Zim Online
Wed 26 April 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's tobacco selling
season kicked off to a slow start
as the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association (ZTA),
advised growers to hold on to
their crop until prices improve by at least
the third week of marketing.
Prices ranged from US$0.60 to US$2 per
kilogramme yesterday and the
ZTA - grouping the few remaining white farmers
and the biggest tobacco
producers - said unless prices improved, farmers
would not be able to remain
in business.
Only 500 bales had
been delivered to the auction floors by close of
business yesterday, a
development that should worry the government that only
a day earlier had
announced a 35 percent early delivery bonus for farmers in
a bid to quicken
sales of tobacco that together with the minerals sector
generates the bulk
of Zimbabwe's hard cash earnings.
President Robert Mugabe's
government is banking on the sale of 50
million kilogrammes of tobacco
produced this year to help ease an acute hard
cash crisis gripping the
southern African country since the International
Monetary Fund withdrew
balance of payments support seven years ago.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono had earlier on Monday
announced fresh incentives for growers including the early delivery bonus
plus a new arrangement allowing farmers to receive payment for their crop in
local currency at the prevailing interbank rate.
But the ZTA,
grouping the few remaining white farmers and biggest
tobacco growers, said
the interbank rate, which is virtually fixed at Z$100
000 to the US dollar,
would put their members out of business.
Tobacco growers, like
other business operators in Zimbabwe, often have
to rely on the illegal but
thriving foreign currency black market for hard
cash where the greenback
fetches anything above Z$200 000.
ZTA president James P de la
Fargue said tobacco farmers were concerned
that minerals such as gold were
now fetching much more than tobacco because
of the exchange rate being
applied on tobacco.
He said: "There is dismay because of the
exchange rate that farmers
are disposing their foreign
currency.
"The last four months inflation (month-on-month) has been
around 108
percent but the (interbank) exchange rate has been fixed at $100
000 to
US$1. We need something in the region of $180 000 to US$1 to remain
viable
because most of the inputs are available at parallel market
prices."
It was not possible to immediately get comment on the poor
start to
the tobacco selling from Gono who had said on Tuesday that his new
incentives would reward farmers and help them unlock working
capital.
Noting that production dropped 35 percent this year, De la
Fargue
warned that unless viability problems affecting farmers were fully
addressed, the tobacco sector, the biggest single foreign currency earner
before Mugabe's land reforms, was headed for more troubled
times.
He said: "Tobacco plays a significant role in the national
economy and
all those involved in the production would want to see
production
increasing. But this is difficult when production was falling
because of
viability problems."
Zimbabwe produced between 45
million and 50 million kilogrammes of
tobacco this year a far cry from the
260 million kgs produced at its peak
before land seizures that began in
2000.
Recent announcements by the government that it is inviting
white
farmers back to the land are seen as an attempt to revive food
production as
well as tobacco output and end a foreign currency shortage
that is
responsible for acute shortages of fuel, electricity, essential
medical
drugs and other basic commodities because there is no hard cash to
pay
foreign suppliers. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 26 April 2006
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's
government's invitation of white
farmers back on the land is a sharp policy
turn which signals its often
violent populist reforms have failed to achieve
their intended goal of
eradicating poverty, analysts said.
The
government has invited members of the mainly white Commercial
Farmers' Union
to apply for land despite having dispossessed them from 2000,
when veterans
of Zimbabwe's independence struggle occupied white-owned
farms.
But many of the black beneficiaries have failed to lift production to
the
pre-2000 levels with analysts saying the new farmers did not have enough
inputs such as fertilizer and seed besides lacking adequate commercial
farming skills.
"It goes to show there is no coherent policy,
because different people
in government are saying different things. I think
they are clutching at
straws," Anthony Hawkins, a University of Zimbabwe
business professor said.
"I think they see this as a potential of increasing
a bit of a buck (to
dwindling exports)," he added.
Commercial
agriculture, once Zimbabwe's top employer accounting for 70
percent of
formal jobs and the largest export earner, racking in US$800
million at its
peak, has plunged in the aftermath of Mugabe's land seizure
drive.
Foreign currency shortages are a major highlight of
Zimbabwe's deep
economic crisis, which is also marked by the world's highest
inflation rate
and shortages of food and fuel.
Mugabe has
previously vowed never to give back land to whites but
Security Minister
Didymus Mutasa, also in charge of land reform and
resettlement, has appeared
to soften the government's stance saying it is
considering land applications
from white farmers.
This would appear to be giving in to central
bank governor Gideon
Gono's pleas to allow skilled white farmers back on the
farms to help revive
an economy on the brink of total collapse.
Although Mutasa has not expressly admitted returning land to whites,
analysts said the exercise was just as good as acknowledging that the hyped
about reforms had not produced the desired results.
In its
often defiant tone, the government says it has been let down by
farmers who
abuse cheap credit and subsidised fuel by diverting it to a
thriving black
market.
"This would seem like a shift in government policy but
there could be
a realisation that there are skills which are not being used
that could be
harnessed for improvement in the economy," James Jowa, an
economist with a
Harare financial services firm said.
The
analysts however doubted the government's commitment to the
agriculture
sector pointing to its failure to come up with the much talked
about 99-year
leases after passing a constitutional amendment that
effectively
nationalised all land in 2005.
They noted that the government was
still evicting some farmers to
date, further eroding confidence in a sector
that has triggered an exodus of
foreign investors in the past six years over
Harare's failure to respect the
sanctity of property rights.
"Farming is a very risky business especially for one who is not on the
land
because there is no guarantee that the land will be yours anyway even
if you
have a 99-year lease," Hawkins said.
A recent World Bank study on
Zimbabwe's agriculture sector revealed
that the government's land reforms
had redistributed 80 percent of farmland
and improved racial distribution of
agricultural property, but had increased
poverty.
Yesterday,
the tobacco auctions opened on a low note with farmers
complaining over low
leaf prices, with some fetching prices as low as
US$0.60 per
kilogramme.
Analysts however said the current land tenure, where
farmers do not
have titles would see the agriculture sector continue to
plummet as
investors keep on the sidelines despite official optimism of a
rebound in
the key sector.
Aid agencies predict more than three
million Zimbabweans will need
food aid this year after another failed
harvest despite above normal rains
in most parts of the
country.
Zimbabwe, once a bread basket of the region, has been
turned into a
net food importer as harvests decline every year with critics
blaming the
land seizure drive although Mugabe argues that the economy has
been
sabotaged by foreign powers opposed to his long rule. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 26 April 2006
BULAWAYO - The mayor of Zimbabwe's
second largest city of Bulawayo has
told visitors, including foreign
business executives, attending the
country's trade fair that there would be
no end to the country's economic
crisis unless the government adopted sound
economic policies and acted to
restore confidence in the business
sector.
Mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, who was welcoming visitors and
exhibitors
to the 47th trade fair that opened in Bulawayo on Tuesday, said
Zimbabwe's
harsh economic climate made it difficult for businesses to remain
afloat and
hampered potential investors.
"There is therefore
great need for positive responsiveness from the
government by way of
initiating and maintaining sound economic policies that
will not only instil
confidence in the business fraternity but sustain the
overall economic punch
in the country," he said.
"We also hope that this process will be
supported by a viable and
sound economic recovery plan, with the right and
correct policy measures
based on sound and balanced research," he
added.
Zimbabwe, with inflation of 913.6 percent and the world's
highest such
rate outside a war zone, is one of the most inhospitable
countries for
business in the world.
Often company executives
have to spend several hours on end agonising
over where to get foreign
currency to import materials, electricity and fuel
to keep machines running
while in the case of firms running farm-based
projects, they have to worry
every day whether the government will not seize
their
properties.
The five day trade fair will be officially opened by
Tanzanian
President Jakaya Kikwete.
Only a dozen foreign
companies mostly from Asia are participating at
this year's trade fair while
companies from industrialised Western nations
have shied away from the trade
exhibition that at its peak about six years
ago used to attract hundreds of
European companies and was one of the
premier fairs in southern Africa. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Wed 26 April 2006
HARARE - The Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe on Tuesday announced a hike in
accommodation rates, in a move meant
to curb rising inflation.
In a circular to banks, RBZ chief Gideon
Gono said secured overnight
accommodation would rise with immediate effect
from 750 to 800 percent.
Unsecured overnight accommodation jumps from 785 to
850 percent.
Gono, tasked by President Robert Mugabe to spearhead
efforts to turn
around the comatose economy, said the rate hikes were
because of a need to
maintain a tight monetary policy, characterised by
maintenance of positive
real interest rates and short money market
positions.
The central bank has battled without much success to
contain
inflation, labelled Zimbabwe's number one enemy by
Mugabe.
Year-on-year inflation ballooned to 913.6 percent in March
from 782
percent the previous month and analysts expect the key rate to
shoot past
the 1 000 mark in April.
Zimbabwe, in its sixth year
of an economic recession described by the
World Bank as unseen in a country
not at war, has the highest inflation rate
in the world.
The
main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party blames
the
economic crisis on repression and wrong policies by Mugabe, in
particular
his seizure of land from whites that destabilised the mainstay
agricultural
sector and caused severe food shortages.
The veteran President, in
power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence
from Britain, denies ruining
Zimbabwe's once brilliant economy and says the
country's problems are
because of sabotage by Western governments opposed to
his land
reforms.
Meanwhile, Gono also said the RBZ would not go back on a
new US
dollar-linked minimum capital requirement for financial institutions
that
becomes effective on September 30 and which financial analysts say
could
force some institutions to either fold or merge.
Under
the new dispensation, commercial banks will be required to have
minimum
capital requirement equivalent to US$10 million, merchant banks,
finance
houses and building societies will have a minimum capital of the
equivalent
of US$7.5 million.
Discount houses have their minimum capital
requirement set at the
equivalent of US$5 million while asset management
firms must prove they have
the equivalent of US$1 million to
operate.
"Compliance with these parameters as set out and
pre-announced will,
thus, not be negotiable, and players in the banking
industry are called upon
to take heed," said Gono, credited with bringing
order to Zimbabwe's banking
sector after a crackdown 12 months ago that saw
at least seven banks and
financial institutions forced to close or put under
supervision. - ZimOnline
Mail and Guardian
Johannesburg, South Africa
25 April 2006
12:38
By month-end Zimbabwe's year-to-year inflation rate
will have
topped 1 000%, according to calculations by the regionally
represented Imara
financial-services group. Fungai Tarirah, chief investment
officer of
Harare-based Imara Asset Management Zimbabwe, says inflation
benchmarking by
some of the country's larger companies actually puts the
rate as high as 1
600%.
He adds: "A month-on-month
increase of only 16,6% will get us to
1 000% inflation, though if we
maintain the month-on-month average of 22%
seen so far in 2006, the
year-on-year reading will reach 1 051.0%.
"In-house inflation
computations from some companies canvassed
by our research unit range from 1
100% to 1 600%, depending on the import
content of the goods and services
under review."
The effectiveness of management's response to
the
hyper-inflation challenge has become the critical factor when measuring
corporate value and performance.
Tarirah notes: "The
maxim 'cash is king' tells only part of the
story. Cash generated by
business must hastily find its way into raw
materials, fuel, spares, capital
expenditure or some other tangible asset
before it loses
value.
"The value of a Zimbabwean dollar is halving every 29
days, if
official inflation is to be believed. Only debtor balances that
attract at
least 23% a month in interest are of any use."
As inflation accelerates, other activities slow down.
Tarirah
explains: "Cash and near-cash assets deliver
sub-inflationary returns in the
medium-to-long term, forcing business to
seek alternatives. Increasingly,
companies are reluctant to sell their
product, opting to hold onto stock or
hoard finished goods, selling only
what they need to meet monthly
obligations.
"As all participants along the value chain
strive literally to
pass the buck, management's ability to avoid ungainly
cash positions remains
a key factor when selecting
stocks."
As hyper-inflation continues to erode the value of
the local
currency, safety is sought in real assets by businesses and
investors alike.
Exports provide no
escape.
Tarirah comments: "Numerous exporters have been
increasing
local-market volumes at the expense of exports, largely because
of the
foreign-currency remittance regime."
