The ZIMBABWE Situation
An extensive and up-to-date website containing news, views and links related to ZIMBABWE - a country in crisis
Please note: You need to have 'Active content' enabled in your IE browser in order to see the index of articles on this webpage
Zimbabwe to
get first World Bank grant since 2001
http://af.reuters.com/
Mon May 18, 2009 1:25pm
GMT
By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - The World Bank said on
Monday it would soon make its
first grant to Zimbabwe since 2001, a
breakthrough for the power-sharing
government which is desperate for Western
financial aid to fix the bankrupt
economy.
The $22 million grant
would be available in the next few weeks, said bank
official Toga Gayewea
McIntosh, but he said major support would only come
when Zimbabwe clears its
arrears. That is not expected any time soon.
McIntosh was speaking after
meeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Finance Minister Tendai Biti,
who joined old rival President Robert Mugabe
in a coalition in February to
try to rescue the ruined southern African
state.
Zimbabwe will depend
heavily on international support for reconstruction.
Strong ties with the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund are vital.
"There are
conditions to re-engagement with the Bank, you have to do a lot
of things,
such as the clearance of arrears," said McIntosh, the bank's
executive
director for a group of countries that includes Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe owes
about $1.1 billion to the World Bank and the African
Development Bank. Total
arrears to official and private creditors amount to
about $3.8
billion.
The government has appealed for $8.3 billion to help rebuild an
economy
ravaged by hyperinflation and business contraction, but Western
donors have
been wary of committing funds until it is clear the government
is working
effectively.
Sharp differences remain between Mugabe and
Tsvangirai, from the long time
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), over difficult issues such
as the review of the posts of central bank
governor and attorney general.
Despite its limited success with Western
donors, who demand wider political
and media reforms and the release of all
political prisoners, Zimbabwe has
raised $30 million from South Africa and
$5 million from China.
The government also says it has surpassed a $1
billion target in credit
lines for the private sector from African
banks.
Biti said the government would work with the World Bank on a debt
reduction
programme.
"Without an arrears clearance programme, we
cannot avail ourselves of the
huge funds that are available," Biti
said.
Later on Monday, Biti was scheduled to meet a team of experts from
the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), beginning a visit to provide
technical
assistance in the areas of payment systems, bank supervision and
central
bank governance.
Zimbabwe has been in continuous arrears to
the IMF since February 2001, and
now owes the organisation about $133
million.
The IMF, which suspended Zimbabwe's voting rights in 2003, has
previously
indicated that all arrears needed to be cleared before any
resumption of
financial support.
WOZA
protest failures of unity government
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
18 May
2009
Over 1 000 members of the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise
took to
the streets in four separate demonstrations, that merged at the
government
complex in Bulawayo on Monday.
WOZA spokesperson Annie
Sibanda said the aim of the protests was to
highlight the failures of the
first 100 days of the power sharing government
and the fact that very little
progress had been made in the lives of
ordinary Zimbabweans. She said the
demo went very well and there were no
arrest.
The group said it had
given the politicians breathing space since the
formation of the unity
government but that now it's time to show that
ordinary Zimbabweans are
growing tired, as nothing has changed since the
formation of the GNU in
February.
WOZA have a list of priorities they want the inclusive
government to address
immediately. The list was compiled after the pressure
group conducted a
survey, asking the public what they would prioritise if
they were in the
coalition government.
According to the survey the
priorities should be decent and affordable
education, stabilisation of the
economy and restoration of the rule of law,
including the resignation of
police commissioner Augustine Chihuri.
Despite the formation of the
inclusive government MDC officials, such as
sitting MPs, are being arrested
and jailed and so are journalists and
lawyers. Sibanda said ordinary people
across the country are also still
being harassed. "Our members across the
country are reporting that they are
being stopped and arrested for petty
infringements and being made to pay
bribes or fines - and the amount of
police harassment of ordinary
Zimbabweans has increased. So there really is
a demand for the police force
to become professional and receive human
rights training outlined in the
Global Political Agreement."
ZIMBABWE: International relations move
from freezer to fridge
Photo:
IRIN |
Finance
minister Tendai Biti |
WASHINGTON, 18 May 2009 (IRIN) -
A gradual defrosting of relations between Zimbabwe's unity government, Western
nations and global institutions, combined with a financial mechanism designed to
avoid donor money flowing through the hands of ZANU-PF, the previous ruling
party, is gently prising open the door for assistance to the beleaguered
country.
Western nations have cast a jaundiced eye on the unity
government formed on 11 February 2009, in which President Robert Mugabe and his
coterie have maintained the wealth of power, leading to London and Washington to
withhold billions of dollars in assistance unless there was tangible political
and economic reform.
However, analysts are viewing two events as
possible harbingers of change: a visit by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
from 18 to 29 May could see the institution renew its relationship with
Zimbabwe, and the imminent arrival of envoys from Britain, the former colonial
power and one of Mugabe's staunchest critics.
Alex Vines, director of
the Africa programme at Chatham House, a UK-based think-tank, told IRIN: "This
means that the relations between the two countries [Britain and Zimbabwe] have
been moved from the freezer to the fridge. The relationship is still chilled,
but it's no longer frozen the way it has been for the past years."
Vines
said Western assistance was far from a done deal, and a package to bail out
Zimbabwe would be determined by the IMF and the British envoys. "Zimbabwe will
have to meet certain benchmarks, in the form of human rights and economic
reform, to satisfy London to release any funds. Also, I think the British
government will scrutinise findings by the IMF team before it makes any
decision."
The unity government has not had an easy journey. Mugabe's
ZANU-PF has been accused of numerous violations of the power-sharing agreement, and on 18 May the
main partner, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), called on the Southern
African Development Community, the regional body that brokered the agreement,
and the African Union, its guarantor, to intervene.
IMF resumes
technical assistance
The IMF
announced on 6 May that it would resume technical assistance to Zimbabwe, but
would not release any financial aid until Harare settled its US$133 million
arrears. In 2002 the institution adopted a declaration of non-cooperation with
Zimbabwe because of its overdue financial obligations, and suspended all
assistance.
An IMF official in Washington told IRIN a five-member
delegation would assess Zimbabwe's tax policies, payments and banking systems,
and governance issues. "We have seen willingness to reform from the new unity
establishment, and that is why we are responding with this technical
assistance."
The first signs of an apparent thaw in bilateral relations
between Britain and Zimbabwe were seen at the inauguration of South African
president Jacob Zuma in Pretoria on 22 April, where a meeting on the sidelines
between Zimbabwe's Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, and Britain's minister for
Africa, Mark Malloch-Brown, is believed to have been the catalyst.
Mugabe has consistently blamed Britain for Zimbabwe's economic woes -
including hyperinflation, unemployment of up to 94 percent and having more than
half the population on food aid - but Mugabe's strong role in the unity
government has been an obstacle to monetary assistance and investment.
Response to direct financial
aid has not been good at all. It's only South Africa and China that have weighed
in with US$35 million, but that's just a drop in the ocean |
"Response to direct
financial aid has not been good at all. It's only South Africa and China that
have weighed in with US$35 million, but that's just a drop in the ocean. We need
US$1 billion more to pay civil servants and meet other budgetary expenses, and
that we can only do when we have direct funding," Zimbabwe's economic planning
and investment promotion minister, Elton Mangoma, a member of the MDC, told
IRIN.
"The treasury remains largely dry and government is struggling to
get by, but we remain hopeful. We are particularly happy that our fellow African
countries and institutions have managed to extend lines of credit amounting to
US$1.2 billion to us ... slightly exceeding our initial target of US$1 billion,"
Mangoma said.
Creating donor trust
The credit
line was secured from the African Development Bank (ABD), the Cairo-based
African Export-Import Bank, and Botswana and South Africa. The unity government
has appealed for US$8.3 billion to resuscitate the country.
Donor
reticence is also caused by a lack of confidence that the money will reach its
intended recipients, but this has been allayed by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund
(MDTF), a vehicle established by the World Bank, Zimbabwe's finance ministry,
the ADB and the UN Development Programme. ZANU-PF has criticised the fund as
being driven by forces hostile to Zimbabwe.
