Summary of a speech by David Coltart – “Prospects for, and challenges to, transition in Zimbabwe”

UCT Law Faculty

16 May 2011

In 2008 there was hyperinflation, cholera, and a country in collapse (almost impossible to lawfully run any institution and survive). Many argue we should have allowed it to become a ‘failed state; but I do not believe it would have come to that, the generals could have kept the core running on plentiful diamond money and today, we would be in a worse situation..

It was still a difficult decision to engage with the GPA and in the GNU, to take the portfolio. I understand that it was and is easier to be absolutist about such decisions when looking at or engaging with the situation from outside.  BUT I was CONVINCED THEN, AND am EVEN MORE CONVINCED TODAY, that it was the only NON-VIOLENT option.

There is no guarantee of a happy ending. The situation in Zimbabwe is very fragile, similar to South Africa in the early 1990’s. There are hardliners trying to subvert the status quo – those behind the increasing violence seen this year – and they could be pushed to the assassination of a high profile person in order to ensure an election this year while Mugabe can be its figurehead.

But there is still no other viable option; no realistic prospect of a free and fair election, or of the West intervening, a scenario which we would want to avoid at all costs.

The GPA is on track. It is a miracle that it has survived, given that the MDCs are in bed with people who have tried to kill us, who have tortured us. Yet here we are 2 yrs in.

Tendai Biti, a greatt friend and a fellow lawyer, doing good job. The economy is growing, even tobacco is up 20% in the last yr. It is not all perfect; agriculture generally in total chaos. But cholera has been dealt with, clinics and hospitals have re-opened.

In Education, two years ago there were 80 000 teachers on strike and 7000 schools closed; a 1:15 text book ratio. Cabinet agreed to my declaring an amnesty and 15 000 of the 20 000 teachers that we lost are back, schools are open and the textbook ratio is 1:1. We are about to embark on a similar programme in senior schools for a 1:1 ratio in six core subjects.

Sport is on the up, and not just in cricket.

Media. Two independent newspapers, one daily, are back on the streets. We thus have a vigorous print media, arguably better than at any other time. The electronic media, though, remains ZANU-PF controlled.

The Constitution-making process should have been completed but it is vaguely on track, despite lack of funding and political shenanigans.

Cabinet meetings are hardly cordial but functional; we debate strenuously, reach compromises, and we are taking the country forward on balance.

There are new electoral laws in process (the new ZEC includes UCT alumnus Geoff Feltoe; it has had its difficulties but is making progress, slowly). The Human Rights Commission, under another UCT alumnus, Reg Austin, is under-funded but he is working to give it teeth.

This is not rhetoric, it is based on fact.

There are, however, three broad challenges

1.ZANU PF hard liners (believe a minority in Cabinet and even in the Central Committee and Politburo) who are 20 years younger than Mugabe. Some are guilty of crimes against humanity, some are engaged in corruption and some fall into both categories. They know that if the GPA is fully implemented, there will be meaningful change and they will be brought to account. Therefore they want to derail the process. They want an election and are up to every trick in the book (eg preventing vehicles for Tsvangarai coming in) and they are the authors of virtually all bad stories coming out of Zimbabwe at present.

The majority in the Central Committee and Parliamentary Caucus seem to back the Mujuru faction; she is clearly a moderate; DC sees her more even-handed approach week in and week out as she seeks reconciliation in cabinet positions.

2. Western indifference and western lack of finesse eg intransigence on sanctions.

Had the West not embraced the transition in SA it might never have worked.

Sadly the West, in particular the UK and USA, are so sceptical about the GPA, (and there is much to be sceptical about), that they have held the process back. Eg The textbook fund which has resulted in stability and growing hope (nothing so tense as parents with a lack of belief in the education system). Whereas German govt funded $18m ,the USA only $1m  and UK £1m.

I understand the scepticism but I believe that if they had come in more whole heartedly it may have taken the process further.

