The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
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Fellow
Zimbabweans,
At our National Executive
meeting on
We expanded our negotiating
team and agreed on the route to guide the team when dialogue
resumes.
That route calls for the
setting up of interim arrangements to enable the nation to regain its confidence
leading to the holding of a free and fair election.
The peace process and what
has to be done to build the necessary confidences before a legitimate election
is held will determine the length of whatever the transitional lifespan is
agreed upon by Zimbabweans.
Any meaningful return to
legitimacy in
We are ready to support and
participate in all efforts designed to chart a peaceful course towards the
resolution of the crisis of governance in
Our national executive
tasked the leadership to do all it can to clear the avenues for a peaceful
political engagement.
The MDC and all
Zimbabweans must be in a state of preparedness for fresh elections. We need to
ensure that everybody is ready for the final return of the country to
legitimacy.
Only under a democratised
environment is progress possible and subsequent opportunities avail themselves
for personal advancement, safety and security.
We believe in the dignity
of all the people everywhere. We must respect the sanctity of life in line with
our social democratic ideology. This can only be achieved through a vibrant
multi-party political culture where basic freedoms are entrenched and respected
by all.
We cherish a society where
our national diversity and differences are acknowledged as assets. We need a
society where all forms of intolerance are discouraged and a nation where every
person is equal before the law, whether such a person is a peasant or a
president.
The MDC has
always been committed to a smooth transition to a democratic order. I am
convinced that the transition to a new order cannot be far away as the current
situation has become totally unsustainable.
The challenges facing the
party and indeed any new order are obviously going to be immense. The country
will need a comprehensive reconstruction and development agenda, which would
need to be underwritten by the international community.
As we enter into any
transition, the country shall require significant amounts of humanitarian aid to
alleviate current emergencies, including food and fuel shortages that have
overwhelmed us for some time now.
Morgan
Tsvangirai
President
The Herald
(Harare)
July 23, 2003
Posted to the web July 23,
2003
Harare
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last week announced that
it had injected into
the banking system $12 billion in new $500 notes. This
is supposed to be the
last tranche of the $24 billion which the central bank
said it would release
into the system in May.
But the crisis it seems,
is far from over.
The long-winding queues at banks and building
societies are still the order
of the day.
Everyone had hoped that this
injection of cash would result in a reduction
of queues at financial
institutions and an increase of withdrawal limits
that had drastically gone
down to between $5 000 and $10 000 per account
holder.
The question to
be answered is: Where are those billions that have been
injected into the
market? If anything, money has become more scarce. Clients
are still being
turned away by banks and building societies for lack of
money.
Could
it be that demand has far outstripped supply; or are people hiding the
money
under their mattresses to cushion themselves against unforeseen cash
crises
in the future? We hope not.
Some economic analysts have come up with
different views on how and why the
crisis evolved, with some blaming the
central bank and others saying the
issue was more complicated.
There
is no doubt that some external forces could be involved in exploiting
the
situation by mopping up the cash on the market and worsening the
situation
thus causing chaos. A cash crisis is the worst form of shortage as
life
virtually comes to a standstill.
We have said time and again that the
Reserve Bank needs to do a thorough
investigation into the whole issue.
Whatever the case may be, there is need
for a definite policy intervention to
get to the bottom of the issue. Things
have to get back to normal.
The
operations of banks should be reviewed to give incentives to
depositors
instead of penalising them for banking huge sums. We feel the
crisis is
uncalled for but it has happened. If the responsible authorities
don't act
promptly they will create a vacuum and other forces will exploit
that for
selfish reasons.
It is not a healthy situation where people
spend endless hours in queues to
withdraw money. In most cases, they go home
empty-handed as money would have
run out. The shortage of bank notes may have
well created permanent changes
in the way people regard plastic money and
might well have created that
critical mass of card-wielding consumers that
makes widespread distribution
of swipe machines, coupled with low charges, a
viable proposition.
Zimbabwe has a very sophisticated banking structure
and there is no need for
anyone to be carrying huge stakes of money. Savings
have been dwindling over
the past few years due to the hyper-inflationary
environment.
People are no longer saving for the future. It is now up to
the banks to
come up with policies that encourage savings. People should have
a feeling
of security which will encourage them to save for the
future.
