Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
RESERVE Bank governor Gideon Gono’s plans for a new currency
fell
victim to Zanu PF’s politicking, forcing him to introduce higher
denomination bearer cheques instead of new bank notes he had printed for
Sunrise 2, the Zimbabwe Independent heard this week.
Highly
placed sources in the central bank said Gono’s proposal for a
new currency
under the second phase of the currency reform was shot down by
cabinet a
week before launch, forcing the governor to go back to the drawing
board to
print higher denomination bearer cheques.
Gono in November showed
business executives, bankers and journalists a
set of new currency notes
including a $500 note (pictured above) which
presumably had lost some zeros
along the way, but launched new bearer
cheques a month later.
The sources said cabinet in the first week of December summoned Gono
to
update it on the currency changeover and to explain its advantages.
Cabinet questioned how the currency would sustain its value under the
prevailing inflationary situation, leaving Gono with no option but to go for
the higher denomination bearer cheques he had tried to resist earlier
on.
They said cabinet argued that a new currency would still be
eroded by
inflation and should only be launched after addressing economic
fundamentals.
Former Finance minister Hebert Murerwa was the
first to propose higher
denomination bearer cheques over a year ago, but his
idea was shot down when
Gono knocked off three zeros.
"After
the cabinet meeting, Gono went back to design the new $250 000,
$500 000 and
$750 000 set of bearer cheques which explains why the roll-out
of the
programme had to be delayed by two weeks even after logistical issues
were
resolved," one source said.
The changeover, which was expected to
take place well ahead of the
Christmas holiday to enable people to access
money, only happened four days
before Christmas, forcing large numbers of
people to cancel their journeys
after failing to access cash.
"The changeover, which was supposed to be launched in the second week
of
December, only materialised on December 20 to enable the central bank to
prepare the new notes," the sources said.
They said a closer
scrutiny of the new bearer cheques shows that Gono
had to transform some of
the smaller denominations that could not be used
two years ago into higher
denominations.
"The $750 000 note clearly shows that it was
previously a $1 000 note
that was redesigned since it retained the $1 000
watermark," a source said.
Delays in the rollout of the programme
happened at a time when Zanu PF
was organising the "million man" march and
its extraordinary congress in
December.
However, the new
denominations have not solved the two-month cash
crisis with queues at banks
getting longer each day.
Depositors are spending days in the queues
hoping to get cash. The new
currency that Gono introduced is still in short
supply. Even extending the
lifespan of the $200 000 bearer cheques has not
resolved the cash crisis.
The situation is likely to worsen within
a fortnight as parents
require large sums of money to prepare for the
opening of schools.
Gono blamed cash barons as the biggest culprits
in the cash crisis,
saying the RBZ had enough evidence to that
effect.
He said as at November 15, cash in circulation stood at $58
trillion,
but banks were holding an average market-wide float of $1
trillion, leaving
$57 trillion "floating somewhere out there".
Zim Independent
Constantine
Chimakure
THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the MDC this
week said the
Sadc-initiated talks with Zanu PF were on the brink of
collapse as the
ruling party was backtracking on a transitional constitution
and the date
for this year’s harmonised presidential, legislative and
council elections.
Tsvangirai said President Robert Mugabe and Zanu
PF wanted a "false
election" in March and if the MDC became part of it, it
would be a danger to
itself.
The opposition leader said the MDC
was ready to underwrite a smooth
transition to end the country’s
multi-faceted crisis and remained in support
of the Sadc talks being
facilitated by South African President Thabo Mbeki.
"But an
unhelpful development has begun to creep in and we are
deadlocked on key
issues that should enable us to cross the bridge into a
new era," Tsvangirai
said on Wednesday in a statement on the economic and
political situation in
the country.
"In spite of the mess we are forced to live with
today, Zanu PF has
begun to backtrack on some of these agreed points and is
going it alone."
He said the main sticking points were a
transitional constitution and
an election date.
"We settled on
the transitional constitution following assurances that
the agreement would
be implemented before the next election. But Zanu PF is
now against the
spirit and content of that agreement, insisting instead that
the
transitional constitution can only be implemented after the election.
This
is unacceptable," the MDC leader said.
Sources close to the talks
said the MDC and Zanu PF agreed on a
constitution that is in the custody of
Mbeki, but sharp differences have
emerged on when it should be
promulgated.
The MDC, the sources said, wanted elections moved from
March to June
this year to allow the agreement to take root, but Zanu PF
insists the polls
should take place as scheduled.
"The pace at
which the transitional constitution was to be implemented
determines the
election date," Tsvangirai said. "If we are serious about
Zimbabwe’s future
and an election whose process and result are endorsed by
all political
players and the people of Zimbabwe, then we have to follow the
right
protocols and procedures."
He said the transitional constitution
already agreed to was essential
in helping Zimbabwe set up requisite
infrastructure for a sound electoral
management system, codes for good
governance and a human rights regimen
between now and the election
date.
These, the former trade unionist said, were key factors
necessary to
spur confidence, redirect the people towards a solution,
regenerate hope and
to rally the nation to unite in handling sensitive
national crisis.
"As things stand today, Mugabe and Zanu PF are
merely stringing along
with us, when on the ground they are already moving
ahead with their plan —
selectively picking up points of agreement and
shoving them onto Zimbabwe in
a piecemeal manner to present a picture of
reform, at home and in Sadc,"
Tsvangirai claimed.
He said the
intention was to mislead Sadc into believing that a
lasting political
solution was on the cards.
"They want to force an election in March
with cosmetic reforms and
still rig the outcome through a flawed process.
That will not happen,"
Tsvangirai declared.
Some of the
"piecemeal" agreements so far implemented include the
amendment to the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the
Public Order and
Security Act and the Broadcasting Services Act.
During the Sadc
talks, the MDC and Zanu PF also agreed on the need for
an independent
electoral commission whose task was to register voters,
delimit
constituencies, bar the military and the police from direct
involvement in
elections and to run the entire election.
However, the opposition
claimed that the ruling party has since
deployed the military, the
Registrar-General’s Office and the Central
Intelligence Organisation to mark
constituency boundaries and register
voters, contrary to the letter and
spirit of the Pretoria negotiations.
"We reject this form of
deceit, the insincerity whose consequences are
far-reaching for our bleeding
nation. We refuse to engage in a ritual to
legitimise Mugabe through a
flawed election," Tsvangirai said.
He said other options on the
table, should the deadlock remain
entrenched, included a national shut-down
and a series of lawful mass-action
activities to "pull the nation out of the
deep hole".
