President Robert Mugabe and his long time rival and now Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai formed a new government two weeks ago after agreeing
to share power last year, raising hopes among Zimbabweans of an end to
widespread hardship.
The new government is made up of 71 ministers including state
ministers, their deputies from Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party, Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and Arthur Mutambara's
breakaway faction of the MDC, as well as provincial governors.
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairman Lovemore Madhuku said
the new administration had no money to meet the needs of the many
government departments it has created.
The size of the government is bigger than what is provided for in this
current constitution as amended by Amendment number 19. The size is
unsustainable for our country, said Madhuku in an address to
journalists last Thursday in Harare.
He said the new government runs the risk of transferring donor funds
aimed at helping the suffering people of Zimbabwe to financing its
numerous ministries and departments.
Most of the international aid being sought by the inclusive government will be used to finance this huge infrastructure.
Madhuku also told the media that the NCA would be working with the
inclusive government to write a new people-driven constitution, saying
Article 6 of the September 15 global political agreement signed by the
political parties last year did not provide for a people driven process.
The NCA is clear that the constitution-making process contained in
Article 6 of the GPA is not people-driven and is meant to impose the
Kariba constitution on the people of Zimbabwe, said Madhuku.
The Kariba constitution refers to a draft constitution that was agreed
to by representatives of the two MDC parties and ZANU PF in Kariba in
2005.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of an economic crisis that has seen its
citizens grapple with the world's highest inflation of 231 million
percent as of last July, acute shortages of food affecting seven
million people or more than half the country's entire population,
deepening poverty and crumbling infrastructure after nearly a decade of
recession.
Formation of the unity government has raised hopes the country could finally emerge from its crisis.
Activists arrested for marching to Coltart's office
BULAWAYO – Five activists from the Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA and MOZA) who were arrested on Wednesday during a peaceful march
in Harare are still being detained without a charge.
The four women and one man were part of about 400 activists from WOZA
and MOZA that marched to the offices of the Ministry of Education to
deliver a petition to Education Minister David Coltart.
The petition urged Coltart to declare the education sector a national
disaster and to call for a repeat of the 2008 academic year that
teacher unions have said was wasted because of constant strike actions
over pay.
However, riot police brutally broke up the march, arresting the five
activists. They have not been brought to court and neither have they
been charged, Magodonga Mahlangu, a spokesperson for WOZA said.
Under the country's tough Public Order and Security Act (POSA) laws, it
is a crime to take part in a peaceful march or protest without police
authority. Police on numerous occasions invoke POSA to violently put
down any anti-government protests.
They (five activists) were also assaulted by the police. Police
continue to violate the rights of human rights activists. Mahlangu
added.
The WOZA human rights group has on numerous occasions clashed with the police for taking part in peaceful marches.
Bulawayo police two weeks ago arrested WOZA activists during a peaceful
march to mark Valentines Day. Police who accused the activists of
committing public disorder were forced to release the activists after
state prosecutors refused to take up the case, citing lack of evidence.
Assistant Commissioner, Wayne Bvudzijena, the national police
spokesperson could not reached for comment over the continued detention
without charge of WOZA and MOZA activists.Â
Meanwhile teachers are expected to report for duty tomorrow after the
government promised to their demands for more pay and better working
conditions.
Rights group demands release of detained activists
HARARE – The Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe (ROHR) pressure group
took its protest to the Rotten Row Magistrates Court Thursday demanding
the immediate release of all political detainees.
A police sergeant ignored the protest as placard-waving activists demanded the unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Organisers said the demonstrations outside the courts were held under the theme "Free human rights and political prisoners."
"The demo today was part of a campaign towards the attainment,
protection and promotion of political and civil liberties of
Zimbabweans under the new inclusive government," said an ROHR spokesman.
The primary objective, according to the spokesman, was to seek the
immediate release of all prisoners of conscience who were unlawfully
abducted, arrested and detained in 2008 on trumped up charges and are
still in detention at Chikurubi Maximum Security prison and other
places of detention.
More than 30 human rights and political detainees — including rights
campaigner Jestina Mukoko and Roy Bennett, who is MDC national
treasurer and the party's pick for deputy agriculture minister in the
unity government — have been held in jail despite mounting calls for
their release.
Business Round up
TN Bank to open soon
HARARE — TN Bank is set to commence operations soon as a commercial
bank after getting a licence from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. 
A
former finance house, TN Bank would become the 16th commercial bank in
a sector that has already been described as "over banked". 
The RBZ
said in a statement on Tuesday that the bank had been granted authority
to begin operations with effect from last Friday.
TN Bank had initially targeted to begin operations in August last year.
Analysts, however, speculated that the challenging macro-economic
environment could have made it difficult for the bank to meet the
necessary requirements.

British bank accused of propping up Mugabe
HARARE — A British bank that was run by Lord Mervyn Davies, the new
British Trade and Investment Minister, has been accused by the Foreign
Office of propping up President Robert Mugabe’s government.
Internal Whitehall emails show the concern at the Foreign Office about the involvement of Standard Chartered Bank in Zimbabwe.
Lord Davies of Abersoch was chief executive and then chairman of the
bank until last month when he became a trade and investment minister.
Standard Chartered is among a handful of foreign banks in Zimbabwe. It
employs 860 people and has 24 branches across the country.
An internal Foreign Office briefing document accuses Standard Chartered
of diverting money to the Mugabe government. The documents, released
under the Freedom of Information Act, say that Standard Chartered had
been diverting cash to the regime through a loan scheme. -Telegraph
ZIMRA recruits tollgate operators
HARARE — The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) is said to have
embarked on a massive recruitment drive as it prepares to start
collection of toll fees on the country’s major highways. 

The revenue collector is looking for nearly 500 workers to man
tollgates. The workers include cashiers and field assistants.
Prospective candidates were required to report to their nearest ZIMRA
office for interviews.
As part of its efforts to widen its revenue base, the Government
directed ZIMRA to start collecting toll fees from vehicles with effect
from today.
ZimOnline.
Post published in: News