http://www.zimonline.co.za
by
Wayne Mafaro Friday 16 January 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's
central bank has introduced new 100 trillion Zimbabwe
dollar notes, in the
latest sign of runaway inflation officially estimated
at 231 million percent
as of last July but which independent analysts say
could be anything in the
trillions.
The $100 trillion note - the highest in a new range that
includes new 10, 20
and 50 trillion dollar notes - is enough to buy only
about six loaves of
bread.
"In a move meant to ensure that the public
access their money from banks,
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has
introduced a new family of notes,"
The RBZ said. The notes will be gradually
introduced into the market with
effect from Friday.
With its value
falling faster than any other currency on earth, the Zimbabwe
dollar is
nearly worthless, and both consumers and traders are increasingly
shunning
the currency in favour of the South African rand or the United
States
dollar.
A collapsed currency is the most visible sign of Zimbabwe's
deepening
economic and humanitarian crisis that is also seen in acute
shortages of
food and basic commodities, amid outbreaks of killer diseases
such as
cholera and anthrax.
A September power-sharing agreement
meant to ease the political situation
and allow the country to focus on
tackling the economic meltdown remains
deadlocked as President Robert Mugabe
and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai bicker over control of key posts in
a unity government outlined
under the deal. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by
Clara Smith Friday 16 January 2009
CHIADZWA - Zimbabwe's
government has sent military police to Chiadzwa
diamond field in the east of
the country to quell violent clashes between
soldiers fighting over control
of local labourers employed to mine diamonds
illegally.
The
government - which industry experts say could have lost more than US$300
million in potential earnings to illegal miners and dealers who had invaded
the Chiadzwa diamond field - last November deployed soldiers to flush out
illegal miners and secure the area in preparation for organised mining of
the diamonds.
But the poorly paid soldiers have, after chasing away
illegal miners, turned
to mining the diamonds illegally, resulting in
constant and violent clashes
between rival gangs of soldiers over control of
the most lucrative mining
sites and labourers.
Impeccable army
sources told ZimOnline that rivalry boiled over last week
when gangs of
soldiers opened fire at each other forcing army authorities to
deploy
military police.
"The shootouts happened on Sunday and Monday (4 and 5
January) last week
between rival gangs of soldiers," said an army officer
who declined to be
named because he had no authority to speak to the
media.
The officer said there were no casualties from the shootings but
said
military police were still making arrests of the individual soldiers
involved in the violence.
Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi was not
immediately available for comment
on the mater.
According to our
sources, the soldiers exchanged fire last week following
disagreements over
control of labour drawn mainly from surrounding
communities.
The
soldiers need help to mine diamonds from local people who have worked on
the
Chiadzwa field for the past two years.
But a ruthless campaign by the
soldiers to flush out illegal miners from the
diamond field also forced most
able-bodied people from surrounding villages
to flee their homes. The few
who remained behind are reluctant to work for
soldiers who they say are
abusive and sometimes refuse to pay for labour
provided.
"The problem
is that unlike the police who were here before, the soldiers do
not
negotiate. They force us into their syndicates, and then pay us whatever
they like. Most of the time they don't pay us all," said a villager who
talked on condition he was not named.
Zimbabwe is in danger of losing
its status as a diamond dealer under the
Kimberley Process, a watchdog body
set up to stamp out trade in so-called
conflict diamonds that fuel civil
wars.
The World Diamond Council (WDC) has demanded an urgent inquiry into
the
Zimbabwean diamond industry amid fears gems from Chiadzwa may be finding
their way onto the black market in violation of rules established to curb
trade in conflict diamonds. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Nqobizitha Khumalo Friday 16 January 2009
BULAWAYO - An opposition Member of Parliament (MP) disqualified by a
court
after being convicted of forgery will not lose her seat until the
House has
considered the matter, Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo has
said.
Lynette Karenyi of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led opposition
MDC party was
disqualified as MP for Chimanimani West constituency after a
magistrate's
court ruled that four signatures on her nomination papers to
stand in the
constituency in elections last March were forged.
Magistrate Billard Musakwa sitting in the eastern city of Mutare on
Monday
sentenced Karenyi to 20 months imprisonment, wholly suspended and
ordered
her disqualified from her post as MP. The magistrate also banned
Karenyi
from contesting parliamentary elections for the next five years.
But Moyo, who is MDC chairman, said Parliament had not yet received a
copy
of the judgment from the courts, emphasising that the House had its own
procedures and requirements that had to be complied with before an MP can be
expelled.
"There is nothing official, as things stand Karenyi
is still the MP
for Chimanimani West and will remain one until the issue has
been brought
before all the organs of Parliament," Moyo said.
The MDC has said it will appeal Musakwa's ruling, which the opposition
party
has dismissed as a government ploy to erode its simple majority in the
key
House of Assembly.
The Tsvangirai-led opposition MDC won 100 seats
in House of Assembly
elections last March against 99 seats won by ZANU PF,
the first time that
President Robert Mugabe's party had lost control of the
lower chamber since
Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from Britain.
A faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara won 10 seats and an
independent
candidate took one seat in the 210-seat chamber.
The
disqualification of Karenyi, if it is upheld by the High Court,
will leave
ZANU PF and MDC-Tsvangirai with equal number of seats and the
Mutambara
faction enjoying even greater influence as it holds the balance of
power in
the lower chamber. -ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Basildon Peta
Friday 16 January 2009
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe's MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai has advised his
opposition rival Arthur Mutambara to be a
bit patient in his quest to move
into the deputy prime minister's office
under a stalled unity government
deal signed last September.
In a
long article that appeared in several publications last week, Mutambara
largely blamed Tsvangirai for stalling the formation of a unity government
in Zimbabwe.
Mutambara, the leader of a smaller splinter MDC faction,
has on a number of
occasions in the past also attacked Tsvangirai for not
accepting the
power-sharing deal as currently formulated.
Tsvangirai
was asked to respond to Mutambara's article at a packed press
conference in
Johannesburg on Thursday.
In a somewhat sarcastic tone, Tsvangirai urged
the robotics professor to
exercise some patience.
The MDC leader said
he would not rush to join a government under the present
defective terms
simply because Mutambara is desperate to move into the
deputy prime
minister's office.
"I can understate Mutambara's desire to be in
government. But it is
unfortunate he will have to wait a bit longer. He
ought to exercise some
patience," said Tsvangirai, emphasising that his
prime responsibility was to
the majority who voted for him on 29 March and
not to the personal interests
of Mutambara.
In his article, Mutambara
devoted his harshest vitriol to Tsvangirai and
Western countries, who
ironically are the ones feeding Zimbabweans
impoverished by Mugabe's
bankrupt policies.
He explained various possible options of removing
Mugabe but said they were
not feasible except through the current unity
deal.
Mutambara's critics say his article basically amounted to
suggesting that
Mugabe should be allowed to dictate the terms of his
departure, a shocking
stance by the former student leader who made his name
as an anti-Mugabe
activist in the late 1980s.
Prominent former
Financial Gazette journalist Makusha Mugabe delivered a
particularly
scathing response to Mutambara's article. Makusha accused
Mutambara of not
being driven by logic but "his desire to get into
Munhumutapa Building, or
wherever the deputy prime minister's office is
going to be
housed".
He lambasted Mutambara of masquerading as the greatest of Pan
African
statesmen "like his new handler, Robert Mugabe".
Mutambara
reportedly met with Mugabe last week to discuss ways of pushing
the new
unity government.
In a below the belt attack, Makusha (not related to
Robert Mugabe) described
Mutambara as Zimbabwe's "new chief Jeremia Chirau".
Chirau sold out when he
formed a front political party called ZUPO during
the liberation struggle
which was funded by Ian Smith and received good
coverage in state news
organisations when real liberation movements like
ZANU PF, as it existed
then, were banned.
Mutambara's critics also
say he has effectively destroyed his political
career by aligning with
Mugabe at a time when democratic forces in Zimbabwe
are under attack. They
say history shall judge him very harshly and, if ever
the coalition
government fails to take off, then he will have fewer options
in politics
considering that he failed to win a parliamentary seat and sided
with Mugabe
at the greatest hour of need for democratic forces in
Zimbabwe. -
ZimOnline
http://www.voanews.com
By Peter Clottey
Washington, D.C
16
January 2009
Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has rejected demands
by the leader of the
opposition for the immediate release of opposition
activists. Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, is
demanding the immediate release of all opposition and
civic activists before
he agrees to the full implementation of the recently
signed power sharing
agreement. This comes ahead of a possible meeting early
next week between
Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe. The meeting is a
last-ditch effort
by the opposition leader to revive the stalled
power-sharing agreement that
was supposed to lead to the formation of a
unity government. Political
analyst Glen Mpani tells reporter Peter Clottey
that the opposition is
within its rights to ask for release of the
detainees.
"The demands of Morgan Tsvangirai are in line with what every
progressive
Zimbabwean is thinking of right now because the charges that the
ZANU-PF
government has leveled against the MDC activists and the civil
society's
Jestina Mokoko, who has been arrested, are not new. ZANU-PF has
got a
history of trumping up charges, creating stories of people plotting
coups to
overthrow the government as a way of weakening the opposition,"
Mpani noted.
He said both the African Union and the Southern African
Development
Community (SADC) have paid little heed to distress calls of
repression
allegedly committed by the ruling ZANU-PF
government.
"These allegations have been dismissed by SADC, and they have
been dismissed
externally. And I think for these activists to be continued
being detained
by ZANU-PF while ZANU-PF is claiming that it is willing to
talk to the MDC
is in itself pretentious. So for Morgan to demand for the
immediate and
unconditional release of the activists is one condition that
ZANU-PF has to
be able to deal with as a sign of showing how sincere they
are about the
power-sharing agreement," he said.
Mpani said the bone
of contention in the current impasse can be easily
resolved by ZANU-PF fully
implementing the agreement.
"The ball is in the court of ZANU-PF. If you
look at the current agreement
and to what they have so far agreed on, we see
that the balance of
distribution is skewed in favor of ZANU-PF. the ball is
in the court of the
ZANU-PF to either accept or not to accept the concerns
of the opposition
MDC," Mpani pointed out.
He said the only way the
impasse would be surmounted is when ZANU-PF meets
MDC concerns and agrees
fully to implement the agreement.
"Any opportunity for negotiation should
be viewed as an opportunity where
the deadlock can be broken. But the
deadlock can only be worked through if
ZANU-PF accepts that the MDC is an
equal partner, and the MDC is not being
coerced or been trampled upon by the
ruling party. And I think if that
approach is taken, then a solution can be
found," he said.