The exchange
rate has stagnated at Z$100 000 to the US dollar
for some time, yet the cost
of US dollars rose 108% on the parallel market
in the first quarter of the
year alone. At the same time, the effective rate
on export proceeds rose
only 17%, squeezing export profitability.
Tarirah says:
"Inputs that go into export manufacturing are
denominated in Zimbabwe
dollars and have to be paid for, something the
foreign currency
merry-go-round cannot manage.
"It thus makes more sense to
sell on the local market where
pricing is not constrained and companies can
factor in the cost of inputs.
This undoubtedly aggravates the country's
deteriorating foreign-currency
situation." -- I-Net Bridge
With Violet
Gonda
25 April 2006
Although the two warring MDC factions
have been conducting their
separate rallies and activities there is still
the outstanding issue of
ownership of the party name and assets. The MDC MP
for Bulawayo South and
the party's former legal secretary David Coltart, who
has been trying to act
as mediator to help find a resolution to the party's
split, has said his
efforts have hit a snag.
Speaking in a two part
series on the program Hot Seat, Coltart said he
has been trying to get both
sides to recognise that they could function
independently of each other and
in a way that will ensure the struggle to
bring democracy was not tampered
with or hindered in any way.
But despite writing a letter to both sides
setting out the contentious
issues and the process to resolve them, Coltart
says he has only received a
response from the Arthur Mutambara led faction
of the MDC.
Some analysts have said the large turnouts for the Morgan
Tsvangirai
led rallies and the recent defections from the other faction have
made his
camp grow in confidence, with a feeling that it did not need to
negotiate.
Coltart responded to this by saying, "Well I think it may
entrench their
position on this but I think if it's their feeling it's
unfortunate for a
variety of reasons: I think firstly, one cannot dispute
the fact that
irrespective of what's happened in the last six months that
some highly
significant leaders of the MDC have split away."
He
added, "It's wishful thinking that these people (in the Mutambara
faction)
who were very effective members of parliament, can be said to be
irrelevant
now."
The legal expert also believes that if mediation fails it is not
in
anybody's interest for this dispute to be resolved by the courts. "It is
very clear that the Tsvangirai faction is attracting a greater number of
people than the Mutambara faction, but that doesn't help in court." A court
hearing would mean the future of the opposition party would be left in the
hands of Zanu PF to decide.
Many believe Tsvangirai is still a
powerful force in Zimbabwe
politics. He appears to have the numbers behind
him and the recent
defections from the Mutambara faction have led some to
believe that that
side is literally falling apart.
When asked
if a side that is shrinking in numbers deserves any assets
Coltart
responded, " Politics is all about marketing.the Tsvangirai faction
has the
advantage at this stage that the main MDC is very closely linked to
Morgan
Tsvangirai and it has been deliberately marketed in that way in the
last six
years. and in the short term it is inevitable that wherever Morgan
Tsvangirai is, people will naturally link his presence to the main
MDC."
But Coltart said this is not the end of the Mutambara faction
as it
has formidable people. He said people like Professor Welshman Ncube,
Priscilla Misihairambwi Mushonga and Paul Temba Nyathi cannot just be
written off as they have also contributed to the struggle. "That is why
there needs to be mediation . and avoid the unseeingly sight of those former
comrades battling it out in the courts." He believes this faction has more
of a long-term view of the struggle.
Right now the MDC under
Tsvangirai is in the process of mobilising
people for mass action, while the
pro-senate camp is shrinking, but Coltart
believes in the long term this
group may be able to become a viable
opposition party. When asked if
Zimbabwe has the time to wait for the
Mutambara camp Coltart said any
patriotic Zimbabwean hopes that mass action
would be achieved but added; "On
the other side they will say this is not
the first time that such an
ambitious goal has been set. The tragedy of
Zimbabwe is that statements have
been made in the past that Mugabe would be
gone by Christmas and it hasn't
happened."
The MP also expressed concern over what he described as
the extreme
intolerance shown by many Zimbabweans about the right of the
Mutambara
faction to believe what they believe. Coltart said the Mutambara
faction has
the right to hold their views and all democratic people should
respect that.
Join David Coltart for more on this discussion on the
programme Hot
Seat. Some have labelled Coltart as biased towards the
Mutambara/Ncube
faction, although he has in the past refused to take a
personal position.
Next Tuesday Violet will be asking David Coltart about
his personal views on
which MDC group he is going to join? Who is primarily
responsible for the
violence and break up of the MDC? And among other issues
- whether or not he
now sees the MDC as a viable party that can lead mass
action?
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
Independent, UK
By Basildon
Peta In Johannesburg
Published: 25 April 2006
White farmers evicted from
their land in President Robert Mugabe's violent
land seizures are likely to
spurn his offer to get their land back and help
in reversing Zimbabwe's
economic collapse.
In a major policy U-turn, Mr Mugabe's embattled
regime, fighting soaring
inflation close to 1,000 per cent and 80 per cent
unemployment, offered
99-year leases to farmers for their land in a
desperate attempt to revive
Zimbabwean agriculture, which has all but
collapsed.
But many of the farmers are not impressed. Even as the
government was
extending its olive branch at the weekend, Mr Mugabe's
militant supporters
violently evicted two farmers in Zimbabwe's Midlands
Province.
"I have long stopped taking this government seriously and I see
no sincerity
in its promise to give land back," said Hans Oosthuizen, a
farmer who lost
his land and is now working in South Africa.
"I know
many of my colleagues feel the same and I don't see them abandoning
whatever
they have started in foreign lands to rush back into Mugabe's
arms."
A farmer still operating in Zimbabwe said those most likely to
accept the
99-year leases were the 300 farmers who remained on their land
after
surviving the six years of violent land seizures which saw about 4,000
others being evicted.
"I think most of the offers for leases will be
accepted by these guys
because they have no other option but to try and get
back into farming to
survive," said the farmer, who asked that he should not
be identified. "But
agriculture will never be the same again."
Many
of the evicted farmers relocated to neighbouring countries, mainly
Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa. Others went as far as Nigeria,
while others left farming altogether and migrated to get new jobs or settle
with children in Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand.
Others
moved to settle in Zimbabwe's towns and cities while awaiting the
outcome of
their legal challenges to the seizures. Hopes were dashed when Mr
Mugabe
changed the constitution to nationalise all farmland and nullify
their court
applications.
White farmers evicted from their land in President Robert
Mugabe's violent
land seizures are likely to spurn his offer to get their
land back and help
in reversing Zimbabwe's economic collapse.
In a
major policy U-turn, Mr Mugabe's embattled regime, fighting soaring
inflation close to 1,000 per cent and 80 per cent unemployment, offered
99-year leases to farmers for their land in a desperate attempt to revive
Zimbabwean agriculture, which has all but collapsed.
But many of the
farmers are not impressed. Even as the government was
extending its olive
branch at the weekend, Mr Mugabe's militant supporters
violently evicted two
farmers in Zimbabwe's Midlands Province.
"I have long stopped taking this
government seriously and I see no sincerity
in its promise to give land
back," said Hans Oosthuizen, a farmer who lost
his land and is now working
in South Africa.
"I know many of my colleagues feel the same and I don't
see them abandoning
whatever they have started in foreign lands to rush back
into Mugabe's
arms."
A farmer still operating in Zimbabwe said those
most likely to accept the
99-year leases were the 300 farmers who remained
on their land after
surviving the six years of violent land seizures which
saw about 4,000
others being evicted.
"I think most of the offers for
leases will be accepted by these guys
because they have no other option but
to try and get back into farming to
survive," said the farmer, who asked
that he should not be identified. "But
agriculture will never be the same
again."
Many of the evicted farmers relocated to neighbouring countries,
mainly
Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and South Africa. Others went as far as
Nigeria,
while others left farming altogether and migrated to get new jobs
or settle
with children in Europe, America, Australia and New
Zealand.
Others moved to settle in Zimbabwe's towns and cities while
awaiting the
outcome of their legal challenges to the seizures. Hopes were
dashed when Mr
Mugabe changed the constitution to nationalise all farmland
and nullify
their court applications.
VOA
By Blessing
Zulu & Carole Gombakomba
Washington
24 April
2006
The Zimbabwean government has begun to process some 200
applications from
white commercial farmers who are hoping to continue - or
resume -
agricultural activity.
An official with an organization
representing the farmers said that the
understanding of the Commercial
Farmers Union is that state approval of an
application will be followed by
the granting of a 99-year lease on the
farming property in question. But
Harare has not promulgated or even
explicitly stated a new agricultural land
use policy.
A senior Agriculture Ministry official, declining to be
named, said the
first applications to be processed will be for horticultural
farms that
produce flowers for export, bringing in foreign exchange which
has been in
extremely short supply for many months.
Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made declined to comment, referring all
questions to State
Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who is also in charge
of land reform.
Mutasa said the issuance of leases is strictly a Zimbabwean
matter and also
declined to comment.
Reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe asked Commercial
Farmers Union President Douglas Taylor-Freeme what
he understood to be the
new policy.
Though some farmers saw hope in
these developments, Justice for Agriculture,
which represents about 4,000
dispossessed white farmers, says the 99-year
leases are not a viable
solution as they would neither serve as collateral
and or be
transferable.
Justice for Agriculture for Vice Chairman John
Worsely-Worswick told
reporter Carole Gombakomba that in contemplating such
agreements with
Harare, the CFU is failing to recognize the disadvantages of
long-term
leases compared with traditional tenure
In the
second of our dispatches from inside Robert Mugabe's tightly
controlled
country, the Guardian discovers one of the world's most surreal
and
successful stock exchanges
Rory Carroll in Harare
Tuesday April 25,
2006
The Guardian
At one end of the stock exchange a man writes
numbers on a whiteboard with a
blue marker; at the other brokers tap sums
into large calculators. Shares
are bought and sold in crisp, verbal
transactions; the deals noted on
ledgers filled with carbon paper. In the
corner a man with a laptop, the
only computer in the room, keeps a record of
the trading.
It resembles a scene from another era, but this is one of the
world's
best-performing stock markets. In January alone it doubled in value
and the
bull run is set to continue. Welcome to the surreal world of
Zimbabwean
economics.
Inside this exchange, on the fourth floor of
one of the less dilapidated
buildings on Nkwame Nkrumah Avenue, serious
profits are being made while
outside, businesses are collapsing, driving
millions of people into penury.
Zimbabwe has the fastest shrinking
economy outside a war zone, with
unemployment pushing 80% and inflation a
rampant 913%. But amid the meltdown
a small minority - some legitimate
investors, others crooks - is thriving.
"Where some see crisis others see
opportunity," said Jonathan Waters, an
economist and commentator.
The
winners in today's Zimbabwe are an eclectic group of share traders,
currency
dealers, estate agents, small-time entrepreneurs and cronies of
Robert
Mugabe's government, which is widely blamed for ruining what was once
of
Africa's most developed economies.
The stock exchange, comprising 16
broking firms trading in the shares of 75
companies, including Barclays,
British American Tobacco and First Mutual, is
perhaps the most incongruous
success.
Distorted market
"It's quite embarrassing because the
exchange is supposed to mirror the
reality of the economy," said Emmanuel
Munyukwi, the institution's chief
executive. "We have benefited from the
distortion of the market."
The stock market has stayed ahead of inflation
and is worth $3bn (£1.68bn)
according to the official exchange rate - a
dramatic surge. Under the more
realistic black market rate it is worth
$1.5bn, still an impressive
performance in a crumbling economy.
Mr
Munyukwi said negative interest rates and inflation had caused a stampede
for assets, which had driven share prices to record highs, even in real
terms. "Pension funds and other institutional investors have made a
killing." He admitted that there was some insider trading but said most
deals were legitimate. "The early bird catches the worm. You come in now and
reap the benefit."
However, the profits are on paper and could yet
vanish because currency
controls make it difficult to take money out of the
country.
Analysts say the stock market boom masks the fact that thousands
of
businesses have gone bankrupt, slashing exports and halving the size of
the
economy since 2000.
"Those who are flourishing are finding ways
to make money that is not
productive," one western diplomat said. "Buying
and selling in this way does
nothing for the economy. The economy is being
hollowed out."
