http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:20
BY
PATIENCE NYANGOVE
SIXTEEN premature babies and those admitted in the
paediatric intensive care
unit at Parirenyatwa hospital are suspected to
have died over the past month
due to recurrent power cuts, it was revealed
last week.
The power cuts reportedly affected incubators, ventilator
support machines,
blood pressure and oxygen monitoring machines and ECG
machines that monitor
heart patterns.
However, in a suspected
cover- up the authorities are denying the reports
saying the hospital has
standby generators. Investigations by The Standard
revealed that the
hospital had perennial power faults because the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply
Authority cables are now old and prone to breakages.
Mbuya Nehanda
Maternity hospital, paediatric intensive care unit, the
laboratory and staff
residences are the most affected. Nurses at Mbuya
Nehanda Maternity Hospital
confirmed the deaths but they were not willing to
speak on
record.
A senior medical officer who agreed to be interviewed on
condition of
anonymity confirmed the deaths.
“Zesa is not cutting
power,” he said.
“The power cables are now very old and are always
developing faults. Yes,
there are generators but they are for some
departments and they are not
enough for the whole hospital. Visit this
hospital at night and you will see
that mostly the southern half of the
hospital does not have electricity.”
“This part encompasses the labs,
paediatric intensive care unit and doctors’
hostels and Mbuya Nehanda
Maternity Hospital. Recently we had to go for 48
hours without
electricity.”
Asked why hospital management was denying the deaths or
the power outages,
he said it was mostly because those who run the hospital
don’t stay at the
institution.
Jane Dadzie, the hospital’s spokesperson
said they were only aware of four
deaths, which were not attributed to power
cuts. He said the children were
born too prematurely.
“Ask those
who are giving you this story what their motive is,” she said.
“The
minister and those who are authorised can come and check our records,
these
allegations are unfounded.”
Health and Child Welfare minister Henry
Madzorera (Pictured on Page 1) said
he had not yet been briefed about the
deaths and could not comment.
Zesa does not loadshed critical
areas: Gwasira
ZESA spokesperson Fullard Gwasira acknowledged the
frequent power outages at
Parirenyatwa Hospital and blamed them on old power
cables.
He said as a matter of policy they do not load shed critical
areas like
hospitals, water purification plants and security
institutions.
“Our infrastructure is also old and is now prone to
failure,” Gwasira said.
“However, we react quickly because we value
human nature, sanctity of human
life and we regret such a
scenario.
“As Zesa we have challenges and people are aware of such
challenges and
should have back-up power.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:20
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
CHITUNGWIZA Town Council has bought four
top-of-the-range vehicles worth
over half a million dollars for its town
clerk and three directors without
going to tender.
According to
documents obtained by The Standard, the local authority bought
a brand new
Toyota Land Cruiser V8 worth US$170 000 for Town Clerk, Godfrey
Tanyanyiwa.
It also splashed US$120 000 on a Toyota Prado for the
director of Health,
Mike Simoyi, a Toyota Hilux Virgo for Alfonse Tinofa,
director of works
worth
US$80 000 and a Toyota Fortuner worth US$80
000 for the director of housing,
Jemina Gumbo.
All the cars
were bought from Mike Harris Toyota for cash two months ago and
this has not
gone down well with councillors in Harare’s dormitory town.
The
councillors feel that management went against a council resolution
passed on
October 30 last year.
According to minutes of that day Tinofa
sought permission to buy vehicles
for heads of departments from Mike Harris
Toyota using a credit facility.
Tinofa told council that prices
were interest-free, with the company
accepting payment in instalments and
the local authority approving the deal.
But before that, on
September 7, council had agreed that seven utility
vehicles be bought from
Nissan Zimbabwe before the heads of departments’
cars could be
purchased.
However, senior council management ignored these
resolutions and went on to
purchase the four cars using funds from the
Public Sector Investment
Programme (PSIP) extended to the local authority by
government to fund
capital projects, The Standard is reliably
informed.
One of the payment vouchers shows that the cars were
bought for cash through
a bank transfer with Tanyanyiwa’s vehicle being paid
for on May 7 using the
PSIP funds.
“Prepare an RTGS for
US$170 000 from PSIP funds. This is a temporary
position until the
insurance funds come through and we refund accordingly,”
a Chitungwiza Town
Council stores requisition in possession of The Standard
reads in
part.
Mayor Alderman Philemon Chipiyo said he was powerless to
act against
management.
“At some local authorities some
mayors have power but others don’t have,” he
said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:28
BY PAUL
NYAKAZEYA
VICTORIA Falls — The three political parties in the
Global Political
Agreement (GPA) on Friday said fresh elections would only
be held once
benchmarks set by the Southern African Development Community
(Sadc) were
met.
The timelines, that include the adoption of a new
constitutition and
electoral, security and media reforms are contained in
the GPA guaranteed by
Sadc.
Indigenisation, Economic
Empowerment and Youth Development minister Saviour
Kasukuwere, who
represented Zanu PF at the just ended Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI), said although his party was of the view that the
GPA expired 24
months after the unity government as formed, all the three
parties had
agreed on the timing of the next polls.
