Once-loyal workers turn on departing white farmers
August 3
2002
Harare: The final obstacle to Robert Mugabe's
campaign to be rid of white
farmers is crumbling as thousands of farm workers
turn against their
employers.
Under the President's radical
land-reform program, next Thursday has been
set as the deadline for most of
Zimbabwe's remaining 3000 white commercial
farmers to leave their homes or
face up to two years in jail.
Tony Tanner, 42, a tobacco farmer 25
kilometres south of Harare, was one of
the few untouched by the past 29
months of state-sponsored invasions of
white-owned land. Now he has been
locked in his homestead for three days by
once-loyal workers.
Farmers
and workers are in dispute over the level of severance pay as
employers
depart.
"We have paid millions in legal terminal benefits," Mr Tanner's
wife,
Debbie-Lyn, said. "But they want more because they say they know
the
Government will not help them after we leave. They have heard of workers
on
other farms who have been paid more.
"We can't leave the farm
and the police laughed at us and told us to pay the
workers. I've got two
sick kids and need to get them to the doctor. There is
no-one we can turn to
for help."
The Tanners are under extreme pressure to pay more in order to
complete the
grading of the tobacco crop on their 1400-hectare farm for sale
at auction,
Mrs Tanner said.
At least six of their neighbours in the
Bromley farming district have also
been prevented from leaving their
homes.
Before the disputed presidential election in March, Mr Mugabe's
ruling
ZANU-PF party established a rogue union that has led workers'
uprisings on
farms.
An official from the original union, the General
and Agricultural and
Plantation Workers' Union, said: "Many farmers don't
want to sack workers,
but they are forced to.
"They have to pay
terminal benefits, determined by the Government, and some
have not grown
crops for two years and have no money. We try to mediate.
Workers know
they'll have no jobs next week, and they want as much as they
can get now.
It's extortion."
The Telegraph, London
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE - JAG Zimbabwe
Please visit the Justice for
Agriculture Website -
http://jagzim.netfirms.com
Purpose and
principles:
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE (JAG) is a group of concerned
Zimbabweans with a
mission to secure justice, peace and freedom for the
agricultural sector.
Its contribution to the Zimbabwean economy is presently
under attack which
has led to the displacement of expertise, causing poverty
and starvation.
JAG incorporates the interests of commercial farm owners,
farm workers, as
well as the agricultural ancillary industries and their
employees. Its
mission is to safeguard and support people directly affected,
in whatever
way possible, and to document and expose the injustices and human
rights
abuses being perpetrated against them. These rights are enshrined
within the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as adopted by Zimbabwe, a
member of
the United Nations.
Made up of committed Zimbabweans, JAG
remains determined to find a lasting
and just solution to the crisis
currently facing the agricultural sector, in
accordance with the freely
expressed wishes of the people. We therefore call
on all affected Zimbabweans
in a bid to represent as wide a spectrum of
interests as possible.
The
next few weeks will be a crucial time for Zimbabwean farming families.
Until
that time JAG has resolved to explore every legal avenue to expose
the
iniquities of the accelerated "fast track" programme. If the arms
of
government are allowed to go ahead with evicting one and half million
people
resident on farms after 8th August, it will be abundantly clear to
every
hungry Zimbabwean exactly whose interests are being
served.
Justice for Agriculture overview:
* JAG believes in
justice for agriculture in Zimbabwe and the
unbiased application of just and
constitutional laws that have received
international approval.
* JAG will
expose and make accountable all persons actively
destroying commercial
agricultural under the guise of land reform. To
achieve this, JAG will
encourage the taking up of legal proceedings that
argue against violations of
the Zimbabwean constitution.
* JAG believes that a rational, orderly and
legal process of
agrarian reform is needed for food sufficiency and long-term
prosperity, not
only in Zimbabwe but also in Africa as a whole.
* JAG will
work to keep agricultural skills on the land and in
the country, and to find
innovative ways to increase production whilst
working towards recovery of the
sector.
* JAG believes it is essential that good farming practice
be
widely taught and that successful farmers share their knowledge
and
expertise with others who wish to become productive farmers.
* JAG
believes land is a precious and finite national resource
and that it is
essential that it be used productively.
* The Zimbabwean constitution
expressly forbids discrimination
on grounds of race, religious affiliation or
gender. JAG believes the laws
and decrees that are discriminatory are
unconstitutional and should be
challenged.
* JAG supports a duly elected
and democratic government whilst
refuses to be transformed into political
apologists.
* JAG recognises the resolutions of the International
Donors'
conference on Land Reform and Resettlement held in Harare on 9th
September
1998 and also the Abuja Accord signed on 6th September
2001.
Excerpts from the Abuja Accord:
1. Such a programme of land
reform must be implemented in a
fair, just and sustainable manner, in the
interest of all the people of
Zimbabwe, within the law and constitution of
Zimbabwe.
2. The crisis in Zimbabwe also has political and rule of
law
implications, which must be addressed holistically and concurrently.
The
situation In Zimbabwe poses a threat to the socio-economic stability of
the
entire sub-region and the continent at large.
3. The orderly
implementation of land reform can only be
meaningful and sustainable if
carried out with due regard to human rights,
rule of law, transparency and
democratic principles. The commitment of the
Government of Zimbabwe is,
therefore, crucial to this process.
The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU)
has played its part in finding solutions
to agrarian reform; it submitted a
proposal in 1991 under the leadership of
Alan Burl. An excerpt from the CFU
report:
1. Prior to and since Zimbabwe's Independence, the
Commercial
Farmers' Union has held consistent and fundamental views on land
reform.
2. It understands and accepts the need for land reform.
3. Such
reform should, however, be implemented in a manner that
ensures land is used
on a sustainably productive basis, particularly as
agricultural land in
production plays a key role in Zimbabwe's economy.
4. There is much that can
be achieved in improving facilities
and services resulting in increased
productivity in communal areas and also
by the acquisition of derelict and
under-utilised land before considering
the acquisition of productive land for
resettlement.
5. It is concerned that, while resettlement may seemingly
ease
the problem of overcrowding in the communal areas, it creates another in
the
loss of employment, homes and associated facilities for the
resultant
displaced farm workers and their families.
An extract from
the a speech delivered by President Mugabe at the opening of
the
International Donors' conference on Land Reform and Resettlement in
Harare on
9th September 1998:
"However Government is committed to orderly
resettlement and will not allow
this situation to prevail as it will lead to
lawlessness and destruction of
the environment. ... Under the second phase of
the programme, government
will acquire 5 million hectares from the
large-scale commercial farming
sector over a period of five years on which to
resettle 150 000
households... There is ample evidence based on various
studies on land
utilisation in large-scale commercial areas to the effect
that 5 million
hectares can be transferred from that sector without
compromising national
agricultural production."
Extracts from Mr
Mugabe's address to open the 3rd Session of the Fifth
Parliament - 23rd
July:
"This Third Session of the Fifth Parliament of Zimbabwe is opening
during a
period our country is facing considerable challenges arising from
a
combination of continued British machinations and the consequences of
the
drought which has affected not only our country but almost the
entire
Southern African region. The World Food Program estimates that about
12,8
million people in our region face serious food shortage, with
Zimbabwe,
Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland, Mozambique and Lesotho passing for the
hardest
hit countries. In our case, virtually all provinces except for
isolated
pockets in Mashonaland Central, Midlands and Manicaland suffered a
complete
crop write-off, creating quite some hardships for an estimated 6,1
million
people, the majority of them in the rural areas. No effort will be
spared in
ensuring that enough food is secured, for Government is no stranger
to
mechanisms and strategies for containing the effects of droughts. No one
can
fairly blame us for the situation of want, naturally caused, that
affects
not only Zimbabwe but most countries of our
sub-region."
Q&A:
Who is JAG?
JAG is a crisis management
group, set up by concerned Zimbabweans focused on
seeking a clear way forward
on the land issue through the judiciary, whilst
exposing the corruption,
callousness and recklessness of the Zimbabwean
government's current land
reform programme.
In order to achieve this JAG offers to represent all
stakeholders in the
agricultural sector. This includes representation of
potential new farmers
who genuinely want to legitimise their position through
the formation of
coalitions with representative organisations.
JAG is
made up of Zimbabweans who intend to stay in Zimbabwe. It resents
the
injustices being perpetrated against the agricultural sector and would
like
to participate in a true and lasting Zimbabwe of tomorrow. JAG objects
to the
sacrifice of individual rights and the productive agricultural sector
for the
sake of political expediency.
Zimbabwe faces a man-made famine. This is a
country which accepted
responsibility for the SADC food security, with a
highly developed
agricultural sector, and adequate water resources. It is
unfortunate to note
that the Government of Zimbabwe only draws on 25% of
stored water. The
President said when addressing Parliament on 23rd July
2002: "It is a
crushing indictment on us that a country with as many dams as
ours continues
to suffer ravages of recurring droughts." Zimbabwe entered a
'wet drought'
in 2002 following a record six seasons, which were generally
ideal for
farming. However, after the voting public rejected the
President's
constitutional proposals in February 2000, war veterans and
'settlers', with
prior clearance from authorities, stopped farmers from doing
what they do
best: feeding the nation at affordable prices.
What are
JAG's objectives?
* To keep farmers, their workforces and families on the
land
and in their homes.
* To keep in place Zimbabwean agricultural skills
and
expertise for a better tomorrow.
* To work towards a transparent and
equitable land reform
programme with due regard to economic
imperatives.
How is JAG going to achieve its objectives when others have
failed?
* By remaining focused on the long-term future for all. By
saying
'NO' to short-term benefits that only serve the agenda of a few and
locks
others into feeding corruption and dependency. JAG intends to identify
those
affected and provide, wherever possible, genuine advice and assistance
to
alleviate some of the burden.
* By instilling in the agricultural sector a
renewed sense of
purpose, hope and morality and communicating this hope to
other sectors of
the Zimbabwean economy. Regardless of the outcome, JAG is
committed to
recording all illegalities. Those who are responsible for, or
connive in,
any harm that results - whether to those directly involved or to
the
general population for the avoidable deaths from starvation or
malnutrition
in an AIDS-rampant environment - will ultimately be held
accountable.
Who can be beneficiaries of JAG programmes?
All those
with a genuine desire to overcome the present injustices; who
believe in a
true and lasting Zimbabwe for tomorrow.
In what way can JAG help those
already affected by chaotic land reform?
By encouraging them to stand up for
their rights through the courts and to
understand that they no longer remain
isolated; that they too can now be
part of those who are determined to see
this impasse through.
What does JAG advocate?
Foremost, and wherever
possible, that farmers remain in their homes and on
the land, amongst their
own people who are now so much more dependant on
them during this time of
crisis. To re-instill hope that there will be a
tomorrow for Zimbabwe's
commercial agriculture and an equal opportunity for
any and all Zimbabweans
who want to farm in Zimbabwe.
What are JAG achievements to date?
Many
people have described the formation of JAG as 'a breath of fresh air'
within
a suffocating silence and cloak of fear. JAG has offered an
alternative to
those who were desperate for leadership based on principle
and integrity. In
just a fortnight JAG has become the opinion-forming
platform for agriculture
in Zimbabwe.
Has JAG not been formed too late in the day to 'make a
difference'?
No. It is never too late to make a principled stand. However,
it is
accepted that the founding members of JAG are faced with a risky
and
daunting task by being a dissenting voice at a very dangerous
time.
What support can JAG offer as it forms itself into a formal
association?
Amongst other things, JAG is in the process of bringing into
being a support
structure for farmers and their workforce. This committee has
begun lobbying
for funding to keep farming families on their land and to
achieve this they
must provide: food, school fees, and temporary re-location
if need be, but
encourages farmers and their staff to remain on farms and
will if necessary
provide seed packs and fertilizer for the growing of crops
for their own
consumption.
What does JAG need from Zimbabwe and any
other concerned persons?
JAG requires urgent and massive funding for the
following:
1. Running costs.
2. A revolving fund for test cases and to
assist farmers and
farm workers arrested in August.
3. To support our
sector JAG estimates it will need funding for
a minimum of 45 000 worker
families and 500 farm owner families. We intend
to utilise the skills and
assets of our sector currently lying idle to
provide technical support and
advice. Farmers also possess resources in
terms of transportation and
distribution of welfare and feeding programmes.
Finances are required to
cushion the agricultural sector against the massive
draining of skills across
the racial divide by supporting farmers, their
workers and families and
associated industries. Programmes are in place to
feed workers and provide
inputs for those who can still grow their own food;
to source opportunities
for farmers direct involvement in famine relief
activities, be it
transporting food, or providing technical advice to their
staff on the farms.
Alternative accommodation for those being illegally
evicted out of their own
homes is being arranged.
Legalities:
What is JAG's position
regarding the removal of commercial farmers by the
8th August under Section 8
Orders?
Legislation banning farming:
Despite government promises to
retain an undisturbed economic core of 6
million hectares during its current
10-year plan, 95,2% of land held by
highly productive farmers in February
2000 has now been, or is being,
illegally acquired for hasty redistribution
by interested and, we believe,
illegal self-serving groups.
It is
believed that the entire commercial farming sector (black and white)
consists
of 11,02 million hectares, of this 10,501 million is being
acquired. The
bottom line, therefore, is that approximately 2 900 farmers
and 232 000 farm
employees, already under a ban on farming, face arrest and
forcible eviction
on the 8th August due to Section 8 compulsory acquisition
orders.
This
is as a result of amendments fast-tracked through a special summary
session
of Parliament in May (after the minister's initial attempt in
January to
amend the law failed to get enough support from MPs and was
rejected,
resulting in an illegal revote). This session promulgated
amendments to the
Land Acquisition Act (LAA) (Act 6 of 2002). The Orders,
including all those
served before 10th May, transfer ownership of the land
to the State
immediately, constituted a notice to stop farming after 45
days, and to
vacate the homestead within 90 days. To exceed either of these
time limits
was made a criminal offence. Sixteen farmers have already been
arrested for
farming illegally.
