THE International
Monetary Fund (IMF)'s patience with Zimbabwe is wearing thin after it
emerged this week that Harare is seeking to block next week's scheduled
visit by the Fund .
The ill-advised stalling for time by the
government is likely to cause new rifts with the Fund only three months
ahead of a key decision on Zimbabwe's future in the IMF. The bid to
buy time also comes at a time when the increasingly ostracised Zimbabwe can
hardly afford to further stiffen the hands of the international
monetarists. The country, which is facing a severe crisis of
confidence, is desperate for balance of payments support while its credit
rating has been reduced to junk status - a red flag that has not escaped the
attention of the international financier community. Impeccable
sources in Washington, who indicated that the Fund had been miffed by the
latest development, told The Financial Gazette yesterday that the Zimbabwe
government is pushing the IMF to postpone a series of meetings, under the
IMF's routine Article IV consultations, which had been scheduled to open
next Wednesday. According to the sources, the government through the
Ministry of Finance headed by Hebert Murerwa, has told the Fund that because
it recently split the former Finance and Economic Development Ministry into
two separate ministries, government was "not yet ready" to meet the
four-member IMF team. The IMF was not however, convinced and is said to have
dismissed this as a flimsy excuse. "They (government) said because
of the split, they are still settling in and cannot meet the IMF," our
source said. Zimbabwe will be expelled from the IMF at the Fund's next
board meeting in July unless the country can speed up payments of its
arrears to the Fund and show more commitment to economic reforms.
However, the reluctance by government to meet the IMF as per the initial
arrangement is being interpreted as arrogance and intransigence in
Washington, and is likely to negatively influence the IMF board's decision
on Zimbabwe. The IMF had been originally scheduled to first meet
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which is facing the tough task of convincing
the global lender that the reforms pledged at the last meeting seven months
ago remain on course. Yesterday, the RBZ public relations
department denied it was unable to meet the IMF. "As the central
bank, our books and activities are ready for inspection by whoever,
whenever. As such, we are ready to meet the IMF any time, but you should
understand that the programme has to be cleared by our parent ministry," a
spokesman said. "We have made a lot of strides in engaging the IMF so
it is not true, certainly not on our part, that we are not ready to meet
them (IMF)." The Article IV consultations are mandatory for all members
of the IMF. Sharmini Coorey is head of the planned IMF delegation, while
other members are Paul Heytens, Sonia Munoz and Sanket Mohapatra.
Apart from meeting the RBZ and government, the team also plans to meet
officials from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries, the Central Statistical Office and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change. After meeting the RBZ on Wednesday,
the IMF team had been scheduled to meet officials from the Grain Marketing
Board To Page 27
and the Agricultural Marketing Authority,
the controversial new body that government has said will be responsible for
marketing all agricultural products. On May 11, the IMF team was to
hold a meeting with debt laden power utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority and also meet the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The IMF
itinerary says the group will meet with the Office of the President on May
13 to discuss the issue of land reform, corruption and monopolies. It is not
clear from the itinerary whether the team will meet President Robert Mugabe
himself. President Mugabe is a strong critic of the IMF, but he last
year met Abdoulaye Bio-Tchane, IMF's director for the Africa Department, in
a conciliatory meeting that contrasted with President Mugabe's past threats
to cut ties with the Fund. Latest events come also weeks after
Siddharth Tiwari, a deputy director in the African Department at the Fund
gave some guarded optimism on Zimbabwe's progress in turning around the
economy. Tiwari told journalists in Washington that Zimbabwe had shown some
willingness to undertake reforms, but he said the government needed a more
"comprehensive programme that revives economic activity in
Zimbabwe". The IMF's February decision to postpone a decision to expel
Zimbabwe from the fund came on the back of the RBZ's promise to step up
quarterly repayments to US$5 million from US$1.5 million. Progress in
restraining inflation, which peaked at 622 percent in January last year but
which now stands at 123 percent, had also assuaged the IMF.
However, the IMF noted that Zimbabwe's payment of US$16.5 million since the
previous review fell well short of its expectations. As of February 15 this
year, Zimbabwe's arrears to the IMF stood at Special Drawing Rights (SDR)202
million, or US$306 million, representing 57 percent of its IMF
quota.
ZIMBABWE, grappling
with a serious grain deficit threatening an estimated two million people,
has put the State Security Ministry firmly in charge of the importation and
distribution of maize - a pointer to the gravity of the
situation.
Government sources said members of the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO), the country's secretive security agency,
which falls under the State Security Ministry, were now directly involved in
the day-to-day distribution of grain and other cereals. The
ministry, they say, is scouting for grain and cereals from as far afield as
East and West Africa, mainly Tanzania and Ghana, following indications that
supplies were drying up in traditional source markets. South Africa has
been Harare's major supplier of white maize, while Zambia has banned grain
exports until it is satisfied with an audit of how much grain had been
harvested in the past agricultural season. Zimbabwe has to import at
least 1.2 million metric tonnes of maize and 200 000 metric tonnes of wheat
and beans. Didymus Mutasa, the newly appointed Minister of State
Security, told The Financial Gazette yesterday his ministry was geared for
the mammoth task of sourcing grain for the nation, which is now left with 60
000 metric tonnes of maize. Mutasa said it was not news that his
ministry was now directly in charge of the importation and distribution of
grain. "For a very long time the ministry has been doing that
(importing and distributing food)," he said. "It is not just recent. It has
been a long-standing issue, but I know you are raising it because we are now
visibly on the ground ensuring that no one starves as indicated by the
President (Robert Mugabe)," he added. According to the government,
at least US$420 million is needed for the immediate importation of grain and
cereals. Added Mutasa: "There's nothing sinister, the ministry (of
state security) does such national duties all the time." The
country needs 1.8 million metric tonnes of grain annually to meet domestic
needs, at an average of 150 000 tonnes per month. A further 500 000 tonnes
is required to replenish strategic reserves. Renson Gasela, the
Movement for Democratic Change shadow minister of lands and agriculture,
said: "Maize is now being treated like a security item where the country
must be kept in ignorance. This is evidenced by the total militarisation of
GMB (the Grain Marketing Board)."
