FinGaz
Felix Njini Chief
Business Reporter
THE state-run Media and Information Commission (MIC) in
June agreed to grant
newspaper group Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe
(ANZ), publishers of the
banned Daily News and Daily News on Sunday, an
operating licence but was put
under political pressure to reverse the
decision, a former commissioner has
revealed.
The startling
revelation comes as impeccable sources yesterday told The
Financial Gazette
that the state security agency, the Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO),
had vetoed ANZ's registration, which would have paved
the way for the return
of the two titles. Government officials, including
former information and
publicity minister Jonathan Moyo, have in the past
labelled the Daily News -
Zimbabwe's largest circulating newspaper before it
was banned - a threat to
national security.
In papers filed in the High Court, Jonathan
Maphenduka, a former MIC board
member said the regulatory body had, at a
June 16 2005 meeting, agreed that
there was no legal basis to deny the ANZ a
licence. MIC chairman Tafataona
Mahoso, Daphne Tomana, the MIC board's legal
expert, Maphenduka, Mssrs
Mlambo, Makoni and Mukondiwa attended the June 16
meeting. Only Rino
Zhuwarara was absent.
Despite the MIC's position,
which commissioners expected to be communicated
to the public immediately
afterwards, Mahoso had stalled, presumably 'to
consult higher authorities.'
The June 16 position on the ANZ was taken
simultaneously with the decision
to deny another publisher, the African
Tribune Newspapers (ATN), a licence -
a decision which Mahoso communicated
to the applicants directly, but chose
to wait for over a month before
proceeding with the ANZ case.
"In respect
of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe for its registration as a
mass media
service provider, the commissioners at that stage accepted that
there was no
legal basis for refusing this company registration and that
registration
should be granted.
"Notwithstanding the attitude of the commission to the
application of
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, the executive chairperson,
Dr Mahoso
appeared to me to be stalling on the matter and he demanded
additional
information regarding the shareholders of the applicant (ANZ). Dr
Mahoso
took the view that the structures of the applicant were confusing and
it was
necessary to clear this confusion," Maphenduka said in the affidavit
filed
in the case pitting the MIC and ANZ, currently before the High Court.
The
ANZ is challenging the MIC's decision to deny it a licence to publish
its
titles.
The former MIC commissioner, who resigned in August in
protest against the
decision to deny the licence, has also revealed there
was shroud of secrecy
surrounding minutes of the June 16 meeting, which were
not made available to
members of the commission.
"I confirm that
after the meeting and, as is practice, I asked to be
furnished with a copy
of the minutes of the meeting. The secretary at the
respondent's office
attempted to fax me a copy of the minutes and only a
small portion appeared.
I was then assured that the minutes would be mailed
to me but I did not
receive these. I have not received such minutes to date
and do not quite
understand why they have not been made available to me.
"I should also
mention that at the next meeting of the respondent on July 18
2005, one of
the issues coming early in the programme was, as usual,
confirmation of
minutes of the previous meeting, i.e. the one on the 16 and
17 June 2005.
Such confirmation could not be made because up to then those
minutes had not
been made available," Maphenduka said. ANZ legal advisors
allege that Mahoso
has been reluctant to make public the minutes of the
meeting held on June
16.
Maphenduka further reveals that at a subsequent meeting of the MIC board,
the legal adviser to the board, Daphne Tomana, asked the commission to
renege on its earlier position on the ANZ application.
"In a
subsequent meeting of the respondent which took place on the 18th of
July
2005, one of the commissioners persuaded the respondent to alter its
original decision of 16th June 2005 by suggesting fairly forcefully that the
Supreme Court judgment stipulated the manner in which respondent should deal
with the application of the applicant (ANZ). More specifically it was
suggested that the respondent deal with the matter purely on historical
terms, that is to say confine itself to the circumstances that obtained at
the time the first application of the applicant was made.
"On the
basis of this, therefore, we were persuaded that the applicant's
application
for registration should be refused and this is what we
eventually did. I am
convinced, however, that the approach and the eventual
decision resulting
from it were largely political," Maphenduka added.
In an opposing affidavit,
Mahoso, who refuses to recognise Maphenduka's
resignation, vehemently
defended the MIC's position, saying all
commissioners, including Maphenduka,
agreed not to register the ANZ.
Mahoso charged that Maphenduka had become a
publicity monger for 'reasons
best known to himself.'
Mahoso, whose
affidavit is silent on the June 16 meeting, charged that
Maphenduka 'cannot
wish away a decision he made by accusing the chairman of
being politically
motivated.'
"It is apparent that the deponent (Maphenduka) has an interest in
the
applicant (ANZ) and is assisting the applicant in bringing scandal to
the
respondent (MIC) in an effort to persuade this honourable court to be in
doubt of the actions of the MIC," Mahoso charged.
Maphenduka has shot
back, saying his only interest in the ANZ issue was "to
ensure that the
decisions made by the respondent commission were consistent
with the law and
were fair and reasonable and also served the long-term
interests of
Zimbabwe."
The spat between Maphenduka and Mahoso has opened up a can of
worms and
given a rare insight into the operations of the MIC, which was
created in
2002 following the promulgation of the draconian Access to
Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
While the institution
purports to operate independently of government,
recent revelations show it
is being run as a parastatal, with the Department
of State Enterprises
directly responsible for remuneration. Minutes appended
to Maphenduka's
affidavit reveal that board fees were to be reviewed by that
government
department. It is also recorded that Mahoso told the June 16
meeting that
the MIC, like all parastatals, was now required to pay duty for
all vehicle
purchases.
Sources close to the MIC have also alleged that Daphne Tomana
complained
that she had been threatened and accused of being "too vocal on
the board",
but had refrained from naming the source of the
threats.
The MIC has since changed legal advisors, ditching Muzangaza,
Tomana and
Associates, a firm in which Johannes Tomana, Daphne's husband, is
a senior
partner.
The sources said the move had less to do with ethical
considerations - which
the MIC had long ignored in respect of the possible
conflict of interest,
with Mahoso reportedly stating that Tomana was the
only lawyer in the
country who understood media law - and more to do with
the fact that Tomana's
firm had perceived strong links with disgraced former
minister Moyo.
Maphenduka, who has become the target of a smear campaign in
the
government-controlled press, yesterday hit out at the MIC.
"The
MIC's motto is Integrity, Responsibility and Fairness. Must this noble
emblem further await its application for the dispensation of justice while
the commission under Mahoso's direction plays dirty games?" said
Maphenduka.
"While the ANZ was grossly ill-advised to defy the law when
it should have
applied for registration in the first instance it has now
submitted to the
requirements of the law. Must its failure in the past to
comply be used in
perpetuation to deny its registration?" queried
Maphe-nduka.
"The commission, on close examination, cannot acquit itself
of bias in this
regard. It risks being a costly farce."
FinGaz
Charles Rukuni
Bulawayo Bureau Chief
ZANU PF may have made inroads into the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
strongholds of Matabeleland North and
South in the just-ended Senate
elections but it is far from winning the
hearts of the Ndebele people.
The ruling party, which won all five seats in
Matabeleland South, three in
Matabeleland North but lost all five seats in
Bulawayo, does not want to
hear this kind of talk. It even regards it as
treasonous, but according to a
political observer, this is the
reality.
The people of Matabeleland consider the so-called "inroads" into
their
territory as further domination of the Ndebele people who yearn for
autonomy
and believe that the only way out is to have a federal system which
will
ensure that there is a Ndebele state.
If they can't have a federal
system, they should be adequately represented
in government and should be
given key posts in the civil service, the
diplomatic service as well as in
cabinet.
The political observer said one of the major reasons why the Ndebele
yearned
for autonomy was that they simply wanted to maintain their identity
because
the Ndebele state which was established in the 1820s had been
abruptly ended
by colonisation.
"The nation was less than a century old
and was therefore not yet mature. So
after colonialisation the Ndebele tried
to maintain that identity through
the formation of associations like the
Matabeleland Home Society," the
observer said.
The rise of African
nationalism cooled this down but the emergence of Joshua
Nkomo pacified them
because though he was a national leader they regarded
him as their own
man.
