HUNDREDS of members of the security forces are quitting their jobs because of poor remuneration while some are said to have deserted.
Sources this week said
soldiers are not happy with the 231% salary increment awarded earlier this
month, which was way below their expectations. Despite the increment the
salaries are still less than half the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ)’s
monthly consumer basket of $17, 6 million in December.
Sources said non-commissioned officers of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF)
form the bulk of those leaving, while commissioned officers and former
ex-combatants have remained largely loyal.
Defence forces can renew their contracts after three, seven and 10 years but
due to the meagre salaries, many are opting out, while others are reportedly
deserting.
The sources said a wave of resignations had also hit the Zimbabwe Republic
Police (ZRP) where constables and sergeants were also leaving the force.
In an interview on Tuesday ZDF spokesperson Aggrey Wushe said the call by the
chairman of the parliamentary portfolio committee on Defence and Home Affairs,
Claudius Makova in parliament late last year for the adjustment of soldiers’
salaries needed to be taken seriously. Makova is a retired colonel.
Wushe denied that the rate of those quitting from the army had increased.
“The position is that if you are not happy, you are allowed to leave. There
is nothing new as it has been happening since 1980,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of another salary adjustment this year
considering that soldiers were not happy, he said: “Our commanders always try to
make sure that the soldiers earn what is in line with the current situation. It
is an ongoing exercise,” said Wushe.
Deputy police commissioner, Innocent Matibiri, said: “What we are aware of is
that government is working on improving the situation kuti vasaite musikanzwa
(so that they do not commit crime).” He declined to comment further.
The sources added that last year soldiers in the lower ranks were receiving
between $2,3 million and $2,9 million a month. With the latest increment, the
amount will rise to between $6,9 to $7,9 million.
The least paid police officer earns less than $2,5 million.
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri told a parliamentary portfolio
committee in October last year that policemen were disgruntled over poor
salaries, working conditions and shortage of manpower.
Although soldiers got their payslips on January 4 with their salaries coming
eight days later, no official announcement has been made on the rate of
increment for the police.
There is however speculation within ZRP ranks that the increment is likely to
be around the same figure as that given to soldiers.
Last year saw an increasing number of soldiers and law enforcement agents
appearing in the courts for armed robberies, corruption and other crimes which
observers said were fuelled by poor remuneration.
One soldier who said he would not be renewing his contract said: “Although we
received our pay notification slips on January 4 this year, we were aware since
late last year that we would be getting 231% following a directive to that
effect which was given to the Zimbabwe Army Pay and Records (ZAPAR) department.
Ever since, an increasing number have not been signing new contracts.”
“Army chiefs know that people are not happy,” another soldier said. “When
they realised that salaries would also be low this year they resorted to
promoting some officers as a way to retain them. Due to the state of affairs,
counselling sessions for those who want to quit are being conducted on a daily
basis. They are told that if you go out there, conditions are even worse so it’s
better to hang on until things improve.”
THE United States government has expressed disappointment with Zimbabwe and says the country is a major blight on an otherwise positive past year for African nations.
The US cited the manner in
which the 2005 parliamentary election was conducted and said Zimbabwe remains
disappointing because it has failed to stem the downward spiral of the economy
and the rule of law.
Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer, in her annual
round-up of Africa, this week said the US was also concerned about the crisis in
the opposition MDC that has split the party into two irreconcilable factions.
Frazer, who was in Pretoria, South Africa this week, said 2005 was a good
year for Africa but was spoilt by a few African countries that include Zimbabwe.
"Last year was a very good year for Africa. Let's just review it: a new
president - a woman - in Liberia, successful elections in Tanzania, a first-time
election in Congo. No one thought that was possible, especially to register so
many people.
"Also, a new president in Burundi - which was a success of the African Union
as that process was almost entirely Africa-led from the mediation to the
peacekeeping mission and then the UN coming in at the end.
"There were some problems and disappointments. I think Mauritania is a huge
disappointment, in terms of a military regime being in place. I'm not too high
on Togo," Frazer said.
"Obviously Zimbabwe has been a great disappointment. The parliamentary
election was a significant disappointment, but overall I think it has been a
very positive year for the continent."
Frazer was the US ambassador to South Africa before being appointed Assistant
Secretary of State for Africa late last year.
Frazer also said the US was concerned with Ugandan President, Yoweri
Museveni, for amending the constitution and arresting his political opponent in
a bid to block him from running for office.
Frazer announced that the US government was planning to restart its annual
forums with Sadc countries, which were discontinued five years ago over
disagreements in dealing with the Zimbabwe crisis. - Staff Writer.
IT was Ghana's first president Kwame Nkrumah who famously said "it is far better for us to govern or misgovern ourselves than to live happily in servitude" to explain his country's quest for self-rule
In its rush to be the
first to lead a wholesale land reform in Africa, Zimbabwe appears to have
grasped the metaphor but missed the substance of that assertion.
A drive along the highway from Harare to Zvishavane at the weekend was a
major revelation for me. Land preparation is just beginning amid complaints of
lack of draught power and key inputs like fertiliser.
Most of the farms between Harare and Kwekwe that used to feed the nation
still lie fallow. Kintyre Estates just before Norton which used to be a prime
research centre for dairy farming and a showcase for visiting international
dignatories, has been reduced to a wasteland.
All the way to Zvishavane, there are more people on either side of the road
selling mushrooms and tomatoes than are tilling the land. This is in sharp
contrast to television interviews of people predicting a "bumper harvest" this
year due to above-normal rainfall. In fact, watching those interviews and seeing
the barrenness on the ground, you could be forgiven for thinking that people
expect the rains to bring down manna from heaven.
The only spot I saw that had some promise was a healthy maize crop at a place
called Kaguvi Training Centre just before Kwekwe. But it is only an oasis in a
national desert. The lush tobacco and maize crop that we used to marvel at along
that highway are all gone, only to be replaced by tiny patches of cleared ground
that cannot feed a single family, let alone a whole nation.
That set me thinking about what it is that went wrong with President Mugabe's
noble "justice with equity" land reform programme.
As the president himself pointed out at the Zanu PF People's Conference in
Esigodini, every year the rainy season catches us flatfooted as if we didn't
know it was coming. There is nothing on the ground to support Zanu PF's overused
slogan that the "land is the economy". Far from the widespread rains being a
source of prosperity, they may turn out to be a source of huge embarrassment as
we fail to raise productivity - the excuse of drought may soon be gone.
But the biggest problem with the land reform programme is that it was never
planned. From the time President Mugabe fell out with the Labour party in
Britain and its Claire Short, things simply went out of hand.
The idea of land invasions appealed to the basest instincts in man, from
greed to indolence. Among the hundreds who went in for purposes of farming,
there were thousands who went in for what was there already - houses, produce,
livestock and motor vehicles. All these items were there for the taking without
having to account to anyone since government itself didn't know who owned what.
Once the looting orgy was over, interest also waned.
But there is an even bigger problem. This has to do with a lack of culture of
long-term investment or a "jackpot mentality". Notice how most of the fuel and
farm inputs given to farmers are immediately converted into cash on the black
market to buy luxury goods. The money is quickly spent in crude exhibitionism in
the form of 4x4 vehicles that never travel off-road.
One is also left wondering what has become of that enthusiasm displayed
during the land invasions when everybody boasted that they were the real
farmers, the white man was merely a supervisor.
If that is true then we have to go right to the heart of the matter. The
government should stop the rhetoric about land audits and weed out those who
have no interest in farming. It must immediately assume the same role that was
played by the white commercial farmer - it must not only provide farm inputs but
also supervise the use of resources given to farmers. To achieve this you need a
hands-on Minister of Agriculture who is not ashamed to tell the truth about the
country's state of preparedness. Blaming fertiliser companies when everybody
knows they don't have foreign currency for key inputs simply won't wash.
