In politics it is what you do rather than what you say that people normally watch and comment on.
Action really speaks louder than words in the world of politics.
In the same vein,Zimbabweans,of late,have put the actions of leading politicians under the microscope particularly in view of the recent disturbing events in the country.
The Global Political Agreement(GPA) was signed on September 11,2008 in Harare and subsequently solemnised(not without some controversy regarding some unilaterally altered phrases) on September 15,2008 amidst much pomp and ceremony.
Thus,from the date that the three political principals signed the GPA,we all expected that our principals will slavishly adher to the terms and conditions of their political agreement.
Unfortunately,the GPA has not been wholly respected and to this date,there are several sticky outstanding issues that severely threaten the very survival of the inclusive government that was formed on February 11,2009.
We are acutely aware of the fact that the issue concerning the appointment of permanent secretaries,senior diplomats,provincial governors as well as the Reserve Bank governor and the Attorney-General is still sticking out like a sore thumb.
The events on the ground point to a situation where,at the very least,one of the political principals doesnot seem very keen to fully consumate the marriage that was solemnized in Harare on September 15,2009.
This apparent reluctance to fully consumate the marriage is indeed,a sure recipe for the irretrievable breakdown of the political union that was entered into on September 15,2009.
The political position was not made any better when,some few weeks ago,Minister Chamisa was virtually demoted when a crucial chunk of his ministerial portifolio and responsibilites were taken away from him,unilaterally.
It is not a secret that the other two political principals were neither consulted nor advised in advance that Minister Chamisa was about to be demoted.
And it is this type of unilateral and extremely provocative conduct that will shake any marriage to its very foundation.
A political marriage,just like a normal marital union between consenting adults,can only survive on utmost good faith,mutual trust and love.
If any of these ingredients are missing in any union,then the divorce lawyers should be ready to receive a brief.
Let the readers misconstrue my submission;I am not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that the inclusive government is about to collapse.
All I am stating is that the continued and deliberate failure to fully consumate the GPA is an inevitablle recipe for its breakdown.
In making these comments,I am fully alive to the recent attempts by the political principals to hold meetings aimed at conclusively resolving the afore-mentioned outstanding issues.
But then in normal life,be it in business or politics,people can not negotiate forever.
There has to be a cut off point.
The people are watching;closely.
And it will be foolhardy for any one to take the people's patience for granted.
Although no precise official confirmation has been given as to when exactly the outstanding issues will be resolved,my gut feeling is that we are still very far off from fully consumating the GPA.
The inclusive government was formed on February 11,2009; almost three months ago.
I am completely at a loss to understand why the three political principals would require three months to fully consumate the political marriage.
One senses that there is strong resistance,from at least one partner,to fully consumate the marriage.
And how then can children be borne of a marriage that is yet to be fully consumated.
Do we expect the children to come out of artificial insemnation?
My argument is that the inclusive government cannot be expected to produce any meaningfull and tangible results when the political principals are still hussling to fully consumate their marriage.
A lot of energy and resources are being spent on attempts to fully consumate the union.
Surely,if all that energy and resources will be channelled to efforts aimed at reviving Zimbabwe's comatose economy,then we would have made significant progress since February 11,2009.
We also have the issue of Senator Roy Bennett who is yet to be sworn in as the country's Deputy Minister of Agriculture.
The reasons being given for his not being sworn in are ridiculous to say the least.
There is no lawfull impediment to Senator Bennett being sworn in as a Deputy Minister.Period.
If we are going to allow one political principal to literally dictate the pace in everything that is being done concerning the GPA,then we are heading for doomsday.
There is absolutely no doubt about that.Zimbabwe is not going to benefit anything from this incessant and endless political bickering and procastination.
As a country,we ought to have a road map leading to exactly where want Zimbabwe to go.
We cannot continue to hold endless meetings relating to the consumation of the GPA whilst the country burns.
The people will very soon start asking some very tough questions.
They will start to loudly wonder whether we are coming or going.
As I write this article,I am visiting the state of Florida in the United States; where I came to attend my daughter's graduation at the Florida International University on Tuesday,April 28,2009.
May the readers kindly permit me to pay tribute to Enia Lorna Gutu who graduated,Magna Cum Laude,with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Landon Undergraduate School of Business at FIU.
Whilst here,I have learnt that the Obama administration completed its first 100 days in office on Wednesday, April 29,2009.
And the people here are being asked by major television networks such as CNN and Fox News,to rate President Obama's performance thus far.
The inclusive government in Zimbabwe should also be aware that at its recent retreat at Victoria Falls,it gave itself a 100 day program of action.
The people are closely watching and come the expiry of the 100 days,an assessment will definately be done.
I have aready stated that we are not guaranteed of the people's support,forever.
The people will assess our performance in government and thereafter,make a decision about whether or not they should continue giving us their support.
Politics is indeed a fickle game;with no known rules nor formula.
We should always watch our back.
The GPA should be promptly followed to the letter if we are serious about turning around Zimbabwe's political and socio-economic fortunes.
If we fail to fully consumate the GPA,then the consequences are too ghastly to contemplate.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Zimbabwe prisons a death trap
HUNGER and disease continued stalking Zimbabwe’s jails, leaving thousands of prisoners at risk of joining the statistics of inmates who have succumbed to these death traps.
Prisoners this week narrated to newly-appointed Justice deputy minister Obert Gutu how grave their conditions were despite several promises by the coalition government to improve the situation.
Clad in tattered prison garb, and many of them skin and bone due to malnutrition, the prisoners told Gutu how what were supposed to be correctional services have turned into horror chambers where inmates, irrespective of their sentence, face death daily.
Inmates living with HIV and Aids are failing to access life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs as well as a supplementary diet recommended by doctors for such patients. To worsen matters, they are exposed to harsh weather conditions, especially during winter because the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) cannot afford blankets or warm clothing for inmates.
“Poor diet in the prisons is fast-tracking people living with HIV and Aids to death,” Daniel Dombwe, an inmate at Harare Central Prison who has served 10 of his 16-year sentence for armed robbery, told Gutu.
He said disease was spreading faster in prisons because of dire drug shortages and a poor diet.
“Prison pharmacies are empty. We have the worst health conditions in jails. Most of the inmates are HIV positive, but they don’t have a supplementary diet,” Gutu lamented. “There is no standard dietary scale and we are starving. Can government be serious about prisoners?”
Frail inmates walking almost naked at Harare and Chikurubi prisons are a common sight, despite repeated calls, including one by Supreme Court judge Rita Makarau for government to turn jails into adequately resourced correctional and rehabilitation centres.
At Chikurubi, two youthful inmates, Tinashe Songora and Munyaradzi Shavi, who had their full sight when they were jailed, went blind after being attacked by pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease, in 2008.
Gutu’s familiarisation tour of Harare and Chikurubi prisons lay bare the coalition government’s failure to improve service delivery 16 months after its much hyped formation. He saw first hand how torn blankets and linen are used as desperate substitutes for toilet paper.
The deputy minister, whose visit to the prisons was not the first by a top official following similar tours by his predecessor Jessie Majome this year, witnessed raw sewerage flowing at Chikurubi, which is holding 1 568 prisoners against a capacity of 1 360.
“We don’t want prisons to harden criminals. Prisoners should be transformed into useful members of the society,” Gutu told the prisoners, the majority of whom have heard similar promises from officials who visited them before. “Even if someone is a prisoner, there are United Nations, Sadc and African Union charters that govern that there should be minimum dietary requirements. The government will look at food requirements for prisoners.”
A decision by the ZPS to ban relatives from supplying food to prisoners has worsened the situation.
“In 2008, we survived while hundreds died like flies in prisons. The secret behind our survival was that relatives brought us food on a daily basis,” Nkululeko Mawila, who is serving life for murder, said. “Why should ZPS ban food supplies yet they can’t feed us properly? We foresee people dying again at Chikurubi and at any other prison.”
Prison officers told Gutu the ZPS relied on erratic donations for sanitary ware, forcing some female inmates to resort to torn pieces of blankets.
Pregnant female inmates and babies incarcerated with their mothers or born in prisons are in a worse situation.
“There are no vehicles to take the sick and pregnant mothers to Parirenyatwa hospital,” said Betty Chibwe, an inmate at Chikurubi female prison. “The babies, aged between zero and four, share food rations with their mothers. It’s so bad to be locked in jail and we are begging to be released under the Presidential Amnesty.”
Ministry of justice and some prison officials openly wept as a group of women knelt before Gutu crying for amnesty.
ZPS Mashonaland commander senior assistant commissioner Wonder Chisora cited poor funding as the major cause of the conditions prevailing in prisons.
“The story in prisons is disease and suffering,” is how murder convict, Mike Matanga, who is languishing at the notorious Chikurubi prison, summed up the situation.
Brian Chitemba
Prisoners this week narrated to newly-appointed Justice deputy minister Obert Gutu how grave their conditions were despite several promises by the coalition government to improve the situation.
Clad in tattered prison garb, and many of them skin and bone due to malnutrition, the prisoners told Gutu how what were supposed to be correctional services have turned into horror chambers where inmates, irrespective of their sentence, face death daily.
Inmates living with HIV and Aids are failing to access life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs as well as a supplementary diet recommended by doctors for such patients. To worsen matters, they are exposed to harsh weather conditions, especially during winter because the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) cannot afford blankets or warm clothing for inmates.
“Poor diet in the prisons is fast-tracking people living with HIV and Aids to death,” Daniel Dombwe, an inmate at Harare Central Prison who has served 10 of his 16-year sentence for armed robbery, told Gutu.
He said disease was spreading faster in prisons because of dire drug shortages and a poor diet.
“Prison pharmacies are empty. We have the worst health conditions in jails. Most of the inmates are HIV positive, but they don’t have a supplementary diet,” Gutu lamented. “There is no standard dietary scale and we are starving. Can government be serious about prisoners?”
Frail inmates walking almost naked at Harare and Chikurubi prisons are a common sight, despite repeated calls, including one by Supreme Court judge Rita Makarau for government to turn jails into adequately resourced correctional and rehabilitation centres.
At Chikurubi, two youthful inmates, Tinashe Songora and Munyaradzi Shavi, who had their full sight when they were jailed, went blind after being attacked by pellagra, a vitamin deficiency disease, in 2008.
Gutu’s familiarisation tour of Harare and Chikurubi prisons lay bare the coalition government’s failure to improve service delivery 16 months after its much hyped formation. He saw first hand how torn blankets and linen are used as desperate substitutes for toilet paper.
The deputy minister, whose visit to the prisons was not the first by a top official following similar tours by his predecessor Jessie Majome this year, witnessed raw sewerage flowing at Chikurubi, which is holding 1 568 prisoners against a capacity of 1 360.
“We don’t want prisons to harden criminals. Prisoners should be transformed into useful members of the society,” Gutu told the prisoners, the majority of whom have heard similar promises from officials who visited them before. “Even if someone is a prisoner, there are United Nations, Sadc and African Union charters that govern that there should be minimum dietary requirements. The government will look at food requirements for prisoners.”
A decision by the ZPS to ban relatives from supplying food to prisoners has worsened the situation.
“In 2008, we survived while hundreds died like flies in prisons. The secret behind our survival was that relatives brought us food on a daily basis,” Nkululeko Mawila, who is serving life for murder, said. “Why should ZPS ban food supplies yet they can’t feed us properly? We foresee people dying again at Chikurubi and at any other prison.”
Prison officers told Gutu the ZPS relied on erratic donations for sanitary ware, forcing some female inmates to resort to torn pieces of blankets.
Pregnant female inmates and babies incarcerated with their mothers or born in prisons are in a worse situation.
“There are no vehicles to take the sick and pregnant mothers to Parirenyatwa hospital,” said Betty Chibwe, an inmate at Chikurubi female prison. “The babies, aged between zero and four, share food rations with their mothers. It’s so bad to be locked in jail and we are begging to be released under the Presidential Amnesty.”
Ministry of justice and some prison officials openly wept as a group of women knelt before Gutu crying for amnesty.
ZPS Mashonaland commander senior assistant commissioner Wonder Chisora cited poor funding as the major cause of the conditions prevailing in prisons.
“The story in prisons is disease and suffering,” is how murder convict, Mike Matanga, who is languishing at the notorious Chikurubi prison, summed up the situation.
Brian Chitemba
Heroism should be earned, not bestowed
18 August 2009
The concept of heroism is as old as humanity itself. Throughout the history of the human race, particular men and women have distinguished themselves in fields of endeavour such as sport, art, politics, business etc.
These distinguished members of the human race include, such luminaries as Joshua Nkomo, Nelson Mandela, Jesse Owens, Martin Luther King Jr, Mbuya Nehanda, Lobengula, Sekuru Kaguvi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Mapfumo, Strive Masiyiwa, Warren Buffett and many others.
Thus, heroism cannot and indeed, should not be a straight-jacketed concept that is solely determined by the whims and fantasies of a small political grouping that nurses purely parochial and exclusionist nationalistic proclivities. Heroism should be celebrated as the ultimate human achievement cutting across all political, racial, ethnic and religious divides.
To be more succinct, heroism should be earned and not bestowed like an honorary degree.
Recent events in Zimbabwe have placed into focus the need to de-politicise the conferring of hero status on departed luminaries. By it's very nature, politics is a subjective and emotive subject. It is, therefore, impossible to obtain absolute political unanimity on any subject even within the same political party. Such is the nature of politics that some people refer to it as a dirty game. It is a game with no defined rules and regulations.
Since independence in 1980,the conferment of national and even provincial hero status in Zimbabwe has been the sole preserve of only one political party; ZANU(PF).Over the years, it has been established that one can never be declared a national hero if one is not in good books with ZANU(PF).
This is the reason why pioneering political luminaries such as James Chikerema, Ndabaningi Sithole, Chris Mandizvidza, Patrick Kombayi and Henry Hamadziripi are not interred at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare. According to the narrow, subjective and parochial criteria laid down by ZANU(PF),these distinguished political operators didn’t deserve to be considered as national heroes.
However, one doesn’t have to be a specialist history student to appreciate the fact that Ndabaningi Sithole and James Chikerema were locked up in the colonial prisons alongside Joshua Nkomo and Joseph Musikavanhu, when some of today's latter day heroes were pursuing purely private and personal agendas.
Every decent nation should and indeed, must honour its heroes and heroines. Heroism should never be packaged solely as the ultimate political achievement as dictated by the ethos and standards of one political grouping. Under such a criteria, heroism is inevitably bastardised and you end up having thoroughly discredited and
outrageous characters sneaking into the National and Provincial Heroes' Acres through the back door.
This is an insult to the memory of those, otherwise, exemplary men and women whose remains lie interred at the various national shrines. Furthermore, one doesn’t have to be a politician to be a hero. Zimbabwe’s Jairos Jiri, a great philathropist who pioneered proper care and education for disabled, dumb and deaf people, was and not a politician. Can any right-thinking Zimbabwean deny the fact that Jiri is a national hero and that he deserves a grand reburial at the National Heroes' Acre?
The formation of the inclusive government in February 2009 should necessarily give impetus to the need to completely overhaul the system of declaring national and provincial heroes in Zimbabwe. We should, going forward, begin to establish a new, dynamic, non-partisan and all-embracing concept of coming up with a list of our heroes and heroines. Political considerations should be completely exorcised from the conferment of hero status.
The Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has come out very clearly on what should be done when it comes to the conferment of hero status in Zimbabwe. The MDC advocates a non-partisan method of conferring hero status on departed deserving Zimbabweans. In this regard, therefore, the MDC envisages the establishment of a National Heroes Board or Commission that will be
mandated with the task of establishing who should be and who shouldn't be declared a national hero when they pass on.
I would further suggest that the new constitution should specifically provide for the establishment of a constitutional body called the National Heroes Commission. This body will then be responsible for all matters and issues relating to the conferment of national, provincial and district hero and heroine status. That way we would have managed to remove this very sensitive aspect of our lives from manipulation by politicians and political parties.
Infact, the proposed National Heroes' Commission should also go further and establish, going back to our pre-colonial history, who should be and who shouldn't have been declared a national hero. Should it become necessary, the remains of some undeserving characters would have to be removed from our sacred national shrine; the National Heroes' Acre in Harare. And those luminaries who were unjustifiably denied national hero status would be reburied at the national shrine if their families
consent with this arrangement.
For a start, why not name one of our major roads, Oliver Mtukudzi highway – in recognition of Mtukudzi’s contribution to the world of music? And why not rename the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Jairos Jiri University of Science and Technology? We need to demonstrate our pride in the achievements of our great sons and daughters. That is how great nations are moulded.
Our heroes and heroines should be celebrated all the time. Once we successfully de-politicise the conferment of hero status, a lot of things will fall into place. All Zimbabweans will, once again, have a sense of pride and attachment to their heroes and heroines. Brand Zimbabwe can be the global talk sooner rather than later. But then, we should sort out our politics first.
*Senator Obert Gutu is the MDC Senator for Chisipite. He is a Lawyer, member of the MDC National Legal Committee as well as the MDC National Information Committee.
The concept of heroism is as old as humanity itself. Throughout the history of the human race, particular men and women have distinguished themselves in fields of endeavour such as sport, art, politics, business etc.
These distinguished members of the human race include, such luminaries as Joshua Nkomo, Nelson Mandela, Jesse Owens, Martin Luther King Jr, Mbuya Nehanda, Lobengula, Sekuru Kaguvi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Thomas Mapfumo, Strive Masiyiwa, Warren Buffett and many others.
Thus, heroism cannot and indeed, should not be a straight-jacketed concept that is solely determined by the whims and fantasies of a small political grouping that nurses purely parochial and exclusionist nationalistic proclivities. Heroism should be celebrated as the ultimate human achievement cutting across all political, racial, ethnic and religious divides.
To be more succinct, heroism should be earned and not bestowed like an honorary degree.
Recent events in Zimbabwe have placed into focus the need to de-politicise the conferring of hero status on departed luminaries. By it's very nature, politics is a subjective and emotive subject. It is, therefore, impossible to obtain absolute political unanimity on any subject even within the same political party. Such is the nature of politics that some people refer to it as a dirty game. It is a game with no defined rules and regulations.
Since independence in 1980,the conferment of national and even provincial hero status in Zimbabwe has been the sole preserve of only one political party; ZANU(PF).Over the years, it has been established that one can never be declared a national hero if one is not in good books with ZANU(PF).