Finance minister Tendai
Biti, a member of the MDC, commented: "As lack of trust is an obstacle, we
believe the MDTF is an appropriate means to mitigate donor risk. Instead of
giving funds directly to government, donors put their funds in the trust, and
the Ministry of Finance directs expenditure - but the MDTF still oversees it,
oversees the work of the finance ministry too - so everyone is protected. This
is a bridge measure until trust is restored,"
On 18 May the World Bank
pledged a US$22 million grant to Zimbabwe, and it will also receive part of a
US$1.4 billion Food Facility established by the European Commission and UN
agencies. Seeds, fertilisers and training are to be provided to 150,000
vulnerable rural households, which could increase the cereal yield in the next
agricultural season by 10 percent to 15 percent.
[ENDS]
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations] |
Harare
Needs U.S.$40 Million to Revamp Waterworks
http://www.herald.co.zw
18 May 2009
Harare -
THE Harare City Council requires more than US$40 million to
refurbish Morton
Jaffray water treatment plant and improve water supply in
the capital, amid
reports that the city could be losing as much as 45
percent of potable water
to leakage.
In interview last week, town clerk Dr Mahachi said US$43,8
million was
needed to repair the plant, built in 1954.
"In terms
of financial requirements we already have documentation of what is
required
for the plant. About US$43,8 million is required to refurbish
Morton
Jaffray," Dr Mahachi said.
Council has started major repairs at the plant
with Dr Mahachi saying areas
such as Mabvuku and Tafara and other eastern
suburbs of Harare would be
getting water after the repairs.
"In a
month or two we will be able to take water to Mabvuku-Tafara if we
finish
attending to all the filters," he said.
Four filters have been repaired
this month out of 18.
"We should finish with the remaining 14 filters in
the next two months if
funds are available. When the city took over water
from Zinwa, the filters
were not working. We will add 175 megalitres a day
because of the work we
are doing," Dr Mahachi said.
Council has also
repaired pumps with the town clerk saying only three out of
five were
functional when they took over from Zinwa.
Currently, council pumps
between 450 and 500 megalitres a day to Harare
residents against a demand of
1 000 megalitres.
Dr Mahachi said water supply had increased by about 40
percent since council
took over from Zinwa.
"Our major problem is
that much of the water is not getting to people
because of leaks. We are
probably losing about 45 percent of treated water
due to leakages. Every
weekend we are now shutting down to attend to
high-pressure lines. Workers
are very determined to make things happen," Dr
Mahachi said.
He said
council had started attending to sewer lines.
"We are working on blocked
sewer lines with the assistance of
non-governmental organisations," he
said.
Last week South Korean companies pledged to invest in Harare water
through
the refurbishment of Morton Jaffray water treatment plant and the
construction of Kunzvi Dam.
Three Korean companies specialising in
water supply and dam construction
visited the plant to get first hand
information on Harare's water management
system.
Germany Avails Funds for Water Reticulation
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, May 18 2009 -
Germany has availed a 10 million Euro package to
help Zimbabwe rebuild its
failing water reticulation system, an official
announced
Monday.
"Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wrote to our
government requesting
for support in water purification," said Ingolf
Dietrich, head of the
division for Southern Africa in the Federal Ministry
of Economic Cooperation
and Development.
"We will build a
Flexible Fund with an initial Euro 3 million as
mentioned by Mr Tsvangirai.
It is also important to have agricultural
support for the next season. We
want to avail a support programme for
fertilizers and seed for the next
harvest. There will be more cooperation
with Germany depending on political
development in the country," Dietrich
said.
The bulk of the
funds would be channeled into water purification and
provision to avert the
occurrence of another cholera epidemic which killed
over 4 000 people last
year.
The ministry of Economic Planning and Development has
already received
the funds on behalf of the government, the remainder will
fund capacity
building in the civil service, the central bank and the
statistical system.
Tsvangirai is expected to visit Germany
next month on an official
visit and will meet the country's President,
Angela Merkel.
Dietrich also said Germany would channel more
funds to support
Zimbabwe's agricultural sector in the coming
season.
A top World Bank official on Monday promised to give
the country USd22
million dollars in the next month and pledged to support
the country until
it has serviced its debt with the Breton Woods
institution.
Mugabe
bodyguards face possible prosecution over Hong Kong assaults
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
Asia-Pacific
News
May 18, 2009, 0:56 GMT
Hong Kong - Government lawyers in
Hong Kong were Monday considering whether
to prosecute two bodyguards
looking after the daughter of Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe for alleged
assaults.
The Zimbabwean man and woman are accused of assaulting
photographers Colin
Galloway, 46, and Tim O'Rourke, 45, on February 13
outside a luxury house,
where Bona Mugabe is living while on a university
course in Hong Kong.
Briton Galloway and American O'Rourke were on
assignment for a newspaper
investigating the Mugabe family's links to the
Far East when they were
allegedly attacked outside the house on the private
JC Castle development in
Hong Kong's Tai Po district.
The three-story
home was reportedly bought in June last year by a middle-man
acting on
behalf of the 85-year-old Zimbabwean leader and his wife Grace,
according to
the Sunday Times newspaper in London.
Mugabe later denied he had bought
the house but said he had rented it for
his daughter Bona to live in with
two friends while she studies at a Hong
Kong university.
Police
questioned a Zimbabwean man and woman about the incident, in which
O'Rourke
claims he was grabbed by the neck and Galloway says he was gripped
and
bruised by a man in his 30s, and classified the case as common assault.
A
police spokesman said the case had been referred to the Department of
Justice for advice, and a file on the incident is understood to have been
sent to the department in early March.
A spokeswoman for the
Department of Justice said, 'We are now in the process
of finalising our
legal advice and we expect shortly to be in a position to
advise the police
of our decision.'
The pair were employed as bodyguards to look after Bona
Mugabe during her
stay in Hong Kong but were not entitled to diplomatic
immunity as they are
not consular officials, a police source
said.
Officers cautioned the pair after the alleged assault and told them
to
contact police if they had any plans to leave Hong Kong, according to the
source.
'Bona Mugabe will be leaving Hong Kong for her summer
holidays soon with the
two bodyguards so we believe a Department of Justice
decision on whether to
charge them with assault must be made soon,' the
source said.
The February 13 incident came weeks after Grace Mugabe was
accused of
repeatedly punching another photographer when he photographed her
shopping
in Tsim Sha Tsui on January 15.
Hong Kong's Department of
Justice announced in March that the case would go
no further as Grace
Mugabe, 43, was entitled to diplomatic immunity because
of her status as the
president's wife.
Zimbabwe
newsman ready to try again
http://www.latimes.com
Barnabas Thondhlana is about to launch a
Zimbabwean independent daily called
NewsDay.
Barnabas Thondhlana, who
worked for the independent Daily News before it was
forced to close in 2003,
prepares to launch NewsDay, the first major test of
media freedom under the
new unity government.
By Robyn Dixon
May 18, 2009
Reporting from
Harare, Zimbabwe -- The newspaper consists of a small office
with one
authentically untidy desk and one bare but for a borrowed laptop. A
couple
of chairs. Newspapers and papers stacked on the floor. And Boss
Barns.
That would be Barnabas Thondhlana, one of Zimbabwe's
best-known
newspapermen. He sits at the messy desk, explaining the vague
order in the
various piles. The big one is job applications, hundreds of
them. The ones
he doesn't like (including those of four former state spies)
get thrown onto
the floor. The ones he does like go into several piles on
the desk and
floor.
Boss Barns, as he's fondly known to his
colleagues and drinking pals at the
Quill Club, was there on the day in 2003
when armed police shut down the
country's last independent daily paper, the
Daily News. They ordered the
journalists out and put a padlock as big as his
hand on the front door.
Now the affable 47-year-old is about to launch an
independent daily,
NewsDay. It's the first major test of news media freedom
under Zimbabwe's
new government of national unity, which was set up in a
political compromise
after President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party
lost elections last year
but refused to give up power.