“The 24 months have
passed and if the conditions are not conducive, the
three parties should
make a formal announcement in that regard and when
elections do happen
whoever wins should run the country,” Kasukuwere said.
He claimed
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations spoke with one voice when
behind closed
doors, but get carried away when in front of their
constituencies.
“As politicians we must allow the country to move
forward,” he said.
“And when we talk about elections, we must
also send signals to the
international community that sanctions should be
lifted. This should come
from all political parties.”
Energy
and Power Development minister Elton Mangoma, who is also one of the
MDC-T
negotiators in the interparty talks, said free and fair elections were
not
possible this year.
“There will be no elections this year,”
Mangoma said. “If you look at the
timelines we have agreed on, it could be
in 2012 or 2013.”
However, Mangoma said the polls could not be
postponed beyond 2013 since it
was a statutory
requirement.
Regional Integration minister Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga of the smaller
MDC faction said before Zimbabwe could
conduct any elections, there were
certain benchmarks which had to be
met.
“I am sure we cannot have an election this year,” she said.
“Worry less
about what we (politicians) say in public but what is on the
table. We do
have a frame work. That is my message to
business.
“The GPA is a peace process meant to create an
environment for free and fair
elections but such conditions have not been
met.”
The Constitutional Parliamentary Committee has indicated
the draft
constitution can only be ready in October and a referendum could
be held in
January.
President Robert Mugabe had demanded that
elections be held this year saying
he is no longer happy in the inclusive
government.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011
12:29
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
MAZOWE — At least 60 households that
were given notices to vacate their
houses in Mazowe suburb to make way for
the expansion of an orphanage that
the First Lady Grace Mugabe is building,
are still to be allocated
alternative accommodation, The Standard has
established.
The residents bought their stands way back in
1998 from the Mazowe Rural
District Council and had completed building their
houses. But the residents
were given notices to vacate their houses a year
ago and promised
alternative accommodation and compensation but up to now
some of them have
not been offered anything.
The residents last
week expressed concern that they were not being informed
of their fate after
Mugabe, two weeks ago, moved in 15 orphaned children
into the heavily
guarded centre to coincide with her 46th birthday.
“They came here
three months ago measuring our stands and evaluating
developments we have
done but since then we have never heard anything from
them,” said one
resident who requested to remain anonymous.
“I don’t even know if
they will give me another stand.”
Others said they had been given
stands in another area but were in the dark
on whether or not they would be
compensated.
The angry residents have since stopped making any
further developments to
their houses.
“My worry is that she may
decide to throw us out without compensation and
nothing will happen to her,”
said another resident.
“If she had the audacity to take from us land
we got from council what will
stop her from refusing to compensate
us?”
Construction of the housing complex, which was supposed to be
officially
opened in 2008, is still in progress. Some of the structures are
still at
foundation level.
The First Family has a farm, Iron
Mask, which it seized from a white
commercial farmer in the same area where
it is constructing a milk
processing plant and growing
crops.
Some residents were not even aware that Grace Mugabe had
already brought
children to the orphanage although they are a stone’s throw
from the centre.
“We don’t dare go inside there or ask about the
goings-on because those
people will beat you up,” said another resident.
“The sooner they find us
alternative land the better.”
Grace
Mugabe’s spokesman Lawrence Kamwi professed ignorance of the fate of
the
residents facing eviction.
“I know about the centre but not about
this issue (evictions) you are
talking about so I can’t comment,” Kamwi
said.
Efforts to get a comment from Mashonaland Central governor
Martin Dinha,
under whose constituency the centre falls, were fruitless last
week.
But the residents said if the First Lady was serious about
adopting orphans
she should not have allowed the collapse of the Child
Survival and
Development Foundation founded by the late Sally
Mugabe.
Mugabe’s first wife is renowned for having had a soft heart
for
disadvantaged members of the community, especially
children.
Grace Mugabe’s projects have always raised controversy. She
was once given
resources and allocated land in Harare’s Hopley area but
abandoned the
project under unclear circumstances.
Apart from
ordering residents off their homes in Mazowe, the First Lady has
also been
accused of grabbing farms from other black Zimbabweans.
In 2008, she
was in the headlines after grabbing Gwina Farm in Banket from
High Court
Judge Ben Hlatshwayo, who had also seized it from a white
commercial
farmer.
She however can be credited for reviving Danhiko Project, an
educational
centre for the disabled in Msasa which was fast- crumbling due
to lack of
funding.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011
12:30
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
AN estimated 650 Harare council
workers have not been withdrawing their
salaries from Kingdom Bank, raising
fears that the local authority still has
ghost workers on its
payroll.
Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda said council authorities opened a
salaries account
at Kingdom Bank to address the problem of late
payments.
He said some of the money had not been claimed for the
past two months.
“It’s something that we stumbled on in the last
two weeks,” Masunda said
adding that he was not aware of the precise amount
of money sitting in the
account.