The advent of majority rule, right from the start of the internal
settlement
talks, rekindled the debate with Chief Kayisa Ndiweni, regarded
as the
paramount chief of Matabeleland, arguing way back in 1978 that
majority rule
should usher separate nations because the Ndebele and Shona
had always been
separate nations with the Ndebele being ruled by their king
and the Shona by
their chiefs.
Though the two nations had been brought
together by colonialism, Chief
Ndiweni argued that "these two nations are
just as different through their
language and traditions as the Walloons and
Flemish of Belgium or the Turks
and Greeks of Cyprus".
Justifying the
formation of the United National Federal Party, which sought
a federal
system that would ensure autonomy of the Ndebele and the Shona,
Ndiweni
said: "The advent of majority rule brings about the question of
domination.
The Mashona feel that as they are in numerical majority it would
be right if
a new government would reflect that fact. The Matabeles,
however, feel that
before the white men's arrival they were a proud and
independent nation not
dominated by anyone."
Though his party was defeated in the polls both in the
transitional
government of 1979 and in the independence elections of 1980,
Ndiweni still
nurtured the idea of a federal government. He welcomed the
introduction of
provincial governors in 1984 believing that they would be
given autonomy to
run their provinces but this was not the case.
A
political analyst said though the calls for a Ndebele state literally died
because of the formation of a government of national unity at independence,
the purge against the Ndebele during the so-called fight against dissidents
between 1982 and 1987 rekindled the idea because the people of Matabeleland
saw the purge as being aimed at them as a nation rather than at ZAPU because
it was only targeted at Ndebele-speaking areas.
"ZAPU was a national
party which had followers throughout the country, but
the purge was only
directed at Matabeleland and those parts of the Midlands
populated by the
Ndebele-speaking people," the analyst said.
Calls for a Ndebele state were
stifled during the civil strife because the
people had no way of expressing
themselves. The people therefore saw the
unity accord of 1987 as an
opportunity to revive the Ndebele state. This
resulted in the formation of
cultural associations which had political
overtones as well as political
parties that openly advocated for a federal
system.
The government,
fearing what it termed a Biafra, a Nigerian state that
sought secession from
Nigeria in the late 1960s resulting in a bitter civil
war, thwarted all
attempts to set up a federal system. Even former ZAPU
leaders who had joined
ZANU PF were against the idea.
"This was quite understandable because ZAPU
had always advocated for a
unitary state," the political analysts said. "The
leaders of ZAPU could
therefore not be seen to be advocating a separate
state. But in the process
they lost the support of the people and they have
never regained it."
Paul Siwela, leader of ZAPU-Federal Party, said ZANU PF
might think it has
made inroads in Matabeleland but the truth was that the
people of the region
had never voted for ZANU PF.
He said the people of
Matabeleland wanted a federal system because they were
being marginalised by
ZANU PF and were not being given key posts in
government, in parastatals, in
the diplomatic service and even in cabinet.
He said there had never been a
Minister of State Security or Foreign Affairs
from Matabeleland.
The
Ministry of Home Affairs, one of the most powerful posts as it controls
the
police has, except for a few occasions, been reserved for someone from
Matabeleland since independence with Joshua Nkomo, John Nkomo, Dumiso
Dabengwa and currently Kembo Mohadi holding that portfolio.
A political
observer, however, said people must not be fooled by that. "We
have a
powerful police commissioner who reports directly to the President,
so the
minister is not that powerful," the observer said.
Asked why the government
has always been against the idea of a federal
system yet the Ndebele are not
calling for a secession, the observer said
Matabeleland was too rich to be
left alone because there was a real danger
it could fight for
secession.
"It has vast tourism resources through the Victoria Falls and
Hwange
National Park. It has the power stations at Hwange and is therefore
vital
for the supply of power to the country. It has vast resources of
methane
gas. These are vital resources that the nation cannot afford to
tamper
with."
The observer however noted that whether people liked it or
not "calls for a
Ndebele nation will continue to linger on for years to come
because this is
essentially a search for identity rather than for
secession".
FinGaz
Nelson Banya News
Editor
LAST Saturday's senate elections, which handed ZANU PF an
86 percent
majority in the upper chamber to seal the ruling party's
dominance, left
both victor and the vanquished to confront serious
questions.
That the elections - to reintroduce a senate that was
disbanded in 1990 -
were held amidf pervasive hunger, rising joblessness and
inflation as well
as the collapse of infrastructure as evidenced by burst
sewer pipes in many
urban settlements, might have been lost on the promoters
of the senate
project, but certainly not on voters, who delivered a chilling
snub to
government.
For ZANU PF, the 19.48 percent average turnout does
not do its credibility,
which has taken a serious, if deserved battering
over the past five years,
any good.
Voter apathy following a poll
boycott advocated by opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and general
disenchantment with yet another election that would
not change the fortunes
of Zimbabwe's long-suffering multitudes, combined to
ensure ZANU PF's
victory had a hollow ring to it. Political analysts have
warned ZANU PF to
ignore the voter apathy at its own peril.
Despite its proclamations of
encroaching into urban opposition territory,
the ruling party will have to
introspect and find answers to the problems
confronting 90 percent of the
electorate who stayed away on Saturday. Going
into a high stakes
presidential election under the illusion of newfound
support among the urban
electorate could prove disastrous.
Political scientist Eldred Masunungure
this week said he expected the
government's confidence to be shaken by the
poll boycott.
"Many will be looking at this as a sign that they are isolated
and are
losing support. What this might do is to undermine their loyalty to
President Mugabe and ZANU PF," Masunungure told Reuters.
For the
fragmented opposition, the pathetic showing by renegade Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) candidates, who defied Tsvangirai and participated
in the election, pushed the party closer to disintegration. This has raised
questions over the opposition party's staying power. While the low voter
figures, following a vigorous boycott campaign mounted by Tsvangirai, must
have flattered the embattled opposition leader, he will have to face up to
the reality of losing the co-founders of the six-year-old party.
On
Sunday, Tsvangirai referred to the pro-senate faction - led by
secretary-general Welshman Ncube and party vice president Gibson Sibanda -
as "my colleagues of yesteryear."
The returns from Bulawayo province, a
supposed bastion of the pro-senate
faction, showed an average voter turnout
of just over eight percent.
The MDC also surrendered eight seats in rural
Matabeleland in the process,
severely attenuating the pro-senate faction's
standing and putting its
political appeal into serious
doubt.
Tsvangirai thanked voters for "heeding our call for the boycott of
this
meaningless election."
"We have been vindicated," he said. "We were
proved right in our assessment
of the national sentiment."
While
Tsvangirai could rightly gloat, having been vindicated by the record
low
turnout on Saturday and his rivals' poor showing, internecine conflict
still
threatens his party and he will, in the post-election period, have to
confront the possible irreparable damage this has caused to the
party.
Political analyst Lovemore Madhuku, who heads the National
Constitutional
Assembly which has been fighting for a new constitution since
1999, concurs
with Tsvangirai.
"Even for ZANU PF, these elections
have no meaning. The turnout shows that
the people are not interested in
ZANU PF's political programme. All this
demonstrates the need for a new
constitution.
The only way forward is comprehensive constitutional reform to
restore the
public's confidence in the electoral process," Madhuku
said.
He, however, sees the election's far-reaching implications within the
only
party to pose a serious threat to President Robert Mugabe's 25-year
rule -
the MDC.
"The script is quite clear. There is a clear split,
between the bigger
group, led by Tsvangirai, and those who supported
participation in the
election. It is unfortunate because the pro-senate
group thought it had more
support than it actually had.
"What we will now
see is a battle for the party's name and assets.
"We foresee them going to
the courts, but Tsvangirai might have to form
another party," Madhuku
said.
Asked what chances a fragmented opposition would have of unseating ZANU
PF,
which has entrenched its rule despite widespread misery, Madhuku said
opposition forces would have little choice but to unite.
In the
meantime, Zimbabweans, a third of whom require food aid this year,
continue
with their daily battle for survival within an environment with an
80
percent jobless rate and inflation is projected to reach 600 percent by
year-end.
The reintroduced senate will only be relevant as far as it
symbolises the
ruling elite's indifference in the midst of rising poverty
and misery.
