VOA
US Blasts UN Rights Vote on
Zimbabwe, Sudan
VOA News
18 Apr 2003, 00:56 UTC
The
United States has denounced the U.N. Human Rights Commission for
refusing to
condemn Zimbabwe and Sudan for, what it called, serious human
rights
abuses.
A European Union-sponsored resolution against Zimbabwe was
defeated
Wednesday after 28 - mainly African and Asian - countries voted in
favor of
a "no-action motion." Another EU-backed motion condemning Sudan was
rejected
by a vote of 26 to 24. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
condemned
the "no-action motion" device to block motions for discussion. He
called for
an overhaul of the 53-member commission's voting
procedure.
Mr. Boucher said a "no-action motion" in effect says the
commission has no
right to discuss the egregious human rights situation in
Zimbabwe.
He said the United States is disappointed with some influential
members of
the African group in the commission who voted against the
resolutions. The
E.U. resolutions accused both Zimbabwe and Sudan of
violating the human
rights of their citizens using arbitrary arrests and
torture.
Sudanese Justice Minister Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin is quoted by
the Sudan
News Agency as saying the decision by the U.N. commission
"constitutes
Sudan's innocence." But he also said that the government will
work hard to
keep its record clean.
Some information for this report
provided by AFP.
Natal
Witness
SA's proposal on Zim draws strong
criticism
CAPE TOWN - A government proposal that succeeded in
blocking an examination
of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe by the
United Nations Human Rights
Commission (UNHRC) has drawn strong criticism
both at home and abroad.
Zimbabwe escaped international scrutiny on
Wednesday after 28 mainly African
and Asian countries in the 53-member UNHRC
supported a South African "no
action" motion on a European Union resolution
calling for debate on the
issue.
Yesterday, the Democratic Alliance
said it is "deeply disturbed and shocked"
to learn South Africa has led such
a proposal.
"Why would the South African government propose that the
UNHRC not take a
firmer stand on Zimbabwe? It boggles the mind," DA MP Colin
Eglin said.
The DA has repeatedly called on the government to intervene
in the
Zimbabwean crisis, he said.
Meanwhile, European Parliament MP
Michael Gahler, a member of the
parliament's largest political group, said
the South African government has
turned its back on Zimbabweans who are
suffering under a "despotic leader".
"The more the situation in Zimbabwe
deteriorates, the more the Mugabe regime
apparently can count on the
unconditional support from the 'old boys'
network' existing between the ANC
and Zanu-PF," he said in a statement.
He added that the SA government's
silent diplomacy towards Mugabe has
obviously failed, "but open support of an
oppressive regime prevails".
Publish Date: 18 April 2003
Source:
SAPA
Zim Independent
Tsvangirai poll
petition stalled
Dumisani Muleya/Vincent Kahiya
A DISPUTE has erupted between Movement for
Democratic Change president
Morgan Tsvangirai's lawyers and the High Court
over the opening of a
landmark court hearing into the opposition leader's
election petition
against President Robert Mugabe's disputed re-election last
year.
Documents at hand show that Tsvangirai's attorneys, Gill, Godlonton
&
Gerrans, are resisting suggestions that Judge President Paddington
Garwe
preside over the hearing. Garwe is currently sitting in Tsvangirai's
treason
trial.
Writing on behalf of High Court registrar Jacob
Manzunzu on February 26,
Garwe's clerk, Punish Murumbi, said dates for the
petition could not be set
now because Garwe - who "will in all probability"
preside over the case -
was still engaged in Tsvangirai's treason
trial.
"The petition will in all probability be presided over by the
Judge
President who, as you are aware, is currently presiding over a
lengthy
treason trial,"Murumbi wrote to Tsvangirai's lawyer, Bryant
Elliot.
"As it is not possible for both matters to be heard at the
same time, the
date of set down will only be advised once it becomes apparent
when the
criminal trial is likely to be concluded," he said.
But
Elliot on March 25 said it was "not appropriate" in the first place for
Garwe
to hear the petition because he has been involved in the treason
trial. He
also said delaying the election case would prejudice Tsvangirai.
MDC
lawyers have of late been quarrelling with the High Court registrar's
office
over set down dates for the start of the unprecedented
electoral
trial.
The lawyers have been demanding the fixing of the
dates in a series of
letters since January 15.
However, the
registrar's office has refused to do so claiming that it was
not possible at
present due to the treason case.
Tsvangirai and two other senior MDC
officials are facing allegations of
plotting to assassinate Mugabe in late
2001. The accusations surfaced in the
run-up to the controversial March 2002
presidential poll which Tsvangirai
says was rigged.
Murumbi said
there were other issues before the court such as further
discovery
(disclosure of further documentary evidence) and verification of
ballots that
needed to be sorted out first.
But Tsvangirai's lawyers wrote to
Murumbi again on March 25 saying the
issues he had raised should not prevent
the case from proceeding.
As the row intensified, Murumbi on March 27
replied insisting that his
initial explanations were
valid.
"Tsvangirai is the petitioner in the above case (electoral
challenge) as he
is also the first accused in the treason trial," Murumbi
said. "Both cases
are lengthy ones and obviously they cannot proceed at the
same time. Put
differently, Tsvangirai cannot appear in two courts at the
same time."
However, the MDC attorneys yesterday held firm, arguing
the problem was not
Tsvangirai having to appear before two courts at the same
time but Garwe
having to preside over the two cases
simultaneously.
They said they could not see the reason why another
judge, besides Garwe who
is committed indefinitely, could not deal with the
election petition.
"In a criminal trial, in terms of Section 194 of
the Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Act the presence of the accused at the
trial is required at all
times," the MDC lawyers said.
"However,
in a civil trial, there is no legal requirement in terms of the
Civil
Evidence Act for a litigant to be present at all times of his
trial."
The treason trial is a criminal case while the election
challenge is a civil
action. Neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai have to attend the
election hearing.
MDC attorneys say the election petition should be heard "as
a matter of
urgency".
"In the circumstances, we respectfully do
not agree that the election
petition cannot be set down until the criminal
trial is completed. This will
delay the hearing of the election petition
indefinitely and will therefore
severely prejudice our client's legal
rights," Tsvangirai's lawyers said.
This comes amid reports that the
country's justice system is creaking to a
halt due to bureaucratic
bottlenecks and allegations of abuse of the system
used to allocate cases to
judges.
There have been serious delays in the processing of appeal
cases coming from
lower courts to the Supreme Court. Before the cases are set
down for appeal
documents used in the lower courts have to be bound into
records which are
then used by the Supreme Court.
Judgements have
also not been produced on time.
Law Society of Zimbabwe President
Sternford Moyo in his report last week
noted concern over the delay in the
production of judgements.
"Initially we were advised that the delay
in the production of judgements
was due to the fact that the duplicating
machine was too old," said Moyo.
"We have established that there is a
brand new machine and all that it
requires are consumables," he
said.
He said there were currently at least 180 records awaiting
production due to
insufficient manpower resources.
Moyo said a
number of practitioners would like the courts to revive the
system whereby
urgent matters are allocated to the duty judge irrespective
of the subject
matter.
Cases pending include constitutional challenges to the
Broadcasting Services
Act and the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act.
Zim Independent
US turns heat on
Mugabe
Dumisani Muleya
IN the aftermath of the Iraq war in which
former dictator Saddam Hussein was
toppled by a sweeping American military
strike, the United States appears
ready for a major confrontation with
Zimbabwe over mounting repression.
In an interview with the Zimbabwe
Independent from Washington, a State
Department African Bureau spokesperson
who asked not to be named said
reports that the US had renewed its demand for
another presidential election
in Zimbabwe were true.
"What the
official quoted in the press (this week) was saying is that the
past Zimbabwe
presidential election was flawed and obviously there has to be
another free
and fair poll held under international supervision," she said.
"It's
the same prescription that we offer all over the world and it also
applies to
us."
An official was quoted as saying on Tuesday Zimbabwe's
neighbours were
beginning to realise that President Robert Mugabe's political
repression and
economic mismanagement were now untenable.
"What we
are telling them is there has to be a transitional government in
Zimbabwe
that leads to a free and fair, internationally supervised
election," the
official said.
"That is the goal. He (Mugabe) stole the last one, we
cannot let that happen
again."
Zanu PF spokesman Nathan
Shamuyarira was yesterday quoted in the South
African press fuming over these
remarks.
Shamuyaraira said the US, and not Zimbabwe, needed a
transitional government
and a new election because George W Bush "was not
elected".
"Instead of shouting instructions for Mugabe to step down,
it's the
Americans themselves who need a transitional government to hold
fresh
elections and replace the unelected Bush," Shamuyarira said. "If
the
Americans don't want to accept our legitimacy, it is their own problem.
They
can go to hell. There will be no new elections
here."
Shamuyarira said Mugabe's hotly-disputed re-election was
recognisedas free
and fair by African and South-ern African Development
Community observers.
"The only group that flatly refu-sed to
acknowledge the electionwas the
European Union. We refuse to be bound by the
EU's racist position," he said.
