By Reagan Mashavave
(AFP) – 9 hours ago
HARARE — Zimbabwe has given foreign-owned banks and
other firms a year to
cede a 51 percent stake to local black people, in
compliance with equity and
empowerment laws, a government notice
said.
A notice in the government gazette, dating from Friday but made
public on
Tuesday, gave one year as a "maximum period a business may
continue to
operate before it attains the minimum indigenisation and
empowerment quota."
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai however issued a
statement describing the
ultimatum as illegal and a threat to the ailing
economy's recovery
prospects.
Zimbabwe enacted in 2007 a law that
forces all foreign-owned companies to
hand over a majority stake of 51
percent to local blacks.
The law has led mining firms including the
country's biggest platinum mine
Zimplats, which is a subsidiary of South
Africa's Impala, to turn in their
schedules to cede majority shares to
locals.
The latest notice originating from the office of Indigenous
Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere, has widened the targeted sectors to include
banks, hotels,
education institutions and telecommunications
firms.
Britain's Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank are among the
major
foreign banks with operations in this former British
colony.
Tsvangirai, President Robert Mugabe's uneasy coalition government
partner,
dismissed the notice as "unlawful".
"Government has not
sanctioned the minister's actions that are a threat to
investment in the
country," Tsvangirai said in a statement.
The indigenisation drive is at
the heart of a dispute between the two
rivals.
Mugabe who spearheaded
the violent seizures of white-owned land in 2000, a
policy that severely
hurt the once vibrant agricultural sector, has
threatened to take over
foreign firms if they fail to meet the regulations.
"The Prime Minister
wishes to inform foreign-owned banks, foreign-owned
companies ... and
private educational institutions including creches,
primary and secondary
schools as well as institutions of higher learning
that should anyone grab
their assets, they would be doing so unlawfully."
Tsvangirai said
Zimbabwe should focus on job creation.
"The people of Zimbabwe want
massive investment in the country and not
self-serving political statements
that have nothing to do with the
collective position of government," he
said.
He said the law does not give Minister Kasukuwere powers "to act
and to
project an image of a voracious government keen to compulsorily grab
almost
all institutions and companies."
Last year, Kasukuwere, a
minister from Mugabe's ZANU PF party said foreign
banks had shown
"disrespect" of the laws by failing to comply.
But Finance Minister
Tendai Biti and central bank governor Gideon Gono are
opposed to the laws
affecting banks, saying the move would hurt the economy.
The regulations
also aim at the tourism sector, targeting safari and cruise
yatch
operators.
Social clubs and sports associations are also listed alongside
private
schools and universities that will have to hand over their majority
stakes
to black Zimbabweans.
The law will see surrounding communities
getting 10 percent, employees 31
percent, while a government agency, the
National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Board (NIEB) will walk away
with 10 percent stake.
The government has not come out clear on how the
shares will be transferred
and if the new owners will buy the shares at
market value.
The central bank chief has already warned that the laws
should be applied to
benefit the country's poor and not just the rich elite.
http://www.ft.com/
July 3, 2012
5:27 pm
By Andrew England in
Johannesburg and Tony Hawkins in Harare
Zimbabwe has given international
banks operating in the country a year to
comply with a controversial
indigenisation programme under which foreign
companies are supposed to
transfer 51 per cent stakes to black Zimbabweans.
A government notice has
said all foreign-owned banks with a minimum net
value of $1 will have to
reduce their shareholding to 49 per cent by next
July in a move that could
affect banks including Barclays, Standard
Chartered and South Africa’s
Standard Bank.
The indigenisation law was passed by parliament in 2007,
but the government’s
focus has mainly been on mining houses, with groups
such as Impala Platinum,
at the centre of the storm.
The policy is
being pushed by President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and
observers say it
is partly motivated by political factors with elections
expected to be held
the next year.
In March, Implats said it had reached an “agreement in
principle” to sell 31
per cent of its shares to the government, setting
aside another 20 per cent
for employees and a community trust. But details
of the terms of any deal,
how it would be financed and how it would be
valued have not been clarified.
An official at a foreign-owned bank with
operations in Zimbabwe said that
while the rhetoric on banks was increasing,
it would be hard for the
government to attempt to force indigenisation on
the sector.
“It’s not like any government could just take over a bank –
the bank would
just shut down, but they [the government] don’t want that and
we don’t want
that, so it’s probably not going to happen,” the official
said. “There’s a
lack of clarity about what they can do.”
Both Tendai
Biti, finance minister, and Gideon Gono, the central bank
governor, have
also clashed with Saviour Kasukuwere, the Zanu-PF minister
pushing
indigenisation, over the proposal, warning that with only 15 of the
26 banks
making profits in the first quarter, it is not the right time for
such an
initiative.
Mr Kasukuwere insists that he has the power to ignore their
advice, but it
is unclear how he could implement his threats.
“It is
pure intimidation,” said a Harare-based banker.
The indigenisation policy
has been blamed for exacerbating investor
uncertainty in the country as it
has sought to recover from the economic
crisis triggered by Mr Mugabe’s land
reform programme of the 2000s when
white-owned farms were seized without
compensation.
Since a unity government was formed between Zanu-PF and the
opposition
Movement for Democratic after violent and disputed elections
growth has
picked up, largely because of the dollarisation of the
economy.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts the economy will
expand by 5 per
cent this year. But the recovery remains fragile, while the
volatile
political environment and indigenisation programme are fuelling
uncertainty.
“There is the appetite to do more business, but it’s very
hard in this
environment,” a bank official said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
03
July 2012
The already gaping cracks in Zimbabwe’s unity government have
been further
widened this week, after the Prime Minister publicly dismissed
the ZANU PF
led indiginisation plans for banks and other key
sectors.
