http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 20:18
Dumisani
Muleya
CABINET ministers in the shaky inclusive government clashed in
furious
scenes on Tuesday in front of President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Ministers
Morgan Tsvangirai over a series of contentious political issues
prompting
the holding soon of a special cabinet meeting to resolve the
matters.
Informed official sources said GPA principals, including
Mugabe, Tsvangirai
and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, watched in
horror as ministers
slugged it out over unimplemented GPA issues as
political tensions ran high
and partisan hostilities exploded at Munhumutapa
Building.
The cabinet session had been called to clear Global
Political Agreement
(GPA) issues and the future of the GNU. It however ended
amid chaotic and
acrimonious clashes as ministers engaged in heated
no-holds-barred exchanges
over disputed political issues.
This
had necessitated a special cabinet sitting that would be decisive in
many
ways for the political direction and future of the country, according
to a
senior government minister.
“We are going to have a special cabinet
meeting soon. The agenda of the
meeting would in brief be the GPA, GNU and
the way forward,” the minister
said. “We are going to examine in detail the
24 GPA issues which have been
agreed upon but not implemented. We are also
going to examine operations of
the GNU. In fact, this meeting will be a
review of the inclusive
government.”
The extraordinary cabinet
meeting would determine the fate of the government
of national unity (GNU)
and the way forward following recent problems around
the lifespans of the
coalition arrangement, constitution-making process,
referendum and
elections.
Some of the contentious issues were on sanctions, the
media, external radio
stations, hate speech, rule of law, state organs and
institutions, review of
ministerial mandates, land audit and tenure system
and electoral vacancies.
The gathering would also have a bearing on
the country’s future economic
prospects, particularly in view of Mugabe’s
renewed threats to grab
foreign-owned companies under the guise of
indigenisation and empowerment.
Cabinet has now become a theatre of
political battles, mainly between Mugabe
and Zanu PF ministers and
Tsvangirai and MDC-T ministers. Mutambara now
reportedly cuts a lonely
figure in cabinet after he was fired by his party
and left it under Minister
of Trade and Industry Welshman Ncube’s control.
Mutambara and Ncube are
fighting over the MDC leadership and the position of
co-deputy prime
minister. This has intensified tensions within the divided
government.
“As you would be aware,” the minister said, “the negotiators
of the three
political parties in the GPA finished their negotiations last
year after
having been engaged since 2009 on a lot of disputed issues. After
that, the
principals took a long time to meet to resolve those issues which
negotiators agreed they could not deal with. The principals resolved some of
the issues but later there was a dispute about that as well. Principals met
on many occasions since June last year and the end result of that was a
commitment to implement the 24 items listed on the implementation matrix
document which was approved by Sadc (Southern African Development Community)
leaders in Windhoek last year in August.”
In early August last
year the three parties in the GPA endorsed and
formalised the implementation
matrix which was approved and presented as
part of the report to Sadc
mediator, South African President Jacob Zuma.
After that Zuma took the
report to the Sadc summit in Windhoek. The report
was approved by regional
leaders who gave Zimbabwean parties timeframes and
deadlines on
implementation of agreed issues.
The implementation matrix envisaged
some issues being tackled immediately;
others within a month or two months;
and a few continuously or on a periodic
basis.
The issues also
included cabinet and council of ministers’ rules, guidelines
and procedures,
transport arrangements of principals, security aides for the
prime minister
and deputy prime ministers, parallel government, external
interference,
national economic council, constitutional commissions,
national heroes, role
and position of permanent secretary of media,
information and publicity,
constitutional amendment No 19, interference with
the rights of freedom of
association, assembly and speech, role and funding
of NGOs, multi-donor
trust fund and selective funding of ministries by
donors and electoral
reforms.
Zimbabwe’s cabinet approved the implementation matrix but
nothing much was
done afterwards.
Another government minister
said the next extraordinary cabinet meeting
would “seek to revisit all these
issues and enforce our own decisions and
Sadc resolutions”.
“We
must implement the GPA and that is what the meeting will be about,” the
minister said. “We signed the GPA and now Zimbabweans and Sadc expect us to
implement it in full. The GPA is the basis of this government and the
roadmap to free and fair elections, so we can’t deviate from it unless we
want to let the country slide back into a dark period of repression and
economic chaos.”
Zuma’s facilitators have been in and out of the
country to ensure the
parties implement the GPA and define the roadmap to
elections. Although the
parties have been cooperating, Mugabe and his party
have been trying to
stampede the country into early elections at least by
August. They have been
doing this through efforts to rush the
constitution-making process and
referendum to pave for elections or threats
to abandon the GPA trajectory
and go back to the old constitution where
Mugabe has powers to unilaterally
dissolve parliament and call for
elections. Under the GPA Mugabe does not
have these powers.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
20:12
Chris Muronzi
TOP Zanu PF officials this week summoned bank
executives and coerced them
to support the party’s anti-sanctions crusade
that was launched by President
Robert Mugabe in the capital on
Wednesday.
Banking sources told the Zimbabwe Independent this week
that Vice President
John Nkomo pic, Presidential Affairs minister and Zanu
PF secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa, Media and Information
minister Webster Shamu,
and party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo summoned bank
executives to an urgent
meeting on Tuesday to rally all bank CEOs against
sanctions.
All CEOs of Zimbabwe’s financial services firms
attended the meeting, a
source said.
At the meeting, the
executives are said to have been bullied into supporting
Zanu PF’s
anti-sanctions drive.
Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president John
Mushayavanhu confirmed the
top Zanu PF and government officials — Nkomo,
Shamu, Gumbo and Mutasa —
called an hour- long meeting on Tuesday at FBC
Holdings’ Nelson Mandela
headquarters.
Mushayavanhu said: “We had
a meeting over sanctions where they were just
saying there was going to be a
launch and wanted us to attend if we were
free. We agreed with them that
sanctions were not good for the country.
They requested a meeting and we
agreed to meet.”
After the meeting, sources say banks were asked to
contribute US$16 000 for
printing of anti-sanctions campaign T-Shirts, a
charge Mushayavanhu refuted.
Mushayavanhu said: “We were not asked to
pay any amount. They just mentioned
that the campaign would obviously cost
money and they would appreciate any
kind of help.”
In the same
meeting, the executives were also asked to extend the
anti-sanctions crusade
to radio and television in the coming weeks as Zanu
PF attempts to rally
business behind its anti-embargo crusade.
According to sources, the
bankers were not given much choice and agreed to
Nkomo, Mutasa, Shamu and
Gumbo’s orders.
This comes after Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa
last month threatened
to seize a 90% stake in foreign businesses that did
not demonise sanctions
on radio and television.
Some local
business leaders have already begun singing from the same song
sheet as Zanu
PF.
At the Zanu PF organised rally on Wednesday, Confederation of
Zimbabwe
Industries president Joseph Kanyekanye spoke against
sanctions.
Kanyakanye said: “I have come voluntarily to say no to sanctions.
It is part
of our 2010 resolutions where more than 300 businesspeople said
sanctions
are not appropriate for Zimbabwe.
“We believe that
sanctions have nothing to do with the human rights
situation obtaining in
the country. We have a situation where we have ZDERA
(Zimbabwe Democracy and
Economic Recovery Act), which we are having problems
with as the business
community.
“This law empowers the US Secretary for the Treasury to
direct any US
executive director sitting on international financial
institutions to vote
against extension of loans to Zimbabwe and to vote
against cancellation or
reduction of debt owed by Zimbabwe.
“As
Zimbabweans, we must fight the sanctions and as CZI we had already taken
a
position a year ago because they have caused unnecessary disunity in the
country.”
Efforts to reach the CZI president after the event to
ascertain the business
group’s position on President Robert Mugabe’s
takeover threats proved
fruitless as his mobile phone was switched
off.
But Kanyekanye had on Wednesday said political leaders had to
stop
politicking and attack the embargo. This, analysts say, was in
reference to
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s no show at the sanctions
ceremony
attended by mainly Zanu PF supporters.
TA boss Shingi
Mutasa also called for the removal of sanctions at an
economic symposium in
the capital recently.
Mugabe launched his anti-sanctions campaign on
Wednesday and threatened to
seize foreign companies.
Mugabe, the
Zanu PF leadership and a multitude of supporters who attended
the meeting
appended their signatures to what the party said was an
anti-sanctions
petition.
The United States and European Union imposed sanctions on
Zanu PF officials
and froze their assets held abroad after the party
launched a violent
campaign in the 2002 presidential polls observers said
were not free and
fair.
But Zanu PF contends the US and EU
imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe and its
leaders to punish them for resettling
landless blacks.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
20:11
Wongai Zhangazha
CONSTITUTIONAL and Parliamentary Affairs
minister Eric Matinenga said the
inclusive government had missed targets it
set for itself for the cluster of
Rights and Interests in the 2010
Government Work Programme (GWP) because of
a lack of political
will.
Speaking at a special Council of Ministers workshop on the 2011 GWP in
Harare yesterday, Matinenga said the Rights and Interests cluster had
performed dismally in 2010.
The cluster includes Justice and
Legal Affairs; Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs; Media, Information
and Publicity; Organ on National
Healing and Reconciliation; and Foreign
Affairs.
Among the highlights of the 2010 GWP were the setting up of
the Judicial
Service Commission (JSC), Human Rights Commission (HRC), the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the Media Commission.
The
Media, Information and Publicity ministry reported that it had managed
to
revamp the existing radio and television services transmission grid and
was
in the process of establishing new transmitter sites in Beitbridge,
Plumtree
and Mudzi.
However, the ministry failed to review media laws, which
include the
Broadcasting Services Act, Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy
Act and the Media Practitioners’ Bill, which is still in
progress.
Matinenga also criticized the slow pace in the amendment of
the Public Order
and Security Act which has been described by human rights
activists as an
insult to democracy. He blamed the lack of progress on lack
of a culture of
change in the government.
“The Rights and
Interests cluster is supposed to perform in accordance with
the Global
Political Agreement. It is important to note that the various
articles in
the GPA are dependent on political consensus of the political
parties who
are signatories. For the targets to be achieved they must be
governed by a
culture of change,” said Matinenga.
“To be honest, I think we have
not performed according to expectations. We
have certain legislations and
commissions but there has been an absence of
movement.”
Although
there was a media commission, HRC and ZEC, Matinenga said he was
disappointed that these bodies were dysfunctional because there was no
political will to support their existence.
“In the past week I
had the fortune of being in Kenya and I enjoyed watching
nine television
stations and innumerable radio stations. There is no reason
why we don’t
enjoy the same in Zimbabwe. We should be able to listen to what
we want and
watch what we want.”
