Sanctions or Tsvanctions which is Zanu PF quacking about

Mugabe's ZANU PF threats to abandon the GPA implementation until such time as Tsvangirai's MDC party causes the lifting of imposed on Zanu PF leadership are ill advised political hot air that will spell doom for Zanu PF if the MDC partners declare a deadlock and SADC and the AU are forced to intervene and force the parties to hold internationally supervised elections to resolve the deadlock.

The Sadc mediated GPA that imposed the current Zimbabwe government was from the outset agreed to be an imperfect solution to a political situation that was threatening not just Zimbabweans but also regional economies and security.

Subdued and battle weary Zimbabweans were disillusioned by the outcomes of GPA negotiations.

But in their weak physical and spiritual positions they resigned themselves to fate and hoped they could salvage something from the flawed agreement.

To a large extent they were right because they indeed benefited immensely when politically motivated violence by Zanu PF subsided drastically and economic stability resulted in unexpected reprieve from the ravages of Zanu PF scripted hyperinflation that pauperised the entire nation.

The re-energised nation increased lifted their bar of expectations from inclusivity higher with each improvement to their quality of life that accrued from the coalition government economic and social interventions.

The rise in expectations was faster than the moribund and rusted brains in Zanu PF leadership could cope with and the exodus of supporters from the Party of geriatrics to the vibrant MDT-T threatened Zanu PF to its foundations.

The change had to be slowed down somehow if the former invincible vanguard party had to remain politically relevant and the only way to do that was to renege on GPA provisions that had the greatest potential to show the ordinary populace how well and quickly the MDC-T was equipped and capable of turning around the rot that Zanu PF had nurtured over the past three decades it had exercised unquestioned political power.

But the more the Zanu PF leadership attempted to derail benefits devolving to the ordinary populace the more supporters it lost to the MDC-T.

Arguments that Zanu PF had relied on to retain support such as land ownership and empowerment suddenly lost value as people realised that they were better economically empowered not through land ownership but rather through freedom from politically motivated violence and impunity and space to freely engage in an economic environment underpinned by price stability and controlled inflation.

Zanu PF which had hitherto blamed runaway commodity prices, inflation and commodity shortages on sanctions was left severely exposed by the coalition government’s fiscal policies that not only arrested inflation but also restocked the retail outlets the Zanu PF government had pillaged and plundered bare through price controls, militia interventions and corrupt racketeering.

Ordinary people who hitherto had believed Zanu PF explanations that sanctions were responsible for their economic dire straits increasingly started questioning party leadership over the veracity of their previous assertions given that the situation had turned around for the better yet the said sanctions had not been officially announced to have been lifted.

Zanu PF’s attempt to claim credit for crafting the multi-currency intervention that stabilised prices and arrested inflation did not help the party much as it left the people questioning why the party did not do so earlier before they had been turned destitute and even more distrustful of the party.

But the Zanu PF reeling from effects of frozen assets and lack of the loophole to sustain high quality life through unrestrained money printing by the Reserve Bank continued preaching the lies that the sanctions were retarding the country’s recovery prospects.

The truth is that Zanu PF leaders are failing to sustain living standards they had become accustomed to because of stringent economic controls exercised by the Finance Minister that have drastically minimised corruption and impunity as well as patronage rewards.

They want access to funds they had ferreted and stashed in offshore accounts that were frozen by the EU and US sanctions on Zanu PF leadership.

They are aware that they have no chance in hell of retaining power after the GPA and in the likely event the MDC-T takes over government reigns before their frozen loot is made accessible to them they may never realise the stashed funds which they have no explanation for how they were acquired.

That is why from its Congress late last year the Party of geriatrics resolved that it was no longer interested in adhering to the GPA unless the MDC-T petitioned the US and EU to lift the sanctions preventing them from accessing their looted stashes abroad.

The MDC-T has consistently argued that it has no powers to lift the restrictions imposed on Zanu PF leadership with the MDC-T’s tacit approval as they were in support of its claims for democratic space which has now been largely realised.

Because of that realisation the MDC-T is not entirely averse to relaxation of restrictive measures imposed on Zimbabwean companies that were hitherto under exclusive control of Zanu PF but now are superintended by the MDC-T appointed Finance Minister and other Ministers from the party.

The most popular party has however been cautious not to be at the forefront of the advocacy for the lifting of the restrictive measures against individual and powerful Zanu PF zealots before securing irreversibility of the democratisation process.

When the British Foreign Secretary David Milliband accurately responded to a question on the Zanu PF sanctions and disclosed that his country’s government would be guided by the MDC in determining whether or not to retain restrictions on Zanu PF leaders the out of sorts Zanu PF leadership capitalised.

They had finally got something on which to crucify the MDC-T as the source of the sanctions they are reeling under and they now think they have concrete grounds upon which to refuse to adhere by the terms of the GPA which they in party parlance refer to as concessions.

They are in for a rude awakening from their stupor of political amnesia if they believe they have found an unassailable basis for abandoning the GPA.

First there is absolutely nothing wrong in the international community or the United Kingdom listening to the most representative party in the country to get guidance and shape appropriate its foreign policy on that basis.

Second the GPA is not an agreement between the UK and Zanu PF but rather an African inspired agreement to resolve an African problem as Zanu PF has always insisted and reneging on it will not fail Western leadership in the UK but African leadership in Zimbabwe first Sadc next and finally the AU who demanded and got their way in claiming responsibility for resolving the Zimbabwe political impasse that followed the 2008 harmonised elections.

Without the GPA the cherished claim by Zanu PF that its First Secretary and Party President is the country’s President, Head of State and Government as well as Commander in Chief of the Defence forces is null and void.

The coalition government must be dissolved within 90 days and elections to choose the new legitimate Government and President must be staged.

The sanctions they are intending to be removed will be tightened to ensure they stage violence free and credible elections which the party will not win.

After losing the elections the frozen assets they intend to recover from the lifting of sanctions will only be accessed by those that will prove they acquired them legitimately and there is none among them who can do so meaning they will be impounded by the state.

Sadly the dissolution of the coalition government after a deadlock in its continuation is not within the exclusive control of Zanu PF but rather that of SADC and the AU and their hands will be tied even if they want to defend the continuation of the government in instances where Zanu PPF refuses to live by the terms it agreed in mediated talks by the two bodies that had the tacit approval of the UN.

The entire nation other than the moribund and blindfolded Zanu PF leadership knows that Zanu PF stands to lose more from the dissolution of the coalition government than its other two partners combined and more so the MDC-T.

The populace at large also knows that Zanu PF has nothing to offer than the vicious dosage of unbridled violence and corruption it has dished in the past three decades it has ruled the country and will go all out to vote against the party reclaiming political dominance it used to have in those three decades.

The electorate knows that the sanctions argument is a ruse that will not benefit them in any way if they are lifted or negatively affect them if they are retained.

The Zimbabwe electorate is alert to the reason why Zanu PF leadership is keen to have sanctions imposed against their travel and that froze their looted assets relaxed including why the Party is associating the sanctions to Tsvangirai to the extent of renaming the restrictions Tsvanctions of late.

The Zanu PF political nightmare is not the hindrances of the sanctions on national recovery but the prospect of competing for political office in a credible environment against MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

That is why they are concentrating on discrediting him for the sanctions whose effects only those with frozen assets and travel bans abroad are languishing from.

