Top Stories Issue 25 from theZimbabwean Newspaper 1. Indaba hears shocking details of police brutality in Marange Pullout Even the colonial regime could not treat us this bad Andrew Mambondiyani, Mutare With plans by the government to whittle down the number of companies extracting the rich resource in Marange from the current seven to two companies, the diamond companies have scale down operations and opportunities for illegal diamond mining have opened up. But illegal panners caught by the police have suffered brutal abuse at the hands of law enforcement agents. Innocent people - even wayfarers - have also been caught in this vicious police dragnet, which has all the characteristics of the villainous 2008 Operation Hakudzokwi, when the government brutally evicted illegal panners from the diamonds fields to make way for formal mining. As villagers narrated their ordeals at the hands of law enforcement agents during the recent mining indaba here, the president of the Chiefs Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, expressed shock. As did the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Water, Anastancia Ndhlovu. The abuses are taking place far from the prying eyes of human rights watchers as international diamond markets have warmed up to Marange diamonds. thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/72236/indaba-hears-shocking-details-of.html 2. NHEMA ATTACKS ‘new’ farmers STAFF REPORTER, RUSAPE Zim-Asset will never work because most resettled farmers have failed to work the land effectively, says Francis Nhema, the Minister of Youth Affairs, Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment. Speaking at a workshop to familiarise civil servants, the business community and Zanu (PF) officials on what is expected of them under the government’s economic blueprint, Nhema said government’s efforts to improve people’s lives were being hampered by the country’s failure to produce enough food. “If you do not make the best out of what you have, then how can we as a nation better the lives of our people? You were provided with the land, given equipment and inputs, but some of you are doing nothing on those farms,” he said. Most of the resettled farmers had sold everything and were busy running down the farms, added the minister. “You cannot even afford to grow the right crops suitable for your region. So what are we doing? Can we go anywhere like that? It’s bad. We must love our nation, we must love each other and have one purpose if we want Zim-Asset to work,” he said. Question: Why do you think the resettled farmers are failing to be productive? thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/72237/nhema-attacks-new-farmers.html 3. Mugabe tells children whites deserve no land Nelson Sibanda, Harare Whites deserved no farming land in Zimbabwe because they came from elsewhere, President Robert Mugabe told the Zimbabwe Junior Parliament in Harare on Saturday. He said whites were free to live in the country doing other activities besides owning the land. “One of the major objectives of the liberation struggle was to evict the white settlers from the land since they had the option of going back to their countries of origin,” said. Mugabe told the children that blacks had to regain the land robbed from their parents by whites. “Unemployment to us is not as statistics would want people to believe. Those in town are double dwellers as they have a plot elsewhere from which they can make a living. Kana usina munda wekurima aaa hameno unenge uyine kwawakabva,” said Mugabe, pointing out that children should be educated about the country’s history, the current situation and the future. Question: Do you think whites should be allowed to own land in Zimbabwe? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72224/mugabe-tells-children-whites-deserve.html 4. Apostolic sect causes health crisis Subhead: We are tired of burying Apostolic members says chief Pullout Children’s graves cover an acre of land Staff Reporter, Harare Hundreds of Apostolic sect members, particularly children, are dying as their church bars them from seeking medical health. Their deaths go unrecorded because of lack of documentation. “This is a national but silent crisis that requires urgent attention from government and human rights organisations. It is a sad thing that most of the victims are innocent children and young women,” said Melanie Chiponda of the Chiadzwa Community Development Trust (CCDT) this week. It is difficult to establish the exact figures because surviving family members do not seek burial orders, while local community structures do not record the deaths. But rights activists believe several hundreds die every year. Question: Do you think the Vapostori should be forced to let their children received medical care? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72251/apostolic-sect-causes-health-crisis.html 5. Destructive weed threatens Mat South Nelson Sibanda, Harare A devastating plant has invaded some 3,000 hectares of Matabeleland South Province and could spread to other areas if preventive measures are not taken urgently. Treasury must release funding urgently to fight Capytusrosea weed, which destroys both land and livestock, Petronella Shoko, the Director for Environmental Protection with the Environmental Management Authority, recently told a Parliamentary Committee. EMA requested for $2.5 million dollars from the Ministry of Finance for the fight, but nothing has been released yet. The weed hinders growth of native vegetation including pastures and cause wounds and blindness in animals. