Jan Raath in Harare
Police move in on women in Harare protesting against the conditions in Zimbabwe
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Nokuthula Sibanda
Friday 19 June 2009
HARARE - Nearly 1 000 prisoners have died
in Zimbabwe's over crowded prisons
since the beginning of the year, a top
Amnesty International official said
Thursday.
The world rights
watchdog's secretary general Irene Khan - who told
journalists in Harare
that Zimbabwe's unity government had failed to curb
human rights abuses or
stamp out political violence - described conditions
in prisons as
deplorable.
"The conditions in Zimbabwe's prisons are deplorable with
serious food
shortages and lack of medical care leading to high levels of
deaths," said
Khan, who arrived in Harare last weekend to assess the human
rights
situation five months after formation of a power-sharing government
between
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"The government informed us that out of a prison population
of 15,000. 970
prisoners have died between January and May," added Khan. The
Amnesty
secretary general met several top government ministers and civic
rights
leaders but failed to meet Mugabe.
The announcement by Khan
comes barely three weeks after the Harare
government allowed Red Cross into
its jails to help feed and treat starving
and sick inmates.
The
numbers of prison inmates has steadily increased over the past three
years
largely due to worsening economic and political crisis that has pushed
some
to into crime in a bid to make ends meet.
Head of the country's prisons
Paradzai Zimondi this week blamed the poor
state of prisons on
sanctions.
Zimbabwe's prisons have long been seen as virtual death houses
with hundreds
of inmates reportedly dying in the jails because of diseases
and an acute
shortage of food.
According to local prisoner's rights
group Zimbabwe Association for Crime
Prevention and Rehabilitation of the
Offender (ZACRO) at least two inmates
die everyday due to hunger and disease
at Chikurubi and Harare Central - the
country's two biggest jails.
An
outbreak of pellagra disease in 2007 killed at least 23 inmates at the
notorious Chikurubi prison. Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease caused
by shortage of vitamin B3 and protein.
A parliamentary committee that
toured Chikurubi and other prisons in 2006
was shocked to find inmates clad
in torn, dirty uniforms and crammed into
overcrowded cells with filthy;
overflowing toilets that had not been flushed
for weeks as water had been
cut off due to unpaid bills.
The committee said in a report that the
conditions in prisons were inhuman.
However nothing much has been done to
date to improve conditions due to a
lack of resource. - ZimOnline
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
June
19, 2009
Britain must support
Morgan Tsvangirai's brave decision to share power. But
that is only a
start
Mark Malloch Brown
Morgan Tsvangirai is due to arrive in London
today as Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe. He will be seeking UK government
support and pitching for foreign
investment. How should we respond to such
an appeal from a Government that
is led by Robert Mugabe, a man to whom we
have got used to saying "no"?
We are clear that we must support the new
inclusive Government, whatever our
strong doubts about Mr Mugabe. Mr
Tsvangirai has bravely chosen to join a
government with his erstwhile rivals
as the only way forward for Zimbabwe.
The reformers who have faced
torture and death in pursuit of democracy have
chosen to make this
Government work. We must find ways to support them, not
least because the
humanitarian crisis is still unfolding: a direct
consequence of
mismanagement and corruption.
Agriculture and public health do not
recover overnight. Up to seven million
people received food aid at the
height of the recent hungry season, and more
than 4,000 have died out of
almost 100,000 cholera cases. To tackle this,
the UK recently pledged a
further £15 million in humanitarian assistance.
All our support has been
transferred through the UN and NGOs, not the
Zimbabwean Government.
President Obama offered generous US assistance on the
same terms when Mr
Tsvangirai visited Washington a few days ago.
But we must also engage
politically. Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe have
overcome many of the early
setbacks and declared their common commitment to
the global political
agreement (GPA) that they negotiated under South
African leadership with the
help of their southern African neighbours. It is
not perfect, but it does
provide a programme of steps to be taken before
fresh elections under a new
constitution, which the agreement specifies
should be completed within 18
months. If those steps are taken, it is a
basis for the international
community to step up engagement and support in
response. By engaging with
those committed to reform, we can press for this
timetable to be
met.
This is why we have met Mr Tsvangirai, his Finance Minister, Tendai
Biti,
and his Foreign Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi. We discussed how the
UK
can help Zimbabwe to implement its own commitments under the GPA,
particularly on constitutional reform, human rights and the rule of law.
When in London, Mr Tsvangirai will meet business leaders as well as the
Prime Minister.
But the inclusive Government must understand the
context of UK support. Our
assistance depends on it meeting its commitments.
This in turn depends on Mr
Mugabe honouring the agreements he has made with
Mr Tsvangirai and the
Zimbabwean people. There is still much to do on this.
The media are still
not free, political activists are still harassed, farm
seizures continue and
promised personnel changes in key positions have not
happened. The EU has
also made clear that its support depends on real
progress on human rights
and related issues.
We have heard calls for
the immediate removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Let's be clear what
those "sanctions" entail. They were never aimed at the
Zimbabwean people.
Restrictive measures were directed against individuals
associated with the
old regime's corruption and violence, and against
companies that bankrolled
that regime. While we can show some flexibility,
such as allowing some Zanu
(PF) ministers who are covered by the EU travel
ban to accompany Mr
Tsvangirai to the UK, we will not lift the bulk of these
measures until we
are convinced that Zimbabwe's transition to democracy has
reached a point of
no return.
Zimbabwe has begun the process of re-engagement with the IMF,
World Bank and
African Development Bank, and we are encouraging this. While
misrepresented
by some in Zimbabwe as sanctions, these assistance programmes
always
depended on the performance and credibility of the Government's
economic
programme, which is now back on track. It was Zimbabwe's unpaid
debts to
these institutions, not British opposition, that prevented them
helping.
We welcome the efforts of President Zuma in South Africa, as
well as other
neighbours, such as President Khama in Botswana, to provide
political and
economic support to Zimbabwe's transition. The Southern
African Development
Community (SADC) must stand up for the GPA agreement
that it sponsored and
insist that both sides keep their commitments. We
remain happy to follow
their political lead; we recognise that the UK can
easily set back change
inside Zimbabwe by appearing too intrusive.
By
entering a government with Mr Mugabe, the Movement for Democratic Change
has
taken a leap of faith. It is beginning to make it work, although there
are
plenty of pitfalls. Mr Mugabe could easily try to go back on his word
and
grab absolute power again. Nevertheless, it is time to show a little
faith
and get behind the agreement to build a new Zimbabwe, while keeping
all
sides to their commitments on economic and political reform. As
President
Reagan once said in another context, "trust but verify".
Lord
Malloch-Brown is Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Cuthbert
Nzou Friday 19 June 2009
HARARE -- THE Global Fund has
stopped financing HIV and Aids programmes
through the government-controlled
National Aids Council (NAC) but will
channel funds to fight the epidemic via
a United Nations agency.
NAC chief executive Tapiwa Magure told
parliamentarians on Thursday that the
Global Fund had took the decision to
bypass the council in reaction to the
diversion of the fund's US$7,3 million
grant by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
last year.
Government recently
requested US$297 million from the donor agency to fight
HIV and
Aids.
Giving oral evidence before Parliament's portfolio committee on
health
yesterday, Magure said the fund had stopped direct injection of funds
into
the council.
"We have been the principal recipient of the Global
Fund HIV and Aids
programme and the Zimbabwe Association of Church-Related
Hospitals has been
the recipient for Tuberculosis programmes," Magure
said.
"The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has been the recipient
for Malaria
programmes but due to some of the problems that Honourable
(Blessing)
Chebundo has alluded to, the UNDP are now the principal recipient
of the
funds on HIV and Aids. It is a retrogressive step at the
moment."
Magure was responding to a question from Chebundo on whether
government was
still receiving direct funding from the Global Fund after the
diversion of
US$7,3 million by the central bank last year.
The
official Global Fund website confirmed that the international aid agency
was
yet to announce the recipient of grants for the Round 8 of HIV and Aids,
TB
and Malaria programmes.
"Principal recipient information will become
available upon grant
signature," the website said.
Magure told the
parliamentary committee that the NAC through the National
Aids Trust Fund
received US$300 000 between April and May this year from
revenue generated
from the 3 percent Aids levy taxed on workers, adding that
the money was
insufficient due to the switch from the Zimbabwe dollar to the
multi-currency national payment system earlier this year.
He said 50
percent of the fund would now be used to purchase life-
prolonging
antiretroviral drugs.
A Health ministry medical officer responsible for
HIV and Aids and TB
prevention, Dr Owen Mugurungi, also told the committee
that government was
struggling to fight the two diseases due to inadequate
local funding.
The NAC chief added that the UNDP would only start
receiving the funds after
a "transition period" between Round 5 of the grant
and soon to commence
Round 8.
The HIV and Aids council received over
US$13 million in Round 5 of the
portfolio grant, which targeted to scale up
Anti Retroviral Therapy and HIV
testing and Counselling in 22 districts in
Zimbabwe .
The Global Fund is currently committed to supporting 40 000
out of 340 000
HIV patients annually at a cost of over US$4
million.
Government provides antiretroviral therapy to 50 000 of the
targeted 230 000
patients under treatment. The Global Fund also assists
retention of skilled
health personnel in remote districts around the
country. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=18402
June 18, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Members of Parliament from across the political
divide have finally
agreed to return vehicles issued to them by the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) after being promised vehicle loans by the government.
Parliamentary
backbenchers had successfully pressured Finance Minister
Tendai Biti to
resuscitate the vehicle loan scheme for MPs.
Biti is
said to have agreed to disburse "seed money" to the MPs while his
ministry
was trying to revive the vehicle loans scheme.
After striking concessions
with Biti, MPs from both Zanu-PF and Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
convened a caucus meeting on Wednesday morning where
they agreed to return
the vehicles.
"We have agreed that MPs will return the cars to the RBZ,"
said one MP who
refused to be named.
"The Ministry of Finance has
agreed to give us seed money which we will
repay through
loans."
According to the source, the Finance Ministry has agreed to
underwrite the
MPs by any amount not exceeding US$30 000 each.
MPs
are said to have already approached car dealers to negotiate favourable
terms for the purchase of cars.
It has further been revealed that
several car dealers in Harare, who have
recently been experiencing a slump
in sales, have readily accepted the terms
proposed.
Zanu-PF and MDC
chief whips Joram Gumbo and Innocent Gonese refused to
comment on the matter
saying Biti would issue a statement on the matter.
Biti could not be
reached for comment as he was reported to be in Brussels
on government
business.
A fierce battle has been raging between Parliament and the
Finance Ministry
after Biti ordered the return of the central bank
vehicles.
Defiant Zanu-PF MPs went further to declare they would not
agree to return
the vehicles unless the Finance Ministry also repossessed
farm implements
that were allocated to farmers through the RBZ.
RBZ
governor, Gideon Gono had issued the vehicles to the parliamentarians
saying
they needed them to visit their constituencies.
But Biti, who is locked
in a bitter war with Gono, was adamant it was not
procedural for
parliamentarians to source vehicles from the central bank
which, he said, no
longer had any business in financing government
operations.
Parliamentary backbenchers, some of whom have not been
allocated government
vehicles, are frustrated by Biti's attempts to bar them
from accessing the
vehicles saying ministers had three official vehicles at
their disposal
whereas the MPs endured the embarrassment of commuting around
their
constituencies on public transport.
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/
Friday, 19 Jun 2009
00:01
Zimbabwe, a country which has already endured political crises,
hyperinflation and cholera outbreaks in the last 12 months, is facing
another humanitarian disaster, it was claimed today.
According to
charities, food stocks for more than a million people will run
out next
month unless more is done to step up the distribution of supplies.
The
call from ActionAid comes as former opposition leader turned prime
minister
Morgan Tsvangirai arrives in London as part of his tour of the US
and
Europe.
Ahead of talks with Gordon Brown, ActionAid has called on the
British
government to do more to help its former colony.
"The people
of Zimbabwe desperately need aid and it should be delivered so
that it works
in the most effective way possible," said the charity's chief
executive
Richard Miller.
"This is a moment of opportunity and the international
community should be
prepared to seize it. The current political settlement
is the only game in
town. It is the best hope for change and we need to take
it at face value
for the good of all in Zimbabwe."
ActionAid says
food stocks are ready to be distributed through development
agencies or the
United Nations; or even through the Zimbabwean government
itself, still
overseen by president Robert Mugabe.
Mr Miller added that 1.2 million
people are in need of seeds, tools and
fertiliser ahead of the next planting
season in the autumn.
"We have a three month window to supply small scale
farmers with seeds and
tools before the next planting season in October in
order to avert an even
bigger humanitarian disaster," he added.
Once
the breadbasket of Africa; Zimbabwe's agriculture-driven economy fell
into
ruin at the turn of the century following the disastrous land-grab
policies
of President Mugabe that saw experienced white farmers evicted from
their
land.
The move led to widespread food shortages, exacerbated last year by
Mugabe's
decision to expel foreign aid groups during a disputed presidential
election
vote with Mr Tsvangirai.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 21:27
A ZANU
PF faction headed by retired army general Solomon Mujuru is
reportedly
seeking a meeting with President Robert Mugabe to broker a deal
that will
avert a major shake-up of the party's presidium and politburo
during its
December congress.
Sources in Zanu PF told the Zimbabwe Independent
that the Mujuru
faction wants a meeting with the 85-year-old veteran leader
to structure a
deal for the retention of Joice Mujuru (pictured) as
vice-president and stop
the axing of some members of the camp from the
politburo, the party's
powerful decision-making body.
The
Mujuru faction is in a dog-fight with another camp aligned to
party legal
secretary Emmerson Mnangagwa over Mugabe's succession. The
retired army
chief wants his wife Joice to replace Mugabe if he retires,
while Mnangagwa
is eyeing the post.
"Strategists in Mujuru's camp are of the view
that the status quo in
the presidium should be left intact," a senior
politburo member said. "The
faction has agreed to seek a meeting with the
president to sell the idea.
The intention is to guarantee Joice's post and
that of others from their
camp in the politburo."
Mujuru
faction strategists were identified as politburo member Tendai
Savanhu, MP
Phineas Chiota, former cabinet minister Rugare Gumbo, and
Mashonaland East
chairperson Ray Kaukonde.
The faction, the sources said, wants
Mugabe to remain president
deputised by Joice and Vice-President Joseph
Msika, with John Nkomo
remaining national chairman.
"Their
argument is that the presidium should remain intact until a
clear succession
plan is drawn up by the committee led by Nkomo," another
senior Zanu PF
official said. "They are also of the opinion that any changes
in the
presidium will escalate the current divisions and could split the
party at a
time when they should be united to fight the MDC-T at the next
polls."
The politburo last month set up the succession
committee headed by
Nkomo. Some of its members are political rivals - most
notably Solomon
Mujuru and Mnangagwa.
The sources said the
move to approach Mugabe was born out of the
realisation that the Mnangagwa
faction had come up with an elaborate plan to
remove Joice and replace her
with current Women's League boss Oppah
Muchinguri.
Politburo members aligned to Mujuru, among them Gumbo, Savanhu,
Dzikamai
Mavhaire and Ephraim Masawi, the sources said, were at the congress
likely
to be dropped from the party's powerful organ that would reflect the
dominance of Mnangagwa.
Mnangagwa reportedly has the
support of provincial structures to
determine the make-up of the party's
presidium. He reportedly enjoys the
support of Masvingo, Midlands,
Manicaland, Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and
South
provinces.
Mujuru has the backing of Mashonaland East, while
Mashonaland Central
and Mashonaland West are reportedly divided over whom to
back.
Elections are yet to be held in Harare to elect
provincial leaders,
but the province was likely to be headed by Mnangagwa's
faction that is
reportedly backing Deputy Energy minister Hubert Nyanhongo
to become
chairperson ahead of ex-Mines minister Amos
Midzi.
However, the sources said they were not sure how the
deal would be
structured and its feasibility given that presidium candidates
have to be
nominated by the provinces ahead of the congress.
Politburo members are appointed by Mugabe.
Last week, the
Independent reported that sweeping changes were
expected to take place in
Zanu PF's youth and women's leagues at their
congresses in July and August
that should result in Muchinguri being elected
vice-president of the party
at the main December congress ahead of Mujuru
who is accused of working with
the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T.
