http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 30 March 2012 08:47
Faith
Zaba
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and his diehards, mainly drawn from the Zanu
PF
politburo and the Joint Operations Command (JOC), are battling to save
their
election plan now in disarray due to inordinate delays in the
constitution-making process and disputes over implementation of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).
In a bid to keep their strategy on
track, Zanu PF will have an urgent
politburo meeting this coming Wednesday
to take decisive steps on the
constitution-making process, one of the single
biggest stumbling blocks on
Mugabe’s plans for elections later this year,
with or without a new
constitution.
Zanu PF, after several
politburo meetings recently grappling with the issue,
met on Wednesday and
received a progress report on the constitution-making
exercise from its
co-chairman in Copac, Paul Mangwana, who had met with
drafters on Tuesday
over the revised draft. Senior politburo members say the
party’s electoral
plans were now in disarray partly because either Mangwana
has “sold out” or
was “just incompetent”.
Troubled by volatile issues sabotaging
Mugabe’s election agenda, the
politburo on Wednesday tasked party
negotiators, Nicholas Goche and Patrick
Chinamasa,to conclude within “48
hours” — which means up to today —
negotiations over the “parked”
constitutional issues thwarting their moves
towards polls this year.
Zanu
PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo confirmed this to the Zimbabwe Independent
yesterday.
“We want the constitution-making process concluded
now,” he said.“The
politburo is meeting on Wednesday (next week) to decide
once and for all on
the constitution. Chinamasa and Goche were given until
Friday (today) to
clear the parked issues, otherwise we will ask our team to
present the
report on the outreach meeting to the principals. We can come up
with our
own draft constitution based on the report on the outreach
meetings.”
This is all being done with one overriding objective as Gumbo
said:
“Elections are this year - that is what we want.” Zanu PF is up in
arms over
the drafters and draft constitution, charging that the document
contains
issues not raised by the people. They claim the draft has
“subversive
material” and is designed to weaken Mugabe and the state, while
embracing
issues like dual citizenship, anIndependent Prosecuting Authority
and powers
of the Attorney-General, one vice-president and
devolution.
The other issues in dispute include the structure of
government, death
penalty and whether the threshold of victory for a
president should be 50%+1
or a simple majority.
Devolution in particular
is proving to the most contentious issue. The Zanu
PF politburo resolved on
Wednesday not to move an inch on the issue,
creating an explosive situation
as the MDC-T, MDC-N, Zapu and civic groups
are determined to fight Mugabe
and his loyalists over the issue.
Mugabe told the politburo the issue
of devolution was not negotiable,
despite that six out of 10 provinces
supported devolution, according to
Copac.Sources said although some senior
Zanu PF officials want devolution,
Mugabe insisted Zimbabwe was a unitary
state and would not accept
decentralisation.
Zanu PF spokesman
Rugare Gumbo confirmed the politburo discussed devolution
and resolved to
oppose the issue, a move which would ensure the party is
wiped out in some
provinces during the next elections, especially in
Manicaland and
Matabeleland where devolution demands are strong.
“We discussed the
issue and we were very clear in the politburo on
devolution: We are a
unitary state and we can’t have devolution,” Gumbo said
in an interview
yesterday.
However, some Zanu PF officials were furious over the issue. One
senior
official said Mugabe was now undermining the party’s election
strategy by
his rigid and emotional position on devolution.
“The
issue of devolution debate has created problems in the party. Most
senior
officials in Zanu PF want devolution because as a public
administration
principle we have always supported it,” the official said.
“If we raise
emotions over this issue just before elections, we will be
defeated heavily
in provinces like Matabeleland North and South, Bulawayo,
Manicaland,
Midlands and even in Masvingo. Coming during a
constitution-making process
like this, the issue can bury us if we are not
careful.”
JOCbrings together the army, police and intelligence
service chiefs, and
Zanu PF hardliners who were behind the brutal June
presidential election
run-off campaign. They are pushing for elections this
year with or without a
new constitution. JOC’s plans to arrest Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
who is also MDC-T leader, and his
secretary-general TendaiBitiover
allegations of corruption before the
elections have also collapsed, leaving
a trail of confusion in the party,
struggling to put together a coherent
polls strategy.
Prominent
JOC big-guns arethose who are firmly behind Mugabe and who saved
him from
defeat in 2008. They includeDefence minister EmmersonMnangagwa,
Zimbabwe
Defence Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuriamong others.
However,
there is a certain group in Zanu PF, which includes party
negotiators and
MPs, which prefers elections be held next year under a new
constitution as
stipulated in the GPA and in the supplementary election
roadmap done with
the help of Sadc facilitator to Zimbabwe, South African
President Jacob
Zuma.
Mugabe and the hardliners, who prefer a scorched earth policy
in the run-up
to elections, have been on a war path against the GPA and
Zuma. Even though
it was agreed from the beginning that the GPA is the
roadmap to elections,
Mugabe has of late been trashing the agreement,
claiming it was only meant
to stop political violence, not to ensure
reforms, including a new
constitution, before elections.
Mugabe
has also been on the warpath against Zuma, charging “we can reject
Zuma in
broad daylight. We have already told him that”. Zanu PF now even
claims Zuma
is a facilitator in his personal capacity when he is a Sadc
point-man in his
capacity as South African president just as Thabo Mbeki
was. Zanu PF even
now claims the GPA has expired and that elections must be
held under the
current constitution.
But Goche was recently quoted saying elections
must come under a new
constitution.Gumbo added: “The elections would be held
immediately after a
proposed referendum on the Copac draft
constitution.”
There has been a series of politburo meetings
grappling with whether Zanu PF
should abandon the constitution-making
process and call for early elections
under the current constitution, but
divisions and failure of tactics have
thrown the party’s plans into
disorder.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012 17:47
Faith
Zaba
POLITICAL divisions in Zanu PF’s Mashonaland West province are
deepening as
the party’s Hurungwe district coordinating committee (DCC)
pushes for the
nullification of election results for the provincial
vice-chairperson’s
position won by Harare businessman Philip
Chiyangwa.
Hurungwe, one of the largest districts in Mashonaland West
covering five
constituencies, has written to national commissar Webster
Shamu protesting
against Chiyangwa’s election.
Sources in
Mashonaland West told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that
according to a
gentleman’s agreement in the province, top provincial posts
were supposed to
be spread across the six districts. Four of the six
positions went to
Chegutu and Zvimba.
Chairperson John Mafa and secretary-general
Tapera Table are from Chegutu,
while the political commissar, Joseph
Chirongoma and secretary for security
Christopher Shumba are from Zvimba.
Chiyangwa is from Makonde and the
treasurer, John Chakona, is from
Kadoma.
Hurungwe DCC members are arguing the vice-chairperson’s
position should have
remained with them.
“The vice-chairperson’s
position should not have gone to Makonde but should
have remained in
Hurungwe,” one said.
“The top six positions are shared among the six
provinces so that there is a
balance of power in the province. Because this
did not happen, we are going
to write to the national commissar and copy the
letter to the national
chairperson and secretary for administration
protesting against the
elections.“We, the people of Hurungwe, have refused
to accept the results.”
However, sources in the provincial executive
blame Hurungwe for giving away
that post to Makonde because Chiyangwa was
nominated by a Hurungwe DCC
member, Clever Zinyemba, who was elected
secretary for transport and
welfare.
“It’s true that there is a
gentleman’s agreement that the top six provinces
should be spread across the
six districts,” said one provincial executive
member. “But in this case
Hurungwe sold itself out. One of their own,
Zinyemba, stood up at the
meeting and nominated Chiyangwa.”
“Instead of protesting against
Chiyangwa’s election, they should ask
Zinyemba why he chose a person from
Makonde.”
Chiyangwa beat acting chairperson Reuben Marumahoko.
Chiyangwa was cleared
last month to stand for any position in the party
after his suspension in
2004 following espionage allegations on which he was
eventually cleared by
the courts.
Zanu PF secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa wrote to Chiyangwa
advising him of his
re-admission to the party. However, in November last
year President Robert
Mugabe blocked his bid to contest the chairmanship of
Mashonaland West
province.
After spirited efforts by Zanu PF politburo members in
early November to
fast-track his re-admission, Mugabe put his foot
downarguing he should be
re-admitted as an ordinary member of the
party.
During his trial, Chiyangwa’s lawyers argued that allegations
of espionage
against him had failed in the courts.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012 17:42
Wongai
Zhangazha
THE National Constitutional Assembly and labour movements have
snubbed the
MDC-T’s Global Advocacy Campaign (GAC) which the party intends
to launch
with the help of civil society ahead of the next elections.
The
campaign is meant to ensure Zimbabwe has free and fair polls.
Sources
in the civil society said there were also serious divisions among
members of
the Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe over the issue, with some NGOs
such as the
NCA and Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) saying the
party wants
to use them to further its objectives although it refused to
cooperate with
them in the constitution- making exercise.
MDC-T is hoping to form an
alliance with NGOs so as to develop a national,
regional and international
campaign through lobbying and advocacy for free
and fair elections as well
as respect the democratic outcome of the polls.
The campaign intend
to lobby NGOs in the Sadc region, African Union (AU),
United Nations (UN)
and other international organisations to help them push
for electoral
reforms and transitional mechanisms after elections.
However, the
sources said the NCA refused to work with the MDC-T on the
campaign on the
basis that it did not want to be used by the party to do its
“dirty work”
ahead of the referendum and elections.
The NCA believes the MDC-T
undermined civil society groups during the
constitution-making exercise
although they worked together in the 1999 drive
to stop a
government-appointed constitutional commission.
An official in the
NCA said: “As a civic society organisation we remain
guided by our work
which is civic duty and not to act as conduits of
political parties like
what the GAC is modelled. The MDC now wants to use
civic society groups to
do their dirty work ahead of the referendum and
elections but as an
organisation we are guided by the values and ideals of
the people’s
constitution and any processes which are not in line with that
we are not
part of”.
NCA chairperson Lovemore Madhuku (pictured) confirmed his
party would not
work with MDC-T although it had been approached through
third parties.
“Obviously there is no way we can do that thing. We
are still working on a
referendum. The MDC-T did not approach us directly
but through other members
of the civil society. The NCA has always been
distinct, we are an
independent organisation and we can’t be seen doing the
business of
politicians. We can’t be a cover of the MDC-T.”