The Indigenisation Ministry, led by ZANU PF’s Saviour
Kasukuwere, last
Friday announced that foreign owned firms across different
sectors in the
country must submit to the controversial empowerment plans
within the next
year. This includes banks, tourism groups and private
educational
institutions like crèches, primary and secondary schools and
institutions of
higher learning.
But Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
on Tuesday dismissed this notice,
saying in a statement that “there is no
such government position because no
such issue has been discussed and agreed
upon by Cabinet.”
“Government has not sanctioned the Minister’s actions
that are a threat to
investment in the country. The Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Act
does not empower the Minister to act and to project
an image of a voracious
government keen to compulsorily grab almost all
institutions and companies
in the country,” the statement from Tsvangirai’s
office said.
The statement continued: “We reiterate the position that the
Prime Minister
of Zimbabwe has executive powers and the Constitution of
Zimbabwe bestows
him with the authority to oversee and supervise ‘policy
formulation and
implementation’. The government forum that deals with
implementation of
government policy is the Council of Ministers, which has
not discussed or
approved the purported government position captured in the
public notice.”
The statement warned that anyone who ‘grabbed’ the assets
of the foreign
owned groups listed in the Indigenisation Ministry’s notice,
“would be doing
so unlawfully and without the mandate of the Inclusive
Government.”
The indigenisation laws require foreign owned firms in the
country to hand
over 51% of their shareholding to indigenous Zimbabweans,
and so far the
campaign has hit the mines industry the hardest.
International mining houses
like Impala Platinum have already submitted to
the so-called empowerment
campaign, signing over a 51% share handover
deal.
The laws have strained relations in the fragile unity government,
with the
MDC-T warning that the campaign will damage Zimbabwe’s investment
future and
only benefit those in ZANU PF.
Critics have agreed that
the campaign has little to do with real empowerment
and all to do with
securing ZANU PF’s hold on the country, especially with a
crucial election
expected in the coming months.
Economist Masimba Kuchera told SW Radio
Africa on Tuesday that the
indigenisation drive is an election “trump card”
for ZANU PF.
“The country is in full electioneering mode and the best for
some people in
ZANU PF is to say they will deliver indigenisation. So this
has serious
political under tones,” Kuchera explained.
He also said
that there are other options, in terms of indigenisation
policies, which
would be more beneficial for ordinary Zimbabweans, saying
that the current
plans have little to do with real empowerment. He
criticised the current
indigenisation drive for assuming that people will
have the money and
know-how to become a majority owner of foreign owned
companies, when for
many Zimbabweans this is not the case.
“There needs to be real education
and realistic empowerment plans…I agree
that it should be a non partisan and
depoliticised process for it to be
successful,” Kuchera said.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
03/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ZANU PF and the MDC-T have failed to agree on whether
the voter’s roll
should be polling-station specific or ward-based in a
development that will
likely stymie key amendments to the country’s
Electoral Act.
Changes to the Electoral Act are among a raft of reforms
parties to the
coalition government are negotiating ahead of new elections
now expected
sometime next year.
While Zanu PF wants the voters roll
to be based on polling stations, the
MDC-T insists the present arrangement
where the roll is based on Wards
should remain in place.
Said
Zanu PF negotiator, Patrick Chinamasa: “There is now a tug-of-war on an
issue that we had already agreed as parties.
“We had agreed that we
will have polling station specific voters’ roll, but
our friends in the
MDC-T are now singing a different tune.”
Chinamasa claimed that a polling
station-based roll would help address the
problem of ghost voters and
prevent people from voting more than once.
“The MDC-T says they want the
ward-based voters’ roll, but we are saying the
polling station specific
voters’ roll will help us to discover deceased
voters so that we can fish
them out, he said.
“It also helps to eliminate double voting because in a
ward we can have five
polling stations, where one can vote at one station
and go to another.”
But MDC-T spokesman, Douglas Mwonzora, said
basing the roll on polling
stations would expose voters to possible
victimisation.
“The MDC-T wants an election that produces a true
reflection of the will of
the people of Zimbabwe, so the election system
must guarantee the secrecy of
the vote, the security of the vote and that of
the voter,” he said.
“The problem with a polling station based voter’s
roll is that it becomes
easy for those who want to mete violence against
voters or voting
communities to do so with ease.”
A recent meeting of
the regional SADC grouping urged the GPA parties to
speed up implementation
of the reforms which include the writing of a
constitution.
Once
completed the constitution, which has also been delayed by bickering
between
the parties, would be put to a referendum leading to the new
elections.
President Robert Mugabe had pressed for the elections to
be held this year
arguing the coalition government was no longer
workable.
But his rivals insisted the reforms must be completed first
to ensure a
credible ballot.
SADC urged the parties to complete the
reforms and hold new elections within
12 months.
http://www.voanews.com/
02 July
2012
Chris
Gande | Washington
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti says
the unity government has
earmarked $100 million for the next general
election that observers say
looks set to be held next year.
Biti told
the state-run Sunday Mail newspaper that the money came under
Harare's
special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund to
mitigate the
effects of the 2009 global financial crisis.
“The SDR was a mere US$500
million. The only money that is left is US$100
million, which we cannot use
because we do not know what will happen if the
political leaders say they
want an election,” he said.
President Mugabe and hardliners in his Zanu
PF party have been pushing for
elections this year, but he has since climbed
down, preferring not to talk
about the issue since the Southern Africa
Development Community, one of the
guarantors of the unity government, said
fresh elections should only be
called after democratic reforms have been
implemented.