How this edict is to be administered in practice is
not known, and the
implementation may vary from region to region. Government
has made little
effort to pay even those farmers who have conceded their
farms, and many
farmers have nowhere else to go. In spite of the 8th August
deadline, many
settlers are already visiting farms and making overtures in
the hopes of
taking over the homesteads and fully developed farms. JAG is
taking these
warnings very seriously.
Many farmers who had not
received Orders before 10th May have since received
them. 1024 of those
facing eviction now are single-owner farmers. Others,
for one reason or
another (often necessity, as the previous government also
created some
sub-economic land units for racial reasons), are based on more
than one title
deed, but have found the local land committee choosing their
most productive
core land with its housing and infrastructure for seizure.
All their
objections or offers of other land are still pending before the
land courts,
which must be satisfied that it is reasonably necessary to
acquire the land
and that it will be suitable for the purpose intended. It
has been accepted
that many pieces of land have been wrongly listed - but
almost nothing has
been de-listed - and most court cases set down to date
have been withdrawn
because the Ministry of Agriculture has not notified all
interested
parties.
Eviction without conviction:
Many farmers will be evicted by
force, without an opportunity to argue their
case in court: a clear violation
of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and a
violation of their human rights and the
government's own programme promises.
The prescribed penalty for STAYING IN
THEIR HOMES will be arrest and
detention without warrant, a fine of Z$ 20 000
or a two-year imprisonment,
or both, and then obligatory eviction, not
because government has shown
their land is reasonably required for
resettlement, but because they ignored
an arbitrary order to stop farming and
leave their homes. Unfortunately
standing crops and livestock are not
respecters of Section 8 orders and the
practical considerations of this have
not been taken into account.
JAG has already submitted a test case before
the courts arguing on eviction
for farmer George Quinnell on constitutional
grounds. In a period of six
weeks, (from March 2002 to end of April 2002) 653
owner/manager families and
at least 15 154 farm worker families have been
evicted from their homes and
have been unable to return. This translates to
76 000 persons displaced.
Actions farmers are required to take:
1.
Firstly, JAG encourages farmers to visit their lawyers and
to check the
legality of their section 8 notices. Several cases have already
been won and
Sections 8 notices cancelled for non-conformation to the
compulsory
acquisition law. It is impossible in this statement to detail the
extent of
the unreasonableness and injustices involved. There are test cases
before the
courts, which might provide direction on this front. One of these
was filed
on the basis that the amendments to the Land Acquisition Act
were
unconstitutional and that standing parliamentary orders were disobeyed.
In
this case the farmer has been granted interim relief and the full case
is
due to be heard in September/October 2002.
2. Legal options to deal
with the situation properly are being
explored.
3. JAG is in the process
of completing inventories of losses
incurred by all farming families for both
farm owners and farm employees.
Once completed, it will look at a
representative action. This could be one
of the biggest loss suits in
Zimbabwe or externally under applicable laws.
We expect the respondents in
this case to be those settlers who are ZANU PF
loyalists who are grabbing
land, war veterans, businessmen, or people whose
names just appear on a list
of successful applicants for land. Government
ministers, MPs and any other
individuals who have ignored the human rights
of farming families will be
noted and targeted for legal action.
4. It must be understood that farmers
who do not take legal
action will lose their farms by default and may have
acquiesced to the
injustices perpetrated against them. JAG urges farmers to
sit down and
communicate with their staff and inform them that they too are
targeted and
that JAG will take up their cases.
History of the
agricultural crisis in Zimbabwe since February 2000:
Lawlessness and
murder
Over a dozen farmers have been ruthlessly murdered since the invasions
began
after the referendum in 2000. Scores of loyal farm workers have also
lost
their lives, their only sin being that they supported their employers,
or in
some cases, bravely tried to protect them. Known killers have not
been
arrested, while innocent people have been persecuted without cause.
Many
people have been intimidated, threatened, beaten, assaulted, abducted,
or
become displaced and this continues unabated on a daily
basis.
Legalized theft of assets
Because of the lawlessness, and
because settlers were not expecting state
support on newly allocated land, it
was inevitable that looting of movable
assets would occur. It is unfortunate
that moveable assets, valued at Z$ 7.9
billion, have already been seized,
impounded or looted from 632 farms,
preventing farming enterprises from
securing recompense in this regard.
Hopes for further compensation have
almost entirely been abandoned,
especially now that the Zimbabwean government
is bankrupt and inflation is
running at 120 per cent. Economists estimate
$14.5 billion worth of moveable
assets have been illegally impounded or
looted since February 2000. The
Ministry of Lands and Agriculture has no
funds to pay for equipment or the
right to compulsorily acquire it from
farmers.
Billions of dollars in extortion under the guise of
retrenchment
In the last month, over 75 farmers have been barricaded in their
homes or
barns under pressure to pay staff retrenchment packages, which run
into an
average of over Z$ 30 million per farm. An unregistered union,
calling
itself the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), has taken it
upon
itself to incite and intimidate traumatized agricultural labour forces
into
breaking their contracts of employment. Notorious self-styled war
veteran,
Joseph Chinotimba, formed this union.
Example: The ZFTU
President, Alfred Makwarimba, confirmed to the Zimbabwe
Independent newspaper
that the union was visiting farms in Mashonaland
Central, East and West.
Undisputed reports confirmed that on Leopardsvlei
farm, new settler Reward
Marufu (brother of Grace Mugabe) on Tuesday, 23rd
July burnt houses belonging
to the farm workers, rendering 700 people
destitute. Marufu invaded the farm,
which was not under compulsory
acquisition, and plundered assets, as well as
stole a soya bean crop. He
refused the owner entry to the farm to finalise
farming operations.
When the farmer was originally thrown off the land,
the 200-odd labour force
were paid retrenchment packages and left on the farm
to be employed by
Marufu. According to a labour union official (declined to
be publicly named
for fear of reprisal), the staff that was re-employed by
Marufu became
disillusioned, as they were not being paid correctly or on
time. After
allegedly threatening action, Marufu forced them off the farm by
burning
down their homes. The abandoned workers remained in the open for two
days
before Marufu consented to provide transport to relocate them to
a
neighbouring village.
Violation of government policy and constant
shifting of goal posts
In a clear violation of "one-farmer, one-farm",
official government policy
on land reform and the Abuja Accord, 1024
single-owned farms have been
compulsorily acquired by service of Section 8
Orders.
Legislation impact on wildlife, livestock and the
environment
For the last two years many settlers and some unemployed farm
workers have
resorted to poaching and wholesale tree cutting to survive - or
get rich. As
at 30th April 2002, livestock and wildlife operators in the
large-scale
sector reported 387 237 head of cattle have been forcibly
de-stocked, while
wildlife/tourism direct losses run to over Z$ 6.3 billion.
It is believed
that these figures are conservative and total losses could be
much higher.
Farming versus starvation
Whilst this ban on planting,
producing and marketing of food occurs, Mr
Mugabe, his cabinet ministers and
aid organizations are lobbying the
international community for food aid to
feed over six million Zimbabweans
who are already starving.
2002
commercial crop planting projections were:
Wheat:
24 692 hectares are
already in the ground and will be harvested Sept/Oct.
Its value in terms of
dollars and cents is Z$6 billion. But its value as a
scarce food commodity is
priceless in the current stock out position. Cereal
production at 670,000
tonnes has dropped 57 per cent compared to last year
and 67 per cent compared
to 1999-2000. Cereal import needs, including
maize, is up to 1.8 billion
tonnes.
Tobacco:
Over 170 million kgs of tobacco is produced and
awaiting grading on the
farms. US$35,5 million worth of tobacco has already
been sold and the
Section 8 Orders have cast doubt over the fate of the
US$330 million crop
still in grading sheds on the farms.
Maize
(2002/2003):
41 067 hectares will translate to 226 000 tonnes: three months
supply for
the staple diet of Zimbabwe. The value of the crop is Z$9,4
billion. Last
season 50% of the maize crop was stolen with no police action
taken against
the perpetrators. This severely eroded confidence for the
commercial sector
and compromised viability. Maize production at 480,000
tonnes is estimated
to be 67 per cent less than last year and 77 per cent
less than 1999-2000.
It is impossible at this time to confirm how these
estimates will translate
into yields as some of the farmers who expressed
intentions may yet come
under Section 8 notification and will have to leave
before the
planting/harvesting. All listed farms can be acquired without a
hearing and
the crop seized after only 45 days. The few farms which have not
been listed
have only 75 days protection ensuring that the current legal
framework is
inimical to any land preparations or crop planting. It is
difficult for any
farmer to plan ahead until the past promises to de-list
farms are honoured
and it is clear that allocations have been administered
fairly.
Interesting financial statistics:
TOTAL ZIMBABWE GDP = $
488 billion
Total value of commercial farm production = $ 69 billion (18%
GDP)
If 90% of farmers stop farming: LOSS = $ 62 billion (12.70%
GDP)
TOTAL EXPORTS (2001) estimate = US $ 2 billion
Commercial Agric.
contribution to exports = US$765 million (38% of total)
If 90% of farmers
stop farming: LOSS = US$689 million (34% of total)
Ends
2nd August
2002
For more information contact Jenni Williams
Justice For
Agriculture Publicity Team
Mobile (263) 91 300 456 0r 00 213 885
Email us
at jennipr@mweb.co.zw <mailto:jennipr@mweb.co.zw> or
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
News release: 1st August 2002
(On behalf of Justice for
Agriculture)
THE BUTCHER, THE BANKER AND THE RESETTLEMENT
FAKER.
Evidence suggests that the notorious Commander Air Force and for
commander
fifth brigade Perence Shire has laid claim to Eirene farm in
Ruzawi, south
of Marondera, Mashonaland East. The farm's owner, Hamish
Charters was
forcibly evicted by an individual known as Daniel Matenga, an
army officer,
and others, in April this year.
The farm owner's son was
escorted off Eirene Farm by 4 youths on Tuesday
morning, 2 of whom were armed
with AK47's. The youths told him not to return
to the farm, and that the
equipment still on the property could not be
removed without the prior
permission of the new owner, whom they named as
Perence Shiri.
In a
subsequent phone conversation with the farm owner, Shire denied
having
intentions of seizing the farm, but then stated that the owner's
cattle had
to be removed, as his own animals were being brought onto the
farm. This
farm has been heavily occupied by A1 settlers since April 2000, a
violent
group led by a man named BheBhe Musimbe, who have carried out
marauding
attacks on surrounding farms in the area.
A torture camp was
established on the farm at the time of the Presidential
elections. The farm's
owner sustained a fractured skull and a fairly severe
beating at the hands of
these "settlers" in October 2001, when he attempted
to work the farm after
obtaining a High Court Order allowing him to do so.
This Order is unenforced
to the present day. The Farm is under notice of
acquisition that is believed
to be null and void, as no notice to appear in
court has been received in the
required 30-day window period.
Ends
COMMERCIAL Farmer, Adrian
Wilkinson (50) has been evicted from his farm to
make way for Metropolitan
Bank MD, Enock Kamushinda, Tutor in Human
Resources Dept University of
Zimbabwe, Robert Chimedza, and Zimbabwe's
Ambassador to the United States,
Simbi Veke Mubako. The men are to share
1200 ha spread known as Remainder of
Between Rivers farm. The farm has
previously grown Seed Maize and Tobacco,
Soya Beans and Wheat and employs
140 men and women, is under a Section 8,
which has expired due to the
non-issuance of a Section 7 notice within a
30-day period.
Kamushinda arrived on the farm on Good Friday in April and
asked Wilkinson
'Do you know me?' Wilkinson replied negatively. Kamushinda
then made a
contradictory statement saying, "You are the owner of this land.
I am the
one going to be leasing it from Government."
It is believed
that Ambassador Mubako has since sent his brother to announce
his presence on
the farm and his brother and a cousin Matthew also visited
the farm this
weekend. Chimedza has already established a presence on the
farm and has
planted a wheat crop.
Another settler, Frank Garikayi (Chairman of Zvimba
Rural District Council)
died recently and President Robert Mugabe recently
attended his funeral on
one part of the farm. It was on this day that the
President passed through
Clydesdale Farm and stopped to tour the farm with
the McKenzie family. The
Garikayi family are still keen to take up this
portion of the farm, which is
of traditional and spiritual importance to the
community.
The eviction of Wilkinson began after members of the Zimbabwe
Federation of
Trade Unions (ZFTU) stopped Wilkinson from removing over 5 500
pockets of
Seed Maize and
88 000 kgs of Tobacco which was graded and ready
to be delivered to the
floors. The crops, valued at over Z$ 50 million were
held back to put
pressure on Wilkinson to pay retrenchment packages to
staff.
According to reports from staff on 30 June, Minister of Local
Government and
Housing, Dr Ignatius Chombo had called staff to a meeting to
introduce Enock
Kamushinda to the farm staff and to inform them that they
were to stop the
owner removing his produce and equipment and that they were
to demand
retrenchment. They would all be re-employed by Kamushinda once the
owner
had left. A witness at the meeting said that at the close of the
meeting
Minister Chombo handed out $ 2000 to the men and women present
and
Kamushinda also gave them $ 3000 each. This was said to be beer
money.
