FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe Staff Reporter
...as
presidium race is thrown wide open
THE ruling party's top brass will fight
for survival at ZANU PF's tricky
extraordinary congress penciled for
December as it emerged this week that
the four positions in the presidium
would be contested ahead of next year's
harmonised
elections.
Previously, the common understanding had been that only
President Robert
Mugabe would have to battle to retain his post, which would
earn him the
ticket to represent the ruling party in next year's
presidential race whose
other contestants could be the two Movement for
Democratic Change faction
leaders - Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara.
It has now emerged, however, that President Mugabe has
successfully pushed
to have his two deputies, Joseph Msika and Joice Mujuru
(pictured) and the
national chairman, John Nkomo, who make up the presidium,
do the same
through elections.
Fresh details obtained this week show that
since ZANU PF failed to reach a
consensus at last year's party conference
held in Goromonzi, vis-à-vis an
automatic Mugabe candidacy, backers of the
veteran nationalist have explored
the possibility of having elections for
the entire presidency.
Instead of masterminding President Mugabe's exit, ZANU
PF insiders say the
other members of the presidium would have to work flat
out on their
continued survival at the apex of the party.
The Financial
Gazette can report that lieutenants fighting in President
Mugabe's corner in
the succession race have consulted a number of leading
lawyers ahead of the
preparation of a final agenda for the special congress.
The group of
"loyalists", is set to push through an agenda based on opinion
given by the
lawyers that other members of the presidency should also seek
fresh terms,
as all four were elected at the same time.
Earlier it had been suggested that
the special congress had been called to
discuss a sole item on the agenda,
interpreted at the time to be the
election of the party president and
candidate for presidential poll next
year, which will run concurrently witih
the parliamentary and local
government elections.
Mujuru had been quoted
by state media, while on a visit to Cuba, as saying
the special congress had
been called to elect her party's presidential
candidate.
But ZANU PF
spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira hinted at a wider agenda, which
could include
having all members of the presidency submit to elections.
A meeting of the
politburo next week will discuss proposals on a final
agenda. The party's
constitution says the central committee is responsible
for drawing up the
congress agenda. The special congress will strictly
discuss only matters put
down on the agenda. ZANU PF secretary for
administration, Didymus Mutasa,
yesterday declined to offer any immediate
comment on the issue.
However,
Shamuyarira told the ZANU PF mouthpiece, The Voice, that the agenda
would
include the election of members of the presidium, as is the case at
any
other congress.
"Election of the presidency in the past has been done through
the provinces,
they are asked to identify candidates they want then the
results from each
province are announced at congress," Shamuyarira said.
"This special
congress will follow the same pattern."
Allowing elections
for the two deputies' posts could stoke tensions even
further within the
ruling party.
ZANU PF last elected its leadership in 2004, and the next
congress was only
scheduled for 2009.
It was at the last congress that
President Mugabe risked causing disunity
within his party by backing Mujuru
for one of the two deputies' posts left
vacant by the death of Simon
Muzenda. This was at the expense of Emmerson
Mnangagwa, the former ZANU PF
secretary for administration who had secured
the support of the required six
out of 10 provinces to bag the post.
But it now increasingly appears that it
is Mujuru's position that is on the
line, with new alliances being formed to
isolate her.
Remarks made in recent weeks by allies of President Mugabe have
seemed to
target her.
Oppah Muchinguri, who has led the ZANU PF Women's
League in backing
President Mugabe, was quoted last month as telling a
gathering of members of
the wing that leaders who had been elected to
champion the interests of
women had failed them.
And during a recent
solidarity march in support of President Mugabe,
controversial war veteran
Joseph Chinotimba appeared to aim some barbs at
Mujuru: "Who are you to want
to be the President, when Mugabe, Msika, and
Nkomo are there."
Jabulani
Sibanda, who is chairman of the war veterans' association and is
heading
President Mugabe's campaign, this week, said he planned a "million
man
march" in support of the President.
"Those who claim to be ZANU PF but refuse
to endorse President Mugabe are
sellouts," Sibanda declared.
Recently,
Sibanda laid bare the divisions in ZANU PF by criticising what he
said were
"internal reactionary forces within our own party."
Msika, believed to have
initially decided against seeking another term, has
been sending mixed
signals about his future.
In a speech in Parliament after the passing of the
18th Amendment last
month, he alluded to his departure from the political
scene, saying the
agreement between ZANU PF and the opposition was his
legacy.
