Southern Eye

By Fortune Mbele

2 July 2015

Prominent Bulawayo lawyer Joseph James’ death has shaken the sporting and legal community who described him as principled and
professional.

James (59), a former Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) chairperson, succumbed to cancer on Sunday.

SRC director-general Charles Nhemachena led the tributes saying the sporting fraternity had become poorer after his death.

“It is devastating. It is a very sad development. I worked with him directly as he was my chairman and I was his chief executive officer,” he said.

“We got very close. He was very professional, methodical and knowledgeable about sport and the fact that he was a former football player himself made him the right person for that job.”

Former Education, Sport and Culture minister David Coltart, who is also a lawyer and appointed James (59) to the SRC board, spoke glowingly of the top lawyer.

“I had known him for 32 years and he was one of Zimbabwe’s best lawyers,” he said.

“He was a man of the utmost integrity. In court he was a formidable opponent, tenacious and bright, but never took things personally. He treated people equally and fairly, and spoke his mind without fear.

“He loved his family and sport, in particular football which he played up until recently, socially.”

Coltart said James was frustrated that he could not do as much as he wanted for Zimbabwean sport during his tenure as SRC chairperson.

“When I became minister, I appointed him chairman of the SRC and we worked hard to try and eradicate corruption and partisanship,” he said.

“Both of us were frustrated that we did not achieve more. James worked hard to improve sport in Zimbabwe.”

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said James was “deeply” respected for his professionalism.

“Jumbo — as Joseph James was affectionately called — was a principled member of the legal profession in Zimbabwe, and a deeply respected past president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe between 2005 and 2008,” ZLHR said.

“This was a tumultuous period for the legal profession and for the rule of law in the country.

“Throughout his tenure, he acquitted himself with the highest levels of fearlessness, professionalism and commitment to protecting the independence and integrity of the legal profession and speaking truth to power.”

ZLHR said James was a loyal member of the organisation and was a mentor to young lawyers.

“Respected and loved by his peers both within the profession and on the bench, Jumbo also endeared himself to new generations of lawyers, and was always ready and willing to mentor and support them,” the organisation added.

“It is no surprise that his commitment to the profession and to justice for all earned him recognition when he was honoured with the Walter Kamba Rule of Law Award in 2012.

Jumbo was a dearly loved, active and loyal senior member of ZLHR. His advice, support and learned counsel were always sought out and will be treasured for years to come

“His loss will leave a marked void in the organisation and in our hearts.”

Zimbabwe Cricket chairperson Wilson Manase said the cricket body had always received wise counsel from James.

“As our lawyer, we found Joseph to be a brilliant legal mind who always applied himself diligently to each case before him,” he said.

“Later, we benefited greatly from his advice and support as chairman of the Sports and Recreation and Commission — a post he was more than adequately suited for, given his ardent love for sport which saw him playing it and then later founding clubs and sponsoring them, before he moved into administration

James is survived by his wife and four children. Bulawayo lawyer Josphat Tshuma yesterday said his burial arrangements would be announced after his wife and children, who are outside the country, arrived back home.

James’ wife is in Australia and is expected to jet in today while his two other children are expected tomorrow.

James was a partner in Moyo-Majwabu and Nyoni Legal Practitioners.

James (59), a former Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) chairperson, succumbed to cancer on Sunday.

SRC director-general Charles Nhemachena led the tributes saying the sporting fraternity had become poorer after his death.

“It is devastating. It is a very sad development. I worked with him directly as he was my chairman and I was his chief executive officer,” he said.

“We got very close. He was very professional, methodical and knowledgeable about sport and the fact that he was a former football player himself made him the right person for that job.”

Former Education, Sport and Culture minister David Coltart, who is also a lawyer and appointed James (59) to the SRC board, spoke glowingly of the top lawyer.

“I had known him for 32 years and he was one of Zimbabwe’s best lawyers,” he said.

“He was a man of the utmost integrity. In court he was a formidable opponent, tenacious and bright, but never took things personally. He treated people equally and fairly, and spoke his mind without fear.

“He loved his family and sport, in particular football which he played up until recently, socially.”

Coltart said James was frustrated that he could not do as much as he wanted for Zimbabwean sport during his tenure as SRC chairperson.

“When I became minister, I appointed him chairman of the SRC and we worked hard to try and eradicate corruption and partisanship,” he said.

“Both of us were frustrated that we did not achieve more. James worked hard to improve sport in Zimbabwe.”

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said James was “deeply” respected for his professionalism.

“Jumbo — as Joseph James was affectionately called — was a principled member of the legal profession in Zimbabwe, and a deeply respected past president of the Law Society of Zimbabwe between 2005 and 2008,” ZLHR said.

“This was a tumultuous period for the legal profession and for the rule of law in the country.

“Throughout his tenure, he acquitted himself with the highest levels of fearlessness, professionalism and commitment to protecting the independence and integrity of the legal profession and speaking truth to power.”

ZLHR said James was a loyal member of the organisation and was a mentor to young lawyers.

“Respected and loved by his peers both within the profession and on the bench, Jumbo also endeared himself to new generations of lawyers, and was always ready and willing to mentor and support them,” the organisation added.