Mpani said although the opposition does not have enough
leverage within the
SADC region, it has a lot of support in
Zimbabwe.
"I think the leverage for Morgan Tsvangirai is only immersed in
the amount
of support that he has within the country. Obviously, he doesn't
have enough
in the region because the decision by SADC dampens the whole
process because
SADC gave a decision that outrightly gave support to Mugabe.
And even if the
issue is taken to the AU (African Union), I don't think they
would come up
with a different position. So the only place where Tsvangirai
has and
currently holds now is to say 'if I don't get into this agreement,
things
are not going to change the economy is going to remain as it is.'
People are
still going to view Zimbabwe as a state that is repressive and a
state where
nothing has changed. So that in itself is leverage enough to be
able to
assist in providing an opportunity in which Mugabe can look at
things
differently," Mpani noted.
Opposition leader Tsvangirai also
accused President Mugabe's government of
breaching the power-sharing
agreement by abducting and detaining MDC
activists. He demanded the
unconditional release of party activists before
the power-sharing deal can
be implemented.
Meanwhile, the presidents of South Africa and Mozambique
will meet Zimbabwe
political parties on Monday in a new regional push to
break the
power-sharing deadlock. South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe
will lead
a SADC delegation that includes Mozambique President Armando
Guebuza and
mediator and former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
http://www.mg.co.za
JASON MOYO - Jan 16 2009 06:00
The future of Zimbabwe's
power-sharing agreement will likely be decided on
Sunday when the national
executive of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) meets to
decide whether to join President Robert Mugabe in a
unity
government.
Meanwhile, Parliament is expected to resume sitting on
Tuesday; a key matter
on the agenda is the draft legislation that would
enable the formation of
the new government. There are three scenarios that
may play out in the weeks
to come.
Talks resume and a power-sharing
deal is implemented
Amid rising tension and increasing rhetoric from both
sides, the prospect of
an agreement being reached looks least
likely.
Mugabe has declined Morgan Tsvangirai's call for a meeting, while
hawkish
members of the MDC appear to have the upper hand going into Sunday's
crucial
national executive meeting. Sharing power remains a hugely unpopular
option
for both sides, but some hope that the absence of any real
alternative for
either side will force them into a partnership. Neither side
wants to appear
to be the spoiler.
If a government of unity is agreed
upon, the immediate priority would be
economic recovery.
South Africa
has released humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe already, but a more
substantial
financial aid package, backed by the entire region, would be
required to
address the worst of the suffering.
Crucially, the United States and the
United Kingdom have declared that they
will oppose any deal that involves
Mugabe. The MDC will therefore be under
huge pressure to play a key role in
winning back Western donor support,
which will be crucial to the survival of
the new government.
Even if a deal is reached, doubts will remain over
whether the new
government will last. Members of the new administration will
need to agree
on what will have to be a comprehensive programme of social
and economic
reform, but mistrust between the two sides runs
deep.
Mugabe forms the government unilaterally
The combined
opposition, which is in control of the key lower house of
Parliament, would
make it impossible for Mugabe's government to function. He
would therefore
have to call a fresh election to attempt to regain a
parliamentary majority.
Mugabe has already told his party to prepare for
this
possibility.
Such elections would most probably be held under conditions
similar to the
June run-off, which the MDC boycotted, partly in protest
against the ruling
party's brutal campaign of violence.
Not only
would Western governments withhold aid to a Mugabe government, they
would
devise new ways to undermine his regime. This would likely push Mugabe
into
an even more intransigent position and speed up the pace of economic
collapse.
Mugabe appears to be preparing himself to go it alone,
canvassing allies for
funding.
Mugabe insiders have, in recent weeks,
been talking about an aid package
they claim their leader has up his sleeve.
Mugabe has used his annual
vacation to visit the Far East and is said to
have scheduled a visit to
Russia. His spokesperson, George Charamba,
confirms that Mugabe is visiting
"friendly nations" in an effort to secure
financial support.
There have been suggestions of a possible $5-billion
package, although even
Mugabe loyalists doubt this is possible given the
global financial crisis.
MDC drops out of talks
Public comments last
week by a senior Tsvangirai adviser who said the MDC
has the option to wait
for the country to "crash and burn" dramatised the
re-emergence of a radical
core of the MDC that has always opposed
compromise.
But others in the
opposition doubt that sitting it out and waiting for a big
crash is a good
strategy.
David Coltart, a prominent opposition senator, warned that a
total collapse
of Zimbabwe would see "the more radical elements within the
military seizing
power, which in turn could see Zimbabwe degenerate into
even worse forms of
anarchy than exist at present".
But the hawks
have been strengthened in their position by a spate of
abductions of Mugabe
opponents and a declaration by the US and Britain that
they will not support
any agreement that includes Mugabe.
For now, at least, the MDC's options
are limited.
Should the MDC pull out of the talks, its next step would
likely be to carry
the struggle to Parliament. But after the expulsion of an
MDC MP this week
for having forged signatures on her nomination papers, the
Tsvangirai
faction of the MDC and Zanu-PF now have an equal number of seats
in the
lower house.
Only a combined opposition could challenge
Zanu-PF in Parliament. But even
then, Mugabe could dissolve Parliament.
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk
Over half of the population of
Zimbabwe is now dependent on food aid, the
charity Oxfam claims.
The
agency warns the situation could get even worse as vulnerable households
are
set to receive smaller food rations this month due to funding
shortfalls.
At present the United Nations World Food Programme is
currently facing a
shortfall of around $65 million (£44 million) for its
Zimbabwe operations
until the end of March.
Oxfam yesterday called on
the governments around the world to increase their
aid to the UN emergency
food appeal.
"Peoples' lives are in danger because of the lack of food.
They are severely
weakened and therefore less able to deal with cholera,
which has spread
across the country, or fight HIV/AIDS," Peter Mutoredzanwa,
Oxfam's country
director in Zimbabwe, said.
He continued by claiming
aid donors also needed to look at longer-term
inputs to help local farmers
and prevent future food emergencies and food
insecurity.
Zimbabwe is
currently suffering from mass unemployment, huge inflation, a
cholera
outbreak and a continuing political deadlock.
A recent survey by the
World Food Programme found that nearly one in five
households in the country
- including those receiving food aid - had sold
assets in the past three
months and that more than 70 per cent of households
did so in order to buy
food.
© Adfero Ltd
16 January 2009 00:01 GMT
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Wayne
Mafaro Friday 16 January 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwean human
rights campaigner Jestina Mukoko, abducted last
December and allegedly
tortured by state security agents, broke down in
court on Thursday as she
narrated her ordeal at the hands of her captors.
Mukoko wept bitterly as
she told magistrate Archie Wochiunga that her
experience was frightening and
that she would not wish it on anyone at all.
The rights campaigner, who
is accused together with scores of opposition MDC
party activists of
plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe, was in
court to ask the
magistrate to allow her to challenge the constitutionality
of her arrest and
continued detention at the Supreme Court.
Wochiunga will decide today
whether to grant Mukoko permission to approach
the Supreme Court, Zimbabwe's
highest court of law.
Mukoko, who won a court order on Monday to be
allowed urgent medical
attention, told Wochiunga it was like coming back to
a funeral when security
agents briefly took her back to her home in Norton
town to search for arms
of war, a month after kidnapping her.
"My
brother from Gweru, my nephew from Chitungwiza, my mother and my
mother-in-law were all there. I saw a pile of . . . " She did not finish,
breaking down in tears, before continuing, "it resembled a funeral because
they all thought that I must have died."
Mukoko, a former staffer at
the state broadcaster and now director of human
rights organisation Zimbabwe
Peace Project (ZPP), wants the Supreme Court to
determine whether her
constitutional rights were violated and therefore
should not stand
trial.
"I apply that the court refer the matter to the Constitutional
Court to
determine the violation of my constitutional rights," said Mukoko.
"The
experience I have gone through is really frightening and I do not wish
that
on anyone," she said.
Making submissions on behalf of Mukoko,
lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa told the
court that admission by the state that the
rights campaigner had been held
by security agents for almost two months
made her case suitable for referral
to the Constitutional Court for a
hearing whether it was legal for people to
be abducted and kept in
isolation.
During cross-examination, Mukoko said she doubted she could
get a fair trial
after Attorney General Johannes Tomana this week labelled
her a security
risk and said she should not be released from
jail.
Mukoko and about 40 MDC activists are accused of attempting to
recruit
people for military training in neighbouring Botswana to overthrow
Mugabe
and his ruling ZANU PF party.
The accused were abducted in
November and December from various locations
and held incommunicado for
weeks. Their lawyers say they were severely
tortured by state agents in a
bid to force them to admit to the charges of
banditry.
If convicted
the group face the death penalty, in a case that has potential
to scuttle a
power-sharing agreement between Mugabe and main opposition MDC
party leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai told journalists in South Africa on
Thursday that the charges
against Mukoko and MDC activists are trumped up
and part of a fresh
crackdown against its members and structures.
The
opposition leader demanded the release of the detained activists before
the
stalled power-sharing pact can be implemented.
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and the
leader of a faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara,
signed an agreement last
September to share power in a government of
national unity to tackle
Zimbabwe's decade-long political and economic
crisis.
However, the
pact appears to be unravelling over a dispute between Mugabe
and Tsvangirai
over control of key ministerial and other top government
posts and over the
composition and powers of a new national security
council. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=9952
January 15, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) still provides
fallen former
Anglican clergyman and ardent supporter of President Robert
Mugabe, Nolbert
Kunonga, with tactical support long after he was ousted
following a split in
the church early last year.
The former Bishop of
Harare Diocese incurred the wrath of the majority of
Zimbabwe's Anglican
community when he withdrew his diocese from the Anglican
Church's Province
of Central Africa, ostensibly in protest at the tolerance
of homosexuality
by Anglicans in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Kunonga was
ousted and replaced by Bishop Sebastian Bakare.
The ZRP officers are now
said to be still patronising church establishments
throughout Harare and
physically preventing members of the mainstream
congregation led by Bakare
from using church property. This is despite a
High Court order granting
access to both groups.
A member of the Anglican Church in Harare told The
Zimbabwe Times this week
that police officers were still harassing
worshippers who chose to remain
loyal to the larger Bakare
group.
