Qualifier kicks off Hopman Cup action

Mliswa, who was allocated Spring Farm in Karoi under the controversial land reform, is accusing Kasukuwere of teaming up with Nhodza to dispossess him of a service station situated on his farm.
The controversial fitness trainer, who once tried his luck at the troubled Dynamos FC, said he owned the service station under a fuel supply deal concluded with the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe on November 29 2004.
Private fuel procurer and wholesaler Mobil owns the pumps at the service station, which has a capacity to store 75 000 litres. Mobil had, in a letter dated November 30 2004, agreed to dispose of the pumps to Mliswa.
It is, however, government policy that infrastructure on farms designated for purposes of resettlement becomes state property, which technically belongs to the new leaseholder.
Mliswa said Nhodza, who is linked to Wedzera Petroleum, an indigenous fuel procurer, had mounted a bid to wrest the service station from him and had roped in Mt Darwin Member of Parliament Kasukuwere to use his political clout.
“The plot has nothing to do with ZANU PF. It is instead a plot by selfish individuals within the party who think they can use their political positions to bulldoze their way to anything they want. Nhodza, my real adversary, is using Kasukuwere to use his political position to take over my farm and service station.
“I have invested a lot in that farm and now somebody just comes from the blue saying he must have the land. Those guys believe indigenisation is just about them. They think they can just use their political positions to bully those who don’t have,” said Mliswa.
Kasukuwere dismissed the charges against him by Mliswa as baseless, saying he had no interest in Spring Farm.
Said Kasukuwere: “My constituency is in Mashonaland Central. Why would I want a farm in Mashonaland West? Besides, Temba is not my competitor in any way that I may ever plot to frustrate him.”
Nhodza could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone rang persistently unanswered.
The case — IR number 120443, which is now in the hands of the Harare Central Police — is expected to be brought before the courts soon.
Mliswa, who holds an offer letter for the farm dated September 3 2003 which bears a letterhead of the then Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Resettlement and signed by Minister Joseph Made, alleged this week that the grand strategy by his foes was to eventually dispossess him of his farm.

The country, whose balance of payments position deteriorated after the International Monetary Fund pulled the plug in 1999, is set to take up the marketing of horticultural products under the same model of the Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA).
Sources said the government would soon establish an entity with the sole responsibility of marketing flowers and other horticultural products and would also administer marketing contracts for private horticulture firms.
Horticulture is the country’s second largest foreign currency earner after tobacco.
Already the government controls the marketing of major foreign currency-earning minerals such as gold, diamonds, nickel and is making overtures to have a grip on the marketing of the lucrative platinum group metals.
Recently the government resuscitated the AMA, which is meant to market directly cash crops such as cotton, maize and wheat.
Agricultural Minister Joseph Made could neither confirm nor deny the development when contacted for comment.
“I cannot comment on that now. You can phone me next week for a comment on that issue,” he told The Financial Gazette.
Although officials from the Horticultural Promotion Council could not be reached for comment, sources claimed the government was seeking to improve productivity.
“The move by government to take over the marketing of horticultural produce is also meant to boost production levels and increase the country’s foreign currency channels,” they said.
Horticultural exports have plunged by 22.53 percent over the past five years owing to a decrease in the number of producers.
Prior to the year 2000 when the veterans of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation started land acquisitions, white commercial farmers dominated the horticultural industry.
The controversial land reform saw more than 90 percent of the white-owned commercial farms being redistributed to the landless blacks.
At the industry’s peak in 1999, Zimbabwe earned US$142 million from exports to traditional markets such United Kingdom, Holland, France and Germany.
The industry is now faced with threats from a European Union directive and new regulations introduced by the European Commission (EC).
On one hand, the EU directive requires all vegetables and fruit imported from non-European countries to be accompanied by a certificate of conformance issued by an approved exporting country or be subject to a physical risk-based inspection.
On the other hand, the EC regulations to be effected in January next year require exports to undergo thorough physical inspection and the cost will be invoiced to the importers.

The MDC, which is still yet to decide whether to contest the March polls after it suspended participating in any elections in Zimbabwe unless President Robert Mugabe adhered to principles and guidelines agreed by the Southern African Development Community, is in the process of selecting candidates to represent the party if it rescinds its boycott.
The Financial Gazette witnessed MDC youths engaging in running battles against each other outside Harvest House, the main opposition’s headquarters in Harare’s central business district.
Some of the youths, who told this newspaper they were not happy Mutendadzamera’s defeat, were apparently drunk and threatened to damage the glass door of Harvest House.
