Zim Online
Fri 19 May 2006
HARARE - The High Court will on Friday
hear an urgent application by
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
seeking the court to bar
immigration authorities from deporting foreign
delegates coming to attend
the union's congress which began in Harare this
morning.
ZCTU lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the application would be
heard at
11.30 am today after the Zimbabwean authorities on Wednesday
deported two
Norwegian trade union officials Nina Mjoberg and Alice Siame,
while a
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) official, Jani
Mhlangu, was
barred from entering Zimbabwe.
All the three
foreign trade unionists were on a list of international
trade union
officials invited to the ZCTU congress and who the government
had said it
would allow into the country.
Muchadehama said: "We have made an
urgent application for a general
interdict to stop the Minister of Home
Affairs (Kembo Mohadi), the Minister
of Public Service Labour, and Social
Welfare (Nicholas Goche) and the Chief
Immigration Officer (Elasto Mugwadi)
from deporting the invitees of the
ZCTU.
"If
there are indeed valid reasons for the invitees to be deported, we
want the
respondents to give sufficient notice and also want the invitees to
be given
an opportunity to make representations to the authorities upon
being served
notices of deportation."
In an affidavit to court, the labour body
said it had received several
calls from invited guests who now feared coming
to Zimbabwe unsure whether
they would not be thrown out by immigration
officials on arrival.
Meanwhile, the government on Thursday
appeared to have finally decided
to allow the ZCTU's international guests
into the country with 10 foreign
unionists who arrived yesterday permitted
into the country.
Many more foreign delegates to the labour
congress were expected to
arrive by late evening flights.
The
Harare authorities have in the past denied entry to foreign trade
unionists
whom they accuse of working hand in hand with the ZCTU to
undermine the
government's authority.
The government accuses the ZCTU, a strong
ally of the main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change party, of pushing
a political agenda to oust
Mugabe from power.
Two separate
delegations from the Congress of South African Trade
Unions have also been
kicked out of Zimbabwe over the past two years. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 19 May 2006
HARARE - Analysts have warned
that Zimbabwe - already grappling its
worst ever economic crisis - could be
headed for a repeat of the 1997
financial crisis triggered by unbudgeted
pay-outs to war veterans if the
government presses ahead with plans to pay
salaries to the ex-combatants.
Almost nine years ago, in August to
be precise, President Robert
Mugabe bowed to pressure from the Zimbabwe
National Liberation War Veterans
Association (ZNLWVA) to pay them for their
contribution to the fight for
independence.
The government
responded by awarding the freedom fighters, then headed
by Chenjerai Hunzvi,
hefty gratuities of $50 000 each as well several
allowances.
The impact of the unbudgeted payouts - which triggered an
unprecedented
crash of the Zimbabwe dollar on November 14, 1997 - has to
some extent
largely shaped the course of Zimbabwe's economy over the past
nine
years.
A four-member committee set up by Mugabe last year to
restructure the
ZNLWVA has again recommended hefty allowances and benefits
for the former
freedom fighters.
The committee led by former
Cabinet minister Dumiso Dabengwa and
comprising retired army generals
Solomon Mujuru and Vitalis Zvinavashe,
recommended that war veterans be
incorporated into the Zimbabwe National
Army structures.
Dabengwa was this week quoted by the Press as having told war veterans
at a
meeting in the southern Lupane district that the recommendations by his
committee were as good as adopted by the government because they had already
been approved by the ruling ZANU PF party central committee, as well as the
party's inner politburo cabinet.
"What is only left are a few
amendments to the War Veterans Act. Once
approved by parliament, I can
assure you that your welfare is going to
greatly improve," Dabengwa
said.
Analysts this week warned that another round of careless
spending by
the government could spell disaster for a country still smarting
from
foreign currency shortages, high government borrowing and company
closures,
which they say could all be traced back to that fateful decision
in August
1997.
"It is very dangerous for the government to do
such a thing,
particularly at a time when the country can't afford further
increases in
expenditure," said independent economic analyst John
Robertson.
The analysts said that through such promises the
government was
unwittingly sowing the seeds of discontent, both among the
war veterans and
workers, particularly civil servants who also want the
authorities to do
something about their living conditions.
"As
if the country has not suffered enough from its poor policies, the
government continues to make such careless promises to people whose sole
occupation is to feed off the taxpayer," said an economist with a Harare
commercial bank, who did not want to be named for professional
reasons.
Civil servants have been awarded salary increments of up
to 300
percent, with the majority of them now earning about $30 million a
month.
