Mugabe an Obstacle to More Donor Aid

http://www.nytimes.com

By CELIA W. DUGGER
Published: March 19, 2009
HARARE, Zimbabwe - On his first day as education minister in a government so
broke that most schools were closed and millions of children idle, David
Coltart said he got a startling invitation.

"Come and get your brand new white Mercedes!" an official told Mr. Coltart,
a veteran opposition politician, as President Robert Mugabe peered down from
a portrait on his office wall.

The offer of an E-Class Mercedes to every minister in the month-old
power-sharing government was vintage Mugabe, an effort to seduce his
political enemies with the lavish perks he has long bestowed on loyalists.

Mr. Coltart said no thanks.

Opposition members like Mr. Coltart who joined Mr. Mugabe in office last
month have already achieved some successes, like getting teachers back to
work and winning the release of some political prisoners. But many of them
warned in interviews that the progress would be short-lived if Western
nations, meeting Friday in Washington to discuss expanding assistance, do
not extend billions of dollars in aid to rebuild Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's main donors of emergency medical and food aid - the United
States, Britain and other European nations - face a painful question posed
by those pleas for more help. How do the world's wealthiest nations pump
money into Zimbabwe's crippled economy without propping up Mr. Mugabe,
feeding his patronage machine and extending his disastrous three decades in
power?

Before fully re-engaging with Zimbabwe's government, the donors have said
they want to see the release of all political prisoners, a halt to seizures
of white-owned farms and the restoration of a free press. But some diplomats
here say hard-liners in Mr. Mugabe's old guard seem determined to sabotage
the power-sharing agreement and the infusion of Western aid that the public
would credit to the newcomers, led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of
the Movement for Democratic Change.

The most critical test for Mr. Tsvangirai is whether he can deliver on his
inaugural promise to pay the civil service a living wage in foreign
currency - particularly the police officers and soldiers who have enforced
the repressive rule of Mr. Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, but whose pay in
local currency is now worthless. Even some diplomats who were most skeptical
about Mr. Tsvangirai's deal to govern with Mr. Mugabe, 85, now sense an
opportunity to weaken "the old man," as he is called here.

"There's a creeping sense that we are in an endgame, that there is a new
dynamic here," said one Western diplomat who spoke anonymously according to
diplomatic protocol. "Never before has the government been this prostrate.
Never before has ZANU-PF been so weak or the opposition in office."

The opposition politicians say that they, too, sense an opportunity to
loosen Mr. Mugabe's grip on power.

Mr. Coltart's experience is a good example. He faces enormous hurdles, not
least the fact that his ministry's foul-smelling headquarters had no running
water to flush toilets when he arrived. But he has coaxed most of the nation's
teachers back to work with little more than a paltry $100 monthly allowance
and the promise to try to give them more.

The sight of children in tattered uniforms walking to school has become
another sign of encroaching normalcy - along with affordable loaves of bread
and well-stocked grocery shelves - in a country ravaged by hunger,
hyperinflation and cholera.

But the teachers unions have warned him that their members will soon stop
working unless he can get them better salaries, akin to the hard-currency
allowances that the British, the United Nations and other donors are already
paying to more than 20,000 doctors, nurses and other workers in Zimbabwe's
collapsed public health system.

"If we don't get support for education in literally the next few weeks,
there's a very real danger the teachers will leave in their thousands as
they did last year," Mr. Coltart said.

Teachers at the Fungisai Primary School in Chitungwiza, a city south of
Harare, the capital, say $100 a month does not come close to paying for the
essentials: rent, clothing, food, school fees. Still, they seem hopeful.

"The government is broke, but it's better to have someone promising
something better," said Mercy Manza, 38, a third-grade teacher and mother of
two. "Before, it was as if we didn't exist. They just ignored us."

The hyperinflation became so bad last year that the teachers' pay in
Zimbabwe dollars was worth almost nothing. Many of them emigrated to South
Africa to work as maids or grape pickers. Mrs. Manza and Kudzayi Chivasa,
44, a widowed teacher, said they sold off their clothes, plates and
silverware in a desperate bid to raise cash to feed their families.

"I went for a week in January without food," Mrs. Chivasa said.

The teachers said their lives had gotten materially better this year. The
Zimbabwean dollar has effectively died, and all goods are now priced in
United States dollars and South African rand. With the lifting of price
controls and some import restrictions, goods have flowed into the country
and food staples cost less.

The Fungisai school, a complex of single-story red brick buildings, was
empty for months last year. All its 52 teachers are back, along with 2,200
neatly dressed children in royal blue uniforms.

But the headmistress, Angela Katsuwa, doubts she can hold onto her staff
unless they get a raise. "I'm afraid they may go away," she said. "They're
grumbling because that $100 is not enough to take them to the end of the
month."

The teachers are not the only ones challenged by poor pay. Every minister in
the new government makes the same as a teacher - or a janitor, for that
matter.

Sitting in his 14th-floor office, with a sweeping view of Harare's skyline,
Mr. Coltart took his crumpled pay stub out of his wallet. His earnings were
4,224 worthless Zimbabwean dollars and the voucher for $100. Mr. Coltart is
a prominent human rights lawyer from Bulawayo who describes himself as
"completely self-funding at present."

Some new ministers, however, have devoted years to political activism in a
country whose economy is crumbling. Diplomats here worry that Mr. Mugabe
will exploit this vulnerability with his usual strategy of "bait the hook."
Many new ministers have accepted the Mercedes-Benzes that Mr. Coltart
refused.

"There's a very real danger our members and ministers could be sucked into
the patronage system," said Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who is
now driving an E280 Mercedes. "Our members have to be vigilant and
principled."

Eric Matinenga, one of Zimbabwe's most respected trial lawyers and the new
Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, said he talked to
others in the Movement for Democratic Change about taking a unified stand on
the cars.

"I said, 'Look, how would we justify getting these luxury vehicles when
there is a humanitarian crisis out there?"' he said. "To my disappointment,
we were not able to come up with a single position."

Mr. Matinenga, who braved arrest and weeks in jail last year after
representing victims of political violence, took a metallic green E-class
Benz. "I know it's not a good excuse," he said, "but will I make a
difference if I turn this down?"

Despite some missteps, diplomats and local analysts say MDC ministers, led
by Mr. Tsvangirai and Mr. Mutambara, are standing up to Mr. Mugabe and
demanding a say in how the country is governed. Finance Minister Tendai Biti
is credited with taking control of economic policy from Gideon Gono, the
Reserve Bank governor widely blamed for the profligate printing of money
that drove inflation to astronomical levels.

"If Zimbabwe was a company, it would long ago have been liquidated," said
Mr. Biti, a combative lawyer who was beaten and jailed on flimsy treason
charges during his years in the political wilderness. "If it was a human
being, it would be brain dead."

Looming over them all is the old man. Mr. Coltart, for his part, hasn't
quite figured out what to do with the portrait of Mr. Mugabe that hangs
behind his desk.

"I'm thinking I'll find a more appropriate place," he said, "where he's not
looking over my shoulder."

Zimbabwe needs $3,3bn to stabilise power supply, taskforce reports

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za

By: Barnabas Thondhlana
20th March 2009

Zimbabwe’s cash-strapped government requires over $3,3-billion in the next
six years to boost the country’s electricity generation capacity.

Pressure is amounting on government to seek alternative power sources in
light of the current below-capacity performance of the country’s power
plants and the breakdown of the Zambia–Zimbabwe interconnector, which
transmits electricity imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the National Economic Consultative Forum (NECF) energy
taskforce report for February, at least five energy ′plants – Hwange
thermal, Kariba South Extension, Gokwe North, Lupane Gas and Batoka Hydro –
should be commissioned by 2015 if government is to tackle domestic and
commercial energy shortfalls.

Currently, the country generates and ′imports a total of 1 340 MW, a far cry
from a target of 2 090 MW.

This means that the new inclusive government will require urgent financing
for transmission infrastructure and the construction of new plants during a
planned lead time of six years.

All coal deposits parcelled out to individuals in the Bubi area, the report
states, must be consolidated into one big coalfield where a thermal power
plant can be built.

The NECF also blames poor government policies and unviable tariffs for
Zimbabwe’s failure to partner with South African ′investors in a
multimillion-dollar energy project.

“It is noted that South Africa was building gas plants in Nigeria while
Zimbabwe, which is next door to South Africa, had enough ′resources.

“While politics could be at play, tariff structures in the energy sector are
the main reason why foreign investment in the gas sector is nonexistent,”
reads the report.

It adds: “The task force noted with grave concern the effect of diminishing
generation, which compromises international system ′integrity, given that
Zimbabwe is at the ′epicentre of the Southern African Power ′Pool.”

A lack of funds, the report states, has hampered government plans to explore
the feasibility of a coal-bed methane project.

The taskforce has appealed to government to “seriously consider” external
investors in major exploration projects.

“A flexible framework [with respect to] shareholding must be allowed.”

Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu

Farmers promised protection in new economic plan

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

March 20, 2009

Jan Raath in Harare
Zimbabwe's five-week-old unity Government promised yesterday to protect the
few remaining white farmers from the intimidation that has forced thousands
to flee their land in the last few years.

Announcing a plan to rescue the country's shattered economy that calls for
$5 billion (£3.4 billion) of aid, Tendai Biti, the new Minister of Finance,
promised that no more white-owned farms would be seized.

The Government's so-called land reform programme authorised by President
Mugagbe has forced 4,000 white farmers from their land, prompting famine in
what used to be considered a breadbasket for Africa.

President Mugabe, seated next to Mr Biti on the podium as the economic plan
was announced, restricted himself mostly to appeals for Western governments
to lift what he called the "inhuman, cruel and unwarranted sanctions" that
he claims are the cause of the country's economic failure.

Under his rule the country has suffered economic disaster. Hyperinflation
has rendered the currency all but worthless. There are severe shortages of
the most basic goods and a failure of healthcare and sanitation has sparked
a cholera outbreak.
The nine-month programme would depend on assistance from the International
Monetary Fund, World Bank and Western governments, Mr Biti said. He also
said that the distribution of funds would be transparent, making the finance
ministry under him "the primary channel . . . of this programme". Critics of
Mr Mugabe say that under his stewardship funds flowing into the country were
often diverted from their destination.

Mr Biti, whom Mr Mugabe had arrested on fake treason charges ten months ago,
said the rescue package "should allow the people of Zimbabwe to have decent
jobs and incomes, and should ensure that our hospitals and schools are once
again functioning".

The prospect of securing foreign loans seemed remote in September when Mr
Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a power-sharing
agreement. British and American officials promised that "not a cent" would
be forthcoming in aid if Mr Mugabe were still in charge.

However, Mr Tsvangirai's increasing influence in the Government has
encouraged donors, who now say they want to see key reforms before parting
with funds. Mr Tsvangirai, who is now Prime Minister, was not at the launch
but with his children in South Africa, mourning his wife Susan, who died in
a car crash two weeks ago.

A team from the IMF, which is visiting Zimbabwe, said the country was still
some way from meeting the conditions for receiving fresh funds. It wants to
see the country in a position to repay arrears on existing loans.

"Zimbabwe needs to pay the outstanding amounts. We can't just step in and
shore up the budget," a senior visiting IMF official told a group of civil
organisations this week. "We want to assess the situation over the next few
months to see sound policy changes." In the meantime, she said, the IMF was
recommending humanitarian aid rather than funds to finance the running of
the Government.

Safe Water Now Focus of Zimbabwe's Battle Against Cholera

http://www.voanews.com

By Sylvia Manika & Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye
Harare & Washington
19 March 2009

The Japanese government and the United Nations Children's Fund or UNICEF on
Thursday delivered US$1.5 million worth of water treatment chemicals to
municipal authorities in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, where deterioration of
the water-deliver infrastructure and shortages of hard currency to buy
purification chemicals have contributed to the spread of cholera.

Correspondent Sylvia Manika reported on the Japanese handover of
purification chemicals at the Morton Jaffrey Waterworks, one of Harare's
main sources of water.

Elsewhere, Water and Sanitation Minister Sam Sipepe Nkomo told VOA that his
ministry seeks some US$28 million to meet Zimbabwe's water purification
needs for a year.

Sipepa told reporter Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that his ministry is committed to restoring the national water
delivery system.

Millions wasted on Africa water projects: Research

http://www.canada.com

Agence France-Presse March 19, 2009 9:01 PM
LONDON - Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted on rural water
projects in Africa because the donors and aid agencies that built them
ignored maintenance, a new report claimed Friday.

London-based research organization the International Institute for
Environment and Development said about 50,000 water supply points across
rural Africa had failed, representing a loss of 215 to 360 million U.S.
dollars.

"It is not enough to drill a well and walk away. Water projects need to
support long-term maintenance needs and engage local communities. Without
this, it is like throwing money down the drain," said report author Jamie
Skinner.

The report says that of the 52 deep water borehole and supply systems built
by the charity Caritas in Senegal's Kaolack region since the 1980s, only 33
are still functioning.

It also quotes research by the Global Water Initiative, which is backed by
numerous non-governmental organisations (NGOs), showing 58 per cent of deep
water boreholes in northern Ghana need repair.

Of 43 such boreholes in western Niger, 13 are abandoned, 18 stop working for
at least three days once a year, and 12 do not work for at least three days
more than three times a year.

"Every day that a borehole does not provide safe water, people are obliged
to drink from unclean pools and rivers, exposing them to water-borne
diseases," Skinner said, urging a change in the way NGOs and donors approach
the problem.

Patrick Nicholson, head of communications at Catholic development charity
Caritas, said it was impossible to guarantee that all the boreholes set up
with the help of his organization were still functioning.

But he said Caritas focused on setting up such projects with local people,
and ensuring they had a stake in their ongoing maintenance.

"Whatever project we are working on, we are trying to make sure that it has
a long-term impact on the community and that it survives," he told AFP.

"The people who build these boreholes are not us, they are those
communities. From that point onwards they have a stake in ensuring that they
are maintained."

The IIED report was released as nations meet in Istabul for the week-long
World Water Forum and ahead of the United Nation's World Water Day on March
22.

Gono hails Biti on new economic policy

http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=1890&cat=8

Friday, March 20, 2009

Business Editor

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono has applauded the Ministry
of Finance for crafting an economic programme set to transform the country's
fortunes, stressing that the central bank stands ready to play its part.

"The Reserve Bank welcomes this policy thrust and commits to vigorously work
with the Ministry of Finance and all other arms of Government, as well as
the private sector to make sure this programme registers success.

"The Hon. Minister of Finance's (Tendai Biti's) thrust on capacity
enhancement in our productive sectors, as well as an incisive focus on
social safety nets are all robust policy anchors that should see us emerge a
much more self-reliant and equitable economy," said Dr Gono.

It was important, that the thrust should now shift to "nothing else but
implementation".

He commended the Finance Minister for his firm stance against "wasteful"
spending in line ministries, parastatals and local authorities.

In his budget review statement on Wednesday, Minister Biti stressed the need
for ministries to exercise fiscal discipline, stressing that Government
would only spend what was in its coffers.

The cash-budgeting system would only see expenditures matched strictly with
revenue collected.

"If all sectors of the economy take heed, without doubt, our limited
resources will take us over a much longer distance, while current efforts to
get external support materialise," said Dr Gono.