“It is no surprise that his commitment to the profession and to justice for all earned him recognition when he was honoured with the Walter Kamba Rule of Law Award in 2012.

Jumbo was a dearly loved, active and loyal senior member of ZLHR. His advice, support and learned counsel were always sought out and will be treasured for years to come.

“His loss will leave a marked void in the organisation and in our hearts.”

Zimbabwe Cricket chairperson Wilson Manase said the cricket body had always received wise counsel from James.

“As our lawyer, we found Joseph to be a brilliant legal mind who always applied himself diligently to each case before him,” he said.

“Later, we benefited greatly from his advice and support as chairman of the Sports and Recreation and Commission — a post he was more than adequately suited for, given his ardent love for sport which saw him playing it and then later founding clubs and sponsoring them, before he moved into administration.”

James is survived by his wife and four children. Bulawayo lawyer Josphat Tshuma yesterday said his burial arrangements would be announced after his wife and children, who are outside the country, arrived back home

James’ wife is in Australia and is expected to jet in today while his two other children are expected tomorrow.

James was a partner in Moyo-Majwabu and Nyoni Legal Practitioners.

Newsday

By David Coltart

1 July 2015

I have been privileged to know Joseph James, or as we would affectionately call him, Jumbo, for over 30 years and am deeply saddened by his passing away on Sunday.

When I first came across him as an opponent in court he had a considerable advantage over me, having had more legal experience than me.

He was always a tough, feisty lawyer, but what struck me in those first encounters was that he had a keen sense of justice and a gentle spirit. As hard as he would fight a case he would always respect the need for balance, truth and fairness. Although I was junior to him, he would always treat me with unfailing courtesy — something I know all respected in him.

Zimbabwe has lost a legal giant — not necessarily because he reached the soaring heights of legal academia or eloquence, but because of his innate sense of what was right and wrong, and his courage, in a quiet and determined way, to redress injustice in our society.

His commitment to the rule of law was all-consuming; he was a passionate lawyer, a lawyer’s lawyer, who devoted his entire professional life to upholding the finest traditions and standards of the law profession in Zimbabwe.

His own firm was run to the highest ethical standards and in all my experience of him, his word was truly his bond. He was utterly devoted to the profession, demonstrated in his election as President of the Law Society, which he served so well. But he was also a lawyer who understood that there could be no justice if marginalised, poor people did not have fair access to the legal system.

In that regard he was one of the first to volunteer his time for the Legal Aid Clinic set up in 1983, and was one of the most devoted supporters of its successor the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre (BLBC).

The Standard

By Everson Mushava

28 June 2015

Jonathan Moyo’s social media spats using unrestrained language are uncalled for and unstrategic for someone who doubles as a “Information minister and government spokesperson”, analysts have said.

Moyo was last week chucked out of Cabinet by President Robert Mugabe on a supposed technicality after he won the Tsholotsho seat after initially being appointed minister as a non-constituent MP. Mugabe has remained coy on his plot, leaving his spin doctor to guess on his future in Cabinet.

Since Moyo joined micro blobbing site Twitter early this year, some of his conversations with followers have degenerated into serious verbal exchanges with the acerbic minister at times using uncouth language to denigrate the views of his followers, and at times using such words like “idiot”.

Moyo has justified the use of the hate language saying if provoked, he would retaliate. The Tsholotsho North MP said if a person used vile language on him, he would obviously return fire with fire.

However, media expert and lawyer Chris Mhike said national leaders, particularly politicians and government officials were expected to be dignified and measured in their conduct and speech.
“Unrestrained and crude mudslinging is unlikely to mould Zimbabwe into an ‘unhu/ubuntu-driven’ or clean society. Some of that insult language is certainly not ministerial,” Mhike said.

“As Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services (assuming that he still holds that portfolio), Prof. Moyo would also do well to lead by example through respecting the ethics of mass communication and therefore refraining from venomous language.”

He said Zanu PF would certainly lose a great deal of its dignity when senior and prominent officials use undignified language on public fora.

“Where the targets of the diatribe are significant political players in foreign jurisdictions, these kinds of exchanges could also harm Zimbabwe’s diplomatic relations with the relevant nations,” said the human rights lawyer.

Mhike said Moyo could easily be sued by aggrieved persons or institutions under civil law; or proceedings could be instituted against him in terms of criminal law and procedure, and that could be embarrassing for him.
“While he commendably objects to the existence of criminal defamation in Zimbabwe, that law is still officially valid, according to the Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe and in terms of the Criminal Law [Codification and Reform] Act. The recent conviction of Tatenda Machingauta who had insulted Hon. Joseph Chinotimba on Whatsapp is a clear example of the applicability of criminal law to those who use offensive language on social media platforms,” Mhike said.

He said most media laws were out-dated and therefore incongruent to social media dynamics.
“There is no single Zimbabwean law that specifically regulates the social media. However, there are generic rules and statutes that would be applicable to the use of language on social media,” Mhike said.

