Julian
Borger, diplomatic editor
Friday February 2, 2007
The
Guardian
A new split is developing within the EU over sanctions on
the Zimbabwean
government, with both France and Portugal considering summit
invitations to
President Robert Mugabe that would weaken the diplomatic
isolation of his
regime that Britain is trying to maintain.
European
officials said there is an agreement in principle to continue
five-year-old
EU travel sanctions against senior Zimbabwean officials, and a
formal
decision is due to be announced on February 20. However, loopholes in
those
sanctions could allow France and Portugal to invite Mr Mugabe or his
aides
to summits in Europe, undermining British efforts to keep the
Zimbabwean
leader under pressure for human rights abuses.
A
French official said yesterday he could not confirm whether President
Jacques Chirac had invited Mr Mugabe to a France-Africa summit in Cannes on
February 14. "The invitations are still being sent. The list will be
published only later."
Portugal is also hoping to invite Mr Mugabe to
Lisbon for an EU-Africa
summit in November. Both Lisbon and Paris are
concerned that if he is
excluded, other governments from the region,
particularly South Africa,
might boycott the meetings. Neither France nor
Portugal has so far applied
for exemptions to the sanctions regime to issue
invitations on the grounds
that the meetings they are planning will address
human rights issues. But
British officials and human rights groups have
argued that Zimbabwean
participation in such high-profile events would make
sanctions all but
meaningless.
The Harare government has denounced
the sanctions as illegal. Nathan
Shamuyarira, a spokesman for the ruling
Zanu-PF party, said recently:
"Britain is pursuing a colonial practice,
repression of other nations, and I
hope other countries will not be dragged
in its sinister agendas."
Any watering down of the sanctions regime would
accentuate differences
between the EU and the Commonwealth, which
indefinitely suspended Zimbabwe's
membership in 2003, prompting President
Mugabe's complete withdrawal.
Donald McKinnon, the Commonwealth
secretary-general, told the Guardian
yesterday: "If the EU was to change its
stance totally, you're virtually
accepting the nature of the government in
Zimbabwe, which I think would be
sad."
The group Action for Southern
Africa is to protest outside the French
embassy in London today over
France's refusal so far to pledge not to invite
Mr Mugabe.
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 02/02/2007 08:44:34
TWENTY-THREE soldiers attached
to the Presidential Guard Unit have
been arrested and detained after they
sprayed President Robert Mugabe's
State House official residency with
bullets on Monday night ahead of his
arrival from Ethiopia where he had gone
to attend an African Union meeting.
The soldiers, all of them graduates
from the Border Gezi National Youth
Service, were disarmed and arrested
swiftly by commandos from One Commando
Barracks without putting a
fight.
The Presidential Guard is a unit responsible for guarding the
President.
Disgruntlement in the army ranks has been increasing since
last year when
they were forced to exist on a diet of beans only.
The
have been calling for salaries equivalent to those of Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) operatives, arguing that their job is more
important as
they have to protect the Head of State.
Last year, some soldiers were
resorting to armed robberies to raise money to
sustain their families due to
poor pay.
As unrest and discontent continues to mount in the Zimbabwean
military, 50
soldiers from Inkomo Barracks, another Presidential Guard Unit,
shot dead 30
horses before fleeing with their guns on Monday.
New
Zimbabwe.com's sources said the arrested soldiers were likely to face
death
by firing squad this week as the Mugabe regime moves to instill fear
in the
military.
A New Zimbabwe.com source who works at State House said: "The
soldiers had
been discussing about their poor salaries and working
conditions when one of
them started peppering Zimbabwe House with bullets
before being joined by
his fellow soldiers."
They are being kept at
one of the military barracks in Harare under very
tight security.
At
Inkomo Barracks, the soldiers shot dead the horses which were in the
stables
and disappeared with an assortment of AK 47 assault and FN
rifles.
President Mugabe delayed his departure from Ethiopia after his
aides
informed him about disturbances at State House, sources said.
A
government minister said officials arrived at the airport at 6 PM to meet
Mugabe, whose arrival was scheduled for 7 PM, but were shocked to see him
arriving well after midnight.
The minister said: "A delegation of
Cabinet ministers and senior Zanu PF
officials was at the Harare
International Airport to meet the President but
he arrived after
midnight."
One of the President's aides told New Zimbabwe.com that Mugabe
did not go to
State House but proceeded to his new Chinese-built £5 million
palacial home
in Borrowdale where he has been holed up.
All soldiers
at the Presidential Guard Unit have been disarmed and their
duties frozen
while the riot police has taken over guard duties at State
House to stop any
further uprising, military sources said.
Discontent in the military
appears to have been fueled by a Zimbabwe Defence
Forces notice circulated
to all military commanders that only soldiers above
35 years of age would be
eligible for promotion, triggering mass desertions
from the army.
We
asked Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi to comment. "It is my policy not
to
talk to the media," he said by telephone from his home.
Mugabe, 83 this
month, has been in power for 27 years. A combination of an
unprecedented
economic collapse and growing opposition within his ruling
Zanu PF party
presents the clearest threat to his rule.
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will introduce a new currency to
replace
the current bearer cheques any time soon as part of the Sunrise
Project Part
Two, the Zimbabwe Independent can reveal.
The new currency was due
to be unveiled at RBZ governor Gideon Gono's
monetary policy review held on
Wednesday but the announcement was withheld
at the last minute after serious
policy considerations.
Yesterday Gono confirmed that the currency
change was coming soon but
could not give further details.
"It's coming soon, as for the features that you are talking about I
shall
not comment because of security issues," said Gono. "It will be very
soon so
people must not keep a lot of cash because we are not going back on
the
currency change."
But government sources said Gono could have been
bluffing as the
currency was still far from being introuduced.
"This could be a ploy to pre-empt those hoarding cash which is used
for
blackmarket activities. Gono is playing mind games here," a source
said.
Government sources yesterday said the Zanu PF politburo on
Wednesday
approved the introduction of the new currency and what is left now
is for
the government through the Ministry of Finance to come up with a
Statutory
Instrument declaring the new currency.
The
Independent was the first paper to reveal in July last year that
Gono would
slash three zeros from the currency. He later introduced a new
family of
bearer cheques in August as part of the Sunrise Project.
Gono
stated in his address on Wednesday that the new currency was
imminent but
did not read out the relevant section (Pages 87-88) during the
presentation.
"Reflecting this high state of preparedness, I am
pleased to unveil to
the nation the sample designs of this imminent roll-out
under which all the
current bearer cheques will be replaced by genuine
currency, complete with
internationally acclaimed safety features, with
convenient characteristics
for the visually impaired stakeholders," stated
Gono.
Investigations reveal that the new currency, designed and
printed by a
German company, Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) was approved
by Gono between June
and October last year. G&D prints currencies for
100 countries in the world
including the euro.
The new currency
was delivered to Zimbabwe in October and was supposed
to be unveiled on
Wednesday.
Sources said the notes could not be introduced last year
due to a
number of technical issues chief among them the need to back the
new
currency with hard currency or gold. A source said the central bank has
since September been building foreign currency stocks in preparation for the
introduction of the new currency.
The sources said the central
bank was also building up stocks of the
new notes which should be introduced
throughout the country in a space of 24
hours.
Sources said the
imminent currency change is the main reason why Gono
did not devalue the
Zimbabwean dollar as was widely expected by the market
when he presented his
ninth monetary policy review statement since taking up
his post in December
2003.
The biggest bill under the new currency dispensation is a $1
000 note
while the smallest is a $1 note.
The largest under the
current regime of notes is a $100 000 bearer's
cheque while the smallest has
a face value of one cent.
The decision not to introduce the new
currency as initially scheduled
was taken after consideration of
International Monetary Fund (IMF) advice
which said any new currency will
not halt the economic collapse until the
macroeconomic situation has been
stabilised. The IMF's Article IV
Consultation Mission which visited the
country in December advised that
there was need for a "package of mutually
reinforcing policies to stabilise
the economy" before any further policy
decisions in the pipeline are
implemented.
The IMF mission said
the policy changes which include the removal of
price distortions through
removal of subsidies, curbing the RBZ's
quasi-fiscal operations and
reduction of money supply would help reduce
inflation.
The
sources said Gono was hoping that the economy will stabilise
sufficiently in
the next five months for him to introduce the currency.
Confidential documents in the possession of this paper which are
classified
as "Top Secret" show that there will be seven denominations with
$1 being
the smallest and $1 000 the highest value. The documents show that
the notes
were approved by Gono between June and October last year. The one
and 10
dollar notes were approved by Gono on July 6. The five dollar note
was
approved on June 30 while the $20 note was signed off on July 20. The
$100
and $500 notes were approved in September while the $1 000 note was
endorsed
by Gono on October 27.
The $1 note has the image of the Victoria
Falls and a buffalo while
the $5 note shows the Kariba Dam wall and an
elephant. The $10 note portrays
agricultural activity and grain silos while
the $20 note has a portrait of a
mine site and a mine with a jack
hammer.
The $100 note has a picture of the botanic gardens and the
Great
Zimbabwe conical tower while the $500 note has a portrait of a dairy
farm.
Zim Independent
ACTING President Joice Mujuru and her political allies appear to
have
boycotted Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono's monetary policy statement
on
Wednesday in a move which confirmed the growing power struggle over
President Robert Mugabe's succession ahead of the expiry of his tenure in 13
months.
Mujuru was conspicuous by her absence on Wednesday. Her
influential
husband retired army commander General Solomon Mujuru, who heads
a major
ruling Zanu PF faction pushing for his wife's promotion, was not
present
either. The Mujurus' key ally in government, Finance minister
Herbert
Murerwa, was also missing from the line-up.
Mashonaland
East provincial governor Ray Kaukonde, another main Mujuru
ally, was also
absent.
Gono on Wednesday complained about the intensifying
infighting within
government over Mugabe's job and what he called sabotage
of his programme.
"Political maturity also imposes a responsibility
on those
participating in that field to refrain from scorched-earth
strategies where
well-meaning turnaround programmes are booby-trapped simply
for the purpose
of scoring perceived political goals, all in the name of
succession
manoeuvrings," Gono said.
He added: "The whirlwind
of rumour, needless hatred, scorched-earth
strategies, political jockeying,
and the blame game, particularly in 2006,
created a generally undesirable
air of mistrust."
Mujuru's office said yesterday that the
vice-president did not attend
the presentation because of a Zanu PF
politburo meeting on the same day.
"She had other commitments,"
Mujuru's secretary said. "Remember she is
the acting president. She was
preparing for the politburo meeting."
The politburo meeting started
at 12:30pm on Wednesday, about 30
minutes after Gono finished his delivery.
A number of senior Zanu PF
politburo members such as Emmerson Mnangagwa,
Nathan Shamuyarira, Sydney
Sekeramayi, Ignatius Chombo, Obert Mpofu, and
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, attended
the monetary policy review statement. They went
to the politburo afterwards.
A senior politburo member said members
of the Mujuru faction asked
their colleagues sarcastically before the
politburo meeting started "how was
the monetary policy
statement?"
A senior Ministry of Finance official said Murerwa did
not attend
because he was on leave.
A person who answered
Kaukonde's cellphone yesterday said the governor
did not attend Gono's
presentation because he was busy.
Mujuru and Gono - together with
Mnangagwa - are widely seen as the
frontrunners to succeed Mugabe who is now
under pressure to quit.
The Mujuru camp's failure to attend Gono's
event is said to have
intensified the succession battle, especially after
fresh reports last month
that Mugabe wanted to continue until 2010 as
ceremonial president, while
Gono becomes prime minister after March 2008.
This is said to have angered
the Mujuru camp. Mujuru's group attempted to
block Mugabe's 2010 election
proposal by openly refusing to endorse it in
Harare and Mashonaland East
provinces.
Zanu PF's watershed
conference in Goromonzi in December failed to
endorse the proposal after it
became clear delegates were opposed to it
despite an initial claim that
eight provinces had supported the proposal.
The revolt against the party
leadership also led to a failure by the
conference to come up with any other
resolutions.
The Mujuru faction is understood to be mobilising MPs
to block the
plan in parliament although Mugabe is said to be prepared for a
compromise.
Failing that he will take radical measures to sideline those
opposed to him.
The Zanu PF politburo met on Wednesday in a bid to
defuse rising
political tension over the divisive issue ahead of a crucial
central
committee meeting in March.
Zim Independent
Ray Matikinye
ZIMBABWE Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) president, Lovemore Matombo,
doubts whether a social contract mooted
by the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon
Gono in his monetary policy statement
could get off the ground because of
government intransigence.
