I recently came up across a scholarly article on a peace and conflict site and found it interesting to share. Safeguarding citizen participation through Government of Unity (GNU) or is democracy being violated? The introductory part of the article reads:

There has been a recent trend in Africa where disputed electoral results are settled through the institution of Government of National Unity (GNU) formations, mostly popularized by incumbent political leaders who are reluctant to accept electoral defeat. This has led to situations where political opponents are forced to co-exist in government while at the same time creating apathy and despondency among the electorate who feel short changed by the total disregard for their will and the imposition of leaders who should have existed from the leadership positions in government through electoral defeat.

Read more here

I read online today that the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, and his alleged ‘lover’ Aquilina Kayidza Pamberi, have both denied the allegations that they were having an affair. Was this one of those “unfounded and baseless” stories to “besmirch the person and office of the Prime Minister”? Read the stories from Newsday here and The Standard here

Having a textbook on a desk in most schools in Zimbabwe is now deemed a privilege. Pupils have to scramble for the limited resources and in some scenarios the teacher’s copy is the only one available for use. However with the injection of 13 million textbooks being delivered to schools by the Ministry of Education the scenario is going to change. Hopefully along the way teachers will get a boost to their salaries as well! Read more from Voice of America

The weekend’s media carried several articles regarding Afrobarometer’s most recent survey titled     Zimbabwe, the evolving public mood. Interestingly the survey reports that 70% out of a sample of 1192 persons responded yes to a question that asked: “Do you think that Zimbabwe should hold elections next year, that is, in 2011?”  The report also notes that relatively few people favoured deferring elections to a later date.

Of this the writer of the report theorizes: That seven in ten would-be voters are anxious to freely elect leaders of their choice, even in an atmosphere where security forces and party militias are again on the move, is testament to the impressive depth of Zimbabweans’ commitment to political rights.

That’s a nice thing to think about Zimbabweans, but I don’t believe it. The same survey reports an increase in reluctance to divulge political party preference and an increase in reported support for ZANU PF. Consider our last election, in which gangs of young men went about rural Zimbabwe beating and raping innocent men and women who were only rumored to support MDC. I don’t think these people are brave, or selfless, or committed to democracy. I think they’re scared.

ZANU PF may not be all-powerful in the low-density suburbs, or even in the rest of the city, but in rural Zimbabwe, it’s Orwellian. It’s difficult to be completely honest with an unknown person whose word cannot be verified. Anyone who has ever conducted a survey will tell you that people will tell you what they think you want to hear. And with a ruling party that bears an uncanny resemblance to Nineteen Eighty Four’s Big Brother its very difficult to shake the feeling that they’re watching you. The ‘thought-crime’ of harboring ideas in your mind such as democracy, the right to vote and secret ballots do not go unpunished.

Information on the power situation in Zimbabwe:

1700 hours  8th January 2011

I address this message to users of electricity in Zimbabwe and all other stakeholders who may be interested.

Recent Status of Generation in Zimbabwe
Over the Christmas period the country experienced a much improved availability of power. All six units at Kariba were working as were five of six units at Hwange and Munyati Power Station was generating between 20 and 40 MW. In addition, with much of industry taking a well deserved break, there was additional power on the grid for those customers on line.

Shortly after Christmas one of the, larger, units at Hwange was lost due to failure of certain components. On the 28th of December we had to take out a unit at Kariba for two weeks of routine maintenance. On the night of the 5th January we had to take out a second unit at Kariba which twins with the unit already under maintenance. These two units share a transformer on which components had to be replaced – this was planned for this period.

In summary customers will be experiencing excessive load-shedding in contrast to  the Christmas period, as  there has now been a sharp drop in generation just as industry is coming back to work.

Looking ahead over the next two weeks. Every effort is being made to bring the unit lost at Hwange back to service during this weekend. The fifth unit at Kariba should be on the grid on Monday with the sixth returning to service by mid-January.  This should bring the country back to a “normal load-shedding regime” by the middle of the month.

Looking ahead this year
It is important to advise customers of the realities at Hwange Power Station. The supply out of Hwange remains fragile in spite of significant progress having been made to stabilise supply during 2010. We still need to undertake major works on: the raw water supply line from the Zambezi River, work on the two large raw-water reservoirs at the station is underway; urgent and significant work will be undertaken during the first quarter of this year on the Ash disposal system (a new specialised pipeline has been ordered and is under manufacture).  Further to this, the units themselves at the station need ongoing work to optimise their output. To assist us with this “project related work” as well as to train and mentor staff at the station we have engaged a blended team from India and Zimbabwe under the management of WAPCOS – a highly respected Indian-based organisation in the energy field. This team will be on-station early in February. We are optimistic that there will be a consistency in supply out of Hwange Power Station by the end of the first quarter 2011 followed by a gradual increase through the year.

