Daily News

By Lloyd Mbiba 

9 October 2013

HARARE - David Coltart, the former Education minister, has praised President Robert Mugabe for prioritising practical subjects in the education curriculum, saying it was long overdue.

This comes as Mugabe has been forced to explain that  his new controversial minister of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities in Education was tasked with reviving practical subjects in schools to equip pupils with “life skills.”

Coltart told the Daily News yesterday that Mugabe was spot-on in giving primacy to vocational training, as this was a missing link in the educational sector.

“I am very pleased that the president is prioritising practical subjects. I tried reviewing the education curriculum when I was still a minister but there was no political will to support my efforts,” Coltart said.

“I am now happy that Mugabe is providing this political will. His position on practical subjects is very correct and important because the issue was one which faced the Education sector.”

He said although the ministry of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities in Education has an important mandate, he felt that mandate could have been housed under the ministry of Education.

“If you look closely, my ministry was split into three and this drains resources. As a nation we could have done with one ministry,” Coltart said.

The appointment of Josiah Hungwe, a longtime Mugabe loyalist, as the Psychomotor minister in an already bloated Cabinet had Zimbabweans reaching for their dictionaries to learn a term for coordination between the mind and body.

Even Hungwe was unable to describe his job and asked for more time to reply in a Parliament question and answer session after he had been in the post for three weeks. He could not tell lawmakers what he had been doing at work in that time, records of the session show.

In an interview with a local daily, Mugabe described the need to promote what he called psychomotor skills that would help procure jobs for less academically-gifted students.

Hungwe would work alongside the main ministries of Education and Science and Technology, he said.

“We will have to co-opt quite a number of educational experts working under the minister of State without disorganising the smooth running of schools,” Mugabe said.

Coltart said the government should continue prioritising vocational training because it contributes to economic success.

“The long-term sustainable development and stability of Zimbabwe is dependent on us restoring excellence to education and, importantly, in making it relevant to the future needs of our nation,” Coltart said.

“Whilst we will always need doctors, lawyers, teachers and accountants we also desperately need good mechanics, farmers, electricians and computer technicians — that will only happen when our education system is geared to train children with those practical skills and talents — and that in turn will only happen when there is a better balance in the curriculum between academic and vocational subjects.”

SW Radio Africa

By Nomalanga Moyo

8 October 2013

ZANU PF has been accused of “playing the sympathy card” in the ongoing diplomatic tiff over the perceived humiliation of Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi in Washington last week.

The ‘humiliation’ involved Mumbengegwi being forced to go through airport security like all other ordinary passengers, despite applying for the VIP service from the US Department of State, which was reportedly granted.

However, officers at the airport entrance claimed that they had no instructions to extend any diplomatic privileges to the minister and treated him as a common traveller, subjecting him to a thorough body search.

Following the incident, the government last week summoned American envoy to Zimbabwe, Bruce Wharton, to explain this “degrading experience.”

“We have called him for explanations,” Joey Bimha, secretary for Foreign Affairs, told the Daily News newspaper Monday.

Other ZANU PF officials are already calling for retaliatory treatment on the US deputy assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, who is expected in Zim next week.

But observers have dismissed this as just talk. Political commentator Rejoice Ngwenya said he did not understand why Mumbengegwi would expect preferential treatment anyway.

“Personally I believe there is nothing really special about a foreign affairs minister. These diplomatic privileges are just fringe benefits that are extended to these officials that don’t really mean much.

“We know that there is bad blood between Zimbabwe and the US and this is just an extension of that narrative especially after what Mugabe said at the UN meeting and the US’s refusal to recognise the outcome of the July 31^st elections.

“This is just public relations for the Zim government who are playing the sympathy card and trying to find any reason to poke the American government,” Ngwenya said.

He added that the government should be strengthening its engagement efforts with the West rather than making headlines with trivial complaints about being treated as commoners.

Former education minister David Coltart shared Ngwenya’s sentiments and in a post on his Facebook Wall, said: “Not sure what all the fuss is about here – as a Minister I always went through security checks at foreign airports.”

The Standard

By Caiphas Chimhete

6 October 2013

CORRUPTION involving teachers, school development associations (SDAs) and ministry officials has rocked the education sector, seriously compromising the quality of the country’s once revered education system.

A report, Framing Corruption in Education — Global Trends, released recently by Transparency International (TI) — says corruption in education was among the significant barriers to attaining Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and realising the universal right to education.

An investigation by The Standard last week established some teachers, headmasters and ministry officials were living large from proceeds of corruption, capitalising on weak, or absence of, monitoring mechanisms by the education ministry.

The most common forms of corruption rampant in Zimbabwe include demanding bribes to facilitate admission to schools or colleges as well as to obtain favourable grades.

The embezzlement of public funds intended for teaching, school materials and the diversion of resources for personal benefit is another form of the corruption.

Corruption is also rampant in procurement of furniture or in recruitment procedures as well as issuing of fake qualifications by some colleges resulting in unskilled teachers getting employed for a fee.

“When access to education or its quality suffers, the potential of individuals, communities and nations is squandered,” says the TI report. “Corruption in the education sector is a key reason why such waste occurs.”

The TI report noted that people paid bribes in the education sector in countries such as Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Turkey, Kenya and Afghanistan among other countries.

However, observations by TI are not very different from the situation obtaining in the Zimbabwe. Investigations by The Standard also established that headmasters and SDA members were looting incentives meant for teachers.

At one school in Kuwadzana in Harare, the headmaster deducts or withholds money a teacher is supposed to get if he/she fails to come to work on time. The money that would have been deducted is unaccounted for as no one asks for fear of victimisation.

Some headmasters also inflate amounts they present to provincial education offices as incentives they give to teachers when in actual fact the teachers would be getting far less.

“They (headmasters) send figures that they are giving each teacher US$300 per month when he or she would be giving them US$200,” said one teacher with a Harare school. “The headmaster would then pocket the difference. It’s very common.”

One Ministry of Education official said the issue of extra lessons had also bred corruption as teachers no longer teach during normal working hours.

“They now concentrate on pupils who paid for extra lessons where they get additional money,” he said.

This has disadvantaged pupils from poor families as they cannot afford to pay additional money, thereby defeating the government’s policy of education for all.

“For example, our children were ordered to attend extra lessons during last holidays with each pupil paying US$15 and there are three classes of about 40 each,” said one disgruntled parent who stays in Kambuzuma.

“When the schools opened this term, each child required extra lessons for US$2 a week, which means they raked over US$3 000 in less than two months. The figure might seem small but remember these are poor people who are being robbed.”

The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) confirmed there was rampant corruption in the education sector.

PTUZ national coordinator, Ladislous Zunde said it was difficult to weed out corruption in the sector because some teachers and headmasters were getting protection from Ministry of Education officials in return for kick-backs.

In the past, district and education officials would demand bribes of between US$300 and US$500 to facilitate transfers of teachers to better areas or to get a job, he said. The recruitment and deployment of teachers has since been put under the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

“It is now a known fact that some district and provincial education officials are protecting corrupt headmasters and SDAs that swindled schools for a fee,” said Zunde. “There are certain schools that have become cash cows for the officials. Despite there being evidence that money is being stolen investigations are done cosmetically so that no detail of fraud or chicanery is found.”

It also emerged that most headmasters and SDAs inflated amounts when buying school property and would get “kick-backs” from the suppliers.

In one incident, a headmaster at one school in in Harare bought a second-hand bus for about US$70 000 but independent investigations revealed that bus was valued at approximately US$45 000.

Three years ago, a headmistress with another Harare school claimed that she had spent US$19 000 to repair an old truck, an amount more than the value of the vehicle itself.

Auditors from the Ministry of Education found that the headmistress was stealing from the school and recommended her arrest “but up to now she is still there and getting protection from ministry officials,” said Zunde.

