Zim News Blog -NEWS NETWORK

Source: Chamisa says his challenger  must be nominated by people | Daily News

The MDC Alliance will hold its primary elections on May 24-26, Nelson Chamisa said yesterday — a vote he promises will be free and fair with a democratic and rigorous process where candidates will be nominated by the lower party structures.

Chamisa, who seized power after founding MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai lost his valiant battle against cancer of the colon on February 14 last year, counts on the election to bolster his legitimacy as the party’s ambitious secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora expresses his desire to challenge him in a contest that could make or break his political career.

Chamisa told a news conference at the Morgan Richard Tsvangirai House MDC HQ in central Harare that as a democratic party, the MDC-Alliance will not hold back anyone who wishes to challenge him. Chamisa’s statement comes as vice president Elias Mudzuri is also being tipped to run for president.

At least 10 top MDC officials, anxious to get started on their quest to capture the VP post, are said to be lining up to launch campaigns in what is quickly becoming a crowded field of vice-presidential contenders. The theme of the congress is “Defining a new course for Zimbabwe”.

“We have said this congress is about positions which are going to be availed. In terms of the actual positions to be contested, through an election and some to be appointed, is something to be determined by the national council at our last meeting before the congress and that will guide the course,” Chamisa said.

“In terms of our constitution, we are supposed to have the presidium being open to contestation, the chairperson’s position as well. There is still debate on the secretary-general’s position being open but that is a product of our internal democratic processes. We will be very clear on which positions to be contested at the appropriate time,” he said.

“The congress is important because we will have a full team of effective leadership to take over government in a democratic and constitutional manner. It also gives us a chance to have a solid team of people of substance.

“Those there, are faces of substance, but they have to be renewed and this is why I said I will be the first one to congratulate and celebrate the one who is going to emerge out of this glorious act.
“I know they may not have shown their interests because in our party it is not allowed by the constitution to show interest — you are deployed as a cadre.

People choose you to belong to a particular position, you do not just say you want. You have to be wanted by the people. It is a process which is rigorous and very democratic where people are nominated by the lower structures to say who they want.”

He said people were free to pick anyone they felt was the right candidate and welcomed any primary challenger.
“Chamisa is not the first born of this party and he’s also not the last born. There was Morgan Tsvangirai who groomed me, but he also did the same with a lot of you in the party and we know that this movement will be in safe and capable hands.

We have proved to Zanu PF that by killing Tsvangirai, they made a mistake,” Chamisa said. “The party is going to new levels and we will not collapse. The party is energising and recalibrating.
“We do not want to see tyranny and violence in our structures. Those are qualities we see next door.

We cannot be a carbon copy of Zanu PF where factionalism is a national religion and corruption is the DNA,” the pastor and lawyer said.

The post Chamisa says his challenger  must be nominated by people appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Robotics major reluctant to return home, fears persecution | Daily News

An outstanding Zimbabweans robotics major in Sweden is afraid to come back home to use his knowledge for the development of his motherland fearing persecution because of his links to the under-fire opposition MDC.

Cornelius Sagandira, an MDC activist who is nephew to the party’s
Makoni Central constituency top official Patrick Sagandira, told the
Daily News that he is fearful for his life in Zimbabwe.

“I was very young at the time when my family was heavily involved in
the opposition politics and naturally I would join other youths but I
unfortunately became a target of the Zanu PF youths as they attempted
to burn us alive in our home,” Cornelius said.

“I would love to come back home and work for my country but the mere
thought of it sends a chill down my spine because of what I
experienced. I had hoped that now (former president Robert) Mugabe is
gone, it should be safe but what I am seeing in the media regarding
the human rights situation there is not good,” said the Jönköping
University student.

“Only recently I heard that some party officials who supported my
uncle in the last elections before he lost the primary elections were
also kidnapped by unknown people and it is sad.

“On the 7th of March 2017 I went back to Zimbabwe to attend my
grandmother’s funeral in Nyanga and I had planned to stay in Zimbabwe
for three weeks but on the 10th of March when I was on my way to
Mutoko, I was attacked by Zanu PF youths.

“I was stabbed with a knife at the right-side armpit. Fortunately, I
managed to get in the car and left. I had to book a ticket to go back
to Sweden on the 12th of March because I was afraid of being killed.”

MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume warned that it will be foolhardy for
Sagandira to come back hoping to see change.