An announcement of early elections is what most people are waiting for if SADC and the international community can guarantee freedom from violence during those elections.

The MDC-T knows that the SADC and international community has limitations in guaranteeing violence free elections in the country based on its past experiences.

That is why it is not losing sleep over threats from Zanu PF about the granting of concessions as the MDC-T wants the Constitution revision process to be successfully completed and then go to elections on the provisions of that new Constitution which they will ensure will close loopholes Zanu PF has previously used to rig itself into power.

Forget the sanctions being the reason why Zanu PF is afraid to abide by the GPA it is the fear of competing against Tsvangirai for political office that is driving the party crazy and they have every reason to be wary of him.
He is riding on the crest of popular support which will be difficult to overhaul in any free election.

Zanu PF can take whatever stance it feels comfortable with in its interaction with coalition government partners of convenience but if it dares take untenable positions the partners will hit back with dire consequences on Zanu PF whose political relevance and current political lifeline is the coalition partners.

Bennett trial: The wheels are coming off the State case

Self confessed ZANU PF AG Johannes Tomana desperate in Bennett prosecution as political persecution case loses vital evidence on which it was premised. Will the Judge save him once more?

It is beginning to look like there will be a few more bold heads within the Zanu PF leadership when the trial of MDC-T Treasurer General Roy Bennett comes to an end.

The trial largely viewed as political-judicial persecution of Zanu PF opponents by the State in many circles is shaping out nicely to confirm that perception.

The controversial self confessed Zanu PF staunch supporter at the centre of a political dispute between the MDC-T and Zanu PF following his suspicious appointment by President Mugabe in utter disregard of the GPA is beginning to show signs of despair in the matter.


“The State, My Lord, has been barred from relying on the admissions which were specified in this court, namely handwritten statements by Peter Michael Hitschmann, video evidence and the sworn statement by the witness.For that reason, it has abandoned the use of those three admitted statements,” the AG partially surrendered.

He however remained clutching on the only straw still remaining for him to exploit in the disintegrating prosecution or is it persecution of the accused.

The e-mails allegedly downloaded from the laptop impounded by CIO and Army investigators into the matter from impeached State star witness Peter Michael Hitschmann seem to be the only ray still lighting the prosecution case for the embattled AG.

“These are documents separate from any admission that Peter Michael Hitschmann placed. These are documents which were found independently and separately from the admission. The objection by the defence counsel is ill-founded and must be dismissed,” the AG submitted after the defense had objected to their admission as evidence.

The defence maintains that the irregularities that led the court to dispense with evidence in the form of the impeached witness’3 handwritten statements and a 4th which was attested to as well as video footage are present in the manner the e-mails were obtained by the Army and CIO operatives who investigated the matter to the same extent they were evident in the discarded evidence.

“What was done by persons from the President’s office without following the proper procedure cannot be ruled admissible. My Lord, there can be nothing independent about emails that were printed in the same un-free circumstances as the other statements,” the defence countered,

The witness the prosecution had presented to certify authenticity of the e-mails Nyasha Matare a CIO operative working as a typist was equally slammed by the accused’s defence counsel Beatrice Mtetwa.

“My Lord, the witness says that she is a typist. I do not believe that gives her the expertise to give evidence as to the origins of the emails.From her emails, she clearly does not know the addresses of the various parties and she clearly cannot say the emails came from whom going where.The witness says she found the laptop on the table but does not tell us how the laptop came to be there.This is particularly so, My Lord, as Hitschmann has already said that such emails were shown to him and does not know their origins,” submitted Mtetwa.

These are effective tools the defence is using to undo the rusty nuts and bolts holding the State case together for now at least.

To tighten his case the AG ought to have called in an IT specialist to testify on the origins date and times of the e-mails with regard to IP addresses of origin and delivery and prove that the IP addresses were indeed owned by the accused and the impeached witness.

In the absence of such crucial evidence it would be unsafe for the Court to accept the e-mails as admissible evidence of genuine correspondence between the impeached witness and the accused.

Even with such concrete evidence the prosecution has a duty to prove that the e-mails could not have been spam messages as there is an abundance of evidence to support that any e-mail address can be hacked and abused and electronically submitted data must be treated with circumspect more so if it is being disputed .

But instead the seemingly IT illiterate AG is convinced that it is adequate for him to rely on such vulnerable communication simply because it was downloaded from a suspect’s computer notwithstanding the circumstances in which it was downloaded.

As the defence pointed out the typist who downloaded the e-mails could not satisfy the court of the origins of the Laptop from which she downloaded the e-mails neither could she state their source and destination with precision?

Because the trial is highly charged politically and the penalty on conviction is grave the Court would be in dereliction of judicious discretion if it was to allow admission of the e-mails as evidence simply because the prosecution has aroused the court’s curiosity as to the contents of the e-mails.

In any event for the e-mails to form substantive evidence in the matter they must be shown to have been obtained legally through a search warrant and downloaded in the presence of the accused and or witnesses given their disputed ownership which has not been done.

But alas the AG believes it is enough for the evidence to be admitted by the court that as he put it;

“The emails contain relevant executive statements between the witness and the accused person and there is no rule of admissibility that bars this court from accepting them,” as they are “verifiable evidence.”

The strong submissions by the defence counsel that;

“There is nothing, My Lord, which indicates that without a proper foundation and we respectfully submit that they remain prejudicial to the accused. We, therefore, remain resolute to their production,” requires serious consideration by Justice Bhunu when he rules on the admissibility of the e-mail evidence the AG is clutching to.

The e-mails were forcibly obtained from yet to be proved sources by the same persons the court has found to have tortured admissions out of a witness and the doctrine of consistence in dealing with evidence sourced by such improper means will be vitiated in the unlikely event the court allows the evidence to form the basis of this matter.

Even then the chances of such e-mail evidence supporting a safe conviction are very remote if not none existent given the gaping holes in their merit.

The court must be bold enough to end the prosecution’s misery in this case and there is no better way than to leave the prosecutors with some modicum of credibility by simply rejecting the admission of the e-mails as evidence and thus giving the prosecution the chance to adduce legally obtained evidence against the accused that is free from controversy attendant to Army and CIO interference and complicity.

For now however it looks like the defence has put enough degreaser in the rusted bolts and nuts holding the prosecution case’s wheels to the body and if the court does not stop the case the wheels will come off and the AG’s reputation and suitability for the position he holds will be damaged beyond repair.

Bennett trial: AG runs into wall of denials

The MDC-T Treasurer General Roy Bennett may have reason for another go at a dance like this if proceedings in his politically motivated trial so far anything to go by

The ongoing trial of MDC-T Treasurer General and Deputy Agriculture Minister designate Roy Bennett is turning out to be a nightmarish experience for Attorney General Johannes Tomana.

Having decided to personally take charge of the prosecution of the Zanu PF loathed MDC-T Legislator in a case where he is accused of amassing weapons of war for the purpose of committing acts of banditry and insurgency in totally disregard of pervasive accusations of harassing and persecution of Roy Bennett the AG appears up against it in this instance.

What has so far transpired in court would have convinced many a State Prosecutor to abandon the case after plea as chances of success become dimmer by the day.
Here is the beginning of my post. But then Johannes Tomana is no ordinary AG as he is a self proclaimed staunch Zanu PF supporter.

The prime political foe of Zanu PF is MDC-T and when a case arises where senior political foes from the MDC-T and Zanu PF have to contest on any matter political advantage becomes the prime motive as is becoming evident in this matter.

