Zimbabwe Independent
Information Bill: no takers for Moyo's 'satanic
verses'
Dumisani Muleya
INFORMATION minister Jona-than Moyo's
political career is in trouble
following his botched attempt to give himself
sweeping powers through the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Bill.
Analysts say the voluble spin-doctor - whose scorched earth media
policy and
affinity for vituperation have seriously tarnished government's
image - is
now "damaged goods".
Commentator Lovemore Madhuku said
Moyo's failure to push through his
political empire-building scheme under the
guise of regulating the media has
left him badly dented.
"He is
seriously damaged," Madhuku observed. "I think he is aware of that
and that's
why he is now struggling to recover lost ground."
Analysts say the
unelected minister's ambitious project in which he -
according to
parliamentary legal committee chair Eddison Zvobgo - tried to
create a
"government" out of his department and arrogate to himself
"frightening
powers" was nothing short of ridiculous.
British Labour politician Roy
Hattersley said: "In politics, being
ridiculous is more damaging than being
extreme."
Former Herald editor Bornwell Chakaodza said Moyo's dramatic
reversal has
seriously undermined his position.
"It has definitely
weakened his position," Chakaodza said. "It was really
satanic on the part of
his department to create a monster called the Access
to Information and
Protection of Privacy Bill. They wanted to bring hell
on
earth."
Observers say Moyo overreached himself in his quest for
unfettered power.
The blustering propaganda chief - whose thirst for
demagoguery and political
theatre seems unquenchable - acted with reckless
abandon.
"He went all over the show attacking opponents including
journalists with
menacing ferocity," one observer noted this week. "He really
did it to
himself."
It now appears his trailblazing career is headed
for the rocks.
"Politics is just like show business, you have a hell of
an opening, coast
for a while, and then have a hell of a close," said former
US president
Ronald Reagan.
Zvobgo's committee, comprising another
Zanu PF MP Kumbirai Kangai and
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) legislator Welshman Ncube,
refused to grant Moyo the enormous powers
that he sought. In so doing they
inflicted a political reverse even greater
than the Bulawayo mayoral poll
and constitutional referendum defeats. Moyo
was in charge of the campaigns.
Ncube said Moyo was terribly wounded in
the row over the Bill.
"There is no doubt that his wings have been
clipped severely," said Ncube.
"He is grounded because all the unlawful
powers that he wanted were withheld
by parliament."
Ncube however said
the damage inflicted on Moyo during the bruising power
struggle within Zanu
PF and parliament will not necessarily finish him
because he survives on
Mugabe's goodwill. So long as Mugabe survives, so
will he.
"If it was
in a functioning democracy one could safely say Moyo's image has
been
battered beyond repair," Ncube pointed out. "But we are in such a
different
political system that some incompetent and lazy officials are
appointed by
Mugabe for their loyalty and not capabilities."
Insiders say Mugabe is
happy with Moyo because he has managed to divert
public attention from his
master's appalling record. As Russian novelist
Alexander Solzhenitsyn put it
in his commentary on the work of state
propagandists: "In our country the lie
has become not just a moral category
but a pillar of the
state."
Nevertheless, Moyo is seen as badly bruised by his ordeal over
the past few
weeks.
Zanu PF MPs and party luminaries played a
significant role in thwarting
Moyo's Napoleonic designs. They resisted
resolutely his attempts to climb
the ladder and occupy new political
ground.
Zvobgo said had Moyo succeeded in smuggling his legislation through
the
House, he would have been able to control other ministers, control
the
government bureaucracy as well as supervise the functions of parliament
and
the judiciary.
He would have been able to initiate investigations
against oppo- nents and
direct police operations, access state secrets and
personal information,
protect and target individuals, among other
things.
"It is this kind of policing that is unlawful," Zvobgo
said.
Although Moyo always claimed to know how a constitutional democracy
works
his repressive Bill proved otherwise. He showed a great deal of
ignorance on
the premises of democracy, critics point out. The Bill
disregarded the need
for limitations on the state and its
agencies.
"The original Bill was manifestly unconstitutional," Zvobgo
said. "I can say
without equivocation that this Bill in its original form was
the most
calculated and determined assault on our liberties guaranteed by
the
constitution...what is worse, the Bill was badly drafted in that
several
provisions were obscure, vague, over-broad in scope, ill- conceived
and
dangerous."
Madhuku said it not surprising Moyo is now struggling
to distance himself
from the authoritarian Bill he initially defended with
fortitude.
Legal experts say even though Moyo is ignorant of the law he
should at least
know that constitutions guarantee fundamental rights as well
as organise,
structure and limit the exercise of power. This makes
legislative blank
cheques impermissible.
"Ask yourself whether it is
rational for a government in a democratic and
free society to require
registration, licences and ministerial certificates
in order for people to
speak," Zvobgo said in his magisterial striking down
of Moyo's profoundly
flawed Bill.
The former cabinet minister said granting employees of
public bodies
"blanket immunity" on disclosure of personal information and
providing Moyo
with powers to review court decisions - as if he was a jury -
was "patently
unconstitutional".
Most powers of Moyo's Media Commission
were also ruled ultra vires for
"vagueness and arbitrariness" on top of
violating fundamentals rights.
"Our constitution and laws provide for
immunity in relation to debates in
parliament and, of course, to reports of
all judicial proceedings," said
Zvobgo.
"To suggest that the same
immunity be extended to a commission, some of
whose powers and functions are
unconstitutional, is absurd."
