Washington Post
By ANGUS
SHAW
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 1, 2007; 12:59
PM
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Inspectors and police raided stores Sunday to
enforce
sweeping price cuts imposed to curb Zimbabwe's soaring inflation,
while
shoppers fought over rapidly disappearing staples at
supermarkets.
At least 20 business executives were arrested over the
weekend for hoarding
goods and violating the government's order last week to
slash prices of most
products by half, the official Sunday Mail reported.
Gasoline prices were
ordered reduced by 70 percent, and stations quickly ran
dry.
Store managers have complained they were being forced to sell goods
at lower
than cost.
Inspectors and police forced their way into
storage rooms at shops,
demanding that stocks be put on sale and accusing
managers of hoarding
products, possibly to sell on the black
market.
Zimbabwe, suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining
independence
from Britain in 1980, has the world's highest inflation. The
official rate
is 4,500 percent, but independent financial institutions
calculate real
inflation on essential goods at closer to 9,000
percent.
Critics blame the meltdown on President Robert Mugabe's often
violent
campaign to seize thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution
to
blacks. The long-ruling leader says the program is fixing imbalances in
land
ownership inherited from British colonial rule.
Store managers
tried to limit shoppers to two items of soap, foodstuffs,
milk and other
goods.
"I've got bargains here," said Aenias Mativenga, a Harare cook
jostling at a
checkout, his arms laden with packs of tea, frozen chicken and
cartons of
cookies.
Bread and the corn meal staple vanished from most
shelves by Saturday.
Inspectors ordered stores to slash the prices of all
perishable goods
Sunday, said one shop manager.
"There'll soon be
nothing left and we'll be closing," he told people
converging on the store.
Bargain seekers streamed across the nearby highway
as word of the new
reductions spread.
Crowds fought for sugar in the capital of Harare on
Saturday, tearing open
many of the packs and spilling the contents. Private
security guards averted
a riot at a downtown store that was forced to put
scarce sugar on sale at a
third of the black market price.
In the
crumbling economy, sugar and cooking oil have mainly been available
from
black market dealers for months.
One wholesaler in western Harare
received only 80 loaves of its regular
2,000-loaf order.
"We gave it
away to our staff rather than have an invasion," said a manager
who asked
not to be identified, fearing the premises would be targeted by
angry
shoppers. Police had been called in after the bread delivery truck
arrived.
Tuesday's price reduction order included a range of basic
goods and
services, from commuter transportation to bread, sugar, meat,
milk, corn
meal and even newspapers. Industry Minister Obert Mpofu later
extended it to
rents and almost all manufactured products.
"Reports
are that some businesses are resisting this order. We are going to
deal with
them accordingly. We are going to arrest them," Industry Minister
Obert
Mpofu told The Sunday Mail.
Monsters and Critics
Jul 1, 2007, 12:15 GMT
Harare - A member of
President Robert Mugabe's ruling party has been
arrested in Zimbabwe after
police found bags of sugar in his toilet and
accused him of hoarding goods,
reports said Sunday.
Siriro Majuru, who is a ZANU-PF senator for the
Murehwa-Goromonzi
constituency, was arrested on Friday.
Police found
bottles of orange juice, cooking oil and rice in a storeroom at
the
senator's home east of Harare as well as several packets of sugar hidden
in
his toilet, the official Sunday Mail newspaper said.
Majuru is also being
accused of charging too much for goods in his shop,
according to the
paper.
'We arrested the senator on charges of overpricing and hoarding of
controlled basic commodities. He is in custody and will appear in court
soon,' a spokesman for a group of state-appointed price inspectors was
quoted as saying.
Mugabe last week warned manufacturers and retailers
that they would face a
rough day from his government if they continued to
hike prices above those
stipulated by the government, and threatened to
seize their businesses.
The Sunday Mail reported that more than 20
members of the business community
had been arrested since the government
last week ordered prices to be
halved.
These included two Harare
businessmen accused of withholding hundreds of
bags of cement. The price of
a 50 kilogramme bag of cement was last week
ordered down from 1 million
Zimbabwe dollars to 300,000 dollars.
Industry Minister Obert Mpofu, who
chairs a special committee on commodity
pricing, warned of more arrests to
follow.
'We issued a statement (last) week ordering all manufacturers and
retailers
to reduce prices. However, reports are that some businesses are
resisting
this order,' the minister was quoted as saying.
'We are
going to arrest them,' he added.
Fearing popular protests over spiralling
prices of goods, the government
last week imposed controls on the prices of
basic goods like bread, milk and
cooking oil, but later extended the
controls to all goods.
Retailers were ordered to slash prices to those
charged on June 18,
triggering stampedes in some stores as customers rushed
to buy bargains.
A crack unit on price controls has been touring some
supermarkets in Harare,
forcing shop tellers to lower prices, to the anger
of store owners.
The order to slash prices is being enforced despite a
massive weakening of
the local dollar against foreign currencies needed to
import or manufacture
goods.
The president of the Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce said the
government's latest crackdown on the business
community has deepened
mistrust of the government.
Business has lost
trust and confidence in the government as a social
partner, Marah Hativagone
said in comments carried by the Sunday Mail.
She said forcing businesses
to slash their prices by half would drive
commodities onto the black
market.
'What will now happen is that manufacturers will simply stop
manufacturing
and the country will become a net importer, yet there is no
foreign
currency,' Hativagone said.
'This is also creating a danger
of de-industrializing the manufacturing
sector,' she said.
© 2007 dpa
- Deutsche Presse-Agentur
IOL
Basildon Peta
July 01 2007 at 12:19PM
Alfred Moyo
holds his breath each time he queues to pay for his bread
and milk. By the
time he reaches the till, the prices of the commodities
might have
increased.
"This is no ordinary joke," he says. "It is the reality
of the rot
that has set in here."
With hyperinflation
calculated by private economists to have surpassed
12 000 percent in May -
against the government's official calculation of
half that figure - the
Zimbabwean currency has become so worthless that
nobody wants
it.
Norah Mutasah, like many other landlords, now asks her tenants
to pay
rentals in kind.
"Instead of giving me cash, which loses
value while I hold it, I have
asked them [tenants] to give me sugar, cooking
oil, flour and salt every
month," she says.
Ralph
Mukonoweshuro, a heavy-vehicle tyre trader, says his quotations
for tyres
are now valid for only 30 minutes.
"We used to issue quotes
valid for seven days but reduced that to a
day. Now you have to make a
decision on whether you want to buy or not as
soon as we quote or you will
get a new price if you confirm your order 30
minutes or at most one hour
later," he says.
Many companies that used to pay wages monthly have
now resorted to
paying them weekly. Instead of awarding annual salary
increases, most now
award monthly increases.
Even weekly wage
payments are no longer adequate for most workers.
They now want to be paid
daily. Most others want to be paid in kind with
just a little cash for bus
fare.
"If it were not for the tragic suffering of more than 12
million
people here, we would say this country is a good circus for anyone
wanting
to visit a place of humour," says Mukonoweshuro.
He no
longer banks his money on a Friday because by the time
businesses reopen on
Monday, the cash has lost half its value.
Tonnie Zimondi, a fuel
trader, says he no longer accepts payments in
Zimbabwe dollars but only in
foreign currency. If he accepts Zimbabwe
dollars, he will not be able to buy
enough foreign currency on the black
market to order more fuel.
It is because of this sad context that a grouping of aid agencies in
Zimbabwe, called the Heads of Agencies Contact Group, which represents more
than 30 aid groups, is now predicting a complete meltdown of the Zimbabwean
economy by December.
A report compiled for the contact group by
a hired team of consultants
to prepare them for the future warns that
Zimbabwe's economy is on the verge
of ceasing to exist.
The
report warns the aid agencies to prepare for possible social
unrest as more
businesses shut down.
It also predicts the imposition of a state of
emergency.
Economist John Robertson said that it is difficult to
determine when a
country's economy has totally collapsed. But a recipe for
economic meltdown
includes: when the system of governance breaks down
completely, when people
shun their own currency and when workers and shops
demand payment in foreign
currency for services and goods
respectively.
These ingredients are well advanced in
Zimbabwe.
The unprecedented price increases of the past three weeks
seem to have
been driven by a sharp depreciation of the Zimbabwean dollar.
This has come
as the result of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's decision to
continue rolling
its presses to print new money to buy foreign currency on
the black market.
President Robert Mugabe has threatened to
nationalise all companies
because of their price increases. He ordered
companies to slash their prices
on all commodities by half and roll them
back to those charged as of June
18. The army and police were enlisted to
enforce compliance.
The result has been a disappearance of most
goods from supermarket
shelves and even more serious shortages.
"Manufacturers will simply shut down rather than be forced to operate
at a
loss," Robertson said.
He added that this means parallel market
inflation will worsen even
further as any available goods will be in even
greater demand on the black
market.
The economy is doomed
unless Mugabe's government recovers its senses
and changes its economic
policies, he says.
