Finance Minister suspends British branch as Zimbabweans in exile are accused
of ‘bleeding movement dry’

By Alex Duval Smith in Harare and Archie Bland

Thursday, 31 December 2009

The overseas offices of Zimbabwe’s opposition face a “huge” corruption
problem, with £57,000 missing from the British branch of the Movement for
Democratic Change alone, according to a senior official of the cash-strapped
party.

In February the MDC joined an inclusive government with Robert Mugabe’s
Zanu-PF, and is dependent on the activism and support of up to 4 million
Zimbabweans who have left the country in the past 10 years.

The MDC’s treasurer-general, Roy Bennett, said yesterday that the British
branch – second only to the South African office of the party in
importance – had been suspended in the wake of what Mr Bennett describes as
a problem the party faced “everywhere”.

Mr Bennett, 52, said that although a formal instruction had yet to be given,
all other overseas branches would be disbanded. He said that MDC branches
across the world faced rogue elements. “They are bleeding us,” he said. “I
would hate to know the amount of money that has been raised by Zimbabweans
in exile purporting to represent the MDC. They have used the MDC name and
pocketed the money.”

The UK and Ireland provincial executive has been suspended pending an
investigation into what the MDC Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, described as
“shocking” financial irregularities in a November letter announcing the
action.

But UK-based MDC officials yesterday played down the claims, insisting that
any financial irregularities under its supervision were not the result of
corruption. “It’s more to do with the way the money was remitted to Harare,”
said Jeff Sango, chairman of the MDC in the South-east of England. “The
people who were supposed to make the investigation should come here and do
that investigation. There is no evidence right now. It is only an
allegation.”

The MDC has about 800 active members in the UK. According to UK-based
officials, about 70 per cent of funds raised from members – including via
the sale of £70 membership cards – are sent back to Zimbabwe, with the rest
used to cover administrative costs. But the MDC in Harare says that the
British branch failed to submit adequate financial reports.

Mr Biti also noted “extensive bickering” in the UK and Ireland branches of
the party. His younger brother Stanford, a vehement critic of the British
party organisation, is alleged to have pelted members of the executive
committee with eggs.

The former opposition party is trying to convince highly educated
Zimbabweans abroad to return home. According to Zimbabwe’s finance ministry,
the diaspora sent home £100m in remittances to relatives in 2009 – about the
same amount as the European Union gave in aid. But repeated calls by the
Prime Minister, the MDC’s leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for the return of
teachers, nurses, doctors and business people have met with reluctance, amid
scepticism over the progress of the inclusive government. Earlier this year,
Mr Tsvangirai was booed when he addressed hundreds of Zimbabweans at
Southwark Cathedral in London.

The MDC was established 10 years ago. In March 2008, it won a slim majority
in the parliamentary election, but Mr Mugabe, who has held power since 1980,
disputed the outcome of the presidential poll. Zanu-PF launched a campaign
of violence, and Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the June 2008 presidential
run-off. Mr Tsvangirai became Prime Minister under an agreement brokered by
South Africa that has yet to be fully implemented.

Nevertheless, the economy has improved and supermarkets this Christmas were
well stocked with goods. Soon after the MDC entered government, Tendai Biti
halted inflation by abolishing the Zimbabwe dollar, previously printed at
will to fuel Mr Mugabe’s patronage system. Now the South African rand and US
dollar are used.

A new round of negotiations is under way between Mr Tsvangirai’s MDC,
another faction of the party, and Zanu-PF. Sticking points include key jobs
and Mr Mugabe’s refusal to swear in Mr Bennett, a white farmer, as deputy
agriculture minister. But European diplomats said yesterday that the MDC has
begun lobbying them to lift some of the targeted sanctions against companies
close to Mr Mugabe’s regime.

The MDC’s surprise move is likely to be greeted by expatriates with
particular scepticism, as the removal of sanctions tops Mr Mugabe’s agenda.
Some 40 companies and 172 individuals are barred from trading with and
travelling in the European Union.