Moyo's attempt to give himself powers to
seize media products and equipment
were described as "arbitrary, dictatorial
and unconstitutional".
Efforts to compel every journalist to be
accredited by Moyo's commission
before he/she can work in Zimbabwe and
attempts to restrict the profession
of journalism to Zimbabwean citizens or
those with permanent residence
status were found unlawful.
In the end,
Moyo had to surrender. Foreigners and non- Zimbabwean residents
who were
already media owners before January 31 are now allowed to remain in
business,
foreigners can still take non-controlling stakes in media
organisations and
foreign journalists are no longer banned.
Foreign media groups with
offices in the country are no longer required to
register although they have
to be approved by the commission. Existing local
media groups are considered
registered and journalists' associations can now
nominate three
representatives to the commission as opposed to the earlier
proposal that
Moyo be the sole source of the commission's authority.
Blatant attempt at electoral
fraud
2/8/02
IT is, no doubt, alongside
thousands of other registered voters that I have received notice from
government, by registered post, to the effect that it believes I am not entitled
to be registered and further, that I am not qualified to be so. The stated
grounds are that I am no longer a citizen of Zimbabwe. Although
the latter contention is correct, I would expect someone describing themselves
as a constituency registrar to be aware of the fact that other persons, apart
from citizens, may exercise a right to vote.
For example, I am a permanent resident of this country and have de facto
been so since 1954. As such I believe I am empowered to vote and if that is
indeed the case I object strongly to being wilfully subjected to what I view as
nothing less than harassment and a pathetic, officially-inspired attempt at
electoral fraud in stating otherwise.
Government holds manifold records to show my status and if they can refer
so readily to the one, then, with minimal effort, I'm sure, they can seek the
others. That is the first point.
The second matter to which I draw attention, concerns the continuation of
this unnecessary, obstructive, time-consuming, and, it bears repeating, act of
fraudulent intent, by informing me that unless I give written notice of appeal
within seven days of the date shown on the notice of objection, January 25, my
claim to be a voter will be rejected and I will be struck off the roll.
Many might just accept their "disqualification", but if they don't
redress it, it is being effectively denied anyway. This is because, apart from
government being well aware of the deficiencies and vagaries of its own postal
system, both of which conspire against timely delivery, there is what appears to
be a deliberate doctoring of dates and timing which has made it quite impossible
to meet the deadline imposed.
I have spoken to over a dozen similarly affected people and in each and
every case, as with me, the notification was received at the expiry of the
ultimatum. With exactly the same dates involved, in each case, is this not odd
indeed?
My particular envelope was date-stamped by its issuer the next day (a
Saturday incidentally) and was franked by Causeway post office on the Monday
following, January 28. The certificate of posting a registered article was dated
January 31 and was delivered to me on February 1.
By then it was effectively already out of time. However, I took delivery
at the first available opportunity at the opening of the Borrowdale post office
on February 2. I had the item date- stamped to that effect.
On opening the letter I read that if I were to give due notice of appeal,
which I clearly had not been given any reasonable opportunity of doing, along
with a deposit of $50, the matter would be set down for hearing before a
magistrate.
And, with the backlog in the courts, when would this likely be, I
wondered? After March 10 perhaps? Another thought, a magistrate? On a matter
involving constitutional rights?
Are these people mad, or as I have little hesitation in maintaining,
plain stupid?
Pro lege,
Borrowdale.
Zimbabwe Independent - Muckraker
Ministers serving their kids a colonial
diet!
SOUTH Africa's Sunday Times has been following up stories in the
Zimbabwean
media that US and EU officials are probing the existence of funds
held
abroad by Zimbabwean officials.
The paper reported last weekend
that some ministers had reportedly paid more
than double their annual
salaries on tuition and residence fees for children
enrolled at US
universities. It gave the example of Education minister
Aeneas Chigwedere who
it said had a child at Harvard where fees for tuition
and accommodation start
at about Z$2,3 million a year.
Patrick Chinamasa was said to have a child
at college in Michigan while Stan
Mudenge, Sydney Sekeramayi, Herbert
Murerwa, Shuvai Mahofa and Emmerson
Mnangagwa all have, or had, children
studying in Britain. Joyce Mujuru's
offspring attend school in Switzerland,
it was reported.
While these reports remain unconfirmed they do suggest
one thing: a pattern
of gross hypocrisy by Zimbabwe's leaders. Here are the
same Zanu PF zealots
who, while telling us Zimbabwe will never be a colony
again, are making
damned sure their kids get a full British or American
education.
Last week we reported that leading chefs and indigenisation
advocates are
educating their children at the exclusive Heritage School in
Borrowdale
where the curriculum is set by Cambridge. Why are all these
people, whose
suicidal economic policies and spurious nationalism have
condemned
Zimbabweans to poverty, able to continue enjoying the benefits of
countries
and systems they publicly denounce every day? Let's insist on an
answer from
Zanu PF's Information department. Who's colonising who?
No
doubt those ministers named in the Sunday Times report will be thanking
Moyo
this week for having alienated every section of the South African
media.
Their only consolation will be the knowledge that Moyo's own dirty
laundry,
in the form of unaccounted-for donor funds, was also hung up on the
line for
the edification of the South African public. The "apartheid press",
it
appears, has struck back!
We were not surprised to hear that the
Attorney-General's office is up in
arms over claims in the Sunday Mail that
their legal draftsmen let ministers
down by doing such a shoddy job on the
Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Bill.
