13 July 2012
Violet Gonda | London
The European Union
Ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell'Ariccia dismissed
reports Friday that the
EU is set to lift sanctions against President Robert
Mugabe and top
officials of his Zanu PF party.
A British newspaper said this week the EU
will remove the measures it
imposed in 2002 in protest of bad governance by
Mr. Mugabe and his
lieutenants.
But Ambassador Dell'Ariccia told VOA
"nothing has been decided yet."
“Discussions are ongoing, so we don’t
know what is the origin of this news,
but I can tell you that it is not the
case," he said. "It’s not what is
written in a British newspaper that should
be taken into consideration for
that.”
The ambassador said the
sanctions, including an arms embargo, are only due
for review next February,
unless the Harare situation improves, which may
trigger an earlier
consideration.
The UK Daily Telegraph claimed that the finalization of
Zimbabwe's new
constitution will pave the way for a meeting in Brussels next
month where
the sanctions deal would be sealed.
Ambassador
Dell'Ariccia added that discussions were currently underway
between Harare
and the EU to review general cooperation under the Cotonou
Agreement that
was suspended by the EU in 2002, resulting in the suspension
of aid through
government because of human rights violations.
“The deadline for the
review of the approbate measures, not the restrictive
ones, but the
approbate measures that refer to the cooperation between the
European Union
and Zimbabwe is due on the 20th of August.
“The discussions are going on
now because the idea was that maybe, the
Foreign Affairs council of the 23rd
of July, a decision would be taken on
the approbate measures and possibly on
other measures based on the
assessment of the situation. But the fact is
that there is no decision yet.”
Observers believe the EU will take this
opportunity to reconsider the
cooperation aspect, but maintain the sanctions
on some members of Mr.
Mugabe's party to put pressure on them to implement
meaningful reforms.
The political changes expected by the international
community, including the
EU, include a new constitution, the adoption of
rights laws and holding of
violence-free elections.
However,
political parties in the unity government and the Southern African
Development Community continue to demand the unconditional removal of the
sanctions, saying they are impacting ordinary Zimbabweans.
Activists
disagree. Human rights lawyer Gabriel Shumba says Harare has yet
to
implement reforms that warrant the removal of sanctions, adding the
measures
should remain.
“You describe them as sanctions the moment a block has
said we are
suspending cooperation fully," Shumba said. "But in this case
the U.S. and
the EU continue to be the biggest supporters of humanitarian
aid in
Zimbabwe.”
http://www.voanews.com
13 July
2012
Sandra Nyaira | Washington
The MDC formation of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says it will
renegotiate all deals signed
between the Zanu PF government and foreign
investors like China, especially
in the controversial Marange diamond
fields.
Citing the deal between
Harare and Chinese company Anjin Investments in
Chiadzwa, Minister of State
in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jameson Timba,
said Zimbabwe was losing
billions in revenue due to agreements favoring
countries like
China.
Anjin, he revealed in a talk Thursday at the Robert F. Kennedy
Centre for
Justice and Human Rights, owns 90 percent of the joint company
with the
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) taking only 10
percent.
Timba said Harare gave the Chinese 90 percent shareholding in
the company to
offset a $500 million debt with China for arms of war
delivered to Zimbabwe
by the Chinese government.
“I admit that as a
party we lost the war on diamonds,” Timba said in
response to a question on
how diamond revenues have propped President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF
party.
“However, we are maintaining that there should be more
transparency in the
way the diamonds are sold. The companies continue to
hide behind the
sanctions issue saying America will trace our money since
the ZMDC is on
sanctions so the government gets a little bit and some of the
money goes
into private pockets.”
He said his party was not happy
with some of the deals entered into between
Harare and foreign investors in
Marange, adding they will all be revised
when the MDC gets full control of
the government.
Speaking on other issues affecting Zimbabwe presently,
Timba said the will
of the people should be respected in the next election,
adding the nation
and the region would be plunged into instability if that
does not happen.
He said his party is pushing for democratic reforms, in
particular demanding
the re-establishment of the Central Intelligence
Organization through an Act
of Parliament for oversight by lawmakers. His
party, Timba said, also is
worried by the conduct of some senior military
officers and partisan
policing, among other issues.
Commenting,
Advocacy Officer Jeffrey Smith of the Kennedy Centre for Justice
and Human
Rights said he was shocked by the revelations regarding Anjin
Investments in
Zimbabwe.
“That was actually an interesting revelation where he mentions
that the
agreement that exists between Zimbabwe and Anjin corporation has
essentially
been used to pay an upwards of $500 million to China for debts
for the
purchase of military hardware and obviously the question there is
what is
that military hardware going to be used for," said
Smith.
"Zimbabwe faces no external threats so clearly so clearly those
are going to
be used against the people of Zimbabwe as instruments of
violence,” said
Smith.
http://www.voanews.com/
13 July
2012
Chris Gande | Washington
Former deputy
spokesperson for the MDC formation of Zimbabwean Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai Thabitha Khumalo says her removal from the post
is not a demotion
but part of a restructuring exercise.
“My understanding is that the party
is restructuring ahead of the elections
so my removal from that position is
part of that,” she said.
Sources on Tuesday said Khumalo had a fall-out
with the party leadership
over a raft of complaints ranging from her
leadership of a faction of the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions to the
factionalism in the party in
Bulawayo.
On the issue of her dalliance
with the labor body she said: “I was elected
in absentia and my party
understands that.”
Khumalo told Studio 7 the letter relieving her of her
duties did not
indicate that the leadership was not happy with her, adding
she was being
reassigned to a position not yet disclosed.
“It is not
true that I have a misunderstanding with my party because I am
waiting to be
deployed,” she said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
News
Paidamoyo Muzulu
THE complicity of MDC-T and Zanu PF MPs in
rubber-stamping the contentious
Electoral Act Amendment Bill and Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission (ZHRC)
Bill by allowing Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa to push it through the
crucial committee stage has come under
fire.