Most European diplomats say their minimum requirements for the lifting of
sanctions would be progress on the drafting of a new constitution,
ultimately leading to free and fair elections.

Moves to advance the constitutional process top the MDC wishlist and an
election campaign will require funding. Mr Bennett said: “Raising that money
is going to be a priority. In all my time as treasurer, I have only ever
managed to mobilise 12 vehicles for party canvassing work. Zanu-PF has 12
vehicles in every district, at least.”

He said accusations that the MDC is funded by the British Government are
unfair. “I have never seen a single penny from Britain to fight the
democratic struggle. Politics is about money, and we are down to relying on
a poverty-stricken people to try to replace a government that has taken full
control of everything.”

The MDC is tight-lipped about its funding, which is believed to come largely
from members of the business community who do not wish to be identified
while Mr Mugabe is in power. European embassies admit only to providing the
MDC with trainers and bursaries for courses in subjects such as
international relations.

£57,000

The sum the MDC alleges has gone missing from its British branch.

Buhera, December 29, 2009 – The remains of a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party activist suspected to have been murdered by Zanu PF militia in 2007 have been found in a mountain, police confirmed on Tuesday.

Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Makomeke said the bones of Paul Zimunda, who died at the age of 33, were discovered on Monday by a hunter in Unze Mountain, in Zipeya Village, under Chief Nyashanu.

Zimunda had his metal identification card on him.

His whereabouts remained a mystery after he was abducted by a gang of the notorious militia who were violently drumming up support for ageing President Robert Mugabe while stifling any voices of dissent.

A neighbour said Zimunda, an ardent MDC supporter, was last seen at the village head’s place where he had gone to seek refuge from the marauding terror gang. But they suspect he was abducted there as the village head is also a ZANU PF loyalist.

“After the ZANU PF supporters kept on nagging him, Paul went to the village head’s place to seek refuge. That was the last we heard of him. But other villagers told us that his assailants were also seen at the village head’s place,” said the neighbour, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation.

Pauls’ parents are also late. He has no other known relatives.

MDC-T Manicaland provincial chairman, Patrick Chitaka, told Radio VOP that the Zanu PF youths also turned Zimunda’s house into a torture base after they executed him.

“After the disappearance of Paul, his parents’ house was turned into a torture base for suspected MDC-T supporters in the run up to last’s year’s bloody June 27 elections. His parents are late, and nobody was left to look after his house,” Chitaka said.

Chitaka said they expect to give Zimunda a decent burial Tuesday.

Source: Radio VOP

The bloated Government of National Unity (GNU) in its bid to obtain under duress hard-earned Diaspora monies—and after mortgaging every available national asset to the Chinese and other foreign bidders—is now technically insolvent and preparing to sink its parasitic tenterhooks into the pockets of exiled Zimbabweans.

Anemari ndiyemukuru – whoever holds the purse string is king. The Diaspora—Zimbabwe’s brain trust and human resource reservoir—is the key to economic recovery.

For a bargain price, soon to be set by arrogant and dictatorial Zimbabwean GNU officials oblivious of life in the Diaspora, our collective right to vote and choose the government of our choice will now become a commodity controlled by some self-serving politicians with an axe to grind.

The notion that every citizen of Zimbabwe in the Diaspora today has lesser rights than their counterparts in Zimbabwe is contemptuous and demands deafening condemnation.

The problematic pomposity amongst the fiscally careless ruling class in Zimbabwe has reared its ugly head again.  Whom did the “we-know-what’s-good-for-you GNU cabinet” confer with in the Diaspora over the proposed “tax for rights” matter?

Mysterious discussions at secretive venues with a handful of handpicked reticent academics and detached intellectuals do not constitute broad consultations –zvikanzi pakata hazvina kunzi ridza!!!