Government should also move speedily on the issue of those 99-year leases so
that farmers who have an interest and the skill to produce are able to borrow
money from banks. It is poor economics for government to pretend that it can
dole out money to the "new farmers" forever. That would deny them the chance to
be old enough to survive on their own.
Nobody doubts that the new farmers need government support as a starting
point. But the billions of dollars that have gone into farming have not been
justified by commensurate returns on investment. The results are nothing more
than ostentations consumerism while what were previously viable commercial farms
have been reduced to what President Mugabe once referred to as "weekend braai
resorts".
l I notice Nathaniel Manheru's vain attempt to scare me with the ghost of one
Morrison Nyati of Nyadzonia notoriety.
The connection between myself and that fellow's dastardly act can only exist
in Manheru's warped tribalistic imagination. In all other rational disputation,
the link is as absurd as asserting that every Smith was a prime minister of
Rhodesia. How facile can he get?
But I am pleased to note that he knows Oscar Wilde.
I NOTICE that the Herald's Nathaniel Manheru seems to be bothered by your (Zimbabwe Independent) deputy editor's looks.
At first I thought that it
was "one of those things", but now I am getting worried.
The cause of my worry is that Manheru has now gone to the extent of quoting
Oscar Wilde to justify his attention on your deputy editor. Those familiar with
Wilde's works know that he was gay.
I wonder how President Mugabe feels to have a man close to him, obsessed with
men's looks and quoting gay "gangsters" as the president would say.
Nobuhle,
Bulawayo.
THE pro-senate faction of the Movement for Democratic Change has filed a $100 billion lawsuit against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai over statements he allegedly made to diplomats and to the media that leaders of the rival faction were plotting to kill him in collusion with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF.
The applicants initially
filed a $50 billion suit last month but revised it to $100 billion this week
after weighing the gravity of the allegations.
The lawsuit is likely to open a Pandora's box in the strife-torn party and
put paid to any chances of reconciliation between the feuding factions ahead of
the party congress next month.
The plaintiffs in the case are party vice-president Gibson Sibanda,
secretary-general Welshman Ncube, treasurer Fletcher Dulini Ncube, deputy
secretary-general Gift Chimanikire, and information secretary Paul Themba
Nyathi.
The five were initially demanding $10 billion each from Tsvangirai but are
now demanding double the amount in damages.
Nicholas Mathonsi of Coghlan & Welsh legal practitioners representing the
five said the amendment of the lawsuit arose after further publication of the
defamatory statements both locally and internationally.
"We have made an application with the High Court in Bulawayo seeking leave to
amend the claim by incorporating further cause of action," Mathonsi said.
"This is because when we made the initial application we had not seen in full
the statement made by Tsvangirai and the defamatory article had only been
published in the Star newspaper alone.
He said as a result of the wide publication of the defamatory statement the
degree of injury sustained by his clients had doubled.
According to court documents in the possession of the Independent, the
plaintiffs claim damages for the "payment of the sums of $20 billion to each of
them, being defamation charges sustained as a result of the publication of the
statements made by Tsvangirai."
Mathonsi said his clients suffered further damage when the full statement by
Tsvangirai was published widely and on the Internet after the initial lawsuit
had been filed with the High Court in Bulawayo.
"Subsequent to the Star story Tsvangirai made his full statement available on
the Internet where it was picked (up) and published by several websites and used
locally and internationally and as a result of the damage and injury sustained
my clients have increased the claim to $100 billion," Mathonsi said.
In the court papers filed initially, Sibanda and his lieutenants charge that
on or about December 21, "the Star newspaper of South Africa published an
article on page 3 of that day's edition under the title 'My Henchmen plotted my
death - Tsvangirai' which was authored by South African-based Basildon Peta.
"The said newspaper is widely distributed worldwide including Zimbabwe and
has an online publication on the Internet and is widely read by the general
public both internationally and within Zimbabwe," the group claims.
The plaintiffs say Tsvangirai is the sole source of the story and through his
statements stated that plaintiffs were plotting to kill him so that their
faction could reach a unity accord with the government and get positions in the
cabinet.
They further claim that Tsvangirai stated the plaintiffs participated in the
senatorial elections in Zimbabwe in order to give themselves new credentials as
the "reasonable element" within the MDC thereby enhancing their political
understanding with Zanu PF.
The plaintiffs allege that Tsvangirai, by saying that they had connived with
Zanu PF to kill him and remove him as a stumbling block to their schemes, was
defamatory to them.
l Meanwhile, in an interview in Johannesburg yesterday, Ncube said of the MDC
split: "We know that many people across the country are upset by the division in
the party. From Gokwe to Nkayi to Mutoko people have told us their anguish. They
have said: 'The MDC was our only hope. The MDC was our only way out of the
Mugabe madness'. Men and women have come to us literally in tears.
"We have agonised long and hard over the division. But we found that if we
support peaceful, democratic change in Zimbabwe, how do we make accommodation
with what Tsvangirai is saying? We need to demonstrate democracy to regain the
confidence of the people. We cannot accept an all-powerful president of the
party who does what he likes. That is like Mugabe."
Ncube said their congress would be held on February 25 but Tsvangirai would
hold his on March 18.
I DO not know whether I am being cynical or downright unreasonable. January always brings with it the terrible administrative burden of dealing with dozens of applications by students from various colleges seeking attachment at the Zimbabwe Independent.
The media at this time of
the year is asked to take on board students from the country's ever-growing
number of tertiary institutions that train journalists.
This is a service media houses have to perform in the national interest. We
all went through the same mill but things have changed from how the system
worked then.
Journalism classes then were small. There were 15 of us in my class. There
were only two main training institutions for journalism. Students were often
spoilt for choice after college.
There was the Zimpapers stable, the Financial Gazette, the Ministry of
Information, Ziana, ZBC radio and television, and magazines such as Moto,
Parade, Horizon and at least half a dozen titles under the Munn Group.
Save for a famished and now less robust Moto, most of the magazines have
folded. The government media under the Ministry of Information has shrunk.
Opportunities at the ZBH, Zimpapers, the Fingaz the Independent and the
Standard which came on board later have shrunk in sync with the failing economy.
The Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday have disappeared together with
the Tribune and the Weekly Times.
Against this negative trend, colleges are churning out hundreds of students
every year. Spaces for industrial attachment, internship or employment are very
limited. Since the beginning of the year, the door has not stopped swinging with
students of all manner, attitude and deportment dropping in to plead for
attachment.
What worries me is the way colleges and universities appear uninterested in
the whole process of attaching students to media institutions.
In the past, Harare Polytechnic would make prior arrangements for students to
come on board for three months. This formal arrangement worked well and this is
how our news editor Dumisani Muleya, award-winning reporter Brian Hungwe,
Loughty Dube, Forward Maisokwadzo and Augustine Mukaro ended up here.
My former lecturer Kudakwashe Gonese was constantly in touch wanting to know
how the students were performing. This relationship ensured the trainers were
kept informed of areas requiring attention. It's been some time since I heard
from anyone at the Polytech.
The same is true of the Midlands State University, Nust, the University of
Zimbabwe, CCOSA, Career Management Centre, UMAA Institute and so on. The only
time they are in touch is when they go through the ritual of pleading for places
for their students.
Everyone is training journalists these days, or are they? The colleges are
producing students with all manner of competences. There are those who have to
be introduced to a computer for the first time in their lives when they come for
attachment. They have to be taught all kinds of grammar, syntax and punctuation
let alone interviewing and good telephone manners. The actual art of writing a
story is the greatest challenge.
