Financial Times
By
Tony Hawkins in Harare
Published: February 8 2007 02:00 | Last updated:
February 8 2007 02:00
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe fired Herbert
Murerwa, his finance
minister, and demoted Joseph Made, the agriculture
minister, yesterday.
No reason was given for the changes but it appears
Dr Murerwa has been
dismissed for pursuing economic policies Mr Mugabe has
dismissed as
"bookish" and for failing to co-operate closely enough with
Gideon Gono, the
central bank governor.
Shortly after last November's
budget, Mr Mugabe took the unusual step of
criticising publicly the
long-standing finance minister for failing to spend
enough
money.
This appeared an unfair criticism since total government spending
last year
exceeded 70 per cent of gross domestic product, and the budget
deficit for
the year was a record 44 per cent of GDP.
Mr Murerwa
himself was understood to be relieved at his dismissal.
Last week, he
pointedly disassociated himself from the central bank's
monetary policy
statement which announced a four-month prices and income
freeze to take
effect on March 1 by failing to attend a presentation by Mr
Gono, a Mugabe
favourite.
He is replaced by Mr Samuel Mumbengegwi, who after being
demoted in a
previous reshuffle by the president from his post as minister
for industry
and international trade has been rehabilitated in the very
senior post of
finance minister.
The appointment will be unpopular
with the private sector where he is
remembered as a keen advocate of state
intervention and specifically of
price controls. His appointment but days
ahead of the announcement of the
January inflation figure, which is expected
to exceed 1,400 per cent, is
seen as a precursor of Draconian controls on
prices and incomes.
In its monthly inflation report yesterday, the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
said the cost of living for a family of six
rose 87 per cent in the month of
January, driven by higher food prices and
school fees.
The creation of yet another ministry - agricultural
engineering and
mechanisation - to accommodate Mr Made, underlines the
government's refusal
to acknowledge the need for the deep spending cuts
recommended by the
International Monetary Fund.
Businesspeople were
disappointed at the narrow scope of the reshuffle but
opposition politicians
showed little interest. A member of the opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change said: "Like previous Mugabe reshuffles, it
was a matter of
reshuffling dead wood in the hope it might do less harm."
Analysts expect
little change to policy except that the price controls Mr
Murerwa opposed
will be resuscitated and strengthened.
New Zimbabwe
By Dr Alex
T. Magaisa
Last updated: 02/08/2007 14:43:11
READING through Governor
Gideon Gono's latest Monetary Policy Statement
conjured up the image of a
boxer, who, having been floored repeatedly by a
series of hard punches,
struggles to his feet, only managing to beat the
referee's count by a
whisker.
Dazed, tired and visibly confused, the boxer casts hesitant
looks at his
corner as if to ask them to throw in the towel but tries hard
nonetheless,
to put up a show of determination. He nods repeatedly when the
referee asks
if he is ready to continue, peering through half-closed eyes,
wiping of
sweat and blood.
The boxer knows it's all over but
convinces himself that he is fine and
persists with his show of resistance,
throwing wild punches in every
direction, hoping somehow to catch the
opponent.
It is, at once, admirable and painful; admirable, for the
visible show of
determination but also a painful spectacle, watching a man
committing folly
knowing fully well, the futility of the exercise. It seems
to me, that
Governor Gono, like the beleaguered boxer, is casting those
resigned looks
to his corner, though, like every warrior in the ring, he
cannot be seen to
succumb of his own volition. He therefore has to put up a
show of defiant
optimism, knowing all the while that the game is up. More
than once in the
last three years, the Governor has risen from the floor, to
present a show
of determination. Words, words and more words, but to no
avail.
Arthur Mutambara and Tendai Biti have both provided eloquent
critiques of
the Governor's latest attempt at presenting the Monetary Policy
Statement,
which in substance, was no more than a political statement. It is
the
political significance of his speech that is of interest in this
article.
The Governor has not in the past presented such a damning
verdict on the
state of the economy and in particular, he has not shown
readiness to admit,
at least publicly, that the economic problems are
results of the on-going
political problems and cannot therefore be solved in
isolation. In the past,
he appeared to be willing to only play along with
the ruling party official
line, that the problems of the country are largely
results of evil external
machinations. If in the past he has recognised the
domestic shortcomings, he
has done so without express detail and then only
when blame was being
allocated to others.
The fact that the Governor
has made this political statement, at this
critical time, only a year prior
to a Presidential election, is indicative
firstly, of his own coming to
terms with reality, which he must have known
but shied away from all along
and secondly, of the dynamics of the balance
of power in the ruling
establishment. There is an admission here, some would
argue, that the
fire-fighting strategies of the past three years have failed
and that what
is required is a complete overhaul, a restart to the building
process, now
that the structure has literally fallen apart.
The significance of
Governor Gono's speech lies in its symbolism, coming as
it did, only a
fortnight after another important speech by Justice Makarau,
the Judge
President, whose efforts I applauded in these pages, only a few
weeks ago.
In that article, I compared favourably the speech of Justice
Makarau, the
legal gatekeeper, as against the events at the RBZ (which
Governor Gono
heads), the financial gatekeeper, during the furore about the
purchase of a
luxurious automobile for the Governor.
It is a small step but certainly
one in the right direction, that the
Governor, has, like Justice Makarau
made public his thoughts about the
political problems that have eroded not
only the economic but social
foundations of the nation. It is to be hoped
that this small step will be
followed by further acknowledgement of errors
made in the recent past;
errors that can still be corrected. The symbolism
is that, within the space
of two weeks, at least two key officials serving
key state institutions have
publicly pronounced, what every man and woman in
the street has been saying
for the past few years. Every process of
rehabilitation and change begins
with acknowledging and accepting
reality.
There is one other subtle question, arising from the suggestion
that, given
his position and the visible support which his office has
enjoyed from
higher offices in recent years, that surely, Governor Gono
could not have
just spoken as he did, literally acknowledging failure,
without the approval
or consent of those higher offices. The Governor has
not been publicly
admonished for making such admissions, which must surely
add credence to the
view that his speech was not an unpleasant surprise to
the higher offices of
the nation. If it was known that he would say what he
said, what message can
be gleaned from the speech? Governor Gono calls for
the resolution of the
political problem; he calls for political maturity. He
even suggests that
Zanu PF cannot solve this problem on its own. But to whom
is this message
addressed? Is it to the battling factions in Zanu PF or is
it directed at
the opposition forces, to find a way out of this together? If
so, how?
Governor Gono, and those who speak through his speech, are probably
realising that bridges burned in the last few years, now need to be
rebuilt.
When Friends Desert Us
They said it was necessary to look
East, from where the sun rises. We even
had our own Operation Sunrise. It
was expected therefore, that those from
the East would reciprocate. It
should come as an unpleasant surprise
therefore, that Mr Hu Jintao, the
President of China, supposedly our supreme
friend, decided to go everywhere
else in Africa , except our dear country.
No amount of spin can obscure the
fact that China has effectively snubbed
the country.
The symbolism of
a Presidential visit is important especially when friends
in high places are
few. It is ironic that this apparent snub by China, comes
at a time when the
European Union has just renewed its regime of targeted
sanctions against
members of the Zimbabwe government and ruling party. That
surely must drive
home very forcefully, the extent of Zimbabwe's isolation.
