The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Zimbabwe says
it will pay for foreign firms
http://af.reuters.com/
Thu Jul 7, 2011 8:14pm GMT
*
Destitute country doesn't have funds for plans, analysts
* Foreign
investors losing confidence
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE, July 7
(Reuters) - Foreign companies in Zimbabwe will not be seized
but bought out
under a black economic empowerment scheme sponsored by
President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, a government minister said on
Thursday.
However, destitute Zimbabwe, the world's second-largest
platinum producer,
does not have enough money to purchase majority stakes in
the foreign firms
and could be trying to ease the concerns of overseas
investors, analysts
said.
Speaking at the launch of a five-year
economic development plan, Economic
Planning and Investment Promotion
Minister Tapiwa Mashakada said the drive
would take time and would not
destroy the country's fragile economy.
"Indigenisation and empowerment
need not be the elephant in the room," said
Mashakada, a senior member of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's rival
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) which joined ZANU-PF in a unity
government over two years
ago.
"It is there to make sure the majority of our people are broadly
empowered.
The 51 percent is not going to be expropriated. It's going to be
funded and
there's going to be a time frame for that," he
said.
Mugabe, 87 and in power since Zimbabwe's since independence from
Britain in
1980, signed the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in
2008, which
forces foreign-owned companies worth over $500,000 to achieve at
least 51
percent black ownership within five years.
Analysts say
Mugabe's drive targeting firms in all sectors, including
banking and mining,
is scaring potential investors in the resource-rich
southern African country
struggling to recover from a decade-long recession
many blame on ZANU-PF
policies.
Mugabe's seizures of white-owned commercial farms about a
decade ago under
the banner of correcting colonial injustices sparked a loss
of overseas
confidence in investing in the state and an economic
downfall.
The government has threatened to start the plan by taking over
51 percent
stakes in foreign mines from September.
Unity Government Negotiators Gazette Electoral Reform
Legislation
http://www.voanews.com
06 July
2011
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa gazetted the electoral
amendment bill
after resisting pressure from Pretoria for two years, backed
by hardliners
in President Robert Mugabe's former ruling ZANU-PF
party
Blessing Zulu | Washington
South African President Jacob
Zuma, mediator in the perennially troubled
national unity government in
Zimbabwe, has obtained concessions from all of
the co-governing parties to
move legislation providing for broad reform of
Zimbabwe’s electoral system
in the interest of ensuring a free and fair
environment for the next
national ballot.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has gazetted the
long-awaited electoral
amendment bill after resisting pressure from Pretoria
for almost two years,
backed by hardliners in President Robert Mugabe's
former ruling ZANU-PF
party.
The reform legislation restricts police
involvement in the electoral process
and addresses political violence. It
grants wide powers to the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission to run elections,
obliging it to announce all results
within five days of the
ballot.
The commission in place in 2008 took five weeks to post
first-round
presidential ballot results. The legislation also restricts the
use of
postal ballots to government officials serving abroad and polling
officers
who will be on duty on election day.
Kent University law
lecturer Alex Magaisa told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Blessing Zulu that the
proposed reforms are a step inn the right direction.
In other political
developments, the standing committee of the Movement for
Democratic Change
formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has
instructed Mr.
Tsvangirai and Finance Minister Tendai Biti, party secretary
general, to
tell the Cabinet to increase civil servant salaries and to fund
increased
costs by cutting other expenditures.
Sources said the ZANU-PF politburo
was also meeting to discuss public sector
pay.
Finance Minister Biti
said foreign trips – including those by President
Mugabe to the Far East
where he has been receiving medical attention – could
cost up to US$50
million this year if they are not curbed. So far the bill
has risen to US$25
million.
The issue of state worker salaries has become a political
football between
ZANU-PF and the MDC. ZANU-PF has accused the MDC of
attempting to block the
increase which the president promised state workers
several months ago. The
MDC says ZANU-PF wants to shield thousands of ghost
workers added to public
payrolls during the previous Mugabe administration,
and has resisted
transparency on receipts Marange diamond
sales.
Tsvangirai MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said his party will
table
proposals on how the government can increase revenues to offset higher
state
wage costs.
Zimbabwe
targets 7.1-per-cent economic growth by 2015
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
Jul 7, 2011, 14:57
GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe on Thursday launched a five-year economic blueprint
aimed
at boosting economic growth to 7.1 per cent a year by 2015 and to add
6 per
cent jobs annually.
An estimated 9.2 billion dollars would be
needed to finance the Medium-Term
Plan meant to fight poverty.
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said, 'Zimbabwe's challenge as we move the
next
five years and beyond, is a recapitalization and reconstruction
agenda.'
Tapiwa Mashakada, the economic planning minister, said: 'It
cannot be
business as usual in this country ... The last 10 years are
referred to as a
lost decade; we need to discover our lost
glory.'
The unemployment rate is estimated to be about 90 per cent,
according to
government data. Zimbabwe has 7 billion dollars in foreign
debt.
The plan will also address issues such as providing potable water
to the
population, constructing railways, roads, schools and
hospitals.
In June, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that
Zimbabwe's real
gross domestic product growth accelerated from 6 per cent in
2009 to 9 per
cent in 2010.
However, growth was likely to decelerate
this year to 5.5 per cent, the IMF
said, citing 'an inefficient composition
of expenditure, rising
vulnerabilities in the financial system, and the
recent announcement of the
fast-track indigenization of the mining sector.'
PM,
Mugabe clash
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Farai Mutsaka, News Editor
Friday, 08 July 2011
14:01
HARARE - An "acrimonious" meeting between President Robert
Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday ended in a
stalemate after they
failed to agree on media reforms and civil servants
salaries.
The long-time rivals turned awkward coalition government
partners met at
Zimbabwe House to discuss sticking issues threatening the
life of their
shaky administration and to receive updates from line
ministers.
Sources described the meeting as “stormy”, adding that no
substantial
agreements were reached.
Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Luke
Tamborinyoka confirmed the deadlock, which has
kept investors at bay because
of the discord coming out of coalition
government
partners.
Tsvangirai himself yesterday said the two principals had only
concurred that
their prolonged feud had severely cost the
economy.
“The president and I yesterday (Wednesday) agreed that if you
look at the
inclusive government, the first one and half year of this
inclusive was
progressive such that we were able to deliver. But for the
last six months
what has come out in the public is discord and
dysfunctional. We ask
ourselves why we don’t go back to the situation where
there was political
stability,” Tsvangirai told delegates to the launch of a
five-year economic
blueprint in Harare.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara told the same delegates that
political infighting by coalition
partners had affected business.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the two leaders
could not agree on how to handle the
issue of civil servants salaries after
Tsvangirai told Mugabe he was unaware
of a recent pay hike announced last
week.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a Tsvangirai appointee, reportedly
told Mugabe
that treasury could not afford the salary increments, the
sources said.
Biti, like other ministers, had been summoned into the
meeting to explain
the matter.
“Mugabe put his head on the block by
promising to increase civil servants
salaries. On Wednesday he wanted Biti
to commit funds to the salary
increment. Biti, however, told him in no
uncertain terms that he was not
consulted and he didn’t have the money,”
said one source.
Also at the centre of Wednesday’s deadlock were media
reforms that had
earlier been agreed to by Mugabe and Tsvangirai but have
been resisted by
Zanu PF components in government, the sources
said.
The contentious Diaspora vote and how to campaign against sanctions
imposed
by Western countries on Mugabe and his close military, business and
political allies are some of the issues that have divided the two
men.
Zanu PF and the MDC also disagreed on security sector reforms,
staffing of
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), deployment of soldiers
around the
country, the issue of foreign monitors and amendments to the
draconian
Public Order and Security Act (POSA) among other issues.
In
a statement last night, Tamborinyoka said the information ministry headed
by
Mugabe loyalist Webster Shamu “has sought to stand in the way of
far-reaching media reforms”, including at Wednesday’s
meeting.