Evidence abounds that students coming for attachments are lacking the
lecture-room basics of news-gathering and story-writing. We have availed
ourselves to help colleges with this major challenge. Calls for co-operation
have however not been answered and our efforts in equipping students have not
been reciprocated. But the training of interns is expensive for the media
industry, already burdened with huge production costs.
A student on attachment needs a chair, a desk, a computer, a phone (oh they
love the phone), tea and allowances. Then there is the on-the-job training. The
cost of all this is unmatched by output. This makes it incumbent on colleges to
review their dealings with media houses.
Also what colleges training journalists appear to have in common is their
apparent silence on the subject of the shrinking industry and media laws.
Colleges appear to be keen on producing graduates who will join the rank and
file of the jobless.
Unlike other sectors of the economy, the shrinking media space in this
country is a direct result of state action. Isn't it ironic that media trainers
in this country have looked the other way when the state unleashes terror on the
media, only to be heard when they need assistance in the training of their
students?
But students should not be punished for the sins of their institutional
fathers. They need help and we will every year take on board the few we can,
train them, and hopefully engage them as full-time employees one day.
We believe the ideal internship programme is a "win-win" situation for both
the student and the employer.
The staff will appreciate the student's contribution to the quality of
services provided.
The student will benefit from the unique opportunity to gain invaluable
xperience and knowledge in their field of interest and to develop and
demonstrate leadership.
And this country is also crying out for leadership from academia. We cannot
succeed if academics allow themselves to become vestiges of a compliant culture
through their inaction, thereby knowingly contributing - without so much as a
whimper - to social indifference - the stuff dictatorships feed on.
FILM-MAKERS have called upon government to implement a film policy to attract foreign investment and help to develop the sector.
Zimbabwe's film industry
registered phenomenal growth in the early eighties owing to a robust and clear
working plan monitored by the Ministry of Information thereby becoming a hotbed
of feature film productions. This saw regional countries such as South Africa
playing second fiddle in terms of competitiveness.
Filmmaker Rumbi Katedza, who doubles as director of the Zimbabwe
International Film Festival Trust told Independent Xtra that potential investors
were shunning the country because of lack of a policy in the motion picture
business.
"At the moment we don't have such a thing (film policy)," she said. "This
makes people think twice about filming in Zimbabwe. They need to know that there
is a policy in order to gain interest and assurance about their investments."
Katedza added: "Lack of training and funding for the sector is also a major
setback while adequate financial support would brighten growth prospects.
"Funding and training are also an issue. We have to encourage foreign
investment because of its positive impact on the sector and economy at large.
This industry has the potential of generating the much-needed foreign currency."
Veteran filmmaker and Producers Association of Zimbabwe chairperson, Stephen
Chigorimbo, echoed Katedza's sentiments calling upon stakeholders in the sector
to ratchet up pressure on the government to heed their overdue call.
"Clearly we need a film policy," he said. "The film industry has potential to
generate employment, foreign currency and project a good international image for
Zimbabwe. Right now there are no clear structures that support the sector.
Without a policy how do we get cohesive supporting structures in place to allow
growth and development?"
He pointed out that a film policy would allow a Film Commission to be set up
whose mandate, among other things, would be to protect filmmakers from overseas
competition, foster development and sustainability; implement funding structures
and support indigenous productions, distribution and marketing together with
spreading film education countrywide.
While supporting the need for a national film policy, Sizwe Thuthuka, a
freedom of expression advocate, said civil society organisations should join
hands to lobby for a national media policy that would provide the overall policy
framework for all sections of the media.
"By clamouring for a narrow need, film groups want to skirt issues related to
freedom of expression which would best be addressed by a national media policy.
Such a myopic approach would not be in their best interest. For example,
independent film production is not doing well because the ZBH (Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings) monopoly has killed competition.
Resultantly, independent film producers are paid less than their counterparts
in the region. Worse still, some of their productions are subjected to unfair
censorship because they fail to satisfy ZBH's unusually restrictive standards
when it comes to content considered politically sensitive," said Thuthuka.
He said the country used to boast the now defunct Central Film Laboratories,
which was operational in the early eighties and was the only one in sub-Saharan
Africa used for film processing and mastering. A government and Unesco film
school, the Zimbabwe Film and Video Training Programme, opened in 1991, had
brightened prospects for the industry but its closure four years ago cast a dark
shadow over the training of local talent.
However, since Independence, Zimbabwe has made positive scores on the local
feature films making over 15 productions, including Mwanasikana, one of the
earliest productions directed by Ben Zulu. Others are Neria and Everyone's Child
directed by Godwin Mawuru and Tsitsi Dangarebga respectively. To date Neria,
according to cinema statistics, is the highest grossing local production. More
Time and Yellow Card have also made a mark.
A sheaf of international motion pictures has also been shot on location in
Zimbabwe, the bulk of them US productions. Some of the popular productions
include King Solomon's Mines, which featured acclaimed actress Sharon Stone and
Power of One starring Oscar award winner Denzel Washington. It is hoped that a
film policy will revamp the sector and allow Zimbabwe to reclaim its status as a
film powerhouse to reckon with on the continent.
THREE months since a political tempest hit the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) last October, all hope for a ceasefire between the warring factions is fast fading.
With almost a month to go
to the party's congress in February and the infighting intensifying, it is now
certain that the MDC will implode unless reason prevails.
It is not too unrealistic a view to predict a formal MDC split less than a
month from now. The only legacy would probably be a vicious dogfight for the
party's name and symbol.
Both the pro- and anti-senate factions seem more committed than before to
destroying the only party that had inspired hope among the electorate for a
democratic dispensation and an end to the political and economic crises that
Zanu PF's misrule has spawned.
But there hasn't been any real attempt by either faction to initiate dialogue
to break the impasse.
A long phone call from party president Morgan Tsvangirai to deputy Gibson
Sibanda on New Year's Day doesn't appear to have bridged the divide.
The struggle in the party has long ceased to be one about senate polls or how
to confront President Robert Mugabe's regime. It has degenerated into an ugly
fight for internal supremacy.
Both camps are now concerned about victory over each other instead of pulling
together for the greater national benefit. In their struggle to outwit one
another they have forgotten that this only strengthens Zanu PF and undermines
their cause.
In their bid to control the party, the factions appear to have forgotten that
Mugabe and Zanu PF are still very much in power.
After besmirching their political careers and the party, the factions will
wake up to find another party has taken their place in popular affections.
"The MDC is emerging stronger after the events of the past months," said
Tsvangirai in a statement released a week after the senate election.
But the truth, as it shall soon dawn on all of them, is that neither of the
factions won in the senate battle. And the MDC is certainly weaker than it was
before the election. It is a battle that neither faction can win. Mugabe already
has his victory as he watches the unedifying spectacle.
Only Mugabe and his Zanu PF benefited from the senate poll. How things have
changed since 2000 when the MDC came within a whisker of unseating Zanu PF!
Indeed, in all probability, as court appeals suggest, the MDC did win that poll.
The MDC has been the biggest threat to Mugabe's stranglehold on power since
1980. Now the party is in its death throes. It is a victory that must be very
sweet for Mugabe because in a space of six months he has managed not only to
guarantee his safe exit through the senate but also to split the MDC and weaken
its challenge.
The painful truth is that Tsvangirai, by being party to the mud-slinging in
the MDC, has reduced himself to a faction leader instead of being a president of
the party. He has failed as leader to hold the party together by wise diplomacy.
Instead, he is behaving like the man he sought to displace in 2002.
