http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Politics
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has flexed his muscles, ordering the
Finance
ministry to immediately release about US$30 million for the roll-out
of the
delayed mobile voter-registration exercise.
Report by Brian
Chitemba
A fuming Tsvangirai yesterday convened a tense 45-minute meeting
attended by
acting Finance minister Theresa Makone, Justice and Legal
Affairs minister
Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)
deputy chairperson
Joyce Kazembe and Registrar-General (RG) Tobaiwa Mudede
to seek an
explanation for the delays in commencing the crucial
voter-registration
process ahead of polls expected this
year.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson William Bango said Tsvangirai was furious
over
delays of the voter-registration exercise that should have kicked-off
on
January 3.
“The PM is greatly concerned about voter-registration
delays and the meeting
was meant to fast-track the exercise,” said
Bango.
Tsvangirai instructed Makone to ensure funds for
voter-registration are
released without delay. This prompted Makone to also
summon senior Finance
ministry officials for an emergency meeting yesterday
afternoon to ensure
the required funds are disbursed to Zec and the RG’s
office.
Makone, who is Home Affairs co-minister, said the US$30 million
required for
voter-registration was available as Finance minister Tendai
Biti told
Tsvangirai Treasury had the funds before he went on
leave.
“We agreed the process (voter-registration) should start as soon
as possible
and initial funding will be released immediately,” said Makone.
“We are
looking at US$30 million and the money is available.”
Zec,
Kazembe said, requires US$8 million while the RG’s office budgeted
US$13,1
million to conduct the mobile voter-registration.
Prior to the exercise,
Kazembe revealed Zec would require another US$1
million for an outreach
programme to create awareness among Zimbabweans a
week before the
registration exercise is rolled out.
The RG’s office has stated there are 5,5
million voters on the register and
the voter-registration programme would
give Zimbabweans a chance to
“clean-up” the voters’ roll by removing the
dead from the list of eligible
voters.
Zec says US$220 million is
required to successfully hold a referendum and
elections.
“We are
frustrated because we require money to do the outreach exercise
before the
rolling out of the voter-registration exercise,” said Kazembe.
“As Zec, we
are ready and all we want is the money.”
Voter-registration is an on-going
exercise throughout the year, but with
polls expected this year, political
parties want to ensure their supporters
are registered.
The RG’s
office will conduct voter-registration under the supervision of Zec
as
provided for by law.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Politics
THE
MDC-T would be closely monitoring the behaviour of securocrats in the
run-up
to the next elections and during the subsequent transfer of power
should the
party win the polls, with a view to determining how to deal with
elements
implicated in past human rights violations.
Report by Owen
Gagare
It has also emerged Sadc, the guarantors of the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA) — precursor to Zimbabwe’s unity government — is also closely
monitoring the military’s behaviour and recently reminded securocrats to
remain professional and not meddle in politics.
The message was
delivered on the sidelines of the South Africa/Zimbabwe 7th
Joint Permanent
Commission on Defence and Security held at the Mount Nelson
Hotel in Cape
Town from November 21-23 last year.
State Security minister Sydney
Sekeramayi led the Zimbabwean delegation
which included Defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa, director-general of the
Central Intelligence
Organisation Happyton Bonyongwe, and top military
officers.
Although
the official communiqué said the commission “noted that the
political and
security situation in the two countries remains stable” and
“commended the
progress made in the implementation of the GPA”, the South
Africans are keen
on full implementation of the GPA and are wary of
statements made by senior
military officers last year, among them
Major-Generals Douglas Nyikayaramba,
Trust Mugoba and Martin Chedondo, who
openly declared their loyalty to Zanu
PF.
South Africa urged its Zimbabwean counterparts to be professional and not
political.
“They were told not to interfere with the electoral
process and ensure
smooth transfer of power should Zanu PF lose,” said a
source. “Apart from
the fact that (President Jacob) Zuma is mediating in
Zimbabwe, South Africa
has always been concerned about the security
situation in the country
because any instability has a huge effect across
the Limpopo,” the source
said.
Millions of Zimbabweans crossed into
South Africa, among other neighbouring
and regional countries, most of them
illegally, at the height of Zimbabwe’s
economic meltdown.
The
military has had a hands-on approach in Zimbabwean politics and came to
the
aid of President Robert Mugabe after he lost the first round of the
presidential poll to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in March 2008. It
embarked on a bloody campaign resulting in Tsvangirai pulling out of the
June 27 run-off citing widespread violence and intimidation of his
supporters, among other glaring irregularities.
Statements by
generals and the involvement of the military in Zanu PF
activities have
given credence to fears that the security forces may once
again play a major
role in the upcoming elections.
The military has also been involved in
several other high-profile human
rights violations, including the
Gukurahundi massacres in Matabeleland and
the Midlands in the early 1980s,
but the perpetrators have never been
brought to justice.
The top
military brass, which has accumulated great wealth, is keen to keep
Mugabe
in power and has been involved in the Zanu PF restructuring exercise,
especially in Manicaland which has been identified as a key province for the
party to win. There are also reports of the military already campaigning for
Zanu PF in several provinces.
A senior and influential MDC-T official
told the Zimbabwe Independent that
while Tsvangirai recently told this paper
he would balance the fears of
those implicated in human rights abuses with
the interests of those crying
out for justice as well as the need for
stability, the behaviour of the
military during the election period would be
key in determining the approach
the party would take.
“Obviously, if
they embark on a violent campaign like they did in 2008 and
if they prevent
the smooth transfer of power in the event we win the
election, we will be
forced to be heavy-handed with them as well,” said the
MDC-T
official.
“So the ball is in their court really and they know this. You
will recall
that in the run-up to the 2002 presidential elections the
generals issued a
statement saying the Office of the President is a
straitjacket and they will
never salute anyone without war credentials. It
is clear that some of them
still harbour those feelings, so we will be
watching them closely.”
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora confirmed the
next election would be
crucial in determining his party’s approach if it
wins the polls.
“We want to have a good relationship with the armed
forces,” said Mwonzora.
“We want a relationship predicated upon mutual
respect. They must respect
our right to exist and organise. We are
Zimbabweans and have every right to
rule the country.
“They must be
bound by the constitution … so how they behave in the
forthcoming elections
will indeed determine how we treat them.”
Another MDC-T official said over
the years his party had been engaging the
securocrats through the late Dr
Tichaona Mudzingwa, who had links with many
senior military, intelligence
and police officers.
The official said some of the officers had softened
their stance although
quite a number remained “stubborn”.
He,
however, said the party was hopeful the military would not stop his
party
from assuming power given Sadc’s keen interest in the election and
that the
feelings of some of the top commanders were not shared by the rank
and
file.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in
Politics
SADC-APPOINTED facilitator to the Zimbabwe political dialogue,
South African
President Jacob Zuma has expressed concern that negotiations
aimed at
delivering free and credible elections among parties in the
inclusive
government are weak, raising fears over the country’s readiness to
hold
polls any time soon.
Report by Wongai Zhangazha
Zuma’s
international relations advisor Lindiwe Zulu told the Zimbabwe
Independent
on Wednesday that problems and challenges affecting the full
implementation
of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) are just too many to
be successfully
concluded in a short space of time.
Zulu said: “President Zuma will be
happy when the whole facilitation process
ends successfully. The challenges
during this process are many. They include
delay in the constitution
process, strengthening the negotiations to deliver
on elections, finalising
the (election) roadmap, creating a conducive
environment for the elections
and implementation of outstanding issues in
the GPA.”
Zulu said the
facilitation team remains fully committed and hopes to work
with more vigour
this year to facilitate a lasting breakthrough. She said
her team monitors
developments whenever negotiators raise issues and when
necessary.
Speculation has been rife that a progress report on
Zimbabwe would be tabled
at the 20th (AU) summit to be held in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, from January
21-28 under the theme “Pan-Africanism and African
Renaissance”.
Deputy head of communication and information of the AU
Commission Wynne
Musabayana said she was not sure Zimbabwe would be
discussed at the summit
as the final programme of the summit was still being
prepared.
However, Zulu said Zimbabwe was not on the AU agenda, unless
requested by
the continental body.
The summit would start with a
meeting of the Permanent Representative
Committee of Ambassadors from
January 21-22, the 22nd Ordinary Session of
the Executive Council from
January 24-25 and the 20th Ordinary Session of
the Assembly of Heads of
State and Government from January 27-28.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in News
HUMAN
rights lawyers representing a group of HIV-positive Zimbabweans
incarcerated
in Botswana are set to file papers in the Gaborone High Court
later this
month to force the state to provide anti-retroviral treatment to
foreign
inmates.
Report by Tendai Marima
The Botswana Network on Ethics,
Law and HIV/Aids (Bonela), which advocates
for the rights of people living
with the disease, says the Zimbabwean
detainees have gone without this
essential medication for years because
imprisoned foreigners are not allowed
access to HIV treatment.
In the class action representing four men and a
woman, Bonela wants the
court to order the Botswana government to provide
the life-saving drugs to
all foreign prisoners.
One of the prisoners,
George Vingaso, was extradited from South Africa’s
North West province and
convicted of car theft in Botswana where he is now
serving a 10-year
sentence at Gaborone Central Prison.
Vingaso tested positive after being
arrested in South Africa where he was
put on ARV therapy, but the treatment
stopped after his extradition and
subsequent imprisonment in
Botswana.
Without drugs, Vingaso’s CD4 count dropped and his health is
said to have
deteriorated rapidly.
Doctors who first examined him in
Botswana in 2010 discovered he had
developed boils, swollen legs and
breathing problems. Bonela then filed a
court application requesting
government to comply with a previous court
order to supply Vingaso with
ARVs, but that was ignored.
Human rights lawyers said government’s
inaction was risky as Vingaso’s low
CD4 count exposed him to deadly
opportunistic infections such as
tuberculosis, a common disease in
overcrowded and poorly sanitised Botswana
prisons such as Gaborone Central
Prison.
Bonela executive director Uyapo Ndadi said the prisoners’ state
of health
was serious with Vingaso’s condition being the worst.
“All
of them are sick and their situation is dire,” said Ndadi in a
telephone
interview. “Their CD4 counts are low and this makes them
vulnerable, but
they are not yet sick. The other prisoner (Vingaso) has a
very low CD4 count
and he has been struggling with the illness for about
three years now,” he
said.
Ndadi said Vingaso was not receiving ARVs, despite a 2008 court
ruling by
the Village Magistrates Court ordering the government of Botswana
to provide
the necessary treatment. “The government has ignored the order,”
said Ndadi.
