http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 18:45
Faith
Zaba
ZIMBABWEANS may be required to vote in a referendum for a new
constitution
in May 2012 effectively derailing President Robert Mugabe’s
plan to have
elections in the first quarter of next year.
Mugabe
is eager to have elections by March to end the shaky coalition
government.
He had initially hoped to have polls this year, but his plan
collapsed due
to delays in the constitution-making process as well as the
slow pace in
implementing political reforms required to end the country’s
decade-long
political crisis.
According to more revised timelines presented to
President Jacob Zuma’s
facilitation team on Wednesday by Copac
co-chairperson Douglas Mwonzora of
the MDC-T, a draft constitution is only
likely to be ready for a referendum
between March and May next
year.
“I told them that there is no way we can have a draft
constitution by March
30,” Mwonzora told the Zimbabwe Independent soon after
meeting with Zuma’s
International Relations advisor Lindiwe Zulu and Charles
Nqakula.
“With all things being equal, the draft constitution should
be ready between
March and May, but I think we will only be able to go for a
referendum
around May 30 next year.”
Zulu is said to have
conveyed to Copac Zuma’s grave concerns with escalating
political violence
engulfing the country. An official who attended the
meeting said: “Zulu told
Copac that Zuma was concerned with the prevailing
environment, which is not
conducive for free and fair elections.
She said Zuma’s concern is
creating an environment for free and fair
elections that are credible. She
also reassured Copac that three people who
were seconded to Jomic (Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee) will
be here in a week or
two.”
In terms of the Global Political Agreement signed by the three
political
parties that form the coalition government, the adoption of a new
constitution is a pre-requisite for the holding of fresh elections whose
outcome should be credible and acceptable worldwide.
The other
essential elements lining the roadmap to elections include
electoral, media
and security sector reforms. Other issues include a new
voters’ roll dealing
with staffing issues at the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission and the disbanding
of the Joint Operations Command, a state
security grouping that was
reportedly behind the bloody presidential run-off
poll of
2008.
Mwonzora told Zuma’s team that in spite of the serious
financial and
logistical problems facing Copac, they had made significant
progress in the
constitution-making process.
Some of the
achievements made so far he highlighted to the facilitation team
included
the selection of the three principal drafters and the seconding of
17
members to the drafting team.
The principal drafters are Botswana
High Court judge Justice Moses Chinhengo
and lawyers Priscilla Madzonga and
Brian Crozier, whom Mwonzora said had the
requisite skills in drafting
laws.
Crozier was the director of legal drafting in the
attorney-general’s office
making him Zimbabwe’s chief legislative drafter
until he resigned in 2000.
He also worked as a public prosecutor and legal
advisor. Madzonga is a
former High Court judge.
The 17 appointees
comprise five from each of the three political parties and
two from the
chiefs’ council. These include University of Kent senior law
lecturer Alex
Magaisa, Zimbabwe Income and Pricing Commission chairman
Godwills
Masimirembwa, University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer
John
Makumbe, former Law Society of Zimbabwe president Joseph James, Women’s
Affairs and Community Development deputy minister Jessie Majome, former
Matabeleland North governor and lawyer Jacob Mudenda, Advocate Happias Zhou,
Advocate Matshobana Ncube, lawyer and MDC-T Chief Whip Innocent Gonese,
lawyer and former Zimrights chairperson Kucaca Phulu and Advocate Archibold
Gijima, among others.
Copac has also come up with constitutional
principles, a draft framework and
a list of constitutional issues that
should be included in the new charter.
Some of the principles agreed on
include sovereignty, security and
protection of Zimbabwe from internal and
external enemies as well as
transitional provision and economic and social
rights.
On security forces, Copac agreed that “every member of the
security forces
and the forces as a whole must perform their duties and
exercise their
powers in the national interest and must not further or
prejudice
party-political interests”.
Mwonzora said drafting of
the new constitution should start on November 20,
three months after it was
scheduled to begin. The actual drafting is
scheduled to take 40
days.
According to the latest timelines, the draft constitution
should be
presented to an all-stakeholders’ conference by January 30. Donors
are
presently not enthused to sponsor such a conference because they fear
that
it would be marred by chaos and violence similar to the first
stakeholder
gathering held in July 2009.
“Donors are unwilling to
sponsor the second all-stakeholders conference
because it is likely to be
marred by violence,” Mwonzora said. Violence has
escalated in the past few
weeks around the country. Most recently, MDC-T and
Zanu PF supporters
clashed in Hatcliffe after Zanu PF followers allegedly
disrupted an MDC-T
meeting where Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone was
scheduled to
speak.
Earlier this week, police armed with AK 47 rifles and baton
sticks fired
teargas into Harvest House and indiscriminately beat up people
in the
streets before sealing off Nelson Mandela Avenue, First Street, Angwa
Street
and Kwame Nkrumah Avenue near the MDC-T
headquarters.
Tensions are at boiling point in the shaky coalition
government after police
blocked MDC-T weekend rallies Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai had been
lined up to address. The rallies had been sanctioned by
the High Court.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 18:39
Paul
Nyakazeya
ZIMBABWE is set to earn in excess of US$2 billion in gross
revenue annually
following the lifting of the ban on exports of its diamonds
by the Kimberley
Process early this week, according to Mines and Mining
Development minister
Obert Mpofu.
“Our current diamond production
is estimated by volume to be in excess of
25% of the world production, and
going by the values realised to date per
carat, Zimbabwe is set to earn in
excess of US$2 billion annually in gross
revenue,” Mpofu outlined to
journalists this week. He maintained there were
no conditions for the export
of the diamonds.
All 76 members of the world’s diamond-producing
nations who met in Kinshasa,
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a
plenary meeting of the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) voted
for Zimbabwe to be allowed to
export gems from Chiadzwa, in the Marange
district of Manicaland.
Wikipedia describes The KPCS as the process
designed to certify the origin
of rough diamonds from sources which are free
of conflict. Introduced by
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56,
the certification scheme
aims at preventing “blood diamonds” from entering
the mainstream rough
diamond market. It was set up to assure consumers that
by purchasing
diamonds they were not financing war and human rights
abuses.
The World Diamond Council (WDC) an organisation consisting of
representatives from diamond manufacturing and diamond trading companies
said it welcomed the agreement. Media reports show the debate on lifting the
ban on Zimbabwe had been split between the diamond-producing nations, mostly
the developing countries, and the diamond trading companies, mostly the
developed countries.
The ban on Zimbabwe’s diamonds had been
inspired by lack of transparency in
the way in which the gems are sold by
the government-dominated companies
that operate in
Marange.
According to a proposal for development, compliant mining
operations will
share mine-level data with the KP Monitoring team on an
ongoing basis with a
view to ensuring transparency as regards KPC
implementation in Marange. The
KPCS chair Mathieu Yamba said exports may
take place from other mining
operations in the Marange diamond fields
following KP Monitoring teams’
verification of compliance.
The KP
monitoring team will verify compliance of operations of the other
producing
mines to KP minimum requirements, including full access to these
mining
sites. The plenary endorsed the nomination of a KP monitoring team
consisting of Abby Chikane and Mark van Bockstael.
In case of a
lack of agreement between the members of the KP monitoring
team, the matter
would be referred to the Watts Griffis and McQuat Limited
(WGM) for
recommendation to the KP Chair.
WGM is Canada’s longest running
independent firm of geological and mining
consultants, providing value-added
professional services of the highest
standards to the global mineral
resource industry.
Mpofu said his ministry was ready to lead and
champion the economic recovery
of the country through a “robust, dynamic and
aggressive policy to grow the
mining sector in Zimbabwe whose growth is
currently bullish and set to
contribute in excess of 50% of our
GDP”.
He said all minerals would be exploited for the benefit of all
Zimbabweans.
“Every Zimbabwean is a stakeholder in the realization of our
mineral wealth.
It has been a long time coming, the determination and the
resolve of
Zimbabwe to assert its sovereign rights to its mineral wealth,
although
initially met with a lot of resistance, has finally yielded this
victory,”
he said.
Zimbabwe said it commits to uphold the KPCS
minimum requirements and will
report to plenary 2011 and intercessional 2012
on actions such as
identification of further investors, regulation of
artisanal mining, fight
against illicit digging and
smuggling.
The KP Civil Society Coalition representatives in Zimbabwe
will have access
to the Marange area so as to allow continued reporting on
KPCS
implementation.
The decision will however be kept under
constant review in light of progress
towards KP compliance and shall apply
until the KP plenary next year.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 18:48
Brian
Chitemba
MDC president Welshman Ncube has said Zimbabweans will not go
for elections
next year because the constitution and a battery of electoral
reforms were
only likely to be completed by December 2012.
This
meant the much anticipated polls could only be held possibly around
March
2013 at the earliest. Ncube, who is also a constitutional law expert,
told
the Zimbabwe Independent that realistic projections showed that the
actual
drafting of a new constitution without borrowing any clause from
either the
Kariba Draft or the 2000 Draft Constitution, would take not less
than six
months in an ideal scenario where all parties involved
agreed.
However, the constitution-making process has so far been
marred by serious
squabbles among Zanu PF and the two MDC formations, and
Ncube said this
alone meant the drafting stage could take more than six
months.
Ncube argued that nowhere in the world has the drafting of a
constitution
taken less than six months, even with the best legal minds
locked in a room.
He said even if the drafting started in earnest this
month, it would still
break for a month between mid-December and mid-January
for the holidays.
He said predictions also indicated that after an
all-stakeholders
conference, another month would be required to make changes
to the draft
constitution to incorporate issues that would have emerged from
the
conference, meaning the earliest the draft could be presented to
parliament
would be in June 2012.