There are three types of Zimbabwean exiles in the Diaspora: Political – those who left because their lives were in danger; Academic – those who left for further education; and Economic – those who left for financial reasons. If consultation has occurred with only one out of the three groups of Diaspora citizens, especially those who left specifically to advance their education, there is a strong possibility that this academia group is unaware or untouched by the realities of life under the brutal regime back home.

The GNU is erroneously conferring with a group of secluded academic exiles who do not even know the price of a bucket of maize (gokoko/bhagidhi) in Zimbabwe – persons who were students in Zimbabwe and now professional students in the Diaspora, most of whom never voted. It might be how things are done in Harare in the GNU; however, all groups of exiles demand their voices be heard.

Diaspora citizens have now become accustomed to candid town hall meetings and vibrant political debate within their communities in exile. There must be the same transparency and inclusion in every conversation that affects Zimbabwean exiles; the Diaspora population refuse to be taken for granted.

Makorokoza, gold-panners account for 95% of Zimbabwe’s alluvial gold production. Vanahwindi nemajega, the informal sector logistics consultants at every bus terminus and vanaamai pamusika, mothers who wake up at 3.00 in the morning to buy fresh farm produce for resale; and hurudza, communal farmers who produce almost 1 million tonnes of maize, constitute 70% of Zimbabwe’s voting public and do not pay taxes.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) recently revealed that persons who benefited from the chaotic fast track land redistribution exercise are not paying any taxes. These people now occupy Zimbabwe’s most productive land that previously generated taxes. “Charity begins at home” – collect taxes from those people first.

The Diaspora community is unwilling to subsidise inept land occupiers who receive, then misuse, gratuitous farm inputs at the taxpayer’s expense.

Informal moneychangers awash with remittances sent by relatives of Diaspora residents prop up the economy. This group is often referred to as the parallel or black-market by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and is neither taxed nor regulated.

The informal sector constituency does not income pay (Pay As You Earn, P.A.Y.E), or corporate tax, and yet has been responsible for choosing Zimbabwe’s successive governments. Every nursing political party requires these blue-collar workers to perform the heavy lifting necessary to resuscitate the moribund economy.

With unemployment running at an estimated 80%, Zimbabwe collects income taxes from a meagre 20% of its population with total non-payment from the informal sector and government officials who now insist on tax from exiles to fund their lavish lifestyles.

The Diaspora constitutes a portion of Zimbabwean citizens who are 100% employed outside of the country. If conservative figures of 3 million exiled Zimbabweans are used, this constitutes a gold mine for any tax collector. An uncomplicated US$10 per month tax on every Zimbabwean in the Diaspora would rake in US$30 million for the treasury.

If the self-important GNU ministers want Diaspora taxes, then the Diaspora sternly demand “taxation with representation” through a constitutional change that creates USA, Canada, EU and African Diaspora based Members of Parliament to represent in the House of Assembly in Zimbabwe the political interests of exiled Zimbabweans.

Concerns of privacy and the ubiquitous identity theft threat present a challenge to a GNU proposal. Personal information is sacrosanct in Western economies.  Social security numbers, driver’s licences and other personal financial information are secured by the rule of law. Nefarious politicians in the GNU might misuse information collected under the guise of such a tax. To convince people in the Diaspora accustomed to civil liberties and efficient social services to surrender their security for a vote—that might still be rigged—is a tall order – manyangira yaoona!

Unless the Diaspora is involved in the constitutional reform process, which safeguard dual citizenship rights and ushers in a transparent administration anchored in the rule of law, this “tax for votes” proposal is a fallacy. The proposed “tax for citizenship rights” scheme is political sham, unconstitutional and blatantly disingenuous.

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck – it is a duck. The GNU will usurp the political rights and political power of Diaspora citizens with this proposed tax. Diaspora citizens of Zimbabwean origin already pay taxes in their respective countries of abode and enjoy the services attributed to those taxes.