In 2010, Vingaso’s court application requesting the ministry
of health to
provide ARVs was successful, but the ministry refused to comply
claiming it
is too expensive to provide free ARVs for foreign
prisoners.
Botswana’s locally manufactured ARVs are provided free only to
Batswana;
foreign nationals have to pay for them.
A month-long supply
of drugs retails for P180 (about US$22,90), slightly
cheaper than in
Zimbabwe where ARVs cost US$30.
Bonela argues that denying anyone ARVs
constitutes inhuman treatment and
discrimination under Sections 7 and 15 (3)
of Botswana’s Constitution, and
intends to present medical evidence to show
how going without ARVs has
affected terminally ill prisoners.
“We
have spent about a year compiling affidavits and obtaining medical
tests,”
Ndadi said. “We are preparing to file our papers and if there is a
material
dispute then the matter will go to trial,” he said.
Ndadi said he was
hopeful of Bonela’s chances of success this time.
According to defence and
security expert, Martin Rupiya of the
Pretoria-based Institute for Security
Studies, many African governments have
responded to the HIV pandemic in
prisons like “ostriches with their heads
buried in the sand”. Speaking at an
AU conference in South Africa in
November last year, Rupiya said African
governments had failed to
effectively curb the HIV scourge.
He said
ignoring infected foreign prisoners was risky as foreigners
sometimes carry
different or more complex strains of the HIV virus which can
undermine a
government’s efforts to fight the disease.
“The hosting of foreign nationals
sometimes brings different strains of the
viruses that effectively challenge
national programmes and existing drug
protocols,” Rupiya said.
“The
result is the creation of a constituency within communities that
remains
excluded and therefore immune from the various public health
campaigns,
including the most recent ARV treatment and increased access
campaigns,” he
said.
Challenging the right to access ARV treatment and protesting poor
prison
conditions appear to be a growing trend in southern Africa.
Beyond
Botswana and a historic victory in 2006 by South African Aids
activists,
courts in Zambia and Zimbabwe are due to hear cases of imprisoned
HIV
patients claiming denial of ARVs constitutes an infringement of the
right to
health.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in News
THE
Zimbabwean government is expected to lift the ban on chrome ore exports
in
April, exactly a year after it was reinstated following protracted
negotiations with industry stakeholders, the Zimbabwe Independent can
reveal.
Report by Taurai Mangudhla
The move is among a raft of
reforms anticipated in the extractive industry
which hopes for a downward
review of government’s 2011 increase in mining
fees and ground rentals by as
much as 5 000%.
Highly placed sources in the mining industry said the
Ministry of Mines had
already approved the decision which now awaits
implementation.
“The Ministry of Mines has already agreed to allow miners
to export chrome
on condition that weighbridges are built on Chikwalakwala
and Nyamapanda
borders where chrome was being shipped through,” said a
source.
Chrome miners were using these two entry points to smuggle chrome
into
Mozambique.
It is alleged most companies deliberately
underweighted the exports by, for
example, labelling 1,3 tonnes of chrome as
one tonne because of the absence
of a weighbridge.
The ministry is
also understood to be investigating concerns of the
industry, particularly
low prices. Chrome miners claim the market is
flooded.The lifting of the
ban, which is also meant to protect small-scale
chrome miners most of whom
are indigenous, comes with a tax on sales to
facilitate local beneficiation
which is currently too low to warrant the
embargo.
The nature of the
tax is yet to be specified and analysts say it would be a
further barrier to
the viability of the battered industry, especially given
the low prices of
raw chromium which closed the year between US$165 and
US$185 per tonne, from
a peak of US$230 per tonne in May.
However, the industry has argued the
decision to lift the ban on raw chrome
ore exports would not be enough to
save chrome mining, as the industry
teeters on the brink of collapse due to
deepening viability challenges.
Local mining expert and immediate past
president of the Chamber of Mines of
Zimbabwe, Victor Gapare, said any
additional levies on chrome exports would
make chrome mining unviable and
ultimately defeat the purpose of exporting
raw ore.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in News
THE Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Zec) is yet to set up the statutory
election
observation and monitoring committee despite indications
make-or-break polls
are likely to be held this year.
Report by Paidamoyo
Muzulu
Justice deputy minister Obert Gutu confirmed recently the
committee has not
yet been set up and his party was worried about
impartiality considering the
current composition of Zec and that the
executive would have a significant
say in nominating officials.
“Zec
has not yet established the election observation and monitoring
committee,”
said Gutu. “Of course, the idea of having the said committee is
a noble one
provided our partners in the GNU (Government of National Unity)
are honest
and sincere.”
Gutu added that “past experience has taught us that you can
only trust Zanu
PF at your peril”. Section 40H (1) of the Electoral Act
spells out the
composition of the committee.
“The chairperson of the
commission, who shall be the chairperson of the
committee, deputy
chairperson of the commission, one member of the
commission designated by
the commission, one person nominated by the Office
of the President and
Cabinet, one nominated by the minister (Justice and
Legal Affairs), one
person nominated by the minister responsible for foreign
affairs and one
person nominated by the minister responsible for immigration
(Home
Affairs),” the Act reads.
In the current set up, President Robert Mugabe,
Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa, Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi and Home Affairs
co-ministers Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone
would be responsible for
nominating the committee’s officials. Gutu further
bemoaned the prolonged
absence of the Zec chairperson from duty at a
critical point.
“Simpson Mtambanengwe is presently not available at this
very crucial
juncture of the referendum and election preparations. To me,
his continued
absence raises more questions than answers,” Gutu
said.
Observers to the Zimbabwean elections since 2000 have been limited to
selected local, regional and continental organisations who usually endorsed
the polls as free and fair even when political violence was rife.
The
previous Zanu PF government declared it would not invite poll observers
from
the European Union and United States as they had imposed sanctions on
Zimbabwe.
The Act was amended in fulfillment of the 2008 Global
Political Agreement
that called for reforms to include the setting up of
independent bodies to
run the country’s elections, and uphold human rights
as well as investigate
graft.
The government has since set up four
commissions: The Human Rights,Media,
Electoral and Anti-Corruption
Commissions.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in
News
THE old adage that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” has come
to
haunt Zanu PF politburo member and Local Government minister Ignatius
Chombo
as his ex-wife, Marian, has thrown her hat into the political ring in
the
Zanu PF primary elections for the Zvimba North constituency, currently
held
by Chombo.
Report by Staff Writer
Marian’s candidature
turns Zvimba North primaries into a dramatic and
unpredictable three-horse
race as Edwin Matibiri and Chombo are already
vigorously campaigning to
represent the party in general elections expected
later this
year.
Zanu PF insiders in Zvimba North confirmed Marian and Matibiri were
attempting to break Chombo’s 18-year stranglehold on the
constituency.
Chombo first won the right to represent the seat
uncontested in 1995 and has
gone on to be re-elected in 2000, 2005 and 2008.
He never faced primary
elections in the previous four polls, but that has
changed this year.
“Marian has entered the race to challenge Chombo,”
said a party source. “She
has set up a team which started moving around the
constituency campaigning
for support for her ahead of primaries widely
expected in February.”
Marian was married to Chombo for about 20 years
until they acrimoniously
divorced last year.
The divorce papers which
became a major talking point after being carried in
the media, gave a
glimpse of Chombo’s fabulous wealth, much of it
accumulated after he became
a government minister in the 1990s. Before that
he was a lecturer at the
University of Zimbabwe. The couple finally decided
on an out of court
settlement to avoid further revelations of their vast
wealth.
Under
the settlement Marian walked away with properties including the 1
200-hectare New Allan Grange Farm in Raffingora and all farming implements,
as well as an unspecified number of vehicles.
The farm is at the centre
of Zvimba North constituency, giving Marian easy
access to the
area.
Both Marian and Chombo were not readily available for comment with
Chombo
said to be on his annual holiday in Dubai. However, an insider said
Marian
and Matibiri are receiving much support from some of the party’s
Mashonaland
West provincial executive members. The provincial executive is
deeply
divided along factional lines which once resulted in chairman John
Mafa
being suspended for two years before his re-election in
2012.
“Both Chombo’s challengers are receiving support from some senior
party
members and we are likely to see a drawn-out battle among the three,”
the
source said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in
News
INDIGENISATION minister Saviour Kasukuwere says companies would soon
be
required to have a 25% youth representation of those under 35 years on
their
boards of directors in line with the Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment
Act.
Report by Taurai Mangudhla
This follows a
2012 cabinet decision to reserve a 25% quota of all economic,
indigenisation
and empowerment facilities across the economy for the country’s
youths.
Information gathered by the Zimbabwe Independent indicates
youths would be
independent board directors.
Kasukuwere said his
ministry would apply the new quota system to all
companies that have
recently complied with the empowerment law as they are
all expected to
announce new boards soon.
“This is a way to empower our youths and we
want to ensure full compliance,”
said Kasukuwere in Mt Darwin last
Friday.
“I have noticed that the youths have a tendency to assume (that)
sitting on
the boards of big companies is a preserve for the older
generation and by so
doing they are discriminating against themselves,” he
said.
Kasukuwere said the mining sector was almost in full compliance
with the
Indigenisation Act, which compels all foreign-owned companies to
relinquish
51% shareholding to indigenous Zimbabweans.
According to
his ministry’s statistics, 120 mining companies had complied
with the
indigenisation law with 400 Employee Share Ownership Trusts created
at the
end of November 2012.
Compliant extractive firms include Mimosa Platinum
Mine, Pretoria Portland
Cement and Unki Platinum.
Kasukuwere said
government had appointed young lawyer Psychology Maziwisa as
one of the new
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation board members in line
with the new
requirement.
This is also in line with his ministry’s target to enable
youths to
participate in the mainstream economy and contribute to economic
growth and
development.
He said the National Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Fund, or the
sovereign wealth fund, stood at US$4
billion as at December last year and is
expected to top US$5 billion by June
this year.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in
News
THE inter-ministerial committee led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara to resolve the controversial Save Conservancy saga after the
conservancy was invaded by Zanu PF bigwigs last year is still to present its
findings to cabinet.
Report by Herbert Moyo
Tourism and
Hospitality minister Walter Mzembi said “it is better to delay
the
presentation of the findings than to rush into making a decision that
will
live with us and indict us for good”.
Mzembi said the committee had
already met twice in the past month and
Mutambara appreciates the need to
consult widely so that the taskforce can
present a very democratic position
to cabinet.
Mzembi said the invasions were counter-productive and would
dent the country’s
image ahead of this year’s United Nations World Tourism
Organisation general
assembly.
