http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011 17:47
Tatenda
Macheka/Paidamoyo Muzulu
MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai is set to
reshuffle ministers from his
party in cabinet in a move aimed at
accommodating his former organising
secretary, Elias Mudzuri.
Mudzuri
overwhelmingly lost the organising secretary post to former party
spokesman
Nelson Chamisa at the MDC-T national congress in Bulawayo last
week.
Newly elected party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora confirmed
yesterday that
Mudzuri would bounce back into cabinet but did not shed more
light.
“It’s not the end of Mudzuri. It’s true that he is coming back
as a
minister,” said Mwonzora.
Chamisa denied knowledge that a
mini reshuffle was in the offing but told
the Zimbabwe Independent that
Mudzuri would be retained on the party’s
national executive committee
through a special appointment.
“The party president’s standing
committee has the capacity to appoint 10
executive members and Mudzuri will
be appointed an executive member. We held
a meeting on the issue of
Mudzuri,” said Chamisa.
There is widespread speculation that the
impending reshuffle would see
Information Communications Technology minister
Chamisa being withdrawn and
redeployed to Harvest House to work full time on
reconstituting and reviving
the MDC-T’s ailing
structures.
Mudzuri is lying low weighing his options on political
life in the aftermath
of his dramatic fall in the movement he served for the
last decade in
different senior portfolios.
A subdued Mudzuri
confirmed he was in self-imposed political hibernation and
doing
self-introspection over his political career in an interview with the
Independent yesterday.
“I am doing self-introspection over my
career,” he said. “This is not only
about the congress but a reflection of
my political career. There is no need
to rush to make a decision about the
future. I am taking a brief break.”
Mudzuri’s political misfortunes
are legendary. He resoundingly won the
Harare executive mayoral vote in 2002
only to be ousted two years later by
Local Government minister Ignatius
Chombo on unsubstantiated allegations of
maladministration and defying
ministerial directives.
After the harmonised elections in 2008
Mudzuri was appointed Energy and
Power Development minister in the coalition
government only to be demoted in
a mini-reshuffle last
year.
Mudzuri declined to comment about his party’s just-ended
congress but wished
all those who won well in their portfolios.
“I am
not ready to comment on the congress elections. It’s not for me to
judge.
Good luck to the new guys who got the jobs to complete the
change.”
However, Mudzuri said he stood by comments he made a
fortnight ago that the
MDC-T should have a deeper look at divisions and
factionalism.
“The whole congress process needs a deep analysis,” he
said. “As an
organisation we should not fool ourselves that all is well. The
leadership
has to address so many complaints to the satisfaction of the
members.
Failure to do so will leave the party fragmented and
weak.”
Chamisa laughed off talk of factionalism in the MDC-T saying
this emanated
from outsiders bent on sowing divisions in his
party.
“There is no factionalism in the MDC. That is a false notion.
Democracy is
not factionalism and what happened shows that MDC is a dynamic
party.”
He said allegations that Tsvangirai retained some youths
expelled for
violence through the back door were nonsensical.
“We
operate in a systematic way and our president does not make decisions
alone.
We follow a democratic protocol.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011 17:45
Dumisani Muleya
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe, plagued by serious health problems, old age and
with his
political plans collapsing around him, is sinking deeper into
political
trouble amid revelations that even those close to him –– except
his military
diehards –– think he has now reached a dead-end.
This comes as details
obtained from high-level sources close to Mugabe’s
office show that he has
been advised by a key top confidant to at least
announce when he would be
retiring and sort out his divisive succession
issue.
A recent
detailed “advisory note” to Mugabe from his close advisors has
implored the
president to take advantage of his history and incumbency to
put his house
in order and announce when he would be leaving, sources said.
The
sources said Mugabe (87) is now in a quandary and his advisors were
gravely
concerned because of a series of circumstances which include his old
age,
health problems, Zanu PF infighting, the succession crisis, collapse of
his
election plans, growing impatience by Sadc leaders, events in North and
West
Africa and the hardening of international opinion against his 31-year
rule.
The “advisory note”, the sources said, was written against
a backdrop of his
deteriorating health and advanced age. Mugabe’s wife Grace
is also said to
be ailing.
A few weeks ago one of Mugabe’s key
pillars of strength, CIO deputy director
Mernard Muzariri, died of liver
cancer. To make matters worse, another key
Mugabe ally, the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces Commander, General Constantine
Chiwenga, going through a nasty
divorce, was recently taken to China for
urgent medical attention,
apparently after suffering food poisoning.
Mugabe himself has of late
been shuttling between Harare and Singapore in a
bid to contain his health
failure. Informed sources say Mugabe would have to
import one of his Asian
doctors to come to Harare during elections to keep
him under constant
medical observation due to his straining political
activities.