The watered down bills sailed through the committee stage on Tuesday in
time
for the visit of South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team
expected next week, but the Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights say their passage must not hinder the country’s
quest to investigate past atrocities.
Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe
regional co-ordinator, Dewa Mavhinga, said the
passage of the ZHRC Bill
should not be the end of Zimbabwe’s quest to
address state-sponsored
atrocities of the past not covered by the bill.
“The ZHRC may have a mandate
to investigate human rights abuses only from
February 13 2009, but this must
never be taken to mean impunity from past
crimes, including 2008 political
murders, criminal aspects of the 2005
Operation Murambatsvina as well as
Gukurahundi,” said Mavhinga.
He said the MDC formations and parliament should
have followed advice from
UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to
look at other mechanisms to
address past atrocities.
“There must be a
separate institutional set-up to deal with past abuses like
a Truth, Justice
and Reconciliation Commission, and this is what the MDC
formations must
insist on without compromise,” Mavhinga said.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights director Irene Petras concurred with
Mavhinga saying experience from
the region shows that there is a clear
separation of institutions or
instruments used to look into the past,
on-going and future
violations.
“However, this (ZHRC Bill passage) should not be used as a
barrier to look
into past atrocities and efforts should be sought to
establish a mechanism
to deal with the past,” said Petras.
However,
Petras said they welcomed the ZHRC Bill passage as it would
operationalise a
commission that has been idle since 2010 when it was first
set up.
MDC
president and Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube last week
told
the Zimbabwe Independent that cabinet had agreed to steer through the
two
bills.
Ministers from both the MDC-T and Zanu PF turned up in parliament to
ensure
the backbenchers would not derail the cabinet-approved
decision.
Chinamasa reminded the MPs, who have been reluctant to pass the
bills for
failing to address historical atrocities, that without a
bipartisan approach
all bills would not be approved by parliament to the
detriment of the
country.
“No one party can move the law by itself,” said
Chinamasa. “This law may not
satisfy all perspectives, but we have to move
forward. We have to rise above
our sectional interests and base
instincts.”
MDC-T MPs led by Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya had
earlier torn into
the clause restricting the ZHRC from investigating cases
that occurred
before February 2009, describing it as a deliberate ploy to
shield Zanu PF
functionaries from prosecution for atrocities committed since
independence.
Chinamasa made minor concessions to sweeten the passage of the
bills by
agreeing to MDC-T Mutare Central MP Ian Gonese’s calls for the ZHRC
Bill to
allow the state to accept international treaties as part of domestic
law
once they have been ratified.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
News
Clive Mphambela
THE reactive intervention by the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in Interfin
Banking Corporation, which was placed under
curatorship for six months,
exposed weaknesses in the RBZ’s governance
structures emanating from
conflict of interest.
While the central bank
rightly observed that concentrated shareholding and
abuse of corporate
structures basically exposed Interfin to a huge sum of
insider loans, little
was said of the close connection between certain
members of the Nssa board
and the demise of the bank.
Nssa is a significant shareholder in Interfin,
having a 10,3% stake. Nssa
was also exposed as a major depositor, with
almost US$16 million trapped in
the institution.
It is clear from an
analysis of the bank’s exposures that some members of
the Nssa board and
management had severely conflicted positions with respect
to their dealings
with Nssa.
A glaring instance is the US$3,58 million loan owed to Interfin by
Harambe
Holdings, a company which — according to investigating authorities —
is 80%
owned by David Govere’s Noxon Investments. This loan was classified
by RBZ
examiners as a loss, meaning its recovery is doubtful despite being
secured
by a first mortgage bond on a property through guarantees by another
of
Govere’s companies, Medworth Investments.
What is interesting about
this loan is that Govere is a member of the Nssa
board of directors and
chairman of the institution’s investments committee.
This is the same
committee that presided over recommendations for the
placement of the US$16
million in deposits that Nssa eventually lost upon
Interfin’s demise.
The
main question therefore is not whether Govere as chairman of the
investments
committee at Nssa appropriately recused himself from the
processes that
approved the decision to “lend” Interfin a total of US$15 874
086 in
policyholder funds. Rather, the question is: Did he disclose to his
fellow
board members his personal interests and dealings with
Interfin?
While it
can be argued that Nssa’s decision to “invest” in Interfin was
independent
of the credit decisions made by Interfin, if Govere did declare
his
interests as good corporate governance demands, he should be commended.
But
then again, it boggles the mind why for this particular loan Interfin
engaged Atherstone and Cook — a firm in which Govere’s fellow board member
Innocent Chagonda is partner — to act on its behalf.
Curiously, the bank
lists its legal advisors as Kantor & Immerman as well as
Dube, Manikai
& Hwacha. Chagonda’s Atherstone & Cook is not listed, and yet,
in
this particular instance, it is the one handing the litigation.
Again it is
not clear whether Chagonda also appropriately recused himself
from
investment decisions made by Nssa, given the seriousness of the matter
his
firm was handling on behalf of the bank’s client. Indeed, Atherstone &
Cook is a competent and reputable law firm and would ably represent the
bank. But it would be messy if a partner in the firm has to sue a fellow
board member for such a huge sum.
Atherstone & Cook is listed as a
major depositor in Interfin, having had
more than US$2,5 million deposited
in the bank when it was placed under
curatorship. Fortunately for the bank,
the curatorship protects it from
litigation; otherwise there would be a
situation where Atherstone & Cook
would sue Interfin (its client) for
US$2,5 million.
There is a web of relationships and counter-relationships
which are
unhealthy in that they maybe construed to have influenced
decisions before
or after events.
The independence of directors at both
institutions is clearly in question
and must be looked at in the context of
the RBZ findings. It is clear that
inadequate firewalls existed at Interfin
and Nssa.
