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“Zimbabwe Today” by Robb WJ Ellis (16-03-2011)

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2011-03-16 Time: 06:00:05  Posted By: The BeardedMan

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated…

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I do note, with some disappointment, that Nehanda Radio editors continue to ignore my emails to remove my work from their website. (I have chosen not to place a link to that website as I have no want to increase their readership at my expense.) Not only have they decided to put their own headline to my work, but they have copy-protected the article.

As far as I am concerned, the only person that can change the headline or protect the work, is myself.

But this is an example of the attitude that some Zimbabweans have when ‘writing’ on the internet.

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The more I read into this, this more I realise that this is an eventuality that was not foreseen when the regulations were first written up.

I suppose that the removal of an individual as Speaker is not something that happens very often, and Moyo now finds himself no longer Speaker, no longer an MP and just a normal member of the public.

Mugabe and his inner sanctum must be clapping their hands with glee.

Lovemore Moyo's re-election bid for Speaker of Parliament has been dealt a major blow after he was told: “You can't vote.”

Moyo, deposed last week after the Supreme Court ruled his August 2008 election as Speaker had broken voting rules, was hoping to vote in the closely-balanced vote set for March 22 after legal advice suggested he could still revert to being MP for Matobo North.

But the Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma said on Tuesday: “The Matobo North constituency was held by Moyo up to the date he was elected Speaker.

“In terms of the constitution once one is elected Speaker, that person ceases to hold a seat in Parliament.

“The sequence of events is that he resigned and declared the seat vacant and a by-election is pending for that seat. He does not revert to be MP.

“As at the date of the ruling of the Supreme Court, Lovemore Moyo is now an ordinary member of the public.“

What this does reveal is the failure by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), a Mugabe organisation that handles elections in Zimbabwe, to carry out even one of the outstanding by-election in Zimbabwe since the March 2008 election.

Why have by-elections not been held – apart from the obvious, that the voters’ roll is hugely flawed with names of centurions included on the list together with babies in arms?

Legal analysts have been debating the implications of the Supreme Court ruling in relation to Moyo's old constituency.

New Zimbabwe.com columnist and law expert Alex Magaisa said: “The key point for present purposes is that there was no by-election in Matobo North constituency to replace Moyo.

“The question remains: would, having been deposed by virtue of a judgment declaring the Speaker's election invalid, a person who was an MP be able to reclaim his seat? In other words, did he lose his seat when he became Speaker by virtue of an invalid election or does he revert to his position as an MP now that the Supreme Court says he was never properly elected in the first place?

“It would be odd if a person in Moyo's position were to suffer what would in effect be double-jeopardy on account of a flawed election that was not his fault. If a court of law finds that the election was irregular and invalid, it is tantamount to saying there was never an election in the first place.

“To my mind, the loss of an MP's seat that is provided for under section 41 (1) (g) is predicated on the validity of his election to the position of Speaker. If it is invalid, he cannot be lawfully regarded as having been duly elected.

“The effect of the Supreme Court's decision is not only that he is no longer Speaker but that he never was on account of a flawed election. It would be unfair and ridiculous in my opinion if a person who obeyed the command of his fellow MPs were to lose out on both the Speakership and his parliamentary seat simply because the election, which he had no control over, is later found to have been flawed.“

Whatever the outcome, the MDC, once again, are under pressure to perform – nay, outperform, ZANU PF when it comes to retaining seats and holding their own. However, in this case, I do believe that they will find themselves outgunned.

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And let battle commence…

The Welshman Ncube led Movement for Democratic Change will field Paul Themba Nyathi as the contestant for the vacant position of speaker of parliament.

The position fell vacant after a Supreme Court ruling that the speaker Lovemore Moyo of the mainstream (MDC-T) led by Morgan Tsvangirai, had been elected improperly in 2008.

“Paul Themba Nyathi is a charismatic character with unquestionable credentials to restore sanity in the house of assembly. A number of MDC-T and ZANU PF legislators have great respect for Paul Themba Nyathi and none of the level headed legislators in our house of assembly dispute the candidature of Nyathi. As the MDC we respect the Supreme Court ruling which we think should serve as a lesson for habitual cheats and fraudsters who have the habit of getting into positions of authority through the back door,” said the party in a statement.