Zim Independent
Loughty Dube
FUGITIVE Zanu PF MP David Butau was not granted
political sanctuary by
the UK to evade arrest in Zimbabwe on allegations of
contravening exchange
control regulations, it became clear this
week.
Information gathered this week by the Zimbabwe Independent
revealed
that contrary to government claims that the Guruve North lawmaker
had
secured asylum in Britain, Butau flew into London on a five-year
visitor’s
visa issued to him in 2004.
Butau was also not on the
European Union’s travel-ban list adopted
against President Robert Mugabe,
his cabinet ministers and senior officials
barred from travelling to
Europe.
Mugabe’s spokesperson and permanent secretary in the
Information and
Publicity ministry, George Charamba, this week accused
European countries,
notably Britain, Australia, the US and New Zealand, of
providing safe havens
to high profile Zimbabweans wanted for alleged
criminal offences in the
country.
But British Embassy spokesman
Keith Scott yesterday denied that the UK
was harbouring
criminals.
Scott, in a written response to questions from the
Independent,
described Charamba’s claims as nonsense, pointing out that
Butau was in the
UK on a visitor’s visa.
"David Butau was
issued a five-year visitor’s visa in 2004," Scott
said. "He is not on the EU
visa ban list and is free to visit the UK for six
months at a time while his
visa is still valid."
Butau’s visa will expire in 2009, but he will
have to leave the UK in
the coming six months if he still remains
there.
The lawmaker skipped the country after the police initially
said they
wanted to interview him in connection with violation of foreign
exchange
regulations. The police later placed him on the wanted list after
he failed
to surrender himself.
Speaking from London to the
Sunday Mail this week, Butau said he fled
the country to avoid rotting in
remand prison awaiting trial or the
conclusion of his case.
Butau is the chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on
Budget,
Finance and Economic Development.
He claimed that he was set up by
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono
whom his committee was investigating on
allegations of graft.
Zim Independent
Orirando Manwere
THE two opposition MDC factions are scheduled
to meet next week to
deliberate on their proposed re-unification in a bid to
select a single
presidential candidate, aspiring legislators and councillors
to fight
President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in this year’s harmonised
polls.
Welshman Ncube, the secretary-general of the Authur
Mutambara-led
formation, in a telephone interview yesterday said contrary to
media
reports, the two camps were yet to agree on a presidential
candidate.
Reports were that Morgan Tsvangirai was selected by both
factions to
fight President Robert Mugabe in the presidential poll scheduled
for March.
"We should be meeting after January 7 to discuss the
issue of the
presidential candidate. As for aspiring legislators, our
formation has
started the nomination process through district party
structures in terms of
our constitution," Ncube said.
"Should
we re-unite, there will be no automatic retention of sitting
members of
parliament. Primaries will have to be held."
However, there were
reports that sitting MPs from both formations were
agitating for automatic
retention, arguing that they would not have finished
their terms of office
since the current parliament’s term would be cut by
two years.
The lawmakers were also reportedly proposing that aspiring legislators
should instead contest in new constituencies to be delimitated by the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Coalition talks between the two
camps collapsed last May over a host
of disagreements.
The
Tsvangirai camp’s executive recently met and underlined the
importance of
the re-unification of the two factions arguing that fighting
Mugabe and Zanu
PF divided would certainly hand the ruling party victory by
default.
Sources in both factions said there were also fears
that another
opposition party could emerge ahead of the elections, something
that could
further undercut the MDC formations.
When the talks
between the MDC factions collapsed, the sticking point
was the revision of
the coalition agreement, which had become the basis of
the negotiations. The
selection of parliamentary candidates for each faction
was also a divisive
issue.
Initially the two had agreed that Tsvangirai would be the
candidate in
the presidential poll and if they won Mutambara would become
his deputy in a
coalition government, while they would equitably share
government posts.
They had also agreed to not to field candidates
against each other
where they have sitting MPs.
However, during
a May 19 meeting of the two factions, the Tsvangirai
camp sought a revision
of some of the initial agreements.
The camp wanted Thokozani Khupe,
Tsvangirai’s deputy, to become second
vice-president with
Mutambara.
The Mutambara faction rejected this saying the
Tsvangirai camp was
trying to maintain its structure in the coalition while
neutralising them in
the new arrangement.
Furthermore, the
Tsvangirai group suggested a new formula of having
primary elections between
the factions to select parliamentary candidates
which was also unacceptable
to the Mutambara group.
Zim Independent
Bernard
Mpofu
THE National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC)
yesterday
provisionally granted private schools a fees hike of 600% for the
first term
that opens on January 15.
NIPC chairperson Godwills
Masimirembwa told a press conference in the
capital yesterday that the
commission had noted with regret that some
schools and pre-schools had
issued invoices with unapproved fees or levies
in terms of the
law.
"NIPC has provisionally allowed schools to charge parents at
the rate
600% for term 3 of 2007," Masimirembwa said. "For example, a school
whose
approved fee was $40m for term 3 of 2007 would charge $280m for Term 1
2008."
Masimirembwa said the commission was prompted to
intervene after some
schools started charging fees of between $1,8 billion
and $5 billion for the
first term.
He said as a result of the
NIPC’s intervention, the most expensive
school would be charging $910
million.
"All concerned should note that the law requires the
commission to
approve fees and levies before they can be implemented. To
this effect, all
the fees and levies invoiced to parents which were not
approved are void in
law and should not be effected," he said.
Masimirembwa gave the schools up to Tuesday to submit their proposed
fee
structures for speedy consideration by his commission.
The
Association of Trust Schools (ATS) chairperson Jameson Timba last
night said
the association would respond to the proposed hike after
consulting the
affected schools.
However, he expressed concern on the delay by the
NIPC to approve fee
structures saying it affected planning by the schools
and parents.
Timba said the ATS had not received approval for 2007
third term fees,
which the NIPC used as a benchmark for the 600%
hike.
"The NIPC should timeously approve fees. We are just over a
week
before schools open, but to date the commission is yet to consider our
applications," Timba said. "What is in place is just a provisional fee
structure."
Meanwhile, there are fears that some schools may
fail to open due to a
massive teacher exodus throughout the country and
impending industrial
action.
Secretary-general of the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ), Raymond Majongwe, said at
least 25 000 primary and secondary school
teachers had left the country by
the end of last year.
"We will be able to ascertain the new figures
once schools open but
thousands left for South Africa and other countries.
The situation is bad.
We blame this on the government, which has perennially
failed to address the
plight of our teachers," Majongwe said.
"Government’s lack of commitment towards addressing the teachers’
plight was
demonstrated at the December Zanu PF extraordinary congress where
there was
never any mention of plans to address problems in the education
sector."