President Mugabe, 82, who has led the former British
colony since
independence in 1980, has blamed the crisis on successive
droughts which hit
commercial agriculture, and western powers who "punished"
Zimbabwe for
taking over white-owned farms.
Printing
money
Critics say the fault lies with his Zanu-PF government, which gave
land to
loot-minded cronies and under-capitalised black peasants, frightened
away
investors and then printed money to cover budget deficits - triggering
inflation which some say is close to 2,000%, more than double the official
rate.
The impact on living standards has been catastrophic. About 4.6
million
people rely on food aid; children miss school because their parents
cannot
pay fees and hospitals lack basic equipment and medicine - handing a
death
sentence to those with Aids and other treatable diseases.
Yet
for some these are good times. "Property prices are steadily picking
up,"
said Justin Machibaya, the director of Homelux, a Harare-based estate
agency. A top-of-the-range house with four bedrooms, a swimming pool and
maybe a tennis court cost $160,000, up from $100,000 a few years ago, he
said.
Institutional investors and individuals from South Africa and
Britain were
eyeing property in the belief that prices would soar if and
when Mr Mugabe
stepped down and investors regained confidence. "Everybody is
waiting in
anticipation," Mr Machibaya said.
Some have already
swooped, notably the controversial British tycoon Nicholas
van Hoogstraten.
In addition to the stock market, he has invested heavily in
property and
mines. Earlier this year he denied reports that he had given Mr
Mugabe $10m
but made no secret of his financial engagement. "I'm probably
the sole
supporter, up in the UK, of this country and I think I'm the sole
major
investor in this country," he said.
Chinese and Indian firms have also
snapped up mines and land at bargain
prices, filling a gap left by western
investors skittish about the risks.
Some Zimbabweans welcome this investment
as a lifeline, others condemn it as
exploitation of a country's
desperation.
Perhaps the biggest winners are senior Zanu-PF officials who
have helped
themselves to the best farms and assets. Three cabinet
ministers, Joseph
Made, Christopher Mushowe and Didymus Mutasa, have been
accused of looting
Kondozi farm, a once thriving vegetable concern in
Manicaland, which is now
in ruins. Harare city council reportedly plans to
buy 329 sedans and pick-up
trucks for its managers and staff, while the
capital's state-appointed
mayor, Sekesai Makwavarara, has been accused of
buying a plush house from
the council for just 5% of its market value. The
reserve bank governor,
Gideon Gono, is said to be building a huge
mansion.
Some members of the elite are not ashamed to flaunt their
wealth. Senior
army and government officials knock back doubles of Chivas
Regal whisky at
the Big Mug, a Harare pub, running up tabs of the equivalent
of several
hundred US dollars in the space of an hour.
With a soft
drink costing Z$90,000 it takes bricks of notes to buy anything,
spawning a
boom in demand for electronic note counters. Sales of the
Chinese-made
devices are the one bright spot for the electronics industry.
"Everybody is
buying them - the university, the council, hotels," said Botho
Chigwedere, a
salesman at Arvee Wholesalers. "We've almost sold out."
Mail and Guardian
Johannesburg, South Africa
25 April 2006
09:03
Fees at Zimbabwe's public hospitals have been increased
by more
than 2 700%, Harare's Herald newspaper reported on
Tuesday.
Its website said the move formed part of a drive to
improve the
quality of service in government hospitals.
Consultation fees in the casualty departments in central
hospitals had
jumped from Z$300 to Z$1-million while provincial and general
hospitals
would charge ZIM800 000.
District and mission hospitals would
now charge Z$400 000. The
new fees -- which had been approved by Cabinet --
came shortly after a 100%
fee hike by private doctors, clinics and
hospitals.
The Herald said public hospitals had for a long
time been
failing to provide quality services and facilities owing to poor
financial
resources.
This was largely because the Z$300
they charged was no longer
practical.
Very few people
could lay their hands on a Z$100 note these days
as mostly higher
denominations were now being used.
Consultation fees in the
outpatients departments at central
hospitals were now pegged at Z$760 000
while children will pay Z$80 000
When admitted to an
intensive care unit, one could now expect to
pay Z$8,5-million a day while
maternity fees would start from Z$1,3-million
per day.
In
theatre, people could now expect to pay Z$105 000 per minute.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Edwin Muguti said the government had
revised the
fees and charges to improve on service delivery.
"We also
want to improve efficiency through rational use of
services. I am sure you
are aware that the referral chain has been under
threat because of the small
amounts that our hospitals have been charging,"
he said.
"These increases should lead to a decongestion of casualty
departments in
our hospitals, leaving specialised personnel to deal with
emergency cases
only."
People suffering from tuberculosis, leprosy, those
aged 65 and
above, and those in need of anti-retrovirals would be exempted
from
paying. - Sapa
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to jag@mango.zw with “For Open Letter Forum” in the subject line.
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Letter 1 Michael and Judy Carter
DO NOT GO BACK TO YOUR FARMS....
YET
Dear JAG,
The latest plan to reinvent Zimbabwe's Land Reform
program is called "Corporate Farming". Under this scheme the Government lease
out land to corporates, like Innscor or Colcom who in turn sublet farms back to
individuals.Under this plan, farms can be returned to their former owners under
the banner of "Production".It appears like a WIN/WIN situation.It is a win for
the farmers who can go back to their farms while keeping their Title Deeds and
start farming again with access to very cheap money, while the Government has
the responsibility of clearing off the re-settled farmers .It is a win for the
Government who will be able to point to a successful land reform which is
finally paying off and take the credit for being able to feed the country in
2007. How insane is it that it will be the white farmers who finally make a
success of the Land Reform! Naturally the Commercial Farmers Union is amending
its constitution so that it can be a part of this process.
In 1998 the Zimbabwe Government agreed to a Land
Reform Program based on transparency and poverty alleviation.By initiating this
Land Conference the British effectively internationalized Zimbabwe's Land Reform
Program and cut the apron strings with its former colony.This powerful
agreement,sponsored by international donor agencies, the World Bank,Britain and
the US was central to the way forward for the Commercial Farmers Union(C.F.U.)
at the time. In subsequent years this agreement was ignored by the
Zimbabwe Government.The reason they reneged on their agreement began with the
Referendum in 1999 when the CFU urged its members to vote against the Government
proposed amendments which included the acquisition of land without
compensation.The result was an open declaration by the President that white
farmers were"enemies of the state"and it proceeded to institute an
illegal violent,often murderous policy of forced removal of farmers and the
workers.In spite of historical proof that two wrongs never make things right,the
rationalization for this was based on "historical correction of
injustice".
At the same time the opposition MDC was formed.They
were treated with the same venom.The result of this period of madness is the
silent genocide which is creeping across our land; as the destruction of our
currency kills off the weak, the sick,the old,and the rapidly increasing number
of destitute people.
Many people feel the price of following their
conscience and standing up for justice is now too high.
Those who make this decision to return to their farms
under the same Government which destroyed their lives and murdered their friends
must take a serious look at their own motives and be aware of
history.
Severe repression yields one of three characteristic
responses;
The call to conviction, which risks
death;
The aim to survive, which involves compromise, which
involves delicately balancing on a fence;
The desire to collaborate results in extending and
strengthening the power of the oppressors.
It is established that the sins of the fathers will
come back to haunt the children.This is rooted in Universal Values which find
their expression in humans in the form of their conscience.This small voice of
calm speaks to us and we know what is right.Those who choose to shake hands with
the devil may suppress their conscience for a while but they are feeding the
guilt and shame which becomes alive inside them. Their children will not thank
them for it.
The time for going back to certain farms will come.
Justice comes to those who are patient.
Michael and Judy Carter
Bulawayo
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter 2 Cathy Buckle
Dear Family and Friends,
I don't know why, but after a short stay outside of
Zimbabwe, and with things as tense as they are, you come back into the country
and expect something to have happened. Its hard to believe that with inflation
at 913% the country can carry on, the people can survive and tolerate or that
anything can be maintained at all. Amazingly though, a fortnight has passed
since my last letter and everything in Zimbabwe seems to be the same as
ever.
Coming back into the country by road and at night took me back in
time 40 years. On the main highway I travelled, for mile after mile the roadside
vegetation has not been cut and golden grass, 6 foot high, waves and sways,
dipping into the road as you pass. On either side of the road and in the valleys
there are no lights from farms anymore and in the distance - as far as you can
see in any direction - there is only darkness, not even an orange glow on the
horizon from a big town or city. The sight of the bending grass and the intense
darkness took me back to journeys in remote country areas during my childhood.
Journeys sitting in the back of the family station wagon, elbowing siblings and
squabbling, looking out into the darkness watching for eyes. 40 years on though,
and the roadside darkness is not from a sparsely populated countryside but from
mile after mile of empty or subsitence level farms. Farms once overflowing with
production, powered by generators when necessary, which ensured the lights
stayed on over vast fields of export flowers and vegetables and kept cold rooms
humming day and night. The farms now are just silent and dark.
The lack
of urban lights in Zimbabwe these nights is from major and widespread power
cuts. On the night of my journey the electricity had apparently been off in an
area covering three main towns and over 100 kilometres for twelve hours. The
long roadside grass is from municipal negligence - there are no excuses for it -
we have abundant manpower due to massive unemployment and pay exhorbitant rates
every month in all rural and urban areas. The lack of road signs and reflective
lenses to give some light in the night are the result of people desperate for
money removing anything and everything they come across - even tin road signs
and little squares of shiny material buried in the tar.
The only thing
about travelling at night that is not reminiscent of 4 decades ago is that now
there are no eyes in the dark. As a child I remember watching the road ahead and
being filled with excitement, anticipation and even a little fear as the night
time world came into view and raced passed in fleeting glimpses. The eyes of
wild animals used to be caught, just for a split second in the car headlights -
hares, antelope, civet and genet cats, mongoose and other creatures you couldn't
identify but whose eyes glowed orange, even red as you passed. Now you see
nothing, just nothing; the animals seem poached almost out of existence but
still you watch, ever hopeful, mesmerized by the long grass bending and swaying
along the roadsides. Zimbabwe is staggering back in time and still there seems
nothing happening to halt the regression. It is, however, very good to be home
and, like looking for eyes in the night, I remain ever hopeful. Until next
week, love Cathy. Copyright cathy buckle 22 April 2006.
http://africantears.netfirms.com
My
books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from: orders@africabookcentre.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter 3 ROB MILBANK UPDATE
Dear all
This letter is long overdue, please
forgive me for taking so long to write and thank you, so many of whom I do not
even know!
We have been back in Zimbabwe since October last year, with a
three week visit back to the Cape in January, partly for a Holme wedding, and
mostly for Rob to have various check ups. The wedding was a fantastic
opportunity for many of Rob's family to see him, most of them had not seen him
since his collapse, and for Harry and Jack to see the remarkable progress Rob
has made. All his specialists were delighted with his progress in the three
months we had been back in Zim, so at least we know we made the right move
coming home.
Zimbabwe is a remarkable country in so many ways, despite my
concerns that we would not find the various therapists that Rob would need, we
have been incredibly lucky and found a wonderful Neuro muscular Massager, who
Rob sees three times a week, and we have now tracked down a speech therapist,
who trained at UCT, and seems very competent and full of good ideas. Of course
this all costs a great deal, Rob's physio three times a week at present comes to
just under $9 000 000 a week, and the cost goes up monthly, for some reason it
is not claimable on medical aid. But with all of your great generosity, we at
least can continue with the therapy without worrying about how we are going to
pay for it. Rob will eventually have to go back to Cape Town, and have an
embolization to seal off the remainder of his AVM, which is not destroyed by the
radio therapy, this will probably happen sometime towards the end of next year.
I am not sure whether or not we have to return to Jo'burg this year to see his
Neurosurgeeon for a scan to see how the radiotherapy is going. It should start
to work round about now, but is a slow process. We also have him on a classical
musical programme, which is supposed to work wonders for people with brain
damage. While we were in Cape Town he did a few sessions of light therapy, which
I am trying to find someone to do here in Zim. And probably the best thing to
happen to Rob in the last year was his double vision going while we were in the
Cape. It returns occasionally when he is very tired, but at least he can now
watch the TV without seeing 4 batsmen on a cricket pitch!