This is far below the poverty datum line of around $41 million a
month.
If the Dabengwa committee recommendations go through, it
will mean
that serving junior army officers will now be earning less than a
war
veteran staying at home.
Under the proposed benefits
structure, war veterans will be entitled
to $90 million a year for each
child in secondary school or at a tertiary
institution, and $20 million for
each child in primary school.
"The proposed payments will be the
final death-knell for the economy
in that they will exert greater pressure
on government debt, push up the
rate of inflation and the cost of borrowing
will shoot over the top," he
warned.
The government's domestic
debt was pegged at Z$15.7 trillion at the
end of March while annual
inflation was perched at a record-busting 1 042.9
percent in April. Minimum
lending rates are hovering around 1 000 percent. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 19 May 2006
MASVINGO - Zimbabwe
Vice-President Joice Mujuru on Thursday lashed out
at the country's
hospitality sector labelling members of the industry
"thieves" who were
sabotaging the economy.
Mujuru made the remarks as she officially
opened the Hospitality
Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) national conference in
Masvingo town, about
260km south of the capital Harare.
"Let
met tell you openly that some of your members are thieves who
conceal
foreign currency. Corruption within your sector is rampant. We have
seen of
late that the industry has thieves who steal money everyday," she
told the
stunned delegates.
Several lodge and hotel operators in Zimbabwe
have been convicted over
the past few years for contravening the Foreign
Exchange Control Act by not
remitting all or part of their hard cash
earnings to the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is in the
grip of a severe foreign currency shortage after
President Robert Mugabe
wrecked the agricultural sector, the country's
biggest foreign currency
earner, through his seizure of white-owned farms
for redistribution to
landless blacks six years ago.
Another top foreign currency earner,
the tourism sector, is also in
the doldrums as tourists shun the country
because of political violence and
repression largely blamed on militant
supporters of Mugabe and his ruling
ZANU PF party. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 19
May 2006
HARARE - Political instability and an unprecedented
economic recession
cost Zimbabwe its bid to host the 2010 African Nations
Cup tournament,
ZimOnline has gathered.
A source who attended
the bidding presentation in Cairo on Sunday said
in an interview yesterday
that Zimbabwe lost the bid before they could even
make a presentation
because of what is happening in the country.
"We were briefed by
some senior officials at the Confederation of
African Football (CAF) that we
stood no chance because of a combination of
factors which include both the
economic and political situation in the
country.
"It is clear
that in terms of infrastructure, Zimbabwe is better
placed than countries
like Angola and even Nigeria but they decided to boot
us out at the very
first hurdle.
"CAF officials had a number of concerns about
Zimbabwe. Firstly the
rate of inflation is going up on a daily basis. For a
country to host the
Nations Cup, it must be stable.
"The CAF
delegation wondered whether the country would still be having
enough
electricity by the time 2010 comes. The country is experiencing
shortages
all over the show and football officials could not take the risk
by giving
Zimbabwe a chance," said the source.
Eight bids were presented but
only four from Nigeria, Angola, Libya
and a joint bid by Equatorial Guinea
and Gabon were accepted.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a severe
economic recession described by
the World Bank last year as unprecedented
for a country not at war. Food,
fuel and foreign currency are all in short
supply with critics blaming the
crisis on mismanagement by President Robert
Mugabe. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 18 May 2006
BULAWAYO - Churches in Zimbabwe's second
biggest city of Bulawayo on
Thursday filed an urgent application at the High
Court to force the police
to lift a ban on a prayer meeting and a march on
Saturday to mark last
year's controversial home demolition
campaign.
The churches, which filed the court application through
their lawyer
Kucaca Phulu, want the High Court to declare the police ban
illegal and also
bar the police from interfering with the planned march and
prayer meeting on
Saturday.
A High Court judge is expected to
hear the application on Friday.
The churches also said they are
exempt from Section 24 of the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA) which
requires that any organisation that
intends to hold public meetings should
notify the police in advance.
"Churches in Bulawayo
seek a court order that we are exempt from
Section 24 of the Public Order
and Security Act and the letter of the
respondent dated 16 May 2006 does not
have the effect of taking away that
right.
"Further we seek a
declaration that we are free to proceed with our
march and the respondent
should not interfere with it," reads part of the
court
application.
The police on Tuesday ordered the Zimbabwe Christian
Alliance (ZCA)
which brings all churches in the city to cancel the planned
procession that
would have seen about 15 000 people marching from Makokoba's
working class
suburb into the city centre about five kilometers
away.