"Gono is calling from the wilderness because no one will listen to
him,"
Matombo said on Tuesday in reaction to Gono's policy statement.
"The government does not believe in social dialogue, neither does it
believe
in consultations."
Matombo said the major hurdle in getting the
social contract on stream
is the ruling class who fear being deprived of
their affluent lifestyle
based on corrupt dealings.
"If you
effect a social contract, you are depriving them of their
lifestyle of
self-enrichment through corruption," Matombo said.
He said the ZCTU
has tried again and again to engage government on the
need of a social
contract but has failed on the basis that such social
dialogue, as has
happened in other countries, means they must forgo
opportunities that arise
out of them being politicians.
Gono on Wednesday proposed a social
contract involving labour,
business, trade unions and civic organisations to
tackle an economy that has
been in recession for the past seven
years.
In his monetary policy statement, he said the economy could
be put
back on track by "a package of holistic and complementary policies
accompanied by a credible sequence of programme implementation backed by
undivided social, business, labour and political commitment".
But Matombo said the government had dragged its feet on the Kadoma
Declaration drafted in 2001 which calls for far-reaching political, social
and economic reforms to reduce the world's perception of Zimbabwe as a
high-risk country.
The Kadoma Declaration noted that the
country's problems should be
addressed in their totality for it to move
forward.
Government has avoided endorsing it up to now, largely
because it
calls for radical reform, especially within the government
itself.
Employers, labour and government agreed that they must
address
Zimbabwe's country risk factor and improve its image in order to
achieve any
meaningful turnaround.
The ZCTU was keen to see the
declaration signed at the beginning of
2003 but government developed cold
feet, blaming the country's economic ills
on the West and the
opposition.
"We have tried again and again to get them back to the
Tripartite
Negotiating Forum but we have failed," Matombo said.
"We are going to strike specifically to drag them back to the TNF and
have
given them up to February 23 to respond," Matombo said.
He said the
he hoped the statement by Gono represented a change of
heart on the part of
government.
"In fact, we would want the RBZ governor to pressure
government into a
social dialogue with stakeholders because transparency is
the only way out
of the economic crisis that we are facing," Matombo
said.
He said the strike will coincide with the union's call for
government
to abandon the proposed national health scheme to be introduced
by NSSA in
July this year.
MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara
said Gono's presentation had a
tacit but unexplored acknowledgement that the
Zimbabwean economic crisis is
essentially political. "There is also an
admission that this meltdown has
been financially beneficial to Zanu PF
leaders and their surrogates,"
He said the social contract depended
on solid political will, total
buy-in, inclusive ownership, acceptance of
the problems, honesty of
participants, and moral suasion.
"There must be a legitimate government in power, not a regime that is
a
product of disputed elections. A regime that brutalises labour leaders,
civic society leaders, business leaders, and political activists, has no
capacity to facilitate the requisite discourse.
Zim Independent
NSSA's proposed National Health Insurance Scheme has caused an uproar
in the
labour market with accusations that its compulsory nature indicates
that it
is a form of tax. Workers have also complained about NSSA's meagre
payouts.
They have accused the authority of corruption and extravagance.
Shakeman
Mugari spoke to acting general manager, Amod Takawira, about these
and other
issues.
Mugari: The National Social Security Authority (NSSA)
pension scheme
is supposed to provide a safety net yet on retirement
beneficiaries get $12
900 a month - money that is not enough to buy 10
loaves of bread. What
safety net is NSSA providing?
Takawira:
It remains a safety net despite the amount of the payouts on
retirement. The
problem with people in this country is that they don't
understand what they
talk about. Take for instance a farm worker who earns
$8 000 per month and
NSSA is paying him $12 900 per month upon retirement.
You must remember that
the worker is paying 3% of his salary.
Mugari: You are obviously
taking the worst case scenario which clearly
reflects positively on NSSA
because it's replacing more than 100% of the
worker's salary at retirement.
How about a teacher, a nurse or other
qualified employees?
Takawira: People forget that one's pension is a function of their
years of
contribution, insurable earnings ceiling and the percentage of the
contribution. Those are the things we use to calculate one's payout. We
cannot invent a new method of calculation so that the worker gets more.
No.
Mugari: Then what is the necessity of having a pension that
can't even
cover your minimum needs? I mean . it can't pay rent, feed or
clothe you.
Takawira: Yes, it is necessary. People are not supposed
to live on a
pension, that's why it's called a safety net. Zimbabweans have
to learn to
save their monies and invest in other occupational pensions to
cover the
shortfall. You have to top it up with savings and occupational
pension so
that you cover for the shortfall from NSSA. Even I as the general
manager of
NSSA, cannot survive on a NSSA pension.
Mugari: So
you are saying people should not bank on the NSSA pension
because it cannot
cover their basic needs at the time of retirement?
Takawira: What
I'm saying is that people must just work in order to
have a comfortable life
upon retirement. We would love to pay as much as we
can but the economy is
not performing. Pensions in other countries like the
United Kingdom and the
US are doing well because the economies are
performing. We cannot have the
same effectiveness because the economy is not
performing.
Mugari: But still workers believe that they are getting a raw deal
from
NSSA.
Takawira: That is why Zimbabweans die a few years after
retirement.
They rely too much on the NSSA pension. They "kick the bucket"
because they
did not have a fall-back financial position except for the NSSA
pension.
Mugari: Whose idea was it to introduce the National Health
Insurance
Scheme? Was it government or a NSSA board initiative?
Takawira: It was the party-Zanu PF-when they were still in the war in
Mozambique. They passed the resolution that at Independence they would
introduce a scheme which includes a pension for employees, housing and
health. I think that resolution was passed soon after
Independence.
Mugari: And it took them 14 years to introduce a
pension scheme and
another decade to come up with the National Health
Insurance Scheme?
Takawira: That was because there was a lot of
disagreement and
self-interest. There were consultations since 1982 and the
law was passed in
1989.
Mugari: But why does it have to be
mandatory for every worker to
contribute when most of them have their own
medical schemes that offer
superior services to the NSSA one?
Takawira: That is the problem, we operate in cocoons. Why do people
have to
worry about that when every decent and progressive country in the
world has
got the same scheme where everyone contributes? Even George Bush
and Tony
Blair contribute to their own national health schemes.
Mugari:
Well, people are worried because they say this is some form of
tax
government is introducing to help it fund the collapsing health
sector.
Takawira: It's not a tax. The bottom line is that we just
have to do
it. Good things start when things are hard. In the UK, workers
started the
schemes for themselves during the Industrial
Revolution.
Mugari: But you haven't answered the question. Why does
it have to be
compulsory?
Takawira: Because people are dying.
People are going to witch-doctors.
International trends show that you have
to take from the poor to give to the
rich.
Mugari: But how will
it work when the doctors are always on strike and
the hospitals don't have
essential medicines?
Takawira: It works in difficult and good
times. The doctors are not
only complaining about salaries. They want drugs.
NSSA will give the
hospitals the drugs. We will pay the hospitals in advance
for them to buy
medicines and equipment.
Mugari: You call it a
national scheme but it does not include the
unemployed and
pensioners.
Takawira: It's not possible for them to benefit when
they stop
contributing.
Mugari: Some people say they will
challenge the scheme in court
because it's forcing them to contribute
towards something they will not
benefit from ...
Takawira: Let
them try. They tried to challenge the NSSA pension
scheme and lost. They
will lose again. The government or the party were not
dreaming when they
started this thing. They will not be allowed to hold the
country to ransom.
They will not win. They should not daydream. They must
not be blinkered.
This is not Borrowdale. This is a national scheme and they
better realise
that they cannot stop it.
Mugari: There have been complaints about
the recent purchase of
top-of-the-range vehicles by the authority at a time
when pensioners are
getting meagre payouts.
Takawira: We have
to give our senior managers cars so that we can
retain them. It's the
standard that after some time a company phases out old
cars and buys a new
fleet.
Mugari: You mean more than 70 posh cars?
Takawira: That was because we have not been getting vehicles for the
past
four or five years because we were not getting the foreign currency. We
finally managed to get it this year so we have replaced the old
fleet.
Mugari: How far have you gone with the housing
scheme?
Takawira: Since 2000 we have been buying land for future
development.
We now have land for housing in Harare, Rusape, Mutare,
Masvingo, Kwekwe,
Chegutu, Chinhoyi and Karoi. We have more than 500 stands
in each of these
towns. We are in the process of buying land in Bulawayo,
Gweru and Bindura.
Zim Independent
Augustine Mukaro recently in Macheke
BARELY a
kilometre east of Nhowe Mission in Murehwa South lies what
remains of
Arizona Farm, one of the most successful tobacco-producing farms
in the
country before government launched its disastrous Third Chimurenga in
2000.
The farm was owned by David Stephens who was shot dead at
Murehwa
police station by war veterans on Independence Day,
2000.
World-class tobacco curing facilities are falling apart with
no one
taking care of the multibillion-dollar investment. The new farmers
who are
engaged in zero tillage are unlikely to produce enough tobacco to
warrant
the use of such facilities.
The farmhouse, resembling a
shell from a ravaged war zone, stands out
on top of a rocky outcrop, all
window panes gone and paint peeling off as a
result of seven years of
neglect.
Part of the farmhouse has been turned into a shebeen. The
rest has
been divided into a barber shop, a carpentry shop and a cobbler's
shop.
The cobbler was previously repairing shoes under a tree at
Nhowe
Mission with school pupils as his main clients.
"This was
the only place we could occupy since it was not being used,"
the cobbler
said. "We have been operating from here since 2002 and we are
still serving
the same customers."
The shebeen queen who identified herself as
Marian Shangwe said her
bottle store had become very popular with teachers
from the school since
there was no other beer outlet nearby.
"All teachers come to drink from here," Shangwe said. "Nhowe as an
institution owned by the Church of Christ does not allow the sale of beer
from their premises so teachers have nowhere to go."
The farm
compound, one of the few commissioned by the Commercial
Farmers Union (CFU)
and recommended as a model to be replicated throughout
the country, is burnt
down and deserted.
Everything looks run down and
vandalised.
There is no running water in the compound after the
Lister water
engine broke down two years ago. At least there is still
electricity.
The dereliction at Arizona Farm makes any right-minded
person question
whether the people who abducted and murdered Stephens in
2000 were driven by
a hunger for land or simply inspired by greed and racial
hatred. Over and
above all, did they really desire land for
farming?
Stephens was the first of 12 white farmers to be murdered
in the
often-violent land-grabbing orgy that engulfed the country seven
years ago.
He was abducted from Murehwa police station where he had gone to
report a
disturbance at his farm and shot at point blank range in the
presence of the
police.
People in Macheke area know who killed
Stephens but the police have
never questioned the man. The police say they
are investigating.
After the gruesome murder of Stephens, his wife
Maria was forced off
the farm. She moved into a temporary home given to her
by Swedish diplomats
in Harare's Greendale before relocating to
Sweden.
Ironically, just days before he was killed, Stephens had
applied to
emigrate to Australia in frustration after he realised it was
futile to try
and change the way the land redistribution was being carried
out in
Zimbabwe.
Stephens was one of more than 70 commercial
white farmers driven out
of the Machecke/Virginia area at the inception of
the land reform programme.
Only seven now remain but with their farm sizes
drastically reduced to a
point where one of them was allowed to plant a mere
five hectares of
tobacco.
A drive through the expansive Macheke
area a fortnight ago left one
wondering whether the people who were
allocated the farms seized from white
commercial farmers really needed the
land to till. The situation on the
ground does not show a particular
interest.
The vast stretches of land that would have been described
as seas of
tobacco this time of the year have been reduced to a wasteland of
small
patches of maize crop.
The almost collapsing
pole-and-dagga huts along Settlers' Road and the
stunted maize suggest that
the new farmers were dumped on farmland without
the necessary equipment,
knowledge or financial backing to prepare them to
take over from the fleeing
whites.
The farmers are failing to utilise the land in the same
manner as the
previous owners.
Most of the farmers said they
had no resources such as draught power
or fertiliser. In fact they have no
other means of survival and often depend
on food handouts from humanitarian
organisations.
But not only the farms and farmhouses have been
targets of vandalism
or neglect but also facilities that had been put up and
maintained from
farmers' contributions.
Virginia Country Club
is an eyesore with the thatching coming off. It
has not been used or
maintained in the past seven years. The golf course and
a soccer pitch have
been turned into grazing land while the clinic is an
empty shell. Poor
peasants mill around selling wild fruit in the scorching
sun.
