http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 15:11
THE
inclusive government, looking for US$2 billion from the region and
at least
US$5 billion for economic recovery, desperately needs US$1 billion
over and
above its fiscal budgetary requirements to meet an array of
emergency
financial obligations.
Failure to secure the US$1 billion could
cripple the operations of the
new government that has raised public
expectations on economic recovery and
delivery of services, making its first
100 days a barren stretch.
Sadc finance ministers
and African Development Bank officials met
recently in Cape Town to work out
a US$2 billion rescue package, but that is
unlikely to come immediately.
Sadc leaders need to meet first to approve the
package.
A
confidential internal government memo circulated to selected
ministries says
US$1 billion is needed now to meet emergency obligations
which include
critical payments for fuel, electricity, water, grain, seed,
fertiliser,
lines of credit, diplomatic missions, parastatals, currency
printing
equipment, the Registrar-General's office, presidential
scholarships,
security ministries, loans and debts.
The memo says as of last
month, Zimbabwe owed Equatorial Guinea US$222
million for fuel, Noczim
US$26,5 million, Noczim-pipeline US$4 million,
lines of credit US$195,4
million, GMB US$106,05 million, corporate loans
US$240,74 million,
diplomatic missions US$30 million, fertilisers US$35,6
million,
army/intelligence/police US$20 million, Air Zimbabwe US$10 million,
Zinwa
US$5 million, China US$5 million, the Registrar-General US$5 million,
presidential scholarships US$4 million, Zesa US$40 million, seed US$12
million and currency printing US$100 million.
"This amounts to
US$1,061,29 billion. Government needs to swiftly
raise this money to keep
running," the memo says. "Failure to pay some of
these obligations urgently
would further weaken the country's credit rating
in regional and
international markets."
The memo says government is facing a
serious financial crisis and
would need to move with speed to raise funds to
save the situation. The
crisis is aggravated by a total stock of external
debt of over US$5 billion.
"The Ministry of Finance must
swiftly put together a framework for
sustainable external debt management,"
the memo says. "Government has been
frustrated by the attitude of
multilateral financial institutions and the
donor
community."
The need for emergency funding has created
headaches for the new
government which has no reliable source of revenue.
Western nations have
said no financial aid would be coming soon. The
situation is further
worsened by the global economic crisis gripping
developed countries.
Only Australia, which does not belong to
the G8, has promised US$10
million in aid over and above the humanitarian
assistance to deal with
water, sanitation and health services. However,
US$10 million is a drop in
the ocean given the needs.
With
the International Monetary Fund, whose assessment team is
currently in the
country, indicating that no balance of payments support
would be provided
any time soon, Zimbabwe's bid to raise US$1 billion right
away could be a
nightmare.
To make the situation worse, government can no
longer print money to
meet its local obligations as the new Finance minister
Tendai Biti is
opposed to quasi-fiscal activities. The government used to
meet its urgent
financial obligations through printing
money.
Now government will refrain from borrowing from the
central bank
either via direct overdrafts or through primary issuance of
debt instruments
to the Reserve Bank by the Treasury.
"Swift measures need to be taken to capacitate Zimra to raise fiscal
revenues," the memo says. "Without this, we estimate that the expected
target of achieving revenues that are 30% of GDP could turn out to be as low
as 15-20% of GDP at best, which eventually would cripple operations of the
government and the economy as a whole."
BY DUMISANI
MULEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
15:11
SECURITY service chiefs were this week conspicuous by their
absence at
the funeral of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife, Susan,
heightening
fears that they remain opposed to the premier and the inclusive
government.
The absence of army, airforce, police or prisons bosses
from the
funeral attended by President Robert Mugabe, ministers, senior
government
officials, and diplomats, would intensify fears that the Joint
Operations
Command (JOC) - which had been running the country's affairs from
behind the
scenes - was opposed to the unity deal and could become a
stumbling block to
progress.
JOC comprises Mugabe diehards from
the army, intelligence, prisons and
police who are reportedly opposed to
Tsvangirai. Susan's death touched the
hearts of many but service chiefs
appeared unmoved. She died in a car crash
last Friday along the
Harare-Masvingo highway. Tsvangirai sustained
injuries.
Susan was
buried on Wednesday at her husband's rural home in Buhera.
Analysts
said although Defence Forces commander Constantine Chiwenga,
Air Force chief
Perrence Shiri, Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri and Prisons
Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi were not obliged to visit
the grieving family,
they were expected to attend the funeral of the prime
minister's wife out of
courtesy as senior officers.
Only Happyton Bonyongwe, the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
boss, attended. He was seen running around
at the Avenues Clinic last Friday
after the accident.
Bonyongwe came with Mugabe and his wife Grace, Vice-President Joice
Mujuru
and central bank governor Gideon Gono, among government officials who
came
to see the prime minister at the clinic.
On Tuesday Mugabe,
Vice-Presidents Mujuru and Joseph Msika, Defence
minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa, co-Home Affairs ministers Kembo Mohadi and
Giles Mutsekwa,
Education minister David Coltart and others attended a
church service in
honour of Susan at Mabelreign Methodist Church in the
capital.
"What is puzzling is that most people who matter in government were at
the
funeral except the service chiefs," a source said.
"It is clear
that they are maintaining their position that they have
nothing to do with
Tsvangirai."
Chiwenga, Shiri, Chihuri and Zimondi reportedly
indicated before last
March's harmonised elections that they would not
salute Tsvangirai if he won
the presidential election against
Mugabe.
Recent media reports said Chiwenga told his
subordinates that he had
difficulty in saluting the Tsvangirai, but would
not victimise those within
the force if they did.
The
generals were reportedly behind Zanu PF's "military and war-like"
presidential run-off election campaign which the MDC-T said resulted in the
deaths of about 200 of its supporters, over 10 000 injured and thousands
left homeless.
Tsvangirai withdrew from the run-off and
Mugabe's victory was not
recognised in the region and internationally,
prompting Sadc and the African
to facilitate talks for a unity
government.
Besides Bonyongwe, the service chiefs also did not
attend the swearing
in of Tsvangirai as prime minister by Mugabe on February
11.
Despite the service chiefs avoiding Tsvangirai, they would
come
face-to-face in the National Security Council (NSC) - a successor body
to
the Joint Operations Command that deals with national security
matters.
The NSC is chaired by Mugabe and Tsvangirai is a
member.
Tsvangirai has since said there was need for security
forces reforms
to transform them into professional state
apparatus.
Efforts to get a comment from Defence Forces
spokesperson Colonel Ben
Ncube last night were in vain.
BY
CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March
2009 14:37
THE Commercial Farmers Union has accused the
Attorney-General's office
of ordering courts to convict white farmers for
allegedly violating
government eviction notices amid reports of more farming
disruptions across
the country.
Several farmers granted
permission to stay on their land by the Sadc
Tribunal are facing prosecution
and have reportedly clashed with senior
government officials and Zanu PF
supporters seeking to evict them.
The evictions and
prosecutions have reportedly heightened following
President Robert Mugabe's
birthday remarks where he vowed to continue with
farm
seizures.
Government through Lands and Resettlement minister
Herbert Murerwa a
fortnight ago denied reports of fresh farm evictions and
disruption of
farming activities.
Commercial farmers in
Mashonaland, according to a CFU Farm Disruptions
Report, have been targeted
for "fast-track" trials.
Mike Campbell, the chief applicant in
the successful Sadc Tribunal
ruling, is cited in the report which alleges
that a Chegutu prosecutor has a
list of summons of farmers to be arraigned
before the courts for allegedly
violating the Gazetted Land (Consequential
Provisions) Act.
Other Chegutu farmers, John Eastwood, JM
Beattie, Campher Pasquel,
Billy Nicholson, Danie Swart, Bart Wilde, Simon
Keevil, Mike Nicholson, and
Kevin du Bois have since been summoned to court
to face similar charges.
Farmers in Mashonaland East, Midlands
and Manicaland, the report
added, could also face the same fate.
Dick Visagie of Wantage farm, Bruce Rodgers of Chigwell farm and Wayne
Seaman of Chegutu, all interveners in the Namibia Tribunal case, have also
been listed for eviction.
"There is no let up on the
prosecution of farmers for alleged illegal
occupation of their farms," the
CFU report says.
"Most of the present farmers still on the land
have some form of
permission. However, a recent document issued to all
magistrates by the
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana suggests that all
farmers should be
summarily found guilty and evicted if they are not in
possession of an offer
letter or permit and a land settlement
lease."
Most farmers, the CFU claimed, have not been granted
the relevant
documents despite applying for them.
"However,
the powers that be at local (and in some cases provincial)
level are totally
against and do not support the present prosecutions and
evictions, saying
that the orders have come from 'the top'," the report
added.
Many farmers, the CFU claimed, have also "abandoned
their homes and
gone into hiding until the matter can be resolved at a
political level".
"The fast track trials have continued and
reports emanating from Gweru
and Kwekwe state that the presiding magistrates
are not taking their
customary notes for recording purposes during the
trials," the CFU said.