"If it was possible to relocate all our people,
Zimbabwe should best
be shut down completely and only reopened when we have
new [and] sensible
rulers," Moyo said. - Foreign
Service
This article was originally published on page 5
of Sunday Independent
on July 01, 2007
Afrique en ligne
By Segun Adeyemi PANA Correspondent Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The
grand
debate on the Union Government in Africa got underway Sunday at the
9th
ordinary summit of the AU in Accra, Ghana, with a speech made over 40
years
ago by Ghana's founding President, Kwame Nkrumah, echoing loudly. "We
all
wanted a united Africa, United not only in our concept of what unity
connotes, but united in our common desire to move forward together in
dealing with all the problems that can best be solved only on a continental
basis," Nkrumah had said in his address at the founding session of the OAU
in 1963.
Two years later, in 1965, the revered founding
father of Ghana hosted
an OAU summit in Accra, at which the project for the
continental government
was first discussed.
Over four decades on,
Nkrumah's exhortation has become the trigger for
the sole agenda (full
political and economic integration of Africa with the
ultimate emergence of
the United States of Africa) of the AU summit holding
in his country,
Ghana.
More providentially, the debate is being steered by Ghana,
which holds
the rotational chairmanship of the AU.
The
historical dimension to the debate was not lost on current Ghana's
President
John Kufuor, as he presided over the debate on the union
government
Sunday.
"It is an uncanny coincidence that here in Accra, on the
50th
anniversary of our independence, this same subject on continental
government
should return to the agenda of the summit of the African Union as
its sole
item for deliberation," he said in his opening speech.
President Kufuor said the decision of the last AU Summit in Addis
Ababa in
January to devote the Accra summit exclusively to the 'Grand
Debate' on the
Union Government "assumes that the question of unification is
not in
doubt...What remains is the form of government and how to attain
it".
Ahead of the debate, the sharp division among African nations
on
whether to launch the union government project immediately or allow it to
emerge progressively has created mutual suspicion between the two
groups.
That development was not lost on Kufuor when he called for
mutual
trust and respect, tolerance and critical analysis "even when we
disagree",
during the debate.
The Ghanaian leader also refused
to succumb to the pessimism of those
who said the union government project
was premature, hence would not fly
despite the much-hyped
debate.
"I am confident that at the end of our deliberations, we
should be
able to arrive at a common understanding of the sort of
'Continental
Government' we want for ourselves and how to develop a road map
with time
lines towards its realisation," Kufuor said.
Acknowledging the challenges faced by proponents and supporters of the
project, including Libyan leader Muammar Kadhafi, Senegalese President
Abdoulaye Wade and Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, the Ghanaian leader
said: "The task before us is enormous and exciting.
"We are at
crossroads, and at the same in the threshold of a new era,
with great
opportunities but also many challenges and responsibilities for
Africa. We
therefore must not fail the people of Africa and the future of
our continent
by unexamined decisions during the Grand Debate," he added.
About
40 African leaders, including Presidents Kadhafi, Wade, Thabo
Mbeki (South
Africa), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Abdelaziz Boutelflika
(Algeria), Hosni
Mubarak (Egypt) and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia) are
attending the
summit.
Also here is Nigeria's new President Umaru Yar'Adua, who is
attending
his first summit since he was inaugurated into office 29 May,
succeeding
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Sudanese President Omar
El-Bashir, whose country has been in the eye
of the storm over the lingering
crisis in Darfur, is notably absent from the
summit.
The
African Diaspora is also represented, with the Rev. Jesse Jackson
leading a
group of African American delegates to the debate, while the UN
Secretary-General sent his deputy, Asha-Rose Migiro, an
African.
Accra - 01/07/2007
Afrique en ligne
From Segun Adeyemi On special assignment Accra, Ghana
(PANA) - As the
9th ordinary summit of the African Union (AU) opened Sunday
in Accra, Ghana,
the United Nations has pledged its support for Africa's
efforts at full
political and economic integration.
The
summit, being attended by some 40 Heads of state and government,
is devoted
to debating the prospects for the establishment of a union
government in
Africa to accelerate the full integration of the continent.
"The focus
of this summit, on the proposed Union Government for
Africa, is a timely
one," said the Deputy Secretary-General of the UN,
Asha-Rose
Migiro.
"The United Nations is a long-standing supporter of
regional
integration in Africa. We remain committed to assisting this
process," said
Migiro, who made history as the first African woman to
address an AU summit
on behalf of the UN.
The former Tanzanian
Foreign Minister, who took office as Deputy
Secretary-General of the UN 1
Feb 2007, also called for a stronger
collaboration among African nations and
also between Africa and its
international partners.
"We need
strong partnerships to reach the time-bound targets in the
Millennium
Development Goals. We need stronger partnerships to resolve and
manage
Africa's conflicts, and it is through strong partnership that
Africa's
capacities can be strengthened," she said.
Migiro said while Africa
had made some progress over the years, the
continent was still lagging
behind the rest of the world in achieving common
development objectives
because of 'daunting' challenges like rising poverty
and high child and
maternal mortality rates.
On the MDGs, she said this year marked
the midpoint between the
adoption of the Goals and the target date of 2015,
noting: "That makes it
especially important for there to be more resolute
efforts, and deeper
partnerships, to reduce poverty, to address the needs in
health, education
and other sectors, and to promote gender
equality."
The UN official also dwelled on the lingering crisis in
Sudan's
Western Darfur region, where over 200,000 people have been killed
and
millions displaced during years of internecine fighting.
"Nowhere are Africa's peace and security challenges more evident today
than
in Darfur, where conflict continues to hasten unconscionable toll on
men,
women and children.
"The tragic cycle of violence in Darfur has
been allowed to continue
far too long," she said, while calling for an
urgent deployment of the
historic hybrid AU-UN force to redress the
situation.
On HIV/AIDS, Migiro said a successful fight against the
pandemic was a
pre-requisite for meeting most of the other
MDGs.
"In particular, we must address the root causes of the spread
among
women and girls," she said, lamenting how women bear a
disproportionate part
of the AIDS burden in Africa.
Accra -
01/07/2007
New York Times
Published: June 30, 2007
GREG WINTER. Welcome to the New York Times World View
podcast, a weekly
conversation with Times foreign correspondents from across
the globe.
I'm Greg Winter, a foreign editor at The Times.
This
week I speak with Michael Wines, the Times correspondent in Southern
Africa,
about the disastrous spiral that is Zimbabwe's economy.
Zimbabwe has the
very dubious distinction of having the world's highest
inflation, officially
listed at about 4,500 percent, but estimated by some
economists to be many
times that. The government, facing an increasingly
dispirited population,
put forward legislation this week to require that
virtually all publicly
traded companies in Zimbabwe surrender control to
"indigenous citizens,"
basically, nonwhites who were discriminated against
before the end of white
rule in 1980. The legislation raises the possibility
of a sizeable
redistribution of the country's remaining wealth at a time
when its economy
is collapsing.
Times correspondent Michael Wines has been covering this
story and he joins
us now from Johannesburg.
Michael, last year when
Zimbabwe's inflation was a comparatively enviable
900 percent, you wrote
about how the local $500 bill was just enough to buy
toilet paper - not a
whole roll, mind you, but a single sheet. Now that
inflation is five times
what it was back then, how are people surviving at
all?
MICHAEL
WINES. Well, they're barely getting by. But there are survival
mechanisms in
Zimbabwe and have been for a long time because the economy's
been on a
downward spiral close to eight years now. Probably the main way
people get
along is from contributions from abroad: people who have left
Zimbabwe -
potentially millions of them - and gone to South Africa, England,
the United
States and other countries to find work. And these people send
back
remittances to families and friends to keep them alive. By some
estimates,
as many as 50 percent of all Zimbabwean families are getting some
money from
abroad. And for many it's the main source of income. And for
those
Zimbabweans who don't get money from abroad, the U.S. dollar has
mostly
supplanted the Zimbabwean dollar as the means of exchange. You can
get the
U.S. dollar on the black market if you have Zimbabwean dollars to
trade for
it. And the rate varies from day to day, sometimes drastically,
but usually
creeping up a little bit every day. The U.S. dollar and the
South African
rand, which is also available in Zimbabwe on the black market,
are basically
the only stable currencies - ones that you know will keep
their value, and
so you can use them from week to week to buy goods.
A lot of Zimbabweans
have also decided that they're not going to use the
dollar, or the
Zimbabwean dollar or the rand at all and they're simply
engaging in barter.
Because if you can trade, for instance, a bag of nails
for a dozen eggs,
you're trading commodities that never lose their value and
you never have to
get into the inflationary spiral. For all of those
Zimbabweans who don't
have an income, or even for those who do and are
finding it eaten away by
inflation, there are ways that they can get along.
GREG WINTER. Now, the
government has presented its new ownership legislation
as a black
empowerment plan since everyday citizens, presumably the workers
themselves,
would own a majority stake in their companies. But to critics,
it's merely a
ploy for Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, to shore up his
flagging
support ahead of elections next year. Now, is there truth on both
sides?
MICHAEL WINES. Well, it's really hard to tell from outside.
But it certainly
is true that the notion of turning over control of
white-owned companies in
Southern Africa to blacks, and to other people who
were here before white
colonial powers came, is not a novel idea in the
least. So in that sense,
what Mr. Mugabe is proposing really is not
unusual.