The seven remaining white farmers in Macheke still shine as beacons of
successful commercial agriculture although on a drastically reduced
scale.
One of the farmers said he was still farming so that the new
farmers
could see how it should be done.
"I have been squeezed
to about 20% of what I used to do," he said. "I
still feel there is need to
soldier on despite the prevailing uncertainty.
But we have not made any new
investments for the past five years. We have
got until March to wind up and
leave but we will stay."
He said he had applied for a lease but
government had not yet
responded.
The havoc in the Macheke area
is a microcosm of a national tragedy
after a noble cause went horribly
wrong.
The agriculture parliamentary portfolio committee in the
run-up to the
2006/7 season conceded that this could be the worst in the
history of the
country judging from the levels of preparedness and inputs
availability.
"The information you have given us simply shows that
there is no
season," committee chairman Walter Mzembi was quoted as saying
just before
the start of the season last year.
The CFU during
the same time warned: "This coming season's production
prospects are the
worst since Independence due to inputs shortages and the
lack of a strong
message to allow all farmers to produce with confidence."
The
Zimbabwe Farmers' Union complained that the funds advanced by the
government
for cropping were not reaching their intended beneficiaries.
They
also blamed government for failing to provide the inputs on time.
Analysts said production was being hampered by legislative changes and
continued farm invasions that were creating uncertainty for investors to
expand their businesses.
"Nationally, agricultural output has
predictably declined further
relegating government efforts to a national
joke," one agricultural expert
said.
"The major constraint to
increased productivity is the uncertainty of
tenure in the agricultural
sector where farmers are evicted on a daily
basis. Continued acquisition
notices, disruptions, acts of violence on farms
and lack of land-based
collateral are some of the problems farmers face."
Farming experts
said continued amendments to the Land Acquisition Act
contributed to the
confusion in the agricultural sector. The amendments,
experts say, including
the removal of court jurisdiction, will scare away
investors in the
agro-processing industry and the agro-forestry sectors that
are
capital-intensive.
"It is alarming to note that the Gazetted Land
(Consequential
Provisions) Act, was passed," one expert said.
"The Act repeals the Rural Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction)
Act and
prohibits the contest of all land gazetted for acquisition since
2000 in
court.
"If the objective of the authorities, by introducing such
draconian
legislation, is to get agriculture back to work they are wrong. It
is likely
to increase the conflict of ownership on the land and reduce
investment in
agriculture."
Zim Independent
ZIMBABWEANS should work towards putting in
place constitutional
guarantees to limit the term of the president, a
European Union (EU)
ambassador said this week.
Swedish envoy to
Zimbabwe Sten Rylander on Tuesday said it was
imperative for Zimbabweans to
come up with a defined term for the president,
as the harmonisation of the
presidential and parliamentary proposal mooted
at Zanu PF's conference in
Goromonzi last year would not solve the problem.
Rylander was
speaking at a ceremony to hand over 600 000 Swedish
kroners (about US$800
000) to the Southern African Development Community
Parliamentary Forum
(Sadc-PF) by the Swedish International Development
Agency
(Sida).
Rylander said whether or not presidential elections go
ahead in 13
months' time when President Mugabe's mandate expires or in 2010,
there was
no guarantee that the presidential term limit would be decisively
dealt
with.
"It's yet to be seen whether the election will be
in 2008 or 2010,"
said Rylander. "But it's no guarantee that if you
harmonise the elections to
2010 the issue of a time limit to the
presidential term would be solved."
The current Lancaster House
constitution, which has undergone 17 major
amendments since Independence in
1980, does not limit presidential terms.
This has prompted civic
organisations such as the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) to lobby
for a new constitution which explicitly states the
number of terms a
president can serve.
"As diplomats we are in the country to watch
what is going on and have
to leave Zimbabweans to decide their own destiny,"
Rylander said.
He said although there was a new regime in
Stockholm, Sweden's foreign
policy on Zimbabwe was still focused on building
bridges. He said they
expected a smooth transition of power and succession
to Mugabe thus paving
way for the restoration of economic and political
stability.
"I hope that there will be a good succession (to Mugabe)
and political
transition that will bring the situation in Zimbabwe back to
normal as soon
as possible." - Staff Writer
Zim Independent
Itai Mushekwe
FORMER Mashonaland West governor
Peter Chanetsa this week brewed a
shocker by clashing with a visiting
Chinese tourism delegation comprising
travel agents and media personnel in
Harare.
The delegation flew into the country last week and was on
an
assessment tour of the country's resort facilities and packages that was
facilitated by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and national airline Air
Zimbabwe.
Chanetsa stunned the stakeholders during a press
conference with a
candid interjection asking the delegation not to be
diplomatic and say
"things as they are". Cecilia Chen, a business manager
with the Citic
International Travel Company, was presenting a report on the
team's
fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe when Chanetsa
interjected.
"When one's jacket is torn at the back, and if noone
tells you, how
will you be able to know? So please don't be diplomatic. Just
tell us what
you saw so that we can receive you properly."
Chanetsa's candid comment betrayed confusion in government's
much-touted
"Look East" policy whose ineffectiveness was there for all to
see.
The visiting Chinese displayed their lack of knowledge of
Zimbabwe at
a time when government has declared the Asian economy as its
major partner
in reviving the ailing tourism sector.
In giving
the delegation's report, Chen contradicted government's
claims of having
made significant inroads into the Chinese market, which ZTA
says is now the
leading Asian source market.
"Before we came here, most of us did
not have a clear image of your
country," said Chen.
"However,
following our visit, we now have a clear image."
Chen said the
delegation had been impressed by the "security in the
country" together with
the people whom she described as being "really nice
and
friendly".
But the delegation ruffled Chanetsa's feathers when it
claimed that
the Chinese back home were clueless about Zimbabwe's tourism
attractions.
They said there was need to set up a publicity and marketing
strategy on the
part of government so as to educate and raise awareness
about Zimbabwe to
the Chinese clientele.
"We have conducted
several workshops in Hong Kong, Shanghai and
Beijing," replied
Chanetsa.
"We also have a very effective tourism attaché there, so
I don't
understand what you mean when you say you don't have enough
information on
Zimbabwe."
The delegation said there was an
urgent need for government to upgrade
some hotels and improve hygienic
standards in resort areas.
Another concern raised was the country's
skewed tourist pricing
regime, which they said was replete with
distortions.
On Wednesday, Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono
decried price
distortions in the tourism sector saying as a country Zimbabwe
was pricing
itself out of the tourist market through internal price
distortions.
"Using an example of a 750ml bottle of mineral water,
costing $2 800.
Conversion of this at the official exchange rate of $250 to
US$1 yields an
effective hard currency price of US$11,2 which is way too
expensive compared
to the regional and international price of the same
product at around US$2,"
Gono noted during his monetary review policy
statement.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
IN a major policy u-turn, central bank governor
Gideon Gono on
Wednesday introduced new measures allowing money transfer
agencies (MTAs) to
dispense hard currency to recipients.
The
new policy reverses his 2004 decision which compelled recipients
of foreign
currency through money transfer agencies to receive the
equivalent in local
currency.
"In order to promote the free flow of foreign exchange in
the economy,
with immediate effect, recipients of transfers from the
diaspora can be paid
their free funds in foreign exchange without
limitations," said Gono.
Gono said the decision was made to
encourage relatives abroad, whom he
said were shunning the "safe, legal
authorised dealers to transact through
the (in)formal system".
In order to further strengthen the operation of MTAs, an association
of
money transfer agencies will be formed during the first quarter of the
year,
governed by a binding code of ethics and operations. Those who breach
the
code risked expulsion from the association and eventual closure of the
institution.
Gono's decision, observers say, could reduce the
rate at which the
dollar is falling on the parallel market.
Analysts told the Zimbabwe Independent that Gono's decision could stem
the
free-falling of the local currency on the parallel market in the
long-term
if the central bank stops the current practice of monitoring how
individuals
and companies converted their hard currency into local currency.
Economic commentator John Robertson said foreign currency inflows
would not
improve unless demand meets supply.
"There is a very huge foreign
currency deficit for parallel market
rates to fall to levels that are
anticipated by the authorities."
A bank executive yesterday said
government should re-license more
money transfer agencies.
"If
people gain confidence in the system, parallel market rates will
fall," the
executive said.
"The decision not to devalue the dollar might
complement this move if
there are no sinister motives by the bank
authorities who have been
unpredictable since Gono's
appointment."
Dealers however said the move by the governor could
fuel the parallel
market.
"It is a Catch 22 situation. If
inflows increase remarkably, rates on
the (parallel) market will fall. But
if inflows remain depressed rates will
firm. No one in their right senses
will change their hard currency at the
fixed exchange rate," a dealer told
the Independent.
In a bid to get control over funds being
transferred from the
diaspora, Gono last year outlawed 16 private money
transfer operators.
He has since re-licensed seven MTAs. The
closure led to a decline in
foreign currency inflows on the official
market.
Gono accused foreign and local agencies of "non-performance
and
deviant behaviour" that was fuelling the black market.
Most
exiled Zimbabweans prefer to use channels that allow their
relatives and
friends in Zimbabwe to cash transfers in foreign exchange,
which gives them
a much greater value on the parallel market. An estimated
3,5 million
Zimbabweans are living abroad, mostly in South Africa, the US
and
Britain.
Zim Independent
Itai Mushekwe
MAVERICK liberation war veteran and former ruling
party
secretary-general, Edgar Tekere, has hit back at President Mugabe
accusing
him of treating party members as personal assets.
This
followed President Mugabe's assertions last weekend that Tekere's
"brains
are not there any more".
President Mugabe was responding to
Tekere's book, A Lifetime of
Struggle, released last month in which he
revealed that he invited Mugabe to
take up the Zanu PF leadership. Mugabe
has however said he personally chose
Tekere to travel with him to
Mozambique.
Tekere told the Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday from
his Mutare home
that the ruling party had been shaken to its foundations
because his book
had exposed the truth.
"Ndavafumura.
Vataurirwa idi. Ndizvo zvavasingadi," ("I have exposed
them. I have told
them the truth and they don't like it.").
"They have always been
making trouble for me because I stand by the
truth and as you know the truth
hurts."
Tekere said Mugabe had no reason to like him and had been
angered by
his autobiography at a time he was fervently fighting intra-party
divisions
over his plans to become life-president.
"Ikozvino
anehondo yekufira pachigaro, saka anogondifarira sei
achinyepa kuti ndiye
akandisarudza kuti tiende Mozambique?" ("Right now he
has a personal war to
die in office as president, so how can he like me
while lying that he
selected me to go to Mozambique with him?")
"He wants to pocket me.
And that's the problem with Mugabe, he wants
to pocket people like they're
his personal assets. That's why you hear him
calling me all sorts of things.
Zvino ini handizvidi ("I don't like it.")
"It is Mugabe himself who
is proving himself a liar."
Tekere also said he was suing Police
Commissioner, Augustine Chihuri,
the Sunday Mail and the Herald for injuring
his persona.
Through his lawyers Joseph Mandizha of Mandizha &
Co, Tekere is suing
the Sunday Mail, which published a damning article on
January 14 dismissing
him as a mental case who had distorted the history of
the liberation
struggle in his book.
"The defamation suit
against Chihuri arises from comments he made in
the Herald, which were very
defamatory," said Tekere.
"I am at the preliminary stage of the
suit but we haven't done the
intensive interviews," Tekere said
.
Chihuri blasted Tekere's book in heavy political vitriol
rubbishing
his claims of having been instrumental in elevating Mugabe to
power.
Chihuri, a member of the Zanu general staff at the time,
said Tekere
was an alcoholic of "roughish" character who also suffered from
mental
instability, therefore his account of the liberation struggle was not
accurate.
Zim Independent
Dumisani
Ndlela
CENTRAL bank governor Gideon Gono stunned a highly
expectant market on
Wednesday after presenting a timid monetary policy
statement that threw away
everything in a move interpreted as suggesting
growing hostility between him
and his principals.
"There was
nothing on action," a dejected bank executive told
businessdigest. "This
seems to suggest that he is admitting that monetary
policy can not achieve a
turn-around without the necessary support from
fiscal policy."
Gono, who has faced a barrage of criticism from ruling party
stalwarts, has
been largely blamed for failing to revive a faltering
economy, but critics
say it has been mainly a profligate state and
speculative tendencies by
ruling party bigwigs that had weighed down Gono's
efforts to turnaround the
economy.