The security cluster consisting of the
President’s Office, Defence ministry
and the Home Affairs ministry was
heavily criticised for failing to
institute security sector reforms in
accordance with the GPA.
The Finance ministry was one of the few
success stories achieving a positive
economic growth of 8,1% compared to the
2009 figure of 6,3%.
Agricultural output grew by 34% and a total of
US$60 million was spent on
vulnerable households under the government’s
input support scheme.
The Lands and Rural Settlement ministry said in
an effort to eliminate
multiple farm ownership it had drafted A1 permit
documents currently
awaiting cabinet approval. The National Land Audit was
still to be
implemented by cabinet.
The Health ministry managed
to reduce the overall unavailability of drugs
and medicines from 52% to 43%.
Shortfalls in vital drugs were reduced from
57% to 52% and essential drugs
from 36% to 28%. Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said inadequate human,
financial and material resources, slow
release of funds by Treasury and
limited financial allocation hampered the
government’s service delivery
targets.
Tsvangirai said he was disturbed by the ongoing saga
involving the
whereabouts of Chiadzwa diamonds proceeds.
“Anyone
clean on this matter should welcome an audit that unpacks the
mystery as
citizens cannot continue to wait while the leaders are bickering
over
process issues,” Tsvangirai said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
20:10
Dumisani Muleya
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti yesterday said
he was vigorously pushing to
meet his Mines counterpart Obert Mpofu to
“investigate and reconcile”
missing diamond revenues which have divided
cabinet as questions increase
over where the money is and why it is being
kept secret.
This came as information emerged that there are problems between
the
President’s Office and Treasury over the use of the Chiadzwa diamond
revenues. While Biti wants all the money to be sent to Treasury before
disbursement to government departments for different operations, it is
understood the President’s Office wants its share for “national operations”
to clandestinely set aside in the name of “security”.
“The way
the diamonds money is being collected and used is not transparent
at all,” a
government source said. “The President’s Office wants its share
without
necessarily being accountable to Treasury while Biti wants to have
control
of the funds as responsible minister. The whole issue is now being
clouded
by claims of national security matters and security operations and
how this
should be funded. That is why there is need for an Act of
Parliament
governing operations of security agencies and departments.”
However,
another official said the problem was that Zanu PF was trying to
control the
funds mainly for political survival purposes at the expense of
national
issues. There are growing fears that the missing US$300 million
from diamond
sales disclosed by the Zimbabwe Independent last week has
either been stolen
or was being kept secretly somewhere by Zanu PF ministers
as a war chest for
anticipated elections. Despite being broke, Zanu PF is
desperately pushing
for early elections, raising suspicions it had diverted
diamond revenues to
its own unlawful use.
The use of Chiadzwa diamond revenues have
always been shady. Government
officials have admitted diamonds had been
looted from Chiadzwa and sold on
the black market. Cabinet last week
ordered Biti and Mpofu to meet to deal
with the issue which highlighted the
lack of transparency and accountability
in the current inclusive
government.
There were clashes in government on Tuesday last week
over the missing
US$174 million in diamond revenues (part of the overall
$300 million), with
Biti reportedly breathing fire over the issue amid
intensifying internal
squabbles over civil servants’
salaries.
There are also questions over U$125,8 million realised in
January 2011which
has not been remitted to Treasury. In total US$300 million
has not been
accounted for.
Biti said yesterday he was still waiting to
meet Mpofu to deal with the
issue of missing public funds.
“I’m
still yet to meet Mpofu because apparently he is not around. The issue
has
to be sorted out and cleared so that we can deal with other urgent
government business,” Biti said. “While the audit is going on, we need to
meet and deal with the issue.”
Biti has instructed the
Auditor-General and the Commissioner General for the
Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority to verify figures of the diamond proceeds
received so far. In
addition, he has also ordered the Comptroller and
Auditor General to audit
the books of the relevant parastatals involved in
the sale of the
diamonds.
Biti told parliament recently that he had not received the
US$174 million as
claimed by Zanu PF ministers and more specifically by
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) chairman Godwills
Masimirembwa.
“Information on hand as supplied by ZMDC indicates that
an amount of
US$174,2 million should have been remitted to Treasury, while
an additional
U$125,8 million realised in January 2011 remains outstanding,”
Biti told
parliament.
“However, Treasury has only managed to
reconcile US$62,1 million including
accruals to both Zimra (US$17,7 million)
and the Exchequer account (US$42,9
million). Clearly, ZMDC and the (Minerals
Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe)
MMCZ are not remitting in full the
revenues which they have themselves
declared as due to the
fiscus.”
Biti two weeks ago explained in detail the problems around
the issue of
diamonds. “Diamonds proceeds have become an extraordinarily
essential tool
with high potential of leveraging our development agenda.
Diamonds revenue
inflows create enhanced capacity to fund most of our
development programmes,
thereby freeing traditional tax revenues to other
essential services such as
health and education, among others,” he
said.
“It also gives scope for affording our civil servants and other
state arms
decent incomes. However, diamonds sales and remittances have
lacked
transparency creating misconceptions on management of public
resources and
the 2011 budget. Our 2011 cash flows would have been
manageable had we
received proceeds from the 3rd –5th diamond
sales.”
Biti added: “Information on hand as supplied by ZMDC
indicated that an
amount of US$174,2 million should have been remitted to
Treasury, while an
additional U$125,8 million realised in January 2011
remains outstanding”.
Biti insisted in parliament –– as he did
yesterday –– that Treasury had only
managed to reconcile US$62,1 million
including accruals to both Zimra
(US$17,7 million) and the Exchequer account
(US$42,9 million).
“Clearly, ZMDC and MMCZ are not remitting in full
the revenues which they
have themselves declared as due to the fiscus. I
hope officials are not
speculating with this money,” he
said.
“From a cash management basis, it therefore becomes extremely
difficult to
plan for such resources when one has no control over the timing
of both the
sale and remittances. Immediate remittance of the proceeds from
the last
diamond sales would most certainly assist in the operationalisation
of the
2011 budget for budgeted priority
requirements.
“Furthermore, it is also important that there be
enforcement of transparency
in dealing with public resources such as Marange
diamonds for the common
good of the country.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 20:03
Faith
Zaba
THE three political principals in the inclusive government have
agreed to
start implementing the 24 agreed principles in the Global
Political
Agreement in accordance with timelines set out in the
implementation matrix
they adopted in August last year.
This comes as
South Africa, the Sadc-appointed facilitator of the Zimbabwe
political
crisis, said this week it will not allow President Robert Mugabe
to hold
elections until outstanding issues of the power-sharing agreement
are
resolved, including the enactment of a new constitution.
Marius
Fransman, South African International Relations deputy minister, on
Tuesday
said disputes over the appointment of provincial governors and
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, hiring of central bank governor Gideon
Gono, and the swearing in of MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett as deputy
agriculture minister should be resolved before polls are
held.
“The South African position and that of Sadc is to ensure that
the next
elections as envisaged in the GPA are held under a new constitution
that
would have the product of the constitution-making process supported by
the
Zimbabwean electorate through a referendum,” he said. “In this regard,
any
calls for elections without the finalisation of the constitution-making
process are in breach of the GPA as well as the constitution… which gives
legitimacy to the inclusive government.”
Top government sources
said Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his
deputy Arthur
Mutambara agreed at their meeting last Friday to follow the
implementation
matrix they agreed on in August during the Sadc Summit in
Windhoek.
The inclusive government failed to meet the timelines
they set out in the
implementation matrix after Zanu PF said it would not
make any more
concessions until sanctions are removed.
Zanu PF
said the implementation of the agreed principles should be done
concurrently
and simultaneously with the removal of sanctions.
Mugabe has said he
will never swear-in Bennett and neither will he fire
Tomana and
Gono.
“The principals agreed to implement the 23 agreed issues as
these form the
basis of the roadmap to elections. These will be done within
the timeframes
they set out and some of these should be done within a month.
Implementation
was supposed to start this week,” one of the sources
said.
According to the implementation matrix contained in a document
sent to Sadc
mediator South African President Jacob Zuma on August 5 2010,
the three
principals agreed to implement most of the 23 issues either
immediately or
within a month.
They agreed to implement the
sanctions removal strategy on a continuous
basis.
All media
issues, which include regularisation of the Broadcasting Authority
of
Zimbabwe (BAZ) board, the appointment of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings
(ZBH) board and the constitution of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust
(ZMMT) are
supposed to be done within a month.
Information and Publicity
minister Webster Shamu in September last year
appointed boards to various
state-run media institutions without consulting
his deputy, who then was
Jameson Timba.
MDC-T lambasted Shamu for what they described as the
militarisation of BAZ
and ZBH.
In addition to the appointment of
several retired military personnel to the
institutions, Shamu appointed
former chairperson of the disbanded Media and
Information Commission,
Tafataona Mahoso, to chair BAZ, which is responsible
for issuing
broadcasting licences.
The principals agreed to end hate speech in
the media and put a stop to
attacks on ministers implementing government
programmes. This, they said,
should be done on a continuous
basis.
According to the implementation matrix, security sector
reforms should be
implemented on continuous basis. They agreed to ensure
that the
commissioner-general of the police, state security organs and the
Attorney-General should comply with Articles 11 and 13.
Article
11 deals with the rule of law, respect for the constitution and
other laws
and Article 13 states that state organs and institutions do not
belong to
any political party and should be impartial in the discharge of
their
duties.
Some of the issues they agreed to implement within a month
include the
appointment of a land audit commission, ministerial mandates
––assignment of
Acts –– and appointment of a national economic
council.
The principles which are supposed to be implemented
immediately include
endorsement of cabinet and council of ministers’ rules,
guidelines and
procedures as agreed on by the negotiators and rectification
of the Prime
minister’s transport arrangements.
They also
supposed to immediately speed up the process of vetting, training
and
engagement of security personnel for the Prime Minister and his
deputies,
regularise the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and appoint the
Anti-Corruption Commission and ensure that the permanent secretary of
information is apolitical.
The Minister of Justice is supposed to
immediately gazette the full text of
the Constitutional Amendment No.19 as
approved by parliament, while the
commissioner-general of the police and
co-Home Affairs minister are supposed
to reaffirm the right to freely
organise political activities.
The amendments to the Electoral Act
are supposed to be immediately
finalised.
Government is supposed
to implement within two months the following –– land
tenure systems,
expedite adoption of non-partisan and inclusive principles
and framework for
the selection of national heroes.
Meanwhile, sources in the
negotiation teams told Zimbabwe Independent that
only MDC-T and MDC-N have
presented their proposals to the roadmap on
elections, with Zanu PF saying
they should follow the roadmap outlined in
the GPA.
