Herald

By Felex Share

20 May 2010

Harare — Some schools have unilaterally increased fees for Ordinary and Advanced Levels public examinations. Parents with children attending mainly former Group A schools described the move as a form of fundraising by the school authorities. The Government had set US$10 as the fee for a single O-Level subject and US$20 per subject at A-Level. The fees for practical subjects at both levels were pegged at US$15. But some schools are charging between US$2 and US$15 extra per subject.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Mini-ster David Coltart yesterday said only the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council had the authority to set examination fees and anything outside that was “extortion”.

Minister Coltart said Government would take stern measures against the schools.

“This is surprising because there is a universal fee which is set by Zimsec. One cannot just raise the examination fees willy-nilly, this is equivalent to extortion and this has to come to an end forthwith.

“Only levies should be set by school authorities but again following the stipulated guidelines of agreeing with parents,” he said.

Prince Edward High School is charging US$12 per O-Level subject instead of the stipulated US$10.

The school is asking for US$18 from candidates doing practical subjects, US$3 above the official US$15.

A-Level students are being asked to pay US$24 per subject instead of US$20 while candidates writing practical subjects are paying US$30 instead of US$15.

Prince Edward deputy headmaster Mr Never Mupupuri declined to comment referring all questions to the school head, Mr Kevin Atkinson, who could not be reached.

However, a senior teacher at the school confirmed the school had increased the examination fees to buy stationery and other materials needed for the exams.

“The move is justified because Zimsec just states the amount for practicals but does not provide you with anything to use so this amount includes stationery and other materials required during the examinations. “This is the only way the school can ensure the smooth handling of the examinations,” said the teacher.

Apparently, Zimsec provides question papers and answer sheets for the candidates and students bring their own pens and rulers.

Parents yesterday blasted the school authorities saying they were “milking” them. “We are even failing to pay the actual examination fees let alone school fees and someone just demands extra payment from us. Where will the money come from?” said one parent.

Others called on the Government to intervene. “This is daylight robbery and the responsible authorities should intervene to save us. Are they the only school facing the so-called administrative costs?” asked another parent.

The examination fee hike comes at a time when thousands of prospective candidates might fail to sit for the examinations after some schools set tomorrow as the registration deadline saying they wanted to collate data before submitting them to Zimsec next Friday.

May 28 is the Government-stipulated deadline.

Some schools are reportedly transferring examination money into levy accounts if a student tries to register without meeting other dues.

Although the regulations state that schools have a right to announce deadlines as long as they did not prejudice candidates, parents have complained that they did not have sufficient time to raise the fees.

Last year, thousands of prospective candidates failed to register citing “exorbitant fees”.

BBC Sport

19 May 2010

North Korea will not be preparing for the World Cup finals with a visit to Zimbabwe, ending fears over a potentially controversial trip.

The Zimbabwe government had suggested the Asian side would stop in the country on their way to South Africa.

That sparked protests in Matabeleland, where rights groups say a North Korean-trained army unit killed thousands of people during the 1980s.

But the government now say they have heard nothing from the North Koreans.

“I will check on the progress of the North Korea team but I don’t think that they will stop in Zimbabwe,” Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi said.

Education and Sports Minister David Coltart added he no longer expected the North Korea team to come.

The country’s football association, Zifa, said it had never invited the team to come and train.

North Korea are expected to play Greece, DR Congo and Nigeria in the build-up to the World Cup – they are in Group G along with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal.

Herald

17 May 2010

Herald Reporters

Vice President Joice Mujuru has called on communities to ensure children with disabilities get an education to enable them to realise their full potential.

Launching the Inclusive Education for All campaign in Harare yesterday, VP Mujuru said disabled children should be accommodated in schools with their able-bodied counterparts.

“Thus integrating disabled children into ordinary schools will help shape our society into what we would want it to be.

“I believe it will demystify and, therefore, deal with society’s patronising and negative attitudes towards disabled people,” she said.

