Mayor jailed for US$460 theft, reads today’s Herald headline. The Mayor of Bindura has been jailed for six months for stealing $460 from Bindura. That’s right. One more time. 6 months in jail. For stealing Four Hundred Sixty Dollars.

If you read on, it sounds like actually she’s returned $250 , and her sentence was shortened on the condition she returns the outstanding $210 – so, in exchange for no money at all in her own pocket in the long run, she’ll be serving six months in jail.

It’s worth noting that the Bindura mayor, Ivory Matanhire, got into office on an MDC-T ticket.

On the one hand, it’s great if Zimbabwe’s courts are finally taking corruption seriously. Certainly, jailing a mayor over a bit of misappropriated travel funds sends a message that your position doesn’t protect you from prosecution. Unfortunately, it’s really hard not to feel like it’s just a bit of political posturing.

Just last week, Khadija Sharife, writing for 100 Reporters, exposed worrying allegations on the theft of billions of dollars from Zimbabwe’s Marange diamond fields. A research paper released by Transparency International – Zimbabwe in January shared concerns about theft from Zimbabwe’s gold, diamond and platinum mines.  A 2012 report by the Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa reviews a list of outstanding corruption cases which have not been prosecuted or taken seriously.

Every day, members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police engage in roadblocks which Zimbabweans have taken to calling ATMs – They’re more about the ZRP getting money for their pockets then they are about policing our streets or ensuring road safety.

Unfortunately, in a context like this, the message from the Bindura Magistrate who sentenced Mayor Matanhire isn’t so much “don’t steal public funds or you’ll go to jail.” It’s more like “unless you know the right people, don’t steal public funds or you’ll go to jail.”

Broadcasting or publication of false or misleading information related to Zimbabwe’s Draft Constitution and the associated Referendum to be held 16 March can incur a steep penalty, according to Veritas’ Constitution Watch 13/2013:

Broadcasting or Publication of False or Misleading Information

If it comes to the attention of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) that any broadcaster (including the public broadcaster ZBC) or print publisher (newspaper or magazine) that any YES or NO campaigner is publishing information on the Referendum question (YES/NO to the draft constitution) that ZEC thinks is either:
-    materially false or incorrect; or
-    likely to prevent a substantial number of voters from making an informed choice in the Referendum

ZEC may by written notice order the broadcaster or published concerned to cease publishing the information or alter the information to make it accurate and fair, or to retract or correct the information in a way directed by ZEC in its notice.  Failure to comply immediately is an offence attracting a fine of up to $300 or one year’s imprisonment.  (New Referendums Regulations, SI 26/2013, section 12)

Given the power the media can play in influencing opinion and action, certainly legislation that penalises the publication of “Constitution Falsehoods” makes a lot of sense. However, in a context like Zimbabwe’s, the potential for this legislation to be misused, or applied selectively – and prejudicially – is high. With public meetings by the Media Centre, the NCA, and even the MDC to discuss the Constitution being banned by police, there is a risk that legislation like this will move broadcasters and publishers into the role of censors, deliberately withholding information which they fear might incur a penalty from ZEC.

Applications are now open for persons and organisations wishing to observe the constitutional referendum, the conduct of polling and vote counting. According to an official Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) statement the following can apply:

• Individuals representing foreign countries/ international organisations and foreign eminent persons who have applied to be accepted as observers
• Individuals representing local organisations and eminent persons from within Zimbabwe who have applied to be accepted as observers
• Individuals representing bodies that exercise functions similar to those of the Commission and that have been invited by the commission to observe an election
• Individuals representing foreign countries/ international organisations and foreign eminent persons who have  been invited by the Minister responsible for foreign affairs to observe an election
• Individuals representing local organisations and eminent persons from within Zimbabwe who have been invited by the Minister responsible for Justice and Legal Affairs to observe an election

An application for accreditation as an observer must be made to the Chief Elections Officer by

• The individual or eminent person who wishes to be accredited
• The organisation that wishes its representatives to be accredited
• The Minister responsible for Justice and Legal Affairs or the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs, in respect of individuals whom the Minister concerned has invited to observe the referendum

NB: An application for accreditation made by an organisation or by the Minister must state the names of the individuals whom the organisation or Minister wishes to have accredited.

For more information we advise that you contact the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission directly on office Telephone numbers: +263-4-759130,  +263-4-774095, +263-4-781903. E-mail on inquiry [at] zec [dot] gov [dot] zw or pr [at] zec [dot] gov [dot] zw

Interesting that, Temba Mliswa, the man who is on record solving differences with people whose politics he does not agree with through violence, and was arrested recently for bashing a female Zanu PF “colleague” has asked the courts to transfer the trial to Harare.

Mliswa claims that there are “political undercurrents” in the province where the trial is being heard that would compromise a fair trial.

This is according to ZBC news and you wonder if this is reported tongue-in-cheek!

Is that not curious coming from people who have always trumpeted the impartiality of Zimbabwean courts, especially when members from the other political divide are on the dock facing frivolous charges.

You have to feel no sorry for this guy and his theology that he can get away with anything as long as he invokes the name “Zanu PF!”

Recall when he trained hard punches on the heads of white commercial farmers whose land he expropriated? Where were the courts then? Clown.

Let him have it and perhaps it shall serve as an example to others from the same stock who think they can punch their way out of anything in the name of the “revolutionary party.”

Yeah, we are watching which way the table will turn.

Police bar NCA Constitution meeting in Chipinge. So we can vote in the Referendum 16 March but we mustn’t talk about it before then?

The basic qualification for voting in the Referendum is stated in section 6 of the Referendums Act: “Any person who satisfies the presiding officer of a polling station that he or she is eighteen years or above and is eligible to be registered as a voter on the voter’s roll” is eligible to vote.

It is not necessary to be a registered voter. Eligibility to be registered as a voter is all that is required. Voters’ rolls will not be used in the Referendum.

Documents Needed to Vote in the Referendum
At the polling station a voter must be able to provide proof of eligibility to vote. The new regulations stipulate what documents are needed [Regulations, section 3]. All the voter needs to do is to produce one of the following documents, on which “it is legibly shown that that the person is a citizen of Zimbabwe of or over the age of eighteen [18] years”:

Zimbabwe national identity document [except IDs of non-citizens - see more below] issued in terms of the National Registration Act [metal or plastic]

OR

“Waiting pass” which includes a photograph of the holder. A waiting pass is the document that one gets when applying for a national ID and that serves as proof of registration until the ID itself is received.

OR

A valid Zimbabwean passport.

Source: Veritas