A third but equally curious conflict existed between the bank and
its
external auditors Pricewaterhouse- Coopers (PwC). The Reserve Bank noted
that PwC had overstayed their mandate.
In terms of section 41(4) of the
Banking Act (Chapter 24:20) a banking
institution is supposed to change its
external auditors at least every five
years, but both the bank’s board and
curiously the auditors themselves
failed to detect this very clear breach.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
News
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe reportedly instructed his deputy, John
Nkomo, to
block former cabinet minister Nkosana Moyo from delivering the
opening
lecture at the launch of the Joshua Nkomo Lecture Series at the
National
University of Science and Technology (Nust) in Bulawayo.
Sources
told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that Mugabe held a private
meeting
with Nkomo on the sidelines of the Zanu PF central committee meeting
in
Harare a fortnight ago where he expressed concern over Moyo’s Nust
lecture,
which excluded him.
Mugabe instructed Nkomo, who is part of the Joshua Nkomo
Foundation, to
cancel the event at the 11th hour.
The lecture was meant
to coincide with the 13th anniversary of Nkomo’s death
on July 1 1999. It
had been organised by the Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe, publishers of
the Daily News, the Nust Journalism Department and
the Joshua Nkomo
Foundation.
It had initially been reported that Zanu PF had blocked the
launch of the
Nkomo lecture, but senior party officials in Bulawayo said the
decision was
made by Mugabe and Nkomo without consulting top Matabeleland
officials.
“It’s Mugabe who didn’t want Moyo to address the event,” said the
official.
“He instructed Nkomo to make sure the lecture was cancelled at the
last
minute.”
Mugabe is now expected to deliver the lecture sometime this
month or next
month. — Staff Writer.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
News
THE Federation of African Journalists (Faj) attending the 19th
session of
the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is lobbying
the different
AU commissions and ambassadors accredited to the continental
body for a
legally-binding resolution on the protection of journalists
amidst an
upsurge in attacks on scribes on the continent.
The Faj board
has been engaging the Peace and Security Council and Permanent
Representatives Committees to adopt a binding resolution to protect
journalists, and to follow up on the decision of the AU Commission on Human
and People’s Rights on the safety and protection of journalists.
FAJ
president Omar Farouk told the Zimbabwe Independent on Tuesday six
journalists were killed in Somalia in the course of their duties this year
while one was killed in Nigeria after an attack by an Islamic sect, Boko
Haram.
Seven journalists were killed in Libya during the Arab Spring
revolution
last year and four died in Somalia. About 32 journalists have
been jailed
for more than 10 years in Eritrea and four have died in
jail.
In Zimbabwe, journalists have routinely been harassed by security
forces and
supporters of the former ruling party, Zanu PF.
Media,
Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu used World Press
Freedom
Day in May to threaten journalists from the privately-owned media
with a
return to an era of media controls if they persisted with an
“anti-African
and anti-Zimbabwe frenzy”. — Staff Writer.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
News
Tendai Marima
SINCE Independence, Zimbabweans have endured
and witnessed countless
incidences of harassment, assaults, rape, different
forms of torture and
extra-judicial killings by state security agents and
partisan political
mobs.
June 26, the International Day of Support for
Victims of Torture in
Zimbabwe, went eerily quietly with no official
recognition.
On this day in 1987, the UN Convention Against Torture came into
force
requiring member states to take effective steps to prevent torture in
all
its forms.
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, who recently
visited Zimbabwe at
the invitation of government, marked the day by
releasing a statement
reminding member states to respect their obligations
to outlaw torture,
saying a lot still has to be done.
“Torture is
increasingly criminalised in the law books of states and police
training
curricula frequently incorporate the provisions of the convention.
Yet much
remains to be done. The use of torture is far from over. Torture is
illegal
under any circumstances and there are no exceptions,” the statement
read.
In Zimbabwe, the winter month of June has in many years been marked
by
torture since Independence.
Just two months after Zimbabwe celebrated
its freedom on April 18 1980,
about 400 Zipra guerrillas were rounded up by
security forces and taken to
Khami Prison where they were tortured. This
reached boiling point in 1982
leading to the Gukurahundi massacres.
In
its 1997 report, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) and
the Legal Resources Foundation stated that more than 7 000 cases of torture,
more than 10 000 arbitrary detentions, about 3 000 extrajudicial killings
and hundreds of abductions took place in Matabeleland and some parts of
Midlands during the Gukurahundi era.
An estimated 20 000 people were
killed during the massacre period.
Fast forward to June 2000 — the first of
many violently contested general
elections between the MDC and Zanu
PF.
The land invasions of 2000 set the tone for increased electoral violence
in
a way that had never been experienced before with voter intimidation,
abductions of opposition supporters and arbitrary beatings of civilians
being used to coerce people to vote for Zanu PF and President Robert
Mugabe.
Between 2001-2004, 18 000 youths were recruited under a controversial
youth
national service programme and sent to training camps where they
underwent
political indoctrination before they were deployed to fight
partisan
political wars.
After the June 2008 presidential election
run-off, local human rights groups
claimed at least 33 people had died from
about 2 000 incidences of torture
which occurred in the run-up to the poll.
More acts of violence followed in
the post-election period.
Most of the
violence the country has experienced, especially in the run-up
to elections,
has been blamed on Zanu PF as it seeks to maintain its
stranglehold on power
at all costs.
The country’s security sector has been fingered as playing a
crucial role in
poll violence, with security chiefs openly expressing their
allegiance to
Zanu PF and Mugabe.
Deputy Justice minister Obert Gutu took
a strong stance against torture and
spoke of Zimbabwe’s steps towards
ratifying the Convention Against Torture.
Gutu told the Zimbabwe Independent
that torture is very primitive and
dehumanises the victim and the
perpetrator.
“The use of torture within our enforcement agencies bastardises
the criminal
justice system,” said Gutu.
