Zimbabwe Independent
By Constantine Chimakure
14 March 2009

Harare — SECURITY service chiefs were this week conspicuous by their absence at the funeral of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife, Susan, heightening fears that they remain opposed to the premier and the inclusive government.

The absence of army, airforce, police or prisons bosses from the funeral attended by President Robert Mugabe, ministers, senior government officials, and diplomats, would intensify fears that the Joint Operations Command (JOC) — which had been running the country’s affairs from behind the scenes — was opposed to the unity deal and could become a stumbling block to progress.

JOC comprises Mugabe diehards from the army, intelligence, prisons and police who are reportedly opposed to Tsvangirai.Susan’s death touched the hearts of many but service chiefs appeared unmoved. She died in a car crash last Friday along the Harare-Masvingo highway. Tsvangirai sustained injuries.

Susan was buried on Wednesday at her husband’s rural home in Buhera.

Analysts said although Defence Forces commander Constantine Chiwenga, Air Force chief Perrence Shiri, Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi were not obliged to visit the grieving family, they were expected to attend the funeral of the prime minister’s wife out of courtesy as senior officers.

Only Happyton Bonyongwe, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) boss, attended. He was seen running around at the Avenues Clinic last Friday after the accident.

Bonyongwe came with Mugabe and his wife Grace, Vice-President Joice Mujuru and central bank governor Gideon Gono, among government officials who came to see the prime minister at the clinic.
On Tuesday Mugabe, Vice-Presidents Mujuru and Joseph Msika, Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, co-Home Affairs ministers Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa, Education minister David Coltart and others attended a church service in honour of Susan at Mabelreign Methodist Church in the capital.

“What is puzzling is that most people who matter in government were at the funeral except the service chiefs,” a source said.

“It is clear that they are maintaining their position that they have nothing to do with Tsvangirai.”
Chiwenga, Shiri, Chihuri and Zimondi reportedly indicated before last March’s harmonised elections that they would not salute Tsvangirai if he won the presidential election against Mugabe.

Recent media reports said Chiwenga told his subordinates that he had difficulty in saluting the Tsvangirai, but would not victimise those within the force if they did.

The generals were reportedly behind Zanu PF’s “military and war-like” presidential run-off election campaign which the MDC-T said resulted in the deaths of about 200 of its supporters, over 10 000 injured and thousands left homeless.

Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off and Mugabe’s victory was not recognised in the region and internationally, prompting Sadc and the African to facilitate talks for a unity government.

Besides Bonyongwe, the service chiefs also did not attend the swearing in of Tsvangirai as prime minister by Mugabe on February 11.

Despite the service chiefs avoiding Tsvangirai, they would come face-to-face in the National Security Council (NSC) — a successor body to the Joint Operations Command that deals with national security matters.

The NSC is chaired by Mugabe and Tsvangirai is a member.

Tsvangirai has since said there was need for security forces reforms to transform them into professional state apparatus.

Efforts to get a comment from Defence Forces spokesperson Colonel Ben Ncube last night were in vain.

The Herald
Saturday 14 March 2009
Herald Reporter

THE Government has directed that the 2009 Lower Six classes officially begin on Tuesday next week with the selection of candidates being based on last year’s mid-year mock examination results.

In a statement yesterday, the Secretary for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Dr Stephen Mahere, said the candidates should have passed at least five Ordinary Level subjects in the mock examinations.

“The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture would like to inform all high schools, parents and responsible authorities that the 2009 Lower Six classes will officially commence on Tuesday, 17 March 2009.

“Heads of high schools should note that selection will be based on continuous assessment (for example use of mid-term examination results) of candidates who should, in this regard, possess at least five ‘O’ Level subjects of grade C or better including English,” he said.

Dr Mahere said preference should be given to candidates who completed their “O” Levels in 2008. “Those who completed their ‘O’ Levels before 2008 may be considered only after the 2008 candidates have been accounted for,” he added.