What could probably help, sources said, if the
elections are held in 2013,
would be that he might not need to frequent
Asian countries for checkups as
the Chinese are building a huge military
complex on the outskirts of Harare
which would have VIP medical
facilities.
The recent “advisory note” to Mugabe was reportedly
informed by all these
problems around him, sources said. Power struggles
within Zanu PF which now
threaten to unleash a wave of political instability
and chaos if he
unexpectedly retires or dies are a major factor. Mugabe
himself has said,
albeit for self-serving reasons, that Zanu PF would
disintegrate if he goes.
The party, fractured and weakened by protracted
infighting, is likely to
break up along its regional and ethnic fault
lines.
“Pressure is mounting on the president to at least say when he
is retiring
and resolve his succession predicament. It would be better if he
retires, at
the very least he must start now the process of his succession
or
retirement,” a senior official close to Mugabe’s office said. “Even those
surrounding him are getting increasingly jittery and impatient. Some are
genuinely concerned and that’s why they wrote an advisory note urging him to
be pro-active and to timely resolve the situation.”
Mugabe’s
position is seen by those close to him and in top Zanu PF echelons
as
vulnerable after his skirmishes with Sadc leaders following their
decision
at a recent summit in Livingstone to rein him in.
The sources said
the only people remaining steadfast in support of Mugabe
are state security
service chiefs who are behind his strategy to go for
early
elections.
Grouped under the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which
brings together
army, police and intelligence chiefs, state security bosses
are determined
to retain Mugabe in office to secure his, and concomitantly
their, future.
Insiders say this is why they took a crucial decision
to deploy a top Air
Force of Zimbabwe commander, Air Vice-Marshal Henry
Muchena, who has
supposedly “retired”, to spearhead the Zanu PF election
campaign. Muchena is
working with former CIO director-internal Sydney
Nyanhongo and other
security agents to campaign for Mugabe and Zanu
PF.
Top army commanders want Mugabe to stay for security of tenure
and material
comfort. Fearing Mugabe was going to be defeated during the
2008 elections,
the commanders, including Chiwenga and several top generals,
issued menacing
remarks bordering on coup threats warning they would not
allow their
commander-in-chief to be removed even through democratic
elections.
Prior to that, in the run-up to the hotly-disputed 2002
presidential
election has also made similar remarks and helped to retain
Mugabe. During
that election senior army commander Brigadier-General Douglas
Nyikayaramba
was deployed to campaign for Mugabe amid misleading claims he
had resigned.
A senior Zanu PF official said Mugabe’s problems are
getting worse because
his election plans have now collapsed. Mugabe has been
pushing for elections
this year but has been thwarted by party political
negotiators in the
ongoing political dialogue.
Although he was
chosen as the Zanu PF candidate in the next presidential
elections at the
party conference last December in Mutare, Mugabe is set to
lobby for
reconfirmation since elections are no longer going to be held this
year.
This means Mugabe has yet another gruelling task to convince his
restless
party in December to endorse him as the candidate. In 2007 an
extraordinary
Zanu PF congress had to be held to sort out Mugabe’s disputed
candidacy.
This led politburo heavyweights Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa
to quit in
protest.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011
17:35
Paidamoyo Muzulu
SECUROCRATS and hawks in Zanu PF are the
major stumbling block to democratic
and political reforms in Zimbabwe as
outlined in the Global Political
Agreement, the British House of Commons was
told last week.
Kate Hoey, a Labour MP and chairperson of the All Party Group
on Zimbabwe
which visited the country in March, told the Commons that senior
military
officials benefiting from the status quo were holding back reforms
in
Zimbabwe.
The all party group which visited Zimbabwe comprised
Hoey, Oliver Colvile
(Conservatives), Lord Joffe, and David Banks who is the
group’s convener.
“There is still massive resistance to political and
economic reforms from
those in the political and military establishments.
They see their personal
position of wealth and privilege threatened. We are
all angry to see the
blatant dishonesty of those who are intent on
protecting their power,” Hoey
told the House of Commons.
Hoey
added that Britain and the EU were getting impatient with the slow pace
of
reforms in its former colony.
Under the GPA, Zimbabwe is expected to
undertake security sector reforms,
electoral reforms, media reforms and
constitutional reforms, among a raft of
other reforms. Security sector
reforms are seen as crucial in an environment
where the service chiefs and
political hawks are accused of usurping cabinet
powers.
“The
Joint Operations Command is composed of the high command of the
military,
the police and the Central Intelligence Organisation. Many regard
it as a de
facto ruling junta with the ability to overrule and countermand
decisions of
ministers that run counter to the vested political interests of
the Zanu PF
political and military oligarchy,” she said.
Labour MP Steven Twiggs
said the world, and the UK in particular, should not
be distracted from
dealing with the Zimbabwean issues by developments in
other parts of
Africa.
“A number of honourable members have referred to events
elsewhere in Africa
and the Middle East, and there is clearly a danger that
the world and the UK
in particular will take its eyes off the ball,” Twiggs
said.
