Chinamasa invokes spirits as he fights possible jail

New Zimbabwe

By Staff Reporter
Last updated: 08/24/2006 11:32:33
ZIMBABWE'S Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa is leaving nothing to chance
in his corruption trial, and has invoked traditional sprits during a
ceremony at his farm for better luck.

Chinamasa held a traditional bira last Saturday attended by three other
cabinet ministers seeking better luck ahead of judgment on September 4 in a
case in which he is accused of bribing a state witness to drop violence
charges against 23 supporters of state security minister Didymus Mutasa.

Mutasa, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made and Transport Minister Chris
Mushowe all converged at Chinamasa's farm under a dark cloud of uncertainty
over Chinamasa's fate.

Chinamasa denied charges of attempting to obstruct the course of justice.

In court, Chinamasa said he was "caught in the crossfire" as the key state
witness, James Kaunye, was punishing him for being close to Mutasa. Kaunye
lost the battle to represent Makoni North on a ruling Zanu PF party ticket
in the 2005 polls to Mutasa.

Chinamasa admitted the three ministers gathered at his farm last Saturday,
but insisted that they were just visiting. Chinamasa said they "just met" as
legislators from Makoni district.

"Anything else who have heard is sickening rubbish," Mutasa said Wednesday
evening. "It's rubbish, rubbish, rubbish."

The minister soon launched into a tirade against his accusers, claiming the
charges against him were "trumped-up", he would not say by who.

"If you followed the trial, do you think they had a case against me?," asked
the politician. "The charges were all trumped up, and there is therefore,
nothing to worry about."

Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, a ruling party
member who attended the bira said: "It was a scene from the past. All the
ministers were barefooted. They drank traditional beer and everyone was
ordered to switch off their cell phones."

Mutasa has been caught up in the trial after suing a prosecutor for
defamation following comments made in court during Chinamasa's trial. The
prosecutor suggested Mutasa was not in the clear on violence charges.

Made, meanwhile, is not safe either. Vultures are circling after another
magistrate, ruling on a corruption case involving Zupco boss Charles
Nherera, suggested he was a beneficiary of kick-backs by a businessman
seeking to win a bus-supply tender.

A bira is as traditional ceremony in Shona culture, usually conducted to
seek better luck. It usually sought supernatural intervention in times of
drought.

A Zimbabwean journalist, explaining the bira, said: "It is procedure during
a bira, which is normally a male gathering, for people to walk barefooted.
The men also drink a traditional brew.

"The brew is usually made by old women who are no longer sexually active, as
they are thought to be pure. The fermentation programme for the sorghum is
done at the river, the idea being that the water doesn't have to leave the
source."

Sources say Chinamasa sees his prosecution as punishment by a rival faction
within Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party for his support of an attempt to
block Joice Mujuru's ascendancy to the Vice Presidency.

Chinamasa is thought to be loyal to a faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa
which is caught in a succession war with another faction led by Mujuru and
her retired amy boss husband, Solomon Mujuru.

Supermarket prices, Harare northern suburb new Z$

The Zimbabwean

Supermarket prices, Harare northern suburb  new Z$
20/08/06
Increase, 4 weeks
M Meal,    N/a
tomatoes 1kg                 Z$350.00      0.0%
matches Box                  Z$16.50        0.0%
Candles, pkt of 6           n/a                 n/a
soap hand, 150g            Z$145.00      0.0%
soap bath, 250g             Z$280.00      0.0%
soap blue, 500g             Z$470.00      54.9%
flour plain, 2kg               Z$670.00*    61.40%
flour Brown, 2kg            n/a                 n/a
tea cheapest, 250g         Z$200.00      42.9%
bread 700g                    Z$200.00      0.0%
salt Table, 1kg               Z$160.00      45.5%
salt table, 2kg                Z$275.00      -1.8%
kapenta 250g                Z$360.00      -1.4%
soyamince 500g            n/a                 n/a
beans 500g                  Z$290            73.7%
cooking oil 750ml        Z$570             44.3%
mufushwa 100g           n/a                    n/a
sugar 2kg                   Z$360.50         0.0%
lacto 500ml                Z$170.00         25.9%
milk 500ml                 Z$190.00        22.6%
P'nut butter 375ml      Z$385.00        54.0%
*: in another shop of same chain
Several items were sold out because people were spending all the 'old' money
they could.

OLD  CURRENCY                                                         NEW
CURRENCY

US Dollar     1 = ZWD 650,000                                  ZWD 650.00
GB Pound   1 = ZWD 1,200,000                               ZWD 1,200.00
ZA Rand      1 = ZWD 90,000                                    ZWD 90.00
ZM Kwacha 1 = ZWD 170                                         ZWD 0.17
MZ Metical   1 = ZWD 22                                          ZWD 0.022
BW Pula       1 = ZWD 110,000                                 ZWD 110

Zupco graft saga takes a new twist

FinGaz

Zhean Gwaze

JAYESH Shah, the state's star witness in the Zimbabwe United Passenger
Company (Zupco) bribes-for-buses saga could lose his immunity as law experts
say he is liable for prosecution for his role in the case.