Rob has his ups
and downs; right now he is in trouble with everyone. He has been nagging me to
get on a horse for weeks, finally a couple of weeks ago I relented, and got the
quietest horse we have ready for him. Unfortunately, having been kicked in the
stomach a few times by Rob's bad leg as I tried to heave him over, she decided
it was time to depart, and he fell down hitting his arm on the step we were
trying to get him on from. He has a small fracture in his right arm. He remains
undaunted and is determined to try again, so before the next time, we shall
build a proper mounting block, and get a friend who has done riding for the
disabled to come out and show us how to get him on. He has put on a great deal
of weight, and my shoulder is still in shock from having his full weight sitting
on it, as I was trying to heave him over.
We are off to Mana Pools on the
1st May, which we are all longing for, Rob needs a break from the relentless
physio he has, and I hope the Zambezi Valley will be just the stimulation he
needs! It is a long and slow road, and the progress seems so slow for Rob and I,
but in fact is probably quite remarkable. Rob has managed to retain his
wonderful sense of humour, pretty much throughout, which has kept us
going.
We have finally got our garlic crop planted, and should hopefully
export again this year to Holland. Last year it was grown for us by one of the
managers on Forrester, who did a fantastic job, and he is on hand to give me all
the advice I need. I am having to learn a great deal, in a hurry, but hopefully
it will keep us going, and it gives Rob something to do, and boss me around
about!
And of course without the incredible support in so many different
ways from our families, friends and others, we would never have got this far! A
very big thank you to you all, for your incredible kindness, please know that it
is enormously appreciated by us both
Our love and thanks to you
all
Rob and Amanda Milbank
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All letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of the submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice for Agriculture.
Kubatana
April
2006
This Bill has not yet been gazetted and therefore may change
substantially before it appears in the Government Gazette. It is being
circulated to facilitate wide discussion around the Bill's contents and
application.
DRAFT
Interception of Communications Bill,
2006
MEMORANDUM
The purpose of this Bill is to establish an
interception of communication monitoring centre and for the appointment of
persons to that centre whose function shall be to monitor and intercept certain
communications in the course of their transmission through a telecommunication,
postal or any other related services system. In more detail the Bill provides as
follows:
PART I
The Bill’s short title is set out in clause 1.
Clause 2 defines the terms that are used throughout the Bill.
PART
II
This Part will establish a monitoring centre which shall be the sole
facility through which authorised interceptions shall be effected. The centre
shall be controlled and operated by designated technical experts.
PART
III
The persons who are authorised to make applications for interception
of communications include the Chief of the Defence Intelligence, the
Director-General of the President’s department of national security, the
Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Commissioner-General of the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority. Under this Part the Minister is authorised to issue
an interception warrant to authorised persons where there are reasonable grounds
for the Minister to believe (among other things) that a serious offence has been
or is being or will probably be committed or that there is threat to safety or
national security of the country. The warrant issued by the Minister shall be
valid for a period not exceeding three months and must specify the name and
address to which the interception shall take place. Any communication which has
been intercepted in terms of any warrant shall not be disclosed to any other
person with the exception where the information may be required in any
proceedings in any court. No court shall accept as evidence where such evidence
has been obtained by means of any interception committed in contravention of
this Act. Furthermore a telecommunication service provider is required to
install hardware and software facilities and devices to enable interception of
communications and also that the telecommunication service can store
communication-related information and how the service could be connected with
the communication monitoring centre or the manner in which information can be
re-routed to the monitoring centre. The telecommunication service provider shall
be assisted or compensated for the assistance he or she may provide to the
Authority or the monitoring centre.
PART IV
This Part will
provide for the general prohibitions and exemptions from disclosure of any
information which an individual may have obtained in the exercise of his or her
duties in terms of this Act. Only authorised persons who execute an interception
or assist with the execution of any intercepted communication may disclose such
contents to the extent that such disclosure is necessary for the proper
performance of the official duties of the authorised person. The authorised
person is also required to destroy as soon as possible after use any intercepted
material. Authorised persons may also make applications to the for a detention
order to detain any postal article where the authorised person has reasonable
suspicion that that article in the custody of a licensee contains anything in
respect of which an offence or attempted offence is being committed.
Any
person who may be aggrieved by a decision made by the Authority, authorised
person may appeal to the Minister and the Minister may confirm, vary or set
aside the decision appealed against. If an aggrieved person is not satisfied
with the decision of the Minister, he or she may appeal against it to the
Administrative Court.
The Minister under this Part is empowered to make
regulations providing for all matters which by this Act are required to be
prescribed or which in his opinion, are necessary or convenient to be
prescribed.
DRAFT
Interception of Communications Bill,
2006
Arrangement of Sections
PART
I
PRELIMINARY
Section
1. Short title.
2.
Interpretation.
PART II
CONTROL OF INTERCEPTION AND
ESTABLISHMENT OF A MONITORING CENTRE
3. Control of
interception.
4. Monitoring centre.
PART
III
APPLICATION FOR LAWFUL INTERCEPTION OF
COMMUNICATIONS
5. Authorised persons to make an application for
interception.
6. Issue of warrant.
7. Scope of
warrant.
8. Nondisclosure
9. Evidence obtained by unlawful
interception not admissible in criminal proceedings.
10. Assistance by
postal and telecommunications service providers
11. Duties of
telecommunication service provider and customer.
12. Notice of disclosure
of information protected by security key.
13. Interception capability of
telecommunication service.
14. Compensation payable to postal service
provider or telecommunication service provider or protected information key
holder.
PART IV
GENERAL PROHIBITIONS AND
EXEMPTIONS
15. General prohibitions and exemptions.
16.
Disclosure of information by authorised persons.
17. Disposal of intercept
product.
18. Application for a detention and examination order.
19.
Examination and accountability for detained postal articles.
20.
Appeals.
21. Regulations
PRESENTED BY THE MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
COMMUNICATIONS
DRAFT
BILL
To provide for the lawful
interception and monitoring of certain communications in the course of its
transmission through a telecommunication, postal or any other related service or
system in Zimbabwe; to provide for the establishment of the monitoring centre;
and to provide for any other matters connected with or incidental to the
foregoing.
ENACTED by the President and the Parliament of
Zimbabwe.
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short
title
This Act may be cited as the Interception of Communications Act
[Chapter ]
2. Interpretation
“access” means the technical
ability to interface with a communications facility such as a
telecommunications line or switch to enable the interception of any
communication carried on that facility;
“Agency” means the government
telecommunications agency comprising telecommunications experts which has been
designated to operate the monitoring facility and which give technical
directions to service providers so as to ensure compliance of the provisions of
this Act;
“Authority” means the Postal and Telecommunications Authority
established by section 3 of the Postal and Telecommunications Act [Chapter
12:05] (Act No. 4 of 2000).
“authorised persons” means persons referred
to in section 5
“call” means any connection fixed or temporary capable
of transferring information between two or more users of a telecommunications
system;
“call-related information” includes switching, dialling or
signalling information that identifies the origin, destination, termination
duration and equipment identification of each communication generated or
received by customer or user of any equipment, facility or service provided by a
service provider and where applicable, the location of the user within the
telecommunications system;
“customer” means—
(a) any person,
body or organisation which has entered into a contract with the service provider
for the provision of a telecommunication service to that person, body or
organisation; or
(b) any person to whom or any body or organisation
to which a service provider provides a pre-paid telecommunication
service;
“intercept”, in relation to communication which is sent
by—
(a) means of a telecommunication system or radio communication
system means to listen to, record, or copy whether in whole or in
part;
(b) post, means to read or copy the contents, whether in whole
or part;
“interception interface” means the physical location within the
service provider’s telecommunications facilities where access to the intercepted
communication or call-related information is provided;
“Minister” means
the Minister of Transport and Communication or any other Minister to whom the
President may from time to time assign the administration of this
Act;
“monitoring centre” means a central monitoring apparatus designated
to be the monitoring facility through which all the intercepted communications
and call-related data of a particular interception target are forwarded to
authorised persons;
“national security of Zimbabwe” includes matters
relating to the existence, independence and safety of the
State;
“party”, in relation to a communication, means a person whose
access to the communication is or might reasonably be known by all other
parties;
“warrant” means a warrant issued in terms of section
6.
(2) Any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in
the Postal and Telecommunications Act [Chapter 12:05] shall have the same
meaning when used in this Act.
PART II
CONTROL OF INTERCEPTION
AND ESTABLISHMENT OF MONITORING CENTRE
3. Control of
Interception
(1) Subject to subsection (2), no person
shall—
(a) intercept any communication in the course of its
transmission by means of a telecommunication system or radio communication
system unless—
(i) he or she is a party to the
communication; or
(ii) he or she has the consent of the
person to whom, or the person by whom, the communication is sent;
or
(iii) he or she is authorised by
warrant;
(b) intercept any communication in the course of its
transmission through the post unless—
(i) he or she has
consent of the person to whom, or the person by whom, the communication is sent;
or
(ii) he or she is authorised by
warrant.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to the bona fide
interception of a communication for the purpose of or in connection with the
provision, installation, maintenance or repair of a postal, telecommunication or
radio communication service.
(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2)
any person who intentionally intercepts or attempts to intercept, or authorises
or procures any other person to intercept or attempt to intercept, at any place
any communication in the course of its occurrence or transmission shall be
guilty of an offence and liable to pay a fine not exceeding level fourteen or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or both such fine and such
imprisonment.
4. Establishment of a Monitoring
centre
(1) There shall be established a centre to be known as
Monitoring of Interception of Communication Centre (MICC).
(2) The
monitoring centre shall be the sole facility through which authorised
interceptions shall be effected.
(3) The monitoring centre shall be
manned, controlled and operated by designated technical experts from the
agency.
(4) The technical experts shall give technical advice
to—
(a) authorised persons;
(b) to service providers;
on the
implementation of the interception of communications in terms of this
Act.
PART III
APPLICATION FOR LAWFUL INTERCEPTION OF
COMMUNICATIONS
5. Authorised persons to make an application for
interception
(1) An application for lawful interception of
communications shall be made by the following persons—
(a) the Chief of
Defence Intelligence or his or her nominee;
(b) the Director-General of
the President’s department of national security or his or her
nominee;
(c) the Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Republic Police or his or
her nominee;
(d) the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority or his or her nominee.
(2) An application in terms of
subsection (1) shall be made to the Minister for him or her to issue a warrant
for the interception of communications.
(3) An application in
terms of subsection (1) shall indicate the following information—
(a)
person or customer, if known, whose communication is required to be intercepted;
and
(b) postal service provider or telecommunication service provider to
whom the direction must be addressed, if applicable; and
(c) specify the
nature and location of the facilities from which, or the place at which, the
communication is to be intercepted, if known; and
(d) contain full
particulars of all the facts and circumstances alleged by the applicant in
support of his or her application; and
(e) indicate, if applicable,
whether other investigative procedures have been applied and have failed to
produce the required evidence or must indicate the reason why other
investigative procedures reasonably appear to be unlikely to succeed if applied
or are likely to be dangerous to apply in order to obtain the required
evidence.
Provided that this section shall not apply to an
application for the issuing of a warrant in respect of a serious offence
governed by the Serious Offences Act [Chapter 9:17];
(f) indicate
the period for which the interception is required to be issued; and
(g)
indicate the basis for believing that communication relating to the ground on
which the application is made will be obtained through the interception; and
(h) any other information which may be required by the Minister for the
Minister to make an appropriate decision.
6. Issue of
warrant
(1) An interception warrant shall be issued by the Minister
to authorised persons referred to in section 5 if there are reasonable grounds
for the Minister to believe that—
(a) a serious offence has been or is
being or will probably be committed;
(b) the gathering of information
concerning an actual threat to the national security or compelling national
economic interests of the country is necessary;
(c) the gathering of
information concerning the potential threat to safety or national security of
the country is necessary;
(d) the interest of the country’s international
relations or obligation are threatened.
(2) In the case of urgency
or the existence of exceptional circumstances, an oral application may be made
to the Minister by the authorised person if he or she is of the opinion that it
is not reasonably practicable to make a written application, but in such case a
formal application in terms of this Part shall be lodged as soon as possible
with the Minister.
