Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe along with First Lady Grace. She made a powerful and defiant speech calling for the continuation of ZANU-PF rule in this southern African nation.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
From Caesar Zvayi in DOHA, Qatar
Courtesy of the Zimbabwe Herald
THE developing world should pool resources to set up an investment bank to spur development in the South, President Mugabe has said.
The President, who was speaking in an interview with journalists after holding bilateral talks with Ivorian President Mr Laurent Gbagbo on the sidelines of the ongoing International Follow-up Conference on Financing for Development, said it was important for the developing world to use its own resources before looking to outsiders for assistance.
Sources close to the Ivorian president said the two leaders had met to discuss the initiative.
‘‘I agree with that initiative, it is in line really with some of the thinking that we have that we should, even before we ask the rest of the world to assist us, try to use our own resources and ensure that we pool our resources and try to cause development in our own regions from our own resources, and only then do we go out to ask the outsiders to complement our own resources,’’ Cde Mugabe said.
The Monterrey Consensus, the landmark North-South agreement on financing for development, identifies the mobilisation of domestic resources as one of the pillars for development finance.
‘‘An investment bank is a development bank,’’ Cde Mugabe said, ‘‘and if we can, ourselves, create that bank, contribute capital in establishing that bank and then, of course, we can also, because of our international relations, invite other countries outside to make the necessary contributions that will complement our effort. We then could use that bank for purposes of enabling development to occur in our countries.’’
The President said such an institution was not only vital for development but would also enhance the goal of continental unity.
‘‘In my view, it’s a necessary instrument for the enhancement of the African Union. What union are we establishing if it’s a union without the likes of investment banks and similar other institutions?
‘‘The bank could then have regional branches, spread its arms across the regions of Africa. So it’s a brilliant idea and I applaud it,’’ he said.
Observers say the envisaged Union Government would remain a pipedream as long as the AU depended on external funding to bankroll the bulk of its programmes as some in the donor community did not want to see a united Africa, but a divided one so they can play one country against another.
For instance, the AU is currently saddled with various institutions that have become African in name only due to external funding.
Bodies that come to mind are the Pan African Parliament and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights that have become conduits of Western rhetoric.
Plans for the investment bank could not have come at a better time given the indifference the developed world apparently gave the ongoing Doha conference as the G8 leaders were represented only by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with the heads of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organisation all conspicuous by their absence.
This prompted delegates to question the developed world’s commitment to the Monterrey Consensus that proposed that Official Development Assistance be hiked to bankroll development in the developing world.
Earlier on, President Mugabe had a one-on-one meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon.
The UN boss not only refused to shed light on deliberations, but he also refused to pronounce himself on the illegal sanctions some Western countries imposed on Zimbabwe as he refused to take questions from Zimbabwean journalists after the meeting.
Ironically, the Secretary-General’s Office has released several statements expressing "concern" over the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, not least the recent cholera outbreak that has been traced to the effects of the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among other countries.
The sanctions have since been condemned the world over by, among others, the AU, Comesa and Sadc, and recently received the surprise censure of MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party had been defending them over the past eight years.
The President also held one-on-one talks with Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika.
Details of the meeting were also not available.
Most Harare suburbs go without water
Herald Reporters
Most parts of Harare — including the city centre — did not get water yesterday amid claims by Zinwa staff that the authority had stopped pumping after it ran out of one of the essential chemicals, aluminium sulphate.
Aluminium sulphate is used to clarify water, but its supply has been erratic in recent weeks.
No official comment could be obtained from Zinwa last night as its senior officials could not be reached.
Only Harare water general manager Engineer Lisben Chipfunde was reachable, but he declined to comment saying he was on leave.
But Zinwa workers at Warren Control said there was no pumping at Morton Jaffray Waterworks, but could not say when pumping would resume.
Other Zinwa sources said the water authority had "yet to receive a consignment of chemicals imported from South Africa through funding from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe".
Zinwa recently received $374,2 quadrillion to address the water crisis, particularly in the southwest of the city, hit by a cholera outbreak centred on Budiriro Government also paid 8,7 million rand on behalf of Zinwa for the importation of water treatment chemicals.