VP Mujuru noted with concern that disabled children — particularly those in rural areas — failed to continue with their education because of a dearth in user-friendly infrastructure and learning materials. She paid tribute to work done by schools specifically targeting children with disabilities such as those run by the Jairos Jiri Association and St Giles. “They have helped a great deal in empowering many disabled people to live life their way, and for that I say thank you to them,” she said. VP Mujuru, however, pointed out that special schools had the disadvantage of alienating disabled children.  “If they are to pursue the same career ambitions as able-bodied people, those with disabilities are going to have to live in a world where they have to compete with non-disabled people.

“A number of Zimbabweans with disabilities have done well for themselves, working in various professions and pursuing various career paths.

“This was made possible not only through their hard work but by the educational opportunities afforded to them and also a supportive family.

“I would like to appeal to parents with disabled children to seize this opportunity and send their children to school and prepare them for future roles in a society with both able-bodied and disabled children,” she said.

The Inclusive Education for All campaign, initiated by the Leonard Cheshire Zimbabwe Trust, will benefit 1 000 disabled children from 21 Government schools in both urban and rural areas.

LCZT executive director Mr Ben Chikwanha said with financial support from Anglo-American Group Foundation, they would train teachers on inclusive teaching methods, develop teaching manuals, improve infrastructure and embark on awareness campaigns.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart commended LCZT for its initiative.

“This is, of course, a pilot project. My hope is that it will prove so successful that the concept of inclusive education will be extended to all our schools.

“It should also facilitate the eventual enrolment in these schools of other disabled children who are not attending school.”

Present at the launch were Minister of State in VP Mujuru’s Office Sylvester Nguni, the Advisor on Disability to the President Retired Brigadier Felix Muchemwa, diplomats and senior Anglo-American Group and LCZT officials.

Sunday News

16 May 2010

By Lulu Brenda Harris

THE late Buzzie Bavasi, an American, put it well when he said: “We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the gold make the rules.”

