Dear Family and Friends,
Life has become so difficult in Zimbabwe that the
daily struggle for
survival is all consuming in these early weeks of winter.
Every day now
the electricity goes off, sometimes it's just for an hour, but
mostly the
cuts last for three to four hours in the evening and sometimes in
the
early morning too. On one grinding day this week the power went off
for
two long stretches leaving homes, institutions and businesses sitting
on
their hands for ten hours, barely able to function. People have taken
to
cooking their evening meal in the middle of the day, doing their
ironing
in the middle of the night and getting up long before sunrise to boil
the
kettle, have a bath and cook breakfast before the power goes off at
6am.
Even worse though, is the fact that when the power comes back on, we
all
heave a sigh of grateful relief when we should be phoning, emailing
and
writing letters of complaint to the electricity authority. Zimbabwe
has
huge coal mines at Hwange, massive hydro electricity from Lake Kariba
and
the potential for more solar power than we could use and yet our
homes,
schools and businesses are in the dark this winter. Our silent
acceptance
of the situation is almost as bad as the power cuts
themselves.
In a supermarket this week I watched half a dozen people
standing staring
sullenly at a closed door and wondered what was happening. A
few more
people joined them until maybe 20 men and women stood together in a
group.
No one talked or moved, they all just stood, staring intently at a
closed
door. After a while a woman wearing a white dust coat emerged pushing
a
shopping trolley which contained 10 bags of maize meal. There was
a
scramble, almost a scrum, and the first ten people to get to the
trolley
each grabbed a 10 kilogram bag and headed for the check out counters.
That
was a pretty shocking sight, seeing the scramble, the grabbing and
the
desperation for staple food, but it wasn't as shocking as the woman in
the
white coat who stood back and laughed at the people who were struggling
to
get to the food. I watched for a while longer. The woman in the white
coat
pushed her trolley back behind the door, more people gathered and
waited
and then the whole thing happened all over again. This time the woman
in
the white coat had been joined by two male employees.They were
obviously
not there to help either their colleague or the customers as they
too just
stood back and laughed. When I got to the check out counter the
teller was
also laughing at the food scrambling which had almost bought the
whole
supermarket to a standstill. I asked the teller why on earth they
didn't
just put out all the bags of maize meal on the shelf or at least
get
people to queue. For sure someone was going to get hurt but the
teller
just shrugged and his boredom with the situation and lack of empathy
was
palpable. It is almost impossible to understand why people don't
complain
when things like this are happening but it seems survival is the
only
thing that matters now. Food is more important than freedom,
than
fairness, than principles and even more important than
dignity.
And while people begin scrambling for food before winter has
really even
taken hold, and when food from summer cropping should be
plentiful, (but
isn't) the protests in Zimbabwe are increasing. In the last
fortnight 185
WOZA activists, including 73 children, were arrested for
protesting about
unaffordable education. 19 students from Bindura university
were arrested
for protesting over tuition fees and 48 NCA activists were
arrested for
protesting over the dire need for constitutional changes. The
week ended
with the news that inflation has reached 4 digits and now stands
at 1042%.
I cannot take that figure in and do not know how we will survive
and so I
stand outside in the winter sun, the sky is gorgeous and blue and
the
grass yellow and golden - this at least does not change. Until next
week,
love cathy Copyright cathy buckle 13 May 2006
http://africantears.netfirms.com
May 13, 1:23 PM EDT
By
MICHAEL HARTNACK
Associated Press Writer
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) --
Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate topped 1,000
percent for the first time,
underlining the economic collapse of a country
crippled by
shortages.
Moffat Nyoni, director of the Government's Central Statistical
Office, said
that inflation for the 12 months to April 2006 was 1,042.9
percent,
according to a state radio report Saturday.
A package of the
cheapest candy costs 57,000 Zimbabwe dollars and a loaf of
bread 100,000
Zimbabwe dollars. But the maximum denomination note is 50,000
Zimbabwe
dollars, forcing shoppers to carry bags full of money for basic
daily
purchases.
Since mobile phones went into service in 1996 as fixed phone
services
crashed, the price of the most inexpensive phone has increased
5,000 times.
The price of a single car battery this year could have bought
14 brand new
cars 10 years ago.
There is a joke that toilet paper
costs so much - 125,000 Zimbabwe dollars a
roll ($125) - that it would be
cheaper to use 500 dollar notes.
And the money needed 12 years ago to buy
a house - 3 million Zimbabwe
dollars, or an entire life's savings - doesn't
even cover a family's monthly
expenses today.
The economy has been in
free fall since President Robert Mugabe's seizure of
5,000 formerly
white-owned commercial farms in February 2000.
