Mugabe's new salary revealed

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2009 02 03 -
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http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/mugabe17.19341.html
NEWS
SMILING TO THE BANK?: Mugabe's pay revealed
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By Lebo Nkatazo
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Posted to the web: 03/02/2009 00:18:19
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s annual salary for 2009 has been pegged at US$ 20,800, according to figures in the national budget unveiled last week.
Mugabe’s US$ 1,733 per month pay includes allowances. It is dwarfed by the US$ 27,400 paid to Members of Parliament.
With Zimbabwe’s economy in terminal decline and most fingers pointing at Mugabe for the mess, some may feel he is overpaid - but his salary pales into insignificance when compared with what other Presidents in the region are getting.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is known to have been earning US$ 118,200 (about R1,2 million) per annum, including allowances, when he stood down last year.
His salary was considered miserly by private sector standards. The average chief executive officer of a listed company in South Africa earns between R3,3-million and R4,5-million a year.
Even in retirement, Mbeki continues to have all the payments, salaries and other packages that he was receiving the day before he left office, for the rest of his life.
Mugabe is obviously cushioned by the perks and privileges that come with his office, but with two of his children in university and another in a private school, it becomes apparent he is unlikely to be depending on his salary to pay their fees.
His daughter, Bona, is attending university in Hong Kong. Fees for foreign students at the university for the 2009/10 academic year are pegged at US$ 12,896 (£9,062) which would even be a challenge to pay using his savings.
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Obama will not back Mugabe

2009 02 03 -
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http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=930890
Moses Mudzwiti
Published:Feb 03, 2009
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THE US government says there will not be any reprieve for President Robert Mugabe, even if Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC joins the unity government.
Zimbabwe Special Report
While the AU has resolved to rally behind Mugabe, the US and the EU continued to press for the 84-year-old leader to step down.
US government documents in possession of The Times said: “Mugabe is not getting a reprieve from President Obama, who is actively continuing US efforts to convince the international community, and Zimbabwe’s neighbours, that they must not stand by as people continue to suffer from humanitarian and economic catastrophe and a lack of political freedom.”
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Temporarily shelved - Demand for Mugabe to step down

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http://www.hararetribune.com/world/26-europe-a-americas/97-temporarily-shelved-demand-for-mugabe-to-step-down.html
World - Europe & Americas
Written by Reuters
Tuesday, 03 February 2009 01:02
The Obama administration has toned down U.S. rhetoric against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, dropping for now a public demand the veteran African leader step down, said U.S. officials on Monday.
In its closing months, the Bush administration intensified calls for Mugabe to quit, saying Washington could no longer support a government that included him.
But U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as Zimbabwe policy is under review, said the language against Mugabe was less forceful under President Barack Obama, who took over two weeks ago.
The goal, they said, was to give southern African nations breathing space in dealing with Mugabe who has agreed on a power-sharing arrangement with Zimbabwe's opposition.
Another reason for caution was that President Barack Obama had not yet appointed his team of high-level African experts either at the State Department or the White House.
The latest U.S. language about Mugabe is notably different than the strong words used by ex-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her top African diplomats, who repeatedly said Mugabe should step down.
"It's well past time for Robert Mugabe to leave," Rice said in December, adding that African nations must take the lead on pressuring him to quit. Most African states, including South Africa, have stopped short of calling on Mugabe to leave.
On Friday, when pressed whether the U.S. view was still that Mugabe must quit, State Department spokesman Robert Wood avoided calling for the veteran leader's ouster but said there was skepticism whether his power-sharing deal would work.
"What Robert Mugabe needs to do, is to do what's best for the people of Zimbabwe - and an effective power-sharing arrangement ... that's what needs to happen," Wood said.
The official said: "If the Africans believe there is a solution short of Mugabe leaving, we are trying to provide room for that to take place. But we have to be skeptical."
SKEPTICISM
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is set to become prime minister under a deal with Mugabe to end a political stalemate that has exacerbated an economic and humanitarian crisis.
Africa expert Todd Moss, who worked at the State Department's Africa bureau until last October, did not expect a major U.S. policy shift over Zimbabwe but the new administration might want to work more quietly, he said.
"They may want to try and use some capital with the South Africans and see if they can push something more quietly rather than immediately getting the South Africans' backs up," said Moss, now with the Center for Global Development.
A State Department official, who also declined to be identified, said the plan was to let most of the pressure on Mugabe come from regional African leaders. There was also a fear of the consequences if Mugabe was forced out very fast.
"If he goes precipitously his supporters may feel threatened and they are the ones with the guns," he said.
The United States and allies such as Britain have imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his supporters. They are unlikely to be lifted any time soon, but could be intensified.
Wood made clear last week there would be no substantial development aid to Zimbabwe political and economic reforms were well underway and the new government fulfilled its promises.
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Zimbabwe Talks Stall as Mugabe Attends Africa Summit (Update1)

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=agW5VbgjHgfg&refer=africa
By Brian Latham
Feb. 3 (Bloomberg)
Negotiations in Zimbabwe to choose a cabinet in a new coalition government agreed last month failed to start after President Robert Mugabe traveled to Ethiopia for an African Union summit, the opposition said.
Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change were scheduled to start talks today on the cabinet and the release of 42 detained opposition supporters. The two sides must also agree on changing to the constitution so that Tsvangirai can be sworn in as prime minister.
“Zanu-PF negotiators said they couldn’t talk about the issue because they have no mandate from their leader,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said in a statement e-mailed from Harare today. “There is no wish to consummate an inclusive government in line with SADC resolutions.”
ZANU-PF and the MDC agreed to break a near five-month impasse over the formation of coalition government at a meeting last month of Southern African Development Community leaders in Pretoria, South Africa. Zimbabwe has been gripped by a decade- long recession while more than half the population needs emergency food aid, according to the United Nations.
Zanu-PF’s chief negotiator for the talks, Patrick Chinamasa, didn’t answer calls from Bloomberg News to his mobile phone today.
“Zanu-PF is panicking,” Chinamasa said. “The acts of insincerity also risk dislocating the swearing-in of the prime minister and his deputies and the formation of an inclusive government,” he added.
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Latham via the Johannesburg bureau at abolleurs@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 3, 2009 05:29 EST
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Factbox - (EU)Sanctions on Zimbabwe

http://uk.reuters.com
Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:50am GMT
(Reuters)
The European Union added individuals and firms to a sanctions list on Zimbabwe on Monday and called for a probe into Harare's diamond industry.
Below are details of sanctions and restrictions in place against Zimbabwe.
* VISA BANS AND ASSET FREEZES
-- The United States first imposed sanctions in March 2003 and later widened them to apply to about 250 people accused of undermining democracy. The U.S.
sanctions also bar Americans from engaging in any transactions or dealings with them. - In July, the Treasury Department said it would seek to freeze assets of 17 Zimbabwean enterprises. The United States also threatened in September to impose new sanctions against President Robert Mugabe if he reneged on a power-sharing deal.
-- The European Union imposed a visa ban on Mugabe and 19 top officials in 2002 because of Zimbabwe's treatment of observers sent to monitor presidential elections.
-- The number was later expanded and last month, the EU added 11 more names to the list of 160 Zimbabweans, including Mugabe, who are banned from visiting the bloc.
-- On Monday, the EU added a further 27 individuals and 36 companies to the list of banned allies of Mugabe because of their links to suspected human rights abuses, EU officials said.
-- The sanctions list now includes for the first time companies registered in the EU, including in Britain, diplomats have said, without naming the firms.
-- Australia said in December it would impose financial and visa restrictions on four extra companies and 75 more people who are known supporters of Mugabe's government. The move means 258 Mugabe supporters face bans on travel to or through Australia, and restrictions on financial transactions involving Australia.
* ARMS EMBARGOES
-- The United States has a ban on transfers of defence items and services, and a suspension of non-humanitarian government-to-government assistance.
-- The European Union has an embargo on the sale and supply of arms and technical advice and of equipment which could be used for internal repression in Zimbabwe.
-- The embargo also prohibits technical and financial assistance related to military activities.
-- In September, Canada banned arms exports, freezing the assets of top Zimbabwean officials and banning its aircraft from flying over or landing in Canada.
* DIPLOMATIC ISOLATION
-- The Commonwealth group of mainly former British colonies suspended Zimbabwe in early 2002 on the grounds that Mugabe had rigged his re-election and persecuted his opponents. Zimbabwe formally withdrew from the 54-nation group in 2003 after the suspension was extended indefinitely.
-- The International Monetary Fund suspended technical assistance to Zimbabwe in 2002 over its failure to clear arrears and address its dire economic and social crisis.
-- It has averted expulsion by making small payments towards clearing arrears.
-- Britain's Queen Elizabeth has stripped Mugabe of an honorary knighthood awarded in 1994.
* SPORT
-- A 2007 cricket tour of Zimbabwe by Australia was cancelled on the orders of Australia's government.
-- Cricket South Africa, which had been one of Zimbabwe's strongest backers, suspended domestic agreements with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union last June.
-- Days later, the England and Wales Cricket Board cancelled Zimbabwe's 2009
tour of England under instructions from the British government. The ECB said it had suspended all bilateral arrangements with Zimbabwe Cricket.
-- The International Cricket Council said on July 4 that Zimbabwe had agreed to skip the 2009 World Twenty20 in England to end a deadlock over demands that the African nation be suspended.
Sources: Reuters/EU//www.state.gov
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Council Conclusions on Zimbabwe (EU Sanctions)

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Source: European Union (EU)
Date: 26 Jan 2009
2920th GENERAL AFFAIRS Council meeting - Brussels, 26 January 2009
The Council adopted the following conclusionsp"1. The situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated in a manner that stands in stark contrast to the duties and responsibilities of Governments, according to global and regional standards and charters, not least the SADC principles and charters. The victims of this misrule are the Zimbabwean people. The Council condemns the regime for its ongoing failure to address the most basic economic and social needs of its people.
2. The Council views with particular distress the escalation of the humanitarian crisis including the cholera epidemic that has taken the lives of so many Zimbabweans and that threatens the health security of the neighbouring countries and of the region as a whole. The Council reiterates its deep concern at the continued deterioration of economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe.
3. The Council reaffirms the European Union's commitment to the Zimbabwean people through a substantial and long-standing programme of humanitarian aid. The Council demands full respect for the principles of humanitarian aid and, in particular, respect for the principle of impartiality and equal access to humanitarian aid for the entire Zimbabwean population. It underlines the importance of a response by the international community to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and the urgent needs of the country.
4. The Council considers that only in the context of a durable, equitable, political solution can the economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe be fully addressed. It calls on SADC, the African Union and states in the region to pave actively the way for a truly representative democratic government reflecting the will of the Zimbabwean people expressed in the election of March 2008. The Council urges stakeholders to comply with the power sharing agreement. It condemns the ongoing violations of human rights, in particula the abduction and detention of those exercising a democratic right to express opposition to the regime and of those defending human rights.
5. The Council has decided to extend, for another year, the Common Position on restrictive measures against Zimbabwe. It has further decided to add to its list of persons and entities subject to those measures additional persons and entities that are actively associated with the violence or human rights infringements of the regime.
6. The Council notes with concern the growing trade in illicit diamonds that provide financial support to the regime. In this context, it also condemns the violence inflicted by state-sponsored forces on diamond panners and dealers at Marange/Chiadzwa. The Council supports action to investigate the exploitation of diamonds from the site at Marange/Chiadzwa and their significance in possible financial support to the regime and recent human rights abuses. It calls on the Kimberley Process to take action with a view to ensure Zimbabwe's compliance with its Kimberley obligations.
7. The Council reaffirms that the European Union stands ready to support the economic and social recovery of Zimbabwe once a government reflecting the will of the Zimbabwean people has been formed and shows tangible signs of a return to respect for human rights, the rule of law and macroeconomic stabilization."
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Latest EU Sanctions - General Information

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http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/gena/105539.pdf
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http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/newsWord/en/gena/105539.doc
As- below
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COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Council Conclusions on Zimbabwe
2920th GENERAL AFFAIRS Council meeting
Brussels, 26 January 2009
The Council adopted the following conclusionsp
"1.        The situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated in a manner that stands in stark contrast to the duties and responsibilities of Governments, according to global and regional standards and charters, not least the SADC principles and charters. The victims of this misrule are the Zimbabwean people. The Council condemns the regime for its ongoing failure to address the most basic economic and social needs of its people.
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2.         The Council views with particular distress the escalation of the humanitarian crisis including the cholera epidemic that has taken the lives of so many Zimbabweans and that threatens the health security of the neighbouring countries and of the region as a whole. The Council reiterates its deep concern at the continued deterioration of economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe.
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3.         The Council reaffirms the European Union's commitment to the Zimbabwean people through a substantial and long-standing programme of humanitarian aid. The Council demands full respect for the principles of humanitarian aid and, in particular, respect for the principle of impartiality and equal access to humanitarian aid for the entire Zimbabwean population. It underlines the importance of a response by the international community to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and the urgent needs of the country.
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4.         The Council considers that only in the context of a durable, equitable, political solution can the economic, social and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe be fully addressed. It calls on SADC, the African Union and states in the region to pave actively the way for a truly representative democratic government reflecting the will of the Zimbabwean people expressed in the election of March 2008. The Council urges stakeholders to comply with the power sharing agreement. It condemns the ongoing violations of human rights, in particular the abduction and detention of those exercising a democratic right to express opposition to the regime and of those defending human rights.
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5.         The Council has decided to extend, for another year, the Common Position on restrictive measures against Zimbabwe. It has further decided to add to its list of persons and entities subject to those measures additional persons and entities that are actively associated with the violence or human rights infringements of the regime.
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6.         The Council notes with concern the growing trade in illicit diamonds that provide financial support to the regime. In this context, it also condemns the violence inflicted by state-sponsored forces on diamond panners and dealers at Marange/Chiadzwa. The Council supports action to investigate the exploitation of diamonds from the site at Marange/Chiadzwa and their significance in possible financial support to the regime and recent human rights abuses. It calls on the Kimberley Process to take action with a view to ensure Zimbabwe's compliance with its Kimberley obligations.
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7.         The Council reaffirms that the European Union stands ready to support the economic and social recovery of Zimbabwe once a government reflecting the will of the Zimbabwean people has been formed and shows tangible signs of a return to respect for human rights, the rule of law and macroeconomic stabilization."
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Britain says Zimbabwe govt must be given a chance

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http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL32904._CH_.2400
Tue Feb 3, 2009 5:03am EST Email
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 3 2009
(Reuters)
Britain is sceptical about the new coalition government in Zimbabwe but believes it must be supported because of the deep economic and health crisis in the country, its Africa minister said on Tuesday.
The comments from Mark Malloch Brown followed a similar shift of tone from Washington, which has dropped its public demand for President Robert Mugabe to step down since he and rival Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on the power-sharing government.
Malloch Brown said he had been convinced by African leaders at a summit in the Ethiopian capital that the government between Mugabe and opposition leader Tsvangirai must be given a chance.
"I think the one message I've got loud and clear from this summit, and I'm very sympathetic to it, is we've got to give this a go, we've got to all do our best to support it, because the needs of Zimbabweans are so overwhelming," Malloch Brown told BBC radio in an interview from Addis Ababa.
"We're sceptical but we've got to try and help this work," he said, saying Britain and others would be generous donors if the agreement succeeded.
The new government, with Tsvangirai as prime minister, is due to be sworn in by Feb. 13, although the opposition MDC accused Mugabe's ZANU-PF on Tuesday of backtracking on the agreement by delaying discussions on contentious issues.
FIERCEST CRITIC
Former colonial power Britain has been one of the fiercest critics of Mugabe, accusing him of destroying the economy of the formerly prosperous country and using militias to violently suppress opposition. The veteran Zimbabwean leader blames the crisis on Western sanctions.
Zimbabwe suffers the world's highest inflation rate, officially put at 231 million percent, and acute shortages of food, fuel and foreign exchange.
Malloch Brown's remarks suggested African leaders may have persuaded Western powers to take a softer line over Zimbabwe while the power-sharing government starts work.
The new U.S. administration of President Barack Obama toned down rhetoric against Mugabe on Monday in a significant change from the previous Bush administration, which had intensified calls for the Zimbabwean leader to quit.
Analysts say Western rhetoric against Mugabe is often counter-productive in Africa, feeding his allegations that Britain and other powers are plotting to overthrow him.
Malloch Brown made clear, however, that Britain would not drop sanctions against Mugabe and his entourage until it had seen whether they were making a real commitment to power-sharing.
"We really hope this time it is different for the sake of the people of Zimbabwe and we will work as though it is different, but we are not going to completely put away our stick, if you like, until we're convinced it is.
"That doesn't mean we're not going to put carrots on the table now, we are," he said.
He said a serious and credible economic reform programme must be put in place in Zimbabwe. "As that comes into place, you'll find Britain and others being very generous donors."
The European Union this week also welcomed the deal and expressed hope the new government would repeal repressive legislation and create conditions for economic recovery.
The MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) in a statement accused Mugabe's party of trying to scuttle the power-sharing deal by dodging discussions on outstanding issues. "There is no wish to consummate an inclusive government," it said.
The unity government may be a step towards saving a once prosperous country where over half of the people now need food aid and a cholera epidemic has killed 3,229 people and infected 62,909 others - Africa's deadliest outbreak in 15 years. (Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis and Marius Bosch in Johannesburg; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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UK to 'keep up squeeze' on Mugabe

