http://www.radiovop.com
2 hours ago
The Southern Africa Development Community
(Sadc) has adopted the Troika
recommendations which among other things urge
completion of the
constitutional-making process and a cabinet mechanism to
implement
agreements.
Sadc recent position comes after Zanu PF
indicated willingness to oppose the
draft constitution in its present state.
The liberation party argues, the
constitution is meant to diminish President
Mugabe’s powers.
The regional body also buttressed the importance of
strengthening JOMIC and
the facilitator to the Zimbabwe protagonists to
unlock disagreements on
constitution and implementation of other agreed
issues.
Prime Minister’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed these
developments
on facebook feeds.
The Sadc also ended Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara’s reign as a
principal replacing him Welshman
Ncube.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
After 2hrs of debate the full SADC Summit
has adopted the following
resolutions on Zimbabwe:
18.08.1201:21pm
by
The Zimbabwean Harare
1. SADC reaffirms all previous decisions of
the Troika and the SADC Summit
on the issue of Zimbabwe.
2. Commends
the parties for the efforts they have put in to develop the
Constitution and
urges them to spare no effort in ensuring that they put
before the people of
Zimbabwe at the referendum a constitution whose main
focus is the interests
of the nation as a whole.
3. Urges the parties to the GPA to develop a
roadmap together with timelines
that are guided by requirements of the
processes necessary for the adoption
of the constitution of conditions for
free and fair elections to be held .
4. Urges the parties to establish a
mechanism in Cabinet that will ensure
coordination and the implementation by
the Ministies/departments of those
parts of the agreements that talk to
their line functions to ensure smooth
implementation and SADC, through the
Facilitator, must be kept informed of
the implantation
mechanism;
establish the implementation mechanism that was proposed by
the Luanda
Summit.
5. Urges the parties to immediately strengthen
JOMIC, in terms of the
Livingstone decision, so that the SADC team can
assist, on a regular basis,
in the advancement and consolidation of the work
of that committee and help
create an atmosphere conducive to the
establishment of a level political
field, leading to a free and fair
election.
6. SADC commits itself to assist the parties in everyday
possible as the
guarantor of the GPA, to reach a position where a credible
election enables
Zimbabwe to set out on the road to stability and
progress.
7. If they are any difficulties with regard to the constitution
and
implementation of agreements the facilitator is called upon to engage
with
the parties and assist them resolve such issues, bearing in mind the
timeframes and the necessity to hold free and fair elections.
8. The
facilitator and the chair of the Troika must engage on the Zimbabwe
issues
with the three political parties to the GPA through their Presidents
and
Principals, namely President Robert Mugabe,(ZANU PF), Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai (MDC T) and Professor Welshman Ncube (MDC).
Dewa
Mavhinga
Regional Coordinator
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
Regional Office commented: SADC remains
committed to a free and fair
election in Zimbabwe and has now taken a
position to recognize professor
Welshman Ncube as a Principal and not
professor Arthur Mutambara. But again,
SADC has not moved beyond mere
encouragement of Zimbabwe political parties
to fully implement the GPA to
look at possible enforcement mechanisms of
SADC resolutions on Zimbabwe that
have repeatedly been ignored, particularly
by president Mugabe and Zanu PF.
http://www.voanews.com
Jinty Jackson
August 17,
2012
MAPUTO — The 15-member regional bloc known as the Southern African
Development Community, or SADC, began meeting in the Mozambican capital,
Maputo on Friday. During the two-day meeting, heads of state will address
several regional issues including Zimbabwe's ongoing political impasse.
SADC leaders are pressing Zimbabwe's leaders to agree on a draft
constitution amid signs that President Robert Mugabe is unhappy with
it.
The sudden departure of South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma,
overshadowed
the first day of the SADC summit. Zuma decided to fly home
Friday after
labor unrest led to shootings and deaths at a platinum mine in
his country
on Thursday.
His departure highlighted the difficulty
SADC leaders face - policing their
peers when their domestic problems
overshadow other regional conflicts.
As SADC mediator on Zimbabwe, Zuma's
presence in Maputo was vital.
Nevertheless, Zimbabwe's Movement for
Democratic Change party (MDC) said it
hoped the SADC could pressure
President Robert Mugabe, leader of the ZANU-PF
party, to stick to seven
resolutions, previously drawn up by the regional
body, which were aimed at
getting the country to agree on a new constitution
and hold fresh elections
next year.
The finance minister in Zimbabwe's fragile unity government,
Tendai Biti of
the MDC party, said he feared the SADC might leave space for
further
mediation on the issue of the draft constitution.
"Where
there was some ambiguity, resolution Six says if there is a problem
around
the constitution then the facilitator will come in and intervene," he
said.
"That seems to anticipate that there will be a challenge given that
the
ZANU-PF politburo has already come up with an alternative draft
constitution."
Meanwhile the SADC's newest conflict showed signs of a
faster resolution.
Earlier this month, Tanzania said it was prepared to
go to war with Malawi
over the right to extract fuel from Lake Malawi, which
both countries share.
Malawi's president, Joyce Banda, clearly stated
before arriving at the
summit she wanted peace. Officials from both
countries are meeting on the
margins of the conference.
Michael Sata
made a joke about the spat. "And I was joking with Malawi and
Tanzania to
say if they started fighting we are going to welcome the
refugees from
Tanzania and Malawi but they cease fire before they even fired
one bullet,"
said Sata.
Other problems, however, will prove more difficult for the
15-member bloc to
resolve. Those include the unfolding crisis in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo, where fighting in the east has displaced a
quarter of a million
people, as well as the impasse in Madagascar, where
ousted president Marc
Ravalomanana wants to be able to return to contest
elections.
http://www.voanews.com
Sebastian Mhofu
August 16,
2012
HARARE, Zimbabwe — South African President Jacob Zuma is in Mozambique,
where he is expected to brief regional leaders about his failure to make a
breakthrough in Zimbabwe. Power-sharing partners there are deadlocked over
contents of a draft constitution. Zuma, the Southern African Development
Community [SADC] mediator in Zimbabwe, left Harare saying there was some
progress, but sticking points remain.
Zuma held more than five hours
of meetings Wednesday with Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe, the leader of
the ruling ZANU-PF party and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of
the Movement for Democratic Change party.
Zuma spoke to reporters
afterwards.
“I think there is progress which has been made. But there are
still some
hitches [obstacles] here and there. But there has been progress
that has
been made by the parties. I will be reporting to SADC as from
tomorrow,”
said Zuma.
Zuma was in neighboring Zimbabwe to monitor
progress on reforms that African
regional leaders expect from the Zimbabwean
leadership in preparation for a
referendum on a new constitution and then
elections.
The first of the reforms that SADC leaders want in Zimbabwe is
a new
constitution. Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party wants a draft constitution
amended.
However, Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, leader of a small MDC wing,
are
opposed to Mugabe's proposal to amend the constitution.
Leaving
the meeting, Mugabe dismissed Zuma’s assertions that there were
obstacles,
or what he called “hitches,” regarding the draft constitution.
“I do not
know what hitches there are. We’ve made amendments," said Mugabe.
"I
supposed that is what he [Zuma] is referring to. We are an enlightened
party
and do not just accept things as conclusive.”
Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party
wants a revision of the draft constitution since it
reduces the powers of
the presidency and increases the control of parliament
in Zimbabwean
politics.
If a referendum on a new constitution can be held in Zimbabwe
later this
year, elections are possible in 2013. It remains to be seen what
details of
Wednesday's meetings with Zuma will tell regional leaders meeting
in
Mozambique, and if a path forward is possible.
(AFP) – 2 hours
ago
MAPUTO — Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe on Saturday said more
work was
still needed on a long delayed draft constitution that would set
the country
on the path to new elections.
"We are very happy," said
Mugabe as he left a Southern African Development
Community summit in the
capital of Mozambique.
"As soon as we get home we will be working with
the facilitator, and we do
hope we can improve that work on the new
constitution soon and there will be
a referendum before we have fresh
elections."
The draft constitution would rein in presidential powers and
bolster those
of parliament, set a presidential term limit of 10 years and
strip away the
president's immunity from prosecution after leaving
office.
The draft is meant to go to a referendum, paving the way toward
elections
that will end a compromise government arrangement Mugabe agreed
with rival
Morgan Tsvangirai after violence-marred 2008 polls.
The
long delayed draft was finished last month, but the process has met
hitches.
The issue of constitutional reform in Zimbabwe was one of the main
items for
discussion at the regional meeting in Maputo.
The leaders in the Zimbabwe
unity government need to sit down to talk about
the draft, said Mugabe. "The
principals have not yet met on the draft
constitution," he
said.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF had changed parts of the draft, the veteran leader
told
reporters days ahead of the summit without specifying the
details.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai's party has endorsed the draft charter
as the best
basic law in the country's history, adding that it would be a
lost chance if
the proposed constitution is rejected.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
The SADC has finally given the boot to Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
18.08.1201:24pm
by Mxolisi
Ncube
Information from one of Zimbabwe’s representatives, the
SADC summit decided
in Maputo, Mozambique Saturday that, as a way of finally
putting to rest the
question of the leadership of the MDC within the context
of SADC, the
facilitator and the Troika will no longer have to deal with
Mutambara.