The trial of Roy Bennett has so far confirmed that it is no exception to other legendary political duels between Zanu PF and MDC-T and neither party is prepared to throw in the towel because of attendant political ramifications of surrender.

The case appears to be causing the self proclaimed Zanu PF Attorney General major legal shocks and the Zanu PF party is not amused watching its key hatchet man committing legal suicide at every turn in the case which is a must win for the party despite its evident flaws.

The first major huddle for the AG was the rejection by the court for him to rely on a statement deposed to by the star witness in the matter on account it was hitherto disowned and never accepted as legitimate evidence as it was improperly induced.

As if that was not serious enough a set back the Investigating Officer was forced to admit that he had not recorded a statement from the witness for the purpose of this trial and had not completed investigations into some crucial aspects of the crime like the Mozambique account held by the witness and source of e-mail correspondence between the accused and the witness.

An attempt to sensationalise the case by loading up exhibits backfired when the witness disowned some of them and the prosecution had to accept that the additional exhibits had been mistakenly included into the crime inventory of exhibits as they had been recovered from elsewhere than the witness’ custody.

The State’s star witness one Peter Michael Hitschmann a Mutare based former Police Officer turned licensed Arms Dealer previously convicted of having been found in possession of illegal arms who the AG hoped would help clarify matters on the basis that he had implicated the accused turned out to be more favourable to the accused’s defence than to the prosecution case.

The development was always in the offing as the AG had largely ignored prior warnings of it from the witness’ Legal Counsel and had arrogantly caused the arrest of Mordecai Mahlangu over allegations that he had attempted to defeat the course of justice when he wrote to the AG informing him that his client will not stand by the contents of the statement the AG would rely on in Bennett’s prosecution as he had disowned the same statement in an affidavit of record in his own trial in the same court now presiding over Bennett’s trial.

It is instructive that the witness’s Legal Counsel Mordecai Mahlangu has been exonerated of any wrong doing in another court over allegations levelled against him by the AG now prosecuting Bennett.

And true to his timely warning that the AG paid him for with a prosecution for attempting to defeat the course of justice only to be exonerated by another court, when the State put him to the witness stand Peter Michael witness disowned the statement that the AG was relying on in his prosecution of Bennett.

The development left the AG’s case in shambles as the defence team for Bennett raised strong objections over admission of the statement in question as evidence on account it had been hitherto disowned and was recorded for a totally different purpose than it was now intended to be used by the AG.

The Bennett defence team further argued that the statement in question was improperly coerced through torture of the witness and thus fell foul of provisions of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CPEA) and was thus inadmissible as evidence in the Bennett trial with the concurrence of the Presiding Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu.

This was after he had quashed a defence application for the learned judge to recuse himself from the matter after findings he had made in bail hearings of the accused MDC-T Senator that were deemed prejudicial to a fair trial before a Judge who had hitherto held that the accused was facing serious crime charges that needed to be balanced with state security considerations in a full court hearing.

In pandemonium over the seemingly crumbling case the AG applied for the impeachment of the State’s star witness as a means with which to plug gaping holes in the prosecution case and a means to reconstruct the disowned statement through cross examining the witness whom he now considered hostile to his cause.

It was the same hostility he had been forewarned of and not only ignored but attempted to repress by laying charges of attempting to defeat the course of justice on Mordecai Mahlangu for his effort in flagging the possible hostility to the AG prior to the trial.

The taste of the pudding is surely in the eating as the AG will now confirm in respect of his misguided reliance on a statement by Hitschmann to indulge in the high profile prosecution he is now stuck in.

The grounds upon which the AG sought impeachment of his star witness turned hostile in the Bennett trial failed when the Learned Judge held that it was incompetent of the State to impeach its witness over a departure from a statement that has previously been disowned in another case and induced through torture.

Under normal circumstances the State case should have fatally collapsed at that point where the State had failed to substantiate its application but in Zimbabwe Judges are commonly viewed with suspicion that they are Zanu PF compromised.

The learned Judge did not help in allaying these fears when after finding against the State’s impeachment application he then saved the AG the blushes by granting impeachment on the grounds of the witness’s demeanour and conduct in court that parties had not been given the opportunity to argue over.

The temporary reprieve the AG got from the Judge’s benevolence in granting impeachment on a ground that was not premised in the State application is now the source of dilemma for the AG.

While the AG has been granted a window to reconstruct the witness’s statement to the same commitment that informed the AG to go for prosecution of the MDC-T Treasurer General, he is now limited to using the witness’s demeanour in court to show that the witness was not being truthful in his oral evidence.

An attempt to commit him to the alleged confession that funding for the weapons of war that were found in his possession had come through witness’s Mozambique bank account was convincingly rebutted by the accused who disclosed that the account had been in operation since the early 80’s when he was supplying an economically depraved Mozambique under Civil War siege with goods from a stable and surplus producing Zimbabwe.

The AG must never muse himself that because the witness has confirmed holding the Mozambique Bank account his contention that it was used to finance illegal weapons purchases by Roy Bennett has been established.
He must now furnish the court with evidence of the deposits that Bennett made into the account and their intended purpose and the date when they were effected and by what means they were transacted.

The motive in IMPEACHMENT OF WITNESS is “to call into question the veracity of a witness, by means of evidence adduced for such purpose. A witness may be impeached with respect to prior inconsistent statements, contradiction of facts, bias, or character.” -Black’s Law Dictionary

In this matter the AG has been denied recourse to the more easier to prove, witness’ prior instances of untruthfulness, prior inconsistent statements and prior inconsistent actions by the court and has to rely on the more complex and subjective bias and interest, reputation or opinion for untruthfulness as well as prior convictions and variance with prior testimony of the witness.

To discredit the witness the AG must first commit him to the prior testimony, prior convictions and reputation or opinion of untruthfulness.

Alternatively the prosecution must emerge areas of bias and interest in the matter by the witness that would support his inclination to lying in his testimony.

The AG it must be said has done a pretty shoddy job in cross examination of Hitschmann as he remained glued to the disowned statements that have hitherto been ruled inadmissible evidence in the current trial.

The witness has never refuted owning a Mozambican bank account in his evidence in chief and reaffirmed that ownership during cross examination.

In addition to accepting links to the account the hostile state witness further explained the origins of the account and its purposes none of which were discredited by the cross examination.

Worse the witness’ ownership of the account was never linked to transactions between him and the accused and if anything the testimony earlier by the Investigation Officer that he had not completed investigation into the account leaves the state case perilous.

Realising the futility of the bank account linkage discredit of the witness the AG tried the more subtle discredit of the witness by questioning the truthfulness of the witness’ earlier testimony about his relationship with the accused and the political party to which the accused belonged.

The witness had earlier disclosed that his first contact with Bennett was at a Mutare club where the former Chimanimani legislator had been addressing a report back MDC gathering.

The AG pounced on the disclosure to trap the witness and link him closely with not just the accused but the accused’s political party as well.

“I put it to you that you actually view the accused person as a hero and nothing else,” inferred the AG.

The witness conceded to that but only now that he has become accustomed to the accused but not before when he had little contact and knowledge of the accused.

More tellingly the witness disclosed that his fascination with Parliamentary scuffles was not limited to the Zimbabwe Parliament scuffle where the accused was involved but also those he had similarly witnessed on TV from Taiwan, Greece and South Korea.

