The New African Times

Harare, November 06, 2009 - The First Family's son, Robert Junior has shunned the locally run examinations, Zimsec, and  is re-sitting the British Commission run Cambridge University “ O” Level examinations at the Harare Exhibition Park, it has been established.

Despite President Mugabe being a strong critic of the British, Robert Mugabe Junior, who is known among his peers as Tinotenda, is re-writing the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCE) run by top British university.

He is among the hundreds of students who are sitting for the examinations. Robert Mugabe wrote his Cambridge University examinations at Harare Exhibition Park with a daughter of a Radio VOP correspondent. He sat for a Biology (paper 1) and Maths (paper 2) on Thursday.

Robert Mugabe attended formal school at Kutama College in Zvimba last year but failed to secure the requisite subjects to progress to “A” Level. He is currently enrolled at a Speciss College – a top private college in Harare.

Robert’s sitting for the Cambridge University examinations has sent tongues wagging has his father is vocal critic of anything British. However Robert Junior is very popular among his former peers at Kutama who are also rewriting their examinations under the same body. He is the most popular figure in the First Family and regularly attends Caps United football matches.

Meanwhile in another development at least five in every 10 Ordinary Level pupils might fail to pursue careers of their choices after failing to register a minimum of five subjects in the forthcoming locally run Zimsec November examinations despite government extending the deadline to pay examination fees.

According to the latest issue of the Zimbabwe Independent, official statistics this week showed that close to 100 000 students may not sit for the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec) ‘O’ Level examinations due to lack of funds.

The examinations body is charging US$10 and US$20 per subject for ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels.

The growing number would limit the students’ chances of securing formal employment or furthering their studies, which requires the mandatory five ‘O’ Level subjects.

Lazarus Dokora, Deputy Education minister, told parliament this week, during question time that the “modest registration” of candidates was below government expectations following the provision of state loans to finance poor families. Government, according to Dokora, extended payment of the examination fees to next January.

“Some 132 538 candidates had registered for a total of 642 004 subjects. The candidature represented 55% of the entry for 2008 which had 239 434 candidates registered for 1 382 371 subjects. The average number of subjects per candidate then was six compared to the current 4,8 subjects. Thus, a number of candidates failed to register for the basic minimum of five subjects”, Dokora said.

HARARE, 4 November 2009  - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's threat to appoint interim ministers to plug the gap left by the "disengagement" of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from the unity government could lead to a review of donor funding, a highly placed official from a major donor country told IRIN.

"We are still monitoring developments. No decision has been made to appoint acting ministers, but that would certainly send a wrong message, and could get donors who want the situation in Zimbabwe to improve to review their financial commitments to the inclusive government," said the official, who declined to be identified.

The Global Political Agreement (GPA), signed in September 2008, paved the way for the formation of the unity government in February 2009. "When the Global Political Agreement was signed ... we said at the time that we would be looking out to see if the GPA was fully implemented," the official noted.

Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister and MDC leader, withdrew from attending cabinet meetings on 16 October 2009 over Mugabe's procrastination in swearing in provincial governors, while alleging that MDC members and officials faced constant harassment.

The MDC also believes that the continued stay in office of the attorney general and the Reserve Bank Governor - self-admitted allies of Mugabe - is in contravention of the GPA.

After the MDC's disengagement, information minister Webster Shamu said "His Excellency [Mugabe] may have to consider appointing ministers in an acting capacity to key ministries, for the sake of a successful agricultural season and general economic turnaround."

The passage of the unity government has been far from smooth, but the MDC's disengagement represents the most serious breakdown in relations between the partners in the fledgling unity government and its attempt to haul Zimbabwe out of the economic abyss in which nearly 7 million people relied on donor food aid in the first quarter of 2009.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) organ on politics, defence and security will meet on 5 November in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, to discuss developments in Zimbabwe.
Firstly, appointing acting ministers would be illegal and unconstitutional; doing so would be killing the GPA 

The organ's troika of members is comprised of Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Zambian President Rupiah Banda, and sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, King Mswati III. SADC chairman Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has already visited Zimbabwe to try to resolve the impasse.

Zimbabwe's finance portfolio has also been the object of an ongoing turf war between the MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. "Firstly, appointing acting ministers would be illegal and unconstitutional; doing so would be killing the GPA," Finance Minister Tendai Biti told IRIN.

"It would amount to a violation of the Global Political Agreement, which created the transitional inclusive government. It has to be understood that the MDC has only disengaged from ZANU-PF, and not government work. We are all going to our offices to work," he said.

Government work continues 

"Nothing has changed in terms of how we do business; we are coming up with frameworks of introducing good governance and accountability to avoid abuse of funds. The money is stored in a multi-donor basket fund, and there has to be consultation and agreement on how it is spent."

Prof Arthur Mutambara, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of a breakaway MDC faction, told IRIN that Tsvangirai's decision to boycott cabinet could prove counterproductive.

"If decisions are made in cabinet, even if others have boycotted the meeting, they will be binding," he said. "So, what we have been doing is to fight against bad decisions, while acting as the peace-builder between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe."

Harare - President Robert Mugabe called Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai "dishonest," state media said on Saturday, casting doubt on whether a dispute threatening Zimbabwe's unity government can be resolved.

"We must no longer trust those who pretend to be in the inclusive government and have jumped in and out of it," Mugabe was quoted as saying in the state-run Herald newspaper.

"They can never be true and genuine partners and they have proved to be dishonest.

"We, however, want to assure you that we will not allow the situation to continue like that."

Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader, joined the unity government with his longtime rival Mugabe in February in a bid to end political violence and halt the nation's economic freefall.

But two weeks ago he suspended cooperation with Mugabe's party in protest over the arrest of Roy Bennett, his nominee for deputy agriculture minister.