Wilkinson said, "On Sunday 7th July 2002, at approximately 10:30
am, an
entourage arrived in a white Land Cruiser 785 714 H. The vehicle was
driven
by someone who identified himself as Peter, who said he was
Kamushinda
driver. He was accompanied by Ronald Chakadenga and John Phiri
(Chombo's
employees) and Mrs Chimedza. A notorious local war veteran,
Kangachepi
accompanied them. They immediately asked me why I had not left on
the 25th
June to which I replied that I had until the 8th August according
Minister
Made's amendment to the Land Acquisition Act. They denied any
knowledge of
the Act or the significance of this date and refused to discuss
it, saying
it was nonsense and that I was to pack immediately and leave or
there would
be trouble. I declined, saying that I would not leave until my
crops had
been sent to market.
A guard was left behind "to ensure I
did not take anything off the farm."
The group, made up of Chakadenga,
(representing Dr Chombo) with
representatives from Kamushinda and Chimedza
returned on Monday at 5 pm and
informed Wilkinson that they would pay for
everything, crops and implements
if he left immediately. The group is said to
have shouted a barrage of
threats to press Wilkinson to leave. He declined
and made a made a report to
the Police.
Wilkinson was barricaded in
his home for four days of intimidation with
political singing and dancing
outside his front and back doors. "Late
Wednesday a Colonel Mataruka (Grey
Scouts contingent) called and said that
if I cooperate with a ministry
official, Mrs Gift Chikeza who wanted to
prepare an inventory, the youth
would be moved off." Said Wilkinson.
Chikeza completed the evaluation
with the youth in tow and then pressured
Wilkinson to sign off the inventory
if he did not she threatened to tell the
youth to invade his house. Wilkinson
has since found out that Chikeza's
sister Muphumira, who is involved with
Victoria Milling, has also been
allocated a plot on the farm and wants the
house section.
Wilkinson traveled to Harare to discuss the removal of
Seed Maize with Seed
Co representatives and upon his return to the farm, the
manager informed him
that Dr Chombo and Col Mataruka had arrived and
reconfirmed that nothing was
to leave the farm and that Wilkinson was to
'Farm from Harare'.
After much negotiation back and forth between the
workers committee and the
owner, staff have accepted that retrenchment can
only be paid once all the
farming activities are completed. Wilkinson plans
to transport his produce
off the farm this week.
Over the last week Dr
Chombo either in person or through Chakadenga, Phiri
or Kangachepi have
visited 8 farms in Mashonaland West, harassing them with
a view to evicting
them. Kangachepi is at present illegally resident on
Erewhon farm owned by
Jean Simon. Simon has a court order declaring her
Section 8 order null and
void.
Ends
A senior official in the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture has
illegally
taken over a Chinhoyi based farm, despite the fact that the High
Court
declared legal notices served on the farmer, Anthony White, null and
void.
The Official, who is said to be the Director of Resettlement in
the
Ministry, a Mr
Zishiri is reported to have already placed his cattle
on the farm, and has
grown a maize crop, against the owner's
will.
Zishiri first showed interest in Long Valley Farm on 6th March
2002, a week
after the Presidential elections, when he visited the property
and demanded
to see the owner. Zishiri proceeded to enquire from White
exactly when he
was planning to leave the farm.
White explained that
he would not be vacating his farm as his Section 8 was
due to expire the
following day, in the absence of a Section 7 application
having been made.
Section 7 papers were delivered to him later that same
day, by another
vehicle from the Ministry.
A month later, Zishiri returned to Long Valley
and ordered White's guard to
share the guardhouse with a Gody Zishiri,
presumably a relative. The guard
was also ordered to open the guardroom so
that Gody Zishiri could store
maize. Attempts to get the police to intervene
in the situation, which was
an infringement of the guard's rights, were
fruitless. The police merely
instructed them to co-exist peacefully in the
same accommodation.
On the 15th June 2002 Zishiri again returned to the
farm and instructed the
guard to order White to open up the farm sheds for
his use. He later ordered
Gody Zishiri in the presence of witnesses, to break
into the sheds, break
locks and break down walls if necessary. This
destruction was carried out by
Gody Zishiri six days later in full view of
White's staff.
Police refused to respond despite White's Section 7/8
having been declared
null and void by the High Court on the 19th June.
Zishiri is said to have
commented that he was the owner of the
shed.
On his next visit on 7th July 2002, an Agritex official accompanied
Zishiri.
The pair arrived at about 11:50am and demanded that White pump water
for the
settlers and fill the dip. He also accused White of not co-operating
with
the settlers and refusing to co-exist peacefully. He threatened that
he
(White) would be the first person to be jailed for refusing to co-exist
or
to leave.
When White informed him that the compulsory notice
(Section 8) had been
declared null & void by the High Court, Zishiri
stated that the law was of
no consequence and that he himself was the law. He
proceeded to inform White
that the farm now belonged to him and threatened to
have White evicted and a
caretaker installed in his house.
Zishiri
reportedly promised to make White's life unpleasant if he refused
to
co-operate. He insisted that White pump water for the settlers, and
dip
their cattle, which he had already been doing for some time. When
White
pointed out that this was expensive and no one would pay him for doing
this,
the Agritex official indicated that Government would pay the bill.
White has
attempted to obtain payment but has been
unsuccessful.
Ends
1st August 2002
Editor
I write in response to the beating of ZANU PF Youths
by
soldiers in Mutare last Tuesday. When the
opposition party supporters were
being beaten, the ZRP
refused to take heed about this.
I personally
saw the MDC MP for Kuwadzana (HARARE),
Edwin Mushoriwa, being beaten by
soldiers in his own
constituency, Dzivaresekwa near the Islamic
Church.
The police spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena and the army
refused that
there was nothing like that going on in
the country. The army and the 'Black
Boots', were
unleashed in high density surburbs to beat
anyone
heavily.
Now, its your turn. The Youths should get the taste
of
their own medicine. Why did they join that party which
does not even
care about its own citizens. This
country has gone to tail-less dogs. There
are some
instances which are not even reported. I work within
the
parameters of state house and I know what is
happening but one day wherever
Kabila and the former
Romanian leader are, they will have a
companion.
Girls are being used as sex slaves in the name of
national
youth service. How many Ministers, ZANU PF
MPs, Governors do we have, but do
they have even a
single child as a 'Green Bomber'. God help us.
The
Ministers' children are busy studying in EU
countries and the USA. The
current Zimbabwean
leadership are shouting at the hand that is
feeding
their children. The schools to which they attend were
built and
equipped using tax-payer funds from their
own citizens. They should have the
right to say no, go
back to Zimbabwe and attend to Robert Mugabe's
Kutama
and Murenga Schools. We have plenty of Chenjerai
Hunzvis, Nyagumbos
many ZANU PF politicians who were
named after them but never did anything for
these
schools. Let their children come and get education at
these
institutions.
Mugabe has destroyed this once beautiful country
with
his controversial policies. Everyone wants land reform
to progress.
White commercial farmers, Thomas Mapfumo,
Oliver Mtukudzi, Chioniso Maraire
and others but the
way you intend to implement this, is WRONG. He
should
also fire people like Jonathan 'MaMoyo' Moyo, Joseph
'Mad Man' Made
and Chinamasa. These guys were not
elected and their speeches should be
controlled and
censored because they are taking us back to
stone-age.
Can you imagine irrigating with the 'shaduff'. Many
a
farmer had installed expensive drip irrigation systems
on farms. Some
are computerised. They were going to
feed this nation, their country. Think
again Made.
'Charlie ' (Name and address withheld)
"SAVE ZIMBABWE" CAMPAIGN WELCOMES BRITISH PARLIAMENT REPORT, CALLS
FOR
INCREASED FOCUS ON FARM WORKERS
www.savezimbabwe.com
The "Save
Zimbabwe" campaign has warmly welcomed the Report on Zimbabwe
published this
week by the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
"The
Committee's strong and clear condemnation of the cruel damage inflicted
on
the people of Zimbabwe is an eloquent indictment of this
illegitimate
regime", the Campaign said.
The Campaign also welcomed
the Report's repeated emphasis that the crisis in
Zimbabwe is a national
tragedy involving the nation as a whole, rather than
any individual group or
special interest.
However, "Save Zimbabwe" said they would have welcomed
even more emphasis on
the suffering and loss within the community of black
farm workers caused by
the regime's destructive and corrupt land reform
programme. "When 'war
veterans' loot and destroy a productive farm, it is not
merely the farm
owner who suffers; it is the entire community who have
depended on that farm
for their livings", a "Save Zimbabwe" spokesman
said.
Present reports already indicate some 800,000 workers have now lost
their
livelihoods, and thus their ability to feed their families. But
the
situation is expected to become horrendously worse, with many more
farms
scheduled for seizure within days, and the regime openly denying food
aid to
Opposition supporters.
"Save Zimbabwe" said : "Robert Mugabe
has made a friend of famine, using it
to punish his enemies, hoarding the
maize to reward his friends. Look into
the actions of this regime, and you
are looking into the heart of evil"
The "Save Zimbabwe" campaign is a
non-partisan international initiative,
with broadbased support drawn from
both political parties and community
groups. It was launched during the
recent African Union meeting in Durban
and is designed to restore democracy,
human rights and legitimate government
to Zimbabwe. The holding of early,
free and fair elections, under full and
proper international supervision, is
a key objective of the campaign.
ENDS
Issued by Chelgate Limited:
www.chelgate.com
On behalf of the
""Save Zimbabwe" campaign.
For further information, please contact
Terence Fane-Saunders on:
44 (0) 207 939 7939 or
44 (0) 7768 283 144
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
Mocking the law
OF all the
public comments by Zanu PF leaders over recent years that have
damaged
international confidence in Zimbabwe, few could have been more
calculated to
harm this country's standing than President Mugabe's
declaration last
Thursday that government will defy court judgements it does
not
like.
Speaking at a reception for MPs to mark the opening of the new
session of
parliament, Mugabe said government would not obey judgements it
regarded as
"subjective".
"We will respect judges where the
judgements are true judgements," he said.
He was referring of course
to the case where Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa has been convicted of
contempt of court by Justice Fergus Blackie.
A judge who "sits alone
in his house and says 'this one is guilty of
contempt', that judgement should
never be obeyed," Mugabe declared to the
assembled guests.
With this
statement the president has effectively declared Zimbabwe a
country where the
rule of law will not be respected by its rulers - unless
it suits
them.
Most of us know this to be the case already. Zimbabwe has been
moving
steadily towards this state of affairs over the past two years. Most
notably
judges have been forced out of office by threats from ministers and
war
veterans to be replaced by individuals touted as supportive of
the
government's political agenda. Members of the ruling party have
committed
murder and other crimes with impunity. And few would now regard the
courts
as reliable guarantors of their rights.
But the one thing
the South Africans achieved in their quiet diplomacy since
April 2000 was to
impress upon this regime the negative effect of hearing
its leaders repudiate
their own laws on land acquisition. The upshot was a
series of laws that
enabled the government to do very much as it pleased.
But thus armed, Mugabe
was dissuaded from making any more of the remarks he
made in 1993 saying
essentially he didn't give a damn what the law said, he
would take the land
anyway.
Now he has returned to his old form. He will only respect
"true" judgements.
Clearly it will be left to him to determine which
judgements he regards as
"true".
This of course makes a mockery of
the law. The essence of a separation of
powers and constitutional governance
is that the courts determine where the
executive has abridged laid-down
rights. The president and his ministers are
not disinterested parties. They
cannot therefore pick and choose which
judgements they will accept.
Judgements are binding upon all if justice is
to prevail. Otherwise the
powerful in the land can do what they like.
A Form IV pupil could
master this logic. But not apparently Mugabe and his
delinquent followers,
several of whom claim to be lawyers. Their
self-interested reasoning flies in
the face of all international standards
of governance. And then they wonder
why they have been ostracised by the
international community.
This
latest move will simply strengthen the hand of those countries urging
further
sanctions against Zimbabwe's leadership. We saw last week how deputy
Foreign
Affairs minister Abedinico Ncube's reported remarks advertising Zanu
PF's
food-aid manipulation were seized upon by Jack Straw. Mugabe's
shocking
comments are likely to elicit an even firmer response. Here is a
leader who
publicly declares his contempt for the rule of law either because
it is
inconvenient to the state's agenda or because a powerful minister
is
affected.
Jonathan Moyo has criticised Blackie for holding
"night courts", suggesting
there was something irregular about rulings given
after close of business.
As the Law Society pointed out at the time, there is
nothing irregular about
court orders being made outside normal working hours.
An urgent application
should be submitted to a judge immediately if
applicants are to avoid being
prejudiced. An application made to prevent a
search warrant, for instance,
obviously cannot wait until the next day.
Judges sitting to hear such
applications are acting in the best interests of
justice and a duty judge
roster ensures a judge is always available to hear
such applications at any
hour.
A current criticism of the
judiciary is that magistrates and judges in some
cases prejudice applicants
by indulging police claims that are patently
inadequate in terms of evidence
or politically motivated. Individuals have
been detained on the flimsiest
charges that subsequently proved
insupportable in court - or indeed have been
dropped before plea. In some
cases magistrates or judges have leant over
backwards to entertain police
charges or have given the Attorney-General's
office extra time to
substantiate the charges - often in vain.
The
independence of the judiciary has already been compromised by
accommodations
of this sort where the rights of citizens to their liberty
have not been
respected. Mugabe's remarks to MPs - providing legislators
with a poor
example of leadership - will feed a damaging perception that
where judges do
their duty in upholding the rights of individuals or holding
the over-mighty
to account they are likely to be ignored. It will also deter
judicial
activism that is sorely lacking in today's repressive
national
climate.
When the consequences of Mugabe's irresponsible
remarks make themselves felt
over the next few days and weeks, please don't
let's hear any bleatings from
ministers and their media that Zimbabwe is
getting an unfair hearing abroad
or that the president is being
"demonised".
In his Independence Day speech in April 1980 Mugabe
said: "Only a government
that submits itself to the rule of law has any moral
right to demand of its
citizens obedience to the rule of law."
He
needs reminding of that.
