Zim Online
Friday 15 June 2007
By Farisai
Gonye
HARARE - Government officials and ruling ZANU PF party activists
have over
the past few weeks commandeered hundreds of eligible school
children in
rural areas to register as voters as President Robert Mugabe
leaves nothing
to chance ahead of a tricky vote next year.
Zimbabwe
holds joint presidential and parliamentary elections next year and
some
analysts say an acute economic crisis and food shortages could see the
electorate punishing Mugabe and ZANU PF by voting them out of
force.
Mugabe and ZANU PF, in power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence
from
Britain, have lost support in urban areas where the economic crisis has
hit
hardest. However, Mugabe and his party still enjoy support in rural
areas
even among the youths some of who have been mobilised into militant
mobs
that attack opposition supporters.
In a bid to maximise on
support in rural areas, teams of ZANU PF and
government officials have
traversed rural areas, rounding up school children
of voting age and taking
them to registration centres so they could be
registered to vote next
year.
School officials and teachers, who agreed to speak to ZimOnline on
condition
their names were not published for fear of possible victimisation,
said in
many cases they had been forced to suspend classes as mostly senior
students
were loaded on cars and driven to registration points dotted across
most
ZANU PF supporting rural areas.
"We didn't have any normal
lessons last week as students were routinely
forced to leave classes to go
and register. We can't resist because the
ZANU-PF officials can be nasty,"
said a headmaster at a high school in
Mutasa district in eastern
Zimbabwe.
A teacher at Kazangarare secondary school in Mukwichi district
about 250 km
north-west of Harare said the worst affected students were
those preparing
to write examinations at the end of the year because in most
cases they were
the ones old enough to vote.
"Most affected are
examination writing students because that's the age group
with potential
voters," said the teacher.
Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede was not
immediately available for comment
on the matter.
But sources in his
department said the Ministries of Home Affairs and that
of Youth Development
were spearheading the campaign to register school
children and other youths
in rural areas in the provinces of Mashonaland
East, West, Central, South
and Manicaland that are known to strongly back
ZANU PF and
Mugabe.
According to the sources, voter registration was also underway in
other
provinces and in urban areas but not at the same massive scale as in
the
ZANU PF supporting areas.
"We have instructions to undertake
massive voter registration in the three
Mashonaland provinces and
Manicaland. Local ZANU-PF and ministry of youth
officers are mobilising
potential voters," said one source.
Deputy Youth Development Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere confirmed his
department was mobilising youths to
register but he said this was normal for
any government to do before an
election and said in any case the youths and
school children could only
register but they would not be forced to vote.
He said: "It is common
cause that before an election, the government
undertakes enhanced campaigns
to register new voters. Naturally, youths
would form the bulk of new voters.
But they are not forced to exercise that
right."
Nelson Chamisa, the
spokesman for the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party said
while it was not wrong to encourage youths to
register as voters, the
ongoing exercise was skewed and designed to benefit
ZANU PF.
"We are
concerned about the way the Registrar General's office is being
abused to
act as a conduit to the ZANU-PF rigging machinery . . . voter
registration
is vigorously carried out only in areas perceived as ZANU-PF
strongholds,"
said Chamisa.
The MDC, which insists the political field is heavily
tilted in favour of
Mugabe and ZANU PF, this week said it would wait for the
outcome of
President Thabo Mbeki-led talks before deciding whether to
contest next year's
presidential and parliamentary elections.
South
Africa's President Mbeki was last March appointed by Southern African
Development Community leaders to head efforts to seek a solution to
Zimbabwe's seven-year old political impasse between Mugabe's ZANU PF and the
MDC. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 15 June 2007
By Hendricks
Chizhanje
HARARE - A coalition of Zimbabwean civic groups and churches
this week met
South Africa's ambassador to Harare Mlungisi Makhalima to
press him to
arrange a meeting with President Thabo Mbeki's mediation
team.
Mbeki was last March tasked by the Southern African Development
Community
(SADC) to mediate between President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF
and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.
Useni
Sibanda, the spokesperson for the Save Zimbabwe Campaign said civic
leaders
had presented a position paper on the mediation process to Makhalima
on
Tuesday at the South African embassy in Harare.
The Save Zimbabwe
Campaign is a coalition of churches, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs)
and opposition political parties that is fighting for
negotiated solution to
Zimbabwe's seven-year old political stalemate.
"We were seeking a way of
making contact with the mediation team and we
asked him (Makhalima) to
facilitate a meeting with the mediation team. We
also gave them a position
paper from the SZC," Sibanda said.
Makhalima told the Save Zimbabwe
leaders that although he did not have a
mandate to facilitate a meeting with
the mediation team, he would still pass
on their position paper to Mbeki's
mediation team.
The Save Zimbabwe Campaign last month sharply criticized
Mbeki for
attempting to reach an agreement between ZANU PF and the two
factions of the
MDC without involving civic society.
The civic groups
are demanding an active role in the Mbeki-led talks saying
any deal struck
between ZANU PF and the MDC without involving civic society
was doomed to
fail.
Earlier this month, Mbeki said he was happy with the co-operation
he had
received so far from ZANU PF and the MDC during the preliminary
discussions
in the search for a lasting solution to Zimbabwean crisis. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 15
June 2007
By Nqobizitha Khumalo
BULAWAYO -
Zimbabwean police on Wednesday stopped a controversial play, The
Good
President, from being premiered in Bulawayo saying organizers should
first
seek permission from the police before staging the play.
The satirical
play which drew huge crowds when it premiered in Harare last
month, was
written and directed by seasoned playwright Cont Mhlanga and was
produced
for stage by Davis Guzha.
Mhlanga said the police led by one Inspector
Mhaka, stormed Bulawayo Arts
Theatre minutes before the staging of the play
and ordered all theatre
lovers to disperse.
The police said
organizers of the show should first apply for permission to
stage the play
as it was "clearly political".
"We were warned not to proceed (with the
play) and the police said we had to
apply for permission to hold the show
under the Public Order and Security
Act (POSA). But this is just a play and
it is not a political rally," said
Mhlanga.
Under POSA, Zimbabweans
must first seek permission from the police before
meeting in groups of more
than three people to discuss politics. The law
does not however restrict
cover cultural gatherings.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party and human
rights groups have often accused the government
of using POSA to stifle
political dissent, a charge the government
denies.
Although the play was staged in the capital without any
incidents, the
Harare authorities have in the past been highly intolerant of
artistic works
critical of President Robert Mugabe's government.
For
example, prominent musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo and Leonard Zhakata,
have had their songs unofficially "banned" from state radio stations for
allegedly pushing a regime change agenda against the government.
The
Good President is a satirical play that touches on last March's barbaric
assault of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai at the hands of
state security agents after he tried to attend a banned rally in
Harare.
Mugabe, who is facing unprecedented opposition to his 27-year old
rule,
defended the beating of Tsvangirai saying the opposition leader will
be
"bashed" again if he tried to organise another illegal political meeting.
-
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 15 June 2007
By Wayne
Mafaro
HARARE - A French film distribution firm that won a US$1 million
lawsuit
against Harare last May over an unpaid debt has threatened to file
contempt
of court charges unless the government showed how it will pay up,
ZimOnline
has learnt.
Daro Film Distribution that is based in Monaco,
sued Zimbabwe's Ministry of
Finance after the ministry assumed a US$869 247
debt from the state-run
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) that it had
failed to service.
The debt arose from film and television programmes
that had been supplied
over some period by Daro to the ZBC.
In a
judgment delivered on May 4 in Harare, High Court Judge Alphas
Chitakunye
ordered the Zimbabwean government to pay US$1 million to the
French film
distribution company.
In a letter dated 7 June that was addressed to the
Civil Division of the
Attorney General's office that represents government
ministries in court,
Daro's lawyers, Sawyer and Mkushi demanded details of
how government would
liquidate the debt.
"As of today, the total due
in terms of the Court Order including interest
is US$1 084 385,72 with
further interest accruing at the rate of 9 percent
per annum with effect
from the 8th of June 2007 to date of payment.
"Kindly advise how and when
your client will effect payment by the 19th of
June 2007 failing which our
client shall consider instituting contempt of
court proceedings," the
lawyers wrote.
The Zimbabwean government is battling its worst ever
economic recession that
has seen it fail to service its debts with
international creditors.
The World Bank says Zimbabwe's economic collapse
is unprecedented for a
country not at war. Zimbabwe's inflation which
currently stands at a
staggering 4 530 percent, is the highest in the
world.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change and major
western
governments blame the crisis on repression and bad economic
management by
President Robert Mugabe's in power since Zimbabwe's
independence 27 years
ago. - ZimOnline
The Zimbabwean
By Natasha Hove
BULAWAYO: THE militant Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) says
the government is substituting poor
examination standards for political
expedience ahead of next year's
harmonized presidential and parliamentary
elections.
PTUZ said the
fees set by the government for this year's O and A-Level
subjects were too
low for the examination regulatory body to operate
efficiently. The
government has pegged examination fees for an O and A-Level
subject at $500
and $1200 respectively.
The government has on numerous occasions
reportedly turned down proposals by
ZIMSEC to increase fees. But the
examination's regulatory body says its
failure to administer the
examinations properly have been caused by funding
constraints.
Raymond Majongwe, the PTUZ secretary general told
CajNews: "We are headed
for crises in so far as the handling of examinations
is concerned. The low
examination fees are disheartening. They do not meet
up with the high
inflation rate.
"The amount being charged being
charged is only for political gain and
people who live in the rural areas
are already celebrating the low
examination fees. What is worsening the
situation is that the ministry of
education has no budget to run
examinations and the money being charged is
insufficient to pay the
examination markers."
Education Minister, Aeneas Chigwedere defended the
low examination fees.
"All students should be able to write their final
examinations. No student
should be denied the opportunity to write because
of lack of money."
ZIMSEC has been unable to get assistance from
government since the Zanu PF
administration implemented a populist decision
of localising O-level and
A-level exams in 1998.
The government
argued the move would ensure that the syllabi remained
relevant to Zimbabwe
's socio-economic needs University of Cambridge in the
United Kingdom used
to run the examinations.
But frequent 'boobs' by the examining body like
leakages of papers, mix-ups,
delays in the release of results has raised
fears that the country's
education standards could be compromised.
At
the same time, markers have constantly downed tools citing low allowances
from ZIMSEC. This has impacted on thousands of students who have failed to
enroll for higher level education due to lack of exam results.
There
have been calls for the government to overhaul the whole body saying
they
were concerned with "deterioration of standards, flagrant breach of
security
and confidentiality of examination papers and delays in the
issuance of
certificates at ZIMSEC-CAJ News.
Zim Independent
Shakeman
Mugari
THE alleged coup plot to overthrow President Mugabe's
government
thickened this week amid claims that the plotters wanted to
install Zanu PF
legal secretary and presidential aspirant Emmerson Mnangagwa
as leader of
the country.
Court documents obtained by the
Zimbabwe Indepednent show that the
allegation that Mnangagwa would take over
power is contained in a charge
sheet that the state is using in its
outline.
Mnangagwa denies any involvement in the alleged coup. He
said
yesterday: "It's just stupid."