A team from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) arrived in Harare on Wednesday in hopes of breaking the deadlock.

On Friday, the delegation announced that there was need for a full SADC summit to address problems related to the power sharing agreement.
Mugabe said the decision by Tsvangirai's party to halt cooperation with the 85-year-old president's Zanu-PF was hypocritical.
"Zanu-PF is not government, but in government. It is part of government like the other two parties.

"Cabinet is not a party affair. That kind of hypocrisy should be seen as it is.

"What kind of sincerity is that? We go into government, form policies hold investment conferences, (but) we have a part of the government striking against themselves."

He said the government would continue to work despite the move by Tsvangirai's party.

Oct 28, 2009 6:27 PM

Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change Wednesday accused President Robert Mugabe of trying to tear apart a unity pact by threatening to replace cabinet ministers chosen by the former opposition.

"It is tantamount to tearing apart the unity government," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP.

The state-run Herald reported Wednesday that Mugabe was pondering replacing MDC ministers who have not attended cabinet meetings since Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai cut ties with Mugabe's ZANU-PF after a deadlock over key issues.

"His Excellency may have to consider appointing ministers in an acting capacity to key ministries for the sake of a successful agricultural season and general economic turnaround," Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told the Herald.

"Important Cabinet decisions have to be translated into action expeditiously," he said.

Chamisa slammed Mugabe for acting outside the spirit of the global political agreement (GPA), which has been hampered by a deadlock over key appointments on which Mugabe insists and by a crackdown on MDC supporters.

"That is a laughable proposition. This is precisely the reason why we are deadlocked. They are in a mode of unilateralism and arrogance which has not helped the spirit of the GPA," Chamisa said.

"You cannot appoint an acting minister when there is a substantive minister. It will create a parallel government," he added. The unity government, created in February a year after disputed polls, is in deep trouble and hopes are pinned on a meeting by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) security organ Thursday to resolve the latest impasse.

"This deadlock will have to be broken. SADC and the AU (African Union) as guearantors will have to break this deadlock. It is in the interest of all of us," said Chamisa.

The MDC has accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF of spurious arrests, and said Tuesday that the party's transport manager Pascal Gwezere had been abducted and arrested hours after a similar attempt on another party member.

President Robert Mugabe led a Zimbabwe cabinet meeting despite a boycott by unity partner Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who flew to South Africa to appeal for regional mediation.
"The cabinet started at nine. The session is being chaired by President Mugabe," a government official said.

Tsvangirai left Harare for South Africa on Monday to seek help from regional leaders who mediated the fragile power-sharing pact after he cut with Mugabe's "dishonest and unreliable" camp Friday.

He flies to neighbouring Mozambique on Tuesday to meet President Armando Guebuza, chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc's defence and security body in Chimoio, in the country's central region.

"They will meet today at 1600 hours (1400 GMT)," Mozambican presidential spokesman Estefanio Muholove confirmed.

Zimbabwe state media reported Tuesday that Mugabe will not recognise Tsvangirai's suspension of ties until he is formally informed.

"Until the communication is done formally the president has no reason or any grounds to think or know otherwise," the Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba as saying about Tsvangirai's decision.

"This can be done orally or in writing but in a formal manner. From that point of view nothing has happened," said Charamba.

Under the powersharing agreement, Mugabe' ZANU-PF is in charge of 15 ministries, Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has 13, while the smaller faction of the MDC has three.

MDC spokesman and cabinet minister Nelson Chamisa said that any decisions made at Tuesday's meeting would not be binding.

"The matter is now in the hands of SADC and the AU (African Union) who are guarantors of this agreement," he said, confirming Tsvangirai's Mozambique trip.

Tsvangirai said he will only resume relations once unresolved issues with his long-term rival are settled which include disputes over key posts and a crackdown against his supporters.

Voters in Botswana are currently heading to the polls for its tenth democratic elections, amid deep recession in the world’s largest diamond producing country, reports Al Jazeera. President Ian Khama’s party is tipped to win, despite criticism about his authoritarian leadership style. As the son of Botswana’s first president, Mr. Kharma faces his first democratic test since becoming the leader of Botswana Democratic Party 18 months ago. About 723,000 voters are expected to cast in their votes today. Mr. Khama has also indicated that he won’t recognize Zimbabwean President Mugabe’s authority is Tsvangirai pulled out of unity government.

The immediate future of Zimbabwe's unity Government is in doubt after Morgan Tsvangirai accused President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF of being "dishonest and unreliable".

Mr Tsvangirai, the Prime Minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said that his party would disengage from the country's troubled unity Government until outstanding issues in the deal were resolved. The party was suspending co-operation, but not “pulling out officially”.

The latest crisis to hit the Government has been triggered by the arrest and trial of a top MDC official, who faces treason charges on what are seen as trumped up coup allegations.

“It has brought home the reality that as a movement we have an unreliable and unrepentant partner in the transitional Government,” he told a news conference. “Until confidence has been restored we can’t continue to pretend that everything is well.”

Mr Tsvangirai said that the freeze would continue until there was a resolution of the dispute over Roy Bennett, who has been named Deputy Agriculture Minister but not sworn in. A feisty white Zimbabwean whose farm was confiscated by Mr Mugabe, he was taken back into detention this week and is now due to appear in the High Court on Monday.

Today’s move demonstrates deep unhappiness within the MDC over the coalition. However, Mr Tsvangirai, who has limited power, has repeatedly said that he sees it as the only way to ensure Zimbabwe’s future and again stopped short of bringing down the Government by pulling out altogether.

Critics say that the policy is the worst of all worlds and simply demonstrates the MDC’s weakness in the face of ZANU-PF intransigence. Others say it is designed to bring outside influence to bear on Mr Mugabe, who himself faces pressure from hardliners within the ruling clique.