Tsvangirai may indeed have been right that the party has been infiltrated by
state agencies just as the press has, but his actions seem to be helping the
same CIO agenda that he blames for wreaking havoc in the MDC.
Those who support Tsvangirai's anti-senate position have been arguing that
the apathy that characterised the polls indicates that people listened to
Tsvangirai's call for a boycott. Tsvangirai himself seems to believe that too.
But that argument is a self-serving analysis that seeks to give Tsvangirai
credit for what he can't do. Zimbabweans have always stayed away from elections
whose benefits they do not understand. Only in 2000 and 2002 did they see a
chance to change things. And that spirit was soon broken.
In the 1996 presidential poll Mugabe was elected by less than 30% of the
electorate after other candidates boycotted the contest. To therefore assume
that people did not vote because they listened to Tsvangirai is as good as
assuming that Zimbabweans don't know when and how to vote, and that they need
Tsvangirai's wisdom to make that decision.
Apathy in an election is a result of many factors and cannot solely be pinned
on an individual.
The pro-senate faction, even after emerging out of the election empty-handed
except for a few Bulawayo seats, also claimed they were successful.
Their argument goes: "We managed to defend the party constitution and at
least fill the democratic space."
The question that stops them in their tracks is: "So what if you did that and
ended up with a broken party?"
Perhaps the most disheartening flip side is that while the MDC is busy
fighting itself the lives of the people they claim to be representing have
become even more miserable.
Instead of improving the people's lives with meaningful debate and
challenging Mugabe, the factions are busy stroking their egos.
Another cheap argument is that the camps can do without each other. Its
proponents, who are mostly activists, believe that Tsvangirai has the people's
support and can therefore break away and remain stronger without the pro-senate
faction.
This argument is based more on emotion than good sense. The sober view is
that neither of the factions can do without the other's support. Both camps need
each other to maintain a truly national party. The MDC needs as many people of
goodwill as it can find.
Suffice it to say the struggle in the MDC is reminiscent of the split in Zapu
in 1963 that gave birth to Zanu and Zapu. For a year after, the townships around
Salisbury were nightly aflame with petrol bombings and faction fights.
It is this split that sowed the seeds of Gukurahundi in Matabeleland which
left an estimated 20 000 innocent people dead soon after Independence.
If party secretary-general Welshman Ncube and his faction choose to go it
alone they will narrow their support base to Matabeleland and risk being
labelled an ethnic party just like the old Zapu.
If Tsvangirai and his camp decide to break away they also risk losing their
Matabeleland constituency and being labelled a Shona party just like the old
Zanu. When that happens whoever takes over the name MDC remains the leader of a
regional party which lacks the vital national outlook. The MDC would never be
the same after that.
Both factions have dismally failed to read the game. They cannot understand
why the state media that lied that the MDC was planning an anthrax attack on
Zimbabwe should suddenly start giving them unlimited coverage.
State media understand that the infighting in the MDC serves their master's
purpose - the death of opposition politics in Zimbabwe and the consolidation of
an increasingly vicious dictatorship.
zim indep
Shakeman
Mugari
CONTROVERSIAL British pro-perty tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten
has claimed
that he lent President Robert Mugabe US$10 million last year at
a time when
the country was grappling with a serious foreign currency crisis
and food
shortages.
The amount translates to over $910 billion at the
interbank market rate, and
a whopping $1 trillion at the black market rate
of $100 000 to the US
dollar.
Mugabe's annual salary is $83,8 million,
about $6,9 million a month or US$79
excluding allowances and other
perks.
Van Hoogstraten, who did time for manslaughter in the United Kingdom
before
being acquitted, made the claim about the loan in an interview with
Britain's Sunday Times newspaper this week.
Information minister Tichaona
Jokonya said he could not comment on behalf of
the president, warning the
Zimbabwe Independent not to believe van
Hoogstraten because he was a
convict. He said the Independent should
"respect the president and not
disturb him" as he was on holiday.
"I cannot comment on behalf of the
president," Jokonya said. "Besides, young
man, you must be careful not to
believe him (Van Hoogstraten), he is a
convict. Only the president can
respond to that kind of claim."
In fact he was cleared of the murder charges
in a criminal court but faces a
civil suit.
Van Hoogstraten told the
Sunday Times this week that he had advanced a $10
million loan to Mugabe in
November and that the security for the credit is
in assets worth trillions
of Zimbabwe dollars. Van Hoogstraten, who has
interests in NMB (8,65%),
Hwange Colliery (about 20%) and other listed
companies, told the paper that
the interest on the credit was due in six
months' time (June).
He has in
the past claimed to be Mugabe's friend, calling him a "true
English
gentleman". The paper said the money was officially loaned to Mugabe
by
Messina Investments, a company which van Hoogstraten says is owned by his
children. Messina is an investment vehicle that van Hoogstraten uses to buy
shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
"In six months' time, when the
interest is due, it would be cheaper for them
to just kill me," he told the
paper. "I think I am of more use to the
government in Zimbabwe alive. The
people (of Zimbabwe) would probably prefer
me to be their president."
Van
Hoogstraten is said to have produced a memorandum to prove that he had
loaned the money to Mugabe but did not reveal the interest rate.
If
indeed the loan was dispensed, it is not clear which assets Mugabe
declared
as collateral to secure the loan. Among Mugabe's publicly-known
assets are
two farms and a mansion in Borrowdale and a plush house in his
rural
Zvimba.
He is believed to be one of the biggest pig producers in the country.
Property evaluators however doubt that these assets would be enough to cover
the security required for a loan of such magnitude.
The amount Mugabe is
said to have borrowed is enough to meet Zimbabwe's
power imports for almost
two weeks or four days supply of fuel. Zimbabwe
requires US$17 million a
month to import power and about US$60 million for
fuel. Tsvangirai sued
for $100 billion
BRITISH property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten is not a major shareholder in one of Zimbabwe's premier financial institutions, NMB Bank. Van Hoogstraten, who was declared a murderer by a British court in a civil case last month for the contract killing of a business colleague, owns a mere 8,65% in the bank.
NMB financial officer,
Mario Dos Remedios, told the Zimbabwe Independent that the shareholding does not
give van Hoogstraten a controlling stake in the bank.
"People might have got this impression from the forceful manner in which van
Hoogstraten was expressing himself during the bank's last AGM," Dos Remedios
said.
"He was throwing his weight around and that could have given other
shareholders the wrong impression."
Dos Remedios said van Hoogstraten kept declaring that he was a major
shareholder during the AGM although this was not the case.
In October last year van Hoogstraten splashed £2 000 sterling on the Zimbabwe
Stock Exchange to buy sharers in NMB.
He latched onto media reports that he had muscled his way into NMB as a major
shareholder.
"You can see that van Hoogstraten's 8,65% is not as substantial as he
claims," Dos Remedios said, adding that the bank had to probe those claims by
auditing the shareholders' register to allay the concerns of other shareholders.
Van Hoogstraten, an admirer of President Mugabe whom he has described as "a
gentleman" and "incorruptible", owns vast tracts of land in Zimbabwe despite
Zanu PF's political rhetoric that it will not allow foreigners to own land ahead
of indigenous Zimbabweans.
State Security, Lands and Land Resettlement minister Dydimus Mutasa in August
told a provincial land committee meeting in Masvingo that government would drive
out the remaining white farmers from their properties.
Mutasa said this was in line with Constitutional Amendment Bill No 17 that
empowers government to nationalise all agricultural land while barring farmers
from contesting land expropriation in the courts.
THE recent reintroduction of $300 billion Open Market Operations (OMO) bills by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is inflationary and will crowd out the private sector, analysts say.
They said the RBZ was
using the bills to pick up money from the market to finance government's
recurrent expenditure.