Diaspora Zimbabweans will enthusiastically pay taxes and return to help rebuild the economy as soon as the reason for their flight—Mugabe—is gone.

Phil Matibe – www.madhingabucketboy.com

The Legal Monitor has released a Newsletter giving details of the latest failures of the Zimbabwe Judiciary system. It highlights the corrupt practices and partisan actions of the AG Johannes Tomana and his failure to ensure impartial application of Zimbabwe’s Constitution and Laws. The Newsletter is compiled by a respected group of Lawyers who monitor “Human Rights” inside Zim.

The Complete edition of The Newsletter, The Legal Monitor can be viewed ……HERE

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe and his two fellow principals in the Government of National Unity have issued a directive for the announcement of the long-awaited details of the three commissions which have held up progress in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara met for 2 hours 45 minutes on Monday soon after a Cabinet meeting.

“An agreement was reached on three commissions namely Human Rights, Media and Electoral,’ said James Maridadi, Tsvangirai’s spokesman. “A directive has been given to some operatives to announce the three commissions.

“The principals will again meet on Wednesday in a bid to bring finality to all outstanding issues.”

Tuesday is Unity Day a holiday in Zimbabwe. Maridadi said the negotiators representing Zanu-PF and the two factions of the MDC had been directed to continue negotiating, meanwhile.

The National Council of the mainstream MDC resolved Sunday that the ongoing talks cannot go beyond January 15.

“The post-Maputo dialogue must be completed as soon as possible and in any event by no later than 15 January 2009,” said the National Council in resolutions passed on Sunday. “In the event of a deadlock after this date, the matter will be referred back to SADC for arbitration and adjudication.”

The timeline is in line with resolutions of the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s special organ on defence and politics held in Maputo on November 5 that allowed the Zimbabwean parties two weeks within which to open up negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues from last year’s power-sharing agreement or global political agreement (GPA) that led to the creation of the coalition government.

The regional bloc gave the parties 30 days to complete the negotiations, which deadline expired on December 5.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara tasked their party officials to thrash out possible solutions to differences rocking the unity government, but there has only been marginal progress.

A team of facilitators sent from South Africa by President Jacob Zuma has been pushing for a speedy resolution of the crisis and has recorded concerns expressed by all the three parties.

Zanu-PF adopted resolutions at its just ended party congress declaring that it would not make any more concessions until the MDC calls for the removal of restrictive measures imposed by Western countries including a travel ban on Mugabe and his cronies.

The MDC has wrangled with Mugabe’s party over the appointment of top officials, including five MDC governors who are still not in office 10 months after formation of the inclusive government. Then there is the controversial issue revolving around the irregular appointment by the President of the central bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana.

The MDC has also taken issue with what it views as Zanu PF’s obsession with persecuting MDC officials and the stifling media and constitutional reforms, vital for the holding of free and fair elections within the next two years.

1) This Festive Season? / Stay out of cars / stay out of detention
2) Solicitors/NGOs/advocacy groups reduced service for next two weeks!

If your immigration status is insecure!
1) The government have launched its annual don’t drink/ don’t drive campaign.
From now through to the end of the first week of 2009 there will be extra police checks on cars.
If police stop a car they are more than likely to check the details of all the occupants of the car not just the driver. Police will run the names through their national database; the database contains details of persons that the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has an interest in.
If a name comes up as of being of interest to UKBA, that person may well be detained and taken to the nearest police station. UKBA will be informed that the person has been detained and UKBA will them make a decision as to whether to instruct the police to release the person back into the community or hold the person pending transfer to a Immigration Removal Centre.
2) Warning solicitors and advocacy groups will be very thin on the ground over the festive season; many will shut up shop on Monday 21st December through to Monday 4th January 2010.

If you do have a solicitor, make sure you have their emergency number, also emergency number for your MP.