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7866836.stm
Robert Mugabe will stay as president under the power-sharing deal
Sanctions must be maintained on Zimbabwe to "keep the squeeze" on President Robert Mugabe's inner circle, a British cabinet minister has said.
Africa Minister Lord Malloch-Brown spoke to the BBC from an African Union summit, where leaders have called for the sanctions to be lifted.
This follows Friday's unity government deal between the MDC and Zanu-PF.
Lord Malloch-Brown said Mr Mugabe must show he had changed before Britain gave up "the stick" of targeted sanctions.
He told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme: "It is 'all in good time' as far as sanctions goes. We need to see real progress and results from this new government."
FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME
More from Today programme
Speaking from the final day of the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, he addedp"There is a misunderstanding of what these sanctions are. They are aimed at the individuals - and the companies supporting these individuals - around Mr Mugabe.
"They are not aimed at the country of Zimbabwe or its people. To keep the squeeze on these people, to make sure they do really share power and perform properly in this new government, we need to keep this lever for a while."
Donors have said they would only provide aid once a unity government is in place.
Anti-colonial hero
AU leaders' push for the lifting of travel and financial sanctions against the leadership of Mr Mugabe has not been the only controversial call from the summit.
African heads of state meeting in the Ethiopian capital have also renewed calls for a suspension of moves to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur.
Aid diary: Fighting cholera
BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle in Addis Ababa says African leaders tend to look after their own.
He says that while Africa has become much more democratic and open in recent years, when it comes to outsiders criticising individual leaders, the AU tends to close ranks.
Older African leaders remember Mr Mugabe as a hero of the anti-colonial struggle, he says.
And while some ordinary Africans believe any debt owed to liberation fighters does not excuse misrule today, they are not in charge, our correspondent adds.
Under last week's deal, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Mr Tsvangirai will be sworn in as prime minister on 11 February and Mr Mugabe will stay as president.
A power-sharing accord between the MDC and Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF was signed last September, but got mired in ever more bitter disputes.
The power-sharing government is intended to ease Zimbabwe's economic meltdown but correspondents say this is largely dependent on the restoration of foreign aid and investment.
Zimbabwe is enduring rampant inflation and an escalating food crisis.
Meanwhile the World Health Organization (WHO) says an outbreak of cholera, fuelled by the collapse of infrastructure, has now infected almost 65,000 people and killed nearly 3,300.
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Britain - Sanctions on ZANU-PF should remain in place

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http://hararetribune.com/world/24-africa-a-middle-east/94-britain-sanctions-on-zanu-pf-should-remain-in-place.html
World - Africa & Middle East
Written by HT Staff
Tuesday, 03 February 2009 00:52
Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown commented on the situation in Zimbabwe during an interview on the BBC World Service on Sunday 1 February. Read the transcript
Dee Sebastian (presenter): Britain's Minister with responsibility for Africa has said that Western sanctions against Zimbabwe should remain in place for the time being.
Lord Malloch-Brown was responding to calls by African Union leaders for the sanctions to be lifted following a breakthrough in negotiations on a power sharing Government in Zimbabwe.
Mr Malloch Brown is attending a summit of AU heads of state in Ethiopia. From the capital Addis Ababa here's Mark Doyle.
Mark Doyle (MD): African leaders say the sanctions should now be lifted because the Opposition Leader Morgan Tsvangirai has agreed to join President Mugabe in a coalition administration.
But Britain's Minister with responsibility for Africa said the European and US imposed measures should remain in place until a number of conditions were met, including the release of political prisoners, serious economic reforms and a timetable for new elections.
I asked Mark Malloch Brown if another British condition was not in fact that President Mugabe had to leave the Government.
Lord Malloch Brown (LMB): Our point has not been that he shouldn't be in it, but that we can't see with him in it how it's going to work.
MD: But it sounds to me like that is a condition that he goes then …
LMB: No.
MD: … before you lift the sanctions.
LMB: No.
MD: It's tantamount to saying the same thing isn't it ?
LMB: No, it's not. It's very different. It's saying they've got to prove it can work, but if the two sides can prove it can work and there's an effective Government doing the political and economic reforms that are necessary, then we're going to support that Government.
MD: Some of the African leaders calling for an end to the sanctions continue to see Robert Mugabe as an historic figure in the anti colonial movement. He fought for the liberation of Zimbabwe and served many years in jail under the British.
But African critics of the Zimbabwean leader say the debt they owe to liberation leaders is not a debt owed to Mr Mugabe alone, but to all of the people of Zimbabwe who, these critics say, are suffering under President Mugabe's rule.
Dee Sebastian: Mark Doyle in Addis Ababa.
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African nations call on West to lift sanctions against Robert Mugabe

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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 2 February 2009
By Sebastien Berger, Southern Africa Correspondent
Robert Mugabe's colleagues across Africa have demanded that sanctions against the 84-year-old and his cronies be lifted, even before Zimbabwe's power-sharing deal is shown to work.
The propagandists of Zanu PF have been staggeringly successful over the sanctions issue, persuading millions of Africans, and many of the continent's heads of state, that Western measures targeted at the regime are in fact against the country as a whole, and contribute to the destruction of its economy.
It is a misrepresentation that for years has served Mr Mugabe well in the corridors of power from Cairo to Pretoria, and remains in place despite last week's agreement by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to go into a unity government.
South Africa's ANC government has long been accused of being too soft on Mr Mugabe, and Frank Chikane, director-general in the president's office in Pretoria, said that the MDC's decision now "requires them to call for the end of sanctions".
"We expect Europe and the US and other countries to stop the sanctions," he added.
As leaders of the African Union gathered in Addis Ababa for a summit, the 53-nation body's executive council adopted a resolution calling for "the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe to help ease the humanitarian situation in the country".
Jean Ping, the head of the organisation, said: "Imagine that you don't help Zimbabwe, who will be blamed?
Everybody is expecting that today, because Tsvangirai is going to lead the economy and everything, that the economy should recover.
So if you don't do that who will be blamed by the population?"
But in reality the European Union's measures amount only to asset freezes and travel bans on named individuals and companies, a list of which was expanded last week.
They are designed not to have any impact on ordinary Zimbabweans.
In Harare a source close to the MDC signalled that it would not be calling for the sanctions to be lifted.
"Sanctions are a part of American, British and European foreign policy and it is not our position to dictate to them what they do," he said.
London and Washington, which both said in December that they had lost faith in the power-sharing process, have given the news of the coalition only a lukewarm reception, giving warning that it must prove it is working before reconstruction aid begins to flow.
As a result concerns have been raised that even once in government the MDC will not have the means to effect change in people's lives, but the source suggested that money would come in directly to ministries and local authorities, rather than through the central government where it could disappear into Zanu PF's network of patronage and corruption.
"There's a political will within the donor community to put the people first," he said.
"I think they are going to explore the other avenues that are available."
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EU welcomes Zimbabwe unity cabinet but sanctions will remain

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http://news.yahoo.com
by Fanuel Jongwe
HARARE
(AFP)
South Africa called Saturday for the United States and Europe to lift sanctions against the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as he prepares to share power with his rival.
Pretoria said Western nations should take these steps to help its stricken neighbour rebuild almost a year after disputed elections which left Zimbabwe in tatters.
Months of deadlock over the details of a power-sharing deal ended Friday when opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to be sworn in as prime minister, and parties took the first steps to forming an inclusive government.
"Now that (Morgan Tsvangirai) has decided to be part of the inclusive government... it requires them to call for the end of sanctions," said Frank Chikane, director general in the South African president's office.
"So we expect Europe and the US and other countries to stop the sanctions,”
he told South African public radio station SAfm.
He said regional countries should also "mobilise resources to assist" in the reconstruction of the crisis-wracked nation.
The United States and Britain have been staunchly opposed to the Mugabe regime and were loathe to appear too optimistic over Friday's advance. They joined local critics who feel the implementation of the power-sharing deal would show its success or failure.
However, high-profile statesmen including former UN chief Kofi Annan and US ex-president Jimmy Carter called for international donors to support Zimbabwe and give the power-sharing pact a chance to work.
"This political agreement is far from perfect - but political life involves taking risks. Talking it down will not improve the situation for Zimbabweans - it will only prolong their agony," said Carter.
"This is an important step towards ending the political impasse in Zimbabwe," said Annan, "but it is not a guarantee that Zimbabwe's distress is over."
He added that "rebuilding the economy and ending the people's terrible suffering will take much more work on the part of all Zimbabweans, regional leaders and the international community."
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the people of Zimbabwe could "no longer be held hostage by politics. Their urgent needs must be met."
Tsvangirai acceded to a decision by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc that Zimbabwe's unity government be formed according to a strict timeline which would see him sworn in as prime minister on February 11.
"We are unequivocal, we will go into this government," said Tsvangirai.
His reticence over the formation of a unity government saw the deal - signed in September - stalled as rivals battled over the allocation of key ministries and other details of the pact.
Since disputed elections in March 2008, the country has slid into a crisis characterised by the world's highest inflation rate of 231 million percent and a cholera epidemic that has claimed some 3,000 lives. The education system has also collapsed.
"It brings hope on the surface that there may be better things to come and at the same time we remain skeptical," said Takavafira Zhou, a political scientist from the Masvingo State University.
"We have ideologically divergent groups forming a coalition," rather than a unity government, he said.
"The parties may remain rigid and pursue partisan rather than national interests. While there is hope we remain skeptical until the new government starts to deliver."
Reaction from both Britain and the United States was restrained about the future government.
"I've seen the reports about this agreement, but as you can understand, we are a bit skeptical. These types of things have been announced before," US State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said.
"The key is always implementation," he added.
In London, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he looked forward to seeing details of a deal that would hold Zimbabwean lawmakers accountable.
"The new government will be judged on its actions, above all by the people of Zimbabwe," he said.
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Mugabe blames Western sanctions for Zimbabwe crisis

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http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=090203115906.o5x55rml.php
News from Africa
03/02/2009 11:59
ADDIS ABABA
Feb 3 (AFP)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday blamed Western sanctions for his country's economic collapse, which has left millions jobless and hungry.
Speaking on the final day of the 12th African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Mugabe charged that European and US sanctions against his regime had crippled his nation's economy and fuelled popular unrest.
"We believe that these illegal sanctions are not only unjustified and cruel, but they have also contributed deeply to the suffering and the poverty-induced polarisation of the people of Zimbabwe," he said.
Mugabe accused donors of punishing Zimbabwe for his land reform programme, in which white-owned farms were forcibly seized and given to black farmers, who often had little experience or access to equipment.
"Our condemnation, our isolation is because my government took the necessary measures to create conditions for equal opportunities, for decolonisation, for creating conditions in which our people could regain their lost resources."
Zimbabwe has been bogged down in a bitter political feud since the March 2008 elections, further scuppering an already ailing economy.
The southern Africa country's unemployment rate currently peaked at 94 percent while its inflation - symbolised by the release last month of a 100-trillion-dollar note - is the world's highest.
The African Union on Saturday called for the lifting of the sanctions, which comprise mainly a travel ban and asset freeze on Mugabe and his inner circle, as a means of alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe made little mention of a deal to form a national unity government with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and did not reply to calls from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for him to free political prisoners and guarantee human rights.
The 84-year-old, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, has come under increasing international pressure since his electoral dispute with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
But Mugabe remains a popular figure and is considered an independence hero by many African leaders.
The Zimbabwean president also blamed the West for causing the global financial crisis by allowing the speculative activities of a greedy few and demanded Africa be given a role in shaping a healthier economic system.
"We are therefore ready and more than willing in playing our part and contributing toward the rebuilding of the global economy," he said.
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Full EU sanctions list for Zanu-PF January 27 2009