Muchinguri would fight it out
with cabinet minister Olivia Muchena to
head the Women's League and
automatically secure members for the politburo
as secretary for women
affairs.
The leadership of the Youth League would also be
overhauled to reflect
the dominance of the Mnangagwa faction in Zanu
PF.
Current youth secretary in the politburo Absolom Sikhosana
and his
deputy Saviour Kasukuwere are expected to step down in line with the
party's
constitution that members of the league should be below 30 years of
age.
BY CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
21:21
MEMBERS of PARLIAMENT have rejected Finance minister Tendai
Biti's
offer of Mazda trucks arguing that the vehicles are expensive to
maintain
and not durable for rural-based lawmakers.
The MPs had
been offered Mazda BT-50s which are assembled at
Willowvale Mazda Motor
Industries, but spurned the offer on grounds that the
cars were not durable
for rural roads.Sources say that Biti structured a
vehicle allocation scheme
with Willowvale to ease transport problems for
lawmakers but his plan has
been met with open resistance from both MDC and
Zanu PF
parliamentarians.
According to sources, the legislators had been
told to surrender to
Biti vehicles they received from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe and collect
brand new double-cab Mazda T-50 vehicles, but the MPs
rejected Biti's offer
amid suspicion that the Finance minister was
attempting to score points in
his war with Gideon Gono.
For
Zanu PF legislators, surrendering the vehicles to Biti was
tantamount to
stabbing Gono in the back, sources said.
Biti and Gono have
clashed publicly since before the formation of the
unity government. Biti
accused Gono of ruining the economy through
quasi-fiscal
activities.
MDC legislators won't surrender the cars that they
already have on the
grounds that they are not being given room to have
vehicles of their choice.
Under the parliamentary vehicle
scheme, lawmakers choose vehicles they
want. But Biti argues that government
cannot afford any other vehicles at
the moment.
The MDC-T
legislators have accused the party leaders of double
standards by orering
them to return vehicles issued by Gono yet various
party executives continue
to hang on to theirs.
When reached for comment MDC-T chief whip
Innocent Gonese said
parliamentarians would get vehicles of their choices as
soon all
administrative work wass concluded.
"The
parliamentary procedure on vehicles has not yet been approved.
But MPs are
free to choose vehicles of their choice by sticking to
prescribed limit
which is US$30 000. There is no scheme for BT-50s," said
Gonese.
Asked why party officials have not complied with
the order to return
the vehicles, he said many were in compliance but could
not give details.
But parliamentary sources say Biti is working
hard to have the MPs
take the cars.
MDC officials who got
Toyota Land Cruiser and Prados from Gono are
Theresa Makone, Heneri
Dzinotyiwei, Fidelis Mhashu and Speaker of Parliament
Lovemore
Moyo.
BY CHRIS MURONZI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
21:21
GOVERNMENT is under pressure to reduce the number of diplomatic
missions abroad amid claims it requires over US$20 million monthly in
salaries and other expenses to keep the embassies running.
Zimbabwe has 38 embassies and three consulates in Africa and around
the
world. The missions are draining the fiscus in staff salaries and
rentals
for embassy buildings among other operational costs.
Sources said
there was a feeling in government that a majority of the
embassies were not
serving any economic or strategic purpose.
The Minister of
State in the Prime Minister's Office, Gorden Moyo,
told the Zimbabwe
Independent that while a country should have diplomatic
missions that pay
economic and strategic dividends, Zimbabwe was failing to
sustain its
embassies.
He said the issue of the diplomatic missions was not
exhaustively
debated in government but said reforms were
necessary.
"Ideally, Zimbabwe like any other country, should
have diplomatic
missions in strategic countries," said Moyo. "The issue of
the embassies was
not exhaustively debated and is still under consideration
but unfortunately
for Zimbabwe, the missions are costly and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
has a task to look at the viability of missions and maintain
those that are
viable," Moyo said.
He however could not
comment on government intentions to shut down
embassies and referred
questions to Foreign Affairs minister, Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi, who is
currently out of the country while his deputy Moses
Mzila-Ndlovu was not
reachable.
Zimbabwean ambassadors working in missions in Africa
and abroad are
getting salaries of between US$11 000 and US$13 000 a
month.
Zimbabwe has 16 diplomatic missions in Africa in Angola,
Botswana, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,
Libya, Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania,
and Zambia.
Overseas Zimbabwe is represented in Australia,
Austria, Belgium,
Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Iran, Italy
and Japan.
The country is also
represented in Kuwait, Malaysia, Portugal, Russia,
Sweden, Switzerland and
the United Kingdom.
In the United States Zimbabwe is
represented at the United Nations in
New York and in at the US seat of
power, Washington DC.
Some diplomats in the Zimbabwean
embassies have not been paid since
last year due to unavailability of
funds.
Zimbabwe at Independence opened diplomatic missions in
many countries
as a gesture of solidarity and appreciation for assisting
Zanu PF during the
war of liberation.
BY LOUGHTY DUBE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
21:18
PARLIAMENT will soon carry out public interviews for shortlisted
candidates to head four constitutional commissions amid growing concern the
process could be politically-driven.
Austin Zvoma, the clerk of
parliament, yesterday said potential
commissioners of the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC), the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission, the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Commission and the Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption Commission would be
interviewed by the Parliamentary
Standing Rules and Orders Committee in
public before the names of those
nominated are forwarded to President Robert
Mugabe for appointment.
The human rights commission, which seeks to
monitor and investigate
human rights violations, has not been constituted
since the relevant legal
statutes were enacted two years
ago.
"The interviews are going to take place in public," said
Zvoma, adding
that the public will "listen and watch without participating
in the process".
He said appointments would be
gender-sensitive.
Asked when the four commissions would be
constituted, Zvoma said it
was up to the president.
He
emphasised that the process would be "two-pronged", starting with
parliament
and ending with the president who appoints the commissioners in
terms of the
constitution.
He said commissioners from past commissions were
also eligible to
apply for the new posts.
The Constitution
of Zimbabwe Amendment No 19 Act says the president
shall appoint
commissioners for these bodies from a list submitted to him by
the Standing
Rules and Orders Committee.
A sub-committee of the Standing
Rules and Orders Committee (Law and
Procedure) chaired by Masvingo Urban MP
Tongai Matutu, will conduct the
interviews.
"There are
applications from individuals but civic society
organisations raised
concerns that why not accept block applications," Zvoma
said. "But the
committee will decide the methodology to be used."
He, however,
emphasised that the commissions' work was "not advocacy
or to represent
sectoral interests" and that the appointments would be based
on
"integrity".
After the constitution of the ZMC, the commission
is expected to
invite applications from people interested in publishing new
newspapers as
espoused in the Global Political Agreement signed last
September, which give
birth to the inclusive government.
Zvoma said an Act of parliament would be enacted to provide for "other
duties" of the ZMC.
Meanwhile, the Voluntary Media Council
of Zimbabwe this week gave the
green light to anyone of its members to serve
on ZMC if they so wish.
BY BERNARD MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 21:11
THE Lovemore Madhuku-chaired National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) is
broke
after being abandoned by its traditional financial backers who have
expressed confidence in the inclusive government's constitution-making
process.
Traditional donors, mainly Western governments, have
withdrawn their
support from the NCA and opting to put resources in the
government process
to be led by a 25-member parliamentary select
committee.
The assembly is embarking on a rural campaign to raise
money from
"peasants" to fund its operations.
On Wednesday Madhuku
admitted to the Zimbabwe Independent that his
outfit was broke, but he was
quick to say the assembly's relentless campaign
against the
parliamentary-led constitution-crafting process would never be
abandoned.
"It's true that we are in a bad financial
patch. Most of our
traditional funders have pulled out and channelled
resources to the
parliamentary-led constitutional process, which we remain
opposed to,"
Madhuku said.
He said the NCA would soon
launch an "aggressive rural campaign" to
raise money from the
peasants.
"They will sell their chickens and livestock to support our
cause," he
claims.
Asked why he was so sure that the
"peasants" would support his cause,
Madhuku said: "The NCA was originally
people-driven, bankrolled by our
membership, but along the way donors came
on board. Now the traditional
donors have pulled out opting to support the
government process."
According to the assembly, its members are
individual citizens
regardless of political affiliation, race, creed, class
or organisation.
Groups in the NCA include political parties,
labour movements,
students, youths and women's groups, churches, business
associations and
human rights organisations.
Explaining
further the NCA position, Madhuku said donor money has
cycles and it was
normal for organisations like his to experience financial
problems.
"Contracts expire and the time lag before renewal
is bad for NGOs,"
said Madhuku.
The NCA, which has dubbed
its campaign against the current
constitution-making "Take Charge", has
vowed to oppose the Kariba draft
crafted by politicians from the three main
political parties who make up the
inclusive government.
The NCA has
already pointed out what it said were shortcomings in the
current process
and had, to some extent, made parliamentarians think long
and hard about the
use of the Kariba draft as the key reference document.
The Independent
is reliably informed that the NCA was struggling to
finance it operations
such as paying salaries and rentals.
The NCA was founded in 1997 with
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as
its first chairman.
In its
prime, the NCA spearheaded a successful campaign against a new
constitution
in February 2000, which gave President Robert Mugabe his first
ever
electoral defeat.
The four-month-old coalition government between
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has embarked
on a constitution-making
process in line with the Global Political Agreement
the parties signed last
September.
The constitution-making
provincial consultative meetings are expected
to commence on Wednesday. A
new supreme law is expected to be promulgated in
18 months.
An
attempt to introduce a new constitution between 1999 and 2000
failed after
the NCA and other civil society groupings successfully
campaigned against a
government-sponsored draft.
Zimbabwe is currently governed under the
1979 constitution agreed at
the Lancaster House talks in London which has
been amended 19 times. Critics
say the changes have helped to tighten
President Mugabe and his Zanu PF
party's stranglehold on power.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
21:08
COURT officials at Bindura Magistrates Court have lodged a
complaint
with the chief magistrate against acting area public prosecutor
Emmanuel
Muchenga for alleged misconduct and corruption.
In a
letter dated June 11 to then Chief Magistrate Herbert Mandeya, 18
court
officials questioned Muchenga's work ethic.
The letter was also
copied to Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, his
deputy Jessie Majome, and
the Director of Public Prosecutions, among others.
"We write this
minute with great disgruntlement over the conduct of
the above mentioned
prosecutor," the letter says. "He has been on the verge
of destroying the
justice system for quite sometime now and we have written
this minute to
show our displeasure."
The court officials accused Muchinga of recently
initiating the
assault on a provincial magistrate in Bindura.
They
accused him of "profound interest" in the prosecution of court
staff in
cases he allegedly labels corrupt.
In all the cases, the letter read,
he has aided in the compilation of
dockets and prosecuting the
same.
"Our concern is not that he is not doing his job but we can see
that
his war is against those disturbing his corrupt deeds," the letter
reads.
Muchenga was also accused of misusing a government vehicle,
which he
allegedly uses to pirate daily to the capital.
The court
officials also accused him of impersonating the provincial
magistrate.
The court officials also criticised Muchenga's 17-year
stay at the
provincial court for "patronising, subjecting and manipulating"
other
government workers "to fulfil his wishes".
"We can also note
that he does not want or like anyone who has better
ideas or wits than his.
He has initiated the transfer or downfall of degreed
prosecutors fearing his
job security because he himself is a police
prosecutor and this even puzzles
us as to how he made his way into the
justice system from the police with
only 5 'O' Levels," the letter read.
Last week, Muchenga represented
the state in a case where a Bindura
magistrate, Story Rushambwa, was charged
with abusing public office.
Efforts to get a comment from Mandeya were
fruitless at the time of
going to press. Mandeya was promoted this week to
become the president of
the labour court.
BY BERNARD
MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
21:06
VICTORIA Falls' World Heritage status is under threat after two
hoteliers at the prime resort town petitioned the World Heritage Commission
against noise pollution in the town.
The hoteliers, The
Victoria Falls Hotel and the Kingdom, separately
wrote to the World Heritage
Commission saying noise generated by frequent
flights over the Falls and
through gorges and the number of licences given
to helicopter operators were
a cause for concern.
They warned that if left unchecked they "pose
the single biggest
threat to our status".
According to
letters seen by the Zimbabwe Independent this week, the
hotel groups say the
flights over the hotel were depriving their guests "of
a quiet and relaxing
environment".
"On behalf of the Victoria Falls Hotel, I would
like to register a
complaint against the helicopters and the noise they
produce which has a
negative impact on the environment and likewise destroys
the atmosphere in
our hotel and grounds," reads the letter.
"Daily we have to endure the noise and constant irritation from these
aircraft which fly directly over and above the Victoria Falls Hotel," the
report said.
Said the letter: "If one considers that
current hotel occupancies are
running at approximately 20% of capacity
surely when normal higher
occupancies return the environment cannot sustain
the impact of the
increased flights, increased operators and increased
frequency of the
helicopters."
At present there are two
operators flying: Zambian United Air Charters
with two helicopters, Batoka
Skies (three helicopters) and Zambezi
Helicopters with two
helicopters.
The Independent understands that plans are at an
advanced stage to
license up to eight more operators.
BY
NQOBILE BHEBHE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
21:04
THE land ownership wrangle pitting Bulawayo businessman Langton
Masunda and Zanu PF national chairman John Nkomo took another twist this
week when a deputy sheriff sent to evict the minister was thrown off the
farm by the Minister of National Healing's workers.
High Court
judge, Justice Francis Bere, in 2006 ordered the deputy
sheriff in Bulawayo
to evict Nkomo from Lugo Ranch that was allocated to
businessman Langton
Masunda. The order was not immediately enforced and the
High Court a
fortnight ago said it must be executed.
However, when deputy
Sheriff Peter Thomo Zulu arrived at the ranch on
Monday to evict Nkomo, he
was ordered to leave the property by the minister's
workers who were armed
with a letter written by Bulawayo High Court deputy
Registrar Njabulo Mabuya
ordering a stay of ejection.
In the letter, Mabuya said the
deputy sheriff should not evict Nkomo
as he had filed an urgent application
with the High Court to stop the
action.
Lawyers told the
Zimbabwe Independent that the power to stop the
eviction rested with a High
Court judge, not Mabuya.
The writ of execution passed by
Justice Bere for the eviction of Nkomo
reads: "Now therefore you are
required and directed to eject the said John
Landa Nkomo and all persons
claiming through him, his goods, and possessions
from and out of all
occupation and possession whatsoever of the said ground
and/or premises and
to leave the same, to the end that the said Langton
Masunda may peaceably
enter into and possess the same, and for so doing this
shall be your
warrant."
The land wrangle between Nkomo and Masunda is over
Jijima Lodge that
is on the ranch, which is situated in the Gwayi
Conservancy and has been
raging in the courts for the past five
years.
The case has been brought before several judges who have given
different verdicts. The judges include Judge President Rita Makarau, Justice
Bere and Justice Bhunu.
The judgements were either in
favour of Nkomo or Masunda.
Nkomo was allocated Lugo Ranch whereas
Masunda was allocated Volunteer
Farms 47, 48 and 49, both located in the
Gwayi Conservancy in Matabeleland
North.
The land under
dispute used to be owned by one farmer prior to the
land reform exercise and
the boundaries of the two farms were not clearly
defined at the time of
allocation of the land.
The dispute between Nkomo and Masunda
over the lodge nearly turned
fatal two months ago when Masunda's brother was
shot five times by security
officers employed by Nkomo.
The
security officer, Eddie Sigoge, was charged with attempted murder
and
unlawful possession of a firearm and was granted bail when he appeared
at
the Bulawayo magistrates' court.
BY LOUGHTY DUBE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 21:02
A
HARARE businessman has sued former Trust Banking Corporation
director Chris
Goromonzi over a US$70 000 grain import deal that went off
the
rails.
Duncan Mukondiwa, a fuel importer, wants to recover US$70
000 plus
interest the banker owes him since 2006 when the two partnered to
import
maize, fertiliser and rice from South Africa on behalf of the GMB in
a deal
that never took off.
High Court documents in the
possession of the Zimbabwe Independent
reveal that Goromonzi, representing a
Botswana company, Laupa Holdings,
approached Mukondiwa and entered into an
agreement on February 7 2006 where
the fuel importer advanced US$40 000 to
the banker at an interest rate of
46% monthly.