For instance, in Johannesburg, in South Africa, where we're
based, the South
African government has long supported what it calls black
economic
empowerment. And that's a scheme by which private companies, many
of them
white-owned, either sell shares in their companies or find ways to
transfer
large interest in their companies, to black citizens. So in many
companies -
in fact, I think in most of the major companies in South Africa
now, black
workers, black managers and outside black shareholders hold large
stakes, if
not controlling stakes.
In that sense, what Zimbabwe is
doing is not particularly unusual.
However, it has to be said that
Zimbabwe has sort of a checkered history in
this area. In 2000, Mr. Mugabe
began seizing white-owned commercial farms
here, which were the base of the
economy, really, and redistributing them to
black peasants and also to many
members of the ruling party in Zimbabwe -
his party. So it became a form of
patronage, a way for him to ensure the
loyalty of his own supporters and
also to give something to local peasants
who would later vote for his party
in parliamentary elections and for him in
presidential elections. Now,
there's going to be another presidential
election in 2008 and with the
economy in the shape it is in Zimbabwe, Mr.
Mugabe is going to face an
uphill battle to win.
So it's easy to see how critics would view this as
more or less a simple
payoff scheme.
GREG WINTER. Now let's talk
about that. Because the government's plan will
surely bring to mind the
seizure of those thousands of white-owned farms,
some of which were then
doled out to Mugabe supporters as a way of rewarding
their loyalty. But what
was the end result of that redistribution? And do
average citizens think it
was a good idea?
MICHAEL WINES. Well, let's start with the first, whether
it was a good idea.
I think a lot of Zimbabweans, yes, do think it was a
good idea to take these
vast white-owned commercial farms, which quite
frankly control most of the
best land in Zimbabwe and were by far the most
productive farms, and to
ensure that ordinary people had a chance to farm
this land. In fact, South
Africa has a similar, although much less drastic
program under way right now
where they're gradually enabling black farmers
to buy land from white
farmers. So I don't think that most politicians,
white or black, would
really contest the idea that land redistribution is
not a bad thing. The
problem is the way that it was done. By simply seizing
these farms without
compensation and handing them over to people who either
had very little
interest in farming or who knew very little about it, what
the Zimbabwean
government has managed to do is basically destroy the
agricultural base of
what was once one of the most productive countries in
all of Africa. Tobacco
production, which used to be a staple of the economy,
has dwindled to a
trickle. Corn production is way, way down - far below what
Zimbabwe needs to
feed itself, and Zimbabwe used to be a net
exporter.
Many of these farms were never farmed at all. The people to
whom they were
given simply went in, stripped them of machinery, of
irrigation systems, of
any goods that could be sold and then went off and
sold them on the black
market. And in fact, it's been so bad that this year
many experts expect
that 4 million of the 10 or 11 million Zimbabweans are
going to need food
aid.
GREG WINTER. A few months ago, it seemed that
momentum was building for a
political opposition in Zimbabwe with a budding
protest movement and
international condemnation of the government's
repressive tactics. But
things seem to have quieted down considerably.
What's happened?
MICHAEL WINES. In a word, not much has happened at all,
frankly. There have
been negotiations under way in South Africa, overseen by
South African
president Thabo Mbeki, to try to bring about a reconciliation
within the
opposition movement, which is called the Movement for Democratic
Change. A
couple of years ago, the M.D.C., as it's called, split into two
very
bitterly feuding factions. And they've been unable to unite to face Mr.
Mugabe's government and to press for democratic changes.
These
negotiations began in March and they have basically been at a
standstill
until recently, when the two sides managed to agree, at least on
an agenda.
But the whole idea of these negotiations are to lay the
groundwork for free
and fair and internationally recognized presidential
elections next year, in
2008. And there's very little time, really, for
these two sides to get
together and strike an agreement that they've been
unable to reach in the
last eight years.
GREG WINTER. Now, Zimbabwe's government is well known
and well documented to
have truly engaged in a systematic repression of
political opposition. But
why have Zimbabwe's neighbors in Southern Africa,
and perhaps most notably
South Africa itself, been so reluctant to criticize
Mugabe and his
authoritarian leadership style?
MICHAEL WINES. Well,
there's a lot of speculation about that. And I think,
in the case of South
Africa, perhaps nobody but Mr. Mbeki and his own
advisers really know. South
Africa's position is that Zimbabwe's problems
are an internal problem, that
it's not South Africa's duty to preach to
Zimbabweans about how they should
run their government and that, if they
have internal problems there, then
they should settle them amongst
themselves. Mr. Mbeki has expressed what he
called quite diplomacy, that is
not criticizing Zimbabwe but having private
meetings in an effort to bring
the two sides together toward a
solution.
But, you know, Robert Mugabe, for all of his flaws that are
pointed out
these days, remains really a liberation hero in Southern Africa.
He's one of
the best known leaders of the early black liberation movement in
this part
of the world. He fought - helped fight - a guerrilla war during
the 1970's
to change what was then white-ruled Rhodesia into a black-ruled
Zimbabwe,
which was then believed to be a democracy. Mr. Mugabe has not been
shy about
accusing anybody who criticizes him of being a tool of what he
calls the
white imperialists - the United States and Britain. And so many
black
leaders are reluctant to criticize Mr. Mugabe because they're going to
be
tarred as tools of whites.
GREG WINTER. You've chronicled how
Zimbabwe's demise has created a class of
economic refugees who migrate to
South Africa in search of jobs only to be
exploited or deported by the
thousands each week. Do economists see any
viable solutions to Zimbabwe's
economic troubles?
MICHAEL WINES. Well, I was just reading about
hyperinflation, actually, this
morning. And really there's only one way to
cure hyperinflation and that's
for the government to change its economic
policies. To do that, the
government has to first stop printing so much
money, which is the basic
source of hyperinflation. And secondly it has to
start balancing its budget
so that it won't have the temptation in the
future to print more money to
get out of its financial problems. So it
really requires a government
solution to end the basic economic problem of
hyperinflation in that
country. And until the government decides to change,
there's really not much
that can be done.
You know, the other
interesting thing about hyperinflation is that it's not
only a
government-induced problem, but that it's a practice that tends to
benefit
the government at the expense of ordinary people. Because the
government can
always print more money to find its way out of a financial
problem. And it
simply debases the currency that everyday people use to
purchase food,
housing, electricity and other basic necessities.
So in many ways, you
know, it's not in this government's particular interest
at this point to
stop printing money. Until there is either a change in
philosophy or a
change to another government that decides that it wants to
balance the
budget and bring the economy under control, not much is going to
happen.
And having said that, even if that happens, and eventually it
almost has to,
Zimbabwe is going to remain something of a basket case, I
think, for a good
time to come. And as I said, their agricultural base is
basically destroyed.
And it's going to take years, if not decades, to
rebuild that.
There's been a mass exodus of talented people to other
countries. Many of
the smartest and most capable managers, educators,
physicians and others
have left the country and taken jobs elsewhere. And
whether they'll come
back quickly or not, is really an unknown.
So I
think this country really faces a long, long uphill struggle even if it
does
manage to solve the economic problems it's facing.
GREG WINTER. Michael
Wines, Times Southern Africa correspondent, thanks so
much for speaking with
us.
MICHAEL WINES. Thank you, Greg.
GREG WINTER. And thanks for
listening. I'm Greg Winter of The New York
Times. We'll be back next week
with another edition of World View.
Zim Online
Monday 02 July 2007
By
Thulani Munda
HARARE - Prospects of President Robert Mugabe's government
lifting a ban on
several independent newspapers anytime soon look dim
because of lengthy
legal wrangles involved, the Media Institute of Southern
Africa (MISA) and
Article 19 said in a report released at the
weekend.
The groups said a plethora of repressive legislation used by the
government
to shut down papers and restrict independent journalists would
also remain
in the statute books because they best served Mugabe and his
ruling elite's
interests as the country prepares to hold key presidential
and parliamentary
elections next year.
"The chances for the return of
the banned independent newspapers, The Daily
News, Daily News on Sunday, The
Tribune, The Weekly Times, in the
foreseeable future appear remote as
evidenced by the time it has taken to
conclude ANZ's (Associated Newspapers
of Zimbabwe) legal battle to be dully
registered despite the court's
findings of obvious bias on the part of the
(state) Media and Information
Commission (MIC)," the report read in part.
ANZ published the Daily News,
the biggest circulating daily at the time of
its forced closure, and its
sister title the Daily News on Sunday. The
company has filed several
numerous appeals to the courts seeking to be
allowed to resume publishing
its papers that were shut down because they
were not registered with the
MIC.
"Viewed against the enactment of additional restrictive legislation,
AIPPA
(Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) and POSA (Public
Order
and Security Act) are set to remain firmly entrenched in the Zimbabwe
statutes to serve the interest of the ruling elite ahead of the 2008
Presidential elections," the report added.
The report warns of the
danger of the few remaining independent journalists
and newspapers opting
for self-censorship to avoid punishment under the
government's repressive
laws.
"Remaining privately owned newspapers that have been fearless in
braving the
harsh and restrictive socio-economic and political environment
will no doubt
be forced to weigh their options against the risk of suffering
the same fate
of the closed newspapers," says the report.