The union also alleged that Reserve Bank
deputy governor Edward
Mashiringwani and the police earlier this month
barred farm workers at
Friedawill Farm in Karoi from feeding pigs at the
property.
The swine, according to Louis Fick, who was evicted
by Mashiringwani,
have since been fed after the intervention of the
SPCA.
Fick is one of the 77 farmers who took government to the
Sadc
Tribunal.
Police reportedly responded to the "inhumane
situation" at the farm by
accusing Fick's labourers of stealing stock feeds
in order to feed their own
livestock.
The CFU also claimed
that the President of the Senate, Edna Madzongwe,
earlier this month pursued
her prolonged ownership wrangle with
Chegutu-based farmer Peter Etheridge
when she ordered him to vacate
Stockdale citrus farm.
The
union alleged that Madzongwe, accompanied by her supporters,
ordered
Etheridge to round up farming operations and vacate the farm.
Last year Etheridge suffered a major setback when he lost US$600
million
worth of property as a result of the farm ownership wrangle.
Another Chegutu-based farmer, Catherine Meredith, claimed in the
report that
eviction attempts at her farm had intensified since the
beginning of the
month.
Meredith claimed: "The intruders have gone up a notch in
their
aggressive behaviour as they are surrounding our African boss-man,
Joseph
Zulu, who is stuck in his house.
"They are not
allowing him to leave his house and, should he leave his
home, they said
they would immediately take occupation of his house."
Mugabe,
speaking at his 85th birthday celebrations in Chinhoyi a
fortnight ago, said
the dispute over land in Zimbabwe could not be
determined by the Sadc
Tribunal based in Namibia because the country has
competent courts to
adjudicate on the rights of the people.
He ordered that white
farmers whose farms had been legally acquired by
government should vacate
the farms instead of seeking interdiction from the
Tribunal.
Mugabe described the move by some white farmers to take the matter to
the
Tribunal as "nonsensical".
He said: "Again I want to say, the
farmers who owned these farms which
now have been designated and offered to
new owners, must respect that law.
They must vacate those farms, they must
vacate those farms, and they must
vacate those farms.
"Some farmers went to the Sadc Tribunal in Namibia, but that's
nonsense,
absolute nonsense, no one will follow that. We have courts here in
this
country that can determine the rights of people. Our land issues are
not
subject to the Sadc Tribunal."
High Court judge Mary-Anne
Gowora last week nullified the Sadc
Tribunal's decision to either compensate
the commercial farmers or allow
them to continue with the farming
activities.
Efforts to get a comment from Murerwa and Tomana
yesterday were in
vain.
BY BERNARD MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
14:28
FORMER Zanu PF MP David Butau, facing fraud charges linked to the
Reserve Bank's farm mechanisation programme, has been stripped of his
chairmanship and directorship in Dande Capital Holdings, a company in which
he is the majority shareholder.
High Court judge Justice
Lavender Makoni recently granted an
application by the company's chief
executive officer, Danisa Mhlanga, and
Butau's co-shareholders - Evison
Musanjeya, Wilfred Hlanguyo and Decent
Chitsungo - for the removal of the
former legislator from Dande Capital
Holdings' board of
directors.
Makoni also barred Butau's brother, Grey, from
interfering in the
running of the company.
In the default
judgement, Makoni ruled: "1st Respondent (Butau)
forfeited his directorship
in Dande Capital Holdings by being absent at the
board of directors meeting
for a period in excess of six months without
permission."
The judge also ruled that Mhlanga, Musanjeya, Hlanguyo and Chitsungo
were
the legitimate directors of the company.
"The 2nd (Mhlanga),
3rd (Musanjeya), 4th (Hlanguyo) and 5th
(Chitsungo) applicants herein are
the lawful directors of Dande Capital
Holdings and as such have the
exclusive mandate to conduct the company's
affairs," read Makoni's
judgement.
The company was incorporated in 2000 and
re-registered in 2002. Its
core business is to offer financial advisory
services to local, regional and
overseas organisations.
The
company has seven subsidiaries - El'e Resources (Pvt) Ltd,
Cynthesis
Agriculture Pvt) Ltd, Cythensis Cotton (Pvt) Ltd, Tsakare Chickens
(Pvt)
Ltd, Timbsbury Timbers (Pvt) Ltd, Heldnet Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd and
Telequip
(Pvt) Ltd.
Sources close to Butau told the Zimbabwe Independent
that the former
Guruve North lawmaker returned home last week to fight for
the chairmanship
and directorship of the company and the criminal charges
against him.
Butau fled Zimbabwe in December 2007 when police
said they intended to
question him in connection with dealings in foreign
currency on the black
market.
He flew to Britain on a
six-month tourist visa before later moving to
Pretoria, where he was holed
up until March 6 this year.
Butau returned home after
arrangements with the Attorney-General's
office that facilitated travel
documents for him after he lost his passport
in South
Africa.
The state alleges that on October 19 2007, Butau asked
a Joseph
Manjoro to deposit $562,5 billion into his company, Nyamasoka
Farming's CBZ
account after having agreed that he would source US$450 000
using a parallel
market rate of US$1 to $1 250 000 to purchase tractors from
Michigan
Tractors of South Africa on behalf of the
government.
"After receiving the money, and during the period
extending from
October 25 to December 19 2007, the accused sourced foreign
currency from
the parallel market, which foreign currency was never remitted
to Joseph
Manjoro," read the state outline.
"When he did so,
the accused knew very well that he had no exchange
control authority to deal
in foreign currency thereby contravening the said
(Foreign Exchange Control)
Act."
The state alleges that after receiving the $562,5 billion
and changing
it on the parallel market, Butau gave Manjoro a copy of a
telegraphic
transfer dated October 23 2007 purporting that he had
transferred US$450 000
to the credit of Michigan for the purchase of
equipment meant for the Farm
Mechanisation Programme.
Verifications made by Manjoro with Michigan proved that no funds were
deposited by the accused and when asked to clarify the issue, Butau
allegedly asked Manjoro to hand him back the copy of the telegraphic
transfer.
He then gave Manjoro a copy of cheque number
100146 for 215 000
British pounds drawn upon his HSBC account number
82435063 domiciled at
Channel Islands, United Kingdom, to the credit of
Michigan South Africa.
The accused caused the cheque to be
deposited into Michigan tractors
held by Standard Bank of South
Africa.
However, the cheque was returned by HSBC Bank late in
November 2007
unpaid with the reason "refer to drawer".
The
state alleged that Butau issued the cheque even though he knew he
had
insufficient funds in his account.
As a result of this
misrepresentation, the state alleged, government
suffered a prejudice of
$562 billion and nothing was recovered.
Last week, a Harare magistrate
dismissed Butau's bail application on
the basis that he may
abscond.
His lawyer Charles Chinyama has since appealed to the
High Court
against the lower court's decision.
BY LUCIA
MAKAMURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 13:31
THE
revived PF Zapu has deferred its national congress to elect the
party's
substantive leadership from next month to May after encountering
logistical
problems.
Effort Nkomo, the party's spokesperson, told the Zimbabwe
Independent
that the national executive met a fortnight ago and resolved to
move the
congress to May.
"The congress will be held at the
beginning of May," Nkomo said. "We
postponed it to sort out logistical
issues. We want more people to attend
given that this will be our first
congress in 22 years."
Former PF Zapu, then led by the late
Vice-President Joshua Nkomo,
united with Zanu PF in December 1987. The unity
accord, according to
analysts, resulted in the swallowing of PF Zapu by Zanu
PF.
Last year, disgruntled former PF Zapu leaders said they had
revived
the party and selected former Home Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa
as
interim chairperson.
Dabengwa is tipped to be elected
the president of the party at the
congress.
The revival of
the party has caused rifts within Zanu PF and has seen
almost the entire
Bulawayo provincial executive quitting the party to join
PF
Zapu.
Nkomo said the congress would conduct elections for
national
positions.
"There are no indications yet on who
will contest which position, but
that will be clear when the national
executive meets at the end of the month
to make final touches to the
preparations of the congress," Nkomo said.
Former PF Zapu
stalwarts pulled out of the Unity Accord with Zanu PF
last December saying
the President Robert Mugabe-led party had failed to
honour its part of the
deal. They accused Zanu PF of underdeveloping the
Matabeleland region. -
Staff Writer.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
13:31
A MAN who allegedly instigated raids at Kudu Creek Camp in Ruwa
that
resulted in the arrest of three commercial farmers on allegations of
recruiting and training bandits to topple President Robert Mugabe has been
nabbed for swindling government of farming implements valued at US$35
100.
Joseph Banda has since appeared in court on charges of
conniving with
the Reserve Bank head of agricultural mechanisation and
small-to-medium
enterprises support division Mordecai Masakwa to steal a
motor cycle, four
generators, 15 knapsacks, a seed drill and five chains.
Masakwa is still at
large.
Banda is also facing allegations
of impersonating a police officer by
claiming to be a senior assistant
commissioner in the Zimbabwe Republic
Police, a security officer with the
RBZ and a war veteran.