Shah led the evidence-in-chief in the first case that resulted in the
conviction and jailing of Zupco board chairman Charles Nherera for two years
for soliciting a US$85 000 bribe from Shah's Gift Investments firm in order
to facilitate a contract to supply buses.
Lawyers representing Nherera and deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga
have accused the Attorney General of exerting undue influence in the case
and have threatened to approach the High Court to challenge the immunity
granted to Shah.
Although Nherera was last week sentenced to an effective two years in jail
after being convicted of corruption in the kickbacks scandal, he jointly
faces more similar charges with Matonga.
At the core of the issues raised by Wilson Manase, who represents Matonga,
and Joseph Mandizha, counsel for Nherera, in their hard-hitting letter to
the director of public prosecutions, is the AG's decision to grant Shah
immunity from prosecution. The lawyers also say they are determined to
institute a private lawsuit against Shah.
The lawyers have given the AG up to tomorrow to respond to the concerns
raised in the letter.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said it was held that in any bribery
case, there are two parties involved, both of which are liable for
prosecution, although he was quick to say that in this case investigations
have not yet been carried out to determine Shah's culpability.
"It's a process that takes a long time to be concluded as the police have to
carry out investigations involving witnesses whose evidence can determine
whether Shah can be investigated. Personally I wouldn't know if any
investigations have already begun on Shah."
The corruption saga has sucked in deputy Information Minister Bright
Matonga, who is jointly being charged with Nherera for receiving US$20 000
from Shah and is set to appear in court in October.
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo has also been embroiled in the
saga after regional magistrate Lilian Kudya posed serious questions on the
minister's role in the case while delivering judgment on Nherera.
Harare lawyer Obert Gutu of Gutu, Chikowore and Partners said according to
section 267 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, any accomplice who
gives satisfactory evidence for the state is not liable to prosecution for
it. He, however, said there were certain requirements that have to be met.
"The public prosecutor must inform the court that in his opinion the witness
is an accomplice in the matter and that the accomplice has to answer all
legal questions to the satisfaction of the court," Gutu said.
In her ruling in Nherera's case, Kudya said the court had noted that Shah
was not aware that he was an accomplice witness when the trial began and
gave his evidence just like any other witness.
"However, as the line of questioning by the state and defence progressed
during the giving of evidence by Shah, it became apparent that he was an
accomplice witness," she said.
As a result, the court took note of the dangers of dealing with his evidence
as an accomplice witness, although it was satisfied that his evidence was
credible.
Lawyers Joseph Mandizha and Wilson Manase, representing Nherera and Matonga
respectively, have written a letter to the Attorney General's (AG) office
questioning the legality of Shah's immunity.
In a letter dated 9 August and addressed to the director of public
prosecution, the lawyers requested Shah's prosecution.
The lawyers want the AG to clarify to them if Shah had been given blanket
immunity and the grounds of giving Shah the immunity.
They also demanded sight of the certificate of immunity.
"As our clients are minded to seriously consider challenging (in the High
Court) your grant of immunity from prosecution to Mr Jayesh Shah, and of
your refusal to prosecute him, it is only fair that we kindly demand as we
hereby do, that you expeditiously furnish us with the aforesaid certificate
a copy of the said immunity and your reasoned response," the lawyers wrote.
Director of public prosecutions in the AG's office, Loyce Matanda-Moyo, said
she could not comment on the matter as was off sick. Matanda-Moyo referred
all the questions to the attorney general Sobuza Gula Ndebele, who was
continuously said to be in meetings.
Mandizha this week said the AG's office had not responded to their inquiry
and had currently written a reminder letter to the office.
"We are sending a reminder to the AG and we are also working on the appeal
against Nherera's conviction and to apply for bail pending appeal and we
hope to file our case by Thursday (tomorrow)," he said.