He pointed out the PTUZ was now calling for a minimum
wage of $250
million per month, $156 million transport allowance and $120
million housing
allowance after the previous demands made in November were
not fulfilled.
Majongwe said if the new demands were not met,
teachers would
"definitely resort to industrial action".
Zim Independent
Constantine Chimakure/Loughty Dube
SENIOR Zanu PF politicians
are reportedly pushing for the setting up
of a cabinet committee to probe
the Reserve Bank amid growing reports that
it was actively involved in
foreign currency and gold dealings on the black
market.
This
comes after a decision by the parliamentary portfolio committee
on Budget,
Finance and Economic Development to summon central bank boss
Gideon Gono
next week to appear before it and reveal names of senior
politicians and
government officials he alleged were involved in money
laundering.
Gono will also be asked to explain the central
bank’s accounting
systems.
Impeccable sources in Zanu PF said a
faction led by retired army
general Solomon Mujuru wanted Gono and the RBZ
probed for their alleged
involvement in black market activities as part of
"sanctions bursting".
The sources said the Mujuru camp was not
happy that Gono was blaming
senior politicians and government officials for
hoarding cash for
speculative purposes when the central bank was also
culpable.
"The politicians will push cabinet to come up with a
committee to find
out to what extent Gono and the central bank are involved
on the parallel
market," one of the sources said. "They want to stop once
and for all Gono’s
blame game."
The Mujuru faction, the source
said, was in the process of compiling a
dossier detailing how the central
bank was active on the underground market.
"The dossier will reveal
the RBZ’s runners and how they have been
conducting their business. It will
bare all," another source said.
The sources said the RBZ was buying
foreign currency through
individual runners, commodity broking companies and
banks to finance the
agricultural mechanisation programme, service power
debts and other
government-related projects in need of hard
currency.
Last year, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and
the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce revealed that the RBZ had bought
foreign
currency on the parallel market to settle Zesa and Air Zimbabwe
foreign
debts.
The central bank also allegedly buys gold from
illegal dealers to prop
up its reserves that have been in decline over the
past nine years.
Gono this week said anyone with information that
he and the central
bank were involved in illegal activities should report to
the police.
"If the governor has skeletons in his cupboard which he
cannot explain
to the relevant authorities, the law must take its course but
let’s not
speculate," Gono told a media conference on Monday.
"Where I cannot explain to the authorities or police, let’s get on
with it
and allow the law to take its course. I am no exception to this
exercise
where all of us have to be accountable if called upon to do so."
Gono is also on record denying that the RBZ was active on the black
market.
A member of the parliamentary finance committee, MDC
lawmaker for
Nkayi, Abedinico Bhebhe, told the Zimbabwe Independent this
week that they
agreed to summon Gono since he "has some explanations to do
to the nation".
He said the committee would sit in the absence of
its chairperson,
Guruve North MP David Butau, believed to have fled to the
UK after police
said they wanted to interview him on allegations of
breaching exchange
control regulations.
"When parliament
resumes sitting next week, the committee will convene
a meeting and choose
an acting chairperson before inviting Gono to appear
before it," Bhebhe
said. "We also want Gono to explain security systems at
the central
bank."
He said Gono as a public officer should name and shame
"chefs" he
alleged were involved in money laundering and other corrupt
activities.
"Gono will have to name in front of the committee all
the senior
politicians and the cash barons on the RBZ list that he claims he
has. The
RBZ has to be accountable to the people and Gono has no right to
delay
releasing such vital information. The publication of the list will
enable
the law enforcement agents to act on the information."
Bhebhe said the committee wanted Gono to account in detail on how
security
systems at the bank operate and for him to explain how huge sums of
the new
bearer cheques were found in the possession of a Harare woman barely
three
days after their introduction.
"He has to explain the system of
accounting for all printed money and
how the money is disbursed to financial
institutions," Bhebhe said.
Police last week arrested a Harare
woman, Dorothy Primrose Mutekede,
who was in possession of $10 billion in
$500 000 bearer cheques, when the
daily maximum withdrawals for individuals
are $50 million and $100 million
for corporates.
Mutekede named
Harare businessman Jonathan Kadzura as the source of
the money. However,
Kadzura denied the allegation.
Gono told an extraordinary congress
of Zanu PF last month that
Zimbabwe’s cash crisis was a result of hoarding
by cash barons. He said the
barons were senior politicians and government
officials actively involved in
foreign currency dealings.
Less
than a week after Gono’s pronouncement, police said they wanted
to interview
Butau on allegations of contravening exchange control
regulations.
Butau then reportedly fled to the UK, where he
told the Zimbabwe state
media that Gono instigated his investigation after
his committee started
probing Gono on graft allegations.
Police
reportedly wanted to interview Butau in connection with the
payment of £573
000 to a United States company, Michigan Tractors, last
November.
The money was allegedly from Butau’s personal account
with HSBC Bank
in the Channel Islands.
Bhebhe refused to
comment on whether the committee was investigating
Gono or not and said the
public should await the outcome of its meeting with
the central bank boss
next week.
Zim Independent
Lucia Makamure
THE MDC has accused Home Affairs minister Kembo
Mohadi of using the
public media to peddle lies that the opposition has not
submitted evidence
to substantiate claims of political violence against its
members and civic
groups.
Luke Tamborinyoka, director of
information and publicity in the Morgan
Tsvangirai faction, said the MDC
submitted two dossiers to Mohadi
chronicling political
violence.
"The party presented two dossiers to Mohadi — one
compiled by us and
the other by the Human Rights NGO Forum — with incidents
and cases of
political violence yet he continues to say that we have not
presented the
required evidence. We don’t know what else he wants,"
Tamborenyoka said.
Tamborinyoka added that some of the cases were
in the public domain
like the shooting to death of Gift Tandare and the
assault on Kuwadzana
legislator Nelson Chamisa.
"The shooting
of Gift Tandare and the assault on Chamisa are classic
examples of political
violence which were presented to Mohadi and up to now
nothing has been
done," Tamborinyoka said.
According to information to hand, the
party’s Secretary for Home
Affairs, Sipepa Nkomo, has since last year been
writing to Mohadi
complaining about his continued pretence that the
opposition was yet to
substantiate its claims of political
violence.
In a letter dated December 20, Nkomo wrote to Mohadi
querying why he
continued to say the MDC was yet to provide
evidence.
"When we met you and your officers we presented to you
several
documents with specific cases, names, and incidents of violence,"
wrote
Nkomo. "We further furnished your office with documents and statistics
on
violence compiled by other independent human rights
organisations."
Nkomo accused Mohadi’s office of grandstanding in
the state media.