Information obtained by this newspaper indicates that Mubhawu was nominated by all the wards in the constituency, much to the chagrin of the party youths who had been rooting for the sitting MP.
A total of 17 candidates, including the sitting MP, had put their names for the right to represent the MDC. But Mutendadzamera did not attend the primaries, amid speculation he was down with a stomach bug.
“I am coming back home,” said a jubilant Mabhawu after the primaries conducted by Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the MDC youth wing who also doubles up as the MP for Kuwadzana.
Primaries for the constituency have had to be postponed four times since October 14 2004 due violence insiders attributed to youths aligned to Mutendadzamara, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi confirmed the election of Mubhawu as the party’s candidate for Mabvuku-Tafara, adding that the rowdy youths had been disciplined.
Nyathi, however, would not elaborate on the disciplinary measures taken by Zimbabwe’s main opposition party.
None of the violent youths outside Harvest House were arrested.
Mubhawu is one of the founding members of the MDC, tipped to take over the party ‘s chairmanship from Isaac Matongo at its next congress.

The authorities, who have been under pressure to clean up the authority in the wake of incessant criticism, have resolved to fire the current board and replace it with a new one, which would be announced in January.
The Edwin Manikai-led NSSA board has been the subject of serious scrutiny for, among other issues, its failure to fill up the position of general manager, which has been vacant for the past three years and has been held in an acting capacity.
A Parliamentary portfolio committee on public accounts hit out at the authority’s investment register, which it said is susceptible to manipulation and called for a complete overhaul of NSSA.
Well-placed sources said Amod Takawira, the acting NSSA general manager, Nimrod Chiminya, Linda Manyenga, Susan Chigwada, Enock Gwayagwaya, Michael Bimha, George Chabururu-ka and Pedia Moyo would be leaving the NSSA board.
Although the composition of the new board could not be established at the time of going to print, The Financial Gazette has it on good authority that sectoral consultations of new board members were already underway.
Paul Mangwana, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare said his ministry had already compiled the list of new board members

Sources told The Financial Gazette this week that the unheralded Nkululeko Rusununguko Mining Company (NRMC), which sensationally eclipsed Needgate from the lucrative white metal investment, has not had it easy in the capital markets.
They said NRMC, which switched to the Amalgamated Bank of South Africa (ABSA) after being spurned by Stanbic Bank, is yet to make an impression on ABSA, amid fears that its bid may encounter the same fate suffered by the National Investment Trust (NIT).
The state-run NIT became the first institution to lose the 15 percent empowerment stake in Zimplats after failing to raise the required fund, forcing the government to invite other suitors.
Sources said the South African bank, which had put together an intricate funding structure for Needgate, is not keen to venture into territories spurned by Stanbic.
“There are ethical considerations that have made ABSA hesitant. Ethically, it doesn’t sound proper to give NRMC something that had been put together by another competitor (Needgate),” said the source.
While Prisca Mupfumira, the head of NRMC, could not be contacted for comment, the operations director of Needgate, Paul Chimbodza, said his consortium was not happy with the unfolding events.
Needgate had been designated as the preferred investor in the lucrative white metal business, but the government flip flopped on the issue, blessing the unheralded NRMC’s bid.
As far back as September 2003, Zimplats had announced that it had finally found Needgate as an empowerment partner, resulting in the consortium roping in ABSA into an intricate funding structure.
“It is theft of intellectual property and has serious legal implications. I hope it is not true that they approached ABSA and if it is true, the format they want to use is a result of two years of work for us and I don’t think they will succeed,” said Chimbodza.
Chimbodza said as far as Needgate is concerned, it is the most preferred suitor for the Zimplats stake.
“As far as we know, the 15 percent stake is ours because we have the agreements with ABSA, the government and Zimplats and no one has informed of us of anything to the contrary,” he added.
Analysts this week said the bickering over the Zimplats stake would put a big dent to the controversial indigenisation programme.
“The loser in this case is the indigenisation thrust and Zimbabwe because the money raised from the 15 percent stake was for expansion, which has been stalled for the past 12 months,” said a mining expert interviewed by this newspaper.

As if to show his commitment to eradicating what is undoubtedly the country's number one enemy, President Robert Mugabe appointed what he termed an “anti-corruption Cabinet” in February.
He said he was abandoning the “war Cabinet” because “the war is getting less and less political, vis-a-vis Britain and America. Those we have defeated. It is now the internal war to fight corruption and tendencies to access wealth through illegal means.”
One of the newly appointed ministers, Christopher Kuruneri, became the first casualty of the anti-corruption drive. But that was it.