Gono, who had become well-known for his boldness, with a
radical
approach that had characterised what had become an unorthodox
monetary
policy regime under his governorship, washed his hands of the
country's
controversial economic reforms, instead committing them to
government and
stakeholders under a yet-to-be signed social contract that
yesterday
received backing from the business community but received only
lukewarm
support from labour and the opposition.
He said while
his quasi-fiscal operations, which he said had helped
prevent the collapse
of the agricultural sector and industrial operations in
the country, had
been blamed for stoking inflationary fires, the reality was
that "startling
contradictions and distortions currently prevailing in the
economy" were
"the major mill-stone around the economy, requiring head-on
attention before
we look at the central bank as the source of our hardships.
"Time
has thus come that the truth and facts be allowed to speak for
themselves in
the interest of building a credible policy intervention that
will
meaningfully deliver Zimbabwe out of the current difficult
circumstances,"
Gono said.
He said price distortions in the country were "the real
mill-stone
around our economy", a veiled rebuke to government policies that
have
allowed multiple prices for basic commodities.
"As a
nation, we have put our heads together and accept the fact that
the current
situation where the GMB (Grain Marketing Board) is buying maize
from farmers
at $52 500/tonne, whilst selling the same to millers at a mere
$600/tonne.
(This) is not sustainable by any standard," Gono said.
He also
mentioned the pricing of fuel, sold at $330 per litre for
diesel to farmers
when the market price is at over $4 000 per litre, as
"discouraging our
farmers from engaging in agriculture itself, as many are
now finding it more
profitable and less problematic to simply trade the fuel
on the parallel
market instead of production".
"These anomalies can not be allowed
to persist if the economy is to
ride out of the current crisis," Gono
said.
Zim Independent
Shame
Makoshori
CAPTAINS of industry yesterday rallied behind Reserve
Bank governor
Gideon Gono's monetary policy statement, saying an
all-inclusive social
contract involving all stakeholders in reviving the
country's frail economy
had their backing.
But analysts warned
the suggestion for a social contract, while
laudable, was unlikely to find
favour from the labour movement which has
previously clashed with government
over policy issues.
"The government does not believe in social
dialogue, neither does it
believe in consultations," charged Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions
president, Lovemore Matombo.
Gono on
Wednesday said the country's economic recovery would not
succeed without
implementation of a social contract.
"We are now working from one
paper," Mara Hativagone, president of the
Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce (ZNCC), said.
Speaking at a press briefing at which she
was flanked by Confederation
of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president Callisto
Jokonya, Hativagone said
Gono's monetary policy marked a paradigm shift in
that there was now
acknowledgement of the role of stakeholders in the
economic revival project.
In a statement jointly signed by the
presidents of the CZI and ZNCC,
Jokonya and Hativagone said Gono had taken
"on board the majority of the
recommendations and inputs from the private
sector, in particular the urgent
need for the implementation of a home-grown
holistic economic turnaround
programme involving all
stakeholders".
"We're totally behind the statement. We feel that
the governor has
fully highlighted the concerns of industry," said
Jonkonya.
The opposition gave a cue that it would not support the
proposed
social contract.
Tendai Biti, MDC secretary for
economic affairs, said: "To suggest,
for instance, a social contract under a
situation of hyperinflation is
unscientific and unrealistic.
"A
political solution will pave way for a sustainable programme of
reconstruction, economic transformation and stabilisation. At the core of
this reconstruction must be the understanding that this country has
experienced 10 years of economic decline, a shrinkage that is unmatched even
in countries that have engaged in full-scale wars," said Biti.
Zim Independent
Shame
Makoshori
ZIMBABWE'S annual gold production slumped 21% last
year to a paltry 11
tonnes, from an output of 14 tonnes recorded for the
prior year, according
to figures released by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono on
Wednesday.
The decline is in line with
projections made by independent analysts
who blame poor policies and a fixed
exchange rate.
Erratic payments to gold miners by RBZ subsidiary,
Fidelity Printers
and Refineries, which has reneged on a commitment to pay
gold producers in
foreign currency, has also been blamed for the slump in
output.
Statistics from the Chamber of Mines indicates that the
2005 gold
production amounting to 4 023kg was 52% down on the prior year's
production
of 21 330kg.
Gono, who refused to heed calls from
the sector for a devaluation of
the local currency, did not acknowledge
payment problems to miners as part
of the reason for the decline in annual
production.
The official line has been that miners have been
pillaging the country
of huge amounts of gold smuggled into South
Africa.
Gono said the decline in gold output was a result of ageing
equipment,
reduced exploration and mine development and the illegal trading
and
smuggling of gold.
Gold miners have said failure by
Fidelity had resulted in their
failure to import critical spare parts and
capital equipment to repair or
replace antiquated machinery currently used
on mines.
Earlier this week, gold miners told besinessdigest that
most gold
mines had been forced to scale down production because of the
erratic
payments from the RBZ.
The unreliable payments had
resulted in failure to procure spares.
They warned of a further
decline in output this year if the exchange
rate regime did not
change.
Gono kept the exchange rate fixed at $250 to the US
dollar.
Chamber of Mines chief executive officer David Murangari
last week
told businessdigest that the industry was experiencing payment
problems from
Fidelity.
Businessdigest reported in November
that the RBZ, through its
subsidiary Fidelity, had failed to pay gold
producers US$9 million and Z$610
million for gold delivered between
September 7 and November 2.
The Chamber of Mines had voiced its
concern over the development,
saying in a letter to the central bank the
move could result in the closure
of gold mines.
"The silence
that prevails in such difficult times does nothing to
build confidence in
policy announcements and we strongly suggest that the
authorities provide
the industry with some explanation of the challenges
being faced by the RBZ
(in making payments to gold producers)," the chamber
wrote in a letter to
the RBZ dated November 15. Businessdigest understands
that the central bank
has not yet responded to the letter.
The gold output has declined
consistently since reaching a high of 29
tonnes per annum in 1999.
Zim Independent
Pindai
Dube
DAIRY farmers have stopped milk production in protest over
government-imposed price controls, businessdigest established this
week.
The protest has resulted in a country-wide shortage of milk
and dairy
products.
The government, which has imposed price
controls on most basic food
commodities, has pegged the price of milk at $1
050 per litre, a price dairy
farmer say falls far short of meeting
production costs even without ensuring
viability.
"We have
stopped milk production until the government heeds our call
to leave market
forces to determine the price," said Ezra Ndlovu, an
executive board member
of the National Association of Dairy Farmers (NADF).
"Input and
production costs are very high and therefore we can't
operate in such an
environment with continued interference," said Ndlovu.
Dairy
farmers are demanding a review of milk prices from the current
price to at
least $3 000 per litre.
They also insist that government should
have nothing to do with the
pricing of dairy products as they are no
subsidising farmers in the running
of dairy farms.
The Minister
of Industry and International Trade, Obert Mpofu, was not
available for
comment.
A probe on the supply level conducted by businessdigest
indicated that
supermarkets in most major cities and towns were experiencing
a shortage of
milk because they were not receiving supplies from
producers.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
THE Zimbabwe dollar gained marginally yesterday on
the parallel market
after initially running riot Wednesday on news the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) had refused to devalue the beleaguered
currency.
The exchange rate on the parallel market receded to $4
800 to the
greenback after touching $5 200 to the US unit on Wednesday
afternoon trade
soon after RBZ governor Gideon Gono's monetary policy
statement in the
morning.
Gono kept the US dollar fixed at $250
to the greenback on the official
market, saying
He had devalued
the local unit to $250/US$ in July last year after the
rate had been kept at
$101 to the greenback since the beginning of the year.
There had
been strong sentiment that Gono would devalue the local unit
to between $750
and $1200 against the US dollar.
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's
refusal to sign Exclusive Prospecting Orders
(EPOs) will hamper growth and
further reduce foreign currency inflows into
the country, analysts and
mining experts said.
They said Mugabe's decision would damage the
mining sector, one of the
few sectors still accounting for the few receipts
trickling into the foreign
currency market and accounting for 4% of the
country's gross domestic
product.
International and local
investors have over the past two years been
scouring for fresh mining
concessions in the country, particularly those
with platinum, gold and
diamond deposits.
Some established investors were also renewing
their EPOs for
concessions that they already hold.
EPOs are
rights allocated to miners to explore possible mineral
deposits.
The exploration stage is the initial stage of any
mining activity,
although a more expensive process of feasibility study
always follows when a
concession is established to be holding meaningful
mineral deposits.
In 2003, 12 EPOs were either granted or renewed,
with over 20 having
been issued in 2004.
The EPOs apply to
minerals such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium
and many other
metals.
Businessdigest understands that no fresh EPOs were granted
in 2005 and
2006, throwing many potential investors into a quagmire of
sorts.
Other mining companies have lost EPOs held over certain
concessions
after government had alleged these had been held for speculative
purposes.
Last year, the Minister of Mines and Mining Development
revoked 13
exclusive mining prospecting rights for three companies,
including giants
Rio Tinto and Anglo American.
The move was
taken after central bank governor, Gideon Gono, urged the
government to take
action against under-utilised mining rights and claims.
Gono had
alleged that the mining sector continued to under-perform
because of
"under-utilisation of some mining rights, where potential
investors keep
mining claims for years without tangible operational plans".
"What
is not appreciated is that the time between exploration and
actual
investment takes anything between five to 10 years," a mining expert
told
businessdigest.
He said Rio Tinto, for example, had started
exploration for diamonds
in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s, but only commenced
mining operations after
2000.
"Exploration which discovered all
the platinum deposits in Zimbabwe
commenced in the early 1970s, but
production has only taken off recently.
Exploration on the Hunters Road
nickel deposits commenced in the 1980s, but
up to now no production has
taken place there," the expert said.
Independent economic
consultant, John Robertson, said the decision not
to sign Exclusive
Prospecting Orders would not only result in lack of
investment, but mine
closures.
"The delay in signing Exclusive Prospecting Orders will
cut back on
investment in the country. Investors will eventually look
elsewhere if they
realise that operations and decisions in the country are
more political than
for the good of the economy," said
Robertson.
Finance minister Herbert Murerwa said during
presentation of his
budget proposals for 2007 that lack of extensive
recapitalisation at
existing mines and investment in new mining exploration
programmes had
remained a major constraint to the growth of the
sector.
"This has been compounded by disruptions to power supplies,
coupled
with rising mining production costs which affect viability. The
spiralling
cost of capital items, due to inflation, is being exacerbated by
the rising
parallel market exchange rates at which most imported items are
priced,"
Murerwa said.
Murerwa said the sector was being
plagued by mineral leakages,
especially that of gold and
diamonds.
A government-proposed amendment to the country's minerals
laws is due
to be tabled in parliament soon, and is envisaged to give
historically
disadvantaged persons and government a 51% stake in foreign and
privately-owned mines.
A mining executive who spoke on
condition of anonymity said Mugabe's
government was "shooting itself in the
foot" as the decision not to sign
EPOs would negatively affect mining output
and investment in future.
"The mining industry is a
capital-intensive industry and takes a long
time before any profits can be
realised. Most of the capital required in
this industry is foreign currency
which is not readily available in the
country," the executive
said.
Zimbabwe's mining industry has been contracting over the last
six
years.
The gold sector has been - affected the most, with
production having
fallen from a high of 29 tonnes per annum at its peak to
the current 12
tonnes produced last year.
Zim Independent
Pindai Dube
A SHORTAGE of dipping chemicals has crippled the
livestock breeding
industry in the country, with market players saying the
foreign currency
crisis had hampered the import of the
chemicals.
The situation has become so dire that many farmers in
the cattle
breeding industry were losing a large number of beasts due to
diseases that
could easily be eliminated with dipping.
Businessdigest this week gathered that Chemplex Chemicals, the major
chemical supplier to the Department of Veterinary Services, was not
importing amitraz, a dipping chemical that is commonly used by cattle
ranchers to treat animals, because of foreign currency
shortages.
The little that the company often manages to secure is
not enough to
meet demand, industry players said.
The situation
has seen most farmers countrywide dipping their beasts
once in three months,
instead of weekly.
Department of Veterinary Services director,
Stuart Hargreaves,
confirmed that there was a critical shortage of amitraz
as their supplier,
Chemplex Chemicals, had no foreign currency to import the
chemical.
"There is a critical shortage of amitraz as our major
supplier,
Chemplex Chemicals, is currently having problems accessing foreign
currency
to import the chemical," Hargreaves said.
"Currently,
cattle dippings are not being carried out regularly
countrywide because of
this problem," he said.
Hargreaves said they were looking forward
to an improvement of the
situation.