Under the government's tough security laws, Zimbabweans are
banned
from gathering in groups of more than three people to discuss
politics or
hold political demonstrations without first seeking clearance
from the
police.
But churches are exempt from the
requirement.
"Although we are exempt from having to notify the
police of any
meeting and processions we hold, we advised the police of our
intended
prayer march on the 20th May 20006 but however on the 16th of May
the
respondent summoned us to his offices where together with other people
discussed issues that had nothing to do with our churches or the
application," reads the application.
ZCA spokesman, Hussein
Sibanda said the planned march and prayer
meeting on Saturday had nothing to
do with politics but was a bona fide
religious activity.
Civic
groups on Tuesday began commemorating the home demolition
exercise by
touring various suburbs where police bull-dozers razed backyard
cottages and
houses in a campaign President Robert Mugabe said was necessary
to smash
crime and rid cities and towns of squalor.
The campaign left at
least 700 000 people homeless and directly
affected another 2.4 million
people, according to a damning United Nations
report. -
ZimOnline
The Herald (Harare)
May 18,
2006
Posted to the web May 18, 2006
Harare
THE price of bread
is set to go up by more than 100 percent in the next two
months due to the
shortage of raw materials, the Bakers' Association of
Zimbabwe has
said.
The bakers want a loaf of bread to cost around $200 000 up from $85
000
unless Government intervenes and imports wheat on behalf of millers. But
the
Minister of Industry and International Trade, Cde Obert Mpofu,
immediately
ruled out the planned increase until "full and exhaustive"
consultations
have been carried out.
"There has not been any change
in the price of wheat sold to the wholesalers
so we will not entertain any
request in that regard until there is a
dramatic change in the supply
chain," he said yesterday afternoon by
telephone. "As you know bread is a
controlled commodity and we recently
increased the price, so we cannot have
another increase so soon," he said.
BAZ chairman Mr Burombo Mudumo claimed
that there was a shortage of flour on
the market and that bakers were now
importing the commodity. Mr Mudumo said
the cost of imported flour was
double that charged by local millers and
bakers therefore had no option but
to increase the price of bread to keep
the indus try viable.
"A tonne
of imported flour costs $120 million while locally it costs $50
million.
Therefore, as bakers we have to increase the price of bread to save
the
industry from collapsing," he said. He urged the Government to speed up
the
operations of the Price Monitoring Commission so that it gazettes the
price
of bread rather than imposing price controls. In view of the
hyperinflationary environment in the country, he said, prices of goods were
constantly rising and bread was no exception. "We are calling upon the Price
Monitoring Commission to be operationalised soon because it will include
representatives from industry. We cannot have a situation where the
Government gazettes the prices of goods," he said.
"Prices of goods
are going up almost on a daily basis, flour included, but
when bakers
increase the price of bread there is an outcry. There is no way
the price of
bread can stabilise in a hyperinflation environment like ours,"
said Mr
Mudumo. The price of bread ha s risen from $45 000 to $60 000 and to
$85 000
since the beginning of the new year. The general public backed the
State's
stance.
"At $200 000 the price is too high and hence we will not afford
bread. This
is disappointing as bread is a basic foodstuff to many. The
Government must
intervene and assist consumers as most bakeries and
retailers want to
capitalise at the expense of consumers," said Mr Daniel
Siziba. Mrs Lydia
Ndlovu said the proposed price was "shocking". "The price
of mealie-meal is
going down because the maize is in sufficient supply. The
same should be
done with wheat. Reducing imports will also curb an increase
in prices," she
said.
Others said recent price increases were not in
line with the salaries they
are getting and suggested that Government
maintain the present price for a
considerable time. The Government has set
aside 110 000 hectares for the
winter wheat crop this year, with each
hectare expected to produce five
tonnes.
Reuters
Thu May 18,
2006 7:13am ET
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe security
forces have banned marches and detained
critics in a crackdown designed to
derail possible anti-government protests
fueled by a deepening economic
crisis, rights group said on Thursday.
The main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) has warned
President Robert Mugabe to brace for "a
winter of peaceful democratic
resistance" against his 26-year
rule.
Mugabe in turn threatened MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying any
effort to
force him out of power would be "dicing with death". Security
forces have
been have been on high alert for political trouble since
February.
But this week activists say security forces turned up the
heat.
Police banned street marches and prayer meetings planned by some
churches to
mark the plight of thousands of people left homeless by a
government
crackdown on slums a year ago.
Rights groups said on
Thursday dozens of activists and trade union officials
had either been
summoned by police or warned by Central Intelligence
Organization (CIO)
operatives against organising anti-Mugabe demonstrations.