Tamborinyoka said Shamu instead chose “to raise unnecessary
technical
arguments which stand in the way of the letter and spirit of the
implementation matrix of the agreed issues”.
The information ministry
is resisting reconstitution of the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ)
and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
boards as well as the Zimbabwe
Mass Media Trust.
The Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust is government’s
investment arm into vast
newspaper group, Zimpapers, whose titles have been
accused of fanning hate
speech.
“The reconstitution of the BAZ board,
the ZBC board and the Zimbabwe Mass
Media Trust is expected to instill
public confidence, bring in new
broadcasting players, deal with issues of
hate speech and make the public
media impartial during this delicate
transition period,” said Tamborinyoka.
While the war in government
escalates, figures by the Zimbabwe Investment
Centre (ZIC) show that the
economy experienced a boom immediately after the
formation of the coalition
government.
But, it has since taken a knock as political leaders
intensify their row,
including on how to implement a controversial
indigenisation law that was
promulgated in 2008 but only being enforced
now.
For example, ZIC recorded investment projects worth $1, 3 billion in
2009 as
a show of unity between Mugabe and Tsvangirai buoyed
investors.
That figure plummeted to $520 million in 2010 when fights
between the two
leaders grew.
Frequent arrests of Tsvangirai’s
supporters and officials, including his top
aide Jameson Timba as well as
the hardening of military generals and other
security sector bosses have
further poisoned the working relationship this
year.
The Wednesday
meeting was supposed to iron out the issues and work out
progress ahead of
next month’s Sadc summit. But the meeting ended up
deadlocked, according to
sources.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai are under pressure from Sadc to show
progress and end
their feud before the summit. Sadc is the mediator and
guarantor of the
coalition government.
On the Diaspora vote, Mugabe
and Tsvangirai agreed after much debate that
the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission be tasked with producing a report on the
issue.
Tsvangirai
and civil society have for long campaigned for Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora
to vote.
Although there are no exact figures, UN agencies and migration
bodies
estimate that over 3 million Zimbabweans, or a quarter of the
population,
fled a decade-long economic and political tumult that left the
country on
the brink of collapse.
Tsvangirai
and Mugabe Under Pressure To End Violence
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, July 08, 2011-Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his arch-rival
President Robert Mugabe have
resolved to end sponsored violence to ensure
economic
recovery.
“The President and I yesterday agreed that we need to
resort to a period of
political stability and policy predictability”, said
Tsvangirai addressing
delegates, Thursday.
Tsvangirai made these
remarks whilst addressing delegates who had come to
witness the official
launch of the country’s Medium Term Economic Plan.
The US$9 billion
Medium Term Economic Plan for 2011-2015 which the
government has launched
aims to realize the full recovery of the decade long
battered
economy.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said if what he and President
Mugabe agreed
was going to be respected the country’s economy was going to
fully recover
soon.
The political rivals (Morgan Tsvangirai and
Robert Mugabe) are always at
loggerheads over political ideological
differences.
President Robert Mugabe of ZANU(PF) accuses MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai of
working in common purpose with the country’s colonial
masters, with the
latter denying the allegations.
The aging
Zimbabwean leader uses state security structures to clamp down on
MDC-T
members and its supporters.
Violation of rights of MDC supporters by Zanu
(PF) continues to be a topical
issue in the coalition government and
violations include from illegal
arrests and detention to physical beatings.
Lawyer
in dock for “insulting” Mugabe
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Tendai Kamhungira, Court Writer
Friday,
08 July 2011 18:08
HARARE - A Harare lawyer who had a procedural
misunderstanding with a
prosecutor is in the dock for allegedly insulting
President Robert Mugabe.
Gift Nyandoro of Hamunakwadi, Nyambuya, and
Nyandoro Legal Practitioners is
being charged with undermining the office of
the president.
It is the state’s case that on December 15 last year,
Nyandoro was at Harare
Magistrates’ Courts where he was representing a
client, Yemba Pauni Mulamba,
who was being charged for illegally possessing
ivory, a firearm and a forged
passport.
The court heard that a
misunderstanding ensued between Nyandoro and then
prosecutor Phillis
Zvenyika on how to proceed with the case, an issue that
the lawyer did not
take kindly.
Nyandoro is alleged to then have said, “Hazvisi zvejunta,
hazvisi zvaMugabe
izvi (this is not for junta, this is not for
Mugabe).”
State papers say, “Accused had no lawful right whatsoever to
insult or
undermine the office of the president.”
In his defence,
Nyandoro admits having an altercation with Zvenyika but says
the allegations
of insulting Mugabe are a “clear fabrication bent on malice”.
Nyandoro
appeared before magistrate Tayengwa Chibanda and will be back in
court on
July 26.
MDC-T
treasurer languish in jail for attacking the police
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
MDC-T treasurer for
Bindura Oliver Mukombwe, is languishing in jail for
allegedly saying that
the police are spoiled by President Robert
Mugabe.
08.07.1108:53am
Fungisai Kwaramba
According to the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) whose member
Belinda Chinowawa, is
representing Mukombwe who was granted a $20 bail by a
Bindura magistrate
only for the police prosecutor Clement Kawanda to invoke
the Section 121 of
the Criminal Evidence and Procedure Act (CPEA) to suspend
bail pending an
appeal to the High Court.
Kuwanda alleged that Mukombwe a resident of
Bindura undermined the authority
of the police when he made a statement in a
public place on July 2nd along
Church rd in Chipadze Township, Bindura
Mashonaland Central Province which
was directed at police constable Nemiah
Muzunda.
The police prosecutor alleges that Mukombwe said that;
“Makajaidzwa
naMugabe, munofunga kuti chipurisa chinoshamisira here? Zvenyu
zvokupinda
nechiZanu PF hazvina basa saka ini ndinoda kukuuraya.”
The
state interpreted the statement as to mean in English; “You have been
spoiled by Mugabe. You think the police work is special? Your joining of the
force through Zanu PF is useless, so I want to kill you.”
Section 121
has been in the past few months been invoked by the state to
deny people
bail for seven days pending the filing of an appeal by the state
in the High
Court.
In a statement the ZLHR said it, “is perturbed by the actions of
the state
in continuing to unnecessarily infringe upon the fundamental right
to
liberty of accused person by bringing up Section 121 of the CPEA. This is
despite the fact that the constitutionality of Section 121 is being
challenged in numerous cases which are yet to be heard by the Supreme Court
of Zimbabwe.”
The human rights campaigners said that they remained
concerned over the
increasing number of cases in which Section 121 of the
CPEA has been
arbitrarily invoked especially against political activists and
other genuine
human rights defenders in Zimbabwe.
The state has
invoked section 121 to deny, people like Minister Elton
Mangoma, Douglas
Mwonzora, Munyaradzi Gwisai and WOZA activists bail, most
of the cases have
eventually faltered and crumbled like the proverbial deck
of jacks.
Nyikayaramba
threatens two MDC-T legislators
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
8 July
2011
Controversial Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, recently
threatened
two MDC-T MPs saying that he would deal with them for daring to
challenge
him over the deployment of soldiers in Manicaland
province.
Last month in an unprovoked attack, soldiers assaulted
villagers at Daisy
Hill in Chipinge East and left four of them seriously
injured. The four are
still detained at Chipinge general
hospital.
Following the attack the MDC-T legislator for the area, Mathias
Mlambo, plus
Pishai Muchauraya the MDC-T MP for Makoni South, decided to
confront
Nyikayaramba over the issue. The two legislators and the General
met in
Harare during a COPAC session, just before Nyikayaramba was booted
out of
the constitution making process.
‘As concerned MPs we decided
to approach Nyikayaramba to ask him why his
soldiers were beating up
villagers when they were in the area purpotedly for
an exercise.
‘He
didn’t take it lightly perhaps because he thought we had challenged his
authority. But Zimbabwe is not at war with anyone why would soldiers
intimidate, harass and beat up innocent civilians for nothing,’ Muchauraya
said.