A GOVERNMENT crack
team has, in recent weeks, swooped on several non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) suspected of engaging in subversive activities, as the increasingly
paranoid state steps up its fight against perceived external
enemies.
While the government described its actions as "routine
checks" on the panicky NGO sector, sources said the days could be numbered
for some foreign-funded agencies because of the draconian NGO Act that is
yet to be signed into law. They said the swoop on NGOs could be
part of an audit that might inform the Ministry of Public Service, Labour
and Social Welfare of industry players that should close shop once President
Robert Mugabe accedes to the controversial NGO Act. The government,
which in 2001 made it illegal for political parties to receive foreign
funding, says external forces were using NGOs as conduits in their bid to
bankroll opposition parties, particularly the main Movement for Democratic
Change. President Mugabe, whose ruling ZANU PF secured a disputed
two-thirds majority in last month's polls, accuses Britain, the United
States of America and Australia of funding NGOs with the intention of
destabilising his government as retribution for its decision to seize land
from the minority whites and redistributing it to the landless black
majority. The controversial NGO Act, rushed through Parliament last
year will, among other things, bar NGOs from receiving foreign funding for
governance programmes. Most NGOs depend on foreign funding for most of their
projects. According to the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations (NANGO), an inter-departmental probe team appointed by Public
Service Minister Nicholas Goche, under the Private Volunteer Organisations
(PVOs), is doing the rounds and carrying out investigations around various
aspects of their operations. NANGO, a coalition of civic society
organisations operating in Zimbabwe, has issued an alert advising sector
members of unannounced raids and inspections by a government probe team
officials claim includes members of the dreaded Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO). "The terms of reference of the inspecting officers
is as follows: inspect the affairs and activities of PVOs and to examine all
documentation relating to the registration of PVOs relating to thereof in
particular, the registration status of the PVOs, the constitution of the
board, whether the activities of the sponsored or funded are within the
mandate of the PVO and foreign currency transactions for pledge to
conversion into local currency", reads part of the alert. NANGO
officials yesterday confirmed a probe team visited their offices last
Tuesday where they were asked to produce their books of accounts. "They
seemed to be particularly interested in foreign currency from donors and
where and what rate we converted the money," said an NGO executive
whose organisation is one of about 15 raided by the government probe team in
the past month. It is an offence for anybody to liquidate foreign
exchange on the non-official markets. Several prominent individuals and
companies have been arraigned before the courts on charges of violating the
exchange control regulations. Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of State
Security responsible for the CIO, said although he had not sanctioned the
investigations, he suspected it was a routine exercise by the government to
keep tabs on NGOs. "I don't know about the raids but the investigations
could be routine," said Mutasa. "Some of these NGOs have been up to no
good. So I don't think there is anything wrong with the government getting
to know the core of their busy," he said. "Has anyone been arrested? I don't
think so. This is just normal business." Goche could not
immediately comment yesterday as his office said he tied in a meeting when
this newspaper called to ascertain the authenticity of the claims of the
country's NGO sector. According to the NANGO alert, the probe team has
also been tasked to examine the books of accounts and other documents
relating to the financial affairs of PVO including sources of income,
structures of expenditure and verification of activities implemented on the
ground
FUGITIVE businessman
Mutumwa Mawere, wanted in Zimbabwe on allegations of externalising $300
billion is far from being finished as information coming from his base in
South Africa reveals he has paid R6.5 million for a controlling stake in
Krohne Limited, a company owned by one of the world's largest
instrumentation and control firms.
Mawere, still fighting
desperately to save his vast Zimbabwe assets from state seizure, has agreed
a deal with Krohne AG under which the German company will sell a 50.1
percent equity stake in Krohne Limited, its South Africa operation, to
Mawere's Africa Heritage Investment (AHI). A Memorandum of
Understanding was signed on April 14 in Hannover, Germany, by Michael
Dubbick on behalf of Krohne AG, Marco Rudelli for Krohne Limited and Mawere,
on behalf of AHI. Krohne Limited, incorporated in South Africa where
Mawere is based, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Krohne AG, a company
registered in Switzerland, that is in turn wholly-owned by Krohne GmbH &
Co, incorporated in Germany. Mawere, confirming the deal, said the
black economic empowerment (BEE) deal would add value to Krohne, which has
wide applications in mining, oil, gas and allied industries. "This
transaction should be seen in a much broader context than normal BEE deals.
We are cognisant (of the fact) that taking a majority stake in any company
carries enormous obligation on our part to significantly add value to Krohne
(Pty) Limited." The deal means that Krohne Limited, which until Mawere
came in, was foreign-controlled after 38 years in South Africa, will now
join South Africa's BEE bandwagon. Large white-owned companies in
South Africa are lining up to sign on black empowerment groups, both to
comply with state requirements on black ownership and also to attract
business from a growing black elite. Mawere has not made public his
plans for the instrumentation and control company, but it is possible that
he intends to exploit Krohne's involvement in mining to gain a foothold in
South Africa's lucrative mining industry. Apart from mining, Krohne also
serves industries in the petrochemical, food and beverage, water, power
generation and manufacturing sectors. The Krohne deal comes as
government presses ahead with the takeover of Mawere's numerous interests in
Zimbabwe. The government, accusing Mawere of failing to repatriate proceeds
from the export of asbestos from Shabani Mashava Mines, has appointed
chartered accountant Afaras Gwarazimba to nationalise Mawere's
businesses.