He refuted the implied demeanor absurdity sighted by Judge Bhunu in this regard when he granted the State’s application for his impeachment in the following terms;


“Fighting in Parliament is human. If it can happen elsewhere, why can it not happen here?”

The AG did not discredit the witness’ fascination with Parliamentary scuffles involving the accused as being motivated by the witness’s bias, interest or admiration for the accused and or his political formation as he had the onerous task of dispelling the witness’ interest in scuffles elsewhere he had mentioned.

With regard to the feebly attempt to discredit the witness on the grounds of partisan political bias evidenced by the witness’ admission that he had been present at a Mutare Club where the accused gave an MDC report back Hitschmann simply denied political association of any nature with the accused and or his party formation and any judge who would convict a person for associating with a political formation because he for unknown reasons found himself in the locality of the political report back session in a public place like a club cannot be taken seriously.

It was up to the AG to produce a membership card or record thereof in court showing the witness is linked to the accused politically which he sadly did not do.

Despite having been barred from relying on disowned statements the AG could not resist the temptation to fall back on the invalidated document when he questioned the accused on the e-mail exchanges between the accused and the witness.

The rebuttal from the witness was emphatic.

He could not have supplied a password for the police to download e-mails sent to him by the accused from the accused’s Laptop as he did not own the sender’s e-mail address and account.

The defence re-examination of the witness will no doubt expose how this answer is consistent with technology behind e-mail security since the State alleges that it impounded Bennett’s computers and downloaded the e-mails there from using Bennett’s password which would not be privy and has not been shown to have been privy to the witness by the cross examination.

To discredit the witness the AG ought to have somehow committed the witness to critical issues in the statements that the court is refusing to admit as evidence in this matter which he dismally failed to do.

As it now stands the court will have difficulty crediting any of the alleged confessions of the hostile witness to him.

It would be interesting to see how the court will use the witness’ testimony in its final determination of the matter given the incompetent manner in which the AG confronted the impeached witness with a barrage of inferences that it had not committed to the witness’ ownership.

All the court got from this cross examinations were wild and unsubstantiated allegations which were equally refuted with vigour by the witness.

Bennett trial: Judge extends the long rope to the AG

Peter Hitschmann impeached for demeanor in court and not departure from previously disowned statement as applied and intended by the AG.

As we previously predicted Justice Chinembiri Bhunu has granted self confessed Zanu PF Attorney General Johannes Tomana his wish by holding that star witness in the Roy Bennett banditry, insurgency and terrorism trial Michael Peter Hitschmann has turned hostile and must be impeached.

His reasons in arriving at that verdict had nothing to do with submissions tendered by the incompetent AG but rather his subjective judgement of the attitude of the state’s star witness turned hostile.


The learned judge held that Hitschmann had turned hostile to the prosecution case not because he had previously substantively supported it but rather because he had conducted himself in a manner that is against the State.

“The witness’s conduct in this case is against the state,” held Justice Bhunu.
Justice Bhunu held further that it was incompetent for the State to attempt to use the statement that had hitherto been disowned by the witness as the basis for impeachment.

In a clear case of the Judge turning prosecutor he then introduced a fresh ground for impeachment the state had not relied on in its application when he went on to hold that;

The demeanour of the witness in court had left him convinced that the witness had turned hostile to the State case and thus justified him granting the application on that alternative legal principle notwithstanding that the State had not relied on that alternative in formulating its application for impeachment.

“When the witness took the stand, he portrayed himself as someone who was deeply aggrieved and had an axe to grind with the State,” opined Justice Bhunu adding further that;
In his view the witness who is a former Police Officer views his former colleagues in the Police force as incompetent and sees the State as an adversary following his serving of a two year sentence after conviction in a matter he has since appealed against but has not been set down for resolution.
The Judge also found it absurd that the star State witness had uttered that he had been intrigued by Bennett when he watched a televised programme from Parliament that showed the MDC legislator assaulting Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and on that basis he ruled that;

“The witness in this case is accordingly an adverse and hostile witness and the State is obliged to cross-examine him.”

It raises questions about Justice Bhunu’s impartiality in this matter given a previous defence application for him to recuse himself from the matter that he dismissed.

Now that the State has got its wish to have its star witness impeached, the AG is now in the spotlight.

Given that the witness was not impeached on any departure from a previously attested statement but merely on his demeanour in court the AG must now expose how such demeanour is unfavourable to his case in his cross examination of the witness.

In doing so, he will attempt to use every means possible to commit Hitschmann to the words in the statement that the Court has persistently barred him from producing as evidence in the current trial.

In other words the AG will attempt to rewrite the statement he relied on to order Bennett’s prosecution through oral evidence extracted in the cross examination.

This will be a onerous task for the AG regard being paid to the consistency with which the witness has maintained that he was tortured into making the statement implicating Bennett.

Even if he should be tricked into making a volte face implicating Bennett once more the Court will have greatest difficulty in choosing which aspect of his testimony to rely on in coming up with the determination of the case.

Already the witness has unsuccessfully applied for personal legal representation and the defence can argue that this has left him exposed and insecure should he depart from his viva voce evidence.

Either way the State case appears very much in disarray at the moment and will require the best of the AG to put back on track.

But even if he fails the Judge in this matter can be expected to panel beat the matter with subjective reasoning to justify his determination which will only lead to an appeal being lodged to the Supreme Court in the likely event the State secures a flawed conviction.

What is evident for now is that the Judge has unintentionally thrown the AG a long rope with which to hang himself in this matter.

Relishing the chance to shine the AG went straight into cross examination of his star witness turned hostile by the court.

The rush was obviously motivated by the need to surprise the witness into confirming the statement he has disowned before he got any chance to consult anyone else.

It is a futile but nonetheless worthwhile attempt by the AG who refused to heed advice to abandon the case as it was and will always remain politically motivated rather than a genuine case of criminal conduct by the accused.

Impeachment Tomana’s trump card in Bennett Trial

AG Johannes Tomana poised to get his way in Bennet trial

The reason why President Mugabe has consistently refused to swear in Roy Bennett as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture on account of his pending trial became evident in the High Court on Tuesday 12 January 2010.

The prosecution strategy has been to sell the ruse that Michael Peter Hitschmann was its star witness in the case when behind the scenes the witness is only important to its case in one sense only.

A statement he admits deposing in 2006 when he was arrested and later convicted for possession of dangerous weapons is all that the prosecution is interested in this Matter with specific reference to the content that implicated Roy Bennett in the procurement of the weapons by the convicted former arms dealer.


Clearly President Mugabe has long been briefed about the prosecution game plan in this matter which led him to disclose to Deputy Premier Professor Arthur Mutambara that Bennett will never be acquitted of the charges he faces and hence the President had no reason to swear him as a Deputy Minister when his freedom was short-lived

The statement in question was the final draft of many others he claims to have been forced to depose to throughout the night of 7 March 2006 at Mutare’s Adams Army Barracks where he was detained incommunicado.

He has since dissociated himself from its contents during his trial and it was never admitted as evidence in his own trial.

But the self confessed Zanu PF Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana who has taken over prosecution of the matter personally has long told President Mugabe that he will use the same statement to secure Bennett’s conviction.

When Bennett was indicted for trial in the Harare High Court there was drama at the Mutate Magistrate Court when the accused MDC-T Treasurer’s previously granted bail was revoked and he was re-detained triggering a political protest from his party which announced a partial disengagement from the coalition government until outstanding issues that included the swearing in of Senator Bennett as Deputy Minister were implemented.