This is the reason why pioneering political luminaries such as James Chikerema, Ndabaningi Sithole, Chris Mandizvidza, Patrick Kombayi and Henry Hamadziripi are not interred at the National Heroes' Acre in Harare. According to the narrow, subjective and parochial criteria laid down by ZANU(PF),these distinguished political operators didn’t deserve to be considered as national heroes.
However, one doesn’t have to be a specialist history student to appreciate the fact that Ndabaningi Sithole and James Chikerema were locked up in the colonial prisons alongside Joshua Nkomo and Joseph Musikavanhu, when some of today's latter day heroes were pursuing purely private and personal agendas.
Every decent nation should and indeed, must honour its heroes and heroines. Heroism should never be packaged solely as the ultimate political achievement as dictated by the ethos and standards of one political grouping. Under such a criteria, heroism is inevitably bastardised and you end up having thoroughly discredited and
outrageous characters sneaking into the National and Provincial Heroes' Acres through the back door.
This is an insult to the memory of those, otherwise, exemplary men and women whose remains lie interred at the various national shrines. Furthermore, one doesn’t have to be a politician to be a hero. Zimbabwe’s Jairos Jiri, a great philathropist who pioneered proper care and education for disabled, dumb and deaf people, was and not a politician. Can any right-thinking Zimbabwean deny the fact that Jiri is a national hero and that he deserves a grand reburial at the National Heroes' Acre?
The formation of the inclusive government in February 2009 should necessarily give impetus to the need to completely overhaul the system of declaring national and provincial heroes in Zimbabwe. We should, going forward, begin to establish a new, dynamic, non-partisan and all-embracing concept of coming up with a list of our heroes and heroines. Political considerations should be completely exorcised from the conferment of hero status.
The Movement for Democratic Change led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has come out very clearly on what should be done when it comes to the conferment of hero status in Zimbabwe. The MDC advocates a non-partisan method of conferring hero status on departed deserving Zimbabweans. In this regard, therefore, the MDC envisages the establishment of a National Heroes Board or Commission that will be
mandated with the task of establishing who should be and who shouldn't be declared a national hero when they pass on.
I would further suggest that the new constitution should specifically provide for the establishment of a constitutional body called the National Heroes Commission. This body will then be responsible for all matters and issues relating to the conferment of national, provincial and district hero and heroine status. That way we would have managed to remove this very sensitive aspect of our lives from manipulation by politicians and political parties.
Infact, the proposed National Heroes' Commission should also go further and establish, going back to our pre-colonial history, who should be and who shouldn't have been declared a national hero. Should it become necessary, the remains of some undeserving characters would have to be removed from our sacred national shrine; the National Heroes' Acre in Harare. And those luminaries who were unjustifiably denied national hero status would be reburied at the national shrine if their families
consent with this arrangement.
For a start, why not name one of our major roads, Oliver Mtukudzi highway – in recognition of Mtukudzi’s contribution to the world of music? And why not rename the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Jairos Jiri University of Science and Technology? We need to demonstrate our pride in the achievements of our great sons and daughters. That is how great nations are moulded.
Our heroes and heroines should be celebrated all the time. Once we successfully de-politicise the conferment of hero status, a lot of things will fall into place. All Zimbabweans will, once again, have a sense of pride and attachment to their heroes and heroines. Brand Zimbabwe can be the global talk sooner rather than later. But then, we should sort out our politics first.
*Senator Obert Gutu is the MDC Senator for Chisipite. He is a Lawyer, member of the MDC National Legal Committee as well as the MDC National Information Committee.
GNU must adopt responsible borrowing policy
Fifteen months after the formation of the inclusive government, Zimbabwe has still not devised and adopted a strategic policy to deal with the debt crisis in which the country finds itself trapped. (Pictured: A mother and her child outside their shack dwelling -- More than 70 percent of Zimbabweans live in abject poverty.)
It is particularly sad to note that the country's debt obligation, to both bilateral and multi-lateral financial institutions, is still hovering in the region of around USD7 billion. One does not have to be a financial genius to appreciate that Zimbabwe is facing a debilitating debt crisis that urgently demands the attention of the inclusive government.
The authorities at the Ministry of Finance are no doubt seized with this matter concerning the debt trap. Recent pronouncements by the Finance Ministry have convinced some of us that the debt problem is indeed a matter of grave concern to our Treasury.
Indeed, every Zimbabwean should be seriously concerned with this debt crisis because whether we like it or not, the debt problem negatively impacts on the country's development trajectory. Put simply, the debt burden of USD7 billion in an economy that is still battling to find its feet is like the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of each and every Zimbabwean.
More than 70 percent of Zimbabweans live in abject poverty. This means that the majority of Zimbabweans live on less than USD2 a day. Surely, for a country endowed with so many natural resources like Zimbabwe, all of us should be terribly ashamed of these startling statistics.
Why so long?
All Zimbabweans, without exception, should enjoy basic rights such as the right to food, housing, clothing, employment, education, health services and a healthy environment.
Indeed, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000 of 1982 recognises that these rights cannot be subordinated to the implementation of structural adjustment programmes and economic reforms arising from debt.
How can the inclusive government dream of providing basic services to the people when the country is sitting on a debt time bomb of almost USD7 billion?
Why is it taking so long for the government to debate, design and adopt a strategic and progressive debt management policy that will extricate Zimbabwe from this debt trap?
In previous articles concerning the issue of debt, I have strongly advocated for the cancellation of all odious debts that Zimbabwe has incurred. I have called for the adoption of a rigorous debt audit mechanism that will enable us to determine which debts are legitimate and which ones are not. I still associate myself with these sentiments.
Debt cancellation
Odious debts should not be honoured. It is as simple as that. Whilst I have no problems with activists who agitate for the wholesale cancellation of all developing countries' debt to enable these countries to jump-start their moribund economies; I am strongly convinced that there should be no blanket cancellation of developing countries' debts before a holistic and comprehensive debt audit has been undertaken.
Firstly, we should locate the main reasons behind the massive accumulation of the debt portfolio in most developing countries. We should also interrogate the role of lending countries and the international financial institutions( IFIs), such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in loan contraction in the developing world.
More particularly, we should seek to ascertain whether the IFIs have adopted responsible lending practices or whether they are, in fact, the catalyst to the pauperisation of the developing world by promoting irresponsible and inherently corrupt lending practices. Put simply, there should be no sacred cows in this crucial exercise of liberating developing countries from this enslaving cycle of debt and poverty.
The inclusive government is hereby encouraged to design and urgently adopt its own context-specific standards, benchmarks and indicators to deal with Zimbabwe's debt crisis. There is no use in pontificating and somehow, relegating the debt crisis to less important items on the agenda of government business.
The debt crisis is glaring us in the face and no amount of political bravado can idly relegate it to a non-issue unless and until we tackle the crisis head on. There is no use in adopting a policy of see-no-evil and hear-no-evil in as far as the debt crisis is concerned. We cannot even talk about the rule of law and the democratisation agenda as long as we continue to fail to effectively deal with the debt crisis in our country.
The government should urgently highlight necessary steps towards realising economic reforms and foreign debt management, consistent with human rights principles. Zimbabwe needs a new debt sustainability framework that should take into account the impact of debt service on the country's ability to fulfill its obligations under international human rights law.
Millennium Development Goals
We cannot even talk of achieving the millennium development goals( MDGs) if we fail to adopt a new and effective debt sustainability framework. This world is globalising; whether we like it or not. The objectives and conditionality attached to granting debt relief should be in line with human rights objectives. Both the borrower and the lender share a common responsibility on illegitimate debt and its cancellation.
Going forward, Zimbabwe should ensure that before new loan agreements are signed, borrowers and creditors should assess and consider the economic and social impact of debt service obligations. At all times, we should make sure that obligations arising from new loan agreements should not impair the institutional and financial capacity of Zimbabwe to fulfill economic, social and cultural rights, I including response to any disasters or crises.
In April 2004,the UN Commission on Human Rights sought to draft general guidelines to be followed by states and by private and public, national and international financial institutions in decision-making and execution of debt repayments and structural reform programs, to ensure that compliance with the commitments derived from foreign debt will not undermine the obligations for the realisation of fundamental economic, social and cultural rights.
An independent expert, Dr. Cephas Lumina, has been appointed by the UN to work on these guidelines and the writer is privileged to be working as one of Dr. Lumina's resource persons.
I am of the firm view that both the negotiations and implementation of loan agreements should be transparent and open to public scrutiny. There is no need for secretive loan contraction.
Indeed, Parliament should be allowed to play a more meaningful role in loan contraction rather than to simply ratify loan agreements that would have been secretly negotiated by the executive arm of the state. It is only in this way that the phenomenon of odious and illegitimate debts can be eliminated.
Zimbabwe is too rich to be poor!
It is particularly sad to note that the country's debt obligation, to both bilateral and multi-lateral financial institutions, is still hovering in the region of around USD7 billion. One does not have to be a financial genius to appreciate that Zimbabwe is facing a debilitating debt crisis that urgently demands the attention of the inclusive government.
The authorities at the Ministry of Finance are no doubt seized with this matter concerning the debt trap. Recent pronouncements by the Finance Ministry have convinced some of us that the debt problem is indeed a matter of grave concern to our Treasury.
Indeed, every Zimbabwean should be seriously concerned with this debt crisis because whether we like it or not, the debt problem negatively impacts on the country's development trajectory. Put simply, the debt burden of USD7 billion in an economy that is still battling to find its feet is like the sword of Damocles hanging over the head of each and every Zimbabwean.
More than 70 percent of Zimbabweans live in abject poverty. This means that the majority of Zimbabweans live on less than USD2 a day. Surely, for a country endowed with so many natural resources like Zimbabwe, all of us should be terribly ashamed of these startling statistics.
Why so long?
All Zimbabweans, without exception, should enjoy basic rights such as the right to food, housing, clothing, employment, education, health services and a healthy environment.
Indeed, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000 of 1982 recognises that these rights cannot be subordinated to the implementation of structural adjustment programmes and economic reforms arising from debt.
How can the inclusive government dream of providing basic services to the people when the country is sitting on a debt time bomb of almost USD7 billion?
Why is it taking so long for the government to debate, design and adopt a strategic and progressive debt management policy that will extricate Zimbabwe from this debt trap?
In previous articles concerning the issue of debt, I have strongly advocated for the cancellation of all odious debts that Zimbabwe has incurred. I have called for the adoption of a rigorous debt audit mechanism that will enable us to determine which debts are legitimate and which ones are not. I still associate myself with these sentiments.
Debt cancellation
Odious debts should not be honoured. It is as simple as that. Whilst I have no problems with activists who agitate for the wholesale cancellation of all developing countries' debt to enable these countries to jump-start their moribund economies; I am strongly convinced that there should be no blanket cancellation of developing countries' debts before a holistic and comprehensive debt audit has been undertaken.
Firstly, we should locate the main reasons behind the massive accumulation of the debt portfolio in most developing countries. We should also interrogate the role of lending countries and the international financial institutions( IFIs), such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, in loan contraction in the developing world.
More particularly, we should seek to ascertain whether the IFIs have adopted responsible lending practices or whether they are, in fact, the catalyst to the pauperisation of the developing world by promoting irresponsible and inherently corrupt lending practices. Put simply, there should be no sacred cows in this crucial exercise of liberating developing countries from this enslaving cycle of debt and poverty.
The inclusive government is hereby encouraged to design and urgently adopt its own context-specific standards, benchmarks and indicators to deal with Zimbabwe's debt crisis. There is no use in pontificating and somehow, relegating the debt crisis to less important items on the agenda of government business.
The debt crisis is glaring us in the face and no amount of political bravado can idly relegate it to a non-issue unless and until we tackle the crisis head on. There is no use in adopting a policy of see-no-evil and hear-no-evil in as far as the debt crisis is concerned. We cannot even talk about the rule of law and the democratisation agenda as long as we continue to fail to effectively deal with the debt crisis in our country.
The government should urgently highlight necessary steps towards realising economic reforms and foreign debt management, consistent with human rights principles. Zimbabwe needs a new debt sustainability framework that should take into account the impact of debt service on the country's ability to fulfill its obligations under international human rights law.
Millennium Development Goals
We cannot even talk of achieving the millennium development goals( MDGs) if we fail to adopt a new and effective debt sustainability framework. This world is globalising; whether we like it or not. The objectives and conditionality attached to granting debt relief should be in line with human rights objectives. Both the borrower and the lender share a common responsibility on illegitimate debt and its cancellation.
Going forward, Zimbabwe should ensure that before new loan agreements are signed, borrowers and creditors should assess and consider the economic and social impact of debt service obligations. At all times, we should make sure that obligations arising from new loan agreements should not impair the institutional and financial capacity of Zimbabwe to fulfill economic, social and cultural rights, I including response to any disasters or crises.
In April 2004,the UN Commission on Human Rights sought to draft general guidelines to be followed by states and by private and public, national and international financial institutions in decision-making and execution of debt repayments and structural reform programs, to ensure that compliance with the commitments derived from foreign debt will not undermine the obligations for the realisation of fundamental economic, social and cultural rights.
An independent expert, Dr. Cephas Lumina, has been appointed by the UN to work on these guidelines and the writer is privileged to be working as one of Dr. Lumina's resource persons.
I am of the firm view that both the negotiations and implementation of loan agreements should be transparent and open to public scrutiny. There is no need for secretive loan contraction.
Indeed, Parliament should be allowed to play a more meaningful role in loan contraction rather than to simply ratify loan agreements that would have been secretly negotiated by the executive arm of the state. It is only in this way that the phenomenon of odious and illegitimate debts can be eliminated.
Zimbabwe is too rich to be poor!
Independence, Elections Do Not Make Us Free
"THE hardest lesson of my life has come to me late. It is that a nation can win freedom without its people becoming free. I am a Zimbabwean patriot and an African patriot too. I refuse to accept that we cannot do better than we have so far done, or to reach for the easy excuse that all our mistakes are simply a colonial inheritance that can conveniently be blamed on the invaders."
I have quoted these words from The Story Of My Life, by Joshua Nkomo, simply to illustrate that true freedom as envisaged by the founding mothers and fathers of this great nation called Zimbabwe still has to be accomplished.
Freedom is not simply about holding regular elections no matter how uneven and biased the political playing field is.
A nation cannot be free when the majority of its inhabitants live in debilitating poverty, fear and repression.
It is a complete negation of freedom to have a set-up where might is right and where those who possess and control the coercive power of the state ride roughshod over the basic and fundamental human rights of the weak and poor majority.
It is a fact that since 1980, elections have been regularly held in Zimbabwe.
It is equally true that the majority, if not all of these electoral contests, have been marred by violence, intimidation, thuggery and outright vote rigging.
Invariably, most electoral results in Zimbabwe have been contested mainly because the process that gave rise to these elections was fundamentally flawed and consequently the results of these elections were always a fertile ground for contestation.
The problem we have in this country is that our politics, since the attainment of Independence on April 18 1980, have always been the politics of power retention at whatever cost.
What has always mattered is whether the political establishment, as ushered in at Independence, had been preserved and retained intact, political power, economic privileges and all.
Everything else was subordinated to this primary instinct of power retention. As a result, the dominant political players, during every electoral contest, would throw all caution to the wind and go for the jugular to ensure that, ultimately, they always retained political power and hence their privileged economic status as well. This is where we got it all wrong.
In a democracy, elections should give the voters an opportunity to freely decide who should be entrusted with the duty of running matters of the state. Put alternatively, any election that fails to accord the voters an opportunity to freely choose their political leaders is but a sham election.
Do I hear someone talking about the farcical June 27 2008 presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe? That internationally discredited sham of an election is an unmitigated example of how not to run a free and fair election.
My main fear is that I always see the ghost of June 27 2008. If not thoroughly exorcised, this ghost will come back to haunt us come the next elections in Zimbabwe. Just mark my words.
The situation on the ground in Zimbabwe today, in my humble view, is still far from being suitable for the holding of a free and fair election any time soon. Whilst we now have a semblance of political stability and some measure of tranquillity, I actually view this as a false dawn.
Beneath this facade of peace and tranquillity lies the lethal ghost of political intolerance and deeply entrenched mistrust and bitterness. We seem to be living in a fool's paradise where, unfortunately, some of us have chosen to bury their heads in the sand, ostrich style, and somehow hope that our politics will just get themselves right without any deliberate and conscious effort to heal the nation. Sometimes, I wonder what has happened to the Organ on National Healing and Integration. Can somebody please tell me whether or not this organ is still in existence and functional?
The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai is arguably the most popular political party in Zimbabwe at this juncture. This fact has been proven by various scientific surveys.
Tsvangirai and the MDC are poised to win, any free and fair election held in Zimbabwe today, tomorrow or at any time in the near future. What is in serious doubt is whether power will be transferred to Tsvangirai and the MDC if they win an election.
I wish to be uncharacteristically defeatist and openly declare that even if Tsvangirai and the MDC were to win the next elections, it would be a real nightmare for them to obtain total transfer of power from the remnants of the securocrats who still retain a tenacious hold on the coercive instruments of State power today.
That is the real tragedy we have in Zimbabwe at this juncture in our political history. We have never experienced a situation where power has been transferred from one political party to another after the holding of elections.
We are just used to the holding of generally discredited, violent and rigged elections where the result is manipulated and the people's voice is cheated. If this cancerous political disease is not completely cured, Zimbabwe will always be mired in debilitating political problems which will continue to adversely impact on the economic turnaround that all of us are so keen to embark upon.
The instruments of terror and repression are still intact throughout Zimbabwe. Those militias and other state actors who violated and tormented the nation between March and June 2008 are still roaming free. What guarantee is there that these merchants of terror will not be let loose again in the event that another election is called for today?
Obert Gutu is senator for the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC.
I have quoted these words from The Story Of My Life, by Joshua Nkomo, simply to illustrate that true freedom as envisaged by the founding mothers and fathers of this great nation called Zimbabwe still has to be accomplished.
Freedom is not simply about holding regular elections no matter how uneven and biased the political playing field is.
A nation cannot be free when the majority of its inhabitants live in debilitating poverty, fear and repression.
It is a complete negation of freedom to have a set-up where might is right and where those who possess and control the coercive power of the state ride roughshod over the basic and fundamental human rights of the weak and poor majority.
It is a fact that since 1980, elections have been regularly held in Zimbabwe.
It is equally true that the majority, if not all of these electoral contests, have been marred by violence, intimidation, thuggery and outright vote rigging.