The MP, who doubles up as the party spokesman for Manicaland,
said
Nyikayaramba went on to threaten them by telling the two that he was
going
to send his ‘scorpions’ to deal with them.
The General was in
the news recently when he caused a stir by declaring that
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai was a ‘national security threat rather than
a political
one.’
‘He told us directly that they were in power and if the two of us
had any
further issues to discuss, we should pay him a visit at his 3
Brigade army
garrison in Mutare. Its an invitation we kindly declined,’
Muchauraya said.
But true to his words Nyikayaramba seems to have kept
his promise. A
battalion of armed soldiers was this week deployed in
Muchauraya’s
constituency for what the soldiers have described as an
‘exercise.’
‘They are currently camped at St Johns Mupanguri primary
school next to the
Gwangwaza township. I’ve had countless complaints from
members in my
constituency that the soldiers are moving around the villages
telling them
they are carrying out military exercises,’ the MP
said.
So far the soldiers have not yet harmed anyone physically, but
there are
reports they’re moving around asking for food from the villagers.
This
account was also confirmed by two other people who live in
Nyazura.
‘I’m informed they are not being well fed as they’re scrounging
around for
food. I’ve been told they are moving around homes asking for
maize, chicken
or cooked foods. If this is meant to be an exercise why then
do you send
them out when there are no resources to feed them,’ Muchauraya
added.
Nyikayaramba, who is in charge of all army units in Manicaland, is
also
known for leading a campaign of violence and intimidation on MDC-T
supporters in the province.
The burly general has openly said that he is
a ZANU PF supporter and boldly
declared last month Tsvangirai would not rule
Zimbabwe.
Traditional chiefs in Manicaland, under Nyikayaramba’s
instructions, are not
allowed to sanction MDC campaign rallies in their
areas.
PM
accuses Shamu and Charamba of stifling media reforms
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
08
July 2011
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s office has accused
Information Minister
Webster Shamu and his Permanent Secretary George
Charamba of misleading the
public on what transpired during a meeting of
‘Principals’ at Zimbabwe House
on Wednesday.
A statement issued by
Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Luke Tamborinyoka, said Shamu
and Charamba were
invited to the meeting “to explain the lack of
comprehensive media reforms
in the broadcasting and print media in line with
the GPA and the agreement
of the Principals.” Instead the two ‘abused’ the
platform to “raise
unnecessary technical arguments” meant to stall media
reforms.
A
story in the state owned Herald newspaper extensively quoted Charamba, who
said his boss Shamu had told the leaders that the Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe “was in compliance with the Act governing its operations contrary
to misconceptions that it was not complying.” Charamba also claimed Shamu,
as the Minister, was entitled to appoint the ZBC board. Something
the
MDC-T objects to.
Commenting on reforming the Mass Media Trust,
Shamu is said to have advised
the principals that “the creation of the Mass
Media Trust board be
accompanied by funding from Government to avoid what
happened with the
Zimbabwe Media Commission, which ended up being a burden
on the ministry."
Tsvangirai’s office however said these are just excuses
meant to block
reforms.
Tamborinyoka said: “The Principals and the
negotiators of the respective
parties have agreed to a new board for the
Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe, the ZBC and the Mass Media Trust in
order to engender true and
inclusive media reforms in line with the spirit
of the GPA.” He also said
there was no agreement to stop the setting up for
the Mass Media Trust until
the issue of its funding is settled, as claimed
in The Herald.
Charamba also claimed Tsvangirai had attempted to
‘smuggle’ in discussion on
the Diaspora vote, despite the issue being
‘thrown out by the negotiators.”
Tamborinyoka again said this was not true.
“The Principals have a right to
discuss any issue they feel is in the
national interest. It was agreed by
the Principals that the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission be tasked with
producing a report on the issue of the
Diaspora vote,” he said.
Tamborinyoka said every Zimbabwean had a right
to vote and the story in the
Herald “exhibits overt attempts to scuttle the
Diaspora vote even before the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has produced the
report as requested by the
Principals.”
The meeting on Wednesday saw
Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Mutambara receiving
briefings from Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa, Finance Minister Tendai
Biti and Media, Information and
Publicity Minister Webster Shamu.
BAZ
taken to task over delays to free airwaves
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
7 July
2011
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and
Communication on Thursday chastised the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe
(BAZ) for its lack of commitment in freeing the airwaves.
Appearing
before the committee in Parliament, BAZ chairman Tafataona Mahoso
and chief
executive officer Obert Muganyura reiterated their call that the
current
infrastructure in Zimbabwe did not allow more players to enter the
broadcasting sector. BAZ says this is because they have no capacity to’
monitor’ new broadcasters.
But a study carried out by government two
years ago said that the country
had the capacity to licence an additional
four television stations and 31
commercial radio stations.
Opening up
the airwaves is one of the issues agreed to by all parties in the
Global
Political Agreement (GPA). But this has not happened and the
inclusive
government has been under pressure from all media stakeholders to
start this
process. It is also an issue that has been raised by SADC and by
President
Zuma of South Africa, as chief facilitator in the GPA discussions.
A
month ago BAZ did call for applications for two commercial radio licences
but there are concerns that this call is just a politically motivated move
to hoodwink SADC into believing there is some movement on electronic media
reforms. There were 15 applicants, including the state owned Zimbabwe
Newspapers Group.
Media advocacy group MISA Zimbabwe, has long
advocated for the licencing of
community radio stations. They say that
unlike commercial radio stations,
which are profit-driven in terms of their
programming, community
broadcasting is by the community for the
community.
‘While this does not necessarily mean community radios operate
at a loss,
the point to note is that they are not established for the
purpose of making
profit. This means that their programming is not saturated
by adverts, state
propaganda or elitist ideas.
Community stations are
designed to promote values of the community, pursuing
the social, economic
and political agendas of the community, which may be
defined geographically
or by common interests,’ a statement from MISA said
on Friday.
There
are a number of community and church radio stations in Zimbabwe that
would
be ready to start broadcasting immediately.
There has also been no
discussion on the future for the state broadcaster,
ZBC. As Zimbabwe’s
‘public’ broadcaster it needs to be urgently reformed to
make it a truly
public and not state broadcaster.
BAZ
'shuts out' independent players
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Reagan Mashavave, Staff Writer
Friday,
08 July 2011 16:40
HARARE - Prospects of having a new television
station or independent
television players in Zimbabwe before the next
elections are zero after the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (Baz) said
it will only advertise for new
television players in 2013.
Baz, the
broadcasting regulatory body said only two radio stations will be
awarded
licences from the 14 applications they got for the advertised
commercial
radio stations saying the country only has two frequencies left
on the FM
band.
The revelations were made by Baz chairperson, Tafataona Mahoso and
his chief
executive officer, Obert Muganyura while appearing before a
parliamentary
committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology
at parliament
building yesterday.
Under the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) which formed the coalition
government in 2009, the three
main political parties in the unity government
agreed to open the media
space to allow new players for media diversity.
However, two years on, no
new broadcasting radio or television stations have
been licenced.
The
statement by Baz angered some Members of Parliament who felt the
regulatory
body were deliberately delaying issuing licences to new
broadcasting
players, as the regulatory authority once appeared before the
committee in
2009 making commitments that they will fulfil their mandate to
licence new
players in the broadcasting sector.
“There seems to be dill-dallying with
whatever they (Baz) are telling us as
a committee. You are not serious with
whatever you are doing. You don’t seem
to want to open the airwaves and you
don’t seem to want to issue new
players,” said Edward Musumbu, the Norton MP
and member of the Media,
Information and Communication Technology
committee.
Musumbu said they wanted ‘‘specific time-frames’’ on when Baz
will issue new
licences for commercial and community radio stations and the
television
stations.
Mahoso and Maganyura said the reasons of
delaying the issuing of television
licences is that the country will need a
new regulatory framework to change
from the current monologue system to the
digital system.