The men accused of being
the brains behind the coup are Albert Mugove
Matapo (40), a former army
officer, and two other soldiers still employed by
the Zimbabwe National
Army, Olivine Maroala and Shingirai Mutemachani (20).
The three, who police
accuse of being the core part of the plot, are still
in custody. Other
alleged plotters, who include Nyasha Zivuku (32), Oncemore
Mudzurahova (41),
Emmanuel Marara (40) and Patson Mapfure (46), have been in
custody since May
29.
The charge sheet claims the accused had been planning the coup
since
June last year. The claims that Mnangagwa was involved were allegedly
made
by Matapo, who police say was the chief architect and coordinator of
the
plot. Mnangagwa yesterday denied any involvement in the coup
plot.
"That is stupid. I don't know anything about that. It's
stupid. I'm
reading about it in the paper but there's nothing like that. I'm
the
Minister of Housing. It's better for you to ask the guys from the
Ministry
of Security but I must tell you it's just stupid."
Those arrested are being charged with treason. The state outline seen
by the
Independent states that the accused wanted to hand over power to
Mnangagwa
after the coup.
The court papers say that Mnangagwa would assume
the position of prime
minister. The men, who appeared in court last week for
initial remand, all
deny the charges under Section 20 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and
Reform) Act.
The accused persons' lawyer,
Charles Warara of Warara & Associates,
claims his clients were tortured
while in custody. He has since filed an
urgent application in the High Court
seeking the release of the accused on
bail.
The High Court is
expected to make a ruling on the issue this morning.
Zim Independent
Dumisani
Muleya
A FORMER army captain who feared the country was about
to plunge into
chaos spilt the beans on the alleged military coup plot by
serving and
retired soldiers to topple President Robert Mugabe's regime, it
emerged
yesterday.
Claims of a coup to overthrow Mugabe are
contained in a charge sheet
for six accused suspects currently in detention
after they were arraigned
for allegedly plotting to oust the government and
"invite" Rural Housing
minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over
power.
Mnangagwa yesterday dismissed the charges as "stupid". Those
sympathetic to Mnangagwa warned that the coup allegations against him could
be part of the intensifying Zanu PF power struggle over Mugabe's
succession.
Mnangagwa is seen as one of the leading contenders in
the race to take
over from Mugabe. In 2003 Mnangagwa and former Defence
Forces commander,
Vitalis Zvinavashe were linked to a plan to "ease" Mugabe
out of power.
Zvinavashe was later removed from the military.
Military sources said the former captain recently travelled to West
Africa
and phoned the Zimbabwean embassy in Ghana to alert them of fears of
an
imminent coup in Harare. It is said the captain feared Zimbabwe was on
the
verge of chaos due to the coup.
The sources said the captain told
Zimbabwean embassy staff in Accra
that he had "extremely sensitive and
emergency information" to relay to
them, but he would not say anything over
the phone and in Ghana because of
security concerns.
The
sources said the captain then suggested that he would travel to
France to
recount the coup plot in Paris where he felt safe. After that the
captain is
said to have gone on to narrate the story to embassy security
staff in
Paris.
He is said to have given them a detailed map on the coup
plot, showing
those who were involved, the chief architects and the would-be
executors of
the plan. The information was relayed to authorities in Harare
who reacted
by rounding up suspects for interrogation and later
prosecution.
A number of serving army officers are being court
martialed over the
issue, while former army officers and their alleged
civilian accomplices are
being prosecuted through ordinary courts. The
suspects are facing treason
charges.
The sources said the coup
plot - in which a senior army commander and
a top Air Force officer were
involved - has forced government to put the
army on high alert. The alleged
coup is claimed to have been planned with
the aid of foreign
forces.
Although it is claimed the senior army commander and Air
Force officer
were under house arrest, sources said they were not because
both of them
were seen in public during the course of this
week.
Government has so far remained mum over the coup plot,
deepening the
mystery. Defence minister Sydney Sekeremayi has only been
quoted as saying
the issue was about "indiscipline and misconduct" rather
than a coup. State
Security minister Didymus Mutasa has said he did not know
anything about it.
However, sources say government wanted to make
an announcement on the
matter a week ago but decided that it should be kept
under wraps.
The sources said government decided to act by giving
soldiers a 900%
salary increase to pacify hordes of restless middle and
lower rank officers
who were complaining about low salaries and poor working
conditions.
It is said Finance minister Samuel Mumbengegwi last
week on Monday met
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono over money for the
troops. Government has
now released money to appease the restless
soldiers.
Zim Independent
Itai
Mushekwe
ONE of the alleged coup plotters yesterday spoke
exclusively to the
Zimbabwe Independent, narrating the ordeal he suffered
together with a group
of former military servicemen at the hands of the
Military Intelligence Unit
(MIU) last month.
Gilbert Kagodora,
treasurer for the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) in Mashonaland
Central, said he was abducted by suspected Central
Intelligence Oganisation
(CIO) officers while discussing party business with
a retired army officer,
Albert Matapo, on Tuesday May 29 around 2pm in
Harare.
"We were
abducted by men who were dressed in civilian clothes whom I
suspect to be
working for the intelligence service," said Kagodora.
"We had gone
to meet Matapo for business together with three other
party activists at
Winston Court along Fourth Street. Initially they told us
that we were being
arrested for dealing in foreign currency and they then
proceeded to
blindfold us
with masking tape. They also tied our hands and took us
into a van
downstairs. I could not tell exactly where they were driving us
to."
Kagodora said they were taken into a basement where the
suspected CIO
operatives handed them over to MIU. It was here that the MDC
activist said
he endured grave pain from systematic beatings and torture
from his
interrogators who accused him of working to topple the government
by
midnight Saturday, June 2.
"They accused us of attempting
to
unseat the government by June 2 and were using electrical rods to
torture us while recording statements in which we were made to admit
planning to stage a coup. They wanted me to tell them about the MDC bases in
South Africa where party members were undergoing militia drills with the
intention of causing a regime change, the master-mind of the coup and
financiers of the opposition."
The MDC activist said MIU also
wanted him to supply them with
information about alleged petrol bombers in
the MDC and to expose members of
the party's Democratic Resistance Committee
accused by government of
engaging in activities to make the country
ungovernable.
Kagodora was kept in MIU detention until Friday, June
1 before being
handed over to the police Law and Order section at Harare
Central Police
Station. He also revealed that MIU wanted Matapo, whom they
accused of
plotting the coup, to disclose names of senior army and police
officers with
whom he had close links.
"While interrogating
Matapo, I could hear them demanding that he
reveal the names of his close
associates in the army and police."
Kagodora was released on
Monday, June 4 after the police failed to
prefer charges against him. At
first he said they wanted to charge him with
treason, then the coup charge
but failed to come up with concrete evidence
to arraign him before the
courts."
However, Matapo and the other ex-servicemen were still in
police
custody and have been refused bail.
Zim Independent
By Andrew
Meldrum
A TEAM of international judges who visited Zimbabwe
last week found
that President Robert Mugabe's government is inflicting a
"shocking" level
of intimidation and violence upon lawyers and is breaking
down the rule of
law in the country.
Beatings and other abuses
inflicted on lawyers are damaging the legal
system in Zimbabwe, said
representatives of the International Commission of
Jurists. They issued
their findings after a five-day fact-finding mission to
Zimbabwe.
The international judges said despite news reports
about the situation
in Zimbabwe, they were surprised by the extent to which
the government had
broken down the fundamentals of the rule of
law.
"We were shocked by what we found. The beatings of lawyers by
police,
the beatings of people and in particular the refusal by the police
to carry
out court orders, was shocking," said head of mission Justice
Claire L'Heureux-Dube,
a former Canadian Supreme Court justice.
She said the recent arrests, detention and beatings of lawyers was
"clearly
an escalation in the harassment and intimidation of the legal
profession.
The mission is disturbed that the unjustifiable harassment,
detention and
beatings of lawyers has only increased the tension between the
Law Society
(of Zimbabwe) and the government."
The well-respected ICJ is based
in Geneva, Switzerland, and its
membership includes 60 of the world's most
eminent judges. The group
monitors the independence of the judiciary and the
maintenance of the rule
of law around the world.
Kenyan
representative on the ICJ team, George Kegoro, said the
situation in
Zimbabwe reminded him of the worst days of repression under
Daniel arap
Moi.
"I was struck by the parallels between Kenya in the late 1980s
and the
1990s," said Kegoro. "The crackdown on any dissent, the lack of
independent
news media, particularly in broadcasting, the way the police
diminish
respect for the judiciary. We saw it in Kenya and now we see it in
Zimbabwe," said Kegoro.
L'Heureux-Dube has been coming to
Zimbabwe since 1996 and said she was
"disturbed" by the extent to which the
rule of law has been eroded in that
time.
"I am worried by the
aggressive vilification of lawyers by the state
media," said L'Heureux-Dube.
"Zimbabwe's lawyers are working to uphold the
rule of law in very
threatening conditions. They are showing incredible
strength and courage.
The government should see them as allies rather than
as
enemies."
The ICJ team said it "regretted" that it got no response
to its
requests for meetings with the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs
and the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Judge President of the
High
Court.
Instead the ICJ representatives met with the
permanent secretary of
the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs, David Mangota, and
the Attorney-General, Sobusa
Gula-Ndebele.
The visiting judges were "astonished by the cavalier
response" of the
attorney-general, who told them he did not plan to
investigate the reports
of police mistreatment of lawyers.
The
ICJ team found that Zimbabwe is breaking international covenants
on the rule
of law that it signed with the United Nations and the African
Union. It
urged those groups to investigate and take government to court.
"The independence of lawyers and judges is a cornerstone of the rule
of law.
It is essential in a democratic state to protect the separation of
powers,
the fair application of the law and the rights of all people in the
country
and to prevent arbitrary actions by the executive," concluded the
ICJ
mission. "We urge the government to end the harassment of lawyers, to
control the police and to hold them accountable, and to restore a
fundamental democratic principle that is pivotal for the rule of law in
Zimbabwe - the independence of the legal profession."
Meanwhile, ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma yesterday said torture was
unacceptable wherever it was practiced.
At a press conference
held by the Foreign Correspondents Association
in Johannesburg, Zuma was
asked his response to the evidence of state
torture in Zimbabwe of members
of the opposition, lawyers, trade union
officials and
journalists.
"Torture cannot be acceptable in a democracy," said
Zuma. "I say this
coming from our background of apartheid, where there was
torture and it was
wrong. It cannot be acceptable to torture citizens,
opposition members,
journalists or anyone. It cannot be right and it needs
to be condemned."
Zuma went on to say that he hoped South Africa
would play a role in
finding a resolution to Zimbabwe's political and
humanitarian crisis by
engaging the government and the opposition in
talks.
Zim Independent
Dumisani
Muleya
ZANU PF and opposition MDC delegates involved in talks
facilitated by
South African President Thabo Mbeki to resolve the Zimbabwe
crisis will meet
this weekend in Pretoria for first direct
negotiations.
The two-man negotiating teams will meet tomorrow and
on Sunday to
start the talks which failed to take place on June 2-3 after
the Zanu PF
team asked for more time to write its position paper which was
later
submitted to Mbeki's team last week on Monday, official sources
said.
