http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010 20:03
GOVERNMENT
is divided over Finance minister Tendai Biti's proposal to put
Zimbabwe in
the realm of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), as
Zimbabwe battles
to extricate itself from a huge debt trap.
The new war of attrition is
the latest round pitting Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono who is opposing
the debt relief plan and the Finance chief whose
proposal is under
consideration by the unity government.
Zimbabwe has a US$5,7 billion
external debt
Addressing delegates at a Debt Repayment Workshop
yesterday in the capital,
Biti maintained that HIPC was the best option for
government because the
other options did not offer Zimbabwe a "holistic and
viable approach to its
debt and arrears problem".
Biti produced a
comprehensive document on debt and arrears clearance which
is under
government discussion.
In his document, the treasury proposed four
debt and arrears clearance
options which include mortgaging mineral
resources to clear the growing
debt; servicing through internal revenue
inflows; Paris Club
debt-rescheduling; and the HIPC option for consideration
by cabinet.
Biti has proposed that Zimbabwe should adopt HIPC status
because it has some
advantages which could reduce the country's debt burden
by 90% after full
delivery of debt relief.
The Finance minister
argued that the debt relief programme was based on the
experiences of 35
countries for which packages have already been approved
leading to debt
servicing declining by 2,5% of GDP between 1999 and 2007.
Informed
sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that Zanu PF ministers were
opposing
the plan because it would turn Zimbabwe into "a desperate basket
case". They
said HIPC would worsen the current situation in the long term
and should be
blocked in cabinet.
Woman's Affairs, Gender and Community Development
minister, Olivia Muchena
who made a presentation at the same conference
differed with Biti saying
HIPC would not yield much in Zimbabwe due to
economic sanctions imposed on
the country. The United States introduced the
Zimbabwe Democracy and
Economic Recovery Act in 2001 which Zanu PF spokesmen
blame for the
ballooning debt.
"Fundamentally we cannot ignore
the existence of sanctions that are
prohibiting us (Zimbabweans) from doing
business. Against such a background,
what is required (to be considered for
(HIPC) will not work," Muchena said.
Zimbabwe's former ambassador to
China and Zanu PF strategist, Christopher
Mutsvangwa, said government should
implement "home-grown instances of
resources for dollars" in its bid to
clear the debt.
He suggested that Zimbabwe could mortgage its relatively vast
mineral
resources. The country has the world's third largest platinum
reserves after
South Africa and Russia.
Said Mutsvangwa: "The
country suffers from no inherent incapacity that would
require outside
management of its resources for it to get out of the debt
trap which was
exogenously induced."
In a clear attack on Biti he said: "With these
endowments and capacity, I am
at a loss as to how any self-respecting
Zimbabwean could ever think of
surrendering the salvation of his country to
any foreigner, no matter his
professed intentions to
assist."
Adopting HIPC Mutsvangwa said could result in the
"disastrous consequences"
that followed the IMF-prescribed economic
structural adjustment programme of
the 1990s.
Zimbabwe currently
needs up to US$10 billion for economic recovery.
It is officially
estimated the country needs US$45 billion over the next 10
years to recover
to 1997 gross domestic product levels.
Despite the simmering tension
between the two political parties over the
issue, the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries president Kumbirai Katsande
and Economic and Planning
minister Elton Mangoma contended that HIPC was the
best option for the
debt-ridden government.
Paul Nyakazeya/ Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010 20:01
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected a circular emanating from
President
Robert Mugabe's office directing ministers to report to his two
vice-presidents -- Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo -- instead of to him as
cracks in the shaky inclusive government continue to
widen.
Tendai Biti, who is Finance minister, MDC-T party
secretary-general and a
lawyer, yesterday dismissed the circular as illegal
and a wilful breach of
the September 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA)
that gave birth to the
unity government last February.The circular written
on January 25 by the
Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck
Sibanda, in the
possession of the Zimbabwe Independent, implied that cabinet
ministers
should stop reporting to Tsvangirai and be answerable to Mujuru
and Nkomo
instead.
It was copied to all cabinet ministers
and permanent secretaries.
The Independent is reliably
informed that Tsvangirai's office, through
permanent secretary Ian Makone,
has since written a counter circular to
ministers and heads of ministries
telling them to ignore Sibanda's
communication and continue reporting to the
premier.
Biti yesterday said Sibanda's circular was "unconstitutional
and unlawful,
thus null and void".
"No one has powers to rewrite
the GPA," Biti told the Independent yesterday
before leaving for Zambia on
government business. "The GPA defines the
powers and the functions of the
president and the prime minister very
clearly. It would be unconstitutional,
unlawful to have such a circular
because it would be null and
void."
Under the GPA, executive authority of the inclusive government
is shared
between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and cabinet. This is captured in
Constitutional
Amendment No 19.
While Mugabe is head of state and
government, Tsvangirai is given a wide
range of powers including the
responsibility of overseeing formulation and
implementation of government
policies by cabinet; ensuring that ministers
develop appropriate
implementation plans; and in this regard the ministers
must report to the
premier on all issues relating to putting into effect
such policies and
plans.
Sources said the MDC saw Sibanda's circular as an attempt to
usurp
Tsvangirai's powers.
In the controversial circular, Sibanda
said he was directed to inform
ministers and permanent secretaries that
Mujuru and Nkomo would assist
Mugabe in the "supervision and management of
the administration of
government business just as the Honourable Prime
Minister is assisted by
Deputy Prime Ministers".
Sibanda said
Mujuru would continue to be responsible for the "general
supervision" of
social, agriculture and infrastructural ministries.
He said Mujuru's
particular focus would be on overseeing implementation of
programmes to
enhance productivity in the agriculture sector, ensure
consistent activation
of the indigenisation and empowerment programme,
including women's
empowerment and gender equity programmes, and overseeing
the coordinated and
optimal functioning of the country's strategic public
utilities.
"In addition, Hon Vice President Mujuru will continue
to chair the Cabinet
Committee on Honours and Awards, the Cabinet Committee
on State Occasions
and National Monuments, and Cabinet Committee on
Parastatals," reads the
four-page Sibanda circular.
Mugabe wants
Nkomo to be responsible for economic ministries -- Finance,
Economic
Planning, Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development,
Mines,
Industry, Energy, Regional Integration, and Environment and Natural
Resources Management.
Nkomo according to the circular, should
supervise the implementation of the
land reform programme and ensure policy
consistency, the effective
resolution of the issue of bilateral investment
promotion and protection
agreements, and the implementation of land-based
policies on conservancies.
"To enhance this supervisory role, the
vice president will continue to chair
the Cabinet Committee on Rural
Resettlement and Development," wrote the
chief secretary.
Nkomo
was also mandated to supervise the implementation of policies ensuring
preservation of the environment, overseeing the development of sport and
recreation, and providing oversight of developments in the local government
arena.
"To ensure effective supervision of their areas of
administration of
government business, the Honourable Vice Presidents will
each be assisted by
a Minister of State and by a team of officials headed by
a permanent
secretary," Sibanda wrote. "Members are thus requested to take
note
accordingly."
The fight to control government between Mugabe
and Tsvangirai erupted ahead
of the resumption on Monday of talks between
Mugabe's Zanu PF and the two
MDC formations aimed at resolving outstanding
issues of the GPA.
The negotiations have been limping on with little
success. The MDC-T wants
the talks to be declared a deadlock and the issue
referred to Sadc - the
guarantors of the GPA.
But Zanu PF
resolved it would not concede more ground on the outstanding
issues until
sanctions are lifted.
The MDC-T this week expressed frustration at
Zanu PF's intransigence in
fully consummating the GPA.
Biti said Zanu PF
had become more obdurate since its congress last month.
"In the last
four weeks, following the Zanu PF congress, we have seen an
acceleration of
destruction and insanity on the part of the former ruling
party, he said.
"We have seen an increase in the decibels of destabilisation
and
recklessness. This has been manifested in unlawful farm invasions,
disobedience of lawful court orders, (and) vitriol against the president of
the MDC."
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:44
LOBBYING and manoeuvring for positions within Zanu PF intensified
this week
ahead of President Robert Mugabe's appointment of new politburo
members who
will direct party programmes for the next five
years.
Mugabe is expected to announce new politburo members at the
party's central
committee meeting next week. The outgoing politburo met
yesterday for the
last time after its first meeting of the year last week.
The central
committee postponed its meeting last week as Mugabe was
travelling to the
African Union summit in Addis
Ababa.
Inside sources said jockeying for politburo posts
escalated this week and
the tightest race was now for the position of party
political commissar. The
position of commissar in Zanu PF is a senior post
and whoever is appointed
to it rises in the party hierarchy. The secretary
of the commissariat in
Zanu PF ranks only just below that of the presidium,
which includes party
leader, two deputies and the chairman, and the
secretary for administration.
The commissar is also highly
influential because of his responsibility to
organise the party to ensure
stability and cohesion from its cell levels
right up to the top
structures.
Sources said those fighting it out for the powerful
position include
Nicholas Goche, Webster Shamu, Rugare Gumbo and a retired
senior army
officer who is understood to be active in the party behind the
scenes. The
sources said Saviour Kasukuwere who was initially linked to the
position has
shifted focus to that of security or youth
instead.
Goche was said to be leading the pack because he acted in
that capacity for
sometime a few years ago. Shamu is said to be also strong
due to his
liberation struggle credentials as a party mobiliser, while Gumbo
is a
veteran of the anti-colonial struggle and has decades of experience in
the
politics of mobilisation.
The army officer is said to be a
prominent "political fixer" for Zanu PF and
contributed to its disputed
victories since 2000 which were reportedly
engineered by the military.
Sources said army commanders propping up Zanu PF
behind the scenes wanted
the retired officer to take over.
They said the fight was also fierce
for the position of secretary for
information and publicity as Nathan
Shamuyarira, who is reportedly unwell,
is clinging to his post despite
pressure on him from inside to relinquish
the post to Jonathan Moyo who
returned to the party recently. Moyo received
loud applause at the party's
congress last month upon his return.
However, sources said Moyo was
also facing resistance from the party's old
guard who want him to be
excluded or returned in a junior position as either
deputy secretary for
information or the commissariat. Other senior party
officials such as
Ephraim Masawi, currently Shamuyarira's deputy, also want
the position of
party spokesman.
Mugabe is next week expected to appoint a new
politburo for his Zanu PF
party in a move that might see the introduction of
new members.
The communist-era politburo comprises 49 members and
acts as the secretariat
of the central committee between
congresses.
The move might see the introduction of new members and
give clues to the
political direction Zanu PF wants to take in the aftermath
of its congress
in December.
The Zanu PF congress made crucial
resolutions that pre-empted the ongoing
political negotiations between the
party and MDC formations, while
threatening the survival of the inclusive
government in the process.
Mugabe and the three members of the
party's presidium, Joice Mujuru, John
Nkomo and Simon Khaya Moyo, met last
week on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's
politburo meeting to discuss various
party issues including the forthcoming
appointments. All four members of the
presidium have their own choices for
people who must go in and they had been
consulting to come up with a final
list.
Zanu PF's Soviet-styled
politburo, whose full name is the political bureau,
has 49 members who
include the party leader, two deputies, a chairman, 19
heads of department
and their 19 deputies, as well as 10 committee members.
Mugabe appoints the
politburo although there have been muted calls for them
to be elected. The
politburo's main function is to act as the administrative
organ of the
245-member central committee which was expected to meet today
but had its
first session of the year postponed.
Sources said Mugabe was likely
to make a series of new politburo
appointments -- including at least 10
changes to fill vacancies left by
those who quit the politburo or who died
-- and other planned replacements
to rejuvenate his ageing team dominated
largely by deadwood.
Those who quit Zanu PF and the politburo citing
the party's leadership and
policy failures include Dumiso Dabengwa and Simba
Makoni. Thenjiwe Lesabe
has also reportedly left or is considering leaving.
Several former PF Zapu
senior members, some of whom are in the politburo,
could be replaced because
of their doubtful political loyalties and claims
that they were sympathising
with Dabengwa.
Other politburo
members have died and will be replaced next week. These
include
vice-president Joseph Msika, General Vitalis Zvinavashe, Air Marshal
Josiah
Tungamirai, Ruth Chinamano, Richard Hove and Elliot Manyika who was
the
party's political commissar. The replacement of Manyika has been a
talking
point in Zanu PF as several officials are battling out for the
post.