"We are disappointed that there is a lot of
grandstanding by your
office in the state media when you are aware that we
narrated and presented
a report with relevant and specific facts on the
matter," Nkomo’s letter
read.
In another letter sent to Mohadi
on November 2, the opposition party
raised concern over remarks made by
President Robert Mugabe soon after the
MDC met Mohadi over alleged political
violence.
"We also note that new cases continue to take place, even
though the
statements made by President Robert Mugabe after our meeting seem
to show
that Zanu PF is in a state of denial regarding the escalating
violence," the
letter said.
In a copy of the dossier which was
presented to Mohadi’s office the
MDC said since its inception in September
1999 it has recorded 113
politically motivated murders.
"Since
the MDC became a legitimate political opposition party it has
on record 113
members brutually tortured and murdered. These are the known
cases. Many
cases of murder, or death resulting from torture, and assaults
go unreported
for fear of reprisals," reads the dossier.
The opposition in the
same dossier told Mohadi that the perpetrators
of the majority of the cases
were known yet to date they had not been
brought to book.
"In
the large majority of these cases, the perpetrators are known, and
yet to
date have not been held accountable for their heinous crimes. The
best known
example of this is the CIO operative Joseph Mwale involved in the
burning to
death of the MDC’s (Tichaona) Chiminya and (Talent) Mabika in the
Buhera
area in 2000," the dossier says.
The High Court ordered the
prosecution of Mwale to no avail.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure
THE strike by magistrates, prosecutors and other court
support staff
entered its fourth month this week with no solution in
sight.
According to sources at the Bulawayo courts, a meeting that
was
scheduled for this week between Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary
Affairs officials and representatives of the striking civil
servants was
postponed to Monday.
"Our representatives were
supposed to meet with the responsible
authorities on Wednesday in order to
find a solution to the crisis at the
courts, but the meeting has been
postponed to Monday," said one of the
sources.
The sources said
the courts were being presided over by a single
magistrate since nine weeks
ago.
Bulawayo’s main courts — Tredgold Court and Western Commonage
— were
operating below capacity. The situation was the same at courts in
Harare and
other provinces throughout the country.
Magistrates
and Prosecutors across the country downed tools in October
in defiance of
poor remuneration and poor working conditions.
The strike has
resulted in disruptions in justice delivery as many
cases, which were
supposed to have been heard last year, were still pending
before the
courts.
A prosecutor who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent on
condition of
anonymity said the disparities in the salaries of judges,
regional
magistrates and magistrates also contributed to the
strike.
The sources in the judicial system said a judge is earning
$400
million monthly, a regional magistrate is getting $200 million while a
magistrate was only getting $20 million.
The poverty datum line
for an average family of five is over $100
million according to the Consumer
Council of Zimbabwe.
Magistrates and prosecutors are demanding a
900% hike in their
salaries and have vowed not to return to work until
government reviews their
salaries.
The Justice ministry last
year said it could not address the issues
raised by the magistrates and
prosecutors as it had already exhausted its
budget and could only make
adjustments this year.
As a result of the strike, hundreds of
detainees in the country’s
remand prisons have been left stranded while
detainees who, under the
constitution, should only be held for 48 hours are
now spending much longer
in detention.
Permanent secretary in
the Justice ministry David Mangota declined to
comment on the ongoing
strike.
Zim Independent
Constantine Chimakure
AFRAS Gwaradzimba, appointed by the
government in September 2004 to
assume management of assets deemed to be
under the control of
Zimbabwean-born South African businessman, Mutumwa
Mawere, has admitted the
state’s involvement in the acquisition of
Shabanie-Mashaba Mines (Pvt) Ltd
(SMM).
Gwaradzimba told a
court in London last month that the nationalisation
of Mawere’s business
interests was done through AMG Global Nominees (AMG), a
shelf
company.
The administrator was a witness on behalf of the
government in a case
in which Mawere’s company, Africa Resources Ltd (ARL),
is a claimant against
AMG’s acquisition of its assets.
Gwaradzimba said AMG was a nominee of the government and was funded by
the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe through its quasi-fiscal activities to acquire
SMM.
Asked by Mawere’s lawyer Francis Tregear before Justice
Evans-Lombe of
the Company Court, Chancery Division, to confirm that he and
AMG were
government nominees, Gwaradzimba initially said he was a nominee of
the RBZ,
but later admitted that he was representing the
government.
According to a transcript of the court proceedings,
Gwaradzimba said:
"That is correct (I am a nominee of the government). But
what I have said as
well is correct in that I got it (funds to run SMM
Holdings) from the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe."
In a related
development, Gwaradzimba denied under oath that SMM had
received funds
remitted by Mawere’s other company based in South Africa,
Southern Asbestos
Sales (SAS), which forms the basis of foreign currency
externalisation
allegations against the businessman.
Under cross examination,
Gwaradzimba first denied that US$700 000 had
been remitted by SAS, only to
admit later when confronted with evidence
that, indeed, the funds were
received.
However, in making the concession, he pointed out that as
an
accountant he did not think that US$700 000 was a material
amount.
This was despite Gwaradzimba’s report to cabinet on SMM
affairs that
no remittances were made by SAS to SMM since July
2003.
Gwaradzimba was confronted with further evidence showing
substantial
payments made by SAS to which he denied any receipt by SMM
alleging that
Mawere diverted the funds.
The administrator
further denied that a payment of US$1,763 million
had been made by SAS in
April 2004.
However, documents produced in court revealed that SAS
remitted
US$1,763 million to SMM on April 7 2004 through CFX Merchant Bank
and the
bank confirmed receipt of the funds by the mining concern,
contradicting
what Gwaradzimba said under oath.
"This
undermines the case by the government of Zimbabwe that there was
externalisation of funds," Mawere said. "You have to ask yourself why an
administrator appointed by an honest government would deliberately lie under
oath. This can only be to assist the state in theft of private assets under
disguise. Also, why would a government that purports to be transparent use a
nominee company to conduct state affairs? Finally, Gwaradzimba is nothing
but a creature of a statute whose sole purpose is to pervert the course of
justice and enrich himself and his political masters."
ARL is
challenging the "unlawful expropriation of its Zimbabwean
assets" by the
government using what the company terms draconian measures.
Gwaradzimba was appointed to run the affairs of Mawere’s business
empire
made up of seven listed companies on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and
more
than a dozen other companies employing about 20 000 people and with an
annual turnover of US$400 million.
Mawere’s nationalised
interests were owned through two
British-registered investment holding
companies and the Zimbabwe government
is battling to take charge of the
firms.
The decision by the government to place Mawere’s companies
under the
control of Gwaradzimba was based on allegations that on March 31
2004, SAS
was indebted to SMM Holdings pursuant to an asbestos buying
agreement
concluded between the two companies on November 15
2002.