“What l said last year on the matter
remains indelibly printed on the minds
of Zimbabweans and my position will
not be changed by anybody,” Mzembi said.
“Contrary to assertions that we
want to protect white men’s interests, we
are trying to come up with a model
which will empower communities while
preserving wildlife for posterity. It
is important that we don’t replace
whites with a bourgeois black class that
has already been empowered
elsewhere.”
Save Conservancy general
manager David Goosen said they met Mutambara
together with local chiefs to
submit their presentation in November last
year.
Goosen said the
white entrepreneurs had proposed a business model where they
could get into
partnership with the local community.
“We want the conservancy to be run as a
company where the local community
will have shares in a trust represented by
their chiefs,” said Goosen. “We
know there is so much potential in the
wildlife sector so we welcome
community participation.”
Save
Conservancy is the country’s richest and largest private wildlife
sanctuary
in the world. It hit the headlines last year after it was invaded
by Zanu PF
bigwigs and army commanders, particularly from Masvingo province.
They
parcelled it out among themselves before embarking on an orgy of
wildlife
hunting, sparking local and international outrage.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in News
A
NEW study on the safety of Bulawayo’s fresh food supply has revealed a
worrying outcome with results showing high levels of heavy metals and
pesticide residue in the city’s vegetables and poultry.
Report by
Tendai Marima
The findings of the investigations titled A Study to Assess
the Food Safety
of Vegetables and Poultry Available in the Market in
Bulawayo presented to
the Agricultural Cluster Working Group (ACWG) in
November last year suggests
the majority of vegetables and poultry being
sold in Bulawayo have
Escherichia coli or E coli and above-normal metal
content.
The group is a forum headed by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO)
and includes officials from the Agriculture Mechanisation
and Irrigation
Development ministry, Agritex and stakeholders from local
non-governmental
organisations, research institutes and the private
sector.
E coli is a type of bacteria that lives in the intestines of
humans and
animals, which can cause severe food poisoning. Some types of E
coli
bacteria can sometimes cause kidney failure and even death.
The
study surveyed 58 farms in and around Bulawayo where 53 poultry samples
were
taken and sent for laboratory testing and microbiological analysis.
Fifty
vegetable samples were collected for heavy metal analysis and a
further 44
vegetable specimen were collected from the open-air markets
around the city
centre.
The study found the overwhelming majority of the tested poultry
samples from
the farms had E coli. Staphylococcus aureus or S aureus
bacteria that can
also cause food poisoning as well as skin and respiratory
infections.
Most of the open market’s tested vegetable samples contained
cadmium, a
silvery-bluish metal which, in instances where blood contains
high levels of
cadmium, can result in chills, respiratory problems and
kidney damage.
“Microbiology results for poultry revealed that 90,6% of
the samples had E
coli and 98,1% had S aureus. These pathogens are capable
of causing food
poisoning,” reads part of the study.
“One hundred
percent of the tomatoes sampled exceeded the cadmium World
Health
Organisation/FAO maximum level. Ninety-seven percent of the
choumoellier
samples had cadmium levels greater than the WHO/FAO maximum
limit.
Ninety-two percent of the (vegetable) samples exceeded the maximum
level set
for lead,” stated the results.
Although the research carried out among
208 vendors, 129 retailers and 58
farms does not suggest an imminent
outbreak of disease or death as a result,
it emphasises the levels of
bacterial bugs and metal presence in food is
highly undesirable.
On
pesticide residue, results were more positive as less than 10% of
choumoellier and tomato samples exceeded the acceptable daily intake of
pesticides.
“The vegetables were generally safe in terms of
pesticides residues, though
there is need for caution. Drug residues were
within acceptable levels.”
The study also raises concern over the rise in
illegal abattoirs and the
sale of poultry at unlicensed premises and
recommends Bulawayo City Council
encourages the use of registered slaughter
houses, and monitor heavy metal
presence in vegetables.
Illegal meat
trade is a persistent problem and in a bid to clamp down on
illegal meat
trade last year, police launched a nationwide campaign dubbed
Operation
Inyama uyithethephi/Operation Nyama yabvepi (Where did you get the
meat?)
between June 18 and 26.
During the blitz, authorities shut down an
estimated 140 butcheries and 110
restaurants suspected of illegal meat and
poultry trading.
Police claimed unlicensed sellers were selling contaminated
meat and this
unregulated trade posed a health risk.
More than 800kgs
of meat was destroyed and 1 070 arrests were effected for
livestock theft
and cattle rustling.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in
News
THE flow of urine down her legs and soiled pants have become a
‘normal’ part
of life for seven-year-old Mitchell since the brutal rape last
year by a
45-year old man entrusted to protect her. Mitchell is now
incontinent (she
has little or no voluntary control over urination or
defecation) after the
rape left her with a ruptured anus and genitalia which
affects the way she
excretes.
Report by Wongai Zhangazha
The
pain accompanied by acute embarrassment is unbearable, as people stare
at
her wondering why a seven-year-old continues to soil her pants.
She often
sheds the tears of a helpless young girl desperate for help, who
feels a
stranger among her peers due to matters she has no control over.
With the
help of the Victim Friendly Court Zimbabwe (VFCZ), Mitchell is
receiving
medical, psychological, and rehabilitative support and appears to
be
coping.
While she might eventually recover, her innocence violently
stolen from her
will never be restored.
This is just one case of
child sexual abuse that is on the increase in
Zimbabwe, and fears are high
that it could get worse as the country heads
for a referendum and elections
this year.
Rape, murder, emotional, verbal, psychological and economic
abuse,
intimidation and harassment have largely become synonymous with
Zimbabwean
elections and women and children in most cases are the
victims.
Nor is the boy child also immune as there is an increase in the
number of
young boys being sodomised.
Last week in Buhera, Manicaland
Province, a six-year old boy was sodomised
after his family offered shelter
to a stranger drenched in the pouring rain.
The family allowed him to share
a hut with their six-year old son, only for
him to sodomise the
minor.
A report was made at Murambinda Police Station but before the
police could
launch their investigation, the man committed suicide. His body
was found
hanging from a tree the following day.
In a report released
in December 2012, the Zimbabwe Republic Police Victim
Friendly Unit said
more than 2 400 children under the age of 18 were victims
of rape between
January and October 2012. There were 3 421 sexual abuse
cases of minors
reported during that period.
The report says neighbours accounted for 41%
of perpetrators, while
relatives left in care of children were culpable for
27%.
VFCZ national coordinator Iden Magonga said sexual abuse of children
was not
about satisfying sexual urge but was instead an issue of power over
a
weaker, vulnerable group.
Magonga said: “Sexual abuse of children
is usually committed not for sexual
gratification but it’s a power mentality
and those who commit this crime are
often cowards who cannot face up to
their own match, but feel powerful by
abusing the vulnerable
groups.”
He said cases of sodomy were worringly on the
increase.
Magonga said his organisation faced problems in dealing with
child marriages
in the Marange Apostolic sect.
“The Apostolic sect is
a closed community that has a culture of not
accommodating outsiders. We
have had incidences where we would go there,
approach a certain family after
tipoffs of sexual abuse. However, when we
get there and talk to the girl
child she would deny ever being raped,
instead saying she was being well
looked after; the law is then
handicapped.”
Rape cases have been on
the increase globally with the latest shocking
incident being the brutal
gang rape of a 23-year old trainee physiotherapist
by six youths in
India.
The rape sparked an international outcry and massive
demonstrations in the
country resulting in police reacting swiftly to arrest
the six suspects.
Unfortunately the female student died from
complications caused by the
callousness of the rape.
According to the
Preliminary Report of the National Baseline Survey on the
Life Experiences
of Adolescents in Zimbabwe released by the government in
2012, approximately
one third of girls experience sexual violence before
their 18th birthday and
only 2% of these seek care and support, while
approximately one in 10 males
aged between 18-24 experienced sexual abuses
in childhood.
Unicef
chief of communications Victor Chinyama said: “We do not know if
there is an
increase in incidences as these prevalence surveys are unique,
particularly
looking at sexual violence amongst children. Statistics also
only reflect
cases reported, and we know sexual violence is always
under-reported due to
fear by survivors due to shame, stigma and
persecution.”
The issue of
sexual abuse has sparked debate on social networks with people
calling for
steeper penalties against those committing the heinous acts.
Social
commentator Beatrice Tonhodzayi-Ngondo wrote on her Facebook wall:
“The next
time I read of a girl being raped in this country I am going to
scream.
Surely, has this become normal? What’s even sadder is that in most
of these
cases, the girls are being raped by close family or friends and
they are
also getting infected with HIV. What kind of people will do this to
their
own children? How does one salivate over a two-year old? We need to
make
noise and make noise now for this to change and get the attention it
deserves.”
Last December the government launched the Protocol on the
Multi-sectoral
Management of Sexual Abuse and Violence through Judicial
Services Commission
(JSC), which provides a guideline for survivors of
sexual abuse and
violence, and their advocates, on seeking professional help
at rural,
district and provincial levels. At the launch, Judicial Services
Commission
secretary Justice Rita Makarau pledged to ensure magistrates
complete
hearing cases related to sexual abuse and violence within three
days of
being brought to court
“I have promised on behalf of the
Chief Magistrate that all trials of sexual
nature shall, once commenced, be
disposed of in three days,” said Makarau.
“This assumes that the police
would have completed the docket within seven
days; that the probation
officer’s report or the social welfare report will
be prepared within seven
days.”
“Sadly, sexual violence sometimes is used as a weapon in
conflicts. As we go
towards elections now, there is something that we should
bear in mind that
sometimes sexual abuse and violence are used as weapons of
power. To me
sexual abuse and violence are a power game and an abuse of
power by whoever
believes that they have got power over the next person,”
Makarau said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Business
THE National
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund (NIEEF) has
received a US$1
billion windfall following the conclusion of an empowerment
transaction
expected to be signed in the capital soon.
Report by Clive
Mphambela
Well-placed sources told businessdigest this week platinum
giant ––
Zimplats –– has finally resolved to comply fully with Zimbabwe’s
indigenisation laws, culminating in the company signing over a 51% stake to
indigenous shareholders.
The latest plan will see NIEEF taking up 31%
equity while employees and
management will get a 10% share, with the
remaining 10% reserved for the
community share ownership
scheme.
According to sources, signing of the new scheme was postponed
from last
month after the parties to the agreement sought to clear
outstanding issues.