Zim Independent
Branding serene Victoria Falls - another
country
Sandawana
TO the international jet-set, there can be few more
pleasureable experiences
in the world than enjoying High Tea in the wake of a
4pm thunderstorm on the
verandah of the Victoria Falls Hotel. Rich Americans
clamour for this kind
of stuff - all terribly British and colonial - and,
apparently, don't
complain if their bill comes to more than $300 000 a
day.
The view of the Falls from the verandah across the rolling lawn down
to the
Bridge, as well as all the other hotels in the Zimsun group, would
cost a
mere US$50 million at its current market capitalisation, small change
to any
American highroller. Set that against what Sun International spent
on
building Royal Livingstone and the Zambezi Sun - US$65 million -
with
nothing of the view, and it is quite clear Zimsun's share price is
massively
undervalued. At replacement cost alone, Zimsun should be valued at
$60 a
share. But while Zimsun's downside is limited and there are clear blue
skies
on the upside, it could all end in tears pretty quickly if social
unrest
were to take place sooner than it appears, or if there were to be
mass
starvation - as all figures and aid agencies point
towards.
One thing rich people don't like to see is poor people
starving. They tend
to choke on the proverbial cucumber sandwich, which they
could be enjoying
in a variety of other lovely locations around the globe.
However things turn
out for us in our beautiful country, it is clear that
there is an impending
divorce between Zimbabwe as a destination and Victoria
Falls.
Government's own projections show that arrivals at Victoria Falls
Airport
will eclipse Harare International by 2007 and "branding Victoria
Falls" is
becoming a more talked about concept, given that the political
impasse is
set to continue in this country for years to come.
The
Zimsun AGM turned out to be a good-natured affair, with shareholders
happy to
know that management lost a few nights sleep when Zimsun's share
price fell
to around $2 shortly after they bought SAB's stake at $3,19 a
share. In fact,
shareholders were more concerned about the inability of the
Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority - considered to be a political animal - to
effectively promote the
country and called on management to take matters
into its own hands in the
same way Meikles Africa has done by hiring
Millennium PR. Promoting
destinations through "branding" is becoming
increasingly
popular.
While the AGM was taking place last Friday, Venice mayor
Paolo Costa
launched an international tender for communication and design
firms to
submit a logo, and a marketing and communication plan, to sell the
city that
calls itself the "Queen of the Adriatic". Costa wants Venice to
have a
trademark logo to rival New York's instantly recognisable "I Love NY",
which
he expects could earn the city millions to save its sinking
heritage.
"Branding Victoria Falls" and tying in Hwange National Park looks
to be the
way forward.
As for Zimsun, it's going to be an
interesting story to watch. Unbundling
remains the buzzword in the market -
former parent Delta has been a
spectacular success, so has TZI, and THZ looks
to be going the same way come
the end of September. There is no doubt there
is huge value that could be
unlocked by putting the Zimsun's Vic Falls assets
into one group and
throwing - at least what is perceived to be - the
bedraggled rest to the
political tradewinds.
Earnings season kicks
off
Interfresh was first off the blocks in the current earnings season,
keen to
show the market just how well it has done in the past six months. The
group
reported a 567% increase in EPS and debt finally appears to be
convincingly
under control. CEO Evan Christophides was coy about the results
for the full
year, saying he expected a 50:50 split and simply annualised
earnings at
just below $2 a share. But the chances are that Interfresh will
beat even
the current top EPS forecast of $2,68 a share if higher forex rates
and
inflation are factored in. At its annualised EPS of $2, Interfresh is on
a
forward P/E of around 7, way lower than peer Ariston, which is in the
high
teens.
But if Interfresh has done well with around 40% of its
turnover in exports,
Ariston, with nearly 90% of its goods going abroad, is
going to do even
better. Plus Ariston will have the benefit, in the second
half ending
September, of a higher blended parallel rate. Analysts are
already banding
around very large figures. Regardless of Ariston's results,
Interfresh has
had a good run over the past three months and results such as
these are
likely to place the stock on an even firmer footing.
Where
to now?
The stock market continues to put in a solid performance,
boosted in part by
the collapse in the money market three-month rates now as
low as 22%. Some
stocks are putting in astronomical performances - Afdis,
Delta, Art, Hippo,
Meikles, and PG being among them. Century pipped back up
on $2,65 on
Wednesday on volume of 3,6 million. But some in the market are
asking
whether it is overvalued at the moment? Versus its international
peers, it's
actually not. The Dow, at 8 000, had an average P/E of 35, not
dissimilar to
ours, which is distorted by so many other factors, inflation
being one of
them.
And the Dow is in the grip of a bear hug at the
moment. Taking future P/E
ratios, we could probably halve that figure and
would be trading on about
20. Anyway, inflation at its current rate implies,
as Sandawana has noted
before, that the market should rise by at least 10% a
month. Those perceived
to be casualties of the declining economic base won't
make the cut, but its
onwards and upwards for those market favourites that
are perceived to thrive
in this climate. The ZSE is likely to soon pass 100
000 and it looks like
its going to keep going, because one thing is for sure,
you know you're
going to be a lot poorer if you leave your money in the
bank.
Politician's performance
An unlikely shareholder at
Zimpapers AGM was Daily News editor Geoff
Nyarota, keen to harass chairman
Enock Kamushinda, who put up a politician's
performance when it came to
dodging questions. Tired of pesky shareholders
asking questions, Kamushinda
tried to close the one-and-a-quarter hour
meeting without answering questions
pending from the floor. Few answers were
given: Zimpapers apparently wants to
concentrate on more profitable printing
as opposed to the loss-making
newspaper division and also increase exports
of its rags overseas. No answers
were forthcoming about its massive debt or
what will be done about
it.
One reason, perhaps, for the virulent attacks Zimpapers' titles
have been
conducting against Leonard Tsumba is because it has no undertaking
that the
RBZ will give Zimpapers money at the official rate to pay off its
£557 000
debt. Also, no reason was given for the departure of Bramwell
Kamudyariwa,
who has been replaced by the GMB's Justin Mutasa. Sandawana
wonders how long
he will last, given the constant turnover of management.
Zim Independent
Elephant Hills rebuild due for completion in early
2003
Own Correspondent
ZIMBABWE Sun will complete the rebuilding of the
Elephant Hills by February
2003 at a cost of $1,3 billion, which will put the
hotel group back into
debt to the tune of $700 million, CEO John Smith told
the group's AGM.
The new Elephant Hills will be built with improvements
to "correct the
operational mistakes" when the hotel was constructed in 1990,
he said. It
will also have a new conference room and business centre as well
as an
outdoor shopping centre. The public areas will also be "brighter
and
fresher". Smith said the rebuild would be done in a way that would allow
for
additional improvements as the occupancies recovered to pre-2000
levels.
All remaining insurance proceeds from the fire at Elephant Hills
had been
received - $197 million was outstanding at the end of the March
financial
year - and results for the six months to September would include an
unusual
gain of $1 billion. Some of these proceeds had been kept offshore -
with
Reserve Bank approval - to finance the import of certain materials
required
for the rebuild. Management was unsure of how the new 500% tax on
luxury
goods would affect the rebuild costs.
Phase 1 of the
Archipelago Sun time share resort near Vilanculos, which
comprised 18
three-bedroom units, would be completed by April next year.
Smith said capex
of US$1 million had been totally funded off balance sheet,
with some US$600
000 of units having been sold so far.
In the year to March, the
company managed to contain cost increases to 66%
and Smith said the need
remained in the current year, with "rampant"
increases in prices throughout
the country. Insurance costs for the group,
he noted, had risen fivefold to
$150 million. Shareholders voted for a 65%
increase in directors' fees, which
management pointed out was lower than the
average for listed
companies.
Old Mutual is now the biggest shareholder in the group
with a 37,1% stake,
while Zimsun employees and management had bought SAB's
18,5% stake for $3,19
a share.
Looking ahead, chairman Eben
Makonese said the period July through to
November "looks promising and could
well exceed expectations".
However, tourist arrivals would depend on the
situation in the country and
the prevailing exchange rate.
Zim Independent
Muckraker
What lessons will Mugabe learn from
Langkawi?
WITH President Mugabe attending the Langkawi International
Dialogue meeting
in Malaysia this week, it may be instructive for readers to
learn of the
views of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on African
countries.
He said the dialogue faced waning interest because businessmen
felt that
after seven years of such meetings, no progress was made,
especially by
African countries which did not seem able to implement the
ideas raised
during sessions.
Mahathir called on Malaysian businessmen
to adopt a friendly attitude
towards their hosts when travelling abroad. But
he evidently felt
hospitality should not be taken too far.
He cited an
incident where an African businessman during a visit to another
developing
country had thrown US dollar bills on the floor causing the
reception
ceremony to be disrupted as guests scrambled for the money.
He warned
Malaysian businessmen against doing such things as it was
"very
crude".
Mugabe is one of those who have consistently attended
the Langkawi Dialogue
over the seven-year period that it has been running.
What projects have been
implemented as a result? Can we have a statement from
the President's Office
when he gets back? We would hate to think he is
wasting public funds by
attending these meetings without actually learning
anything!
Muckraker was interested to see Pius Wakatama's comments in his
Daily News
column last week on full-time Herald letter-writer WT Kanyongo's
attempts to
link the MDC to violence following the Jongwe case.
We
have commented before on this US-based correspondent whose
contributions
invariably reflect the views of officials in the Department of
Information
and are couched in the same vitriolic terms. We asked why, given
the rabid
patriotism he advertises, he continues to live and work abroad? But
Kanyongo
declined to respond. Whatever post he occupies clearly affords him
plenty of
time for writing his anti-MDC missives.
The linkage between
certain Herald letter-writers who use language similar
to Information
minister Jonathan Moyo was evident recently in a letter
titled "Deport
Meldrum immediately" from somebody calling themselves "This
land is mine"
(July 24).
The letter bore an uncanny resemblance to a report on Page 4
of the same
newspaper in which Moyo attacked the Guardian correspondent for
"using the
gallery of the international media to ridicule Zimbabwe's laws,
constitution
and institutions". Meldrum was abusing the judicial system by
jumping from
court to court, Moyo complained, and pretending he had the same
rights as a
Zimbabwe citizen.
This all stemmed from an invitation CNN
had issued to Moyo to appear on the
same discussion programme as
Meldrum.
"We are in a Zimbabwean court of law with Meldrum and we will
not move from
there to CNN. The matter is subjudice," Moyo haughtily replied
in a rare
demonstration of legal scruples. Any attempt by CNN to suggest he
had
refused to talk to them would result in CNN being given the BBC
treatment,
Moyo warned.
"This land is mine" said Meldrum should be
made to fight his legal case from
outside the country. Foreign correspondents
were filing reports that there
was a breakdown of law and order in Zimbabwe,
the writer complained. When a
deportation order is issued against an
individual in the US, the person is
sent home immediately. Zimbabweans were
being deported every day from the
UK, the writer claimed.
None of this
is true of course. It is not an "abuse" to exercise your right
to appeal to
the courts for relief from arbitrary state orders that deprive
you of your
laid-down rights. It is not Meldrum claiming that permanent
residents have
the same rights as citizens but the constitution. The High
Court appeared to
agree. It is the state in this case that is abusing its
powers.
The
comparison with Britain and the US is fatuous. The US would not
deport
permanent residents and certainly not for writing something the
government
took exception to as Kanyongo's case shows. Britain is not
deporting
permanent residents. It is refusing leave to land to non-residents
seeking
to enter the country - just as the Zimbabwean authorities do. And how
can
Moyo criticise CNN for seeking his point of view? What would he say if
they
hadn't?
On July 17 the Herald ran an editorial attacking the CFU
for requesting
direct talks with the president over the land
issue.
"The decisions made by the (Agriculture) ministry over land had
the
blessings of the president and to call for direct talks with him is
to
demean his office and we find this unpalatable," the Herald
Comment
pompously said.
Talks would be a waste of time, it said. "This
was just a way to hoodwink
the government into thinking the farmers were
sincere."
In a letter on the same page titled "CFU's wish to meet the
president
baffling", a regular writer called "Patriot" asked: "How many times
have the
farmers hoodwinked us Zimbabweans?"
The farmers were just
ordinary citizens and it was "impertinent" of them to
want to talk directly
to the president.
"We voted the president into power and he is only there
as a custodian of
the electorate," we were told. He had "other important
issues to attend to",
"Patriot" claimed without elaborating.
The
Herald editorial said nobody - including international donors - could
stop
the government from taking land. Echoing this sentiment, "Patriot"
said: "We
have come this far without so-called international donors and are
succeeding
so we don't need them."
Are these similarities in both content and usage
entirely coincidental? What
do you think?
We extend our sympathy to
Tafataona Mahoso who was the victim of a violent
mugging last week. He was
walking into town from a State House reception for
MPs on Thursday night when
he was assaulted by three men who tried to
strangle him, he said from his
hospital bed. His left leg was broken in the
attack which saw the thieves
make off with his shoes, watch and spectacles
as well as cash.
The
Herald showed him lying in his hospital bed with what looked
suspiciously
like a copy of the Daily News next to him.
Public sympathy may have waned
somewhat when Jonathan Moyo attempted to
hijack the episode to claim there
was "more to the attack than meets the
eye". Robbery was merely a ploy to
"commit the ultimate crime", he darkly
suggested, claiming Mahoso was the
victim of "barbaric violence perpetrated
by the usual political
cowards".
"Are these barbaric acts of public and domestic violence the
beginning of
the much-talked-about mass action?"
Is there any crime he
won't exploit for political capital? Are muggings and
violent robberies so
unusual in the capital? Is domestic violence unknown in
ministerial
circles?
Mahoso is known for eschewing the trappings of wealth and
comfort. So he
never drives but takes communter transport. This is of course
commendable.