"The Anglican church members are always harassed by the police who
prevent
us from using church premises, despite a High Court order allowing
us equal
access to church facilities until the matter is finalised," said
Elizabeth
Chimwe of the Greendale Parish.
"Our group has the support
of three quarters of people who were part of the
united Anglican Church but
now we have to leave a church with a seating
capacity of about 200 to a
group of 38 people just because we have no
political muscle."
The
High Court ruled last year that both the mainstream Bakare group and the
much smaller rebel Kunonga faction should both have access to the church
facilities. For example it was agreed that the Kunonga faction would use the
church facilities for its services from 8 am to 10 am. The Bakare group
would then use the same facilities between 11 am and 1 pm.
Instead,
the police have intervened at the time of the change-over and
prevented the
Bakare group from using the facilities, it is alleged.
The Bakare group
is said to have written to Police Commissioner Augustine
Chihuri to appeal
to him to intervene but without success.
There is speculation now that
the group is being victimised because Bakare
is profiled by Kunonga as a
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activist.
Other sources within the
Anglican Church said at one time Bakare was invited
to officiate at St
Michaels Anglican Church in Mbare. A truck-load of riot
policemen arrived to
disrupt the service. It is alleged the police had been
informed that Bakare
was hosting an MDC rally at the church.
Because of the presence of the
police at Anglican Church facilities, the
Bakare group is now forced to rent
houses or buildings close to church
buildings to hold Sunday
service.
The Central Anglican Cathedral in the Harare city centre has
become a no-go
area for the Bakare group. Worshippers now congregate in the
Les Brown
Swimming Pool complex in the Harare Gardens, behind Crown Plaza
Monomatapa
Hotel, for their services.
When Bakare was installed as
the new Bishop of Harare the ceremony was
staged at the City Sports Centre
because access to the cathedral was
blocked. The police have constantly
refused to act on a High Court order
granting Bakare access to the
church.
"The same method used to invade the farms is the method used by
Kunonga to
invade our cathedral," said Bakare on the occasion.
"It's
very much politically driven. Political involvement is clear in the
way that
Kunonga promised to deliver the diocese to Zanu-PF," said a
worshipper
aligned to Bakare. "His protection from arrest is telling, even
though he is
defying High Court orders left and right."
Even a High Court's deputy
sheriff was harassed when he tried to open the
doors to the church armed
with a High Court order.
High Court judge, Rita Makarau, had ordered
Kunonga to give Bakare and the
majority of Anglicans who support him access
to all churches in Harare.
In her ruling she said, "The legal fight gives
the impression that the
church has lost its focus, and instead of fighting
the good fight and
seeking the Kingdom of God first, church members are
fighting each other and
are seeking earthly power and control of church
assets."
But Harare's chief police officer, Fortune Zengeni, sent a
letter at the
time to Anglican churches ordering that only priests aligned
with Kunonga be
permitted to hold services.
The Anglican Church
arguably the second biggest religious denomination in
Zimbabwe after the
Roman Catholic Church was split in January last year
after the Bishop of
Harare, Kunonga, declared the diocese independent.
Previously the church
was part of the Church of the Province of Central
Africa which dismissed
Kunonga as bishop following his cessation. But after
his sensational sacking
Kunonga refused to relinquish power and control of
the Anglican Church in
Zimbabwe before setting up his own structures even
though the majority of
the members of the church were against him.
Kunonga was appointed Bishop
of Harare in 2001. He went on to use his new
position to sing the praises of
President Robert Mugabe and purge the church
of more than half its trained
priests.
Kunonga made history when be became one of, if not the only,
Anglican priest
ever to be hauled before a special ecclesiastical court to
answer to charges
of inciting violence against Mugabe's opponents,
intimidating critics and
misusing church funds.
For his loyalty to
Zanu-PF Kunonga was rewarded with a sprawling commercial
farm near Harare
which was seized from a white farmer. Kunonga promptly
evicted 40 workers
and their families from the property.
Kunonga is a close friend of
Didymus Mutasa, the Minister of State for
National Security, Lands, Land
Reform and Resettlement. Mutasa also serves
as the Secretary for
Administration of Zanu-PF. Also an Anglican, Mutasa was
the rebel
clergyman's classmate in primary school at Faiths Mission outside
Rusape. It
was one of the earliest Anglican missions established in Southern
Rhodesia.
Mutasa (74) remains the only member of Mugabe's original
inner-circle still
active both in Zanu-PF politics and in government.
Observers believe he is
the power behind the fallen Kunonga.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
By Lebo Nkatazo
Posted to the web:
15/01/2009 19:55:23
ZIMBABWE'S Meteorological Office has warned of severe
flooding in parts of
Matabeleland in a repeat of thunderstorms that hit the
country last year,
destroying crops and road networks.
The head of
the Met Office Tich Zinyemba said the flood threat would last
between
Wednesday to Sunday next week, although it could last as long as 10
days.
"During this period, the risk of flooding will be very, very
high," Zinyamba
said, adding that other low lying areas would follow
Matabeleland North and
South in flooding.
The heavy rains will be
moving from Botswana into south-western Zimbabwe.
Last year, heavy rains
pounded most parts of the country destroying schools,
bridges and homes some
of which remain unrepaired due to the economic crisis
gripping the
country.
http://www.miningweekly.com
By: Oscar
Nkala
Published on 16th January 2009
The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines has
predicted more gloom for the country's
mining sector, amid reports that
President Robert Mugabe has simply ignored
a direct appeal from gold-miners
for his intervention in settling the
long-standing dispute over the
nonpayment of royalties owed to the mining
companies and Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) gold-dealing subsidiary
Fidelity Printers &
Refiners.
Chamber of Mines CEO Joe Malaba tells Mining Weekly that there
has been no
word from either President Mugabe or Fidelity on when the miners
can expect
for their gold deliveries, most of which date back to March last
year.
Malaba says although most of the gold-mines remain on care and
maintenance,
there is no sign that production will resume any time soon
because they have
no money.
"The miners can only get back to work if
they are paid all the money they
are owed. That will be the first step
towards a revival of the gold-mining
business in this country. However, the
situation looks very gloomy at the
moment.
"The miners have exhausted
all the avenues available in trying to settle the
dispute over the
nonpayment, and President Mugabe has not responded to the
miners' appeal for
his help in getting the RBZ to pay up. So there are no
changes and we expect
things to get worse before they get better," Malaba
says.
He adds
that the gold-mining outlook for 2009 is not at all promising
because of the
dispute between the miners and the RBZ and the net effect of
the global
financial crisis, which has hit the mining industry hard,
resulting in
subdued production and a suspension of many capital-intensive
activities,
such as exploration and the expansion of existing mines.
Further, labour
unrest is simmering at most of the mines, while the few
remaining skilled
workers are leaving the country in droves to seek
opportunities in South
Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Australia.
The Chamber also fears that the
skills flight will impact very negatively on
the entire mining industry in
the country, if it ever gets back to work.
"Most of the workers who have
remained in the country have done so out of
commitment, but the present
suspension of production has dented their
confidence and they are leaving.
There are also growing calls from some
workers to be paid retrenchment
packages but that will be a long and
complicated process if the mines do
settle for it because it will involve
certain government ministries, the
employers and workers' unions. We still
hope that we will not get to that
stage, although we have no way of
controlling things at the
moment."
The Associated Mine Workers' Union has taken the lead in
demanding
retrenchment packages for workers, arguing that mine closures are
imminent
and workers need to move on and find jobs elsewhere.
Most of
the employers have not offered retrenchment packages and continue to
pay
their staff even as the mines lie idle.
Presidential spokesperson George
Charamba tells Mining Weekly that Mugabe
has received the letter of appeal
from the miners but adds that the veteran
leader has not responded because
he is "too busy with the job of forming a
new government".
"The
President will handle the issue of the miners when he has finished the
big
task of forming the government. To the best of my knowledge, something
is
being done [about] resolving that problem, and I can tell you that
government has secured a loan from the African Development Bank, which has a
component that deals specifically with paying off [what the gold-miners are
owed]."
http://www.voanews.com/
By
Patience Rusere
Washington
15 January
2009
The count of fatalities from the cholera epidemic that
has been ravaging
Zimbabwe for several months rose by 104 to a total of
2,201, the World
Health Organization said Thursday citing data collected
through Jan. 14,
with the total of reported cases at 41,986.
The WHO
said 1,550 cases and 104 deaths were added over 24 hours.
Large numbers
of new cases were reported in a number of locations: 501 in
Bikita, Masvingo
province, 262 in Makonde and 142 in Kadoma, both in
Mashonaland West, and a
combined 170 in the districts of Gokwe North and
South, in Midlands
province.
Health Secretary Henry Madzorere of the Movement for Democratic
Change
formation headed by Morgan Tsvangirai said the surge in new cases in
Kadoma
reflects residential overcrowding, sewage contamination and chronic
shortages of clean drinking water.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Court Reporter
THREE businessmen and
former members of the Rhodesian forces have appeared
in court for allegedly
recruiting MDC youths for banditry training at their
plots in
Goromonzi.
The trio's arraignment follows that of the director of the
Zimbabwe Peace
Project, Jestina Mukoko, and eight others on allegations of
recruiting
people for banditry last month.
John Vigo Naested (57), an
ex-member of the Rhodesian Light Infantry who is
a major shareholder for
Tiles for Africa, and two former members of the
Rhodesia Police Reserve,
Bryan Michael Baxter and Angus John Thompson,
owners of Bax Investments and
Angus J. Thompson (Private) Limited,
respectively, appeared before
magistrate Ms Gloria Takundwa. The three own
plots in Goromonzi where the
offences were allegedly committed.
Chief law officer Mr Michael Mugabe
appeared for the State while Harare
lawyers Mr Maxwell Mavhunga and Mr David
Dumbura represented the trio.
Ms Takundwa, who did not ask the three to
plead to the charges, remanded
them in custody to January 22, but advised
them to apply for bail at the
High Court.
Mr Mavhunga and Mr Dumbura
have since filed bail applications at the High
Court and the hearing is
expected today.
Charges against the three arose between February 2003 and
this month when
they allegedly recruited several people for training in
terrorism at plots
16A and 13A and the Remainder of Lot 1 along Gardener
Road in Goromonzi.
It is the State's case that the three recruited,
assisted and encouraged MDC
youths to undergo military training with the
intention of later committing
acts of insurgency, banditry, sabotage and
terrorism in Zimbabwe.
It is alleged that the recruitment was done at the
plots and that some of
the trainees are prepared to testify in court when
the trial opens.