Invariably, most electoral results in Zimbabwe have been contested mainly because the process that gave rise to these elections was fundamentally flawed and consequently the results of these elections were always a fertile ground for contestation.
The problem we have in this country is that our politics, since the attainment of Independence on April 18 1980, have always been the politics of power retention at whatever cost.
What has always mattered is whether the political establishment, as ushered in at Independence, had been preserved and retained intact, political power, economic privileges and all.
Everything else was subordinated to this primary instinct of power retention. As a result, the dominant political players, during every electoral contest, would throw all caution to the wind and go for the jugular to ensure that, ultimately, they always retained political power and hence their privileged economic status as well. This is where we got it all wrong.
In a democracy, elections should give the voters an opportunity to freely decide who should be entrusted with the duty of running matters of the state. Put alternatively, any election that fails to accord the voters an opportunity to freely choose their political leaders is but a sham election.
Do I hear someone talking about the farcical June 27 2008 presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe? That internationally discredited sham of an election is an unmitigated example of how not to run a free and fair election.
My main fear is that I always see the ghost of June 27 2008. If not thoroughly exorcised, this ghost will come back to haunt us come the next elections in Zimbabwe. Just mark my words.
The situation on the ground in Zimbabwe today, in my humble view, is still far from being suitable for the holding of a free and fair election any time soon. Whilst we now have a semblance of political stability and some measure of tranquillity, I actually view this as a false dawn.
Beneath this facade of peace and tranquillity lies the lethal ghost of political intolerance and deeply entrenched mistrust and bitterness. We seem to be living in a fool's paradise where, unfortunately, some of us have chosen to bury their heads in the sand, ostrich style, and somehow hope that our politics will just get themselves right without any deliberate and conscious effort to heal the nation. Sometimes, I wonder what has happened to the Organ on National Healing and Integration. Can somebody please tell me whether or not this organ is still in existence and functional?
The MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai is arguably the most popular political party in Zimbabwe at this juncture. This fact has been proven by various scientific surveys.
Tsvangirai and the MDC are poised to win, any free and fair election held in Zimbabwe today, tomorrow or at any time in the near future. What is in serious doubt is whether power will be transferred to Tsvangirai and the MDC if they win an election.
I wish to be uncharacteristically defeatist and openly declare that even if Tsvangirai and the MDC were to win the next elections, it would be a real nightmare for them to obtain total transfer of power from the remnants of the securocrats who still retain a tenacious hold on the coercive instruments of State power today.
That is the real tragedy we have in Zimbabwe at this juncture in our political history. We have never experienced a situation where power has been transferred from one political party to another after the holding of elections.
We are just used to the holding of generally discredited, violent and rigged elections where the result is manipulated and the people's voice is cheated. If this cancerous political disease is not completely cured, Zimbabwe will always be mired in debilitating political problems which will continue to adversely impact on the economic turnaround that all of us are so keen to embark upon.
The instruments of terror and repression are still intact throughout Zimbabwe. Those militias and other state actors who violated and tormented the nation between March and June 2008 are still roaming free. What guarantee is there that these merchants of terror will not be let loose again in the event that another election is called for today?
Obert Gutu is senator for the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC.
MDC holds key to Zimbabwe’s Economic revival
The MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is on a roll.Whilst some moribund and hitherto nationalist political parties are still trying to acquaint themselves with the rigours and challenges that confront political organisations in the new millennium,the MDC has re-positioned itself as the only political party that can genuinely and effectively drive the agenda of meaningfull economic empowerment of the previously disadvantaged people of Zimbabwe.
As a party whose bedrock is social democracy,the MDC easily identifies with the wishes and aspirations of the majority of all progressive Zimbabweans living within the country and in the Diaspora.As a party with a focussed leadership and openly democratic credentials,the MDC has developed a certain level of irresistable charm and attraction ever since it was formed a short ten years ago.
It is amazing really! A visitor to Zimbabwe today might easily be convinced that the MDC is a very old and established party because of its resilience against all odds.This party is a revelation and a shining example to all social democratic parties in the developing world; particularly in Africa.This is a party that has proved to the entire world that democratic change in Africa can be painstakingly achieved through a peaceful democratic struggle rather than through violence and bloodshed.
At a time when a tired and hopelessly faction-ridden party like ZANU (PF) is pre-occupied with the politics of kleptocracy, autocracy and gerontocracy, the MDC is busy mobilising its massive support base countrywide for peacefull democratic change.Whilst ZANU (PF) preaches the ” gospel” of racial hatred,tribalism,homophobia and generalised thuggery,the MDC is siezed with the more serious business of extricating Zimbabwe from the depths of mass poverty and socio-economic trepidation brought about by years of ZANU (PF) misgovernance and corruption.Zimbabwe became a pariah state wholly because of unprecedented misgovernance and massive looting of State resources by ZANU (PF) functionaries.These are people who perfected the ” art” of looting public assets from ZUPCO, the GMB, the NRZ and now to the diamond fields of Chiadzwa.
All state-owned companies were mercilessly stripped of their assets to such an extent that a parastatal like ZUPCO, which was very organised and as efficient as any other public transport operator in the developed world at independence in 1980; is now just a shell with a few ramshackle buses operated by a thoroughly demotivated staff. This is the legacy of ZANU (PF); a hitherto revolutionary party that failed to manage success and to adjust to the compelling need for periodic leadership renewal in order to sustain generational longevity and relevance.A political party that finds wisdom in being led by a man who is about to become a nonagenarian surely belongs to the dustbin of history.The story of the dinosaur becomes apt.The dinosaur stubbornly refused to positively adjust to the changing environment and we all know what became of it.I will bet my bottom dollar that ZANU (PF) is following the dinosaur route; to total oblivion.
Zimbabweans do not eat propaganda.The people of this great and majestic country are not as naive and docile as some latter-day ZANU (PF) propagandists and political turncoats seem to believe.Tafataona Mahoso and Jonathan Moyo can write acres of rabid propaganda pieces in the ZANU (PF)-controlled media such as the Herald and the Sunday Mail newspapers but they can be assured that their toxic and hate-filled propaganda will only serve the purpose of galvanising the masses against ZANU (PF) thuggery and autocracy.The people know who exactly authored the unprecedented hyper-inflation that pauperised more than 90% of the population.
The people know who was responsible for non-stop printing of worthless Zimbabwe dollars when basic economic fundamentals show that no country in this world has ever managed to solve its economic policies by massive printing of money.If ZANU(PF) failed to learn from the economic history of such countries like Germany and Equador then what guarantee is there that they will learn from anything? At any rate, it will take a miracle for such a faction-ridden party to rejuvinate itself.If a party rigs its own internal provincial elections in Harare,then one would be a fool to trust such a party with the management of the country’s economy.The good thing is that the majority of the people have peacefully decided to dissociate themseleves from ZANU(PF).
The overwhelming crowds that attended the MDC consultative rallies and meetings throughout Zimbabwe during the past few months is clear testimony of the fact that the Movement’s message resonates with the people.The people of Zimbabwe are aware of the lack of genuine power-sharing in the inclusive givernment but they know that this is just but a transitional phase.The people of Zimbabwe want real change and they know that only the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai can deliver real change to their lives.
Zimbabwe is at the crossroads.The people will never accept their vote to be stolen again.Losers of elections should never dream of clinging to power against the wishes of the people.And the wilful and flagrant violation of the terms and conditions of the global political agreement (GPA) will be harshly punished by the people come next election.
The MDC is acutely aware of the desperate attempt by some failed politicians in both ZANU(PF) and its sidekick led by Mutambara to drive a wedge across its leadership.These attempts will never see the light of day.Morgan Tsvangirai is the popular and undisputed leader of the Movement and all party cadres are aware of this.Tsvangirai is the face of the people’s struggle against ZANU (PF) tyranny and thuggocracy.
Those opportunists who rebelled against the Movement on October 12, 2005 are free to wine and dine with ZANU(PF).We know that they are greedy losers who will clutch at anything in order to fatten their pockets.Their political lives will be as short as the duration of the inclusive government.Thereafter,these opportunists and chancers will be relegated to the trash can of Zimbabwe’s political history where they properly belong.
With an unemployment rate of about 90%, Zimbabwe is a sad story within the SADC region and indeed, in Africa as a whole.We are poor but we are rich.Why? Ask ZANU(PF) and they will tell you that we are in this pathetic state because of so-called ” illegal” sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain and her Western allies in response to the ” successfull land reform program”.What errant nonsense!
We are in this state of poverty and socio-economic trepidation wholly because of ZANU (PF) misgovernance and poor governance; a system of government that rewards mediocrity and incompetence.A system of government where looting of public resources is celebrated as the hallmark of indigenisation and black economic ” empowerment”. What a shame,really!
The country needs a Messiah to enable it to reclaim its rightfull position amongst other prosperous nations of the world.And this Messiah cannot be a man who is fast approaching the age of 90.The people’s salvation is to be located in the MDC; a social democratic party that does not believe in the personalisation of political power.Zimbabwe needs a new style of leadership and governance such as the one exemplified by the MDC.
ZANU (PF) is yesterday’s party.It has had its time.It has dismally failed to liberate the people from poverty and destitution.If anything ,ZANU (PF) has acted as a catalyst to the mass pauperisation of the people.Little wonder,therefore, that ZANU (PF) can never again win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe.
As a party whose bedrock is social democracy,the MDC easily identifies with the wishes and aspirations of the majority of all progressive Zimbabweans living within the country and in the Diaspora.As a party with a focussed leadership and openly democratic credentials,the MDC has developed a certain level of irresistable charm and attraction ever since it was formed a short ten years ago.
It is amazing really! A visitor to Zimbabwe today might easily be convinced that the MDC is a very old and established party because of its resilience against all odds.This party is a revelation and a shining example to all social democratic parties in the developing world; particularly in Africa.This is a party that has proved to the entire world that democratic change in Africa can be painstakingly achieved through a peaceful democratic struggle rather than through violence and bloodshed.
At a time when a tired and hopelessly faction-ridden party like ZANU (PF) is pre-occupied with the politics of kleptocracy, autocracy and gerontocracy, the MDC is busy mobilising its massive support base countrywide for peacefull democratic change.Whilst ZANU (PF) preaches the ” gospel” of racial hatred,tribalism,homophobia and generalised thuggery,the MDC is siezed with the more serious business of extricating Zimbabwe from the depths of mass poverty and socio-economic trepidation brought about by years of ZANU (PF) misgovernance and corruption.Zimbabwe became a pariah state wholly because of unprecedented misgovernance and massive looting of State resources by ZANU (PF) functionaries.These are people who perfected the ” art” of looting public assets from ZUPCO, the GMB, the NRZ and now to the diamond fields of Chiadzwa.
All state-owned companies were mercilessly stripped of their assets to such an extent that a parastatal like ZUPCO, which was very organised and as efficient as any other public transport operator in the developed world at independence in 1980; is now just a shell with a few ramshackle buses operated by a thoroughly demotivated staff. This is the legacy of ZANU (PF); a hitherto revolutionary party that failed to manage success and to adjust to the compelling need for periodic leadership renewal in order to sustain generational longevity and relevance.A political party that finds wisdom in being led by a man who is about to become a nonagenarian surely belongs to the dustbin of history.The story of the dinosaur becomes apt.The dinosaur stubbornly refused to positively adjust to the changing environment and we all know what became of it.I will bet my bottom dollar that ZANU (PF) is following the dinosaur route; to total oblivion.
Zimbabweans do not eat propaganda.The people of this great and majestic country are not as naive and docile as some latter-day ZANU (PF) propagandists and political turncoats seem to believe.Tafataona Mahoso and Jonathan Moyo can write acres of rabid propaganda pieces in the ZANU (PF)-controlled media such as the Herald and the Sunday Mail newspapers but they can be assured that their toxic and hate-filled propaganda will only serve the purpose of galvanising the masses against ZANU (PF) thuggery and autocracy.The people know who exactly authored the unprecedented hyper-inflation that pauperised more than 90% of the population.
The people know who was responsible for non-stop printing of worthless Zimbabwe dollars when basic economic fundamentals show that no country in this world has ever managed to solve its economic policies by massive printing of money.If ZANU(PF) failed to learn from the economic history of such countries like Germany and Equador then what guarantee is there that they will learn from anything? At any rate, it will take a miracle for such a faction-ridden party to rejuvinate itself.If a party rigs its own internal provincial elections in Harare,then one would be a fool to trust such a party with the management of the country’s economy.The good thing is that the majority of the people have peacefully decided to dissociate themseleves from ZANU(PF).
The overwhelming crowds that attended the MDC consultative rallies and meetings throughout Zimbabwe during the past few months is clear testimony of the fact that the Movement’s message resonates with the people.The people of Zimbabwe are aware of the lack of genuine power-sharing in the inclusive givernment but they know that this is just but a transitional phase.The people of Zimbabwe want real change and they know that only the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai can deliver real change to their lives.
Zimbabwe is at the crossroads.The people will never accept their vote to be stolen again.Losers of elections should never dream of clinging to power against the wishes of the people.And the wilful and flagrant violation of the terms and conditions of the global political agreement (GPA) will be harshly punished by the people come next election.
The MDC is acutely aware of the desperate attempt by some failed politicians in both ZANU(PF) and its sidekick led by Mutambara to drive a wedge across its leadership.These attempts will never see the light of day.Morgan Tsvangirai is the popular and undisputed leader of the Movement and all party cadres are aware of this.Tsvangirai is the face of the people’s struggle against ZANU (PF) tyranny and thuggocracy.
Those opportunists who rebelled against the Movement on October 12, 2005 are free to wine and dine with ZANU(PF).We know that they are greedy losers who will clutch at anything in order to fatten their pockets.Their political lives will be as short as the duration of the inclusive government.Thereafter,these opportunists and chancers will be relegated to the trash can of Zimbabwe’s political history where they properly belong.
With an unemployment rate of about 90%, Zimbabwe is a sad story within the SADC region and indeed, in Africa as a whole.We are poor but we are rich.Why? Ask ZANU(PF) and they will tell you that we are in this pathetic state because of so-called ” illegal” sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain and her Western allies in response to the ” successfull land reform program”.What errant nonsense!
We are in this state of poverty and socio-economic trepidation wholly because of ZANU (PF) misgovernance and poor governance; a system of government that rewards mediocrity and incompetence.A system of government where looting of public resources is celebrated as the hallmark of indigenisation and black economic ” empowerment”. What a shame,really!
The country needs a Messiah to enable it to reclaim its rightfull position amongst other prosperous nations of the world.And this Messiah cannot be a man who is fast approaching the age of 90.The people’s salvation is to be located in the MDC; a social democratic party that does not believe in the personalisation of political power.Zimbabwe needs a new style of leadership and governance such as the one exemplified by the MDC.
ZANU (PF) is yesterday’s party.It has had its time.It has dismally failed to liberate the people from poverty and destitution.If anything ,ZANU (PF) has acted as a catalyst to the mass pauperisation of the people.Little wonder,therefore, that ZANU (PF) can never again win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe: the case for a debt audit
The unpalatable fact is that the Republic of Zimbabwe is virtually bankrupt. As at December 1 2008, Zimbabwe’s external debt stood at US$5, 255 billion, with a current account balance of US$597 million.
As at May 31 2009, Zimbabwe owed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$138 million and the World Bank US$676 million. As at April 30, 2009, Zimbabwe owed the African Development Bank US$438 million.
These statistics are startling thus there is an urgent need to interrogate Zimbabwe’s debt crisis to ascertain how such a colossal debt was incurred, and then strategise how this debt crisis is to be resolved.
Put alternatively, the legitimacy, or lack of it, of Zimbabwe’s debt has to be placed under the microscope if our country is to avoid being perpetually placed under a debt trap. The main thrust of this article is therefore to attempt to provide an objective analysis of Zimbabwe’s debt situation and then to propagate the need to have an apolitical, scientific and objective debt audit as a way of charting a new dispensation.
Odious debts are defined as those debts incurred by the state which are not for the needs or interest of the state but merely to strengthen the state’s despotic power as well as to repress the population that fights against despotism.
The legal doctrine of odious debts is essentially derived from the writings of Alexander Nahum Sack, the world’s pre-eminent legal scholar on public debts. Sack authored two major works on the obligations of successor states: The Effects Of State Transformations On Their Public Debts And Other Financial Obligations, and The Succession Of The Public Debts Of The State.
The doctrine of odious debts is not per se favourable to the interests of emerging economies and also to the developing countries. This is so because the doctrine was created to further the interests of international finance by limiting the ability of governments to repudiate debts. Under this doctrine, three conditions must be present before a state can repudiate a debt:
* The debt must have been incurred without the consent of the people of the State;
* The debt cannot have benefited the public in that State and;
* The tenderer must have been aware of these two conditions.
The overwhelming majority of the developing world’s foreign debts are odious in law. Being part of the developing world, Zimbabwe is thus inevitably caught up in this odious debts fiasco.
Zimbabwe is bankrupt because it has no capacity to service the afore-mentioned debt. At its formation in February, the inclusive government inherited approximately US$4,7 billion external debts owed to bilateral, multilateral and commercial creditors.
By the time the inclusive government was formed, Zimbabwe was virtually a failed state. Zimbabwe’s economic collapse is not to be solely located in and restricted to the ineptitude, corruption and misgovernance of the previous government coupled with the chaotic and violent "land reform" programme that began in February 2000.
The general assumption that the land distribution programme is the sole reason for the country’s economic decline and food insecurity is flatly inaccurate.
In a Congressional Testimony to the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on May 7 submitted by Nicole C Lee, Esq, the executive director of the Trans Africa Forum, many political economists identify Zimbabwe’s unresolved structural weaknesses and systematic inequality built into the apartheid-like system constructed by the Rhodesian settlers as the primary root cause.
A South African-based scholar, Patrick Bond, points to the related crises of Rhodesia’s "over-consumption" of the early 1970s. Analysts agree that at the time of Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980,the country’s economy was skewed, for example:
lThe entire national economy was designed to support the maintenance and enrichment of a small white minority. At independence in 1980, fewer than 7 000 white farmers each owned, on average, more than 100 times the land available to the average African peasant;
lIndustry, mining and the manufacturing sector were in the hands of multinational corporations and the white settler economy.
Zimbabwe’s economic distortions continue. Mining, manufacturing and most industry remain in the hands of external corporations, the white minority and a small clique of black indigenous Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe is burdened by both short and long-term external debts that inevitably militate against the inclusive government’s concerted efforts to jump-start the economy.