And there is the reluctance to budge on sanctions. The Sanctions  debate has become pivotal (David’s view is that Sanctions are beyond their sell-by date); Sanctions have not stopped one detention or politicians amassing huge wealth and yet, ironically, Sanctions are being used by the hardliners to justify non-implementation and are being used by ZANU PF to dig in their heels.

The problem is perhaps that restrictive measures/sanctions have become domestic issues for both the USA and UK and thus, neither country has the scope to alter their position in the service of a workable solution to the Zimbabwe situation.  This was made clear in relation to a sports issue recently. In terms of cricket, Zimbabwe is a domestic issue for the UK and so the Irish came out but the Scots, having agreed to come, were blocked and at the highest level – by the PM and Foreign Minister

3.SADC’s weakness

Zuma has been a breath of fresh air. He and the ANC have tried to do the right thing. The danger in SADC is that the non-democratic governments like those in Angola and Swaziland, may still hold sway and thus, not hold Zuma to account in terms of his leadership of the ongoing mediation.

The Constitutional Process is a 10 stage process and Zimbabwe is only at stage 3. The thematic Committees are currently considering the over 600 0000 submissions from the outreach meetings;(Z-PF is pushing for the inclusion of issues on a quantity only basis; the MDC is insisting on a qualitative approach too). Then there needs to be a Referendum and the document needs to be ratified by Parliament.  At this stage, even a referendum will require tens of millions of $ to get the voters’ roll updated.  To move from there to an election will involve decisions and changes based on the new constitution including whether the electoral system will be PR or Westminster based, who is eligible to vote etc. There is no way that Zimbabwe will be able to achieve all of that this year.

To date SADC has insisted that the CP be completed. There is broad consensus in Zim that it is too early to have an election. Commerce has pleaded for a delay (business only just recovering). DC believes that elections will be this time next year and that the result may well be a coalition.

The drafting of the Constitution needs to be thorough. The GPA process is likely to produce something better than the present constitution rather than a ‘perfect’ constitution ie it will be a stepping stone to something better.

Conclusion: Zim is at a very fragile juncture. RM has no peers; cabinet defers to him; no-one comes close to his intellectual prowess; for the hardliners, this means that they have to have an election this year, because it will be harder for them to win an election the more time goes by considering Mugabe’s age and potential health problems. Their brand is RM, to the exclusion of anyone else. And the age of the president means that each month that goes by is critical. They will not win if he is unable to contest the election. Morgan has similarly been branded over the last 12 yrs, albeit to a lesser extent.

As every year goes by there is greater inter-dependence in SADC; our neighbours know that the next influx of refugees will not be the highly educated people that you see in positions across South Africa, but it will be the poorest Zimbabweans, and it will cause chaos; ie  Zim is to SADC what Greece has been to the EC!

My hope is that SADC does the right thing, that we muddle through the CP and elections only take place mid 2012.

Q & A

Hardliners driven by fear of retribution or power?

Both: Hardliners are obsessed with wealth that comes from power as well as afraid that they may have to face legal retribution for the crimes against humanity that they have committed.

Rule of law?

Even the magistracy has slipped; Much like the electronic media. ZANU-PF have done their damndest to retain control of justice system. The Supreme court is still handing down poor judgements. It is rule by law.

Future of the SADC Tribunal?

DC suggested that this question be turned back to the Law Faculties in SA; The Zim Min of Justice certainly pays no regard to its decisions.

Using Education to reconcile?

Already doing this. Z_PF resistant to change in History curriculum which is a great propaganda platform, but suprising support within CDU even to change.

Diamond money?

‘Not haemorrhaging like two years ago but still bleeding.’.

The good news is that in excess of $100m.has come into the economy; the bad news is that Zim had gross receipts of over $300m, with one company making a clean profit of $70m on $4m investment.

Last SADC summit surprising?