He said after the human
resources audit carried out last year that revealed
the ghost workers,
council was now undertaking a validation exercise with
the assistance of
work study practitioners and the World Bank.
The validation
exercise is meant to establish the identity and
qualifications of council
employees and determine whether they are in the
right position within
council or not.
The city council last year embarked on a
controversy-embroiled human
resources audit, which revealed that there were
hundreds of ghost workers
listed on the council’s
payroll.
“The findings were endorsed by council following
recommendations of the
human resources committee,” Masunda
said.
“After the audit, 650 ghost workers were unearthed,” he
said.
“When the headcount was done, some of them (employees) were
neither
physically there nor on leave, they were not present at their
respective
workstations.”
There are allegations that some of
the council employees are not qualified
for the posts allocated to them
considering that they were appointed on
political grounds.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:31
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
THE police have been saddled with millions worth of
lawsuits in the past
decade by individuals, political activists and human
rights defenders who
are claiming compensation for torture, wrongful arrest
or abduction,
investigations by The Standard have revealed.
Some of
the claimants are demanding as much as US$1 million each from the
Ministry
of Home Affairs, the Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri
and
individual policemen that were involved.
Lawyers said the cases
of abduction, wrongful arrests and torture by state
security agents were
being fuelled by the immunity from prosecution that
alleged perpetrators of
gross human rights abuse continue to enjoy in the
country.
This, they said, was being worsened by the fact that
of late, police torture
and arrest suspects before carrying out
investigations.
Some of the officers behave as if they were
activists of political parties,
they said.
Chihuri himself is
a self-declared Zanu PF cadre, and MDC-T as well as human
rights activists
have demanded his resignation saying he was too compromised
to apply the law
fairly.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, a coalition of 19
non-governmental
organisations involved in human rights issues, is handling
at least 247
cases of torture, wrongful arrest or abduction by the
police.
A total of 19 cases have been won, either in court or
through an out of
court settlement but are still awaiting payment. The
damages claimed range
from US$1 000 to US$10 000.
Torture is
usually committed upon arrest and or during detention as well as
in the
instances where the police violently disrupt peaceful
protests.
Some of the cases are filed on behalf of the surviving
spouses or relatives
of the victims who died as a result of the
torture.
“The claims include damages for unlawful arrest and
detention, pain and
suffering, loss of amenities of life, loss and damage to
property, loss of
support, funeral expenses and contumeliousness,” said one
official with the
forum.
Some of these claims were awarded in
2005 and are still to be honoured by
the police.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:24
BY
NDAMU SANDU
AIR Zimbabwe has resolved to postpone all flights
until tomorrow as the
troubled airline struggles to contain a crippling
strike by pilots.
A meeting between management and pilots yesterday
failed to resolve the
impasse. Management was left with no option other than
to reschedule the
flights to tomorrow.
Passengers affected
are those who had booked on the two long haul flights,
Harare-Beijing and
Harare-Gatwick and those booked on Harare-Johannesburg
and return and
domestic flights.
AirZim acting group CEO Innocent Mavhunga
confirmed yesterday that the
meeting had not yielded the desired
results.
“The pilots are still on strike. We have already advised
our clients and we
are hoping that by Monday we would have resolved the
impasse,” Mavhunga
said.
The ongoing strike will further
worsen the airline’s cash- flow problems and
damage the brand. This is the
fourth strike since January. In January pilots
went on strike demanding to
be paid taheir outstanding salaries and
allowances. They returned to work
after the airline said they would look
into the issue.
Pilots
at AirZim went on strike on March 22 demanding their outstanding
salaries.
They resumed work on April 22 after the Ministry of
Transport bailed out the
airline by providing US$3,8
million.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Jonathan Kadzura, the
airline’s chairman
were fruitless.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011
12:32
The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the organisation
was
handling at least 15 cases where claimants were demanding up to a US$1
million in damages.
“It’s a question of the breakdown of the rule of
law,” said Rangu
Nyamurundira, the public interest litigations project
manager with ZLHR. “It
gets worse when we have partisan police
officers.”
Lawyers said there were several other cases where
claimants were suing the
police through their own private
lawyers.
Most of the cases involved MDC-T activists and human rights
defenders
perceived to harbour a “regime change
agenda.”
Nyamurundira said security sector reform was the best way to
reduce lawsuits
against the government.
He said there was also
need to sue individual security agents in their
personal capacity “because
some of them hide behind Chihuri to commit
horrendous human
abuses.”
Police spokesperson senior assistant commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena said it
was the prerogative of any aggrieved individual to seek
readdress through
the courts.
“I think it’s better to wait for
the outcome of the cases because it is the
prerogative of any aggrieved
person to seek recourse through the courts and
we can’t deny that,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011
12:34
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
THREE months after the
death of headman Rwisai Nyakauru, who wanted to see
total emancipation of
his subjects, his spirit still lives on in the small
village of Dandazi in
Nyanga North.
The 82-year-old village head, who was a staunch
MDC-T supporter, died in
April from wounds inflicted by suspected Zanu PF
youth militia from the same
area because he supported a different political
party to their own, Zanu PF.
