UK performs u-turn on Zimbabwe sanctions
By A Correspondent

Published: July 18, 2012

Comment

The United Kingdom has begun seeking to ease restrictive measures on Zimbabwe, following several contradicting reports on the European Union’s proposals to ease sanctions on Britan’s former colonial territory, it was revealed yesterday.

This was made public in deliberations in the House of Commons published by the UK paper The Telegraph Tuesday.

Despite pressure from some British politicians to enlarge the sanctions ‘net’, Foreign Office minister, Alistair Burt, argued with MPs yesterday that Britain proposes that, if a peaceful and credible referendum on reforms is held ahead of “free and fair” elections due next year, the EU should suspend its ban on direct development aid, its asset freeze and its travel ban on all but a small core of people around Mr Mugabe. He said they could be reimposed if progress stalled.

Robert Mugabe
“For the avoidance of doubt, there is no prospect of this being applied to President Mugabe himself and any suspension relating to him,” Mr Burt said. EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue on Monday.

Mr Burt, quoted by The Telegraph, was replying to a Commons debate staged by Peter Hain, the former Labour Cabinet minister, who said it was strange to be relaxing sanctions when there is evidence of a new scandal over “blood diamonds”.

Mr Hain said: “Let us be clear: Zimbabwean military-controlled blood diamonds are now sold within the EU and almost certainly within the UK, appearing on wedding rings. It is time for jewellery companies to stop hiding behind the façade of the Kimberley Process [to stop diamonds being used to finance military activity] and take responsibility for their own supply chains.”

The former Foreign Office minister and anti-apartheid campaigner called for companies Sam Pa, Anjin and Sino Zimbabwe Development to be added to the sanctions list to prevent Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party from funding a fresh wave of terror ahead of the planned elections. He said it was “bizarre” that Anjin was not on the list even though there is a more compelling case for its inclusion than for other mining firms covered by their association with the Zimbabwe Minerals Development Corporation.

Mugabe pleads with AU to influence westerners to lift sanctions

The development also comes as Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe this week began pleading with the African Union to campaign for the lifting of Western sanctions against him and his political allies, saying the measures should be removed before Harare holds its next elections.

Mugabe challenged the AU at a summit that ended Monday in Ethiopia, to emulate the regional Southern African Development Community, SADC, by actively pushing for the lifting of all travel and financial restrictions without conditions.

“May we get a word from this meeting that these sanctions are unjustified, these sanctions continue to impact on our people, these sanctions must go,” the 88-year-old politician challenged the continental bloc late Monday.

Mr. Mugabe’s statement came as the African Union inaugurated its new chairman, President Boni Yayi of Benin, West Africa, who took over from Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Basango.

South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma also took the oath of office as new AU Commission chairperson, making history of being the first ever woman to occupy the position.

Political commentator Effie Dlela Ncube of the Matabeleland Constitutional Reform Agenda told VOA the Zimbabwe question is now likely to dominate the AU with the influence of Dlamini-Zuma.

The AU has previously demanded the lifting of sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the European Union several years ago against Mugabe and his inner circle over human rights violations – without success.

But given it’s full schedule of more serious challenges, including political crises and security issues in several countries, the continental body has had little, if any time at all, to focus on Zimbabwe, living the task to SADC.

“Whole gamut of sanctions was not acceptable” – Chinamasa

Zanu PF GPA negotiator and the party’s representative on the Zimbabwe-EU re-engagement committee, Patrick Chinamasa has however said that anything short of the unconditional lifting of the whole gamut of sanctions was not acceptable.

“We went to Brussels to demand unconditional lifting the sanctions because they are in the first place illegal. The EU sanctions just like the US sanctions have no basis in international law because they were not authorised by the UN Security Council,” Chinamasa told The Herald.

“Any suspension of the sanctions that is subject to any conditionality is a meaningless gesture and no one can be happy except those who sympathise with countries that imposed them. The way Zanu PF read it is that they (sanctions) will be re-imposed if Zanu PF win elections.”

Agbofa Yao Hateka, the 47-year-old fetish priest who fathered nine kids with his daughter, has pleaded with a Sogakope Circuit Court to forgive him his sins as he would not do it again.

He has so far made two appearances in the Sogakope Circuit Court for having nine children with his daughter, four of whom were dead.
Agbofa Yao Hateka was in the Sogakope court on 12th and 13th July charged with incest.

According to the prosecutor, Inspector Emmanuel Atsor, the case was reported to the Dabala Police by the chief of Ashagborkope, Togbui Sekpetey II, who is also a tax collector.

The complainant told the police on June 7th 2012 that the accused was married to his biological daughter, Baby Hateka, with whom he had nine kids.

Yao Hateka allegedly impregnated Baby when she was 11 years old and subsequently had eight other children with her.
Out of the lot, there were now five kids aged 14, 12, 3, 2 and a month-and-a-half-old.