"If the Americans want to follow the
EU, then it's their problem."
Mugabe has been widely accused of
rigging last year's presidential poll. The
Sadc Parliamentary Forum, the US,
EU, Japan, and Ghana said the election was
not free and fair.
The
US spokesperson who spoke to the Independent yesterday said Zimbabwe
was
discussed at a State Department briefing in the context of African
trouble
spots.
Asked if the US would consider attacking Zimbabwe
as government apologists
feared, she said that was "strange and
silly".
"The Mugabe regime has been saying a lot of strange things of
late and that
is one such sort of thing," she said. "It's very silly. But why
are they so
paranoid?"
The spokesperson, however, warned the US
was ratcheting up pressure
consistently as shown by recent targeted sanctions
against Mugabe and his
associates.
She said the current political
and economic situation was "terrible and
shocking" and warned Mugabe was
under growing threat not necessarily from
the US but "from the crisis in
Zimbabwe".
Zim Independent
Maize sellers shun
GMB
Blessing Zulu
DESPITE a huge increase in the producer price
of maize, trade on the
parallel market is alive and well as the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) remains
an unattractive buyer, the Zimbabwe Independent
has learnt.
The National NGO Food Security Network (Fosnet)
involving 24
non-governmental organisations monitoring food distribution said
officials
from the parastatal were also contributing to the parallel
market.
Out of 58 districts assessed Fosnet said the GMB was
contributing to 41% of
food on the parallel market.
"Relief food
was reported to be filtering into the parallel market in four
districts," the
network said.
The GMB last month raised the producer price of maize
from $28 000 to $130
000 a tonne. The GMB is however still selling to millers
at $9 600 a tonne.
There are allegations that senior government
officials and commodity brokers
are buying maize from the GMB at $9 600 a
tonne using millers' certificates
and re-selling it at almost $400 000 a
tonne.
Police spokesman Inspector Andrew Phiri said police were
investigating cases
of illegal trade.
"There are officials from
the GMB who have been arrested and other cases are
still pending," said
Phiri.
"These officials were buying maize cheaply at the GMB and
selling it in the
streets with a huge mark up," he
said.
Government officials such as Gender and Youth deputy minister
Shuvai Mahofa
and Matabeleland South governor Obert Mpofu have been
implicated in the
illegal sale of maize.
There are fears that the
recent increases are likely to exacerbate the
parallel
market.
"The profit margin of selling GMB grain in parallel markets
has widened from
$490/10kg in July 2002 to $4 200/10kg in March this year,
the highest in
urban areas. GMB grain sales in parallel markets undermines
subsidies to
control prices and turns public funds into private profits,"
said Fosnet.
The GMB is struggling to attract farmers to sell their
maize despite hiking
the producer price of maize and increasing the number of
monitors to force
producers to deliver their crop to the
parastatal.
The government has invoked statutory instruments
declaring illegal the sale
of maize without a valid movement permit. Farmers
are compelled to deliver
their maize to the GMB 14 days after
harvesting.
The increase in the producer price of maize has not
managed to stem illegal
trade as some individuals were offering farmers
between $200 000 and $300
000 a tonne.
Mike Ngwenya, a farmer from
Chiweshe in Mashonaland Central who spoke to the
Independent, said the GMB
must transform if it is to attract sellers.
"Individuals are paying
cash on the spot and the GMB pays after about three
weeks," he
said.
"The private individuals bring their own trucks to collect
maize but for the
GMB you have to organise your own transport," said
Ngwenya.
Zim Independent
Bishops block Zanu
PF's bid to declare Chakaipa a hero
Mthulisi Mathuthu
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe suffered an
embarrassment this week when Catholic
bishops rejected his party's bid to
have his late friend, Archbishop Patrick
Chakaipa, buried at Heroes
Acre.
It emerged this week that Mugabe and his Zanu PF stalwarts, who
include
secretary for information and publicity Nathan Shamuyarira, were
pushing for
Chakaipa's proclamation as a hero through the Mashonaland West
provincial
executive.
Provincial chairman Philip Chi-yangwa
applied to the politburo to have the
late primate buried at the national
shrine but the bishops and the Chakaipa
family turned down the idea arguing
that it was improper to politicise
Chakaipa's funeral.
A source
said neither the bishops nor the family were enthusiastic about the
proposal,
leading to its abandonment.
The bishops argued that burying Chakaipa
at the national shrine would have
suggested that he was a Zanu PF party
member.
Archbishop Pius Ncube said it would have been improper to
equate a man of
the cloth with politicians.
"It was just a joke.
Some people wanted to score cheap political mileage
because the whole issue
is irrelevant and even Mugabe himself never raised
it at the funeral," said
Ncube.
"Even Chiyangwa who proposed it never came to the funeral and
so you can see
that it was totally out of the question."
Chiyangwa
yesterday said he had applied to the politburo because Chakaipa
was "a
success story" whose service went beyond religion. He wondered why
the clergy
had not lobbied to honour their colleague.
"The issue of the heroes'
status is beyond politics and the church has the
right to push for the honour
of one of their own. Chakaipa, as you know is a
success from my province and
so I am right (in petitioning the politburo),"
he said.
Chiyangwa
said there was still a chance for Chakaipa to be accorded the
status even
though he would not be buried at the shrine.
"If they could bring the
remains of that white man Guy Clutton-Brock for
burial here what will stop
them from doing the same with Chakaipa?"
he
asked.
Zim Independent
Donor doubts could
scuttle land summit
Mthulisi Mathuthu
A REGIONAL land summit planned by political
parties for June this year could
be scuttled by lack of funds, an official
organising the event told the
Zimbabwe Independent this week.
The
summit was designed to bring together the South African opposition
Pan
Africanist Congress (PAC), Namibia's Swapo, Zanu PF and local pro-Zanu
PF
NGOs.
PAC secretary-general and sum-mit organiser Thami ka
Platjie said the summit
would seek to "discuss regional land problems and to
review the Zimbabwe
exercise and avoid its pitfalls".
But this
week he said the summit could be postponed because there were "a
few
problems" to be tackled and that there were insufficient funds to host
the
event.
"We are still looking for funding and we could postpone this
summit but it's
certainly coming," said Platjie.
Although he
refused to say how much has been raised so far it is understood
that the
organisers have approached Hivos, Sida and Norad - all of whom have
a history
of supporting revolutionary movements during the colonial era.
It is
understood that this time they are dragging their feet because of fear
that
they would appear to be endorsing President Robert Mugabe's violent and
much
criticised land grab.
Intended for Pretoria in South Africa, the
summit is seen as an effort by
Zanu PF to sell its controversial acquisition
programme with a view to
sparking similar seizures across the continent and
boosting support for
Mugabe.
Sources said the South African
government was already concerned with the way
Zimbabwe's land reform
programme is being conducted.
Zimbabwe has been encouraging the landless
lobby in South Africa to emulate
Mugabe's agrarian reform which differs
immensely from President Thabo
Mbeki's consensus-driven
agenda.
The PAC, close supporters of Mugabe, have repeatedly rapped
the Mbeki
government for its slow land reform programme while officers at the
Zimbabwe
High Commission in Pretoria are suspected of assisting local players
to push
for a land grab there.
Platjie has made several trips to
Harare mobilising local NGOs to support
the summit. Other organisations
linked to the regional land redistribution
exercise are the
officially-promoted Inyika Trust, Institute for Public
Policy and Research in
Namibia, Landless People's Movement of South Africa,
Ibbo Mandaza's Sapes
Trust, and David Nyekorach-Matsanga's Africa
Strategy.
Zim Independent
Assembly deadlocked
over Zim
Mthulisi Mathuthu
THE European Union/African Caribbean and
Pacific Joint Parliamentary
Assembly meeting in Brazzaville recently was
unable to agree to a joint
resolution on Zimbabwe.
Three separate
motions, including Zimbabwe's, were reportedly rejected.
Zimbabwe had
hoped to convince the assembly to buy into its allegations that
the United
Kingdom was at the centre of its current economic and political
chaos because
it was opposed to land reform.
"The only issue obstructing the return
to normalcy in the country is the
sustained hostility of the UK government
which is engendering polarisation
in Zimbabwean society and blocking
cooperation between Zimbabwe and the
international community," said the
motion rejected by the EU and several ACP
nations which included Botswana,
Senegal and Ghana.
In keeping with JPA rules which stress consensus
the motion was deemed not
to have been approved. From the European side, the
assembly voted in a
secret ballot on a joint motion tabled by the socialists
and Liberal groups
strongly condemning human rights violations in
Zimbabwe.
The motion was approved by 23 votes to 3 with one
abstention, but was
rejected by 29 votes to 12 on the ACP side with one
abstention.
Despite the failure to agree some members of the JPA who
include
co-President Glenys Kinnock urged President Mugabe's government to
allow a
fact-finding mission from the assembly into the country. ACP
vice-president
Angelo Beda of Sudan told a press conference that he detected
a "wind of
change" in attitudes towards Zimbabwe, a view reportedly shared by
Kinnock.