The Global Political Agreement,
he said, stipulated that if the draft was
approved by parliament, then there
should be three months for debate before
voting.
Ncube projected that the
final draft constitution could only be approved by
parliament by
mid-September, after which it would be sent to President
Mugabe for assent,
meaning a referendum could only possibly be held in early
October next
year.
“After the referendum, there will be critical issues to be
implemented, and
these include the writing of a new voters’ roll and other
electoral reforms
under a new Electoral Act,” said Ncube. “That cannot be
done in two months,
meaning the whole of next year will be spent on the new
constitution because
the implementation of electoral reforms will take us to
December,” Ncube
said.
Mugabe, he said, would most likely gazette
election dates in December 2012,
of which he has to do 45 days prior to the
polls, meaning elections are
likely around March 2013.
Mugabe,
who gazettes election dates as provided for in the Electoral Act,
has been
pushing for polls this year but his plan flopped as the writing of
a new
governance charter has been dragging. He has now declared that
elections
would be held in March next year, after a referendum on the draft
constitution in January, but pundits have dismissed his statements as mere
wishful thinking.
Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said
it was impossible to have a
constitution early next year, given that the
Constitution Select Committee
(Copac) has been struggling to come up with a
draft for the past two years.
“It’s not possible to have a
constitution next year,” said Madhuku. “We can’t
even waste time assessing
what Copac has been failing to achieve because it’s
too much,” he
said.
Sadc has been pushing for Zimbabwe to go for a plebiscite once
critical
electoral reforms are fully implemented. The MDC-T, MDC and civil
society
have been vigorously campaigning for security sector and electoral
reforms.
However, MDC-T Copac co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora insisted
that a referendum
could still be held in March since the drafting of a new
constitution was
expected to start in the middle of this
month.
The drafters would be based in the Vumba, far from
interference from
political parties and the media spotlight. Mwonzora said
the second
all-stakeholders conference was expected to be held by January 30
2012, but
it could be delayed by lack of funding since donors were
threatening to
withhold money fearing inter-party violence between Zanu PF
and MDC-T.
“A report-back to parliament is expected by 28 February
and this means the
referendum will be held between March 30 and May 30 but
we can also give an
allowance for a further two months in case of unforeseen
delays,” said
Mwonzora.
Lawyer and Crisis Coalition regional
coordinator Dewa Mavhinga said the
referendum was a fait accompli because
the constitution would be a
compromise among the political elite just like
the GPA.
“The problem will be with elections,” said Mavhinga. “We
cannot go for
elections next year without addressing the three questions of
violence, a
partisan security sector and weak justice and elections
institutions,” he
said.
Mavhinga said the constitution was likely
to sail through easily but holding
elections would be problematic because of
outstanding crucial reforms. The
GPA negotiators, including those from Zanu
PF, agreed that credible polls
could only be held next year or in 2013,
since crucial electoral reforms
cannot be completed by the end of this
year.
Ncube insisted that his MDC party would only participate in
a violent-free
political climate although it seemed Mugabe was stepping up
violence and
intimidation.
Last week police in Matabeleland North
disrupted three rallies by MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai in a clear
indication that the prime minister was
only playing a cameo role in the
shaky inclusive government.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
18:51
Paidamoyo Muzulu
ZANU PF’s Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee representative
Kizito Kuchekwa is reportedly behind
the invasion of Birthday Farm in Mazowe
owned by German nationals and
supposedly protected under a bilateral
agreement with the European
country.
Kuchekwa allegedly instigated about 200 Zanu PF youths to
camp at the
renowned tobacco producing farm owned by Henrik Pezold Junior
and protected
under the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreement (Bippa)
signed with the German government in 1995.
New
invasions are against the Government of National Unity’s policy of
halting
any land grabs in order to give the economy a chance to recover
after a
decade of constant decline.
Kuchekwa sits on the Global Political
Agreement’s implementation committee
which monitors issues of political
violence, respect for the rule of law and
implementation of agreed
legislative reforms before the holding of
elections.
Kuchekwa is
a Zanu PF central committee member who harbours ambitions to
secure
political office in the next elections. Jomic officials said Kuchekwa
was in
Bulawayo on business and he was unreachable on his mobile phone.
A
Zanu PF source confirmed that Kuchekwa was behind the Birthday Farm
invasion
and said he was using it as a footing for his political career.
“Kuchekwa is
ambitious and is preparing to get into public office in the
next elections,”
said the Zanu PF official. “He is using his connections
from his previous
close association with the late Elliot Manyika. He sees
this as an
opportunity to get into political office.”
Birthday Farm general
manager Chris Booker confirmed that his farm had been
invaded by a group of
youths who were presently camped at the property.
“There are some people who
came to the farm and claim they are new
settlers,” said Booker. “We have
alerted the police and the district
administrator who are handling the
matter,” Booker said.
Pezold, however, could not be reached for
comment. Mazowe district
administrator Cheri Nyakudya on Wednesday confirmed
that a group of youths
had invaded the farm and efforts were underway to
move them out.
“We had a meeting with the group on Tuesday and told
them to leave the
farm,” said Nyakudya. “I am not sure if they have
complied with the order
by now (Wednesday afternoon),” Nyakudya
said.
Zimbabwe nationalised all farm land in 2000 under the guise of
a land
resettlement programme led by war veterans. More than 4000 commercial
farms
were expropriated, leaving over 350 000 former farm workers jobless
and
homeless.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
19:04
Faith Zaba
THE case involving axed Zanu PF Constitution
Select Committee member and
chairperson of the stakeholders’ committee
Edward Chindori-Chininga has
taken a new twist, with MDC-T officials
alleging that the party document was
leaked to them by Copac co-chairperson
Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana.
Chindori-Chininga was three weeks ago
dismissed from Copac by Zanu PF for
leaking the party’s preliminary draft
constitution framework to MDC-T
officials.
Party secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa this week labelled him a
sell-out for
allegedly giving the MDC-T the document. Investigations by the
Zimbabwe
Independent revealed that Mangwana gave co-chairpersons Douglas
Mwonzora
(MDC-T) and Edward Mkhosi (MDC) the draft constitution framework on
October
4 at Pandhari Lodge in Harare.
This was confirmed by Mwonzora and
Mkhosi in an interview yesterday.
Mwonzora said the only document he
received on Zanu PF’s draft framework was
from Mangwana and not from
Chindori-Chininga.
“I got the document from Mangwana at Pandhari
Lodge on October 4,” said
Mwonzora. “Mangwana gave the document to Mkhosi
and wanted to give him
alone. Mkhosi then told me that he had been given the
document by Mangwana
and I asked to see it. Mangwana told me he had an
additional copy and he
gave it to me. That is the only document I received
on the draft framework,”
Mwonzora said.
Mkhosi said: “True, I
received Mangwana’s draft at the same venue (Pandhari
Lodge) and at the
same time as Mwonzora.” This revelation is likely to
heighten tensions in
Zanu PF, which is already deeply divided along
factional
lines.
Tensions are already high between top party officials in
Mashonaland Central
and the department of administration following
Chindori-Chininga’s hasty
dismissal.
Senior party officials from
Mashonaland Central told the Independent this
week that the province was
very unhappy that Chindori-Chininga was fired
from Copac without following
the party’s laid down disciplinary procedures
and also without giving him a
chance to respond to the allegations.
They said the matter should
have been brought before the Zanu PF caucus to
investigate and then present
its findings to the party chief whip Joram
Gumbo, leader of the House
Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mutasa.
“Chindori-Chininga should have been
subject to Zanu PF disciplinary
procedures and consultations with the
Mashonaland Central leadership,” said
one Mashonaland Central
legislator.
According to the party constitution, any member of the
party against whom
action is intended should first be issued with a
prohibition order and
notice of charges in writing. The notice states the
charges, date and venue
of the hearing of the case by the appropriate
disciplinary organ.
Recent statements by Mutasa that the party had
endorsed his decision to fire
Chindori-Chininga in a move he said was a
first step in flushing out
“sell-outs” has worsened the
situation.
He said the meeting he held with Chindori-Chininga on
October 10 was final
and the expulsion from Copac should serve as a warning
to other party
members.
However, Mashonaland Central officials
believe Mutasa made the statement to
force the matter on the agenda of the
politburo which met on Wednesday.
Mutasa signed the dismissal letter three
weeks ago based on Mangwana’s
allegations that the former Mines minister and
Guruve South MP had leaked
the “sensitive” document to
Mwonzora.
Chindori-Chininga has since refuted the allegations and has
instead accused
Mangwana of giving Mwonzora and Mkhosi the document on
October 4.
What has angered Mashonaland Central’s party leadership, sources
said, was
the fact that Mutasa signed the dismissal letter dated October 6,
four days
before Mangwana wrote his letter of complaint, which is dated
October 10.
“The province is wondering why Mutasa acted so hastily
without giving
honourable Chindori-Chininga a chance to respond to the
allegations and
without following the party procedures,” said one top
provincial official.
“People are now wondering whether there might be a
hidden agenda in making
such a rushed decision. We will ask those questions
and demand answers. We
were not happy with the way this whole thing was
handled.”
The draft constitution framework included the party’s
position on
prohibiting homosexuality and same sex marriage, devolution of
power and
having the land issue as well as the indigenisation and economic
empowerment
standing as chapter headings.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 15:01
Paul
Nyakazeya/Happiness Zengeni
INDIAN steel company Essar estimates a
capital expenditure of US$388,042
million to revive operations of the
Zisco-integrated steel plant, in a
programme that will be conducted over two
phases over a period of four
years, businessdigest has established.