The AIPPA
is regarded as one of the harshest media laws in the world. Under
the law
enacted five years ago, journalists are required to obtain licences
from the
MIC in order to practice in Zimbabwe.
The commission can withdraw
licences from journalists it may deem as not
conforming. Journalists caught
practising without a licence are reliable to
a two-year jail term under
AIPPA.
Besides journalists being required to obtain licences, newspaper
companies
are also required to register with the state commission with those
failing
to do so facing closure and seizure of their equipment by the
police.
Under POSA, journalists face up to two years in jail for
publishing
falsehoods that may cause public alarm and despondency, while
another law,
the Criminal Codification Act, imposes up to 20 years in jail
on journalists
convicted of denigrating President Robert Mugabe in their
articles. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Monday 02 July 2007
By Thulani Munda
HARARE - Some
retailers were on Sunday forced to close their shops fearing
arrest as
police intensified a crackdown against businesses refusing to roll
back
prices to June 18 levels as directed by the government.
The Zimbabwe
government last week imposed a blanket freeze on price
increases it says are
unjustified and meant to incite popular revolt against
President Robert
Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party.
Police and soldiers drafted in to
enforce the price ban and who last week
raided mostly small retail operators
in poorer sections of Harare stepped up
the blitzkrieg, forcing some of the
leading supermarket chains in the
capital to close after staffers refused to
obey orders to cut down prices.
In the middle class suburb of Chadcombe
east of Harare city centre, workers
at TM Supermarket had to stop selling
and close the shop after the police
accused them of flouting the government
directive on prices.
"When the police came they forced TM supermarket
staffers to reduce their
prices, which they did not do forcing the shop to
close," said one angry,
shopper who identified herself as
Alice.
"Right now I am being forced to go to Queensdale (shopping
centre), to look
for the things which I could have easily bought from our TM
here," said
Alice, who looked in her late thirties and said she is an
accountant with a
leading clothing retail shop in Harare.
The TM
supermarket chain is one of the two biggest retail chains in the
country and
its Chadcombe shop also caters for shoppers from the suburbs of
Hatfield,
Msasa Park and the peri-urban settlement of Epworth.
Police details also
swooped on the popular "Whitehorse" open market on the
outskirts of Harare,
along the highway from the capital to Beitbridge on the
border with South
Africa. Traders at the market sell goods mostly imported
from South
Africa.
The police earlier on Saturday raided Denenga Supermarket along
Nelson
Mandela avenue in the city centre while on Friday they stormed SPAR
Athienitis at Harare's Five Avenue shopping centre which popular with well
heeled shoppers.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena was not
immediately available to give
figures of how many shop owners and other
traders the police had been
arrested over the weekend. But reports suggests
that so far not less than 20
businessmen, among them a ZANU PF Senator for
Murehwa-Goromonzi
constituency, Siriro Majuru, were arrested for allegedly
busting price
controls.
The raids on leading retailers came just
hours after Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce president Marah Hativagone
announced that the business
community had lost trust and confidence in the
government because of the
price ban, a development she said endangered
attempts to agree a social
contract of business, labour and the
government.
Hativagone said: "We were building up confidence in
government through the
social contract, but following government's directive
to retailers to slash
prices by 50 percent, business has lost trust and
confidence in the
government as a social partner."
The government has
been pushing for a social contract with labour and last
month the three
partners' in the Tripartite Negotiating Forum signed three
protocols to work
together in the search for solutions to Zimbabwe's
eight-year old economic
crisis.
However, a tough-talking Mugabe appeared to ditch co-operation
with business
threatening during a speech at the burial of a former top
soldier that his
government would nationalise factories and shops that
refused to lower
prices and mines that he accused of externalising foreign
currency earned
from exports.
Analysts say the government's latest
effort to keep a lid on prices was
meant to pacify angry workers ahead of
general presidential and
parliamentary elections next year but would come at
a heavy cost as this
could force some companies to shut down and force more
workers to join the
growing list of the jobless. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Monday 02 July 2007
By Nqobizitha
Khumalo
BULAWAYO - A total of 1 443 violations of students rights were
recorded in
Zimbabwe last year, according to a report compiled and released
by the
Student Solidarity Trust.
The trust, which seeks to promote
students' welfare, is made up of students
from the Zimbabwe National
Students Union (ZINASU) and other tertiary
institutions around the
country.
The report titled, "State of the Higher and Tertiary Educations
Sector in
Zimbabwe 2006 - Inside a Pandora's Box", was released to coincide
with the
United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
that was
marked last week.
The report, the first to monitor and
document student rights violations,
says there were 1 443 cases of
violations of student rights which included
cases of intimidation, death
threats, unlawful arrest and detention of
students during the past
year.
"The year 2006 saw a number of unwelcome and catastrophic
developments for
students and the student movement.
"The rights that
were most violated during the year were the rights to
freedom of expression,
association, movement, political discrimination,
freedom from arbitrary and
unlawful arrest and detention," said the report.
The trust said 337 cases
of unlawful arrest and 35 cases of serious torture
of were recorded during
the past year, among other numerous other violations
by President Robert
Mugabe's embattled government.
The report says ZINASU student leaders
Promise Mkwananzi, Mfundo Mlilo and
Zwelithini Viki were among those who
bore the brunt of the government
crackdown against students as they were
arrested and tortured several times
during the course of the
year.
The Zimbabwean government is battling for political survival in the
face of
a severe economic crisis that has been described as the worst in the
world
outside a war zone.
The economic crisis, which is in its eighth
straight year, has triggered
widespread discontent with students and workers
demonstrating against
worsening economic hardships.
Harare has in
turn responded by violently breaking up student demonstrations
accusing the
students of working with the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) party to effect regime in the country. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Monday 02 July 2007
By Prince
Nyathi
MUTARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC)
party has accused the police of refusing to sanction their rallies in
rural
areas saying the party should first seek clearance from village
heads.
Pishai Muchauraya, the party's spokesperson in Manicaland, said
the police
had over the past two weeks denied them permission to hold
rallies by
telling them to first produce letters from village heads allowing
them to
hold rallies in their areas.
Muchauraya said the requirement
was meant to scuttle their political
activities in the rural areas as most
traditional leaders were strong
backers of President Robert Mugabe's ruling
ZANU PF party.
"When we go to the police, they tell us to get letter from
a traditional
leader of that particular area first before we can hold the
rally.
"But the chiefs cannot give us the letters because they are afraid
that ZANU
PF youth militia will terrorise them afterwards," said
Muchauraya.
The MDC, which enjoys massive support in urban areas, has
found it difficult
to penetrate rural areas which are strongholds of ZANU
PF.
Under Zimbabwe's tough Public Order and Security Act (POSA),
political
parties must first seek clearance from the police before holding
any rallies
or political meetings.
But the law does not require
political parties to seek clearance from
traditional
leaders.
Muchauraya said the MDC had over the past two weeks been forced
to cancel
rallies at Shiba Forestry Estate near Honde Valley and another
rally that
was scheduled for Mafuke Hall in Gombakomba in Mutare south
constituency.
In both cases, the MDC sought and failed to get clearance
from the Officer
Commanding Mutare Rural District, a Superintendent Govo.
Govo could not be
reached for comment on the matter.
Police
spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena denied that the opposition party was
being
denied permission to hold rallies in Manicaland.
"There is no regulation
like that," said Bvudzijena when contacted by
ZimOnline.
The police
last March banned rallies and demonstrations in Harare following
violent
clashes with opposition supporters in the working class suburb of
Highfield.
The ban was only lifted on Wednesday with the security
agency however saying
political parties must still apply for permission in
line with Zimbabwe's
security laws. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Monday 02 July 2007
By Tanonoka Joseph
Whande
GABORONE - There are talks again. Maybe these are the talks. But
talks about
what?
I have an acutely vested interest in the talks
between President Robert
Mugabe's representatives and the main opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) factions that are currently underway in
South Africa.
I want the talks to succeed because my life literally
depends on them. South
African President Thabo Mbeki, on the other hand, is
just looking for an
undeserved addition to that part of his dull CV that
refers to mediation.
Almost a decade ago, Mbeki went live before an
international television
audience and offered the world the African
Renaissance, which still remains
in the incubator.
Maybe he's afraid
the Renaissance might not survive the harsh African
climate. However, my
optimism over the talks is doused by several scenarios
which make me
conclude this is just another charade to protect Mugabe while
giving Mbeki a
small opening to escape.
Who are the principals in these talks? What and
how much can they offer or
concede? And what do they mean to us
Zimbabweans?
First, there is Mbeki, a lacklustre moderator prone to
taking sides when
mediating. Mbeki's mediating skills were badly exposed and
tarnished when
the Ivorians fired him from their mediation talks for
bias.
I cheer when I look at what happened in the Ivory Coast after they
fired
Mbeki.
Is the sight in the Ivory Coast not one to behold when
we have a president
whose former adversary (in violent manner) is now his
prime minister in
peace?
Also remember, please, that the bogeyman
himself, Mugabe, riding on the back
of his highly efficient army, put
Mozambique's Alphonso Dhlakama, of the
Mozambican Resistance Army (RENAMO),
on the defensive and brought him to the
negotiating table, culminating in
that historic peace accord between the
Mozambican government and RENAMO in
Rome.