“The digitalisation requires changing the regulatory
framework. That is
where we are now, the training (of staff) is going on but
definitely 2013 is
not very far away and so a new regulatory framework has
to be developed in
order to cater for a digital situation rather than an
analogue situation,”
Mahoso said.
“What we have now is a system which
was developed for analogue. There are
some openings and I think the
invitation on what is similar to DSTV will be
out. The coming of this
digital requirement means that we must develop a new
framework before we
licence.”
Maganyura complained that his team does not have ‘‘basic
tools’’ to monitor
broadcasting stations in the country as required by the
law as that they are
under-funded. He said BAZ requires at least $3 million
to set up the initial
equipment to monitor radio and television
stations.
He said at the moment BAZ is using ‘‘rudimentary’’ equipment
which is
borrowed from the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority of
Zimbabwe (Potraz).Baz ‘shuts out’ independent players
Soldiers
Force MDC Members To Join Zanu (PF)
http://www.radiovop.com
Chimanimani, July 08, 2011
–Soldiers under the command of Colonel Charles
Muresherwa are moving from
village to village in Mhakwe and Chikwakwa wards
in Chimanimani, forcing MDC
supporters to denounce their MDC membership and
join Zanu (PF) before July
15 this month.
The MDC councillor for the area Stephen Mhlanga told Radio
VOP in an
interview that Muresherwa who is a serving member in the Zimbabwe
National
Army (ZNA) and also an aspiring Member of Parliament for
Chimanimani East
has been moving around door –to- door in the area with
armed soldiers asking
the villagers’ political allegiance.
“Mhakwe
and Chikwakwa wards are under siege from colonel Muresherwa. For the
past
month Muresherwa has been compiling a list of all MDC supporters in the
area. All MDC supporters have been given up to 15 July this month to
renounce their MDC membership and join Zanu (PF),” said Mhlanga who is the
councillor for ward 19 which covers the area.
Mhlanga said scores of
MDC supporters in the area are now leaving in fear
following Muresherwa’s
threats.
He said some MDC supporters have already “defected” to Zanu (PF)
and are
expected to be paraded at a Zanu (PF) rally which has been set for
15 July
at Ndangana business centre in Chikwakwa.
“All the local
headmen and chiefs have been instructed to mobilise their
subjects to attend
the Zanu (PF) meeting. Soldiers including
Brigadier –General Douglas
Nyikayaramba will address the meeting,” said
Mhlanga. Nyikayaramba last
month heightened the role of the country’s
military involvement in politics
when he openly stated that he supports
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF)
party and described the MDC leader and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as a
“national “ security threat.
The MDC Coordinator for Chimanimani office,
Pardon Maguta on Thursday said
his party is taking Muresherwa’s threats very
seriously.
“Our councillors from the two wards have been to the office
asking guidance
over the latest developments in the area. Ordinary members
of the party have
also been coming to the offices expressing concern over
the threats,” said
Maguta.
Two months ago Zanu (PF) youths allegedly
under the colonel’s instructions
torched down several huts of MDC ‘s
supporters in Nyambeya’s area in Cashel
valley while two beats belonging to
the local MDC district chairperson were
axed by the youths after the
chairperson refused to sign the so called
ant-sanction
petition.
Muresherwa has also been moving around in the constituency with
Zanu (PF)
youths dolling out cabbages and small pockets of salt as part of
his
campaign gimmick.
During the run up to the discredited March 2008
elections Muresherwa moved
around the constituency brandishing an Ak 47 and
intimidating MDC
supporters. Efforts to get a comment from colonel
Muresherwa were all in
vain .
Jailed
MDC Councillor still untreated for head injury
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
08 July, 2011
Prison officials continue to deny medical
treatment for the Glen View 3
councillor who was brutally assaulted by
police at Harare Central Police
Station, the defence lawyer has
revealed.
Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere of Glen View Ward 32, sustained
serious head
wounds, a fractured left arm and leg injuries during the
assault. According
to lawyer Charles Kwaramba prison doctors recommended a
head scan and a
further examination at Parirenyatwa Hospital. But officials
keep delaying
the trip.
“We don’t know how deep the injuries are and
he is suffering from a lot of
pain at night,” Kwaramba told SW Radio Africa.
No explanation has been given
by the prison officials, who keep telling the
councillor “tomorrow,
tomorrow” when he complains of the pain. “At first we
thought there were
just scratches but it turned out he has internal
injuries,” Kwaramba said.
As SW Radio Africa reported this week fellow
inmates had noticed Madzokere
had problems concentrating, remembering and
putting thoughts together, all
hallmarks of a serious head
injury.
Councillor Madzokere is one of the 24 MDC members who were
arrested in
random raids conducted by the police in the Glen View suburb
back in May,
when they claimed to be investigating the murder of policeman
Petros
Mutedza.
The police allege Mutedza was killed by MDC members
who held an illegal
meeting at a local pub, a charge the MDC-T deny.
Witnesses have said the cop
was murdered by unknown revelers during a
drunken brawl.
Meanwhile 4 more MDC-T members arrested in the case were
granted bail by
Justice Felistus Chatukuta on Friday at the High Court. A
statement from the
party said Councillor Oddrey Sydney Chirombe, Jefias Moyo
and Abina Rutsito
were granted $100 bail each, while Tendai Chinyama was
given $300 bail. Moyo
and Rutsito work for the MDC-T.
However, 8 MDC
members are still in remand prison, including the injured
Councillor
Madzokere. The MDC-T identified them as Rebecca Mafukeni, Yvonne
Musarurwa,
Edson Maengahama, Lazarus Maengahama, Lloyd Chitanda, Stenford
Mangwiro,
Phineas Nhatarikwa and Cynthia Manjoro.
This last group of 12 were denied
bail last Friday by High Court Judge
Tendai Uchena, who said he considered
them flight risks. Lawyer Charles
Kwaramba said he had already prepared
documents to challenge the bail
decision at the Supreme Court.
Gov’t
lunges towards dysfunction: PM
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Tobias Manyuchi Friday 08 July
2011
HARARE – Zimbabwe’s unstable coalition government slithered
towards
dysfunction amid deepening discord and conflict within its ranks
over the
past six months, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on
Thursday.
Tsvangirai described the first 18 months of coalition rule as
progressive,
while lamenting political divisions that he said took centre
stage during
the first half of this year.
“The President and I agreed
yesterday (Wednesday) that …. the first one and
half years (of unity
government) were progressive,” said Tsvangirai,
speaking at the launch of a
new four-year economic blue print known as the
Medium Term Plan
(MTP).
“In the last six months what has come out in the public is discord
and
dysfunction. In spite-of our political variations, we must commit
ourselves
to the principal objectives of the medium term plan,” said the
former
opposition chief.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed in 2009 to form
a unity government under
pressure from the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) keen to end
a dangerous political stalemate following
violence marred and inconclusive
elections three years ago.
Although
the unity government has not achieved much success on the political
front
while also failing to end political violence and human rights abuses,
it is
however credited with mending a broken economy after implementing bold
measures, including the adoption of multiple currencies that stabilised the
market and doused hyperinflation.
Zimbabwe, in recession between 1999
and 2008, recorded its first growth in a
decade when the economy expanded in
2009 by 5.7 percent. The government
expects the economy to grow by 9.3
percent this year. The economy grew by
8.1 percent in 2010.
Under the
US$9.2 billion MTP, the government is targeting average annual
growth of
seven percent over the next four years, while also looking to
maintain
single digit inflation and six percent annual employment creation.
The
plan that Economic Planning Minister Tapiwa Mashakada said will be
financed
through domestic savings, foreign direct investment, credit lines
and
public/private sector partnerships also looks to raise investment for
collapsing state-owned firms like Air Zimbabwe, the state railway company
and power utility ZESA.