BAZ risks contempt of parliament charges

FinGaz

Njabulo Ncube

The Financial Gazette can reveal that when BAZ chief executive officer
Thomas Mandigora appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Transport and
Communications about three months ago, he said the regulating authority
would have called for applications by the end of last month.
Investigations by this newspaper this week reveal that not only has there
been silence on the issue of the opening up of the airwaves by the
authorities but recommendations to amend the Broadcasting and Services Act
(BAS) are also gathering dust at the ministry of Transport and
Communications.
The Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications, chaired by Makonde
legislator Leo Mugabe, has been under immense pressure from civic
organisations and media stakeholders to liberalise the airwaves since the
promulgation of the BSA in 2002, which automatically licensed Transmedia and
the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH).
Mugabe said failure by the BAZ officials to stick to their programme of
action smacked of contempt of parliament.
"When they (BAZ) appeared before us, its officials revealed a programme of
action under oath. They said by the end of July they would have called for
applications and the deadline has expired without anything being done. It is
simple contempt of parliament because this was under oath," said Mugabe in a
telephone interview.
According to BAZ sources, it would be impossible for the broadcasting
authority to invite new players before the BAS was amended to allow the
entrance of community radio and television stations, among other things.
In December 2004, BAZ invited applicants for the provision of 15 national
commercial free-to-air radio broadcasting licences. Parliamentary documents
obtained by The Financial Gazette indicate that the applications received by
BAZ were for a national commercial free-to-air radio service, a national
commercial free-to-air television service and local commercial free-to-air
radio broadcasting services for Harare and Bulawayo.
Of the five applicants, four - Matopos FM, Media Integration (Private)
Limited, Voxmedia Productions (Private) Limited and Radio Dialogue - were
disqualified.
Only MBAC Television (Private) Limited was shortlisted but also failed to
make the grade allegedly due to lack of proof of adequate funding to
undertake the project, dependence on private placement, reliance on an
"unguaranteed" window through the Homelink facility and an unspecified
outstanding debt owed to the then ZBC since 1998.
BAZ chairman Pikirayi Deketeke alleged Mandigora was put under immense
pressure, hence the July deadline.
"It becomes difficult if we are to call for applications when we know those
eager to apply fail to meet the criteria and requirements," said Deketeke.
"We have made recommendations for the amendment of the (BAS) Act but we have
not had any input from the ministry."
The issue of foreign funding and setting up infrastructure is understood to
be scuttling efforts by independent players to successfully apply for
licences. BAS bars foreign funding and no company is allowed to own
transmitting infrastructure except Transmedia which prospective broadcasting
players allege has no capacity to provide the service.
BAZ has recommended to the ministry the introduction of a second signal
carrier. The BAS permits a single carrier and the ZBH to own transmitters.
Deketeke added: "The amendment we have recommended to the ministry will
assist in allowing new players. As things stand it is difficult to accuse
the BAZ of being in contempt of parliament or the Portfolio Committee on
Trans-port and Communications."

This is so very sad

FinGaz

Gondo Gushungo
No Holds Barred
ZANU PF politicians are at it again. I have always known that they have lost
something very important in the storms of political struggle where their
main concern is for their party - delicately balancing on a political
knife-edge - to lose as little as possible. That something is conscience.
But I could never, for the life of me, imagine the depths to which they
would stoop to lower the little that was left of their moral standards. All
in the name of political expediency!

Only last week, peeved by the fact that the Heroes' Day celebrations are
fast losing their glitter, ZANU PF politicians made some mind-boggling
suggestions. The Bulawayo-based ruling party zealots, enjoying the sweet
crumbs falling from the high table, said something that would be unthinkable
to any right thinking person who realises that in its 26th year of
independence, Zimbabwe is by now supposed to be a prospering democracy.
"Radical steps should be taken to address this sad development. People are
no longer taking Heroes Day seriously and I urge our leaders and legislators
to come up with a law that will prohibit weddings and parties on Heroes Day
holiday", ZANU PF Central Committee member, Molly Mpofu opined in The Sunday
News of last week, in what can only be described as cynical disregard for
the rights of the people.
After reading this my heart sank and momentarily, I was speechless. When I
finally found my tongue all I could say was: God help us. In this day and
age when every citizen should, short of breaking the law, enjoy personal
freedoms whereby they are free to do whatever they like or be wherever they
chose to be on any day, the selfish ruling party hardliner wants government
to legislate for the curtailment of civil liberties. She did not say it in
so many words but there is no doubt as to what Mpofu meant in the court of
public opinion, which knows only too well that the price of liberty is
eternal vigilance. She evinced a strong desire to push for objectionable
legislation in the same way they did with AIPPA and POSA. Suffice to say
that this is something that is neither necessary nor desirable in a
democratic society. Indeed such a law can only be contemplated in countries
where we have some of the most despotic regimes in the world such as Burma
where such issues as industrial growth, rice production and literacy rates
are treated as state secrets.
The difference is that in Burma they are under the jack boot of a military
dictator. But in Zimbabwe we are supposed to be living in a democracy. And I
cannot figure out how something so sickening that it should shock the moral
conscience of the nation, can cross anybody's mind. But then again, ZANU PF's
lunatic fringe, responsible for the hatred for compromise, growing
intolerance and confrontation in the country, is incorrigible! And Mpofu's
shocking and disgusting suggestion is exhibit "A".
Indeed, that the ruling party politicians are calling on government to
outlaw any other social activities like weddings during ostensible national
occasions such as the Heroes Day holidays, smacks of something evil and
dangerous with equally sinister political implications. Moreso when such
occasions are used to denounce the opposition which is supposed to be a
reality of Zimbabwe's democratic dispensation.
But what prompted these illogical arguments for what could only be a
retrogressive law? It is very obvious. It has something to do with the
understandable increasingly dwindling purely voluntary attendances at these
occasions. Typical of the ruling party's voluble zealots, Mpofu did not even
stop to think whether her suggestion appeals to public opinion. Or why
people who sacrificed so much for the independence of the country now shun
events that are supposed to keep the memory of those men and women of
exceptional personal responsibility who paid the ultimate price for
Zimbabwe, alive?
"Heroes Day is an important national day that is attached with a lot of
emotions. Thousands of people sacrificed their lives to liberate this
country. However, over the last few years people appear to be losing respect
for the day. You find people wedding and partying and to me that shows
disrespect for our heroes" weighed in, Sikhululekile Ndlovu, the ZANU PF
secretary for security in Bulawayo.
The obvious question is why? Apart from the fact that the Heroes Day
celebrations have been reduced to an occasion for the ruling ZANU PF, whose
Politburo and not a non-partisan national body, has the prerogative to
decide on who is conferred with the status of a hero or heroine, the answer
is simple: There is a deep well of disenchantment over how ZANU PF has run
down an economy it inherited in fine fettle. Zimbabweans are like neglected
children. They are disillusioned by social deprivation, one can literally
cut the frustration with a knife. Thus they are experiencing neither the
true meaning of independence nor the value of hope. Having lost its
credibility, prestige and friends after years of isolation, largely as a
result of the ruling ZANU PF government's bad and sometimes illogical
policies, Zimbabwe is neither a strong self-sufficient country nor does it
cater for broad-based population needs where basic rights are observed.
Today, when the 26th year of independence is drawing to a close, the nation
is economically worse off than it was at independence. The abject poverty
and misery spawned by the unprecedented economic meltdown suggest a country
in the throes of a difficult and complicated situation. The misery index
tells it all. Yet the powers-that-be, to the chagrin of the long suffering
masses, have continued to deny the existence of a crisis.
And the authorities continue to add insult to injury. How? Instead of using
the Heroes and Independence holidays as days of self-introspection, national
reflection and stock-taking not only to search deeper for a path of
self-correction but also to understand exactly where the wheels came off and
then enunciate their vision for the future, they are doing the very
opposite. The authorities have in their wisdom, informed by political
expediency, chosen to reduce such occasions into an annual orgy of
self-congratulation, beating their chests to no end for the much-vaunted
land reform programme which ironically is directly responsible for the
country's economic crisis.
As I pointed out in this column on March 30, 2006, during these ZANU PF
functions disguised as state occasions the ruling party leadership
traditionally erects an edifice of philosophy on a wasteland of sterile
dogma. There is no semblance of sensitivity to make the people feel that the
leadership feels their pain. Thus, coming at a time when all Zimbabwe is
concerned with are serious pointers as to how the government intends to deal
with poverty reduction as well as further democratisation and the expansion
of pluralism in the political sphere, these occasions have tended to
alienate the people.
The occasions are neither national in character nor do they resonate with
the people's day-to-day struggle for survival. Thus, instead of the Heroes
and Independence days evoking feelings of both pride and achievement, they
bring forth a feeling of loss and sadness even among those who accepted
torture in Rhodesian jails for the sake of Zimbabwe. And the fallen heroes
can only turn in their graves.
It is against this background that the ZANU PF politicians should understand
why the majority of the people think that they have no business being at
these occasions. Indeed, what can the people celebrate when all they now
have is a nostalgic lament for the halcyon days of stability and surplus in
the 1980s when the economy was booming? Everywhere one goes, it is
lamentation after lamentation - which to me is an expression of great
sadness and disappointment.
- email: gg@fingaz.co.zw