Even our dear
friends seem to be too embarrassed to be seen publicly in our
company.
It is worth noting here that the main purpose of President
Hu Jintao's visit
to Africa is to strengthen economic ties through boosting
trade and
investment opportunities. The one country in Africa that
desperately needs
that support and investment is Zimbabwe, yet China has not
considered it
worthwhile to demonstrate publicly its
commitment.
Instead China has visited South Africa, its major trading
partner in Africa;
Namibia, which like Zimbabwe, has valuable mineral
resources but has the
advantage of political and economic stability and
growing international
goodwill; Zambia, which has the copper that China
sorely needs for its
growing energy and manufacturing industry needs; the
Sudan, which, despite
having a very sore spot in Darfur, nonetheless boasts
of huge oil reserves,
of which China is the main consumer. President Jintao
is also going to
Mozambique, another neighbour, enjoying political stability
and economic
growth. In short, the Chinese president is visiting four of our
neighbours,
who are quietly moving on, in most cases via human capital
derived from
Zimbabwe.
Which reminds me of the Shona proverb, which
says that, "nhamo youmwe
hairegererwi sadza", meaning that life must go on,
regardless of problems
afflicting another, which is exactly what our
neighbours are doing. You
would have thought that a small country supposedly
waging an heroic battle
would receive the solidarity of its friends. Yet,
South Africa, Zambia,
Mozambique and our most vocal cheerleader in recent
times, Namibia are
silently chewing the benefits, while Zimbabwe descends
into the abyss. This
episode must provide bitter but welcome lessons about
the dynamics of
international relations and hopefully we can learn play the
game better. But
on another note, could this snub be seen as a message from
our Chinese
friends, indicating displeasure and discomfort at the political
and economic
situation in the country?
But something else caught my
attention - which depicts the problem of
spending funds on unnecessary
prestige projects, a problem that I discussed
at length in last week's
article. Media reports suggest that China will
provide an interest free loan
to the Sudan for purposes of constructing a
Presidential Palace. One only
has to cast an eye at the sorry situation
obtaining in the Darfur region of
the Sudan, to understand the magnitude of
the problem of misplaced
priorities. China wants oil to boost production and
its economy but is
willing to fund the building of a Presidential palace in
the land of the
suffering.
Cabinet reshuffle
Yet another cabinet reshuffle but
nothing really, in terms of change. There
is little reason to get excited.
It is disappointing that a country that is
27 years into independence, still
does not have room for a new generation of
leaders, with the ideas and
energy to take the country into the future. One
way to look at cabinet
reshuffles is simply that they are political
mechanisms at the leader's
disposal, designed not to create any real changes
but to harness the support
and loyalty of the ministers who benefit from the
system, by demonstrating
that the leader has power and keeping their
positions
insecure.
Martin Meredith says in The State of Africa, that "ministers
[are] regularly
rotated and reshuffled to keep them off-balance and to
prevent them from
becoming a threat".
They become vociferous
praise-singers who do not tell the leader the truth
and those that do are
either re-assigned to Mickey-Mouse ministries or
removed completely. In the
company of sycophants, it is not surprising that
the leader often loses all
sense of reality, as they try to move him as far
as possible, away from the
truth.
But even accepting the futility of the whole exercise, how is a
man, who
allegedly apportioned blame for the shortage of fertiliser to a
poor monkey
that supposedly interfered with the power lines leading to the
malfunctioning of a transformer; the same man who predicted a bumper harvest
on the basis of an aerial view of crop fields; how is he considered fit and
proper to lead a ministry responsible for agricultural engineering and
mechanisation?
Dr Magaisa can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
The Daily Reckoning
Extract...
Posted
by Bill Bonner on Feb 8th, 2007
Poor Zimbabwe. "The big problem about
Zimbabwe," said a political analyst
who asked not to be identified for fear
of reprisals, "is that the one thing
you can't rig is the economy. When it
fails, it fails. And you can have
unpredictable effects."
What could
happen in Harare is a revolution or a military coup. People are
getting sick
of inflation rates over 1,000%. Last month, inflation hit a new
high, at
over 1,200%. People complain that bus fares take up their entire
salaries.
Food is becoming scarce (farmers get fuel at a preferentially low
price.
then sell it on the black market for 10 times as much). Teachers, and
even
doctors and nurses are on strike. And the police are threatening to
riot.
But leave it to the politicians and economists to come up with
a solution.
The Central Bank of Zimbabwe announced this week that henceforth
inflation
would be illegal. Anyone who raises prices will be
arrested.
Mail and Guardian
08 February 2007 07:46
Britain has warned China that its offer of billions of dollars
in
unconditional aid and cheap loans to African governments risks driving
back
into debt countries that have only just benefited from debt relief, and
undermines efforts to create democratic and accountable
administrations.
The International Development Secretary,
Hilary Benn, on a visit
to Malawi, told the Guardian that Britain has
already made its concerns
known to Beijing but that it is planning to
"ratchet up" the level of
representation on the issue.
But Benn also criticised the World Bank for tying financial
support to
African countries to ideologically driven economic policies such
as
privatisation.
His warning comes as the Chinese President, Hu
Jintao, completes
a 12-day tour of African countries in which he handed out
hundreds of
millions of dollars in investment, loans and aid. Beijing has
promised
$5-billion in soft loans and grants to African states in the coming
years as
China increases trade with the continent.
Benn
said the Chinese money could do more harm than good. "If
countries are
borrowing to the extent that their debt becomes unsustainable
then that
undermines all the work that has been done in trying to tackle
unsustainable
debt. The issue for debt is not debt per se, it's can you
afford it?" he
said.
"The other issue is governance because in the end
China, with
all its increasing stake in Africa, has just the same interest
as the rest
of the world -- and the people of Africa -- have in good
governance. We need
to talk more to China about how we can work together
because we both have
the same interests, which are the development of Africa
as a continent."
Benn said China's failure to match the
conditions placed on aid
by countries such as Britain -- including evidence
of good governance,
respect for human rights and spending directed to
alleviate poverty -- could
set back progress toward democratic
administrations.
"Building accountability and responsiveness
is in the end how
these countries are going to develop," he
said.
Benn added that one of the problems in raising these
concerns
with China was who to raise them with. "It's not always easy to
know whose
door to knock on, who's in charge of this," he
said.
China bills its involvement as a "strategic partnership
with
Africa, featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win
cooperation". It is a message tailored to suggest that China will not demand
democratic reforms, good governance and anti-corruption drives as a
condition for aid and trade.
Instead China says it
"respects African countries' independent
choice of the road of development".
Critics say that is a way of justifying
doing business with abusive regimes
such as in Zimbabwe and Sudan.
Zimbabwe is in negotiations
with China over a $2-billion loan to
prop up its collapsing economy under
the burden of inflation running at
about 1 000%. Western governments, banks
and international financial
institutions have cut off
support.
Hu has announced hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of trade,
investment and aid to African countries during his tour.
Cameroon alone
received $100-million in grants and loans, although the terms
were not
immediately made public.
Benn's concerns echo
those voiced by the president of the World
Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, who last
year described China's lending policies in
Africa as "a problem" that risked
driving African countries back into the
debt trap.
But
Benn had his own criticisms of the World Bank and other
lenders that tie
financial support to ideological economic policies such as
privatisation.