The chaos in the banking sector is causing extensive damage to
Zimbabwe's
already battered image and quick action is needed to convince
investors that
the country is capable of solving any crisis
expeditiously.
Comment from ZWNEWS, 23 July
Admissions of guilt
By Michael Hartnack
The general response by black Zimbabweans to the
dire conditions in which
they try to survive, and to the hate-speech against
minorities with which
they are daily bombarded, must constitute final,
irrevocable proof that
apartheid was unjustified and unjustifiable. The
overall refusal by
Zimbabweans to give way to hate-crimes against
officially-designated
scapegoats - whites, Jews, Asians, homosexuals - is the
great "positive"
news, to which we, the media, do not give sufficient
prominence. Indeed,
thanks to the fortitude and the spirit of the people, it
is clear to most
Zimbabweans that this is only what Shakespeare might have
called "A Time of
Needful Woe". How long it will take for this phase to pass,
and for us to
recover from it, is another issue. This past week, inflation
officially
reached 365,4 percent. Two undertakers were arrested for hiring
out bodies
to conmen to obtain emergency supplies of diesel through bogus
rural burial
orders - my garage has had fuel once in three months. A company
belonging to
a ruling Zanu PF party member of Parliament is openly selling
"coupons" to
buy a minimum 200 litres of petrol from his filling stations.
His pumps are
marked: $450/litre (the controlled price), but attendants will
serve no one
without the coupons. Police "invited" four major bakeries to pay
$20 million
Admission of Guilt fines for charging $700 a loaf for bread
(instead of the
hopelessly below cost of production $255 controlled price).
Others still
sell loaves for $1 000-$1 200.
An extraordinary
Admission of Guilt, but of a different kind, was signed by
the Zimbabwe
Council of Churches just as Zimbabweans might again have been
asking
themselves: "How did we get in this mess? 'Who sinned?'" The ZCC
admitted its
own sinfulness but in language so guarded that it exposed
itself to further
censure. The ZCC also associated itself with a bizarre
statement issued with
the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference and the
Evangelical Fellowship of
Zimbabwe. The ZCC, Catholic bishops and the
Evangelicals made no attempt to
attribute blame for violence, corruption, or
economic collapse. Instead, they
urged Christians to pray for a resumption
of dialogue between Robert Mugabe's
Zanu PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement
for Democratic Change (which assumes
South African President Thabo Mbeki was
wrong in telling President George
Bush talks are taking place now).
However,the ZCC, the Catholic bishops and
the Evangelicals told "the press
to desist from manipulative and speculative
reporting.'' "The Church," it
declared (as if there were only one) "remained
united in its resolve to
pursue the route of a peaceful, mediated settlement,
which will bring about
normalcy to our nation. Once this has been arrived at,
the church will
inform its constituency as well as the nation at large." The
Catholic
bishops include six prelates who have sat on their chasubles these
past four
years while death threats have been issued against their
colleague,
Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, for daring to say agitation for
land
reform is a smokescreen for intimidation of opposition. The Anglican
Bishop
of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, declares his devotion to Mugabe and
has
desecrated memorials to black and white soldiers killed in World War
II.
The ZCC, in which none of these reverend clerics holds sway,
appealed in its
own private statement for "forgiveness". "We have with our
own eyes watched
as violence, rape, intimidation, harassment and various
forms of torture
have ravaged the nation. We have been witness to and buried
our own people
who have starved to death due to food shortages. While we have
continued to
pray we have not been moved to action," said the ZCC statement.
"We as a
council apologise to the people of Zimbabwe for not having done
enough at a
time when the nation looked to us for guidance.'' It added that
some of the
perpetrators of human rights abuses had been "set free" - but
dodged saying
who they are. Meanwhile, the bakers' attempt to cloak their
nakedness before
the inspectors by marketing bread as "Swedish Loaves",
"Health Loaves" and
"Twist Loaves" in order to charge a realistic price.
"What is being
"'twisted'? The dough or the customer?" I asked an assistant.
We both had a
good laugh as I handed over my $700 (19 pence at the black
market rate)
knowing I was extraordinarily fortunate to be one of the few
with the money.