SAS allegedly owed SMM Holdings US$18 464 595, a Canadian
firm $628
071 and R4 515 367.
Mawere allegedly devised a scheme
to divert the money owing by SAS to
SMM Holdings to Petter Trading Private
Ltd (now in liquidation), a company
that was controlled by the business
tycoon.
Liquidators of Petter, however, communicated to SMM that
the
allegation about diversion of funds was baseless and unfounded, but the
Zimbabwe government applied for Mawere’s extradition from South Africa in
May 2004 on allegations that he had stolen the money.
The South
African courts dismissed the application, but the government
of Zimbabwe
specified him in terms of the then Prevention of Corruption Act
on the same
allegation.
This was followed by the specification of SMM Holdings
and related
companies deemed to be under Mawere’s control. The final step
was then taken
to place the company under state administration instead of
court
administration. The battle between AMG and ARL has been in the UK
courts for
the past three years and judgement is expected on
Tuesday.
Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
THE 2007/8 agricultural season publicised as "the mother
of all
agricultural seasons" is set to be a major failure if government does
not
urgently provide fertiliser to save waterlogged crops due to torrential
rains in December.
A drive along the Harare-Masvingo highway
revealed a sorry state of
crops submerged in pools of water caused by
incessant rains across the
country.
I travelled to Gutu
district in Masvingo, my home area, over the
festive season. I used the
opportunity to assess the situation on the farms
during the so-called mother
of all agricultural seasons. Along the
300-kilometre highway I saw only one
maize field meaningfully taken care of.
That was just after Beatrice. The
rest were yellowing little patches in
flooded fields.
The
situation in Gutu was worse. Water has started seeping from
underground,
making the fields inaccessible but still the government is
chanting that the
season will be the mother of all agricultural seasons.
Farmers had
planted an estimated 40% of the area normally put under
crops because of the
shortages of seed and draught power and now the rains
have dampened
prospects of a decent harvest even from those small plots.
I was
curious to know the wishes of the farmers and how far the
government had
gone in trying to mitigate the pending disaster.
All farmers said
if government could provide fertilisers the situation
could reasonably
improve. Agritex officers in the area said under such
circumstances farmers
required lots of fertiliser rich in ammonium.
"Lots of ammonium
nitrate or alternatively urea is required to help
the crops," one officer
said. "But the fertiliser is not available. The
little found on the black
market is beyond the reach of the majority of the
farmers. A 50kg bag is
going for up to $25 million."
A Zanu PF central committee report
presented at the party’s
extraordinary congress last month exposed vast
differences between what the
farmers require to produce enough food and the
resources made available by
the government.
The report noted
that serious shortages were in the fertiliser sector
with local producers
not in a position to fully exploit their capacity due
to unviable prices,
shortages of phosphates, foreign currency, coal and
power.
"The
fertiliser industry are prepared to produce 53 950 tonnes of
compound D
between October and December and 46 714 tonnes of Ammonium
Nitrate (AN)
between September and February 2008 subject to immediate
availability of
foreign currency amounting to US$12 million for spare parts
and raw
materials, an improvement in electricity supplies and a reviewed
price," the
report said.
The country requires 720 000 tonnes of compound D and
774 000 of AN
each season.
The report said government would
bridge the gap through imports of
fertiliser from China and South Africa but
still acknowledged that there
would be a huge deficit.
"From
the output of the capacitated local industry, fertiliser will
further reduce
the deficit of compound D and top dressing to 562 302 tonnes
and 633 486
tonnes respectively," the report said.
The government has issued
permits to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to
engage Intshona, of South Africa,
for the immediate importation of 50 000
tonnes of urea and 41 000 tonnes of
compound D.
Intshona is the company that brought substandard
fertiliser into the
country last year resulting in the firing of the then
Agriculture secretary
Simon Pazvakavambwa.
Last year, Intshona
supplied about 800 tonnes of the substandard
fertiliser, prejudicing the
country of up to US$300 000.
The report said the supply of fuel,
coal and electricity remained
critical.
However, farmers’
organisations said the situation on the ground puts
into disarray all
prospects of a quick fix to the declining agricultural
sector and the
economy in general.
They say government efforts to boost production
would not yield any
positive results under the current legislative set-up
and continued farm
invasions, which have created uncertainty for investors
to embark on
business expansions. They said the situation continues to be
untenable
unless farm-grabbing and farming implement seizures by top
government
officials at the expense of ordinary farmers, power blackouts and
unavailability of inputs are addressed.
The farmers also
attributed the continued decline in productivity to
the uncertainty of
tenure in the agricultural sector where farmers are
evicted on a daily
basis. Continued acquisition notices, disruptions, acts
of violence on farms
and lack of land-based collateral as some of the
problems discouraging
investors.
The chaotic land reform programme, which from inception
has been
condemned by international donors as unworkable and a recipe for
disaster,
has turned out to be just that.
Over the past six
seasons production in all facets of agriculture has
plummeted, dragging the
economy down with it. Farmers have estimated
production to have fallen by
70%, resulting in the country surviving on food
handouts and grain imports
to bridge food deficits.
Zim Independent
Comment
THE Reserve Bank has finally intervened to ease the cash
crisis across
all sectors of the economy. But governor Gideon Gono should
not expect
plaudits for his messianic efforts after what should have been
the
traditional festive season passed as a long nightmare for most
Zimbabweans
who couldn’t access cash from banks.
The trouble
with government’s retributive acts against a few errant
individuals is they
always end up hurting the innocent. The withholding of
cash from banks to
punish what Gono called "cash barons" had the same effect
as the decision to
slash the prices of basic commodities by half in June: it
is ordinary
Zimbabweans who bear the brunt of these ill-conceived acts.
Many
businesses have not fully recovered from the losses induced by
the price
cuts. As a result, the poor who were intended as the major
beneficiaries of
the price reductions now spend even more time searching for
basic
foodstuffs. Many spent the Christmas period in long queues outside
banking
halls, hoping that by some miracle they might get some money. It was
all in
vain.
But Gono had more shockers up his sleeve. Up to now he has
not named
any of the cash barons who were hoarding the $200 000 bearer
cheques.
Then after forcing hundreds of people in rural areas to
risk drowning
travelling to the centres where they could convert their cash
before his
December 31 deadline, he announced the $200 000 was still legal
tender.
There can be no better demonstration of policy failure than
this.
What should be made clear is that Gono cannot resolve the
country’s
crisis through piecemeal acts of retribution. There are many
innocent
Zimbabweans who would only be too happy to keep their money in the
formal
banking system if only they could access it on demand. But that has
become
more the exception than the rule of business in
Zimbabwe.
