Mugabe must send the Chinese to teach in schools

Zimbabwe's Defence College, which is being built by the Chinese in a
controversial deal with the government, will have a state-of-the-art medical
facility for President Robert Mugabe and other top government and military
officials.


Diamond watchdogs, diplomats, civil servants and others have castigated the
deal, with Albrecht Conze, the outgoing German envoy to Harare, dismissing
the Chinese investment as "exploitation".

The Sunday Times has been told members of the Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) will - with Chinese help - also be trained at the
college, which was blindly agreed to by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
Members of Parliament after a heated debate.

Top military officials of Zimbabwe and Southern African Development
Community (SADC) countries will also undergo training at the centre.

According to highly placed sources, the centre will have an Olympic-size
swimming pool, sports grounds, gyms, a well-equipped hospital, entertainment
centres and many other recreational facilities.

In a deal human rights groups and unions describe as "stinking", Zimbabwe
mortgaged diamonds worth $100-million to the Chinese in exchange for the
construction of the Defence College, just outside Harare.

There have been allegations of underhand dealings in the awarding of the
deal to Anjin Investment - a suspicious joint venture between Zimbabwe and
the Chinese government's Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group (AFECC).

Under the arrangement, the Chinese will provide Zimbabwe with a $98-million
loan to complete the construction of the college. Zimbabwe will service the
loan through diamonds from Chiadzwa in the deal which will not benefit
Zimbabweans, as AFECC will bring its own equipment, material and labourers.

A top government official privy to the deal said the MDC had been hoodwinked
into signing a deal that might come back to haunt it, especially as the
college will be used for training CIO officials who have been out to destroy
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party.

"On the surface it looks like an ordinary situation, but there is more to
it. It has a deep impact on the politics of this country and, unfortunately,
the MDC did not read into it well.

"For example, the complex will have a world-class hospital which VIPs,
especially Mugabe and his cronies, will use. They do not want to use public
hospitals with little privacy. That college is a Zanu-PF project.

"This college will not benefit the people of Zimbabwe at all. Instead, it
will only benefit Mugabe and his cabal and there will be nothing for the
majority. As you might be aware, when the Chinese invest in Africa, they do
not give back - and that is why they are bringing their own workers," he
said.

Part of the agreement seen by the Sunday Times reads: "The related Zimbabwe
side should establish an escrow account to secure the payment and repayment
of the facility with the revenue of Zimbabwe's side benefits from Anjin
Investment (Private) Limited.

"An agreement on the escrow account should be signed by Zimbabwe sides and
the lender (Export-Import Bank of China). The goods, technologies and
services shall be purchased from China preferentially (and) also from
Zimbabwe where this will benefit the project."

Zimbabwe will pay 0.5% management fees to the Chinese.

There was a heated debate in parliament last week with MDC MPs querying the
deal, while Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Defence, was making a
presentation. They wanted to know why the government wanted to spend
$100-million worth of diamonds to build an elite military college at a time
when service delivery has virtually collapsed.

The MPS were demanding to know the benefits of the deal to the nation given
that the military has been used to perpetrate violence against the people.
However, both the House of Assembly and Senate ended up approving the deal,
apparently after realising that Finance Minister Tendai Biti had already
signed the controversial deal.

"This development is unfortunate," Farai Maguwu, whose Centre for Research
and Development has been instrumental in exposing shady deeds at Chiadzwa,
has been quoted as saying this week.

"China will do well investing in Zimbabwe's social sector as opposed to
strengthening the military. It's not a wise investment and it will not
improve the quality of life for the ordinary Zimbabwean," said Maguwu, who
has been harassed before by the state for his work.

Conze told journalists that China's dealings with African countries such as
Zimbabwe were not balanced and exploitative. He said Germany was concerned
about the way the Chinese were conducting business in African countries.

Conze pointed out that China's dealings with Zimbabwe were not bringing real
value into the country .

"Most of the agreements signed by China will buy out the whole world's raw
materials and block other countries from having access to these raw
materials," he said.

The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe also attacked the loan deal,
saying it was immoral for the government to be hoodwinked in such a way
instead of using the money to pay teachers' salaries.

The teachers have threatened to go on strike with one teacher telling the
Sunday Times this week, "Mugabe must send the Chinese to teach in schools".

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