“For instance, since some of the social media platforms are administered through telephonic or mobile phone systems, the Postal and Telecommunications Act could be utilised in legal proceedings. Further, under civil law, the Professor’s diatribe — where extreme, could well be actionable as a delict [legal wrong]. Under criminal law, the obnoxious criminal defamation provision could be applied against him or other users of fetid language.”
Moyo, who amassed close to 16 000 followers since he joined twitter in February, was in recent weeks involved in a verbal showdown with former South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni whom he described as an “Uncle Tom, irrational, foolish and a charlatan”. That was after Mboweni tweeted that he was annoyed by Moyo’s rants on twitter at a time Zimbabweans were suffering.

In no time, Moyo was engaged in another showdown with Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana for reportedly suggesting that 12-year-old girls could consent to sex. Earlier, Moyo had also engaged in serious verbal wars with Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s loyalists, describing them as “shocking self-styled pro-VP Mnangagwa successionists” whom he accused of “reproducing Gamatox epithets against erstwhile Cdes!”
Media lecturer, Alexander Rusero said Moyo’s outbursts on social media was uncalled for since he was a government minister and spokesperson. He said Moyo ran the risk of having his personal views being mistaken for government views.

“There will be some implications of being a government spokesperson. Moyo is someone who is free to express himself but at times becomes excited and overwhelmed and forgets his government role,” Rusero said.
“I am not sure how bad the language is but sometimes it can be construed to represent government position. Moyo should know better. I don’t think he is intelligent, he is just a learned professor.”

Rusero said: “Moyo cannot comment on everything and everyone. This can cause a diplomatic uproar. Look at the way he exchanged [harsh words] with Mboweni and Mboweni is a close friend of Thabo Mbeki [former South African President]and Mbeki is close friends with Mugabe. Moyo should be paying for that. He should be more careful, Mugabe is the AU and Sadc chairperson, he needs friends now more than ever.”

Political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya said Moyo should exercise restraint on social media platforms as a government spokesperson.

“Moyo should understand that he is far from being a private citizen and some people might just be there to provoke him into such rants that could be damaging to the government,” Ruhanya said.

Moyo, outside twitter has coined a lot of derogatory terms to describe his supposed enemies. He often describes former Education minister David Coltart as a Rhodie while opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has always been at the receiving end of Moyo’s unrestrained and unsolicited attacks. He has at times been described using phrases such as “open zip, open mouth and shut mind”. Mhike was once also described as a “pedestrian and bush lawyer”.

National Geographic

By Christina Russo

25 June 2015

A grim fate likely awaits young elephants plucked from Zimbabwe’s wild.

Chinese crews in a Zimbabwe park are reportedly preparing young elephants and lions captured there for transport to China, triggering alarm among activists who fear that the animals are doomed to a life of suffering.

Sources close to the scene have claimed that the facility in Hwange National Park, where elephants have been confined since late last year, has been turned over to the Chinese.

According to Sharon Hoole, a Zimbabwe-born, UK-based animal activist who has been closely following—and protesting—the planned export of the Hwange elephants, “We were pushing and asking [our sources] for photos, specifically of the hydraulic equipment and the trucks and forklifts [brought to the park], and we weren’t getting feedback from our contacts.”

She says she found out on June 18 that most of the Zimbabwean staff at the facility have been replaced by Chinese workers and veterinarians.

Hoole was also told that the Chinese are “rehearsing” loading elephants into their transportation crates with bull hooks.

Given what is now known about the high intelligence of elephants and the importance of their social bonds, ripping them from their herds and sending them across the globe to be kept in prison-like conditions is deeply troubling to those who know them intimately.

“For elephants, being held captive for decades in a circus or in the majority of the world’s zoos is gruesome, a fate worse than death,” Joyce Poole, the cofounder of Kenya-based ElephantVoices, a research and advocacy organization, told National Geographic.

Claims about the planned wildlife export are almost impossible to verify, but news reports and information pieced together from conservation groups, veterinarians, citizens, and animal advocates suggest that some elephants are now on the verge of being flown to China, where they may end up in a safari park.

The Backstory

This murky saga began last November, when a local wildlife organization, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), sent out an alert that 34 elephants, 7 lions, and 10 sable antelopes had been captured in Hwange and would be sent to China.

But in December, Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe’s environment minister, told National Geographic in an email “We have not authorized any exports of elephants to China.”

In January 2015, the Guardian reported that Zimbabwe officials said the elephants, in fact,would be sent to China and France.

In an email in February to National Geographic, Meng Xianlin, of the CITES management authority in China, denied that the elephants would be imported into his country.

The French CITES authority also told National Geographic that France had no plan to import the elephants.

In March, in an interview with National Geographic, Kasukuwere said that the Hwange calves would be relocated within Zimbabwe. But he also said that Zimbabwe authorities were looking for buyers and that if they received an “order,” they would export elephants accordingly.

More recently, in another U-turn, the Telegraph reported that the elephants were destined for Chimelong Safari Park. Kasukuwere told the Telegraph that the elephants had been “tamed.”

Kasukuwere also said that after five years, the elephants would return to “the forests of Zimbabwe.”

Ainsley Hay, with the National Council of SPCAs, in South Africa, says that “almost all training of wild-caught elephants involves breaking them using horrific abuse, including beating, chaining, stretching, food deprivation, and social deprivation.

“As these animals are destined for countries that have poorly controlled animal-welfare standards,” Hay says, “it’s safe to assume these calves will [have been] trained in this manner.”