Everybody knows
that the AG's office had only a passing acquaintance with
the Bill. The whole
country, apart apparently from the Sunday Mail's
political editor, knows
exactly where this chronically amateur effort was
cooked up. And it wasn't in
the AG's office.
Director of Drafting Nelson Dias and his colleagues
would have, at first
sight, a good claim to defamation costs against the Mail
for impugning their
integrity. They were accused of negligence and
"deliberately poor" work.
But Patrick Chinamasa, who invited
constitutional commissioners to feed at
the trough of the Standard's limited
resources when it transgressed in 2000
and was subject to a criminal
defamation suit, has reportedly blocked an
attempt by AG staff to have their
reputations cleared by the same route. The
usual double standards will
apply.
All this adds fuel to the fire surrounding the Bill. The Herald
carried an
intriguing front-page story last Saturday suggesting the Bill
might not see
the light of day. There were doubts about "last-minute
amendments" which
"offend against the integrity and policy thrust of the
Bill", a "legal
source" told the paper.
In other words Jonathan Moyo
will not be empowered to do what he wants. And
it would take time to set up
the Media and Information Commission that is
charged with policing the
press.
Moyo's frantic attempt to exclude the "last-minute" amendments led
to a
reported altercation with Chinamasa who appeared understandably fed up
with
being used as Moyo's chief enforcer. "Leave me alone" was the
much-quoted
response to one "last-minute" import- unity.
This exchange
has now been given a spin by Moyo - that he was merely seeking
clarification
from the minister that the amendments were "as per our
agreement".
As
it stands, the Bill is stripped of many of its empire-building
provisions
which Moyo and his team had assiduously inserted at every
turn.
He is now bravely trying to make the most of a bad job. On Sunday,
the
Sunday Mail carried an interview with him in which he declined
numerous
invitations to have a go at Eddison Zvobgo. And he was equally
statesmanlike
about Chinamasa who he described as "clear-minded and
dedicated". It was not
the Justice minister's fault that the legal committee
failed to keep its
"understanding" with him, Moyo gallantly declared.
But
there was no disguising the comprehensive nature of the reverse.
"The
Bill will become law if and when the president signs it," we are now
told.
But no indication of when that would be. Those who suggested the Bill
was an
election-related measure should "try another story", Moyo declared.
So
something that in its original draconian form was a national
imperative
requiring maximum coercion of MPs has now, pathetically mutilated,
been
consigned to the political back burner. The amendments will require
"careful
scrutiny," we are told, as if post-parliamentary pruning is
possible. This
is not the constitutional commission, he should be
reminded.
Moyo's final speech on the Bill last Thursday afternoon was by
all accounts
a health warning for all he might have done to his detractors
had he been
given the chance. Using the cover of parliamentary privilege,
Moyo attacked
newspapers, editors, foreign correspondents and even
advertising staff. He
assailed a long list of journalists from the past
(including the deceased)
and present, referring by name to "hateful stringers
of the apartheid
press". He repeated defamatory remarks about Joseph Winter
and Mercedes
Sayagues, which President Mugabe had unwisely been advised to
make last
year.
It was, as one MP commented later, "a good
advertisement for a very
disturbed mind and a sign of things to come if he
had succeeded".
Moyo's virulent speech, which had obviously been prepared
before his wings
were clipped by the legal committee, showed why parliament
was right to
refuse him the sweeping powers he had sought. He would
undoubtedly have
abused his powers under the Bill to get even with every
single critic. That
may now take somewhat longer as the list grows and his
clout diminishes. And
he had the cheek in the Sunday Mail to complain about
the "personalisation"
of the debate on the Bill in the House.
Moyo is
now damaged goods. He has failed in the president's mission to deal
with the
independent media and he has alienated many in his party who
resented his
sudden rise to power. Let's hope some of his failure rubs off
on his
sponsor!
Chief Justice Chidyausiku's allegation that the judge in the
trial of three
armed Americans was incompetent in letting them off so
leniently in 1999
opens him up to criticism of a different sort.
In
making his ruling the trial court judge took into account the period
the
three were held at Chikurubi after their arrest and the treatment
they
received there.
They were subject to repeated torture and abuse
by prison and security
personnel. Despite this the state was unable to
produce any evidence against
them apart from the weapons they carried and a
"diagram of State House" -
which turned out to be a hand-drawn map an
innocent third party had given
them to show where Morris Depot was located so
they could obtain a weapons
licence from the police.
Even after the
police had dropped the "diagram" from their enquiries, state
security
minister Sydney Sekeramayi was claiming it proved there was a plot
to
assassinate President Mugabe. And Attorney-General Patrick Chinamasa
and
police chief Augustine Chinhuri made unsupported charges against the
three
that were not even led in evidence against them.
In other words
nobody on the state side was able to bring a case against
them apart from
charging them with violating provisions of the Aircraft
Offences Act, the
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, and the discredited
Law and Order
(Maintenance) Act.
They did not harm anybody, nor was there any evidence
they intended to do
so.
Chidyausiku, who sat with Justices Sandura and
McNally, appears to have
ignored all this in his anxiety to uphold the
state's appeal. It would be
useful to know what his view is of cases where
evidence has been obtained by
torture - or indeed where absolutely no
evidence was obtained despite
torture. All he could manage was that in his
view "possession of such
considerable quantities of offensive weapons and
material was very serious".
He will have to do better than this in
reaching his conclusions if they are
to have any weight. And given his record
of cases overturned in the Supreme
Court, it would be inadvisable to label
fellow judges "incompetent".