“The boycott decision demonstrates to some extent the limited options which the MDC has in trying to pressure Mugabe, but the decision will pressure regional observers to try and intervene,” said Mike Davies, an analyst with the UK-based Eurasia Group.

ZANU-PF's reaction underlined tensions within the coalition. “If MDC wants to disengage . . . we don't have a problem with that,” said Ephraim Masawi, a ZANU-PF spokesman. “We were having problems with MDC, working together. We have been trying but it was not easy.”

Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe entered the unity Government in February after two violence-plagued and widely disputed elections left the country at a political stalemate and in danger of serious violence.

Neighbouring countries in the Southern Africa Development Community, led by South Africa, brokered the deal, but it has been plagued by problems since its inception.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has today called for an emergency crisis meeting for his party to map a way forward after the imprisonment of MDC treasurer-general and deputy agriculture minister-designate, Roy Bennett.
Bennett, a close ally of Tsvangirai, faces charges of possessing weapons for the purposes of insurgency and banditry. He was on Wednesday committed to imprisonment by Mutare Provincial Magistrate Lucy Mungwari pending his trial in the High Court on Monday.

This is despite the fact that his indictment papers were not in order and his lawyers had not been furnished with the documents to allow them to prepare his defence outline.

On Wednesday, President Mugabe snubbed Tsvangirai who had sought a hasty meeting over the controversial imprisonment of Bennett. Tsvangirai cancelled a weekly Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for Thursday and will not be at his office to protest Wednesday’s detention of his top ally.

A livid Tsvangirai, who is under pressure to abandon his softly approach to continued violations of the Global Political Agreement by Mugabe, immediately sought an urgent meeting with the veteran leader, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Attorney General Johannes Tomana to thrash the matter out.

Mugabe has allegedly refused to meet Tsvangirai over the potentially divisive matter. James Maridadi, Tsvangirai’s spokesperson says Tsvangirai had repeatedly sought a meeting with Mugabe. "I can confirm that the Prime Minister was indeed chasing a meeting with the President but could not manage as all avenues of communication were closed," said Maridadi. "The Prime Minister is keen to have that meeting which he seeks to use to bring finality and closure to Bennett’s case."

In a statement on Thursday, the MDC said the arrest of one of its founding MPs was both provocative and vindictive. "MDC views this as an act of machination by Zanu-PF and its sulking cabal planted in various state institutions aimed at persecuting not prosecution," said the MDC.

"This latest action is deliberately provocative, unnecessary and motivated by hatred of a personality. The MDC takes this matter as a serious attack on the integrity and honesty of the party; it is not acceptable and will not be taken lightly."

Bennett once served a one-year jail term for assaulting Chinamasa in parliament. Following charges of terrorism, he fled the country to seek asylum in South Africa in 2006 after the police quizzed him over the discovery an arms cache at a house belonging to Mike Peter Hirschman, an arms dealer.

He was on February 13 this year seized by the police and some intelligence argents at the Charles Prince Airport as he was just about to fly back to South Africa to visit his family.

He had just returned to the country when the unity government was being formed. He spent a month at Mutare remand prison and was released on stringent bail conditions.

Mugabe used an appearance at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) ‘World 2009’ meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday to attack the West for what he called the continued violation of Zimbabwe’s airwaves by foreign based radio stations. In a speech that aptly summed up his regime’s attitude towards media freedom, Mugabe told a Council of Ministers meeting that ‘certain western countries had ‘radio broadcasting systems’ that were targeting ‘his’ country to further their ‘obnoxious regime change agendas’.

The remarks are a continuation of threats made by Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, the Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, who last month told a study seminar of army officers that foreign-based radio stations are at ‘war with Zimbabwe’ . The soldiers attending a five day seminar on ‘low intensity operations and asymmetric warfare’ at 2 Infantry Brigade Headquarters were told to remain on guard against this threat.

In Switzerland on Wednesday Mugabe was to stun delegates further by saying the use of Information Communication Technologies was a challenge to Zimbabwe’s sovereignty. He claimed there was a ‘philosophy that seeks to weaponize ICT by turning them into weapons of aggression.’ One blogger sarcastically suggested that Mugabe might have been talking about ‘exploding handsets’ or ‘sub machine guns cunningly disguised as laptops. Mugabe’s exact meaning remained obscure but all the same exposed his paranoia about opening up the media.

ICT Minister Nelson Chamisa is also in Switzerland for the conference, having arrived separately on Monday. Mugabe arrived for the conference on Wednesday. Despite a European Union travel ban imposed on Mugabe and his inner circle the ZANU PF leader and his wife Grace were able to travel because the ITU falls under the arm of the United Nations, where they are exempted from the travel ban. Mugabe is expected back in Zimbabwe on Saturday.

Last week a Swiss based company Nestle, was put under pressure by human rights groups to stop buying milk from a farm controversial seized by Grace Mugabe. The pressure bore fruit, with the company saying it would stop the purchases on the 4th October. With Mugabe spending several days in Switzerland, where Nestle is headquartered, there was predictable speculation over whether his wife would make any attempts to meet Nestle bosses.

Meanwhile Newsreel asked Minister Chamisa if Mugabe’s attitude towards private Zimbabwean broadcasters based outside the country reflected government policy. He said Mugabe’s speech merely reflected his fears. The MDC Minister however said it was imperative for the government to licence private players because ‘even if you don’t licence broadcasters they will licence themselves via the internet and other forms of ICT.’ He said ICT’s worldwide have helped overcome media restrictions and gave examples of countries like Iran, Venezuela and Burma.