The central bank was already in the process of re-aligning the national
payments system so it could handle the multi-currency framework.

Investigators to Probe Susan Tsvangirai's Death

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:27
CABINET has agreed to allow an independent international investigation
into the death of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife Susan two weeks
ago in a road accident.

Official sources said the decision to investigate the car crash was
taken on Tuesday and would soon lead to a thorough probe by a yet to be
announced commission of inquiry.

Tsvangirai's wife died along the Harare-Masvingo road on March 6 after
their Toyota Land Cruiser was sideswiped by a truck and overturned.

Tsvangirai's involvement in the collision has sparked a controversy
similar to the one triggered by the death of popular Tanzanian Prime
Minister Edward Sokoine in a road accident in 1984. Sokoine's death in a
mysterious crash caused lingering problems.

Sources said Public Works minister Theresa Makone, who was close to
Susan, raised the issue and suggested there should be a comprehensive
investigation.

"Makone brought up the issue on Tuesday and suggested the inquiry and
cabinet agreed," a source said.

"This means a commission of inquiry must be set up in due course to
probe the matter. Makone and others supporting her want an independent and
international inquiry."

Despite efforts by Tsvangirai to calm down nerves, saying he thought
it was a genuine accident, suspicions of foul play have remained.
Tsvangirai said chances were only one in a thousand that it was a plot.

Britain, linked to the issue through international humanitarian
assistance programmes, has said it also thought it was just an accident.

The Americans apparently share the same view after their consultations
with Tsvangirai. The United States Agency for International Development
(USAid) is embroiled in the controversy. USAid last week said contrary to
reports, the truck and driver involved in the accident did not belong to
them.

USAid said the truck and driver belonged to a contractor who was
initially identified as the UK's Crown Agents and others as US-based John
Snow International.

The truck was however bought using USAid money and had a US embassy
number plate.
Australia initially called for a thorough investigation of the
accident but later went quiet.

BY DUMISANI MULEYA

Govt Cracks Whip on Farm Invaders

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:25
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday launched an interim economic
blueprint that will, among other things, demand an immediate halt to farm
disruptions in an effort to kick-start the country's moribund economy.

The Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (Sterp) seeks to ignite
activity in Zimbabwe's key economic drivers - agriculture, mining and
manufacturing - after a decade-long economic decline, through a US$5 billion
injection.

Under the recovery programme, government will carry out a land audit
to put to use underutilised land and to end multiple farm ownership in a bid
to increase food production and clear government's bad boy image following
the controversial land reform exercise of 2000.

"In order to promote confidence, investments and other developments on
farms, as well as ensuring security of farming operations, the inclusive
government will uphold the rule of law as well as enforce law and order on
farms including arresting any further farm invasions which disrupt farming
activities," the document says.

The document promises to carry out the land audit in a "transparent
and non-partisan" manner in line with the September 15 Global Political
Agreement signed by Mugabe and leaders of the two MDC formations, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, now prime minister and deputy minister
respectively in the power-sharing pact.

Sterp also seeks to restore land and property rights and provide
security of tenure in an effort
to promote private sector financing of the battered agricultural
sector that has been funded through quasi-fiscal activities by the Reserve
Bank.

Government, according to the economic plan, is targeting 100 000
tonnes of wheat in the forthcoming winter season and 80% of the estimated
two million tonnes of grain production in the 2009/10 cropping season. The
recovery programme also proposes to boost agricultural productivity next
season through contract farming.

Government, according to the recovery plan, has liberalised marketing
of agricultural products and will cease announcing agricultural producer
prices.

Government however said it would soon finance farming activity through
funds sourced financial institutions following the introduction of a
positive interest rate regime.

"It should be emphasised that after Sterp, the state will move away
from a regime of dependency and handouts in a bid to ensure the independence
and strength of all farm actors."

"Short term finance will essentially avail 90-180 day working capital
for purchase of inputs and other requirements.

BY BERNARD MPOFU

Activists to Challenge Detention

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:22
HIGH Court judge Justice Yunis Omerjee yesterday granted two MDC-T
activists and a photo-journalist arrested last year on terrorism charges
leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against their continued detention.

The trio - former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's aide Ghandi
Mudzingwa, MDC-T security director Chris Dhlamini and photo-journalist
Shadreck Manyere - were abducted separately last December and later handed
over to the police.

Omerjee ruled that the High Court last month misdirected itself in
denying the trio bail.

Mudzingwa and Dhlamini allegedly sustained injuries during their
detention and are admitted at the Avenues Clinic in Harare while Manyere is
being held at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.

Mudzingwa, Dhlamini and Manyere were jointly charged with Chimoto
Zulu, Mapfumo Garutsa, Regis Mujeyi and Zacharia Nkomo who were granted $1
000 bail each by the High Court. - Staff Writer.

Mavambo file Application Against Makoni

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:21
LAWYERS representing the Mavambo Movement have filed an ordinary
application to bar former Zanu PF politburo member Simba Makoni from using
its property.

The application comes barely a week after Judge President Rita Makarau
threw out an earlier urgent application by the movement to bar Makoni from
using Mavambo's resources.

Makarau said the applicants had failed to approach the courts for
relief early enough to show that the matter was urgent.

In the papers lodged at the High Court on Wednesday, the applicants
said the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn Movement campaign was well funded and received
a donation of US$3 million and 34 vehicles, some of which were attached to
Makoni.

"Serious problems arose in the Movement after the elections in March
2008. For reasons difficult to understand, Simba Makoni literally became a
very different Simba Makoni from the Simba Makoni whom the Movement had
nurtured into being its presidential candidate," the court application says.

According to the papers, Makoni and a small team of what are allegedly
his personal friends, including Abby Mujeyi, took advantage of their
location at the head office, and their administrative responsibilities to
make decisions which were completely contrary to those of the National
Coordinating Committee.

 "In May and June 2008 for example, the Movement resolved to
unilaterally and unconditionally support Morgan Tsvangirai in the event of a
runoff. Despite being present at the meetings and in fact agreeing to the
resolutions, Simba Makoni proceeded to announce a vague, meaningless and
ambivalent position of his own which has hurt the image of the Movement,"
the application states.

The movement also accuses Makoni and his coterie of friends of turning
the money and assets of Mavambo to their own personal use.

Mavambo alleges that there are 20 other cars which despite a
resolution, Makoni has withheld and refuses to distribute to the provinces.

Meanwhile, the trial of the Minister of Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs, Eric Matinenga, opened yesterday in Mutare with the
MDC-T legislator insisting that he is being persecuted for an order he
obtained from the High Court to bar soldiers from his constituency.

Matinenga was last June arrested for inciting violence in his
constituency barely two weeks after he had successfully sought a High Court
order barring military deployment in his constituency.

The Buhera West MP told Mutare magistrate Hlekani Mwayera that he had
no reason to incite violence in his constituency since he had won a
relatively clean and peaceful election.

He said: "The conclusion I have drawn is that the Army Commander was
most unhappy at the order I got. I had copies on me on that day and intended
to serve parties."

BY LUCIA MAKAMURE

Unity Government Begins Implementing GPA terms

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:13
ZIMBABWE'S inclusive government has started implementing provisions of
the global political agreement (GPA) signed last September by President
Robert Mugabe and the leaders of the two MDC formations -- Morgan Tsvangirai
and Arthur Mutambara.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara formed the unity government on
February 13 and the new administration immediately started to implement the
accord. Yesterday government launched the Short Term Emergency Recovery
Programme (Sterp) to start economic recovery and growth as outlined in the
GPA.

Under the GPA, Zanu PF and the MDC formations set out the restoration
of economic stability, removal of sanctions, the land question, restoration
of the rule of law, media reform, the crafting of a new constitution and the
promotion of national healing as the main priorities of the inclusive
government.

The government has set up a Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee composed of both Zanu PF and MDC ministers to oversee the
implementation of the GPA and receive complaints.

A National Economic Council -- comprising representatives from the
manufacturing, agricultural, mining, tourism, labour, academic, commercial
and financial sectors -- would soon be established to give advice to
government and formulate economic plans and programmes.

Sterp, according to the government, was part of the implementation of
the GPA and would address the issues of economic stabilisation and national
healing while at the same time laying the foundation of a more comprehensive
and "developmentalist" economic recovery.

The 11-month economic recovery programme is anchored on the need to
promote production and increase capacity in key areas of the economy, in
particular agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism.

"In short, Sterp is a capacity-based rehabilitation programme (CBRP)
that seeks to stabilise all the macro and micro-economic fundamentals in
Zimbabwe," the recovery plan document says.

"The stabilisation component of Sterp will target inflation and will
increase the savings stock of the country."

On sanctions, the inclusive government has since appointed a committee
made up of Finance minister Tendai Biti, Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi, Regional and International Integration minister Priscillah
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, and Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube to
lobby for their removal.

Since the disputed 2002 presidential elections, the United States,
Britain and its European Union allies have imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe
that resulted in the country failing to access lines of credits and balance
of payments from multilateral financial organisations like the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB).

Zimbabwe also owes the IMF US$89 million at the end of February, the
World Bank US$600 million and the AfDB US$429 million.

Discussions, according to the government, have already started with
the EU, European Commission, World Bank, IMF, and the AfDB with the
objective of removing the sanctions in compliance with the provisions of the
GPA.

"As far as the US is concerned, it is imperative that the Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) be repealed and representations
and consultations have already begun in this respect," the economic recovery
plan document says.

The US a fortnight ago extended the sanctions by another year.

On national healing, the government appointed a ministerial team that
includes Gibson Sibanda, Sekai Holland and John Nkomo to spearhead the
programme aimed at ensuring equal treatment of all regardless of gender,
race, ethnicity, and place of origin.

The national healing programme would be envisaged to strive to create
an environment of tolerance and respect among Zimbabweans and that all
citizens are treated with dignity and decency.

Government would formulate and put measures in place to attract the
return of skilled Zimbabweans from the diaspora.

The inclusive government said it would embark on the crafting of a
people-driven constitution in line with the GPA, which devoted 80% to human
rights and democratic principles.

"It is trite that without a well-functioning economy, democracy and
human rights are impossible and equally, without a well functioning
democracy, economic development is not feasible," says Sterp.

"Therefore, Sterp recognises the commitment of the inclusive
government to the making of the new constitution as defined under Article 6
of GPA. This should be commenced as a matter of urgency."

Government would soon set up a select committee of parliament that
will spearhead the constitutional process, which includes public hearings
and the convening of an all-stakeholders conference to discuss a draft
constitution before a report is made to parliament.

The economic blueprint, like the GPA, recognised the importance of
creating a vibrant and free media as an important part of democratising both
public and private institutions.

The constitution should be in place in 18 months.

"This entails liberalising the air waves, freeing the media, and
ensuring that plural voices are heard through both electronic and print
media, consistent with Article 19 of the GPA," the blueprint says.

Under the GPA, the inclusive government was tasked to ensure the
immediate processing by relevant authorities of applications for
re-registration of both print and electronic media houses in terms of the
Broadcasting Services Act as well as the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act.

Government, according to the GPA, should take steps to ensure that the
public media provide balanced and fair coverage to all political parties and
that both public and private media should refrain from using abusive
language that may incite hostility, political intolerance and ethnic hatred
or that unfairly undermines political parties and other organisations.

According to Sterp, legislation would be passed cementing the
enjoyment of the rule of law, and the right to freedom of expression and
association.

Under the GPA, Zanu PF and the two MDC formations agreed that it would
be the duty of all political parties and individuals to respect and uphold
the constitution and other laws of the land and adhere to the principles of
the rule of the law.

The parties agreed to work together to guarantee the "implementation
and realisation" of the right to freedom of association and assembly.

According to the GPA, government shall undertake training programmes,
workshops and meetings for the police and other enforcement agencies
directed at the appreciation of the right of freedom of assembly and
association and the proper interpretation, understanding and application of
the provisions of security legislation.

BY CONSTANTINE CHIMAKURE

Army Brigadier Embroiled in Farm Ownership Wrangle

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:08
A HEADLANDS commercial farmer has accused an army brigadier of
forcibly removing him from his farm at gun point despite court orders
barring the soldier from seizing the property.

Charles Ingram Lock told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that
Brigadier General Justin Itayi Mujaji had since 2007 been fighting to remove
him from his Karori Farm in Makoni district, Manicaland.

Lock alleged that Mujaji was using a controversial offer letter signed
by the then Lands minister Didymus Mutasa to claim ownership of his farm.

The farmer claimed that Mutasa was instructed to withdraw the offer
letter by the then chairman of the national land committee, Vice-President
Joseph Msika.

Despite Msika's instruction, Mujaji allegedly continued to interfere
with Lock's operations at the farm. The soldier also reportedly defied court
orders barring him from taking over the property.

However, Mujaji yesterday accused Lock of "spreading lies" against him
because of the farm ownership wrangle.

He said the farm was allocated to him under the land reform programme
and that Msika's instruction was immaterial.

According to documents in the possession of the Zimbabwe Independent,
High Court judge, Justice Samuel Kudya, on February 23 2007 ordered Mujaji
to stop interfering with Lock's farming operations.

"The respondent (Mujaji) shall forthwith secure the removal from the
land of all military personnel presently stationed there together with their
tents and belongings," Kudya ruled. "The respondent (Mujaji) and his family,
his workers and agents are hereby interdicted and prohibited from occupying
or entering upon the farm and from utilising or occupying any improvements
there on."

Mujaji appealed without success to the Supreme Court against the order
on June 28 2007.

Despite the courts' decision, Mujaji allegedly kept on harassing Lock
and the police were not willing to arrest him.

Lock said: "He (Mujaji) refused to acknowledge the ruling from both
courts and evicted me at gun point from my house whilst the police looked
on. He took whatever equipment remained on the farm and one and a half
hectares of roses were destroyed."

Lock sought a contempt of court order against Mujaji and the soldier
was jailed for 30 days by High Court judge, Justice Charles Hungwe, on
September 7 2007.

After the soldier was jailed, Lock said he resumed operations at the
farm.

Mujaji returned to the farm in the company of youths and soldiers when
Lock was about to reap about 500 tonnes of maize in July 2008.

The farmer claimed: "My labourer was beaten up in front of me and I
was barricaded in my house. Sgt Mukoni was the front man in all of this.
Mujaji removed some of my irrigation pipes and trailer and stole maize.

"He told me he was taking my crops including my wheat crop in the
ground. The police acted after two weeks and only after I took the issue to
the police headquarters."

Lock claimed that Mujaji had on several occasions tried to have him
arrested for being on the land unlawfully.

"In February 2009 I was summoned to the court for the same offence. I
did not go and instead obtained a High Court order barring the state from
prosecuting me again. So the state has started prosecuting my employees
instead," the farmer said.

But Mujaji yesterday said he was looking for Lock to serve him with
court papers on the farm.

Mujaji said: "Where is Lock? He is claiming to have a High Court order
when he is actually supposed to have vacated the farm in 2007. It is now two
months. The police are looking for him. They go to his house and are told
that Lock has disappeared.

"It's frustrating. I decided to stop his operation at the farm and
deployed three of my guys to tell people to stop operations until Lock
avails himself. I heard he is running around to embassies and even to some
investors distorting things and that is pure nonsense."

He said the Karori Farm occupation issue was taken to court due to
some technicalities.