Many parents would testify Bavasi’s was right when it comes to those who set school levies. People who have been elected into School Development Associations or School Development Committees seem to serve the purpose of the rich. It is the public view that this is a deliberate ploy to have the rich spearheading the setting of levies at certain amounts as the trend is to choose those who are rich, the haves, while the have-nots are sidelined in these committees.
Mr Gibson Moyo a parent accused the bodies of not taking their views on board but adopting and implementing what suits the committee members, which mostly would be composed of rich people. “The committees should consider the communities at large and probably use the average income to peg their fees. The rich manipulate the process and I think even if we are to vote for who sits on the board the parent driving the Mercedes Benz would be voted in by virtue of the car he drives despite his capabilities,” he said.
Mr Mlibazisi Phiri, head of an SDAs in Mpopoma said their role was to look at parents’ capabilities against the needs of the schools. He, however, said the issue of incentives caused conflict between parents and school authorities, as the latter seemed to pursue their own ideals. “The issue of paying teacher incentives is a catalyst to all problems being faced by parents and schools. From the levies charged a certain percentage goes toward incentives so it is not surprising that school heads and teachers want high levies. High levies mean more incentives for them. Incentives have killed our schools. Headmasters and teachers have gone wild. I urge the minister to look at this issue urgently,” he stressed. Mr Phiri said it was unfortunate that some headmasters had forgotten what they were employed to do as they were focusing more on fees and levies.
“Some headmasters actually hire people to attend meetings so that when parents are voting, the decision weighs heavily from the hired hands. That is why parents have to attend meetings in their numbers to outnumber whoever would be hired. Headmasters and teachers should concentrate on teaching children while we the SDAs, the parents, look at the levies,” he said.
The head of SDAs encouraged parents to speak out during meetings and elect people who are capable of executing their duties well not necessarily the rich. “After the meetings are over, you hear parents complaining but they were mum inside. I know that sometimes parents elect somebody who is financially stable as they seem to have the idea that if he steals money from the SDC they can easly recover it but a the end of the day when things go wrong they complain,” he said.
Mrs Patricia Tshabalala, a patron of Vulindlela Guidance, a centre that looks after orphans, echoed Mr Phiri’s sentiments adding that incentives were the “root of all evil” as the love for money had caused teachers to stop teaching in class and conduct extra lessons. She called for the abolition of extra lessons because teachers were manipulating the process to make more money. “They are no longer teaching in class because they know teaching extra lessons is more rewarding. Look at the number of girls dropping out of high schools, i’s because they become pregnant at these so-called extra lessons,” she said.
Zanu-PF’s secretary for education, and educationist, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said the concept of school development associations was established because of the problems and complaints arising in the school administration. He said before the headmaster and the deputy were facing problems when it came to resources, school fees and other additional amounts. “The ministry then decided to decentralise and opted to localise the paying of fees. For example schools fees in government schools were once paid to Central Government, but about 10 years ago they were decentralised and paid directly to the school. “This enabled schools to identify children who needed assistance for instance through the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM). The point is decisions were made locally and the people could charge their own levies and complaints that the government was delaying or there were numerous delays in Harare were done away with,” he said.
Dr Ndlovu said the SDA was a necessary branch of the education system because of the role they play. He said the bodies’ mandate was to build, develop and maintain school buildings and grounds and support teaching and learning. “SDAs know the needs of the school, as they work closely with the headmaster. The SDA knows what type of work needs to be done at the school, be it on the school grounds, how many books are needed to fill the library and so on. “The chairman of the SDA is not the headmaster but a parent. They are there to assist in the schools’ maintenance. If funds are availed by BEAM, the SDA knows what to do to help those who need assistance,” he said.
Usually parents do not understand the functions of their committee nor do they understand what constitutes one. The fundi dismissed the notion that SDAs and SDCs exist primarily to cause conflict between schools and parents.
“These bodies are parents’ associations elected by parents. The SDA looks at the needs of the schools and capabilities of the parents. The SDAs or SDCs are supposed to sit down with the parents and make paying arrangements,” he said.
Dr Ndlovu, however, put the blame on parents who he urged to attend meetings and debate levy proposals, which most of them do not do. “Before the SDA decides on an amount, the school calls for a meeting so that both parties can debate the issue. Parents have no one to blame but themselves, they should attend meetings. What makes them not to attend?” he asked.
The educationist said when meetings are called, the schools have registers that are filled in by parents so that the ministry could check the number of parents who would have attended and approved the proposed figure. “If parents are present at meetings, they can point out what they want. They should not play the blame game and say the permanent secretary said this because the procedure is local,” he said.
One parent said although they attended meetings, the meetings were held in an atmosphere that was not conducive to free debate, which makes it difficult for them to express their views. “The atmosphere is intimidating. If you object to whatever is said, your child will be neglected and I don’t want my child to suffer because I can’t afford to pay the levies. Is it a crime for a civil servant to have three children?” said a vexed Mr Farai Gumbo.
Another parent alleged that since the establishment of the SDAs and the SDCs, committee members and school heads have become “fat” an apparent sign that they are lining their own pockets instead of concentrating on the growth of schools.
