BLADE

Zim battle in cyberspace

THE factional fighting that has hit Zanu PF, Robert Mugabes' party in the run-up to its congress this week took a new turn when protagonists took their battle into cyberspace.

A series of text messages have since Tuesday been sent to hundreds of mobile subscribers, across the networks, purporting to give “updates” of the Zanu PF congress, which officially begins today.
The first text message arrived on Tuesday reading: “Welcome to the 5th Zanu PF Congress. SMS service brought to VIP delegates FREE as a Youth League trial information project.”
This was subsequently followed up by a string of other text messages one of which read: “The Mujuru faction demands at congress new, young and vibrant leadership for the party.”
President Robert Mugabe, who is also Zanu PF president and first secretary is 85-years-old. Analysts said this could be a direct call for Mugabe to step down at the congress.
A further message suggested that the “Joint Operations Command (JOC)” –– a grouping of security commanders –– was refusing to accept Mujuru as leader.
The text messages were discussed in the Zanu PF politburo meeting on Tuesday, according to Zanu PF sources.
The source of the messages remains unknown, but Zanu PF insiders pointed to the rival factions grappling to succeed Mugabe in the future.
Zanu PF has two main factions, one led by retired army general Solomon Mujuru and the other by Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
It has emerged that the senders were using a web-based short message system platform via a Swedish mobile operator to send the messages.
An inactive Econet number was used to “mask” the real source of the messages.
Yesterday, Econet was quick to action, saying in a statement that it had contacted the Swedish operator, believed to be Tele2 Comviq, to demand an immediate end to the spam messages being sent to Zimbabwean subscribers.
 In a statement released yesterday, Econet said as policy the company did not allow the transmission of political messages over its network.

John Mokwetsi/ Harare

Investing in bananas and avos

Avocados and bananas are the new focus of the Norwegian development finance institution, Norfund.

Recently the government funded body invested in Africado Limited, Tanzania's first avocado plantation in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. The idea is to give local farmers an alternative to coffee production. The avos are to be exported to Europa.

Further south, near Nampula in Mozambique, Norfund has invested in a new banana plantation - also for the export market.

The institutions is clearly interested in a range of activities from building hydroelectric power stations, to investment funds and food plantations. And they seem to have cross-party political support in the Norwegian Storting (parliament).

js

Immunity for corrupt bank governor

Zimbabwe's ZANU PF party led by Robert Mugabe,  has secured immunity for the Reserve Bank governor and his staff after the House of Assembly approved amendments to a Bill to reform the central bank.

Reserve Bank (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono has repeatedly pushed for immunity. He is accused of fueling inflation and corruptly aiding politicians from Mugabes' camp to commit various crimes by aiding them financially.
According to a report on the amendments to the banking laws of Zimbabwe carried out before the inclusive government came into power, a panel of experts chaired by Justice George Smith recommended that the constitution should confer immunity for the governor or his deputy for all acts done in good faith in his or her official capacity.

Tsvangirai rejoins Mugabe-government

President Robert Mugabe has been given one month to resolve the issues that resulted in a temporary breakdown in the unity government in Zimbabwe. In the meantime Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is returning to work.

 

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson James Maridadi said the MDC was hopeful that Mugabe would have addressed the outstanding issues within the 30 days.

“We are very hopeful,” said Maridadi adding that South African President Jacob Zuma would soon visit Zimbabwe to access progress towards fully compliance with GPA.

Pirate hunt a waste of money

The Norwegian frigate patrolling the Gulf of Aden is expensive and an inefficient way to combat piracy.

“It costs 200 million kroner (33 mill. dollars) to keep the frigate KNM Fridtjov Nansen in the Gulf of Aden for six months. That would have covered the wages of 100.000 policemen in Puntland for the same period,” says researcher Stig Jarle Hansen  at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) according to Norwegian daily, Vårt Land.

The Norwegian ship is part of a EU-operation to thwart pirate in the waters off Somalia. It has been on patrol since August.

“There are no simple solutions to the problem of piracy, but it cannot be solved without going in locally to where the pirates come from. The pirates are not the result of the absence of a state, but due to the lack of local institutions such as a police force, “ says Hansen, who has written a report for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, “Piracy in the greater Gulf of Aden.”

js

Farm workers shot as Zim Crisis continues

Five Zimbabwean farm workers were shot while ten other were otherwise injured at Friedawil Farm in Chinhoyi, the Commercial Farmers’ Union has revealed.

This is despite the fact that the SADC troika here to solve the GPA stalemate between Zanu PF and MDC, the major political parties who formed an inclusive government, are in the country.

The pig farm belongs to Louis Fick, a South African citizen, who is the CFU vice president.
 
“We have just received news of the shooting,” said CFU president Deon Theron. 
 
“Unfortunately Louis wasn’t on the farm at the time of the shooting as he is in Harare meeting with his lawyers.”
 
Of the 15 workers 12 were treated by a private doctor in Chinhoyi whilst three were taken to a private hospital in Harare.

A medical practitioner who requested anonymity said one worker was admitted and the other two were treated and discharged.

“Two of them had big cuts on the head. The other one who was admitted has a bad knee injury and we are waiting for a specialist,” he said.

Theron said Fick’s cook was shot in the chest, a second employee was shot in the head and a third sustained leg injuries.
The wife of the cook was shot in the head and her condition was believed to be serious.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Andrew Phiri said he was not aware of the case and referred the matter to Mashonaland West province.
“I am not aware of the case but I will try to find out, you can call our spokesperson in Mash West,”

The shootings were a culmination of an ongoing dispute over the farm’s ownership.
 
Deputy RBZ governor Edward Mashiringwani has been trying to evict Fick so that he can take over the farm.
           