Chemplex Chemicals
marketing officer, Mike Ncube, confirmed that there
was a shortage of
amitraz due to foreign currency unavailability.
He refused to give
more details, referring businessdigest to company
management who were not
immediately available for comment.
"There is a shortage of amitraz
due to foreign currency unavailability
and that is all I can say to you. For
more details, talk to senior
management," Ncube said.
Livestock
breeding farmers said the current rains had resulted in
beasts having
tick-borne diseases and other diseases like heatwater,
redwater and gall
sickness.
The Veterinary Services Department has in the past said
they had no
alternative for chemicals, as the country is facing foreign
currency
shortages that hinder imports of chemicals.
Zim Independent
Dumisani
Ndlela
EVERY working Zimbabwean has one major problem with pay
day - a raft
of deductions depleting inadequate incomes.
But
two deductions have turned out to be a major bother: pay as you
earn (PAYE)
and payment towards a compulsory pension scheme proposed by the
National
Social Security Authority (NSSA).
Now, NSSA, which has been accused
of failing to properly manage the
compulsory pension scheme, and has come
under attack from both labour and
business for paying pensioners a pittance
- barely enough for a bus fare to
even make the initial claim - from the
retirement fund, is within the cusp
of introducing another compulsory levy
on long-suffering workers: a national
health insurance policy that will be
charged at double the pension scheme.
For those who might be
unfamiliar with what a Zimbabwean worker's
payslip looks like, here is a
sample: there is a double deduction for
pension, one to the normal pension
scheme chosen for employees by the
employer, and another to NSSA; medical
aid deductions to a medical aid
society of the employee's choice; and the
PAYE deductions.
With the introduction of the national health
insurance scheme by NSSA,
workers will be liable to double deductions for
medical aid.
The effect of the NSSA deductions, even without the
new compulsory
medical insurance policy, makes Zimbabweans part of the
league of the most
heavily taxed citizens in the world, among them the four
high-tax Nordic
countries - Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The
difference with Nordic
states is that their system offers comprehensive
safety nets for all ages
including pensioners.
Last year, PAYE
tax collections were projected to have reached $80
billion, nearly 30% of
total revenue, against a target of about $40 billion.
Finance
minister Herbert Murerwa indicated that PAYE would now exceed
35% for
incomes higher than a determined threshold.
Because of the
inflationary environment in which employers have been
forced to regularly
review salaries and wages, many employees are likely to
fall into the tax
band compelling them to pay income tax in excess of 35%.
In his
budget proposals for this year, Murerwa indicated that the
positive
performance of PAYE reflected the award of higher than anticipated
salary
and wage settlements in both the private and public sectors last
year.
After PAYE deductions, workers are forced to pay more tax
on groceries
and other basic commodities, and the Value Added Tax (VAT)
levels have
increased with hyperinflation-induced daily price increases on
the market.
VAT also performed spectacularly well last year, with
collections
amounting to $61,5 billion, or 27,5% of total revenue, at the
time of
Murerwa's budget presentation late last year, against a target of
$49,2
billion.
VAT on local sales amounted to $42,3 billion,
and that on imports to
$18,3 billion. "Improved VAT collections were
attributed to price increases
of goods and services, as a result of the
current hyperinflationary
environment, and were also complemented by the
August 2006 movement in the
official exchange rate used in valuation of
imports. VAT collections are
expected to end the year at $100 billion,"
Murerwa said.
Yet there is very little to show for the country's
high tax regime in
terms of benefits to citizens.
According to
a study conducted by the Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives (CCPA) late
last year, people who live in countries with higher
taxes enjoy lower rates
of poverty, have more equal income distribution,
more economic security for
workers and can expect to live longer.
The study's authors,
professors Neil Brooks and Thaddeus Hwong,
suggested that tax cuts could be
"disastrous for the well-being of a nation's
citizens".
Yet
Zimbabwe's disaster has been its high tax regime which has left
citizens
wallowing in poverty, with no social and economic security, and an
uneven
income distribution.
The CCPA study, which compared the four Nordic
countries with six-low
tax Anglo-American countries - the UK, US, Canada,
Ireland, Australia and
New Zealand - suggested that the four Nordic
countries scored better than
the lower-taxed countries on most of the 50
indicators measured in the
report.
These inlude:
*
Rate of poverty, equality of income distribution, and economic
security for
workers;
* GDP per capita;
* Rate of household saving
and net national saving;
* Innovation, including percentage of GDP
spent on research and
development;
* Growth competitiveness as
ranked by the World Economic Forum;
* Rates of secondary school and
university completion;
* Rate of drug use; and,
*
Leisure time.
The more lower taxed countries came out on top in
seven of the 50
indicators, including their sense of freedom, their suicide
rates and the
number of people reporting they are very happy.
Countries with higher tax revenues include Norway (41,9%), France
(43,4%)
and Finland (46,2%). Sweden tops the list at 50,5%.
Sweden and many
other developed countries have a comprehensive social
security system
subsidised by taxpayers. The benefits in Sweden include free
hospitalisation
and medical facilities, education at all levels, including
research,
unemployment pay and pensions for all citizens, and their budget
also
includes substantial provision for support to families who are
financially
vulnerable.
Britain, one of the low-tax countries, has a
comprehensive social
welfare system created through social reforms
undertaken 60 years ago when
government drew up plans for a welfare
state.
The National Insurance Act (1946) led to a raft of
legislation
offering a social safety net to Britons. "Cradle to grave"
protection was
born, that, despite rigorous and often controversial reform,
still exists
today.
"In Zimbabwe, people are getting nothing
back for their taxes," says
independent economic consultant, John Robertson.
"In the Nordic countries,
the people get massive delivery of services back
to them for their taxes."
NSSA, highly acclaimed when it was
established in the 1990s, has
failed to offer any social protection to the
country's beleaguered
workforce. Experts say NSSA should have led a vigorous
campaign for social
reforms in the country using the vast funds taken away
from workers through
its compulsory scheme.
In South Africa,
the social pension scheme has reduced older people's
poverty by 94% and that
of the population as a whole by 12,5%. In Zimbabwe
NSSA has grown fatter
while the population is looking distinctly thinner!
Zim Independent
By A Special Correspondent
ZIMBABWE has the
distinction of having the highest inflation and the
fastest declining
economy in the world.
The country used to be the breadbasket of the
Sadc region and was a
promising nation ready to take off in 1996 and yet
today, in 2007, the
country is on its knees, has experienced serious capital
flight (both
financial and intellectual), has an unemployment rate of over
80% and has
arguably the most pessimistic economic outlook in the
world.
Why has a glorious revolution turned into a basketcase? What
can be
learnt from similar cases worldwide and can the current pathetic
situation
be changed by the existing leadership?
The problem in
Zimbabwe is that since the mid-90s, cabinet decisions
have been made on the
basis of politics and not economics. The ruling party
has been preoccupied
with remaining in power through making political
decisions which have not
been in the best interests of the country.
The irony of the
situation is that a ruling party can remain in power
more easily by making
good economic management decisions rather than by
making political decisions
which are not compatible with good economic
management.
Take
the decision to award war veterans the gratuities they got paid
in late
1996. While veterans of the war of liberation deserved some form of
reward
for their sacrifices, the decision should have been to create some
business
ventures which would have created employment for them rather than
to pay
them cash, which in most cases was spent recklessly and therefore did
not
contribute to economic development at all.
Had the money been used
to create some ventures from where the war
veterans would have received some
income, then the war veterans themselves
would have had long-term income,
rather than the quick benefit most of them
got. It must be remembered that
most of them were not investment-savvy and
were never going to make
brilliant investment decisions anywhere.
The president had enough
clout with the war veterans that any
suggestion from him on the way forward
would have been accepted. He needed
to put together the best investment
minds in the country to come up with a
long-term solution which would have
recognised the role played by the war
veterans without compromising the
dream or revolution for which they had
sacrificed their lives
for.
In fact the sum paid out was huge, and could have easily
bought a
reasonable chunk of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange at the time. An
investment
vehicle for the war veterans could have been created to handle
their
collective gratuities and had that been done and managed properly,
today,
this vehicle could have been one of the richest and most influential
in the
country.
A golden opportunity was lost for short-term
gain. Today most of the
war veterans are probably worse off than they were
in 1996 and cannot even
account for the money they got as
gratuities.
While it is a fact that one of the reasons the war of
liberation was
fought was for the equitable distribution of land, there can
be no argument
that the intention was never to reduce the country to a
basket case as has
happened in the last few years. The redistribution of the
land was a
necessity, but did it have to be done in a way which virtually
destroyed the
economy of the country? This is another typical example of
political ends
being put before economic sense.
Were there no
other economically and politically sensible ways of
carrying out this
important task? The truth of the matter is the ruling
party was at the point
where they could have lost power; they therefore
chose a politically
expedient route rather than a route which would have
safeguarded the
economic integrity of the country.
Depriving the white commercial
farmers of the land and subdividing it
into economically unviable units in
some cases was never going to make
economic sense. The argument always given
is that rural farmers were
producing the bulk of the food crops before the
onset of the land
redistribution exercise, so the dissipation of the
commercial farmers was
going to have minimal impact on the economic
wellbeing of the country.
Commercial farming played a critical role
especially in the cash crops
which earned the nation valuable foreign
currency. In addition, the
commercial farmers also produced a sizeable maize
crop, which cannot be
ignored.
One can argue that commercial
agriculture before the land
redistribution exercise had more in common with
the industrialised world
than the rest of the agriculture industry in
Zimbabwe. It must be borne in
mind that no industrialised country is
dependent on agriculture for the
growth of its economy.
The
title system in the farming areas has been changed dramatically
and it has
become difficult for farmers to obtain credit from banks. The
recently
instituted 99-year lease system is a step in the right direction,
but what
must be borne in mind is that the integrity of the property rights
system in
the country has been tampered with and it will take time for
lenders of
finance to gain confidence in the system.
Worldwide, it has been
demonstrated that wherever property rights are
not respected, there will be
no substantial economic growth. Even in China
and Malaysia, our so-called
friends, property rights are respected.
In Zimbabwe, the government
chose to compromise the system of property
rights for political ends. Again
this is an example of political ends
justifying the means.
Politicians sometimes argue that in Africa, as long as the people have
enough food, they will be happy and there will be no need for them to change
the government. This argument is not necessarily true; the rural folk want a
better life and are tired of toiling in the fields for a subsistence living.
These folks want to educate their children, they want to live comfortably
and be able to save for their retirement.
The question is: do
Zimbabweans want to remain peasant farmers or do
they want to become
something else better? Can't we as a nation aspire for
more than just
wanting the majority of our people to be just small time
farmers?
The issue of the exchange rate is one example where
politics has
totally clouded rational thinking. Prior to 2003, the Reserve
Bank largely
ignored the parallel market, although there was a fixed
official rate at
which exporters had to sell currency to the government.
Exporters were
viable and were expanding their businesses. In fact during
that year, the
parallel rate rose and then came down as more export capacity
was brought on
line.
From 2004, there was a serious clampdown
on parallel market dealings,
with the official exchange rate kept at
economically insensible levels.
Exporters made huge losses and went out of
business. Forex became scarce and
the parallel rate started running at
incredible rates.
The argument from those charged with directing
policy was that if the
exchange rate was left to the market, goods and
services would be beyond the
reach of many. This argument lacks logic and
can never be justified in any
situation.
With the shortage of
forex on the official market, manufacturers of
goods and services have had
to rely on the parallel market for their
imported inputs and have factored
the parallel rate in the prices of their
goods and services, so the ordinary
people are already bearing the parallel
rate.
Even the RBZ
bought forex on the market at parallel rates to meet some
of its
requirements, particularly but not limited to the recent payment of
arrears
to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The RBZ has continued to
buy
currency on the market and it is no secret that it has been approaching
exporters for forex and offering rates which are well in excess of the
official rate.
So who is benefiting from the controlled
exchange rate? It's certainly
not the ordinary people who have voted (or not
voted) the government into
power. It is a few individuals who are benefiting
from this economically
foolish decision to hold the exchange rate at
unrealistic levels.
Some well-connected individuals and companies
have been able to access
the forex and even after they have accessed it,
they have gone ahead and
charged for their goods and services as if they
obtained the money from the
parallel market. In fact they do better than
this as they work on the basis
of what they think the parallel rate would be
by the time their goods and
services are sold and paid for.
Take for instance the recently imported farm equipment that included
tractors and combine harvesters. The beneficiaries must have paid for them
at the official exchange rate of $250:US$1 when the market rate was already
well in excess of $2 500:US$1. If one is not well-connected I doubt if they
received a tractor or a combine harvester.