A survey titled The Rapid Assessment of Primary and Secondary Schools done by the Minister of Education’s National Education Advisory Board (NEAB) , whose results were released last year, indicated that transparency was an important principle that enabled parents to know exactly how their money was being spent. The report cites that due to shortage of staff, the ministry has not been auditing school accounts regularly and indeed is only likely to do so if a serious anomaly is reported. “Instead audits should be required on an annual basis,” it reads.
Accountability makes those in whose care school funds are to be responsible while it enables parents to feel comfortable with paying additional sums of money for their children’s education.
“We are meant to carry out audits but due to inadequate funds we have not. The ministry doesn’t have enough vehicles so that officers can go around conducting audits. That is why we rely on the provincial education officers,” said Minister Coltart.
In rural communities, poor parents hate teachers demanding food and salary supplements. They believe teachers are better off already and should not be given additional incentives.
The Government has been blamed for folding its arms and letting parents battle it out for themselves, more so with the confusion surrounding the resolution of civil servants salary dispute.
“The Government always says it’s broke. How can it be broke if the ministers drive flashy cars, hold meetings in expensive hotels, eat good food and look at the number of trips they take outside the country, surely the Government has the money,” said Ms Loutte Miller.
Parents have argued that they are under financial stress and have many commitments that need their attention like the payment of bills. They resent paying additional amounts, which they suspect will end up in the teachers’ pockets.  “Schools have numerous levies that we have to fork out money for. Count them — sport levy, library levy, grounds levy and so on, not forgetting the civies levy.
“Schools have a tendency of having this civies day every two weeks. It’s a dollar if your child wears her dress, plus your child will say there is a disco in the afternoon, another dollar is gone. Khonapha babili bonke befuna ukuhamba, akulaplan,” said Mrs Sophie Tshuma.
In order to guide SDAs and SDCs, the minister said funds derived from levies should be spent in consultation with school heads in accordance with the following guidelines:
“Repairs or maintenance minimum 10 percent, sports or culture minimum 10 percent, administration minimum 15 percent, educational materials minimum 40 percent, teacher incentives maximum 10 to 20 percent, support staff maximum 10 to 20 percent.”
The education survey said the recommended percentages were not ideal, as a school charging a levy of US$25 per term and one charging US$250 a term would have very different outcomes.
That takes us back to the bottlenecks of yesteryear where the poor were clustered at the bottom while the rich are dispersed at the top.
The education report says a further difficulty is that former Group A schools (schools formerly reserved for white children) now had about 50 percent of their pupils coming from poor families, who are either domestic workers or from nearby high-density suburbs which have been zoned with the low density school.
“These low income families are definitely unable to pay high fees. One solution is to give the school fees subcommittees in low-density schools the power to decide which parents can be allowed to pay the high-density school fees,” reads the report.
Mr Wilson Moyo, the headmaster of Northlea High School, said SDAs are the backbone of schools. “The money collected from the SDA is the one running the school, from plumbing to transport. The SDA levy maintains the school,” he said. The amounts are more often than not out of the reach of low-income earners given the economic situation.
Zimbabwe seems to have obliterated the middle class tag to remain with the high and low classes. The majority are in the latter class — the low class — and have children in various schools that demand high levies. When the SDA or SDC is composed of the rich, their decisions as regards the level of levies are based on their own pockets, not the ability of the poor folks to pay such levies. Some of these rich people are privileged because their employers pay their children’s school fees while the poor struggle to eke out a living or barely make ends meet. Sadly, this has resulted in parents clashing with authorities and schools have been marred by confusion over levies and incentives. There is general animosity among parents, teachers, school development associations or committees and the ministry.
Last year, the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, issued a ministerial statement regarding approved tuition fees in Government schools and Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council examination fees for 2009.  This was in response to the difficulties parents had experienced in paying school fees in view of the need to respond to varied resources and needs in different communities.
The minister decided, with the approval of Cabinet, to decentralise decision making to SDAs and SDCs, to “enable them to determine, in conjunction with school heads, what is required to run their respective schools to the best of their ability.”
The Ministry of Education said the idea behind SDAs and SDCs was that parents would have a say on how much they would pay towards school development. Accordingly, Government set the standard school fees while schools in collaboration with parents set the levies. Despite the shift, parents are naturally confused about the double payment.
The process of setting fees is chaotic, as both the school administration and the parents lack proper guidelines and the problem of conflict of interest normally occurs.
An SDC member who refused to be identified said parents had to be reasonable, pay levies so that the schools could develop and keep the system going. “It is hard for everyone but the schools have to develop so that their children can actually learn something. Parents need to be sensitised that nothing can move forward if they want to pay $5. Schools that demand more money produce good results. It should be a tug of war on both sides,” he said.
At the end of the day parents are placed in a catch 22 situation. If they want their children to learn and enjoy the facilities of the school they have to pay.
Without levies it is difficult to run schools unless additional funding is available. The ball is now in the Government’s court.