Last month, Mashiringwani moved onto the farm with about 15 guards who threatened senior staff members and beat up one of the resident guards.
 
Mashiringwani’s employees also locked the gates leading the pigsties and crocodile enclosures and refused to allow water and food to be taken to the animals. 
 
Since then Fick’s cattle were held in an enclosure and denied access to grazing.     
 
A South African farmer, Crawford von Abo, who also received no support from the South African government after losing his highly successful farming operation in Zimbabwe as well as several businesses, took his case to South African Constitution Court.
 
Earlier in June the Constitutional Court upheld a High Court judgment which ruled the South African government should have offered von Abu the necessary protection against the land grabs.
 
The court ruled that the South African government had 60 days to remedy the situation.  The government could also be held responsible for paying compensation for losses and damages amounting to R80 million.

This is a new sign that Zanu PF and MDC are at loggerheads given that the parties promised that they will respect human rights.

An Analyst said: "Zimbabwe is still a pariah state. Its hard to see a future where Mugabe can allow democracy to flourish or stop the farm invasions.

By John Mokwetsi

Why Obama?

When the news of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama was announced at a conference I was attending Friday the spontaneous reaction from people in the audience was a surprised gasp "What, why?"

Wishful thinking on the side of the Nobel Committee cannot be ruled out. Nor Norwegian arrogance in thinking the prize will be a support for Obama along his political path. That would be to overestimate the influence of the award and underestimate the forces influencing the world in which Obama operates.

Rewarding presidential rhetoric before his ideas have borne concrete results shows a Nobel committee too keen on basking in reflected presidential glory rather than recognizing peace or human rights efforts made by persons for whom a Nobel medal would constitute the difference between life and death.

This year’s award is a clear proof that the committee chair, Thorbjørn 

Jagland, should resign and save his political networking to his job as head of the Council of Europe.

The Nobel Committee needs to realize that the world no longer rotates around Washington's axis. A peace prize to a president busy running two wars and supplying the arms to a few more, is ridiculous. While fellow politicians and lapdog organizations applaud, ordinary people still ask - Why Obama? No matter how much one likes the guy.

Jan Speed

Mugabe wants cooperation with West

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday toned down his rhetoric against western governments, usually the target of the octogenarian leader’s venom and elected to mend frosty relations between Harare and Brussels.

Mugabe traditionally abuses public addresses to rail at western governments which he repeatedly blames for the southern African country’s political andeconomic ills.

But the former liberation hero on Tuesday digressed from his usually combative disposition and devoted much of his address on outlining his government’s proposed plans to lift the country out of a decade long economic calamity.

In a speech marking the official opening of the second session of the seventh parliament of Zimbabwe Mugabe hailed the re-engagement process underway between Harare and Brussels aimed at normalizing stalled relations.
“Following the launch of the Zimbabwe-European Union dialogue in Brussels, early this year, our re-engagement with the European bloc is gathering momentum. However, as our Inclusive Government re-engages the Western countries we expect those countries that have imposed the illegal sanctions which have hurt and continue to hurt our economy and the generality of our people, to remove them. Our country remains in a positive stance to enter into fresh, friendly and cooperative relations with all those countries that have been hostile to us in the past,” Mugabe said.
Relations between Harare and western governments have been frosty since 2002 when the EU and the US and several other governments imposed targeted travel sanctions on President Mugabe and several of his lieutenants to protest against the country’s poor human rights record and fraudulent elections.

Western governments say these sanctions are unlikely to be lifted any time soon until the coalition government fully implements the provisions of the Global Political Agreement signed by Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and which paved the way for the formation of the fragile coalition government.

He also said the government had picked two investors to take over the controversial Chiyadzwa Diamond Fields, President Robert Mugabe has revealed. He said the engagement of the investors would help bring progress to Chiyadzwa.

“The diamond industry has continued to catch the attention of inventors. So far, two serious investors have been selected,” said Mugabe, without naming the investors. 

“The engagement of the investors will help bring progress to Chiyadzwa, where measures, to ensure the orderly relocation of the local families to pave way for full-scale commercial mining, are already underway.” 

He said the Mines and Minerals Amendment, which is set to sail through the current session, would seek to strengthen the relationship between government and mining houses.

Mugabe said the proposed amendments sought to broaden the ownership rights in the mining sector in line with the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment policy, promote foreign direct investment, enforce the “use it or lose it” principle so as to decisively deal with speculative holding of claims and to reform the Exclusive Prospective Order System in order to facilitate exploration of new deposits.
By John Mokwetsi

Nkunda could teach convicts

The two Norwegian security operatives sitting in Kisangani prison, DR Congo, convicted of murder, have delusions of grandeur. According to VG Nett, Tjostolv  Moland, one of the ex-soldiers had a letter on his PC offering to train the troops of rebel general Laurent Nkunda. The Congolese Tutsi leader is now under house arrest in Rwanda. With more than 15 years of battle experience Nkunda probably could have taught the two Norwegians a thing or two - not least of all the dangers of being careless and underestimating others. Maybe they would even have learnt to respect africans.
Jan Speed  

Nestlé dumps Grace

It took three days for food giant Nestlé to backtrack. When it was first revealed that the firm bought milk from Grace Mugabe´s farm they defended themselves.

After facing the possiblity of new consumer boycotts they announced that they will "discontinue" business with the estate that was forcibly taken over by the president´s henchmen, and then given to his wife. Civil society pressure still works!

Now it has also been revealed that the Swedish company Delaval has supplied dairy equipment to Grace Mugabe's Gushungu Dairy Estate, according to SW Radio news. The Swedes did not do their homework, claiming that "the Mugabe name was never mentioned". As if it would have been.

Jan Speed