Newsday

11 September 2015

By Richard Chidza/ Moses Matenga

OPPOSITION MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has hailed former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s “bold step” to re-enter the political fray, this time as an opposition politician.

“For us, the fact that liberation struggle icons have joined the opposition in articulating what Zimbabweans have been hoping for all these years is indeed a breath of fresh air,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“With the majority of Zimbabweans gearing for a new beginning, this week’s developments confirm that there is hope indeed for the future.”

The MDC-T leader, who is said to be pondering a coalition with Mujuru, said the former Vice-President’s move indicated Zanu PF’s impending demise.

“There has been a lot of speculation on the proper position of President Morgan Tsvangirai regarding the entrance of former Vice-President Joice Mujuru into the political fray, as a fellow opposition leader,” a statement from Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said.

“First, Tsvangirai’s position regarding the whole issue is that the bold step taken by Mujuru to finally and completely break ranks with Zanu PF confirms the inevitable demise of Zanu PF.

“We are heartened by her realisation that the opposition has been right all along that the crisis in the country has been about leadership, corruption and a bad governance culture by those in the stewardship of the State.

“We feel vindicated by her acknowledgement of the imperative for a new direction for the country.”

Early this week, Mujuru unveiled her People First party policy document, regarded by many as a political manifesto signalling her grand entry into opposition politics, almost nine months after she was booted out of both government and Zanu PF on allegations of plotting to assassinate President Robert Mugabe.

Mujuru, who had served as Mugabe’s deputy for 10 years, has denied the charges and challenged her accusers to present evidence.

Although Mujuru is yet to officially launch her party, several opposition parties have expressed interest in forming a grand coalition with her to challenge Mugabe’s Zanu PF party in the 2018 elections.

Former Finance minister and People’s Democratic Party leader Tendai Biti yesterday told party members in Harare that he was ready to engage all democratic forces, including Mujuru’s People First.

MDC spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi said they were ready as a party to work with anyone to ensure Zanu PF was ousted, but they were yet to make a position on the possibility of a coalition as Mujuru has not yet officially launched her party.

Former Education minister and MDC official David Coltart, however, warned that the coalition could be derailed by leaders’ personal egos.

“For as long as every competent leader wants to be President, building a coalition against Zanu PF will remain difficult, if not impossible. There can be only one President. Tsvangirai, Mujuru, (MDC leader Welshman) Ncube, Biti, (Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe leader Elton) Mangoma, (Zapu leader Dumiso) Dabengwa, (MKD leader Simba) Makoni and any other aspiring leader must remember that,” he said.

National Constitutional Assembly spokesperson Madock Chivasa welcomed Mujuru into opposition politics, but vowed they would never join hands with her party.

“We believe her coming-in is a reflection of democracy. We say good luck to her and we will meet in elections,” he said.

The Herald

10 September 2015

ZIMBABWE’S swimming icon Kirsty Coventry reasserted her claim as the best female African swimmer of all time when she grabbed the first gold medal for her country at the on-going 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville on Tuesday night. The 2015 African Games continued with yet more wins for the South African contingent, a team who has been dominant thus far in the competition taking place in Congo Brazzaville. But, one lone Zimbabwean, Coventry, proved mighty enough to stop a full day’s worth of gold medals for South Africa on Day 3 of the meet on Tuesday, en route to making some history of her own.

Coventry was the only non-South African to stand atop the podium in Tuesday night’s finals session. Her time of 1:01.15 beat out the 100m backstroke field and gave Coventry her third consecutive African Games win in the event, having already claimed gold in the 2007 and 2011 editions of the Games in Algeria and Mozambique.

She holds the 100m backstroke African Games record with her 1:00.86 performance from 2011. Coventry also won the 200m backstroke event at both the 2007 and 2011 versions of the meet, therefore, the Zimbabwean is looking to three-peat across both of these backstroke races in the 2015 Games.

Coventry also still sits as the 200m record-holder in 2:10.66. But, the 31-year-old doesn’t stop there. Coventry is also looking to three-peat in the 200m IM, an event she has won in 2007 and 2001 as well. Guess who owns the 200m IM record? Yup, Coventry in 2:13.02 (2007).

The Sport and Recreation Commission who in charge of Team Zimbabwe to the Games were among the first to congratulate Coventry for her latest exploits.