"It's not right and proper in my view to
say that you've got to
open up your trade in return for our development
assistance or for
ideological reasons we think you should privatise these
industries. We
stopped that," he said.
Britain dropped
such requirements six years ago but still ties
aid to a proven commitment to
reduce poverty, such as increased spending on
health and education, the
upholding of human rights and evidence of good
governance, such as fighting
corruption.
"For me that's the right kind of conditionality
and I've been
having discussions with the World Bank to try and persuade
them to follow
suit and we've made some progress," said Benn. - Guardian
Unlimited ©
Guardian News and Media Limited 2006
New Zimbabwe
By
Staff Reporter
Last updated: 02/08/2007 14:09:35
PETER Chikumba, the
former Air Namibia CEO sacked after corruption
allegations is the new chief
executive officer for Air Zimbabwe.
Captain Oscar Madombwe held the
position in an acting capacity.
Zimbabwe's Transport Minister Chris
Mushowe announced the new appointment
late Wednesday.
Chikumba, a
Zimbabwean national, quit as CEO of Air Namibia after he was
suspended on
fraud allegations. He opted to resign, and airline officials
did not pursue
the charges.
Ironically, Chikumba was known to pray before meetings with
senior Air
Namibia managers, "asking God to help him and his team to rid Air
Namibia of
fraud and corruption".
In Namibia, Chikumba -- who also
worked as the International Air Transport
Association's regional director
for Africa -- faced accusations of fiddling
with his work permit to secure
its extension. He used the work permit to
obtain a new contract with Air
Namibia.
Other allegations related to the irregular issuing of flight
tickets,
unauthorised night flights, claims of huge losses incurred in
Gambia and
foggy transactions in the acquisition of parts for Air Namibia's
Fokker
F.28.
The Gambian losses related to an arrangement entered
between Air Namibia and
the bankrupt Gambia International Airlines for a
joint venture, and Chikumba
was posted to Gambia to head the operation. Air
Namibia pulled out of the
venture after posting massive
losses.
With over 30 years aviation experience, few can match
Chikumba's CV in the
industry. But questions will be asked how a man who was
never cleared of
fraud charges in Namibia can take over at crisis-hit Air
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's central bank has recommended to the government to
dispose of its
interest in Air Zimbabwe, which is wholly state-owned, in
order to raise
much needed foreign currency to kick-start the
economy.
The Zimbabwean government has talked about plans to privatise
dozens of
state firms, but analysts claim it holds onto the unprofitable
enterprises
as part of a political patronage programme.
Air Zimbabwe
has huge debts and has been hit by declining standards.
Regional and
domestic flights are routinely cancelled due to constant
breakdowns, the
shortage of fuel and in cases, because Air Zimbabwe has
failed to pay
landing fees.
Chikumba has not spoken after his appointment, but he is
known to be
critical of African airlines, which he says are "not being run
as commercial
enterprises but as national status symbols".
"Many
countries in Africa need air services, not airlines," he once said.
"Airlines are heavily capital intensive and are expensive to
run."
Chikumba has also been an advocate for market-driven pricing,
urging that
"airlines must drive their costs down and the market must
determine
pricing."
But in an inflationary environment like Zimbabwe
where inflation is close to
1 300%, he faces a tough battle to keep ticket
prices stable.
Broadly, Chikumba has urged African airlines to aim for
"truly global
enterprises" and "eliminate national ownership
limits".
He said: "Let airlines do like other industries do, access
international
capital markets and create truly global enterprises. Airlines
should be free
to merge and approach the international finance markets for
capital.
"Globalisation must eliminate national ownership limits where
they represent
an obstacle to development. Certain states may wish to keep a
golden share
to make sure their national interests are taken into
account."
The Zimbabwean
(08-02-07)
BY ITAI
DZAMARA
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe and his officials have been
breaching
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) regulations by not returning funds
issued
each time they travel official business. Since 1980 it is estimated
they
have prejudiced the state by up to US$20 million.
Successive Reserve
Bank governors, including Gideon Gono, have failed to
stop this form of
looting.
RBZ officials said the allowances were issued to cover possible
emergencies,
such as a coup, that may prevent the officials from returning
home. The
amount was separate from the general travel business
allowance.
Investigations by The Zimbabwean have revealed that a number of
senior RBZ
employees were tortured by the Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) and
subsequently dismissed during the 1990s after they had compiled
statistics
showing figures of what Mugabe and other officials owed the bank
in
un-surrendered funds.
The document, a copy of which is in our
possession, threatened to bring the
matter into the open. One of the
architects of the protest, who spoke to
this paper on condition of
anonymity, said he and his colleagues were
arrested by the CIO and tortured
before being dismissed with stern warnings.
"The president and other senior
government officials have not been returning
funds from the Contingency
Account number 020-12500 since 1980," reads part
of the document. "We have
compiled the statistics and believe that these
funds must be recovered from
the individuals who should have surrendered
them on their return. The amount
owed to the bank by the president and other
government officials is about
US$8 million and must be recovered by the
bank."
Efforts to obtain
comment from former RBZ governors, Kombo Moyana and
Leonard Tsumba were not
successful.
However, a former deputy director revealed in confidence that his
boss had
tried to address the issue but "the CIO informed him clearly that
he had to
leave the issue as it was".
Gono has allowed the system to
continue, sources at the central bank said.
Efforts over the past two weeks
to obtain comment from him have not yielded
anything, despite repeated
apologies and promises by his personal assistant
that he would respond to
the formal list of questions sent to him as
requested.
A former minister
in Mugabe's government also confirmed the looting of funds
from the
Contingency Account. "That is true and anyone who has been there
(in
government) has benefited. That is why everyone wants to travel on state
business," he said.
The Zimbabwean
BY GIFT PHIRI,
STAFF REPORTER
HARARE - Zimbabwe is gearing up for the imposition of price
controls "on all
commodities, goods and services, produced wholly or
substantially". Price
and wage restraint is part of a social contract the
Reserve Bank hopes will
be adopted by labour unions and employers.
It is
part of a new populist strategy RBZ governor Gideon Gono hopes will
enable
President Robert Mugabe to win back the support of millions of
Zimbabweans
reeling from a deepening economic crisis many blame on the
octagenarian's
27-year rule.
Since the announcement of the monetary policy statement by Gono
last week
Wednesday, in which the social contract was announced, some
aspects of the
plan are already in place and others are taking
shape.
Interest rates have been so set that the yield on money market
instruments
is at least 45 percentage points below the inflation rate of
1,281 percent.
Bank lending rates are also hugely negative and the
government is trying to
finance its growing domestic debt by issuing
five-year government loan stock
at an interest rate of about 500 per cent -
or less than half the inflation
rate.
The social contract that Gono hopes
will save Zimbabwe's crisis-torn economy
includes doubling minimum pay for
urban employees, while imposing price
controls on basic items. These include
the staple food, maize meal, cooking
oil, bread, flour, milk, meat and
paraffin. Bus fares, rents and water
charges are also listed for a form of
"price restraint".
Despite these populist measures, the trade unions have
rejected the
contract, while employers make little secret of their
opposition to a plan
they say cannot work.
The government's part of the
bargain is to cut inflation to three digit
figures within the time-frame of
the accord, or by June, to cut the budget
deficit, and to "continually
introduce tax incentives - especially for
exports - and boost disposable
incomes".