Following the story in the Telegraph, National Geographic contacted minister Kasukuwere; Walter Mzembi, the minister of tourism; Caroline Washaya-Moyo, a public relations official at ZimParks; and Meng Xialin to substantiate rumors as to the number of elephants, their destination, and the timing and manner of their export. No responses were received prior to publication.

Airlifting Elephants

How the elephants and lions will leave the country is unclear.

One possibility is that they’ll be trucked to the airport in nearby Victoria Falls, or perhaps the one in Zimbabwe’s second city, Bulawayo.

Or they could be flown directly out of Hwange.

“The Hwange Game reserve airport is functioning,” wrote Senator David Coltart, of Zimbabwe’s opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. “It is in fact a 4,7km long runway constructed with help from the U.S. a long time ago as one of its strategic long range bases. It could literally take a B52 bomber—it could easily take cargo aircraft.“

Hoole says she has sources posted at all these locations, waiting round-the-clock to document the departure.

Any time elephants are transported by air, there are great risks, says Richard Ruggiero, Africa branch chief with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“The challenges are: loading and unloading, the level of tranquilizers that keep them calm (they are stressed as hell during the operation), keeping them cool until you reach altitude, keeping their breathe-way open (trunk), and of course, they cannot move around and shift the center of gravity during flight, particularly take-off and landing.”

Veterinarians and animal welfare groups in Zimbabwe say they’ve made numerous attempts to stop the export and have expressed their concerns to officials.

Melanie Hood is the animal welfare director with Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Zimbabwe (VAWZ). She says that since December 2014, her group—in conjunction with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Zimbabwe—has sent several letters to the director general of the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority requesting a meeting about the young elephants. But “no reply has been received.”

Hood also says that groups have requested permission to inspect the elephants, “together with people who we deem to be ‘elephant experts’—but again no official confirmation or reaction to our request has been received. We continue to try.”

Destination Chimelong

Besides the Telegraph report, indications that the elephants may indeed be destined for Chimelong Safari Park can be found in an article published in April in Qingyuan Daily News.

The report refers to the first phase of construction of the Qingyuan ZhangLong animal quarantine station having been completed and mentions plans to “import African elephant in July 2015.”

Qingyuan is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province, where Chimelong, billed as “the largest safari park housing the most species in the world,” is located.

David Neale, of Animals Asia, a Hong-Kong based welfare organization that focuses on captive animal issues, among other causes, notes that “many animals, including elephants, are forced to perform demeaning and degrading tricks. They are forced to do so under pressure from handlers with handheld jab sticks. The circus performances are likely to cause many animals at Chimelong Safari Park a degree of suffering.”

Chunmei Hu, who works at Nature University, an environmental center in Beijing, says some of the elephants will go to a park called Laodao Bay, in Zhangjiajie, a city in Hunan Province.

Hu says the enclosures there are “so small” and that the elephants will have to perform. “I think it has terrible animal welfare.” She says she’ll monitor the elephants if and when they arrive.”

In Zimbabwe, Jane High, one of the core group campaigning against the China export, wrote that she’s been “working with anybody and everybody trying to raise the profile of the disaster happening to our wild life. We’ve been through a lot here, but nothing has come so close to destroying my soul as this wildlife trade.”

