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Nkala promises to spill the beans

HARARE - An explosive memoir being written by Zimbabwe’s former defence minister and founding ruling party bigwig Enos Nkala, 74, scoffs at claims that Hebert Chitepo’s murder was arranged by the troika of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith, Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and South African President John Vorster.
In a candid chronicle, Nkala dismisses the official version that Smith recruited a Scotsman in Salisbury, now Harare, to carry bomb parts into Zambia and blow Chitepo away.
Chitepo’s widow Victoria also disputes this version.
In an embargoed memoir that will only be published following his death, Nkala brings to light, for the first time, details of the gruesome assassination of the lawyer-cum-politician, who many back then viewed as the charismatic alternative to Mugabe as leader of Zimbabwe.
"It is a frank journal that will expose some people, you know, what they did during the liberation struggle. It is a controversial book that is why I will only have it published after I am dead. Sometimes it is better to know some unpleasant truths …when the person is gone,” Nkala said, refusing to confirm reports that there was “growing political pressure on him” not to write the memoir.
He said he was aware that there were many “false and convenient reports” swirling around the murder of Chitepo, whom he described as an “astute politician” who made history by becoming the first black advocate in southern Africa.
Chitepo, a top liberation war strategist, died when a car bomb planted under the driver’s seat in his VW Beetle detonated as he was trying to reverse the car from the garage of his Zambian house on March 18 1975.
Nkala said his book would embarrass some people, but he was entitled to exercise his intellectual freedom.
The memoir also contains a critique of a report of the Special International Commission on the assassination of Chitepo, which was commissioned by former Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda, in Lusaka, 1976. The report fingers the late Zanla commander, Josiah Tongogara; current minister of Economic Development, Rugare Gumbo, who was then secretary for information and publicity; Henry Hamadziripi, Kumbirai Kangai, and Mukudzei Mudzi as the people responsible for assassinating Chitepo. The report claims Chitepo was a victim of a tribal power struggle within the party.
The report claims Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru’s liberation war name) supplied the bomb that blew Chitepo to smithereens. Tongogara was the commander of ZANU’s guerrilla forces in exile at a time of dangerously high ethnic tensions within the movement, between Chitepo’s Manyika clan of the larger tribal Shona grouping, and Tongogara’s Karanga clan.
Nkala said he was writing the book to “set the record straight.” In his memoirs, he also reveals how Tongogara was killed. No autopsy results or photographs of Tongogara’s body were ever released, leading to further speculation. A CIA briefing two days later described Tongogara as a potential political rival to Mugabe because of his “ambition, popularity and decisive style”. On the same day, the US embassy in Zambia issued a statement saying, “Almost no one in Lusaka accepts Mugabe's assurance that Tongogara died accidentally. When (our) ambassador told the Soviet ambassador the news, the (latter) immediately charged 'inside job'.”
Nkala said his book would “answer many questions” and “step on a lot of toes.”



Massive WOZA, MOZA demos end in 180 arrests

BULAWAYO – More than 180 members of WOZA and its newly-formed brother organisation, MOZA, were arrested in Bulawayo on Monday, including 13 mothers with babies who were released that evening, along with 26 minors.
More than 700 members of the two organisations took to the streets in Harare and Bulawayo to protest against the Reserve Bank's Operation Sunrise.
WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams said some 450 members participated in the demonstration in Bulawayo and about 250 marched in Harare, but no arrests were reported there.
Lawyers were finally granted access late Monday afternoon and were able to ensure food could be brought in. Under the notorious Public Order Security Act (POSA) the brave members can be held for up to 48 hours before being charged. They are routinely finger printed and photographed before being brought to court for a
remand hearing.
WOZA reports that initial discussions with the officers in charge of Law and Order indicated that police were seeking to charge the group under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which came into effect at the end of July. If found guilty, the group face a level five fine or up to five years imprisonment. This would be the first time any protestors would have been so charged.
The group has also been split up – with some members been taken to other police stations around Bulawayo, including Mzilikazi, Sauerstown and Queen Park. Many
have remained at Central where conditions are terrible but morale is still high.
WOZA said many members handed themselves over to the police in solidarity but Praise, a WOZA poet and vocalist, was denied entry into the cells, as she was told that she would make too much noise. Despite the absence of the lead singer, those arrested sang lustily “Gono we want real money” hoping that their voices would carry the
block separating them from the Reserve Bank.
Over 30 men from Men of Zimbabwe Arise (MOZA) were also in custody and competing with WOZA in ensuring their message is heard loud and clear. In fact, riot police had to be brought into the cells to quieten down the detainees.
The police vehicles were also severely overloaded. Whilst transporting those under arrest to Central, the tailgate of one vehicle flew open and a woman fell out. Lawyers are still trying to locate this woman who has since disappeared.
In both cities the protestors intended to hand over an open letter to RBZ governor, Gideon Gono, and in case they were arrested along the way, were distributing copies as they walked. Bystanders came forward to take copies and were shouting encouragement to the women.
As they marched, the group sang a song by Lovemore Majaivana saying that this country has no money - ‘lelilizwe alilamali’.
Williams, said the organisation was particularly irked by the seizure of money from individuals by the police and youths aligned to the ruling party.
"Nothing could be so disgusting. What we are saying is that the government should stop brutalising its own people over its own failures. The illegal confiscation of peoples' money should stop forthwith and sound policies that will ensure economic stability should be put in place," she said. - Own correspondent/ZimOnline