“The last ten years are referred to as a lost
decade; we need to discover
our lost glory. The main points of MTP are
economic transformation and
restoration of development,” Mashakada said. --
ZimOnline
MDC calls on Government to raise money for civil servants
salaries
Friday, 08 July 2011
The MDC strongly supports calls for
Zimbabwe to pay its public sector
workers a decent salary commensurate with
the cost of living and their
desire for enhanced welfare.
Our
philosophy for a living wage is anchored on our background with its
strong
bias towards the poor. Our party was formed on two pillars: the trade
union
movement and the constitutional movement. Zanu PF today can not claim
to be
interested in workers issues by claiming that the Finance Ministry is
refusing to increase salaries in the public sector.
We believe it is
possible to meet this critical need through a clear
remittance of diamond
revenues to Treasury; accruals from an instant removal
of 75 000 ghost
workers from the state’s payroll; earnings from millions of
dollars in
police coffers earned through fines; a drastic cut-back of the
run-away
government foreign travel expenses; and revenue from all mining
concessions
which have yet to be deposited in the government account.
As part of our
non-negotiable contribution to a stable and prosperous
Zimbabwe, the MDC
calls on the government to effect these measures as a
matter of extreme
urgency to alleviate the plight of genuine civil servants.
The public sector
has emerged a major victim of Zanu PF’s political
insincerity and dirty
games for more than three decades. The situation can
not be left to
deteriorate any further. The MDC shall move with utmost speed
to ensure that
the above measures are implemented to ensure public sector
stability and
uninterrupted service delivery.
Should Zanu PF continue to dabble in
politics over human lives by blocking
our proposals to raise money from
within the state sector we reserve the
right to invoke other contingency
measures to make a respectable salary
package for our civil servants a
living reality.
As a significant player and an indispensible state actor
charged with the
management and administration of the national purse in
Zimbabwe, we feel
duty bound to respond with sensitivity to calls for help
from all sectors of
our society, in particular public service workers, the
poor and the
vulnerable.
The MDC remains committed to bringing a new,
prosperous and democratic
Zimbabwe because it has an indelible covenant and
contract with the people.
Together, united, winning, voting for real
change!!
--
MDC Information & Publicity Department
Government Rejects Local Equity Stakes Proposed by Mining
Firms
http://www.voanews.com
07 July
2011
Parliamentary Legal Committee Chairman Shepherd Mushonga of the
Movement for
Democratic Change said lawmakers will not let the ZANU-PF side
of the unity
government start grabbing mining companies
Gibbs Dube |
Washington
Zimbabwean Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere says
Harare has
rejected equity quotas of up to 26 percent plus empowerment
credits proposed
by foreign-owned mining companies responding to a call for
plans to increase
stakes held by local investors.
Kasukuwere told the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that proposals
received from mining firms
are unacceptable and Harare if not satisfied will
seize such
assets.
He said Harare will not even discuss the proposal by mining firms
to make up
the other 25 percent demanded by the government in so-called
empowerment
credits taking the form of school and clinic construction and
other
community projects.
Mining indigenization regulations say that
foreign-owned mines should detail
plans to put a 51 percent stake in the
hands of indigenous investors or
government entities.
Kasukuwere’s
announcement has caused panic among mining executives. Sources
said a crisis
meeting was called in Harare. Mining executives declined to
comment.
Parliamentary Legal Committee Chairman Shepherd Mushonga
said lawmakers will
not allow the ZANU-PF side of the unity government to
start grabbing mining
companies.
Economic commentator Masimba Kuchera
said Kasukuwere’s threats are an
attempt to secure wrestle higher equity
participation offers from mining
firms“because I don’t think that the
inclusive government can allow [mine
seizures] to happen.”
Corporate spat threatens
tourism
http://mg.co.za
RAY NDLOVU Jul 08 2011 07:13
A showdown is looming
between a British mogul, rumoured to be Zimbabwe's
richest man, and the
country's largest cellphone operator, Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe, over control
of one of Zimbabwe's premier tourism companies.
The ongoing boardroom
intrigue between Nicholas van Hoogstraten (66) and
Econet over the Rainbow
Tourism Group (RTG) is likely to stall the Zimbabwe
government's attempt to
spruce up the image of its frail tourism sector.
A shareholders' annual
general meeting in Harare last week to appoint a new
board turned out to be
the ultimate stage for a fierce clash between Van
Hoogstraten and the
telecommunications giant. RTG owns several luxurious
hotels and safari
lodges in the country, among them the Rainbow Towers and
the Harare Safari
Lodge, and is also listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
Van
Hoogstraten, the largest shareholder in RTG with 36% of the company, had
his
bid to appoint four board directors blocked by Econet, the nominees of
which
had received widespread backing from other shareholders, namely Afre
Corporation and the state-linked National Social Security
Authority.
Observers have, however, seen the latest boardroom wrangle as
a subtle
attempt by indigenous groups to push out foreign owners from the
lucrative
tourism sector, a sector that for the first time has shown signs
of recovery
after a decade-long slump.
According to the Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority, earnings from tourism jumped by
47% last year to
$770-million, and the number of visitors rose by 15% to
2.3-million. Tourism
and Hospitality Minister Walter Mzembi echoed a firm
stance against the
British national, saying: "He cannot go ahead fighting me
or the government.
What he is doing through talking to the media is
sabotaging an asset and I
will not sit [back] and watch."
Van Hoogstraten is the largest private
landowner in Zimbabwe and owns
several affluent properties in Harare. He has
also been linked to the
Hamilton Finance group, a microfinance outfit that
once offered a $2-million
cash loan to struggling national carrier Air
Zimbabwe, and is known to lend
money to small business owners. Van
Hoogstraten is seen as an ally of
President Robert Mugabe, whom he has
called his "friend". Van Hoogstraten is
thought to be a key financier of
Zanu-PF.
But since the launch of his ministry's "World of Wonders"
campaign -- meant
to bolster tourism to Zimbabwe - Mzembi has lashed out at
the nepotism and
grab tactics by members of his own Zanu-PF party and warned
against attempts
to control the tourism sector. In January he clashed with
Zanu-PF supporters
who invaded several lodges in the Lake Chivero
area.
Led by self-styled militant Patrick Zhuwao, a nephew of Mugabe, the
group of
nearly 200 Zanu-PF activists stormed into a bird sanctuary and
private
lodges at Chivero under the excuse of getting their portion of the
country's
indigenisation.
Van Hoogstraten has now threatened to call
for an extraordinary general
meeting and expose "fraud" at Econet backdated
to 2005. He said: "Expect a
notice for an EGM in the next few months to
detail the fraud that has taken
place and who was involved. It will be a
detailed account of those
fraudsters who want to enrich themselves by having
more board seats and
shareholding."
An official from Econet refuted
claims of any wrongdoing by the company and
insisted Van Hoogstraten's
claims were a "non-issue".
Econet, which is owned by South-African-based
Strive Masiyiwa, is gaining a
steady foothold in Zimbabwe's economy and has
rapidly diversified into the
banking and insurance sectors. It is understood
from official insiders that
Econet is making headway in its bid to have a
stake in the largest tourism
group in Zimbabwe, African Sun.
Action
hoped after play about Zim violence
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
08 July 2011
A
highly acclaimed play about violence and reconciliation in Zimbabwe is
hoped
to provoke action towards real change, after its tour in South Africa
this
month.
The play titled “Rituals of Violence” will be touring venues in
Johannesburg
and Pretoria next week, after its successful run at Grahamstown
festival.
‘Rituals’ was written by Zimbabwe playwright Stephen Chifunyise
after
two-months of research on issues of politically motivated violence,
reconciliation and justice in Zimbabwe. The play, directed and produced by
Daves Ghuza of Rooftop Productions, fuses drama and dance to depict
community-initiated rituals of healing and reconciliation.
