Newsday

21 October 2010

By Mernat Mafirakurewa

Last month Finance minister Tendai Biti revealed shocking statistics that ministers in the inclusive government were ignorant of technology with a mere 10% bothering to open and use e-mail addresses.

He said some ministers even raised a storm over the amount of money allocated to the Information Communication Technology (ICT) ministry arguing that the portfolio was unimportant, if not irrelevant.

“I was shocked when I realised that less than 10% of Cabinet ministers have email addresses,” he said.

“I circulated a document to them under the pretext that I wanted to increase allowances, I was shocked that most of them did not have e-mails.”

However, the tide is changing, with several politicians from MDC-99, MDC-T, Zanu PF, Mavambo and MDC-M having started embracing online social networking to spread their political agenda.

With nearly 1,5 million people in Zimbabwe having some form of access to the Internet, it is clear that there is critical mass of people that politicians can access.

In addition, there are many Zimbabweans who turn to Facebook to stay updated on political developments in the country.

MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai currently has over
56 000 friends on Facebook setting a platform for him to push his political message.

Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, leader of MDC-M, has close to 5 000 friends while his secretary-general, Welshman Ncube, who has been linked with a bid to topple him at the next congress, has just over 400 friends.

A quick search for the profile of President Robert Mugabe’s showed several Mugabe profiles, an indication that people were using his name to create fake profiles.

Prominent politicians that have taken to social networks in Zimbabwe include ICT Minister Nelson Chamisa, David Coltart and Simba Makoni.

A cursory survey of the politicians’ Facebook postings showed that politicians address the mundane to the serious in their postings.

In one of his recent postings on Facebook, Nelson Chamisa, who is also MDC T spokesperson, said: “A dark political cloud is forming in Zimbabwe.

The storm looks inevitable . . . We are in God’s ever capable hands”.

A day before the Warriors’ match against Cape Verde, Saviour Kasukuwere, Zanu PF deputy youth secretary, wrote on his Facebook wall:

“Looking forward to victory.

Go, Warriors, go”.

Other politicians were even using the social network to advance their business interests.

Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Obert Gutu, posted that “once a lawyer . . . always a lawyer: Kindly be advised that Gutu & Chikowero Attorneys-at-Law is now live on Facebook.”

Gutu is also an avid Arsenal supporter. Finance minister Tendai Biti in his posting of September 26, acknowledged the importance of prayer.

“Good people I trust that as we continue executing this struggle against dictatorship and autocracy you all recognise the importance of prayer,” read his posting.

Job Sikhala, the leader of MDC-99 has also been using the social network to advance his party’s views on issues such as violence and the constitution- making process.

In his recent postings Sikhala said: “I wish to warn all mandarins, zealots and rascals from Zanu PF currently terrorising people in Masvingo in the current diabolical and murderous ‘Operation Kubudirana Pachena’ that I’m coming down there to defend the masses and I’m prepared for everything and anything.

For the record, I will be in Masvingo starting tomorrow. I intend to weed out these pests.”

Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn, led by former Zanu PF stalwart and one-time preferred successor to President Mugabe Simba Makoni, has also created a Facebook page with links to the party’s website.

Mavambo, through the social network, said the right to own land and right to education were the two key objectives of the liberation struggle.

“Landless peasants, whose sons and daughters formed half of the freedom fighters, were fighting primarily for land,” reads part of former Education minister Fay Chung’s posting on the wall.

www.nzfgw.org.nz

By Esther Watt, NZFGW Fellow

21 October 2010

My year at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, studying for the LLM has been amazing. Academically, the year has been challenging and very rewarding. I took four papers relating to areas of my interest. Although the LLM paper in which I had hoped to write my thesis was unavailable this year, I was able to examine key aspects of criminal justice and human rights through the Civil Liberties and Philosophy of Criminal Law LLM papers.