Political analysts describe the social contract as part of the
government's
wider plan to mollify a restive nation angered by a deepening
economic
crisis. Few believe the ploy will work.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Zimbabwe's liberation
war fighters, who in 1998 were awarded lump
sum gratuities of Z$50,000 and
monthly pensions after arm-twisting the
government, are now pushing for more
benefits which they say they are
entitled to.
Zimbabwe National War
Veterans Association (ZNWVA) provincial chairman
Elphas Chitera told a
meeting of the ex-guerillas in the capital last week
that liberations war
fighters should agitate for more benefits and better
pensions in light of
hyperinflation, which they said had eroded into their
incomes.
Chitera
also told his colleagues that ex-combatants are also entitled to
free
education and health, land and interest free loans. He criticised the
government for making false promises, saying the above benefits were only on
paper and nothing else is being done to effect them.
The Zimbabwean
(08-02-07)
"Mugabe has
betrayed us"
HARARE - Thousands of new farmers who grabbed white-owned farms
in Zimbabwe
in the biggest mass occupation of recent times are leaving their
stolen land
and walking home.
They feel betrayed by Robert Mugabe, the
faltering, 82-year-old President
whose government lured the urban poor into
the countryside with pledges that
they would share not only lands once known
as the breadbasket of Africa, but
also food and petrol that would be
essential to survive while they fed the
nation.
The supplies have not
arrived amid a fuel crisis so severe that commuters
have been involved in
fistfights at petrol stations. Other who took up work
on grabbed farms
cannot cope with their meager incomes. They told a
Parliamentary portfolio
committee last week that the $8,500 they were
earning monthly was grossly
insufficient. More than 250,000 farm workers
countrywide are on go-slow
right now.
When the land rush began in 2000, prompted by Mugabe's cynical
attempt to
distract attention from the country's economic woes and from his
own failure
to win a constitutional referendum that would have extended his
rule by a
decade, up to 70,000 people stepped onto state-sponsored buses
that ferried
them to the farm gates.
That was the last State aid many
hapless squatters saw.
General Agriculture Plantations Workers Union of
Zimbabwe organising
secretary Edward Dzeka told The Zimbabwean that the new
farmers who grabbed
white-owned farms were paying farm workers
"peanuts."
"Farm workers are not monkeys who live on peanuts," said Dzeka. At
Cremer
Farm in Chegutu, a farming and mining town 100kms due west of Harare,
farm
workers had downed their tools demanding better pay. They are currently
earning $8,320. They want their salaries increased to only
$24,000.
During the 2005/2006 agricultural season, as many as 2,000 of the
3,500
white-owned farms were under occupation, but last week, according to
confidential official estimates, the number of squatters was down to 58,000
on 1,400 farms.
There is a pattern here that is unnerving Mugabe's
Development Cabinet, if
not the increasingly detached president himself.
Most of the farms still
occupied are in Mashonaland, his tribal stronghold
between Harare, the
capital, and the northern borders towards Zambia.
But
towards the borders with Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique, local
people
are crossing the border in droves while many have abandoned their
farms and
are going into gold panning and smuggling.
The Zimbabwean
(08-02-07)
HARARE - The
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) board has resolved
to hike
tariffs by about 300% in the face of serious viability problems and
a debt
of over Z$500 billion.
Sources in the board said the increase proposal had
been submitted to
government for approval, and it was hoped the changes
would come into effect
next month.
The chairman, Christopher Chetsanga,
said an increase was possible anytime:
"We have been charging sub-economic
rates and that has affected us a lot. So
an increase in tariffs is one of
the ways to solve the crisis."
The country faces a total blackout anytime due
to low production at local
power plants and a potential switch-off by
international suppliers. - Own
correspondent
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The board and
management of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) have
requested a meeting with Cabinet to discuss the
implications of splitting
Hwange power plant and offering more than half of
it to a Malaysian company,
YTL Corporation.
The ZESA board and management, which admitted a fortnight
ago that it was in
debt to an excess of Z$105 billion, feels the deal does
not make economic
sense if implemented in present form.
The ZESA board
and management met in Harare last week to discuss how best to
convince
President Robert Mugabe and his cabinet that the Z$10,2 trillion
Hwange deal
would not benefit ordinary Zimbabweans in the long term if
implemented in
the way Malaysians are suggesting.
A ZESA board meeting chaired by the
chairman, Professor Christopher
Chetsanga, resolved to request a no-holds
barred meeting with Mugabe and his
cabinet so that they could weigh the
advantages and disadvantages of going
ahead with the sale of 51 percent of
Hwange to YTL Corporation.
The Affirmative Action Group has also spoken
strongly against the YTL/Hwange
deal and warned the government not to sell
strategic installations to
foreigners as this would cost the country dearly
in future.
YTL Corporation was awarded the Hwange shares without going to
tender, and
Mugabe defended his government's action saying it was done in
the spirit of
South-South co-operation.
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono
last week said Zimbabwe stands to earn
US$3 billion from the sale of its
loss-making parastatals. - Business
reporter
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The state-owned Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), is reported
to be facing a serious cash flow
problem in the face of competition from
satellite television, and has hiked
its television licence fees to a
shocking $150,000 per annum.
The huge
hike in licence fees has drawn howls of protests from viewers who
feel the
fee is too hefty considering ZBH's shoddy programming. Besides,
this is even
way above the average income of a professional at ZBH.
Acting Information
minister Paul Mangwana also slammed ZBH's programming
during a workshop
attended by journalists in Midlands last week, saying the
national
broadcaster would lose more viewers if it continued dishing out its
half-baked programmes.
Just last month the national broadcaster paid its
workers almost six days
late amid reports the cash squeeze at the
institution was deepening.
According to our sources, ZBH owes the Income Tax
Department millions in
taxes deducted from its employees but not forwarded
to the department. The
corporation also owes Old Mutual, an insurance
company, in pension
contributions.
Both the Department of Taxes and Old
Mutual are said to have taken tough
measures to recover their money, thereby
plunging the corporation into
deeper financial crisis. The situation is said
to be so bad that ZBH is
reportedly mulling selling all its apartments in
the capital city Harare, as
well as those in Zimbabwe's second city,
Bulawayo, in a desperate attempt to
raise money. And last week taps were dry
at the national broadcaster's
Pockets Hills Studios amid reports water
authority ZINWA had cut off water
supplies over late payment.
The
national broadcaster is also said to be considering retrenching 300
workers
in a restructuring exercise. The exercise, reportedly instigated by
the
unbundling of ZBH's strategic business units, has already claimed the
scalp
of Newsnet co-editor-in-chief Chris Chivinge. The new CEO Henry
Muradzikwa's
turnaround efforts are said to be frustrated by Information
ministry perm
sec George Charamba, who is reportedly refusing to implement
his
recommendations. Muradzikwa could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, a
Newsnet TV provincial bureau chief is facing rape charges.
Newsnet's
Masvingo bureau chief Nathaniel Mlambo was last week dragged into
police
custody on rape charges.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Hardly two weeks after
revelations of serious viability problems at
the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) were revealed and raised
serious fears of a total blackout,
it has emerged that another state-run
institution, the National Railways of
Zimbabwe (NRZ) also faces a possible
stop of operations.
The Zimbabwean
is in possession of financial statements from the national
railway operator
revealing that it is carrying a debt in excess of Z$300
billion, which is at
risk of being cancelled by both local and regional
partners.