"We are living with the
consequences of (the government's) destructive
policies of the past," said
economist John Robertson. "They cannot raise the
necessary taxes from our
shrinking economy."
Latest News
Zimbabwe
Inflation Tops 1,000 Percent
Buy AP Photo Reprints
Inflation in March was 913
percent. Figures released by Nyoni's office
showed 21.1 percent inflation
for the month of April alone, fueled by a 27
percent increase in the cost of
basic foodstuffs, 24.8 percent in rents,
35.1 percent in fuels such as
gasoline and kerosene, and 48.1 percent in
motor vehicle and health
insurance.
Saturday's radio broadcast said the poverty datum line -
absolute minimum
consumption needs - for an average family of five reached
37 million
Zimbabwean dollars, or $366, per month at the government's rate
of exchange
but only $148 on the flourishing black market.
The
lowest-paid workers in formal employment - domestic gardeners - earn 2.5
million Zimbabwean dollars a month, but 70 percent of the work force lack
regular jobs due to waves of bankruptcies and earn hourly wages for informal
work like bookkeeping, maintenance or cleaning.
Church groups have
appealed to employers that the hourly rate should be at
least 100,000
dollars to cover the price of bread.
An estimated 4 million Zimbabweans,
many of them skilled professionals, are
living outside the country. Most
remaining Zimbabweans make ends meet by
growing sweet potatoes and corn
alongside roads and railways or on vacant
land.
Robertson said the
point of "meltdown" had already been reached for
pensioners and others
living on small fixed incomes.
Money from charities or from relatives
living abroad is the only means of
survival for many elderly. The United
Nations estimates at least 3 million
of the 12 million population are in
need of emergency food aid ahead of next
month's harvests.
Mugabe
last week announced increases of up to 300 percent in salaries for
more than
120,000 government employees including soldiers and police.
Robertson
said there was no hope of reaching the government's target to
reduce
inflation to double digits by the end of the year. He said it would
take
five to 10 years to restore production on farms, in mining and in
industry,
even if Mugabe reversed current policies.
He also predicted
shortage-driven inflation might soon reach 2,000 percent
as state employees
rush to spend their pay rises while goods are still in
stores. There is
currently a nationwide shortage of sugar, while supplies of
cooking oil,
cornmeal and bread are erratic.
"People should get angry and start
demanding things happen," said Robertson.
From The Daily Mirror, 12 May
Shame
Makoshori
In what could turn out to be the biggest boardroom coup
ever staged on a
tourism counter, British tycoon Nick van Hoogstraten has
vowed to fire five
influential Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) directors citing
"fraud and
misconduct" in last year's $80 billion rights issue. The
directors will be
fired at the group's Annual General Meeting (AGM) later
this month, highly
placed sources said. Although van Hoogstraten has not
mentioned names, The
Daily Mirror understands that a resolution will be
tabled to fire board
chairman Ibbo Mandaza and four other directors. Well
placed sources said van
Hoogstraten has already forwarded the notice to one
top RTG official
notifying him of his intention to also remove directors -
Canaan Dube,
Elliot Nyoni, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chipo Mtasa and
Grace
Muradzikwa. Van Hoogstraten emerged as the largest shareholder in RTG
after
the hospitality giant's rights offer in September. Documents at hand
indicate that the first shots of the impasse were fired on March 20 when van
Hoogstraten wrote to the top RTG official. "My intention to remove all the
directors that were in office at the time of the rights issue is not solely
related to their illegal action over the share allocations. I have no
confidence in the board and they have no future with the
company.
"In particular there is a clear conflict of interest between
the board and
Mr Dube and the shareholders, it cannot be right that
shareholder funds are
being used to defend the illegal actions of the board
and their advisors.
The content of this fax may be disclosed to the second
major shareholder
group but not to the board members that we intend to
remove," said van
Hoogstraten in the fax letter dated March 20, 2006. The
second largest
shareholder after the rights issue were Barclays Nominees,
now controlling
27.6 shareholding. The sources claimed that no other board
member has been
told of the looming coup. This newspaper also understands
that business
executives Grace Chella and James Nqindi will at the AGM
replace the fired
directors. Sources said yesterday van Hoogstraten's
document has been
circulated to some shareholders. The British businessman
is also understood
to have availed a $50 million cheque to cover the
expenses of affecting the
resolution. He is also said to have undertaken to
increase the money to
cover any other expenses. Documents at hand also
reveal that van Hoogstraten
has communicated his reservations on the rights
issue to Mandaza, indicating
that he no longer has confidence in the team.