We support Chinamasa's call early last year
to criticise the rulings of
judges. Chidyausiku claimed in his judgement on
the land issue late last
year that criticism of his qualifications was
racist. That self-serving
claim appears facile when the most telling
comparison of his state-friendly
rulings is with Enoch Dumbutshena's robust
defence of individual rights
during his distinguished tenure on the
bench.
We will judge Chidyausiku and other recently appointed judges on
their
ability to stand up for the rights of Zimbabweans in the way
Dumbutshena,
Muchechetere, Chatikobo and Devittie did - as well as Gubbay and
Gillespie.
That includes granting immediate bail to individuals held by
the police on
flimsy charges as part of the state's political
agenda.
Geoff Nyarota and Wilf Mbanga were last year detained overnight
in the
filthy Rhodesville police cells when Justice Paradza declined to order
their
release because papers had not been served on the AG. A
magistrate
subsequently decided there was no justification for their arrest
in the
first place.
The case for judicial activism remains stronger
than ever. We expect to see
it at every level of the judiciary.
A
reader has written in to point out that the Public Order and Security
Act
makes it a criminal offence to "say or do anything that is
abusive,
threatening or insulting", "say anything likely to make people hate
or
despise any group or section of Zimbabwean society on account of their
race,
tribe, religion or gender", or make any statement likely to
"adversely
affect Zimbabwe's economy".
Why has no action been brought
against Zanu PF's advertising department? It
has breached every single one of
those provisions every day in its election
campaign. So has President Mugabe,
his ministers, governors, and war
veterans and youths acting on the party's
instructions.
What clearer indication could there be that this Act will
be applied
selectively? And what an emblematic example of the political
double
standards and hypocrisy that Zanu PF applies in its public
pronouncements.
At least Zanu PF has now discovered that the CNN clip of
Morgan Tsvangirai
receiving cheques was not filmed in April
2002!
Muckraker had an interesting e-mail recently to say we may have
been a bit
severe on Sadc following their Blantyre summit on January 14.
Apparently our
dear leader was not given an easy ride by his colleagues
despite his "All's
well that end's well" statement before leaving. Despite a
public whitewash,
he was told in no uncertain terms behind closed doors to
get his house in
order. And the other leaders had all the facts to hand when
reading him the
riot act.
On arrival home, we are told, he summoned
his ministers and MPs to State
House and told them how much damage the
campaign violence was doing to his
standing. He criticised them for telling
him he had the votes to win but
then going out and causing
violence.
"If we have the votes, why are you beating people?" he wanted
to know,
momentarily forgetting his own role in fomenting unrest.
"The old
man was fuming," one observer said. "We had never seen him
like
that."
That's funny. We have!
We are glad to hear that
despite the conditions afflicting the country, our
leaders are maintaining
standards. When Grace Mugabe flew to Hong Kong
recently, on what was billed
as an investment promotion tour on behalf of
Zimbabwe's economically
disadvantaged, she and three other members of her
party occupied the front
four First Class seats of Cathay Pacific's flight
from Johannesburg to Hong
Kong.
Grace was hosted by a company called Fok Hing, which should not
be
pronounced too quickly. They are involved in a textiles joint venture with
a
Zimbabwean company. We are told this will lead to technology transfers.
At
any rate, let's hope it leads to more than Fok Hing transferring
first
ladies first class!
Zimbabwe Independent - Comment
Roadblocks to a free and fair
election
WHAT sort of government rejects the offer of transparent ballot
boxes from
donors because it wants to continue using non-transparent wooden
ones?
A government frightened of transparency, is the obvious answer. Or
one that
wants to rig the outcome!
The rejection of steps that would
make the electoral process more open and
less susceptible to manipulation is
only one sign of this government's
desire to conduct next month's
presidential poll on a playing field that is
tilted heavily in its
favour.
Another is management of voter registration by an official who
is
contemptuous of court orders. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku
expressed
understandable frustration this week with the failure of
the
Registrar-General's office to get its act together in appealing against
a
High Court order to hold the Harare council poll on February
11.
Obfuscation and downright bungling combine to present an impression
of
administrative chaos behind the scenes. No wonder the AG's office says
it
cannot manage a municipal election on Monday. It has made no serious
attempt
to do so because it is beholden to dubious Statutory Instruments,
which
should never have been issued in the first place.
Other signs of
electoral tilt include the amendment of the Electoral Act to
give a clearly
under-resourced Electoral Supervisory Commission sweeping
powers to supervise
the presidential poll; banning independent monitors;
preventing Zimbabweans
abroad from voting by rejecting postal votes;
conducting a highly restrictive
voter registration exercise manifestly
designed to exclude younger, urban
residents; refusing to comply with an
earlier court order not to close
registration stations; and refusing to
restore the names of voters unlawfully
expunged from the roll.
In the latest move to reduce participation in the
poll, the RG's office has
written to people holding permanent residence (but
not citizenship) to
register their objection to being struck off the roll.
The letters have been
sent too late to meet the deadline stipulated, thus
depriving people of
their legal rights by administrative fiat while ignoring
a court ruling on
the matter. Meanwhile, despite a ruling by Justice Makarau,
the AG's staff
are insisting that people registering prove domicile in the
constituency
where they are applying. This effectively excludes most of the
country's
students.
Today we carry news that the ESC, headed by a
former military intelligence
officer, will be staffing its electoral
supervisory programme at all levels
with army personnel. Given General
Zvinavashe's recent statement, the
impartiality of many officers must be open
to question. So is that of many
civil servants being drafted in to supervise
voting.