The inclusive government should join the global voice that seeks the establishment of an international debt arbitration mechanism.
It should promptly utilise the doctrine of odious debts by establishing a judicial debt arbitration panel, preferably composed of respected and eminent Zimbabwean and international jurists.
This panel would then invite creditors to submit claims, including documentation that the loans were indeed used in the interests of the Zimbabwean people and, not, in the words of the US Deputy Secretary of State Paul Wolforito, "to buy weapons and to build palaces and to build instruments of repression".
Recent news reports suggest that France is mulling the possibility of cancelling Zimbabwe’s debt which is in the region of 400 million euros. This is a very encouraging starting point.
The World Bank’s article of agreement imposes a fiduciary duty on the bank to ensure that the proceeds of any loan are used only for the purposes for which the loan is granted. If the World Bank breaches this fiduciary duty it should be held liable and the debtor nation must be entitled to challenge the odious debt at international law.
In his paper, Criminal Debt In The Indonesia Context, Northwestern University Professor Jeffrey Winters provides shocking insight into the World Bank’s weak supervisory practices. Winters presents evidence that the World Bank breached its fiduciary duty to Indonesia by granting loans which it knew would be used for corrupt purposes. As a result, Indonesian legislators have since asked the IMF to write off the country’s foreign debts, including those to other donors recommended by the IMF.
The hurdle to be encountered by the inclusive government in Zimbabwe is to prove that the lending institutions knew or ought to have known that the funds would not be used in the interest of the people, but solely for the benefit of the ruling regime’s members in their personal capacities.
Another case involves an action by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal to strike out a lawsuit against the Kenyan government over a contract after it discovered that the contract had been secured illegally through a US$2 million bribe paid to the former President Daniel arap Moi.
Although the complainant alleges that the payment was a "personal donation" made to Moi for public purposes, the ICSID tribunal ruled that this constituted a breach of international public policy as well as both English and Kenyan public policy. The tribunal ruled that "claims based on contracts of corruption or on contracts obtained by corruption cannot be upheld by this arbitral tribunal."
As aptly noted by Jeffy King of the Canadian Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the tribunal’s ruling is an important one for the global campaign and "adds to precedent such as the Tinoco Arbitration (1924) and numerous international conventions in clarifying that contracts for personal enrichment, or those procured by bribery, are against international public policy and are thus, unenforceable".
It is therefore imperative for the government in Zimbabwe to institute a debt audit. Zimbabwe should not honour any debts that have not been properly audited and proved to be lawful and legitimate.
This paper was presented by Senator Obert Gutu at the "Economy In Transition Dialogue Conference: Towards A Sustainable Public Debt For Zimbabwe" in Harare on Tuesday.
As at May 31 2009, Zimbabwe owed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$138 million and the World Bank US$676 million. As at April 30, 2009, Zimbabwe owed the African Development Bank US$438 million.
These statistics are startling thus there is an urgent need to interrogate Zimbabwe’s debt crisis to ascertain how such a colossal debt was incurred, and then strategise how this debt crisis is to be resolved.
Put alternatively, the legitimacy, or lack of it, of Zimbabwe’s debt has to be placed under the microscope if our country is to avoid being perpetually placed under a debt trap. The main thrust of this article is therefore to attempt to provide an objective analysis of Zimbabwe’s debt situation and then to propagate the need to have an apolitical, scientific and objective debt audit as a way of charting a new dispensation.
Odious debts are defined as those debts incurred by the state which are not for the needs or interest of the state but merely to strengthen the state’s despotic power as well as to repress the population that fights against despotism.
The legal doctrine of odious debts is essentially derived from the writings of Alexander Nahum Sack, the world’s pre-eminent legal scholar on public debts. Sack authored two major works on the obligations of successor states: The Effects Of State Transformations On Their Public Debts And Other Financial Obligations, and The Succession Of The Public Debts Of The State.
The doctrine of odious debts is not per se favourable to the interests of emerging economies and also to the developing countries. This is so because the doctrine was created to further the interests of international finance by limiting the ability of governments to repudiate debts. Under this doctrine, three conditions must be present before a state can repudiate a debt:
* The debt must have been incurred without the consent of the people of the State;
* The debt cannot have benefited the public in that State and;
* The tenderer must have been aware of these two conditions.
The overwhelming majority of the developing world’s foreign debts are odious in law. Being part of the developing world, Zimbabwe is thus inevitably caught up in this odious debts fiasco.
Zimbabwe is bankrupt because it has no capacity to service the afore-mentioned debt. At its formation in February, the inclusive government inherited approximately US$4,7 billion external debts owed to bilateral, multilateral and commercial creditors.
By the time the inclusive government was formed, Zimbabwe was virtually a failed state. Zimbabwe’s economic collapse is not to be solely located in and restricted to the ineptitude, corruption and misgovernance of the previous government coupled with the chaotic and violent "land reform" programme that began in February 2000.
The general assumption that the land distribution programme is the sole reason for the country’s economic decline and food insecurity is flatly inaccurate.
In a Congressional Testimony to the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health on May 7 submitted by Nicole C Lee, Esq, the executive director of the Trans Africa Forum, many political economists identify Zimbabwe’s unresolved structural weaknesses and systematic inequality built into the apartheid-like system constructed by the Rhodesian settlers as the primary root cause.
A South African-based scholar, Patrick Bond, points to the related crises of Rhodesia’s "over-consumption" of the early 1970s. Analysts agree that at the time of Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980,the country’s economy was skewed, for example:
lThe entire national economy was designed to support the maintenance and enrichment of a small white minority. At independence in 1980, fewer than 7 000 white farmers each owned, on average, more than 100 times the land available to the average African peasant;
lIndustry, mining and the manufacturing sector were in the hands of multinational corporations and the white settler economy.
Zimbabwe’s economic distortions continue. Mining, manufacturing and most industry remain in the hands of external corporations, the white minority and a small clique of black indigenous Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe is burdened by both short and long-term external debts that inevitably militate against the inclusive government’s concerted efforts to jump-start the economy.
The inclusive government should join the global voice that seeks the establishment of an international debt arbitration mechanism.
It should promptly utilise the doctrine of odious debts by establishing a judicial debt arbitration panel, preferably composed of respected and eminent Zimbabwean and international jurists.
This panel would then invite creditors to submit claims, including documentation that the loans were indeed used in the interests of the Zimbabwean people and, not, in the words of the US Deputy Secretary of State Paul Wolforito, "to buy weapons and to build palaces and to build instruments of repression".
Recent news reports suggest that France is mulling the possibility of cancelling Zimbabwe’s debt which is in the region of 400 million euros. This is a very encouraging starting point.
The World Bank’s article of agreement imposes a fiduciary duty on the bank to ensure that the proceeds of any loan are used only for the purposes for which the loan is granted. If the World Bank breaches this fiduciary duty it should be held liable and the debtor nation must be entitled to challenge the odious debt at international law.
In his paper, Criminal Debt In The Indonesia Context, Northwestern University Professor Jeffrey Winters provides shocking insight into the World Bank’s weak supervisory practices. Winters presents evidence that the World Bank breached its fiduciary duty to Indonesia by granting loans which it knew would be used for corrupt purposes. As a result, Indonesian legislators have since asked the IMF to write off the country’s foreign debts, including those to other donors recommended by the IMF.
The hurdle to be encountered by the inclusive government in Zimbabwe is to prove that the lending institutions knew or ought to have known that the funds would not be used in the interest of the people, but solely for the benefit of the ruling regime’s members in their personal capacities.
Another case involves an action by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal to strike out a lawsuit against the Kenyan government over a contract after it discovered that the contract had been secured illegally through a US$2 million bribe paid to the former President Daniel arap Moi.
Although the complainant alleges that the payment was a "personal donation" made to Moi for public purposes, the ICSID tribunal ruled that this constituted a breach of international public policy as well as both English and Kenyan public policy. The tribunal ruled that "claims based on contracts of corruption or on contracts obtained by corruption cannot be upheld by this arbitral tribunal."
As aptly noted by Jeffy King of the Canadian Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the tribunal’s ruling is an important one for the global campaign and "adds to precedent such as the Tinoco Arbitration (1924) and numerous international conventions in clarifying that contracts for personal enrichment, or those procured by bribery, are against international public policy and are thus, unenforceable".
It is therefore imperative for the government in Zimbabwe to institute a debt audit. Zimbabwe should not honour any debts that have not been properly audited and proved to be lawful and legitimate.
This paper was presented by Senator Obert Gutu at the "Economy In Transition Dialogue Conference: Towards A Sustainable Public Debt For Zimbabwe" in Harare on Tuesday.
MDC would win elections
It is beyond debate that the inclusive government in Zimbabwe has never functioned at optimum capacity since it was formed some fifteen (15) months ago.
That is as it should be because this coalition government is not what the majority of Zimbabweans voted for on March 29, 2008.
On that historic day in the electoral history of our great nation, the majority of the people voted for real change. Put simply; the people did not vote for a coalition government.
This type of government was imposed on the people.
No amount of propaganda can wash away the fact that the MDC, under the leadership of Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, is the best supported and most popular political party in Zimbabwe at the moment.
Prophets of doom and hired media hitmen have, of late, gone into overdrive predicting the imminent collapse of the MDC.T hese men and women, who are solely driven by their desire to hold onto the crumbs falling off the crumbling Zanu (PF) gravy train, have wasted no time in announcing a '' split'' in the MDC. They have created artificial divisions amongst the movers and shakers within the MDC. The MDC will never split again; much to the disappointment of these charlatans.
Some of us are convinced that the outstanding issues will never be resolved by the inclusive government. This is so because Zanu (PF) is consciously aware of the fact that it has hopelessly lost the support of the majority of the people.
The former ruling party knows that it is destined for a humiliating and crushing electoral defeat at the hands of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Naturally, Zanu (PF) appreciates that should all outstanding issues of the global political agreement (GPA) be implemented, the epitaph on the Zanu (PF) electoral tombstone would be ready for installation.
We have recently heard ZANU (PF) announcing that they are ready for an election. They are not and they will never be. They know that thuggery, intimidation, violence and vote-rigging have a very short shelf-life.
Although the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) recently gave permission to five newspapers to start operating in Zimbabwe, we will observe, henceforth, a determined and capricious effort on the part of Zanu (PF) functionaries in the inclusive government to frustrate and delay the actual implementation of the good work that has been done by the ZMC to date.
Going forward, a lot of spanners will be thrown into the works of the ZMC. The presence of the notorious media hangman, one Tafataona Mahoso, as the chief executive of the ZMC, should certainly be cause for serious concern to all democrats who aspire to achieve media plurality.
You can fool some people some of the time but you can never fool all the people all the time. Zimbabweans have rejected Zanu (PF).Given another opportunity, they will once again reject this party that is still locked up in history and that seems to believe that '' matakadya kare achanyaradza mwana.''
People know that their true enemy is not Roy Bennett or any other white person simply because he/she is white. People are now above the politics of tribalism and racism. Hate-mongering as practised by the ZANU (PF) mercenary media hitmen can only achieve one result and that is the consolidation of the people's support for the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.Real change is within touching distance. We shall never compromise, retreat nor surrender. The people are on our side and we are on the side of the people. Together to the end! – SENATOR OBERT GUTU, by e-mail
That is as it should be because this coalition government is not what the majority of Zimbabweans voted for on March 29, 2008.
On that historic day in the electoral history of our great nation, the majority of the people voted for real change. Put simply; the people did not vote for a coalition government.
This type of government was imposed on the people.
No amount of propaganda can wash away the fact that the MDC, under the leadership of Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, is the best supported and most popular political party in Zimbabwe at the moment.
Prophets of doom and hired media hitmen have, of late, gone into overdrive predicting the imminent collapse of the MDC.T hese men and women, who are solely driven by their desire to hold onto the crumbs falling off the crumbling Zanu (PF) gravy train, have wasted no time in announcing a '' split'' in the MDC. They have created artificial divisions amongst the movers and shakers within the MDC. The MDC will never split again; much to the disappointment of these charlatans.
Some of us are convinced that the outstanding issues will never be resolved by the inclusive government. This is so because Zanu (PF) is consciously aware of the fact that it has hopelessly lost the support of the majority of the people.
The former ruling party knows that it is destined for a humiliating and crushing electoral defeat at the hands of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Naturally, Zanu (PF) appreciates that should all outstanding issues of the global political agreement (GPA) be implemented, the epitaph on the Zanu (PF) electoral tombstone would be ready for installation.
We have recently heard ZANU (PF) announcing that they are ready for an election. They are not and they will never be. They know that thuggery, intimidation, violence and vote-rigging have a very short shelf-life.
Although the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) recently gave permission to five newspapers to start operating in Zimbabwe, we will observe, henceforth, a determined and capricious effort on the part of Zanu (PF) functionaries in the inclusive government to frustrate and delay the actual implementation of the good work that has been done by the ZMC to date.
Going forward, a lot of spanners will be thrown into the works of the ZMC. The presence of the notorious media hangman, one Tafataona Mahoso, as the chief executive of the ZMC, should certainly be cause for serious concern to all democrats who aspire to achieve media plurality.
You can fool some people some of the time but you can never fool all the people all the time. Zimbabweans have rejected Zanu (PF).Given another opportunity, they will once again reject this party that is still locked up in history and that seems to believe that '' matakadya kare achanyaradza mwana.''
People know that their true enemy is not Roy Bennett or any other white person simply because he/she is white. People are now above the politics of tribalism and racism. Hate-mongering as practised by the ZANU (PF) mercenary media hitmen can only achieve one result and that is the consolidation of the people's support for the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.Real change is within touching distance. We shall never compromise, retreat nor surrender. The people are on our side and we are on the side of the people. Together to the end! – SENATOR OBERT GUTU, by e-mail
Justice delivery system must be impartial - Gutu
HARARE – The new deputy minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Hon. Obert Gutu, has pledged to turn around the rogue image of the country’s justice delivery system into a dignified, respected and envied establishment. Speaking exclusively to The Changing Times, Hon. Gutu said although he was not promising “manna from Heaven”, he would strive to make sure that there was a return to the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has been dogged by serious abuse of human rights pointedly by State security agents against people who are perceived to be in opposition to Zanu PF. Citing an example of the ongoing persecution of human rights defender, Farai Maguwu, a diamond researcher who documented the army’s atrocities in the Chiadzwa diamond fields, Hon. Gutu said he would be meeting his colleague in the ministry, Patrick Chinamasa this week, to discuss the continued harassment of Maguwu.
Maguwu is the executive director of the Mutare-based Centre for Research and Development Trust who was arrested last month on trumped up charges of publishing and communicating statements prejudicial to the State. His arrest followed his report on the human rights abuses taking place at the diamond rich Chiadzwa, where villagers are being assaulted and displaced by the State security agents, in an operation that has seen mineral wealth blatantly looted by Zanu PF chefs.
“I don’t want to be seen as someone who is interfering with the judiciary system in the country but Maguwu’s case is agonising,” Hon Gutu told The Changing Times. “It is not fair for an average person who is not a criminal to be denied bail. “As a result I want to make sure that the justice delivery system is not only functional but that we also respect the rule of law,” he said.
Hon. Gutu was appointed deputy minister by MDC President and Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai two weeks ago. He replaces Hon. Jessie Majome who is now the deputy minister of Women, Gender and Community Development. Hon. Gutu is also the senator for Chisipite in Harare. In the MDC he seats in the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Information and Publicity committees.
A trained and well-experienced lawyer by profession, Hon. Gutu was born in Gutu, Masvingo province in 1962. He joined the legal profession in 1987 as law officer in the ministry that he is now heading after completing his studies at the University of Zimbabwe.Since then he has held several positions in the legal field and was until his appointment two weeks ago running his own successful law firm, Gutu and Chikowero Attorneys in Harare.Senator Gutu is married Tendai and the couple has two daughters Enia and Kudzanayi.
Hon. Gutu categorically emphasised that he would ensure that there was fairness in the justice system. “I held a meeting last week with my principal, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and he made it clear to me that I should take steps in ensuring that we have a fair justice system in Zimbabwe,” he said.
He said Zimbabwe was in the right direction as far as the democratisation agenda was concerened. He gave examples of the media reforms that are now in place and the proposed sweeping legislative changes to the Electoral Act, which will, among other things, ensure presidential election results are released in five days, averting a situation where poll results are mothballed as happened in the 2008 March vote won by the MDC president Hon Tsvangirai.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was not willing to announce that Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe had been defeated by President Tsvangirai. “The amended Act will make running and monitoring elections very easy as voting will be ward based. Therefore there will be no double dipping whereby one person votes more than once,” he said.
During his term of office, Hon.Gutu plans to have the Chief Magistrate’s office being weaned off from the ministry to the Judiciary Service Commission. This will see magistrates practising more impartially and having their appalling working conditions improved.Currently the Justice and Legal Affairs
ministry has 11 divisions. These are; the Attorney-General’s office, Civil, Criminal, Legal Drafting, Policy and Research, the Chief Magistrate’s Office, Law Development Commission, Registrar of Deeds and Companies, Prisons, Public Protector and the Registrar of the High Court.
Commenting on the deplorable conditions of the prisons, Hon. Gutu said he would soon be visiting all prisons across the country to get first hand information on what the situation was like in order to make sure that the prison system is transformed and rehabilitated. “During my recent visit to Chikurubi Maximum Prison as a member of the Parliamentary thematic committee on Human Rights, I was not happy with the situation that I saw as the prisoners were going hungry due to lack of food and this among other issues has to be redressed.
“I am not saying a prison should be a hotel but it should meet basic dignities not produce hardcore criminals,” he said. Hon. Gutu said he would be meeting with all heads of departments in his ministry to implore them not to be aligned to any political party and be impartial in the discharge of
their duties. The Attorney-General, Johannes Tomana in 2008 openly declared in the Zanu PF-run The Herald newspaper that he was a Zanu PF supporter.
“That is what we want to debunk. Government offices are not political offices,” Hon Gutu said. “We need to create a system that is seen to be impartial, fast and efficient,” he said.
Zimbabwe has been dogged by serious abuse of human rights pointedly by State security agents against people who are perceived to be in opposition to Zanu PF. Citing an example of the ongoing persecution of human rights defender, Farai Maguwu, a diamond researcher who documented the army’s atrocities in the Chiadzwa diamond fields, Hon. Gutu said he would be meeting his colleague in the ministry, Patrick Chinamasa this week, to discuss the continued harassment of Maguwu.