DUMISO Dabengwa, the
former PF ZAPU intelligence supremo who retired from the government in 2000,
is on a collision course with former war veterans boss Jabulani Sibanda over
the restructuring of the ex-freedom fighters body.
The clash
between the former home affairs minister and the deposed Zimbabwe National
Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWA) chairman comes as a
three-member committee headed by Dabengwa is about to seek approval from the
ruling ZANU PF's supreme decision-making body - the politburo - before
proceeding with the re-organisation of the vocal group. Heads are
expected to roll in the politically motivated clean-up of the war veterans'
body, which spearheaded the violent land seizures of 2000, partly blamed for
Zimbabwe's current economic woes. Dabengwa, retired army general
Solomon Mujuru and retired commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, general
Vitalis Zvinavashe, were mandated by President Robert Mugabe to restructure
the ZNLWA - a key constituency in ZANU PF's scheme of things. War
veterans are seen as the force that saved ZANU PF from defeat at the hands
of the Movement of Democratic Change (MDC) in June 2000 when they made land
reform a campaign tool for the ruling party. A firm grip over the rag-tag
group , therefore, is critical for ZANU PF. The restructuring,
ostensibly aimed at unifying the fighters of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle
and thrashing out concerns to do with their benefits, has provoked the ire
of Sibanda, whose contempt for senior ZANU PF leaders in Matabe-leland is
well-documented. Sibanda, suspended from ZANU PF last year for four
years for alleged indiscipline, is against the impeding restructuring, which
he equates to interfering with the ZNLWA's affairs. The
acid-tongued war veteran alleged that Dabengwa, a former member of the ZIPRA
War Council, and his colleagues wanted to plant their surrogates within the
structures of the ZNLWA. It is widely believed that President Mugabe,
who has hinted he will retire at the end of his term in 2008, has given
Dabengwa a blank cheque to reorganise ZANU PF in Matabe-leland, a former PF
ZAPU stronghold that has remained largely elusive to ZANU PF even after the
merger of the two parties. "They want to obliterate the
association. The President (Mugabe) has succumbed to pressure from Dabengwa
and Mujuru who want to control war veterans, but we were neither by the
party (ZANU PF) . . . nor by government- we founded ourself," Sibanda
said. "We had war veterans who had been reduced to destitution at
Renkini, Mbare Msika, Mutare and yet they (Dabengwa, Mujuru and Zvinavashe)
did nothing. Now they are spending more of their time pursuing policies of
elimination so that they remain leaders. We will not have anything of that
sort," Sibanda said. Dabengwa, who retired from President Mugabe's
Cabinet after losing the Nkulumane seat to MDC vice-president Gibson Sibanda
in 2000, scoffed at Sibanda's accusations. The former home affairs
minister, who alleged the ZNLWA despised commanders of the 1970s liberation
struggle that brought Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, said Sibanda was
"mentally deranged". "There are many mad people in this world and he
(Sibanda) is one of them," Dabengwa said. "From the beginning, the war
veterans said they did not want senior commanders when they formed that
association. But that is their problem," Dabengwa added. Sibanda
has previously accused the ZANU PF leadership in Matabeleland of "destroying
ZANU PF". Sibanda's deputy, Joseph Chinotimba, was also suspended from
ZANU PF's provincial co-ordinating committee and stopped from participating
in the party's primary elections to chose candidates for the March 31
polls. Chinotimba was accused of attending the Tsholotsho meeting that
led to the suspension of six party provincial chairmen who were said to have
planned to scuttle the appointment of Joice Mujuru to the position of ZANU
PF and national vice-president.
DESPITE claims
that Zimbabwe realised an all-time high maize harvest of 2,4 million tonnes
in the 2003/2004 agricultural season, the erstwhile regional breadbasket has
been importing grain in the past nine months to augment depleted stocks, a
report by the Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNET) reveals.
At
least 102 000 metric tonnes of maize, 17 000 metric tonnes of rice and 17
000 metric tonnes of beans had been imported into the country through
informal cross border trade between July 2004 and last month, according to
the report. The latest revelations come as it also emerged Harare
needs a staggering US$420 million for maize imports to cover a serious grain
deficit estimated to be 1.2 million metric tonnes between April 2005 and the
next harvest in March 2006. Zimbabwe, which last week held stocks
of about 60 000 tonnes, had together with Malawi and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo been active participants in the informal trade of maize grain,
a staple food in most southern African nations. The country, which
last year refused international food aid claiming it had enough to feed its
starving rural population, imported 13 000 metric tonnes mainly from Zambia
in the nine months. During the same period, it also imported
unspecified tonnages of rice and beans from Zambia, now home to a number of
white commercial farmers who left Zimbabwe in the wake of the land reform
programme meant to benefit the landless black majority. The
government acquired about 4 500 commercial farms from white farmers for
redistribution to nearly 140 000 landless blacks. However, statistics at
hand show that for the past five years since the onset of land reform, the
new farmers have failed to feed the nation hence an upsurge in the
importation of grain by both the formal and informal sectors from
neighbouring countries. Harare has also in recent weeks inc-reased
imports from South Africa where it is understood to be purchasing white
maize at US$120 per tonne. Malawi, another southern Africa nation
reeling from severe drought-induced food shortages blamed on poor rains,
also emerged a bigger dabbler in the maize informal trade than Zimbabwe,
procuring a total of 71 000 metric tonnes, mostly from Mozambique.