The state alleges that Banda and Masakwa
between January 20 and
February 20 went to Bak Storage in Harare and
misrepresented that they had
authority from central bank governor Gideon
Gono to acquire the farm
implements.
In January, Banda was
alleged to have been the mastermind behind the
raids at Kudu Creek - a Boy
Scout camp - which resulted in the arrest of
three commercial farmers, John
Naested (57), Bryan Baxter (67) and Angus
Thompson (53).
The three farmers were raided at around 2am on January 3 in a predawn
swoop
by about 370 policemen, CIO and army personnel, which included two
helicopters and civilian vehicles".
The state alleged that
it had found various firearms in the possession
of Naested and Baxter and
that the three were recruiting MDC-T youths to
undergo military training
with the intention of committing acts of terrorism
in the
country.
Naested, Baxter and Thompson were last week set free
by a Harare
magistrate who said there was no reasonable suspicion that the
trio
committed an offence.
In a High Court bail application
soon after the farmers were arrested,
Baxter alleged that Banda was the
leader of the raid at the camp, which was
the fifth such in four
years.
He said Banda had threatened him and ordered his family
to vacate the
farm so that he could take it over.
Baxter said on
two occasions in 2008, Banda went to his house with a
copy of a Government
Gazette and an offer letter and asked him to vacate as
he had been offered
the plot and that the CIO wanted to use the house as its
headquarters.
The farmer had to ask for assistance from
governor Aeneas Chigwedere
who advised him that the offer letter was
false.
Since then, it was alleged, Banda employed violent means
to take over
Baxter's plot, but failed.
The state had
alleged that between February 2003 and January 2009 at
Plot 16A, Gardener
Road, Acturus, Goromonzi, Plot 13A and remainder of Lot 1
the farmers had
"recruited and assisted or encouraged some MDC-T youths to
undergo training
with the intention of committing acts of insurgency,
banditry, sabotage or
terrorism in Zimbabwe".
However, defence lawyers said the
weapons were not for military use,
but sporting firearms and argued that the
state could not explain when the
alleged terrorists and bandits had been
trained.
The state alleged that Baxter was responsible for transporting
recruits from his farm where they were staying to Naested's residence for
training.
However, their lawyers said there were no
boarding facilities at
Baxter's house.
"In fact it would
have made more sense if the state had alleged that
the recruits were
sheltered at the 1st applicant's (Naested's) residence
because that is the
place where there are boarding facilities and guest
houses for school
children who would have gone out for camping," the lawyers
argued.
The applicants handed over to the police videos of
activities that
take place at the Naested plot as well as indemnity forms
signed by parents
of children from St John's High, Sharon School,
Bishopslea, Aril in Ruwa,
Lilford in Nyabira, Lomagundi College, and
Chisipite and Convent schools.
Some of the courses taken
include leadership for 10 to 18-year-olds,
rope courses, rock and mountain
climbing, building courses, canoeing and
tree identification.
BY WONGAI ZHANGAZHA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 12:59
THE two MDC
formations are pushing the inclusive government to either
withdraw or revise
the 2009 National Budget tabled in parliament in January
by then acting
Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa.
The Finance Bill and Estimates
of Expenditure for the year has not
been passed by
parliament.
Sources in the MDC formations said the parties
wanted a new budget to
be presented by the Finance minister, Tendai
Biti.
The 2009 budget is the top priority item on parliament's
order paper
to be debated in the coming weeks.
A source
within the MDC faction said his party would not support the
passage of the
budget in parliament as they felt that it was "anti-people
and
anti-progress".
"The budget presented by Chinamasa is
unrealistic and it will be
revised," the source said. "The majority of
provisions in the budget do not
take into account the prevailing situation
on the ground, so we will not
support the budget in
parliament."
The revised Finance Bill and Estimates of
Expenditure would need to
cater for the additional ministries which came on
board after the formation
of the inclusive government on February
13.
Edwin Mushoriwa, the MDC spokesperson, said the party
wanted both the
budget and the monetary policy reviewed.
"What is clear is that the budget and the monetary policy were done
prior to
the coming in of the new government and as a result there are a
number of
things that need to be reviewed," Mushoriwa said.
He added that there
was need for the new cabinet to critically assess
the budget.
BY LOUGHTY DUBE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March
2009 12:54
ZIMBABWE might not meet its grain and cereal production
targets this
season due to late land preparations and a shortage of inputs,
agricultural
experts said this week.
Maize and wheat production
is expected to fall from last year's levels
while there will be a marked
improvement in small grains yield.
The experts said Zimbabwe
should put contingency measures in place to
import food from its regional
producers.
The cropping season, the experts said, was headed
for an all-time low
in productivity in grain and cereals despite numerous
agro-based
interventions to boost the sector.
Shortages of
seed, fertilisers, fuel and herbicides that characterised
the 2008/9
cropping season could lead to a decline in agricultural output
despite
relatively favourable rainfall.
The shortages have been a major
characteristic of the agricultural
sector in the past two years owing to
price controls that paralysed the
manufacturing sector and some
retailers.
Experts have predicted low production of the staple
maize which will
put a severe strain on the fiscus due to grain imports.
Official projections
are yet to be released.
Projections
made by the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), an
organisation that represents
mainly white commercial farmers, show a
downward trend in grain and cereal
production.
Maize, according to the CFU, will drop to 397 000
tonnes this season
from 417 000 tonnes last year. This figure represents a
fraction of the
estimated two million metric tonnes required annually for
national
consumption and an estimated 70% decline in productivity
since the
agrarian "reforms" began in 2000.
Zimbabwe is also likely
to continue importing wheat from the region
due to an anticipated cereal
output of 18 000 tonnes compared to 314 000
tonnes recorded in
2001.
The CFU however projected that small grain output for
crops such as
sorghum could jump to over 113 000 tonnes on the back of
government's appeal
to farmers to grow drought-resistant
crops.
Production of the foreign currency earning flue-cured
tobacco, the CFU
projected, will drop to 39,7 tonnes from 48,7 tonnes
produced last season.
Experts have attributed the diminishing
productivity of maize to poor
policies, shortages of inputs and the eviction
of white commercial farmers.
The Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) predicts a
slight surge in small grain
production compared to the previous
season.
ZFU president Silas Hungwe recently told the Zimbabwe
Independent that
farmers would have a better yield although he could not
give figures.
Chairman of the National Resource Mobilisation
and Implementation
Committee logistics sub-committee, Brigadier-General
Douglas Nyikayaramba,
this week told the Independent that shortages of
inputs could reduce the
projected yield.
Nyikayaramba is
tasked with spearheading the "Champion Farmer"
exercise which targeted 500
000 hectares of land for the production of 2,5
million tonnes of
maize.
Government, according to Nyikayaramba, procured 94 000
litres of
paraquat herbicide against 500 000 litres that were required. A
shortfall of
310 000 litres of Lasso - an emulsifiable concentrate residual
herbicide
registered for maize, groundnuts, soya beans and sunflower - was
also
recorded by the taskforce.
These shortages,
Nyikayaramba said, could affect medium to
high-density farmers with 10
hectares or more.
"There are signs of nitrogen deficiency for
crops that did not receive
fertiliser. The lack of ammonium nitrate is going
to reduce productivity,"
Nyikayaramba said.
"It would be
misleading at this stage to give the actual forecasts but
output per hectare
could drop from five tonnes to one tonne in some areas
that did not receive
adequate fertilisers."
Government currently has three groups of
farming programmes which it
hopes would produce adequate food supplies - the
Champion Farmer,
disadvantaged rural farmers and the donor-driven "self
financing exercise".
Secretary for Lands and Agriculture in the
Arthur Mutambara-led MDC,
Renson Gasela, said the country could produce 600
000 tonnes of maize this
season.
"An excellent small crop
is expected for a few farmers who accessed
fertilisers," Gasela
predicted.
"At least 600 000 tonnes will be produced against two
million required
to meet annual national consumption."
Joseph Made, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation minister,
declined to
"speculate" on the projections until a government assessment is
carried
out.
"I will not speculate, but government will carry out a
comprehensive
second crop assessment," Made said.
Turning
to the impact of liberalisation of grain marketing on
strategic grain
reserves, Made said: "This decision (to make the GMB the
buyer of last
resort) will not affect strategic grain reserves because
exports are not
allowed under this arrangement."
Under the liberalised
framework announced in the February Monetary
Policy Statement, the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) must act as the buyer of
last resort, providing
farmers with a "fall back" marketing alternative.
"For the
purpose of strategic reserves, the GMB should leverage on its
own internally
generated revenues (for buying grain), as well as the limited
financial
resources as would be made available from the fiscus.
Read the
statement announced by Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono," he
said.
"Zimbabwe's food security situation would remain precarious if our
farmers
continue to face protracted delays in getting their payments for
deliveries
made to the GMB."
Gasela, a former GMB boss, however said
government's decision to
liberalise the marketing of maize and wheat could
elbow out the parastatal
as a competitive miller due to insufficient
funding.
Meanwhile, the South African government has defended
the decision to
support Zimbabwe's agriculture under the R300 million input
package that was
availed last year.