Maguwu is the executive director of the Mutare-based Centre for Research and Development Trust who was arrested last month on trumped up charges of publishing and communicating statements prejudicial to the State. His arrest followed his report on the human rights abuses taking place at the diamond rich Chiadzwa, where villagers are being assaulted and displaced by the State security agents, in an operation that has seen mineral wealth blatantly looted by Zanu PF chefs.
“I don’t want to be seen as someone who is interfering with the judiciary system in the country but Maguwu’s case is agonising,” Hon Gutu told The Changing Times. “It is not fair for an average person who is not a criminal to be denied bail. “As a result I want to make sure that the justice delivery system is not only functional but that we also respect the rule of law,” he said.
Hon. Gutu was appointed deputy minister by MDC President and Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai two weeks ago. He replaces Hon. Jessie Majome who is now the deputy minister of Women, Gender and Community Development. Hon. Gutu is also the senator for Chisipite in Harare. In the MDC he seats in the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and the Information and Publicity committees.
A trained and well-experienced lawyer by profession, Hon. Gutu was born in Gutu, Masvingo province in 1962. He joined the legal profession in 1987 as law officer in the ministry that he is now heading after completing his studies at the University of Zimbabwe.Since then he has held several positions in the legal field and was until his appointment two weeks ago running his own successful law firm, Gutu and Chikowero Attorneys in Harare.Senator Gutu is married Tendai and the couple has two daughters Enia and Kudzanayi.
Hon. Gutu categorically emphasised that he would ensure that there was fairness in the justice system. “I held a meeting last week with my principal, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and he made it clear to me that I should take steps in ensuring that we have a fair justice system in Zimbabwe,” he said.
He said Zimbabwe was in the right direction as far as the democratisation agenda was concerened. He gave examples of the media reforms that are now in place and the proposed sweeping legislative changes to the Electoral Act, which will, among other things, ensure presidential election results are released in five days, averting a situation where poll results are mothballed as happened in the 2008 March vote won by the MDC president Hon Tsvangirai.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was not willing to announce that Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe had been defeated by President Tsvangirai. “The amended Act will make running and monitoring elections very easy as voting will be ward based. Therefore there will be no double dipping whereby one person votes more than once,” he said.
During his term of office, Hon.Gutu plans to have the Chief Magistrate’s office being weaned off from the ministry to the Judiciary Service Commission. This will see magistrates practising more impartially and having their appalling working conditions improved.Currently the Justice and Legal Affairs
ministry has 11 divisions. These are; the Attorney-General’s office, Civil, Criminal, Legal Drafting, Policy and Research, the Chief Magistrate’s Office, Law Development Commission, Registrar of Deeds and Companies, Prisons, Public Protector and the Registrar of the High Court.
Commenting on the deplorable conditions of the prisons, Hon. Gutu said he would soon be visiting all prisons across the country to get first hand information on what the situation was like in order to make sure that the prison system is transformed and rehabilitated. “During my recent visit to Chikurubi Maximum Prison as a member of the Parliamentary thematic committee on Human Rights, I was not happy with the situation that I saw as the prisoners were going hungry due to lack of food and this among other issues has to be redressed.
“I am not saying a prison should be a hotel but it should meet basic dignities not produce hardcore criminals,” he said. Hon. Gutu said he would be meeting with all heads of departments in his ministry to implore them not to be aligned to any political party and be impartial in the discharge of
their duties. The Attorney-General, Johannes Tomana in 2008 openly declared in the Zanu PF-run The Herald newspaper that he was a Zanu PF supporter.
“That is what we want to debunk. Government offices are not political offices,” Hon Gutu said. “We need to create a system that is seen to be impartial, fast and efficient,” he said.
Indigenisation and empowerment: Which way Zimbabwe?
It is pointless to be politically independent but economically poor and downtrodden. It is also pointless to be in power but without real power, both politically and economically.
Thirty years after independence, the average Zimbabwean is still classified as poor judging by world standards. Recent statistics sadly confirmed the fact that at least 70 per cent of Zimbabweans live on less than US$2 a day, thus they are classified as living in abject poverty.
This is a very sad indictment on the founding mothers and fathers of this otherwise great nation. If I may ask this pertinent question: why are we poor in the land of plenty?
As a starting point, the government of Zimbabwe should be thoroughly ashamed of the fact that three decades after independence, the country still has not crafted a holistic, progressive and definitive policy to empower previously disadvantaged people, the majority of whom happen to be blacks and other non-Caucasian people such as Indians, Greeks and people of mixed blood.
One wonders what the government has been doing all these years by failing to formulate a policy that should have been amongst the top agenda items upon achieving our independence in 1980. 30 years down the line, the government has suddenly woken up from its deep slumber and it is now, belatedly but spiritedly, attempting to craft an indigenisation and empowerment policy.
What a shame! Instead of using the concept of indigenisation and empowerment as an electioneering gimmick, the government should appreciate that this very important and crucial exercise that will determine the political and socio-economic trajectory of Zimbabwe for several generations to come.
We cannot empower the poor by grabbing wealth from the rich and dishing it out like confetti at a wedding. You do not empower the poor and marginalised by changing the colour of the new bourgeois from white to black.
What Zimbabwe needs, and needs urgently, is a complete dismantling of this bourgeois mentality whereby people, across the racial and political divide, want to accumulate wealth as an end in itself.
We have created a nation of thousands of struggling peasant farmers who can hardly fend for themselves. Instead of empowering our people by identifying those who had a passion for farming and then adequately training and capacitating them, we chose to adopt a one-size-fits -all approach.
Every black Zimbabwean was classified as a potential commercial farmer and the '' results'' are there for everyone to see. From being a net exporter of food and Southern Africa's breadbasket, in a very short 10 years we degenerated to become a basket case, a net importer of food and a country that survives on handouts from donors. Some amongst us will argue that Zimbabwe is in this perilous state because of '' sanctions'' imposed by Britain and her Western allies. What a blue lie. Sanctions....what sanctions?
The time to re-focus and re-design our indigenisation and empowerment trajectory is now. We have to introspect and stop treating the empowerment issue as a simplistic electioneering gimmick. This is a matter of life and death. We blundered big time with the emotionally-charged, violent and chaotic so-called land reform program. A repeat exercise is not an option. Once bitten twice shy.
Thirty years after independence, the average Zimbabwean is still classified as poor judging by world standards. Recent statistics sadly confirmed the fact that at least 70 per cent of Zimbabweans live on less than US$2 a day, thus they are classified as living in abject poverty.
This is a very sad indictment on the founding mothers and fathers of this otherwise great nation. If I may ask this pertinent question: why are we poor in the land of plenty?
As a starting point, the government of Zimbabwe should be thoroughly ashamed of the fact that three decades after independence, the country still has not crafted a holistic, progressive and definitive policy to empower previously disadvantaged people, the majority of whom happen to be blacks and other non-Caucasian people such as Indians, Greeks and people of mixed blood.
One wonders what the government has been doing all these years by failing to formulate a policy that should have been amongst the top agenda items upon achieving our independence in 1980. 30 years down the line, the government has suddenly woken up from its deep slumber and it is now, belatedly but spiritedly, attempting to craft an indigenisation and empowerment policy.
What a shame! Instead of using the concept of indigenisation and empowerment as an electioneering gimmick, the government should appreciate that this very important and crucial exercise that will determine the political and socio-economic trajectory of Zimbabwe for several generations to come.
We cannot empower the poor by grabbing wealth from the rich and dishing it out like confetti at a wedding. You do not empower the poor and marginalised by changing the colour of the new bourgeois from white to black.
What Zimbabwe needs, and needs urgently, is a complete dismantling of this bourgeois mentality whereby people, across the racial and political divide, want to accumulate wealth as an end in itself.
We have created a nation of thousands of struggling peasant farmers who can hardly fend for themselves. Instead of empowering our people by identifying those who had a passion for farming and then adequately training and capacitating them, we chose to adopt a one-size-fits -all approach.
Every black Zimbabwean was classified as a potential commercial farmer and the '' results'' are there for everyone to see. From being a net exporter of food and Southern Africa's breadbasket, in a very short 10 years we degenerated to become a basket case, a net importer of food and a country that survives on handouts from donors. Some amongst us will argue that Zimbabwe is in this perilous state because of '' sanctions'' imposed by Britain and her Western allies. What a blue lie. Sanctions....what sanctions?
The time to re-focus and re-design our indigenisation and empowerment trajectory is now. We have to introspect and stop treating the empowerment issue as a simplistic electioneering gimmick. This is a matter of life and death. We blundered big time with the emotionally-charged, violent and chaotic so-called land reform program. A repeat exercise is not an option. Once bitten twice shy.
A certain boy called Julius Malema visited Zimbabwe “ and Senator Obert Gutu takes a look at "Friends Like These"
From the moment the results were out and it was apparent that the ANC was to form the government, I saw my mission as one of preaching reconciliation, of binding the wounds of the country, of engendering trust and confidence.
'' I quote these wise words from the book , ' Long Walk to Freedom' (1994) written by none other than the iconic Nelson Mandela. An internationally celebrated statesman now in the sunset of his life, Mandela must be deeply disappointed and annoyed by the buffoonery of one Julius Malema.
It is a fact that the ANC is arguably Africa' s oldest liberation movement that, in the past, has been very ably led by luminaries such as Chief Albert Luthuli, Oliver Reginald Tambo and Mandela.
One of Africa's biggest challenges is the scourge of demagogues, pretenders, looters and dictators. This is an unfortunate breed of men and women who are solely driven by lust for absolute political power as well as the paranoid pursuit of self-enrichment and self-aggrandisement.
When challenged by democratic forces seeking the adoption of good governance and the rule of law, these rabid dictators and tyrants will huff and puff ; screaming that they are Africa's '' liberators and revolutionaries''. Alas! These men and women are Africa's disgrace; a shameful grouping of looters who are corrupt to the core; ruthless and absolutely tyrannical
.A certain boy called Malema recently visited Zimbabwe during the Easter holidays; as a guest of the terminally ill and moribund former ruling party; ZANU(PF).Excitable and effervescent as ever; this boy wasted no time in showering praises on the disintegrating political party called ZANU(PF).
Adorning the infamous ZANU(PF) regalia, this boy literally blew his top and ran short of adjectives to eulogise his guests and to simultaneously lambast the most popular and largest political party in Zimbabwe; the Movement for Democratic Change.
To students of political science and to all right-thinking people the world over, this did not come as a surprise at all. Some of us have carefully followed the rise of Malema within the ranks of the ANC Youth League.
We all know that he succeeded the very able and sober Fikile Mbalula who is now an ANC member of parliament as well as the Deputy Minister of Police. We know that for some reason, Malema now regards himself as the kingmaker in the ANC ; riding on the wave of success of President Jacob Zuma's faction at the last ANC congress held in Polokwane, South Africa.
Post Polokwane, Malema has grown to be very boisterous, stubborn and downright unruly. He falsely thinks that he was personally responsible for the rise of Zuma to be President of the ANC as well as the Republic of South Africa. Malema is wrong. To begin with, there were bigger forces at play at the ANC congress at Polokwane. Admittedly, Malema is very noisy and loud but he is certainly not a political strategist. He needs someone to handle him.
Malema justifiably felt cosy and comfortable in the company of ZANU(PF) functionaries. I am one of the ANC's greatest admirers. Some of my political role models are found within the ANC. Born to a Zulu domestic worker, Zuma has rose to become the President of Africa's strongest and biggest economy; South Africa.
Whilst Zuma was openly humiliated by Thabo Mbeki by being fired as the Deputy President of South Africa in 2005 in the wake of the Shabir Shaik corruption scandal, he has never publicly lambasted nor demonised Thabo Mbeki and all those ANC leaders who were fighting in Mbeki's corner; such as Terror Lekota, Mbazima Shilowa and Bulelani Nqcuka.
For all his other shortcomings, I admire Zuma for being a man who calmly and maturely weathered the storm of his obvious persecution by the Mbeki faction in the ANC. Zuma never publicly lost his cool and shouted at his political detractors; real and/or imagined. To me; that is the hallmark of a revolutionary and a true democrat. Contrast Zuma's charm and coolness with Malema's rabid and increasingly incoherent public outbursts, then you will realise why the ANC has to urgently reign in this loose and foul-mouthed political waif.
Lest Africa be fooled; Malema is not and has never been an exponent of genuine broad-based black economic empowerment. He claims to be representing the poor, marginalised and unemployed black youths of South Africa most of whom stay in impoverished townships. He drives the latest Range Rover and owns properties in Sandton. He wears a watch worth R 250 000 and wines and dines in some of Johannesburg's most expensive joints whilst the majority of black youths of South Africa are wallowing in abject poverty.
Who is Malema to label the MDC a party of '' puppets''? Does Malema look down upon the majority of Zimbabweans who justifiably see that real change can only be brought about by the MDC? I have absolutely no problem in having Malema associate with whomsoever he wants in his tormented life. However, all true democrats and fighters for good governance and the rule of law will have serious issues with a hare-brained demagogue coming over to Zimbabwe to spread heresy, hate and intolerance.
Besides spreading hate and intolerance, can Malema tell us what he has done to practically empower the poor and marginalised black youths of Kwamashu in Durban, Mamelodi in Pretoria and the Cape Flats in Cape Town? We need a serious paradigm shift in the manner in which African politics is run. The politics of hate, anger and intolerance can only bring more strife and poverty to the toiling masses of Africa.
'' I quote these wise words from the book , ' Long Walk to Freedom' (1994) written by none other than the iconic Nelson Mandela. An internationally celebrated statesman now in the sunset of his life, Mandela must be deeply disappointed and annoyed by the buffoonery of one Julius Malema.
It is a fact that the ANC is arguably Africa' s oldest liberation movement that, in the past, has been very ably led by luminaries such as Chief Albert Luthuli, Oliver Reginald Tambo and Mandela.
One of Africa's biggest challenges is the scourge of demagogues, pretenders, looters and dictators. This is an unfortunate breed of men and women who are solely driven by lust for absolute political power as well as the paranoid pursuit of self-enrichment and self-aggrandisement.
When challenged by democratic forces seeking the adoption of good governance and the rule of law, these rabid dictators and tyrants will huff and puff ; screaming that they are Africa's '' liberators and revolutionaries''. Alas! These men and women are Africa's disgrace; a shameful grouping of looters who are corrupt to the core; ruthless and absolutely tyrannical
.A certain boy called Malema recently visited Zimbabwe during the Easter holidays; as a guest of the terminally ill and moribund former ruling party; ZANU(PF).Excitable and effervescent as ever; this boy wasted no time in showering praises on the disintegrating political party called ZANU(PF).
Adorning the infamous ZANU(PF) regalia, this boy literally blew his top and ran short of adjectives to eulogise his guests and to simultaneously lambast the most popular and largest political party in Zimbabwe; the Movement for Democratic Change.
To students of political science and to all right-thinking people the world over, this did not come as a surprise at all. Some of us have carefully followed the rise of Malema within the ranks of the ANC Youth League.
We all know that he succeeded the very able and sober Fikile Mbalula who is now an ANC member of parliament as well as the Deputy Minister of Police. We know that for some reason, Malema now regards himself as the kingmaker in the ANC ; riding on the wave of success of President Jacob Zuma's faction at the last ANC congress held in Polokwane, South Africa.
Post Polokwane, Malema has grown to be very boisterous, stubborn and downright unruly. He falsely thinks that he was personally responsible for the rise of Zuma to be President of the ANC as well as the Republic of South Africa. Malema is wrong. To begin with, there were bigger forces at play at the ANC congress at Polokwane. Admittedly, Malema is very noisy and loud but he is certainly not a political strategist. He needs someone to handle him.
Malema justifiably felt cosy and comfortable in the company of ZANU(PF) functionaries. I am one of the ANC's greatest admirers. Some of my political role models are found within the ANC. Born to a Zulu domestic worker, Zuma has rose to become the President of Africa's strongest and biggest economy; South Africa.
Whilst Zuma was openly humiliated by Thabo Mbeki by being fired as the Deputy President of South Africa in 2005 in the wake of the Shabir Shaik corruption scandal, he has never publicly lambasted nor demonised Thabo Mbeki and all those ANC leaders who were fighting in Mbeki's corner; such as Terror Lekota, Mbazima Shilowa and Bulelani Nqcuka.
For all his other shortcomings, I admire Zuma for being a man who calmly and maturely weathered the storm of his obvious persecution by the Mbeki faction in the ANC. Zuma never publicly lost his cool and shouted at his political detractors; real and/or imagined. To me; that is the hallmark of a revolutionary and a true democrat. Contrast Zuma's charm and coolness with Malema's rabid and increasingly incoherent public outbursts, then you will realise why the ANC has to urgently reign in this loose and foul-mouthed political waif.
Lest Africa be fooled; Malema is not and has never been an exponent of genuine broad-based black economic empowerment. He claims to be representing the poor, marginalised and unemployed black youths of South Africa most of whom stay in impoverished townships. He drives the latest Range Rover and owns properties in Sandton. He wears a watch worth R 250 000 and wines and dines in some of Johannesburg's most expensive joints whilst the majority of black youths of South Africa are wallowing in abject poverty.
Who is Malema to label the MDC a party of '' puppets''? Does Malema look down upon the majority of Zimbabweans who justifiably see that real change can only be brought about by the MDC? I have absolutely no problem in having Malema associate with whomsoever he wants in his tormented life. However, all true democrats and fighters for good governance and the rule of law will have serious issues with a hare-brained demagogue coming over to Zimbabwe to spread heresy, hate and intolerance.
Besides spreading hate and intolerance, can Malema tell us what he has done to practically empower the poor and marginalised black youths of Kwamashu in Durban, Mamelodi in Pretoria and the Cape Flats in Cape Town? We need a serious paradigm shift in the manner in which African politics is run. The politics of hate, anger and intolerance can only bring more strife and poverty to the toiling masses of Africa.
Zimbabwe: the abuse of police powers
RECENT events in Zimbabwe have put into focus the police's powers of arrest,
detention, search and seizure.
More than 2000 business persons, including some top-notch business
executives and politicians, have recently been arrested and detained for
allegedly flouting the recently gazetted laws pertaining to price controls.
It is my considered view that members of the public should be made aware of
their fundamental constitutional rights vis-a-vis the police's powers of
arrest, detention, search and seizure.
It is not in dispute that these business-persons have been arrested and
detained by the police in very curious, and in some cases, totally unlawful
and unjustifiable circumstances.