(3) When circumstances so require, a warrant
issued may be amended or revoked by the Minister or the Minister may issue
certain directives to a service provider without the actual monitoring of a
communication.
7. Scope of warrant
A warrant
shall—
(a) be valid for such period not exceeding three months as may be
specified therein but may, for good cause shown, be renewed for periods not
exceeding one month at a time by the Minister;
(b) specify the name and
address to which the interception shall take place or the communication
facilities to be intercepted;
(c) order the service provider to strictly
comply with the technical requirements as may be required by the
agency;
(d) set out the address, number, apparatus or other factors that
are to be used for identifying the communications that is to be
intercepted;
(e) set out the premises in relation to which the
interception shall take place and all the necessary details relating to the
interception target.
8. Non disclosure
No person shall
disclose the contents of the whole or part of any communication which has been
intercepted in terms of any warrant except in so far as it may be necessary for
the purpose for which the warrant was issued, including proceedings in any
court.
9. Evidence obtained by unlawful interception not
admissible in criminal proceedings
Evidence which has been obtained by
means of any interception committed in contravention of this Act shall not be
admissible in any criminal proceedings except with the leave of the court and in
granting or refusing such leave the court shall have regard, inter alia, to the
circumstances in which it was obtained, its potential effect on issues of
national security and the potential unfairness to the accused that might be
caused by its admission.
10. Assistance by postal and
telecommunications service providers
(1) A postal or
telecommunication service provider must ensure—
(a) that their postal or
telecommunications systems are technically capable of supporting lawful
interceptions at all times;
(b) that they install hardware and software
facilities and devices to enable interception of communications;
(c)
that their services are capable of rendering real time, full time monitoring
facilities for the interception of communication;
(d) that all associated
data is provided in real-time or as soon as possible upon call
termination;
(e) they provide one or more interfaces from which the
intercepted communication shall be transmitted to the monitoring
facility.
(f) the intercepted communications is transmitted to the
monitoring facility via fixed or switched connections as may be specified by the
agency;
(g) that they provide access to all interception subjects
operating temporarily or permanently within their communications systems, and
where the interception subject may be using features to divert calls to other
communications service providers or terminal equipment;
(h) that they
provide, where necessary, the capacity to implement a number of simultaneous
interceptions in order—
(i) to allow monitoring by more than one
authorised person;
(j) to safeguard the identities of monitoring agents
and ensure the confidentiality of the investigations;
(i) that all
interceptions are implemented in such a manner that neither the interception
target nor any other unauthorised person is aware of any changes made to
fulfil the interception order.
(2) A postal or
telecommunication service provider who fails to give assistance in terms of this
section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level
twelve or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or to both such
fine and such imprisonment.
11. Duties of telecommunication service
provider and customer
(1) Before a telecommunication service
provider enters into a contract with any person for the provision of a
telecommunication service to that person, he or she must obtain—
(a) the
person’s full names, residential address, business address or postal address and
his or her identity number
(b) the organisation’s business name and
address and its registration number where applicable;
(c) any other
information which the telecommunication service provider deems necessary for the
purpose of this Act.
(2) A telecommunication service provider must
ensure that proper records are kept of information referred to in subsection (1)
and where applicable, any change in such information which is brought to his or
her attention.
12. Notice of disclosure of information protected by
security key
(1) If an authorised person believes on reasonable
grounds—
(a) that a key to the protected information is in the possession
of any person;
(b) that the imposition of a disclosure requirement in
respect of the protected information is—
(i) necessary in
the interests of national security;
(ii) necessary for the
purpose of preventing and detecting crime; or
(iii) in the
interests of the economic well-being of Zimbabwe
(c) that the
imposition of such a requirement is proportionate to what is sort to be achieved
by its imposition;
(d) that it is reasonably impracticable for the
authorised person to obtain possession of the protected information in an
intelligible form without giving the notice under this section;
the
authorised person may by notice to the person whom he or she believes to have
possession of the key, impose a disclosure requirement in respect of the
protected information.
(2) A notice under this section imposing a
disclosure requirement in respect of any protected information must—
(a)
be in writing;
(b) describe the protected information to which the notice
relates;
(c) relate to matters referred to in subsection (1);
(d)
specify the reasonable time by which the notice is to be complied with; and
(e) set out the disclosure that is required by the notice and the form
and manner in which it is to be made.
(3) A notice under this
section shall not require the making of any disclosure to any person other
than—
(a) a person giving the notice; or
(b) such other person as
may be specified in or otherwise identified by, or in accordance with, the
provisions of the notice.
(4) A person to whom a notice has been
given in terms of this section and who is in possession of both the protected
information and the key thereto—
(a) may use any key in his or her
possession to provide access to the information;
(b) must, in providing
such information, make a disclosure of the information in an intelligible
form.
(5) If, a person to whom a notice has been given, is in
possession of different keys, or combinations of keys to the protected
information—
(a) it shall not be necessary for purposes of complying with
the notice requirement, for the person given notice to disclose any keys in
addition to those the disclosure of which, alone, is sufficient to enable the
authorised person to whom they are disclosed to obtain access to the protected
information and to put it in an intelligible form;
(b) the person given
notice may select which of the keys or combination of keys, to disclose for
purposes of complying with the requirements.
(6) If a person to whom
a notice has been given—
(a) has been in the possession of the keys to
the protected information, but is no longer in possession thereof;
(b) is
in possession of any information that would facilitate the obtaining or
discovery of the keys to protected information;
he or she must disclose all
such information as is in his or her possession to the authorised
person.
(7) An authorised person to whom a key has been disclosed
under this section—
(a) shall use the key only in respect of the
protected information, and in the manner and for the purposes, specified in the
notice; and
(b) must, on or before the expiry of the period or extended
period for which the notice has been issued, destroy all records of the
disclosed key if, in the opinion of the authorised
person—
(i) no criminal proceedings or civil proceedings
will be instituted in connection with such records; or
(ii)
such records will not be required at any such criminal or civil proceedings for
purposes of evidence or for purposes of order of court.
(8) A person
who fails to make the disclosure as required by the notice shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to a fine not exceeding twenty million dollars or to
imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
13. Interception capability of telecommunication
service
(1) Notwithstanding any other law, a telecommunication
service provider shall—
(a) provide a telecommunication service which has
the capability to be intercepted; and
(b) store communication-related
information.
(2) The Postal and Telecommunication Authority shall,
after consultation with the Minister, within two months after the fixed date,
issue a directive to telecommunication service providers determining—
(a)
the manner in which effect is to given to subsection (1) by the
telecommunication service provider;
(b) security, technical and
functional requirements of the facilities and devices to be acquired by the
telecommunication service provider to enable—
(i) the
interception of communication in terms of this Act;
(ii) the
storing of communication-related information;
(c) the period for
which compliance with such directive must be fulfilled.
(3) A
directive referred to in subsection (2) must prescribe the—
(a) capacity
needed for interception purposes;
(b) technical requirement of the
systems to be used;
(c) connectivity with the interception monitoring
centre;
(d) manner of routing information to the interception monitoring
centre;
(e) any other relevant matter which the Authority deems necessary
or expedient.
(4) A telecommunication service provider shall, at his
or her own expense acquire the facilities and devices determined in a directive
issued in terms of subsection (2).
(5) Any cost incurred by a
telecommunication service provider under this Act in—
(a)
enabling—
(i) a telecommunication service to be intercepted;
and
(ii) communication related information to be stored; and
(b) complying with section (10);
must be borne by that
telecommunication service provider.
14. Compensation payable to postal
service provider or telecommunication service provider or protected information
key holder
(1) The Minister, after consultation with the Authority,
shall by notice in the Gazette prescribe—
(a) the forms of assistance in
the execution of a directive for which a postal service provider,
telecommunications service provider or protected information key holder, must be
compensated; and
(b) reasonable tariffs of compensation payable to a
postal service provider, telecommunication service provider or protected
information key holder for providing such prescribed forms of the
assistance.
(2) The tariffs prescribed under subsection
(1)(b)—
(a) may differ in respect of different categories of postal
service providers, telecommunication service providers or protected information
key holders;
(b) must be uniform in respect of each postal service
provider, telecommunication service provider or protected information key holder
falling within the same category.
(3) The forms of assistance
referred to in this section must include, in the case of—
(a) a
telecommunication service provider, the making available of a facility, device
or telecommunication system; and
(b) a protected information key
holder—
(i) the disclosure of the key; and
(ii) the provision assistance
(4) The
compensation payable to postal service provider, telecommunication service
provider or protected information key holder shall only be for direct costs
incurred in respect of personnel and administration which are required for
purposes of providing any of the forms of assistance in subsection
(1).
PART IV
GENERAL PROHIBITIONS AND EXEMPTIONS
15.
General prohibitions and exemptions
(1) No person may disclose any
information which he or she obtained in the exercise of his or her powers or the
performance of his or her duties in terms of the Act except—
(a) to any
other person who of necessity requires it for the performance of his or her
functions in terms of this Act;
(b) if he or she is a person who of
necessity supplies it in the performance of his or her functions in terms of
this Act;
(c) information which is required in terms of any law or as
evidence in any court of law.
(2) No—
(a) postal service
provider, telecommunication service provider or protected information key holder
may disclose any information which he or she obtained in the exercise of his or
her powers or the performance of his or her duties in terms of this Act; or
(b) employee of a postal service provider, telecommunication service
provider or protected information key holder may disclose any information which
he or she obtained in the course of his or her employment and which is connected
with the exercise of any power or the performance of any duty in terms of this
Act.
(3) Any person who discloses any information in terms of
subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not
exceeding ten million dollars or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five
years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
16. Disclosure of
information by authorised person
Notwithstanding section 15, any
authorised person who executes an interception or assists with the execution
thereof and who has obtained knowledge of the contents of any communication
intercepted may disclose such contents to the extent that such disclosure is
necessary for the proper performance of the official duties of the authorised
person.
17. Disposal of intercept product
The authorised
person shall destroy beyond any retrievable proportions as soon as possible
after use any intercepted product.
18. Application for a detention and
examination order
(1) A person authorised in terms of section 5
shall, if he or she suspects on reasonable grounds that a postal article in the
custody of a postal licensee—
(a) contains anything in respect of which
an offence or attempted offence is being committed; or
(b) contains
anything that will afford evidence of the commission of an offence; or
(c) is being sent to further the commission of an offence;
may
apply to the Minister for a detention order to detain the postal article for the
purpose of examination.
(2) If the Minister, by written order to the
authorised person, certifies that it is necessary in the interests of defence,
public safety or public order for a postal article in the postal licensee’s
custody to be detained and additionally, or alternatively, opened and examined,
the postal licensee shall forth with comply with the order.
(3)
Section 5 shall apply with necessary changes to the information required to be
furnished to the Minister before a detention order is issued.
19.
Examination and accountability for detained postal articles
(1) On
an appointed day the authorised person shall, in the presence of the postal
licensee or his or her nominee, examine the detained postal
article.
(2) If, on examination of a postal article in terms of
subsection (1)—
(a) the suspicion that gave rise to its examination is
substantiated, the postal article may be detained for the purposes of
prosecution or destroyed or dealt with in such other manner as may be
prescribed;
(b) the suspicion that gave rise to its examination is not
substantiated, the postal article shall be delivered to the person to whom it is
addressed or to his or her representative on payment of any postage payable
thereon.
20. Appeals
(1) Any person who is aggrieved by a
decision made by the Authority, authorised person or agency may appeal to the
Minister within fourteen days after being notified of the decision, and the
Minister may confirm, vary or set aside the decision appealed against or make
such other order in the matter as he or she thinks appropriate.
(2)
Any person who is aggrieved by a decision made by the Minister in terms of this
Act may appeal against it to the Administrative Court within one month after
being notified of the decision.
(3) The Administrative court may in
any appeal confirm, vary or set aside the decision or action appealed against
and may make such order, whether as to costs or otherwise, the court thinks
just.