The State also alleges that during the same period, the
three trained the
people at Naestad's plot where structures for the military
training were
erected.
According to the State papers, Naested was in
charge of the physical
training of the recruits while Baxter was responsible
for co-ordinating the
training programmes.
Police, working on a
tip-off, raided Naestad's plot and found structures
used for training, which
they photographed. The pictures were filed in the
court record as
exhibits.
Further investigations led to the recovery of six guns that
were allegedly
used for the training at Naestad's plot while five other
firearms were
recovered from Baxter's plot.
Mr Mavhunga notified the
court of the defence's intention to apply for
removal from remand on January
22.
Meanwhile, Mukoko - whose urgent chamber application was thrown out
at the
Supreme Court for bypassing the magistrate and taking her matter
directly to
the Constitutional Court - yesterday sought referral of her
matter back to
the Supreme Court.
Mukoko, who was given an
opportunity to testify in the application, alleged
abduction, ill-treatment,
illegal detention and other forms of infringement
of rights.
She said
she wanted the Supreme Court to determine those constitutional
issues before
she was placed on remand.
Director of Public Prosecutions Mrs Florence
Ziyambi said the High Court
upheld the ministerial certificate that barred
the court from seeking the
disclosure of the alleged torturers for security
reasons and that the matter
should not be referred to the Supreme
Court.
Mrs Ziyambi said the alleged harassment should rather be pursued
in the
magistrates' courts and High Court instead of approaching the Supreme
Court.
Magistrate Mr Archie Wochiunga remanded Mukoko in custody to today
for his
ruling.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=9958
January 15, 2009
By Lance
Mambondiani
THOSE who recently visited Zimbabwe have reported that the
country has been
transformed into a poor version of New York, all prices are
in US dollars,
the prices are extortionist and there is nothing you can do
about it.
Since the central bank's partial dollarisation in September
through the
introduction of Foreign Currency Licensed Warehouses and Retail
Shops
(FOLIWARS) when 1 000 retailers and 200 wholesalers were allowed to
sell
goods in foreign currency, the distinction between who is FOLIWARS and
who
is not has become as blurred as the real winner of the harmonised
elections.
If everyone is demanding foreign currency for goods and
services and if
civil servants are demanding salaries in foreign currency is
there a strong
case for official and complete dollarisation of the economy?
Alternatively,
should the central bank consider dollarising the financial
sector?
Real evidence suggests that the Zimbabwe dollar has lost its
position as an
acceptable medium of exchange. Nationals and foreigners alike
have become
less willing to transact in the local currency due to its
instability
preferring foreign denominated currencies. It is worth
remembering the
simple fundamentals regarding paper money as a legal tender
in any economy.
Firstly, the general acceptance of paper currency in
exchange is more
important than the government's decree that it is legal
tender. As a
consequence, dollarisation does not often become a reality
because the
central bank has declared 'hear hear, ye mere mortals, the
economy shall
henceforth be dollarised'. The economy becomes dollarised
because the
generally accepted paper currency is the US dollar. Common usage
suggests
that the economy is near complete dollarisation. Monetary policies
should
therefore ideally be strategically aligned with that
inevitability.
Secondly, what will determine whether the Zimbabwe dollar
will disappear
altogether and the economy fully dollarised whether
officially or
unofficially is the state of the economy itself and the
monetary policies
utilised to address revival. This is because the value of
money, like the
economic value of anything, depends on its supply and demand
no matter how
many times it is manipulated or how many zeroes are surgically
removed.
Money derives its value from its scarcity relative to its
utility.
On the other hand, the utility of money lies in its capacity to
be exchanged
for goods and services now or in the future. An economy's
demand for money
therefore depends on the total dollar volume of
transactions in any period
plus the amount of money individuals and
businesses want to hold for future
transactions. With a reasonably constant
demand for money, the supply of
money (by the central bank) will determine
the value or purchasing power of
the currency.
At a basic level,
dollarisation reflects the failure of domestic monetary
policies regardless
of whether that failure is justifiable or not. In my
opinion, despite the
widening gap between the 'Have and the Have Not' due to
partial
dollarisation or the introduction of FOLIWARS it hasn't all been bad
news,
dollarisation may have been essential in attracting foreign currency
albeit
only to the central bank, it has resulted in supplies returning to
supermarket shelves and commodity prices coming down as a result of
increased competition. It has also resulted in the disappearance or
reduction of those winding queues outside banks (although this is largely
because of the extinction of the currency). However, dollarisation may
create a bigger and unintended problem.
It can lead to a contraction
of the financial sector making it more
vulnerable to liquidity and solvency
risks. Since the banking system itself
is largely not a US dollar
depository, the foreign currency circulation is
outside the banking system
which reduces the important intermediary role of
banks in the payment
system, in attracting savings and in the disbursement
of loan facilities.
When these core functions are removed from banks as a
result of local
currency inactivity, the role of the banking system becomes
dangerously
marginal and hopelessly superfluous.
The contraction of the financial
sector is evident in recent reports that
the banking sector and stockbroking
firms are facing serious viability
problems. Some banks are allegedly
introducing rotational shifts for staff
as a result of low business. There
are also growing calls from stockbrokers
to dollarize the ZSE to allow the
stock market to reflect the true economic
picture of the country and the
true value of listed counters.
The stock market last traded on November
17 2008 after allegations of
insider trading and fraudulent activities.
Allowing the value of counters to
convert to foreign denomination and
opening US dollar IPOs will attract
significant international interest and
huge inflows of foreign investments.
With the entire country now dollarised
it may be logical to dollarize the
financial sector by allowing banks to
take US dollar denominated deposits
and regulate the stock market as a
foreign currency backed bourse.
Although this move will lead to full
dollarisation, there are many
advantages to this arrangement. Firstly, it
will increase the circulatory
capacity of foreign currency into a formalised
market and restore the
pivotal role played by the banking sector in guiding
economic development.
Secondly it will lead to foreign currency denominated
savings (savings are
of fundamental importance in facilitating
growth).
Thirdly, the move will ensure viability of the financial sector,
save jobs
and reduce the disequilibrium caused by the current bypass of the
sector and
may very well avert an inevitable banking crisis.
Lastly,
dollarising the financial sector will reduce the increasing risk of
counterfeit money and the possibility of the country being used as a dumping
ground for fake foreign currency.
Lance Mambondiani is an Investment
Executive at Coronation Financial. The
view expressed in this articles are
personal and do not necessarily reflect
the position of Coronation
Financial. To join the discussion on this article
visit Lance's blog or his
facebook discussion forum. He can also be reached
on coronation.uk@btinternet.com.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/blog/?p=360
Posted By Joram Nyathi on 16
Jan, 2009 at
12:26 am
I HAVEN'T read Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono's book,
Zimbabwe's Casino
Economy.
Still I doubt that I would have
found in it a solid explanation for
dollarisation of the Zimbabwean economy,
and especially its timing. So let
me pass my ignorant verdict: it is a
despicable policy decision which will
haunt Gono for the remainder of his
tenure. It is the bitterest New Year
gift to Zimbabweans ever recorded. His
enemies are celebrating.
It's now accepted: we live under
abnormal circumstances and bizarre
decisions will be made. I have been
sympathetic to Gono's situation. Many a
time, I have found myself defending
his decisions without much thought. Here
is a man who is passionate to make
things work in this country, yet at every
turn it looks like political
leaders make it their vocation to undermine his
efforts. I see him as a
victim of bad politics. I doubt that in Gono's shoes
Alan Greenspan would
have fared any better.
Thus I don't agree with those who say Gono
should be fired for ruining
Zimbabwe's economy. This exposes lack of
appreciation of the systemic
interplay and the ineluctable dynamic of
politics and economic policy. It's
like saying President Mugabe should fire
his "worst cabinet ever" without
bothering about who selected it and why he
has kept it for so long.
The worst of the lot say Gono should
simply quit, to quicken the end. They
have been predicting this end since
the February 2000 referendum.
Gono's blunder on dollarisation is
the culmination of a series of economic
policy decisions in which he and the
government appear to have been led down
a garden path.
First
it was ESAP launched in 1991. A reluctant government and a hostile
labour
movement led by Morgan Tsvangirai were forced into ESAP in the name
of free
markets and foreign investment. The austerity measures called for
led to
unprecedented retrenchments in the private sector as companies
slimmed
down.
At "peak" performance of the economy and about the time
ESAP was abandoned
in 1995/6, almost 75% of workers in industry had been
retrenched. Only
agriculture still employed around 400 000 workers who
earned miserly wages.
Throughout this period, the government was under
attack for executing ESAP
half-heartedly, that is, subsidising service
charges by parastatals and not
cutting its recurrent expenditure sharply
enough by retrenching civil
servants and the uniformed
forces.
The unexplained irony is how the same businesses which
had retrenched the
most in the name of a more robust economy were suddenly
able to gang up with
their former workers against a proposed tax to pay
gratuities to war
veterans amid declining food security and alleged looting
of the War Victims
Compensation Fund.
The ESAP period also
witnessed the most acrimonious disputes over land
reform as it became
evident that the willing seller, willing buyer model had
failed. The die was
cast in 1995 when Mugabe declared that his government
would take land
without paying compensation and that he would "not be taken
to court by a
settler" over the land, describing farmers as "hard-hearted as
Jews".
This should have been enough. But Mugabe further
ostracised his government
from civilisation by declaring in 1995 that gays
had no rights in Zimbabwe
and that they were "worse than pigs and dogs". The
verdict was that he had
to go.
Thus grew calls about property
and human rights. White commercial farmers
quickly realised that with the
courts sidelined, their only redress was
political. It was a momentous
decision and the consequences haunt us to this
day.
Enter
Gono and devaluation from 2004. The exchange rate was about 55 to the
US
dollar and inflation at 620%. Once the convulsions his entry caused in
the
financial sector subsided, he became the darling of business. Finally we
had
a devaluation man Mugabe could trust.
The trouble with
devaluation is once you start, it is never enough for
business and there is
no ending. Gono was wheedled down the precipice with
promises of greater
exports and more foreign currency inflows. So long as
business benefited,
there was nothing wrong with devaluation, although in
reality it means you
have to print more money to meet daily transactions,
especially under a
sanctions-induced cash economy.