But the head of the Mass Media department at the local Polytech
should have
some grasp of the seriousness of the crime situation spawned in
part by the
economic policies of the regime he supports. It was not so much
principled
as foolhardy to walk back from State House to the city centre late
at
night - as most people living in the real world might have told
him.
Whatever the case, we wish him a speedy recovery. And next time he
is
photographed we expect to see him reading a copy of the Sunday Mail
with
some enthusiasm - however much effort that may require.
There
have been a few pot shots recently directed at the Independent by the
Sunday
Mirror and the Tribune. The Sunday Mirror's "Behind the Words"
columnist
claimed Trevor Ncube's purchase of the Mail & Guardian showed
the
Guardian's owners did not want the paper to fall into the hands
of
indigenous South African owners but preferred an acceptable black
face
behind which the white liberal "crusade" in the region could
continue.
This is the sort of redundant Zanu PF junk one should expect
from the Sunday
Mirror which increasingly resembles the Sunday Mail with
which it shares
stories demonising the Attorney-General when he shows signs
of acting
impartially against wayward ministers.
In fact the owners of
the Guardian sold the M&G to the bidder who could
demonstrate an ability
to run a profitable newspaper and respect its
editorial independence -
something the Sunday Mirror understandably has
difficulty
grasping.
Any newspaper which wishes the government "well" in its bid to
purge the
judiciary is clearly yet another apologist for the ruling party.
But
managing to get the word "comprador" into a heading suggests a level
of
ideological sclerosis that even the Sunday Mail would resist.
The
Business Tribune has also been quick to take aim at Ncube's
acquisition.
Their story noted that African Banking Corporation, "which is
being probed
by the Reserve Bank for allegedly siphoning millions of dollars
out of the
country" through the transfer of Old Mutual shares, bankrolled the
M&G deal.
Then the paper slipped in a line which it obviously hoped
would establish
guilt-by-association: "It was not immediately clear by last
night (July 17)
whether RBZ investigations would cover this latest
deal."
Perhaps papers that are not sure of their facts should avoid
speculation
based on proprietorial sour grapes.
Has the Sunday Mail's
political editor Munyaradzi Huni discovered who the MP
for Nkayi (the MDC's
Abedinico Bhebhe) is yet? Last weekend Huni was
inadvertently (we hope)
accusing the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs
(Abedinico Ncube, Gwanda
South) of all sorts of things. Can we expect a
retraction?
The Sunday
Mail found a couple of "analysts" at UZ last Sunday to attack the
Independent
and others for allegedly trying to muzzle the public in their
responses to
the Jongwe affair.
"The fact is the public now believes," one "analyst"
said, "that violence is
at the core of the MDC and that is why its
spokesperson claims to have
brutally stabbed his wife eight times because of
the so-called accumulative
provocation."
Another "UZ lecturer" in
political studies was quoted as saying any
political leader who violates the
right to life deserves full public
scrutiny.
They were replying to
criticism that Jongwe was being subjected to trial by
media. An MP was
recruited to say that Zanu PF's critics had been compiling
lists of dead
people - "real or imaginary" - claiming that they had been
killed by Zanu
PF.
"The MDC had even shown its disregard for Zimbabwe's sovereignty by
going to
the US with conclusions that Zanu PF murdered its supporters," the
MP said.
Actually, the conclusion that Zanu PF had murdered MDC
supporters was the
court's. And the applicants went to the US because they
could not obtain
justice at home - a shocking indictment of what the regime
has done to the
judiciary.
But what we can't understand is why these
brave Zanu PF "analysts" in the
politics department at UZ and the garrulous
MP were unable to provide their
names. Do they not stand by what they say?
What could they be afraid of?
Surely not a little old list?
ZBC's
Newshour reporter on Monday evening claimed losing MDC candidate in
the
Kadoma mayoral election, Edita Matamisa, had refused to be interviewed.
The
clip we saw in fact showed the reporter poking Matamisa in the face,
ears and
head with a microphone while she ducked around to avoid the
importunity. The
reporter's behaviour was disgusting to say the least. The
intention probably
was to provoke a scene to justify Zanu PF politicians'
claims that the MDC is
a violent party. Luckily it was a decent woman who
was being harassed and she
successfully shamed the ZBC hooligan by
restraining herself. But the reporter
clearly deserved what Reuben Barwe got
at the airport last
year.
Finally, how about this for delusional journalism from the Sunday
Mail:
"President Mugabe's address to parliament outlined the way forward and
was
pregnant with optimism that sooner or later Zimbabwe will be out of
the
woods."
This raises a couple of questions: Who got the address
pregnant? And can't
the woods be better policed?
Zim Independent
Eric Bloch column
The gap between Mugabe's speech
and reality
THE most notable feature of President Mugabe's speech on the
occasion of the
opening of the third session of the Fifth Parliament of
Zimbabwe on July 23
was the extent that his sycophants must have misled him
as to the situation
"on the ground" in Zimbabwe.
For more than two
decades Zimbabweans recognised the president as a man of
significant
intellect who had excelled in academia, accumulating a most
impressive array
of university degrees. It is therefore inconceivable that
he could have said
so much which does not accord with the economic
realities, unless he had been
grossly misinformed by those surrounding him
and in whom he has placed his
trust.
He commenced his speech by saying that "our country is facing
considerable
challenges arising from a combination of continued British
machinations and
the consequences of the drought..." It cannot be denied that
Zimbabwe is
confronted with immense challenges. Nor can it be denied that
drought has
been a significant contributor to those challenges. However, one
must ponder
the likelihood that the other contributor is "British
machinations".
There is no proven evidence thereof, and no credible
motivation therefore.
Moreover, to a far greater extent this country's
challenges have been the
direct consequence of its own actions. That Zimbabwe
needed a land reform
programme is undoubted, and it had to be one that would
successfully empower
a significant portion of the population, agriculturally
and economically.
But it did not, and does not, need one that destroys the
very foundations of
the economy, and one that is the principal cause of
pronounced food
shortages, in contradistinction to the extent that drought is
alleged to be
that cause. It did not, and does not, need one that is unjust,
inhuman,
racially divisive, and encompasses excessive enrichment of the
politically
favoured.
Pursuing the issue of Zimbabwe's desperate need
for food, Mugabe suggested
that some donors "seek to take advantage of our
hour of need to attenuate
our sovereignty", and that they have "sinister
interests which seek
surreptitiously to advance themselves". How malevolent
must be those that
have advised President Mugabe that such motives exist when
there is clear
evidence that it is humanitarian concern for the distressed
circumstances of
millions that is foremost in the donors' minds?
But
Mugabe went further, alleging that "there are some quarters that have
sought
to tarnish our image for political reasons by falsely claiming
that
government is using food as a political weapon by allegedly distributing
it
only to supporters of the ruling party". From that statement one
must
inevitably assume that those around him shielded him from widely
published
reports alleging that Abednico Ncube, a Zanu PF member of
parliament, told a
rally in Gwanda that only supporters of Zanu PF would be
recipients of food
aid. Certainly, there have been no prominently published
disclaimers, which
prompts one to surmise that there may, perhaps, be an
element of substance
in the allegations.
Mugabe told Parliament that
"gove-rnment remains committed toachieving
sustainable economic growth and
the accelerated development and
industrialisation of Zimbabwe". That he is so
committed is undoubted, and
that too must be so of many, if not most, of his
government. However, that
commitment has no prospect of realisation if, first
of all, before striving
for that growth, the economic decline is not halted.
To do so requires
recognition of the realities which have caused the decline,
and which
continue to fuel that decline.
Those realities include a
marked absence of law and order, the deci-mation
of agriculture, the
rendering of most exports uncompetitive in international
markets, the
alienation of the international community, the pronounced
and
counter-productive regulation of the economy, extensive corruption,
and
irresponsibly excessive, spendthrift state expenditure far beyond the
nation
's means.
And President Mugabe further suggested that the
commitment to achieving
sustainable economic growth is attainable by using
the land reform and
resettlement exercise which would, he said, provide "the
platform on which
to pursue" that objective. Certainly, as agriculture has
always been the
economy's foundation, and had vast potentials for further
positive
development, land reform and resettlement could well have been, and
still
could be, the platform for future economic growth, but only if it is
pursued
constructively and markedly differently than heretofore.
At
another point of his speech, Mugabe stated that "our banking
institutions
have to be shaken into realising the harm they are doing to the
economy
through rampant indiscipline" and that "the parallel market must
be
controlled", and that "everyone, including the productive sector,
is
convinced that a run-away exchange rate cannot be the way to the recovery
of
our economy". Very clearly his trusted advisors have either not given
him
the real facts, or have distorted them. No one has suggested "a
run-away
exchange rate", but the productive sector knows that realistic
devaluation
is one of the prerequisites of survival.
Many have
suggested that the exchange rates should fairly and realistically
reflect the
real value of Zimbabwe's currency. That that currency's value
has sharply
declined is incontrovertible, bearing in mind Zimbabwe's rampant
inflation
since the currency's value was last adjusted in August 2000, and
having
regard to Zimbabwe's very negative balance of payments.
It is also very
evident that Mugabe has not been told that the most active
purchasers within
the parallel market are believed to be government and its
parastatals, or
that many of the sellers in the market are believed by many
to be amongst
some of the hierarchy of Zanu PF.
However, Mugabe was wholly correct when
he said, in relation to exchange
rates, that "the crux of the matter is that
foreign exchange is in short
supply". But he was certainly misinformed that
the causes of that short
supply are "price slumps on the international market
and the contraction,
through closures and other restraints, affecting
enterprises in our
export-oriented sectors". Zimbabwe's foreign exchange
shortages commenced
very long before any international price slumps and, in
any event, the
extent of such slumps has not been of a major
nature.
The real causes of the foreignexchange shortages are sharply
diminished
export performance attributable to lack of price competitiveness
due to
considerably increased operating costs, almost total absence of
foreign
direct investment (FDI), and a significant decrease in loan and
donor
funding from international monetary institutions and donor
states.
Very correctly, the president said that there was a need "to
cause greater
production of exportables ... through various export-promotion
schemes,
including incentives", but most regrettably, he then contended
that
"devaluation is sinister and can only be advocated by our saboteurs
and
enemies of this government ... Devaluation is thus dead!" There is
no
purpose in, or benefit from, increase in the production of
exportables
unless there is a viable market to which to export them, and
unless that
market is desirous of them.
There are many markets that
want Zimbabwean goods, but only at the right
price, being not more than would
have to be paid for like goods from
suppliers in other countries. So, in the
absence of devaluation to
compensate for the inflation-occasioned increases
in production costs,
incentives would have to be sufficiently great as to
substitute for the
absence of devaluation. Such incentives cannot be funded
by the state in its
most distressed, impecunious fiscal circumstance and, in
any event, such
incentives would conflict with Gatt.
Moreover, most -
if not all - who recommend devaluation do so in recognition
of
the
realities and of economic fundamentals, and not for any untoward
motive.
Zimbabwe is supposedly a democracy and one of the principal precepts
of
democracy is freedom of speech. The voicing of an opinion at variance
with
that of the president, of his advisors who clearly mislead and deceive
him,
and of many in his government, is nothing other than the exercise of
a
democratic right, driven out of concern for the country and an anxiety
to
have it achieve economic recovery.
To dub a senior minister, a
leading player in the monetary system, various
economists, numerous
exporters, bankers and others "saboteurs and enemies"
because of their
expressions of opinion is yet another example of a campaign
intentionally to
misinform the president.
Foreign exchange markets in
turmoil
ZIMBABWE'S foreign exchange markets are in turmoil. The official
market,
being that conducted (at exchange rates prescribed by the Reserve
Bank) by
the banks is almost non-existent. The only inflows into the official
market
are the 40% of export proceeds of the private sector as are sold
by
exporters upon their receipt of payment from their customers
beyond
Zimbabwe's borders.
Those inflows are directed almost
exclusively towards servicing the foreign
currency needs of government and
its parastatals, being for the payment of
fuel and energy imports, some
limited servicing of foreign debt, funding of
the ongoing military
involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and other government
needs.
The amount of foreign exchange flowing into the official market is
steadily
declining as Zimbabwe suffers a continuing shrinkage in exports. To
a very
major extent that decline is a direct consequence of the
inflation
prevailing in Zimbabwe.
Inflation impacts massively upon
production costs of almost all exports, and
the producers are increasingly
unable to recover the rising production
costs, for their export markets will
not accept any substantive escalation
in prices, and the rigidity of the
official exchange rates precludes the
exporters achieving any increase in
export proceeds.
Those rates have remained almost unchanged since August
2000 in which period
aggregate inflation has exceeded 210%. Effectively,
production costs have
virtually doubled, whilst the sales proceeds have to
the extent that they
were realised through the official market, remained
constant.
To some extent exporters were able to compensate for the
adverse impact of
the official rate by disposing of the residual 60% of
export proceeds
through what has become known as the parallel market, being
sale of their
foreign exchange to those requiring such foreign exchange for
payment for
imports and of other commitments as are legitimately payable in
terms of
prevailing exchange control regulations, the purchasers being unable
to
source their requirements within the official market as the hunger
of
government and its parastatals for hard currencies is so voracious
that
there is hardly any available to others. However, many exporters
cannot
dispose of the export revenues remaining in their hands, for they
require
them to effect payment for the import content of their
production.
The result has been that if they continued to export, they
inevitably
sustained losses, for the costs of production exceed their
earnings. This
has been particularly so for many of Zimbabwe's mines, forcing
cessation of
operations, and for numerous of the previously very viable
horticultural
operations which have similarly been forced into discontinuance
of exports
or, at best, continuance of export operations to a lesser extent
only
sufficient to provide them with their foreign exchange requirements
for
imports.
The same constraints have sharply diminished the exports
of the textile,
clothing, furniture and many other industries.