The cases against Mutasa, Chiyangwa and Makamba have crumbled like a deck of cards. The suspects have either been acquitted on all the serious charges or convicted of minor ones that attract small fines.
But to maintain a semblance of pressure on graft, the same people have been arrested over and over again on spurious charges. Kuruneri remains in remand prison.
Observers believe the big fish have escaped the net. This is, however, not surprising. It has been the pattern since the first major corruption scandal in 1982 when businessman Sampson Paweni was arrested for swindling the government of millions of dollars in drought relief funds.
Though Paweni was convicted and jailed for the offence, most of the big names mentioned escaped the net. The same applied to the Willowgate scandal of 1988. Though it cost the scalps of five or so government ministers, the rest escaped.
Since then, the war on corruption seems to have been totally lost as not only senior government officials and ministers perfected the art, but juniors joined their ranks.
Corruption became so rampant that some people began to believe that it promoted development, according to a survey carried out by Transparency Interna-tional Zimbabwe in Chitungwiza.
Their argument was that a corrupt person used the proceeds to go into business and create employment. In that sense, corruption promoted development.
The respondents of the survey should be excused for that warped thinking because practically that is what is happening. Corrupt officials are now among some of the most “successful” business executives. And no one is asking how they got their starting capital.
There were no major casualties after the plunder of the War Victims Compensation Fund. The tender for the construction of the new Harare International Airport went ahead despite glaring anomalies that amounted to palm-greasing. And those who made millions through corrupt oil procurement by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe are still free.
All the culprits arrested after the massive corruption at the Grain Marketing Board, including then Minister Kumbirai Kangai, have got away. Those who corruptly obtained land also got away with it and now those who nearly milked the country to death last year are getting away.
People talk and ask questions: How do you explain an ex-traffic policeman running a fleet of buses and haulage trucks, a former ZIMRA clerk running a fleet of haulage trucks, a former district administrator running a chain of hotels?
But more importantly, how do you explain how some of the most wanted executives skip the country when the net is closing down on them?
Former High Court judge John Manyarara argued a few years ago that one of the reasons why corruption flourished in Zimbabwe was because politicians and government officials were no longer accountable to the people.
The same sentiments were expressed in a report by the Centre for Public Integrity.
“The intimate involvement of important political figures in business, officially and informally, weakens the will and capacity of government to combat corruption," the report said.
“In spite of the occasional official inquiries into corruption, and judicial exposures and condemnation, Zimbabwe is relatively highly tolerant of deviance in public office,” the report added.
Corruption seems to have worsened as the country’s economic fortunes tumbled. In 1998, for example, Zimbabwe scored 4.2 points in the Transparency Inter-national Corruption Perception Index. It was ranked 43 out of 85 countries.
By last year it was down to 2.3 points and was ranked 106 out of 133 countries. This year it was ranked 121 out of 146 countries.
A report in April 2001 said US$5.45 million (about $33.8 billion) was changing hands in corrupt transactions annually in the public and private sectors in Zimbabwe.
What was even more damning about the report was the statement that: “The police do not seem to be aware of the extent to which organised criminal syndicates are involved in corruption in Zimbabwe, although there is awareness that a high proportion of corrupt transactions involve functionaries at senior levels of government.”
Manyarara said it was quite easy to solve this scourge. There only problem was that there was not enough will.
“Corruption would disappear from government departments if the incumbents and their superiors had to account fully to the general public for their conduct and the salaries and perks they receive for the work they are supposed to be doing.
“But,” he added, “any move in that direction would be crushed by the persons concerned because of its implications for good governance, and they have means of crushing it.”
“Lest anyone doubts the extent of this power, a government minister once told local journalists attending a press freedom workshop in Harare that unauthorised publication of even the number of cups of tea he drinks would be a contravention of some provision of the Official Secrets Act,” Manyarara said.
One of the major handicaps in curbing corruption could be that top officials already think they are doing something about it.

Blunkett resigned from Tony Blair’s Cabinet more than a week a go over allegations that he had abused his ministerial powers to help his mistress.
He was accused of having issued instructions to officials in his ministry to speed up the visa application of a woman from the Phillipines who worked as a nanny for a married woman Blunkett was having an affair with.
I followed the story of Blunkett’s troubles in the scandal dubbed “nannygate” with particular interest.
I must confess I secretly admired Blunkett and somehow saw him as an underdog in the rough world of dirty politics. I privately saluted Blunkett, who is blind, for his ability to hold his own in an environment where gestures such as a nod, a wink or a frown can convey a thousand words around a conference table.
This man had to run a ministry by having faith in people from whom he could pick very few non-linguistic clues and nuances.