“It's unfortunate that a party that calls itself a party of excellence has turned out to be a party of fraudsters and pseudo democrats “ read the statement signed by party spokesperson Kurauone Chihwai.“

And we have to consider that the faction issuing such a statement is the MDC. Language like this does nothing to help the situation – especially when we remember that in the initial election for Speaker, the smaller faction had struck a deal with Mugabe’s ZANU PF to bring in Nyathi, but their own members decided to vote for Moyo.

Who are ‘fraudsters and pseudo democrats’ now?

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Jonathan Moyo is a known hate vendor. He was elected in March 2008 as the sole independent MP – but didn’t waste too much time in dropping the facade and returned to the ZANU PF fold, and now is considered, once again, a senior member of Mugabe fractious party.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the deposed Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo have “opened themselves to a clear and unambiguous risk of prosecution” following their attacks on the Supreme Court, Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo (ZANU PF) said on Tuesday.

Tsvangirai accused Supreme Court judges of being “a willing appendage of ZANU PF” and the former Speaker said the judges were “loyal and faithful to the cause of ZANU PF” after they nullified Lovemore Moyo's 2008 election.

Both now face the possibility of being charged with contempt of court.

The Tsholotsho North MP, a member of the ZANU PF politburo whose court application ended in the Speaker’s ouster, said Tsvangirai and Moyo “have a right to attack and disagree with judgements but no right to attack judges”.“

What of the decisions made by the courts that show a definite leaning towards ZANU PF?

As I have written about before, there is a policeman in Zimbabwe who is out on a US$100 bail for murder, but other people, sympathetic to the MDC cause, find themselves without bail, held on charges that are much less serious than murder.

One is a Prime Minister of Zimbabwe who has taken an oath to respect and uphold the laws of the country. The rule of law he preaches also means accepting that judges have a responsibility to interpret the law, no-one else can claim to have authority in interpreting the law except the courts,” Moyo said.

“Tsvangirai has done what nobody else in the executive has ever done. He has undermined not only the rule of law, but his own claims to be a champion of democracy and rule of law and proven that he has no respect or understanding of the rule of law.

“No-one will listen to him in future when he preaches about the rule of law because to him that means the rule of MDC-T.“

Just like an empty vessel, Moyo is very loud in his protestations.

The Attorney General Johannes Tomana is said to be considering bringing charges against the Prime Minister and the former Speaker – an action that could further strain relations in an already tense governing coalition with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party and a rival MDC faction led by Welshman Ncube.

Tsvangirai was furious after the Supreme Court last week voted 3-2 to nullify Lovemore Moyo's election as Speaker, after finding that MPs from MDC-T had been compelled to display their votes in what was supposed to be a secret ballot.

Tsvangirai stormed: “This decision is a clear reflection of the state of affairs on the Bench. A judiciary which in the post-Dumbutshena and post-Gubbay era has largely discredited itself by becoming a willing appendage of ZANU PF.

“Dubious and pro-executive decisions have been made in this era. We will not accept the decisions of some ZANU PF politicians masquerading as judges. ZANU PF is trying to use the courts to subvert and regain what it lost in an election.“

In a land where the government is supposedly democratic, it would appear that the freedom of expression only applies to those that are pro-Mugabe.

Moyo said: “If these were ZANU PF judges doing ZANU PF's bidding, this guy (Tsvangirai) would be six feet under by now. He is forgetting very quickly. We in ZANU PF were furious that he got away, but we did not call judges MDC-T appendages.

“To be sure, citizens in a democracy have a constitutional right to disagree with judgements, but they have no right to cast aspersions and attack the integrity of judges.

“We can attack judgments but not judges. Attacking judgements is part of advancing democratic space because it brings out views which the judge might not have taken into account and helps in future cases.

“Judgments are not gospel truths, they are not biblical. They are legal. What is legal today may not be legal tomorrow.“

Moyo likes to twist words and come out with all manner of veiled threats. The reference that Tsvangirai should be ‘six foot under‘ is not lost entirely. Moyo is unable to say much without the prerequisite threats.

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When the Mugabe administration charges any person in Zimbabwe with a crime, they are really not that concerned about the final result, but they are more than happy to have the charge hanging over their head – even if they are looking for nothing more than occupying the minds of those so charged.