John Makumbe, a
university lecturer and prominent Mugabe critic, was
detained by police for
about five hours on Wednesday, apparently for helping
rights groups draw up
a program to commemorate the slum demolitions.
"A number of people have
been questioned, and are being intimidated around
the country, from civic
society, the MDC and anyone suspected that they
could involved in organising
activities critical of the government," said
Itai Zimunya of Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition.
Both chief police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena and MDC
spokesman Nelson
Chamisa were unavailable for immediate
comment.
PUBLIC FRUSTRATION
A Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union
(ZCTU) official said the police action
suggested they believed the MDC and
allied civic groups were close to
launching anti-government
protests.
"I think they are nervous and all that is happening now is part
of the
pressure to forestall any planned or spontaneous demonstrations," he
said.
Analysts believe that co-ordinated and peaceful demonstrations
across
Zimbabwe could force Mugabe to agree to talks about the crisis in the
southern African country.
The ZCTU was due to hold an annual congress
at the weekend likely to focus
on workers' demands for a minimum monthly
wage matching Zimbabwe's poverty
line, currently at
U.S.$405.
Political analysts say although Zimbabweans have largely been
cowed by
Mugabe's use of riot police to crush earlier street protests, a
crumbling
economy has increased public frustration with the government and
the risk of
riots.
Riot police have been camped at a square in the
capital Harare's city center
which has been the venue of protest rallies in
the last few years.
The country is wrestling with shortages of food, fuel
and foreign currency,
as well as with unemployment of over 70 percent and
the highest inflation
rate in the world not topping 1,000
percent.
Reuters
Thu May 18, 2006 4:45 PM GMT
By Cris
Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe police arrested about 100 people
demonstrating
for political reforms on Thursday in a new crackdown which
critics say is
designed to deter possible wider anti-government
protests.
Security forces have banned marches, detained critics and
stepped up an
intimidation campaign out of fears that government opponents
were about to
launch a wave of protests against President Robert Mugabe,
rights groups
said.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) has warned Mugabe
to brace for "a winter of peaceful democratic
resistance" against his
26-year rule.
Mugabe, in turn, has threatened
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, saying any
effort to force him out of power
would be "dicing with death".
Security forces have been have been on high
alert for political trouble
since February and have turned up the heat this
week, activists say.
On Thursday, about a dozen police halted a march and
arrested some 100
members of the pressure group National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA),
including several old women, who were marching to press for
constitutional
reforms.
A Reuters correspondent saw police with
batons force the marchers to sit
down before they reached the city centre,
and then cart them in trucks.
Rights groups said dozens of activists and
trade union officials had either
been summoned by police or warned by
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
operatives against organising
anti-Mugabe demonstrations.
"A number of people have been questioned, and
are being intimidated around
the country, from civic society, the MDC and
anyone suspected ... of)
organising activities critical of the government,"
said Itai Zimunya of
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.
Both chief police
spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena and MDC spokesman Nelson
Chamisa were unavailable
for immediate comment.
PUBLIC FRUSTRATION
A Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Union (ZCTU) official said the police action
suggested they believed
the MDC and allied civic groups were close to
launching anti-government
protests.
"I think they are nervous and all that is happening now is part
of the
pressure to forestall any planned or spontaneous demonstrations," he
said.
Some analysts believe that co-ordinated and peaceful demonstrations
across
Zimbabwe could force Mugabe to agree to talks about the crisis in the
southern African country.
Political analysts say that although
Zimbabweans have largely been cowed by
Mugabe's use of riot police to crush
earlier street protests, a crumbling
economy has increased public
frustration with the government and the risk of
riots.
Riot police
have been camped at a square in Harare's city centre, the focus
of protest
rallies in the last few years.
The country is wrestling with shortages of
food, fuel and foreign currency,
as well as with unemployment of over 70
percent and an inflation rate
topping 1,000 percent.
The World Bank
says Zimbabwe, whose gross domestic product has contracted by
40 percent
over the last eight years, has the fastest-shrinking economy
outside a war
zone.
From Themba
Nkosi in Bulawayo
18 May 2006
Workers at the National
Railways of Zimbabwe, NRZ, have complained
about what they call the
militarisation of the parastatal which is the
largest employer after
government.
According to railway union officials and workers, the
government has
been deploying retired army officers and independence war
veterans to run
the parastatal since the beginning of the year.