FinGaz
Charles
Rukuni
Bureau Chief
BULAWAYO - The Bulawayo province of the Movement
for Democratic Change was
ecstatic about its victory in the senate elections
held at the weekend,
where it won all five seats, saying this demonstrated
that the party was
right to contest the elections and defend its
stronghold.
Provincial publicity secretary Victor Moyo said the victory was a
clear
indication to ZANU PF that it had no room in Bulawayo.
The
polls were marred by voter apathy with the highest votes won by a single
candidate being 4 188 won by Rita Ndlovu who beat former Home Affairs
Minister Dumiso Dabengwa in Bulawayo-Nkulumane.
Greenfield Nyoni of
Pelandaba-Mpopoma polled the lowest votes, 1 974 to beat
Tryphine
Nhliziyo.
Moyo said there was a low voter turnout because of the general
apathy that
has prevailed since the 2000 parliamentary elections. Voters
were also
confused by calls by party leader Morgan Tsvangirai to boycott the
elections.
The elections have almost split the MDC. One faction led by
Tsvangirai
called for a boycott while another led by party vice-president
Gibson
Sibanda said people should participate.
Despite the low voter
turnout, Moyo said what was important was that "a win
is a win. It would be
nice if every province of the MDC could be as strong
as Bulawayo. We would
win the elections at the end of the day".
FinGaz
Njabulo
Ncube
ZIMBABWE, facing a growing number of people in urgent need
of food handouts,
has stepped up grain imports from South Africa to avert
starvation, amid
reports of villagers in remote areas scavenging for food
while others eat
roots.
The country, whose foreign currency coffers are
virtually empty, is
reportedly depriving other vital sectors such as the
fuel industry, by
diverting resources to procure grain to stave off
starvation in the light of
growing concerns about Zimbabwe's food
security.
Statistics from the South African Grain Information Services
(SAGIS)
released this week show that Pretoria's bulk exports were going to
Harare in
the wake of reports by independent food experts that about four
million
people - a third of the population - were in need of food aid in
Zimbabwe.
Of the 27 700 tonnes of white maize which were shipped from South
Africa
last week, 15 200 tonnes were destined for Zimbabwe, where successive
droughts and chaos on the farms brought about by the government's
controversial land reforms have drastically cut food production. The
country, which harvested between 500 000 and 800 000 tonnes of grain in the
past season, is struggling to make up for a deficit of 1.2 million
tonnes.
Zimbabwe requires about 150 000 tonnes of the staple maize monthly.
Independent food experts estimate that Zimbabwe needs about US$230 million
to cover the deficit.
The government has been reluctant to make a
public international appeal for
food aid like other southern African
countries stalked by hunger.
Zambia declared a national emergency last month
in the hope of spurring
donations for an estimated 1.7 million hungry people
while in equally
drought-ravaged Malawi, officials say about 5 million face
serious food
shortages as maize prices skyrocket.
The World Food
Programme, a food security arm of the United Nations, says it
is still
US$102 million short of some US$400 million needed to bail out
Lesotho,
Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe until the next
harvest in
April.
FinGaz
Zhean Gwaze Staff
Reporter
IN a stomach-churning irony, perennial loss-maker Grain
Marketing Board
(GMB), whose inefficiency is partly blamed for the country's
precarious food
situation, this week won an award from an obscure trade
organisation
claiming to recognise "the global quality of business
management."
The International Award for Excellence in Products and Services,
received by
GMB acting chief executive officer Samuel Muvuti in Spain this
week is
sponsored by an esoteric Madrid-based organisation known as the
Trade
Leaders Club in collaboration with the Editorial Ofice (sic). The two
organisations suggest that the purpose of the 'awards' is the promotion of
the recipients' products and services.
"Editorial Ofice (sic) and the
Trade Leaders' Club have instituted a program
of international recognition
awards, serving as a support of (sic) your
business identity in future
promotional and marketing actions. The awarded
businessmen have the chance
to introduce their companies and products in a
forum of businessmen and
industrialists from more than 40 countries,
interested in buying or selling.
The awarded companies can also belong to
the Trade Leaders' Club - if they
wish - and to be included in its members
directory duly classified by
countries and fields of activity."
The selection criterion involves members
proposing and suggesting "companies
from each field of activity and
geographical area that, in their opinion,
deserve to be included in the
selection due to the prestige they have
reached in their different
activities.
"The members can also propose other companies through the 'on
line' macro
poll included in this web. They can also request to be included
in the
selection procedure for the different prizes instituted by our
organisation.
"The awarded businessmen have the chance to introduce their
companies and
products in a forum of businessmen and industrialists from
more than 40
countries, interested in buying or selling," the organisation
reveals in
information posted on its website.
The organisation, which
offers consultancy services to award recipients,
charges US$195 (about Z$13
million) for a copy of its members' directory.
News of GMB's award, reported
dutifully by the state-controlled Herald,
which claimed the parastatal had
received an "internationally acclaimed
prestigious award for its efforts in
ensuring food security in the country",
must have come as a surprise to many
in a country grappling with pervasive
food shortages.
The GMB has, by all
standards, failed to execute its mandate to ensure food
security,
particularly for staple products such as maize and wheat.
The heavily
indebted state grain procurer recorded a $24.8 billion loss in
2003 and sank
further to a $302 billion reversal in 2004 despite its
legislated monopoly.
Though management at the parastatal - which frequently
lends itself to
political manipulation - blames the losses on a
state-imposed uneconomic
pricing policy, analysts attribute the pathetic
performance to mismanagement
and inefficiency.
GMB has not only recorded massive losses but has also
failed to mobilise
grain stocks consistent with its monopolistic
position.
In the 2003/2004 season, as GMB took delivery of just over 400 000
tonnes of
maize in its silos, its management buttressed government's
politically
expedient projections of 2.4 million tonnes.
The Famine Early
Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has warned that about
three million
Zimbabweans will require food aid this year.
Hopes for the revival of the
country's agricultural production this year
have been dampened by a
continuous shortage of inputs, high inflation and
the shortage of fuel. Only
recently, wheat farmers were up in arms with the
GMB following delays in
paying for deliveries.
Muvuti could not be reached for
comment.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube Chief
Political Reporter
AS the circus within the faction-riddled
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) continues, a vicious legal fight is on
the cards over the ownership of
the party patent and assets, amid
revelations the pro-senate faction of the
party is seeking a High Court
order barring MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai
from speaking or conducting
business on behalf of the party.
The application for the order, which
comes hard on the heels of an attempted
suspension of Tsvangirai by the
Welshman Ncube-led faction, is, according to
insiders, being cobbled up by
lawyers in Bulawayo, where the MDC secretariat
relocated after the October
12 fallout over participation in last Saturday's
election.
In the
meantime, both camps are expected to attend separate national council
and
executive committee meetings on Saturday, where the split would be
officially confirmed.
It emerged yesterday that Tsvangirai, who has
refused to recognise his
purported suspension by party vice-president Gibson
Sibanda, who heads the
party's disciplinary committee, has written to the
pro-senate faction to
return the party's financial books, vehicles and other
assets running into
billions of dollars.
The sources said the assets,
which include Harvest House and regional and
provincial party offices
purchased by the party after nearly upsetting ZANU
PF in the historic June
2000 general elections, was likely to ignite an
expensive and lengthy legal
battle played out in the courts as both camps
lay claim to the party and its
assets.
While Tsvangirai is understood to be ecstatic at the drubbing the
pro-senate
faction received in the weekend polls in which it only managed
seven seats
out of the 26 candidates it fielded, Ncube's camp has laid blame
for its
dismal performance squarely on the MDC leader's door. The MDC boss,
who
since the senate elections were mooted last year, has branded the
reintroduction of the upper house "a ZANU PF project", vigorously campaigned
against the elections. William Bango, Tsvangirai's spokesman, yesterday said
resorting to the courts would not heal the rift in the MDC, precipitated by
the October 12 fallout over the senate.
"Political parties by their
nature are voluntary organisations," said Bango.
"A courtjudge can't
determine who should be leader of a political party
elected at a congress.
