The Standard
Saturday 6 June 2009

THE country’s comatose education sector requires at least US$100 million to re-equip schools with textbooks and restore some normalcy in the sector, the Minister of Education, Senator David Coltart said last week.

Coltart who took over the ministry in February recently revealed that there was a shocking shortage of textbooks at schools in a clear sign of the state of the near collapse of the education sector.

“The Education ministry needs over US$90 million to reach the one child to a textbook ratio,” he said.
“With the decline in education, there is a danger that we will lose an entire generation.”

Coltart said his ministry had sent out the begging bowl to Western governments and donors who have set certain benchmarks before they could assist the inclusive government with direct aid.

The restocking of schools with textbooks lies third in Coltart’s priority list, which also includes the re-opening of all schools closed last year after teachers deserted in protest over poor pay and ensuring the results for pupils who sat for school leaving examinations last year are released.

According to Coltart, the United Nations will be sending out an appeal to international donors and Western governments for financial aid to revive the nation’s education sector.

“Part of the aid will go into teachers’ salaries with the other being channelled to the Ministry to revive the country’s education sector,” Coltart said.

The education sector is a victim of the country’s decade-long economic recession.

To add to the woes facing the sector, there is a huge teacher shortage at schools as a number of them are reluctant to take up their jobs over the paltry US$100 monthly allowances.

About 25 000 teachers quit the profession last year over low pay and trekked to neighbouring countries, mainly South Africa.

The Zimbabwe Standard
Saturday, 30 May 2009
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

BULAWAYO – An average of 30 pupils share one text book in Zimbabwe’s schools as a result of years of gross under-funding which precipitated the collapse of the country’s once envied education sector, Education minister, Senator David Coltart said last week.

Coltart who has appealed to the private sector to partner the inclusive government in its efforts to revive the sector said there was a shocking shortage of study materials with some schools only equipped with one textbook per class in any given subject.

“There is a terrible shortage of textbooks in the country,” he said after receiving a donation of textbooks worth US$5 000 for eight schools in Bulawayo donated by the British embassy.

“At rural schools the ratio of students sharing textbooks is 30 -1 while in urban areas it is mostly 15-1 or 20 – 1. This shortage requires urgent redress,” he said.

The text books, which the embassy said were aimed at helping the Government of National Unity revive the collapsed education sector, were shared between Northlea, Emganwini, Montrose, Hamilton, Cowdray Park, Magwegwe, Emakhandeni and Entumbane secondary schools.

British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Dr Andrew Pocock, said the UK was committed to helping Zimbabwe revive its education sector that has been shattered by years of neglect and under-funding.

“The textbooks are the building blocks for young minds that are the future generation that will rebuild Zimbabwe,” said Pocock in his address.

Most schools in the country are grappling with a severe shortage of textbooks, equipment and teachers who quit over poor salaries.

“We are presiding over schools that lack any form of being a school except standing structures”, said Northlea High School headmaster, Wilson Moyo, who hosted the ceremony.

“The school system and everything that makes up a school in Zimbabwe has just collapsed and continues to be on a nosedive.”

Coltart has set himself on a course to revive the education sector by sourcing money for textbooks and to pay teachers but lack of funding from Western governments who are demanding drastic political and economic reforms before loosening their purse strings has slowed down the initiative.

However, Pocock said there were signs that real change was on the horizon and this would encourage donors to support the unity government.

“We feel change is in the winds, it (change) may not be quick or fast. It might delay but we can see change coming to Zimbabwe,” Pocock said.

“Zimbabwe has many international friends and that friendship has never been lost. . . Zimbabwe’s friends are ready and already beginning to assist.”

Meanwhile, the provincial education director, Dan Moyo, said the city’s 47 schools were still facing a serious shortage of teachers of mathematics, science and technical subjects despite an amnesty for all teachers who had deserted the profession due to low pay.

“Teachers came back but schools do not have teachers to teach those subjects,” Moyo said.

Zimbabwe Times
31 May 2009
By Jakaya Goremusandu

THE debate over remarks by Samuel Sipepa Nkomo suggesting an imaginary theory to slice Zimbabwe into tiny territories is, to put it mildly, based on a puerile and careless intention to divert attention from pressing national issues that urgently require Zimbabwe to rise from its own ashes.

Nowhere in the MDC policy documents, private and public positions or even the party constitution is there a plan now or in future to dismember Zimbabwe into little pieces reflecting the supposed various ethnic demographics of the country. Over the past two centuries, Zimbabweans have developed a common blood among themselves through inter-marriages, other indelible links and complex kinships.
The MDC was born out of a vibrant civic movement, initially calling for comprehensive political and economic reform, none of which anchored itself on a secession agenda, or a separate geographical autonomy arrangement. The party mirrored a strong national sentiment for inclusion – away from the divide-and-rule tactics and the arrogance of Zanu-PF.

The subjunctive mood at the time knew no tribal or ethnic boundaries, hence the election of Gibson Sibanda, Welshman Ncube, Fletcher-Dulini Ncube, Esaph Mdlongwa, Paul Temba Nyathi, David Coltart – all Ndebeles – to the majority of top leadership positions in the party. At no time was the issue of Matabeleland a main building block of this comprehensive initiative, nor was there any need to brand the new party supporters, their views and their motivations, according to their ancestry.