According to
the GPA, the processes leading to elections include drafting a
new
constitution, a referendum followed by elections.
In statements
issued by Zanu PF no mention has been made on the roadmap,
which Zuma is
supposed to present to the Sadc troika meeting expected end of
March.
Mugabe this week said: “Things must be done properly
within the GPA.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 20:01
Faith
Zaba
THE MDC formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai has demanded that the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) recruit new staff and rid itself of
alleged
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operatives inherited from
the
previous commission led by Justice George Chiweshe.
MDC-T wrote to
ZEC chairman Justice Simpson Mutambanengwe proposing a
wide-range of
electoral reforms, including a new biometric voters’ roll that
should be
implemented first before the country can hold elections.
The letter
written by MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti stated that there
was a need
for an impartial and transparent management of electoral
processes.
Biti wrote that there was “need for ZEC to be staffed
by new civilian
employers recruited by the present
commission.
“The obligation of ZEC is not to involve CIO in the
management and execution
of any election,” read the letter.
In
addition to a biometric voters’ roll, Biti urged the commission to ensure
that the delimitation of constituencies was conducted in a transparent and
impartial manner.
The MDC-T charged that the current voters roll
contained names of deceased
people and people who had ceased to be citizens
of Zimbabwe as well as
children born in 2008.
“Given this
scenario, it is our humble request that a new voters roll be
compiled and
that the same must be a biometric voters roll.”
Biometric voter
registration uses software which captures citizens’ data,
including
fingerprints and a digital photograph, directly in the field. The
system is
known to prevent multiple registrations and voting as it easily
detects
duplicity.
Biti impressed upon the ZEC to guarantee the right of
every Zimbabwean over
the age of 18 to vote, including those outside the
country.
MDC-T also wants a full audit of electoral processes at all
key stages and a
legal framework allowing for timeous announcement of
results to avoid what
happened in 2008 when there was a month’s
delay.
He also called for a speedy and impartial resolution of
electoral disputes
and complaints.
Since Margaret Dongo
successfully challenged the outcome of the Harare South
parliamentary poll
in 1995 citing fraud, 49 electoral cases were brought
before the courts
between 2000 and 2005. None of the cases were ever
resolved. The petitions
remained unresolved for a full term of office of an
MP denying prospective
MPs justice.
MDC-T wants Sadc to monitor the elections six months
before and six months
after the polls and full restoration of political
parties’ rights to hold
peaceful meetings, rallies and
demonstrations.
Observers should be granted free access to polling
stations for extensive
monitoring.
Biti said the reform and
realignment of the security sector to prevent abuse
by the military,
intelligence agencies and youth militia was paramount for
free and fair
elections.
He said there was a need to “prevent political abuse by
traditional leaders”,
“prevent political abuse of food aid”, “ensure the
full realisation of media
freedom” and “prevent Zanu PF abuse of state
resources, particularly
diamonds in Chiadzwa”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
20:00
Paidamoyo Muzulu
POLICE Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri yesterday told parliament that
the Organ on National Healing, and
not the police, was responsible for
resolving violence related to the 2008
presidential election run-off.
Chihuri refused to answer questions on the
2008 election violence when he
appeared before the Home Affairs Portfolio
Committee, which was probing
organised violence rocking the
country.
The police chief avoided answering questions on the
presidential run-off
poll saying the committee did not forewarn him to
prepare for that line of
questioning.
“I was not told (to
prepare) for the June 27 violence. That is being handled
by the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) and the Organ
on National
Healing (ONH),” said Chihuri.
He questioned the parliamentarians’
motive in asking him about that poll
when they knew that it was being
handled at a political level.
Jomic and ONH are institutions created
by the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) to help monitor the implementation
of agreed reforms.
Chihuri admitted that organised political violence
was the worst kind of
violence in any society as it needed the least or no
provocation at all to
happen adding that the police required substantial
funding from the state to
curb it.
“Policing is not a cheap
exercise. Police should be provided with enough
funds and have proper toys
of the trade to function effectively,” he said.
Police received
US$200 000 dollars from treasury last month for their
operations and Chihuri
described this allocation as inadequate to implement
policing
activities.
He disputed claims of police not dealing decisively with
torture camps set
up in certain communities and the unfair treatment of
victims of violence by
the MDC-T.
These reports, Chihuri said,
could not be substantiated and were generally
made for political expediency
as statistics from his offices showed that
both Zanu PF and MDC-T were
equally responsible for all forms of political
violence recorded from the
beginning of 2011.
He revealed that the police had so far handled 36
cases of political
violence countrywide and arrested 121 suspects. Of these,
Chihuri said 101
were MDC-T members and 20 from Zanu PF.
Among
the MDC-T senior leaders arrested were Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani
Khupe, Home Affairs minister Theresa Makone, Speaker of Parliament Lovemore
Moyo, Youth deputy minister Tongai Matutu and MPs Douglas Mwonzora, Rodgers
Tazviona and Paul Madzore.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:58
Tendai Zhanje
BISHOPS from the Anglican Church’s five
dioceses in Zimbabwe are now living
in fear after receiving death threats
from a faction allegedly linked to
Bishop Nolbert Kunonga.
Chad Gandiya
of Harare, Ishmael Mukuwanda of Central Zimbabwe, Cleopas Lunga
of
Matabeleland, Godfrey Tawonezvi of Masvingo and Julius Makoni of
Manicaland
claimed that the faction hired assassins to eliminate them for
blocking
Kunonga from becoming Archbishop of the Province of Central
Africa.
Tawonezvi said two men claiming to work for the faction
visited him last
month and confessed that they had orders to assassinate him
and the other
bishops because they were a threat to Kunonga’s ambition of
being ordained
archbishop.
Tawonezvi said the men who declined to
identify themselves approached him
under the pretext of discussing problems
in the Anglican Church and when he
informed them that these were only
prevalent in Harare, they warned him that
he would bear the consequences if
he continued to resist Kunonga.
“They told me that all five bishops
were targeted and warned that in future
some men will simply carry out their
orders,” said Tawonezvi.
Gandiya said they were living in fear and
they faced numerous threats and
intimidation every week. He added that he
has been followed by some
strangers on a number of occasions and his
congregation has also complained
about acts of intimidation by unknown
people.
“It’s the reality we live with. Our lives are threatened,”
said Gandiya.
He charged that Kunonga had voluntarily broken away
from the Anglican Church
which automatically disqualified him from holding
any position in the
church.
Kunonga dismissed the bishops’
allegations telling the Zimbabwe Independent
yesterday: “Be careful of doing
useless things. If someone wants to be
assassinated, they will just be
assassinated. I don’t do such things. What
does he (Tawonezvi) have that
makes him a target of assassination?”
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe
has been divided since Kunonga, a staunch
disciple of President Robert
Mugabe, in 2007 said he was pulling out of the
Harare Diocese of the Church
of the Province of Central Africa saying it
supported
homosexuality.
He has regularly blocked Gandiya and his followers
from using the churches
to worship.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 19:56
Paidamoyo
Muzulu
THE Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development has
started fining
contractors who missed the December deadline for completing
the construction
of 24 tollgates shelters across the country.
Ministry
permanent secretary Partison Mbiriri revealed this when he appeared
before
the Transport and Communication Parliamentary Portfolio Committee
this week
to give oral evidence on the progress of tollgates construction in
the
country.
More Wear Industries face a penalty of up to US$36 000 if
they fail to
complete construction of nine tollgates in Matabeleland and
Midlands by the
end of this month.
The company, a subsidiary of
Gulliver Consolidated Group, won the tender to
construct nine tollgates in
the southern provinces and should have completed
them by the end of December
2010.
Harare-based Tega Steel won the tender to construct 15
structures in the
northern provinces by the end of July this year. The
combined tenders are
worth US$1, 9 million.
“The contract was due
to be completed by December 31 2010 and we have since
invoked penalty
clauses,” Mbiriri told the committee. “The penalty is US$400
a day until
they complete the project. The penalty is deducted from the
company’s future
payments from the ministry.”
Mbiriri hastened to add that More Wear
Industries had since completed four
of the nine shelters it was contracted
to erect.
Tega Steel seems on track to meet its
deadline.
“Tega has since completed eight out of the 15 shelters they
were contracted
to construct. Their contract is due to run until end of July
this year and
we do not think that they will go beyond that period,” said
Mbiriri.
Meanwhile, Mbiriri said the Zimbabwe National Road Authority
(Zinara) would
soon introduce an electronic tollgate system aimed at
limiting revenue leaks
as well as being easier to audit. He said all cars
would be fitted with an
electronic disc on the dashboard where it can be
read by the tollgate
system.
Mbiriri said the system was ordered
from China and was at the port of Beira
in Mozambique en route to Zimbabwe.
He, however, said the efficient
operations of the system would depend on
uninterrupted power supply.
The system would initially be installed
at tollgates surrounding Harare and
Bulawayo.
A similar system
was installed on South Africa’s major highways, but was
suspended before it
could take off after government conceded that it needed
to further consult
motorists and freight companies because it was found to
be costly for road
users.
Mbiriri revealed that Zinara has raked in US$33 million from
toll gates
since their inception in 2009.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 19:55
Brian
Chitemba
STATE Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo has
declared his
interest in the MDC-T Bulawayo chairmanship despite attempts to
block him as
a Johnny-come-lately.
His declaration comes against the
backdrop of calls by the MDC-T Bulawayo
province leadership asking Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to bar Moyo from
campaigning for the chairmanship
saying he was “not eligible” to contest in
party polls.
The
provincial leadership says Moyo is ineligible because he officially
joined
the party two months ago. The MDC-T requires a member to have served
the
party in good standing for two years to qualify for a senior
post.
But Moyo told the Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday that it was
not him but
MDC members pushing for his candidacy.
“I have been
asked by the people to stand for the chairmanship. It is not
about Gorden
but the people of Bulawayo,” said Moyo.
Moyo was chairman of
pro-democracy group Bulawayo Agenda before he was
handpicked by Tsvangirai
to serve in his office at the inception of the
inclusive government two year
ago.
If Moyo is allowed to stand, he will battle with Mzilikazi
Senator Mattson
Hlalo, who has also declared his interest.
“It’s
not part of our protocol to tip yourself for any post, but when
members
express their desire to elect me chairman, I will not turn them
down,” said
Hlalo.
As the MDC-T congress draws near, widespread reports of
vote-buying and
factionalism have surfaced as members jostle for influential
positions.
MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti recently wrote to
provincial structures
instructing members of the party not to adopt
unconstitutional moves to
secure posts.