Oliver Colvile said the UK should assist Zimbabwe in
implementing reforms
and managing President Robert Mugabe’s exit from the
political arena without
rattling the securocrats.
“If we are
serious about creating an environment for fair and peaceful
elections, we
must provide Mugabe with a face-saving solution,” he said.
“Mugabe’s
disappearance as president will not be the end of the matter, as
too many
people around him, especially the army, including senior army
officials,
have invested in his presidency,” Colvile said.
He argued that the
army and high command have an important role to play
because they would be
keen to hold on to their investments, especially their
farms and other
assets.
Colvile further urged the UK administration to help fund
Zimbabwe’s
electoral and electronic media reforms to create an environment
conducive
for holding elections.
“The need for a new list of
electors was underlined by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission which reckons
that 27% of the names on the existing
list are those of dead people. We need
to ensure that there is a balance in
the electronic media and that the
non-Zanu PF opposition have the
opportunity to broadcast their messages via
radio.”
Colvile suggested that the Department of International
Development should
consider funding a transmitter in a neighbouring state
such as Botswana or
Mozambique to provide balance.
Minister for
Europe David Lidington said in response that the UK
administration would
keep its eye on the ball and maintain targeted
sanctions to force
implementation of reforms.
“This government remains committed to them
and the EU has made clear its
commitment to the continuation of those
measures. We will remain willing to
revisit them within the year, but only
if further concrete developments take
place on the ground. We will not be
shifted by coerced signatures on a
partisan petition,” Lidington said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011 17:26
Dumisani
Muleya
THE role of Zimbabwe’s security forces, the army, police and
intelligence
service, is expected to come under the spotlight during
inter-party talks on
the elections roadmap which resumed yesterday in Cape
Town, amid growing
calls by the two MDC parties’ negotiators for them to be
contained.
When the negotiators signed the roadmap document after a
series of five
meetings in Harare on April 22, some issues remained
unresolved.
The issue of the security forces is one of them. MDC
negotiators are
demanding that the army, police and intelligence service,
widely blamed for
political violence and intimidation, must be restrained
from dabbling in
politics and contained to barracks before
elections.
The negotiators, Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche of
Zanu PF, Tendai
Biti and Elton Mangoma of MDC-T, and Moses Mzila Ndlovu and
Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga of MDC-N, agreed on the roadmap and signed
the
document which was forwarded to Zuma last week.
On April 8,
the negotiators completed the review of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA)
and the Government of National Unity (GNU) before sending a
report to
Zuma.
Zuma’s facilitation team of Charles Nqakula, Mac Maharaj and
Lindiwe Zulu
started meeting negotiators in Cape Town yesterday ahead of an
extraordinary
Sadc summit in Windhoek on May 20.
In the roadmap,
negotiators only agreed that consistent with the political
principals’
agreement of June 8 last year, all parties in the GPA must
reaffirm their
commitment to Articles 11 and 13 of the accord, which is the
basis of the
Government of National Unity (GNU). Article 11 of the GPA deals
with the
rule of law, respect for the constitution and other laws, while
Article 13
focuses on state organs and institutions.
“State organs and
institutions do not belong to any political party and
should be impartial in
the discharge of their duties,” Article 13 of the GPA
says.
For
the purposes of ensuring that all state organs and institutions perform
their duties “ethically and professionally” in conformity with the
principles and requirements of a multi-party democratic system in which all
parties are treated equally, the parties have agreed that the following
steps be taken:
that there be inclusion in the training
curriculum of members of the
uniformed forces of the subjects on human
rights, international humanitarian
law and statute law so that there is
greater understanding and full
appreciation of their roles and duties in a
multi-party democratic system;
ensuring that all state organs and
institutions strictly observe the
principles of the rule of law and remain
non-partisan and impartial;
laws and regulations governing state
organs and institutions are
strictly adhered to and those violating them be
penalised without fear or
favour; and
recruitment policies and
practices be conducted in a manner that ensures
that no political or other
form of favouritism is practised.
This was prompted by the heavy
involvement of security forces in politics,
especially after 2000. President
Robert Mugabe’s growing political problems
and threats to his declining rule
accounts for the increased role of the
military in civilian
matters.
MDC negotiators are arguing that the military is first and
foremost a
security institution that directly responds to the external and
internal
threats to the state, not an individual ruler and his party. They
say the
army, police and intelligence services must operate within the
limits of the
constitution and law and avoid interfering in partisan
politics.
Following a series of meetings in Harare last month, on
April 4, 6, 7, 20
and 21, negotiators agreed there would be engagements
between the principals
and state security service chiefs to sort out the
problem, particularly
military involvement in domestic politics, mainly
elections. It was agreed
that principals would hold meetings with army
commanders, the police
commissioner-general and senior directors of the
intelligence service, as
well as the Attorney-General to clear the
issues.