It is common cause that when Mzilikazi and his warriors landed in what is today Zimbabwe, escaping the wrath of their Zulu kinsmen for whatever crimes they had committed in KwaZulu and barely 30 years before whites colonized the country, they did not bring along their women and children with them as they headed north, raiding and plundering.

They raided villages north of the Limpopo, pillaging for food and taking women hostage as sex slaves, domestic workers and wives. These women bore children and enabled the warriors to start new lives and new families. They raised offspring, needless to say, totally without any pure Zulu blood in them.
No Zimbabwean Ndebele person today can honestly claim to be totally free of the blood of the pre-1850 indigenous people they found north of the Limpopo at the time. It therefore does not make sense for anyone to push for an agenda that promotes the separation of Zimbabweans on the basis of some mischievous assumption that their ilk carries a completely separate identity: genetic, biological or otherwise.

In case Nkomo may not know, which is highly unlikely, there is, in fact, no tribe called the Shona. The word was a bastardized version of Mzilikazi’s warrior derision of the indigenous people whom they referred to as the AmaSvina, just as foreigners, especially non-Ndebeles from Zimbabwe in South Africa are unkindly called AmaKwerekwere today.

Acting on the advice of the Ndebeles, white hunters, missionaries and fortune-seekers, including Frederick Courtenay Selous – called the indigenous people Mashuna, that is, the people of Mashunaland. The word was widely then used to define the various clans whose language was made up of related dialects: the Korekore, the Zezuru, the Karanga, the Kalanga, the Ndau and the Manyika.
The key dialects of Shona are Kalanga, Karanga, Korekore, Manyika, Ndau and Zezuru. The Kalanga were cut off from the main concentration of the Shona people by the invading Ndebele. Their speech shows considerable influence from the Ndebele language, which now distinguishes Kalanga from the rest of Shona dialects. Kalanga is, for instance, the only Shona dialect to have the “l” sound; the rest of the Shona dialects have “r” only.

The word “man” is “murume” in Zezuru, Manyika and Karanga. In Kalanga it is “n’lume”, while in Ndebele they call a man “indoda”.

In November 2003 Gerald Chikozho Mazarire prepared a paper, “Who are the Ndebele and the Kalanga in Zimbabwe?” for the Konrad Adenuer Foundation’s Project on ‘Ethnicity in Zimbabwe’. He states in the paper that there is very little known about the Kalanga before the year 1800.

He says: “In conclusion the Ndebele and Kalanga are different people with entirely different origins, language and culture as has been demonstrated above. Their experiences however have of late come to be shared more often than not this has given rise to a common imagined identity of belonging among other things to Matabeleland. This imagined identity is however unique in its ability to appreciate and acknowledge differences between the two cultures.”

Zimbabweans with a good memory will recall that when Gibson Sibanda told a rally in Binga late 2005 that his breakaway MDC group had moved away from the mainstream MDC to fight for a separate state of Matabeleland, such utterances cost him and the faction, dearly. A few days later, Sibanda was confronted by, among others, Joseph Msika at Bulawayo airport and was advised to retract the statement and that he was misguided to talk about a separate Matabeleland.

Ordinary party supporters were left speechless by Sibanda’s views in Binga, for that matter, and this weakened the group’s support substantially in Matabeleland North and Bulawayo – as shown by the results of the 2008 council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential elections in which Sibanda and almost the entire leadership of the Arthur Mutambara led MDC lost dismally. That they now stand in the forefront of Zimbabwe’s politics of national unity is testimony to the wicked machinations of former South African president, Thabo Mbeki.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Daily Mirror of November 8, 2005, quoted Sibanda – while campaigning for the controversial 2005 Senate election – as saying: “Ndebeles can only exercise sovereignty through creating their state like Lesotho, which is an independent state in South Africa and it is not politically wrong to have the state of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe.”

Although the Daily Mirror was a daily newspaper, it took the group’s official spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi, speaking perhaps on Sibanda’s behalf, 10 days to undertake some damage control, through the Zimbabwe Independent by merely saying: “… not only is the allegation untrue, it also appears to be a deliberate attempt by the newspaper to fan ethnic tensions in the MDC and the country as a whole”.
Back to Sipepa Nkomo.

It is true that Nkomo may be totally unaware of the founding documents and the main spirit behind the MDC as he is a recent arrival at the organization, notwithstanding his meteoric rise, even after with Welshman Ncube in October 2005 and returning to rejoin Tsvangirai early in 2006.

Tsvangirai must, therefore, be excused if he found himself completely surprised by Nkomo’s utterances in Lobengula this week. It appears they were meant to camouflage some unclear agenda to steer himself away from dealing with pressing water problems of Bulawayo, an assignment Nkomo must undertake as a matter of urgency under his Johnny-come-lately political leadership.