An arrest involves the deprivation of an individual's liberty and thus it
should not be lightly resorted to. The Constitution of Zimbabwe states that
the right to liberty is a fundamental human right, solidly enshrined in the
justifiable Bill of Rights.
It therefore goes without saying that a police officer would only arrest a
person when it is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances. Recent
events in Zimbabwe have lent credibility to the generally held perception
that the Zimbabwe Republic Police force is partisan, biased, unprofessional
and insensitive to basic and fundamental human rights.
We have come across cases where the police have promptly arrested people and
placed them in custody in clearly unreasonable, unjustifiable and malicious
circumstances. The writer perceives this type of shameful conduct as a gross
abuse of the powers of arrest by the police. Such a blatant and
reprehensible abuse of the powers of arrest should never be condemned in a
democratic state.
The police should always desist from the habit of playing to the gallery and
proceeding to arrest a person first and then investigate him later. Wherever
possible, the police should endeavour to obtain a warrant before arresting a
person.
However, it is conceded that in very many circumstances, it may be
reasonable and justifiable for a police officer to arrest a person without a
warrant of arrest.
The recent spate of arrests in the so-called war against unjustifiably high
prices is in more ways than one regrettable.
Surely, was there any reason to arrest and promptly detain business- people
instead of summoning them to appear in court on a particular day? This
should have been the case particularly because the majority of the people
arrested are otherwise law-abiding and useful members of society with fixed
places of abode and chances are they were most unlikely going to abscond had
they been summoned to appear in court.
A properly constituted and professional police force should never allow
itself to be manipulated and used by certain powerful individuals and
politicians to push their own sinister and nefarious agendas. Indeed,
members of the police force should always be acutely aware that they can be
sued for damages by persons who might have been wrongfully, maliciously, and
unlawfully arrested and detained.
The Police Act (Chapter 11;10) and the State Liabilities Act (Chapter 8:14),
provide the relevant legislative procedures in terms of which members of the
police can be sued. Recent events in our country have left the reputation
and professionalism of the Zimbabwe Republic Police severely compromised.
This will inevitably lead to members of society generally viewing the police
force as an object of contempt, hate and ridicule.
Police officers should not simply proceed to seize items of property from
arrested people without following proper legal channels. In general, a
police officer who arrests a person may search such a person but the police
officer is required to place in safe custody all items taken. It is improper
and unlawful for police officers to take away seized items of property and
thereafter proceed to deal with the same as they deem fit.
In accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe, unless made by a medical officer,
the search of a woman must be made by a woman and must be made with strict
regard to decency. A female police officer may require a female suspect to
remove any clothing she is wearing if the removal of the suspected clothing
is necessary and reasonable for an effective search. However, the suspects'
body cavities may not be searched. At any rate, the search of any person,
male or female, must be conducted with strict regard to decency.
There is a difference between seizing articles and placing articles in safe
custody. Articles that have been seized may not be returned to a suspect at
a later occasion whereas items that have been placed in safe custody would
have to be returned to the arrested person at all times.
The Police can only seize property that is concerned in or on reasonable
grounds believed to be concerned in the commission and suspected commission
of an offence in Zimbabwe or elsewhere; property which on reasonable
grounds; is believed to afford evidence of the commission or suspected
commission of an offence in Zimbabwe or elsewhere and property which, on
reasonable grounds, is believed to be intended to be used in the commission
of an offence.
In other words, the police cannot just seize people's goods with reckless
abandon. The police should always ensure that people are arrested when
necessary and also that detention should be the exception and not the norm.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should strenuously fight against the perception
that it has degenerated into a partisan and corrupt police force that is
frequently used and abused by powerful and influential citizens to harass,
torment and humiliate business-people as well as people who are deemed to be
politically hostile to the status quo.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should play a central role in the promotion of
the respect for the rule of law and individual rights of people. The police
should help to foster a culture of democracy and should go out of its way to
protect the weak and the vulnerable. A police force should be the people's
friend instead of being the people's number one enemy.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should be a catalyst in the fight against
rampant human rights abuses and political intolerance. As an essential and
powerful tool of the State, the Zimbabwe Republic Police should not allow
itself to degenerate into a power-drunk machine ready to crush and suppress
innocent and law-abiding people's peaceful demonstrations at the slightest
of an excuse.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This reminds the
writer of a moving speech made by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa at
the annual general meeting of the SADC Electoral Commissions forum in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania on September 27, 1999. In his address, President Mbeki
said:
"Inevitably, therefore, the State will remain a powerful, venerated and
awe-inspiring social institution. Necessarily, those who manage this
institution have themselves to be seen to be powerful and therefore
awe-inspiring. Inherent in this is the imperative that these powerful
persons should remain powerful until death deprives them of the capacity to
exercise power".
For us in Zimbabwe, its still a very long walk to freedom!
Obert Chaurura Gutu is a Zimbabwean lawyer writing from Harare
detention, search and seizure.
More than 2000 business persons, including some top-notch business
executives and politicians, have recently been arrested and detained for
allegedly flouting the recently gazetted laws pertaining to price controls.
It is my considered view that members of the public should be made aware of
their fundamental constitutional rights vis-a-vis the police's powers of
arrest, detention, search and seizure.
It is not in dispute that these business-persons have been arrested and
detained by the police in very curious, and in some cases, totally unlawful
and unjustifiable circumstances.
An arrest involves the deprivation of an individual's liberty and thus it
should not be lightly resorted to. The Constitution of Zimbabwe states that
the right to liberty is a fundamental human right, solidly enshrined in the
justifiable Bill of Rights.
It therefore goes without saying that a police officer would only arrest a
person when it is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances. Recent
events in Zimbabwe have lent credibility to the generally held perception
that the Zimbabwe Republic Police force is partisan, biased, unprofessional
and insensitive to basic and fundamental human rights.
We have come across cases where the police have promptly arrested people and
placed them in custody in clearly unreasonable, unjustifiable and malicious
circumstances. The writer perceives this type of shameful conduct as a gross
abuse of the powers of arrest by the police. Such a blatant and
reprehensible abuse of the powers of arrest should never be condemned in a
democratic state.
The police should always desist from the habit of playing to the gallery and
proceeding to arrest a person first and then investigate him later. Wherever
possible, the police should endeavour to obtain a warrant before arresting a
person.
However, it is conceded that in very many circumstances, it may be
reasonable and justifiable for a police officer to arrest a person without a
warrant of arrest.
The recent spate of arrests in the so-called war against unjustifiably high
prices is in more ways than one regrettable.
Surely, was there any reason to arrest and promptly detain business- people
instead of summoning them to appear in court on a particular day? This
should have been the case particularly because the majority of the people
arrested are otherwise law-abiding and useful members of society with fixed
places of abode and chances are they were most unlikely going to abscond had
they been summoned to appear in court.
A properly constituted and professional police force should never allow
itself to be manipulated and used by certain powerful individuals and
politicians to push their own sinister and nefarious agendas. Indeed,
members of the police force should always be acutely aware that they can be
sued for damages by persons who might have been wrongfully, maliciously, and
unlawfully arrested and detained.
The Police Act (Chapter 11;10) and the State Liabilities Act (Chapter 8:14),
provide the relevant legislative procedures in terms of which members of the
police can be sued. Recent events in our country have left the reputation
and professionalism of the Zimbabwe Republic Police severely compromised.
This will inevitably lead to members of society generally viewing the police
force as an object of contempt, hate and ridicule.
Police officers should not simply proceed to seize items of property from
arrested people without following proper legal channels. In general, a
police officer who arrests a person may search such a person but the police
officer is required to place in safe custody all items taken. It is improper
and unlawful for police officers to take away seized items of property and
thereafter proceed to deal with the same as they deem fit.
In accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe, unless made by a medical officer,
the search of a woman must be made by a woman and must be made with strict
regard to decency. A female police officer may require a female suspect to
remove any clothing she is wearing if the removal of the suspected clothing
is necessary and reasonable for an effective search. However, the suspects'
body cavities may not be searched. At any rate, the search of any person,
male or female, must be conducted with strict regard to decency.
There is a difference between seizing articles and placing articles in safe
custody. Articles that have been seized may not be returned to a suspect at
a later occasion whereas items that have been placed in safe custody would
have to be returned to the arrested person at all times.
The Police can only seize property that is concerned in or on reasonable
grounds believed to be concerned in the commission and suspected commission
of an offence in Zimbabwe or elsewhere; property which on reasonable
grounds; is believed to afford evidence of the commission or suspected
commission of an offence in Zimbabwe or elsewhere and property which, on
reasonable grounds, is believed to be intended to be used in the commission
of an offence.
In other words, the police cannot just seize people's goods with reckless
abandon. The police should always ensure that people are arrested when
necessary and also that detention should be the exception and not the norm.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should strenuously fight against the perception
that it has degenerated into a partisan and corrupt police force that is
frequently used and abused by powerful and influential citizens to harass,
torment and humiliate business-people as well as people who are deemed to be
politically hostile to the status quo.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should play a central role in the promotion of
the respect for the rule of law and individual rights of people. The police
should help to foster a culture of democracy and should go out of its way to
protect the weak and the vulnerable. A police force should be the people's
friend instead of being the people's number one enemy.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should be a catalyst in the fight against
rampant human rights abuses and political intolerance. As an essential and
powerful tool of the State, the Zimbabwe Republic Police should not allow
itself to degenerate into a power-drunk machine ready to crush and suppress
innocent and law-abiding people's peaceful demonstrations at the slightest
of an excuse.
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This reminds the
writer of a moving speech made by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa at
the annual general meeting of the SADC Electoral Commissions forum in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania on September 27, 1999. In his address, President Mbeki
said:
"Inevitably, therefore, the State will remain a powerful, venerated and
awe-inspiring social institution. Necessarily, those who manage this
institution have themselves to be seen to be powerful and therefore
awe-inspiring. Inherent in this is the imperative that these powerful
persons should remain powerful until death deprives them of the capacity to
exercise power".
For us in Zimbabwe, its still a very long walk to freedom!
Obert Chaurura Gutu is a Zimbabwean lawyer writing from Harare
Makwavarara's rubbish
THIS is an open letter to Sekesai Makwavarara, chairperson of the commission running the city of Harare.
I have been a resident of Harare for several years. I reside in Ballantyne Park within the jurisdiction of the city of Harare.
Like any other law-abiding and patriotic resident of Harare and citizen of Zimbabwe, I faithfully and timeously pay all my bills for water, rates and refuse collection. Naturally, I also expect the relevant authorities within the local government structures to play their part of the bargain by at least ensuring that refuse bins are collected regularly as was the case in the past when Harare was indeed the Sunshine City.
In the area in which I live, and I believe in most if not all other parts of Harare, refuse has been piling up over the past two months or so and no refuse collection trucks have been dispatched to remove the trash.
I am acutely aware of the fact that the country is facing a debilitating shortage of fuel but I am of the humble view that refuse collection and removal should be at the very top of your priority list. The situation in my neighbourhood and, I believe, in all other neighbourhoods in Harare is deplorable particularly with over-full metal and plastic bins littering all the roads.
You will no doubt agree with me that this is not good not only for the people's hygiene but also for the general image of our beloved city.
I challenge you to take a drive around the residential suburbs of Harare where you will be greeted by potholes and overflowing refuse bins, not to mention the huge green flies that you will find nauseating!
As a ratepayer who is up to date with payment of his bills, I feel short-changed by your commission's ineptitude particularly pertaining to the collection and removal of refuse.
In fact, I am planning to carry out a one-man demonstration where I will bring all the refuse from my home to the council's chambers at Town House! I certainly trust this will not be necessary.
Obert Chaurura Gutu,
Harare.
I have been a resident of Harare for several years. I reside in Ballantyne Park within the jurisdiction of the city of Harare.
Like any other law-abiding and patriotic resident of Harare and citizen of Zimbabwe, I faithfully and timeously pay all my bills for water, rates and refuse collection. Naturally, I also expect the relevant authorities within the local government structures to play their part of the bargain by at least ensuring that refuse bins are collected regularly as was the case in the past when Harare was indeed the Sunshine City.
In the area in which I live, and I believe in most if not all other parts of Harare, refuse has been piling up over the past two months or so and no refuse collection trucks have been dispatched to remove the trash.
I am acutely aware of the fact that the country is facing a debilitating shortage of fuel but I am of the humble view that refuse collection and removal should be at the very top of your priority list. The situation in my neighbourhood and, I believe, in all other neighbourhoods in Harare is deplorable particularly with over-full metal and plastic bins littering all the roads.
You will no doubt agree with me that this is not good not only for the people's hygiene but also for the general image of our beloved city.
I challenge you to take a drive around the residential suburbs of Harare where you will be greeted by potholes and overflowing refuse bins, not to mention the huge green flies that you will find nauseating!
As a ratepayer who is up to date with payment of his bills, I feel short-changed by your commission's ineptitude particularly pertaining to the collection and removal of refuse.
In fact, I am planning to carry out a one-man demonstration where I will bring all the refuse from my home to the council's chambers at Town House! I certainly trust this will not be necessary.
Obert Chaurura Gutu,
Harare.
Zimbabwe Lawyers For Justice:A Bogus Organisation
Recent reports in both the State-controlled print and electronic media have revealed the existence of an organisation that calls itself the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice.As a practising lawyer of more than twenty years experience,I have never been formally advised of the existence of this so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice.
Ordinarily,the Law Society of Zimbabwe,as the lawful professional body mandated to regulate the affairs of all lawyers in Zimbabwe,would have circulated a memorandum formally advising all interested parties of the formation of a body such as the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice.I am not aware of any circular to that effect that was generated from the Law Society of Zimbabwe offices.If such a circular was indeed circulated,then it certainly didnot reach my chambers.
With due respect to whoever is the brainchild behind the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice,I strongly suspect that the membership of this organisation is most probably composed of one person;someone who regularly appears on the ZANU(PF)-controlled ZTV,who calls himself Advocate Dinha although he has never practised at any of the Advocates' Chambers in Harare and Bulawayo.
Let me hasten to add that I have absolutely nothing personal against Mr.Dinha.I have never met him in my life and I have no reason whatsoever to seek to denigrate his person.All I am stating is that the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice seems to have no other member besides Mr.Dinha.
As a member of the legal profession in Zimbabwe,I have a vested interest in knowing more about the real agenda behind the so-called ZLJ.For instance,I would be happy to be advised whether or not the ZLJ is registered as a trust and if so,the identities of its board of trustees and their connection,if any,with the legal profession.I am alarmed when lawyers who purport to be driven by an agenda for justice,loudly and publicly clamour for the imposition of a state of emergency in Zimbabwe.
For any lawyer of sound mind to publicly call for the imposition of a state of emergency surely boggles the mind.What exact '' justice'' is the ZLJ clamouring for by failing to call for the immediate cessation of the de facto state of emergency that presently obtains in Zimbabwe? I am a member of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and any interested person is free to call at the offices of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to examine its membership register.The constitution of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is a matter of public record.
Put simply,the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is a legitimate grouping of lawyers who share common views regarding the promotion,protection and enhancement of human rights in Zimbabwe.
If I may ask,how exactly does the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice distinguish itself from the core agenda of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights? When,where and by whom was the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice formed?The legal profession is an honourable profession no wonder collegues commonly refer to each other as '' my learned friend ''.
The last thing the profession wants is to have the sprouting of rag-tag groupings of low-profile lawyers masquerading as human rights defenders.
I will be the first person to passionately and vigorously defend the constitutional right of freedom of association and in this respect therefore,I am not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that lawyers should be barred from establishing organisations whose main agenda is to push forward whatever lawful and legitimate agendas that they might have.
My main concern is with rogue lawyers,some of whom have been de-registered for such dishonourable and criminal activities such as the pilfering of trust funds,publicly calling for the re-structuring of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and/or the imposition of a fully-fledged state of emergency.
If a person is a genuine human rights defender then he/she should consistently fight for the observance of the rule of law as opposed to the rule by law.Zimbabweans are already suffering under the present de facto state of emergency.What more suffering can they endure if the call by the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice for the imposition of a state of emergency by the illegal regime presently ruling Zimbabwe is heeded?
As members of an honourable profession,lawyers should not go out of their way to put the profession into serious disrepute.
If some of our lawyers's personal political ambitions are allowed to denigrate the otherwise good public image of the legal profession,then perhaps it is high time the Law Society of Zimbabwe stands its ground and takes appropriate disciplinary action against such errant members.I am not advocating vindictiveness.
All I am submitting is that as lawyers,we should behave and conduct ourselves honourably in our professional,political and even private lives.I am not insulting anyone by concluding that the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice seems to be a virtual one-man band; desperate to scandalise and besmirch the good name,public standing and reputation of the legal profession in Zimbabwe.
Senator Obert Chaurura Gutu
www.gutulaw.co.zw
www.gutuforsenator.co.zw
Ordinarily,the Law Society of Zimbabwe,as the lawful professional body mandated to regulate the affairs of all lawyers in Zimbabwe,would have circulated a memorandum formally advising all interested parties of the formation of a body such as the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice.I am not aware of any circular to that effect that was generated from the Law Society of Zimbabwe offices.If such a circular was indeed circulated,then it certainly didnot reach my chambers.
With due respect to whoever is the brainchild behind the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice,I strongly suspect that the membership of this organisation is most probably composed of one person;someone who regularly appears on the ZANU(PF)-controlled ZTV,who calls himself Advocate Dinha although he has never practised at any of the Advocates' Chambers in Harare and Bulawayo.
Let me hasten to add that I have absolutely nothing personal against Mr.Dinha.I have never met him in my life and I have no reason whatsoever to seek to denigrate his person.All I am stating is that the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice seems to have no other member besides Mr.Dinha.
As a member of the legal profession in Zimbabwe,I have a vested interest in knowing more about the real agenda behind the so-called ZLJ.For instance,I would be happy to be advised whether or not the ZLJ is registered as a trust and if so,the identities of its board of trustees and their connection,if any,with the legal profession.I am alarmed when lawyers who purport to be driven by an agenda for justice,loudly and publicly clamour for the imposition of a state of emergency in Zimbabwe.
For any lawyer of sound mind to publicly call for the imposition of a state of emergency surely boggles the mind.What exact '' justice'' is the ZLJ clamouring for by failing to call for the immediate cessation of the de facto state of emergency that presently obtains in Zimbabwe? I am a member of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and any interested person is free to call at the offices of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to examine its membership register.The constitution of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is a matter of public record.