Zimbabwe had to act; it was suffering badly because of the
political
instability in Mozambique, much as South Africa is going through
because of
Zimbabwe.
One of my most cherished moments was seeing
Mugabe on the podium, with a
genuine smile on his face, hugging a beaming
Alphonso Dhlakama in front of a
jubilant Joachim Chissano during
Mozambique's 10th Anniversary of Peace
Celebrations in Maputo.
That
was in 2002.
Regrettably, that has meant nothing to both Mbeki and
Mugabe. Since becoming
president, Mbeki has had ample opportunity to arrest
the deplorable
situation in Zimbabwe.
The last time he invited and
held mediation talks between Mugabe and the
opposition, Mbeki succeeded only
in splitting the opposition.
Mbeki has failed to control the situation
and, three weeks ago, went to the
extent of telling his nation through a
speech in parliament that "South
Africa just has to live with the influx of
(Zimbabwean) refugees."
He protects Mugabe at the expense of South
Africans. So we have Mbeki, an
ardent Mugabe ally, now tasked with the job
again. The folly of diplomacy!
So, hands up those who think Mbeki is the
right mediator. I see only one
hand.
Okay, Mr Mugabe, you can put
your hand down now. Your vote does not count.
(Does that sound familiar to
you, Sir?)
Then there is the man himself, Robert Mugabe. He sent a team
of
lightweights, Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche, to the negotiating
table. And this gauges the 'unseriousness' of the matter.
I made the
same point (The UK Guardian, Aug 20, 2003) when similar talks
were ongoing
and with these two Mugabe representatives as the principal
negotiators. Of
the two, Goche surprises me the most.
I first met Goche when I was a
student in the US and he was at our embassy
in Washington just after
independence. Goche was straightforward and
espoused democracy through all
his pores.
He never struck me as one who would end up like this. But, I
guess power,
money and politics are like fungi; they never stop
growing.
So here we are with Chinamasa and Goche once again in the
forefront to bring
better fortunes to Zimbabwe. They tried it before and
failed.
Obasanjo and Mbeki tried it with them before and failed. This
time, however,
Mbeki is reported to have requested Chinamasa to give him
"more evidence
that they were serious about the talks."
And does
anyone of us believe that Mugabe is in these talks to negotiate
himself out
of power? And if he is not, what are these talks about since
that is the
only thing that matters.
Hands up those who think Mugabe is serious about
these talks. I see only one
hand. Okay, Mr Mugabe, you can put your hand
down now. Your vote does not
count. (Surely, that must sound familiar to
you, Sir?)
The talks cannot be about power sharing for that would be
political suicide
for the MDC. Unity then? It cannot be. The chasm is too
deep and there is no
common ground.
Besides, no matter how much we
love and revere the late Vice-President
Joshua Nkomo, his capitulation into
disbanding PF-ZAPU and being swallowed
by ZANU-PF shall always remain as the
day when Zimbabweans were robbed of
choice.
Unity does not mean
giving up one's dreams and hopes for his country and
adopting the other
person's. Unity means that if our people prefer a certain
path, whether it
is championed by the ruling party or the opposition, then
we all embrace it
and work towards its fulfilment together.
Unity does not mean abandoning
one's agenda for the nation. It does not mean
being swallowed by another
party whose ideology is totally different from
yours. So what are these
talks about?
Are they, then, about Mugabe's retirement and immunity from
prosecution? I
will not laugh while in the execution room but I want to know
who can
forgive a murderer other than the murdered?
And this brings
us to the MDC. Now, what is the MDC negotiating for? Are
they negotiating a
merger at party level? Are they demanding, as the late
Ndabaningi Sithole
and the late Joshua Nkomo did, that the 'playing field be
levelled'?
Are they willing to tackle and tell us, now, what will
happen to our head of
state, should Mugabe lose the elections? Are they only
demanding 'a new
constitution before the next elections'?
Since when
have African dictators respected their own constitutions?
I call the MDC,
particularly Morgan Tsvangirai, as my first witness for the
prosecution.
Hopefully, Mr Tsvangirai's wounds inflicted on him for
attending a prayer
meeting for Zimbabwe have now healed enough for him to
appear.
If
Mugabe is demanding immunity from prosecution in exchange for stepping
down
then tough luck because no one has the authority to pardon Mugabe
except
those he committed crimes against.
I said as much to former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair (Daily News,
March 4, 2003) who was actively pursuing
and promising Mugabe immunity in
exchange of exile in the UK.
No one,
not even the MDC, has the authority to pardon Mugabe except the
Zimbabwean
people. And that is a tall order, indeed!
The MDC should be warned that
the sacrifices and concessions they make do
not amount to a betrayal of the
people. The concessions they make must not
disappoint and they should be
alert to Mugabe's trickery which is a matter
of public record.
No one
can rule Zimbabwe with Mugabe free on a pig farm somewhere or alive
in exile
somewhere in Saudi Arabia. Too many people were murdered in his
name.
This is one man who will never live in peace should he make the
mistake to
leave the presidency.
So, hands up everyone who believes
Mugabe is trying to negotiate himself out
of power. No paws up, just like I
thought!
*Tanonoka Joseph Whande is a Zimbabwean writer based in
Gaborone, Botswana
* ZimOnline encourages readers to send articles for
publication in the
interest of promoting healthy debate on the crisis in
Zimbabwe.
The Sunday Times, UK
June 1, 2007
While the government prospers, most of the Zimbabwe
survives on less than £1
per week and will do anything to
survive
Christina Lamb, Harare
STELLA SITHOLE is a high school teacher
with neatly braided hair and a
husband who works in a bank, yet in the
twisted world of President Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe she has to turn tricks to
feed her children.
Battling to survive the world's highest inflation,
estimated by local
bankers to have reached 15,000%, the salary of Z$2.1m she
has just received
is six times what she got last month. But it is not even
enough to cover her
bus fares to school and back. In fact, it is equivalent
to less than £3.50 a
month.
So for several days of the week, instead
of standing in front of her class
in Kwekwe teaching history and geography,
Sithole takes the bus 146 miles
north to Harare. There, she sits at the bar
in clubs such as Chez Ntemba,
Chez Mambo and the Stars Studio at Rainbow
Towers hotel, waiting for a
proposition.
At 32, Sithole is pretty and
refined, though there is a far-away sadness in
her eyes and clients complain
that there is not enough of her bottom ("What
do you expect on one meal a
day?" she asks).
On a pulsating Friday night at the Stars Studio, there
is no shortage of
takers. "Ministers," she whispers, "or Zanu big
men."
While the vast majority of Zimbabweans are struggling, like
Sithole, to
survive on less than £1 a week - "We're not even have-nots," she
says,
"we're
have-nothings" - these paunchy men in striped suits knocking
back shots of
malt whisky are finding that things have never been so
good.
Not only government ministers and officials from the ruling Zanu-PF
party,
but also top police and army officers and High Court judges have
been
cleverly woven into Mugabe's patronage system, benefiting hugely from
his
despotic rule.
Many have been allotted property that was violently
seized from white
farmers. But their real wealth comes from access to foreign
exchange at less
than 1,000th of the rate on the streets.
This enables
them to buy expensive vehicles such as the Hummers, S-class
Mercedes and
Toyota Prados that fill the hotel car park - one of which will
whisk Sithole
to a lodge on the edge of town.
When I first meet her through a friend,
the primly dressed mother of two is
ashamed to tell me what she does,
referring instead to "colleagues that have
become sex workers". But it is
clear she knows too much and in the end she
admits her tawdry double
life.
"I studied three years at college to become a teacher and was so
proud when
I graduated," she says, sadly. "Now look at me. I'm very ashamed
and always
regret afterwards but otherwise we would starve."
Her
clients pay in "cash and kind". Pointing at the long black leather boots
she
is wearing, she explains: "The most I got was Z$600,000 and this pair
of
boots as well as a mobile phone my husband sold."
She can earn more
depending on what she refers to as "the what". This means
whether she is
prepared to have sex with no condom - an enormous risk in a
country where at
least one in five adults is HIV-positive.
"These dirty things make me
scared because most of these guys are infected
but I'm desperate," she
shrugs.
To show the impossibility of surviving on a teacher's wage, we
take her
entire Z$2.1m salary to a local supermarket. All she manages to buy
with the
two large bricks of notes is one bottle of cooking oil, one packet
of salt,
one laundry soap, one pack of powdered soup, some milk powder and a
pack of
sugar.
In fact, just her bus fares to travel the 15 miles to
school are Z$60,000
each way, totalling Z$2.4m a month if she goes every day.
"So I'm already on
minus," she says. "I'm actually having to borrow money to
go to work."
On top of that, her bills last month were Z$315,000 for
electricity,
Z$130,000 for water and Z$800,000 for rent, not to mention food
and bus
fares for her 11-year-old daughter and nursery fees for her
five-year-old
son. Her husband earns just Z$1.4m. "We're the poorest
millionaires on
earth," she laughs.
For two years she supplemented her
salary by working in a field or cleaning
after school. She would use the
money to go into Harare and buy cheap
clothing. She would exchange this in
rural areas for ground nuts and peanuts
that she could then sell in
town.