Nkomo has known problems of political credibility, given the corrupt activities for which he was forced to resign from the Mining Industry Pension Fund where he was chief executive in 2000. He miraculously escaped proper prosecution and possible conviction, given the abundance of published evidence that could easily have nailed him. He was still in court over the same case as recently as 2007. Nkomo’s credibility issues also arise from his dismal performance at Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, publishers of The Daily News, a newspaper which he arguably assisted then Information Minister, Prof Jonathan Moyo to destroy within months of Nkomo’s taking over as chief executive officer of the company.

Nkomo became minister by default at the last in February Minister after MDC president Tsvangirai was arm-twisted into dropping Eddie Cross from his line-up of cabinet ministers through a campaign about representation of Ndebeles orchestrated in online publications, especially The Zimbabwe Times.

In Lobengula this week Nkomo decided to speak about a matter that does not concern his constituents in order to occupy them with a mundane agenda at a time when 90 percent of those people are without work; they have no food; inadequate medical care; no school fees; and no access to their democratic rights because of Mugabe’s dictatorship – which they rightly think are priorities at the moment.

A separate state, federalism, devolution or outright secession is a warped theory which has been spontaneously rejected time and again by the people of Matabeleland and elsewhere in Zimbabwe. Older Zimbabweans will remember a party led by Chief Kayisa Ndiweni before and after independence in 1980 which put up a spirited campaign for a federal state. The party failed to obtain even a single seat in Parliament.

Bulawayo resident Paul Siwela has spent much of his adult life campaigning for a federal state in which Matabeleland could achieve what is in his mind a form of self-governing status. Siwela and his team have never won an election either, whether on the city council or for the national legislature. The people in this area dismiss him outright, with some even suggesting that he could be mentally unhinged, allegedly.

The argument for Ndebele separateness or quasi-autonomy is not only common currency among a few die-hard black tribalists in Matabeleland. White Rhodesians always had a fondness for the “manly” and “loyal” Ndebeles, who – according to eminent Zimbabwean historian Terence O Ranger – they contrast with the “treacherous” Shona.

After the 1980 election, writes Ranger in his book Voices from the Rocks, p. 253/4, some Bulawayo-based ex-Rhodesians found it intolerable that Matabeleland whites, together with the Ndebeles were to be under the rule of the “Shona” and Harare. A pertinent example is that of Bulawayo dentist Dr Frank Bertrand who in 1981 was prosecuted and convicted for pandering to some strange fantasies designed to hive-off Matabeleland from Zimbabwe by force.

Bertrand found himself embroiled in a fantastic conspiracy, which never excited the Ndebele people, when he went to Entumbane Hills to appeal to the spiritual powers of the late Princess Violet Khumalo whose powers Bertrand thought could be used to induce former Zipra fighters to a rebellion.

Violet was a direct descendant of Lobengula, being a grand-daughter of Famona, the daughter of Lobengula.

Many Zimbabwe have probably forgotten about Bertrand, but for the record, he told the court: “We had tried all the orthodox techniques. We had failed. So I tried to obtain the help of Princess Violet to obtain the state of Matabeleland.”

For his trouble Bertrand ended up in jail. Ndebeles, presumably including Sipepa Nkomo, hardly recognized or noticed his efforts.

New Zimbabwe.com, the website that exclusively carried the Nkomo proposal, quoted the water Resources Minister as saying the proposal had the backing of Tsvangirai and his mainstream MDC party.
The Lobengula MP told a constituency meeting on Monday that the MDC would be championing the proposals when the country draws up a new constitution. No other MDC official has so far independently confirmed Nkomo’s allegation.

It is arguable that Tsvangirai would be the last person to argue for separate development, given that his grandmother “MaTshuma” was an Ndebele in Buhera. Many may be unaware that two wards, together with their chiefs, in Buhera North have been a natural home for Ndebele people since the late 1940s. The story is that they were moved from Lalapanzi, north-west of Mvuma to make way for a white commercial farm. When the trucks that were taking them further south ran out of fuel near what is called Gwebo Business Centre today, they were dumped there and told to negotiate for asylum among the local villagers.

That is how they came to be permanently settled there.

Equally arguable is the fact that Tsvangirai has proved himself that he is not a tribalist. Five, out of seven, senior members of the inaugural leadership of the MDC in February 2000 had Ndebele ancestry. They were the vice president, secretary general, treasurer-general, organizing secretary and information and publicity chief. No tribal balance-sheet was used here to determine the type of leadership for the party. They were all Zimbabweans with a mandate to direct the affairs of an alternative political party, regardless of their places of family origin.

It is the same leadership, acting under secretary general Welshman Ncube, that deserted Tsvangirai in October 2005 to form a breakaway MDC party, which they later invited Arthur Mutambara to return to Zimbabwe and lead, with quite predictably disastrous consequences.

Unless the situation has changed so radically, there is no way Tsvangirai can agree with Sipepa Nkomo that the country be parceled out to various groupings. Even Tsvangirai himself, a descendant of the Ndau-Msikavanhu-Save clan, with roots along the Save River in the far south-east of Zimbabwe, could easily find himself without a territorial claim if the Nkomo plan were to become reality.

Zimbabweans have long moved away from ethnic out-bidding, score-settling and traditional tribal identities, common two centuries ago. The people cannot be seduced by the Nkomo idea – even if it may still appeal to some, today. The idea is totally unnecessary and an unmanageable proposition.
Above all, it is not the policy of the MDC, contrary to Nkomo’s claim.