Radio VOP

By Sij Ncube

19 June 2015

Harare, June 18,2015 – Chaos is reigning supreme within the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA), the country’s soccer controlling body, amid indications it is just a matter of time before the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) dissolved the embattled Cuthbert Dube executive, risking the country’s isolation from international football.
But football experts suspect a hidden political hand behind the shenanigans at ZIFA.
Dube has been under-fire from critics since his controversial re-election in March last year who accuse him and his side-kick, Jonathan Mashikaidze, the ZIFA chief executive officer, of presiding over the dearth of local football.
There have been accusations of dilatory supervision of the local game and alleged bad governance at ZIFA House in Livingstone Avenue, charges Dube and Mashingaidze vehemently deny.
Critics calling for Dube’s head point at the always chaotic preparations of the country’s national teams ahead of crucial matches.
Just last week Warriors coach Calisto Pasuwa and national senior team players missed their flight to Lilongwe in protest over outstanding allowances.
Self-appointed prophet Walter Magaya later chipped in, hiring a bus and paying the players $200 each from his pocket.
This week the fixture against Comoros was in limbo as Pasuwa and his charges were reportedly reluctant to full-fill the fixture again due to outstanding allowances.
On their part, Dube and his executive, who are saddled with crippling debts, argue ZIFA is technically insolvent and blame some of the mounting debts to previous executives. Previously Dube has used his personal funds to bankrolling the national teams.
Be that as it may, the internecine fight for the control has created two distinct factions in support of or against Dube and his side-kicks.
Last month some ZIFA councillors allegedly led by his deputy Omega Sibanda passed a resolution to suspend the businessman and two other councillors thought to be in his pocket but move back-fired.
In a typical retributive and pre-emptive move, Dube has proceeding to suspend the 16 councillors, including his vice Sibanda, sparking further chaos at ZIFA. Sibanda and his faction have described their suspension as a nullity.
Apart from Bulawayo-based Sibanda, other Zifa officials suspended during a board meeting on Monday include board member finance Bernard Gwarada, regional chairpersons Musa Mandaza, Piraishe Mabhena (Eastern), Felton Kamambo (Central) and Willard Manyengavana (Northern).
Also suspended were Northern Region secretary Sweeney Mushonga and Matabeleland North provincial chairman Denis Tshuma.
The discord at ZIFA has attracted the attention of the Zanu PF administration with some influential ministers allegedly nudging the SRC to fire Dube despite likely FIFA threats of suspending the country from international football citing political interference.
The state media has been in the fore-fronting of wanting Dube’s executive shown the door like yesterday.
But a Sports Editor with an independent local daily newspaper, speaking strictly is not named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the bigger problem is that ZIFA, from independence from Britain in 1980, has always been a Zanu(PF) front.
“But the same Zanu people have not been able to finance its operations,” he said.
Past leaders from Leo Mugabe, Vincent Pamire, Rafik Khan and Wellington Nyatanga are known Zanu (PF) functionaries or sympathisers.
Sibanda, Dube’s suspended deputy, is accused of is using Zanu to try and oust Dube. He, however, was not immediately available for comment.
But Jacob Mafume, the spokesperson for MDC Renewal who has a passion for local football, said the state needs to set aside a budget for football every year instead of sponsoring factionalism in soccer as it is the case at ZIFA.
“The minister of sports (Andrew Langa) seems to have forgotten soccer is a sport which needs funding not politics,” said Mafume.
David Coltart, a former Sports minister during the government of national (GNU) told Radio VOP it would not be surprising if the SRC dissolved Dube’s executive, pointing out the statutory body has the power to do so under the country’s statutes.
“The SRC has the power under the SRC Act to suspend any sports association, so it is clear that it has the domestic legal authority to do so,” said Coltart, adding that the consequences are not domestic but international.
“In the past FIFA have suspended countries from international football when government have “interfered” with national football bodies and so ZIFA, or whatever replaces it could be suspended from FIFA and as a result Zimbabwe suspended from all international matches. But given the turmoil within FIFA at present though, it remains to be seen whether they would act in this way now.”
Coltart added that whatever the case government needs to provide FIFA with compelling evidence why ZIFA should be suspended and in that regard would have to go on a major publicity drive.

News 24

19 June 2012

Zimbabweans have taken to Twitter to express their disgust after the country’s prosecutor general Johannes Tomana made comments that seemed to suggest that girls as young as 12-years-old should be allowed to have sex and get married.

According to a state-owned newspaper, the Chronicle, Tomana said girls as young as 12-years-old had a right to be listened to by the courts if they wished to start families with older men.

Tomana said, at this age, girls were capable of giving consent to sex.

A New Zimbabwe.com report said Tomana felt that young girls out of school and with no prospect in life because of the dire socio-economic conditions in the country should be allowed to have sex.

Alternative engagements

“We’ve 9-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds who’re actually not in school, who’re not doing anything for example. What are we saying to them?… We say you can’t even do this [have sex], when the environment is not giving them alternative engagements? What are we talking about?” Tomana was quoted as saying.

This, however sparked outrage on social media, with the former education minister David Coltart saying: “Tomana’s comments show that the girl child can expect very little sympathy in our prosecutorial system & predatory men the opposite”.

Coltart added: “In most democracies comments such as those made by Tomana would lead to them having to resign. #profoundlyshocked”

Chief K Masimba wrote: “No to Tomana’s Perverted Thinking Child marriage jeopardises efforts to improve maternal and infant health…”

‘Danger to our girls’

Another tweet from @Dambakuomnbera read: “Tomana is very good example why Zimbabwe needs leadership renewal.”

Nyradzai said: “Tomana is a danger to our girls. He is unable to protect them constitutionally. 12 can never be allowed as age of [consent].”

This comes as media reports last week indicated that there was mounting outrage in the country after two men aged 35 and 29 were acquitted of rape after they had sex with a 15-year-old girl at a house in Bulawayo. The magistrate said the girl “did not scream” and “knew what she wanted”.

The Zimbabwean law is not clear on the age of consent. A law expert, Alex Magaisa, told News24 recently that although the country’s criminal code appeared to set the age of consent at 16, the law only provided “absolute protection” in cases of rape to a child who is under 12″.

New Zimbabwe.com reported on Friday that most families in Zimbabwe were struggling to put food on the table and children were forced to drop out of school because parents could not afford to pay fees.

News24

By a correspondent

June 16 2015

Harare- The fact that Zimbabwe has to find $300m to import food this year because of a massive drop in maize production is due to the ruling party’s ruinous agricultural policies, the main opposition party said Tuesday.

The situation in Zimbabwe could not be “more desperate than what it is right now”, said Obert Gutu, a spokesperson for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zimbabwe used to be known as the breadbasket of Southern Africa. On Monday, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa said $300m was needed for food imports.

“For the record, I want to assure that government will do all in its power to ensure that no one starves and that everyone gets food of adequate nutritional value,” Mnangagwa told state-run ZBC radio.

Mnangagwa, who was speaking at the launch of a report by the UN World Food Programme, said maize production had decreased by 49% and hoped the next harvest would be “significantly better than this one”.