But a short while later, he said he would "soldier on until the day I
am
buried in my grave".
Previously, he has said he would quit only when
President Mugabe does so.
Mutasa, who has previously expressed an interest in
being vice president,
this week, said he was "one of several people"
lobbying for President Mugabe's
endorsement.
But the same senior ZANU PF
sources report that to frustrate Mutasa's
ambitions, a ZANU PF faction
opposed to him has earmarked Manicaland
provincial governor Tinaye Chigudu
to challenge him for the Makoni North
parliamentary seat, should the party
decide to conduct primary elections.
Chigudu is said to have held a number of
meetings in the constituency,
"under the guise of performing his duties as
governor", during which he is
said to have been sharply critical of the lack
of development in the area.
Analysts, including former ZANU PF secretary
general Edgar Tekere, told The
Financial Gazette that despite discontent
within the ruling party over
President Mugabe's leadership, no one had "the
guts" to stand against him in
December.
Acclamation, as opposed to
consensus, that is required for decisions taken
at the special congress,
will also work in favour of President Mugabe.
The ploy was used to good
effect at a central committee meeting in March
this year when Elliot
Manyika, the ZANU-PF national political commisar,
smothered any debate on
President Mugabe's future by leading songs in his
praise.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube
Political Editor
THE Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) has been holding
meetings with State
Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who is in charge of
land reform, on the
eve of a court judgment today key to the future of the
remaining white
farmers.
While the negotiations are underway, Senate
President Edna Madzongwe has led
a new wave of evictions, this week invading
for a third time Stockdale farm
in Chegutu, which had been held by farmer
Richard Thomas Etheridge, despite
a fresh court order issued last week
barring her from the property.
A High Court judge ruled last Wednesday that
Etheridge should be allowed to
stay at the farm pending a ruling by the
courts on a challenge to a law the
government is using to force farmers off
the land by barring them from
seeking redress through the
courts.
However, on Tuesday, a group of 17 people working for Madzongwe
arrived at
the farm to force Etheridge's eviction.
Madzongwe's actions
are part of the new evictions to hit farms since the
expiry last week of a
grace period for white farmers remaining on gazetted
land.
Yesterday, the
CFU held the latest of a series of meetings with Mutasa,
seeking protection
for its members.
"The CFU has been meeting with Mutasa seeking, among other
things,
protection for the remaining white farmers. But they appear to be
hitting a
brick wall. Mutasa is digging his heels in," said a source privy
to the
discussions.
Mutasa declined to comment.
Today, Chegutu
magistrate Tinashe Ndokera will decide whether 11 farmers,
some of an
estimated 40 white farmers still clinging on to land, should have
their case
referred to the Supreme Court.
The group was arraigned for allegedly
resisting eviction from the farms.
The group was hauled before the
magistrate on charges of breaching the
Gazetted Land (Consequential
Provisions) Act.
Under this law, which repealed the Rural Land Occupiers
(Protection from
Eviction) Act, it is an offence to occupy or to continue to
occupy land
without lawful authority after it has been gazetted in
accordance with
section 16B(2)(a) of the Constitution.
But lawyers say
provisions that bar farmers from approaching the courts for
redress are
unconstitutional.
Ahead of the ruling, new invasions and evictions are
continuing.
In earlier court battles, Etheridge claimed Madzongwe forcibly
occupied his
farm in June after Mutasa had served him with a notice to
vacate the
property by August 30. He successfully obtained interim relief
from the High
Court, ordering Madzongwe to vacate the
property.
"(Madzongwe) and all other persons claiming occupation of the
property
through her and any other person not being a representative,
employee or
invitee of applicant (Etheridge), forthwith vacate the
property," the order
said.
FinGaz
Stanley Kwenda Staff Reporter
A
SENIOR Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officer has allegedly defied Vice
President Joseph Msika's orders to vacate a disputed farm in Karoi,
insisting he holds legal title to the land.
The case, which involves
influential ZANU PF members, highlights the brewing
conflict between
political leaders and senior army figures over land in
Mashonaland
West.
The local Member of Parliament (MP), Reuben Marumahoko and Chief
Kadzangarare are said to have reported the invasion led by army officers, to
Msika.