“Here, we cry that we are marginalised,” Nkomo told his constituents on Monday. “The time is now to talk about regional governments.”

But, truly speaking, Nkomo did not do too badly in Harare. He landed the top job of chief executive officer of the wealthy Mining Industry Pension Fund. After he screwed that one up he miraculously landed the even more powerful post of executive chairman of ANZ. He screwed that one up as well. Meanwhile he had built a business empire of his own right in the centre of Harare. Now that he is back in Bulawayo, after he abandoned his family in the capital city, he complaints about being marginalised there.

Jonathan Moyo, hailing from the same Tsholotsho District as Nkomo, did not perform too badly in Harare either. In quick succession he spearheaded government’s constitutional amendment campaign in 1999, then took charge of Zanu-PF’s election campaign before landing the most influential job of Minister of Information.

He virtually became Mugabe Number Two. He was in charge of Zimbabwe Newspapers, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Ziana and the Community Newspapers Group. He appointed the nation’s editors and influenced the content of the main newspapers; that was apart from writing a regular and vitriolic column of his own under the pen-name Nathaniel Manheru.

Far from being marginalised in Mashonaland, Sipepa Nkomo and Moyo, in fact, marginalised many in both Mashonaland and Matabeleland. The fact that the majority of Zimbabweans have poor memories does not mean that their victims have all also forgotten.

Zimbabwe Times
May 30, 2009
By Our Correspondent

BULAWAYO – The British Ambassador Andrew Pocock has said signs of positive change are now showing in Zimbabwe, prompting Western countries to consider assistance for the country.

Western countries have insisted on substantive democratic reforms as a benchmark before they can directly support the coalition government formed between Zanu-PF and the MDC parties in February.
Pocock indicated that Western governments were now ready to assist the country with direct aid because of the thawing relations between Zimbabwe and its former colonial power and other countries.
“We feel change is in the wind,” Pocock said Thursday afternoon. “It may not be quick or fast. It might delay but we can see change coming to Zimbabwe.”

He was addressing students at Northlea High School in Bulawayo with Senator David Coltart, Education Minister, where the British Embassy was presenting a donation of textbooks worth US$5 000 to eight secondary schools in the city.

The text books, which the Ambassador said were aimed at helping the government revive the crumbled education sector, were shared between Northlea, Emganwini, Montrose, Hamilton, Cowdray Park, Magwegwe, Emakhandeni and Entumbane secondary schools.

“Zimbabwe has many international friends and that friendship has never been lost even when it was frosty for years,” he said. “Zimbabwe’s friends are ready and already beginning to assist this country with resources as they see change coming.”

Relations between Zimbabwe and the West hit a low over human rights violations and poor governance by President Robert Mugabe’s administration.

Mugabe, who formed a coalition government with the opposition in February, has denied committing human rights violations and accused the West of pursuing an agenda to oust him.

Western governments have demanded political and economic reforms before direct aid can start flowing in to assist the coalition government rebuild the country’s economy.

About US$8 billion is needed by the coalition government to revive the economy. So far it has secured nearly US$1 billion.

Insiderzim.com
28 May 2009

Education Minister David Coltart has called on the private sector to partner
the government in rebuilding confidence in the country’s education system.
Zimbabwe had one of the best education systems on the continent but
standards have plummeted following the exodus of teachers and lecturers for
greener pastures.

Coltart said 20 000 teachers had left the country during the past two years.

Students who wrote national examinations last year are still waiting for the
results. The first batch, A-Level results, was released on Friday.

Coltart was speaking at a function in Bulawayo to launch the Lobels Bread:
“Buy, collect and win” scholastic competition.

The competition, which has R3 million worth of prizes offers fees to
children and cash to schools to enable them to complete infrastructural
projects.

It began on May 1 and ends on July 31 but is now going to be an annual
event.

One of the company’s director Herbert Nkala said apart from the competition
Lobels Bread was sponsoring a girls soccer team, children and old people’s
homes in Bulawayo as well as Khami Prison where it was sending 50 dozen
loaves of bread for the prisoners.

Coltart said he felt like “stealing” the company’s theme for the
competition: “Rebuilding Confidence in our education” because that was his
aim as the minister.

He said the government was doing everything to revive the education system
because education was a necessary precondition for the development of the
nation. But the government could not do this alone.

The minister appealed to the private sector to form partnerships with the
government and encouraged those interested to liaise with Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara who was spearheading the public-private
partnership programme.

Mutambara was in Bulawayo for two days last week touring industry and
meeting business leaders.

Apart from trying to get back teachers who had left the country, Coltart
said he was also trying to make sure children had textbooks because the
textbook-to-pupil ratio was appalling. In some schools, only the teacher had
the textbooks while the national average was one book to 15 children.

He said his ministry was working on a five-year strategic plan which would
also see the improvement of sports and sports facilities in the country.

The Herald
26 May 2009
Herald Reporters

SCHOOL heads from across the country have come under fire from parents for charging fees way above those stipulated by Government.

Some schools in areas like Gutu were last week sending students away for non-payment of fees.