Inflows
have also been very severely reduced by the extensive cutback
of
international aid to Zimbabwe. The country's confrontation with
the
international community, characterised by endless abuse by Zimbabwe of
those
that have long been its principal supporters and the source of
considerable
developmental and humanitarian aid, and by Zimbabwe's pursuit of
policies in
conflict with the fundamentals of human rights, democracy and law
and order
have forced termination of many aid programmes and, therefore, a
sharp
reduction in foreign currency inflows.
As a result, there has
not only been a lessening of foreign currency within
the official market, but
also in the parallel market. Concurrently with the
decreased availability
within the markets, there has been a marked increase
in demand, primarily as
the state has desperately had to source as much
foreign exchange as possible
to pay for the massive food imports rendered
necessary by the abysmal levels
of maize, wheat and other crop yields as
consequence of a combination of the
devastating drought suffered by Zimbabwe
and the considerable reduction in
agricultural production as a direct result
of government's mismanagement of
the agricultural sector.
To all intents and purposes, currencies are
commodities as much as are any
other items of merchandise, their values being
driven by the extent of
balance between supply and demand. The greater the
availability of a
currency and the lesser the demand for that currency, the
lower is its
value, and the greater the demand and lesser the supply, the
higher the
value that attaches to it.
In recent weeks there has been a
very marked increase in demand, whilst the
contraction in exports, the
virtual non-existence of foreign direct
investment, and the loss of much
international aid have significantly
lowered supply. As a result, foreign
exchange rates on the parallel market
have soared to almost unbelievable
heights. Prior to the March 2002
presidential election the parallel market
rate of the US dollar was
approximately $310, whereas it now exceeds $600. In
a matter of only 12
weeks, the value of foreign currencies has approximately
doubled, the
upsurge being not only for US dollars but also other
currencies.
The rise in demand has been occasioned not only by
government's need to fund
food imports, but also by other factors. During the
run-up to the
presidential election, exchange rates fell by more than 25% and
some in the
private sector with foreign currency commitments, foreshadowed
that the rate
would continue to fall. Therefore, they delayed purchasing
their currency
needs.
Others believed that following the commencement
of the tobacco sales on May
14 there would be substantially greater
availability of currency and,
therefore, a fall in exchange rates. However,
that did not occur, for a
change in exchange control policies resulted in
tobacco generated foreign
currencies flowing directly to the Reserve Bank
and, in any event, the
tobacco sales proceeds were considerably less than
anticipated.
The decrease in sales revenues below expectations was
partially due to a
much reduced production, thanks to the extensive
destruction of the tobacco
industry by government's ill-conceived land
acquisition, redistribution and
resettlement programme.
But the
decrease in tobacco earnings was also to a very great extent due
to
government's determined continuance of a totally unrealistic exchange
rate
which could only yield sales proceeds equal to a fraction of
production
costs. Within a week of the commencement of the tobacco sales,
government
reluctantly recognised the reality that tobacco producers could
not afford
to sell if they were paid at the prevailing, artificially
maintained rate of
US$1: $55 and introduced an 80% support price enhancement,
giving producers
an effective $99 for each US dollar.
But that still
does not suffice, for growers need at least $160 to the US
dollar if they are
to recover their costs of production and be able to fund
next season's crop.
Many have therefore been understandably reluctant to
consign their tobacco to
the sales floors, but are holding their crop in a
hope of price improvement.
Others have been forcibly prevented by those who
have settled on their farms
from sending their tobacco to the floors for
sale.
When it was
realised that, contrary to some expectations, the exchange rates
were not
going to fall, those who had delayed sourcing their requirements of
foreign
exchange rushed into the market, and that further increase in
demand
contributed even more to the upsurge in the rates.
Soon an
upward spiral was in motion, for as the rates rose higher and
higher, near
panic set in for many who, fearing yet further rate increases,
rushed into
the depleted market to buy currencies ahead of those increases,
and that
additional demand in excess of supply stimulated still further
rate
increases.
The result is that some speculate that rates will rise
to $800: US$1 before
the end of June, and at least $1 000: US$1 by year-end.
Should this be so,
the impact upon inflation will be cataclysmic, and the
already severely
distressed economy will be sent to never-before experienced
depths of
recession, with innumerable businesses unable to survive, and the
existing
widespread poverty becoming even more intense.
However, the
turmoil and bedlam that is the parallel market of today is not
likely to
continue, and there is every likelihood that the pessimistic
forecasts of
future exchange rates will not materialise. What is likely to
occur is that
the market rates will soon reach resistance levels as occurred
in September
2000, whereat many will withdraw from purchasing in the market,
knowing that
at such rates they will be unable to recover the costs from
their customers.
This will particularly be so of importers of luxury goods
such as television
sets, perfumery and the like, for the consumer market
will cease buying such
goods when prices are prohibitively high.
When that occurs, rates will
stabilise and may well reduce, although not to
the previously pertaining
levels.
But the bedlam and turmoil will only end temporarily unless
government,
finally and belatedly, does that which is necessary to restore
economic
wellbeing, including a realistic devaluation of the Zimbabwe
currency,
positive export incentivisation, deregulation and so forth.
Zim Independent
Comment
Govt turns 'sanctions rage' on
citizens
THE government's threat this week to take action against its
domestic
critics by restricting their movements will compound the impression
of a
rogue regime punishing its opponents.
Home Affairs minister John
Nkomo said government was considering "a range of
measures which will include
the withdrawal of passports and the introduction
of exit and entry visas
against our opponents in the country who have
campaigned for
sanctions".
At first glance this may seem a justified tit for tat. Except
of course the
sanctions in question are being imposed by foreign governments,
not
Zimbabweans, and are directed against those in this government who
have
advocated or supported political violence, coercion and shown contempt
for
the rule of law. In cases where Zimbabweans may have supported
such
sanctions - and Nkomo offered no evidence of this - they have broken no
law.
It has been a fundamental part of government propaganda to portray
the
opposition as directly involved in drawing up the United States'
Zimbabwe
Economic Recovery and Democracy Act and European Union measures
against the
Harare authorities. But anybody familiar with the passage of the
US
legislation through Congress last year will know the measure was very
much
the product of deliberations between American Congressional
leaders
themselves. The decision by certain African American Congressmen to
throw
their weight behind the Bill was the deciding factor in its
successful
passage, not MDC lobbying.
Similarly, the EU measures came
only after intense pressure from members of
the European parliament. It does
not require any effort by the MDC for the
true nature of Zanu PF's damaging
misrule to be known abroad. The
appointment of army and intelligence officers
to run the March poll, the
last-minute manipulation of electoral rules, the
addition of 400 000 people
to the voters' roll after it had been legally
closed, the partisan role of
the police and the arrest of poll monitors were
all given extensive coverage
in the international media despite clumsy
attempts by the Department of
Information to prevent such news getting
out.
So was the failure of the police and attorney-general's office to
prosecute
those state agents identified in court as responsible for the
murder of
political opponents. In his court papers opposing Morgan
Tsvangirai's
petition to have the March poll results overturned, President
Mugabe claimed
that the MDC lost because it did not campaign sufficiently
energetically. He
didn't mention the roadblocks mounted by his supporters,
the no-go areas, or
the role of the police in refusing permission for
opposition rallies.
But people overseas know how the political playing
field was tilted in his
favour. More than anything else they know about the
political violence
directed against MDC candidates, election agents, and
ordinary supporters.
They know about the militias based on farms, about
polling stations located
near them, and the denial of the right to vote to
tens of thousands of
people in Harare.
They also know that since the
election political retribution has caused
internal displacement of thousands
of rural folk. That the prohibition of
farming - directed solely by a racist
and partisan agenda - has led to food
shortages and starvation.
The
whole world is now aware of the government's role in Zimbabwe's
man-made
crisis. The government media fatuously claimed at the opening of
parliament
last week that "the EU has accused the government of being
responsible for
the drought". In fact everybody has accused the government of
being
responsible for the famine that now stalks the land. Drought has
only
compounded the crisis.
If land reform had been sensibly
conducted, agricultural resources wisely
harnessed and less downright stupid
ministers placed in charge of land
acquisition the country would have
survived on its own resources. Instead
the government has been obliged to
depend upon the charity of governments it
routinely abuses as part of its
self-defeating propaganda offensive.
Yes, the whole of southern Africa is
experiencing a drought. But Zimbabwe,
for 22 years self-sufficient in food
production, is experiencing
unprecedented shortages. A country that destroys
the means of its survival
will understandably be regarded with little respect
on the world stage where
its leaders once strutted with such confidence. The
sanctions now being
adopted are an understandable response to a leadership
which, surrounded by
the wreckage of its policies,
still refuses to adopt
measures that could save its people from disease,
destitution and
death.
Penalties against its opponents will not spare Zanu PF and its
allies the
consequences of their misrule. Instead they will simply add to
the
tightening of the net which, despite assurances to the contrary, seems to
be
discomfiting those members of the regime who thought they could behave
as
they liked and then continue to be received with open arms in countries
they
publicly scorn.
Real debate on Nepad yet to begin
NEPAD is
flavour of the month. For much of this coming week, when G8 leaders
gather in
Kananaskis, Alberta, to discuss the recovery plan's merits with a
group of
African presidents, and in the weeks following, we can expect to
hear of
little else. It will also be at the top of the African Union's
agenda when it
meets in Durban next month.
Presidents Mbeki, Obasanjo and Wade are the
leading advocates of the plan ù
the New Partnership for Africa's Development
ù but because they crafted it
with a minimum of consultation with their own
civil societies it is meeting
considerable flak.
That's because it
appears to fit too comfortably with current Western
demands for good
governance and the economic imperatives of globalisation.
It is also too
"top-down" in terms of policy-making, critics say.
In Zimbabwe, Crisis in
Zimbabwe, an NGO umbrella group, has provided a forum
for debate on the
issues arising. The South African NGOs, mostly aligned to
Cosatu and the
South African Council of Churches, are debating their
own
response.
Nepad advocates in Canada this week are therefore likely
to face criticism
from two very different quarters: Critics of Thabo Mbeki
will say he and his
African partners have not done enough to resolve problems
in their own
backyard ù the flawed Zambian and Zimbabwean elections and civil
strife in
Madagascar come to mind ù while civic groups linked to
the
anti-globalisation movement will argue that they have been left out of
the
loop.
The G8 have agreed among themselves to give the "three wise
men" a chance to
prove their resolve. Mbeki, Obasanjo and Wade will not be
given all the
US$64 billion on offer. It will be handed out piecemeal, thus
engaging them
in a process rather than an event.
That is the reason
Canada gives, for instance, for not bothering too much
about Mbeki's manifest
failure to rein-in Harare's rogue regime. They will
get around to that, G8
leaders have convinced themselves.
On Wednesday Mbeki told parliament in
Cape Town, following the funeral of
ANC activist Peter Mokaba where the crowd
chanted Mokaba's revolutionary
slogan "Kill the farmer, kill the Boer", that
nobody had the right to
threaten the lives of others. His remarks came
against a background of farm
slayings in South Africa.
"White, Boer,
farmers are as much African as I am," Mbeki stated.
His remarks will
resonate across the Limpopo where lawlessness and killings
on farms have been
used as a strategy to demoralise and evict farmers with
an attendant food
crisis.
It is that food crisis that is now concentrating minds in Canada
and
wherever else governments are being asked to relieve mass
starvation.
Traditional donors are already leading relief efforts. But the
political
post-mortem will focus on why agriculturally productive states were
able to
sabotage the means of their own survival. Zimbabwe stands out as a
case of
egregious criminal folly in this regard.
Nepad faces another
danger. If the African Union or Libya are allowed to
hijack it from its
present custodians it will be the end of the scheme.
Remarks by OAU
secretary-general Salim Ahmed Salim suggest there will be an
attempt to
redefine it in African terms. The terms will be those of despotic
governments
with a record of abuse, not civil societies whose views are
crucial to its
success.
We are seeing a familiar pattern here. At the World Economic
Forum meeting
in Durban recently Simba Makoni committed Zimbabwe to the Nepad
process. But
there are already signs of hostility from those in President
Mugabe's inner
circle. Like other policies the Finance minister has attempted
to implement,
Nepad in Zimbabwe is likely to fall victim to ideological
absolutists and
thus isolate the country further.
Those who see next
week's meeting in Canada as Nepad's big hurdle should
look again. Kananaskis
will be a breeze compared to the challenges it has
yet to face.
Zim Independent
Moyo's AIPPA faces stern test of
legitimacy
Dumisani Muleya
THE Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) faces a
stern constitutional test following
the reference of the Daily News
journalists' case to the Supreme Court by a
Harare magistrate and another
challenge by the Independent Journalists
Association of Zimbabwe (IJAZ).
Magistrate Sandra Nhau last week referred
Daily News editor Geoff Nyarota
and reporter Lloyd Mudiwa's case to the
highest court of appeal after their
attorney raised serious constitutional
questions over the Act. This week
IJAZ filed papers with the Supreme Court to
challenge the repressive media
law. Foreign correspondents have also
challenged the Act.
Nyarota and Mudiwa are facing charges of "publishing
falsehoods" and
"abusing journalistic privilege" stemming from a story in
which their paper
wrongly claimed suspected Zanu PF militants had beheaded an
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change supporter.
Although the
paper admitted the error and published a retraction as well as
an apology,
police proceed-
ed to arrest and charge the journalists leading to the
currently frozen
trial.
Media analysts said government's behaviour of
late proved that journalism in
Zimbabwe has been officially criminalised and
rendered perilous to its
practitioners.
Independent journalists are
walking through a minefield. Since March 13
numerous pressmen have been
arrested as authorities step up their bid to
curtail press freedom and impose
their political orthodoxy. At least 38
charges have been preferred against
editors and reporters.