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72252/destructive-weed-threatens-mat-south.html 6. Tokwe Mukosi project runs out of money Regerai Tukutuku, MASVINGO Construction of the giant Tokwe Mukosi dam in Masvingo has again come to a halt because government has run out funds. Several workers from the Italian contractor Salin Impregilo were last week sent on unpaid leave and it has emerged that several companies subcontracted to undertake some of the work have advised their workers not to report for duty until further notice. We have been ordered to go home until the government secures further funding but I think this is just going to be for a small period, said one of the workers who requested anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the press. thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/72240/tokwe-mukosi-project-runs-out.html 7. Govt invests $3.4m in Harare water Pay your bills Kasukuwere urges residents Thabani Dube, Harare Harare City Council has received a major boost to improve water delivery following a $3.4m grant under Zim-Fund to repair a water treatment plant at Morton Jaffray plant. “The money adds on to the $144.4m Chinese loan and is financing rehabilitation of Unit 8 of the 13 water clarifiers at MJ,” Harare Water director, Engineer Christopher Zvobgo told The Zimbabwean. ******** Unit 8 has the capacity to treat 60 mega-litres (ML) of drinkable water a day. “Clarifiers 1-7 with a capacity to treat 160ML daily are being repaired under Chinese funding. Units 9 to 13 are all functional and currently producing 450ML per day and if completed the whole plant has capacity to produce 670ML daily,” he said. The projects were delayed by the late arrival of equipment from China as a result of floods in Mozambique. “It was something beyond our control. But now work is ongoing and we expect the whole project to be done by December 2015.” Question: Do you think people should pay their water bills? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72242/govt-invests-34m-in-harare.html 8. 27 municipal vehicles under the hammer pullout Workers will be offered residential stands as part payment Nelson Sibanda, Harare Twenty seven Marondera Municipality vehicles attached recently following the local authority’s failure to pay workers’ salaries since 2010, are to be auctioned next week. All council vehicles save for ambulances, refuse collection trucks and a van used by the town engineer, will be disposed of should the authority fail to pay workers the outstanding $198,000 by Thursday. If the council pays the arrears and saves the vehicles from the auctioneer’s hammer, it will face more woes as lawyers representing the workers want other arrears for 2011-2013, totalling close to $1 million, to be settled. Highly placed sources at the council said frantic efforts were being made to raise the money. Question: Do you think council vehicles should be sold to pay staff? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72243/27-municipal-vehicles-under-the.html 9. ANALYSIS WITH JERA Forgiven but not forgotten Pullout For every hare that escapes the predator’s jaw, another is eaten A fortnight ago Robert Mugabe called Jonathan Moyo ‘the devil incarnate,’ which is really worse that it reads. If Mugabe thinks in his mother tongue, like most of us, when he framed the insult ‘devil incarnate’, it would in all probability have been ‘satani.’ Anyone who has ever heard an angry elderly person shouting ‘satani!’ will understand the severity. In the aftermath of this verbal blitz, it is believed Moyo scurried about doing damage control, first with a visit to the influential security chiefs and then to Mugabe himself. Over the imposing perimeter wall at State House, palls of smoke were seen rising skyward. In these wintry afternoons, the smoke could have been from a chimney. The smoke could have been someone burning hedge clippings. Those in the know attribute the smoke to the peace pipe shared by Mugabe and Moyo. Driving home with locked doors, he might have checked the rear-view mirror several times. Perhaps at some stage he pulled over and looked under the bonnet, listening for a tick-tock sound. Even though he had been forgiven, Moyo must have sensed that not all had been forgotten. In the jungle, for every hare that escapes the predator’s jaw, another is eaten. Within days of the Professor’s stay of execution, one of Moyo’s recent editorial appointments, Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi was arrested at his lawyer’s office. Earlier, a heavily armed police unit had raided his home, as if they had expected armed resistance of Chimurenga proportions. Question: Do you think Edmund Kudzayi is Amai Jukwa or Baba Jukwa or both? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72246/forgiven-but-not-forgotten.html 10. ANALYSIS WITH JERA – More arrests Among the entire Zimpapers stable, only one editor, Mududuzi Mathuthu of The Chronicle has commented about Kudzayi and the Baba Jukwa saga. The other scribes, either fearing reprisals or out of loyalty to their paymaster, have remained tight-lipped. Mathuthu published a longwinded opinion piece in which he implies Kudzayi is not Baba Jukwa because, well, his syntax is too perfect. On the day of the police dawn raid at Kudzayi’s home, Mathuthu’s house was burgled. The security guard was struck by a severe case of temporary deafness – similar to that experienced by the farm guards when General Solomon Mujuru died mysteriously in an inferno. What are the chances of that happening? The intruders got away with, among other things, the tool of Mathuthu’s trade – his laptop. As if anyone has accused them of anything, police say there is no link to their raid on Kudzayi’s home and the almost simultaneous burglary at the Mathuthu residence. One would be