A visit by The Herald to rural schools like Vumba, Chekure, Majada and Marinda primary schools; and Chiwara and Majada secondary schools in Gutu South, revealed that authorities were sending pupils away demanding that they pay money “to buy chalk” first.

The demands have riled parents who say they cannot raise the fees.

In Masvingo urban, some Government and council-run schools had already told students to pay the full fees by June 1 or risk being chased away.

These ultimatums have been issued at Dikwindi, Runyararo and Vurombo primary schools.

The Masvingo deputy provincial education director Mr Diga Mandiudza last week said he could not comment as he had just returned from leave.

The school heads also urged the ministry to communicate its position to the schools, as heads were saying they could not implement Government directives in the absence of an official circular.

On Friday, Education Minister David Coltart admitted they were facing problems officially communicating the interim fee structure to schools.

Said Minister Coltart: “One of our biggest challenges at the moment is the lack of communication because our printers are not working and it becomes difficult to send circulars to the schools and this will result in confusion.

“We are actually in the process of talking to donors so that they can help us with printers machines or fax machines.”

He added: “The position of Government towards the fees is that only the gazetted fees should be paid.

“As for the levy, it should be agreed upon by the school development association and the parents.

“No school head should charge his or her own levy without consulting the parents, who are the major stakeholders.”

However, he did not say what action would be taken against school heads that ignored the directive.

Early this month, the ministry said parents would this term pay interim fees of US$5 and US$10 for primary schools in low-density and high-density areas respectively.

Parents with children attending secondary schools in high-density suburbs should pay US$10 while their counterparts in low-density areas would part with US$20.

However, a number of schools have ignored this directive, telling parents that they could not go by “mere media reports”.

In Harare, Kuwadzana 4 Primary School has reportedly told parents to fork out US$50 if they want their children to attend classes.

Last week, parents of children attending a primary school in Glen View said authorities were demanding US$5 which they said would go towards teachers’ “allowances”.

“We cannot afford to continue paying the teachers because we are also finding it difficult to look for the foreign currency.

“We, too, are civil servants and are also earning the same US$100 that the teachers are earning and I don’t see why we should be supplementing them when we are struggling to survive,” fumed Mr James Marange of Glen View.

It was also not clear whether those parents who paid more than the gazetted fees would be refunded or their accounts would be duly credited.

On the issue of parents paying teachers “allowances”, Minister Coltart said he sympathised with teachers but they should not send away the children for non-payment.

Zimonline.co.za
By Lizwe Sebatha
Tuesday 26 May 2009

BULAWAYO — Only 300 out of 6 000 qualified teachers who had quit the profession but want to return to their old jobs have been able to do so, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) said Monday.

Union secretary general Raymond Majongwe blamed bureaucratic delays at the education ministry plus demands by officials for returning teachers to produce police clearance letters for frustrating and turning away many teachers at a time most public schools were facing a severe shortage of
trained teachers.

“According to our survey, out of the over 6 000 returning teachers, only about 300 have been re-admitted into the profession. One wonders what really is happening and why real teachers are not being re-hired when there is a serious shortage of teaching staff,” said Majongwe.

Teachers wanting to re-join government service were also being asked to produce grading certificates, which many of those who had quit their jobs many years ago apparently do not have.

Senator David Coltart, Education Minister, did not confirm Majongwe’s figures of teachers who have been blocked from returning to schools but said his office had not asked education officers to demand clearance letters and grading certificates before rehiring teachers.

“The new requirements are in violation of our circular over the re-engagement of teachers. The circular does not demand a police clearance and a grading certificate,” said Coltart, who has been praised for his efforts to try to revive Zimbabwe’s collapsed public education sector.

Teachers who had quit in frustration because of low pay trooped back to the profession after the government started paying monthly allowance in foreign currency.

The government has promised to increase the US$100 monthly allowances to match regional salaries once revenue inflows to treasury improve.

Newsnet
Tuesday 26 May 2009

The “Africa Speaks” 530M banner which will be displayed in South Africa during the World Cup received a boost after seventeen ambassadors serving in the country endorsed it, effectively committing ten artists from their respective countries to come and also put their works on their banner.

The “Africa Speaks” 530M banner which will be displayed in South Africa during the World Cup received a boost after seventeen ambassadors serving in the country endorsed it, effectively committing ten artists from their respective countries to come and also put their works on their banner.

The “Africa Speaks” half a kilometer banner which will be one of the extraordinary exhibitions at the historic 2010 World Cup, has received an endorsement letter from the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart and 17 ambassadors accredited to Zimbabwe.

Project Director, Munyaradzi Muzenda, said the ambassadors have agreed to reproduce DVDs on the project which they will use to market the project to artistes in their respective countries.

Muzenda is due to leave for South Africa on a mission to convince the World Cup Organizing Committee to clear the banner which will be displayed throughout the duration of the soccer extravaganza.

The 530M banner will feature the artistic works of artists from each African country.

The banner’s length of 530M is symbolic in that it reflects the works of 530 artists from 53 African countries.

Besides telling a story of Africa’s beauty and heritage, the project seeks to market the great artistry vested in African artistes.