This came as President Robert Mugabe left for Libya on
Wednesday on a
three-day state visit for talks with the country's leader,
Muammar Gaddafi,
recently asked by the outgoing British Prime Minister Tony
Blair to mediate
in the Zimbabwe situation.
Gaddafi has
confirmed this.
The sources said when Blair visited Africa three
weeks ago he
discussed the Zimbabwe issue with Gaddafi in Libya and asked
him to mediate.
They said Blair has proposed a package for Mugabe to go to
pave way for
recovery.
They said Blair briefed Mbeki about the
Gaddafi plan which he
presented as complementary to what the South African
leader is already
doing. This was necessary because Mbeki and Gaddafi are
bitter rivals.
Blair does not have full confidence in the Sadc
initiative and thinks
it would be better to have a Plan B, it is
understood.
Blair said recently in South Africa there should be
changes in
Zimbabwe before elections tentatively scheduled for March next
year.
Gaddafi, rehabilitated by the West after years of damaging
sanctions
and isolation, is expected to nudge Mugabe to quit because the
current
situation is unsustainable, the sources said.
Gaddafi
is a Mugabe ally although the two's relationship soured for a
while over
Harare's failure to pay for Libya's fuel supplies. Libya a few
years ago cut
supplies to Zimbabwe after the country's failure to pay.
Apart from
that Gaddafi, who trained Zimbabwe's liberation struggle
fighters, has a lot
of influence over Mugabe and resources to fund the
initiative on his
own.
Meanwhile, Mbeki is piling on pressure to ensure his mediation
succeeds this time around.
The Zanu PF team, which includes
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa
and his Labour counterpart Nicholas
Goche, last weekend failed again to make
it for talks because Goche was in
Geneva attending an International Labour
Organisation conference which ends
today.
Sources said Mbeki's team this week put pressure on the Zanu
PF team
to attend the start of the talks. Mbeki is said to be determined to
find a
breakthrough on the Zimbabwe situation which he has been dealing with
since
2002.
The MDC team, comprising Welshman Ncube and Tendai
Biti, has been
waiting for the beginning of the dialogue. The Zanu PF and
MDC delegations
leave for South Africa today to engage in critical
preliminary talks under
the mediation of Mbeki's point men.
Mbeki's mediation team is headed by his Local Government minister
Sydney
Mufamadi. Mbeki is expected to report to regional leaders on the
progress
made on talks by June 30.
The sources said Mbeki's team would table
the two parties' position
papers and figure out a formal agenda from them.
Mbeki has said the critical
issue now is to level the electoral playing
field ahead of next year's joint
presidential and parliamentary elections.
This would be complemented by an
economic rescue package for Zimbabwe in the
event that a political
settlement is reached.
The sources said
Mbeki's team wants Zanu PF and the MDC to focus on
the draft constitution
agreed in 2003/2004 by Chinamasa and Ncube and the
proposed constitutional
amendment gazetted last Friday. They said this would
train the attention of
the parties on compelling issues instead of the
polemics they raise in their
position papers.
The MDC argues the solution to the current crisis
lies in holding free
and fair elections, while Zanu PF says the solution
lies in addressing the
root cause of the problem - land.
The
sources said Mbeki's team would tell Zanu PF and MDC delegates
that the
issues they raise in their documents were discussed during the
talks in
2003/2004, leading to the draft constitution which was sunk by Zanu
PF
infighting, and there is no need to go over them again.
Mugabe has
ruled out the possibility of a new constitution, but Mbeki's
team believes
that a new constitution is possible if the two parties proceed
from where
they left off in 2004 because the issues at stake are still the
same.
Zim Independent
LAWYERS representing
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) have given notice
that they will challenge
the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act on
the constitutionality of
sections of the law that state security agents and
the police are using to
bar demonstrations and to harass demonstrators.
Police have also
used the Act together with the Pubic Order and
Security Act to detain
opposition supporters and activists taking part in
peaceful
demonstrations.
Kossam Ncube, one of the lawyers representing Woza,
said he has filed
papers with the local magistrates' court ready for onward
transmission to
the Supreme Court for the constitutional
challenge.
Ncube said Woza will challenge Sections 37 and 47 of the
Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act.
"We have given
notice of our intention to challenge the law in the
Supreme Court and the
papers have been sent to the magistrates courts which
is the first step
before the lower courts forward the case to the Supreme
Court," Ncube
said.
He said the wording in the Act was vague and meaningless and
in most
instances the interpretation by the police was always
wrong.
"Ever since the law was enacted, there has never been a
prosecution,"
Ncube said. All Woza activists have been set free and the law
is a waste of
time since it is ineffective."
Woza women
arrested under the harsh laws have either been acquitted or
the state has
subsequently withdrawn charges.
The decision by Woza to challenge
the Act comes barely a week after
the organisation's leaders Jenni Williams
and Magodonga Mahlangu were
arrested and detained for three days for taking
part in a demonstration.
The two were however remanded to June 18
on $100 000 bail each.
They are being charged under Sections 37
(1a) and 46(2v) of the Act.
Under Section 37 of the Act, it is
illegal for one to "participate in
a gathering with intent to promote public
violence, breaches of the peace or
bigotry".
Chapter 46, which
is also being challenged by Woza read with Section
2(v) of the Third
Schedule to the Criminal Code, makes it an offence for
anyone to "employ any
means whatsoever which are likely materially to
interfere with the ordinary
comfort, convenience, peace or quiet of the
public or any section of the
public, or does any act which is likely to
create a nuisance or
obstruction."
Meanwhile police on Monday arrested 100 women who had
gathered in
Filabusi to launch the Woza People's Charter. The 100 women were
later
released without charge.
The Woza People's Charter has
been launched in Bulawayo, Harare,
Masvingo, Gweru and Mutare.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure/Itai Mushekwe
WORLD food bodies, the World Food
Programme (WFP) and the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have
criticised government's botched land
reform programme for decimating food
production and effective land
utilisation resulting in massive food
shortages.
The revelation of WFP and FAO disenchantment with
government's
controversial land reform is contained in a special report on
Zimbabwe's
Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission (CAFSAM) released last
week.
Government has been battling to feed the population ever since it
embarked
on its forced seizure of white-owned commercial farms resulting in
a huge
drop in national food security.
Zimbabwe requires at
least two million tonnes of maize to meet
national food obligations, 1, 5
million tonnes being the ideal annual
requirement with 500 000 tonnes being
strategic reserves. CAFSAM's estimated
harvest for the season is 799 000
tonnes, with maize output estimated to be
46% lower than last
year.
"Land distribution in Zimbabwe since Independence in 1980 has
remained
highly skewed," reads the report. "In July 2000 the 'fast track'
resettlement phase was launched to speed up land acquisition and
resettlement. A law was enacted for the purpose, with compulsory acquisition
and resettlement being the key focus. With the ongoing land reform
programme, only about 500 or so large-scale commercial farms remain
now.
"These activities and processes have severely disrupted
farming
activities as many resettled farmers lack access to capital and
other inputs
or need time to settle down, contributing to severe
under-utilisation of
land resource and low production. They have also
contributed to the
significant decline in the national dairy and export beef
herds."
The report castigates government's command agriculture
policies for
adversely affecting maize production owing to market
distortions and little
incentives for farmers to engage in optimum
production.
"Current agricultural policy has adversely affected
production of
maize and wheat due to unintended market distortions. There
seems little
incentive for farmers to produce beyond their subsistence
needs, given the
lack of alternative marketing channel and price controls
with static
procurement prices in an environment of hyperinflation
resulting," says the
report.
"The current price of $3 million
per tonne with a possible bonus of
additional $1,2 million (equivalent to
US$140 per tonne at parallel market
exchange rate of 30 000), announced on
26 April 2007, is lucrative for now.
However, the hyperinflation, over 3
700% in April 2007, will quickly erode
the value of maize sold to GMB and
again farmers may not have enough capital
or incentive to invest in applying
fertiliser and other improvements come
next season," the report
said.
The two UN bodies said maize was also being sold at
subsidised prices
in various locations but the GMB supplies were widely
reported to be
irregular and inadequate resulting in varied food prices from
one part of
the country to another.
Zim Independent
THE African Commission on
Human and Peoples' rights has found the
government of Zimbabwe guilty of
violating articles 1 and 7 of the African
Charter following human rights
violations that occurred during the land
reform programme, 2000
parliamentary elections and the 2002 presidential
elections.
The commission adopted the decision in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in
January 2007
after the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum had filed a complaint
against the
government in 2002.
Zimbabwe violated the right to protection of
the law and failed to put
in place measures to ensure the enjoyment of these
rights by its people.
In a press statement issued this week, the
forum said it welcomed the
decision as it is a clear recognition by the
African heads that there are
human rights violations in
Zimbabwe.
Communication 245/02 which was filed at the commission in
2002 noted
human rights violations that occurred between 2000 and 2002
Presidential
elections. It also stated that the government of Zimbabwe had
abandoned its
duty and responsibility to protect Zimbabweans against human
rights
violations, as stated in the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights.
The African Commission has called on the Zimbabwe
Government to
establish a Commission of inquiry to investigate, the causes
of the violence
that took place from February -June 2000 and bring those
responsible for
violence to justice and identify the victims of the violence
in order to
provide them with just and adequate compensation. - Staff
Writer.
Zim Independent
Constantine Chimakure
VICE-PRESIDENT Joice Mujuru is slowly
losing grip on her stronghold in
Mashonaland Central amid reports that a
faction led by deputy minister
Saviour Kasukuwere has emerged to scuttle her
presidential plans.
The emergence of the faction is part of the
widening rift in the
ruling party over the succession of ageing President
Robert Mugabe.
Kasukuwere, sources said, was heading a pro-Mugabe
faction - made up
of Zanu PF political commissair Elliot Manyika and Labour
minister Nicholas
Goche, among others.
The faction allegedly
enjoys the support of the Zanu PF Women's League
boss Oppah Muchinguri and
State Security minister Didymus Mutasa.
The Mugabe loyalists are
pitted against two other camps - one rooting
for Rural Development minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other backing
Mujuru.
The sources
said the Kasukuwere faction was pushing for the ouster of
provincial
governor Ephraim Masawi, Guruve North MP David Butau, senators
Betty Chikava
(Bindura-Shamva) and Agnes Angelina Dete (Mazoe), and Bindura
mayor Advocate
Dinha to weaken Mujuru's grip on the province. The five are
seen as key
allies of Mujuru.
Mujuru, the sources claimed, on May 31 bulldozed
into a development
meeting held in Goche's Shamva constituency and accused
the Kasukuwere group
of working against her.
Mugabe's nephew
Patrick Zhuwao, among other Zanu PF officials,
reportedly attended the
developmental meeting.
Zhuwao is a member of the national youth
executive and a close ally of
Kasukuwere.
During the meeting,
the sources said, Kasukuwere and his group
attacked Masawi for sluggishness
in executing development projects in the
province.
The sources
said Mujuru stopped the meeting and accused Kasukuwere's
faction of
undermining senior party officials in the province.