NRZ had, as
of the end of last year, "tried in vain to implement
recapitalisation and
viability enhancement programmes without success making
it difficult to
clear the budget deficit of about $300 billion" according to
a document
obtained from internal sources.
The Zanu (PF) administration's economic
policies have been cited as the
causes of NRZ's problems, which are
highlighted as "operating at huge loses
as a result of charging below-market
fares and fees for any other services
whilst at the same time carrying a
cumbersome salary and wages obligation".
A senior source in the NRZ finance
department said the debt situation has
been gradually worsening over the
past couple of years because the
government increasingly failed to inject
funds into the institution as it
used to do in the past.
He added that
some of the creditors from the private sector were up in arms
with NRZ over
the continuously ballooning debts. - Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - The United Nations Human
Rights Committee has strongly criticised
the Zimbabwe government in a review
of the country's appalling human rights
record.
The committee, which
focussed on gender discrimination, one-party dominance
and excessive use of
force, expressed concern that the lack of widespread
and credible political
pluralism threatens the enjoyment of democracy.
"Zimbabwe is a country with
a serious democratic deficit," said the report
drafted by a committee of
human rights commissioners.
The committee, a panel of 18 legal experts which
reviews nations' compliance
with the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, is worried
that the ruling Zanu (PF) party receives a
disproportionate part of public
funds and holds almost two thirds of the 150
parliamentary seats and Senate.
The Zimbabwe government was particularly
taken to task over what the
committee called "recent reports of excessive
use of force by the police"
and the army during peaceful labour
demonstrations in September last year
which elicited a brutal and unprovoked
crackdown from riot police and youth
militia.
The committee also asked
for an independent investigation into reports of
excessive use of force by
government agencies in Matabeleland and the
Midlands provinces mostly
inhabited by the country's roughly two million
minority Ndebele
tribe.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE -
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) plans to pump almost
US$14
million into Zimbabwe in a desperate attempt to alleviate the
suffering of
women and children caused by the failed economic policies of
the Mugabe
regime and massive corruption.
The organisation's Humanitarian Action report
for 2007 says the overall goal
of its next five-year Country Programme is to
promote the right of every
Zimbabwean child to equitable access to good
quality services, including
health, water, sanitation and hygiene, basic
education, and protection. The
programme places orphans and other children
made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS at
its centre.
The report says gender-based
violence is one of the key challenges in the
current humanitarian situation.
"Families affected by 'Operation
Murambatsvina' were exposed to sexual
exploitation and abuse as they tried
to access basic humanitarian aid. The
vulnerability of internally displaced
persons was compounded by factors such
as inadequate social protection
mechanisms in the new settlements and acute
decline in opportunities for
livelihoods."
Key statistics highlighted in
the report include the following:
-Zimbabwe is one of the countries hardest
hit by the HIV epidemic, with an
adult seroprevalence rate estimated at 20.1
per cent.
-An estimated 1.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in
2005.
-More than half of all new infections occur among young people,
especially
girls.
-Life expectancy has dropped from 61 years during the
early 1990s to 34
years at the end of 2005, creating a generation of
orphans.
-75% of the estimated 1.4 million orphans in Zimbabwe in 2005 have
been
orphaned by AIDS.
-In 2007 alone, 130,000 children will lose one or
both parents, and orphans
will account for 25 per cent of children.
-The
maternal mortality ratio increased from 283 deaths per 100,000 live
births
in 1995 to 1,100 per 100,000 live births in 2004.
-The proportion of children
who had not received any vaccination increased
from 12 per cent in 1999 to
21 per cent in 2006.
-29.4 per cent of under-five children are
stunted.
-Acute malnutrition has remained relatively static at around 6 per
cent
since 1999.
-In rural areas, 17,068 communal water supply facilities
(24 per cent) are
currently not functioning.
-This means a daily shortage
of safe water supply for some 2.5 million
people.
-Zimbabwe continues to
experience cholera epidemics that have affected 27
rural districts and
Harare city between November 2005 and June 2006, with a
total of 1,034 cases
and 70 deaths reported.
-The textbook/pupil ratio is 1:8 for 2 million
primary school-aged children
and 1:16 for 1.5 million secondary
schoolchildren aged 13-18 years.
- Only 42 per cent of pupils pass their
grade 7 exams.
Unicef says its health sector activities, including
immunization, supply of
mosquito nets, health worker training and nutrition
education, will improve
the lives of 2 million children and women in
Zimbabwe.
Water projects, such as the rehabilitation of water points,
emergency
assistance with epidemics, construction of latrines and provision
of
chemicals, are expected to reach four million people.
The education
programme will rehabilitate 50 satellite schools at temporary
and new
settlements arising from population movements and provide cash
grants with a
focus on girls and disabled children.
Unicef aims to tackle the domestic
violence problem through advocacy and
social mobilization for the
implementation of the new Domestic Violence Act
at district and community
level, developing the capacity of the police and
judiciary to ensure
victim-friendly services and establishing child
protection committees at
district levels.
The Zimbabwean
(08-02-07)
HARARE - Zimbabwe,
once a regional breadbasket, is facing chronic food
shortages due to a
deepening shortages of hard currency needed to import
more than 850,000
metric tonnes of grain.
The latest report by the Famine Early Warning Systems
Network, or FEWSNET,
painted a gloomy outlook of a nation desperately short
on food. The report
said the food security would worsen markedly unless the
country could
urgently raise the desperately needed hard currency to
bankroll food
imports.
Preliminary reports from the crop and food supply
assessment indicate that
raising hard currency in the country's current dire
economic situation will
be "enormously challenging." The organization said
the impact of shortages
has been exacerbated by the Grain Marketing Board
state monopoly's limited
capacity to distribute throughout the country the
amount of grain that is
available.
"Planned imports only cover 60 percent
of the assessed gap of 850,000 MT,
and by the end of December 2006, only 28
percent of these planned imports
had been delivered," FEWSNET said. "It
remains doubtful that Zimbabwe will
be able to meet import goals," the
agency added.
Nonetheless, FEWSNET said the availability of maize meal, a
Zimbabwean
staple, had improved, especially in southern Zimbabwe, where
local grain
production shortfalls must be met with purchases from other
regions.
But, "The ever-increasing cost of food and cost of living are making
market
purchase to fill food gaps prohibitive," FEWSNET said. "Local maize
prices
are highly correlated to local food security: areas that were
assessed to
have the highest concentration of food- insecure people recorded
the highest
open market grain prices" last month.
The US-based
organization painted a gloomy picture for the next agriculture
season, owing
to severe shortages of key inputs such as fuel and fertilizer.
The United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has
appealed to
donors for US$215 million for humanitarian aid for Zimbabwe,
predicting a
deeper crisis in 2007.
"To avert a humanitarian crisis and potential famine,
maize imports and the
required financing must be sourced and secured without
delay," it said. -
Staff reporter
The Zimbabwean
(08-02-07)
Zanu
(PF) needs only 46 of 120 contested seats to have majority in
Parliament
BY GIFT PHIRI
HARARE - Zimbabwe's 17-times amended
constitution is arguably the most
despotic and undemocratic constitution in
Africa and gives President Robert
Mugabe excessive powers that place him
above the law itself, political
analysts said this week.