“It also means that Mutambara will never again be invited or
allowed to
attend any SADC meetings on his own unless he attends as part of
the ZANU
PF, considering President Mugabe's spirited but ultimately failed
defence of
the position of Mutambara as a Principal. The Summit would have
none of it,”
said Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga.
After a debate
that took about two hours, the full SADC Summit adopted
resolutions on
Zimbabwe that reaffirmed all previous decisions of the Troika
and the SADC
Summit on the country, commending parties in the GPA for the
efforts they
have put in to develop the Constitution. It however, urged them
to spare no
effort in ensuring that they put before the people of Zimbabwe
at the
referendum a constitution whose main focus is the interests of the
nation as
a whole.
“…… Urges the parties to the GPA to develop a roadmap together
with
timelines that are guided by requirements of the processes necessary
for the
adoption of the constitution of conditions for free and fair
elections to be
held,” read a part of the communique released by the
regional body.
“Urges the parties to establish a mechanism in Cabinet
that will ensure
coordination and the implementation by the
Ministies/departments of those
parts of the agreements that talk to their
line functions to ensure smooth
implementation and SADC, through the
Facilitator, must be kept informed of
the implantation mechanism; establish
the implementation mechanism that was
proposed by the Luanda
Summit.”
Regional leaders also urged the parties to immediately
strengthen JOMIC, in
terms of the Livingstone decision, so that the SADC
team could assist, on a
regular basis, in the advancement and consolidation
of the work of that
committee and help create an atmosphere conducive to the
establishment of a
level political field, leading to a free and fair
election. SADC commits
itself to assist the parties in everyday possible as
the guarantor of the
GPA, to reach a position where a credible election
enables Zimbabwe to set
out on the road to stability and
progress.”
Should there be any difficulties on the constitution and
implementation of
agreements, the facilitator is called upon to engage with
the parties and
assist them resolve such issues, bearing in mind the
timeframes and the
necessity to hold free and fair elections.
“The
facilitator and the chair of the Troika must engage on the Zimbabwe
issues
with the three political parties to the GPA through their Presidents
and
Principals, namely President Robert Mugabe,(ZANU PF), Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai (MDC T) and Professor Welshman Ncube (MDC).”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
17/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
DEPUTY Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has launched
a scathing attack on
President Jacob Zuma, accusing him of violating
Zimbabwe's constitution
after he was blocked from meeting the South African
leader.
Mutambara was on Wednesday barred from meeting Zuma who was in
Harare for an
update on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) ahead
of the regional SADC meeting in Maputo, Mozambique.
Zuma
met separately with President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Industry and Trade minister Welshman Ncube who replaced
Mutambara as leader of their MDC party, a move the deputy premier is
challenging in the Supreme Court.
Mutambara however, travelled to
Maputo for the SADC summit where he attacked
Zuma during a meeting of the
regional body’s Troika on peace and security.
“It is true that I complained
bitterly about Mr Zuma’s conduct,” Mutambara
told reporters after the
meeting.
“He came to Harare and unilaterally decided that Prof Ncube is
the MDC
principal and that the MDC congress was valid and yet the matter is
still
pending before the Supreme Court which is the final legal
authority.
“Anyone who undermines the Supreme Court by making a
determination on a
pending issue is violating Zimbabwe’s laws and
Constitution.
“I am the one who appended my signature to the GPA and it
is high time we
separated things that are legal from those that are
political.
“I told the Troika that Mr Zuma should change his behaviour or
recuse
himself from the process and everyone acknowledged my
point.”
Meanwhile, Zanu PF negotiator and Justice Minister, Patrick
Chinamasa, said
the Troika had urged parties to the coalition government to
work towards
full implementation of the GPA.
“The Troika exhorted us
to continue working towards the full
implementation of the GPA and
everything else went on well,” Chinamasa
said.
http://mg.co.za/
18 Aug 2012 18:27 - Jan
Raath
Zimbabwe's 10-yearly national population census has been launched a
few days
after thousands of soldiers threatened to take over the task by
force.
A spokesperson for the state-run Zimbabwe Statistics office
told local radio
that the 30 000 enumerators were now in place and that
operations were
getting "off the ground slowly."
The census had been
in danger of being cancelled last week after thousands
of soldiers around
the country stormed centres where enumerators –
mostly teachers
– had gathered for the final session of their
three-month
training.
The soldiers drove the teachers out and demanded that they take
over the
counting, for which enumerators are paid 90 dollars a day. It was
the second
major incident of mutiny in the country's 35 000-strong army in
four years.
During the economic crisis in 2008, troops looted shops in
Harare's city
centre.
The attack on census enumerators ended when
President Robert Mugabe issued
orders to the army's commanders.
The
census is Zimbabwe's fourth since independence in 1980. The last one,
carried out in 2002, put the population at about 12-million.
But the
country's central bank in 2008 estimated that the national
population had
since dropped by 3-million as a result of Zimbabweans fleeing
the country in
search of better economic conditions in South Africa or
Britain. –
Sapa-AFP.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Tatenda
Gumbo
17.08.2012
As Zimbabwe embarks on the 2012 national population
census Friday night, the
Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) has
urged all citizens
currently in the country to participate in the
exercise.
Enumerators - wearing orange shirts, covered with blue aprons
and displaying
census identification cards - will start visiting residential
areas Saturday
morning, to collect data from households.
Zimstat
officials said Zimbabweans living in various countries will not be
part of
the census but Harare is expected to collect data from nations like
South
Africa, Britain and the United States where thousands of its citizens
live
as political and economic refugees.
Zimbabweans have over the years
expressed concern over the conduction of the
national census saying it is
being manipulated by parties like Zanu PF for
political
purposes.
Census figures in the last exercise were dismissed as
inaccurate by activist
in Matabeleland region.
For an in-depth
analysis of what Zimbabweans should expect, VOA reporter
Tatenda Gumbo
turned to Khumbulani Tshuma, a former Zimstat employee.
Tshuma said the
census process is simple and should run smooth as
enumerators visit each
residence.
“The most important issues that an enumerator will be looking
for includes
the number of people in a household, their date of birth, death
in the
family, employment status, level of education and occupation," he
said.
He urged Zimbabweans to take part in the national exercise as a
population
census is meant to improve the lives of people.
“The
agency is merely collecting public information but the end users are
Zimbabweans," said Tshuma.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Police have launched a manhunt of the 44 GALZ
members who were beaten and
detained before being released without charges
last week.
18.08.1201:26pm
by The Zimbabwean Harare
From
last night the police have visited the homes of about ten members. It
is not
clear what they want from the members, so far three of them who were
detained, interrogated and their personal details recorded have been
released.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights are assisting
members who have
been summoned to police stations in their respective
neighborhoods.
Thirty-one men and thirteen women members were arrested on
11th August 2012
whilst at an after party of the GALZ violations report
launch were ordered
to give their names, home addresses and other contact
details when they were
in detention.
The incident occurred when four
police officers attempted to gain entry into
the premises before calling for
back up where about fifteen riot squad
members descended on the office and
effected arrest. Police, some of them
visibly drunk, assaulted most of the
members using baton sticks, open hands
and clenched fists.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, August 18, 2012 --
The European Union(EU) Delegation in Zimbabwe on
Friday condemned the recent
arrest of 44 gays and lesbians who were
discussing the draft constitution in
Harare.
Members of the Gays and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ)
were also
discussing a report on violations of their rights when riot police
pounced
on them on August 11.
They were reportedly beaten by the
police and denied access to their lawyers
during the period of their
detention.
“The harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders,
including
restrictions on their right to freedom of assembly, is deeply
worrying,” the
EU said.
“The incident raises particular concern in
the context of concluding the
constitution-making process as well as in
preparing for democratic
elections.
“It is critical that the police
respects Zimbabwe's international human
rights obligations and demonstrates
impartiality in order to generate
necessary faith in these important
political processes.”
Homosexuality is outlawed in Zimbabwe and President
Robert Mugabe refers to
gays and lesbians as worse than dogs and
pigs.
The group had been reportedly discussing the 2011 Rights Violations
Report,
which documents cases of police harassment and arbitrary arrest of
GALZ
members.
United States also condemned the arrest of the 44
saying it was part of a
systematic attack on civil society in
Zimbabwe.
“The targeting and abusive treatment of non-governmental groups
by members
of the police is deeply disturbing part of life in Zimbabwe,” the
US Embassy
in Harare said.
“Too often, the Zimbabwe Republic Police
becomes an instrument of political
violence for use against citizens
exercising their democratic rights, rather
than maintaining its proper role
of the people’s protector and guardian of
law and order.”
The EU
welcomes President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai's recent
public
calls for peace and for people to avoid resorting to violence. We
encourage
all Zimbabweans to join these unambiguous calls against violence
and
violations of human rights.
More from National
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/
Thursday, 16 August 2012 19:48
. . . yet
vast opportunities beckon
Nelson Chenga, Staff Reporter
IT is one
of the world’s fastest growing agro-businesses that developed from
zero in
1990 to a US$55 billion industry in 2009.
