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I have noted press reports stating that I was elected to the National Executive of the faction of the MDC which held its Congress in Bulawayo on the 25th and 26th February 2006. This is not correct. In letters written to both Morgan Tsvangirai and Gibson Sibanda dated the 20th February 2006 I gave notice that I would not be attending either Congress of the two factions and would not seek election, nor accept nomination, to either Executive of the two factions, pending the finalisation of my attempt to assist in achieving an amicable settlement of the dispute between the two factions. I stated to both Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Sibanda that once that process is over I will then, at that stage, decide where my political home will be. I recognise that this decision may well result in me not having an Executive position in future but believe that it is important that someone should at least try to reconcile the two factions.

I did not attend the Congress in Bulawayo over the weekend and am accordingly surprised that I am reported as having been elected. I presume that a mistake must have been made.

The Honourable Mr David Coltart MP
Bulawayo South

The Herald
Herald Reporter

As the feuding MDC factions head for a final split with the election of a new president by one of the camps set for Sunday, the party’s secretary for legal affairs, Mr David Coltart has come up with what he calls a “five-point plan” to manage an amicable split.

Regarding his proposal, Mr Coltart, who has refused to align himself to either camp, indicated yesterday that he was still consulting with leaders of both factions but had proposed that both camps agree on:

- the addition of a suffix or prefix to their party names so that no group has an unfair advantage over another;

- how to share party properties;

- neither faction approaching the Speaker of Parliament seeking the removal of any MPs to precipitate by-elections;

- neither group using the MDC’s open palm symbol as that might give them an unfair advantage; and

- the groups reaching an agreement on the use of party slogans.

The troubled opposition party - whose long-simmering disagreements were brought to the fore by sharp differences over participation in last year’s Senate elections - was torn into two openly antagonistic camps that are scheduled to hold separate congresses over the next four weeks.

The rift is bound to widen as the camp led by deposed leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is set to lose out on the $8 billion in State funds the party got under the Political Parties Finance Act since the Gibson Sibanda-led group is adamant that it is the bona fide MDC.

The development follows communication sent to party secretary general Professor Welshman Ncube by the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, advising him of Government’s intention to release the MDC share to him.

The Chronicle
Harare Bureau

THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction is set to lose out on the $8 billion State funds the opposition party got as its share under the Political Parties Finance Act.

When the first congress of the MDC was held in January 2000 very few people would have predicted that the ZANU PF regime would be prepared to go to such extreme lengths to hold onto power. Very few people anticipated that so many MDC activists would suffer at the hands of the ZANU PF regime as they have in the last six years. Over 300 MDC supporters had been murdered in cold blood. Hundreds of MDC supporters had been tortured. Thousands of MDC supporters have been arrested, detained and prosecuted for spurious “offences”. Virtually every single MDC leader of any consequence has also been arrested and prosecuted. These cases ranged from the high profile treason or murder cases involving the likes of Morgan Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube and Fletcher Dulini Ncube to literally thousands of other cases involving rank-and-file members who were charged with breaching fascist laws such as POSA.

During the same period the ZANU PF regime did all it could to subvert the electoral process and to frustrate the will of the Zimbabwean electorate. Accordingly it was necessary to challenge these unlawful actions through the courts to expose the fraudulent conduct of the regime. In this regard some 39 electoral challenges were brought following the June 2000 general elections, a major electoral challenge was brought challenging Robert Mugabe’s election in March 2002 and some 15 electoral challenges were brought following the March 2005 general elections. They were numerous supplementary applications brought around these cases, such as the application brought to the Supreme Court to obtain a copy of the electronic/computer version of the voters roll.

It has always been very important to remind Zimbabweans that the current fascist order Zimbabweans are subjected to is not the norm and that the MDC has a vision for a new Zimbabwe which embraces the rule of law, democracy, transparency and freedom. Integral to that vision has been the development of a justice policy which was the responsibility of the legal affairs Department. A concomitant role was to use Parliament as a forum to explain the MDC justice policy and the MDC’s vision for a new constitution and a new democratic order in Zimbabwe. The legal affairs Department provided the MDC caucus with input in this regard.

A justice is not only achieved in the courts; it is achieved as well through the rehabilitation of the victims of human rights abuses. In this regard the legal affairs Department has worked very closely with churches, other civic organisations and the MDC welfare officers to identify MDC members who have suffered materially and psychologically at the hands of the regime. In the course of the last two years several hundred victims have been identified and a programme is under way to help these MDC members pick up the pieces of their lives through, for example, the reconstruction of their homes. This is a massive programme which will require the raising of billions of dollars if the plight of all of these victims is to be addressed.