"The matter has been dragging on since February 2007 and he has
managed to have these dubious High Court orders to extend his stay on the
farm. These are some of the white farmer's tactics to frustrate the system
(land reform programme)," the army officer added.

Mujaji denied threatening Lock at gunpoint, looting equipment and
destroying crops at the farm.

 "That is not true. No one held him at gun point. He (Lock) had
already finished harvesting his tobacco when I went there. It is there in
the barns and being purified. His maize crop is in the fields and is not yet
ripe. I did not destroy anything. He is trying to tarnish my image," he
said.

Asked about an order from Msika for him to leave the farm, Mujaji said
the instruction was immaterial.

"Cde Msika is not the Minister of Lands therefore he does not give
offer letters. If Lock wanted a letter he should have done it the right way.
He should have got the letter way back through the proper procedure rather
than going to Msika."

BY WONGAI ZHANGAZHA

Poll Violence Victims Demand Compensation

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:06
MDC-T victims of alleged political violence have called for
compensation from the party for what they lost in the countdown to last year's
presidential election run-off.

This comes amid reports of violence in the past two weeks in Masvingo,
Mashonaland and the Midlands provinces after MDC-T supporters attempted to
reclaim property seized from them by Zanu PF at the height of the election
campaign.

Nelson Chamisa, MDC-T spokesperson and also Information Communication
Technology minister, said the party's social welfare department is
responding to the calls for compensation.

Some of the victims who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent this week
said they "took it upon themselves" to mete out instant justice and revenge
on Zanu PF supporters because they felt that MDC-T had marginalised them.

In Bikita, Masvingo, MDC-T members were compiling names of party
supporters who were victims of political violence who need compensation.

"We feel marginalised by our own party; they should have at least come
to us and addressed our concerns," Prosper Mesa, an MDC-T activist from
Bikita said. "The leaders seem to be enjoying the perks up there while we
continue to suffer. I lost my brother, my beasts and all my property for
supporting this party, but what do I get in return, nothing."

Mesa, who described himself as an MDC-T war veteran, said he ran away
to Mutare during the run-off campaign after he was informed that Zanu PF
militia were after him and left behind his wife and children in the custody
of an elder brother, Ndindani.

Ndindani, Prosper claimed, was later beaten to death by Zanu PF youths
after being accused of harbouring his brother.

The youths allegedly torched Ndindani's two huts, destroyed property
inside and slaughtered the only two beasts he had.

Chamisa said the party leadership was aware of the demands for
compensation and has since prioritised the matter.

Chamisa said: "We have a social welfare department desk which deals
with such matters and they are currently in the process of engaging all the
stakeholders to see how best they can help the victims.

 "A victims fund was also set up as a measure to help all those who
were victimised in the run up, during and after the elections. We are
responding to these issues and all the victims are going to be catered for."
Chamisa called on his party supporters to desist from violence.

 "We understand their plight but this party (MDC-T) does not believe
in an eye for an eye philosophy. We also understand there is need for a
justice mechanism that is reconstructive in national reconciliation so
people should allow the law to be the adjudicator," Chamisa said. "We have a
competent police force and I believe they will look at such cases as soon as
possible. But our supporters should desist from any kind of revenge
 tactics."

BY HENRY MHARA

ZITF Denies Fair Cancelled

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:03
THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) has dismissed claims that
this year's trade showcase could be cancelled due to reduced exhibitor
interest and the slow take-up of space at the exhibition park.

Speculation was that this year's edition of the ZITF, to be held under
the theme "Golden Platform for Dynamic Take-off", would not take place after
industrialists complained that exhibition tariffs were prohibitive while
most companies in the country cited the prevailing economic situation as a
deterrent for participating at the international trade showcase.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) a fortnight ago wrote
to ZITF complaining about the high tariffs and the fair managers responded
by reducing the charges.
ZITF general manager Daniel Chigaru this week said the fair would not
be cancelled.
"There has been speculation that this year's ZITF could be postponed
but take note, the exhibition will be held as scheduled," Chigaru said.
He said confirmations for the trade exhibition have been slow due to
the prevailing economic situation.
The ZITF has in the last five years struggled to attract local and
foreign exhibitors due to the avoidance of the country by the international
community.
Western countries have stayed away from the trade exhibition and only
a few African and Asian countries have graced previous editions of the show.
The ZITF at the beginning of the year announced that companies pay
US$80 for a square metre of exhibition space.
However, the fees were reduced to US$40 a square metre after
resistance from companies and the intervention of the new Minister of
Industry and Commerce, Professor Welshman Ncube.
On Monday, the ZITF after noticing resistance from companies announced
a further cut that will see companies pay US$25 per square metre.
Chigaru said the charges were reduced in consultation with
stakeholders, service providers as well as the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce.
The 50th edition of the ZITF runs from April 28 to May 2.
ZITF has been the shop-window for Zimbabwe for years but had fizzled
out because of economic hardships.
Last year, the fair was attended by 565 local and international
exhibitors.
Only seven foreign nations - Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique,
Namibia, South Africa and Zambia - were represented at the fair. -- Staff
writer.

Zim faces challenging, Uncertain Future

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:59
IS Zimbabwe finally in a political transition?

While its historical background and intervening dynamics are quite
complex, the answer to this question is very simple: Contrary to
self-serving proclamations by politicians, the formation of the inclusive
government by the country's three ruling parties, Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations 36 days ago does not constitute a transition to a new political
order or even a new Zimbabwe.

Instead, we are now in an uncertain period of a pre-transition which
might result in a real political transition or might degenerate into chaos
or might even slide back into the dark past.
This is because a political transition is defined by the emergence of
new institutions based on new values led by a new leadership under a new
constitutional framework driven by a new vision. None of these qualities
define the inclusive government which, while it does have some new faces, is
based on the old order in every respect.
I shall return to this conclusion later. For now I wish to deal with
its complex background by situating Zimbabwe's inclusive government within
the main of Africa University's 2009 celebration of February as Black
History Month to honour the achievements of Africans and blacks around the
world while also taking stock of the daunting challenges they still face.
Black History Month is traditionally celebrated in February and this
has been so since its founding by a son of a former slave, Carter Woodson,
some 86 years ago in the United States. It is interesting to observe that,
although we do not take notice of this fact in Zimbabwe, the period from
December 26 to the end of February is an African moment from a global
perspective. This is because Africans around the world celebrate "Kwanza"
from December 26 to January 1.  This is a week-long African American holiday
started in 1966 by Ron Karenga to honour African heritage by giving Africans
an alternative to celebrate themselves and history outside mainstream
holidays by highlighting the best of their thought and practice. After
"Kwanza" comes the more established Black History Month which happens in
February as this is the month when a number of iconic events in black
history occurred. Black luminaries in the United States such as Frederick
Douglas and W Dubois were born in February as was US President Abraham
Lincoln who is credited with freeing slaves in America. There is also the
fact that the oldest African-American pressure group, the National
Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, was formed in the month
of February. You can add to the significance of February as Black History
Month the fact that our own founding President, Robert Mugabe, was born in
February - a fact that has given rise to the formation of the 21st February
Movement which might find its real meaning and purpose in history only after
President Mugabe is long gone. The experiences of the "Kwanza" holiday from
December 26 to January 1 and Black History month in February give rise to
two important considerations about the achievements of African people in
history. One is that Africans or blacks have recorded tremendous
achievements at the level of individuals that stand out as global examples
across racial barriers. The other is that utter disaster has characterised
public life in African or black communities, countries or nations.
Many African or black persons have excelled as individuals and left
behind a trail of unparalleled success across a range of fields or pursuits
while African or black communities, countries or nations have been
embarrassing tales of failure. Consider the fact that it is not possible to
narrate success stories in sports (especially boxing, basketball, football -
both soccer and the American version - and athletics) without reference to
great African or black sports men and women who are just too many to
mention. Even heavily white dominated sporting genres, such as tennis, have
produced great African-American names like the late Arthur Ashe and now the
Williams sisters: Venus and Serena while golf has produced Tiger Woods all
who have become global standards. The same is true in the entertainment or
arts industry where an untold number of African or black individuals have
become icons especially in music and film.
Africans like Wole Soyinka in literature and Wangaari Mathai in
environment and peace activism are Nobel laureates in their fields and their
personal achievements have inspired many across the globe. There are scores
of other notable individual achievements by Africans or blacks in the fields
of science that are too many to record serve to mention, for example, that a
pioneer in Internet technology is a Nigerian, Phillip Emeagwali who designed
the system of "parallel computers" that is used by global search engines
such as Yahoo and Google.  Emeagwali is also the designer of the programme
and formula of the fastest computer on earth called the "Connection Machine".
Here in Zimbabwe, the renowned biochemist, Professor Christopher Chetsanga
is credited with discovering two enzymes for repairing damaged DNA.  Even
more significant, it is interesting to note that in the dreaded field of
politics we can now safely say there are Africans or blacks who have become
global household names as paragons of success to the point of achieving the
status of international brands across the racial divide. Three examples that
stand out in this regard are the late civil rights leader and Nobel laureate
Martin Luther King Jr, former South African president and also Nobel
laureate Nelson Mandela and the new US President Barack Hussein Obama who
significantly has Kenyan and therefore real African blood. These three
Africans have affected and moved public affairs in ways that are beyond the
human imagination.
Obama's personal success as a Democrat in the United States has
already opened floodgates to avenues for personal achievements by other
African-Americans in politics in the United States with a notable example
being Michael Steele who has become the first African-American chair of the
conservative Republican Party. What is unique about the personal
achievements of Mandela and Obama in politics today is that they are
cross-racial in that non-blacks or non-Africans openly emulate them as role
models even at the personal level. But the notable achievements of Africans
or blacks have not been matched by African or black communities, countries
or nations. Quite the contrary, there is no African or black community,
country or nation that can be credibly described as a success story. The
oldest black nation that has been independent for over a century, Haiti, is
a monumental disaster that has become a perennial object of international
pity when it could be a source of pride. After 52 years of existence, there's
nothing to write home about the first African country to be independent,
Ghana, except to say it is still struggling to find itself.
Despite being endowed with a key natural resource, oil, which
countries like the UAE, Venezuela and Iran have wisely used to catch up with
the rest of the world in some key areas of human achievement, Nigeria -
which is Africa's most populous country - remains a sorry monument of
African failure. The African-American community in the United States and the
black community in Brazil, which is the largest population of blacks in a
single country, have produced outstanding individuals whose achievements
have influenced the world such as Obama in the US and Pele in Brazil but
these individuals are products of failed or dysfunctional communities in
social and political terms and their number top prison populations.
But the failure of African or black communities is particularly
pronounced when we examine the failed state of African countries. No African
country has been able to achieve the full attributes or a significant
combination of elements that define a good society in earthly as opposed to
heavenly terms.
These elements are: (a) economic growth, (b) equity, (c) democracy,
(d) public order and social stability and (e) autonomy in the form of
sovereignty.  No African country can boast of enjoying three or more of
these elements of a good society.
Why are African countries failing in this regard? There are many
reasons that explain this and available explanations depend on one's field
of inquiry. As a student of political science, it seems to me there are two
important explanations that particularly cry out for our exploration.
First, African countries are in a language trap: we do not have a
common language within and among African countries whose use can contribute
to the cultivation of common values, norms, practices and a science
necessary for the development of the five elements of a good society. As
human beings, we are what we think and what we think is operationalised or
done through the language we speak. Attempts to develop African languages
such as Kiswahili, Lingala, Wolof or Zulu have served to demonstrate the
African dilemma as opposed to expressing the African promise. So far,
African countries have remained half-baked, Arabic, Portuguese, French or
English societies which are yet to break the language barrier towards real
development.
In social, cultural and social terms, you cannot develop a good
society without breaking the language barrier. Our own experience in
Zimbabwe speaks to this issue in very serious ways that are yet to be told.
The second reason after language why Africans have not produced a
country with the five elements of a good society is the trap of the founder's
syndrome. Virtually all African countries with no more than one or two
exceptions - such as South Africa - that actually prove the rule, have not
been able to culturally, socially and politically transform and develop
beyond the prejudices of their founding leader and/or founding political
party. South Africa might have broken the trap of a founding leader but not
of the founding party, the ANC.
The founder's syndrome, which has affected both the ruling and
opposition political parties across the continent is a reflection of three
problems that African countries are yet to resolve and these have to do with
the definition and institutionalisations of:
The means for getting into power;
The means for staying in power; and,
The means for exiting from power.
These three problems define Africa's succession crisis. African
countries are yet to resolve this crisis regarding either the founding
leader or the founding political party or both the founding leader and
founding political party.
Indeed, these are the three problems that are at the heart of the
political crisis in Zimbabwe. The economic and political meltdown that we
have witnessed in our country over the last decade or so is a direct result
of the failure by President Mugabe and Zanu PF to deal with their succession
and how that has given rise to an opposition, the two MDC formations whose
orientation, organisation and conduct are not different from Zanu PF.
The inter-party agreement of September 15, 2008 and the inclusive
government that has come out of that Agreement are tortured and even flawed
but now necessary processes of dealing with Zanu PF's and President Mugabe's
founder's syndrome or succession failure.
In fact, the inter-party agreement and the inclusive government that
we must now suffer would have been totally unnecessary if Zanu PF and
President Mugabe had not been profoundly afflicted by the founder's
syndrome.
What this means is that, even though some among us see the inter-party
agreement and inclusive government as a transitional period - and indeed
some see the inclusive government as a transitional government - we are in a
very fragile pre-transitional period.
This is because, besides the fact that the country still has no new
institutions, no new political values, no new constitution, the three
parties to the inclusive government have no substantial ideological,
philosophical or policy differences. Claims that Zanu PF and the MDC
formations are like oil and water and therefore cannot mix have been grossly
exaggerated.
This is why the negotiations leading to the September 15, 2008
inter-party agreement were about which party will get which positions in
government in terms of ministers, governors, ambassadors and civil servants,
especially permanent secretaries. After the Agreement was signed, the focus
has shifted to which individuals will get what government positions
allocated to each of the three parties which are now ruling together.
Since the formation of the inclusive government, there have been new
ministers but no new policies and no new programme and certainly no new
vision. Only the naive among us, and there are many, will expect anything
new in terms of policies, programme or vision because business as usual will
remain the order of the day given the persistence of the founder's syndrome.
As a result, and going forward in this uncertain pre-transition, we
should expect to hear Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai sounding more and
more like President Mugabe. Because they do not have a common vision, policy
or programme ministers of the inclusive government will continue to speak as
if the only or most important solution to our country's challenges is money
and more money. That kind of thinking is going to poison our national
politics and economy and threaten the much-needed movement from the
pre-transition to the transition.
Because Zanu PF will hold its congress this year, we should expect the
battle to succeed President Mugabe within Zanu PF to intensify very soon and
this means it has already started. The issue is no longer about whether
President Mugabe will stay or step down but about whether Zanu PF is able to
find a successor who can (a) unite Zanu PF, (b) inspire the nation and (c)
lead Zanu PF to victory in the next general election some 36 months or so
away.
Although the inclusive government - whose unworkable philosophy seems
to be that money will solve everything when everybody knows that it is
broke - has no new programme beyond business as usual. There's, however, one
programme that it is certain to produce and that is the making of a new
constitution.
Already, the three ruling parties have agreed among themselves to a
new "boat-driven" draft constitution which they crafted in 2007 at Kariba.
We should expect to see this "boat-driven draft" taking a battering from
"people-driven" concerns that are soon to dominate the news.
At the national level, the next 24 to 36 months will be dominated by
debate less on the economy and more on the new constitution. This debate is
going to be fierce and may even lead to the formation of a new political
party.
The division between the "boat-driven draft" and the "people-driven"
concerns about it will be a referendum and thereafter there will be a
general election regardless of the outcome of the referendum.
In the final analysis, the fundamental issue, which poses a real
challenge to the business community, and potential investors, is that we are
already in yet another election mode. This means that uncertainty about the
pre-transition will remain and even grow.