It has the potential of cutting by
half Zimbabwe’s fertiliser use and energy
bill. It can also completely
eliminate the country’s use of agro-chemicals
many of which are currently
being blamed for global warming through their
green house effect on climatic
conditions.
While organic farming is as lucrative and attractive as it gets
to any
economy anchored on agriculture, Zimbabwe seems to be the least
interested
in the technology being driven by new global demands for foods
free from
manufactured chemicals as major food consumers of the developed
world
increasingly shy away from genetically modified foods (GMOs).
“The
problem is that there is an information gap. People don’t have the
correct
information,” said Fortunate Nyakanda, the Zimbabwe Organic
Producers and
Promoters Association director.
“If people have the correct information and
extension services support then
organic farming would grow in the country,”
added Nyakanda whose
organisation is currently working with a mere 37
farmers groups, 32 of which
are in Mashonaland East province.
Largely
relying on crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest
control,
organic farming is a growing worldwide movement that has, for
instance, seen
organic food and beverages growth in the United States rise
from US$1
billion in the early 1990s to US$26,7 billion in 2010 according to
the
Organic Trade Association’s 2011 Organic Industry Survey.
The World Organic
Agriculture, which monitors and documents developments in
global organic
agriculture, also says global organic sales reached US$54,9
billion in 2009,
a 7,3 percent increase on the 2008 figure of US$50,9
billion.
Driving
this industry are declining global food supplies, climate change and
rising
agricultural input costs.
“Industrial agriculture is a root cause of lack of
food availability due to
its reliance on foreign aid, external agricultural
inputs and food imports
that require a cash economy,” the International
Federation of Organic
Agriculture Movements asserts, adding: “Industrial
agricultural is not about
feeding the world but maximising profits by
producing commodities for
whichever global market pays the most. This is the
reason why one billion
people in the developing world are chronically hungry
and why over a billion
people in developed countries are obese and suffering
from diet-related
diseases.”
Zimbabweans are among the world’s one
billion hungry people and this year
1,7 million people need food assistance
after the country experienced a
severe mid-season dry spell that affected
more than a third of the nation’s
stable maize crop.
Although the country
has been experiencing poor harvests since 2000 largely
due to incessant
droughts and a chaotic land reform programme, poor input
supplies of
especially artificial fertilisers has also greatly affected
yields in small
holder farming communities who have been failing to raise
enough capital for
inputs owing to the country’s illiquidity. Given Zimbabwe’s
precarious
position summed up by a poorly performing economy sinking under a
US$10
billion foreign debt and high food import bill, organic agriculture
offers
an enticing escape route.
The growing demand for organic foods in Europe and
North America could
partly help to quickly heal the country’s damaged
economic spine of
agriculture especially given the fact that the frosty
relations between
Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) are thawing.
“The
EU is Zimbabwe’s second largest trading partner and trade figures have
doubled since 2009,” the head of EU Delegation in Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell’Aricia
said recently addressing the country’s captains of industry.
“In 2011,
the total trade figures with Zimbabwe amounted to €675 million,
around
US$870 million, with a positive trade balance of €212 million,
around
US$276 million, in favour of Zimbabwe. In 2011, Zimbabwe exported to
the EU
€444 million, around US$577 million, and imported from the EU goods
for a
total value of €232 million, around US$301 million.
“The figures show an
increase of 46 percent of Zimbabwe’s exports to the EU
and an increase of
20,38 percent of Zimbabwe imports from the EU. The total
trade increased
around 36 percent from 2010 to 2011. This shows a recovery
trend initiated
in 2010 and the normalisation of trading relations after the
hyperinflation
period,” said Dell’Aricia.
Through economic partnership agreements (EPAs),
the EU has also introduced a
duty free quota free (DFQF) of all goods to the
EU market, tariffs that will
gradually be eliminated over the next 15 years,
a period long enough for
Zimbabwe to stand on its own feet particularly
since the country is one of
Africa’s most promising emerging
economies.
“As EU is a traditional importer of minerals, agricultural
products and
other raw materials that are produced by Zimbabwe, EPAs will
stimulate the
exports increasing by the making use DFQF access to the EU
that remains
Zimbabwe’s major trading partner,” said the EU head of
delegation.
Major organic markets included Germany, France, Denmark,
Switzerland and
Austria.
Leading organic farming countries include
Australia, Germany, Argentina,
China, Brazil, Uruguay, Spain and the United
Kingdom.
According to the web-based research engine, Wikipedia, organic crops
yielded
much better than conventional crops and withstand severe weather
conditions
than conventional crops.
“Contrary to widespread belief,
organic farming can build up soil organic
matter better than conventional
no-till farming, which suggests long-term
yield benefits from organic
farming,” writes Wikipedia adding: “The
decreased cost of synthetic
fertiliser and pesticide inputs, along with the
higher prices that consumers
pay for organic produce, contribute to
increased profits. Organic farms have
been consistently found to be as or
more profitable than conventional
farms.”
According to the United Nations Environmental Programme and the
United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development organic agriculture can
be more
conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional
production
systems, and that it is more likely to be sustainable in the
long-term and
that yields had more than doubled where organic, or
near-organic practices
had been used while soil fertility and drought
resistance improved.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
By Itnewsafrica 10 hours 17
minutes ago
In a recent interview conducted with IT News Africa,
Zimbabwe’s MDC Minister
of Communications and Technology, Nelson Chamisa,
confirmed that the process
of stabilising Zimbabwe’s political and economic
landscape is in place and
progressing.
Zimbabwe’s MDC Minister of
Communications and Technology, Nelson Chamisa.
“The country is in a
period of rebuilding and the timing for investment
could not be better,” he
said.
The Minister is also on record as saying that Zimbabwe is moving
ahead with
plans to push its ICT sector to “the next level” by 2015,
orchestrated
through the Zimbabwe National ICT Policy Framework, first
launched in 2007
and adapted to keep up with industry
developments.
Part of the government’s plan is to rollout e-communication
Information
Kiosks in rural areas. The objective is to provide access to
all ICT
facilities to locals, including the Internet, printers, phones and
other
resources.
Minister Chamisa also reiterated the country’s
official position on the
indigenisation and empowerment legislation that
compels foreign owned
companies to surrender 51% of their stakes or equity,
saying that a policy
framework was in place to ensure that there would be no
application of the
51% threshold to new
investors.
[Tower-Sharing1]
“The climate is conducive to investment.
We are focusing on connectivity, on
establishing a legislative environment
that encourages growth and
investment, there are more opportunities. We also
have powerful HR, with
wonderful people,” said the Minister. “We are
creating a óne-stop-shop’
scenario for those entering the country to do
business and we have
structures in place to deal with any
problems.”
According to the UN Development Programme World Investment
Report 2012,
Zimbabwe’s FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflows in 2011 more
than doubled
to US$ 387 million.
It is hoped that this will allay
fears amongst those eager to tap into the
emerging markets within the
country’s broader economy, most notably the ICT
sector.
A Household
Download Index report conducted by- and featured on
Speedtest.net, which
compares and ranks consumer download speeds*
internationally, ranks Zimbabwe
amongst the top five African countries with
an average speed of
5.13Mbps.
* (The value is the rolling mean throughput in Mbps where the
mean distance
between the client and the server is less than 300
miles.)
World stats regarding Internet usage show that Zimbabwe is
growing in
stature. In December 2000 the country had 50,000 Internet users
and by 31
December 2011 the figure stood at 1, 445, 717, representing a
population
penetration of 12,0%.
It is a foundation the Zimbabwean
government wants to exploit to help
stabilise the economy and drive ICT
development and realise the objectives
of its ICT policy.
To
outsiders it would seem the Southern African country has positioned ICT
at
the forefront of its economic reformation.
Zimbabwe's government is
focused on the realisation of its ICT development
policy. (Image:
stock.xchng
Regulation is a core component of this reformation. In August
2012 Zimbabwe’s
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ)
put in place new
licensing agreements with mobile phone operators in the
country.
At the heart of this co-operation is adherence to a section of
the new laws
that compels mobile operators to share telecommunications
infrastructure and
adopt sophisticated technologies.
Key service
providers, including the likes of Econet, Net One and Telecel,
are required
to accept the new laws when renewing their current contracts,
which will be
up for review next year.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
August 18, 2012 in Supplements
OUR
senior business reporter, Clive Mphambela (CM) recently interviewed
First
Mutual Life (FML) Managing Director Ruth Ncube (RN) at the Zimbabwe
Association of Pension Funds (ZAPF) congress in Victoria Falls. She gave an
insight into how FML is playing a leading role in the pensions business in
Zimbabwe. Below are excerpts.
CM: What are the challenges facing
pensioners and how should the industry
respond to these?
RN: The major
challenge pensioners face today are low payouts against first,
the cost of
living as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) and second,
the cost of
accessing small pensions from the banks which impose high
charges. In
addition there is the issue of low asset bases for most pension
funds
post-dollarisation because insurers could not fully protect assets
against
the decline in value caused by the economic meltdown during the
hyperinflation period. It is important to note that some statutory
requirement asset classes such as prescribed assets and money market
investments were totally lost as nothing has been recovered.