ZIMBABWE: Focus on the extent of the brain drain
IRINnews Africa, Wed
23 Jul 2003
Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk in recent
years
JOHANNESBURG, - Zimbabwe is experiencing a debilitating
flight of
professional and skilled people escaping the country's economic
crisis, a
study funded by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has
found.
A large number of Zimbabweans had taken up South African
citizenship
and there were probably more Zimbabweans in South Africa than in
the United
Kingdom, the country with the highest official tally of
expatriate
Zimbabweans.
The study was undertaken by the
Scientific and Industrial Research and
Development Centre (SIRDC), under
contract from the National Economic and
Consultative Forum, to measure the
rate and level of the 'brain drain'.
It confirmed that the "level
and trend of the brain drain in Zimbabwe
has reached unacceptable and
unsustainable heights". Noting that "during the
last four years, this brain
drain trend has escalated in magnitude to levels
that have serious
implications for the country's capacity to deliver on the
sustainable
development front".
Zimbabwe dropped to 145th place out of 175
countries in the Human
Development Index (HDI) rankings in 2003. The HDI is a
composite measure of
average achievement in three basic dimensions of human
development: a long
and healthy life, education and a decent standard of
living. [See IRIN
report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35408]
The SIRDC study estimated there were 479,348 skilled Zimbabweans "in
the
diaspora, although the study team is aware that there is a large number
of
diasporants that it could not contact". The majority held bachelors
degrees
and "about 20 percent held masters degrees, while 5 percent held
PhD
degrees," the report noted.
Most Zimbabweans who had left
the country since 1990 had gone to the
United Kingdom (36.8 percent),
Botswana (34.5 percent) and South Africa.
Although data collected
from government departments, embassies and
other official sources showed that
South Africa had the smallest proportion
(4.6 percent) of immigrant
Zimbabweans, the authors of the report believe
this to be a "a gross
underestimation of Zimbabweans in South Africa, the
preponderant majority of
whom are illegal immigrants".
"As the illegal immigrants have no
defined places of abode, and are
constantly on the run from law enforcement
agents, there was no way for us
to interview them so as to include them in
our catchment," the SIRDC stated.
During a visit to South Africa,
the report's authors also found "the
majority of diaspora Zimbabweans there
had changed their citizenship. We
could thus not find an appropriate manner
of handling the case of the
diaspora Zimbabweans in South Africa. Many
Zimbabweans readily mix in with
the South Africans because of the similarity
of last names. Our view, not
backed by data from this study, is that there
are probably more diaspora
Zimbabweans in South Africa than in the UK," the
authors commented.
REASONS FOR LEAVING
More than half
the respondents sampled in the study had emigrated for
work reasons (54.5
percent). "The most common work-related reasons for
emigrating given ... were
the low salaries in Zimbabwe, followed by the
exchange rate, and better
career advancement opportunities." In recent years
the Zimbabwe dollar has
depreciated sharply against major currencies and
those of its
neighbours.
About 8 percent of respondents mentioned "political
factors" as their
main reason for emigrating.
"If the Zimbabwe
government does not do something to make staying at
home more attractive and
rewarding, the brain drain will continue unabated,"
the study warned. The
forces driving people out of the country were as
powerful as the
opportunities luring them away.
There was no alternative but to
enact "necessary economic reforms that
make staying at home attractive and
rewarding" for skilled and educated
Zimbabweans.
The shrinking
economy was not only forcing productive Zimbabweans
abroad but had also
resulted in what the authors of the report termed an
"internal brain
drain".
"The deteriorating economy in Zimbabwe has forced some
professors,
lecturers, medical doctors and scientists to operate minibuses,
taxicabs or
operate beer parlours. It is a form of internal brain drain to
have many
architects, accountants and pharmacists underemployed," the study
said.
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TOP EMIGRANTS
The health
and teaching professions were the worst affected by the
brain
drain.
"An examination of the professions of those who are leaving
the
country shows that a sizeable proportion of them are doctors, teachers
and
nurses. In fact, the health care sector is the most affected. Many
are
leaving because health care and education spending cuts across the
board
have denied them a place to stay and work in Zimbabwe."
The report found that the flight of doctors had been "so overwhelming
that
the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has had to recruit hundreds of
Cuban
doctors who are paid in foreign currency to fill the gap".