Speaking at his memorial service
recently, villagers vowed to carry on with
Nyakauru’s vision of seeing a
truly independent country, where freedom of
speech and association are not a
preserve of a few.
Even elderly villagers, some in the 80s,
walking sticks in hand, staggered
to Nyakauru’s homestead, to commemorate
the passing on of a local hero.
“I am not well but I have to be
here because he was a good and staunch
supporter of the party,” said Ambuya
Roina Muswe (84). “I will die for my
party.”
The late
Nyakauru’s wife, Emily (72), said the murder had not only
strengthened her
own resolve to see the ouster of Zanu PF but that of other
villagers, who
witnessed the cruel act of torture on her husband.
Nyakauru was
abducted by Zanu PF youths and war veterans who brutally
tortured him at a
nearby shopping centre. Despite being the victim and
complainant at the
police station, he was arrested and spent 27 days in
jail.
While in custody, he would complain of chest pains and
at times vomit blood
but the police made no effort to ensure that he
received medical attention.
Emily, a mother of five, said the
murder of her husband had rekindled her
determination to mobilise other
villagers against Mugabe, just as she and
her husband did during the
liberation struggle.
Ironically, the Nyakaurus are related to
Chief Rekai Tangwena, the man who
gave Mugabe refuge and helped him cross
into Mozambique in 1975 with Ian
Smith’s soldiers in hot
pursuit.
Now they want Mugabe out.
Emily said for
many days she could not sleep or eat well following the death
of her husband
of over four decades.
“They robbed me of a good husband and
friend,” said Emily. “But this has
reinvigorated my conviction to see and
witness a true democratic Zimbabwe
and the prevalence of justice. I will
continue to campaign for MDC-T.”
Nyakauru’s alleged killers were
said to be roaming freely in the village.
“Today they are the
untouchables because they belong to Mugabe’s party but
there shall come
their judgement day,” she said.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
who was at the ceremony, said that Mugabe
could not win an election in a
free and fair political environment, much to
the delight of the 7 000
villagers who thronged the Nyakaurus’ homestead.
Local MP Douglas
Mwonzora urged his supporters to prepare for the next
elections which he
said should mark the end of Mugabe and Zanu PF’s rule.
The zest
and conviction to which the villagers responded to Mwonzora’s
sloganeering
underscored their determination and support, even in the face
of adversity
and death.
“This is what happens when a tormented soul takes a
position,” said
Mwonzora. “Mugabe is behaving like Smith in his last
days.”
Call for the arrest of Nyakauru’s murderers
Senator
for Nyanga-Mutasa constituency Patrick Chitaka urged Tsvangirai, to
bring to
book all those enjoying protection from prosecution from Zanu PF,
once in
power.
“We know Nyakauru’s killers,” he said. “They are here in the villages.
They
must be tried when you come to power. They must go to The
Hague.”
Nyakauru’s killers are just but a few of the many Zanu PF and
war veterans
implicated in violent crimes but continue to enjoy their
freedom.
The MDC-T claims that at least 200 of its supporters were
murdered during
the violent 2008 election by suspected Zanu PF militia, who
continue to
enjoy state protection.
MDC-T secretary general
Tendai Biti said Nyakauru did not die in vain as he
was fighting for total
freedom. He urged people not to tire because “We are
close to achieving our
democratic desires.”
He said Nyakauru’s death must give the people of
Zimbabwe renewed conviction
to fight for democracy and dislodge Mugabe in
the next elections.
“Nyakauru is a real hero who showed courage and
conviction to this
democratic struggle, not those people who are awarded
hero status for
killing people,” Tsvangirai said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 13:07
BY OUR
STAFF
AN Information Communication Technology (ICT) networking event
takes place
at the Keg and Maiden, Harare Sports Club on Wednesday to
promote
interaction and knowledge sharing among professionals in the
sector.
The event, titled BarCamp Zimbabwe will bring together professionals
such as
technology entrepreneurs, programmers, web developers, and designers
among
other related ICT personnel.
One of the event organisers,
Clinton Mutambo said the informal event will
consist of user-generated
sessions and discussions, with the theme being
Technology and
Entrepreneurship :We Are Stronger Together.
Zimbabwe Online (ZOL) has
sponsored the event to the tune of US$25 000 and
has pledged to provide a
hotspot with 500 megabytes worth of free internet.
“We intend to
build a healthy (entrepreneurial) start-up system that will
contribute to a
better ICT ecosystem in Zimbabwe,” Mutambo said.
“The focus of the
event will be on entrepreneurs being given a voice and
grassroots
cross-exchange of knowledge.”
Bar Camp is an international event that
is held in various places across the
globe with the objective of fostering
and promoting creativity in ICTs.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 13:02
BY NDAMU
SANDU
GOVERNMENT is working on investment promotion and protection
legislation as
part of reforms to lure foreign investors to help rebuild the
economy.