We
also have seen pensioners being affected financially by the failure of
various products to perform in line with expectations due to the change in
operating environment. Examples include money market backed annuity where
values have become nominal after the conversion from the Zimbabwe dollar to
a multi-currency regime. This has resulted in scenarios where drawdowns made
out of the funds are higher than the earned returns, thus implying payments
are eating into capital.
It is important that the collective
effort of industry, government and
regulators be paramount in addressing
some of the challenges faced by
pensioners. There is clearly a need to
review the minimum commutable pension
from the current US$10 to a meaningful
amount which is in line with living
expenses. The employers must also
embrace the need to take care of former
employees by incresing pensions of
those who served their companies for many
years. There is also a need for a
pension settlement solution that minimises
transaction costs as has been
implemented in Ghana, Botswana and India.
CM: How is FML responding
to the plight of pensioners today and in future?
RN: FML has embarked on a
countrywide campaign to educate employers on
pension enhancement for
pensioners. In addition we are also encouraging
voluntary pension
contributions from employees to ensure that their future
is adequately
covered. As FML we have also undertaken an active portfolio
restructuring
and re-alignment exercise on the remaining assets. This is
expected to
register a performance that can lead to pension increases. In
2011, we
effected an increase of 25% and this year we gave an additional 15%
as a way
of responding to the plight of pensioners on our books.
CM: Should we
expect any new ways of doing things? Any new products from
FML?
FN: FML
remains the pinnacle of innovation in life assurance in Zimbabwe.
We
continuously look for opportunities that make life, funeral and medical
cover more affordable and accessible to the ordinary man. We have an array
of new and refreshed packages that will definitely change the playing field
and will touch the lives of all Zimbabweans, whether in towns, rural areas,
farming areas or in the diaspora.
Our low income earners are most
vulnerable to disease outbreaks, droughts
and are usually found exposed in
times of death and grief. Our technology
driven solutions will inevitably
help FML bring affordable products to
everyone, everywhere at a very low
cost. The solutions we have will
essentially reduce the cost of doing
business and this is expected to filter
into lower premiums for funeral
cover as well as medical cover. We also have
a host of products that are
expected to cushion pensioners such as the
preservation packages aimed at
the informal sector.
CM: Accumulating savings is a challenge for most
people. What is the future
of savings/endowment products in the
market?
RN: The savings outlook has been very negative partially due to the
low
disposable incomes prevalent in the country as well as negative
perceptions
of the public towards the broad financial services sector. We
expect an
improvement in the performance of savings products; it should be
highlighted
the level of indebtedness of individuals will hamper the uptake
of savings
products going forward. We have seen that most individuals have
multiple
exposures with clothing retailers, durable goods retailers, money
lenders
and banks which are not sustainable at the current average monthly
salary of
US$250. This means very little is naturally left for savings
products being
offered. Moreover, the performance of the investment markets
has been
unsatisfactory for the past year and most players have slowed down
on the
marketing of savings products. As FML, we are however currently
refreshing
our savings product range with the help of our actuaries to
ensure that
clients continue to derive value from the products
offered.
CM: What reforms, if any, do you think are required to make the
Zimbabwe
pensions industry improve?
RN: A number of reforms and ideas
have been mooted since dollarisation and
we are confident that some of them
might be implemented soon. First, we need
to come up with a recovery plan
for the portion of assets wiped away in
prescribed assets and money market
portfolios. There is also a need to come
up with a national position on
funding the gap created by the loss in value
of assets prior to
dollarisation and replacement values have been mooted in
a number of
forums. We are positive that the exercise currently being
pursued by the
Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) will bring the
necessary solutions
to this issue. Funding levels for defined benefit
schemes also need close
monitoring from a regulatory perspective to ensure
that there are no
problems in future.
CM: Please share with us any other interesting
perspectives?
RN: From a pensions perspective, conversion issues continue to
haunt the
performance of the industry and there is need for the regulator to
come up
with a certification system which will put closure to this
matter.
The industry appreciates the role it has to play in economic
development
through prescribed assets and we call upon the authorities to
come up with
properly designed prescribed assets fully underwritten by the
government
that industry can have complete confidence in. We have seen banks
that
floated some bills only last year facing serious challenges upon
redemption,
a situation which is untenable for policy-holder funds. These
prescribed
assets must also be priced correctly against inflation and should
apply only
to new money.
We also have been calling on the authorities to
grant us permission to
invest a part of our assets offshore to diversify the
risks that saw assets
losing most of their value during the
pre-dollarisation era.
Finally, let me highlight that for most people, taking
care of health, death
and retirement needs is not a priority during the good
times, but is an
integral part of financial planning for every individual.
First Mutual Life
boasts a highly skilled personnel base whose expertise are
instrumental to
the culture of continuous innovation that will ensure
consistent provision
of relevant and quality products designed to suit
everyone’s financial
planning.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 14, 2012 in News, Politics
THE Zimbabwe
National Editors Forum (Zinef) has condemned the brutal attack
on NewsDay
reporter Blessed Mhlanga allegedly by a group of soldiers clad in
civilian
clothes while covering the goings-on at the census training
exercise in
Kwekwe.
Zinef chair Brian Mangwende said the forum viewed the attack as part
of
continued acts to harass and intimidate journalists.
“We will
not stand by while colleagues are assaulted by rogue elements that
the
police should put behind bars to preserve public order and security,”
said
Mangwende.
“The harassment cannot go unchallenged and Zinef calls upon the
authorities
to bring to book those responsible for trampling on the rights
of
journalists and the public at large because Zimbabweans have the right to
access information in order to make informed choices.”
He said
police had a duty to enforce the rule of law without fear or
favour. — Staff
Writer.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 17, 2012 in Opinion
IN the third
part of his article on the topical issue of President Robert
Mugabe’s
succession, Derek Matyszak contends the Zanu PF constitution is an
inordinately complex document and, in some clauses, poorly drafted,
rendering the choice of a presidential nominee far from
straightforward.
ONLY the national disciplinary committee of Zanu PF’s
central committee has
the power to expel a member from the party. This
committee comprises the
national chairman and four other members of the
central committee appointed
by the “presidency”. It is unclear whether the
committee is appointed on an
ad hoc basis for each case to be determined, or
whether it is a standing
committee, appointed after the selection of the
central committee. In any
event, if the national disciplinary committee
must be appointed in the
absence of the president, one of the
vice-presidents will deputise for this
purpose.
It should also be noted
here that the Clerk of Parliament also has the
discretion to determine
exactly when, within the 90-day period, the election
will be held. This
discretion is only constrained by the requirement that
nominations must be
called for 14 days prior to the election. The Clerk thus
has the power to
set the election date within 14 days of the president’s
demise, giving Zanu
PF little time to determine its candidate.
Summary appointment
If a Zanu
PF nominee is to be summarily appointed to the presidency without
the
sitting of an electoral college, or if Zanu PF as a party determines
that
only one candidate shall be presented in terms of the procedures
governing
an electoral college, then Zanu PF constitution ought to hold sway
and
determine the issue. Zanu PF constitution is an inordinately complex
document and, in some sections, poorly drafted. These two factors render the
choice of the Zanu PF nominee far from straightforward, as will be apparent
from what follows.
The Zanu PF constitution does not contain a direct
statement that the party
president must be the party candidate for the
office of state president.
Although usual, it is not always the case that
the head of a political party
is always the candidate in state elections.
Term limits for the office of a
state president may render this impossible.
Zanu PF constitution addresses
the matter obliquely with a requirement that
Zanu PF’s yearly National
Peoples’ Conference declare a president of the
party as the state
presidential candidate of the party. The use of the word
“declare” suggests
that this is merely the formal announcement or public
revelation of a
pre-existing condition which arises from some other
provision of Zanu PF’s
constitution. There is, however, no such other
provision. It is thus
necessary to infer that a Zanu PF party president is
the party candidate for
state president. This crucial point is by no means
certain, and the further
question may arise as to whether this position
pertains in the absence of
the declaration by the National People’s
Conference.
The National People’s Conference could, however, convene in
special session
for this purpose. However, the lack of clarity in this
regard would come to
the fore if the National People’s Conference were to
refuse to make the
declaration as required. If the person appointed as
president of Zanu PF is
automatically the Zanu PF candidate for the office
of state president, the
Zanu PF nominee for purposes of summary appointment
under Article 20.1.10 of
the State constitution would be determined by the
procedures governing the
election of the new party president. In order to
understand the process by
which a Zanu PF party president is elected, it is
necessary to examine the
somewhat byzantine party structure of Zanu PF. Few
have attempted to do so,
probably because, until recently, a Zanu PF
constitution has not been
readily available.
The party’s website sets out
a version of its constitution, simplified to
the point of inaccuracy, and,
oddly, does not make the entire constitution
available on the site.
The
structure of Zanu PF
There are three main components of Zanu PF –— the “main
wing”, the Women’s
League, and the Youth League. Each is structured in
almost exactly the same
way containing the elective building blocks of the
party, administrative and
coordinating bodies, and consultative fora. The
structure of the main wing
is set out below.