Former education minister, David Coltart also conceded there was corruption in the education sector.

Coltart said he received between 70 and 80 reports of corruption in schools last year. The country has about 109 000 teachers and 8 500 primary and secondary schools.

“I believe there are bad and good eggs in the sector but the vast majority are good eggs.”

Although, The Standard could not obtain the official number, several headmasters and teachers were arrested last year for misusing school funds and writing examinations for pupils and students.

A Bulawayo educationist, who requested anonymity, said as long as there were no regular audits and teachers were poorly paid, corruption in the education sector would remain a major problem.

“They need to be well paid,” he said. “What they are doing are survival tactics. How can a family of six survive on US$400?”

Education minister, Lazarus Dokora yesterday also expressed concern about cases of corruption in education, especially among SDAs.

Speaking at a gathering to mark the World Teachers’ Day, Dokora said school funds were not being handled properly.

“We are deeply concerned about rampant corruption within SDAs and as a ministry we want to reiterate that corruption will be stamped out,” he said. “As part of stern action against corruption, we are refocusing the way we do things so that there is accountability.”

He said suggestion boxes will soon be availed providing parents the opportunity to report “any corrupt incidences.”

TI says corruption undercuts the investment made by society in the education of its future citizens.

“The societal investment fails when some are allowed to succeed without merit, swelling the ranks of incompetent leaders and professionals, while others with intellectual capacity cannot realise their potential to learn not because they cannot master the curriculum but because they cannot obtain their fundamental rights or will not play by the corrupt rules.”

Huffington Post

By David Coltart

5 October 2013

Zimbabwe is recognized as having one of the best education systems in Africa but when I took office as Minister of Education in February 2008 I found it in chaos. Nearly all schools were closed, 90000 teachers were on strike, public exams written the previous year hadn’t even been marked and there were hardly any textbooks in schools. Morale amongst teachers was low — 20,000 teachers left the service in 2007 and 2008 mainly because hyperinflation had rendered them destitute. Many had been beaten and intimidated by militia loyal to Robert Mugabe.

There was little I could offer to attract teachers back into service. After years of mismanagement of the economy by Mugabe’s government Treasury’s coffers were dry. We could only offer a monthly salary of US $100 to teachers. I engaged teacher trade unions and arranged for them to meet with the new Minister of Finance so that they could see for themselves the parlous state of the economy. I brought their leaders on to a new Education Advisory Board and implemented their suggestions. I offered immediate protection for teachers facing threats by moving those feeling insecure to safety. I declared an amnesty for those teachers who had fled.

Realizing that Government was not in a position to pay teachers a livable wage I turned to parents and allowed them to pay teachers incentives. They responded magnificently and in most schools increased teachers’ conditions dramatically. In Cabinet I argued for improved conditions for teachers.

At the end of my tenure as Minister in August the education sector has been stabilized. All schools are now open. Exams are written and marked on time. The textbook/pupil ratio is 1:1, the best in Africa. But key to stability is the fact that we now have 109,000 teachers in service and have not suffered any work disruptions in schools for 2 years. Entry level teachers are now paid US $400 per month and parents are still supplementing teacher salaries through incentives. This is still low but way above what they earned when I took over.

Having got teachers back into service I then focussed on the professional development of teachers. Agreement was recently reached with the Global Partnership for Education to commence a US $ 23,6 million teacher retraining exercise. Another programme assists teachers identify children who suffered during the chaos years pre 2009 so that deficiencies in literacy and numeracy rates can be addressed.

Despite the improvements of the last 4 years I remain concerned regarding the plight of Zimbabwe’s teachers and education sector. A committed and enthusiastic teacher body is the most important element in any education system. The leading education systems in the world in countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Finland are marked by the way they treat teachers. In those countries the teaching profession attracts the brightest students because the profession is well paid and respected. In Finland one cannot teach without a Masters degree.

If Zimbabwe is to build a world class education system future Governments need to recognize the need to invest heavily in the sector and particularly in teachers. Teachers need to be paid better, need better housing and living conditions, especially in remote rural schools and need to be respected. Teacher training colleges need to be improved and programs for professional development implemented.

A strong education system is the most important foundation for sustained economic growth and development in all countries. But key to that strength is how teachers are treated. Sadly many developing countries treat their soldiers better than teachers. The same countries often invest more in defence and in the retention of power than they do in education. That certainly applies to Zimbabwe. For as long as that continues the goal to transform Zimbabwe into an African economic powerhouse will remain illusory.

In honor of World Teacher Day, HuffPost Impact in partnership with The Varkey GEMS Foundation will devote one month to stories highlighting the need for global change — including staggering statistics, student anecdotes that put a face on these numbers, and teachers making a difference.

All Africa

By Jos Martens

3 October 2013

It remains to be seen whether MDC would have won the 2013 elections if no rigging had taken place. What would you have voted if you had been that communal dweller who had received a fertile piece of land; if your small mine claim had just been registered; if your small business was gradually getting off the ground; if you had just received U$1,500 dollars at the tobacco auction; if you had been struggling with corrupt MDC council officials about a plot for your house; if … ?

Since the first preliminary results of Zimbabwe’s 31 July 2013 harmonised elections emerged, most talk has been about whether or not the elections were free, fair and credible, with the main bone of contention being the rigging of the voters roll.

Little has been said about the voting behaviour of the Zimbabweans per se, why – apart from the rigging – still so many voted for ZANU-PF and 89 year old Robert Mugabe, who has been President since 1980.[1]

A few days after the elections I spoke to an in-law who is a committed communal farmer in Eastern Zimbabwe. Like so many others she carries a ZANU membership card although she is a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporter. She was equally surprised about ZANU-PF’s landslide victory, as were the other people in her village: “So many of us said, we want change, we want change”, she wondered, referring to “Chinja Maitiro”, MDC’s rallying cry.

However, only four years later in 2012, the Washington-based Freedom House, not a friend of ZANU-PF, published the results of a survey showing that among “survey participants who agreed to state their political choice, trust in MDC-T, in particular, dropped from 66% to 39%, while trust in ZANU PF rose from 36% to 52%” [2].

Which factors contributed towards this turnabout? What were the main events that common Zimbabweans have seen unfolding over the past 5 years and that changed the minds of so many?

MDC LEGISLATORS ENRICH THEMSELVES …

Once they tasted the comfort of parliamentary seats and its emoluments, many MDC politicians quickly forgot by whom and why they had been elected and, instead of making a serious effort to change things, they occupied themselves with enjoying their turn to eat the cake.

While a 2012 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report stated that “65% of Zimbabwe’s current MPs require intensive training in legislation and budget analysis as they are not skilled and competent to perform their tasks”, the MPs turned out to be very capable of looking after their own interests.

Among other conditions, they each demanded and received a U$ 1.400 base monthly salary, a write-off of their U$ 30.000 car loans and a once-off U$ 15.000 sitting allowance bonus.

In May 2012 MPs demanded residential stands at subsidised prices in “respectable suburbs”, thereby literally revealing how much they had distanced themselves from their constituencies.

A major bone of contention in the 2013 parliamentary discussions about the new constitution was the height of the daily allowances MPs were to receive during the consultation process. Of course in these matters ZANU MPs behaved similarly, but hadn’t the MDC promised to do away with such practices?

… WHEREAS THE ELECTORATE REELS UNDER AUSTERITY MEASURES…

After initial relief with the introduction of the US-dollar in June 2009 that stopped Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation [3] overnight, the economy failed to recover and grow as quickly as expected by many people [4], leaving little room for improvement.

While MDC Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, had little success in claiming the proceeds of the Chiadzwa diamonds [5] , he did receive U$ 1 billion in humanitarian aid and in 2009, U$500 million in Special Drawing Rights from the IMF.