No launch date
has been set for NewsDay. The big question mark is whether
the Ministry of
Media, Information and Publicity, controlled by hard-line
Mugabe loyalists,
will give the paper an operating license.
Trevor Ncube, NewsDay backer
and owner of the Zimbabwe Independent, a
weekly, and South Africa's Mail and
Guardian, said he had spoken to
government ministers from all sides. "I
haven't received a single indication
that there's somebody who doesn't want
us to be licensed," he said in an
interview at his office in Johannesburg,
South Africa.
His aim is to produce a newspaper trusted not only by
ZANU-PF but also by
its erstwhile partner in the unity government, the
Movement for Democratic
Change, or MDC.
"We need a newspaper that
says it's OK to disagree. The fact that I disagree
doesn't mean that I
should wish you dead. That's the environment we have
come from," said Ncube,
who describes himself as an idealist.
The Daily News was the first big
independent daily in Zimbabwe, where
state-controlled and subsidized news
media such as the Herald voiced the
ruling party line. With the slogan
"Telling It Like It Is," cheeky cartoons
and investigative reports on
corruption and abuses, the Daily News saw its
circulation soar to more than
100,000.
Thondhlana was news editor of the Daily News when it launched in
1999 -- the
year the MDC was formed by Morgan Tsvangirai, now the country's
prime
minister, and others. Thondhlana later became editor of the Sunday
Daily
News.
"The vision was to give the population news that was not
being covered by
the state media. We didn't think it was dangerous,"
Thondhlana said.
But after ZANU-PF was almost defeated in 2000 elections,
it cracked down.
The spies of the Central Intelligence Organization circled
closer.
The paper's editor, Geoff Nyarota, was riding in an elevator with
a stranger
one morning. The man confessed that he'd been sent to kill
Nyarota, but he
couldn't bring himself to do it, Thondhlana said.
In
2001, a large bomb destroyed the paper's printing press. Later that year,
a
shop beneath the editor's office was blown up. In 2002, the paper's office
in the city of Bulawayo was hit by a gasoline bomb. Nyarota was arrested
twice, and numerous other Daily News journalists were arrested and
charged.
"Some people [on staff] were saying, 'Look, we can't put our
lives on the
block for a newspaper. Maybe we should leave some of the issues
we covered
and go more social,' " Thondhlana said. But the paper stuck to
its guns.
"I said, 'Guys, let us stay resolved. We are here to provide
balanced news.
We must stick to that because for every head on a coin,
there's a tail.'
"We just decided we would not accept to be frightened.
We would not stop
covering the news the way we had covered the
news."
In those days, colleagues recall affectionately, Boss Barns was a
real pro.
He could have walked straight out of the old Walter Matthau-Jack
Lemmon
movie "The Front Page."
Yes, he sometimes took long
lunches.
"But he would then come back and work deep into the night to
clear
everything that was on his table," said former colleague Augustine
Mukaro.
"Young guys would compete to be close to Boss Barns, just to enjoy
the fun
of being near Boss Barns."
On the day the paper was shut
down, the staff, believing the closure was
temporary, was afraid to resist
the police.
"They just said, 'This newspaper is closed. You're going
home.' Armed
soldiers came and pushed everybody out," Thondhlana said.
"People just left
quietly because these guys were armed. Earlier experience
was that guys were
beaten on the heads with gun butts and thrown out of the
newsrooms."
Zimbabwe's media law, which was used to shut down the Daily
News, hasn't
been repealed, as Tsvangirai struggles against ZANU-PF
hard-liners in the
unity government.
There are some ominous signs:
The editor and news editor of the Zimbabwe
Independent were jailed overnight
May 11 for publishing the names of police
and intelligence agents who
arrested civic and opposition activists last
year.
Ncube concedes
that it could take time for NewsDay to take off, but believes
a freer press
for Zimbabwe is near.
"I'm a pragmatist. I don't expect people who are
intolerant of a free press
and free flow of information to be born-again
lovers of plural media. It
will take some cajoling, some trust-building. But
it will happen. I have no
doubt about that."
But there are tough
financial challenges: Most Zimbabweans are too poor to
buy newspapers, and
the few surviving businesses can ill afford to
advertise.
NewsDay,
which aims to surpass the circulation of the Daily News and be
profitable in
nine months to three years, will take a populist line with the
slogan
"Everyday News for Everyday People."
Thondhlana is planning a big front
page to launch the paper. He's thinking
of Tsvangirai, the popular prime
minister.
To Boss Barns, it's about news values and pragmatism, not
politics.
But why not put Mugabe, the country's 85-year-old president, on
the front?
Thondhlana doesn't hesitate: "He's not a seller."
robyn.dixon@latimes.com
Theft,
Vandalism Cost Zesa U.S.$1,5 Million
http://www.herald.co.zw
18 May 2009
Harare - ZESA
Holdings has in the past three months lost equipment worth
US$1,5 million to
vandalism and theft, leading to widespread disruption in
power
supplies.
Zesa spokesperson Mr Fullard Gwasira said thefts and vandalism
had also
compromised people's safety because of exposed overhead and
underground
cables.
"The situation has also contributed to unplanned
power outages that have
been misconstrued as load-shedding by consumers in
some cases," he said.
The primary targets for vandalism, he said, were
such items as conductor
wires (both aluminium and copper), transformers,
transformer oil, angle
irons, nuts and bolts.
"Theft or vandalism of
voltage control units from transformers is causing
unregulated power or
power surges, which lead to people's appliances being
damaged.
"The
ability to replace vandalised or stolen materials depends on a number
of
factors, chief of which is financial.
"Most of our equipment is sourced
out of the country and thus requires
foreign currency.
"The
introduction of foreign currency billing will go a long way towards
maintenance and replacement of stolen components. Unfortunately, due to the
massive scale of vandalism, this exercise will be a process rather than an
event," he said.
Mr Gwasira said although the power utility's
security department was doing a
commendable job in safeguarding electricity
infrastructure, they could not
adequately cover the entire network due to
its vast expanse and wide
distribution.
"We would, therefore, call
upon our consumers to complement our efforts to
ensure uninterrupted
service. Customers are also encouraged to timeously
report electricity
faults so that we attend to vandalised areas for safety
and continuance of
service," he said.
Mr Gwasira said Zesa had also received reports of
people masquerading as its
employees who are soliciting for
bribes.
"Customers are urged to report such criminal elements to Zesa
Holdings or
the police as it has never been company policy for any financial
transactions nor the provision of such cables to be done outside the bona
fide system of the company.
"In instances where Zesa does receive
material from customers, this is only
done through the office of the area
manager in a clear and transparent
manner," he said.
He expressed
concern that many cases of Zesa workers allegedly demanding
bribes were
never proved as complainants failed to furnish them with
adequate
information to convict the suspects.
"We would like to urge our customers
to avoid engaging in any financial
transactions with employees of the power
utility as it is the preserve of
Zesa banking halls, through its subsidiary,
the Zimbabwe Electricity
Transmission and Distribution Company."
Mr
Gwasira said Zesa, in responding to customer queries, has recently
decentralised its fault reporting centres to avoid congestion and improve
communication in fault reporting.
In a related matter, Kuwadzana
residents are locked in a dispute with a
local businessman over allegations
that he has connived with Zesa engineers
based in the area to remove a
transformer in the area and take it to Norton.
The entrepreneur operates
some businesses in the dormitory town.
"We got a tip-off from one of the
Zesa engineers that our transformer was
going to be removed and transferred
to Norton because the businessman had
paid them," a resident said.
He
said a security committee had been formed to guard the sub-station.
"We
no longer trust the Zesa engineers from Kuwadzana and I think the
officials
should send engineers from other areas to come and check whether
our
transformer was damaged or not," another resident said.
The businessman,
however, referred questions to his son, whom he said was
currently out of
the country.
"I don't know what these residents are talking about
because there is
electricity in my area and why should I connive with Zesa
officials?
"In any case, you can talk to my son who is in a better
position to answer
you.
"It's unfortunate that he is out of the
country at the moment," he said.