"The flow of trade was in the expected direction as both Malawi and Zimbabwe
had cereal deficits whereas the major exporters-Mozambique and Zambia-had
above average harvests," the FEWSNET report said, adding informal maize
exports into Zimbabwe could have been much higher had the country not
imposed restrictive taxes and levies, which only favoured the state-owned
Grain Marketing Board (GMB). The GMB is the country's sole trader
of grain and as such it is a criminal offence for anyone to trade in
grain.
Look who is talking!
Former chief government propagandist and tireless tormentor and persecutor
of journalists, Professor Jonathan Moyo, has been opining at great length on
the demerits of a government-controlled media.
He was quoted in the
press last week speaking disparagingly about the revival of the Ministry of
Information following the latest cabinet reshuffle. The ministry, which had
existed since independence, was abolished in 2000 , apparently on Moyo's
advice, to be replaced by a department of information and publicity in the
President's Office Moyo was quoted at length by a weekly paper deriding
the revival of the ministry, which is headed by former diplomat Tichaona
Jokonya, as a "disorganisation" and the upgrading of the department he
formerly headed as a "backward movement". Moyo, who was toppled
from his hitherto-seemingly-unassailable position over his role in the
Tsholotsho debacle, said Jokonya and his deputy, Bright Matonga, had been
thrown into a difficult situation in which there was "an old-fashioned
Information Ministry located in a modern information-based society"
Moyo pooh-poohed the latest development further by stating, "Things have
changed and government ownership of newspapers has become an anathema to
democracy. "The whole thing is just not on. ZANU PF must move on with
the times." What breathtaking hypocrisy and shameless opportunism! Only
a short six months ago, Moyo was furiously defending and frantically
promoting the government actions and policies he is now blasting.
Why should his sanctimonious posturing be taken seriously when it is clear
he is afflicted by a serious bout of sour grapes? His stewardship of
the information portfolio ushered in the darkest and most tragic period for
the journalism fraternity since 1980. It was marked by the enactment of
archaic and totalitarian laws under the draconian Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). Moyo was the most vociferous
defender and ruthless enforcer of these harsh laws which resulted in the
closure of newspapers and the arrest, intimidation and relentless harassment
of media practitioners. His determination to silence the private press
and turn the state media into total government propaganda tools caused
unprecedented upheavals and untold suffering. Hundreds of journalists
decreed to be 'unpatriotic' or unwilling to toe Moyo's self-serving line
were martyred at the altar of his expediency by way of his endless and
vindictive "restructuring exercises" at state- owned media organisations.
There was no subtlety to Moyo's promotion of a purely personal agenda as he
swaggeringly bullied and shouted down any stakeholders who disagreed with
him. With Moyo acting as the main polarising force, the media environment in
Zimbabwe degenerated into a noxious "dog eat dog" scenario. Moyo crafted a
divide-and-rule approach in which media laws were so shamelessly selectively
applied that regardless of the situation, public media practitioners could
do no wrong while their private media counterparts were to be mocked,
harassed and arrested on the flimsiest of pretexts. And if the
truth be told, Moyo's tenure as feared information czar earned the
government of Zimbabwe legions of enemies and saddled it with an
unpopularity and notoriety that will take years to shake off. It
may take even longer to re-orient those journalists who had become too
accustomed to operating as "their master's voice" to uphold the standards
and ethics of the profession once again. It is against this background
that Moyo's latest hypocritical outpourings cannot go unchallenged. Most
people do not object to Moyo's views on the dangers of a government
controlling the media in a democracy. In fact, most stakeholders agree
with him. What puts most people off is Moyo's brazen opportunism,
particularly so soon after changing hats to revert to being a rabid critic
of the ruling party. The question they ask is why it is alright for Moyo to
now express these views when he left no stone unturned as information
minister to force compliance with the conditions he now describes as
"anathema to democracy". Remember this is the same man who regularly
mocked the government's critics as "enemies of the state" or agents of
foreign powers and interests. Moyo was once the most well-placed person
in the entire country to advise President Mugabe and his government on how
to deal with the media and how to mount an effective propaganda campaign
designed to influence people and win friends. But what did Moyo do
when he had this golden opportunity? Far from pointing out to the government
that laws should not be enacted to protect it but rather that it existed to
protect the laws, the disgraced former minister played a pivotal role in
imposing a repressive agenda on a bewildered nation. Is Moyo saying
everything was hunky-dory as long as he was in charge but is suddenly amiss
because Jokonya has taken over? The new minister has made a good start
by re-establishing dialogue with editors from both the private and public
media. Hopefully, these contacts will continue until relations improve to at
least pre-Moyo levels. For the necessary healing and reconciliation to
happen, Moyo should be the last person to offer any advice. The
most telling sign that his current utterances are not influenced by any
moral underpinnings is his apparent belief that merely calling the portfolio
he once headed a department automatically made it better than a
ministry. What is in a name? Moyo wreaked greater media havoc and
caused more grief in the five years he headed the Department of Information
and Publicity than his six predecessors did in the preceeding 20 years when
they headed a full-fledged ministry. Hopefully, some lessons have
been learnt and Jokonya will endeavour to avoid repeating the excesses of
the Moyo era. The $64-million question that remains unanswered however,
is why and how Moyo got away with his shenanigans for so long when his
credentials as a political chameleon were a matter of public
record. Consider for a moment if Moyo would be singing his current tune
if President Mugabe had given his blessing (which Moyo sought) to the former
spindoctor's decision to stand as an independent in Tsholotsho in the
general elections held last month?
THE court of public opinion is sharply divided
over the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)'s decision to dump Thabo
Mbeki, the South African leader and mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis, as the
opposition party's frustration deepens.