Guardian.co.uk

13 May 2010

From Zimbabwe to Belize, how the world waited to discover who would run Britain next – and what they think of the outcome.

Russia

Russian coverage of the vote may say more about Russia itself than its attitude to Britain. Komsomolskaya Pravda, the country’s biggest tabloid, made a big show of Gordon Brown’s meeting with the Queen, in which he was reported to have personally nominated David Cameron as his successor. That’s not quite how it works, but it’s something Russian readers will understand. President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated Cameron, saying: “Russia views all-embracing cooperation and establishment of equal partnership with Great Britain as a major direction in its foreign policy.”

Miriam Elder

France

“For several days,” remarked journalist Pierre Rousselin in France’s rightwing daily Le Figaro, “London political life – in general so well ordered – seemed Levantine.” During the post-election chaos the French could hardly mask their mirth at the sight of the British stiff upper lip wobbling over the intricacies of the country’s electoral system, but the appointment of David Cameron as prime minister soon put an end to the glee. “A marriage of reason at 10 Downing Street,” headlined Le Monde, declaring that “British fair play” had won out in the end. But the paper added Britain’s budget deficit meant Cameron and Clegg will only be able to offer their countrymen “blood, sweat and tears”.

Lizzy Davies

China

The People’s Daily predicted an ebbing of the UK’s influence in world affairs as the new government focused on domestic issues to reassure an unhappy electorate. “The main area of compromise is likely to be foreign policy,” noted the mouthpiece of the Communist party. “Britain may well enter an era in which it lacks sparkle on the world stage.” The Sina website had kind words for Gordon Brown, who was described as a strong economist who was unfortunate to come to power at a time of great turmoil. It predicted more instability ahead. “Running a coalition government at this moment is going to be very difficult.”

Jonathan Watts

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, people know that it is American elections and the complexion of US administrations that really matter, and the British elections have received scant coverage. Daud Sultanzoi, an independent member of parliament, said the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition was “a very interesting mix of red hot pepper and ice – the mellowness of one side and the heat of the other, I hope will create a balance that is good for the people of not only Britain, but Afghanistan too. I hope that left and right can swing to the middle. Right now, the hottest issue for them is this region’s problems.”

Saeed Shah

Iraq

Iraqis have been captivated by the British election, not so much for who won, but for how relatively little time it took for a new leader to start work. More than two months after their own hung parliament, neither a political coalition nor a leader are within sight. “We could learn something from Britain,” said a weary Iyad Allawi, who won the popular vote here, but unlike the conservative prime minister, has had no such luck luring a partner. The head of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Jaber Habib, said: “We hope … the new British prime minister will continue to fulfil Britain’s commitment to democracy in Iraq and he will not consider Iraq as a burden from the ex-government.”

Zimbabwe

In a country with possibly the most violent political coalition of all David Coltart, education minister and MDC member, said: “The big difference is how a hung parliament is dealt with in Britain and Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe there was some of the worst violence in decades. In Britain it’s been a genteel process of negotiation and reaching an agreement. So we have many lessons to learn from Britain.” Jonathan Moyo, central committee member and MP for Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF, saw it rather differently. “Britain’s reputation as the mother of parliaments is not even tarnished; it’s gone. It’s become some kind of grandmother rather than a mother. The grandmother is now dead.”

David Smith

Belize

There was considerable interest in the UK election in Belize, the small central American country that Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative party’s most generous donor, calls home. Harry Lawrence, publisher of the Reporter newspaper, who has watched Ashcroft’s Belizean affairs closely, said there was concern among some that the Conservatives might “get back” at Belize because of various financial disputes between Belize and “The Lord” – as Ashcroft is known there. “We hope that the Liberal Democrats will be a restraining influence even though William Hague is foreign secretary,” said Lawrence. Lawrence said there were fears that British aid for poverty alleviation in Belize could be cut or that Britain might reduce – or even remove – a training base in Belize.