The RBZ introduced OMO bills in which they invite investors such as pension
and provident funds, insurance firms, life mutuals and commercial banks as well
as individuals to subscribe.
The offer opened and closed on January 5.
The 91-day bills will be acceptable as collateral for repo and overnight
accommodation by the RBZ and payable at the central bank on maturity.
Interest on the bills is subject to a 20% withholding tax.
"Theoretically, OMO bills are used to mop up excess liquidity in the market
but the bills are a way to borrow money by government to finance its recurrent
expenditure," an analyst with a banking institution said.
He said initially it will reduce money supply but ultimately it would have
the opposite effect when the government starts using the money to finance its
recurrent expenditure.
"It will also crowd out the private sector," he said.
Reginald Sherekete, an analyst with Interfin, said the introduction of the
bills would be inflationary on maturity.
"In the short-term, excess liquidity will be mopped up but when the bills
mature, money supply will again surge," he said.
Farai Dyirakumunda, also an analyst at Interfin, said the introduction of OMO
bills was a means by government to borrow money and control interest rates.
However, he said ultimately the move will accelerate money supply growth.
"The bills will increase money supply and push up inflation considering that
the economy is stagnant," he said. Zimbabwe's December inflation was 585,8%.
by STAFF EDITORS (1/11/2006) |
Zimbabwe's economy is unlikely
to recover in 2006, despite reports of a new deal between government, business
and labour aimed at improving prospects for stability. While the official Herald
newspaper reported that the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) - comprising
representatives of government, business and labour - had reached an agreement on
a Price and Incomes Stabilisation Protocol, both labour and business officials
denied an accord.
Among the targets the TNF reportedly agreed to was a commitment by the
government to reduce inflation, currently running at 585 percent, to 80 percent
by the end of the year. Another was that the budget deficit be cut to less than
five percent of GDP. Economist Dennis Nikisi told IRIN these targets would be unattainable.
Reducing the deficit and reining in inflation was not possible "when the
government's domestic borrowing is at $14 trillion [US $15 billion). How are
they going to redeem that as soon as those [treasury] bills mature? It's going
to push a lot of money into the economy, resulting in additional monetary growth
and inflation that is not going to go down", Nikisi said. He added that government entered into its deregulation strategy with the hope
that "prices will find a disciplined level and bottom out". "They [government] felt that if we let go of the reins [in terms of price
controls on goods and fuel imports] ... there will come a time when resistance
creeps in and demand will lessen and things will stabilise. But because of the
endemic shortages [of fuel, basic commodities etc] inflation is not bottoming
out, it's only getting worse," Nikisi explained. Inflation could peak at 1,000 percent in 2006, he warned. Zimbabwe needed sustainable sources of foreign currency, and the support of
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. "I don't see Zimbabwe
managing to have sustainable supplies of fuel and many other raw materials [in
short supply] without that," Nikisi added. Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) chief executive Farai Zizhou also
told IRIN the deficit and inflation targets reported in the Herald were not
achievable this year. He added that the TNF would meet again on 19 January to
discuss recommendations from its technical committee on the matter, but no
agreement had been reached as yet. Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions General-Secretary Wellington Chibebe said
the Herald article was surprising as labour had understood government to be
resistant to many of the recommendations in the proposed Price and Incomes
Stabilisation Protocol. Zizhou noted that Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono is expected to make a
policy statement in the next week or so. "This will be instructive as he will
outline what weapons he intends to employ to fight inflation. Part of the reason
we have high inflation is due to the central bank's effort to raise money for
food imports through the release of a mixture of treasury bills on the market,"
Zizhou noted. "A choice had to be made between high inflation and starvation."
Source: IRIN
sunday times
Friday January 13, 2006 07:08
- (SA)
HARARE - A five-member delegation from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF)
is to arrive in Zimbabwe later this month as the
southern African country
struggles to pay back about 146 million US dollars
owed to the lending club,
the finance minister said.
The IMF has
threatened to expel Zimbabwe from its ranks for failing to pay
back loans
since 2001 and has given the southern African country until
February to
settle its accounts.
"They will be coming but I cannot comment on our
target month of settling
our dues," Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa
said.
The IMF mission is scheduled to arrive January 24 and depart on
February 1,
he said.
According to figures from the Reserve Bank from
December, Harare owed the
IMF 146.8 million US dollars.
The central
bank pledged to the IMF three months ago that the remainder of
the payment
would be paid in February.
"I will only be in a position to talk about
our outstanding debt after their
visit," Murerwa said.
In September,
the country paid 120 million dollars, which represented more
than a third of
its outstanding debt to the IMF.
That payment earned it a six-month
reprieve.
An additional 15 million dollars was paid a month later and a
further 10
million was handed over in November.
Without the payment,
Zimbabwe was at risk of becoming only the second
country to be kicked out of
the IMF since the former Czechoslovakia in 1954.
But Reserve Bank
Governor Gideon Gono cautioned following the last payment
that more had to
be done, saying in the state-run The Herald newspaper: "We
are not out of
the woods (yet)." Zimbabwe is in the throes of a severe
economic crisis with
foreign currency shortages and galloping triple-digit
inflation.
Given the country's dire economic straits, last year's
payments prompted
speculation and suspicion as to its source, with
economists noting that
Zimbabwe could not afford to spare hard currency
given its current shortage.
The IMF said in October that it would
investigate the source of the loan
payback and would report on its findings
to the executive board in March.
An IMF mission travelled to Zimbabwe in
June and returned in August of last
year.
Sapa-AFP
Thursday, 12 January 2006, 10 hours, 46 minutes and 19 seconds ago. |
By Chimayo Mayeki |
ZIMBABWE, Bulawayo - The Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) has started paying some of the polling officers who
participated in the Senatorial Elections three months after the controversial
elections held in November last year. |
A number of civil servants mostly teachers were still to receive
their allowances after participating as poling officers in the elections. Though
initial indications were that the election body was bankrupt, ZEC spokesperson
Utloile Silaigwana said those who did not get their money had submitted wrong
bank accounts. “Its not like there is a big issue because only a few polling
officers did not get their money.
Report prepared By Elias Wilson for AND : We are actually in the process of rectifying that,” said Mr Silaigwana. He said the money, which was supposed to have paid the polling officers was returned to ZEC because the funds could not be deposited into the accounts. Despite claims by the ZEC that some of the poling officers had submitted wrong account numbers, some of the poling officers said they submitted their account number soon after the elections but no communication was made until now. “We were told to submit our account numbers on the first Monday when the elections ended on Saturday. From then we had been inquiring about our money but there was no satisfactory answer. Now there are paying us when the money has lost value,” said a teacher who was based in Bulawayo during the elections. Now teachers feel that there are being regarded as cheap labour during elections and they would reconsider their participation in the future. The secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Teachers' Association, Denis Sinyolo earlier said ZEC's failure to pay the teachers was a "demotivating" factor to teachers who were always willing to take part in such national events. "It is unfortunate that teachers who are rendering an important service to the nation are being paid their dues in time considering the fact that they receive meagre monthly salaries,” he said. Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) acting secretary general, MacDonald Mangauzani, his organisation would in future discourage teachers from taking part in polls. "The government has abused teachers and civil servants in general for too long and in future, we will discourage our members from participating in elections," he said. |
PLANS to reopen Time Bank Zimbabwe Ltd have gathered pace despite denials by the Reserve Bank of a rescue package revealed by the Zimbabwe Independent last week.
The RBZ this week wrote to
this paper dismissing the story and demanding a retraction (See Page 8).
"We would like to put it on record that this article is not factual at all,"
wrote Norman Mataruka, a senior division chief of the bank's licensing,
supervision and surveillance unit.