Would a person
accessing such benefits be in a position to make the
right economic decision
when he is benefiting from the irrational system
himself?
The
right economic decision remains letting the market determine the
exchange
rate at which exporters are paid for their forex. As more companies
and
people enter the export market, more forex is generated and the rate
will
stabilise over time. The prices of goods and services will not
necessarily
go up as the parallel rate already reflects the supply and
demand situation
on the ground.
In fact, it can be argued that the rate is moving
rapidly because it
is being determined in opaque circumstances; if exporters
and importers are
left to determine the rate on their own, in a transparent
way without fear,
then the rate would not march forward so
rapidly.
There is always the argument that public institutions like
hospitals
still need to access cheap forex to meet their drug and equipment
requirements as their services are also accessed by the poorest of the
poor.
On the surface, this argument makes a lot of sense but in
reality it's
a political statement without merit.
If economic
activity picks up in the country and more local and
foreign investors invest
new capital, more jobs will be generated and the
unemployment rate will come
down. The government will collect more taxes and
will have enough money to
subsidise the very poor when they access services
such as medical attention
at public institutions.
The pricing of electricity is another
example where one can see that
those charged with running our country have
really lost their direction. How
on earth do you allow a vital part of the
economy like Zesa to incur such
huge losses and have its infrastructure
totally collapse like we have
witnessed in Zimbabwe?
For years
industry has been warning the government that the country
would experience a
huge shortage of power unless tariffs were raised to
economic levels which
allowed for equipment replacement and expansion in
line with demand
forecasts.
The government chose to ignore the advice and continued
to force Zesa
management to charge uneconomic tariffs for political
considerations
ignoring the old adage that "a cheap energy policy is a no
energy policy".
One wonders whether the people making such "economically
foolish" decisions
are not the true "enemies of the state".
The
pricing of fuel is a further perplexing example of political if
not self
interest driving decisions. Who exactly is benefiting from $350 per
litre
fuel? Are the ordinary people of Zimbabwe benefiting from this
fuel?
Industry is contributing 7,5% of its export earnings to the
Energy
Stabilisation Fund but is not getting any fuel from the National Oil
Company
of Zimbabwe. Obviously someone else is benefiting from this fuel,
and if one
digs deep, it might turn out to be the very people who are making
the
decision who are the main beneficiaries.
What Zimbabwe
needs today is a government which will put the welfare
of Zimbabwe ahead of
political considerations.
It must be accepted that Zimbabwe needs
help from outsiders, namely
the IMF, World Bank, the European Union, the
United Kingdom and the US. We
need to look East, West, South and North for
help. We need to make the hard
political decisions; we need to swallow some
strong bitter medicine if we
are to get ourselves out of the rat hole we
have put ourselves into.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono can issue as many
monetary policy statements
as he wishes, but as long as there is no
political will to make the tough
decisions, it will amount to nothing.
Failure is the only option open to
Gono as long as there is no political
will to make the difficult but correct
decisions.
Zim Independent
By Sekuru Gonzo Batorava
THE ZBC listeners'
licence fees have caused a lot of havoc and
unnecessary pandemonium among
the ever-suffering, poor Zimbabwean public.
We are the poorest
people on earth and our "one and only broadcaster"
has added yet more
suffering.
I had a feeling that our so-called "legitimate"
government would feel
pity for its people, but alas, this has turned out to
be the opposite.
Come to think of it: a farm labourer (call them by
this name because
they really work hard on farms owned by Zanu PF chefs)
earns between $5 000
and $7 000 a month and is asked to pay $50 000 for a
radio listeners'
licence - once off payment - not in
installments.
What he is asked to pay is almost what he gets over a
year as his
wages. If that farm labourer is lucky enough to own a TV set,
then he should
fork out $150 000. Those fortunate enough to own cars are
also in for a rude
shock.
For that radio, which they rarely or
only listen to when they are
driving, they should pay $200 000 for a
listener's licence.
I use public transport every day to and from
work and I have never
listened to Radio Zimbabwe or Spot FM, but musical
cassettes only.
If ever you get into a car where the driver will be
listening to any
of our four stations, it will be Hondo Yeminda (propaganda)
blasting your
ears for which you have to fork out $200 000 listeners'
licence fees.
This government of "ours" never ceases to amaze
me.
Sometimes one is forced to think that they use batteries when
thinking. As soon as the battery is flat they cease to think straight till
it is recharged - if it is rechargeable at all.
If the ZBC ever
thought they would rake in trillions of dollars, they
are fooling themselves
as people are determined not to pay these exorbitant
fees.
They
should carry out extensive market research to gather what
listeners and
viewers want to hear or see on their not-so-easy-to-get
gadgets.
Last year's exercise was a flop and the ZBC should
have taken heed and
carried out extensive market research. Most people have
joined video clubs
because they are fed up with Zanu PF bigwigs appearing on
their screens
day-in and day-out and the lies.
God is no fool,
all this will come to pass some day.
I am hurt by the numerous
wrongs that Zanu PF robbers, thieves, thugs,
plunderers and propagandists
have done to us.
* Sekuru Gonzo Batorava is a pseudonym of a writer
from Chitungwiza.
Zim Independent
Comment
IT was a different Gideon Gono we saw on national
television on
Wednesday morning. Unlike on previous occasions, the Reserve
Bank governor
was noticeably less ebullient during his monetary policy
statement
presentation this week.
His call for "unity of
purpose" in confronting the nation's myriad
problems was the groan of a
desperate, anguished technocrat. For the first
time Gono admitted the
country was at a crossroads, warning "unless us as
Zimbabweans do something
about our situation on our own . the current
economic difficulties will
deepen to irreversible levels".
He said 2007 should be the "turning
point" in the nation's efforts to
reverse a relentless slide which started
10 years ago. Without naming names,
Gono noted: "We currently observe latent
political tensions .arising from
the economic hardships people are
experiencing across the board. Such
disunity and distrust between us does
not augur well for an economy seeking
to turn around and take
off."
We will deal with the second issue first - the need for a
political
settlement. To say the political tension in the country is latent
is a gross
understatement by Gono. This country has been crying out for
political
change for a long time, more so since the crisis of legitimacy
created by
President Mugabe's disputed re-election in 2002.
That problem has been compounded by the Zanu PF government's titanic
failure
to turn the land into the economy since the launch of the Third
Chimurenga
in 2000 as an empowerment tool for the poor. The precipitous
economic
decline that Gono laments reflects the utter failure of that
political
decision to undercut the settler economy, which was firmly
underpinned by
agriculture, without first planning a substitute.
This has created
opportunities for other political formations who
think they can put things
right. The tension arises from Zanu PF treating
this legitimate claim to
political office as criminal activity inspired by
foreign forces. The
Movement for Democratic Change which President Mugabe
loves to demonise as a
creature of the British is a product of his failed
policies and has captured
a huge constituency among the country's urban
poor. It cannot be wished away
without fully addressing the poverty stalking
the nation.
Gono
might be challenging ordinary Zimbabweans to take the destiny of
their
country into their own hands before the crisis reaches "irreversible
levels". This is a task which the MDC has failed to accomplish for various
reasons, among them an irresolute leadership and brutal state
repression.
This failure has turned the opposition into cynical
opportunists who
instead of ruing Gono's policy setbacks as a national
tragedy, celebrate
them as if, in a perverted way, they signified a positive
achievement of
democratic forces towards political change. This has been
most evident with
inflation figures where every missed target is greeted
with schadenfreude.
It is Zanu PF, or government or Gono who has failed, not
the nation.
Gono's call for collective action also arises from a
realisation that
neither Zanu PF nor the MDC has a solution on its own. He
pointed out in his
statement that no single political grouping could
"single-handedly drive our
political agenda and achieve the desired
results".
Nowhere is this more self-evident than in opposition
forces banking on
a mass exodus of senior Zanu PF officials to join the MDC
in opposing Mugabe's
bid to extend his term of office to 2010. Strangely,
this pious appeal is
not directed at the underclass in both parties who
should vote for freedom
in next year's presidential election but at the same
people who have been
crafting policies which have pushed the country to the
brink, the same
spineless politicians who couldn't tell Mugabe in Goromonzi
that his time
was up.
It calls for a very inspirational and
visionary leader in the
opposition for a senior Zanu PF member to turn his
back on the luxuries,
security and opportunities found under Mugabe's wings.
There is none at the
moment.
Gono pointed out: "Our people are
crying for holistic solutions and
not halfhearted efforts or piece-meal
programmes; they are crying for action
and not just talk or endless meetings
..."
The statement speaks to both parties and each one knows what
its
limitations are. While Gono's monetary policy statement was a huge let
down
for those looking for quick-fix "solutions" in the form of interest
rates
and a currency devaluation, it has the merit of appealing to the
national
interest in both Zanu PF and the MDC. For in the end the real
solution lies
in significant political change and a new leadership which has
the courage
to tackle the "distortions" in the economy and in
politics.
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
AS Zanu PF pulls out all stops with preparations
for President Robert
Mugabe's 83rd birthday, the question on everyone's mind
is: Can Mugabe
bequeath the so-called "born frees" a legacy that offers a
future of hope
and prosperity?
This year's theme for the annual
event that is modelled on North
Korean-style worship of the "Great Leader"
is "Youth empowerment for a
prosperous and peaceful Zimbabwe".
It sounds incongruous and discordant.
The Zanu PF Secretary for
Youth Affairs, Absolom Sikhosana, is under
the illusion that the theme is
"going to inspire youths to work harder for
the country".
Sikhosana says it is noble for the youths to emulate the lifestyle and
sacrifice Mugabe has made for the country.
Mugabe, who turns 83
on February 21, has presided over a nation
initially offering hope with
excellent prospects of a bright future for its
citizens since he took the
reins from Britain 27 years ago.
His uninterrupted rule,
notwithstanding commendable achievements in
the early years, has gradually
lost its purpose. Now, few doubt he retains
power for its own
sake.
There is commonplace deterioration in living standards owing
to an
unprecedented economic recession over the past decade, more
specifically in
the last seven years since the start of the so-called Third
Chimurenga.
The land invasions destroyed the productive
agricultural sector and in
turn undermined the manufacturing sector. Instead
of being empowered,
resettled peasants were impoverished.
What
is there to emulate in a leader whose misrule has spawned a
flight of human
capital, essential for national development, into the
diaspora?
The host countries have taken advantage of high skills and work ethic
among
thousands of emigrés to develop their own economies.
Not least have
been the Nigerians in Kwara State, neighbouring Zambia
and Mozambique who
embraced dispossessed white farmers.
The disastrous consequences of
decades of misrule have created a new
generation cultured in an ambition to
run away from their country to escape
poverty if they want to make a living
and lay a foundation for a bright
future for their children.
Mugabe has reinvented "taking the gap" as an attractive option for
young
adults who are convinced that he has no chance of finding a solution
to
their joblessness and lack of opportunities.
There is little to
admire in a leader who has driven highly-skilled
and enterprising
Zimbabweans into neighbouring countries where they have
excelled in their
ventures.
Mugabe can do little to absolve himself of blame for
creating a
desperate generation of people born over the past 27
years.
He once confessed that his government's seizure of
white-owned farms
had benefited fewer than 10% of black Zimbabweans who were
promised new
futures as commercial landowners.
The relative
handful of winners was disproportionately drawn from
Mugabe's senior ranks,
with cabinet ministers, army generals and judges all
helping themselves to
land.
There is little for the youths - who can no longer complete
their
education because of high fees - to emulate. There is also little they
can
emulate from a leader who has presided over a health delivery system
that
collapsed under his nose. Neither is there anything to emulate from a
leader
who has turned their parents into daily scroungers and subsistence
traders
hardly able to bring home the bacon.
One of the
dominant facts of the Zimbabwean life during the latter
part of Mugabe rule
has been the decay in governance. The country barely
functions as cabinet
ministers spend most of the working week on their
farms.
And
the youths will have to learn to emulate such a feat?
What they
could find extremely difficult to emulate though, in order
to be in the same
league with Mugabe, is masking the lust for power as an
ultimate form of
nationalism.
Youths have to learn also to emulate fixing their eyes
on the past and
refuse to notice changes going on around them.
But first, they have to go through the Herbert Chitepo School of
Ideology
because the person whose life they have to emulate does not believe
they are
patriotic enough, or of the right ideology to emulate him.
It is a
sad commentary on his bankrupt leadership that the youths of
this country
need to be instructed in what to think because right now they
don't like
what they see!