If you do not have Leave to Remain, make sure that you have copies of all your paper work held by your solicitor/case worker (in particular, your Immigration Factual Summary, Home Office ‘Letter of Refusal’ also called the ‘determination’, this is the document refusing asylum) at home and a copy with friends, in case you are detained.

Merry Christmas to you all and a Prosperous new year.

Regards,

NZCN

20/12/2009 00:00:00

 By KITSEPILE NYATHI, NATION CorrespondentPosted Sunday, December 20 2009 at
19:11

HARARE, Sunday
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s refusal to let go the Joint Operations
Command (JOC), a state security organisation that is only accountable to the
veteran ruler, has emerged as the single biggest threat to Harare’s shaky
coalition government.

JOC is made up of army commanders, Central Intelligence Organisation
directors, police and prison commissioners – most of them veterans of
Zimbabwe’s war of liberation.

Last year, they were accused of spearheading President Mugabe’s violent
fight back after he lost the first round of the presidential election to
then arch rival and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The 85 year old leader eventually won the presidential runoff election on
June 27 after Mr Tsvangirai was forced to pull out citing the deaths and
displacement of his supporters during the violence engineered by the
security forces.

But the result was rejected throughout the world forcing Mr Mugabe to form a
unity government with Mr Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara of the
smaller Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation.

Despite the formation of the unity government, the service chiefs have
refused to salute Mr Tsvangirai as the Prime Minister claiming that he is a
surrogate of Western powers seeking to recolonise Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Defence Forces commander General Costantine Chiwenga, Police
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri and Commissioner of Prisons Retired
Major General Paradzai Zimondi have alled refused to salute the PM saying he
did not participate in the war of liberation.

Mr Mugabe’s refusal to dismantle JOC, which under the Global Political
Agreement Zanu PF signed with the MDC formations leading to the formation of
the unity government, must be replaced by the National Security Council
(NSC), is now one of the few sticky outstanding issues in the ongoing inter
party talks.

On Monday the three principals in the coalition are scheduled to make an
announcement on progress in the talks but this is unlikely to include an
agreement on the security forces and Mr Mugabe’s unilateral appointment of
his cronies to head the central bank and the attorney general’s office.

The outstanding issues would be referred to the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) – the guarantors of the GPA.

President Mugabe’s resolve to hold on to the notorious JOC was recently
emboldened by resolutions of Zanu PF’s congress, which directed the party
negotiators not to compromise on the issue of the central bank governor, the
AG and the security forces.

“Security forces are a product of the national liberation struggle, belong
to the people and are mandated to defend the country’s territorial
integrity, independence and sovereignty,” the resolutions read in part.

“Zanu PF as the party of revolution and the people’s vanguard shall not
allow the security forces to be the subject of any negotiation for a
so-called security sector reform that is based on patent misrepresentations
of Zimbabwe’s heroic history and for the mere purpose of weakening the state
so that it can be easily overthrown.”

MDC negotiators told a team of facilitators appointed by South African
President Jacob Zuma to speed up negotiations between the warring parties
that they want JOC dismantled because the NSC was now in place. “Zanu PF
expressed the contrary view that JOC only dealt with operational issues
whilst the National Security Council dealt with policy issues,” the
facilitators said in the report submitted to President Zuma last week.

“The MDC also raised, on the subject of security reform, the existence of a
formalised and legitimised intelligence agency.”

Jan Raath in Harare

    *

President Mugabe has told Zimbabweans that he expects elections to be held
“soon” – raising fears that he will mount a new campaign of terror and
violence in his determination to hold on to power.

He was speaking on Saturday at the end of his Zanu (PF) party’s five-yearly
congress that, predictably, endorsed him and his lieutenants to continue in
office. There was no suggestion at the congress that he should retire. If he
fought and won an election next year, he would be 92 at the expiry of his
term of office.

“Elections are not too far away,” he said. “The inclusive government (shared
between his Zanu (PF) and the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement
for Democratic Change) was given a short life. Let’s go out and drive the
engine at top gear.”