If we were to look at the conviction rate against those who Mugabe fells have sinned against him, the success rate is very low.

High Court Judge Justice Samuel Kudya on Tuesday ripped through the State case against Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma describing it as ‘weak’ as he granted bail to the troubled Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Deputy Treasurer-General.

Justice Kudya ruled that the State's case against Mangoma, who was arrested and detained last week for alleged criminal abuse of duty appears to be weak and would not induce Mangoma to abscond as had been feared by the State.

“But it seems to me that in the absence of evidence that the applicant personally benefited from the deal, his actions were prompted by a national crisis. As Minister responsible for energy all Zimbabweans looked up to him to provide a quick solution to the problem. His well meaning response to a national emergency may prove highly mitigatory.

“Courts do accept that at times paths to hell are often paved by good intentions. Those good intentions may prove highly mitigatory,” said Justice Kudya as he delivered his ruling in a packed court room on Thursday afternoon.“

However, bail was set at US$5000 and Mangoma is to report weekly to police.

So, on a ‘weak’ case, bail is set fifty times as high as the bail for a policeman charged with murder… It makes you think, huh?

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is the leader of the MDC-T last week complained about the arrests of his party officials and activists in the past two months since the beginning of this year. The premier said the violence and arrests of his party activists were being orchestrated by state security institutions.

“From January 2011 up to today, we have seen an increase in incidences of violence and assaults on the people of Zimbabwe. This has included the destruction of people's homes and property in Mbare and the displacement of 1 200 MDC cadres,” Tsvangirai said.

“The violence in Mbare coincided with the massive deployment of soldiers to terrorise innocent civilians in the countryside. People are being force-marched to attend rallies and there has been an upsurge in cases of intimidation and State-sponsored violence in the countryside.”

Tsvangirai said the clampdown on his party is reminiscent of 2008 deadly violence that led to over 200 of his supporters being killed towards the presidential run-off. He said ZANU PF supporters accused of the murders are yet to face any prosecution.

“ZANU PF cadres and securocrats who murdered people in the run-up to the 27 June election are roaming free and no criminal charges have been pressed against the murderers of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika and the other 200 victims of the 2008 violence,” he said.“

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The 10 MDC members who were arrested on Sunday night at the MDC headquarters, Harvest House are still remanded in custody at the Harare Central Police Station. They are facing false charges of assaulting an unidentified person.

Let me get this right. A pro-Mugabe policeman is out on a US$100 bail for murder, and an MDC minister is out on a US$5000 bail on what the court describes as a ‘weak; case, but 10 MDC members are held without bail on suspicion of assaulting someone, but they don’t know who…?

In Nyanga district, Manicaland province, five MDC members who were in remand prison on allegations of political violence were today granted bail. Paul Mawadza, Zivanai Chimbudzi, Freedom Kanjira, Chamunorwa Mukoto and Andrew Nyabasa were each granted a US$50 bail by a Nyanga magistrate.

It is obvious, without being any kind of legal boffin, that rulings on criminal cases in Zimbabawe are heavily dependent upon the accused person’s political membership.


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It would appear that the majority of stories in today’s posting are about court cases. It is alleged that the ZANU PF leader is unleashing a new programme of harassing and hassling the MDC to the point where they have little more option in the coalition government than to pull out.

This, however, is not guarantee that Mugabe and his people will back off.

Gokwe-Kabuyuni MP Costin Muguti (MDC-T), who is reportedly ill and was due to undergo pelvic surgery, will spend the next seven days in remand prison after the state invoked Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act to deny him bail.

Prosecutor Ndamuka Chikuni invoked the contentious section on Monday soon after magistrate Tendai Mahwe had granted the MP $50 bail.

Muguti's lawyer Reginald Chidawanyika had applied for bail on Monday when the MP first appeared in court following his arrest on March 8 for alleged public violence.“

Do the maths… Invoking Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure & Evidence Act and, as a result, delay the surgical requirement of an accused person accused of public violence – and that violence is supposed to be verbal… It really does not compute, does it?

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Take care.

‘debvhu

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Source: http://thebeardedman.blogspot.com/2011/03/wednesday-16th-march-2011.html