Msika then wrote to ZNA Commander, Constantine Chiwenga,
instructing him to
stop the officers from occupying the farm. But in spite
of this, Major
General Nicholas Dube proceeded to occupy Grand Parade Estate
in Karoi,
arguing that he had an offer letter issued to him in 2004 by the
Minister of
Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Didymus Mutasa.
The
previous owner, Andrew Stidolph's application challenging the take-over
of
his farm was dismissed by the High Court.
A letter jointly signed by chiefs
in the Mashonaland West province to Lands
Minister Didymus Mutasa,
recommending that 11 white farmers be spared, was
shown to The Financial
Gazette this week.
In his application filed in the High Court on October 2,
Stidolph sought an
interdict against the Ministry of Lands and
Dube.
Stidolph states in court papers that, using members of the army, Dube
invaded his farm on September 21 and turned it into a virtual mini
barrack.
"On that date a convoy of nine government vehicles summarily arrived
at
Grand Parade, apparently to ascertain why it was that I was still on the
farm and why my son James had planted tobacco," says Stidolph.
He claims
that Marumahoko had authorised his son to plant tobacco. But Dube's
lawyer,
Gerald Mlotshwa of Antonio and Associates, in opposing papers, said
Stidolph
was relying on unlawful authority to claim ownership of the farm.
"He alleges
that the MP for his area, Reuben Marumahoko had encouraged him
to stay on
the farm amid assurances that he would be protected from
eviction.
Marumahoko has been accused of protecting white farmers and
alleged
instances of corruption have been cited in complaints," said
Mlotshwa.
Justice Susan Mavhangira dismissed Stidolph's application,
saying:
"Regrettably, many former commercial farmers in unlawful occupation
of
Gazetted Land are now resorting to deliberate delaying tactics in order
to
prolong their stay on their previous properties. It is clear, from the
cases
before me at least, that farmers are deliberately overstaying the cut
-off
dates."
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
HARARE lawyer
Terrence Hussein has labelled George Charamba a "liar" and
threatened to sue
the Information and Publicity permanent secretary for
defamation if he does
not prove allegations he has made about the legal
practitioner.
Last
week, Charamba, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, said Hussein, who
is
representing a private company challenging the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings (ZBH)'s monopoly, should be barred from the matter as he was privy
to certain confidential information after representing the government in an
earlier case.
On Monday, Hussein wrote to the Attorney General's Office
threatening to
take legal action against Charamba.
In an affidavit for a
constitutional application filed by Ndabenhle Mabhena
and his company,
Manala (Private) Limited, challenging ZBH's monopoly on
broadcast
frequencies, Charamba said it was unprofessional for Hussein to
represent
the applicant in the matter as the lawyer had helped in the
crafting of the
Broadcasting Services Act.
"It is surprising that Mr Hussein, for reasons
best known to him, has
decided to exploit the information given to him in
confidence and such a
thing should not be allowed as it gives rise to a
conflict of interest of a
serious nature," Charamba's affidavit
reads.
"Indeed, there is a serious conflict of interest in this matter and Mr
Hussein and his practice should recuse themselves, failure of which this
matter should be dismissed."
However, Hussein said when Charamba formally
files a complaint against him,
as directed by the court, he would in turn
provide the same court "with a
response that will show that the maker of
those allegations has a propensity
for singing hopelessly out of tune for
his supper."
He described Charamba as an "untruthful person."
In his
letter to the Attorney General Hussein demands that Charamba
provides,
within five days, "a copy of the retainer agreement for services
between Mr
Hussein and second and fourth respondents (Information Minister
and the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe); a list of court matters with
citations
of the cases it is alleged Mr Hussein acted for second and fourth
respondents; the exact particulars of the confidential information Mr
Hussein has used in this matter that is detrimental to the second and forth
respondents."
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube Political Editor
CIVIL servants' unions are under
pressure from members after they accepted
salary adjustments that left
earnings still below the poverty datum line
(PDL).
Cecilia Alexander,
president of the Public Service Association (PSA), the
union representing
government workers, has confirmed tensions remain high
despite last week's
deal, which staved off a potentially crippling public
sector strike.
With
the PDL estimated at $16.7 million by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe,
sources in the public service said civil servants, who started accessing
their salaries on Tuesday, are pressing their leaders in the PSA and the
Zimbabwe Teachers' Association (ZIMTA), which represents the majority of the
country's teachers, to review the decision to abandon industrial action. PSA
and ZIMTA last Thursday agreed to call-off a strike after the government
tabled a 422 percent salary hike.