“The law is very clear in our
constitution and we call upon law enforcement
officers to adhere to that.
Zimbabwe is making progress towards ratifying
the Convention Against Torture
and this is a historic event and a historic
development as the ratification
would most likely impact positively on the
forthcoming electioneering
process. I believe that it will help reduce
instances of political
violence.”
At least 147 countries have ratified the convention.
According
to the Ministry of Justice, Zimbabwe’s ratification and adoption
of the
convention into domestic law means torture would be treated as a
specific
crime.
Currently, Section 15 of the Constitution forbids torture and states:
“No
person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading
punishment
or other such treatment.”
However, there is no legal
definition for torture in Zimbabwean law. In the
absence of legislation,
common law provisions on offences such as assault
and rape are often used to
prosecute in cases of torture.
Local civil society groups are very critical
of the inclusive government’s
failure to prosecute torturers.
In a
statement issued on June 26, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said despite
the
existence of Article 18 of the Global Political Agreement which exhorts
the
state to “apply the laws of the country fully and impartially in
bringing
all perpetrators of politically-motivated violence to book”, the
perpetrators, although known, remain protected by a highly compromised
prosecuting authority.
“The perpetrators continue to taunt the victims
and boast they have not been
prosecuted for their heinous crimes because
‘tisu tirikutonga’ or ‘tisu
tiripanyanga’ (we are in charge of the
country),” the statement read.
Highly critical of the state’s failure to deal
with human rights offenders
and provide redress for torture victims of the
2008 election, the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Association (ZimRights) said no
material government efforts
have been made to cater for those who survived
such atrocities (2008s) yet
the nation is again expecting fiercely-contested
elections most likely next
year.
ZimRights observed June 26 under the
theme “Rehabilitation works and is a
torture survivor’s right” by holding
small prayer gatherings and candle-lit
vigils in Harare, Masvingo, Zaka,
Gweru and Kwekwe. Victims shared their
testimonies while activists spoke
about the impact of torture and possible
legal remedies for victims.
The
director of the NGO for Human Rights Forum Abel Chikomo called on the
government to take concrete steps towards assisting victims.
“We urge
government to translate its commitment into action as a matter of
urgency
and implore it to establish structures and institutions for the
rehabilitation of victims of torture,” said Chikomo.
Despite frequent
reports of violence by state security agents, Gutu remains
optimistic the
law would be effective and in place by the next elections.
“I am pretty
confident that before the next elections, there will be a
convention against
torture that would have been properly domesticated and
will be in place by
then,” he said.
If so, the next polls would test the strength of this law
since most
perpetrators of previous election-related violence remain
scot-free.
Much remains to be done in support of victims of torture, but if
the
proposed law can offer justice to survivors, it would give more meaning
to
June 26.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July
13, 2012 in Business
YOUTH Development, Empowerment and Indigenisation
minister Saviour
Kasukuwere says indigenisation regulations he gazetted two
weeks ago have
been misconstrued, particularly those relating to the
education sector.
In an interview this week, he told businessdigest that
government did not
intend to take over all private schools, adding the
notice relating to the
education sector was confined to private schools
owned by for-profit
investors.
He dismissed reports that government
wanted to takeover trust-run private
schools and church-owned schools,
saying the regulations were supposed to
give clarity on a sectoral
basis.
Government’s indigenisation and empowerment policy has often been
attacked
for lack of clarity and cohesion.
“Trust schools are out and so
are church-owned and run schools. In fact, the
regulations only apply in
instances where someone is coming to invest in a
private school for a
dividend. This means that such an investment would need
to be indigenised.
That aspect of indigenisation regulations has been
misconstrued as this was
supposed to bring clarity in terms of how
government was going to proceed
with the policy on a sectoral basis,” said
Kasukuwere.
He said, “the
gazetted covered private colleges and not trust schools”. The
trusts are
Zimbabwean-controlled and have no particular shareholders.
Where there is a
company intending to own schools, surely they must partner
Zimbabweans,
communities or government. A private college training computer
programmes
and operating as a company will be treated as a business, he
added.
The
notice says private colleges, universities, primary and secondary
schools
with a net asset value of a dollar would be required to comply by
June next
year.
Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart concurred
with
Kasukuwere on the regulation affecting educational institutions.
“I
am pleased to report that I had a very constructive discussion with
Minister
Kasukuwere this evening regarding the Indigenisation notice
recently
issued.
“We are agreed that the rights contained in section 20(3) of the
Constitution, namely the right of religious and other groups to set up and
run schools, will be fully respected by government,” he said in a post on
Facebook.
“Accordingly, all mission, church, religious, community and
trust schools
run not for profit will not be subject to any indigenisation
policy. I hope
that the agreement in this regard will settle all those
parents, teachers,
administrators and other interested in the education
sector who feared that
this critically important component of our education
sector was going to be
disrupted. I encourage all those who have been
concerned this past week to
stop worrying and to get on with the fine work
they have been doing in
delivering a quality education to tens of thousands
of Zimbabwean children.”
Asked to comment on the indigenisation regulations
forcing foreign-owned
banks to sell controlling stakes to indigenous
Zimbabweans, Kasukuwere said
the regulations were now cast in stone.
The
cabinet committee on finance was yesterday expected to meet and thrash
out
sticky issues on the indigenisation regulations.
The regulations, contained
in a Government Gazette published two weeks ago,
effectively meant that
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe chief Gideon Gono, a critic
of Kasukuwere’s policy
on foreign banks, had lost the battle.
But Gono, Kasukuwere and members of
the cabinet committee on finance were
yesterday expected to narrow their
differences on banks and ensure policy
coherence.
Gono and Kasukuwere
have exchanged bitter words over the minister’s
insistence that
foreign-owned banks must sell controlling stakes to locals,
after
Kasukuwere’s relative success in forcing major mining companies to do
the
same.