“The Sport and Recreation Commission board, management and staff would like to express its hearty congratulations to Team Zimbabwe to the African Games and in particular Kirsty Coventry for winning their first gold medal at the Games. “Kirsty won a gold medal in 100m backstroke. This is not only a demonstration that Kirsty is still the Queen of the waters but it is a bold statement about her unquestionable commitment to serving our beloved country at any sporting event.

“Going forward it is the SRC’s hope and anticipation that other sporting persons from the registered 45 national associations will learn from Kirsty what patriotism and serving the nation is all about. “Kirsty a holder of seven Olympic medals and has been winning medals at the then All-Africa Games since 2007 but at no point has she ever turned on her country.

“As the SRC we are generally pleased by her performance and we hope that the performance that she has just posted will spur the other teams to also do well during these Games.

“Once again Congratulations Kirsty and thank you for flying our flag high above other nations in Congo Brazzaville,” read a statement from the Commission. Former Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart also added his voice in congratulating Zimbabwe’s swimming sensation Coventry.

Coltart wrote on his FaceBook wall: “Kirsty Coventry won the 100 metre backstroke Gold this evening in Brazzaville in the All-Africa Games (now called African Games). “Kirsty will not be swimming tomorrow (yesterday) but swims again on Thursday and Friday. “Go Kirsty! Doing us all proud again. What a patriot!” wrote Coltart.

Meanwhile, to kick-off South Africa’s golden night on Tuesday, Karin Prinsloo doubled up on her 200m freestyle victory from earlier in the meet with a 400m freestyle victory. Her time of 4:18.86 was enough to hold off the competition today and give the South African her second individual win thus far. South African teammate, Tatjana Schoenmaker, also racked up her second victory, touching the wall first in the women’s 50m breaststroke. Her time of 32.49 earned her the gold to add to the 200m breaststroke win she claimed on day 2.

For the men, Clayton Jimmie would end up victorious in the men’s 100m freestyle in a time of 49.93, followed closely by Egypt’s Mohamed Samy who charged just behind in 49.97. The two would represent the only sub-50 second freestylers of the 100m field in Brazzaville.

Fly master Chad Le Clos was at it again for South Africa, taking the men’s 50m butterfly comfortably in his time of 23.51, a new championship record. Le Clos had already easily mastered the 100m butterfly earlier in the meet, clinching the gold in a time of 51.24.

VOA

8 September 2015

Zimbabwe’s swimming sensation, Kirsty Coventry, won gold in the 100 metre backstroke event Tuesday evening in the All Africa Games in Congo Brazzaville.

According to former Sport Minister David Coltart’s post on Facebook, the Zimbabwean is set to participate in other swimming events on Thursday and Friday.

This could not be independently confirmed from the Zimbabwean team in Brazzaville.

Coltart wrote on his Facebook wall, “Kirsty Coventry won the 100 metre backstroke Gold this evening in Brazzaville in the All Africa Games. Supersport are showing the swimming finals which start at 6pm Zim time. Kirsty will not be swimming tomorrow but swims again on Thursday and Friday.

“Go Kirsty! Doing us all proud again. What a patriot!”

Coventry has represented Zimbabwe in many international competitions and won several gold medals.

The Standard

Editorial

September 6 2015

The third term of the school calendar begins this week amid growing uncertainty fuelled by the government’s shadowy audit of the civil service and the deteriorating economy punctuated by massive job losses.

The cash-strapped government is under pressure to reduce its wage bill, which it says accounts for over 80% of its expenditure.

In July, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa announced that Cabinet had approved measures to reduce the wage bill by at least 40%, but the government has not been clear on how it intends to achieve this.

However, the Civil Service Commission has been carrying out a head count of civil servants as a way of weeding out ghost workers.

The audit began in April, and according to reports, 3 000 teachers were struck off the payroll after they were not found at their work stations.

Teachers unions have protested against the measures, saying most of the affected educators were on leave at the time the audit was carried out and have been unnecessarily inconvenienced by the non-payment of salaries.

As if that was not enough, Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora announced last week that the government would lay off at least 20 000 untrained teachers that have held fort at a time Zimbabwe was losing skilled personnel to other countries due to poor salaries.

There is no doubt that the ongoing audit and the uncertainty facing untrained teachers will destabilise the education sector.

Unions have already threatened to call for strikes when schools open in solidarity with unpaid teachers.

That the education sector is backsliding to the chaos of the pre-inclusive government era where teachers embarked on indefinite job boycotts, is no longer debatable.

The effects of that sad chapter were telling in the performance of children in public examinations that followed.