Put simply,the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is a legitimate grouping of lawyers who share common views regarding the promotion,protection and enhancement of human rights in Zimbabwe.
If I may ask,how exactly does the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice distinguish itself from the core agenda of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights? When,where and by whom was the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice formed?The legal profession is an honourable profession no wonder collegues commonly refer to each other as '' my learned friend ''.
The last thing the profession wants is to have the sprouting of rag-tag groupings of low-profile lawyers masquerading as human rights defenders.
I will be the first person to passionately and vigorously defend the constitutional right of freedom of association and in this respect therefore,I am not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that lawyers should be barred from establishing organisations whose main agenda is to push forward whatever lawful and legitimate agendas that they might have.
My main concern is with rogue lawyers,some of whom have been de-registered for such dishonourable and criminal activities such as the pilfering of trust funds,publicly calling for the re-structuring of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and/or the imposition of a fully-fledged state of emergency.
If a person is a genuine human rights defender then he/she should consistently fight for the observance of the rule of law as opposed to the rule by law.Zimbabweans are already suffering under the present de facto state of emergency.What more suffering can they endure if the call by the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice for the imposition of a state of emergency by the illegal regime presently ruling Zimbabwe is heeded?
As members of an honourable profession,lawyers should not go out of their way to put the profession into serious disrepute.
If some of our lawyers's personal political ambitions are allowed to denigrate the otherwise good public image of the legal profession,then perhaps it is high time the Law Society of Zimbabwe stands its ground and takes appropriate disciplinary action against such errant members.I am not advocating vindictiveness.
All I am submitting is that as lawyers,we should behave and conduct ourselves honourably in our professional,political and even private lives.I am not insulting anyone by concluding that the so-called Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice seems to be a virtual one-man band; desperate to scandalise and besmirch the good name,public standing and reputation of the legal profession in Zimbabwe.
Senator Obert Chaurura Gutu
www.gutulaw.co.zw
www.gutuforsenator.co.zw
Can Gono's currency reforms be challenged in court?
The new currency regulations in Zimbabwe were promulgated by Statutory Instrument 199 of 2006 that came into force on 1 August 2006. These regulations were made by the President in terms of Section 2 of the Presidential Powers (Tempo rary Measures) Act (Chapter 10:20).
This particular Act of Parliament enables and empowers the President of Zimbabwe to make laws, albeit for a limited period of time, particularly in situations that require urgent legislative interventions which intervention might be so urgent that it cannot wait for the normal Parliamentary legislative process to run its full course. Put simply, therefore, the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, in a normal democratic dispensation, should be used sparingly.
The new currency regulations introduced a new currency system in Zimbabwe with effect from 1 August 2006 by basically introducing new bearer cheques and replacing the old bearer cheques – those bearer cheques that were issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe before 1 August 2006. In simple terms, all the old bearer cheques, including all the other old coins and notes, will cease to become lawful money at 12 midnight on Monday 21 August 2006 and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe shall not, on and after that date, be required to make payment to the holders of those bearer cheques and/or old coins and notes. On or after 12 midnight on 21 August 2006, no financial institution shall exchange or accept an old bearer cheque.
This situation can only be changed provided the President of Zimbabwe promulgates new currency regulations allowing the extension of the cut-off date from 21 August 2006 to another future specified date.
I am not too sure whether it was necessary to introduce the new bearer cheques whose main purpose is basically to remove the last three zeros in the old bearer cheques. The pros and cons of such a move are, in my humble view, better dealt with by someone with an economics background. Suffice to state that it is quite possible that the cost of introducing the new bearer cheques might be so colossal as to run into trillions of Zimbabwe dollars. Again, I am not too sure whether our battered economy is in a position to sustain such a huge expenditure in the midst of a debilitating foreign currency shortage coupled with galloping inflation.
Many people might have wondered why the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe appears to have taken such a central role in the government’s efforts to turn around the economic fortunes of our motherland. I have read numerous articles, particularly on the internet, that propound the argument that the Reserve Bank Governor is virtually the de facto Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. I leave readers to make their own evaluations as to whether or not the Reserve Bank Governor has gone outside the scope of his mandate in terms of both the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 22:15) and the Banking Act (Chapter 24:20).
However, for the benefit of my readers, I will briefly outline the core responsibilities of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which are clearly set out in section 45 of the Banking Act and these are:
To continuously monitor and supervise banking institutions to ensure that they comply with the provisions of the Banking Act;
To conduct investigations into any particular banking institution or class of such institutions, where the Reserve Bank considers such an investigation necessary, for the purpose of preventing, investigating or detecting a contravention of the Banking Act or any other law;
To monitor associates of banking institutions; and
To ensure that the banking institution complies with the provisions of the Banking Act.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is appointed by the President and he shall hold office for a maximum of two five-year terms. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s main responsibility is to regulate the monetary system in Zimbabwe and ensure that the financial operating environment is safe and sound.
It is beyond the scope of this article to analyse whether or not the present Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has gone beyond the powers of his legislative mandate of running the monetary system in Zimbabwe. Some critics have even suggested that the Governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is now also delving into fiscal policy issues that should be the preserve of the Minister of Finance. Some have gone even further to argue that the functions and responsibilities of the Minister of Finance have been subordinated to the functions and responsibilities of the Governor of the Reserve Bank.
The new currency system is thus meant to ensure the introduction of new bearer cheques that will facilitate an easier and more convenient method of doing business in Zimbabwe. As many people are now familiar with; due to the massive publicity campaign in both the print and electronic media, there are some limitations on the exchange of old bearer cheques. For instance, a trader, a parastatal or a person other than an individual – that is – a company is allowed to deposit or bring for exchange at any single financial institution a maximum of $5 billion or such other amount as the Reserve Bank may specify by notice to financial institutions generally. In the case of individuals, the maximum amount of money that one can deposit or bring for exchange between 1August 2006 to August 2006 is the sum of $100 million or such other amount as the Reserve Bank may specify to financial institutions generally.
The issue that has become of major contention these days is the problem being faced by people at police road blocks and border posts where searches are conducted on people, their luggage as well as their motor vehicles. There is growing concern the police officers, members of the National Youth Service (Green Bombers) and other security agents are subjecting people to humiliating and degrading searches as well as unlawfully confiscating their money.
In terms of Section 12 of Statutory Instrument 199 of 2006, no suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall be instituted against the government, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, a financial institution or any employee of the State, the Reserve Bank or a financial institution in respect of anything done by on or on behalf of the Government, the Reserve Bank or a financial institution with due diligence and in good faith, in the exercise of any power or other performance of any functions under the regulations.
This is a very controversial provision in that before anyone can succeed in instituting a legal suit against the Government, the Reserve Bank in terms of these regulations, he/she must be able to prove that the actions of the person(s) complained against were not performed with due diligence and in good faith.
In my view, it would be pretty difficult and expensive for an ordinary citizen to successfully prove that the actions of the person(s) complained against were performed without due diligence and good faith. This particular provision makes it virtually impossible for anyone to successfully institute legal action seeking redress for any harm that might be caused by government and/or Reserve Bank officials whilst they are enforcing the provisions of Statutory Instrument 199/2006.
It is my respectful submission that immunity should not be granted to anyone in any circumstances since this is tantamount to a severe attack on a citizen’s inherent Constitutional right to seek appropriate legal redress against the unlawful actions of agents of the State and/or quasi-governmental institutions in general.
To sum up therefore, Statutory Instrument 199 of 2006 is very controversial in more aspects than one and one really wonders whether it will be the panacea to the serious socio-economic and political problems that are presently making everyday life a nightmare especially for the ordinary Zimbabwean. Was this not a question of fire-fighting? Rushing to cure the symptoms of a disease instead of curing the main cause of the disease itself?
This particular Act of Parliament enables and empowers the President of Zimbabwe to make laws, albeit for a limited period of time, particularly in situations that require urgent legislative interventions which intervention might be so urgent that it cannot wait for the normal Parliamentary legislative process to run its full course. Put simply, therefore, the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, in a normal democratic dispensation, should be used sparingly.
The new currency regulations introduced a new currency system in Zimbabwe with effect from 1 August 2006 by basically introducing new bearer cheques and replacing the old bearer cheques – those bearer cheques that were issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe before 1 August 2006. In simple terms, all the old bearer cheques, including all the other old coins and notes, will cease to become lawful money at 12 midnight on Monday 21 August 2006 and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe shall not, on and after that date, be required to make payment to the holders of those bearer cheques and/or old coins and notes. On or after 12 midnight on 21 August 2006, no financial institution shall exchange or accept an old bearer cheque.
This situation can only be changed provided the President of Zimbabwe promulgates new currency regulations allowing the extension of the cut-off date from 21 August 2006 to another future specified date.
I am not too sure whether it was necessary to introduce the new bearer cheques whose main purpose is basically to remove the last three zeros in the old bearer cheques. The pros and cons of such a move are, in my humble view, better dealt with by someone with an economics background. Suffice to state that it is quite possible that the cost of introducing the new bearer cheques might be so colossal as to run into trillions of Zimbabwe dollars. Again, I am not too sure whether our battered economy is in a position to sustain such a huge expenditure in the midst of a debilitating foreign currency shortage coupled with galloping inflation.
Many people might have wondered why the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe appears to have taken such a central role in the government’s efforts to turn around the economic fortunes of our motherland. I have read numerous articles, particularly on the internet, that propound the argument that the Reserve Bank Governor is virtually the de facto Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. I leave readers to make their own evaluations as to whether or not the Reserve Bank Governor has gone outside the scope of his mandate in terms of both the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act (Chapter 22:15) and the Banking Act (Chapter 24:20).
However, for the benefit of my readers, I will briefly outline the core responsibilities of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which are clearly set out in section 45 of the Banking Act and these are:
To continuously monitor and supervise banking institutions to ensure that they comply with the provisions of the Banking Act;
To conduct investigations into any particular banking institution or class of such institutions, where the Reserve Bank considers such an investigation necessary, for the purpose of preventing, investigating or detecting a contravention of the Banking Act or any other law;
To monitor associates of banking institutions; and
To ensure that the banking institution complies with the provisions of the Banking Act.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is appointed by the President and he shall hold office for a maximum of two five-year terms. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s main responsibility is to regulate the monetary system in Zimbabwe and ensure that the financial operating environment is safe and sound.
It is beyond the scope of this article to analyse whether or not the present Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has gone beyond the powers of his legislative mandate of running the monetary system in Zimbabwe. Some critics have even suggested that the Governor of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is now also delving into fiscal policy issues that should be the preserve of the Minister of Finance. Some have gone even further to argue that the functions and responsibilities of the Minister of Finance have been subordinated to the functions and responsibilities of the Governor of the Reserve Bank.
The new currency system is thus meant to ensure the introduction of new bearer cheques that will facilitate an easier and more convenient method of doing business in Zimbabwe. As many people are now familiar with; due to the massive publicity campaign in both the print and electronic media, there are some limitations on the exchange of old bearer cheques. For instance, a trader, a parastatal or a person other than an individual – that is – a company is allowed to deposit or bring for exchange at any single financial institution a maximum of $5 billion or such other amount as the Reserve Bank may specify by notice to financial institutions generally. In the case of individuals, the maximum amount of money that one can deposit or bring for exchange between 1August 2006 to August 2006 is the sum of $100 million or such other amount as the Reserve Bank may specify to financial institutions generally.
The issue that has become of major contention these days is the problem being faced by people at police road blocks and border posts where searches are conducted on people, their luggage as well as their motor vehicles. There is growing concern the police officers, members of the National Youth Service (Green Bombers) and other security agents are subjecting people to humiliating and degrading searches as well as unlawfully confiscating their money.
In terms of Section 12 of Statutory Instrument 199 of 2006, no suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall be instituted against the government, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, a financial institution or any employee of the State, the Reserve Bank or a financial institution in respect of anything done by on or on behalf of the Government, the Reserve Bank or a financial institution with due diligence and in good faith, in the exercise of any power or other performance of any functions under the regulations.
This is a very controversial provision in that before anyone can succeed in instituting a legal suit against the Government, the Reserve Bank in terms of these regulations, he/she must be able to prove that the actions of the person(s) complained against were not performed with due diligence and in good faith.
In my view, it would be pretty difficult and expensive for an ordinary citizen to successfully prove that the actions of the person(s) complained against were performed without due diligence and good faith. This particular provision makes it virtually impossible for anyone to successfully institute legal action seeking redress for any harm that might be caused by government and/or Reserve Bank officials whilst they are enforcing the provisions of Statutory Instrument 199/2006.
It is my respectful submission that immunity should not be granted to anyone in any circumstances since this is tantamount to a severe attack on a citizen’s inherent Constitutional right to seek appropriate legal redress against the unlawful actions of agents of the State and/or quasi-governmental institutions in general.
To sum up therefore, Statutory Instrument 199 of 2006 is very controversial in more aspects than one and one really wonders whether it will be the panacea to the serious socio-economic and political problems that are presently making everyday life a nightmare especially for the ordinary Zimbabwean. Was this not a question of fire-fighting? Rushing to cure the symptoms of a disease instead of curing the main cause of the disease itself?
The Rule of Law in Post-Independent Zimbabwe
Senator Obert Chaurura Gutu was born on October 20, 1962 at Gutu Mission Hospital in Masvingo province. He is married with four children and is the Senator for Chisipite in Harare. He was educated at Fletcher High School in Gweru and at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) where he obtained BL (Hons) and LLB degrees.
He has just completed a Master of Philosophy degree at the UZ and the title of his thesis is: “The Rule of Law in Post-Independent Zimbabwe between the period 1980 to 2000: The Implications of the Observance and Non-Observance of the Rule of Law in the development of Constitutional Law”.
Senator Gutu joined the MDC in 2000 and at one time he was the organising secretary for Harare North district. He was elected Senator for Chisipite Senatorial constituency during the March 29, 2008 harmonised elections. He is the MDC Senate Chief Whip.
Senator Gutu is also a member of the MDC National Legal and Parliamentary and Information and Publicity committees. He has been in private legal practice in Harare since 1987 and is the founding and senior partner of Gutu and Chikowero Attorneys-at-Law. He has a passion for reading and research and is a columnist for a number of both print and online publications. Senator Gutu is one of the lawyers in Africa who has been engaged by the World Bank’s Doing Business project. He has prepared and submitted reports to the Monitoring and Analysis Unit Investment Climate Department of the World Bank.
Senator Gutu counts Shukokai karate, chess and golf amongst his hobbies. He is a member of Warren Hills Golf Club and a keen football fan.
He has just completed a Master of Philosophy degree at the UZ and the title of his thesis is: “The Rule of Law in Post-Independent Zimbabwe between the period 1980 to 2000: The Implications of the Observance and Non-Observance of the Rule of Law in the development of Constitutional Law”.
Senator Gutu joined the MDC in 2000 and at one time he was the organising secretary for Harare North district. He was elected Senator for Chisipite Senatorial constituency during the March 29, 2008 harmonised elections. He is the MDC Senate Chief Whip.
Senator Gutu is also a member of the MDC National Legal and Parliamentary and Information and Publicity committees. He has been in private legal practice in Harare since 1987 and is the founding and senior partner of Gutu and Chikowero Attorneys-at-Law. He has a passion for reading and research and is a columnist for a number of both print and online publications. Senator Gutu is one of the lawyers in Africa who has been engaged by the World Bank’s Doing Business project. He has prepared and submitted reports to the Monitoring and Analysis Unit Investment Climate Department of the World Bank.
Senator Gutu counts Shukokai karate, chess and golf amongst his hobbies. He is a member of Warren Hills Golf Club and a keen football fan.
NEPAD - an African dream gone awry?
THE New Partnership for Africa's Development was formed by African leaders, in Abuja, Nigeria, in October 2001.
The prime movers of the NEPAD project were Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olesugun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. NEPAD is basically a promise by African leaders, based on shared vision and beliefs, to urgently:
• eliminate poverty on the African continent;
• work towards the sustainable growth and sustainable development of every country on the African continent; and;
• actively participate in the global economy and political structures.
In layman"s parlance, therefore, NEPAD can be defined as an economic programme aiming at growth and sustainable development, eliminating poverty and ultimately empowering Africa to benefit from globalisation.
Indeed, as a concept, NEPAD is a brilliant programme; coming from Africa for the benefit of Africans living on the African continent and in the diaspora. NEPAD, at least on paper, is a vision and a programme of action for the socio-political and economic development of Africa.
I have absolutely no problem in accepting the concept of NEPAD as a welcome visionary approach in the management of the African body politic. However, it is my humble view that before embracing the very noble concept of NEPAD, Africa should go back to basics first.
As a starting point, Africa should first of all rid itself of political mistrust and intolerance, rampant corruption, poor governance and general abuse of basic human rights at a national level. If Africa fails to go back to basics first, the dream of NEPAD, like several other African dreams before it, will never see the light of day.
The concept of NEPAD is very tempting on paper. But then, Africa should not just conceptuliase brilliant ideas and programmes that are never followed by any serious implementation process. Put alternatively, African leaders should not only talk the talk but they should also walk the talk. For the dream of NEPAD to be realised, Africa should immediately reject its fragmented and half-hearted commitment to the international Bill of Rights as incorporated in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights.
NEPAD will always remain a pipedream if Africans fail to make it synchronise and harmonise with the basic values and notions enunciated in the African Union Charter. Almost six years after the formation of NEPAD, there is absolutely nothing one can identify, on the African continent, as having benefited from the NEPAD concept.
The African continent remains the poorest continent under the sun. Basic human rights continue to be flouted with reckless abandon by African dictators and rulers. Crises in Africa are continuing instead of dwindling. For instance, the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Western Sudan continues unabated. The African Union exists but what has it done to assist the helpless victims of state terrorism in the Darfur region? What has the African Union done about the worsening human rights crisis in Zimbabwe? Opposition politicians, trade unionists, student activists and now even lawyers continue to be "bashed" and abused but again; there is deafening silence from the African Union. And we seriously think and dream that NEPAD will help eliminate poverty on the African continent?
In order for the dream of NEPAD to be realised, the African Union should drive the concept more seriously. NEPAD should thus be aggressively driven by the African Union itself and not by the five or so African leaders who sanctioned it in October 2001. NEPAD should be accepted as a wholly African agenda and it must locate its core interest in the whole of Africa in order to benefit all Africans; be they living in Africa or in the diaspora. In my humble view, NEPAD should be legally reconstituted as part and parcel of the African Union Charter.
