MDC slams Mugabe over Mutambara

THE Welshman Ncube -led MDC
described as “ curious” claims by
President Robert Mugabe that
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara cannot be recalled
from office by his party .
The MDC wants Ncube to take
over as deputy premier after he
replaced Mutambara as leader
during a recent party congress .
Mutambara – who has not
publicly commented on the
changes — has since been
assigned the post of Regional
Integration Minister .
However , speaking in Addis
Ababa , Ethiopia, where he was
attending an African Union
summit , President Mugabe said
Mutambara can only be
replaced if he chose to resign .
“ They ( the MDC) were able to
remove him politically , but
legally he was sworn in as a
Member of Parliament . I swore
him in as Deputy Prime
Minister ,” Mugabe said .
“ It ’ s up to him if he wants to
resign , but if he refuses , well,
we are stuck, but the Global
Political Agreement ( GPA) will
go ahead . ”
But in a statement released on
Sunday , the MDC said Mugabe ’ s
reading of the power sharing
pact was inaccurate.
“ President has no power or
right to appoint any person into
the cabinet without the approval
of ( their) party through ( its)
leadership ,” said Nhlanhla
Dube , the party’ s spokesman .
“ Equally clear, ” he added , “ is the
right of each party to reshuffle ,
reassign or recall any of its
representatives , the President
being required only to formally
make the appointments as
requested by the parties. ”
The party drew comparisons
with a mini -reshuffle by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
leader of a rival MDC faction , in
June last year when he dropped
Energy Minister Elias Mudzuri
and National Housing Minister
Fidelis Mhashu . His party only
communicated the changes to
Mugabe , who accepted.
Dube added : “ It was never
suggested that the MDC-T
required the consent or
resignation of those that it
had reassigned or removed
from cabinet position .
“ It is curious that it is now
suggested that there is one rule
for the MDC-T and Zanu PF , and
another for MDC. We are left
with no doubt that this is not a
legal question but a political one
where some parties are more
equal than others.
“ We have no doubt that the
public can ’ t be fooled and will
definitely understand what is
happening . ”
Mutambara returns this week
from Davos , Switzerland , where
he attended the World
Economic Forum with a crucial
decision to make over his
political career.

30 / 01 / 2011 00 : 00 : 00
by Staff Reporter
http://www.newZimbabwe.com

Poverty line rises for families in Zimbabwe

HARARE , Zimbabwe – –
Zimbabwe’s state statistics
agency says the poverty line for
maintaining a family of five rose
to $467 each month last year
without increased earnings to
cover the 8 percent rise .
The nation ‘s 240, 000 civil
servants, teachers and
government workers are
planning to strike to protest
average monthly incomes of
around $ 200. With massive
unemployment, most
Zimbabweans survive on the
equivalent of about $1 a day .
Two million people are set to
receive food aid in coming
months , according to the United
Nations .
The former regional
breadbasket is struggling to
emerge from political gridlock,
economic collapse and
international isolation and
sanctions after President Robert
Mugabe ordered the seizures of
thousands of white -owned
farms in 2000 , disrupting the
agriculture- based economy.

The Associated Press
Monday, January 31 , 2011; 5: 54
AM

MDC accuses Mugabe of tribalism

The MDC led by Welshman
Ncube Sunday accused
President Robert Mugabe of
tribalism after the veteran
leader intimated that he would
not swear- in Ncube unless
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara voluntarily resigned
from the post .
Ncube took over the MDC
presidency at the party national
congress early this month , after
a bruising battle which resulted
in Mutambara pulling out of the
race , and a faction led by
former chairman Joubert
Mudzumwe announcing they
would not recognise Ncube as
party leader .
Following a meeting of the MDC
national standing committee on
Sunday last week , Ncube
announced the redeployment of
Mutambara from the deputy
premiership to the less
influential portfolio of Minister
of Regional Integration and
International Co-operation.
Ncube , who is the Minister of
Industry and Commerce , was
seconded to take the DPM post
while Priscilla Misihairabwi-
Mushonga takes over his
ministry.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted
for him by Zimbabwe ’ s
ambassador to Ethiopia in Addis
Ababa, where he is attending
the African Union Summit ,
President Mugabe said although
the MDC had managed to
remove Mutambara from the
party politically , it would be
difficult to remove him from the
deputy premiership because of
legal issues .
“ This creates legal problems
Politically they were able to
remove him but legally we
swore him in as a Member of
Parliament and I swore him in
as Deputy Prime Minister ,” he
said .
“ I don’ t know — it ’ s up to him if
he wants to resign and if he
refuses to resign we are stuck .
But the GPA will move ahead . ”
But in a statement yesterday ,
the MDC said President Mugabe
had no power to appoint
anyone outside his party into
Cabinet or stop the party from
reshuffling its leadership and
cited the Cabinet reshuffle by
the MDC-T as an example .
They said President Mugabe
could only formally appoint
persons chosen by the party.
In a thinly veiled attack , the
party also suggested that the
President was being driven by
tribalism.
CONTINUES BELOW
“ Clearly the President has no
power or right to appoint any
person into the Cabinet without
the approval of that party
through their leadership .
Equally clear is the right of each
party to reshuffle , reassign or
recall any of its representatives ,
the President being required to
only formally make the
appointments as requested by
the parties,” said the party’ s
spokesperson Nhlanhla Dube .
“ In fact this is what exactly
happened when the MDC- T
reshuffled its Cabinet team . It
was never suggested, and it
could not be , that the MDC-T
required the consent or
resignation of those that it had
reassigned or removed from
Cabinet positions .
“ It is curious that it is now
suggested that there is one rule
for the MDC-T and Zanu PF and
another for MDC.
“ We are left with no doubt that
this is not a legal question but a
‘ political’ one where some
parties ‘ because of the places of
origin of their leadership ’ are
more equal than others. ”
Dube said the public would not
be fooled and would understand
what was happening .
In June, MDC-T leader Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
reshuffled his Cabinet , dropping
Elias Mudzuri from being
Minister of Energy and Power
Development and Fidelis
Mhashu from the Housing and
Social Amenities portfolio .
Former Home Affairs co –
Minister Giles Mutsekwa was
moved to the Housing and
Social Amenities while Evelyn
Masaiti, formerly Deputy of
Women ’ s Affairs , Gender and
Community Affairs , as well as
Thamsanqa Mahlangu , formerly
Deputy Minister of Youth
Development, were axed.
Sources close to Ncube said he
and those around him thought
President Mugabe was not only
playing a tribal card, but was
afraid of a principled leader at
the top .
“ The feeling is that it’ s a tribal
war , where someone is saying a
Ndebele person is not good
enough to be among the
Shonas at the top . ( President )
Mugabe is also not comfortable
with Ncube because he is
honest and consistent unlike
Mutambara and Morgan
Tsvangirai who are very
inconsistent, ” said a source .
“ This whole thing also confirms
the view that many people in
the party had : that Mutambara
was more Zanu PF than Zanu PF
itself , hence the sympathy that
he is getting from the
President . ”