Mr Gwasira said if the report was proved
they would act against the move.
"Corruption is not tolerated in the
organisation. If what the residents are
saying is true, then surely we will
investigate and the law will take its
course.
"I promise that we will
conduct our own investigations and if the residents
want help, they should
approach the area manager for assistance," said Mr
Gwasira.
ZESA to start coal mining project
http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/
Monday,
May 18, 2009
Business
Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Holdings is set
to start
its coal mining project in August as the power utility positions
itself to
self-sustain coal deliveries to its Hwange Power Station, an
official said.
In an interview with Sunday Business, ZESA chief
executive officer, Engineer
Ben Rafemoyo, said the power utility's joint
venture project with a yet to
be named investor which also includes the
expansion of Hwange Power Station
(HPS) is expected to start in the next
three months following the completion
of most of the logistics.
"The
project is nearing completion in terms of the governance and the joint
venture is almost done.
"The project is not only about the mining of coal
but we are focusing more
of expanding HPS by additional generators which are
seven and eight and we
hope by August things will be happening," Eng
Rafemoyo said.
Early this year ZESA confirmed that it had found a financier
for its
long-term coal-mining project in Hwange's Sinamatela and Western
Area
Coalfields reserves.
If the power utility manages to run eight
units, HPS would be able to
generate between 700 and 800 megawatts depending
on the availability of
sufficient coal deliveries from both the joint
venture project and Hwange
Colliery Company Limited (HCCL).
Meanwhile,
stage one of the refurbishment of HPS under the agreement between
ZESA and
NamPower is set for completion next month.
ZESA and NamPower signed an
agreement in February 2007 to provide for loan
financing by NamPower to the
tune of US$40 million for the refurbishment of
Hwange Power Station Stage
One units (1 to 4) as well as the provision of a
Power Purchase Agreement to
underpin the investment made by NamPower.
"The refurbishment of units under
phase one is almost complete with the last
unit, unit two being targeted to
be completed next in June.
"The two routers of the unit were taken to South
Africa for repairs and
balancing and we expect them to be delivered before
the end of this month,"
Eng Rafemoyo said.
When completed all the four
units will inject 480 megawatts into the main
electricity grid while the
anticipated additional of two more big generators
is expected to raise the
output to 600 megawatts.
Zimbabwe sugar
output down but EU exports rise
http://af.reuters.com
Mon May 18, 2009 1:04pm GMT
*
Sugar production down 15 percent
* EU exports rise, to remain unchanged
this year
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE, May 18 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe's sugar production fell in the year to
end-March as the industry
took a knock from shortages of inputs and
electricity but exports to its
main market the European Union rose, an
industry official told
Reuters.
Steve Frampton, Zimbabwe Sugar Sales general manager, said
output of raw
sugar had fallen 15 percent to 297,662 tonnes during the
April-March period,
down from 348,670 tonnes in the same period in
2008.
"The major challenges facing the raw sugar industry include
availability of
critical inputs including coal, fertilisers and chemicals
... and
electricity for irrigation," Frampton said in an e-mailed response
to
questions from Reuters.
Frampton said a lack of consistent supply
of rail wagons to move cane and
sugar had also impacted on
production.
Zimbabwe's sugar production has been in decline since 2000,
from a high of
600,000 tonnes when President Robert Mugabe's government
started seizing
white-owned commercial farms, including sugarcane
plantations, to resettle
landless blacks.
Frampton urged the
government to help restore confidence on such issues as
land acquisition,
land tenure and the enforcement of law and order to
re-assure growers,
millers and refiners.
"There should be a land audit, an assessment of the
performance of new
settler farmers, maintenance and retention of critical
technical skills
(and) declaration that sugar is a strategic crop," Frampton
said.
Critics say most of the resettled black farmers lack commercial
farming
skills and do not have adequate inputs to fully utilise the land
they
inherited from white farmers.
EU EXPORTS
RISE
Zimbabwe, along with several former European colonies in the ACP,
supply the
EU, the world's biggest sugar purchaser, with 1.6 million to 1.7
million
tonnes of the commodity each year under preferential deals at
above-market
prices.
In 2006 the EU started reducing preferential
sugar prices and from Oct. 1
this year the price will be cut from 448.80
euros ($604.7) per tonne to
335.20 euros.
Frampton said exports to
the EU had nonetheless risen to 86,880 tonnes in
the just-ended season, up
from 55,910 tonnes previously. He did not give
reasons for the jump but
added that the figure was unlikely to change this
year.
Zimbabwe was
allocated 44 million euros to compensate for the cut in the
sugar price but
has only drawn 2.7 million euros and has applied for 5.78
million euros this
year.
Besides exports to the EU, Zimbabwe also ships sugar to the United
States,
where it has a 12,012 tonne quota, as well as South Africa, Egypt,
India,
Malaysia and Canada.
The southern African country has
potential to raise production to 1 million
tonnes, Frampton said, if water
for irrigation is increased by constructing
more dams in the sugarcane
producing southern region.
Zimbabwe's major sugar producers include Hippo
Valley Estates HIP.ZI, owned
by Anglo American Zimbabwe, itself a subsidiary
of miner Anglo American and
Triangle Limited -- which is owned by South
Africa's Tongaat-Hulett TNTJ.J
and Anglo American.
Mkwasine Estates
is jointly owned by Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle
Limited. (Editing by
Sue Thomas)
($1=.7422 Euro)
African Commission to Act on Violation Reports
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, May 18 2009 -
The African Commission on Human and Peoples
Rights (ACHPR) Special
Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to
Information in Africa
Advocate Pansy Tlakula is working on reports of
violations of freedom of
expression by several African countries, including
Zimbabwe.
In an activity report to the 45th
Ordinary Session of the ACHPR in
Banjul, The Gambia, on 17 May 2009,
Advocate Tlakula said she had received
reports of the continued application
of criminal defamation laws against
journalists, closure of independent
television and radio stations, murder,
harassment and threats against
journalists from the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Niger, Cote d' Ivoire,
Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Tunisia and
Liberia.
"The
Special Rapporteur is in the process of bringing the details of
these
allegations to the attention of the States Parties concerned and is
looking
forward to receiving responses from these States Parties," she
said.
She reminded States Parties that the African Charter does
not permit
derogation from any of its provisions as is the case with other
international human rights instruments.
"Accordingly,
States Parties have an obligation to uphold at all times
the provisions of
Article 9 of the African Charter and the Declaration of
Principles of
Freedom of Expression in Africa which supplements it,
irrespective of
circumstances such as armed conflict, civil unrest or any
other form of
emergency that may exist in States Parties," said Advocate
Tlakula.
"Freedom of expression should not be restricted on
public order or
national security grounds unless there is a real risk of
harm to legitimate
interest and there is a close causal link between the
risk of harm and the
expression."
Principle XI (1) and (2)
of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom
of Expression in Africa states
that murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and
threats to media practitioners
and others exercising their right to freedom
of expression including
material destruction of communications facilities,
undermines independent
journalism, freedom of expression and the free flow
of information to the
public.
In terms of the provisions, governments have an
obligation to take
effective measures to prevent such attacks, investigate
them when they
occur, punish perpetrators as well as ensuring that victims
have access to
effective remedies.
On the continued
existence and application of criminal defamation
laws, she said State
Parties should repeal or amend any related laws and
that any laws on
defamation should conform with Principle XII of the
Declaration on
Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa which provides:
No one should be found liable for true statements, opinions, or
statements
regarding public figures which it is reasonable to make in the
circumstances.
Public figures shall be required to tolerate
a greater degree of
criticism Sanctions should not be so severe as to
inhibit the right to
freedom of expression, including by others.
MDC
to Compensate Political Violence Victims: Tsvangirai
http://www.radiovop.com
MASVINGO, May 18
2009 - The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is
set to compensate its
supporters who fell victim to state sponsored
political violence in the run
up to last year's June 27 runoff elections,
party president Morgan
Tsvangirai said.