Mataruka denied any discussions regarding Time's reopening. But sources at
the RBZ have confirmed that talks started in October and the bank was due to
reopen on January 3.
The reopening was however delayed after the central bank shifted the goal
posts by demanding a further $100 billion as part of the conditions.
Correspondence seen by the Independent shows that the discussions had reached
an advanced stage. Although Mataruka insists there had never been any
discussions, investigations have revealed he has received a letter from Time
Bank curator Tinashe Rwodzi of PricewaterhouseCoopers confirming the talks.
The letter shows that the curator has been acting as an intermediary between
the RBZ and Time shareholders.
"I have had continuing discussions with the representatives of the
shareholders and directors of Time Bank, especially on their indication of their
willingness to recapitalise the bank," said the curator's letter to Mataruka
dated October 17, 2005.
The letter reveals that Mataruka earlier had a telephone conversation with
the curator, discussing the possibility of the bank reopening following
recapitalisation.
"Following our telephone conversation this morning, I write to formalise my
update of the development relating to Time Bank (under curatorship)," Rwodzi
said.
While Mataruka insisted in his letter to this paper that there were no plans
to recapitalise the bank, Rwodzi's letter confirms that the RBZ last October,
through the curator, allowed Time shareholders to raise funds in preparation for
reopening.
"After discussions with the Reserve Bank, I have allowed them (Time
shareholders) to engage in efforts to raise funds for recapitalisation and these
efforts are currently under way," he said.
It further reveals that the central bank had through the curator advised Time
Bank shareholders to raise funds to pay off small depositors as part of the
conditions for reopening.
"As part of the recapitalisation efforts and as a demonstration of goodwill
and commitment, I have asked the shareholders to raise and make available to me
$7 billion to pay off depositors a maximum of $5 million each," Rwodzi said.
While the RBZ denies that it conceded bungling the disputed PTA Bank loan or
that it agreed to pay $200 billion to Time Bank, another letter in the
possession of the Independent suggests otherwise.
Stephen Gwasira, who was then the director of supervision and surveillance in
the RBZ, wrote a letter dated February 12, 2002 to Time Bank in which he said
the RBZ was agreeable to the transfer of 50% of Time's claims to its statutory
reserves as part of the settlement.
"Please be advised that the RBZ is agreeing to the inclusion of 50% ($200
billion) of your claim ($400 billion) to the RBZ in the statutory reserves,"
said Gwasira in his letter. Gwasira is now the chief executive of the Zimbabwe
Allied Banking Group.
ZIMBABWE needs mediators to promote dialogue and break the political deadlock in the country, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has said.
In its audit of the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) report titled Zimbabwe
Facts and Fiction, the human rights umbrella group said there was need for new
initiatives to break the stalemate in Zimbabwe.
It said as the Zimbabwean crisis extends into another year, the absence of
national dialogue remained a deeply disturbing feature of the political
landscape.
"As President Mugabe and his ruling party entrench their repressive political
domination, the need for new initiatives to break the legitimacy stalemate in
Zimbabwe is more urgent than ever," the audit concludes.
"It appears highly unlikely that internal opposition forces will in the near
future be able to build up sufficient pressure to force Zanu PF into a political
compromise. There is little indication that regional powers will depart from
their position of solidarity with Mugabe in the current standoff with the West."
The NGO forum said whatever pressure Western governments have put on Mugabe
in private, the rapidly declining economy clearly presents the government with
enormous problems of sustainability.
"Such constraints will not translate automatically into a more pliant stand
on the part of the government," the audit says. "Rather, they will probably
result in more authoritarian state reaction. There is a dangerous impasse in
Zimbabwe, and the need for national dialogue has never been greater," it says.
The audit notes that national dialogue to mend political fences remains
largely illusionary as the main opposition MDC is tied up in a bitter power
struggle for more than three months after failing to agree on participation in
last year's senatorial election.
Zanu PF appears to be fully in charge, as Mugabe would prefer a weak
opposition party trapped in political quicksands than a consolidated and
goal-focused force, it says.
President Mugabe last year ruled out dialogue with the MDC, saying he would
rather talk to their so-called master, British premier Tony Blair.
"Today we tell all those calling for such ill-conceived talks to please stop
misdirecting their efforts", said Mugabe.
"The rest of the world knows who must be spoken to. In case they do not, we
tell them here at Heroes' Acre that the man to be spoken to in order to make him
see reason resides in Number 10 Downing Street. This is the man to speak to and
those at Harvest House (the MDC headquarters) are no more than his stooges and
puppets," Mugabe said.
Zimbabweans have to brace for hard times ahead following the release of the
latest inflation figures this week.
Statistics show that the December inflation figure have surged to 585,8% from
502,4% in November last year, making access to basic commodities out of reach
for many Zimbabweans.
HOW Zanu PF expects the international community to tone down its strident criticism over lack of democratic governance in Zimbabwe following the brazen dismissal of elected council executives is hard to imagine.
Even harder to imagine is
whether the ruling elite will ever learn never to equate competence with mere
membership of the ruling party.
But if empty talk about upholding democratic practice had a prize to it, none
of President Robert Mugabe's cabinet ministers would beat Ignatious Chombo to
it.
Chombo has given democracy new meaning and re-defined the way it should be
practised.
It could be that when the late national political commissar, Moven Mahachi,
announced a revisionist switch in ideology by the ruling Zanu PF from socialism
to "guided democracy" few people ever contemplated that the doctrine would spill
into civic affairs and impinge on local governance.
A majority thought the tenet would be confined to Zanu PF structures that
were at that time riddled with intra-party factionalism.
With the passage of time, the electorate now knows better.
Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development minister Chombo's
mission to dismiss elected councils dominated by the opposition MDC on spurious
grounds of mismanagement and incompetence illustrates an admission by the ruling
Zanu PF that the party has lost its competitive edge to the opposition among the
urban electorate.
He has resolutely executed a hatchet job to regain lost prestige for his
party with unmatched vigour.
And Chombo's vindictiveness in making these decisions is indicative too of a
political party running scared and agonising as to how to hold up waning
popularity among urban supporters.
Engineer Elias Mudzuri, the democratically elected executive mayor for
Harare, became the first casualty - defrocked of his mayoral garb on a mythical
excuse that seems cloned from a prototype.
Chombo has cited identical excuses to harass Mutare and Chitungwiza executive
mayors Misheck Kagurabadza and Misheck Shoko respectively.
And the excuse has been that the mayors lack the pedigree to perform
miraculous turn-around programmes that reverse years of decay that has been
inflicted by successive administrations led by Zanu PF nominees.
Mudzuri was accused of failing to turn around the city's fortunes after years
of decay brought about by party appointees under Zanu PF's fledgling patronage
system.
Ironically, Mudzuri's replacement, Sekesai Makwavarara, has done little to
show she merits the post other than becoming an emblem of how Zanu PF revels in
creating political turncoats.
There is a striking similarity between Makwavarara and her mentor.
Chombo's record as head of the local government ministry shows little success
in increasing the national housing stock compared to his predecessor, the late
Enos Chikowore.
The late Chikowore left a legacy of numerous blocks of flats scattered on
various locations in the city and other urban areas countrywide during his
tenure as housing minister.
On the other hand Chombo has remained fixated in ensuring elected
representatives are ousted unless they belong to the ruling party.
Invariably, the commissions that have replaced democratically elected
executives are Zanu PF functionaries who could have easily turned political
has-beens had Chombo not extended them a lifeline.
Witness how the minister has revived Irene Zindi's flagging political
fortunes by appointing her commissioner for Mutare and marvel at how two-time
loser Ellen Gwarazimba has been sneaked into Town House.