According to a revival plan of the
local giant steelworks, which is in
possession of businessdigest, the first
phase, which is expected to be
complete within 18 months, will see capacity
rising to 500 000 tonnes per
annum.
Phase 2, which has a 30-month duration, will increase capacity
to an
annualised one million tonnes, which is the installed capacity of the
plant.
Most of the repair jobs have already gone to tender. Among the major
works
for coke ovens battery 1, 2 and 3, Fosbel, an international company
which
specialises in furnace refractory maintenance services, offered US$45
540
for full heating wall repair, complete re-lining of the chimney and
refurbishment of pusher doors with relining.
The group also has
to deal with US$361 million in liabilities, which were
showing on the books
in the period to June 30, 2011. Breaking down the
liabilities, US$270
million is in long and medium-term loans divided between
Zisco at US$231
million and US$39 million for Bimco.
Payroll creditors amounted to US$4,8
million largely made up of creditors
from Zisco.
CBZ Bank is owed
US$2 million by Zisco. CBZ has received criticism from the
market for having
a huge percentage of bad loans.
The group will require total manpower of 2
232, 1 780 of which would be
contractual while there will be 96 expatriates
from India.
However, according to Industry and Commerce minister Welshman
Ncube, red
tape in the Mines ministry around transferring claims to the
newly-created
companies –– New Zim Steel and New Zim Minerals –– are slowing
down the
Essar deal.
Speaking at the launch of the 2011
Confederation of Zimbabwe (CZI)
manufacturing survey, Ncube said small
administrative issues were hindering
the resumption of work at the New
ZimSteel, formerly Ziscosteel and New
Zimminerals, formerly Buchwa Iron
Mining Company.
“I admit we could have moved faster on
implementation, but what is left are
only administrative issues, not what
has been written by the media,” Ncube
said. He said by November 16,
certificates of the claims with the new names
of the companies should have
been signed and made available.
He indicated that in any transaction
that requires the formation of two new
companies, there would be legal
issues around transfer of title and assets
among other issues. Ncube said
that given that Zisco and its predecessor
company are more than 60 years
old, some of the paperwork, be it at the
Mines ministry, needed to be
brought out and assimilated into new
consolidated certificates of title and
these take a lot of procedural work
and time.
New ZimSteel was launched
and officially unveiled on August 3 2011.
Ncube said the Mines and
Transport ministries were yet to guarantee Essar’s
mineral rights owned by
Bimco and reliable railway facilities as well as a
decision on the fate of
workers.
Essar plans to lift production at New Zimsteel up to 14
million tonnes a
year from peak production levels of close to a million
tonnes of steel a
year.
Essar acquired a 54% stake in Ziscosteel from
government in a US$750 million
deal last year.
According to the
deal, Essar shall retain as much as possible of the current
Zisco staff. In
selection of new staff, Essar shall consider existing Zisco
employees,
subject to their qualifications, knowledge, skills, experience,
and personal
merit.
The sell-off diluted government’s shareholding in the
steelmaker to 35,6%,
but left untouched minority interests held by Louth
Mineral South Africa
(3%), Tonexon Investments (2,79%), Lancashire Steel
(1,76%), Stewards &
Lloyds (1,76%), Franconian Investments (0,81%),
Amzim Iron & Steel Limited
(0,75%) and Zambia Copperbelt Investment
(0,13%).
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 14:46
Reginald
Sherekete
TOBACCO output is likely to increase after more communal and
small scale
farmers dumped the traditionally preferred maize and cottons
crops.
Statistics released by the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) for
the
week ending 28 October 2011 show that 4 401 new communal farmers and 5
788
new A1 farmers have registered for the 2012 tobacco season. A1 and
communal
farmers now represent 47% and 33%, respectively of total registered
tobacco
farmers.
TIMB indicated that registered growers increased by 1
831 to 29 859 this
week, with significant increases being in communal and A1
farmers. This
indicates a 7% increase from those registered in the previous
week.
“There is a 10% increase in registered growers compared to last
year’s
figure of 27 267 during the same period,” said TIMB in their weekly
bulletin.
The 2011 tobacco selling season failed to meet the projected
170 million kgs
of tobacco and the country is still below the peak season of
236 million kgs
in 2000 before the height of the land reform
programme.
The increase in communal and A1 farmers will result in an
increase in the
tobacco output, as the country positions itself to produce
to its peak
period.
But statistics indicate that there is a relatively
low figure of large scale
commercial farmers in the 2011 season who can
guarantee a significant
comeback of the tobacco crop to peak
levels.
A total of 751 large scale commercial farmers have been
registered for the
2011 season representing 3% of total registered farmers.
There has been an
increase of 37 new large scale commercial farmers for the
2012 season and
this indicates that the crop may be increased in output next
year.
An agronomist with a leading bank said: “The interest to grow tobacco
has
been phenomenal due to its attractiveness as a cash crop compared to the
traditional crops.”
“The golden leaf has managed to offer a
greater return since it is an export
crop which is sold under auction. This
has enabled farmers to get
favaourable prices as compared to the maize crop
whose price is pegged by
government,” further explained the
agronomist.
Statistics also reveal that Mashonaland West and East
had more than 50%
increase in registered communal farmers, with a total of 4
307 and 2 393
respectively. Manicaland and Mashonaland Central have the
highest increases
in A1 farmers of 1 800 and 1 720
respectively.
Mashonaland West has traditionally been the hub of
maize crop farming but
the trend now shows that farmers in that region are
now opting to grow
tobacco. Huge silos for storing grain are visible in the
farming area
around Chinhoyi and Lions Den, a sign that the farming region
was
traditionally reserved for producing maize.
“Without doubt
these statistics are worrying because maize is our staple
food and this
trend only indicates that we are far from doing away with
maize shortages.
But farmers are also rational businesspeople who seek to
maximise their
returns, so there is an urgent need to address the pricing
matrix of maize
for it to remain a farmers choice,” an agro-economist said.
From the
statistics, 11 newly registered large scale commercial farmers are
from
Mashonaland West, with nine from Mashonaland East. This is a clear sign
of
the shift to tobacco farming in the provinces.
In the 2011 tobacco
season, a total of 132,4 million kgs of tobacco were
sold through both the
auction and the contract system, showing an increase
of 7,23% from the 2010
selling season. A total of US$361,5 million was
realised in the just
concluded season as compared to US$355,6 million in
2010.
In the 2011
selling season, prices were lower averaging US$2,73, compared to
last
season’s average price of US$2,88. Analysts say this is largely owing
to
quality and impact of big foreign buyers in the market like the
Chinese.
“When the Chinese come into the market, they cause shocks
since their huge
demand in a short time causes prices to spike but only to
weaken to very low
levels after they exit the market. It’s a market and
there is nothing we can
do, farmers should be able to read the market
conditions and sell their crop
at the correct market timing,” a tobacco
trader said.
Seasonal export figures show that China was the biggest
buyer of tobacco
including cigarettes with a total of 33,8 million kgs worth
US$245 million.
The United Arab Emirates and South Africa are the second
largest importers
of Zimbabwean tobacco totaling 12,7 million and 12,5
million kgs
respectively.
Communal and small scale farmers who are still
mastering how to grow tobacco
usually produce a lower quality crop as the
methods they use for growing and
curing the golden leaf are not to
standard.
In the 2011 selling season a total of 119 201 bales of
tobacco were rejected
for various reasons including bales being underweight.
This shows a
rejection rate of 7%, which is an improvement from last year’s
rejection
rate of 8%.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
14:40
MUCH has been written and said about Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Governor
Gideon Gono’s borrowings, his relationship with Renaissance
Merchant Bank
majority shareholder Patterson Timba, which is alleged to have
gone “bad”
following Lunar Chickens’ borrowings from the bank allegedly
causing it
serious liquidity problems, and leading to the institution
leading to its
placement under curatorship. In the first of a two part
series,
Businessdigest chief business reporter Paul Nyakazeya (PN) spoke to
Gono
(GG) about his borrowings from banks, in particular Timba’s RMB, to
finance
his Lunar Chickens business.
PN: You are accused of being one
of the over-borrowed persons in Zimbabwe,
what do you say to that and does
that position not put you in some conflict
of interest-kind of situation in
that you are over-bearing on the sector you
are supposed to
supervise?
GG: If the US can borrow money to finance its operations,
what about small
people like me and my family?
Mind you, it is
not a crime to borrow and there is no rule or law that
prohibits governors
from going into business, neither is there a special
bank to which governors
alone and their families can go to borrow from.
Besides, life does
not start, stop or end with just being a governor or an
employee of RBZ.
There is life before, during and after. It would be a sad
day if anything
to the contrary was the case.
The law of the land provides for
certain ethical and corporate governance
declarations to be made to certain
principals in government by governors and
these declarations are provided
for by section 25 of the RBZ Act, chapter
22:15. I can confirm that these
declarations have always been faithfully
complied with.
At the
end of the day however, any good, viable and bankable project(s) will
always
get funding no matter who the promoter(s) is or are and badly
thought-out
project(s) with traditional ideas and promoted by unbankable
characters with
abominable or commercially crippled credentials will never
get funding, no
matter how little the money required is or how big in
society one
is.
Right now Zimbabwean banks are sitting on over US$2 billion lines
of credit
that are not being disbursed for one reason or another, and not
because
Governor Gono’s family businesses have crowded out anybody from
accessing
the funds in the local, regional or international markets. We
should avoid
judging each other from the same stand-point where we should
communalise
poverty, inability to borrow, indiscipline, or laziness or
improprieties.