Elected bodies
The basic
unit of Zanu PF is “the cell” (urban areas) or village (rural
areas). Ten of
the seven-member cell or village committees constitute a
“Branch”, thus
constituting some 70 members. The branches are grouped into
“districts”
under a district executive committee. There may be up to 80 such
districts
in each province. These “districts” should not be confused with
the
districts formed in terms of the Rural District Councils Act, referred
to in
Zanu PF’s constitution as “administrative districts”.
Thabo Mbeki, for
example, was mooted for a third term as president of the
ANC party, even
though he would have been ineligible for a third term as
South African state
president.
The composition of the cell or village committee is different from
that of
other elected bodies. The committee is elected by the cell or
village every
year, and is composed of only a chairperson, secretary,
treasurer, political
commissar, secretary for security, and two other
committee members.
The number of times each cell or village convenes in each
year is not
stated. The branch, district, and provincial executive
committees are
elected and structured in a similar fashion to each other.
The central
committee will determine the number of delegates from the next
lowest tier
to a branch, district, or provincial conference convened for the
purpose of
electing the executive committee of each. The ability of the
central
committee to determine the delegates who will elect the respective
executives committees adulterates the democratic nature of the process and
allows for the possibility of manipulation by the central committee.
The
outcome could be determined by carefully selecting delegates. Suspicions
of
this kind of manipulation appear to have emerged in the fiercely
contested
election for the chairman of the provincial electoral committee of
Mashonaland West. Following strenuous objections from a faction within the
province, the central committee was compelled to allow delegates from all
271 party districts in the province to vote. The central committee also
directed that the district coordinating committees and district executive
council members of both the Youth and Women’s League be permitted to vote,
in total some 4 449 people.
The executive committee is elected every two
years in the case of a Branch,
every three years in the case of a district,
and every four years in the
case of the province. At these specially
convened electoral conferences, the
delegates will appoint 15 members of a
44 member executive.
Vice-secretaries are appointed for each of the
secretarial positions. The
remaining 12 non-portfolio positions are occupied
by two other elected
committee members, and, ex officio, the chairperson,
vice chairperson,
secretary, secretary for finance and secretary for
commissariat of the
relevant area (branch, district or province) of both the
women’s and youth
leagues. Each of these executive committees is required to
meet monthly.
The function of the first three elected structures, (cell,
branch, and
district) is not stated, but presumably each is intended to
further the
objectives of the party. The function of the provincial
executive council is
specifically prescribed as being the implementation of
the party decisions,
directives, rules and regulations, and the organisation
of public meetings
and provincial rallies of the party.
Matyszak
is a former University of Zimbabwe law lecturer, constitutional
expert and
researcher with RAU.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 17, 2012 in News
IN
this seventh instalment of the latest Global Witness report Financing A
Parallel Government? which makes interesting revelations about Chiadzwa,
Global Witness argues consumers who want clean diamonds should not buy gems
originating from the Marange mines until they can be certain they will not
fund the Zimbabwean secret police, military and police, and makes several
recommendations.
Investments (Pvt) Ltd the Kimberley Process
(KP) is a certification scheme
for rough diamonds set up in 2003 to prevent
diamond-fuelled conflict and
human rights violations. Global Witness
invested over 10 years in
establishing the scheme and attempting to make it
effective.
However, the scheme is no longer fit for the purpose and Global
Witness left
the KP in 2011. Among the reasons for our withdrawal are:
first, the
definition of conflict diamonds is asymmetric — only applying to
rebel
groups, not governments such as Zimbabwe which commit human rights
abuses.
Second, the KP only applies to part of the supply chain, covering
rough
diamonds not polished gems. Third, the scheme has failed to enforce
its own
rules and deals, including not dealing effectively with conflict
diamonds
from Côte d’Ivoire, and rule-breaking by Venezuela. While the
United States
has taken the chair of the Kimberley Process promising reform,
we remain
sceptical that a club which includes states such as Zimbabwe, and
which
requires unanimous agreement on any rule change, will implement
effective
reforms.
The most egregious failure of the KP over the past
three years relates to
Zimbabwe. The scheme has given the green light to
diamond exports from
several opaque joint-venture companies operating in the
area, including
Anjin, Marange Resources, Diamond Mining Corporation and
Mbada. (Sino
Zimbabwe Development never went into full production and so was
never
certified.) Kimberley Process monitoring inspectors investigated
security
and anti-smuggling procedures at firms such as Anjin, but never
asked about
the true beneficial owners of these companies, nor about revenue
flows.
This blind spot allows KP members, for example, to permit exports from
Anjin, a company part-controlled and part-owned by the Zimbabwean military
and police.
Global Witness believes diamonds should be brought into the
supply chain due
diligence frameworks applicable to other conflict minerals.
Such frameworks
could cover the whole supply chain, could engage industry in
the process,
and would not be restricted to the narrow KP definition of a
conflict
diamond.
Due diligence frameworks would encourage and require
companies to know: who
their suppliers are, under what conditions diamonds
are mined and processed,
and who benefits financially from their production
and sale.
Such a framework would require diamond companies to have a conflict
minerals
policy; to conduct supply chain risk assessments, including on-the
ground
checks on suppliers; to take remedial action to deal with any
problems
identified; to commission independent third party audits of their
due
diligence measures; and to publicly report results.
Consumers wanting
clean diamonds should not buy gems originating from the
Marange mines until
they can be certain they will not fund the Zimbabwean
secret police,
military and police.
Companies should conduct due diligence investigations
into the source of
their rough diamonds. The violence perpetrated by Zanu PF
and partisan
security forces in the 2008 election followed similar outbreaks
during the
elections of 2000, 2002 and 2005.
Global Witness fears the
next election, around summer 2013, may also be
accompanied by violence. The
role of the military, police and CIO in past
violence underscores the need
for security sector reform. A crucial part of
any reform must be civilian
and democratic control of the budgets of
security organs. Off-budget
financing allows security forces to set their
own agendas and fund
operations from their own resources.
The cabinet of a democratically elected
Zimbabwean government should
exercise control of the CIO’s budget, via the
Ministry of Finance. This
would allow the government to have oversight of
the CIO’s strategic
direction and to ensure that its activities match the
priorities set by
Zimbabwe’s National Security
Council.
The likely part-ownership and part control of
Anjin by the Ministry of
Defence, military and police and the apparent
part-ownership and
part-control of Sino Zimbabwe Development, by the CIO,
create vehicles for
off budget financing of the security sector and by its
very nature this
undermines Zimbabwean democracy.
Sam Pa appears to have
provided a significant amount of money, which
according to a CIO document
was US$100 million, to the secret police (this
is a large sum: in 2011 the
budget of the CIO’s parent department — the
Office of the President and
Cabinet — was US$121m). Together with the
apparent provision of vehicles for
use by the CIO, these actions undermine
Zimbabwe’s democratic processes and
institutions.
The CIO may have used this money to actively undermine senior
MDC
politicians through covert activities under the codename “Operation
Spiderweb”.
Recommendations international community
1) The processes
by which Sino Zimbabwe Development and Anjin Investments
were awarded their
Marange concessions were opaque. The ZMDC has claimed in
public to be a
joint venture partner for Sino Zimbabwe Development and
Anjin. By falsely
portraying itself as the joint venture partner in these
deals, the ZMDC
deliberately obfuscates the true beneficiaries of the
Marange concessions
currently held by Anjin and previously held by Sino
Zimbabwe Development and
intentionally provides cover for the Zimbabwean
CIO, police and military.
The ZMDC should be retained on targeted sanctions
lists.
2) Sadc plays an
active role in mediating the political process in Zimbabwe.
Sadc
facilitators should give the problem of off-budget financing of
security
forces a high priority in forthcoming negotiations, with the aim of
securing
democratic, civilian control over the budgets for the security
services. It
may also be necessary for Sadc to appoint an expert panel to
investigate
these claims of a parallel government.
3) The widespread use by the Queensway
syndicate of companies registered in
the British Virgin Islands, a secrecy
jurisdiction, is designed to obscure
the beneficial ownership of companies
such as Sino Zimbabwe Development. In
the case of Strong Achieve Holdings
Ltd, Global Witness believes that the
company is controlled by a member of
the Zimbabwean secret police. The
Financial Action Task Force, which is the
inter-governmental body that sets
the global anti-money laundering
standards, should adopt a standard that
requires every jurisdiction to
collect and list publicly the beneficial
ownership information for any
company incorporated in that jurisdiction.
4) Diamonds traded by Sino
Zimbabwe Development (Pvt) Ltd or Sam Pa may have
financially benefited the
Zimbabwean secret police. Similarly, Anjin
diamonds may benefit the
Zimbabwean military and police. Companies in the
diamond supply chain should
conduct due diligence investigations into the
source of their rough diamonds
and, if concerned, refuse to purchase
diamonds sourced from Anjin, Sino
Zimbabwe Development or Sam Pa’s Marange
diamond-buying operation.