Speaking at the party's 10th anniversary
celebrations before a crowd
of about 20 000 supporters at Mucheke stadium
Sunday, Tsvangirai said his
party would see to it that those who lost
property, were injured, displaced
or whose relatives were murdered by
president Robert Mugabe's hit men would
get compensation from the opposition
party.
"We must have a response to victims of political violence.
We should
do something as a party, even if it means begging from donors, as
some of
the victims have nowhere to start after the ravages. We have to help
our
cadres," Tsvangirai said amid applause.
He also
dispelled claims that ZANU PF would now swallow the MDC as
happened to the
late Vice President Joshua Nkomo's PF ZAPU party in the
early
eighties.
"Some people think we are being swallowed by ZANU PF.
Nobody is going
to swallow us. We are bigger than ZANU PF, we have the
majority in
parliament, so who will swallow the other one here, the bigger
fish or
smaller one? ZANU PF will always remain alone, and we will always
remain
MDC, even if we are in a unity government," said
Tsvangirai.
The MDC claims more than 100 of its supporters were
killed in an orgy
of violence after the initial March 29 harmonized
elections in which ZANU PF
tasted its first official defeat by the MDC,
which failed to garner the 50
plus majority votes required by law, prompting
a runoff election, which
Tsvangirai later boycotted.
Masvingo, among the country's politically volatile provinces, recorded
some
of the worst scenes of violence, with 20 supporters reportedly being
killed
during the period, according to provincial spokesperson, Wilstuff
Sitemere.
Among the horrendous deaths was the murder of
three supporters in Zaka
who were petrol bombed while locked up in a
District office at Jerera growth
point. Four others who survived the attack
- Edson Gwenhure, Isaac Mbanje
and Kudakwashe Tsumele - suffered
life-threatening injuries from the burns.
And only last week,
another MDC Youth Chairman in Gutu, Costa Saliwa
(29) who was abducted by
ZANU PF militia and tortured for three days last
year, died from injuries he
sustained from the harrowing experience after
being hospitalized for half a
year.
Abducted
migrants freed after awful ordeal
http://www.thestar.co.za
18 May 2009, 11:01
By Poloko
Tau
Eleven Zimbabweans were freed in Yeoville, Joburg, after they were
locked up
by kidnappers for more than a week without food and proper
sanitation. All
they had until police found them in a smelly, windowless
room on Thursday
were three broken chairs, one blanket and a "bucket
toilet".
Police believe a Zimbabwean syndicate that preys on their fellow
countrymen
is responsible for this crime.
Six men and two women,
together with three children between one and two
years old, were promised
jobs and cheap transport to Joburg from the Beit
Bridge border post near
Musina in Limpopo.
When they arrived in Joburg, they were locked up in a
room at a block of
flats, with their abductors demanding R1 500 from their
families in exchange
for their freedom.
A 23-year-old woman and her
two children were locked up with a group of men
with whom they shared a
bucket which served as a toilet.
"I didn't know what to do to my children
as they cried; we would all cry.
There was not much I could do but give them
some water," she said.
"We sat all day and night cramped in that room
with no blankets. We prayed
for our freedom until we ran out of
energy."
The fatigued group sat in an office at Joburg Central police
station on
Thursday night, feasting on chips, bread and cooldrinks organised
by the
officers.
Police spokesman Captain John Maluleke said three
Zimbabweans had been
arrested following a tip-off from someone who was
previously locked up with
the group before his ransom was paid.
One
man was arrested after police set him up to meet a woman who he thought
was
going to pay a ransom for one of the abductees.
"This man then took us to
Elmont Court, where we found a group of people
locked up in a small room
with an awful smell," Maluleke said.
"The men have been charged with
kidnapping and assault, and are expected to
appear in court soon.
"We
believe this is a syndicate operation and we could possibly make more
arrests."
Resolutions of the 2nd National Council Meeting held on the 17th of
May 2009, Flamboyant Hotel, Masvingo - MDC-T Press Release
ACKNOWLEDGING the inauguration of the Transitional
Government on the 16th of February 2009.
NOTING the outstanding issues in the Global Political
Agreement including the issues of the Provincial Governors, Ambassadors,
permanent secretaries, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor and the
Attorney-General,
DISTURBED by the continuous incidences of toxic and
non-compliance on issues including;
(a) the continued farm invasions,
(b) the failure to swear in Roy Bennett,
(c) the unilateralism including the shifting of ministerial mandates,
(d) the failure of the National Security Council to meet,
(e) the continuous detention and re-detention of political and civic society
activists, lawyers and journalists,
(f) the continued politicisation of State institutions,
(g) the continued partial and unequal reporting by the State media and
(h) the selective application of the law and the persecution of MDC Members
of Parliament and activists including the “convictions” of Hon Mathias Matewu
Mlambo and Hon Lynnette Karenyi
FURTHER DISTURBED by the lack of delivery of the
Transitional Government on key areas of National Healing, media reforms, the
legislative reform agenda, the slow pace of Constitutional Reform and the lack
of re-orientation of the security forces.
Now therefore, the National Council resolves that;
1. All outstanding issues in the GPA should forthwith be referred to SADC and
the African Union as the guarantors to the GPA.
2. JOMIC should be more effective and monitor the full and proper
implementation of the GPA.
3. The Transitional Government should urgently deal with issues of
governance, national healing, democratisation and the rule of law.
4. The National Security Council must be convened in terms of the law.
5. The Herald and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation must reform and
report equally, fairly and consistently in line with the GPA.
6. The MDC, as a party of excellence, remains steadfast in its quest, drive
and vision for a new and democratic Zimbabwe.
For and behalf of the people of Zimbabwe. Adopted on 17th May 2009.
This entry was posted by
Sokwanele on Monday, May 18th, 200
The
Battle to Stay Alive: Surviving in Zimbabwe by the Mercy of
God
by Constance Manika
- Zimbabwe -
It has been a year since I
last wrote for The WIP and it’s really good to be able to share what has been
happening in our country.
Every weekend for the past eight months, my husband and I have been forced to
make the 20-kilometer trip by road from our home in the high-density suburbs of
Harare to the affluent suburb of Belvedere to fetch clean water. In the early
morning hours while our little angels are still fast asleep, we load up into the
car empty 20-liter plastic containers for refill.
We have tap water where we live, but it can hardly be said to be safe for
human consumption. When you pour the water into a clear cup or container and let
it sit for a few minutes, a green, sewage-like substance settles to the
bottom.
Although this journey is cumbersome and costly for us, it is has become a
necessary expense for us to stay alive.
The predominantly Indian community of Belvedere has done what the government
cannot. By opening it doors so the public can fetch clean borehole water at no
cost, the people of Belvedere have saved countless lives. Many Indian families
have been in Zimbabwe for generations – in control of the country’s textile
industry, their factories, spice shops, and import stores once flourished in
Harare’s business sector. But they too have been hit hard by the country’s
destabilization. This is what it has come down to for many of us here in
Zimbabwe - staying alive in these harsh times where a government cannot afford
to provide something as basic as clean water for its citizens.
Since last August at least 4,274 people have died of cholera while over
98,000 cases have been reported since then, according to the World Health
Organization.
This water borne disease began in the Budiriro and Glen View suburbs of
Harare because of erratic water supplies. Without access to clean water,
residents resorted to digging up wells and obtaining water from other unsafe
sources resulting in the biggest health crisis Zimbabwe has ever recorded.
Even though some areas actually had running water, the government-controlled
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) had no money to buy water purification
tablets and continued to supply unclean water, exposing people to disease.
Zimbabwe underwent a general sanitation crisis because of the crumbling economy
- uncollected garbage festered in the street and sewer pipes were left in
disrepair in many urban areas triggering the cholera epidemic.
That my family has been spared by this cholera epidemic is truly the mercy of
God.
Before I knew about the kind Indian community and its borehole we used to
drink Harare’s contaminated water with the exception of my youngest daughter who
was just 1 year 8 months then. I used to spend large sums of money buying her
bottled water because we were afraid her developing bowels would not be able to
stomach our tap water and she would succumb to illness.