While
PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said there were attempts by
MDC-T to
woo them into working together again, but they were no longer
interested in
partisan politics.
“As far as we are concerned as PTUZ, we will
resist anyone who will want to
abuse our goodwill or to manipulate and
control us. We will not be an
appendage of anyone,” he
said.
However, MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said his party
would not lose
sleep over the issue.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
17:41
Elias Mambo
WHILE accepting the need for elections when they
are constitutionally due,
most communities countrywide remain gripped by
fear of political violence as
chilling memories of the brutal June 2008
polls still linger in their
traumatised minds.
Since the emergence of the
MDC in 1999 as a strong contender for power on
the Zimbabwean political
landscape, elections have virtually become
synonymous with violence and
murder, although this has always been the case.
According to recent
surveys by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN)
and the Centre for
Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ), most
prospective voters say they
fear the recurrence of violence and intimidation
similar to that before the
June 2008 presidential run-off.
The 2008 election violence, which
raised the spectre of the 1985 vicious
polls, left a trail of destruction of
property, murder and thousands of
internally-displaced persons. The ZESN
report calls for tangible reforms
before the next elections to guarantee
voters’ safety before, during and
after the polls.
ZESN director
Rindai Chipfunde-Vava said political reforms would pave way
for the holding
of free and fair elections. She said if polls were to be
held under the
current environment and conditions, the outcome would be
disputed again,
underlining people’s fear of political violence during
elections.
“People are saying they are scared of the possibility
of a repeat of the
2008 bloodbath and they want guarantees that such an
event will not take
place again,” said Chipfunde-Vava.
“Our
outreach programmes revealed that people do not think there is a
conducive
environment for elections and they are saying nothing has changed
since 2008
to suggest that we can hold peaceful elections. They are scared,”
she
said.
CCDZ coordinator George Makoni said most communities feel that
people and
the country had not yet healed from the ordeal and trauma of the
previous
elections. Makoni said during the CCDZ outreach programmes people
expressed
apprehension about elections because of the horrors of the
past.
“Zimbabweans have expressed fear in the holding of early
elections any time
soon,” said Makoni. “There is a general feeling that
chances of the
elections turning bloody are high, especially in rural areas.
In Chihota,
for example, people felt that early elections would see the
country getting
into another cycle of political violence. They felt that
Zimbabweans have
not yet healed from the 2008 elections trauma,” he
said.
The CCDZ report says the Organ on National Healing and
Reconciliation’s
initiative has not done much to heal the wounds to ensure
amicable
settlements of conflicts and peace among the people. Those surveyed
said
they had not encountered the organ’s staff in their communities
promoting
healing and reconciliation.
The MDC-T shares civil
society observations and concerns that minimum
conditions for credible polls
must be met before the country goes to the
next elections. As a result, the
party has called for reforms before the
next elections.
“The
Zimbabwe electoral environment is heavily skewed in favour of one
political
party, hence systematic violence has been at the epicentre of
unsustainable
and illegitimate elections that we have had in Zimbabwe,” the
MDC-T says in
its proposal for reforms.
“All the elections we have held in this
country (1980, 1985, 1990, 1995,
2000, 2002, 2005 and 2008) have been marred
by electoral violence and
intimidation that has disenfranchised thousands of
Zimbabweans.”
The MDC-T report further points out hundreds of people
were killed and
thousands displaced during the past elections, poisoning the
electoral
environment.
“The MDC will not allow Zimbabweans to
participate in another bloodbath such
as the one witnessed in 2008. To
prevent this, it is fundamentally critical
that major reforms and programmes
are implemented and executed to prevent
intimidation and violence,” the
report says.
It also demands a full audit of the electoral process at
all key stages “as
well as to ensure the timeous announcement of election
results by Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission itself through its chairman or
other commissioners”.
The party wants the automation and
computerisation of the electoral process,
starting with the expected new
voters roll and election results.
The Electoral Act Amendment Bill expected
to usher reforms is still before
parliament. The Global Political Agreement
and the supplementary elections
roadmap provide a clear route and what
should be done before the next
elections, including a new constitution.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012 17:40
Nqobile
Bhebhe
STATE Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo says
government is
struggling to attract investors into the newly-constituted Air
Zimbabwe
(Pvt) Ltd set up to start operations on a clean sheet after the
disbanding
of the struggling national flag carrier.
Air Zimbabwe Holdings
was recently unbundled ending almost 32 years of
volatile service. The
national airline was ruined through mismanagement,
corruption and government
interference, as well as market-related problems.
Moyo said frantic
discussions were being held with potential funders but
nothing tangible had
been achieved. He said once operations resume, the new
airline would start
on a new clean image, unencumbered by the disbanded
airline.
“The
new company would start on a new slate with a clean image,” said Moyo.
“The
obligations of the old company remain with Air Zimbabwe Holdings and
they
shall respond to all queries such as debts and obligations to former
employees. Some of the assets will be sold in order to retire the debt of
the old Air Zimbabwe Holdings.”
Air Zimbabwe, which had old
planes and was left in ruins by government which
has destroyed many other
state enterprises, owes various creditors about
US$140
million.
Two of the company’s aircraft were briefly seized by
creditors last year.
Aviation think-tank, the Centre for Aviation
said in its latest issue that
structural changes within the government
should be effected first to benefit
the country and trickle down to the
airline.
“Before the new carrier can be taken seriously, it needs not
only
independent management, but also structural changes within the
government to
benefit the country and trickle down to the airline,” it
said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
17:36
Tendai Marima
DETAILED breakdowns of top government
officials’ unpaid electricity bills
roughly total a stunning US$2,47 million
as at December 31 2011. According
to media reports, most of the debts are
from farms and estates owned by
President Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace and
close political allies,
including ministers and security service
chiefs.
Mugabe reportedly owes an estimated US$246 000 for power supplied to
his
commercial farms and plots, while the First Lady is apparently US$98 306
in
arrears for power used on her farms.
Apart from Mugabe and his
family, there are many other bigwigs currently not
paying their electricity
bills, plunging the struggling Zesa deeper into
dire
straits.
These include Vice-President John Nkomo, Defence Minister
Emmerson
Mnangagwa, Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Didymus
Mutasa, State
Security minister Sydney Sekeramayi, Transport minister
Nicholas Goche,
Information minister Webster Shamu, Indigenisation minister
Saviour
Kasukuwere and Higher Education minister Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwe
Defence
Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Air Force of Zimbabwe
Commander Air Marshal Perence Shiri, Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri and Central Intelligence Organisation Director-General Happyton
Bonyongwe as well as presidential spokesman George Charamba, among many
others.
In a bid to limit the damage, Zesa released a statement
on March 16,
denying the first family was US$345 000 in arrears. But a day
after the
implausible denial, more names of defaulting government officials
leaked.
Despite Zesa’s failed damage-control exercise, these new revelations
and
ministers’ verbal acknowledgement of existing arrears put Mugabe and his
family back in the spotlight as possible defaulters.
While the
defaulters are ruining Zesa, there is also a serious human cost to
politicians’ abuse of power and state resources that goes beyond US$2,47
million and points to a chronic incapacity to govern.
Around the
country, under-funded government hospitals and clinics are
struggling to
meet critical patient needs without power because of
load-shedding and yet
the nation’s political elites run up huge bills with
impunity.
Chikurubi Maximum Security prison struggles to cater
for its 13 000 inmates
because of inadequate water and electricity supplies.
The elites’ US$2,47
million debt could easily pay for alternative power
supplies to jails or
hospitals, but instead the alleged defaulters moan
about how their privacy
has been invaded.
Zanu’s Secretary for
Women Affairs Oppah Muchinguri who has US$53 699
outstanding, believed there
were “ulterior motives because the publishing
now makes it look like we are
criminal”, while Kasukuwere inadvertently
admitted his US$100 602 bill goes
back to the Zimbabwe dollar days when he
said, “I am not sure the figures
are right. Remember there was dollarisation
in 2009.”
This
implies that he had not been paying his Zesa bills even before
dollarisation. If part of Kasukuwere’s bill is more than three years old,
Zesa needs to explain why he had been allowed to get away with it for so
long. Zesa is owed at least US$450 million, primarily by government
departments and industrial consumers like commercial farmers, factory and
mining companies, but cannot pay Mozambique’s Hydro Cahora Bassa $80 million
to import electricity.
As if to show just how little Zesa’s
managers care about the company’s
survival and the nation’s power needs, its
executives have just been awarded
an outrageous 75% increase dating back to
2009. Somehow, the parastatal’s
top brass does not seem to understand the
basic rules of business management
and public service delivery: When an
organisation is drowning in debt and
its foreign creditors switch off its
supply, it means there is no money.
No money to pay suppliers, no
money to carry huge arrears incurred by
government officials who ought to
know better and certainly no money to pay
huge salary hikes and perks for
Zesa’s under-performing executives. Just as
ordinary Zimbabweans have
tightened their belts and endured Zesa’s
intermittent supply, this country’s
leaders and managers of state
enterprises need to do the same.
If
the commercial farmers in government cannot afford the operational costs
of
farming, perhaps it is time they got out of the business.
These top
government officials are not just failing to utilise the land and
produce to
feed the nation and make profit for themselves, but are also now
failing to
pay electricity bills –– an indication of what has happened to
those
farms.
Now the country is facing a severe maize shortage mainly
because of erratic
rainfalls, insufficient land cultivated for 2011/12’s
season and GMB’s
mismanagement of fertiliser supplies.
The real
cost of ministers raking in farming profits while operating costs
are paid
for by the average consumer and the taxpayer is yet to be told.
This is the
price Zimbabwe is paying for mismanagement, corruption and
incompetence by
government officials. While Mugabe perfects the art of
bashing the West,
Britain and Australia are donating US$25 million to
Zimbabwe’s
infrastructure rehabilitation programme. Named the Zim-Fund and
chiefly
funded by the UK’s Department of International Development, the
money will
go towards helping to provide electricity and water to 700 000
households in
Harare, Ruwa and Chitungwiza. Evidently, Zimbabwe relies on
British aid for
development despite claims to the contrary by the
government.
If
the land reform and proposed indigenisation policies are to prove to the
world that Zimbabwe is a stable and self-sufficient country, then we should
not ruin our own power utility to end up relying on DRC, Mozambique, Namibia
and South Africa to provide electricity because that defeats that
objective.