I also marvelled at Blunkett’s cheek in going ahead to conduct a lengthy illicit love affair with a married woman with whom he is now locked in a legal battle over the paternity of her son. The former home secretary now claims he is the father of the boy.
I disapprove strongly of public officials who, instead of setting a good example, involve themselves in adulterous and extramarital affairs. And as we all know, conducting such affairs is an endless game of deceit to keep everything under wraps.
Blunkett must once again have had to rely on sighted aides and friends to keep his love affair with a married woman a secret for years.
However, Blunkett’s affairs of the heart are not the main focus of this piece. What caught my interest in the “nannygate” affair is that despite protesting his innocence, Blunkett tendered his resignation from Blair’s government.
He did this on principle, saying that he needed to take full responsibility for the controversy because he did not want anyone else in his ministry to carry the cane.
This is in complete and stark contrast to the situation we have here at home, where the idea of ministers and other public officials offering to resign when they are embroiled in scandals or controversies is still an alien concept.
The “Handiende” (I won’t go) philosophy is still so deeply ingrained in local politicians that we have only had a handful of resignations since independence. This is despite the fact that in the last 24 years the nation has been rocked by scandals of all kinds involving public officials.
The Willowgate car scandal of the 1980s was the last controversy to result in the resignation of several government ministers and officials. This was after they were implicated in the vehicle racket by the Sandura Commission, which had been set up to probe the matter.
A few of the resignations to occur after “Willowgate” include those of Enos Chikowore over fuel shortages and Edmund Garwe who was Minister of Education. By resigning voluntarily on principle, these two men did something rare on the local scene.
After admitting that his 14-year-old daughter had leaked a Zimbabwe Junior Certificate examination paper at her high school, Garwe made it clear he simply had to go.
Speaking in a manner we have not heard since, the now deceased Garwe said: “Professionally, there’s no other way. Even if it were not the exams, I, Edmund Garwe, would have taken that course of action. But the question of exams is very important because we are going to localise these exams.”
There’s no doubt that this was a decision Garwe made in accordance with the dictates of his conscience. He did not, as many officials do, seek to shift the blame to someone else. Buck-passing has become the order of the day.
Since 1996 when Garwe made this decision, there have been numerous cases of corruption, inefficiency, bungling and greed that should have resulted in more public officials tendering their resignations.
Some of the most recent cases of impropriety that come to mind include the multiple farm ownership scandal.
But in this case, not only have the culprits refused to give up the extra farms they acquired corruptly. These wrongdoers are actually thumbing their noses at authority and saying: “We can do this with impunity.” In fact, these people are such moral imbeciles that even wild horses would not pull them out of their positions.
On an individual level, Minister Joseph Made should have been another obvious candidate for resignation over the debacles in his important ministry resulting from his inept approach to his ministerial responsibilities.
It can only be in Zimbabwe where a minister can mislead the nation about its food security and survive to engage in more bungling!
We need more Garwes and our own local Blunketts to lead the way in cultivating a culture where public officials take responsibility for their actions by learning to utter the simple words: “I resign.”
We need to hear these words more often, judging by what and how much is wrong in this country.

The seven Zimbabweans were among 20 victims from four Africans countries who were lured to Kenya by a man who purported that he could help the women to get jobs in Canada. The other women were from Zambia, Malawi and South Africa.
The killer used a trick that is disturbingly being made possible by modern technology. The women travelled to Kenya in response to an advertisement the man placed on the Internet.
It has since become apparent that the man could have been linked to an organised crime syndicate dealing in human organs.
The area where one of the Zimbabwean victims was buried was said to be frequented by sailors interested in buying human parts.
It is a well-known fact that women and children are the main victims of criminal gangs involved in today’s “modern” crimes such as human trafficking.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Europe was hit by a woman trafficking epidemic. Women who were victims of unfavourable economic conditions in their own countries were lured to other countries under false pretences.
Most of them believed they were being helped to travel abroad to get jobs. They later discovered that their supposed benefactors had helped them to leave their countries so as to be put to work as prostitutes.
By the time they made this heartbreaking discovery it was too late and they were too helpless to free themselves from this bondage.
The Internet has also been instrumental in fuelling child sexual abuse. Paedophiles, rapists and other sexual perverts have relied on this technology to identify and lure young children into dangerous situations.
Women’s organisations in Zimbabwe have been fighting to get the Domestic Violence Bill passed into law. It would now seem that in addition to creating awareness among women regarding the local situation, these organisations must also draw attention to international dangers.
The Women's Coalition, which organised the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence from November 25 to December 10, drew attention to the fact that this was a human rights issue.
