Zimbabwean

By Vusimusi Bhebhe

31st August 2011

Zimbabwe’s Education Minister David Coltart has accused Zanu (PF) of living in cloud cuckoo land and refusing to accept the reality of an unfolding African people-led revolution that has seen unprecedented political change across the continent.

Commenting on Zanu (PF)’s angry reaction to last week’s decision by Libyan ambassador Taher Elmagrahi to defect to the rebel-led National Transitional Council, Coltart said President Robert Mugabe’s party was unwisely refusing to smell the coffee and learn from events elsewhere in Africa.

Elmagrahi had earlier joined other embassy staff and Libyan nationals on August 24 in chanting freedom songs as they burned the green flag synonymous with the regime of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

They replaced the flag with the red, black and green banner that was used by the Kingdom of Libya before Gaddafi changed it after seizing power in 1969.

The Zanu (PF) wing of Zimbabwe’s shaky coalition government ordered Elmagrahi to leave the country last week, insisting that the envoy lost his diplomatic privileges after declaring his allegiance to the NTC.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joey Bimha said Elmagrahi was no longer recognised as Libyan ambassador since the NTC had no legal status in Zimbabwe.

“Zanu (PF)’s reaction to the fall of Gaddafi shows how out of touch with reality they are. They still don’t understand the lifeline given them,” Coltart said, apparently referring to a compromise power-sharing agreement brokered by former South African president Thabo Mbeki in 2008 to accommodate Mugabe and his party after they lost elections earlier that year.

The Libyan embassy was later forced to pull down the NTC’s flag.

• "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
  Clean from my hand? No!" Macbeth on killing King Duncan – apposite to Zimbabwe? #
• "Out, damned spot! out, I say!Hell is murky! What need we
  fear who knows it, when none can call our power
  to account?" Lady Macbeth #
• Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
  Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, #
• Raze out the written troubles of the brain #
• "And with some sweet oblivious antidote
  Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
  Which weighs upon the heart? " #
• Astonishing to watch Sky News coverage of the capture of Gaddafi's compound this afternoon – thank God we are taking a peaceful route in Zim #
• "How do AU leaders sleep knowing that Anglo-Saxons are hunting Gaddafi like a wild animal" http://t.co/SqKHgN0 Not too many anglos hunting #
• From what I have seen on TV it seems that it is Libyans who are hunting Gaddafi like a wild animal not Anglo-Saxons #
• RT @australian Footnotes to African history | The Australian http://t.co/fWRCH2A #
• Zimbabwe's blind cricket commentator – Telegraph http://t.co/oaf9Gej via @Telegraph #

The Australian

The Sightgeist, by Jon Kudelka 

27 August 2011

DAVID Coltart is one of the bravest men I’ve met. He is a senator from Zimbabwe — the only white man in Robert Mugabe’s cabinet — and he was in Australia recently as the guest of the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, where he delivered the annual Acton lecture on religion and freedom at Parliament House.

The place was jam-packed, no doubt because Coltart is one of the very few people who takes on Mugabe, who is rather fond of sending the police to arrest him. Ironically enough, he sends them to the senator’s home in a white Landrover supplied by the British government. Mind you, it was only recently that Mugabe and his new, young, spendthrift wife — she who loves nothing more than a whiff of an expensive shop — spent some nights at Buckingham Palace.

Of course the odds are Her Majesty and Mugabe have met on more than one occasion, given he runs a Commonwealth country. Indeed, I’ve had my own semi-brush with him.

Mugabe was in China when I was sent there 25 years ago to cover the Queen’s visit to that country. There were a few rough edges to be smoothed out. The Chinese powers that be provided the royal couple with a car and they put in tinted windows because they assumed she would want to keep to herself. Au contraire. What is the point of being a queen if you can’t give a plethora of grand little waves from the back seat? So transparent windows became the order of the day.

Mugabe, who was wandering around with his bodyguards, was a bit nervous about the fact the Chinese have a longstanding love of firecrackers. They are a celebration of life, and the populace went a bit mad when Her Maj was visiting. This was not good news for Mugabe’s bodyguards. Every time a cracker went off they would have to push their boss over and throw themselves on to his prostrate body in case the “pop” was an assassination attempt.

I bumped into three of his guards at an airport in China and they were exhausted and as stiff as three boards. They also had to stay with him at night: one in the bath, one under the bed and one in the bed. Well, OK, I made that one up but it was entirely possible. What a job!

All those years ago, of course, Mugabe wasn’t so on the nose internationally. He still had hero status, having been a staunch supporter of the anti-apartheid movement. That said, this time last year when I was visiting South Africa, there was a meeting of black African leaders in Johannesburg and Mugabe and Muammar Gaddafi were given standing ovations when they entered the hall. It was the Africans cocking a snook at the West.

It was fascinating to hear Coltart’s outstanding analysis of the status quo in Zimbabwe and it was also an eye-opener to recognise several self-confirmed atheists present who were clearly impressed. Coltart, you see, believes strongly in God and is also adamant that God is working very hard at saving mankind. Blessed are the peacemakers, Coltart says, and he believes the West is suffering God’s wrath because it does not acknowledge Biblical truths.