This is an edited version of a public lecture presented at Africa
University on March 11 by Professor Jonathan Moyo, independent MP for
Tsholotsho North.

Financiers Won't Loosen Purse Strings for GNU

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:45
ZIMBABWE'S all-inclusive government will not receive financial aid
from multilateral lenders anytime soon, but can stagger through the economic
recession by using bilateral development assistance funds, analysts have
said.

The country has since Independence in 1980 received financial aid from
multilateral institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), but has since March 2007
failed to service arrears of close to US$500 million owed to the Bretton
Woods institutions.

Analysts contend that this could be a major impediment to economic
recovery for the inclusive-government that is seeking regional and
international stimulus packages to wade through the 10-year economic
meltdown.
Currently reeling from stock arrears estimated at US$4 billion and an
urgent need to finance a US$1 billion budget, the government faces a
Herculean task to bankroll government expenditure.
Despite the critical need for financial and technical aid, analysts
suggested that government should conform to guidelines set out in the
September 15 power-sharing pact if it wishes to restore its
creditworthiness.
According to the World Bank, Zimbabwe's gross domestic product has
shrunk by one third in the past eight years and this could worsen unless
immediate measures are taken.
"There is a zero chance of receiving funds from multilateral
organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and the ADB," said University of
Zimbabwe political science professor Eldred Masunungure. "In the short-term,
I don't anticipate any measures until positive changes that depart from the
previous regime are seen."
Reported cases of farm invasions targeting white commercial farmers,
press freedom and plurality, among other issues, according to Masunungure,
would determine Zimbabwe's re-engagement with the multilateral financiers.
Masunungure however predicted that countries previously seen as hostile to
President Robert Mugabe's administration could "follow" a precedent set by
the Australian government in extending aid to Zimbabwe.
Last week the Australian government boosted humanitarian aid by about
US$10 million.
"At a bilateral level we see more countries going the Australian way.
Scandinavian countries, Far East countries, France and Italy could do the
same because they are less politically constrained," Masunungure said.
World Bank assistance to Zimbabwe totalled US$1,6 billion between 1980
and 2000 when the country went into arrears.
As of March 2007, arrears to the World Bank amounted to US$484,8
million and to the IMF, US$103,3 million.
According to the World Bank, resumption of financial support would
hinge on clearance of arrears and government commitment to a sound economic
recovery programme.
Yesterday government launched the Short Term Emergency Recovery
Programme which, among other things, seeks to restore social protection and
safety nets that had been rendered meaningless by the comatose economy.
The United States, Masunungure said, could "soften" its stance after
the expiry of recently extended economic sanctions by President Barack
Obama.
The US shift would assist in restoring Zimbabwe's battered image,
Masunungure added.
Another University of Zimbabwe political science professor and critic
of Mugabe, John Makumbe, was sceptical that Harare could receive a lifeline
soon.
He said farm invasions around the country and the reappointment of
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono could see financiers declining to bankroll
the unity government.
"I think the chances of receiving sound financial aid are slim because
few changes have been seen from the inclusive government," Makumbe said.
"The major problem is where to put the money and how to disburse it. The
Reserve Bank is not a reliable custodian of financial resources. They can't
deposit it at the Ministry of Finance either because it is not a bank. They
might put the money in a neighbouring country - Botswana or South Africa for
example. The Reserve Bank has demonstrated how corrupt it is in the past 10
years."
He said the major problem was that the country still had the old modus
operandi in place.
"Farms are still being invaded and a lot of political prisoners are
still behind bars. We are in a Catch 22 situation," Makumbe said. "You
cannot have these changes without money flowing in. On the other hand
multilateral agencies underestimate the damages that have been caused by the
Mugabe regime. You can't have a head of state calling for farm invasions."
He however said some financiers could agree to provide funds that
cover a six-12 month period with "certain benchmarks" relating to governance
and the rule of law.
Turning to the impact of the global economic recession on Zimbabwe's
chances of receiving financial aid, Makumbe said: "I still believe that
there is enough money to bail Zimbabwe out. Money required by Zimbabwe is
not as much as that given to AIG by the US government."
Gono was this week quoted in the Sunday Mail saying it is premature to
rely on financial aid from multilateral institutions given the country's
outstanding debts.
"In the case of Zimbabwe, it is important to note that we would need
to do a lot in terms of fully repaying what we owe the IMF, the World Bank
and the African Development Bank," Gono said.
His remarks came at a time when the IMF was carrying out its routine
Article IV Consultation mission with government.
"We would also need to closely restore good financial relations with
the Paris Club of lenders and all other donors and financiers whom we owe
money," Gono said. "Quite clearly, these procedural matters, as well as the
need for demonstrable track record for consistent and comprehensive
macroeconomic policies, should be pivotal ingredients in shaping our
collective expectations matrix on the current consultations and the expected
outcomes."
Zimbabwe, Gono added, should "be very careful not to inadvertently or
overzealously inflate misinformed expectations, as this may needlessly
damage the current positive mood for a better Zimbabwe."
According to the central bank chief, the country's "stock of arrears"
stands at about US$4 billion with US$1,1 billion owed to multilateral
institutions like the IMF, World Bank and the ADB.
The country owes the Paris Club US$1,1 billion and about US$69 million
to non-Paris Club members.
Loss making parastatals under the long-term debt and suppliers' credit
owe about US$1,1 billion.
Government, according to Gono, has "recent obligations for importing
grain that amount to around US$220 million".
University of Zimbabwe Graduate School of Management professor, Tony
Hawkins, could not be drawn into predicting the likelihood of receiving
financial aid from the Bretton Woods institutions.
"It's impossible to predict what could be done by the IMF in assisting
Zimbabwe," Hawkins said. "The IMF will produce its own suggestion to
government and it will be up to government to adopt it or not (following the
Article IV consultations). The IMF would be interested in knowing government's
pattern of spending, finance allocation to health and defence and the tax
structure."

BY BERNARD MPOFU

US$1 billion Stimulus Package for Industry

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:14
GOVERNMENT intends to introduce a stimulus package for troubled
industries through an injection of a US$1 billion external credit facility
to finance restocking of raw materials and acquisition of equipment.

The Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (Sterp) launched yesterday
by President Robert Mugabe says government would source lines of credit for
paralysed companies to stimulate the supply-side of the economy.

Under the programme, measures would be introduced to produce  optimal
capacity for "strategically targeted industries" in food processing,
beverages, textile and ginning, clothing and footwear, fertiliser,
pharmaceutical, motor industries, packaging, paper printing and publishing,
chemical and petroleum products and non metallic mineral produtcts.
Government would also target retailers and wholesalers in the
restocking exercise.
"Manufacturing will be the epicentre of any stabilisation programme,"
the Sterp document reads. "In this regard, the expected outcome of Sterp is
to ensure that the current industrial capacity utilisation is increased from
the current low levels of around 10% to over 60% in the next six months."
In order to achieve the targeted capacity utilisation, the inclusive
government would support the manufacturing sector through the establishment
of the external credit facility.
"Achieving that (60% target) has the multiplier effect of dealing with
general economic recovery, unemployment, depressed demand and low income
levels as well as poverty reduction," the document reads.
The external credit facility would be made available to all companies
but with "strict criteria" to avoid "abuse and misuse".
"Sterp recognises the need to stimulate investment. Therefore it is
the intended objective of increasing investment capacity from 4% of the GDP
to over 25% of GDP," the  document reads.
Turning to mining, Sterp proposes  a separate exploration from
extraction policies and strategies.
Government has also scrapped off surrender requirements for miners and
hiked taxes to boost government coffers. This policy reverses surrender
requirements introduced by the central bank in the first half monetary
policy statement last month.
"Sterp will thus oversee the crafting of an exploration, registration
and extraction policy which will form the basis for a new comprehensive
mining sector legislation. Government proposed to review mining rights,
pricing of minerals and abolish surrender requirements to the central bank,"
the document reads.
In addition "the inclusive government will explore the establishment
of an institution responsible for exploration issues including collecting
and building and comprehensive database on quantity and quality of the
country's mineral endowment."
"A key component of Sterp in reviving the mining sector will be to
ensure that international commodity prices are levied and received by mining
houses. In short, the pricing gap in respect of which domestic prices lagged
behind international prices is now a thing of the past."
"To enhance value, the marketing of all minerals other than gold will
be done under the supervision of the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development and the Mineral Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe, a board
established through an Act of Parliament," reads the document.
Gold, according to Sterp, "will remain a strategic reserve asset,
whose licensing and marketing will be in terms of the Gold Trade Act.
However international prices will still have to be paid to the producers and
no amount will be retained by the Reserve Bank."
Government said it will "assess and evaluate the authenticity" of an
estimated US$30 million owed to gold producers by the central bank with the
aim of repaying the arrears within a "reasonable time."
The Reserve Bank has since 2007 failed to pay for gold deliveries
which has resulted in the suspension of mining activities last year.
To ensure full exploitation of mineral resources, the economic
blueprint proposes to expedite amendments to the Mines and Minerals Act,
which is already before Parliament.

BY BERNARD MPOFU

Diamond Probe Team Meets Acting Prime Minister

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:12
ZIMBABWE Acting Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe on Wednesday held
discussions with a team from the Kimberley Process which is in Zimbabwe on a
fact-finding mission to establish the validity of allegations that the
country's security forces killed more than 150 illegal miners and dealers at
Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange.

Also in attendance at the meeting was Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.

The mission from the Kimberley Process (KP), the United
Nations-founded body to monitor the trade in so-called "blood diamonds",
arrived on the fact-finding mission on Monday.
The team comprises Benhard Esau (Chair) from Namibia, Kennedy
Hamutenya, Diamond Commissioner Namibia, Louis Sekelane, Chief Executive
Officer of South Africa's Precious Metals Regulator, Cecillie Mbundu, KP
CoordinatorNamibia, and Vicky Dan KP liaison officer Namibia. It arrived in
Zimbabwe on Sunday.
According to information to hand, the team would compile a report on
the investigation and information that they gather. The team visited
Chiadzwa on Tuesday and it was not clear by last night if they would make
another visit today.
The KP has established a system of international diamond trading which
bans the sale of diamonds that have been exploited in "conflict areas" or
where diamonds are used to prop up violent regimes.
Government seized the Chiadzwa diamond claim from British-based Africa
Consolidated Resources in 2007, and set off a diamond rush when it
encouraged locals to help themselves to the precious stones. But since the
army was deployed there, the area has been cordoned off to all but security
forces.
The Chiadzwa area has been a centre of controversy since October last
year when soldiers were deployed to drive off thousands of panners who
invaded the area. There have been widespread reports of random killings of
diggers and of mass graves.
James Maridadi, spokesman for the Acting Prime Minister, said: "They
had a fruitful discussion with the Acting Prime Minister and other members
of the inclusive government."
The team toured the Chiadzwa diamond fields in Marange in the company
of Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Mpofu and Deputy Minister
of Mines Murisi Zwizwai.
Mpofu was quoted denying after the tour of the area that atrocities
were committed by the armed forces against ordinary citizens.
He however admitted that the "high level of criminality among illegal
diamond diggers resulted in three deaths, which led to three arrests".
Independent human rights organisations such as Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights have released reports alleging gross human rights abuses in the
area, alleging that about 200 people were killed.
 The Kimberley Process, which visited Zimbabwe three years ago to
investigate alleged smuggling of blood diamonds from the DRC via Zimbabwe,
aims at ensuring effective accounting and regulation of all diamonds
produced and traded.
In Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Mines is responsible for implementing the
Kimberley Process via Zimbabwe Minerals Development Corporation (ZMDC). --
Staff Writer.

Revised Budget Dashes Infrastructure Repair Hopes

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:09
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti on Wednesday reduced budget figures by
almost half meaning the government will take longer to rehabilitate decaying
infrastructure, restore services in hospitals and rebuild schools.

Presenting his first budget, Biti said government would operate on a
cash budget basis. "We are embarking on the basic law of cash budgeting. No
ministry or public agency or parastatal should expect to spend beyond what
we have collected. What we gather is what we eat," said Biti.

A sectorial distribution of the budget reveals that 47% will be for
social services, while economic activities, water and agriculture which
stimulate the country's production will account for 19% and 6%. Security
accounts for 20% while administration is 8%.
The economic classification of the 2009 National budget shows a
country in need of "an urgent rescue package".
Under the classification, capital expenditure accounts for 19% when
grant support is 15%. Pensions take up 8% of the distribution. Employment
costs take up 28% while operations account for 30%.
Biti said government revenues were running at about US$30 million in
March and US$25 in February compared with the US$140 million forecast in
January. Economic analysts said the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) did
not have the capacity to meet its targets because there has been no revenue
collection.
Companies are said to be preparing false payrolls which give an
impression that they are paying their employees in local currency when in
fact they are being paid in foreign currency.
Total spending was set at US$1 billion, down from US$1,9 billion in
the original budget. This is a loss of budgeted expenditure of 43%.
Revenue inflows were revised downwards to US$1 billion from US$1,67
billion.
Biti put cumulative government revenue for the first two months at
US$37 million which is far short of the public service wage bill estimated
at US$60 million.
The Finance minister forecast a government wage bill for 2009 of
US$299 million which, with a total public sector workforce of about 250 000,
implies an average monthly wage of just US$120.
Last month public servants were paid an allowance of US$100, which
Biti said could not be increased.
Economist Tony Hawkins said government spending requirements would
exceed US$2 billion, which is why it was imperative that Zimbabwe engages
the international community for financial support.
"More than a third of this is required to rehabilitate infrastructure
and public utilities. Less than a third of projected revenues will come from
direct taxes on incomes and profits, compared with a pre-crisis average
between 1996 and 2004 of 56%," said Hawkins.
Biti told parliament he would not be changing inflation and growth
targets given in the budget drawn up before the power-sharing government was
installed in February.
The initial budget forecasted 2% economic growth in 2009.
Biti indicated that the country's national currency was no longer in
use. "The death of the Zimbabwe dollar is a reality we have to live with.
Since October 2008 our national currency has become moribund," Biti said.
"In this regard, I therefore announce the removal of all foreign currency
surrender requirements."
The almost forgotten Zimbabwe dollar can also start gaining some value
once local production increases.
Biti abolished the foreign currency "surrender" requirements of 7,5%
of export revenues and 5% of retail and industrial turnover, a move seen by
economists as an attempt to boost productivity.

BY PAUL NYAKAZEYA

'Multi-currency Environment Growth Opportunity'

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:07
PEARL Properties' earnings attributable to shareholders increased to
US$45,4 million for the financial year ending December 31 2008 from US$12,2
million at the same period last year after making a provision for tax of
US$17,3 million.