They spoke amid
a growing clamour by political and civic groups to trash the
ceasefire
document that was agreed by Mugabe's Zanu party and Ian Smith's
regime at
Lancaster House in 1979.
Analysts said to a large extent, Zimbabwe's
constitution was drafted by the
British administration who brokered the
cease-fire which ended the war
between the Rhodesian government and black
Zimbabweans who were fighting for
their independence.
It was obviously
not a constitution by the people and certainly needed to be
amended in many
ways, they said.
Unfortunately, the 17 amendments, which were later made to
the constitution
made it even worse than it had been when Zimbabwe became
independent in
1980. The amendments were done without the participation of
the people, and
most of the changes were designed to give more power to the
President.
The changes have made President Mugabe virtually unanswerable to
anyone. As
executive president, he is the head of state, head of government,
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, chancellor of all state universities
and patron of this and that. He appoints High Court and Supreme Court
judges, police commissioners, army commanders, and permanent secretaries of
all government ministries without any obligation to listen to the public,
the judiciary or Public Service Commission.
He appoints commissions of
inquiry and is not obliged to make the findings
public. Just recently Mugabe
covered up a scandal at the giant steel works
at Redcliff, Ziscosteel after
massive looting by his top lieutenants,
including his two, second
secretaries, Joice Mujuru and Joseph Msika.
One of the most notorious changes
made to the constitution was the creation
of the Political Parties Finance
Act, which entitles the ruling party to
millions of public funds a year. The
funding is dependent on the
opposition's proportional representation in
Parliament. With the opposition
MDC with 42 of the 150 seats, this means
almost two thirds of public funds
meant for Parliament goes to the governing
Zanu (PF) party. Zanu Ndonga and
Professor Jonathan Moyo each get 1/150th of
the fund.
The other notorious amendment to the constitution gave the
president the
power to appoint 30 non-constituency MPs on top of the 120
elected ones.
This would give the ruling party an unfair advantage over
other political
parties in the event of viable opposition in Parliament
since those 30
non-constituency MPs chosen by the president would obviously
be members of
the ruling party. This means the ruling party will need only
46 of the 120
contested seats to have a majority in Parliament.
Mugabe
also appoints members of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. For the
above
reasons, the opposition MDC threatened to boycott the March 2005
legislative
election. Tendai Biti a constitutional lawyer and also MDC
secretary
general said the Presidential Powers Act is a draconian piece of
legislation, which Mugabe has unashamedly used to benefit his political
party. He cited the shifting of the deadlines for submission of nomination
papers in elections to accommodate members of the ruling party, Zanu (PF).
Under the Presidential Powers Act, Mugabe can dissolve Parliament and rule
by decree if Parliament wanted him out office by passing a vote of no
confidence.
Another constitutional law expert, Professor Welshman Ncube,
said the
unlimited powers vested in Mugabe made nonsense of trying to
distinguish
between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary as Mugabe
is under no
obligation to obey the Legislature and the Judiciary.
"Both
the Legislature and the Judiciary can be bullied into submission
through the
excessive powers the president wields," Ncube said.
Mugabe in 2005 used his
powers to take away the rights of whites whose land
has been designated for
acquisition from any form of legal recourse.
He also invoked his powers to
search and seize currency from hapless traders
and ordinary people.
The
above facts and many others too numerous to mention explain why Mugabe
is so
hostile to anyone who talks about the need for a new constitution.
Masvingo
Senator Dzikamai Mavhaire, who was co-opted into the Politburo
last week,
once moved a motion in Parliament calling for a review of the
constitution
and the limiting of the presidential term. He was suspended
from the ruling
party indefinitely, and only made a come back last year.
Perhaps he should
not have been specific about his feelings on
constitutional changes, because
it is the bit on calling for the limiting of
the presidential term of
office, which stirred the hornet's nest. Since
Mavhaire's unceremonious
suspension from the governing party, other Zanu
(PF) MPs are scared stiff to
even discuss anything to do with the
constitution, lest the axe also falls
on them.
However, civil society has also stepped up its pressure on
government to
have the constitution changed. The National Constitution
Assembly, a
coalition of human rights organisations, trade unions, Christian
organisations, business organisations and political parties has been
spearheading constitutional reform and says holding elections under the
current constitution is a waste of time. The NCA has staged a series of
demonstrations to press for its demands. The NCA says it also opposed to
President Mugabe's plan to postpone presidential elections, scheduled for
March 2008 to 2010 under the pretext of harmonization. Charismatic NCA
chairman Dr Lovemore Madhuku said: "The aim of the assembly is to create an
awareness among the people through debate on the need for a new constitution
and to contribute to a democratic change that will lay the foundation for a
transparent and accountable government."
Strength in diversity
The Zanu (PF) politburo has resolved to sack the
veteran nationalist leader
Edgar Tekere. Most of those leading the charge
were not there when Tekere
and others got together in Enos Nkala's Highfield
home to form the party in
the early sixties.
Most of them did not even
support Zanu in its formative years. Tekere was
jailed, along with Mugabe
and others, for many years for his support and
activities on behalf of
Zanu. He suffered for many years and then fled with
Mugabe to Mozambique
from where he joined others in leading the struggle.
His liberation
credentials are impeccable. No amount of sacking from a
moribund party can
take that away from him. He is a hero who has decided to
enrich our history
with his memories of his own role and that of others in
the struggle for
independence.
Some may dispute his version of history. Others may interpret
events
differently. Memories fade. But to sack him from the party he played
a key
role in founding is despicable.
This is proof enough, if ever any
was needed, that Zanu (PF) is intolerant -
and as such deserves to be
consigned to the dustbin of history.
Therein lies Zimbabwe's fundamental
problem - a total lack of tolerance of
any dissenting viewpoints.
If we
are ever to move forward, Zimbabweans as a people have to learn that
we can
agree to disagree, and still be patriotic Zimbabweans with the best
interests of our country at heart.
If the only lesson we learn from our
suffering is to live and let live, it
may have all been worth it. Let us
learn this lesson well, teach it to our
children, bind it on our foreheads,
talk about it as we walk along. Let us
never forget it - none of us has a
monopoly of wisdom. There is strength in
diversity. Unity does not mean
uniformity.
The Zimbabwean
If you come and visit us
here in Zimbabwe, don't for one minute think that
the rules of the road
apply to anyone at all... Except possibly yourself.
The Zimbabwean public has
a colour problem ....red, green and orange all
mean "go" it would appear. We
call our traffic lights robots, yes, like
those mechanical things that walk
around with stiff legs. It causes much
mirth with visitors, but they lose
their sense of humour when they see most
people take absolutely no notice of
reds and oranges.
Now, be cautioned and take my advice, do not think that
green means your
right of passage, treat every robot as a stop street and
proceed with
caution.
During power cuts, do not under any circumstance
think that we treat our
non- functioning traffic lights as a four way stop
(as they do in the rest
of the civilised world)
Oh no sirree, if the
robot is not working, the law of the jungle that takes
over. The biggest,
fiercest, oldest beast in the jungle wins - and it's the
fastest car to the
middle.
Another bit of advice....be like everyone else in Zimbabwe and
totally
ignore the pedestrian crossings. If you do the courteous thing and
stop for
a pedestrian...the fellow in the next lane will take no notice and
wipe out
the poor unsuspecting pedus.