The reforms, which include the conclusion as well as negotiating for
new
Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (Bippas) are
designed to provide a favourable environment for investors and get a bigger
chunk in terms of the global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
inflows.
This follows revelations that FDI into the country was
stagnant last year on
the 2009 figure of US$105 million. Government has
identified FDI as one of
the engines of economic growth under the Medium
Term Plan (MTP).
Tapiwa Mashakada, the Economic Planning and
Investment Promotion minister on
Tuesday said the reform agenda was crucial
for government to “improve the
ease of doing business in the country in
order to enhance competitiveness.”
The bill has to be in place by
December and Mashakada said as long as
Parliament was still sitting, the
deadline would be met because it was not
controversial.
The Investment
Promotion and Protection Bill is currently at the drafting
stage in the
Attorney General’s Office after it was approved by cabinet.
The Bill
says all investments should be handled by Zimbabwe Investment
Centre (ZIA).
Under the current dispensation, investment proposals are
processed by sector
regulators.
Mashakada said the Bill would reform the ZIA board and
rename it the Board
of Investments so that it dedicates its efforts to
issues of investment
promotion.
The economy is expected to achieve growth
for the third successive year in
2011 after a decade of recession.
Investment has been identified as an
engine to drive the growth
targets.
According to the Medium Term Plan unveiled two weeks ago,
government wants
investment to contribute 20% of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in 2015
from the current 4%.
Mashakada said government
would set up a National Investment Council by
December this year. He said
conclusions of bilateral investment agreements
would be expedited while new
ones would be negotiated.
But he said government was not singing from
the same hymn-book with regards
to agreements that cover the land
issue.
“Outside the land we agreed that we need to observe and
protect bilateral
investments from other countries. We haven’t had a case
whereby a private
company had been seized or assets expropriated,” he
said.
Mashakada said government had provided the environment for
investment but
was weighed down by the sovereign risk of the country due to
political
uncertainties.
“In terms of doing business, we have tried our
best and what has remained is
the sovereign risk of the
country.
“The issue of GPA (Global Political Agreement), quarrels,
political
bickering, it affects the sovereign risk of the country and that
is
affecting investment.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:56
BY
NDAMU SANDU
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti could have provided some
relief to local
manufacturers by reintroducing duty on imported basic
commodities but
analysts warned that without a ramp up in production, such a
move would
affect hard-pressed consumers.
In his mid-term
statement on Tuesday, Biti announced the reintroduction of
customs duty on
rice, maize, maize meal, flour, cooking oil and salt citing
an improved
supply by local industries.
“The supply of most basic
commodities by the local industry has
significantly improved, hence I
propose that the suspended duty on the
remaining basic commodities be
reinstated,” Biti said.
“The reinstatement of duties on maize meal
and cooking oil will improve the
value chain from the farmers to the
industry through contract farming,
increased capacity utilisation, stimulate
local production of stock feed and
also enhance employment
levels.”
He acknowledged that local flour milling companies have the
potential to
meet local demand but require financial support and ample time
to refurbish
their plants, in order to produce efficiently.
But
analysts warned last week that such a move would trigger a price
increase on
goods.
Financial group, Tetrad said it does not expect the move to
achieve “the
intended objective of increasing productivity of local
manufacturers but
rather to perpetuate production inefficiencies which will
result in even
higher prices to consumers”.
“The lifting of duty
exemptions on maize meal and cooking oil will have an
inflationary effect,
which may create pressure for further salary increments
for civil servants,”
it said in an analysis of Biti’s statement.
Witness Chinyama, head of
research at Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited
said the reintroduction of
duty on basic commodities had to be looked at in
two aspects: on the part of
consumers and local manufacturers.
“For consumers it means that
prices will go up and for local producers they
would be happy because they
cannot compete with imports due to high
production costs,” he
said.
He said local producers felt some protectionism would allow
them to produce
more.
Chinyama said in the short term, prices
would go up but there were hopes
that in the long term capacity utilisation
would be improved.
Local products are not competitive, not because of
imports but due to
obsolete equipment and undercapitalisation which
increases the cost of
production. In addition, the enablers, power and water
are erratic. With
power cuts prevalent in the country, a number of companies
are investing in
generators, which is another cost to the
company.
They pass on the cost to the consumers through price
increases.
Chinyama said government has to invest more in capital
projects to provide
an enabling environment for businesses.
A
snap survey by Standardbusiness showed that local products were beyond
the
reach of consumers and hence their allegiance to imported
products.
What this means is that it would increase financial
pressure on the already
burdened Zimbabwean workforce where the majority
have not tasted a
meaningful salary increment since the use of
multi-currencies in 2009.
Experts say at least 20% of the budget
should cater for capital expenditure.
In the first half of the year,
allocation to capital expenditure was a mere
7,6% of the revenue generated
as the country pays the price of a high level
recurrent
expenditure.
Against the 2011 budget allocation of US$550 million for
capital
expenditure, total disbursements in the first half of the year were
at
US$101, 6 million.