Still, with inflation at close to 8 000% who would want
to keep their
money in a bank account? The rampant scarcity of commodities,
itself a
result of price control freaks in government, is also forcing every
Zimbabwean to move around with large quantities of cash, just in case they
chance upon something to buy.
At the end of the day it must be
recorded that whatever temporary
relief Zimbabweans get from the extension
of the life of the $200 000 notes,
Gono himself has permanently lost all
credibility as head of the central
bank. He should be well-versed with the
law of unintended consequences which
he uses to berate others.
The effect of his duplicity over the demonetisation of the $200 000
means
that very few people will trust any of his future policy
pronouncements just
as few still believe that he has any credible list of
cash barons. He has
created widespread uncertainty about the RBZ’s
operations by telling the
world that it has no policy framework — it
operates entirely on the whims of
its governor.
It is one thing to adopt desperate measures to deal
with a desperate
situation. It is another to hold the whole nation to ransom
because a few
politically-connected individuals don’t want to play according
to Gono’s
ill-defined rules.
The biggest casualties of Gono’s
desperate measures were ordinary folk
who were forced to dispose of their
legitimate cash holdings, for instance
to purchase uniforms and pay school
fees, buying trinkets they don’t need.
Yet there is no sign that we
are getting to the end of this dark
tunnel of troubles. Reports last week
that one of Gono’s own advisors had
been implicated in a $10 billion scam in
the latest denominations don’t
inspire confidence in what the RBZ is trying
to do.
Whether the gentleman concerned is guilty or not guilty is
not the
real issue. The issue is that one individual had access to that kind
of
money while the rest were starved and spent long hours standing in
queues.
This issue alone points to a central bank that is keen to
persecute
individuals and financial institutions for laxity in enforcing
regulations
but is itself guilty of the same crime. It means those who have
access or
have close links to the RBZ can get as much cash as they want for
whatever
purpose, while the rest of the nation is restricted to miserly
withdrawal
limits of $50 million a day.
Yet the big question
still remains unanswered after all is said and
done. After Gono failed to
name and shame, and instead extended the lifespan
of the $200 000 bearer
cheque, what stops the same robber barons from
stashing away more money,
even at the risk of being ambushed under Sunrise
III?
What
assurance is there for ordinary Zimbabweans that the worst of the
last
quarter of 2007 is over? Isn’t it time to quit, Dr Gono?
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
By Joram Nyathi
USUALLY when I visit my
rural home in Mberengwa, I leave Harare
behind — sewage, water and fuel
shortages, power outages and political
acrimony. I don’t read newspapers nor
listen to the radio — there is no
signal from ZBC. It was by pure chance
that I heard of David Butau’s great
escape from Botswana Radio.
This time round I couldn’t leave Harare completely. When I left for
home on
December 22 the hit song was Cash Crisis. It was topping the charts
in rural
Mberengwa throughout the "festive" season and was still the
all-time
bestseller when I returned a week later and still dominates the
charts far
ahead of Power & Water Shortage.
The 75km of dust road from
Mberengwa offices to my homestead is never
anything to look forward to under
the best weather conditions. On this, our
wettest December in 127 years, it
was like plunging headlong into a pool of
mud and rocks.
This
is despite the fact that Zanu PF has crudely won all elections in
the two
Mberengwa constituencies since Independence. Crudely because there
is never
a transparent way of selecting councillors. In one particular
instance
villagers were told to gather at Keyara business centre to receive
food.
Then the "people from Harare" asked them from aboard
their Hardbody
trucks if "anybody is against the councillor". There being no
show of hand,
the incumbent was duly retained.
As far as
parliamentary elections go, everybody knows the legend of
Biggie Chitoro who
roamed freely across the district armed with every crude
instrument to deal
instantly with dissenters in the country’s bloodiest
election campaign of
2000.
So our generous MP (I shudder to mention his blessed name)
tarred just
1km of the road ahead of the 2005 parliamentary elections. One
kilometre!
I had to drive through more rocky mud for some 80km from
Keyara to
Mataga growth point, passing by the MP’s homestead. To his credit,
he isn’t
doing himself any special favours, except that he can cruise over
the mud in
a 4x4.
Between Ngungumbane and Buchwa on my way to
Zvishavane I met a team of
RBZ officials crawling through the mud and
flooded craters on the road. They
had a large police escort to protect the
new bearer cheques which were due
to be exchanged for the $200
000.
(At least somebody close to the money press now knows how
diligently
our Zanu PF MPs are working day and night using heavily
subsidised vehicles
and fuel to make our lives as comfortable as possible.
After all isn’t that
what democracy is about?)
So it was that
Harare followed me into rural Mberengwa where a number
of people said they
knew nothing about the currency change. At Mataga growth
point some
businesses rejected the new notes we were carrying because they
could be
fake. Remember most parts have no ZBC signal and there are no
newspapers.
Worse still, schools being closed means pupils who normally get
such
information from their teachers didn’t have any.
The few who knew
alleged RBZ officials last time, during Sunrise I,
made a brief stop-over at
the local shopping centre before driving away,
leaving many villagers with
stacks of "manure". This time there was no
money. Those who failed to
exchange their $200 000 bearer cheques are
smiling all the way to the
beerhall while the "clever ones" scramble to
re-access their money at
banks.
At least that is how far the confusion over the new notes
has spread
across the country and set tongues wagging about whether Gideon
Gono knows
what he is doing. Which leaves him in something of a dilemma: to
print or
not to print more money?
Of course the official
version of things is that there is already too
much money in circulation. So
where is it?
Gono says someone called Cash Baron has the money.
This evil fellow
changes form according to his plans. He can be a senior
government or party
official or he can be a businessman. But ordinary
Zimbabweans have stopped
worrying about this evil fellow’s identity. They
would rather have their
money. Is Gono in control?
Then there
are those who see political capital in Gono’s dilemma. His
problem, they
proclaim loudly, is that he wants to be Mr Know It All. They
don’t believe
anybody else other than the criminals in government is
hoarding cash. What
they are hoarding themselves is legitimate because they
are trying to beat
inflation. Which sort of makes sense.
But then as soon as Gono
prints more money they complain about the
press overheating. "So long as he
continues to print money, he can forget
about taming inflation," they warn
sagely. Which sort of makes sense too.
So what is to be done?
Everybody who is not in charge seems to know
the solution, yet as a nation
we don’t appear to have any. It makes me want
to go back to my rural
home.
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
By Vincent Kahiya
THE year 2008 carries
with it a lot of hope for suffering Zimbabweans.
The list of trials and
tribulations endured in the past year by ordinary
citizen is long and
unbearable.