The officials who spoke on condition that they were not identified,
told us
that most of the managerial positions at the parastatal have been
taken over
by the soldiers and war veterans. The workers complained that the
army
officers have no experience in running such a big institution like the
Railways.
'They are simply there as eyes and ears of the
government and Zanu
(PF). We are no longer free to discuss social issues
because when you turn
to your left you see an army officer. If you turn to
your right, there is a
war veteran watching you,' said a female security
officer.
The majority of the security guards at the Railways are
now former
guerillas loyal to the ruling party Zanu (PF). One manager said
government
started deploying army officers after it accused some of the
managers of
being sympathetic to the opposition MDC party.
Some
of the senior MDC leaders in both factions were leaders of the
railways
union.The two vice-presidents of both factions of the MDC,
Thokozani Khuphe
of the Tsvangirai faction and Gibson Sibanda of the
Mutambara faction were
senior officials of the railways union and the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions.
The new railways general manager and chairman of the board
of
directors Douglas Nyikayaramba are both retired army officers.
Nyikayaramba
is former chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. In
1989 he was
involved in a legal row with the family of Captain Edwin Bundani
Nleya who
was murdered in mysterious circumstances after he accused senior
Zimbabwe
National Army commanders in Mozambique of being involved in a rhino
horn
smuggling racket. Soon after he made the allegations, Nleya disappeared
while on duty and his decomposed body was found on a hillside in Hwange
town.
The loss making and financially mismanaged railways has
been losing
skilled manpower and senior enginemen to neighbouring countries
since 2000.
The skilled workers complain about government meddling
in the running
of the parastatal and the politically motivated appointments
of
inexperienced people in managerial positions.
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
The Nation, Malawi
by
Olivia Kumwenda, 18 May 2006 - 07:49:08
Thirty unidentified people on
Tuesday night removed the plaque
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe unveiled
when he officially opened the
Midima Road which was re-named named after
him.
The plaque was under police guard since the road was opened two
weeks
ago.
Southern Region Police headquarters spokesperson Rhoda
Manjolo said
Wednesday morning more than 30 people armed with weapons such
as pangas
attacked the two police officers on "normal patrol" around the
area before
they removed the plaque and took it away.
"They managed
to overpower the police officers and took the plaque.
You can imagine
yourself: two people against more than 30 people! There wasn't
much they
could have done," said Manjolo.
She continued: "We don't know who these
people were and where they
took the plaque to, [but] we are still
investigating."
Manjolo said the officers did not use their weapons
because as
professionals they did not want to "hurt" anyone.
Deputy
Minister of Information John Bande described the incident as
"unfortunate."
"If what you are saying is true then it's
unfortunate but it does not
erase the fact that the Zimbabwean President and
his people were honoured
because the road is still there," said
Bande.
President Bingu wa Mutharika named the road after Mugabe two
weeks
ago, describing him as "a true son of Africa and hero" who deserves
honour
"because of his relentless war against colonial domination not only
in
Zimbabwe but also throughout Africa and the entire world."
The
honour came amid resistance from the civil society who protested
against the
naming of the road after Mugabe because of his bad human rights
record in
his country.
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
18 May 2006
04:54
Songs, plays and heart-rending testimonies on Thursday
marked
the first anniversary of Zimbabwe's demolitions blitz, which left
hundreds
of thousands homeless and destitute.
Reti
Chakadenga, a former house owner now living among the
destitutes on the
banks of a river on the outskirts of Harare, sniffed and
battled to hold
back tears as she narrated her daily struggle after her
"unplanned"
three-roomed brick home was razed last year.
"I now live with
my four children and two grandchildren in a
plastic and metal shack on the
banks of Mukuvisi River, yet I had a proper
house," she told scores who
gathered in a hall in Highfield township to mark
the controversial Operation
Murambatsvina, or "Drive Out Filth".
"It pains me when I
remember that I used to live in a proper
house," the 58-year-old mother of
four said.
A community theatre group and groups of aspiring
rap musicians
and poets performed at the first of a series of events to be
held until July
18 to mark the crackdown.
According to
the United Nations, it left at least 700 000
homeless and destitute and
affected 1,2-million people in various ways.
"People have
shown they have not forgotten that unfortunate
chapter in our history," said
Precious Shumba, spokesperson for Combined
Harare Residents and Ratepayers'
Association, one of the organisations
organising the
events.
The operation also deprived at least a million people
of their
means of livelihood and has since become known as the
"tsunami".
Despite a much-vaunted follow-up operation called
"Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle" or "Live Well", meant to provide a better life to
those whose homes or shops were destroyed, tens of thousands are still
living in makeshift homes at various locations across the
country.