The US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network has warned that food shortages could reach crisis levels by July if there was no food aid.

President Robert Mugabe’s government insists that the poor harvests since the launch of a programme of takeovers of white-owned farms in 2000 were due to drought.

The 91-year-old however admitted earlier this year that some new black farmers were unable to manage their farms. Support had largely tailed off for small-scale farmers, who in the past produced sizeable maize crops.

Gutu said in a statement: “Robert Mugabe and his rogue administration are bankrupt and are unable to harness adequate financial resources in order to import the maize that is now urgently required.”

Former education minister David Coltart, a member of a smaller MDC grouping, said in a tweet on Tuesday: “Until we grant title to land holders and reverse ZANUPF’s destructive policy of making land dead capital we will never address food security.”

The official Herald newspaper said the $300m was being sourced “from different stakeholders”.

The Zimbabwean

By Edgar Gweshe

15 June 2015

Former Education Minister David Coltart has accused flamboyant businessman Philip Chiyangwa of enriching himself at the expense of Zimbabwe’s working class.

In a recent interview with The Zimbabwean, Coltart said Chiyangwa, who has developed a taste for expensive cars and clothes, was behind the closure of most Bulawayo companies that he had taken over.

There is a new league of millionaires in Zimbabwe, most of whom have made their wealth through corruption and looting.

Bulawayo, which used to be the nation’s industrial hub, has been hit by massive company closures over the past 10 years – and even more so since the 2013 elections – resulting in thousands of workers being thrown into abject poverty.

Not related to Mugabe

Coltart took a swipe at Chiyangwa, who claims to be a cousin to President Robert Mugabe, posted a video on social media in which he was showing off his wealth. Chiyangwa’s actions also attracted the wrath of Mugabe’s cousin, Patrick Zhuwao, who in his weekly column in the state-owned Sunday Mail lashed out at the businessman for lying that he was related to Mugabe.

Said Coltart: “I have no problem when wealth is made as the result of innovation, hard work and ingenuity. However most of Zimbabwe’s millionaires have made their money off the back of the working class, through plunder, asset stripping and corruption. I do not know how Chiyangwa made his money save for what he did to a variety of Bulawayo-based companies that he took over and drove into the ground.

“I also have a concern when Zimbabwe’s wealth and precious foreign currency is spent on very expensive imports such as Bentleys, Rolls Royces and the like. Surely our foreign currency would be better spent on vehicles made either in Zimbabwe or at least South Africa, which is on the African continent.”

Failed to prioritise

Coltart, who served as minister during the inclusive government, also bemoaned the fact that government has failed to prioritise key sectors and instead spent millions of dollars on unnecessary foreign travel and enormous monetary allocations to the Office of the President and Cabinet – that are unaccounted for to the Auditor General.

“During my tenure in government there was disproportionate (not necessarily overspending) in some sectors such as foreign travel. One of my complaints was that the Ministry of Education received a relatively small percentage of its budgeted allocation in relation to other sectors such as the office of the President and Cabinet, the Ministry of Defence and the like,” said Coltart.

Mugabe’s office has come under fire for overspending. Opposition parties and critics are arguing that the frequent foreign trips by the nonagenarian are doing more harm than good to the country.

Chiyangwa was continuously unreachable for comment, but he is on record in the video he posted on social media claiming that he gets his money “from the people”.

Daily News

June 15 2015

By Thelma Chikwanha

HARARE – “Dear God, I know that you will bring my father back,” is a prayer that Nenyasha, daughter of the missing journalist-cum-human rights activist Itai Dzamara recites every night before going to bed.

The three-year-old, who has not seen her father for almost 100 days, is obviously affected psychologically and emotionally by her dad’s absence. She is now looking to God for intervention as the State continues to profess ignorance on her father’s whereabouts.

Dzamara, who had fierce run-ins with authorities after staging a one-man protest against President Robert Mugabe in the Africa Unity Square, was abducted at a barbershop in the high density suburb of Glenview on March 9. He has not been seen since then.

All efforts to locate him have so far been fruitless. The courts have ordered the police to find Itai but there has been no progress so far.

Patson Dzamara, a brother to the missing activist, told the Daily News on Sunday last week that the family still had no idea where he is.

“Surprisingly, we have not heard from the authorities, the security agents and I really wonder what sort of an investigation they are carrying out without even trying to even find out some information from us, from the wife and from us as siblings or even the parents. None of us has been approached,” Patson said.

“As far as my understanding is concerned, this was supposed to be a back-and-forth kind of scenario but the only time we have interacted with them was probably the first week when Itai disappeared and all they did was take statements, so it’s really worrying to us why they have not engaged us officially as a family. We read a lot of stuff. As far as I know, no one in the family has been contacted in as far as the investigation is concerned.”

Patson narrated a heart rending tale of how his parents, especially his mother, had suffered untold emotional turmoil over Itai’s disappearance.

“Our mother…she’s distraught but of course there is a resonance of hope among us as family members,” he said. “Through our faith in God, we are still hoping that one way or the other, Itai will spring up.