During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, the Women’s Coalition encouraged Zimbabweans from all walks of life to take an interest in the programme.
Apart from being encouraged to sign a petition in support of the passing of the Domestic Violence Bill, Zimbabweans were encouraged to stop violence in their individual environments.
A call was also made for the public to report any cases of gender violence to the police and other relevant organisations. But as the brutal murders of the 20 women in Kenya show, women’s organisations campaigning against gender violence may have to spread their wings to cooperate with activist organisations in neighbouring countries.
This is because, like drug trafficking and other international crimes, trafficking in human beings can only be curbed through regional and international cooperation.
In the case of the targeting of women for human organs, which has reared its ugly head in Kenya, African governments need to be lobbied to crack down on the crime syndicates involved.

Arda, founded during the colonial era as the Tribal Trust Land Development Corporation, has seen its operations taking a nosedive after independence.
The entity, which has more than 20 estates under its ambit, has drastically scaled down its involvement or totally abandoned some rural development projects started in the early years of independence.
The pulling out of donors from all government-related developmental projects at the inception of the controversial land reforms in 2000 has worsened Arda’s situation. The land chaos triggered by government has left half the population in need of imported food.
It has also cut, by 50 percent, production of the staple maize, soya beans and tobacco, further deepening the economic crisis.
Some of Arda’s projects which have been scaled down or virtually collapsed include the Mashonaland East Fruit and Vegetable Development project, Manicaland Smallholder Coffee and Fruit project, livestock development projects, the land use projects, development projects for rural areas in Kariba District (Kanyati and Gatshe Gatshe Land Use project and Omay Land Use project) and irrigation projects of the Dande Smallholder Irrigation Development Project.
Although no official comment could be obtained from Arda chief executive Joseph Matovanyika, a senior official said the main objectives of the horticultural projects had been to bolster the production and marketing capacity of producers in the communal areas.
Financing was geared at extension services, transport of the final produce, establishing marketing links and equipping farmers with technical skills.
The European Union (EU)’s pulling out has reduced the project to a white elephant despite having embarked on an export programme of mangetouts peas, baby corn, edible beans, potatoes and a variety of vegetables.
Available statistics from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) indicate that production of crops such as flue cured tobacco, tea, wheat and soya beans went down from 1996 to 2000 while production of sorghum, non-productive teas and groundnuts has been completely abandoned.
Production of wheat, which had risen steadily to 18 393 tonnes in 1999 from 9 000 tonnes in 1996, fell to 16 542 tonnes in 2000. Flue-cured tobacco, grown mainly for the export market, fell from 228 tonnes in 1996 to 73 tonnes in 2000 while tea production declined from 1 072 tonnes in 1996 to 774 tonnes in 2000.
Production of edible beans, an industrial crop, also fell during the period under review from 435 tonnes to 83 tonnes.
“Arda has succeeded in destroying previously viable farming projects . . . that is its sole achievement despite gobbling billions of dollars in taxpayers’ funds,” said economic commentator Eric Bloch.
In Manicaland, Arda had targeted increasing household incomes through smallholder commercial production through setting up of fruit and coffee projects.
Sources said the projects had successfully transformed a number of backyard orchards into full-fledged commercial orchards.
When the project was later handed over to the farmers in 1996, more than 9 000 tonnes of fruits such as bananas, citrus, apples, avocados and more than 300 tonnes of green coffee were being marketed.
The pulling out of the EU sounded a death knell for the project and reversed gains which had made as Arda failed to market and transport the produce on behalf of the farmers.
Some of the outgrowers have since dumped Arda for other horticultural firms to market their produce.
The same applies to the Arda’s livestock projects in Matabeleland and Kariba where ranches covering 10 000 hectares in Tuli and 57 000 hectares in Dodieburn and Manyolo had been developed with paddocks, game fencing and modern water facilities.
Villagers from the surrounding areas have since invaded the farms and brought down the fencing.
According to the CSO, Arda’s total beef herd declined sharply from 34 772 in 1996 to 4 259 in 2000. Total dairy cattle herd also declined from 2 219 in 1996 to 1 651 in 2000.
“It is the gross mismanagement synonymous with all parastatals. Government does not mind when parastatals lose money for 25 years,” Bloch said.
He said the solution lies in privatising Arda or instilling a culture of professional management in the institution.
Bloch said Arda had limited chances of succeeding in its stated goals, let alone beefing up the country’s food requirements.
Arda has also abandoned the Intergrated Rural Development Programme, which was aimed at establishing viable production and support systems in below average rainfall areas of Gutu and Zaka districts in Masvingo.