Harare is suffocating under piling garbage despite a clean-up operation in
May last year which Chombo and Makwavarara glibly explained as meant to "drive
out trash".
Apart from depopulating urban centres, viewed as the bulwark of opposition
MDC support, residents still wade through pools of sewage while other suburbs
have gone without water for weeks on end.
"What Chombo seems to ignore is the basic fact that if government allowed
people their democratic right to choose representatives, they cannot blame it
when those representatives fail to deliver," says Washington Runesu of Budiriro
suburb in Harare.
Runesu says being a Zanu PF member is not synonymous with being a competent
administrator.
"Some of those nominated as commissioners have never contested local
government elections, implying that either they acknowledge their disinterest in
leading councils out of the rut or their limitations in doing so with
competence," he says.
IN a bid to recover over $396 billion owed by government departments and residents, the Bulawayo city council has engaged 12 legal firms to speed up the process, the Zimbabwe Independent has established.
The move comes after
persistent calls for the government to pay up hit a brickwall in the past.
Government departments owe the council $86 billion while residents owe $270
billion with the remainder being interest on the overall debt.
The council has also engaged the Minister of Finance Herbert Murerwa over the
debt but the dialogue has failed to yield the desired results.
Law firms that have been engaged by council to collect the huge debt include
Ben Baron, Hara & Partners, Sansole & Senda, Lazarus & Sarif, and
Webb Low & Berry.
Bulawayo mayor Japhet Ndabeni Ncube confirmed that the local authority has
engaged the law firms and said the move was paying dividends as government had
made a commitment to pay after papers were served on some departments.
The other law firms that council has engaged include Mazorodze, Nyathi &
Partners, Mabhikwa, Hikwa & Nyathi, and James Moyo Majwabu & Nyoni.
Ncube said the council has resorted to taking legal action after residents
and government failed to make payments for service deliveries.
"Council had no option but to resort to the law firms to collect the debt. We
had to find a way to rein-in the trend if we were to survive and sustain
operations," Ncube said.
He said as a result of the council action, government was now making efforts
to pay up.
Ncube said the government has since written to council enquiring about
payment arrangements for the debt.
"The Bulawayo acting provincial administrator wrote to us last month
requesting information on government departments that had outstanding bills and
that information was availed to him so that he could remind them to settle their
bills," Ncube said.
The Bulawayo city council is in dire need of cash to finance some of its
capital projects that have been in limbo for the past two years due to lack of
funding.
THE crisis in Zimbabwe cricket is still far from over after government last week assumed control of the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board in a move that has left the sport in deeper turmoil.
Last Friday, Gibson
Mashingaidze, chairman of the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), announced
the removal of all white and Asian ZC directors who were replaced by six
government appointees.
The government takeover of cricket has intensified fears regarding Zimbabwe's
future international participation and Test status.
IndependentSport has learnt that the players have vowed not to play under the
new regime despite last Saturday's decision to suspend their strike until the
end of the month.
ZC chairman, Peter Chingoka, is currently attending a meeting of
International Cricket Council (ICC) directors in Pakistan where the Zimbabwe
crisis will be discussed.
ICC president, Ehsan Mani, has issued veiled threats in the past that
Zimbabwe's Test status could be at risk if "the integrity of the game is put at
risk".
Although ICC has not yet made an official statement on the government
takeover of ZC, this week Mani acknowledged the appointment of the interim
committee, but issued a warning that the government's action might fail to
normalise the situation.
"No-one should regard the appointment of this committee as a solution to the
issues facing Zimbabwe cricket," said Mani in a press release. "A number of
outstanding matters must be urgently resolved in a transparent manner.
"These include addressing allegations of financial mismanagement, ensuring
disputes between players and the board are effectively addressed, and providing
certainty for other ICC members that the strongest possible Zimbabwe team will
be able to fulfill future commitments, especially the forthcoming tour of the
West Indies in April and May."
The Zimbabwe professional players, who have been in dispute with the cricket
bosses since last year, agreed to suspend their strike a few days after the
government announcement.
IndependentSport has it on good authority that the players resolved to stay
on until the end of the month following a government directive that ZC pay the
players' outstanding salaries and match fees by January 31, then move on with
their careers elsewhere.
"There is no way players will ever play afterwards under this set-up," said a
source. "They just want their money. Whether ZC will pay or not, they have
already made up their minds.
"The guys don't feel for a second that the dispute would have been resolved
by then, but the feeling is that this is a better way of keeping the pressure on
than just walking away."
Players' representative, Clive Field, was quoted as saying last week when
announcing the players' decision to stay on: "They've put their pockets in front
of their principles in the hope that they can persevere and preserve their
income," he commented.
Test nations have in the past stressed that they will not entertain a weak
Zimbabwe side, with the latest being the West Indies, who Zimbabwe are scheduled
to tour in April and May.
Zoral Barthley, the West Indies Cricket Board's operations officer, told the
T&T Express newspaper in the islands that he was awaiting clarification on
the situation in Zimbabwe.
"We really have only a few weeks to finalise bookings for their travel and
accommodation," he sad. "The critical time is the end of January." He said it
was too early to make contingency plans. "We'll wait until we are further
appraised of the situation but time is obviously a consideration."
zim indep
Nigel Nyamutumbu
TENNIS
Zimbabwe says it will this month hold a meeting to discuss
investigations
into former president Paul Chingoka's conduct into the
running of the
sport.
The meeting will also deliberate on a number of issues, from the 2006
schedule, probable sponsors and talent development. The meeting is expected
to see a number of changes in the tennis structures, both on the
administrative and playing sides.
TZ has remained tight-lipped on the
Chingoka saga for the past six months,
when the new committee headed by
president Ann Martin was put in place.
The association has left the sporting
fraternity guessing over the outcome
of the probe, raising speculation over
the audit company's findings on the
allegations of funds misappropriation by
Chingoka and former TZ treasurer,
Bash Mahomed.
"We are going to meet
over the Chingoka saga sometime this month," Tanya
Chinamo, the TZ public
relations officer, said.
"A tribunal consisting of myself, and some retired
judges has been set up to
analyse Chingoka's report and probably further
investigate before we can
make it a public issue. This (inclusion of retired
judges) will give a fair
and balanced judgement."
On why TZ had taken
long to release the report, Chinamo responded: "We dealt
with that issue a
long time ago. I am not in a position to comment on that."
Meanwhile, it
remains unclear whether non-playing captain Claudio Murape
would be part of
the proceedings in the forthcoming Davis Cup tie against
Norway in
April.
The axe is likely to wield on Murape, the country's first black
non-playing
captain. Murape has clashed with TZ over remuneration while the
association
is believed to be unimpressed by his performance after he took
over the
reins from former skipper Greg Rodger.
Murape could neither deny
nor confirm these rumours, citing that he is not
aware of anything to do
with TZ at the moment as everyone was on holiday.
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has reversed on an earlier decision not to negotiate the settlement of its seizure of Trust Bank and Royal Bank assets and has now proposed to discuss the ownership dispute with the two financial institutions, businessdigest can reveal.
In a move vigorously
opposed by Trust and Royal shareholders, the RBZ seized the two banks' assets to
form the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG) after declaring them insolvent and
placing them under curatorship.
The placement of the assets under ZABG was declared by the RBZ governor
Gideon Gono as a final solution to the insolvency crisis besetting the two
banks.
Trust Bank and Royal Bank have disputed the takeover of their assets by ZABG,
a wholly-owned RBZ subsidiary.
The two banks demanded that the ZABG stops operating using their assets.
The Supreme Court ruled on appeal that the seizure of the two banks' assets
was unlawful and declared it null and void, but urged the two banks to go back
to the central bank for arbitration.