One such move he
castigated was the so called “Operation Gara Uripo or Mira
Uripo” whereby
some members are working to maintain the status quo.
“The national
executive committee has adopted a special code of conduct that
will deal
with the congress. The party will (exercise) zero tolerance to any
omissions
or commissions of misconduct,” wrote Biti.
“Vote-buying, sexism,
factionalism and any acts of misconduct will not be
tolerated.”
Youth Assembly chairperson Thamsanqa Mahlangu has
said ministers invited by
Tsvangirai should not take advantage of their
invitation to usurp party
power.
In another development, MDC-T
insiders said Tsvangirai was losing support in
Matabeleland North because of
the long running internal battle pitting
incumbent chairman Sengezo
Tshabangu and a faction led by provincial
information and publicity
secretary Margs Valley.
They said MDC-T members in Matabeleland North
were unhappy with leaders who
spent most their time in Bulawayo instead of
building party structures in
the province.
“Our structures in
Nkayi, Lupane and Binga are under stress because of the
leadership crisis in
the province. Zapu has taken advantage of our absence
at grass root
structures to garner support,” the party official said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 19:49
Paidamoyo
Muzulu
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Lands and
Resettlement
wants the ambitious US$600 million Chisumbanje ethanol project
partnership
agreement revised to curtail businessman Billy Rautenbach’s free
hand and
reflect the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda)’s
shareholding.
The committee said the 20-year partnership
agreement should be aligned with
government’s new indigenisation policy,
which requires locals to hold a 51%
stake in any joint venture worth more
than US$500 000.
Rautenbach’s company, Ratings, entered into
an agreement with Arda under
which it was allocated more than 10 000
hectares of land to produce
sugarcane for its ethanol production plant.
Ratings also had to repair
irrigation infrastructure, set up the blending
plant and operate it for 20
years before handing it over to
government.
Muzarabani MP Edward Raradza was unhappy that Arda was
not represented at
management level in the joint project which has a
potential annual turnover
exceeding US$100 million.
“We did not
see anyone from Arda in senior management when we visited
Chisumbanje,” said
Raradza. “What kind of partnership is that where one
party is not
represented in the day to day operations of the company? That
should not be
allowed to happen. This agreement needs revision.”
His sentiments
were echoed by Mhondoro MP Bright Matonga who said: “I think
for it to be an
equal partnership, Arda should recommend employment of
senior employees from
itself, such as an accountant or operations manager,
while Ratings can
appoint the general manager and finance director.
That will also improve
accountability and help government oversee its
investment.”
Arda
chairman Basil Nyabadza concurred saying the agreement was concluded at
a
time when the agricultural authority lacked enough capital to have much
say.
Nyabadza added that although the deal needed revision,
Ratings had
resuscitated the defunct Chisumbanje and Sabi estates and is set
to bring
government the much needed revenue once production
starts.
“This is not a perfect agreement. We will get it corrected.
We entered into
the deal when we did not have anything except land.
Chisumbanje and Sabi had
collapsed,” Said Nyabadza.
The project
is expected to produce 40 million litres of fuel by November
this year,
reducing the country’s high fuel importation bill.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:43
Faith Zaba
THE three political parties in the inclusive
government have clashed over
when fresh elections should be held and what
measures need to be in place in
the run-up to credible, free and fair
polls.
The two MDC formations want full implementation of the Global
Political
Agreement to precede polls, while Zanu PF maintains that this can
only be
done simultaneously with the removal of sanctions.
Political
analysts believe that the three parties will continue to have
divergent
views and not agree to implement necessary fundamental reforms
that will
ensure that the elections are not disputed.
Zanu PF, the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC party, and Welshman Ncube’s smaller
MDC faction have
agreed on 24 GPA principles but have failed to implement
most of them over
the last two years.
The three parties agreed to implement a sanctions
removal strategy, media
reforms which include regularising the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe,
appointing a new ZBC board, constituting the Zimbabwe
Mass Media Trust,
cessation of external radio broadcasts and security sector
reforms.
They also agreed to review ministerial allocations, carry out a
land audit,
come up with land tenure systems, transport arrangements for
principals, put
an end to external interference, set up a national economic
council,
selection of national heroes, constitutional commissions, the role
and
position of presidential spokesperson George Charamba and amendments to
electoral reforms.
But according to Zanu PF, only three things need
to be implemented before
fresh elections -- the speedy completion of the
constitution-making process,
followed by a referendum and then the enactment
of electoral reforms agreed
upon by negotiators from the three political
parties.
MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa said: “The GPA must be
implemented to the
full first before we can have elections in Zimbabwe.
Non-fulfillment of the
GPA undermines the roadmap to elections. The GPA is a
prescription for a
free and fair, and violence-free election.”
MDC-T
has 21 minimum conditions for a free and fair election, which it has
presented to Sadc mediator South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation
team.
These include drafting a new constitution, guaranteeing the
security of
people, an end to violence, the introduction of a biometric
voters’ roll, a
transparent and impartial delimitation process, full audit
of electoral
processes, Sadc monitors six months before and six months after
the
elections and security sector reforms and its realignment to prevent
political abuse by the military, intelligence agencies and youth
militia.
MDC-T also wants media freedoms, prevention of Zanu PF abuse of
state
resources, in particular diamonds in Chiadzwa, and an impartial and
professional Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
MDC-N secretary-general
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga concurred with
Chamisa saying full
implementation of the GPA was paramount to ensure a
credible, free and fair
election.
“The outstanding 23 GPA agreed points should be implemented
first before any
fresh elections,” Misihairabwi-Mushonga said.
In
response to the two MDC formations’ demands, Zanu PF spokesman Rugare
Gumbo
said ideally, full implementation of the GPA was what everyone wanted,
but
it should not be done selectively.
Gumbo said: “It’s a good idea. It’s
exactly what we want but it has to be
done concurrently with the removal of
sanctions. We can’t talk about full
implementation ignoring sanctions. They
can’t have isolated implementation.”
He reiterated President Robert
Mugabe’s assertion that elections would be
held with or without a new
constitution later this year. Zanu PF has
declared that it is prepared to
revert to the old constitution minus
Amendment No 19.
Amendment No 19
gave birth to the current inclusive government.
“MDC is just trying to
delay elections, but they are not going to hold back
the process — the
constitution-making process followed by a referendum and
then elections.
Reforms have to be done by parliamentarians, it is their
responsibility —
but it’s not going to keep the process back. We are
definitely having
elections this year — the president reiterated this,”
Gumbo
said.
Political analysts concurred saying the MDCs’ call for full
implementation
of the GPA was a two-pronged strategy — as a delay process
and also because
they do not have a strategy to mobilise people to resist
polls under
unfavourable conditions.
Analysts told the Zimbabwe
Independent that the MDC formations’ strategy to
delay elections would not
work because power in the inclusive government
rests with
Mugabe.
National Constitutional Assembly chairman Professor Lovemore
Madhuku said:
“They (MDC formations) know that they are not ready for
elections. They know
that they will reach 2013 even if elections are delayed
without achieving
anything. Their term is almost halfway (if we are to go by
the five-year
parliamentary term) without anything.
I don’t think
they have the mind set or the will to ensure fundamental
reforms.
Another political analyst, Charles Mangongera, said MDC-T
was definitely not
ready for elections, but currently had no plan B if
Mugabe insisted on early
polls.
“It’s a two-pronged strategy — one to
delay the process,” he said. “I have
no doubt that they are not ready for
elections. Zanu PF has been preparing
for elections for a long time and now
they (MDC) are realising that time is
up and anytime Mugabe can call for
elections. They know that full
implementation will not happen.
“The
best Zanu PF will try to do are reforms that are limited to electoral
reforms and not fundamental reforms like security reforms and media freedom
that will create space where people are free to vote,” said
Mangongera.
Madhuku said there was apparent confusion in MDC-T and the party
was just
making rhetorical pronouncements.
“They are not serious
about reforms because the constitution-making process
can never be
democratic. What will happen in the end is that Zanu PF will
push for an
election and we will end up with an election with no conditions
that allow
for free and fair elections.
Mangongera added that the other reason for
the call was because MDC-T has no
strategy to mobilise people to resist
elections.
“There are no strategists in MDC-T. They don’t know how to
mobilise. The
problem with MDC-T is that they keep on saying they don’t want
elections but
what is their plan B? Do they have sufficient skills to
mobilise against
elections? ”
He said MDC-T did not have sufficient
power in the inclusive government to
postpone elections that Mugabe
wants.
Regional coordinator at Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Dewa Mavhinga,
who is
based in South Africa, agreed with Mangongera saying it was up to
Zuma to
demand minimum reforms before elections.
“Failure to
implement any significant reforms over the last two years is a
clear
indicator that this inclusive government on its own has neither the
capacity
nor the necessary political will to implement critical reforms
unless
President Zuma and Sadc make clear demands for minimum reforms ahead
of
elections,” he said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 19:29
Brian
Chitemba
POLITICAL analysts say President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF’s
anti-sanctions campaign will fail to achieve its intended outcome until his
regime prioritises the implementation of political and economic
reforms.
The former liberation movement blames the sanctions
imposed on Mugabe and
his inner circle by the United States (US) and the
European Union (EU) for
Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown, but critics have
fingered his increasing
mal-administration.
On Wednesday the
87-year-old leader launched the National Anti-Sanctions
Petition aimed at
garnering two million signatures against the embargo to be
handed over to
the US and the EU embassies in the capital.
The US and EU slapped the
octogenarian leader and his cabal with travel bans
and an asset freeze over
alleged gross human rights abuses, unbridled
disregard for the rule of law,
political intolerance, electoral fraud and
endemic corruption. The US passed
the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act (ZIDERA) which prevents
Zimbabwe from accessing financial
assistance from the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank.
Political analyst and dean of the Faculty of
Communication and Information
Science at the National University of Science
and Technology (Nust) in
Bulawayo Lawton Hikwa said the anti-sanctions
crusade can only have an
impact if it is driven by the inclusive government
and not as part of Zanu
PF’s electioneering.
The lobby’s campaign
advertisements inserted in local newspapers are
sponsored by Zanu PF, but
carried the government emblem, indicating that the
lobby is a clear Zanu PF
campaign strategy rather than a national cause.
Hikwa said the sanctions
issue was contentious because political parties
viewed them
differently.
“Some parties say the sanctions are targeted while Zanu PF
believes they are
wholesale and not personalised,” he said. “The inclusive
government is
supposed to be at the forefront of the fight against sanctions
because they
represent the views of most Zimbabweans. Zanu PF only speaks
for its
supporters, not everyone.”