NIEEF has to date concluded transactions worth over
US$750 million at
current market prices. The deals which have been concluded
include a 16%
stake in Blanket Mine worth US$20 million, 9,7% stake in
Pretoria Portland
Cement valued at US$13 million, a 21% stake in Unki
Platinum agreed at
US$162 million as well as a 31% stake in Mimosa Platinum
at US$355 million.
As part of the Mimosa and Unki transactions NIEEF has
also assumed
government’s US$57 million debt as well as a US$142 million
cession of
claims loan which the Ministry of Mines owed to
Unki.
According to sources, the latest deal will add almost US$1 billion
to the
assets under management by NIEEF which will rise to about US$1,8
billion.
With net of the loans taken over at US$200 million, the transaction
triples
the value of NIEEF to over US$1,550 billion.
To date over
US$980 million has been raised via Notional Vendor Financing
(NVF) loan
structures.
“The mining deals effectively place a real value of several
billions to the
sovereign assets that have hitherto been seriously
undervalued. Previously,
mining firms where only liable for meagre mining
licence fees as well as
royalties,” the source said.
According to
well-placed sources, Zimplats will transfer 10% to a community
share trust
whilst 10% will accrue to workers and management. The balance of
31% will be
transferred to the NIEEF to achieve the 51% local shareholding
threshold.
Going forward, expected growth of the value of the NIEEF
portfolio will be
driven by similar transactions which will be concluded
soon.
Government is yet to account for deals with Tongaat Hullet and Old
Mutual.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Business
ECONET Wireless
Zimbabwe (Econet) has lashed out at banks for proposing
amendments to
government’s banking reforms to include mobile money service
providers,
saying it was a selfish attempt by a clique of individuals to
frustrate its
operations.
Report by Taurai Mangudhla
Econet owns EoCash, a
mobile payments service.
In his national budget statement Finance
minister Tendai Biti said banks
should, effective this year, not levy fees
on deposits of less than US$800
and give 4% interest on deposits of at least
US$1 000 held over 30 days. He
also said banks should issue debit cards for
free and scrap the deposit
protection fund cap.
Bankers Association
of Zimbabwe (Baz) said they would, among other things,
incur huge losses as
a result of the legal changes given that most of their
income came from
tariffs. In a position paper, Baz argued mobile money
services should be
bound by the same regulations in order to create a level
playing field while
recent media reports indicate bankers are lobbying for
all mobile money
services to be administered by a financial institution,
otherwise they
become direct competition to conventional banking.
Econet has responded
by saying regulators should not be swayed by selfish
interests of a minority
group wishing to keep ordinary people from enjoying
the benefits of their
mobile money technology, while offering no meaningful
alternative solutions
or even willing to invest anything.
“Econet is aware there is a small
number of individuals, mostly associated
with one foreign-owned financial
institution, who have lobbied intensely
both before and after the
introduction of this vital (EcoCash) service yet
this very same institution,
motivated only by what we believe is
selfishness, has never shown any
inclination whatsoever in its long
existence in Zimbabwe to develop services
that are inclusive and serve the
majority of Zimbabweans,” said the
country’s largest mobile network provider
in response to businessdigest’s
questions.
“The so-called complaints of a small minority of banks are
reminiscent of
the complaints of the then PTC management when Econet founder
Strive
Masiyiwa was trying to introduce cellphones in Zimbabwe. If he had
not
fought tenaciously, over 10 million people would today not have access
to a
phone.”
According to the mobile phone operator’s statistics,
EcoCash has enabled
nearly two million Zimbabweans, the majority of who did
not have bank
accounts, to have access to basic financial
services.
Most of the EcoCash subscribers live in rural areas where there
are no
banking facilities, making the facility their economic life
line.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
NEWS that German
ambassador Hans Gnodtke has warned his country might pull
out of the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation General Assembly due to
be held in
Victoria Falls later this year if government does not guarantee
protection
of its nationals must be a worrying development for Tourism
minister Walter
Mzembi who has worked hard to make the event a success.
Candid Comment
with Iden Wetherell
Gnodtke reminded the government it had invited
Germans to invest in the
country under the terms of a Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection
Agreement (Bippa) but this agreement had been
ignored.
The ambassador said recent assurances by Lands and Resettlement
minister
Herbert Murerwa that investments under Bippa would be spared
remained just a
statement of intent until government acted.
The
latest violation has witnessed powerful Zanu PF apparatchiks, who have
already benefited from land reform, hunting in the Save
Conservancy.
Murerwa’s statement that there will be no more seizures of
foreign-owned
farms has come too late for many. Investors from Mauritius and
South Africa
have lost properties in the Lowveld. Sugar estates as well as
game
conservancies have been seized while a large ostrich scheme in
Matabeleland
has fallen victim to local predators.
It is against this
background that Ambassador Gnodtke issued his warning.
Next month European
Union governments will meet to discuss the sanctions
regime. Zanu PF likes
to pretend sanctions were imposed as part of a
bilateral dispute with the
UK.
In fact they were the product of political violence and electoral
manipulation as reported by an EU observer mission in 2002 headed by Pierre
Schori. The government found Schori’s report inconvenient so he was
expelled.
Now Zimbabwe is demanding the lifting of the sanctions
claiming to have
cleaned up its act, as reflected in Murerwa’s
remarks.
But it must be evident to even the most simple-minded observers
that very
little has changed on the ground.
The farms audit remains a
mirage, senior civil servants are still blatantly
partisan, broadcasting is
the fiefdom of the former ruling party as it
attempts to claw back its
electoral losses, while local government has sunk
into a state of anarchy as
Zanu PF supporters build wherever they like.
In the midst of this chaos
we have the sad prospect of a party hoping to win
power that is asleep at
the wheel.
They are reluctant to tell us what they stand for, slow to
respond to the
mendacious claims of our erstwhile rulers, and only too keen
to learn from
their mistakes. Meanwhile their leader is pressing for a
motorcade which is
the last thing the motorists of Harare want to see on
their roads.
Zimbabwe, I am sorry to report at the beginning of 2013, is
a mess. For
those of us following events over the years, it is galling to
have people
remind one that much of this was forecast by our detractors, to
use a
current term.
One particularly vocal detractor, a former prime
minister, was unrepentant
in his Belgravia exile. We joked that he didn’t
need to give interviews to
his many press visitors. Instead a large banner
across his driveway would be
sufficient bearing the inscription “Told You
So”.
Let’s hope he was not entirely right!
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
TUESDAY was a day of
anxiety in Zimbabwe as it ushered in the first day at
school for tens of
thousands of children countrywide.
Opinion by Dingilizwe
Ntuli
While the day was met with tears of joy and excitement, one cannot
help but
shudder at the thought of these innocent kids being forced to
embark on a
journey into the unknown.
Education has been relegated to
the back burner by the powers that be and
most of these kids face the
prospect of adding to the ranks of the
unemployed by the time they finish
school as long as the status quo
prevails.
Absolute power has
suddenly become the only objective for political leaders
at the expense of
service delivery.
Once upon a time we had one of the greatest education
systems Africa had
ever seen.
Soon after Independence in 1980 the
Zanu PF-led government made education
accessible and affordable to ensure a
better life for all.
But after more than a decade in power and in a bid to
hang on to it at all
costs, Zanu PF mercilessly bled the economy dry,
leaving our once revered
education system in a shambles.
Suddenly one
of the government’s key themes “education for all by the year
2000” was
abandoned as Zanu PF devised ways of remaining in power by hook or
by
crook.
It was no wonder three years before the stated objective of
providing
education for all, President Robert Mugabe moved to secure his
political
position by appeasing self-styled veterans of the liberation war
with huge
payouts to the detriment of budgetary constraints.
The Z$50
000 one-off payments to the estimated 50 000 veterans took Zimbabwe
off the
rails and education bore the brunt of this miscalculation.
As we speak,
Zimbabwe’s education system is in a comatose state.
The early promise of
afordable, quality education has ebbed away and even
jeopardised the grand
experiments of the very people who set up colleges and
universities.
Education is now a very expensive commodity, only
available to the
financially well endowed. Besides, the infrastructure in
many of our schools
is literally crumbling, giving our kids little room to
succeed.
Thousands of schools in the country are now in an unfit
condition to
accomodate pupils as the outdated buildings and equipment
cannot cope with
the demands of the 21st century.
There are few
functioning science laboratories. Most school buildings have
dilapidated
structures and this affects the morale of teachers and children
as they feel
undervalued.
There has been a paltry allocation in the capital spending
budget for
schools in the past 15 years while our self-serving leaders wine
and dine in
the Middle East and Asia.
Government seems to treat
education as a political battleground, and not as
a national crisis that
needs attention.
Our leaders have been paying lip service to the
importance of education with
little being done in terms of policy and
expenditure.
Worryingly, too many of our public schools have no running water
or
electricity.
Education has been receiving crumbs from the national
budget yet government
seems to have unlimited millions to spend on
politicians’ extravagant
travels.
Only political point-scoring is
being invested in the future of the country’s
education.
Teachers are
paid peanuts, maybe because they refuse to toe the Zanu PF
line, but the
resources of the country should be used for the benefit of
everyone.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
DOUBTS linger over
whether elections will indeed be held this year as
insisted on by President
Robert Mugabe owing to formidable hurdles along the
road to polls, but the
general consensus is elections are this year.
Political parties are
shifting up the gears in readiness for primaries to
determine candidates to
represent them, with prospective MPs already wooing
the electorate through a
variety of strategies including brazen vote-buying.
The stalled
constitution-making exercise and outstanding Global Political
Agreement
issues aside, there is a profound sense of déjà vu as the election
mode ––
which Zanu PF, or rather Mugabe, has been stuck in since the
formation of
the unity government –– takes firm grip.
Already there are the tell-tale
signs of fly-by-night politicians and their
parties taking full advantage of
Zimbabwe’s simple age and citizenship
requirements for presidential
aspirants to peddle obscure if not sponsored
agendas.
This lends
credibility to long-held suspicions they are fronts for former
ruling party
Zanu PF to split the opposition vote, while giving the
impression
multi-party democracy is thriving in the country.
Of even greater
interest, however, is the continued rancorous fragmentation
of the
opposition into smaller units openly hostile to each other, a factor
likely
to cripple their cause in the forthcoming plebiscite, but no doubt
sweet
music to Zanu PF’s ears.
Since the MDC split into two formations headed
by Morgan Tsvangirai and
Welshman Ncube over senate election participation
in 2005 Job Sikhala broke
away from Ncube’s faction to form the MDC 99 in
2010. Ncube’s party further
split after Arthur Mutambara challenged the
outcome of the party’s 2011
congress in court.