As Zimbabweans, we must stop thinking small and begin to dream
big. Big
dreams require collective support from the financial sector
whether using
local, regional, continental or international resources.PN:
What is your
relationship with Renaissance Merchant Bank and other
banks?
GG: I have had relationships with some of them going back to
over 30 years
and with Renaissance, we have had a banker/client relationship
since they
started operating in Zimbabwe 10 or so years ago so don’t read
too much into
the current attacks on me or my business by the young man,
that is what
pressure does to people. Ask him, we visit each other’s homes
and break
bread together once in a while and it is never personal but
business!
PN: So does (your company) Lunar Chickens owe Renaissance
Merchant Bank and
is failing to pay as alleged?
GG: Lunar
Chickens is one of the 17 clients who benefited from a PTA line of
credit
and the PTA Bank officially extended the “due date” for the repayment
of
their facility at a time the embattled banker had left his Bank so we
forgive him for all his cries and lack of up-to-datedness.
He is
personalising his difficulties and we are sure that Solomonic wisdom
will
prevail upon him soon along the lines that say “you do not have to wish
every member of the clan to drown simply because your own straw has broken
from pressures of the raging river”. You rather ask for help.
At the
risk of divulging too much, for your information the so called US$1
million
PTA facility given to Lunar is just but one of 17 clients who were
availed
support under the US$10 million Line of Credit and among those 17
clients,
we are one of two poultry producers who benefited.
In addition, given the
need for longer-term funds in this market than the 30
to 60 days funds the
local market can provide, and given the PTA’s full
appreciation of this
situation, they agreed to roll-over, as is normal, not
just the Lunar
Chickens facility, but of all the 17 clients from May 2011 to
end of
November 2011, with a provision for further roll-over if need be, to
end of
July 2012. Evidence to this effect is available!
Now for anyone to
misrepresent facts to the market either shows that one is
innocently not in
touch with the actual goings on on the ground or is
stretching levels of his
credibility to breaking points!
Life is and can be difficult out
there…I will be sending some tasty,
home-grown and truly indigenous packs of
chicken and eggs to my young
brother Patterson soon so he can begin to enjoy
what he is assisting, with
others, to create.
PN: So can you
afford to be a borrower and a regulator at the same time?
GG: As for
borrowing for Lunar Chickens, the company is a “giant” in the
making and the
first wholly indigenous-owned, fully integrated chicken
breeding, chicken
growing, chicken processing and chicken marketing entity
ever established in
the country since independence. It is a piece of pride
to those privileged
to know what the vision around it is.
Once we start unveiling it to
the market, you will definitely wonder why
some people would want to kill it
in its infancy! Of course that will not
happen.
While I am not actively
involved in its day to day management and I am not
Lunar’s spokesperson, I
however know that the company is now the third
largest chicken producer in
the country and has a dream target of producing
over one million table eggs
a day and a vision to slaughter about half a
million birds a week as well as
produce half a million day-old-chicks per
week by the middle of next year,
God willing. The company is geared to be
the “Apple Computer” of the
Chicken industry so to speak. Its poultry
academy is also going to
transform how chickens are produced and cared for
in this country through
its extension services programme in the making.
Vana mudhumeni vehuku vari
kuuya, regai muone.
The company has invested heavily in some
state-of-the-art technology which
is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan
Africa and is poised to list on the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange within the next
three years.
PN: Since when have you been pursuing this Lunar Chicken
vision which you
seem to speak about with great passion Governor? After you
became governor
or before?
GG: Well you want me to talk and
reveal too much at this stage which I do
not like to do but suffice to say
that I have been involved with chickens
and chickenomics since the age of
14. I have been growing chickens since
1973 at one level of volume or
another and do not forget, I went to what
were then called “F2” secondary
schools which specialised in practical
subjects and skills
development.
For four years I majored in Agriculture and Building as
my practical
subjects and I have never looked back ever since then. In my
agricultural
studies, I was very good at both animal and crop husbandry and
I have been
employing these skills since then. At a larger chicken scale, I
have been,
for years now, an “out-grower” or an Irvines/Crest/CFI chicken
apprentice.
I have been involved in formal agriculture and other
family business for the
last 33 years of my 35 working years… before most of
you youngsters in the
media were born... or at least a majority of you were
in your diapers or
just starting school when I started
working.
Therefore, whatever you see or hear about the Governor’s
businesses has a
history to it from owning and running Kombis and
supermarkets in the 1990’s,
to chickens and book/newspaper publishing in the
mid-1990’s, building and
construction, farming and agro-processing, in the
2000’s well before I
became governor.
To be continued next week.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 15:40
IT
is interesting isn’t it that the only way President Mugabe can think of
punishing Switzerland for denying visas to his bloated delegation to the
International Telecommunications Union Summit in Geneva is to target their
properties here. “Now they are showing they are vicious,” he said, “and we
will reciprocate because they have their properties here. We are not without
means to reciprocate.”
What is “vicious” about refusing to grant
visas to Mugabe’s delegation? The
Swiss authorities were probably trying to
suggest this was a rather large
delegation for a country trying to recover
from self-inflicted damage. Then
of course it would be useful to know how
many people in that group can
actually use a computer!
Let’s face
it. This was a jaunt to Geneva without any useful benefit for
Zimbabwe.
Perhaps George Charamba who appears to be behind the
threats against Swiss
properties, judging by his remarks last week, could
tell the nation what
benefits will accrue to visiting the ITU summit? Could
that not have been
the responsibility of ICT minister Nelson Chamisa who did
get a visa?
Any threat to Swiss properties here would be ill-advised given
the
vulnerability of Zimbabwe’s properties in Geneva and elsewhere in
Europe.
Did we not hear just the other day that Foreign minister
Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi was having difficulty with his attempt to reopen
dialogue with
the EU? And what does he think the response of the EU will be
to the threats
against the properties of European nations? And what about
the threats
against Nestlé and the royal command that the company should
take its milk
from Gushungo Dairy? Why should it?
Switzerland is
not an EU member but is aligned with the EU regarding its
stance on
Zimbabwe. The Swiss feel as strongly as most European nations do
about farm
seizures. Zimbabwe has a reputation for confiscating other people’s
property. Let’s have no more complaints from Mumbengegwi about nobody
wanting to talk to him. Just for the record it was not Mugabe who was denied
a visa, just his hangers on.
We were amused last
weekend to hear Zimpapers chair Dr Paul Chimedza say
that his newspaper
group is continually creating “new value for our
shareholders through
innovation, dedication, passion and creativity”.
He then proceeded to
criticise Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for
discouraging companies with
the capacity to expand the media industry and
create new jobs for
journalists and others.
“I suppose the PM is only happy when
investors are foreign,” he sniped in
the language of Zanu
PF.
“Allow me to let everyone know whether they wish us well or ill,”
Chimedza
declared, “that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship,
support any friend, oppose any foe,” ...to assure the success of
Zimpapers
as a group.
Muckraker would only add one small point
here. Chimedza borrowed the above
paragraph from JF Kennedy almost in its
entirety. He omitted to disclose his
source. Perhaps that is what he meant
when he referred to “creativity” at
Zimpapers.
And a quick word
with the sub-editors. “Interfering” as in “the PM should
stop interfering”
is not spelt “interferring”.
We still haven’t worked out
yet what a medical doctor is doing at the helm
of Zimpapers. Has he any
experience in publishing? Perhaps he could
enlighten us.
What for
instance do his medical colleagues think of his foray into
state-owned
newspapers that most certainly do not serve the public interest
and instead
provide a platform for Chimedza to attack the prime minister?
Should he be
doing this?
Meanwhile, the Herald this week carried a large advert saying:
“Read the
Herald and join the millions of Zimbabweans reading the truth
everyday. No
distortions, no compromise.”
And no borrowing of
speeches from US presidents either, we suppose?
The ZRP
evidently think the public need some political education.
“We are all
aware that our beloved country has been under a political
marriage of
partners sharing divergent ideologies since the signing of the
Global
Political Agreement,” said Senior Assistant Commissioner (Chief Staff
Officer Crime) Lee Muchemwa at a ZRP constitutional referendum workshop.
“This transient arrangement has outlived its relevance.”
Should
senior police officers be making statements of this sort? It is
surely up to
the parties concerned as to whether the GPA has “outlived its
relevance”.
Sen Asst Comm Muchemwa said the force was “mindful of the
evil machinations
of imperialist forces that misled the people into blindly
rejecting the 2000
draft constitution”.
The same agents, he said,
would not be idle this time.
What does this mean? That the people of
Zimbabwe erred when they voted NO in
the 2000 referendum because they were
“blind” and “misled by imperialist
forces”? That they can’t think for
themselves? Isn’t that rather demeaning?
Sen Asst Comm Muchemwa
should not be surprised when the ZRP is accused of
partisanship when the
public read remarks of this sort. By the way, where
are these mysterious
“imperialist forces”? Has anyone ever actually seen
them?
Speaking of politicians behaving badly, South
African Sports minister Fikile
Mbalula sought to interdict City Press last
Saturday from carrying a story
about him having bedded a Johannesburg model
Joyce Molamu.
After initially denying the story, Mbalula then
admitted to the affair after
weekend newspapers splashed details of his
romps with Molamu –– despite
first denying knowing who she
was.
Mbalula said: “I have apologised to my family, particularly to
my wife, as I
should have known better.”
He added: “I have been
trying to deal with this matter in a private manner
for the past three
months and when it became clear to me that this woman was
prepared to extort
money from me, I then decided to cease all communication
with her as I was
not prepared to be blackmailed.”