If you weren’t there you can get a full account of the evening — not only of the speech but of the questions and answers after he had done his bit — by going to the CIS website.

Zimbabweans, black and white, live in a country that can be hellish, but they show much fortitude and sang froid. I’ve recently been reading a book written by journalist Douglas Rogers. Living in London, he phoned home from a friend’s birthday party in Europe when he heard a white farmer had been murdered and Mugabe was threatening to take away land from the majority of white farmers: a clear case of the oppressed becoming the oppressors.

His mother answered the phone and sounded very stressed. He pictured her and his father barricaded in the house with a mob at the door.’

“What’s happening Mum, what’s happening?” “We’ve already lost four wickets.” “Four whats?” “Four wickets darling. Not going very well at all. It’s 91 for four!”

“Jeez, Ma. Not the cricket. The farm! Have you any idea what’s going on there?” “Oh that,” she finally said. “Yes, well, it doesn’t look very good, does it? I guess we’re just going to wait and see.”

The son told them to pack up and lie low and get out. “Darling,” she said, “don’t be ridiculous. We are Zimbabweans.

“This is our land.”

Zimbabwean

26 August 2011

By Tony Saxon

Teachers here are being forced to buy Zanu (PF) cards by war veterans, The Zimbabwean has learnt.

Teachers at Gombakomba and Dangare schools in Zimunya district last week said that war veterans led by Robert Rufuse and Jonas Chitakatira were living in fear as they were forced to buy the cards as a way of showing allegiance to Zanu (PF).

“The situation is terrible here. We are on holiday but they are coming to our houses forcing us to buy the Zanu (PF) cards. They also told us to assure them that Zanu (PF) will not lose in the forthcoming elections,” said a teacher at Gombakomba secondary school.

“They (war veterans) have all the names of teachers at our school and they have made sure that everyone has a Zanu (PF) card,” said another teacher at Dangare primary school.

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president, Takavafira Zhou, confirmed that his office had been receiving complaints from various teachers in schools.

“This has been happening in Masvingo too. Teachers are living in fear. They have no option besides buying Zanu (PF) cards for their safety,” he said. Zhou said his organization would meet the Minister of Education David Coltart over the harassment of teachers.

VOA

24 August 2011

By Jonga Kandemiiri

Human rights defenders have called for the closure of the training base, but presidential aide Didymus Mutasa told a Harare newspaper that the youths are school leavers engaged in constructive activities.

Zimbabwean human rights groups say about 200 members of the youth militia controlled by President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party are being trained at Sherenje Secondary School in Headlands, Manicaland province, contrary to the wishes of local residents.

The member of parliament for the constituency of Headlands is ZANU-PF Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa, minister of state in the office of President Mugabe.

Human rights defenders have called for the closure of the training base, but Mutasa told the independent Daily News paper recently that the youths were school leavers engaged in activities that would benefit the local community and themselves.

Sources said about 70 of the youths will graduate later this month and that villagers have been forced to contribute to costs of the ceremony.

Education Minister David Coltart said he was not yet fully informed of what was going on at Sherenje, but promised to comment once he had investigated the situation. Coltart has on a number of occasions declared Zimbabwe’s schools off-limits to politics.

Though ZANU-PF considers the youth militia to be performing national service, they are generally regarded as an arm of of the party. Youth militia members were prominent in the deadly violence seen in many parts of Zimbabwe during the 2008 elections.

Manicaland provincial spokesman Pishai Muchauraya of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told VOA Studio 7 reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that the militia have turned the school into a no-go zone and that the youths have been abusive of local residents and demanded they perform menial services.

Neither Youth Minister Saviour Kasukuwere nor ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo could be reached for comment on the situation in Headlands.

Zimbabwean

By Paul Ndlovu

23 August 2011

PTUZ Secretary General, Raymond Majongwe, said a recent survey showed that rural schools in the area faced a critical shortage of skilled teachers, and if urgent measures were not put in place education standards in the region would be comparable to nothing.

“When we sent our teams to the two provinces of Matabeleland,they were confronted with a catastrophic situation. In districts such as Lupane and Binga temporary teachers were literally running the schools.

“In some places it was discovered that the only qualified person was the school head and the rest were temporary teachers,” said Majongwe.

He attributed the lack of trained teachers to “anti-people” policies by the government, which he accused of exposing children to uncompetitive learning environments.

Lack of housing and water made most teachers unwilling to work in the remote areas. “In many instances they are forced to walk over 10 kilometres to fetch water. This is not an attractive scenario for a qualified professional teacher,” he said.

Provincial Education Director for Matabeleland North, Boitatelo Mguni, confirmed that the province was facing a serious deficit of trained teachers.

“Although I can not give specific figures at the moment it is true that the province is hard hit by lack of qualified teachers particularly in Mathematics and Science subjects. The most affected area being Binga where most primary schools are controlled by temporary teachers,” she said.

Education Minister David Coltart said government had introduced a special programme through the state’s universities to recruit more teachers especially for science and maths.