The MDC-T has consistently alleged that the arrests, detentions and torture of its members is a political judicial persecution strategy authored by Zanu PF intended to whittle its Parliamentary majority following the March 2008 harmonised elections.

The Bennett trial has been politically dramatized in Court before Justice Chinembiri Bhunu first when he ruled that the AG could not proceed on the basis of Hitschmann’s alleged confessions in a 2006 statement when the state’s first witness who was the investigating officer averred to it in his testimony.

The ruling took the AG unawares and he sought adjournment of the matter to the next day.

When the trial resumed it was bogged down in preliminary arguments concerning admission of Hitschmann’s revoked statement of 7 March 2006 and later when the Defense applied for the Judge to recuse himself over pronouncements he had earlier made about the accused Senator when he presided over Hitshmann’s bail application which was dismissed.

This was to be followed by admissions that some exhibits brought to court were not part of the exhibits produced by the state in Hitshmann’s trial whereas it was the state case that the accused Senator had cached weapons intended for terrorism acts with Hitschmann and the entire war arsenal was recovered from Hitschmann.

It was only on Tuesday that the AG disclosed his revised plan to sneak in the 7 March 2006 statement that Hitschmann alleges he was forced and tortured to depose showing his desperation to successfully prosecute the matter without reliance on that statement.

The alert defence Attorney for Bennett immediately objected to the admission of the statement recorded from Hitschmann under duress and within a military establishment as evidence but the objection will not lead anywhere despite having caused the adjournment of the matter to 13 January 2010 for continuation to allow the judge to consider the impeachment of Hitschmann over his viva voce evidence that was at variance with the written statement from him of record.

The impeachment route is the last ace that was up the sleeve of the AG in this trial and he dramitised it in Court and managed to dupe the press that the case against Bennett was disintegrating when to the contrary it will be strengthened when the judge has no option but to allow him to impeach a clearly hostile state witness he deliberately summoned to court to allow him to use the central documents he has always relied on to pursue the prosecution of Bennett.

The AG wants to be granted the opportunity to irrevocably commit Bennett to the 7 March 2006 statement in Court before the Judge and has largely succeeded in this regard when his surprise production of the statement was acknowledged by the accused as one of many statements he was forced to sign on 7 March 2006.

It is now common cause that the 2006 statement the AG is trying to get the court to accept as evidence in this matter is defacto a statement by the hostile state witness before the court and the Judge will have great difficulty barring the AG from enquiring into the variation between what the witness said in that statement and his statement in court.

The AG wants to produce that statement and argue his case on that basis as without it he has no case to prosecute.

Since he was barred from introducing it through the investigating officer he wants to confront the deponent and extract and lay bare the inconsistency in his verbal evidence in court and that statement then move on to impeach the witness but still rely on the written statement the witness is contradicting.

This is a tricky position he has moved the hostile witness into and it is now up to the defence attorney to protect the state witness turned hostile to avoid her original client being prejudiced by the statement that was coerced from Hitschmann.

Its early days yet for Senator Bennett to choke laughter at the apparent contradiction between the AG and his witness.
In the unlikely event the does not grant the AG’s impeachment application the defence must go to court tomorrow with a well considered argument against the contents of Hitschmann’s statement even though such statements will be treated with caution when the judge decides the weight to put on it in his final ruling.

Fortunately for the defence there is evidence that the Hitschmann disowned the statement as soon as he got free from the torture chambers in which it was made and there are numerous other inconsistencies in the state case that can be used to discount the allegations leveled against Bennett.

MKD mesmerized by MDC-T anti-corruption drive

MKD self imposed leader Dr Simba Makoni (right) is attempting to score cheap political points over the MDC-T anti-corruption move as anticipated by the MDC national Spokesman and Minister of Information (ICT) Hon Nelson Chamisa but is only succeeding in reopening the corruption playing out in the MKD

An unbelievably fresh political wind is blowing across the Zimbabwe political landscape.

The MDC-T appears to have taken the Nation by surprise when it came out strongly against corruption within its leadership.

It is early yet to compliment the party for its bold declaration of intent on corruption but nonetheless a refreshing pedigree of politics to hear a governing party acknowledge the existence of the scourge within its leadership in the strongest of terms and follow that up with action to correct the anomaly.

“We shall never hesitate to weed out any decaying apples in our basket of democrats,” said the party in its popular website Changing Times on Line.

To show that the party means every word of it, the party has in the last quarter of 2009 suspended executives in its South African and UK assemblies, suspended the Chitungwiza Mayor and Councilors, Constituted an Inter Party Anti-Corruption Committee which has already investigated alleged corruption by the Bindura Council and will be paying the troubled Redcliff Council a not so friendly visit shortly.

The MDC-T Deputy Secretary General and Hatfield Member of the House of Assembly Mr. Tapuwa Mashakada, heads the party’s Anti-Corruption team that includes former Harare City Councillor and Party National Executive Member Mr. Last Maengehama, Kadoma Central MP Mrs. Editor Matamisa, Sunningdale MP Mrs. Margaret Matienga and Chimanimani West MP Lynette Karenyi.

“We are clear about the needs of the present and future and have the nation fully behind us as we transform our society from a rotten legacy of dictatorship and corruption. The people are our campus. The year 2010 shall hasten our entry into a new Zimbabwe,” said the party in reaffirming its commitment to the anti-corruption initiative.

Party critics surprised by the momentum of the MDC-T anti-corruption initiative were quick to dismiss the initiative as a smokescreen political project aimed at buying time to manage internal divisions in the MDC-T and silence them which will yield nothing.

In particular Dr Makoni’s moribund MKD which claims to be the only opposition party wants to score cheap political points from the initiative.

First it claimed the suspension of the MDC-T external Assembly Executives in South Africa and the UK and I had nothing to do with alleged fiduciary improprieties but had everything to do with power struggles within the party ahead of its congress where the external assemblies were planning to revolt against the party Constitutional amendment limiting party Presidential terms to guarantee the unopposed imposition of the current President Morgan Tsvangirai for another term after serving the prescribed two year terms.

Having failed to find takers the confused outfit masquerading as a genuine opposition party when its leader has long made it clear that he and the party are Zanu PF appendages now claims that the MDC-T anti-corruption drive was motivated by its leader’s new year statement that accused the MDC-T of being corrupt and in dereliction of its election promises to the nation.

The MDC-T being the most proactive political entity in Zimbabwe today had anticipated the ludicrous claims from political opportunists struggling to find space to confuse the people.

The party is not only aware of the background to the political environment in which it has to confront the corruption scourge but also the opportunistic Zanu PF sponsored political entities masquerading as genuine opposition now that their principal party has foisted itself militantly in the coalition government.

The MDC-T has not forgotten the lengthy duration Dr Simba Makoni stayed as a Zanu PF Politburo Member and helped in crafting the policies that destroyed our country’s economy and that his level of membership surpasses any other purporting or actually opposing Zanu PF. Not even ZAPU interim leader Dumiso Dabengwa‘s membership is anywhere near Dr Makoni’s loyalty to Zanu PF let alone the MDC-T leader’s membership the party falsely claims will expire in 2012.

The MDC-T is also very alert to Dr Makoni’s political opportunism having studied his attempt to land the country’s Presidency after 56 days of opposing the sitting President and without an organized political structure from which to draw Cabinet members and control Parliament.