On March 13
2006, the two signed another agreement where Mukondiwa
advanced US$30 000 to
Goromonzi at an interest rate of 43% monthly.
The money,
according to the documents, was meant to import grain and
fertiliser on
behalf of the GMB and Mukondiwa was to be repaid "out of the
commission
proceeds from the grain transaction".
The first transaction was
to involve the importation of 50 000 tonnes
of maize to be supplied to the
GMB. This was to be followed by the
importation of 52 000 tonnes of
fertiliser and 16 000 metric tonnes of rice.
According to Mukondiwa,
the transactions never materialised.
"The proposal I am working
on is as follows: that you participate in
the transaction under my company
and outlay an amount of say US$40 000
towards the various upfront expenses,"
wrote Goromonzi to Mukondiwa on
February 2 2006. "This will be subject to
an agreement between you and my
vehicle - Laupa Holdings Botswana - who are
external principals in the
transaction. Laupa will guarantee you a return -
as per discussion of 46%
per month and payments will be made monthly subject
to timely receipt of
payments in respect of the export of the commodities to
Zimbabwe."
Laupa, a company Goromonzi owned, claimed to have
clinched a deal
involving the export of grain from South Africa into
Zimbabwe and had a
signed agency commission with Mvela Agri (Pvt) Ltd &
Mark Daniels (Pvt) Ltd.
As security to their agreements,
Goromonzi and Mukondiwa had agreed
that Laupa would cede part of its future
commission in respect of work done
on the grain export
transaction.
"The loan shall be secured by a personal guarantee
of Christopher
Pasipanodya Goromonzi," read when of the
agreements.
But Mukondiwa said when the deal failed to
materialise, Goromonzi only
paid him back US$30 000, forcing him to approach
the High Court.
Goromonzi, through his lawyers Scanlen &
Holderness, in his heads of
argument filed with the High Court on May 20
said the court had no
jurisdiction to entertain Mukondiwa because the
contracts "were neither
entered into in Zimbabwe nor to be performed in
Zimbabwe".
The lawyers questioned the legality of the
transaction on the basis
that exchange control authority was not sought in
the deal and that "an
illegal agreement which has not yet been performed,
either in part, will
never be enforced".
They argued that
the agreement was "illegal or immoral" in that it
"violated" Section 6 of
the Money Lending and Rates of Interest Act.
Goromonzi's
attorneys also argued that the matter ought to have been
referred to
arbitration and insist that the matter was a "classical case of
a vague and
embarrassing" claim.
Mukondiwa's lawyers, Kantor &
Immerman, on the other hand argued that
the High Court Act provides the
country's courts the jurisdiction to hear
the case on the "grounds that the
contracts were negotiated and entered into
in Zimbabwe".
Mukondiwa's lawyers also argued that arbitration was not necessary
because
the would-be mediator, the Commercial Arbitration of South Africa,
did not
exist.
"Therefore, there is no process by which arbitration can
be effected
since there is no one to appoint arbitrator and set out the
rules for such
arbitration," read Mukondiwa's heads of
argument.
Mukondiwa's attorney also argued that the agreement
was legal saying
there was no "exchange control restrictions in Zimbabwe
presently and that
the economy is dollarised".
"The company
(Laupa) which is the principal debtor under the agreement
has no assets and
is a shell and was essentially the conduct through which
defendant
(Goromonzi) perpetrated a fraud on the plaintiff," read the heads
of
argument. "On the facts, the defendant is clearly guilty of obtaining a
loan
under false pretences and misrepresentation. The plaintiff is taking
the
matter up with relevant authorities despite the fact that the defendant
is
using his political connections to thwart the process." - Staff Writer.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18
June 2009 20:58
A LAWYER representing Zimbabwe Independent editor
Vincent Kahiya and
news editor Constantine Chimakure - facing charges of
publishing or
communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state - on Tuesday
applied for
the referral of their case to the Supreme Court for
determination on the
constitutionality of the provisions of the law they are
charged under.
The two journalists are jointly charged with their
company, Zimind
Publishers pl, represented by finance director Michael
Curling.
In the application before Harare magistrate Moses Murendo,
defence
lawyer Innocent Chagonda said Section 31 of the Criminal Law
(Codification
and Reform) Act, which attracts a maximum of 20 years in
prison, infringed
on Section 20 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which
guarantees freedom of
expression.
He said it was important
that the country's highest court decides on
the constitutionality of the
provisions as it was a matter of public
importance.
Chagonda said the section of the law was a hindrance to the practice
of
journalism and was not necessary in a democracy.
He said the
section was "too wide, too oppressive, too savage" as to
restrict
journalists from exercising their profession.
Chagonda said the
Supreme Court should also deal with the question of
whether or not the
Attorney-General's Office can be the complainant and
prosecutor in the
case.
He said such a scenario would infringe on the accused
persons'
constitutional right to a fair trial.
Chagonda
said referring the case to the Supreme Court would not in any
way prejudice
the state.
Harare Area Public Prosecutor Jonathan Murombedzi
then sought a
postponement of the matter to July 9 to allow the state to
submit its
written responses in respect of the defence's application. The
postponement
was granted.
Charges against Kahiya, Chimakure
and Zimind Publishers arose on May 8
when the news editor wrote an article
headlined "CIO, police role in
activists' abduction revealed", stating that
notices of indictment for trial
in the High Court of human rights and MDC-T
activists allegedly abducted
between October and December last year had
revealed that the activists were
either in the custody of the CIO or police
during the period they were
reported missing.
Below is the
full application for referral of the matter to the
Supreme
Court.
The Accused persons are being jointly charged for
contravening Section
31 (a) (iii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act Chapter 9.23.
Section 31(a) (3) of the Code
provides as follows: "Any person who,
whether inside or outside Zimbabwe -
publishes or communicates to any person
a statement which is wholly or
materially false with the intention or
realising that there is a real risk
or possibility of undermining public
confidence in a law enforcement agency,
the Prison Service or the Defence
Forces of Zimbabwe; shall whether or not
the publication or communication
results in the consequence referred to in
subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii)
or(iv)". . .
It is respectfully
submitted that the above Section contravenes
Section 20 of the Constitution
of Zimbabwe which states as follows: "Except
with his own consent or by way
of parental discipline, no person shall be
hindered in the enjoyment of his
freedom of expression, that is to say,
freedom to hold opinions and to
receive and impact ideas and information
without interference, and freedom
from interference with his
correspondents."
It is
respectfully submitted that Section 31 of the Code is not saved
by Section
20(2) of the Constitution.
To the extent that Section 31 of the Code is
inconsistent or restricts
Section 20 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,
Section 31 of the Code should be
declared void in terms of Section 3 of the
Constitution and should therefore
be struck down.
This
application is in terms of Section 24(2) which states as follows:
"In any
proceedings in the High Court or in any court subordinate to the
High Court
if any question arises as to the contravention of the Declaration
of Rights,
the person presiding in that court may, and if so requested by
any party to
the proceedings shall, refer the question to the Supreme Court,
unless, in
his opinion, the raising of the question is merely frivolous or
vexatious."
As will be demonstrated herein below, it is
respectfully submitted
that this application is not frivolous or vexatious.
On the contrary, it is
submitted that the chances of the Supreme Court
finding Section 31 of the
Code unconstitutional are very high. Furthermore
and in any event, it is
respectfully submitted that the constitutionality of
Section 31 is a matter
of great public importance with significant
implications for the freedom of
the press and freedom of expression
generally and therefore it is quite
appropriate for this court to refer this
matter to the Supreme Court.
The type of the offence created by
Section 31 is generally known as
the false news offence. In the case of
Chavunduka and Another v The Minister
of Home Affairs and Another 2000(1)
ZLR p552, Gubbay CJ gave a detailed
analysis of the origin of Section 50(2)
of the then Law and Order
(Maintenance) Act which provided as
follows:
"(1) 'Statement' includes any writing, printing,
picture, painting
drawing or other similar representation;
(2) Any
person who makes, publishes or reproduces any false statement,
rumour or
report which
(a) is likely to cause fear, alarm or despondency among
the public or
any section of the public; or
(b) is likely to
disturb the public peace;
Shall be guilty of an offence and
liable to imprisonment for a period
not exceeding seven years, unless he
satisfies the court that before making,
publishing or reproducing, as the
case may be, the statement, rumour or
report he took reasonable measures to
verify the accuracy thereof."
It is respectfully submitted that
the publication in the matter in
casu is clearly protected by Section 20(1)
of the Constitution. The
importance of freedom of expression to the
Zimbabwean democracy had been
repeatedly underscored in various cases. See
United Parties v the Minister
of Justice & Another 1999 (2) ZLR p254.
In the case of Chavunduka and
Another v The Minister of Home Affairs supra,
the court emphasised that
freedom of expression has four broad special
objectives to save;
lIt helps an individual to obtain
self-fulfilment;
lIt assists in the discovery of the truth and in
promoting political
and social participation;
lIt strengthens the
capacity of an individual to particulate in
decision-making and;
lIt provides a mechanism by which it will be possible to establish a
reasonable balance between stability and social change.
It
is therefore clear that the publication in this matter is clearly
protected
by Section 20(1) of the Constitution and that Section 31 of the
Code
restricts this form of expression is clearly common cause. It is
submitted
that the reality of being liable to a criminal conviction and
imprisonment
for a period not exceeding 20 years results very definitely in
the
curtailment of free expression.
The next issue that needs to be
debated and settled is whether the
limitations which Section 31 of the Code
imposes on the right of free
expression is saved by Section 22(2) of the
Constitution. In the Case of
Chavunduka & Other v The Minister of Home
Affairs & Another supra, the
Supreme Court examined Section 50 of the
then Law and Order (Maintenance)
Act under the following headings:
lAre the limitations authorised by law;
lDoes Section 50(2)(a)
makes provisions in the interest of public
safety or public Order
and;
lIs the limitation upon the freedom of expression mandated under
Section 50(2)(a) of the Act reasonably justifiable in a democratic
society"?
After making the analysis, the Supreme Court found
that Section 50(2)
of the then Law and Order (Maintenance) Act was not saved
by Section 20(2)
of the Constitution and was therefore declared void. It is
respectfully
submitted that there is absolutely no difference between the
present Section
31 of the Code and the then Section 50(2) of the then Law
and Order
(Maintenance) Act. For the avoidance of the doubt, Section 31 of
the Code
will be examined under the following headings detailed
below:
lIs the limitation authorised by law?
In the
Chavunduka case, the Supreme Court had this to say: "It is
crucial,
therefore that the law must be accessible and formulated with
sufficient
precision to enable a person to regulate his conduct, he or she
must know,
with reasonable certainty, what the law is and what actions are
in danger of
breaching the law... a provision will be too vague if it fails
to provide a
foundation for legal debate and discussion".
The Supreme Court
went on to criticise the then Section 50(2) (a) of
the Act at page 562 as
follows: "It is obvious that the provisions do not
criminalise false
statements: nor false statements which actually cause
fear, alarm or
despondency. It criminalises false statements which are
likely to cause
fear, alarm or despondency.
There is no requirement of proof of any
consequence - of damage to the
state or impact upon the public. What the
lawmaker has provided for is a
speculative offence. An offence has been
created out of conjectural
likelihood of fear, alarm or despondency which
may arise out of the
publication of any statement, rumour or report even to
a single person. It
matters not that no fear, alarm or despondency actually
eventuates."
It is submitted that the same criticism can be
said of Section 31.
The section criminalises the person who not only intends
the prescribed
consequences to occur but who should realise the real risk or
likelihood of
the risk prescribed happening irrespective of whether such
risk leads to the
prescribed consequences or not. It is concerned with risks
and therefore
what the lawmaker has provided for is clearly a speculative
offence.
In the Chavunduka case, the Court went on to state as
follows:
"Because Section 50(2) (a) is concerned with likelihood rather than
reality
and since the passage of time between the dates of publication and
trial is
irrelevant, it is, to my mind, vague, being susceptible of too wide
an
interpretation. It presses persons in doubt as to what can lawfully be
done
and what cannot. As a result, it exerts an unacceptable "chilling
effect"
on freedom of expression since people will tend to steer clear of
the
potential zone of application to avoid censor and liability to a maximum
period of seven years imprisonment."
The same can be said
of Section 31. In fact, the chilling effect of
Section 31 is more than twice
what was provided for under the then Section
50(2). The chilling effect is
20 years imprisonment as opposed to only
seven.
In the
Chavunduka case, the Court also dealt with the word "false" and
it found
that it was very wide. The inevitable conclusion is clearly that
the
provision of the section in question is uncertain in the generality of
the
discretion conferred upon the Attorney-General as to whether to
prosecute or
not and in its use of language insufficiently precise to
demonstrate the
area of risk and provide guidance of conduct to persons of
average
intelligence.
It is also submitted that the limitation upon
freedom of expression
mandated under Section 31 of the Code is not
reasonably justified in a
democratic society. See Nyambirai NSSA &
Another 1985 (2) ZLR P1 and see
also Chavunduka & Other v The Minister
of Home Affairs & Another.
In State v Tsvangirai 2001 (2)
ZLR 426 the court dealt with provisions
of Section 51 and 58 of the then Law
and Order (Maintenance) Act. The
Supreme Court dealt with similar wordings
to the current Section 31 of the
Code and made the same
criticism.
From the foregoing it is submitted that the chances
of the Supreme
Court finding Section 31 of the Code unconstitutional are
very high.
This court has in the past and very recently for
that matter referred
matters of this nature to the Supreme Court in the form
of Section 24(2) of
the Supreme Court. It is submitted that there is no
prejudice that will be
visited to the state if the matter is referred to the
Supreme Court.
On the other hand it would be prejudicial to the
accused persons if
this case is not referred to the Supreme Court. The risk
of being tried on a
charge which may be unconstitutional and which has a
lengthy imprisonment
term is clearly prejudicial. - Staff Writer.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
19:58
WHILE there might be a genuine need to give Zimbabweans a piece
of the
economic pie, the indigenisation of the mining sector could prove to
be an
uphill task in the current economic and political environment because
indigenisation must also ensure growth of the industry.
Chamber
of Mines president Victor Gapare says although he strongly
believes in the
need to empower locals, pursuing a wealth redistribution
programme in the
current economic environment could stunt the growth of the
industry. He says
in order for government's planned empowerment programme to
succeed, it
required a "functional" economic and political environment.
"The
best conditions for empowerment entail a functional economic and
political
situation," he said. "Empowerment entails that those being
empowered have to
raise capital on the market to buy into existing
businesses or to establish
new businesses.
"In South Africa, for instance, the financial sector
was ready to fund
Black Economic Empowerment transactions. In addition,
there were strong
public sector institutions which assisted a number of
deals and some of
these include the Industrial Development Corporation, the
Public Investment
Fund and the Development Bank of Southern
Africa."
Back home, banks are struggling at the moment to fund working
capital
requirements for existing companies to lift output, let alone
provide buyout
debt.
A few years ago, the African Development Bank
emphasised the need for
a stable macro-economic environment before
implementing any kind of wealth
re-distribution exercise.
At the
moment financial institutions do not have the resources to
finance economic
empowerment transactions, says Gapare.
On the other hand, foreign
financial institutions have been sitting on
the fence as they cannot make
head nor tail of the situation, largely owing
to a perceived risk associated
with the country at the moment.
In instances where debt was provided to
local companies from foreign
financiers, the interest rates were
"diabolical" at over 14% annually with a
90-day tenure.
"Buying
equity in a company requires long- term debt as in most cases
the returns
are over a long period of time. It's impossible to fund
empowerment with a
90-day debt. In short, what we need is a stable political
and economic
environment to ensure that economic empowerment deals are
successful. In the
current unstable political and economic environment, it's
difficult to see
how empowerment deals can be done successfully," adds
Gapare.
Against a background where local banks need to be recapitalised to
support
working capital requirements of existing operations, Gapare says
individuals
looking at empowerment deals would have to look at other means
to raise
capital.
"It will take time for the Zimbabwean financial institutions
to be
able to finance long- term capital required for empowerment deals," he
explains.
But Empowerment minister Savior Kasukuwere says Zimbabwe
should not
give away its resources because it does not have the financial
resources to
pursue empowerment.