This decision follows an
audit by a regional taskforce to assess the
distribution exercise that was
carried out by aid agencies and churches.
"Cabinet was pleased
to note that all reports indicated that the aid
was distributed in full
compliance of the Sadc framework," the South African
government said last
week.
"An interdepartmental task team that visited Zimbabwe over
the past
two weeks has also found that there was compliance with the Sadc
framework.
We are therefore satisfied that the South African aid was
received by the
targeted ordinary Zimbabweans."
BY BERNARD
MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
12:47
FOREIGN currency-denominated allowances paid out to state
security
forces and the rest of the civil service last month have been
eroded by the
cost of school fees, council rates and utility bills, further
impoverishing
government workers, analysts have said.
The over
300 000 government employees were each paid US$100 in
allowances, plus
monthly salaries in local currency. Most workers in the
country earn far
below US$100.
The payment in allowances in hard currency followed
government's
decision in January to introduce a multi-currencies system as
part of the
country's payment system to deal with hyperinflation and last
September's
partial dollarisation of the economy.
Partial
dollarisation saw manufacturers and retailers shunning trading
in local
currency, prompting private companies to pay wages and allowances
in foreign
currency, a move the government adopted last month.
Developments in the past three weeks have, however, rendered the
allowances
earned by government employees inadequate.
The civil servants'
joy of earning "real money" was short-lived
following the gazetting of new
public school fees structures and the
announcement last week of exorbitant
council rates, a move labour analysts
said would affect most workers in the
country as the new charges were more
than the US$100 most of them earn per
month.
Public and private sector workers in the capital, the
analysts
observed, would be affected the most by the new school fees and
council
rates.
Harare City Council last Friday announced a
whopping US$185 million
budget to be financed by residents and
ratepayers.
Residents in upmarket areas would be expected to
pay monthly charges
of US$97, low-density areas US$57 while those in the
high-density areas will
pay US$24.
Refuse collection
charges for the high-density areas were set at US$10
while those in the
low-density areas will pay US$12.
Consultation fees at council
clinics and hospitals were set at US$20
for adults and US$10 for
children.
Burial fees would vary from US$150 to US$250
depending on the location
of the burial site.
Apart from
council rates, government pegged primary school fees in the
high-density
suburbs at US$20 a term and US$150 in the low-density suburbs.
Pupils in secondary schools in high-density areas will pay US$100 with
those
in the low-density areas paying US$200.
Examination fees for an
'O' Level subject are US$15, while students
sitting for 'A' Level
examinations will be asked to pay US$30 a subject.
Besides
schools fees and council charges, the workers have to pay a
minimum US$10
for electricity and a further US$10 for potable water.
With
these charges, labour analysts said, civil servants and many
workers in
Zimbabwe would battle to make ends meet.
Labour lawyer Rogers
Matsikidze said the new school fees structure and
council charges have
rendered inadequate the allowances public servants got
last month, hence the
need for government to act swiftly and come up with a
new salary
scale.
He said it was apparent that with US$100, a civil
servant could not
pay bills as well as cover the fees for their children at
school and
universities.
"It is unfortunate that it is the
same government that a few weeks ago
paid its workers an allowance of
US$$100 that is today asking them to pay
the same amount for school fees,"
Matsikidze observed.
He said government needed to review
downwards utility bills as they
were well above the allowances it paid its
employees.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe programmes
and information
officer Oswald Madziva said although his organisation
welcomed the move to
pay public servants allowances in hard currency, the
amounts were not enough
to cover basic needs of the
workers.
Madziva said: "We regard the allowance as a painkiller
as we give the
newly formed government of national unity ample time to
address the issue of
salaries for public servants."
He said
the allowance should not be mistaken for a salary.
"The
allowance is not enough and nobody can argue otherwise as it
cannot address
our needs and pay fees for our children," added Madziva.
Teachers last year went on strike citing poor salaries and working
conditions and only went back to work early last month after a pledge by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that they would be paid in foreign
currency.
Minister of Education David Coltart also pleaded with
the teachers to
return to work.
Madziva said their demand for a
US$2 300 salary still stands although
they were open to negotiations to
bring back sanity to the country's
education sector, which used to be the
pride of Africa.
"Our demand still stands and whether or not
government is able to pay
is another issue. Our calculations show that what
we are demanding is
justifiable," he said.
The country's
largest labour federation, the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU),
this week said workers should be paid a minimum monthly
salary of US$454.
According to the labour body, the figure is based on the
basket of an
average family of six.
The ZCTU said there is some resistance
from private sector employers
who are saying their workers should get the
same US$100 allowance the
government is giving public
employees.
ZCTU official Last Tarabuka said the February
allowance for public
servants was not enough for the upkeep of the workers
and their families.
"Our position is clear -- the US$100
allowance paid to civil servants
falls far short of the poverty datum line
which at the moment is at US$454,"
Tarabuka said.
Rosaria
Nyamadzawo, a primary school teacher in Harare, said despite
being paid an
allowance in hard currency, the money was eroded by costs,
among them
rentals and utility bills.
"My allowance will not be enough to
cover all these costs and I wish
the new government of national unity can
intervene and pay us a decent
salary and revisit the fees structure,"
Nyamadzawo lamented.
BY LUCIA MAKAMURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
12:11
WHILE prices for basic goods are declining, the cost of
Zimbabwe's
unreliable electricity and water supplies has been increasing,
pushing up
the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ)'s February monthly family
basket.
Analysts said the charges were not justified considering
the service
was inconsistent. The charges, according to analysts, gave an
impression
that the authorities were charging residents high prices to pay
their debts.
The consumer watchdog revealed that a three-roomed
house in the
high-density suburbs still rents for US$60 a month and the new
water and
electricity charges meant that its six-member family would need an
estimated
US$40 for those.
Health services were averaged
out at US$5, education at US$40 and
clothing and footwear at US$50.
According to CCZ's February basket, food prices showed a market
decline of
20% from US$153,63 in January to US$122,65.
The basket of food
includes margarine, roller meal, white sugar, tea,
fresh milk, cooking oil,
bread, flour, rice, salt, onions, tomatoes and
cabbages.
While inflation was said to be slowing down for the first time in one
year
five months. The reduction in the prices of basic commodities is
expected to
continue.
The last time official inflation figures showed a
decline was in
September 2007 when it dropped to 6 592,8% from 7 634,8% the
previous month.
Announcing his first monetary policy statement
in January Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono said: "Prices of goods and
services are expected to
continue their rapid decline trend over the
remainder of the year while
availability is expected to
improve."
Despite fast falling food prices last month, rises in
the cost of
basic necessities such as electricity and water kept the cost of
living for
an urban family of six at US$374,25, from US$381,23 in
January.
Food makes up 32% of the total basket while transport,
rent, water and
electricity, health services, education, clothing and
footwear make up the
balance.
Countering the fall in food
prices was a rise last month in the cost
of transport, rents, water,
electricity, health, education, clothing and
footwear as all sectors were
dollarised.
According to the CCZ, a family of six needed US$239, a
12% rise from
January's US$214 for the non-food items.
"The
cost of a number of services is still prohibitively high and
these include
rent, water, and lighting and these have pushed up the cost of
the basket,"
said the CCZ.
"Despite basic goods now available in shops, many
people could still
not afford them since not all employers had switched to
hard currency
salaries and wages," the CCZ said. - Staff Writer
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 12:09
A
DECADE ago, the retail sector was characterised by cutthroat
competition.
Retailers had to fight for their chunk of the market share
hence innovations
were a must. Creative adverts and promotions were a common
feature.
Then, consumers prioritised quality and brand type; as
a result the
market was dominated by few players who had the resources to
back their
marketing campaigns.
OK Zimbabwe controlled the
larger portion of the market. TM
Supermarkets and to a lesser extent Lucky 7
were the other forces to reckon
with.
For OK its strength was
in holding promotions. Annually it would hold
the OK grand challenge for OK
stores whilst the French connection
competition would be run in Bon Marché
stores.
OK Zimbabwe was incorporated in 1953 as Springmaster
Corporation. It
was acquired by Delta Corporation in 1977 and later on
changed its name to
Deltrade in 1984.
Through an equity
spin-off the group de-merged from Delta and listed
on the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange in 2001.
Subsequently it started trading under the name
OK. Later on, it
disposed its furniture business, Furniture
Paradise.
Over the years the company managed to expand its horizons
and at the
end of the 2006 financial year, the group had 51 outlets under
its control.
Thirty-nine were operating under the name OK stores,
five used the
brand name Bon Marché whilst the other seven were under the
name OK Express.
The group also managed to build two household
brands, the Pot 'O' Gold
for OK supermarkets and the Premier choice for Bon
Marché supermarkets.
Challenges for the group started two years
ago during the June 18
price blitz. Prior to this, appetite for the counter
on the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange was evident despite the decay that was taking
place in the broader
economy.
The belief amongst market players
was that demand for consumer goods
would always be there so the sector would
be the last to crumble.
The hyperinflation which prevailed when
the economy was still
predominantly transacting in Zimbabwe dollars further
accelerated the
collapse in retailing.
