Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

Source: 'Scare tactics will not work' | Daily News

The continued clampdown and arbitrary arrest of civic leaders and opposition Members of Parliament in the aftermath of the January 14 to 16 stay-away called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) to protest escalating prices will strengthen the resolve of the intended targets and their supporters, analysts contend.

Police have targeted at least a dozen MDC MPs, political activities and leaders of labour unions accused of inciting the anti-government protests which turned violent in some areas.

They are accused of attempting to overthrow the government through unconstitutional means.

MP for Harare East Constituency, Tendai Biti recently told Parliament that since August 12 last year, 12 MPs from his party have been arrested on various charges.

The ZCTU alleges that State security agents have been pouncing on perceived opponents at the instigation of President Emmerson Mnangagwa after he was quoted at a Zanu PF rally saying; “we will sort them out”.

“Such words are unacceptable coming from the Head of State who is supposed to be a unifier,” said the labour body.

“The ZCTU is worried that this ‘New Dispensation’ has become more dangerous than the notorious racist Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith. It has become too paranoid that it is even afraid of its own shadows,” the union said in a statement.

ZCTU said the State action is contrary to the Constitution which guarantees freedom of expression.

“The ZCTU demands an environment conducive for freedom of expression and where every Zimbabwean can discharge his or her duties without fear of being arrested. We also demand that the government addresses issues that led to the 14 January 2019 stay away.”

Analyst Rashweat Mukundu believes that there is a pattern of wanting to instil fear and cower the opposition, civic and labour leaders by not only charging them with ridiculous allegations but also sentencing protesters to ridiculous years in prison.

“This is a collusion of the party, government, judiciary and the security services which demonstrate that our judiciary is not independent but acts on instructions from Zanu PF.”

Social analyst Lenox Mhlanga believes such a strategy is self-defeating and akin to shooting oneself in the foot.

“Such scare tactics will only serve to strengthen the resolve of the intended targets and their supporters. It will generate empathy for the victims and disdain for the perpetrators,” said Mhlanga.

Political analyst Vivid Gwede said intimidation will not work because it is short-lived and people will find their voices again.

“But it is worrying though that people appear to be targeted based on their very legal activities such as civic leaders. The Constitution of Zimbabwe does not criminalise that, but encourages civic participation. In fact, it does not criminalise having different views to the government of the day because that is a democratic right,” said Gwede.

ZIPP president Blessing Kasiyamhuru said government must focus on fixing the problem not the symptoms.

He said: “As long as real issues are not addressed, it won’t prevent others from rising again, you can actually harden them worse.”

Human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhunga said the State crackdown on civil society and opposition leaders reflect a massive erosion of the rule of law and persecution through prosecution.

“Even if the courts eventually go through the trumped up charges, these leaders would have already suffered injustice of being arbitrarily arrested, detained, and taken through sham and expensive court processes.

“The Zimbabwe government ought to know that respect for the rule is a key pillar essential to political stability and to creating a conducive environment for investment and economic revival,” said Mavhunga.

He added that this mindless crackdown will not work, it is counterproductive and will undermine Zimbabwe’s efforts at international reengagement.

Lawyer and politician Obert Gutu said Section 59 of the Constitution clearly and unequivocally provides that every person has the right to demonstrate and to present petitions, but these rights must be exercised peacefully.

“For as long as Zimbabweans demonstrate peacefully, I honestly don’t foresee any situation whereby the State will, willy-nilly, persecute them and arrest them simply because they have peacefully demonstrated. That, of course, would be absolutely unreasonable and unconscionable.

“The trick is for demonstrators to play a smart game and to abide by the dictates of the supreme law of the land. There is no country in the world that will tolerate violent demonstrations that will lead to destruction of property and loss of innocent lives.”

He added that we have got to strike a balance here. “The rule of law dictates that all matters that are brought before the courts should be adjudicated upon expeditiously and impartially. It is not the responsibility of any one (no matter how powerful and/or aggrieved they might be), to dictate to the courts of law how matters that are brought before them should be handled.”

The post ‘Scare tactics will not work’ appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Clash of titans looms in MDC . . . all eyes on Chamisa, Mwonzora, Mudzuri | Daily News

Jostling for positions in the MDC ahead of the May 22 congress has reached a critical juncture. Vital battlegrounds such as Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare and Masvingo have been turned into ‘war zones’ of intense political contestation for positions.

Nominations for the do-or-die congress are in later this month, taking the country’s largest opposition party into a crucial phase which means different things to various constituencies making up the party.

For the supporters of MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, the upcoming elective congress is more of a referendum on the charismatic 41-year-old politician who has had a tumultuous 13 months in office.