President Robert Mugabe said last month that "of the
7 478
planned units for phase one of Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, 3 325
were
completed last year and have been allocated to deserving
beneficiaries." --
AFP
IOL
May 18
2006 at 01:36PM
Harare - Police in Zimbabwe briefly detained a
prominent government
critic over claims he was to lead a demonstration to
mark the first
anniversary of a devastating wave of shack demolitions, it
emerged on
Thursday.
In a telephone interview, John Makumbe, a
political science lecturer
at the University of Zimbabwe said he was picked
up for questioning on
Wednesday and released some three hours
later.
"They were adamant I was organising a demonstration so they
detained
me for about three hours," he said. The police told him that "if
necessary
they will pick me up again," he added.
This week
marks the first anniversary of the launch of Operation
Restore Order, a
controversial campaign of shack- and flea-market
demolitions that President
Robert Mugabe's government said was meant to
bring cleanliness to the
country's cities.
The UN said at least 700 000 people lost homes
and jobs in the
blitz - a figure disputed by the authorities.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has recently
threatened to organize peaceful mass action, and the authorities appear to
be worried this weekend's marches could be the start of something
bigger.
"They're very nervous about the planned commemorations and
that it
could be the beginning of the MDC demonstrations and civic
disobedience,"
Makumbe told dpa.
Mugabe has promised that the
full wrath of the law will be meted out
on anyone who leads or takes part in
anti-government action. - Sapa-dpa
Business Day
Reuters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SEOUL
- Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank will increase interest rates by about 100
percentage points in a few days in response to hyper-inflation, governor
Gideon Gono told Reuters today.
The country's inflation, already the
world's highest at an annual rate of
1042,9% last month, may rise further to
around 1200% before falling fast
once food supply improves and after rate
increases, he said.
"The central bank will respond decisively to any
inflation challenges," Gono
said in an interview in Seoul, where he was
heading a delegation to woo
investment.
"It's coming certainly in the
next few days."
Asked about the scope of the expected increase in rates,
he said: "It could
be about 100 (percentage points)."
The central
bank raised rates by 50 percentage points to 800% last month.
Experts
have said hyper-inflation is the product of an economic meltdown
also marked
by shortages of foreign currency, fuel and food and rising
unemployment.
Gono said the country's inflation would keep falling
sharply after peaking
at around 1200%, to below 400% by December this year
and less than 50% by
June next year.
"By December 2007, we think our
inflation will be below 15%, and by the
first quarter of 2008, we think our
inflation will be in the single-digit
level," he added.
Gono said the
country aimed to lift foreign exchange controls within the
next 18
months.
"It is not the intention of monetary authorities to continue
managing
foreign exchange in the way that we are managing it today. We look
to
liberalising the foreign exchange market within a period of three to 18
months," he said.
"It's got to be a gradual
liberalisation."
Analysts have said the economic crisis has heaped
pressure on President
Robert Mugabe's 26-year rule while the opposition has
raised the stakes by
calling for peaceful anti-government mass
protests.
Critics blame Mugabe's government for the economic meltdown,
but the
government attributes the woes to sabotage by the West, led by
former
colonial power Britain, in retaliation for its controversial seizures
of
land from while commercial farmers.
Gono said Zimbabwe would
achieve positive economic growth this year for the
first time in many
years.
"Yes, it is very much achievable on the background of a good
agricultural
season, the first good agricultural season in four years," he
said.
"I think we should have positive growth of between 1% and 2% driven
mainly
by the agriculture."
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Magugu Nyathi
JOHANNESBURG-Growing up in Zimbabwe in Entumbane, a suburb well known
for
the civil war between ZANLA and ZIPRA forces in the early 80's, Busi
Ncube
always dreamt of becoming a model in Europe. Pictures of African
models she
saw in magazines inspired her, but one hurdle kept her dream from
being
realised - poverty. Her parents could not afford to have their own
house, so
they were forced to rent from different landlords. When her
father Nkosana
passed away and her widowed mother could not find a job to
support the eight
children her husband left behind and the situation
worsened. Busi managed to
get an 'O' level certificate but finances
constrained her from furthering
her studies.
"I had to look for a job to pay for my school fees and
support my
family, but it was difficult to get one as most employers needed
educated
and experienced people," she said in a recent interview.