Towards the end of last year, South Africa’s President
Jacob Zuma signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with his DRC counterpart
Joseph Kabila to
undertake an US$80 billion electricity project on the Grand
Inga Dam but we
were not involved even if we fought in the 1998-2002 Congo
War, showing lack
of vision by our leaders.
Although
environmentally controversial, if successful the proposed plan
could supply
a third of Africa’s power needs. A whole continent could
benefit, Zimbabwe
included, but instead the country’s leaders are just
running up huge Zesa
bills and destroying the state enterprise and its
capacity to generate
enough power supply for the nation.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
17:17
Wongai Zhangazha
THE mere sight of a policeman usually
instills anxiety and fear, as well as
resentment, among ordinary law-abiding
Zimbabweans whose past experiences
with law enforcement agents have been
less than pleasant.
One can never predict the outcome of an encounter with
Zimbabwean policemen,
be it at roadblocks, walking in the street or even in
the comfort of your
own home.
Innocent people have been beaten
up, threatened, in some cases forced to pay
“protection fees” or killed by
rogue cops.
Even Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been a victim
of law enforcement
brutality inside a police station.
While
corruption and human rights abuses by police have been of major
concern
during the past decades, the public focus has largely been on
brutality by
the partisan law enforcement agents, especially during election
periods.
Cases of police brutality are well-documented but what
is worrying is not
just the extent of their abuses but that nothing much has
been done to hold
perpetrators to account and stop the
trend.
Just when everyone thought the police under the inclusive
government may be
about to change their ways, another violent incident
occurs, clearly
demonstrating that the police force under the leadership of
Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has gone to the
dogs.
In a chilling incident, police officers recently killed a
Shamva mine
worker, Luxmore Chivambo, and injured several others over a
wallet.
Aspias Shumba, a 48-year-old inspector who led the brutality
against
Chivambo over the theft of his wife’s purse, reportedly did not show
any
emotion as he was charged with murder in court this week. His behaviour
was
symbolic of police arrogance and insensitivity.
Their case
had to be moved from Bindura to Harare after people showed
outrage at their
fatal brutality.
Given the viciousness with which the police dealt
with MDC-T activists and
others accused of killing a police officer,
Inspector Petros Mutedza, in May
last year, people are closely watching how
the Chivambo case will be
handled.
Analysts say the Shamva
incident highlighted rising police brutality,
lawlessness and lack of
respect for life by law enforcement agents who now
tend to think they are
above the law.
They say police had always used brute force in dealing
with civilians,
including peaceful demonstrations and protests, instead of
civilised methods
of policing.
Police, who otherwise are
sometimes commended by citizens for keeping crime
levels under control, have
in the process gained notoriety for being
partisan and brutal, especially
when dealing with political cases.
Political commentator Blessing
Vava said the security sector was a law unto
itself and was contributing to
the breakdown of the rule of law through
partisan brutality and
impunity.
“The police have become a law unto themselves and are thus
failing their
basic duties of maintaining law and order in a professional
and civilised
and also protecting citizens. They have become the biggest
culprits in
perpetrating violence and abuse of citizens,” said
Vava.
“Police have been given too much power to the extent that they
can get away
with murder –– literally. It’s mainly because the police top
brass are
partisan and have publicly sworn allegiance to a political party,
Zanu PF.
So all their actions are now being executed on a partisan basis and
reflect
the attitude of their political masters towards
citizens.”
Vava said the security establishment, including the
police, has always been
brutal and violated human rights with impunity since
the Gukurahundi era.
During the 1998 food riots, at least 10 people were
killed by security
forces which included the police, but no one was held
accountable for those
murders.
Even though people have from time
to time won damages in the courts for
abuse by police, court orders are
often ignored, showing authorities’
contempt for the rule of
law.
During the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, in 2000, 13 fans died and
dozens were
injured at National Sports Stadium during a match between
Zimbabwe and South
Africa after police fired teargas into the crowd
following the anarchy that
was caused by Bafana Bafana’s 2-0
victory.
The police –– apparently angered by fans’ waving of the open
palms symbol
synonymous with the MDC which had almost defeated Zanu PF at
the general
elections that year –– were widely blamed for causing the deaths
and
injuries of innocent fans. There have also been many incidents where the
police’s actions fuelled violence at football matches.
In
Chiadzwa, several cases of police and army brutality have been reported
by
villagers and documented by human rights activists, even though
government
continues to deny them.
Social commentator Maxwell Saungweme said
what happened in Shamva was just a
tip of the iceberg on how Zimbabwe’s
security services operate.
He said since 1980, Zimbabwe has experienced
systematic police brutality and
serious human rights violations including
harassment, assaults, torture,
enforced disappearances and murder with
impunity at the hands of security
forces.
Saungweme said the true
story of police brutality in Zimabbwe is yet to be
fully
told.
“This Shamva incident is just one among many cases in which
Zimbabwe’s
police have become a rogue force which perpetrates human rights
violations
with impunity, instead of protecting citizens,” said
Saungweme.
However, he said it was encouraging police had arrested
the officers accused
and hoped justice would prevail. He also said there was
need to deal with
previous police abuses to restore confidence in law
enforcement agencies.
“There is need to open up all these cases and
ensure full investigations are
done and suspects are arrested. Opening up
investigations on many of the
cases of police brutality against innocent
citizens, opposition political
parties and NGOs will be a key step in moving
towards security sector
reforms and dealing with impunity,” he
said.
“Without this, we will continue to have these cases of police
officers
taking the law into their own hands, more so during elections.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 30 March 2012 11:32
Elias Mambo
MDC-T
mayors and councillors have slammed Local Government minister Ignatius
Chombo for disrupting their operations and sabotaging their work in a
partisan bid to discredit their party ahead of elections.
Harare town
clerk Tendai Mahachi said Chombo vetoed the council’s plans to
hire
additional workers to improve the city’s service delivery, citing a
depleted
budget.
“Our letter in which we requested to employ 280 labourers to
boost our
workforce and speed up service delivery was turned down and the
minister
advised us to use the personnel that we currently have, which is
far from
being enough,” said Mahachi.
However, Chombo, widely
accused of trying to displace MDC parties’ councils
in retaliation for Zanu
PF’s defeat at the polls and abusing power for
self-enrichment, said he was
cracking down on municipalities because they
were failing to perform. “Our
urban councils have failed to perform and as
the responsible minister, I am
demanding explanations,” he said.
Urban Councils Association
president and Masvingo mayor Fermius Chakabuda
said they had serious
problems with Chombo’s unchecked powers.
“We feel the legislation that calls
for the minister to oversee day-to-day
running of our affairs is misplaced,”
said Chakabuda.“We cannot ask the
minister if we want to employ casuals. We
have the capacity and funds to do
so but the minister is always turning down
such requests.”
Suspended Mutare mayor Brian James said Chombo was
negatively interfering
with their operations.
“I had requested to
hire external auditors to look at our books and this did
not go down well
with him. It is an issue of transparency within the local
authorities. I
want to be transparent; the minister goes on to suspend me.
How are we
supposed to work then?” he asked.
Kadoma mayor Peter Matambo voiced
grave concerns, saying service delivery
was being derailed by bureaucracy
within Chombo’s ministry.
“I do not want to rule out sabotage given
our different political
affiliations. Development has been delayed as a
result of these clashes,” he
said.
Kwekwe mayor Shadreck Tobaiwa said
Chombo was abusing his excessive powers.
“This is unacceptable; he
wants us to lose the next elections by creating a
false impression that we
are failing to deliver. I have informed our MP
Settlement Chikwinya to
intervene. It’s clear sabotage,” he said.
Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo
said his council had nothing to fear and was ready
to challenge any
interference and interventions not in the interests of the
city’s
residents.
“As long as decisions show that they have people’s
interests at heart, we do
not have a problem, but if we see that the move is
meant to derail progress
then we stand up and fight,” said
Moyo.
Gwanda mayor Lionel De Necker of the Welshman Ncube-led MDC
complained about
polarisation and meddling by the
minister.
“Disruption is from all corners; from the minister and some
employees who
are loyal to Zanu PF. These people take orders from outside
resulting in a
direct confrontation and councils are heading for disaster if
this trend is
not abated,” he said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 30 March 2012 11:28
Owen
Gagare
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Lands,
Water,
Irrigation and Resettlement has summoned Grain Marketing Board
managers to
shed light on the looting of inputs by ministers and other
high-profile
individuals.
The committee is investigating the extensive
looting of inputs, especially
fertiliser, and believes GMB managers are
withholding vital information to
thwart its probe.
The committee
initially last month asked GMB to provide details of how
inputs for the
2011/12 agricultural season were distributed but believes the
parastatal
sent scanty details to shield ministers and top officials
implicated in the
scandal.
Investigations into the scandal were instituted following
widespread
complaints that ministers, senior government officials, MPs and
service
chiefs, among others, had looted inputs, leaving ordinary resettled
farmers
with nothing. Although the GMB had given the portfolio committee a
list of
beneficiaries of the heavily subsidised inputs, the portfolio
committee was
not satisfied with the details because information from some
depots was
missing following allegations that most chefs acquired inputs
from Aspindale
depot in Harare.
Committee chairman and Chikomba
MP Moses Jiri confirmed that legislators
were unhappy with information they
had so far been furnished with by GMB.
“They gave us reports but we failed to
get adequate information and in some
instances there appear to be
inaccuracies,” said Jiri. “They did not avail
some information from some
provinces and depots such as Aspindale where we
are told some people got
huge amounts of inputs. We want them to explain why
they did not give us all
the information,” he said.
The committee was given a list of
beneficiaries from January 2 2012 and does
not have information about those
who acquired inputs from December 28 last
year when the Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development ministry
gave the GMB a directive
to distribute inputs.
A member of the committee said information from
Aspindale was critical
because some individuals were said to have taken huge
amounts of inputs at
the depot before collecting more from other
depots.
Details from some depots in Manicaland, Mashonaland East and
Harare were not
available. GMB spokesperson Muriel Zemura said she was not
aware that her
bosses had been summoned.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 30 March 2012 11:10
Nqobile Bhebhe
A
VISITING South African business delegation says it is not discouraged by
the
country’s political risk and will not stop doing business in Zimbabwe as
it
remains a major market in the region.
