu police still refuse to stop the harassment.  Strategic fires have been lit around the thatched double storey homestead and the threat of being burnt out is very real.  The member in charge Chegutu Police Station, Inspector Zengeni, the stood down lands officer Kunonga and Edna Madzongwe are all involved in this lawless attack.

Gideon Gono

There’s a lot of chat among Zimbabweans at the moment about the rumours we are hearing of massive production of Zimbabwe dollar bills.

The talk is that these bills are being transferred into big-wig bank accounts (people like Gono and his crew) which are swelling fast with Zim dollars.

People are speculating that these individuals, who have already enriched themselves at the expense of the Zimbabwe economy, are readying themselves for the day the Ministry of Finance decides on a rate to reimburse all those people who had Zim dollars in their account shortly before dollarisation.

As worthless as the Zimbabwe dollar was at the time, it is acknowledged that the switch to a different currencies left those who only had Zim dollars, and no US or Rands, with a disadvantage.

So the thinking on the streets is that Gono and his sordid crew are packing their accounts to the gills with local currency which they plan to exchange for the real-deal – US dollars – when the reimbursement rate is announced.

Currency manipulation wouldn’t be a new trick in their books and their past antics explain why Zimbabweans are so suspicious of them.

Prior to dollarisation Gono and Co. had access to lots and lots of Zimbabwe dollars (while ordinary people had to queue for days and days at the banks to get their hands on a few notes at a time) and they also had access to foreign currency at a very favourable government rate. What they did was buy up foreign currency at a low rate, and then sell it on the streets at a much higher rate for a lot more Zim dollars, and then roll those Zim dollars into buying more currency which they would sell again,  rapidly (and I mean rapidly!) enriching themselves.

The new reimbursement rate has yet to be announced and one of the reasons is we think Tendia Biti is looking hard into who was ripping the system in those days and who was not. Will heads roll? Probably not – a fact Zimbabweans are finding very difficult to swallow indeed. And that fact that the principle agent of our economy’s downfall has managed to escape accountability makes the rest of us think he’ll begin to believe he leads a charmed life, and more likely to carry on trying to steal from the people.

Its clear from the chat in town, that when there’s talk of new cash around – especially crisp wads of Zimbabwe dollars -  people immediately swing their minds to the myriad of ways the corrupt Zanu PF loyalists will trip over themselves to try and exploit it to their advantage, and to the disadvantage of the nation.

If public opinion was something Zanu PF cared about, then the lack of trust that surrounds them and their activities would be something they tried very hard to address.

The other Gono related joke causing much amusement is the news that he has been given the role of Secretary for Finance in Zanu PF Manicaland Province. Everyone responds immediately with the words “Good, they can have him!”

Most of us are hoping Gono will be as efficient at looting Zanu PF coffers as he was the nation’s. Maybe then Zanu PF will have less money to pay the youth militia who go around beating us up and ruining our lives!