Defence lawyers give AG's office ultimatum

FinGaz

LAWYERS representing convicted Zupco chairman Charles Nherera and deputy
Information Minister Bright Matonga in a pending corruption case yesterday
gave the Attorney-General's office up to tomorrow to respond to
correspondence in which they question the legality of immunity granted to
state witness Jayesh Shah.

"Our mutual clients are surprised by your attitude in failing to favour us
(their lawyers) with even the courtesy of an acknowledgement of receipt. For
the record, our clients wish to institute the private prosecution of Mr
Jayesh Shah in the event (unlikely we hope) that you choose not to prosecute
him.
"It is thus important that your good offices take a clear, unambiguous and
unequivocal position on the matter by issuing the certificate requested.
Please be so kind therefore, as to ensure that this is done by close of
business on the 25th instant."
In their earlier letter, the lawyers asked the AG to explain the grounds on
which Shah was granted immunity from prosecution.
"Our clients' humble view is that while it is not for them to direct you on
whom and whom not to prosecute, whom and whom not to grant immunity from
prosecution, to the extent that they have substantial and pecuniary
interests in their impending trial, and have a high potentiality of
suffering some injury by virtue of your acts and or omissions, your good
office has to pass the test of transparency and accountability not just to
them, but to the public at large," the lawyers wrote.
They demanded that the AG's office "kindly confirm, in writing and as a
matter of urgency, whether you in fact granted Mr Shah blanket immunity from
prosecution, that you furnish them with your reasoned thought processes and
or legal considerations and grounds in/for granting Mr Jayesh Shah immunity
from prosecution - blanket or specific."
The lawyers also demand "sworn statements from Mr Jayesh Shah which you
considered, in reaching the decision of granting him immunity from
prosecution and or declining to prosecute him and or both . . . that you
kindly favour them with the relevant citations of the statute(s) and law(s)
in terms of which your decision(s) as aforesaid are predicated and driven .
. . that in your so doing, you justify to them why and how the general
public will benefit from your non-prosecution and or grant of immunity from
prosecution to an individual who, on the face of it, and indeed in the
findings of a court of law, is anything but a saint."
Manase and Mandizha also request that the AG's office provide evidence, by
way of a certificate "evidencing the Attorney General's refusal to prosecute
Mr Shah on behalf of the state in terms of the Criminal Procedure and
Evidence Act.
"It is our clients' considered view that your good offices may have erred in
adopting the position, it did, which, as it turns out, favours Mr Shah and
turns a blind eye to the hard facts, as well as the undercurrents of the
'Zupco saga.'
"Professor Nherera has written to your good offices before, expressing his
grave and profound concern that the 'see no evil, hear no evil' stance that
the Attorney-General seems to have adopted in his matter(s) concerning Mr
Shah does little to inspire confidence in him, let alone the generality of
the public that your good offices are impartial.
"If his fears are taken into the matrix of the Attorney-General's seeming
direction of investigations in this matter, it is difficult not to reach the
conclusion that your good offices may be treading a very fine and delicate
line of investigator on the one hand, and prosecutor, on the other. This is,
of course, unconstitutional."
The lawyers allege that Shah declined to give his statement to the Criminal
Investigations Department or any other police department, including the
Police General Headquarters, and only did so at the Attorney-General's
office, where the "CID ended up having to give in to Mr Shah's inexplicable
attitude" and had to record the statement there. They further allege that
the AG's office assisted in drawing up Shah's statement.