Because my husband and I couldn’t afford to buy the bottled water for the
entire family, the rest of us boiled the dirty water coming out of our tap to
kill the germs. But this process was even more depressing.
After boiling the water, greenish deposits would come swimming to surface.
Once the water had cooled, we would pour the water through a clean cloth to
sieve the sludge. We would then bottle it and put it in the freezer after which
it would be ready to drink, but because of the boiling process the water was
tasteless. Even after this rigorous germ-killing process, it always took a lot
of courage to drink this water. We really had no choice until one day someone
told me about Belvedere. Since that day my husband and I have woken up early
every weekend to beat the long queues at these watering holes.
But this is just one of our many struggles for survival in Zimbabwe - the
survival game has numerous aspects to it. There is also the tremendous challenge
of trying to stay alive when you can barely afford one meal a day.
According to the World Food Programme more than half of Zimbabweans are in
urgent need of food aid. I remember not so long ago before the dollarization of
the economy when inflation was chasing salaries and getting by was a living
nightmare even for professionals like my husband and I. Our salaries were eroded
by inflation even before we got to pay day.
There is also the challenge of trying to stay alive in a country where the
health delivery system has virtually collapsed, where nurses and doctors opt to
stay at home because they cannot afford the cost of transportation to get to
work.
In this case survival has meant avoiding falling ill - few can afford the
astronomical health fees charged in the private health sector. Medical aid
schemes that used to cushion many of us from the high medical fees were run out
of business as a result of inflation. For me as a mother, this means a daily
prayer to spare my children from illness because I know for sure I cannot afford
the consultation fees in the private sector, where meaningful health care is
still being offered.
Throughout 2008, when things were at their darkest in Zimbabwe, we were lucky
to have only had to seek medical treatment for our youngest daughter when she
had an asthma attack.
One night at the emergency room cost US$150 for consultation and a five-hour
observation. If her condition had not improved, we would have faced
hospitalization. At that time, the cheapest private hospital was asking for a
minimum deposit of US$500 - money we didn’t have. By then, all state hospitals
were closed.
But fortunately after three hours in the ER, she made a miraculous recovery.
We were lucky that we had the money (sent to me by a relative working abroad) to
save our daughter’s life, but the reality is that when confronted with illness,
many people are not as fortunate.
Last year’s cholera epidemic revealed just how few choices most Zimbabweans
have. For many of us, the raging cholera epidemic was the biggest sign that
things were seriously wrong in our country. The transmission and escalation of
the outbreak to an epidemic greatly exposed the collapse of the health sector
and the breakdown of social services in Zimbabwe to the entire world.
Recently the World Health Organization--tasked with coordinating the cholera
fight in the country-- said the cholera epidemic appears to be slowing down in
many parts of the country. It however notes that in urban areas such as Harare,
Chitungwiza and Kadoma (about 100 kilometers outside Harare) the epidemic
remains difficult to control because of “persistent water and sanitation
problems.”
In the Budiriro and Glen View suburbs of Harare, the epicenter of the cholera
epidemic, residents have not had consistent water supplies for quite a while
now. Although some relief agencies have assisted residents by drilling
boreholes, they cannot service all residents. Clearly the only solution is for
government to address the general water problems in Harare.
There is really no telling what the extent of the catastrophe would have been
in the country without the goodwill of aid agencies and the Indian community.
But what is ironic is that when the Indian community drilled these boreholes
many years ago it was in response to their own water problems. They had not
anticipated that they would one day be catering to hundreds of water seekers
from many suburbs throughout the capital city.
“I really don’t mind helping people with water. Borehole water comes straight
from the ground water, it’s a gift from the almighty so why would we even ask
people to pay?” asks Belvedere resident Ahmad Mohammed.
“We are all brothers in one way or the other and we must help one
another.”
This article is the first in a two-part series from
Constance that updates our readers
on the realities facing Zimbabwe today. -
Ed.
About the
AuthorConstance Manika is a journalist who
works for the independent press in Zimbabwe. She writes under this pseudonym to
escape prosecution from a government whose onslaught and level of intolerance to
journalists in the independent press is well documented.
Daily cholera update and alerts, 17 May 2009
* Please note that
daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff
constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the
numbers. Any change will then be explained.
** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths
occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may
occasionally result
A. Highlights of the day:
- 13 Cases and 1 deaths added today (in comparison with 15 cases and 0 deaths
yesterday)
- Cumulative cases 98 247
- Cumulative deaths 4 278 of which 2 627 are community deaths
- 95.0 % of the reporting centres affected have reported today 57 out of 60
affected reporting centres)
- Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7%
- Daily Institutional CFR = 7.7 %.
- No report received from Chirumhanzu,Gokwe North and Gokwe South Districts.
No going
back
http://www.moneyweb.co.za
Ultimatums and deadlines still don't work against Zimbabwe's old
order.
Cathy Buckle
18 May 2009 04:45
We were disappointed but
not surprised when Prime Minister Tsvangirai's
planned address to Parliament
on the 13th May was cancelled. By then the
deadline given by the MDC to
resolve outstanding issues in the very unequal
power sharing had passed but,
surprise, surprise, nothing happened.
Ultimatums and deadlines still don't
work against Zimbabwe's old order -
everyone knows that, or almost everyone
it seems!
Then we were told that Prime Minister Tsvangirai would make a
statement on
Friday the 15th May announcing what's to be done about
Provincial Governors,
Foreign Ambassadors, the Reserve Bank Governor and
Attorney General, all of
whom were appointed unilaterally by Mr Mugabe. That
statement also didn't
happen and so we are left to speculate and remain stuck
in no-man's land as
the struggle for real power continues.
Even as the
stalemate continues everyone looks at the MDC to DO SOMETHING
but no one
looks at Zanu PF to do anything. It's like we have collectively
stopped
expecting anything from Zanu PF. Almost every day Zanu PF wail
about
sanctions and no one even bothers to correct them anymore and say:
sanctions
are not imposed on Zimbabwe but on specific, targeted
individuals.
'Shall we come home?' is a question some Zimbabweans living
in exile are
already asking but so far there's not a sensible answer to give
them. To
people who grow food for a living we can only say: farm seizures
are
continuing; Title Deeds are still worthless; police still don't get
involved
because "it is political." To professionals we can only say:
government
teachers, nurses and civil servants earn just 100 US dollars a
month;
lawyers get arrested for defending their clients and people go to
prison for
months at a time for their political beliefs; none of the
repressive and
oppressive legislation has been repealed and dual citizenship
is still
outlawed. To everyone we have to say: there are no jobs; the cost of
living
is crippling; there is often no water and electricity and
infrastructure is
in a state of near collapse.
Its not all bad though
because despite the tragic loss of both his wife and
his grandson in the last
three months, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is
still saying he's not
giving up. "There's no going back" is the phrase he
keeps repeating and it is
the hope that we keep holding on to. Until next
week and from under a wide
blue sky, thanks for reading, love cathy.
©Copyright cathy buckle 16th May
2009. www.cathybuckle.com
Bill Watch 17 of 18th May 2009 [Inclusive Government Disagreement to be referred to SADC and AU]
BILL WATCH
17/2009
[18th May
2009]
Both
Houses are adjourned until 16th June
The Senate sat for less
than half an hour on Tuesday and then adjourned. The House of Assembly sat on
Tuesday for an hour and on Wednesday for two hours and then adjourned. In this
session of Parliament the House of Assembly has sat for 30 afternoons and the
Senate 18 afternoons [these included the day when Parliamentarians were sworn in
and the day that the President formally opened Parliament]. Some “working”
sittings have been for only half an hour or less. Traditionally Parliament has
adjourned towards the end of June until it is prorogued and a new session of
Parliament opens.