But once it became known that
Gono also printed money to meet government
expenses, it became a crime of a
quasi-fiscal nature. For his part, Gono
didn't know when to stop and soon
abandoned all pretence that it was the
role of the Reserve Bank to defend
our currency. And once it was in
freefall, business trashed it as worthless,
and so began calls for Zimbabwe's
ultimate strangulation: dollarisation, as
inflation fed on itself and raced
past 230 million percent mid last
year.
I doubt that anyone believed Gono would fall so easily into
this trap. You
don't dollarise to a currency with whose country you are
literally at war
without a formal truce. You expose the nation's
underbelly.
Full or partial dollarisation is not the issue.
Dollarisation, argued the
prophets, should kill three birds with one stone:
cut inflation through
price stabilisation; stamp out bank queues; and
generate forex for
government. I don't know how much forex he is getting;
inflation is a
worthless vacuum.
The most visible sign of
success has been on banks where it has wrecked the
most grievous havoc - the
steep pauperisation of the majority of the
population who don't generate
foreign currency; small-scale traders and
dealers recovering from the
ravages of Murambatsvina, and government
employees, from civil servants to
the uniformed forces.
There are no bank queues because
effectively dollarisation has demonetised
the local currency and no retailer
or dealer wants it unless it is twice or
three times its face value and
secondly, whatever amount one can withdraw,
it can purchase only US$1. That
is because Gono doesn't know and can't
control the exchange rate. The same
cabal which controls the exchange rate
is taking all our cash for a song
because they are doing us a favour; buying
a currency which nobody wants. So
banks can keep the sextillions.
The big question is how Gono is
going to appease the millions who have been
rendered redundant and are
turning to violent crime and daylight
prostitution in the Avenues? How does
he expect industry to operate without
workers? Is it not logical that for an
economy under sanctions the key to
salvation lies in import substitution
rather than killing local industry
through massive imports of
trinkets?
It is easy for Gono to make sanctimonious statements
about pushing people
who were making illicit lucre from "burning" US
dollars. But given
widespread allegations of how the RBZ raises forex, this
is called opening a
Pandora's Box.
Moreover, in our
extraordinary circumstances, it is dishonest to expect
everybody else to
stick to orthodoxy. We are all impacted on by the acts of
politicians,
economic sanctions, foreign currency dealers, teachers, banks,
the Reserve
Bank and retailers. Amidst all the chaos, something works. But
to me
dollarisation should be the last and I hope Gono can see the fire
ahead.
Short of a miracle, it is a blow the Zanu PF government is unlikely
to
survive.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15
January 2009 19:04
SADC cannot push President Robert Mugabe and MDC
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to form a unity government "unless and until" the
deep mistrust
between the two protagonists is resolved, political analysts
have said.
The analysts said although the regional bloc failed
to facilitate a
"real" power-sharing deal, it had done much to find a
political solution to
the country's decade-long crisis and was let down by
Mugabe and Tsvangirai's
fixation on gaining maximum power in the envisaged
unity government.
The pact signed on September 15 last year,
the analysts said, was on
the verge of collapsing and would take direct
intervention by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to salvage it.
Tsvangirai's party meets on Sunday to decide whether or not to support
Constitutional Amendment No19, which gives legal effect to the power-sharing
pact, when it is introduced in parliament on Tuesday.
The
MDC had earlier indicated that it would oppose the Bill until
"outstanding
issues" of the pact are resolved.
This, the analysts said,
would signal the collapse of the deal and the
country's crisis will deepen
and worsen the humanitarian situation.
Among the outstanding
issues the MDC-Tsvangirai cites are the
allocation of ministerial
portfolios; appointment of governors, ambassadors
and permanent secretaries;
and the constitutive nature of national security
council.
Political commentator Alex Magaisa said there were no hopes of Sadc
salvaging the deal given the positions of Mugabe and
Tsvangirai.
"To continue to raise hopes and insist on the deal,
which is yielding
nothing, is tantamount to buying time and patience for the
Mugabe regime
while the disaster is unfolding in Zimbabwe," Magaisa
observed.
He said both parties were to blame.
"For its
part, the MDC is not helping matters. They protest that there
are
fundamental breaches of the deal, that the talks have stalled and there
are
abductions and all manner of violations that suggests to all and sundry
that
nothing good will comes out of this, yet incredibly insist that they
are
still committed to the mediation process," Magaisa said.
"There
must come a point, surely, when they have to say that this is
not working
and it's not going to work and pursue other options. But I fear,
however,
that they have no other strategy other than the negotiations --
that means
they are stuck (and so are Zimbabweans) in a process that is
unlikely to
yield anything."
Sadc chairperson and also South African
president, Kgalema Motlanthe
indicated that there was nothing Sadc could do
for Mugabe and Tsvangirai to
form a unity government.
"Being the chair does not mean you have the power to take or push for
decisions the parties to the conflict are not agreeable to," Motlanthe told
the South African Mail & Guardian. "Our role can only be to facilitate
the
process of finding solutions."
He said if the regional
bloc had its way, the constitutional amendment
should have been tabled in
parliament in the first week of January, but the
MDC took a decision to
convene the House on January 20.
Motlanthe lamented the absence
of Tsvangirai from Zimbabwe and
insisted the MDC should join the unity
government.
"Whatever outstanding issues the MDC might have can
be dealt with
after an inclusive government is formed," he suggested.
"Besides, without
such a government efforts to deal with the humanitarian
crisis are
hampered."
Eldred Masunungure, a political
science professor at the University of
Zimbabwe, recently told the Zimbabwe
Independent that Tsvangirai should be
party to the unity government and
"participate under protest".
He said the MDC leader's concern
with the security apparatus of the
country could be addressed by insisting
on the creation of a professional
oversight body to oversee the security
sector.
"This oversight structure will be comprised of men and
women of
integrity consensually selected by all three principals and its
function
will be to monitor the conduct of the police, defence forces and
intelligence sector and ensure that these agencies do their work
professionally and above partisan considerations," Masunungure
suggested.
Michael Mhike, a political scientist, said
Zimbabweans should not be
concerned with what Sadc should do to persuade
Mugabe and Tsvangirai to form
a government of national unity, but should
focus on how the impasse should
be resolved.
"Zimbabwe at
this defining moment needs to turn a new leaf and it does
not appear that
Zanu PF is willing to relinquish executive control of the
state," he said.
"What the deal provides is a framework that leaves Zanu PF
in control of the
state while giving some control to the MDC through the
council of
ministers."
"The passage of time since the signing of the deal
confirms that the
two dominant political forces cannot work together
suggesting that the
solution may lie in holding fresh presidential elections
for the people of
Zimbabwe to determine who should lead them," Mhike
suggested.
"I do not think that a solution supported by Sadc
with no cash will
do. Zimbabwe urgently requires external financial support
and the providers
of such potential support have already
spoken.
They want a new face to represent Zimbabwe and after 28
years in power
there must be some recognition that responsibility for the
crisis may lie in
the very players who want more time to do the
same."
He said it was wrong for anyone to suggest that MDC was
holding the
country to ransom when Zanu PF was in control of the state even
after the
outcome of the elections.
"The current state of
affairs shows that Zanu PF does not need the
legitimisation of citizens to
continue to hold onto power," Mhike argued.
"It is MDC that went to the
elections to gain something from the process,
but an absurd outcome has
resulted where the doors to state power will
remain closed without
patronage. Zanu PF will need to change its approach to
governance that has
helped create a power vacuum and MDC has no pride to
swallow when it has
nothing to give. Its demands are supported by what
people voted
for."
The International Crisis Group in its latest report
suggested that
Zimbabwe needed an 18-months transitional government
excluding Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to drive the drafting of a people-driven
constitution,
institutional reforms and prepare for free and fair
elections.
It said the power-sharing deal was
dead.
BY CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15
January 2009 19:13
IN terms of the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act
(Aippa) as amended in January 2008, Section 38 of the
statutory instrument
notes the creation of the Zimbabwe Media Commission
(ZMC), which replaces
the Media and Information Commission
(MIC).
Although the functions of the newly created ZMC are
largely similar
to those of the former MIC as set out in Section 39, there
is no clause or
provision in the Act which presupposes that the MIC shall be
transformed
into the ZMC.
Nor is there any intimation that the
MIC may execute the duties
expressly mandated to the ZMC. In fact the
wording of the Act clearly
anticipates the formation of the ZMC and sets out
the manner of appointment
of the new office bearers.
Section 39 of the Principal Act which establishes the MIC reads:
Established
is a Commission, to be known as the Media and Information
Commission, which
shall be a body corporate capable of suing and being sued
in its own name
and, subject to this Act, of performing all acts that bodies
corporate may
by law perform.
On the other hand the amendment Act under Section
38 reads:
established is a Commission to be known as the Zimbabwe Media
Commission,
which shall be a body corporate capable of suing and being sued
in its
corporate name and, subject to this Act, of performing all acts that
bodies
corporate may by law perform.
A casual glance at the
provisions outlined above raises one
interesting question about the legality
of any media commission. This
question hinges precisely on the premise of
the legal persona of the
Commission.
This is where the
Commission derives its legal recognition and power
to act as an independent
artificial person. It is this legal persona that
legally empowers any body
corporate to act or carry out such business as may
be reasonably incidental
to the objectives enshrined in its articles of
association.
If, therefore, a commission or any other artificial legal entity
should lose
such legal persona or corporate personality it necessarily loses
its power
to act. It is therefore unequivocally clear that the former MIC,
having been
replaced by the ZMC, lost its legal persona and, by the same
token, its
legal recognition.
What this means is that the MIC can no
longer lawfully act or issue
legally binding directives as it has recently
purported to do as implicitly
highlighted by its attempt (acting through the
minister) to issue the new
steep application and accreditation fees that
were recently gazetted by the
government.
This act is a
nullity; it is of no force and effect. Any attempt at
according the
actions of the MIC legal recognition would be a perpetuation
of the
illegality since the MIC no longer exists at law. Its directives are
therefore illegal and unconstitutional.
One pertinent
question that also comes to mind is the idea of when a
Bill becomes law. At
which precise moment does a Bill become an official
legal instrument? It is
a trite point that a Bill, having gone through
parliament and duly passed by
the same body becomes law upon being signed by
the president, or upon a
two-third majority resolution by parliament should
the president refuse to
so sign.
However, in the present scenario we need not bother
ourselves with the
latter scenario, since the Aippa Amendment Bill was duly
passed by
parliament and signed into law by the president in January
2008.
Having noted the above position and bearing in mind the
fact that the
law does not operate retrospectively, it is clear that the
operations of the
MIC were suspended by the passing of the amendment
Act.