During her interrogation however, Baby Hateka told the police she had eight children with her father out of which three died, contradicting the accused person’s narration that he had only a two-year-old baby with his daughter called Dodzi.
The accused would not allow anybody to intervene as he allegedly threatened people with death if they meddled in his sexual relationship with his daughter.

He allegedly threatened to invoke the spirit of his gods to deal with meddlers. The accused told the court that he was both a farmer and a fisherman, although the prosecution witness claimed he was unemployed. Before his arrest, the accused told the police that his daughter suffered from sickle cell anaemia, and had come to stay with him from a cocoa-growing area.

Togbui Sekpetey II had earlier fined the accused a fowl so his daughter could be cleansed before reporting the matter to the police.
The case has been adjourned to 20th July 2012 for judgment.

Discovering Your Individual Gifts of God’s Grace
by Michael L. Patten

Individual Gifts of God’s Grace

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Regarding a person’s gifts, I have been asked the question, “How do I find out what my ministry is?” In some ways that is like putting the cart before the horse. The gifts will define the ministry. In a similar way a horse will not be very effective in fulfilling its function of moving a cart along if it tries to push the cart from behind. However, if the horse is properly hooked up in front of the cart, it can pull a great load and fulfill its calling, so to speak. This analogy is helpful when it comes to the discussion of gifts, ministries, and the works of God.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6
(4) There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
(5) There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
(6) There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

The individual gift in one’s life is like the horse that is part of God’s creation. The horse supplies the power much like the gifts, also part of God’s creative work, can be an avenue whereby the power of God is released in various ways. This correlation continues by understanding that a cart is man-made, as are ministries (ways of serving). While the gifts in a person’s life remain constant, his way of serving will change over time due to a variety of changes in his life. Likewise, the same horse can pull different carts according to the job to be done. In the case of gifts and ministry, as well as a horse and cart, the purpose is to get work done. The horse/cart carries a load from one place to another, while gifts/ministries are intended to carry out the works of God among His people.

As a person gets clear about the gifts he has received, the type of ministry through which these gifts will be put to work becomes more focused. Discovering the individual gifts of God’s grace in your life is a process, and generally will happen in three ways. The first avenue to consider is your personal assessment of your experiences, passions, and talents. None of these should be discounted as necessarily coincidental. God watches over His children from before birth.

Psalm 139:15 and 16
(15) My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
(16) your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

In the wisdom of God, all we are and will do are redeemable for His purposes. Being self-aware is very important in this discovery process. Personality inventories can be helpful in distinguishing for ourselves how we relate to life. Generally, individuals fall into two major categories, which are relational or conceptual. A good place to start is by taking into account how you relate to the world around you because God has gifted you in a way that is consistent with your way of relating to life.

Experience is also a great teacher, and even what we consider negative experiences can be very instructive. A difficult experience I had some years ago helped to clarify for me the fact that I am more conceptual than relational. I volunteered to lead a discussion group made up of members in our church. Each week I struggled with these meetings, becoming more and more discouraged as time went on. The discussion, as well as the overall experience of the small group, suffered as well. Eventually, I asked my wife, Mary, to lead the discussions. We both realized how gifted she was at leading small group discussions and how much better the group dynamic became.

Twenty-twenty hindsight is a great teacher, and many times our individual gifts of God’s grace become apparent in retrospect. As you look back and consider times you have served others, it is helpful to take into account how the experience affected you emotionally. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, we are told to be zealous for spiritual matters, of which the individual gifts in one’s life are a part. Ask yourself, “Was I energized or drained emotionally by the experience?” Even though physically exhausting, serving in a way that allows your gifts to be used can be very energizing emotionally.

Any honorable service rendered in love to others is commendable and will be rewarded by the Lord (Matt. 10:42). However, ministry (service) produced out of the individual gifts of God’s grace in your life has the potential of the power of God energizing it so as to accomplish the purposes of God in significant ways.

Another avenue a person’s individual gifts can become apparent is through the input of others. Brothers and sisters in Christ can provide confirmation and/or prophecy to help identify these gifts. The local fellowship is an indispensable resource whereby individuals can discover their gifts of God’s grace as well as see others’ various gifts in operation. The local fellowship is a safe environment to try different ways of serving. Personal mentorship and team ministry help us sort out over time how we are equipped to serve most effectually.

It is a good exercise to be aware of what stirs us in a way that might not move others. Many times I like to put it this way: “When you look at the Body of Christ or culture in general, what screams at you that needs to be done?” Those who lack maturity tend to tell others that they should do something to meet this “obvious” need. However, many times it is not so obvious to others because they do not have the gifts with which to minister most effectively in that area of need.

Finally, God can reveal to each of us either directly or by way of Scripture, the gifts He has given us. God has given individual gifts of grace to His children so that the Body of Christ can be served and His purposes advanced.

Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

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