In November the JPA meeting was abandoned in Brussels after
the ACP nations
boycotted it protesting the exclusion of Zimbabwe's
representatives, Paul
Mangwana and Chris Kuruneri.
South Africa's
Rob Davis called for a "new international initiative to
tackle the
deteriorating economic crisis and political problems"
bedevilling
Zimbabwe.
MDC spokesman Moses Mzila Ndlovu appealed to
the JPA to tighten screws on
Harare for continued violation of human rights.
He detailed the harassment,
arbitrary arrests and torture of the MDC MPs by
the state security agents.
Zim Independent
Tafadzwa Musekiwa
coming back - Sikhala
Blessing Zulu
ZENGEZA MP Tafadzwa Musekiwa, who is living in
Britain, will soon be
returning to the country. A colleague and close friend,
Job Sikhala, MP for
St Mary's, revealed this yesterday.
Sikhala
was recently in London on his way to Copenhagen where he had gone
for medical
treatment following his torture at the hands of the police.
"Musekiwa is
definitely coming back soon," Sikhala said.
"He is just wrapping up
his business in the UK. I told him that it is better
to come back home and
die for the people and he agreed to this," said
Sikhala.
The
Zimbabwe Independent last week revealed that Musekiwa had not
formally
resigned as an MP.
Musekiwa has been in Britain since
November where he sought political
asylum. He said the government wanted to
eliminate him.
Sikhala accused the government of trying to drive him
(Sikhala) into exile
using "terror tactics".
"Police officers led
by Garnett Sikova came to my house and terrorised my
wife and two children,"
said Sikhala.
"They told my wife that I will be killed if I come
back. They said she
should phone me and convey this
message.
"Yesterday I was briefly detained for merely going to visit
the sick at
Chitungwiza General Hospital. Today about 50 thugs in two trucks
attacked my
home, they ransacked everything," said
Sikhala.
Sikhala said he would not be forced to quit politics by
these threats.
"The use of torture and terror will not scare me. I am
more than prepared to
die fighting this regime," Sikhala said.
He
dismissed a report in a government weekly which said he had gone into
exile
fearing that he would be required to testify in the treason trial of
the
leader of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary-general Welshman Ncube
and
agriculture spokesman Renson Gasela. Sikhala described the report
as
"hallucinations".
Zim Independent
Load-shedding
cripples manufacturers
Augustine Mukaro
SOUTHERTON industrial area has been badly hit
by Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (Zesa) load-shedding which has
crippled the operations of many
large manufacturers.
The load-shedding
was introduced two weeks ago following Zimbabwe's failure
to mobilise funds
to provide a credible payment plan demanded by Hydro
Cahora Bassa of
Mozambique last month. Zesa's failure to meet HCB's March 22
deadline has
resulted in the Mozambican power utility reducing its supply to
Zimbabwe by
two-thirds.
An HCB spokesperson this week however said the supply of
power from the
Cahora Bassa dam had been reduced to the power company's two
main customers,
South Africa and Zimbabwe, due to technical and not financial
reasons.
"Work began in March on rehabilitating the Cahora Bassa
power station," a
spokesman for HCB, the dam operating company, told AIM last
Friday.
"Inevitably, this means a reduction in the amount of power
generated and
that rehabilitation is scheduled to last for 15 months," he
said.
He said that currently two of Cahora Bassa's five giant
turbines have been
taken out of service. Since each can generate 415
megawatts, this means that
the generating capacity of the power station has
been reduced by 830
megawatts.
The HCB spokesman conceded that
Zesa has been classified as an
"interruptible customer" because of its delays
in making payments, but that
did not mean that HCB was cutting supplies on
financial grounds.
"Zesa could be cut off for non-payment, but it
hasn't been", he said.
Industrialists in Southerton experienced daily
power cuts this week which
crippled production. Companies in the area include
Colcom Foods, National
Breweries, Caps, BAT, Chibuku Breweries and steel
fabricators Enfield
Engineering, which have been affected by the power
cuts.
Management at Saltrama and Mukundi Plastics has been forced to
slash one of
their working shifts retrenching some of its
workers.
"We used to have three working shifts," an official at
Saltrama said.
"The overnight shift has been scrapped rendering over
50 workers jobless.
"We are also running serious losses as all the
material that cools in the
system during power cuts can no longer be used,"
he said.
Other companies, such as printers, have been working night
shifts.
While some smaller firms have continued to function due to
use of back-up
generators, larger companies have lost many working hours as
they cannot use
generators.
"It has become a norm that every
morning when we report for work there won't
be electricity until about
midday," a senior manager at BOC told the
Independent.
"The power
cuts have immensely reduced our production. We can't use
generators for our
production because we use 24-hour heavy machinery."
According to
Zesa's proposed load-shedding programme there should be power
cuts between
0600 hrs and 1000hrs during the day and between 1700hrs and 20
00hrs in the
evening to selected areas.
"The surprising thing is that only the
industrial areas are experiencing the
blackouts over the past two weeks.
Specifically, it has been the Southerton
industrial area with the proposed
programme varied without any explanation,"
industrialists
said.
Sovereign Printers, the printers of the Independent and
Standard, said they
were resorting to using generators to meet the deadlines
of their printing
business.
"We had to use a generator this
morning so that we could progress with our
printing business," a Sovereign
official said yesterday.
Other industrial areas affected by
load-shedding include Workington,
Graniteside and
Willowvale.
Despite HCB's statement that cuts were related to
rehabilitation work,
officials at Zesa said HCB agreed to supply the
Zimbabwean power utility
with reduced energy for only a month while it
fulfils the conditions in the
March 22 ultimatum.
"The reprieve
would apply for a month only and if their demands are not met
HCB will switch
us off," Zesa officials said.
Zim Independent
Zim rated highest
risk economy after Iraq
Conrad Dube
ZIMBABAWE has been rated the second worst and
highest risk economy, ahead
only of Iraq, by the Economist Intelligence Unit
(EIU)'s risk assessment for
100 mainly developing and highly indebted
countries.
The Country Risk Ser-vice produces monthly interna-tionally
comparable risk
assessments for developing and highly indebted
countries.
Each country is rated by category, ranging from "A", the
lowest risk, to
"E", the highest risk, and assigned a grade for political
risk,
economic-structure risk and liquidity risk.
Overall scores
can range from 0 ("A" category) to a maximum of 100 points
("E" category) for
the highest risk countries.
In its April report titled Zimbabwe at a
glance: 2003-04, the report says
Zimbabwe, with an "E" rating and an overall
score of 86, has been
increasingly adrift in the risk rankings within the
sub-Saharan Africa
region where the overall average rating score is
56.
The next two worst-rated countries in sub-Saharan Africa are both
"D"-rated,
Angola with an overall risk rating score of 74 and Malawi with a
score of
71.
Zimbabwe's overall rating is a reflection of the poor
ratings for three of
the four risk categories, political risk,
economic-policy risk and liquidity
risk, all of which are
"E"-rated.
This reflects the ongoing political crisis within the
country and the
potential for the eruption of politically motivated unrest as
President
Robert Mugabe continues to cling to power, the report
says.
"The root cause of Zimbabwe's economic crisis is the
government's
unwillingness to reduce the country's unsustainable fiscal
deficit," the
report said.
"The government is also likely to
continue with its current economic
policies for as long as possible, even
though these have caused massive
economic decline since
1999."
Political uncertainty, poorly thought out land reform and
macroeconomic
instability will drive further contractions in the agricultural
and
industrial sectors and a fall in real GDP of 8,8% in 2003, the report
says.
Economists say despite the introduction of the National
Economic Revival
Programme (Nerp) the budget deficit will push average
inflation, currently
228%, up to 304,5% by the end of 2003.
The
EIU has forecast that inflation will remain in triple digits, at 176,8%,
in
2004.
The central elements of Nerp is the agreement reached at the
tripartite
negotiating forum under which the government would try to reduce
the budget
deficit to 11% of GDP by the end of 2003 and partly devalue the
exchange
rate.
Although the official rate of US$1: $55 remains in
place, Finance minister
Herbert Murerwa managed to get Mugabe to agree to
allow the RBZ to offer a
rate of US$1: $824 to all businesses needing foreign
currency. It remains
unclear who will meet the cost of the difference as the
central bank will
buy at US$1: $824, only to sell to government at US$1:
$55.
The report said it was probably safe to assume that the official
rate would
be used for food, fuel and electricity, but no doubt official
foreign travel
and the operational costs of diplomatic missions would be
catered for in the
process.
Zim Independent
Efforts to end Zim
crisis thwarted - McKinnon
Dumisani Muleya
COMMONWEALTH secretary-general Don McKinnon
says President Robert Mugabe has
thwarted his efforts to resolve the Zimbabwe
political and economic crisis
over the past two years.
In his report
on Zimbabwe, published in the Zimbabwe Independent last week,
McKinnon
explained how Mugabe has been blocking his endeavours since
May
2000.
"From the very outset, the government of Zimbabwe
rejected the Marlborough
House decisions, as well as the report of the
Commonwealth election observer
group," McKinnon says.