The MDC, desperate to
ratchet up pressure on President Robert Mugabe's government following what
it said was "a stolen election", alleges Mbeki helped ZANU PF secure a
disputed two-thirds majority in the March 31 polls. "We won't talk to
the South Africans as if they are mediators because we have realised they
are funding ZANU PF and engaged it in strategies on how to win a two-thirds
majority," a local weekly quoted MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube as
saying. South Africa has not responded to these specific allegations
except to say the MDC remained an important partner in the resolution of the
Zimbabwe question. Mbeki, at the centre of trying to find a
solution to Zimbabwe's polarised political situation, had tried to push
President Mugabe's increasingly isolated government towards political
reforms, but his "quiet diplomacy" fell flat on its face. The MDC
and its sympathisers also believe Mbeki betrayed Zimbabweans by endorsing
"flawed" elections in spite of concerns raised by the opposition.
They said the South African leader's objective had been to give legitimacy
to President Mugabe's regime despite concerns such as opposition candidates
not having equal access to state media and voter registration lists
allegedly having as many as two million illegitimate names. The MDC,
unhappy it has lost three disputed elections to the ruling ZANU PF since its
launch in September 1999, has turned to Mauritius President and Southern
African Development Community (SADC) chairman Paul Berenger for
help. Political analysts say the main opposition party, which won 41
out of the 120 contested seats in the disputed March elections, has realised
it cannot continue to keep its faith in Mbeki, whom it alleges has shown his
allegiance to the ruling ZANU PF. ZANU PF won 78 seats, while
dismissed former government spin-doctor Jonathan Moyo won rural Tsholotsho
constituency as an independent. It is also in the interest of the MDC,
the analysts said, for the world to know the party has lost confidence in
Mbeki so that non-partisan brokers can be seconded to help salvage the
Zimbabwe crisis. They said ZANU PF, facing fresh waves of fuel and food
shortages, had little choice but negotiate with the MDC, which it alleges
fronts for Western countries opposed to the Zimbabwe government's
controversial land reforms. Yet others think the MDC might have
moved one step forward and three backwards by ditching Mbeki, who commands
Africa's largest economy which is also Zimbabwe's largest trading
partner. "As an observation, there is no way a government which is
collaborating with the existing government in Zimbabwe and is a member of
SADC can say the opposition party is better than the ruling party. It is
undiplomatic to say that," said political analyst Heneri
Dzinotyiwei. "The strategy to follow is a quieter diplomacy to
understand and brief them (the South Africans) more about developments in
Zimbabwe and pushing them to adopt a neutral stance," added
Dzinotyiwei. Dzinotyiwei says he believes the MDC took a narrow view in
its analysis because South Africa is merely interested in rescuing the
situation in Zimbabwe and safeguarding its own interests. The
elections, said Dzinotyiwei, were one of the many issues of concern to
Pretoria, with Mbeki's role being that of facilitator. Zimbabweans, he said,
should provide answers to their own problems. "South Africa has
recognised the problems in Zimbabwe and that in itself is a significant
posture showing they do realise there are issues to be resolved," he said.
"There is no way a country which is our neighbour cannot be relevant for us
in resolving our crisis". Other analysts said the MDC may still be
trying to find its feet after the March 31 election loss and may have acted
too soon without considering the consequences of its actions. They said the
decision to dump Mbeki could have been rushed as the MDC tried to justify
its loss, being contested in the Electoral Court, to its mainly urban
electorate that has religiously supported the party since its
birth. The analysts said losing South Africa's backing could leave the
party with no real friends in the sub-Saharan region, adding that President
Mugabe appeared to have a soft spot for Mbeki that could work in the MDC's
favour in the bid to end its deadlock with ZANU PF. President
Mugabe's other ally Sam Nujoma of Namibia has retired. ZANU PF
sympathiser and political analyst Augustine Timbe said the decision to ditch
Mbeki would not benefit anyone, including the ruling party, because it
polarised the political process. He said Berenger would not help the
MDC either because SADC, which he leads, had already endorsed the poll
result.
IF THERE was any doubt as to where the power now lies within
ZANU PF, then a look at Mashonaland East wou-ld provide a handy
clue.