"Mujuru was
ranting and raving when she arrived at the venue of the
meeting. She
threatened to deal with Kasukuwere and his group. She said
'ndichakutumirai
vakomana (I am going to unleash my boys) to deal with you'.
She then called
off the meeting," a source told the Zimbabwe Independent.
"The
vice-president alleged that Kasukuwere's primary target was her."
"Everyone realised that Mujuru had made a reckless statement. People
wondered whom she referred to as 'the boys' and how she intended to deal
with Kasukuwere and his colleagues," the source added.
Another
source said: "There is indeed a plot against Masawi, Dinha,
Butau, Dete and
Chikava by the Kasukuwere group. The five are seen as
sympathetic to amai
(Mujuru)."
On Wednesday, Kasukuwere - who represents Mount Darwin
South in the
House of Assembly - confirmed that a meeting indeed took place
in Goche's
constituency, but denied that Mujuru attended it and attacked him
and his
group.
He also confirmed that Zhuwao attended the same
meeting.
"The meeting we had in Goche's constituency was centred on
developmental projects in the area and it's true that honourable Zhuwao was
in attendance. However, it is absolute hogwash that Mai Mujuru attended the
meeting and threatened me or any other person. If I was threatened, I would
have confirmed that," Kasukuwere said.
Kasukuwere denied
leading a faction against Mujuru.
"I am not involved in politics of
that nature," he said curtly.
Yesterday, Chikava said she did not
attend the developmental meeting
as she was attending a
funeral.
She, however, confirmed that she was in support of Mujuru
to succeed
Mugabe once he retires from office.
"I have
supported Mujuru since the liberation struggle. I do not see
anything wrong
with her succeeding Mugabe once the president calls it quits.
I am saying
Mugabe must remain our leader, but if he and vice-president
Joseph Msika
steps down Mujuru must surely take over," Chikava said.
She said
Mujuru never at anytime said she wanted to unseat Mugabe.
Chikava
declined to comment on the emergence of factions in the
province.
Repeated efforts to get a comment from Butau
yesterday proved
fruitless with his Dande Holdings office saying the
lawmaker was in his
constituency and unreachable on his mobile phone, while
Manyika, Goche, Dete
and Dinha could not be reached for
comment.
Sources in the province said at a provincial coordination
committee
meeting held at Bindura Municipality offices on June 2, Mujuru
denied
harbouring an ambition to unseat Mugabe.
"She
categorically stated that she didn't belong to any faction. She
said she was
a national leader and treated Mugabe as her political father
and will never
think of unseating him," the source said.
The succession debate in
Zanu PF has divided the party ahead of an
expected special congress to take
place either in Harare or Bindura later
this year.
The
congress, party insiders said, would deliberate on the succession
issue with
the Kasukuwere camp pushing for Mugabe's endorsement as Zanu PF
candidate
for the presidential polls.
The poll is expected to run
concurrently with parliamentary elections
if parliament and Mugabe pass and
assent to Constitutional Amendment Bill No
18 gazetted last
Friday.
Zanu PF's central committee on March 30 endorsed the
candidature of
Mugabe, but members aligned to the Mujuru camp said the
endorsement was
ultra vires the party constitution.
The
constitution, the members argued, states that a presidential
candidate must
be endorsed by an all-people's conference or a special
congress convened for
that specific agenda.
Moves to oust Masawi from Mashonaland Central
started in January when
the youth league recommended his suspension pending
expulsion for allegedly
failing to defend President Mugabe during the launch
of former party
secretary-general Edgar Tekere's autobiography, A Lifetime
of Struggle.
The youths also recommended Tekere's expulsion from
the party - barely
a month after he was re-admitted into Zanu PF at its
annual people's
conference in Goromonzi after his 1989 expulsion. Tekere is
a self-confessed
Mujuru ally.
During the launch attended by
Masawi, Tekere lampooned Mugabe by
labelling him a liability to Zimbabwe and
laid responsibility for the
country's deepening political, social and
economic crisis at the
octogenarian's doorstep.
However, the
move to have Masawi suspended fell by the wayside after
the party absolved
him, but Tekere was given the boot.
Kasukuwere had reportedly
masterminded the recommendation by the youth
league.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure
GOVERNMENT in a desperate attempt to prevent a massive
strike by
workers in the public service last week started depositing
allowances into
civil servants' bank accounts to supplement their May
salaries which they
complained could not take them up to the end of the
month.
Doctors, nurses and hospital support staff called off their
strike
following the deposit of the allowances from government into their
accounts
over the weekend.
President of the Hospital Doctors
Association, Amon Severegi,
confirmed that doctors had returned to work
after government deposited
allowances in their bank accounts over the
weekend.
"Doctors have returned to work and also other health
workers and the
hospital staff, we have been awarded an increment but with
inflation on the
rise, the money is likely to be nothing in a few months'
time," said
Severegi.
Other beneficiaries of the allowances
include soldiers, teachers,
lecturers and members of the uniformed
force.
The allowances which range from $2 million to $4 million for
the
teachers, lecturers, nurses and soldiers have come barely two weeks
after
the civil servants got their May salaries. No pay slips have been
supplied.
This is over and above the 639% salary hikes awarded to civil
servants
effective this month.
Last month when schools reopened
for the second term a considerable
number of teachers failed to report for
duty complaining that their salaries
were too low and this resulted in
schools in both urban areas being forced
to operate with half of the
required staff.
Many of the teachers who have left the country are
reported to be
working in South Africa where there is a demand for science
teachers.
Limpopo Education MEC Aron Motsoaledi is on record saying
his
department is going to recruit foreign teachers.
If the
department did employ foreign teachers to teach science
subjects, pupils
would spend the whole year without being taught these
subjects.
It is also reported that some of the teachers who have left the
country are
working at small unregistered colleges in South Africa being
operated by
Zimbabweans.
The police force has also not been spared by the mass
desertions as it
announced last month its plans to go on a massive
recruitment drive that
would see the number of police officers increased
from the current 29 000 to
50 000 to boost the police manpower in
preparation for next year's
elections.
Government's failure to
pay its workers salaries in line with the
poverty datum line has made
strikes a common occurrence in the country while
at the same time
contributing to the gradual demise of the public sector.
Zim Independent
Orirando Manwere
LEADERS of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign - a
broad coalition of political
parties, the church and civic society seeking
to resolve the social,
economic and political crisis in the country - are
set to embark on a
diplomatic tour of African and European states to brief
them on the local
situation.
A source who requested not to be
named said the coalition leaders on
the tour comprise convener Reverend
Levee Kadenge, MDC leaders Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, National
Constitutional Assembly chairman
Lovemore Madhuku, Zapu leader Paul Siwela,
and Zimbabwe Students Union
leader Promise Mkwananzi.
Madhuku
and Kadenge yesterday returned from Ghana where they had gone
on a similar
mission.
In a telephone interview upon his arrival, Madhuku said he
was not
aware of the scheduled tour but confirmed he was in Ghana with
Kadenge on a
mission aimed at "updating concerned stakeholders outside Sadc
about the
situation in the country and progress on the Sadc mediation
initiative being
conducted by President Mbeki".
Madhuku said
they held meetings with civic society organisations and
the media to help
them appreciate developments in Zimbabwe.
"I am not aware of that
tour but I can confirm that we visited Ghana
together with Bishop Kadenge.
We went there to enlighten concerned
stakeholders about what is happening
here - human rights violations by state
agents, various initiatives being
carried out including the Mbeki mediation.
We cannot rely on the Mbeki
mediation alone, hence our visit to Ghana but I
am not aware of the trip you
are talking about," said Madhuku.
The Zimbabwe Independent
understands that the coalition leaders want
to visit European countries on
the same mission after their African tour,
amid reports that African leaders
were not keen to entertain them alongside
political leaders as that would
interfer with the Sadc mediation initiative.
The scheduled tour
comes after Tsvangirai told journalists this week
that the MDC formations
and other stakeholders were not entirely relying on
the Mbeki mediation to
solve the political crisis in the country.
"Obviously, we are not
putting all our eggs in one basket although we
hope that the Mbeki mediation
will achieve the desired results. We have
other plans to turn to should that
fail but I cannot divulge that for
strategic reasons," he said.
MDC party insiders said the country's political crisis could only be
solved
through regional and international intervention, hence it was
imperative
that stakeholders continued to drum up support from fellow
Africa, leaders
and the entire international community.
"We cannot sit on our
laurels just because of the ongoing Mbeki
initiative," a source said. "The
ruling Zanu-PF party is proceeding with
amendments of the constitution which
is the most fundamental issue that
should be addressed by Mbeki. So we have
to prepare for any eventualities.
Should Mbeki fail, we will have to appeal
to the international community to
put pressure on Mugabe to respect the
wishes of the people. So it is
necessary to regularly update all those
concerned about our situation," said
the source.
The 32-member
coalition's general council last week adopted a position
paper emphasising
the need for dialogue to pave way for the process of
drafting a new
democratic constitution for Zimbabwe to start soon.
Zim Independent
By Admire
Mavolwane
TOBACCO is the talk of town not because of the issues to
do with the
health hazards of smoking but because of the wealth being
accumulated by
tobacco farmers.
It is not unusual to see
"chicken" buses bound for the rural tobacco
growing areas laden with leather
lounge suits, television sets, solar panels
and other high-value furniture
items. Second-hand car dealers have also been
trying to get a slice of the
cake, handing out leaflets of the location of
their premises.
Two months ago the farmers were complaining about the exchange rate
and were
withholding their crop from the auctions and no-one would have
imagined that
these same farmers would be a happy lot a few days later. The
resultant
solution to the impasse, a support price of $40 000 per each
kilogramme
fetching US$1,50, pro-rated has had a big impact not only on the
morale of
the farmers, but prices in the shops and activities in the economy
in
general.
The farmers are in high spirits. We gather the quality of
the crop has
been good, and the presence of some "wisemen" from the east has
meant that
the average price at U$2,16 is way above the threshold, thus
implying an
average support price per kilogramme of $57 600.
Besides the farmers, we also have happy stock market investors. A big
portion of the liquidity arising from the disbursements of tobacco support
money has been finding its way into the stock market and the results are
there for all to see.
When the tobacco auction floors started
trading, the exchange rate was
around $30 000 to the greenback and the
implied tobacco exchange rate was
looking good. In order to maintain value
in a hyperinflationary environment,
a project in which we are all trying to
make the best of a bad job, the
farmers have been active both on the
currency and stock markets. The
exchange rate, we are made to understand, is
now on the other side of a
century thus taking away the lustre from the
implied tobacco exchange rate.
On shares, the industrial index is
up 236% since the month began and
is now on 40 063 181,62 points driven by
broad buying which has seen some
counters notching up daily gains of over
50%. The effect of such movements
is that the market capitalisation of the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has
increased significantly even in US Dollar
terms.
As of Wednesday, the market capitalisation stood at US$3,4
billion
using the parallel rate of $130 000. Overvalued as it might seem,
there are
a number of counters trading at US$ values that are way below
December 29,
2006 levels. Glaring examples include BAT which at the end of
2006 was
valued at US$49 million and by Wednesday its value had shrunk by
US$22
million to $26,7 million. Bindura is another one, valued at 80% of
what it
was at the beginning of the year. Hunyani, whose interim results to
April 30
were commendable, is showing a depreciation in value of real terms
of US$56
million. In total there were 18 counters in this
position.