21. Regulations
The Minister may make regulations
providing for all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be
prescribed or which, in his or her opinion, are necessary or convenient to be
prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
Reuters
Tue Apr 25, 2006 8:31 AM GMT
By Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe's fixed exchange rate will hurt producer
earnings at
tobacco auctions opening on Tuesday, leading to another sharp
decline in
output of the key foreign currency earner next season, industry
officials
said on Monday.
Central bank Governor Gideon Gono announced a 35 percent
bonus on all early
deliveries of the crop, but officials said this would
still put producer
earnings well behind input costs.
"Essentially
growers are going to be starting below their reward for the
risks that they
take...and I believe that they are going to draw the
conclusions that there
is certainly not the money to reward the risk in
tobacco growing," said
James de la Fargue of the Zimbabwe Tobacco
Association, one of three
farmers' groups in the sector.
Although the leaf -- which in the past
used to rake in nearly a third of
Zimbabwe's export earnings -- is sold in
U.S. dollars at the annual
auctions, growers are paid in local currency at a
rate which has been fixed
at 1:99,201 since January under tight central bank
controls.
The rate has however more than doubled to around 200,000 on a
thriving black
market in line with inflation of 913.6 percent, sending
production costs
soaring.
"A doubling of costs and the fixed exchange
rate does not make sense. We had
asked for 1:180,000 which we believed was a
realistic exchange rate," said
de la Fargue.
FIXED RATE
HURTS
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in January set limits on the
local
dollar's fluctuations linked to actual trading volumes to halt the
unit's
free-fall on the interbank market.
Under the new framework,
trading volumes of at least U.S.$5 million should
be recorded each day to
justify a movement in the rate, but foreign currency
traders say the market
is only managing between $500,000 and $600,000.
On Monday Gono insisted
the RBZ would not allow the exchange rate to move at
present trading levels,
telling farmers and journalists: "Bring enough
volumes into the market (and)
the exchange rate will move within the
parameters that were
set."
Tobacco growers said Gono's hardline stance spelt doom for an
industry whose
2006 output is seen down a third at 50 million kgs, worsening
an economic
crisis marked by chronic shortages of foreign currency, fuel and
food,
unemployment of some 70 percent and the world's highest rate of
inflation.
"I wonder if perhaps you have seen it that tobacco is not
worth growing in
this country?" Julius Ngorima, President of the Zimbabwe
Association of
Tobacco Growers grouping some 30,000 mainly small-scale
growers, asked the
RBZ governor.
Tobacco output hit a record high of
236 million kgs in 2000, but is on a
steady decline, with critics pointing
largely to disruptions to agriculture
linked to President Robert Mugabe's
controversial land reforms, which have
displaced the white farmers who used
to produce most of the crop.
IOL
April 25
2006 at 12:57PM
By Boyd Webb and Sapa-AFP
The
department of home affairs has confirmed a request for asylum from
Zimbabwean opposition party MP Roy Bennett who fears the Mugabe regime wants
to kill him.
But department spokesperson Nkosana Sibuyi said
Bennett was at the
back of a long queue and was not sure when his request
would be attended to.
"I can confirm we have received his request
but there is a backlog of
103 000 applications for asylum and he is not
going to jump the queue simply
because of his status," Sibuyi
said.
A home affairs initiative designed to expedite the backlog in
immigration and asylum seeking requests was implemented early this year, but
Sibuyi refused to estimate when Bennet's application was expected to be
reached.
"We are making headway," he said.
Bennett, a senior member of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC) was released from prison in June last year after serving eight
months
for shoving the justice minister during a heated parliamentary
debate.
He fled Zimbabwe last month after police said they
wanted to question
him following the security services' discovery of an arms
cache in eastern
Zimbabwe that they claimed was to be used to overthrown
President Robert
Mugabe's government.
"It's true he is looking
for political asylum in South Africa," said
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa.
"The regime is after his head. We cannot
afford to have a dead hero,"
Chamisa said Bennett was last month elected
treasurer of one faction of the
split MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
"He (Bennett) will continue to
serve as the treasurer of the party"
from South Africa, Chamisa
said.
"Location is not a factor, but the critical thing is the
contribution
to the struggle."
In October 2004, Bennett was
jailed after he pushed Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa to the floor
during a rowdy exchange over land reform in
parliament.
Bennett
lost his large coffee plantation in eastern Zimbabwe during
Mugabe's land
reform programme launched in 2000, which saw nearly 4 000 of
the 4 500 white
Zimbabwean large-scale commercial farmers evicted from their
land, which was
then given to landless blacks.
The lawmaker was in trouble again
last month after the discovery of a
huge arms cache. Former soldier Mike
Peter Hitschmann was identified as the
kingpin of an alleged assassination
plot, and fled the country to avoid
arrest.
State authorities
said Hitschmann, whom they described as a member of
a shadowy organisation
called the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement (ZFM), was
involved in stashing arms at
various locations in the country.
Media reports said an AK-47
assault rifle, seven Uzi machine guns,
four FN rifles, 11 shotguns, six CZ
pistols, four revolvers, 15 teargas
canisters and several thousand rounds of
ammunition were found at
Hitschmann's home.
The MDC has denied
any links to Hitschmann and claims he is a member
of the police
reserves.
Zimbabwean Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi said there
were no
grounds for South Africa to grant Bennett political
asylum.
"We have never persecuted anybody in Zimbabwe," Mohadi
said, adding it
was "peculiar" that Bennett was seeking asylum abroad "yet
his boss
Tsvangirai is in the country making all the useless
noise".
This article was originally published on
page 6 of Cape Times on April
25, 2006
Mail and Guardian
Cape Town, South Africa
25 April 2006
04:11
The government must act to protect former Zimbabwean
opposition
MP Roy Bennett and grant him political asylum in South Africa
without delay,
the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.
"The DA believes that Bennett's application for asylum provides
the South
African government with the ideal opportunity to signal to Harare
that it
believes there is a crisis in Zimbabwe, and that it will not
tolerate
tyranny in the region," DA Chief Whip Douglas Gibson said in a
statement.
Bennett fled to South Africa last month and
has applied for
asylum, claiming his life is in danger from security forces
in Zimbabwe.
This follows allegations in that country's
state-run Herald
newspaper that he is linked -- through the discovery of an
arms cache -- to
a plot to topple President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF
government.
According to media reports last week, Bennett has
applied
through Lawyers for Human Rights for international
asylum.
Gibson said Bennett had lost his land, his livelihood
and had
been jailed for his political beliefs.
"The South
African government was quick to provide a haven for
the unsavoury (deposed
Haitian President) Jean Bertrand-Aristide, a known
abuser of human rights.
It appears reluctant to offer Bennett the same
treatment despite his record
of fighting for the rights of ordinary
Zimbabweans.
"I
therefore strongly urge the South African government to
expedite Bennett's
application for political asylum before more harm is done
to him and his
family," he said.
Bennett spent nine months in jail with hard
labour following an
incident in May 2004 when he pushed Zimbabwe's Justice
Minister Patrick
Chinamasa during a heated debate in that country's
Parliament.
The sentence he received was condemned at the
time by
international human rights organisations as being grossly
disproportionate
to the offence committed. -- Sapa
By
Lance Guma
25 April 2006
It's has been described by its
co-ordinators as the 'second biggest
movement ever since the no vote
campaign against Zanu PF's proposed
constitution of 2000.' Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition says it is organising 2
months of nationwide activities
to commemorate the brutal destruction of
peoples homes and vending stalls
under Operation Murambatsvina by police in
May last year. Starting on the
18th of May, the first week will be dominated
by overnight vigils,
petitions, public meetings and various forms of theatre
linked to the plight
of victims of the 'clean up.' Stretching up to the 18th
of July various
other forms of protest and remembrance activities will
follow.
Speaking to Newsreel on Tuesday Itai Zimunya, an advocacy officer with
the
coalition, says they are working on building up momentum towards the
remembrance so as to make it a success. He is confident they have
decentralized the planned activities in a way that will make it hard for
security forces to disrupt. The coalition plans to have some form of
activity in every town and city in the country. Theatre performances and
public meetings in schools and churches accompanied by radio commentaries on
cassette will be used to highlight the negative effects of the government
sponsored clean up. Well-known theatre director and producer Davies Guzha is
said to have already pledged to assist in writing the plays.
Zimunya says they want to take stock of everything that has happened
and use
the opportunity to seek assistance from well-wishers eager to help
the
victims. The remembrance will also raise political issues linked to the
much
touted Operation Garikai which the coalition says has failed to provide
housing for the victims. 'We want to know where the Z$3 trillion ear-marked
for the project has gone to?' Zimunya
added.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
Mail and Guardian
Godwin Gandu
25 April 2006 02:59
Barely two weeks after meeting and assuring President Thabo
Mbeki of their
strength and unqualified support, the pro-Senate faction of
Zimbabwe's
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is on its
political death
bed, analysts predict.
The Mail & Guardian has been
informed that 10 or more
legislators in the Midlands, Harare and parts of
Matabeleland have already
made known their intention to jump ship from the
pro-Senate faction led by
Arthur Mutambara.
Three
high-profile members of its national executive have
resigned from their
posts just six months after going on a crusade against
their rival, Morgan
Tsvangirai, of the anti-Senate faction of the MDC.
The split
followed the outcome of the October 2005 national
council elections in which
Tsvangirai unilaterally decided against
participation in the senate
elections, opposing secretary general Professor
Welshman Ncube, who favoured
participation.
The split saw the two camps, one now led by
Mutambara, going on
rallies to woo the affections of the masses of Zimbabwe.
Robert Mugabe and
his ministers, who initially labelled Mutambara a CIA
agent when he appeared
to be a new threat, have now turned their attention
to their old foe,
Tsvangirai. At the 26th independence celebrations
recently, Mugabe warned
Tsvangirai that he would be "playing with fire" if
he led demonstrations
against his government.
When
Tsvangirai's rallies continued to woo tens of thousands of
supporters and
Mutambara drew only a trickle, questions were raised about
the long-term
survival of Mutambara's faction.
It wasn't long before the
party's choice for Parliament chief
whip, Blessing Chebundo, businessperson
Sam Siphepha Nkomo and national
chairperson and a former Tsvangirayi ally in
the union movement, Gift
Chimanikire, resigned. Their resignations are a
blow to Mutambara.
"The others will hold on. Maybe they will
continue to exist on
paper or in newspapers," says Dr Lovemore Madhuku,
constitutional reform
pressure group chairperson. But there are no
indications yet that Mutambara
is giving in.
"All those
in leadership positions who have developed cold feet
or doubts about the
efficacy of our values and non-violence, democracy and
equality and respect
for every Zimbabwean ...We call upon them to take this
opportunity to
resign," Mutambara said, in a brief statement.
His deputy
secretary general, Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga,
told the M&G the
party "is happy with the defections" and "ours is not about
just a quest for
power, but principles, values and the ideology that should
guide
us.
"It's a marathon. What is happening is not the final.
This is
the beginning of a long run. If we are able to weather the storm,
then the
leadership we shall retain would be principled and one to be proud
of."
"We are witnessing the decomposition of Mutambara's
MDC," says
Professor Eldred Masunungure, of the University of Zimbabwe's
political
science department.
"It will not be able to
retain the little support it had, let
alone attract new support," he
added.
"It is on the verge of collapse and maybe on its death
bed."
Masunungure expects that a number of Mutambara's
faction members
may go back into business, academia or private lives, while
others, with
"tails between their legs", may have to back to Tsvangirai "as
prodigal
sons, as an act of repentance". Chimanikire is a "prodigal son
candidate" he
said, while Welshman Ncube will go "back into academia", with
Mutambara
eventually "finding common ground with Tsvangirai" and the party's
deputy
president, Gibson Sibanda, "retreating into his private life" should
Tsvangirai refuse to resuscitate his (Sibanda's) faltering political
fortunes.
A researcher at the Wits Institute for Social
and Economic
Research, Robert Muponde, said: "Mutambara is not the kind of
leader who
attracts the masses around him. When he talks he can be accused
of setting
his party's agenda in terms of a foreign audience. He is quite
arrogant in
his speech as he talks to people, not with
them."
MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said Tsvangirai will
not pursue
"recriminations and retributions against his erstwhile
colleagues".