“The low disbursements are a reflection of
the disproportionate level of
non-discretionary recurrent expenditures which
dominate available monthly
revenues,” Biti said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:52
BY NDAMU
SANDU
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono on Friday
granted
special dispensations to three of the six undercapitalised banks to
comply
with minimum capital requirements saying institutions without
realistic
recapitalisation plans should surrender licences.
Gono
berated some banking institutions that were bringing in fictitious
equity
partners to the Reserve Bank, to buy time.
Since the use of
multi-currencies in 2009, some banks and asset managers
have struggled to be
capital compliant. Only NDH was bold enough to
surrender its licence after
its recapitalisation plans hit the brick wall.
In a monetary policy
statement on Friday, Gono said despite various
regulatory extensions on
capitalisation deadlines and numerous calls for
market oriented solutions
including mergers and acquisitions “a few banking
institutions are not yet
in compliance with capital requirements”.
Gono said out of the six
non-compliant banks, RBZ had granted a special
dispensation to Kingdom,
Royal and ZABG by extending the deadline.
He said RBZ was going to
meet all undercapitalised banking institutions,
together with their boards
and shareholders, to determine the way forward on
a case by case
basis.
Gono said Kingdom, which had a capital position of US$2,79
million as at
June 30 against the minimum of US$12,5 million, had been given
up to
February 7 2012 to be capital compliant.
The bank intends
to raise US$15 million from existing shareholders through a
rights issue and
private placement by October 31 2011.
Up until its demerger from
Meikles last year, Kingdom was compliant with the
minimum capital
requirements.
Royal Bank had US$1,01 million by June 30 and was given
up to September 30
2012.
The bank is currently negotiating with
three potential investors to raise
US$11 million by September 30 this
year.
Royal was unbundled from the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group
(ZABG) last year.
ZABG had been formed through an amalgamation of
Royal, Trust and Barbican.
Trust reopened last year and has already met the
requirements while Barbican
is set to reopen.
ZABG, with negative
capital of US$$14,39 million, was given up to September
30 2012 to be
capital compliant.
The move would facilitate the coming on board of a
potential investor who
wants to snap up 60% shareholding. A due diligence
has been conducted and
negotiations are in progress.
ZABG was
left with few assets after Trust, Royal and Barbican reclaimed
their
assets.
Gono said Genesis Investment Bank is critically
under-capitalised with
negative capital of US$525 537,11 as at June 30
2011.
“Previous capital raising initiatives with foreign investors
were not
successful. The bank is, however, pursuing discussions with various
potential local investors,” Gono said.
Gono said Ecobank Zimbabwe was in
the process of regularising its capital
position.
“As at 30 June
2011, Ecobank Zimbabwe had a core capital of US$8 716 234,79
which is below
the prescribed minimum capital requirement of US$10 million
for merchant
banks. The bank is in the process of regularising its capital
position,”
Gono said.
The other undercapitalised bank, ReNaissance Merchant
Bank, is under
curatorship and its fate would be determined by the curator
Reggie
Saruchera. The troubled bank had a negative capital of US$16 million
as at
April 30.
He said banking institutions should not “mistake
the Reserve Bank’s
extension of the recapitalisation deadlines to facilitate
materialisation
recapitalisation initiatives as indulgence regulatory
forbearance”.
There are 26 operating banking institutions made up of
17 commercial banks,
four merchant banks, four building societies and one
savings bank.
There are 16 asset management companies and 132 microfinance
institutions.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:47
Sadc
leaders are expected to meet yet again next month in Angola to try and
resolve the Zimbabwe political crisis.
Judging by events on the ground,
leaders of the parties to the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) will leave
Luanda without anything tangible to
show they are keen to find common
ground.
Neither Zanu PF nor the two MDC formations are anywhere near
reaching an
understanding on the contentious issues. Instead, events of the
past two
weeks show the three parties are drifting even further
apart.
Despite their commitment to end violence, the scourge
continues unabated and
police, who have a constitutional duty to maintain
law and order, are
behaving like an appendage of Zanu PF.
The
actions of the partisan police are a slap in the face for Sadc
facilitator
Jacob Zuma who has invested a lot of time and energy in the
quest to resolve
Zimbabwe’s political crisis.
They also serve to inflame tensions
between parties to the GPA who are at
the moment seeking to establish a
roadmap to free and fair elections.
The recent invasion of Parliament
by scores of militant Zanu PF supporters
shows police are condoning Zanu
PF’s flagrant disregard for the GPA.
In broad daylight a Zanu PF mob
beat up an MP and journalists inside the
very building where laws are made.
Police could only watch as the mayhem
unfolded.
But the same
docile police sprung into action on Wednesday when MDC-T
activists held a
peaceful demonstration at the High Court. They picked up 13
people who were
calling for the release of their colleagues detained for
allegedly murdering
a policeman in Glen View.
The Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri is a self-confessed Zanu
PF supporter, so it may not be difficult to
understand why the force has
become a Zanu PF appendage poisoning the
political environment at a time
when Sadc leaders are keen to broker
peace.
Police should stop serving partisan interests and allow the
GPA parties to
craft a new constitution and a workable roadmap to free and
fair elections.