Fuel importers defy govt price directive

FinGaz

Kumbirai Mafunda

FUEL importers are now prioritising sourcing the commodity for commercial
customers to evade a government crackdown on prices that has caused a fresh
fuel crunch.

Private dealers, who since the liberalisation of the fuel industry have been
augmenting government supplies, told The Financial Gazette this week that
they would now prioritise commercial clients, who are able to pay for fuel
at what dealers believe to be market prices.
Dealers said although selling fuel directly to companies would result in a
reduction in their margins, it was prudent in that they would steer clear of
the authorities. Fuel importers are charging corporates $640 per litre.
"We have spoken to the market and the market believes that fuel doesn't cost
that little so we have shifted from retail to commercial customers," said
one dealer. "We are now selling to companies and the people who suffer most
are individuals."
The government last week unilaterally slashed forecourt prices for petrol
and diesel to $335 and $320 respectively. Announcing the new fuel price
regime, Energy and Power Development Minister Mike Nyambuya decreed that
service stations must retail petrol and diesel at the new prices, slashing
them from the previous $600 and $700 for diesel and petrol. Nyambuya, a
former army boss, ruled that those who were not willing to sell fuel at the
prescribed prices must abandon the business.
And in a desperate measure to enforce the new prices, the government on
Tuesday re-imposed controls on fuel prices by gazetting a statutory
instrument-Control of Goods (Petroleum Products Prices) (Amendment) Order
2006 (No 7). Industry and International Trade Minister Obert Mpofu used the
instrument to order that the maximum price at which Noczim may sell a
petroleum product shall be $320/ litre for diesel and $335 for petrol.
However, private fuel importers argue that the decree only applies to
NOCZIM.
Fuel importers this week sneered at the government pricing structure, saying
it is based on the official exchange rate of $250 to the US dollar when
importers were sourcing US dollars at between $650 and $700.
The fuel importers, usually hesitant to speak out against the government's
unworkable costing structure, this week came out of their closet armed with
a pricing structure designed to persuade government to approve fuel prices
of between $650 and $768 per litre.
Pipeline fees and free on board (FOB) prices are also being set on the
official exchange rate, seen as unrealistic by industry.
"There is no foreign currency provided at $250," said one importer. "If you
apply for foreign currency, the application just rots at the banks."

Zim needs US$3bn to revamp energy capacity

FinGaz

Nkululeko Sibanda

ZIMBABWE now needs at least US$3,6 billion ($900 trillion at the ruling
exchange rate) to fully develop its sagging electricity generation capacity
ahead of the power shortages anticipated next year. The money is needed to
finance four projects namely; Hwange Power Station (HPS), Kariba South Power
Station, Gokwe North and Batoka Gorge along the Zambezi River whose
unrealised potential can rescue the country from looming power outages.

HPS will take the lion's share of US$600 million, Kariba (US$200 million),
Batoka Gorge (US$2,4 billion) with Gokwe North taking the remaining US$1,4
million.
ZESA Holdings, the country's power utility, has been appealing for help to
stave off the anticipated shortages without much success.
Of late, ZESA has taken its begging bowl to China and Iran, considered
friendly capital markets, in view of Zimbabwe's strained relations with
Western countries which used to fund such projects.
Previous efforts to rope in hard-currency-rich external partners fell
through owing
to political interference, red tape and the compounding country risk profile
that is unnerving foreign investors.
Analysts this week said the contentious electricity tariff regime, which for
far too long has remained sub-economic, might need to be adjusted if
Zimbabwe is to entertain any hopes of attracting foreign capital.
Engineer Munyaradzi Munodawafa, principal director in the Energy Ministry
told The Financial Gazette this week that there is need for players in the
energy sector to complement government's efforts.
"Next year, Zimbabwe will require about 2 200 megawatts of electricity to be
in the safe zone of the looming crisis," he said. "There are four projects
that require funding so that we are assured of safety come 2007. There is,
however, need for the government and stakeholders in the energy sector to
come together and look for ways in
which these funds could be made available so that the projects can come on
board," he added.
A number of companies are said to be interested in investing in power
generation but they must meet conditions set by the Zimbabwe Electricity
Regulating Commission.
Two companies based in Rusitu Valley and in Triangle have so far been
granted licenses by the commission amid indications that several other
applications are to be considered.
Munodawafa said the government is also encouraging private players who wish
to establish quick or smaller stations to augment current efforts to avert
the shortage of power to come on board.
"South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique are still in the process of
establishing partnerships and alliances with independent or private players
in their countries.
"As a country we are better off than those countries because we already have
a number of projects running while we consider other projects that are
likely to come on board," said Munodawafa.