MDC Legal Affairs Department Report 2000 to 2005

Peta Thornycroft

The recent split in Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change has the country’s opposition in disarray. However, a potential new leader has moved into view.
Arthur Mutambara is a former student leader who is now recognized as one of Africa’s most prominent scientists.

Fifteen years ago at the University of Zimbabwe he lead the student opposition to the ruling Zanu PF.

According to records at the university he was a brilliant engineering student, who won every scholarship he applied for.

After completing his doctorate at Britain’s Oxford University he went on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and became professor at several other universities in the United States. Unlike many African academics, Mutambara was always determined to return to Africa.

Over the weekend he arrived back in Zimbabwe from Johannesburg where he heads up an African scientific institution for talks with leaders of one faction of the MDC. Some in this faction want him to make himself available as a candidate for the top job, as president.

Late Monday he confirmed his re-entry into Zimbabwe politics, and said he hoped the enthusiasm of a new leadership which he said was untainted by current disagreements, would make unification of the two factions of the MDC possible.
According to the MDC’s constitution any one of the 12 provinces would have to nominate him and authorized delegates to the party’s congress next Sunday will vote for a new president.

Should he get the necessary nomination, and win the vote, analysts say his political past, intellectual prowess and reputation as a leader, would do much to revive Zimbabwe’s stalled opposition politics and could lead to the two factions re-uniting.
The faction of the MDC lead by party president Morgan Tsvangirai declined to comment on Mutambara’s sudden re-entry into Zimbabwe’s opposition political scenario.

New Zimbabwe

A FACTION of Zimbabwe’s divided opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) loyal to party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has petitioned Zimbabwe’s Speaker of Parliament to ignore parliamentary appointments made by an opposition faction last week.

Innocent Gonese, was the MDC’s parliamentary chief whip until a faction loyal to Tsvangirai’s deputy, Gibson Sibanda, replaced him with Kwekwe MP Blessing Chebundo soon after gaining control of the parliamentary party last week.

Sibanda also unveiled a new shadow cabinet. The group claims the support of 23 MPs from the 41 MDC MPs in Zimbabwe’s parliament.

Parliamentary sources told New Zimbabwe.com Thursday that Gonese had written to John Nkomo, the Speaker of Parliament, urging him to ignore the appointments and “maintain the status quo”.

“Gonese basically urged the Speaker to maintain the status quo until advised otherwise,” said one parliamentary source.

He added: “The sum total of this development is that it places the Speaker in a quandary as to which side to listen to, having received two conflicting claims from two groups from the same party.”

Nkomo and his deputy Kumbirai Kangai were not in Parliament this week and it remains unclear if Gonese’s intervention will be taken seriously.

New Zimbabwe.com understands that Bulawayo South MP, David Coltart, who has declined to align himself with any of the factions is approaching both groups with a five-point plan to secure an “amicable divorce”.

The areas that the two groups need to agree on include:

o The addition of a suffix or prefix by both groups to the party name so that one group does not have an unfair advantage through the use of the party name.

o Agreeing on how to share the party properties

The Zimbabwean
by Paul Themba Nyathi

EDITOR - JR Mutare makes false and unsubstantiated claims against Professor Welshman Ncube, the MDC Secretary General. He casts negative aspersions on Professor Ncube’s integrity as a leader and makes malicious allegations that are clearly meant to project him as an unreliable and manipulative character, who went into negotiations with Zanu (PF) without the approval of his party. He also tries to project Ncube as someone who is in the habit of doing things behind the backs of his colleagues.
We state the true facts surrounding the much talked about informal dialogue with Zanu (PF), for the benefit of JR Mutare and others, who might have also been falsely made to believe that Ncube went into negotiations with the ruling party without approval from his party. He was appointed in his capacity as the Secretary General of MDC, by the National Executive, to head the party’s negotiating team with Zanu (PF). After the collapse of the formal dialogue facilitated by the Secretary General of the African National Congress, Kglema Montlante and a representative from President Olusegun Obasanjo, it was felt that the only realistic and available option to resolve the country’s national crisis was through a negotiated settlement.

In order to clear the ground for a formal dialogue with the ruling party, it was proposed and agreed by the National Executive that Ncube engage his counterpart Patrick Chinamasa. It was agreed that the constitution should be revisited. The two therefore negotiated around the content of a new constitution which could be used as a gateway to fresh elections.