But teachers and other civil servants
told The Financial Gazette that the
Salary Services Bureau, which runs the
civil service payroll, had deposited
sums ranging between $10 million and
$14 million as back pay, inclusive of
housing and transport
allowances.
The new basic salaries are worth less than R200, which on Tuesday
fetched
$16 million on the flourishing parallel market.
The PSA's
Alexander said while they had decided to call off the strike,
which had been
set to begin on Monday, government workers were still not
happy with what
they were awarded. "We appreciate what the government has
done, but it is
far below the PDL," said Alexander, adding that the PSA
hoped to engage the
government again on salaries soon .
ZIMTA president Tendai Chikowore refused
to comment on the issue, but
Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of rival
Progressive Teachers Union
(PTUZ), said teachers were appalled by the
government's offer.
"About 75 percent of teachers did not report for work
this week because of
the peanuts that they have been given," said Majongwe.
"We called off the
strike for the security of our members after being
sold-out by our
counterparts in ZIMTA." PTUZ had demanded a monthly salary
of at least $42
million while ZIMTA, like the rest of the civil service,
demanded minimum
salaries in line with the PDL.
A sharp spike in the
prices of most goods and services has greeted the
increment awarded to civil
servants.
Transport costs have gone up by 50 percent over the past week,
while the
price of beer doubled.
Majongwe warned of a renewed exodus of
teachers, especially mathematics and
science teachers, to neighboring South
Africa where they are in high demand.
"Our books show that we have lost over
2000 teachers to South Africa since
the beginning of the year. As PUTZ, we
can foresee a situation whereby these
low salaries will drive out even more
teachers and other civil servants."
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube Political
Editor
OPPOSITION leader Morgan Tsvangirai is visiting the United States
of America
to explain to supporters in the Diaspora why the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) supported the 18th amendment to the Constitution,
party
officials said.
Tsvangirai is accompanied by exiled former
legislator for Chimanimani, Roy
Bennett, who is the national treasurer of
his faction of the MDC.
Tsvangirai was this week scheduled to address a forum
at St Thomas
University in Houston, Texas.
The MDC confounded even its
staunchest supporters when it agreed to endorse
Amendment Number 18, which
empowers Parliament to choose a successor to the
President should the
incumbent retire mid-term.
MDC officials said Tsvangirai would use his visit
to Texas to clarify the
party's position regarding the controversy.
The
MDC leaders will also brief supporters on progress in its push for the
right
of Zimbabweans living out of the country to vote. The Zimbabwean
Diaspora is
estimated at four million.
The MDC is also pressing for a new Constitution to
be agreed on after the
2008 polls. The opposition, which is conducting
closely guarded negotiations
with ZANU PF, has demanded that Zimbabweans
living in other countries be
allowed to register and vote in the 2008
polls.
Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Tsvangirai faction, said of the MDC
leader's
latest trip abroad: "He is in Texas together with Bennett as part
of the
party's strategy to keep the Diaspora informed on the political
developments
in Zimbabwe. They will use the visit to also talk about the
non-resident
vote as well as the post-Robert Mugabe era."
From Texas,
Tsvangirai will travel to Europe before returning home. In an
interview with
the Houston Chronicle on Monday, Tsvangirai compared Zimbabwe's
serious food
shortages and economic chaos to the bloody conflict in Darfur,
Sudan, and
called on the international community to prevent another similar
humanitarian disaster. "We are talking about real critical life and death
issues here," he said.
FinGaz
Bureau
Chief
BULAWAYO - Council is to consider allowing residents to dig graves
for their
relatives if they want to avoid the current delays caused by the
shortage of
graves.
The council had contracted private operators to
dig the graves but they have
not been able to meet demand as they are
frequently deserted by employees
because their remuneration is too
low.
The contractors have in turn argued that the fee they are paid by the
council is too low.
The contract to dig graves for the council was
first
awarded to Simultaneous Investments in 2001. The company operated until
August 2004 and was not prepared to renew the contract.
Opassum Trading
took over in September 2005 but it terminated its contract
in August because
the money it was paid by the council was unsustainable.
Speaking at the full
council meeting last week Stars Mathe, the councillor
for Cowdray Park, said
the council should seriously consider allowing those
residents who wished to
dig graves for their relatives to do so because the
delays they faced were
too costly for them.