With nothing coming her way, Busi ventured into vending selling
different
types of goods she was importing for Botswana. Her business was
booming and
poverty was a thing of the past in her family. She became the
envy of her
community but on 26 May 2005, a day after the African Unity
commemoration,
her life was destroyed beyond repair as the government of
Zimbabwe pounced
on unsuspecting citizen destroying unauthorized homes and
unlicensed vending
stalls of the urban poor it termed illegally leaving
millions of people
affected by Operation Murambatsvina. She found her self
in the middle of
nowhere since her wares and money were confisticated during
the
process.
"This is cruelty at its worst nature, I thought I would be
able to see
my siblings through school but my government proved me wrong. I
never wanted
to come to South Africa permanently but what do you do when you
have a
family to look after and you have been stripped off all what you have
worked
for.
"I came to Johannesburg with this hope that I would get
a job as soon
as I stepped out of the taxi and be able to send some
groceries and school
fees back home for the family. Unfortunately, things
did not work out that
well for me I have nothing to myself but back home
every one looks upon me
for survival hence I'm forced to sell my body so
that they can at least have
a decent meal on the table.
Busi's
story rings a bell among a host of young Zimbabwean women who
fled their
country after Operation Murambatsvina in search of better
economic
opportunities and shelter in South Africa as over 700 000 were
stripped off
their homes. For these women, life in Johannesburg reads like a
page
scripted in hell.
Zimbabwe's economic crisis, described by the World
Bank as
unprecedented for a country not at war, has seen millions of young
Zimbabweans flee the country en masse in search of better economic
opportunities elsewhere. But this mass movement of people has triggered its
fair share of social problems according to some of the women who spoke to
Southern News in Johannesburg.
Promise Muzanenhamo a vivacious
29-year old woman, says she has no
qualms in her decision to source
extra-cash through her nocturnal activities
on the streets.
"I not
saying prostitution is good but it's better than being
miserable your whole
life and your children failing to go to school. I loved
my husband, a
degreed teacher in Zimbabwe. But he was soon a pauper as his
salary could
not buy us our own house and we were staying at a back yard
house in Njube,
which was destroyed during the pick of madness by Mugabe and
his cronies. I
had nowhere to go with my kids as owners were only
accommodating their
relatives who were also affected and I left him to fend
for my
children.
"The situation is pathetic back home. It is better here as I
can
afford to give my two kids a decent meal every day," said Muzanenhamo
with
no tinge of a bothered conscience whatsoever.
Poverty and
desperation is leading many women into street
prostitution. In a bid to
escape poverty, an increasing number of women are
turning to prostitution.
Prostitutes operate in bars, restaurants and hotels
and street corners. Some
nightclubs owners reportedly allow under-age girls
into clubs for sexual
exploitation by clients. More than 50% of the
estimated 10 000 commercial
sex workers in Johannesburg central - where many
hotels double as brothels -
are said to be Zimbabweans.
Livington Moyo, an HIV/AIDS activist and
trainer, said hundreds of
women are involved in prostitution for survival.
Some women are also seeing
prostitution as a way to earn more
money.
"Because women have a limited access to occupations and
resources,
they were the ones hardest hit during Opration Murambatsvina and
the
economic crisis that had hit Zimbabwe for the past six years. They are
the
caregivers and most households depend on them. As much as we do not
encourage them to prostitute themselves we realize they have families to
support and feed.
"As HIV/ AIDS peer educators, we always make sure
they have the
information to prevent themselves from getting infected or
infecting other.
The stumbling block is not all of them want to be tested
for HIV," he said
The Herald
(Harare)
May 18, 2006
Posted to the web May 18,
2006
Harare
THE High Court yesterday dismissed with costs an
urgent application filed by
British tycoon Mr Nick van Hoogstraten seeking
an order to stop the Rainbow
Tourism Group (RTG) annual general meeting
scheduled for today.
At the AGM, Mr Van Hoogstraten's company -- Messina
& Banhams -- could table
resolutions for the effective dismissal of the
RTG board of directors for
alleged "fraud and misconduct" in last year's $80
billion rights issue but
was likely to face stiff resistance. According to
media reports, the tycoon,
a significant shareholder in RTG, would table a
resolution to fire board
chairman Dr Ibbo Mandaza, Mr Canaan Dube, Mr Elliot
Nyoni, chief executive
officer Ms Chipo Mutasa and Ms Grace Muradzikwa,
among others. Justice
Tendayi Uchena, sitting in his chambers, dismissed the
application on the
basis that the affidavit upon which Mr Van Hoogstraten
relied had not been
properly authenticated in accordance with High Court
procedures and the laws
of Zimbabwe.