Hikwa said the sanctions mantra
should not overshadow the full
implementation of the Global Political
Agreement and other reforms, such as
an end to political
violence.
However, Zanu PF insists that the punitive measures are an
attack on the
country’s economy, health, land reform and national
sovereignty, and that
they are racist and also aimed at effecting regime
change.
“Sanctions are an attack on our health, on the education of our
children, on
our social services and our infrastructure. They are an attack
on the entire
fabric of our society,” reads the campaign
advertisements.
“Sanctions are illegal, undeserved and spiteful. They are
unilaterally
imposed outside the United Nations mandate by a British-led
Western
coalition defending minority rights in our country,” reads the
message
penned by the Zanu PF information department.
Zanu PF
spokesman Rugare Gumbo said the anti-sanctions campaign will achieve
its
intended goals if Zimbabweans are united against them.
“We want the
sanctions to go. This is the year the sanctions will go,” said
Gumbo.
The EU recently renewed sanctions against Mugabe and some
members of his
inner circle for another year saying there was a sluggish
approach in the
implementation of the GPA, which gave birth to the inclusive
government of
Zanu PF, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and the
squabbling smaller
MDC formation of Welshman Ncube and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara.
The shaky coalition was formed two years ago in a bid
to end political
strife and a biting economic meltdown. Zanu PF says
sanctions are part of
the GPA’s outstanding issues which should be addressed
while the MDC-T
points to the unilateral appointments of new provincial
governors, the
Reserve Bank governor and Attorney-General, among others, as
the major
stumbling block.
But Hikwa insists that Zanu PF must first
attend to domestic issues, such as
addressing human rights abuses and
violence to boost the image of Zimbabwe
before it can call for the lifting
of the punitive measures.
“All political players have to encourage their
supporters to shun violence
and heal the political environment before we
reach out for an end to
sanctions,” Hikwa said.
He noted that the
failure by the government to access financial assistance
from multilateral
lending agencies had a negative effect on industrial
capacity utilisation
causing most companies to scale down operations and
even shutting down,
resulting in massive job losses.
Strangely, according to analysts, the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI) and the Zimbabwe National Chamber
of Commerce (ZNCC) joined hands with
Zanu PF during the
campaign.
Joseph Kanyekanye, the president of the CZI, was one of the key
speakers at
the campaign launch despite the fact that Mugabe had last
Saturday attacked
business and threatened to seize Nestle and Zimplats as
part of the
empowerment drive his party is pursuing. ZNCC president Trust
Chikohoro was
quoted in the state media backing the anti-sanctions
campaign.
The secretary-general of the Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations
(Nango), Godwin Phiri, dismissed the anti-sanctions lobby as a
Zanu PF
tactic to measure its support base. Phiri said the campaign would be
ignored
by foreign governments which imposed the sanctions given that the
two-year
inclusive government has done little to implement tangible
reforms.
“Zanu PF is responsible for the sanctions because its regime
perpetrated
human rights abuses. They should first correct that before
sanctions are
removed,” said Phiri.
Last year, Presidents Jacob Zuma
of South Africa, Hifikepunye Pohamba of
Namibia and Rupiah Banda of Zambia
were tasked by Sadc to engage Washington
and Brussels to lobby for the
lifting of sanctions, but their pleas have not
yielded anything to
date.
US President Barack Obama’s administration responded by saying it
would only
review sanctions when the rule of law is restored and human
rights
violations completely ceased.
Phiri said Zuma should push Zanu
PF to restore the rule of law and end
political violence before engaging the
west over sanctions.
The smaller MDC faction castigated Zanu PF for using
the government emblem
in its anti-sanctions drive saying this displayed
dishonesty and a lack of
respect for other signatories to the
GPA.
“We have the GPA to deal with the sanctions and for Zanu PF to
launch
another way to push for removal of the measures shows that the party
is
insincere and doesn’t recognise some provisions of the agreement,” MDC
spokesman Nhlanhla Dube said.
Tsvangirai and his party boycotted the
launch arguing that the sanctions
issue should be dealt with within the
confines of the GPA.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 19:20
By Rutendo
Victoria Ndoro
THE unbanked are described as those without an account at
a bank or other
financial institution and are considered to be outside the
mainstream
society for one reason or another.
This is largely due to
the restrictive requirements for opening a bank
account as well as the fact
that a large segment of the country’s population
reside in the rural areas
where there is limited accessibilty.
With this in mind, the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe’s said that the Know Your
Customer (KYC) requirements for
opening a bank account are no longer
restricted to proof of residence in the
form of a utility bills and lease
agreements, as a letter from a recognised
organisation would suffice, in
addition to affidavits from landlords and
third party home owner
certificates.
Of late, there has been a lot of
talk about whether Zimbabwe has too many
banks in relation to the size of
its economy.
Royal and Trust banks have resumed operations and are
showing signs of
aggressive marketing strategies exhibited by their offering
of high
investment rates and lenient account opening
requirements.
Currently, there are 18 commercial banks, four Merchant
Banks, four Building
Societies, POSB and IDBZ. Numbers aside, there is a
need to understand
whether banks old and new are targeting the so-called
unbanked or informal
sector that is not taxed or included in the
GDP.
Is it a titanic mission to capture this market, or there is really
just a
need to develop unique technology-based financial products and
services for
the unbanked whom established financial institutions have
neglected in the
past?
Of interest though is that most banks are of
the general consensus that
there is an untapped money system in Zimbabwe.
Royal Bank CEO Jeff Mzwimbi
is quoted as saying, “There is no such thing as
Zimbabwe is over-banked”.
He goes further to say that Royal Bank is not
worried that there are already
bigger market players in the
sector.
The bank is targeting 10% of the US$3 billion said to be
circulating in the
informal sector, funds held by the
unbanked.
Individuals who make minimal or no use of banking services are
more likely
to be low level income earners and have low levels of
education.
Their expenditure therefore is likely to be in the informal
sector where
goods and services are cheaper.
The unbanked sector gets
satisfaction from knowing how much something will
cost as opposed to
transacting via banks whom they perceive as demonstrating
a lack of
transparency around what the transacting fees are going to be.
When such
persons deposit money in a bank they tend to think of immediate
returns.
What has been of great concern to the public are the
charges, which at some
point were said to be way above other banks in the
region. Are Zimbabwean
banks using accounts as a means of raising
capital?
The masses still have scars of the problems they faced trying to
access
their funds during the hyper-inflationary period and when their
balances
were reduced to nothing thereafter. The herculean task now lies
with the
banks to try and restore confidence in their sector.
Wells
Fargo, a US bank says the only way to lure the unbanked people of any
economy would be through transparency between the banks and customers,
financial education in communities and a willingness to do small dollar
banking transactions.
Without a bank account to deposit money into,
cash can easily be spent, lost
and or stolen.
Another complicating
factor is the nature of the work undertaken by the
population making up the
unbanked sector, which in Zimbabwe is characterised
by farm workers, day
labourers, security guards, commuter omnibus drivers,
food and vegetable
vendors.
They are paid in lump sums on irregular schedules, making it
difficult and
expensive for them to maintain an account, let alone meet loan
requirements
or keep enough money to avoid penalty fees resulting in their
avoiding banks
altogether.
In the past six months some banks have
tried to introduce plastic money
which should definitely see transactions
increasing between banks and the
unbanked informal sector. Kingdom Bank has
come up with the Cell Card, FBC
has its One Wallet card and Tetrad
Investment Bank has launched the E-mali
transacting card.
There is
however room for better understanding from the masses of the
efficiencies
and benefits of using plastic money as opposed to direct cash
transactions.
Volumes might level off and increase thereafter as
banks consolidate and
move into new markets by utilising new and innovative
channels to extend
their reach to capture the almost mythical unbanked
segment of the economy.
The time has come for banks in Zimbabwe to
introduce highly innovative
products to bring in the large volumes said to
be untapped in the informal
sector but also recognising the harsh realities
stated above.
With the growth of the economy, there is hope that the gap
will be narrowed,
as salaries and living conditions improve, more and more
people will have
access to information that will eventually pull them into
the formal sector.
However, the question remains whether the economy is
growing at the same
rate as the hunger banks have for recovery after the
hyper-inflationary
period.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:35
ZIMBABWE is being rewarded for its fiscal management by the EU with
the
lifting of certain categories of sanctions. EU head of delegation Aldo
dell’Arrichia
is using the 2008 benchmark for when the GPA came into being.
Which means it
is not interested in the period 2002-8 when its own observer
group under the
leadership of Pierre Schiori was booted out of the country
for noticing
uncomfortable things.
Now we have a repetition of that bad
behaviour but this time the EU thinks
Zimbabwe warrants indulgence.
Activists are being arrested and assaulted in
Harare; others have been held
in Nyanga, allegedly for fomenting violence
when the real miscreants are
still busy with their own agenda. Has dell’Arrichia
heard of Mbare?
The
EU took stock of the progress in addressing the economic crisis and the
improvement in service delivery, we are told.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF has
launched a massive exercise in dishonesty trying to
tell the country that
sanctions are at the root of our problems. Under the
heading “10 strong
reasons why you must sign against illegal sanctions”,
Zanu PF tells us
sanctions are “an attack on all Zimbabweans and an attack
on our
economy”.
In fact it is difficult to guess what measures constitute an
“attack on all
Zimbabweans”. Trade restrictions have been eased in regard to
a number of
companies. And trade between EU countries and Zimbabwe has been
growing
without disturbance.
However, we note the planned retaliation
against Nestlé because it declined
to buy milk from the Gushungo dairy owned
by the first family. Here we have
a good example of an “attack upon the
economy”. And Sadc should be alerted
to this unacceptable example of a
reputable and widely known company being
harassed because it won’t, or
rather can’t, do business in Zimbabwe under
these
circumstances.
“Sanctions are illegal, undeserved and spiteful,” Zanu PF
says.
Doesn’t that sound a bit like land reform? Zanu PF describes sanctions
as
“racist”. Let’s not forget that it was the Sadc Tribunal, which commands
a
good deal more respect than Zanu PF, that described land reform Zanu
PF-style as “racist”.
We note that a handful of misguided business
people have signed up for this
coercive and hypocritical scheme. That
includes people who should know
better like Shingi Mutasa.
Mutasa is
widely respected in the business community. Does he really want to
be seen
as part of Zanu PF’s damaging project? The same goes for Nigel
Chanakira who
appears to think the EU is “bitter” about land reform. No
mention from his
round table colleagues about electoral violence or
manipulation.
Come on
Nigel, you can do better than this.
And we were surprised to see President
Mugabe’s attack on Zimplats which he
said had contributed “nothing
substantial to the development of the country”.