Political analyst Effie Dlela Ncube, also director of the
Matabeleland
Constitutional Reform Agenda, told VOA the money is not enough,
considering
there a constitutional referendum has to be called before the
elections.
"We need about $400 million to have a fair and credible
election," he said.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Professor Matodzi Harare, July 03,
2012 - A Zimbabwean judge has put the
brakes on Local Government, Rural and
Urban Development Minister, Ignatius
Chombo’s spirited efforts to decimate
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC)-run councils after he upheld an urgent
chamber application filed by
suspended Chinhoyi Mayor Claudius Nyamhondoro
and councilor Owen Charuza.
Nyamhondoro’s lawyers Alec Muchadehama and
Tawanda Zhuwarara lodged an
urgent chamber application last seeking to
interdict Chombo and his three
member board of enquiry, chaired by one
Mutevedzi from convening hearings
and make findings before the finalisation
of another High Court case in
which Nyamhondoro is challenging his
suspension from executing duties as
Mayor of Chinhoyi by the Local
Government Minister.
High Court Judge Justice Happias Zhou recently
granted the final order
sought by Nyamhondoro’s lawyers suspending the
disciplinary hearing or
inquiry into allegations of misconduct levelled
against the Movement for
Democratic Change Mayor. Nyamhondoro and Charuza
are each being charged with
three counts of misconduct, which they
deny.
“The respondents shall forthwith suspend the enquiry which was
commenced
against the applicants on 20 June 2012,” reads part of the order
granted by
Justice Zhou.
The suspension of the disciplinary by the
High Court is the second major
setback that Chombo has encountered inside
one month after Justice Andrew
Mutema interdicted him from proceeding with
an enquiry against Mutare Mayor
Brian James who was charged with 16 counts
of misconduct. Chombo suspended
James in January 2012 citing allegations of
misconduct.
Critics accuse Chombo of undermining the will of the people
and waging an
onslaught on local government democracy through politically
motivated
suspensions of democratically elected councillors and mayors as
well as
partisan appointments.
Several Mayors and councillors from
Chinhoyi, Bindura, Harare, Mutare,
Rusape and Gwanda in control of MDC-T or
MDC-run councils have been fired or
suspended by Chombo on flimsy
allegations of misconduct and
maladministration.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
03 July 2012
Several workers from the Mutare City Council have
had their contracts
controversially terminated after the acting Mayor said
they were
‘undesirables.’
Lucia Mangoma, one of the workers who was
laid off on Tuesday, told SW Radio
Africa that the Mayor simply told them
they were no longer of use to the
council. The acting Mayor also accused the
workers of insubordination.
‘When we tried to query his decision he told
us he was exercising his powers
as boss and that there was nothing we could
do about it. Also he’s being
insincere when he accuse us of insubordination
because we’ve rarely seen him
since he took over.
‘The Mayor knows we
were employed during the reign of the suspended Mayor
Brian James and so he
believes we are his moles, working against him,’
Mangoma said. In all 35
employees were served with termination letters on
Tuesday.
Acting
Mayor George Jeryson was elected a councillor on an MDC-T ticket, but
is now
suspected of working closely with ZANU PF Local Government Minister
Ignatius
Chombo.
He’s one of five councilors who clandestinely met Chombo at his
Mutare hotel
in February this year. That meeting culminated in Chombo
suspending James as
the Mayor and replacing him with
Jeryson.
Councillor Silas Rumhungwe, the Vice-Chairman of the general
purpose
committee, told us the workers were being treated unfairly and has
raised
the issue with the Town Clerk.
‘Unfortunately when the Mayor
heard that I had approached the Town Clerk he
tried to intimidate me but I
told him I was trying to protect the council as
the decision could easily
backfire against them,’ Rumhungwe said.
MDC-T provincial spokesman Pishai
Muchauraya told us that the workers, most
of them belonging to their party,
were unfairly dismissed. He claimed that
Esau Mupfumi, a special interest
councillor appointed by Chombo, was seen
Tuesday recruiting ZANU PF militia
to replace these workers.
‘Jeryson was elected on an MDC-T ticket, so I
don’t really know what has got
to his head. He is dismissing these workers
for selfish reasons and going
against party principals of championing
workers’ rights.
‘This is cause for concern for us and as a party we do
not tolerate such
behavior from officials elected to those positions on an
MDC-T ticket,’
Muchauraya said. The Makoni South MP said if the council did
not reinstate
the workers ‘unconditionally’ they would be taken to court.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
03 July
2012
Nine activists from the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) group were
arrested
in Bulawayo on Monday evening while conducting their “occupy and
demand the
draft constitution” campaign.
The women went around the
suburbs painting messages on the roads like, “Fire
Chihuri (the partisan
police commissioner); devolution for development; we
want separation of
powers and we want education.”
Coordinator Magodonga Mahlangu told SW
Radio Africa that the women were
arrested in two separate locations on the
night and held at three different
police stations in the city, including
Western Commonage.
On Tuesday all 9 women were transferred to Bulawayo
Central Police Station.
Mahlangu said the lawyers were working on securing
their first meal of the
day after police in the morning denied them access
to breakfast.
Those arrested were: Vigilant Lunga, Violet Dube, Theresa
Phiri, Catherine
Dhliwayo, Eunice Moyo, Mpikelelo Moyo, Sibongile Lumbile,
Miriam Ngcebetsha
and Ottilia Dube.
Mahlangu told us the police took
the women to the locations where the
protest messages had been painted on
the roads and took pictures.
Last week over 100 WOZA members, including
three minor children and three
breastfeeding mothers, were arrested and
detained in Bulawayo. The group had
organized a series of protests to push
for the release of the draft
constitution.
The group said they are
now using this “occupation style of protest to
demand their full right to
peaceful protest, freedom of assembly and
expression.”