This had the impact of
wiping off individuals' disposable incomes
thereby dragging down demand for
goods. Cash shortages that had become a
common feature worsened the
situation.
The daily cash withdrawal limit was not even enough for
commuting to
work let alone shopping. Restocking on the part of retailers
was again made
difficult as replacement prices were continuously
escalating.
On the other hand, the June 18 2008 price blitz
alongside the strict
enforcement of price controls by the National Incomes
and Pricing Commission
helped the parallel market to blossom whilst shop
shelves became empty.
The few locally produced items were finding
their way onto the
parallel market where realistic prices were being
charged.
The decline in production was a result of shortages of
critical spare
parts and raw materials. Incessant power cuts together with
erratic water
supplies further compounded the situation.
Industry was again holding back supply of finished goods due to
unviable
prices pegged by the National Incomes and Pricing Commission.
For
some, business suddenly improved in November. This was regardless
of
developments that were unfolding on the international front.
The
ongoing credit squeeze on the global markets has seen a number of
retail
giants falling by the wayside. Trimming of branch network together
with job
cuts have become common feature.
In January, Woolworths disclosed
plans to close a quarter of its 800
outlets which will result in
approximately 27 000 full time and part time
employees losing their
jobs.
The advent of Foliwars permitted companies to charge
realistic market
prices for their products. Goods immediately resurfaced on
shelves as
entrepreneurs were getting value in return for their
products.
This brought painful transformation of business practices
in the
country. Days of "burning" US$10 and then using the Zim dollar
proceeds to
buy goods worth US$50 were now gone. Volume of sales improved
with
well-stocked shops making super profits.
When compared to
the region, local prices were approximately four
times higher an indication
of greed engulfing local entrepreneurs.
The few merchants that
managed to establish credit lines quickly are
operating comfortably. In
particular, Spar outlets which are directly
managed by Innscor and whose
location is in affluent areas are unmistakably
recording brisk
business.
For Innscor, the success came from its relationship with
Spar South
Africa. Since it owns the Spar franchise for the Northern part of
the
country, it obtains products for distribution to other outlets through
Spar
Distribution Centre.
Synergy with associate company
National Foods as well as subsidiary
Colcom Foods again ensures that their
outlets are adequately stocked with
products produced by these
companies.
Retail chains like Batanai, Gutsai and the Savemore
franchises have
also expanded their wings over this period, itself a sign of
increased
business.
Going forward, competition in the
sector is going to be intense as the
playing field evens out. Companies now
have to revert to basics where
business is driven by volume and not
margins.
Already prices are coming down as the number of
well-stocked shops is
improving. Scrapping of duty on basic commodities is
another development
that will induce competition as it will avail
individuals with an option to
go shopping from regional
countries.
South African companies with interests in local
firms will obviously
want to take advantage of their relationships and boost
their turnover
levels using the local market.
Firms like
Metcash and Massmart may opt to extend credit facilities to
their
counterparts Jaggers and Makro respectively.
Evidently the
giants of yesteryear are still nursing wounds sustained
in the price
tsunami. However, it will be interesting to see how they will
try to match
the competition from new entrants so as to regain loyalty from
customers.
OK and TM have large branch networks that they can
capitalise on.
Furthermore, TM has synergies with Pick and Pay South Africa
that it can
bank on in mobilizing stocks, although the current boardroom
squabbles at
Kingdom Meikles Africa might scupper growth
potential.
As it is said a wounded lion advances with strong
vengeance. We just
wait to see how these two will respond.
BY
KUMBIRAI MAKWEMBERE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
12:08
THE local tourism industry has been reeling over the past year
due to
the cholera outbreak and the bad publicity which followed the
violence after
the March 2008 presidential elections.
Apart
from the cholera outbreak and political environment, Rainbow
Tourism Group
(RTG) believe their operations could have been "much better"
had it not been
for high inflation and price monitoring.
"The operating
environment for the year ended December 2008 was
extremely challenging.
Inflation continued to sky rocket," said RTG chairman
Ibbo
Mandaza.
"The National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC)
regulated and
monitored prices of products and services in the hospitality
industry
throughout the year, with varying impacts on the group's
performance," he
said.
RTG reported their financial results
in the local currency; however
they do not give a clear picture to
shareholders and investors on how the
company performed taking into
considering the rate the dollar was losing
value against major currencies
and the revaluations of the local currency.
"These depressed
occupancies were largely due to low conferencing
business, depressed
disposable incomes and cancellations as a result of
travel warnings," said
Mandaza.
According to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority a total of
17 conferences
which were to bring about 1 700 delegates to the country were
cancelled last
year alone. These included the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa
(Comesa).
"The sales mix was 78% domestic
and 22% foreign, compared with 76% and
24% respectively in the prior year.
Price controls resulted in erratic
supplies of strategic hotel products and
tight stock levels at most
operational units. This had an undesirable effect
on service delivery,"
Mandaza said.
Mandaza said the
mismatch between revenues and expenses persisted for
the greater part of
2008 as operating costs continued to be pegged to
parallel market rates.
With the introduction of multiple currencies, RTG and
the tourism industry
is poised for a major recovery if they offer
competitive prices which will
attract both local and foreign tourists.
"The country risk and
negative perception associated with the 2008
elections adversely affected
volumes at most of the group's operational
units.
While the
Global Political Agreement signed by the country's main
political parties in
September 2008 ignited hope in many sectors of the
economy, there was no
discernible impact on business owing to delays in
concluding and putting the
inclusive government in place," said Mandaza.
Mandaza said
despite the stumbling bloc during the period under
review, going forward,
prudent procurement strategies had been put in place
to ensure uninterrupted
business at all the group's properties.
The deregulation of
prices in the fourth quarter and increased foreign
currency receipts on
local sales is said to have helped the group improve
its
revenues.
The group continued its expansion into Sub Saharan
Africa, focusing in
the Sadc region. Two operations were opened in Zambia on
a management
contract basis.
Negotiations are progressing well
with regards to prospects identified
in South Africa.
BY PAUL
NYAKAZEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
11:54
THE Employer's Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) this week said
wage
negotiations within various National Employment Councils (NECs) have
been
dragging on three months after the dollarisation of the economy as
employers
and workers are failing to agree on how much should be paid as a
minimum
wage in hard currency.
Emcoz director John Mufukare
told businessdigest on Wednesday that at
least 10 of the NECs would seek
arbitration at the Labour Court after they
deadlocked on the minimum
wage.
"There are still a number of employment councils who have
outstanding
cases," he said. "From the information we have received, about
10 NECs are
heading for arbitration."
Mufukare said most of
the cases to be heard by the court were disputes
between the employers and
workers on the method of payment to substitute
hard
currency.
"Employers were offering food vouchers and fuel
coupons as a method of
payment arguing that they did not have hard currency
to pay. Workers are
refusing such forms of payment," Mufukare
said.
He said paying in foreign currency may force some
companies to close.
The Emcoz boss said there was need for a
meeting where all
stakeholders could come up with a renumeration policy
informed by the
prevailing macroeconomic climate.
Mufukare
said the resumption of the Tripartite Negotiating Forum
(TNF), a negotiating
platform between business, labour and government, would
also help to
stabilise the salary structure of all sectors.
The TNF has not
been functional since the collapse of the tripartite
agreement by the three
parties in 2007.
Mufukare said they had introduced a weekly
food basket for a family of
five, adopting the formula applied by the
Central Statistical Office and
revealed that the basket was US$93,95 last
week.
He said the recent demands by the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions to
peg the minimum wage at US$454 exceeded the Emcoz
calculations and they
would soon meet with the labour body to thrash out the
issue.
"We notice that they have made a demand of a minimum
wage of US$454
and we will meet with them to find out how they came up with
that figure.
Our own calculations, which are a total of non-food items and
the food
basket, will add to an ideal minimum wage of about US$274. We want
to meet
them and come up with one figure" Mufukare said.
The parameters for wage payments have proved problematic since the
government in January adopted the use of multiple currencies to be used
alongside the Zimbabwe dollar as a means of trade in January.
The local currency is now virtually worthless as it is no longer
accepted by
manufacturers and retailers.
This has forced employers to pay
their workers in foreign currency.
BY KUDZAI KUWAZA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 11:54
LAND
and buildings form a basic requirement for all human activity,
hence the
need for property investment within the market.
Historically, this
investment has been shown to retain its real value
in the long-term. Apart
from that, there is the assurance that the property
owner has a greater
proportion of control over the performance of the
investment.
On the other hand, any worthwhile property
requires a sizeable
investment which in effect, concentrates the risk
instead of spreading it.
It also takes a while to dispose of this type of
investment since property
is not as liquid as money or
equities.
We should also not rule out the possibility of voids
occurring within
property investments, especially in the midst of economic
instability.
Property analysts this week said activity on the
property market can
be likened to a see-saw as evidenced by how it
flourished during the third
quarter of last year due to speculation and the
"burning" phenomenon.
Prices of properties are said to have
declined slightly since January.