She said she had heard that some people were being asked
to wait for as long
as one week before they could be allocated a
grave.
This made the funeral very expensive as they had to keep the body in a
mortuary and feed mourners until the burial.
Mathe said some of the
residents had pleaded with her to be allowed to dig
the graves themselves as
this would take them a matter of hours and thus
help them save
costs.
Executive mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube said the council's management
should
look into the issue and see how best it could be handled.
The
council's executive committee had heard that none of the contractors
hired
by the council had ever
managed to meet the demand
for graves.
Their
major complaint was that the bid price was quickly eroded by inflation
and
as a result they were usually short of money to ensure quality service.
There
were 805 burials in August up from 747 in July.
Following the departure of
Opassum, the council had allowed its health
department to hire 50 people as
contract workers to dig the graves.
As an incentive the workers were to be
paid additional money per grave if
they exceeded the agreed number.
The
council was, however, not able to recruit the 50 workers it needed
because
the money it paid was not attractive enough.
FinGaz
Public health
sector under-funding hits low-income earners hardest
THE future has looked
bleak for two-year-old Tanaka Gunda since he developed
hernia early last
year.
Zhean Gwaze
Staff Reporter
An operation could not be
performed at the time, because he was yet to be
weaned from the
breast.
Then just as Tanaka was ready for the operation, the local hospital
ran out
of anaesthetic.
But full of verve like all innocent young souls,
he is not deterred by the
ailment. Yet, the more he tries to play, the more
the bulge on his groin
hurts.
"We have been going to Harare Central
Hospital since July and been
repeatedly told that there is no anaesthetic
and the operation cannot be
done," says Tanaka's mother, whose husband
walked out on his family when the
child became sick.
"When I went back to
the hospital last week, there were 40 other children
who had the same
ailment and needed to be operated on. We were told to
continue phoning and
enquiring, or buy the anaesthetic and other medication
ourselves."
The
minimum fee for a minor operation performed by a private doctor is no
less
than $22.8 million.
"My son has been going through hell and is not happy like
children of his
age should be. I cannot afford a private doctor, as I am not
employed. I
only came to Harare to have my son treated," she said.
Public
hospitals are the only providers of affordable health services for
the
majority of Zimbabweans.
But of late, as public health service delivery
continues to crumble,
patients, save for those with life-threatening
conditions, are being turned
away from hospitals across the country.
An
acute shortage of essential drugs has resulted in public hospitals being
barely functional, at the best of times.
To confirm how grave the
situation has become, officials at Parirenyatwa
Hospital in Harare recently
put up a notice at the entrance urging patients
being admitted there to
bring their own linen and even medication.
A worsening shortage of staff has
deepened the quagmire.
A state doctors' strike, which has been on-and-off
since last September, has
exacerbated the staff crisis.
Even as doctors
toned down their latest strike threat to allow salary
negotiations to be
undertaken, long, winding queues formed at hospitals of
patients waiting to
be seen by the skeleton staff holding the fort.
Zimbabwe's qualified and
experienced medical personnel have, over the years,
shunned the public
sector because of poor salaries and have left in droves
in pursuit of
greener pastures either in the private sector or abroad.
The recent breakdown
of dialysis machines at Bulawayo's Mpilo Central
Hospital reflects the
extent of the crisis and throws light on how
mismanagement is contributing
to the decay.
The machines enabled more than a million people in the city to
receive
life-saving treatment. The hospital also catered for patients
referred from
Matabeleland North, South and Masvingo.
Fifty-four machines
sourced three years ago by Vice President Joice Mujuru
through her private
company, Dandito, are yet to be installed, due to
bickering between the
government and the Swedish donors over their
operation.
In Harare, 10 of
the 18 dialysis machines at Parirenyatwa, the country's
largest referral
centre, broke down a month ago.
A kidney patient yesterday told The Financial
Gazette that about 150
patients at Parirenyatwa were only getting an average
of an hour on dialysis
instead of the recommended 4-6 hours.
"What is
appalling is that patients are being told to import their own
dialysis
equipment. A crisis is building and yet the government is not
allocating
foreign currency to the health sector," the patient said.
Health Minister
David Parirenyatwa, meanwhile, has been making promises to
tackle the
crisis.
"We are working hard as a ministry to ensure that the two machines at
Mpilo
are repaired while at the same time we want the 54 dialysis machines
donated
by the Swedes to be installed and operational," said
Parirenyatwa.