"As indicated, my interests
require the resignation of all directors who
were in office at the time of
the rights issue. Should this not be
forthcoming prior to the close of
business on Thursday 30 March, 2006 we
require resolutions to be tabled at
the AGM to remove all such directors
from office, van Hoogstraten demanded
in a fax to Mandaza on March 24. The
fax was entitled "Rights issue
misconduct and fraud."
The dispute
has been referred to an arbitrator. Van Hoogstraten's company,
Messina
Investments, is the claimant, while RTG and a named shareholder were
cited
as respondents. Messina, the sources said, is arguing that some
companies
benefited from the rights issue behind the back of van
Hoogstraten.
"Presently the percentage shareholding of the companies under
Messina's
control stands at about 30 percent and if Messina is awarded the
shares it
is claiming its shareholding will increase to about 39 percent,"
said the
insider. Van Hoogtraten's second investment vehicle, Banhams
Investments, is
expected to realise the share increase while the
shareholding of several
investors in the giant hospitality group will be
diluted as van Hoogstraten
cracks the whip to rid the group of what he has
termed "excess self
interest." Van Hoogstraten said the Messina claim could
easily be resolved
"and should have been resolved earlier had a competent
and honest board been
appointed after the rights issue". He added that on a
without-prejudice
basis, Messina would be prepared to settle their action at
a discount to
their total claim in order to save further costs and
uncertainty for the
company and its shareholders. "Messina would prefer post
settlement of the
legal dispute and removal of the board, joint control of
the company with
the second major shareholder having management control and
the major
shareholder having overall financial control," he said.
Messina would
also expect the second major shareholder group to co-operate
with the major
shareholder group to turn around the company, rid it of
excess self
interest, recapitalise it on a proper basis and enhance
shareholder value.
The shakeup will not end at the directorship of the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
listed company but van Hoogstraten has indicated
that he is not happy with
RTG's legal advisers. "I have already made the
point that the current
lawyers to the RTG are in a conflict of interest
situation and that they are
to be removed. No more shareholder money should
be expended on their
"advice", van Hoogstraten further instructed Mandaza in
a fax letter written
on March 27. It also emerged yesterday that the tycoon,
who also controls an
8.6 percent stake in NMB, 20 percent shareholding in
coal miner Hwange
Colliery and an influential shareholding in CFI Holdings
was not happy that
he was not fully consulted during the recent rebranding
exercise of the
Sheraton Hotel to Rainbow Towers. He also runs the Central
Estates farms in
Mvuma. Mtasa could not confirm or deny the developments
yesterday, saying
she wanted questions in writing. The wrangle comes at a
time when the RTG is
undergoing structural changes. The company is
rebranding, renovating and
refurbishing its properties across the country in
anticipation of an
increase in tourist arrivals during the 2010 world cup to
be staged in
neighbouring South Africa.
MENAFN.com
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) -
13/05/2006
KUWAIT, May 13 (KUNA) -- Kuwait and
Zimbabwe on Saturday
signed an agreement to avoid dual taxation between the
two states.
"The agreement contained several clauses
including one
treating all joint development projects as permanent
installations
benefiting from a three-month grace period," a statement by
Kuwaiti Finance
Ministry said.
The statement added
that Kuwaiti investors in Zimbabwe
were given tax incentives consisting in
lower interest rates and higher
profits allowed for
companies.
The statement also provided that a 10
percent profit on
interest rates was agreed upon between the two
states.
The statement stressed that the ban on dual
taxation would
cover the next five years, after which it could be
reviewed.
Kuwaiti Finance Ministry Undersecretary Matar
Jassem
Al-Shemali signed on behalf of the Kuwaiti side while Zimbabwe's
Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Kuwait Isaak Linchoy Niyati signed the no dual
taxation accord on behalf of his home country.
The Herald
Herald
Reporter
RESERVE Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono offered US$5 000 to trap
Zimbabwe
United Passenger Company (Zupco) board chairman Charles Nherera, a
Harare
magistrates' court heard yesterday.