European Union
02 February 2009
Source:- http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=116288&sn=Marketingweb%20detail
As adopted by the council of the European Union, Brussels, January 26 2009
COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2009/68/CFSP of 26 January 2009 renewing restrictive measures against Zimbabwe
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular Article 15 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) On 19 February 2004, the Council adopted Common Position 2004/161/CFSP (1) renewing restrictive measures against Zimbabwe.
(2) Council Common Position 2008/135/CFSP (2), adopted on 18 February 2008, extended Common Position 2004/161/CFSP until 20 February 2009.
(3) In view of the situation in Zimbabwe, in particular given the violence organised and committed by the Zimbabwean authorities and the continued blocking of the implementation of the political agreement signed on 15 September 2008, Common Position 2004/161/CFSP should be extended for a further period of 12 months.
(4) Moreover, certain persons and entities associated with the Government of Zimbabwe and whose activities seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe should be added to the list set out in the Annex to Common Position 2004/161/CFSP.
(5) The list set out in the Annex to Common Position 2004/161/CFSP should also be amended to take account of changes in the functions of certain persons and to include additional identifiers for certain persons and entities,
HAS ADOPTED THIS COMMON POSITION:
Article 1
Common Position 2004/161/CFSP shall be extended until 20 February 2010.
Article 2
The Annex to Common Position 2004/161/CFSP shall be replaced by the Annex to this Common Position.
Article 3
This Common Position shall take effect on the date of its adoption.
Article 4
This Common Position shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Done at Brussels, 26 January 2009.
For the Council
The President
A. VONDRA
(1) OJ L 50, 20.2.2004, p. 66.
(2) OJ L 43, 19.2.2008, p. 39.
ANNEX
List of persons referred to in Articles 4 and 5 of Common Position 2004/161/CFSP
I. PERSONS
1. Mugabe, Robert Gabriel President, born 21.2.1924, Passport AD001095.
Head of Government and as such responsible for activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
2. Abu Basutu, Titus MJ
Air Vice-Marshal, Matebeleland South. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
3. Al Shanfari, Thamer Bin
Former Chairman of Oryx Group and Oryx Natural Resources, born 3.1.1968 (see item 22 in part II). Ties to the Government and involved in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
4. Barwe, Reuben
Journalist with Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, born 19.3.1953, passport BN311374. Whipped up the government-orchestrated terror campaign before and during the 2008 elections.
5. Bonyongwe, Happyton Director-General Central Intelligence Organisation, born 6.11.1960, Passport: AD002214. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
6. Bonyongwe, Willa (a.k.a. Willia)
Chair of Securities Commission, married to Happyton Bonyongwe. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through appointment and through close association with key member of the Government.
7. Bredenkamp, John Arnold
Businessman, born 11.08.1940, passports: Netherlands (1285143, expired), Zimbabwe (Z01024064, Z153612), Surinam (367537C). Businessman with strong ties to the Government of Zimbabwe. He has provided, including through his companies, financial and other support to the regime (see also items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 20, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31 and 32 in part II).
8. Buka (a.k.a. Bhuka), Flora
President's office (Former Minister of State for Special Affairs responsible for Land and Resettlement Programmes, former Minister of State in the Vice-President's office and former Minister of State for the Land Reform in the President's Office), born 25.2.1968. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
9. Bvudzijena, Wayne
Assistant Police Commissioner, Police Spokesman. Member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for defending serious violations of human rights.
10. Chairuka, Annie Flora Imagine
Married to Paradzai Zimondi. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government.
11. Chapfika, David
Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture (former Deputy Minister of Finance), born 7.4.1957. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
12. Charamba, George
Permanent Secretary, Department for Information and Publicity, born 4.4.1963, Passport AD002226. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
13. Charamba, Rudo Grace
Married to George Charamba, born 20.6.1964. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government.
14. Charumbira, Fortune Zefanaya
Former Deputy Minister for Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, born 10.6.1962. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
15. Chidarikire, Faber Edmund
Provincial Governor for Mashonaland West, former Mayor of Chinhoyi, born 6.6.1946. Ties to the Government.
16. Chigudu, Tinaye
Former Provincial Governor: Manicaland. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
17. Chigwedere, Aeneas Soko
Provincial Governor: Mashonaland East, former Minister, born 25.11.1939. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
18. Chihota, Phineas
Deputy Minister for Industry and International Trade. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
19. Chihuri, Augustine
Police Commissioner, born 10.3.1953. Member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
20. Chihuri, Isobel (a.k.a. Isabel) Halima
Married to Augustine Chihuri, born 14.4.1974. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government.
21. Chimbudzi, Alice
ZANU (PF) Politburo Committee Member. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
22. Chimedza, Paul
President of the Medical Association of Zimbabwe, Doctor, born 29.6.1967. Engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
23. Chimutengwende, Chenhamo Chekezha
Former Minister of State for Public and Interactive Affairs (former Minister of Information, former Minister of Post and Telecommunications), born 28.8.1943.
Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
24. Chinamasa, Monica
President of the Zimbabwe National Farmers' Union, married to Patrick Chinamasa, born 1950. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government and involved in activities that undermine the rule of law.
25. Chinamasa, Patrick Anthony
Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, born 25.1.1947. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
26. Chindori-Chininga, Edward Takaruza
Former Minister of Mines and Mining Development, born 14.3.1955. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties to the Government.
27. Chingoka, Peter Farai
Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, born 2.3.1954. Ties to the Government and involved in activities that undermine the rule of law.
28. Chinotimba, Joseph
Vice Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, leader of ZANU-PF militia. Engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, including direct involvement in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
29. Chipanga, Tongesai Shadreck
Former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, born 10.10.1940. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties to the Government.
30. Chipwere, Augustine Colonel,
Bindura South. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
31. Chiremba, Mirirai
Director of Financial Intelligence at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, born 14.05.1962. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
32. Chitakunye, Eliphas
High Court Justice. Has refused to allow investigation of abductions and torture at the hands of security agents.
33. Chitepo, Victoria
ZANU-PF Politburo Committee Member (former Minister of Information, former Minister of Post and Telecommunications and former Tourism Minister.), born 27.3.1928. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
34. Chiwenga, Constantine Commander Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General (former Army Commander, Lieutenant General), born 25.8.1956. Member of the security forces and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
35. Chiwenga, Jocelyn
Businesswoman, born 19.5.1955, married to General Chiwenga, Commander of the Defence Forces. Engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
36. Chiweshe, George
Chairman, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Supreme Court Judge and Chairman of the controversial delimitation committee), born 4.6.1953. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
37. Chiwewe, Willard
Former Provincial Governor: Masvingo (former Senior Secretary responsible for Special Affairs in the President's Office), born 19.3.1949. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
38. Chombo, Ignatius Morgan Chiminya
Minister of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development, born 1.8.1952. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
39. Dabengwa, Dumiso Former ZANU-PF Politburo Senior Committee Member, ZAPU leader, born 1939.
Former member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
40. Damasane, Abigail
Deputy Minister for Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
41. Deketeke, Pikirayi
Chair of Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe and Editor of the official progovernment newspaper ‘The Herald'. Ties to the Government and involved in activities that seriously undermine freedom of expression and the media.
42. Dinha, Martin
Provincial Governor for Mashonaland Central. Ties to the Government.
43. Dokora, Lazarus
Deputy Minister for Higher and Tertiary Education, born 3.11.1957. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
44. Dube, Tshinga Judge
Head of Zimbabwe Defence Industries and ZANU-PF candidate in the parliamentary elections, Retired Colonel, born 3.7.1941. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
45. Gambe, Theophilus
Chairman, Electoral Supervisory Commission. Shares responsibility for fraudulent elections in 2005.
46. Georgias, Aguy
Deputy Minister for Economic Development, born 22.6.1935. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
47. Goche, Nicholas Tasunungurwa
Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (former Minister of State for National Security in the President's Office), born 1.8.1946. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
48. Gono, Gideon
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (central bank), born 29.11.1959. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
49. Gono, Helen (a.k.a.Hellin) Mushanyuri
Married to Gideon Gono, born 6.5.1962. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government.
50. Gula-Ndebele, Sobuza
Former Attorney-General (Former Chairman of Electoral Supervisory Commission.). Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
51. Gumbo, Rugare Eleck Ngidi
Former Minister of Agriculture (Former Minister of Economic Development), born 8.3.1940. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
52. Gurira, Cephas T. Colonel, Mhondoro Mubaira.
Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
53. Gwekwerere, Stephen Colonel, Chinhoyi.
Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
54. Hove, Richard
ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Economic Affairs, born 1935. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
55. Hungwe, Josaya (a.k.a. Josiah) Dunira
Former Provincial Governor: Masvingo, born 7.11.1935. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
56. Huni, Munyaradzi
Journalist on the official pro-government newspaper ‘The Herald', born 24.7.1973, Passport: BN160327. Whipped up the terror campaign before and during the elections.
57. Jangara aka Changara, Thomsen
Assistant Police Commissioner, Officer in charge, Harare South District. Member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
58. Kachepa, Newton
Member of Parliament for Mudzi North. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
59. Kangai, Kumbirai
ZANU-PF Politburo Committee Member, born 17.2.1938. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
60. Karakadzai, Mike Tichafa
Air Commodore, Harare Metropolitan Province. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
61. Karimanzira, David Ishemunyoro Godi
Provincial Governor: Harare and ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Finance, born 25.5.1947. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
62. Kasukuwere, Saviour
Deputy Minister for Youth Development & Employment Creation and ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy-Secretary for Youth Affairs, born 23.10.1970. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
63. Kaukonde, Ray Joseph
Former Provincial Governor: Mashonaland East, born 4.3.1963. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
64. Kazangarare, Jawet
ZANU-PF Councillor in Hurungwe North and war veteran. Directly involved in the government-orchestrated terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
65. Kazembe, Joyce Laetitia
Deputy Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Chair of ZEC's Media Monitoring Commission. Shares responsibility for the fraudulent election process in 2008.
66. Kereke, Munyaradzi
Chief Adviser to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, born 29.7.1972. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
67. Khumalo, Sibangumuzi
Brigadier General, Matebeleland North. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
68. Kunonga, Nolbert (a.k.a. Nobert)
Self-appointed Anglican Bishop. Vociferous supporter of the regime. His followers have been backed by the police in committing acts of violence.
69. Kuruneri, Christopher Tichaona
Former Minister of Finance and Economic Development, born 4.4.1949. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
70. Kwainona, Martin
Assistant Commissioner, born 19.1.1953, passport AD001073. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
71. Kwenda, R, Major,
Zaka East. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
72. Langa, Andrew
Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism (former Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications). Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
73. Lesabe, Thenjiwe V.
ZANU-PF Politburo Committee Member, born 1933. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
74. Mabunda, Musarashana,
Assistant Police Commissioner. Member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
75. Machaya, Jason (a.k.a. Jaison) Max Kokerai
Provincial Governor: Midlands. Former Deputy Minister of Mines and Mining Development, born 13.6.1952 Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
76. Made, Joseph Mtakwese
State Minister of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation (Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development), born 21.11.1954. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
77. Made, Patricia A.
Former director of Inter-Press Service, married to Joseph Made. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government and involved in activities that have undermined freedom of expression and the media.
78. Madzongwe, Edna (a.k.a. Edina)
ZANU-PF President of Senate, born 11.7.1943. Member of the politburo and as
such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
79. Mahofa, Shuvai Ben
Former Deputy Minister for Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, born 4.4.1941. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
80. Mahoso, Tafataona
Chair, Media Information Commission. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of expression and media.
81. Makwanya, Judith
Journalist with Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, born 22.10.1963. Whipped up the government-orchestrated terror campaign before and during the 2008 elections.
82. Makwavarara, Sekesai
Former Mayor of Harare. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
83. Malinga, Joshua
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged, born 28.4.1944. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
84. Maluleke, Titus Provincial Governor: Masvingo (Former Deputy Minister of Education, Sports and Culture). Former Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
85. Mangwana, Paul Munyaradzi
Minister of State for Indigenisation and Empowerment, born 10.8.1961. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
86. Manyonda, Kenneth Vhundukai
Former Deputy Minister of Industry and International Trade, born 10.8.1934. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
87. Marumahoko, Reuben
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (former Deputy Minister for Home Affairs), born 4.4.1948. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
88. Masawi, Ephrahim Sango
Former Provincial Governor: Mashonaland Central. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
89. Mashava, G. Colonel,
Chiredzi Central. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
90. Masuku, Angeline
Provincial Governor: Matabeleland South and ZANU-PF Politburo, Secretary for Disabled and Disadvantaged, born 14.10.1936. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
91. Matanyaire, Munyaradzi
Chief Executive Officer of Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency. Ties to the Government and involved in activities that seriously undermine freedom of expression and the media.
92. Mathema, Cain Ginyilitshe Ndabazekhaya
Provincial Governor: Bulawayo. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
93. Mathuthu, Thokozile
Provincial Governor: Matabeleland North and ZANU-PF Politburo, Deputy Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
94. Matiza, Joel Biggie
Deputy Minister for Rural Housing and Social Amenities, born 17.8.1960. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
95. Matonga, Brighton
Deputy Minister for Information and Publicity, born 1969. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
96. Matshalaga, Obert
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs), born 21.4.1951 in Mhute Kraal - Zvishavane. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
97. Matshiya, Melusi (Mike)
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
98. Mavhaire, Dzikamai
ZANU-PF Politburo Committee Member. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
99. Mbiriri, Partson
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
100. Mhandu, Cairo (a.k.a. Kairo)
Major ZNA. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections
101. Mhonda, Fidellis Colonel, Rushinga.
Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
102. Midzi, Amos Bernard (Mugenva)
Former Minister of Mines and Mining Development (former Minister of Energy and Power Development), born 4.7.1952. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
103. Mnangagwa, Emmerson Dambudzo
Minister of Rural Housing and Social Amenities (former Speaker of Parliament), born 15.9.1946. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
104. Mohadi, Kembo Campbell Dugishi
Minister of Home Affairs (former Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing), born 15.11.1949. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
105. Mombeshora, Millicent Sibongile
Head of Strategic Planning and Special Projects, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, born 8.7.1965, Passport BN177069. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy.
106. Moyo, Gilbert
‘War veteran', leader of ZANU-PF militia. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections in Mashonaland West (Chegutu).
107. Moyo, Jonathan
Former Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the President's Office, born 12.1.1957. Former member of the Government engaged in activities that seriously undermined fundamental freedoms.
108. Moyo, July Gabarari
Former Minister of Energy and Power Development (former Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare), born 7.5.1950. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
109. Moyo, Sibusio Bussie
Brigadier General ZNA. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections
110. Moyo, Simon Khaya
Ambassador to South Africa and ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs, born 1945. Member of the politburo with ongoing ties to the Government and its policy.
111. Mpabanga, S. Lieutenant-Colonel,
Mwenezi East Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
112. Mpofu, Obert Moses
Minister for Industry and International Trade (former Provincial Governor: Matabeleland North) (ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for National Security), born 12.10.1951. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
113. Msika, Joseph W.
Vice-President, born 6.12.1923. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
114. Msipa, Cephas George
Former Provincial Governor: Midlands, born 7.7.1931. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
115. Muchechetere, Happison
Acting Chief Executive of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Ties to the Government and involved in activities that seriously undermine freedom of expression and the media.
116. Muchena, Henry
Air Vice-Marshal, Midlands. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
117. Muchena, Olivia Nyembesi (a.k.a. Nyembezi)
Minister of State for Science and Technology in the President's Office (former Minister of State in Vice-President Msika's Office), born 18.8.1946. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
118. Muchinguri, Oppah Chamu Zvipange
ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Gender and Culture (Former Minister for Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development), born 14.12.1958.
Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
119. Muchono, C.
Lieutenant-Colonel, Mwenezi West. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
120. Mudede, Tobaiwa (a.k.a. Tonneth)
Registrar General, born 22.12.1942. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing state policy.
121. Mudenge, Isack Stanislaus Gorerazvo
Minister of Higher Tertiary Education (former Minister of Foreign Affairs), born 17.12.1941. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
122. Mudonhi, Columbus
Assistant Inspector ZRP. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
123. Mudzvova, Paul Sergeant.
Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
124. Mugabe, Grace
Born 23.7.1965, Passport AD001159. Spouse of the Head of Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
125. Mugabe, Leo
Director of Zimbabwe Defence Industries, born 28.8.1962 (a.k.a. 28.2.1957). Businessman with strong ties to the Government of Zimbabwe, and nephew of Robert Mugabe.
126. Mugabe, Sabina
ZANU-PF Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 14.10.1934. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
127. Mugariri, Bothwell
Former Senior Assistant Police Commissioner. Former member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
128. Muguti, Edwin
Deputy Minister for Health and Child Welfare, born 1965. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
129. Mujuru, Joyce Teurai Ropa
Vice President (former Minister of Water Resources and Infrastructural Development), born 15.4.1955. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
130. Mujuru, Solomon T.R.
ZANU-PF Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 1.5.1949. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
131. Mukosi, Musoro Wegomo
Producer with Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Whipped up the government orchestrated terror campaign before and during the 2008 elections.
132. Mumba, Isaac
Superintendent. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
133. Mumbengegwi, Samuel Creighton
Former Minister of Finance; former Minister of State for Indigenisation and Empowerment, born 23.10.1942. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
134. Mumbengegwi, Simbarashe Simbanenduku
Minister of Foreign Affairs, born 20.7.1945, Passport: AD001086. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
135. Murerwa, Herbert Muchemwa
Former Minister of Finance, born 31.7.1941. Former member of the Government with ongoing ties.
136. Musariri, Munyaradzi
Assistant Police Commissioner. Member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
137. Mushohwe, Christopher Chindoti
Provincial Governor: Manicaland. (Former Minister of Transport and Communications, former Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications), born 6.2.1954. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
138. Mutasa, Didymus Noel Edwin
Minister of State for National Security, Land Reform and Resettlement in the Office of the President, ZANU-PF, Secretary for Administration, born 27.7.1935. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
139. Mutasa, Gertrude
Colonel in the Zimbabwe Defence Force, married to Didymus Mutasa (item 138). Involved in farm invasions where death threats were made.
140. Mutasa, Justin Mutsawehuni
Chair of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings and Chief Executive of Zimbabwe Newspapers, born 6.4.1954, passport BN498951. Ties to the Government and involved in activities that seriously undermine freedom of expression and the media.
141. Mutezo, Munacho
Former Minister for Water Resources and Infrastructural Development. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
142. Mutinhiri, Ambros (a.k.a. Ambrose)
Minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, Retired Brigadier. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
143. Mutinhiri, Tracey
Deputy Minister for Indigenisation and Empowerment (Former Deputy Speaker of the Senate). Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
144. Mutiwekuziva, Kenneth Kaparadza
Former Deputy Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Development and Employment Creation, born 27.5.1948. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
145. Mutsvunguma, S.
Colonel, Headlands. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
146. Muzenda, Tsitsi V.
ZANU-PF Politburo Senior Committee Member, born 28.10.1922. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
147. Muzonzini, Elisha
Brigadier (former Director-General Central Intelligence Organisation), born 24.6.1957. Former member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
148. Mzembi, Walter
Deputy Minister for Water Resources and Infrastructural Development, born 16.3.1964. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
149. Mzilikazi, Morgan S.
Colonel (MID), Buhera Central. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
150. Ncube, Abedinico
Deputy Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare (former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs), born 13.10.1954. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
151. Ndlovu, Naison K.
Deputy President of the Senate, and ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Production and Labour, born 22.10.1930. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
152. Ndlovu, Richard
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Commissariat, born 26.6.1942. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
153. Ndlovu, Sikhanyiso
Former Minister of Information and Publicity (Former Deputy Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education), born 20.9.1949. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
154. Nguni, Sylvester
Minister of Economic Development (Former Deputy Minister for Agriculture), born 4.8.1955. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
155. Nhema, Francis
Minister of Environment and Tourism, born 7.4.1959. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
156. Nkala, Herbert
Chair of Zimbabwe Newspapers, which prints State propaganda and Chair of First Banking Corporation.
157. Nkomo, John Landa
Former Speaker of House of Assembly (former Minister of Special Affairs in the President's Office), ZANU-PF national chairman, born 22.8.1934. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
158. Nyambuya, Michael Reuben
Former Minister for Energy and Power Development (former Lieutenant General, Provincial Governor: Manicaland), born 23.7.1955. Former member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
159. Nyanhongo, Magadzire Hubert
Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
160. Nyathi, George
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary of Science and Technology. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
161. Nyawani, Misheck
Retired Superintendant. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
162. Nyikayaramba, Douglas
Brigadier General, Mashonaland East. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
163. Nyoni, Sithembiso Gile Glad
Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Development and Employment Creation, born 20.9.1949. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
164. Parirenyatwa, Choice
Married to David Parirenyatwa. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government.
165. Parirenyatwa, David Pagwese
Minister of Health and Child Welfare (former Deputy Minister), born 2.8.1950. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
166. Patel, Bharat
Former Acting Attorney General, Justice, Hon. Engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
167. Patel, Khantibhal
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Finance, born 28.10.1928. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
168. Pote, Selina M.
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Gender and Culture. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
169. Rangwani, Dani
Police Detective Inspector. Member of the security forces and engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
170. Rautenbach, Muller Conrad (a.k.a. Billy)
Businessman, born. 23.9.1959, PO Box CH52, Chisipite, Harare, passport: BN491589. Businessman with strong ties to the Government of Zimbabwe, including through support to senior regime officials during Zimbabwe's intervention in DRC (see also item 26 in part II).
171. Rugeje, Engelbert Abel
Major-General, Masvingo Province. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
172. Rungani, Victor TC
Colonel, Chikomba. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
173. Ruwodo, Richard
Brigadier General, promoted on 12 August 2008 to the rank of Major General (retired); former Acting PUS for Ministry of Defence, born 14.3.1954. Directly involved in the campaign of terror waged before and after the elections.
174. Sakabuya, Morris
Deputy Minister for Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
175. Sakupwanya, Stanley
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Health and Child Welfare. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
176. Samkange, Nelson Tapera Crispen
Former Provincial Governor: Mashonaland West. Ties to the Government and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of human rights.
177. Sandi, E.
ZANU-PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Women's Affairs. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
178. Savanhu, Tendai
ZANU-PF Deputy Secretary for Transport and Social Welfare, born 21.3.1968. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
179. Sekeramayi, Sydney (a.k.a. Sidney) Tigere
Minister of Defence, born 30.3.1944. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
180. Sekeremayi (a.k.a. Sekeramayi), Tsitsi Chihuri
Married to Sydney Sekeremayi, born 1944. Supporter and beneficiary of the regime through close association with key member of the Government.
181. Sekeremayi, Lovemore
Chief Elections Officer. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
182. Shamu, Webster Kotiwani
Minister of State for Policy Implementation (former Minister of State for Policy Implementation in the President's Office), born 6.6.1945. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
183. Shamuyarira, Nathan Marwirakuwa
ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Information and Publicity, born 29.9.1928. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
184. Shiri, Perence a.k.a. Bigboy Samson Chikerema
Air Marshal (Air Force), born 1.11.1955. Member of the security forces and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
185. Shumba, Isaiah Masvayamwando
Deputy Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, born 3.1.1949. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
186. Shungu, Etherton
Brigadier General, Mashonaland Central. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
187. Sibanda, Chris
Colonel, Bulawayo Province. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
188. Sibanda, Jabulani
Former Chair, National War Veterans Association, born 31.12.1970. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
189. Sibanda, Misheck Julius Mpande
Cabinet Secretary (successor to Charles Utete), born 3.5.1949. Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
190. Sibanda, Phillip Valerio (a.k.a. Valentine)
Commander Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant General, born 25.8.1956. Member of the security forces and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
191. Sigauke, David
Brigadier General, Mash West Province. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
192. Sikosana, Absolom
ZANU-PF Politburo Secretary for Youth Affairs. Member of the politburo and as such with strong ties to the Government and its policy.
193. Stamps, Timothy
Health Advisor in the Office of the President, Former Health Minister, born 15.10.1936. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
194. Tarumbwa, Nathaniel Charles
Brigadier General, Manicaland and Mutare South. Directly involved in the terror campaign waged before and during the elections.
195. Tomana, Johannes
Attorney General. Engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
196. Tonderai Matibiri, Innocent
Deputy Police Commissioner. Member of the security forces and engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
197. Udenge, Samuel
Minister of State for State Enterprises (Former Deputy Minister of Economic Development). Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
198. Utete, Charles
Chairman of the Presidential Land Review Committee (former Cabinet Secretary), born 30.10.1938. Ties to the Government and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
199. Veterai, Edmore
Senior Assistant Police Commissioner, Officer Commanding Harare. Member of the security forces and bearing wide responsibility for serious violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly.
200. Zhuwao, Patrick
Deputy Minister for Science and Technology (NB Mugabe's nephew). Member of the Government and as such engaged in activities that seriously undermine democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law.
201. Zimondi, Paradzai
Prisons Director, born 4.3.1947. Member of the security forces and complicit in forming or directing oppressive state policy.
202. Zvayi, Caesar
Journalist on the official pro-government newspaper ‘The Herald'. Whipped up the terror campaign before and during the elections.
203. Zvinavashe, Vitalis
Politburo, Indigenisation and Empowerment Committee in the party, born 27.9.1943. Former member of the security forces and complicit in forming or directing repressive state policy and member of politburo.
II. ENTITIES
1. Alpha International (PVT) Ltd
Park Road, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2SP, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
2. Breco (Asia Pacific) Ltd
Isle of Man Company Registration M78647 - 1st Floor, Falcon Cliff, Palace Road, Douglas IM2 4LB, Isle of Man. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
3. Breco (Eastern Europe) Ltd
Isle of Man Company Registration FC0021189 - Falcon Cliff, Palace Road, Douglas IM99 1ZW, Isle of Man; Hurst, Reading Berkshire RG10 0SQ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
4. Breco (South Africa) Ltd
Isle of Man Company Registration Q1962 - Cumbrae House, Market Street, Douglas IM1 2PQ, Isle of Man; 9 Columbus Centre, Pelican Drive, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
5. Breco (UK) Ltd
UK Company Registration 2969104 - London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
6. Breco Group
Thetford Farm, PO Box HP86, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe; Sandford Lane, Hurst, Reading, Berks RG10 0SQ, UK; London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berks, SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
7. Breco International
25 Broad Street, St. Helier JE2 3RR, Jersey. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
8. Breco Nominees Ltd
UK Company Registration 2799499 - London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
9. Breco Services Ltd
UK Company Registration 2824946 - London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
10. Cold Comfort Farm Trust
Co-operative 7 Cowie Road, Tynwald, Harare, Zimbabwe. Owned by Didymus Mutasa, Grace Mugabe also involved.
11. Comoil (PVT) Ltd
Block D, Emerald Hill Office, Emerald Park, Harare, Zimbabwe. 2nd Floor, Travel Plaza, 29 Mazoe Street, Box CY22344, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe. Owned by Saviour Kasukuwere.
12. Corybantes Ltd
London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK; Titlarks Hill Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 0JB, UK Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
13. Divine Homes (PVT) Ltd
6 Hillside Shopping Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe; 31 Kensington Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe; 12 Meredith Drive, Eastlea, Harare, Zimbabwe. Chaired by David Chapfika.
14. Echo Delta Holdings
Thetford Farm, PO Box HP86, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe; Sandford Lane, Hurst, Reading, Berks RG10 0SQ, UK; London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berks, SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
15. Famba Safaris
4 Wayhill Lane, Umwisdale, Harare, Zimbabwe; PO Box CH273, Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe. Major shareholder is Webster Shamu.
16. Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe 93 Park Lane, PO Box CY1431, Harare, Zimbabwe. Wholly owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
17. Intermarket Holdings Ltd
Zimbank House, 46 Speke Avenue, PO Box 3198, Harare, Zimbabwe. Subsidiary of ZB Financial Holdings Ltd.
18. Jongwe Printing and Publishing Company (PVT) Ltd (a.k.a. Jongwe Printing and Publishing Co., a.k.a. Jongwe Printing and Publishing Company)
14 Austin Road, Coventry Road, Workington, PO Box 5988, Harare, Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF's publishing arm.
19. M & S Syndicate (PVT) Ltd
First Floor, Victory House, 88 Robert Mugabe Road, Harare, Zimbabwe; PO Box 1275, Harare, Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF's investment company.
20. Masters International Ltd
UK Company Registration 2927685 - London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
21. Ndlovu Motorways
Sam Nujoma Street, Livingston Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe. Controlled by Sikhanyiso Ndlovu.
22. Oryx Diamonds Ltd (a.k.a. Oryx Natural Resources)
Alexander Forbes Building, Windhoek, Namibia; Parc Nicol Offices, 6, 301 William Nicol Drive, Bryanston, Gauteng 2021, South Africa; S Drive, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands; 3 Victor Darcy Close, Borrowdale, Harare, Zimbabwe; Bank of Nova Scotia Building, 4th Floor, Georgetown, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. Company enabling ZANU-PF officials to derive personal benefit from mining ventures in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
23. OSLEG Ltd (a.k.a Operation Sovereign Legitimacy)
Lonhoro House, Union Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe. Controlled by Zimbabwe army.
24. Piedmont (UK) Ltd
London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
25. Raceview Enterprises Zimbabwe. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
26. Ridgepoint Overseas Developments Ltd (a.k.a. Ridgepoint Overseas Developments Ltd)
C/o: Mossack Fonseca & Co. BVI Ltd, Akara Building, 24 DeCastro St, Road Town, Tortola, Virgin Islands, British; P.O. Box 3136, Road Town, Tortola, Virgin Islands. Owned by Billy Rautenbach.
27. Scotfin Ltd
Zimbank House, 46 Speke Avenue, PO Box 3198, Harare, Zimbabwe. Wholly owned by ZB Financial Holdings Ltd.
28. Scottlee Holdings (PVT) Ltd
124 Josiah Chinamano Avenue, PO Box CY3371, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe; London Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
29. Scottlee Resorts Ltd 124 Josiah Chinamano Avenue, PO Box CY3371, Causeway, Harare, Zimbabwe;
London Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
30. Swift Investments (PVT) Ltd
730 Cowie Road, Tynwald, Harare, Zimbabwe; PO Box 3928, Harare, Zimbabwe. Controlled by Zanu-PF, directors include Vitalis Zvinavashe.
31. Timpani Export Ltd
Isle of Man Company Registration 3547414 - Falcon Cliff, Palace Road, Douglas IM99 1ZW, Isle of Man; King Street, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 2LG, UK; Mapstone Hill, Lustleigh, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 9SE, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
32. Tremalt Ltd
Thetford Farm, PO Box HP86, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe; Hurst Grove, Hurst, Reading, Berks RG10 0SQ, UK; London Road, Sunningdale, Ascot, Berks, SL5 0DJ, UK. Owned by John Arnold Bredenkamp.
33. ZB Financial Holdings Ltd (a.k.a. Finhold)
Zimbank House, 46 Speke Avenue, PO Box 3198, Harare, Zimbabwe. Over 75 % owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
34. ZB Holdings Ltd
Zimbank House, 46 Speke Avenue, PO Box 3198, Harare, Zimbabwe. Wholly owned by ZB Financial Holdings Ltd.
35. Zidco Holdings (a.k.a. Zidco Holdings (PVT) Ltd)
PO Box 1275, Harare, Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF's financial holding company.
36. Zimbabwe Defence Industries
10th floor, Trustee House, 55 Samora Machel Avenue, PO Box 6597, Harare, Zimbabwe. Wholly owned by the Government of Zimbabwe. Directors include Leo Mugabe and Solomon Mujuru.
37. Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (a.k.a. Zisco, Ziscosteel)
2 Redcliff, Zimbabwe. Over 88 % owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
38. Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
90 Mutare Road, PO Box 2628, Harare, Zimbabwe. Wholly owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
39. Zimre Holdings Ltd
9th Floor, Zimre Centre, 25 Kwama Nkrumah Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe. Over 69 % owned by the Government of Zimbabwe.
40. Zimre Reinsurance Company (PVT) Ltd
9th Floor, Zimre Centre, 25 Kwama Nkrumah Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe. Wholly owned by Zimre Holdings Ltd.
Source: European Union, January 27 2009
 