A draft
constitution for Zimbabwe is still to be finalized because the
political
parties are squabbling over the details. This is despite an
outreach program
where people were given the chance to air their views.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
NINE Bulawayo members were arrested on the night of 2nd
July 2012 and are
being held in custody at 3 different police stations. They
were arrested in
2 separate incidents. This is part of the occupy and demand
the draft
constitution campaign that WOZA have been conducting since May
2012.
03.07.1210:26am
by WOZA
The seven who are women
arrested at 10pm spent the night at Western
Commonage police station but
this morning they were loaded up into a police
van at 9am.
It seems
the police officers have taken them to where the messages have been
painted
in the road and are taking photographs. They are Vigilant Lunga,
Violet
Dube, Theresa Phiri, Catherine Dhliwayo, Eunice Moy, Mpikelelo Moyo
and
Sibongile Lumbile.
They were denied food this morning so have not eaten
since last Night.
The two members arrested in Matshobana at 7pm are
Miriam Ngcebetsha and
Ottilia Dube. Their whereabouts are not known and the
support team is going
door to door at every police station looking for them.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
03
July 2012
Defence Minister and ZANU PF strongman Emmerson Mnangagwa was
reportedly
left stunned by the politburo’s unprecedented decision to disband
the party’s
District Coordination Committees.
The decision to ditch
the grassroots structures was made in Mnangagwa’s
absence, as he was
reportedly on a working visit to China.
A highly placed source told SW
Radio Africa that Mnangagwa’s rivals in the
highest decision making body of
the party took advantage of his absence. It
is believed the Defence Minister
was not consulted and had no input in the
decision to dissolve the DCC’s, a
situation his close aides say is
‘unacceptable.’
The politburo also
had evidence that Mnangagwa used his influence and money
to impose
candidates on the electorate. His supporters argue that he’s not
the only
one to breach these rules as most senior members in the party were
also
guilty of using cash and influence to sway voters.
The party has in the
last two months been divided into two distinct factions
following the
controversial DCC elections in May. It is understood that ZANU
PF is clearly
split between the Joice Mujuru brigade and the Mnangagwa
cabal.
Since
the elections Mnangagwa and Mujuru have intensified their fierce
battle to
succeed Robert Mugabe as the party leader and possibly president.
The source
told us Mnangagwa plans to table discussion on the DCC’s in the
next
politburo meeting.
Mnangagwa’s right hand man Owen Ncube, popularly known
as ‘Mudha’, has told
close friends the defence minister was left shocked by
the decision and saw
it as vendetta being waged against him by his
rivals.
Mudha, who refers to Mnangagwa as ‘ED’ (short for Emmerson
Dambudzo, his
first names) has also told pals the 66 year-old politician is
considering
appealing the decision.
‘Mnangagwa’s camp is bitter; the
guys are not taking it lightly; they think
the decision will be reversed
since it was passed when ED was away in China.
But in the absence of a
reversal ZANU PF must kiss any activism on the
ground good bye,’ our source
said.
The politburo decision came as a major blow to Mnangagwa because
the camp
supporting his bid to succeed Mugabe seized control of all the
provinces
after it won most of the DCC elections. Webster Shamu, the ZANU PF
secretary
for the commissariat, later nullified the results.
Shamu
alleged the electoral process was marred by irregularities. But
analysts
believe the real reason behind the nullification of results and
dissolution
of the structures was to weaken Mnangagwa in the on-going tussle
to
succession that is tearing apart the former ruling party.
Although
Mnangagwa is vying for the top party post ZANU PF does not believe
that he
appeals to the people. He was twice trounced by the MDC-T’s Blessing
Chebundo in the KweKwe parliamentary elections. Most people in ZANU PF
believe that close rival Vice-President Mujuru stands a better chance in a
national election than Mnangagwa.
It therefore comes as no surprise
that the party’s decision to disband the
DCC’s has given a new lease of life
to Mujuru’s faction which had suffered
setbacks in most provinces during the
recent restructuring exercise.
‘I think ZANU PF has realised that
Mnangagwa stands no chance at all against
Morgan Tsvangirai in a
presidential poll. If Mnangagwa lost in two
successive parliamentary
elections against the MDC-T’s Chebundo, then God
knows what will happen
against a formidable Tsvangirai, who has beaten
Mugabe in a poll before,’
our source added.
Political analyst Dr Maxwell Shumba said the move by
the politburo to take
such a bold decision in Mnangagwa’s absence shows his
influence in the party
is on the decline.
‘Mnangagwa is no longer a
key man in ZANU PF and the fact that his rivals
were able to gang up against
him in the meeting to push for the disbandment
of the DCCs shows his
relevance is fast waning within the party. I don’t
think that in the past
such a decision would have been possible in his
absence,’ Shumba said.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
By Staff Reporter 1 hour
ago
HARARE - The beleaguered former ruling party Zanu PF says it
has set up a
team that will soon be dispatched to all provinces to explain
the disbanding
of District Coordinating Committees (DCC) and the way
forward.
Zanu PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Rugare Gumbo
said his party
has selected Didymus " Diesel" Mutasa to lead the team that
is expected to
visit all provinces to explain the decision taken by the
party to disband
DCCs.
He said Mutasa and his team are expected to
clear the air on why the Zanu PF
Central Committee made the decision which
he said is meant to weed out
factionalism which had become the major threat
to the party ahead of
elections.
“No one emerged a winner or is a
winner but the party is the winner. Power
struggles for succession had
become a problem and DCCs were being
manipulated to fuel that, hence the
President dissolved them, and Mutasa
will carry the message to the people
about the way forward,” said Gumbo.