It took the tenacity of former Education minister David Coltart to restore normalcy in the sector and the emerging challenges need someone of his stature to forestall a crisis similar to the 2008 disaster.

Dokora is the man who carries the nation’s hopes on that front, but the minister’s performance since his elevation post -Coltart era has not been inspiring.

It would not be far-fetched to say the minister is responsible for most of the problems facing the education sector and his silence on the disruptive nature of the ongoing audit shows that he is simply out of depth.

Besides the contentious audits, the majority of parents may not be able to pay school fees on time this term because they lost their jobs, or employers cannot pay them on time.

According to reports last week, a survey by the Poverty Reduction Forum showed that 75% of households that were sampled across the country were unable to pay school fees.

The situation is bound to get worse with the accelerated job losses and company closures that are symptomatic of the collapsing economy.

Zimbabweans are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty and this is eroding most of the gains made since independence.

President Robert Mugabe’s government invested heavily on education after independence and one of the reasons that brings hope of a quick economic turnaround is that the country has an abundant human resource base.

The government has an obligation to ensure that the competitive advantage is not lost by stemming the unfolding crisis in the education sector.

An audit of the civil service is necessary because it has been proven that the government’s payroll is littered with ghost workers, but this cannot be at the expense of efficient service delivery.

The audit carried out by Ernst & Young (India) during the inclusive government era revealed that most of these ghost workers were in the Youth and Indigenisation ministry and this is where the government should be focusing on.

Most importantly, more effort should be put into making sure that the economy begins to work again, instead of destabilising the education sector.

The Zimbabwean

Opinion

August 27 2015

It is a noble thing that human rights defenders, clergymen, political parties and other like-minded stakeholders have kept the abduction of Itai Dzamara alive by holding prayer meetings for him in different parts of the country.

It is also laudable that diplomats continue to issue statements to remind President Robert Mugabe and his government of their constitutional obligation to establish the facts surrounding the disappearance of the journalist-turned-political activist.

My heart bleeds for Itai’s abduction. He was a friend and I found him very articulate when we shared the platform on radio talk shows. He had gusto and clarity of vision. I also admired his combative spirit when he organised and led the Occupy Africa Unity Square demos. I naturally empathised with him and his family when, on March 9, I learnt of his disappearance. I went through a similar episode on September 9, 2002 and know what such an ordeal means to family, friends and compatriots.

However, it seems that there is something missing in these separate campaigns by those who respect human rights and democratic governance. I am firmly persuaded that, for the campaigns to have a global reach, they must go beyond Itai and factor in other people who have met the same fate, or are victims of Zanu (PF)’s contempt for human rights.

Unaccounted for

Over the decades, dozens of people who were deemed critical of or a threat to Mugabe and his party disappeared. Some were later found dead. Others remain unaccounted for to date. Names that readily come to mind are Tonderai Ndira, an MDC activist whose body was discovered some time after he disappeared in 2008, Maxwell Ncube, an MDC-N election agent who was found axed in August 2011, Patrick Nabanyama, who disappeared and was found dead. He was David Coltart’s election agent in 2000.

Then there are scores of unsung opposition supporters or candidates who just disappeared into thin air. Their families are still wondering what happened to them. Add to that numerous other prominent cases of disappearances and obvious murders that happened prior to the formation of the MDC in 1999.

These include Rashiwe Guzha, who was ostensibly killed by a senior CIO officer, Captain Nleya, in the 1980s for reportedly holding dark secrets on poaching by senior government and Zanu (PF) heavies. Thousands also disappeared during the ‘80s Gukurahundi blitz that killed more than 20,000 according to CCJP.

Painful mystery

Widows still wondering what happened totheir sons and daughters cannot understand what happened to their fathers or mothers. They will forever hold a big lump in their hearts for growing up in incomplete families—if they were not orphaned in the first place—because of the abductions, torture, disappearances and murder.

Thus, prayer meetings that are currently taking place in memory of Itai, whose whereabouts remain a painful mystery, must go beyond this. They must be all-embracing and bring in the names and memories of those I have listed above and many more victims. There is therefore need to transform the Dzamara prayer meetings into a national convention that honours the unsung victims and reminds the sitting government of how much blood is dripping from its hands. My hope is that, one day, we will see human rights defenders and pro-democracy stakeholders remembering Itai among thousands of others who have been killed, maimed or tortured.
By limiting the prayer meetings to Itai, the conveners run into the obvious danger of localising the extent of the intransigencies of Mugabe and Zanu (PF) in the eyes of Zimbabweans and the rest of the world. It gives the impression that this is the only human rights contravention that we have suffered.