Of the 13 elected Members of Parliament in Mashonaland East,
12 have been handed plum government positions - including seven "development
cabinet" seats - while one is reportedly tipped for a diplomatic
post. President Robert Mugabe has also appointed four deputy ministers
from the 13 MPs. Long serving diplomat Tichaona Jokonya, MP for
Chikomba, was President Mugabe's surprise choice for the Ministry of
Information and Publicity. Herbert Murerwa, the MP for Goromonzi, has
been appointed Finance Minister, while the blundering controversial man from
Hwedza, Aeneas Chigwedere who many felt should have been dumped after
running down the country's education system, was retained as Minister of
Education, Sport and Culture. Sydney Sekeramayi (Marondera East)
Ambrose Mutinhiri (Marondera West) David Parirenyatwa (Murehwa North) and
Olivia Muchena (Mutoko South) have all been appointed ministers. Ray
Kaukonde, the MP for Mudzi East, was appointed Masho-naland East
governor. Joel Biggie Matiza of Murehwa South was appointed Emmerson
Mnangagwa's deputy at the newly-created Ministry of Rural Housing and Social
Amenities. Phineas Chihota, the representative for Seke constituency, was
given the deputy minister's post at the Ministry of Industry and
International Trade. David Chapfika of Mutoko North was retained as
deputy Finance Minister, while Kenneth Mutiwekuziwa, MP of the avidly ZANU
PF constituency of Uzumba-Maramba- Pfungwe, is the deputy minister of Small
and Medium Enterprise Development. The only figure from Mashonaland
East that did not make it into government is Mudzi West's Aqualina Katsande,
who The Financial Gazette has heard is being earmarked for a diplomatic
posting. Compare Masho-naland East's good fortune with the sorry plight
of Masvingo. The vast province could only send two of its own MPs into
cabinet; Minister of State for Indigenisation and Empowerment Josiah
Tungamirai of Gutu North, and former Foreign Affairs chief Stan Mudenge, who
has been given the less glamorous job of Minister of Higher and Tertiary
Education. Not even President Mugabe's own province of Mashonaland West
can compare with Mashonaland East. Mashonaland West has six cabinet
and deputy ministers, including Patrick Zhuwawo, deputy minister of Science
and Technology. Mashonaland Central, long regarded as the bedrock of
ZANU PF support, also pales in comparison to Mashonaland East. The province
boasts of Vice President Joice Mujuru, and four ministers. One of them, ZANU
PF's political commissar Elliot Manyika, is a minister without portfolio,
while Chen Chimutengwende is head of the hazy Ministry of Public and
Interactive Affairs. The easy explanation will be that the
distribution of top government posts is a mere coincidence. Still,
conspiracy theorists in ZANU PF, with memories of the bitter battle for the
Vice Presidency evidently still playing at the back of their minds, do not
see it as a mundane coincidence. "There is a deliberate strategy to
reward the (Solomon) Mujuru camp," a ZANU PF insider claimed this week. "How
else can you explain it?" Mujuru, a cunning senior soldier in the ZANLA
liberation war army, hails from Jokonya's Chikomba constituency.
"General", as Mujuru is known in ZANU PF circles, has long been seen as the
kingmaker of ZANU PF politics. Mujuru led a robust faction - dubbed the
"Chikomba Mafia"- that won his wife the post of Vice-President, cementing
his position as one of ZANU PF's most influential figures. In case
President Mugabe retires as promised in 2008, Joice Mujuru has the best
possible shot at the President's chair among all her potential
rivals. President Mugabe told The Jakarta Post in Indonesia last
week that he would step down at the end of his current term, claiming though
that he would not follow the lead of several of his retired regional
colleagues in appointing a successor. But judging by the
configuration of his cabinet, bursting at the seams with Mujuru's backers,
ZANU PF officials now concede that President Mugabe could never make it any
clearer on who he wants to succeed him.
SUSPENDED ZANU PF Manicaland provincial
chairman Mark Madiro has been sacked from his job as the party's director
for finances as the ill-fated Tsholotsho meeting continues to haunt those
who attended it.
Madiro and five other provincial chairmen were
suspended from ZANU PF for five years following allegations that they had
planned to oust the ZANU PF leadership when they attended the meeting, held
at Dinyane School in Tsholotsho. It is alleged the meeting was
meant to block Joice Mujuru's rise to the position of ZANU PF and national
vice-president. It was also charged the meeting sought to rally the
provincial leadership in the six provinces behind former ZANU PF secretary
for administration Emmerson Mnangagwa as the co-vice president. The
former Manicaland provincial chairman, who was handed his dismissal letter
on Wednesday last week by the ZANU PF secretary for finance David
Karimanzira, said he was not bitter about his ejection, saying he had served
the party well during his time. "Eighteen years in that department is
long enough. I have served the party for a long time," Madiro said without
elaborating on the circumstances surrounding his dismissal.
Sources, however, said the booting out of Madiro, long considered a protégé
of Mnangagwa, was also meant to lessen the presidential hopeful's grip on
ZANU PF's finances. Madiro denied ever being linked to Mnangagwa,
saying he had worked in the finance department as a professional cadre and
"I did not choose whom to work under". Karimanzira refused to
disclose to The Financial Gazette the reasons for sacking Madiro.
"That is not an issue which we can discuss in the newspaper," Karimanzira
said.
THE Media and
Information Commission (MIC) meets the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe
(ANZ), publishers of the closed Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday,
tomorrow to finalise the publishing company's application for a
licence.
The ANZ, which fought a protracted, 18-month-long legal
wrangle following the closure of its two titles in September 2003, won a
Supreme Court ruling earlier this year to launch a fresh application for a
licence with the MIC. ANZ chief executive Samuel Sipepa Nkomo
refused to give details of tomorrow's meeting but confirmed that MIC
chairman, Tafataona Mahoso, had invited the company for a meeting.
"It is difficult to speculate but what I can only say is MIC has invited us
over and we are meeting them on Friday (tomorrow)," Nkomo said. The
meeting between the ANZ and the MIC comes at a time the new Minister of
Information and Publicity, Tichaona Jokonya, has been hailed for his
conciliatory tone in dealing with the media - both private and public.
Jokonya, who has pledged to lift the living, working and professional
standards in the media, recently said the government would cultivate a
cordial working relationship with the industry. President Robert
Mugabe, basking in the glory of a two-thirds majority in the just-ended
parliamentary polls, recently hinted that no newspaper would be denied a
licence. Four newspapers - The Daily News, The Daily News on Sunday,
The Tribune and The Weekly Times - have closed shop since September 2003 for
various reasons under the draconian Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act.
HARARE, facing a
dearth of new property developments, is making it even more difficult for
fresh projects to take off because of the city fathers' failure to correct
water woes dogging the capital.
Since December last year, the
former "Sunshine City" has experienced erratic water supplies, with suburbs
such as Msasa Park and Mabvuku going for several weeks without the precious
resource. Apart from the health hazards posed by the water crisis,
property industry players said the cost could even be more.