Geneva, Switzerland  - Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, is making an unannounced trip to Geneva to take part in Telecom, the Swiss Foreign Affairs Department (DFAE) has confirmed to GenevaLunch. Mugabe arrived in Geneva 7 October.

Right to visit UN overrides Swiss sanctions
Mugabe is under visa and financial sanctions from the United States, the European Union and Switzerland, but as the host country of a UN-sponsored event, Switzerland cannot ban his visit to a UN event, a spokesperson in Bern says. The situation is identical to that in New York in September, when Mugabe attended the General Assembly of the UN.

Mugabe is explicity banned from entering Switzerland, except for UN events. Two accounts with a value of CHF547,000 have been blocked in Switzerland in connection with the sanctions, which were put into effect because of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and to prevent money laundering.

Switzerland’s legal obligations as the host country also mean Mugabe cannot be shadowed constantly during his visit to ensure that he and his entourage do not have contact with financial advisors or bankers, although the penalties are steep for a bank dealing with any of the 240 people on the Zimbabwe sanctions list.

Telecom is seeing more exhibitors from developing countries
Telecom is the largest event in the telecommunications world, sponsored by ITU, a United Nations organization. A larger number of developing countries is attending this year than in the past. Since October 2007 some $8 billion has been invested in telecommunications in developing countries, who are in Geneva to argue their case they they offer increasingly interesting markets.

Mugabe’s government and sanctions were in the news last week because of heavy media coverage of Nestlé’s activities in Zimbabwe: the company had been buying milk from a farm that had been seized as part of the land reform programme and given to Grace Mugabe, the president’s wife, who is also under sanctions. The company stopped buying the milk Sunday 4 October.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe says his country is ready for improved ties with Western nations that have strongly condemned his rule.

In a speech to parliament Tuesday, Mr. Mugabe said Zimbabwe is in a "positive stance" to begin "fresh and cooperative relations" with countries that have been hostile in the past.

Western nations have generally shunned Mr. Mugabe for a decade, blaming his policies and corruption in his government for the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy.

The U.S., Britain, and other countries maintain travel and financial sanctions on the president and his close associates.

Relations have shown signs of improving since Mr. Mugabe entered into a unity government with longtime opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in February.

Last month, the European Union sent its first high-level delegation to Zimbabwe in seven years.

In his speech Tuesday, Mr. Mugabe said Zimbabwe's relations with the EU are "gaining momentum." He added that Zimbabwe expects Western nations to remove the sanctions as what he called the "re-engagement" continues.

Zimbabwe's government has appealed for up to $10 billion to rebuild the economy, ravaged by years of food shortages and hyperinflation.

The U.S. and other countries have so far committed only small amounts of aid, saying they want to see wide-ranging political and economic reforms before giving larger amounts.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has said his fast-track land reform program, launched in 2000, was to give Zimbabwean land back to landless blacks and that each individual should acquire and own only one farm. However VOA has discovered that he has taken five formerly white-owned farms, while his wife Grace Mugabe has taken six. VOA spoke with several workers from several of the farms, some of whom have been working on the farms for decades.

President Mugabe's estate is in Darwendale district about thirty miles northwest of Harare, close to his tribal home. It lies adjacent to the large state-owned Lake Robertson, often called Darwendale Dam, which gives him access to unlimited water for irrigation.

The 4,000 hectare estate is made up of six farms, one of which is Highfield that Mr. Mugabe purchased in a normal commercial transaction nine years ago. Workers on the farms, the former farm owners, and current neighboring farms told VOA a group of veterans of the liberation war originally forced off most of the white owners of the remaining five farms between 2000 and 2002.

Then, the workers say, operations at the farm were taken over by the then government's Agricultural Rural Development Authority or ARDA. They add that in 2006, the properties were taken over by Mr. Mugabe, through one of his companies, known as Gushungo, his clan name.

Records seen by VOA show Mr. Mugabe has three holding companies registered at the deed's office in Harare, Gushungo Investments, Gushungo Security, and Gushungo Construction.

The war veterans involved in the original takeover told VOA they were happy to move off the land to make way for Mr. Mugabe because he is their hero for liberating them from white rule. They now live on adjoining farms which they say they struggle to farm because they have received little seed and other inputs from the government in recent years.

The so-called fast-track land reform program launched by Mr. Mugabe in 2000, has been a chaotic operation often accompanied by violent invasions of the properties by armed supporters of Mr. Mugabe. Some owners were killed, and many were severely injured along with some of their employees. Most of the workers fled the farms after the initial invasions, accused of loyalty to the departed white farmer, or connections with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Under the program, all previously owned, white-owned rural land, including wildlife conservancies, was nationalized. No current land register exists. Individuals and groups who now occupy and work land from which title deed holders were evicted, acquired their right to occupation by means of a so-called Offer Letter signed by Didymus Mutasa, former Lands Minister in the Previous ZANU-PF government. Efforts to ascertain whether Mr. and Mrs. Mugabe have Offer Letters for their properties have thus far not been successful.

Former owners of the land now occupied by the Mugabes, now mostly living in Australia and New Zealand, say they have not received any compensation for substantial improvements to their farms or for their farming equipment - recompense to which they are entitled by Zimbabwe's land laws. Mr. Mugabe says that Britain, the former colonial power, must pay farmers for the land taken since 2000.

More than 4,000 white farmers have been evicted under the program since 2000, and Mr. Mugabe has stated its purpose was to provide small farms for landless peasants. In 2003 he said large farms for black Zimbabweans who wanted to farm commercially should be restricted to 400 hectares and that no individual should occupy more than a single farm.

Many leaders in Mr. Mugabe's party ZANU-PF, ignored this, and accumulated more than one farm. It has only now become clear that he has done so too. Mr. Mugabe's estate, unlike much of the land seized from whites is productive and has new farm equipment.