The tax was deferred on fair value adjustments to property and equity
investment.

During the period under review the company's rental incomes grew by
63% to US$394 982. This was mainly driven by rental incomes for the last two
months of the year which was received in barter commodities.
"The rent per square metre at US$0,28 is still below the regional
average of at least US$10 for a similar mix of properties," said Pearl
managing director Francis Nyambiri when announcing the results.
The total income per square metre of US$0,03 reflects the fair value
of investments which depreciated in value in December last year due to the
volatility in the picking of investments, especially barter items.
The Initial Public Offer quoted investments have been accounted for
under capital reserves in accordance with international Financial Reporting
Standards.
"Total assets have increased from US$39,1million in December 2007 to
US$95,1 million by December 2008 due to property revaluations (US$56,1
million), plant equipment revaluation (US$284 774) and capital expenditure
(US$507 468)," said Nyambiri.
Nyambiri said the company had maintained the property valuations which
were carried out by Knight Frank as at June 30 and plant and equipment were
revalued through a directors desktop valuation.
The increase in the property valuations was due to the 2007 valuation
being carried out in Zimbabwe dollars and translated to US dollars, compared
to the 2008 valuation which was carried out in US dollars.
"US$1,2 million was realised from investment disposed of during the
year to construct the TM Northen Project."
"Rental yield was 1,21% compared to 1,66% last year, reflecting the
low rental income and property valuations. Total costs of US$215 036 were
catered for fully through rental income," Nyambiri said.
Nyambiri said Pearl Properties adopted a hands on approach to the
construction of the TM Northen project in order to manage and mitigate
against set-backs and potential delays by the main constructor. Whilst the
intention was to have the project completed by the end of December last year
was not possible due to various difficulties faced.
"By the end of the year the project was 90% complete and it is now
targeted for completion during the first quarter of the year," said
Nyambiri.
The board did not declare a dividend in order to conserve working
capital and to retain cash.
Going forward, Pearl Properties said the "multi-currency" environment
offered them an opportunity to pursue real growth.
"However it does not come without its own challenges which include the
high foreign currency cost of doing business in the country," Nyambiri said.
Nyambiri said, chances are that some tenants may not be able to
sustain the more competitive globalised operating environment.

BY PAUL NYAKAZEYA

The Demise of Aippa and Still-birth of ZMC

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:57
THE Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa)
established a commission, known as the Media and Information Commission, and
conferred functions and powers on that commission.

The operations of the MIC were to be controlled and managed by a board
consisting of not less than five and not more than seven members, appointed
by the Minister of Information and Publicity, after consultation with the
president and in accordance with any directions given by the president.  The
minister was required to designate one of the members as chairman of the
board and another as vice- chairman.

One of the functions of the MIC was "to register mass media in
Zimbabwe". In Section 2 of Aippa, the terms "mass media service" and "mass
media" are defined as including any service or media consisting in the
transmission of voice, visual, data or textual messages to an unlimited
number of persons, and includes an advertising agency, publisher or, except
as otherwise excluded or specially provided in the Act, a news agency or
broadcasting licensee.
The terms clearly cover not only newspapers, broadcasts and other
services, but also persons such as agencies and broadcasting licensees.  The
definition shows clear confusion as to what is meant to be regarded as a
service.  In the first part of the definition the service is the product,
whereas in the second part it is the person providing the product.  A mass
media owner is defined as meaning, in the case of a mass media service
company, the person who holds a controlling interest in the company.
Part XI of Aippa provides for the regulation of Mass Media Services.
Section 66 (1) provides that a mass media owner shall carry on the
activities of a mass media service only after registering and receiving a
certificate of registration in terms of Aippa.  It is not clear whether the
section requires separate registration for each particular product of the
service or whether the registration would cover all the products.  However,
it would appear from the wording of subsection (1) that the mass media is
registered to carry on the activities of a mass media service.  In other
words, if when a mass media owner is registered it intends to publish a
weekly newspaper, its registration means that it is authorised to carry on
the activities of a mass media service, so it could also subsequently
publish a daily newspaper.
The application for registration of a mass media service whose
products are intended for dissemination in Zimbabwe must be submitted by its
owner to what used to be the MIC.  The mass media service is registered when
it is issued with a certificate of registration by the commission.  Section
67 of Aippa provides that a mass media service is required to notify the
commission of any changes such as if the owner is replaced or if the name,
language, form and frequency of the periodical dissemination of mass media
products is altered.  Nowhere in the Act is it made an offence if a mass
media service fails to notify the commission of any changes referred to in
Section 67 of Aippa.
Furthermore, Section 70 of Aippa, which provides for the suspension or
cancellation of a registration certificate, does not provide for such
suspension or cancellation if the mass media service has contravened Section
67; it is only if it contravenes Section 65, 75 or 89 that the certificate
may be suspended or cancelled.  Section 67, as stated above, requires that
the mass media service merely notifies the commission of any changes in the
name, form and frequency of the periodical dissemination of mass media
products.
It is not provided in Part XI that, consequent on such changes, the
certificate of registration must be altered or a new certificate issued.
Section 72 (1) of Aippa provides that no person shall carry on or operate a
mass media service without a valid registration certificate issued in terms
of Aippa.  That section, too, implies that once the person has a valid
registration certificate he can carry on or operate a mass media service
and, from time to time, change the services provided.
The provisions of Aippa relating to registration are confusing.  For
example Section 66 provides that the mass media owner may only carry on the
activities of a mass media service after registering and receiving a
certificate of registration.  Are those two separate exercises, firstly
registering and secondly getting a certificate of registration?  Then, in
terms of Section 67, it is the mass media service, not the mass media owner,
that must notify the MIC of any changes.  A mass media service might be the
actual newspaper producer or the general service of producing newspapers.
In 2007 Parliament passed Act No 20 of 2007 (hereinafter referred to
as "the 2007 Amendment") which amended Aippa.  It was assented to by the
president and promulgated in the Government Gazette on January 11 last year.
Normally, when an Act contains provisions which cannot be implemented until
certain procedural matters have been carried out (eg the appointment of
members of a board or council which is required to perform certain functions
in terms of provisions contained in the Act), there is a provision in the
Act that it will come into operation on a date to be fixed by the president
or the minister by notice in the Gazette.
The 2007 amendment did not contain any such provision.   In terms of
Section 51 (5) of the Constitution, an Act of Parliament shall come into
operation on the day of its publication in the Gazette or on such other day
as may be specified in or under that or some other Act.  As no other day was
specified in the 2007 amendment, it came into operation on January 11 2008.
Section 3 of the 2007 amendment repealed sections 38, 39 and 40 of
Aippa.  Those sections established the MIC, prescribed its functions and
powers and provided for the appointment and composition of the Board of the
MIC.  In place of those three sections it substituted sections which
provided for:
(a) The establishment and composition of a Zimbabwe Media Commission
(hereinafter referred to as "the ZMC") which consists of a chairperson and
eight other members appointed by the president from a list of not fewer than
12 nominees submitted by the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders, who must be chosen for their knowledge and experience in the Press,
print or electronic media or broadcasting; and
(b) The functions of the ZMC.
The 2007 Amendment also inserted a new Part VIIA in Aippa which
established a Media Council and prescribed its functions which relate to a
Code of Conduct and Ethics for journalists and mass media services and the
resolution of breaches thereof.
The effect of the 2007 Amendment and its promulgation in the Gazette
on January 11 2008 was that, with effect from that date, the MIC ceased to
exist and was replaced by the ZMC.  In Section 2 of Aippa there was a
definition of the term "commission", in which it was said to mean the MIC.
The 2007 Amendment repealed that definition and substituted one which said
that any reference in Aippa to the commission meant the ZMC.  Consequently,
with effect from January 11 2008, all the functions which immediately before
that date were imposed on the MIC were transferred to the ZMC.
Despite the fact that the then Minister of Information and Publicity
was the head of the ministry which had crafted the 2007 Amendment and that
he had introduced it in parliament and piloted it through both the House of
Assembly and the Senate, it seems that once it was passed by parliament, he
lost all interest in it or just forgot about it.
Even to a minister of the meanest intelligence, which in 2007 would
apparently have covered most of the Ministers since the president said that
it was the worst cabinet in his 26 years as head of state, it should have
been apparent that once the Bill had been approved by the Senate he should
have approached the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee and requested
him to obtain nominations for appointment to the ZMC.  However he did not do
so.  No appointments were made.
Accordingly, although the ZMC has come into existence, it has never
functioned because it has no members.  It is even less effective than a
toothless bulldog.  The fact that no appointments were made to the ZMC did
not mean, however, that the MIC or any of the members of the Board of the
MIC could continue to exercise any of the powers conferred on the Commission
by Aippa.  Only the ZMC is authorised to exercise such powers.  The members
of the Board of the MIC ceased to be members on January 11 2008.  They were
not entitled to be paid from the funds of the ZMC after that.  If they were
being paid they should be required to reimburse the monies they unlawfully
received.
The certificates of registration of the Zimbabwe Independent and the
Standard newspapers purport to have been issued on February 6 2009 by the
executive chairman of the MIC. However, the MIC ceased to exist on January
11 2008.  Furthermore, the chairman of the M IC was not an executive
chairman.  Prior to the 2007 Amendment, Aippa provided that the MIC was
controlled and managed by a board consisting of a chairman and vice-chairman
and other members.  The chairman was not given any executive powers.
Paragraph 9 of the Fifth Schedule to Aippa provided that the board
could appoint a person to be chief executive and that, subject to the
control of the board, the chief executive was responsible for managing the
operations and property of the MIC.  It would therefore be highly improper,
and in fact illegal, for the chairman of the MIC to exercise executive
functions and powers.  In terms of Aippa, before January 11 2008 such
functions were conferred on the chief executive.  Accordingly the
certificates of registration of the Independent and the Standard are
invalid.
They are null and void.  They have no legal effect.  The effect of the
abolition of the MIC and the failure to appoint members to the ZMC means
that the mass media services whose registration expired on or after January
11 2008 are no longer registered.  Likewise, any journalist whose
accreditation lapsed on or after January 11 2008 is no longer accredited,
even if the so-called executive chairman of the MIC purported to renew the
accreditation.

George Smith is a retired judge.

BY GEORGE SMITH

Focus on RBZ Reform, not Ousting Gono

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:53
IF recent media reports are to be believed, there is a serious
political showdown regarding the reappointment of the governor of the
central bank Gideon Gono, in apparent contravention of the Global Political
Agreement signed between Zanu PF and the two MDC factions.

The MDC, now in charge of the Finance ministry, have been calling for
the dismissal of the governor based on his previous "extraordinary measures"
and contribution to a "casino economy". President Mugabe has so far ignored
such calls resulting in a hardly desirable tug of war between the two most
important economic agents.

The "forced marriage" between the Finance minister Tendai Biti and the
central bank governor is another "union made in hell". It is clear that the
relationship between the two parties is as inconvenient as that of the
president and the prime minister. It can result in policy paralysis, reduce
the appetite of international donors to commit to the revival process and
extend the suffering of the ordinary Zimbabwean.
This reductionist approach has focused on the dismissal of the central
bank governor as the only route to revival. Instead focus should be on
reforming the central bank's financial architecture to avoid the current
centralisation of power regardless of who the incumbent is.
There are certainly many different sides to this argument and most of
them seem plausible if you follow their perverse logic. The MDC and many
other critics have clearly been occupied with calls for the dismissal of the
central bank governor as a sine qua non to economic revival.
The Minister of Finance is on record describing Gono as Al Qaeda
deserving to be put before a firing squad for his activities as central bank
governor. Without a doubt, there are many who probably share this view based
on divergent experiences of the governor's military style approach to
financial intermediation.
On the other hand, the president and many in Zanu PF, among others,
strongly believe that the governor played a pivotal role in
sanctions-busting through financial innovation and various quasi fiscal
activities (QFAs) to pay for critical supplies. It is argued that although
highly inflationary, the governor's printing press was a necessary means
that saved the country from a near cataclysmic collapse.
Some international donors worried about aid fungibility, having seen
aid money misallocated to other state projects, are believed to have made
indications that they will not bankroll Zimbabwe's economic recovery until
there are reforms at the central bank (interpreted to mean the removal of
the governor).
Regardless of people's persuasions, there is reason to argue that the
Herculean task of reviving the Zimbabwean economy is perhaps more important
than the "soap opera" distraction regarding whether certain people should be
in their positions or not. If at all that was an argument with a fair
determination outside political realism, wouldn't the prime minister be
president?
In this transitory phase, maybe we need to work with what we have
until fresh elections are called and one political party is able to call the
shots.
It does appear, understandably so, that the debate on this subject is
overburdened by political adventurism than economic logic. It regrettably
focuses on personalities than on how to develop an efficient process to
optimise the central bank.
In my opinion, the debate on whether the governor should be relieved
of his duties is not as important as reforming the RBZ mandate for it to
optimally perform its duties in the economic revival process. Whether or not
there is merit in his removal is beyond the author's comprehension.
If the country can accept a controversial political compromise between
the prime minister and the president to share executive powers, the same
though undesirable, can be possible for the Finance minister and the
governor. Assuming this as the reality, the Finance minister should focus on
reforming the central bank. I will briefly discuss some of these reforms.
Firstly, the broader question that needs urgent redress is whether the
central bank's current institutional set up and governance structure are
optimally configured to make it execute the tasks assigned to it in the most
efficient way.
If the answer is in the negative, the Finance minister can propose a
redefinition of the powers and limitations to the central bank's authority.
This can be done by amending the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act in parliament
where the minister has a better chance of achieving his objectives than
through the executive branch.
Secondly, there can be little doubt that the central bank, whether
justifiably or not, was primarily responsible for the country's
stratospheric inflation due to QFAs carried out without provisioning in the
state budget. However, since the announcement of the dollarisation of the
market in the national budget, the powers of the central bank in printing
money and engaging in QFAs have been enormously curtailed.
By default, the central bank today is not as powerful as it was before
dollarisation. Its role in printing money, distributing concessionary
funding or buying foreign currency on the street has succumbed to the
dictates of market forces. There may be very little point in "beating a dead
snake", to borrow Jacob Zuma's terminology. The central bank should now
focus on fighting inflation, monetary policy and bank supervision.
Thirdly, there is a pressing need to depoliticise the position of
governor of the central bank. Although it is common in most African
countries for the governor to be appointed by the president, this can be
done through a nominations committee with expertise in banking.
Depoliticising the RBZ is essential in the long-term due to the
technical skills required in the making of monetary policy and because of
the contrast between the long term effect of monetary policy and the
short-term objective of politicians under election pressure.
Although perhaps still premature, the central bank can eventually
become autonomous, and the powers of the governor de-centralised by
function, such as the establishment of a powerful Interest Rates Committee
or Monetary Policy Committee with vast experience in that area as is the
case in the United Kingdom.
Reforming the mandate of the central bank will also require improving
the bank's transparency and accountability to the taxpayer through a strong,
bipartisan Finance Committee in parliament with real power to grill or
recommend the removal of a governor in the event of abuse of power.
The decision to transfer the central bank's accumulated losses to the
government budget is a welcome one -- this increases transparency of public
sector accounts and strengthens the autonomy of the central bank. There is
need to revise the RBZ Act to limit the extent to which QFAs can be carried
out in future and introduce provisions for government support in the case of
central bank losses.
Lastly, the relationship between the central bank and the central
government will need to be rationalised. There are some basic rules which
can be recommended for this: (a) the central bank should rely on the
treasury bills issued by the government in conducting open market
operations. This way the cost of monetary policy implementation will pass
through to the central government; (b) any future central bank allocation of
financial resources should be at market prices and only in relation to its
delegated functions.
Any subsidy is best done through the budget, making the cost more
transparent and monitorable; (c) the central bank should only borrow abroad
for short-term balance of payments purposes, and the government should
assume all exchange rate risk in any foreign borrowing by the central bank;
and (d) the central bank should set aside reserves against potential losses.
Realistically, if the MDC was unable to force the hand of government
to release Roy Bennett, one of their own, until a Supreme Court decision,
what are the chances they can force the president's hand into dismissing his
"banker"? Although not impossible, it appears unlikely that the MDC will
succeed in this regard.
The Finance minister should divert his attention from fighting
personalities to changing structures and systems. Rationalising and
reforming the central bank into an optimally configured institution
operating with minimum manipulation from politicians, increasing
transparency and accountability and enacting clear limitations to functions
and avoiding gross misuse of resources for political expediency should be
the aim.