Tavenganiswa Mabikacheche, chairman of the Estate Agents Council (EAC), said
the crisis, blamed on a shortage of water purification chemicals and old
pipes bursting at alarming frequency, has become too prevalent. The EAC
boss said the water woes had derailed work that was currently underway,
while at the same time scaring away potential developers of new industrial,
commercial and residential properties. He said most developers operated
on shoestring budgets and could not afford to continuously fork out salaries
and wages while losing productive hours due to work stoppages caused by the
water crisis. Mabikacheche said the current water reservoir serving
Harare had failed to cater for the needs of the city. It was therefore
unlikely, he said, that new housing developments could draw water from the
same source. There was, therefore, need to upgrade the current water
system, said Mabikache-che, adding: "There is an outcry over shortages of
serviced land. Developers might have land but, due to water
problems and poor funding, they would not be able to service their
land." Divine Homes, a local property developer, urged partnership
between the public and private sectors in tackling the water
crisis. An official with the company said the partnership should
develop Kunzvi Dam, a massive alternative water source for Harare that has
been stalled for the past few years because of lack of funds.
Apart? Are things really falling apart? What do
you think? They are, are they not? CZ should be forgiven for thinking so
because everywhere he looks, all he sees is nothing but cracks - huge cracks
for that matter - emerging everywhere.
So show cause why CZ
cannot believe that things are just beginning to fall apart? We
know it is always good - in fact commendable - for men to put on brave faces
even in the middle of a crisis they have no capacity whatsoever to manage,
but in our case we look like we are in a real mess and wading deeper into
it. It is a fact that we have run out of food no matter what Mzala Joe
and his other "super-patriots" may wish us to dream. It is a fact
that we have run out of fuel. It is a fact that we can no longer afford
importing power. It is a fact that in Harare water is now a luxury for many.
It is a fact that we have run out of common sense . . . and this explains
why we can no longer tell the difference between left and right, black and
white, heaven and earth etc, etc. It is a fact that we have run out of sound
leaders - hence the recycling, re-recycling, re-re-recycling and the
re-re-re-recycling of the same old people. We have literally run out of
anything worth bragging about. What we have in abundance is land. We have
lots of it. And patriotism. Lots of it too. Arrogance. Heaps and heaps of
it. Sovereignty. A surfeit and a half. But we still have untold
difficulties making the land productive. The best we can do is shout slogans
from rooftops but revolutions are not made on slogans alone. As of
the other rainbow goodies: arrogance, patriotism, sovereignty etc . . . they
are mere rainbows . . . and don't put butter on bread. No one will eat them,
or even exchange them for the forex we so badly need so is it wiser than
that proverbial overjoyed fool boasting that the moon is his? So do you
see why we are in a fix. An ostrich mentality will work, but there is a
point beyond which realities on the ground will demand that we quit
fantasising and face the truth and it is at this point that we are getting
at. We can accuse anyone of doing this and that to sabotage other
efforts, but the truth is that all this is vainglorious and cynical . . .
unless we make genuine efforts, we will always remain in a fix.
Good news? There seems to be good news coming from the former
department of information . . . now upgraded to a full-blown ministry . . .
news that the new minister, a career diplomat this time around, seems to
regret the way things have been made to be by his predecessor, the Professor
himself. There can be no better news than this especially if is true
that he is saying AIPPA is open to changes. Every well meaning Zimbo will
like it. These are some of the benefits that come with a change in faces. If
only the Great Uncle could do this to all ministries! Anyway no one
will begrudge the new minister if he would disagree with his predecessor's
management style to the extent of reversing some of the crazy things that
the Professor did . . . starting with getting rid of some of those sclerotic
bootlickers foisted on public media houses!
ZIMBABWE, overburdened
by a severe hard currency crisis, needs to raise nearly US$580 million
(about $4 trillion at the official exchange rate) over the next seven months
to fund critical fuel, power and wheat imports.
The Financial
Gazette learnt this week that the bill is in addition to the US$420 million
that Zimbabwe needs to meet immediate maize imports, which includes the
US$125 million needed urgently to buy 500 000 tonnes of maize to replenish
the gravely depleted strategic grain reserve. It has since been
established that the government has drawn up a budget to import 260 000
tonnes of wheat, which will cost Zimbabwe US$75 million. Zimbabwe
has set a monthly import requirement of US$60 million for fuel imports from
April to October, which will bring the total fuel import bill over the
following seven months to US$420 million. In addition to the fuel
requirements, the government is also looking to raise money for a US$84
million electricity bill from April to October, the sum of a monthly
requirement of US$12 million over the seven-month period. This brings the
total required for grain and energy imports to US$579 million.
There has been no official comment as to how government plans to meet the
urgent import bill, but early indications are that the government will once
again muscle in on the money market for cash to buy the foreign exchange
required. Such a move would further swell its domestic debt, which rose
$4 trillion in one month to $7.2 trillion on April 15. The
government is already running a large deficit, having budgeted spending of
$27.5 trillion on revenues of $23 trillion. However, government will now
have to bust the budget to buy grain and stave off starvation while also
importing energy to keep industry running. These new figures will widen
the budget deficit and raise alarm that the country's central bank-led
economic reforms could be thrown into danger. The government is
increasingly desperate to stem a further deterioration in the fuel and power
supply situation in Zimbabwe. Fuel queues have been getting longer as
suppliers run out of foreign currency to pay for petroleum imports, while
power shortages sank to To C4 From C1 new lows last
week with large swathes of Harare's industrial and commercial areas losing
power for days. Power monopoly the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA) however, insisted this week that the outages were a result of a loss
of 100MW after a fault on the supply line from the Democratic Republic of
the Congo power utility Snel, one of the parastatal's key regional
suppliers. Zimbabwe has to pay upfront for most of its imports due to
its poor credit history. The new import bill is an omen that demand
for foreign currency will see a steep rise over the coming months, adding
renewed pressure on the Zimbabwe Dollar. The local unit, already
left vulnerable by weak foreign currency earnings from tobacco -
traditionally Zimbabwe's most reliable earner of foreign exchange - has
continued to slide against major currencies. At the official biweekly
foreign currency auction, demand for foreign exchange has continued to
outrun supply, while the value of the Zimdollar has eroded significantly on
the parallel currency market since January. Tobacco prices opened
depressed this season on increased world supply, causing a walkout at the
country's top auction floors. Prices have since inched higher, but
economists say the proceeds of the 85 million kg crop are unlikely to
provide enough cover for Zimbabwe's larger than expected import
bill. Zimbabwe's grain requirements have risen sharply over the
past quarter after the government conceded to poor harvests after earlier
claims that its controversial land reforms would deliver a bumper harvest
this year. Zimbabwe expects a harvest of 600 000 tonnes in the 2004/5
season, well short of earlier official projections of a 2.4 million tonne
yield.