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Cholera and the Collapse of Governance in Zimbabwe

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http://www.harvardir.org/index.php?page=article&id=1819
Harvard International Review
by Andrew Price-Smith
Andrew Price-Smith is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at The Colorado College. He is Director of the interdisciplinary Network on Energy, Environment and Security. Dr. Price-Smith is author of Contagion and Chaos: Disease, Ecology and National Security in the Era of Globalization (MIT Press, 2009), and The Health of Nations (MIT Press, 2002).
A woman stricken by cholera receiving treatment from Médecins Sans Frontières. Photo courtesy Médecins Sans Frontières and Sokwanele - Zimbabwe/flickr.comOnce regarded as a model of development in southern Africa, Zimbabwe continues to plunge into political chaos and despair. The Mugabe regime’s litany of human rights abuses grows unabated, aggravated by economic collapse, food scarcity, a raging HIV/AIDS epidemic, and now the scourge of cholera. Since the first major manifestations of cholera in August of 2008, Zimbabwe has seen over 20,580 infected and 1,500 deaths from the illness. Originally centered in the Budiriro suburb of Harare, the epidemic has now swept the country, with concentrations in Mashonaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Manicaland, and Matebeleland in the south.
Over the past decade the Mugabe regime has engaged in blatant mismanagement of the Zimbabwean economy. Official figures put inflation at 231 million percent in July 2008, and it has arguably increased since that point. Hyperinflation, massive unemployment, and severe declines in agricultural productivity have increased malnutrition in the general population. Malnourished and HIV-infected populations are increasingly susceptible to infectious diseases such as cholera. Moreover, economic deterioration has eroded the capacity of Harare to provide essential public goods and services including electricity, garbage disposal, sanitation, and--in particular-clean water and medical treatment. Hyperinflation has accelerated the disintegration of the nation’s public health infrastructure, as medical personnel and sanitation workers have left their jobs because their wages cannot feed their families or pay for transportation to work. Many hospitals have simply shut down as doctors and nurses now refuse to work.
A principal cause of the epidemic is the Mugabe regime’s recent nationalization and politicized mismanagement of the civic water and sanitation structures of Harare. The government’s corruption and incompetence is evident in its refusal to chlorinate the water supply or replace broken pipes in areas that have seen significant support for the political opposition. Such politicization of public health, in an effort to punish supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has directly induced the proliferation of the cholera bacteria. Moreover, this decline in the capacity and willingness of the state to provide even basic public goods--exhibited in declining national life expectancy (now a mere 34 years) and increasing infant mortality--is an excellent indicator of a failing state. Declining health is correlated with, and functions as an effective empirical predictor of, state failure.
Despite Mugabe’s recent claims that the epidemic is ‘under control,’ both the WHO and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon have indicated otherwise. The Mugabe regime has attempted to deflect criticism by accusing ‘the West’ of fomenting the epidemic. Zimbabwean Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu recently attributed the cholera to “serious biological chemical war… a genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British.” He continued, “Cholera is a calculated racist terrorist attack on Zimbabwe by the unrepentant former colonial power which has enlisted support from its American and Western allies so that they invade the country.” This politicization of health echoes assertions made by many African leaders during the 1990s that HIV/AIDS infection was a plot by Western nations to annihilate African populations and destabilize African polities. Furthermore, the Mugabe regime has a nefarious history of using the provision of public goods as a political tool to retain its tenuous hold on power. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) government routinely punishes those citizens who fail to support the regime by withholding food and antiretroviral therapies to combat HIV/AIDS.
Failing and failed states often generate serious externalities that radiate beyond their borders, and health externalities such as the proliferation of cholera are but one manifestation of this dynamic. According to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the cholera epidemic has now spread to Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, and to Limpopo province in South Africa, where it has generated circa 750 cases and 11 deaths. Clearly, the Mugabe regime’s inability to govern effectively is now compromising the ability of Zimbabwe’s immediate neighbors to keep a pernicious epidemic from affecting their own populations. Thus, while health may be seen as a public good (being non-rivalrous and non-exclusive), epidemic disease is a public bad - imposing costs upon society as a whole and radiating beyond affected polities to jeopardize the health, prosperity and stability of other polities throughout southern Africa.
To date, the Mugabe regime has generated a plethora of public bads (epidemic disease, poverty, migration) throughout Southern Africa. Given the collective regional interest in stability, prosperity, and peace, it is shocking that other political leaders in the region have been so utterly ineffective in implementing the power-sharing agreement between ZANU-PF and the MDC, let alone forcing Mugabe from office. Despite SADC’s role as mediator, it has been completely ineffective. While the Mugabe regime maintains power for now, it is clear that Zimbabwe is collapsing into a failed or shadow state.
Regrettably, the disintegration of Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s human rights abuses have been largely ignored by the political elites of neighboring nations. Given the externalities resulting from the collapse of Zimbabwe, contiguous states have an increasing self-interest in removing the ZANU-PF government from power. Clearly, Mugabe and his coterie are authoritarian power-seekers who prey upon their own population. Merely denouncing the Mugabe government is therefore ineffective in generating substantive internal change. Thus, the global community must actively support the political opposition of Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC. While South Africa and Sweden have recently committed humanitarian aid to Harare for the purpose of quelling the epidemic, others have been direct in their justifiable criticism of the ZANU-PF regime. For example, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the UK recently designated the outbreak an “international emergency” and called on the international community to tell Mugabe that “enough is enough.” Furthermore, former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has criticized the UN Security Council for its failure to take meaningful action to resolve the intertwined political, economic and health crises in Zimbabwe.
International organizations are attempting to remedy the worsening contagion. Specifically, UNICEF is trucking in clean water to battle the epidemic. Concurrently, the WHO is trying to establish a command and control center in conjunction with the Zimbabwean Ministry of Health, asking donors for US$ 6 million to enable its response. Unfortunately, the Mugabe administration has proven increasingly untrustworthy in the eyes of the international community, having recently misappropriated funds from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Thus, donor nations should be leery of providing funds to the corrupt administration in Harare. Indeed, they might do better to support NGO efforts, such as the International Red Cross and Medecins Sans Frontiers, that circumvent ZANU-PF.
The complex interactivity between the political, economic, and health crises in Zimbabwe complicates external intervention. In this particular case, poor governance has combined with economic collapse, malnutrition, and the pre-existing HIV/AIDS epidemic to generate a rapidly spreading, regional cholera epidemic. Collectively, the social disruption of Zimbabwe’s failing state combines with the human toll of the cholera and HIV/AIDS epidemics to accelerate the de-legitimization of the ZANU-PF regime. Such disruption and criticism of the government has intensified its predatory and volatile behavior, augmenting the widespread abuse of human rights. The argument here is that certain malign governments use the provision of health as a political tool to bolster their power by rewarding their sycophants; the corollary to this is that they withhold basic necessities of life to punish those who favor the political opposition. The Mugabe government has clearly recognized that the denial of public goods, such sanitation and clean water to non- Mugabe supporters fosters disease and keeps the political opposition in a weakened state.
The Obama Administration has a moral duty to seek Mugabe’s removal, but the United States also has a considerable degree of self-interest in the matter. First, the externalities resulting from the collapse of Zimbabwe exhibit the potential to destabilize the entire southern cone of Africa, including strategically important regimes like South Africa. Second, the United States has increasing material, ideational, and strategic interests throughout the African continent, denoted by the recent establishment of AFRICOM. The destabilization of Zimbabwe and contiguous nations thereby threatens U.S. interests in maintaining geopolitical stability, encouraging prosperity, and fostering democracy throughout the region. Third, the United States’ opposition to the Mugabe regime will bolster America’s legitimacy in the eyes of the international community, augmenting its soft power. The United States and other responsible members of the international community must use a variety of mechanisms to compel the dictatorial Mugabe regime to accept the power-sharing deal with the MDC. Failing that, they must force the predatory ZANU-PF regime from power.
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Andrew Price-Smith is Assistant Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at The Colorado College. He is Director of the interdisciplinary Network on Energy, Environment and Security. Dr. Price-Smith is author of Contagion and Chaos: Disease, Ecology and National Security in the Era of Globalization (MIT Press, 2009), and The Health of Nations (MIT Press, 2002).
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Mugabe agrees to visit by UN humanitarian team<