“The situation is still as dire as the boy left and it would be unwise
for him to think that because Mugabe is gone then there is change
because it has become worse, restrictions are continuing,” Mafume
said.

Following Mugabe’s ouster in the November 2017 soft coup that saw the
ascendancy of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, most European countries
began to prepare to deport Zimbabweans on the assumption that things
had changed back home.

But Amnesty International, the International Crisis Group and the
Zimbabwe Restoration of Human Rights Organisation (ROHR)’s recent
reports show that authorities have maintained a brutal crackdown in
the wake of protests over fuel prices, with dozens of killings,
reports of rape by military personnel and widespread arbitrary arrests
and torture among other serious human rights violations.

The post Robotics major reluctant to return home, fears persecution appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Some consumer prices post first drop in months | Daily News

Some local consumer prices marginally fell this week for the first time in months as declining costs for foreign exchange offset rising prices after the central bank ditched the fanciful greenback bond note peg.

This comes after Zimbabwe’s quasi currency known as bond notes was no longer deemed 1:1 with the trade-weighted US dollar, with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) devaluing the bond notes and allowing the market to decide what the prevailing market rate should be.

In his first Monetary Policy Statement release for 2019, the RBZ governor John Mangudya announced that he will establish “an inter-bank foreign exchange market in Zimbabwe to formalise the trading of real-time gross settlement (RTGS) balances and bond notes with US dollars and other currencies on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis through banks and bureaux de change.”

This week, the price of 2kg rice dropped from around $7 to $6,50, a bottle of 500ml of still water is now pegged at $0,85 from $1,05, while 500ml fizzy drinks now range around $1,80 from an average of $2.
Other prices have remained stable. In the past months, prices spiralled out of control, leaving most

Zimbabweans unable to afford basic commodities such as bread, mealie-meal, and rice. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Sifelani Jabangwe attributed the slight decrease in prices to the access that retailers now have to foreign currency in banks.
“Some of them have managed to get foreign currency from banks which is going at a rate of 1:2,5 and are importing some goods.

“With access to foreign currency, eventually prices are bound to go down and this will make positive contributions towards the economy,” Jabangwe said. Veteran economist John Robertson said reductions could cause Value Added Tax (Vat) collections and company profits taxes to go down as well.

“Importers who were paying up to RTGS$4 and are now paying only RTGS$2,5 for each US$ will certainly be passing on lower costs, but the higher fuel prices and the 2 percent tax are also reducing the consumers’ disposable income.

“We will see the evidence in the tax revenue figures for the next few months, but we must also expect some wage levels to rise.
“Of special importance is whether tobacco prices are going to be high enough to cover tobacco growers’ higher expenses,” Robertson said.

This comes as Mangudya said prices should remain at their current levels and or should start to decline in sympathy with the stability in the exchange rate given that the current monetary balances have not been changed.

Mangudya said the RBZ will commit all its efforts to use instruments at its disposal to maintain stability of the exchange rate.
“This is essential to restore the purchasing power of RTGS balances through safeguarding price stability by neutralising pressures emanating from pass- through effects of exchange rate movements,” he said.

Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president Denford Mutashu said the decrease in prices was due to a decline in consumer demand. He however, admitted that this decline slows the rate of stock turnover against constant or rising costs like employment costs and rentals.

“Price stagnation and in some instances, decline, is due to weakening consumer demand. In some cases, you have someone with a full tank of fuel but failing to afford the daily basics as speculation on fuel availability takes its toll on spending,” Mutashu said.

The retailers’ president added that the introduction interbank market is a welcome development as it plays a critical role in their line of business. “There is optimism that it will improve access to foreign currency as the market will allocate based on demand and supply.
“If the RBZ can be allowed to play its lender of last resort role, the better, as it brings stability to the financial sector and the economy at large,” he said.

The post Some consumer prices post first drop in months appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: Cabinet passes sweeping prison system reform Bill'41 | Daily News

HARARE – Sweeping proposals seeking to reform the prison system have sailed through Cabinet, in a legislative victory that could boost prisoner rehabilitation efforts.

This comes as the country’s 46 prisons are plagued with congestion and shortages of everything from food to uniforms, with prison authorities struggling to feed almost 20 000 inmates due to lack of funding from the government.

The mooted new Prisons Act, whose principles sailed through the executive arm of government on Tuesday, attracted support from virtually all members. President Emmerson Mnangagwa was also said to have supported the iteration of the principles, thereby triggering the process of drafting the Bill.