This was said by key State
witness Mr Jayesh Shah during cross-examination
in the trial of the Zupco
boss, accused of demanding a US$51 000 bribe to
float a tender for the
purchase of buses by Zupco. "I went and informed the
Reserve Bank Governor,
Dr Gono, and he himself heard the recording on my
cellphone. He even went to
the extent of offering to give me US$5 000 in
cash, which the accused
(Nherera) wanted," Mr Shah, the director of Gift
Investments, the bus
supplying company, said. Mr Shah was responding to a
question by Nherera's
lawyer, Advocate Clement Phiri, who had asked him why
he took so long to
report the alleged solicitation for a bribe to police and
also why he failed
to report the matter quickly. Mr Shah said he made the
report to Dr Gono in
November 2004 and the central bank governor had asked
him to notify him when
he was going to meet Nherera so that he could
facilitate his arrest. "On the
next day the governor told me to notify him
where the meeting was going to
take place so that the accused could be
arrested." Dr Gono, Mr Shah said,
had also reacted by saying: "This needs to
be stopped." He was referring to
the alleged corruption by Nherera. However,
Mr Shah said the trap was not
set because Nherera did not contact him after
their meeting at a coffee shop
at Kensington Shopping Centre in Harare. Adv
Phiri further quizzed Mr Shah
as to why he had not disclosed this when he
gave his evidence-in-chief. "I
was not asked," Mr Shah responded before the
defence asked him to
exhaustively tell the court everything he had not
stated during his
testimony. Mr Shah said he had also recorded a
conversation with previous
Zupco chief executive Cde Bright Matonga, now the
Deputy Minister of
Information and Publicity, when briefing him on a Zupco
board meeting. "It
was on March 21 in the evening. I do clearly remember
talking to Deputy
Minister Matonga and briefing him on what had transpired
at the Zupco board
meeting." This, Mr Shah said, would buttress his earlier
statement that Cde
Matonga was present at a meeting between him and Nherera
where the accused
demanded a bribe. He added that he could, however not
speak for Cde Matonga
as he was not sure whether he heard the conversation.
However, the defence
averred that Cde Matonga and Nherera had not at any
point met with Mr Shah
and demanded a bribe from him for the purchase of
buses. "Mr Matonga will
also give evidence and his statement will state that
he attended several
meetings, including those with Gift Investments, and at
no stage did he hear
Professor Nherera soliciting a bribe for the purchase
of the buses," Adv
Phiri said. Mr Shah said he was not sure if Cde Matonga
heard the
conversation since most of the time he was on his mobile phone.
"He (Cde
Matonga) is not telling the truth. He was present at the meeting
and he was
seated there. Whether he heard the conversation or not, he was
stunned by
Nherera's demands," he said. The defence accused Mr Shah of
cooking up the
story. "You are now talking about Matonga - are you
suggesting that there is
another recording?" asked Adv Phiri. Mr Shah
replied that he had recorded a
conversation between him and Cde Matonga over
the outcome of a Zupco board
meeting. "Yes, there is another recording. I
recall that I recorded the
conversation, but I do not have the multimedia
card on me," he said, adding
that he could furnish the court with a copy.
But Adv Phiri said his client
still maintained that he never demanded a
bribe from the businessman at any
point. "I put it to you that both accused
and Matonga never solicited a
bribe from you. Why did you not state this in
your evidence and affidavit?"
asked Adv Phiri. Adv Phiri said Mr Shah had
concocted the recording of the
meeting he claimed took place at the coffee
shop. "On January 24 2005, there
was a launch of buses by VP (Vice President
Joice) Mujuru. The police and
VIPs were there. "Did you at that occasion
report to the VP or any official?
The simple reason is that the August
meeting never occurred and you were
never asked to pay a bribe," Adv Phiri
said. However, Mr Shah said: "I did
not because there was no evidence.
People would laugh at me. These were only
allegations." He said he made
reports to senior Government officials,
including the former Minister of
State for National Security, Cde Nicholas
Goche (now in charge of the Public
Service, Labour and Social Welfare
portfolio), the Minister of Finance, Dr
Herbert Murerwa, the Minister of
Policy Implementation, Cde Webster Shamu,
and the Zanu-PF Information and
Publicity Secretary, Cde Nathan Shamuyarira.