Since then there have
been defections among the parties, further weakening
their profiles. Last
week we carried a story in which sources revealed Ncube’s
MDC, Zapu and the
Patriotic Union of Matabeleland had signed an agreement to
unite during the
anticipated elections with the rather perplexing aim of,
wait for it,
fighting the MDC-T and Zanu PF in Matabeleland and the
Midlands. What
purpose this would serve is hard to fathom, but the
impression is that of a
parochial regional outfit safeguarding regional
interests.
Zimbabweans have apparently failed to learn from Kenya
where a multiplicity
of presidential candidates helped former president
Daniel Arap Moi retain
power before he was defeated by Mwai Kibaki in 2002
after 24 years in power.
After learning its lesson, the opposition formed a
strong coalition led by
Kibaki, eventually ousting Moi.
But chances
of that happening in Zimbabwe in the next elections are
exceedingly remote,
with Ncube’s party dismissing reports suggesting a
possible coalition with
MDC-T as “wishful thinking”. The opposition parties
are trading barbs in
self-serving yet ultimately futile attempts to prove
which formation
resonates most with the electorate.
Throw in the damaging, lurid details
of Tsvangirai’s love life splashed in
the media last year –– whose impact is
yet to be fully determined –– and you
have all the makings of an opposition
on the ropes.
Where does that leave Zanu PF? Laughing all the way to the
polls!
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
Zanu PF
has finally let the cat out of the bag with its controversial
presidential
inputs scheme. The party had earlier claimed the scheme would
benefit all
Zimbabweans, regardless of political affiliation. Agriculture
minister
Joseph Made had even said the programme was “testimony to President
Mugabe’s
passion for agriculture”.
“I am grateful that the president has once
again supported agriculture this
year considering that the Ministry of
Finance seems not to be interested in
availing inputs this season. We are
expecting this scheme launched today to
assist at least 900 000 households,”
said Made.
“The Presidential Well-wishers’ Special Agricultural Inputs
Scheme is a
clear demonstration of His Excellency’s commitment to the goal
of ensuring
that every household in Zimbabwe has enough safe and nutritious
food,” Made
gushed.
However, disingenuous Zanu PF officials let rip the
party’s true strategy
vowing to deny non-party members access to the
inputs.
The Daily News reports that Mukaradzi Zanu PF district chairman,
Ernest
Marodza, declared only the party faithful would benefit from the
scheme.
“No MDC (supporters) must benefit from our party,” he said. “What
do you do
when your wife leaves you because of your flaws? Should you help
her when
she comes back because she is desperate for assistance?” Marodza
said.
Clearly Marodza knows nothing about wooing voters.
“These inputs
are being financed by our leader, President Mugabe, through
what he gets
from his connections,” gloated Marodza.
At least he was being honest, we
will give him that!
Mohadi to the ‘rescue’
There was a funny story
in the Herald on Tuesday which attempted to portray
the chaos at Beitbridge
as South Africa’s responsibility. The article stated
that Home Affairs
co-minister Kembo Mohadi had prevailed upon his South
African counterpart,
Naledi Pandor, to deploy more immigration officers at
the border
post.
The Zimbabwean intervention was designed “to arrest the volatile
situation”,
we were told. A Herald news crew was arrested by South African
police for
“peddling falsehoods about the situation on the
ground”.
There was a picture alongside the article of Mohadi. What amuses
us is the
heroic treatment given to Mohadi who is not usually identified
with anything
too energetic! The Herald crew should have asked the motorists
in the queues
which they told us stretched back for 10kms who they held
responsible for
the chaos.
Stony faced approach
In a deft
piece of reporting the Herald quoted Pandor as saying “they had
not
anticipated the volume of traffic…” And what about the Zimbabwean
ministers
and officials? Did they anticipate the volume of traffic? They
have had 32
years to get their act together but when the crunch comes they
blame it on
the South Africans.
And how about this for gullible reporting?: “We are
very hopeful that things
will improve for the better as the minister has
assured us that they will
come up with a long-term solution to the problem
hindering the flow of
traffic at Beitbridge,” an official commented
referring to the “terrible
situation” at Beitbridge.
So where does
the buck stop in this unhappy story? Well, there is that
Herald picture of
Mohadi which we can get out next year when questions are
asked once again
about why nothing has been done to improve the situation at
Beitbridge!
Barest minimum
Meanwhile, the ZRP has promised to
be “ruthless” with officers who engage in
corruption.
Assistant
Commissioner Kenny Mthombeni said
corruption had become endemic and a way of
life among police officers,
especially those in the traffic
department.
The police had suddenly come to this realisation following
Mugabe’s remarks
castigating the traffic section for soliciting
bribes.
They would soon engage in a lifestyle audit for traffic police,
Mthombeni
said.
Let’s hope this goes better than the farms
audit!
Incidentally, the police recently re-launched the police service
charter in
Harare which was first launched in 1995 setting standards of
performance and
defining the minimum level of service the force must deliver
to the
community.
So far we have been getting the barest
minimum!
Embracing mediocrity
Readers of this column may recall
the very high regard Jeremy Gauntlett SC
is held in legal
circles.
But he is not so well regarded by President Jacob Zuma who has
overlooked
him for appointment to the bench. This has caused indignation
throughout the
South African judiciary.
But just in case you thought
it was a transformation problem it was useful
to have the comments of Smuts
Ngonyama who served under presidents Mandela
and Mbeki with
distinction.
“Any country that spurns excellence of the highest order is
a country that
wilfully embraces mediocrity,” he said in a letter to
BusinessDay.
“With mediocrity comes stagnation, chaos and confusion. I
have no hesitation
in endorsing Gauntlett’s candidature for the bench
because he has served the
cause of justice with distinction. What a tragedy
he is being overlooked.
“We need plenty of transformation in the
judiciary but not by sacrificing
excellence. We need more people of his
calibre to grace the bench, serve
justice and develop our jurisprudence. Mr
Gauntlett like every other citizen
is a son of the South African soil. He is
also one of the stars that
sparkles in the judicial firmament. If others can
get the nod, what rational
reason holds him back.”
Mutsvangwa’s
‘battle’
Finally, Muckraker would welcome clarification of Ambassador
Chris
Mutsvangwa’s account of the battle of Mavonde.
The battle was
fought during the Lancaster House talks, we are told, and
Josiah Tongogara
had trained an underground Zanla force to repel the
Rhodesians.
But
the Rhodesians had “underestimated the military preparations of Cde
Tongogara so they attacked using both ground and airforces”.
It was a
major encounter, Mutsvangwa claims, and as a result “the British
summoned
General Peter Walls to Lancaster with his tail between his legs and
told him
he could not win the War”.
Anybody familiar with this “battle” should
contact us. In particular we
would be keen to know what aircraft constituted
Zanla’s airforce.
The infamous red jacket
The fawning Kissnot
Mukwazhi was at it again recently waxing lyrical about
President Mugabe’s
call for peace and a corruption-free environment ahead of
the elections this
year.
The MDC formations were working in cahoots with detractors to
derail the
gains of Independence, Kissnot blustered donning his now
trademark red
jacket, adding that “illegal” sanctions should be removed
unconditionally.
He needs to liberate the now all-too-familiar jacket
which seems to be sewn
onto his body.
The Justice Factor!
The
Herald has spent much time and space of late telling us what a superior
brand it presides over. On Wednesday it carried a front-page story headed
“Reserve Bank wins court appeal” referring to a judgement by Deputy Chief
Justice Luke Malaba. Accompanying the story was a picture of South African
journalist Justice Malala.
We won’t gloat because it is all too easy
to make mistakes of this kind. But
we will remember it when there is the
next bombast from Herald House on the
Super Brand of the Year.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
LAST week
I mooted the key New Year’s resolution required of President
Robert Mugabe,
his ministers and all MPs and senators, as well as the public
service, was
to take urgent and constructive actions to ensure Zimbabwe
attains economic
recovery. These actions would also assure continuance of
the resultant
recovered, vibrant economy.
Opinion by Eric Bloch
In amplifying
this, the column detailed many of the necessary actions which
would bring
about the desperately-needed recovery of the decimated economy,
and
undertook to detail additional actions which are prerequisites to the
attainment of a robust economy.
Among the actions key to achieving
comprehensive economic recovery, and to
assuring continuance of such a
revitalised economy, are:
Pronounced containment widespread corruption in
both the public and the
private sectors. Zimbabweans, with very few
exceptions, are inherently
honest and law-abiding. But when their children
are crying from hunger and
malnutrition, even the honest become dishonest if
they can perceive no other
way of funding for their children’s needs.
Moreover, when they witness that
some in government who clearly led humble
lives prior to attaining high
office have become very wealthy, the
assumption that such wealth
accumulation could only have been possible by
corrupt practices is
inevitable, and perceived as a justification for the
impoverished to resort
to similar actions.
The intensity of corruption in
Zimbabwe has been, and continues to be, a
major hindrance to economic
wellbeing. On the one hand, it is a major
contributant to the considerable
ongoing deficits of government, resulting
in the fiscus raising direct and
indirect taxes. On the other hand, it
erodes the state of the funding
required for infrastructural development and
maintenance, and for the
provision of essential services, including
education and health. It is also
one of the several major deterrents to
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and
corruption intensifies the operating
costs of businesses, stimulating losses
and recurrent price increases.
Yet another essential, and most urgent,
requirement for attainment of major
economic upturn is a categoric and
strongly convincing government
reassurance that Zimbabwe will not reinstate
its own currency, and that it
will continue the presently operational
multi-currency system until such
time as there is indisputable and
entrenched economic stability, recovery
and growth. Until such re-assurances
are forthcoming, and so delivered as to
be convincing, a majority of the
populace will, together with many
businesses, refrain from the utilisation
of banking services, instead
hoarding their funds in their homes and their
businesses. The result is a
very weakened banking sector, with minimal
funding available for lending to
economic operations, thereby constraining
the viability and operational
continuance of private sector enterprises, and
being yet another deterrent
to FDI. At the very earliest, dependant upon the
pace and continuance of
economic recovery, Zimbabwe cannot justify reversion
to an own currency
until 2015, and this has to be stated convincingly by
government.