In an interview yesterday, the Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said the Government and its partners were still compiling the latest cholera statistics.
"I continue to worry over the water situation and sewer reticulation in the country, especially during the current rainy season," he said.
The Government and its partners, Dr Parirenyatwa said, would continue to educate people on how to avoid contracting the deadly disease.
"I want to stress the issue of shaking hands. Although it’s part of our tradition to shake hands, it’s high time people stopped shaking hands," he said.
Dr Parirenyatwa has assured the nation that the country’s health system was on high alert and taking all necessary measures to control and manage the cholera outbreak.
He also confirmed that a total of 11 071 suspected cholera cases had been reported at health centres in the country’s nine provinces except Matabeleland North.
He also dismissed reports by some sections of the international media that claimed that Government was falsifying cholera statistics to cover up for its shortcomings.
No land changes: Govt
Herald Reporter-Bulawayo Bureau
THE Sadc Tribunal’s ruling that 78 white former commercial farmers whose properties were compulsorily acquired by Government for resettlement could keep their farms will not reverse land reforms.
Responding to the ruling made last Friday, the Minister of State for National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement,
Cde Didymus Mutasa, described the tribunal as "daydreaming" and said the Government would disregard the judgment.
He said the Sadc Tribunal would not stall the land reform programme to please former colonial masters.
"They (the tribunal) are day-dreaming because we are not going to reverse the land reform exercise," he said.
Cde Mutasa emphasised that the Government would accelerate the land reform programme instead.
He said remaining white-owned farms would be acquired by Government for the benefit of those left out of the programme since 2000.
Cde Mutasa said it was important for the Government to protect the majority black farmers who were marginalised for decades.
On Friday, the Sadc Tribunal ruled that 78 white farmers could keep their farms because the land reform programme discriminated against them.
President of the tribunal Judge Luis Mondlane said the Zimbabwean Government had violated the treaty governing the 15-nation regional bloc by compulsorily acquiring white-owned farms for resettlement.
"The 78 applicants have a clear legal title (for their farms) and were denied access to the judiciary locally," he said.
Judge Mondlane ordered the Government "to take all measures to protect the possessions and ownership" of the 75 farmers
still on their farms.
However, Cde Mutasa dismissed the call to protect the farmers, saying Government would treat white farmers equally as everyone else.
"There is nothing special about the 75 farmers and we will take more farms. It’s not discrimination against farmers, but correcting land imbalances," he said.
The verdict was the first major ruling by the Sadc Tribunal since it first convened in April last year.
The group of white farmers was led by William Michael Campbell, who filed the case last December to seek court relief "from a continued onslaught of invasions and intimidation", according to court papers.
But a lawyer representing resettled farmers, Advocate Farai Mutamangira, described the ruling by the regional court as shocking because it ignored the history of the land issue in Zimbabwe.
He said the tribunal had consistently demonstrated lack of understanding of land reform in Zimbabwe and its meaning to Zimbabweans.
"The tribunal deliberately chose to ignore history and proceeded to decide the matter outside of its historical context. The tribunal got the whole matter wrong at both the municipal and international law. There were so many avenues of escape for the tribunal.
"There are more than 100 reasons and grounds upon which the tribunal could have made findings in favour of the beneficiaries of the land reform, but deliberately chose not to do so," he said.
Adv Mutamangira questioned the logic for and reasons as well as the jurisprudence that the tribunal is developing for the region.
He added that the tribunal decision was completely at variance with the whole essence of liberation and self-determination.
"In short, the tribunal has behaved like a colonial court of the 1950s and 60s by entrenching and protecting colonial minority interests," he said.
Government, Adv Mutamangira said, would not abandon its policy on land on the basis of the shocking ruling by the tribunal.
Continue supporting Govt policies: Chihuri
Crime Reporter
POLICE officers must remain resolute and steadfast in supporting Government policies designed to turn around the economic fortunes of the country, Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri has said.