Dr Mahere said limited boarding facilities should be reserved for deserving candidates such as those from rural schools. He reminded schools that candidates with physical disabilities deserved special consideration.

“Those candidates who have acceptable grades and viable subject combinations but fail to secure places should report to provincial education offices for assistance,” Dr Mahere said.

He advised candidates to take career-oriented subjects chosen according to the traditional classifications, namely sciences, humanities, commercials and vocational or technical subjects.

“Places for successful candidates will only be reserved by schools up to Tuesday, 24 March 2009. School fees and levies will be paid on a pro rata basis according to the length of the Lower Six first term,” Dr Mahere said.

“If students receive lower grades once their results are published, then they may be declined a place in the school. Likewise, those students who may have been refused a place based on the continuous assessment results but who obtain acceptable minimum ‘O’ Level results may be offered a place when their results are published,” Dr Mahere said.

He pleaded with schools to co-operate with the directive.

The delay in the release of the “O” Level results arose from an industrial action by markers who were demanding payment in foreign currency for their services.

The markers last month responded overwhelmingly to a call by Government for them to report for the second and final phase of marking after they were guaranteed payment in either US dollars or rands.

On Thursday Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said 80 percent of both last year’s public examination scripts had now been marked.

Speaking on the ZTV programme Face the Nation, Minister Coltart said: “Good progress has been made inasfar as the marking of the examination papers is concerned. The markers have almost completed the exercise and most of them should be returning to their stations and homes in the next 24 hours.”

He said the ministry was working closely with the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council in grading and printing the results

“In view of the delays that we envisage in the release of examination results, we have thus directed headmasters to start taking students for Lower Sixth classes.

“Our big concern is the ‘A’ Level results because we know that some students want to proceed to university and they will need the results. We are trying our level best to have the results out as early as possible,” he said.

The Herald
13 March 2009

Harare — GOVERNMENT has directed heads of State schools to allow parents to pay fees in instalments, reiterating that no pupil should be turned away for non-payment.

In an interview yesterday, Minister of Education, Arts, Sport and Culture David Coltart said parents who needed to pay in instalments should see the heads of their children’s schools.

“We have issued a directive saying parents can stagger the payment of fees. They can organise with headmasters and come up with a schedule of payment over a period of time,” he said.

The directive has been issued to all State schools and follows the decision last week to charge fees for State schools in US dollars.

Fees range from nil for State rural primary schools to US$280 a term for State sixth forms in low-density suburbs. Many parents are only now moving onto hard currency salaries and consequently do not have adequate US dollar savings although they will have a US dollar salary from this month.
Minister Coltart said orphans and vulnerable children were entitled to relief from the State.

“They can get a total waiver or partial waiver depending on their ability to pay,” he said.

Parents or guardians of such children are required to reveal their incomes and assets for assessment by the State before a decision is taken on whether they should pay fees.

Minister Coltart said he was aware that some schools were disregarding Government’s directive not to turn away pupils hence the directive.

He urged parents to report such schools to his ministry.

Authorities at several institutions, among them Glen View 2 Government Primary School, have disregarded Government’s directive not to turn away pupils.

Los Angeles Times
By Robyn Dixon
March 11, 2009

Reporting from Harare, Zimbabwe — Why are all those women carrying buckets of water on their heads?

That was the first riddle that David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s new education minister, faced last month as he walked into his high-rise headquarters.

“The reason is that the whole of the Ministry of Education, 18 floors, has no water in it. So my first, immediate task was to get the pump repaired. If you walk down the stairwells you will gag, the stench is so bad on some floors,” Coltart said in an interview in his new office. (Most of the bathrooms still weren’t working.)

Until a few weeks ago, the Dickensian halls of the Education Ministry belonged to President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. Now under the new “unity government,” the ministry is run by his political opponents in the Movement for Democratic Change. The deal was forced on the MDC by African leaders to resolve a standoff over last year’s disputed elections, in which ZANU-PF lost its parliamentary majority.

“It’s like the dark hole of Calcutta,” Coltart said.