The play
received standing ovations when it was staged at the All Africa
Dance
Festival for Peace held in Nairobi, Kenya in December last year. But
during
its national run in Zimbabwe earlier this year, the cast was arrested
in
Chimanimani and charged with ‘criminal nuisance’. The entire cast spent
three nights behind bars before being acquitted.
Its run in South
Africa is being facilitated in part by the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition, who
say the play is a vehicle for change. The group’s
regional coordinator, Dewa
Mavhinga, told SW Radio Africa that the play can
provoke action.
“The
issues of violence, reconciliation, justice and healing are critical
issues
that must be addressed. And in a play the issues are more accessible
to a
wider audience and it is an important that we utilise theatre in this
way,”
Mavhinga said.
Mavhinga described the production as a “timely,
provocative and a glimpse of
reality,” of the situation in Zimbabwe, which
he explained is necessary for
South African audiences to see as
well.
“In South Africa we have serious challenges of xenophobia. This
play depicts
some of the issues why Zimbabweans find themselves in South
Africa
involuntarily, which would be useful for South Africans to see. This
could
go towards the elimination of xenophobia.”
The play will run
for 5 shows between 12 July and 17 July 2011 and will
feature
post-performance discussions with opinion leaders, civic society,
media,
artists, students, academics, politicians, peace activists and
Zimbabweans
in South Africa.
The Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, which has
been a haven for
Zimbabwean refugees over the years, is set to host one of
the performances,
which will be free to all.
Controversial
Zwambila Ordered To Respond To Sexual Allegations
http://www.radiovop.com
07/07/2011
10:29:00
Harare, July 07, 2011 – Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs ministry
has ordered the
country’s ambassador to Australia, Jacqueline Zwambila, to
respond to
allegations of sexual harassment on a male staff member at her
Canberra
official residence.
“We have requested the ambassador in
Canberra to make a report to us telling
her side of the story and we are
actually waiting for that report,” Foreign
Affairs Permanent Secretary Joey
Bimha told Radio VOP, Thursday.
He added, “We are hoping to get a report
by the end of this week.”
Zwambila, a member of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), was in May this year
accused by her Butler of twice
ordering him to her bedroom at 10pm when she
was ‘half naked’ ostensibly to
bring her a glass of coke.
But
ambassador Bimha said his ministry would not make any rushed conclusions
based on sensational media reports but would afford the controversial envoy
a fair chance to be heard.
“Allegations have been made against the
Australian ambassador. We have heard
one side of the story. It is only when
we have information from both sides
that we would be in a position to assess
the situation,” said Bimha.
She was last year accused of stripping in
front of her embassy staff.
Mugabe
attends South Sudan official independence celebrations
http://www.bulawayo24.com/
by Ndou paul
2011
July 08 19:38:02
President Robert Mugabe has arrived in South Sudan where
he is attending
that country's official independence
celebrations.
Mugabe will join over 30 heads of state and governments in
South Sudan's
capital, Juba, to witness the birth of a new state this
Saturday.
The President was seen off at the Harare International Airport
by Vice
President Joice Mujuru, Zanu PF National Chairman, Simon Khaya Moyo,
cabinet
ministers, service chiefs and other senior government officials who
included
Foreign Affairs Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi..
The birth
of Southern Sudan under the leadership of Salva Kiir signals the
full
implementation of a 2005 peace deal that ended Africa's longest-running
civil war which claimed over one million people.
As part of the
provisions of the peace deal, a referendum was held in
January 2011 which
saw over 98% of the people in the south voting
overwhelmingly to secede and
become Africa's newest country since Eritrea
split from Ethiopia in
1993.
Zimbabwe has over the years maintained relations with both north
and
southern Sudan and already the country has a consulate in South
Sudan.
South Sudan is made up of 10 southern-most states of Sudan and is
a land of
expansive grassland, swamps and tropical rain forest straddling
both banks
of the White Nile.
Unlike its northern neighbor which is
predominantly Muslim, Southern
Sudanese follow traditional religions and has
a Christian minority.
The new African state boasts of ethnical and
language diversity and among
the largest ethnic groups are Dinka, Nuer and
Shilluk.
Despite the prospect of marking its official independence this
weekend South
Sudan still has a lot of challenges ahead as it officially
breaks away from
Northern Sudan under President Omar Al
basher.
Conflicts with its northern neighbor which has seen clashes in
the last few
months has been anchored mainly on the sharing of the oil
reserves.
South Sudan is home to the oil reserves, while northern Sudan
has the
refineries a situation which has created acrimony between the two
countries.
The two countries are yet to solve several border disputes
among them the
border region of Abbey where a referendum for residents to
decide on either
to join south or north has been delayed over voter
eligibility.
The conflict is rooted in a dispute over land between
farmers of the
pro-South Sudan Dinka Ngok people and cattle-herding
Misseriya Arab
tribesmen.
Another source of conflict is the Nuba
Mountains region of Sudan's South
Kordofan state, where violence continues
between the largely Christian and
pro-SPLA Nuba people and northern
government forces.
Inside South Sudan, several rebel forces opposed to
the Sudan people's
liberation movement dominated government have appeared,
including the South
Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA) of Peter Gadet and a force
led former SPLA
general George Athor.
Juba says these forces are
funded by Sudan, which denies the accusation.
Russian Envoy
Tells Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, You’ve Got a Friend
http://oilprice.com/
Written by Charles
Kennedy
Friday, 08 July 2011 01:29
A top Russian government official
is visiting Zimbabwe, the first high
profile visit in nearly a
decade.
Mikhail Margelov, Russian President Dmitrii Medvedev’s special
envoy, met
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at State House and
subsequently told
journalists, "Russia is back to Africa. We were out for a
decade. We want to
develop co-operation with our traditional
friends."
Prior to Margelov’s visit Russia’s ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Andrei Kushakov,
said there was great interest from Russian state companies
to increase their
presence in Zimbabwe, citing in particular the country’s
energy sector and
infrastructure development, the Herald
reported.
Margelov singled out Moscow’s interest in Zimbabwe’s uranium
and coal
deposits, adding Russia could also be interested in other minerals
and
possibly assisting the country’s struggling agricultural
sector.
In a not so subtle swipe at the U.S. and NATO campaign in Libya
Margelov
said that Africa should be left to solve its problems without
outside
interference, telling reporters, "Only Africans have the right to
solve
their problems."
Russia has a large reserve of goodwill in
Zimbabwe, as during the 1970s the
USSR provided moral and material support
that ultimately helped Zimbabwean
guerrillas topple the regime of Ian
Smith.
More recently the Russia Federation also blocked attempts by the
U.S.,
Britain and their allies to use the United Nations to intensify the
sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe, with Moscow condemning the sanctions as
illegal and calling for their unconditional removal.
CFU
congress set for July 26
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Zimbabwe’s white farmers will hold their
traditional annual congress on July
26 in Harare to discuss problems facing
the sector, including the crafting
of a new policy document and amendments
to the union’s constitution.
08.07.1112:03pm
Vusimusi
Bhebhe
The congress, scheduled for Wild Geese Lodge in Harare, is
also expected to
witness the election of a new Commercial Farmers Union
(CFU) leadership to
take over from the Deon Theron-led council.
The
CFU has been working on an agriculture recovery proposal that it has
submitted to government for discussion.
Zimbabwe’s beleaguered white
farmers have shown growing frustration at
failure by the country’s coalition
government and their union to end chaos
in the farming sector.
The
unity government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has watched helplessly as members of the security forces and
hardliner activists of Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party intensified a drive to seize
all land still in white hands.
The coalition government is yet to act
to fulfil the promise to restore law
and order in the key agricultural
sector, while more farms – including some
owned by foreigners and protected
under bilateral investment protection
agreements between Zimbabwe and other
nations— have been seized since 2009.
And to make matters worse, police
and judicial officers who are supposed to
enforce the rule of law were also
among the beneficiaries of the
free-for-all land grab.