Yes, Itai’s abduction is gruesome and must be condemned in the angriest of tones, but we need to broaden the tent to include those other victims. Once that is done, opposition political parties will escape the real possibility of being interpreted as capitalising on a sad event for their own political mileage. They would have displayed the capacity to remember beyond recent events.

Newsday

Opinion

August 24 2015

THE government is under pressure to reduce its wage bill, but this should be done in a fair and transparent manner. Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa announced that Treasury wanted to cut the share of civil servants salaries by half from about 83% to 40% of the National Budget.

The expenditure on government salaries is an albatross on the economy and cannot be sustained for a long time.

Chinamasa was not clear on how the wage bill would be reduced by 50% when he presented his mid-term fiscal policy review, but Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Prisca Mupfumira was quoted categorically saying there would be no retrenchments.

However, the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) on Friday claimed that 1 000 had lost their jobs after the government carried out a head count early this year in an effort to establish the exact number of civil servants.

The headcount was carried despite a more scientific audit of the civil service during the inclusive government era that exposed more than 75 000 ghost workers on the payroll.

The audit, carried out by Ernst&Young (India), revealed that most of these ghost workers were employed by the Youth and Indigenisation ministry ahead of the 2013 elections.

Speculation was rife that these people were recruited to campaign for Zanu PF ahead of the make-or-break polls.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a low hanging fruit for the government to reduce its wage bill by getting rid of ghost workers, but in typical Zanu PF fashion, properly recruited and trained teachers are being targeted.

The teachers have not received their salaries despite the fact that they were at work during the previous school term.

Teachers in Zimbabwe are already a demoralised lot amid persistent complaints about poor salaries and working conditions. According to issues tabled at the Zimta annual conference held in Harare at the weekend, teachers are also unhappy about loss of bargaining power and unfulfilled promises made by the government concerning their conditions of service.

Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora has also been introducing unending policy changes that have left teachers confused at many levels.

All this is happening at a time when the education sector has been showing signs of recovery after the hyperinflation induced crisis that reached its climax in 2009.

Teachers left the country in droves to seek better employment opportunities in neighbouring countries and those who remained had no motivation to teach.

Former Education minister David Coltart did exceptional work to restore some normalcy in the education sector, but the wheels have started to come off again largely because of Dokora’s disruptive policies.

The uncertainty caused by the government’s clandestine retrenchment exercise disguised as an onslaught against ghost workers would further destabilise the education system.

In case the Zanu PF government is unhappy with the findings of the Ernst&Young (India) investigation, it should commission its own audit that should pass the transparency, fairness and accuracy test.

President Robert Mugabe’s government has polluted the civil service by planting its acolytes and compromised professionalism, which makes it difficult to trust that the removal of civil servants from the payroll is being carried out in a fair manner.

The government has to guard against disrupting the education sector by haphazardly removing teachers from the payroll.

The exercise also raises many questions because it is mostly teachers who are being removed from the payroll yet the audit pointed out that the ghost workers were mainly found in the Youth ministry.

VOA News

August 10 2015

WASHINGTON DC

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Monday said foreign vandals were responsible for the death of the country’s famous lion, Cecil.

Addressing thousands of people gathered to honor the country’s heroes at the national shrine, Mr. Mugabe said Zimbabweans had failed in their responsibility to protect Cecil, who was killed by American hunter Walter Palmer in an illegal hunt.

“Even Cecil the lion – he is yours. He’s dead. But you have yours to protect and you failed to protect him,” said Mr. Mugabe.

“They are vandals who come from all over of course. Some may be just ordinary visitors, but (there are) others who want to vandalize, to irregularly and illegally acquire part of our resources.”

The killing of the lion caused a worldwide outcry with over 200,000 Americans appealing to the White House to extradite professional hunter, Palmer, to Zimbabwe for killing the big cat. More than one million people have also signed a petition on Care2 Petitions website calling for justice for Cecil and an end of trophy hunting.

Some legal experts say it may take weeks, months or years for the United States to extradite Palmer to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s former attorney general, Sobusa Gula Ndebele, and former Education Minister, David Coltart, told Studio 7 recently that Palmer’s sought extradition will be a test case for an Extradition Treaty signed by the two nations in 1997.

Article One of the Treaty obligates the two countries to “extradite to the other, pursuant to the provisions of the Treaty, any person charged with or convicted of an extraditable offense in the requesting state.”