After its drafting, the Bill will be sent to Parliament for debate, where it is expected to pass, before it reaches Mnangagwa’s desk for a signature. “Cabinet considered a submission on principles for the repeal and subsequent enactment of the new Prisons Act by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary affairs,” Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services minister Monica Mutsvangwa told a news conference after the Cabinet sitting.

Prison reform advocates are poised to hail the Cabinet passage of the reforms as a watershed moment for Zimbabwe’s criminal justice, which could positively impact the lives of thousands of prisoners.

The sweeping principles of the bill address concerns around the inadequacies of the existing legislation through incorporating international norms and standards relating to prisons administration as well as to align the domestic law to the Constitution.

The sweeping legislation passed on Tuesday proposes modernising the prisons legislation with a view to ensuring that it accords with international norms and standards regarding the administration and treatment of prisoners and providing a prison system that caters for the needs of vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, juvenile offenders as well as the disabled and other special categories of society with special needs.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said adopting international prison standards will remove stigma associated with inmates, easing rehabilitation of convicts into the society. “We will … create correctional community centres which are basically open prisons where some of our offenders will be allowed to stay in some of these open prisons where they get life skills, where they are rehabilitated and prepared to be integrated back into society.

“And these open prisons we want them to be interactive so that members of the community can also interact with these prisoners so that we remove the stigma that is associated with being a prisoner,” he said. The open prisons offer a more relaxed environment for convicts, permitting them to take up employment and education opportunities inside the prison.

By law, prisoners are not to forfeit their right to education and work by virtue of their imprisonment.
However, in Zimbabwe not all prisoners and juveniles have been allowed access to educational programmes and learning, violating detainees’ right to education and employment.

The Bill, expected to easily clear the Zanu PF-controlled bi-cameral Parliament, and moves the needle in a significant way in broadening the scope of the parole system so as to accommodate all categories of prisoners.

Ziyambi said: “We will now focus more on restorative justice, we want the rehabilitation of offenders to be the major focus. “We take the offender from society, we rehabilitate, we prepare them to be released back into society so the correctional aspect of our prison service will be emphasised.

“The other major change is the parole system that focuses on those that have a longer term and we are saying we want to broaden it to say that we want everyone to qualify for parole and this is one of the changes that will come.”

The reforms also seek to promote community involvement in prisons’ correctional services in order to ensure that inmates do not face difficulties and hostilities upon reintegration into society.

The Bill also proposes the establishment of correctional community centres throughout the country; and enabling prisoners to consult with a medical practitioner of their choice at their own expense.
Under the new Act, convicts will also be accorded the freedom to choose their personal medical health within new Correctional Community Centres.

The centres are to be set up throughout the country and convicts will also be able to interact with members of the society.
The prison reforms come as Zimbabwe is in the midst of a mass incarceration crisis, with government moving the principles of the bill closer to the finish line.

“By May you will see the Bill already in Parliament. So, it is one of our priority areas to ensure that we complete this exercise,” Ziyambi explained.

The post Cabinet passes sweeping prison system reform Bill’41 appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.

Source: ED pays price for broken promises. . . as Americans say 2017 military  intervention was a missed opportunity | Daily News

HARARE – Influential Americans have expressed disappointment with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his government for failing to live up to their promises that were made when the country’s former leader, Robert Mugabe, was ousted from power through a military coup in November 2017.

This comes as President Donald Trump has just extended sanctions against Zimbabwe by another year — after noting that there has not been significant reforms since Mnangagwa took office.
Mnangagwa, who was feted like a king by millions of long-suffering Zimbabweans when he took power, has increasingly battled to provide life to the country’s near comatose economy.
This has recently resulted in the country witnessing deadly riots, which were sparked by Mnangagwa’s announcement of steep fuel price increases.

Reflecting on the performances of the Zanu PF leader and his government since taking power in 2017, former United States ambassador to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton — together with fellow diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield — said in a recent opinion that the country had missed a great opportunity to move forward following the dramatic coup.

“Early euphoria has translated to high levels of frustration by a disaffected and marginalised youth population affected by high unemployment, shortages of major staples and scarcity of foreign currency.

“Hopes that Zimbabwe, through Mnangagwa, would be one of those rare examples of a military coup that restores democracy are slowly and methodically being dashed by a military not willing to allow change. Until recent unrest in response to the rise in petroleum prices and high inflation, most Zimbabweans still hoped for reform of the country’s governance and economic systems and some were still willing to give … Mnangagwa time to show that he is the reformer he has promised to be.