"All my
efforts to engage with the government in fulfilment of the mandates
given to
me by the troika have been rebuffed. Indeed, my efforts to engage
with
President Mugabe predate the troika's establishment and Marlborough
House
statement."
McKinnon says trying to contact Mugabe has been a
frustrating business.
"In May 2000, I proposed sending Sir Shridath
Ramphal, former Commonwealth
secretary-general and a friend of President
Mugabe, as a special envoy to
help facilitate dialogue with the Zimbabwe
government but without success,"
he said.
"Sir Shridath's
telephone calls to President Mugabe were not returned."
In May 2001,
McKinnon says he sent his deputy, Florence Mugashu, to Windhoek
to brief
Namibian President Sam Nujoma, "as a senior regional leader and a
friend of
Zimbabwe and the Commonwealth", in a bid to secure a meeting with
Mugabe but
that initiative also failed.
Nujoma told McKinnon that Mugabe had
refused to deal with the Commonwealth
secretariat.
In subsequent
contacts with Mugabe's office McKinnon was told to deal with
Foreign Affairs
Minister Stan Mudenge.
Zim
Independent
Justice system eroded
by state non-compliance
Vincent
Kahiya
IT is trite to say in any
constitutional democracy the judiciary
should lead from the front in ensuring
that the rights of an individual are
upheld. Failure to do so has resulted in
the emergence of police states
where individual rights are superseded by the
whims of an overbearing
executive.
Zimbabwe, which has provoked international censure because of
its
ever-increasing human rights and good governance deficit, has over the
past
three years witnessed the waning of judicial independence. The
respect
enjoyed by the bench has been compromised as judges have been accused
of
timidity when dealing with matters involving the
executive.
Former Chief Justice Anthony
Gubbay put it aptly in a paper delivered
in 1998 at the Latimer House
Conference:
"Examples of such conduct are
collaboration between judges and public
authorities; making statements which
give the impression of bias; serving in
politically sensitive capacities;
and, particularly in small jurisdictions
like my own, tardiness in
adjudicating on matters which involve
the
executive."
The erosion of judicial
independence has opened opportunities for arms
of the government to ride
roughshod over the judiciary. Senior politicians
from the ruling Zanu PF
party have made extra-judicial comments bordering
on
contempt.
Last July President Mugabe
said it was acceptable to defy a judgement
of any court in Zimbabwe where the
affected party considered the outcome to
have been the result of bias by the
judicial officer. The president's
comments stemmed from contempt of court
charges which had been brought
against Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa who
was accused of disregarding
court
processes.
Some of the most egregious
exa-mples of non-enforcement of judi-cial
rulings include the case of
journalists Mark Chavunduka and Ray Choto who
were abducted and tortured by
the army. A Supreme Court-ordered police
investigation in 2000 failed to
proceed beyond the KGVI barracks.
In 2001
the High Court ordered the prosecution of CIO officer Joseph
Mwale accused of
burning to death two MDC activists in the run-up to the
2000 general
election. Nothing transpired.
Within the
judicial system itself there appear to be disagreements on
enforcement of
court orders. In early 2002 Justice Chiweshe defied a
directive from the
Supreme Court to grant bail to 15 MDC youths arrested
in
Bindura.
The police have in several
cases refused to execute orders granted by
the courts. And to add to the
growing list of woes, the bench is now divided
over the arrest of Justice
Benjamin Paradza on corruption charges two
months
ago.
Dato' Param Cumaraswamy,
special rapporteur of the UN Commission on
Human Rights on the independence
of judges and lawyers, in February
expressed grave concern over the arrest
and detention of Justice Paradza.
"When
judges can be set against one another, then intimidated with
arrest,
detention and criminal prosecution, there is no hope for the ruleof
law which
is the cornerstone of de-mocracy. It paves the way for
governmental
lawlessness," he concluded.
Governmental
delinquency has started to show in the way accused
persons have been
illegally detained and tortured in police custody.
Officers of the court,
mainly lawyers and magistrates, have also been
physically attacked by
suspected ruling-party hoodlums who have not been
brought to
book.
On August 16 last year Chipinge
district magistrate Walter Chikwanha
was reportedly dragged from his
courtroom by suspected war veterans and
assaulted at the government complex.
No one has been arrested in connection
with that attack. It was alleged the
attack was in response to Chikwanha's
dismissal of an application by the
state to remand in custody five MDC
officials who, along with two others,
were accused of burning two government
tractors in the
district.
Just over a week after the
attack on Chikwanha, Godfrey Gwaka, the
magistrate for Zaka district,
Masvingo, was stabbed on August 26 at Zaka
service centre. It was suspected
that the attack was related to judgements
Gwaka had made on political
parties. He was hospitalised after the
attack.
Human rights activists have
observed that there is a correlation
between Zimbabwe's poor human rights
record and a slide into the repressive
practice of detaining suspects and
ignoring judicial decisions
with
impunity.
This has become common
in the arrests of members of the opposition and
civic
activists.
Last week police ignored High
Court judge Justice Kamocha's order to
bring to court arrested MDC spokesman
Paul Themba Nyathi. He was only
released after his lawyer made a further
application for his release.
Lawyers have
also observed a trend whereby the courts have been quick
to place suspects on
remand without taking into cognisance the gravity of
the
allegation.
Law Society of Zimbabwe
president Sternford Moyo in his annual report
delivered in Bulawayo last week
highlighted the need for the judiciary to
consider the quality of suspicion
before detaining suspects.
"The judiciary
in Zimbabwe, in matters involving lawfulness or
otherwise of arrests, had
always considered the necessity for detention and
the quality of the
suspicion that an offence has been committed to be
important factors." said
Moyo.
"I can only hope that this approach
will gain wider acceptance within
the judiciary. It is only when judges
emphasise the importance of individual
liberty that a degeneration into a
police state, with its obviously negative
impact on human rights, is
prevented," he said.
The High Court has
generally accepted this to be the right practice.
Judge President, Justice
Paddington Garwe, emphasised aspects of this
approach when opening the High
Court in Bulawayo as did Justice Benjamin
Paradza when dealing with the
arrest of the mayor of Harare.
Despite
this the police have chosen to ignore High Court rulings and
have continued
to detain suspects despite court orders to release suspects
or bring them to
court. The courts in turn have not moved to stamp their
authority by charging
errant officers with contempt of court.
There has also been an upsurge of statements from the executive
suggesting
that some judicial decisions will not be observed. The complete
disregard of
court rulings in setting the date for the Harare mayoral and
municipal
elections last year are the most obvious example of this. Also,
court rulings
ordering the police to evict illegal settlers have
been
ignored.
Moyo in his report said
disregard of court orders was the highest form
of contempt of court. It is an
assault on the authority of the court,
he
said.
"If left uncontrolled, it
leads to an inevitable conclusion by members
of the public that resort to
court proceedings to enforce their rights is
not an option open to them,
particularly in situations where their rights
are violated by central
government," said Moyo.
"Such a perception
is damaging to the due administration of justice.
When members of the public
cannot be confident of enforcement of their
rights through the court system,
they inevitably get tempted to resort to
self-help and lawlessness which are
unacceptable in a civilised society."
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has documented at least 12
cases
since 2000 in which the state has ignored court rulings. In a
statement to
the Zimbabwe Independent the lawyers said failure by the state
to enforce
court orders would lead to a breakdown of the rule of
law.
"The state has systematically
abrogated its responsibility to enforce
or comply with court orders whether
favourable to the state or not," said
ZLHR director Arnold
Tsunga.
The current assault on the bench
under the guise putting in place a
relevant judiciary requires civic groups
to educate the public on the
importance of judicial independence. In his
Latimer House paper Chief
Justice Gubbay said basic tenets of judicial
independence must be
implemented.
"It
must be emphasised that it is not enough merely to lay down
principles for
the independence of the judiciary. These principles have to
be implemented,"
he said.
"Society must be made aware of
their importance and any violation of
them exposed. In this way public
opinion can be created in defence of the
independence of the judiciary and so
ensure by necessary outcry that the
maintenance of judicial independence is
not eroded by the executive."
Zim
Independent
Comment
Zim on the edge: what went
wrong?
WHERE did it all start to go wrong? As Zimbabweans mark
23 years of
Independence, the inevitable question must be asked. Never has
the country
been so impoverished and isolated. Never have its rulers been so
reviled by
those they govern.
Commentators suggest that if President
Mugabe had retired in 1990,
Mandela-style, he would have gone with his
reputation intact. The architect
of reconciliation, he presided over
nation-building, the expansion of
education and social services, and played
an important role on the world
stage.
The future seemed bright at the
dawn of the second decade of Independence.
The one-party-state project was
about to be abandoned, the state of
emergency lifted and the economy opened
up to investment.
But by 1990 evidence of the rot was already
discernible. A brutal campaign
of suppression in Matabeleland had revealed a
totalitarian agenda that held
lives cheap. A captive media was unable to
enforce political accountability
or provide the vigorous debate on economic
policy all healthy democracies
need. And far too much of GDP was going
towards the upkeep of a bloated
public sector that provided little more than
sheltered employment for the
party faithful. So did the armed forces despite
the end of the war in
Mozambique and the emergence of a democratic South
Africa.