Zanu PF officials jostle to be in the politburo so as to go up
in the
pecking order and gain political influence for party and individual
gain.
Dumisani Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:42
MOVEMENT for Democratic Change (MDC) transport manager, Pasco
Gwezere who
was arrested last year on allegations of stealing guns from an
army
barracks, has been removed from further remand by a Harare
magistrate.
Gwezere was allegedly abducted from his Mufakose home in October
last year
by security agents and was held incommunicado at Marimba Police
Station for
two weeks on charges of breaking into Pomona Barracks and
stealing arms of
war. He was later transferred to Harare Central Police
Station where he was
formally charged.
Harare Magistrate Gloria
Takundwa this week removed Gwezere from remand
after the state failed to
provide a trial date.
Human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama of Mbidzo,
Muchadehama & Makoni Legal
Practitioners represented the MDC
official.
In granting Gwezere's refusal of further remand
application, Takundwa said
the state could proceed with the case by way of
summons whenever they were
ready to put the matter to
trial.
Muchadehama told journalists outside the courtroom that the
ruling meant
that Gwezere was finally a free man.
"They now have
to proceed by way of summons. The magistrate granted our
application on the
basis that the state could not give us a trial date,"
said
Muchadehama.
Gwezere had been out on US$500 bail. He was being
accused of conniving with
army officers and deserters to steal 20 AK 47
rifles and a shotgun from
Pomona Barracks. One of his co-accused has already
been convicted and jailed
while several are facing a court martial for the
same offence.
Gwezere's lawyers claimed last year that he had been
abducted by military
intelligence officers, Central Intelligence
Organisation operatives,
detectives from the Police Law and Order section
and Police Internal
Security Intelligence.
Feluna
Nleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:42
GOVERNMENT is fighting the “blood diamonds” tag associated with the
gems
mined from the controversial Chiadzwa fields over the past three years,
a
government official told a parliamentary portfolio committee this
week.
Head of marketing at the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe
(MMCZ),
the sole marketing and selling agent of all minerals produced in the
country, Masimba Chandavengerwa told the committee on Mines and Energy that
the Kimberley Process had “smuggled in” the issue of human rights abuses at
the fields in order to label the gems “bloody”.
“From the
discussions we have had with Kimberley Process (KP) people, their
argument
is that our diamonds are leaving this country illegally and even
used to
fuel wars outside our borders,” Chandavengerwa said. “Another
dimension they
are bringing in is the issue of human rights which is not
there in the
charter, the Kimberley Process charter, but they want to
smuggle it in so
that even if we say they are not “blood diamonds” they
would say: But we
have seen people beaten and there is the army and human
rights abuses, which
is something that we are fighting because it is not as
per the original
charter.”
He said the KP had no problems with what is going on at
other diamond mining
firms in the country, except for
Chiadzwa.
“They are happy with the goings on at Murowa; they are also
happy with the
goings on at River Ranch but they are not very happy with
what is happening
at the Chiadzwa fields,” he explained.
Chandavengerwa
said the KP had also complained about diamond selling points
in Mozambique
and buyers they are seeing there from the Democratic Republic
of Congo
(DRC), Lebanon and other countries that are in war
situations.
“According to them, although officially we are not at war
here, our diamonds
are not being used to fuel any war in the country, but
because they are
getting out of the country in their numbers into
neighbouring countries and
then finding their way into conflict zones, so
they think they are still
blood diamonds,” added
Chandavengerwa.
The government last month moved swiftly to stop a
planned sale of 300 000
carats of diamonds by Mbada Diamonds because of the
absence of a KP monitor
to oversee the sale and exports of any gems from the
Chiadzwa diamond
fields. The mining firm had also failed to inform relevant
government
departments, including the MMCZ.
Under a set of
measures made in November last year and meant to bring
Zimbabwe’s
controversial diamond industry in line with KP standards, the
diamond
watchdog must monitor production and sales of diamonds from Chiadzwa
where
the army has been accused of rights abuses against civilians.
But
Chandavengerwa told the committee that the government had failed to
agree
with KP over a suitable monitor to assess diamonds from Chiadzwa.
“We
had agreed on a Nambian monitor, but there are various CVs that are
available to be looked at. The KP wanted to send a monitor from De Beers,
and someone else from Europe, maybe Belgium, but the government wants an
African monitor or someone from the region,” he
said.
International rights groups have been pushing for a world ban
on Zimbabwe
diamonds until Harare acts to ensure mining at Chiadzwa is in
full
compliance with KP standards.
The World Diamond Council has
warned that it will push for Zimbabwe’s
suspension from the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme if the monitor is
not appointed
soon.
Valentine Maponga
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:39
THE Constitutional Parliamentary Committee (Copac)’s sub-committee
on
information and publicity has lodged a complaint with Media, Information
and
Publicity minister Webster Shamu regarding alleged biased
state-controlled
media coverage of the constitution-making
process.
The process is saddled by political and financial hitches
that have seen its
intended outreach programme to gather people’s views put
on ice.
Chairperson of the Copac sub-committee Jessie Majome
in the company of
co-chairpersons of the constitution-making process –– Paul
Mangwana, Douglas
Mwonzora and Believe Gaule (standing in for MDC-M’s Edward
Mkhosi) –– last
week met Shamu to lodge the complaint.
The
meeting took place at a time when the constitution-making has stalled
after
the management committee disowned a financial agreement signed by
Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs minister Eric Matinenga and the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and ordered a new one to be
crafted.
The state media then reported that the UNDP had pulled
out funding of the
entire process.
It however emerged later that
the reports were false as the UNDP had not
pulled out of the
process.
The state broadcaster, ZTV and state-controlled newspapers
in the Zimpapers
stable, the Herald, the Sunday Mail, the Chronicle and the
Sunday News, are
alleged to be on an offensive to discredit the
constitution-making process.
Majome this week confirmed to the
Zimbabwe Independent that her committee
had raised concerns with Shamu over
the partisan manner in which the
state-controlled media was covering issues
pertaining to the crafting of a
new supreme law.
She said the
three co-chairpersons of Copac were in agreement that the
state-controlled
media was biased towards Zanu PF.
Majome said: “We raised concerns of
the failure by the state media to cover
the constitution-making process in a
fair and balanced manner. We were
concerned with the biased coverage where
the Zanu PF ministers and officials
were the only ones covered and that is
of serious concern to us as Article
six of the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) stipulates that there should be
a conducive environment for the
writing of the constitution and the state
media is not creating that
conducive environment.”
The constitution-making process has been
facing serious problems as Zanu PF
has been throwing spanners in the work of
Copac.
Zanu PF is currently undertaking a parallel process where they
are drilling
villagers and feeding them with talking points from the Kariba
draft
constitution.
Sources who attended the closed meeting
however said while Shamu accepted
that the reportage in the state-controlled
media needed to be improved, he
also accused the private media of bias in
favour of the MDC formations.
The sources said Shamu said the
coverage of the constitution-making process
by both the state and the
private media was not serving national interests
and said he was making
arrangements to meet editors from the two sides.
Zanu PF and the MDC
factions have been singing from different hymn sheets on
the process. Zanu
PF has been arguing that the Kariba Draft be used as the
only reference
document in crafting a new constitution, but the MDC
formations are adamant
that a people-driven process was ideal.
The crafting of a new
constitution is part of the requirements of a
September 2008 power-sharing
deal between President Mugabe, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara that gave birth
to the all inclusive
government last February.
Once a new constitution has been
crafted by the three parties, the
power-sharing government is expected to
call fresh parliamentary,
presidential and local government
elections.
Loughty Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:34
TELECEL Zimbabwe has appointed a new managing director following
the
resignation of Rex Chibesa. The telecommunications company, currently
second
in terms of its subscriber base, is targeting a million subscribers
by year
end. Business reporter, Bernard Mpofu, spoke to new Telecel managing
director Aimable Mpore on what he brings to the company. The new boss,
however, declined to comment on the status of Telecel’s operating licence
after Potraz revoked it a few years ago. The company lodged an appeal with
the High Court. Mpore referred questions on the matter to Telecel
shareholders. Below are the excerpts of the interview.
Mpofu: Who
is Aimable Mpore?
Mpore: I am a Canadian by citizenship, born in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo. My parents are from Rwanda. Before I came
here, I was CEO of MTN Cote
d’Ivoire and prior to that I was CEO of Uganda
Telecom — a mobile and fixed
data network. At the time of inception of
Telecel International, I was in
DRC as commercial director then
acting-managing director in 1998. I
eventually left DRC when the war broke
out. I have a bachelor of commerce
degree and an MBA from Sherbrooke
University in Canada.
Mpofu: Why did you leave MTN?
Mpore:
I left Cote d’Ivoire because the company had some issues with the
authorities.
Mpofu: Why did you keep a low profile since your
appointment as Telecel
Zimbabwe managing director?
Mpore: When I came
here three months ago, I was chief operating officer. I
was then appointed
MD a month ago. So there was no noise about that.
Mpofu: Telecel is
now the second largest network in terms of subscriber
base. Do you feel that
this should be credited to you?
Mpore: I’m not here to get credit for
that growth. I came here whilst the
strategic drive to grow the network was
already in motion.
Mpofu: What has been the key to this
growth?
Mpore: We are doing things on many angles. Firstly we have
put in place
measures to increase the availability of network. Secondly we
have
contingency plans to mitigate frequent power outages. We also have
value-added services such as our 3G service which will start testing this
month. We have also finished putting our GPRS Edge, which is slightly slower
than 3G.We are taking steps to connect Zimbabwe to the submarine cable in
order to have true broadband services.
Mpofu: Last week you told
legislators that you were targeting 98% of
subscribers to be on the prepaid
platforms. Why are you targeting prepaid
customers?
Mpore: This
is not common in Zimbabwe alone. I see this trend in many
African countries.
Prepaid is easy to manage and we do not have many people
with a proven
credit record, so we don’t encourage it (credit).
Mpofu: We
understand that Telecel has plans to list on the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange.
Can you confirm?
Mpore: That is an issue for shareholders. At this stage I
don’t know what
they have decided but this is one of the options that is to
be considered.
Mpofu: As MD, what recommendations would you give a
board that intends to
raise capital?
Mpore: A combination of both
fresh funds through financial institutions or a
vendor financing approach
with the suppliers and going public are options
that I would
consider.
Mpofu: What is your view of infrastructure sharing among
operators?
Mpore: We need a sustainable policy by the regulator (Post
and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe) that forces those
that
are reluctant to share their infrastructure to do so. Such a policy
would
prevent duplication of investment. Currently we are doing site sharing
but
it is becoming more and more difficult to achieve.
Mpofu: But
those with the infrastructure would argue that they have invested
so much
into the hardware?
Mpore: It happens everywhere else. Networks agree
on where to expand and
there won’t be any reason to put three towers on one
hill. On this we agree
with our competitors in principle. All the operators
should obviously invest
and then agree to share to avoid
duplication.
Mpofu: Is Telecel in a position to match competition if
one of your
competitors partners with a South African mobile
company?
Mpore: I came from a market with six operators and we were
still doing
business. I’m used to such an environment; it forces operators
to do what is
best for the market. During my stay in Cote d’ Ivoire we
managed to grow to
four million subscribers from a million in less than
three years.
Mpofu: What is your greatest fear in this
market?
Mpore: Like you I have fears that if the politics of the day
do not go well
business will be affected. But my understanding is everything
is on course
at the moment.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:25
ZIMBABWE'S foreign debt is estimated at about US$5,2 billion and
considerably overdue for settlement, while the country's coffers are
presently so barren that there are no prospects of the nation remedying its
payment defaults in the near future.
Zimbabwe's total debt including
domestic and external arrears is US$5,7
billion, of which US$5,2 billion is
external and US$413 million domestic
liabilities. The external debt of
US$5,2 billion includes total arrears of
US$3,6 billion.
Zimbabwe
currently needs up to US$10 billion for economic recovery. It is
officially
estimated the country needs US$45 billion for the next 10 years
to recover
to 1997 gross domestic product (GDP) levels.
However, the politicians are
divided along political lines on the way
forward. Indications suggest a
massive chasm in the political hierarchy over
Finance minister Tendai Biti's
recommendations to apply for the Highly
Indebted Poor Country (HIPC)
status.