"Just because we don't have
financial resources doesn't mean we should
give away our resources," said
Kasukuwere. "Against such a background we
will work with investors who are
serious about investing notwithstanding the
absence of capital. We cannot
undermine the base value of our yet to be
developed mining resources because
we don't have the money to mine."
Instead of fighting over a smaller
cake in the form of only 10
foreign-owned mines, Gapare says the bulk of
empowerment deals could come
from the creation of new mines through
partnerships between local people or
formation of consortiums and foreign
investors, who will bring the capital.
This way, Zimbabweans would not have
to share crumbs, Gapare says, but dig
into a whole bigger cake of the mining
sector.
"The chamber is not against empowerment in the mining
industry," he
said. "What we want is a process which will result in the
industry growing
rather than the growth of the industry being stunted. There
are less than 10
foreign-owned mining companies in Zimbabwe, so the existing
mines do not
provide much scope for many empowerment deals. The principle
which we want
to achieve is to share a bigger cake rather than a smaller
one."
The chamber is currently discussing ways in which empowerment
could be
achieved including equity ownership, assistance in the development
of
small-scale miners to graduate into formal mines, sourcing goods and
services from local suppliers, skills development, and infrastructure
development.
"Equity participation, while important, is not the
only way to achieve
empowerment in the mining industry and invariably equity
holders are the
last to get income from a business," he said.
"The
bulk of empowerment deals have to come out of the creation of new
mines and
these have to be partnerships between local people or consortiums
and
foreign investors who will bring the capital," Gapare concluded.
Only
three of Zimbabwe's mines are operating at near capacity while
the bulk of
mines are operating at below 20% capacity. Gold mines were the
worst hit by
years of economic mismanagement at the hands of President
Robert Mugabe's
government. Mugabe has been advocating for empowerment for
years but it
remains to be seen whether government will come up with an
empowerment
programme that will grow the mining industry, let alone benefit
the bulk of
ordinary Zimbabweans.
Mugabe's critics believe the empowerment exercise
could benefit a
handful of the aged leader's cronies, citing the land reform
programme where
party officials got the best farms in an initiative meant to
benefit the
poor, as a case in point.
BY CHRIS MURONZI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
19:19
COMMERCIAL banks have increased service charges by between US$2
and
US$7 per month for individuals, while corporates are being charged
between
US$8 and US$15 depending on the bank.
Individuals are
also being charged between US$1 and US$4 for every
transaction while
corporates are charged up to US$10.
To transfer money to another
account, banks charge between 0,75% and
5% of the amount involved.
Figures obtained by businessdigest this week show that commercial
banks have
increased their charges by an average of 5% since the first
quarter of the
year.
Individuals and corporates will now have to part with between
US$30-60
a month in bank charges when they make transactions on their
foreign
currency accounts (FCAs).
Civil servants this week said
they were earning US$95 as banks were
deducting as much as US$5.
This week banks also advised their clients that the amount of cash
that
could be exported in person or in baggage had been reviewed from US$250
000
to US$10 000 on a no-questions asked basis. This threshold shall,
however,
have no bearing on the daily maximum cash withdrawal limit which is
set at
US$1,5 million. All foreign payments and withdrawals of more that
US$1,5
million require prior exchange control approval.
To be issued with a
draft/RMO, individuals and corporates are parting
with between US$8 and
US$14.
FCA inter-account transfers cost between US$1 and US$4 depending
on
the bank for both individuals and corporates.
Service charges
for salary processing are between US$1 and US$3 per
entry for manual salary
payments.
Companies will be charged between US$7 and US$10 per payroll
for late
salary submissions.
Most banks have not set a charge for
intermediated money transfer tax.
Unclaimed salaries for other employees
cost between US$4 and US$7.
Facility negotiation fees for corporates
cost 5% of the value of the
overdraft or loans.
Between US$5 and
US$8 is being charged for stop orders. Accounts
closed within six months are
attracting a fee of between US$18 and US$25,
while reactivation of a dormant
account costs between US$20 and US$25.
Services for bonds guarantees,
securities and indemnities and bills
range from 5% and 10% of the amount at
hand.
Charges for letters of guarantee, and guarantees are between 5%
and 6%
of the amount involved.
Telegraphic transfers cost between
US$17-26 for both corporates and
individuals. The same amount is being
charged for deposits received by
telegraphic transfers.
Individuals
are either not being charged to maintain their accounts or
are parting with
anything below US$5 depending on the bank. Corporates are
being charged
between US$8 and US$15 per month for monthly account
maintenance.
BY PAUL NYAKAZEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 19:12
AIM-listed LonZim could be forced by its shareholders to sell most of
its
investments in the region when it convenes an extraordinary general
meeting
(EGM).
The company has been dragging its heels on the date of the
EGM.
AMB Ireland, a 22,12% shareholder, says although it requested
an EGM
in April, LonZim was still to announce a date.
At the EGM
AMB Ireland will seek to remove four directors and
reconstitute the board to
pave way for the sale of the company's "non
profitable and start-up"
investments.
In April, AMB Ireland duly requested an EGM through the
registered
owner of its LonZim shares, Pershing International Nominees Ltd
but LonZim
is seemingly ignoring the demands.
LonZim said then that
the "EGM would most likely be held in June" but
no date has been set
yet.
"AMB Ireland does not believe it is right and proper for the board
to
ignore a duly served shareholder requisition in this way," the company
said.
Damille Partners IV, a 6,46% shareholder in LonZim, has also
thrown
its support behind AMB Ireland and will support all its
resolutions.
AMB capital alleges there is a blatant conflict of
interest on the
part of LonZim directors.
The financial services
firm says of the £18,96 million capital that
LonZim deployed in investments,
£9,78 million, approximately 51,6% of the
total capital, has been invested
in related party transactions or
transactions involving Lonrho and or its
employees, "either immediately or
in the future".
The company cited
LonZim's acquisition of Lonrho shares in a private
placement without
shareholder approval as another case in point.
The AIM company also
acquired Blueberry International Services Ltd
from Lonrho and the lease by
LonZim to Fly 540 Uganda, a Lonrho subsidiary,
of the two aircraft purchased
by LonZim in October 2008.
LonZim also bought a 79% shareholding in
Aldeamento Turistico de
Macuti, SARL (ATdM), the holder of a Beira property
on which a hotel will be
developed, which will be "operated and managed by
an entity owned by Lonrho
plc" as announced on February 20 2008.
AMB says LonZim has not made investments in sectors where it has
"obvious
expertise" while querying the high number of "non-profitable"
ventures which
will require significant management and developmental
capital.
Instead, AMB feels that there is need to appoint an independent board
that
will sell the company's assets to create value for shareholders and
lower
administrative costs which continue to accumulate mainly largely for
the
benefit of parent company, Lonrho's benefit.
AMB is proposing Andrew
Sprague, Michael Vosloo, Brett Miller and Rhys
Davies be appointed to
LonZim's board.
"AMB Ireland does not believe that LonZim's investments
will benefit
from any turnaround in Zimbabwe, as the current LonZim
structure does not
have the management to operate and turn around the
assets, nor will it be
able to source funding for these businesses at
commercial rates," AMB added.
The current LonZim board is comprised of
four executive directors, who
are also directors of Lonrho, a 24,53%
shareholder and the management
services provider and two independent
non-executive directors.
According to LonZim's February 2009 interim
results, the tangible net
asset value excluding goodwill and other
intangibles per share of Lonzim was
58,6 pence per share, a 41,4% reduction
in value for Lonzim's initial
shareholders. The Irish company says based on
current capital invested,
LonZim's recurring administrative costs annually
are estimated to be in
excess of £500 000, of which a minimum of £333 333 is
paid to Lonrho as the
management fees while another £48 000 is paid to the
executive directors as
directors fees.
LonZim's revenue in the
interim period to February 28 2009 was £495
000, while losses for the same
period were £716 000.
BY CHRIS MURONZI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 19:09
IT is just after daybreak and the morning winter chills are yet to
break.
Many people are still asleep in the comfort of their beds or are just
waking
up. However, deep in the heart of one of Harare's industrial areas
business
has already begun in earnest.
By this time, farmers are anxiously
following the auctioneer and his
troop of buyers in neatly arranged rows of
tobacco bales that the farmers
would have brought to the floors. This
process is the culmination of a year
long struggle starting from the
seed-bed preparations right through to the
planting, nurturing and curing,
bringing the bales to a standard condition
fit for sale as prescribed by
industry practice. For the first time in a
while, payments to the farmers
actually count for something given that this
year there is no foreign
currency retention ratios. Caesar finally gets what
is due to
him.
Amidst all this excitement one can already see the genuine
elation
that finally, the farmers receive their toil's worth. For some this
means
being able to meet school fees payments, for others realising that
dream to
add a bit of furniture to the household and yet for others the
funds
received are already being committed to next season's preparations.
While
those who dared to venture into agricultural production are smiling
all the
way to the bank, should the rest of the country expect much of these
benefits to have a profound difference in their lives?
This year by
many standards, will perhaps go down as one of the worst
in recent memory
vis-à-vis the overall production in this sector. Initial
estimates of
tobacco sales this year were put at 42 million kgs. Give or
take some bales
from last year that could find their way to the auction
floors this year,
one could reasonably expect that figure to reach 50
million kgs. From a
survey at one of the auction floors, the average price
per kilogram so far
is sitting at roughly US$3. This brings the total
expected receipts to about
US$150 million.
Even after taking into account the downstream benefits
expected from
multiplier effects, this is still a far cry from the billions
of dollars
that are often quoted as required for the turnaround to take
root.
Considering that for the last few years returns from farming were not
what
they should have been, one can anticipate a significant part of these
funds
to find their way out of the country somehow, just in case a sudden
policy
shift was to occur.
No one expects the tobacco to be the
sole carrier of the burden to
revive the economy. But, let's face it,
despite having a comparatively sound
industrial base, Zimbabwe has always
been an agro-based economy with tobacco
being one of the main drivers. After
all, every cent counts.
Perhaps it is on this background that the Prime
Minister has taken it
upon himself to rally up international financial
support. Initial
indications suggest that it will take a lot more on this
country's part to
gain any meaningful injections. A comparison has been made
where a football
club in Europe spends more buying just one player than
total commitments in
aid to Zimbabwe. The Deputy Prime Minister could not
have put it better at
the recent World Economic Forum when he suggested that
what Zimbabwe needs
is direct investment as opposed to aid. This is would be
the only way out to
create a sustainable economy.
A suggestion
would be a shift in focus. Has anyone ever considered
trying to lure African
investors, in particular those outside South Africa,
instead? There are a
number opportunities available if one can present sound
business models. It
is also more likely that convincing such investors to
come on board is
easier given their proximity to Zimbabwe. It is amazing
that a country like
Gabon, where the long serving president recently died,
has a GDP per capita
close to those of some parts of Europe!
While some of these countries
remain largely poor, pockets of wealthy
individuals do exist and perhaps
looking to Africa could pay dividends.
Surely there are some with spare
change for poor Zimbabwe.
The long and short of it is that the
agricultural sector and tobacco
in particular, will in its self require
significant financial and human
input to get back to past levels. Expecting
tobacco alone and other such
sectors to be the salvation will take much
longer than initially
anticipated. If the wealthy would much rather spend
£80 million on a soccer
player than investing in Zimbabwe, then maybe it is
time Zimbabwe wakes up,
smells the coffee and look for other
alternatives.
BY TICH PASI
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
19:06
ZIMBABWE was ranked as one of the countries with the least
competitive
economies according to the 2009 Africa Competitiveness Report
unveiled at
the World Economic Forum (WEF) last week.
Economic
researchers who compiled the report cast the spotlight on
areas where urgent
policy action and investment were needed to ensure that
Zimbabwe's economy
is revived.
The report identifies, among others, limited access to
financial
services as a major obstacle for Zimbabwe's enterprises.
It also pointed out that underdeveloped infrastructure, limited
healthcare
and education services and poor institutional frameworks as
making Zimbabwe
less competitive in the global marketplace.
According to the report,
Zimbabwe was ranked 133rd on the overall
index out of the 134 country's
surveyed scoring 2,9 points out of a possible
10.
On "efficiency
enhancer" the country was ranked 131, scoring 2,9
points. Zimbabwe was
ranked number 134 on "basic requirements" scoring 2,9
points. The country
scored 2,9 points on "innovation factor" where it was
ranked number
122.
The report reflects research findings of three institutions -- the
World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank and the World
Bank.
The report said Zimbabwe needed "financial development and trade
was
crucial to making the country and the region more competitive if it was
to
ride out the current crisis".
It noted that Zimbabwean
businesses could become more competitive, if
its government and
international partners improve access to finance, resist
pressure to erect
trade barriers, upgrade infrastructure, improve healthcare
and educational
systems and strengthen institutions.
The country continues to struggle
and to lag behind in harnessing its
natural resources and opportunities
available to it to develop and advance
economic growth for its
population.
The current global economic crisis makes the economic
situation of the
country even more dire, despite the country's strategic
positioning, as the
main supplier of the world's major minerals such as gold
and platinum, and
raw materials such as tobacco, flowers and
cotton.
Commenting on Zimbabwe and Africa's economic standings,
Jennifer
Blanke, co-author of the report said: "We are finding that overall
African
countries tend to be less competitive than many other regions. When
you talk
about competitiveness, you're talking about the productivity of
nations, for
the capacity to produce goods and services, provide
employment".
However, there are a few nations that she calls "shining
lights" in
Africa; countries that are "quite competitive by international
standards".
These include South Africa, Botswana and Mauritius.
Blanke said good governance was vital for growth in Zimbabwe and
Africa.
"Basically, it's the institutional or the governance environment
that sets
the rules of the game, allows for a level playing field and
ensures all of
the actors understand and have faith in the market. This is
the key issue
underlying everything else".
Investment analyst, Philip Chichoni said
the problem facing Zimbabwean
business and manufacturers was that of low
priced imported goods.
"At the root of the problem is the seemingly
high cost of production
in Zimbabwe. Goods from South Africa, Brazil and
other countries are landing
at prices much lower than the cost of production
here," he said.
Chichoni said the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe
has recently
been lobbying for the introduction of tariffs on imported maize
meal to
protect the local industry, citing that they are being priced out of
the
market by imported maize meal.
"Imports are cheaper for a
number of reasons. First, the industry in
the exporting countries is at an
advanced level in terms of technology and
mechanisation. Second, the
industry is functioning effectively without the
problems of power cuts,
water shortages and scarcity of foreign currency to
purchase spare parts and
raw materials."
"Zimbabwean manufacturers face these challenges and
more. As a result,
their operating costs are comparatively higher.
"The other problem is that of low operational levels. South African,
American, Asian and European companies enjoy massive economies of scale,"
Chichoni said
The report's recommendation to increase
competitiveness was increasing
access to finance through market-enabling
policies. Africa's financial
systems have been deepening and broadening in
recent years, but the current
global crisis threatens to reverse this trend
and undermine recent progress.
It is now even more important to upgrade the
necessary frameworks for sound,
efficient and inclusive financial
systems.
The report said keeping markets open to trade was also
important.
"Protectionist forces are emerging in response to the global
economic
crisis. Yet, such measures will further reduce demand and restrict
growth.
Africa's leaders must resist domestic political pressures to erect
trade
barriers that would make the region's recovery even more difficult,"
said
Blanke.
Economist Brains Muchemwa said after years of
strangulation, "the
local industry was not in the best shape to compete, but
will gain more
largely from cross-border financing opportunities and fairer
exposure to
markets with higher spending power as Zimbabwe is among the
countryies with
the lowest GDP per capita in Africa at less than
US$380".
Coronation Financial Service investment analyst Lance
Mambondiani said
if Zimbabwe and the Sub-Saharan region were to benefit from
sustainable
economic growth, there was need for regional integration to
increase trade
competitiveness.
"Integration tends to promote
higher growth through such channels as
improved resource allocation, greater
competition, technology transfers and
learning and improved access to
foreign capital. Trade and investment tend
to increase in countries which
have opened themselves up to the world
economies and growth itself tends to
promote integration," he said.
"Needless to say, Africa is a totally
different proposition to the EU
or Nafta countries. African countries have a
history of bad governance,
dictatorships and protectionism. Whether a common
ground can be achieved to
narrow political divisions is perhaps the biggest
stumbling block in
implementation."