Despite economic liberalisation after 1990 the state was still in
everybody'
s face. And in marked contrast to the new dispensation south of
the Limpopo,
Zimbabwe remained an exclusivist and intolerant society whose
rulers
manipulated the constitution according to their immediate
needs.
Here then were the seeds of disaster. Living off the fat of a
hitherto
successful economy Zimbabwe's rulers failed to understand the basics
of
productivity and growth. While paying lip-service to economic reform
they
believed they could safely maintain macro-economic distortions that
were
eating away at the country's fabric.
Compounding this pattern of
mismanagement were two fatal decisions by
President Mugabe. In 1997 he
attempted to solve an insurrection by war
veterans by throwing money at them
- money he didn't have. The decision to
spend over $4 billion on gratuities
and pensions was a blow to an already
staggering economy. He then proclaimed
a land-seizure agenda that was
calculated to send alarm bells ringing in
financial capitals.
This was followed the next year by a military
adventure in the DRC that was
both unnecessary and unpopular. It cost the
nation dearly in scarce foreign
exchange at a time when health services and
infrastructure were collapsing
at home.
Undaunted by these demands on
the fiscus, Mugabe in 2000 launched his bid
for political survival by
authorising war veterans to seize commercial
farms. It was a death blow to
the economy which ended 20 years of
self-sufficiency in food production and
choked off forex earnings.
From that there has been no recovery. The
Congo intervention and the farm
invasions had much in common. They were both
responses to challenges to
Mugabe's ego: the first to his authority as a
regional leader; the second to
his electoral clout.
That is why, 23
years after Uhuru, Zimbabwe is tied to the ambitions of an
increasingly
unbalanced and delusional leader who has failed to understand
that successful
societies exist on the basis of consultation and consensus,
not obduracy and
retribution.
For 23 years we have been hostage to this intellectually
brilliant but
deeply flawed leader. Exposing the frailties of a state
unconstrained by
constitutional safeguards, our fate is tied up with his. His
malevolent writ
extends into every corner of the land. He is the reason
nobody will be
celebrating Independence Day tomorrow.
But thankfully,
as events in Baghdad illustrated last week, no regime lasts
forever. Sooner
or later tyrants who abuse their people face an inevitable
reckoning. Those
who have betrayed the promise of 1980 by encouraging,
promoting, and excusing
the brutal dictatorship that so blights our lives
would do well to ponder the
fate of other self-proclaimed leaders who are
now discovering that no army
can resist an idea whose time has come.
It would not be far-fetched to
describe the period since 1980 as "the locust
years" because of the
systematic way Mugabe's followers have asset-stripped
the country.
How
to deal with this locust class and the wealth it has appropriated as a
result
of its ties to the ruling party is one of the challenges a
democratic
government will face.
In the meantime the post-liberation
aristocracy should be put on notice: The
fruits of Independence were intended
for all Zimbabweans. What you have now
are stolen
goods.
Zim Independent
Eric Bloch
Column
Forex quick-fix an unreal
expectation
THE Reserve Bank has expressed
great dismay that the exchange rate
adjustment on February 27 has not
resulted in a massive inflow of foreign
exchange. In tandem with its
expressions of concern, those economists who
have steadfastly opposed any
devaluation of Zimbabwe's currency have drawn
attention to the fact that
despite the mid-rate of exchange having been
moved from US$1: $55, to US$1:
$824, the generation of foreign exchange has
been minimal, and Zimbabwe
continues to suffer a chronic lack of vitally
needed forex.
That there
is concern at the scarcity of the foreign currency which is
Zimbabwe's
lifeblood is not surprising. Evidence of the devastating
consequences
impacting upon all Zimbabweans abounds. The lengths of the
queues of motor
vehicles for fuel that stretch for kilometres become ever
greater. Those
queues represent hundreds of thousands of unproductive
man-hours. The
insufficiency of foreign exchange is causing great declines
in production due
to recurrent non-availability of manufacturing inputs and
of essential
machine spares, and those declines are compounded by extensive
energy
load-shedding as the Zimbabwe Electricity SupplyAuthority (Zesa)
shudders
under the curtailment of supplies by neig-hbouring territories due
to
Zimbabwe's ongoing default in payments.
And Zimbabweans have become near
prisoners in their country, for foreign
exchange is virtually not available
to fund travels beyond Zimbabwe's
borders, irrespective of whether the
travels are necessary for purposes of
business, attendance at international
conferences, holidays or health care.
Within Zimbabwe there is also a marked
decline in health care as a result of
the non-availability of necessary
foreign exchange. Public sector and
private sector alike cannot source
sufficient foreign currency required to
assure adequate supplies of
medications and drugs, and for the maintenance
and repair of medical
equipment.
Statistics suggest that Zimbabwe's foreign exchange resource
has fallen from
a level of two months of import cover in February to five
days of import
cover. Those figures are deceptive (supporting Disraeli's
contention that
there are "lies, damned lies, and statistics").
In
practice, two months' cover did not exist last February because
the
non-availability of foreign currency had reduced import levels to
below
those required for the continuance of the economy and the wellbeing of
the
populace. Moreover, other foreign exchange commitments were not
being
serviced, be they the servicing of government foreign debt, the funding
of
interest and capital payments due by parastatals and by private
sector
enterprise, the remittance of dividends to foreign investors, or the
myriad
other foreign currency payment obligations. If all these obligations
and
requirements are brought into account, then the harsh fact is that
Zimbabwe
had zero import cover.
As a result, government and the
Reserve Bank convinced themselves that the
much overdue "exchange rate
adjustment" would stimulate the desperately
needed inflows of foreign
currency and, in disregard for realities, expected
the inflows to be
immediate. Then, when this was not the case, they and
others began
questioning the merits of having adjusted the exchange rates,
and of any
further adjustments in the future. Such questioning and doubt is
misplaced,
ill-conceived and unwise. The inadequate improvement in foreign
exchange
receipts is not due to the exchange rate adjustment being
ineffectual, but to
other factors.
The first of these is that a movement in exchange rates
does not represent a
magic wand to achieve an overnight restoration of export
performance. Once
the rates were adjusted, enabling reinstatement of
operational viability for
exporters, a time-lag until export revenue flows
increased was inevitable.
First of all, the intending exporters had to
satisfy themselves that the
rate adjustment was sufficient to restore
profitability to exports,
notwithstanding the continuing upward surge in
inflation. Concurrently, they
needed to satisfy themselves that those exports
would generate sufficient
foreign exchange for their continuing operations,
and particularly so in the
light of the increase in the mandatory, immediate
surrender of foreign
currency to the Reserve Bank from 40% of export proceeds
to 50%. Having done
so, they then had to re-establish their presence in the
export markets and
obtain orders, whereafter the goods had to be manufactured
and shipped.
Moreover, once the flow of exports had been reactivated, it
was and is
invariably necessary to extend 60 to 90 days credit to the export
customers.
Thus, an expectation of any significant increase in foreign
exchange
receipts at any time before, at the very earliest, May 2003, and
more likely
by June or July, is an expression of utmost naivety. The same
holds good for
the boost given to the mining industry (not including gold
mines who are
driven by the gold support price), for those mines on a care
and maintenance
basis could not resume production overnight.
The
critics should also bear in mind that if the rates had not been
adjusted,
many of those as were then engaged in exports and were perilously
poised on
the edge of the precipice due to inflation of 221% drastically
escalating
their production costs, would have toppled over the precipice.
Had that
occurred, the already relatively minimal foreign exchange resources
of
Zimbabwe would fast have become even more limited, and therefore the
economy
even more devastated. Condemnation of the long overdue adjustment in
exchange
rates is, therefore, not only a foolhardy non-recognition of the
facts of
export operation characteristics, but is also potentially harmful,
for it
could motivate a return to the prolonged reluctance and resistance to
align
exchange rates with purchasing power parities with Zimbabwe's
principal
trading partners, and can herald a vastly more accelerated
economic decline.
In contradistinction, realistic exchange rate management
(until market forces
are once again permitted to drive them) can slow down
economic collapse and,
in time, be one of the catalysts to economic recovery
and growth (if, of
course, other forces such as mismanagement of electricity
supplies do not
frustrate that recovery and growth).
Because Zimbabwe has a desperate
need for foreign exchange, the authorities
are casting covetous eyes at the
vast foreign currency earnings of
Zimbabweans employed beyond the country's
borders. Although exact statistics
are not available, it has been estimated
that up to three million
Zimbabweans are in employment in South Africa,
Botswana, the United Kingdom,
other countries in Europe, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, the US and
elsewhere. It is also estimated that, on average,
each of those Zimbabweans
is making available to their families and relatives
in Zimbabwe at least
US$500 per month. If that is so, there is a resource
available for the
Zimbabwean economy of approximately US$1,5 billion per
month.