Some Zanu PF ministers are reportedly determined to oppose
the move, on
grounds that doing so would "open the floodgates to foreign
interference",
not just in Zimbabwe's economic affairs, but also in its
politics. They
contend that an HIPC initiative would "be used by Western
countries as an
instrument of regime change".
Biti strongly
contends that HIPC status is the best option for Zimbabwe,
stating that the
options do not accord Zimbabwe a "holistic and viable
approach to its debt
and arrears problems" significantly diminishing the
extensive current
restraints upon economic growth and poverty reduction.
But what are
the advantages and disadvantages of Zimbabwe falling under
HIPC?
Institute of Chartered Accountants chief executive, Sonny
Mabheju told
businessdigest that the HIPC programme required a number of
conditions to be
fulfilled, largely similar to those attached to
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank loans, which require
"structural adjustments and at
times including privatisation of public
entities like water and electricity".
"The country must (also)
maintain macroeconomic stability and has to
implement satisfactory poverty
reduction strategies for at least one year,"
Mabheju said.
He
said the process of complete debt relief is long and at times painful to
the
indebted country.
Between 1996 and 1999 a number of modifications have been
made to the HIPC
process but they have remained largely not easy for the
poor countries.
"Smaller multilateral institutions, non-Paris Club
bilateral creditors and
commercial creditors who together account for about
25% of total HIPC
initiative amounts have honoured a small percentage of
their expected relief
so far. Some commercial creditors have gone to the
extent of seeking
litigation against HIPC initiatives," he
said.
For a country to qualify for the HIPC process, it has to among
other
eligibility criteria:
lEstablish a track record of reform and sound
policy implementation under
the auspices of an IMF- and International
Development Association-supported
programme.
lDevelop a Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper through a broad-based
participatory and consultative
process;
lFace an unsustainable debt burden, beyond traditionally available
debt-relief mechanisms - the debt sustainability analysis confirms that
Zimbabwe's debt is unsustainable until 2029 and;
lHave a per capita
income of less than US$1 095 (Zimbabwe's per capita
income was US$340 in
2008.
Mabheju said commercial creditors have in some cases resorted
to selling
debt due to them to "vulture" funds.
Vulture funds are
companies which buy the debt of poor nations cheaply when
it is about to be
written off and then sue the debtor country for the full
amount of the debt
plus interest which may be several times the amount they
paid for the
debt.
He said the normal commercial investment vulture funds can be
used for
normal business speculation where a distressed asset is bought
cheaply
during times of economic distress and sold later at a profit when
the
economic environment improves.
In 1996 a vulture fund paid
US$11 million for some Peruvian debt and then
sued the country for US$58
million. The same fund sued Congo Brazzaville
for US$400 million for a debt
the fund bought for US$10 million.
Zambia bought some agricultural
equipment from Romania for US$30 million and
failed to repay the loan.
Romania was prepared to write off the debt after
some negotiations. A
vulture fund came in and bought the debt for US$3,5
million and sued Zambia
for over US$50 million.
"HIPC initiatives do not seem to protect poor
debtor countries against
commercial creditors, smaller lender institutions
and non-Paris Club
creditors," he said
Mabheju said it was
important if a country considered going the HIPC route
to getting debt
relief to analyse the composition of its creditors.
"If it has
creditors not bound by the HIPC initiatives, it has to proceed
cautiously to
avoid the possibility of vulture funds coming in to cause more
damage than
the original debt.
Vulture funds are generally viewed as immoral and
there are calls to make
them illegal wherever they exist. It is however up
to each potential victim
country to be proactive and avoid being preyed
upon," said Mabheju.
It is however up to each potential victim
country to be proactive and avoid
being preyed upon," said
Mabheju.
According to a document prepared by Biti, experience of
35 countries for
which packages have already been approved, debt service
paid on average has
declined by about 2,5% of GDP between 1999 and 2007.
Their debt burden is
expected to be reduced by about 90% after the full
delivery of debt relief.
Some of the disadvantages of HIPC status are
that it does not bring
additional funding for the development needs of poor
countries. This means
that poor countries may have to continue contracting
new debt to meet
developmental needs. HIPC status also takes time to reach
its completion
point. Originally the time lag between the decision and
completion points
was three years.
Economist David Mupamhadzi
told businessdigest this week that the issue of
the country's external debt
was central to the sustained recovery of the
economy. He said the government
of Zimbabwe should come up with a clear
arrears clearance strategy since
this was "one of the first steps towards
the reengagement with the
international community".
"The HIPC route is one option which the
government could adopt, and this
approach will be widely supported by the
international finance institutions.
Taking this option will enable the
government to make huge debt service
savings, and this will provide the
government with an opportunity to
redirect resources to other critical areas
of the economy.
"For example in January 2010, the Republic of Congo,
reached the completion
stage of the HIPC initiative, and they generated a
total debt service
savings of US$1,9 billion.
"Furthermore once a
country adopts a credible debt clearance strategy, this
will also improve
the country's risk profile to both domestic and
international investors,"
Mupamhadzi said.
Economist Eric Bloch said officials in Zanu PF's
intention to block the HIPC
route demonstrates yet again their "extreme
paranoia and, even more so,
their intractable determination to remain in
power, irrespective of the
negative consequences upon the country and its
populace of not pursuing the
only practical way of dealing with the
country's crippling burden of debt".
"They are once again proving
that they are readily willing to sacrifice the
best interests of the nation
to protect their own desires and wishes," he
said.
Bloch said
those opposing the HIPC option do not even suggest any practical
alternative
path to be followed to "deal with the gargantuan debt arrears
that they
caused Zimbabwe to accumulate".
"And undoubtedly they have decided
consciously or unconsciously that as the
economic recovery is hindered by
the country's ongoing debt-servicing
default, they will attribute all
culpability to the international community.
"They will deliberately
contend that the tardiness of economic recovery is
partially
attributable
to the continuing huge debt arrears, and will strive to deflect
any
suggestions of their being even remotely responsible for continuing
national
poverty and suffering," Bloch said.
Economist Brains
Muchemwa told businessdigest on Monday that being
considered under the HIPC
eliminates the incidences of delusional fiscal
populism and its associated
ills.
"The associated improved in-flows of offshore capital will
erode the
existing high country risk being priced into cost of capital,
whilst the
reprieve on the fiscus will be a huge stimulus on capital
expenditure to
address the high unemployment and fragile consumer spending,"
Muchemwa said.
Bloch said the world's major creditor nations which
constitute the Paris
Club have aided various heavily indebted nations by
restructuring and
rescheduling debt.
However, with the magnitude
of the political differences that continue to
characterise those in
authority in Zimbabwe, there is no certainty that the
Paris Club would agree
to a programme of Zimbabwean debt-rescheduling,
especially so as the
international community remains uneasy at the
pronounced disregard for law
and order, and for human and property rights in
Zimbabwe.
There
are also the continuing defaults in honouring Bilateral Investment
Promotion
and Protection Agreements (Bippas). Analysts said the Paris Club
negotiations would, in all probability, be extended, whereas Zimbabwe
urgently requires resolution of its debt crises.
By Paul
Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:23
FARMERS' organisations must be feeling vindicated after Agriculture
ministry
permanent secretary Ngoni Masoka last year turned a deaf ear to
their
warnings of a maize deficit.
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU)
vice-president Charles Taffs told government
officials and delegates at an
agriculture conference last year that farmers
were unprepared and not
equipped for the season. Masoka dismissed the
warning as mere
talk.
And Farmers Development Trust chief executive officer
Lovegot Tendengu did
not help the situation either. He backed Masoka's
claims.
Although government agrees now that it could have set the bar
a bit high in
terms of output, the state is still to revise its projections
downwards
saying a nationwide crop assessment would soon be
underway.
This is not the first time government has blundered. A few
years back, then
Agriculture minister Joseph Made flew around the country in
a helicopter and
announced a "bumper harvest."
Made was wrong.
Now Masoka faces the same fate come harvesting time.
Deon Theron, the
president of the CFU, which represents the remaining white
farmers, this
week said: "All indications are that this season will be a
total disaster.
We will be very lucky if we get more than 500 000 tonnes.
"We need
about 1,8 million tonnes of maize, so over a million tonnes will
have to be
made up by imports."
Theron said apart from poor rains, which
affected much of the late-planted
crop, poor preparations and continued
disturbances on white commercial farms
had also contributed to another poor
season.
"We predicted the dry conditions affecting the crop now and
advised farmers
to plant early, but a lot of our farmers who were going to
put seed in the
ground early were being harassed," he said. "Producing
adequate food for
ourselves is going to be a problem as long as we don't
find a way forward
and resolve the disputes on the farms for the benefit of
the country."
Also, the Metrological Services Department's weather
forecasts made CFU's
projections irrelevant. While CFU urged farmers to
plant early, the
metrological department forecast above average rains for
the 2009/10
agricultural season.
Farmers may be to blame too for
trusting the weather people given the
outdated technology the department is
stuck with.
The Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union (ZCFU), which
represents the majority
of resettled black farmers, also gave a grim
assessment of the current
agricultural season.
ZCFU president
William Nyabonda told the state media recently that: "We are
likely to have
a food deficit and we are now appealing to the government and
other
stakeholders to start preparing to deal with the food deficit. It is
time
for the government to start crafting a budget to source additional
grain
from neighbouring countries."
Finance minister Tendai Biti has since
said he was working on a budget to
import food and the cabinet has adopted
matigatory strategies to counter
effects of the imminent
drought.
Annually, Zimbabwe needs 2,2 million tonnes of cereals,
according to Masoka.
Of the 2,2 million tonnes, 1,8 million tonnes are
consumed by Zimbabweans
while the rest goes to stock feeds.
Over
the years, Zimbabwe has been relying on food imports to cover food
deficits.
Taffs last year argued that Zimbabwe was headed for
another farming disaster
saying resources -- mainly inputs -- were not yet
in place.
He said: "The rains are upon us and we are still talking
about agricultural
finance. I have been all over the country and we are in
an unprepared state.
We need to be real with ourselves. We will have a
deficit and we need to be
prepared for that."
Masoka then argued
that in the prior season, Zimbabwe had received R300
million in December
2008 and only received inputs on Christmas eve but
output was
reasonable.
"Last year we were assisted by South Africa with R300
million in December
(2008). We needed seeds inputs and fertilisers. We are
more prepared this
year (2009) than we were last year. We only got the money
on 20 December
last year and got the green light to disburse the money on
Christmas Eve and
we did not go wrong," Masoka said
then.
Masoka's argument was premised on the fact that Zimbabwe had
got funding
from South Africa late but still managed to have improved food
for the
country in the 2008-9 season.
Zimbabwe embarked on a
chaotic land re-distribution exercise in 2000 meant
to benefit landless
blacks but the programme ended up largely benefiting
Zanu PF officials amid
accusations that many party chiefs own more than one
farm.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
18:36
FEBRUARY 20 is nigh and very important to Zimbabwe!
The European
Union will meet and topping its agenda will be Zimbabwe’s
political crisis.
A lot has happened since the country’s main political
parties signed a unity
government pact in September 2008: the economy is on
a recovery path and the
people seem to be optimistic about the future.
But the politics
remain poisoned.
The main protagonists –– Zanu PF and the MDC-T ––
entered into a marriage
which with the benefit of hindsight is now proving
to have been merely one
of convenience.
President Robert Mugabe’s
Zanu PF met last week and unequivocally resolved
that it would not concede
any further ground to MDC-T in its demands for the
finalisation of the
sticking points of the global political agreement (GPA).
The
reasoning behind the stance is a red-herring: sanctions imposed by the
US,
Britain and its Western allies should be immediately and unconditionally
lifted. The true reason behind the party’s intransigence is that it has
never wanted to relinquish power whether through the ballot or any other
means.
Mugabe and his Chinese-style politburo want the world to
see the sanctions
as an albatross around the nation’s neck, stifling
political renewal and
survival. But the moribund party also sees the
continued imposition of the
sanctions as a leverage in favour of the MDC-T
in the fight for political
space. Zanu PF’s political survival has been
premised on its usual bravado
and brute force but the sanctions call for the
taming of these.