Not so long ago he was
telling us that Zimplats with its roads, schools, and
power plants was
emblematic of the investment the country needs. Now he has
targeted them for
take-over.
”There is a lot of money that is not benefiting the country,”
Mugabe said.
“There are huge deposits of platinum and gold. Let’s now deal
with these
companies,” he said inviting Empowerment minister Saviour
Kasukuwere to work
on indigenising “soonest”.
That’s a bit like inviting
the fox into the henhouse!
And hasn’t Obert Mpofu given us a helpful glimpse
recently of what happens
when ministers get involved in mining? Now Mugabe
is asking questions. Where
did all those millions go? That’s what everybody
wants to know!
Emmerson Mnangagwa has accused NewsDay of “twisting his
words” when
answering a question in parliament about whether Zimbabwean
troops were
supporting Col Gadaffi in Libya.
It is rather difficult
imagining how a veteran political operator like
Mnangagwa could get his
words “twisted”. Any perusal of the record will
show he was quoted
accurately in response to a question from Innocent
Gonese. He may not have
liked the headline but NewsDay got the story right.
As for his indignation
that such a heading should appear to mislead people,
don’t we recall the
active role the minister played in the DRC in the 1990s
and the headlines
arising therefrom? Wasn’t there some mention of diamonds
and invitations to
Zimbabwean business people to get involved in business
deals in the
DRC?
Then we had Mozambique’s Defence minister last week condemning
sanctions.
“Zimbabwe is not worthy of penalisation or punishment…” he said.
“We believe
the issue of Zimbabwe must be solved internally.”
So what’s
he doing commenting on Zimbabwe’s internal affairs?
Whenever Zimbabwe has
some crazy scheme being implemented, it always drags
in any unsuspecting
visitor who is required to repeat the latest party
mantra.
During the
land reform programme visitors were required to say how important
land
reform was to correcting the imbalances in ownership. Do you remember
Zambia’s President Frederick Chiluba trotting out the official line and only
managing to attract the support of one slightly unhinged opposition
MP?
Ignatius Chombo also got on the scapegoat bandwagon telling a
visiting
delegation from the Namibian Local Government ministry that the
country had
made significant progress in various development programmes, but
all this
had been crippled by the “vicious sanctions regime” introduced in
2002 by
the West following the introduction of the land reform
programme.
“We had a vibrant local government sector which was active in
service
provision but all this was stalled by the sanctions imposed on the
country
by the West.”
The Namibian delegation said it had a lot to learn
from Zimbabwe especially
when it is under sanctions.
That’s true. First
of all brand them “illegal sanctions” so it looks as if
you are on the side
of the angels. Then blame every single fault –– and
there are many –– on the
former colonial power. That dishonesty will be
swallowed by the solidarity
mob who need to find somewhere to park their
ideological
luggage.
Then along come the Namibians who don’t seem to understand that
there exist
other people in Zimbabwe apart from Zanu PF supporters.
Have
the Namibians not picked up the fact that, as in Tunisia, Egypt and
Libya,
one day they will be on the receiving end of their people’s anger. It
happens about 30 years into independence when the post-liberation
aristocracies have plundered their homelands.
It is all very predictable
and justifies the heading: “There’s a lot to
learn from Zim”.
Indeed
there is, most notably from Ignatius Chombo who was on hand to
demonstrate
the connection between acquisition of material things and
ministerial
elevation. And thanks to the crowd who laughed uproariously as
the Namibian
official stumbled through his “solidarity” speech.
We are glad to note
that President Robert Mugabe has seen the futility of
unleashing violence on
the electorate to win support. He recently called
upon his supporters to
desist from violence.
“Please no violence,” he said. “Violence will get us
nowhere. I don’t want
anyone singing my name under duress having been forced
to do so through
violence. People who sing must do so
voluntarily.”
Mugabe was speaking at his 87th birthday celebrations at
Rainbow Towers last
Saturday. Hopefully those statements were said in
sincerity and his
supporters will take heed.
ZBC in its reportage of the
speech shamelessly tried to link the violence to
the MDC-T when it was clear
that the president was addressing his own
supporters.
The president’s
call, ZTV’s Tendai Munengwa claimed, “comes amid calls by
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai for Egyptian-style demonstrations to occur
in
Zimbabwe”.
Zanu PF is now in overdrive in calling for the removal of the
“debilitating”
and “illegal” sanctions imposed on their officials. Every
other ill
bedevilling the nation is now being attributed to sanctions. At
this rate we
might see the erratic rainfall, old age and global warming
being attributed
to the sanctions.
Whither the sanctions “busting”
measures and the Look East policy?
Scapegoating is the new Zanu PF campaign
strategy and it is well and truly
reaching ridiculous
proportions.
Vice-President John Nkomo claimed that sanctions have destroyed
the country’s
economy while also trying to destroy Zimbabwean people
psychologically.
“This because the destruction caused by the illegal
sanctions has wreaked
havoc indiscriminately,”
Not to be outdone Zanu PF
Harare District Coordinating Committee 4 members
described the “illegal”
sanctions as a bad scheme that has dealt Zimbabweans
a very cruel blow and
almost destroyed their livelihoods.
The Herald on Tuesday boldly claimed that
Zimbabweans had pledged to rally
behind the National Anti-Sanctions Petition
Campaign. The Zimbabweans he was
referring to only he knows. Muckraker would
find it hard to believe that he
was to referring to hardworking Zimbabweans
who have more useful things to
do than wasting a day calling for the removal
of sanctions against their
oppressors.
“Ordinary people,” the Herald
tells us, “yesterday expressed outrage at the
continued imposition of the
embargo and the two MDC formations’ support of
the debilitating
sanctions.”
Cross Border Traders Association of Zimbabwe president Killer
Zivhu said the
association’s membership was behind the
initiative.
“Sanctions are affecting everyone and we want to see millions of
Zimbabweans
rallying behind the president,” he said.
Some malicious
quarters claim the sanctions have stopped them from trading
“overseas”, in
South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.
Will these EU scoundrels stop at
nothing?
We are perfectly aware that ZBH’s radio stations need to raise
revenue
through advertising. We also appreciate that many advertisers prefer
to air
their ads during prime time when listenership figures are at their
peak.
However, even after generously conceding that the state broadcaster
has to
make money to survive, what is now happening during the peak
listenership
slots –– especially about 6.30am-8am –– has reached ludicrous
proportions ––
especially on Power FM.
It is no exaggeration that the
slot has become something of a
flea-market-cum-circus. Instead of being
treated to some get-up-and-go
music, at least occasionally, the DJs are busy
advertising this product then
that, sometimes without even a convenient
break between the products being
advertised.
And what’s more, the same
voices will, for instance, advertise one cellular
network for which they
sing praises and a short while later sing equally
enthusiastic praises for a
rival network.
We also have another DJ calling himself “The Riddle master”
asking listeners
to phone in if they have the answer to riddles.
Goodness
gracious! Who wants to be answering riddles when they have just
woken
up?
Finally Muckraker’s attention has been drawn to the fact that the
chairman
of the National War Veterans Association, Jabulani Sibanda, was
born on
December 31 1970.
So how does that make him a war “veteran” when
he was 10 years old at the
time the war finished?
Let’s bear this in mind
when Zanu PF next claims to be the party of honesty
and vision.
What a
joke!
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:33
Eric Bloch
IT was a British prime minister of the 19th
century, Benjamin Disraeli, who
said that there are “lies, damned lies, and
statistics”, and that is the
impression gained by this columnist from a
recently published book, Zimbabwe’s
Land Reform: Myths and Realities, by
Ian Scoones, Nelson Marongwe, Blasio
Mavedzenge, Jacob Mehenehene, Felix
Murimbarimba and Chrispen Sukume.
With funding partially provided by the
United Kingdom’s Department for
International Development (DFID), a group of
British and South African
professors conducted a study of Zimbabwe’s
programme of land reform as
pursued since 2000.
The researchers
state that their aim was “not to deny what has happened,
including some
appalling violations and abuses”.
However, they add that “there is an
enormous amount of confusion,
misinformation and misunderstanding about what
happened to whom, where, and
with what consequences over the last decade,
and a more nuanced story
urgently needs to be told”.
To all
intents and purposes, they conclude that there are five key myths on
the
land reform programme, being:
* Zimbabwe’s land reform has
been a total failure;
* The beneficiaries of Zimbabwean land reform
have, to a major extent,
been politicians and those related or connected to
the political hierarchy;
* There has been no investment in the
resettled lands;
* Agriculture has been totally destroyed, and there
is consequential
intense food insecurity;
* Zimbabwe’s rural
economy has been totally decimated and destroyed.
Scoones and his
colleagues say that “by challenging these myths, and
suggesting alternative
policy narratives, we do not want fall into the trap
of offering an
unjustifiably positive picture. We want instead to present
the story as we
have observed it on the ground: warts and all”.
However, they have
blatantly not achieved their declared objective for they
conclude that
thousands of families who were recipients of land succeeded in
establishing
a base for themselves as serious producers “with the capacity
to contribute
significantly to Zimbabwe’s agricultural economy”.
They seek to
reinforce this by stating that “today Zimbabwe has a radically
altered
agrarian structure”.
In 1980, over 15 million hectares was devoted to
large-scale commercial
farming by around 6 000 farmers.
This fell
to around 12 million hectares by 1999, in part through a modest
but, in many
ways, successful land reform and resettlement programme. Today
there are
still five million hectares under large-scale farming, some of it
in very
large holdings”.
“There are perhaps only 200-300 white commercial farmers
still operating,
with most having been displaced, along with a substantial
number of farm
workers.
Most land today is under small-scale
farming, either as communal areas or
resettlement. Estimates vary, but
around seven million hectares have been
taken over through the land reform
programme since 2000.”
The study acknowledges that there have been
some major changes in
agricultural production, with commodities such as
tobacco, beef,
horticulture, tea and coffee having been severely reduced in
volumes under
the implementation of the land reform.
It further
notes that food production has diminished, with special reference
to
maize.
But, notwithstanding the study noting these negative
developments, it
nevertheless concludes that, overall, land reform has been
a success.
Its authors appear to have had no, or very little, regard
to the huge
economic prejudices attributable almost wholly to the land
reform, and to
the magnitude of blatant and contemptuous disregard for human
and property
rights, and law and order.
They note the significant
numbers of Zimbabweans, and their families, who
have been resettled, whilst
ignoring that over 300 000 agricultural workers
were rendered unemployed,
rendering them and almost two million dependants
poverty-stricken.