In response, he, among others, cut the government budget in half and abolished price controls. In February 2009 the Ministry of Finance started paying civil servant “salaries” in vouchers good for $100 U.S. dollars, regardless of seniority. As this was still extremely low, teachers threatened to strike at the beginning of the school term in May 2009.

In July 2009, the Finance Ministry announced a 20% increase in the public service wage bill, some of which was used to introduce some progression into the salary structure, from $150 to $250 per month. But in both 2010 and 2012 Biti froze civil servants’ salaries, while he capitulated to salary increases in other years though only under pressure of threatened or actual strikes.

This contrasted sharply with his fulfilling the excessive wishes of the MPs. Tsvangirai did not always concur and sometimes even clashed with Biti, but in the eyes of the public it was “his” MDC minister who was responsible for the continuous clash with the workers.

Mugabe took advantage of the discord by – inconsequentially – supporting calls for salary increases. By 2013 the majority of civil servants earned a salary of between U$250 and U$300 while, according to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, a family of six needed about U$570 to lead a normal life.

Unemployment also remained staggeringly high, as in 2011 only 31 per cent of the economically active men were in paid employment and only 14 per cent of the women [6]. The informal sector, which had grown explosively during the collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy, remained the only alternative for millions of Zimbabweans.

While many barely managed to survive (think for example of sellers of air time), others like cross-border traders, owners of small shops, small entrepreneurs in agro-processing and craftsmen sometimes fared better. Meanwhile Operation Murambatsvina, unleashed by Mugabe in 2005, had destroyed the livelihoods of many urban informal workers and had forced many to seek refuge in communal agriculture [7].

Small-scale farmers had also scant reason to be happy with the MDC. The parastatal Grain Marketing Board, headed by ZANU stalwart Joseph Made, failed year upon year to pay farmers in time for their maize, blaming this on the late release of funds by the MDC Minister of Finance.

Moreover, floor prices for maize, set by the Ministry of Finance-funded GMB, were generally considered unviable. As a consequence, farmers were forced to bypass the GMB and market their grain to commercial traders who paid cash but offered lower prices [8]. This subsequently cost them qualification for the GMB input provision programme.

In the meantime Mugabe started his own parallel Presidential Agricultural Input Scheme. In 2011 the Communal, Resettlement and Small Scale Farmers Union, ZFU, issued a statement saying that 560,000 households had benefited from the presidential programme, surpassing the government scheme.

“We have made our own assessments and we have realised that only a few households benefited from the GMB Scheme and the President’s programme was put to good use and any good harvests are likely to be attributed to his timely intervention,” said Paul Zakariah, ZFU’s executive director. Of course we should not discount the fact that the ZFU can be considered a ZANU-PF mouthpiece, but still…

.. AND MDC-RULED MUNICIPALITIES TURNED DYSFUNCTIONAL DUE TO CORRUPTION AND INCOMPETENCE

Whilst MDC was quickly losing credibility with workers and small-scale farmers, it also managed to alienate many of its urban supporters in towns like Harare, Chitungwiza, Bindura and others where it scored massive victories in the 2008 elections and had taken over control of local councils.

In March 2009 Transparency International Zimbabwe called for an urgent forensic audit into rampant corruption by the senior staff of the Harare Municipality.

Although some half-hearted attempts were made to address the problem (e.g. in June 2009 the Harare City Council adopted a report that probed illegal cattle sales and farming operations on its farms) the new councillors proved unable to contain their officials as, in particular, corruption in allocation of stands festered. Only in November 2012, after a directive by Local Government (ZANU-PF) Minister Chombo, was an internal probe mounted to address these matters.

Service delivery of water and sanitation that had turned abysmal under ZANU-PF already (remember the cholera outbreaks of 2008-2009), continued to deteriorate resulting in a typhoid outbreak in Harare in January 2012.

At the same time, residents received unrealistically high bills for services that often had not been rendered and were even threatened with eviction, resulting in demonstrations and, in November 2012, a petition to the mayor and the minister to write off debts incurred by residents [9]. Other MDC-dominated urban councils like Chitungwiza and Bindura were equally riddled with cases of graft and non-delivery of services.

In 2013 the Combined Harare Ratepayers Association demanded from MDC that candidates for upcoming elections be selected by virtue of competence and not having been involved in corruption.

Although MDC heeded such calls, for example Tsvangirai fired the entire Chitungwiza Council and 12 others involved in corruption and also started screening prospective candidates before the MDC primaries, the damage had been done.

IN CONTRAST, ZANU EMBARKED ON A POPULIST-NATIONALIST CHARM OFFENSIVE…

Of course, ZANU-PF politicians at all levels had not transformed into saints overnight, on the contrary. But, whereas MDC remained plagued by internal power struggles, ZANU became more and more united and focused (“bhora mughedi”).

ZANU also surpassed MDC in keeping its deeds under the radar, assisted by its continued absolute dominance over the media [10] This enabled it to promote its nationalist agenda and widely report real or perceived gains to the masses.

Not only had ZANU managed to keep a tight grip on the media and security forces, it also controlled the country’s natural resources within the agriculture and mining sectors through the GNU-allocated Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Mining.

MINING

The Chiadzwa diamond scandal damaged ZANU’s and Mugabe’s image, but considering the enormous (illegal) proceeds from the diamonds and the localised nature of the conflict, it was probably worth it.

In sharp contrast to its actions in Chiadzwa, the ZANU-PF-led Ministry of Mines, after initially clamping down on illegal mining in 2008 (Operation Chikorokoza Chapera/Isitsheketsha Sesiphelile), set out to legalise and support artisanal mining throughout the country.

This apparently earned the party considerable goodwill amongst small-scale miners as the (ZANU-leaning?) Zimbabwe Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Council (ZASMC), representing 25.000 registered small-scale miners (out of a potential 1.5 million), described ZANU’s victory as a welcome development in the country’s economic revival efforts.

The formal mining sector in the meantime grew rapidly, from less than 3,000 workers at the height of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis to some 43,000 in 2013 [11], thereby providing much sought-after employment opportunities.

Then, in January 2010, the ZANU-PF Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, stepped up the indigenisation drive by publishing regulations requiring companies operating in Zimbabwe to provide specified information, including an indigenisation implementation plan, by April 15, 2010.

After a prolonged battle, in January 2013 Impala Platinum (Implats), the world’s second biggest producer of platinum, complied with government’s demands and ceded 51% of its shares to black Zimbabweans.

According to the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act of 2007 “Community Share Ownership Schemes or Trusts shall be established by businesses involved in the commercial exploitation of natural resources, including minerals..”, whereas “10% shareholding in qualifying businesses shall be reserved for the Community Share Ownership Schemes or Trusts”. The same Act allocated another 28% of the shares to an Employee Share Ownership Scheme, of which a maximum of 5% points had been set aside for managerial staff.

Although in practice the black elite will possibly once again get most of the bootee, the setting aside of shares for employees and communities must have raised the hopes of many a worker and rural dweller to at least get some of the pickings.

In contrast, MDC-T former chief of staff in the office of the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr Crispen Mbanga, stated unequivocally during the election campaign in July 2013 that if elected into power the MDC-T would remove policies such as indigenization [12].

THE FAST TRACK LAND REFORM PROGRAMME

The land redistribution exercise that had been delayed for the first 20 years after Independence showed similar nationalist and black empowerment trends. While many aspects of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (the violence, the ZANU-connected elite getting the juiciest spoils, etc.), have been rightfully though one-sidedly criticised, the latest figures show that not only had the elite benefitted but also around 200,000 communal farmers had been resettled on new land.

Even though so far little support has been given to the resettled farmers, one can imagine that these farmers would not be happy having to return their more fertile land to the former owners.

In 2011 the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association registered 67,000 tobacco growers, who were resettled on former white-owned farmland. According to FAO-data the acreage under tobacco almost doubled, from 52,000 in 2003 to more than 100,000 immediately after the introduction of the U$-dollar in 2009. In other words, life for these settlers has improved considerably.