OWEN GAGARE | BULAWAYO –
Jan 30 2011 18 : 34

Mugabe named Ivory Coast mediator

Africa Union leaders holding a
summit in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
have roped in one of their
controversial counterparts ,
President Robert Mugabe to
mediate in the Ivory Coast
crisis .
News from Ethiopia of President
Mugabe’ s drafting in has
angered human rights activists
and his political foes in
Zimbabwe.
Reports say President Mugabe
( 87 ) joins in the expanded
mediating team that includes
South Africa leader , Jacob
Zuma , Goodluck Jonathan
( Nigeria ) and the President of
Mauritania .
Odinga will also be part of the
panel set up by the AU Peace
and Security Council , which AU
Commission chief Jean Ping said
the mediation already
undertaken by the Kenyan
Prime Minister Raila Odinga was
part of the building stones
towards achieving a realisable
goal of peace in Ivory Coast.
The AU on Friday announced
the setting up of a five -member
heads of state panel to make
binding recommendations on
the Ivory Coast rivals within a
month .
Ping said on Saturday the panel
would help Alassane Ouattara
“ exercise power” through a
negotiated deal , reports say .
The AU leaders began talks
yesterday to reach a common
strategy on resolving Ivory
Coast’ s protracted crisis and
tackle other continental trouble
spots .
Ping said the multiple issues
arising from the crisis require an
African approach to deal with
the problem in Cote d ’ Ivoire .
The drafting in of President
Mugabe has been seen by his
rivals as an endorsement of
being “ legitimately elected ” by
African leaders .
CONTINUES BELOW
“ This is a travesty of justice .
How does ( President ) Mugabe
whose country is under South
Africa Development Community
( Sadc ) mediation be chosen to
be a peace broker in another
country whose problems are
similar to his ” asked Steven
Chivero of Stand Up for
Zimbabwe.
Chivero said this shows that
African leaders “ fear Mugabe” .
Other groupings said President
Mugabe’ s appointment would
“ have a negative bearing on
Sadc mediation role” in
Zimbabwe.
President Mugabe , who
participated in Friday ’ s Peace
and Security Council decision
kept power through a
negotiated agreement after an
apparent electoral defeat .
Ivory Coast has been gripped by
a political crisis since the
Election Commission named
Alassane Quattara ( 69 ) , as the
winner of presidential elections
in November 2010. But
incumbent Laurent Gbagbo
( 65 ) , has refused to concede
defeat, alleging voter fraud .
Gbagbo early this month
dispatched an envoy Zoge Abie
to seek the counsel of President
Mugabe, as his political life
hangs by a thread.
Abie met then acting President
John Nkomo in a meeting that
was also attended by Acting
Foreign Affairs Minister Herbert
Murerwa.
His visit came after Gbabgo had
said he understood how the
likes of Mugabe felt at the
prospect of losing power and ,
therefore , instituted measures
to protect themselves.
“ When you go through what I’ ve
been through , you tell yourself :
‘ Perhaps Mugabe wasn ’ t
completely wrong after all ’ ,” the
Ivorian President said in
reference to how Mugabe clung
to power after the 2008
harmonised elections .
Gbagbo is under pressure to
relinquish power from the world
super powers and Economic
Community of West African
States ( ECOWAS ) which said he
must hand over power to
Ouattara who they recognise as
the legitimate winner .
Gbagbo like Mugabe in 2008 is
facing a legitimacy crisis. He
has since been slapped with
sanctions by the European
Union while he faces the
possibility of military action if he
continues with his resistance to
vacate office .
— KBC / Afrik -News