Another provision of the Treaty also stipulates that it is designed to enhance the ability of the United States to prosecute serious offenders like narcotics traffickers and terrorists.

Article 4(1) of the Extradition Treaty stipulates generally that extradition shall not be granted if the offense for which extradition is requested is a political offense.

News 24

August 4 2015

Harare – A lioness being raised in captivity in Zimbabwe has been killed by other lions in her enclosure, a well-known private game park announced on Tuesday.

Thembile’s attackers had lived with her “for a long period”, said Antelope Park.

The park, which is near the central city of Gweru, said that it was “with shock and deep sadness” that it announced the lioness’s death.

“We suspect that it may have been owing to a dominance/social rivalry between the lions in her enclosure. Unfortunately she was caught in the middle of the dispute which had fatal consequences,” a statement read.

“This was a shock especially since they were getting on so well,” it added.

It was not clear when the incident occurred.

An official at the park was not immediately available for comment when contacted by telephone.

Conflicting statements

News of the killing comes with Zimbabwe’s lions very much in the global spotlight after the illegal killing of Cecil the lion by US hunter Walter Palmer early last month. The authorities announced this weekend that they were investigating the earlier killing of another lion, also by a US hunter.

There is some confusion over whether that lion was killed in April or in July, with officials from the state Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority issuing conflicting statements.

Antelope Park, which operates a lion breeding and release programme, said the parks authority had been called in to assess the situation in the wake of Thembile’s death.

This appears to be the first time that the park has confirmed the death of one of its lions at the hands of other lions.

“Lions in the wild have dominance disputes and do lead to injury and death,” the park said.

Many Zimbabweans have felt alienated by the media frenzy over Cecil’s death. But @shonatiger, a popular Zimbabwean on Twitter said after news of Thembile’s death broke: “Lions are having a pretty tough time in Zim right now.”

In 2010, the daughter of the then education minister David Coltart, was mauled at Antelope Park when she scratched a lioness through a fenced cage, which then turned on her and pulled her arm through the fence. The eight-year-old child was encouraged by a guide to scratch the lioness, reports at the time said.

The Telegraph

By Peta Thornycroft, and Aislinn Laing in Johannesburg

31 Jul 2015

Zimbabwe has called for US dentist who shot Cecil the lion dead during a hunting trip to be extradited back to Africa to face poaching charges, which could carry a lengthy prison sentence.
The move came as it emerged that Dr Walter Palmer could also face a potential five year jail term in the United States and a $20,000 fine for breaching the Lacey Act, which enforces the legal protection for endangered species across the world.

Oppah Muchinguri, the Zimbabwean environment minister, said Dr Palmer was a “foreign poacher” who had financed an illegal hunt of Cecil, an “iconic attraction” in the country’s famed Hwange National Park.
She also suggested that Dr Palmer had the additional motive of wanting to tarnish Zimbabwe’s image, and said the country’s prosecutor general had initiated the extradition request.

“The illegal killing was deliberate,” she told a news conference. “We are appealing to the responsible authorities for his extradition to Zimbabwe so that he can be held accountable for his illegal actions.”
Dr Palmer, from Minnesota, is reported to have paid about $61,000 (£35,000) to hunt a lion, and shot Cecil on July 1 on private land near to the national park. He said he believed the hunt was legal.
The hunter who accompanied him told the Telegraph the pair had been “devastated” when they realised Cecil was wearing a radio collar because he was part of an academic study by Oxford University.
However, Dr Palmer reportedly told his escort afterwards to find him a large elephant to shoot.

Mrs Muchinguri, a new appointee to the environment ministry but a stalwart of the ruling Zanu PF party and close friend of President Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace, said Dr Palmer, professional hunter Theo Bronkhorst and landowner Honest Ndlovu were part of an “organised gang”.

She said that Cecil’s killing was “deliberate” because it had taken place on land where the owner had not been allocated a quota for lions, and a bow and arrow was used “to conceal the illegal hunt by using a means that would not alert the rangers on patrol”.

“As we frantically try to protect our wildlife from organised gangs such as this one, there are people who can connive to undermine Zimbabwean laws,” she said.

“One can conclude with confidence that Dr Palmer, being an American citizen, had a well-orchestrated agenda which would tarnish the image of Zimbabwe and further strain the relationship between Zimbabwe and the USA.”