Gilbert Muponda said Zimbabwe
"needs to invest and attract investment
in major sectors of the economy to
improve infrastructure, limited
healthcare and educational services, and
poor institutional frameworks that
make it less competitive in the global
marketplace".
The report said infrastructure remains one of the top
constraints to
businesses in Africa. "Energy and transportation are among
the main
bottlenecks to productivity growth and competitiveness in Africa.
Investment
in upgrading infrastructure would both place Africa on a higher
growth
trajectory as well as serve as a fiscal stimulus at a critical time,"
the
report said.
Inefficient basic education and healthcare systems
constrain Africa's
productive potential as well.
"Unless
educational and healthcare systems are upgraded in Africa,
firms will
continue to be constrained in their move up the value chain, and
economic
development will be hindered," it said.
It is the second report on
African business environment to leverage
knowledge and expertise within the
three organisations.
BY PAUL NYAKAZEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
18:58
COUNTRIES, like consumer products, rely for their success on
their
reputations - their brand images. The perceptions of potential
visitors,
investors or buyers of products are key to their
decision-making.
That is why there is now general recognition of
the need to
resuscitate and reposition the image of Zimbabwe in the eyes of
the world.
The attendance at the World Economic Forum - Africa
meeting, held in
Cape Town from June 10 to 12, of a Zimbabwe government
delegation together
with a wide cross-section of prominent Zimbabwean
business people was the
first significant step in the process of
repositioning the country's image.
Government and business
representatives attending the meeting were at
one on the need to use it to
kick-start the country's return to its former
status as having reliable and
safe investment opportunities and being a
world-class, and unique, tourist
destination.
The World Economic Forum, based in Davos, Switzerland, is
privately
funded by its members who are, in the main, leaders of large
multi-national
businesses. Its annual meetings, in Davos, attract the great
and the good
from the world of big business and international politics. The
informal
meetings, or "networking", of those attending are as equally
important as
the formal proceedings.
Africa, because of its
geopolitical and resources importance, warrants
its own annual meeting and
many of those who attend the Davos get-together
attend the Africa
event.
From Zimbabwe's point of view, the 2009 meeting could not have
come at
a better time. The new political dispensation, coupled with a start
to
reform and rejuvenation of the public and private sectors and the
accepted
need to improve the country's image, meant that a powerful and
positive
message could be presented in Cape Town.
The thrust of
"Team Zimbabwe" was to use the precious agenda slot in
the formal
proceedings, titled "The Reconstruction of Zimbabwe", to best
effect and
also to take advantage of the opportunity to target corporate and
political
opinion leaders seen as crucial to Zimbabwe's efforts to again be
acknowledged as a country worth doing business with.
The country
dinner, arranged for the opening night of the Forum, had
to compete with the
other dinners and corporate functions laid on by other
countries and
companies. In the end, demand for the 100 places available
far exceeded
supply and there were more than a few disappointed people.
The chosen
format was, time for "networking" before and after, and the
courses of the
meal interspersed with presentations from Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara, Finance minister Tendai Biti and Justice Minister
Patrick
Chinamasa. These added the political clout to the case put forward
by the
business representatives such as Shingi Munyeza from African Sun,
Andrew
Cranswick from African Consolidated Resources and Douglas Munatsi of
Banc
ABC. Under the direction of KMAL's Nigel Chanakira as master of
ceremonies
for the evening, all speakers stressed the positive political
changes
achieved and the investment opportunities Zimbabwe offers. Notably,
there
was an obvious appreciation of the symbiotic relationship between
business
and economic success, and a powerful country brand image, and the
need to
progress this.
The country dinner was a success and stood out among all
the others
held during the forum. The Zimbabweans put on an event everyone
can be
proud of, being the right mix of serious, factual presentations and
entertainment by internationally-acclaimed Oliver Mtukudzi. As a
brand-building exercise and investment presentation, the evening was
recognised as an important first step.
The formal agenda session on
the closing day of the forum was entitled
"The Reconstruction of
Zimbabwe". Mutambara spoke passionately about the
importance of the
removal of sanctions as a means to "help us help
ourselves".
Biti
reported on progress made with the institutional reforms which
are required
to ensure Zimbabwe regains its institutional credibility and
creates a
stable investment environment. He also announced that the
Zimbabwean economy
would grow by more than 4% this year. Speaking on the
same panel, Chanakira
spoke directly to investors to look and consider
Zimbabwe as a competitive,
high rate of return, investment destination. A
most welcome panellist was
South Africa's Deputy President, Kgalema
Motlanthe, who stressed that
Zimbabwe did not have the luxury of time, given
the complexities and time
sensitivities of the problems which required money
and investment to be
resolved. He reiterated his confidence on a quick
turn-around given
Zimbabwe's educated and skilled population, its
infrastructure and natural
resources.
In setting out a new beginning for Zimbabwe as a country,
the panel
put forward a cohesive message and addressed the political and
business
concerns of many potential investors while showing a clear path to
re-positioning the country's reputation and image.
My view on the
way forward was strengthened in Cape Town and a great
deal of work lies
ahead for all of us as Zimbabweans. There is nothing as
energising as
change. And change is what is happening in Zimbabwe. We have
great mountains
to climb as we balance the social, political and economic
needs of our
people.
Re-branding and repositioning a country will not happen
overnight, it
is a process. The key is to re-engage and communicate with
relevant
audiences and opinion leaders in a strategic and tactful manner, as
was done
at the World Economic Forum.
As business people we
understand that becoming a significant player in
an increasingly competitive
regional and global market will be a long, hard
journey and our first job is
to re-establish our credibility. At the top of
our agenda has to be
re-building our reputation as a safe, reliable and
lucrative investment
destination. We must, and we will, re-position
ourselves in the eyes of the
world in such a way as to express our real
personality and spirit. The
opportunity to re-build not only the
fundamentals like basic infrastructure,
water and power supplies and a
working health and education system is of
priority. It is also key that we
carry out the work carefully and
strategically, looking to the future but
learning from the past.
The world is a highly competitive place and Zimbabwe will need to
reposition
itself as a country, and build once again its national
reputation. There is
an urgent and important need to reposition and rebuild
Zimbabwe in the minds
of its own people, its Diaspora and potential
investors and
tourists.
Becoming a globally competitive player is a long hard journey
and
Zimbabwe is starting at the very beginning to re-establish its
credibility.
This massive challenge will create a myriad of opportunities.
This in turn
must be tempered by the need to work carefully and
strategically, focusing
our abilities and resources to successfully
reposition the image of the
country.
Zimbabwe is a work in
progress. We also understand that it is the
actions and words of our
leadership that will start and underpin the change
of perceptions needed for
the country to succeed. Business needs to thrive
and we need to attract as
much investment as possible and so the
relationship is symbiotic. Zimbabwe
needs business and business needs a
strong Zimbabwe brand.
The
first target market for any re-branding work should be the people
of
Zimbabwe, who desperately need to start feeling proud of their country
once
again. Then we should engage the Diaspora and, only after that the
international community. It is essential to start work on this very
important project of repositioning Zimbabwe soon, by first getting alignment
and buy-in from our new leadership and key stakeholders, for it is
principally they who shape the world's perceptions.
A start has
already been made to align these elements and I believe
this will continue
and gather momentum. There is a well of goodwill
towards Zimbabwe and this
goodwill needs to be nurtured as it will bolster
the political and economic
rehabilitation process by encouraging those who
must lead our recovery
efforts.
Mugabe is Imago CEO. She recently attended the WEF in Cape
Town
BY SHARON MUGABE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday,
18 June 2009 20:33
IT is not difficult to spot the contradiction in
Zimbabwe's foreign
policy. On the one hand we have the loud bleatings by our
colleagues in the
state media about "illegal sanctions" and Morgan
Tsvangirai's failure to
raise meaningful funds on his European and US tour,
and on the other hand
what can best be interpreted as calculated manoeuvres
designed to sabotage
his mission.
How else can we interpret a
statement by Media minister Webster Shamu
that he will only take orders from
President Mugabe who appointed him and
not PM Tsvangirai?
This
was in response to an instruction from Tsvangirai telling Shamu
to uphold
the rights of four journalists in line with a court judgement.
What
could be more calculated to undermine Tsvangirai's claims that
the inclusive
government is working well and that there have been meaningful
changes in
the attitude of Zanu PF? And what more proof is needed that
Zimbabwe is a
state where ministers pick and choose who they will obey and
what court
orders they will uphold.
EU and US leaders needed to hear that the
process of reform in Harare
was well underway and that power-sharing was
genuine. They needed to hear
that the rule of law was being upheld. Instead
they were given a
demonstration of old-guard recidivism.
Then the
state media, which appears incapable of understanding the
significance of
any of this, complains bitterly when sanctions remain in
place and Zanu PF
ministers are excluded from high-level talks.
Here's the message
for the more obtuse members of our fraternity. Zanu
PF's record in the
inclusive government is seen as insincere. The case of
the four freelance
journalists has been emblematic in exposing the face of
the beast. Court
orders are ignored, ministers refuse to accept instructions
from the prime
minister and progress to reform is constantly reversed.
The continuing
attacks on farmers and their workers by opportunist
predators tell foreign
leaders all they need to know about lawlessness in
Zimbabwe despite claims
by government spokesmen that all is well.
It obviously isn't!
Tsvangirai, who has a record of courage and integrity, should stop
pretending that he has the situation under control and instead tell it like
it is. Zimbabwe's foreign friends would rather hear the truth from him than
from others. And they have no illusions as to what is happening here because
their embassies are in touch with a broad range of diplomats, politicians
and civics. So when Tsvangirai suggests that he is in charge, donors are
likely to prove sceptical, especially when that scepticism is informed by
statements from people like Webster Shamu!
It was also useful to
have the views of US business people on the
record as to investment
prospects. MDC leaders have been repeating the
mantra that it is not aid but
investment we want. Now they have been told in
no uncertain terms that there
will be no investment so long as misrule and
lawlessness persist. That
includes a muzzled media.
The Herald on Saturday carried a picture
of Shamu and Media ministry
permanent secretary George Charamba in Windhoek
to strengthen relations with
their Namibian counterparts. This will involve
reviving the unreadable
Southern Times and setting up an equally boring
television station, if ZTV
is anything to go by.
Other regional
governments will be invited to "buy into" the joint
project.
Also
pictured was Zimbabwe's ambassador to Namibia, Chipo Zindoga, who
has a
record of partisan pronouncements. Indeed, this whole project and
those
masterminding it reflects very poorly on the inclusive government that
is
supposed to be putting an end to such party-driven schemes that will
absorb
public funds and do nothing to keep the public informed.
But we did
note the remarks of Namibia's Information minister Joel
Kaapanda that
Namibia supported all efforts aimed at "normalising" the
situation in
Zimbabwe.
On this note we were interested to see Jacob Zuma's
remarks on
Zimbabwe in his recent state-of-the-nation address to parliament
in Cape
Town.
He said Sadc, which he chairs, will "participate in
promoting
inclusive government until free and fair elections are held in
Zimbabwe".
So, last year's poll didn't make the grade, something
Zimbabweans know
all to well. Glad to have Zuma adding his voice
there.
"The plight of the Zimbabwean people has had a negative impact
on the
Sadc region", he added.
Nothing there about
sanctions!
As for the silly claim that allowing EU ambassadors to
"engage"
Zimbabwean ministers would be a "slap in the face" for Zimbabwe
because this
would not be a meeting of equals, perhaps the EU should delay
the Brussels
"engagement" until our Ministry of Foreign Affairs smells the
coffee and
wakes up to certain realities
"It implies that our
cabinet is at par with ambassadors," some unnamed
official huffed and
puffed.
But it's not the EU that needs normalisation of relations or
benefits
flowing from the Cotonou Agreement. And it's certainly not the EU
that has
been "left in the open", unable to defend its
sanctions.
The EU has 27 member-states signed up to its stance on
misrule in
Zimbabwe. Tafataona Mahoso was trying to suggest last weekend
that Comesa
had come to Zimbabwe's rescue while the EU, UK and US are
"reeling from the
effects of the financial tsunami".
In other
words, delusional Zanu PF spokesmen are in all seriousness
suggesting that
Comesa, with President Mugabe at the helm, offers an
attractive alternative
to dealing with Western economies.
Let's see how this works out. After
all, we know our glorious leader's
record of economic management is second
to none. And his foreign policy can
be summed up in three words: "Go to
hell".
With this sort of moribund diplomacy, and the likes of Mahoso as
spokesmen, it is certainly not the EU that will be "left in the
open".
Sitting in on Tsvangirai's interview in Washington last week
was a
US-based representative of the Herald, which has belittled the PM's
trip
each day since he left the country a week ago. The reporter, Obi
Egbuna,
insisted on reciting long questions read verbatim from copious
longhand
notes, which appeared to be an attempt to take up the time
allocated for the
interview, we are informed. Either that or as a Mugabe
publicist rather than
a genuine journalist, he didn't understand the
importance of the short,
sharp question.
Whatever the case, his
tendentious questioning was politely indulged
by the other hacks present who
assumed he was a rookie reporter.
In Tuesday's Herald there is a
fawning interview by Egbuna with Walter
Mzembi who was able to get away with
the suggestion that Obama is a prisoner
of Vice-President Joe Biden and
Hillary Clinton. In other words it's a
racial thing! Obama should listen to
the "African voice", Mzembi fatuously
proposes.
And interviewers
should avoid congratulating ministers on their
appointment if they want to
be taken seriously.
Obama's behaviour in excluding Mzembi from the
White House showed he
had "no respect" for the GPA, Mzembi
suggested.
In other words, Obama, who underlined the importance of
meeting the
benchmarks set by the GPA, is accused of not respecting it while
a Zanu PF
minister whose party is busy sabotaging the GPA accuses Obama of
not bowing
to the wisdom of Sadc and the AU.
Even funnier is a
cartoon by Innocent Mpofu who has Mzembi saying
Obama has the most powerful
job in the world but is "out of tune".
At least Mpofu was funny for
once. No doubt the dim-witted Mzembi will
suggest the 27 nations of the EU
are all out of tune as Tsvangirai continues
his European visit. Or that all
27 states have been rail-roaded into an
anti-Zimbabwe stance by the
conspiratorial British. What amazing powers of
persuasion Britain still has.
Somebody should tell them!
We were amused by Andrew Donaldson's
contribution - "Eish" - to the
Sunday Times this week on the subject of the
late President Omar Bongo of
Gabon. It was headed "Beating the drum for
Bongo" and quoted Nicolas Sarkozy's
tribute: "A great and loyal friend of
France has left us".
French politicians will in particular miss his
generosity, Sarkozy
might have added. Gabon's oil wealth maintained an
elaborate network of
patronage.
French estate agents will also miss
him. Earlier this year Amnesty
International investigated Bongo for
embezzlement and revealed that he owned
33 properties in France with a
combined value of more than US$200 million.
Bongo had regarded his rule
as indispensable to his people since 1967.
But not all the country's
oil wealth found its way into the pockets of
his family, cronies and French
politicians. Some went to prestige projects
like Bongoville, his hometown,
Bongo University, Bongo International
Airport, Bongo Stadium, and several
Bongo hospitals.
There were no Bongo Drummers, Donaldson cheekily
adds.
Much of the oil money he kept for himself, Donaldson reminds
us.
His personal fortune ran into tens of millions of dollars.
"Maybe that's why Bongo has been praised," he notes. "Politics is
thievery
and he stole more than most."
We particularly liked the story,
related by Donaldson, about
22-year-old Peruvian beauty contestant, Ivette
Lourdes Santa Maria Carty.
She was invited to Gabon as a hostess for a
so-called Miss Humanity awards
ceremony. Within hours of her arrival she
found herself escorted to Bongo's
palace where she met the president in his
panelled office. She recalls he
pushed a button and a bed appeared.
She tried to explain she was not a woman of easy virtue but Miss Peru.
Presidential guards subsequently found her running around the palace
grounds
in a state of distress, or was it undress!
The Peruvian ambassador to
the UN has tabled a protest with his
Gabonese counterpart.
Perhaps
it was this episode which Sarkozy was thinking of when he
spoke of Bongo as
a head of state "who has won the respect and esteem of his
peers".