To make matters worse, the MDC-T leader and premier
of the inclusive
government, Morgan Tsvangirai, seems to have panicked after
the politburo’s
resolution, political analysts observed this
week,
Tsvangirai, they argued, has joined Sadc and the African Union to fight
in
Zanu PF’s corner by calling for the lifting of sanctions.
The
political analysts said the former trade union leader has been entrapped
by
Zanu PF, hence his call last Friday for Western capitals to ease
sanctions
on Mugabe and his inner circle.
Tsvangirai’s panic, according to the
political analysts, was understandable.
Britain’s foreign secretary
David Miliband stated in the UK parliament on
January 19 that the MDC-T
holds the key to the EU’s forthcoming decision on
the sanctions. Zanu PF’s
spin-doctors immediately went into overdrive to
tell the world that
Tsvangirai was holding the nation to ransom by failing
to order his
“masters” to let go of the embargo.
Speaking on the sidelines of the
World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland,
last Friday Tsvangirai suggested
that the world capitals should take “a
two-stage approach” to ease some of
the sanctions, among them targeted, and
acknowledge the progress so far made
by the unity government. He urged the
West “to ease travel and financial
restrictions targeting President Mugabe
and his inner
circle”.
The EU sanctions currently impose restrictions on 203 key
Zanu PF and
government figures allegedly involved in violence and human
rights abuses
and 40 companies associated with the individuals and their
sources of
finance.
Tsvangirai said he believed that the level of
political risk was far reduced
from what it had been a year ago. He admitted
that certain benchmarks still
had to be reached and it was up to Western
capitals to decide, but said
there was a case for easing of the targeted
sanctions against his former
opponents.
“It is a very positive
signal to those who doubt that they have anything to
benefit from this
inclusive government,” said the premier.
Tsvangirai and his party do
not have a concrete position on the sanctions.
The premier and Finance
minister Tendai Biti are pushing for the lifting of
sanctions on parastatals
first, while another group in the party feels that
all embargoes should
remain in place as leverage for the party.
The companies which Biti
wants removed from the sanctions list include ZB
Bank, Agribank,
Infrastructure Bank of Zimbabwe, Zimre Holdings, Industrial
Development
Corporation, Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, and the
Zimbabwe
Iron and Steel Company.
But what has become apparent is that the EU
and the international community
are not convinced that Zimbabwe has, or is,
coming out of tyranny and moving
towards democracy where human rights, among
them a free press, respect for
property rights and the rule of law, are
beginning to take root.
Continued violations of property and
individual rights, propagation of hate
speech in the public media and a
general dearth of the rule of law have
weakened the case for the lifting of
sanctions, political and economic
analysts have observed. To worsen the
situation, talks to resolve the
sticking issues of the GPA are teetering on
the brink of collapse and as a
result the inclusive government is hanging by
a thread.
No resolution has been found on the rehiring of central
bank chief Gideon
Gono, the appointment of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana,
provincial
governors and the swearing in of MDC-T treasurer-general Roy
Bennett as
deputy Agriculture minister, among a host of other outstanding
issues.
Government insiders said the government was hanging by a thread and
the next
month could prove to be crucial to its survival.
Western
capitals are clear on the course the country should take before it
is
re-admitted into the community of nations –– respect for human rights and
the rule of law.
“The most important factor influencing the
United Kingdom’s views on the
lifting of EU restrictive measures will be
evidence of actual change and
reform on the ground in Zimbabwe,” says
British ambassador to Zimbabwe, Mark
Canning. “These are not MDC-T
measures. These are not Zanu PF measures.
They are the EU’s, and we will
make our own judgments as to when they should
be reinforced or eased. But
the key to having restrictive measures eased,
or lifted, is for those in
Zimbabwe who are currently resisting progress to
implement the commitments
to reform they agreed to in the global political
agreement.”
Other Western diplomats in the capital were this week
mum on what they
thought on the sanctions, but judging by the outcome of a
fact-finding
mission by the EU last September, the embargoes could remain in
force. The
mission found that the benchmarks for reforms had not been
met.
Political commentator and business mogul Mutumwa Mawere
concurred with
Canning arguing that it was up to Zimbabweans to do what was
right for the
country to move forward.
“For the country to move
forward, new capital injection is required,” said
Mawere. “This capital will
not come from Zimbabwe. The people with the
required funds are more
comfortable partnering in stable environments. It is
up to Zimbabweans and
not just the political actors to convince the
cooperating partners that the
change that they see in evidence is
sustainable and underpinned by sound
policies and ideological thinking. To
the extent that after almost a year
into the unity government the partners
have not found each other
completely.”
He added: “It makes it difficult for third parties to
engage meaningfully
with a body that is yet to establish itself as a going
concern. The
rumblings internally do not help.
“There may be a
dispute in terms of the reasons why targeted sanctions were
imposed but
there can be no dispute that reforms have to be urgently
implemented to
attract not just official development assistance but private
capital.”
The pressure, Mawere said, was now on Tsvangirai to
lead the campaign
against the sanctions.
Political writer
Tanonoka Whande is of the opinion that although the
sanctions “assisted” the
MDC-T, they were a reaction to the trampling of
ordinary people’s rights by
Mugabe’s regime. He argued that Tsvangirai had
no power over the lifting of
the sanctions, yet he was behaving as if he
did.
“He is trying to
accept responsibility for something he did not create and
this convinces
Mugabe that, indeed, Tsvangirai had something to do with the
imposition of
these sanctions,” wrote Whande. “The fact is that Tsvangirai
cannot call for
the removal of sanctions because the reasons why those
sanctions were
imposed are still in effect.”
Human Rights Watch is also of the
opinion that the sanctions should remain
in force.
“Zanu PF has continued
committing grave human rights abuses and acting as if
the agreement had
never been signed,” said Georgette Gagnon, the group’s
Africa director. “The
European Union runs the risk of reinforcing ongoing
repression and impunity
in Zimbabwe if it eases the sanctions now.”
Concrete reforms, Human
Rights Watch argued, should take place before the
travel bans and assets
freezes are lifted.
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:14
FBC Bank has
been hit by a US$500 000 fraud but the bank remains sound,
officials
say.
The bank says four workers at its Mutare branch will soon appear in
court
facing fraud charges relating to the missing funds.
FBC
Bank spokesperson Agrippa Mugwagwa announced in a statement that staff
at
the branch had colluded with other external customers to siphon funds out
of
the bank.
He said: "Four staff members at our FBC Bank Mutare Branch
are under
investigation following the unearthing of fraudulent transfers at
the
branch. Preliminary indications are that around $500 000 was
fraudulently
transferred by the four staff members in collusion internally
and with some
external parties."
But the bank is confident it will
recover the funds.
Mugwagwa added: "The bank has established where
the funds were transferred
and prospects of recovering the funds are high.
The bank remains in a
healthy financial position despite the
fraud."
Sources close to the developments told businessdigest that
one of the
suspects, Rodrick Chongo, is still at large. Chongo, who was a
supervisor at
the Mutare branch, is understood to have gone into hiding this
week when
police pounced on his colleagues. Sources said early this week,
FBC Bank
uncovered irregular transactions dating back to end of last year
and
instituted investigations.
The investigations exposed a hole
in the banks books of US$500 000. A US$5
000 reward has been placed on
Chongo.
An advert in the state-controlled daily, the Herald, shows
that police might
not have leads on his whereabouts and are hoping a call
will come through
the hotline.
Banks have suffered huge losses in
the past year from armed robbers. Kingdom
Bank and Barclays Bank lost
thousands of dollars in robberies.
But the FBC fraud is the biggest
loss suffered by banks owing to fraud or
robbery so far.
In
December 2004, CFX was rocked by a fraud that brought the bank to its
knees
and had to be recapitalised once again. Premier also suffered a fraud
in
2007 which resulted in the resignation of former Premier Finance Group
chief
executive Exodus Makumbe and chief operating officer Cassius
Gambinga.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
18:08
THE Reserve Bank on Monday reduced statutory reserve ratios for
local
banks, a move analysts said will offer little financial reprieve to
the
financial services sector.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono last
Friday presented a low-key Monetary
Policy Statement that, among other
policy changes, slashed the minimum
statutory reserve ratio to 5% of
incremental liabilities from the current
10% of total
liabilities.
The central bank also liberalised remittances and
transfers of investment
income relating to dividends, profits, capital
appreciation proceeds and
loan repayment to inspire confidence into the
economy.
The statutory reserve ratio policy would affect the change
in liabilities
rather than the aggregate deposits or
liabilities.
The new directive, according to banking experts,
will have little impact on
Zimbabwe’s banking sector given the relatively
slow growth in deposits since
the dollarisation of the economy in January
2009.
The move to reduce the ratios came at a time when treasury has
projected
between US$4 and US$6 billion in domestic savings over the next
two years
driven by “incentives to savers”.
Independent economist
Daniel Ndlela said the new policy was a drop in the
ocean.
“Ideally, he (Gono) should have removed the statutory
reserve ratio and put
in place measures that promote financial
intermediation,” Ndlela said. “It’s
a blunt instrument and he wants somebody
to make a mistake.”
The Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president
John Mangudya could not be
reached for comment as his mobile phone continued
to ring unanswered.
Last year, the International Monetary Fund warned
that Zimbabwe’s financial
institutions were facing serious exposure
following revelations that the
apex bank continued to channel statutory
reserves to finance quasi-fiscal
projects, which rendered it incapable of
backing up banks in the event of a
liquidity crunch.
The IMF
criticised the central bank for using foreign reserve assets to fund
its
operating expenses, withdrawals of foreign currency amounts and debt
service, as well as payments on behalf of the government.
The
bank, according to the report, accumulated US$40,3 million in arrears on
operating expenses during the first nine months of 2009.
“We
believe the additional liberalisation measures taken by the governor are
likely to continue to inspire investor confidence in the economy,” said ZABG
in a statement. “While we expect positive growth in the productive sectors
of the economy we believe the huge international debt overhang coupled by
the illiquid local money market will militate against a speedy economic
recovery. T
The continued sustenance of the inclusive
government is also key to the
constructive reengagement with international
development partners and
financiers.”
Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010 18:02
A LOW
key but nonetheless focused monetary policy statement with less
rhetoric
than usual was presented on January 29. This was a major departure
from the
grandstanding which the country had come to expect every time the
monetary
authorities took to the podium between 2003 and 2008.
The talking point on
the statement so far has been the failure of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to
redeem gold bonds at maturity. These bonds were
issued to gold mines for
unpaid gold deliveries to Fidelity Printers &
Refiners, a subsidiary of
the RBZ.
The Special Tradable Gold-backed Foreign Exchange bonds
were issued in
January 2009 with a tenor of 12 months and an interest rate
of 8%. Few
mining houses managed to sell the bonds to the banks and pension
funds at
discounts as high as 30% to raise liquidity for working capital.
Many
prospective takers of those bonds on the secondary market shunned them
because they were worried about the creditworthiness of the
issuer.
Teir caution has since been vindicated. As largely feared
by many, the
central bank has failed to pay up on maturity. Instead they
have rolled the
bonds over for a further six months. With the central bank
having been
relieved of some of its income generating operations, it looks
largely
unlikely that it will be able to meet all outstanding obligations
from its
own resources. The plan, it seems, is to transfer the indebtedness
of
so-called "government's RBZ-held debt" from the central bank to the
central
government. This will merely add on to government debt without
improving the
chances of repayment of these
obligations.
Already the government has external debts of US$3
465 million including
arrears of US$2 317 million. The obligations increase
to US$4 290 million
after adding on government-guaranteed debt owed by
public enterprises. An
addition of a further US$1 billion or so of domestic
debt, most of which was
used to fund consumption, will only further worsen
the indebtedness of
central government. With revenue collections currently
being lower than
expenses, it will be folly for anyone to expect government
to prioritise
paying debts.
Financial institutions which jumped onto the
gold bonds because they were
being offered at big discounts might live to
regret their decisions. The
returns on these instruments were high but the
risk was high as well. It may
end up just being paper money that may not be
realised soon, if at all.
There is little hope that the bonds will be paid
off after the six months
roll-over period. This may call for the impairments
to be done on the
affected institutions' financial
statements.