This is what all peace-loving Zimbabweans wish for.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July 2011 12:47
By
Wilfred Mhanda
It is appropriate to put the blind support for
Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF by
some commanders of the security forces in
perspective. The struggle for the
liberation of Zimbabwe began way back in
1890, as soon as the invading
settler forces, dubbed the “Pioneer Column”,
set foot in the country. That
was long before Mugabe was born and before the
formation of Zanu. People
should not imagine that without Mugabe and Zanu
PF, Zimbabwe would never
have been liberated.
Without the sacrifices
of the gallant fighters of the first Chimurenga and
subsequent patriotic
actors, there would have been nothing for Mugabe and
Zanu to build on.
Without the African National Congress of Southern Rhodesia
and the National
Democratic Party (NDP), whose formations Mugabe had nothing
to do with, and
without Zapu, there would have been no foundation for Zanu
to prosecute the
liberation struggle. It was the chain of cumulative
experiences and
sacrifices that paved the way for Zanu to wage the
liberation war alongside
Zapu. The dogmatic focus on Mugabe and Zanu PF is
thus a historical and
counter-intuitive.
It is at best a trivialisation of the
contribution of other players in the
struggle to liberate Zimbabwe and at
worst an insult on the sacrifices of
all those, dead or alive, who came
before Mugabe rose to prominence. In any
case, Mugabe did not make a greater
contribution for the liberation of
Zimbabwe than other key players in terms
of sacrifice or the formulation and
articulation of the struggle’s
objectives. One has only, for instance, to
consider Ndabaningi Sithole’s
coining of the maxim “We are our own
liberators” that became the guiding
philosophy in the liberation struggle.
Zimbabwe’s liberation
struggle was graced by many a luminary daughters and
sons of Zimbabwe, among
them Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi, King Lobengula,
Joshua Nkomo, Ndabaningi
Sithole, Samuel Tichafa Parirenyatwa, Leopold
Takawira, Herbert Chitepo,
Edison Sithole, Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, Josiah
Tongogara, Alfred Mangena, to
name but a few, whose contribution and
sacrifices could by no means be
dwarfed by Mugabe’s. In the circumstances,
the obsession with Mugabe and
Zanu PF baffles and boggles the mind. Why then
do Mugabe and Zanu PF have to
beat people into submission to vote for them
if their positive contribution
to Zimbabwe is enduring and self-evident? It
would appear to be oxymoronic
and a contradiction in terms. Both Mugabe and
Zanu PF and their blind
supporters in the security forces need some soul,
searching to discover why
they have lost popular support.
It has to be said, however, that
the current debate on security sector
reform lacks articulation and focus.
Security sector reform is variously
perceived as a component of the Global
Political Agreement, and the election
roadmap. While the GPA could be
considered to be the political roadmap,
there is need to craft a separate
roadmap for security sector reform
distinct from both the election roadmap
and the political roadmap.
Admittedly, the need for comprehensive
security sector reform has to be
incorporated in the political roadmap while
the election-related aspects of
security sector reform have to be integrated
into the election roadmap.
Security sector reform should not be subordinated
to the election roadmap
that has a short time frame. It should have its own
roadmap that adopts a
holistic approach embracing all matters relating to
the security sector and
the parameters for its
transformation.
Consequently, security sector reform cannot and
should not be a
pre-condition or pre-requisite for the holding of elections.
Those aspects
of security sector reform that have an impact and a bearing on
the holding
of free, fair and credible elections should be addressed within
the context
of the election roadmap to obviate any negative role by the
security forces
in the conduct of elections while security sector reform
proper should
proceed as work in progress not bound by the time frame for
elections.
There are numerous examples of successful and credible
elections that have
been held in post-conflict situations before the
consummation of
comprehensive security sector reforms. Zimbabwe’s
Independence elections in
1980, South Africa’s democratic elections in 1994
and Mozambique’s
post-civil war elections are cases in
point.
Analysts, commentators, journalists and politicians have
alleged that
Zimbabwe’s security forces have become a law unto themselves
and have
effectively staged a coup, leaving Mugabe hostage and powerless. I
am not
exactly certain what informs such assertions. Suffice it to say that
their
claims are not founded on factual evidence.
In terms of
both the country’s constitution and the relevant statutory
provisions,
Mugabe as president and commander-in-chief is ultimately and
solely in
charge of the operational policy directives for the security
forces. The
charges of a military coup remain speculative and conjectural.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 31 July
2011 12:45
By Nevanji Madanhire
The issue of the behaviour
of Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) commanders now
darkly known as “the
generals” which Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has
described as “divisive”
came to a head in the week just past with both the
Minister of Defence
Emmerson Mnangagwa and ZDF commander Constantine
Chiwenga offering their
tuppenny worth on the professionalism of the ZDF and
on whether the generals
should salute Tsvangirai or not.
Two things emerged in the two
gentlemen’s statements. One was that their
pronouncements were a public
relations exercise following the fallout with
the public over statements by
Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba. The
other was that they sought to
give the impression to the public that
Tsvangirai dema-nded to be saluted by
the generals.