Give him seven years - AG

BY GIFT PHIRI
HARARE - The chairman of a state-owned bus company who solicited for a US$85,000 bribe from the owner of a bus-manufacturing firm that had a contract to supply coaches should serve far longer than the three-year minimum prison term he was given, a magistrate court heard here on Monday.
Harare magistrate Lillian Kudya sentenced Charles Nherera to an effective two years in custody after wholly suspending one year of the term at the end of a high profile corruption trial that has also sucked into its vortex junior deputy Information minister Bright Matonga.
Law officers representing the Attorney General told the court in a landmark appeal that the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) boss should serve at least seven years so as to send a strong signal that government was serious about fighting corruption.
The law officers said the sentencing magistrate was too lenient and had given Nherera too much credit for pleading guilty to accepting the US$85,000 bribe from businessman Jahesh Shah of Gift Investments who was seeking a tender to supply buses.
At Rotten Row Magistrates Court, he had pleaded guilty to receiving US$5,000 for each bus and asked the magistrate that she offers him an option for a fine since the state did not suffer any prejudice.
Law officers said Nherera’s crime was “almost beyond comprehension.” He had blatantly abused his position. The officers said in their submission that he had “no option but to plead guilty” because of the “overwhelming and unassailable evidence” against him.
If the AG manages to tighten Nherera’s prison term, it could lead to a shake-up in rules that give shorter prison terms to corruption offenders who enter an early guilty plea.
“The sentence must reflect society’s abhorrence of what he did. There is no doubt that Nherera is a corrupt man who abused his position even on his own admission.”
Nherera, who is said to be close to President Robert Mugabe, is also the vice chancellor of Chinhoyi State University.



I am starving as Mugabe lives like a king

BY WILSON BUTETE

HARARE - Over one year after her house was destroyed by state agents during Operation Murambatsvina, Tendai Mwoyoweshumba has not known a roof over her head.
She sleeps on the pavement along Jason Moyo Avenue with her two year-old child outside a famous food outlet with her stomach almost empty.
She survives on left-overs from this store’s clients. She has been unable to locate her husband since their rented cottage in Mbare high density suburb was demolished by authorities during the operation estimated to have displaced more than 700 000 people and left them without any source of income.
She describes her husband as someone who was very caring and could provide for her.
“He is someone who could take great care of me and my kid but at times life is very unfair – you lose such a person and you don’t know whether you are going to meet him again,” she explained her situation with tears rolling down her cheeks like rivulets at the peak of the rainy season.
“When our house was destroyed by the police and army, my husband had gone to look for a part-time job since he was not gainfully employed and I had to sell second-hand clothes in kumakorokoza (gold panners) near Kwekwe. When I returned, all I saw were piles of rubble at what used to be our home. I lost all my belongings including my identity documents in the mishap,” explained Mwoyoweshumba.
“I then sought refuge here (in the street) because I had nowhere to go. My parents were of Malawian origin but they all died before they could take us to Malawi to show us where we originally come from and right now we don’t even know anyone or anywhere there,” added the woman.
“I don’t begrudge my husband for he is in the same predicament as I am in. He came from Mozambique with his parents when he was still young. He also doesn’t know his roots neither does he know where I am. There is no means of communication as we were all displaced, but I continue to pray that one day we will be together again aaaand,” said Mwoyoweshumba who could not continue as she started crying again.
With unemployment hovering around the 80 percent mark, Mwoyoweshumba says she has no hope of finding a job and currently has no source of income.
“I used to buy food with money that I beg for here but people no longer have it owing to the ongoing blitz in the financial sector.”
She can no longer practice vending because urban council by-laws prevent her from doing so, and although she tried to secure accommodation under the government’s accelerated housing delivery program, codenamed Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, all her efforts were in vain.
“We were asked to pay registration fees and I could not find a cent. I am just surviving by the grace of God and what worries me most is that most of the beneficiaries of Operation Garikai are those in Zanu (PF) and their immediate friends and relatives”.
“I have been reduced to a pauper when in actual fact I could fend for my family, despite the economic hardships in Zimbabwe. How can a government that claims to represent the interests of the people goes ahead to violate the interests and wishes of those same people? Those who sanctioned Operation Murambatsvina are living in villas like kings yet we, the people who voted them into office, are destitute. Honestly, this is unheard of in a democracy!” she fumed.
But Mwoyoweshumba is not the only one in this situation; the Combined Harare Residents Association’s acting chairperson Israel Mabhoo says hundreds of people are still homeless in and around Harare.
Mabhoo said those who were displaced by the government-sponsored exercise in Mbare and sought refuge on the shores of Mukuvisi River continue to receive eviction threats from authorities while those living in Glen-Norah’s former home industries area have also been told to vacate immediately or face forceful eviction.
“Several people have no accommodation as we speak. Some have to pile their valuable items worth millions of dollars in a single room offered by friends or relatives and the quality and value of the items continue to deteriorate as they are not being stored properly,” said Mabhoo.
Mabhoo said the right to property, including decent accommodation as guaranteed in the United Nations Human Rights Charter, has been taken away by the Harare administration.
Local government minister Ignatius Chombo says all those without accommodation will soon have a roof over their heads.
“We are encouraging everyone who needs a place to stay or stand to contact our offices so that we can deal with these matters as a block and that would assist the government in planning effectively for its people,” said Chombo.
Mabhoo dismissed these comments as rubbish.