Its subsequent existence after the passing of the Act was just
as
illegal as any other business that it may have purported to conduct under
the guise of the Commission, unless such business was reasonably incidental
to its winding up.
Only the ZMC could legally execute the
business of the Commission
thereafter. The fact that to date the ZMC has not
been constituted does not
then sanitise the illegal operation of the former
Commission. Not even
convenience or necessity can exonerate or legally
justify the continued
operation of this body.
It should be the
duty of the government to ensure that an enabling
environment that can
conduce to the realisation or creation of this new
legal body is
created.
Section 38 clearly states: The Commission (ZMC) shall
have a
chairperson and eight other members appointed by the president from a
list
of not fewer than 12 nominees submitted by the Committee on Standing
Rules
and Orders.
The fact that the ZMC is yet to be formed
or created is a fault that
inevitably lies with the Parliament, considering
the fact that it did not
endeavour to take necessary steps to ensure that
the statutory body came to
life.
However the executive,
being the arm of government responsible for the
implementation of the law,
should be apportioned with the greater part of
the blame. As noted above, a
Bill becomes law upon being assented to by the
president.
Why
the executive then chose to sit on the law before its
implementation boggles
the mind. There can be no capable justification for
the fact that ZMC is
still not constituted.
The "dirty hands" principle is a fairly
common maxim which stipulates
that a party cannot approach the court for
redress with soiled hands. This
means that one has to comply with the law
first before seeking legal redress
from the court. This classic maxim was
applied in the case of The Daily News
by Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku.
In this case the Chief Justice denied the
applicant the right of
audience before the court on the basis that it had
not fully complied with
the law by choosing not to register as a media
house, notwithstanding the
fact that the applicant was challenging the
constitutionality of that same
requirement that it was now being compelled
to fulfil before it could
properly come before the court.
In the same vein, the continued existence of the MIC is illegal
rendering
any of its proclamations or directives null and void.
One wonders
how its directives can be legally enforceable when it has
long outlived its
sell-by date. Unless its legal persona is reassumed, it
therefore cannot
wish to demand legal compliance from any sector of the
media industry before
it justifies or shows its existence to be legal.
What is
however shocking is the fact that the Minister of Information
and Publicity,
purporting to execute his duty under the guise of Section 91
of Aippa
recently enacted new regulations under statutory instrument 185 of
2008.
The Amendment which is cited as Access to Information and
Protection
of Privacy (Registration, Accreditation, and Levy) (Amendment)
Regulations,
2008 (No.5) fixes the new accreditation and registration fees
for
journalists working for foreign media.
The new fees
proposed are absurdly high. They range from about US$4
000 to about US$30
000 in application and accreditation fees of journalists
working for the
foreign media and international media wishing to operate in
Zimbabwe
respectively.
Besides being illegal, these fees are unjustifiably
high. Even if the
fees were set within reasonable limits, the question is:
to whom should the
fees be paid given the fact that MIC is now legally
defunct and the ZMC is
yet to be constituted.
The new
statutory instrument was gazetted on 19 December 2008, yet
purports to
operate retrospectively, as it clearly states that new
regulations shall
become operational with effect from August 1 2008.
Clearly there is
nothing to merit or warrant retrospective operation
of the law from a purely
rational standpoint. This development appears to be
nothing short of being
senseless and illogical.
There is yet another legal twist to
this debacle pertaining to the
issuance of regulations by the minister in
terms of statutory instrument 185
of 2008. The minister no longer has these
powers.
This power now vests within the domain of the ZMC which has
not yet
come into existence. The role of the minister under the new
amendment is
reduced to a merely consultative one in which the commission
(which is
absent in the present case) only requires the approval of the
minister to
make any regulations or proclamations.
The minister
cannot however make these regulations. It is clear
beyond any reasonable
doubt that the directive by the minister seeking to
review the registration
and accreditation fees is legally defective. The
minister made regulations
which he is not legally competent to make. On this
ground the regulations
are null and void.
Beyond this obvious unlawfulness of the
entire process there are also
the illogically steep fees that have been
gazetted in the legally invalid
regulations. The fees are prohibitive and
punitively high.
They can arguably be regarded as being in
violation of the fundamental
right to freedom of expression. It is clearly a
hindrance to the free
dissemination of information on the part of those
journalists working with
foreign media agencies.
The right
to free expression on its own without the necessary
conditions for
exercising the same right becomes very dim. Arguably a right
is meaningless
if it is impossible for the right-holder to exercise it. The
restrictive
fees imposed by the regulations are so prohibitive that they may
in all
probability reduce the right to an unusable conceptual form.
Farai Nhende is a legal intern with Misa-Zimbabwe.
BY FARAI
NHENDE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15 January 2009
18:38
NO matter how greatly government may wish to do so, it is now
impossible to deny that the Zimbabwean economy is very substantially
"dollarised".
Irrespective of whether it be in the
formal or informal sectors, or
even significantly so within the public
sector, Zimbabwean currency has
become virtually meaningless, without any
substantive value, and
unacceptable to most.
Almost all in
industry, most traders, the majority of service
providers, many parastatals
and numerous local authorities now demand that
payments to them be made in
sound international currencies, and not in the
near defunct Zimbabwean
currency.
Even those that do not demand such payment vigorously
encourage it.
(Thus, for example, it is still possible to pay for flights
between Bulawayo
and Harare on Air Zimbabwe with the national currency, but
the airline
prefers meaningful currency payments and, therefore, pitches the
domestic
currency fare at punitive levels intended to motivate passengers to
pay in
US dollars - at time of writing, a Bulawayo/Harare return flight was
priced
at US$215 (including taxes), or Z$19,2 quintillion!).
Should anything be read into the fact that even the book written by
the
governor of the Reserve Bank, Dr Gideon Gono, was priced in US
dollars?
The harsh fact is that with annual inflation being
hundreds of
billions per cent, if not now exceeding a trillion per cent, no
one wants to
have Zimbabwean cash for it devalues before one can spend
it.
Moreover, even though there has recently been some significant
enhancements in Reserve Bank limits on cash withdrawals from banks, the
amounts of cash available to most are grossly insufficient to fund basic
essential expenditures and purchases. Therefore, the prevailing currencies
operating within Zimbabwe's tragically decimated economy are, in the main,
US dollars, the South African rand, Botswana pula, and British
pounds.
Government is vigorously opposed to "dollarisation",
both because it
perceives it as a surrender of Zimbabwe's sovereignty,
albeit that that is
not so, and because so many within, or associated with
those within
government are widely reputed to be very profitably engaged,
directly or
indirectly, in trafficking in foreign currencies.
However, that opposition has not deterred government legislating that
many
custom duties and other import charges be payable to the Zimbabwe
Revenue
Authority (Zimra) in foreign currency, government hospitals and
schools
accepting foreign currency payments, Zesa seeking foreign currency
payments
from the mining sector and other exporters, and numerous other arms
of
government similarly demanding or, at the least, seeking payments in
foreign
currencies.
But because it is unacceptable to government that
any other than the
Reserve Bank and government itself should resort to
foreign currency charges
for goods or services, wide-ranging "raids" are
repeatedly launched upon the
business sector (exclusive of the foreign
currency licenced enterprises,
being Foliwars, Felicos and
Felopads).
Reportedly, last week more than 100 businessmen and
informal sector
vendors were arrested, and any foreign currency in their
possession
impounded, generally without issue of receipts!
It is long overdue for government to recognize realities, and to
respond
constructively to them, and one such reality is that Zimbabwean
circumstance
is such that survival of the economy, as weakened as it is,
necessitates
legalised dollarisation (as well as very many other long
overdue actions),
and that dollarisation would be one constructive measure
towards containment
of hyperinflation. Government needs to overcome its
bigoted resistance to
that which is now an economic essential.
It is time for it to "bite
the bullet", in the best interests of the
populace it is intended to
serve.
The renowned Professor Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University,
highly
respected for his in-depth understanding of various features of the
Zimbabwean economy, suggests three exchange rate options for Zimbabwe in his
work "Zimbabwe: Hyperinflation to Growth", being:
"1.
Dollarisation (or Randisation). Zimbabwe already has a high, but
unknown,
degree of unofficial dollarisation. With the introduction of
foreign
currency shops, the public has been allowed to purchase goods from
retailers
in foreign currency. In addition to over 500 registered shops
operating in
foreign currency, the wider informal sector has long been
transacting in
foreign currency, making dollarisation (officially or
unofficially) a de
facto reality in Zimbabwe.
(Official or full dollarisation is
where a foreign currency - possibly
the rand, or US dollar - has exclusive,
predominant status as full legal
tender so that the domestic currency is
phased out and replaced by the US
dollar or South African rand. Countries
that adopt this model can no longer
have an independent monetary policy and
set their own interest rates but
must 'import' the monetary policy of the
country whose currency is chosen).
2. Free Banking, which
existed in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia)
until 1940 when a currency
board was established. This leaves private
commercial banks to issue notes
and other liabilities with 'minimal
regulation'. The banking system is
unregulated; there are no reserve ratios,
no legal restrictions on bank
portfolios and no lender of last resort.
3. A Currency Board
must hold foreign reserves equal to 100% of the
domestic money supply
determined at a fixed exchange rate. As a result,
money supply, and thereby
interest rates, are determined by market forces."
In Zimbabwe's
distressed circumstances, what government and the
Reserve Bank should now
put in place is an appropriate blend of the actual
current market practices,
and elements of the options identified by
Professor Hanke.
Effectively, Zimbabwe's exchange controls should be modified by the
elimination of all controls, save and except that, transitionally until such
time as Zimbabwe enjoys a favourable balance of payments, there be some
constraints upon the externalisation of assets from Zimbabwe, and there be
reasonable and equitable regulations and controls over foreign investment in
Zimbabwe.
In particular, the economy should be free to operate
in whatsoever
currencies individuals and enterprises deem fit, and exchange
rates to
Zimbabwean currency should be determined by market forces, rather
than by
regulation or by banks' determination.
Allowing
usage of a spread of foreign currencies, instead of tying
Zimbabwe to a
specified one, avoids Zimbabwe having to seek the consent of
the relevant
issuing country, and minimizes the impacts of other countries'
monetary
policies upon Zimbabwe.
It also recognizes the current diverse
sources of foreign currency for
the Zimbabwean population, the greatest
thereof being the millions of
Zimbabweans now located in South Africa, other
regional countries, United
Kingdom, Australia and
elsewhere.