They similarly discount their own
acknowledgements of the decline in
agricultural production, to an extent
that between 2000 and 2009:
* Tobacco production fell from
237 million kg to 45 million kg, (albeit
very markedly increased in 2010 and
2011), and the consequential negative
impacts upon essential foreign
exchange generation.
* The national livestock herd has shrunk to
about 35% of its 2000 level.
* Until 2 000, not only did Zimbabwe
produce enough maize to feed the
nation (1,8 million
tonnes), but
also to export to such an extent that Zimbabwe was regarded as
the regional
breadbasket.
* Foreign investment was grievously deterred by
Zimbabwe’s arrogant
breaches of its Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreements,
by it determinedly failing to compensate the
displaced farmers, and by fears
that the State’s expropriation of the farms
could well be a precursor to a
future expropriation of urban properties and
of businesses (recently such
fears being reinforced by the enactment of
Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment legislation).
* Hundreds,
if not more, of former white farmers and their families were
victims
ofpronounced violence, wholly associated with the land reform
programme,
sustaining severe injuries and sometimes loss of life.
In conducting
their study, the researchers concentrated heavily on Masvingo
province.
They argue that “the Masvingo story is more generally
representative of the
geographical majority of the country beyond the
Highveld” (whilst admitting
that it was in the Highveld that there was “the
greatest disruption of
high-level, politically-driven land grabbing” and
“where the concentrations
of election violence, particularly in 2008,
were”).
And yet,
whilst not disputing that Masvingo was a significant agricultural
area, its
overall contribution to Zimbabwean agricultural output prior to
the land
reform programme was a relatively small one, as compared to that of
Mashonaland East, West, North and Central, Midlands, Matabeleland North and
South, and Manicaland.
Therefore, a study almost wholly focused
on only Masvingo Province cannot
automatically yield results representative
of Zimbabwe as whole.
No matter how fervently some, including the
study’s researchers, may contend
that the land reform programme was not a
disaster, the reality is that it
was two disasters, being on the one hand
the horrendously economic and
humanitarian consequences and, on the other
hand, that Zimbabwe did need a
land reform programme, but one that was
constructive and nationally
beneficial, just and humane.
The
programme pursued precluded such a necessary and desirable programme.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011 19:27
By Judith
Smith-Hohn
WITH the second anniversary of Zimbabwe’s controversial Global
Political
Agreement (GPA) having passed last month, there is increasing
focus on the
likelihood of elections.
Despite the Parliamentary Select
Committee (Copac) setting September 30 2011
as the date for the
constitutional referendum, thereby increasing the
likelihood that elections
are deferred until 2012, there continues to be
uncertainty as to whether key
political players will gear up for the event
this year, especially Zanu
PF.
A key element is the advanced age of President Robert Mugabe,
currently
considered to be the best candidate to lead Zanu PF into the
polls.
Mugabe would most likely want to organise, and preferably win,
elections at
the earliest possible date in order to reinforce his party’s
hold on power.
Yet analysts highlight the lack of significant economic
and political
progress as grounds for delaying elections until conditions
have become more
favourable.
There are three likely scenarios for
Zimbabwe as we enter 2011: elections
could be held in the wake of a full
implementation of the GPA; or in the
context of a continued stalemate and no
agreement between the principals on
the outstanding issues; or, finally,
elections could be postponed until the
full implementation of the
GPA.
For the first scenario to occur, one needs to assume that the
principals to
the transitional power-sharing arrangement have come to an
agreement on the
most important of the still outstanding issues, including
among others, all
parties confirming and approving key government
appointments, the allocation
of vacant positions to the designated
individuals, and the resolution of the
issue of sanctions in one way or
another.
One must further assume that the process is taking place under a
new
constitution. In this best-case scenario, the international donor
community
would readily pledge technical and other support for an
election.
Sadc, as guarantor of the GPA, and South Africa as its
designated
facilitator, could not only provide additional support, but could
also mark
the occasion as a victory for regional intervention in the spirit
of
“African solutions to African problems”.
Electoral observers would
be posted well before the event to ensure
preparations run smoothly and
without violence and intimidation.
Many believe that such a scenario
would bring about an election victory for
the MDC.
Since several Zanu
PF hardliners are reluctant to accept an MDC win, there
is a real
probability of a repeat of the violence and intimidation witnessed
in 2008
to prevent this from happening, particularly given the history of
violence
in several previous elections. Should the MDC still emerge
victorious, it is
doubtful that the security sector — most importantly the
members of the
Joint Operations Command (JOC) and other hardliners within
Zanu PF — would
accept the economic and political uncertainty that such an
outcome would
pose for their futures.
The more likely scenario is that the elections
are scheduled for 2011
without the full implementation of the GPA.
While
it would certainly be more difficult for the international community
to
pledge their support, such support might still be forthcoming. However,
this
would prove a difficult process to manage.
Electoral observation would
most likely be restricted to only allow the
presence of certain regional and
continental bodies. Again, there is a high
probability of violence as those
opposed to the transitional process apply
the same tactics of intimidation
in support of Zanu PF as they did in 2008.
More importantly, regardless
of whether the MDC emerges victorious or not,
and given the uncompromising
attitude of Zanu PF ever since the
power-sharing agreement was signed, the
latter would surely not accept an
electoral defeat.
One might therefore
see a repeat of a negotiation process that would
ultimately lead to a new
transitional arrangement between the major parties.
In both scenarios
outlined above, in other words in the case of elections
being held this
year, with or without the full implementation of the GPA,
much depends on
the behaviour of the security sector and high-ranking
officers within that
sector. This group must be presented with a viable,
alternative source of
income and some guarantee that they will not be
prosecuted for wrongs
committed against the population in support of Zanu
PF.
Without any
such assurances, they will most likely remain resistant to a
transition that
ultimately holds little room for them.
The Joint Operations Command (Joc)
— a national security think-tank made up
of army, police, prisons and
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
chiefs — still appears to maintain
an influence on decision-making processes
within Zanu PF. High-ranking
military officers continue to occupy management
positions in state-owned
companies, and retired or redeployed officers hold
positions as permanent
secretaries in the civil service.
Also, Joc spearheaded the violent
campaign to reduce support for the MDC
during the 2008 elections, and they
would likely face prosecution for crimes
committed against the civilian
population, particularly during this period.
It has been shown elsewhere
that the transformation of security institutions
is critical for the success
of any political transition. Only once security
institutions begin to put
citizens’ interest at the centre instead of
protecting the interests of a
select few, will there be movement towards
creating the stable and secure
national environment in which development can
thrive and be
sustained.
The third, more promising scenario is where elections are
delayed due to the
continued lack of progress in fully implementing the GPA.
This would reflect
recognition that the conditions for convening elections
that could be
considered free and fair by all participating parties had not
been met. It
is doubtful that the parties that constitute the transitional
government
would utilise the additional time to resolve the perpetual
dispute over
senior political appointments, since they had not managed to
make any
headway on this issue nearly two years after
inauguration.
However, the time could be used to complete and implement
crucial processes,
such as drafting the constitution, conducting a land
audit, and addressing
the need for security sector transformation, to name
but a few.
In this third scenario, it matters less whether the GPA is fully
implemented, for all parties would have bought more time to complete and
implement processes instrumental to rebuilding the state, thereby cementing
the democratisation process.
The constitution-making process is but
one example with proceedings
currently months behind schedule, having yet to
process the data from the
public outreach exercise needed to draft the
document. It would, therefore,
be difficult to schedule a referendum on
time, much less hold a national
election by rnid-2011.
If it were
possible to delay elections, focus could instead turn to the
mammoth tasks
of facilitating sustainable economic recovery, addressing the
issue of
ownership rights, conducting a land audit, ensuring that the wealth
created
from the mining sector is directed to state coffers and not siphoned
off
into the pockets of individuals, and addressing issues of reconciliation
and
justice.
This would require the political will of all stakeholders to
agree on and
implement the policy reforms required to facilitate the
transitional process
and in so doing, effect lasting change in
Zimbabwe.
Judy Smith-Hohn is a senior researcher at the Institute for
Security
Studies in South Africa – www.the-african.org.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:25
Dumisani Nkomo
AMENDMENT number 19 to the Zimbabwean
constitution, Section 23, enshrines
the right of every Zimbabwean to
political rights and more specifically the
right to free and fair elections
and referendums.
The current conditions prevailing in the country make it
impossible for a
free and fair election to be held in the next 24 months.
Holding elections
under the current conditions would be an infringement on
the rights of
Zimbabweans as envisaged and articulated by Section 23[a],[b]
and [c] of the
country’s supreme law. Violence has found expression in both
overt and
physical violence such as the recent outbreak of lawlessness in
Harare as
well as structural violence embedded in prohibitive
legislation.
This has been accentuated by Zanu PF’s flagrant
disregard of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) and the imperatives of
institutional, legislative
and constitutional reform. Furthermore Zimbabwe
is miles away from meeting
the requirements of the Sadc Guidelines on the
Conduct of Democratic
Elections which envisages amongst other things fair
and balanced media
coverage and the existence of conditions permissive to
freedom of
association and assembly, adequate voter education and an
accessible, up to
date voters roll.
To this end I strongly
believe that it is not only imprudent but also
scandalous to hold elections
under conditions which are at variance with
minimum requirements envisaged
under instruments and frameworks such as the
country’s constitution, the GPA
and the Sadc guidelines.
I am aware that there is no shortage of
insanity in the country and
prospects of such a plebiscite taking place are
high considering Zanu PF‘s
propensity for actions which are suicidal to the
country’s well being.After
all as Alexander Pope observed: Fools rush in
where angels fear to tread.
There are no prizes for guessing who the fools
are in this case.
* Police force: The police have displayed
an unwillingness or incapacity
to apply the law in a non-partisan manner as
evidenced by the manner in
which they have arrested hordes of MDC
supporters. Once again before there
is any talk of any election the conduct
of the police should be
investigated.
* Voters roll: It is the
duty of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to
ensure that the voters roll is
accessible and up to date. It is alarming to
note that according to
independent investigations the voters roll is fraught
with the names of
infants, toddlers and the dead. Before there is any talk
of elections the
voters roll should be rehabilitated.
* Voter registration: The
process of voter registration should be made
voter friendly as the process
has been made so cumbersome with people being
required to provide proof of
residence, a situation that has disadvantaged
thousands of eligible youths.
In other counties people can register using
cell phones or the
internet.
* Voter education: Sadc guidelines call for voter education
before polls
and the process has hardly begun possibly because nobody —
including
ZEC—-knows the official date for holding
elections.
Balanced public media and availability of alternative media:
The public
press is unashamedly campaigning for Zanu PF and even if the
media is opened
up a month before the elections the damage would already
have been done as
the former ruling party has been abusing the public media
with endless party
jingles. There is still no independent electronic media
in Zimbabwe.