However, negotiators disagreed on the need for security
services chiefs to
issue a public statement committing themselves to
professional and ethical
conduct in their duties.
The MDC
formations had demanded that principals must “instruct the security
forces
to issue a public statement that they will unequivocally uphold the
constitution and respect the rule of law in the lead-up to and following the
elections or referendum”, according to the roadmap.
But Zanu PF
refused to agree to this, saying “this is not an election
matter”. It
further said “political parties have no right to direct
uniformed forces to
issue political statements”.
Ironically, in the run-up to the
hotly-disputed 2002 presidential election,
state security service chiefs,
led by the then Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF)
commander, the late General
Vitalis Zvinavashe, issued a political
statement, claiming the office of
president is an institutional
“straitjacket” and they would not allow anyone
without liberation struggle
credentials to come to power even if they won
elections.
During that election senior army commander
Brigadier-General Douglas
Nyikayaramba was deployed to campaign for Mugabe
amid claims he had
resigned. Nyikayaramba is still in the army and has
reportedly been involved
in electoral politics again.
More
recently a top Air Force of Zimbabwe commander, Air Vice-Marshal Henry
Muchena, supposedly “retired” to spearhead the Zanu PF election
campaign.
Muchena is working with former Central Intelligence
Organisation
director-internal Sydney Nyanhongo and other security agents.
It is said
battalions of serving troops are illegally campaigning for Mugabe
and Zanu
PF.
Fearing Mugabe was going to be defeated during the
2008 elections, senior
army commanders, including ZDF commander General
Constantine Chiwenga and
several top generals, issued menacing remarks
bordering on coup threats,
prompting even regional governments to condemn
them.
The South African government actually sent a team of retired
generals to
investigate political violence and intimidation. Their report
has not been
made public.
These events have fuelled demands by
MDC negotiators that state security
forces must be restrained from politics
as they set a bad precedent and
poison civil-military relations. MDC
negotiators say Zimbabwe cannot be a
free society if it remains militarised
at political and institutional
levels.
“Without restraining the
military from politics and ensuring their role is
limited to participating
as civilians, mainly during voting, there can’t be
free and fair elections
in Zimbabwe,” a senior MDC-T negotiator said
yesterday. “For a long time the
security forces have been allowed to
interfere in politics and this must now
be urgently stopped once and for
all.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011 17:28
Brian
Chitemba
DEPOSITS insurance in the country is weak and account holders do
not have a
strong safety net to cushion them in the event of banks
collapsing.
The Deposits Protection Board (DPB) –– created under the Banking
Act Chapter
24:20 to administer the Deposit Protection Fund of Zimbabwe ––
has raised
only US$1 million in the past two years and the treasury is not
chipping in
with funds, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt.
DPB
CEO John Chikura said the money in the protection fund was raised
through
premiums from banks but warned that it was not adequate to cater for
depositors if a bank closes.
In an interview on Wednesday,
Chikura said the Ministry of Finance and the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
would intervene during a crisis through
releasing funds which would then be
disbursed by the DPB to depositors.
“We raised money between 2004 and
2008 but the funds were eroded since it
was the Zimbabwe dollar era,” said
Chikura. “We had to start sourcing funds
from 2009 and we still hope more
will come into our coffers so that we
protect depositors in case a bank
closes.”
This come amid recent reports that the seven financial
institutions were
under distress and had failed to raise the statutory
capital reserves as set
by the central bank.
The DPB was created
under the Banking Act Chapter 24:20 to administer the
Deposit Protection
Fund with a prime objective of offering deposit insurance
to depositors in
financial institutions.
The board, Chikura said, mainly catered for
small depositors against
disastrous consequences of a banking
crisis.
But Chikura said the treasury had not financially supported
the board
despite frantic efforts to seek assistance from the Finance
ministry.
“We only got promises from the treasury that it will
capitalise our board,
but it’s taking long. What we have in our coffers now
may not cover many
banks but by design if the fund is not adequate, the
Ministry of Finance and
RBZ will give us money,” he said.
Many
account holders were affected by the 2004 banking crisis which saw some
financial institutions, including Royal Bank, Trust Banking Corporation and
Barbican Bank, being closed and had their assets merged to build the
Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG). The banks were shut down by the RBZ
over alleged financial instability.
Chikura said DPB did not
cover depositors during the 2004 crisis since the
organisation was still in
its infancy.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011
17:24
Paidamoyo Muzulu
THE Health Services Board has intervened to
halt the awarding of hefty
allowances to selected staff at Chitungwiza
Central Hospital and other
health institutions.
In a letter dated March
8, the HSB executive director Ruth Kaseke advised
Health ministry permanent
secretary Gerald Gwinji that the Public Service
Commission had instructed
the Salary Services Bureau to cease payment of all
locum allowances until
new guidelines were developed. The abuse of the
scheme seemed to have peaked
from the beginning of dollarisation in February
2009.