John Robertson, an economist, said Arda was not likely to make any profit as long as there was political meddling. He, however, noted that there had been some successes in some of Arda’s estates in the Middle Sabi.
“Arda has become a feature of the political policy making. It is not longer an agriculture system which yields good results,” Robertson said.
“The institution needs to be run by agronomists, scientists and professional managers and not politicians,” Robertson said.
Analysts said government, through Arda, should step in and fill the yawning gap in agricultural production left by white commercial farmers.
“Arda cannot succeed where government is failing, especially now when it is operating like a communal farmer,” said an agro-economist at the University of Zimbabwe faculty of agriculture.
“There is too much interference from head office. Though they say each estate is autonomous and because of this, no Arda estate will ever make a profit,” said the economist.
Produce from Arda estates such as wheat, maize and seed maize is sold to the Grain Marketing Board, a government monopoly, at sub-economic prices.

Once approved, as is largely expected, EWHL would be able to raise hard currency funding to accelerate network expansion by Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ), the country’s largest mobile network operator by subscriber numbers.
Under the transaction, EWHL is selling its stake to UK-incorporated Econet Wireless Limited, which is in turn wholly owned by Econet Wireless Group , a company domiciled in Botswana, in which JSE Securities Exchange-listed telecommunications company Altech has acquired a stake worth US$70 million (over Z$427 billion).
The disposal of the Mascom stake was one of the conditions that was precedent before the Altech investment in EWG could be finalised.
In a circular sent to shareholders ahead of the extraordinary general meeting to be held today, Econet said the sale of EWHL’s stake in Mascom was crucial in order to finance the network expansion in Zimbabwe to more than double the subscriber base to about 500 000 before the end of 2005.
Once completed, the company would further consolidate its dominant market position as the country’s largest telecommunications player based on subscriber numbers.
“EWZ has already invested in the upgrading and expansion of the switch and base station controllers, which has created capacity for additional subscribers.
“However, this investment is presently underutilised because of the need to procure, install and commission base stations. EWZ is unable to finance this expansion programme because of the foreign currency shortages the country is experiencing,” said Econet.
It said the disposal of the Mascom stake would raise foreign currency required to import and install base stations and other related equipment, resulting in additional subscribers being taken on the network and also significantly reducing congestion.
Econet would also be able to lower network expansion costs by avoiding local or foreign borrowing, which would in turn benefit subscribers through affordable network tariff charges.
“The access to foreign currency arising on the transaction will avoid the foreign currency exposure to EWHL and Zimbabwe at a time when the local currency continues to depreciate against the United States dollar and other hard currencies due to balance of payments pressures,” Econet said.
“The disposal of Mascom shares will provide immediate relief and allow EWZ to import equipment required for the network to take on new subscribers and better accommodate existing subscribers,” the company said.

Elliot Manyika, ZANU PF’s secretary for the commissariat, annou-nced the new party guidelines for eligibility to stand on the party’s ticket which, among other provisions, restricts candidature to members of the party’s provincial executives, the national consultative assembly and the central committee.
“Provincial executive members, national consultative assembly and central committee members are the only party members eligible to stand as party candidates in the 120 constituencies.
Outgoing Members of Parliament who do not meet this criteria and have no disciplinary cases against them are eligible as well,” Manyika said.
Party members who were precluded from holding positions in the party by virtue of their posts in the civil service would also be eligible, according to the new guidelines.
Moyo, previously a strident ZANU PF critic who turned to become one of its fiercest defenders, heads the list of a raft of ZANU PF newcomers who do not qualify under the guidelines annou-nced by Manyika .
The information minister, who led a government crackdown on the independent media, is seen as the biggest loser.
Moyo, who was eyeing the Tsholotsho seat, has not only spent heavily in courting the constituency, but is seen as harbouring ambitions to climb the political ladder.
The ZANU PF hierarchy regards the contentious Tsholotsho meeting convened by Moyo and attended by several party provincial chairpersons, among other party notables—allegedly to scupper the presidium President Mugabe wanted—as the biggest sign of unchecked ambition.
Moyo has used his strategic control of the government-controlled media to raise his profile, unsettling the ZANU PF old guard in the process. He has had highly publicised clashes with Vice-President Joseph Msika, ZANU PF national chairman John Nkomo and information chief Nathan Shamuyarira this year alone.
The ZANU PF presidency, made up of President Robert Muga-be, Msika, Joyce Mujuru and Nkomo, vetoed Moyo’s central committee nomination and dropped him from the politburo—the party’s Soviet-style ultimate decision-making body.
Mugabe, who brought Moyo and other unelected young ZANU PF members into his “war” cabinet in 2000, has said he will not appoint non-constituency Members of Parliament (MPs) in his next cabinet.