The coalition agreement prescribes a two-year period for a new democratic
constitution to be drafted and under which the country’s next elections
should be held, although it does not specify a deadline.

At the start of the congress Mr Mugabe conceded that Zanu (PF) had, for the
first time, lost parliamentary and the first round of presidential elections
and blamed unprecedented infighting between the numerous factions in the
party that has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly 30 years.

Zanu (PF) is also short of funds, deprived by the power-sharing
administration of easy access to taxpayers’ money, and its support is at an
all-time low. A recent opinion poll gave it 12 per cent of the vote if an
election was held now.

Mr Mugabe ignored the party’s dire situation. “We must win resoundingly and
regain the constituencies we lost,” he said.

However, the MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said: “They know they don’t have
the support of the people. They say, ‘to hell with the people’.”

After the election setback last year, Mr Mugabe turned on Zimbabweans with a
vengeance to ensure he won a disputed second round of voting in June. It
left a reported 200 MDC supporters dead, and many thousands tortured, raped,
homeless and terrorised.

“If June was a storm, this next one will be worse,” said Mr Chamisa. “This
is why we have to make sure we are ready.”

He refused to elaborate, but international observers of Zimbabwe’s bloody
elections since 2000 have affirmed that the MDC has scrupulously maintained
a policy of non-violence.

Human rights groups say there has been a steady rise in incidents of
violence and intimidation by Zanu (PF) and the security forces against the
MDC in the past six months.

 Mugabe to lead party for another five years

* Mugabe says will not reform security forces

* ZANU-PF emerges from congress much stronger, Mugabe says

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was on Saturday
endorsed to lead his ZANU-PF party for another five years and vowed to
resist demands by his opponents to reform the country’s security forces.

At 85, Mugabe is in the twilight of a political career spanning more than
half a century and has led ZANU-PF since the mid 1970s when the party fought
a guerrilla war against white minority rule.

But the veteran leader was forced to share power with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after losing its
parliamentary majority for the first time in March last year.

The coalition has been rocked by differences over how to share power and the
MDC is pressing for reform of the security forces it accuses of being used
by ZANU-PF to stifle dissent.

“May I state this clearly and categorically, as ZANU-PF the defence of our
sovereignty rests with us and with no other. Any manoeuvres to tamper with
the forces will never be entertained by us,” Mugabe said while closing a
ZANU-PF congress.

Many senior officers in the security forces fought in Zimbabwe’s war of
independence and remain loyal to Mugabe. They have vowed never to recognise
Tsvangirai as leader.

ZANU-PF and the MDC are involved in a round of talks to clear outstanding
issues of a political deal signed last year.

The MDC wants the central bank governor and attorney general replaced, and
party treasurer Roy Bennett and some senior officials sworn-in as deputy
agriculture minister and provincial governors, respectively.

ZANU-PF passed a resolution on Saturday rejecting the demands and said,
instead, the MDC should call for the removal of Western sanctions and
persuade radio stations broadcasting from abroad to stop.

SUCCESSION BATTLE

While Mugabe has managed to remain at the helm of ZANU-PF, a raging battle
is underway over who will eventually succeed him, threatening the future of
a party that had enjoyed uninterrupted rule from independence in 1980 till
last year.

ZANU-PF retained Joyce Mujuru, 54, as Mugabe’s deputy while party chairman
John Nkomo, 75, filled in the vacant second vice president position. He will
be sworn in as Zimbabwe’s deputy president on Monday.

Mugabe on Friday condemned internal fighting over leadership posts in the
party, saying this was “eating up” ZANU-PF but on Saturday the veteran
leader said the party had emerged from the congress much stronger.

“We go back much stronger, a better focused party raring to go, to take on
the enemy who has sought our ruin through sanctions,” Mugabe said.

He accused Western countries of plotting to reverse seizures of white
commercial farms to resettle blacks but said they would not succeed.