BR>.
http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-02-02-mugabe-agrees-to-visit-by-un-humanitarian-team
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
Feb 02 2009 18:06
Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe has agreed to allow a top-level United Nations team to visit Zimbabwe to find ways of curbing a cholera epidemic and a hunger crisis, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.
Ban told reporters that he met on Sunday with Mugabe on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital.
The meeting came three days after the country's main opposition agreed to form a unity government with the 84-year-old Zanu-PF leader, a decision that Ban warned would not be enough to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis.
"The humanitarian situation, which has reached an almost unbearable point for the people in Zimbabwe, has been a source of deep, deep concern for the international community, for the United Nations," Ban told a press conference.
"He assured me that he and his country would be fully open to humanitarian work and activities," Ban said.
Mugabe agreed to accept a high-level UN team led by assistant secretary general on humanitarian affairs Catherine Bragg, who would assess the crisis and find ways to deliver aid, Ban said.
A cholera epidemic, which started in August, has infected 62 909 people and killed 3 229 others, latest data from the World Health Organisation showed on Monday.
Seven million people - more than half the population - need emergency food aid, according to UN figures.
Ban also repeated his concerns about the planned unity government, and said he told Mugabe that his government still needs to release political prisoners and end human rights abuses.
"I still believe that this is an imperfect decision," Ban said of the unity deal.
"I have urged president Mugabe to build up on this new development and try to make progress as soon as possible so that they can ensure full democracy and freedom," he said.
"I urge them to fully protect the human rights of the Zimbabwean people and release all prisoners who have been arrested over the last few months."
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on Friday to join Mugabe in a unity government, serving as prime minister, following disputed elections last March. - Sapa-AFP
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RBZ Monetary Policy Statement Jan 2009

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http://www.talkzimbabwe.com:80/news/117/ARTICLE/4225/2009-02-02.html
DOCUMENT: Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Statement
Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:06:00 +0000
THE following Monetary Policy Statement was presented by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr. Gideon Gono on Monday 2 Feb. 2009.
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First part appears on this site. The rest of the statement is downloadable via a PDF link at the end of the document.
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MONETARY POLICY STATEMENT
Issued
IN TERMS OF THE RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE ACT CHAPTER 22:15, SECTION 46
By DR. G. GONO
GOVERNOR: RESERVE BANK OF ZIMBABWE
31 January, 2009
"…TURNING OUR DIFFICULTIES INTO OPPORTUNITIES"
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1 This Monetary Policy Statement which is issued in terms of Section 46 of the RBZ Act chapter 22:15 comes at a most difficult time in the short history of our country, when both the corporate and household sectors of our economy are under a crippling spell of extraordinary hardships, occasioned by a combination of severe domestic and external factors whose impact has been profoundly negative on everyone across the board.
1.2 Indeed, there is neither the need to dramatise nor exaggerate anything, and not least of all, to placate anyone to appreciate the obvious and very painful fact that life in our country has been, especially over the last twelve months, extremely difficult for the majority of people, many of whom remain at a loss as to why history has allowed things to turn out this way.
1.3 While it is of no consolation to Zimbabweans that the whole world is today confronted with extraordinary hardships calling for unorthodoxy and extraordinary interventions, it is a fact though that our attitude towards the challenges facing us will, in a large measure, determine the extent, length and severity of the pain we will experience during these difficult times.
1.4 A defeatist attitude will not do and worse still, a vindictive disposition towards the next person can only be counter-productive.
1.5 What will make a positive difference is our levelheadedness in the face of these surmountable challenges and our collective commitment to deal with the difficulties head-on, bearing in mind that the world out there, and indeed our own people here at home, are fast loosing confidence in and patience with most of us in decision making positions be it in politics, commerce, local authorities, industry or parastatals because of our failure to deliver a better life to our people.
1.6 In addition, as a Nation, we are currently vulnerable to many poisonous and divisive missiles and preoccupations, ranging from self-discouragement to self-pity; from hopelessness to self doubt; and are lurching from one pillar to another, all in an effort to hide away from taking collective responsibility for our current state of affairs.
1.7 If we are not blaming MDC-T leader Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai or Professor Arthur Mutambara for all our woes, we are finding fault with President Robert Gabriel Mugabe; if we are not finding fault in these three we are blaming the West, the East, North or South, the US, Russia or China for one terrible action or omission; and if it is not the weather to blame for our underperformance on farms or the mines, it must be the Reserve Bank or someone else to blame.
1.8 Such is the level of our mental imprisonment that we can never pin responsibility or search for solutions to our troubles from within ourselves first before pointing at others.
1.9 Even the United States of America where the current devastating global financial crisis started, is not as preoccupied with this blame game thing as ourselves here. Both Republicans and Democrats realise the commonality of their fate as Americans first and not as separate party supporters. They are getting on with the essential task of finding solutions to their problems in a united manner across the divide unlike what we are doing here. The same can be sited of other countries the world over currently in the middle of an economic meltdown.
1.10 In Zimbabwe, a common tactic in this blame game has been to single out the Central Bank and Central Bank Governor with easy-to-make claims that I am personally to blame for the self-evident and very painful economic situation afflicting just about everyone in our country today.
1.11 As Governor, I strongly feel that we have now reached a critical point in the life of our country where those who have sought refuge in playing the blame game should desist from this distractive approach. There is so much that needs to be done by each and everyone of us to waste our energies on yesterday while today remains unattended and tomorrow is being lost to the determination by others.
1.12 It is common cause that over the last five or so years, the Central Bank under my proactive watch has been at the forefront of doing two things which I intend to continue doing in this my second and last term.
1.13 First, I have spared no moment or opportunity, especially on occasions such as this, to advise the leadership of all key sections of our nation in government, business, political parties, civil society, trade unions and churches on the required medium to long term policy measures to turnaround the fortunes of our economy in pursuit of prosperity for all Zimbabweans.
1.14 Second, I have not hesitated to formulate and implement extraordinary urgent measures, most of which have become the standard approach the world over, to address the extraordinary circumstances when it has become necessary to do so. We have had to survive under very harsh and more often than not, a hostile internal and external environment without precedent anywhere in this world.
1.15 The public record shows the policy advice I have proffered in my previous monetary policy statements and whose merit, sincerity and purity of intentions, I believe, speaks for itself, has either not been seriously discussed or debated, let alone implemented whole heartedly by some of those seeking to point fingers at the Central Bank and me personally today.
1.16 Again, as the record shows, the urgent extraordinary measures we have invoked have invariably been in response to the need to fill a gap or address an emergency created either by a major policy or economic player or players in the country or by some external player or players hostile to Zimbabwe, including the unavoidable natural calamities in the mould of droughts, floods or disease outbreaks.
1.17 The price control war of June to October 2007 between the business sector on one hand and labour, civil society, consumers and Government on the other is as much a case in point as are the illegal sanctions that this country has been fighting against since 2001.
The BACCOSI programme which some in industry despise today was born out of the ashes of these needless fights.
1.18 In effect, the urgent extraordinary measures that the Central Bank has implemented under my direction have been no more than fire-fighting.
1.19 What my team and I find as most astounding is that it is the very same quarters, some inside and others outside the country, with yet some inside and others outside politics who have, in every instance, started the dangerous fires that we have had to put out through extraordinary measures, who have also been the loudest in the blame game against the Central Bank and its Governor.
1.20 As a result, we have had an unfortunate twist of logic in which economic saboteurs and financial arsonists (from the BURNING concept) who have been stroking up all manner of social, political and economic fires of destabilization all over the place are now masquerading as economic experts, blaming and demonizing the Central Bank and this Governor for putting out the fires they started in the first place.
1.21 You only need to visit the wires or the corridors of idleness and misfortune where these people spend most of their time to appreciate what has gone wrong with some amongst us who pose as civilized personalities during the day and yet at night are, in reality, what authors Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare describe in their book entitled “Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work” (Harper Collins Publishers 2007).
1.22 Against this background, I wish to place on record and to do so with a sense of personal and national pride that as Governor of the Central Bank I have no regrets about the fact that my team and I have not hesitated to put out the fires that some vested interests have been setting up to burn our country’s economy in the hope that the “bus can crash.”
1.23 Well, perhaps the message which must go out loud and clear to all “Snakes in Suits” and those who wish us ill is that this bus is not about to, and will not, crash. Furthermore, the message needs to be delivered that the bus driver is also not about to take any leave of absence, at least of all before the job is done and done well. That’s my commitment to all Zimbabweans interested in the successful turnaround of our economy.
1.24 I also wish to place it on record that I take full responsibility for the modest efforts that I and my team at the Central Bank have made and the consequences of those efforts, not just to put out emergency fires in the economy but also to seek lasting policy initiatives to stabilise and turnaround the economy.
1.25 It is my considered judgement that public service, and indeed leadership itself, is about taking responsibility for one’s decisions, actions and inactions.
1.26 I firmly believe that responsibility is the duty of public office. Doing nothing in the face of raging fires in the economy or being indifferent to those fires cannot be a discharge of any responsibility.
1.27 Unfortunately, there are some out there, especially the said economic, social and political arsonists I have referred to earlier, who think they know my duties as Governor of the Central Bank than I either know them myself or than I have actually discharged them in our particular circumstances. I am sure they can’t wait to say the same to my colleague Central Bank Governors the world over who are travelling the same route of quasi-Fiscal Operations or printing money in the face of extraordinary circumstances.
1.28 In my view, the challenge we have faced and the responsibility I have discharged have been equivalent not only to putting out very damaging fires deliberately started but also to mending a roof of a house on fire with multiple leaks in the middle of a heavy storm.
1.29 While we can all see that the roof is still leaking at least for now, and that some fires are still raging, the compelling truth is that many other leaks which could have sunk the ship had we chosen to leave them unattended, have indeed been mended and some fires
have been put out.
1.30 Yes, of course, evidence is there for everyone to see that some leaks are still there and some fires are still raging above our heads in the form of p1.31 the current hyperinflationary environment, the critical foreign exchange shortages, inadequate inputs, and the general capacity underutilisation across all major sectors of the economy. Indiscipline and corruption as cited in the 2009 National Budget Statement by the Acting Minister of Finance, among several others, are leaks and fires that have continue to undermine overall economic recovery, while at the same time retarding the country’s progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
1.32 And, whereas in the past, some in our midst may have displayed Ostrich-like tendencies when confronted with challenges, the time has come to face and confront our challenges with honesty and fortitude, knowing fully well however that we have to do most of the clean-up and rescue job ourselves more because everyone else in the world is preoccupied with their own problems and clean-up jobs to worry too much about us. The Minister’s Budget of 29 January, 2009 presents an opportunity for Zimbabweans to pick up the pieces of our jig-saw puzzle and reconstruct our castle from the firm foundation laid out in the 2009 Budget by the Acting Minister of Finance, the Hon. Senator P. A. Chinamasa. It is the only preoccupation available in town.
1.33 Before unveiling the package of Monetary Policy measures to take us forward, it is, like was done in the Fiscal Budget last week, necessary for me to repeat some realities cited by the Minister last week, against which this Monetary Policy has been and indeed the National Budget was crafted.
THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS...
1.34 In the first place, and broadly speaking, there is the stubborn reality of the effects of the current global financial crisis, which has been dubbed the worst since the 1930s. The major global economies are facing unprecedented economic challenges marked by a tight credit crunch. It is trite to mention that when these economies catch a severe cold, economies in the developing world sneeze.
1.35 In the midst of this global credit crisis many developing countries, including Zimbabwe, are finding it extremely difficult to raise developmental and general productive and trade finance in offshore markets.
DETERIORATING TERMS OF TRADE...
1.36 The precipitous decline in international commodity prices, particularly for platinum, gold, diamonds, nickel and copper is also a stubborn reality that Zimbabweans have to contend with, as this has seen the country taking a huge knock on its overall mining export earnings over the past 12 months.
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT...
1.37 Among the most stubborn realities that are at the heart of the background to this Monetary Policy Statement is the protracted search for a political settlement in our country since the inconclusive harmonised election of March 29, 2009. I understand however that we may at last be heading in the right direction if the media reports we have been having is anything to go by, but as before, we must never be tempted to count our chickens before they are hatched.
1.38 Although the impact of a political climate on business seems so obvious as not to warrant any mention, it is a common but often overlooked fact that the economic fortunes of any country are closely tied to its political circumstances.
1.39 Because the post March 29, 2008 election difficulties we are experiencing are a political reality, these difficulties are weighing down the collective energy of the nation, as well as giving easy excuses that are being used to justify the lack of international capital flows into the country on grounds that we are an unstable country lacking in peace, political maturity, tranquility, and predictability, that we do not deserve support or to be taken seriously.
1.40 This political instability in our planning environment is, therefore, a stubborn reality that has to be taken into account though I believe the situation should not have been allowed to go on for this long and as Zimbabweans, we must now deal with and face the negative economic consequences of this unacceptable situation. Talk of blaming the Central Bank Governor for it!
PRECONDITIONS FOR INVESTMENT AND CAPITAL INFLOWS…
1.41 It is fact that given the current global financial crisis and credit crunch, every nation is trying to claw back and find refuge in their capital reserves, leaving very little available for investment outside their boarders. It follows therefore that only those countries with exceptional investment opportunities, incentives, investment codes and sufficient legal protections have a chance to attract scarce investment capital.
1.42 As has been pointed out before in my many Monetary Policy Statements, Zimbabwe needs to pronounce itself ad-infinitum and with legal evidence thatp• We subscribe to the notion of private property rights and the enforceability of legal agreements that we enter into as a country or as private citizens.
• That we will remain flexible and mean well when it comes to those untenable clauses or sections pertaining to our Investment and Indigenisation laws.
• We need to publicly acknowledge and take on board the monetary obligations arising from any unintended breaches associated with genuine Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements (BIPAS) and may have inadvertently have been compromised during the emotive stages of our now “irreversible” Land Reform Program, regardless of who the holders of those BIPAs are. This will show the world that we are and have always been a law abiding people regardless of the inequities of those who colonised us yesterday but break their promises and commitments at will.
• Re-enact property rights laws in Zimbabwe as a sign of a new irrevocable commitment to same. These are hard realities we have to reckon with, without which investment inflows into our country will remain sub-optimal and hence delay our quick recovery. We are confident that the appropriate legislative arms of Government will be ceased with this advice and do whatever is legally and politically necessary to facilitate investment inflows into the country as we open a new chapter in this new year.
FOOD SECURITY...
1.43 Against the background of repeated droughts and the adverse effects of foreign exchange shortages on the agro-inputs supply chain, the country’s food security status needs major improvement so as to uplift the general quality of life for the majority of Zimbabweans.
1.44 The food supply gap, thus, has remained a major pressure point for us, as the limited foreign exchange inflows have had to be directed towards supplementary food imports, as opposed to going towards new wealth creation.
1.45 It is for this reason that as the Central Bank, we have been making and will continue to make clarion calls for our farmers to fully utilise their land, supported by agricultural policies and pricing systems that promote viability of farmers through liberalized market systems as announced last week by the Hon. Acting Minister of Finance, Senator P. A. Chinamasa.
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS SUPPORT...
1.46 The absence of capital in the form of lines of credit, and balance of payments support for Zimbabwe due to the sanctions imposed on the country are another reality that is having a significant bearing on the state of our economy today and therefore adversely affecting our planning options, as well as limit the range of effective policy measures at our disposal.
1.47 Lack of balance of payments support has diminished the flexibility of Monetary Policy options, as the country has had to rely solely on internal domestic bank finance and other appropriate financial engineering schemes and gymnastics to meet its recurrent and developmental programmes.
1.48 We will continue to engineer and play those gymnastics as long as we remain under the yoke of sanctions because our survival as a people is not negotiable.
THE CURSE OF NATURAL RESOURCES...
1.49 Zimbabwe paradoxically stands as one of the world’s most endowed countries when it comes to the abundance of God-given natural resources and human capacities.
1.50 The fact that in spite of the presence of so much mineral resources and human capacities in our country, we remain unable to utilize the same signifies the need for a total paradigm shift in the way we conduct our economic and financial affairs as a country, as a people and Government.
1.51 This Monetary Policy Statement is coming at a time when very little, if any, value is being unlocked from the country’s vast diamond resources, whilst the abundant coal bed methane gas also remains completely untapped, among several other minerals that are highly underextracted. While this is a stubborn reality for now, it is heartening to note that Government through the recently announced National Budget has committed itself to serious action to redress this catastrophe of poverty amidst plenty.
THE CORRUPTION BUG...
1.52 As is the case in any environment where economic fundamentals are constrained, price controls rife, with pricing distortions the order of the day, the prevalence of corruption is inescapable.
1.53 Corruption does not only retard overall economic recovery due to its generation of disincentives for genuine economic processes but it also imposes a deadweight loss to society through phenomenal increases in transactions costs on the back of the attendant corruption levies and premiums.
1.54 We are pleased to again observe that Government has removed most if not all manner of price controls and pricing distortions as announced in the National Budget last week. This move together with the stiff fines and penalties prescribed in foreign currency for different levels of indiscipline should go a long way towards the reduction and eventual elimination of the bug.
THE CASH SITUATION...
1.55 Repeatedly, and regrettably, the country has suffered bouts of cash shortages which have disadvantaged both the corporate and household sectors of the economy.
1.56 As a country, we have to come to terms with this stubborn reality that we were put under economic sanctions by Germany which unilaterally cut a 50-year old contract to supply us with currency printing paper, machinery, spare parts and inks without notice in July last year.
1.57 The printing capacity, at Fidelity printers is fixed at 2 million pieces per day and changing this would require US$ 500 million in investment costs and a minimum lead time of 24 months. With the daily fixed 2 million pieces limit, the growing demand for currency can only be met through increases in the denominations of the notes.
1.58 This stubborn reality which is beyond the control of the Central Bank, has been lost to those in our country who, while they do not want to take responsibility for anything, are nevertheless very quick to blame the Governor for the high denominations as if there is any other alternative given the ever growing demands for cash in a hyperinflationary environment.
1.59 If you all want to withdraw all your money from the Banks in one day and do not give us the lead time to print convenient denominations, we have no choice but to sacrifice your convenience and give you all your money but in large denominations because of printing capacity constraints. It is both an engineering and a physical fact which the Governor can do very little about even with the best heart and will in the world.
1.60 As Zimbabweans, we must thus tell each other the truth about what is and what is not possible. It is not possible to have our cake and eat it at the same time.
1.61 It is therefore regrettable that some stakeholders here at home who should know better, have labelled the cash shortages as “Reserve Bank mischief”, and thus, have gone about campaigning for harm to come the way of the Central Bank team or the Governor in his personal capacity.
1.62 This demonstrates beyond doubt that some important and yet “do nothing” elements in our society have sunk to new lows without precedent in the history of imaginations.
FINANCIAL SECTOR INDISCIPLINE...
1.63 Events during the last quarter of 2008 showed that the financial sector had fallen back into territories of indiscipline and general malaise, resulting in the contamination of ethics in such institutions as the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) which invented the deadly phenomena of “burning money”.
1.64 As I have warned the Nation on countless times, “the phenomenon of burning money”, which was being cynically equated to the miracle of Jesus Christ feeding the multitudes with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, was a most inflationary distortion in our economy, as many people became instant multi-sextillionaires out of doing absolutely nothing other than stringing-up “connections” so to speak.
1.65 The new measures herein contained are production oriented and have no room for the lazy and idle minds and bodies to exist in our midst, let alone eat from the sweat of others. The measures constitute a war against idleness as without some gainful activity, yesterday’s roadport and world-bank sextillionaires destined for the starvation market much more than has been the case for many of their kind since November 20, 2008.
1.66 As true as the sun rises and sets each day, the “miracle” of “burning” money could not be sustained by men and women born of flesh and pretending to have the supernatural powers of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was soon to back-fire and consume those who were stroking the fires in the first place.
1.67 Suffice to note that this phenomenon of indiscipline in banking and stock markets is precisely what has largely been responsible for the current global economic crisis particularly in the USA.
1.68 Consequently, Governments in US, Europe and other emerging market economies have bailed out and continue to bail out troubled but corrupt institutions built from, and by what amounts to pyramid fraudsters.
1.69 For instance, in the US, Madoff was involved in a US$ 50 billion fraud in a pyramid scheme. Before 20 November 2008, we had many “Madoffs” in our midst some of whom are still licking their wounds from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange crash.
1.70 Furthermore, according to international media reports, the fifth richest man in Germany, Adolf Merckle committed suicide at the beginning of January 2009 following a significant loss on the equities trade.
1.71 Not to be outdone, recently too, an Indian computer giant, Satyam Computer Services was involved in a US$ 1 billion fraud in the midst of the on-going global financial crisis.
1.72 These are but a few examples of outright greed elsewhere around the world whose moral equivalent many of us have witnessed here at home over the last few years under “burning” phenomenon which created impossible demands for cash and pushed up the country’s hyperinflation now blamed on the Reserve Bank and the Governor personally by our “Snakes in Suits” economic experts.
BEHAVIOURAL TRAITS...
1.73 As one macro-economic unit called Zimbabwe, we need to re-examine our actions. Our individual and collective actions of the past have not taken us anywhere, particularly in the areas of advancing our collective socio-economic programmes.
1.74 The behaviour of some of our politicians too needs serious review not least because some of them talk the most and point dirty fingers at others while they do between little and nothing to improve the bad situation on the ground and have never taken responsibility for anything beyond playing the blame game.
1.75 The behaviour of Government departments which directly impacts on policy effectiveness and implementation has to change. Some heads of Government departments are now behaving less as technocrats and more like the legions of “do-nothing” politicians in our midst.
1.76 The behaviour of our diplomats also needs to change for the better for the same reasons.
1.77 We have to maximize output on our farms, mines and industry at large. The behaviour of our productive sectors, thus, has to change too.
1.78 The Zimbabwean economy has been progressively declining for the past decade, reflecting underperformance, and indeed poor performance, in the broad sectors of the economy.
TAKING ON BOARD THE IMF AND ITS ADVICE…
1.79 The IMF, in its latest evaluation of our situation, dated 13 January, 2009, described Zimbabwe’s circumstances as grave, and prescribed the following way forwardp(a) Substantial fiscal adjustment, including the termination of all quasi-fiscal activities by the Reserve Bank, a matter fully dealt with in the Fiscal budget 2009 and in this Statement. We do not regard this as an issue anymore.
(b) Liberalisation of price controls and imposition of hard budget constraints on public enterprises, a matter again adequately dealt with in the budget and one which we do not regard as an issue anymore.
(c) Exchange rate unification and removal of all restrictions on making payments and transfers for current international transactions; - a matter fully addressed and dealt with in this Statement and therefore a non-issue anymore.
(d) Establishment of a strong nominal anchor for monetary policy, again a non-issue anymore since both the 2009 Budget and this Monetary Policy Statement addresses the
issue fully.
1.80 What I find surprising if not downright dishonest is that even before the IMF issued this statement, the Reserve Bank had already publicly declared that effective this January, 2009, all these matters would be streamlined in view of the anticipated normalisation of the political environment and the resumption of the functionality of key public sector institutions, as well as the return to work of the productive sectors of the economy whose collapse had necessitated extraordinary interventions by the Monetary Authorities, including through bail-outs and quasi-fiscal operations which are the order of the day today the world over.
1.81 All that we ask of our multilateral partners is their fairness, objectivity and sincerity in dealing with our situation.
SANCTIONS…
1.82 Although to some this might now sound like what used to be called a “broken record” before the digital era, I will continue to point out the truth that the country’s declining economic performance is also inextricably bound to the debilitating effects of sanctions imposed on the country, following the watershed Land Reform Program embarked on by Government in 2000.
1.83 Declared and undeclared sanctions against Zimbabwe have been characterized by suspension of balance of payments support, and the cancellation of life-line projects, thereby exacerbating the plight of the vulnerable groups in Zimbabwe.
THIS POLICY STATEMENT…
1.84 Against the backdrop of these realities and the urgency of the economic difficulties at hand, this Monetary Policy Statement seeks to achieve the following objectives, which are also consistent with the recommendations on policy reforms by SADC, the IMF as well as by other well meaning centres of excellence here at home and abroadp(a) To institute currency reforms which bring transactional convenience to the public;
(b) To remove the pricing distortions in the economy in a manner that promotes producer viability;
(c) To streamline and close the Reserve Bank’s quasifiscal operations within the framework of a more coherent fiscal management system, leaving the Central Bank with the core responsibilities of managing price stability factors, banking sector licensing and supervision in addition to official foreign exchange reserves management;
(d) To liberalise the foreign exchange market in a manner that sees the exchange rate returning to serving its key function as a strategic policy instrument for the achievement of both productive and resource allocative efficiency in the economy;
(e) To revolutionise agriculture by adopting market and investor friendly farm policies, supported by the call for active participation of the private sector, as well as regional and international investors in supporting our farmers;
(f) To deepen financial sector stability by enhancing the prudential supervisory guidelines, particularly in view of the contemporary global financial system;
(g) To promote the general availability of goods and services in the economy through the liberalization and the allowance of the circulation of multiple currencies in the economy, while also maintaining and indeed redeveloping the intrinsic value of the Zimbabwe dollar as the country’s sovereign and legal tender which in effect means “multi-currencying” rather than “dollarizing” the economy;
(h) To support gold producers through innovative ways that enable the sector to retain more foreign exchange, as well as allowing them to leverage on their production to access regional and international gold-backed lines of credit;
(i) To revive and defend the country’s educational system through Exchange Control Regulations that bring viability to schools while at the same time leaving room for the vulnerable groups to continue to access quality education by using the local currency;
(j) To maintain a robust interest rate regime that fights inflation, whilst at the same time ensuring that the productive sectors have access to offshore and other domestic foreign exchange denominated loans;
(k) To realign the FCA retention levels in support of generators of foreign exchange; and
(l) To proffer necessary policy advice to Government and the rest of the economy on alternative strategies that deal with our present difficult circumstances in robust, audacious, effective and lasting ways.
[ see the PDF file for the rest . . . . . . ]
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RBZ slashes 12 zeros