But of all the measures taken to prevent a free and fair poll the
most
egregious is the displacement of people through political
violence.
Tens of thousands of people - nearly all of them opposition
supporters -
have been forced out of their homes and away from their
constituencies by
armed supporters of the ruling party. This is a policy
clearly designed to
distort electoral outcomes. As we also report today
National Youth Service
trainees have been confiscating identity cards of
suspected MDC members at
roadblocks and elsewhere to prevent them voting.
Settlers on occupied farms
have meanwhile been registered and taught how to
vote by war veterans
claiming to be their guardians.
Last but
certainly not least, the public media has been prostituted to serve
the needs
of a desperate ruling party. Worried about declining popularity,
Zanu PF
believes it can still win by churning out a diet of calumny and lies
against
its opponents as well as false promises. But it is doubtful if
anybody is
listening any more. What happened to the 850 000 jobs promised
in
2000?
Departmental allocations are being hijacked in the ruling
party's campaign.
Zanu PF does not pay for the luxury helicopter that ferries
President Mugabe
around the country. Taxpayers do. The recent acquisition of
10 vehicles for
the Department of Information's rural outreach programme at a
cost of $90
million is another example of how public funds are being abused
to shore up
the ruling party's grip on its rural fiefdom.
None of this
is likely to reverse the great tide of public opinion running
against the
regime. It is everywhere palpable. But the array of roadblocks
erected to
prevent the people of Zimbabwe from expressing their wishes
represents a
formidable obstacle that should not be underestimated.
We need to
identify now the impediments to a free and fair election so
that
they
become a matter of public record.
Zimbabwe Independent
Real reasons for Zimbabwe's poor export
performance
--------------------------------------------------
By
Tony
Fisher
2/8/02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
BOTH
Treasury and the Reserve Bank have acknowledged that the country's
overall
balance of payments position, which was in deficit over the period
1998 to
2000, deteriorated very sharply in 2001. Provisional estimates of
last year's
outcome put the overall balance at anything around minus US$500
to minus
US$600 million. In its latest published weekly economic commentary,
the
Reserve Bank lays the blame for the worsening balance of payments on
the
continuing fall in export proceeds. In US dollar terms, exports last
year
are estimated to have been only 89% of their 1998 level. The Reserve
Bank
attributes this downward trend to declining commodity prices, shortages
of
raw materials, spare parts and machinery and other essential inputs
which
have resulted in lower capacity utilisation and constrained export
growth.
All these influences have undoubtedly contributed to poor export
performance
but, completely inexcusably, the Reserve Bank chooses to overlook
a few
other glaringly obvious reasons why exports have fared badly. First,
there
is the obvious problem resulting from the maintenance of a fixed
exchange
rate in an environment of a high rate of inflation in both absolute
and
relative terms. The latest issue of the Treasury's bulletin at least
accords
it a mention. "A fixed exchange rate", it notes, "against the
background of
high inflation has led to the loss of export competitiveness
and hence loss
of foreign currency earnings for the
country."
Actually, it is not so much a question of export
competitiveness, since the
bulk of the country's primary products are sold
abroad at prices determined
in world markets, as one of domestic producer
viability. The bulk of export
sales' proceeds are converted through the
banking system at rates of
exchange which, apart from that for the SA rand,
have hardly altered over
the past 15 months. Domestic and imported input
costs by contrast have risen
hugely over the same period. Over the past year,
for instance, domestic
consumer prices have risen 112% while the
corresponding inflation rates for
the EU, SA, Zambia and Malawi are 2,6%, 6%,
15% and 20%, respectively.
The authorities have tried to compensate for
their failure to make the
obvious correction for the huge inflation
discrepancy, that is by devaluing
the Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate, by
introducing a mixture of incentives,
including the right of exporters to
retain varying proportions of their
proceeds with which to purchase imports
essential to production. But this
facility is in general insufficient to
cover all producers' imported input
needs. Nor does it compensate them
sufficiently for the relatively rapid
rise in domestic production costs. As a
result, declining profitability has
provided little stimulus to increase
output.
This is particularly apparent in respect of the gold mining
industry which
has been forced to curtail the extraction of lower grade ore
to remain
viable. While it is true that the international gold price has
tended
downwards over the past three years the physical output of the metal
from
Zimbabwe's mines was one-third lower in 2001 than it was in 1999. This
far
exceeds the fall in the gold price over the period and cannot be
attributed
simply to "declining commodity prices".
Palliatives such as
the gold floor price system which, according to recent
press reports, now
guarantees producers $23 887 an ounce, represents a
return only 27% higher
than when the scheme was re-introduced in April 2000
although domestic prices
have risen over 168% in the interim.
The contraction in Zimbabwe's gold
mining industry compares poorly with the
buoyancy of the industry in
neighbouring South Africa where it has clearly
benefited from last year's
roughly 40% devaluation of the rand. This is not
to say that all the local
industry's ills would be solved at the stroke of a
pen by a corresponding
devaluation of the dollar. But it is facile to bemoan
the fall in exports
while failing to take the appropriate steps to ensure an
environment for
producers which promotes profitability and investment to the
fullest possible
extent.