Chamisa seized the leadership of the party after the heart-breaking loss of founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai who lost his valiant fight against colon cancer last year in February.

Ever since, Chamisa has struggled to shrug off accusations that he used his then assumed closeness to Tsvangirai’s widow, Elizabeth, to torpedo the ambitions of the likes of Elias Mudzuri and Thokozani Khupe who were also eyeing the post.

A titanic leadership battle subsequently ensued in the party, which eventually led to Khupe forming a breakaway faction which went on to perform dismally in last year’s elections.

The general feeling among MDC supporters is that while Chamisa ultimately prevailed over his party competitors, the congress is critical as it will settle once and for all the legitimacy question dogging him.

While for many, Chamisa is seen as the frontrunner to retain his MDC party presidency, some argue that the contest could go in any direction.

The MDC leader is likely to be challenged by the party’s secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora or Mudzuri (one of the party’s vice presidents) or both.

Amid indications that all the candidates vying for the top office have equal chances of success, analysts this week said success at the MDC congress will depend on who can mobilise the most delegates.

“This will depend on the respective candidates support and their capacity to mobilise within the reconstituted branches of the party,” said Piers Pigou, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group. Pigou said Chamisa is the favourite on account of his profile and multiple platforms he has been able to benefit from.

While acknowledging Chamisa’s advantages, another analyst said Mwonzora could also reap rewards from his long association with the MDC as its secretary-general.

South African-based political analyst Ricky Mukonza said by its very nature politics is complex and there may be a lot of dynamics that could favour the other potential candidates.

“For example, Mwonzora as the current secretary-general of the party has significant influence in the party structures which could have a bearing on the outcome of the congress elections,” he said.

Mukonza argued that the fact Chamisa has been at helm could also work to his disadvantage because it has probably exposed his weaknesses in as much as it has allowed him to demonstrate his strength.

“The position has also resulted in him making some enemies within the party. The coming few weeks could be very crucial for this race,” he opined.

But Maxwell Saungweme,another political analyst, insisted that the advantage of incumbency would be the biggest undoing of Chamisa’s rivals.

“Chamisa is a man-of-the-moment in public and based by his popularity at rallies and the two plus million votes he got at presidential election, it looks foolhardy and hare-brained to try to challenge him,” Saungweme said.

He was, however, quick to point out that if elections are going to be done constitutionally with “the right delegates at the congress based on the party’s constitution, it’s conceivable that he can be challenged successfully.”

“But as we know, as much as democracy is scant in Zanu PF, so it is in MDC Alliance.  You are likely to have both constitutional and unconstitutional sanctions and impediments being put in the way of anyone who dares challenge Chamisa.

“Whether Mudzuri or Mwonzora challenges Chamisa is dependent on the two’s reading of the congress, its constitutionality and the type of delegates invited. It will be heedless and daredevil for a monkey to go challenge for a position at a Congress of baboons,” said Saungweme.

The post Clash of titans looms in MDC . . . all eyes on Chamisa, Mwonzora, Mudzuri appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: We were overwhelmed, says Zec – The Standard March 10, 2019

BY BLESSED MHLANGA/ SHARON SIBINDI

A Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) commissioner has claimed that the body was overwhelmed by the high number of candidates in last year’s elections so much that it ended up mixing up some results.

Zec commissioner Qhubani Moyo told a post-elections workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (Zesn) in Bulawayo last week that the candidates worsened the situation by distributing unverified results on social media.

“In as much as Zec adopted two transmission routes, the collation itself was overwhelmed by the number of candidates in the tripartite election. There was an overwhelming amount of contesting candidates in some urban constituencies, for instance, in Pumula constituency, there were 21 MP contestants, 17 councillor contestants in one ward and 23 presidential contestants,” he said.

Zec announced a first set of results which was contested by MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa at the Constitutional Court and the electoral management board later revised the results to correct the mistake.

Moyo said the commission was rushed by politicians who were circulating fake V11 forms and inciting the public to riot. He said Zec was forced to release results before all processes were complete.

“The overwhelming pressure that the commission met, clearly there was lots of pressure, there was pressure in terms of the compilation process of the results,” he said.

“There were some politicians who ran a racket and syndicate of what they called the V11 forms, that put lots of pressure on the public, put lots of pressure on us and the pressure also went on to influence people on the streets, leading to some protests that we all know led to the unfortunate deaths of a number of our citizens.”

Zec has been accused of lacking independence with the MDC Alliance accusing the commission of manipulating results in favour of the ruling Zanu PF party.

Renowned lawyer and researcher Derek Matzysk said while Zec was listed as an independent commission, it was appointed by political players through the parliamentary Standing Orders Committee.