Kariba Power Station should remain at full capacity except for the isolated occasion when the station is forced into “sudden shut-down” due to exogenous shocks which can occur on the grid – these can emanate from the region or sudden failure of local transmission lines.

All three Small Thermal stations (Harare, Munyati and Bulawayo) will be brought back into service during the first quarter of this year. The cost of generation from these stations is high due to both the distance from the coal fields and, in some cases, the need to use higher quality coal. As a consequence power from these stations can only be sold to those companies who have dedicated power lines and who are willing, and able, to pay the higher tariff. However this additional power will help boost the economy and create additional employment in the process.

Beyond 2011
It is important to note that once we have achieved stability in supply and optimised our present installed-capacity the supply of electricity will still remain below demand. Ongoing efforts are being made to increase the importation of additional power from the region by our sister company, ZETDC. But there is a regional scarcity. In addition our economy will grow and hence demand for electricity. The only way to close this demand-supply gap is to build extra generation capacity, which will take at least three and a half years from the time funding has been secured.

ZPC’s planning and preparation are well advanced such that its can approach relevant investors and/or partners in pursuit of adding capacity at Hwange Power Station (top priority as a  “base-load” station) and Kariba (to add to “peaking demand”). We have the full and emphatic support of our ultimate shareholder to secure investment for the generation sector. In addition we plan, over the next two years, to retrofit the Small Thermals in a bid to increase the energy sent out and lower the costs.

In Closing
I take the opportunity to thank the entire staff of ZPC for their commitment, hard and long hours of work during 2010 – most often with constrained resources. Particular gratitude is extended to those who worked over the Festive Season – day and night. I also extend a note of thanks to our Ministry for their candid, progressive and demanding support.

I thank all our customers for your patience and understanding. I encourage you all to keep paying for the units of electricity that you use. In addition please could we all take all possible measures to reduce our usage – it is good for your pocket and for the Nation.

Best Wishes The Board and management of ZPC are determined to stabalise and increase the generation levels in 2011 to well above those levels achieved in 2010.

I wish you all, users of electricity and the staff of ZESA as a whole, a safe and fulfilled 2011.

R. Maasdorp Chairman ZPC     (chairmanZPC ( @) gmail.com)

Only relevant and constructive emails will be replied to from this address.
All other queries should be directed to the Zesa email address of: pr ( @ ) zesa.net
For daily updates on the generation and load-shedding status visit the home page of www.zesa.co.zw

How constitutional is MDC-Ts National Council’s decision to remove clause 6.1.3 from the MDCs Constitution which states that the president shall serve for a maximum of two five year terms, in order to keep Mr. Tsvangirai in his position as President?

In a series of articles published in Newsday, the Standard and the Independent, Nelson Chamisa, MDCT Spokesperson boldly proclaims “We are the apostles of constitutionalism and disciples and doyens of democracy”.

Any proclamation spoken by politicians should be treated with suspicion, particularly if it is salted with religious reference. Mr. Chamisa goes on to ignorantly defend the National Council’s decision by saying that the two terms only counted when the MDC President also became President of the country.

The MDC Constitution, available for download from their website, states in article 3 titled Aims Values And Objects:

The MDC shall be a Social Democratic Party whose core values shall be solidarity, justice, equality, liberty, freedom, transparency, humble and obedient leadership and accountability. And it goes on further to say:
(b) An open democracy, in which national government is accountable to the people through the devolution of power and decision-making to the provinces and local institutions and structures.

The same document also states that amendments to the MDC constitution are to be carried out by a two-thirds majority of the Congress, not the National Council. I’m no legal expert but the actions of the National Council don’t seem very constitutional to me.

By what standard are we to measure Mr. Tsvangirai and MDC-T itself if even they cannot uphold their own party’s constitution? How are we to believe that they won’t at the first opportunity amend a national constitution to hold onto power?

Of course the major argument proffered will be (in former US Ambassador Christopher Dells words) that Mr. Tsvangirai is the only player on the scene right now with real star quality and the ability to rally the masses. But this does not exempt him from being accountable to the people he wishes to represent. If he is to remain president and the MDC constitution is to be amended then let him state his case at the congress in front of the people, not in front of a hand picked group of cronies and yes men who’s interest lie in maintaining the little power they’ve managed to wrangle from ZANU PF.

Elections are coming and Zimbabwe is watching. Nothing Mr. Mugabe does or says surprises anyone, but Mr. Tsvangirai is quickly becoming the devil no one knows about.