Update on
Inclusive Government
The MDC National Council Meeting
yesterday Sunday 17th May resolved to refer outstanding disputes arising from
the Inter-party Political Agreement [IPA] and within the inclusive government to
SADC and the AU as guarantors of the Agreement. This referral was to be
immediate without waiting for further meetings between the principals to the
Agreement. The Prime Minister said he would do as
his party requested. The long delays in resolving the issues had left the party
members frustrated by the situation. [Text of MDC-T National Council
Communiqué available on request]
A
public statement on progress on the unresolved disputes between the parties had
been expected on Friday 15th May following a series of eight meetings of the
principals during the last few weeks, but the statement was postponed. It was
informally reported that compromises may have been reached on a few issues, but
that there were still major sticking points. Some of the issues date from
before the IPA on 15th September, when bowing to SADC pressure for the agreement
to be signed before the AU Summit, the MDC agreed on the understanding that
outstanding issues would be settled soon thereafter. [Note: apology –
in the last Bill Watch an overlooked typing error gave the incorrect date for
the signing of the IPA.] These outstanding issues have been
bones of contention ever since and in the meantime further disagreements have
surfaced.
Formal
Launch of 100-day Action Plan
The Action Plan,
arising from wide stakeholder consultation and following planning meetings
within and between Ministries in the inclusive government, was launched on 13th
May [Full
text available as a word document on request ].
At the same time the
next 100 days of the
inclusive government was launched as the implementation stage of the Action
Plan, although some progress has already been made since Cabinet approved the
Plan on 28th April.
Implementation for much
of the Action Plan is still dependent on aid and investment coming in and this
is largely dependent on the resolution of inter-party issues in the inclusive
government and what sort of reform programme is put in place. The African
Development Bank has said it will provide budgetary support only if outstanding
issues are resolved. Botswana has warned that the
international community might withdraw pledges to help the reconstruction of
Zimbabwe if President Mugabe and
ZANU-PF do not stop violating the power sharing agreement. For many key
international donors there has been disappointment that the law reform agenda
outlined in the IPA is taking so long to materialise and in the meantime lawyers
and media practitioners involved in defending or reporting on political
detainees have been arrested, farm-related violence has not been curbed and
there has been a 700% increase in student arrests, detentions and suspensions on
political grounds this April compared with April last year. Foreign
investors are concerned
by delays in dealing with corruption, nepotism and reform of government's
indigenisation laws.
What could also set
back the Action Plan is the threat by civil servants to strike unless their
demands are met and by trades unions to call for a general labour strike. It is
a vicious circle – without the economy being revived the government cannot meet
civil service and labour demands but if there is strike action the economy and
plans for its revival will be set back.
Update
on Parliament
House
of Assembly
Question Time
Issues dealt with
during Wednesday's Question Time in the House of Assembly
included:
·
Arrest of
Zimbabwe Independent
Journalists:
Co-Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa said that it was not his Ministry’s
policy to arrest journalists going about their normal business. The Ministry
had not been involved in giving instructions to arrest in this case and the
Commissioner-General of Police had already made a public statement disapproving
of such arrests. The Commissioner-General had also told the Minister that the
instruction to arrest the journalists had come from the Attorney-General, and
the AG had confirmed this in discussion with the Minister. The Minister said he
was “completely disgusted” by the arrests and would be taking the matter up with
the Minister of Justice as the Minister responsible for the AG’s
Office.
·
Rationale
for Offence of Criminal Defamation: In reply to a
question suggesting that the offence of criminal defamation [the charge levelled
against the arrested journalists] should be abolished, the Minister of Justice
said the matter was debatable, but that charges of criminal defamation are only
brought in very serious cases.
·
Reserve
Bank Withdrawal of Funds from Africa University
FCA: The Minister of
Higher Education informed the House that this issue had now been resolved and
that he had a document showing the amount refunded.
Approval of the SADC
Protocol on Science, Technology and Innovation This Protocol was
approved by the House of Assembly without debate after a brief explanatory
statement by the Minister of Science and
Technology.
Tabling of ZEC
report
[see
Bill Watch Special of 17th May.]
Senate
– no business was
conducted.
Update
on Parliamentary Committees
The Committee on
Standing Rules and Orders will meet on Tuesday
afternoon. On its agenda will be its subcommittee’s recommendation that
advertisements should be published calling for applications from persons wishing
to be nominated by CSRO for appointment to the Media Commission, Human Rights
Commission, Electoral Commission and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Select Committee
on the Constitution This will
go on working while Parliament is adjourned – it has a great deal of work to do
before the convening of the First All Stakeholders Conference which must be on
or before the 13 July [the IPA stipulates it
must be held within 3 months of the date of the appointment of the select
committee]. Subcommittees have not yet been set
up.
The
House of Assembly Portfolio Committees
These are not planning to meet while Parliament is adjourned [except that the
committees which have not finalised their work plans will be meeting briefly
next week to do so]. Ministries under the previous government had more than
thirteen months unquestioned by Portfolio Committees and the present Committees
should be dealing with this backlog as well as examining Ministries’ work since
the formation of the inclusive government.
The Senate
committees have not yet been
established.
The
Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC]
has not yet started work on the huge backlog of statutory instruments that has
built up since October 2008 which according to the Constitution it has to
consider and report on to the House of Assembly.
The Minister for State
in the Deputy Prime Ministers Office, Gibson Sibanda, who
is the MDC-M Deputy President, needs a seat in Parliament by the
19th May or must
forfeit his Ministerial post [Constitution,
section 31E(2)]. MDC-M has no appointed seats left, having given its
two senatorial seats to its General Secretary, Welshman Ncube, and his Deputy,
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, who were also made Ministers. There have been
press reports that the three party principals have agreed to create an extra
Senate seat for Mr Sibanda. This would require a Constitutional Amendment,
which is impossible before the 19th May deadline.
ZAPU
Divorces Zanu PF
On Saturday, 16 May,
about 1 000 delegates from throughout Zimbabwe met in Bulawayo and endorsed ZAPU’s formal withdrawal
from the 1987 Unity Accord with Zanu PF. ZAPU was founded by the late
Vice-President Joshua Nkomo in December 1961. The party entered into the Unity
Accord with ZANU-PF on the 22nd December 1987 in order to put a halt to the
violence perpetrated prior to, during and subsequent to the
Gukurahundi. [Unity Accord text
available on request.]
Update
on Legislation
No new Bills are likely
to be gazetted in the near future.
Veritas makes
every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied.
US medical
team puts smiles on faces of 65 children
HOPE: A volunteer with a child who had a cleft lip
repaired
Posted to the
web: 18/05/2009 12:05:10
AN AMERICAN volunteer medical team is
putting the smiles back on the faces of Zimbabwean children after fixing 65
deformed kids.
The California-based
Operation of Hope donates surgeries to children in developing countries born
with facial deformities and they arrived in Zimbabwe two weeks ago.
Volunteers come from Orange
County, Northern California, Oregon, Washington and Texas.
The 12-person team –
including founder Dr. Joseph Clawson, a retired ear, nose and throat specialist
– repaired 36 cleft lips, 33 cleft palettes and started reconstructive work on
the face of a child blown apart by a landmine.
Last week, the group worked
on a cleft-lip baby named Apologize in Harare.
"His mother came to the
hospital on a day when it rained so hard that it looked like the rain was
sideways," said Jennifer Trubenbach, the group’s executive director. "She told
us these are the tears we have cried to God for the help to our babies. Thank
you for God's answer to prayer in coming here to help the people of
Zimbabwe.'"
In the last 20 years,
Operation of Hope has fixed the facial deformities of nearly 2,000 children
worldwide. The nonprofit recently received $50,000 from actor Hugh Jackman
following a donation contest he held on his official Twitter profile. The actor
became familiar with the nonprofit's work after presenting a People Magazine
Heroes Award to Trubenbach.
Trubenbach was selected for
the award after she and her family mortgaged their home twice to help pay
surgery for Beloved Jefeti, a Zimbabwean boy who lost half his face after a
landmine blew up.
The 18-year-old's surgery is
the organisation's most recent success story. His facial reconstruction has
drawn world-wide attention.
Beloved was 10 and living in
rural Zimbabwe when he found a landmine in his grandmother's yard and, thinking
it was a transistor radio, he put it in his mouth for better reception. It blew
up. Zimbabwean doctors tried to put the lower half of his face back together
using a piece of his own stomach tissue. The results were not good.