Also necessary for comprehensive and secure economic recovery is
that the
government works constructively towards achieving reconciliation
with the
international community, instead of focusing exclusively on Far
East and
some Middle Eastern countries. Such a reconciliation is a
prerequisite to
attracting FDI, obtaining substantive lines of credit,
rescheduling of
Zimbabwe’s national debt, a degree of debt-forgiveness and
enhanced
international trade. Endless government castigation of Western
countries for
allegedly “illegal” sanctions, and other negative criticisms
and attacks
upon many Western countries not only hampers Zimbabwe’s greatly
and
desperately needed economic recovery, but strongly hinders such
recovery.
Concurrently, those repetitive castigatory attacks by Zimbabwe’s
political
hierarchy also obstruct the populace from being aware of the real
causes of
Zimbabwe’s economic ills occasioned by government, and therefore
there is
little pressure by the electorate upon government to mend its
economically-destructive policies and actions. They also detract from
achieving the high demand for Zimbabwean exports which would otherwise
exist.
Another key issue that must be urgently addressed, as part of
an array of
actions required to ensure economic recovery, is a constructive
revision of
Zimbabwe’s presently one-sided (in favour of labour) labour
laws, and
vigorous efforts to restore harmony and good labour relations
between
employers and workers. Labour legislation is essential, but must be
just and
fair for both the employers and labourers, instead of being
pronouncedly
one-sided in favour of the latter.
The negative labour
relations that prevail widely in the Zimbabwean economy
impact grievously
upon productivity and upon product and service quality,
and hence cause
recurrent price increases and, in many instances, business
failures. They
also constitute a deterrent for many would-be employers from
increasing the
numbers that they employ. The low levels of productivity also
impair
enterprises’ ability to be competitive in export markets.
As stated in
this column last week, one of the incontrovertible
prerequisites of a
meaningful economic recovery is an unequivocal
demonstration to the populace
and world at large, and especially to
potential foreign investors, that
Zimbabwe has political stability and
absolute democracy. To such end, the
forthcoming elections must be
irrefutably free and fair, and devoid of
violence. Not only must that be so,
but it must be seen to be so, and
therefore there must be major oversight of
the conduct of the elections by
extensive international observers with
undoubted credibility.
Preceding
such elections, there needs to be transparent revision of the
voters’ roll,
including reinstatement of voting entitlement of Zimbabweans
in the
diaspora, with postal vote facilitation. And, importantly, there
should be
no involvement in the elections by the army and police, save and
except for
ensuring voter security.
Inevitably, many other actions and policies are
needed to assure continuing
and substantial resurrection of the economy,
those detailed in last week’s
column, and above, being only some of the key
ones needed. If government
would, albeit belatedly, now implement a New
Year’s resolution encompassing
all these policies and measures, Zimbabwe
will progressively regain a
vibrant economy, and will markedly reduce the
widespread poverty, hardships
and suffering of many Zimbabweans.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in
Opinion
ZIMBABWE’s ailing parastatals or state enterprises (SEPs) have
often been in
the news for negative reasons ranging from corruption to
outright corporate
governance incompetence as they continue to be an
unsustainable burden on
the fiscus.
Opinion by Herbert
Moyo
Zanu PF has constantly made partisan appointments to SEPs boards
based on
patronage instead of tapping into professionals with the expertise
to steer
the companies to profitability.
When the coalition
government was formed in 2009 many hoped Zimbabwe was on
the threshold of
political and economic reform which would finally see SEPs
fulfilling their
mandate of service provision while contributing
meaningfully to the national
fiscus.
State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo launched
the
Corporate Governance Framework (CGF) for adoption by line ministries in
an
attempt to turn around the operations of SEPS.
The CGF provides
step-by-step procedures, including consultations and
consensus among key
stakeholders in the appointments of board members,
culminating in cabinet
approval.
Moyo even claimed he had prepared a data base of competent
Zimbabwean
professionals for consideration by line ministers for appointment
to
executive and parastatals boards. However, judging by last week’s
appointments to the boards of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC) and Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) by the Ministry
of Mines, it would appear Zanu PF has learnt nothing from its ruinous
policies.
The appointments of the likes of Supa Mandiwanzira,
Christopher Mutsvangwa
and Tongai Muzenda to a mining sector already facing
criticism for lack of
transparency and accountability will further entrench
the widely held
perception that Zanu PF is tightening its control of the
mining sector for,
among other self-serving motives, to create a war chest
to fund party
activities as crucial elections loom.
According to
Biti’s State of the Economy review released in November last
year, mining
contributed US$2 billion to the fiscus in 2011. Fifty percent
of the
country’s total exports came from the sector in 2012 and projections
are for
a 16% contribution to GDP this year.
Biti has on several occasions
complained bitterly about the low revenues
trickling into the fiscus from
mining, especially the diamond sector where
shady deals involving the
security sector have been alleged, despite strong
suggestions that Zimbabwe
has reserves to supply 25% of the world’s diamond
market.
SEPs, which
have the potential to contribute 40% to the country’s Gross
Domestic
Product, can only make a meaningful contribution when they are run
professionally and not the current shadowy approach where appointments are
made on partisan grounds.
Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association
director Mutuso Dhliwayo said
although there was nothing legally amiss,
international best practices
require consultation even if the line minister
has the final say in the
appointment of board members.
“It would be
important to establish whether the minister actually consulted
all
stakeholders, including civil society organisations and the private
sector,”
said Dhliwayo.” The question is did they get any input from all
these
because they certainly did not consult with us?”
Pedzisayi Ruhanya of the
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute believes that although
there is nothing
“inherently wrong” with the appointment of Zanu PF
functionaries, “the
problem is that the recent appointees like Mutsvangwa
have been part of the
rot in our political administration under Zanu PF.
“It is therefore
inconceivable that such characters would call for
transparency in the
diamond mining sector given numerous allegations of
corruption and failure
by some mining companies, especially in Marange, to
remit revenues to the
state,” Ruhanya said.
Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe
public policy and
governance manager Jabusile Shumba feels the appointments
are part of Zanu
PF’s grand agenda of creating impervious structures in the
mining sector for
patronage, with one eye firmly on the forthcoming
elections.
“Mining is the centre-piece of economic recovery and yet again
strategic in
the politics of patronage so crucial to Zanu PF’s retention of
political
power,” said Shumba. “Mandiwanzira, Mutsvangwa and Muzenda have no
strategic
entrepreneurship in them or even the mining background to promote
development in the sector,” he said.
Shumba views Zanu PF’s move to
control the mining sector as a logical
development from its attempts to
control all resources it started when it
introduced the controversial land
reform programme in 2000 where more than 4
000 white commercial farmers lost
their land to mainly Zanu PF-linked
individuals.
“With the land
reform, Zanu PF created winners and losers by expropriating
and parcelling
out land in a partisan manner. It is not surprising that they
have now moved
into the mining sector and with these appointments, they will
once again be
able to determine the winners and losers to their own, rather
than the
country’s benefit,” he said.
Blessing Vava of the National Constitutional
Assembly concurred with Shumba,
adding that the “appointments confirm that
they (Zanu PF) have personalised
the nation’s minerals for their own selfish
ends”.
Indeed there appears to be substance to such arguments given that
prior to
the coalition government, SEPs were used as sources of funding for
Zanu PF.
For example, the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) made a
cash
donation to the party in 2006 at a time when the state had assumed the
transport company’s debt.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
FOR the
past decade or so information and communication technologies (ICTs)
have
been widely used as crucial platforms and tools to bring about social
change
around the world, particularly in Africa, the Arab world and Eastern
Europe.
Report by Pedzisai Ruhanya
Given the
socio-economic and political problems that have bedevilled
Zimbabwe since
Independence in 1980 but particularly after the chaotic land
invasions
starting in 2000, and the crucial elections expected this year, it
is
important to explore the potential capacity of new media platforms such
as
Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones in the democratisation of
Zimbabwe.
These portals have not been ineffective, but a new invigoration
far beyond
the jokes carried by some of these platforms can turn them into
serious
tools for democratic mobilisation for empirical political and
quantitative
governance changes.
The argument that ICTs could be
critical instruments for democratisation is
backed by concrete facts. The
Arab revolutions, especially in Tunisia and
Egypt, are examples of how
people were mobilised using ICTs, especially the
mobile phone short message
service (SMS). This is not to say that what
happened in the Arab world can
be replicated in Zimbabwe, but to acknowledge
the positive use of the new
media for social and peaceful democratic
struggles during political
transition in the country.
Strategic policy documents by reputable
organisations such as Unesco, the
United Nations Development Programme and
the World Trade Organisation
suggest ICTs can enhance the lives of citizens
as well as empower them to
take part in social change programmes. In
Zimbabwe, the development of ICTs
is no longer a new phenomenon. Their
development has opened up new
opportunities for journalism and the ordinary
people to practise citizen
journalism and with almost 100% mobile telephone
coverage in the country,
new media can substantially enhance democratic
participation. Most
importantly, ICTs have hugely empowered civil society
and non-government
organisations and other change agents with unfettered
platforms to freely
express themselves and to challenge sterile hegemonic
political discourse
associated with the old and repressive political order
in Zimbabwe.
The new and urgent challenge for the democratic contingent
in Zimbabwe as
the country prepares for the next elections is to create
organised multiple
media platforms, open up new spaces where change agents
and activists and
public intellectuals can share messages, and strategies
for democratic
political discourse and networking which makes it difficult
for the
oppressive elements in government to crack down on them. This could
be
possible because of the nationwide increase in ICT proliferation
especially
the mobile phone across social strata. It is imperative to have
these
linkages among civil and change agents because as Zimbabwe heads for
possible elections this year, the democratic space is likely to be shrunk as
Zanu PF and President Robert Mugabe seek another term in office.
If
properly organised, these ICTs spaces and platforms will provide
political
parties and civil society organisations broader contra-movement
and private
citizens legitimate democratic platforms to mediate the problems
associated
with Zanu PF’s electoral shenanigans in order to ensure violence
is curbed
and electoral fraud kept in check. But it is important for the
democratic
forces to understand the critical roles that ICTs and the media
in general
play in a democratic process such as the one Zimbabwe is
grappling with.
Understanding these critical roles demands that change
agents appreciate the
numerous negative factors working for and against
political change in
Zimbabwe.
The growth of internet usage in Africa is predicated on the
increased use of
the mobile phone to the extent of outnumbering landline
phones, thereby
increasing the scope of the communication sector in
Zimbabwe.
Citizens can be mobilised to vote through SMSs, report cases of
electoral
fraud, political violence and circulate election results at
polling centres
before they are possibly manipulated.
The platforms
can be used to evade the draconian electoral law that
criminalises
publication of results by anyone except the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission as
pseudonyms and pseudo-accounts could be created. Electoral
information from
mobile phones can be passed on to other platforms like
e-mail for wider
circulation.