The delegation, which comprised players
from the infrastructure, medical,
information and communications technology,
manufacturing, agro-processing
and mining industries, held a one-day
investment seminar for Zimbabwe and
South African firms in Bulawayo
yesterday.
Leader of the delegation and South African deputy Industry
and Trade
minister Elizabeth Thabethe said there was a great need to amplify
the
economic relations between the two countries and it was the
responsibility
of the governments to create the enabling environment for
business.
Thabethe, who did not talk about government’s recent
effective expropriation
of South Africa-owned platinum giant Zimplats, under
the controversial
indigenisation campaign, told the seminar South Africa,
the continent’s
biggest economy by far, was one of the most sophisticated
and lucrative
markets in the world and encouraged Zimbabwean businesses to
tap into
existing investment opportunities.
“Since 2009, Zimbabwe
has had positive growth rates above 5% per annum,
reaching 5,9 % in 2010.
Investment in the development of infrastructure in
Zimbabwe will have a high
rate of return as this will lead to an increase in
demand for manufactured
and capital equipment,” said Thabethe.
She said since 2003, South
African companies had undertaken 12 investment
projects in Zimbabwe
totalling R10,87 billion, creating more than 2 000 jobs
in the metals,
minerals, tourism and financial services sectors.
A representative of
BMZ Import and Export Agencies, said they were scouting
for local agencies
to expand their business.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 30 March 2012 11:04
Owen
Gagare
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has directed Industry and Commerce
minister Welshman
Ncube and his Mines ministry counterpart Obert Mpofu to
find a speedy
resolution of problems bedevilling the US$750 million Essar
Africa Holdings
deal aimed at reviving the defunct steelmaking giant
Ziscosteel in the wake
of the Indian firm’s threat to pull-out.
Essar has
not started operations at Ziscosteel and has in recent weeks
threatened to
withdraw from the deal in protest over the government’s
failure to guarantee
adequate iron ore supplies, which are critical in the
production of
steel.
So concerned was Mugabe about Essar’s threats to pull out that
he left
cabinet in session on Tuesday this week to attend to the problem
with Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Ncube. Mugabe and Tsvangirai
directed Ncube
and Mpofu to urgently come up with a lasting solution to
problems dogging
the deal.
The deal, which was sealed in March
last year, resulted in Essar acquiring
60% of Ziscosteel and setting up a
new company, NewZim Steel Ltd, to take
over operations. Essar also acquired
80% of iron ore mining unit Buchwa Iron
Mining Company (Bimco) and formed
NewZim Minerals Ltd. Bimco held the rights
to iron ore claims for feedstock
into Ziscosteel operations.
Essar wants to exploit iron ore claims at
Mwanezi ranch in Chivhu but the
Mines ministry has blocked the move on the
grounds that it needs time to
verify the claims and establish the value of
the minerals in the area.
Some government officials have raised
concerns that Essar’s 80% stake in
Bimco would give it a monopoly on iron
ore reserves resulting in the country
facing challenges should it want to
involve more players in steel-making in
the future.
Ncube
confirmed the meeting with Mugabe and said follow-up negotiations were
held
between officials from his ministry, the Mines ministry, Essar,
Ziscosteel
and Bimco on Wednesday. As a result a committee was established
to come up
with recommendations to resolve the impasse to prevent Essar from
pulling
out of the money-spinning deal.
“Hopefully by next week they would
have come up with a solution which
protects both the government and Essar’s
interests,” said Ncube. “Their
recommendations should, however, be ready by
April 13 when the ministers
(Mpofu and Ncube himself) will meet over the
issue,” he said.
Ncube said it was unfortunate that while cabinet had
approved the deal, it
had still not solved the sticking points a year down
the line although Essar
had shown its commitment by spending about US$30
million on salaries with no
production taking place.
Ncube said
the Mines ministry had agreed to transfer Buchwa and Ripple Creek
iron ore
claims, which separately have 15 million tonnes and 30 million
tonnes of
iron ore deposits, respectively, to Essar but this did not meet
the giant
Indian steel-maker’s requirements.
“The problem at Buchwa is that the
15 million tonnes are now so deep that
they’re not capable of being mined
unless new technology is introduced. By
the time Ziscosteel stopped
operating, Bimco had already stopped mining
there (at Buchwa),” said
Ncube.
“Ripple Creek in Kwekwe has about 30 million tonnes, but at
the level of
mining which Essar wants to undertake, the iron ore will be
exhausted in
five years. Essar is saying by that time they would not have
recouped their
investment and there is therefore no reason for them to
invest where they
will run out of raw materials before they get returns,” he
said.
Essar wants iron ore claims in Mwanezi ranch in Chivu that a
former
Ziscosteel employee, Roderick Mumbire, claims to own through a
company
called Bearable Prospects (Pvt) Ltd in which he is the sole
shareholder. The
government has challenged Mumbire’s claims in court,
leaving the disputed
concessions effectively encumbered. Mumbire however
insists the claims
belong to him.
The government had previously
issued a special grant to Bimco which saw the
registration of some claims
that were not being mined. Ncube said the
problem was that the ministry of
mines did not renew the special grant when
it lapsed, resulting in Mumbire
pegging and registering the claims through
his company and hence the court
battle.
The delay has also resulted in Essar shelving plans to import
material and
equipment from countries such as China and Germany to exploit
the iron ore
as well as refurbish blast furnaces used by
Ziscosteel.
Ncube said despite the hiccups, Essar was still committed
to the deal and
had recently acquired new offices in Harare.
The
Essar deal also saw the rehiring of about 3 700 Ziscosteel and Bimco
workers
who had lost their jobs when the former steel-making company
collapsed in
2008 after struggling to remain operational for years.
The permanent
secretary of Mines Prince Mupazviriho said this week that
technical teams
were working towards finding a solution to the impasse
jeopardising the
deal.
Essar has pledged to restore Ziscosteel to its production
capacity of 1,2
million tonnes of steel a year within 18 months of
operations.
Ziscosteel was one of the most critical state enterprises
in the country and
its demise has been directly linked to the collapse of
several industries in
Bulawayo that depended on it and the link between its
activities and Hwange
Colliery and the National Railways of Zimbabwe
headquartered in the second
city.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 30 March 2012 08:56
Chris
Muronzi
GOVERNMENT will not pay for the 51% shares it is forcing mining
companies to
surrender to locals under the controversial indigenisation
programme, a move
analysts say is tantamount to expropriation or
nationalisation.
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment minister
Kasukuwere told the
Zimbabwe Independent government was currently working
on means of ensuring
that the state does not, for instance, pay for equity
in platinum mines it
has targeted for indigenisation such as Zimplats and
Mimosa, despite
initially promising that there would be an exchange of cash
for shares.
Implats is expecting an average of US$500 million for its 87%
equity in
Zimplats.
“We will not pay for the resources,” said
Kasukuwere. “This will apply to
all companies and is not just confined to
platinum mines. We are converting
mineral resources in the ground in
exchange for equity in mines. Where we
are going to have shareholding, we
are not going to pay,” he said.
Kasukuwere’s remarks come shortly
after government sealed a deal with
Implats to buy a 51% stake in Zimplats
recently. Well-placed government
sources said this week government was
already in the process of doing a due
diligence exercise into Zimplats to
determine the value of the mine.
This, the sources said, would help
government when it quantifies the
platinum resources in the ground at
Zimplats. While government has virtually
concluded its take-over of
Zimplats, other platinum mines operating in
Zimbabwe, Mimosa and Unki, are
also under pressure to accept a Zimplats
expropriation model whereby a 31%
stake would be housed under or sold to
the bankrupt National Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment Fund (NIEEF),
10%ceded to a community trust and
another 10% to workers through an employee
share option
scheme.
Critics fear the government will run down the mines in much
the same way its
parastatal, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
(ZMDC), presided
over the demise of mines under its ambit such as Mhangura
Copper Mines and
Kamativi (tin) Mines. ZMDC was only resuscitated after the
discovery of
diamonds at Chiadzwa in Marange.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
16:37
By Linda Tsarwe
IN global economics, African countries are
well-known for their natural
resources, more of which are still being
discovered. Recently, Kenya
discovered oil, while a couple of months ago
there were reports that gas
deposits had been found in Mozambique.
Therefore it is quite logical to
expect Africa to be one of the richest
continents in the world.
Surprisingly, this is not so.
For one reason or
another, Africans are among the most impoverished people
in the world, with
the continent battered by drought, civil wars, famine and
disease. Also,
despite the rich resources that are embedded in the
continent, the bulk of
African countries have huge external debts owed to
multilateral institutions
such as the World Bank and IMF. In 1996, these two
institutions launched
what they called the ‘Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC)’ initiative
whose purpose was to ensure that poor countries are not
burdened by debts
they cannot manage. There are about 34 countries in sub
Saharan-Africa that
have been identified as qualifying for the initiative
due to their high debt
overhang. Zimbabwe is one such African country.
Our external debt
currently stands at US$9,1billion, which translates into
about 90% of
estimated GDP for 2011. Clearly, Zimbabwe should qualify for
the HIPC
initiative which can offer full debt relief upon satisfaction of
all
conditions. Government, however, argues that the country can generate
enough
revenue from its own resources and therefore cannot be called
poor.
Be that as it may, for a country in recovery mode like
ours, there is need
for intensive Foreign Direct Investment to enable the
exploitation of the
country’s resources to be more widely undertaken.
Cheaper funding from the
multilateral institutions is required but cannot
however be accessed with
such a huge debt overhang.
Without going
the HIPC initiative route, the Ministry of Finance came up
with a ‘Zimbabwe
Accelerated Arrears Clearance Debt and Development Strategy
(ZAADDS).
Seemingly, this is a more palatable strategy to members of
government as it
does not involve declaring the country ‘poor’.
The main thrust of
the strategy is to re-engage the international financial
institutions and
also re-initiate the local economic programme. On the
local front, it is
necessary that government establishes a good track record
of implementing
economic policies, a sustainable public sector wage bill and
securing strong
support from development partners
Of most importance is re-engagement
with the International Financial
Institutions (IFIs). These include the IMF,
World Bank, African Development
Bank (AfDB), European Investment Bank and
both the Paris and the non-Paris
Club creditors. However, before Zimbabwe
can be re-engaged by these IFIs it
should clear all its arrears first.