In 2001/02 there were an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 smallholder cotton growers in Zimbabwe, mostly located in the North-West and Northern areas of Gokwe, Sanyati and Muzarabani.

Small-scale cotton production increased steadily from the eighties, throughout the liberalisation period of the nineties and even under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme with all its associated problems.

Although cotton farmers face a host of problems, not least being depressed prices, still many resettled farmers will have set their eyes on improving their lives through cotton earnings.

Not surprisingly then that the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU), claiming to represent 1 million communal, resettlement and small-scale farmers, and the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) representing mostly black large-scale commercial farmers, endorsed ZANU’s victory in early August stating that it would ensure the continuity and maintenance of people-driven programmes and policies.

Although in 2006 MDC had formally stated that it did not want to reverse land reform [13], it generally failed to convince Zimbabwe’s small-scale farmers otherwise and Tsvangirai had to placate his rural audience in this respect time and again even during his 2013 election campaign.

Of course MDC’s performance was not all that dreadful; some commendable work was done, in particular by the Ministry of Health (headed by MDC-T Minister Henry Madzorera) and the Ministry of Education (led by David Coltart of the split-off MDC-M). In the final account, however, ZANU appears to have been the true master in claiming credit for the (little) progress made under the Government of National Unity while laying the blame on MDC for the continuing hardships.

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE VOTED?

Returning to the overarching question, it remains to be seen whether MDC would have won the 2013 elections if no rigging had taken place. What would you have voted if you had been that communal dweller who had received a fertile piece of land; if your small mine claim had just been registered; if you were a jobless ex-farm worker; if your small business was gradually getting off the ground (whom would you credit?); if you had lost your livelihood under Murambatsvina in 2008; if you had just received U$1,500 dollars at the tobacco auction; if you had been struggling with corrupt MDC council officials about a plot for your house; if you had a job in a mine and were hoping to get a share of it; if … ?

But even when you had no positive reason to vote for ZANU, you might still do so, fearing another wave of violence against MDC-voters, as happened in 2005 and 2008.

Many MDC-supporters must have been wondering too whether it had been worth all the pain and sorrow to support an MDC that after 5 years still had so few results to offer apart from many of its politicians being perceived to only be feathering their own nests. In that light, it remains an open question whether MDC would truly have won if there had been no vote rigging.

TO MAKE DOUBLE SURE

Post-election discussions have so far focused predominantly on this year’s voter registration, the rigging and the late release of the voters roll. However, already immediately after the 2008 election disaster ZANU started to make double sure that this would never, ever happen again. The first stage was the reorganisation of the constituencies.

Towards the end of 2009 MDC and ZANU clashed over the delimitation process, in which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission demarcated new boundaries for the various constituencies to increase their number from 120 to 210.

MDC alleged that they had been short-changed as traditional MDC strongholds in the cities gained only 28 extra constituencies while 62 had been taken up by the 3 rural Mashonaland provinces – the core of ZANU power.

In addition MDC cried foul over the registration of 800,000 new voters, allegedly mostly the elderly, while youngsters were told that their chance to register would come later. But in July 2013 the UK Telegraph reported that only a quarter of the youth aged between 18 and 25 – who are expected to more likely support Tsvangirai – were understood to have been registered.

Add to this the continued exclusion of maybe more than 2 million voters (almost a quarter of the electorate!) living outside Zimbabwe and the open threats from army and police bigwigs that they would never accept Tsvangirai as president and it becomes clear that the stage for the elections had been set much earlier. Clearly, by 2013 MDC had been doing too little too late to try to balance the scales.

ZANU can only be blamed that they had overdone matters in their eagerness to “never, ever let this happen again”, as such a colossal victory is simply unbelievable.

It is quite astonishing that the MDC leadership, when it became increasingly clear that – on top of all the machinations mentioned above – an uninspected (and probably rigged) voters roll was going to be used, still unanimously decided to go ahead and remain in the race. Only two weeks before the elections Tsvangirai was quoted in the UK Telegraph as saying: “Although there is relative peace, the administration of the vote is so chaotic I can only foresee disaster.”

QUO VADIS ZIMBABWE?

The imminent danger is that because of the overwhelming victory, arrogance and revenge will gain the upper hand within ZANU and it might decide to deal with the opposition “once and for all”.

After all, Mugabe has shown time and again that he neither forgives nor forgets.

Though it would make sense to try to “reward” the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) for their support and even appease the UK and USA by making a gesture of peace and offer MDC a junior position in another government of national unity, chances are slim that ZANU will do so. Most likely MDC will be relegated to the opposition benches.

Common Zimbabweans unfortunately have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. They might have “elected” to denounce exploitation by an MDC elite mainly driven by self-interest and foreign influence, but instead will be further manipulated by a vengeful and unscrupulous ZANU-dictatorship that, under the guise of nationalist and pseudo progressive rhetoric, will continue enriching itself and its cronies.

Zimbabweans are therefore in for the long haul in their pursuit of freedom and prosperity for the masses. Two main questions immediately emerge here, one of content and one of strategy: What should a future Zimbabwe look like and how and with whom can such a vision be pursued?

On both matters, many ideas and opinions exist.

Some can of course be found in the election manifestos of the various political parties that contested the elections. NGOs, from human rights organisations to the industry, will undoubtedly also have been conferencing about “after the elections” scenarios.

One of the most detailed economic development options has been formulated in recent years under auspices of the ZCTU and laid down in an extensive document “Beyond the Enclave” [14]. After having been translated into an abridged and simplified version, it is being popularised in a nationwide campaign from union branches, NGOs and churches to the media, relevant Ministries and Parliamentary Portfolio Committees.

More radical views also exist, for example those held by ZANU-PF’s, although as shown above, one should question how genuine their rhetoric is. There are also “true” radicals like international socialist and former MDC-MP, Munyaradzi Gwisai, who is very explicit about what he wants (political democracy, nationalisation and international socialism) and sees no salvation in striving to achieve this with either ZANU-PF or MDC [15].

Clearly, ZANU-PF has once more gained the upper hand, not to say absolute control, and a lot of soul-searching will have to be done by individuals, political parties, unions, churches, social movements and other civic society organisations to analyse and admit their shortcomings and learn from them.

A first step might be for small groups or pockets of genuinely concerned, likeminded people to come together in frank conversation to explore a way forward based on thorough analysis of events over the past years and the role each played.

Such people do not necessarily have to be from within the same party or grouping; they could collaborate across borders, from within or outside the various political parties, or from society at large. The next step could be that some of these pockets reach out to each other, agree on basic principles and combine forces in a probing search towards a common goal.

It will however take a long time for a broad movement to be built from below by radical yet truly genuine ordinary people, activists, community leaders and aspiring party politicians who, with common vision and shared strategy, could mount a fourth Chimurenga [16].

END NOTES

[1] Mugabe won the presidential election with 61%, while ZANU trounced MDC in the parliamentary race with 76% of the 210 seats.

[2] See http://www.freedomhouse.org/article/zimbabwe-opinion-survey-reveals-hope-elections-cynicism-about-political-leaders for the Freedom House press statement and a link to the report of the survey.

[3] Wikipedia gives a clear table showing Zimbabwe’s inflation from 1980 till November 2008: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

[4] As at 31 October 2009, Zimbabwe’s total debt including arrears stood at U$5,4 billion according to Finance Minister Tendai Biti in the Zimbabwe Independent of 3 December 2009. Estimates of Zimbabwe’s GDP at the time are highly contested and can vary from U$2 to around U$ 10 billion. Estimates of GDP growth are therefore also unreliable but seem to fluctuate over the years between 4 and 10%. Of course this is growth starting from rock bottom.