"Many
professionals leave Zimbabwe for the brighter opportunities
offered abroad,
complaining that Zimbabwe is too corrupt, and needs more
politicians of high
moral standards. The dilemma is that Zimbabwe will not
advance in development
if the majority of qualified people continue to
leave.
"The
reason why certain professionals are leaving Zimbabwe is that
they think
working at home is synonymous with supporting the current
government and not
the people," the report observed.
The majority of emigrant
Zimbabweans interviewed said they intended
returning. But about a quarter
were not sure whether they would ever live in
Zimbabwe again.
Erecting legal barriers to the emigration of educated professionals
would
only encourage illegal emigration and discourage "bright Zimbabweans
from
seeking to better themselves through overseas education in the
first
place".
"If brain drain is a valid concern, the main
thrust of public policy
in Zimbabwe should be driven by efforts to stem [the
tide] and targeting our
policy thrust towards domestic equity, efficiency,
and growth," the authors
of the report concluded.
VOA
Group Alleges Zimbabwe Opposition Candidates Pressured Against
Running in
Upcoming Election
Peta Thornycroft
Harare
23 Jul 2003,
16:19 UTC
A human rights group in Zimbabwe says opposition
candidates are being
prevented from running in elections scheduled for next
month.
In a statement Wednesday, the human rights group Lawyers for Human
Rights
expressed its concern that MDC candidates are being pressured not to
run for
office. In some cases, the group says, MDC politicians have been
threatened
with violence and in others they have been physically
assaulted.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says at least
two MDC members
who wanted to run for office have been attacked in recent
days, with one
suffering a broken neck. It also accuses militia members
linked to the
ruling ZANU-PF party gathering around registration areas to
stop candidates
from presenting papers to the nomination court.
MDC
officials say more than 40 of their candidates have not been able
to
register.
The elections are to take place in small towns, where the
MDC has
considerable support.
In its statement, Lawyers for Human
Rights says it is both unfortunate and
sad that despite 23 years of
independence, Zimbabweans could still not fully
enjoy the right to vote, or
be voted into public office, without the risk of
violence.
The
election authority has declared all seats where the MDC failed to
register
candidates as won unopposed by ZANU-PF.
The MDC says it plans to
challenge the exclusion of its candidates in the
court.
Meanwhile,
African and western diplomats have responded positively to the
decision by
MDC legislators to attend President Robert Mugabe's address to
the new
session of parliament. The MDC had been boycotting Mr. Mugabe's
opening
speeches as a protest against his victory in last year's
presidential
election, which the MDC and many observers say was widely
flawed.
The
diplomats, speaking on the condition they are not identified, say the
next
step has to come from Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF.
The Herald
Theft of electrical transmitters leaves suburbs in
darkness
Herald Reporter
Thousands of people in Harare have gone for
weeks without electricity
following increased vandalism of electrical
transmitters.
Residents of Budiriro, Mufakose, Mabvuku, Tafara,
Greendale, Msasa Park,
Eastlea and Borrowdale have resorted to using candles
and paraffin for
lighting and cooking as a result.
Owners of
businesses like butcheries, supermarkets and bottle stores said
they had lost
business and perishable goods like meat, margarine and fresh
milk worth
millions of dollars as a result of the power cuts.
They have expressed
concern at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority,
which they are accusing
of not solving their problem quickly.
Residents say they have reported
power blackouts to Zesa officials on
several occasions but it seemed like
nothing was being done to address their
concerns.
A resident of
Budiriro 2 said there had been a power blackout in the suburb
since Monday
evening and yet there had been no official response from Zesa.
"We
experienced a power cut around 6pm on Monday and up to now (Tuesday
night),
there is no sign of electricity," said the irate resident.
"At the end of
the month, Zesa expects us to settle electrical bills yet
they are not
attending to our problems as quickly as possible," said Mrs
Precious
Dongorera of Budiriro 2.
She said using paraffin, candles and firewood
was more expensive than using
electricity.
"And we don’t have the
money to buy all these on a daily basis because they
are very expensive," she
said.
Another resident from Mabvuku said: "It appears as if our pleas for
the
problem to be rectified are falling on deaf ears because we have
spent
almost three weeks without electricity."