The Civil Liberties paper looked at a wide range of issues, including the right to life, terrorism, privacy, freedom of speech, equality and discrimination. This paper involved intense class discussion about the state of the law in these contentious areas. Fortuitously, at the time of the class discussion around right to life and euthanasia, the Director of Public Prosecutions for England was seeking submissions from the public on guidelines he intended to provide relating to the discretion to prosecute in cases of assisted suicide. A group of around eight interested students from the class, including myself, decided to put together a submission to the DPP on the subject. This was one of the more rewarding tasks I have undertaken. We met several times as a group as well as undertaking individual research and analysis. The task involved many hours of discussion between individuals who felt passionate about the issue, often from very different perspectives. The challenge was to take these disparate views and mould them into a cohesive submission on an issue that is inherently fraught. The completion of the submission brought a great sense of achievement to the group.

The Philosophy of Criminal Law paper has been another highlight of the year. It was taught in part by Professor Andrew Simester, one of the authors of the textbook assigned to undergraduate students of Criminal Law in New Zealand, “Principles of Criminal Law” by Simester and Brookbanks. The course involved philosophical analysis of questions of criminal law, such as attempts liability, the harm principle and whether purely offensive conduct should be prohibited. The discussion, led by inspiring academics, required the members of the class to think about these issues on a deeper theoretical and jurisprudential level and develop arguments of principle, often about the relationship between criminal law and morality.

In addition to the academic aspects of the year, Cambridge has provided a wealth of extracurricular opportunities. These have included completing the submission on voluntary euthanasia to the DPP, volunteering to provide assistance to members of the Cambridge community, and attending talks given by inspiring people such as David Coltart, the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture of Zimbabwe, the Hon Judge Kevin Barker of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Lord Sacks, the Chief Rabbi.

I have been involved in the women’s branch of the Cambridge University Student Union and attended a dinner to celebrate 30 years of women at Caius, attended by 3 very impressive speakers who attended Caius in the early days of women’s admission and each of whom has achieved to the highest level of her chosen profession.

It has been both motivating and humbling to attend a College previously attended by Francis Crick, John Venn of the eponymous diagram, Stephen Hawking and Lord Cooke of Thorndon. It has been a wonderful experience to study at a University so steeped in tradition. As well as the invaluable academic and extracurricular experiences it has provided, I have met and made firm friendships with students from all over the world, which I know I will maintain for life. I am very grateful to the NZFGW and itsmembers for its support, without which I would not have been able to undertake the LLM at Cambridge.

Esther is one of the worthwhile recipients of an NZFGW Fellowship.

Newsday

20 October 2010

By Phillip Chidavaenzi and Veneranda Langa

Within the forbidding prison complex, Rudo Masara (not her real name), sits silently, her vacant eyes gazing into the future, now just a wasteland.

For a year now, she has been in this grim dungeon of Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, to which society has banished her to serve penance for her sins.

She is awaiting the executioner, but she has no idea of the date her fate is going to be sealed.

Her crime rules out the possibility of a presidential amnesty, too. In just one sweep of fate, her life was blown away like a spider web after she, in a fit of rage, knifed her husband’s girlfriend to death.

The justice system, which overlooked the wrong done to her, went after her for taking a life.

The system cannot be moved by her remorse, or the unmistakable sincerity of her appeal, which rips you apart: “I was wrong in what I did. I want to tell society that I have now learnt my lesson.”

But this is perhaps a lesson learnt too late, because her fate is now sealed.

Just like her, some of her prisonmates on death row may also have repented of their evil but then, the die has been cast, irrevocably.

While revoking the death penalty might not happen in her lifetime — that is if she is still on death row (given that she doesn’t even know her execution date) — those she will leave behind may just be lucky if Amnesty International Zimbabwe (AI)’s campaign to have the death sentence annulled succeeds.

The human rights watchdog recently wrote to Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Emmerson Mnangagwa and the two secretaries for legal affairs from the MDC parties, Innocent Gonese (MDC-T) and David Coltart (MDC-M) to sweet-talk their supporters into advocating for the erasure of the death penalty from the country’s statutes.

“The creation of a new constitution presents a golden opportunity for Zimbabwe to join the worldwide movement of countries that have abolished the death penalty . . . Of the 52 states in the African Union, 49 did not carry out any executions during 2008 and 2009,” reads part of the letter.