What didn't happen in Maseru

FinGaz

Nelson Banya

FORMER Foreign Affairs Minister Stan Mudenge - who ran the diplomatic
gauntlet when Zimbabwe first came under increased international scrutiny in
2000 - once described Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth as akin to
"being savaged by a dead sheep."

It is increasingly apparent, too, that President Robert Mugabe faces a
greater risk of being savaged by a dead lamb than getting even the mildest
censure from his fellow Southern African heads of state and government.
Every Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit since 2000 has
raised expectations that pressure would be exerted on the regional
strongman, who has outlasted his liberation struggle peers in the bloc and
that he would be put on the spot by the emerging class of new leaders over
the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Every summit, including the one held in Maseru last week, has however been a
major disappointment in that regard.
Although indications had been that the multi-faceted crisis in Zimbabwe
would, at least, come up for discussion in the closed sessions, there is
nothing in the SADC communiqué to suggest that this happened despite the
effect Zimbabwe is clearly having on the region. If anything, the country
got a pat on the back from outgoing chairman, Botswana's Festus Mogae, for
last November's farcical Senate elections.
The SADC heads, while bemoaning the fact that the regional GDP of five
percent still fell below the targeted seven percent, did not venture to
address the Zimbabwean question in that context, despite the fact that the
former regional power was dragging everyone else down.
Summit host, King Letsie III of Lesotho, made the trite point that the
citizens of SADC remained poor despite 26 years of regional cooperation. He
went on a tangent, to suggest that what the region needed to remedy the
anomaly was "a review of SADC's institutions to ensure that they deliver on
regional integration and development."
What is required is a culture of accountable, democratic governance and
sound economic management, not a series of protocols and institutions that
leaders can ride roughshod over. What is imperative is for SADC to attract
investment and reassure sceptical investors by shedding its image as an
unquestioning club of incumbents that cannot review their peers' policies.
As before, Zimbabwean civic society and opposition groups had lobbied
intensely within the region to have the worsening crisis in the country
reviewed at the summit. Some groups even claimed to have assurances from
Mogae that Zimbabwe would be discussed.
Indeed, on the eve of the summit, SADC officials in Gaborone, said the
Zimbabwean question would come up.
In the aftermath of the summit, however, Zimbabwean government officials
have insisted that the matter was never discussed.
However, media reports that President Mugabe and his delegation left the
summit prematurely without signing the protocol on finance and investment,
which all but three heads of state (including President Mugabe) did not
sign - contrary to Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi's
claims - suggest there could be more than official pronouncements would have
us believe.
While the nation continues to wonder what really happened in Maseru, it is
clear what didn't happen will continue to erode the SADC leaders'
credibility and desire to be taken seriously as custodians of functional
democracies ready to take part in the global investment game.

Tsvangirai quietly slips out for US visit

FinGaz

Staff Reporter

MOVEMENT for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai quietly
slipped out of the country on Monday for a weeklong visit to Washington that
is being kept a closely guarded secret in the opposition party ranks.

Described by MDC anti-senate insiders as "private and highly secretive", the
visit could be part of the main opposition party's renewed diplomatic
offensive to ratchet up pressure on the ZANU PF government.
After briefing outgoing Southern African Development Community chairman,
Festus Mogae, on the MDC's road map prior to last week's summit in the
Lesotho capital Maseru, Tsvangirai could be seeking to enlist the superpower's
support for his party's programmes.
While in the United States, he is expected to meet senior officials of US
President George Bush's administration.
The visit is likely to be viewed with suspicion by President Robert Mugabe's
government, which accuses Tsvangirai's party of working with "the
imperialists" to remove a "legitimately elected government" from power.
The party, which flatly denies the allegations, is also accused of lobbying
for the imposition of targeted sanctions against President Mugabe and
members of his ruling elite.
Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango and party spokesman, Nelson Chamisa,
said they were not in a position to comment on their leader's latest sojourn
to the West.
The MDC leader's visit comes at a time when there are concerted efforts by
local churches and civic groupings to unite the fractured MDC following the
October 12 split.
The churches recently brought together Tsvangirai and his rival Arthur
Mutambara, who leads a smaller faction of the MDC, where both pledged to
work together in confronting President Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF to
bring about democratic change.
It is understood the international community is concerned that a weakened
MDC is losing ground in the fight against Harare's alleged democratic
deficit.
As part of its road map released in July, the MDC hopes to coax President
Mugabe's government into a negotiated political settlement that would usher
in a new people-driven constitution.
This is expected to pave the way for the staging of free and fair elections
to be supervised by the international community.