On the other side of the coin, counters like CFX,
Kingdom, Zimsun,
Interfresh, Pelhams, and Willdale appear to have made
considerable additions
to their businesses if the appreciation of values in
hard currency terms is
anything to go by. The banking groups CFX and Kingdom
have seen their values
appreciate by 901% and 813%, respectively. In dollar
terms the two are now
valued at US$45 million and US$59 million compared
with US$5 million and
US$7,3 million at the beginning of the year. The blue
chips although not
featuring prominently as far as percentages are concerned
have not done
badly either.
Delta is now being valued at US$318
million, Meikles, US$318 million,
and Innscor is now worth US$305 million.
This trio added at least US$100
million to their weight.
The
big question is whether the situation on the ground justifies
either a case
of US dollar discounts or premiums. Logic would indicate a
situation where
there is maintenance of value in real terms and not the huge
disparities. As
the sages would say, there will come a time for a
correction. As such,
possibility of some authority intervening and taking
the punch bowl away is
now very high.
Moving to the financials, which theoretically should
support these
valuations, we start with numbers from Hunyani released last
week. Turnover
grew by 4 428% to $105,4 billion, mainly on the back of
inflation pricing.
Volumes were depressed with a comparison to the previous
six months of 2006
showing a drop of 11%, a fact attributed to the depressed
local market and
the late commencement of tobacco carton
exports.
A seven percentage point increase in operating margins to
30% saw the
corresponding profits grow by 5 951% to $32,4 billion. The need
to fund
export production meant that the company had to utilise borrowing
facilities, on which an interest expense of $2,1 billion was incurred. The
increase in the interest cover from 6x to 16x resulted in an enhanced growth
in the bottom line of 6 705% to $21 billion.
Revamped, or is it
restructured, Chemco released a set of results
which show the impact of the
acquisitions of Farm-a-rama hardware outlets,
TST Timbers, Agriculture
Buying Services and Highveld Harvesters made in the
second half of last
year. As such, revenues are reflecting a growth of 7
923% to $25
billion.
A decline in margins from 72% to 41% probably highlighting
the impact
of the low margin retail operations, resulted in a diluted growth
in
operating profits of 4 499% to $10,4 billion. The re-branded group is
still
in an interest paying position with a $72 million outflow being
recorded.
However, the impact on the overall picture was minimal.
Consequently,
attributable earnings grew at a similar pace to operating
profits to $7
billion. As is the company's norm, a dividend of $122 per
share was
declared. Notwithstanding these good results, the counter remains
the worst
performing share to date, having gained by only 1 471% by
Wednesday this
week.
TSL Ltd, which owns 40% of Hunyani and
51,5% of Chemco, also released
its interim results for the similar period.
The numbers largely reflected
the impact of these two units which contribute
a combined 83% to TSL.
Turnover grew by 4 630% to $79,7 billion. The bottom
line again fell between
Hunyani and Chemco, growing by 3 548% to $18,3
billion.
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
MORE trouble is brewing in
the mining sector with revelations this
week that the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) has once again failed to raise
foreign currency to pay mines
for gold deliveries since last November.
It also emerged yesterday
that last month's state media reports that
the central bank had paid US$15
million it owed to gold mines were not true.
Miners told
businessdigest that central bank governor, Gideon Gono,
had not lived up to
his promise during the interim monetary policy statement
in April that the
mines would be paid immediately.
Documents to hand show that as of
May 7 the central bank owed gold
producers US$20,3 million but the figure is
understood to have ballooned to
about US$30 million.
Most
companies have not been paid for the past eight months and there
are now
fears that the sector could collapse if nothing is done
immediately.
"We are in a fix. We might close because we don't have
the foreign
currency to buy inputs for the production of gold," said a
miner.
The miners said efforts to engage the central bank over the
delays
have yielded just "more promises". Minutes of a meeting held with the
mining
sector on May 7 shows that the RBZ promised that "something was being
done
about the payment".
Another meeting held at Great Zimbabwe
on May 23 between Gono and gold
producers again yielded
nothing.
It is understood that RBZ admitted at that meeting that it
did not
have the foreign currency to pay the mines. Gono, sources said,
promised to
settle the debt out of future gold deliveries.
He
told the miners that as part of efforts to settle the debt the
mines would
be allowed to retain 80% of their earnings instead of the
mandatory
60%.
"The idea was that the extra 20% would go towards paying the
debt on
gold deliveries," said a miner who attended the
meeting.
That idea was shot down by the miners who told Gono that
they needed
cash in order to resume production.
"Gono then
promised us that he would work on plans to get a loan to
raise the foreign
currency to pay the gold producers," said the miner.
The mines are
still waiting. Most mines have been surviving on bank
loans since
January.
"Others have been relying on borrowings from other mines
but now it's
going to be crunch time because nobody has anything to lend
anymore."
Gold production has plunged since January. The gold
sector and central
bank have since formed a special committee to map the way
forward with
regards to the payment. The committee will also discuss the
challenges
facing the sector and come up with recommendations.
The central bank last week paid about US$3 million to small
producers.
Meanwhile businessdigest can also reveal that the
central bank has
intensified security at mines to monitor production to curb
alleged gold
smuggling. Officials from the RBZ and officers from the
police's gold squad
have been camped at gold mines since
January.
There are also undercover officers planted at the
mines.
Sources this week said the central bank demanded that it be
allowed to
also put its locks on gold safes and milling plants at all mines.
This means
that no gold will be collected unless there is an official from
the central
bank.
In normal situations at least four locks are
used to keep the gold
safe. The keys are kept by different people. The new
measure means that the
RBZ will now be part of the security team at
mines.
Miners, however, criticised the move saying the central bank
was
"misdirecting" itself to believe that the drop in gold production was
caused
by smuggling.
"The bottom line is that gold output is
going down because they are
not paying the mines. How can mines produce more
when they are not being
paid for their gold deliveries to the central bank?"
another miner asked.
"We don't have money to buy cyanide and other
chemicals for the
milling plant. We can't even repair our equipment and
vehicles. Surely with
those conditions it is difficult to see how gold
production can go up."
Zim Independent
Shame Makoshori
A MASSIVE skills flight has hit the gold mines,
worsening the plight
of the sector already on the brink of collapse due to
delays by the RBZ in
releasing payment for gold deliveries.
The
mining sector's problems have been worsened by Zesa's power cuts
which have
reduced their production hours.
Senior gold mining executives told
businessdigest this week that the
last two months had seen an increase in
the exodus of skilled labour.
Qualified workers are sceptical of the future
of the gold industry in this
country. More than 3000 skilled people have
left the sector since last
December, the executive said.
While
there were efforts from gold mines to retain professionals
through employee
share ownership schemes most skilled workers had opted to
work in the fairly
stable chrome, diamond and platinum sectors. Others have
moved into nickel
mines.
The gold mining boom elsewhere in southern Africa and high
demand for
skills in South Africa in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup have
been the
major attractions for Zimbabwean professionals.
Miners
said the human resources situation in gold mines is so
desperate that even
if the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe pays for the gold
deliveries it will take a
long time for them to recover.
"Diamond, coal, platinum and chrome
mines sell their minerals directly
to customers and they are relatively
stable than gold mines because they
receive payments promptly," a chief
executive with a gold mining concern
told businessdigest.
"Gold
mines sell to the RBZ but payments are erratic. We have slowed
production to
unrealistic levels," he said.
"At the end of the day we are losing
critical skills. Many skilled
workers have moved to other local mines and
other countries. There is a
danger that when serious mining begins later,
gold mines will face serious
problems.
Most gold mines have
continued to pay workers industry regulated
salaries even though there is
little production taking place.
Chamber of Mines figures show that
gold output has declined in the
first quarter of the month. Production has
been going down since January
when the industry produced 819 kg. In February
the country produced 768 kg,
March (690kg) and April 500kg.
There are fears that output could plunge further due to the escalating
power
cuts, poor input supply and the mounting debts.
At least 3 000
highly qualified professionals are estimated to have
resigned from gold
mines since the beginning of 2007.
Mining industry minimum wages
are pegged at $600 000 and the companies
are forced to pay the workers even
though they are not producing much gold
because of lack of
inputs.
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed gold producer Riozim warned
last week
that the gold mining sector faced a daunting task to retain mining
professionals in the face of the viability problems that have hit the
companies since payments form the central bank became erratic in September
last year.
"Retention of senior employees in the face of the
ever deteriorating
economic environment is proving to be a very difficult
challenge," Riozim
chairman Eric Kahari said.
He said Riozim
was seriously considering an employee share option
scheme to avert the
labour crisis.
Apart from mining, Zimbabwean health, education,
manufacturing,
tourism and other professionals have fled the country in the
past seven
years due to mounting problems sprouting from the mismanagement
of the
economy.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will in the next
two weeks increase
cash withdrawal limits for individuals and corporates to
keep pace with
galloping inflation.
The current limits have
become inadequate because of the recent surge
in the prices of basic
commodities. The dollar is also losing value at an
alarming
rate.
The business community has been lobbying for a review since
late May
arguing that the rate at which prices of goods and services was
rising
required an individual to withdraw cash on successive days to meet
daily
needs such as groceries, service bills and rent.
Business
is proposing a review of $3,5 million from $1,5 million for
individuals and
at least $7 million for companies.
The RBZ is said to be studying
the proposals and has promised to come
back with new figures by early July.
No official comment could be obtained
from the RBZ. The central bank last
reviewed the limits on April 16.
Tight withdrawal limits were
announced last July as part of the first
phase of the currency reform
programme that saw the introduction of new
bearers' cheques. The central
bank argued then that the new limits were part
of measures it was
implementing to reduce speculation in the market. It
encouraged the use of
plastic money and other payment systems.
Zim Independent
Kuda
Chikwanda
JUST 10 months after slashing three zeros from the
local currency,
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono, has
come under renewed
pressure to remove another set of naughts because the
accounting systems can
no longer cope with the figures due to
hyperinflation.
Bankers told businessdigest that Zimbabwe's high
inflation poses a
technical risk to the stability of information technology
(IT) systems. The
bankers said very soon their IT systems would not be able
to cope with the
increasing digits in the local currency.
They
warned that banking systems
could crash in the next few months if the
central bank does not move
to rectify the situation. Inflation continues to
rise at an alarming pace,
inevitably bringing back the zeros on the face of
bearer cheques. Media
reports this week said inflation rose to 4 530%
from
3 700% in April. The Central Statistics Office had not released
the
figures at the time of going to press yesterday.
CBZ Bank
managing director, John Mangudya, said whilst his bank was
protected from
the return of the zeros, he is not sure how they would
transact with other
financial institutions which have not yet upgraded their
IT
systems.
"The major problem is trade. It becomes difficult to
transact with
some of our counterparts who are yet to upgrade and cannot
cope with the
return of the zeros. The whole economy has to upgrade,"
Mangudya said.
Mangudya said inflation has now compromised trade
between banking
institutions.
A senior executive with Kingdom
Financial Holdings Ltd (KFHL) said
hyperinflation had caused the return of
the zeros and was fast becoming a
threat to the financial services
sector.