She said Dr Palmer would be sought on charges of financing an illegal hunt and for violation of Section 123 of the Parks and Wildlife Act, which controls the use of bows and arrows in hunting.
According to the act, illegal hunting and poaching can carry up to 20 years imprisonment but can also be dealt with by a fine.

Legal sources close to the prosecution of the professional hunter told The Telegraph the maximum penalty they faced for conducting and allowing an illegal hunt was $400 or a one year prison sentence.
The highest penalty ever handed to illegal huntsmen in Zimbabwe was 15 years for poisoning up to 100 elephants with cyanide in Hwange.

Richard Chibuwe, the deputy chief of mission at Zimbabwe’s embassy in Washington, said extradition would be a “last resort”.
“We are trying other avenues,” he told the Associated Press.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating what happened and a department spokesman said a representative of the dentist, who has not been seen publicly for days, had made contact with its office of law enforcement on Wednesday afternoon.

While Cecil has no legal protection under US domestic law, he is covered by the Lacey Act which enforces the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Not only are African lions explicitly covered by CITES but the Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed extending protection under the US Endangered Species act.
A spokesman for the service said it was deeply concerned about the killing of Cecil.

“We are currently gathering facts about the issue and will assist Zimbabwe officials in whatever manner requested,” the spokesman said. “It is up to all of us – not just the people of Africa – to ensure that healthy, wild populations of animals continue to roam the savanna for generations to come.”

Zimbabwe has an extradition treaty with the United States that has been in effect since April 2000 for cases in which a crime applicable in both countries is alleged to have been committed and which are punishable by more than a year in prison. The Humane Society, America’s largest animal protection organisation, gave strong support to the extradition move, its president Wayne Pacelle alleging that the killing of Cecil was not by chance but “a professional hit” by a hunter obsessed with big trophies who “had designs” on him as one of the largest lions around.

Extraditions from the United States are rare however, and the dubious human rights record of Zimbabwe’s regime would likely come into play.

Professor Fred Morrison, a constitutional and international law specialist at the University of Minnesota, said the process was also “cumbersome and expensive” for the extraditing state.
More likely, he suggested, was a prosecution in the US. “One possibility is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prohibits US citizens from bribing foreign government officials,” he said.
“It is alleged that he paid the game refuge officials in Zimbabwe to shoot the mortally injured lion. That might or might not be deemed a bribe.”

Emmanuel Fundira, the head of Zimbabwe’s safari industry association, said the payment of a bribe was likely to have happened.
“There had to be,” Mr Fundira told American newspaper the Star Tribune. “The documents which they used for carrying out the hunt were all illegal and fraudulently obtained.”
Mr Fundira, who helped government officials investigating the incident, said that although it was “highly, highly likely” Dr Palmer would be charged by Zimbabwe authorities, he added that the dentist “probably committed the offense unknowingly.”

“I would recommend [that Palmer] get in touch to put his side of the story in before assumptions and or conclusions are arrived at,” Fundira said.

David Coltart, a senior Zimbabwean lawyer who handled some of Zimbabwe’s most controversial political trials and served as education minister in the inclusive government, says it would be “highly problematic” for the United States to allow any of its citizens to be extradited to Zimbabwe for trial.

There was no record of any citizens of either country being extradited, Mr Coltart, a member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, added.

“We have to consider the reputation of the rule of law in Zimbabwe, and whether the courts are biased,” he said. “There would also be fear within the US that this could become an opportunity to retaliate against the United States for restrictions imposed on certain Zimbabweans.”

The US imposed travel and financial sanctions against Mr Mugabe and senior Zanu-PF leaders including the present justice minister and chief prosecutor.

VOA

By Chris Gande

July 30 2015

WASHINGTON DC—
Patricia Nabanyama, the widow of Patrick Nabanyama, who disappeared more than 15 years ago after being allegedly kidnapped by suspected war veterans, says she is worried about the disappearance of activist, Itayi Dzamara.

Dzamara has been missing for more than four months.

Nabanyama said the alleged abduction of Dzamara brought back sad memories and reminded her and her family that people’s safety is not guaranteed in Zimbabwe.

She said since the abduction of her husband, who was an election agent for former Education Minister David Coltart when the Movement for Democratic Change was still united, her family has been living in abject poverty.

Nabanyama was allegedly abducted at his home in Bulawayo’s Nketa suburb in 2000, in similar circumstances like political activist Dzamara of Occupy Africa Unity Square, who was allegedly snatched from a barber shop in Harare’s Glenview suburb.