It's for the people who elected him at congress to
decide. The process of
who decides the leadership of the MDC is already at
an advanced stage. The
congress process has moved so far and by the end of
December, the political
provinces of the party will complete the process.
These are the people that
will decide, not the courts," he added.
Bango said the legal court process
was designed to stall the preparations
for the congress presently underway.
"It's a premature process designed to
stall the congress."
Insiders
within the MDC said Tsvangirai had directly called for the national
executive meeting while party chairman, Isaac Matongo, convened the national
council meeting set for Saturday. Both meetings would look at what has
happened since the last national council meeting on November 5 where an
order was given to "dissidents" to withdraw their candidature for the
fateful senate elections, an order which the pro-senate camp willfully
ignored.
A mediation committee, chaired by Matongo and set up at the
national council
meeting to try to heal the wounds within the party, would
be asked to
present its report on the failed reconciliation overtures.
Another committee
charged with organising the MDC congress tentatively set
for February is
expected to present a report on how far it has gone in
preparing for the
much-awaited congress where fireworks are widely expected.
It will also
announce on Saturday the dates for various provincial
congresses to elect
officers to attend the crucial indaba.
Bango
said: "The Saturday meetings will generally look at the state of the
party
and the confusion that has been created by the purported suspension of
Tsvangirai, and any other business."
FinGaz
Felix Njini Chief Business
Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe this week used his widely
criticised constitutional
powers to pluck Sithembiso Nyoni - who has lost
two elections this year
alone - from the political wilderness when he
appointed her a
non-constituency Member of Parliament and drafted her into
cabinet.
Nyoni, a perennial loser who last won an election in 1995, but
although she
had earlier won a 1994 by-election in the Makokoba constituency
in Bulawayo
following the death of Sidney Malunga, replaced Edna Madzongwe
as a
non-constituency MP and was immediately re-appointed Minister of State
for
Small to Medium Enterprises. Madzongwe has been elevated to president of
the
reintroduced senate.
Nyoni lost in the Parliamentary elections of
2000 and 2005. She once again
lost in last Saturday's senatorial
elections.
The minister, who had to be demoted earlier this year upon the
expiry of a
constitutional dispensation allowing President Mugabe to appoint
non-MPs as
ministers, has bounced back into cabinet, courtesy of another
presidential
masterstroke. In the meantime, Nyoni had been designated a
government
'consultant.'
Her appointment into cabinet in April raised an
outcry from constitututional
experts and civil society
groups.
President Mugabe also recalled former industry minister Samuel
Mumbengegwi
to head the indigenisation and empowerment ministry.
Mumbengegwi, had a
stormy relationship with business executives who accused
the abrasive
minister of precipitating industry's collapse due to his
combative approach.
President Mugabe also drafted six party loyalists who
represent "special
interests" into the Upper House. Kantibhai Patel, Sheila
Mahere, Peter
Haritatos, Aguy Clement Georgias, Tazvitya Mapfumo and Joshua
Malinga this
week came in as non-constituency senators.
In all, President
Mugabe has 28 appointees in both Houses of Parliament,
almost 14 percent of
the total number of legislators.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
DAIRY farmers contracted to leading food and beverage
manufacturer Nestle
Zimbabwe are to receive more than $20 billion in support
funds, sourced from
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Agricultural Sector
Productivity Enhancement
Facility (ASPEF).
Disbursement of the money has
started, with more than half already taken up
by active milk
producers.
Nestle financial director Farai Munetsi said the funding had been
made
available by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through ReNaissance Merchant
Bank,
which earlier this year set up a special unit within its corporate
banking
department to deal specifically with lending and with extension
services to
the agricultural sector.
The funds are being loaned to
farmers at a concessionary interest rate of 20
percent, aimed at stimulating
much-needed milk production.
A payback period of between 180 days for working
capital and 36 months for
capital expenditure is offered to
recipients.
Nestle Zimbabwe has guaranteed to take delivery of all the milk
produced by
funding beneficiaries and is the agent through which repayments
are made to
ReNaissance Merchant Bank.
"This is a highly valuable
facility that will greatly assist in national
efforts to revitalise the
dairy industry and ensure a flow of downstream
products to domestic
consumers and for important export orders," said
Munetsi.
The Dairy
Support Facility within the overall agricultural facility has more
than $20
billion available to approved milk producers. To date just over $10
billion
has been disbursed to a total of seven farmers in the Goromonzi,
Hwedza and
Harare South areas, with half of this being used for acquisition
of milking
machinery and the remainder for purchase of heifers and for
inputs such as
stock feed.
Nestle Zimbabwe has 17 dairy producers under contract and earlier
this year
created a new department within the company to provide essential
extension
and assistance services.
The department assists not only milk
producers but also other farmers
providing agricultural products for Nestle
operations, including vegetable
growers.
Within the framework of the
Dairy Support facility, Nestle's agricultural
services department is working
in close liaison with ReNaissance Merchant
Bank's agronomist to monitor
dairy farmers' projects and ensure that funds
disbursed are used for the
intended purpose of enhancing milk production.
"As is well-known, milk is an
extremely important input for our operations
and it is essential for us to
encourage and support production on the farm
and allow us in turn to
maximise our production capacity," said Munetsi.
"If we do not receive local
milk we have to look at imports from New
Zealand, for which foreign currency
is not available and which would be much
more expensive at any rate. The
answer is to stimulate local production
capacity and capability."
Nestle
supports a range of organisations involved in the dairy industry,
working
with the Dairy Services Association, the National Association of
Dairy
Farmers and the Zimbabwe Dairy Industry Trust Fund, the latter
incorporating
all stakeholders within its framework.
A full briefing on efforts to increase
and encourage milk production was
given this week to a visiting Nestle
executive, Yves Manghardt, who is the
chairman and managing director of
Nestle Southern and Eastern Africa and the
Indian Ocean Islands.
He
described Nestle Zimbabwe's involvement in the project as "crucial for
the
well-being of the organisation and for the continued provision of
top-quality Nestle products in the local market and for essential and
valuable exports in to the region."
ReNaissance Merchant Bank's managing
director, Belmont Ndebele, said his
bank was committed to supporting the
revival of the dairy industry.
This month, Nestle Zimbabwe will host its
annual Dairy Producer of the Year
awards event, in which the leading
producer and the most improved producer
will be recognised and
rewarded.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
ZIMBABWE and its northern neighbour, Zambia, have
renewed efforts to
commence work on the Batoka gorge hydro-electrical
project, as the 2007
regional power deficit looms larger.
Feasibity
studies, designs, environmental and social impact assessments for
the
project, which will be overseen by the Zambezi River Authority-which is
jointly owned by the two countries- have been completed and now await the
approval of the two governments, according to a statement released by
ZRA.
The initial phase of the project has been conducted through grant funds
from
the African Development Bank (ADB). The project is located on the
Zambezi
river approximately 54 kilometres downstream of the Victoria Falls
across
the boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Batoka project was
first proposed in 1972 following a study instituted
by ZRA's predecessor
institution, the Central African Power Corporation. The
aim of the study was
to identify possible power sources, which the
intergovernmental institution
could develop to meet the power demands of
Zambia and Zimbabwe.
If
approved and the requisite funding secured, the project will comprise two
underground power stations, on the north and one south banks of the Zambezi,
each with installed capacity of 800 megawatts. This would make an additional
1600MW of electricity available to the two countries.
FinGaz
Nelson Banya News
Editor
Paper margins firm while newspapers face
extinction
AMALGAMATED Regional Trading (ART) Corporation has rebounded
to
profitability in the year to September 2005, mainly on the back of
aggressive pricing in its paper manufacturing division, which enjoys a
virtual monopolistic status.
The group has, over the past year, increased
its newsprint prices by 641
percent, from $6.23 million per tonne at the
onset of the just ended
financial year, to $46.12 million per tonne at the
close. To date, newsprint
costs have gone up by 1055 percent, leaving the
publishing industry, mainly
newspaper houses, in a tailspin.
The
newspaper industry has had to effect regular cover price increases to
keep
up with frequent increases in the price of newsprint and other
production
costs.
ART, which was spun off former regional conglomerate TZI Limited in
2002,
reported a 1012 percent increase in net profit.