The issue of whether or not the generals salute
Tsvangirai was raised first
not by Tsvangirai but by the generals themselves
when they, without any
prompting from anyone went public on the eve of the
2002 presidential
elections saying that they would not salute Tsvangirai
even if he was
popularly elected president of the Republic of Zimbabwe. They
have since
repeated this whenever an election
looms.
Nyikayaramba reiterated this recently when he was quoted
in the Zimbabwe
Independent saying he personally would not salute Tsvangirai
if he became
president. He also called the Prime Minister a national
security threat
which had to be dealt with by the
military.
Not only did his utterances cause alarm and despondency
among the general
public in Zimbabwe and abroad but it also seemed that he
was speaking on
behalf of the ZDF. This put the professionalism of the ZDF
to question. The
utterances amounted to a coup against the country’s
constitution and seemed
to suggest the use of assassination in dealing with
political opponents.
The Ministry of Defence and the commander of
the ZDF had to do something
about it; they had to distance themselves from
Nyikayaramba’s own goal. But
not being public relations pundits they had to
do this in a manner that
seemed to attack Tsvangirai in a way that suggests
he had demanded their
salutes.
Mnangagwa said: “The
statements by Nyikayaramba were personal views and do
not reflect the
Zimbabwe Defence Forces views because he is not the
spokesperson of the
army, but has constitutional rights to freedom of
speech.”
“The tradition of the army the world over is that
subordinates salute
superiors and the seniors salute in return and at the
helm of the military
is the President, who is the Commander of the Defence
Forces, and below him
is the Minister of Defence, followed by the Commander
of the Defence Forces,
and then followed by the service commanders of the
National Army and the Air
Force.”
Chiwenga defended the ZDF’s
professionalism by citing how the Zimbabwean
military outfit “stands amongst
the best on the continent”.
He told government mouthpiece The
Herald on Friday that, “Our organisational
ability, inevitable good conduct
and professionalism have always been the
marvel for many far and wide and
the most sought after.
“If anything, the ZDF stands amongst the
best on the continent and we vow to
continue to hoist the Zimbabwean flag
high.
“The Defence Act Chapter (11:02) clearly stipulates our
functions and chain
of command highlighting the existence of a single
command through the
Commander-in-Chief as is the common practice the world
over.”
No one has ever disputed that the ZDF is about the best
and most efficient
on the continent. After all, they have been at war almost
continuously since
independence in 1980. Every Zimbabwean surely must
appreciate how members of
our military have been part and parcel of the
United Nations peacekeeping
forces.
In their belated public
relations onslaught Chiwenga and Mnangagwa must
demonstrate to all
Zimbabweans that the defence forces’s charity which they
flaunt on
peacekeeping missions abroad in fact begins at home. They should
show that
they are answerable first to the Zimbabwean people. Instead of
defending
the indefensible, that Nyikayaramba has a constitutional right of
freedom of
speech to issue treasonable statements, they must in equal
measure also
defend the general public’s freedom of speech and the freedom
to be led by
leaders of their choice.
The ZDF must own up on, or clear
themselves of, the allegation that they
spearheaded the violence leading up
to the June 2008 presidential election
runoff in which it is further alleged
200 supporters of Tsvangirai’s MDC
perished.
They must also
clear themselves from allegations that they have deployed the
so-called
“boys on leave” into the rural areas where they are accused of
intimidating
unarmed peace-loving civilians.
Our constitutional democracy
demands that every now and again Zimbabweans go
to the polls to elect those
who they want to be led by. The ZDF must come
out clean and tell us that
they recognise this very important part of our
constitution and that they
are ready, as is their wont, to defend the people’s
freedom of
choice.
The generals’ utterances about not being ready to salute
any leader who has
no liberation war credentials undermine the Constitution
of Zimbabwe and the
very fabric of our democratic processes. It is wrong to
say that people in
the military have the constitutional right to utter words
that go against
the very constitution they are supposed to uphold. Military
outfits all over
the world have codes that they should adhere to
specifically pertaining to
what they can or cannot say regarding their
countries’ civilian leadership.
In June this year President Obama
fired General Stanley McChrystal, the US
commander in Afghanistan, “for a
highly impolitic interview” he gave to
Rolling Stone magazine mocking
Vice-President Joe Biden and the US
ambassador in Afghanistan, among others,
and making evident his disdain for
the American administration’s civilian
management of the war effort.
Much earlier in 1950 President
Harry Truman had fired General Douglas
MacArthur for utterances that went
against the civilian authority in
Washington during the war on the Korean
peninsula. So incensed was Truman
that he said of MacArthur: “I’m going to
fire the son of a bitch right now”.
We are not saying the
standards in our own defence forces should match that
of the “imperialist
America”; we are simply saying that they should live up
to certain standards
of decency in which operatives do not utter statements
that cause alarm and
despondency among the people.
Yes, Zimbabweans will leave the
generals alone, only as long as they remain
in the barracks.