During the entire process Ncube briefed both Morgan Tsvangirai and Gibson Sibanda weekly and obtained their consent to each part of the draft constitution as it evolved.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe News
By Lance Guma

A war of words has erupted between government Chief Whip in parliament Joram Gumbo and opposition MP David Coltart over a report by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) regarding Zimbabwe’s human rights situation. Coltart moved a motion in parliament commending the ACHPR for adopting a resolution on human rights violations in the country but Gumbo insists the motion is not well researched.

On Thursday last week Gumbo told parliament the AU Council of Ministers threw the report back to the commission saying they failed to follow procedures at the summit in Sudan last month. He insists a confidential document was circulated at the summit and was discussed before being rejected by the Ministers. Coltart on the other hand says his motion specifically relates to the resolution passed by the ACHPR in Banjul, the Gambia in December last year and not the AU itself. In an interview with Newsreel on Tuesday Coltart says the government was trying to save face using a technicality.

The motion on the order paper was clearly an embarrassment to them and hence the unprecedented step of trying to remove it. He says in the six years he has been an MP no single motion has ever been removed from the order paper in parliament and this alone served to highlight just how desperate government was in trying to hide their human rights record. Although the AU Ministers have not adopted the report yet, the African Commission tasked with investigating the matter came up with a critical report condemning Zimbabwe human rights record. This according to Coltart is the most important factor to consider.

Sydney Morning Herald
By Rochelle Mutton in Johannesburg

THE problem with Zimbabwean money is that in the hyper-inflated economy, notes have become worth less than the paper they’re printed on.
To try to keep up with runaway inflation, Zimbabwe’s central bank has released a new $Z50,000 note.
Word on the street is to spend it quickly. As the Zimbabwe dollar has been notoriously prone to counterfeit, the new $Z50,000 note - technically a cheaply printed “bearer’s cheque” - expires at year’s end.
But a use-by-date is hardly necessary, with the Reserve Bank governor warning that inflation will soon nudge 800 per cent.
Upon issue, the new note carried the buying power of only a loaf of bread, a kilogram of mealie (the staple maize meal), or about three eggs - none of which are in guaranteed supply. In Zimbabwe, $Z50,000 converts to about 40 Australian cents at the official exchange rate.
Featuring a gaudy, Monopoly-like print of the Victoria Falls, this latest complement to the Zimbabwe currency is fast being associated with “a plunging precipice”, in a light-hearted email doing the local rounds.
The Opposition legal affairs spokesman, David Coltart, said Zimbabwe needs a $Z5 million note.
“The rate inflation is going, it will be in need of replacement before it has even been distributed to all the banks throughout the country,” he said. “The new note buys an absolute maximum of five litres of fuel, sold at old prices, but as from late last week it probably would only buy between two and three litres.”
Zimbabwe is in the throes of economic hemorrhaging, with unemployment at about 80 per cent, power failures, chronic fuel shortages and about 4.3 million people reliant on international food aid this year.
The International Monetary Fund, which has been holding talks in Harare this month, has called for improvements in governance, liberalisation of currency exchange rates, strengthening of property rights and reform of inefficient, corrupt and dept-ridden state enterprise and government bodies.
Since white-owned farms were seized in 2000 - devastating the economy - the IMF has suspended all loan programs to Zimbabwe.

The Herald
Herald Reporter

GOVERNMENT Chief Whip Cde Joram Gumbo has castigated Bulawayo South MP Mr David Coltart (MDC) for misleading the House of Assembly on the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) position on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

Cde Gumbo told the Assembly on Thursday that contrary to claims by the opposition lawmaker, the commission had not adopted a resolution condemning the country’s human rights record. This followed a motion moved by Mr Coltart that ACHPR had adopted a resolution on alleged human rights violations in Zimbabwe.

Cde Gumbo said the AU Council of Ministers threw back a report by the commission imploring the AU to condemn Zimbabwe on alleged human rights abuses after the ACHPR failed to follow procedures at the summit held in Sudan last month.

“The truth of the matter is that a confidential document was circulated at the summit and was discussed and rejected by the AU Council of Ministers,” he said.

“We must respect this House by moving well-researched motions and this motion should not be allowed to remain on the order paper.”

The ruling party legislator said Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Simba-rashe Mumbengegwi or Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa would next Tuesday issue a ministerial statement clarifying the ACHPR position on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.

The commission had produced resolutions on human rights violations against Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Democ-ratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.