However, for so long as Zimbabwe's need for foreign currency
exceeds
available supply, there will always be a thriving black market,
operating at
rates considerably higher than those applied within the official
market.
And, for as long as that is the case, Zimbabweans abroad will trade
those of
their earnings which they wish to repatriate to Zimbabwe through the
black
market in order to maximise the funds then available in Zimbabwe
to
themselves, their families and dependants.
Unfortunately to a very
great extent those who purchase the foreign exchange
on the black market do
not do so in order to fund Zimbabwean imports and to
service commitments, but
in effect to externalise their Zimbabwean assets.
They do so either as a
hedge against inflation or because of a deep-seated
sense of insecurity and a
lack of confidence as to a future in Zimbabwe.
Therefore, they purchase the
foreign currency to hold overseas, effecting
payment in Zimbabwean dollars,
and do not assist towards meeting Zimbabwe's
foreign exchange
needs.
At the end of the day, the forex crisis can only be resolved by
achieving a
total transformation of the economy, including stabilisation of
inflation at
tenable rates, incentivisation of exports in a meaningful way,
facilitation
of investment, and a resurrection of viable agriculture. And all
of that
must be achieved hand in hand with a restoration of law and order and
of
democracy, so that the international community is willing to
assist
Zimbabwe, inclusive of assistance by the provision of foreign exchange
to
bridge the period until Zimbabwe can generate all its needs. In
the
meanwhile, circumstances can only deteriorate further unless exchange
rates
are regularly revised to ensure export viability, notwithstanding that
the
speedy inflows that were wrongly anticipated when the rates were
adjusted
did not, and could not yet,
materialise.
Zim
Independent
Muckraker
Fall of Baghdad gives Saddamites
sleepless nights
THE war in Iraq has produced some contrasting
reactions among Zimbabweans.
Opponents of the Zanu PF regime have enjoyed
watching on satellite stations
the toppling of the tyrant in Baghdad.
However, the sight of celebrating
crowds jumping up and down on statues of
the fallen dictator has not gone
down well with our own
Saddamites.
State television has suppressed coverage of the Iraq war, and
most
Zimbabweans - except for those with satellite television - were denied
the
extraordinary footage of thousands of Iraqis joyously toppling statues
and
taking off their shoes to beat portraits of their erstwhile
leader.
While Zimbabwe Terror-Visionmay be mourning the over-throw of
their hero,
people elsewhere have been having a little fun. A 19-year old
Norwegian,
passing himself off as his country's prime minister, telephoned
the United
States ambassador in Oslo to express his support for the war on
Iraq.
"A young man called the ambassador and said he was the prime
minister,"
embassy spokeswoman Kathy Perez told AFP.
The caller,
Richard Ringheim, said: "I introduced myself as (Prime Minister)
Kjell Magne
Bondevik and I asked to speak to the ambassador. I said it was
most
urgent."
Thirty seconds later the ambassador, John Doyle Ong, came on the
line.
"Hello, Mr Prime Minister," he greeted the caller, according to
Ringheim's
account.
In the subsequent conversation, which Ringheim
said lasted 10 to 15 minutes,
he expressed his support for the US-led
military operations in Iraq.
"I told him I couldn't say this in public
because of the lack of support for
the war in my government and the party. He
was delighted with this message,
and said he would pass it on to the highest
level," Ringheim said.
But it seems that the US ambassador, who had
recently warned of
repercussions due to the lack of Norwegian support for the
Iraq war,
suspected that the sudden mood change was too good to be
true.
"The ambassador got pretty suspicious so he wrapped up the call.
Then,
someone from the embassy called the prime minister's office to check
it
out," Perez said.
The ambassador has no plans to file charges, said
the spokeswoman.
"We can take a joke," she said.
Which is more
than can be said of Ibbo Mandaza who is demanding a retraction
from Muckraker
for calling him "Five Farms". We apologise unreservedly for
the error. We
meant to say six.
We enjoyed the Herald's "Baghdad falls" special last
Friday. Even if it did
appear two days late, it contained some revealing
material. In remarks that
will come as a rude shock to many in the Zimbabwe
establishment, Tunisian
history teacher Semari Ahmed was quoted as saying the
way in which Saddam's
regime "crumbled like a biscuit" was a logical
conclusion to a regime that
was rooted in a culture of hypocrisy, not
conviction.
Arabs seemed mostly annoyed that the Iraqis, after parading
and posturing
for so long, gave up their capital without a
fight.
Hussein Taher, a private-sector employee in Saudi Arabia, was
quoted as
saying: "What happened in Baghdad must be taken into consideration
by Arab
rulers because the people are the ones who defend a country, and if
they are
tortured and their honour is violated then they will be the first to
abandon
it."
Ignoring the obvious parallels with its own masters, the
Herald ran an
editorial trying to link the MDC to "puppets" of the sort who
had been
"discarded" in Baghdad. It was not immediately clear who had been
discarded
in Baghdad, apart of course from the Minister of Information, but
reference
was made to the fate of Mobutu Sese Seko and Jonas
Savimbi.
"A common trait that has characterised most of these puppet
leaders has been
their propensity for committing heinous crimes against their
own people with
impunity." the Herald commented without the slightest hint of
irony.
But what seems to have got the Herald's, and therefore presumably
the
Department of Information's, goat was the fact that absolutely nobody
is
taking their silly MDC-violence stories seriously. Tales of torched
buses,
offices and shops petrol-bombed, and bridges dynamited continue to
pour
forth from official mouthpieces with about as much credibility as
reports of
rogue soldiers whose presence in the army wasn't spotted until
last week!
And wouldn't this be a good time for the media to interview
certain
ex-ministers who rose to prominence in their party because of their
skill as
petrol bombers in the capital's townships in the mid-1960s? How
could we
forget them so quickly and the striking suitability of the
portfolios they
were assigned to?
The following letter appeared in
last week's edition of the Mail & Guardian:
"Rumour has it that two
foreign ministers in the region are bonking. If this
is true, it represents a
serious misunderstanding of the diplomatic meaning
of the term 'foreign
affairs'. Was the liaison entered into in a spirit of
true love, or more
cynically as a means of influencing foreign policy
between the two countries
concerned?"
It was signed "Conduct Unbecoming".
This is a shocking
allegation which, despite persistent rumours circulating
in the region, can't
possibly be true. It would mean that the blind support
given by one country
to another irrespective of human rights abuses and
blatant misrule is not the
product of a well-considered policy but the
result of ministerial
ministration.
Muckraker wants to see an end to this tittle-tattle. In a
sincere attempt to
put the whole sordid matter to bed, we call on readers to
submit to us any
further information they may glean instead of spreading it
among themselves.
It will then remain a strictly confidential matter between
Muckraker and
several thousand readers of this column.
Retiring chief
secretary to the president and cabinet Charles Utete has
become "a central
figure in the government's system", President Mugabe said
in his tribute last
Thursday night. He acted as the hub of the government
and thus "became the
face and embodiment of the establishment", Mugabe said.
He therefore has
a great deal to answer for, one can legitimately conclude.
But what a
piercing analysis by the president to describe somebody who is at
the hub of
the system of government as being, well, at the hub of the system
of
government. It's like reading out their job description.
But the party
did liven up. Utete "left guests in stitches", we are told,
when he related
how he had received a letter from a 19-year-old claiming to
have good "O"
Level grades and seeking to be appointed as an MP.
Why should that be so
funny? Just a few weeks ago Zanu PF was seeking to
have an illiterate thug
elected as MP for Highfield. And Irene Zindi, we
learnt last week, went to
university with three "O" Levels.
But a party whose leader boasts his
degrees in violence may have a distorted
view of education.
Anyhow, we
were delighted to hear that retirement will give Utete more time
to read the
works of Chinua Achebe and Dambudzo Marechera, among other
authors
recommended by Mugabe at the farewell bash last week.
But what can the
president be trying to tell us? Achebe's most noted work is
called Things
Fall Apart while Marechera argued revolutions ultimately
devour their
instigators.
Muckraker's advice: Stick to Sir Walter Scott. Much less
disturbing at
night!
Muckraker was intrigued by a story in the Daily
Mirror this week claiming
that unhinged Mugabe publicist David
Matsanga-Nyekorach had been attacked in
his London home by what he suspected
were enemies of the Zimbabwe
government.
Police confirmed the attack
but were unable to shed any light on it. The
Mirror claimed Matsanga had
"escaped death by a whisker". But it is not
clear if this was an
"assassination" attempt as the paper melodramatically
proclaimed or just an
old-fashioned robbery.
What was much more interesting was the disclosure
that the previous day
British police had raided Matsanga's house, seized
documents concerning
Zimbabwe and closed his bank accounts in
Britain.
It is not normally the role of the police to close bank
accounts. Why weren'
t they asked by the Mirror to comment on the reasons for
this "raid"? The
paper described Matsanga as Mugabe's "British henchman",
which is a rather
curious description for one of their
columnists!
Matsanga blamed the attack on "gay gangsters who are tracking
me down with
the intention of killing me". He offered no evidence. Killing
him with a
look is the furthest they seem to have got so far!