A prerequisite of monetary deregulation is that the
populace should be
masters of their own foreign currency. Therefore, foreign
currency accounts
(FCAs) should not be mandatorily situated at the Reserve
Bank, but should be
operable through the private sector financial
institutions as selected by
commerce and industry, other economic sectors
and the public at large,
albeit subject to Reserve Bank controls to prevent
unauthorised
externalisation of funds. Moreover, government should source
its foreign
exchange requirements competitively within the open
market.
None of these measures preclude Zimbabwe also having
its own currency
(which, once inflation is contained, can again have value),
and at the right
time in the future the present near valueless currency can
be replaced. If
replacement is to be effected immediately, ahead of economic
recovery,
containment of inflation and currency deregulation, then the
Zimbabwean
dollar should be replaced by the Zimbabwean Azeko!
BY ERIC BLOCH
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15
January 2009 18:27
Distortion in the state media is reaching epic
proportions. South
African president Kgalema Motlanthe was quoted in the
Herald last Saturday
as "slamming" the MDC-T for having a "lackadaisical"
attitude towards
forming an inclusive government.
In fact
Motlanthe said "the parties there (in Zimbabwe) have sometimes
had a
lackadaisical attitude to these matters", referring to forming an
inclusive
government and solving the humanitarian crisis.
In other words,
the Herald inserted the MDC-T into their story as the
sole target of
Motlanthe's remarks.
And where did the Herald get its story? It looks
suspiciously like
Ebrahim Harvey's interview in the Mail & Guardian. If
so, they omitted the
bit where Motlanthe referred to "fair conditions for a
presidential run-off"
not existing in June which led the Sadc heads to act
on the Zimbabwe crisis.
And for the record, Sadc has not
"rejected" a request for a meeting
between Motlanthe, President Mugabe, and
Morgan Tsvangirai. Sadc executive
secretary Tomaz Salomao simply said Sadc
had no plans to convene such a
meeting at present.
Not
quite the same thing, is it?
Meanwhile, it was useful to have
Motlanthe disclose in the M&G
interview that he called Mugabe and asked
for a passport to be placed in a
diplomatic bag and sent to Tsvangirai,
which was done. Amazing isn't it that
South Africa had to intervene to
ensure Tsvangirai got what he was entitled
to.
There has
been a whole raft of speculative comments in the government
press about what
Motlanthe said, Salomao said and Frazer said. Some of it is
even put in
quotation marks when the reporter is obviously quoting himself!
None of these three would make the sort of crass statements they are
quoted
as making. And why does the Herald believe it is promoting
constructive
dialogue by insulting Tsvangirai on a daily basis and printing
the state's
childish claims about leadership divisions in the party?
Why
hasn't any government commentator said when and where Frazer made
the
remarks she was reported by them to have made regarding Tsvangirai being
"too weak to stand up to Mugabe"? Strange isn't it that nobody can source
those remarks?
Hasn't Zanu PF woken up yet to the fact that
Zimbabweans do not hate
Britain and the US? The target of public outrage is
located closer to home!
How many Zimbabweans do you hear going
around saying "it's all the
fault of Britain and the US"? Only a handful of
fools in the government
press say that.
And Zanu PF's
concoction that it is the Americans holding Tsvangirai
back from joining a
unity government is equally daft. It is the majority of
MDC-T members who
don't want him to be associated with a party that abducts
and tortures its
members.
Mugabe's gang think that their tactics will force
Tsvangirai into
their discredited project. But it is having the opposite
effect. How can a
party committed to democratic reform and the rule of law
submit to one that
kidnaps and tortures them as a means of
coercion?
And why is Zimpapers thanking Sikanyiso Ndlovu for
his sterling
service to the media as Minister of Information? What did the
public say
when they voted in Mpopoma on June 27 when a by-election was held
in that
constituency alongside the presidential run-off?
He
tried to get the MDC to "see sense" during his tenure as minister,
Ndlovu
told the Sunday Mail. But it seems they weren't listening. Nor was
anybody
else.
It was one of three by-elections to be held post-March
and it repeated
what voters said so decisively on March 29. Muckraker
forecast a humiliating
defeat for Ndlovu at the polls after the minister
made boasts at the Quill
Club.
Never mind, the Sunday Mail
gave his Zdeco distance education project
several paragraphs of free
advertising. A consolation prize.
Muckraker was interested to see
Justice Edwin Cameron's remarks on the
role of judges following his
elevation to South Africa's constitutional
court.
He was
asked by the Sunday Times whether he agreed with Justice Carole
Lewis who
criticised the quality of judges suggesting that "the problem
arose when
political connections and race took precedence over merit in
appointments to
the bench".
"I think that she rightly signalled a widely-held
concern," Cameron
replied. "Being a judge is a tough job technically, a
tough job emotionally,
a tough job intellectually, and we need tough men and
women who can do it."
What he meant was crystal clear. The
bench needs justices who can
exercise an independent mind, who can stand up
to political pressure and who
are not seen as creatures of
ministers.
No South African judge, for instance, seeking the
respect of his peers
in the legal profession, would take ownership of a
confiscated farm knowing
full well that the lease on that farm could be
withdrawn by the Minister of
Lands at any given time.
Cameron follows events in Zimbabwe closely. His appointment is a
welcome
addition to South Africa's constitutional order and we wish him
well.
Has our old friend Gideon Gono got a licence to trade in
US dollars?
Obviously he has because his recent autobiographical work is
sold
exclusively in the US unit. Perhaps he awarded himself a licence!
Meanwhile,
his green bombers are visiting newspapers to inspect their forex
receipts.
This is what is called selective application of the
law. Unless of
course he is prepared to show us his. It would be useful to
know how the
book is selling. Public libraries will be classifying it under
"Fiction", we
are told.
Muckraker has not watched ZTV for
years. It is very simply
unwatchable.
But over the holiday
in a moment of madness, Muckraker tuned in to
Channel 138 on DStv and
started to watch an episode of Prison Break, which
looked very much as if it
had been lifted from another network.
Then, halfway through,
the soundtrack gave way to what sounded a bit
like Soul
Train.
Obviously, something had gone seriously wrong at
Pocket's Hill. So we
watched another channel and then returned to ZTV 20
minutes later. But the
soul music was still blaring out while the Prison
Break episode continued
minus its original soundtrack.
We
don't know for how long this went on. But nobody at ZTV seemed to
notice. We
would hazard a guess that somebody had gone to sleep and leaned
on the audio
control. Can ZTV shed any light on this strange occurrence?
Manheru
in his piece last Saturday gave us a useful exhibition of how
to invent a
story and then write an editorial to support it. The targets of
his venom
were Eddie Cross, Roy Bennett and Ian Kay.
This coterie of "Rhodesians"
are accused of suborning Tsvangirai so
certain strategic ministries are
reserved for themselves.
In that way they will return the
country to the past, we are rather
improbably told.
Throughout his piece Manheru repeatedly used the word "ignorant". The
three
accused are for instance called "a haughty, ignorant triumvirate" even
though the charges against them are entirely imagined by the meisterspinner
himself.
Cross's metaphor, in an article he wrote, about
passengers saying they
would not climb aboard the unity bus so long as
Mugabe is at the wheel,
appears to have given particular offence to the
haughty Manheru.
"It is a vivid imagery, a more advanced metaphor than
Welensky's
rustic horse and rider one, so fashionable in federal days," he
declared.
There's only one thing wrong here. The horse and
rider metaphor was
the product of Godfrey Huggins, not Roy
Welensky.
"Oh ignorance the leveller," Manheru comments later
on.
Indeed.
We have commented here before on the Met
Office report in the Herald
being a work of fiction. On Tuesday they had the
minimum for Harare as two
degrees. A bit on the chilly side, you may
think.
But pity the poor inhabitants of Bulawayo. Their minimum was
minus
three. In January!
Also in Tuesday's Herald, under
the 50 Years Ago heading, was an
interesting report on Ruwa Scout Park where
parents were helping their
children prepare for the Central African
Jamboree.
"A large arena had been prepared and planted with
grass," we were
told, "and the camp had been installed with electricity and
telephones, all
without outside assistance."
Imagine that.
In 1959 the Ruwa Scout Camp had electricity and
telephones installed by
volunteers. And a Scout Jamboree was held without
anybody being arrested and
imprisoned on dubious charges. How far we have
come!
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15
January 2009 18:50
DOLLARISATION is a phenomenon that touches on raw
political nerves
because sovereignty is involved.
In Zimbabwe,
where our rulers have displayed unbridled hostility to
the US, one would
have thought convincing them to accept American money
would be an arduous
task.
But official pronouncements lately show that the Zanu PF
government is
warming up to the idea of abandoning the local currency in
preference to the
greenback.
It is worrying that in its
quest to save face and defend its
nationalist mantras, the government is
getting it wrong again, and with
damaging ramifications for the
economy.
The government has proposed paying health profession
staff in foreign
currency. It has already given state-run medical
institutions the go-ahead
to charge fees in foreign currency.
On the other hand, the same government has launched a blitz against
businesses which are charging for goods and services in foreign currency
without the requisite licences from the central bank.
This
is the form of structural dislocation of our policy-makers which
has ensured
that every monetary policy decision becomes a disaster in the
end.
Firstly the awarding of forex trading licences to select
businesses
last year was the virtual go-ahead to business, including the
informal
sector, to charge for goods and services in foreign currency. The
issuance
of licences has virtually become an academic process because the
thrust to
dollarisation was given impetus by government
itself.
We have seen the same mistakes in the last four years
when the Reserve
Bank tried to come up with favourable exchange rates for a
select portion of
business while everyone else was expected to trade at the
suppressed rates.
Immediately after a partial devaluation to suit a
particular sector, the
whole market responded to trade in the higher
paradigm.
The decision to allow government hospitals to charge
for services in
foreign currency and to pay health staff in US dollars is
another such
trendsetting decision that has serious ramifications for the
whole country
largely because government is the largest
employer.
All civil servants and parastatals employees will now
want to be paid
in foreign currency. Other government departments will now
want to charge
for their services in foreign currency.
This
week cabinet was expected to deliberate of the possibility of
government
charging school fees in foreign currency.
This decision was
deferred but it is one government has to make soon
and will determine
whether we have fully dollarised or not. Putting the
issue of affordability
aside, it is important for policy-makers here to
understand that
dollarisation under the current circumstances will not
practically deal with
the crippling problem of inflation.