The central bank chief argued that such a move would be the final nail
on
Zimbabwe’s economy.
Gono, however, has support from Finance minister
Tendai Biti and key
government officials such as Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, who maintain
the move to take over banks is a nullity.
Under
the new regulations, foreign-owned banks operating in Zimbabwe have a
year
to comply with the regulations.
The move to indigenize banks has drawn
criticism from government and in the
international community.
— Staff
Writer.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
Business
By Kumbirai Makwembere
GLOBAL equity markets were
surprisingly positive in the first half of 2012.
As the year began, fears
over the health of the global economy were high,
emanating from the debt
problems in Europe which compelled the IMF to lower
growth forecasts for the
global economy from 3.9% in 2011 to 3,5%.
Furthermore, the slowdown in
manufacturing recorded in Asia, US and Germany
dampened hopes of a
favourable outcome for equities. The US job market again
remained in the
doldrums with the unemployment rate remaining stuck at 8.2%
whilst it hit a
record high of 11,1% in the Eurozone.
Contrary to expectations, the major
markets were positive, with the Nikkei
in Japan being the best performer by
recording a jump of 6,52%. The S&P 500
was next in line, with a gain of
5,68%, whilst the duo of the Dow Jones and
the FTSE 100 rose by 2,57% and
1,57% respectively.
The JSE, which often mirrors the performance
of overseas markets, posted a
gain of 5.39%. Equity markets benefitted from
inflows of funds from other
asset classes as commodities and currencies
amidst a gloomy outlook. Gold,
surprisingly, lost its safe haven status and
is now in actual fact regarded
by many as a risky asset as it is tracking
the Euro. Platinum and Nickel are
on the other hand suffering from reduced
demand from Asia largely due to the
slowdown being experienced in the
manufacturing sector.
Whilst punters on the global scene had something to
smile about, the same
cannot be said for the locals.
ZSE maintained its
path of destroying investors’ wealth, losing 9,53% during
the six months to
June. February and May were the only positive months with
gains of 5.42% and
1.19% respectively. March had the worst loss of 6.35%
whilst January, April
and June recorded declines of 5.03%, 5.27% and 0.05%
respectively. If
anything, risk aversion among offshore investors remains
high.
The ongoing drive to indigenise foreign-owned banks,
together with the
gazetting of regulations to indigenise the remaining
sectors of the economy,
amongst them private schools, will not do the
markets any good. This is in
addition to uncertainty as to when elections
are going to be held.
Furthermore, the bulk of the companies on the local
bourse are riddled with
debt and performing below par. If there was a fear
factor index for the ZSE,
it would be interesting to see where it would be
trading currently – our bet
is that it would have shot through the roof by
now!!
The resource index sank deeper in the red by 24,83%, dragged by a 42,5%
loss
in Hwange and a 14,29% decline in Rio Zim. Hwange management recently
revealed at their AGM that talks with Development Bank of Southern
Africa(DBSA) had collapsed and they are pursuing a US$50 million facility
with PTA. RioZim on the other hand is still to come to the market with a
concrete plan of how they intend to turn around company operations. The
company needs a huge cash injection which market rumours allege the new main
shareholders, Gem Raintree, are incapable of providing.
Overall, market
breadth comprised 29 gainers, 44 decliners and two static
counters. The top
five performing counters were Falgold, General Beltings,
Afre, Zeco and
Ariston. These had gains ranging from 158.3% to. Falgold has
become a market
darling ever since it completed phase 1 of its
recapitalisation exercise
which resulted in production and profitability
improving.
The Afre share
price on the other hand responded positively to the
acquisition of a
controlling stake in the group by NSSA which ended years of
tuckshop
management at the company. We are however not sure what the reasons
pushing
up the prices of the trio of General Beltings, Zeco and Ariston are
as their
operations are still struggling.
Could it be the respective companies
pushing up their share prices so that
their counters attain a market
capitalisation above US$1 million, the
minimum threshold alleged to have
been set by the ZSE for all listed
companies?
The bottom of the table was
made up of familiar candidates, with losses
ranging between 56,5% and 95%.
Chemco was the worst performer, and TSL, its
holding company, has since
resolved to delist the struggling unit. Murray
and Roberts’ loss since the
year began stood at 56,5%. Over the period, the
Securities Exchange
Commission (SEC) reversed the acquisition of a
controlling stake in the
company by Zumbani Capital, a consortium led by the
current board chairman,
Paddy Zhanda, and former company chief executive
Canada Malunga, arguing
that the transaction was done at a steep discount of
79% and that an offer
should have been made to minority shareholders
The suspension from trading on
the ZSE of Interfin, alongside Gulliver, was
the main highlight on the
corporate front. It is alleged that the latter
failed to publish its results
within the time frame stipulated by the ZSE
while the ban on the former was
a result of the placing of its flagship
asset, Interfin Banking Corporation,
under curatorship for a period of six
months. This was after investigations
by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
revealed that the bank had negative equity
of US$93 million against
regulatory requirements of US$12,5 million, largely
due to poor corporate
governance structures and abuse of depositors’ funds,
together with a high
level of non-performing insider loans—hardly a surprise
to the market.
Where should investors place their money now? As it stands,
the equities
market is likely to continue disappointing till the year ends.
Outlook for
the listed entities is not so promising as the bulk of them are
heavily
borrowed; hence will continue incurring heavy finance
charges.
The slowdown currently taking place in the broader economy is again
likely
to impact negatively on company performance. Trading on the overseas
markets
is expected to remain volatile as debt problems in the Eurozone seem
to be
far from over.