The adoption of mobile telephony in Africa and Zimbabwe in
particular has
transcended class and economic organisation of society thus
it brings social
change through sharing information necessary to mobilise
the population for
robust social change, and not as platforms for light
social exchanges and
connections.
The platforms can also provide
citizens with alternative forms of citizen
interaction as physical
gatherings are usually outlawed by authoritarian
regimes such as the one in
Zimbabwe. This could prove to be critical for
citizens and those in the
diaspora where they can meet in virtual space to
discuss ideas and
strategies. The implications of new technologies are huge
and their
influence for social change, development and the democratisation
process in
oppressed and underdeveloped societies such as Zimbabwe are
important as
they empower citizens to have control of democratic processes
without the
state’s overbearing presence and regulation.
ICTs, as part of the
democratised media that remains untapped for broader
social democratic
struggles in Zimbabwe, are critical as the country
prepares for elections
because they allow largely unregulated access for
citizens or voters to
electoral participation, watch the activities of
political actors and expose
electoral and human rights transgressions
without waiting for old media such
as newspapers, radio and television that
are largely
state-controlled.
Ruhanya is a PhD candidate and director of the Zimbabwe
Democracy Institute.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
I AM struck by how much
our world has shrunk and how rapidly we are being
forced to think globally
and act locally. Various factors are driving this
agenda — the information
and communication technology (ICT) revolution which
shows no signs of
slowing down. We can now carry in our pockets small
machines that operate on
minute amounts of energy and yet give us instant
access to global
information and an uncanny ability to communicate.
Opinion by Eddie
Cross
We watch the extreme weather in all areas of the globe and are
suddenly
aware that the talk of global warming and climate change is not a
scientific
fantasy. We see the massive response in India to the death of a
student
raped and beaten on a bus just because she was a woman and we
suddenly
appreciate that we are all linked by common humanity and
values.
If we just look at these three elements we can see how they are
moulding the
world that we live in and are engineering our response. In the
Middle East
the information revolution has initiated a political revolution
that will,
in time, transform the political and economic lives of hundreds
of millions
of people. Like the outpouring of anger in India, this process
had been
founded in the growing education of the ordinary people and their
access to
cheap means of communication. Against this tide, powerful ruling
oligarchies
have found themselves helpless to oppose the demands imposed on
them.
In Africa, the absolute poor have discovered they can communicate
without
travel or beating drums. A cell phone in Zimbabwe can cost US$15 and
a new
SIM card for as little as 50 US cents. Such a service even five years
ago
was unthinkable. Now we have more than one cell phone per capita. My son
has
a Kindle — instant access to the libraries of the whole world.
We
watch the storms that are ravishing the United States. We see the drought
in
parts of India and Africa and over large swathes of Australia. We monitor
the melting ice flows in the north and south, see open sea channels where
previously there was only ice and we ask ourselves what does it mean for us?
Then we are told that the rainfall in the Umzingwane catchment area where
five of our six dams are located has declined 15% over the past century and
run-off by 24%.
Suddenly the dams — built in the last century with an
estimated sustainable
yield of 136 mega litres per day, can only supply 76
Ml/day. Our taps are
dry and something we have taken for granted for decades
is no longer
available or affordable. We are in a crisis caused by others
many thousands
of kilometers away.
I go into my constituency to speak
to a meeting and find they have
automatically divided the men from the
women. The men sitting on what chairs
are available and the women on the
floor, no one thinks there is anything
strange about this arrangement. But
their children are growing up in a
different world where women are being
educated and informed of how women are
treated elsewhere in the world. The
next generation will not accept such
automatic classification.
In
India where women are also treated as minors all their lives and are not
given certain rights, a new generation is emerging with university degrees
and smart clothes. Their new independence and libertarian values are deeply
resented by their male counterparts who see them as a threat. In many ways
it’s a form of racism.
In the era when racist politics dominated
southern Africa I often observed
it was those who felt threatened by people
of color with education and
ability, who adopted the most racist attitudes
and were used by the
political parties to buttress their grip on
power.
What is so fascinating about this whole process is that it is so
democratic — it is being translated into popular action that those in
political control are finding it difficult to control and manage. However,
the outcomes are often chaotic. Images of people rioting in Delhi, the
ongoing war in Syria, the paralysis in Egypt; but I see it as a hopeful
development for the world. Suddenly we are all part of a global whole, with
many common interests that transcend our local interests and
concerns.
The key is how to translate these global concerns into forms of
local
interest. We need to understand when the changes in the global climate
mean
the southern regions of Zimbabwe become drier and many districts become
semi-desert, the blame does not only lie in the countries with belching
smoke stacks, but also here in the sweeping fire storms that rage across the
country every winter. These have become much worse since the destruction of
commercial agriculture.
No one to cut or maintain fire breaks, no
teams to respond to fires with
tractors and sprays; few cattle to eat the
grass which now simply burns each
winter and serves to make us one of the
great polluters. Anyone who doubts
the scale of this phenomenon just needs
to witness the savage red sunsets of
our winter and see the scale of smoke
pollution here where there are no
smokestacks or coal-fired power stations.
When we protest the water
shortages we need to campaign for fire
controls.
We need to use the simple cheap means of communications that we
have today
to fight the tyranny of a regime that limits our freedoms and
information
flows. We need to empower the poor so that when a military unit
or the local
police abuse their rights, they can instantly communicate that
to a watching
and caring world. Just watch the way the opposition in Syria
is
communicating the activities of the regime on a daily basis. The regime
bans
the media, closes down the internet but still the information comes out
—
almost instantly. No longer can a regime abuse its people in
secret.
Then finally the plight of women on a global basis; for some
reason all
religions except Judaism and Christianity, suppress the rights of
women. Now
across the world, driven by globalisation and the ICT revolution
as well as
the continued emphasis on education, these changes are giving
women the
means and the tools to fight back. I have watched our society
trying to find
its feet on this issue for over 50 years. Little progress has
been made in
all that time, now the global system is taking action on its
own and we
either go with the flow or face the consequences down the
road.
In my own life I have tried to be on the side of what I felt was
the right —
somehow it has always felt like being always in opposition. But
in the end
it is the right thing to do and being on the right side of
history is what
it is all about.
Cross is MDC-T MP for Bulawayo
South. This article first apppeared on his
blog
eddiecross.africanherd.com.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
AS Zimbabwe
continues with the contentious constitution-making process which
continues
to drag on three years behind schedule, it should be inspired and
draw some
critical lessons from the Lancaster House Constitution which
remains the
country’s governance charter. There is much that can be learnt
from both the
Lancaster House Constitution, amended 19 times, and the
Lancaster House
Conference of 1979 on the then Rhodesian conflict and it is
imperative that
we take stock and chart the way forward. The on-going
political bickering
and grandstanding, masquerading as constitution-making,
is failing to yield
the desired results.
By Savious Hari
Concerned Zimbabweans are now
sceptical the final product will vindicate the
time and resources invested
in the process. This is because many deadlines
set for the finalisation of
this process have come and gone with precious
little to show for the
resources invested given that the country is
operating on a shoestring
budget and its foreign and domestic debts continue
to mount.
What the
nation should realise is the rather glaring fact that the best that
can come
out of the constitution-making effort is a compromise, just like
the
Lancaster House Constitution. Being a compromise document, those pushing
for
outright constitutional victory over the “dictatorship” in the country
or
“regime change agenda” are not only daydreaming, but also fooling
themselves. The earlier we realise our limits in this compromise scenario
the better and negotiators will be in a position to set realistic goals
which are within parameters that allow progress. The Advanced English
Dictionary defines “compromise” as “middle way between two extremes”. At the
Lancaster House Conference there was a lot of compromising, and compromising
is of the essence in negotiating.
Furthermore, the moment the
constitution-making process was entrusted into
the hands of politicians it
meant a compromise document. The current
process, just like the one that
produced the Lancaster House Constitution,
involves politicians coming from
different and opposing political ideologies
or extremes. Without delving
much into the intricacies of the differing and
conflicting political
ideologies what goes without saying is that Zanu PF
came to the negotiating
table trying to convince everyone it represents the
revolutionary and
anti-imperialist forces, while the MDC formations would
like to be seen as a
democratic and anti-dictatorship force. These
contrasting political
positions are bound to clash on just about every
subject as each party tries
to safeguard what it stands for, hence the
earlier argument that outright
victory is unrealistic. The only way is to
compromise in the name of
political progress
Equally striking in similarity is the fact that the
Patriotic Front,
comprising PF Zapu and Zanu-PF, led by Joshua Nkomo and
Robert Mugabe
respectively, was accused at the Lancaster House meeting of
representing
external handlers in the form of communists/socialists. The
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government delegation claimed to represent the people and
their interests. Three decades on we have a similar scenario; the MDC
formations are being accused of being puppets of the West and Zanu PF is
claiming to be the representative of the people. Just like at the Lancaster
House Conference the current crop of politicians is only representing
themselves — it is all about protecting their political positions and
safeguarding their future.
There has also been misrepresentation or
lack of sincerity regarding the
constitution-making process and the
subsequent referendum by politicians and
academics alike, deliberate or
otherwise.
There has been deafening silence on the crucial issue of
harmonisation of
the country’s laws with the constitution after the
referendum; people have
been led to assume that after the referendum the
country will be ready for
elections. What must be emphasised is that there
is need to harmonise our
laws with the constitution as most of them will be
rendered unconstitutional
by the acceptance of the new constitution, if it
comes to fruition.
Politicians and academics alike have a duty to prepare
people for that
essential stage in constitution-making instead of remaining
silent.
Another essential lesson that can be drawn from the Lancaster
House
Constitution is that it did not give birth to our beloved Zimbabwe;
equally
it can be argued that neither did the gun, but the electoral victory
of Zanu
PF did.
It must be appreciated that constitutions were never
meant to replace
elections because they don’t have that capacity to do so,
even the Roman
first codified constitution of 450 BC could not achieve that;
neither will
the Copac constitution.
What is needed is an electoral
victory, thus maintaining the status quo or
changing it altogether requires
more than just a constitution, although it
is not misplaced to hope that a
“good” constitution ensures a level playing
field — if there is anything
like that.
Thus let us not fool ourselves into thinking that the
constitution can be
used to achieve what can only be achieved through the
ballot.