Government acknowledged that it does not
have the capacity to pay off the
IMF, with which it has outstanding arrears
amounting to US$140million. The
country will therefore require a
concessional bridging loan or a grant to
settle the arrears.
Likewise with the World Bank, the country
will require assistance from
development partners to clear arrears. The
country owes US$807 million to
the World Bank. Further, the government is
considering approaching the AfDB,
which it owes US$510million in arrears, to
finance this indebtedness under
the Fragile State Facility (FSF). This
facility requires Zimbabwe to clear
up to a third of its arrears while the
rest will be provided through the
FSF. Zimbabwe also qualifies for arrears
clearance support from the AfDB and
hence is also considering further
dialogue. The clearance of arrears is also
a requisite by the other creditor
international institutions, before any
funding can be
extended.
We applaud government for taking a big step to deal with
the issue of debt
payment. Usually non-payment of debt or a lack of effort
to try to do so,
even in the most difficult circumstances, is viewed as a
sign of
intransigence. Efforts to try and clear arrears will go a long way
towards
unlocking funding avenues that have been closed.
Most
of these institutions, however, require stable and sound economic
policies
to be put in place before they agree to some sort of debt clearance
programme. This will at least assure them that there is a good chance that
arrears can be cleared. Although it is debatable, government is confident
that it has passed this milestone through implementation of policies such as
the Short Term Economic Recovery Programme (Sterp) I and Sterp II and the
Medium Term Plan (MTP).
What matters, however, is whether
these policies will convince creditors or
not. One reason why they might not
is the differences between what is on
paper and what is on the ground.
Reforms such as privatisation of state
enterprises, as mentioned in the MTP,
remain mere writings with no single
case to point to since it was
announced.
Another issue is the strategy plans to use concessional
borrowing to settle
debt arrears. Firstly, the success of the plan is
already dependent on some
third party. Failure to access these concessional
bridging loans or grants
to repay arrears will therefore mean that this
policy will turn out to be
like the others; writings on paper with no
tangible results.
Furthermore, the whole concept of borrowing to
repay another debt seems
unhealthy. There is no clear way on how it makes
the country better off when
it is being plunged into debt to settle another
outstanding position. Also,
there is no guarantee that the development
partners will provide the
requisite funding. If they do, it does not
automatically mean the country
will qualify for funding from the
international financial institutions.
It is merely a head-start.
Should Zimbabwe fail to satisfy the other
qualitative conditions, it might
just be a country with no arrears and no
funding either. Hence the country
really needs to work on its own economics.
What Zimbabwe needs is a
significant inflow of FDI. There exists vast
opportunities that many
investors would want to exploit but they cannot risk
putting their money
where they may be bound to lose it. Between 2000 and
2009 FDI averaged a
mere 1.1% of GDP against 18% and 20% achieved in the
1980s and the
1990s.
Investor friendly policies should therefore be put in
place to necessitate
this capital inflow. In addition, accountability of the
revenue we generate
from resources such as diamonds, gold and platinum
should be enhanced to
avoid leakages and curtail corruption. This will
improve revenue streams to
treasury coffers and only then can the country
start repaying its arrears
from its own funds.
It would not be
too far from reason to conclude that applying for HIPC would
have been a
more realistic bet than ZAADDS. HIPC initially provides partial
debt relief
and if the country successfully completes the process, it can be
eligible
for total debt relief. This avoids factors such as concessional
borrowing
and ensures the country focuses on working on its own economic
issues. For
one reason or the other, the government is against this and
therefore the
ZAADDS is the chosen route.
There is need to work on our economic
policies to ensure they meet with the
required standards. Some policies have
caused a lot of noise among the
international community, and if we need to
engage the very same people, then
a review of those policies might be
necessary. A follow up of previous
blueprints such as STERP and MTP would
also be called for to ensure these
policies do not just amount to a lot of
paper, but can also be expected to
bear fruit.
It is the hope of
many that the ministry will be able to pull this one off,
although it seems
a daunting task. Only when we have reduced our external
debt, can we start
talking of significant economic growth going forward.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012 15:47
Happiness
Zengeni
OF the many observations made on what was essential to Zimbabwe’s
economic
growth during the Euromoney Zimbabwe Investment Conference last
week, the
issue of sound infrastructure was identified as being
critical.
The economy will not experience growth without infrastructure
development,
and this point was particularly driven home by Essar Global
resident
director Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Firdhose Coovadia, who
estimated
that Zimbabwe needed five to seven more years before its economy
could
experience real growth.
Coovadia advocated for Zimbabwe to
seriously look into infrastructural
development, holding the view that once
the country develops this, it would
be on its way to real
growth.
“The game changer is infrastructure development; from the
road to the
railway network, and to do that government has to pursue Private
Public
Partnerships (PPPs),” Coovadia suggested.
He cited how in
his opinion Hwange Colliery Company would not make a profit
exporting coal
and compete against the cheaper Mozambican product,
especially given that
Zimbabwe’s railway system was inefficient and in need
of
re-capitalisation.
Hwange has said it will export 40 000 tonnes of
coking coal to India this
year, realising some US$4 million. The company has
secured port space in
Maputo through a short term contract with a South
African company, Grinrod.
By definition, infrastructure refers to
basic physical and organisational
structures needed for the operation of a
society or enterprise, or the
services and facilities necessary for an
economy to function. It can also be
generally defined as the set of
interconnected structural elements that
provide a framework supporting an
entire structure of development.
Typically, infrastructure includes
roads, water supply, sewers, electrical
grids, telecommunications, and so
forth. These are some of “the physical
components of interrelated systems
providing commodities and services
essential to enable, sustain, or enhance
societal living conditions.” As
such it is an important indicator for
judging a country’s or region’s
development.
This is because
infrastructure facilitates the production of goods and
services, and
distribution of the same to markets. Infrastructure also
consists of basic
social services such as schools and hospitals.
Government has
identified infrastructure development as one of the country’s
top 10
national priority areas. The country will need almost US$2 billion of
investment per year over the next decade. According to the Finance ministry,
improved infrastructure could boost the annual growth of Zimbabwe by about
2,4 percentage points annually.
The Ministry of Finance is now
making concerted efforts to promote national
infrastructure programmes, with
treasury recently releasing a part of the
Special Drawing Rights funds
towards water and electricity. Finance
minister Tendai Biti has said
Zimbabwe is in danger of missing out on its
growth actualisation and may
fail to attain the United Nations’ (UN)
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
if its infrastructure project
implementation remains low.
Nevertheless,
government is moving ahead to systematically involve the
private sector in
the development, operation and maintenance of
infrastructure. Despite these
efforts, the infrastructure deficit remains
huge, given the slow and uneven
pace. While policy and regulatory reforms at
the country level are on track,
low implementation of infrastructure
projects remains a constraint to growth
and to attaining the UN MDGs.
The World Bank has estimated that if
sub-Saharan Africa’s low-income
countries had an infrastructure base
equivalent to that of a medium income
country such as South Korea, average
per capita growth would be higher by
2,6 percentage points per year. Higher
transportation, water, and power
costs in Africa’s low-income countries are
estimated to dampen private
sector productivity by almost half — much the
same as crime, corruption, and
limited financial market access
combined.
According to the international Monetary Fund, investing in
infrastructure is
expensive. The estimated cost of bringing sub-Saharan
Africa’s low-income
countries’ infrastructure up to the level of other
low-income countries and
maintaining it ranges from 10-30% of current GDP.
However, projected
official development assistance, a traditional source of
budget finance in
Africa, while remaining an important source of financing,
is unlikely to be
sufficient to support maintaining higher public investment
levels.
The power sector is lagging behind in terms of generation
capacity. Given
growth in electricity consumption, security of its supply in
Zimbabwe is in
urgent need of expansion. To this effect, expansion works at
Kariba hydro
and Hwange thermal need to be expedited. The IMF estimates that
power
deficits in the whole of Africa are holding back the continent’s
per-capita
growth by two percentage points each year.
In terms of roads,
Zimbabwe requires about US$500 million-US$700 million for
the
Beitbridge-Chirundu highway, according to the Development Bank of
Southern
Africa
DBSA vice president Admassu Tadesse told the Euromoney
Zimbabwe Investment
Conference his bank had shown interest in playing a
leading role in
financing the project together with other potential
partners.
The deal on DBSA’s portion of financing this project had
not been finalised
but Tadesse expected it to be concluded in the fourth
quarter of this year.
“We have made a commitment to this project, but more
importantly, the three
countries involved, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe
had also shown
commitment,” Tadesse told the conference.
DBSA had
already put in US$1 million in technical assistance to assess how
bankable
the project was. The highway will form part of the North-South
Corridor.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe stressed the need for
Zimbabwe to take
advantage of its location in the region. Tadesse encouraged
the use of PPPs,
pointing out that South Africa has the biggest road network
in the region
through such arrangements.
DBSA was also involved in the
Plumtree-Mutare highway, where it provided
funding of US$206 million. From
Plumtree, the 800km road covers Bulawayo,
Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma, Harare and
Rusape up to Mutare.
Zimbabwe National Roads Authority has a 70%
shareholding in the joint
venture, while Group Five International, a company
that has constructed
major highways and airports in South Africa, has 30%.
In terms of project
portfolio, DBSA’s projects portfolio in Zimbabwe
includes the Emergency
Power Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project and a
water supply
rehabilitation programme.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
17:13
IT is fascinating to behold the way in which Zanu PF is attempting
to block
the draft constitution on the grounds that it contains “subversive
material
that will weaken the state of Zimbabwe and reverse empowerment
programmes”.
The party envisages taking advantage of the second
All-Stakeholders
Conference to say “we didn’t say that,” according to the
Sunday Mail. In
particular they believe the Copac document contains the
hidden hand of
secessionism and that the way is open for commercial farmers
to reclaim
their properties seized under the land reform
programme.
There is clearly worry in Zanu PF circles about clauses
that breach official
secrets and security by barring the state from
regulating the media. The
document enshrines freedom of
expression.
“The state shall not exercise control over or interfere
with anyone engaged
in broadcasting, the production or circulation of any
publication or the
dissemination of information by any medium, or penalise
anyone for any
opinion or view or the content of any broadcast, publication
or
dissemination,” the draft says.