"Demand was high last year as
individuals were investing in houses for
speculative purposes until their
actions were put to an end by monetary
authorities' measures of dollarising,
controlling RTG's and the stock
market," Michael Russell, Real-Homes
managing director, told businessdigest.
Despite the economy
being dollarised exorbitant prices are still being
quoted by estate agents
with some houses in the high density areas being
quoted above US$35 000.
Properties in the low density are being quoted at
between US$70 000 and
US$300 000.
Over the past three years, confusion has arisen as
to who exactly
determines property prices since real estate agents now quote
amounts which
they regard to be competitive with other agents without the
aid of valuers.
By definition, real estate agents solely sell
or lease property on
behalf of others. The Valuers Act ensures that people
qualified to value
property do so and not estate agents desiring to make a
profit.
There seems to be a halt in the construction industry
owing to the
cash squeeze that has hit hard on companies and individuals
alike.
The economic slowdown and the shortage of foreign currency
has
impacted on the construction of high rise buildings.
Joina
Centre in Harare which is hard to miss on the skyline has been
under
construction since 1999.
Meanwhile the lowering of interest rates is
likely to increase the
demand for property and consequently give the
property market a much-needed
boost.
Experts have predicted
the recovery of the property market to take
place in the latter half of
2009. For those who want to take advantage of
the upturn, it is essential to
be prepared.
BY PAUL NYAKAZEYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
11:38
FOR years the Zimbabwean government has striven to deny any
culpability for the country's economic morass.
That its
policies, and its maladministration have been the pronounced
cause of the
continuous decline of the economy, and of the ongoing erosion
of formerly
strong economic foundations, is indisputable. One action after
another by
government has contributed to, and progressively escalated, the
collapse of
almost all facets of agriculture, mining, tourism, commerce and
industry.
Whilst not the sole causes of that collapse
attributable to
government, the disastrously negative and adverse policies
and actions being
numerous, some of the principal governmental triggers of
the economic
decimation include:
lIn 1997, agreeing to
"compensation" for war veterans (real and
pseudo) which, irrespective of
whether deserved or not, was far beyond
national means, and which triggered
the massive depreciation of the
Zimbabwean dollar, which in turn triggered
intensive inflation, and was a
major investment deterrent;
lEmbarking upon very necessary land reform, but in the most ill
conceived,
grossly mismanaged and confrontationally implemented manner,
thereby
bringing agriculture to near total disintegration - a contrast to it
previously being the primary foundation of the economy;
lEndless spending beyond government's means, resulting in huge
deficits,
continual recourse to unsustainably great borrowing, and recurrent
default
in debt servicing;
lTotal failure to contain corruption,
inclusive of that perpetrated by
some close to the political
hierarchy;
lContinuously intensifying regulation and command of
the economy to an
untenable extent (until January 29 this year when,
belatedly and
insufficiently, some deregulation was
initiated);
lRepeated vilification and alienation of the
international community,
with consequential decrease of aid, balance of
payments support, lines of
credit, and investment;
lInvestment-discouraging legislation, including a very poorly
conceived
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act which is potentially
ineffective
in attaining its objectives, and recurrent failure to honour
obligations
under Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements;
lImmensely
oppressive, and regionally incompatible, taxation;
lForced
imposition upon the Reserve Bank of quasi-fiscal operations.
These are but a few of the many governmental economic misdeeds of the
past
12 years or so.
However, imbued with belief in its own
omnipotence and infallibility,
the Zanu PF government in general, and the
president and his ministers in
particular, have been obdurately incapable of
acknowledging that government
was the primary creator of the near demise of
the economy.
Instead, to a limited extent, it attributed the
negative economic
circumstances to adverse climatic conditions but, in the
main, it has
recurrently claimed that those circumstances were the
consequence of
deliberately malevolent machinations of much of the
international community,
especially the United Kingdom (allegedly desirous
of recolonisation of
Zimbabwe, which is so specious as to be distressingly
ludicrous).
According to government, strongly supported by its
rigidly controlled
media, for years Zimbabwe's economic ills are a
consequence of malicious
"illegal" international sanctions.
Not only were there no economic sanctions whatsoever, other than the
USA's
Zimbabwe Democracy and Recovery Act barring IMF and World Bank funding
to
Zimbabwe (which in any event could not be procured for so long as
Zimbabwe
was in repayment default on previous funding) until 2008, but had
there been
they would not have been illegal, for any country can determine
whom it will
trade with, and which countries should be recipients of
support.
Prior to last year, the only sanctions that existed,
other than the
limited ones of the USA, were not economic but targeted
against specific
individuals within, or supportive of, the
government.
Understandably, and justifiably, the new inclusive
government is
calling for the lifting of economic sanctions that now do
exist.
Those sanctions should be lifted, for they are distressingly
punitive
upon the innocent populace, whilst of little consequence to the
primary
Zimbabwean offenders of the precepts of respect for human and
property
rights, just and adhered to law and order, and
democracy.
However, that does not mean that sanctions should not
continue to be
applied against those who are continuing to disregard those
precepts.
In the meanwhile, whilst it is warranted for Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangarai and some others in the inclusive government to
urge the
discontinuance of the economic sanctions that now exist, much of
government
continues to mislead as to the extent of such sanctions, and are
strongly
supported by the media.
Thus, bold headlines that
appeared last week claimed a renewal of
extensive economic sanctions of the
USA and UK. The reality is very
different.
In a statement
issued by the White House on March 4, President Barack
Obama said:
"On March 6, 2003, by Executive Order 13288, the President declared a
national emergency and blocked the property of persons undermining
democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe, pursuant to the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 USC 1701-1706). He took
this action to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign
policy of the United States constituted by the actions and policies of
certain members of the government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine
Zimbabwe's democratic processes or institutions.
"These
actions have contributed to the deliberate breakdown in the
rule of law in
Zimbabwe, to politically motivated violence and intimidation,
and to
political and economic instability in the southern African region.
"On
November 22, 2005, the president issued Executive Order 13391 to
take
additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in
Executive Order 13288 by ordering the blocking of the property of additional
persons undermining democratic processes or institutions in
Zimbabwe.
"On July 25, 2008, the president issued Executive
Order 13469, which
expanded the scope of the national emergency declared in
Executive Order
13288 and ordered the blocking of the property of additional
persons
undermining democratic processes or institutions in
Zimbabwe.
"Because the actions and policies of these persons
continue to pose an
unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy
of the United States,
the national emergency declared on March 6, 2003, and
the measures adopted
on that date, on November 22, 2005, and on July 25,
2008, to deal with that
emergency, must continue in effect beyond March 6,
2009.
"Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the
National
Emergencies Act (50 USC 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the
national
emergency with respect to the actions and policies of certain
members of the
government of Zimbabwe and other persons to undermine
Zimbabwe's democratic
processes or institutions."
Thus, the
constraint upon funding by the Bretton Woods institutions,
and the targeted
sanctions upon selected individuals continue, but no other
economic
sanctions are pursued by the USA.
Similarly, Britain's Minister
for Africa, Lord Mark Malloch-Brown
emphasised that Britain applies no
economic sanctions against Zimbabwe,
albeit that it is not willing to
"bankroll Zimbabwe's economic recovery"
until there are some significant,
positive changes in Zimbabwe, albeit that
it does apply targeted sanctions
against certain Zimbabwean persons from
within, or connected to, Zanu
PF.
Notwithstanding, for the sake of the well-being of a
desperately
suffering, innocent population, the European Union and those
others who have
applied economic sanctions since 2008 should support that
population, and
the inclusive government, by lifting all but the targeted
sanctions, despite
the continuing deception on sanctions pursued by some in
the political
environment. Doing so would be genuine
humanitarianism!
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 11:16
HOW
great would it be for the majority of Zimbabweans if the one
month-old
Government of National Unity (GNU) had brought about a new
political
dispensation!
But alas, the GNU composed of Zanu PF and the two
formations of the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has not changed
anything, yet.
Reference to the governmental arrangement might
have been curiously
changed from GNU to "inclusive government", but the sun
shines still by day,
and the stars by night.
That is as much
light as the majority of citizens enjoy. Power cuts
still prevail. The dark
horrors of the bad old days still haunt the land,
through the nation's
collective memory, and through the gross injustices
that still pervade the
country.
The rule of law is still largely absent, the violation
of civil
liberties and basic human rights are still prominent features of
the
society, the struggle for real freedom for the majority of citizens
continues, and the majority of Zimbabweans still languish in abject
poverty.
Certain government lawyers are still guided in their
execution of
duties by political and executive directives instead of legal
provisions
that are codified in the Constitution and in the statute
books.
A few illustrations on the lawlessness: On February 12,
just a day
after the inauguration of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, my
younger
brother Cuthbert was accosted by soldiers around 7am in central
Harare.
He was bundled into an army truck, and driven away to some
secluded
spot on the outskirts of town. The truck passed through the
Roadport area
wherefrom the marauding soldiers picked up a number of
moneychangers.
My brother's "crime" was that he carried a green
bag, which allegedly
looked like an army bag. The crime of the
moneychangers was that they
changed money.