Finally, we were pleased to see Judge President Rita
Makarau's
comments at the "relaunch" of the Police Support Unit's Service
Charter.
Exactly why it needed to be "relaunched" is not clear. Justice
Makarau urged
the police officers to "observe the fundamentals of human
rights", when
carrying out their duties. But she then said it was "pleasing
to note that
the ZRP had a track record of upholding human rights" which had
won plaudits
across the globe.
She might have added that the
international perception of human rights
observance in Zimbabwe was largely
fashioned by footage of Morgan
Tsvangirai, Sekai Holland and others when
they emerged badly beaten from the
Highfield police station two years ago.
We recall Mugabe endorsing that
"bashing". Have the officers responsible
been brought to book?
At present human rights activists are seeking to
challenge their
prosecution on the grounds that they were subject to
abduction and torture.
Lawyers were unable to locate their clients at a
number of police stations
around Harare where it later transpired they had
been held.
It will be interesting to see the outcome of that case in
the light of
Justice Makarau's claims.
Justice Makarau reminded
us that police commissioner-general Augustine
Chihuri was on record assuring
the nation that the force would not abdicate
its responsibility for ensuring
the prevalence of peace.
The Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe also
recorded a statement by
Chihuri that appeared in the Chronicle of June 21
2008 saying: "Since the 29
March elections the MDC-T party has been on a
violent diplomatic onslaught
on the country and its leadership peddling
falsehoods of winning the
elections.MDC-T party is a violent party that
craves for violence since its
formation."
What we have not heard
enough of from all sectors of society is the
need for a professional and
independent police force and a judiciary
unimpressed by the blandishments of
politicians. Let's hope these issues are
at the top of the
constitution-making agenda.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
20:29
DURING 2007 and 2008, inflation in Zimbabwe soared. So great was
Zimbabwean inflation that it became impossible for the Central Statistical
Office to measure it authoritatively.
Prices escalated
continuously, as did all other elements of cost of
living, stimulating
hyperinflation of such magnitude that it was higher than
ever before
sustained anywhere in the world. The monolithic inflation was so
great that
in November 2008 Professor Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins
University in the US
estimated the annual inflation rate to equate to 65
followed by 105
zeros!
With prices continuously rising, many increasing daily and,
in
numerous instances, increasingly hourly, the Zimbabwean currency became
meaningless. No one wished to have the currency, for its value was declining
continuously. Zimbabwean currency received on one day would, at very best,
buy half the quantity of goods on the following day as could be purchased on
the day of receipt, and the buying power would decline to at least the same
extent on each following day.
Everyone had total contempt for the
Zimbabwean currency, which was
credibly perceived to be virtually devoid of
substance. (So horrendously
worthless was the Zimbabwean dollar that
increasingly the populace was
resorting to barter trade, preferring to
resort to exchanges of goods and
services than of meaningless, near
valueless bank notes, and coins had
fallen into total disuse.
In
fact, many suggested that the then currency should be demonetised,
and a new
currency introduced. It was suggested that one Zimbabwean dollar
be replaced
with one Zimbabwean Azeko, and that 100 Azekos would Peleli!).
Because
Zimbabwean currency had lost all credibility and substance,
and was viewed
with contemptuous disdain by almost everyone, it fell into
near total
disuse. Instead, although it was Zimbabwe's then only legal
currency,
increasingly all sectors of the economy transacted in foreign
currencies,
especially in US dollars and the South African rand. Doing so
was in
flagrant breach of law, but was perceived as the only way of
preserving
value or minimising loss of value, save for recourse to barter,
and hence a
disregard for the law developed.
Ultimately, government and the Reserve
Bank recognised the need to
legitimise this circumstance. On January 29, in
belatedly tabling Zimbabwe's
2009 Budget to Parliament, the then Acting
Minister of Finance, Patrick
Chinamasa, announced that a basket of
currencies would constitute
lawful Zimbabwean tender, that basket
comprising the US dollar, South
African rand, Botswana pula, British pound
and the euro, in addition to the
Zimbabwean dollar, and that in the Monetary
Policy Review four days
later, the Reserve Bank would issue the
operational modalities of the
new currency basket.
That occurred,
and forthwith the Zimbabwean dollar became almost
totally moribund. The US
dollar became the new currency base, being used
nationwide and by government
as an accounting and reporting base, but the
other currencies also being
widely used as mediums of trade. In
Matabeleland, the most predominantly
used currency was the South African
rand, undoubtedly because of the
proximity to South Africa, and hence a
continuous inflow of that currency
from the millions of Zimbabweans resident
there.
In Mashonaland,
the currency in greatest use was the US dollar, but
throughout any of the
five specified currencies was readily acceptable legal
tender. Usage of the
Zimbabwean dollar was not unlawful, but none were
willing to accept that
currency perceived, with much justification, to be
virtually
worthless.
Initially the populace in general, and commerce and industry
in
particular, welcomed the existence of a basket of a multiplicity of
currencies, but recently there has been a slow, but increasing, call for the
Zimbabwean economy to be tied specifically to the South African rand. That
call has been reinforced by a publicly-declared suggestion by the Minister
of Finance that Zimbabwe should join the Rand Monetary Union, whereby the
rand would then be the lawful currency of Zimbabwe (widely known as
"Randerisation").
Although such view was not widely promoted a few
months ago, it is now
gaining intensifying support throughout much of
Zimbabwe, and especially so
from the "man on the street", for the rand has
gained massively in strength
over the last few months. In February the rand:
US dollar exchange rate
approximated R10: US$1, whereas it now approximates
R8: US$1. Regrettably,
many (but fortunately not all) traders are immorally
exploiting this
strengthening of the rand by preserving a 10 to 1 exchange
rate, to the
considerable prejudice of their customers, and this motivating
the
intensifying public call for "Randerisation".
In the prevailing
environment, that call is readily understandable,
and yet it would be unwise
in the extreme for government to heed it. If
Zimbabwe were to be totally
tied to the rand, it would inevitably be almost
wholly subject to South
Africa's monetary policies. Those policies could be
wholly suited to the
South African economic needs, and yet totally unsuited
to those of Zimbabwe,
for the economic and other circumstances of the two
countries are not
necessarily so identical, and therefore divergent monetary
policies may be
necessary to address the needs of South Africa and Zimbabwe.
This is
particularly so at the present time when Zimbabwe's economy is
slowly
commencing a very long overdue recovery, whereas there are very real
possibilities that the presently very strong South African economy may be on
the threshold of decline.
The May 2009 World Economic Survey of the
University of Munich's
Centre for Economic Studies, the Ifo Institute for
Economic Research,
foreshadows a "looming recession in South Africa". It
records that: "The
economic climate indicator remained in the negative
territory in South
Africa in April. Although the assessments of the current
economic situation
have been slightly upgraded, the economic expectations
for the next six
months remain cautious, indicating that in Africa's largest
economy the
first recession in 17 years looms. Capital expenditures and the
export
sector are expected to weaken further in the next six months. Private
consumption, in contrast, is expected to stabilise over the next half of the
year. Unemployment and lack of skilled labour continue to pose the most
economic problems, according to WES experts."
Somewhat similarly,
the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank,
Tito Mboweni, has voiced
concern that the magnitude of the strengthening of
the rand could fuel
negative economic developments in the foreseeable
future, and that remedial
monetary policies may become necessary. Those
policies may be very
necessary and desirable for South Africa, but not
suited to Zimbabwe's
needs, and yet if Zimbabwe joins the Rand Monetary
Union, they would
substantially bind it.
Thus, Zimbabwe is faced by a currency conundrum,
in that it is
presently increasingly linked to the rand, but such linkage
may well develop
against the best interests of the Zimbabwean economy.
Therefore, Zimbabwe is
better placed by "hedging its bets", by maintaining a
basket of lawful
currencies, until such time as the economy is sufficiently
stable as to
restore substance to its own currency, rather than becoming
bound to any one
country's monetary policies.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
19:41
ZIMBABWE'S new constitution should, as a starting point, take
cognisance of past abuses by the Zanu PF government and institute provisions
to right such abuses.
The writing of a new constitution is
usually motivated by a perceived
sense of injustice and to make a break with
the past.
The excesses of the Bourbon King Louis XVI and his Queen
Marie-Antoinette precipitated the French Revolution of 1789 and the
attendant Declaration of the Rights of Man.
In 1776, the 13
American colonies rebelled against taxation imposed
by King George III of
England which resulted in the United States
Constitution adopted in 1787 by
the Constitutional Convention at
Philadelphia.
Closer to home, the
injustices, inequities and oppression of the
apartheid architects resulted
in the democratic Constitution of South Africa
in 1996.
In
Zimbabwe, a good starting point in drafting the basic law of the
land should
be the Gukurahundi genocide in the 1980s, the usurpation of
executive power
by the then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe that resulted in
the executive
presidency in 1987, Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 and, more
recently, the
coup d'etat by stealth that was executed by the securocrats in
the Joint
Operations Command.
A basic law should take cognisance of such abuses
and put in place a
constitution with the necessary checks and balances.
Whether a presidential
system or the Westminster model is appropriate should
be left to the people
to decide.
There might even be a hybrid
presidential/prime ministerial system as
that which obtains in France. But,
nonetheless, whatever model is adopted,
there should obviously be term
limits for the life of parliament. The
president/prime minister should
preferably serve a maximum two terms. This
would prevent a repeat of the
gerontocracy now running the show.
A clear and defined separation of
powers between the three branches
of government is a prerequisite. Of
particular significance is the
independence of the judicial branch of
government to check on the excesses
of the executive.
The judicial
branch of government must be financially independent;
this is to avoid the
humiliation of judicial officers accepting "donations"
from powerful
politicians from the other branches of government. What
springs to mind are
the recent donations of plasma TVs, farms and other
favours to judicial
officers - a toxic situation that has done so much
damage in eroding public
confidence in the delivery of justice and brought
into question the
independence and impartiality of the judicial arm of
government.
An appointment to judicial office must be through an independent
commission
and removal from office must require the sitting of parliament.
This is a
remedy to avoid the forced resignations of judicial officers who
were
perceived as opponents of Zanu PF kleptocracy.
The forced resignations
of Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay in 2001, Judge
Blackie in 2002 and Justice
Paradza in 2003 are cases in point.
Defence forces personnel must be
made to declare an oath to serve and
defend the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Officer education at both the Zimbabwe
Military Academy and the Defence
Forces College must be broadened to
encompass aspects on democratic
governance, constitutional as well as
humanitarian law and the theory of
government.
There is already a precedent for such an undertaking .
officers in
the South African National Defence Forces undertake a four-year
Bachelor of
Military Science degree at the Saldanha Bay Military Academy
offered in
conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch. This is to avert
senior
officers pledging their eternal loyalty "North Korean style" to
politicians
whom the electorate has deemed beyond their sell-by
date.
Had the military leaders known that their job is to defend the
Zimbabwean Constitution, they would have accepted a smooth transfer of power
to the opposition as early as 2002. US-style confirmation hearings should be
carried out where senior officers are up for promotion, preferably by a
bi-partisan Parliamentary Committee on Defence.
Where abuses of the
past have to inform constitution-making is in the
area of rights accorded to
the citizen.
A Bill of Rights must ordinarily recognise freedom of
personality,
belief, expression, assembly, movement, occupation, property
rights and most
important of all there should be protection from
unauthorised search and
seizure.
The infamous abduction of the
human rights activist, Jestina Mukoko
and her colleagues necessitates the
inclusion of a "freedom and security of
the person provision" as found in S
12 of the Bill of Rights in the
Constitution of South Africa. Allied to this
might be the inclusion of a due
process of law requirement.
The
recent reports in the press of police instructors at Morris Depot
abusing
police cadets warrants the inclusion of a prohibition on "torture,
inhuman
or degrading treatment or unusual punishment(s)", more or less along
the
lines of Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms.
The Constitution of South Africa recognizes
this, in S 10 of the Bill
Of Rights, as a question of human dignity . . .
"everyone has inherent
dignity and the right to have their dignity respected
and protected. "
The sense of freedom, as Isaiah Berlin once said,
"entails not simply
the absence of frustration but the absence of obstacles
to possible choices
and activities". To this end, a Bill of Rights has to
recognise freedom of
movement and residence.
Zanu PF in the past
29 years has systematically denied the opposition
space to engage in lawful
political activities. This should be enshrined in
a Bill of Rights in the
form of a right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association with others.
This might be accompanied, as in S 19 of the Bill
of Rights in the South
African Constitution, by detailed political rights
such as the right to form
a political party, right to elect one's
representatives and to stand for
public office.
The law has been used to harass and arrest political
opponents and
human rights activists. One is reminded of the recent cases
concerning
Andrisson Manyere, Ghandi Mudzingwa and the arrest of the two
scribes from
the Zimbabwe Independent. Due process of law requires that
anyone charged
with a criminal offence has the right to know the nature and
cause of the
accusation against him/her, adequate time and facilities for
preparation of
defence and access to legal representation and to be brought
before a
competent court of law within reasonable time, say 48 hours as
stipulated by
S 35 of the Bill of Rights in the South African
Constitution.
Under such a regime, we would not find innocent people
incarcerated
for indeterminate lengths of time at the whim of biased and
vindictive
politicians such as the openly partisan Attorney-General,
Johannes Tomana.
To avert abuses like Operation Murambatsvina in 2005,
a Bill of Rights
has to recognise the right to housing or in some sense
private and family
life. The media landscape of the past 29 years has a
litany of repressive
laws and forced closures of newspapers such as the
Daily News in 2003.
A Bill of Rights has to start by recognising that
everyone has the
right to freedom of expression. This right might be by
paraphrasing Article
10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms as a
"right to hold, receive and impart information and
ideas without
interference by the State".
By paraphrasing
jurisprudence of European origin, I lay myself open
to charges of
Euro-centrism and obviously Zanu PF apparatchiks will point
out that this
has nothing to do with an African country. Article 15 of the
Bill of Rights
of the Constitution of South Africa is drafted in more or
less the same
terms and has resonance to the experiences of Zimbabweans.
The
selective application of the law as witnessed immediately after
last year's
election, the victimisation of unpopular minorities such as
white commercial
farmers for the past 10 years and citizens in south western
Zimbabwe
immediately after Independence in 1980 calls for equality before
the law and
the right to just and administrative action.
Selective application of
the law has resulted in openly racist and
tribal policies by the Zanu PF
government. Cultural and as well as
linguistic minorities must be afforded
constitutional protection. This might
have averted the cronyism and
patronage that has been, and in some instances
still is, the hallmark of
Zanu PF misrule.
Food security might be elevated to the status of a
fundamental
freedom. This is of particular significance in the light of past
abuses of
food aid by the Zanu Pf government as a campaign tool and outright
victimisation of opposition supporters through denial of food aid. It is
ironic that a white supremacist government was superseded by a black
supremacist one.
Such abuses cannot be stopped by a simple laundry
list of rights;
these rights need institutions built into the constitution
to support
democracy. These might be along the lines of a Human Rights
Commission,
Independent Electoral Commission and a Media
Commission.
For these institutions to support governance,
accountability and
democracy, there ought to be statutory guarantees of
their independence from
both the executive and parliament, a system of
funding independent of direct
ministerial control, independent staffing
arrangements, statutory
involvement of a parliamentary body in approving and
overseeing its budget
and strategic plan, parliamentary involvement in key
appointments and lastly
direct reporting to Parliament.
However,
there might be instances where the state might be justified
to derogate from
some of these rights and this might be spelt out in the
basic document. It
is nonetheless, submitted that equality, human dignity,
life (what is
Paradzayi Zimondi doing when the prison services are turning
prisons into
death factories?), freedom of security of the person, both
natural and
juristic, ie companies; are values that the state might no be
justified in
derogating from. Whatever justification the state might advance
to derogate
from the second tier rights, those deemed capable of being
derogated from
must be justified in a competent court of law.
As a bulwark against
abuses that have been visited against the
ordinary Zimbabwean citizen by the
agents of the state, judicial officers
might be given powers to review
actions and decisions that violate these
rights.
Section 39 of the
Bill of Rights in the South African Constitution
gives ordinary citizens who
have been wronged "to approach a competent
court . and the court may grant
appropriate relief ."