In Livingstone ZANU/PF were caught, to coin a Scottish phrase, ‘with their troosers doon.’ They didn’t lobby the other states as MDC did; have now done so, and are now lobbying furiously that Zim stable eough and the Constitution process can be short circuited.

To quote ‘we can write it in a few days.’

Is RM key? What will have changed this time next year?

DC does not know anything more than the speculation about cancer, but clearly he is aging. He’s 87, and each month that goes by, he has less energy.
If there were elections now, it would be a close contest between RM & MT, but if it is someone else and MT, MT would win hands down.

Is West unfair in its scepticism on aid money going in to Z-PF hands?

DC set up an Education Trust Fund, managed by UNICEF, chaired by DC. Not a cent went to govt. UNICEF  managed the tender – Zim publishers,printers and distributors (with biggest print contract going to a firm in Paarl); DC villified for it not going to a Z=PF supplier, but its quote was several thousand of dollars too high.

UNICEF see the Zim book project as one of its most successful worldwide.

Other projects in Zimbabwe are also following this model.

On Reconciliation, does the country not have to go way back in its history?

The roots of the need to reconcile don’t go back just to 1980 but also to 1890; however MDC position is that any Truth Commission has to start in 1965 because the roots of the gukuruhandi are found in white tyranny.

The  Organ on Healing is not only  underfunded, but  also lost of Gibson Sibanda (an outstanding political figure).

• Great new book on Afghan Cricket – http://goo.gl/EZYQX #
• Kirsty Coventry does Zim proud again striking more gold. Go Kirsty go!! http://goo.gl/XOCYf #
• Saa flight to Munich postponed so will be traveling to Berlin via BA and London #
• I hope SAA are not letting their high standards drop – both Frankfurt and Munich flights seriously delayed #
• About to address on adult education needs in Zimbabwe at Berlin International Conference Centre #
• Just met the German Federal President Christian Wulff at XII Adult Education Conference in Berlin #
• Am deeply moved by john mccain's opposition to torture – so important that consevatives get the argument http://t.co/HKm3Jwq #
• Democracy and adult education go hand in hand – German Federal President Christian Wulff #
• Germany has played arguably the leading role in stabilizing Zimbabwe's education sector. Not surprising listening to President Wulff #
• Berlin is a wonderful city because it always reminds me that tyrannies do end #
• There are such tangible reminders of the mortality of dictatorial regimes in Berlin – great straddling where the wall used to be #
• Germany's commitment to life long learning is inspiring – Zimbabwe needs a new commitment to adult education – we are never too old to learn #
• Boris Johnson really must do something re inaccessibility of London tube stations connecting to airports – how do the old and disabled fly? #
• Appalling that London's underground is so problematic for wheelchairs just over a year from paralympic games #
• Very honoured to be followed on twitter by 702's David O'Sullivan #
• Good to be back in Southern Africa. Now off to speak at UCT #

Daily News

By Tonderai Kwenda, Chief Writer

10 May 2011

There are reported differences between Zanu PF and MDC ministers over the implementation of a crucial civil servants audit to establish the extent to which the government is staffed by ghost workers.

Different government ministers whose ministries are affected by the outcome of the audit told the Daily News in separate interviews that there is a dispute in the interpretation of the findings.

The Minister of Education Sports and Culture, whose ministry has been the hardest hit by intermittent strike actions said the implementation of the audit recommendations appeared to be in dispute.

“I have seen the report prepared by Ernest and Young. It has already been tabled in cabinet and appears to have been bogged down in cabinet,” said Education Minister David Coltart without revealing the actual nature of the differences.

“I am not sure what exactly is happening but perhaps the Minister of Public Service will.”

The skills audit concluded that there are 75 273 ghost workers and recommended that they be removed from the government payroll raising hopes of government workers that money saved from the process might start trickling into their pockets.

However, four months after the report was made public the government is yet to implement its findings.

Hard pressed civil servants have promised to embark on a massive strike if government does not increase the salaries of the depressed civil servants.