Mambondiani is an Investment Executive at Coronation Financial. The
views expressed in this article are personal and do not necessarily reflect
the position of Coronation Financial. E-mail:
coronation.uk@btinternet.comThis e-mail address is being protected from
spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BY LANCE MAMBONDIANI

Eric Bloch: The Zimbabwe Dollar Farce

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:29
WHEN the then acting Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, presented
his 2009 Budget to parliament, on January 29, he announced that Zimbabwe
would be undergoing a currency transformation  whereby diverse  currencies
would constitute legal  tender.

He refrained from giving details thereof, stating that details of the
new multi-currency operating modalities would be addressed in the then
forthcoming Monetary Policy Statement to be delivered shortly by the
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). However, he did state that
government was "allowing the use of multiple foreign currencies for business
transactions, alongside the Zimbabwean dollar".

Four days later, on February 2, 2009, Gideon Gono, RBZ's Governor,
presented a Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) and, to all intents and purposes
prescribed that with immediate effect all facets of the Zimbabwean economy
would operate within a multi-currency environment. Although he did not use
those actual words, he stated that all traders of goods, and providers of
services, would forthwith be lawfully entitled to accept payments in foreign
currencies. However,  he expanded  thereon by saying that  "The Zimbabwean
dollar remains  the country's legal tender  as recognised by the various
legal statutes, and as such shall continue to be used as a medium for
exchange  for all transactions  in the country".
He expanded thereon, saying that "All traders shall therefore in
addition to selling their goods and services in foreign currency, adopt a
dual pricing framework where goods will also be quoted in local currency.
This means that prices can be in rand and Zimbabwe dollars,  US dollar  and
Zimbabwe dollars as the case may be. The dual pricing framework to be
adopted. shall be legally enforceable and the pricing formulae to be
implemented shall be based on the inter-bank market determined exchange
rate."
However, he proceeded to prescribe some exemptions for certain
parastatals and public utilities to charge exclusively in foreign currencies
for certain services, instead of their being governed by the prescribed dual
currency modalities. In particular, he authorised the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (Zesa) "to bill or charge their electricity tariffs in
foreign currency". However, this authorisation was qualified by prescribing
that "residents in high density areas and those domiciled in the communal
areas shall continue to pay electricity tariffs in local currency".  In like
manner, local authorities were authorised to charge exclusively in foreign
currency in respect of services to "all corporates and residents in low
density areas." Similar authorisation was granted to Hwange Colliery
Company,  Air Zimbabwe,  TelOne and Potraz, National Railways of Zimbabwe
(NRZ), Zimbabwe  United Passenger Company (Zupco), rural transport and
commuter operators, the  print and electronic media,  and in addition it was
prescribed that "property transfers shall  be paid in foreign currency".
Similarly, such authorisation was granted to all academic institutions,
urban and private schools, producers of milk and of other agricultural
products, agricultural commodity traders, and banks.
In making these announcements, and granting these authorisations, Gono
stated that doing so "does not amount to the dollarisation of the economy in
the strict technical sense of the word". He claimed that "All  we are doing
is to liberalise our trading environment  by multi-currencying it",  and he
contended that the currency  dualisation  was "a tailor-made strategic
intervention that is meant to bring  convenience  to the general public, as
well as supporting  productive  efficiencies whilst at the same time
preserving  the sovereign Zimbabwean dollars by giving it company among
other  currencies of choice, which is the essence of multi-currencying".
Notwithstanding  the Budget Statement declared intent that usage  of
foreign currencies would be alongside the Zimbabwean dollar, and Gono's
statement that  the Zimbabwean dollar remains legal tender which could
continue to be used  as a medium of exchange  for all transactions,
realities  on the ground   are very different. Virtually no one in Zimbabwe
is according any cognisance to the Zimbabwe dollar (even though, in terms of
Statutory Instrument 5 of 2009, it remains legal tender, as intended by both
the acting Minister of Finance and RBZ's Governor). Every factory,
wholesaler, shop,  hotelier,  and provider of services ( be such services
plumbing, electrical, health care,  accounting, catering, motor repairs,
hair-cutting, or  a multitude  of others) only displays  prices in  US
dollars or rand,  and is only prepared to accept foreign currency payments.
Even government itself, in the collection of taxes by the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra) (save for taxes on non-existent Zimbabwean dollar
transactions and revenues), and in the provision of services such as the
issue of passports, as well as through its parastatals, demands foreign
currency payments. To all intents and purposes, the Zimbabwe dollar has
become extinct!
The reluctance of all to accept Zimbabwe currency is very
understandable, as in an intense-record-breaking hyper-inflation environment
such as has been prevailing in Zimbabwe, the currency very rapidly loses
value and, within weeks (if not days) ceases to have any meaningful value.
However, the non-acceptability of the currency is a cause of intense
hardship and suffering for very many, and an immense constraint upon
rehabilitation and recovery of the economy. In most instances, it is also in
breach of law, in the light of the provisions of S.I.5. of 2009.
A very large proportion of the populace do not possess, and do not
receive, foreign currency. Those without rand, US dollars, Botswana pula,
British pounds or euros, have therefore been rendered even more destitute
from heretofore.
It is all very well that government and RBZ accorded partial
recognition to this circumstance by prescribing the provision of utilities
in high-density and rural areas in Zimbabwe dollars, but this does not aid
the Zimbabwean dollar pensioners, devoid of other income, in medium and
low-density areas. For many others, their incomes are wholly  or partially
in Zimbabwean dollars,  generally because employers have an insufficiency
of foreign currency to pay employees fully (or,  in many instances, even
partially so),  in which instances they too are unable to pay their rents,
pay for utilities, and obtain  essential goods and services. All of them are
condemned to great discomforts and suffering, to an extent that in numerous
instances is life-endangering.
These circumstances are also resulting in trade union and labour
demands for total remuneration in foreign currency, in total disregard for
the ability or otherwise of employers to fund such remuneration. ZCTU is
demanding that the minimum wage be US$454, based upon a Poverty Datum Line
(PDL) for a family of six (but disregarding that such families will often
have two income earners). Conceding to such demands can only result in the
enforced closure of innumerable enterprises, and to a massive increase in
the already horrific levels of unemployment.
The Zimbabwean dollar has become a meaningless, valueless farce, and
will remain so unless government significantly and constructively modifies
its demands, and those of its parastatals, from the present excessively
great demands for foreign currency. Concurrently, S.I.5  of 2009 must be
enforced, albeit  with justice  and equity,  thereby  substantively
restoring  legal tender status to the Zimbabwean dollar and,  at the same
time,  the  vigorous  drive to contain and  reverse  inflation must
continue,  commencing with very marked  curtailment  of governmental
spending.

BY ERIC BLOCH

Restore the Rule of Law First

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:23
NOW that Morgan Tsvangirai is no longer a prime target for the Herald,
the newspaper's columnists have concentrated their fire on the United States
and Britain for their refusal to lift sanctions.

It is suggested that they should ignore human rights abuses and
arbitrary imprisonment so that Zimbabwe can secure access to international
funding.

Roy Bennett last week described the shocking conditions in Zimbabwe's
jails. Despite being granted bail, his lawyers had to struggle for his
release in the teeth of resistance from a vengeful state.
The MDC should stir itself from its present torpor and take immediate
steps to amend the Criminal Law and Procedure Act so that those afforded
their liberty by a court can enjoy that liberty instead of being thwarted at
every turn.
Indeed, the MDC needs to set out an agenda of law reform which will
prevent arbitrary punishment for opponents of the regime and fortify
constitutional rights. Why does Tendai Biti think donors should come to his
rescue when the government of which he is a part continues to lock up
critics and threaten lawyers with contempt of court when they expresses an
opinion?
Zimbabwe's "detractors" make the obvious point: Why are you coming to
us for money when the rule of law has not been restored by your government
and court rulings are routinely ignored? How for instance can an investor
feel secure in a country where the president denounces regional court
rulings as "nonsense" because they don't suit his political agenda?
The MDC (both wings) agreed not to pursue the issue of the appointment
of the Attorney-General and Reserve Bank governor despite those appointments
being at the top of their post-Pretoria agenda in January. After talks
between the principals it was agreed the appointments would be reviewed in
six months.
That act of propitiation has reaped a poisoned harvest in the form of
a vicious campaign of persecution of white farmers, among others. The MDC
evidently didn't see it coming or doesn't care. But it will be instructive
for the IMF to hear the CFU's evidence of lawlessness on the farms.

And in case anybody thought there had been a change of thinking at the
top they should look no further than Monday's Herald in which the columnist
in all seriousness thinks the American public made a mistake in voting for
Barack Obama.
The MDC cannot have it both ways, the columnist, Tichaona Zindoga,
says. The MDC cannot serve two masters. Either it chooses to work for the
government or against it, he pontificates. Denouncing sanctions and
demanding their unconditional lifting is one such act of patriotism
Tsvangirai could demonstrate, he suggests.
It is clear from this that Zanu PF has ignored the popular demand for
change and feels it is their new partners who have to do the changing if
they want to "benefit" from the new dispensation. This reflects the view in
Zanu PF that they are doing the MDC a favour by letting them into
government!
Obama should be told, Zindoga says, "that a black president who
follows white racist policies is not in fact the change people wanted".
So Obama is following "white racist policies" is he? And he managed to
slip that past American voters including several million black ones?
Is it seriously suggested that American voters were demanding that
Obama disregard ongoing misrule in Zimbabwe and lift sanctions? Have you
heard a single US voter -- Democrat or Republican -- suggest that?
The Herald should really stop this delusional nonsense. So should
those in the MDC asking for donor funds before the rule of law has been
restored.
Tsvangirai's deal with the UK-based World Travel Group is grossly
premature. Can it be said we have a professional and independent
law-enforcement system after recent events on farms? And what does the
arrest of a magistrate - subsequently acquitted - tell visitors about the
rule of law.
The authorities haven't even let the flower-sellers back into Africa
Unity Square. And Buhera recently witnessed one-sided arrests reminiscent of
last June.

It doesn't seem as if the farm invasions are escaping notice in
Pretoria. Zimbabwe should guarantee the protection of private investments if
it wanted its economy to recover quickly, a senior official said at the
South Africa-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission for Co-operation held in
Victoria Falls last weekend, Business Day reports. The official told the
paper on Monday that South Africa expressed its concerns that the government
in Harare needed to take control of and ensure a proper land distribution
programme. By being seen to be bringing an end to the violent invasion of
farmland, South Africa believed that Zimbabwe would bring political
stability and "reduce the lack of trust" in the new power-sharing government
by foreign and regional donors.
None of this was carried in the Herald report.
Investors will clearly stay away and sanctions remain so long as
people are arrested and prosecuted for exercising their rights to free
speech and farmers are harassed by lawless mobs for occupying their own
homes.

President Mugabe at Heroes Acre on Saturday called for an end to all
acts of violence. Those perpetrating violence were "enemies of Zimbabwe", he
said.
That presumably includes those who abducted Jestina Mukoko and
tortured her? And who was responsible for the wave of violence last year
when people were beaten and their homes burnt? Have they been brought to
justice?
March 11 was the second anniversary of the savage beatings meted out
to Morgan Tsvangirai, Sekai Holland and other MDC officials in a police
station. What investigation has there been regarding those assaults?
One of the glimmers of change in the dark events of the past few weeks
was the reported request from prison guards in Mutare for "Free Roy"
T-shirts -- 10 for the day guards and eight for those on duty at night. Then
there was the huge attendance at Susan Tsvangirai's funeral, including
ministers from surrounding countries and diplomats.
But couldn't the army have transported Susan's remains and the
immediate family to Buhera by helicopter? Wouldn't that have been a kind
gesture? And deployment of the Catering Corps would also have been useful
given the numbers that had to be fed.
We heard the words "state-assisted". But not in these two respects it
seems.

One key area that needs straightening out is the local public media.
The Media and Information Commission continues to exercise regulatory
powers, such as registration of media houses and accreditation of
journalists, long after its authority was terminated by promulgation of
Amendment 18 in January last year. Information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu
should have appointed board members for the new Zimbabwe Media Commission
under the amended Act. Why didn't he?

And if you look at the letters column of the Herald it is immediately
clear that many of these letters emanate from the state's propaganda
machine.
Letters headed "Throw out US, UK ambassadors", "Obama's sanctions move
was expected", and "Private media using hate language" illustrate the old
hidebound thinking as senior officials, having been booted off their regular
perch, slip their poisonous thoughts past the editor.
How is the coalition government going to re-establish normal relations
with countries like the US and "engage" members of the EU when the state
media continues its hostile and childish assaults on the very governments
Zimbabwe is trying to engage? It must also be said that no "taskforce" will
succeed in changing minds if Simbarashe Mumbengegwi is a member of it.
Diplomats remember his past antics only too well.
Tendai Biti, Welshman Ncube, and Priscilla Misihairabwi are running
ahead of themselves by joining this taskforce. EU governments are beholden
to their parliaments and voters. So long as Zanu PF ministers refuse to
understand why sanctions were imposed in the first place and remain
unrepentant there is little prospect of success. MDC ministers are part of
the problem when they decline to spell things out.

Harare councillors have provided a shocking display of greed as they
demand cellphones, residential stands and food. The mayor has made it known
that he spends more time addressing the needs of these predators than he
does dealing with the needs of ratepayers.
This would be bad enough but the behaviour of the councillors has led
to unintentioned collateral damage. It has provided a window for Ignatious
Chombo to intervene in the apparel of a white knight riding to the defence
of the city's interests.
Nothing could be further from the truth of course. He is a member of a
deadwood gang around Mugabe which sees its role as reversing the democratic
gains of the last seven years. He is not wanted in Harare. And he has no
right to rescind resolutions such as that concerning the town clerk on the
specious grounds that it is not "progressive". As if he would have a clue
what that means!
Democrats throughout the country and foreign well-wishers should note
two things here: Firstly we have old-guard interference with a
democratically elected body. That is misgovernance writ large. Secondly the
MDC has allowed its elected representatives to get away with greed and
self-interest without any corrective measures. As Chombo pointed out, being
a councillor is not a job and it is certainly not a gravy train.