Other notable parliamentary aspirants, who were expected to throw their hats into the ring in the ZANU PF primaries to be held on January 15, include economic commentator Samuel Unde-nge, former Zimbabwe United Passenger Com-pany (ZUPCO) chief executive Bright Mato-nga, Eddison Zvobgo (Jr), as well as several party functionaries facing disciplinary action in the aftermath of the highly divisive central committee and politburo nominations.
Six party chairpersons- July Moyo of Midlands, Daniel Shumba of Masvi-ngo, Themba Ncube of Bulawayo, Lloyd Siyoka of Matebeleland South, Jacob Mudenda of Mate-beleland North and Mark Madiro of Manicaland- have been suspended for six months for attending the now infamous Tsho-lotsho meeting, which is proving to be many ZANU PF politicians’ waterloo. They automatically become ineligible to stand in the primaries.
Also in a spot of bother is war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba, who covets the Glen Norah seat in Harare, where the ZANU PF provincial executive has passed a no-confidence vote in him, reportedly for his unexplained role in the Tsholotsho tryst. Former cabinet minister and Mbare legislator Tony Gara, who is eyeing a return to parliament on the Mbare seat, also finds himself in the same predicament.
The return of Masho-naland West adversaries Philip Chiyangwa and Kindness Paradza to parliament is also uncertain.
The former is currently held in custody by state security agents, reportedly on espionage charges, while the latter was this week arrested for allegedly fanning intra-party violence in his Makonde constituency. Paradza became the second ZANU PF MP to be arrested in connection with politically motivated violence, after Phone Madiro of Hurungwe West.
The party, long accused of using violence to influence the outcome of elections, has of late made pronouncements against coercion.
It is Chiyangwa’s case, however, which would embolden the ZANU PF old guard in its quest to return to the centre of the party and to systematically cull uppity newcomers.
Nkomo has in the recent past voiced concerns over “infiltration” of ZANU PF by elements intent on destroying the party from within.
“We were infiltrated by a few termites, which began their long journey of burrowing through our core values of liberation, discipline, unity, respect and loyalty.
“They also began a process of recruiting from among our members, ring-fencing those that they would take into captivity, to work as slaves in building their own new empire.
“They took some captives from among the leadership and the general membership, spawning a process of counter-revolution that has destabilised the very foundation of our party,” Nkomo recently wrote in his weekly column carried in ZANU PF’s Voice newspaper.

Deputy Clerk of Parliament Helen Dingane told The Financial Gazette yesterday that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislator was still an MP since he was not convicted in a criminal court.
“He is still a member of the House in as far as I know. Bennett was sentenced by Parliament and his case cannot be treated as a criminal court conviction. I would have to consult the minister responsible,” Dingane said.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa had earlier on referred this reporter to Parliament, saying the House was in better position to comment.
Bennett was slapped with a one-year jail sentence for contempt of Parliament after being convicted of assaulting Chinamasa and Minister of Anti-Corruption and Anti-Monopolies Didymus Mutasa during a heated debate in the House.
The jailed MP has since taken his case to the Supreme Court after Parliament barred the High Court from hearing his application for the court to overturn his sentence.
Pro-government economic analyst Samuel Undenge and Wankie Colliery Company board chairman Munacho Mutezo and a member of the ruling ZANU PF’s central committee, who lost the seat in the 2000 parliamentary race, had been cited as contenders for Bennett’s seat.
Other contenders for the position were Misheck Beta, a twin brother to Shadreck, a prominent businessman in Manicaland, retired Major Matsikinyere and Major Musabeya Mutambara.
Only last week, Parliament spared jailed Finance Minister Christopher Kuruneri the boot pending the completion of a court case in which the minister is facing allegations of externalising foreign currency and breaching the Citizenship Act.
Under normal circumstances, Parliament ejects legislators absent for at least 21 consecutive sitings, paving the way for a by-election to replace the incumbent.
Early in the year, Parliament filled up the seat left vacant by former MDC legislator Tafadzwa Musekiwa, who skipped the country and sought refuge in the United Kingdom.

Indeed at the centre of his maiden monetary policy agenda, along with bolstering faltering exports and stabilising the exchange rate regime, was ridding the economy of hyperinflation. The inflation scourge, blamed, among other things, on government profligacy, was crying out for urgent attention.
It was and still is the millstone around the economy’s neck. It destroyed jobs and undermined productivity gains. This is why individuals as diverse as gilt-edged stock investors interested in real returns and house wives alike are now, more than any other time, paying more attention to inflationary trends.