Mugabe’s legacy of busted plumbing and peeling paint is the least of the problems Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party face in this shotgun marriage of a government: The country’s finances are catastrophic; vital services such as health, education, power and water are paralyzed; and the man still calling the shots seems more fond of power plays than power sharing.

Tsvangirai promises reform and a better future, but he’s trapped in a difficult situation. Without money from the West, his team has no hope of success. But he is unlikely to get that aid with Mugabe in power. And failure by Tsvangirai would suit Mugabe and his hard-line allies just fine.

The prime minister’s effort to sell the unity government as a reform administration took a telling blow last week when President Obama ignored his call to end Western sanctions imposed against Mugabe and his cronies. Instead, the U.S. leader extended them another year.

A rare moment of real unity between the rivals has come as Tsvangirai faces his most difficult hour: the death of his wife of 31 years in a car accident. Mugabe visited Tsvangirai in the hospital the night of her death, staying for more than an hour.

At a memorial service Tuesday, Mugabe expressed grief and even referred to Tsvangirai by his first name — a rare moment for a president who has shown open disdain for his prime minister.

“We are sincerely saddened by the death of Susan and we hope that Morgan will remain strong,” Mugabe said. He called for an end to violence and said Zimbabweans needed to work peacefully together.

Yet political prisoners — including several close allies of Tsvangirai — remain in prison and power struggles continue.

The wrangling between ZANU-PF and the MDC over control of the public service sector could make or break Tsvangirai’s bid for reform.

Last month, Mugabe infuriated Tsvangirai by unilaterally appointing the heads of public services. Tsvangirai put out a statement declaring the appointments null and void, but he lacks the power to reverse them.

Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe for 29 years, couldn’t resist a snide prod at the MDC: “You must also grant that we have new people and they would be making a few mistakes. Well, if mistakes are outrageous, naturally they put people off. But we try to correct each other,” he said in a recent Zimbabwean television interview. The MDC had assumed that control of public services resided with the Public Service Ministry, and the party made sure to win that portfolio in negotiations on the unity government. But it was wrong.

Once in government, MDC officials stumbled upon an inconspicuous bureaucrat named Mariyawanda Nzuwa; as chairman of the Public Service Commission, he has the power to hire and fire any public servant and to block senior appointments by the MDC.

MDC strategists say that Nzuwa is so powerful that he’s Mugabe’s de facto prime minister, a key ally in the battle to control top public servants and freeze out the MDC.

But nowhere is the dysfunctional marriage more strained than in the Home Affairs Ministry, which is now run by two ministers — one MDC, the other ZANU-PF.

The MDC minister, Giles Mutsekwa, a former army major, is the lone opposition figure in the agency, which is in charge of the police. Mutsekwa has to grapple with both his ZANU-PF counterpart and the hard-line police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, a bitter opponent of change.

Even Mutsekwa’s personal assistant seems a problem. When the minister agreed to an interview with The Times recently, she briskly countermanded him.
Those kinds of power struggles, small and large, are unfolding every day, some behind closed doors, others in the headlines.

One way to get people’s loyalty, the MDC figures, is to make sure they’re paid. The first thing MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti did was pay soldiers, police and other civil servants in foreign currency vouchers, a move designed to kick-start the economy, but also to win their support.

But what if the money dries up? Zimbabwe needs about $100 million a month for operational expenses, half of which is the government’s payroll. Its monthly receipts are about $10 million.

“They need desperately to get some money,” said one diplomat in Harare, the capital, speaking on condition of anonymity, as is customary for envoys. “It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. They need to show they can make a go of it. But if they don’t get the money, it’s difficult to make a go of it.”

The MDC believes that the unity government will die without a financial rescue package from the West.
“The only way we can resuscitate education in the short term is if we get donor support,” Coltart said. “To get that, we have to overcome the extreme skepticism of the donor community. We have to show that we are all acting with goodwill and that we are all committed to make this global political agreement work,” he said, speaking of the unity government.