Then one day in the fall of
2006, Operation of Hope came to his village with promises of medical miracles.
Beloved, then 15, asked if they could fix his face. They did.
Blessing, a 17-year-old
Zimbabwe boy, had also suffered a similar fate.
Operation of Hope's surgery
made it possible for him to stop carrying a crusty dust cloth on his chest to
wipe drool from his mouth.
When his surgery was over,
he told Trubenbach that he wanted to be a facial reconstructive surgeon one
day.
Operation of Hope gave him a
new laptop with educational software.
"He touched it over and over
saying, 'What a nice machine, what a nice machine,'" Trubenbach said. "He told
us of a story if his dog getting hit by a car and him sewing him up using
fishing line. He has charmed the hearts of all of us on the
team."
Reintroduce the Zim dollar
The RBZ through the then
Acting Minister of Finance introduced the use of
multicurrency so as to
promote global economic stability and also our own
propensity. The Minister
of Finance may be, through bad advice, persuaded
the nation to abandon its
currency in favour of the use of the US dollar and
the South African Rand in
some parts of the country. I have always thought
that the Minister in
endorsing what Dr Gono had done, did it because he too
wanted to reduce the
country risk, persistent hyperinflation or frequent Zim
Dollar collapse
thereby providing a stable and secure economic and
investment climate.
Rightfully so the country's economic and investment
climate is looking more
credible as the possibility of speculative attacks
on the local currency and
capital markets virtually disappeared. The
diminished risk is encouraging
both the local and foreign investors to
invest in Zimbabwe and cap the
market. We now hear there is a target that is
almost being met through
Africans extending lines of credit. This is no
economic magic at all what
the outside world is simply doing is rushing to
Zimbabwe and her people
because she is collecting her revenue in foreign
currency and that even the
man on the streets of Harare can pay their loan
from any part of the world
without currency bottlenecks.
Dollarisation in Zimbabwe,
Agentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Vietnam, Cambodia,
Germany etc is a reaction to
economic instability and high inflation. As is
the case with other countries
that partially or fully dollarised, in
Zimbabwe dollarisation reduced price
uncertainty just as it reduced the need
for consumers and firms to insure
against inflation surprises.Dollarisation
also reduced the overall need for
international reserves since a share of
external transactions that
previously required foreign exchange can now be
treated as the equivalent
transactions. With good planning the RBZ dollar
assets could be dedicated to
a stabilisation fund to help domestic financial
institutions under stress.
Even if a de-jure official safety net with the
USA is not on the cards for
Zimbabwe, the USA treasury along with the IMF
will provide the
de
facto lines of credit when push comes to shove. As we are reading
daily in
the news papers credit lines are very easy to secure with foreign
banks and
lenders, as our government can use future tax revenues or
seigniorage-sharing with the USA's Federal Reserve as collateral. Again
these are mare assumptions as the adoption of the US dollar as our stop gap
currency was done way before the GNU.
As people scramble for
Zimbabwe and the government stands much in the same
position as it was
around 1890s we are sinking deep into both an economic
and political trap.
Sad as it is, it is not too late for the nation to
extricate itself from the
mess of prolonged political rivalry. We are all
Zimbabweans and will always
be identified as such no matter what. Cultural
anthropologists have always
taught us that states are made not just through
force as has happened in
both Iraq and Afghanistan but by loyalty and a
joint commitment to a joint
identity as is in South
Africa,Nigeria,Mozambique,Zambia,USA,Canada,Australia,Britian,EU and many
other places around the world. The critical distinguition between "us" (as
Zimbabweans) and "them" (the world) can be determined by all manner of
symbols; a flag, anthems, postage stamps, national teams etc.Amoung the most
potent of these symbols is money-Our Zim Dollar. It does not matter how much
battered our currency is, a national currency acts as a daily reminder to
citizens of their connection to the state and oneness to
it.
Nothing political nothing to do with Mugabe nothing to do
with Tsvangirai
but Zimbabwe by Zimbabweans for Zimbabweans. By virtue of
its universal use
on a daily basis, our Zim Dollar underscores the fact that
everyone is part
of the same social entity. All that was lost when we
adopted the use of the
money of foreign states. Preservation of a national
currency is useful to
governments as a kind of insurance policy against
risk. Whatever the
monetarists' arguments in support of dollarisation are,
it is certainly true
that the Zimbabwe monetary authority has been forfeited
since we can no
longer exercise unilateral control over our money supply or
exchange rate. A
local currency is also a symbol of sovereign state, the use
of foreign
currency instead of our Zim Dollar damages our sense of
pride.
Zimbabwe can no longer directly influence its economy,
including the right
to administer monetary policy and any form of exchange
rate regime. That
means we have a ceremonial RBZ governor and a ceremonial
Minister of Finance
as they all can not influence the direction of the
economy they preside
over. Both the Ministry of Finance and The RBZ ceded
authority to the
Federal Reserve Bank or the central bank of America and its
treasury. I
doubt very much whether the USA ever discusses the requirements
of Zimbabwe's
monetary needs. Just like the RBZ's heavy loss, the government
(Ministry of
Finance) has equally lost a powerful tool for underwriting
public
expenditure through seigniorage will briefly explain the concept of
printing
money which has been a subject for debate for a long time
now.Seigniorage is
what a government has as an alternative source of revenue
beyond what can be
raised via taxes, fines or barrowing from financial
markets at home or
abroad. What can not be paid for with tax receipts or
borrowed funds can be
paid for, in effect, by using the printing press. It
is official it is pure
economics and has some financial prudence and is
accepted all around the
world. A country's own currency can save as an
emergency source of revenue-a
way of finding purchasing power quickly when
confronted with unexpected
contingencies up to and including war. The
USA-Federal Reserve benefits from
the use of its currency in Zimbabwe
through collecting money printing
revenues or seigniorage whilst our
government which is already broke and its
GDP suffers as it looses income
that would otherwise be accruing to the
fiscus.The use of foreign currency
for financial intermediation has
eliminated the capacity of the RBZ to
finance its lender of last resort
(LLR) activities by printing the domestic
currency. The RBZ is no longer
able to provide liquidity to the banking
sector in the event of a transitory
shortage.Foreign lenders are stepping in
from around the world as easy now
as we have the US dollar nothing to do
with neither MDC nor ZANU-PF.
As the economist John Maynard once
wrote "A Government can live by this
means when it can not live by
another."Dollarisation automatically
terminated that in Zimbabwe eventually
terminating a source of revenue for
the government unless it will be
explicitly offset by some kind of agreed
formula for seigniorage sharing
with the USA government which I doubt very
much for as long as we do not
dance to their tune. It will not be the first
time that has happened, South
Africa shares seigniorage revenues with three
states that use the rand
(Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland).
Indeed with dollarisation the
USA gains a potential powerful instrument of
influence over dependant
dollarised economies. Zimbabwe now and tomorrow
will remain extremely
vulnerable to the USA and the West politically. On the
political side the
calculus is more uncertain, reflecting risk as well as
possible threats that
are by definition unworkable -ex ante.
Dollarisation makes a country more
valnurable to threats of manipulation and
coercion. It will be very soon
when we will all learn just how much we are
exposed to external coercion
like what happened to Panama in the late
1980sThe USA can simply squeeze our
economy by creating a liquidity problem
over night.
Zimbabwe
is now in a dilemma. Any administrative measures that seek to
reducing
dollarisation may encourage disintermediation. Between the
hands-off
approach focused on the macroeconomic environment and a hands on
approach
based on administrative measures, the following are measures
Zimbabwe needs
to adopt to smoothly move from the US dollars to our own
dollars-Zim
dollar.
The government needs to urgently start introducing local
currency
denominated financial instruments which obviously will appeal to
local to
domestic investors or reintroduce the Zim dollar at a staggered
basis to
allow people to have faith in the currency again. Government
through the
reserve bank should ensure there are regulation which encourage
or at least
do not penalise intermediation in Zim
dollars.
Peter Ganya; independent financial analyst and
consultant based in the UK
pganya@yahoo.com or info@ganyetzimproducts.com