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The Herald
2009 02 03
Business Editor
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has removed 12 zeros from the Zimbabwe dollar, broadened the foreign currency licensing framework and relaxed exchange control regulations as part of a cocktail of measures to jump-start the economy.
A new family of currency denominations, ranging from $ 1 to $ 500, has been introduced with immediate effect while the old currency already in circulation will remain legal tender until June 30, this year.
As was intimated in the National Budget statement last week, all businesses, right from the largest company to the street vendor, will now be allowed to sell their goods and services in foreign currency.
They will be required to apply for special foreign exchange licences, under which they will pay an annual fee ranging from US$ 10 once-off for hawkers and US$ 12 000 annually depending on location and nature of business.
These measures further endorse the adoption of a multiple currency trading system announced by Acting Finance Minister Senator Patrick Chinamasa last Thursday.
The entire commercial sector has now become an export processing zone, a strategy meant to increase the number of participants across the entire economic spectrum, ultimately increasing the availability of goods and services.
A base exchange rate of Z$ 2 (revalued) to the South African rand and Z$ 20 to the US dollar came into effect yesterday. Its movement, starting from today, will be determined in the market with all foreign currency transactions effected at the going rate.
Presenting his Monetary Policy Statement, dubbed "Turning Our Difficulties Into Opportunities - Exports, Forex, Exports", in Harare yesterday, RBZ Governor Dr Gideon Gono stressed that the new measures were not tantamount to dollarisation, but are a strategy to liberalise the economy.
"This is a tailor-made strategic intervention that is meant to bring convenience to the general public, as well as supporting productive efficiencies, whilst at the same time preserving the sovereign Zimbabwe dollar by giving it company among other currencies of choice, which is the essence of multi-currencying," he said.
The revaluation of the dollar and the new dual pricing framework under which Dr Gono directed that goods and services be quoted in both Zimdollars and foreign currency would help shore up the domestic currency.
The pricing formulae would be based on the inter-bank market-determined exchange rate.
"Even in the face of the current economic and political difficulties confronting the economy, the Zimbabwe dollar ought to and must remain the nation’s currency, so as to safeguard our national identity and sovereignty," he said.
The RBZ chief said 2009 would mark the turning point for the country’s economic fortunes. Progress would be premised on hard work, honesty and sacrifice.
Vouchers, which would be given as an allowance for civil servants, will be issued with a US$ 100 value apiece, to be used as cash to purchase goods and pay for services.
Traders will then bank them, after which they will be forwarded to the central bank where they will be debited against Government’s foreign currency collections.
Sen Chinamasa announced last week that the voucher system would be an interim measure to facilitate access to a basket of goods and services for civil servants.
Dr Gono challenged banks to adapt to the new economic dispensation and come up with products that would encourage foreign currency to circulate in the formal system.
"It is now time for the (banking) industry to develop aggressive marketing strategies, incentives and products that promote banking in foreign currency, especially by individuals," he said.
Bank charges for FCAs will be levied in foreign currency.
Dr Gono also encouraged banks to install Point of Sale machines and other systems in foreign exchange trading areas and to issue debit cards such as the Mastercard or Visa to enable FCA customers to transact both locally and internationally.
"You asked for it and we have given it to you," he said in apparent reference to the request for further economic liberalisation.
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‘No more exchange approval for forex salaries’

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The Herald
2009 02 03
By Obert Chifamba
ALL companies with foreign currency trading licences can now pay their employees in foreign currency without exchange control approval, the Reserve Bank has said.
The salaries will be paid through the employees’ Foreign Currency Accounts established with local authorised dealers.
The companies will now need to only notify exchange control authorities of their intention to remunerate in foreign currency.
Previously, approval had to be sought first.
"The same modalities on the payment of salaries will also apply to staff from organisations such as non-governmental organisations, embassies, international organisations and diplomatic missions whose funds are treated as free funds," Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono said yesterday as he presented his monetary policy statement.
"All corporates shall, therefore, with immediate effect be allowed to pay salaries in foreign currency for their employees without prior exchange control approval even though all such requests shall be processed at bank level," said Dr Gono.
Salary payments in foreign currency would enable employees to access most products and services being quoted in foreign currency.
Further liberalisation will soon see most firms acquiring foreign currency licences, enabling them to remunerate in hard currency.
Some companies that were granted exchange control approval before the new dispensation are already paying staff in foreign currency.
Zimbabwe has adopted a multiple currency system where the US dollar, the South African rand and the Botswana pula, among others, are trading as legal tender alongside the Zimbabwe dollar.
Workers have been clamouring for remuneration in foreign currency to enable them to access goods and services that are now quoted in hard currency.
Dr Gono warned that a firm legislative framework and judicial reinforcement mechanism, backed by follow-ups and surveillance programmes, would be enforced.
"Given the extended nature of the licensing framework, there is no reason why companies or individuals should be tempted to operate without a licence, risking a brush with the law," he warned.
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Zimbabwe knocks 12 zeroes off inflation-hit dollar

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http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/zimbabwe-knocks-12-zeroes-off-inflationhit-dollar-2009-02-02
ZIM CURRENCY
By: Reuters
2nd February 2009
Zimbabwe's central bank revalued its dollar again on Monday, lopping another 12 zeros off its battered currency to try to tame hyperinflation and avert total economic collapse.
The crisis has been worsened by political stalemate between President Robert Mugabe and his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, but the opposition last week agreed to join a coalition government, raising prospects the economy could be saved from further ruin.
The southern African country is battling the world's highest inflation rate, officially put at 231-million percent, and acute shortages of food and foreign exchange.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono announced the new currency moves on Monday, adding that some foreign exchange controls will be relaxed and gold producers now can sell bullion directly and not to the central bank as in the past.
"This Monetary Policy Statement unveils yet another necessary programme of revaluing our local currency, through the removal of 12 zeroes, with immediate effect," Gono said in his MPC statement.
Late last month the country allowed businesses to charge in foreign currencies in a bid to tackle inflation and Gono said those businesses could pay their workers in foreign currency.
The country's stock exchange, which has not traded for two months, would also be licenced to trade in foreign currency once listed firms and the exchange provide evaluation criteria.
Gono gave no updated inflation figures but said broad money supply growth rose from 81,000 percent in January to 658 billion percent in December.
"His statement does contain some positive measures but it does not go far enough. It would appear he is trying to restore the Zimbabwean dollar, but given the choice of multiple currencies, who would want to trade in Zimbabwe dollars?" John Robertson, a leading Harare-based economist said.
Tsvangirai, who had been under heavy pressure from southern African leaders to implement a September 15 power-sharing pact with Mugabe, is now set to become prime minister.
The unity government may be a step towards saving a once prosperous country where over half of the people now need food aid and a cholera epidemic has killed 3,229 people and infected 62,909 others - Africa's deadliest outbreak in 15 years.
Gono said production in every major economic sector had taken a plunge.
Output of gold, the country's single major foreign currency earner, plunged by 50 percent in 2008 as companies grappled with rising costs and electricity shortages.
Edited by: Reuters
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World Bank appeals for Africa as growth slows<