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
By Vincent Kahiya
THOSE who expected
miracle cures and magical feats from Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono in
his monetary policy statement delivered on Wednesday
should have been
grossly disappointed.
There was no such master stroke from "your
governor". There were no
shocks this time around, neither was there an
immediate solution to the
major problems like inflation, money supply
growth, foreign currency
scarcity and so on. The governor chose to stick to
convention, proposing a
raft of measures that have in the past been thrown
on the table but largely
ignored or implemented half-heartedly.
Between taking intermittent sips of water, the governor complained
about
distortions in the economy which had resulted in huge agricultural
subsidies
and differential pricing in commodities, especially fuel. Going
forward, he
proposed a social contract of all stakeholders to right the
economy.
He envisages a "package of holistic and complementary
policies,
accompanied by a credible sequence of programme implementation,
backed by
undivided social, business, labour and political commitment at al
levels."
The simple translation to this mouthful is that Zimbabwe
should revive
the Tripartite Negotiating Forum framework or its successor,
the National
Economic Consultative Forum in which the United Nations
Development
Programme poured vast amounts of resources in the hope of
fostering national
dialogue. This has been a monumental failure dating back
to 2001 when the
social partners under TNF - government, labour and capital
came up with the
Kadoma Declaration.
The declaration came after
a realisation that it was necessary to
address the totality of the
macroeconomic problems including the country
risk factor in order to turn
around the country's economy. The government
did not sign the
declaration.
Gono should understand that the quest for a social
contract is an
uphill task as long as the Zanu PF government continues to
attach a criminal
tag to the other two partners.
The government
has not disguised its hatred of the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions, whose
leaders were bludgeoned by the police last year. The
beating up of the
leaders received endorsement from the highest office
despite the illegality
of the police action.
The Public Order and Security Act remains
government's most expedient
weapon to emasculate and criminalise labour.
Government would rather talk to
a conveniently pliant Zimbabwe Federation of
Trade Unions which it helped to
establish. One leg of the tripod is already
grossly compromised here.
The other leg has also fallen foul of the
establishment. Employers
have been at the receiving end. They have been
accused of profiteering,
hoarding of commodities and aligning themselves
with the opposition. Senior
managers from manufacturing and retail firms
have been arrested for raising
prices of commodities. In the eyes of
government they are saboteurs.
Parastatals and other
quasi-government bodies live a charmed life in
which they are allowed to
raise tariffs with impunity. ZBH is one such body.
It raised tariffs to
levels where a television licence for its single
humdrum channel and radio
licence are now more expensive than an annual
subscription to a full DStv
bouquet. Just do the calculations using the
official rate. Gono forgot to
mention this distortion. Then there are other
problems.
Gono
proposes as part of his planned wage freeze - something akin to
swear words
to workers already on strike or clamouring for more money. He
expects
government to reduce its appetite for luxuries and benefits such as
preferential exchange and interest rates. Talk of a bartender preaching
abstinence to a drunk. Business is expected to narrow margins, endure
temporary loss of export competitiveness
and market growth. In this
inflationary environment?
It still however makes sense to achieve
national consensus but the
objective at the end of the day should not be
determined by President Mugabe
and his praise-singers but by all the
partners. The partnership should never
be one to achieve political
entrenchment but national progress. Labour and
employers will understandably
resist any attempt to be coerced to
rubberstamp failure.
A new
deal entails a paradigm shift in how Zanu PF perceives the
crisis. The
crisis has deepened because of Mugabe's preoccupation with the
politics of
regime-change. There is need for a complementary political
settlement to the
social contract. That cannot be achieved as long as the
political space is
dominated by one hopelessly lost party.
Zim Independent
Muckraker
THE registrar-general, Tobaiwa Mudede, is a strange
fellow. Despite
losing a string of court cases on citizenship against
Zimbabweans he doesn't
like, he believes the courts will one day favour him
with a positive
verdict.
A 2005 case against lawyer Joseph
Sibanda should have taught him that
he was fighting a lost cause. But he is
obviously not one to be frustrated
by lawyers who probably don't understand
what appears to be a political
agenda.
In that case Mudede
wanted to deny Sibanda a passport because both of
his parents were born in
Malawi although he was born in Zimbabwe. He said
Sibanda must first renounce
his Malawian citizenship before he could get a
Zimbabwe
passport.
Bulawayo High Court judge Tedius Karwi ruled that Sibanda
was a
citizen by birth.
Mudede apparently didn't read that
judgement, or if he did, he didn't
want it to get in the way of his crusade
against "unpatriotic" Zimbabweans.
Last year he went for Trevor Ncube, whose
mother is Zimbabwean while his
father was born in Zambia. When Ncube
submitted his passport for renewal, he
was told he was no longer a
Zimbabwean citizen. Mudede said Ncube had not
renounced his Zambian
citizenship in 2001 as required by law.
Ncube took the case to
court and Mudede lost once again after High
Court judge Justice Chinembiri
Bhunu last week ruled that there was no legal
basis to strip Ncube of his
nationality as he was a Zimbabwean by birth. So
what is Mudede going to do
now?
He has now lost three cases involving this paper and its
publisher
trying to defend the indefensible. It should not be part of his
job
description to pursue state vendettas against individuals or newspapers.
Instead he should concentrate on running an efficient passport office and
credible voters' roll, something he seems unable to do. If he had been
subject to a performance contract in the private sector he wouldn't have
lasted more than five minutes.
How does he explain the current
embargo on the issuing of passports
and what is he doing to address the
situation?
We liked the picture on the front page of the Herald
on Saturday. It
focused on National Security minister Didymus Mutasa and
Harare metropolitan
governor David Karimanzira at the ground breaking
ceremony for a housing
project for senior civil servants at Gletwyn Farm
near Chishawasha.
The picture had the incongruity of amateur actors
forced on stage.
Mutasa put on a dustcoat which looked crisply clean and
pressed to fit the
occasion. There was Karimanzira ramrod straight,
resplendent in a black
suit, a spotted tie, polished black shoes, spectacles
in place - and then a
shovel on his shoulder.
It makes a
caricature of sincerity.
We wish to welcome old new town clerk
Tendai Mahachi to Town House.
Welcome to Cholera City Sir.
Mahachi told the Herald last week that the greatest asset he was
bringing to
the post of town clerk was his "tenacity" as a leader "who can
crack the
whip". We are keenly waiting to hear the sound of the whip. So far
there has
been none and cholera is spreading.
But there was more that was
revealing in the interview. Mahachi said
little had been done to implement
the "turnaround strategy" he helped craft
as far back as 2004. He said the
strategy was in "jeopardy" and needed to be
"resuscitated".
We
shall judge you by your own words Sir. At least you won't blame
anyone for
proposing a turnaround strategy that doesn't work.
Many in the
South African media will feel indebted to Judge Leslie
Weinkove of the Cape
High Court who, in a R250 000 defamation case brought
by writer Ronald
Suresh Roberts against the Sunday Times, established the
following benchmark
which will hopefully become part of regional case law.
The Sunday
Times had correctly argued, Justice Weinkove ruled, that
"Roberts is a
public figure who on the evidence has been engaged in robust
public discord,
including harsh venomous criticism of other public figures.
He has publicly
attacked Nadine Gordimer, William Gumede, Judge Raymond Leon
and others, and
in doing so, has set a standard which legitimately
constitutes an invitation
to be used in judging him."
Any harm done to his reputation was
self-inflicted, the judge said.
Let us remember that when
self-important officials, who regularly
attack civil society and the
independent press, are tempted to try their
luck in court.
We were interested recently to note the comments of Retired Col
Tshinga Dube
who, when not manufacturing arms of war, heads the Matabeleland
Development
Foundation. He said in an interview with the Sunday News two
weeks ago that
it was better known as the MDF. Which is hardly the case
because nobody has
actually heard if it!
People shouldn't just sit back and be
cry-babies, the colonel said,
but should form development
committees.
Which is all very well when there is investment coming
into the
country but not so easy when there isn't.
Is this a
government that encourages investment? He wasn't asked. And
when asked what
he had achieved in the past three years since he became
chairman, he said he
had done "quite a bit to keep the fire burning".
He didn't say what
fire that was. Then he remembered that he had
helped draw up a strategic
plan. But that seemed to be it. Before he took
over, the whole organisation
had "gone to the doldrums".
What interests us about this interview,
which follows an opinion piece
in the Financial Gazette, is what explains
this sudden bout of energy?
Dube was asked about the fate of the
Development Trust of Zimbabwe
which had seen the abandonment of tomato
processing equipment at Arda's Balu
Estate and the Ekusileni Medical Centre
that failed to open its doors.
"They tried, that much I know," was
the response. But they need strong
leadership. Then of course there's the
economy.
"These projects are not unique in that they have not
pulled up very
well... As you know, there has been a great economic decline
from the late
1990s up to now. Even many companies have closed
down."
So there you have it: We tried but we failed. Meanwhile, we
wonder how
ZDI is doing?
Zimpost has hiked charges by over
100% with effect from last week,
Business Herald reports. This comes hard on
the heels of a hike in October,
we are told.
What would be the
fate of a private-sector company hiking its prices
like this? A spell in
prison for its managers no doubt! And you can bet your
bottom dollar that
the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe will remain mute over
this latest
state-inspired boost to inflation. No wonder post offices are
empty.
But the most outrageous news comes from ZBC TV which has
announced
that TV licence fees have gone up from $650 to $150 000 and radio
licence
fees from $200 to $50 000. As Olley Maruma pointed out in a letter
to the
editor of the Herald, this represents a severe assault on the
public's right
to information, even if that information is of rather dubious
value.
Certainly ordinary Zimbabweans won't be able to afford these
fees that
are more than many people's wages. In any case, DStv offers better
value for
money.
What the Zimpost and ZBC hikes reveal is a
state utterly indifferent
to the hardships of its citizens and meanwhile
making a significant
contribution to the inflationary surge which in turn
erodes their incomes.
Muckraker's attention was drawn last week
to full-page adverts in the
Herald praising India as "the largest and
fastest-growing free market
democracy in the world". This was to mark
India's 58th Republic Day
anniversary.
The ads were accompanied
by commentators in the Herald saying India
supported Zimbabwe's "economic
turnaround".
India's economic growth over the past 10 years has
indeed been
impressive. Part of the reason for that is that the country has
abandoned
the rigid state controls that characterised economic policy in the
four
decades after independence. Like China, India has opened up its economy
to
investment. In other words, it has adopted reforms that Zimbabwe
continues
to reject.
But Indian society continues to reflect
widespread discrimination on
the basis of caste and biting poverty for the
majority of its citizens.
Meanwhile, its government pursues vastly expensive
nuclear and armaments
programmes.
At the same time India
continues to indulge in the redundant mantras
of Afro-Asian solidarity
without doing much to assist civil societies and
democratic reform in the
African countries with which it has close
relations.
In
Zimbabwe, India has assisted in the fields of telecommunications,
power and
transport. But it has said nothing about policies that discourage
investment
and growth. To be fair, it is doubtful that India has actually
said it
supports Zimbabwe's economic "turnaround", as reported, when no such
thing
exists. And if it is backing Zimbabwe at the IMF, it has yet to tell
us what
balance-of-payments support can do for this country when it refuses
to
address macroeconomic distortions.
India needs to focus on policies
in Africa that support investment,
stability and growth. And if India boasts
of being the world's largest
democracy it needs to do something about
cultivating democracy beyond its
borders.
On a parting note
Muckraker was interested to note that the ads billed
Prime Minister Dr
Manmohan Singh as "His Excellency". We know that title is
applied to India's
president. But surely not to the prime minister?
Finally, let's
remind those in authority to stop this nonsense about
Zimbabwe's detractors
"tarnishing the image" of the country abroad.
The arrest and
detention of eight church leaders, including Ecumenical
Support Services
head Jonah Gokovah and blind pastor Ancelimo Magaya, has
done more damage to
Zimbabwe's standing than anything Morgan Tsvangirai
might have
said.
The church leaders were arrested in Kadoma by riot policemen
equipped
with AK-47s, sjamboks and teargas, it was reported, in front of 400
worshippers. They were subsequently detained at Rimuka police station and
Kadoma Central.
Reports of their arrest and detention were
carried around the world.
They were in Kadoma to establish a chapter of
Christian Alliance, a
non-violent advocacy association.
Their
arrest was a violation of their right to freedom of assembly and
worship.
Next time you read in the Sunday Mail about plots to discredit
Zimbabwe
ahead of the EU's sanctions review, remember this episode - an
entirely
self-inflicted wound.