All members of the African Union should be compelled to be members of NEPAD. NEPAD should not be a voluntary exercise. It is a notorious fact that dictators always shun to become voluntary members of any institution where the observance of basic and fundamental human rights is strictly enforced and monitored. Put bluntly, dictators thrive in an environment that is not transparent and also in an environment that does not have any serious punitive measures against public officials who abuse basic human rights. It does not come as a surprise therefore that only ten of the SADC countries are full members of NEPAD. Zimbabwe is not one of them.
The crucial tool of NEPAD is the African Peer Review Mechanism. This tool should make African leaders commit themselves to behave responsibly when it comes to the observance of democratic values, sustainable economic management and conflict resolution. I make no apology in strongly advocating that NEPAD should make it compulsory for other African countries to interfere in undemocratic political systems such as the one presently obtaining in Zimbabwe.
Of course, dictators will always raise the argument of national sovereignty. My own view is that national sovereignty is not and cannot be absolute. There are basic standards and norms of good governance to which every member of both the African Union and NEPAD should be made to adhere . Hence, my argument that NEPAD should be made an integral part of the African Union. If a country is a member of the African Union, it should also become automatically a member of NEPAD and thus; submit itself to the African Peer Review Mechanism. Anything short of this will make NEPAD a complete white elephant.
I respect the NEPAD concept because at least for the first time in history, Africa is seeking to look forward and forget the past; not asking for foreign aid but for partnership. As Africans, our destiny is in our own hands. We should move ourselves away from being underdeveloped and excluded in a globalising world.
Surely, why should the majority of Africans continue to live in poverty and squalor when the African continent is endowed with so many natural resources? Why should we allow African dictators to continue to plunder our resources and to stash their loot in secret bank accounts in developed countries in Europe and North America? The time for African is NOW! Africa should refuse to be used and abused. Africans should wake up and smell the coffee! Put simply, Africa should refuse to be poor.
Whilst I accept that the developed world, particularly Europe, helped in the pauperisation of Africa, especially during the era of slavery and colonialism, we as Africans should now take responsibility of our own political and economic emancipation.
Yes, I agree that the G-8 has been part of Africa’s problems and thus it must be part of its solution. But as Africans, we should see to it that the NEPAD dream does not go awry NEPAD marks a new beginning for Africa. As Africans, we must see to it that within a specific time frame, the NEPAD dream is realised. Failure is not an option.
The prime movers of the NEPAD project were Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olesugun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria. NEPAD is basically a promise by African leaders, based on shared vision and beliefs, to urgently:
• eliminate poverty on the African continent;
• work towards the sustainable growth and sustainable development of every country on the African continent; and;
• actively participate in the global economy and political structures.
In layman"s parlance, therefore, NEPAD can be defined as an economic programme aiming at growth and sustainable development, eliminating poverty and ultimately empowering Africa to benefit from globalisation.
Indeed, as a concept, NEPAD is a brilliant programme; coming from Africa for the benefit of Africans living on the African continent and in the diaspora. NEPAD, at least on paper, is a vision and a programme of action for the socio-political and economic development of Africa.
I have absolutely no problem in accepting the concept of NEPAD as a welcome visionary approach in the management of the African body politic. However, it is my humble view that before embracing the very noble concept of NEPAD, Africa should go back to basics first.
As a starting point, Africa should first of all rid itself of political mistrust and intolerance, rampant corruption, poor governance and general abuse of basic human rights at a national level. If Africa fails to go back to basics first, the dream of NEPAD, like several other African dreams before it, will never see the light of day.
The concept of NEPAD is very tempting on paper. But then, Africa should not just conceptuliase brilliant ideas and programmes that are never followed by any serious implementation process. Put alternatively, African leaders should not only talk the talk but they should also walk the talk. For the dream of NEPAD to be realised, Africa should immediately reject its fragmented and half-hearted commitment to the international Bill of Rights as incorporated in the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights.
NEPAD will always remain a pipedream if Africans fail to make it synchronise and harmonise with the basic values and notions enunciated in the African Union Charter. Almost six years after the formation of NEPAD, there is absolutely nothing one can identify, on the African continent, as having benefited from the NEPAD concept.
The African continent remains the poorest continent under the sun. Basic human rights continue to be flouted with reckless abandon by African dictators and rulers. Crises in Africa are continuing instead of dwindling. For instance, the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Western Sudan continues unabated. The African Union exists but what has it done to assist the helpless victims of state terrorism in the Darfur region? What has the African Union done about the worsening human rights crisis in Zimbabwe? Opposition politicians, trade unionists, student activists and now even lawyers continue to be "bashed" and abused but again; there is deafening silence from the African Union. And we seriously think and dream that NEPAD will help eliminate poverty on the African continent?
In order for the dream of NEPAD to be realised, the African Union should drive the concept more seriously. NEPAD should thus be aggressively driven by the African Union itself and not by the five or so African leaders who sanctioned it in October 2001. NEPAD should be accepted as a wholly African agenda and it must locate its core interest in the whole of Africa in order to benefit all Africans; be they living in Africa or in the diaspora. In my humble view, NEPAD should be legally reconstituted as part and parcel of the African Union Charter.
All members of the African Union should be compelled to be members of NEPAD. NEPAD should not be a voluntary exercise. It is a notorious fact that dictators always shun to become voluntary members of any institution where the observance of basic and fundamental human rights is strictly enforced and monitored. Put bluntly, dictators thrive in an environment that is not transparent and also in an environment that does not have any serious punitive measures against public officials who abuse basic human rights. It does not come as a surprise therefore that only ten of the SADC countries are full members of NEPAD. Zimbabwe is not one of them.
The crucial tool of NEPAD is the African Peer Review Mechanism. This tool should make African leaders commit themselves to behave responsibly when it comes to the observance of democratic values, sustainable economic management and conflict resolution. I make no apology in strongly advocating that NEPAD should make it compulsory for other African countries to interfere in undemocratic political systems such as the one presently obtaining in Zimbabwe.
Of course, dictators will always raise the argument of national sovereignty. My own view is that national sovereignty is not and cannot be absolute. There are basic standards and norms of good governance to which every member of both the African Union and NEPAD should be made to adhere . Hence, my argument that NEPAD should be made an integral part of the African Union. If a country is a member of the African Union, it should also become automatically a member of NEPAD and thus; submit itself to the African Peer Review Mechanism. Anything short of this will make NEPAD a complete white elephant.
I respect the NEPAD concept because at least for the first time in history, Africa is seeking to look forward and forget the past; not asking for foreign aid but for partnership. As Africans, our destiny is in our own hands. We should move ourselves away from being underdeveloped and excluded in a globalising world.
Surely, why should the majority of Africans continue to live in poverty and squalor when the African continent is endowed with so many natural resources? Why should we allow African dictators to continue to plunder our resources and to stash their loot in secret bank accounts in developed countries in Europe and North America? The time for African is NOW! Africa should refuse to be used and abused. Africans should wake up and smell the coffee! Put simply, Africa should refuse to be poor.
Whilst I accept that the developed world, particularly Europe, helped in the pauperisation of Africa, especially during the era of slavery and colonialism, we as Africans should now take responsibility of our own political and economic emancipation.
Yes, I agree that the G-8 has been part of Africa’s problems and thus it must be part of its solution. But as Africans, we should see to it that the NEPAD dream does not go awry NEPAD marks a new beginning for Africa. As Africans, we must see to it that within a specific time frame, the NEPAD dream is realised. Failure is not an option.
Corrupt judicial officers will face the music
THE Constitution of Zimbabwe, under Chapter 8, provides for the creation of
the judiciary. The head of the judiciary in Zimbabwe is the Chief Justice
and the judiciary forms one of the three organs of the State; the other two
being the executive and the legislature.
The doctrine of separation of powers basically ensures that State powers are
not concentrated in any one organ of the State. It is not uncommon however,
particularly in totalitarian regimes, to have State powers unduly
concentrated in the executive arm of the State with the legislature and the
judiciary only being weak and severely compromised institutions.
An independent judiciary is the cornerstone of a democratic nation. It
naturally follows that an independent and fearless judiciary is a necessary
instrument in upholding the rule of law and the observance of human rights.
On the other hand, a biased, partisan and corrupt judiciary is the nemesis
of a democratic dispensation.
History is abound with examples of how dictators normally ensure the
subjugation and subordination of the judiciary in their quest to hold onto
power and thus, bastardise the rule of law. The rule of law is defined as
the respect for a set of legal rules and procedures ultimately aimed at
conforming to the requirements of the observance of basic fundamental human
rights. It cannot be over emphasised, therefore, that a judiciary that is
biased, inefficient, corrupt and lacking in independence is the very
foundation for the decay of democracy values and the emergence of
totalitarianism.
By deliberately providing for the establishment of the three organs of the
State, the Constitution of Zimbabwe sought to provide a system of checks and
balances where no one organ of the State should dominate and indeed,
frustrate the other.
The absence of an independent and fearless judiciary inevitably encourages
the supremacy of the law of the jungle i.e. where might is right. This is a
primitive and chaotic state of affairs where the guiding principle is the
survival of the fittest or put alternatively; the survival and economic
domination of the politically well-connected. Indeed, it is the antithesis
of the rule of law when the law of the jungle is left to rule the roost.
It is a fact that the world's most politically stable and economically
vibrant nations are invariably those that have a fearless and independent
judiciary. A judiciary that is emasculated tends to be weak, biased and
corrupt. Such a judiciary will be a purveyor of injustice, oppression and
general misrule.
In Zimbabwe, we should never allow our judiciary to be compromised and also
to be seen to be prone to abuse by politicians and some other such
characters who are keen to push forward their undemocratic agendas. A
judiciary which fails to fearlessly articulate, defend and uphold the basic
human rights of citizens is a betrayal of the people. Such a judiciary
inevitably becomes a catalyst to the sustenance of a dictatorship.
An independent and fearless judiciary should go out of its way to prove that
everyone is equal before the law. Such a judiciary should instil the
people's confidence in the legal system of Zimbabwe and it should be
uncompromising when it comes to the upholding and enforcement of the rule of
law.
Recently, the country witnessed a very sad and unfortunate development in
which all the learned magistrates in Manicaland province refused to preside
over the criminal trial of the Minister of Justice mainly because a certain
named top government official had threatened all the magistrates with
unspecified harm and had also accused the magistrates of being members of a
certain opposition party.
Surely, such a state of affairs is a very sad indictment on the level of
fear that is found in some members of the judiciary. How then can we talk
about the rule of law in Zimbabwe when magistrates in the whole province of
Manicaland were so afraid of presiding over the criminal trial of the
Minister of Justice? This is a shame!
An independent and fearless judiciary is the main champion of justice and
fairness. It is the ultimate authority for the enforcement and observance of
human rights and the rule of law. A judiciary that takes ages to deal with
election petitions inevitably compromises its integrity and its impartiality
in the minds of all right-thinking people. A judiciary that slavishly take
sides with the whims and designs of the executive arm of the State at the
expense of the enforcement of basic human rights is a disgrace to the
generality of Zimbabweans.
All court cases, be they politically connected or not; deserve to be handled
with speed, efficiency, competence and extreme impartiality. A situation
were litigants wait for unduly long periods of time before their cases are
heard and finalised, particularly in election petitions, is a negation of
the people's fundamental human rights. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Because of the overwhelming importance of the judiciary in a democratic
dispensation, judicial officers should be persons of unquestionable
integrity, competence and professionalism. It is my humble view that there
should be a rigorous screening and selection process before someone is
appointed to the judiciary; particularly to the High Court and Supreme Court
benches.
We might have to learn from the example of South Africa where all persons
ear marked for appointment as judges have to appear before a parliamentary
committee as part of the screening process. The parliamentary committee
consists of members from all political parties represented in Parliament.
This committee scrutinises and debates the suitability of candidates before
they can be appointed to a high judicial office such as to be a High Court
judge, Supreme Court of Appeal judge or a judge of the Constitutional Court.
Preferably, therefore, only persons who have an illustrious and outstanding
record in any relevant legal context, should be appointed to a high judicial
office.
Judicial officers should shun corruption. A corrupt judiciary is extremely
dangerous for it can be abused and manipulated by powerful and influential
people; including the fabulously rich and the politically well-connected.
The example of the Kenyan judiciary is apt. Not too long ago, the Chief
Justice and twenty three other senior judges in Kenya had to resign after
findings from the Ringera Report were presented to President Kibaki. The
Ringera Report contained damning details of corruption and abuse of power
within the Kenyan judiciary.
The majority of the judges implicated in corrupt dealings opted to resign
rather than to be probed by a tribunal as recommended by the Honourable
Justice Ringera's report.
Judicial officers in Zimbabwe should view the Ringera report as a warning
signal. The time shall soon come when all incompetent, inefficient and
corrupt officers will face the music. The people are angry. Very, very
angry!
Obert Chaurura Gutu is a Gutu & Chikowero lawyer. He can be contacted on
e-mail gutulaw@mweb.co.zw
the judiciary. The head of the judiciary in Zimbabwe is the Chief Justice
and the judiciary forms one of the three organs of the State; the other two
being the executive and the legislature.
The doctrine of separation of powers basically ensures that State powers are
not concentrated in any one organ of the State. It is not uncommon however,
particularly in totalitarian regimes, to have State powers unduly
concentrated in the executive arm of the State with the legislature and the
judiciary only being weak and severely compromised institutions.
An independent judiciary is the cornerstone of a democratic nation. It
naturally follows that an independent and fearless judiciary is a necessary
instrument in upholding the rule of law and the observance of human rights.
On the other hand, a biased, partisan and corrupt judiciary is the nemesis
of a democratic dispensation.
History is abound with examples of how dictators normally ensure the
subjugation and subordination of the judiciary in their quest to hold onto
power and thus, bastardise the rule of law. The rule of law is defined as
the respect for a set of legal rules and procedures ultimately aimed at
conforming to the requirements of the observance of basic fundamental human
rights. It cannot be over emphasised, therefore, that a judiciary that is
biased, inefficient, corrupt and lacking in independence is the very
foundation for the decay of democracy values and the emergence of
totalitarianism.
By deliberately providing for the establishment of the three organs of the
State, the Constitution of Zimbabwe sought to provide a system of checks and
balances where no one organ of the State should dominate and indeed,
frustrate the other.
The absence of an independent and fearless judiciary inevitably encourages
the supremacy of the law of the jungle i.e. where might is right. This is a
primitive and chaotic state of affairs where the guiding principle is the
survival of the fittest or put alternatively; the survival and economic
domination of the politically well-connected. Indeed, it is the antithesis
of the rule of law when the law of the jungle is left to rule the roost.
It is a fact that the world's most politically stable and economically
vibrant nations are invariably those that have a fearless and independent
judiciary. A judiciary that is emasculated tends to be weak, biased and
corrupt. Such a judiciary will be a purveyor of injustice, oppression and
general misrule.
In Zimbabwe, we should never allow our judiciary to be compromised and also
to be seen to be prone to abuse by politicians and some other such
characters who are keen to push forward their undemocratic agendas. A
judiciary which fails to fearlessly articulate, defend and uphold the basic
human rights of citizens is a betrayal of the people. Such a judiciary
inevitably becomes a catalyst to the sustenance of a dictatorship.
An independent and fearless judiciary should go out of its way to prove that
everyone is equal before the law. Such a judiciary should instil the
people's confidence in the legal system of Zimbabwe and it should be
uncompromising when it comes to the upholding and enforcement of the rule of
law.
Recently, the country witnessed a very sad and unfortunate development in
which all the learned magistrates in Manicaland province refused to preside
over the criminal trial of the Minister of Justice mainly because a certain
named top government official had threatened all the magistrates with
unspecified harm and had also accused the magistrates of being members of a
certain opposition party.
Surely, such a state of affairs is a very sad indictment on the level of
fear that is found in some members of the judiciary. How then can we talk
about the rule of law in Zimbabwe when magistrates in the whole province of
Manicaland were so afraid of presiding over the criminal trial of the
Minister of Justice? This is a shame!
An independent and fearless judiciary is the main champion of justice and
fairness. It is the ultimate authority for the enforcement and observance of
human rights and the rule of law. A judiciary that takes ages to deal with
election petitions inevitably compromises its integrity and its impartiality
in the minds of all right-thinking people. A judiciary that slavishly take
sides with the whims and designs of the executive arm of the State at the
expense of the enforcement of basic human rights is a disgrace to the
generality of Zimbabweans.
All court cases, be they politically connected or not; deserve to be handled
with speed, efficiency, competence and extreme impartiality. A situation
were litigants wait for unduly long periods of time before their cases are
heard and finalised, particularly in election petitions, is a negation of
the people's fundamental human rights. Justice delayed is justice denied.
Because of the overwhelming importance of the judiciary in a democratic
dispensation, judicial officers should be persons of unquestionable
integrity, competence and professionalism. It is my humble view that there
should be a rigorous screening and selection process before someone is
appointed to the judiciary; particularly to the High Court and Supreme Court
benches.
We might have to learn from the example of South Africa where all persons
ear marked for appointment as judges have to appear before a parliamentary
committee as part of the screening process. The parliamentary committee
consists of members from all political parties represented in Parliament.
This committee scrutinises and debates the suitability of candidates before
they can be appointed to a high judicial office such as to be a High Court
judge, Supreme Court of Appeal judge or a judge of the Constitutional Court.
Preferably, therefore, only persons who have an illustrious and outstanding
record in any relevant legal context, should be appointed to a high judicial
office.
Judicial officers should shun corruption. A corrupt judiciary is extremely
dangerous for it can be abused and manipulated by powerful and influential
people; including the fabulously rich and the politically well-connected.
The example of the Kenyan judiciary is apt. Not too long ago, the Chief
Justice and twenty three other senior judges in Kenya had to resign after
findings from the Ringera Report were presented to President Kibaki. The
Ringera Report contained damning details of corruption and abuse of power
within the Kenyan judiciary.
The majority of the judges implicated in corrupt dealings opted to resign
rather than to be probed by a tribunal as recommended by the Honourable
Justice Ringera's report.
Judicial officers in Zimbabwe should view the Ringera report as a warning
signal. The time shall soon come when all incompetent, inefficient and
corrupt officers will face the music. The people are angry. Very, very
angry!
Obert Chaurura Gutu is a Gutu & Chikowero lawyer. He can be contacted on
e-mail gutulaw@mweb.co.zw
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