Public Service
Minister on Question Time
8, 2011 8:58 pm
Public
Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro is the guest on Question Time. He joins
SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma to respond to various listener’s
questions, including the confusion over the civil servants salaries and the long
awaited civil service audit which exposed the fact that 75,000 ghost workers are
milking the treasury of US$20 million every month. Why has the audit taken so
long to be dealt with by cabinet?
Interview
broadcast 06 July 2011
Lance
Guma: Public Service Minister
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro is my guest on Question Time. With the civil service pay
hike debate taking centre stage, listeners sent in their questions in advance of
the interview using Facebook, Twitter, Skype, e-mail and text messages.
Professor Mukonoweshuro thank you for joining us.
Mukonoweshuro on Question Time
Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro:
Thank you very much.
Guma: You
are being quoted as saying last week’s announcement that salaries of the lowest
paid state workers would rise to US$253 a month was baseless, irresponsible and
intended to cause political friction. Let’s start with that – what’s
happening?
Mukonoweshuro: Well in the first place there was no
official announcement. What was announced was a leaked, a leakage from the
negotiating process by people who are not authorized to disclose that to either
their members or members of the public.
The process of the
NJNC (National Joint Negotiating Council) negotiations is well known. The
leaders of the staff associations and representatives of government sit around a
table under the chairmanship of an independent or neutral person. They
deliberate; they agree or disagree; the result of that deliberation is sent to
me. It arrives on my desk, not as a result that cannot be tampered with; it
arrives at my desk as a recommendation from the NJNC.
My responsibility
would then be to take that recommendation to government. Cabinet will receive
that recommendation and then in its own wisdom, cabinet can vary it and increase
it. Once that is done, I will then make an announcement on behalf of government
and that announcement becomes the binding resolution.
Guma: Okay
now Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF are painting the MDC as the main obstacle in
giving civil servants a salary increase. They even staged a demonstration
against Finance Minister Tendai Biti. Now as the MDC you seem to have walked
right into the ZANU PF trap and they are milking political mileage from this
situation.
Mukonoweshuro: They are not milking any political
mileage and we have not walked into a minefield. We have operated in good faith.
One of the cornerstones of my responsibility is to improve the salaries and
conditions of service of the civil servants. In order to stop the brain drain,
retain civil servants who are in post and attract those who have gone for
greener pastures and this is what I’ve been trying to do and if anybody thinks
that this country can operate with a civil service that is disgruntled, a civil
service that is under qualified, if anybody in their honest opinion and think
that that can happen then they must be dreaming.
So that has been
the position taken by the MDC and it is important to ensure that we have a
strong, efficient and effective civil service. And I might add that this round
of negotiations was agreed to between us in government and the civil servants in
March that we should then meet in June and review and see the extent to which we
can satisfy ourselves whether the remuneration levels need an increment and if
so, by what percentage. And this is what we agreed.
Guma: Now
you said the joint negotiating council does not have the authority to make such
announcements and it’s your responsibility as Public Service minister, so is
this whole thing, the way it has turned out, is it not being stage managed to
deliver on a promise made by Mugabe?
Mukonoweshuro: To deliver a what?
Guma: To
deliver on a promise made by Mugabe. Mugabe made the promise that civil servants
would get a salary increase and you are just telling us the…
Mukonoweshuro: I would, I would say so. Let those
who have made that announcement answer that question but what I want to tell you
is that what happened last week was highly irregular and unprecedented. Leaders
of the staff associations have no right to leak information of a confidential
nature that came straight from the table of the NJNC (National Joint Negotiating
Council).
It has never
happened before and I hope that when the dust has settled we should be able to
look at this and decide how we proceed to ensure that in future deliberations of
this nature are not prematurely leaked to the detriment of the entire
process.
Guma: Now
the problem that is there now as Tendai Chikowore, the chairwoman of the Apex
Council is insisting that the deal that she announced last week is binding and
to quote her words she is saying – “we agreed with government representatives on
the pay increase.”
Mukonoweshuro: It’s unfortunate that she made such a
definitive statement because she knows that she is not entitled to pride herself
on being the first one to leak such sensitive information. No leader of the
staff association has got the right or is authorized to leak information of such
a nature and I don’t know how, even if they leak it, if I don’t in actual fact
follow the procedures how are they going to implement it?
I can understand
the frustration of the Minister of Finance when asked he says he doesn’t know
about it. Of course he is right. He could only know about it if he had heard
cabinet being addressed by the minister of the Public Service but otherwise he
would not know about it from irresponsible leaks like the one you have just
referred to.
Guma:
There are many who are making the point that before any pay increases are
offered the over 75000 reported ghost workers on the government payroll must be
removed. Levi Mhaka sent in a question asking why does the minister require
cabinet approval to undertake an administrative duty of cleaning up the payroll
and he says there are two types of ghost workers – those who don’t exist at all
and those who are not supposed to be there. And his other question is has he
dealt with the first – that is those who don’t exist at all?
Mukonoweshuro: You see that question is, comes from
the right mind but it’s unfortunately misguided. You see the minister does not
require, the minister is required to inform and obtain the concurrence of the
principals, the three principals for each and every step he has to take in order
to remove these people from the payroll.
And that obviously
adds to the inordinate delays which government bureaucracy is well known for. So
we are moving with the greatest of speed possible and right now we have got an
inter ministerial committee whose work is at an advanced stage and I think
before August we should be able to say this many civil servants cannot remain on
the payroll.
Guma:
Exiled journalist Makusha Mugabe who is the editor of the changezimabawe.com web
site sends in a question saying it’s almost a year since you submitted the civil
service audit report to cabinet, why is it taking so long to sort
out?
Mukonoweshuro: Well you see if I had the response to
that question I would have given it to you and the public and to Makusha Mugabe
a long time ago. To me that is a question that should be asked elsewhere, but
what I know is that I am required to ensure that each and every step that we’ve
taken has got the approval of all the principals.
Yes it has taken a
year but a year is not very long. There are some countries which are in their
tenth year, fifteenth year doing the audit; there are countries around us which
have abandoned the audit because of the sheer weight of the contradictions that
they tread on as they started to unravel the irregularities in the
audit.
Guma:
Finance Minister Tendai Biti has come out saying salaries cannot be increased
until more is known about the distribution of revenues from the controversial
mining of diamonds in Marange and the fate of the estimated 75000 ghost civil
servants. Now this sounds like a standoff within the coalition government and
the workers are suffering because of it. This seems to be the view of most of
our listeners, would you agree?
Mukonoweshuro: Well I cannot answer for the first
one. The first one Tendai Biti and Obert Mpofu; Finance minister and minister of
Mines and Mining Development respectively. Those are the ones who know where the
problem is. But for 60 000 ghost workers, what I can say is everything is being
done to ensure that very soon, they will be off the kit. They cannot continue to
suck for no benefit to Zimbabwe.
Guma:
Paddington Zhanda who is the Parliamentary Budget Committee chairperson is
already suggesting that the government will have to pass a supplementary budget
to meet the cost of the wage increases despite what you are saying are the
current financial problems. How would you react to his
suggestion?
Mukonoweshuro: Well it’s standard procedure isn’t
it? When government asks for more money they don’t have to draw it from the hat,
they just have to use a procedure which is open and transparent to the
government. You need a supplementary budget but again that is not for me to
comment; that is for my colleague, the minister of Finance.
Guma:
While the government is saying it does not have money to fund these increases
for these wage increases, there are many who accuse top government officials of
spending large sums of money traveling abroad. Do you think this is one of the
challenges you face as Public Service Minister to communicate your stance
properly with accusations like this where people do not buy the line that the
government is broke?
Mukonoweshuro: Well it’s very difficult for me to
really answer that question in an effective and imaginative way because the
budgetary allocation, the whole government line items of expenditure is not my
responsibility; it is the responsibility of my colleague, the minister of
Finance. And he is the one who is eminently qualified to comment on the
activities in that budget line item dedicated to travel. It would be improper
for me to try to tread into a portfolio that is allocated to a
colleague.