[5] See for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marange_diamond_fields

[6] ZimStat, Women and Men in Zimbabwe 2012 Report

[7] Exact figures are difficult to come by. Combining several sources yields the following estimates: Zimbabwe’s total economic active labour force in 2010 approx. 6.600.000 (World Bank 2012) of which formally employed between 600.000 and 1.000.000. If 3.3 million people are, formally and informally, employed in agriculture (LO/FTF Council, Labour Market Profile 2012), about 2.5-3 million people have to find refuge in the non-agricultural informal sector. Zimbabwe’s Trade Union membership hovers around 165,000 (LO/FTF Council, Labour Market Profile 2012) while the membership of the Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations (ZCIEA) is around 440,000.

[8] Deliveries to the GMB dwindled from 249,792 tonnes of maize in 2010/11, to 212 622 tonnes in 2011/12 and 81 190 tonnes in 2012/13.

[9] Barely a week before the 2013 elections, Minister Chombo directed local authorities to scrap all outstanding rates as per 30 June 2013 in what many viewed as an attempt at urban vote buying by Zanu PF.

[10] The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA, 2002) which requires all operating media and journalists to apply for registration with the information ministry, which is controlled by ZANU-PF, was never repealed; neither was the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) of 2002 which sets narrow limits on public assembly. Any gathering which involves more than two persons is considered a public meeting requiring authorisation by state organs.

[11] Edward Mubvumba, National Employment Council for the Mining Industry in an interview with IRIN News on 11 April 2013

[12] Bulawayo 24; 11 July 2013; http://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-32924.html

[13] Towards a Comprehensive Transparent and Equitable Agrarian and Land Reform Programme for Zimbabwe; the MDC’ Standpoint and Proposed Way Forward, February 2006: “As previously stated the MDC does not in any way advocate for the return to the pre 2000 land ownership patterns, neither will it condone the inequalities and land aberrant distribution arising from ZANU PF fast track land process and the “Third Chimurenga.” The MDC is now geared towards bringing the Zimbabwe land crisis to closure, through an all-inclusive, participatory and professional process. The new process seeks to achieve equitable, transparent, just and efficient land distribution. In addition the process will address the overall structural problems in the agriculture sector originating from the colonial and ZANU PF’s political and economic policies.”

[14] See: www.ledriz.co.zw

[15] http://www.newzimbabwe.com/opinion-11969-Elections+rural+poor+vote+against+austerity/opinion.aspx Munyaradzi Gwisai, 07 August 2013; “Mugabe landslide: Rural poor vote against neo-liberal austerity”: “The (only) way forward for working people is to break from MDC and lay now the foundations for a new working people’s movement to continue the struggle against the regime.

A movement that does not replicate MDC’s right-wing ideological bankruptcy but positions itself left of Zanu PF on an anti-capitalist, democratic and internationalist basis. Such a movement has to be slowly and organically built from the struggles of the poor, anchored around the newly radicalizing trade unions and social movements.

It cannot be built or decreed from boardrooms. One that will not only fight for political democracy, but also for the full expropriation of mines, banks, big businesses and big farms now under new black exploiters and place these under democratic control of workers and rural farmers for the benefit of all, as part of a regional and international struggle to smash capitalism and build socialism.”… ..

[16] Chimurenga is ChiShona for revolutionary struggle. The First Chimurenga refers to the Ndebele and Shona insurrections against the British South Africa Company during the late 1890s. The Second Chimurenga was the war for Independence from the white Rhodesian government during the 1960s and 1970s. The Fast Track Land Reform Programme is sometimes referred to as the Third Chimurenga

 – Jos Martens is an activist who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe and the SADC region since 1984. He is presently employed by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Southern Africa Regional Office in Johannesburg

THE VIEWS OF THE ABOVE ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR/S AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM

When asked why people were still supporting MDC, she answered: “People really hate [President Robert] Mugabe. We all know that Morgan Tsvangirai (the Prime Minister since 2009) is friends with the Americans and they can help us. Mugabe is with the Chinese and these people are very cruel; they also did not re-open the companies that were closed.

We also want the British to come back, not as rulers, but they do work hard. Many people who got plots of land are not working it; what can you do if you only have a hoe? They could assist there. Maybe they can open businesses again; we want our children to get employment. In the olden days life was hard but it was cheaper too. I was not afraid to vote the way I wanted. You are alone in the ballot box so why should I be afraid? “

Of course one person is not representative of the whole population. For example, this in-law lives in a village where there wasn’t much violence during the 2008 elections. Rainfall in the area is generally good and farmers use artificial fertiliser and commercial seed whenever they can get it.

Many also receive remittances from their children working abroad, mostly in South Africa but also in Britain. But even this short conversation shows that people’s voting behaviour was largely directed by one main concern: their wish to improve their lives: more income, lower prices, employment, support services, safety…

WHY DID MDC LOSE POPULARITY?

Nobody expected this monstrous victory for Mugabe-ZANU-PF, but virtually everyone I spoke to in the past year expressed their doubts whether Tsvangirai would make it in the upcoming elections.

Their feelings were that MDC had made too many blunders in the past 5 years, while ZANU-PF and Mugabe had been working tirelessly and cunningly to regain lost ground.

The 2008 elections had been a massive protest vote against the total economic collapse under ZANU-PF rule, so much so that it could not even be suppressed by the massive violence unleashed by the ruling party. Mugabe ended up with his back against the wall and only survived by grasping the straw of the GNU (Government of National Unity).

The Zimbabwean

1 October 2013

More and more Zimbabweans, both at home and all over the world, are using social media to communicate. The Zimbabwean is committed to helping Zimbabweans everywhere to claim and access their right to give and receive information. So every week we stimulate debate on a number of issues affecting us. These are your responses in this week’s issue:

What are your thoughts on female ministers? Do you think Mugabe is out of line with modern political trends?

Hol’ up, in zimbabwe there is gender pity, not gender equality. – @BrilliantBrintz

I tried to achieve gender equity on all Boards I appointed whilst Minister – wasn’t a shortage of extremely talented women. – @DavidColtart

Definitely, Africa is missing a critical point in the importance of women representation in governance. – @Nociendlovu

I tend to disagree. People should be appointed on merit not on some affirmative action #justsaying. – @mdimairo

The women I appointed to Boards were there on merit – there are plenty talented Zim women just need political will. One does not apply for Cabinet posts & Board posts – they are solely within discretion of the President & Ministers. I consulted & asked for CVs-it is up to the President & Ministers to be proactive. If there’s a will there’s a way. They are not ad hoc – they are now mandatory ito section 17 of new Constitution #gender balance. Sec 17 is more than aspirational – it is directional. But ultimately it depends on political will. – @DavidColtart

That should be the case. How many women put forward their CV for cabinet positions say & turned down? Yes they are – even more than men. However, they have to apply & put their CVs forward. We should address gender equality by empowering women & encouraging them to stand up & be counted. So what criteria where you using to appoint your board members if they don’t put forward their qualifications/experiences? fair enough. But why do we use ad hoc procedures at the discretion of the minister say? My point is Sec 17 is about what we aim for but not procedures & processes to reach the goals of gender equality. Yes, I would argue that additional steps & measure shld be taken to address it (section 17). There are current deficiencies. (all in reply to David Coltart). – @mdimairo

Zim Eye

By Carl Mhlanga

1 October 2013

University of Zimbabwe professor Lovemore Madhuku at the weekend sent thunderous shockwaves into ZANU PF and MDC parties after launching his party converted from the original NCA organisation.

Madhuku’s actions caused ZANU PF and MDC parties to rally against the National Constitutional Assembly chair labeling him a spectrum of names from ‘opportunist’ to ‘traitor’.