Zimonline
By Own Correspondent
Monday 25 May 2009

Zimbabwe’s new unity government reached its 100th day milestone on 22 May 2009. Morgan Tsvangirai, the firebrand former opposition leader, who won the first round of balloting in March 2008 but who subsequently negotiated a government of national unity (GNU) with Robert Mugabe after the latter’s bloody campaign to cling to power, has claimed good progress in the work of the new regime in Harare since its inauguration on 11 February. Basildon Peta caught up with Tsvangirai for a more detailed review of the GNU’s first 100 days in office. An edited version of this interview was first published in the Star newspaper of Johannesburg on Friday.

Peta: You have been congratulating yourself for the performance of the GNU yet it seems Zimbabweans are thanking you with their feet. The numbers of those streaming into South Africa since visa rules were relaxed have trebled. That surely is a vote of no confidence in this new government?
Tsvangirai: Please understand that these people are economic refugees and I can understand why they are flooding South Africa. They are coming here for job opportunities. This government has only been in place for three months. You cannot create jobs in three months especially with the level of economic decay we have experienced…..(interjection)

Peta: But surely they wouldn’t be leaving in droves if the unity government had ushered the change they can believe in?
Tsvangirai: What is needed is for us to create a reversal of economic misfortunes and then people can stop the exodus. But that takes time. The exodus is a natural tendency because of the economic difficulties we are facing……

Peta: You are realistically not going to have any reversal of these economic misfortunes without massive injection of aid from Western countries who are reticent to fund you because Mugabe is resisting major reforms to fully restore the rule of law?
Tsvangirai: There has been some positive engagement with them. They have moved from total disregard of what has happened to skepticism and now they are saying there is progress though not sufficient. So they all accept that there is change taking place and that change must be consolidated.

Peta: When do you therefore expect them to open their purses?
Tsvangirai: They will eventually open them but I can’t give a timeframe because they have their own benchmarks and assessments . But any delays in giving Zimbabwe lines of credit and balance of payments support delays the recovery process and worsens the people of Zimbabwe’s plight.

Peta: Is it safe to assume that they won’t open them any time soon with violence continuing on the farms, journalists being harassed and your supporters being jailed?
Tsvangirai: There are incidents in which it is reported that there are invasions on one or two farms but it’s all blown out of proportion… We have investigated examples of those so called farm invasions. .. We have asked the minister of lands (ZANU PF) to give us a detailed report of what has been happening over all these so called farm invasions and the outcry over that….We must also proceed with the land audit and setting up the land commission to resolve these disputes once and for all.

Peta: How would you generally rate the performance of the GNU in the first 100 days ?
Tsvangirai: You need to look at both the performance of the government and the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that gave rise to the unity government. The two go hand in hand. Government has consolidated itself as a coalition government. But of course there are problems with the political agreement which I think are not insurmountable. The major concern has been the slow pace in implementing some of the outstanding issues in the GPA but we have hammered out almost 90 percent of them. There are a few conflicting areas but a large number have been resolved and we will be reporting to cabinet this week.

Peta: Why has it taken so long to clear the outstanding issues?
Tsvangirai: It’s a number of factors. I was away for almost a month (after the death of wife Susan) and also the fact that you cannot resolve some of these issues automatically as they need careful negotiations .

Peta: So can we safely predict seeing the backs of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana soon since their departure has been one of your key demands?
Tsvangirai: I don’t want to talk about individuals but the issue is being looked into by the inclusive government as a collective and as a procedural matter……We can’t all be pre-occupied with Gono and Tomana at the expense of all the issues that the country is facing . Mugabe has his own views on that. We have our own. At the end of the day, we all have to resolve and agree on a way forward.

Peta: And what about the governors unilaterally appointed by Mugabe whom you also want fired?
Tsvangirai: There has been an agreement on that, not only on the formula but also on the issue of termination (of their contracts) which had been a sticking point.

Peta: What are those few issues that haven’t been resolved. The 10 percent you referred to?
Tsvangirai: I am not at liberty to discuss that. All I can say is that we have covered a lot of the issues and there has been a meeting of minds on most of them.

Peta: Your critics are worried by your insistence that there is no going back on the unity government. They say you have put yourself at the mercy of Mugabe because he can remain intransigent and trample all over you knowing full well that you will not deploy your leverage to pull out of the GNU since you sound desperate to remain in it at whatever cost?
Tsvangirai: I am very much conscious of the leverage we have over the unity government. But our confidence in the interim government is not cast in stone. I am saying so far the government has consolidated. ….

Peta: And there also seems to be some concern about the way you have been praising Robert Mugabe? You seem to have transmogrified from being his staunchest enemy to his number one praise singer?
Tsvangirai: Whether you like Robert Mugabe or not is not the issue. I am saying so far the unity government is working and it’s working to the best interests of Zimbabweans and that as far as Zimbabweans are concerned, any other option is not acceptable because it disrupts their hope of a defined destiny they were looking forward to. When I say that for the moment it’s an irreversible process, I mean it but I cannot predict what will happen in future before the expiry of the transitional government.