Coltart said the slow implementation of the audit is having an effect on the operations of government.

“The audit has a direct bearing. It’s clear that there are workers who should not be in government employment although the resuscitation of the economy is the ultimate solution,” said Coltart.

The Minister of Public Service, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said “nothing” has been done about the issue.

“Nothing is going on but it’s a process. These things take time,” said Mukonoweshuro.

Asked whether there were problems among ministers of Zanu PF and MDC over the implementation, he said “I am bound by the official secrets act and there are things I can’t say.”

The Minister of Youth, Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere whose ministry stands at the centre of accusations of hiring ghost workers said, “Something is happening but where have you ever seen a ghost working for the government.”

The Public Service Commission (PSC) which runs the administrative aspects of public employees has previously said civil servants audit made “unsubstantiated” claims of the discovery of ghost workers.

If the process of implementation was to be put into motion, it is the PSC which has to implement any cabinet directives on plugging off ghost workers.

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says it remains concerned by the lack of implementation of the findings of the skills audit.

“We are concerned by the lethargic manner in which government is handling this matter. It’s a reflection of the mediocrity in government especially the Zanu PF side,” said Lovemore Matombo the ZCTU President.

“Money might be going to unofficial structures. It’s a show that Zanu PF has something to hide.

“They regard themselves as senior partners and don’t want that issue discussed.”

Raymond Majongwe whose Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has in the past held meetings with officials from the Ministry of Public Service over the same issue, said the issue was not being treated with the urgency it deserves.

“The issue might be the least to be discussed in cabinet because they are failing to acknowledge the importance of this issue.

“Nobody must be paid for doing nothing but the problem is that Zanu PF is defending its own people,” said Majongwe.

• He who digs a hole falls into the pit he has made.The trouble he causes recoils on himself, his violence comes down on his own head. Ps 6:15 #
• Those who use the sword will die by the sword. Matthew 26:52. Nero, Hitler Mussolini, Bin Laden. Take note all politicians who use violence #
• Moments before his suicide Nero is said to have quoted Homer's Iliad "Hark, now strikes on my ear the trampling of swift-footed coursers!" #
• Legendary Barney O'Hara today: "Pakistan may be a 3rd world country but they still manage to get their bins taken out on public holidays" #
• "I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy, returning hate for hate multiplies hate" Martin Luther King Jnr. Relief not joy #
• "I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their wicked ways and live." Ezekiel 33:11 . Tyrants – listen #
• Watched the cream of Zimbabwe's schoolboy rugby talent at Prince Edward School today – great hope for the future #
• At long last Bulawayo's new airport terminal is nearing completion – after some 7 years of construction we should start using it shortly! #

Newsday

26 April 2011

Jennifer Madongonda (43) shares a seven-roomed house with three other families in the low-income suburb of Budiriro.

Seven months ago the municipality cut off their water supply because they could not pay the bill.

“Water supplies to this suburb are very erratic. People get running water at most four times a week and for short periods, but for us who live at this house, it means nothing because we accumulated a huge bill that we are struggling to pay,” Madongonda said.

“We used to rely on the boreholes that were set up in 2008 but most of them have broken down and no one has come to repair them. Our neighbours don’t want to share their water because they are afraid they will accumulate huge bills too.”

Budiriro was regarded as the epicentre of the cholera epidemic that began in August 2008 and lasted for a year before it was officially declared at an end in July 2009.

The waterborne disease killed more than 4 000 people and infected nearly 100 000 others, and all water sources in the working class suburb were found to be contaminated.

Many neighbourhoods had dug shallow wells after the collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure in Zimbabwe’s economic implosion, creating ideal conditions for the proliferation of cholera, which infects the gastrointestinal system, causing vomiting and diarrhoea that can lead to acute dehydration; left untreated, it can kill within 24 hours.

In response to the epidemic, donor organisations, including the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) Zimbabwe, drilled scores of boreholes, but many have since fallen into disrepair and at night it is not uncommon to see long queues at few remaining working boreholes as residents jostle to get water for the next day.