Guma:
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has already expressed dismay over the announced
pay increases, arguing that they are well below the official poverty datum line.
Now there are obviously a lot of civil servants listening to this interview so
already even in terms of what has been negotiated, the PM has even acknowledged
that it’s below the poverty datum line. What can you say to civil servants
listening in? Is it a promising picture?
Mukonoweshuro: I will say to the civil servants –
look at what your staff association leaders are doing and the trouble they are
causing, the unnecessary trouble. The prime minister is reacting to that because
the prime minister has not been informed. The procedure as I said in the
beginning is that the prime minister and the president and the deputy prime
minister as the three principals would have been informed first and then
cabinet, the ministers in cabinet second and then we would debate on these
issues, adjust the figures if need be and then we go and announce in conjunction
of course with consultations with leaders of the public service staff
associations.
Now this whole
exercise has been short circuited by some who are trigger-happy; some who were
so impatient that they wanted to leak raw information before it was even fully
processed and this is why you get the prime minister expressing surprise because
for all these months, it’s what we have been negotiating about because he has
not been informed. He should have been informed and he shall be informed. He
could have been told that the reasons why this is like this and not like that.
So they can only have their own leaders to blame.
Guma: But
does this short circuiting by these union leaders, will that affect the process?
What happens from here? Raw information which had been finalized has been leaked
so does that compromise the whole process or you are still going
ahead?
Mukonoweshuro: It doesn’t compromise the whole
process; I’m not trying to pass the buck, I’m simply expressing my
disappointment in that man and women of such professional standards could breach
a standing rule and regulation that have been time honoured and that has served
us well. Of course we are not going to stop. I’m still going to go to cabinet,
I’m still going to go to the principals and I will brief them.
I’m not going to
broadcast substantive figures at the present moment but I am going to my
principals and I’m going to brief them on where we are and what recommendation I
have now received from the chairman of the NJNC (National Joint Negotiating
Council) so we can conclude the process. I’m not trying to pass the buck at all;
I’m just expressing my displeasure and also appealing to the union leaders that
perhaps in future it will serve our purpose well if we were to observe the rules
and regulations that we made to bind ourselves.
Guma: Well
Zimbabwe, that’s the Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro joining us on
this edition of Question Time to discuss the civil service pay hike debate which
is taking centre stage in Zimbabwe at the moment. Professor Mukonoweshuro thank
you so much for your time.
Mukonoweshuro: Thank you.
To listen to the
programme:
http://swradioafrica.streamuk.com/swradioafrica_archive/qt060711.wma
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A letter from the diaspora
Friday July 8th
2011-07-07
Trawling through the week’s news from Zimbabwe, the most
depressing fact to
emerge is that the country is in dire financial straits.
Despite having one
of the richest diamond fields in the world, Zimbabwe is
broke, if not
actually bankrupt. So where is all the diamond wealth going?
Tendai Biti,
the Minister of Finance, says he has not received any diamond
revenue since
January.
Yet there are stories of millions of dollars
worth of diamonds being sold.
On Tuesday this week rough diamonds worth 160
million dollars were released
for sale. To their shame South Africa has
publicly acknowledged that they
have helped market Zimbabwe’s diamonds
despite an international ban on the
sale of the ‘blood diamonds’. According
to Farai Maguwu, the Director of the
Centre for Research and Development,
nothing has changed at Chiadzwa, the
military are still in control and the
stones continue to be smuggled across
the border into Mozambique where black
market dealers snap up the gems.
Global Finance, a New York based
magazine, last week named Zimbabwe as the
second poorest country in the
world after Congo-Brazaville. Zimbabwe has 80%
unemployment and the
manufacturing industry has virtually collapsed. There
are no
jobs.
Claims that the Zimbabwean economy is on the mend since the
formation of the
GNU mean little to ordinary Zimbabwean citizens as they
struggle to survive.
Stories that school dropouts have dramatically
increased as parents are
finding it impossible to find the money for school
fees do not suggest a
hopeful future for these youngsters or the country as
a whole. The confusion
surrounding reports of salary increases for civil
servants only deepens the
economic uncertainty. Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai this week told the
media that the government had not discussed
any such increases for civil
servants. None of this appears to affect Robert
Mugabe who continues to fly
across the continent using up scarce financial
resources to ensure that his
presidential profile remains high.
We
hear this week that Zanu PF and the two MDC formations have reached
agreement on election dates, ‘pencilled in’ we are told for August/September
2012. It looks as if China will be funding the elections if there is any
truth in the story of Zanu PF officials flying to China to beg for funds for
that purpose. Winning that election is Zanu PF’s priority; they are not
concerned with the desperate situation in schools and hospitals or the
plight of ordinary Zimbabweans. Qualified nursing staff are forced to
supplement their incomes by selling fruits say reports. The country is
apparently short of 2000 senior nurses as thousands of qualified staff leave
the country in search of better paid jobs elsewhere in the world.
A
report from the Senior Nurse at a local clinic in the Gwanda district
reveals the reality of Zimbabwe’s shortage of financial resources and how it
affects ordinary people, particularly in the rural areas. Mothers are giving
birth on the floors because of the shortage of beds; there are no stretchers
or wheelchairs, no drug trolleys or file shelves and only ten benches for
the entire clinic where patients sit while waiting to see a doctor or nurse.
This is the reality for Zimbabweans while their president flies off to the
Middle East for his medical care. This week ten children have died as a
result of an outbreak of diarrhoea in Bulawayo. The spectre of cholera is
never far away in a country where maintenance of the sewage system has been
neglected and the presence of clean water is dependent on where you live;
the poorer the neighbourhood, the greater the chance that people will be
drinking unsafe water and kids will be playing in sewage infested
puddles.
With the collapse of the economy, statistics in support of these
observable
facts of daily life are hard to
come by. No longer do we see
statistics issued on a regular basis since the
dept that used to issue those
figures is presumably a thing of the past as
statisticians leave for those
elusive ‘greener pastures’. But the figures
that relate to the diamonds are
there for all to see and the question
remains: Where is all that diamond
wealth going?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka Pauline Henson
author of the Dube
books available on Lulu.com
My letter to The Mirror on Friday 08 07 11
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri,
I felt obliged to reply to a story on Friday in
one of the UK’s newspapers
(Strike creates massive stink, The Mirror.co.uk,
08/07/11).
The story which is supported by a picture of uncollected
refuse said in
part:
“It looks like a scene from a Third World
country. But this is
Southampton…sinking under a mountain of rubbish. The
city’s bin men have
been on strike for seven weeks over plans by the
Tory-led city council to
slash their pay and conditions.
A mountain
of one million bin bags weighing a staggering 2,000 tonnes is now
rotting in
the summer heat. One councillor has described the city as
resembling a
‘Third World refugee camp’. Some residents have even banned
their children
from playing outside in case they are bitten by marauding
rats…”
I
don’t know if the Mirror will publish my letter which was as
follows:
Dear Editor,
I don't think it's fair to use stereotypes
in journalism by saying the
mountain of Southampton's rubbish is like a
scene from a Third World
country("Strike creates massive stink, The Mirror,
08/07/11).
While the so-called Third World countries should take
responsibility for the
poor state of their domestic affairs, you don’t need
to be a rocket
scientist to know that the Western countries are also
complicit in the mess
prevailing in the Third World because millions of
pounds have been siphoned
by dictators and banked in safe havens and in
western countries.
Similarly, the councillor who described Southampton as
resembling a “Third
World refugee camp" should know very well how senseless
wars are displacing
people due to weapons supplied by greedy western
merchants.
Finally, can the "Bungs at the burger bar" (bribes of £30,000
allegedly paid
to police for information) and the alleged immoral hacking of
thousands of
phones, some of them belonging to the dead be said to be like a
scene from a
developed country? Hypocrisy should not have a place in a
decent society
whether it's a First, Second or Third World.
Yours
sincerely,
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
London
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com