On Friday last week, the Zanu PF
Central Committee made a decision to
disband DCCs after identifying them as
contributing to fueling factionalism
within the party.
Political
analyst Munjonzi Mutandiri said ZANU PF were forced to disband its
district
structures after realizing that figures like Defence Minister
Emmerson
Mnangagwa were using their resources to manipulate the DCC’s.
ZANU PF has
openly admitted that some members were sowing divisions within
the party.
But Mutandiri said the decision by the politburo may have sounded
the death
knell on ZANU PF.
‘The disbandment is a clear message to those that are
observing, and to
those in ZANU PF, that all is not well and that there is
chaos in the party.
It is also an acknowledgement by the highest decision
making body of the
party that there is chaos.
‘The next question
obviously was, how do we stop this chaos and desperate
situations call for
desperate measures, and one of those desperate measures
was to disband the
DCC’s on the basis that they’re fueling divisions,’
Mutandiri said.
A
Harare based political commentator told us that the decision to disband
the
DCC’s was aimed at curtailing Mnangagwa’s ascendency following the
disputed
polls.
‘I think they want to equalise and remove the gains that he
(Mnangagwa) had
made. Mugabe wants to keep the succession race open because
once there is a
clear deputy, the deputy will want to remove him,’ the
commentator said.
An MDC-T MP in Manicaland, the province worst affected
by the infighting
said: ‘ZANU PF will never recover from this’ (disbandment
of DCC’s).
‘The decision to disband the DCC’s has left the party
disjointed. There are
those who won fairly who have been left bewildered and
this will fuel more
fissures in the party and the dissolution of the
structures has only sped up
the process of natural decay in the party,’ the
MP added.
MDC-T Senator and Deputy Minister of Justice Obert Gutu said he
has always
argued that ZANU PF is yesterday’s party.
‘The chickens
are now coming home to roost…ZANU PF has dismally failed to
transform itself
into a conventional political party; it has always remained
a liberation
movement with a top-down management style.
‘The party is basically an
institution where free and robust debate is not
tolerated. It is bogged down
in the so-called big man syndrome. Essentially,
because of these fatal
defects, the demise of ZANU PF as a vibrant player in
Zimbabwean politics is
imminent and in fact inevitable,’ Gutu said.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
02/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
SEVERAL ministers illegally helped themselves to the
US$15,000 payments in
back-dated Parliamentary sitting allowances while
scores of MPs were also
paid for sessions they never attended, it has
emerged.
The allowances covered the three-year period from 2008 to 2011
and were paid
at the rate of US$75 per day. But Clerk of Parliament, Austin
Zvoma
confirmed that cabinet ministers were not supposed to have taken the
money.
“Ministers are not entitled to Parliamentary sitting allowances
because
their salaries and allowances are catered for in their ministries
even for
their Parliamentary business,” he said.
According to The
Herald, Ministers who took the payments include Walter
Mzembi (Tourism and
Hospitality Industry), Douglas Mombeshora (Health and
Child Welfare Deputy
Minister), Walter Chidhakwa (State Enterprises and
Parastatals deputy
minister), David Coltart (Education, Sport, Arts and
Culture) as well as
Higher and Tertiary Education Deputy Minister Lutho
Tapela.
Finance
Minister, Tendai Biti also benefitted from the funds along with
Elton
Mangoma (Energy and Power Development), Samuel Sipepa Nkomo (Water
Resources
Development and Management), Lucia Matibenga (Public Service),
Tapiwa
Mashakada (Economic Planning and Investment Promotion), Theresa
Makone (Home
Affairs) and Giles Mutsekwa (National Housing and Social
Amenities).
Others include Eric Matinenga (Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs),
Heneri Dzinotyiwei (Science and Technology), Jameson
Timba (Prime Minister’s
Office), Paurina Mpariwa (Labour and Social Welfare)
and the late Public
Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro.
The
scandal may have cost government up to US$1 million after Treasury
officials
also failed to make sure that the MPs were only paid for the
sessions they
actually attended.
“To start with, any payments should have been premised
on the number of
sittings each legislator had, for a lump sum to be paid
without regard to
the number of sittings boggles the mind because that
should never have been
done,”Zvoma said.
“Any payments for
Parliamentary business should have been done through
Parliament. This was a
violation of the rules, which resulted in
mismanagement of public
funds.
“However, it will be difficult to recover the money from ministers
because
they don’t claim anything from Parliament, while for the deceased
and those
who were expelled . . . the onus should be on those who gave them
the money
to recover it.”
Matinga said his Ministry had nothing to do
with the payments.
“My ministry had nothing to do with those allowances
except to disburse the
money,” he said.
“As for the ministers who
benefited from the allowances, I can’t comment
because that was handled by
the Office of the President and Cabinet.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Written by Gift Phiri, Chief Writer
Tuesday,
03 July 2012 10:59
HARARE - A Chinese firm that built a
$98million Defence College in Mazowe
has laid off more than 200 employees
without any severance or notice.
Chinese firm Afecc, which built the
college — dubbed the Robert Mugabe
School of Intelligence — advised its more
than 200 employees around 5pm on
April 15, it was their last
day.
There was no apology for the short notice, and workers were too
stunned to
pack up their belongings, with some picketing the
college.
They were ejected from the site by soldiers, and took refuge at
an adjacent
farm owned by former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Kombo
Moyana. They
are still camped there, demanding their cash.
The
workers have been fighting the Chinese firm through the National
Employment
Council (Nec). The Nec has been paralysed with fear to tackle the
Chinese
firm, and told the workers last week their only recourse was to
approach the
ministry of Defence.
The sacked workers want to sue Afecc, demanding
severance package, holiday
pay, leave pay and other benefits but have no
money to pay lawyers.