What is now termed the Supreme Court might be
elevated into a
Constitutional Court with powers to declare legislative
enactments
unconstitutional where they violate the fundamental rights. This
would solve
the conundrum where we have repressive enactments such as the
medial law -
the brilliantly misnamed Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act
2002.
This article is not intended as prescriptive
but only serves as a
basis for an open and honest debate on constitutional
reform in Zimbabwe.
Francois Maimona is a trainee lawyer based in
Leeds. Email:
fmaimona@googlemail.com
BY FRANCOIS MAIMONA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 19:39
A
FEW weeks ago Zanu PF took the rare step of announcing that it had
set up a
committee to address the issue of succession within the party. This
announcement, made after a politburo meeting, was also accompanied by the
announcement that another committee to deal with ideological issues had been
set up.
The issue of succession and ideology are key to Zanu
PF's survival
beyond President Robert Mugabe. By making this announcement
the party
leadership has set in motion a process that it might not be able
to stop.
Zimbabweans would be expectant that finally the party might come to
terms
with and sense its self-destructive mode and take a new turn,
hopefully for
the better.
For Zimbabweans, the Zambia situation
where the Movement for
Multiparty Democracy now dominates the political
scene like the former Unip
of Kenneth Kaunda shows that in the long run
Zimbabwe's democracy will
benefit from a reformed and democratic Zanu PF.
The complete dominance of
the body politic by one party has to be avoided.
And in any case, it will be
interesting to see if a new political
alternative to the current Zanu PF and
MDC ideological positions can emerge
within Zanu PF.
It was the demise of Chairman Mao in China, infamous
for his violent
Cultural Revolution and intolerance of dissent, that
resulted in a major
turn on economic reform. The China we see today, though
not the best example
on democracy, is an outcome of reform that started in
the Communist Party of
China. Without this, China would have gone through
another cultural
revolution as Zimbabwe has seen a third Chimurenga, with
destructive
results.
It is possible that nothing much can be
achieved from these
announcements. The issue of succession has been talked
of in Zanu PF before
and Zanu PF is inconsistent in words and delivery. This
issue has also been
used by Mugabe to bait the ambitious who have been
exposed and dealt with
ruthlessly. The fate of the likes of Dr Eddison
Zvobgo was sealed on the
succession question. Zvobgo was more poignant,
likening the succession
question in Zanu PF with the story of the madman of
Ngomahuru, who upon the
receiving the baton in a relay race ran away with it
into the mountains. The
consequence is that the madman's team lost the
race.
Indeed President Mugabe and Zanu PF have lost the race, as well
as the
trust and faith of the people of Zimbabwe. The party's hold on power
through
democratic means has slipped. The party now survives on violence,
deception
and patronage. Without violence and its dwindling patronage
system, the
centre cannot hold in Zanu PF.
The announcements appear
to be a belated realisation that a top
leadership hitting the mid 80s cannot
be relied upon to take the party into
the future. Zanu PF has been blind to
the fact that since the mid-1990s it
lost the people of Zimbabwe completely.
This is despite the failure to unite
the nation soon after Independence
leading to the massacres of innocent
civilians in Matabeleland. Zanu PF
faces the real possibility of complete
demise if it mishandles its
succession issue.
At the centre of this succession is the need for a
credible and
visionary leadership to rise within the party. A leadership
that can lead
with brains and vision and not violence and patronage as we
have seen in the
past. It is clear that the patronage system of Zanu PF has
permeated all
facets of its political body and the state. A senior official
in the Local
Government ministry is known to boast that he is not a member
of Zanu PF,
but a shareholder. People who have shouted the loudest in
support of Mugabe
have suddenly become rich, not only owning ill-gotten
farms but also getting
all sorts of deals to supply this and that.
City council security guards, who a few years ago were doing
commendably
well by arresting pickpockets at Mbare Musika now have a new and
enriching
vocation, shouting praises of President Mugabe and are now living
pretty.
Zanu PF has relied so much on its abuse of state security organs,
the CIO,
army and police to the extent that not many people have any trust
in
these.
But this abuse cannot go on forever. At some point the vakomana,
meaning security chiefs that Zanu PF has relied on so much, will also have
to give up. Zanu PF has looked outward to external forces such as the
security forces and patronage to maintain its hold on power. Failure of the
party to realise these weaknesses and take them into account as part of the
succession debate and ideological refocus means the future of the party is
doomed.
Those who have stood by Zanu PF, especially the security
chiefs, have
created a false sense of security based on browbeating citizens
and the
opposition. The same grouping has lacked the foresight to realise
they still
need to be trusted by the people and must show a vision that can
be shared.
It is here that the ideological committee set up by the
politburo and
includes the likes of Didymus Mutasa comes in. A critical
question that it
has to answer is:
will the committee be willing to
face Zanu
PF's demons in the face and seek to exorcise them?
These demons include an archaic, redundant and unattractive ideology.
This
ideology is based on the politics of either being with us or against
us,
race and ethnicity and conceptions of belonging and homogeneity which
neither tolerate dissent nor respect basic principles of democracy. In this
politics of Zanu PF, all citizens are expected to reconcile their views with
those of Zanu PF and accept to be subservient to the dominance of Zanu PF,
literally, to survive.
There is nothing wrong with Zanu PF
advancing its nationalist
ideology, as long as this is done persuasively and
in the interest of the
country. However, Zanu PF nationalism is a convoluted
political position
driven by an insatiable love of power. Since 2000, Zanu
PF has shown total
disdain for the MDC, and all its actions have been driven
by hatred of the
MDC and not selling its programmes and winning the hearts
and minds of
citizens.
Moving forward, one hopes that Zanu PF, as a
minority party, will seek
to reengage the people of Zimbabwe on what it can
offer. As a minority
party, Zanu PF can no longer afford to bury its head in
the sand like the
proverbial ostrich, but actively seek to locate the heart
beat of society,
by reforming and repenting from its bad ways.
Zanu
PF needs to abandon its ideology of deprivation, nepotism,
violence and
chaos and reengage all sectors in Zimbabwe from academia,
civil society,
business and labour if it is to be a party of the future.
Otherwise all the
efforts at succession and ideological reform will come to
naught. Despite
its appearance of strength and the grandstanding of security
chiefs, Zanu PF
is really in a corner and a shell of its former self.
Rashweat Mukundu
is a Programme Specialist: Media Freedom Monitoring,
Misa Regional
Secretariat.
BY RASHWEAT MUKUNDU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday,
18 June 2009 20:54
IN debating a new constitution it is important that
we all understand
what it means to its people.
A constitution
is about how a people want to live, share resources,
respect their human
rights, the path they wish to take in developing their
communities, who
should rule them and how. It is like a covenant that
governs every citizen,
regardless of their tribe, race, religion or physical
appearance.
Everyone should be able to see herself/himself in a
constitution; they
must own it, be part of it. To own something means that
you have been part
of the process that built or developed that item. It is
something you can
defend in case somebody wants to take it away from
you.
There are many arguments as to why people voted No in the 2000
constitutional referendum. We need to ask to what extent were the people of
Zimbabwe involved in the processes of the making of that constitution. What
ownership did the people have in the process of constitution-making? How
were people organised to give their views and who organised them? The issue
is not about whether the rejected constitution was better than the current
one or not, but about the process used to develop it, hence its
rejection.
Today we ask the same question about how the people will be
organised
or are being organised and by whom, for the making of our new
constitution.
The how part of it is important. Parliamentarians and
politicians need to
understand that if we are to have a people's
constitution.
The constitution-making debate has been a political,
academic and
intellectual debate thus far about who is best suited to drive
the process.
The larger part of the people have not been involved because
the process is
designed by parliament and not by the people for parliament.
We have heard
contradictory views from parliamentarians regarding the new
constitution and
the process of constitution-making. There has been mention
of the Kariba
draft that was crafted by the two MDCs and Zanu PF being used
as a reference
document to the new constitution.
At a political
rally MDC-T legislator Sam Sipepa Nkomo made mention
that his party was
pushing into the new constitution the devolution of power
to the provinces
and the division of the country into five regions. Nkomo's
statements were
made following Zapu's pronouncement of their party's
resolution to devolve
power to the regions and the creation of five regions
with elected premiers
or governors. In the Kariba draft there is no mention
of the devolution of
power to the regions. There is mention of 10 provinces
with governors
appointed by the president.
We read in the newspapers President Mugabe
indicating that the Kariba
draft will form the basis of the making of the
new constitution. The MDC-T
co-chairman for the parliamentary select
committee said the
constitution-making process will be people-driven. He did
not tell us how
the people will be empowered to lead this process.
The debate on the new constitution has not cascaded to the lower
levels of
our communities. I frequently participate at various meetings
including
rural district council meetings. There has never been mention of a
new
constitution at these meetings. Last week I visited five rural district
councils, and in all of them there were no debates around a new
constitution.
Based on these facts and the competition for "voter
space" among
political parties, it is best that the constitution-making
process is led by
people who are not affiliated to any political
organisation. Parliament can
play a monitoring role, ensuring that the
process is done according to laid
down rules and agreed principles.
Parliament has not informed us as to how the various groups of women
and
young people living in the rural areas will be mobilised to participate
and
give their views. We have not heard mention of how persons with hearing
impairments, visual impairments and other forms of physical disabilities
will be catered for in the constitution-making process. Parliamentarians can
rely on the experiences and expertise of various NGOs, civic organisations
and faith-based bodies to lead the constitution-making process. The result
will be such that all people, including those who sit in parliament, will be
satisfied with the people's contributions.
Obadiah Moyo is a
rural development activist. obbamoyo@gmail.com
BY OBADIAH MOYO
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009 20:51
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai next week returns from his US and
European trip
with a few dimes in the bag relative to the needs here.
Naïve
opponents in the inclusive government expected him to fight hard
to have
sanctions lifted and with it secure more aid for the country. This
did not
happen on this trip but Tsvangirai returns with volumes of useful
information on what the Western World thinks about Zimbabwe and areas our
rulers need to concentrate on for this economy to turn the
corner.
These are basic issues dealing with the rule of law, an end
to
repression, protection of property rights and respect for other
fundamental
freedoms.
On Tsvangirai's trip, it was not just
politicians pointing out the
deficit on each of the fundamental issues, but
potential investors to this
market too. They are not convinced that Zimbabwe
is a good investment
destination. Tsvangirai's blandishments in Washington
when he met business
leaders, that government had rolled back inflation from
500 million percent
to three percent and that there was increased government
accountability was
not convincing at all. In Sweden he tried another
strategy.
He said at a press conference: "We are making a case for
re-engagement
because we, as Zimbabweans, have decided not for the sake of
the
international community, but for own sake, that we need the freedoms,
the
reforms and we need economic recovery whether Mugabe is there or
not."
He is right that the country needs to move on but those investors
and
donors unhappy with Mugabe's continued stay in office want to be
convinced
that the inclusive government is working well under his
stewardship.
Tsvangirai's statement in Stockholm therefore sought to
airbrush the Mugabe
factor in the quest to present Zimbabwe as
rehabilitating.
Just as he has tried lately but failed to wish away the
negative
impact of attacks on media freedom and continued disturbances on
the farms,
the issue of Mugabe's commitment to the reform process will
continue to
haunt Tsvangirai on his trips to Western capitals. This trip has
therefore
taught Tsvangirai an important lesson. To the West, Tsvangirai is
a change
agent for a government whose transformation process is either too
slow or
barely noticeable.
Therefore it was not surprising that the
Corporate Council on Africa,
which represents 180 companies dedicated to
strengthening the commercial
relationship between the US and Africa, told
Tsvangirai's delegation that
they were not looking at Zimbabwe as an
investment destination at the
moment. The council said before investing in
Zimbabwe, most American
companies wanted to see a combination of political
and economic reforms to
create a sustainable investment climate.
On
the same day, the council's president and CEO, Stephen Hayes, who
was
visiting Zimbabwe at the invitation of the US, advised the Zimbabwean
business community not to expect any significant new American private-sector
investments in the near-term until reforms are made. He said the American
business community looked forward to the day when Zimbabwe became a "beacon
of investment and a leader in addressing Africa's economic development
needs".
At the moment Zimbabwe is not the flavour of the month,
notwithstanding the propaganda surrounding the country's taking over the
chair of Comesa earlier in the month. We were at the time bombarded with
positive news about the Zimbabwean economy turning the corner because of the
new business configuration in the Comesa region and the benefits to local
industry. President Mugabe's assumption of the Comesa chair was feted as if
it was a meritorious appointment in recognition of prudent business
leadership in the region. This is what we have become good at: celebrating
expectation as a success. Those pontificating on the benefits of regional
integration and the formation of the customs union in Victoria Falls chose
not to examine the parlous state of the Zimbabwean economy, neither did they
take time to examine real causes of economic stagnation in Zimbabwe. The
formation of the customs union became the panacea for the region's
woes.
This ruse does not address concerns of investors as observed by
the
Corporate Council on Africa. These concerns are aptly captured by the
Africa
Competitiveness Report released at the World Economic Forum in Cape
Town
last week.
Zimbabwe has fared badly in all respects. It is at
the bottom of the
pile in competitiveness on the continent; only a point
better than Benin.
Zimbabwe's overall performance was sabotaged by very poor
ranking in key
indicators like protection of property rights, the
independence of the
judiciary, state profligacy, corruption, unclear
regulations, political
instability, opaque policy-making and high taxation.
Zimbabwe has also fared
poorly in its ability to provide adequate
infrastructure for business and in
social protection programmes, especially
in health.
To this add the incident of the Information minister Webster
Shamu
recently saying that he does not take orders from Tsvangirai and the
resultant contemptuous move by the minister to disregard a court order
allowing journalists to attend the Comesa Summit and we have a perfect
example of a Zimbabwe which remains unattractive to investors. Tsvangirai
and his colleagues in the inclusive government know what needs to be done.
They must stop living a lie and get to work.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 18 June 2009
20:35
'HUNGRY people cannot be good at learning or producing anything,
except perhaps violence," said mid-20th century American entertainer Pearl
Bailey.
This crude observation is true for many countries on
the continent
where children go to bed hungry while their equally hungry
parents butcher
each other instead of tilling the land. Vice-President Joice
Mujuru earlier
this week made disclosures which not only contradicted the
official line
with regards to the causes of hunger in this country, but also
brought out
the relationship between violence and hunger, a very useful
observation.
Speaking at an International Women's Day event in
Bindura last Sunday,
Mujuru said Zimbabweans went to war so that they could
enjoy various
freedoms.
She said people were free to join political
parties of their choice
just as they chose the churches they wanted to go
to.
"During the liberation war, we fought a repressive system. We were
not
fighting a particular race.
"During the war, we were united as
a single family because we were
fighting a common enemy. Why not today?" she
asked.
"We used to be the bread basket of Africa, but now we are even
failing
to produce enough for our own consumption because we were pulling
down each
other because of inter-party differences," she said.
She
did not however tell us which common enemy Zimbabweans must be
united
against today. Even in independent Zimbabwe the people still have to
put up
with repression which has been a major threat to peace and
nationhood.
Mujuru is right though that we have become a hungry people
because "we are
pulling each other down". This is a useful admission by the
VP as it debunks
her party's mantras on the causes of hunger in this
country. The authors of
hunger are politicians who use the poor as pawns in
the power game.
The violence which erupted in this country last year and in previous
years
can be traced back to powerful political forces who recruit the poor
and the
hungry to butcher fellow villagers under the guise of preserving
national
sovereignty and protecting resources, especially land.
It is the
politics of land that has brought poverty here. We are all
too familiar with
dishonest headlines like: "Mugabe blames West for Zimbabwe's
food
shortages"; "10-year drought to blame for food shortages - Mugabe";
"Mugabe
says Zimbabwe's food shortages artificial", and "Mugabe blames
sanctions for
food shortages".
Building institutions of peace in this country as
envisaged in the
national healing programme must have food self-sufficiency
as a key
component. A society that is dependent on food handouts from donors
or from
political parties is vulnerable and susceptible to manipulation.
Only very
recently, we have been getting reports that party alignments are
still being
used to direct food distribution in Matabeleland North.
Hungry villagers still line up behind Zanu PF or MDC councillors to
get food
aid. These are people beholden to politicians and political
parties. It is
not only food aid that is still subject to this kind of
manipulation. It
extends to the disbursement of monies for small projects,
access to basic
amenities and even the allocation of land by government
officials and
traditional leaders.