The same myopia is apparent from the bank's failure even to
mention the
damage that farm invasions have done to actual or potential
exports of
agricultural produce. It is an incontrovertible fact that a large
number of
growers of a wide range of crops for export have had their
operations
curtailed, interrupted or even totally suspended and their labour
or
themselves harassed or intimidated with sometimes no, or only
token,
protection from the forces of law and order. Official expressions of
concern
for falling export proceeds are largely insincere when inadequate
efforts
are made to protect the lives and property of those who would, or
could,
earn more forex if only they were allowed to do so.
Then again,
the Reserve Bank makes no mention either of the adverse effects
which the
failure to take reasonable steps to ensure that travellers are
unmolested or
decisions to allow foreign visitors to stay no more than two
weeks have had
on a sector, which by its own estimation, accounted for 11%
of total forex
earnings in 2000. Much has been made by officials of the bad
image of the
country which, it is said, is unfairly portrayed by the foreign
media. But
even allowing that there is justification for arguing that this
has, by
keeping foreign tourists away, damaged the county's balance of
payments and
domestic growth the criticism has much less substance when the
county itself
fails to do everything within its power to promote tourism.
While,
therefore, many of the reasons publicly advanced by the Reserve Bank
for the
deteriorating balance of payments positions have undoubtedly had an
adverse
effect there are others, not mentioned, which constitute a very
significant
voluntary sacrifice of scarce foreign exchange. Zimbabwe would
receive better
publicity and garner more support in dealing with its balance
of payments
problem if it was not so free and easy with the use of the "self
destruct"
button.
In response to an article that appeared in a local weekly a
couple of weeks
ago, Interfresh released a statement to stakeholders
correcting some
inaccuracies that had been reported.
To summarise, the
company stated that only 52% of the farms that make up
Mazoe Citrus Estates
and 2,3% of the land, namely Goldendale Estate, had
been served with
preliminary and Section 8 notifications respectively.
However,
representations made by Interfresh to government indicate that the
company's
estates will be delisted as they do not fall under the criteria
set out in
the Act.
With disruptions on the estates having been kept to a minimum,
Interfresh is
in fact expecting 2002 to be one of their best years to date in
terms of
productivity, which will lead to greater local and more importantly
export
sales, thereby enhancing earnings. As for how well the company has
done over
the past year, all will be revealed on February 27 when it is to
hold a
factory tour and announce its year-end results to its
stakeholders.
Telegraph - letter
Stop Mugabe's thugs
(Filed:
09/02/2002)
SIR - I have just returned from Zimbabwe, where my family
owns a small farm.
The forthcoming election is being preceded by widespread
intimidation of
both indigenous and white residents on a scale unacceptable
anywhere else in
the world.
Women are being whipped on to trailers, in
order to "persuade" them to
attend a Zanu-PF political rally. White farmers
have to show their support
for Zanu-PF only, or risk being prevented from
farming. Those attending the
rally were encouraged to vote for Zanu-PF by
being threatened with both
death and civil war otherwise - and these are
their own people. Zanu-PF
tells voters that they will know, by using spirits,
who has voted against
them. Being superstitious, many people believe this.
Anyone who is seen to
have pro-MDC, or for that matter any other opposition,
sympathy, is being
intimidated.
Separately, the election process is
likely to be affected by impending
starvation. Thanks to Robert Mugabe's farm
invasions policy, many farmers
have been prevented from growing crops and now
there are no reserves of
maize, the staple diet of the nation. No doubt
commercial farmers will be
blamed.
There exists a mood of fear and
anxiety in the country. So-called veterans
are selectively squatting on farms
and intimidating the resident population
and preventing them from working. If
starvation becomes more prevalent, the
situation could deteriorate into
widespread violence. Zimbabwe is at grave
risk of descending into an
irrecoverable decline. If Mugabe remains in power
this seems
certain.
I would urge Jack Straw to impose personal sanctions on Mugabe
and his
cronies now. If it were legal for Zimbabweans to voice their
opinions, I
believe that a huge percentage of the population would urge him
to act
promptly. Everybody is suffering while a beloved country
fatally
haemorrhages.
Letter to Zimbabwe Independent
The captain has gone
bonkers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I
WAS a disinterested party in the goings on in this country. I am now
fully
converted to the idea that the present government and the ruling party
have
gone bonkers for real. They are trampling on my rights as a
peace-loving
citizen with impunity for the international community has
decided to stand by
and watch the 'rape' of this country's citizenry by this
bunch of
crooks.
I remember well being arrested for forgetting my pass/ID at home
and crying
foul at such an unfair law. I also remember rejoicing when the
law
compelling me to do so was scratched and saying to myself that the
country's
rulers where becoming enlightened by the day. Now I am required to
carry the
pass again! In addition, of course, to the Zanu PF card that I
bought
against my wish but to save my dear skin from the marauding Zanu PF
militia
and to ensure my safe passage through Rusape.
This is surely a
ship being steered by a captain who has gone bonkers in a
big way.
T
Ziteya,
Mutare.
Letter to Zimbabwe Independent
Fear and greed drive Christians on
land
2/8/02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
THE
tactics used by Zanu PF in their desperate bid to cling to power
against the
wishes of the vast majority of Zimbabweans can be reduced to two
simple
expedients the appeal to fear and to greed. In the past I have always
assumed
that it was fear which was the key factor in reducing many church
leaders
(and members) to a guilty silence in the face of the massive
injustices and
the distortions of the truth practised by the ruling party.
However, I am now
beginning to ask myself if greed is not an equally
important factor. Some
time ago I received a phone call from a member of my
church who was in some
distress, requesting urgent prayers for the farming
community in the Chivhu
area, including close friends and relatives who were
in immediate physical
danger.