No political will to tackle corruption – MDC

BY GIFT PHIRI

HARARE - Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has scoffed at the arrest of the head of Zimbabwe’s state-run grain company on charges of corruption saying government’s blitz was only harvesting “small fish.”
Samuel Muvuti, the acting chief executive officer of the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), was arrested last Friday and charged under the country’s Prevention of Corruption Act. He is alleged to have used workers from the grain company to work on his private farm in northern Zimbabwe. The GMB boss allegedly paid the workers close to Z$1 million out of GMB funds.
The MDC said the arrest of Muvuti confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that the ruling Zanu (PF) party was the “breeding ground of corruption” and unbridled political patronage.
“The MDC believes that his arrest is a token attempt by a cornered regime to be seen to be taking action on a serious scourge that has taken root in the higher echelons of Zanu (PF) and the government,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.
“The MDC is convinced that this regime has no genuine political will to tackle graft and unmitigated theft that has become the hallmark of this government. Muvuti and ZUPCO boss (Charles) Pearson Nherera are just but small fish in a bigger pond replete with corrupt sharks and tigers.”
The arrest of Muvuti, the head of a key parastatal, comes hard on the heels of the incarceration of Nherera, a chairman of a state-owned bus company on charges of soliciting for a US$85 000 bribe from a manufacturer of buses seeking a tender to supply coaches .
In a speech earlier this month President Robert Mugabe, whose government is pursuing an anti-corruption drive - warned his lieutenants that wrongful self-enrichment will not be allowed to go unpunished.
However, Chamisa said the blitz has only netted small fish as big fish have tended the escape the net.
“Until the ministerial sharks and Zanu (PF) politburo tigers are targeted and brought to account, the war against corruption will be mere rhetoric and sloganeering,” Chamisa said. “Zanu (PF)’s so-called anti-corruption crusade is merely targeting the small fish and leaving the bigger fish to continue looting state resources with reckless abandon.”
Known government and Zanu (PF) officials have been implicated in the looting of farms and farming inputs, the War Victims Compensation fund and the Pay-For-Your-House scheme but they continue to freely roam the corridors of government, the MDC spokesman said.
An explosive UN report has named several cabinet ministers and senior army personnel in the looting of diamond in the DRC while one of Mugabe’s close relatives has reportedly received kickbacks from those who constructed the Harare International Airport.
“Everything has been swept under the carpet while small fish continue to be sacrificed on the altar of political expediency,” Chamisa said. “The nation has not lost its memory and still believes that all these cases should be revisited if this regime is serious in tackling corruption.”
The recently formed Anti-Corruption Commission still has no functioning office, landlines and other basic requirements to enable it to meet its constitutional mandate.
“A genuine commitment to arrest unbridled corruption would basically mean this regime would have to incarcerate itself,” Chamisa said.