The MDC-T has not forgotten that after being rejected at the polls it was none other than Dr Makoni who tailed the parties that had salvaged some support and had parliamentary seats to show for that to the Lusaka SADC summit in July 2008 where he not only hijacked the MDC-T electioneering slogan about forming an inclusive government that the electorate had bought into but also dismally attempted to persuade SADC to elect him the country’s interim President to lead the GNU after the Presidential election stalemate had been fraudulently declared by the Zanu PF and Militarised Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

The Party has not forgotten the accusations about fiduciary impropriety and corruption within the MKD that is still before the Courts and has caused the nascent party to split and sink. Those now claiming that Dr Makoni is not corrupt may as well as tell us what caused the discord that led Dumiso Dabengwa, Kudzayi Mbudzi, and Dr Ibbo Mandaza etal to confront him and withdraw their support for his leadership of the party.

The long and short of it is Dr Makoni is as corrupt as the ZANU PF leadership he helped loot our country to a basket case. Evidence of this can be found in his name and declaration of assets not appearing anywhere in the Zanu PF Leadership Code foetus that was still born.

“Against this background, we however find utterances by some failed opposition politicians concerning our transparent and honest bid to stamp out this dangerous practice as nothing but opportunistic publicity stunts. We have taken the lead; our plea is for others to follow our example, as always,” the MDC –T has challenged him.

And all he can do is make the anticipated frivolous and vexatious allegations against the MDC-T instead of supporting the crusade against corruption because he knows he will be entangled if he denounces corruption when he is facing corrupt allegations within his party.

Turning to the MDC-T constitutional amendment to I abolish the two year term prescription will not absolve the MKD of its own bad image as a corrupt entity.

In any event a clause limiting party Presidential terms may sound attractive on paper but if the party grassroots are in favour of the leader after that term expires and he complies by stepping down and then forms a rival party may not look that intelligent if the same person’s new party goes on to win elections.

But that is best left to party structures as opposed to opposition members agitating for the strongest leading opponent to be dumped by people in order for them to compete against a weaker opponent.

That is a lesson MDC has leant well in its dealings with Zanu PF and that is the more opposing political entities antagonize and opposition party leader the more closer they drive him to bond with his supporters who in turn will hold the leader as the icon of their resistance to political opponents projects no matter how rational they may be.

The MDC-T Congress will not be persuaded by the MKD to ditch any of its leaders but may very well retain certain leaders they would otherwise replace if they are made to believe that political competitors in other formations fear them and have no chance of winning as long as they are retained.

The reality of the current MDC-T anti corruption is that it is neither an intra party power management tool nor was it motivated by the MKD.

“We acknowledge that ours is a struggle against an entrenched political culture of the past 30yrs of non-accountability and corruption. It is inevitable that some of our cadres have fallen victim to the yesteryear practices we seek to uproot. And this is a struggle we shall win,” said the party.

It appears that the MDC-T ant-corruption initiative has been at the centre of the party programmes since its conception but corruption had not reared its ugly head in the party leadership until they were exposed to the control of vast national resources and the party wants to weed out those that have fallen to the temptations at this early stage before the problem takes root.

In a corrupt society like the one obtaining and nurtured by Zanu PF for decades it is thus refreshing for a party to boldly take decisive action against those in its leadership fingered in corrupt dealings and any opposition political entity that seeks to rubbish such a noble exercise risks shooting itself in the foot as MKD has evidently done.

Zimbabweans would rather associate with political entities that are prepared to confront corrupt leadership than one that protects them.

Zanu PF has been tongue tied because they just do not have a starting point on ant-corruption which will not backfire on the party.

Of Silence Chihuri and MDC rogues

Former MDC, MDC-T and MDC-M nowm MKD member Silence Chihuri

If ever there was doubt as to why MDC is concerned about the functionality of its external assemblies then Silence Chihuri has unintentionally put those doubts to rest.

Amazingly all it took MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett to extract detailed confirmation of party fears was to irk a rogue former executive member of the Party’s UK and Ireland assembly by using the word rogue to describe suspected corrupt fiduciary transactions in foreign based assemblies in the name of the party when they were for personal benefit of the rogue individuals.

Silence Chihuri a former Treasurer of the party’s UK and I assembly ostensibly still deluded that he has a mandate to defend the external assembly he once led notwithstanding that he has not only been removed from the executive but has moved ahead to become a self avowed MKD member fired broadsides at the MDC Treasurer that exposed all that is suspiciously wrong about the party’s external assemblies operations.

Had Chihuri still been a party member it would not be out of line for the party to haul him before a disciplinary committee to answer charges of gross insubordination and conduct likely to put the name of the party into disrepute.

But more worrying is the muted silence of the suspended UK and I executive to at the very least distance itself from the vile that Silence Chihuri spewed against senior party officials.

Granted the executive is under suspension and barred from acting in the name of the party but in the exceptional circumstances where a former member whose exit from the party is not envious takes a defensive position cynically couched in language that appears to have come from the aggrieved currently suspended executive of the province it is most unwise for them to keep muted silence over the development.

Any reasonable person would speculate that Chihuri is bidding for the suspended executives for personal reasons to do with the manner he left the party in frustration and in a bid to sow seeds of discontent among the leaderless party membership in the UK and I province.

Be that as it may what Chihuri said cannot be left unchallenged because there is no better example of the rogue elements the MDC Treasurer intended to expose than Chihuri.

His vile protest is premised on inside knowledge of the party procedures he was exposed to as an executive member of the province. It is unethical and unprofessional for people in positions of trust to use knowledge gained in the course of execution of executive functions to spite other former or current executives in the public domain such as the press and he knows it.

His accusations are political garbage expected from disgruntled former members attempting to get even with a party they feel failed to appreciate their contribution to the cause.

Chihuri falsely alleged that MDC National Treasurer Roy Bennett wrongfully and spitefully labeled all members of the party in external assemblies’ rogues when they have sacrificed so much to sustain the party.

The reason the National Treasurer did that was because of a combination of his colonial superiority hangover and the unmerited promotion he has been awarded in the party that has seen him occupy a position way beyond his competence according to Chihuri.

“There is nothing racial about Bennett's comments. It is a case of mentality and sadly, has become part of a chronic and endemic problem in the MDC that sees obscure figures being catapulted to the top echelons of the party at the expense of the hardworking and dedicated cadres of the party. It's not just Bennett who has benefited from that profligacy in the MDC although he is by no means the biggest beneficiary,” Chihuri ranted.

He went on to single out the Premier’s spokesman James Maridadi and Minister of State in the Premier’s office Gorden Moy as examples of the undeserving beneficiaries of MDC profligacy that rewards nonentities ahead of party stalwarts without naming them.

The tirade that followed exposes the rogue element in Chihuri. He is so bitter with the current leadership of the party he once served but later abandoned first for the 12 October splinter group now led by Professor Mutambara and later for the moribund Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD) fronted by Dr Simba Makoni where his membership still subsists that he even suggested that the party must appoint its deceased members to the positions as a reward for their hard work during their lifetime.
How that physical impossibility can make sense only a bitter Chihuri can fathom.

“It is the ultimate mockery to those who have died in the name of the MDC party. There is no culture of appreciation or rewarding of the hard work in the MDC. What we see is the same jobs-for-boys culture that is rampant in ZANU PF. It is a real disgrace,” lamented a distraught Chihuri.