“We now cook at all sorts of times, sometimes at midnight or early morning, when we manage to get water. We can hardly spare any to wash clothes because we don’t have containers big enough to store it,” Madongonda said.

A stream about 5km away is used for laundry and bathing. “Many women complain of skin problems and we suspect it is because the water is polluted with sewage and dangerous chemicals dumped in the stream by factories. It will not be long before there is another cholera outbreak,” she warned.

Unicef Zimbabwe’s head of communications, Micaela Marques de Souza, said the boreholes drilled “in response to the 2008/09 cholera outbreak were handed over and are being maintained by Harare City (municipality)”.

Unicef had “also supported training of the staff of Harare City in the operation and maintenance of these boreholes. In order to ease the water shortages in these areas and Harare City, Unicef has recently provided spares and tool kits (for the boreholes) to the director of health services”, De Souza said.

In 2010 Unicef drilled 43 additional boreholes in Harare and was assisting in the rehabilitation of the capital’s main source of water, Morton Jaffray Water Works, where the pumps regularly break down because the municipality does not have enough money to buy spares.

“I am aware of the fact that most of the boreholes, even some drilled last year, have broken down because there are too many residents using them and some of them are careless, but I am surprised that we are supposed to be repairing them,” a senior health official in the municipality’s public works department said.

Reticulated water is also becoming scarce in Glen Norah, the suburb next to Budiriro, where boreholes were also sunk to combat the cholera epidemic.

“A lot of people use the bush and buckets to relieve themselves because of the water shortages. Toilets are overflowing and our children suffer from running stomachs most of the time.” The tap water was “suspicious”, because whenever supplies returned briefly, it was dirty, Glen Norah resident Trymore Purazi(28) said.

“We have been advised by health officials to leave the water to settle, but it is difficult to heed this advice because, in most cases, we would have waited the whole day to have water to cook and we would be very hungry,” he said.

Chris Magadza, a researcher at the University of Zimbabwe, told participants at a recent workshop that “clinical studies carried out on Harare’s water supplies, and the results obtained, revealed that the water bodies carry a significant amount of pollutants, which pose a potential health risk.”

In March this year, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart officially launched the Peri-urban roofttop rain water harvesting programme at Tasimukira Primary School in Chitungwiza.

The launch of the programme, which is run by International Relief and Development with funding from USAID, came a day after the world commemorated the annual International Water Day on March 22.

Coltart said the programme was part of the national response to the national water crisis, particularly in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town devastated by the fatal 2008 cholera epidemic.

VOA

By Tatenda Gumbo & Sithandekile Mhlanga

25 April 2011

Education Minister David Coltart said his ministry does not oblige teachers or students to participate in holiday tutoring, adding that such lessons should only be scheduled when parents and teachers agree

The Zimbabwean government has warned schools against scheduling mandatory holiday lessons it says are increasingly a way for teachers to bolster their incomes.

Deputy Education Minister Lazarus Dokora sounded a warning this week saying the government has realized that many schools are now making it mandatory
for children to attend holiday lessons – in the process fleecing students’ parents and guardians.

Authorities added that they are suspicious some teachers are holding back during regular class hours to ensure children will require lessons during holidays.

Day schools are charging an upwards of US$40 a child for such instruction, in addition to which parents are also expected to pay an administration fee of US$20.

Boarding schools are said to be charging more than US$100 for lessons. Parents say they pay up because they do not want their children to lag behind their classmates.

Dokora says schools should use allotted school periods for learning and not exhaust students using the so-called holiday lessons as an opportunity to derive income.

Education Minister David Coltart said the ministry does not obligate teachers to teach during holidays or mandate students to attend any extra lessons,  adding that this should happen only when parents and teachers have reached an agreement.

Coltart told VOA Studio 7 reporter Tatenda Gumbo that teachers found to be compelling students or their parents to attend and pay for extra lessons will be disciplined.