Outspoken clergymen and director of Jesuit Communications in the Catholic Church, Father Oskar Wermter, says the death penalty is a violation of the sanctity of human life.

“My attitude and that of the church is that there should not be a death penalty because life is sacred, and even the life of a criminal is sacred,” said Wermter.

Pastor Erasmus Makarimayi concurs, saying the justice delivery system needs to be watertight because there were many people who had been wrongfully jailed. He says God’s primary desire is to allow humanity to turn to Him and He is ever ready to extend His forgiveness.

The Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Obert Gutu describes capital punishment as barbaric and primitive. Legal empirical research done in different countries, he says, has revealed that the death sentence was not a deterrent to serious crime.

“When you look at the modern jurisprudential approach, the death penalty has been frowned upon globally and that is the modern approach,” says Gutu.

“My opinion is that in any civilised society the death penalty should not be upheld. The question is if we sentence serious offenders to death, do we necessarily curb crime?”

Gutu says for more than 10 years now, there have been 57 people on death row; something he says is in itself psychological torture.

Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister, Advocate Eric Matinenga, says death sentence should be erased from Zimbabwe’s statutes but, if it has to be used, it has to be a last resort.

“Sometimes you might think a conviction is proper but later discover that you made a mistake when the person is already dead and there is no way it can be reversed,” says Matinenga.

South Africa, which has one of the highest crime rates in the world, has since abolished the death sentence.

Capital punishment is provided for in Section 12 of the Zimbabwe Constitution which states: “ . . . it shall be lawful for a person to be killed following a death sentence imposed on him/her by a court”.

The death penalty was originally instituted in the pre-civilisation era among primitive societies during which laws were handed down orally and applied in a subjective and arbitrary way by chiefs.

It was applied mainly for crimes such as murder, high treason and sacrileges.

A number of African countries including Burundi, Djibouti and Rwanda, had also removed this law.

Zimbabwe now stands alone after her neighbours – Angola, Namibia and Mozambique – also decided to go the civilised way.

But for the likes of Masara, whose country is yet to consider scrapping the law, the waiting remains, and so does the uncertain future.

Newsday

By Fortune Moyo

19 October 2010

Patrick Nabanyama, who disappeared after being abducted at the beginning of Zimbabwe’s political turmoil in 2000, has finally been declared dead.

The declaration was officially made on August 11, but the announcement was made by his wife Patricia Nabanyama only Tuesday.

She immediately applied for private prosecution of her husband’s alleged murderers.

Nabanyama was a polling agent for David Coltart in the volatile June 2000 parliamentary election.

Coltart is now the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.

Nabanyama was reportedly kidnapped by suspected state security agents and war veterans from his home on June 19, 10 years ago.

In June 2000, a gang of up to 10 armed suspected Zanu PF activists, driving a white Mazda truck with no number plates, reportedly descended on Nabanyama’s house and abducted him.

He was reportedly beaten and bundled into the vehicle which drove off at high speed. Since then he has never been seen.

Provincial magistrate Rose Dube announced the declaration.

“After reading all the documents, Patrick Nabanyama is declared dead,” reads the order.

Nabanyama’s wife yesterday applied for a private prosecution of the remaining six accused persons who were implicated in her husband’s kidnapping.

A private prosecution follows when the Attorney General (AG) officially declines to prosecute for whatever reason and then issues a nonne proseqie, a certificate that allows one to engage any other lawyer or prosecutor, other than the AG, to deal with the case.

A private prosecution cannot proceed without the certificate.

Nabanyama’s wife processed the application to the AG’s Office supported by the Zimbabwe Victims of Organised Violence Trust (ZVOVT), an organisation representing victims of political violence.

The application, a copy of which is in NewsDay’s possession, states that it is being made in terms of Section 16 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act Chapter 9:07.

“I have noted with grave concern that your office has failed and/or refused to prosecute the individuals listed below with the offences of murder and/or kidnapping. In the face of your failure to do so, I request your offices to issue a certificate in terms of section 16 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act Chapter 9:07, so that a way is paved for a private prosecution of the said individuals,” reads the letter.