Muggings and thefts
were also increasing as thieves took advantage of the
darkness.
Some
said their social lives had been affected as they could no longer
listen to
radio or watch television.
However, Zesa Harare area manager Mr Steve
Pieron said the power utility was
doing everything that it could to solve the
problem.
"We are doing our best to solve the problem. The only problem
that we have
so far is that we don’t have the required material right now,"
he said.
Some of the materials stolen or vandalised would have to be
imported from
Europe and would take more than three weeks to arrive in the
country, he
said.
Transformers were being stolen and in Budiriro
alone, a 33 000 volts cable
that feeds the sub-station in the area had been
stolen.
"One drum of the cable (300 metres) costs about $40 million, but
we have so
far managed to get some of the materials from other places that
are outside
Harare," he said.
Mr Pieron said Zesa was also facing
foreign currency shortages to import
some of the required materials. He urged
members of the public to report to
the police anyone who they found stealing
or vandalising Zesa property.
Recently, two suspected thieves were
arrested by the police in New
Marlborough after they allegedly stole Zesa
electrical cables worth over
$500 million.
The Herald
Service stations to import own fuel
By Lovemore
Chikova
THE National Oil Company of Zimbabwe will stop importing fuel for
resale to
service stations once it is through with its restructuring
process.
Energy and Power Development Deputy Minister Cde Reuben
Marumahoko said fuel
imported by Noczim would only be for Government
departments and parastatals.
"The private sector will be importing its
own fuel for service stations,"
said Cde Marumahoko.
"It is not very
long before we implement the mechanism."
Cde Marumahoko said there would
be a price monitoring mechanism for fuel
coming into the
country.
President Mugabe indicated in his speech while officially
opening the Fourth
Session of the Fifth Parliament on Tuesday that there
would be a dual
pricing structure for fuel once the restructuring of Noczim
was completed.
"On the other hand, Noczim, after restructuring and
refocusing will be
competing with private oil companies in importing and
distributing fuel
products through a dual pricing structure," said Cde
Mugabe.
Cde Marumahoko said fuel would cost the same price under the
structure.
"I do not want to say there will be two prices," said Cde
Marumahoko.
"Fuel will definitely (cost) the same."
The Government
recently increased the prices of petrol from $145,20 per
litre to $450 and
diesel to $200 per litre from $119,43.
But some service stations were
reportedly selling petrol for about $1 500
per litre, almost the same price
charged on the black market.
The Government has instructed private oil
companies to import fuel on their
own for resale to the public.
The
oil companies recently indicated they would not be able to import
the
commodity because of lack of foreign currency and low prices.
The
country has been facing fuel shortages since 1999 when foreign
currency
shortages began affecting the economy.
The shortages eased
after the Government and Libya signed an agreement under
which Tripoli
supplied 70 percent of the country’s fuel needs.
The deal had some
problems but was renewed last month.
Noczim indicated last week that it
had made substantial inroads in its bid
to raise adequate funds to meet the
country’s fuel requirements.
Newsday
British Tycoon to Get New Trial
By Associated
Press
July 23, 2003, 7:58 PM EDT
LONDON -- A wealthy
businessman who was convicted of hiring two men to kill
a rival will receive
a new trial, a court ruled Wednesday.
The Court of Appeal said the
conviction last year of Nicholas van
Hoogstraten was flawed, though it ruled
that the reason for its decision
could not be disclosed.
Van
Hoogstraten, 58, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for hiring two men
to
kill Mohammed Sabir Raja, a developer and business competitor.
The court
ordered him to remain in custody pending a new trial.
In 1999, Raja, a
father of six, was slain at his home outside London by two
men who stabbed
and shot him. At the time of the killing, Raja had begun
civil court
proceedings against van Hoogstraten for alleged fraud.
At the July 2002
trial, the prosecution had portrayed van Hoogstraten as a
ruthless
businessman. A jury found him innocent of murder, but guilty
of
manslaughter.
The same month, Robert Knapp and David Croke were
convicted of Raja's murder
and received life sentences.
Van
Hoogstraten built his fortune through global mining and property
holdings. He
has homes in the United States, France, Zimbabwe, the West
Indies and
southern England.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press