Kaseke
wrote: “It would seem there is abuse in the management of the scheme
and
payment of locum allowances resulting in some institutions approving
locum
allowances of over US$3 000 in a single month.”
Kaseke confirmed
abuse of the scheme in an interview with the Zimbabwe
Independent but
hastened to add new guidelines have been put in place.
“There were
some inconsistencies in some claims that were brought forward
for payment
prompting the investigations. We suspect some managers did not
understand
the locum allowance circular resulting in higher claims.”
“We have
since clarified the guidelines stating maximum hours a day and
maximum days
a month permissible for locum allowances. People should not get
more than
double their monthly salaries under the new scheme.”
Some staff
members at Chitungwiza Central Hospital confirmed that payments
were taking
place at the institution and only a few individuals were
benefiting from the
windfall.
“The allowances were selectively given and approved by the
CEO (Obadiah
Moyo). There was no clarity on who qualified and at what rate
allowances
were paid,” said a source at the hospital.
Moyo was
not available for comment and the acting CEO Edward Tadros was said
to be in
a series of meetings. A senior official at the hospital said: “The
hospital
administration handled the matter on the locum allowances and we
have
complied with the order to stop payment of the said allowances until
new
guidelines are developed.”
Meanwhile, staff at the hospital are riled
by Moyo’s approval of the setting
up of a private pharmacy, a coffee shop
and kiosk at the hospital’s main
reception area.
Chitungwiza
Hospital spokesperson Audrey Tasaranarwo confirmed the
operations of private
enterprises within the hospital, but said all was done
above
board.
“The administration floated a tender for the pharmacy and it
was awarded to
Balloon Flight, a Kadoma-based pharmaceutical company. The
coffee shop and
kiosk are run by the hospital as income generating
projects,” Tasaranarwo
said.
She said the ideas for a coffee shop
and kiosk were mooted by Moyo after one
of his European trips where he
observed that many large hospitals had such
facilities.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011
17:23
Nqobile Bhebhe
ZESA CEO Josh Chifamba says the struggling
power utility will distribute six
million energy-saving bulbs worth US$12
million for free countrywide in the
next three months.
Chifamba said this
was part of a demand management side project.
“Close to six million
CFL bulbs will be distributed for free countrywide to
replace incandescent
light bulbs,” said Chifamba.
He revealed while addressing the
Zimbabwe Business Conference at the ongoing
Zimbabwe International Trade
Fair in Bulawayo under the theme “Reviewing the
Zimbabwe Energy Scenario,
Practical Steps to achieve energy efficiency to
support growth of the
Zimbabwe economy”.
As a result, Chifamba said close to 250 megawatts
of peak capacity relief
energy would be made available daily.
“In
the next three months, we would have built a virtual power station which
would produce quick power of about 250 megawatts at a cost of $12 million,”
he said.
Chifamba said it would cost $60 per kilowatt to build
the virtual power
station.
Incandescent light bulbs have been
banned in other parts of the world but
there have been complaints that
energy-saving bulbs are not as bright as the
incandescent
ones.
Zimbabwe has an electricity shortfall of 400 MW of the 2000MW
required
daily.
The power utility intends to cover the deficit
through the introduction of
energy-saving legislation.
Zimbabwe
currently produces 1300MW and imports 300MW, leaving a shortfall of
400MW.
Chifamba did not reveal where the power utility would
procure the energy
saving bulbs only saying this would aid consumers in
lowering their bills
and reduce carbon emissions, among other things.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011 17:22
ELECTIONS in
Zimbabwe will probably be held in the next 12 months, Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai told journalists at the World Economic Forum on
Africa in Cape
Town yesterday, but they were unlikely to take place this
year.
This,
Tsvangirai said, was subject to the “fulfilment of certain benchmarks”
including the finalisation of a new constitution, a referendum and then an
agreed date for the elections.
It was of critical importance to ensure
that the right conditions existed so
that when the elections were held, the
results would be “no longer
contestable”, said Tsvangirai.
“Having gone
through the experience of violence,” Tsvangirai said, “the next
election
must produce a legitimate government so that we don’t have the
losers trying
to negotiate their way back into power through some form of a
coalition like
a government of national unity.”
The outcome of the election must be
legitimate, credible and must be
conducted to the satisfaction of the
Southern African Development Community
(Sadc), the African Union and the
international community, he said.
Mugabe had called for elections this year
to end the power-sharing rule
formed in 2008, after a disputed presidential
vote marred by violence.
But he has appeared to back away from his insistence
on the polls, after
Sadc leaders insisted in March that Zimbabwe draft a new
constitution and
come up with a clear roadmap to the polls.