In the past week, the People’s Bank of China and the
European Central Bank
slashed their bank rates by 0.31% and 0.25%
respectively. The Bank of
England on the other hand increased its asset
purchase plan by £50 billion
(US$77,54 billion) to £375 billion (US$581,55
billion). Will these measures
be enough to prevent the feared double dip
recession?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in Opinion
THE Minister of Youth Development,
Indeginisation and Economic Empowerment,
Saviour Kasukuwere, continues his
determined pursuit to destroy Zimbabwe’s
economy.
He does so with
absolute disregard for irrefutable facts and authoritative
advice he has
been given. He is fixated that policies he conceived prior to
his
ministerial appointment are incontrovertibly correct and immutable. He
is
convinced that the policies must be rigidly implemented without
modification
or variation, and that any criticism of the policies is
malicious, baseless
and racialistic.
For more than a century, untenable racial discrimination
prevailed in the
economy, and that radical transformation was needed to
accord most
Zimbabweans the opportunity to be economically empowered.
However, no one
can credibly contend that such discriminatory practices
should be eliminated
and reversed by pursuit of alternative discriminatory
practices against
those whose ancestors were guilty of such practices in the
past.
This creates not only reverse forms of discrimination, but
also alienates
critical international investment, acquisition of
state-of-the-art
technology, access to essential funding and to substantial
foreign markets.
By myopically implementing racial policies as those applied
in the
pre-Independence era, meaningful economic empowerment of the majority
of
Zimbabweans has not only been minuscule, but poverty has been intensified
and the country’s economic recovery further retarded.
The devastation of
the economy created by government in general, and by
Kasukuwere in
particular, since the enactment of the indigenisation
legislation by
parliament in 2007, but only belatedly receiving presidential
assent in
March 2008, has been immense. Most foreign investment, attendant
technology
transfer and access to international markets ceased, unemployment
increased
and economic development receded. However, such masochistic
consequences
have not satisfied Kasukuwere. On June 29 he prescribed yet
further economic
destruction.
Spuriously alleging authority to do so by citing Section 5(4) of
the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (General) Regulations; 2010,
Kasukuwere initiated the gazetting of “prescribed” regulations in respect of
the finance, tourism, education and sport, arts, entertainment and culture,
engineering and construction, energy, services, telecommunications,
transport and motor industry sectors. The regulations sought to prescribe
the minimum net asset values above which the relevant businesses would be
required to comply with the principal regulations contained in the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act, the minimum percentage
shareholdings in such businesses that must be vested in indigenous
shareholders, and the maximum period of time within which the indigenisation
of such investments must be implemented.
In so prescribing, Kasukuwere
had no qualms at interpreting the powers
vested in him by the legislation
with contemptuous disregard for the
realities of such powers and their
limitations. There was no consideration
of the negative consequences to the
economy and therefore, to the well-being
of Zimbabweans, that would be
inevitable. Many experienced and highly
qualified legal practitioners have
already stated convincingly that the
minister has availed himself of powers
with which he is not vested by
parliament and the indigenisation
legislation, and has irrefutably acted in
breach of the constitution.
The
consequential damage is immense. The financial sector in general, and
the
banking sector in particular, have been weakened for more than four
years.
The sector was emasculated in 2008 when Zimbabwe experienced the
greatest
hyperinflation ever. Almost all banks became highly
undercapitalised,
depositors were recurrently unable to effect timeous
withdrawal of their
funds, and public confidence in the banks was so
dissipated that businesses
in general and the populace at large lost
confidence in them. The
consequential lack of deposits further eroded the
stability and efficacy of
the banks, with several being liquidated and
others placed under curatorship
(albeit the ills of some of the banks were
exacerbated and intensified by
gross mismanagement).
Recovery of the banking sector is a prerequisite for
significant recovery of
Zimbabwe’s troubled economy, over and above numerous
other developments.
Foremost in achieving the sector’s recovery
are:
Recapitalisation of several under-capitalised banks
which necessitates
major investment. However, most of the indigenous
population does not have
sufficient resources to effect such investment, let
alone the will to do so.
But Kasukuwere’s determination to vest absolute
control of the institutions
in the hands of the indigenous, thereby
depriving investors of any
meaningful control and authority over their
investments, is an
insurmountable deterrent to obtaining the
investment.
Considerable international lines of credit and loans. But no
financiers
will grant such facilities to institutions in circumstances that
ownership
and control will change, the identity, credit-worthiness, good
governance
capabilities and policies of the new controlling shareholders
being wholly
unknown, and such future shareholders having little or no
knowledge of
banking sector operations.
Customer confidence in banks,
and therefore the services of the banks
being fully used by commerce and
industry and other economic sectors.
Without such confidence, few are
willing to deposit their funds in the banks
considering their wallsafes,
mattresses, back pockets and handbags as more
secure havens for their
hard-earned monies. Absence of such deposits
severely restricts the extent
to which banks can operate.(These investors’
concerns have been markedly
emphasised and strengthened by the number of
Zimbabwean banks and other
financial institutions that have irredeemably
collapsed, with immense losses
for depositors).
The other sectors addressed in Kasukuwere’s regulations
are similarly
negatively impacted upon by those regulations, and hence the
struggling
economy will be further weakened. As serious as the economic
consequences of
Gukurahundi in 1985 were, so too are the foolhardy
regulations of
Kasukuwere, compounding the economic harm created by previous
policies.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13, 2012 in
Opinion
Eddie Cross
THE ministry responsible for the
indigenisation exercise, launced in 2007 by
the then Zanu PF government, two
weeks ago published another set of
regulations that would, if implemented,
have effectively nationalised all
firms in the country. The new regulations
give companies a year to comply
and sets out penalties for non-compliance.
Included in the new sweeping
attempt at indigenisation are the 100 or so
private schools in the country.
In some quarters there was instant panic, but
what was generally impressive
is very few seemed to take the action
seriously. A headmaster of a private
school claimed he had not even heard
about it and had not been contacted by
anxious parents or board members.