But this
latest incident would not stop him "telling the world the truth as
far as
President Mugabe's government and its policies are concerned".
That would
be a welcome start.
Isn't it time United Nations officials started to
call a spade a spade? The
Daily News on Tuesday reported remarks by UN
resident representative Victor
Angelo who was presenting four cars to the
government for the monitoring of
food aid distribution.
He said
Zimbabwe was facing a profound and complex crisis.
"Erratic rainfall,
drought and cyclones over the past three years are
identified as contributing
factors to acute vulnerability," he was reported
as saying.
"Their
impact has been further compounded by other factors, both social
and
economic."
Leaving aside whether it is appropriate for the UN to
make gifts of vehicles
to a government with a shocking record of managing its
transport fleet not
to mention dishonesty on the subject of food
distribution, why is Angelo
dancing around the real cause of the crisis in
Zimbabwe?
The "acute vulnerability" of Zimbabweans is the direct product
of political
policies. These include land seizures which the UNDP itself has
called
"chaotic" and "the cause of much political, economic and
social
instability". Then there is the matter of a ban on private-sector
food
imports.
Still with less-than-honest statements, we had a funny
little spin piece in
the Herald this week attempting to make it look as if
the Catholic bishops
in their pastoral letter had targeted the MDC and let
Zanu PF off the hook.
As well as slipping in a sentence of his own about
the MDC being "arguably
the most violent opposition party in Zimbabwe", the
author of this piece,
Moses Magadza, told us the following: "The clerics
acknowledged that, in
addition to teething problems bedevilling the
government's land reform
programme such as 'poor' planning, drought was to
blame for the country's
precarious food situation."
Aren't we missing
something here Moses? Didn't the pastoral letter refer to
the "frightening"
corruption, lawlessness and abuse of power by government?
Didn't it say
President Mugabe had "failed to provide leadership that
enables the creation
of an environment that enhances truth, justice, love
and freedom"? Didn't it
say most Zimbabweans were "drowning in abject
poverty", still "suffering
social and political violence", and being
harassed by officials who "have
placed themselves above the law"?
Didn't it say: "People's lives are at
stake and the nation cannot afford to
entertain the politicisation of food
while people are starving"?
Far from simply referring to poor planning as
part of "teething problems" in
land reform, it referred to "corrupt
practices, poor planning and
bureaucracy".
Not quite the same thing is
it? Unless of course Moses got his hands on a
different pastoral letter to
the rest of us!
Zim Independent
Reduced deliveries
cripple Wankie operations
Ngoni Chanakira
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is
supplying Wankie Colliery Company
(Wankie) with only 66 wagons instead of the
promised 150 per day, further
crippling operations at the
financially-troubled mining concern.
Wankie has complained to the NRZ but
the situation remains gloomy because
the railways is seriously in the red,
has worn out wagons, spare parts
shortages, and is basically operating under
severe strain.
Analysts contacted this week said the problems
bedeviling the NRZ, Wankie,
and the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco)
were a cause for concern and
would continue as long as political heavyweights
continued to meddle in the
operations of the three
organisations.
An analyst said: "There is too much political
interference in the three
firms and management has to adjust to politician's
wishes. Managers and
chief executives just come and go and there seems to be
no end in sight to
the problems."
The NRZ, Wankie and Zisco are
interdependent in their operations and among
them owe each other more than $3
billion.
Zisco owes Wankie about $1,8 billion. Wankie owed the NRZ about
$2 billion
which has since been cleared.
Wankie chairman Ngoni
Kudenga last week highlighted the seriousness of the
issue, saying
"inadequate supply of empty wagons" by the NRZ was adversely
affecting the
supply of coal to the market.
Kudenga said: "Inadequate supply of
empty wagons by the National Railways of
Zimbabwe adversely affected the
supply of WCC coal to the market. Under
normal circumstances NRZ should
supply 150 railway wagons per day. However a
daily average of 66 wagons was
supplied, which is only 44% of normal
requirements. Consequently, customers
continued to use road transport
resulting in 45% of WCC coal being moved by
this mode of transport."
For the period ending December 31 2002,
Wankie made an operating loss
amounting to $7,9 billion, which was marginally
higher when compared to $7,8
billion, recorded in the previous
year.
Kudenga said coke sales for the year at 3 448 600 tonnes, were
302 818
tonnes or 8% lower than the 3 751 418 tonnes achieved in the previous
year.
"Demand for coal and coke remained firm throughout the year in
both the
domestic and export markets," Kudenga said. "However, the company
failed to
meet demand because of major challenges."
He cited the
major challenges as foreign currency shortages, unprecedented
high inflation,
price controls, transport constraints and loss of
critical
skills.
Wankie shares have continued to trade firm at
between 1900 cents and 2000
cents on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) due to
a US$5,3 million rescue
package from an international banking
organisation.
Zim Independent
Uncertainty drives
Anglo away
Ngoni Chanakira
DIVERSIFIED conglomerate Anglo American
Corporation Zimbabwe Ltd (Anglo)
continues to downscale its Zimbabwe
operations in what analysts say are
clear signs of the country's risky
macroeconomic environment.
Once the largest investor in Zimbabwe closely
followed by Lonrho Africa Ltd
(Lonrho), Anglo has off-loaded huge stakes in
key subsidiaries, the majority
of which have been loss-making.
The
conglomerate has had a few brushes with government over land, with
large
tracts being taken over for the fast track land resettlement
programme.
Anglo has had Hippo Valley North and Mkwasine Estate
listed for compulsory
acquisition yet they are agro-industrial operations,
falling outside the
scope of the programme.
Management says the
move to reduce subsidiaries is to enable the
conglomerate to focus on its
core business.
The subsidiaries include National Foods Holdings Ltd
(Natfoods) and, until
this week, Bindura Nickel Corporation
(BNC).
Natfoods' income has been decreasing steadily ever since the
introduction of
price controls by government.
The company reduced
its losses from $836,8 million to $43,4 million during
the year ended
December 31 2002.
Anglo sold 21% of Natfoods to Takepart Investments
(Pvt) Ltd, a company
owned by a consortium of indigenous businessmen. This
will leave Anglo with
21% of Natfoods, which was considered non-core but was
subject to
pre-emptive rights in favour of another company known as Tiger
Brands Ltd.
BNC, on the other hand, reported a $4,4 billion loss
after taxation, sending
shock waves through the country's troubled mining
sector.
In its audited results for the year ended December 31 2002
company chairman
Godfrey Gomwe confirmed that his group had made an
inflation-adjusted loss
after tax of $4 419,4 million, compared to $3 023,4
million profit
previously.
Anglo this week said it had sold its
52,9% stake in BNC to Mwana Africa
Holdings (Pty) Ltd for US$8
million.
A consortium of indigenous businessmen also owns the
company.
Dr Ezra Kanganga, the Anglo spokesman yesterday said the figure
was subject
to obtaining the "necessary regulatory approvals".
He
said the jobs of all 2 583 BNC employees were secure and unaffected by
this
new development.
Mwana Africa Holdings is incorporated in South
Africa the location of
Anglo's headquarters.
The move comes less
than a month after the mining giant disposed of huge
chunks of shares worth
$3,2 billion (US$3,9 million) in its gold subsidiary,
the company's pyrite
operation, Iron Duke Pyrites, and Natfoods.
Anglo said the
transactions excluded its earlier equity empowerment
transactions totalling
the equivalent of US$34 million undertaken since
1997.
On Tuesday
Anglo advised shareholders to exercise caution in their share
dealings, and
to consult with professional advisors where necessary. BNC
shares went for
$155 at the close of trade on the bourse yesterday.
Anglo said: "This
transaction involves an inflow of new investment capital
into Zimbabwe and
the proceeds will be retained in the country, available to
fund future
industrial and mining projects including, but not limited to,
Unki Platinum
Mine."
Over the past six years, the Amzim group has pursued a
restructuring
programme, which has aligned its investment portfolio with that
of its
parent company in pursuit of being a natural resources business
of
international scale.
"With this in mind, and after a recent
strategic review, the focus in the
Anglo Base Metals Division is on fewer,
larger, long life, low cost
operations," Anglo said.
The company
said the shareholders and directors of Mwana were all Africans
and
represented a broad spectrum of experience and expertise from Angola,
the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia
and
Zimbabwe.
Zim
Independent
Letters
Parallels between Zim and
Iraq
I THINK there are many parallels between the Iraq and the
Zimbabwean crises.
Firstly, the Arab alliance with the Iraqi leadership
is paralleled by the
unity between our leaders here and the Mbeki coalition.
The Arabs were
clamouring for Iraq's sovereignty, but the jubilation seen on
the streets of
Baghdad after its fall shows these were real sovereignty
lies.
In the not-so-distant future we will see what will happen to
our leader's
pictures which we see in every state building. This is a natural
response to
dictators when they fall.
Iraqis were thought to be
patriotic when they did not take to the streets to
demonstrate against their
leader. In Zimbabwe today the masses appear not to
be willing to engage in an
all out campaign against the regime.