Problems of under funding in the health ministry mirror a wider
economic
crisis in the country, reeling from an inflation rate of over 6 000
percent,
and needing to provide food aid for an estimated 4.1 million of
people.
FinGaz
Dumisani Ndlela
Business Editor
ANGRY is a term used by Christians to describe the rage
with which believers
are pursued by the devil, who is said to be indignant
because his remaining
days are "too few".
But last week, Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono used the
term to describe the
country's unrestrained inflation, almost admitting it
had shattered his
dream, and disturbed his song.
"I never dreamt that we would get to these
levels of inflation," Gono, who
joked about the return of the three zeros
slashed off the country's currency
last year, said.
"But I am not
deterred," he went on, suggesting a deceleration of inflation
in the medium
term.
But analysts are not convinced Zimbabwe's inflation is in a rage
because its
days are "too few".
In fact, they said, inflation is likely
to be prolonged by a habitually
profligate state, likely to increase its
spending further ahead of key
elections next year.
"It's a delicate
balancing act," said David Mupamhadzi, group economist with
the Zimbabwe
Allied Banking Group (ZABG), discounting any immediate
prospects for a
slowdown in inflation because of "structural rigidities in
the
economy".
Zimbabwe is grappling with its worst economic recession in history,
characterised by runaway inflation, currently nearing 7 000 percent, and
acute commodity shortages - another recipe for inflationary pressure.
In
his mid-term monetary policy statement last week, Gono, who has
previously
likened the country's inflation to HIV, the virus that causes
AIDS, admitted
the high levels of inflation were emanating from fiscal
overspending and
excessive credit expansion.
Credit to the government recorded an annual
growth of 6 553.5 percent, from
$81.5 billion in July 2006 to $5.4 trillion
in July 2007.
The growth in net credit to the government from the domestic
banking sector,
Gono said, was reflective of the government's increasing
reliance on the
domestic market to finance the budget deficit.
This is
against the backdrop of dwindling capital account inflows and
general
underperformance of the country's productive sectors.
"As at the end of July
2007, cumulative government domestic debt amounted to
$ 8 050.3 billion.
Treasury bills continue to be the main vehicle through
which the government
is borrowing from the domestic market accounting for
99.4 percent of the
total government domestic debt," said Gono.
Reflecting the reliance of the
government on domestic funding for its budget
deficit, broad money supply
maintained its upward trajectory, escalating
from 1 638.4 percent in January
2007 to a massive 17 073.1 percent in July
2007.
"Greater focus is being
put in arresting further expansion of money supply,
so as to complement the
supply side interventions underway," Gono pledged.
Apparently, he has
promised to dole out huge sums of money to the productive
sectors at
concessionary rates to spur productivity.
Previously, companies have diverted
such concessionary funding to the stock
market, where returns have
spectacularly beaten inflation over the recession
years.
Gono slashed the
interest rates under the Agriculture Sector Productivity
Enhancement
Facility (ASPEF) from 50 percent to 25 percent.
Farmers also received a maize
delivery bonus, "to deliberately promote the
viability of maize farmers",
Gono said.
Tobacco growers, one of the only remaining foreign currency
earning sectors,
would also receive delivery bonus schemes reflecting
production costs and
reasonable allowance for favourable returns.
Gold
miners had local dollar gold prices reviewed upwards, with backdated
increases for three months prior to the monetary policy statement.
Dairy
farmers were promised a "tailor-made programme".
The farmers - who have now
become heavily dependent on cheap fuel from the
National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe - would also continue to get the fuel, but
this time, Gono said,
revolving facilities would be put in place against
which farmers would
access fuel against contractual agreements to effect
charges against their
future produce to pay for the fuel in foreign
currency.
Farmers producing
targeted crops such as maize, wheat, soya and sugar beans
will be earning
foreign currency under an import parity programme unveiled
by
Gono.
Critics have warned against an early celebration, saying cheap funds
would
not immediately translate into good harvests, or increased
productivity.
Mupamhadzi said: "The biggest assumption of the monetary policy
is that
availing funds at concessionary rates should result in an increase
in
production, which should in turn improve supplies and dampen
inflation."
"The availability of cheap funds could be a step in the right
direction.
However, there are structural rigidities in the economy, which
can adversely
affect the ability of companies to increase production in the
short term."