His lawyer had been quoted as saying: “It is
false and defamatory for the
extortionist to allege that she had a sexual
encounter with our client, and
City Press cannot become a source of
publication to such spurious and false
allegations.”
The Sunday
Times reports that Mbalula had had unprotected sex with Molamu on
“at least
two occasions in August”.
Mbalula said he had given Molamu R10 000 for an
abortion but that she later
asked for R40 000 –– and threatened to go public
if he didn’t pay up.
In the statement, Mbalula said Molamu had still not
provided any evidence
that she was pregnant.
“Her claims of being
pregnant remain unproven to me,” he said.
He seemed eager to put the
matter to bed (no pun intended), saying he wanted
to save his family from
media speculation, and would not lay a complaint of
“extortion or
blackmail”.
It’s a bit too late for that Comrade Mbalula.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
15:37
THERE is an extremely wideranging perception that Zimbabwe’s
economy is
alive and well, in Harare, whilst it is moribund and on the
threshold of
death throughout the rest of the country, in general, and in
Bulawayo in
particular.
Endlessly one hears that there is much
money, and attendant economic
activity, in the capital city, that the
streets are busy with crowds
thronging the shops, and that the economic
recovery which began in 2009 is
accelerating and intensifying. Concurrently,
merchants of doom and gloom
recurrently contend that throughout the
remainder of Zimbabwe, the economy
is undergoing ongoing decline, is
intensifyingly moribund, and has no
prospects of
recovery.
The realities are very different. The perception
of a vibrant Harare
economy is imaginary. Admittedly, a few economic
sectors are enjoying some
continuing economic activity (such as those
restaurants as are patronised by
the diplomatic corps and by the hierarchy
of international donor agencies
and like entities, for their incomes are not
founded upon Zimbabwean
economic circumstance). It is incontrovertible that
there is very markedly
greater vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the
city’s streets than is
experienced in other cities and towns, but that is
not because of greater
economic activity, but because the City of Harare,
and the adjoining
Chitungwiza, have a considerably greater population than
does any other
Zimbabwean urban centre.
Moreover, the impression
of intensified traffic, believed to be indicative
of economic virility, is
compounded by the paucity of traffic movement
control, with innumerable
intersection traffic lights being out of
commission for weeks (if not
months) on end, with vast numbers of potholes
of ever-increasing size, and
with horrendously irresponsible driving by the
milliards of commuter
omnibuses and emergency taxis that ply the roads,
their drivers having
total, contemptuous disregard for other motorists, and
pedestrians, and are
imbued with a belief that they have absolute road
ownership.
Similarly, the pedestrian areas are thronged with tens
of thousands of
people, but very few of them have the resources, or the
opportunities, to be
economically active to any material extent. The
throngs of pedestrians
include very many desperately seeking employment,
there are hundreds, if not
thousands, of beggars (including very many
prevaricators falsely suggesting
suffering from non-existent physical
disabilities), many of them badgering
and beleaguering motorists at
intersections, equally great numbers offering
to protect parked vehicles,
and vastly great numbers of informal sector
traders struggling to eke out
some livelihood, in total disregard for law
and municipal
regulations.
But, despite the impressions of economic vibrancy, the
hard core of Harare’s
economy is grievously embattled. Almost all of its
industries are operating
at productivity levels which are massively below
their capacities, have been
forced to downsize their operations, and a
considerable number have either
had to resort to closure, or are now
seriously having to consider such
action. In like manner, most wholesale
and retail establishments have had
an immense decline in sales volumes from
the levels that they were geared to
handle, whilst concurrently faced with
rising overheads, including endless
and substantial increases in utility and
local authority tariffs, recurrent
employee demands for salary and wage
rises, soaring rentals, gargantuan
finance and bank service charges, and the
like.
The financial sector is similarly suffering, with minimal
lending resources,
concurrently with growing operational costs. Service
industries are in like
trying circumstances, for the generally lethargic
economic circumstances
prevailing minimises demand for their services. And
almost all enterprises
are also severely, and adversely, affected by the
frequent non-availability
of essential utility services in general, and
those of reliably adequate
energy and water supplies in
particular.
However, these economic ailments which prevail in Harare
(although to many
not fully apparent because of the false impressions
created by population
size and street activity) are not exclusive to the
capital city. They
prevail throughout Zimbabwe! Although it cannot, and
should not, be denied,
that there has been marginal economic recovery since
2009, that recovery has
been to a very miniscule degree. On the positive
side, the intense, world
record-breaking, hyperinflation of 2008 has ended,
with Zimbabwe now
experiencing amongst the lowest inflation levels
prevailing on the African
continent, but the cessation of the devastating
inflation has not reversed
the prejudices it occasioned. Prices have not
fallen, they have just ceased
to rise at on exponential, continuous pace,
and hence cost of living remains
exceptionally high (generally at least
twice that of most other countries in
the Region!). The economic recovery
has not been sufficient to facilitate
increased employment and, in fact,
numbers in formal sector employment have
continued to decline, as many
businesses have had to downsize or discontinue
operations. Almost
nine-tenths of Zimbabwe’s employable population is
devoid of formal sector
employment.
Agriculture remains unable to meet the nation’s essential
food needs,
resulting in continuing, unavoidable recourse to limited foreign
exchange
resources to fund imports, concurrently with inadequate foreign
exchange
generation through agricultural exports. National debt continues
to soar,
now approximating US$8 billion, and the State is not only unable to
balance
its budget, but sustains ongoing fiscal deficits, despite applying
exceptionally onerous direct and indirect taxation upon the poverty-stricken
population and upon the struggling to survive business sector. Almost all
sectors of the economy are constrained by aged infrastructures and
excessively old plant, machinery and equipment which, due to capital
inadequacy and non-availability of affordable finance, they cannot refurbish
and rehabilitate, let alone replace. And all continue to suffer the
consequences of the intense brain drain which Zimbabwe has sustained over
the last decade.
These, and many other, economic ills prevail
nationwide, notwithstanding the
erroneous impression that they are much less
prevalent in Harare than
elsewhere. That impression is illusionary, and the
reality is that
Government must cease to derive gratification from having
achieved some
economic growth, because that growth is insignificant in
extent. An upturn
of economic output by more than nine per cent sounds very
impressive, but is
not so when that nine per cent is on a mediocrally low
base. Far more
concerted efforts are necessary if a comprehensive,
nationally-beneficial,
economic recovery, critically needed, is to be
achieved, and that
achievement needs to be rapid, and must apply
nationwide. To that end,
amongst the very many measures required, and very
speedily actioned, are:
Vigorous promotion of Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI), founded upon assured
investment
security, including
realistic and constructive modification of Zimbabwe’s
Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment policies;
Rapid, and extensive, partial or total
privatisation of key parastatals
which are providers of essential economic
services;
Genuine curtailment of unproductive governmental spending
(including
reducing the
excessively great legislature structure and
ministerial regime prevailing,
undue travel costs, pronounced corruption,
and much else).
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
15:35
Paul Nyakazeya
THE prospect of Zimbabwe once again failing
to feed itself is looming as
most farmers are now switching from growing
staple food to the more
lucrative cash crops such as tobacco. The migration
to cash crops has been
exacerbated by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)’s
delay in paying farmers for
the maize crop delivered in the 2010/2011
marketing season. The GMB takes up
to six months to pay for
deliveries.
The Tobacco Industry Marketing Board indicated that
registered growers had
increased by 1 831 to 29 859 this week with
significant increases coming
from communal and A1 farmers. This represents a
7% increase from the
previous week.
The Commercial Farmers Union
immediate past president Deon Theron told the
Independent this week that
while tobacco was expensive to grow, its returns
were high compared to maize
–– a development which had lured farmers to opt
for the
crop.
Against such a background, Thereon said Zimbabwe faced the
gloomy prospect
of failing to feed herself.
“I don’t see Zimbabwe being
able to feed itself this year and next year,”
said Theron. “As a country, we
will have to rely on imports again.”
It costs up to US$1 200 to plant
a hectare of maize compared to between
US$$9 500 and US$10 000 to plant the
same hectarage of tobacco.
“While tobacco has been rewarding for farmers
compared to other crops, some
farmers said they were disappointed by the low
prices which they felt could
have been higher considering inputs invested,”
Theron said.
As of October 15, the GMB reportedly owed farmers some
US$40 million for
maize delivered to its depots in the 2010/11 marketing
season.
A total of US$27,4 million has so far been paid to the farmers.
Government
set a producer price of US$285 per metric tonne this year, up
from the
US$275 per metric tonne from last season.
The situation
has further been worsened by allegations that some GMB
officials have agents
who move around buying maize from farmers at prices
ranging between US$150
and US$185 per tonne, and then reselling the grain at
US$285 per
tonne.
This, analysts said, would not help the situation, much as more
farmers
would have no choice but opt for the golden leaf.
Tobacco farmers
got cash payments for almost all their deliveries after the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe increased the cash payments threshold from US$2 000
to US$10 000
per sale.
Farmers who delivered less than 4 000kg of the golden leaf
in one delivery
received their payment in cash.The US$10 000 threshold
applied for every
single sale made. Farmers with more than 4 000kg could
split their sale into
two within the same day and still get the US$10
000.
TIMB CEO Andrew Matibiri said more than 20 000 farmers had registered to
grow tobacco in the coming 2011/12 season.
“The number of farmers
who have so far registered to plant tobacco in the
coming season has doubled
what we had in the same period last season, which
is a clear indication that
farmers now appreciate the importance of
registration and returns by the
company,” Matibiri said.