Mark Tran

The Herald

12 May 2010

By Paul Munyuki

NO major changes were made to the Zimbabwe Under-20 side set to take part at the Junior World Rugby Trophy in Moscow, Russia, next week and Graham Kaulback was retained as captain.

The majority of the players that drove Zimbabwe to qualify for the world event were part of the side that won the Junior Africa Cup last year in Kenya.

England-based winger Terrence Kuvarega was dropped from the side that toured Kenya as he was never part of the squad that was in camp for the JWRT. And of those that were in camp, Julian Nicholas, Takudzwa Nyadongo and Tinofara Chikobvu failed to make it into the travelling squad.

Daniel Turner, Charles Jiji, Luke Rutter, Takudzwa Jaravaza, Takudzwa Mandiwanza and David Watson were part of the Zimbabwe Under-18 Craven Week side last year.

At the Craven Week, Mandiwanza was the captain and was deputised by utility back Jiji.

But not only is there experience on the field, but the Young Sables will also bank on the experience of their coaches Brighton Chivandire and Godwin Murambiwa who have been at the event previously.

The duo are also some of the most experienced coaches in the country and are both International Rugby Board accredited coaching instructors. Guest of honour at the side’s kit presentation and farewell dinner on Monday night, Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart urged the boys to do their best to raise the nation’s flag high.

“You are not only doing this for yourselves. You are going out there as ambassadors of our beautiful Zimbabwe. Be proud of putting on that jersey and do your best. Stand in the field and sing the national anthem with pride,” said Coltart.

He also urged the Young Sables to be proud of Zimbabwe to the extent that they should come back home and play for the senior national team. “Sport has always been the fun side of my job as the minister and I would love to see Zimbabwe rugby rise to be one of the best nations in the world.

“We have the potential and you are the potential we are talking of because you are the future of the game in Zimbabwe. It would be good to see all of you playing for Zimbabwe in 5 or so years. I know it is difficult to retain the players especially when they are lured by such countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

“But if we understand that we have to be patient and build Zimbabwe sport together to rise to the levels like when we beat the All Blacks in 1949, we will see ourselves playing at the highest levels like that of the Super 14 someday,” said Coltart.

Zimbabwe Under-20 Squad

Forwards: Brian Makamure (Old Hararians) prop, Simbarashe Musarurwa (Busters) prop, Dimitrios Zaverdinos (Old Georgians) prop, Tatenda Karuru (Old Hararians) hooker, Takudzwa Mandiwanza (Old Hararians) hooker, Schalk Ferreira (Western Province Academy) lock, Sasha Holloway (Sharks Academy) lock, Takudzwa Jaravaza (Old Hararians) lock, Marco Mama lock, David Watson (Pretoria University) lock, Lucas Wollmann (Pretoria University) lock, Brendon Chapman (Pretoria University) flanker, Graeme Lawler (Hartpury College) flanker, Marco Mama (Bristol Rugby) flanker, Biselele Tshamala (Busters) eigthman.

Backs: Charles Jiji (Old Hararians) scrumhalf, Graham Kaulback (Pretoria University) (captain) scrumhalf, Kyle Mullen (Sharks Academy) scrumhalf, Jonathan McWade (Pretoria University) flyhalf, Farai Mupasiri (Old Hararians) flyhalf, David Fussell (Pretoria University) centre, Matthew Swales (Pretoria University) centre, Tafadzwa Chitokwindo (Old Hararians) wing, Brian Maziva (Old Hararians) wing, Dante Mama (Worcester Warriors) fullback, Danny Robertson (Old Georgians) fullback.