Zim Independent
By Eric Bloch
GOVERNMENT'S determination to
control anything and everything knows no
bounds. Its arrogant belief that it
is omnipotent is overwhelming, in the
extreme.
Were it to be
government's deliberate intent to achieve the total and
absolute destruction
of Zimbabwe in almost all respects, it could strategise
to do so no more
effectively than to formulate the very cataclysmic policies
which it not
only persists in pursuing, but does so with ever greater
intensity.
The Zimbabwean economy, such as still remains, is
indisputably one of
the most regulated in the world, and the bevy of
excessive regulation is one
of the most pronounced reasons for its
appallingly distressed state.
Government dogmatically persists in
imposing price controls, allegedly
in order to protect the
inflation-oppressed, poverty-stricken populace.
In practice, these
controls only worsen the lot of the population as a
whole and of the
impoverished in particular.
Commerce and industry cannot survive on
the spuriously unrealistic
price ceilings that government recurrently places
on milk, sugar, bread,
flour, maize-meal, beef, and much else.
As a result, invariably those commodities are not available, other
than from
black market sources at markedly higher prices than those
prescribed by
government, and usually at prices that are considerably
greater than if
determined by free market forces in an economic environment
of adequacy of
supply.
This has been long-drawn to the attention of government,
but
dogmatically ignored.
Presumably, the disregard is because
of the entrenched government
conviction that it knows best, and that none
can in any way run the economy,
other than itself.
Of course,
another motivation is possibly that so many as are enriched
by black market
operations are within, or close to government.
To an excessive
extent, government controls the economy, albeit
ineptly and
catastrophically, through a myriad of parastatals, most of which
are
accorded the protection of being total monopolies (in contrast to the
private sector which is restricted from monopolistic operations by
legislation, administered by the Competitions and Monopolies
Commission).
Government repeatedly talks of privatisation of
parastatals, but it is
naught but talk, to the extent that it continues to
acquire further
commercial interests, the latest being Olivine
Indusries.
Virtually all of Zimbabwe's mineral wealth can only be
marketed
through the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, which is
yet another
parastatal.
The Cold Storage Company is vested with
exclusivity of export of beef.
The Grain Marketing Board not only
has a virtual monopoly on the
purchase and sale of grains, but now plans to
diversify into milling, and
possibly bakery operations.
No
independent television or broadcast services exist, or are
permitted to
exist whilst those from abroad are increasing jammed!
Whilst
reasonable labour legislation is essential, to prevent unjust
labour
exploitation and to protect the health, welfare and safety of
workers,
Zimbabwe's labour legislation is so intense that government,
through its
Ministry of Labour, wields almost total control.
It does so
counterproductively, for the controls are so excessive that
there is a
growing reluctance to employ labour beyond absolute, unavoidable
need. As a
result, the magnitude of unemployment is greatly exacerbated.
More
recently, government has amply demonstrated its control- mania by
its
specious issue of the so-called 99-year agricultural leases. In reality,
government can so readily terminate the leases that they offer no security
of tenure.
Moreover, despite governmental protestations to the
contrary, the
leases have no collateral value, and therefore do not
facilitate enough to
be able to produce any crops, and the farmers are not
only restricted on
where many of their commodities may be marketed, but also
by predetermined,
unrealistically low producer prices determined by
government.
However, these are not the only areas of governmental
controls as
impact negatively upon the economy and render it evermore
distraught. It
wields vast controls over the local authorities, who are
accorded minimal
autonomy.
Almost all that the local
authorities may do are subject to the
controls of the Ministry of Local
Government, including approval of budgets.
Those approvals are invariably
untenably long withheld, afflicting the local
authorities with devastating
cash-flow constraints, most of which are
grievously worsened by endless
governmental tardiness in settling
indebtednesses to the local
authorities.
The ministry has wielded total control, for a
prolonged period of
time, over the city of Harare, having suspended the
democratically-elected
council and replaced it with a commission of
government-favoured appointees.
That commission has endured far beyond its
statutory term. Now government
has determined to intensify its gridlock on
the city of Bulawayo.
Unilaterally, devoid of any good and sound
grounds, the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority (Zinwa) has determined to
take over the city's
water operations - nay, correction! to steal those
operations for it does
not even intend to pay for them. The Minister of
Water Resources and
Infrastructural Development, Engineer Munacho Mutezo,
has announced that
"the government has made a decision to give the Bulawayo
water supply to
Zinwa".
Not only is there not a single credible
reason for such an action,
other than to deprive the city's local authority
of a major revenue source,
and thereby emasculate its operations but there
is also no valid ground to
vest Zinwa with the authority to operate
Bulawayo's water and sewer
reticulation systems. Zinwa has a deplorable
record of performance.
At this very time, the Environment and
Management Agency (Ema), which
is a department of the Ministry of
Environment and Tourism, is reportedly
investigating possible action against
Zinwa for the discharge of 200 million
litres of raw sewerage into Lake
Chivero - Harare's principal water
resource - via the Mukuvisi and Marimba
Rivers.
That is not the only instance of alleged Zinwa
mismanagement. The
Nyamandlovu Aquifer has, for more than a decade, not only
provided
agriculture in the Nyamandlovu area with much water, but has been a
critical
source of back-up supply to the city of Bulawayo. Zinwa apparently
failed to
maintain the aquifer network adequately, allowing the
infrastructure to fall
into great disrepair, with most pumps and other
equipment vandalised by
squatters and illegal farm invaders.
In
view of that failure, and Zinwa's recurrent lack of finance, the
city of
Bulawayo provided Zinwa with $500 million to repair and replace
equipment.
Of approximately 50 boreholes, only about 12 were
rehabilitated. Zinwa
had proposed to lease 39 boreholes to the city of
Bulawayo, but at the
present time, notwithstanding the financial assistance
accorded to Zinwa by
the city, only two boreholes are currently
functional!
If Zinwa cannot manage the water and sewage systems of
Harare, cannot
maintain effectively the Nyamandhlovu Aquifer network, and is
renowned for
its mismanagement of water delivery at Victoria Falls, how is
it possible to
have any credible expectation of effectively managing
Bulawayo's water
systems?
And, even in the very unlikely event
that it could, why should it? In
exceptionally trying circumstances of
climatically constrained water
availability, of cash-flow constraints beyond
the city's control, it has
striven vigorously to assure the maximum possible
availability of water fit
for human consumption. There can be no realistic
expectation that Zinwa can
do better! Furthermore, the city of Bulawayo has,
over the decades, invested
trillions of dollars of residents' monies into
developing its waterworks and
resources. Why should Zinwa acquire them
without fair payment? Is that not
tantamount to theft?
Moyo's utterances smack of sour grapes
WHILE it is a bit rich for
Jonathan Moyo to label other people
President Mugabe's propagandists, it is
ironic that just over a year ago he
was aiding and abetting the same regime
that he now sees fit to criticise.
It smacks of sour
grapes.
He goes on to say: "Tekere ... one of Zimbabwe's leading
freedom
fighters to whom we owe our national Independence ...".
Zimbabwe's Independence is hollow. We were much better off by a
million
miles during the Smith regime, freedom-wise and economically. People
are
sicker, poorer and less free than during the colonial era.
No
wonder Labour politician Herbert Morrison once warned: "To give the
colonies
their Independence would be like giving a child a latch-key, a bank
account
and a shotgun."
Nationalists like Mugabe, Tekere and company, have
shepherded the
long-suffering people into abject penury. They were mere
paupers who had
reached a dead end in their teaching careers who decided on
a money-making
venture in politics.
Independence has been the
world's messiest experiment in cultural and
political change. People in this
European construct are more divided than
ever before between the nouveau
riche and a powerless majority.
Why everyone in Zimbabwe seems to
glorify the so-called armed struggle
is beyond comprehension.
There exists an unwritten rule which excludes those who did not
participate
from having a say.
Everything is dictated by semi-illiterates like
Sheba Gava aka Vitalis
Zvinavashe, Augustine Chihuri and Rex Nhongo aka
Solomon Mujuru.
Tonderayi Chinengundu,
UK.
---------
How about an Operation Dzidzo for
students?
THE government has "declared" it criminal for one to be
educated by
increasing fees at tertiary institutions and reneging on its
obligation to
give loans to students around the country, a move viewed by
many
level-headed students as a direct attempt to make tertiary education a
preserve for the rich.
The move will affect a lot of students
negatively as there will be an
unprecedented percentage of dropouts as a
result of the new fees structure.
The new policy bears testimony to
what government has repeatedly said
through various ministers; that
education is not a right but a privilege to
be enjoyed by a few in the elite
circle.
According to the United Nations Education Scientific and
Cultural
Organisation, education is a fundamental right which every person
is
entitled to, and cannot be negotiated or compromised.
Education can thus be availed to its intended beneficiaries if the
state
obligations under existing instruments are incorporated into the
national
legal system, their implementation ensured effectively, and the
right to
education in its various dimensions is incorporated into the
constitution
and legislation of the country.
Currently, the constitution does
not guarantee the right to education
and government is under no obligation
to provide the service.
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono has
publicly trivialised delivery of
higher education through various
actions.
He has capacitated the new farmer through a multi-million
dollar loan
facility through the Agribank input scheme financed by the
central bank even
though the new farmer does not have
collateral.
Why doesn't the governor, who claims to be the most
sincere man left
in Zimbabwe, cultivate faith in students in tertiary
institutions and fund
them under Operation Dzidzo?
The
government has previously set up a Warriors Fund-raising Committee
to raise
funds for the Warriors to go to Egypt at the expense of over 12 000
"Academic Warriors" at the University of Zimbabwe whose needs should be
prioritised more than the Warriors.
The government has thus
trivialised education by prioritising football
ahead of capacitating the
future of Zimbabwe.
Tineyi Mukwewa,
UZ Student
Executive
Council president.
----------------
Probe CBZ's source of forex
IT is now widely known that CBZ Holdings Ltd has now acquired
the 100% "A"
class shares previously held by Andrew Weir for a considerable
£3 000
000(+/-$1 500 000 000 at the official rate and +/-$30 000 000 000 at
the
market rate).
The story here is not the size of the
transaction but the source
of the foreign currency used to purchase these
shares.
I am disappointed that a newspaper such as yours,
with an
excellent reputation for investigative journalism, missed the
story.
Was this money obtained from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe,
presumably at the official rate? If not, what was the source of
the foreign
currency?
Was it the parallel market? If so,
the CBZ should be prosecuted
as all other financial institutions were, since
2003.
If the source of the funds was the RBZ, we would all be
grateful
if you could investigate whether the governor is still a
shareholder in the
CBZ and if so, find out if he declared his
interest.
I am disappointed that exchange control authorities
would
sanction such a transaction which does not add any value to the GDP of
Zimbabwe.
That foreign currency could have been allocated
to purchase
drugs for our hospitals or allocated to manufacturers to keep
Zimbabweans in
employment.
Can you please get your
investigative team to unravel this
puzzle? I smell a big
rat.
Wakumuzi,
Surrey,
UK.
------------------
The bright side of high licence
fees
ACCORDING to notices put up in the post offices in
Bulawayo, the new radio and TV licence fees are out of this
world.
Could someone tell me if I misunderstood what I
read! A
radio licence was $20 (revalued), but is now $50 000 - a whopping 2
500
times the old fee.
A TV licence went up from
$650 to $150 000, 231 times the
old price, while a car radio licence fee
rose from $600 to $200 000.
Those increases amount to
respectively 249 900%, 23 000%
and 33 200%. In other words, they bear
absolutely no resemblance to the
official inflation rate of approximately 1
280%.
If I pay for a radio, TV as well as a car radio
licence, I
would have to pay a total of $400 000, or more than $1 000 per
day!
If you convert the new fees into US dollars via
the
official bank rate of $250:US$1, we will have to fork out US$200 for a
radio
licence, US$600 for a TV licence and US$800 for a car radio
licence!
Nowhere in the world would a national
broadcaster charge
such exorbitant fees.
And
nowhere in the world would members of the public be
prepared to part with
such amounts for that matter. But that's the reality
in Zimbabwe as the
majority do not have access to foreign currency.
Has
the ZBC been given permission to use the parallel
exchange rate when setting
their licence fees? By whom? - Gono?
One definite
advantage though is that the statistics for
car radio thefts will decrease
dramatically because before the thieves can
lay their hands on them, many
will have been removed from the vehicles by
their legitimate
owners.
I never imagined I would be spared ZBC
propaganda because
of failure to afford licence
fees.
Silent Night,
Bulawayo.