Gross profit
margins improved to 48 percent, up from 30 percent in 2004, a
year ART
executives and shareholders alike would like to forget in a hurry.
In typical
fashion, the paper manufacturing division, made up of Mutare
Board and Paper
and Kadoma Paper Mills, contributed the bulk of the
turnover. Of the $851
billion, the paper division weighed in with $455
billion (53 percent), while
the other two divisions - the converting and
stationery as well as the
retail and battery manufacturing unit -
contributed the
remainder.
Margins in the paper division improved from 7 percent in 2004 to
14 percent
in the just ended year, with management revealing that volumes,
which grew
18 percent, were driven by product diversification and the
recapture of the
local market from imported competition.
The cost of
imports has gone up sharply in tandem with the weakening
domestic
currency.
"Newsprint demand remained strong on both the local market and the
regional
markets with a 2 percent volume growth being recorded over last
year," ART
chief executive Richard Zirobwa announced
FinGaz
Felix Njini Chief
Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE could prove to be the biggest drag on
progress in the creation of a
single economic zone for the Southern African
region modelled along the
European Union (EU) economic bloc with a single
monetary policy regulator,
one customs union and a single
currency.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has proposed
2008 as the
timeline for a free trade zone, one customs union by 2010 and a
regional
common market by 2015.
Zimbabwe, which has suffered a 40 percent
economic decline since 2000 and
has serious governance problem poses a real
challenge to the region's plans
to harmonise the economy.
The single
customs union would create uniform import and export tariffs in
the regional
bloc. Among some of the proposals are that the rand be used as
the regional
currency in line with other economic reforms.
SADC is also pressing for
the scrapping of exchange controls to encourage
capital
movement.
Regional leaders are battling the clock to achieve a set target of
a single
digit average inflation in the region by 2015.
Economists
project regional inflation, which stands at 17 percent, to
average 23
percent in 2005.
Problems might arise from lack of convergence with
especially the Zimbabwean
economy, which has been in recession since
2000.
Zimbabwe is grappling with a myriad of serious food, fuel, electricity
and
foreign currency shortages.
The country's inflation has shot up
to 411 percent and could top 1 000
percent in 2006 should Harare's balance
of payment (BOP) position remains
precarious.
Mshiyeni Belle, South
Africa Reserve bank (SARB)'s head of international
relations, said the lack
of economic stability in some countries could drag
the regional
plans.
"How long will it take for Zimbabwe to come to convergence with the
rest of
the region? Inflation in Zimbabwe compared to other countries in the
region
is very high and that has to be addressed by Zimbabwe itself," said
Belle.
It is also likely that countries not using the rand as their
national
currency could be compelled to switch to that
currency.
Currently Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa use the rand
as their
national currency.
"The rand is fairly recognised and tradable
on the international markets and
there are benefits for other countries that
join the rand club," Belle said.
But this might result in countries losing
sovereignty on monetary issues,
analysts say.
SADC legal experts
would also be pushing for strict and legally binding
regulations to enforce
governance issues and economic targets.
"It is also prudent to come up with
sanctions or make it legally binding or
deny certain privileges to
non-performers," Belle said.
FinGaz
Letter From America by Ken
Mufuka
THIS week I was asked to make a presentation on Zimbabwe
to a mixed group.
The question was how long the old man, President Robert
Mugabe (82) can
last?
I will here give you the American
view.
Americans believe that every country is great or small according to how
much
its economy can provide for its people. The US State Department,
therefore,
has done lots of research on the vulnerability of the Zimbabwe
economy and
found certain areas that make up Zimbabwe's feet of
clay.
Since the year 2000, US tobacco businessmen, Reynolds, Brown and other
associates have attacked Zimbabwe tobacco sales on two fronts. First, they
say that the quality of their tobacco is below that of Malawi and Mozambique
and secondly, that the amount of their tobacco has declined to below one
third of what it was. This, of course, is associated with the departure of
European tobacco farmers. With this attack, they have reduced Zimbabwe's
foreign intake from U$600 million to below U$200 million this year.
Similarly, the US State Department has issued three warnings in two years,
scaring American visitors from touring Zimbabwe, thus reducing the revenue
inflows there from U$750 million to U$150 million (1999-2004).
The US
State Department assumes that the real Achilles heel is the petrol
crunch.
This Achilles heel works in tandem with the value of the Zim dollar.
I
mentioned last week that there are some informants who have sworn to me
that
the parallel market is being fuelled by British and American
intelligence
agencies. Whether true or not, the reality on the ground is
that huge
amounts of diaspora money never go through the Zimbabwe central
bank. The
nature of the parallel market is difficult for the reserve bank to
manipulate. The resulting inflation it generates at home sees the dollar
value of a fuel tank rising from Z$1 million the first week of November to
Z$3 million in only one week. The danger is that wise men do not want to
keep Zimbabwean money for any length of time and businesses can collapse
within a week if caught with outdated cash flows in their treasuries. So,
the Americans argue that without fuel, and bus fares going yo-yo, the old
man cannot survive for any length of time. My information was that six
months was a suggested length of shelf stay.
That is the American view.
The British view is rather different. With long
colonial experience, the
British hoped that when the economy reaches such
low levels of
sustainability, something unhappy will happen and the old man
will find
himself in an unsustainable position. However, this theory is
called the
Imperial Staff College proposition. Between 1960 and 1980 former
colonies
allowed their military staff to be trained at the Imperial Military
College
in Britain. Dr Kwame Nkrumah, in his book, Dark Days in Ghana,
realised that
such a situation allowed imperialists to infiltrate the
military ranks. All
the old boys who precipitated coups in former British
West Africa had
contacts with Sandhurst or the Imperial Staff College.
President Mugabe has
learned this lesson and is surrounded by
Chinese-trained intelligence
agents. A document leaked from some British
intelligence says that they
found President Mugabe's intelligence
impenetrable. Therefore, other methods
must be used.
In this regard, the British follow the Americans. It has been
assumed that
this "little matter" would be settled in no time at all, but it
has dragged
for over five years now. Unfortunately, the Americans are
ignorant of the
African psyche. Nevertheless, they are now following a
scorched earth
policy.
As long as President Mugabe holds sway in
Zimbabwe, there will be no revival
of the monetary value of the Zim dollar.
This effectively kills the wealth
and pensions of any Zimbabwean who keeps
his money in his country. The
governor of the World Bank, Mr C Wolfowitz, a
Bush neo-conservative
strongman, has sworn to teach Zimbabwe a lesson so
that no other African
country will dare follow its example.
Meanwhile
Zimbabwe itself is atavistically returning to its natural kind.
Half the
traffic lights don't work. Just outside police headquarters on
MUGABE Way in
Harare is a large three-foot square pothole. The police
commissioners dodge
and by-pass it as if it is a lawful traffic sign. I saw
a young girl with
six German soap bars stopped by police for hoarding. She
was lucky she was
not locked up, but she did not take the bars of soap home.
I am uncertain if
the soap was kept at Police Headquarters as evidence.
Similarly, in Victoria
Falls three young men ran away from a police search
unit, leaving their
wheel-barrow full of tomatoes. The police loaded them
into their truck,
presumably to be produced at a court date. As people no
longer distinguish
what is right from wrong, the Nigerianisation of the
economy is complete
with its non-operative ethical standards. If
Nigerianisation takes place,
what was formally considered wrong becomes the
norm and the possibility of a
revolt further slips away.
FinGaz
TO all
those Zimbabweans who want to see democracy, political tolerance and
economic growth restored in this country, current developments in the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are particularly
painful.
Painful in the sense that here are people we thought were
dedicated and
deeply committed to bringing about democratic change in
Zimbabwe making
complete asses of themselves over an insignificant matter of
whether to
participate or not to participate in the just-ended Senate
elections.
Gibson Sibanda, Welshman Ncube, Gift Chimanikire and Paul
Themba-Nyathi have
completely taken themselves out of the political game. I
do not know what
political party they are going to join or form but clearly,
the MDC is no
longer their natural home.