According to the PTUZ survey, very few teachers from Matabeleland were being recruited by the Zimbabwe School Examination Council for marking in the final year exams.

“Teachers need to teach as well as mark so that they can be in a position to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their pupils.

But our report indicated that few teachers from Matabeleland are recruited for marking,” said Majongwe.

Zimbabwean

By Paul Ndlovu

22 August 2011

Controversial teacher incentives look set to stay with Minister of Education David Coltart highlighting the role parents should play in their children’s education.

Coltart admitted the incentives were controversial, but said the government could not presently afford to pay teachers a respectable salary.

“It’s about management and commitment to institutions and safeguarding the future of the children,” he said. “What affects the Government, affects the parents. Right now the government can’t afford to pay teachers a reasonable salary that is when the parents have to come in and help.”

He said that by continuing to pay levies and incentives parents were investing in their children’s future.

Sometimes incentives involved more than paying money, and urged parents to be involved in the running of schools, he added.

“Parents can have a much greater role and involvement in the education of their children. If only government schools could take a leaf from mission and private schools. I recently visited Gutu United primary and I was impressed. The garden was well kept, the walls were freshly painted, the windows were sparkling clean. When I asked who did the job I was told the parents mobilise each other and carry out duties. If we love our children we should be willing to do such activities, reduce the burden on schools, especially rural schools. These chores such as making sure toilets are in good order are part of the aesthetic value of education. Together as parents and government, we can make our schools more vibrant, this is where our children spend most of their days,” he said.

Coltart added that his desire was to see education prioritised in order for the sector to receive adequate funding which would alleviate educational problems.

• Brian Vitori's figures today of 5 for 20 plus the 5 for 30 he got in his 1st ODI on Friday are the best figures for any bowler ever on debut #
• "Ministers plunder Government by buying luxury vehicles" http://t.co/kWsxhXK See my statement on my Facebook page re this #
• Wrong to jump to conclusion that General Mujuru's death involved foul play but the reality is that only hardliners benefit from his passing #
• Very disappointed by poor sportsmanship displayed by Bangladesh keeper in misrepresenting that a catch taken when clearly it hadn't been #

Blogs.tribune.com.pk

By Enoch Muchingo

August 18, 2011

Zimbabwe Cricket has been guilty to an extent of a perception management exercise that has come at a cost

Zimbabwe’s historic win over Bangladesh in their first Test match in six years was a rare dose of good news for the small African nation with great sporting potential.

Zimbabwe were playing their first Test after voluntarily withdrawing from the five-day format in 2005, a decision forced by the sacking of several senior players following an acrimonious dispute with the board, coupled with the country’s lengthy political and economic crisis, which left the team heavily weakened.

The question being asked by those not too familiar with the goings-on is what has led to this mini-revival in the game here?  There are several factors, both on the field and off it.

The changing political climate in the country has played a role that cannot be underestimated. Look no further than Zimbabwe’s three-year-old power-sharing inclusive government, which though shaky, has brought a degree of stability. Cricket enjoyed an extra advantage because David Coltart, who has a keen interest in cricket, was appointed the sports minister.

Coltart was able to convince Australia, New Zealand and Ireland to re-establish cricket ties with Zimbabwe following boycotts on political grounds. As a result, Ireland agreed to send their team for four One-Day Internationals last year and New Zealand are due here in September following a visit from Pakistan.

Another critical question is, what has Zimbabwe gained from their Test sabbatical following the disputes of six years ago?

A lot.

To prepare for their return, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), led by chairman Peter Chingoka and managing director Ozias Bvute, embarked on an exercise to revamp their domestic structure and expose players to as much four-day cricket as possible.

A franchise system created five teams, where leading players blended with the most promising youngsters. Former internationals like Andrew Hall, Jason Gillespie and Allan Donald were hired as coaches. Competition was lopsided at first, but as player movement between the teams became free and strength got pitted against strength, some good contests were recorded.

The franchises were also able to bring in overseas pros as well. The likes of Riki Wessels, Nick Compton, Chad Keegan, Paul Horton, Jonathan Beukes and Greg Smith spent full seasons playing in Zimbabwe.

More importantly the ZC lured former players and administrators who had left en masse during the impasse. Former captain Alistair Campbell is now involved as the convener of selectors and chairman of the cricket committee. Grant Flower and Heath Streak are batting and bowling coach respectively.

But do all these developments point to one big happy family in ZC?

If you scratch the surface, the answer is no.

Before the Bangladesh Test, Taibu pretty much summed it up when he launched a surprise attack on the board, accusing it of ‘painting a house that’s about to fall’, claiming players had not been paid match fees and allowances since last August.

ZC has been guilty to an extent of a perception management exercise that has come at a cost. Gillespie, Donald and Hall have not come cheaply. Players have benefited from them, but it has hit the board hard on the pocket.

The non-existence of a players’ representative body has also created a gulf between the players and officials.

All said and done, if there is no further disturbance in Zimbabwe cricket like what happened six years ago, the future looks very bright. A new sense of trust between players and administrators is a key to that.