Government, which now lacks the moral and
political authority
to rule with an aura of legitimacy,
is seen as
battling to extinguish
media liberties and block the free flow of information
to maintain its
position on politically shifting sands.
Although
American journalist Andrew Meldrum, who writes for Britain's
Guardian
newspaper, was acquitted two weeks ago, he was subsequently served
with
deportation papers. His appeal on the expulsion is pending.
Although the
court said it had jurisdiction over articles published
overseas, Meldrum was
however acquitted on the grounds that he had tried to
verify the story and
attributed it to the original source. He also had no
malicious intent when he
wrote it.
Commentators said the Supreme Court hearing on Information
Minister Jonathan
Moyo's legislation would provide a crucial test of its
legitimacy.
Media lawyer Tawanda Hondora said the Daily News application
was critical.
"It means for the first time the constitutionality of this
law will be
brought under scrutiny in court," he said. "This will allow
journalists to
determine once and for all whether or not they have to
continue working
under harsh conditions."
Moyo's profoundly flawed law
- described by the parliamentary legal
committee headed by veteran lawyer and
politician Eddison Zvobgo as the
"most calculated and determined assault on
our liberties guaranteed by the
constitution" - was found unconstitutional in
a number of respects by
legislators.
Although changes were made in
response to this criticism, some of the
provisions cited as ultra vires in
parliament, such as the mandatory
registration of media houses, licensing of
journalists and the enormous
powers granted to the state-controlled media and
information commission to
supervise the media, have been retained in a
rehashed version.
Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe director Andrew
Moyse said the court
challenge was one of the most effective ways of
dismantling the dictatorial
law.
"It is the most effective recourse
given that the application is challenging
a section considered
unconstitutional, harmful and damaging not only to
journalists but to society
at large," Moyse said.
"I hope lawyers will cite the parliamentary legal
committee report in the
Nyarota and Mudiwa case because the team comprised
some of the most
distinguished legal minds in Zimbabwe."
The committee
in January said Moyo's legislation, then in draft form, was
"obscure, vague,
over-broad in scope, ill-conceived and dangerous" and gave
the minister
a
blank cheque to punish journalists.
It also warned the law had serious
implications for the separation of powers
between the arms of government as
it gave one minister "frightening powers".
Analysts say although the
legislation was eventually watered down the fear
was
real.
Moyo is
now wilfully hounding journalists and attacking judges whose rulings
he
objects to.
Analysts say there was a precedent to the Nyarota and Mudiwa
case, albeit
under a different legal dispensation. The Supreme Court in May
2000 ruled as
unconstitutional a section of the now repealed Law and Order
(Maintenance)
Act - the predecessor to the Public Order & Security Act -
which dealt with
"publishing false information" likely to cause "alarm, fear
and
despondency".
In his judgement over a case which involved former
Standard journalists Mark
Chavunduka and Ray Choto, Justice Nicholas McNally
said:
"This section is too intimidating. No one can be sure whether what
he says
or writes will not attract prosecution and
imprisonment."
Chavunduka and Choto had brought their case to the Supreme
Court after they
were abducted and tortured by the army in January 1999 over
an alleged
foiled military coup story and then charged under the colonial
law.
The journalists, whose treatment was defended by President Robert
Mugabe and
his officials citing military anger, in 2000 sued the police and
the army
for wrongful arrest and detention, assault and torture. The court
ordered
police to investigate the accusations but nothing has to date come of
these
investigations.
It took government 22 years to let go of the Law
and Order (Maintenance)
Act. Chavunduka and Choto's case was used by
authorities in 1999 as a
pretext to refuse introduction of more enlightened
public order and security
legislation. Former Home Affairs minister Dumiso
Dabengwa, himself a victim
of the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act, announced
in January 1999 government
would cling onto the legislation for "security
reasons" after Mugabe refused
to sign his Public Order & Security Bill -
apparently because it did not
offer the means of punishing
journalists.
"We have reverted to the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act to
deal with this
matter (of journalists) and protect the security of the
country," Dabengwa
said.
The catch-all legislation, introduced by the
government of Sir Edgar
Whitehead in 1960 to suppress rising African
nationalism, was condemned by
the then Chief Justice Sir Robert Tredgold as
an outrage to almost every
basic human right. Tredgold described it as
"savage, evil, mean and dirty",
and "an unwarranted invasion by the executive
in the sphere of the courts".
He resigned in protest.
Media watchdogs
have described Moyo's law in similar terms. Two months ago
Zimbabwe was
listed by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists
as one of the
world's 10 worst places for journalists to work.
It was grouped with such
places as the West Bank, Colombia, Afghanistan,
Eritrea, Burma, Iran, Cuba
and Kyrgyzstan.
Mugabe was last year named as one of the top 10 global
press tyrants.
Zvobgo at a media workshop on January 22, 1993 said
official eulogists whose
job is to cultivate a dear-leader mentality
masquerading as journalists were
"charlatans and frauds".
"Propaganda
is not worthy of a journalist," he said. "The shrill personality
cult
syndrome is characterised by the incipient extolling by the
journalists
concerned. Pravda (the official Soviet mouthpiece) won five
'Lenin Awards'
in this way. The great leader worship in North Korea is
another example.
Cheer leaders and fawning propagandists are cancerous to an
esteemed
profession such as journalism."
But Moyo - who
ironi-
cally at the same workshop expressed alarm that the state media had
not
criticised Mugabe "even once" since 1980 - is now coercing journalists to
be
willing tools of state propaganda.
Zvobgo said critical journalists
would always find themselves descri-bed as
"malcontents, renegades,
revisionists, reactionaries or puppets". He was not
wrong!
Zim Independent
Farm evictions suspended pending talks
Augustine
Mukaro/Blessing Zulu
GOVERNMENT will not proceed with evictions of farmers
following the
resumption of dialogue between the Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) and the
Land Taskforce led by Vice-President Joseph Msika, the Zimbabwe
Independent
was told this week.
At a meeting held between the CFU,
Msika and Agriculture minister Joseph
Made last Thursday, it was resolved
that government would wait for the
findings of the land audit committee
before any more evictions took place.
While in Cuba last month,
President Robert Mugabe said he would not accede
to farmers' request for a
meeting with him saying they should deal with
Msika instead.
CFU
vice-president (commodities) Doug Taylor-Freeme said last week's meeting
had
broken the ice and given the two parties an opportunity to
re-open
dialogue.
"Mass evictions will not be effected until
results of the audit committee
have been tabled," Taylor-Freeme
said.
"The report will give government the exact situation on the
ground. The
whole agriculture sector is stagnant and will not move forward
when there is
no clarity."
Taylor-Freeme said they expect the
report to clear the confusion caused by
the provisions of the Land
Acquisition Act leaving vast tracts of land lying
idle.
"The
majority of the new farmers have not taken up their allocated pieces of
land
because of lack of incentives," he said.
At least 2 500 farmers who
were served with Section 8 orders as at May 10
were expected to vacate their
properties next week with or without
compensation for developments on their
farms.
Banks have rebuffed government's attempt to finance the new
farmers to the
tune of $76 billion required this season because of lack of
clarity and
security.
Two land audit committee teams led by Made
and Local Government minister
Ignatius Chombo started tours to assess the
progress of the land reform
programme at the beginning of July. The teams
have so far visited seven prov
inces.
The teams are scheduled to
meet in Harare today to compile a final report
that will be handed over to
President Mugabe early next week. The audit
committee has so far realised
that the majority of the people allocated land
under model A2 have not yet
taken up their plots.
Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena, leader of one
of the audit committees, was
this week quoted as saying: "People who have
been offered land under model
A2 are taking too long to take up their plots,
which might force government
to re-possess the land."
Chombo was
quoted yesterday in the Herald saying in Matabeleland North only
117 model A2
plots had been occupied out of a possible 2 259.
The government and
commercial farmers are headed for yet another showdown,
this time over the
compensation of farm labourers, the Independent
has
established.
Government last week promulgated Statutory
Instrument 6 of 2002, compelling
farmers whose properties have been
compulsorily acquired to pay their
labourers steep retrenchment
packages.
Commercial Farmers Union president Collin Cloete said
farmers were not
consulted on the issue.
"Minister for Public
Service, Labour and Social Welfare July Moyo did not
consult us on the issue
of compensation," said Cloete.
He said farmers did not have the money
required to pay the workers. "The
money to pay the retrenchment packages runs
into millions of dollars. Our
understanding of the legal instrument is that
the farmers have to pay the
money after being compensated by the
government."
Cloete said farmers were, however, not being allowed to
access their
compensation first.
"The Zimbabwe Federation of Trade
Unions has been demanding money from our
members even before they get
compensation. The police have not helped either
as they have refused to
arrest those extorting money from farmers arguing
that it is a political
issue," he said.
The ZFTU has so far allegedly extorted nearly $3
billion from commercial
farmers claiming to be negotiating farm labourers'
severance packages.
The Statutory Instrument states that farmers must
pay a severance package
equivalent to the full wages of the employee for a
period of three months
prior to the date of termination of employment and the
wages in lieu of
notice under the contract of employment or agricultural
industry agreement.
The worker is entitled to an amount equivalent to
twice the employee's
current monthly wage for each completed year of
continuous service with the
employer and an amount of $5 000 in respect of
the relocation of the
employee.
Farmers are also supposed to pay a
gratuity and the cash equivalent of any
leave accumulated by the employee in
the year in which the termination of
employment
occurred.
Meanwhile, hundreds of white commercial farmers are said to
be preparing to
relocate to Uganda. The Ugandan Agriculture minister Dr
Kisamba Mugerwa this
week described the relocation of the Zimbabweans as a
positive step in line
with his government's standing position of attracting
investors.
"Uganda needs people like these who have access to the
export market," said
Mugerwa in a newspaper report.
"They can
establish the nucleus for smaller farmers to act as outgrowers. We
have land
that was formerly farmed by the government that they can use. This
land will
not be sold to them but leased for them to cultivate," said
Mugerwa.
Zim Independent
Biri irrigation scheme collapses
Blessing Zulu
Biri
irrigation scheme collapses
THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA)
is facing exposure from the
collapse of the Biri Combined Irrigation Scheme
in Mashonaland West
province, the Zimbabwe Independent has
learnt.
NSSA provided a $450 million loan for the construction of
Biri Dam, which
was expected to give birth to irrigated wheat and citrus
projects. Farmers
were due to repay the loan using proceeds from the
agricultural activities
around the dam.
The scheme is now facing
closure following the chaotic land seizures and the
fast-track resettlement
scheme. Managing director of the scheme, Fred Wallis
this week said they were
closing shop.
"The Biri office is likely to be closed this month
because of the continued
problems that we are encountering," said
Wallis.
He said he was pessimistic about the future of the
project.
"We secured a loan from NSSA and were hoping that 38% of the
money would be
repaid through water sales. This has however not been the case
as the
settlers on the farms are just using the water without paying," said
Wallis.
The water should have been used for irrigation by 68
commercial farms around
Banket, Chinhoyi, Raffingora through to Mazvikadei.
Small-scale farmers in
the Chitomborwizi area were also expected to take
water from the project.
Wallis said under normal circumstances the
dam would irrigate 23 000
hectares of land under wheat, producing an average
six and a half tonnes per
hectare.
"This year because of the
disturbances on the farms, we have only been able
to grow 6 000ha," he
said.
Last year the area contributed half of the wheat grain
currently in the
country's stocks which stands at 40 996
tonnes.
Of the 68 farmers that are shareholders in the Biri Dam
construction scheme,
41 are listed for acquisition and others are receiving
notification to
vacate their farms next week. Half of the farms have
completely stopped
production while the other half are operating at below
20%.
Wallis said farmers will be unable to meet their financial
commitments in
regards to loans and hire purchase agreements as a result of
the disruptions
caused to farming activities.
NSSA's
representative on the Biri board, Amod Takawira, said he was not
aware of the
latest developments.
"NSSA is an interested party and we are not
aware that many farmers in the
project have been issued with Section 8
orders," said Takawira.
"There was no board meeting to inform the
shareholders in the project that
it was facing problems."
Zim Independent
Zim's EU beef exports threatened
Loughty
Dube
ZIMBABWE'S hopes of a quick resumption of beef exports to the
lucrative
European Union (EU) market have been dealt a severe blow after
the
Department of Veterinary Services reported it has run out of vaccines
to
control the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.
The shortage of the
vaccines will further hamper prospects for new markets
in Malaysia and
Libya.
The EU suspended beef imports from Zimbabwe last August after
a major
outbreak of the disease was reported at the Cold Storage Company
(CSC)
feedlot in Willsgrove near Bulawayo.
The disease later
spread to the outlying farming community of Nyamandlovu,
Lupane and Chiredzi
in Masvingo province.
The director of Veterinary Services, Stuart
Hargreaves, confirmed his
department was facing an acute shortage of
foot-and-mouth disease vaccines.
"We are in a crisis but we have
already made orders for the drugs from
neighbouring Botswana since the
country makes vaccines for the type of virus
found in Zimbabwe," Hargreaves
said.
The department has suspended the vaccination programme in the
Midlands
province, whe-re an outbreak was reported last month in Zhombe and
Gokwe
districts.
The two areas are currently under quarantine but
Hargreaves said there was
extensive illegal movement of livestock in the
districts without veterinary
controls.
"In such circumstances it
is difficult to contain the disease in areas that
have not been vaccinated,"
he said.
Before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease last year, the
CSC had
clinched a multi-million dollar export order to supply the EU with an
annual
quota of over 9 200 tonnes of quality beef.
"We have placed
urgent orders for 250 000 doses of the vaccine worth over
US$300 000 with the
Botswana Vaccine Institute to enable us to urgently
resume the vaccination
programme to contain the spread of the disease,"
Hargreaves
said.