PERENNIAL loss-maker,
the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO), is likely to remain firmly
stuck in difficulties as it emerged this week that its prospective Chinese
partner has pulled out of negotiations to rescue the giant
steelworks.
The Financial Gazette can reveal that Shougang
International Trade and Engineering Corporation of China, which could have
doled out a US$200 million lifeline, has ditched the largely state-owned
ZISCO. The negotiations for a capital equity swap deal between the
Redcliff-based ZISCO and Shougang have come unstuck despite indications of
increasing trade preferences between Zimbabwe and the populous Asian
state. Sources said Shougang had opted out fearing huge losses on its
investments because of the country's precarious coal and electricity supply
situation, which has been compounded by the lack of a reliable rail
network. "The negotiations were stalled, but we hope to revive them.
The Chinese demanded assurances that they would want a sustainable supply of
coal, electricity and a reliable rail link before they sink in any of their
money," confirmed ZISCO managing director Gabriel Masa-nga. "This however,
is not peculiar to Shougang as every other investor who has expressed
interest in ZISCO has pulled out, citing the same reasons".
Shougang has had a long-standing relationship with ZISCO dating back to the
1990s when the Chinese firm constructed Blast Furnace Number Four, which is
ZISCO's lifeline. The decision by Shougang has however, made ZISCO rue
pulling out of negotiations with UK-based LNM Holdings Group, the world's
second largest steel maker. Masanga is on record saying ZISCO would
not go to bed with "Indian or British investors" saying LNM would not be a
suitable partner for the company. Operating at less than 50 percent
capacity, ZISCO requires around 1 200 tonnes of coal a day. The steel giant
can consume up to 2 000 tonnes of coal a day, when operating at full
throttle. Hwange Colliery Company's inability to supply adequate coal
to industry and the lack of capacity at the National Railways of Zimbabwe
has added to the woes at ZISCO. "The problem is that ZISCO does not
own the coal fields, neither does it have a transport system and this is a
cause for concern," Masanga said. He added that hopes were high that
ZISCO could revive its bid to entice the Chinese firm, banking on the
Parastatal Local Authorities Restructu-ring Programme (PLARP) blue-print.
PLARP is central bank brainchild intended to reverse the flagging fortunes
of state-led corporations. "We are hoping to sell them this new
project, PLARP, and see how they view it. Maybe we can move forward again,"
Masanga said.
THE local industry,
already limping owing to the current economic recession, might sink deeper
into crisis because of the resurgence of electricity cuts, analysts told The
Financial Gazette this week.
The power outages that hit industry
last week invoked memories of 2003 when production almost ground to a halt
following a severe hard currency crunch that crippled the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority's (ZESA) capacity. Sources said ZESA
was struggling to secure foreign currency needed to import about 100 mega
watts of electricity from Snel of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC). This has resulted in the power utility suffering energy
shortfalls. The electricity cuts, said analysts, could derail efforts
to turn around the economy. Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce
president, Luxon Zembe, said power cuts would further reduce industry's
capacity from the current 60 percent. He said: "This is going to
hit hard the supply of goods and services and further cause shortages on the
market". Zimbabwe is currently grappling with shortages of basic
commodities ranging from staple maize, cooking oil and sugar among other
things. "The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has been trying to make sure ZESA
has adequate foreign currency for imports, but the authority itself has done
nothing to build its capacity. Demand is increasing as supply is going down
and the situation will be worse in 2007," said Zembe. Regional
power suppliers are expected to run out of excess electricity to export in
2007. Obert Nyatanga, the ZESA general manager corporate affairs
however, said the current blackouts were a result of a transmission failure
in the DRC. He said the power utility is being allocated enough
foreign currency (US$4.5 million a month) to import electricity and has been
pre-paying all its imports. He admitted, though, that the authority did not
have money to buy spares and repair generators. ZESA said it has
lost 450 MW due to generator failures at its Kariba Power Station.
"We should be having 250 MW of internal reserves, but we do not have those.
We have no money to buy critical spares and maintain our generators but the
current problem is emanating from a transmission failure in Luano in the
DRC," Nyatanga said. Insiders however, said the real problem was that
of lack of foreign currency. They said Snel, which has previously threatened
to switch off ZESA over non-payment of electricity imports, had cut off
supplies to Zimbabwe over non-payment. "If they have the money, why
can't they get the power from elsewhere - is Snel the only exporter in the
region? "There is no money, they failed to properly balance their books
. . .," said the source. Nyatanga defended ZESA, saying the
regional suppliers, HCB of Mozambique and ESKOM of South Africa had also run
out of surplus power to export.