“The deceased Patrick Nabanyama was my husband and in terms of Section 13 and 14 (c) of the same Act, I believe I am well within my rights to pursue this case in this manner. The individuals concerned are Stanley Ncube, Ephraim Moyo, Julius Sibanda, Simon Rwodzi, Mr Moyo and Ngoni.”

Bekithemba Nyathi, the Trust’s secretary, emphasised the matter be dealt with urgently.

“As an organisation, we would hope and pray that this matter be treated as urgently as possible so that the matter is prosecuted to its logical conclusion and, above all, to afford Mrs Nabanyama and her family deserved peace of mind, free from the nightmares she has to live with every day knowing her husband’s alleged killers or kidnappers continue to walk free without any form of sanction for their alleged roles in her husband’s gruesome death,” he said.

ZVOVT recently demanded a fresh inquest and prosecution of the six surviving war veterans accused of kidnapping and murdering Nabanyama.

Victims of political violence, civic groups and the two MDC parties have said justice is a prerequisite to a successful national healing process for the country.

Chronicle

18 October 2010

Chronicle Reporter

THE Ministry of Public Service has called for the fast-tracking of the re-engagement of temporary teachers.
In an interview, Minister of Public Service, Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, said there was a shortage of teachers in schools and there was an urgent need for the Ministry to speed up the re-engagement of temporary teachers.
“We are aware that some schools have a shortage of teachers and we do not want any schools to go without teachers. The process of re-engaging temporary teachers is slow, but I talked to the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Senator David Coltart and he is looking into the issue, ” he said.
He said the Ministry did not want to compromise standards in schools, therefore there would be particular care in the teachers that are re-engaged.
At the beginning of the second term, the Public Service Commission (PSC) stopped hiring temporary teachers.
More than 20 000 posts held by unqualified teachers were left vacant, leading to some schools operating with skeleton staff.
The Government later resumed engaging temporary teachers but the process is slow and many schools are still faced with serious staff shortages.
Rural schools in the country are operating with skeleton staff with Matabeleland North facing a shortage of more than 230 teachers.
Minister Mukonoweshuro said the country has lost many qualified teachers due to the mass exodus and temporary teachers were needed to fill the gap.
“Many of our teachers have left the country because of the dire economic challenges and this has left a huge gap, we cannot operate without temporary teachers,” Minister Mukonoweshuro said.
He noted that the most affected subjects are Mathematics and Science.
He also urged all temporary teachers with terminated contracts to report to their respective district officers to renew their contracts.
This setback comes at a time when secondary pupils are about to sit for their public exams.

The Standard

17 October 2010

By Nqobani Ndlovu

BULAWAYO — A human rights organisation representing victims of political violence has written to the Attorney General (AG) demanding a fresh inquest and prosecution of six surviving war veterans accused of kidnapping and murdering MDC activist Patrick Nabanyama in 2000.
The Zimbabwe Victims of Organised Violence Trust (ZIVOVT) is also demanding that the AG’s office retrieve past court records — which have miraculously disappeared — for the prosecution of the accused war veterans.

Nabanyama, who was a polling agent for the Minister of Education, Sport, Art and Culture David Coltart in the volatile June 2000 parliamentary polls, disappeared after he was kidnapped by suspected state security agents and war veterans from his home on  June 19 the same year.
Nine war veterans — Cain Nkala, Stanley Ncube, Ephraim Moyo, Julius Sibanda, Edward Ndlovu, Howard Ncube, Simon Rwodzi, a Mr Moyo and Ngoni were arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Nabanyama.

They were acquitted in 2001.
Nkala was later kidnapped and killed by suspected state security agents after he indicated that he was ready to spill the beans as to what had actually happened to Nabanyama.
Edward Ndlovu and Howard Ncube are also late.
Nkala was buried at the National Heroes’ Acre.