It is an accurate assessment
that like the Iraqis, Zimbabweans fear the iron
fist whirled against any
dissenting voice.
It is therefore up to Zimbabweans to liberate
themselves or wait for a
"Bush" to be their Messiah. However, as we have
learnt "zizi harina nyanga"
(an owl has no horns). The regime is definitely
bound to fall. But remember
that change demands action.
President
Bush was called names worldwide but today Iraq is free.
Somebody has
to take the risk.
Sipho,
Australia.
Zim
Independent
Letters
State terrorism shows time is up for
Mugabe
IN any argument, when one of the two people involved
resorts to a fight or
violence, that is a clear sign of intellectual defeat.
However, when a
democratic government has run out of ideas and subsequently
lost the
argument, it will accept blame.
If a government is,
however, dictatorial and illegitimate such as the Zanu
PF government in
Zimbabwe, the tendency is to resort to state terrorism.
There is no
doubt that the writing is on the wall for the Mugabe regime that
it has lost
not only the argument but legitimacy as well. The recent arrest
of MDC
vice-president Gibson Sibanda, spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi, the MP
for
Kadoma and 500 other opposition activists is state terrorism.
No
amount of violence will silence the voices of freedom and
democracy.
Paul Themba Nyathi is party spokeman. As such the words he
speaks represent
the party's position, not his personal line of
thought.
For the first time Mugabe admitted that his government is
full of recycled
chaff when he spoke at the Research Institute headed by
Professor
Christopher Chetsanga.
Mugabe is the problem. He must
not blame his useless ministers, for they did
not appoint themselves. Some
were promoted for being top "Kongonya" dancers,
others for calling Mugabe a
messiah.
Yesterday we said it was Slobodan Milosovic, today it's
Saddam Hussein,
tomorrow it's a moot point. State terrorism shows time is
up.
Jennings Rukani,
United Kingdom.
Zim
Independent
Letters
Mbeki perhaps sees a genius in
Mugabe
I DON'T agree with a friend who suggested that Edmund
Burke, the renowned
Irish writer and politician, meant the likes of Thabo
Mbeki when he said:
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good
men to do
nothing."
I don't believe Mbeki can be said to be either a
good or evil man. He is in
a grey area, ready to develop either way.
Something in President Mugabe
seems to intrigue Mbeki. What is it? I hope it
is not his style of
governance.
Mbeki isn't such a bad chap (so we
try to believe). He's maintained
reasonable economic stability and growth in
South Africa.
His governance has been conventional and unambitious.
It's only his foreign
policy on Zimbabwe that is suspect. He's carved himself
a niche as an
avante-garde African leader through his Nepad project, African
Renaissance
and relative democracy. A free press flourishes unhindered.
Opposition
parties are not just tolerated, they are
respected.
Mbongeni Ngema's single Amandiya, a song deemed racist and
xenophobic by the
Asian community, was banned by his administration. He seems
a good, honest
politician.
So why is he quiet on Mugabe who does
not just have henchmen who sing
xenophobic songs, but also denies the
starving masses food (because they
don't like him), and trains militia to
terrorise the opposition? Above all,
Mugabe has created and encouraged a
semi-anarchic state in Zimbabwe.
No one is immune to the reach of his
power from the rural poor to the urban
sophisticated. So why does Mbeki
condone all this? Did Mugabe promise him a
farm? No.
The bottom
line is that Mugabe has got some firm hold on Mbeki and our only
hope is that
it's not something personal. Noone believes all the African
solidarity
nonsense. The other junior Sadc presidents are willing to isolate
Mugabe if
Mbeki leads the way. I really hate him now he is insensitive to
our feelings
and suffering.
This man is just another African loser caught in the
wrong system. He seems
to envy Mugabe's extra-constitutional liberties. He
hates Nelson Mandela for
setting such a difficult precedence for him to
match.
Mbeki to me is a Mugabe in the 80s. Remember Steve Tshwete's
claims about
Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale!
The bottom line is
that Mbeki sees his own political instincts being
actually exercised by
Mugabe. He, on the other hand, doesn't have enough
power or room to do the
same.
Will James, an African American scholar once said:
"Genius...means little
more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual
way."
Maybe Mbeki in his own eccentric way sees a genius in Mugabe.
God forbid for
South African's sake.
Vincent
Mushonga,
Budiriro.
Zim
Independent
Letters
Timely lesson for Moyo and his
cohorts
HAS the recent experience of the fallen Iraqi despot
Saddam Hussein taught
Zanu PF anything about planning their own future
survival?
The answer is probably not because their Saddam-oriented minds
are still
deluded to think they will outlive the difficulties they have
created for us
and for which they will inevitably be held
accountable.
It is understandable that the typical Zanu PF mental
derelicts will not be
able to comprehend the unleashed forces of the
newly-liberated Iraqis driven
by their quest to regain their natural rights.
As well exposed by
international TV transmissions, the Iraqi Information
minister Mohammed
Saeed al-Sahhaf (who rapidly became known by journalists as
"Comical Ali")
held yet another unbelievable Moyo-styled press conference on
the roof of
the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad just prior to his
exit.
Via global satellite communications many images of the real
life situation
in Iraq showed that the coalition forces were in downtown
Baghdad, and in
occupation of the already renamed Baghdad International
Airport. "Joker Ali"
claimed that these views of reality were fabricated
lies. The deluded Ali,
to the wholesome mirth and disbelief of the
journalists, further asserted
that Saddam Hussein's forces were vanquishing
his enemies all over the
country.
Ali apparently had not looked
over his shoulder to see what everyone else
had already seen - no less than
the torn down and falling statues of the
terror regime's self-anointed hero.
Saddam Hussein's supporters, assets,
weaponry and symbols were being exposed,
looted and destroyed by the
previously suppressed masses who were now in
sight of an overdue democracy.
Saddam's self-serving criminal followers were
being captured or eliminated,
with some survivors on a desperate run. In
their haste, they left their loot
behind.
Local Iraqi citizens
were celebrating their liberation for a good reason.
The time for an overdue
regime change was at hand. From pent up rage and
with appropriate symbolism,
the embassies of "old (pro-Saddam) Europe" -
those of France and Germany -
were looted. The very next day Ali and his
entourage of media censors and
supervisors had evaporated - they were
nowhere to be seen. Probably they had
hastily retreated to their predestined
safe havens such as in the pariah
states of Syria, Libya, or Lebanon in the
vain hope that they would not be
tracked down and held accountable for their
multiple crimes against
humanity.
President Mbeki was also reportedly concerned that his
terror friend Saddam
had not been seen for some time. His Foreign Affairs
ministers Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma and her deputy Aziz Pahad seem to have
suddenly lost their
vocal organs of support for Saddam. South Africa had yet
again been exposed
to be a nation led by delusional misfits out of time with
the need to
improve worldly order.
They are clearly unable to
understand sanity and democracy, let alone
promote the same. Mbeki is now
alleged to be considering giving safe
protection and sustenance to previously
resident pro-Saddam diplomats - at
his own taxpayers'
expense.
Clown Ali has presented to Jonathan Moyo a major and serious
challenge for
being the biggest delusional idiot of the century. At his
expected trial, he
may even be able to creditably plea insanity in his
defence.
Zimbabweans should rejoice in the fact that Zanu PF's
delusions and denial
of reality exceed those of Saddam Hussein and his
henchmen, thus their fall
from power will be more spectacular. Even with the
short-term protection and
sponsorship granted by Mbeki and Zuma to the likes
of Moyo, his haven at a
known Saxonwold Johannesburg address cannot guarantee
his future security.
Naturally, ZTV chose not (as usual) to broadcast
the truthful realities, as
did the Islamic Qatar-based Al Jazeera television
station, which station
also has a serious delusional difficulty in dealing
with truth, terror
regimes, human rights issues and
democracy.
Civilised humanity must all look forward to the time of
Zanu PF coming to
terms with accountability.
Walter
Hurley,
Pretoria.
Zim
Independent
Letters
Mugabe versus the
people
THE international community has the Zimbabwe situation
misappraised.
Negotiations between Zanu PF and the MDC are irrelevant at this
point in
time. The struggle is not between these two parties but between the
dictator
Robert Mugabe and all the people of Zimbabwe, including 90%+
of
high-ranking, middle- and low-ranking Zanu PF followers.
There is
no point in anyone negotiating with Zanu PF while Mugabe is in
place. It
would be just like "negotiating" with the Baathist Party in Iraq
while Saddam
Hussein was in power - a pointless exercise.
Mugabe's cabinet and
politburo are like cowering sheep - incapable of saying
boo to a
goose.
After their success in Iraq, the international community
(including
moderates like Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and
Germany) must
simply insist that Mugabe vacate without
conditions.
If they make it clear to Mugabe that he has no
alternative to immediate
exile, then he will do what he is at present too
fearful to do. The only
alternative to an immediate forced exile is some kind
of medical emergency,
which may require evacuation to some friendly country
which has a
functioning healthcare system.
Alex
Weir,
Harare.