All sectors of the economy felt the inflation pinch, which wreaked havoc across the economy. Businesses were increasingly finding it difficult to plan even a month ahead while consumers expected large automatic price increases month-by-month, if not day-by-day. Even at the current levels, companies have to factor inflation when deciding how to invest their capital. Yet business planning would be much easier if companies do not have to factor inflation into their models.
A well-documented case of how inflation can destroy economic pride and promise, dreams and aspirations was only last year when insurance giant Old Mutual phased out an estimated 200 000 policies worth a whopping $15 billion to arrest a savage inflation-induced slump in the values of those policies. There was the real risk that policyholders could be left holding on to insurance policies that were not worth the paper they were written on! If nothing else, this cruel twist of fate, which caught many policyholders unawares, underlines the economic fallout and sweeping nature of debilitating inflation.
Zimbabwe also needs to bring its inflation rate in line with its major trading partners. This is because high inflation normally leads to depreciation of a currency, hence the speculative funds we have seen moving out of the country as a bet on the fall in the value of the local unit, which has lost considerably against the hard currencies.
That is why Gono has set his sight on achieving price stability. He believes that holding the line on inflation is key to economic stability whereas inflation imposes a speed limit to economic growth. He is not alone in this belief. The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, probably the most influential person in the global financial markets today, also does. So did his predecessor Paul Volcker. That is why they marshalled all forces of monetary policy towards taming inflation.
“. . . Inflation interferes with the efficient allocation of resources by confusing price signals undercutting a focus on the long run, and distorting incentives . . .” said Greenspan in his Federal Reserve Semiannual Monetary Policy Report presented to the US Senate on February 26 1997. And he could not have said it any better.
On his part, Gono has been working with characteristic zeal to ensure that monetary policy can best foster the highest rate of sustainable growth possible. And so far so good. Three-hundred, sixty-five and a quarter days down the line after he fired the first salvo, the enemy is in retreat with the governor slowly emerging as an old-school anti-inflation hawk of the traditional economy.
It is however imperative to point out that while the central bank has won the battles, surprisingly breaching its own self-imposed inflationary targets, the war is still far from over. Admittedly, his monetary policy provided something like an electric jolt to an economy that had collapsed into a recessionary heap. Consequently, the past few months witnessed an accelerated decline in the rate of inflation but inflationary pressures have not eased much. They are still simmering beneath the surface. That is why, the fact that there is a psychological component to inflation notwithstanding, inflationary fears are not receding. And Gono, who in a short one year has become a symbol of Zimbabwean economic pre-eminence, has admitted as much.
The once reassuringly resilient economy is still caught up in stagflation — even at 149 percent, inflation is still high, while industrial activity and employment levels are falling. Which is why we feel that it is not yet time for the central bank to take its foot off the pedal.
The other major player, the government, which over the years has shown that other than fuelling inflation it is incapable of tackling what now seems to be a complex problem, also has to play ball, for nothing short of tough remedial action could enable the central bank to bring down inflation — the suppurating national ulcer — to single-digit levels.
The powers-that-be must indeed bite the proverbial bullet and continue with austere anti-inflation measures no matter how unpopular they might be. True, Zimbabwe is facing a watershed parliamentary poll where political expediency could force the government, facing a deep well of disenchantment from a deprived electorate, to exploit the power of incumbency by seeking recourse to political measures as a remedy to economic woes.
It would, however, be counter-productive for the government to persist with such kind of folly. It is no longer time for populist policies but for pragmatism. And therein lies the delicate balancing act for Gono and his team at the RBZ for which they require stakeholder support. While the government might have been cooperative by reining in expenditure over the past year, it would be quite a task to instil fiscal discipline in a government facing a tough election.
Be that as it may, the governor, a staunch defender of a tight monetary policy to keep inflation under control, who has also the advantage of being listened to in high places, should press on with his missionary zeal for fiscal rectitude for the government to control its insatiable appetite for cash. It is well known that government profligacy has for years been stoking the inflationary fires.
The situation as regards the Zimbabwean inflationary problems reads more like a crossword puzzle with only half the clues and no black squares, so to speak. It is not only excessive government expenditure fuelled by politically motivated unbudgeted spending that is an issue here. There is another Catch 22 situation. While there is need for a tight monetary policy to further bring down inflation, the economy would also have to be pulled out of a severe recession through, among other measures, reduction of interest rates to stimulate economic activity. This in itself is a contradiction in terms. Not an insurmountable task but by no means an easy one for someone like Gono whom Zimbabweans look up to, to ensure the availability of money for business, consumer loans, job creation and overall economic growth.