ZIVOVT officials told The Standard last week that they were now pushing for a fresh inquest and prosecution of the surviving war veterans accused of kidnapping Nabanyama.
“We went to look for the court records last week but we could not get them,” said Bekithemba Nyathi, ZIVOVT information officer. “The case was not concluded but surprisingly the records have miraculously disappeared. Court officials have told us that they sent the records to the archives.”
He added, “We have written to the AG (Johannes Tomana) seeking the records and demanding a fresh inquest and prosecution of the accused.”
The human rights organisation is chaired by Patience, Nabanyama’s widow.
She said, “We are pursuing the case with a view to prosecute the surviving war veterans. Our agenda is to pursue justice.
“As a family and organisation, we want the arrest and prosecution of the surviving war veterans who kidnapped my husband. We will not rest until there is justice…we want to know where they took him and why they took him.”
Attorney General Johannes Tomana could not be reached for comment last week.
The MDC-T has said over 200 of its supporters were killed by suspected security agents in the run-up to the June 2008 violent elections. The party last year forwarded names of the victims and those of the suspected murderers to the AG’s office for prosecution but up to now no one has been charged.
ZIVOVT, an organisation that seeks to assist victims of politically-motivated violence in Zimbabwe was launched recently in Bulawayo.
It brings together all victims of political violence regardless of their political affiliation or gender.
Critics say the formation of the ZIVOVT shows that victims of political violence are frustrated by the government process of justice, national healing and reconciliation which has hitherto not yielded any results.
Victims of political violence, civic groups and the two MDC formations have however said that justice is a prerequisite to a successful national healing process for a country.
But President Robert Mugabe recently called for a blanket amnesty to all perpetrators of past violence saying arresting perpetrators would derail efforts of the inclusive government to embark on a national healing and reconciliation process.

The Zimbabwean

By Paul Ndlovu

13 October 2010

HARARE – The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture has issued directives to his subordinates to use US$10 million that lay unutilised at the treasury to acquire learning materials for secondary schools in the country.

Senator David Coltart said he came to know about the funds lying idle at the treasury when he met finance minister, Tendai Biti, two weeks ago. Coltart said that since the matter came to his attention he issued directives that the money be used to buy learning material for secondary schools in the country.

“All of it would go towards secondary schools. We are working on a budget for that cause,” he said. Primary schools are currently benefiting from 13 million books printed under the Educational Transition Fund (ETF). Secondary schools are expected to benefit fully under the fund’s second phase and the minister said he expected to reach a 1:1 student-textbook ration in key subjects by June next year.

Minister Coltart said that Phase two for the ETF was in the pipe line. “On Wednesday I had consultative meetings with all the Provincial Education Directors (PEDs) to review phase one, which was the distribution of textbooks for primary schools. Our second meeting will be held on 30 September and will centre on discussions around hase two, which will be the production of textbooks for secondary schools,” he said.

Coltart said the ministry was working on making sure that rural schools received their books before the rainy season. “The book distribution is a running programme as we speak,” he said. The education minister said apart from textbook production, phase two would also concentrate on rehabilitating sanitary facilities in schools. “I can’t say all the schools because that is subject to the raising of adequate funds for the process,” he said.

According to the Senator, the treasury had allocated US$1,3 million for the acquisition of 73 vehicles that would be given to District Education Officers (DEOs) around the country. The minister said the ministry observed that the problem of levies was alleviated by less supervision to police the system, making it necessary to purchase the vehicles to be driven for checks. “The DEOs had no reliable means of transportation to use when travelling to schools,” he said.

The Zimbabwean

12 October 2010

BULAWAYO – As the late Welshman Mabhena was buried at  Lady Stanley Cemetery on Saturday, his relatives lamented the torture that the departed politician suffered under Zanu before the Unity Accord of 1987.