Businessdigest can now reveal that after dithering on the issue for the past
four months, the RBZ has finally tabled a proposal to resolve the dispute.
Confidential letters in the possession of this paper reveal that the RBZ has
written to one of the aggrieved banks informing it of a panel set up to help
settle the matter.
In the letter to Trust, the RBZ said it was ready to make a determination on
its dispute with ZABG. The letter sets out the guidelines for the hearing and
also mentions the panel.
"The hearing shall take place before a panel appointed by the governor of the
Reserve Bank," said the letter dated November 18 2005.
The letter, written by Fortune Chasi, the personal assistant to Gono, also
advises Trust to make its submissions for consideration at the hearing.
"The guidelines are intended to serve as a guide only for the Reserve Bank to
ensure the smooth and fair disposal of the appeal," said Chasi.
Under the proposal, the central bank has agreed to appoint a panel to make a
determination on the issue.
The central bank initially proposed a three-member panel made up of retired
Justice George Smith, David Phiri, a retired governor of the Reserve Bank of
Zambia, and David Mutambara, the chairman of the Institute of Directors.
However, businessdigest understands that it now plans to add three more
people to the panel, a decision said to have angered Trust shareholders.
The RBZ has allegedly added Chasi and Jean Maguranyanga, the RBZ's corporate
secretary.
Mervyn King, a former Judge of the High Court of South Africa and a renowned
corporate governance expert, has also been appointed to the panel.
Arthur Manase, a legal advisor in the RBZ, has been proposed as a secretary
to the panel.
The composition of the panel has however come under heavy attack from Trust
Bank who believe that some of its members are compromised.
Trust argues that Maguranyanga and Chasi are not suitable to be part of the
panel because they are RBZ officials and therefore have an interest in the
outcome of the dispute.
They argue that the two were part of the legal team that gave advice to the
governor in the setting up of ZABG and the take over of Trust's assets.
Trust shareholders have raised their concerns in letters shown to
businessdigest.
"In the event that you want this panel to be independent, we are concerned
about the inclusion of Chasi and Maguranyanga," said Trust in their letter.
Trust also noted that Chasi and Maguranyanga were "too intimately involved"
in the matter to make an independent review.
ABOUT 10 trillion shares changed hands on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) last year as the local bourse witnessed a bullish run for the greater part of the year.
Information obtained from
the local bourse revealed that a total of 9 594 130 128 trillion shares were
traded on the ZSE between January and December last year.
The growth was underpinned by weak money market interest rates, an unstable
Zimbabwe dollar and a hyperinflationary environment.
During the year to December 31, 2005, the mainstream industrial index grew by
over 1200%, beating annualised inflation which reached 585,8% year-on-year for
December.
"Generally the market was active last year. Most gains were recorded during
the last quarter of the year powered by gains mostly from financial,
construction and consumer goods counters, despite slight disturbances by the
introduction of withholding capital gains tax on all shares traded. Dual listed
counters also played a part due the devaluation of the dollar," said a
stock-broker.
He said strong corporate results, backed by resilient consumer demand, was
another factor that had propelled the bull-run.
Amidst high inflation levels and poor returns on investment on the money
market, the stock market became an investment destination of choice for local
investors because of its higher returns.
This year, the market has picked up from where it left off last year with
various counters making significant gains and pushing the industrial and mining
index to fresh all-time highs.
"Going forward, the stock market is quite cheap and bargain hunters should
take this opportunity to acquire quality stocks," the stock-broker added.
The year also saw the local bourse market captalisation increasing to $200
trillion in December from $5 trillion in January.
Of the top five most heavily capitalised counters by December, Delta remained
the most heavily capitalised with a market value of 26 trillion. Old Mutual was
second on $19,5 trillion. Meikles Africa Limited was valued at $17,4 trillion to
occupy third place. Innscor Africa finished the year on 13,2 trillion, while
cement producer Pretoria Portland Company, the first counter to reach the one
million mark, stood at 11,5 trillion.
RESUMPTION of NDH Holdings' operations, halted nearly two years ago after an insolvency crisis, is expected in a few months time, with the group's management proposals and a list of new shareholders now before the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, sources said this week.
The RBZ now evaluates and
sanctions all shareholders in financial institutions. It can reject or accept a
shareholder taking up equity in a financial institution after its vetting
process.
Sources indicated that NDH had secured new shareholders apart from creditors
who had converted their debts in the composite financial group into equity.
"They are now only waiting for the vetting process of the new shareholders by
the Reserve Bank," a source told businessdigest.
"They are set to resume operations in all their subsidiaries."
NDH managing director, Tinashe Chimanikire, could not be drawn into
commenting on the issue. But businessdigest understands that NDH will be
resuscitating all its operations - the discount house, asset management arm and
stock broking firm - which have been stalled by the banking sector crisis of
2004 in which over 10 financial institutions were forced to shut down under an
RBZ crackdown on insolvent financial institutions.
NDH had been exposed to the now-liquidated ENG asset management to the tune
of $10 billion. The exposure precipitated a run on the financial institution's
deposits, but an outright liquidation was avoided after creditors in the
discount house and asset management subsidiaries agreed to take up equity in NDH
Holdings.
The RBZ had also acknowledged the group's efforts to find a viable solution
to its insolvency woes.
Sources indicated that NDH Holdings was already scouting for an additional
stockbroker for its securities arm ahead of resumption of operations.
Although the stock broking wing does not fall under the RBZ's sphere of
supervision, it is understood that authorities had deemed it prudent to have the
stock- broking operations suspended until the other operations received the
sanction to operate from the RBZ.
"Of course it looks more like there is consolidated supervision of all NDH
Holdings' operations by the Reserve Bank. There is fear that if they allow the
stock broking firm to start trading on the stock market, unforeseen problems
might emerge because of the incestuous relationship between the firms," a source
said.
THE government wants to block plans by a Canadian company, Mondorin Goldfields, to acquire majority stakes in small mines in Bulawayo, Kwekwe and Mvuma, businessdigest learnt this week.
Sources this week said
though government welcomes plans by the Canadian company to invest in Zimbabwe,
it was reluctant to grant it total control of the mines.
"The company has made its intentions (of being major shareholder in mines it
has identified) known," a source said. "What government does not want is for the
Canadian firm to have the lion's share in most of the mines. The company is
likely going to be given limitations as to how much stake they can take up
depending on a number of factors. Some papers regarding the acquisition have not
yet been submitted to government other than verbal communication between the
parties involved," the source said.
Mondorin Goldfields is listed on the Canadian stock exchange and was
reportedly one of the best performing counters last year.
Market watchers said the company's alliance with Zimbabwean mines would boost
the mining sector's performance, which has been struggling due to the country's
hyperinflationary environment.
According to Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, mining remains an important
industry to the economy not only in terms of gross domestic product and
employment, but also because of its foreign exchange generation capacity.
In a press release published last month, Mondorin Goldfield said on its
official website that it had entered into an agreement with Duration Gold Ltd
(DGL) to acquire 100% of its interest in gold projects in Zimbabwe. The mines,
which are owned by Duration Investments (Pvt) Ltd (DIPL) include Gaika, Athens,
Umvinga, Durban, Sunace and Queens.
The deal will also involve a 65% stake in the Hope Fountain group of mines
and prospects and a 49% interest in Casmyn which operates Peter Pan, Sandy and
Tiberius Mines.
DIPL has been mining in Zimbabwe since 1955 and has a well-established
management and operations team headed by John Muir, who is said to have managed
the business since 1985.
The Canadian company said it recognises that local participation would be
essential in the development and operation of the mines in Zimbabwe.