The workers say they were underpaid by the Chinese
firm, earning a paltry $4
a day against a stipulated minimum of $1,27 per
hour.
“We have not received our final pay cheque, that’s all we want,”
said one
laid off worker who declined to be named fearing
victimisation.
The workers are struggling to deal with the trauma of the
mass layoff.
The jettisoned employees are now destitute and have no money
to fund the
lawsuit.
One of the laid-off workers told the Daily News
yesterday he has moved in
with his in-laws and is picking up freelance jobs
while chasing down his
severance pay.
A spokesperson for Afecc, only
identified as Bruce, declined to comment on
the severance packages,
referring the Daily News to the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces, which requested for
written questions.
While alleged breaches of the Labour Relations Act and
related laws by the
Chinese firms are not tracked on a national level,
employment lawyers across
the country say they have seen a marked jump in
complaints.
Even if a company files for bankruptcy, it still needs to
give notice in the
event of mass layoffs.
Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa told Parliament last year that the
Chinese firm channelled $98
million towards construction of the so-called
Robert Mugabe School of
Intelligence — which will act as a think tank for
providing research on
military, defence and national security for the
National Security Council,
ministry of Defence and other government
organisation.
Construction
of the College underlines China’s growing foothold on Zimbabwe,
where it is
also exploiting diamonds and chrome.
The Robert Mugabe School of
Intelligence is touted as the largest such
institution in
Sadc.
Despite the attendant labour issues, there have been questions
whether the
country needs to reinforce security when it is not under threat
of war and
at a time when there are more pressing and competing interests
such as
HIV/Aids treatment, food, education and health crises.
The
imposing intelligence facility is conspicuous from the Mazowe Road and
is
adjacent to a massive farming operation run by Moyana.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Written by Gift Phiri, Chief
Writer
Tuesday, 03 July 2012 11:39
HARARE - Western diplomats
have urged government to clarify issues related
to ownership, taxes and
revenue from the Marange diamond miners.
A contingent of foreign
diplomats were last week given a guided tour of the
Chinese-owned Anjin
operations, Marange Resources; and Arda Transau, a
settlement where
villagers ejected from the diamond fields were resettled
about 330
kilometres southeast of Harare.
The tour was the latest public relations
offensive by a government grappling
to head off allegations by rights groups
that there were violations of human
rights by security forces who allegedly
use deadly force to push out illegal
miners.
It was the first visit
by the foreign diplomats to the heavily-protected
Marange diamond fields,
and the delegation included ambassadors from
Australia, Belgium, Canada,
Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain
and the Netherlands. The
delegation was led by EU ambassador Aldo Dell’Ariccia.
Describing the
operations as “professional”, the diplomats said it was
important that the
diamond industry benefits the development of Zimbabwe as
a
whole.
“Visiting certain parts of Marange Resources and Anjin has been
interesting,” the Dutch embassy said in a statement after the
tour.
“Based on what we have seen, these organisations run professional
operations. However, given all the speculation about the industry, these
companies should prioritise clarification on issues related to ownership,
taxes and revenue.”
Dell’Ariccia said: “We note that there is a
problem of transparency in the
diamond mining sector’s revenues, which is
reflected in the positions that
the Zimbabwe minister of Finance has
expressed publicly.”
Munyaradzi Machacha, a director at Anjin reportedly
disputed Finance
minister Tendai Biti’s claims that Treasury has not
received any revenue
from Anjin.
“We have contributed $30 million to
the fiscus through royalties because an
average price of a single carat is
$60 and not $1 500 as projected by the
minister of Finance Tendai Biti,”
Machacha told the envoys.
“Biti should be man enough to tell the world
that he made a mistake in his
budget presentation on revenue coming from
diamond sales as figures he
projected an amount way off the
mark.”
International rights group Global Witness said in a damning report
this week
that it has received copies of receipts from Anjin for payments to
other
government bodies but not the tax collector Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority.
“We conclude that the Finance minister’s claim (that money
from Anjin is not
being remitted to Treasury) is plausible,” Global Witness
said.
“This leaves two possibilities: That Anjin has used revenues earned
so far
to recoup significant capital expenditure, or that revenues have been
diverted to the company’s part owners in the military and
police.”
Anjin is a large diamond mining company which claims to have
pumped $400
million into the Marange operations, which it says its yet to
recoup. It
claims to be the world’s largest, and industry observers say in
terms of
size, Anjin could be “the next De Beers”.
The other
operation toured by the foreign diplomats was Marange Resources,
whose
concession was taken over from Canadile soon after its collapse.
Marange
Resources (Pvt) Ltd is wholly-owned by the parastatal Zimbabwe
Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC).
Its chairperson is retired Colonel
Tshinga Dube, head of Zimbabwe Defence
Industries.
More recent
concessions include Sino Zimbabwe Development (Pvt) Ltd; Diamond
Mining
Corporation, a joint venture between the ZMDC and Pure Diam, a
company
registered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Anjin Investments
(Pvt)
Ltd.
All the diamond mining operations use up-to-date technology, with
modern
security protocols.
But there are fears significant sums of
money are flowing to the Zimbabwean
security forces, according to Global
Witness.
The Dutch embassy said it was encouraging that Zimbabwe signed
and ratified
the African Union Convention against Corruption which can go a
long way in
improving transparency, accountability and integrity in the
extractive
industries.
“The challenge is to domesticate the
provisions so that they become law in
Zimbabwe,” the Dutch embassy said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
03 July 2012
Concern has once again been raised for the safety of
a UK based Zimbabwean
activist, facing a second deportation threat by the
British authorities this
week.