But with some political activists still in jail, and continuing evictions of white farmers from their land, the hard-liners who oppose the unity government can send a message they are still in charge and block any hope of a rescue package.

The West’s conditions for engagement include economic stability and reform, the release of political prisoners, news media freedom and restoration of the rule of law.

“The question is whether ZANU-PF is willing to go there,” the diplomat said.

That leaves the MDC ministers doing what little they can in their departments, without much money or support.

During an interview in his Health Ministry office, Henry Madzorera offers a litany of problems: There are widespread staff shortages and no medicines, hospital equipment doesn’t work and ambulances are broken down. It would take $700 million to fix the system, he says.

As the interview ends, he has his own question.

“Do you know any donors who would help us?”

The MDC’s struggle for funding is exacerbated by perceptions that Mugabe remains firmly in charge — the main barrier for Western donors.

“I’m still in control and hold executive authority,” Mugabe said at a recent celebration of his 85th birthday, “so nothing much has changed.”

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

VOA
By Blessing Zulu & Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye
Washington
11 March 2009

The Australian government on Wednesday broke ranks with other Western nations on aid to the new government in Zimbabwe, saying it will expand its assistance to beyond humanitarian assistance to help the national unity government in Harare serve the population.

Canberra said it would provide A$10 million – about US$6.5 million – to help the United Nations Children’s Fund provide water treatment chemicals to cities and towns across the country to help check a persistent cholera epidemic. The other A$5 million will be channeled through the British Department for International Development to expand financial incentives to health workers who went on strike in late 2008 and recently started trickling back to work.

Though the new assistance addresses humanitarian issues – the cholera epidemic, national health care – a statement issued in the name of Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith made clear that Canberra was making a clear shift in policy towards Harare.

A statement posted on the Web site of Australia’s Agency for International Development noted that Canberra’s aid to Harare to date “has been limited to humanitarian aid.”

But, it continued, “The Government plans to expand Australian assistance to support efforts by Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his ministers to bring sustainable and long-term improvements to the lives of Zimbabweans.”

The Australian government “recognizes there are some risks to this approach. We are under no illusions about the fragility of the political situation in Zimbabwe,” it said.

The United States has said it will restrict assistance to meeting humanitarian needs, and will not provide development assistance, until there is clear evidence the Harare government has reformed on human rights, the rule of law, economic policy, and other issues.

Europe and Britain in particular have adopted a similar position.

Zimbabwean Education Minister David Coltart told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that he is pleased Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who he met last year, is following through on his promise to assist the unity government in Harare.

In a related development, Chairman Kudzanai chimedza of the Hospital Doctors Association said his members will go back on strike Thursday as they have yet to receive hard currency allowances that were to be paid by UNICEF to get key health staff back to work.

Dr. Chimedza told reporter Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that his association will reopen talks with the government, having lost faith in donors.

VOA was unable to immediately obtain comment from UNICEF on the complaint.

The Herald
EDITORIAL
10 March 2009

Every Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture faces a dilemma when setting school fees for State schools and considering applications for levies over and above these.

He first needs to ensure that the entitlement every Zimbabwean child has to at least 11 years of formal education is a practical and attainable entitlement, not some pie in the sky.

This means that a substantial majority of parents and guardians must be able to afford the fees, although it does not necessarily mean that they need to be able to afford them easily or without some sacrifice.

There must then be a reasonable scheme to ensure that the State can pay the fees of the minority whose parents or guardians cannot afford to pay.

But the second factor every Minister has to consider is that despite having the largest budget of any ministry, the money from the taxpayer is not enough to give every child in every State school a minimum decent education. Parents must chip in, and chip in with a substantial amount.

In the 1980s and 1990s successive ministers introduced and refined a system whereby parents who could pay more had to pay more and communities of parents who wanted to pay more for better facilities were encouraged to raise the required levies.

This allowed the ministry to allocate its extremely limited resources by need, rather than dividing them fairly among all children.

More State resources were spent on a rural child than on an urban child, and more went on children in working class suburbs than on the children of the middle classes.