It would therefore be a major tragedy for this
country to go into
elections again when we cannot produce enough to feed
ourselves. The promise
of an election in the next 18 months is too ghastly
to contemplate as long
as this country is hungry.
With food
shortages, rural people will spend more time at hopeless
party meetings
where they are told that the source of their hunger is
sanctions, or poor
leadership or Gono and so on. They will be taught the
language of hate; that
is to hate hunger and whoever is responsible for it
and their supporters.
Fighting your neighbour becomes a contest to end
hunger. Powerful men and
women who can bring food to a village can also call
the poor villagers to
arms, to dispossess others and to punish those with
full stomachs. This is
the stupid politics of violence.
We have achieved very little in years
of food shortages other than
bringing destruction to ourselves and to
institutions that have
traditionally safeguarded our national ethos and
dignity. Nzara inobvisa
hunhu! Our national healing will not amount to much
as long as we are
hungry.
Those who have been entrusted to work
towards a more peaceful, just
and sustainable Zimbabwe must therefore help
make ending hunger a major
priority.
For peace to have meaning to
many who have known only suffering, it
must be translated into bread or
mealie meal, shelter, health, and
education, as well as freedom and human
dignity - a steadily better life.
If peace is to be secure,
long-suffering and long-starved people in
this country must begin to realise
the promise of a new day and a new life.
That is national
healing.
BY VINCENT KAHIYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Govt's Anti-sanctions Crusade Futile
Thursday, 18 June 2009
20:50
THE anti-sanctions crusade which has seen Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai visiting at least six European countries to lobby for the removal
of sanctions is set to be a futile attempt which exposes Zanu PF's
hypocrisy.
In my view no sane country would want to normalise
relations with
President Robert Mugabe's administration, especially given
the fact that his
party has violated or is still to fully commit itself to
some of the
provisions of the Global Political Agreement.
If
from the day the principals from the three political parties
authenticated
the agreement by signing it all the parties had shown full
commitment to the
forged unity, then the international community would
naturally have
considered reversing its sanctions stance against Zimbabwe.
Recent
outbursts by Mugabe at the funeral of Dr Gideon Gono's brother
in which he
pointed out that Gono would remain the Reserve Bank governor
when we all
know that his reappointment was in sharp contrast to the spirit
of the GPA,
clearly show the president's unrepentant mood and attitude. As
usual Zanu
PF's top brass joined the pro-Gono chorus in support of the
president's
sentiments. This a clear indication that the party is not
willing to share
the political cake with other parties when circumstances
demand
otherwise.
Tsvangirai has been sent on a wild goose chase and the Dutch
government was right in its demand for transparency, genuine and honesty
commitment from Zanu PF to the unity government before normalisation of
relations.
Zanu PF must realise that its anti-sanctions rhetoric
will be futile
until the party fully commits itself to all the provisions of
the unity
agreement.
Farai J Nerera
Seke
-------------
Women vulnerable to Witchcraft
Suppression Act
Thursday, 18 June 2009 20:42
THE trial and
sentencing of Regina Sveto for practising witchcraft
raises more questions
than answers.
It is my submission that the amendment of the
Witchcraft Suppression
Act which made it an offence to accuse someone of
being a witch will leave a
lot of women vulnerable to this draconian and
archaic piece of legislation
which should not have any place in the current
dispensation.
If the evidence that was adduced before the learned
senior judicial
officer indicated that the (naked) woman was possessed by
evil spirits which
restrained her from acting reasonably the best remedial
action would have
been to refer her to a qualified medical practitioner in
terms of the Mental
Health Act.
I have seen a lot of mental health
patients who got treated and led
normal lives in the end. I believe Sveto
falls in the same category of
mentally retarded people and needs to be
helped. It is very unfair,
irrational and unjust to subject the victim of
evil spirits to prison
(though in Sveto's case sentence was suspended as she
was a first offender
and because of her age) when the best option
cure.
Interestingly, it was reported in the media that one chief whom
the
court used as an expert witness in the case indicated after the court
had
passed its verdict that the accused should pay a beast for the offence
as
per our customary law.
The question is how objective, credible
or admissible can evidence
given by the chiefs be in such cases when they
are material beneficiaries of
the due process? What happens in the event
that the accused fails to raise
money to buy a beast for the chief for the
fine? Considering that the
learned magistrate saw it fit to give the accused
a wholly suspended
sentence, how did the chief arrive at his quantum of
fine?
At the end of nearly every year when Form Twos, Fours and Sixes
are
about to write public exams we get reports of school girls becoming
victims
of mamhepo (hysterical problems which I believe are due to puberty)
where
they utter a lot of nonsense, in some cases alleging that they have
been
bewitched by their fellow students or relatives.
If the
current witchcraft law is applied to these young schoolgirls
may also be
found guilty. The question for our legislators and, in
particular, the
parliamentary legal committee is: Did you apply yourselves
diligently before
repealing the Witchcraft Act?
The weakness of the law is that it is
common for African relatives to
accuse people who work hard and are
successful of being in possession of
zvikwambo (goblins) and this is
destructive. I believe that Sveto's case
should be brought to the High Court
for review because this law falls in the
category of Sharia law which should
not have any place in statutes in these
modern times. Much work should be
done on this issue.
Anonymous,
Harare.
-------------
MDC Alienating Sympathisers
Thursday, 18 June 2009 20:41
THE MDC is fast alienating its supporters
which will have serious
implications for the party and the country as a
whole. Criticising the
Government of National Unity is now deemed to be
unpatriotic in certain
sections.
Unlike what happened soon
after Zimbabwe's Independence in 1980, it is
important for intellectuals,
academics, journalists and other opinion makers
to subject Morgan
Tsvangirai's role in the GNU to critical scrutiny and
avoid falling into
another 29-year dictatorship nightmare.
There is so much excitement
in media circles about Morgan Tsvangirai's
first overseas trip as Prime
Minister of Zimbabwe's coalition government
intended to "revive contact with
EU and US officials after Zimbabwe's
absence for seven years".
That's rather surprising because Zimbabwe has never severed diplomatic
relations with the US despite the hostile attacks on US Ambassador James
McGee by the Herald.
However, what is seriously lacking in the
coalition government and
indeed in the delegation is the element of
inclusiveness by excluding people
like Dumiso Dabengwa, Simba Makoni,
Wellington Chibebe and Lovemore Madhuku.
They would have more to contribute
than some of the people in the premier's
delegation.
If it turns
out that Tsvangirai has been sent by Mugabe, or
volunteered to go and plead
for the lifting of sanctions while the reasons
for their imposition have not
yet been fully addressed, then the MDC could
be fast alienating its
sympathisers at home and abroad. Some of the
decisions of the MDC are quite
debatable and as a democratic movement it is
only right to subject some of
its actions to scrutiny.
On June 2, MDC Finance minister Tendai Biti
reportedly slammed the
West over sanctions saying: "The West is being
unscientific and
ahistorical." MDC leaders may sooner rather than later
realise that what
they say may be misconstrued following a response by the
British Embassy to
a Herald article which claimed the UK government had to
"airlift" destitute
British pensioners from Zimbabwe because Western
sanctions had destroyed the
economy. The Embassy said it was disappointed
that the Herald continues to
"peddle gross distortions and
misinformation".
I agree with Jethro Mpofu, "Opposition blunders
keeping Mugabe in
power" (www.zimonline.co.za June 4 2009) when he
says:
"It must embarrass all people who respect democracy in the world,
especially the political opposition in Zimbabwe that despite the many mass
graves of Gukurahundi, the ruins of Murambatsvina, a collapsed education and
health delivery system, an economy on life support and a starved population
of hard-working Zimbabweans, Mugabe remains at State House and answers to
the title of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of
Zimbabwe".
The reasons given by the MDC for not contesting the
re-appointment of
31 permanent secretaries by Robert Mugabe on May 20 were
far from convincing
at a time when Zimbabwe continues to lose its best
brains to other countries
in search of jobs, and others remain in the
diaspora.
Websites for ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour, Public
Service and
Welfare, Home Affairs, Higher Education, Justice, Defence and
Health are all
not up to date and don't reflect the new dispensation and
portray a very bad
image. The Foreign Affairs website was last updated on
November 12 2008 and
according to it the next presidential election will be
on March 29 2008,
while upcoming events include the Comesa Summit from
November 25 to December
8 2008. The Home Affairs website has only one
minister, Kembo Mohadi.
The MDC's 9th Conference called on the
controversial Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana and the embattled governor of
the Reserve Bank Gideon Gono
to "resign forthwith" in the national interest.
As if to cave in to such
threats, Finance minister Tendai Biti later said he
had "ring-fenced" Gono
and Western countries could no longer use him as an
excuse for withholding
critical aid, meaning that Gono is going
nowhere.
The MDC's commitment to Press freedom needs to go beyond a
resolution
for media reform and for the Herald and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation to reform and report equally, fairly and consistently in line
with the GPA. There is no credible reason why the MDC does not state
categorically its opposition to oppressive laws like Aippa, Posa and others.
Similarly, why should newspapers like The Zimbabwean, which is meant to
balance the reporting of news back home, be charged 50% duty?
It
can be argued that the MDC is alienating its sympathisers by
commission and
omission.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri
email: zimanalysis2009@googlemail.com
--------------
Zesa go-ahead: GNU out of
Touch
Thursday, 18 June 2009 20:39
THE
Herald's front-page article of June 11 headlined "Zesa given
go-ahead to cut
power" shows just how out of touch our so-called unity
government is with
the people.
I would happily pay my Zesa bill or any other of
the utilities
if I had received a salary this year. Since February I have
been received
only US$100 a month in handouts from my company, which has
barely managed to
feed my family. We have no medical aid, no insurance, no
ZBC licences, no
fuel for our car and haven't managed to pay last term's or
this term's
outrageous school/ PTA fees. We already live in abject poverty
and now Zesa
wants to cut off the electricity, which will be followed
rapidly by - mark
my words -water and telephone cuts.
Can I remind the minister who has given this go-ahead and who
more than
likely gets all the above mentioned facilities free, that our
money is still
there in the bank, just a number on a ledger because the
government scrapped
the Zimdollar. I did not see any directive from the
government to convert
all our banked money into a useable currency - no; all
our savings and our
lives were just scrapped by the stroke of a government
pen.
Can I also remind the minister that 95% of this country's
business and
people had to start with a nil balance in February; some
sectors are only
now starting to recover to make
some money and only starting to
pay something towards their
staff.
Haven't the people of
this country been through enough in the
past two to three years without the
government sanctioning further misery
and upset? Zesa's woes were because
of their own problems, their
inefficiency has been paramount to their
troubles for years.
Remember too for most of 2008 we couldn't get
the money we
earned from banks so couldn't use it, and we couldn't pay
Zesa.
Surely we should not be made to suffer any further; let
Zesa
suffer alongside us, the poor and the hungry. We will pay when we can,
we
promise, but putting us in the cold and dark will not help this country
recover any sooner.
Sufferer,
Harare.
----------
TelOne Charges
Outrageous
Thursday, 18 June 2009 20:38
PLEASE
warn all your valued customers about how TelOne charges.
The charge is 21c
per unit, a unit is charged for the first three minutes
and thereafter a
unit for every 30 seconds.
Thus the minimum charge is 21c and
after three minutes the
charge is two units a minute -ie 42c per minute. A
four-minute call costs
63c, five minutes is US$1,05, and so
on.
This now makes sense as to why the phone bills are so
very high,
especially for those using TelOne for Internet access. In the
Zimbabwe
Independent's businessdigest (June 5-11) TelOne's acting public
relations
executive, Collin Welbesi, was quoted as saying that they charge
7c per
minute. It was also reported that "the average local usage per month
at a
household level is 200 units which translates into 600 minutes" (TEN
hours!). This is obviously a distortion of the true position and typifies
the half-truths we have become so used to accepting from the previous
regime.
TelOne customers should be
warned not
to use their services for Internet, email or
business. One Internet usage
(or phone call) of 30 minutes costs US$11,55 or
almost half what Econet is
charging for one month's 24-hour Internet
service. TelOne's "rental" for
handsets I have to supply is US$25 or again
what Econet charges per month
for their 24-hour Internet service. This is
all totally
outrageous.
Econet charges 25c per minute (depending on the
system) so a
10-minute call costs around US$2,50 - keep your calls short and
sweet!
Alan McCormick,
Harare.
---------------
SMS The Zimbabwe
Independent
Thursday, 18 June 2009 20:37
WE want
elected provincial premiers who will implement the
policies formulated by
the provincial legislature.
Mamjiji, Zvimba.
WE
don't want a president with executive powers; once bitten
twice shy; the
constitutional committee must know that.
Shikota,
Hwange.
LET'S advocate for the devolution of power and
proportional
representation in the new people-driven
constitution.
Tozivepi, Uzumba.
IF Tsvangirai
and the MDC are who they say they are then why is
the prime minister's niece
grabbing a farm? We all put ourselves at great
risks for the MDC. We are
losing trust rapidly.
NM.
IAM a civil servant
getting US$100 per month, my Zesa bill is
US$119, total amount to be paid in
levies and fees for my three kids is over
US$200, Zinwa bill is at US$48, my
transport expenditure stands at US$40 per
month and some good people have
allowed Zesa to cut off electricity.
I am preparing my family for
darkness because I am not Jesus who
fed thousands from three loaves. I
cannot tear US$100 to come up with US$500
and talk of food is another
problem. Mr Mudzuri are you still with us or
not?
Amai
Zimba.
AMERICA should not dictate the person to lead the army
in
Zimbabwe please, we are no longer a colony?
SHAME for
Musapenda's cartoon
in the Sunday Mail, "Ronaldo
is
sold for US$130 million and then Obama gives us only US$73
million". Ronaldo is the world's property, don't liken him to
Zimbabwe.
Makandiona N, Mbare.
SHAME on
Tsvangirai and his American niece, this woman is
selfish. If the uncle is
not able to control his greedy relatives then start
subtracting your votes
Tsvangirai. We are not going to repeat the same
mistake.
Mai
Zimba.
CONGRATULATIONS to the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe
for being
elected as the chairperson at the Comesa summit's round table. We
pray that
through the leadership role entrusted on her, she will rescue
Zimbabweans to
a bright future.
WARP,
Bulawayo.
IF Gono is concerned about the welfare of
Zimbabweans then he
should resign.
Netshinanga.
IF Zanu PF is an honest party in the inclusive
government it
should walk the talk, assisting the prime minister in his talk
with the West
over sanctions.
David Marango,
Chitungwiza.
PREVIOUS UN observers noted rule by conquest not
by consensus.
Any changes? Not so fast prime minister. Donor conditions are
neither unfair
nor hard on Zimbabweans. Convince your partners to put the
nation first.
Zim hostage.
WHETHER Zesa meters
are being read or not at US7cents per KW,
Zesa tariffs are expensive, that's
the bottom line.
Zesa A customer, Bulawayo.
TO
compare Tsvangirai with the likes of Joshua Nkomo is
nonsensical. Nkomo is
our liberator and Tsvangirai is a mere puppet of the
West. The man is there
to fight the vision of Mdala wethu. Please do no
insult us like
that.
TT Moyo, Lupane.
MAY Zifa please update
its website so that pictures of
facilities like stadiums, gyms, hotels etc
can be seen at the click of the
button in preparation for SA
2010.
Agripa Ngwazi.
AFTER the shambolic land
reform and black empowerment we are
now the laughing stock of the globe.
Let us wake up youths of Africa, they
are lions in sheepskin.
Mutape.
MUGABE did not grab the land from the whites whom you
call
former land owners, but he just took back what was stolen from our
ancestors
so forget about what you call property rights. It is democracy to
give back
what have been stolen to the owner.
TT
Moyo.
DEMOCRACY and transparency within the MDC-T has been
choked
badly and there is a widening gap between the top leadership and the
structures. The flopped rally at Glamis stadium was an indication. God save
the MDC.
Worried.
THE West wants regime
change in Zimbabwe and does not want
Mugabe to be there simply because he
won't reverse the land reform
programmme.
Patriot.
MORGAN Tsvangirai must stop making excuses for
Mugabe. He is
deceiving you and will finally put a knife in your back. Be
warned.
Take heed