With hindsight, one wonders
whether these individuals ever possessed the
commitment to take on ZANU PF
head-on, the kind of commitment that is being
shown by the MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai. To go to the extent of
'suspending' the MDC leader is incredibly
naïve, irresponsible and
disgraceful on the part of these former MDC top
officials. If they were so
confident of their position, why not wait for the
party congress which is
only two months away for the resolution of such an
important matter.
However, the point worth emphasising here is that by
signing a letter
purporting to suspend Tsvangirai, Sibanda was merely
indulging in a futile
and idle exercise.
The mass apathy and
indifference that has been shown by the Zimbabwean
electorate throughout the
country including Bulawayo where the MDC rebels
'won' speaks volumes of
which side the people are on. Their message is loud
and clear. They are with
Tsvangirai. Clearly, the people of Zimbabwe
considered the Senate as a
non-essential issue to the larger issues of
economic growth and
development.
The MDC candidates who were elected Senators in the five
constituencies of
Bulawayo received no more than 4 000 votes each and in
some instances barely
2 000 in a city of about 500 000 voters. How on earth,
on the basis of these
paltry votes, can these bogus MDC Senators claim to
represent the people of
Bulawayo - a city which is known to have evinced
tremendous interest in past
Parliamentary elections.
Tsvangirai
should be undeterred by the departure of these blundering former
officials
of the MDC who clearly have developed cold feet regarding the
fight for
democracy and freedom in this country. Far from the MDC leader
bringing the
party into disrepute, it is this gang of four who are intent on
destroying
the MDC.
In truth, Tsvangirai should be heartened by the fact that the
overwhelming
majority of Zimbabweans are deeply committed to the MDC
project, that of
steering the country from dictatorship to democracy,
however tough the
battle ahead. Indeed, the defection of this group, though
painful, should be
viewed with great relief by the genuine MDC leadership
and its rank and
file.
Zimbabweans are entitled to ask these four
collaborators and their
hangers-on: Can you please explain the fact that all
of a sudden you are
being feted by the government-owned media, which only
yesterday viewed you
as enemy Number One? Come on Paul Themba Nyathi, how do
you justify this?
You know Paul just as everybody else that the ruling party
and its
government gazettes - The Herald and The Sunday Mail - as well as
the ZBC
are leaving no stone unturned in making sure that the MDC becomes
directionless and impotent. And you, you are becoming willing tools in this
grand plan. Shame on you Gibson, Welshman, Gift and Paul!
ZANU PF and
its mouthpieces are angry with Tsvangirai precisely because they
know he is
serious about change and not just engaged in rhetoric like you.
The attacks
that you four and the ruling ZANU PF party are making on
Tsvangirai through
the ZBC and Zimpapers are without parallel in recent
weeks. Because of this,
I am beginning to believe most profoundly that
Sibanda and his fellow rebels
now constitute a new ZANU PF party into which
the old ruling ZANU PF are
decanting money and support in order to prevent
Tsvangirai from carrying on
the struggle.
Indeed if there is one overwhelming reason why the upcoming MDC
Congress
should support Tsvangirai, it is because the ruling party and its
media do
not want him. Just as President Robert Mugabe was so misrepresented
by
yesteryear's Rhodesian press, so it is today that Tsvangirai is being so
misrepresented by Zimbabwe's dominant government media. Yes, the tables have
now turned, the only difference being that it is now black on black. Whoever
said history repeats itself knew what they were talking about.
It is
painfully obvious and evident that opportunistic infections have
invaded the
MDC body politic in the form of this gang of four and their
cronies. History
will judge them very harshly. Essentially, we are dealing
with people who
have been bought, period! This is the brutal truth and the
sooner we grasp
this simple truth the better for all of us. We can see the
woods that
contain more than men and animals.
But after everything that has happened in
the past few weeks, there can be
no question that Tsvangirai's position has
been greatly strengthened simply
because the position of his rivals has been
irreparably weakened.
The voter apathy throughout the country has
demonstrated beyond doubt that
the MDC is a national not a tribal
organisation.
On the surface, there appears to be some divisions within the
MDC coinciding
with ethnic division but the real truth is that the massive
indifference of
the voters in Bulawayo and elsewhere has reflected the
cohesiveness of the
MDC and that given an adequate opportunity, the voice of
the electorate was
heard loud and clear. At its forthcoming congress
therefore, Tsvangirai must
continue to follow in the footsteps of the early
nationalist movements which
paid no attention to tribal origin in drawing up
their executives except to
achieve the widest geographical spread.
By
way of conclusion, I would like to re-emphasise the fact that although
the
MDC appears to be going through a period of transition, trials and
tribulation, the real issue here is about the need for change. The cracks
within the opposition party are a hopeful sign in that Tsvangirai should now
know who are with him and who are not. The truth is that politics is a harsh
and often unpleasant business in which niceness carries you only so far. A
leader has to be sufficiently ruthless at times.
My hope and prayer
is that the antics of the gang of four and their tiny
faction of supporters
will enable the entire MDC membership to reflect on
the persona of some of
the MDC top officials. What Sibanda and Company have
done says a lot about
their maturity, capabilities, courage and
determination to carry on the
struggle. The old generation of the ruling
ZANU PF will be the first to
admit that a lot of their erstwhile comrades
fell by the wayside during the
independence struggle because they developed
cold feet or lacked timing. It
was no different from a moving train. Some
never got onto the train, others
got off but the train nevertheless
continued moving until its
final
destination. So it will be with MDC. Like some Zanu PF stalwarts before
them, those MDC officials not made of sterner stuff are now dissolving like
butter.
Neither the ruling Zanu PF party nor the former MDC gang of four
can rescue
any shred of consolation from the wreckage of the Senate project.
In times
of adversity, the strength of a party's character must rise above
uninformed
criticisms. The vast majority of Zimbabweans will be grateful
that it is at
this time not in the distant future that Sibanda, Ncube,
Chimanikire and
Nyathi and others of like-mind have decided to defect to
their own version
of MDC-PF.
By Bornwell Chakaodza
Former Editor of
The Standard
FinGaz
Personal Glimpses with Mavis Makuni
ON seeing the banner
headline: "ZANU PF IN LANDSLIDE VICTORY" on the front
page of a government
newspaper on Monday, a cynical Zimbabwean remarked:
"What else could the
ruling party do except slide to victory on an uneven
electoral playing field
on which it was competing against itself!"
The outcome of the senatorial
elections was never in doubt. It would indeed
have been most unusual for the
ruling party to lose in this one-horse race
after millions heeded Movement
for Democratic Change leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai's call to boycott the polls.
The boycott was so effective that in
most areas, television news crews were
hard-pressed to come up with footage
of a single queue of people waiting to
vote. Newsnet reporter Judith
Makwanya claimed uncharacteristically in one
of her reports that her crew
had been barred from taking pictures in Harare
although it was registered
with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Knowing
the government's appetite
for melodramatic publicity and exaggeration and
the state media's
over-eagerness to oblige with the same, I immediately
smelt a rat.
The ruling party can always be counted on to stretch the
credibility gap to
the limit and it outdid even itself this time, because
when it came to the
announcing of election results, abracadabra, Zimbabweans
had apparently
turned out in their invisible hundreds of thousands to vote
for ruling party
candidates. Like me, millions of people across the country
must have sat in
front of their television sets fighting incredulity as
straight-faced ZEC
officials announced results showing candidates to have
garnered hundreds of
thousands of votes from thin air.
That winning
elections at any cost is the ruling party's goal is well known
and these
senatorial polls were no different as amply proved by the contempt
shown for
the voters by ruling party officials at various stages of
campaigning. Only
a party that knows that it will win no matter how the
electorate votes can
afford to adopt irrelevant themes such as "vote to
defeat Blair" when the
people expect it to say how it will tackle the
numerous problems impacting
negatively on their lives such as corruption,
inflation, unemployment and a
general collapse of public institutions.
A day before the polls, the ZANU
PF spokesman for elections, Webster Shamu
gave the clearest confirmation
that as far as the ruling elites were
concerned, elections had nothing to do
with such mundane concepts as
democracy or a voter's right to choose who to
vote for freely. The purpose
of the senatorial polls, he was quoted as
saying, was for Zimbabweans to
further "confirm the leadership of his
excellency President R.G. Mugabe in a
free and fair election." He said as
the ruling party had already won 19
seats unopposed it was therefore logical
for all fair-minded and patriotic
Zimbabweans to vote for the winning team
for the remaining seats.