Colleagues cross the border to Botswana or South Africa, where they
can buy
goods for a quarter of the price, and come back and sell them. But
Sithole
has never amassed enough money to buy the foreign exchange she would
need to
do this.
This year, as inflation spiralled, she has found
herself borrowing more than
her salary each month. "I don't have any family
abroad to send me money and
we weren't even having one meal a day," she
says.
One of her colleagues suggested accompanying her to Harare for the
night.
She earned more in a few hours than for a month's teaching. When I ask
if
many of the other teachers at her school are doing the same, she
laughs.
"Three-quarters," she replies.
Others have simply left the
country, part of a massive exodus of 4m people.
At the start of term in May
more than 5,000 teachers in Zimbabwe did not
return to their posts, among
them Sithole's headmaster.
The children they have left behind are just
told to sit and read.
"Zimbabweans sacrifice bread for books to get their
children to school, then
there's no teaching," said James Elder of the United
Nations Children's Fund
(Unicef) in Harare.
He pointed out that the
pass rate had dropped sharply - just 37% passed
grade 7, which means almost
two-thirds are failing.
"It hurts me that we teachers are abandoning the
children to service these
beasts with their fine cars," says Sithole. "But we
don't have an option."
Her clients' children attend private schools or
study in the UK, America or
Australia. They can easily afford this because of
the beneficial exchange
rate available to those close to
power.
Although the Reserve Bank knocked three zeroes off the currency
last
November, the Zimbabwe dollar has continued to lose value at an
astonishing
rate. At the start of the year it was 3,000 to the US dollar.
Last month it
fell from 100,000 to 300,000 in a week on the streets where
most people
exchange. Yet the official rate is 250.
"Imagine the money
you can make," a merchant bank director explained. "Say
you buy US$100 at the
official rate - that costs you Z$25,000. Then you sell
that US$100 on the
streets and get Z$30m. With that Z$30m, at the official
rate you can buy more
than US$100,000 - all for your initial outlay of about
eight
cents.
"And that's not to mention fuel vouchers," he added. A litre of
fuel for the
privileged costs just Z$400 while everyone else must pay
Z$185,000. "If
you're
one of Mugabe's cronies, you can live in fantastic
wealth."
That wealth is visible not only from the number of new luxury
cars on the
streets of the capital but from a spin round Borrowdale Brooke, a
private
housing estate with its own golf course in northern
Harare.
Many government ministers have elaborate mansions. On the hill is
a
three-storey glass monstrosity with its own lift, owned by the army
chief,
and beyond a heavily guarded entrance is the shining blue pagoda-style
roof
of Mugabe's multi-million-pound new home.
The local Spar sells
Mozambican prawns, lobster and Laphroaig malt whisky at
Z$9m a bottle but if
residents prefer to eat out, they can head down the
road to Amanzi, where
dinner for five costs more than Z$26m.
"At the same time most people are
barely surviving, those with access to
power are literally bleeding the
country and becoming richer daily," said
Roy Ben-nett, a leading member of
the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) who had to flee to South
Africa after 10 months in jail.
"It's not just Mugabe. There's an elite
of around 5,000 scoring from the
situation and there are enough of them in
high places to maintain the status
quo.
"They realise their only way
to survive is to keep Mugabe there, because
once he goes it's a bun-fight
between them."
It is not only those holding the reins of power who are
benefiting.
Zimbabwe's
stock market is booming. At a cafe in Harare I met
Robert, a flashily
dressed 26-year-old who was showing off a Ford Triton for
which he had just
paid Z$14 billion. He and his friend had five mobile phones
on the table
that kept ringing.
"More deals to make," he explained,
describing himself as a commodity
broker, which in today's Zimbabwe seems to
mean black market profiteer.
"It's
chaos but we've never had it so good,"
he said as he drove off in his new
car.
"We have this ridiculous
dichotomy where this is the cheapest country in the
world if you're earning
US dollars and the most expensive in the world if
you're earning Zim
dollars," said an importer of luxury perfumes and
cosmetics. "You can pretty
much afford anything you want if you have access
to foreign
exchange."
But he added that after a couple of boom years, his sales were
now falling.
"The numbers are becoming less and less and noticeably so," he
said.
With inflation so high that the Reserve Bank needs to double the
amount of
money in circulation every month, it is struggling to print enough
of the
country's Monopoly-style notes and recently had to bribe printers to
work
overtime with a Z$5m bonus.
It was the Reserve Bank that pushed
up the exchange rate so precipitously
last month, buying up foreign exchange
on the black market to pay Eskom in
South Africa for electricity and to repay
money owed by Air Zimbabwe so it
could keep flying. It also paid for US$2m
worth of surveillance equipment,
following the introduction of a law that
permits the monitoring of phone
calls and e-mails.
The biggest
payment, however, was US$39m owed to the US Export-Import Bank
to avoid legal
action from the US Treasury. Gideon Gono, the governor of the
Reserve Bank,
wrote a furious letter to the US attorney-general, complaining
that the
repayment had forced the government to "divert funds which were
meant for
importation of . . . medical drugs for our hospitals, antidrought
food
imports, fuel, electricity, seeds as well as agricultural equipment".
He
added: "The people of Zimbabwe have paid an invaluable sacrificial
welfare
price to meet your abrupt harsh turn of spirit."
Short of foreign
exchange and having run out of farms to hand out to
supporters - all but 200
of the 4,500 white farms have been confiscated -
the government last week
announced legislation to seize 51% of foreign
companies.
Although the
government has stopped issuing inflation figures since it hit
3,700% in
March, prices are doubling weekly. A loaf of bread that cost
Z$8,000 in May
is now Z$50,000.
In supermarkets such as the Bellevue Spar in Bulawayo,
staff struggle to
keep up with the increases. Every aisle has someone busy
with a pricing gun
and some items have six or seven price labels, one on top
of another. The
baked beans on sale for Z$66,000 five days ago have just been
repriced at
Z$125,000. Hardly anyone in the shop seems to be buying anything.
People
stare at prices and window shop as if they were ata luxury department
store.
"We're going round from place to place to see if any shop has
items it
hasn't
yet marked up," says Charles, a young man with dreadlocks
who is foreman of
a local factory.
He has just discovered hair gel for
Z$30,000 that is going for Z$130,000
elsewhere, so he buys up six to sell on
the street.
Others, such as a white-haired pensioner, walk out with
nothing. His monthly
pension is not even enough to buy a toilet roll, he
tells me.
The desperate situation has led to some appalling acts. In the
state-owned
Herald newspaper last week was the story of a Rushinga man who
murdered his
10-year-old son with an axe for eating four mice that were meant
for the
family dinner.
Power cuts are so common that at night the
centre of Harare is as dark as
remote countryside. The government recently
announced 20-hour power cuts,
but some areas of the capital often go without
for three days at a time.
People sell bundles of firewood in the city centre.
Many areas of Bulawayo
and some parts of Harare have no water.
The
state-owned media blame it all on a plot by British and American
governments.
Last week the Chronicle wrote: "We can reveal that British and
US
governments, after failing to incite a public revolt against the
government
of Zimbabwe, are now working overtime to destroy the economy,
mutilate the
Zimbabwe dollar, foment civil unrest . . ."
Few are taken in. For the
first time in years of going to Zimbabwe, I found
people speaking out openly,
suggesting that anger is overtaking fear in a
police state where one person
in three is now thought to be an informer.
"The rule of economics is the
one law Mugabe cannot break," said Christopher
Dell, the US ambassador, who
predicts that inflation will reach 1.5m% by the
end of the year.
"Historically, no regime has ever survived six or
seven-digit
inflation."
Dell's criticism of the regime has outraged Mugabe and in his
office is a
framed front page of the Herald with the headline, "Dell can go
to hell".
"They're printing money at madcap rates to pay for fuel, maize
and
electricity imports," he said. "It's all self-inflicted.
"It's
like when you pull out the plug on a bathtub. First the water goes
slowly but
then as it gets near the plughole, it starts swirling faster and
faster. I
think we're in the final swirl."
Dell admits it could get even worse
after Mugabe. "I think we could see a
period of instability with maybe three
or four presidents in a row," he
said. "The most dangerous thing will be if
the military gets involved." At
the moment the least threat to Mugabe seems
to come from the opposition. The
MDC has been crippled, first by internal
splits, then by the regime's silent
campaign of torture and
intimidation.
"Of course we've gone quiet - we've been battling to stay
alive," said
Bennett in exile in South Africa.
"In the last month I've
had an influx of more than 30 members of the senior
leadership running away
from the police and seeking asylum."
Following the beatings of the
party's president, Morgan Tsvangirai, and
other senior members, which drew
international condemnation in March,
Mugabe's
thugs set about destroying
the MDC's entire network.
"They raided our headquarters and seized all
our computers and accessed
documents so they could see who's who in all our
structures," Bennett said.
"Then they systematically went about arresting all
our members so it's
impossible for us to organise."
Although many have
criticised Tsvangirai's lack of leadership, the
opposition is not helped by
the make-do culture of most Zimbabweans. "No one
is ever going to rise up,"
said a restaurant owner in Harare. "If there's no
power, we light a candle.