Coltart said private institutions are free to decide if children must attend extra lessons.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association Chief Executive Sifiso Ndlovu said a high teacher-pupil ratio in schools plus economic hardships are obliging teachers to give holiday lessons.

Ndlovu told reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga that both parties benefit from the set-up – but adds teachers are at fault if they fail to use the time to help struggling students.

• I am outraged by the detention this weekend of my friend and Ministerial colleague Moses Mzila Ndlovu. Makes Independence day a farce. #

Herald

22 April 2011

By Farirai Chubvu

‘‘THESE are makers of carrion,” the wary ones said, “do not shelter them. See their eyes, their noses, such are the beaks of all the desert’s predatory birds. We laughed at the fearful ones, gave the askers shelter and watched them unsuspicious, watched them turn in the fecundity of our way, the way itself became a lonely memory for abandoned minds . . . for those who came as beggars turned snakes after feeding,” writes Ayi Kwei Armah, in his book Two Thousand Seasons, a book which tells of how white supremacists have successfully distorted black history and achievements.

He goes on to say, “Destroyers will travel long distances in their minds to deny you this truth.”

A truth which is being denied by former Rhodesian security operative David Coltart, whose article on the online website newzimbabwe.com called our 31st independence anniversary celebrations ‘‘a farce.”

What cheek!

Coltart was apparently oblivious to the fact that, the fact that he could write such trash that insults our collective memory without comebacks is testimony to how democratic this country is.

Anyone can say what they want and not have to look over their shoulders.

However, Coltart is either very naïve or mischievous to make such scandalous allegations at a time thousands of bones of patriots who perished at the hands of Coltart and his compatriots are being extracted from mine shafts in Chibondo, Mt Darwin.

Imagine an Arab standing at Ground Zero in New York and hailing the virtues of Osama bin Laden, or a skin-head with swastika tattoos all over, standing in central Jerusalem, Israel proclaiming the virtues of the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.

But I forgive Coltart for his fulminations because he apparently lost his privileged position as a super-citizen in Rhodesia and is now just the same as my aunt, down under in Dotito, though he is abusing the independence and democracy that sees him, a man who opposed majority rule by fighting on the side of the Rhodesian Security Forces, enjoy a ministerial position in a black Government he never wanted to see born, that he would rather have quashed and destroyed true to Ian Smith’s ‘‘not in a thousand years” refrain.

Coltart, whose ilk profited on the grounds of race from Rhodesia’s segregationist and exclusionist policies, would naturally have nothing to celebrate about the land reform programme because the land is being transferred from people like him to their former workers.

He would naturally have nothing to celebrate about indigenisation and economic empowerment because those policies seek to put him at par with his erstwhile perceived chattel slaves.

However, no sane black person can ever belittle the gains of independence.

I, however, do not forgive my fellow black brothers and sisters at the Daily News who had the audacity to claim that we went through ‘31 years of hell’ since April 18 1980.

The tone of the article was that Ian Smith was right, black majority rule has been a disaster and we would have been better off remaining under the colonial yoke.

Either the writer of the article and her bosses are retarded or they were just being deliberately naughty to assuage their handlers.

Coltart’s fulminations and the frantic agenda-setting by the likes of the Daily News are easy to understand given the fact that we celebrate 31 years of Independence at a time forces opposed to our total emancipation have ranged against us for daring to go beyond the façade of flag independence.

As a nation we chose to take the bull by the horns. We dropped the short-end of the stick the erstwhile coloniser had given us at the Lancaster House Constitutional Conference.

And, over the past 31 years, we have systematically worked to transform our country into a truly independent unitary state.

Independence does not only mean flying our flag over our territory, neither does it mean having black faces in Government.

Independence means non-dependence on anyone but ourselves for our own destiny.

And when we look at the path travelled over the past 31 years, there is every reason to celebrate the achievements scored, gains that are unparalleled by any nation that attained political independence in our generation, or even those that have been free much longer.