The zebra stripes are illegible at
any rate, they are usually on a bend or
on the brow of a hill, with no
warning signs or lights, and the paint is so
faint you are highly unlikely
to be able to see them.
Also you waste a lot of time trying to gently shoo a
pedestrian to cross in
front of you, 'cos believe me, he ain't gonna trust
you. No ways will he
believe that you are not going to put your foot flat
the moment he steps on
that first white line.
Vehicle road-worthiness is
another interesting aspect of Zimbabwean driving.
Who on earth would expect
one to have either headlights or tail
lights...don't be silly, lights are
for sissies.
Make sure you peer hard into the dark and suss the road out
carefully before
crossing, as those cars without lights always come out at
night, as there
are no police at night to catch them of course.
Mind you,
it would appear that the police and the city council are doing
their best
these days to elevate us from the status of being the wild west
of southern
Africa thank goodness. Much muttering is being heard from errant
citizens
who have had their cars clamped in no parking areas.
The Mayoress of Duncan
Road and the musical Mayor of Townsend Road were both
seen recently trotting
down to the revenue hall, to pay fines and release
their
automobiles.
The Zimbabwean
Gono - a recent convert to common
sense?
BY STANFORD MUKASA
Like a recent convert to common sense, Gono has
now put his finger on the
real problem afflicting Zimbabwe - a crisis of
governance.
The chickens are now coming home to roost. Gono took a swipe at
Zanu (PF)
bigwigs when he, ironically using the state-owned media, ridiculed
Mugabe's
propaganda refrain that sanctions and imperialists were the cause
of the
country's problems.
Gono appeared to be sympathetic to the masses
when he talked about the
spiralling cost of living - indeed his words were
ample justification for
the wildcat strikes around the country.
Here is
Mugabe's personal banker, apparently bent on betraying his chief and
the
party. But was Gono genuine? Had he truly been converted?
There are two
possibilities.
The first is simply that Gono is experiencing a rude awakening
and realizes
he is on a wild goose chase. He now realizes he is running in
circles and
very close behind his boss, the madman from Ngomahuru who, as
the late
Edison Zvobgo used to refer to Mugabe, had been given a baton to
pass on but
ran into the mountains where he is still running wildly.
The
second and more likely possibility is that he, like other disgruntled
party
officials, is playing to the public gallery.
These could be his opening shots
in a bid to enter the presidential race
next year, notwithstanding the fact
that Mugabe has said he will not step
down until 2010.
But more
important, Gono knows that Zanu no longer enjoys the support of the
majority
of people.
He also knows that, while his name keeps coming up in
conversations as a
dark horse that could be pulled, like a magician's
rabbit, at the last
minute to replace Mugabe, he will face a formidable
opposition from the
factions within Zanu (PF).
People will not soon
forget the agony of the Gono-imposed life of bearers'
cheques and economic
policies that caused most people enormous hardships.
Gono may have sounded
like he was trying to punish the top money traders
especially in Zanu (PF).
But in reality he has viciously, and with utmost
deliberation, economically
depressed Zimbabweans
Zimbabweans are also aware how Gono has accumulated
considerable personal
wealth and a lifestyle beyond most of our dreams. It
is reported that he is
building a 200-bedroom mansion, now travels in a mini
convoy and has been
taking or plans to take flying lessons with the
possibility of buying his
own private jet.
Whether these reports are true
or not they are doing their rounds with
sufficient credibility to tarnish
Gono's political image.
Some officials in the international community now see
Gono as the hope for a
new political order that will combine at its
leadership helm the moderates
in Zanu (PF) and members of the opposition
movement. This idea has been
discussed for several years now. It forms the
framework, at least from the
international community's perspective, for a
resolution of the crisis of
governance in Zimbabwe.
But Gono is only
repeating what the opposition movement has been saying for
years. The only
difference is that Gono can say what he wants live on State
TV and radio and
get away with it, whereas opposition members are denied the
right to use the
public airwaves to express the very same criticism of
Mugabe's disastrous
policies.
How does one explain this criticism by Gono while he is sitting
next to
Mugabe at the gravy table? Self-interest and grand-standing are the
obvious
answers.
Sadly, Zimbabweans will have to enter into some working
alliance with these
disgruntled Zanu (PF) elements, as they can be useful in
the struggle for
the restoration of democracy and the rule of law. But
Zimbabweans must be on
guard at all times that they do not mortgage their
basic human and political
rights and freedom to a new breed of
oppressors.
For this reason, Zimbabwean civil society must maintain a
vanguard movement
that will ensure that their civil institutions like the
trade unions, women,
youth and student organizations are intact and viable
in the post-Mugabe
era.
Part of the program for emancipation by the civil
society should be to
strengthen and institutionalize its vanguard
movement.
It was this vanguard movement that was mobilized very effectively
against
attempts to rig the elections by the deposed former dictator of the
Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, in 1986.
Members of the vanguard movement
organized themselves into vigilant groups
who slept at polling stations and,
despite the threats from Marcos'
soldiers, linked hands and literally
protected the ballot boxes from being
interfered with.
The Zimbabwean
(08-02-07)
HARARE - Scores
of newly recruited officer cadets at the elite Gweru-based
Zimbabwe Military
Academy (ZMA) have quit or are contemplating quitting in a
row over poor
pay, military officials have admitted.
Scores of troops from the 500-strong
second lieutenant training infantry
walked out months before completing
their training. They said they were paid
less than Z$100,000 a
month.
"They said they were not happy with their terms and conditions and
they
didn't obey the instructions of their commanding officers," a senior
official from the ZMA administration in Gweru, told The
Zimbabwean.
"Lieutenant General Phillip Sibanda has appointed a board of
inquiry from
the academy's commandant to look into this issue. Usually if
troops refuse
to follow orders, the authorities have no choice but to
declare that they
are no longer soldiers in the ZMA battalion. I understand
they are
consulting with the commander-in-chief (Mugabe)."
The Zimbabwean
heard that Mugabe had been fully briefed about the near
mutiny at the Gweru
infantry, and was hurriedly reviewing pay scales of all
the security forces
as a result of the mass resignations.
Some of the protesting security forces
were said to be held in detention
barracks awaiting court martial. Army
spokesman Simon Tsatsa was not
available for comment.
Plans by the
Zimbabwe National Army to demobilize junior troops and form a
conscript
reserve force of war veterans have also raised a storm of protest.
Mugabe's
spokesman George Charamba has reacted angrily to media reports
suggesting
growing unrest in the elite Presidential Guard over poor
salaries. - Staff
reporter
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - Four nurses
accused of forcing colleagues to go on strike appeared
in court this week
and have been remanded in custody. The four, Zororo
Kawondera (36), Beaven
Zisengwe (28), Owen Jinya (27) and Clement Manqee
(25) were not asked to
plead to contravening POSA when they were hauled
before magistrate Brighton
Pabwe.Defence lawyers, Charles Kwaramba of Mbidzo
Muchadehama and Makoni and
Walter Bherebhende of Mavhunga and Associates
immediately made an
application for refusal of remand, saying the four did
not commit any
offence.
In his argument Kwaramba said police showed a high degree of
incompetence in
this matter as CID Law and Order was a specialised section
in the force, and
should know better on these matters.
The Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions has deplored the arrest of the four
nurses saying
the police were overzealousness in dealing with the matter.