On April 27,
Tendai Biti, the Finance minister from Tsvangirai’s party, told
local media
that the country did not have the money to hold the proposed
elections in
2011.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa was last week quoted in the state
media
saying elections this year were doubtful because of many reforms that
should
take precedence over polls if they were to be free and fair. —
M&G
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011
18:39
Paidamoyo Muzulu
ZIMBABWE joined the rest of the world in
marking Workers’ Day on May 1 with
growing rumbles of discontent from
workers, particularly civil servants,
concerned about the increasing gap
between the rich and the poor.
Workers have stuck to their hopes of keeping
their jobs in a shrinking
economy and politically fluid environment. They
have stoically borne the
brunt of cuts in almost all areas of everyday life
of the working class,
including redundancies, pay cuts and even shorter
weeks.
That commemorations to mark Workers’ Day were muted in a country with
an
estimated unemployment rate of close to 90% is in itself a
wonder.
Union leaders were at pains to explain to workers why they still
earned
paltry wages and faced poor working conditions since dollarisation of
the
economy in February 2009. Workers’ lifestyles have largely remained
unchanged, except that goods are now available although still inaccessible
to the ordinary masses.
The government is the single largest employer and
battling to contain its
wage bill in the face of other competing interests.
Civil servants take home
wages of US$200 a month, which is far below the
poverty datum line of US$504
for a family of six.
One would have thought
that higher unemployment might suggest more potential
activism, in part
because there are more people with time on their hands to
organise, to
mobilise and protest. But in Zimbabwe’s case, it seems that
those still in
employment are reluctant to participate in industrial action
for fear of
putting their jobs at risk.
The unemployed are also not well integrated into
the trade union movement.
There is a lot of populist rhetoric from union
leaders but no action on the
ground to back it up. Three times since
February 2009 have civil servants
threatened to embark on nationwide strikes
to push for better salaries and
three times they did nothing.
Government
has continuously promised a review of conditions of service and
remuneration
once its revenues improved but an economy with an industrial
capacity
utilisation hovering below 50% means that promise remains a pipe
dream.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) acknowledges the hard
times
facing workers and has continuously engaged employers seeking
improvement of
working conditions and salaries. However, the trade union
movement concedes
that negotiations have not produced the best for workers
largely due to
economic depression.
ZCTU acting Secretary-General Japhet
Moyo said that the prevailing economic
and political factors were militating
against the union to use its
traditional protest strategies.
Moyo said:
“With over 90% unemployment, it’s difficult for workers to engage
in
industrial action. There are so many people prepared and ready to take
their
jobs even in those pathetic conditions. This has watered down the
unions’
militancy.”
Moyo argued that it was much better for the workers to keep their
jobs and
use other strategies to improve their conditions.
“Workers would
rather stay employed since this gives them an opportunity at
least to do
other activities to make money while using the employer’s
resources. That is
what has kept most workers going,” said Moyo.
Labour unions have since 2000
complained that the state used excessive force
to crush public
demonstrations and industrial action.
“The union militancy has been greatly
curtailed by police brutality and
government’s heavy handedness in dealing
with demonstrations. This has been
a major factor,” Moyo said.
Labour and
Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe director
Godfrey
Kanyenze argued that unionism had less space to move in a depressed
economy.Kanyenze said the starting point was for government to rationalise
civil service in relation to its strategic economic development
interests.
“The Government should convene an all-stakeholder conference to
deliberate
on the findings of Ernest and Young (India) skills and payroll
audit. The
audit report’s recommendations should be used as the basis of way
forward in
restructuring and streamlining of the civil service and lead to
improvement
of salaries,” Kanyenze said.
“The role of the state needs to
be redefined in line with its resource
envelope. The government has an
option to continue with a bloated and
underpaid workforce or rationalise it
and create a lean, efficient and
properly remunerated civil
service.”
Labour remains adamant that retrenchments have been inept since
1990. It
claims that the civil service workforce had greatly diminished from
an all
time high of 1,6 million in 1996 to 578 000 in 2011, but wages
remained low
for the majority. The ZCTU has taken a new route of seeking
legal recourse
to settle disputes and this strategy seems to be producing
favourable
results.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 06 May 2011 18:38
Wongai
Zhangazha
THE 1988 Willowgate scandal will probably go down as one of
Zimbabwe’s
biggest and most celebrated examples of rampant
corruption.
The scandal involved underhand dealings in which government
ministers and
other high profile individuals purchased vehicles from
Willowvale Motor
Industries at cheap fixed rates and resold them at a
substantial mark-up.
President Robert Mugabe set up an inquiry headed by
Justice Wilson Sandura,
but he went on to grant amnesty to all government
ministers who were
implicated.
But one of Mugabe’s senior ministers,
Maurice Nyagumbo, could not stand the
shame and took his life.
Another
top Zanu PF official Fredrick Shava, who was the Labour, Manpower
and Social
Welfare minister, was sentenced to a jail term but was pardoned
by Mugabe
without spending a single night in prison.
Today Shava is Zimbabwe’s
ambassador to China.