We must disabuse ourselves of
the silver-bullet notion in dealing with
our crisis. Were we not led down
the garden path by economists into
believing that floating the currency was
the wherewithal to our economic
crisis?
In fact there is
evidence from Latin American countries that
dollarised economies tend to
display higher inflation rates, higher
propensity to suffer banking crises
and slower and more volatile growth,
without significant gains in terms of
domestic financial depth.
All these woes are with us at the
moment and they are not going to be
solved by dollarisation.
Our
columnist Eric Bloch last year said "dollarisation can only
achieve
financial-system and economic metamorphosis if the underlying
principal
cause of the distraught state of that system and the economy is a
pronouncedly defective central banking system, in need of replacement by
alternative monetary infrastructures".
There has not been
official data for months to show the extent of
inflation, and such data is
undoubtedly intentionally suppressed by
government. It is evident to
everyone that inflation has surged upwards to
in excess of one billion %
year-on-year to December, 2008, and is continuing
to rise at a horrendous
pace.
This gargantuan inflation is solely attributable to the
defective
monetary regime and failed economic policies, and can therefore
not be
halted by dollarisation, in isolation. We need to deal with other
very major
stimulants of Zimbabwe's world-highest inflation, chief among
them depressed
production.
The considerably decreased
foreign exchange generation in agriculture,
the great reduction in export
operations of the manufacturing sector, the
lowering outputs of much of the
mining sector, and the substantial fall in
tourism have all contributed to
the intense erosion of foreign exchange
generation.
As a
result, much of commerce and industry, and other economic
players, have
become increasingly dependent upon alternative market funding
of imports, at
exchange rates encompassing marked premiums over official
rates, and this
has further fuelled inflation. All these causes of Zimbabwe's
hyperinflation
would not be substantively addressed by a dollarisation of
the
economy.
Despite the merits of dollarisation, those merits
cannot be
forthcoming unless, prior to or concurrently with dollaristion,
appropriate
actions would be taken to eliminate the drivers, of inflation.
All these
problems have their roots in governance. A ruling order and
central bank
that fail to defend the currency of a country should fall
together with that
currency.
BY VINCENT KAHIYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15 January 2009 18:35
CIRCUMSTANCE has transformed the whole nation of Zimbabwe into
dealers,
conmen and crooks, whose numbness and shark-like instincts have
long undone
any elementary appreciation for the requisite basics and
dictates necessary
for growing or sustaining a country.
Crazed blind bulls in a
china shop sums up the scenario. It is
however not by design and
definitely not by choice.
The object of this letter is not to
offend fellow Zimbabweans, far
from it. It is instead to give a brief
insight into an invaluable aspect of
the unexplored immediate aftermath of
the formation of an "all-inclusive"
government.
The
greatest drawback to the anticipated redemption of the Zimbabwean
economy is
the Zimbabwean people themselves!
So irretrievably entrenched
in the convolution of rogue informal
trading, dealing, taking advantage
and siphoning -- it will take at least a
generation for the country to come
up with citizens sober and fit for
meaningful contribution to real
extrication of this dead economy from its
predicament.
Citizens who will realise one and one will always make two no matter
who you
are or who you know!
A mere change of government will surely be exposed
as meaningless and
valueless in bringing about any relief in the coming
Zimbabwe.
Far more damage has been done to people's livelihoods
and routines for
this simple and over celebrated prescription to bring about
a cure or a
turnaround of fortunes.
For instance, who in
their right mind would opt for a formal job for a
fraction of what they used
to make from a two hour deal at a street corner?
Would you?
Change will take much, much more. It will take a new people with new
ideologies, a total reprogramming of minds and a completely new
leadership.
A leadership not moulded in the press of
persecution and struggle
against a dictatorship and coming out dictators
themselves.
Leaders without scars that constantly remind them
of how grateful the
rest of us have to be to them for ''liberating'' us.
Champions of human
rights with magnanimity to appreciate all people's
equality in their need to
be accorded access to opportunity and personal
advancement.
It will take a lot more than the euphoric song and
dance that
characterised the end of the war in the bush as opportunistic
thugs went on
an orgy plundering our resources while our guardians let go of
the economic
reins the ousted white colonialists had meticulously set
up.
This has thrown the country into an irretrievable tailspin
that has
led us to where we find ourselves today. A place where even the
greenback
tumbles in value.
Perhaps we should stop fighting
this reality with our ridiculously
inflated national ego.
We should perhaps accept the current state of affairs as our real
identity
and stop masquerading as the educated and gifted people capable of
turning
the country around, which in itself is very doubtful.
We should
probably erase the sweet memories of the past Zimbabwe and
acknowledge it
was nothing but a fading and passing shadow of the great
Rhodesia whose
complex maintenance was and still remains unfortunately
beyond our
scope.
Concerned Doctor,
Harare.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday,
15 January 2009 18:33
I FIND it hard to believe that Zanu PF really
wants to work with the
MDC-Tsvangirai in the GNU. The venom and vitriol
spewed by state officials
and Zanu PF apparatchiks like George Charamba
seems to swell by the day.
Day in day out the state
media is awash with stories of factions
baying for Morgan Tsvangirai's blood
and propaganda that he is a terrorist
as he is training rebels in Botswana.
In the same issue you find news items
that they have invited Tsvangirai to
the GNU.
How can anyone in their sane mind invite a terrorist
into a
government? I believe Morgan Tsvangirai is on record stating that he
will
not join the GNU if certain conditions are not met so I wonder why Zanu
PF
expends its energies trying to lure him.
If he is not
his own man as they always tell us why do they want him
on board? What if
his so-called Western masters continue to control him in
the new government?
Who will carry the blame for having brought a "traitor"?
Why not just take
on Mutambara who has shown his willingness to join in a
no-question asked
condition? After all he has degrees and will bring them an
extra 50
voters!
If Tsvangirai decides to join the new government what
will those in
the state media houses and government press offices say when
he becomes
their senior? Isn't it time to tone down on vitriol lest they are
overtaken
by events?
The other thing I find stupid from the
state media and Zanu PF
officials is the insinuation recently that there is
a faction of whites --
namely Eddie Cross -- who are planning to oust
Tsvangirai and consequently
lead the MDC.
If the USA can be
ruled by a black person why can't the same happen
here? We in the MDC don't
choose leaders on racial, ethnic, religious or
tribal grounds. Ours is a
party which welcomes all who love peace and
democracy.
Look
at how the likes of Roy Bennett, Ian Kay and David Coltart have
trounced
Zanu PF over the years. We never heard MDC-Tsvangirai or MDC-M
candidates
who lost to these guys in the primary elections decampaigning
them on racial
grounds. After all it is the electorate's will that should be
respected and
which spoke -- as they did on March 29 2008.
Llodza,
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 15 January 2009 18:56
EDITOR: why do you not have a more comprehensive classified ads page
as most
other newspapers do? Correct this issue.
Reader,
Rusape.
OVER 1 000 people killed in 17 days in Gaza and over 2
000 people have
died in Zimbabwe from cholera. Whether people are being
killed by
phosphorous bombs or a medieval bacteria human life is being
played around
with by these politicians. The world must stop these evil
tyrants.
Muckabout.
WHERE was Britain and America when
Gukurahundi was battering people in
Matabeleland and Midlands? Can we trust
them to be our saviours now? I am
definitely not impressed by their
antics.
E Ndlovu, Bulawayo.
THE Ministry of Education must
accept reality and take responsibility
for neglecting the welfare of
teachers and for not reforming the inefficient
Zimsec. The warning signs
were flashing as early as 2003.
Irate Parent.
WITH the
legalising of the use of the South African rand and United
States dollar in
Zimbabwe it certainly means that this colony will never be
a country again.
We have now become the northern province of South Africa.
Give us a
break!
Analyst, Masvingo.
EVERYTHING is now pegged in
foreign currency except the worker's
salary. Gideon Gono should stop
pretending as if he has a plan to extricate
us from this disaster. He should
just swallow his pride and quit. Failure is
not an option but a
reality.
Observer.
SCHOOLS and hospitals remain closed,
inflation is at a record high,
monetary transactions are now almost
exclusively in foreign currency and a
third of the populace has now
emigrated to foreign lands. In the midst of
all this someone has the
temerity to state that "Zimbabwe will never
collapse".
J,
Marondera.
WHILST one would appreciate that there needs to be
sanity in the
charging of school fees, the government has shown once again
its
shortsightedness by not coming up with a school fees structure plan in
good
time. They now want to deliberate upon it when we are already in
January and
when schools should have been opened.
Disgusted.
ROBERT Mugabe must just go now.
Taneta,
Harare.
MORGAN Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe are all the same.
They all pursue
personal power and not to serve the people. Removing Mugabe
would only be
changing a prison officer but we would still be in
jail.
Sebele woMzansi, Bulawayo.
IS it not proper to agree
to the rules that govern a soccer game
before playing instead of creating
rules when the game is in full swing? So
Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe
should clear all outstanding issues
before kick off. To demand for a penalty
when it had not been included in
the rules would be a naïve expectation from
an untrustworthy rival. The
referee would then be the Constitution.
Zwai, Masvingo.
I WOULD greatly appreciate it if Morgan Tsvangirai
would come out
clearly as to where he stands on the envisaged power sharing
government.
Instead of hearing from the horse's mouth we are bombarded by
nonsensical
analyses from so-called political commentators from both the
state and
private media who are completely clueless about what is going on
but want to
pretend otherwise. We would rather hear from Tsvangirai for whom
we voted
for and come to our own conclusions and not have an interpretation
shoved
down our throats.
Supporter.
NEXT elections we
should not vote for either MDC-T or Zanu PF. They
are both responsible for
our suffering and are all dictators. Let us be
warned!
KaGatsheni,
Bulawayo.
THE diatribe we are subjected to on national radio and
television is
totally sickening to say the least. Sinister characters
purporting to be
political analysts make comments on the political situation
that are totally
uncomplimentary and sow seeds of division in our nation.
They vituperate the
opposition in a manner that even fools cannot
comprehend. They are dishing
out ideological cholera and Zimbabweans should
wash their ears and ignore
them, as better days are ahead.
IHZ.
JORAM Nyathi should not be given any space in your paper to
write Zanu
PF propaganda. It would be better if that space were allocated to
Sudoku.
Y M, Bulawayo.
WE always talk of freedom of speech
and democracy but want to gag
Arthur Mutambara and Joram Nyathi for telling
it as it is. Hypocricy isn't
it?
Ndlovenkulu, Bulawayo.