As criticism from various quarters of Zimbabwean society kept pouring in, MDC (Welshman Ncube) Legal Secretary David Coltart took his turn to blast Madhuku. As thousands of Zimbabweans took turns to digitally slap Madhuku, Coltart said the professor should have sought to consolidate opposition parties rather than start another one.

Said Coltart:”I recognise his democratic right to form a party but my view is that we should not be forming new parties but consolidating existing ones.”

Meanwhile Madhuku was labelled an opportunist by Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party. The ZANU PF aligned Political analyst Mr Tinei Nyatsambo said Madhuku was falsely claiming to be pan Africanist. Nyatsambo used the word ‘ambush’ to describe what he claimed Madhuku was set to do.

The NCA is trying to ambush Zimbabweans by claiming to be a nationalist party that pursues the values of Pan– Africanism, yet its grand agenda was to capitalise on the weaknesses of the ailing opposition MDC-T to access Western donor funds,’’ Nyatsambo said.

Meanwhile some readers said that Mahuku’s entry into politics was appropriate as he could turn out to be success. Wrote one Facebooker,
“Vakomana musashora mbodza neinozvimbira vana Tboy vakatanga vachingoshorwa saizvozvi asi akambonetsa wani jus give him a chance n cee wat ar his plans to the nation,wish u gud luck man but don’t forget its hard to rule Zimbabwe“

The Zimbabwean

By Eddie Cross

29 September 2013

I came home this weekend to find our suburb in darkness – at about 20.00 hrs the lights came back on and when I got up at just after five this morning they were still on but went out at 07.00 hrs and we do not expect the lights to be back until midday. After four years of intense struggle to get the power situation normalized, the MDC Minister, Elton Mangoma, was able to get power supplies back onto some semblance of normalcy, why this has not remained the case in the few weeks since he st

Elton is a Chartered Accountant and runs a large business of his own, he is also a tough character and very determined. He achieved a great deal in the three short years he was in the Ministers seat – sorting out the national liquid fuels situation after more than a decade of shortages and queues, he stopped the rampant corruption in the State fuel agencies and was able to start the long process of getting the power sector sorted out.

The major power plants were all repaired and stabilized, unpaid debts with regional power utilities were sorted out and two major contracts issued to bring major new power generation capacity into production. Prepaid meters were rolled out and in the last few months of his tenure, power supplies were actually quite normal. He unbundled the Electricity and liquid fuels State Corporations, established a new Energy Regulator and rationalized retail distribution.

Anyone who knows anything about Governments and sensitive areas such as energy will recognise the above as an astonishing achievement – without a cent of international assistance. It was not without resistance – he was jailed twice on spurious charges after he moved to stop the high level corruption that had seen the former running elite siphon off about US$150 million a year from the State agencies trading in fuel. When he stepped down fuel was in free supply at prices below the rest of the region and electricity supplies were almost back to normal.

The new Minister will find this a hard act to follow – the new Government has undermined the fragile financial stability of the electricity sector by abolishing the outstanding debts owed to the utility and passing a credit to all who are paid up to date. At a stroke this wiped out hundreds of millions of dollars of debt assets and has seen revenues plunging. Regional suppliers who were happy to step in with support when we were short, now ask if we are able to pay our bills?

Talk of resurrecting the Zimbabwe dollar and with it the associated ills of exchange control and import controls, have seen all suppliers withhold deliveries in case they are caught with hundreds of millions of dollars of debt inside Zimbabwe that simply cannot be serviced. Suddenly shortages have resurfaced – there are long power outages and fuel stations are running out of fuel.

When Tendai Biti was appointed the Minister of Finance in 2009 he walked into a Ministry with no resources at all. Total tax receipts were about $25 million a month and civil servants were getting $5 a month in the local currency. In year one he raised revenues to $75 million a month, year two it was $140 million a month, year three $200 million a month and in year four $250 million a month.

This was ten times what was available to the State at the start of the GNU. But just as significantly he rebuilt the team at the Ministry, got the systems working again and began the long process of reengagement with the multilaterals and restoring confidence in the Ministry and the Government. By 2013 these goals were largely achieved – in the process 70 per cent of all new legislation adopted by the State since 2008 was generated and negotiated through the system by Tendai. He never missed a payroll in four years. This was a remarkable achievement and reflected his personal capacity as an intellectual, outstanding lawyer and strategist.

In the Ministry of Health a young Minister by the name of Henry Madzorera took over and when he did we had 150 000 cases of cholera, 60 000 deaths from TB, 30 000 deaths from Malaria, 17 000 deaths of mothers in child birth and 150 000 deaths a year from Aids. The death toll had risen to over 300 000 a year and life expectancy fallen to 34 years on average from over 60 in 1997. All State Hospitals were hardly functioning.

Clinics were closed and medical supplies almost unobtainable. The flight of trained personnel was endemic and massive. This quiet, unassuming doctor from Kwe Kwe had an immediate impact – in the following year cholera deaths fell to zero, all other indictors slowly began to improve. The Minister rarely made a speech but worked solidly with his team in the Ministry on resolving the many challenges he faced. New Boards were appointed to all State Hospitals and corrupt and negligent staff dismissed.

A similar transformation was seen in education – in 2008 3,2 million children in State schools saw their classrooms for 23 days in the year, virtually all failed their final exams when they were set and conducted, those that did sit did not have their papers marked and graded. Two thirds of all girls of school going age were not in school. Tens of thousands of experienced and qualified teachers left the country for greener pastures. Those that went to school had no textbooks and learning materials. In the decade prior to 2008 a whole generation of children graduated from school being neither literate nor numerate.

In two years 96 per cent of all primary age children were in school on a full time basis. 80 000 trained teachers were back in the class room supported by another 30 000 untrained teachers. Pass rates improved and in four years they were almost back to where they had been 20 years earlier.

The Minister, David Coltart, took over a Ministry where 80 per cent of his Head Office staff was not coming to work and the Head Office was virtually derelict and dysfunctional. I visited the Ministry with a query in 2009 and wondered through 4 floors of the building before I found a single officer on duty and present.

This was the direct result of MDC leadership being placed in charge of government Ministries. A similar countdown for Zanu PF administered Ministries reveals no changes and few advances in any field. In fact for four years the Zanu PF team in the Cabinet did everything they could to impede progress and reform in every field. Of the 37 line item reforms agreed in the GPA only the new Constitution was achieved and even that was heavily compromised and was not implemented before the elections that terminated the arrangements.

In the field of diamond mining, Zimbabwe became one of the top diamond producers in the world over the period 2006 to 2011 with annual production peaking at over 30 million carats valued at $3,5 billion dollars. The record of Zanu PF in this field was uniformly disgraceful – when they appreciated the significance of the find in 2006 they took it away from the legal claim holders in the form of ACR Limited of London.

In 2008 when they recognised its significance for them, they took it away from the 40 000 informal sector miners who had occupied the fields, gunning them down with live fire and chasing them with dogs if they resisted. Then they installed new mining operations and simply took over the production and sales of all diamonds from the fields.

The revenues vanished – total payments to the treasury from nearly $12 billion dollars in sales over 8 years were a paltry $250 million. The Minister of mines became a multi millionaire buying assets and property as if he was child in a candy store. Mbada Diamonds mysteriously became a huge benefactor – pouring money into the Presidents fund for scholarships ($70 million a year) an input scheme for farmers in rural areas and buying several new long and short haul jets for a bankrupt Air Zimbabwe (registered in the Far East and dry leased with crews to the national carrier).

The Chinese through a network of private companies across the world laundered the diamonds into overseas markets in Israel, Belgium, India and China. They undertook many high profile projects in Zimbabwe worth hundreds of millions of dollars all paid for by diamond money that should have gone to the Treasury. Then when the time came to bring the GPA to an end they pumped an estimated $800 million dollars into the Zanu PF campaign to secure its power and control over the State and to achieve regional recognition.