The judge also cited that there
were other alternatives available to Mr Van
Hoogstraten other than stopping
the AGM. The matters raised in the
application, the judge noted, were
currently the subject for arbitration
proceedings a nd the arbitration was
likely to be heard between June 20 and
21.
In his application, Mr Van
Hoogstraten sought to rely on a defective notice
for the resolutions to be
tabled before the AGM, which did not comply with
the Companies Act (Sections
135 and 175) as it gave the RTG board less than
28 days' notice. The notice
did not afford the RTG board sufficient time to
table and discuss the issues
in a board meeting. RTG had, in their
submissions, urged the court to
decline Mr Van Hoogstraten's application for
lack of merit. The company
argued that the business to be transacted at the
AGM relates to regular
business covered by Article 58 of the RTG Articles
and there was no basis to
stop the AGM as the business of the AGM also
included the re-appointment and
confirmation of directors. Members,
therefore, had an opportunity to express
their wishes in this regard.
Justice Uchena, in his ruling, further noted
that the company would suffer
more were the AGM to be cancelled as some
shareholders were travelling from
overseas and expenses had already been
incurred in the process to date. RTG
had also made the submissions, which
would seem to have been accepted by the
judge, that the notice filed by Van
Hoogstraten did not specify reasons for
the intended dismissal of the
board.
The notice was found not to be urgent as Mr Van Hoogstraten,
through his
representative on the RTG board, was aware on November 28 2005
of the
intended AGM date and did not bring the proposed resolutions to the
board
meeting of March 9 2006 for the board to consider and see it necessary
to
table with or without amendments before the AGM as it is the role of the
board to manage the company as provided in Article 88 of Memorandum and
Articles of RTG, which provides that between the AGM, the management and
control of the company is in the hands of directors. Commenting on the
ruling, the RTG board welcomed the decision of the court. The board said
shareholders, big and small, should learn to co-exist with other
stakeholders and not use strong-arm tactics to influence board decisions and
actions, as that was likely to be resisted by other shareholders that have
an interest in the well being of the company.
"RTG is a major player
in Zimbabwe's tourism industry and shareholders are
expected to ensure the
smooth running of the company as it is also in their
own interests as long
as they act within the laws and Constitution of
Zimbabwe," the board said.
"Shareholders should respect official structures
regarding responsibilities
of the board and management in the day-to-day
management of companies." Mr
Edwin Manikai, of Dube, Manikai and Hwacha,
represented RTG, while Advocate
Eric Matinenga represented Mr Van
Hoogstraten and his company.
Cricinfo staff
May
18, 2006
The interim executive of Zimbabwe Cricket has announced that it
has
dissolved the existing five provinces and replaced them with ten new
boards.
The move, which had been planned for some time, further
weakens opposition
to Peter Chingoka, the ZC chairman, and his executive as
many of the
existing provincial board members are now to all intents and
purposes
redundant.
A statement issued by ZC said that it had
received applications for
affiliation from five provinces around the country
- Mashonaland Central,
Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Matabeleland
North and Matabeleland
South - and that it had "affiliated them in line with
the policy of the
country's sports regulatory authority, the Sports and
Recreation Commission,
for national sporting associations to devolve along
the country's 10
administrative provinces."
"In affiliating the
five, we have not only implemented one of the Interim
Committee's terms of
reference but also continued with the ZC mission of
spreading the game to
all the corners of the country without regard to race
or creed," Chingoka
explained. "We will continue working with the new
affiliates to create
provincial cricket administrative structures."
Three of the five -
Manicaland, Masvingo and Midlands - were dissolved
because they did not
"conform with the new geographical limitations of their
central government
administrative namesakes". The other two - the more
infulential Mashonaland
and Matabeleland - have effectively been split in
smaller
units.
Much of the opposition to Chingoka has centred on the old
established
provinces, and their demise and division will ease the pressure
on the
board. Furthermore, ZC, which has effectively cleansed itself of any
dissenters in recent months, will appoint interim committees to run the new
entities pending the drawing up of new constitutions and fresh
elections.
The new ZC affiliates are as follows:
Harare Metropole
Provincial Cricket Association
Bulawayo Metropole Provincial Cricket
Association
Matabeleland North Provincial Cricket Association
Matabeleland
South Provincial Cricket Association
Mashonaland Central Provincial Cricket
Association
Mashonaland East Provincial Cricket Association
Mashonaland
West Provincial Cricket Association
Manicaland Provincial Cricket
Association
Masvingo Provincial Cricket Association
Midlands Provincial
Cricket Association
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