"There is now more punching in work, and data storage is
used up
faster. If you look at the cash required everyday, it is now a
challenge,"
the KFHL executive said. "It's like we are back to square one,"
he said.
"It is now back to the millions and billions that we had
become used
to before the zeros were removed. Very soon we will be talking
of trillions
again."
FBC Holdings group marketing director,
Agrippa Mugwagwa, said they
were very concerned about the zeros coming back.
He said FBC was in constant
discussions with the central bank on the matter.
Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) chief executive, Sonny
Mabheju, said the
trend with which inflation has continued to rise unabated
would almost
certainly result in the crashing of banking IT
systems.
"By the time the zeros were removed last year, most
systems were
failing to accommodate the digits. Most institutions are still
using the
same software and the same hardware. The rate at which
month-on-month
inflation is rising certainly spells doom," Mabheju
said.
He said while no time frame could be attached, the threat of
systems
collapsing was already imminent.
Gono revalued the
Zimbabwean currency in August last year after
concerns from
the
banking community that the increasing number of digits caused by
high
inflation created technical risks for their financial systems.
The
exercise saw $1 000 of the old family of bearer cheques being
revalued to $1
under the new family of bearer cheques.
However, inflation has
continued to increase sharply as the economic
crisis deepens. At the time of
revaluation last year inflation was 1 204%.
The dollar has lost 98,3% of its
value since last August forcing the RBZ to
constantly review the maximum
cash withdrawal limits. The central bank has
also introduced new $50 000 and
$5 000 bearer's cheques.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
breadbasket for a family of six has
increased by 4 909% since September last
year when it was $112 034. It is
now $5,5 million. In August last year bread
was $80 000 and after
revaluation it cost $80. A loaf of bread now costs $24
000. Bearer cheques
were first introduced in 2003 after the highest
denomination of bank notes -
the $1 000 - was driven out of circulation by
rampant inflation.
Zim Independent
Kuda Chikwanda
MOZAMBIQUE'S power utility Hidroeléctrica de
Cahora Bassa (HCB) has
reduced electricity supplies to Zimbabwe by 66% after
Zesa Holdings failed
to settle a US$12 million debt dating back to
2004.
HCB last month reduced electricity exports to Zimbabwe by 450
megawatts to just 150 Megawatts per day.
Zesa has a firm
electricity supply contract with HCB of 50 MW.
However, HCB has been
providing Zimbabwe with 450 MW per day. This means
Mozambique has been
supplying Zimbabwe with an extra 400 MW.
Reliable sources said this
week HCB took the drastic measure after the
Zimbabwean government refused to
give concrete assurances of early payment
of the debt.
This was
after Mozambican Energy minister Salvador Namburette tried
unsuccessfully to
meet Finance minister Samuel Mumbengegwi to discuss the
issue.
Namburette was in Zimbabwe in April for the Sadc Energy Ministers
Conference
which ran concurrently with the Southern African Power Pool
(SAPP) executive
meeting.
Sources said Namburette and HCB officials held a meeting
with Energy
minister Mike Nyambuya and Zesa Holdings officials to discuss
the debt which
has accumulated for the past the past three
years.
"Nyambuya passed the buck on to government's chief finance
man,
Mumbengegwi. Namburette tried to see Mumbengegwi but failed," the
source
said.
Zesa Holdings chief executive office, Ben
Rafemoyo, denied that HCB
had reduced its power supplies to
Zesa.
"That contract was not firm to the extent of 450 MW which
means it
could not be enforced. It is only firm to 50 MW which is
contractual. Though
this figure is far less than what we need, we have been
receiving much more.
We continue to access more than the firm contract,"
Rafemoyo said.
Zesa also owes US$5 million to the Democratic
Republic of Congo's
power utility SNEL.
SNEL has a firm
contract with Zesa to provide 150 MW to Zimbabwe's.
Zimbabwe is
experiencing its worst power crisis since 1980 with
current generation and
imports standing at half the total demand.
Generation and imports
currently account provide 900 MW against total
demand of between 1 850 MW
and 2000 MW.
The problem has been worsened by biting foreign
currency shortages
which have seen Zesa struggling to raise funds to import
power. Coupled with
recent generator failure at Kariba most parts of
Zimbabwe have been forced
to go for 20 hours a day without
power.
Local generation fell drastically at the start of this month
after
Hwange Power Station (HPS) failed to secure adequate coal deliveries
to
enable it to produce electricity.
The coal shortages saw
Zesa lose 410 MW out of a possible 500 MW with
the current dilapidated
equipment that is long overdue for overhaul.
While the entire Sadc
region is facing power shortages which SAPP
warned of in 2005, Zimbabwe
appears to be the only country reeling from
electricity
shortages.
South Africa's Eskom and Zambia's Zesco did not renew
their firm
contracts with Zimbabwe. This means they can only export power to
Zesa when
it is available.
Zim Independent
Pindai
Dube
THE Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) is battling to comply
with the
regional deadline to computerise the exchange by December next
year,
businessdigest established this week.
Sadc stock markets
resolved to computerise their systems by December
next year in order to
harmonise trading.
It however emerged this week that the ZSE is
failing to raise the US$2
million required for the complete computerisation
of its systems.
ZSE chief executive officer, Emmanuel Munyukwi,
this week confirmed
that the stock exchange had proposed to extend the
deadline.
"In terms of the computerisation facility, the ZSE is
actually
proposing an extension of the entire system so as to link with all
other
stock exchanges regionally," Munyukwi said.
Munyukwi said
the ZSE was proposing an extension to give it time to
raise the funds for
the project. If successful, the link of the Sadc stock
exchanges is expected
to attract new capital inflows into the region.
A Sadc stock
exchange committee is expected to meet in the next few
weeks to consider the
proposed extension of the deadline.
The meeting would review
progress on the integration and how member
states can assist in economic
development within the region.
Some of the issues to be discussed
include the establishment of a
secondary bourse for the small to medium
enterprises.
Apart from the ZSE, stock markets in Malawi, Swaziland
and Zambia were
also facing problems.
ZSE has been trying to
court international financiers to provide
offshore credit lines to help it
complete the project.
Munyukwi said despite the problems of
funding, the ZSE was committed
towards the programme. The ZSE is a small but
dynamic African stock
exchange. It currently has the best return rate in the
world.
Zim Independent
Shame
Makoshori
GOVERNMENT this week blocked attempts by the Bank
Employers
Association of Zimbabwe (BEAZ) to stop industrial action set for
next
Tuesday saying the bankers had not given convincing reasons to stop the
strike.
BEAZ last week applied to the Ministry of Public
Service and Social
Welfare requesting that the Zimbabwe Banks and Allied
Workers' Union
(Zibawu) show cause why they were planning to strike. The
appeal was however
thrown out by the ministry on Wednesday.
"The BEAZ show-cause order was thrown out," a senior official with
Zibawu
said on Wednesday.
"But our notice is still running and we have
told BEAZ they are in a
position to call off the strike on condition that
they apply to the High
Court because there is a backlog at the Labour
Court," the official said.
"The adjustments were supposed to be
effected in March. There is no
room for delays. They are driving smart
vehicles but workers who are their
biggest assets, are
suffering."
BEAZ secretary-general Simba Manhondo refused to answer
questions from
businessdigest.
Tension swelled after Zibawu
discovered that some financial
institutions were paying salaries below the
agreed minimum wages.
Figures seen by businessdigest this week
revealed that one of the
leading commercial banks is paying its Grade C
tellers $863 000 instead of
the agreed minimum gross salary of about $1,1
million per month.
Bank workers, who had been pushing for a 165%
wage increment, are now
demanding that the BEAZ implement Tripartite
Negotiating Forum (TNF)
recommendations that salaries be based on Consumer
Price Index movements.
"Perhaps common sense will prevail on the
employers' camp and they
will implement what was agreed at TNF," Zibawu told
businessdigest. "If that
happens we will approach the negotiations with
sober demands. But our
constituency is now restive."
Zibawu has
also demanded that banks correct the "differentials" that
existed in salary
structures prior to awarding the March increments and the
165% cost of
living adjustment.
This would take the lowest paid worker in the
industry to a minimum
salary of $626 725 per month from $236 500.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
COMMERCIAL banks are adjusting their minimum lending
rates in line
with run-away inflation, a move which economic analysts say
could force the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to hike overnight rates
before the next
monetary policy statement.
Economists said it
was highly likely that the central bank will review
secured and unsecured
lending rates before the next monetary policy
statement scheduled for
July.
The cost of borrowing rose by between 15% and 25% to between
550% and
630% for all commercial banks over the past three weeks. Secured
and
unsecured accommodation rates are currently at 600% and 700%
respectively.
While lending rates are too high to attract
borrowings the banks are
offering low interests of between 8% and 30% rates
for individual and
business savings.
Zimbabwe Allied Banking
Group (ZABG) increased its rate to 625% but it
is paying 20% on
savings.
Metropolitan which reviewed its lending rates to 650% is
paying 5% on
savings. Kingdom, MBCA, Stanbic, ZB Bank, Standard Chartered
and NMB
adjusted their lending rates to 550%. The banks are however paying
between
6% and 10% on savings.
CBZ and Barclays are charging
540% and 525% respectively. FBC Bank is
charging the least at 500%. CBZ is
paying 9% on savings while Barclays is
offering 8%.
The new
rates will hit the companies which are already reeling from
the high cost of
borrowing. Analysts say the rates are likely to continue
firming as long as
the market remains short.
The money market on Monday opened in
surplus of $185 billion after
being in the negative for almost every week
since January on the back of
unspecified government
expenditure.
The market was forecast to close $478 billion short
today due to
statutory reserve payments and the Reserve Bank was on the
market with
365-day paper and received total bids amounting to $1 billion at
an average
rate of 348%.
The money market has remained an
unattractive investment option
because of the massively negative real
rates.
The mainstream industrial index which opened at 583 760,43
points at
the beginning of the years points is now above 40 million points.
The mining
index which is now just above 20 million points opened the year
at 354
464,10 points.
Zim Independent
I WAS in Cape Town last
week attending the supremely well-organised
World Association of Newspapers
and World Editors Forum conferences. The
gathering of 1 600 media executives
accentuated the fast-changing trends in
the media industry, influenced by
technological advancements and the usual
age-old notion that news must
always travel fast whatever medium is used to
relay
information.
Media executives proudly shared information about
their products, from
the avant-garde e-news outlets which enable consumers
to access news on
cellphones, ipods and laptops, through to websites, good
old newspapers and
down to Alfred Sirleaf is bulletin board in Liberia where
news is
handwritten with chalk.
With such glaring
dissimilarities in the employment of technology, one
cannot even start using
the cliché "digital divide" because in parts of the
world, news is yet to
enter the digital age, let alone for the print media.
While in the Third
World, news is still disseminated using primeval means
like the chalkboard,
or runners who deliver by word of mouth, still in these
environments speed
and accuracy of information remain key.