“However, recent splits within Zanu PF and a clear lack of control of the military by Mnangagwa … show that the marriage of convenience between Mnangagwa and the military is unravelling,” the diplomats said in their analysis.

Mnangagwa swept to power in November 2017 when the military intervened in the country’s governance, ending Mugabe’s ruinous rule of nearly four decades. This saw Mugabe being put under house arrest — before the nonagenarian resigned dramatically moments before Parliament started damaging impeachment proceedings against him.

The euphoria which followed Mugabe’s fall led to hopes that Mnangagwa, who was Mugabe’s long-time aide, would chart a different course. Britain and the US were among the countries which dispatched emissaries to Zimbabwe as part of their efforts to strengthen ties which had broken down during Mugabe’s era.

In April last year, Trump sent to Harare members of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including influential US Senators Jeff Flake and Chris Coons — who met with Mnangagwa moments after he had returned from a week-long State visit to China — amid indications then that Washington was ready to consider ending nearly 20 years of Zimbabwe’s isolation by the international community if it held free and fair elections.

Both Flake and Coons had introduced a new Bill to amend the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera), which meted out punitive sanctions against Mugabe personally, as well as against many of his senior officials and some State entities.
The new Bill, the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Amendment Act of 2018, contained conditions which were specific to Mnangagwa’s administration — which Trump said on Monday had mostly not been met thus far.

As a result, Trump extended America’s sanctions against Zimbabwe by another year. Political analysts told the Daily News yesterday that the door was still open for Mnangagwa and his government to show the world that they were different from the Mugabe regime.

“In the context of current US political dynamics and the recent violent repression evident in the Zimbabwean State, it would have been difficult to prevent these measures (sanctions) not being rolled over.
“Certainly, the government could be more proactive in engaging the US on these issues and their removal must follow available protocol and navigate existing political realities.

“Much more important at this juncture, however, is for the Zimbabwean government to secure greater clarity on stipulated Zidera reform issues and how it is already or must meet reform criteria to prevent the invocation of … provisions that could seriously stymie efforts to access preferential credit options from international financial institutions,” Piers Pigou, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group, said.

Namibia-based academic, Admire Mare, said Mnangagwa needed to deliver on all promised reforms to prove his sincerity in upholding a new human rights culture in the country.
“More needs to be done beyond aligning controversial laws with the Constitution. Issues like the rule of law, constitutionalism and ensuring press freedom and freedom of assembly are key.

“Reforms are a complicated cup of tea because of the resistance from within, and the attempt to balance off competing interests within the body politic. However, political will often triumphs over such resistance,” Mare said. Another political analayst, Rashweat Mukundu, said Mnangagwa and his government still had time to mend their relations with the US, but everything depended on whether they had the appetite to address issues that had continually exasperated America.

“The good thing about US sanctions on Zimbabwe is that they are on an annual basis, giving the Zimbabwean government the rest of 2019 to address the issues stated in the sanctions law of the Americans.
“It is up to government to study that law carefully and address the issues therein. My understanding is that America has always kept its doors open for dialogue with the government on how these matters can be addressed.

“But more critically, the ball is in Mnangagwa’s court to remove media and anti-democratic laws that restrict not only political freedom, but freedom of expression and to stop the repression that we are seeing.
“So, these are the things that Mnangagwa can address if he is committed to that.

“The sanctions are continuing more as informed by the actions of the Zanu PF government and not necessarily what people may see to be some hidden agenda of the Americans,” Mukundu said.

Analysts have previously said the post-July 30, 2018 election shootings — which left at least six civilians dead when the military used live ammunition to quell a demonstration in Harare — as well as the dozens of deaths during this year’s fuel riots, and the subsequent vicious clampdown of dissenting voices — have dented Mnangagwa’s international image significantly, in addition to harming his chances of getting financial support from Western countries.

In January this year, police and soldiers were engaged in running battles with protesters who flooded the streets of Harare, Bulawayo and other towns — to protest the steep fuel price hikes which were announced by Mnangagwa ahead of his tour of Eastern Europe.

Property worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was also destroyed and looted in the mayhem which ensued, after thousands of workers heeded a three-day strike call by labour unions.

At the same time, security forces unleashed a brutal crackdown against the protesters, the opposition and civil society leaders, in a move which received wide condemnation in the country and around the world.

The post ED pays price for broken promises. . . as Americans say 2017 military  intervention was a missed opportunity appeared first on Zimbabwe Situation.