The farmers in this area have been severely provoked of late with
every kind
of abuse and intimidation from the war veterans, who are seeking
to frighten
them into leaving their farms.
The farmers and their
workers and families, who have nowhere else to go,
were just waiting for
untold violence to descend upon them.
Now who could possibly defend such
a state of anarchy? And who especially
among those who call themselves
Christians would be prepared to benefit
personally in any way from this
campaign of violence and lawlessness? None,
you might think.
But alas
you would be wrong. A short while ago I wrote to the head of one of
the
largest denominations in Zimbabwe. I suggested to him that it is
unacceptable
for any Christian to acquire land obtained by violent and
illegal
means.
I quote, in part, from the church leader's reply, just received:
"People
needing land were given the option to apply last year and all
the
applications have been processed already and the suggestion to
ask
Christians to keep away from applying for such land could be correct but
is
coming too late, because among the already published names are a good
number
of our Christians."
I should be grateful at least, I suppose,
that the good church leader was
honest with me. But I ask myself, can a
Church so compromised by yes, fear
and greed ever be a part of God's solution
to the crisis now engulfing this
nation?
Rev Graham
Shaw,
Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe Independent
Mugabe rebuffs local civic
groups
--------------
Dumisani
Muleya
2/8/02
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe has refused to meet with local civic groups at the
Southern
African Development Community (Sadc) consultative conference which
starts in
Zanzibar today. Sadc executive secretary Prega Ramsamy said in
Gaborone this
week Mugabe would meet political parties, civic organisations
and various
interest groups to brief them on events taking place in
Zimbabwe. But Mugabe
has declined to see them.
The Sadc meeting is scheduled to begin tomorrow
and end on Friday next week.
Heads of state are expected to travel to the
Tanzanian-administered island
next week.
Zimbabwe Crisis Group
spokesman Andrew Nongogo yesterday said his
organisation a coalition of local
civic groups would not be travelling to
Zanzibar because they had been
informed Mugabe would not meet them.
"Mugabe has steadfastly refused to
engage civil society in Zimbabwe," he
said.
"I see no need for us to
fly to Tanzania when he has refused to meet us. We
are not going
there."
Instead, Nongogo said his group is sending a delegation to South
Africa next
week to talk to other civic organisations and government
officials. He said
President Thabo Mbeki recently met civic groups in his
country to outline
his policy on Zimbabwe. Mbeki is expected to make a
further policy statement
on Zimbabwe in his State-of-the-Nation address
today.
Mugabe's refusal to engage local groups came as South African
Labour
Minister Membathisi Mdladlana warned that political intolerance
among
Zimbabweans had reached crisis levels.
"There is too much
intolerance in that country and too much polarisation.
What concerns me most
is intolerance," he said.
"The weak link is that they are not talking to
each other. They wait for us
to come there before they talk. There is no
dialogue."
Mdladlana, who was in the country last week as part of the
Sadc task force
on Zimbabwe to witness nomination of presidential candidates,
said Sadc
should quickly send observers to Harare to ensure a free and fair
election.
He said a message had already been sent to Sadc chair President
Bakili
Muluzi of Malawi to dispatch an observer team to Zimbabwe.
"If
we don't send sharp observers then we will have a huge problem," he
warned.
"They (Sadc) are moving very slowly and it's worrying us because it
looks
like the South African delegation will be ready much earlier than the
Sadc
one."
Antithesis of democracy
By Iden
Wetherell
WHAT
do citizens do when parliament passes bad laws? When the majority of MPs voting
to pass those bad laws are nominated by the president and have no popular
mandate?
That
is a question many of us will be asking this week. Many of the laws passed
recently are seriously flawed measures contrived by patently delinquent rulers
anxious to preserve their political shelf-life irrespective of the popular will.
They
have been nodded through by chiefs and placemen where elected MPs proved
unwilling.
The
Public Order and Security Bill is little more than a distillation of all that
was bad and defective in the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act which Zanu PF,
despite its denunciation of all things colonial, found so handy.
The
General Laws Amendment Bill, passed last week, removed rights upheld by the
Supreme Court after test cases. In the case of the Labour Relations Amendment
Bill parliament's legal committee has pointed out that attempts to declare
collective job action unlawful is unacceptable in terms of constitutional
provisions. So are other sections of the Bill.
The
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, which had been due to be
debated this week but is now being panel-beaten, is not only very poorly drafted
but draconian in content. I gather the government's usual legal draftsmen were
not involved. The proposed law abrogates in almost every clause rights to which
Zimbabweans are entitled under the constitution, according to the Legal
Resources Foundation.
It
will be interesting to see what the legal committee decides about these
infringements.
Voters in any democracy are able to make an informed choice because they
go to the polls having heard the contending arguments of a variety of political
players. They have been exposed to a diversity of views.
Will
that be the case in Zimbabwe when, not satisfied with beating the hell out of
the electorate, the ruling party has passed laws to ensure voters remain
ignorant of any view other than President Mugabe's? That is the antithesis of
democracy.
The
measures passed recently are also clearly designed to have what the specialists
call a "chilling effect" on democracy.
That
includes preventing NGOs from carrying out voter education.
It
would be difficult to think of a more egregious violation of the right to free
expression.
Every
Zimbabwean has a right to carry out voter education whatever parliament may say.
We
are guaranteed that right under the country's founding law.
But
what we are seeing in all these measures is a government which doesn't care what
rights Zimbabweans are entitled to; it will remove those rights when it wants
to.