Peta: Can we safely assume that if 90 percent of the outstanding problems have been resolved then there will be longevity to this unity government?
Tsvangirai: Absolutely. I don’t foresee anything that will cause its rupture or break its elasticity, particularly after we resolve all outstanding issues and you create hope for the people…..(interjection)

Peta: Even if your supporters continue being incarcerated, harassment of journalists and farm invasions continue?
Tsvangirai: We want the full restoration of the rule of law. Yes the farm invasions and other issues have occurred but these have largely been isolated cases and they are all being attended to….

Peta: Some say your confidence in the GNU despite Mugabe’s erratic behavior is because you are now part of the gravy train and many of your ministers will want this government to survive at all costs so they won’t forfeit their newly found privileges like the much maligned Merces Benz regarded by Zimbabweans as the main symbol of the excesses of the Mugabe regime. Only David Coltart was decent enough to refuse to jump onto the Mercedes Benz bandwagon?
Tsvangirai: For goodness sake, we are all earning only $100 a month. Is that a gravy train?

Peta: Another sign of the gravy train syndrome is the snubbing of your order to your MPs to return cars unprocedurally dished out to them by central bank governor Gono. The open squabbling over cars and your MPs refusal to hand them back to the central bank is seen as ample evidence that your party is now caught up in the gravy train syndrome?
Tsvangirai: No, no. These are petty issues to focus on. Cars allocated to the ministers don’t belong to them but to the state. They are government property. So we are not going to spend time over which car a minister is driving, when a minister is earning only $100. As for MPs, we have said there is a government scheme for them to access vehicles. The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Finance. Our policy is not to continue with Gono’s quasi- fiscal activities. Gono had acquired these cars and they were all second hand. And we are saying to the MPs how do you get attracted by these second hand cars most of which are 150 000km on the clock, instead of accessing new ones through a legitimate government scheme. All we are insisting on is a proper channel of getting vehicles. Majority of the (MDC) MPs have returned these cars except maybe one or two. So there is no question of indiscipline in our caucus.

Peta: What about the insubordination of the army generals who still refuse to salute you which you spoke about at the Wits Business School?
Tsvangirai: I did not say there is insubordination. I said there is an attitude which is prevailing which creates an impression in the public domain that there is reluctance to accept the inclusive government. I have not seen anything that demonstrates that they are insubordinate. It’s all about personal attitudes.

Peta: But clearly they keep on refusing to salute you ?
Tsvangirai: Its immaterial as far as I am concerned. There has never been an occasion where I have said, salute me or don’t salute me…. I cannot worry whether somebody has saluted me or not when they are more pressing issues needing my attention.

Peta: There is a view that the sooner a new constitution is put in place and free and fair elections held the better the chances for a new legitimate government emerging out of those elections to raise aid for Zimbabwe’s recovery?
Tsvangirai: A constitution making process is now in place. You can’t achieve a constitution in one day. But while we wait for a new constitution and fresh elections, we can’t recline on our laurels and fail to do something about the immediate social problems the people are facing. You can’t say lets concentrate on a new constitution and forget about opening of schools, hospitals and clinics…You can’t do that. The transitional government has a democratization and economic stabilization agenda and it has to focus on those in the meantime.

Peta: When can we expect elections in terms of the GPA?
Tsvangirai: The GPA is very clear. We will consider the issue of elections after 18 months. Electoral dates were not defined in the GPA because we did not want to start in an election mode from day one in view of all that had happened.

Peta: The constitution making process itself seems fraught with problems with your ally Lovemore Madhuku (chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly ) accusing you of being an opportunist for abandoning the people driven route now that you are Prime Minister?
Tsvangirai: Who says that the current process is not people driven?

Peta: That is precisely what Madhuku is saying ?
Tsvangirai: Yes he says that but that’s not the truth. The truth is that we are instituting a process which is people driven. No one can argue that when we go through Parliament , it’s not people driven. Parliament is a coordinating body which will solicit the views of Zimbabweans. The constitution is going to be written by Zimbabweans and owned by Zimbabweans. Yes, Madhuku has his own views but to call others opportunists because you disagree with them is uncalled for. This constitution is not about Madhuku or about Tsvangirai. It’s about the people. I can as well claim that in terms of the vision for constitutional reform, I was at the forefront of that campaign. That’s why we formed the NCA. So I cannot be an opportunist now, when all my life, I have committed myself to a democratic process.

Peta: His argument is that the process must be done by a wider representative body, a sort of elected constituent body representative the masses and not Parliament which is dominated by political parties?
Tsvangirai: For goodness sake, Parliament is an elected constituent assembly. You don’t go to Parliament by appointment. You go by election. So you cannot say that Parliament is not representative. It ‘s actually the most representative body….Parliament is the reflection of the people’s vote. And we can stand up as Parliament and say, we are the legitimate representatives of the people….

Peta: He (Madhuku) has said his NCA would mobilize for the rejection of the new constitution if achieved through a parliament led process?
Tsvangirai: Well that is political posturing. It’s unfortunate. We have a process that is not closed to anyone…You cannot say that if you don’t go the way I want things to go, then everything is all wrong. You don’t do that. If in the end people choose to reject a constitution that they have participated in formulating, it’s their choice. We are not the ones who will determine the outcome of that constitutional process. It’s the people of Zimbabwe. I am sure the majority of civic society will find the process much more involving and broad. We have thematic committees that will go out and solicit the views of the people.