Finance minister Tendai Biti, who has been
accused of sabotaging the
agriculture sector by tightening his purse strings
for agriculture, said the
sector was well funded by government, development
partners and private
financiers.
Biti said government set aside
US$79 040 040 in the 2009 budget, US$300 206
439for 2009-2010 budget and
US$172 730 737 in the 2010-2011 budget.
Biti said government was committed to
mobilising and coordinating banks,
development partners, seed houses and
farmers’ unions to ensure that this
year’s farming season was well
oiled.
“Government has in partnership with local input producers so
far secured
agricultural inputs worth US$75 million to be accessed by both
A2 and
vulnerable farmers,” Biti said at a media briefing last
week.
Biti, who signed a memorandum of agreement with Agriculture,
Mechanisation
and Irrigation Development minister Joseph Made on an input
facility scheme
expected to benefit 100 000 vulnerable families, said
government support
toward agriculture had grown phenomenally.
Made and
Biti also signed another memorandum of agreement for US$30 million
in
respect of strategic grain reserves.
“We are happy with the
facilities that have been announced,” said Made.
“Although they might not be
enough, they go a long way in signalling
government support. It signifies
that agriculture is very important and that
farmers are very important,”
Made said.
Although national production estimates of the second round
crop assessment
point to a larger maize harvest in 2011, analysts said
government was in the
habit of literally making an over-the-top view when
conducting preparedness
and assessment surveys.
Made once predicted a
bumper harvest after a helicopter ride a few years
ago, only for the season
to seriously flop.
An estimated 1,5 million households benefited from
input assistance in the
2010/11 season, accessing inputs at a subsidised
rate through government and
the humanitarian community assistance
programmes.
Sorghum and millet production is estimated to be below last
year’s level on
account of a smaller area planted and the winter wheat crop
currently being
harvested.
Intermittent power interruptions,
however, continue to disrupt irrigation
cycles, and therefore impeding the
country‘s productive capacity.
Overall, national cereal output is estimated
at 1,7 million tonnes for 2011,
about 4% higher than last season’s
output.
According to the National Early Warning Unit (NEWU), consumption of
own
grain production in August 2011 was below levels compared to the same
month
in 2010 which, in part, reflects a drop in production of both sorghum
and
millet.
An urban assessment conducted by the Zimbabwe
Vulnerability Assessment
Committee (ZimVAC) indicated a marked improvement
in food security over the
past three years. An estimated 1% of the urban
population is categorised as
exposed to food insecurity in 2011 compared to
24% in 2009.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 15:33
By
Leon Hartwell
SOUTH Africa’s President Jacob Zuma seems to be tougher on
Zimbabwe than
former President Thabo Mbeki of the much criticised “quiet
diplomacy”
approach. What led to this rapid change? Zuma can be
condemned for
many controversial decisions he has made in the past, but one
has to give
him credit for promoting a democratic process in Zimbabwe. As
vice-president under Mbeki, Zuma was not particularly outspoken about the
Zimbabwe situation. This changed soon after he left his position as
vice-president.
In July 2009 shortly after becoming president,
Zuma said during Q&A time in
parliament that “interventionist measures”
would be taken through the
Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) if
there is “any indication
that the provisions of democracy are compromised”.
This was a stern warning
that the Global Political Agreement (GPA) should
not be derailed. In South
Africa, this statement went largely unnoticed,
but two days later Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met the National
Security Council for the first
time.
Over the next year South
Africa was busy with the Fifa World Cup tournament
and Zimbabwe’s government
of national unity (GNU) continued to miss key GPA
deadlines. When the
tournament ended in July 2010, Zuma began to turn up
the heat.
By
March 2011, South Africa had secured the Livingstone Consensus at the
Sadc
Troika meeting in Zambia. As facilitator, Zuma condemned the GNU for
failing to implement key agreements contained in the GPA and said that “the
situation can no longer be tolerated”. He also raised the issue of a
roadmap towards free and fair elections, which his team had been discussing
with Zimbabwe since January 2011. Since then, Sadc has been driven by an
almost uniform voice, demanding to see progress in Zimbabwe’s unfinished
business. This is despite objections from sections of Zanu PF that Zuma
should no longer be the facilitator.
Clearly, South Africa’s
approach changed at a rapid pace. What caused such
a radical shift in
foreign policy?
Broadly speaking, it is due to the personalities of
South Africa’s leaders
and their relations with other actors.
Mark
Gevisser, Mbeki’s biographer, often described him as “disconnected”.
This
characteristic also defined his lack of interaction with the South
African
Embassy in Harare: he often flew in and out of Zimbabwe without any
real
consultation with his chief representatives. He also gave the cold
shoulder
to the MDC formations. Mbeki much rather preferred to meet with
the Zanu PF
elite and to make use of “red telephone diplomacy”, which led
him to
proclaim in 2008 that there was “no crisis” in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki
established contact with Zanu PF during the liberation years when
relations
between the ANC and Zanu PF were frosty. The ANC was much closer
to Zapu as
it shared linguistic and cultural affinities, both parties were
sponsored by
the Soviet Union, and they lived side by side in Lusaka.
However, when Zanu
PF won the 1980 election, Mbeki was tasked with bonding
with Zimbabwe’s new
ruling party. His main contact was Emmerson Mnangagwa,
the country’s top
securocrat. Mbeki’s diplomatic endeavours in Zimbabwe
also brought him
closer to President Robert Mugabe who treated him like a
son, and to whom
Mbeki became greatly indebted.
Zuma’s personality is different from
Mbeki’s; he listens and asks for advice
from the people who surround him.
Zuma’s Deputy Minister of the Department
of International Relations and
Cooperation (Dirco), Ebrahim Ebrahim, who
once shared a jail cell with him,
came to office promising to promote
Pretoria’s human rights agenda. Ebrahim
seems to be governed by human
rights and democracy rather than pure
liberation rhetoric.
Zuma also listens to his facilitation team which engages
all stakeholders
(including the MDC formations), giving them a more balanced
view of the
Zimbabwe situation. His international relations advisor and
spokesperson
for the facilitation team, Lindiwe Zulu, has often been
belittled by the
Zanu PF controlled media whenever she expresses frustration
with the GNU.
In contrast to the Mbeki years, South African diplomats
in Harare are
engaged with their president. The country’s ambassador to
Harare, Vusi
Mavimbela, has spoken out against “lawlessness” and “a culture
of impunity
that has to be stopped”. Zuma’s policy towards Zimbabwe could
therefore be
expected to reflect and respond more accurately to the
situation.
Back in Pretoria, Dirco has started to regularly debate
South Africa’s
position in the region with civil society. There are a number
of
individuals, including a new generation of diplomats and analysts, who
argue
that Dirco should not be afraid to throw its weight around the region,
something it shied away from in the past. Mbeki was overly cautious not to
be seen as the region’s bully.
Unlike Mbeki, Zuma also listens to
concerns raised by the ANC’s alliance
partners, who have not only been
instrumental in his accession to power, but
also vocal about human rights
abuses in Zimbabwe. Beyond that, they
represent a large domestic
constituency that is angry about its economic
disenfranchisement and easily
blames Zimbabwean expatriates for “stealing”
local jobs.
Zuma is
also under pressure from a multitude of South African businesses
whose
interests are threatened. Despite ratification by Zimbabwe of a
bilateral
investment agreement in May 2010, companies such as Zimplats and
Old Mutual
continue to be under threat from indigenisation policies, while
South
African farmers are still being evicted.
Zimbabwe is thus not only
seen as a political problem, but is now more
clearly defined as an economic
threat that also affects South Africa and the
region. As Mavimbela recently
stated, “the ill health of one (in Sadc)
affects the others”. South
Africa’s regional integration efforts will be
constrained as long as
Zimbabwe remains fragile.
While Mugabe and Mbeki had a father-son
relationship and an intellectual
common ground, Zuma has been perceived by
many Zanu PF elites as the former’s
junior. However, Zuma has shown time
and again that he can outwit many a
politician, and it is said that he is a
pragmatist and a negotiator par
excellence. He has the ability to simplify
highly complex ideas, which is a
key skill in any negotiation process.
Mbeki can be credited with developing
the GPA, but Zuma’s message is that
parties have to be realistic about the
transition; Zimbabwe should not gun
for another election in the absence of
key institutional
reforms.
In addition to Zuma’s personality differences from his
predecessor, it is
critical that he succeeded in mobilising several
strategic individuals in
the region.
Most decisively, Zuma
cleverly re-engaged Angola’s president José Eduardo
dos Santos, head of
southern Africa’s second largest economy and leader of
the MPLA — the ANC’s
traditional liberation ally. Mbeki mockingly referred
to the dos Santos’
administration as “urban mulattoes”.
Zuma visited dos Santos first as
ANC president in March 2008 and again as
head of state in August 2009. The
latter occasion marked Zuma’s first state
visit and he was joined by 124
business delegates. At the time it was the
largest business delegation to
accompany a head of state in post-1994 South
Africa. Dos Santos oiled this
relationship further by visiting South Africa
in December
2010.
These exchanges focused predominantly on developing both
countries’ economic
interests. Beyond business prospects, an entente
developed between the two
leaders; Zuma recognised the importance of dos
Santos’ leadership within
Sadc, while the Angolan gave more leeway and
support to Zuma in his
facilitator’s role vis-ŕ-vis Zimbabwe.