This marked the beginning of a litany of presidential
pardons which Mugabe
used to gain loyalty from members of his inner circle
and consolidate his
grip on power.
In 1990 the late Patrick Kombayi
escaped death by a whisker when he was shot
and seriously injured by then
Zanu PF youth leader Kizito Chivamba and state
security agent Elias
Kanengoni during a heated election campaign.
Kombayi’s only crime was to
contest against the late Vice-President Simon
Muzenda for a parliamentary
seat in the general election on an opposition
Zimbabwe Unity Movement ticket
in Gweru.
Chivamba and Kanengoni were charged and convicted of attempted
murder, but
again Mugabe intervened and pardoned them. Chivimba is now an MP
representing Chiwundura in the Midlands while Kanengoni is a top spy and
Zanu PF Mashonaland Central provincial member.
The most recently
scandalous pardon was the one granted to convicted rapist
and self-styled
prophet Godfrey Nzira, popularly known as Madzibaba Nzira.
Nzira, who is the
leader of the Johanne Masowe weChishanu, was convicted on
seven counts of
rape and one of indecent assault involving two women at his
shrine in 2003.
He was subsequently slapped with a 42-year jail term.
Ten years were
suspended on condition of good behaviour leaving Nzira to
serve an effective
32 years.
Nzira dabbled in Zanu PF politics as a way of gaining favour and
protection
before his conviction and sentence.
He would preach Zanu PF
mantras at his gatherings as well as routinely order
his congregants to
attend the party’s rallies.
Zanu PF, with its political appeal waning,
remembered Nzira, who had
languished in jail for seven years, and granted
him a pardon on medical
grounds.
Nzira was quickly set free in January
and the convicted rapist threw a
lavish “homecoming” gig at his shrine in
Chitungwiza.
It was no surprise then that Nzira’s “homecoming” event was
attended by
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and Information and Publicity
minister
Webster Shamu.
The self-styled prophet told hundreds of his
flock that he was going to
fight against the “illegal sanctions imposed by
Britain and her allies” and
also “fight to death to see the empowerment of
my people” despite his
failing health.
His preaching of the Zanu PF
campaign gospel has raised eyebrows in human
rights circles leaving many
questioning whether Nzira’s pardon was purely on
medical grounds.
Lately,
Zanu PF has been targeting indigenous churches for support as it
braces for
a general election set for next year.
Mugabe has graced a number of church
gatherings where some church members
were made to sign Zanu PF’s
anti-sanctions petition.
Last week, Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who is a
Salvation Army member, and
Zanu PF politburo member Cliveria Chizema
attended a Johanne Masowe
weChishanu prayer convention clad in the church’s
white robes.
The MDC has charged that Nzira had been specifically pardoned by
Mugabe to
“embark on a Zanu PF campaign trail, targeting members of his sect
to
support Mugabe and Zanu PF in the event of an early
election”.
Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights Irene Petras said
pardons in a
political situation such as Zimbabwe’s were
“dangerous”.
Petras said: “There is a long history of controversial
presidential pardons
that have happened over the years. These pardons are
very dangerous in the
sense that they give a culture of impunity and a
feeling that others benefit
even if they have perpetrated human rights
violations.”
“There should be a transparent record,” she said. “People need
to understand
what was wrong with Nzira. One minute he was coming out of
prison looking
very ill and then we see him later campaigning for a
(political) party. Then
it brings back the issue of people
questioning
the need for him getting the pardon.”
Petras said the fact that Nzira had not
even served half of his sentence for
raping seven women set a bad precedent
for realisation of women’s rights and
protection of women.
“This is a
blow for the protection of any rape survivor,” she said.
Some activists
called for the review of the presidential powers in the new
constitution to
close loopholes for abuse.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe in its submissions of
its own model constitution
to the constitution select committee proposed
that parliament be
strengthened and presidential powers which Mugabe widely
enjoys be
diminished.
Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku attacked
Nzira’s pardon as a
brazen abuse of presidential powers by Mugabe.
“That
was purely an abuse of the presidential pardon which we know is not
anything
new,” Madhuku said. “Mugabe has always used presidential pardons
for
political reasons. He has been abusing the constitution from day one. In
a
new constitution there is need for a presidential advisory body that will
work together with the president in issuing pardons.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 05 May 2011 17:03
Paul
Nyakazeya
ZIMBABWE Platinum Mines Ltd (Zimplats) expects to conclude
talks about local
ownership proposals with government next week, according
to CEO Alex
Mhembere.
“We expect the talks to be complete within two
weeks,” Mhembere said.
Zimplats is Zimbabwe’s largest platinum
producer.
The deadline for all mining companies to submit their
indigenisation and
black empowerment plans as per government’s law is Monday
next week. The law
requires all mining companies to dispose 51% of their
equity to designated
entities that in theory will house those shares on
behalf of indigenous
persons.