Savious Hari is a political analyst.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
January 11, 2013 in Opinion
As Africa basks in
the glow of renewed optimism at the prospects of economic
ascendency,
Zimbabwe’s recent economic growth and future prospects are
clouded by the
dark shadows of the tenuous foundations of this growth. The
African
Development Bank has forecasted Zimbabwe will grow by 5,5% in 2013
with the
World Bank putting it at 6%. While ordinarily impressive this
forecasted off
a low base.
Opinion by Kevin Msipha
A number of key economic,
social and political turnstiles will act as
conditions precedent in the
attainment of this expected growth. In 2012
multilateral institutions led by
the IMF continued their cautious but
positive reengagement with Zimbabwe.
While technical assistance has now been
approved, it would be an unhinged
hope to expect the resumption of aid to
the economy in 2013. In other words,
Zimbabwe can expect further positive
signaling without the capital support
the economy needs badly.
With 2013 expected to be an election year and
given the country’s history
with elections, uncertainty abounds. Although
government has relinquished
its right to seignorage, it remains the biggest
player on the economic
landscape through the use of its fiscal and
legislative monopoly.
While the constraints of the last four years will
feature prominently as a
function of any economic outcome, it is the
impending elections that will
dictate government economic reform agenda or
rather lack of it. Like a bull
on heat, political actors will be consumed by
a single goal; ensuring
‘security of tenure’ for themselves.
The
political rhetoric and rancor will increase with the consequence of
giving
business a reason to adopt a wait and see attitude, thus postponing
key
economic initiatives. It is difficult to see genuine economic programmes
receiving priority in 2013 as the politicians spend more time on party
activities to the detriment of their public service roles. The earlier the
elections, the better for the economy as this will free a lot of energies
and resources tied to this overhyped contest.
With everyone talking
of a watershed election year, one can be forgiven for
missing the hushed
whisperings, discernable only to the attentive ear coming
from the financial
sector. The cocktail mix has the makings of a potent
brew. Throw in
empowerment regulations, new legislation governing the
conduct and
supervision of the sector, new capital requirements, interest
price fixing,
uhuru banking, poor lending practices and persistent tight
monetary
conditions and voila, you have an immutable mess. Against such a
background,
a financial crisis in 2013 is a distinct possibility. Will the
era of the
indigenous banks sign off in 2013? Will commercial banks meet the
US$100m
capital requirement deadline? Will foreign banks comply with
indigenisation?
What will the banking institutions new business model be,
following the sum
of parts disguised nationalisation by government? In 2013,
in the absence of
an exogenous solution, we are likely to learn just how bad
the
non-performing loans rate is.
The government expects agriculture to grow
by 6,4%. Agriculture has deep
linkages with the rest of the economy. It
holds significant employment
opportunities and can form the basis of
sustainable competitive growth for
the manufacturing sector. A scientific
method of experiment and empirical
observation in this sector would lay bare
the reasons for the contrasting
fortunes of tobacco and cotton crops when
compared to the maize and wheat
crops. The answer portends a host of lessons
that could assist policy-
makers in understanding what the ingredients of a
successful agricultural
sector are and herald a new era in the sector. All
farmers small, medium and
large, respond to economic incentives. Far from
being tradition bound
peasants, farmers have shown that they share a
rationality that far
outweighs differences in their social and ecological
conditions. Suffice to
say, with increased rainfall, financing and migration
to crops that have
minimal government interference, we shall see greater
than expected growth
in 2013.
World mineral prices are expected to
remain steady as the world economy
seeks a sustainable growth trajectory.
Emerging economies will hold strong
sway over the fortunes of the extractive
industry. Increased technology in
the extractive industry continues to
reduce the downstream benefits
available from the industry to the rest of
the economy. As noted from a
report by the World Bank, the mining sector
ability to extricate the economy
from its present predicament is limited.
That said, a growth averaging 30%
in the past four years, with the 2013
growth figure expected at around 17%
cannot be bad, given the circumstances.
Any expectations of diamond revenue
coming to the rescue of a capital
starved economy should have been soundly
doused by now, despite
proclamations by the Mines minister to the contrary.
With the major mining
companies having cleared preliminary empowerment
legislation, expect some
decent growth.
Manufacturing continues to be the bed-ridden ailing child
of the economy as
evidenced by the challenges faced by Suncrest, Karina
Textiles and Cairns.
The sector is expected to grow by a low 3% in 2013,
despite its low base.
Any resuscitation of the sector must occur with regard
to the size of the
market, the capability of suppliers, the costs of
production, the
distribution hurdles, the availability of technology, and
the state of
competition. Service companies will grow on the back of low
comparative
wages in the economy. That said, 2013 is unlikely to witness a
notable
upturn.
Other ancillary trends that could provide a positive
fillip to the economy
include the diaspora element, business groupings
reorganisation, private
equity or venture capital and the informal and
formal sector.
Zimbabweans in the diaspora are returning home in
increasing numbers. They
carry skills that have been horned in a global
setting and a work ethic that
reminds one of the values of old.
Kevin
Msipha is a Finalist of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
Programme.
http://womensenews.org
By Chumile Jamela
WeNews
correspondent
Friday, January 11, 2013
Maternal mortality has been on
the rise in Zimbabwe for five years. Last
year, the government waived fees
for women to give birth in public clinics
and hospitals, but the wavier
doesn't cover childbirth complications such as
obstetric
fistula.
MANGWE DISTRICT, Zimbabwe (WOMENSENEWS)--Two years ago, deep in
the rural
Mangwe district of Zimbabwe, Sabina Moyo had doubts she would
survive after
giving birth to her baby at home.
"People say every
pregnancy is different and the labor pains will not be the
same," Moyo says.
"But I knew something was wrong when after hours of
excruciating pain,
nothing had happened."
Her husband loaded her into a donkey-drawn cart
and took her to the local
Plumtree Hospital more than 12 miles away. There,
Moyo gave birth to a
stillborn baby. Soon after, she discovered she was
leaking urine.
Nurses told her that her labor had led to an obstetric
fistula, a medical
condition in which a hole develops between the vagina and
either the rectum
or bladder. But the staff at the small, rural hospital
said they had no
experience treating it.
Maternal mortality has
increased in Zimbabwe, especially in rural areas
where trained maternal
health care professionals are rare. Complications
from childbirth, such as
obstetric fistula, are also on the rise in rural
provinces.
Last
year, the government waived fees for women to deliver in public
hospitals,
but the policy doesn't extend to treatment for complications.
For two
years, Moyo has suffered from constant incontinence from what's
known
locally as the "urine curse." She must wash herself, her clothes and
her
blankets continually but has limited access to water.
Once a respected
woman in her community, she now survives on subsistence
farming and handouts
from well-wishers.
"When I discovered I had the curse, I could never have
predicted the amount
of prejudice I would have to deal with," Moyo says. "I
was suddenly a
pariah. Friends stopped visiting, neighbors avoided me and
little children
laughed at me and called me the smelly witch."
She
says her husband left her under the guise of looking for work in
neighboring
Botswana.
Rising Mortality Rates
Zimbabwe's Deputy Prime Minister
Thokozani Khupe lamented in an April 2012
statement that the maternal
mortality rate in Zimbabwe had increased from
725 deaths for every 100,000
live births in 2007 to 960 deaths for every
100,000 live
births.
Dr. Rabson Dombo, an obstetrician based in Matebeleland South
province,
where Moyo lives, says that poor access to water and proper
sanitation has
exacerbated weak maternal health care.
"These women
travel distances of more than two kilometers (1.2 miles)
carrying water
buckets on their heads, some pregnant and some with babies
strapped on their
backs," he says.
The distance to health centers also prevents women from
obtaining maternal
care.
"Distances to rural health centers are
long," says one senior hospital
official, who asked to remain anonymous.
"Ideally, they should be 10
kilometers (6.2 miles) and below, but it's much
more."
Some also can't afford to deliver their babies at the hospital,
the official
says. These challenges are perpetuating home deliveries without
trained
assistance, advocates say.
"It is difficult to convince
women with strong traditional and religious
beliefs about the need for
adequate reproductive health, especially here in
rural areas," says
Sibatshaziwe Khabo, a nurse and midwife at Plumtree
Hospital.
Between
January and August 2011, there were 310 home deliveries in the
Mangwe
district, 30 of which were stillbirths later brought to Plumtree
Hospital,
according to hospital records. There were 21 early neonatal deaths
and seven
maternal deaths in Mangwe district alone, which the hospital
official says
is a microcosm of the health care crisis nationwide.
For each woman
who dies, many more will suffer injuries, infections and
disabilities from
pregnancy or childbirth complications, says Dr. Kudzai
Ndebele, an
obstetrician in a private practice in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's
second largest
city. This includes obstetric fistulas that develop as a
result of
childbirth, obstructed labor or intense sexual violence, Ndebele
adds.
Growing Fistula Problem
Fistulas are on the increase in
rural Matebeleland South, Dombo says. The
condition is notorious for leading
to social isolation, as it did with Moyo.
"These women end up completely
alone because of the unbearable smell," he
says. "They are continuously
leaking urine or in some cases stool, so their
social exclusion is
guaranteed."
Ndebele says obstetric fistula can be corrected, but few
women come forward
because of the community's skewed perception of the
condition.
"As long as they label it 'a curse,'" he says, "the women will
suffer in
silence or go to traditional healers to try and remove the
curse."
Dombo says treatment is limited in rural areas so he is forced to
refer
fistula patients to United Bulawayo Hospitals, in the city of
Bulawayo, in a
different province, for corrective surgery. But while
delivery is free in
the public hospitals here, treatment of such
complications is not.
Moyo says she can't afford to travel to Bulawayo
for the corrective surgery,
let alone pay for the procedure. She would also
be too embarrassed to travel
in a bus full of people with the stench of her
incontinence.
In 2012, the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare mandated
hospital
officials to stop charging maternal fees to encourage more women to
deliver
outside the home. Fees previously ranged from $50 to $200 depending
on the
method of birth.
But this waiver doesn't extend to fees for
treating complications from
childbirth, like fistulas, Dombo
says.
"In as much as the scrapping of maternity fees is a positive move
for these
women," he says, "it does no good for those with
complications."
Meanwhile, Moyo says she is no longer hopeful for the
future.
"I lie on my wet bedding every night and long for death with
every fiber of
my body," she says, "and I'm always disappointed every
morning when I wake
up."
Adapted from original content published
by the Global Press Institute. Read
the original article Maternal Mortality,
Obstetric Fistula on the Rise in
Rural Zimbabwe. All shared content has been
copyrighted by Global Press
Institute.
Chumile Jamela reports for
Global Press Institute's Zimbabwe News Desk on
issues ranging from health to
business.