Shamu's message, which was published in the
November 25 issue of a
state-controlled newspaper, leaves no one in any
doubt whatsoever that the
ruling party considers participating in the
electoral process an act of
altruism on the part of Zimbabweans to ensure
that those in power continue
enjoying their lavish lifestyles. Before it
even materialised, Shamu made
the wild claim that a landslide victory in the
senatorial elections would
further consolidate the implementation of
government programmes at both
local and national levels. Never mind that all
along we thought that
particular aspect was his brief as Minister of Policy
Planning and
Implementation. Now that ZANU PF has succeeded in tying another
millstone
around the nation's neck in the form of the unnecessary and costly
senate,
perhaps Shamu should tell the public what now. How will this new
burden ease
the plight of ordinary people struggling to keep body and soul
together?
To be fair, advancing convoluted arguments was not limited to
Shamu on the
eve of the weird senatorial elections, which despite being
touted by some as
a way to enhance democracy, actually served as a metaphor
for intolerance
and intransigence. The rhetorical floodgates opened on other
fronts
following the addition to the United States targeted sanctions list
of the
wives and offspring of officials linked to the Harare regime. The US
was
blasted for imposing sanctions against those working for democracy while
letting those stifling it off the hook.
Now, these sanctions can be all
things to all men depending on what kind of
wool the speaker wishes to pull
over the public's eyes at any juncture. When
the European Union first
announced the names of targeted individuals on its
list, the news was
received with derision and scoffing and the sanctions
were described as a
non-event that would not affect Zimbabwe's determination
to defend its
sovereignty.
But when it has been politically expedient, such as has been
the case lately
when things within the country have continued to fall apart
in practically
all departments and the buck needed to be passed, there has
been a change of
tack, with those accused of "imposing illegal sanctions"
against Zimbabwe
being subjected to vicious tongue-lashings. What is not
explained in these
explosions of righteous indignation is that the travel
restrictions imposed
on individuals are not the cause of the pervasive
problems within the
country.
The targeted sanctions are a sore point
for those affected despite macho
denials such as the one made by Information
Minister Tichaona Jokonya at the
weekend. Asked to comment on the latest
development, he gushed: "This list
is completely immaterial . . . Who said
we want to go to America? I don't
know who said we want to go to America
when we have our small but beautiful
Zimbabwe." If the minister and his
colleagues were truly unconcerned about
these restrictions imposed on them,
as individuals there would be no need
for them to vent their anger by
attacking fellow Zimbabweans they accuse of
lobbying for the same
sanctions.
But then again, as the phantom voters who swelled the turnout
figures in the
senatorial elections have shown, nothing is impossible when
the ruling party
is determined to impose its will and its version of the
truth on the local
people and the world at large.
FinGaz
Comment
THE
outrageously expensive but unnecessary senatorial elections have come
and
gone. And no tremor has been caused by the non-event. In fact, as widely
predicted, the polls for the self-serving Senate were marred by
unprecedented voter apathy. The figures of the votes cast released together
with the results of the polls make for some pretty dismal
reading.
That is, however, beside the point. The apathy was always
expected given a
number of factors. First, in the court of public opinion,
the establishment
of the Senate is not the most pressing issue in the face
of stagnation and
misery resulting from the worst economic meltdown ever,
which has spawned
stagflation - rising inflation, falling industrial
production and
employment. To the people who wear the shoe and therefore
know how and where
it pinches, that Zimbabwe has been transformed into a
land of contagion,
shunned by international investors, is the issue that
should attract
priority attention.
Apart from the national
disintegration, it is also an inescapable fact that
with Zimbabweans
disillusioned to the point of hopelessness, the shaken
public confidence in
the country's discredited electoral process has finally
run into a wall of
negative voter sentiment. The electorate knew that the
upshot of the useless
senatorial election was that there would be no
positive material change to
the country's political culture nor would it
change for the better, the
lives of the long-suffering people, the majority
of whom are now living
below the bread line.
It is pertinent to point out that the apathy also
underlined the fact that
the ZANU PF government, known for treating people
like children - only to be
seen and never to be heard - ought to have run
the idea of a Senate up the
flagpole by way of a referendum to see what the
people would say before
throwing close to $100 billion into a bottomless
pit.
While this is now water under the bridge, it remains a fact that
Zimbabweans, who have had not only to know but also endure underperforming
politicians, will now witness the return of those politicians known to have
begun their careers with hypocrisy and proceeded with arrogance, contempt
and ineptitude. The fiscus will now be stretched by some of the most
incapable politicians that ever warmed Parliamentary benches or filled
ministerial chairs in President Robert Mugabe's government. Some of these
former ministers are the kind of men who, if they did not exist, could only
be imagined. Samuel Mumbengegwi, who represents ZANU PF in the Chivi-Mwenezi
Senatorial constituency, springs to mind. We remember him as one of those
who literally numbed an entire nation.
Of course ZANU PF whose aim,
politically speaking, is to lose as little as
possible despite the
consequences, has been selling the idea that the
reintroduction of the Upper
House would improve the country's law-making
process. The ruling party is
trying to make Zimbabweans believe that the
re-introduction of the bicameral
Parliament will not only further Zimbabwe's
democratisation process but will
also mark a decisive rupture with tradition
where ZANU PF has always
exploited to the hilt, its numerical advantage to
push through its parochial
agendas and ensure its continued stay in power.
Well, blessed are the
believers! We know better though. The interdependence
of the ruling clique
in ZANU PF has spawned an unwritten rule - solidarity
in the name of
political survival. And this is what will carry the day even
if it means
doing so at the expense of the interests of the people. This is
especially
moreso among the party's old guard, where age has not always
brought wisdom
but has sometimes come alone!
We do not foresee any of those jokes in the
Senate taking a critical stand,
say for example, against the executive, even
if the executive does not
demand flattery. The line-up does not inspire
confidence at all. We are
hard-pressed to believe that they will be able to
scrutinise contentious
legal matters for the greater good as well as ensure
the accountability of
executive power to legislative power, among other
issues. Ideally, the
Senate would be a wonderful bully pulpit to convince
Parliamentarians to
come up with progressive laws. But can anyone imagine
ZANU PF's most eminent
mediocrities such as Vivian Mwashita, Forbes Magadu,
Charles Tawengwa,
Sabina Thembani, Florence Chitauro, Rati Gava, Richard
Hove, Tambudzai
Mohadi or Tracy Mutinhiri, taking the bull by the horns?
Hardly because
their main concern is to be the surviving bugs in the manure
pile that is
now Zimbabwean politics.
It should not be forgotten that
some of these Senators have been Members of
Parliament before.
And for
the five years or so that they served in the august House they, for
fear of
ruffling political feathers, never went beyond thanking the
President for
the State Of The Nation Address despite the sea of poverty in
which Zimbabwe
is immersed. They steered clear of meaningful debate on the
socio-economic
and political problems, blame for which should be placed
squarely on the
shoulders of ZANU PF, because of their cowardice-induced
belief that a ship
in the harbour is safe. But as we have said before, that
is not what ships
are built for.
This begs the question: What guarantee is there that this
time around they
will behave as a leadership that knows and shows the way so
that they can be
seen as Parliament's conscience and voice of
reason?
Are Zimbabweans really better off
now?
EDITOR - I beg to differ with Elias Matinde who wrote
from Japan that
Zimbabweans are better off now than they were before
independence. He is
repeating what Ian Smith said without considering that
the economy is now in
the hands of Zimbabweans.
My argument may sound
very strange but the truth is, notwithstanding the
fact that the Zimbabwean
economy has been grossly mismanaged, we are not
supposed to be in such a
mess.
What on earth is happening in Zimbabwe when an average family cannot
afford
three decent meals a day? Why has our health system collapsed then if
we are
better off?
How much is an average teacher being paid a month and
can you match this
against the bills for that month and come up with a
satisfactory outcome?
How much is a nurse getting against their monthly
spending?
It is an absolute nightmare for one to justify such
anomalies.