The workers said they preferred working for the previous white owners because they were paid bonuses after good harvests, could borrow money, and had more communication with their former employers than they had with Mr. Mugabe, who they say visits his estate about once every three months.

The jewel in the crown of Mrs. Mugabe's seized farms is Gushungo Dairy Estate, formerly Foyle Farm, in Mazowe about 30 kilometers north of Harare. At the time it was seized from the owner, it was Zimbabwe's top dairy enterprise, producing more than 6.5 million liters a year.

The state controlled Herald newspaper reported that costly new equipment has been installed on the farm, workers at the dairy and some of Mrs. Mugabe customers say it now produces about a million liters a year.

Until this week, most of the milk was sold to Nestle Zimbabwe. Nestle now says it has halted purchases from Gushungo Dairy Estate. There was international outrage over the company's dealings with Mrs. Mugabe, with some groups threatening boycotts of Nestle products.

Brian Raftopoulos of Zimbabwe's Solidarity Peace Trust told VOA he was surprised to learn about Mr. Mugabe's estate. He said it explains why Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been unable to get officials to produce an audit of all land in Zimbabwe - as required by the so-called Global Political Agreement which brought the current unity government into being.

"I think its clearly hindering the land audit, and because obviously it is a great deal of, a proper land audit will bring out a great deal of information about land holding and land ownership patterns in the country," said Brian Raftopoulos.

Raftopolous notes that Mugabe's acquisitions are further evidence of the rapid accumulation of land by the elite who surround Mr. Mugabe. He says it appears to be an emerging military agricultural complex of the military and political elite who now control key sectors of the state and economy.

"But of course it also means that this new, this group who have now accumulated such vast amounts of wealth, also concerned about the prospects of losing that land, or at least having it exposed to a broader public, and are worried about the democratic processes which will open up the debate around such issues," he said.

Raftopoulos notes that the Mugabe land holdings are a very real impediment to fully implementing the political agreement.

Neither Mr. Mugabe nor his wife, nor the agricultural minister Joseph Made replied to questions about whether public money was used to equip and run the first couple's farming operations.

The land upheavals triggered an unprecedented economic decline in Zimbabwe as commercial farmers used to produce forty percent of Zimbabwe's exports.

Swiss chocolate maker yields to international pressure to stop deals with Mugabe
Oct 2, 2009

Food giant Nestlé has bowed to international pressure and distanced itself from Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe's Gushungo Dairy Estate, which it has supported for the past eight months. 
 
An international outcry followed British media reports that the Swiss company had been purchasing millions of litres of milk from the dairy, owned by the wife of President Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe, his family and close associates are subject to international sanctions as a result of their dictatorial rule.

Grace Mugabe's farm is among a handful of the country's most valuable white-owned farms taken over by the first lady after land grabs around 2002.

But Nestlé initially said it was not breaking any rules as Switzerland, where the company has its headquarters, is not part of the European Union.

Locally, Afriforum spokesman Kallie Kriel said it launched a campaign calling on people to boycott Nestlé products if the company failed to stop buying "blood milk".

Facebook groups calling for similar boycotts sprang up after London's Daily Telegraph broke the story last week. One of the groups has more than 8,000 members.

Then, late last night, Ravi Pillay, spokesman for Nestlé South Africa, convened an urgent press conference at which the company denounced the Mugabe dairy along with seven others.

He said Nestlé Zimbabwe would no "longer be receiving milk from eight farms", including Mugabe's farm, as of Sunday.

The milk will now go to the Dairy Board of Zimbabwe.

Pillay claimed Nestlé Zimbabwe began trading with the Gushungo Dairy Estate and seven other farms "on a temporary basis" in February, after "the food and economic crisis in Zimbabwe reached a level where the dairy industry was at real risk of collapse, and the Dairy Board was no longer able to buy milk".

The Dairy Board is now able to support those farms, said Pillay. "[We] bought the milk due to [Nestlé's] long-term commitment to Zimbabwe, we bought this milk on a temporary basis. This helped prevent a further deterioration in food supplies in Zimbabwe at that time," he said in a statement.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Grace Mugabe's properties total about 12,000 acres, but her most important is Gushungo Dairy Estate, formerly known as Foyle Farm.

On Amanpour (CNN), this Thursday, Christiane Amanpour sits down for an exclusive live interview with the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.
 In Mugabe's first interview with a major Western media outlet in years, Christiane will explore the historic power-sharing agreement with the unity government there, and get the president's thoughts on the highly-emotive issue of land redistribution.

As Mugabe prepares to take centre stage at the United Nations on Friday, Christiane will take the opportunity to ask if the power-sharing agreementin Zimbabwe is really working, if international sanctions are responsible for his country's economic and political turmoil, and what kind of engagement he is looking for from the international community.

In this rare interview, Christiane will also address signs of optimism emerging in Zimbabwe; sky-rocketing inflation stabilising, basic goods returning to store shelves, and a loosening of restrictive media laws.

Amanpour is CNN International's new live global interview program, which launched on 21st September 2009 as the centrepiece of its new evening line up.

Live interview airs 2100 CET Thursday 24 September and we will post it on this website immediately after,not during.