In the past year Zimbabweans across the social and
political divide
have had to contend with shortages of literally every basic
commodity or
service. Countrymen have scrounged for everything from drinking
water to
medicine.
As the festive season approached the country
ran out of cash as the
effects of hyperinflation and speculative activities
caught the central bank
governor and his team flat-footed. In his New Year
message, MDC president
Morgan Tsvangirai summarised the year 2007 as the
worst year ever imagined
by Zimbabweans.
It is true that in the
previous year compatriots have demonstrated a
great deal of courage,
endurance and resilience in the face of these
state-sponsored hardships. But
it’s also true that President Robert Mugabe’s
continued brinksmanship has
stretched our patience to the limit. Lives
continue to be lost amid a
paralysis in the health delivery system -- a
direct result of the
dictatorship.
We reiterate that the salvation of all Zimbabweans
rests in a free
election in 2008 under a new constitution.
But
I see a tragic situation developing ahead of March. President
Mugabe and the
Zanu PF regime insist on an election within the next 90 days
even before the
Sadc-initiated inter-party talks have been concluded in
Pretoria.
The MDC has already indicated that an unhelpful
development has
started to creep in resulting in a deadlock on key issues.
Zanu PF has begun
backtracking on some of the agreed points and is
determined to go it alone.
According to the opposition party the main
sticking points are a
transitional constitution and the election
date.
While the MDC is insisting on a having a new constitution
before the
harmonised elections Zanu PF wants the constitution to be
commissioned after
the elections. The MDC has also called for the
postponement of the election
to June in order to give ample time to the
transitional phase from the
status quo through the implementation of
precepts agreed to during the
talks. On the contrary, President Mugabe has
declared that elections will be
in March come rain or sunshine.
The MDC must tread with caution and diligently weigh the options
available
to it as we approach this delicate phase of our politics.
There are
three likely scenerios as we draw closer to the political
face off whose
ramifications are far reaching for the political parties and
the citizens
alike. The first scenario may see President Mugabe and his
ruling party
taking their brinksmanship to another level by insisting on
having the
elections in March and having a new constitution after the
election.
The second scenario may see Zanu PF agreeing to the
postponement of
elections but refusing to budge on a transitional
constitution. This is
possible but unlikely because of a number of critical
reasons.
The third scenario, which is also very unlikely, may see
Mugabe
agreeing to demands by the MDC for a transitional constitution and
elections
postponed to June.
It is the first scenario that is
most likely to carry the day if one
reads the President Mugabe’s public
statements and Zanu PF’s body language
as we lumber closer to the crunch
election.
Because of President Mugabe’s arrogance and his overrated
popularity
the Zanu PF government is likely resolve to go it alone in the
event that
the current deadlock persists.
It must be crystal
clear to all in the MDC that the 2008 general
plebiscite is no child’s
play.
These elections carry the potential consequence of regime
change and
consigning the founding fathers of independent Zimbabwe to the
dustbin of
history.
The prospect of becoming the new government
this year for the MDC
poses the practical risk of losing power for the
increasingly paranoid
Mugabe and his ruling party.
For
President Mugabe and his regime losing this year’s elections has
grave
implications given their notorious history and human rights record
since
1980.
The MDC must appreciate that the political stakes in this
plebiscite
are extremely high and those who intend to be part of this
contest must be
equal to the task. Jonathan Moyo captured the attitude of
the ruling party
when he said "any ruling party that agrees to opposition
demands for a new
constitution before a general election exposes itself to
assured electoral
defeat". Zanu PF is alive to the fact that the reason why
it has remained in
power until today is because of the flawed Lancaster
House constitution
which gives President Mugabe the executive powers to rig
elections.
Mugabe is not keen on doing away with a constitution
that gives him
the unfair but crucial advantage of being both player and
referee in all
electoral contests and legislating himself out of
power.
The Zanu PF government is also aware that postponing
elections to June
will give the fractured MDC enough time to unify and
adequately prepare for
the watershed polls. It is clear that President
Mugabe is more comfortable
going into the elections with a divided MDC
because this translates into a
divided vote which is a natural advantage to
Zanu PF.
We read that the MDC maintains that an election is
impossible in the
next 100 days if its demands are not met. Zanu PF must not
be allowed to
steal another election and prolong the suffering of the masses
by getting
away with a rigged election.
We hope that the
opposition is committed to this position and will not
dither at the last
minute. We also believe that in making this position
public the MDC
leadership has consulted widely both within its ranks and
outside. Indeed,
the MDC must refuse to engage in a ritual to legitimise
Mugabe through a
flawed election.
Gono, we are not so stupid
WE
need to wake up and use our smart brains. If the demonitisation of
the $200
000 bill was affected by the weather then why not extend the
changeover
period? This is the time for all of us to see that the government
made the
mistake of hiring a clown as head of the central bank. Can you
imagine what
will happen in the rural areas next time we are going to try to
change the
currency?
The Reserve Bank governor is not aware of the troubles
that he
inflicted upon the rural people. In some areas his lies about
changing money
in 10 days created its own "cash barons" as he likes calling
them who were
exchanging new notes with the $200 000 for a premium. In some
rural areas I
am told the premium was as high as $1 million of the $200 000
for every $500
000 of new notes. So please tell me why were some people in
the remote and
inaccessible areas forced to lose 50% of their money only to
be told "tanga
tichitamba (we were just joking)".
I remember
the days when we were young and living in the rural areas.
Whatever the
radio announced was considered credible and no one would
dispute it. Now
with these kinds of games do you think next time the RBZ
announces change of
currency messages over the radio the rural people will
believe him and risk
being stupid in ten days time?
I also blame the powers that be at
both the Herald and the ZBH for
giving Gono space to fool the whole
nation.
I fully support government efforts to root out cash barons
but for the
governor to make the nation queue for three months is
heartless.
Gono took the nation for a ride yet he knows who the
cash barons are.
He knows $100 trillion is not enough for Zimbabwe’s cash
needs but he still
wants to experiment by forcing the nation to work with an
inadequate cash
base. Was it necessary to make the public experience cash
shortages for two
months before he could identify multiple bank account
holders? In any case
is it illegal to have multiple bank accounts in
Zimbabwe?
Even if Gono argues that he was conducting an experiment
or survey,
research ethics require that the subject participants be informed
and be
willing volunteers.
It is surprising that the government
gazzette now belongs to one
person who churns out decrees willy nilly every
10 days without due care
about the consequences for the nation at
large.