The gains in the social services sector are phenomenal, infrastructure development, housing, you name it, the only blight was an economy dominated by foreign-owned companies, and this is what we are painstakingly changing on the back of crippling economic sanctions imposed to subvert our drive for holistic independence.

Indeed, the fact that despite a sustained seven-year assault, our country has not gone under is testimony to the strength of the foundation laid since 1980.

Yes, there are those who point gleefully at the prevailing economic hardships as a sign of failure.

I disagree with them strongly.

What our nation is experiencing are the pangs of transformation, and any reasonable person can concur that the economic malaise of the past decade was spawned by illegal Western economic sanctions.

Our economy has not collapsed, but that which we called our economy when it was in fact a white economy is collapsing, and in its place an indigenous Zimbabwean economy is emerging on the back of a genuine land-owning middle class.

That transformation cannot occur overnight, neither can it be cosy; it is a duel with dark forces whose very existence hinges on continued exploitation of our resources, with us as the labourers.

These are the forces that drive the likes of Coltart to insult us like that, and have the slavish Daily News print such scandalous drivel.

Never again will we allow them to reverse the gains we have made, amid so much opposition.

However, for that transformation to be achieved expeditiously, we must all pull in the same direction.

This is the last phase of our struggle, and history tells us that the myopia of those who opted to abet the enemy prolonged the liberation struggle.

This is why we need this day, to dedicate ourselves to the ideals of the struggle, close ranks to defeat the machinations of those seeking to torpedo and reverse our Independence.

The sanctions imposed by the West are not for our benefit, but they are meant to benefit their kith and kin, which we have dispossessed of resources that are rightfully ours.

Thus whether we are Zanu-PF, MDC-T, MDC or Mavambo, let us differ only on the modalities of governing our nation, not who should govern it.

We won the right to self-determination 31 years ago, and the sooner the likes of Coltart and the Daily News realise it, the better.

fariraichubvu@gmail.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Daily News

By Chengetai Zvauya, Staff Writer

20 April 2011

The wife of murdered MDC activist Patrick Nabanyama is suing the Attorney-General Johannes Tomana for refusing to prosecute the six war veterans and Zanu PF members who allegedly kidnapped and killed her husband 11 years ago.

Nabanyama’s widow, Patricia wants the attorney-general to immediately start proceedings to bring to justice the people accused of murdering her husband.

Nabanyama was the polling agent for the minister of education, sports and culture, David Coltart in the 2000 elections and he was abducted on June 19, 2000 at his home in Nketa.

Nine war veterans were initially implicated in the murder and were questioned by police but three of the alleged kidnappers have since died.

Nyabanyama was declared dead by the Bulawayo provincial magistrate Rose Dube, in October last year and this resulted in Patricia, applying to the attorney-general seeking the issuance of a certificate that allows her lawyers to carry out a private prosecution against her husband killers.

The Nabanyama family accuses the attorney-general of refusing to prosecute the six and has decided to sue Tomana to compel him to issue the certificate.

Contacted for comment, David Coltart, confirmed the legal action.

“It has been an on-going issue for a long time and I understand that suing the attorney-general is now one of the options being followed,” said Coltart.

Chief Law officer in the Attorney-General’s office, Chris Mutangadura confirmed that the Nabanyama family was suing the attorney-general but denied that they was refusing to issue the certificate of prosecution.

“We cannot sign the certificate because there is no docket concerning the death of Nabanyama, although he was declared dead by the magistrate.

“We cannot issue the certificate as we need to study the docket and decide whether to prosecute or not,” said Mutangadura.

A private prosecution follows when the attorney-general officially refuses to prosecute for whatever reason and then issues a certificate that allows one to engage another lawyer or prosecutor other that the attorney-general to deal with the case.

During the 2000 elections, many MDC supporters were murdered and the same happened in the 2008 elections.