Noone has ever said that Zimbabwe has to be a colony again but
what we want
is to look at how we have done since independence. The answer
is that we
have failed dismally.
If Mr Matinde is being honest with
himself, then what is he looking for in
Japan? He should have stayed in
Zimbabwe and convinced us that you can
survive and get the normal things an
average family needs under normal
circumstances, otherwise the man is
day-dreaming.
Our parastatals have been mismanaged almost beyond redemption
and Mr Matinde
wants to sit back and call this a better life for
Zimbabweans?
It's an utter shame.
Farai Dhula
United
Kingdom
---------
We are the worse for wear
EDITOR - I
refer to the letter by Matinde Elias (Fingaz, November 24). It
appears to me
Matinde is quite intent on giving your readers the impression
that
Zimbabweans are far much better than they were in 1977. That could be
true
for a few members of the ruling elite and not for the majority of our
masses.
We are now much worse off than we were - economically,
politically, socially
and spiritually. Some of us cannot even afford to go
to church every Sunday
because of the high transport costs. Perhaps Matinde
needs to be reminded
that we should not compare the wages of yesteryear with
the current ones as
that will certainly lead us to an
insular-analysis.
Despite the ills brought about by the former Rhodesian
Prime Minister, Ian
Smith, our fundamental need is to take a critical
analysis of our economy
under ZANU PF and place it in juxtaposition with
contemporary African
economies. And only then can we prescribe correctly. A
good economy is the
best index for judging whether one has a good life or
not.
Innocent Kadungure
Djibouti
-----------
The cricket
circus
EDITOR - Please allow me to express my opinion on the
problems bedevilling
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC). First and foremost, I think
journalists have been
misled into reporting that the problems rocking the
once popular sport are a
creation of managing director Ozius Bvute and
chairman Peter Chingoka. Bvute
is responsible for administration and he is
not alone in this - he has a
team of able and professional people whose
input into the game is above
reproach. And as for Chingoka, he only chairs
the board and does not direct
the operations at ZC.
But recent reports
and subsequent threats of a player mutiny by ZC players
over what they
termed "gross mismanagament by Bvute and Chingoka" have,
sadly, exposed
inept and shoddy journalism in some newspapers that call
themselves doyens
of journalism in this country.
I find it very strange that a team captain
like Tatenda Taibu would lead
other players and some disgruntled provincial
officials in calling for the
ouster of Bvute and Chingoka. If anything, this
smacks of gangsterism antics
aimed at causing mayhem in the sport, which
Taibu and company purport to
protect.
Bvute and Chingoka have been
absolved by the actions of the players and some
of the disgruntled
provincial officials. If the board of ZC comprises of 12
people, why direct
the venom at only two members - Bvute and Chingoka?
Any decisions taken by
the board are binding and are indicative of the
collective efforts that are
put by everyone on the board in determining the
future of the sport. And
Taibu's demands for a $5.2 billion net salary per
annum, in this
economy?
Moyo Muturikwa
Harare
-----
What cheek and
arrogance
EDITOR - I felt a combined surge of shock, horror
and dismay on seeing and
hearing the Air Zimbabwe vice chairman telling SABC
Africa that "there is no
crisis at Air Zimbabwe"!
Because I couldn't
believe this, I opened my day's copy of The Herald which
was telling me of
the resumption of flights and, sure enough, there it was,
tucked at the end
the story: Jonathan Kadzura is telling us again that
things at the airline
were "under control"!
From Saturday, people intending to travel had their
plans thrown into
turmoil, some lost unquantifiable business . . . and
someone has the cheek
and arrogance to tell us it's much ado about nothing.
This, too, after our
great Financial Gazette featured advice just last week
on crisis management.
Zvakaoma.
Chola
Harare
--------
One can
only take so much without going bonkers
EDITOR - Most of your
readers must have been pretty young when Zexie Manatsa
sang in the late
seventies Vaparadzi Vawanda . . . Some of your readers who
are familiar with
the lyrics of this song will no doubt remember the line
from the same song
that says . . . Baba Tirotesei Kuhope, Takarara Tigoziva
Wo. (There you are
Pastor Zexie . . . you could go back to the studio and do
a remix of this
gem).
The political landscape in Zimbabwe is littered with clowns, jokers,
pretenders and charlatans . . . imagine being expected to pick a party from
this motley crowd and stay sane.
You have the penny-an-act Jonathan Moyo
circus, the Biafra-now-or-ashes
Gibson Sibanda ensemble, My-way-or-hell
Morgan Tsvangirai orchestra,
Heads-you-lose-tails-you-lose Robert Mugabe
choir and then top this with
Silence-is-golden Wurayi Zembe one-man
band.
Add to this coterie and cacophony, cheerleaders like one Caesar Zvayi
(Is it
true that Julius Caesar and Nero shared DNA?), William Nhara, the
indefatigable say-so-little-with-so-many-words , the one-trick-pony Reuben
Barweeee ndega mbira crew, no-soap-can-clean-this-mouth Nathaniel
Manheru.
Is it any wonder then, that most Zimbos are certifiably insane? One
can only
take so much without losing the proverbial marbles.
Meantime
2006 promises to be an interesting year on the political scene in
Zimbabwe.
Methinks this could be the defining year. Remember how fond
Zimbabwe is of
even numbers . . . 1980 a new Zimbabwe was born; 2000 real
opposition reared
its head; 2004 biggest medals haul at the true Olympics
(held in Athens
weren't they?) 2006 . . . wait for it.
Chris
Veremu
Harare
----
Reckless talk
EDITOR - After the
heat caused by the senate debate,it would seem that this
has given rise to
the thorny issue of the so-called Ndebele state. This
issue is so sensitive
that Zimbabweans should think before they speak.
Reckless talk should be
avoided at all costs as this issue has the potential
of creating a Rwanda in
Zimbabwe.
Before the likes of Paul Siwela can agitate for a Ndebele
state, what they
should think of is whether the issue is feasible. This
feasibility should be
looked at in the context of the population of
Matabeleland as compared to
the rest of the country. The population of
Matabeleland is not entirely made
up of Ndebeles only, but of other tribes
that include Kalangas, and even the
Shonas.
Siwela and company may argue
that they would want representation in top
government posts and that is
understandable, but then the people of
Matabeleland should not forget that
after independence they chose to be
defiant and in the process excluded
themselves from the government. How did
they expect to be given
ambassadorial posts when they were not in
government.
Even after the
1987 Unity Accord, some of them, like Siwela, chose not to
join ZANU PF,
which was fine as they were free to exercise their democratic
right through
expressing their freedom of association.
However, because ZANU PF is the
ruling party it only appoints people who
belong to that party to posts that
include ambassadors. Even in the USA the
Republican Party does not appoint
Democrats as ambassadors as long as they
are in power. So Mr Siwela's cries
just go to show how power hungry our
politicians are. It shows that he is
prepared to cross the floor to join
ZANU PF as long as he is promised
personal rewards for a post as an
ambassador in Britain.
Is this not
the same situation where we heard that Mr Tsvangirai was
clandestinely
lobbying for the vice-presidency at a time when most of us
were so 'drunk'
with the idea of booting ZANU PF out of power. What this
teaches us is that
politics in Zimbabwe means creating personal wealth and
fiefdoms rather than
representing people's aspirations. So while individuals
are free to support
their political leaders, they should also be aware that
the most important
thing is to look out for themselves and their families as
politicians do not
care about them at all except when they need their votes.
Not that this
thinking means we should boycott elections. No! Rather it
should make the
people reclaim their powers and demand accountability from
politicians. They
should have the courage to stand up and make their MPs
tell them what
difference they made, how many companies they lured to their
constituencies
and/or how many projects they started to improve the voters'
welfare. The
problem in Zimbabwe is there is too much politics of blame
while politicians
are busy lining their pockets.
Zimbabweans should learn to vote for
people who are financially successful
as these people will not need to
enrich themselves first before they get on
with the job at hand. The present
scenario where a lodger is elected as an
MP is quite shocking. How can you
expect the lodger to represent your
welfare when he is also concerned about
his own welfare? You risk creating a
career MP who will never step down
because, to him, being an MP is like a
profession.
Rodgers
Svovah
United Kingdom