Family spokesman, Norman Mabhena told The Zimbabwean: “The assault by Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives and other pro Gukurahundi activists, under the control of President Robert Mugabe, was severe. Welshman’s incarceration at Eiffel Flats and Kadoma Prison led to a decline in his health.”
Asked to comment on Norman’s accusations, David Coltart, a lawyer who represented many ZAPU cadres responded, “In 1985, after the election, Zanu (PF) targetted the ZAPU leadership. They detained Edward Ndlovu, Sydney Malunga, Welshman Mabhena, Steven Nkomo, Johnson Ndlovu, and other leaders. I was instructed to represent Edward Ndlovu and Sydney Malunga.
“In the second half of 1986, the trial began. Welshman Mabhena had been detained all this time. We were told that it was for his own security, because he was going to be the principal witness against them. As the lead witness, his first act was to say, ‘What is written in these statements is a lot of nonsense because it has been tortured out of me.’ He then gave great detail about the way in which he had been tortured. And of course the case collapsed instantly. Ultimately they were all released.”
Pressed to say more on the torture of ZAPU cadres, Coltart said, “Well, speaking as a lawyer, it was against the convention against torture. It was extreme torture. I am going (according) to what Sydney Malunga was subjected to. He was given falanga. He was given water board treatment, you know, the sack treatment, the water treatment. He was beaten, had bruises all over his body. He was severely tortured and Mabhena told me that he was tortured like Malunga.”

We all suffered

Dumiso Dabengwa, President of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), shared the late Welshman’s pre-1987 view on torture. Asked to comment, Dabengwa said, “I don’t think you’re being fair by talking about torture. There was genocide. Thousands of lives were lost during the period. And it certainly affected almost everybody in this region. There is no one who comes from Matebeleland who would say, “No! I did not, we did not, suffer from the Gukurahundi operations. Many people lost not just their parents, they lost relatives and many of them. And I am sure that this affected Mabhena very much. I remember when I finally came out of detention. He related to me what happened. He said, ‘You are lucky because, you were in detention. What was happening outside here, you would have not wanted to see it.’ And most of us are questioning why ever we got involved in the liberation struggle. How can such things happen when the country is liberated?”
By conferring national hero status, Zanu (PF) has forestalled a torrent of criticism waiting to be unleashed. However, a rule allowing bereaved families to choose the time and place of burial came in handy.
Asked whether the Mabhena family had wronged government, Dabengwa said, “Government may have its own wishes that the deceased should be laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre, but the family is the final decision maker. And therefore, I am not surprised that the Mabhena family have decided to have him buried here instead of at the National Heroes Acre in Bulawayo. I am sure that they have made known their reasons to government. Many of our national heroes are buried outside the Heroes Acre.”

Genuine patriots

Zanu (PF) has failed to decorate, with honour, genuine patriots like Lookout Masuku, Masala Sibanda and Swazini Ndlovu. The state’s response to the death of many great men has led to dissent among bereaved families. Many are now refusing to bury their loved ones at the national hero’s acre in Harare.
Says Dabengwa, “After Swazini Ndlovu died we wrote background and sent it to Harare. There was no word. Vice President Msika was with me. And there was no word that came. Only on the day of the funeral was it suggested that he is now given a national hero’s status and the Ndlovu family said, ‘No! He will be buried here. Thank you for the hero’s status that you have accorded him, but we will bury him here.’ It’s been the same thing with Masala Sibanda. It was the same thing with a number of others.”
Inevitably Zanu (PF)’s “gesture of respect” for the late Welshman Mabhena was not appreciated by Norman Mabhena. He castigated the honour saying, “Some people consider that only Zanu (PF) and its Politburo can bestow honour on persons. Well the Mabhena family strongly differs. We believe individual’s reputation precedes them. We believe that good works bring respect and nobility. For no one can reap where they have not sown.”
Although Vice President, John Nkomo, paid his respects to the Mabhena family, Zanu (PF)’s tired demagoguery revealed itself. VP Nkomo spoke about the emotive land issue, which had nothing to do with the mourning. He told mourners that God had given them dominion over land and other natural resources. VP Nkomo made no reference whatsoever to the torture of the late Welshman while in detention.

Newsday

By Feluna Nleya

11 October 2010

Amnesty International Zimbabwe (AI) will this week petition the legal secretaries from the three political parties in the inclusive government to help abolish the death sentence in Zimbabwe.