The slow growth in
technological advances in the developing world
bodes well for dictatorial
tendencies of the ruling elites there. To them,
information is a dangerous
tool that can arm the masses to start to demand
better governance. The
so-called digital divide is therefore widening as the
relatively freer world
is moving at break-neck speeds to develop new media
products and systems to
tell the story first and convey it to a varied
audience using the most
convenient media.
To facilitate this, media houses have started to
reinvent the
traditional newsrooms usually staffed by old school hacks high
on coffee and
nicotine, to include computer programmers, new media
technicians,
photographers, television camerapersons and broadcasters. These
all gather
in large rooms with futuristic designs which have managed to
flush editors
out of their cocoons. They now sit with staffers and hear the
crude
shopfloor banter and jibes but more importantly share ideas without
strict
adherence to hierarchical protocol of going through line editors and
supervisors. The goal at the end of it all is to create a continuous
newsdesk which works round the clock feeding the various footage, voice and
text to the public.
As William Lewis of the Daily Telegraph put
it in a presentation at
the conference, readers are demanding contents in
new formats, advertisers
are seeking new ways to reach audiences. With
integration "we give our
consumers what they want, when they want and in the
format they want it", he
said.
The recently launched Daily
Times, in South Africa, a sibling of the
Sunday Times is a step towards
integration. The craze is coming closer to
home.
The new age of
integration of news platforms is allowing the media
houses to cover the same
story using as many media as possible. New-age
journos now cover stories
armed with digital video and still cameras,
palmtops and 3-G phones which
allow them to transmit realtime images,
footage and sound to audiences. The
same reporter is still required to file
a story for the evening paper or the
next day's edition. All this coming
from one news centre! The debate though
on the survival of newspapers in
this digital age is just starting as media
houses are literally scooping
themselves. The common trend that is emerging
is the "web-first" policy
where news is available on line before more
in-depth coverage in the print
version.
The use of new-age
technology is also inviting citizens into the
newsroom. There is now greater
use of user-generated content from citizens.
That is non-journalists
providing stories, pictures and footage to
integrated media
houses.
There is again debate on the credibility of this form of
content and
the capacity of media houses - in a hurry to tell the story - to
perform
prudent gatekeeping. Citizen journalism has its roots in the notion
that
journalists have slowly lost their monopoly as opinion leaders. Their
job is
now to filter user-generated content to ensure that it does not
degenerate
into dangerous copy. We have seen a lot of it lately on online
editions
reporting Zimbabwe from abroad which have become hosts to
embarrassing
unprofessionalism.
Then there is the issue of
weblogs or simply blogs which are now being
linked to newspaper websites.
They can enhance a news site and with equal
measure can erode credibility if
bloggers' contributions are not verified.
But exponents of this new craze
believe that news sites should provide
platforms for interactivity with its
publics and comment must not be trashed
because it's considered
undesirable.
As Steve Outing of the Washington Post put it, "Public
discussion is
scary and can get messy,"
barring it would only
"demonstrate that your organisation doesn't
understand the current media
landscape."
Zim Independent
DEAR
Editor,
Your June 8 (Independent) issue publication had some
very interesting
articles by Brian Raftopoulos, Professor Moyo and Dumisani
Muleya on the
current state of affairs in Zimbabwe. I have a completely
different
perception of the likely outturn in Zimbabwe. In my opinion, the
oppostion
which includes political parties, the church and civil society
hold the "ace
in the pack".
If free and fair elections are held
the oppositon will beat Zanu PF
hands down. It is important for the
opposition to participate in the
elections only "if the elections are not
only free and fair but are also
seen to be free and fair". Muna Ndulo in the
Mail & Guardian outlined
clearly the minimum conditions for free and
fair elections. The conditions
are:
l International observers
must ensure that each stage of the election
is satisfactory and pronounce
their judgement at each of the key stages: the
registration of voters; the
campaign period and the voting and counting of
votes;
l These
minimum conditions must be accompanied by electoral and
constitutional
reform.
If these minimum conditions are not met the opposition
should boycott
the elections. What Mbeki and Zanu PF are looking for is
legitimacy for
Robert Mugabe. If the opposition do not participate then that
legitimacy is
"pie in the sky".
So the oppostion are in a very
strong position contrary to current
views being expressed in the media. If
free elections are held they will
win. If conditions for free and fair
elections do not exist they must
boycott the election and Mugabe will not
get the legitimacy that he craves.
Eventually the people will revolt and
push him out of power.
Totemless,
Croydon, Surrey,
UK.
Zim Independent
Orirando Manwere
THE current legislative process is partisan,
undemocratic and subject
to political abuse by the incumbent party, legal
experts have said.
There is therefore an urgent need for
stakeholders to push for a new
constitution which should make provision for
the specific role of parliament
to promote a new culture of democracy and
tolerance and ensure that the
House is not used to merely rubber stamp
unpopular laws and policies which
end up affecting the country's
development.
The experts said this could be achieved through
rational adoption of
recommendations from portfolio committees and
stakeholders, including the
abolition of the party whipping system through
caucuses, open voting by show
of hands or division of the House on critical
issues which affect the
nation.
The current system, said the
experts, has seen rational legislators
from different parties, fearing
reprisals, being forced to toe respective
party lines and voting for
unpopular and retrogressive legislation
detrimental to economic
development.
The experts have noted with concern that the
constitutional rights of
citizens to liberty, fair trial, protection from
inhuman treatment,
protection from deprivation of property, arbitrary
search, protection of the
law, freedom of expression, conscience, movement,
assembly and association,
among others, are no longer guaranteed as the
state is increasingly
interfering with the independence and integrity of the
judiciary which is
mandated to protect these rights.
Presenting
papers on the topic "The Judiciary in Troubled Times" at a
public forum
organised by the Research Foundation of Zimbabwe in Harare last
week,
leading human rights lawyers Advocate Eric Matinenga, Alec Muchadehama
and
Beatrice Mtetwa (Law Society of Zimbabwe president) expressed concern at
the
current partisan and undemocratic law-making process and government's
interference with the judiciary.
Coincidentally, despite
clarion calls from stakeholders on the need
for a new constitution, the
government, on the strength of its majority in
parliament, is going ahead
with Constitutional Amendment Number 18 and
enacting more repressive laws
ahead of the scheduled 2008 presidential and
parliamentary
elections.
The amendment seeks to expand the House of Assembly and
harmonise
presidential and parliamentary elections under the existing
controversial
electoral laws, among others things.
A new
constitution and amendment of existing electoral laws are the
major issues
the opposition and civic society are hoping South African
president Thabo
Mbeki will address in his mediation efforts initiated by
Sadc heads of
government.
However, while the Mbeki mediation is now underway, the
government is
going
ahead with a parallel process to amend the
constitution and last week
gazetted the amendment Bill which is likely to be
adopted because of the
ruling party's majority in the
legislature.
Responding to a question on the challenges faced by
legal experts and
other stakeholders in contributing meaningfully towards
the legislative
process, Matinenga said the hurdles faced by the profession
could only be
resolved through a constitutional challenge.
"It's true we in the legal fraternity and other concerned citizens are
in a
dilemma in this regard," said Matinenga. "Under the current set up, it's
parliament that makes laws and we have very little input that we can make
although we sometimes make recommendations during consultative meetings with
portfolio committees on some pieces of legislation which affect us. But at
the end of the day, it's parliament which decides and the party with the
majority has the final decision on the outcome of any piece of
legislation."
He added: "So the only way that can be corrected is
through a
constitutional challenge. We need a core of lawyers who can stand
up and
make a constitutional challenge to ensure that there are clear
provisions
that would ensure a more inclusive and representative process,"
said
Matinenga.
In her presentation, Mtetwa, who was last month
arrested and assaulted
by police during a peaceful demonstration against the
arrest of fellow
lawyers Mchadehama and Andrew Makoni, concurred that
government was abusing
the legislature to enact repressive laws to ensure
its continued stay in
power.
"The ruling Zanu PF party has and
continues to take advantage of its
majority in parliament to enact
repressive laws like the Public Order and
Security Act, the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act, among
others to remain in
power.
"There is no meaningful contribution towards the enactment
of laws by
the judiciary, legal practitioners or other stakeholders. So as
LSZ, we
appeal to our members to continue fighting and taking up
controversial human
rights abuse cases for records purposes for any future
reference.
"If we do not challenge this, who will ensure the
protection of
innocent citizens? We have to continue fighting lest the law
of the jungle
prevails in our society," said Mtetwa.
Muchadehama said through abuse of the legislative process, government
had
over the years legitimised farm invasions and the unlawful arrest of
journalists, human rights defenders and openly encouraged assaults and
contempt of court and pardoning of perpetrators of politically motivated
violence.
He cited the Presidential Clemency Order Number 1 of
2000 which saw
amnesty being granted to kidnappers, torturers, assailants
and arsonists who
wreaked havoc during the 2000 election
campaign.
Muchadehama said apart from enacting repressive laws, it
was
unfortunate that the judiciary has become the punching bag and the
weakest
among the three pillars of the state.
"It has been
observed that of the three pillars of the government, the
judiciary is the
weakest. It has neither the power of the purse, nor the
power of the sword,
neither money, nor patronage on the one hand nor
physical force to enforce
its decision on the other hand. It merely relies
on the support of the
people by virtue of its moral authority," he said.
In an interview
on Tuesday, MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese who is
member of the
Parliamentary Legal Committee, confirmed the undemocratic
legislative
process, adding that it could only be resolved through a
constitutional
process.
"This would help avoid situations where there are
disagreements within
the party, portfolio committees and in the House when
Bills are tabled,"
said Gonese. "But under the current set up, legislation
is initiated by the
executive and brought to parliament by an incumbent
minister. Through
caucuses and the whipping system, there is no meaningful
debate as even
rational legislators from the ruling party are forced to toe
the line. They
are scared of expressing their opinions and the end result is
half baked
legislation without looking at its implications," he
said.
Gonese cited the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment
(Number 17)
Act where the House was openly divided into two during the
vote.
He said despite recommendations of portfolio committees
comprising
legislators from opposing parties, the ruling party continued to
use its
majority to adopt the proposed changes.
He also cited
the shooting down of the recommendations of the
portfolio committee on local
government, public works and urban development
on the controversial take
over of water and sewer reticulation by the
Zimbabwe National Water
Authority.
Gonese pointed out that even when there was a damning
report by the
parliamentary legal committee, a Bill would be decided through
voting and
the majority party would decide.
He added that under
the current set up, private motions by opposition
legislators on pertinent
issues were always shot down.
"We need to develop a new culture of
democracy and tolerance to ensure
that our legislative-making process is
inclusive and represents the wishes
of the generality of our populace," said
Gonese.
Muchadehama also summarised the dilemma which citizens find
themselves
while depending on the law for protection of their
rights.
Quoting remarks by former chief justice Antony Gubbay who
was also
making reference to Justice Hand, Muchadehama said: "I often wonder
whether
we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and
upon
courts. These are false hopes, believe me. They are false hopes.
Liberty
lies in the hearts of men and women. When it dies there, no
constitution, no
law, no court can do much to help it.
"When
law fails, people take the law into their own hands and society
starts to
disintegrate from within. The result is the law of the jungle,
survival of
the fittest and a general state of decay in society."