forgiven for thinking that Mathuthu is nervous about something. If Kudzayi’s arrest is linked to the ‘enemies within’, as said by Mugabe in his funeral rant, Mathuthu might very well be wondering if there are more arrests to follow. Kudzayi once wrote for New Zimbabwe and is credited with an article which revealed Bona Mugabe’s alleged rape in Singapore. In the chilly, lice-infested silence of remand prison, he must wonder what demon of naivety had possessed him to think that the past would not return to haunt him. It is possible that Kudzayi has been targeted for his past association with New Zimbabwe. But he is not the only turncoat within Zanu (PF). Psychology Maziwisa who regularly shares his educated opinion on the MDC-T is also a former critic of Mugabe, as is Jonathan Moyo. Question: Do you think Mududuzi Mathuthu has something to hide? thezimbabwean.co/news/analysis/72249/more-arrests.html 11. Should we forgive Mugabe? – by Vince Museve Pullout If we do not forgive we will remain shackled It was Mark Twain who once remarked that forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. It such a difficult thing to do, to forgive a man who has caused so much pain and suffering to millions - yet remains arrogant and steadfast in his old ways. It is such a difficult undertaking to forgive somebody who has done irreparable damage to our beautiful country – yet remains convinced that only he is right. But if we do not forgive we will remain shackled and imprisoned by a past we need to forget. Millions of peace loving, humble, hardworking Zimbabweans all over the world must choose to perform menial tasks - not because they have no skills, or because they do not wish for a better life, but because this man has lived. They are condemned to sub-standard lives. They survive each day without much and continue to hope that the nightmare will soon be over. Millions pray each day and wonder where God is and why we must continue to witness such evil. Question: Do you think we should forgive Mugabe? Do you think we need to forgive him before we can more forward as a nation? thezimbabwean.co/comment/opinion/72229/should-we-forgive-mugabe.html 12. Diaspora remittances fall Subhead: As first generation exiles settle down abroad S first: Yet again, it seems that remittances are on the decline, those billions of dollars for which Zimbabweans around the globe have toiled to make life livable or invest in a future for family back home. Why are they falling and what does this mean for the relationship between the diaspora and motherland? ZARA MHOFU reports. Dear Mr Finance Minister, the diaspora will not engage with you, sending you money to support the very regime that forced them to abandon their motherland. They cannot forgive or forget the devaluations, the wheelbarrows of cash, shortages, separation of families, deconstruction of society, stolen votes, violence, intimidation and deaths. The disenfranchised and displaced ask you: where is the dignity in coming cap in hand to us when you are living in and managing a country rich in diamonds, fertile land and abundant tourism opportunities? Thus, we will choose financially to support causes, charities, projects, people and businesses that demonstrate good governance, not government led tin-pot schemes that lack accountability and transparency. Question: Would you contribute to a government diaspora project? thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/72231/diaspora-remittances-fall.html 13. White farmers knew what to do says Muzenda Regerai Tukutuku, GUTU A senior government official has be-moaned the loss of white farmers displaced by the government under its chaotic and corrupt land “reform” programme. Addressing villagers in Gutu last week Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Tongai Muzenda, who is also the son of the late Vice President Simon Muzenda, said former white farmers had skills and knew well the types of farming which suited particular areas in the country. The former white farmers knew what they were doing and this area of Gutu West used to have a herd of close to 60,000 - but now all is history. We want to return to those golden days when the country was among the best beef producers and exporters in southern Africa, said Muzenda, the MP for Gutu West. The former white farmers knew very well that there is no crop you can produce in this part of the country hence they concentrated on cattle production, said Muzenda. We have to find ways of reviving cattle production in Gutus Chatsworth area by ensuring that each family has at least two heifers for breeding, he said. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72225/white-farmers-knew-what-to.html 14. GOOD NEWS Young tomato farmers reach new markets Pullout This programme aims to more than double the incomes of smallholder farmers Unemployed youths who once struggled to make a living through their small homestead farms in Burma Valley south of Mutare are now smiling all the way to the bank following successful tomato farming and marketing techniques. CLAYTON MASEKESA reports. BURMA VALLEY Many youths in this area have grown food crops to feed their families, but they earned little income from their crop because of poor quality and limited access to markets. Powerless, they had no choice but to accept the low prices offered by middlemen who visited their fields. “Life was hard. I could not afford to send our young brothers to school, nor could we afford health care for our families. We only had one meal a day and could barely afford proper housing,” said John Biriwasha, who is now the chairman of the Burma Valley Producer Business Group. thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/72221/young-tomato-farmers-reach-new.html 