To be
continued next week.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 17, 2012 in News
EILEEN Sawyer,
who died this week at the venerable age of 85, was born in
Port Elizabeth,
South Africa, on March 31, 1927 as Eileen May Thomson. She
was the last
surviving child of four daughters and two sons.
Eileen studied social work at
the University of Rhodes, and worked for many
years as a social worker in
Cape Town. She came to the (then) Southern
Rhodesia in the early 1960s to
set up the Council of Social Service and the
Citizens Advice Bureau
(CAB).
The open-door policy of CAB (and the growing social awareness
engendered by
the Council for Social Service) created a small outpost of
care in a growing
climate of racial intolerance. Eileen and a band of
dedicated volunteers
provided much-needed assistance to all who came to
CAB’s doors.
Eileen married Sidney Sawyer in 1970, the former junior minister
in Roy
Welensky’s federal government and opponent of the Unilateral
Declaration of
Independence. Sidney died in 1981. They had no
children.
One pressing need was for legal assistance, and Eileen,
with the assistance
of the Law Department of the University of Rhodesia (and
the pro bono
services of many leading law firms) established the Legal Aid
Clinic, which
still continues to operate. The need for a more national
service was clearly
felt and this led to the establishment of the Legal
Resources Foundation
(LRF) in 1983, an organisation that Eileen led until
her retirement from the
LRF in 2002.
Providing legal advice,
training of paralegals, publishing law reports, and
a host of other valuable
services, the LRF became the largest human rights
organisation in Zimbabwe.
Under her stewardship, the LRF developed an
excellent working relationship
with the government, which lasted until the
LRF (with the Catholic
Commission for Justice and Peace) began their
investigations of the
Gukurahundi massacres.
Eileen and Mike Auret oversaw the publication
of Breaking the Silence
report, and the public exposure of the gross human
rights violations that
took place in the southern provinces of Zimbabwe
during the 1980s.
Eileen was instrumental in ensuring the Gukurahundi
report was published,
mostly against the inclination of the Catholic bishops
at the time.
The report was described by Amnesty International as exemplary,
and opened
the door for a whole new generation of human rights
organisations.
The report marked a change in Eileen and the beginning of a
much more
determined defender of human rights.
On retiring from
the LRF, Eileen did not choose the path of retirement but
agreed to take the
job of directing the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum on a
caretaker basis.
She had been party to discussions about the setting up of
such a body prior
to its actual formation in the aftermath of the food riots
in
1998.
Eileen never stopped working for the Human Rights Forum, and,
after retiring
as director, continued as a consultant to the forum until her
death. Under
her guidance the forum grew from eight founder member
organisations to the
19 organisations today, and became an institution with
an international
reputation. She was still appearing outside the Harare
Magistrate’s Court in
support of human rights (and the prosecution of the
forum’s director) weeks
before her death.
Eileen always described
herself as a backroom person. She was not a public
speaker but she was
tireless behind the scenes.
She always had an acute appreciation of the
issues and knew better than most
how to mobilise the key people around an
issue. She would spend hours on the
phone talking to those that needed to
understand the particular issue or
take action on it.
A stickler
for correctness in all things, she was an assiduous editor of any
report or
statement that would emerge under her responsibility.
All who worked with her
remember her stubbornness for getting things right:
if you are going to do
it, do it right was a litany.
This attention to detail was one of the
strongest reasons for the quality of
reports that emerged from the Human
Rights Forum: over 40 detailed reports
and more than 80 monthly reports on
the political violence since July 2001.
Eileen’s hand can be found in every
one of those reports.
Eileen has been described as the “grandmother”
of human rights in Zimbabwe,
and she brought a grace and charm to the notion
of human rights defender.
Always immaculately dressed, she was the epitome
of the lady of times past.
But, beneath her elegant exterior, she was
a strong, moral, and deeply
religious person, and she carried those
principles into everything she did.
Perhaps her greatest gift was her
insistence on consultation before action.
Some felt that she was
unwilling to make decisions, but the reality was that
Eileen knew better
than most that consensus was crucial in developing strong
positions, and was
a major reason for the solidarity that exists amongst the
organisations that
make up the Human Rights Forum.
She was deeply compassionate person,
and all who worked with Eileen will
know how she paid attention to the small
details of people’s lives.
Zimbabwe is poorer for her passing, but richer for
her life. –– Tony Reeler.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 17, 2012 in News, Politics
Jan
Raath
IAN Smith’s government had rebelled against the authority of the
Queen,
nationalist guerrilla forces were infiltrating the country’s borders,
the
economy was under United Nations sanctions, and “insurgents” were
playing
cat and mouse with the secret police.
Rhodesia in the
1970s was an exhilarating environment for journalists.
British and American
newspapers and agencies dispatched their best foreign
correspondents to
Salisbury, the capital.
They risked ambushes and being blown up by
landmines in the war zones, and
their reports were frequently sensational.
The atmosphere was jittery, and
they lived high in rented colonial mansions
and drank hard at the Quill
Club, Salisbury’s gathering point for
journalists. Many marriages were put
under strain.
Heidi Holland
was a striking, vivacious young white Rhodesian woman who was
quickly
absorbed into this unique, often exclusive group. She quickly moved
from
local magazine journalism to reporting for international newspapers,
and was
in constant trouble with Rhodesian Prime Minister Smith’s censors
and the
Special Branch.
Forced to flee the country after Zimbabwe’s
Independence in 1980 following
an astonishing gaffe by her orthopaedic
surgeon husband, she moved to South
Africa and became a prolific author ––
known chiefly for her book Dinner
with Mugabe –– while she maintained a
steady output of regular columns.
Her death at the weekend,
reportedly by suicide –– police say she hanged
herself in her garden ––
stunned a wide circle of friends and readers around
the
world.
Heidi was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1947. She was
a young child
when her right-wing father and Swiss mother moved to Rhodesia,
and she grew
up on a tobacco farm in the Umvukwes (now Mvurwi) district in
the fertile
north of the country. A bright but rebellious teenager, she
refused to study
further after her O-level examinations at Salisbury’s Lord
Malvern high
school and took a secretarial job.
She married early
to wealthy hotelier Tony Hull, and found herself next door
to liberal
politician and author Diana Mitchell. The older woman repeatedly
warned the
naïve Rhodesian that “she had better get used to the idea that we
are going
to be ruled by a black man”.
Heidi, who said that each morning of her
youth she imbibed “a spoonful of
prejudice with her breakfast cereal,” had
her awakening when Mitchell held a
party for a large crowd of black
academics and politicians. Until then, like
many white Rhodesians, the only
blacks she had spoken to were cooks or
gardeners.
Her horizons
were also expanded by working closely in Salisbury with Nonie
Niesewand,
wife of Guardian journalist Peter Niesewand who was detained in
solitary
confinement in 1973 for 10 weeks over his reporting on Rhodesian
security
force operations.
In 1975, she used her house for a secret rendezvous
between Robert Mugabe,
just released from 11 years of detention, and liberal
politician Ahrn
Palley, to plan for the nationalist leader’s flight to
Mozambique where he
later took over the leadership of the banned Zanu and
its guerrilla army,
Zanla. The encounter was the source of the title of
Dinner with Mugabe,
widely acclaimed as probably the most insightful book to
have ever been
written so far about the Zimbabwean ruler.
Heidi
edited the hitherto staid Illustrated Life Rhodesia and outraged
authorities
in 1978 by defying censorship and publishing on its front cover
the first
photograph of Mugabe to appear in Rhodesia.
Her marriage to Hull
ended after five years when she fell in love with the
married George
Patrikios, the surgeon who had played rugby for Trinity
College.
In 1983,
after they married, he invited a crew from the United States
television
show, That’s Incredible, to film Heidi’s 10-year-old-son, Jonah,
assisting
him in an amputation. Jonah held the retractor, the surgical
instrument
holding apart incised tissue, as Patrikios sawed through a black
Zimbabwean’s leg.
In the ensuing racial uproar, the family fled to South
Africa. A year later,
Patrikios was critically injured in a car accident,
and died two years after
that. Heidi fell into a depression that lasted
several years.
But she roused herself and began research on her first
book, The Struggle: A
history of the African National Congress. By
extraordinary coincidence, the
book was published the day in 1990, February
11, Nelson Mandela was released
from prison. The resourceful Heidi tracked
him down and presented him with a
copy.
She wrote quickly, and
four more books followed until 2008 when Dinner with
Mugabe was published, a
series of interviews with 14 people who had had
close dealings with him. The
book serves as probably the most comprehensive
depiction of the Zimbabwean
leader’s complex background and personality.
Among the interviewees
was Lady Mary Soames, wife of Lord Christopher
Soames, the last British
governor of Rhodesia. She told Heidi that initially
she had been very fond
of Mugabe, and quotes him as saying, “We had the very
good fortune to have
been colonised by Britain”. Days before Independence,
Lady Soames said,
Mugabe implored Lord Soames to arrange for the British
transitional
contingent to stay, because, he said, “I don’t know anything
about running a
country and none of my people do either.”
Lady Soames told Heidi that
she had since “crossed him off my Christmas card
list.”