If the draft is passed the
state would be compelled to promote public
awareness of the constitution,
something that would empower NGOs, hardliners
feel.
There is also
opposition to clauses which are “tailor-made” to disperse
presidential
powers by empowering parliament to invariably approve the
appointment of
senior government officials as well as security service
organs. “Political
analysts” are quoted as criticising the architects of the
draft for
attempting to weaken the state. Further, these same analysts are
uncomfortable with provisions that require the government to incorporate
international conventions and treaties into national law. Foreign
journalists would enjoy the same legal protection as local
journalists.
‘There is an attack on the
state by declaring that all information should be
available to journalists,”
the analysts lament. “There is no delimitation.
One gets protection
regardless by just stepping on to Zimbabwean soil.”
It is useful to
have this on the record. Zanu PF clearly objects to a
liberal constitution
that extends basic freedoms to the people. Zimbabwe
will not look like South
Africa which adopted an inclusivist, law-based
constitution in 1996. It
will, if they get their way, resemble the
reactionary viewpoints of years
gone by such as Amendment 7 which created
the imperial presidency. There
will be nothing enlightened or progressive
about it. Zanu PF is even opposed
to the promotion of the constitution if it
is approved by
voters.
So what is the point of the exercise if Zanu PF is hanging on
to the
standpoints that the nation wants to ditch? Zimbabwe’s citizens will
be less
free than before. The arrest of Munyaradzi Gwisai illustrates this
point.
At the end of the outreach programme last year, they were
congratulating
themselves for having coached their followers to say things
like
“journalists who criticise the president should be hanged” and “only
newspapers belonging to the government should be allowed to publish”. There
was no understanding that a constitution should be an enlightened document
that extendsfreedom to all.
“Dirty hands in refined draft,” the
Sunday Mail headed its article last
weekend. So here is a “public” media
that tells its readers that
constitutional reform is a bad thing on the
spurious grounds that it doesn’t
accommodate Zanu PF’s childish mantras on
sovereignty.
On a lighter note, we were
amused by Tafataona Mahoso’s complaint in his
African Focus column that he
couldn’t find a single book in Kingstons on
sanctions. There were dozens of
books from the Commonwealth and World Bank
on such things as gender rights,
he found in a snapshot survey, but nothing
to explain how sanctions were
allegedly disabling the nation.
“The donor books flooded our cities
and schools when our publishers
collapsed because of sanctions,” he
complained in line with the official
view.
So what to do? Bring back the
Zimdollar of course. That will solve
everything!
Muckraker would
like to encourage all those in Zanu PF who seek to exhume
the discredited
currency to continue their crusade. Nothing could be more
calculated to
direct voters towards the ballot box. The very thought of
reviving the old
currency will drive thousands to support the MDC-T which
doesn’t appear to
be doing much else to help its cause.
Here’s a way they don’t have to
do anything except repeat that Zanu PF will
revive the
Zimdollar.
That should finish them
off.
ZBC reports that empowerment
pressure groups have condemned the power
struggles that have riddled Upfumi
Kuvadiki and Affirmative Action Group,
describing their actions as
retrogressive to the indigenisation and
empowerment
programmes.
The two groups have been awash in the media “for all the
wrong reasons” and
recently members of Upfumi Kuvadiki were seen quarrelling
over the issue of
the outfit’s presidency.
Another empowerment
“pressure group”, Zimbabwe Entrepreneurial Youth Action,
fronted by a
Munyaradzi Kashambe said the two groups should go back to
their “core
business” and resolve their power struggles amicably.
According to
ZBC’s analysts the power struggles and bickering that have
riddled the two
groups do not portray a positive picture to Zimbabweans.
We think the damage
was already done a long time ago. According to the
Herald Upfumi Kuvadiki
came to prominence last year when it temporarily
disrupted parking business
by EasiPark that led to a demonstration that
resulted in looting and
destruction of property at the Gulf complex.
As if that was not
enough a press conference organised by a faction of
Upfumi Kuvadiki, last
week, descended into chaos as rival factions created a
ruckus at the Harare
Club in the capital.
SW Radio Africa reports that the heated exchange
of words in front of
journalists soon gave way to scuffles between the
supporters of rival
factions led by Alson Darikayi, its former spokesman and
now president, and
Tatenda Maroodza the
secretary-general.
The outfit has
threatened to take over Easipark, a joint venture between a
South African
company and the City of Harare because it was fronted by
foreigners.
Darikayi said the youth empowerment group had agreed to form a
company
called Nehanda Parking.
Ironically, Darikayi accuses Maroodza of
having clandestinely registered the
company with funding from South African
partners.
Not surprisingly the police just stood by and did nothing
as the chaos
ensued.
“Maroodza’s group came in and climbed on
chairs and tables. They tore down
posters that had (President) Mugabe’s
picture from the walls and disrupted
the press conference. But surprisingly
no-one was arrested despite the
police being stationed less than 20 metres
away,” reports SW Radio
Africa.
Another example of Zanu
PF’s approach to democratic reform could be found in
a front-page article in
The Zimbabwean where Tendai Savanhu declared he
would “eliminate whites in
Marondera within a week”. MP Iain Kay would be a
case for special treatment,
Savanhu declared menacingly at a funeral in
Marondera.
Savanhu
was defeated by the MDC’s Piniel Denga in Mbare in 2008. Now he
wants to
make a comeback.
Whites had no role to play in Zimbabwean society, Savanhu
declared.
“What is the so-called white MDC legislator Iain Kay doing
in the
community?” Savanhu asked. “As Zanu PF we don’t recognise him and
his
councillors. Zanu PF (candidate) Peter Murirwa is the legitimate MP for
Marondera Central, not Kay.
“Please allow me and Chipangano Youth
a week’s stay here and we will
eliminate Kay without any problem. Down with
whites.”
Is this the same Tendai Savanhu who vigorously denied any
connection to
Chipangano when interviewed by the Zimbabwe Independent last
year? Has he
changed his mind? Or just decided to tell the
truth?
His statement is a useful
declaration of Zanu PF’s crude racism. Not a
single voice was raised in
criticism of Savanhu’s statement.
“We do not recognise Morgan Tsvangirai as
prime minister,” he said. “I would
want to reiterate that whites should
disappear from the political
landscape.” Sounds like Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad.
So Savanhu won’t recognise Iain Kay’s victory in 2008.
And he pledges to use
force to change the outcome.
All whites in
Marondera will be purged. Presumably including those who didn’t
vote?
His threats against the white community should be cut out
of The Zimbabwean
and sent to friends and relatives in the United States and
Europe.
The US ambassador said recently he wasn’t a supporter of sanctions.
And a
Zimbabwean “re-engagement” team will soon be on its way to Europe to
seek
the lifting of sanctions.
Let’s hope the supremely
accommodating Aldo dell’Ariccia has also alerted
his colleagues in Brussels
to this latest statement of policy by Zanu PF.
Quite clearly Savanhu hasn’t
heard the expression “sour grapes”. He lost. He’s
a loser. In fact he’s a
sore loser. And now he has shown us he’s a coward as
well.
Meanwhile MDC-T MPs in Harare
have resorted to holding secret door-to-door
meetings with their supporters
following a ban on their rallies by the
shadowy Zanu PF-aligned militia
group, Chipangano.
According to NewsDay MP for Mbare, Piniel Denga,
said he was recently banned
from Mbare and beaten up by Zanu PF youths after
he had come to supervise
his Constituency Development Fund
projects.
Denga said after making a police report on the matter, they
“advised” him
not to visit the area without police clearance.
Party
organising secretary and Kuwadzana MP, Nelson Chamisa, said: “The MDC
is now
a banned organisation in the eyes of the police, but it is bizarre
that Zanu
PF continues to hold rallies countrywide without police
clearance.”
And to think that the MDC-T is warming up to the
idea of elections under
these conditions! Someone needs to have their head
examined.
King Lobengula’s
descendant, Prince Zwide kaLanga Khumalo, has been rapped
for “meddling in
matters that don’t concern him instead of expending his
energies on his bid
to become king,” reports the Chronicle.
This was after Prince Khumalo
had said traditional leaders were now acting
like “stooges who lacked the
true nature of personhood” in his address to
civic society organisations
last week during a national traditional leaders
conference review in
Bulawayo.
Prince Khumalo said chiefs had been turned into beggars for their
livelihood
and “have however been involuntarily forced through patronage to
forsake
their cultural roles”.
He also said their requests for
guns and bodyguards were merely preparing
them to participate in potential
election violence.
“Most of them get hopelessly drunk in public and what
worse can happen if
they are given guns?” he added.
This drew the
ire of the vice-president of the chiefs’ council Chief Mtshana
Khumalo.
“What does he know?” Chief Khumalo fumed.
“If
we want guns, there is no need for us to apply for the guns through the
government because those will be for personal protection. In any case those
guns are not for shooting people, but can assist villagers in the event that
there are wild animals troubling them,” said Chief Khumalo.
What are the
wildlife rangers or even the police for, Chief Khumalo, if we
may
ask?
We were interested to hear
President Mugabe’s remarks on the Zesa bills
imbroglio.
It didn’t
matter who said what, he told ministers who were casting all sorts
of
aspersions. It was Elton Mangoma’s ministry, he said, and the buck stops
there.
So it doesn’t stop anywhere else then? Strange how it
never does!
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March
2012 17:09
THE divide between employers and workers in wage negotiations
is
continuously becoming greater and greater, with the gap between workers’
expectations and demands against employers’ responses to those demands
constantly increasing.
To a large extent wage negotiations are
confrontational and characterised by
extreme obduracy. They usually
culminate in deadlocks, instead of
agreements, whereupon the wage
determinations are arrived at by arbitration
or by judicial determination in
the Labour Courts.
The wage levels sought by labour are generally
understandable. This is
because the employment incomes of most workers do
not suffice to service the
essential needs of the workers, their families,
and their dependants.
Although the horrendous hyperinflation of 2008
has been contained, with
inflation levels in Zimbabwe now being less than
those prevailing in most of
the countries of Africa, Zimbabwe has not
attained deflation.
Prices have, however, not declined but have only
stabilised to levels
marginally greater than those then
prevailing.