“There is a big appetite for a stake in
Zimplats by people in business and
political office. We will reveal their
identity when the right time comes to
ensure that all is done in a
transparent manner,” he said.
Zimplats, together with Anglo Platinum and
global miner Rio Tinto, are some
of the foreign mining companies that have
operations in Zimbabwe and will be
expected to comply with the
indigenisation laws.
The mining company also said it was on target to meet
its full-year output
target of 180 000 ounces this year, a figure they said
would be maintained
until 2013.
Zimplats’ revenue was US$130 million in
the third quarter ending March 31,
7% lower than the previous quarter’s
US$139 million.
“Operating profit declined by 12% to US$65,6 million from
US$74,7 million
in December last year,” Mhembere said.
He said metal
prices had remained buoyant underpinned by some recovery that
has been
recorded in the major world economies. Unit Cost performance was
adversely
affected by higher fuel prices as well as the costs of scheduled
plant
maintenance.
Cash cost of production per 4E oz increased by 10% to US$702.
Operating
margins declined from 53% to 50%.
CFO Patrick
Maseva-Shayawabaya said output of metal concentrate had dipped
to 84 000
tonnes for the quarter to March 2011, from 92 964 tonnes the
previous
quarter, after maintenance work on its mine.
Mhembere said Ngezi Phase 2
Expansion Project had commenced and was
currently on schedule.
Zimplats
said it invested US$163 million in social responsibility projects
in the
first quarter. It had invested US$68 million in community
infrastructure
development, including a US$25 million 330-kilovolt
electricity sub-station
at Selous, US$19 million on Selous-Ngezi Highway and
US$13 million on a
132-kilovolt Zesa power line from Selous to Ngezi.
The mining company also
invested US$10 million on the Ngezi Road
Rehabilitation, US$17 million on
Island Dam construction and US$30 million
in employee housing
construction.
Other social investments included US$3 million on Zesa control
centre
computer upgrade, installation of a fibre optic line to Ngezi,
switching
equipment for TelOne valued at US$1 million and a US$1 million
Ngezi
Agro-industrial project.
The group said it was awaiting
commencement of the process of debt
assumption by the government concerning
its US$26 million the company was
owed by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
Last year, parent company Implats invested US$500 million in
Zimplats.
However, Implats chief executive David Brown said the holding
company would
take a cautious approach in developing its Zimbabwean assets
due to the
uncertainty created by the indigenisation
policy.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 05 May 2011
17:03
Nqobile Bhebhe
FOUR local financial institutions are ready
to disburse nearly US$70 million
as part of a US$100 million Africa Import
and Export Bank (Afreximbank)
facility to recapitalise local companies,
Industry and Commerce minister
Welshman Ncube has said.
TN Bank, FBC
Bank, BancAbc and NMB Bank would handle the facility.
Ncube said: “These
banks have already signed agreements with Africa Import
and Export Bank
(Afreximbank) on how to operate the facility. Local
companies may access the
funds through the Industrial Development Bank of
Zimbabwe (IDBZ), Post
Office Bank (POSB), Agribank and ZB bank. It is up to
industry to use these
financial institutions to access the resources.”
Ncube was addressing
delegates attending a one day International Business
Conference at the
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair on Wednesday under the
theme: “Key issues
that need to be tackled to re-equip the Zimbabwean
industry into a high tech
and volume output competitive manufacturing sector
in the region
centre.”
Ncube urged companies to take advantage of potentially large markets
within
the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) and South
African
Development Community (Sadc) as preferred destinations for
exports.
“As the region prepares for the grand tri-partite free trade area,
more
access to market opportunities would emerge and more competition would
result,” said Ncube.
Comesa and Sadc are in talks aimed at setting up a
single monetary union and
a free trade area by 2016. A tripartite summit is
scheduled for South Africa
this month.
Alhough Afreximbank has availed
considerable resources for local industries,
the pace of disbursement could
be slow in relation to industry requirements,
Ncube said.
“Government
appreciates the efforts of these banks in making lines of credit
available.
Internally government originally availed US$20 million under the
Special
Drawing Rights (SDR) for distressed companies fund which was
subsequently
leveraged by US$50-70 million and transformed into ZETREF
(Zimbabwe
Economic and Trade Revival Facility),” he said.
Ncube said the current
situation where 80% of retail shelves of
basic commodities was taken up by
imported goods was not only unhealthy but
unsustainable in the long-term,
given that 60% of the manufacturing sector
inputs are from
agriculture.
On imports, Ncube said the economy continued to absorb a
disproportionately
large amount of finished products, with the latest
balance of payments
projections showing total imports rising from US$$3,2
billion in 2009 to
US$3,6 billion in 2010.
“This imbalance is further
aggravated by the fact that the composition of
exports is highly
concentrated on raw materials, with mining contributing
52% of total exports
in 2009, agriculture 13% and manufacturing contributing
18% in the same
year,” he said.