Heidi
also secured an interview with Mugabe. After being told to fly up from
Johannesburg, she spent a month kicking her heels in a lodge, waiting to be
called. She gives a hilarious account of being interrogated for an hour by
George Charamba, Mugabe’s spokesman, about herself and the proposed book
while six identically suited officials –– one of whom fell asleep ––
recorded her answers.
The three-hour exchange with Mugabe reveals
him as an old man slumped in his
chair, badly out of touch with reality and
the state of the country, and
angrily denying that anything had gone wrong,
let alone that he was
responsible.
Heidi had a revised edition of
her book on the ANC published earlier this
year. She also ran a popular bed
and breakfast establishment in the suburb
of Melville in Johannesburg where
journalists, academics and diplomats
regularly gathered.
Heidi
was born on October 6, 1947 and died on August 10, 2012, aged 63. She
leaves
behind two sons, Jonah Hull, war correspondent for Al jazeera, and
Niko
Patrikios.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 17, 2012 in Opinion
Paidamoyo
Muzulu
ZIMBABWE’S heavily-indebted government appears to be selling the
family
silver to the Chinese in exchange for long-term loans. The advances,
now
totalling more than US$532 million in the last four years, have been
secured
in exchange for lucrative concessions in the tourism, agricultural
and
mining sectors.
The US$150 million upgrading and expansion finance
for the Victoria Falls
airport ratified last week by parliament, along
several other Chinese loans
in preparation for Zimbabwe’s co-hosting of the
United Nations World Tourism
Organisation General Assembly next year,
completed yet another coup by the
Chinese in their pursuit of a larger slice
of Zimbabwe’s tourism sector
cake.
In return, Zimbabwe pledged
revenue from the Harare and Victoria Falls
airports to China in the event
that it fails to service the loan. The two
are the busiest airports in
Zimbabwe — a country endowed with attractive
tourist resorts, wildlife and
mineral wealth, but remains poverty-stricken
mainly due to misrule and
mismanagement. Exogenous factors have worsened the
situation.
The
Victoria Falls contract in Article 6 pledges all revenue from Harare and
Victoria Falls airports in case the state fails to settle its financial
obligations to the Export-Import Bank of China.
Article 6.11
reads: “In the event the borrower fails to perform the
obligation of payment
and or repayment under this agreement, the revenue
generated from Zimbabwe’s
Victoria Falls Airport and passenger service
charge generated from Harare
Airport collected into the escrow account and
other account proceeds shall
be utilised to repay to the lender all the
principal amount drawn and
outstanding under the facility.”
The clause further states: “The
borrower’s obligations under this agreement
shall not be derogated by the
establishment of the escrow account.”
An escrow account is a separate bank
account for keeping money that belongs
to others.
Not content
with moving into Zimbabwe’s retail, construction and mining
sectors, China
has been quietly but aggressively manoeuvring itself into the
core of the
country’s tourism industry, increasingly showing signs of
recovery after
being shunned by tourists during a decade-long political and
socio-economic
meltdown which led to negative publicity, as well as a
perception of
volatility, lawlessness and travel warnings. In the last two
years, the
Chinese have constructed two hotels in Mutare and Harare, with
another three
more luxury hotels in the offing in Victoria Falls and Mutare
city centre.
They are also building another upmarket hotel and shopping mall
in Harare
near the National Sports Stadium in Harare.
The hotels would have
casino licences and lure gambling tourists.
Harare, Mutare and Victoria Falls
form the hub of the country’s tourism
industry that at its peak contributed
nearly a quarter of Zimbabwe’s Gross
Domestic Product. Harare is the main
gateway and commercial centre to
Zimbabwe while Mutare and Victoria Falls
offer premium tourism packages,
with the splendid and rugged eastern
highlands and one of the seventh
natural wonder of the world, the mighty
Victoria Falls, being major
drawcards.
However, Zimbabwe in the next 20
years may not enjoy the financial benefits
of these loan facilities since
most of the revenue would be used to service
the debt, while more funds
would be repatriated to China as dividends to
shareholders.
Zimbabwe’s debt has shot to close to US$11 billion,
approximately 111% of
the country’s GDP. Economists say despite the Chinese
loans appearing cheap
and “developmental”, the country is sinking further
into a debt trap which
will manifest itself in the next five to six years
when loan repayments
become due.
The Chinese have not only gained ground
in tourism, but have also secured
significant stakes in mining, agriculture
and property sectors.
They have become a major player in the
country’s economy through their
state-owned enterprises like Anjin
Investments — involved in a controversial
diamond mining venture with the
military at Chiadzwa — and Sino-Zimbabwe
Holdings. According to Global
Witness’ recent report, Anjin has the most
lucrative diamond concessions
given in exchange for the US$98 million for
the construction of the army’s
National Defence College along Mazowe road.
The Anjin projects also
have an escrow account for channeling diamond
revenues to the Chinese to
repay the US$98 million which has caused a storm
in the coalition
government. Finance minister Tendai Biti has accused Anjin
of failing to
remit enough revenue to the cash-starved national fiscus.
Sino-Zimbabwe also
has an interest in agriculture through Sino-Cotton,
chrome mining along the
Great Dyke belt and properties like Livingstone
House and Gecko Gardens. The
Chinese also have many other investments in
different sectors of the
economy.
Political analyst Ricky Mukonza says the Chinese are gaining
ground on
Zimbabwe’s economic landscape, while becoming some sort of new
“imperialists” as traditional Western hegemony declines in some
regions.
Last year trade between Africa and China increased a
staggering 33% from the
previous year to US$166 billion. This included
Chinese imports from Africa
amounting to US$93 billion, comprising largely
mineral ores, petroleum, and
agricultural products while Chinese exports to
Africa totalling US$73
billion, comprising largely manufactured
goods.
Trade between the African continent and China increased
further by over 22%
year-on-year to US$80,5 billion during the first five
months of 2012.
Imports from Africa were up 25,5% to US$49,6 billion during
these first five
months of 2012 and exports of Chinese-made products, such
as machinery,
electrical and consumer goods and clothing/footwear increased
17,5% to reach
US$30,9 billion. China remained Africa’s largest trading
partner last year
for the fourth consecutive year.
In 1980, the
total Sino-African trade volume was US$1 billion.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 17, 2012 in Opinion
Kudakwashe
Marazanye
ZANU PF is a party which cannot countenance competition for
political space
and office. It is the belief of the party leadership that
Zimbabwe is a
private property that they wrested from the colonists through
war, so nobody
but Zanu PF has a right to rule Zimbabwe.
That is why Zanu
PF always relies on the tried and tested method of
unleashing violence on
the electorate to retain power. To the party,
elections are a nuisance that
it has to put up with to meet constitutional
demands and “democratic”
expectations.
History shows that Zanu PF has always thrived on
violence and its use of
violence has never failed it over the years. The
party has also perfected
the art of saying something and doing the very
opposite in an attempt to
fool the world.
This is the same party
that way back in the 1970s massacred Zipra forces at
Mgagao camp in
Tanzania, buried them and then proceeded to play soccer on
the ground under
which the bodies were covered to conceal the crime from the
Tanzanians.
Zanu PF is also a master of propaganda. Having
blatantly stolen farm
produce, moveable property, cattle, equipment,
vehicles and other farming
implements during the land reform programme, the
party has successfully
dignified this otherwise contemptible theft by
brilliantly employing
propaganda to convince the world that the blatant
stealing is justified as
it is part of righting a colonial
injustice.
In fact, a large part of the well-meaning progressive
world, including South
Africa’s ANC, which should know better, has been
taken in by Zanu PF’s
propaganda that the party is an African knight in
shining armour battling
imperialists who are bent on recolonising Zimbabwe.
But how can a genuine
liberation party, which claims to be fighting for its
people, kill the very
same people it claims to be trying to protecting for
simply holding opinions
different from those of its leaders?
In
the early 1980s, Zanu PF created phoney dissidents to increase the number
of
dissidents in Matabeleland and used that as an excuse to massacre 20 000
Ndebele civilians for supporting Zapu and Joshua Nkomo, while hoodwinking
the world into believing that the party was in fact only killing dissidents.
So effective was Zanu PF propaganda that in the 1980s to be Ndebele was to
be Zapu and therefore a dissident and to be a Shona was to be a
dissident-hater (read Ndebele hater).
Zanu PF today claims it
brought democracy to Zimbabwe, yet Zimbabweans have
never known true
democracy as any attempts to vote against the party have
been violently
suppressed. About 20 000 Ndebeles were killed for daring to
vote Zapu in the
1980s; Patrick Kombayi was maimed in 1990 for merely trying
to exercise his
democratic right to offer himself for election against Zanu
PF’s late Simon
Muzenda and thousands of Zimbabweans have been killed for
daring to vote
MDC.
So Zanu PF brought a strange sort of democracy to Zimbabwe where
citizens
effectively only have two choices on the ballot paper: Zanu PF or
death
(which is what voting for any opposition party entails). This can only
be a
strange form of democracy! What kind of a liberation party is this
which
kills its own people for merely exercising their right to vote for
candidates of their choice?