JOHANNESBURG – South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday said Zimbabwe's inclusive government should fully implement last year’s Global Political Agreement (GPA) to end squabbles threatening viability of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) brokered political settlement.
Addressing more than 4 000 delegates at the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) 10th national congress in Midrand, Johannesburg, Zuma called upon Zimbabwe's three political principals – President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara – to respect the power-sharing agreement.
"We must emphasise the need for the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement,” Zuma said, adding; "As neighbours, the Zimbabwean situation is real for us, it is not theoretical. We have a direct interest in the sustainable finalisation of the political settlement."
Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and the MDC formations led by Tsvangirai and Mutambara signed a power-sharing GPA last year leading to the formation of a coalition government in February to end a political crisis following an inconclusive presidential election last year.
But the unity government is beset with problems with the MDC accusing ZANU PF of failing to honour an agreement to reverse the appointments of political allies to the key posts of central bank governor and attorney general and saying pro-Mugabe police and state prosecutors have continued to target the former opposition party’s activists and legislators for arrest in violation of the power-sharing deal.
On the other hand ZANU PF insists it has done the most to uphold the power-sharing deal and instead accuses the MDC of reneging on promises to campaign for lifting of Western sanctions on Mugabe and his top allies.
Zuma, who two weeks ago surrendered the SADC chairmanship to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila, urged the 14-nation bloc to continue supporting Zimbabwe but stressed that respect of the GPA was the main issue if progress was to be fully achieved.
The South African leader also called on his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and COSATU to assist in the resolution of the challenges in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, United Sates (US) Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said on Monday the Washington reserved the right to lift the sanctions it slapped on “approximately 220” individuals in Mugabe’s previous and also at “entities that they possess or may own”.
"We reserve the right to lift those sanctions when we want to do so and when we see progress. We have sought to engage on Zimbabwe. We would like to see Zimbabwe not be a drag on SADC and the region, and we would like to see a return to democracy,” said Carson.
"We do not believe that the global political agreement has been implemented and that we do not believe enough has been done."
The US and its Western allies have maintained visa and financial sanctions against Mugabe and his senior lieutenants as punishment for their failure to uphold the rule of law, democracy and human rights.
But a summit of SADC leaders in the DRC two weeks ago called for the lifting of the sanctions that they said were hampering efforts to rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy.Read the full speech below.

Opening address by ANC President Jacob Zuma, at the 10th COSATU Congress, Gallagher Estate, Midrand, Johannesburg.

Theme: "Consolidating Working Class Power in Defence of Decent Work and for Socialism"

The President of COSATU, Comrade S'dumo Dlamini; General Secretary, Comrade Zwelinzima Vavi; SACP General Secretary, Comrade Blade Nzimande and members of the SACP CEC; Secretary General of the ANC, Comrade Gwede Mantashe and members of the ANC NEC; Members of the Central Executive Committee of COSATU; Fraternal organisations and distinguished international guests;

Delegates; shop stewards, Comrades and friends;

We bring comradely and revolutionary greetings from the African National Congress to this 10th congress of the parliament of workers, COSATU.

This Congress provides an opportunity for the ANC, as the leader of the Tripartite Alliance, to re-affirm the critical importance of COSATU and the working class movement within a multi-class organisation like the ANC.

We acknowledge and appreciate the historical role of Cosatu as the powerful voice of the workers, and a dependable ally in the struggle to advance the strategic objectives of the National Democratic Revolution.

In our Election Manifesto, we noted that we were celebrating 15 years of advancing worker rights.

Cosatu played a pivotal role in the creation of the country's progressive labour legislative framework, which protects and guarantees the rights of workers in our country.

Working with the Alliance, especially Cosatu, the ANC government introduced laws to protect workers and created the machinery to negotiate wages and working conditions.

It set minimum wages for domestic and farm workers, hospitality, taxi workers and security sectors and established maximum hours of work for all.

We introduced affirmative action laws and legislation to promote skills.

These achievements would not have been possible without working with a progressive and revolutionary federation like Cosatu.

Comrades, Congress meets just a few months after our hard-fought elections.

The ANC-SACP-Cosatu Alliance fought a good fight, and was united in a vibrant election campaign that resulted in a resounding victory for the ANC.

The ANC, a disciplined force of the left, accepted the electoral mandate which came primarily from the workers and the poor, with a commitment to take further the struggle for a better life for all.

The ANC must now use its victory and control of State power to improve the quality of life of the poor and marginalised.

Together with Alliance partners, we should roll back the legacy of apartheid, racism and colonialism.

We will make a difference in the lives of our people if we make drastic improvements in health, education, rural development, the fight against crime and the creation of decent work, our key priorities.

In our closing address to the ANC Polokwane national conference in December 2007, we stated that the Alliance partners were key stakeholders in policy development and implementation. Indeed we worked together on the drafting of the Election Manifesto.

Working together as the Alliance, we must now move a step further to close the gap between the poor and the rich. We must deal decisively with unemployment, job creation and the eradication of poverty, and we must bring basic services to our people.

To ensure the achievement of these goals after elections, we had to establish a government system that would be able to coherently advance our developmental priorities.

Comrades will recall that in October last year, the Alliance Economic Summit meeting in Johannesburg supported in principle, the need to develop and consider proposals for the restructuring of Cabinet and the reconfiguration of government departments.

The Summit agreed that there was a need for a high level planning, evaluation and monitoring capacity in government. To pursue this, it was proposed that a Planning Commission needed to be set up, headed by the Presidency.

This Commission would have the power to align the work of all government departments and organs of state, to government's developmental agenda.

As you are aware, we moved quickly after the elections to reconfigure government. We created two Ministries in the Presidency, one responsible for the National Planning Commission and the other for effective performance Monitoring and Evaluation.

Both Ministries have produced discussion documents. The ANC will make its comments on the documents to Parliament as required, as much Cosatu has said it will do the same.

The inputs from various sectors should be designed to enrich the process. The final outcome must enable us to meet the undertakings made in the ANC election Manifesto and our strategic objectives as the ANC as well as the Alliance.

Some new departments have been created, others were renamed to indicate a policy shift while yet others were merged or split, as part of the reconfiguration. I will discuss just a few.

We established the Human Settlements department with a mandate to go beyond housing.

It is meant to build communities that have closer access to work and social amenities, including sports and recreational facilities.