The post We were overwhelmed, says Zec  appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: 55 companies shut down – The Standard March 10, 2019

BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA

OVER 50 companies have been liquidated since President Emmerson Mnangagwa came to power in November 2017, throwing thousands of people out of employment.

Documents obtained by Standardbusiness from the Master of High Court’s office showed that 55 companies were granted a provisional order to be liquidated from November 2017 to December 2018.

Between January and October 2017, 49 other companies were granted provisional orders to be liquidated.

Theresa Grimmel, who oversees some of the liquidated firms through her company Trivade (Private) Limited, told this publication that stringent loan collateral requirements as well as unreliable power suppliers were to blame for the company closures.

“The cost of borrowing money and the punitive interest and short-term on loans; the stringent security requirements for loans; the instability of the electricity network; frequent power outages can cause machinery to fail — very expensively, and the interruption to the manufacturing makes it difficult to continue,” said Grimmel, in emailed responses to Standardbusiness.

“Management is tired — every day there is the need to ‘make a new plan’, the machinery is old, the skills have left the country. Artisans are in very short supply.

“The constant changing of the goal posts — refer to the recent overnight change in the duty rates, this makes business very hard.”

Some of the companies, which Grimmel oversees as a liquidator include Cheney Pelmets (Private) Limited, Laputa Trading (Private) Limited, Tadnet Investments (Private) Limited, Riverside Funeral Services (Private) Limited, and Retnim Pumps Importers & Maintenance (Private) Limited.

Cheney Pelmets manufactured pelmets, blinds and other curtain tracks, but the company closed due to lack of security, electricity challenges and cheap imports.

“It was a long established company and closed because the facility from, which it operated in Chitungwiza was rented and part of a large complex. When there was no electricity to enable Cheney to operate its machinery, the company had to close,” Grimmel said. “It was also facing competition from cheap Chinese imports.”

On Laputa Trading, Grimmel said: “It was a farm, which operated on a rental agreement from a new owner.

“The new owner decided to take back large portions of the farm, despite the lease agreement, and the company was reduced to farming small portions of the land available.

“Coupled with a bad agricultural season and the fact that the new owner then held on to all the machinery, the company closed.”

Laputa Trading was granted a provisional order to liquidate on December 7, 2018, a year after the current government took office.

Other companies on the list of liquidated firms from 2018 include GT Tavarura Bus Services, Oil Seed Processing (Pvt) Ltd, Gramlex Investments P/L, Bush Mills, Chegutu Canners (Pvt) Ltd, Zimbabwe Oil Soap Manufacturing, Malacoe Investments and BCL Ltd.

Others are Notofy Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd, Kingmaker Corporate Resources, Heritage Printing (Pvt) Ltd, Better Agriculture (Pvt) Lt and Grafax Cotton (Pvt) Ltd, among others.

The closure of these companies is a reflection of serious economic challenges and is an indictment on Mnangagwa’s “Zimbabwe is open for business” mantra, observers said.

“For the past 20 or so years we have not found adequate investment to retool,” said Charles Nhemo, a liquidator.

“Our companies are competing with global entities, which are using modern technology.

“You talk of a company using equipment, machinery bought with the latest we have in most companies being in the 80s going back and you are competing with modern technology, which produces products with less labour.”

He said Chinese and South African industries, which were using modern technology, had a competitive advantage as they were in a better position to churn out improved products.

“The major issue is the economic environment,” Nhemo said.

“When we changed from the Zimbabwe dollar to US dollars, there was no investment into new equipment and almost every company’s capital was wiped away because you had no exchange of the Zimbabwe dollar into the US dollar.

“So whatever you had in your bank was wiped away and companies are undercapitalised across the sectors.”

Lawyer Tawanda Chiurayi, who handles company liquidations, said the recent monetary policy changes would make the environment even more difficult for local firms.

“The question really is looking at the effect of moving from the one-to-one to the RTGS dollar will have on what people owe,” he said.

“Statutory Instrument 33 of 2019 said whatever amount or liabilities people have will be converted to RTGS dollars, which in essence suggests amounts have been discounted by about 2,5, which is the official rate.

“So companies that are heavily indebted and have access to forex will find that as a benefit, but those who do not have access to forex will remain in the same position.

“The question would then be: are companies going to be able to improve production and so forth?

“So, really, it is a question of performance. If they owe money, then effectively what it means is that they may still be in a very difficult position.”

A number of companies have been struggling to operate due to foreign currency shortages that have forced them to either suspend or shut down some production lines.

The post 55 companies shut down appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane bound for Kenya has crashed killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members. An Ethiopian Airlines spokesman confirmed that the Boeing 737 plane had crashed on a routine flight from Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to Nairobi on Sunday. Ethiopia's state broadcaster EBC reported everyone on the plane had died and […]