"What is more
irking is the fact that government dithers in addressing
concerns raised by
striking doctors and nurses and instead dwells on trivial
issues such as
arresting innocent people," ZCTU secretary general Wellington
Chibebe said.
- Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
JOHANNESBURG - The
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum plans to petition the African
Commission on Human and
Peoples Rights for justice for women fleeing
political persecution in
Zimbabwe.
"We have already taken three cases to ACHPR and we are looking for
other
avenues to seek international justice," ZEF Executive Director,
Gabriel
Shumba, recently told a Women's Rights Workshop.
In partnership
with the Canadian-based International Centre for Human Rights
and Democratic
Development, ZEF has documented atrocities against women by
the Mugabe
regime.
"We hold the government of Zimbabwe vicariously liable for the
perpetration
of violations through its agents - members of the Zanu (PF)
state security
machinery such as the CIO, the army intelligence department
and youth
militia, commonly known as the green bombers," said
Shumba.
Further complaints will be shortly placed before the United Nations
Special
Rapporteur on Torture.
Several recent reports chronicle and
expose the abuse of Zimbabwean women at
home and in South Africa. A report
commissioned by Crisis Coalition last
year revealed that Zimbabwean women
escaping from Mugabe's atrocities were
vulnerable to sexual abuse by South
Africa Police.
Witwatersrand University and Zimbabwe Torture Victims Project
also released
damning reports on how police were abusing Zimbabwe women
coming to South
Africa. - Own correspondent
The Zimbabwean
BY SIHLANGU
TSHUMA
"Too heavenly minded, you of no earthly good," are the lyrics of an
old
country song. It makes reference to Christians who are absorbed by the
thought of the "Sweet by and by", while turning a blind eye to the realities
about them. They pretend they hear no evil and see no evil. It is not a
secret that Christians are the largest religious group in Zimbabwe.
Christians both devoted and syncretic claim a 75% slice of the
population.
This props the church on a vantage platform and gives it a
pre-eminence that
Zanu (PF) would have to kill to achieve. The potency of
the Christian body
has is undeniable, yet its force lies dormant behind the
pulpits. Our
silence is not only deafening but lethal. It affords the
despotic Mugabe and
his cronies a false feeling of exoneration.
It is not
my intention to denigrate the covert service of selfless Christian
men and
women who pray and labour where the Government has gone AWOL. I pay
tribute
to many unsung heroes who look after the AIDS orphans and perform a
manifold
of humanitarian acts. These men and women go about their altruistic
errands
quietly with no pay, hoping that the one who sees in secret will
reward them
on that latter day. They do their best to keep clear of the
politics of the
day, while the masters of tyranny do their best to trash the
nation. How
long shall these dedicated individuals shall be made to clean
someone else's
mess?
Christians have always clung to the cliché, politics is a dirty game.
But
when ambulances are requiring people to provide their own fuel, it
ceases to
be a game. When the parents watch their beloved son bleeding to
the point of
death with the hospital refusing to do anything without the
admission fee it
transcends the realm of politics.
The Zimbabwean
situation is now a moral issue. Hubert H. Humphrey says " the
moral test of
the government is how that government treats those in the dawn
of life, the
children; those in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those
in the
shadows of life, the sick and the needy." Our Christian folk need to
wake up
and smell the stench of death in the air and stand up to this
self-indulgent
government.
We ought to have read the lips of Christ when He prayed, "Father
I pray that
you do not take them from this world; but keep them safe."
Although He had
earlier promised to come back and take them to His paradise
home, he
nevertheless was pragmatic about the time frame of the whole
process. Christ
knew that His followers would have to occupy the earth for
some time. He
however had deep concerns about their safety while they
remained with so
many tyrants around them. But He also expected them to be
influential when
he likened them to salt. Most celebrated biblical
characters were statesmen
who influenced the course of history. Therefore
while we are still on earth
we need to utilise the influence that has been
entrusted to us.
A generation is fast disappearing while "good people" fold
their hands and
watch. Let us be warned that if we do nothing we are guilty
of sins of
omission. Christianity is a fully spiritual and a practical
religion. Christ
saved people from their spiritual challenges as well as
their physical
circumstances. No sensible Zimbabwean can suggest
blood-letting as a
solution. Christians can do it without the might of the
sword or gun.
I cringe at the thought of the subsequent generation asking,
"what did the
church do?" The people will lament like Ian Smith, "We were
never beaten by
our enemies, but we were betrayed by our friends." I want to
be there when
history books shall be written about how the church stopped
the oppressor in
his tracks.
It is not by chance that Christians form
three quarters of the Zimbabwean
population. We can liberate Zimbabwe,
because the masses can subdue any
establishment.
I draw much inspiration
from Christians who stood up to be counted. William
Wiberforce, MartinLuther
King, Jr., Bishop Desmond Tutu, just to name a few.
Pius Ncube will not do
it alone.
What this dying world could use is a willing Man of God
Who
dares to go against the grain and works without applause;
A man who'll raise
the shield of Faith, protecting what is pure;
Whose love is tough and gentle;
a man whose word is sure.
God doesn't need an Orator who knows what just to
say;
He doesn't need authorities to reason Him away;
He doesn't need an
army to guarantee a win;
He just needs a Few Good Men.
Men full of
Compassion, who Laugh and Love and Cry-
Men who'll face Eternity and aren't
afraid to die-
Men who'll fight for Freedom and Honour once again-
He just
needs a Few Good Men.
The Zimbabwean
BY ITAI DZAMARA
MUDZI
- Zanu (PF) penchant for power and populist tendencies has been
highlighted
by Mashonaland East Governor, Ray Kaukonde's latest move "to
bring
development to the people" by building a prison at his rural home.
The
Zimbabwean has established that Kaukonde - who is increasingly getting
involved in succession manouevres in the ruling party as one of the chief
funders for the Mujuru faction - has already started constructing a prison
at his home in Nyamande Village of Mudzi.
Bewildered villagers said the
governor had announced late last year that as
part of bringing development
to the people, he would construct the prison.
"He made the announcement at
one of the meetings but most of us thought it
was a joke," said villager
Givemore Jeche.
"However, it didn't take long before work commenced and it
became real that
the prison was indeed on the way. We are all shocked by him
deciding to
spend a lot of money on such a project when people are suffering
from a lack
of basic commodities such as food."
Kaukonde confirmed the
prison project when contacted for comment but
declined to divulge more
details regarding the funding and whether it was a
government or personal
initiative.
An official at the Mudzi District Office, who declined to reveal
her
identity, told this reporter by telephone that they were aware of the
prison
project but said it was a personal venture of Kaukonde's.
Another
villager was also very sceptical about Kaukonde's intentions and
raised
fears for a sinister plot.
"He must be planning to have an easy way of
getting free labour for his
farm. When he started talking about the prison
project last year he would
repeatedly complain about many thieves he said
were stealing his riches and
said they needed to be brought to book," he
said.
Kaukonde took over a commercial farm about 20 kilometres outside Harare
on
the Nyamapanda highway during the government sponsored land grab. Pajero
RaRubi Farm specializes in maize and soya bean production. He also runs a
bus company as well as chain of supermarkets, in addition to holding shares
in a number of blue chip companies such as Dahmer, the bus assembling
company.
The prison will have a ground floor and an underground dungeon
and is said
to have the capacity to hold up to 1000 people.