If there are no candles, we light a fire."
Mugabe's exhausted population
has no time or energy for protests. Every
morning a flood of people can be
seen walking into Harare and Bulawayo - the
so-called "human train" of people
walking for up to four hours to get to
work because they cannot afford the
fare.
Many are surviving on remittances sent from the estimated 4m
Zimbabweans who
have left the country - almost a third of the population.
Just £10 a month
sent back would triple the salary of a teacher such as
Sithole.
Shops and factories across the country have been closing, unable
to afford
imported raw materials. Bakeries in the southern town of Masvingo
on Friday
suspended the production of bread following a government order to
reduce
prices by 50%.
"We no longer have an industry to talk about,"
said Callisto Jokonya, the
head of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.
"We have deindustrialised
ourselves."
At one clothing factory in
Harare, the owner said he had lost 10% of his
workforce in the past two
weeks. "Frankly I don't know why workers still
come," he shrugged. "It can
only be hope."
Hope is all they have in many rural areas such as
Matabeleland in the south
of the country. A severe drought has resulted in a
95% crop failure in the
south and in villages around Plumtree, one family
after another showed their
recent maize harvest was enough for only two or
three weeks. Nationwide, the
country's harvest of maize, its staple crop, is
thought to have been between
500,000-800,000 tons, compared to annual needs
of 1.4m tons.
Yet this works in Mugabe's favour because he will again be
able to use food
as a political tool in the run-up to elections next
March.
If the situation seems grave in rural areas, things are even worse
in parts
of Bulawayo.
A whole community of people whose homes were
demolished by the government
two years ago now live on the Richmond rubbish
dump, surviving by foraging
for glass bottles and plastic.
Remedio
Moyo, 26, shows the black plastic shelter he lives under with his
wife and
children aged three and five. Small black flies cover everything.
"This
is not a proper life," he said. "I went to school and all I wanted
from life
was a job anda small house, not to be a big man. There is only one
person to
blame for this situation and I would like that man to die
any
minute."
Pius Ncube, the outspoken Catholic Archbishop of
Bulawayo, said things were
now so desperate that he was calling on the West
to invade and oust Mugabe's
regime.
"Anyone who is ready to starve his
people to death for the sake of power is
a murderer," Ncube said. "What more
does he have to do?"
Names have been changed to protect identities.
30 June 2007
PRESIDENT MORGAN TSVANGIRAI’S ADDRESS TO THE MASHONALAND EAST
PROVINCIAL COUNCIL
It is now common cause that Zimbabweans and the MDC, in
particular, are under siege. Thousands of our activists are targeted for
harassment daily for merely expressing a different opinion about the future,
about Zimbabwe. Seventeen others are in jail, awaiting trial, as we speak. They
were heavily assaulted in a wave of violence the Mugabe regime unleashed on
ordinary Zimbabweans since March. That state-sponsored violence still
continues.
Violence is a self-satisfying strategy; a sign of weakness and a
weapon that drives hearts and minds further from the dictatorship. Violence
signals an admission of failure. And violence, no matter how intense, can never
stop the people from wishing for change and transformation. All it does is to
achieve a temporary dislocation of our organizational capacity, but the spirit
of the people remains unshaken.
Contrary to the regime’s view that fear can
be sustained through brutality, in Zimbabwe’s case there is a massive
groundswell of courage evident across the political divide showing a national
consensus against the maintenance of the status quo.
All aspects of our
livelihoods are under a serious threat. The health delivery system has
collapsed. Our schools have become empty shells. The social costs of the
dictatorship are escalating every day. The flight of skills and the exodus of
professionals and a large part of our active population to neighbouring
countries and beyond have reached embarrassing levels.
There is a
Zimbabwean everywhere, searching for economic security and a better life. At
home, the average Zimbabwean has become the most impoverished person on earth;
has a dwindling lifespan and is without a caring and accountable government. The
average Zimbabwean is exposed to random beatings by the state.
As we
approach the final, decisive stages of our generational and political transition
to a new Zimbabwe, may I take this opportunity to urge the nation to exercise
restraint and remain focused on the goal? We live in trying times. Our entire
business sector has been criminalized and attacked for merely trying to perform
an essential service and for supplying the people with the little goods and
services they can still salvage from the current hyper-inflationary environment.
Hunger, starvation and HIV Aids have become part of our daily existence. Mr.
Chairman, may I through you urge the people to avoid the temptation to lose
hope. We are on course. It has become clear that we are on the final stages of
the dictatorship. Change is inevitable; change is coming. We have engaged Zanu
PF as part of what has become our tradition to search for a lasting solution to
our crisis. In April 2002, a month after the stolen Presidential election, we
tried to make Zanu PF see the dangers of driving Zimbabwe to the wall.
We
engaged them; and agreed on an agenda. We thought they were serious. But they
scuttled the process and decided to go it alone, leading us to where we are
today. There are always opportunities in dialogue. What we need is principled
dialogue, away from emotions, and anchored on raw facts about the situation in
our country. SADC has seen the need for this and is trying to push Zanu PF away
from the state of denial. Let us steer away from embarrassing our SADC
neighbours.
We endorse the region’s concern for Zimbabwe in the hope that
something positive can emerge from the engagement. Given the right political
will, peace is possible. Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Zimbabweans are not
asking for anybody’s pound of flesh: Zimbabweans simply require space to express
themselves out of the current crisis. Zimbabweans cherish a situation where they
can laugh at themselves in freedom; where they can meet and decide the future in
a climate of peace; where the shadow of state is reduced to a minimum and
conditions for free and fair elections are guaranteed.
Our culture demands
respect for our elders and senior citizens. We desire a significant movement, a
major shift from the current position where political leaders cling onto power
despite their advanced age and against the national sentiment. Such actions
undermine our social fabric.
Zimbabweans always favour smooth transitions;
transitions that ensure zero disruption of normal activity; and transitions that
show and allow for continuity and fairness. Our transition has reached a
delicate stage. Let us rise above our partisan positions and manage the process
carefully.
We must guard against any careless political posturing and
behaviour that could undermine the nation’s desire to soft-land the crisis. If
we deliberately allow our emotions to undermine a reasoned pacific process, a
possibility exits for a serious power vacuum whose consequences could be too
ghastly to contemplate. There is simply too much anxiety within the population
at the moment.
Our uniformed forces and all civil servants must confine
themselves to their Constitutional mandate and serve Zimbabweans across the
board. Our war veterans must realize that they were demobilized after a sterling
performance against colonialism. They cannot allow a political party to
de-humanise them and turn them into a militia. They cannot become a reserve
force whose command structure rests with the Zanu PF politburo. Genuine war
veterans must refuse to be answerable to a political party. They fought for
Zimbabwe, not Zanu PF.
On our part, there have been calls across the board
for unity within the MDC. I have argued against elite pacts. I have argued
against attempts to pick-up individuals for specific party positions. That
process cannot be regarded as uniting the party. Such a process is insincere
and leads to fresh political setbacks.
Whatever we seek to do must be
comprehensive and honest. Some have argued that we risk losing elections if we
enter the race before we unite. I respect that argument, but let me caution
against too much reliance on that aspect alone.You will recall that as leaders,
we were united for six years. But Mugabe still manipulated the system and stole
the election.
What we need is unity to confront Mugabe and fight for a
marked improvement in electoral conditions. That is the primary goal. Once we
have achieved that, any Zimbabwean can run for any public office, including that
of a president, without fear. If conditions spur confidence among the people,
legitimate outcomes can always be guaranteed.
Under the Save Zimbabwe
Campaign, we have managed to focus on the core national problem and to search
for ways to deal with the overall set of grievances among the people. Our
efforts are bearing fruit as leaders of various organizations brainstorm and
decide the way forward. The Save Zimbabwe Campaign represents a wider
cross-section of our society and consults its constituent bodies regularly on
the way forward. As you go back home, may implore you to campaign for a massive
voter registration exercise, targeting all young people born before January
1990. They are the future.
I thank you,
Morgan
Tsvangirai
President.
Marondera, 30 June 2007.
Sunday Telegraph. UK
By Scyld Berry,
Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:08am BST
01/07/2007
Zimbabwe's top cricket officials will be laughing
all the way to the bank,
or wherever they keep the money which Zimbabwe
receives from world cricket.
The ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said
yesterday the remaining sum of
US$4.5 million will be paid to Zimbabwe as
soon as the independent auditors
KPMG begin their investigation into the
Board's finances, no matter what
irregularities are uncovered. The ICC,
according to Speed, has no power to
withhold the money which Zimbabwe are
due from the World Cup.
In theory Zimbabwe, like any other full member,
were due to receive $11
million. But all full members have to pay an annual
subscription of $1
million, while Zimbabwe were given a loan of another
million, and $2 million
has already been paid to them.
The ICC
released the latest instalment when they received an assurance from
the
president of Zimbabwe Cricket, Peter Chingoka, that their cricketers had
finally been paid, two months after the tournament ended. It is understood,
however, that their players received the basic sum of only $2000 each, with
a bonus of $500 for an individual performance such as scoring a fifty; and
their World Cup campaign did not produce many such performances. Where the
remaining millions went will be the subject of the auditors'
investigation.