However, department sources said three million doses were
required to
vaccinate at least 300 000 cattle in the quarantine and outlying
areas.
Zim Independent
Govt clips Gata's wings at Zesa
Barnabas
Thondhlana
GOVERNMENT has moved to curtail the powers of Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply
Authority chairman Sidney Gata whose tenure at the power authority has
seen
an increasing debt burden - currently at $100 billion - by appointing
a
nine-member board with collective responsibility for decisions.
The
new board was appointed on July 1 to spearhead the privatisation of
the
utility in a transparent manner. Giving the new board its operational
terms
and references, Mines and Energy minister Edward
Chindori-Chininga
challenged it to speedily conclude outstanding management
issues, some of
which have been bedevilling the power authority for
years.
Among those affected was former chief executive Simbarashe
Magwengwende, who
was unceremoniously removed from his post when current
executive chairman
Gata came on board two years ago.
Chindori-Chininga
said the new board would oversee the unbundling of Zesa
into successor
companies within a targeted time frame, and achieve
system-wide operational
and organisational efficiencies which would keep the
country's electricity
tariff levels at competitive levels using regional
tariffs as a
benchmark.
"The new board must review the entire Zesa tender process
so that it is in
line with government regulations, and submit the revised
tendering
procedures to the minister," Chindori-Chininga said. He added there
was need
for a policy framework on how indigenous companies could be
accommodated in
the new tender process and gave the board one-and-a-half
months to come up
with a framework.
Zesa's tender process has been
a bone of contention over the years, with
management being accused of
favouring certain companies despite their
failure to deliver to the expected
standards. Lax monitoring of tenders had
also seen staff forming companies to
tender for work within the utility.
"The board must come up with a
policy document spelling out how Zesa will
engage banks for the raising of
bonds and other financing for all projects,"
the minister said. "The role of
international and indigenous banks should be
spelled out in the policy
document. The board should also come up with a
policy document on the
engagement of consultancy firms and the resultant
documents shall be
submitted to the minister as soon as possible."
Chindori-Chininga called
on the board to take their responsibilities
seriously in addressing the
issues of national power security, development
of new generation plants and
strengthening of both the transmission and
distribution infrastructure in
both urban and rural areas.
The new board was tasked to unbundle Zesa
into successor companies within a
targeted time frame and ensure the smooth
transfer of staff, assets and
liabilities of Zesa to the successor companies
and the Rural Electrification
Agency in line with the relevant Acts of
parliament. The board will also
have to ensure security of supply of
electricity until all successor
companies are fully
operational.
Chindori-Chininga said the board had to work in a spirit
of harmony and
unity and avoid unnecessary conflicts in their
deliberations.
Zim Independent
NGOs blast govt over food imports
Augustine
Mukaro
NON-governmental organisations (NGOs) licensed to import food have
lashed
out at government's restrictive importing conditions which they say
are
hampering full private-sector participation to stave off the
worsening
crisis.
NGOs are requesting government to streamline the
bureaucratic processes to
avoid delays in shipments. Government has set a
ceiling above which NGOs
cannot import, a ruling being challenged by the
donor organisations.
According to the latest UN report, Humanitarian
Situation in Southern
Africa, food inflows into Zimbabwe have not improved
because of the
conditions imposed by government, this despite the entry of
private players
in the exercise.
"The current food crisis is
exacerbated by the monopoly on cereal
importation, price and foreign exchange
controls which has led to the
inability of the market to provide adequate
food to those with the resources
to purchase their requirements," the report
says.
"While government has now taken steps to open the import market
to private
sector involvement, it is unclear if at this late stage there will
be
adequate forex to import at a level to satisfy the increasing
demand.
Moreover logistical constraints might considerably delay importation
via
private channels," the report says.
Private players who
obtained import permits said government was stipulating
tonnage permit
ceilings for a month, a move which hindered NGOs' potential
to feed as many
hunger-stricken people as they could.
Oxfam, for example, has been
granted a permit to import a maximum of 10 000
tonnes of food per
month.
USAid's assistant administrator Roger Winter, recently in the
country to
assess the food situation, said the number of aid-dependent people
was
projected to rise to about nine million by September.
"The
food crisis in Zimbabwe falls in the same category with Angola and
Sudan,"
Winter said.
"Serious impact should start showing by September and
the number of people
in need of humanitarian aid would be in excess of 500%
of those on support
now."
Zim Independent
Govt/banks deadlocked
Godfrey
Marawanyika
GOVERNMENT and financial institutions have failed to agree on the
funding of
land reform which needs a staggering $160 billion. Banks have
already
incurred losses estimated at $11 billion as a result of the
fast-track
resettlement exercise.
On Wednesday government convened a
meeting with bank chief executives to
discuss the issue of funding
government's land reform programme. Officials
from the ministries of
Agriculture and Finance and the Reserve Bank attended
the meeting held at the
Finance ministry offices.
Banking sources yesterday con-firmed being
summoned to the Ministry of
Finance for the meeting.
"Government
said it was looking for $160 billion to finance the 2002-2003
agricultural
season for both A1 and A2 model schemes," said a banker. This
would cover
input costs, land preparations and purchase of seeds
and
machinery.
The $160 billion figure is an upward revision of
the $76 billion which
government initially requested last week to finance
this season's crop, to
be produced in the main by resettled
farmers.
The amount is expected to fina-nce two million hectares of
maize, 147 000ha
of soya beans, 295 000ha of cotton and 191 000ha of tobacco.
About $500
million is required to rebuild the national herd.
The
bankers argued that since the land reform programme was now a
national
priority they should not have to finance the programme
alone.
"The banking sector must be supported by other statutory
bodies like pension
funds in financing the programme," said one
banker.
"Government is failing to understand that bank lending has
limitations
imposed by the Reserve Bank. For banks to finance such a huge
programme
there has to be a revision in the regulations bearing in mind the
attendant
risk."
Bankers expressed concern over security, arguing
they were not social
lending institutions.
"Banks are owed about
$11 billion by commercial farmers and for us to
finance this year's crop we
need an undertaking from the government that all
loans will be repaid," said
another banker.
Negotiations between the banks and the government
have failed to progress
beyond the issue of loan repayment and ownership of
debts as government is
unable to come up with an acceptable
guarantee.
Banks are asking government to provide Treasury Bills or
any commercial
paper that would be redeemable after five or 10 years. The
government is
however not keen to offer long-term paper and is instead opting
to draft a
document that states its intention to honour the
debt.
It emerged at the meeting that despite the government having
received 54 000
applications for the A2 resettlement model scheme, only 12
000 confirmation
letters have been sent out. Most of the land has not been
taken up.
"Nothing was concluded at the meeting. We realised that
government is
confused about the whole process and is failing to deliver
where it is
supposed to be taking a lead role," said a banker.
Zim Independent
Row
looms over Zanu PF anniversary celebrations
A ROW is brewing in Zanu PF over
a proposal by members to celebrate the
ruling party's 40th anniversary in
August next year.
It emerged this week that members of the youth league
and the war veterans
were planning to approach the politburo with the idea of
celebrating the
party's 40th anniversary in conjunction with the Heroes Day
next year, much
to the chagrin of former PF Zapu members.
Former
PF Zapu members fear the idea could render redundant the
Unity
Accord.
War veterans leader and former provincial political
commissar, Joseph
Chinotimba threw his weight behind the idea and scoffed at
its detractors.
"As war veterans we say there is nothing wrong with
that," said Chinotimba.
"It can't disturb the Unity Accord because we
are all Zanu PF. We agreed in
1987 to join hands so why do others have to
start complaining?
"Zapu is not there anymore which means we are now
Zanu PF," said Chinotimba.
Zanu PF national political commissar
Elliot Manyika was unreachable but the
Secretary for Information and
Publicity, Nathan Shamuyarira, would neither
confirm nor deny the
plan.
"Why would you be interested in such things when you are not
supporters of
the party?" said Shamuyarira.
"I would understand if
you were from the (People's) Voice or government
papers because you
misrepresent us every week."
Sources said other advocates of the idea
of the celebrations were youth
director Lovejoy Kadungure, Manyika and deputy
secretary for youth affairs,
Saviour Kasukuwere.
Contacted this
week Kasukuwere said he could not comment.
"I can't comment because I
am far away in the (United) States and I am in
bed right now," he
said.
Former PF Zapu members slammed the proposal saying the
celebrations would
isolate them as they didn't share "the 1963 outlook", a
reference to the
schism that took place that year when a group led by
Ndabaningi Sithole,
Herbert Chitepo, Enos Nkala and Robert Mugabe, among
others, broke away from
Zapu. Former Bulawayo mayor and central committee
member, Joshua Malinga
said the developments confirmed the fragility of the
1987 pact.
"I belong to the Zanu PF of 1987 and not the 1963 one and
if they want to go
ahead then it's not surprising because they have never
hidden their 1963
outlook," said Malinga.
"That is why I have
always commented that the Unity Accord is a prophecy and
not an event. It is
yet to happen."
Zanu PF was formed in August 1963 at former defence
minister, Enos Nkala's
Highfield home.
Former Home Affairs
minister and Zipra commander Dumiso Dabengwa said he was
ignorant of the
issue but expressed his "shock". Others, who requested
anonymity, spoke
strongly against the idea of celebrating the ruling party's
40th
anniversary.
Sources this week said the idea of the celebrations was
mooted early last
year after the Victoria Falls February 21st Movement
celebrations, during
which the ruling party invited regional youths to
celebrate Mugabe's
birthday. The promoters of the celebrations want to sell
the ruling party's
current anti-imperialist stance to the
region.
The envisaged commemoration is expected to feature regional
and
international revolutionary parties.
Service Provision in Zim Has Become a Real Nightmare
Financial
Gazette (Harare)
OPINION
August 1, 2002
Posted to the web August 1,
2002
Grace Mutandwa
He had collected the ring, a lovely
18-carat gold ring set with a ruby, last
Friday morning, but unfortunately he
had forgotten his glasses so did not
notice that the ruby had a
flaw.
When I tried it on, that's when I saw the flaw. We took it back
either to
exchange it or get our money back.
As we walked into the
jeweller's shop, we expected a long drawn out argument
but the proprietor
admitted with a smile that she knew that the ruby had a
flaw. Without even
batting an eyelid, she offered us our money back.
It is becoming
increasingly difficult to get honest service and this has
taken a lot of fun
out of shopping. Even in some hardware shops, sales staff
try to sell faulty
goods with the hope that you will not notice it.
I know the economy is in
a mess but that is no excuse for trying to make
money in a shady way. Surely
people in business must realise that it takes
just one bad word to kill a
lucrative venture.
Word of mouth is still a major part of informal
advertising. People do tend
to comment favourably or otherwise which in turn
influences others to
patronise a place or give it a wide berth.
Last
week I received a call from the Federation of African Media
Women-Zimbabwe
(FAMWZ ) inviting me to attend a protest march against
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) Member of Parliament Learnmore Jongwe,
who has been
charged with the murder of his wife Rutendo. I was asked to
wear
black.
I told the young woman who called me that while I sympathised with
the
family of the deceased and strongly believed no one deserved to be
killed, I
felt that FAMWZ which was organising the protest march through the
women's
coalition was being hypocritical.
As an organisation
representing media women, FAMWZ should be well versed
with journalistic
ethics. They were calling on their members to participate
in a march that was
tantamount to trying someone on the streets.
They were also in a way
encouraging their members to take a stand when at
work the very same FAMWZ
members are required to report on the court
proceedings in a balanced
manner.
I also felt that FAMWZ and the women's coalition were being
hypocritical
because in the same week that Rutendo Jongwe died, a young woman
living in
Harare's Avenues was killed in her flat but not even a single
mention of
this murder was made by the two organisations.
According to
media reports, the face of the deceased young woman was so
battered that she
could only be identified by a scar on her ear. And not in
the too distant
past, a woman from Harare's high-density suburb of Warren
Park was axed by
her husband.
We have also reported several cases of severe assaults of
women throughout
the country, but because these were not high profile people
the women's
coalition could not muster enough strength to raise
Cain.
Women's groups must be more consistent. Every life is important.
The same
organisations which claim to speak for the voiceless have failed
dismally to
convince anyone that they are honourable.
Domestic
violence perpetrated by both men and women must be condemned and
the culprits
brought to book.
Rural and high-density women are important too. They
deserve to be fought
for too. I know there is a lot of mileage in being
aligned with a prominent
cause, but as long as the women's coalition purports
to stand for the common
woman, it must prove that it does care for every
woman's welfare and stops
being selective.
The march however never
took place because, according to the FAMWZ
spokesperson, "we feared that it
would clash with the National
Constitutional Assembly march and we would lose
visibility".
So there you have it, it was all about visibility!
As
for FAMWZ, I think its leaders should do a lot of soul searching.
Eugenia
Mauluka, a former photographer on the Daily News, was beaten up by
the
police and arrested and yet FAMWZ never raised a finger and, according
to
their information officer, this was because they feared it would split
their
members from the state and private media.
"Eugenia's issue was
raised but there were fears that it would split our
members from the state
and private media. Anyway we could not do anything
because most of our
members are from the state media," the spokesperson
said.
But I know
that the organisation's members from the state media have also
not enjoyed
much moral support. Mirriam Madziwa was suspended from the
Sunday News and
Edna Machirori was unceremoniously removed from the
editorship of the
Chronicle but FAMWZ was deafeningly silent.
I suggest that because FAMWZ
enjoys so much patronage from the state media,
it should give these women
more moral support.
As for those FAMWZ members from the independent
media, I think they should
re-think their membership to an organisation which
clearly does not have
their interests at heart.
More
love!
Grace Mutandwa can be contacted at mutandwa@fingaz.co.zw or
mudiwa2002@yahoo.com