However, eTV of South Africa took it
seriously, running a detailed clip on
its main news covering the new
regulations and the threats they posed. Just
what is the real position on
this new thrust to the controversial
empowerment drive by Zanu PF elements
in the unity government?
First we
need to understand the origins of this indigenisation drive. In
2007, the
Zanu PF government came to parliament with the new Act. At the
time the MDC
held a minority position in parliament and vigorously opposed
the
legislation. After a lengthy, bruising fight the MDC withdrew before the
vote, knowing that had it stayed it would simply have been out voted. The
party chose to make a firm statement that this new legislation did not have
its support in any way.
The implementation of the Act was however
overtaken by subsequent events —
the signing of the Kariba agreement in
September 2007, the subsequent
electoral reforms and then the 2008 elections
in which Zanu was defeated,
but was able to manipulate the result and
prevent total transfer of power.
Instead in February 2009 Zanu PF found
itself in a Government of National
Unity (GNU) with the MDC formations in
which it has been forced to share
power for the first time since 1980.
It
is important for people to understand the nature of this GNU
arrangement —
it left President Robert Mugabe (even though he was defeated
in the
elections) as head of state, chairman of cabinet and the Commander of
the
armed forces. But what many do not appreciate is the new cabinet was
obliged
to make all decisions on a consensual basis: the MDC held a majority
in
cabinet but could not use its majority by voting on issues pending
cabinet
decision. This has been a recipe for deadlock and has now reached a
point
where government is almost paralysed.
In this arrangement, the Prime Minister
(Morgan Tsvangirai) is in charge of
running government and all ministers,
irrespective of their party
affiliation, are required to report to him. He
is responsible for government
policy implementation and has complete power
in this respect. This means
that any major new legislation or regulations
must go through the cabinet
system first, before being implemented under the
supervision and direction
of the prime minister.
The attempt by Zanu PF
to circumvent this system to implement the
Indigenisation Act of 2007 can
only be carried out lawfully with support of
government. Once the
regulations giving the Act force and effect are passed
through cabinet,
where they would require the support of MDC formations,
they would then come
into use supervised overall by Tsvangirai, under whose
direction the line
minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, would be required to
operate.
The reality
is that the regulations first published in December 2010, again
last year
and now this month have never been through the cabinet system —
they did not
go to the cabinet committee on new legislation and were not
given cabinet
authority and approval. In addition, the Parliamentary Legal
Committee has
ruled that the new regulations violate elements of the
constitution and are
therefore illegal.
Tsvangirai’s first response to this development in 2011
was to say the
regulations are not legally binding and therefore have no
force or effect.
However, Zanu PF has been trying to force compliance.
Indigenisation
minister Kasukuwere has been saying he is the minister
responsible for the
Act, he has the right to implement it and the
regulations, despite their
illegality, were binding.
It is now two years
since this roadshow was launched. Its objectives are
clear; like the so-
called “land reform” exercise it has nothing to do with
reform in any sense.
It is a political platform for a phantom election. Its
secondary purpose is
to derail economic recovery by discouraging foreign
investment and
encouraging capital flight. Failing to recognise the much
diminished power
and authority of Zanu PF in the GNU, the private sector has
reacted as if
the game has not changed; investment has dried up, the stock
market has
collapsed to low levels and local capital is fleeing the country
in
significant quantities. The recovery of the economy is stalled; wages are
stagnant while Zanu PF blames the MDC for the problems.
This drive to
halt recovery is seen in several other areas: failure to get
the National
Railways of Zimbabwe back on the rails, attempts to block the
Essar and
Green Fuel deals and the total collapse of Air Zimbabwe are all
deliberate
Zanu PF ploys.
But what of the indigenisation circus? The recently published
regulations
really do expose Kasukuwere for the clown he is. The regulations
are clearly
illegal, violate the constitution and have not gone through the
required
procedure to become law. Tsvangirai simply advised the target
groups to
ignore the regulations and Kasukuwere, and carry on as normal. The
reality
is that despite all the rhetoric, not a single firm has been
indigenised
since 2010. One of the main targets, the mining industry, has
said the
state — or anyone else — can have 51% of all mines tomorrow. They
would be
delighted to get US$7 billion in cash and then have the new
partners
(whoever they are) fund 51% of all new developments, or see their
equity
stake diminished rapidly. It is all nonsense; we do not have the
expertise
and technology to run these firms and we certainly do not have the
money
after Zanu PF wiped out all savings and reserves of any kind in the
decade
up to 2008.
In addition to the debacle that this represents, it is
not even going to
help Zanu PF in any election that comes in the next 12-18
months. The people
know Zanu PF promises are just that; empty promises that
mean nothing to
them as individuals, families or communities. Zanu PF
promised land but all
we have left are derelict farms, no jobs and imported
food at high prices.
Now the party promises us shares for nothing: they are
trying to deceive us
again and we would be fools to be taken for a ride
again, and watch what is
left of our broken economy go down the
tubes.
Eddie Cross is MDC-T MP for Bulawayo South.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 13,
2012 in Opinion
Blessing Vava
RECENT newspaper headlines screamed
that the Sadc facilitation team headed
by South African President Jacob Zuma
was on its way to Zimbabwe, with some
even suggesting Zuma would finally
break the so-called impasse the media
claims exists between parties in the
Government of National Unity (GNU).
There was clearly too much expectation,
but it has turned out Zuma is a busy
man. His troubled ANC party was
recently hosting its policy conference at
Gallagher Estates in Midrand ahead
of the much-anticipated congress in
Mangaung in December this
year.
The congress is a make-or-break affair for Zuma who is
seeking re-election,
with the serious contender being his deputy-president
Kgalema Motlanthe
backed by the ANC Youth League.
So to
expect much from Zuma was wishful because given the internal dynamics
rocking the ANC, the man has too much on his plate. Lest we forget, former
President Thabo Mbeki was recalled just days after he thought he was a hero
for brokering a unity deal among Zimbabwe’s political parties.
