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| Hon. Thabitha Khumalo With Southend Zimbabwe Network (SZN) Supporters On the 30th September 2011, I had the honour of attending a social event organised by the Southend Zimbabwe Network (SZN). The distinguished guest was the Honourable Thabitha Khumalo who is the Member of Parliament for Bulawayo East. Hon. Thabitha Khumalo, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) representative in the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) which was created January 2009 to oversee the implementation of the 27 articles of the Global Political Agreement. The meeting was attended by the Committee members of SZN namely Washington Ali, Derek Edwards, Wisdom Nhapa, Charles Dhliwayo, Mara Christie and Stanford Biti. |
Hon. Thabitha Khumalo opened by saying “An injury to one is an injury to all. When we stop fighting for each other then that is when we lose our humanity.” Her message was of unity for the Zimbabwean community.
GOVERNMENT
Hon. Thabitha Khumalo reported that the Global Political Agreement has 27 Articles which have not been implemented due to lack of political will.
The MDC want the following:
ELECTIONS
The MDC wants a clear roadmap to free and fair elections.
VOTERS ROLL
In a country where the life expectancy is 35 years there are over 41 000 voters on the voters roll who are over 100 years old. There are also voters as young a 1year old when the legal age of majority is 18 years. These clear discrepancies need to be addressed.
DIASPORA VOTE
People outside Zimbabwe need to have a say in what goes on in their country. There are issues with how this system would work. There is also concern that this system could be high-jacked by ZANU-PF’s vote rigging machinery. The diaspora needs to unite & decide how this should be done.
ELECTIONS
Election monitors must be allowed into the country. Hon. Thabitha Khumalo would like to see a situation where they come in 1month before the election and leave after 1 month of the election. That way they can see election violence first hand. They must stay in the respective areas instead of hotels in the city.
VIOLENCE
This must stop immediately. There is a group called Chipangano which works thus: Chipangano One gets into a community to find out if there are any opposition supporters. Then Chipangano Two is called in to locate the individuals who support the opposition. Chipangano Three then moves in to intimidate opposition supporters. After this the next group that moves in is Chipangano Four. This group perpetrates violence against anyone who does not support ZANU-PF or its policies. There were 124 recorded rapes against juveniles and children as young as 6years old in a period of 13days this September. Historically rape has been used as a weapon by ZANU-PF.
SOCIAL
In Mukuvisi Children are charging USD$1 (One Dollar) for sex with 2 men in order to get money for food. The health & mental implications are deeply worrying.
JUSTICE
When MDC supporters report crimes they are arrested by the police. YES the police arrest the victims! The MDC now asks its supporters who are crime victims to go to JOMIC. JOMIC then reports the crime together with the victim. The police say that they have been told to arrest opposition supporters. The police have claimed that the 124 children that were raped beginning of September were raped by “family members”. The MDC have asked an impartial non-governmental charity to investigate.
ECONOMY
The economy is still a mess. The Government has introduced a law which requires all businesses to have 51% black ownership for them to continue trading. This 51% stake will not be acquired at going market rates. In Bulawayo alone 127 companies have folded putting at least 2,000 people out of work. There a rumours that all non-black businesses will be invaded in the coming weeks. The treasury has not received any remittances from the sale of diamonds. The government spends 75% of all revenue on Civil servants salaries. This leaves 25% for health, services, reinvestment, education etc.
HEALTH
The Global Fund donated US$42mln for HIV/AIDS drugs. This money was misappropriated to farming by Gideon Gono. Currently there are 175,000 people receiving treatment for HIV/AIDS. There are 500,000 waiting for Anti-Retro Virals (ARVs). Hon. Thabitha Khumalo is lobbying for all infected people to receive ARVs. The problem she is currently facing is of Drug Patents which push up the price of drugs. Hon. Thabitha Khumalo is also seeking for the decriminalisation of Prostitution. Prostitutes are drivers of HIV/AIDS. When one is infected they are required to bring in their partner. In the case of prostitutes they cannot bring their clients. Prostitutes need to be monitored and educated to avoid further infections. There is also an issue of unqualified midwives. Women who have given birth and can’t afford the hospital fees are held at the hospital until they pay. Inoculation efforts are hampered by lack of fuel & transport.
DIASPORA
Hon. Thabitha Khumalo challenged the Diaspora to unite so they can be helped with their immigration issues. A question from Mr Biti about what could be done to help children of the Ndebele Gukurahundi Genocide who are undocumented because their murdered parents received no death certificates? Hon. Thabitha Khumalo broke down in tears as she explained that these children could only get educated to Grade 7 (or Year 6 in the UK) but can’t write exams. There after they would need a birth certificate. These “Children” are now in their thirties and now have children of their own, who are also undocumented and have limited education. Most would go to South Africa and get identification documents legally or otherwise. That is why there are many Zimbabweans in the diaspora with South African documents. Hon. Thabitha Khumalo reported that she had tabled a motion in Parliament. The United Kingdom Border Agency does not recognise the problem these people have. Mr Biti reported that his team are lobbying the UKBA for these people. Hon. Thabitha Khumalo offered her support. Zimbabweans in the UK are hard-working. However they are being de-skilled by being made to do menial jobs that have nothing to do with their qualifications.
Ms Audrey Charowa of the MDC noted that people had asked the Hon. Thabitha Khumalo to act on their behalf but they had not pledged to work for themselves. She pointed out services for petitions like http://www.thepetitionsite.com/ or http://www.care2.com/ These Services are free and because they can be done online there is a much bigger target audience.
In closing Hon. Thabitha Khumalo, challenged people that voted to hold their leaders accountable. She was extremely pleased with the reception she received from Southend on Sea.
Mara Christie the Southend Zimbabwe Network co-ordinator gave an impassioned vote of thanks on behalf of the Southend community that attended the meeting.
Audrey Charowa
Vice Secretary
MDC South East District Women's Assembly
MDC Southend Branch Hausunde
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