Now we face another 5 years under Zanu PF leadership, is there any hope for any of us? The reality is that the Zanu PF team is unchanged from the team that virtually destroyed the economy from 1997 to 2008. This is the same old tired and corrupt gang that we have had to contend with for 33 years. With one big difference, they now have to perform, they have to deliver or they will run the risk of losing power and control in the next elections.

We are still in a transition and the next five years will see continued pressure for change and reform. Should they fail to deliver what they have promised, the consequences for them are dire and they know that. This means that they will have to change – indigenisation will be downplayed and reformed into a more acceptable form, they will clamp down on corruption without looking backwards, they will start to restore commercial agriculture. In fact it is my information that much of the new economic blueprint that is being touted around by the President’s Office right now, is based on the MDC manifesto.

This poses a different sort of challenge to the MDC leadership – the challenge to compete with Zanu PF in the development and change field – in Parliament, in the Cities and in the rural areas. Are we up to this challenge?

The Standard

By Brian Nkiwane

29 September 2013

When the then Minister of Education Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart dissolved the previous boxing board last year, everyone’s hope was for a new beginning for local boxing.

With Zimbabwe set to host its first ever world title fight billed for the City Sports Centre in October, local boxing looks destined for good times, as the new boxing board has hit the ground running.

Historically, Zimbabwe hogged the limelight on the world map for producing good boxers, such as the late Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri, Langton “Schoolboy” Tinago, Mordecai Donga, Ambrose Mlilo and Zvenyika Arifonso. But over the past few years, the sport has taken a slump.

Community centres like Stoddard Hall, Windermere Hotel, Manor Hotel, Reynolds Inn and Bulawayo Polytechnic, were homes to the once popular sport, with Rampage Ring Promotions and Blow by Blow stables promoting events on a regular basis.

But after staying in office for such a long time, the previous boxing board could not bring new ideas to the sport. Mismanagement, failure to organise tournaments as well as cases of fighters failing tests, led to the dissolution of the board.

The failure to lure corporate support, saw the board failing to organise local tournaments, which then forced our local fighters to venture into foreign lands in search of fights.

In most cases, our fighters would win titles, but at the end of the day, they would be stripped after failing to defend those titles, as the mother board back home would not be able to organise fights for them.

This actually necessitated fighters to scramble for foreign trips, with Namibia being their favourite hunting ground.

A good example is that of 2009, when Thamsanqa Dube who won the Pan-African title, beating Jack Ells in Johannesburg, South Africa, was stripped of the title after he failed to defend it within the stipulated time frame.

Tinei Maridzo was not spared this embarrassment either, as he also lost his ABU title last year after failing to defend the title that he had won in South Africa.

Apart from failure to organise tournaments, as well as sourcing sponsorship for the sport, promoters became fraudulent, with boxers losing a lot of revenue.

Some promoters started manipulating fighters, which led to the suspension of a number of them.

Credit should go to Coltart, who came up with a timeous intervention and put in place a vibrant board which did not take time to get the ball rolling.

They started by licensing promoters which included the once suspended boxing guru, Boris Zneider, as well as Clyde Musonda of Delta Force Sports Trust — organisers of the upcoming WBU fight, among others.

The other thing which made the new board popular with fighters is the way they addressed percentages that are charged when fighters win titles.

The matter is still pending and recommendations regarding this are still to be made but fighters hope for the reduction of the charged percentage.

Sponsors have not lagged behind either, E-Sport, a leading boxing equipment seller, did not think twice about being part and parcel of the new boxing life, as they chipped in with equipment sponsorship.

The upcoming tournament will be sponsored to the tune of US$90 000, with both fighters from the main event set to pocket US$2 500 each, while fighters from the other six bouts will walk away with US$900 each. E-Sport will kit all the fighters for the seven bouts.

When Charles Manyuchi delivered the killer blow that floored Patrice Toke of Burkina Faso in the fifth round to clinch the African Boxing Union welterweight title, the win immediately spelt out a new era in Zimbabwean boxing.

The victory is set to transform the local boxing scene and local promoters agree his exploits could open the doors of success for local pugilists. Let’s wait and see.

Nehanda Radio

By Tendai Biti

29 September 2013

Wananchi, until the dramatic and brutal manner that he was removed from office, President Mbeki’s presidency would have been most remembered by three things, HIV Aids, Zimbabwe and slow pace of social delivery during his reign.

This is rather an unfair media stereotype and sterile definition of the real Mbeki and his achievements. Like all stereotype templates it contains some truth, but then again, it also masks the truth.

For all his faults, I think that this is man that deserves gigantic respect for all he did for the struggle against apartheid. His dexterity in stitching a post apartheid solution particularly when he worked under the unassuming genius of the struggle, Oliver Reginald Tambo.

It such a pity that like Tony Blair, it is the end game that defines, his legacy but not his entire unimitable contribution. I have had the privilege of spending some time with him at very close and personal level. I tell you that I found in him a thoughtful reflective pan Africanist icon.

On 8 May 2008 during a period of exile in South Africa, I had the honor spending a couple of hours with him at Nyamandhlovu, in Tshwane. I politely declined his offer of an 18 year old single malt, but it was one of the most useful Sunday afternoons I have had in my life.

But my most lasting image of him is when we as negotiators went to see him on 15 December 2007 to report a deadlock in our talks pre the 2008 election.

He cut a most unforgettable sombre solemn and loney figure, as he personally wrote his last speech as ANC president a few hours before he flew to Polokwane for that defining moment in South Africa s history.

I think for a long time Africa had not found some one who led from the front as he did, on the prop of thought leadership. Mbeki broke away from the typical root and branch of African leaders defined by power, patronage and corruption and obsession.

Thought leadership is something that is not prevalent. The ability of the African Head of State to reflect, and redefine an agenda based on Pan Africanist ideology of a new Africa determined to cast away old stereotypes, and the permanent agenda of cynical Afro pessimism.

Can you imagine Mbeki addressing the world through the UN Genearal Assembly and putting his own country and people into disrepute by shouting ” shame shame shame”.

Not by a long mile. He knew that these are special platforms where the new African would preach his renaissance and unquestionable vision for his country and for the future of Africa.

So in many ways more than one Africa really misses him. And without him you see a return to that moribund, predictable old boys network that is African diplomacy. Nothing illustrates this point more than the way Africa is handling the Zimbabwe situation.

But deep down in his own hearts of hearts, Mbeki would admit that he should and could have handled,t he key questions of the economy and social delivery, Zimbabwe and HIV Aids differently.

The Mbeki years, whilst correctly acknowledging the importance of macroeconomic stability, budget hygiene and growth, failed totally to attend to the imperative of social delivery and social justice.

The abandonment of RDP to GEAR certainly represented a coup by Mbeki from a focus on real transformation to one based on maintaining the status quo and proving that the African could manage the economy, even better.

Not surprisingly GEAR was so similar to the apartheid regime 1993 Normative Economic Programme. To use Mbeki’s favorite term, indeed, while GDP, inequality and, poverty grew while social service delivery was stagnant.

The key questions of transformation, poverty, unemployment, inequality and I daresay integration or racism remained unchallenged.

These issues are clear as a pike staff and have received so much attention by scholars and critiques.Patrick Bond’s Elite Transition, and Talk Left Walk Right, Unsustainable South Africa, Fanon’s Warning make incisive analysis.

But See also Moeletsi Mbeki’s Advocates for Change. Also, works by Richard Calland, in particular his 2002 Thabo Mbeki’s World. Of course the magnus opus still remains Bill Gumede’s book “Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC.”

Zimbabwe and the GNU remain one of Mbeki s greatest legacies. The GNU was an impossible task to conclude. Mbeki and his able team of the tough Sydney Mufumadi, the very intelligent Advocate Gumbi and the sober man of God, Muruti Chikane, made the impossible happen on 11 September 2013.