I would like to leave you with these questions (especially
those 30
years and above). You remember the years when you were doing your
secondary
education? — the only sensible place to keep cash was the bank
such that
even the students would at the end of every six months submit
their POSB
savings account passbooks for interest calculation. Try to do
that today and
see the kind of rewards you get. Is there any need to explain
why there is
no money at the bank? Is it sensible to keep money at the bank
and yet when
you are hospitalised you cannot access it?
Gono,
please give the nation their cash and their liberties and
democratic
rights.
Mandimbandimba
By
e-mail.
----------------
Elections are
predetermined
LET me remind Zimbabweans that election results are
decided in a Zanu
PF office with the participation of the JOC and CIO. They
decide how many
seats they need, then which constituencies they should claim
to have won the
seats from.
Then to make the elections look
credible, they make the MDC "win" the
rest of the constituencies. Thus they
start announcing MDC "wins" first.
They reserve the pain for the last
moments when their calculated results
start rolling in. When they decide
they need a two-thirds majority, they sit
down and decide which
constituencies they will claim to have won. They
carefully choose rural
constituencies where no one will dare challenge.
If this does not
work they resort to precalculated figures. This is
where Tobaiwa Mudede and
lately George Chiweshe come in. This was done
successfully in 2000 and
emboldened Zanu PF to allocate themselves a
two-thirds majority in 2005.
That is why Mugabe always declares before hand
that he will have a
resounding victory.
This is their game plan again for 2008. They
will take the MDC and
Zimbabwe for another ride and this time with the
Mbeki-led talks
legitimising the theft of Zimbabweans votes.
The MDC do not learn lessons quickly. Zimbabweans will blame the MDC
for
prolonging their suffering if they participate in such a pre-determined
election. The 143 seats allocated to rural areas were a direct result of
this calculation. Votes will not be realistically counted in these
constituencies. The results and figures are already with the CIO and ZEC,
waiting to be announced after the fictitious "counting" of votes. I know
this for a fact.
I was a military intelligence officer in the
ZNA before I got fed up
with seeing the mad destruction of my country and
the blatant theft of
votes. If Zimbabweans continue to ignore this fact and
allow Zanu PF to run
the elections through the CIO and army then no
opposition party will ever
win in Zimbabwe.
People have voted
for the MDC overwhelmingly in all past elections but
the figures decided in
a Zanu PF meeting are the ones that are announced to
the
people.
Be warned Zimbabwe. Until a fool-proof system is designed
by all
stakeholders, here comes another predetermined resoounding win for
Zanu PF
in 2008 and here comes the growing frustration with the MDC by
people.
This is exactly what Zanu PF wants: to make people lose
faith in
opposition parties so that eventually it will win due to apathy
hence
eventually it won’t have to rig elections.
Ropa,
Panyadzonya@yahoo.com
-------------------
Zanu PF a master of amendments
ZANU PF has proved to be the master
of amendments. They have amended
the Constitution for the 18th time. It has
just amended Aippa, Posa and BSA.
Zanu PF has also amended the
definition of democracy and has come up
with its own version, that as long
as everything is going well for Zanu PF,
it’s democracy.
I am
also convinced that as a master of amnedments there is little
doubt that
Zanu PF will amend the election results for next year’s
presidential
election in their favour.
When will they stop these amendments and
instead do an overhaul of the
whole Constitution?
I am totally
against these amendments. The only document I will
support to be amended is
my payslip so that I will be able to put bread and
butter on the table for
my family. Not these politicking amendments that
have no effect at all on my
livelihood.
citizenconcerned20@yahoo.com
------------
Failure is a viable option for brave men
RBZ governor, Gideon
Gono’s circus continues to provide cheap
entertainment, the latest being a
feeble attempt to mitigate cash shortages.
It is laughable, though
unfortunate, that the egocentric governor
reckons naming the so-called "cash
barons" is the ultimate panacea to
resolve the current cash crunch. Has it
not occurred to him that people have
lost faith in the banking
system?
RBZ policies have given rise to the "cash barons" who are
in fact Zanu
PF functionaries, by giving them preferential access to both
local and
foreign currency.
The governor must not whine about a
system he has perpetuated since
his appointment to the RBZ. As usual, the
threat to name those "cash barons"
will not come to pass because the dear
governor is also a receipient or,
better still, a victim of the Zanu PF
patronage cycle. Gono’s tenure at RBZ
has been an absolute disaster in the
core functions of such an esteemed and
respectable institution. Failure is a
viable option, but it takes brave men
to admit that.
Joseph
Mhlanga,
Dublin, Ireland.
------------
Other
countries were also colonised
I THINK President Robert Mugabe
should stop preaching about historical
inbalance over and over without
facing the real problems that have beset the
country.
So many
countries were colonised by Britain. Just look at their
economies and their
relations with Britain.
Everyone fought for the struggle. It wasn’t
a lone battle so there is
no reason why Mugabe should continue preaching
about the struggle as if
Zimbabwe is his personal property or as if Zimbabwe
is the only country that
gained Indpendence through an armed
struggle.
Lovemore Maseko,
Durban,
SA.
------------
When shall we be saved from such
language?
I REFER to the article by Nathaniel Manheru in the
December 22 Herald
and generally to previous installments by the same
columnist also rumoured
to be the permanent secretary in the Ministry of
Information and Publicity,
George Charamba.
Surely if the
Herald is a family paper, why should we be constantly
subjected to obscene
language? The heading itself "Make love . . ." was a
great embarrassment. My
10-year-old wanted to know what the column meant and
what was the
subject.
The author even went on to give details of the obscenity.
Unfortunately I had no answer for the young man who looked puzzled by the
subject in a family newspaper. A whole permanent secretary being such a
disgrace!
Several installments in the past have included
similarly coarse
language and the author seems to be getting carried away.
Please can someone
in authority help stop this nonsense. We are aware the
editor is intimidated
by the author and may not be in a position to act but
surely someone or a
group of people should be able to expose this. We need
to enjoy reading the
paper as a family.
Looking forward to a
clean informative newspaper on Saturdays in 2008.
Shuvai
Choto,
Unit C, Chitungwiza.
--------------
Central bank governor not to blame
THE government is making the work of
the RBZ Governor very difficult
through its ill advised economic policies.
We don’t have any economy to talk
about therefore all the monetary and
fiscal policies will fail.
Seeing this, Gideon Gono resorted to
"bush" economics which
unfortunately have let him down once
again.
Let it be known to the nation that unless and only unless
the
government admits that it has got a problem and not the West as it wants
us
to believe then the crisis in Zimbabwe is far from being
over.
What Zimbabwe needs is a new beginning and that new beginning
is
nowhere in sight with this current regime.
So please don’t
blame Gono for failing but blame him for dancing
according to the
government’s tune.
Karupa, Bulawayo.