Speed indicated, however, that future ICC payments to Zimbabwe
could be
subject to the discretion of the game's governing body. And he also
expressed doubts as to whether the country would ever return to Test
status.
"I don't know if Zimbabwe will ever be able to come back to Test
cricket,"
Speed said. "But our duty is to help their cricketers to play
cricket to the
highest standard."
Will ICC ever remove Zimbabwe's
Test status, their financial privileges and
their vote? "The assumption has
always been once a full member, always a
full member. But I think there
would come a time, if they can't resume Test
cricket, when that would be
reviewed," he added.
Flow of desperate migrants into South
Africa intensifies as inflation and
shortages worsen
Andrew Meldrum
in Beitbridge
Sunday July 1, 2007
The Observer
The number of
Zimbabweans seeking asylum in South Africa has increased
dramatically since
Robert Mugabe's police assaulted the country's opposition
leaders on 11
March, experts say.
South Africa has not officially recognised the human
rights abuses of
President Mugabe's regime so those seeking refugee status
face a difficult,
drawn-out process. The flow of Zimbabweans fleeing the
country, both legally
and illegally, has become a rush as food and fuel
shortages grow and
inflation - now at 4,000 per cent - is predicted to hit a
staggering 1.5
million per cent by year end.
Thousands of
Zimbabweans are jumping the border into South Africa every week
and many are
falling prey to robbers who prowl the border zone. More than
165,000 were
picked up and deported from South Africa in the past year,
according to new
figures released to The Observer by the International
Organisation of
Migration (IOM).
It is Africa's most extraordinary exodus from a country not
at war,
according to experts.
At Beitbridge, the great Limpopo river
divides the two countries. Here there
are frequent reports of Zimbabweans
drowning or being eaten by crocodiles as
they try to cross. Currently, South
Africa is sending back more than 4,000
Zimbabweans every week, up more than
40 per cent from 2006.
These figures relate only to those who were caught
and returned. There are
no reliable figures on illegal migrants, it is
widely estimated that 3.4
million Zimbabweans - a quarter of the population
- have now fled.
On the ridge above the Limpopo, 12ft high electric
fences bristling with
razor wire mark the border. Patched-up holes riddle
the fences, evidence of
the constant traffic. Two freshly cut spaces break
the fence and in the
distance a small campfire can be seen where border
jumpers huddle for
warmth.
'This is one of the busiest borders in
Africa,' says Andrew Gethi, IOM's
Beitbridge operations officer. The IOM
office opened in May 2006 and has
been overwhelmed. 'We expected to deal
with 6,000 deportees per month, but
the number was 12,000 and it has gone up
to 17,000,' said Gethi. 'It is
seven days a week. We get no
breaks.'
South Africa delivers its deportees to the IOM office on the
Zimbabwean
side. They are offered a hot meal, counselling and transport
home. Only 55
per cent accept: the rest immediately turn around and try
again, according
to officials who are powerless to stop them.
South
Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, conceded last May that the enormous
human
influx 'is something we have to live with'. He avoided describing the
economic collapse, hunger and repression creating the
refugees.
Christopher is one of the border jumpers. 'People are leaving
Zimbabwe
because the government is not looking after the people - it's
against the
people, it's beating people, it's shooting people,' he says.
'There's no law
in Zimbabwe. The law is for the President, he works for
himself with the
police and army only. That's why people are running away
from Zimbabwe.
'I was with the opposition. They shot my dog in front of
my children. They
beat me and threatened to kill me. I was so scared of the
government I
didn't mind the danger from crocodiles or
elephants'
Christopher found work on a farm. Human Rights Watch report
that thousands
of Zimbabweans face harsh conditions and abuse on South
Africa's farms, yet
no one opts to go back to Zimbabwe.
But as the
number of exiles grows, so does resentment. 'They are taking our
jobs. They
are stealing. We should send them all back,' said Nepo Nkhahle,
who runs a
trucking business.
'I know it is not their fault. They don't know where
their next meal is. But
many South Africans are getting fed up with
this.'
Followthemedia.com
Michael Hedges July 2,
2007
Foreign-originated broadcasts and foreign media support groups are
losing
their welcome. Is somebody afraid of being bitten? Writing new laws
to
hamper, discourage and foil foreign-originated broadcasts from entering
their ether-space is necessary, they say, for technical
reasons.
Armenia's National Assembly passed (Friday June 29) on first reading
two
amendments to its' law "On Television and Radio." One amendment
specifically
forbids Armenian Public Radio and Television from broadcasting
any programs
they do not produce. The target, without subtlety, is US-funded
Radio Free
Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), known in Armenia as Radio
Liberty. RFE/RL
is the only foreign broadcaster offering news programs on
Armenian State
radio,
Amendment number two imposes a stiff tax on any
broadcaster for offering
programs from foreign broadcasters. Second reading
is scheduled early this
week.
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian,
however, spoke out Friday, saying "It will
hurt me if (Radio) Liberty stops
going on air."
There's an old newsroom saying that "dog bites man" is not
a story. "Man
bites dog" is. Governments seek control over media. Imperious
governments
seek control over media imperiously. Armenia's President Robert
Kocharian
said he doesn't like people listening to Radio Liberty.
Coincidentally,
Armenia will hold presidential elections in 2008. Dog bites
man.
In this media-enhanced world, State media's clumsy or cheesy offerings
bore
local listeners silly, causing the broadcast equivalent of
carpal-tunnel
syndrome as listeners push one different button after another.
The choices
may be maddening but not as much as another politician's
speech.
Late last year Azerbaijan's National Radio and Television shut
down radio
and TV broadcaster ANS for disregarding "warnings." ANS was an
RFE/RL
affiliate. New rules came into effect January 1st barring all local
Azeri
broadcasters from carrying the BBC, Radio Liberty and voice of America
programs. Azerbaijan will hold presidential elections in
2008.
Zimbabwe's government bought Chinese jamming transmitters,
originally
manufactured in France, to control foreign broadcasts saying mean
things.
Iran's culture control police are said to round up evil satellite
dish
owners.
North Koreans have a hard time listening to any
broadcasts other than those
State-operated since "authorized" receivers are
fixed to State-operated
frequencies. Being caught listening to foreign
broadcasts results in hard
time in prison. That idea didn't originate in
North Korea. Nazi Germany in
1933 imposed prison sentences - or worse - for
listening to foreign radio
broadcasts. Fortunately for Germans those laws
have been remanded to the
dust-bin of history, with the exception of radio
and TV (and now internet)
license fees to pay for public broadcasting. ("And
how many radios do you
have?")
Hostility toward message bearers -
over the air, over the internet or over
the transom - increased on two
events. Most cliché is the universally
accepted meme that "9/11 changed
everything." Media expands to the
horrification presented, particularly when
unanticipated.
More directly, Ukraine's Orange Revolution is a source of
continuous
reflection for every government - East, West, North or South.
Media trainers
sent to develop journalists' skills succeeded. Media freedom
advocacy NGOs
got results.
Internews is well-known in developing and
transitional regions as an
advocate for upgrading local media skills as a
means of forming a strong
working platform for free and independent media.
They assist media
infrastructures Afghanistan to, almost, Zimbabwa, always
supporting local
efforts and best practices. Tin-pot despots would rather
not see Internews
trainers showing the secrets of good news
video.
Russian tax authorities recently froze bank accounts of the NGO
Educated
Media Foundation (EMF), formerly known as Internews Russia.
Additionally,
EMF President Manana Aslmazyan faces criminal charges for
smuggling and may
face others. NGO's of all stripe and color have been in
the sights of
Russian authorities, many being stripped of legal grounds for
operating in
Russia.
Mrs Aslazyan's most recent trials stem from the
day last January when she
arrived in Moscow's Sheremeto airport from Paris
carrying cash, discovered
in a random inspection. Arriving in Russia
carrying more than US$10,000
requires disclosure. She had not and "higher"
authorities were called. Her
explanation was not accepted and charges were
filed though she managed to
return to Paris where she's taken up work with
Internews Network. The
authorities turned their attention to EMF,
functionally closing it down.
In May the Azerbaijan government ended
cooperation with Reporters Without
Frontiers (RSF) after the press freedom
NGO named President Ilham Aliyev a
"Press Freedom Predator."
Changing
perspective just a bit (still "dog bites man"), this story is also
about
money. State broadcasters in recent decades have invited, with the
full
approval of their funding governments, foreign broadcasters to provide
their
programs, offering air-time, sometimes significant, on State channels.
The
reasoning is quite simple: cheap (read: free) well-produced content.
Some
governments have gone so far as to offer foreign broadcasters a
frequency or
two, very often outside normal licensing rules. Again, cheap,
well-produced
content fulfills a particular need.
The new media rules proposed in
Armenia do not, precisely, forbid foreign
broadcasts on local frequencies.
For local broadcasters to air programs from
foreign broadcasters there would
be, in these times of need, a fee. For
RFE/RL that fee would be about $200
per hour. Do the math: 4 hours a day,
365 days a year means more than
$300,000, sufficient for a personal
assistant or five and that new BMW.