Minerals and Energy departments were made independent entities to allow more specific focus and impact on job creation and infrastructure development.

We created two Education Ministries to underline the importance of this priority. The Basic Education Ministry focuses on adult basic education and training, as well as Primary and Secondary education.

You will recall that the Alliance Economic Summit urged an expansion of skills development policies.

Together we noted at that Summit that the quality of the skills and education institutions in our country would determine the success of the country' industrial policy.

We agreed that we needed to strengthen institutions such as the Sectoral Education and Training Authorities (SETA's).

The new Higher Education Ministry therefore focuses on tertiary, technical and vocational training as well as skills development which includes the SETAs, to help us meet the objectives outlined in the Alliance Summit and the Manifesto.

We established a new Ministry of Rural Development and Land Affairs, to help us change the face of rural areas through meaningful socio-economic development initiatives.

The new Economic Development Ministry is designed to have a strong domestic focus and to address amongst others, matters of macro and micro-economic development planning.

The Ministry together with Trade and Industry, Finance and others are working to refine their respective mandates and how they will relate to each other.

Comrades, the implementation of the ANC manifesto no doubt requires all of us to participate.

In this regard, a teacher's union such as SADTU must actively take up broader educational issues such as how to bring back the culture of learning and teaching.

It must look at how to promote excellence in schools and transform classrooms to centres of excellence that we can be proud of.

It must also look at what role it can play to bring about a culture where teachers are always in school, everyday, on time, teaching for seven hours daily with no neglect of children and duty.

We also need our public sector union like NEHAWU to play a critical role to promote a responsive, accessible, caring and effective public service.

Unions in the private sector also have implementation responsibilities as well.

Comrades and friends, let me reiterate that the ANC government will make the creation of decent work opportunities and sustainable livelihoods, the primary focus of our economic policies.

Our election Manifesto states clearly that the objective should be reflected in the orientation and programme of development

finance institutions and regulatory bodies.

It should be reflected through Government procurement and public incentive rules, as well as policies relating to industrial

policy trade, competition, the labour market and other policies.

We must make maximum use of all the means at the disposal of the ANC government, to achieve this.

We must however bear in mind that the ANC formed a new government during a global economic crisis.

The impact of the recession on key sectors of our economy such as manufacturing, mining, automotive and retail is visible and harsh. Earlier reports indicated that we lost close to 180 000 jobs in the first quarter of the year.

The recession will no doubt affect our formal economy targets. The formal economy needs to generate an average 500,000 new jobs annually to halve unemployment by 2014.

This was achieved in recent years, but has been set back by the recession.

The jobs in the formal mainstream economy should not be confused with the 500,000 Expanded Public Works Programme work opportunities that we said we plan to create in the State of the Nation address.

Those are work opportunities aimed at people who are not absorbed by the labour market and for poverty alleviation.

The process of creating those opportunities is ongoing. Funding for EPWP programmes is within the allocated budgets of national departments, provinces and municipalities.

In response to the economic crisis, working together with social partners at Nedlac, labour, business and community sectors, we agreed on a common response. Some of the measures we agreed to put in place include the setting up of a training layoff scheme as one alternative to retrenchment for workers and companies affected by the recession.

We also agreed on support for distressed companies in a number of sectors, by the Industrial Development Corporation.

These undertakings must be implemented without delay.

The important factor is that the economic recession should not make us shift from our goals.

We trust that this Congress will be able locate the role of workers in this changing working environment.

It should define how Cosatu will influence the ever-changing conditions, in the interests of the workers and the poor.

Comrades and friends, the Cosatu Political Report analyses extensively what transpired going to Polokwane and thereafter.

Cosatu played a pivotal role in assisting the ANC to restore its character and spirit in Polokwane.

The epoch making Polokwane conference achieved the goal of returning power to ANC branches, and re-affirmed their supremacy in determining the direction of the movement. Cosatu should be proud of its contribution in this regard.

Most importantly, the Polokwane conference confirmed the importance and relevance of the Alliance, and the need for unity in action, in the joint programme of social transformation.

We were directed by Conference to continue to enhance coordination amongst Alliance partners, and to strengthen the organisational capacity of each individual component of the Alliance. Conference further confirmed that the leadership role of the ANC places on it the primary responsibility to unite the Tripartite Alliance and all the democratic forces.

We believe we have not failed the ANC branches in this regard. The relations between the Alliance partners are more positive and constructive than ever in recent history. The joint action during the drafting of the Manifesto as well as during the elections and other key processes, indicated that all partners value the strategic role of the Alliance.

The ANC National Executive Committee this weekend agreed on the need to call an urgent meeting of the Alliance Secretariat, to be followed by an Alliance Summit.

We have a lot to engage each other on, relating to the resolutions of the Polokwane conference.

We must remember that the Alliance, which is based on mutual respect and autonomy, has always been characterized by vibrancy.

We will therefore not always agree on all issues as the three components.

However, constant direct engagement enables us to disagree in a comradely manner, without being disagreeable.

Comrades, allow me to touch on a few current affairs issues that have been cause for concern.

Mass action, including strikes in their historical context, were meant to serve as tools to mobilise and influence society broadly to sympathise and join the call. They were also traditionally meant to asset the hegemony of the Congress movement.

Violent strikes violate other people's right of association and undermine the cause of workers.

We have also gone through a period of protests related to service delivery or demarcation consequences in some of our communities. We acknowledge the service delivery bottlenecks in various communities.

However, the lawlessness that has accompanied some of the mass action is unacceptable.

We have noted Cosatu's view that we need a political rather than a law and order approach to service delivery protests in the long-term.

The Political Report states that a narrow law and order approach is most likely to unwittingly gloss over genuine grievances of the poor.