The consequences of Zimbabwe having sustained the highest
levels of
inflation ever endured by any country, throughout recorded
history, were
horrendous especially for those in the lower-income range.
Not only were a
majority of the populace unable to pay for the education and
health of their
families, but they could not even meet the most basic
needs.
As prices have generally not declined the trials and
tribulations of
workers, and of those reliant upon them, have continued
unabated.
The result of those tragic circumstances is that worker
representatives in
general, and trade unions in particular, focus wholly on
worker needs, with
total disregard for the ability or lack thereof of
employers to meet their
demands.
As a general rule in almost all
negotiations, worker representatives are
insistent that the minimum wage
should equate with the poverty datum line
(PDL). However, in demanding
PDL–related wages, the worker negotiators
disregard two key
factors.
The first of such factors is that the PDL relates to the
requirements of
families of six and in Zimbabwe, in any such family there
are usually at
least two income earners.
However one of them may
be operating in the informal sector, instead of
being in formal
employment.
Inevitably, the two income earners will not be recipients
of identical
incomes.
More often than not, one of them will be
generating about 60% of the family’s
income, whilst the other generates only
40%. Therefore the trade unions
persistence in demanding that the minimum
wage be equal to the PDL, which
presently approximates US$546 per month, is
unjustifiable. If the PDL is to
be the barometer for minimum wage levels,
then the base demand should
approximate US$328, which virtually equates to
60% of the PDL.
Worker negotiators have also developed an obtuse and
contemptuous disregard
for the extent of employer ability to pay wages at
the levels demanded of
them.
On the one hand, almost all
employers are grievously undercapitalised to
finance their operations
effectively.
The hyperinflation that had prevailed in Zimbabwe was of
such magnitude that
the enterprise capital resources were decimated and
eroded. The illiquidity
in the money market is pronounced, and the limited
funding available is
exceptionally costly and only available for very
limited periods of time.
Similarly, because of the minuscule
extent of accessible foreign
investment –– withheld because of concerns
about political and economic
stability –– it is presently difficult for
enterprises to access core
working capital and therefore to fund the wages
demanded by employees.
The ability of employers to pay well is also
very adversely affected by the
need to be price-competitive
internationally.
If production costs are markedly greater than those
in other economies, then
Zimbabweans are prone to purchasing imported
products instead of those
locally produced. As a result, exports fail to be
competitive. This has
already severely impacted upon the viability of
Zimbabwean enterprises.
Illustrative of the impact of labour costs
being greater in Zimbabwe than in
other countries is that the minimum wage
for textile industry workers is
South African equates to US$85 per month,
whilst in Zimbabwe that minimum
wage is US$215. In China, exporters receive
incentives greater than the
total labour costs sustained by
manufacturers.
Whilst wages paid are generally much less than the
workers need, it is long
overdue for labour to recognise that inadequate
wages are better than total
unemployment, with concommitant zero incomes.
The wage determination
criteria must endure until such time as Zimbabwe can
achieve substantive
deflation.
There is also the bad tendency
amongst arbitrators to make wage
determinations with retrospective effect;
whereby they award the increases
in wages with back-pay to the date when
wage negotiations had commenced.
For almost all employers this has
catastrophic consequences. This is because
they cannot increase their
selling prices retrospectively.
The goods or services sold prior to the
arbitration were sold at the
prevailing prices at that time, and no
customers will accept a subsequent
price increase for the goods or services
already purchased.
The consequential effects of back-pay awards are
massive losses for the
enterprises subjected to such. In many instances it
results in closure or
liquidation of the enterprises, and the loss of
employment for their
workers.
Arbitrators who award retrospective
back-pay are, in practice, doing the
workers a grave injustice and worsening
their circumstances.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012 16:57
Clive
Mphambela
THE Zimbabwe Accelerated Arrears Clearance, Debt and
Development Strategy
(ZAADDS), a new policy framework for the reduction of
the country’s
debilitating external debt and management launched by Finance
minister
Tendai Biti (pictured) last week, has serious shortcomings and
could come
unstuck in the end.
Although Biti must be commended for
attempting to tackle the huge debt
overhang now estimated at over US$9,1
billion and which has become an
albatross around the economy’s neck,
clearing this staggering sum could
prove to be a mountain to
climb.
Tackling the country’s debt crisis is critical as this is
causing so many
problems, including suspension of crucial projects in
agriculture,
infrastructure development and social sectors following the
suspension of
balance-of-payments support by the International Financial
Institutions
(IFIs).
Key elements of the debt clearance plan
unveiled by Biti on March 16 consist
of:
Establishment of the
Zimbabwe Aid and Debt Management Office (ZADMO) whose
mandate would be to
undertake the validation and reconciliation of the
country’s external debt
data-base;
Actively re-engage creditors and the international
community for the removal
of sanctions;
Renegotiation of the
terms set for arrears clearance;
New funding on the one hand and debt
relief from current creditors on the
other and
Leveraging the
country’s natural resources in pursuit of debt relief and
development.
The country’s external debt issue has been under
discussion since 2009. As a
build-up to the adopted current proposal,
various scenarios to expunge the
debt were explored.
In the
initial strategy document issued by Biti in 2009, four options were
considered: Using internal revenue inflows, a resource-based debt
restructuring model, the traditional Paris Club debt rescheduling approach
and the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative.
Under the
first option, government wanted, in the normal course of business,
to set
aside resources that would be used for debt servicing. However,
government
simply had “no fiscal space”’ to clear its external obligations
on its own,
as Biti often admitted.
The second option was premised on the
understanding that Zimbabwe has
abundant mineral resources such as platinum,
gold and diamonds which could
be used for restructuring of the debt. Biti’s
current debt-clearing strategy
is based on this model. A major advantage of
this approach is that once a
country clears its debts via this route, it
becomes free from
conditionalities that are normally set by the Bretton
Woods Institutions and
other IFIs.
The disadvantages of this
model, however, include that it is difficult to
agree on valuations and that
the country could end up mortgaging resources.
Another sticky point is the
current poor investment climate which makes it
difficult to attract capital
and to leverage those resources.
The third option the government
considered was to pursue traditional
debt-rescheduling with bilateral
lenders such as the Paris Club. The
difficulty with this option is that the
country needs to be under an IMF
Programme to be
considered.
There was also the fourth option of Zimbabwe going the
HIPC route. This
option was however ruled out due to major differences
between Zanu PF and
MDC cabinet ministers. It was also difficult for the
country to meet some of
the tough preconditions of the HIPC initiative which
include the full
restoration of the country’s voting rights in the IMF and
the clearance of
arrears with the IMF, World Bank and African Development
Bank.
After failing to adopt the HIPC initiative and other models,
Biti was forced
to pursue a resource-based debt restructuring strategy as
proposed in
ZAADDS, targeting to leverage unencumbered mineral resources to
raise
funding. The plan therefore essentially hinges on substantially
“leveraging
the country’s natural resources” to unlock funding and
opportunities for
development.
However, it does not state how
this will be achieved given the current
accelerated onslaught on
foreign-owned mining firms, which ZAADDS seems not
to
address.
Whilst Angola successfully used this strategy, in 2007, of
paying off its
US$2,3 billion debt to the Paris Club lenders within
one-and-half years
without assistance, this was on the back of abundant oil
which is easier to
securitise than minerals. The resource-based model is
also difficult because
valuation of the mineral resources is
complicated.
It takes time and financial resources, a luxury
Zimbabwe can ill-afford. But
the real problem is that agreeing on valuations
with financiers could prove
very difficult.
The failed
negotiations between Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation
and China’s
Norinco, where the parties could not agree on a US$3 billion
offer for the
Selous platinum reserves, is a case in point. Government felt
the reserves
were worth between US$24 billion and US$40 billion but the
Chinese disputed
this.
Another example of the problem of valuation of minerals is the
contentious
Essar-Ziscosteel deal where there is a problem with valuing of
iron ore
reserves. This has ultimately jeopardised the consummation of the
deal.
Meetings are still being held to resolve the issue. More critically,
finding takers for securities backed by natural resources is extremely
challenging in an environment where property rights are flagrantly violated,
given the ongoing expropriation of mining assets.
How does
government plan to attract new investment in the mining sector when
it is
targeting existing investments for acquisition?
Even if this hurdle was to be
overcome, the Finance minstry also admits that
the process of verifying and
quantifying the country’s mineral wealth
requires a considerable amount of
human, financial and technical resources.
Besides, successful exploitation
of resources requires government to launch
an “intensive investment drive in
the mining sector”.
Others say the ZAADDS’ timeframe of 18-24 months
that has been set to
achieve its key deliverables is unrealistic. Whilst
the ministry has done
well in building the basic institutional framework to
reconcile and validate
the debt position with creditors and other
stakeholders before the end of
2012, analysts say the proposed supporting
actions cannot be achieved within
this timeframe.
For instance,
given government’s bankruptcy, there will be no resources to
complete a full
geological mineral survey to ascertain the quantities and
values of the
minerals.
More worryingly, the plan hinges on re-engagement with the
international
community to normalise relations and the removal of
sanctions.
Private capital and bilateral aid flows have been
negatively influenced by
these measures, among other issues, and it is not
surprising that foreign
direct investment, aid and other capital flows to
Zimbabwe remain the lowest
in the region.
The fourth challenge in
Biti’s programme lies in the country’s poor debt
service record since the
year 2000. Any new debt relief mechanism will
depend on the country clearing
its arrears with the various IFIs, currently
estimated at more than US$4,7
billion. Given the country’s budgetary
constraints, this strongly suggests
that the government can only look
externally for resources to clear its
arrears. There is a generally agreed
view that creating new borrowings to
pay existing debts will not solve the
country’s debt problem in the
long-term.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
16:52
Dumisani Nkomo
IN the March 2008 harmonised elections,
Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Robert
Mugabe and Simba Makoni in the first round
of the presidential election
before the bloody and controversial run-off in
June. The two MDC formations
mustered marginally more seats than Zanu PF in
the parliamentary poll.
Now the big question is whether Tsvangirai can win
the next election and
take over from Mugabe. There are more questions: Is
Professor Welshman Ncube
a serious contender to the presidential throne? Is
Ncube a refreshing
alternative to both Mugabe and Tsvangirai, or will he
just split the vote
which could have resulted in the defeat of Mugabe and
Zanu PF?