Equally outrageous is the suggestion by Chihuri that those that were not there when the party was formed or fighting for political space must not derive benefit from the party’s success.

If the Zanu PF jobs-for-the boys culture is objectionable to Chihuri for real the expectation would be that he would be equally appalled by the same party’s culture of impunity and possessive ownership of fruits of the struggle for national sovereignty.

But no Chihuri is comfortable with the MDC if it reserves positions for its dedicated activists regardless of the requirements of the positions that may not suit the activists in terms of grooming qualifications and experience in addition to political correctness.

“Bennett saw a fantastic opportunity to settle an old score because he is one of those few but very hardcore white people who never fully and whole heartedly embraced the idea of a black government in Zimbabwe,” Chihuri lapsed into the past in his uncontrolled ire.

He completely lost his bearings when he accused the party of being shamelessly in dereliction of founding principles and allowing itself to be abused by people who do not have the interest of others at heart like Bennett and we assume James Maridadi and Gorden Moyo.

But facts on the ground seem to suggest to the contrary that these same people are loved by the very people they are exploiting if Chihuri’s assertions are anything to go by and we wonder why when they are as bad as he depicts them to be?

“I detest Jonathan Moyo and most of his wapped political views and especially policies during his short but disastrous spell in government. But Moyo's analysis of Bennett was just as spot as his accurate analysis of Mugabe in the late 1980's and early 1990's,” Chihuri protested

This gem was thrown in to justify the outrageous racist attack he was about to launch on Bennett.

“Everyone knows that Bennett was in the notorious Selous Scouts and that he also served in the brute Rhodesian army.

In 1980 Bennett and some of his unrepentant friends refused flatly to accept the first black government of Zimbabwe and they continued to vote for the Rhodesian Front until it was disbanded due to waning fortunes,” ranted Chihuri.

He conveniently forgot to remind us that Zanu PF had agreed to work with these unrepentant whites for 10 years and even went further to unconditionally pardon them for their war crimes that he documented and appointed some of them to key ministerial positions long after the agreed ten year period had expired without offending him in the slightest way.

But for the MDC to settle on Bennett is an inexcusable and unpardonable political blunder for Chihuri. We wonder why what is good for him Zanu PF is detested when dished by MDC.

“The main issue with the Rhodesian Army was not their so-called "cause" since they were adamant that they had a right to fight for "their country. It was rather their warped ideology that said black lives were not to be valued at all and this was showcased in the manner in which innocent civilians suffered at the hands of the merciless Rhodesian forces. Everyone knows how brutal the Rhodesian armed forces were to the Zimbabwean povo because they saw the Zimbabwean black people as nothing more than flies that had to be killed for the most stupid reason,” he tore into Bennett’s personal integrity.

All because he has been over promoted by the MDC ahead of unnamed preferences of Chihuri.

“I dont like invoking the gory war memories at all, but history must never be forgotten or ignored. And most importantly, the MDC party must never be used as a political veil behind which people with a dodgy past come and find ready refuge,” Chihuri added.

The problem is the apology was of no consequence as he had invoked the memories in those whose relatives were murdered in cold blood not just by the Rhodesia forces but also by the Liberation fighters over false allegations of having sold out to the Rhodesia forces.

But it’s a risk only insensitive rogues are prepared to take in order to score cheap political points over their detested opponents.

“Yes there are people who have been engaging in unacceptable if not illegal tendencies in the name of the MDC party but not everyone is as rogue as Bennett seems to very carelessly insinuate,” Chihuri made a veiled concession.

His gripe was that Bennett had labeled everyone a rogue but there is no evidence to support that assertion.

If anything the MDC Treasurer made it clear he did not know the extent of the rogue activities that have been carried out in the name of the party without benefiting the party and signaled an intention to dismantle the party’s external structures to stop the abuse.

According to Chihuri the party leadership is to blame for the rogue behavior in the UK and I province.

“These are people some of whom have had very dubious stints in ZANU PF and they jumped ship onto the MDC and they have imported the destructive and in some case deadly politics of ZANU PF.”

Not being a member of the MDC it is clear what Chihuri’s mission is in his accusations of the MDC leadership for a shortcoming the leadership has acknowledged and taken first steps to rectify by suspending the UK&I executive committee and instituting investigations Chihuri is opportunistically attempting to exploit by pre-empting outcomes.

Casting aspersions on the integrity of the party leadership is the art of politicking.

Chihuri did a good job of it by accusing the party of commercializing its brand. He cited admission charges as high as £75.00 per head levied on members wishing to meet the Premier as a classical example of the commercialization malpractice by the party.

While we agree that charging foreign domiciled citizens anything at all to meet their Premier when he visits the country in which they reside is outrageous we must disagree with Chihuri in the context he puts the charges.

Citizens were never charged to attend a public meeting with their Premier or any other visiting dignitary from Harare for that matter.

On the contrary the MDC as a party went out of its way to organize a public rally for its members with their Party President and this meeting was free for all interested citizens and non citizens of Zimbabwe.

After the public rally where the ungrateful and disrespectful rogues harangued and jeered the Premier the Province had organized a Private dinner function with the Premier which was open to those willing to pay the exorbitant fees now being complained about by Chihuri for political capital.

Since it was a voluntary Party and not government function where the Province made it clear upfront that attendance will be subject to the payment the complaint being raised is inconsequential and inane.

The attempt to blame the Morgan Tsvangirai the MDC President for having kept a distance from Provincial fundraising initiatives by not speaking out against the charges was to say the least a desperate and cynical low in politicking by Chihuri.

The members of the MDC were and will always be free to support or boycott their party’s fundraising functions as they deem fit but for non members to complain over functions they never attend or approve is most absurd.

Even if the venues are donated and there are no administration expenses on the part of the Provincial executive if they are using the venues for fundraising activities it does not and will never make sense if they in turn donate the venue for the free usage by members.

Common sense dictates that if that were to happen no funds would be raised as intended when seeking the donated venues.

“What I see lacking these days and has led to this sorry state of affairs is proper accountability due to little or non-existent supervision between the national party treasurer (Bennett in this case) and the UK finance department.

This has allowed some other shadowy "treasurers" to assume Bennett's role and in the process pocketing party money,” Chihuri unconditionally conceded at last.
These are the rogues the Treasurer exposed and not everyone as Chihuri is attempting to make us believe.

Having rubbished Bennett as an incompetent Treasurer and unfit person to lead the MDC it is that Chihuri suggests that he should improve on his supervision skills and accept responsibility for system failures in the party’s financial controls.

“ The other worrying perception shown by Bennett and other very mindless MDC leaders is to think that it is a privilege for all the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to be members of the MDC! How disturbingly wrong they are because it is a right of all Zimbabweans who have been forced out of the country to join a party of their choice and support it from wherever they are in the world, Chihuri rightly cautioned the party.

Whatever his motive for giving the party he has abandoned advice, the advice cannot be faulted.

Comparing Fletcher Dulini and Roy Bennett’s successes or failures as MDC treasurer was ill advised as it only managed to show that of the two Bennett has been the more successful given party performances in the last General elections and those are the results that really matter not the academic qualifications that Chihuri lauds.

If the control systems were in place and Chihuri being a former member has done the proper handover takeover to his successors there should be no excuse then for the current lapses.