"Tsvangirai's target is the Mugabe
dictatorship," Chamisa
insisted. "It is a broad-based movement willing to
accommodate anyone in the
fight for democracy."
The Herald
(Harare)
April 24, 2006
Posted to the web April 25,
2006
Harare
THE MDC faction led by Professor Arthur Mutambara on
Friday appointed new
members to their national executive to fill in the
vacancies left by those
who have resigned.
Mr Jobert Mudzumwe takes
over from Mr Gift Chimanikire as the national
chairperson while Mr Paul
Themba Nyathi replaces Kwekwe MP Mr Blessing
Chebundo as the party's
director of elections and Mr Shakespear Maya becomes
the deputy national
elections' director. Mr Sam Sipepa Nkomo was the
national elections'
director but like Chimanikire and Chebundo, threw in the
towel last
week.
In a statement, the Mutambara faction that seems to be on the verge
of
collapse said these appointees were "cadres fully committed to the
party's
founding principles". The faction's secretary-general, Prof Welshman
Ncube
said Mr Morgan Tsvangirai had promised those who were abandoning his
faction
cellphones, cars, money and top posts. The Tsvangirai-led faction
has since
denied coercing Chimanikire, Chebundo and Sipepa Nkomo to resign
from the
Mutambara-led faction. The officials have also refuted Prof Ncube's
claims
that they resigned out of their own volition.
The Herald (Harare)
April 25,
2006
Posted to the web April 25, 2006
Jeffrey Gogo
Nairobi,
Kenya
HWANGE Colliery Company (HCC) has lost out on a
multi-billion-dollar coke
and coal export deal with a Kenyan firm due to
capacity constraints.
Sources said Hwange had failed to supply an
estimated 300 tonnes of coke to
Satnel Engineering of Kenya, despite
entering into an agreement with the
company earlier this year. "Hwange could
not meet the demand from Satnel,
which had abandoned its traditional
suppliers from Germany," said a source
in Kenya. "Reasons given are that the
company cannot supply enough for the
export market, as it still needs to
meet high local demand. "We are not sure
where Hwange would pick it up from
now, but Satnel is still quite interested
in the deal."
Asked for
comment HCC managing director Dr Godfrey Dzinomwa said the group
had been
handicapped by a number of challenges, mostly of a logistical
nature. He
said: "Currently, we are strategising on new routes of
transporting the
commodity, which we have ready and piled up waiting for
shipment. Initial
plans were to use rail but this transport mode has not
been smooth." But
analysts say Hwange could do well with a vigorous export
strategy, as a m
ajor hard currency generator. "The cashflow problems at the
coal producer
could be sorted out if exports were competitive," remarked one
analyst.
"There is no reason why Hwange must suffer with such an
international
saleable commodity." Last year, net profit surged $264,5
billion from $49,9
billion, translating into EPS of 149 460 cents. But
cashflow problems
persisted owing to late payments by the company's major
customers, notably
the Zimbabwe Power Company and Ziscosteel.
The two owe Hwange over $500
billion. Coal sales declined from 1 022 497 614
tonnes in 2004 to 831 614
tonnes last year owing to low production from its
new underground mine.
Exports, at 39 067 tonnes, were down sharply on prior
year at 99 514. Over
the last two years, Hwange has seen its fortunes
improving after
re-engineering its business affairs, but recent Press
reports suggest the
group could be in for another spell of red ink. The coal
miner is said to
have suffered a major setback on its 3 Main un derground
mine, after hitting
an aquifer. An aquifer is an underground layer of earth,
gravel or porous
stone that yields water. At least US$160 million is
required to remedy the
situation.
New Zimbabwe
By
Mzilikazi wa Afrika
Last updated: 04/25/2006 17:51:14
PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe was paid a $20-million reward by the Equatorial
Guinea government as
a "thank you" for foiling the attempted coup in the oil
rich African state,
it has been established.
The Johannesburg-based Washing Line news agency
reported Tuesday that it had
established that $10-million was paid into
Mugabe's personal bank account
and another $10-million went to his
government.
A Riggs Bank employee, where the Equatorial Guinea government
had a string
of bank accounts, confirmed this week that the institution was
instructed by
its client to transfer the money to Mugabe and his
government.
The Zimbabwean government allegedly used the $10-million
towards settling
their debt with the International Monetary Fund [IMF] in
December last year.
George Charamba, Mugabe's press secretary, insisted
the allegations were
"nonsense".
Charamba said: "We are a very proud
people and we will never depend on
handouts. Because we have managed to pay
the IMF, people then think we got
it from a Father Christmas."
He
said Zimbabwe would never have accepted a 'thank you' from Equatorial
Guinea
government in a monetary form.
He said: "The IMF had asked us where did
we get the $10-million from and we
told them that it came from our export
activities."
Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
has already
presented Mugabe with the Grand Collar of the Order of
Independence "in
recognition of the great action by the people and
government of Zimbabwe and
by Mugabe in person for the defence of the
interests of the people of
Equatorial Guinea" in November 2004.
The
Zimbabwe government arrested 68 suspected mercenaries at Harare Airport
while they were in transit to Equatorial Guinea where they were going to
topple Mbasogo in March 2004.
The Washing Line investigation also
established that the payment to Mugabe
came from the $700-million that
Mbasongo had secretly invested with Riggs
Bank in the United States of
America.
The bank was probed by U.S senate after it was exposed as one of
the
institutions where Mbasogo - who is regarded as a dictator --- is hiding
money allegedly stolen from his government.
Simon Kareri, Riggs Bank'
senior vice president was fired and the
institution was fined $16-million
last year for violations of American money
laundering rules by not reporting
suspicious transaction by Mbasogo.
U.S. senate investigation into Riggs
Bank established that:
. Mbasogo used Riggs Bank to enrich himself and
his family with money from
oil revenues meant for the Equatorial Guinea
government.
. Mbasogo started banking with Riggs Bank in 1995 and he as
well as his
relatives had more than 60 accounts with the bank.
. One
of Mbasogo's wives, Constancia Nsue, had a $10 000 daily limit on
debit card
with the bank.
. Mbasogo used the bank to buy two mansions in Washington
D.C one of which
he paid $2.6-million in cash. and
. Riggs Bank gave
$3.75-million loan to Mbasogo's eldest son, Teodoro Nguema
Obiang, to be
used a deposit for a penthouse apartment in California.
The penthouse
worth $6-million in Los Angeles has already been paid off.
After Riggs
Bank was forced to release the $700-million to the Equatorial
Guinea
government, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the controversial minister of
Forestry,
Environment and Housing, went on shopping spree, spending more
than
R60-million in South Africa, where he:
. Bought a R26-million mansion at
35 Klaassens Road in Bishopscourt, Cape
Town,
. Another R23.5-million
mansion at 76 Fourth Beach, Clifton, Cape Town,
. R3.2-million for a
Lamborghini at Bloomsbury in Buitengracht, Cape Town,
and
.
R7-million for two Bentleys also at MG Rover in Cape Town.
Documents in
The Washing Line News Agency's possession prove that the money
was channeled
through Standard Bank in South Africa. Documents show the bank's
"client
Equatorial Guinea" made two separate transfers on March 31, 2004:
. R28
141 286. 30 from Belgolaise Bank in Paris, France, and
. R25 451 795. 70
also from Belgolaise Bank.
A Johannesburg businessman, George Ehlers, won
a court battle to attach the
houses and the luxury cars in February this
year after the Equatorial Guinea
government failed to pay him $7-million it
owed him for building
construction
done in the oil rich country dubbed as
the Kuwait of Africa.
Ehlers's lawyers produced evidence in court to
prove that the properties
were bought with money belonging to the Equatorial
Guinea government and not
Obiang's cash. --- The Washing Line News
Agency
The Nation, Malawi
by George Ntonya, 25 April 2006 - 05:39:02
Civil
society organisations in the country on Monday swallowed their
pride and
promised to offer Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe a hearty
welcome on May
3.
Last week the organisations threatened to hold demonstrations in
protest against Mugabe's visit because of his bad human rights record in his
country. But yesterday they changed their tune after four hours of
discussion with President Bingu wa Mutharika and senior government officials
at the New State House in Lilongwe.
Speaking on behalf of the
organisations after the meeting, Programme
Manager of Church and Society of
the Blantyre CCAP Synod Billy Mayaya (in
the picture) said that their
statements were made in haste when they had
inadequate information
surrounding Mugabe's visit.
"There was lack of information on the visit
[but] that gap has now
been filled up by this meeting," he told journalists.
"As civil society we
should be willing to admit our shortcomings when need
arises and this is a
case in point."
Mayaya said that the meeting -
the first by the two sides since
Mutharika assumed office in 2004 - also
provided them with ideas on how they
could present their concerns to the
Zimbabwean leader.
"Civil society may meet president Mugabe and seek
clarification on
issues pertaining to that country," he said.
But
Minister of Foreign Affairs, who spoke for the government side,
could not
guarantee the meeting between Mugabe and the civil society
organisations,
saying the itinerary has been concluded.
"To do that we have to consult
our colleagues in Zimbabwe," said
Katsonga, who described the meeting as
"amicable".
The minister said that the civil society organisations
understood the
importance of Mugabe's visit considering that Malawi, Zambia
and Zimbabwe
were once one country and any problems affecting one of them
have spill-over
effects on the others.
"We should know that we have
between four and five million Zimbabweans
of Malawian descent in that
country, therefore if that country is going
through a very difficult
[period] it is necessary for Malawi to engage the
political leadership of
that country to improve the situation," said
Katsonga.
Speaking in
an interview later, Executive Director of Institute for
Policy Interaction
(IPI) Rafiq Hajat - who some people saw as leading those
against Mugabe's
visit - concurred with Mayaya, saying "we were hasty [in
issuing threats]
because we wanted to be pro-active rather than reactive"
following media
reports that Mugabe would visit the country and the
government would name
the Blantyre-Midima Road after him.
He said there was no reason for
regret because the meeting would not
have taken place if they had not issued
the statements.
Hajat said government can proceed with arrangements to
have the road
named after Mugabe.
Source: Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)
Date: 25 Apr 2006
Harare (dpa) - The
Zimbabwe parliament has been told that around three
million Zimbabweans -
one quarter of the population - will need food aid
this year, it emerged
Tuesday.
The report is unlikely to please President Robert Mugabe's
government, which
is keen to see the agricultural sector recover after more
than three years
of reduced harvests.
"A large number of the
population is failing to cope on food," said Fambai
Ngirande from the
National Association of Non-governmental Organisations
(NANGO), speaking to
a parliamentary committee on public service, labour and
social
welfare.
Ngirande's comments were carried in the state-run Herald
newspaper.
Most of those in need are in Zimbabwe's rural areas and aid
groups will
bring in 300,000 tonnes of food to help the authorities feed
those in need,
said the newspaper.
Another aid worker, Forbes Matonga
of Christian Care explained that
charities were finding it "difficult to
operate" because of record inflation
levels of more than 913.6 percent and
the government's controlled exchange
rate.
The fixed rate of exchange
for the US dollar - much less than half the
amount the greenback goes for on
the streets - makes imports extremely
expensive.
The authorities
blame the repeated crop failures in Zimbabwe over the past
few years on
drought, though critics say the reduced production may have
something to do
with a controversial programme of land seizures from white
farmers.
There have been hopes that better rains this year may see an
improvement in
production, although farmers have warned that the high cost
of inputs and
shortages of vital fertiliser is crippling their operations.
dpa rt cb
From Flight International (UK), 25 April
Vladimir Karnozov
Moscow - Cuba and Zimbabwe have
signed agreements with Russia to acquire
Ilyushin and Tupolev airliners and
take advantage of Russian government
export financing. Zimbabwe aims to take
10-20 Il-96s and Tu-204s. Zimbabwe's
National Reserve Bank president Gedeon
Gono and transport minister
Christopher Mushohwe signed an initial agreement
with their Russian
counterparts in Moscow in April calling for delivery of
five Il-96s,
including three -400T freighters and two -400M passenger
aircraft.