Peta: You recently said government was broke. With hindsight do you regret having promised foreign currency wages in the first place?
Tsvangirai: No, no, no. We said we would pay civil servants allowances in foreign currency, which we have done. We will continue to pay that. ……But I have said that at the moment the government cannot move to define salaries in foreign currency outside the US$100 allowance. I have called for more time. We will make an assessment at the end of May and as the revenues of the government increase —-remember that no one is paying taxes —- then we can look at the question of salaries. What people were talking about was that they wanted US$1,500 salaries a month and I said lets be realistic. That kind of money is just not there.

Peta: Where have you been getting the money to pay the allowances?
Tsvangirai: The government has got its own revenue. There has been revenue build up in the coffers of the government and that has largely been the source of paying the allowances. And I want to tell you that Zimbabweans are grateful for the allowances we have instituted because they can now go and buy something. The goods are back in the shops. With one thousand rands, people can use five hundred to buy groceries and live with their families….

Peta: One of the issues that had stalled the introduction of the GNU was your demand for control of Home Affairs and the police until you reluctantly agreed to co-minister with ZANU PF. How has that worked?
Tsvangirai: It has worked fantastically. The two ministers have worked well. I have not had any tension. They work very cooperatively together …..The only problem is the issue of resources to institute those measures that are necessary to achieve cohesion in the ministry.

Peta: Arrests of your supporters have continued despite your presence in Home Affairs and yet you say co-ministering has worked well. It could be said you minister is powerless to control the police and halt these arrests?
Tsvangirai: The recent arrests were not political arrests. They were procedural matters. If you are given bail in a lower court and then indicted to a higher court for trial, you have to negotiate a new bail condition. This is the mishap that occurred especially with the case of Jestina Mukoko and others. These were not re-arrests but just a mishap to deal with their being indicted to a higher court. Either existing or new bail conditions had to be instituted.

Peta: Surely there is no way Mukoko and all those arrested can be legitimately accused of plotting to overthrow Mugabe: One would have hoped you would have used your muscle to stop all this harassment?
Tsvangirai: Once the state has charged people and you try to interfere, there will then be accusations that you are trying to interfere with the due process of the law. And we don’t want to be doing that. We say, well let the law take its course but it must take its course not selectively but in all cases. I don’t believe the charges (against Mukoko and others) are valid. But they have to go through the due process. If it’s harassment , it will be proven in a court of law. I went through the same process..being accused of treason…but in the end I was acquitted. But the issue is that if the state believes it has a case, then it should bring people to trial speedily.

Peta: Mugabe has been refusing to swear in Roy Bennett as deputy minister of Agriculture. Will he ever take up his post?
Tsvangirai: Yes, Mugabe has been resisting. He is saying Bennett is facing serious charges. But we have been saying that yes he is facing charges but you don’t find him guilty before he has been tried by a court of law. Those are some of the things that have been irritating but eventually, we are not going to budge on the question of Bennett being deputy minister of Agriculture. We have other ministers who have been charged. Biti and Matinenga are facing charges (but he swore them into office). It’s therefore a question of personalities. My appointments in terms of the GPA are my sole prerogative and Mugabe cannot veto them. I hope we don’t continue to create arguments over straight forward issues.

Peta: Your deputy Arthur Mutambara once said he did not have a job description. Are your job descriptions now clearly spelt out?
Tsvangirai: The job descriptions of the offices of president and Prime Minister are well defined in the GPA……The powers of the deputies, be it the deputy prime ministers or deputy presidents are not defined because they assist their principals. I have my two deputies to assist me in the office of the Prime Minister. Mugabe has his deputies to assist him in the execution of his office.

Peta: The issue of the job descriptions also arose because Mugabe appears to be doing whatever he wants. He appointed permanent secretaries in complete disregard of you……?
Tsvangirai: Those are among the outstanding issues which are now being resolved. We are dealing with that. In terms of the GPA, we are supposed to appoint these people together in a consultative process. Yes people might not have definitive job descriptions but the powers of the offices of president and PM are clearly defined and it is in that context that people fit in their roles.

Peta: Lastly. How does it feel working with a man (Mugabe) whom you defeated in elections and who continues sitting in a chair that is rightfully yours?
Tsvangirai: Yes, lets accept that we were bitter rivals. There was acrimony and vilification across the political divide, between us as two personalities. But we have agreed. We have negotiated in a protracted way and we have agreed. Once you have agreed, you have to work together. We are certainly working together in the spirit of advancing the GPA. My only personal views don’t matter but I put the national interests first. The GPA defines the destiny of Zimbabwe.

Peta: How is your personal relationship with Mugabe?
Tsvangirai: It’s a workable relationship and respectful. Yes we disagree but we don’t disagree to the point of shouting at each other. We disagree by dialogue and searching solutions to the problems at hand.

Peta: And your working relationship with Mutambara?
Tsvangirai: I think we have a healthy working relationship. Although we belong to different political parties, I think the objectives are still the same.

Peta: Is he therefore considering dissolving his faction to join you so that you now fight as one.
Tsvangirai: You better ask him that.