During his
term of office, Zuma spent much effort on Zimbabwe to deal with
the
country’s crisis. Maybe his frequent absence from South Africa gave his
rivals the chance to plot and conspire against him. Zuma is now much aware
that he has to put his house in order first, rather than spend valuable time
dealing with the unending Zimbabwean impasse and unreliable politicians.
After all charity begins at home.
At a Quill Speak discussion at the
Quill Club in Harare last Friday, MDC
secretary general Priscilla
Misihairabwi told journalists it’s high time we
solved our issues as
Zimbabweans rather than place all our hopes on Zuma and
his team. We are now
tired of unending Sadc summits, Troika meetings and
frequent visits by the
facilitation team which hasn’t registered much in the
way of tangible
results despite ultimatums and timelines. Zimbabweans are
now tired of this
script which has not changed much since the GNU was
formed. Zuma’s team can
make as many trips as it wants to Harare, but if
there’s no will from the
political leaders in Zimbabwe, nothing much will
change.
The parties in
the GNU are now just buying time, which is why in fact no
real impasse
exists between them. Those who are talking of an impasse are
lost. These are
mere side-tracks. The GNU parties have seemingly found each
other; surely if
there was an impasse we would not expect people like deputy
Mines minister
Gift Chimanikire (MDC-T) to say there is no anomaly in the
army owning a
diamond mining company. Even more shocking were remarks by
co-Minister of
Home Affairs Theresa Makone (MDC-T), who said Zanu PF
supporter, Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri’s appointment was
legal. Who is
really fooling who here?
No matter how many times the facilitation team come
here, nothing will
change as long as Zimbabweans are not committed to
dealing with issues on
their own. The facilitation team has helped draw up
implementation plans
despite the Global Political Agreement being an
implementation plan in
itself. The solution is in the hands of the political
players; Zuma’s role
is to listen and advise. He has not proved to be a top
decision-maker, and
we Zimbabweans are the custodians of this country and we
should seriously
think about that. It now seems Zimbabwe is another province
of South Africa,
mainly because we have given Zuma too much mandate to
prescribe the course
for this country.
We should also be wary of South
Africa dictating the pace for us. It’s like
a man who is having sexual
problems with his wife going to call a neighbour
to mediate when the
neighbour always looks at the wife with a lustful eye.
South Africa has many
interests in this country, ranging from mineral claims
and other business
interests, and is in fact Zimbabwe’s largest trading
partner. It has thus
benefitted from the country’s economic meltdown, as
proven by the wide range
of South African products in our shops, and the
number of Zimbabweans
flocking to South Africa to buy goods for resale at
home.
Also of concern
is that the constitution-making process has dragged on much
longer than
planned, with no end in sight. Zimbabweans must now demand a
conclusion to
all this GPA madness. It is not only about the three parties
in government,
but the millions of Zimbabweans who yearn to see a
progressive nation they
can be proud of. — Vuvuzela Times.
Blessing Vava is a blogger from
Chipinge.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 6, 2012 in News
SOME 50 years ago, observing the trial of Nazi war
criminals, the
German-American journalist Hannah Arendt coined the enduring
phrase “the
banality of evil”. At a time when Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa, for
the benefit of the UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay,
has tried to
apply lipstick to the toad of Zimbabwe’s human rights record
and army
generals have suggested that the security forces are preparing to
redeploy
the tactics utilised during the bloody 2008 elections, that phrase
rings
true for us today.
Throughout the 2008 election period, the
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for
Human Rights (ZADHR) produced a series
of reports documenting the atrocities
which were taking place. To ensure
their credibility, these reports were
restricted to verifiable information
which detailed the injuries sustained
by the victims of the violence.
As
one of those involved in interviewing the victims, I was acutely aware
that
many of the harrowing stories behind those injuries were never
published.
However, with the looming spectre of a return to orchestrated
violence in
the coming elections, I would like to recount my experience of
those
interviews.
In April of 2008, as a member of the executive committee of
ZADHR, I was
tasked with interviewing hospitalised victims of political
violence. Over a
period of several days, I interviewed 52 men and women,
ranging in age from
18 to 68 years. All of them resided in communal areas
and most were ordinary
villagers. They were not political activists and none
admitted membership of
a political party. Their only apparent crime was to
have been suspected of
voting “incorrectly”. The vast majority stated they
had been beaten by gangs
of youths led and directed by men in army uniforms
and war veterans.
It is not possible to recount their individual stories
here, but one story
stands out in my memory and will serve to illustrate the
point I wish to
make. It was that of an 18-year old lad whose village was
visited by a
militia at night which ordered all the young men to gather.
They then
conducted a pungwe and at around midnight, the leader of the
militia
announced they were all to proceed to the next village where they
were to
beat up the occupants whom he said were “sell-outs”. The boy refused
to
participate saying he had known them all his life and some of them were
his
friends. So the thugs beat him up instead. He was hospitalised with a
fractured arm and leg and had contusions and bruises over his buttocks and
back. His spirit, however, was very much intact and he was bristling with
defiance. I was left in no doubt, that given the choice, he would make the
same courageous decision again.
The purpose of the methodical campaign of
brutality was not to punish, but
to instil fear sufficient enough to ensure
they voted “correctly” in the
run-off election. But therein lies the rub. As
in the case of the brave
village lad, none of the 52 people I interviewed
manifested any sign of
fear. They were stoic and defiant. The one emotion
they had in common was
anger; a deep and abiding anger at the affront to
their human dignity.
Those contemplating a return to the tactics of 2008
should not underestimate
the dignity, resilience and courage of ordinary
Zimbabweans.
And finally, they should draw lessons from history, recent and
past,
remembering the eventual fate of the once smug, arrogant men who
Arendt
observed in that courtroom 50 years ago.
Dr Greg
Powell,
Harare.