The gold bonds debacle should remind investors
that default risk is still
high in this country. Many borrowers are failing
to settle their obligations
when they fall due largely because they are not
generating adequate cash
flows. It is clear from the monetary policy
statement that most banks remain
uncomfortable to give out loans. Only 48,2%
of the total deposits amounting
to US$1,33 billion were given out as loans
and advances. Even such banks as
CBZ and FBC which are believed to have most
of the public sector deposits
are also cautious in their lending. CBZ bank,
with deposits equivalent to
27,5% of the market, gave out 61,8% to
borrowers. The most aggressive banks
were NMB, Agribank, MBCA and CFX with
loans to deposit ratios between 70%
and 200%. Amongst the commercial banks
FBC was the meanest after lending
only US$16,3million (16,6%) out of
deposits totaling US$98 million.
Manufacturers received the
highest loans amounting to US$142 million or 22%
of the total. The next in
line was the distribution sector followed by
agriculture while the least
favoured beneficiary was the construction
sector.
The RBZ, in
contrast, recommends that agriculture should be allocated the
most credit of
say 30% with manufacturing and mining getting 25% apiece
while the other
sectors share the remaining 20% of loans and advances. RBZ
bases its
recommendations on the relative contribution of the sectors to the
national
income while banks are considering the relative creditworthiness of
the
borrowers.
It is obvious that local banks cannot sufficiently
fund this economy alone.
Foreign participation is needed for local industry
to increase production.
The foreigners have publicly expressed interest in
doing business in this
country provided the conditions are supportive of
private investment. A
small price to ask, but, not, apparently, when dealing
with politicians.
Ranga Makwata
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
17:59
ZIMBABWE’S industries should be innovative in the production of
goods, so
that they are able to compete with not only neighbouring
countries, but also
globally as the era of trade liberalisation and global
competitiveness has
arrived, business leaders have warned.
The business
leaders were speaking at an export management training workshop
in Bulawayo
on Wednesday.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), vice
president of the Joseph
Kanyekanye told business leaders that the local
industry should embrace good
practices that would enhance their
businesses.
“Global competitiveness is important and local industry
should make sure
that their businesses are attractive globally. There are no
more borders in
the world that we live in and as business we should be
looking for
partnerships that will enhance our businesses competitiveness in
the global
world,” Kanyekanye said.
Over the past five years, the
country’s industries have been operating at
less than 50% capacity, making
it difficult for the production of
competitive goods. This situation has
seen the country importing basically
everything from neighbouring
countries.
Kanyekanye said various measures were to be put in place
to assist the local
industry in producing competitive
products.
“Government should put up deliberate assistance for
industry, such as
supporting low interest rate loans which businesses can
borrow and be able
to be competitive. Industry should also be assisted on
how they can export
their goods as most of them are not aware of the
procedure,” he said.
He added that there was a need for attitude
change on the part of both
industry and government to ensure that the local
industry thrives in the
global economy.
Zimbabwe is a signatory
to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the
Eastern and Southern
Africa (ESA) regional groupings, together with
Mauritius, Seychelles and
Madagascar.
Imports from the countries that signed the interim EPA
have received duty
and quota free access to the European Union (EU) since
January 2008.
As a result of the new agreement, these countries must
now liberalise their
markets to EU imports over the next 15 years, gradually
removing tariffs on
between 80 and 98% of imports from the EU depending on
the country.
CZI chief economist, Lorraine Chikanya said the country
stands to benefit a
lot from the EPA, hence a need to improve the quality of
our products.
“In the EPA, Zimbabwe will have cumulative and
progressive market
liberalisation, where it is looking at a situation that
by 2013, 45% of EU
imports will be coming into the country for free and will
increase to 80% by
2022. This means that our products will now be
competitive in the EU markets
as there will be no duty charged,” she
said.
Chikanya however indicated that this trade liberalisation would
mean that
local industries will need to pull up their socks so that their
goods are
attractive to other countries.
“Opening up of the
market for EU products would provide for stiff
competition for the local
industry, as Zimbabwe is already importing most
products from South Africa
and Botswana.
These neighbouring countries are already competing for
space with our local
products, what more EU products? It is therefore
important for the local
industry to be extremely innovative in their
production.”
Chikanya also said in preparation for 2013, business
needs to think about
strategies to increase competitiveness, at national,
regional and
international levels.
“We need enterprises that
allow other players to come in and be partners. We
need to change our
mentality of exporting raw materials into exporting
value-added products,
recognising of course the challenges facing the
companies,”
“The
industry needs to know that there is no going back on liberalisation.
It
needs to be inventive and come up with ways on how to utilise the policy
environment they are subjected to.
“In a nutshell, the private
sector needs to rethink their strategies and
revise their business models,”
she said.
Fortune Dlamini-Moyo
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
17:48
JANUARY has shown that it is hard to predict anything in Zimbabwe,
although
short-term planning is now possible.
The economy however has
shown signs of improving. Businessdigest this week
looks at the good, bad,
the ugly and, business quotes of the month and
wishful thinking during the
period under review.
The Good
*The Medium-Term Plan, the
overall national economic development policy
between 2010 and 2015, has
targeted to achieve US$9 billion gross domestic
product within the next five
years.
*TN Holdings Limited shares started trading on the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange
with an opening listing price of US5,5c.
The
listing of TN Holdings was completed through a reverse takeover of Tedco
Ltd
by TN Financial Holdings Ltd resulting in the change of name to TN
Holdings
Ltd. The company's share closed the month trading at US$2,2.
*The 2009/10
tobacco output is projected to surpass 80 million kg, compared
to the 56
million kg of the crop that went through the auction floors last
season,
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president, Wilson Nyabonda,
said.
*Finance minister Tendai Biti lobbied the International Monetary
Fund (IMF)
in Washington to restore the country's voting rights and offer
lines of
credit.
*The stock market responded to events that are
happening locally and abroad
and offering relatively attractive
returns.
The Bad
*Zimbabwe is battling a skills crisis,
with several companies struggling to
recruit from the domestic
market.
*The rate of growth in capacity utilisation is expected
to slow this year
with the overall recovery in the economy turning out to be
lower than
officially predicted, president of the Business Council of
Zimbabwe,
Kumbirai Katsande said.
*Abortion of a planned
auction of 300 000 carats of diamonds from the
Chiadzwa field by Mbada
Diamond after it emerged that KPCS procedures had
not been
observed.
*Most employers are failing to pay workers' salaries on
time while others
have approached the courts for exemption from implementing
industry minimum
wages, setting the stage for protracted labour
disputes
The ugly
*Zimbabwe will continue to
experience power shortages. A Zimbabwe Power
Company generation report dated
January 24 2010 shows that only one unit is
operating at
Hwange.
*The other five are tripped due to system failure with
only Unit 6 expected
"to return to service soon".
*Continued
disruptions on farms have resulted in more than 1 500 farm
workers losing
their jobs, the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers
Union of Zimbabwe
(Gapwuz) said.
*The Reserve Bank is broke to the extent of having
some of its property
being attached by the messengers of
court.
Wishful thinking
*Secretary for Mines and Mining
Development Thankful Musukutwa said the 30%
growth which government
projected for the mining sector in 2010 was
attainable as most mines that
had closed due to viability challenges are
reopening.
*Zimbabwe should be self-sufficient in electricity
generation by 2015, with
the country exporting surplus power to its
neighbours, according to the
Mid-Term Plan.
*Zimbabwe is
projected to host a third of the tourists (about 130 000)
expected to visit
South Africa for the World Cup soccer showcase in June,
Tourism and
Hospitality permanent secretary Sylvester Maunganidze.
Quote of the
month
"Employees must be allowed to decide how they want to space
their children
and how many children they want to have regardless of whether
they changed
the employer or not.
"ZCTU also wants the breastfeeding
period to be increased from one hour per
day to two and this should be over
18 months and not the current six.
"Other proposed changes include a 48-hour
notice to go on strike instead of
the current 14-day written notice," --
ZCTU legal advisor Zakeyo Mutimutema
on the trade union's proposed paternity
leave for men.
*Negotiations between Israel and Palestine have
been going on for several
years now if not decades, yet you expect us to
conclude the talks here
faster and at the behest of the media," -- Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga,
one of the chief negotiators in the current stalled
dialogue to save
Zimbabwe's coalition government, speaking to a
journalist.
*"The (Indigenisation) Act is good, we want
indigenisation to be in full
throttle, but the policies should encourage the
flow of investors into the
country," -- Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce president, Obert Sibanda,
*"All we are saying is that
while we appreciate that these companies played
a bigger role in sustaining
Mugabe's government, there is need now to review
the situation and see what
can be done to help save these companies from
imminent collapse." -- Gorden
Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's office advocating the
European Union to remove sanctions on 40
Zimbabwean
companies.
*"The past 10 years can be described as an unnecessary
decade. Before
abandoning the credit facility scheme, we had 180 000
accounts countrywide.
However, because of some notable achievements in the
economy we decided to
re-introduce credit facilities and now our account
holding base stands at 38
000,". -- Edgars managing director, Raymond
Mlotshwa talking about his
retirement in March after serving the company for
29 years.
Ideas that might never
materialise
*Government intends to set up economic crimes courts
in Harare, including
four provincial towns to curb fraud, graft and other
forms of corruption.
According to the latest three-year
macro-economic policy released by the
Ministry of Finance, these crimes
courts would work closely with the
Anti-Corruption Commission. These
decentralised anti-corruption offices are
envisioned in Bulawayo, Gweru,
Mutare and Masvingo.
*Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries is
urging the government to consider
the adoption of the South African rand as
a single currency to eliminate the
negative effects of cross-rate, its
president Kumbirai Katsande said.
*Players in the poultry
industry are calling government to impose a ban on
the importation of
genetically modified chickens, a development they said
would promote the
local industry.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010 17:42
THE trend of
moving from house to house amongst Zimbabwean tenants has
subsided due to
the adoption of a stable currency.
Three years ago estate agents said an
average tenant moved after about a
year and half due to the continuous rise
of rentals as the local currency
lost value against major currencies at an
alarming rate. Those who were
paying rentals in US dollars then were said to
have stayed a bit longer.
"The dollarisation of the economy has
resulted to tenants staying in the
same property for a long time. There are
however some landlords who have
reviewed their rentals upwards (in US
dollars) when all economic
fundamentals are pointing the other
direction,"
Tenants, who are near prime amenities like schools,
shops, public transport
and security with no water and electricity problems
have had every reason to
settle in and stay where they are for many years,
even when rentals are
adjusted.
The Estate Agent Council of
Zimbabwe said between 2004 and 2007 there was a
lot of movement in
residential areas as many informal activities resulted in
the property
market being distorted.
"In some cases rent was being paid in fuel
coupons or groceries, which were
equal or more than the value of the local
currency which was required each
month using the prevailing official
rate."
Zimbabwe endured the longest and most severe period of
hyperinflation since
Germany in the early 1920s resulting in the currency
being rendered useless.
During the period under review the local
currency was revalued three times
removing 12 zeros to try and tame
inflation.
"Movement slowed down during the first half of 2008 as
most landlords
virtually started to charge in US dollars refusing to accept
the local
currency.
The fact that fuel coupons then, were seen as
a stronger currency than the
official Zimbabwe dollar was testimony to a
nation in agony. Rentals rose by
more than 20 000% inside one
month.
While the dollarisation scheme has been described by some
analysts as
solution it was said to be unworkable.
"It has been
tried before by other countries that have suffered
hyperinflation. But it
always failed to fix underlying problems and can, at
best buy some time for
an unpopular and failing government."
Potential homeowners who had
ready cash then also distorted the market as
they were willing to pay what
was being asked without any negotiations.
Paul
Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
18:41
LAST week the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced that the
Special
Tradable Gold Bonds, which were due to mature on Monday this week,
are to be
"rolled over" for a further six months.
That announcement was
not of great surprise to the holders of the bonds for
it has been
widely-known for an extended period of time that RBZ is in
financial
problems. Nevertheless, the failure to redeem the bonds on time is
tragic,
with cataclysmic consequences.
The RBZ has been the victim of immense
financial constraints for some years.
Many attribute its apparently
near-bankruptcy to gross mismanagement and
self-motivated
profligacy.
That they have such a perception is readily
understandable, for there is a
pronounced awareness of the immense magnitude
of largesse funded by RBZ,
ranging from the funding of numerous motor
vehicles, vast quantities of
tractors, ploughs and diverse other farm
equipment and inputs for the
agricultural sector and to much else. Although,
for having the view that
primary culpability is not with the RBZ, this
columnist will (without
legitimate foundation!) be accused of being an RBZ
apologist, nevertheless
that view persists. The reality is that the fault,
very substantially and
unequivocally, is that of the Zanu PF
government.