Could it be that Chihuri did not do the expected handover takeover when he left because he had an ulterior motive to see the party he had once served collapse because it had mistreated him?

While everyone has the right to support a party of his choice from wherever he is domiciled such membership does not necessarily have to be in a structured format like a Provincial Assembly or Branch more so for a Party that has leadership of the government.

The only justification for exiled assemblies was because the people were being denied freedom of political association within the country. Now that the MDC
President is the leader of government it is rather paradoxical that the party should be seen to be strengthening external structures that were justified by repression within the country unless the Premier is indirectly acknowledging that his government is continuing with the repression.

“It is mere grandstanding for Bennett to say that all external MDC party structures will be disbanded because there are several thousands of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who will continue to agitate for change in Zimbabwe and it is up to the MDC to give them a leadership that will inspire them to be part of the party,” concluded Chihuri.

But given the stark reality that the MDC is an integral component of the government how does he justify the seemingly paradoxical position that the party’s external assemblies can raise when the government claims it has democratized political space within the country.

Which other serious political party operating in a democratic country can boast exiled structures if we may ask?

Forward thinking dictates that we must accept that in the long term it will work against the MDC to sustain exiled political structures which it may find difficult to control if it becomes the ruling party and they refuse to tow the line accusing leadership of impunity.

“The way forward for the MDC is to ensure that there is proper supervision of all its valued external structures,” Chihuri opined.

But the opinion is formulated on the belief that the MDC will need the external assemblies in perpetuity which is outrageous and shortsighted in terms of its
implications to measures of democratic governance within the country.

“There are a lot of people who were not necessarily by-standers in ZANU PF who are now already front-runners in the MDC?” Chihuri disclosed.

That is the reason why it may not be wise for the party to continue with these external structures that have sprung several surprises for the party.
The history of the party leadership in external assemblies is not rosy as it has been characterized by public smear campaigns over issues that do not necessarily add value to the democratization process so imperative in the country.

This is not to say that the exiled supporters have not played a significant role in propping up the party but merely to flag that within the exiled supporters there are several who for personal reasons want to retain justification for asylum statuses wherever they have sought refuge and such people will not want to see the success of the democratization process and will rightly or wrongly use external structures as justification for their claims.

Such a development would greatly embarrass the MDC if it won the elections to wing up the SADC imposed coalition government as is likely to happen. How will the MDC justify existence of its external assemblies when it is the governing party in the country?

Before labeling MDC Treasurer a real rogue it appears the real rogue Silence Chihuri who is no longer a party member did not look back to see what his history within the MDC formations and now in MKD reads like.

It reads exactly like Jonathan Moyo, Edgar Tekere, Dr Simba Makoni, Dr Shakespeare Maya or Dumiso Dabengwa’s political CV and for many Zimbabweans that is one political CV any aspiring leader must attempt to avoid if they are to realize their long term political.

Brace up for 2010

MDC Secretary General Hon Tendai Biti must push Senator Sekai Holland and the underperforming Giles Mutseyekwa at Home Affairs to buck up their ideas and drive crucial initiatives in their prtfolios

It is heartening to hear that the MDC has resolved to prioritise the fight against endemic corruption, revision of the constitution and compensation of victims of the impunity that has engulfed the country over the past decade to help expedite national healing and reconciliation as well as resolution of the outstanding GPA issues.

These are indeed crucial areas that have been neglected for too long and just their mention in the priority list is an encouraging sign that must be supported by all forward thinking citizens.

But judging by the reaction from Zanu PF it will by no means be a walk in the park for the MDC to be able to tackle these issues and achieve a positive result.

Zanu PF Deputy Spokesman Ephraim Masawi has reiterated the senile line there are no remaining outstanding issues from the GPA other than Western targeted sanctions, which he said the MDC must work to have lifted.

He added that “the question of replacing Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, as demanded by the Tsvangirai MDC, is not on the table” setting the stage for acrimony in resolution of outstanding GPA issues that will pre-occupy the coalition parties and may very well derail focus on the other issues targeted by the MDC.

The long overdue serious attention to curtailment of endemic corruption may also suffer if the Zanu PF reactions to preliminary attempts to rein in corruption are anything to go by.

First Zanu PF insisted and got on immunity against prosecution for the State sanctioned corruption in the Reserve Bank Act which has set a very dangerous precedent in the fight against corruption.

Undaunted the MDC has decided to lead by example by suspending its Chitungwiza and UK and Ireland Provincial Executives over allegations of fiduciary impropriety and corrupt tendencies.

If the hope is that such exemplary behavior will be replicated in government then the hopes are totally misplaced.

Be that as it may the Party must be applauded for walking the anti-corruption talk within its structures and must be encouraged to do everything possible to secure Zanu PF and MDC-M cooperation in that direction.

The negative reaction to the headcount audit in the Civil Service and more alarmingly in the Police force where in a bid to cover up previous misconduct civilian workers are reportedly being issued force numbers must be seriously viewed as the tonic of what to expect in any anti-corruption crusade mulled by the MDC.

The critical first step in the anti-corruption drive is for the party to introduce stringent and tacit anti-corruption legislation in Parliament.

Being a judicial tool such legislation would under normal circumstances been ideally steered through Parliament by the Minister of Justice aided by the Attorney General’s office.

But in the odd reality obtaining in the country where the AG and Justice Minister are at the centre of initiatives to persecute rather than prosecute felons it would be foolhardy to expect such irresponsible officials to even think along institution of anti-corruption measures let alone craft legislation in that regard.

It may rest on the Home Affairs Ministry to craft such legislation as corruption is a preoccupation of that Ministry and with a delinquent Justice Ministry unprepared to lead the drive the Home Affairs Ministry must step in and show the leadership that is so lacking in this regard.

The MDC has had enough time to study and come to conclusions as to what is needed to move the Constitution revision agenda forward.

The Constitution reform process has a critical bearing on the speed at which the democratization process moves.

There are several parties in the coalition government that are aware of their diminished chances of winning credible elections in the country and the MDC must never take its partners in government for granted in terms of the extent to which they will go to try and delay or even savage the constitution reform agenda.

The foreclosure of the coalition government hinges on the conclusion of the Constitution reform process and much as there is need for total involvement of the citizens in the process if there is continued threats of boycotting the process from the Civil Society groupings the process must still proceed and produce a flawed but improved Constitution to the heavily patched up Lancaster House document.

If need be the process can be revisited with Civil Society co-operation once it has produced a document that can adequately manage the democratization process and ensured the holding of credible elections in our country.

In tandem with the Constitution reform process the MDC must never forget to introduce amendments or even repeal repressive pieces of legislation such as the Electoral Act, AIPPA and the Law Codification Act that muzzle freedoms of
association and speech as well as disenfranchises many citizens.

There is need for the Voters’ Roll to be thoroughly cleansed of the ghost voters and the sooner this is done the better.

Finally resolution of the emotional victims of impunity compensation to stimulate national reconciliation and healing is an imperative that can no longer be left in the backwaters of politicking in the country.

The compensation must extent to all victims of political impunity including the deposed farmers, Murambatsvina victims, Gukurahundi and Perm victims as well as the victims of the sham Presidential runoff elections and other political events in the past.

The cost of such a mammoth exercise are not by any means small but compensation need not be in monetary terms.

In many cases a government apology for excesses and a token payment will suffice if accompanied with guarantees that impunity will be dealt with severely by law enforcers and those guarantees are upheld thereafter.