To give or not to give new farmers title

FinGaz

Charles Rukuni

ZIMBABWE could be headed for another disastrous agricultural season unless
people on the land are given security of tenure to enable them to use the
land without fear of it being grabbed by someone else.

But even though the government says it is finalising 99-year leases - which
will provide the much-needed security of tenure - observers say these leases
should not just be dished out to anyone because there are too many part-time
farmers who were given prime land but are not fully utilising it.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono, while calling for a moratorium on new
allocations, new invasions and new disruptions effective from September 1,
insisted that the land should be fully utilised and those who are not
productive enough should be kicked out.
Gono said the government should insist on minimum levels of output
commensurate with the size and location of one's farm.
"Those who cannot meet those minimum quantities per season must face stiff
penalties meted without fear or favour and these national targets ought to
be known, signed for and made public," the central bank governor said in his
monetary review policy last month.
"Such establishments, once targets have been agreed upon, must be viewed as
national strategic posts whose disturbance by whoever is to be met with
mandatory jail terms akin to attempts to rob a bank," he said.
Senior ZANU PF politicians have been responsible for most of the
disruptions. They have been handpicking prime land and using their political
clout to chase away those allocated the land.
Gono said it was better for land to be leased to capable farmers for limited
periods, "even on one-year leases", until new persons had been identified.
This view was supported by business management consultant Luxon Zembe who
said one of the biggest problems in Zimbabwe was that land had been
allocated to too many part-time farmers, most of whom had full-time jobs in
government, industry or commerce.
"I think that it is high time we asked people to choose whether they want to
become farmers or retain their full-time jobs because they cannot do both,"
Zembe said.
"Our people should learn to appreciate that when they go into commercial
farming, they are there to produce for the nation and not for their
stomachs. Right now some people cannot produce because they don't even know
whether they will be on the land tomorrow or not. This uncertainty is a
hindrance to strategic planning and investment."
But Zembe was quick to add that not everyone should be given land just for
the sake of it.
"Let's pick 100 or 200 highly productive farmers and concentrate on these.
Let's not spread inputs too thinly because in the end we will produce
nothing.
"We must also publish the results of the land audits that have been
conducted just like the government did with the Charles Utete report. This
will help us identify who owns what because too much prime land was given to
politicians and civil servants.
"If a farm was allocated to a politician or a civil servant we have to ask
ourselves: Is he focusing on his farm or on his job? He can't do both
because most of them cannot afford farm managers. They want to do both but
in the end they do a disservice to both."
While lack of security of tenure has been one of the major impediments,
especially to committed and productive farmers, a recent High Court judgment
could put a spanner in the works for the programme.
High Court Judge Francis Bere recently ruled that politicians, including the
Minister of Lands, could not withdraw offers of land willy-nilly.
In the judgment delivered last month in which he ruled that Lands Minister
Didymus Mutasa could not withdraw the offer of land to Bulawayo businessman,
Langton Masunda, Justice Bere said once the government had offered land to
someone and that person had accepted the offer, it was no longer an offer
but a binding contract.
Masunda was embroiled in a dispute with Speaker of Parliament John Nkomo who
wanted him off Volunteer Farm which incorporated Jijima Lodge.
"I am well acquainted with the provisions of the Agricultural Land
Settlement Act Chapter 2-:01 - the act which regulates the allocation of
land in this country," the judge said. "That act does not give the Minister
of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement or the Minister of State for
National Security, Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement unilateral powers to
withdraw land offers to beneficiaries of the land reform programme."
"If it were so, it would make almost every citizen of this country who
benefited from the land reform programme vulnerable. It would mean, for
example, that such beneficiaries would wake up one day to find they have
been evicted from their respective pieces of land in complete violation of
the audi alteram partem rule. This chaotic situation could not have been the
intention of the legislature when it enacted the Agricultural Land
Settlement Act," he said.
The audi alteram partem rule is part of the Zimbabwean law which calls for
fairness when there is a dispute. It says a decision should not be made
against a person without allowing that person to give his side of the story.

U-turn over civil service job cuts

FinGaz

Rangarirai Mberi

FINANCE Minister Herbert Murerwa says he will not push for job cuts in the
civil service, a reversal of an earlier pledge for public service reforms
seen as key to narrowing government's deficit.

While conceding that inflation was exerting pressure on the budget because
of larger-than-expected state spending, Murerwa says he will resist pressure
to chop the civil service, denying charges that the public service is
overstaffed.
"The civil service is not huge at all. What we need instead is better
training of our workers and improved work conditions in the civil service.
The savings would not be much even if we rationalised the public service,"
Murerwa said.
Murerwa had budgeted $33 trillion for civil service salaries for 2006, but
the wage bill now stands at $82.1 trillion ($82 billion) after May salary
adjustments.
The civil service wage bill was at 50 percent of revenues and 40 percent of
expenditure, representing nearly 20 percent of the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), a level that Murerwa described then as "very high and unsustainable."
The wage bill had risen from 15.5 percent of GDP in 2004.
Teachers account for 80 percent of the civil service.
Murerwa's latest comments contrast with his remarks last November that the
"economy cannot sustain the current size of our public service", having made
a pledge to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that he would introduce
reforms to the public service to ease pressure on the budget and ease
government debt. State domestic debt stood at $48.2 trillion at the end of
June.
A visiting IMF team had said that given the high spending ratio, the bulk of
any adjustment would need to come from spending cuts, especially in the wage
bill.
Murerwa, who presented his mid-term policy statement last month, told the
recent congress of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries that there was
"need for a credible and consistent package of policy in an environment that
creates confidence" if the economy was to recover.