Does Tsvangirai have the capacity and gravitas to build on
the March 2008
preliminary victory or has he lost ground to the geriatric
political
craftsman in the form of Mugabe?
Are there any
substantive issues at stake in the next elections or the main
agenda is
simply regime change, or retention of the old Zanu PF order?
I will attempt
to answer some but not all of these questions in the hope
that this will
lead to some critical debate in the run up to the next
elections whenever
they would be held.
What the next elections are about
The
next elections will literally determine whether Zanu PF will be part of
the
future or it will be cast in the dustbin of history to find
companionship
with Zambia’s former ruling party Unip, Malawi Congress Party
and Kenya’s
Kanu. The elections will be a referendum on Mugabe and Zanu PF.
In
the same vein, if the MDC-T fails to win the next elections the party
will
almost likely implode within the next five years and give way to a
Third Way
which may replace it as the largest opposition in the broader
scheme of
things, and more importantly form the next government. This would
probably
be in the 2018 elections.
Ncube and his MDC formation remain a dark
horse and their greatest strength
is their underdog status. However, the
next elections are crucial to Ncube
in the sense that if the party performs
dismally it may fade into oblivion
and be completely submerged by the
MDC-T.
If Zapu decides to contest its claim to political legitimacy
and indeed
revival and relevance may be eroded before it is decimated. The
other
political parties such as the Mavambo-Kusile-Dawn project, MDC 99 and
others
may be reduced to electoral rubble.
In a sense therefore
the next elections will determine the continued
relevance and existence of
all these political parties.
Zanu PF’s survival
strategy
Zanu PF strategists realise that if they fail to adapt
through use of force,
political fraud or reform they will be fossilised and
become glorified
latter-day dinosaurs. Some in Zanu PF clearly prefer the
tried-and-tested
tactics of coercion — both physical and structural — as a
means to win
elections. Yet others prefer to repackage the party as the
authentic
liberation movement and voice of the people that can win an
election using
populist policies such as indigenisation which appeal not
only to the
unemployed masses, but also the urban elite, the new poor and
intellectuals.
However, Zanu PF’s chances of winning the next
elections are slim unless
they resort to systematic political violence or
outright vote-rigging, which
the party is capable of. For these reasons,
including a loyal residual core
of supporters, Zanu PF remains a force to
reckon with.
The MDC-T’s approach
The MDC-T will be hoping
that their partial incumbency in the government
works in their favour .They
would want to use their presence in the
inclusive government to push their
own agenda and muscle Zanu PF out of
power if they can. The quasi-fiscal
operations of the Reserve Bank, which
some claimed were used to oil Zanu
PF’s election machinery in the 2008
elections, have been checked by Finance
Minister Tendai Biti, although the
issue of Marange diamonds and how Zanu PF
is possibly using them to finance
its operations remains controversial and
open to speculation.
Similarly, thousands of Zanu PF youths (75 000
ghost workers) who were on
the public service payroll appear to have been
removed thus compromising the
Zanu PF election machinery and 2008 strategy.
Tsvangirai has also used his
presence in government to access areas which he
previously had no access to
campaign.
There is little
indication though that the MDC-T has extended its influence
to win the
support of the embedded securocrats who effectively imposed
Mugabe into
power in June 2008. Beyond this, the MDC-T seems to be counting
on its trump
card, the protest vote against Mugabe and the perennial
unpopularity of Zanu
PF, to win the next elections.
MDC-N’s position
After a
series of defections from his party, Ncube appears to have weathered
the
storm. The law professor has proved to be resilient and may become a
worthy
contender if he can bounce back and launch a meaningful nationwide
grassroots campaign beyond his Matabeleland and Midlands favourite hunting
ground.
Ncube might be helped by the fact that his ministers in
the inclusive
government have done fairly well and this could swing a few
more votes in
his party’s favour and probably enable him to pick up a few
more seats,
especially where his party lost by small margins in
2008.
He however has to battle hard against a polarised political
environment
which has sucked in the media, sections of civil society and
part of the
international community who have taken sides with one of the
main parties.
Obviously, Ncube and his party will not win the elections but
they may end
up holding the balance again in parliament.
Ncube’s
strategy would predictably be to try and swing the protest vote in
Matabeleland and his home province of the Midlands in his favour, something
which may not be beyond his capacity, depending on his approach. He will
also try and appeal to the middle class and rational voters or the undecided
majority. Zimbabwe seems to be developing into a three-way party system
largely because of lack of confidence in both Zanu PF and the MDC-T as is
the case currently in Britain.
The Zapu/Dabengwa
factor
Revived Zapu and Dumiso Dabengwa, who continues to rely on his
liberation
struggle mythical status, caused a few political tremors in the
first part
of last year when they re-launched themselves, but the party
seems to be
quickly fizzling out and has apparently lost momentum to Ncube’s
party in
Matabeleland and Midlands regions. Zapu is now desperately broke
and may
have no resources to mount a serious electoral
challenge.
Conclusion
A broad alliance of progressive
political parties encompassing the MDC-T,
MDC-N and Zapu is the most
desirable scenario but at the moment this appears
unlikely. This leaves the
outcome of the next elections up in the air.
Nkomo is the CEO of
Habakkuk Trust. He writes here in his personal capacity.
Email: dumisani.nkomo@gmail.com .
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 29 March 2012
16:50
Percy Makombe
THERE are a few countries in the world that
polarise public opinion more
than Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe’s
utterances often appear to be
crafted to cause controversy. So it was in
recent weeks that he added
antagonism and hostility to the political debate
by remarking that a
violent-free election is better than a new
constitution.
Since those remarks, Zimbabweans across the political divide
have been
angrily trying to come to terms with the merits and demerits of
Mugabe’s
dubious proposition. Mugabe is correct in saying Zimbabweans hanker
for a
violence-free election, but I smell a rat here. It is not the rodent
that
interests me in Mugabe’s remarks, but rather his sleight of hand in
creating
the false impression that the choice is between a violence-free
election and
a new constitution. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
The people of Zimbabwe want both a peaceful election and a new
democratic
constitution. Indeed, according to the Constitutional
Parliamentary
Committee (Copac) on the new constitution, 1 118 760
participated in
constitutional outreach meetings discussing how they want to
be governed.
We can argue about what a democratic constitution is but
we cannot argue
about whether people want it or not. Put simply, peaceful
elections and a
democratic constitution are not mutually exclusive. In other
words, we can
have both at the same time.
Truly democratic
elections are ultimately beyond which party comes into
power. They are not
an end in themselves but a means to an end. A
constitution is a kind of
contract between the governors and the governed. A
constitution is important
because one of the things that it seeks to do is
to regulate the exercise of
power. The demand for a new democratic
constitution is neither an MDC nor a
Zanu PF demand; rather it is a demand
from the people of Zimbabwe. Indeed
the liberation struggle was about
democratising the state. Those who have
any doubts should revisit the
interview Mugabe gave to the BBC in 1976 where
he makes the case that the
liberation struggle was about fighting for “a
state-based on democracy.”
For all its chiding of the
constitution-making process, Zanu PF is
well-represented in the same
process. Every other week a co-chair of Copac
from Zanu PF affixes his
signature to an update of the constitution-making
process. Furthermore, just
last year Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo was
waxing lyrical that Mugabe
would only call for polls once a new constitution
is in place. What
Damascene act has happened for the party to deviate from
this
position?
The only conclusion that can be reached is that there is a
coterie of
individuals in Zanu PF who are merchants of chaos. There is a
‘fifth column’
in the party trying to subvert the people’s will. These are
the same
individuals who were the architects of the campaign of brutality in
the run
up to the blood-soaked June 2008 presidential election
run-off.
No one would be foolish enough to suggest that the
constitution will solve
all of Zimbabwe’s problems. Far from it; Zimbabwe’s
crisis is simply not a
disagreement on elections and the constitution. It is
not just about a
change of government, but rather a change of the political
and governing
culture.
The current much-amended and flawed
Lancaster House constitution has no
clauses that allow political parties to
establish militia bases, but as we
all know Zanu PF has done this many times
before and unleashed mayhem and
violence that threatened to turn Zimbabwe
into a Somalia. On the subject of
the constitution, it is important that it
reflects people’s aspirations, and
gives true meaning to the phrase: “The
people shall govern”. But in the
same breath, democracy should not be
conflated with majoritarianism, lest we
risk tyranny of the
majority.
There is no gainsaying that supreme power rests with the
people as the Arab
revolutions have so remarkably demonstrated, but this
power must of
necessity be exercised through the representation of diverse
interests. The
best test for freedom and tolerance is freedom and tolerance
for those who
act and think differently. Put differently, there must be a
balance between
the rights of minorities and the will of the majority;
otherwise a
tyrannical majority is created.
In the Zimbabwe
constitution-making process debate, there are those who seek
to reduce the
process into simply what the majority said. It would seem that
those who
insist that the majority view must always be followed are seeking
to
establish the correlation between the outreach programme by Copac and its
output. There is this disturbing naivety among some of us in expecting that
whatever the majority said must be part of the constitution. This is
problematic.
A genuine democratic constitution should not just
carry the views of the
majority, but it should also balance their views with
what constitutes
international best practice. Zimbabwe really has to deal
with three
challenges. The first has to do with developing a mature
political system
that allows cooperation and responsible competition between
political
parties, where credible elections are held and losing parties can
live with
the result until the next polls.
The second area has to
do with security issues that threaten to undermine
meaningful reform. This
is all the more problematic because the command
structure of the security
services in Zimbabwe is really made up of the
armed wing of Zanu PF that
never transformed into professional security
services.
A
dialogue is needed with this command structure. It is true that some
atrocities have been committed and negotiations without penalty may
encourage a culture of impunity. In the final analysis dialogue is still
needed with this group and with the rest of the country so that a formula
for peace with the past is arrived at with a clear understanding that the
violence of the past will not be repeated again.
The third and
final challenge has to do with socio-economic justice issues
as well as
matters of distribution and re-distribution of resources.
Socio-economic
rights are fundamental to the enjoyment of a better life as
well as to
stability. But the most important issue is that it is not too
late for
Mugabe to help the country to have a new democratic constitution,
and a
violence-free election after that.
Makombe is a development
practitioner based in South Africa and can be
contacted on pfmakombe@yahoo.com .