He was speaking at Morris Depot in Harare last Friday during
the conferment of new ranks to recently promoted 41 superintendents, 167 inspectors and chief inspectors.
"You must strive to play a pivotal role in creating a conducive environment to bolster investor confidence in the country so that the orgy of criminal entrepreneurship that has gripped the nation is brought to a halt," Comm-Gen Chihuri said.
He called upon the newly elevated officers to have high ambitions and selflessly serve, protect and defend the people of this country as enshrined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
"Let me call upon the newly promoted officers to exhibit exemplary behaviour so that your subordinates can learn from you. To this end, the need to religiously uphold the ethics of our organisation cannot be over-emphasised.
"I urge you to be torchbearers whose behaviour is in tandem with your newly earned status. There is need to safeguard our norms and values as espoused in the Police Service Charter, as these remain the fundamental navigating principles in our operations," he said.
Comm-Gen Chihuri also said society required a quality-focused police force that guarantees their safety and security needs.
"It is, therefore, imperative that the police observe the sacrosanct rights of individuals since trampling of these rights undermines the integrity of police as a whole," he said.
The police chief said the ever-mutating policing terrain in which the force find itself required incumbent officers to remain vigilant, far-sighted and ready to grapple with unfolding policing challenges.
"Officers should be meticulous and innovative enough to thwart any criminal sophistry, including terrorism. All terror gangs need to be accounted for and be punished accordingly," he said.
He urged the officers to remain focused at all times as they discharge their duties and enhance those processes by guiding operational plans to realise the long-term vision of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
"Let me hasten to point out that the objectives behind all is to make positive contributions to society. It is important that police officers carry out introspection and find creative ways of providing quality services to the nation," he said.
‘Work together to ensure food security’
By Sydney Kawadza
ZIMBABWEANS should work together to boost agricultural production and ensure food security so that the country stops relying on donor organisations, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga has said.
Speaking during the launch of the National Food Security Programme in Matabeleland North and South, Gen Chiwenga urged people to be wary of aid promised by some organisations who want to push other agendas in the country.
"The fight for food security needs us to work as a united people with a single goal to eradicate hunger which has caused many problems in the society," he said.
Gen Chiwenga said families were breaking apart while communities have turned against each other because of food shortages in the country.
"There is no need for us to expect manna from heaven, but work hard to produce all the food we need in the country. The reliance on non-governmental organisations has left us exposed to some countries that want to take advantage of us.
"There are organisations which come to us pretending to sympathise with us when they are actually targeting our resources. If we let them get our land and resources, then we will be definitely recolonised," he said.
Gen Chiwenga, who is the chairman of the Champion Farmer identification committee, said Zimbabwe has numerous resources and people should work hard to protect them against external forces.
He said Government, through the National Resource Mobilisation and Utilisation Committee, would continue to source more seed and fertilizers so that people produce more food.
"We are continuing to import more seed, which will be distributed to farmers around the country. I would, however, want to urge farmers to fully utilise these inputs," Gen Chiwenga said.
The chairman of the National Resource Mobilisation and Utilisation Committee’s logistics sub-committee, Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, who accompanied Gen Chiwenga during the launches, said the committee was still facing transport problems.
"We continue to face serious transport problems with transporters asking to be paid in foreign currency or fuel coupons.
"The transporters are complaining about the inter-bank exchange rates and this has caused serious delays in distributing the inputs to the people," he said.
Brig Gen Nyikayaramba said more seed was coming into the country and people should continue planting.
Agriculture experts have urged farmers to continue planting until December 15. Gen Chiwenga, Brig Gen Nyikayaramba, Matabeleland North Provincial Governor Cde Thokozile Mathuthu, Matabeleland South Governor Cde Angeline Masuku and senior Government officials distributed small grain seeds to villagers in the two provinces.
Government has set a target of 500 000 hectares of maize production while a further 200 000 has been set aside for small grain production.
Under the National Food Security Programme, targeted farmers are getting fertilizers, chemicals and seed for maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, beans, upland rice and other small grains.
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