Mr Shah said he had failed to
report the case timeously because he had no
evidence until he recorded
Nherera at the coffee shop on January 28 last
year. "Whenever I told
officials nobody believed me. "They (officials) told
me to bring evidence,"
he said. Adv Phiri further said in terms of time
sequence it was not
possible for his client to be at Kensington as alleged
by Mr Shah. "The time
you said you took discussing with the accused does not
tally," Adv Phiri
said. The defence also accused Mr Shah of concocting the
recording on his
mobile phone, which has features such as editing and a
professional voice
recorder. "Accused will state that he never went to
Kensington Shopping
Centre and you manipulated that recording," Adv Phiri
said. A transcript of
the recording between Nherera and Mr Shah purportedly
at the coffee shop was
presented in court. Mr Shah initially admitted to
court that there was
nowhere in the transcript where Nherera demanded a
bribe but changed, saying
he requested the bribe on page five and six on the
transcript. He said he
had indicated to Nherera that he could give him US$5
000 and the balance
would be sent to his account later. "Accused then said
he can give me his
account number," Mr Shah said. The defence said Mr Shah
was the one who
invited Nherera to the coffee shop as the transcript clearly
indicated that
he was dominating the conversation. "Initially I was doing
almost all the
talking because I was explaining to him about how the buses
were going to
come as I was liaising between suppliers and Zupco," he said,
adding that he
even showed him pictures of some buses. The defence said it
was an unusual
conversation for people having tea as there were no
interruptions by
waiters. "If he invited you he should have done most of the
talking. It's
unusual. I put it to you that this recording was a
fabrication. "You
dictated it on your cellular phone what you wanted the
court to hear. This
is why the person in the background is just saying short
sentences: 'Ya, ya
yes, that's right.' You concocted the recording not at
Kensington, but
somewhere else," Adv Phiri said. Mr Shah said the first
three minutes of the
recording do not come out clear but maintained that it
was authentic and he
had never tampered with it. "It is not inaudible. In
certain instances
voices cannot be heard since there was too much noise but
that does not make
it inaudible nor am I a professional voice recorder and
neither do I have
sophisticated machines to tamper with the recording," Mr
Shah said. Mr Shah
was also asked why the buses his firm wanted to supply
were painted in Zupco
colours. He answered that Local Government Minister
Cde Ignatius Chombo had
asked the company to supply buses after other
companies failed to supply 110
buses. He said Zupco even paid clearance
taxes at the border for the
importation of the buses which the public
transporter wanted to ease
transport problems before the March 2005
parliamentary elections. "I find
that incredible. Why before you secured a
tender or negotiating for a price?
What gave you the confidence that these
buses would be purchased?" asked Adv
Phiri. Mr Shah said he had been dealing
with Zupco since 1998 and had never
used tenders. The tender process was
only effected in 2003. Mr Shah, who is
no longer a Zimbabwean resident, also
told the court that he was meeting his
own costs to travel to Zimbabwe to
testify and has no ulterior motives.
Nherera, who is being charged with
contravening the Prevention of Corruption
Act, is accused of seeking a US$5
000 bribe for every bus bought from Gift
Investments between August 2004 and
January 2005. Nherera is denying the
allegations that he solicited a US$50
000 bribe for the purchase of 18
Swaraj minibuses. Nherera says the Zupco
board clearly pointed out that any
purchase of buses had to follow laid-down
tender procedures as set by the
State Procurement Board. In his defence
outline, Nherera also says the
alleged recording by Mr Shah is inaudible and
computer-doctored. He says
that Mr Shah made the false allegations after
realising that the Zupco board
would adhere to laid-down tender procedures
in its dealings with his
company. The Zupco boss also denies the
allegations, stating that on the day
Mr Shah alleges they met and had
coffee, he was attending to urgent business
at the South African Embassy and
at the bank. The trial continues on
Monday.
The Herald
Herald
Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has increased bulk
water
tariffs for farmers by a wide margin.
Zinwa board chairman Mr
Willie Muringani said the increases had been
necessitated by the rising
costs of maintaining of dams and other production
costs in provision of bulk
water. The increases, which will see farmers
using communal gravity water
paying $990 per cubic metre up from $86 for the
same amount, are effective
from June 1. Charges for communal pumped water
would cost $1 265 up from
$104. A1 farmers' will now pay $ 1 840 from $190
per cubic metre while A2
farmers who were recently resettled would fork out
$2 185 from $190 per
cubic metre. Irrigation water for established A2
farmers also went up to $2
760 from the current $190 per cubic metre. Mr
Muringani said Zinwa's
production costs included the allocation of water,
supervision of permits
and agreements, monitoring of flows, recording of
water data and quality
monitoring among others. "Farmers who use communal
gravity will pay an
average of $1 854 375 per hectare while established A2
farmers would pay $5
175 000 for a hectare per month. Zinwa like any other
commercial entity is
operating in an environment characterised by escalating
costs that has seen
suppliers demanding upfront payments for services and
goods. "For the past
six years, Zinwa has been operating below capacity due
to charging nonviable
rates for services. The new price structure will
enable the water authority
to meet high costs for dam inspections, repair
and replacement of mechanical
components (valve and gates), electrical
components, labour and
rehabilitation works in general," Mr Muringani said.
He said it was
imperative for Zinwa to charge economic rates so that the
water provision
system would continue to serve various sectors of the
country. Farmers who
would pay the total costs for the whole winter
irrigation season before June
1 would, however, be exempted from paying the
new tariffs. Mr Muringani said
Zinwa had proposed to inspect and do remedial
work on six dams per catchment
per year and to rehabilitate four dams per
catchment over the same period
something that required financing.