* Credible, well resourced electoral commission:
Admittedly Amendment 19
creates a framework for a fairly independent
electoral commission.
However ZEC is not well resourced as its
chairperson intimated last year
thus compromising the “efficiency, efficacy
and independence of the
commission”. The amount allocated by Finance
minister Tendai Biti under the
current budget is barely enough to carry out
an election with logistical
precision and adequate institutional
capacity.
* Timeous accreditation and deployment of observers: This
is critical in
ensuring that there is confidence in the electoral system and
subsequent
outcomes as regional and international observers need to arrive
in the
country at least three months before the elections. Already some
African
countries have indicated that they cannot afford to be in Zimbabwe
six
months before the elections so three months would be a compromise time
frame
as most pre-election violence and other antics are carried out three
to six
months before elections.
* A new constitution: The GPA is
abundantly clear in stating that the
agreement would be reviewed after
conclusion of the constitution-making
process and only then can we infer
that elections could be held. Already the
constitution-making process is a
year behind schedule and chances of the
process being concluded this year
are increasingly becoming slim due to
funding constraints Why we should not
have elections this year
* There should be a new constitution before
elections are held.
Unless there are inbuilt mechanisms and processes
birthed by Sadc and the
African Union on how power will be transferred if
the incumbent is beaten,
the elections will be a sheer waste of time and
resources and we will have
another disputed election in our hands with
shameless losers singing the
familiar Handiende (I will not go)
tune.
Nkomo is the chief executive officer of Habakkuk Trust and
principal
spokesperson of the Matabeleland Civil Society Consortium. He
writes here in
his personal capacity .He can be contacted on dumisani.nkomo@gmail.com This
e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled
to view it
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March
2011 19:40
Dingilizwe Ntuli
AS Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
slaughters hundreds of his countrymen in a
brutal crackdown on a popular
uprising against his regime, the silence of
African governments in
condemning this heinous crime against humanity is
deafening.
Not
a single murmur on the butchering of innocent people has come from any
African capital since the outbreak of this calamity a fortnight
ago.
One would have thought that the mounting death toll,
racing close to a
thousand, and the pouring of tens of thousands into
neighbouring Egypt and
Tunisia as refugees would trigger even the mildest
form of disapproval.
But alas no. This is Africa where most
governments earn the “Dark Continent”
tag when gross acts of crimes against
humanity are regularly unleashed
against citizens by our diabolic
rulers.
And the monstrous Gaddafi knows that all too well. After all,
he has been in
the game for four decades. That’s why he can still afford to
go on national
television and threaten to purge Libya “house by house” and
“inch by inch”
in his quest to forcibly stay in power.
We don’t
expect much from our rulers, but they should at least show that
they still
have a conscience.
Do we expect any censure of the Libyan catastrophe
from Zimbabwe House? No,
we have more or less been suffering the brute force
of our own home grown
authoritarian administration.
Does that
then mean there is no other country our continent can look to as a
model of
good governance?
Just over a decade ago, economic powerhouse South
Africa was being hailed as
a model democracy following the peaceful handover
of power from former
president Nelson Mandela to Thabo Mbeki.
We
need not remind you of Mbeki’s central role in the Zimbabwe
crisis.
When President Jacob Zuma came into office in 2009, a lot was
expected from
his administration following all the right noises he had been
making on the
world stage in the run-up to the 2009 elections.
We
expected a bit too much from the scandal-prone Zuma as he has nothing to
show for all his mediation efforts.
It’s no wonder that when
under pressure from the international community,
Pretoria’s official
reference to the Libyan genocide came in the form of a
timid statement
endorsing the UN Security Council’s vote to refer Gaddafi’s
regime to the
International Criminal Court.
According to its international
relations spokesman Clayson Monyela: “people
should be the authors of their
own destiny”.
How can Monyela give insanity such appellation? Libyans
want to author their
destiny which excludes Gaddafi.
And as a
result, Gaddafi has turned Libya into a land of chaos and
desperation. The
army has become his instrument of terror against
defenceless civilians.
Gaddafi’s purpose is to hold on to power at all
costs. The Libyan ambassador
to the United Nations has switched sides and
condemned Gaddafi’s
state-sponsored atrocities.
What other destiny should the Libyans be
authoring according to South
Africa? Could it be that South Africa’s
lukewarm response is because the
ruling ANC and its leaders have been
recipients of funding from the
murderous Gaddafi?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:38
Constantine Chimakure
THE army in any country is
important in ensuring the territorial integrity
and sovereignty of the
nation.
The army is there to defend a country’s citizens, who should feel
protected
by their presence. The army should also be apolitical in serving
the
government of the day chosen by the people.
Clearly this has
long ceased to be the case in Zimbabwe.
This was clearly illustrated
this week when a group from the Diaspora and
civil society called for a
million-man march on Tuesday to protest against
the government. The response
by the army was to send tanks and heavily armed
soldiers to patrol suburbs
of Harare. This was a clear act of intimidation.
This makes us wonder
why President Robert Mugabe, a man who has said time
and again that he has
the mandate of the people, is afraid of people holding
a demonstration.
After all it is a right enshrined in the country’s
constitution for citizens
to assemble and demonstrate to express their
sentiments to those who govern
them.
Zimbabwe’s citizens are justified in demonstrating over several
issues which
include inadequate salaries for civil servants and inadequate
delivery of
essential services such as water and electricity.
The
army should never be used as attack-dogs against the people. In any case
such matters should be the preserve of the police in the event of
disturbances.
We are not calling for a repeat of the revolts that
happened in Tunisia and
Egypt. But people do have a right to demonstrate
without fearing the same
army which is supposed to protect
them.
The army has in the last decade been subsumed in the nation’s
body politic.
An illustration is when in 2002 the then army commander, the
late Vitalis
Zvinavashe, openly declared that they would only salute a
president with
liberation war credentials.
This was a clear
violation of their mandate to serve the government chosen
by the people by
trying to influence the outcome of an election.
Since then the army’s
interference has only worsened. Who can forget the
bludgeoning of the
electorate in the run up to the 2008 Presidential runoff
in June 2008 after
Tsvangirai had outpolled Mugabe in the first round in
March that
year?
Soon after Mugabe called for elections this year the army was
allegedly at
it again deploying its troops countrywide to intimidate the
electorate into
voting for Mugabe and Zanu PF. Brigadier Douglas
Nyikayaramba declared that
Tsvangirai would never rule the country. Recently
retired senior army
officials are now in the forefront of restructuring Zanu
PF ahead of the
next elections.
This catalogue of actions by the
army to try and prop up the ageing Mugabe
by hook or by crook, fully
justifies the call by the MDC for substantive
reforms in the army before any
election can be held. The easing out of
partisan elements within the defence
forces should also be accompanied by
efforts to reorient the security sector
to present realities. In particular
the Joint Operations Command needs to be
reformed to reflect democratic
imperatives.
Without meaningful
and tangible reforms, we are likely to witness another
bloodbath like the
one we experienced in 2008.
Sadc, through its facilitator South
African President Jacob Zuma, should
ensure that the security establishment
does not interfere with the people’s
constitutional right to vote for a
government of their choice without fear.
More importantly, the
reforms should ensure that the army stays where it
belongs — the
barracks.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
e
Thursday, 03 March 2011
19:36
BUSINESS executives this week set themselves up as President
Mugabe’s
surrogates when they stepped up to append their signatures on the
anti-sanctions petition.
The business leaders led by
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
president Joseph Kanyekanye
perhaps meant well when they signed the petition
because, as they argue,
sanctions are stifling business activity.
But they will find
it difficult to reconcile their conscience as wealth
creators with President
Mugabe’s speech at the anti-sanctions rally on
Wednesday afternoon that was
unambiguously partisan.
Mugabe in continuing the mantras from his
birthday party last weekend,
continued to wave his fist at industry
threatening companies with
expropriation.
Mugabe said
expropriating companies was part of the strategy to fight
sanctions imposed
on him and his lieutenants by the West.
He wants to take over
companies owned by businessmen from countries that
imposed sanctions on him.
This is now highly personal.
One company he has singled out, Nestle´,
is a prime target because it is
refusing to buy milk from his Gushungo Farm.
How petty can he get!
His explanation for targeting Nestle´ is
emblematic. It dispels some of the
myth that his party has been trying to
give air to. There is nothing
national about this project of
expropriation.
This is a narrow Zanu PF venture of dispossession
which the party is
attempting to link to the national programme of
indigenisation.
What does fighting sanctions have to do with grabbing
a farm from a company
that is not buying presidential milk? This trade
dispute is now an ugly
national fight.
Kanyekanye as leader of
business in Zimbabwe should therefore be careful
about lending himself to a
discredited party assignment which will not
benefit industry at all in the
long run. In fact it will generate enormous
damage.
Kanyekanye is
entitled to have a personal view on sanctions but as president
of the CZI he
has a key role to protect industry from excesses of the state
and not appear
to be fighting from the same corner as the gang of
expropriators that have
been unleashed on industry.
Frankly speaking, Kanyekanye should have
a view on the threat to take over
companies.
At President
Mugabe’s rally on Wednesday we believe he saw posters
advertising the names
of companies being targeted for takeovers.
The big irony about this
whole saga is that in 2009 Nestle´ were awarded the
CZI exporter of the year
award and last year they were the first runner up
in the same category. This
is a company that has brought value to the
country and contributed to
increased foreign currency receipts.
The CZI says during the days of
hyper-inflation when farmers wanted to
access stock-feed but did not have
the immediate resources to buy stock
feeds, Nestle´ stepped in and linked
the farmers with the banks.
The farmers could access funding
facilities from banks enabling them to
continue running their farm
operations and have working capital. Nestle´
would purchase farm produce and
repay the banks on behalf of the farmers,
with the remainder of the funds
going to the farmers. This point has been
conveniently forgotten. Where is
the CZI president to remind the president
of Nestle’s contribution to the
economy?
We also want to know what he thinks about the president’s
remarks on taking
over companies.
Mugabe’s template is definitely
not the mode of indigenisation which CZI
believes in.The CZI believes there
should be “consistency with
constitutional provisions such as property
rights, the rule of law and the
avoidance of imposition of equity
partners”.
Kanyekanye has been handed a poisoned chalice and unwisely
gulped the
contents. Those business leaders and even service chiefs who have
associated
themselves with this dubious campaign need to think carefully
about
diminished public esteem. They have signed up to yet another Zanu PF
project
which is likely to be as damaging as the rest and further the
country’s
isolation.