15. Mass movement of people in search of water causes friction in Manicaland Pullout Governments will become more totalitarian in their efforts to keep order in the face of chaos S first: There are growing fears that the new wave of mass movement of people from lower dry areas to the rich, wetter highlands might trigger serious clashes, writes Andrew Mambondiyani. Rural community meetings, such as one held recently in Mpudzi Resettlement Scheme south of Mutare, are usually placid affairs dealing with mundane matters. Not any more. In the province, known for its highlands, good rains and rich soils, the meetings have increasingly taken on a belligerent edge, due to the influx of land invaders settling upstream and clogging water sources. This is largely the consequence of climate change-induced migration as new settlers leave their low-lying dry regions for areas with better rains and prospects for agriculture. The Mpudzi meeting almost degenerated into a mass brawl, as villagers accused local traditional leaders of illegally settling newcomers in undesignated areas and threatening the livelihoods of the original communities. Some of the illegal settlers have been irregularly resettled or allocated themselves land on areas set aside for grazing. thezimbabwean.co/news/zimbabwe/72263/mass-movement-of-people-in.html 16. Matters of the Heart with Aunty Lisa Don’t cross that line I am a young lady aged 22 and my mother is 38, she had me when she was young. She is currently dating a man five years younger than her and I honestly don’t see her as my mother but my sister. That is how I grew up knowing her - as my grandmother was trying to avoid the community from stigmatising her. So the problem now is that we are getting close with her boyfriend, who is supposed to be my stepfather. I am beginning to have some strong feelings for him and I am suspecting he is feeling the same way for me. – Nicola Question : How would you advise Nicola to deal with her feelings? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72258/dont-cross-that-line.html 17. ENTERTAINMENT - Turbulent musical waters infested by male crocodiles Kenneth Matimaire, MUTARE A lot of noise has been made about Zimbabwe joining the rest of the world in promoting gender equality in its social, political and economic structures. Due to the energetic activities of several female pressure groups, commendable developments have been made in the business sector - though sadly the same cannot be said politically. Though the new constitution provides for gender equality, the Cabinet appointments following last year’s elections shunned women to a large extent. And the same is true of the arts sector. While calls have been made for equal gender representation in political and economic spheres, it is very disappointing to note that less effort has been made in the male-dominated arts sector. It has become a bottle-neck industry, where male artists get visible recognition way ahead of their female counterparts. Such miscarriage of justice has harboured a patriarchal arts industry - making it extremely difficult for promising female artists to break the gender barriers. Question: What do you think can be done to level out the gender imbalance in the arts sector? Do you think the gender imbalance in the arts sector is a problem? thezimbabwean.co/articles/72265/turbulent-musical-waters-infested-by.html 18. ENTERTAINMENT Dongo promises surprises on new album Kenneth Matimaire, HARARE Talented urban grooves vocalist Trevor Dongo features two foreign artists from Zambia and South Africa in his highly anticipated album titled Two Steps to Go. “There will be surprise features on my album. It will feature a Zambian and a South African artist but I can’t say more on that. I want it to be a surprise to my fans,” said Dongo in a recent interview. The album, expected to be released on July 26, features 10 tracks including the hit single called Handisi Kumira – which is already causing a frenzy shortly after its release. The single received overwhelming cheers from patrons during an explosive performance at the recent Miss Zimbabwe beauty pageant. The track also topped the Power FM Charts last week. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72264/surprises-on-new-album-dongo.html 19. SPORT A SELECTION AS USUAL PLEASE Barclays Premier League Roundup Mxolisi Ncube JOHANNESBURG England have embarrassingly crashed out of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, automatically shifting British focus to the Barclays Premiership. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72200/barclays-premier-league-roundup.html Chipere chases own record Sports Reporter HARARE Veteran long distance runner, Brighton Chipere, is training hard to break his own record at the annual Nelson Mandela Day Marathon, which takes place in KwaZulu Natal in August. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72201/chipere-chases-own-record.html No relegation fears yet: GSC Brenna Matendere GWERU Gweru Sports Club, who have failed to find a winning formula since the beginning of the season, have allayed fears crippling their fans that the club could be relegated from the National Rugby League. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72203/no-relegation-fears-yet-gsc.html Dube blames Warriors debacle on Gorowa HARARE Zifa president Cuthbert Dube has blamed the senior men’s national soccer team’s recent bad showing in the Afcon qualifier on Coach Ian Gorowa. thezimbabwean.co/articles/72202/dube-blames-warriors-debacle-on.html
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 07:56:25 +0000
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