Deliveries will start in 2008 from the Voronezh VASO plant via
lessor
Ilyushin-Finance. The deal is valued at $500 million. The firm
contract is
to be signed by July. Meanwhile, Ilyushin-Finance general
director Aleksandr
Rubtsov and Cubana Aviacion president Ricardo Santilian
have signed a firm
contract for two additional VIP versions of the
Il-96-300, two Tu-204-100
passenger aircraft and a Tu-204-100C freighter.
The order follows delivery
of a second Il-96-300VIP under a 2003 contract
worth $110 million, of which
$95 million was provided by Russian banks. The
second contract will use $325
million of Russian government-sponsored
credit. Cubana and second Cuban
carrier AeroCaribbean also seek 20-30
regional aircraft to replace Antonov
An-24s and leased ATR 42/72s. Cubana
says it is negotiating with ATR for new
ATR 72s and with China for Xian
MA60s. Russia is offering Il-114s,
VASO-manufactured Antonov An-148s and
Aviacor-assembled An-140s.
DANIEL FORTUNE MOLOKELE: THE VIRTUAL NATION
By Daniel Fortune Molokele
Last updated:
04/25/2006 20:15:46
Dear Robert Mugabe,
AS I SIT down and
work on my computer, I somehow take a cursory glance
across the
room.
I notice from the clock in front of me that it is now fifteen
minutes
after midnight.
This then, according to the Roman
system of time, means a new day has
just begun! This in effect also means it
is now exactly a week since
Zimbabwe celebrated its 26th
birthday.
May I also add that the new day has already started but
outside as
always, it is still as dark as it has been for the last few
hours. The fact
that I am wide awake when most of the people around me are
totally asleep
then helps me to understand another time honoured adage, 'the
darkest hour
is the one before dawn!'
As such for many
undiscerning people, the situation in Zimbabwe has
become a hopelessly dark
one. However, it may also mean that the dawn of a
new Zimbabwe could be much
closer than we all, including you Mugabe, assume.
But hey, I
digress. Let me return to my original subject. Oh yes, I
was talking about
the start of a new day right in front of my eyes. So what
is so special
about this new day? Nothing much one might say. May be, but
then may be
not.
For starters, as a big Thierry Henry fan, I quickly remember
that
later tonight the doors towards his future stay at Arsenal will be
opened
wide at last. The key that will achieve such a feat will of cause be
a
victory against Villarreal. Such a victory will pave the way for the
inimitable Henry to return to Paris as a world class player leading his
Gunners possibly against the mighty Barcelona.
Paris is not
just the French capital for this great soccer genius.
Nay, it is much more
than that! Paris is where it all begun for this now
famous man. Paris is the
very same city in which he arrived upon this
planet. He was born there. He
grew up there. But still throughout those
crucial years as a boy in Paris,
no one who came across him asked for his
autograph. No one even stopped to
have a second look at him. But still, for
him to be where he is today, he
had to go through those years of anonymity.
He was playing his soccer in
Paris, yet no one among its millions of
residents ever thought for once,
that one day he might on the very same
city, stand a chance of lifting up
the world's most coveted trophy in terms
of international club
football.
But then as I write this morning, Henry might be on the
verge of
lifting the UEFA Champions league trophy right there in Paris,
where his
simple but eventful life begun. It has taken almost thirty years
for him to
be where he is today. His journey towards his great destiny begun
there but
it never reached its full potential there. Why? Simply because
familiarity
breeds contempt! Why? Simply because for many Parisians, Thierry
was not
something special at all! He was just yet another boy who liked to
kick the
ball.
As a result, young Thierry left his city of
nativity and begun a
journey that has now lasted almost ten long years. That
very same journey
led him to the royal enclave of Monaco, and then later, he
had to fly across
to Turin in Italy. There at Juventus, he appeared to have
lost touch with
his great destiny. But somehow, he soldiered on and survived
those dark
hours of a stagnating career.
And as fate would have
it, his path of destiny once again crossed that
of his former Monaco mentor,
The Great Arsene Wenger. Before long, he flew
across the English Channel and
found himself a new home in Highbury of all
the places! Indeed I can bet my
last Rand that when he arrived in London,
not even one Gooner was moved
enough to welcome him at the airport. It was
such an uneventful arrival. No
one seemed able to notice that a new
phenomenon was about to help change the
destiny of Arsenal forever.
But before long, everyone was talking
about this new French striker at
Highbury. Today, he is not only the Captain
and the club's all time top goal
scorer but he also stands on the verge of
being its highest paid player in
the more than one hundred years of
Arsenal's history. The rest as they say
is history.
I am
inspired by Thierry Henry. I am even more inspired when I
remember the words
of Jesus Christ, 'no prophet has honour in his own
country'. Honestly it
took Arsenal and not Paris St German to fully develop
the potential of this
man into becoming the world class player we now have
come to know him today.
The question then we need all to answer is simple.
What if he had stayed on
in Paris for the rest of his soccer life? Would he
have been able to reach
the icon status he has now attained? Honestly, I do
not think
so.
But what then is my point? My point is that we need to start to
develop a new paradigm shift with regards to all Zimbabweans who have left
the country in the last few years. We need to start to look at them in a
much more positive way. May be like Henry, they also need another country to
fully appreciate them first before Zimbabwe realizes their full potential.
Otherwise, they will continue being devalued and taken for granted if they
remain in their home country.
They are not stupid and hopeless
cowards. Believe me it takes a lot of
guts to make that decision to leave
Zimbabwe, the land of their nativity.
Leaving one of the most beautiful
countries in the world can never be deemed
as an easy choice. It takes a lot
of guts to say enough is enough and leave
their motherland that is renowned
for its stunning beauty.
So why then Mugabe, have the four millions
or so of them left
Zimbabwe? The answer is simple. They have left because
your very own
government denied them the right to develop their full
potential. Your very
own government decided to take away from them their God
given right to live
out their destinies in full. It is your own very
government that chained
millions of people away in an unquenchable thirst
for power. The truth is
that you Robert Mugabe are a big control freak. You
took it upon yourself to
define the future of all these millions of
Zimbabweans in your own egoistic
terms. You shut them up in your rather long
ego trip.
And as fate would have it, one day they all realized that
there was no
more freedom in Zimbabwe. Yes, there was still INDEPENDENCE but
there was no
more FREEDOM! Freedom can never co-exist with a tyrant and
dictator that you
have now grown to be since 18th April 1980. The bad news
for you Mugabe is
that freedom long escaped your strong grip of power. Only
independence has
remained with you. As such Zimbabwe is an independent
country but this does
not mean that its citizens are a free
people.
In the final analysis, you need to awaken to the reality
that all the
four million or so Zimbabweans who now constitute the Diaspora
did not flee
Zimbabwe. No, not at all! They only chose to pursue after
freedom when she
fled from Zimbabwe. The love of freedom has since then made
them risk the
hungry crocodiles of the Limpopo River and join the ever
growing
international Zimbabwean communities.
But then I am
reliably informed that a week ago, on Tuesday 18th April
2006, you made a
public appeal for them to return to Zimbabwe in their
millions. Well, I have
very sad news for you Robert Mugabe. The reality you
have to face is that it
is most unlikely that most of them will ever return
to Zimbabwe. Forever! It
appears only a remnant shall return home. Worse
still, they will not just
return alone. They have made it a condition that
they will only do so when
freedom has also returned to Zimbabwe. As such,
only a remnant shall return
home, but with FREEDOM!!!
Yours,
Daniel
Molokele
Daniel Molokele is a Zimbabwean Human Rights Lawyer who is
based in
Johannesburg. He can be contacted at zimvirtualnation@yahoo.com
VOA
By Ashenafi Abedje
Washington, DC
24 April
2006
He was once the controversial minister of information for
President Robert
Mugabe and a member of the ruling ZANU-PF politburo. Now
Jonathan Moyo, who
is an independent member of Parliament, is giving us an
inside look into the
Zimbabwe government. Moyo tells English to Africa
reporter James Butty about
a power struggle to within ZANU-PF over who will
succeed President Robert
Mugabe.
"If you have a situation such as we
have in Zimbabwe, where the incumbent
president has been in power for 26
years under one party and is serving the
last few months of his tenure,
2008, that means ZANU-PF must find a
successor. But because they have
delayed doing so, and worse, because they
don't have a transparent and
democratic means for doing so within ZANU-PF,
it means you will have a power
struggle. And it is raging."
Moyo says it is a senseless question for
anybody to ask him why he never
spoke out as Zimbabwe's minister of
information."That would be such a
senseless question because it would be
overlooking a fundamental issue,
namely that ZANU-PF, as a liberation
movement, is a summation of who we are
as Zimbabweans. We as Zimbabweans
fought for our liberation under this
movement, and it does not make sense
just because one of two or more
individuals who constitute a clique hijacked
[it], that we should condemn
the movement itself. It is important to fight
within. Right now the most
critical opposition to Mugabe's rule is within
ZANU-PF. And the many people
associated with the so-called Tsholotsho
Declaration are inside ZANU-PF."
The Herald (Harare)
April 24,
2006
Posted to the web April 25, 2006
Harare
THE trial of four
MDC youths, who allegedly assaulted a fellow party member
and broke his leg
last week, continued at the Harare Magistrates' Courts
last
week.
Magistrate Mrs Priscilla Chigumba adjourned the trial to today.
Costa
Machingauta, Sylvesta Majekuza, Khamazula Chirilele and Nathan
Ndemura, who
were represented by a Harare lawyer, Mr Charles Kwaramba,
pleaded not guilty
to assault with intent to cause grievous bodily
harm.
Mr Kwaramba maintained that Ishmael Khauzani falsely implicated his
clients.
He further argued that Khauzani was assaulted by over 40 youths
including
others from Bulawayo but he only wrongly implicated his enemies.
He further
submitted that Chirilele and Majekuza had been sent by Professor
Welshman
Ncube to take party vehicles that were being abused by party
officials at
Harvest House (MDC Headquarters) when the complainant and
others stoned
them.
Prosecutor Mr Abel Chivasa said on May 17 last
year, Khauzani, who works for
MDC at Harvest House in Harare, went to the
offices for a meeting that was
being addressed by Mr Morgan Tsvangirai. As
he approached the offices, it is
alleged, other party members st arted
shouting his name, intending to attack
him.
The Herald (Harare)
April 25,
2006
Posted to the web April 25, 2006
Tendai
Chikamhi
Harare
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) has been
criticised for being
insensitive to the plight of orphans after it publicly
auctioned an
assortment of goods donated to Mother of Peace Orphanage in
Mutoko.
The goods were donated by well-wishing Zimbabweans based in the
United
Kingdom who were not informed about immigration procedures and were
not even
contacted when the goods went under the hammer. In an interview,
Mother of
Peace administrator Mr Hillary Zimudzi said Zimra auctioned the
consignment
of goods for the charitable organisation while they were trying
to raise the
$1 billion storage fee required by the revenue authority. "We
were in the
process of finding ways to raise the money but later we were
told that the
goods were on auction," said Mr Zimudzi.
The goods
included clothes, shoes, postures, rosaries and some statues,
among other
things. "We are a Catholic organisation so some of the goods
were meant for
the church. "We never had an opportunity to see the goods but
Father Oji,
who stays in Harare, managed to identify them because they had
our name
inscribed," he said. In a separate interview, Gogo Jean Cornneck
said she
was told to produce certificates of the dona tion so that they
could be able
to retrieve their consignment. "We were told to produce a
certificate of
donation and they told us that it looked more like a project
proposal.
"Later on, they told us to pay a billion dollars for storage," she
said. She
added that the money was too much and "in the process of our
clearing agent
trying to negotiate with them, Zimra then auctioned the
goods." Asked for
comment, Zimra corporate communications manager Miss
Priscilla Sadomba said
the orphanage was supposed to clear their goods on
time.
"For our
postal importations, postal detention notices are issued notifying
the
importer of the need to clear the goods, be it by duty payment or rebate
letter. "A State Warehouse rent notice is also issued for each parcel," said
Miss Sadomba. She said if clearance was not effected within three months of
the date of the final notice, the goods would be sold by public auction.
Miss Sadomba said in terms of the Revenue Authority Act, Zimra was preclud
ed from divulging specific information, thus they were unable to give any
information about the client in question.