BR>.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/world-bank-appeals-for-africa-as-growth-slows-2009-02-02-1
economic growth
By: Reuters
2nd February 2009
Africa's economic growth will slow to 3,5 percent this year and could drop to 2,5 percent in 2010 unless rich nations take action to counter the impact of the global financial crisis, the World Bank said on Sunday.
Experts say initial hopes the world's poorest continent would escape the worst of the turmoil were premature and it will be hit hard by falling demand for commodities, reduced remittances, investment, tourism and domestic tax revenues.
Over the last decade, African economies have grown by an annual average of 5,8 percent, the World Bank says.
"The forecast for this continent before the whole roof came down with the financial crisis ... was actually 6,8 percent," said Obiageli Ezekwesili, its vice president for Africa.
"Now this is being revised: maybe 3,5 percent (in 2009), maybe less than that ... if urgent action is not taken, we could see it lose another percentage point in 2010."
She said it was crucial wealthier states not focus on "insular" domestic responses to the crisis, but heed a call by the World Bank to allocate at least 0,7 percent of any stimulus package to a "vulnerability fund" for African infrastructure.
"They should remember that this crisis was not of Africa's making. Africa is suffering collateral damage," she told reporters on the sidelines of a February 1-3 African Union summit.
"The G8 countries and the rest of the development community must raise their game concerning the resources that Africa needs to sort itself out. The impact of this financial crisis is too devastating on very fragile groups."
Speaking in Davos on Friday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for the rebuilding of institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund created in the 1940s when the world's financial landscape was very different.
Ezekwesili said the Bank had changed its practices enormously in recent decades to prioritise investment in areas like the transfer of knowledge and technical expertise, as well as non-concessional lending. But she agreed more had to be done.
"The world has completely changed around us," she said.
She said the continent's policymakers realised the value of reforms that had given birth to the last decade's economic growth.
She highlighted the telecoms sector, where she said the World Bank had been at the heart of urging African governments to scrap inefficient monopolies, with dramatic results.
"Once the enabling environment happened, the private sector turned up, and today they are really cleaning up big time."
Edited by: Reuters
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Fidelity Printers stretched beyond capacity

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http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=10854
February 2, 2009
By Raymond Maingire
Harare
Reserve Bank governor, Gideon Gono has admitted the central bank money printing machines have become overwhelmed by the persistent demand for new bank notes.
Gono said Fidelity Printers, government’s minting company, can only churn out two million notes per day and was thus unable to print lower denomination notes, which are in short supply in Zimbabwe.
The central bank chief last month introduced a 10 trillion dollar bank note, by far the highest denomination in the world.
Zimbabwe experiences recurrent cash shortages caused by hyper-inflation, which was last July calculated to be over 230 million percent but is now believed to be much higher.
“The country has suffered bouts of cash shortages which have disadvantaged both the corporate and household sectors of the economy,” Gono said Monday while presenting his first monetary policy during which he further loped off 12 zeroes from Zimbabwe’s multi-digit currency.
It was his first monetary statement since his reappointment for a second five year term in November last year.
“The printing capacity at Fidelity can only print two million pieces of currency.
“Two million pieces of currency if we decide to print 10 dollar notes, in order to cause convenience to the transacting public, it means we can only print two million times 10.
“You will agree with me that that kind f money is not sufficient even for a person or one customer.
“If we decide to print 100 million dollar notes, it means two million multiplied by 100. That is the capacity that we can print per day.”
Gono, whose controversial monetary policies are blamed for Zimbabwe’s hyper inflation, said the central bank would need another minting company and an additional two years to satisfy the abnormal demand for cash in Zimbabwe, which he attributed to that Zimbabweans have since abandoned the use of alternative sources of payment such as cheques and credit cards.
“It is both an engineering and a physical challenge which as governor, my team can only do very little about even with the best heart and will in the world,” he said.
“If we are to overcome that and have a second Fidelity, we would need US$ 500 million in the form of capital, we would need a lead time of not less that two years and as you know, we don’t have that much and therefore the message is you cannot have your cake and eat it.”
He said the central bank was forced to adopt desperate measures to keep the demand for cash within manageable levels.
“If the demand, as imposed by yourselves is higher than that and you continue to demand that you want all your money, you leave the governor and his team with no choice than to allow you to have your money but in feasible denominations that allow for every other customer demanding the same to have it.
“As a country we have had to come to terms with the stubborn reality that we were put under economic sanctions by Germany which unilaterally cut a 50 year old contract to supply us with currency printing paper, machinery, spare parts, ink and other consumables without notice in July last year.
“So this stubborn reality which is beyond the control of the central bank has been lost to those in our country who while they do not want to take responsibility for anything are nevertheless very quick to blame the governor for the high denominations as if there is any other alternative given the ever growing demands for cash in the hyper inflationary environment.”
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Many grew fat through “burning money”

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http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=10881
February 2, 2009
Jupiter Punungwe
I HAVE some hope for Zimbabwe, not because of the political marriage that is supposed to be consummated in Zimbabwe’s political bedrooms this week.
I have hope because at last there seems to be dawning admission in the Zimbabwe leadership circles of a principle that I have always tried to argue without success.
Put simply, no government can ever be a net benefactor to its people because every government relies on taxing the very same people for its income, or exploiting resources that are supposed to benefit the people any way. Therefore my hopes are raised that the Zimbabwe leadership seem to have at last abandoned the lie that people can sit back and do nothing while the government does everything for them.
The source of my hope is the way the Zimbabwe budget was structured. I am delighted at the removal of price controls and trade restrictions especially on the chief economic commodity in the country, maize. Many of my generation were sent to school through money proudly generated by our parents when they sold their extra harvest to the then efficient GMB. Restoring that particular facet of economic opportunity is an essential cog in turning around the economy.
Of course it also helps that all the other price controls that were responsible for decimating Zimbabwe’s industry have also largely been confined to the dustbins of history.
I am also heartily encouraged by the decisions to allow parents to contribute more directly to the education of their children. When the people are given control at basic grassroots level on how to plan basic services, it gives them more autonomy from central authority. That is the hallmark of true empowerment. This should ultimately increase the democratic traction that the people have on the whole governance system. No single individual can then claim to be their overall benefactor when, in fact, he would only be using money that people paid as tax in the first place.
The damage that can be done to the democratic system can be evidenced by what happened in the 1992 drought. At that time, maize provided by the state came to be associated with one individual. We all remember /chibage chaVaMugabe/ (Mugabe’s maize) don’t we?
People forgot that an individual cannot have a thousand hands with which to plant a thousand fields.
There is one crucial and important step left. That is to bring to account all those who deliberately distorted government regulations so that they as individuals could benefit from the distorted positions. Regulations were deliberately distorted to ensure that illegal activities by senior officials would in theory remain legal.
Of course my very first target is people who maintained artificial exchange rates, created cash shortages and generally presided over all sorts of monetary shenanigans. Such people firstly illegally benefited from allocating themselves, their friends and even casual intimate girlfriends, hard currency and printed money at the heavily, heavily subsidized government rates. It is telling that such people have been able to acquire enough wealth, from these distortions, to build palaces with multi-score bedrooms.
They deliberately created nefarious opportunity for themselves and their cohorts to benefit from what became known as ‘burning’ money. This was an activity through which a combination of cash shortages and skewered exchange rates were used to plunder money from legitimate businesses and enrich a few undeserving powerful individuals or connections in high places.
Let me try and explain how this worked. Suppose Air Zimbabwe was selling tickets to London for a thousand pounds. The officially prescribed exchange rate for the pound would be, say, Z$ 100 to the pound. Thus the ticket officially cost Z$ 100 000. At the same time, the black market rate would be say Z$ 100 000 to the pound. That meant that it was possible to take one pound, sell it on the black market, take the hundred thousand Zimbabwe dollars and go and buy a ticket worth one thousands pounds from Air Zimbabwe.
Alternatively one could take the one pound sell it at the black market rate, take the realized Zimbabwe dollars to the bank and apply for foreign currency at the official rate. If this was approved they would end up with a thousand pounds where they originally had one pound. Of course the catch was that for the trick to work one had to be well connected at the Reserve Bank, or in the ruling establishment. This was necessary to get the authorization to buy foreign currency at the official rate.
What this boils down to, is that a hundred thousand Zimbabwe dollars in the hands of a man on the street like me, was worth nothing. The same amount in the hands of Gideon Gono or Grace Mugabe was worth a thousand pounds. This explains how these people were able to acquire massive wealth from literally nothing.
The foreign currency used to enrich these individuals was being forcibly taken from legitimate exporters and businesses, which were at one time being forced to surrender almost 50 percent of their hard currency to the government at the ‘official’ exchange rate.
Even money from charitable organizations was not spared. We have all heard how Zimbabwe government and Reserve Bank officials had the audacity to take millions of American dollars meant to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS from the Global Fund. This was all done to feed the rapacious money ‘burning’ machine that the Reserve Bank was presiding over.
The distorted regulations were kept in place with the full knowledge that there were glaring loopholes through which well connected individuals could fleece, not only the state, but private organizations and individuals as well. Clearly this is evidence that the responsible regulator departed from their mandate to always act for greater public good. In other words we have prima facie evidence that they criminally abused their public office and public trust for individual benefit.
There are the people who allocated themselves heavily subsidized fuel from state resources and proceeded to sell it on the black-market. Many of them even setup backdoor fuel depots. This explains why legitimate fuel companies like Caltex, Total, BP and Shell were forced to close their service stations by regulation while backdoor fuel depots were allowed to mushroom all over the place. The regulations were deliberately kept in place to eliminate competition from legitimate fuel companies while allowing cronies and cohorts to set up unsafe backyard depots.
It is an open secret that in the past few months, since it became evident that the governance equation was going to change, officials have been using the regulatory loopholes they created to massively fleece the state of it’s resources and ship off huge amounts to Fast East destinations.
The unbridled greed, selfishness and vampire like behaviour that has been displayed in these few short months are jaw-dropping. It explains the astronomical inflation figures and total disregard for public infrastructure that has left thousands dying from cholera and faced with starvation and a hopeless economic situation.
It should be impressed upon Far East governments that they should not allow themselves to be used as conduits for money cruelly stolen from Zimbabwe. They should not be found sitting at the same fire with thieves. If that happens they equally share the blame with the robbers. It should be impressed upon the likes of Abdullah Badawi, Hu Jintao that if they allow money stolen from state coffers to have a safe haven in their countries, then they bear equal responsibility for the cholera deaths, the hunger and the collapsed economy with the people who put the money there.
We should not allow the precedent that these government officials set to be sustained. We should not allow the use of legitimate regulatory structures of government, to legitimize illegal activities meant to rob the state and citizens of their resources. The state’s resources are the people’s resources and robbing the state is as bad as breaking into a house in Kuwadzana and running out with a TV.
There is absolutely no reason why a man who runs off with a TV from a Kuwadzana house and one who runs off with millions of American dollars in from state coffers, through loopholes which they deliberately installed, and kept in place, should be treated differently.
We should not allow the benefits accrued from deliberate distortion of regulatory structures to be kept by the benefactors. We would be setting a very dangerous precedent that will come back to haunt us in future. Officials, from the present and in the future, should be made to understand that if they use the legitimate powers of public office, to create and sustain situations through which they loot people’s and state resources, they will be brought to book.
If we allow some to get away now, we will have a hard time containing others in the future. Right now is the time to defuse this horrendous time bomb, not tomorrow.
Action must be taken, now.
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Zimbabwe: Ban calls on Mugabe to release prisoners following power-sharing deal

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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29750&Cr=zimbabwe&Cr1=ban
UN News Centre
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left) with Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe
2 February 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to release all prisoners arrested over the past few months, following the agreement between the governing and opposition parties to form a government.
In a meeting in Addis Ababa yesterday on the margins of the African Union summit, Mr. Ban welcomed the agreement but he urged Mr. Mugabe to take immediate steps to address the humanitarian and economic crises plaguing the country, uphold the human rights and democratic freedoms of all Zimbabweans, and promote national reconciliation.
“I welcome the National Unity Government as a first step toward full democracy. But there remains a long way to go,” he told a news conference in the Ethiopian capital today, adding that he would immediately send a high-level humanitarian mission to Zimbabwe.
He pledged that the UN would work closely with the new government, in which opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai is to be Prime Minister, on the implementation of humanitarian programmes to help mitigate what he has previously called the “desperate” situation in the impoverished southern African country.
Zimbabwe has endured months of political tensions after disputed presidential elections in March involving Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai, and it is hoped the power-sharing deal will now allay these.
Beyond that, the country is in the throes of its worst recorded cholera epidemic which has already claimed 3,100 lives and infected 60,000 people, surpassing the UN World Health Organization’s (WHO) worst-case scenario figure and indicating that the outbreak is spiralling out of control despite the concerted efforts of local health authorities, the UN and non-governmental organizations.
Last week the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) announced that it was releasing close to $ 8 million to help fight the spread of the disease amid collapsing social and other services.
UN agencies and their humanitarian partners have launched a $ 567 million appeal to support those in need in Zimbabwe in 2009, but only 12 per cent has been pledged so far.
News Tracker: past stories on this issue
Ban hails unity government deal in Zimbabwe
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UN chief says compromise imperfect

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http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=10909
February 2, 2009
U.N. secretary general Ban-Ki Moon
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Associated Press) - The U.N. chief said Monday that Zimbabwe’s newly forged national unity government is an “imperfect” solution, and that it can only resolve the country’s political crisis if President Robert Mugabe makes further progress.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon - who met Mugabe on Sunday on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa - said he urged him to move the country forward politically by taking important steps such as releasing political prisoners.
On Friday, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change party agreed to join a unity government with Mugabe within weeks, bowing to pressure to conclude a deal so the nation’s humanitarian crisis can be tackled.
“While I have welcomed the decision of Mr. Tsvangirai and MDC’s decision to join unity government, I still believe this is an imperfect situation,” Ban told journalists Monday. “I have urged President Mugabe to build upon this new development … and try to make progress as soon as possible, so that they can ensure the fuller democracy and freedom.”
Zimbabwe has been in a political crisis since disputed presidential elections last year. Today, it has the world’s highest official inflation rate, cholera has killed more than 3,000 people since August, and millions need food aid.
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Robert Mugabe agrees to UN team - Ban

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http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/1469.html
02 February, 2009 11:30:00
Staff Reporter
Robert Mugabe Addis Ababa
Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe has agreed to allow a top-level United Nations team to visit Zimbabwe to find ways of curbing a cholera epidemic and a hunger crisis, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.
Ban told reporters that he had met with Mugabe on Sunday on the sidelines of the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital.
The meeting came three days after the country's main opposition agreed to form a unity government with the 84-year-old president, a decision that Ban warned would not be enough to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis.
"The humanitarian situation, which has reached an almost unbearable point for the people in Zimbabwe, has been a source of deep, deep concern for the international community, for the United Nations," Ban told a press conference.
"He assured me that he and his country would be fully open to humanitarian work and activities," Ban said.
Mugabe agreed to accept a high-level UN team led by assistant secretary-general on humanitarian affairs Catherine Bragg, who would assess the crisis and find ways to deliver aid, Ban said.
A cholera epidemic has killed more than 3 000 people in Zimbabwe, while 7 million people - more than half the population - need emergency food aid, according to UN figures.
Unity deal 'imperfect'
Ban also repeated his concerns about the planned unity government, and said he had told Mugabe that his government still needed to release political prisoners and end human rights abuses.
"I still believe that this is an imperfect decision," Ban said of the unity deal.
"I have urged President Mugabe to build up on this new develoment and try to make progress as soon as possible so that they can ensure full democracy and freedom," he said.
"I urge them to fully protect the human rights of the Zimbabwean people and release all prisoners who have been arrested over the last few months."
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed on Friday to join Mugabe in a unity government, serving as prime minister, following disputed elections last March.
- AFP
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Teachers' Strike Infringes Children’s Right to Education

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http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=45641
ZIMBABWE
Stanley Kwenda
Credit: Stanley Kwenda/IPS
How to balance teachers' needs for a decent wage with education for children like Joyce & Tendai Mukuwo?
HARARE, Feb 2 (IPS)
The crisis of Zimbabwe’s education sector is deepening by the day, as the country’s schools remain closed due to the unremitting teachers strike.
Teachers refuse to go to work unless they are paid in foreign currency, because ever-increasing inflation rates made their salaries negligible.
The ongoing strike is starting to hamper children’s rights to education, and it becomes less and less likely that Zimbabwe will meet the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal access to primary education by 2015.
"The government has failed to manage the affairs and should hand over the education sector to capable people," demanded Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) president Clever Bere. "The educational sector has virtually been destroyed, yet [education is] a human right."
The opening of schools, originally planned for January 13, was postponed until January 27. But even at this later date, doors remained closed to pupils. Universities and colleges have also remained closed.
What makes matters worse is that thousands of students who wrote exams last year have not received their results because the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) has been struggling to find teachers to mark exams. Even if schools reopen soon, pupils will be unable to move to the next educational level without the results.
A Harare parent sent a passionate letter to the state-owned Herald Newspaper, begging government to bring the education system back onto track.
"If the situation is not controlled, Zimbabwe is going to have a whole generation of uneducated and troublesome youths," the anonymous parent lamented.
Many teachers have been on strike since early last year, forcing schools to either close or run with few teaching staff. As a result, many children have already lost several months of education.
Better pay
Striking teachers say they will not return to work unless they are paid in U.S. Dollars, with the teachers union asking for a monthly salary of a minimum of $ 2,300 per teacher.
Currently, teachers are paid 70 trillion Zimbabwe dollars a month, which comes to only U.S. $ 3 on the street market where people usually trade their currency. This amount only buys about three loaves of bread or pays for a single taxi ride into town.
"Teachers are sending a clear message that we are suffering. Government must start engaging us positively," said Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary general, Raymond Majongwe.
The Department of Education claims it is trying to solve the problems in the education sector, while threatening to fire teachers who did not report for duty on January 27 in response to the continuing strike.
"The ministry appreciates the challenges facing teachers, which include high and unpredictable transport costs being charged in foreign exchange and teachers being unable to access basic food items, said secretary for education, sport and culture, Stephen Mahere. "We want to assure our teachers that government remains sensitive to their plight and is doing everything possible to address their concerns."
He promised to arrange transport to take teachers to work, implement school supplementary feeding schemes for pupils, provide meals to teachers and ensure that teachers are not made victims of political violence.
Teachers have dismissed these proposals, however, asking for more substantial incentives. "Teachers have families to feed, children to educate and a social life. What they want is money," said PTUZ president Takavafira Zhou. On the day schools were supposed to open, teachers say there was no sign transport provided for them.
Children lose out
Joyce (12) and Tendai Mukuwo (10), are two of the many pupils who found themselves in front of closed doors on January 27. The sisters, who are registered at Aspindale Primary School, near the high density suburb of Budiriro in Harare, say their teachers told them "not to bother to come back to school for a while", because the strike would continue until issue around the teachers’ salaries was solved.
Joyce, who wants to study science to become a nurse, says she is afraid her plans will be nothing but a dream if schools remain closed.
The situation is even worse in Zimbabwe’s rural areas where the teachers’ strike has been exacerbated by political violence. Many teachers are accused of supporting opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by the ruling party, ZANU-PF. NGOs have reports of rural teachers being beaten, intimidated and having their houses being burnt down.
"We are very concerned about schools failing to open, particularly in rural areas," confirmed UNICEF country director Roeland Monash.
He believes that even if education department manages to resolve the teacher strike, the current cholera epidemic, which has already killed 3,000 people, will make it difficult to get schools up and running.
"Sending children back to school is like sending them to a lion's den because of the risks the cholera epidemic poses," said Oxfam country director, Peter Mutoredzanwa.
(END/2009)
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(John) Nkomo reluctant to relinquish agric. implements