“We are holding on to the belief and the theory that he is being held somewhere and we still believe contrary to other theory or reports or speculative stories we have heard, we are still hoping and believing that Itai is alive and one day he is going to come forth although the issue that this has been too long is worrying,” he said.

He said Itai’s 7-year-old son was deeply affected by his father’s continued absence.

“The boy is very inquisitive,” he said. “At times when he sees me, he asks; ‘have you come with my dad.’ It’s really not an easy scenario for me.”

Rights groups and the international community havecalled on government to ensure the safe return of the human rights activist.

A visiting delegation from the United States of America expressed concern over Dzamara’s disappearance.

The delegation included two senior US State department officials, Shannon Smith, who is deputy assistant secretary for African affairs and Steven Feldstein, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.

“From the United States’ perspective, we have concerns about the human rights violations and that includes intimidation, harassment, torture and forced disappearances,” Feldstein said during a recent press briefing in Harare.

“We are also concerned about long-standing government restrictions, when it comes to the ability of civil society to operate, independent media, political parties, activists and regular citizens and we believe these long-standing restrictions do impede fundamental freedoms.

“We are now entering a third month into the disappearance of Itai Dzamara, he’s a civil society activist. His disappearance is something of a strong concern to the United States. We have raised the issue of his disappearance with the government and would welcome regular updates as to the status of the investigation as ordered by the High Court.”

The European Parliament strongly condemned the enforced disappearance of Dzamara and urged the government to comply fully with the High Court order directing it to search for him.

The bloc expressed concern at the reports by human rights organisations of increasing political violence and other human rights abuses and called for concerted action by the international community.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (Zhlr) successfully filed a harbeas corpus application at the High Court, with Justice Mangota ordering Home Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi, police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri, Central Intelligence Organisation director-general Happyton Bonyongwe and the State Security minister — listed as respondents in the application alleging State security agents had masterminded the abduction of Dzamara — to find him.
Police have also issued a statement saying they had opened investigations.

“The Zimbabwe Republic Police is appealing for information on the whereabouts of Itai Peace Kadiki Dzamara aged 35 years,” the police statement said.

“Anyone with information, please contact Officer Commanding Police (Law and Order Division), Assistant Commissioner Makedenge on (04) 251505 or the Officer in Charge CID (Criminal Investigations Department) Law and Order Harare.”

Makedenge says there has been no progress in the investigations.

Describing the abduction as “barbaric”, Zimbabwe Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told Parliament two months ago that he could not admit that Dzamara was arrested or is in their custody, raising grave concerns for his safety.

Last week the Zimbabwe’s influential Catholic bishops called on the police to expedite the search for Dzamara.

Alexio Muchabaiwa, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) chairman, said three months after Dzamara was seized by five armed men who shoved him into an unmarked truck and sped off, he has not been accounted for.

CCJP is a commission of the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Inter-regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa (Imbisa) mandated to promote justice and peace guided by gospel values or social teachings of the church.

“His disappearance could be seen in a broader context of sustaining fear as a strategy of restraining freedom of expression, participation, association and democracy against the values and aims of our liberation struggle,” Muchabaiwa said.

Patson hailed the initiative by the church as positive development. He also expressed gratitude towards the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC which he says has been supportive throughout the trying time.

He said apart from frequent visits to Itai’s home by senior officials including Tsvangirai himself, the party also provides financial support.

“It’s something that we have also expected the State to be doing because he is also a citizen who is under the protection of who he is supposed to be under,” he said. “It’s really worrying that the State has not been forth coming in this regard.

“I even tried to penetrate and engage certain individuals in government to no avail. The fact that I’m a Dzamara and Dzamara had a principle that was against the policies of the government perhaps has precipitated their cold shoulder which I feel is immature at this point in time.

“At the end of the day, Itai Dzamara remains a Zimbabwean just like anyone else. And the State must be responsible and so to me, I would say that there has been some level of maturity especially from the guys in the MDC who have been forth coming.”

He added: “MDC chose to take it upon themselves to see to it that they attend to Itai’s family which I feel is key at this point in time.

“My parents contributed in as far as the liberation war is concerned and when I look at them and what has happened to their son, I do not think that’s what they had on their mind when they went to the bushes to fight for the liberation of Zimbabwe.

“I believe that there is more to it and I really implore the powers that be to probe into their conscience what’s prevailing. Is this what they fought for? I do not think that this is the representation of the freedom they fought for and so as such, I appeal to the authorities to make sure that Itai is released.”

There are a few high profile cases of enforced disappearances including the case of Rashiwe Guzha, a typist within the Central Intelligence Organisation who disappeared in May 1990 and remains missing, feared murdered; Edwin Nleya, Patrick Nabayana, the chief polling agent for opposition candidate David Coltart abducted in 2000 by men armed with AK47 rifles, body found a few months later; activist Paul Chizuze who disappeared in February 2012, remains missing, feared murdered; and army captain Edwin Nleya, who disappeared, feared murdered as well.

In the case of Zimbabwe Peace Project director Jestina Mukoko, she was abducted at her house on December 3, 2008, she was tortured by state agents and later handed over to the police.”

Dewa Mavhinga, senior researcher with Human Rights Watch, said the practice of enforced disappearances is widely used by government agents who do so with impunity as none of them are ever held accountable for their crimes.