The ANC will take a broader view in dealing with these struggles. We will address the historic spatial planning problems and also work to resolve the genuine problems facing communities, working together with Alliance partners on the ground.

Comrades, the ANC NEC deliberated at length on the question of the unionization of the military over the weekend, including the recent unfortunate march to the Union Buildings.

We noted that the Labour Relations Act makes an exception to soldiers and intelligence services workers with respect to unionization.

We took a position in favour of the de-unionisation of the military. We strongly believe that this is a matter of national security.

Alternative means must be pursued to improve the conditions of service of our soldiers, as government is doing through the establishment of the Military Service Commission.

Comrades there also has been a raging debate on the national question. As the ANC, we must reaffirm that we are a non-racial organisation.

We are defined by the principles of leading our country to a united, non-racial , non-sexist and democratic society.

Our policies seek to affirm Blacks in general and Africans in particular. Any debate on the national question must take into consideration what steps we need to take to ensure that African people are affirmed, but without dismissing the reality that other Black South Africans face.

In the implementation of our affirmative action or broad-based black economic empowerment policies as the ANC, we must also confront factors such as the view that there is a conspiracy against top black executives in the private sector, including parastatals.

In addressing our approach to this matter in relevant structures within the Alliance, we must be constructive, holistic and cautious and look for long-term solutions.

Another important issue that the ANC NEC dealt with over the weekend is the debate on the 2012 ANC conference and leadership. We all know the impact of an ill-conceived and premature succession debate. The Political Report to this Congress summarises very succinctly the painful and disruptive process that the Alliance and the country went through.

It refers to the emotional scars that many comrades carry up to this day, due to the harsh build up to Polokwane.

It is for this reason amongst others that the NEC has agreed to develop a code of conduct on lobbying, for use at the right time during elections.

The primary task at the moment is the implementation of the Polokwane resolutions and the election mandate. The promotion of a succession debate so prematurely is a mischievous diversion that must be avoided. Comrades, this evening we will depart for New York in the United States, to participate in the United Nations General Assembly debate and later in the G20 Summit in Pittsburg.

We will take forward our call for the transformation of the United Nations system. This lies at the heart of efforts to create a just, stable and sustainable world order.

Given the global economic crisis, the G20 process is important to coordinate an immediate response to restore stability.

We will advance our view that a sustainable response will be achieved through reform of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other multilateral institutions.

We will also advance our support for efforts to finalise the Doha Development Round negotiations as a matter of priority to ensure that we advance to more equitable trade relations among the countries and regions of the world.

Tomorrow, the nations of the world will discuss climate change at the UN. As Africans we remain deeply concerned by climate change.

The continent is particularly vulnerable to changes in climate, which have a profound impact on issues like food security, economic viability and access to water.

Closer to home, as the Alliance we must continue to assist the Zimbabweans to find solutions. We must emphasise the need for the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement.

As neighbours, the Zimbabwean situation is real for us, it is not theoretical. We have a direct interest in the sustainable finalisation of the political settlement.

Comrades, in closing, let me remind Congress of the importance of unity within the working class movement.

In working for unity as you always do, you are building on the founding principles of the South African Congress of Trade Unions, (SACTU).

In its founding statement in 1955, SACTU said: "We firmly declare that the interests of all workers are alike, whether they be European, African, Coloured, Indian, English, Afrikaans or Jewish. We resolve that this coordinating body of trade unions shall strive to unite all workers in its ranks, without discrimination, and without prejudice".

Let us continue to work for the unity of the working class, the unity of the Alliance and the unity of all our people.

Working together in unity as the Alliance, we will do more to eradicate poverty and create a better life for all our people.

The African National Congress wishes Cosatu a very successful Congress!

5/09/09 SUPPORT for President Robert Mugabe has plunged since the formation of a unity government six months ago, according to two polls, the results of which have only now been revealed.

Less than 10% of adults would vote for him or Zanu PF if elections were held now, the surveys suggests. 
Mugabe has lost 20% of his support since the March 2008 elections in which Morgan Tsvangirai beat him.

However, after a campaign of Zanu PF violence, Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw from a presidential run-off and Mugabe won the one-man race and was sworn into five more years in office.

But Sadc persuaded the two to form a unity government.

Information leaked from the results of two recent public opinion surveys shows that Mugabe’s Zanu PF would be reduced to a small opposition party if elections were held now.

A survey conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI), which accurately predicted election results over the past 10 years, sent interviewers for the first time deep into Mugabe’s rural strongholds.

A second survey, commissioned a month later in May, confirmed the results.

Eldred Masunungure, director of the MPOI, and a senior lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, said he could not comment on the findings.

“The survey covers a wide range of opinion about many subjects and until analysis is complete we cannot release partial information,” he said.

Nevertheless, key information about Mugabe’s drop in popularity has been leaked from various sources.

It shows that Mugabe and Zanu PF are indivisible in the voters’ minds and both would be lucky to score between 8% and 10 %; Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change would get 57%, while between 31% and 33% are still undecided; “Even if all the ‘don’t knows’ voted for Mugabe, Tsvangirai and the MDC would easily win any election,” one senior researcher said this week.

Close to Mugabe’s rural home in Mashonaland West province, many voters formerly employed on white-owned farms, say they would vote for Tsvangirai and his MDC in a “free and fair” poll.

Political analyst Brian Raftopoulos said the results of the survey “confirm the continuing deep erosion and breakdown of Zanu PF and Mugabe’s support as the party of liberation.

“If Zanu PF is aware of this, this makes them even more dangerous as Zanu PF’s only power is state power, from the presidency, and they are fighting desperately to hold on to that power,” Raftopoulos said.
He added that if the unity government collapsed Mugabe’s clique would cause a “bloodbath”.