The bag plus
US$80 which my brother had on him were automatically
forfeited to the
soldiers benefit. Whatever currency the moneychangers had
on their persons
was similarly confiscated, without any due process.
In October
2008, several citizens around the country were abducted
from their homes at
3am, and at other ungodly hours. Horrific tales have
been told about the
grossly inhuman, degrading and barbaric treatment that
the abductees
suffered at the hands of state agents.
Yet, after the renamed
"inclusive government" was ushered in most of
the abductees continued to
languish in under-resourced detention centres.
Other abductees were kept at
secret detention centres, where they were
subjected to sub-human treatment
and badly tortured.
At least seven of the abductees are still
unaccounted for. High Court
Orders for the submissions of reports on
progress made by the state in
investigating the whereabouts of the missing
citizens, and for the immediate
release of those who had been accounted for,
were ignored.
Indeed, the disregard of court orders and
judgements continues to be a
worrisome trait of governance in Zimbabwe. We
still listen on national
television to public attacks on the findings of the
Sadc Tribunal in respect
of the farmers' cases.
If indeed the
Tribunal did not have jurisdiction over Zimbabwe's
sovereign acts, then
Zimbabwe should not have participated in the
proceedings of the Tribunal in
the first place.
Even after the installation of the new
government, some members of
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) were beaten up by
the usual elements, and
others arrested for exercising their constitutional
right of
self-expression.
Student leaders have been arrested
for expressing themselves through
demonstrations.
Apologists might
argue that Woza and the student demonstrators
violated the law.
The probable subject law would be the Public Order and Security Act
(Posa).
That is the other pointer to the stagnation of Zimbabwe's political
crisis:
very repressive laws remain on the country's statute books.
Posa, which replaced the colonial Law and Order (Maintenance) Act
remains in
place. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act,
which was
the tool used to destroy many publications, remains
enforceable.
Still on the list of Acts of Parliament is the
Broadcasting Services
Act under whose obnoxious application the monopoly of
the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation is maintained.
Whilst
the government speaks ill of foreign-based Zimbabwean
broadcasting stations,
the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe continues to
be stingy with
broadcasting licences by refusing to issue a single
broadcasting licence to
alternative broadcasters.
This unpalatable lamentation of woes
has been sung before, and
oftentimes in greater detail in other literary
works.
However, a month after the formation of the GNU, these key
issues must
be raised again in making the point that nothing has changed,
yet.
Some might says a month is too early a time to be judging
the subject
government. Others could argue that the new regime features new
faces.
Indeed, the leaders might be acting graciously to each other
in times
of grief, which is the civilised thing to do, but for the suffering
abductee
who has been denied his liberty for over 120 days, or the
impoverished
father who cannot feed his family, one day longer of the old
order is as bad
as a lifetime under a repressive regime.
In
the final analysis, hope is all we have. We therefore can only hope
that at
the end of the second and subsequent months of the GNU/inclusive
government,
the material features that distinguish a free and democratic
society from a
totalitarian state, would have changed for the better.
Chris Mhike
is a lawyer practising in Harare.
BY CHRIS MHIKE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009 10:46
FREE market sympathisers of the partially ruling Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) in Zimbabwe must be wondering where to draw the line
between
constructive trade unionism and a destructive model of populist
representation.
By its very nature, trade and industrial
unionism is part of working
life in most free economies. In other words, it
is a by-product of political
freedom. And yet for the MDC, being able to
accurately draw this line is a
matter of life and death.
There are two simple reasons for this paradox: the genealogy of the
MDC can
be traced back to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and
secondly,
unions tend to portray this irritating characteristic of being
anti-free
market.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see how the MDC,
caught between
the constitutional principle of free association and the
desire to respect
rights of sustainable corporate existence will pacify the
appetite of "good
wages" for the ZCTU while at the same time reinvigorating
the paralysed
productive sector.
Even liberals like me who
passionately believe in the doctrine of free
association become sceptical on
the contribution of unionism to
productivity.
I may have
support from Western compatriots that the American motorcar
industry is on
the brink of collapse mainly due to years of conceding to
"irrational" union
demands.
Hollywood scriptwriters and actors have on several
occasions flexed
their union muscles to push for better deals, but I still
remain unconvinced
that this has increased film ratings.
If
anything, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has ensnared himself by
promising
all and sundry wages in a currency manufactured only in
Washington.
The paradox is award winning, yet for the new
Government of National
Unity (GNU) in Zimbabwe the challenge is more than
just a loss in ratings.
Raymond Majongwe of the Progressive
Teachers Union insists on a US$2
300 minimum wage since he sees this as
compensation for years of abusive
neglect by successive generations of Zanu
PF Education ministers.
Herein lies my point: the question of
viability and sustainability
that pales in significance in the game of
populist unionism.
Perhaps Majongwe has a point. When liberal
elements in the MDC and
market sympathisers urge him to conform to
conventional wisdom, he points to
the bloated GNU cabinet and demands
thriftiness at the highest echelons of
governance first.
On
my part, this is not another case of rabid sarcasm towards the
right to
progressive industrial representation.
Matthew Takaona of the
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) understands
better the nature of
levelheaded holistic representation I have in mind.
He is quoted to
have told the new Minister of Information that he
"should work to restore
the integrity of the journalism profession by
helping to defuse polarisation
and help bring down hate speech that has
become the hallmark of our
media".
This is testimony to the fact that effective unionism
is not only
about food baskets and minimum wages.
We
Zimbabweans are all too familiar with the Congress of South African
Trade
Unions which has persistently argued for more political rights in
Zimbabwe.
They have been at the helm of knocking holes in
Mugabe's illusion of
dynastic life presidency.
My argument
against the Majongwe-type unionism is that it is placed
wrongly in the
context of the post-Mugabe reconstruction era.
There must be
acceptance, even by those radicals in the MDC that as
the economy grows,
only then will government revenues improve significantly
to allow for
greater investment in social programmes.
In the long-term, it is
more value-adding for workers to support
policies that stimulate production
and in particular production for exports
by avoiding populist minimum
wage-related demands.
Some practitioners argue that minimum
wages must be based on the
expected price impacts rather that an attempt at
mitigating effects of
hyperinflation. Progressive unionism is not about
today, but the future of
industry.
I see it more in the context
of access to wealth, rather than
mercenary-type bargaining over wages, hours
and working conditions. Zanu PF
sowed the seed of antagonism between labour
and employers for political
gain.
It would be such a tragedy
for the MDC to perpetuate this
counterproductive stone-age
mentality.
Zimbabwe's industrial capacity has been decimated, currently
operating
at below 20%, with a 95% unemployment rate to match.
Thus, the Samuel Gompers type of unionism under the American
Federation of
Labour is a better model as it was said to be "businesslike
and pragmatic,
adopting the motto, 'A fair day's wage for a fair day's work'."
What I advocate is a sensible balance between what employers can
afford and
what the few workers at work would require to remain barely above
water,
since everyone is under the same hyperinflation scourge.
Revolutionary
unionism that peddles perishable theories that all
employers are heartless
capitalists who would kill to protect supernormal
profit margins is
outdated.
I am arguing for a case of partnership, not antagonism,
pragmatism,
not exaggerated fantasies that play to the gallery of
self-serving populism.
Labour-employer relations must be borne of mutual
benefit and respect.
Of course in the process of reconstruction we will
get isolated cases
of slave-driver mentality.
There are
numerous reports of abusive labour practices by newly
resettled commercial
farmers and Chinese investors - a matter for the
justice system. Yet such
cases should not be allowed to contaminate what
could be business-friendly
models of labour legislation.
After all, if trade unionism is
allowed to choke industry, Wellington
Chibebe's ZCTU will remain with a
stunted and paralysed constituency.
Rejoice Ngwenya is director
of Coalition for Liberal Market Solutions
in Harare.
BY REJOICE
NGWENYA
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
11:54
APART from a few opportunist attention-seekers, we can agree as a
nation that last Friday's fatal accident which took the life of Susan
Tsvangirai was, as her husband said, an accident.
It was
important for the prime minister to rule out foul play because
such
speculation stokes the fires of suspicion and undermines the very
government
he is mandated to uphold.
There are two things to remember
here. Firstly, Zimbabwe's road system
is in desperate need of
reconstruction. The present system was built in the
1960s to carry one tenth
of the vehicles it now carries. And in recent years
it has not been
maintained.
The scene of last Friday's accident, the Mhondoro
turnoff, is a
notorious black spot.
There are humps, potholes
and animals to be avoided. Swerving to avoid
an obstacle is an instinctive
response by a driver. And then there is human
frailty: speeding,
carelessness and drowsiness are all threats to other
motorists.
Secondly, Zimbabwe has a long sad history of
fatal road accidents.
Some of its victims were outspoken critics of the
regime. But others were
killed long before this regime took office. Notable
nationalist Dr Samuel
Parirenyatwa was killed at a railway level crossing in
1962.
There were all sorts of conspiracy theories at the time along
the
lines of those circulating this week.