Year after year, preceding the negotiation of the Global
Political Agreement
(GPA), that government endlessly demanded, with great
intensity, that RBZ
engage in innumerable quasi-fiscal operations. Desperate
to retain its grip
on power, and recognising that the ongoing intensive
economic collapse which
it had occasioned (despite speciously and spuriously
attributing blame for
that collapse to others) could weaken that grip on
power, it vigorously
sought to beneficiate a distraught populace in order to
retain the support
of the electorate.
However, it did not have
the resources to do so, having progressively
bankrupted the fiscus,
accumulating a national debt in excess of US$5
billion, including more than
US$2 billion of pronounced debt-servicing
arrears. Therefore, in pursuit of
its endeavours to retain electoral
support, it recurrently imposed upon RBZ
to incur the expenditures.
Such quasi-fiscal operations are anathema
to any central bank, and most of
the world's central banks are vested with
the autonomy to resist any
pressures to engage in such operations, be such
pressures applied by
government, by the populace, or
others.
However, despite repeated appeals for such autonomy, the
RBZ was not
accorded that autonomy, and the Zanu PF government exploited its
grip on the
RBZ by incessantly driving it into those untoward quasi-fiscal
activities.
Amongst the many consequences, including being a major
contributant to
extreme hyperinflation, was that the RBZ's reserves were
grievously eroded,
and that it was not only unable to service its
expenditures and debts
timeously, but also that it recurrently withheld
foreign exchange due to
private sector enterprises (during the
pre-demonetisation of Zimbabwean
currency period). Amongst the many
unserviced debts were those of RBZ's
subsidiary, Fidelity Printers &
Refiners (Pvt) Ltd. Those debts included
considerable amounts due to gold
producers for gold deliveries to Fidelity,
to whom delivery was mandatorily
required by the prevailing legislation,
preceding the 2009 issue of gold
dealers' licences to a few producers.
Unable to service those debts,
the RBZ issued 12 months, special tradable
gold bonds, with an eight percent
per annum coupon. This hit hard gold
producers, who initially needed payment
to service ongoing operational cash
flow needs, as well as to fund
development and increased productive capacity
expenditure. Some were able
to convert the bonds to cash by trading them
within the money market, but
demand was limited, and the trade discount very
considerable, motivating
many to retain the bonds, notwithstanding their
cash flow constraints. They
fervently hoped that redemption would be
effected when due, belatedly
enhancing their cash flows, but that was not to
be.
In announcing
the "roll over" of the bonds, the RBZ stated that it was
vigorously pursuing
various avenues to raise the required funding, and was
also engaging in
substantive discussions with the Finance ministry to
resolve the payment
crisis. This is commendable, but in reality the
prospects of the RBZ
accessing external funds are minimal, until the GPA is
fully implemented,
albeit very belatedly. Although there is very extensive
international
willingness, in principle, to accord Zimbabwe lines of credit,
there is a
major reluctance to convert that willingness into action until
such time as
there is irrefutable evidence of genuine and extensive progress
towards
Zimbabwe political stability. The untenably prolonged delays in
transforming
the totality of the GPA from declarations of intent to
actuality are
pronounced constraints upon international funding being
forthcoming.
The inability of the RBZ to service its obligations
was intensified by the
contemptuously minimal capitalisation of the bank
accorded by government in
the 2010 Budget, being a niggardly US$10 million.
To all intents and
purposes the impecunious circumstance of the RBZ is
attributable to
government, by virtue of the debt imposition created by the
Zanu PF
government. The Finance ministry must recognise its moral, and
impliedly
legal, obligation, to fund the RBZ satisfactorily, either by
direct
provision of sufficient funds, or by a partial privatisation of the
central
bank.
It must also do so in recognition of the very
negative economic consequences
of the RBZ default. On the one hand, the
non-availability of the funds is
tragically retarding the viability of
operations of gold producers, and on
the other hand is markedly restraining
the development and growth of gold
production. This adversely impacts upon
national export earnings, upon
levels of employment, upon downstream
expenditures into the economy, and
upon fiscal inflows. Concurrently,
Zimbabwe's poor international credit
rating is further worsened, which is a
deterrent to much-needed lines of
credit being forthcoming, and to
critically necessary investment, which is a
prerequisite for Zimbabwean
economic recovery and growth.
Merely as a transitional, very
short-term alleviating measure, the Finance
ministry should immediately
accord the bonds prescribed asset status,
rendering them a somewhat more
attractive investment status for insurance
companies, pension funds, and
other relevant institutions. This would
enhance tradability of the bonds,
thereby improving gold producers access to
desperately needed
funds.
The bonds should also be classified as acceptable
instruments for settlement
to Zimra of gold producers' income tax, PAYE,
VAT, witholding taxes, and
other tax liabilities. Every effort must be
speedily taken by government to
minimise the tragic consequences of the
non-redemption by RBZ of the bonds
when due.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
18:58
UNDER the heading "ZDF to safeguard land reform", the Herald last
week
carried a story in which Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa,
addressing
students at the army Staff College, said the ZDF "as a matter of
priority"
will ensure the land reform programme is not reversed "because it
is the
country's heritage and source of pride".
This is an extraordinary
statement for a minister with a legal background.
The land policy
will be determined, according to the GPA, by the government
of national
unity acting in concert, not by ministerial fiat.
Central to the GPA
is a land audit to determine who among Zimbabwe's
avaricious elite got what.
It is the duty of the ZDF to uphold
constitutional governance. Greedy
politicians and officials from the old
regime cannot be allowed to retain
their ill-gotten gains.
Declarations that "the land reform programme
is one of the major priorities
of the country's defence forces" is nothing
more than populist drum-beating.
The ZDF must be a non-partisan professional
force committed to the
well-being of all Zimbabweans. Mnangagwa had a duty
to spell that out.
We saw Nelson Chamisa spouting the same brand of
populism at the Quill Club
last Friday. Land reform could not be reversed
because "it is an important
national issue", he
declared.
Important national issues are those so-determined by the
GNU. Land reform
has been plagued by cronyism and corruption. Are those
features to remain an
"important national issue"? What should be an
important national issue is
cleaning out the Augean stable that Zanu PF has
bequeathed to the nation.
Chamisa must stop propitiating the
beneficiaries of misrule. Land reform is
what the people will decide in
drafting a new constitution. It is what we
decide as a nation, not what
people like Mnangagwa decide.
Agriculture minister Joseph Made has said
the land audit was premature
because new farmers weren't ready. But they
were ready when it came to
diverting fuel supplies and selling farm
fertiliser, seed and implements.
What do Mnangagwa, Chamisa and Made
think of the seizure of Kondozi Estate
and lately Matuntska banana estates?
Is that calculated theft part of the
"irreversible" land reform? Is it a
source of "national pride" that a huge
black-owned horticultural operation
was occupied and pillaged by ministers?
And what do they make of
Zimbabwean diplomats helping themselves to banana
estates in the Burma
Valley that are supposed to be protected by Bippas? Is
that what they mean
by "no going back"?
It is time we stopped this spurious patriotic
idiocy. Land seizures and
theft of equipment and produce cannot be a source
of national pride. Nor can
the destruction of commercial agriculture. People
like Chamisa need the
courage to say so instead of pandering to Zanu PF
demands.
In the same vein, we were surprised to hear Justice Bharat
Patel's decision
that enforcing the Sadc tribunal's ruling on land reform
would be against
Zimbabwe's domestic laws and agrarian policies. He declared
that "the
greater public good must prevail".
We are at liberty to
question court judgements, we understand, so long as
such criticism is
couched in moderate terms.
What does the "greater public good" mean
when agriculture has been
decimated? What if land reform has been partisan,
violent and destructive?
How have farm workers fared in terms of "the public
good"?
What can we say of a land reform policy where more people have
been
dispossessed than resettled? What public good is there when we have
been
reduced to importing maize and milk? The greater public good is food
security and greater investment in agriculture.
On another
matter, why did Zimbabwe nominate a judge to sit on the Sadc
tribunal when
the government disputes the legality of that tribunal's
rulings? The answer
is very simple. It rejects the tribunal's rulings when
they don't suit its
political purpose.
That is misrule writ large and the message will
not have been lost on the
investor community.
There have been a
series of calls recently for sanctions to be lifted. These
include Arthur
Mutambara recently returned from Davos. He believes all
sanctions should be
removed immediately.
What did the business community gathered in the
Swiss resort make of this
Zimbabwean leader, we wonder, who ignores the
pillage of Bippa-protected
farms and the assaults on law-abiding and
productive farmers? Let's hope he
spared them his "jokes" about
half-pregnant women!
Mutambara has been clear on the land issue in
the past but now engages in
tom-foolery at a Miss Zimbabwe Tourism event
which signals to investors a
complete lack of seriousness at the top of the
GNU.
It was funny watching him in Davos at the BBC debate looking for the
camera
as it panned across the room. When it did finally stop at him his
question
was less than earth-shattering.
Mutambara is a clever
guy who seems unable to get serious. The unrelenting
seizure of farms in the
Burma Valley offers him an opportunity for
statesmanship. Instead he gave us
demagoguery.
The message should be: No change in sanctions until
theft and violence
cease.
Why does he think Zanu PF should be
rewarded with the lifting of sanctions
when they refuse to stop seizing
other people's property? Why should people
invest in Zimbabwe when its
leadership refuses to obey the rule of law and
treats regional courts with
scorn?
The Herald on Wednesday reported the last-minute switch of clubs
by Warriors
captain Benjani Mwaruwaru. The 31-year-old striker moved from
Manchester
City to Sunderland on Tuesday in a deal that was concluded at the
11th hour.
Not that there is anything amiss with Benjani's switch to
a new club to earn
more game play but it is the attempt by the Herald to
exaggerate his scoring
prowess in the English Premier League which caught
our attention.
"Benjani earned his move to City after shining for Portsmouth,
where he had
scored 19 times in 70 appearances, in January 2008", the Herald
gushed on
Wednesday.
While we appreciate that Benjani is a good
player who has kept the
Zimbabwean flag flying in the Premier League, we
find it unconvincing for
the Herald to suggest that a striker who scores 19
goals in 70 outings is a
shining example of goal scoring in a league where
other strikers have
already banged in 20 goals in 24
outings.
Let's hope Benjani does not have a personal relationship
with the reporter
because we have heard reports of Zimbabwean foreign-based
football players
showering sports journalists with all sorts of gifts in
return for positive
coverage.
Who is responsible for the mess at
Beitbridge? For year after year
successive Finance ministers and Zimra
officials failed or didn't bother to
come to grips with this disaster. What
a shop window for Zimbabwe greeting
visitors to the country!
Now
we have the dynamic Tendai Biti in office can we expect some change? It
needs a take-charge person who can sort things out. Will Biti rise to the
challenge? And what does Gershom Pasi do apart from making piles of money?
Please guys, let's see some action. Beitbridge is a national
disgrace.
Poor old Gabriel Chaibva. He hasn't learnt the basic law of
Zimbabwe
politics: Nobody likes a turncoat however loud they bleat their
loyalty to
their new masters. The suspicion always is they'll turn
again.
Defecting to Zanu PF is rather like leaping from the frying
pan into the
fire. Chaibva can't even tell which way the wind is blowing.
Evidently not
a very bright politician!
Congratulations to Chief
Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Mishek
Sibanda for introducing
strict curbs on officials travelling outside the
country, and in particular
slashing delegation sizes.
This is all with a view to reducing the
government's massive travel bill.
Air Zimbabwe was being abused, we are
told.
Sibanda's letter was sent to officials at the Public Service
Commission,
parliament, permanent secretaries, the Reserve Bank, the police,
Zimra, and
chairpersons of parastatals.
The restrictions include
a reduction of the number of official delegations
to only necessary members,
we gather.
But is there not one department missing from the list? Dr
Sibanda's own?
It was reported that President Mugabe took delegations of up
to 60 people on
his trips to Rome and Copenhagen last year.
Many
of these people were wives and hangers on, news agencies reported. If
these
reports are true we would expect these economies to start at the
top.