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http://www.hararetribune.com/nation/17-land-a-agric/93-nkomo-reluctant-to-relinguish-agric-implements.html
Nation
Monday, 02 February 2009 21:36
The Minister of Industry and International Trade Obert Mpofu, has castigated Zanu PF national chairman John Nkomo, for holding on to farming implements, which he is reportedly keeping at his company here.
Mpofu, who toured the Astra Suppliers premises last week in the company of state journalists, lashed out at his chairman and known rival in both the political and business front, for keeping equipment which should have been distributed to the people of Matabeleland North two years ago.
“We have seen people from other provinces receiving equipment but here in Matabeleland it seems there is a problem with some of our leaders,” he said, in reference to Nkomo.
“There are many people who have visited my office seeking farming implements yet they are lying idle, two years after being delivered by the RBZ. It boggles the mind why these implements are being left to rot instead of being distributed to needy people.
“These are some of the acts that have led people to accuse the government of marginalising them - while in actual fact they are being failed by some of the leadership,” said Mpofu
The equipment includes ox drawn ploughs, harrows and scotch-carts.
Some of the equipment has already been vandalised, with wheels missing on some scotch-carts, while the rest of the equipment is now rusty.
Nkomo could not be reached for comment and his son, Jabulani, who runs his business unit, Astra Suppliers, referred all questions to him.
“Talk to the old man. I am not sure about the equipment,” is all he could say.
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Southern Africa - SADC Keeps Ground Fertile for Zanu (PF) Abuses

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Business Day
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902020140.html
Also available at :- http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A930352
South Africa
Dianna Games
2 February 2009
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Johannesburg
IN CASE anyone is concerned about what happened to the R300m worth of agricultural inputs SA gave to Zimbabwe at Christmas, your worst fears have been realised. Yes, Zanu (PF) got its hands on the goodies. And perhaps a few farmers with party cards.
SA's good intentions seem to have been compromised by entrusting the operation to the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which cobbled together the Zimbabwe Humanitarian and Development Assistance Framework (ZHDAF) to undertake the distribution of farm inputs. However, the inputs arrived in Zimbabwe while ZHDAF was still being put together and it appears that due to the urgency of getting the inputs out, the Zimbabwean government was entrusted with the operation.
Judging by the record of theft of farm inputs, from tractors to seeds, by Zimbabwean officials, one can only wonder how many of the South African government's "intended recipients" remain empty-handed.
The process has lacked transparency and accountability. A key player in the distribution process is the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), a parastatal with a record of being a political agent of the state in Robert Mugabe's food-for-votes schemes. GMB's general manager, Albert Mandizha, who appears on Australia's sanctions list, was senior assistant police commissioner . His predecessor was a former soldier.
Zimbabwe has presented SADC with its toughest challenges over the years. SADC's inherent belief that there is no real problem with the Zimbabwean government's actions - or legitimacy - has compromised its effectiveness.
Think back to the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, a 10-point guideline launched in 2004 ahead of Zimbabwe's 2005 poll. Mugabe signed it, promised to implement it, then went home and violated it.
Having noted the code was not legally binding, Mugabe confidently agreed that the SADC observer group could be one of a few organisations allowed to monitor the elections. His instincts were good. SADC mission leader, SA's Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, declared the flagrantly rigged 2005 election free, fair and transparent.
In April 2007, the organisation established the SADC Tribunal to uphold and defend SADC's founding treaty - signed by Zimbabwe - which includes provisions on human rights and property rights. Last year the tribunal faced its first big test - the case of 78 white Zimbabwean farmers fighting against prosecution by the government for staying on "listed" land.
Five tribunal judges ruled unanimously that Zimbabwe's land reform scheme undermined the rule of law and was discriminatory. The Zimbabwean government was ordered to take all necessary measures to protect the "possession, occupation and ownership" of the farmers on their land. The government continued to persecute the farmers while intensifying land invasions. SADC's silence has been deafening.
A contempt of court order relating to the case, issued by the tribunal against the Zimbabwean government, was referred to SADC heads of state at a summit in Johannesburg last year. The buck was passed to their justice ministers - and the trail has gone cold.
Zimbabwe's March 2008 election violence provided an opportunity for SADC to deploy its regional standby brigade, given the clause in its blueprint allowing for intervention in gross human rights violations. But SADC was never going to authorise an operation against a member president, no matter how awful his actions.
And now SADC has strong-armed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) into agreeing to Mugabe's terms in the power-sharing arrangement. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai may have appeared inflexible, but he knows that once SADC takes its eye off the ball, it will be business as usual in Zimbabwe.
SADC's insistence on form over substance, which has become its defining characteristic, continues to fail Zimbabwe.
Games is CE of Africa @ Work, a research and consulting company.
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South Africa - The Next Zimbabwe

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http://www.thetrumpet.com:80/index.php?q=5919.4282.0.0
February 3, 2009
From theTrumpet.com
Despite the global boom, most South Africans were left behind. Fourteen years after the end of apartheid, widespread discontent is fueling communism, and economic collapse looms. By Robert Morley
“Apartheid was a terrible crime against humanity. It left people with deep scars, but I can assure you poverty is worse than that,” Rev. Faleni Mzukisi of the Presbyterian Church of Africa said last October.
Mzukisi continued: While apartheid denied rights and privileges, poverty meant people could neither meet their human needs nor attain proper dignity. What good are human rights if people can’t live like humans?
he asked the participants of the 2008 World Association of Christian Communication Congress. “People do not eat human rights,” he said. “They want food on the table.”
Fourteen years after the end of apartheid, some people are longing to return to its relative prosperity. For millions of South Africans, the Mandela “rainbow” revolution has become a gloomy cloud. Segregation laws are no more, but conditions are much worse.
An astounding 40 percent of South Africans now live beneath the poverty line. And according to the Southern African Regional Poverty Network, since the official end of apartheid, “households living in poverty have sunk deeper into poverty and the gap between rich and poor has widened.”
The exact unemployment rate is contentious. Unions place it at around 40 percent, while official government statistics say it is “only” around 23 percent. Either way, it is horrendous. Unemployment in the U.S. during the Great Depression peaked at around 25 percent.
And, although government ministers claim that South Africa is still growing and will avoid “recession,” conditions on the ground indicate that “official” recession has already arrived. Investment bank Barclays warns that the economy is currently contracting. Over 360,000 jobs were lost during the last quarter of 2008-a very large number for a country with a population of only 44 million. The U.S. equivalent would be akin to losing 1.4 million jobs over that time frame.
“The growth picture has soured radically,” warns absa Capital economist Ian Marsberg. “We are in for a rough ride next year.”
For example, house prices fell by 4 percent last year. That may not sound like much, but since government statistics indicate inflation is running at approximately 11 percent, homes actually lost 15 percent of their value. And the real depreciation may have been even greater since governments characteristically underreport inflation numbers. That said, home prices may have much further to fall after the massive run-up experienced over the past few years.
Another clear indicator that the economy is in turmoil is the auto industry. New vehicle sales were down a massive 27 percent in December. That meant that for 2008, new vehicle sales fell 20.3 percent across all categories compared to the year before.
The metals and mining industry is also getting pummeled. Although gold prices have remained firm and even risen over the past year, the prices of virtually every other metal-including platinum, palladium, manganese and chrome-have plummeted. Platinum, for example, has plunged from over $ 2,000 per ounce to around $ 960 per ounce. Platinum makes up more than 14 percent of all South African exports.
Mining is the single most important employment sector for the South African economy. It is also the most important source of foreign revenue. But with commodity prices plummeting, revenues have fallen, and more job losses could be coming.
South Africa’s energy infrastructure is also old and decaying. Due to government corruption and lack of new investment, much of the country now suffers the same kind of widespread power outages that the rest of the continent has grown used to in the post-colonial era. Last year, the state forced a 10 percent ration on much of the mining industry and other heavy electricity users after the national electrical grid almost collapsed. Eskom, the state power company, is attempting to borrow money to upgrade the grid, but with the global credit crunch in full swing, it is having difficulty finding lenders willing to take the risk.
And as things are getting darker, the cost of eating is skyrocketing. National food price inflation hit 17.1 percent in December. Coffee, tea and cocoa products registered an increase of more than 20 percent. Grain products were up 34.3 percent. Fats and cooking oils jumped 27.3 percent, while vegetables and dairy products were up between 13.4 and 16.2 percent. Meat prices climbed 8.4 percent.
No jobs, and higher-priced food: It is no wonder that social breakdown continues.
hiv infection rates remain high. About 29 percent of pregnant women visiting hospitals are infected, according to a 2007 survey.
Violence runs unchecked throughout much of the country. It was estimated, according to 2006 figures, that a woman is raped in South Africa once every 26 seconds. During that year, less than 1 percent of rapes led to a conviction.
Murderers run free too. About 19,000 people were murdered last year-more than 50 per day.
Rule of law has become the rule of organized crime. Just yesterday, 500 police in South Africa’s crime-ridden commercial capital, Johannesburg, went on strike, accusing authorities of failing to bring senior officers to task over corruption.
Last Friday, the government disbanded the country’s elite anti-crime investigating unit, known as the Scorpions. Why, especially when the Scorpions had a much better track record than the police at solving crime?
According to Reuters, it was because they fell afoul of the ruling African National Congress party for their corruption investigation of anc leader Jacob Zuma. Zuma is expected to become the country’s next president when elections are held, probably in April.
But as bad as conditions are in South Africa, they may be about to get dramatically worse.
South Africa’s government has shifted radically to the left, according to the Sunday Times. In a move to placate angry voters and cement power, the ruling anc party’s Jacob Zuma is pushing a manifesto largely dictated by the country’s Communist party. Zuma’s election promises, if adopted, could easily bankrupt the country.
The anc already promises a free allowance of water and electricity to all people and has introduced “the largest welfare state ever seen in a developing country,” according to the Times. More than 40 percent of the population currently receive state handouts.
But the state handouts are only beginning.
The possibly soon-to-be-published new state manifesto is said to call for universal health insurance, free education, increased child allowances, new maternity grants, wage subsidies, an old age savings scheme, subsidized housing for farm workers and military veterans, and free food handouts to all poor families.
But perhaps the bigger shock is the manifesto’s proposal to transform “the private sector through the development of cooperative financial institutions.” In other words, nationalize and communize the economy.
Zuma’s program also calls for the state to take over the South African central bank.
Economists are astounded.
Greta Steyn, a leading South African financial analyst, says that the markets are being set up for a massive crash and are “in denial.” Servaas van der Berg, professor of economics at Stellenbosch University, said that just the proposal for a basic income grant of R100 (us$ 10) would force up marginal income tax rates from 40 percent to 66 percent.
So where will South Africa get the money to finance all these reforms?
Jacob Zuma, whom the Times describes as knowing relatively little about economics, seems unconcerned.
But here is a hint: Zuma will get the money he needs the same way his pal Robert Mugabe gets the money he needs.
Lest we forget, Zimbabwe used to be even more prosperous than South Africa was at its peak. But then Robert Mugabe set off on his post-colonial reforms, his social programs, his government handouts, and the land grabs. And how did Mugabe pay for it all?
First, he redistributed the land in order to fill his coffers and buy favors. When that wasn’t enough, he started nationalizing other sectors of the economy, including some of the world’s richest mines. But that wasn’t enough either. So eventually, he was forced to nationalize and assert complete control over the nation’s reserve bank-that way he could print whatever money he wanted to pay the bills. Unfortunately, that destroyed the value of Zimbabwe’s currency-completely wiping out what little savings his people had left. But Mugabe and his cronies got filthy rich in the process, moving assets offshore, or converting their devaluing dollars into gold or other currencies.
The anc’s supposed desire to nationalize South Africa’s central bank should be a clear indicator of what is headed in South Africa’s direction: Zimbabwe economics. And that means a Zimbabwe standard of living for the vast majority.
Things are about to get much tougher in South Africa.
Africa’s modern history is a continent filled with nation-states in various stages of post-colonial collapse. South Africa was a notable exception to this rule for several decades after becoming an independent republic. But now, that is changing-and rapidly. The true cause for South Africa’s wealth, and the reason it is now disappearing, is rooted in the nation’s historical connection to the British Empire. Biblical prophecy outlines the curses South Africa increasingly finds itself under, curses that are destined to grow worse in the time ahead. A vital warning to the peoples of South Africa is contained in our booklet South Africa in Prophecy. Though written over a decade ago, its forecasts are all the more relevant today.
However, there is great hope for all people living in South Africa. Read the booklet The Wonderful World Tomorrow-What It Will Be Like, by Herbert W. Armstrong. Prosperity will eventually include all people around the world. South Africa will blossom like a rose, and poverty and corruption will be a thing of the past-and best yet, it will happen during this generation.
In the trying times ahead, remember the message contained within this booklet.
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Libya's Gadhafi Takes AU Reins, Promises Union Government

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http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-03-voa1.cfm
By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
03 February 2009
Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi took over the chairmanship of the African Union on Monday, vowing to create a continental government despite strong opposition among other heads of state. Summit leaders at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa hailed the newest member of their exclusive club, a Muslim cleric selected days ago as Somalia's president.
Somalia's newly elected president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed arrives at the UN compound in Addis Ababa for consultations, 01 Feb 2009
Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed was warmly applauded at the summit's opening ceremonies, although he faces a difficult struggle to bring order to a nation considered a failed state for more than a decade.
But Somalia is only one of many vexing issues facing this 12th gathering of Africa's leaders. There is violent political unrest in Madagascar on the heels of recent military coups in Mauritania and Guinea, reminiscent of the days when power changed hands at the point of a gun. And there is an expectation that one of their own, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, might soon be indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court.
Moreover, many summit leaders were less than enthusiastic that Libya's strongman Moammar Gadhafi was elected as AU chairman. Mr. Gadhafi, Africa's second longest serving ruler, took over from Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who had been the third consecutive democratically-elected leader to hold the post.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (L), escorted by bodyguard (R), arrives at the AU meeting in Addis Ababa, 01 Feb 2009
Mr. Gadhafi immediately pledged to work for establishment of a union government, an idea dismissed by his predecessor a day earlier.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the annual Addis Ababa summit for a third year in a row. He told reporters that members of the joint AU/U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur would stay in the town of Muhajiriya, despite a Sudanese request that they leave.
"I urge maximum restraint on President Bashir and have urged the JEM [Justice and Equality Movement] rebels to withdraw from the city to protect innocent civilians," said Ban Ki-moon. "U.N. peacekeeping forces in the city are there to protect the 15,000 IDPs, internally displaced persons, as per our mandate. We will continue to do our duty there, despite calls for the U.N. withdrawal by the Sudanese government."
The U.N. chief offered a cautious endorsement of the formation of a national unity government in Zimbabwe.
"While I have welcomed this decision of Mr. Tsvangirai and the MDC [the Movement for Democratic Change] to join this national unity government, I still believe this is an imperfect situation and I have urged President Mugabe to build on this new development situation and try to make progress as soon as possible," he said.
Mr. Ban told reporters he had called on President Robert Mugabe during a meeting to uphold human rights and democratic freedoms, and promote national reconciliation - including the release of all prisoners arrested during the past few months. Zimbabwean representatives at the summit refused to comment on Mr. Mugabe's meeting with the U.N. chief.
Mr. Ban also said he was meeting with the new Somali President, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, and said his election had given hope that Somalia's political process could move forward after 18 years without a functioning government.
AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra told reporters he had received firm pledges from Burundi and Uganda that each would send an additional battalion to join the AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] peacekeeping mission in Somalia by the end of this month. That would bring the force up to a strength of more than 5,000 troops out of the authorized 8,000. Lamamra hinted he might have more troop pledges to announce before the summit adjourns on Tuesday.
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