This is a story that has not been told by us the direct participants, the negotiators but it is a story that is a few chapters to publication.

However if the design of the GNU was a Mbeki object of stability over democracy and a genuine transition to an order where a reformed Liberation Movement, Zanu PF would cohabit with a post liberation movement, the same was tattered with July 31.

The July 31 election in a brush decapitated Mbeki’s prized legacy of a stable legitimate Zimbabwe and in the end left him both bruised betrayed and impotent. I would argue however that Mbeki himself was the author of the undoing and dramatic collapse of his own project.

First was the blind loyalty to a bankrupt and exhausted nationalist cause. Something that his predecessor Mandela had not done.

Mandela’s stand offs and hard dislike of Mugabe and the Nigerian autocrats had been reflective of a man who would breach no nonsense or turn a blind eye to the excesses of a brother merely on the basis of that.

Mbeki on the other hand believed that however bad the omissions, quite diplomacy was the answer and a brother had to be nurtured along despite green bombers bombarding same.

Thus in respect of Zimbabwe, long before the negotiations had begun he was key in protecting the regime and making excuses for the same.

One of his most infamous excuses for the Harare regime was his public statements that the land reform in Zimbabwe had been delayed in order not to frighten the National Party in South Africa and thus delay South Africa s own transition to democracy.

This a line that was pushed by Mbeki in defense of the regime’s lack of action on land and yet the truth of the matter is that no evidence has ever been produced of this. The fact is there was never any thing like this and I would challenge any Wanachi to provide any contrary historical evidence.

In Muruti Chikane s book “The Things that Could Not be Said” the man of God speaks of this, but he provides hearsay evidence and no more.

He says in his book;

“I remember being told about a discussion between President Mwalimu Nyerere of Tanzania, President Kenneth Kaunda of Tanzania and ANC president O.R.Tambo in the late 1980s……..Having analysed political developments within the region, they made a special plea to Mugabe to delay action on the land matter until South Africa had concluded its own negotiations ….Mugabe ,I am told graciously accepted the plea from the regional leadership and agreed to delay the the redistribution of land in Zimbabwe for a while to save the envisaged peace process in South Africa.”

As a lawyer I think that in such an important book, for Reverend Chikane to fail to produce any evidence other than hearsay is very telling. Let me now deal with failure to confront the regime, or rather the impotence of quite diplomacy which was so dramatically blown to splinters on 31 July.

During the first phase of the negotiations the party’s negotiators successfully negotiated a draft Zimbabwean Constitution that we signed off, in the majestic Lake Kariba on 30 September 2008. We signed off in a very dirty boat called the “Concordia.”

Things then were so bad in Zimbabwe such that we did not have milk on board. One morning we had to dilute our cereal with Zimbabwe’s most famous cordial Mazoe Orange Juice much to the chagrin and dismay of our South African guests one of whom was in fact diabetic.

Despite the fact that we signed on 30 September, the Kariba Draft was in fact completed on 4 September 2008 in South Africa. Now as some may recall, Zanu PF had in April 2007 gazetted Constitutional Amendment Number 18 which sought to make some amendments to the Constitution.

Upon completion of the Kariba Draft on 4 September it then sought to incorporate into this amendment some aspects of the Kariba Constitution.

The MDCs negotiating team, which at that time was a single team consisting of this Wanachi, Proff Welsh Ncube, Chairman Lovemore Ndodana Moyo and Priscilla Mushonga, flatly refused this.

Our fear was that, once we agreed to a peace meal amendments to the Constitution, then we would have sold out to the principle of full constitutional reform by the people.

Most importantly we feared that once Zanu PF got their way they would not find any incentive to in fact allow the passage of Kariba into law as an interim Constitution leading us to an election in 2008.

We the negotiators, certainly myself, were so afraid of selling out and therefore totally deferred the matter to the guidance and leadership of my principal President Morgan Tsvangirai.

Indeed Doctor Tsvangirayi acted with wisdom and demanded guarantees from President Mbeki that, if we supported the revised Constitutional Amendment Number 18, Kariba would still see the light of day.

Thus on Saturday 14 September 2007, the leaders of the MDC formations, Pakuru Dr Tsvangirai and Prof Arthur Mutambara, flew to South Africa where they met President Mbeki and were given oral guarantees that Kariba would see the light of day, despite the passage of Amendment Number 18.

On 20 September 2007 Constitutional Amendment Number 18 was passed in Parliament with the support of the two MDC formations.

On that date I was far away in London participating in an IQ debate on Zimbabwe, with my friends David Coltart, Chenjerai Hove, Peter Godwin and the late and great John Makumbe.

Come end 27 Nobember 2007, Zanu made a dramatic U Turn and and advised that there would be no interim Constitution before the election. Of course we made protests to Comrade Mbeki. On the 4 December, we met him but there was no joy.

We were told to go back and negotiate again. On 15 December 2007 we visited him again, with no outcome. The Kariba Interim Constitution never saw the light of day. Mbeki did not keep his guarantee of 14 September 2007 nor was he strong to stand up to Mugabe. This would later cost him dearly.

There are three or four other things I can write on to prove the point that when it came to the crunch Mbeki would not and could not handle Mugabe and Zanu PF. That inability being at the core of the unravelling occurred on 31 July 2013.

However for me of all Mbeki s omissions on Zimbabwe, his greatest one was to carry out a coup against the people’s will as reflected in the outcome of the March 28 election in Zimbabwe.

I will explain.

By 4 April 2008 ZEC had formally announced the result of all the elections in Zimbabwe bar the Presidential results which would only be announced months later on 5 May 2008.

Despite this, following data provided by our own system we had already declared on 2 April 2008, in a packed Stewart Room at the Meikles Hotel (Belinda I got the spelling right ) that Save had won the election by 58%. An announcement that was later considered treason.

Be that as it may Mbeki called for an Extra Ordinary Meeting of SADC to discuss Zimbabwe. This was later held at the famous Mulungishi Conference Center in Lusaka on 13 and 14 April 2008.

All the leaders of the region where there except President Mugabe who sent a very pleased Emmerson Mnangagwa to stand for him. President Mbeki to travelled to Zambia via Zimbabwe where he met President Mugabe at State House.

After the meeting photos were taken and many of you will remember the immortal photo of the viciously smiling pair firmly holding hands like a freshly wedded couple.

To cut long story short, notwithstanding the fact that the Presidential results were not out and would be out until a further three weeks, Mbeki influenced Sadc to resolve that that there would be a run off in Zimbabwe on 28 June 2008.

Apart from the betrayal this summit will also be remembered by an undignified fight that Patrick Chinamasa picked up with then Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa,which ended with the latter reminding the former that he too was a lawyer and unlike others he had been Senior Council in his country.

Thus in a stroke of cynical genius Moragn Tsavangirai and the people of Zimbabwe were denied the legitimate people’s victory of 28 March. The people s will had been subverted.

It would have a very different outcome and a very different history if Sadc in Mulungishi had respected the people’s will or at the very minimum insisted on a count of the Presidential Votes which Sadc itself would have supervised. In the immediate short time Mbeki got away with it at Mulungushi.

But it was Mulungushi itself that guaranteed predatoriness and the future collapse of the Mbeki dream for Zimbabwe. Now Zimbabwe politically is in a worse crises than it was before the GNU.

The man of God Muruti Chikane implicitly understood in his book the dishonesty of prejudging an election whose result had not been declared. But in an explanation more befitting Machiavelli, than a man of cloth he dismisses the point as follows in his book referred to above.

“….,notwithstanding the delay in releasing the results the outcome (the run off) was widely accepted as the presentation of the people s will”

The man of God s book is entitled “The things that could not be said “. Perhaps one day the good man of God would write a new one called “The things could not be said when I wrote the things that could not be said.”

Zikomo.