Perhaps Dr Sibanda can confirm that he will take the axe to all
levels of
government.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
18:36
ZANU PF is a creature of habit and Robert Mugabe has sharpened the
one tool
in his vast arsenal, effectively destroying persons who challenge
his
authority or support any opposition to his despotism and brutal hold on
the
levers of power.
The fast-track land acquisition programme is one
such tool, which has been
genetically modified by Zanu PF pseudo-political
scientists to garner
illusive votes. Land reform comes into sight as a
revolutionary exercise
that corrects a colonial wrong. The illusion is that
revolutionaries are
taking back stolen land by colonial settlers and their
offspring and
redistributing it to landless peasants.
Since
Independence, Zanu PF has blatantly employed the tactic of land
seizures and
unlawful private property requisition from black political
opponents and
fellow nationalists to settle old scores and to disenfranchise
powerful
opposition figures. The first victims of farm evictions in
independent
Zimbabwe were black patriots.
Egregious examples of aggravated farm
seizures occurred when in 1983, Dr
Joshua Nkomo's farms and private property
were expropriated and he was
evicted under spurious treason allegations. He
had been the father of
Zimbabwe's liberation struggle, whilst on the other
hand Mugabe had been an
appointed functionary who caught the liberation
struggle midstream.
In Marondera on February 14 1982, Mugabe told a
Zanu PF crowd that: "Zapu
had bought more than 25 farms and more than 30
business enterprises
throughout the country. We have now established they
were not genuine
business enterprises, but places of hiding military weapons
to start another
war at an appropriate time. He was trying to overthrow my
government. Zapu
and its leader, Joshua Nkomo, were like a cobra in a house.
The only way to
deal effectively with a snake is to strike and destroy its
head."
Nkomo was subsequently accused and charged with treason for
unlawfully
trying to overthrow the government of Robert Mugabe. These
incendiary
political statements stoked the flames of hate and formed the
basis of a
sequence of well-choreographed campaign rhetoric that aroused
intolerance
toward the Ndebele, Zapu, and its former freedom fighters,
Zipra. This
mantra was effectively regurgitated on state-controlled media
until the
majority of Zimbabweans believed that Nkomo presented a clear and
present
danger to Zimbabwe's sovereignty.
This was the precursor
for Gukurahundi, the massacre of 20 000 people in
Matabeleland by the North
Korean trained Fifth Brigade.
Mugabe invoked the draconian
colonial-era law and the farms were confiscated
under the notorious Unlawful
Organisations Act, which was enacted by settler
regimes to suppress
liberation organisations. Home Affairs minister Hebert
Ushewokunze
enthusiastically instructed the loyal police to dispossess land
from Joshua
Nkomo personally. Collectively Nkomo, Zapu and Zipra guerrillas'
land that
was wrongfully stolen by Zanu PF and Mugabe include the following
properties:
Ascot Farm, Solusi; Hampton Farm, Gweru; Woody Glen
Farm, Umguza; Nest Egg
Farm, Gweru. Nijo Farm, Harare now belongs to Arda
and Snake Park and
Salisbury Hotel became government-training centres.
In
1992 Mugabe reiterated that no compensation would be paid to victims of
the
Matabeleland crisis because atrocities were committed "during a state of
war." At Nkomo's funeral in 1999, Mugabe came close to showing remorse and
admitting culpability for Gukurahundi by referring to the massacres as a
"moment of madness''. In September 2006, Nathan Shamuyarira, who served as
Information minister during the Fifth Brigade operations, is reported to
have told a conference on national reconciliation in Vumba: "No, I don't
regret. They were doing a job to protect the people."
In August
1963 Ndabaningi Sithole founded the Zimbabwe African National
Union (Zanu)
and in 1964 he appointed Mugabe to be his secretary-general.
Mugabe competed
for the presidency of Zanu during its early days, and his
rivalry with
Sithole intensified when Mugabe took over the party in 1976.
In the
1990s, Ndabaningi Sithole argued that land should be re-distributed
to black
people and that all black people should be given equal opportunity
to access
the land. The response from Zanu PF, through the sharp tongue of
its
eloquent spokesperson Eddison Zvobgo, was swift. He ridiculed him for
wishful thinking and called him "mad", further commenting that Zanu PF would
need to colonise Zambia to achieve what Sithole was talking about. This
compelled Sithole to show his leadership resolve and resettle landless
people on his private Churu Farm on the outskirts of Harare.
The
government first accused Sithole of not owning the farm, which he had
bought
in 1979. Later in 1992, through Health minister Timothy Stamps,
government
declared Churu farm a health hazard that would pollute Lake
Chivero. Despite
obtaining a High Court injunction that clearly stated: "The
Land Acquisition
Act was being used as a punitive measure and political
weapon," Zanu PF went
ahead and forcibly removed 4 000 landless residents
from Sithole's Churu
farm. The government did not make provisions for their
alternative
settlement.
The late Vice President Joseph Msika, then Local
Government Rural and Urban
Development minister, said Churu farm residents
should "go and join their
homeless colleagues in the streets" and then apply
to his ministry for aid.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police evicted the
remaining 1 600 residents of Churu
and resettled them at a camp formerly
used by Mozambican refugees.
Sithole was being punished amongst other
things, for the following
statement, which he made in parliament: "I move
that in view of the failure
of the present government to run the country to
the satisfaction of the
majority of the people of this land and in view of
the social crisis which
is building up, this House of elected
representatives of the people of
Zimbabwe passes a vote of no confidence in
the present government.
"This reveals the true nature of the Zanu
PF-led government, notably its
hypocrisy, callousness and a lamentable lack
of a keen sense of justice and
an abominable deficiency of what is right and
what is wrong, a government
that is not fit to
rule."
In December 1997, Sithole was found guilty on all
three charges of
committing acts of terrorism, illegal possession of arms
and conspiring to
assassinate Mugabe. High Court Judge Justice Chatikobo,
sitting with two
assessors, convicted him. He denied the charges and
appealed against the
conviction.
He was granted the right to appeal, but
no appeal was filed and the case was
set aside as his health
deteriorated.
In July 1993 Mugabe said: "We will not brook any
decision by any court from
acquiring any land. We will get land we want from
anyone, be they black or
white, and we will not be restricted to acquiring
under-utilised land."
James Chikerema, co-founder of Zapu and one of
Zimbabwe's first trained
guerillas had his property -- Diana Farm --
designated and included for
compulsory acquisition without compensation in
2000. He said, "As far as I'm
concerned, it's Mugabe's vendetta against
me."
Enock Dumbutshena, Zimbabwe's first black judge, became
independent Zimbabwe's
first black Chief Justice, and was a respected jurist
who fearlessly ruled
against the government. He later lost his horticultural
property.
When land was being taken away from the blacks, most
Zimbabweans ignored the
injustices, reducing it to quarrels between
political foes. The
international community responded with deafening silence
while proponents of
private property rights remained
indifferent.
Once there were no more opposing political voices with
land to confiscate,
Mugabe moved on to white farmers, using the excuse to
right a colonial
wrong. Regrettably, he targeted agricultural entrepreneurs,
the majority of
whom had bought farms on the market in post Independence
Zimbabwe.
Most farmers, encouraged by Mugabe whose government issued
"certificates of
no present interest", invested in horticulture, irrigation
and farm
infrastructure.
Zanu PF targets for attack and destruction any
group of persons or
individuals it deems economically
independent.
Minorities are vulnerable, easy targets because of their
skin colour, their
language and culture. The post-Independence land issue
has never been a
black or white issue -- it has been political from the
beginning. After all
black political opponents' land had been grabbed, they
were imprisoned or
mysteriously died. Mugabe moved on to white farmers,
shifting his reasoning
to righting a colonial wrong. All along, it has been
Mugabe spinning the
dogma to mollify sycophantic followers whilst rewarding
associates on
self-enrichment exploits.
Matibe is a political
commentator.
By Phil Matibe
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
18:29
I HAVE never been too fond of radical feminism or any form of
extremism for
that matter; finding it to be an aggressive, usually narrow
and unhelpful
approach to conflict resolution.
Radicalism is often
reactionary, manifesting as a reaction to some undesired
reality and is
usually the preserve of those who feel they have something to
defend against
all costs and something to fight for against whatever odds.
As an
activist, I have found that radicalism has its place, its use and its
benefits in pursuing the elusive goal of attaining social justice for
womankind.
Some weeks back, I read with glee, that Emilia
Muchawa and a group of women
had broken into song and dance protesting the
negligible female
representation in the constitution-making process's
committees and even had
the gumption to threaten to derail the process
altogether.
Now I reckon there are those who found such conduct
distasteful, extreme and
even uncalled for -- but every once in a while, it
is necessary for
discontent to erupt into something more than passive
resistance.
I do not know whether these women intended to make such a
vocal display of
their displeasure but I would like to think it was neither
premeditated nor
meant as a gesture of disrespect for the process -- I would
like to think it
was a spontaneous and extreme reaction to long suppressed
frustrations that
women have felt at having to be side-lined time and again
in critical
decision-making processes.
And I dare say, no one can
argue that women's grievances are legitimate and
their frustration a natural
consequence of ineffectual words never put to
practice as our country has a
great gender policy on paper and absolutely
nothing to back it up on the
ground.
The transition from theoretical gender policy frameworks to
the
implementation and practice of the same has yet to manifest; and while
one
can appreciate that it is not easy to reverse the thinking of years and
that
gender equity will be a process -- one expects to see a degree of
commitment
towards living up to the words enshrined in the treaties,
legislative
instruments and laws which Zimbabwe has signed, ratified and
enacted.
From the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women to the
Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development, and other
treaties focusing on the
need for gender parity, Zimbabwe has made a
commitment on paper that is yet
to manifest in actuality; so with the
imminent crafting of a new
constitution, women have every right to insist if
not demand equal
representation.
Article VI of the Global
Political Agreement having stated without
equivocation that the parties are,
"Mindful of the need to ensure that the
new constitution deepens our
democratic values and principles and the
protection of the equality of all
citizens, particularly the enhancement of
full citizenship and equality of
women," it is only natural that a deviation
from these noble goals be met
with resistance, and if need be, outright
mutiny.
However,
cognisance must be taken of the fact that men folk have deeply
internalised
cultural values and have often related to women on a
paternalistic level --
an unfortunate consequence of being born and raised
in a patriarchal
society.
Having said this, I found the gesture made by Muchawa and
the other women
present at that gathering to be a definitive act of kicking
paternalism to
the curb.
Emphatically, Zimbabwean wo-men are
making a statement they have no use for
paternalistic gestures; men do not
ever need to make decisions (regardless
of how well-meaning the intention)
on behalf of women. They are saying that
"we can and we will speak for
ourselves."
In this context, my view is that paternalism is premised
on two
considerations; the first being that men adopt a benevolent and
"fatherly"
attitude towards women and by assuming this attitude they (men)
then make
decisions ostensibly meant to benefit women without the inclusion,
consent
or will of the women themselves.
So perhaps, it was with
good intent that these men gathered, figuring that
they would "know what was
best for women" and go ahead with the business of
crafting the constitution
without the permission, participation or
involvement of
women.
Inexorably, the women's movement in this country has over the
years
consistently challenged and resisted patriarchal and paternalistic
attitudes - suffice to say, the constitution-making process presents the
most volatile battlefront yet. -- Kubatana.net
By Delta
Ndou
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:19
President Robert Mugabe was gleeful on his return from Addis Ababa
this
week. He had just attended the 14th African Union summit which he
described
as the "best-ever" for him.
He had many reasons for his
joyousness but many Zimbabwe watchers must have
felt there was something
sinister about his jubilation.
Mugabe had gained a propaganda
coup in Addis, gained because he had not
himself masterminded it. That bit
had been done for him by British Foreign
secretary David Miliband who,
because of sheer ineptitude or a tendentious
reading of the Zimbabwean
situation, had told the House of Commons that
Britain would wait for a cue
from Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC to end the
sanctions imposed on top Zanu PF and
government officials and some
companies.
For the pan-African
menagerie of heads of state and government gathered in
Addis this was proof
positive that the sanctions were not, in the first
place, imposed for the
good of the generality of Zimbabweans but were meant
to change the
government in Harare through unconstitutional means.