Zimbabwe and China have been exchanging notes, it would appear.
Chinese authorities, waging a "strike hard" campaign in the Tibetan capital
Lhasa ahead of the anniversary of the Tibetan rising, raided thousands of
homes and businesses, ran checks on 5 766 suspects and detained 81 people,
including two "for having reactionary music on their mobile phones",
according to the Washington Post.
The authorities were acting to uphold public order, they claimed.
Rather like Chombo!
But how does a reactionary song go, we wonder? Can you whistle it?
"Old MacDonald had a farm... ee-i-ee-i Eish"!

Parliament to quiz Mohadi, Mutsekwa over Torture

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 21:03
PARLIAMENT will next week question the co-ministers of Home Affairs -
Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa - on alleged use of torture by security
forces to extract confessions from suspects and explain why Zimbabwe is yet
to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

According to the House of Assembly order paper, Mohadi and Mutsekwa on
Wednesday will be questioned by MPs on the use of torture by the police. The
lawmakers would be expected to grill the ministers on the alleged torture
endured by political and civil society activists abducted and arrested last
year.

Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) executive director, Jestina Mukoko, who
was released from prison almost two weeks ago, claimed that she was tortured
and beaten by the police while in their custody.

Mukoko alleged that she was beaten on the soles of her feet and all
over her body.

Apart from Mohadi and Mutsekwa facing questions in parliament, Mines
and Mining Development minister Obert Mpofu, Justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa, Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, Youth Development minister
Saviour Kasukuwere, and Information Communication Technology minister Nelson
Chamisa will also be asked to give explanations on an array of issues.

Mpofu is expected to answer questions on the deployment of the army to
Chiadzwa diamond fields, the legality of present mining and the impact it
was having on the environment and the people around the area.

Chinamasa will be grilled on reports of deaths from hunger and cholera
at Chipinge Prison, and Chamisa will be asked to explain why cellphone users
in the country have to pay higher prices for sim cards and airtime compared
to other countries in the region.

MPs, according to the order paper, will ask Kasukuwere to explain
government's decision to use youths in last June's presidential election
run-off.

Mnangagwa will be taken to task on the reported issuing of firearms to
retired army personnel and war veterans during and before the run-off
presidential election.

BY LOUGHTY DUBE

Candid Comment: Meaning of Parliamentary Democracy

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:54
THE long-awaited establishment of the Standing Rules and Orders
Committee of Parliament (SROC) is good news for many of us with a keen
interest in parliamentary democracy.

The SROC, now a constitutional body thanks to Constitutional Amendment
Number. 19, is the supreme decision-making organ of Parliament. Among its
other functions, the SROC, chaired by the Speaker of the House of Assembly,
is tasked with setting up portfolio committees of Parliament. The portfolio
committee system is the key mechanism for Parliament to exercise oversight
over the Executive. Now there is no reason  portfolio committees cannot be
immediately set up in order for them to deal with a number of pressing
social and economic problems bedevilling the country. Over the years,
portfolio committees have proved beyond reasonable doubt that they can be a
viable mechanism for objectivity, consensus building and conflict
resolution. They should therefore be allowed to work unhindered so as to
significantly contribute to the spirit of inclusivity and national healing
clearly espoused under the Global Political Agreement.
An immediate task for the SROC is the review of Standing Rules and
Orders of Parliament so as to bring them in line with the coalition
arrangement that has created the post of prime minister who will become the
Leader of Government Business. The Standing Rules and Orders govern the
operations of Parliament. The rules should be reviewed in order to give
Parliament and its portfolio committees more teeth. In the past, some
ministers have not taken the business of Parliament and its committees
seriously, as evidenced by the failure to respond meaningfully to committee
reports and question time. The rules should ensure that the ministers
respect the constitutional role of Parliament in the democratic governance
system.
The role of Parliament is to make laws for good governance. The
Constitution provides for clear separation of powers between the Executive,
the Legislature and Judiciary. Parliament's constitutional mandate is to
make law; the Judiciary interprets the law and the Executive implements.
This must be respected fully as we embark on the long journey of building a
democratic Zimbabwe.
The days of fast-tracking legislation in Parliament should be a thing
of the past. While it is appreciated that the recent fast-tracking of
Constitutional Amendment No. 19 and National Security Council Bill were for
the common good (as political parties were grappling with the formation of
an inclusive government), this should not become a habit. Fast-tracking
(although allowed by the Standing Rules and Orders of Parliament) is not
good practice and negates the spirit of parliamentary reforms to open up the
institution of Parliament to the public and allow more time for Parliament
involvement in the legislative process. There is a danger that Parliament
will lose credibility if it is viewed by the public as a rubber-stamping
institution. It has happened in other parliaments and should be avoided in
Zimbabwe.
Events this week pertaining to the 2009 National Budget are
disturbing. While it is appreciated that we have already gone three months
into the financial year and that the country must operate on a budget
approved by Parliament, there is no justification for the revised budget by
Finance minister Tendai Biti to be approved by the House of Assembly in one
sitting. The national budget is a key policy instrument affecting the lives
of all Zimbabweans. MPs, who have a duty to account to the people that voted
them into office, must thoroughly scrutinise the budget and have public
hearings whereby civic society, interest groups and the general public must
be given an opportunity to make submissions before the House debates the
estimates of expenditure and the revenue proposals. Allowing MPs to interact
with the public on the budget and any other pieces of legislation before
Parliament is exactly what representative democracy is all about.
Fast-tracking the budget through the House is a negation of the reformed
budget process that Parliament itself has adopted allowing for meaningful
participation by MPs at all stages which are as follows:
lformulation;
ldebate and approval in Parliament; and
limplementation/execution.
While the formulation and implementation of the budget is a
prerogative of the Executive, meaningful consultations must be carried out
with Parliament, with the former having a critical role to play in
monitoring the execution of the budget so as to ensure that monies approved
are effectively used and that the government delivers on its promises.
As Parliament gets down to serious business, the presiding officers
must have as their strategic agenda the building of a modern and democratic
Parliament. A modern and democratic Parliament is characterised by the
following features, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union:
  Representative: that is a Parliament socially and politically
representative of the diversity of its people, and ensuring equal
opportunities and protection for all its members.
  Transparent: a Parliament that is open to the nation through
different media, and transparent in the conduct of its business,
  Accessible: this means involving the public, including the
associations and movements of civic society in the work of Parliament.
  Accountable: this involves members of Parliament being accountable
to the electorate for their performance in office and integrity of conduct.
  Effective: this means the effective organisation of business in
accordance with these democratic values.
A rubber-stamping Parliament obviously does not qualify as a modern
and democratic Parliament. As the central institution of democracy,
Parliament must embody the will of the people in government, and carry all
their expectations that democracy will be truly responsive to their needs
and help solve the most pressing problems that confront them in their daily
lives.

Makamure is  the executive director of the Southern African
Parliamentary Support Trust based in Harare.

BY JOHN MAKAMURE

Comment: No Silver Bullet to Revive Economy

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:50
THE coast is not yet clear for the unity government in as far as
mending the economy is concerned.

The revised budget by Finance minister Tendai Biti on Wednesday is a
forlorn admission that the unity government does not possess the silver
bullet to put this economy back on the rails.

The government has come up with a new economic blueprint called the
Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme to get Zimbabwe working again. This
is a comprehensive and all-encompassing programme which requires US$5
billion in funding. That money is not there now. There is actually very
little money to fund government activities this year.
Biti this week slashed the budget expenditure proposals to US$1
billion from the US$1,9 billion announced by then acting Finance minister
Patrick Chinamasa in January. Biti admits that the money is just not there
to run government's activities. Revenue from traditional sources, mainly
income tax and corporate tax, have dried up due to dollarisation as
companies have either devised ways of evading tax or cannot pay altogether.
The US$900 million excised from the budget is still badly required to
revive comatose social services. But the cavalry of donors with bags of cash
will not be heading this way any time soon. Recovery will be slow and
painful.
Government has now been forced to operate a cash budget, meaning it
has to learn to live within its means, a big ask from a civil service bred
on profligacy and corruption. But with a tiny budget to work with, his
options as Finance minister are not just limited. He will soon find himself
stuck in a quagmire in which he is expected to lead the country's economic
recovery and at the same time perform the delicate act of dicing the small
cake to a government expanded this year to accommodate political interests
under the unity government
"What we gather is what we eat," is now Biti's new rallying call for
his colleagues in government. There are many gatherers on the ground at the
moment but the pickings are too few. Biti admits that there is a huge task
to hand.
"Thus, if one is not careful, one is reduced to focusing on fire
fighting issues in the allocation of meagre resources," said Biti. "One can
easily lose focus on the bigger developmental role of fiscal policy."
The paucity of the budget is also worrying because the public purse is
not holding enough funds to stimulate economic activity which should result
in improved capacity utilisation and job creation, and with it greater
revenues to the fiscus. The government has at the moment no capacity to
commit any resources to public sector investment. The government cannot
complete stalled capital projects like the Tokwe-Mukosi dam in the Lowveld
or the Mtshabezi dam project in Matabeleland North. The dualisation of the
Bulawayo and Beitbridge roads will move at glacial speed due to paltry
allocations. The government cannot launch public works although there is a
whole minister running that portfolio. In this fiscal year Theresa Makone,
in charge of Public Works, has to make do with US$12 million most of which
will be spent on administrative issues.
The classification of the national budget shows that government
intends to spend almost 64% of the estimates on running its activities,
salaries and pensions. Only 19% is being set aside for capital expenditure
while the rest is earmarked for state grants. In the absence of financial
sector lending, the government is expected to provide funding to the
agricultural sector and to manufacturers. That money is not there either.
This is the danger stalking the unity government. Firstly, it was
built on a shaky foundation of general mistrust and divergent views. But it
gained strength on the back of the public's belief that it will end hunger
and also deliver in fundamental areas of education, health and mitigating
unemployment through reviving agriculture, mining and the manufacturing
sectors. On the day of his inauguration, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
made brave promises to the civil service and uniformed forces that they
would be paid in foreign currency. There is huge expectation which the unity
government should meet.
A peek into the government books shows that there is not much to
fulfill the promises of better remuneration for government workers. Biti
admits that the government only collected US$25 million last month and has
so far collected US$30 million this month. Civil servants should therefore
not expect a sea change in their salaries this month. Therein lies another
problem for the unity government. It will soon be called to deal with a
crisis of expectation and answer difficult questions from hungry civil
servants and malnourished children.
As Biti rightly points out, the government could soon be reduced to
focusing on firefighting and managing the crisis of expectation. There is
all the evidence that this country is badly in need of balance of payments
support. But with farm seizures, debt arrears and a bloated government the
IMF is not about to put its hand in its pocket until it sees new facts on
the ground.

Comment: Mugabe's Charm Offensive

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/


Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:20
IS President Mugabe reforming or is he just putting up a typical
politician's show to curry favours with the electorate?

Edwin Tsvangirai -- the son to the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai --
last week provided interesting insight into his perception of old wily Bob.

This may be the same perception that a number of people who listened
to Mugabe at the church service held for Susan Tsvangirai last Tuesday now
have. There are many who now view Mugabe differently even though it is too
early to talk of a Damascene conversion.
Edwin who spoke at a memorial rally for his late mother at Glamis
Stadium had this to say about Mugabe: "I would like to thank His Excellency,
the President of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe, for giving us words that have
changed my understanding of him".
He did not tell us what President Mugabe represents today, neither did
he tell us his perception of the president prior to the speech in church.
What is significant though is that to Edwin, Mugabe has morphed into
some character with attributes which he had no prior knowledge of.
It could also be true to say that he believes Mugabe is changing for
the better.
There are many who could have been convinced that Mugabe has changed
after seeing his photos and footage at Prime Minister Tsvangirai's bedside
two weeks ago, moments after his hospitalisation.
His speech at the church was a crowning moment he grabbed with both
hands.
This was not his usual egoistic rendition but a composed and
thoughtful narrative in which he empathised with the bereaved prime
minister.
He spoke of Tsvangirai as "mumwe wedu" (one of our own). It was an
invitation to the nation to stand with the prime minister (as the president
was himself doing) during the difficult period.
The speech sent the message that Tsvangirai was now part of the
Zimbabwe family (and not the running dog of the West, or the traitor,
counter revolutionary, chigevenga, etc).
Mugabe also spoke about an end to political violence. "We are doing
our best that we create a conducive environment and tell our supporters that
the issue of violence must end," he said.
There is no more apportioning of blame here! This was a unique
opportunity for Mugabe to address MDC supporters and sympathisers and he
made the most of it.
Tsvangirai last month turned down an invitation to attend Mugabe's
birthday celebration on the pretext that it was party function.
Mugabe last week turned Tsvangirai's tragedy into a national event in
which he played a very pivotal role.
In all this Mugabe tried to display an old man's charm and magnanimity
that will not necessarily win him friends but may help to repair his
not-so-rosy political career in the eyes of the opposition.
His conduct was a major propaganda coup not just critical in
embellishing his quest for political legitimacy as head of state but to also
get a foot in the door in his quest to be accepted by MDC supporters as
leader of the country.
This has a lot to do with his quest to leave a legacy of astute
statesmanship.
This was a political manoeuvre that demanded reciprocity on the part
of the MDC in its future dealings with Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Last week fate provided the MDC with the opportunity to return the
favour. The party sent a terse condolence message following the death of
former Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief and Zanu PF politburo member Vitalis
Zvinavashe who passed away the same day Mugabe spoke in church.
The MDC recognised the late general's role in the liberation of the
country and as commander of the defence forces.
In short, the party endorsed Zanu PF's decision to award him national
hero's status.
By the way, should the decision to recognise heroes continue to be the
preserve of Zanu PF now that we have a unity government and moreso when the
Home Affairs ministry which is responsible for organising state funerals is
jointly presided over by MPs for the two parties?
But we were not expecting to see the MDC's Giles Mutsekwa as master of
ceremonies at Heroes Acre last Saturday when Zvinavashe was buried?
This aside, those watchers of Mugabe's rehabilitation will be keenly
monitoring his actions.
He did not disappoint at Heroes Acre last Saturday when he stuck to
the same line of peace and togetherness.
But largely, the jury is still out on the reformation process. We are
watching out for relapses.

BY VINCENT KAHIYA

Zim Independent Letters

http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com

Zanu PF Does not Care About People
Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:07
THE statement made by President Robert Mugabe at his birthday bash
that they would acquire more farms is a clear sign that he condones the
current farm invasions.

To make such a dangerous statement when over five million Zimbabweans
are starving is a testimony that Zanu PF does not care about the fate of the
people of Zimbabwe.

Instead of being proactive and carrying out an audit on how the farms
that have been grabbed already are being utilised, Zanu PF and Mugabe
instead intensify their land grabs when every Zimbabwean is looking forward
to a change following the implementation of the inclusive government.
 After all this madness is over Mugabe and his cronies should be made
accountable for the starvation that they brought to this country.
 However, in the meantime, the new Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai
should speak strongly against these new farm disruptions as they will cause
further damage to the already battered economy when those farms that were
earlier taken are being left under utilised.

Trymore Mazhambe,
Mutare.