AI wrote to Zanu PF secretary for legal affairs Emmerson Mnangagwa and the two Secretaries for legal Affairs from the MDC parties, Innocent Gonese (MDC T) and David Coltart (MDC) so that they could persuade their supporters to advocate for the abolishing of the death penalty in the country’s statutes.

“The creation of a new constitution presents a golden opportunity for Zimbabwe to join the worldwide movement of countries that have abolished the death penalty.

That movement is gathering pace in Africa.

Of the 52 states in the African Union (AU), 49 did not carry out any executions during 2008 and 2009,” reads part of the letters to the three.

“The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has repeatedly called on AU member states to abolish the death penalty.

The United Nations General Assembly has also adopted resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty,” the letter reads.

“I am urging you in your capacity as legal secretary to play a leading role to persuade your party and the Zimbabwean people to abolish the death penalty in Zimbabwe.”

AI executive director Cousin Zilala said his organisation would hand over the petitions to the relevant authorities soon.

“We are trying to make appointments so that we take our petition to them soon and that should be done by end of next week,” Zilala said.

AI Zimbabwe has also made its submission to the Constitutional Parliamentary committee calling for an end to the executions.

“The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;rights which are recognised in the universal declaration of human rights and other international human rights, instruments to which Zimbabwe is a state party,” reads part of the letter.

They also said the adoption of a new constitution would provide a unique opportunity for Zimbabwe to show its commitment to the protection of internationally recognised human rights by abolishing the death penalty.

“In line with the commitment expressed in the Global Political Agreement to act in a manner that demonstrates respect for the democratic values of justice, fairness, openness, tolerance, equality, respect of all persons and human rights, Amnesty International Zimbabwe is urging the constitutional parliamentary committee to demonstrate Zimbabwe’s commitment to human rights by expunging the death penalty from Zimbabwe’s constitution,” the statement reads.

Herald

11 October 2010
GOVERNMENT will allow payment of teachers’ incentives by parents and guardians to stay while a permanent solution to improve their conditions of service is being sought, a Cabinet minister told Parliament on Wednesday.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said while payment of incentives to teachers had a discriminatory effect between rural and urban educators, Government would not stop them until salaries were improved.

Minister Coltart was responding to a question from Mberengwa East House of Assembly Member Cde Makhosini Hlongwane (Zanu-PF) during a question and answer session.

Cde Hlongwane had asked what Government policy was on incentives as rural teachers were complaining that they were earning less than their counterparts in urban areas.

“This is a perennial problem and a perennial question and I need to say at the outset what is our policy regarding incentives.

“We do not like incentives and we would like to end incentives as soon as possible and we made it clear because we recognise that it discriminates,” said Minister Coltart.

“It discriminates between teachers teaching in poor areas in the rural or urban and teachers teaching in wealthy areas.

“So because of that there is tension within the teaching profession and, of course, it creates tension between parents and teachers as well.

“So the general policy is as soon as we can abolish incentives we will do so.”

Minister Coltart said it was important to note that over the past four years thousands of teachers had quit the profession and among those who left were teachers of English, Mathematics and Science, who were difficult to replace.

“It is very difficult to retrain teachers overnight for those subjects. We recognise that at present, because of the state of the economy, there is minimal inflow of money to Treasury.

“So it does not have sufficient money to pay teachers what they earn in the region.

“So we had to take this emergency interim measure and that measure has been to allow incentives to be paid to teachers so that at the very least we can retain some teachers,” he said.

“I do not, at the moment, seek to say this is a perfect system, in fact this is a far from perfect and what you say is absolutely correct there are some areas where teachers are hardly paid any incentives and there are areas where teachers are earning reasonable salaries.”

Minister Coltart was also asked to comment on a study by the United Nations Development Programme, which said Zimbabwe’s literacy rate had surged from 85 percent to 95 percent.

He said there was need to be cautious about the ranking since the method used, in his view, was flawed.

He said the UNDP had relied on attendance at school for the first four years of formal education as indicators of literacy rate.

“Attendance does not translate into literacy because pupils attend lessons with no textbooks and with temporary teachers,” said Minister Coltart.