Their response
to Miliband's maladroit statement was unanimous: the
sanctions had to be
lifted without any conditionality. For Mugabe this was
cause for celebration
but for Zimbabwe watchers the decision was based on a
one-sided reading of
the story. The AU did not consider, at all, the real
situation on the ground
where the majority of Zimbabweans are still being
denied their civil
liberties, where the rule of law is still anathema to the
elite in power,
where the majority continue to be impoverished by a regime
that thrives on
greed and brute force.
But the implications of the AU's call for the
lifting of sanctions are a
plethora.
Bolstered by the pan-African
body's support, Mugabe's Zanu PF party will
continue on their intransigent
path in negotiations on the outstanding
issues of global political
agreement. Indeed the party has already dug in
following its politburo's
pronouncement that it would make no further
concessions in the talks until
the sanctions are unconditionally lifted.
The European Union is
meeting in Brussels soon to review its position on the
sanctions and
intelligence from diplomatic sources indicates that the
sanctions would not
be lifted any time soon. This is a classical impasse:
The EU won't lift
sanctions before the outstanding issues are resolved; Zanu
PF won't resolve
outstanding issues until sanctions are lifted! It doesn't
look like either
side is willing to give. The winner is Mugabe.
The AU, together with
Sadc, is the guarantor of the global political
agreement that has resulted
in the present state of affairs in Zimbabwe. The
first's stance on sanctions
is likely to have far-reaching implications for
the second's ability to
resolve the Zimbabwean question. If indeed the vote
in Addis was unanimous
it means Sadc countries, including the negotiations
facilitator South
Africa, are against the continued imposition of sanctions;
again
strengthening Mugabe's position.
But Mugabe's most important triumph
in Addis was the elevation of Malawi
President Bingu wa Mutharika to the
position AU chairman. Mugabe's
triumphalism was manifest in his effusive
praise of this development.
Zimbabweans know the relationship between
these two peas in the same pod:
Bingu owns a farm in Zimbabwe which he won't
be dispossessed of, as is the
case with other foreigners; Mugabe has about
the most important highway in
Malawi named after him.
Bingu
doesn't care a hoot how Mugabe treats his people living in Zimbabwe.
Malawians bore the brunt of Mugabe's land grab: they provided about all the
labour on the farms and were left homeless and destitute when their former
employers were chased away. There were no protests from
Liliongwe.
In 2005 Mugabe embarked on an urban clean-up operation
which destroyed 700
000 homes and left two million people homeless. Needless
to say, the
majority of these were Malawians who had for a century,
generation after
generation, provided cheap labour in Zimbabwe's towns and
mining
settlements.
Bingu did not say as much as a nay.
If the
Malawian president does not care about millions of his people who
form huge
minorities in all southern African countries, why should he care
about
ordinary Zimbabweans who continue to suffer under the repressive
regime of
his chief confidant?
But Mugabe's coup de main in Ethiopia was the
election of Zimbabwe to the AU's
Peace and Security Council. Commenting on
this he said: "That is very
important. We will be able to ward off
interference from external forces
that are always trying to tarnish our
image."
But where will this, Mugabe's victory, leave his
country?
One thing is for sure: Zimbabweans will not revel in the peace
and the
security the AU advocates, of which Mugabe will be a guardian angel.
The
miasma coming out of Addis will continue to choke them in the form of
bad
governance and denial of their democratic rights such as a free and fair
election.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010
19:12
ZANU PF and MDC officials have lately been demonstrating dislike
for each
other. In parliament on Wednesday MPs from across the political
divide
heckled and shouted at each other over a sanctions motion which Zanu
PF
wanted to introduce.
The business of the House was adjourned as a
result of the fracas which is
emblematic of the cracks in the
super-structure of the GNU. It isn’t looking
good.
Already battle lines have been drawn between
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu
PF and the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC. Daggers
have been drawn and the
victim — the inclusive government -— may face
imminent death if regional and
continental leaders fail to flex their
muscles and force the two chief
political protagonists to compromise and
resolve the outstanding issues of
the September 2008 global political
agreement (GPA).
The intervention should be for the sake of the
suffering Zimbabweans whose
rights since Independence in 1980 have been
trampled upon by a regime whose
political survival has been through brute
force. The days of camaraderie in
Sadc and the African Union should come to
an end! The two bodies should move
swiftly and firmly to save the shaky
government which is sitting on a powder
keg threatening to explode any time.
They have to demonstrate the same zeal
they exhibited when the Madagascar
crisis erupted last year.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai should be told to
their faces that this is not time
for politicking and they should find each
other sooner rather than later.
Regional and continental leaders
should move in to resolve the deadlock
which is threatening to tear apart
the gains of the last 12 months and
return the country to the pre-June 2008
era.
There is evidence galore that Zanu PF’s intransigence and
insincerity in
fully consummating the GPA has left the unity government
hanging
precariously while Sadc and the AU, the guarantors of the pact,
watch.
The government is weighed down by a deep-seated deadlock on
how to manoeuvre
through the outstanding issues of the GPA, which in my
opinion was a poorly
crafted pact signed in a rush to restore peace and
stability as the country
was gravitating towards anarchy and degenerating
into a failed state.
Several issues that could have been tied down by the
pact were left hanging
and are now haunting and threatening the robustness
of the house Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and the smaller faction of the MDC led by
Arthur Mutambara built.
Dramatic events that will shape or destroy
the inclusive government have
happened in the last two weeks — Britain’s
foreign secretary David Miliband
on January 19 said Tsvangirai’s MDC holds
sway in the removal of sanctions
imposed on the country; Zanu PF’s political
bureau responded last Wednesday
declaring that the party would not concede
further ground; and Tsvangirai in
a state of panic last Friday called for
partial lifting of the sanctions.
The three events highlighted how
estranged Zanu PF and the MDC-T are in this
inclusive
government.
Strangely, there is growing belief among Zanu PF bigwigs that
government
would be better off without the MDC-T because they strongly
believe that
Tsvangirai and his party do not add any value by joining the
government.
This explains why Mugabe and the people from his crowd attribute
the current
slow and painful economic recovery to the MDC, arguing that it
was acting
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa who came with a magic wand in
January
2009 — the introduction of multi-currencies — before the formation
of the
inclusive government a month later.
Zanu PF wanted
Tsvangirai and the MDC-T to use their international goodwill
to have
sanctions lifted against the country, Mugabe and his inner circle.
So
myopic is the reasoning in Zanu PF that its leaders fail to realise that
they owe their continued stay in government and political legitimacy to
Tsvangirai and the MDC-T.
Zanu PF forgets that the inclusive
government has largely been donor-funded
under various programmes, among
them the humanitarian plus, and that once it
collapses the support for
education and the improving health sectors will be
withdrawn as Mugabe’s
government alone lacks the trust and goodwill of the
donor
community.
Because of Zanu PF’s intransigence, the MDC-T has reached
a breaking point!
Those in the know in the party say Tsvangirai is under
tremendous pressure
to pull out, not disengage from government as he did
last year.
MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti’s statement earlier
this week exhibited
the growing frustration in the party. Biti wrote: “In
the last four weeks,
following the Zanu PF congress, we have seen an
acceleration of destruction
and insanity on the part of the former ruling
party. We have seen an
increase in the decibels of destabilisation and
recklessness. This has been
manifested in unlawful farm invasions,
disobedience of lawful court orders,
the ... vitriol against the president
of the MDC and intransigence at the
negotiating table.
“It is
clear as a pikestaff that Zanu PF is creating the conditions for the
total
breakdown of the inclusive government. It is clear to us that Zanu PF
is
making a case for the establishment of irreconcilable differences amongst
the parties leading to a total breakdown of this relationship.
He
said the “inevitable consequence of their homicidal actions” would be the
holding of free and fair elections under the protection and supervision of
Sadc.
Surely Mugabe and Zanu PF cannot win a free and fair poll
and the danger is
that the party will unleash violence to secure victory
even if the election
is supervised by Sadc, the AU or the United
Nations.
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 04 February 2010 19:02
NEXT week
the inclusive government will complete its first year in office.
It was a
dramatic period characterised by a historic agreement between
bitter
political rivals; infighting; pulling out and coming back; and
continued
internal strife.
There was however some modicum of progress in restoring a
measure of
political and socio-economic stability, although beyond the
façade of change
the situation remains fundamentally the
same.
When the inclusive government came, expectations were high that
things would
change for the better and far-reaching reforms would be
introduced during
the transition to lay the ground for full recovery and
prosperity. The
reforms were supposed to underpin an irreversible transition
from
dictatorship to democracy.
Unfortunately, the past still
remains with us. The dictatorship has not
disintegrated. In fact, there is a
growing danger that we might slide back
to the dark days of
repression.
The inclusive government was expected to restore economic
stability and
recovery. But only cosmetic economic reforms followed the
introduction of a
multi-currency regime. Although the economy has started
showing signs of
recovery, structural reforms and huge financial outlays
required to revive
the economy and put it on a sustainable recovery path
remain elusive.
Zimbabwe is still looking for up to US$10 billion to
fund economic recovery
but has only managed to secure paltry sums to
kick-start an economy
devastated by extended periods of leadership and
policy failures,
mismanagement, corruption and incompetence. The social
structure is still
dislocated. The provision of essentials including water,
electricity, health
and education is still as erratic as ever. Unemployment,
poverty and
attendant problems abound. Not much has changed. Zanu PF is
resisting
change.
In terms of the bigger picture the situation is
worse. No serious reforms to
set the country on a broader and sustainable
path towards recovery have been
made.
The inclusive government
has so far failed to restore the rule of law, end
human rights abuses, stop
farm disruptions, promote civil and political
liberties, and rebuild ruined
democratic institutions, while introducing new
ones. Repressive laws are
still on the statute books and are being used
ruthlessly to stifle freedoms
of association, assembly and expression.
Prospective newspapers are
still being denied licences to operate. Those
which were closed at the
height of repression have not been given the
opportunity to reopen.
Investors waiting for radio and television licences
to introduce new
broadcasters are still being blocked as well. Zimbabwe has
the most
repressive media environment in the region.
Although members of the
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) have been appointed,
the process is in
limbo. Applicants for newspaper licences, including
NewsDay, one of the
papers waiting in the wings to enter the controlled
market, are unable to
file their applications for licences because the ZMC
is practically
non-existent. ZMC does not even have offices and a physical
address.
The introduction of the ZMC, which wields dangerous
powers to punish
journalists for whatever reason, on its own is also a
problem. The
constitutional body is dominated by partisan political
appointees mandated
to do the bidding for their parties and not really
promote press freedom.
They would be guided by the interests of their
parties and not those of the
media and the public.
The
constitution-making process, the central reform premise, is also
stalling.
The new democratic system will require a constitution that
establishes the
desired framework of governance. The constitution would set
the principles
of government, limit state power, establish a mechanism for
elections,
outline fundamental rights, and define the relationship between
the national
and local government.
A clear separation of powers must be
established between the executive,
legislature and the judiciary.
Strong
restrictions should be imposed on activities of the police,
intelligence
services, and army to prohibit any political interference. One
of the
mandates of the inclusive government was to ensure security sector
reform
but nothing has been done.
In the interests of preserving the new
democratic order and preventing the
ever-present risk of the rise of another
dictatorship, the
constitution-making process should be inclusive,
transparent and democratic.
The current process is anything but this. In
fact, it's a disgrace.
It is incomprehensible why the MDC factions
are part of such a discredited
and chaotic constitution-making process when
they always claim to stand for
genuine democratic reform. Despite clear
evidence that the process is
badly-flawed, the two parties -- whose now
barely credible claims on
democratic reform are becoming increasingly hard
to believe -- are still
participating in the charade.
History
teaches us that although the disintegration of dictatorship is a
cause for
major celebration, it does not lead to democracy by itself. People
who would
have suffered for a long time and struggled for change ought to be
proud of
themselves. The living and the dead will be remembered as heroes
who helped
to shape the history of freedom in their country.
However,
precautions must be taken to prevent the rise of a new repressive
regime out
of the ashes of the old. Aristotle warned long ago that "tyranny
can also
change into tyranny". People may claim to be struggling for
democracy when
in fact they seek only to impose a new refurbished model of
the old
one.
Reforms are critical for Zimbabwe to move forward. Since China launched
its
own reforms and opened up to the outside world in 1978, it has achieved
measurable political stability and incredible economic growth. But when
reforms are blocked there will be no meaningful recovery or
progress.
Dumisani Muleya