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Talks, dialogue, negotiations and GNU - Post June 2008 "elections" - Index of articles
Bulawayo
Agenda congratulates new House of Assembly Speaker
Bulawayo
Agenda
August 26, 2008
Bulawayo
The Federal
Democratic Union (FDU) has sent its congratulations to the newly
elected Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr. Lovemore Moyo and
his deputy, Ms Nomalanga Khumalo. In a statement, the party said
that they would like to associate itself with the democratic forces
in Zimbabwe's new parliament that have invested their trust
and hope in voting for the two.
"We note
and recognize with great satisfaction that the two are the first
from the opposition in the history of this country to occupy to
these honorable offices. We congratulate and offer our best wishes
to Mr. Moyo and Ms Khumalo for having been elevated to the honorable
offices of the August House and sincerely believe that their elevation
was well deserved and hope the two shall serve the same with humility,
honour and dignity and advance the cause of democratizing and federating
Zimbabwe," the FDU said in the statement. The FDU went on to
say that this single step by the MDC political formations in parliament,
was a great leap by broader democratic forces.
Meanwhile, the
Federal Democratic Union (FDU) President, Paul Siwela, issued a
statement expressing his and his party's solidarity with the
president of the MDC-T Party (Morgan Tsvangirai) and his team for
solidly standing for justice, fairness and democracy by refusing
to sign an agreement of political power sharing and standing foursquare
for power transfer.
In the statement,
Mr. Siwela emphasized that on 29 March 2008 the people of Zimbabwe
voted for power transfer and not power sharing, hence, the MDC had
to be mindful of the suffering of the people and refuse to betray
those who paid the supreme sacrifice, lost their properties, livelihoods
and dignity in their quest to democratize politics in this country.
"The only
constant permutation in the negotiation process that must guide
the democratic forces should be political change that should lead
to political power transfer. Anything besides that would be a miscarriage
of democracy," Mr. Siwela said
Lupane
Villagers are
yesterday celebrating the nomination of their senator Dalumuzi Khumalo
for the post of President of the Senate. He was nominated for the
prestigious post and got a sizeable number of votes despite the
fact that he ultimately lost to ZANU PF's Edna Madzongwe in the
Upper House dominated by Mugabe supporters and appointee. The people
of Lupane were pleased by the fact that a leader from their area
had ably represented them by vying for a post in the august house.
25 August
2008
Bulawayo
Bulawayo Agenda
held a meeting on Saturday 23 August at Rainbow Hotel whose theme
was "Interparty Talks: Deal Sealed or Deadlock?" The speakers
were Pastor Goodwill Shana, Morrison Sifelani and Peter Baka Nyoni
while Anastasia Moyo moderated. Dr Shana said the talks were a potential
deadlock and that since no political party had conclusively won
the 29 March elections, power sharing was best for the country.
Morrison Sifelani, an activist, on the other hand said a power transfer
was the best option as ZANU PF had been a failure for the past 28
years and there was no hope that it would do any better in a new
dispensation. He said that as long as we are failing to face the
problem head on there was no way the Zimbabwean crisis would be
resolved. The last speaker, Peter Nyoni, the ZANU PF provincial
deputy information secretary, differed in that he believed that
there was no deadlock in the negotiations but that one party had
adjourned to go and consult. He added that the talks would not stop
in the absence of Tsvangirai as it was important that the negotiators
moved on to attend to other state issues.
Meanwhile, the
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) held two meetings
during the weekend which were attended by the mayor of the City
of Bulawayo, Thaba Moyo, BPRA board members, respective councilors
and residents. The first meeting was at Nkulumane were service delivery
was discussed. The residents suggested that council introduce staff
retention incentives to stem the debilitating brain-drain. The second
meeting held on the same day was at Njube where residents restricted
their issues to those affecting vendors. The last meeting that was
scheduled for Sunday morning did not take place as the venue was
booked by a Bulawayo United Residents Association (BURA), a rival
association. The meeting was rescheduled to another date.
Plumtree
Crowds of people
assembled in the border town on Monday, eager to purchase maize
that was delivered there last Friday. However, by the end of the
day, there was little hope that it would be sold to individuals.
The price of the maize has gone up from ZW$25 to ZW$150 a bag which
is quite expensive for most villagers. Lorries, loaded with maize
also left town headed for rural areas to deliver the precious commodity
where villagers were can start buying with immediate effect. Due
to the fact that the town has one grinding mill only a single wagon
was given to them and the rest sent to the rural areas. According
to some the maize is not enough to sustain all of them.
Meanwhile, the
Plumtree offices for the BACOSSI food scheme have been shut down
for no apparent reason. The scheme, which has been the mainstay
of the government's stuttering relief programme, is mired in controversy
with some areas saying that they have been left out. Villagers have
expressed dismay over the closure and fear that it would result
in their being overlooked.
Visit the Bulawayo
Agenda fact sheet
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