“For the State agencies to profess ignorance as to Dzamara’s whereabouts is simply to hide behind a finger,” Mavhinga said.

“Outside of state involvement, people do not simply vanish from the streets of Zimbabwe without the police establishing what happened. As far as citizens are concerned, there is law and order in Zimbabwe, so when a disappearance occurs its either the state will know or is involved.”

– See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2015/06/15/day-98-where-is-itai-dzamara/#sthash.nLsf7HK7.dpuf

VOA

By Blessing Zulu

June 6 2015

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s government that recently dispatched a high level delegation to Harare is now being urged to monitor the situation in Harare as there are fears the nation might degenerate into chaos.

In an article titled, Omnious Warning Signs Resurface in Zimbabwe, which appeared in the Foreign Policy Magazine co-authored by Jeff Smith of Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Human Rights and Todd Moss of Global Development, the two argue that, “the Obama administration will need to keep a keen and close eye on the ongoing events in Zimbabwe, including tasking the intelligence services for an assessment of the potential for mass violence.”

They add that this should include elevating the issue of Zimbabwe to the president’s atrocities prevention board, which can readily address the early warning indicators of mass atrocities.

“So the Obama administration has made preventing mass killing a priority of the administration, so they created a special board within the government, to identify potential mass killing and to try to take steps to prevent them before they happen,” said Moss

But why should Zimbabwe even be considered as a candidate?

The two argue that, “over the course of the past few months, we have witnessed an ominous series of warning signs: bitter political infighting within the country’s ruling party, the worsening of already deplorable economic conditions, the abduction and disappearance of a prominent human rights activist, and a surge of inflammatory rhetoric and political violence.”

Smith further said there are no signs the situation will improve.

“Zimbabwe’s history is replete with examples of these sorts of abductions and human rights abuses, and we’ve certainly seen it recently through April and May in Hurungwe West for instance, the coming by-elections, and many of these atrocities are happening in full view of the police, who have not intervened. So I think taken together, all these instances should be cause for concern.

U.S. RESPONSE

Moss concurs, adding that though there are many crises unfolding in many parts of the world, Harare must remain a top priority.

“There is no reason that the U.S. government can’t pay attention to Syria, and Burundi and other countries, and also keep an eye on potential problems in areas like Zimbabwe,” Moss

In a recent exclusive interview with VOA Studio 7, deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa, Shannon Smith, said Washington is keeping Zimbabwe on its radar

“Zimbabwe is not falling off the radar, it does matter. It matters to people in southern Africa, it matters to people here,” said Smith.

But on the question of possible intervention in Harare and possibility of chaos, Smith said Zimbabweans must control their destiny.

“The future of Zimbabwe is in its own hands clearly. Every country has processes to deal with those kinds of questions. Our emphasis is on adhering to the rule of law in such processes.”

OPPOSITION

Opposition political parties that have been warring recently are uniting to warn of a deteriorating situation in Harare. Opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe is on the verge of disaster.

“I can tell you that in their preoccupation with intra-party fights, no one is paying attention to the erosion of the economic well-being of the people. And people cannot just watch, that’s the most dangerous thing. It will cause instability in the country.”

At the same time, MDC Renewal Team secretary general Tendai Biti said the ruling Zanu-PF has no clue in addressing some national issues, making the situation even more explosive.

“Clearly, clearly, we are ripe for an implosion, and naturally the African Union and all responsible authorities must watch Zimbabwe very closely, because all the ingredients that where in Rwanda in 1994 are in Zimbabwe at the present moment. Hate speech, and hatred toxicity, two, absence of opportunities, three a huge army of unemployed people and social crisis, four, political vacuum. Our president is now an occasional visitor to Zimbabwe, cabinet hardly meets. All these things create a shaky background. So my colleagues Todd and Jeff are definitely spot on.”

Legal expert David Coltart of the MDC formation led by Welshman Ncube echoes Biti’s sentiments, noting that Zimbabwe is headed for chaos.

“Part of the problem is that there is terrible political vacuum in the country. If you have a combination of a political vacuum, a country which is rudderless, which has a history of violence, a history of violent men being in control of weapons, then you have a recipe for a very serious situation.”

Smith and Moss also argue that, “just as important, authorities in the capital, Harare, must know that the world is watching.

ZANU-PF

But Zanu-PF politiburo member, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana, said Zimbabwe is a sovereign state, is stable and there is no need for foreign intervention.

“That has always been their wish, that if they put us under sanctions, then the economy will meltdown and people will rise up against their government. Unfortunately, that will remain wishful thinking. The people of Zimbabwe support their government. They know that the Americans are the enemies of the people of Zimbabwe. And the government is in total control of this country.”

However, MDC- spokesman, Obert Gutu said the situation is really bad and points to the disappearance of human rights activist Itai Dzamara of Occupy Africa Unity Square.

Deputy Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said Harare is doing everything in its power to locate Dzamara.

Political temperatures have been on the rise in Zimbabwe, unemployment is estimated to be nearing 90 percent though the government officially puts it at 10 percent.

The recent threats that government will forcibly evict an estimated 5.5 million vendors from the streets have also stoked tensions in the country.