It
is thus noteworthy that the Livingstone Consensus was once again
reiterated
in Luanda in August.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
15:32
By Dzikamai Bere
ON October 10, the Minister of Justice
Patrick Chinamasa told delegates
attending the Universal Periodic Review of
Zimbabwe in the Human Rights
Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that the
“illegal sanctions” imposed by the
West were contributing to the suffering
of the Zimbabwean people and added
that the government was in the process of
taking legal action against the
European Union for the sanctions. A few
weeks later on October 28, the
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana was reported
in the state media stating
that all the paperwork was ready and what was
left was for them to get the
travel documents to travel to Europe to file
the papers with the European
Court of Justice.
These are clear
signs that as Zimbabwe gets closer to the next elections,
Zanu PF is
escalating the sanctions agenda for political expediency. There
is
insufficient response to this movement and it is the opinion of this
writer
that perhaps this sanctions agenda needs more thought, and more
positive
action than just press statements and counter claims.
There are
legitimate reasons to be pro-active and not just let Zanu PF
politicians
abuse the people of Zimbabwe. There are alternative practical
actions that
can be taken to dispossess immoral politicians of the
anti-sanctions tool.
It’s time for an alternative sanctions regime, which is
more legitimate and
more effective than what is coming from the West. I am
convinced that this
is the time to rethink sanctions.
Despite the Zanu PF propaganda that
the suffering of the Zimbabwean people
is caused by these sanctions, there
is evidence that the sanctions imposed
by the West did not have much impact
on Zimbabwe.
The “smart sanctions” are not so smart and have not
helped anyone. This has
been mainly because of the inherent loopholes
within their structure and
formulation which fails to take into
consideration the complex local and
global challenges exploited by the
target. The Zanu PF propaganda machinery
is fast spinning the “smart
sanctions” into votes. The Government of
National Unity (GNU) is a lethal
tool placed in the hands of a dictatorship,
and is now working for the
political elite, against the people.
Evidence for this is in
something called “indigenisation drive” which the
current elected parliament
does not support but it is moving forward,
threatening to send thousands of
workers into the streets.
The anti-sanctions drive, a Zanu PF project
which neither cabinet nor
parliament supports has caused so much suffering
in the villages of Zimbabwe
with people being terrorised into signing a
useless petition. Now the
Attorney General, we are led to believe, will
appear in the European Court
of Justice pretending to represent the
government of Zimbabwe.
Let me at this point hasten to mention that I
am not calling for the removal
of the sanctions. Rather, I am acknowledging
that these have been a disaster
and maybe the moral thing to do would be to
call for “real sanctions”. For
a long time, civil society in Zimbabwe has
been making pronouncements that
the smart sanctions must stay until that
which invited them no longer
exists. Well, statements will always be
statements. It’s time for civil
society to go beyond
rhetoric.
What we really need is a mechanism of starving the
machinery that is
responsible for repression. This is not achievable
through the EU smart
sanctions. Why do we need the European Union to do
what the Zimbabweans can
do? Zimbabweans themselves have the capacity to
impose sanctions on the
regime and starve the machinery that is feeding
autocracy. If Zimbabweans,
who are on the ground, cannot impose these
sanctions, and want to wait for
Europeans who are thousands of kilometres
away, then they probably deserve
the repression.
Since
Zimbabweans voted against a Zanu PF-sponsored draft constitution in
1999,
Zanu PF has imposed a series of sanctions on the Zimbabwean people by
destroying food security; destroying the national herd (now we import beef
from Botswana), stealing the vote in broad daylight (and imposing themselves
in power with the blessing of Thabo Mbeki); driving 700 000 people out of
their homes through Operation Murambatsvina (hence taking away the most
basic of rights, the right to shelter). The militia is being unleashed
against our relatives at Mbare and Machipisa markets where they are striving
for an honest living. It is time to counter these
sanctions.
There is need for labour, civil society, youth groups and
informal traders,
representatives from various citizen groups like CHRA, to
come together and
formulate a clear peaceful strategy of fighting the
sanctions that Zanu PF
has imposed and take positive action to place
effective sanctions on the
regime.
A good beginning would be to compile
an inventory of all the businesses that
are sponsoring violence against the
people of Zimbabwe. These can be
supermarkets banks, buses, filling
stations. The list is long. This
information should then be made public so
that the people of Zimbabwe know
in what way these businesses are
contributing to their repression. Then let
the action begin; we must not
even buy chewing-gum from a business concern
that sponsors
violence.
This is just one of the many strategies of reworking the
sanctions regime
and allow for more citizen participation so that our
democracy can be more
organic and people driven. The people of Zimbabwe are
the biggest sponsors
of their own suffering. The citizens must take away
from dictatorship tools
that can be used against them. If the people of
Zimbabwe impose their own
sanctions against the regime, Tomana will not have
to fly to Luxembourg to
present a useless case and stay in an expensive
hotel at taxpayers’ expense.
This is the time to rethink smart
sanctions and what democratic
participation is. It’s not just deciding
where to place your vote. It is
also about deciding where to place your
dollar, for ultimately this is what
sets into motion a long chain of terror.
Joint action can set into motion a
long chain of events towards
transformation.
Dzikamai Bere works for a local human rights
organisation. He writes in his
personal capacity. Email: dzikamaibere@gmail.com or
www.dzikamaibere.blogspot.com.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 18:58
ZIMBABWE’S
officialdom and their brethren on the continent this week feted
the granting
of the country unrestricted permission to trade in rough
diamonds by the
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) as a great day
for the country
and the continent.
The granting of the green light is being regarded
as a major political coup
for Zimbabwe against the West, but the
celebrations could yet turn out to be
premature. The licensing is the
beginning of a new struggle to ensure that
the government lifts the veil of
secrecy which has for over five years
shrouded the industry.
The
granting of the permission comes with conditions which should allow the
international community to play a bigger peer-review role and to shine a
light in the dark recesses which have hidden corruption in the diamond trade
in the country. It is this call to transparency that is likely to foment new
conflict between the government and institutions working to enforce
accountability in the industry.
The KPCS, in making the
announcement to allow the open trade in diamonds
from two mines, Marange
Resources and Mbada, said Zimbabwe was committed to
finding new investors in
the business, to regulate the mining of and to stem
the trade in illicit
diamonds. Another key condition is that civil society
representatives should
also have unfettered access to the diamond fields to
facilitate monitoring
and to report progress on compliance.
Without being cynical, the
administration of President Mugabe — which has
laboured to control proceeds
from the diamond trade — will struggle to meet
the KPCS benchmarks as long
as there is no sea change in the psyche of the
ruling elite which controls
the mines and trading.
For many Zanu PF stalwarts it means
letting go of a sector that guaranteed
instant riches, and with it political
power to almost run a parallel
administration in the government of national
unity.
It must be noted that the granting of the diamond concessions
to the
companies currently working in Marange was far from transparent and
the
involvement of the country’s security establishment in the industry was
devised to shut out political opponents.
What stands between
transparency and lack of it in this country are state
institutions
deliberately set up as citadels of corruption in the industry.
These should
undergo serious reform together with deliberate policies which
portrayed
diamonds as a resource for the Zanu PF heavyweights and not for
the general
populace.
It is these policies and institutions which barred Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai from visiting Marange in July this year. Last
year, the
parliamentary committee on Mines and Energy was also blocked from
visiting
the mines. We expect the Mines ministry to make an open rescission
of that
position as part of the commitment to
transparency.
Diamonds are a national resource and national
expectation after the KPCS
decision is that proceeds from the sale of
diamonds must now go to the
fiscus and be properly accounted for in the
national budget.
This is contested territory as evidenced by Finance
minister Tendai Biti’s
crying out for diamond dollars in July when he
presented his midterm budget
review.
“There are times when
resources, instead of being a blessing, become a
curse. The reality of
Zimbabwe’s situation is that there is no connection
between Zimbabwe’s
income from diamonds and its output in international
prices,” he
said.
According to Biti, out of more than 700 000 carats exported
this year only
US$103, 9 million worth was accounted for. It is this kind of
behaviour by
elements in President Mugabe’s government that must now stop if
ordinary
Zimbabweans are to celebrate the KPCS decision.
The
celebrations by Mines minister Obert Mpofu who led the government
delegation
to the KPCS meeting should therefore translate into tangible
benefits to key
sectors of the economy, including health, education, and
infrastructure
development.
We do not expect politicians and strong military men who
have taken vantage
positions at the diamond feeding trough to relinquish
these niches without
putting up stiff resistance. Our key source of hope
though is that Zimbabwe’s
diamond trade will now be subjected to greater
scrutiny by the international
community, which will at all costs try to
avoid being accused of having made
a monumental blunder in granting Zimbabwe
the trading rights
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
15:45
AFTER emerging from a traffic accident, one would be relieved, so
long as
there would be clear evidence of who would be responsible for the
cause of
that accident. However, there can be cases where it is difficult to
know the
person bearing full responsibility for the cause of an accident.
That would
leave the victims laying the blame on whoever would be considered
susceptible for such blame, but not finding true solace. Responsibility
means accepting accountability for the wrong done, so that there is
recourse. Responsibility is generally unpopular, as it entails taking the
blame for what would be wrong. And that is where our problem, as a nation,
lies as very few people want to take the blame for the wrong things in our
society. At the same time they frantically seek to occupy positions of
authority.
Responsibility implies accountability. Jesus Christ
took full responsibility
at a time when no-one else could do so, as the
majority of those aboard a
troubled ship envisioned only the possibility of
perishing in the boisterous
sea waves (Matthew 8: 23 – 27). Jesus
demonstrated exactly what being in
charge really meant, which points at
being the succour of last resort. Jesus
had to take full responsibility to
control the tumultuous winds of the sea.
Such acceptance of responsibility
attracts admiration from the relatives of
those who otherwise would have
perished in that incident.