Technical Team

Head of Technical: Rick Kershaw

Head Coach: Brighton Chivandire

Team Manager: Jeannine Bryant

Assistant Coach: Godwin Murambiwa

Assistant Coach: John Falkenberg

Physiotherapist: Margi Gibson

Team Doctor: Taurai Chipamaunga

VOA

By Gibbs Dube

11 May 2010

Education, Culture and Sport Minister David Coltart said the Cabinet did not take up the issue on Tuesday but said North Korean authorities are likely to respond this week to the invitation from the Zimbabwe World Cup Committee.

Confounding expectations, the Zimbabwean Cabinet took no decision at its Tuesday meeting on whether to allow North Korea’s soccer team to train in Zimbabwe during the World Cup period in light of an outcry from Matabeleland activists who said the visit would stir painful memories of civil war and massacres in the region in the 1980s.

Reports said however that President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party was developing cold feet on the proposal. North Korea trained the Zimbabwean Fifth Brigade which is alleged to have carried out massacres during the so-called Gukurahundi conflict between rival liberation forces in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said the Cabinet did not take up the issue on Tuesday as had been expected. But he told VOA that he discussed it with Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi (also Chairman of the World Cup Committee), who said the North Koreans have not confirmed to Harare whether they intend to acclimatize and train in the country.

Coltart told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that he was told that the North Koreans are likely to respond tomorrow to the invitation extended by the Zimbabwe World Cup Committee.

Political analyst Nkululeko Sibanda said ZANU-PF appears to be developing cold feet on the issue of hosting the North Korean team. “They are very much aware of the protests and fear that they may remind people of the Fifth Brigade atrocities in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions,” said Sibanda.

New York Times

By Celia W. Dugger

11 May 2010

JOHANNESBURG — A High Court judge in Zimbabwe on Monday acquitted Roy Bennett — a leader of the party that has long opposed President Robert Mugabe but now governs the country with him — on charges of plotting to violently overthrow Mr. Mugabe, 86, who has been in office for three decades.

The resolution of the case, which has destabilized the troubled power-sharing government there for over a year, may finally clear the way for Mr. Bennett to be sworn in as deputy agriculture minister.

Mr. Bennett, a white politician with a black political base, has often bluntly called Mr. Mugabe a dictator ruling on behalf of a greedy political elite. Widely despised by leaders in Mr. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, Mr. Bennett was arrested on the terrorism charges in February last year, on the very day the power-sharing government was sworn in. Mr. Mugabe has said he would allow Mr. Bennett to assume his post only if he was acquitted.

Mr. Mugabe’s spokesman could not be reached for comment. But Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads Mr. Bennett’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change, said Monday that Mr. Bennett’s acquittal was an important step, but he added that much remained to be done to restore confidence in the faltering power-sharing government.

“As I’ve always said, he’s not being prosecuted, he’s being persecuted,” Mr. Tsvangirai said in Washington as he stood with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. “So I hope that the persecution has ended.”

The judge in Mr. Bennett’s case, Chinembiri Bhunu, said Monday that the prosecution had failed to prove that Mr. Bennett conspired with an arms dealer to topple the government, as it had claimed. Judge Bhunu found the arms dealer’s testimony inadmissible. The dealer had testified he had been forced to implicate Mr. Bennett by state security agents, who he said had assaulted him and burned his buttocks with cigarettes.

Judge Bhunu also found that e-mail messages prosecutors said linked Mr. Bennett and the dealer had not been sufficiently verified. Mr. Bennett’s lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said the judge’s analysis of the case was firmly based on the law. “Whether there was politics behind it, I don’t know,” she said.

Mr. Bennett was once a successful farmer, but his coffee plantation was confiscated as an often violent seizure of white-owned commercial farms swept the countryside in the early part of last decade, with Mr. Mugabe’s sanction. His elevation to the No. 2 position in the Agriculture Ministry was threatening to senior officials in the military and the government, as well as members of Mr. Mugabe’s own family who have taken ownership of many of these fertile, productive farms.