-------------
ZBH Licence Fees Cause for Concern
Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:05
THE Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) is deeply concerned
by the exorbitant licence fees that have been pegged by Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) for the year 2009.

ZBH, with the approval of the Ministry of Information and Publicity
has released a notice in terms of Section 38B (2) of the Broadcasting
Services Act [Chapter 12:06] citing the new Listeners' licence fees where
radio listeners in the rural areas are expected to pay as much as US$10
while those in urban areas will be expected to part with US$20 per annum.
These licence fees are too high and they only serve to marginalise residents
from getting broadcasting services as they are beyond the affordability of
many. Other national broadcasters in the Southern Africa region draw most of
their revenue from advertisers and this lightens the burden on listeners and
viewers. In South Africa, for example, the government subsidises the costs
of its national broadcaster, SABC and residents only have to pay television
licence fees of US$22,5 per annum (while in Zimbabwe residents have to pay a
whopping US$50). Unlike ZBH, SABC and other broadcasters rely on advertisers
because they have explored ways to improve the quality of their programmes
in order to attract advertisers. In Botswana, only broadcasters pay licence
fees while viewers and listeners get these services for free.

This is not so with the Zimbabwean national broadcaster, ZBH. The
previous government heavily polarised the programmes that were being aired
both on radio and television and turned the national broadcaster into a
political mouthpiece that focused on propaganda. That repelled many
advertisers from conducting business transactions with the national
broadcaster and thereby depleting its revenue base. Moreover, most radio and
television owners purchased satellite decoders to get access to other
broadcasters outside Zimbabwe. Thus advertisers lost their market and cut
their ties with ZBH.
CHRA feels that ZBH should first conduct market research to find out
what residents want on their television sets and revamp its programming in
order to attract and regain the confidence of advertisers so as to get
revenue. The licence fees that are being charged by ZBH do not correspond
with the services that the national broadcaster is giving to residents.

Combined Harare Residents Association,
info@chra.co.zw

---------------

      Release Remaining Political Prisoners

      Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:08
       FOLLOWING the recent release of Jestina Mukoko, Roy Bennett and
other MDC political prisoners from remand prison, it is shocking that the
media,  the MDC and other progressive forces are not mentioning and calling
for the immediate release of three other political prisoners who are still
languishing in jail at the Harare Remand Prison.

      Gandi Mudzingwa, Chris Dhlamini and Anderson Manyere are part of
some 15 other MDC supporters whose whereabouts still remain unknown after
they were allegedly abducted by state security agents late last year.

      However, after the release of high profile figures such as
Mukoko and Bennett, the media and the MDC have fallen silent as if there are
no political prisoners still in remand.
      A lot of noise was made by organisations calling for the
immediate release of all political prisoners.
      But once Mukoko was released this noise has died down as if
nothing has happened.
      There is need for pressure on the government to release the
remaining political prisoners including those whose whereabouts remain
unknown.

      Agrippa Zvomuya,
       Harare.

---------------

      Scholarship Students Made Destitute
      Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:12
      I AM outraged by the plight of Zimbabwean scholarship students
in Algeria.

      The Algerian government and Zimbabwe before the inclusive
government made a pact to send undergraduate students to Algeria on a
jointly funded scholarship programme, with the former providing tuition fees
and the latter taking care of students' welfare. Of interest to me are
students that left for Algeria last year in the second week of November and
among them was my sister-in-law. My wife and I gave her US$200 as pocket
money. She was quite comfortable for the first two months or so but she was
lucky to have had that kind of money because most of the students were from
poor rural backgrounds, had no money and were relying on a promise of
welfare made by the then government of Zimbabwe.

      As I write, it is past mid-March and the students who went on
scholarship to Algeria last year have not received a cent from the
government of Zimbabwe. Their visas have since expired and they are now
considered illegal immigrants. Others have resorted to prostitution. At
first I had believed my sister-in-law had made a breakthrough but now I feel
that she and a host of other students have been condemned to live a life of
destitution in a foreign land.
      Ten days ago I sent her money through a very expensive bank
telegraphic transfer. I wanted to send her US$100 and for that the bank
charged me US$25. I was told the money would be routed through New York so
she would probably get a balance of US$60 after other bank charges have been
deducted. Effectively it meant that it cost me US$65 to send her US$60! When
I contacted her yesterday she lamented that the money would take about 21
days to reflect in her friend's account, because as an illegal she does not
have an account.
      This situation needs to be addressed or the students simply be
brought back home. You are probably wondering why I did not send her money
via Western Union or MoneyGram. Well, these money transfer agents barred any
money from being sent from Zimbabwe to any other country. Zimbabwe only
receives! If I want to send via these money transfer agents I have to cross
the border into Botswana or South Africa. That is how bad the situation is.
      I am therefore imploring the Minister of Higher and Tertiary
Education Stan Mudenge and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi to look into the issue of Algerian scholarship students with
urgency. While still at it, may the Minister of Finance Tendai Biti send
some money right away to Algeria to help the students who are now considered
as lepers and outcasts.

      Vukani Madoda,
       Harare.

---------------

      Deaths Bring Leaders Together
      Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:15
      THE untimely deaths recently of Susan Tsvangirai and General
Vitalis Zvinavashe were a true reflection that the inclusive government
would be a success if the spirit of togetherness that was shown by the
leaders of Zanu PF and MDC is also reflected in government business.

      During the separate funerals of the two, the leaders of the
three political parties truly showed that they were sincere in making sure
that the Global Political Agreement signed last year was a success.

      If this spirit continues, then there is no reason for the
inclusive government to fail.
       However, the inclusive government should go the extra mile and
fish out detractors who are bent on making the inclusive government a flop.
      These are some of the people who torched houses of rival party
supporters in Buhera during the burial of Amai Tsvangirai.
      The police should act swiftly and bring the culprits to book
because if they are not made to account for their actions, this violence
will spread to other areas and will become uncontrollable.

      Trymore Mazhambe,
       Mutare.

------------

      Zimbabwe Independent SMS
      Thursday, 19 March 2009 19:15
      WE join the Zvinavashe family, liberation war veterans and the
rest of the nation in mourning the death of a gallant son of the soil. Rest
in peace General Vitalis Zvinavashe.
       Bulawayo.
      TO Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai I convey my condolences on
the death of our first lady Susan. Rest in peace our mother. We will miss
you.
      MDC supporter.

      TO Amai Susan Tsvangirai I say goodbye Zimbabwe's rose. You were
a candle in the wind.
       Distressed.

      UPON a nation mired in economic ruin is foisted an even sadder
loss of one half of democracy's foremost couple!
      Nut 09.

      TO be frank ladies and gentlemen David Coltart is the minister
of the month of February. Keep it up Dave, your province of Bulawayo is
proud of you. Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube are first and second runners
up.
      Ndlovini yakwaNgozi.

      CAN the Ministry of Education investigate the rampant corruption
and lack of courtesy bedevilling the Masvingo provincial education offices.
      Concerned.

      SCHOOL children at Riverside school in Gweru are forced to sweep
and mop their classes with their hands using dirty rags. Most toilets at
this school are not functioning  and there are burst pipes near the grade
ones' classes. This exposes them to diseases such as cholera. The mopping
should be done by a worker using a real mop and a broom and gloves. Children
risk developing respiratory disorders due to the daily exposure to dust.
       Concerned Parent.

      CONGRATULATIONS Nelson Chamisa for your appointment as a
minister. You are a star to us the people of Zimbabwe because you have been
fighting for our freedom. I salute you.
       MDC for life.

      PEOPLE should understand that peace and tranquility come at a
price. There is nothing wrong with the size of Zimbabwe's cabinet.
      E Ndlovu, Bulawayo.

      IF Gideon Gono has Zimbabwe at heart as he claims, he should
resign now. Arthur Mutambara and Tendai Biti are right in saying that we can't
have meaningless monetary policies.
      Mfoka Gatsheni.
      TAFATAONA Mahoso and John Makumbe should not be given space in
the state and private media to dish out their vitriol. They are not
progressive but destructive. They are reluctant to enter the new era of
change. If the media allow them to utter negative things then they are
equally guilty. Let's move together as one family.
      Taurai Musingarabwi.

      I BELIEVE that there is no such thing as the Bulawayo agenda.
Rather it's more like the Tsvangirai agenda to me.
      Ndlovenkulu, Bulawayo.

      HEADS should roll at TelOne. They have taken us for a ride for
too long.
      Chilaz.

      WHY are calls and messages to South Africa barred on the Net One
pre-paid Easycall "service"? After all aren't we paying for the service in
US dollars so the lack of forex excuse no longer flies?
       Exasperated.

      ECONET has been screaming about the lack of foreign currency and
has cited it as the main reason why they continue to fail to set up the much
hyped 3G network service. Maybe if other network providers enter the fray
then Econet will care more about its customers.
      Ngwenyazie.

      ZESA is forcing us the consumers to pay for damaged
transformers. Is Minister Elias Mudzuri aware of this? Please investigate,
we need to know.
      Sir Wally.

      ZESA bills here in Kadoma are just outrageous. Where on earth
are we supposed to get US$80 to pay for a month's bill?
      Civil servant, Kadoma.

      WHAT is it about commuter omnibus drivers that the ZRP and the
municipal police fear so much? These drivers openly flaunt the rules of the
road with shocking arrogance and no regard for other road users. All this is
carried out in full view of the police who appear to be too frightened or
too lazy to do anything about it. It's high time the police started using
their authority constructively.
      Bemused.

      AREN'T the fines that the police are demanding we pay simply
ridiculous? How can they demand US$20 for an offence such as public
drinking? I suggest that a commission of enquiry be set up to look into
this. I wonder if correct procedures were followed in determining the fines.
      Zero remittance.

A Bridge to Somewhere

 

Geoffrey York, 19/03/09 at 7:17 PM EDT

HARARE - I came across this rusty old footbridge while visiting the township of Kuwadzana Extension, on the outskirts of Harare. It's just a narrow little bridge, but it tells everything you need to know about the desperate plight of Zimbabwe's people.

They don't call them "townships" any more, of course. They call them "high-density suburbs." But they're poorer than the poorest townships in South Africa. And they're home to millions of Zimbabweans who have flocked to the cities to try to scavenge a living.

Two city councillors had told me about this bridge, so we went to take a look. Basically this bridge is the only lifeline for the people of Kuwadzana Extension when they need any food or medical care.

Every day, thousands of people walk along this footbridge over a flood-prone swampy patch of land. There are no grocery stores or health clinics in Kuwadzana Extension (unless you include the abandoned old clinic that was looted and turned into a torture camp in the election last year). So they have to walk several kilometres, over the bridge, into the next township to get food and health care.

The clinic in the next township is suffering from severe shortages of drugs, equipment, money, transport and staff - as I documented in this story. It hasn't seen a doctor or an ambulance in a year, and it doesn't even have a telephone for the nurses to contact their medicine suppliers. Yet it's the only possible place to get medical treatment for many kilometres around - and the narrow bridge is the only way to get there.

The problem is that the bridge has no lights at night. It's dark and dangerous and frightening, especially when the rains have swollen the rivers. Muggers and thieves wait by the bridge to ambush the innocent. People have been injured, even killed here. Others have fallen over the bridge at night, where they can be swept away in the floods.

I asked a local woman, Mercy Motengo, to tell me what happens when a pregnant woman goes into labour at night. She says it's impossible for a woman to cross the bridge to reach the clinic in darkness. "All we can do is pray that we can make it until the morning," she says.

Don't make the mistake of assuming that this is mere poverty, the same as any other poor country in the world. As health experts have already noted, this is a man-made disaster.

Until the early 1990s, Zimbabwe enjoyed one of the best health-care systems in Africa. Health care was virtually free, and the average Zimbabwean could expect to live to the age of 62.

Today, after years of catastrophic policy decisions by the government of Robert Mugabe, life expectancy has plunged to a grim 37. Hunger is widespread. Three-quarters of the population is dependent on food aid. And the health system has collapsed. People are dying simply because they lack the dollars necessary to be admitted to hospital.

The confessions of a Killer - My story

http://www.zimtelegraph.com/news_article.php?cat=23&id=302

Published: Friday, March 20, 2009

By Edward

I have worked in the Central Inteligency Organisation (CIO) for a long time.
I joined them in 1997 through my late uncle.

My involvement started at a very tender age, I was involved in the murder of
Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika in 2000, I was 19 at that time.
From August 2000-July 2003 I was one of the many operatives based at the
University of Zimbabwe led by David Matsikidze .

When I finished my BA general degree programme I joined them on a full time
basis.

I left the CIO in October 2008 after they killed my wife. My bosses were
complaining that since I got married the previous year I wasn't giving my
work due attention and my wife and five month old daughter died in baffling
inferno circumstances.

I was called from my Guruve assignment only to hear news that my wife and
daughter had perished in a fire caused by in house electric fault.

I'm now living with an Ex-CIO officer in another country surviving as a part
time security guard. I will never return to Zimbabwe again.

Because of my intelligence and academic background I was one of the young
intelligentsia. I killed so many people during the run up to the 2008
elections.

I have committed so many sins and i'm sure one day i will just get rid of my
life before they do.

Even though I was changing two CAM and Mahindra trucks I never had a piece
of mind and I just resorted to beer and dagga all the time. I was always
praised for quick thinking and was part of the Operations think tank.

I was involved in the so called assassination of Perence Shiri. For your
information Perence was never shot.

The motive behind all this was to incriminate the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and pave way for assassination of Mr
Tendai Biti.

As a result Frank Muchirahondo a USAID employee was captured at the border
in Mutare.

An air ticket was forged from Saviour Kasukuwere's travel agency so as to
look as if he wanted to fly from Maputo to Johannesburg since there was
tapped communication that he will travel to Johannesburg .

Perence Shiri was never shot that is why no picture of him or his wounds
have been published or broadcasted on ZBC or the Herald.

If it was true you would have seen everybody including the President at his
bed side. This clearly shows that there was no attempt on General's life.

The whole plot was hatched by Gideon Gono, Jonathan Moyo, Service Chiefs and
disserminated to the operations think tank which I was part of.

Frank was an easy target because he stayed closer to one of our guys who was
well aware that he was working for USAID as a driver.

The initial plan was to assassinate Tendai Biti as he was viewed as a much
more bigger threat than Morgan Tsvangirai. He is the brains behind the MDC.

Our guys had to infiltrate John Snow, International WFP(not easy), Oxfam and
Crowne Agents since they were funded funded by DFID and/or USAID and then
deal with Tendai Biti.

He was supposed to have been eliminated when he returned to Zimbabwe or at
the end of last year when he visited his Rural home. I don't know how the
plan changed since I had left the CIO operations.

When Morgan had that accident I was not surprised. I thought they were in
the same car with Biti. I'm sure the CIO bosses changed and decided to kill
Tsvangirai.

The driver who almost killed Morgan was little known in CIO circles, I first
met Chinoona Mwanda in 2007 when we were in Masvingo.

He was a soft spoken moderate recruit and was infiltrating NGOs in the area.
I remember very well assisting him to apply as a driver with WFP so as to
make our operations easier.

This is the first part of my disclosure. If I'm still alive I will reveal a
lot of issues.

The CIO business is like cancer if it gets into you your soul become
restless.

Many opposition people are going to die with or without the blessings of
Robert Mugabe. Edward Mago - is an adopted name to protect the writer.