This did lead to differences, sometimes marked differences, in the quality of resources at State schools but that was accepted, and there was the positive side that ever-higher standards were being created that all State schools could aim at and one day achieve.

Total equality tends to encourage total equality of mediocrity.

Minister David Coltart last week returned to those principles that had allowed Zimbabwe to race ahead of most of Africa and give every child seven years of primary education (eight years as the Grade 0 classes become common) and at least four years of secondary education with standards rising each year.

The tuition fees he set for his own State schools, ranging from zero for rural primary schools to US$70 a month for sixth forms in low-density urban suburbs, are not unreasonable.

Most families can afford the fees for the school their children are zoned for with some sacrifices and careful budgeting.

There are two problems, right now, though that the Minister needs to take into account.
Many parents earning salaries and wages, rather than deriving income from a business, have not been paid yet in hard currency although most will be so paid by the end of this month.

VOA
By Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye
Washington
10 March 2009

Former Zimbabwe Cricket Coach Kevin Curran said Tuesday that the country poses no health risk to foreign teams following the news that Canada’s team had canceled a scheduled tour later this month citing concerns about the cholera epidemic sweeping the country.

Other Western cricket teams have canceled tours of Zimbabwe citing Harare’s human rights record, most recently New Zealand, which also cited concerns about player safety.

Education and Sports Minister David Coltart of the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has been trying to encourage Western teams to tour Zimbabwe now that a new government is in place.

Former Zimbabwean coach Curran told reporter Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye of VOA’s Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the cancellation is a blow for the Canadian as well as the Zimbabwean squads as both need the international exposure ahead of the World Cup.

The SA Times
By Moses Mudzwiti
9 March 2009

Zimbabwe’s month-old unity government has scored a massive coup by persuading nearly all striking teachers to return to work.

Last month David Coltart the new education minister promised schooling would be back to normal by today (Monday March 9).

Lovemore Matombo the president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions on Monday said teachers who had downed their chalk as far back as 2007 had returned.

The ZCTU president said: “There has been a high subscription of those returning.”

Pay disputes over the last few years had seen running battles between teachers and the state disrupt schooling for long periods.

“Three quarters of all teachers are back,” said Matombo.

Coltart successfully negotiated with striking teachers to report for work by the beginning of the month.

At the time teachers were demanding salaries of about 2 300 us dollars.

However, Matombo said salary negotiations were still going on and an appropriate structure would be formulated to reward different levels in the teaching profession.

Zimbabwe’s school system had collapsed under the weight of poor state funding and striking teachers. Last year the elections also contributed to major disruptions in the school system.

A good number of teachers were roped in as polling agents.

Matters came to a head early this year when the examinations’ authorities failed to produce end-of-year results for grade seven and senior secondary.

Authorities said they had no money to pay teachers to mark the crucial examinations.

Children leaving primary could not progress to secondary schools and those wanting to enter university and other tertiary colleges were stuck.

Last month Coltart met donor nations and secured enough funds to pay teachers. They have since marked some of the papers.

Matombo said he was upbeat about the positive developments in the education department.
“I am happy,” said the ZCTU president.

Sunday News
8 March 2009
Sports Reporter

THE Bulawayo team finished unbeaten at the two-day Gray-Nicolls Zimbabwe social cricket tournament, which ended at Queens Sports Club yesterday.

Led by Adrian Fairburn and featuring former Zimbabwe internationals Heath Streak, Wayne James, the Rennie brothers John and Gavin, Bulawayo won all their three matches.

Last Friday, Bulawayo, inspired by half centuries from Gavin Rennie and Streak beat Victoria Falls by 60 runs. Yesterday, they beat Harare by an eight-wicket victory and then went on to thump Benoni Bombers, a team from South Africa by eight wickets.

A large number of fans who included the Minister of Education, Sport Arts and Culture David Coltart turned out for the event organised by Gray-Nicolls Zimbabwe representative Gareth Jocks and meant to raise money for old people’s homes in Bulawayo.