Mr. Bennett’s party had pushed for a land audit that would uncover multiple farm ownerships by the politically connected elite.

He said that he saw the verdict as a sign of political progress, given that judges in Zimbabwe have often benefited from the political patronage of Mr. Mugabe’s party. “They whistle to the master’s tune,” he said, though there have been some instances when the judiciary seemed to act independently.

Mr. Bennett credited President Jacob Zuma of South Africa with being a more decisive, statesmanlike broker of the Zimbabwean political conflict than South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki, whose “silent diplomacy” on Zimbabwe had been seen by the Movement for Democratic Change and many independent analysts as favoring Mr. Mugabe. Mr. Bennett confirmed that when Mr. Zuma visited Harare in March, the two men met privately.

Some leaders in the Movement for Democratic Change say they doubt Mr. Zuma has a real strategy to deal with Mr. Mugabe, but David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s education minister and a member of a smaller faction of the party, said Mr. Zuma’s meeting with Mr. Bennett showed South Africa’s new president, in office a year now, has a more hands-on style of engagement.

“We know in the private meetings Zuma’s been far more direct and forceful” with both Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai, Mr. Coltart said.

The United States and South Africa also seem to be drawing closer diplomatically in their approach to Zimbabwe, which was fraught with tension when Mr. Mbeki was president. Donald Gips, the American ambassador dispatched to South Africa by President Obama, said in an interview last week that the United States and South Africa had the same goal for Zimbabwe: that its people determine their political future.

“We may not always agree on the tactics, but we’re having very healthy, open conversation about what is the best way to get to that shared, common goal,” Mr. Gips said.

Despite Mr. Zuma’s intervention, talks between the two Zimbabwean political parties are still deadlocked over festering differences, but there have been a few signs of a political opening.

Trevor Ncube, a Zimbabwean who owns The Mail and Guardian newspaper in South Africa and two independent weeklies in Zimbabwe, has been trying for two years to get a license to open an independent daily newspaper in Zimbabwe. The state-owned Herald, which speaks for Mr. Mugabe, is still the only daily newspaper in the country.

Mr. Ncube said he was pleasantly surprised when an official media commission in Zimbabwe recently set reasonable fees for licensing newspapers, but added that he would believe the commission only when it actually gave him the go-ahead to publish.

A version of this article appeared in print on May 11, 2010, on page A8 of the New York edition.

Www.zicora.com Zimbabwe Community Radio

Posted By Own Staff

Tuesday 11 May 2010

THE Ministry of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture is working on a programme to assist children who are not able to pay their examination fees for Ordinary and Advanced level, a Cabinet Minister has revealed.

Minister David Coltart said his ministry was working on a programme to cater for students who were not able to pay their examination fees.

“We are currently discussing with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to come up with a programme that will cater for children who cannot pay their examinations fees. The programme will cater for those sitting for O and A level examinations,” he said.

The new programme comes after the Minister of Higher Education, Stan Mudenge, revealed that about 90 000 Zimbabwean students failed to sit for their A’ level examinations last year due to high examination fees.

Minister Coltart said the other option was to extend the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) to cover those who could not pay ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examination fees.

“The alternative which we are considering is the extension of the BEAM programme to cover those students who are not able to pay for their ‘O’ and ‘A’ level examination fees,” he said.

Last year, more than 100 schools from Masvingo province recorded a zero percent pass rate in the ‘A’ level examinations.

Recently, Minister Coltart said Zimbabwe had recorded the worst ‘O’ level results since independence in 1980 with a pass rate of 19 percent.

The United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) recently launched a US$70 million Educational Transition Fund (ETF) to ensure access and quality education for the country’s children under the BEAM programme, which is meant to assist  vulnerable children with payment of levies, tuition and examination fees.

At least 700 000 children will benefit from BEAM.

The fund – supported by Australia , Denmark , Germany , the Netherlands , New Zealand , Norway , Sweden , United Kingdom and the European Commission -will be used to buy critical textbooks and learning materials.