Stock rush helps Gono build rate hike case

FinGaz

Rangarirai Mberi

A SURGE in stock market activity and a spike in retail prices could be
helping central bank governor Gideon Gono to build a case for an early
reversal of his soft policy stance with an increase in rates. Gono has
already laid the ground for a lift on rates, saying recently that he
continues to feel what he called "the venomous breath of inflation" despite
July's 190-percentage point slowdown.

Although inflation slowed down for the second straight month in July, Gono
will be concerned by a 40 percent rise in fuel prices since the beginning of
July, a similar drop in the Zimbabwe dollar on the parallel market and a
recent run in prices on the shop shelves.
And while the central bank was distracted over the past three weeks by its
massive campaign for the new currency, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) -
always a barometer of speculative activity in Gono's book - was chalking up
gains of over 100 percent, encouraged by Gono's apparent change of heart on
his previously strict monetary policy.
Stock market investors late last week bagged the gains of one of the
strongest bull runs ever seen on the market in recent times. But as market
surpluses hit new highs of $15.3 billion, few would be heeding calls for
caution. Still, there are some who claim to be seeing warning signs that the
central bank could be lying in wait with yet another surprise that could
beat investors away from stocks.
"Allowing this (stock market run) to continue, and to continue at the rate
at which we were going in recent weeks, would be to Gono some kind of
capitulation. Knowing his style, I don't think he wants that impression
created at all," one fund manager said this week.
While slashing rates and statutory reserve requirements on July 31, Gono
said he was doing so to improve industry's access to credit. But he has
since, on two separate occasions, warned that the door remains wide open for
a shift on his rate policy. He told a CZI meeting in Bulawayo that he would
not hesitate to lift rates again if banks did not quickly correspond to the
"dispensation" by increasing lending to industry and agriculture - a pledge
that loan-wary banks hesitate to guarantee. And in reaction to July
inflation data, Gono made his "venomous breath" remark, warning that his
finger remains on the rate hike button.
But despite Gono's groundwork, the market is still not convinced that a big
shift is coming - or that if it at all it does come, it will be sharp enough
to dent inflation or dampen demand for shares. A swing back to the previous
high rate regime will not be an entirely easy choice for Gono to make, given
government's own extravagant spending patterns as reflected by Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa's monster supplementary budget.
Still, others see a return of the 91-day paper at firmer rates as one option
that Gono could choose to take, in an attempt to bring back the money where
he can see it once he emerges from Operation Sunrise - the currency drive
that was to end at Monday deadline. Many discount the possibility of a
return to the dual interest rate system.
Gono hopes to see inflation end the year at 400 percent, and wants to bring
it down to 50 percent next year before slowing it further to below 10
percent by the end of 2008.

Fuel shortage temporary: observers

FinGaz

Charles Rukuni

The current shortage of fuel in Bulawayo, which has seen prices rocket to
nearly $700 a litre, is temporary and should ease as soon as the new
bearer's cheques are in full circulation this week.

Observers said individual importers, who have sustained the fuel industry
since deregulation, had adopted a wait-and-see attitude as the market was
currently confused because of the changeover from the old to the new
currency.
The government introduced a new currency on August 1 and gave the public up
to August 21 to change to the new currency. It also imposed strict
restrictions on the amounts of cash individuals and companies could carry or
bank without being asked about the source of their money.
Individuals were restricted to $100 000 under the new currency and companies
to $5 million. The new measures were introduced after the central bank had
realised that only 15 percent of the more than $40 trillion that was
supposed to be in circulation could be accounted for.
Sources in the industry said some private importers of fuel had stopped
bringing in fuel because police were asking too many questions at roadblocks
meant to track down those carrying excess amounts of cash. Most of the
importers were not prepared for the hassles as they obtained their foreign
currency on the parallel market and could therefore not lawfully account for
it.
Those who had already brought in the fuel were not selling it because they
did not want to keep old bearer's cheques as they were expiring on August
21. They could not bank the money, either, as they would be asked how they
had obtained it.
"People were just waiting for August 21 so that they can sell the fuel in
new currency. That way they can keep their money and resume business," one
observer said.
The shortage of fuel has seen prices rocket to black market levels. The
price hike coincided with the introduction of the new currency, prompting
central bank governor Gideon Gono to complain that there was no need for the
price to increase since it was already pegged on the parallel market rate.
But the parallel market rate had skyrocketed following Gono's monetary
police review as those with huge amounts of cash sought to convert it to
foreign currency.
The withholding of stocks until the new currency is fully in effect may have
spread to other businesses, which took advantage of the Heroes' holidays to
close shop until August 21.
One industrialist who preferred anonymity said: "Right now, it is better to
hold onto your stocks than to the bearer's cheques until the dust settles
down. You can't lose that way."