Nottingham based Trevor Chanetsa is
set to be forcibly removed Wednesday
night on a Kenya Airways flight from
London’s Heathrow Airport. He insists
that as an activist who openly opposes
ZANU PF he faces serious danger if he
is returned to
Zimbabwe.
Chanetsa arrived in the UK in 2002 and has been trying to
secure asylum ever
since. In May this year he was arrested during his
routine reporting as an
asylum seeker to the UK Border Agency and detained
for two weeks. He only
escaped deportation following the last minute
intervention by his
solicitors.
Chanetsa told SW Radio Africa last
month that he believed he was being
deliberately targeted because his
Zimbabwean passport was about to expire.
He accused the UK authorities of
fast tracking his case deliberately, to
ensure his deportation before his
passport expired.
One of Trevor’s supporters is Regis Manyanya, from the
Nottingham Zimbabwean
Community Network. Manyanya told SW Radio Africa on
Tuesday that this
“victimisation” is now continuing.
“This is
victimisation because it is not safe to return to Zimbabwe
especially
towards forth coming elections. The British government talks
about human
rights and equal rights and condemnation of violence so why do
they want to
deport this young man who will obviously be targeted on his
return to
Zimbabwe as he is an activist and strong member of the MDC party,”
Manyanya
said.
He added that the authorities are fast tracking Chanetsa’s case
because of a
key legal development late last month, which saw the latest
country guidance
case laws on Zimbabwe overturned. The laws, set down in a
judgement last
year, significantly narrowed the definitions under which
Zimbabweans could
apply for asylum in the UK.
That case was quashed
last month in what was described as a ‘victory’ for
Zim asylum seekers. But
it is understood the decision is being appealed, and
Manyanya said Tuesday
that Chanetsa is being targeted because of this.
“The case has an impact
on Trevor’s asylum case so it appears that they (the
UK authorities) are
trying to deport him as soon as possible while the
country guidance issue is
being appealed,” Manyanya said.
The public is now being urged to try and
delay Chanetsa’s Kenya Airways
flight, by urging the airline not to take
part in the unwilling, forced
removal of a human rights activist.
http://www.mdc.co.zw
Tuesday, 03 July 2012
Gokwe - 5 MDC activists
who were facing charges of political violence were
acquitted by Gokwe
magistrates’ court yesterday.
Chirisa Chibharo,Stania Nzamba, Shadreck
Kana, Vavarirai Moyo and Sallas
Mangwiro were accused of torching the house
Chief Madzivazvido of
Gokwe-Kabuyuni during the 2008 election.
The
court freed the accused after the witnesses said they did not see any of
the
accused at the scene of the crime during the cross examination.
The
witnesses Farai Kurova and Chamunorwa who are Zanu PF supporters said
the
accused were arrested on false charges since they are well known MDC
party
activists from Kabuyuni.
In another development, the MDC Harare East
district deputy Organising
Secretary, Collin Chanza Chavengwa lost stock and
electrical gadgets at his
shop in Msasa to Zanu PF thugs
recently.
Zanu PF’s Sylvester Nguni and his manager, Lloyd Mukewa have
been pointed as
the chief culprits who instigated the attacks. “Nguni and
his administration
wanted me out of the shop where I run a small take-away
and a hardware shop.
The matter spilled into the courts and I won the case.
They have even
threatened to evict residents of Mukandabhutsu in Msasa
saying they are MDC
activists. Prior to the attack, the manager had brought
what they called an
eviction order but the court reversed that. They then
salvaged my shop and
looted goods and cash,” said Chavengwa.
The
matter was reported at Rhodesville Police Camp, RRB number 1309177-12
but no
arrests have been made yet.
The people’s struggle for real change: Let’s
finish it!!
BILL
WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEES SERIES
[2nd July 2012]
Committee Meetings Open to the Public 2nd to 5th
July
NB:
Members of the public who cannot attend meetings, including Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora, can at any time send written submissions to committees by email
addressed to to clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Thematic Committee and Portfolio Committees will meet this week, in
both open and closed session. The
meetings
listed below will be open to the public as observers only, not as participants,
i.e. members of the public can listen but not speak. The meetings will be held at Parliament in
Harare. If attending, please use the
entrance on Kwame Nkrumah Ave between 2nd and 3rd Streets and note that IDs must
be produced.
This
bulletin is based on the latest information from Parliament. But, as there are sometimes last-minute
changes to the schedule, persons wishing to attend a meeting should avoid
disappointment by checking with the committee clerk [see below] that the meeting
is still on and open to the public.
Parliament’s telephone numbers are Harare 700181 and
252936.
Monday
2nd July at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Mines
and Energy
Oral
evidence from the Chamber of Mines on operations, challenges and production
figures in the gold sector
Senate
Chamber
Chairperson: Hon
Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mrs
Mataruka
Thursday
5th July at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Media,
Information and Communication Technology
Oral
evidence from Econet on its operations
Committee
Room No.
413
Chairperson:
Hon Chikwinya Clerk:
Mr
Mutyambizi
Note:
Other Portfolio Committees and Thematic Committees will also be meeting during
the week, but in closed session to attend to such matters as deliberating on
oral evidence received at previous meetings; considering draft reports;
reviewing work plans; and preparing for forthcoming fact-finding
visits.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied
BILL
WATCH 29/2012
[2nd July
2012]
Indigenisation Rules for Finance and Education Sectors and 7 Other
Sectors
General Notice
280/2012
[available
from veritas@mango.zw]
In General Notice
[GN] 280/2, gazetted on Friday 29th June, the Minister of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment,
citing sections 5(4)
and 5A(4) of the Indigenisation and Empowerment (General) Regulations as amended
as its enabling legal framework [Note:
the legality of sections of these regulations has been questioned], lays
down rules for the implementation of indigenisation in the nine sectors outlined
below:
1. Finance, covering “all
financial institutions”
2. Tourism
3. Education and Sport
4. Arts, Entertainment and Culture
5. Engineering and Construction
6. Energy
7. Services
8. Telecommunications
9.