Morgan Tsvangirai
has been quick to get a grip on the situation
despite the dark shadow of
grief that hangs over him. He understands that
despite the welcome
sympathies expressed by President Mugabe, there are
predators lurking on the
sidelines waiting for the MDC to weaken.
To date the unity
government has been short on delivery. The South
Africans appear reluctant
to cough up their promised largesse and the
Western donors are not going to
reach into their pockets so long as
lawlessness persists.
Moreover the latter now have an unexpected financial crisis of their
own to
deal with before they can spare money for causes further
afield.
Mugabe's remarks about rulings by the Sadc Tribunal
being "nonsense"
are precisely the sort of examples of bad governance his
detractors will
make good use of.
So was the arrest of Mutare
provincial magistrate Livingstone Chipadze
who was accused of assisting Roy
Bennett to deposit bail with the clerk of
court.
Mugabe a
few weeks ago called for the law to take its course. That
manifestly doesn't
appear to have happened in several of the current cases
although Bennett has
at last been given his freedom.
Then there are the continued seizures
of white-owned farms by
ruling-party supporters.
This
communicates the impression of a country in turmoil.
We need to
remember in all this that the whole point of the
Sadc-sponsored negotiations
between Zanu PF and the MDC were designed to
provide stability and recovery
in a region where every country was making
progress except Zimbabwe. We were
a danger to ourselves as well as our
friends.
There has
been no sign whatsoever of recovery because Mugabe's gang is
still capable
of throwing up roadblocks.
His reappointment of unproductive
diehards shows a complete lack of
sincerity in moving the country
forward.
Instead of entertaining claims of American culpability
in last Friday's
tragedy, we should be focused on the institutional
prevention of the mission
the unity government was appointed to
undertake.
There are significant donors and investors out there
keen to assist.
But they want to see genuine power sharing and
progress towards
recovery and reform.
That is not
happening.
The MDC is moving from propitiation to appeasement.
Their public
statements are tepid on the issues.
They need
to spell out the facts of life to their new partners. Bad
behaviour means no
assistance from those who can help.
The only ray of light in
all this is the way the Zanu PF leadership
has suspended hostilities and
expressed sincere regret to Tsvangirai in his
grief.
Now they
must translate civility into concrete deeds. The people want
change.
Let's see it.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Saturday, 14 March 2009
11:39
TOURISM minister Walter Mzembi says he is aware of the "dire
situation" at the Beitbridge border post and was engaging with relevant
stakeholders to improve the situation.
Toilets were not working
and people were using the surrounding bush,
he said.
"I am
aware that if one has to use ablution facilities at the border
they have to
get to the South African side," he said. In Musina the toilet
facilities are
kept clean. Every 15 minutes somebody is cleaning them and
ensuring a supply
of toilet paper, he said.
The road network on the South African
side "told visitors that someone
was doing their job and doing it well.
There is work to be done on the
Zimbabwean side," Mzembi
observed.
But it was not clear which department is responsible
for the border
post, he said. Is it Zimra (Customs) or the Ministry of
Public Works? The
Ministry of Transport needs to be
engaged.
One of those who needs to be "engaged" is the MP for
Beitbridge, Kembo
Mohadi. He is also co-Minister of Home Affairs. In terms
of the masterplan
for the town Noczim was "supposed" to build an upmarket
service station,
Mohadi pointed out.
The Rainbow Tourism Group
was "supposed" to build a five-star hotel.
NSSA was "supposed" to construct
a civic centre. A section of the
Bulawayo-Beitbridge road was dug up and
then abandoned, Mohadi said.
Isn't this a very Zimbabwean tale?
Many people were "supposed" to do
things to improve the situation but
didn't. We can think of all those
Ministers of Finance responsible over the
years for Customs who couldn't
even establish a system that enabled
travellers to be served quickly and
efficiently.
There was
nobody to advise on which queue people should join and what
documents they
needed to produce.
A goofy picture of Mohadi stares out at
readers of the Sunday Mail
which did a good story on ministerial delinquency
at the border post.
Could he say exactly what he has achieved in
his many years as MP and
minister? Apart of course from describing the
problem!
Does anybody seriously believe that Beitbridge and the
surrounding
road network can be improved in the time remaining before next
year's World
Cup soccer events? Visitors are currently greeted by the stench
coming from
the toilets.
Mzembi said he would sit down with
Mohadi to discuss the way forward.
It might be a good idea to
make sure Mohadi is awake first.
Bearing in mind the condition of
the Beitbridge border post referred
to above, the Herald's Isdore Guvamombe
on Wednesday demonstrated his
delusional credentials by inventing new claims
for our derelict capital.
"Since the days of the ill-fated
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland,
Harare has had the tag of being the
best city in Southern Africa after
Johannesburg, and still carries that
tag," he wrote.
Now we appreciate that Herald columnists are
required to talk up
Zimbabwe's attractions ahead of the soccer World Cup,
but walking around
with a blindfold is taking things a tad
far.
What does Guvamombe mean when he says Harare is the "best
city in
Southern Africa after Johannesburg"? What does "best" mean? Most
attractive?
Or having the best facilities?
Nobody has ever
suggested Johannesburg is an attractive city. Wealthy,
dynamic, dangerous
yes, but never attractive.
So what is Guvamombe talking about?
Cape Town is unrivalled as a
beautiful city with both natural attractions
and modern facilities. So how
did Harare get to be second "best" when it is
in a state of advanced decay?
The flood of visitors expected
will help "prop up" the national
airline, we are told.
Will people
want to travel on an airline that needs "propping up"?
Muckraker's advice: Clean up the Beitbridge border post first. That
will
demonstrate seriousness on the part of government, not naïve puff
pieces in
the Herald.
Tafataona Mahoso is impatient with Morgan Tsvangirai.
That would be
putting it mildly. The PM's maiden speech to parliament did
not deal
sufficiently robustly with the issue of sanctions, Mahoso
complained.
Tsvangirai couldn't even bring himself to use the word
sanctions.
The most urgent priority for the unity government was
not to fix the
damage that sanctions have inflicted, he concluded from
Tsvangirai's speech,
but to adopt a neo-liberal reform
programme.
"Zimbabwe deserved the sanctions," Mahoso understood
the PM's stance
to be, "and their removal is now due only because the
inclusive government
has improved its behaviour and will continue to so
improve in order to earn
the lifting of sanctions, by-and-by, not
now.
"The behaviour which has to be improved in order for
Zimbabwe to
deserve the lifting of (what Tsvangirai called) 'restrictive
measures'
includes stopping repression and oppression. The words are quite
telling,"
Mahoso thinks.
This stops short of the position
adopted by Sadc, he suggests, and "is
contrary to the views of most
Zimbabweans".
Is it? Has Mahoso conducted another of his
dubious surveys? We all
recall when he conducted a survey which suggested
the people of Zimbabwe
wanted restrictions on the media!
As
for Sadc, they have been studiously blind to the human rights
abuses Mahoso
refers to.
He needs to have an encounter with reality.
Zimbabweans are not saying
they want to see more repression.
They have had enough of that. And he needs to understand that the
lifting of
sanctions
and provision of international funding for recovery will only
materialise when Zanu PF stops locking up its critics, stops sabotaging
agriculture, and stops allowing people like Mahoso to poison the political
climate with his vitriol.
They want an end to the regime he
speaks for.
They want peace, freedom and
prosperity.
He says that "with the help of certain
journalists", some of the
politicians benefiting from inclusivity appear to
think coming together
"means that the people should tolerate public displays
of ignorance,
hypocrisy, insults and lies in the name of
inclusivity".
Not from Mahoso at any rate. The editor of the
Sunday Mail needs to
put a stop to this sort of thing.
An
excellent piece in the Sunday Mail last weekend told us how
retailers were
smiling over their booming cross-border business while local
industry is
suffering.
Since the country adopted the US dollar and rand,
the availability of
basic commodities has markedly improved while prices
have come down in
response to increased competition. However, we are
reminded that the June
2006 blitz on retailers caused lasting damage to
manufacturers because of
imposed price structures.
They
couldn't recover their costs of production.
Most goods on
supermarket shelves are now imported from South Africa
while Zimbabwe's
well-developed industrial base languishes.
This is the product
of voodoo economics from ruling party zealots.
Where is "Godknows"
Masimirembwa right now? Here is one zealot who inflicted
lasting damage but
is probably still earning a salary as head of the
redundant National Incomes
and Pricing Commission.
The whole point of the Sadc-mediated
talks between the political
parties was to prevent any further damage to the
economy and provide a basis
for recovery. That is not happening. So please,
no more squealing about
sanctions.
Why does the government
think members of the public should pay US$50
for a listeners/television
licence?
What value does ZBC give us and what has the BAZ done to
license new
broadcasters so people have a choice?
This is
daylight robbery. The public have the right to demand value
for money and
they are not getting it. Nobody watches ZBC/ZTV any more.
It is
unprofessional and uninteresting. Instead of squealing about
sanctions,
Happison Muchechetere and his gang at Pockets Hill should try and
make ZTV
watchable.
A word of advice to ZTV news reporters and readers: it
is Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's late wife Susan, not "the late prime
minister's
wife". There is a whole world of difference!