Our crisis in Zimbabwe lies in not having
enough courageous people who are
willing to take full responsibility. When
politically motivated crimes go
unpunished, corruption in top government
echelons is allowed to flourish,
education and health delivery systems
falling apart it is a result of
politically induced poverty that now grips
the majority.
Who should the country look to for deliverance from
such a qugmire? The two
major political parties blame it on each other. Zanu
PF blames it on
sanctions caused by the MDC-T while, at the same time, the
MDC-T blames it
on Zanu PF’s intransigence and known past mismanagement of
the economy.
This leaves the country without anyone taking full
responsibility for what
goes on –– a case of a ship whose captain and crew
are bickering instead of
guiding the ship towards safety. Blaming one
another in the midst of the
storm does not bring any hope to those
frantically seeking deliverance. Any
semblance of confidence that the people
of this country may have had in the
GPA is fast running out. Zimbabwe is in
desperate need of succour from
somewhere; certainly not from those only able
to show prowess in
mudslinging, instead of steering the ship out of
danger.
What is needed most at this stage, are accountable
politicians who would be
willing to take full responsibility of what goes on
in this country. We don’t
need those who seek to be tucked in positions of
authority without the
accountability that goes with being in such positions
of authority.
Zimbabwe seems to be a country that is rich with people
gifted with
leadership qualities to take this country out of its conundrum,
but
unfortunately, such people think they would be too smart or too
religious to
accept such a responsibility. We need political leaders who
would be able to
accept responsibility, not those with a prowess in
gerrymandering. They only
endeavour to occupy positions of authority for
reasons of personal gain.
Andrew Masuku,
Harare.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 15:44
THE
national airline –– AirZim –– has suffered enough. I do not think it is
so
bad to put the ailing parastatal to bed. After the abuse it has suffered
and
continues to suffer it might be for the best. Why not let the airline
fly
aground the way the Zimdollar did? Look where we are today. Does it not
give
one’s heart wild palpitations to try and think where we would be right
now
had we decided to keep the toilet tissue we pretended was currency? The
country would be beyond comatose as we speak wouldn’t it? Tourism minister
Walter Mzembi appears to have this one wrong. There is no pride to be
earned from an airline that is not flying anywhere. Perhaps we could explore
other avenues such as partnering more established
airlines.
Another is to advertise our existence by taking up more
advertising space in
international journals, CNN and Al Jazeera, among
others. Many countries are
going this route. If anything advertising our
presence using AirZim as a
medium will probably get one fired if they were
working as a media buyer.
What mileage do you get from an airline that
spends more time on the ground
than in the air?
Chris
Veremu,
Harare.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011 15:43
IT really is
frightening to try and do business in this sort of environment.
That is not
to say the business world are without blame for some of the
unethical
practices they practise like circumventing import duties, paying
slave wages
and so on. What I believe is needed is for all stakeholders to
sit down and
thrash issues out rather than coerce in whatever form and from
whatever
quarter.
Government should realise that the wounds are still fresh in the
minds of
investors from the land reform programme. First it was stated that
the farms
that were adjacent to crowded communal lands were to be taken in
order to
decongest the communal lands.
Second compensation was
going to be paid for improvements, implements and
other immovable properties
on the land, and finally alternative land was
going to be found for those
keen on continuing to farm. It is widely known
that none of the stiulations
noted above was done at all. In fact what
followed was an orgy of violence
and dispossession which drove productivity
to hell. Farms which were
intended for farm workers and marginalised
communities were taken by clever
Charlies. In this environment, can the
government be
trusted?
Next station will be real estate where the deeds office will
be raided to
find owners of property who do not agree with government and
punish them as
well. Where are we going to stop?
Why does the
government not sit down with business like civilised people (we
claim to be
the most educated in Africa) and discuss these
issues?
Stop,
Harare.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
18:55
IN 1979 popular musician Billy Joel released his melancholic hit
song
Honesty. In the refrain Joel says “Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone
is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard. And mostly what I need
from
you.”
We shall not even bother talking about honesty in
Zimbabwe. Our very lonely
word though is service. Anyone who has travelled
outside our border, and
here I’m talking to the more industrialised
countries, including our
southern neighbour South Africa, can testify that
in terms of providing a
service to their customers, Zimbabwean firms are
light years behind.
One can understand that for a long time since
UDI right up to nearly three
decades after Independence, Zimbabwe has been a
shortage economy. Hence the
approach has always been that of “take it or
leave it.”
As one commercial director of a ZSE-listed concern once
said, there was no
real marketing in Zimbabwe and many sales executives were
actually rationing
officers, deciding which client would receive what
products as and when they
were available. Similarly, other frontier business
aspects as public
relations and customer relations were not really being
practised, except in
a relatively few “futuristic” firms.
Why is
one harping on service? Because it is ultimately what the business of
today
elsewhere in the world provides and what the business of tomorrow in
Zimbabwe will need to wake up to.
With the global economy
rapidly displacing the singular economies of the
past, the businesses that
will survive are those that provide a service, not
just a product. To put
things into perspective, businesses of the recent
past were engaged in
providing goods and services. The two were then
regarded as distinct from
each other, the word good then being
interchangeable with product. Service
generally referred to the intangible
and under this could fall transport,
tourism, management, consultancy and
smaller things as dry cleaning. So for
as long as you did not receive a
physical product, you had generally
received a service.
However, as the role of marketing ascended, even
what we previously knew as
services were now categorised as products.
Service providers got lulled into
believing a service was inferior to a
product, the real thing. Even today we
have reference to the “real sector”
where physical goods are produced.
On the other hand, those in
the tourism sector often refer to their
“products”, perhaps it makes them
feel they are providing something more
worthy than a
service.
However, in the new economy, a product (physical) is
subservient to a
service (non-physical). As the knowledge-based economy
expands and cheaper
technology lowers barriers to entry into business, there
are now innumerable
producers of goods, many of which are equally
competitive in terms of price
and quality. The difference now lies in who
provides a better service to go
with their product.
Outside Zim,
supermarkets sell “the shopping experience” more than they sell
groceries.
It’s the same with fuel stations, fuel sales play second fiddle
to the
convenience stores and food courts that grace their facades.
In
fact, in some countries, the fuel pumps are now at the back and not in
the
forecourt. But here, even one company that dominates that business
because
of its use of fuel coupons does not have a single forecourt that
provides a
24-hour service. They dispense fuel on their terms, not on the
customer’s
needs.
There are many, many examples of companies that have poor
service and each
reader could list their own. But the time for poor service
is up. Even in
some sectors, of the civil service, which has been well known
for neither
being civil nor providing a service, there is a change of
attitude. What
more in the private sector? Customers return because of good
service. As
global competition further opens up in our economy, there will
be countless
victims.
Itai Masuku
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 03 November 2011
18:53
AFTER a period of relative calm due to the Global Political
Agreement (GPA)
following a decade of bruising political battles for power,
a climate of
fear is gradually returning ahead of elections next year or in
2013, likely
to be a turning point for Zimbabwe.
Events this
week, including the police raid on the MDC-T headquarters in
central Harare,
running battles with youths and the banning or disruption of
its rallies
nationwide, indicate political temperatures are on the rise
again.
There has been a series of political arrests and
disruptions of rallies of
late, inflaming the situation. Zanu PF negotiator
Patrick Chinamasa’s
remarks yesterday that his party has lost faith in GPA
processes only serves
to exacerbate the situation, creating volatile
conditions for elections once
again.
So as things stand, are we
still on the road to reform, sliding backwards or
heading towards another
dead end? The resurgence and intensification of
repression and violence in
recent months has exposed the limitations of the
GPA and the abortive
political reform process.
President Robert Mugabe’s calls for early
elections, now no longer heard as
reality dawns on him regarding the
impractical timing, has increased fears
of a return to 2008’s
violence.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai on Thursday captured the current
mood correctly,
although his remarks seemed to be a capitulation to the
politics of fear, a
major instrument of repression which has created a
dangerously divided
society.
“We meet at a time of rising
political tension in the country, increasing
cases of violence, sabotage and
total disrespect by the police and other
government agencies for the Prime
Minister, even as he executes government
programmes,” Tsvangirai said,
unwittingly admitting his powerlessness and
vulnerability.
“It
appears the demons of violence are back, a siege mood seems to be slowly
gripping the country. This is a reincarnation of the violence of 2008 and
this country risks sliding back if immediate action is not taken to bring
back order and peace.”
Tsvangirai is definitely right, but isn’t
it strange for him, an executive
prime minister, who also has a minister of
police, to be always complaining
impotently and helplessly about the
behaviour of law enforcement agents when
he should be using cabinet and
parliament, among other institutions and
fora, to address those
issues?
It must be realised these things are still happening, three
years after the
signing of the GPA, because no serious reforms have been
undertaken. The
current situation is a reflection of the asymmetrical power
relations
between Mugabe and him, as well as the balance of forces between
Zanu PF and
the MDC-T.
The GPA is a flawed arrangement but then
the premier must fight even harder
now if he wants to exert his authority
and win respect. The stakes are very
high and Mugabe and his cronies will go
down fighting. They will throw all
sorts of obstacles in the way of reform
and change, especially towards the
finishing line. That demands more
determination and courage on the part of
those in the race, not
capitulation.
The next elections will certainly be a watershed event
in the
post-Independence era. That will be Mugabe’s last major battle in
Zimbabwe’s
electoral politics. It will mark the beginning of the end — if
not the end
itself — in his long career. This means we are facing historic
elections.
Mugabe and Zanu PF will certainly make a gritty stand even though
in the
final analysis they are of course on their way
out.
Dumisani Muleya