Zim Independent
By Obert Gutu
THE Zimbabwean economy is on the
verge of total collapse. This crisis
has been a direct result of poor
governance coupled with massive and
unmitigated corruption in both the
public and private sectors, particularly
from the late 1990s
onwards.
There is a certain school of thought that passionately
argues that
Zimbabwe's economic decay is a direct result of the so-called
"illegal"
sanctions imposed against the country by the West. It is my humble
submission that this is a simplistic and escapist explanation for Zimbabwe's
virtual economic collapse.
This is a myopic and self-serving
type of reasoning, typical of people
who are in denial and who continue to
stubbornly bury their heads in the
sand in the vain hope that Zimbabwe's
economic collapse will simply be
resolved by the lifting of the so-called
"illegal" targeted sanctions.
The economic and socio-political
decay in our country is chiefly
attributable to rampant corruption,
political repression and poor macro- as
well as micro-economic
governance.
In order to effectively fight the scourge of
corruption, Zimbabwe
needs a truly independent, powerful and effective
Anti-Corruption
Commission. The commission should therefore not be a mere
extension of the
executive but should act as the rallying point for the
fight against
corruption in our country.
Corruption is simply
defined as the abuse of an entrusted position for
private gain.
Corruption in Zimbabwe is definitely not a monopoly of the government
and
the ruling party only. Indeed, there is massive and rampant corruption
in
the private sector, civil society organisations, non-governmental
organisations and even in opposition political parties.
Thus,
for the fight against corruption to be effective and successful,
the cancer
of corruption should be tackled head-on and there should be no
sacred
cows.
The anti-corruption commission in Zimbabwe was introduced
through
Constitutional Amendment Act No 16, promulgated in the year 2000.
This
constitutional amendment introduced Section 108A to the Constitution of
Zimbabwe which, in a nutshell, provides that the president shall appoint
members of the anti-corruption commission.
The Anti-Corruption
Commission shall consist of at least four and not
more than nine members
appointed by the president.
Personally, I am very uncomfortable
with the sweeping powers given to
the president in his role of appointing
members of the Anti-Corruption
Commission. The practice in Zimbabwe is that
only persons with either a
direct or indirect link to the ruling party will
end up being appointed to
the Anti-Corruption Commission and to the boards
of parastatals and various
other quasi-governmental
organisations.
Inevitably, therefore, the Anti-Corruption
Commission will be
perceived as a partisan institution which clearly lacks
the willpower or the
moral authority to effectively monitor and combat
corruption - especially
corruption in high government and political
circles.
Little wonder therefore that although the Anti-Corruption
Commission
in Zimbabwe has been in existence for more than two years, its
activities
are not visible to the average person and there is very little,
if any,
major corruption scandals that have been publicly unearthed and
thereafter
prosecuted at the behest of the commission.
Section
108A of the Constitution of Zimbabwe states that the main
function of the
Anti-Corruption Commission shall be to combat corruption,
theft,
misappropriation, abuse of power and other improprieties in the
conduct of
affairs in both the public and private sectors.
As I have already
indicated, and with due respect to our
Anti-Corruption Commission, it has
come out as a toothless bulldog that has
done very little, if anything at
all, to combat corruption in our country.
Corruption is fashionable
in today's Zimbabwe. Corruption cuts across
the fabric of society, through
the racial, ethnic, religious and even
political divide. Corruption in
Zimbabwe has become a monster, a deadly and
cancerous virus threatening to
wipe Zimbabwe from the face of the earth.
Unless something is done
to combat corruption in our motherland, every
Tom Dick and Harry in Zimbabwe
will be reduced to a corrupt deal maker.
Instead of celebrating success
brought about by sheer honest hard work, in
Zimbabwe we now have a country
of fly-by-night billionaires who rake in
millions every hour without
contributing anything at all to the country's
economic
sustenance!
Instead of blaming the West, and crying foul about the
so-called
"illegal" sanctions, we should take a hard introspective look at
ourselves
and ask ourselves why seven years after the so-called land reform
programme
was embarked upon we still find ourselves in the humiliating
position where
we have to import maize from Malawi and Zambia of all
countries! Isn't this
a national disgrace of unprecedented
dimensions?
My argument is that for the Anti-Corruption Commission
to be effective
its independence must be guaranteed. This is in tune with
international
standards. Even the Sadc Protocol on Corruption, signed by
Zimbabwe in
August 2001, refers to the setting up of institutions that will
fight
corruption.
It is universally agreed that an
Anti-Corruption Commission should be
independent in order for it to be
effective. To this extent, therefore, I
have always wondered why in Zimbabwe
we have a government ministry
responsible for anti-monopolies and
anti-corruption.
What Zimbabwe needs is a truly independent and
effective
Anti-Corruption Commission and not a government ministry
responsible for
fighting corruption. Surely, you cannot expect a wolf to
hunt down fellow
wolves.
The public should be involved in the
selection of members of the
Anti-Corruption Commission. Nominations should
be invited, through
parliament, from the public stating clear criteria of
the qualities required
for appointment to such a commission. Parliament will
then peruse and choose
and shortlist nominees found and this shortlist will
then be taken to the
president for endorsement.
In my humble
opinion, appointment to the Anti-Corruption Commission
should be
people-driven and people-centered. It should never be by way of
being the
president's blue-eyed boy or being a member of the ruling party.
Persons nominated for appointment to the Anti-Corruption Commission
should
have personal integrity and they must also come from organisations
that
respect, uphold and enforce accountability and transparency. Of course,
the
Anti-Corruption Commission should have gender balance.
Corruption
undermines good governance, distorts public policy and
leads to the
misallocation of resources leading to low or slow development
and ultimately
hurting those who can least afford it - the poor,
marginalised and indigent
majority.
In order for it to be effective and independent, our
Anti-Corruption
Commission should be given adequate financial resources by
the national
fiscus. The commission, besides having the powers of
investigation, should
also be given the powers of prosecution. It should not
rely on the
Attorney-General who is part of cabinet.
We have
all heard about the south-east Asian economic resurgence. This
is mainly so
because countries in south-east Asia such as Singapore,
Hong-Kong and
Malaysia have managed to demonstrate that strong political
will and the
building of correct institutions are essential tools in rooting
out
corruption.
It is not impossible to reduce and even eradicate
corruption in both
the public and private sectors in Zimbabwe. Let us save
our motherland. Our
country is facing the challenge of specific and
pronounced institutional
failure cutting across the whole fabric of our
society.
Agricultural production has seriously declined in recent
years; the
manufacturing sector is tottering on the verge of collapse; the
public
health sector is in the intensive care unit; and the education sector
has
not been spared from this decay.
If you visit the
University of Zimbabwe campus today, the general
outlook of institutional
decay is striking. Halls of residence are in a
state of general dilapidation
and even the grounds and gardens are in dire
need of manicure. We should not
let our country go to the dogs just like
that. The fight against corruption
must be vigorous and multi-faceted.
As long as the real big players
in the corruption underworld remain
scot-free and untouchable, the so-called
anti-corruption crusade by the
government will always remain a façade - a
political smokescreen to hoodwink
people into believing that the government
is determined to fight corruption.
Of late, small fish have been fried
ruthlessly while the real big
fish and the Mafioso of Zimbabwe's
corruption underworld remain
untouched.
Corruption will drive
this country to oblivion unless and until the
government becomes serious in
fighting and combating this scourge.
Obert Gutu is a Zimbabwean
lawyer writing from Harare. He can be
contacted on: gutulaw@mweb.co.zw
Zim Independent
By Chris
Mhike
WHILE Zimbabwean rulers scream hoarse about political
sovereignty,
declaring that "Zimbabwe will never be a colony again", fiscal
and monetary
authorities seem to sing a different tune.
The
Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and other
politicians are advocating the superiority of the United States dollar, the
British pound, the euro and other foreign currencies over the local
currency, at least in the import-duty arena.
Statutory
Instrument 80A of 2007, gazetted in early April this year,
provides that
"payment of customs duty and value-added tax on the
importation of any items
of goods designated as luxury items shall be
payable in United States
dollars, euros, or any other currency denominated
under the Exchange Control
Act".
The importation of motor cars has been the worst affected
commercial
activity.
The legality of these recent import
regulations is currently
contentious, especially without authoritative
judicial precedent on the
matter. A sound judgment of the High Court or
Supreme Court could be useful
in settling the question.
Government, the RBZ and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) all
maintain
that the imposition of duty in forex is perfectly legal. But a
careful
consideration of relevant statutes suggests otherwise.
A good
starting point for the discussion on the legality or illegality
of the
subject policy would be the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act [Chapter
22:15],
No. 5 of 1999.
One of the functions of the RBZ under that Act is
"to achieve and
maintain the stability of the Zimbabwe dollar". That
naturally includes
upholding the supremacy of the local dollar within our
borders.
The RBZ Act empowers the central bank to issue local
currency, and
sections 41 and 44 of the same Act compel individuals and
institutions in
the country to honour local currency.
These two
sections stipulate that any tender for payment of money
within Zimbabwe, if
made in banknotes or coins of current mass, which have
been issued by the
RBZ, and which have not been demonetised, shall be legal
tender of the
amount expressed in the note or coin.
Those provisions should be
read together with the definition of the
term "currency", as given in the
Customs and Excise Act, which states that
"currency" refers to "any bill of
exchange, promissory note . . . or other
document issued to obtain currency
or credit for an amount of money".
The promissory note referred to
in the definition includes local
banknotes and bearer cheques. On the
banknote, the governor of the Reserve
Bank promises "to pay the bearer on
demand . . . dollars".
On the bearer cheque the governor orders
recipients to "pay the bearer
on demand . . . dollars . . ." In both
instances, "dollars" refers to the
Zimbabwe dollar.
The net
significance of the given statutes, therefore, is to establish
the supremacy
of the Zimbabwe dollar above all other currencies within the
borders of the
country. The promises and dictates on local banknotes raise
contractual
obligations upon the RBZ, all institutions and the transacting
public to
have high, if not sacred regard, to the actuality of the Zimbabwe
dollar.
The supremacy of the Zimbabwe dollar in Zimbabwe, over
all other
currencies, is indeed in line with the legal concept of monetary
sovereignty.
Monetary sovereignty certainly entails the right
to issue currency,
the right to determine and change the value of that
currency, and the
regulation of the use of the currency with the
borders.
If political, monetary and fiscal authorities have lost
confidence in
the credibility of the Zimbabwe dollar, they should therefore
seek solutions
to the credibility crisis from any of the tenets of monetary
sovereignty.
Whichever way one looks at it, and whether the "duty
in forex" policy
is legal or illegal, what becomes clear from the collation
of the country's
laws, and the contents of our banknotes, is that the
determination of import
duty in foreign currency seriously compromises the
county's monetary
sovereignty.
The Zimbabwe dollar ought to be
the country's flagship in monetary
circles, just as Air Zimbabwe is the
country's flagship when our rulers fly
around the world.
This
latest demotion of the local currency in the import duty regime,
from
supreme currency to second-class money, amounts to the lowering of the
Zimbabwean monetary flag and the raising in its place of the American
dollar, the British pound, the European euro and other "acceptable" foreign
currencies.
We cannot as a nation shun "any inch of Europe" and
yet at the same