Zanu PF leaders have declared that
the country cannot be wrested from them
by a mere stroke of the pen in the
ballot box when they took up arms to
seize the country from the whites. For
good measure, Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has said the
country cannot be taken
away from its “owners” — Zanu PF — through a pen
which costs a mere five
cents! The First Lady weighed in, declaring that
even if “Baba” (meaning her
husband President Robert Mugabe) loses an
election, he would not give up
power to anybody who is not Zanu
PF.
So Zanu PF’s version of democracy is one where while people go to
the
polling stations to vote, party elements will be preparing to deal with
anybody who wants to be so irresponsible and treacherous enough to vote for
any party of their choice other than themselves.
To save people
from being maimed, harassed and killed, Zimbabwe should just
be declared a
one-party state and Mugabe life president so that there are no
elections
where people will be in trouble for daring to elect a party and
leader other
than Zanu PF and Mugabe. That way Zimbabweans and the world at
large will be
under no illusions about what type of “democracy” Zimbabweans
“enjoy”,
thanks to Zanu PF. The truth is to most Zimbabweans, democracy
remains a
dream deferred, 32 years after independence.
Zanu PF does not brag in
song that “Zanu ndeyeropa (Zanu is a product of
blood and sacrifice)” for
nothing. Their slogan says it all: Pasi nanhingi
(down with so and so),
charitably interpreted to mean may harm befall the
person so mentioned in
the pasi (down with) slogan or at worst an
exhortation to Zanu PF supporters
to harm the named person.
Zanu PF is a party that mobilises support
on the basis of fear, coercion and
violence, and no less a figure than the
party’s spokesman Rugare Gumbo
admits that so fearful are politburo members
to challenge Mugabe that one
has to be made of “sterner stuff” to even bring
up for discussion in the
politburo, leadership succession in the
party.
So people should understand that Zanu PF will never abandon
violence because
it has served them well in the past. It is the major
beneficiary of violence
in the current government as they hold the
presidency, thanks to violence.
The current attempts at fooling the world
into believing that Zanu PF has
suddenly had a road to Damascus experience
in relation to violence should
not fool anyone. It has not. Zanu PF remains
the same old wily fox and
master of the politics of
deception.
All this noise about condemning violence — as Mugabe did
on Heroes Day on
Monday — is a carefully choreographed exercise in deception
designed to pull
wool over the eyes of the world. The party is just going
through the
motions. They are not about to let go of the only weapon left to
them whose
efficacy has been proven over the years.
Zanu PF will
not let go of the levers of power that give them access to
untold wealth
like the diamonds that generate US$2 billion a year, a big
chunk of which
goes into the private pockets of politicians in a country
where there is no
censure against corruption. As long as you are
politically-connected the
supposedly long arm of the law will never catch up
with you, no matter how
brazenly corrupt you are.
Zanu PF’s strategy, crafted at the highest
level, is to preach non-violence
while practicing violence in the belief
that the world will be fooled as it
has always been over the years. That is
why you hear Zanu PF politicians
publicly denouncing violence when their
fingerprints are all over acts of
violence in the country.
So
convinced are Zanu PF of the effectiveness of violence, especially after
it
landed them the presidency in 2008 after a bloody run-off that they think
they can wrest some urban seats from the MDC by employing
violence.
Remember how they prevented Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirayi from
holding a
rally at the Harare showgrounds and forced him into brief exile in
the
run-up to the 2008 presidential run-off? Come next elections, we are
going
to see more of that when vintage Zanu PF swings into action through
violence
and intimidation.
Marazanye is a
newspaper columnist. He writes in his personal capacity.
E-mail: marazanyek@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
August 18, 2012 in
Comment
Itai Masuku
THE 102nd edition of the Harare agricultural
show begins today and, unlike
in previous years, will take place over nine
days instead of six. We
understand space has been over-booked, indicating
continued interest in what
was originally the country’s largest showcase of
agricultural production.
Given the nexus between agriculture and the local
manufacturing industry,
the show grew over the years to include exhibitions
from manufacturers,
miners, services industry and other sectors which
occupied the majority of
stands.
Sadly, most exhibitors since
dollarisation are not so much of those who are
in manufacturing but are
merely import agents for foreign manufacturers.
The state of Zimbabwe’s
manufacturing industry remains dire and even figures
that the sector is now
operating at 60% of its capacity should be taken with
a pinch of
salt.
One believes capacity utilisation is probably around 40%; let’s
call this an
intelligent thumb suck, and here is why: Electricity is
generally not
available half the time, so, already about 50% capacity has
been lost.
Secondly, liquidity challenges still persist as companies
struggle to find
affordable funding for working capital, never mind some for
fixed capital.
It is now accepted that in order to produce competitive
products, the
majority of our companies have to retool. Cairns has often
been cited as an
example.
The company has been battling to do GOOD, ie to
Get Out Of Debt, while
operating on antiquated machinery.
As one
analyst pointed out, it is cheaper for the company to buy modern
equipment
than for it to struggle refurbishing the old.
Even erstwhile blue chip
companies like RioZim are also still struggling to
do
GOOD.
Elsewhere in this edition, we hear of the company negotiating
with its
creditors over delayed payments.
The Rio stand used to
be one of the most interesting at the show,
particularly the Tinto
Industries section, spawned from the group’s mining
activities.
Thirdly,
unemployment levels still remain very high, estimated variously at
between
80% and 90%.
Anyone 35 and above surely knows that they are regularly
bombarded by
well-qualified, vibrant and intelligent youths seeking
employment.
A pitiful site is one along Enterprise Road, close to
Newlands, where scores
of men and women can be seen hanging around an
ongoing construction project
hoping to be called for an odd
job.
That’s because very little is taking place in the industrial
sites, where
the vast majority of exhibitors at the show used to hail from.
Regrettably,
the industrial sites resemble ghost towns
nowadays.
This year’s agricultural show takes place at a time when
official figures
show the sector’s output declining by 16% and the economy
expected to shrink
by at least four percentage points.
The
projected contraction in agriculture has been reflected in market
sentiment
on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, where year-to-date, counters in
the sector
have fallen by 15%.
Financial counters have tumbled 30% year-to-date
and one need not
overemphasise how vital this sector is to facilitating
agriculture and this
country’s agro industries.
Some analysts
believe sentiment in the financial sector belie deep-rooted
problems which
will manifest with time. We wait with bated breath.
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
August 18, 2012, 9:37 am
Dear Family and
Friends,
Despite the mayhem with soldiers trying to take over our census
and the
brewing storm over our proposed draft constitution, all eyes turned
south
this week. With an estimated three million Zimbabweans living and
working in
South Africa, both legally and illegally, for many people our
southern
neighbour has become a second home. We all have friends, family and
relations living in South Africa; we have their currency in our pockets and
ninety percent of the food we eat is imported from South Africa because we
still haven’t worked out how to grow our own food on all the government’s
seized farms.
It’s not hard for us to follow events over the border
because so many
Zimbabweans have resorted to satellite dishes and decoders
enabling them to
receive television channels from South Africa and Botswana.
Our one and only
local TV station has such poor programming and is so
bombarded with
political propaganda that most people just can’t stand
watching it anymore.
We could be forgiven for at first thinking that what
we were seeing on South
African news channels was happening in Zimbabwe.
Situations of police using
force, usually with baton sticks and tear gas,
have become commonplace in
Zimbabwe in the last twelve years but we haven’t
become immune to the
horror of it by any means. Appalled we watched South
African news channels
broadcasting film footage of scores of police opening
fire on striking mine
workers. The police were not wearing tear gas masks,
were not wearing
helmets and visors and were not holding riot shields to
protect themselves.
Instead live bullets poured out of their automatic
weapons; the dust rose
and a police member wearing a blue beret raised his
arm, flinched from
bullets flying from behind and alongside him, and with a
clenched fist he
shouted out twice: ‘Cease Fire.’ When the dust settled many
bodies lay on
the ground.
South African news channels described a
‘media blackout’ and hospital ‘lock
down’ that followed. No one was talking,
not miners, not police not
hospitals and not family members. It was only at
lunch time on the following
day, that the police finally held a press
conference. Thirty four miners lay
dead and seventy nine injured at the end
of what the South African Police
called ‘self defence’ and South African
media called the Marikana Massacre.
Suddenly the shoe was on the other
foot. Instead of South Africa being
shocked and appalled about events in
Zimbabwe, we looked with anguish and
horror at what was happening there.
How could this be happening in South
Africa we asked? The most progressive,
prosperous country on the continent.
The country which boasts the most
enlightened constitution in the world and
yet police used live ammunition
against striking miners and used it to kill.
Since February 2000
countless ordinary South African citizens, churches,
civic society
organizations and NGO’s have been tireless friends of
Zimbabwe. They’ve
taken us in when we were on the run, protected us when we
were scared, fed
us when we were starving, shouted out for us when we’ve
been silenced,
tended our wounds when we’ve been beaten. They’ve sent food
parcels,
blankets and medicines and for years churches and others have
continued to
fill boxes with groceries for people in Zimbabwe. What can we
say to our
neighbours now except we are sorry, saddened and shocked. Until
next time,
thanks for reading, love cathy.