There
was a similar attitude evident in General Vitalis Zvinavashe's statement last
week that the military have the right to decide for us who our leaders should
be. They will do this on the basis of "values" they define for us. The military
of course have no such right. But, like Zanu PF, they have seized it from a
powerless populace.
Constitutions are put in place precisely to prevent over-mighty rulers
and their security personnel from taking what doesn't belong to them. Whatever
its defects, Zimbabweans should defend their constitution and the rights it
gives. That includes the right to elect a government of their choice.
I was
in South Africa in 1994 when that country elected its first democratic
government. Voters were full of enthusiasm and commitment to the historic
process. So were those conducting it. The Independent Electoral Commission was
scrupulous in its preparations inviting as many monitors as possible from South
African civil society and neighboring states including Zimbabwe. They wanted
everybody to see that the process was above board and that the government which
emerged would be legitimate in terms of its popular mandate.
There
were flaws. Millions of non-South Africans voted. But they were mostly residents
whose future was tied up in South Africa.
Some
polling stations didn't open on time. Others were late declaring. But overall it
was a triumph for Justice Kriegler and his IEC team and for those participating.
Nobody doubted the authenticity of the outcome. The 1999 election was equally
impressive in terms of voter educa tion and organisational probity.
What
a contrast to our ill-prepared electoral authorities, beholden to a government
that doesn't want a popular outcome. What voter education has there been? How
many people remain unregistered because they can't overcome the hurdles placed
in their way? And how can civil servants be impartial monitors?
Repressive laws and flawed polls are the hallmarks of illegitimate
regimes. Zanu PF seems intent on proving that - even though they will end up
looking bad. Power, it seems, is preferable to legitimacy.
Whites face same hurdles
2/8/02
I AM a Zimbabwean currently
living in Dallas, Texas, US. I just want to dispel a few misconceptions about
white Zimbabweans. Zanu PF is on record as saying "we can march
whites to the border", meaning they can have free passage to Europe or the US.
This is not possible. In fact they are subject to the same visa requirements as
blacks.
I would like to share with you what one white Zimbabwean went through
before he came to the US. He applied for a visa at the Harare US embassy on two
occasions and was turned down. The embassy staff argued that in view of the
tenuous political situation, he would not return to Zimbabwe. By the way, this
poor guy had just lost his farm and his life and that of his family was in
danger.
He subsequently left Zimbabwe for Britain. While in Britain, he again
applied for an American visa and was again turned down. He left Britain and went
to Canada. His friends in Canada drove him to the Canada/US border and he
crossed the border illegally.
He is now in Dallas but his troubles are far from over. He applied for
asylum and was turned down. The judge argued that as a young man, this white
Zimbabwean was part of Rhodesia's armed forces and therefore associated with
human rights abuses. He appealed this decision and a senior judge finally
granted him asylum.
It's no easy ride.
Lloyd H Munyamana,
Munyamana@msn.com
Freedom gone badly wrong
2/8/02
REGULAR writers to the editors
of newspapers, like myself, will have to be very careful now in expressing their
thoughts on paper as anything critical of our government and its leaders may see
a lot of people sharing a cell in Chikurubi. Draconian laws
restricting free speech and independent news coverage have left spokespersons of
governments in North America and Europe aghast that such totalitarian attitudes
are still alive and kicking in this enlightened age. It is all the more
distressing because the liberation war was fought to bring one man one vote to
the people so that they could choose the government that can best lead to a
fairer society with opportunities for all.
Looking around today, it is hard, if not impossible, not to be critical
of those who over the last 21 years or so have held the reins of power firmly in
their hands. There is little to be thankful for.
Poor parents who through skim-ping and saving have managed to educate
their children well now find their sons and daughters out of work with little
prospect of a suitable career as businesses close down. Costs of everything have
spiralled and the value of the currency eaten away by poor fiscal management,
profligacy, costly military escapades, and of course corruption running
unchecked and eating at the heart of the nation.
One could go on but this is unnecessary as everybody almost without
exception knows what a mess we are in and who has brought it about.
No wonder people want a change and soon the ballot boxes will be open
with an opportunity, maybe not as good as it might be, to bring this about. Be
of good cheer and take care.
Neill de Sperandum,
Hatfield.
Zanu PF ads ridiculous
2/8/02
ZANU PF's campaign adverts are
ridiculous and an insult to people's intelligence, none more so than the advert
on food shortages. This silly advert shows the Innscor warehouse with bags of
flour and mealie meal in it, and claims this is why there are food
shortages! Innscor operate hundreds of food outlets countrywide,
so of course they need food stores. What should they do, run to TM for a loaf of
bread whenever a customer orders a sandwich?
As for the adverts saying the MDC will sell the land to the British, that
is also rubbish as we all know they have a very detailed plan on how to properly
distribute land and provide money for inputs. If anybody has sold the land it is
Mugabe to the Libyans. Why are there so many of them around these days if this
is not true?
Stop insulting our intelligence.
M Phiri,
Harare.
MBENDI
Namibian labour union threatens land system akin to
Zimbabwe
The national union of Namibian workers has threatened to pursue
a
land-grabbing system similar to that of Zimbabwe. Pana stated that this
was
a warning to White farmers with excess land if they refused to sell to
the
government for the purposes of resettling. The Namibia Agricultural
Union
launched an appeal to the government concerning their land
resettlement
policy. The Agricultural union has also asked the union
officials to stop
making the kind of comments that would destabilize the
economy and tarnish
the international image of Namibia.