Transport and Motor Industry.
The Schedule to the
GN has nine numbered Parts, one for each of the affected sectors. All but the Finance sector are broken down
into sub-sectors. Each Part lays down
in tabular form the following requirements for the sector or sub-sectors
concerned:
·
the minimum net asset
value above which a business is required to comply with the principal
regulations [in some cases only $1,00]
·
for a few
sub-sectors, a quota for indigenous Zimbabwean shareholding that is less than
51%
·
the maximum period a
business may continue to operate before it attains the relevant indigenisation
and empowerment quota [in all cases this is set at only 1
year]
There are no
definitions for any of the terms used to describe the sectors or
sub-sectors.
Legality
Like last year’s GN
114/2011 referring to mining sector indigenisation, this GN is likely to be
criticised as ultra vires and invalid, void for vagueness, and perhaps
unconstitutional by legal practitioners.
It is also likely to attract an adverse report from the Parliamentary
Legal Committee.
It remains to be seen
whether affected businesses will institute court cases test to the legality of
the GN.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 3rd July 2012.
Zimbabwe’s ever growing debt
problem, if left unresolved soon, is arguably a
ticking time bomb that could
trigger civil strife and instability in the not
so distant
future.
While RBZ Governor Gideon Gono commented in May that Zimbabwe’s
external
debt overhang estimated at over US$8 billion “has become a serious
developmental constraint for the economy since the turn of the century,”
there is no agreement on solutions.
How much debt Zimbabwe owes is
unclear because no reconciliation of owed
amounts has yet been made with
creditors. According to the Jubilee Debt
Campaign, the IMF and the World
Bank estimate the country’s external debt to
be around 120 percent of
national income.
That tallies with a comment by deputy premier Arthur
Mutambara in July last
year that Zimbabwe “is practically broke” with the
national debt now
outstripping the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP).
“If you owe someone US$7 billion and your GDP is US$7 billion then
you do
not have any money,” said the robotics professor before adding, “We
are
heavily borrowed and we do not have a GDP to talk about.”
Anyone
who has been following events in both developing and developed
countries
including the Eurozone would be concerned about the implications
of
Zimbabwe’s debt problem.
One surest thing about loans is that the
creditors including Mugabe’s “all
weather friend” China will demand
settlement one way or another especially
for that US$200 million on which
Zimbabwe has reportedly defaulted.
Another matter of concern is the
government’s resort to utilising IMF’s
US$100 million Special Drawing Rights
(SDRs) for elections which Zanu-pf
hardliners want soon as if the country is
in a state of emergency.
One of the criticisms of the IMF’s Special
Drawing Rights is their very low
rate of interest, just 1.5 per
cent.
It is feared this might induce deficit countries (like Zimbabwe) to
use
their SDRs in preference to other reserve assets to finance their
deficits,
according to S. Nirav in “Critical Appraisal of Special Drawing
Rights
Policy of IMF” (preservearticles.com accessed 02/07/12).
In
any case, should we be using emergency reserves for elections when the
country’s debt burden is ticking like a time bomb? Although Mugabe
expressed his wish to live to 100, he might not be in office then to
experience the social and political upheavals.
What is odd about this
whole issue is that in April 2011, Zanu-pf turned
down an offer by the
United Nations to fund and supervise elections,
accusing the UN of taking
the wrong side in the Ivory Coast conflict.
According to media reports,
the UNDP approached Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa with the offer, but
Zanu-pf hardliners rejected it, while party
Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo said
Zanu-pf would not allow funding of elections
by the European
Union.
It could be argued that if there was no secret financing of a
parallel
regime by a foreign tycoon to the tune of US$100 million plus 200
pick up
trucks to the CIO in exchange for diamonds, Zimbabwe would be able
to fund
elections and any major programmes.
However, hopes of
financial discipline were dashed when the Zanu-pf leader
Robert Mugabe
reportedly left on Monday for another ‘private’ visit to
Singapore,
estimated to cost US$3 million, a big dent on the peppercorn
budget as this
is possibly his 13th such trip since he started in December
2010.
Before considering options for settling Zimbabwe’s debt
problem, it is
important to deconstruct what the debts were secured for and
why the present
and future generations should pay for what are believed to
be toxic loans
which allegedly funded political oppression and
impoverishment.
It is therefore this paper’s position that a debt audit
be carried out first
if the creditors insist on it being repaid. The
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt
and Development deserves support in its advocacy
for an audit to expose
those dodgy deals involving arms exports and projects
which caused human
rights abuses and environmental
destruction.
Ecuador’s debt audit in 2008 found that a large proportion
of the country’s
external debt had been contracted illegally or
illegitimately. As a result,
Ecuador renegotiated its debt, with 65-70 %
effectively written off (see
jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk, accessed
03/07/12).
For the sake of transparency, no creditor and indeed debtor
should be averse
to an audit. It’s worth noting that not all western
countries resist debt
audits. In 2009 Norway pledged to become the first
lender to commit to an
official audit of the debts it is
owed.
Zimbabwe’s coalition government has a choice to make – between
complacency
and going for a debt audit, without which the country could be
sleep-walking
into an uncertain and very unstable future.
Clifford
Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
We are now on Facebook and Twitter. Please join us on
http://www.facebook.com/ZimbabweSituation
and https://twitter.com/zimsitrep.
I
hope to see lots of discussion there.