The structural rigidities, Mupamhadzi pointed out, ranged from
petrol,
diesel and coal shortages, power cuts and the flight of skilled
labour.
But, Gono submitted, most critics were just spectators in a
bullfight,
unaware of the hazards and the hard work of his office.
"It is
only the bullfighter in the arena of the game
. . . who understands and fully
appreciates the hazards of taking the bull
by the horns," Gono said.
And
he has been in the ring with a "very angry and formidable" monster
called
inflation for close to four years.
His South African counterpart, Tito
Mboweni, was this week reported to have
described him as "brave" and likened
him to good people who show "themselves
in action and not
words".
President Robert Mugabe also praised Gono this week, describing his
monetary
policy interventions as "too good".
"We thank you Mr Gono,"
Mugabe said on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe's crisis has spawned a spectacularly rich
class of citizens,
especially among the political elites and their
cronies.
Meanwhile, Gono remains in the ring for the bullfight with that
"very angry
and formidable" inflationary beast.
But when that thunderous
roar of cheers is heard, will it be for Gono or the
scourge in the ring,
long declared the country's "enemy number one"?
FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe Staff
Reporter
BY the time presidential elections are held next year, a decade
would have
passed since the delivery of one of the most daring speeches in
Parliament.
Dzikamai Mavhaire, now ZANU PF Masvingo senator, declared to
a shell-shocked
House: "The President must go."
Mavhaire, who was a close
associate of maverick former Justice Minister
Edison Zvobgo, made that
statement, which incurred President Robert Mugabe's
fury, while moving a
constitutional review motion in accordance with a
resolution passed a year
earlier at ZANU PF's conference held in Mutare.
"One scholar I read just
yesterday wrote many years ago that the 'problem of
presidency in Africa is
that founding presidency ultimately becomes a
presidential monarchy,"
Mavhaire said. "We believe that we are not a
monarchy, we are a government.
Honourable members will agree with me that we
must remain a democratic
republic. What I am proposing is that the President
must go."
Seconding
Mavhaire's motion, ZANU PF Mkoba Member of Parliament (MP) at the
time,
Frederick Shava, urged President Mugabe not to seek re-election,
saying it
was not proper for the President to continually "succeed himself."
Shava
said: "I think it is important that we do not turn individuals into
institutions by prolonged longevity of their terms of office.I feel that
it's
important that we give a final period to this office of
President."
A month later, on March 26 1998, Cyril Ndebele, then Speaker of
Parliament,
disclosed that Vice President Joseph Msika, who was chairman of
ZANU PF's
disciplinary committee that year, had told him that President
Mugabe had
been "greatly angered" by his (Ndebele's) failure to censure
Mavhaire for
his utterances.
In the end, Mavhaire paid a heavy political
price. He spent years out in the
cold, only finding his way back into the
fold last year through the Senate,
the seat of grateful and cowed
politicians.
Shava also spent years in the political wilderness. He is now
Zimbabwe's
ambassador to China.
Nearly 10 years after the historic debate
sparked by Mavhaire's motion,
pressure is again mounting on President Mugabe
from within his party and
externally to pass on the Presidential
baton.
World headlines proclaiming "Mugabe's endgame", particularly after the
battering of his political opponents in March, have suggested an imminent
departure for the veteran leader.
But after about 50 years of
outmaneuvering his opponents, is it likely, as
many reports suggest, that
the December special congress of ZANU PF holds
some surprise that could end
his rule?
President Mugabe is a shrewd political schemer, as underscored by
his
ability to have prevailed so far when governments elsewhere have failed
to
survive lesser economic crises than that seen in Zimbabwe over the past
seven years.
All who have challenged the Zimbabwean head of state since
1980 have fallen
by the wayside, or have seen their influence diluted in
compromise deals
that always left President Mugabe stronger: Abel Muzorewa,
Joshua Nkomo,
Ndabaningi Sithole and Edgar Tekere.
Even Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who
challenged the
President in 2002, was almost toppled as leader of the
opposition two years
ago over his strategy on participation in elections, a
row that resulted in
the MDC splitting and strengthening President Mugabe's
hand.
In the rough
and tumble of international politics, President Mugabe has also
avoided what
his critics anticipated to be certain trouble from the Southern
African
Development Community, and kept former United Nations Secretary
General
Koffi Annan at bay although the UN boss was under pressure to act on
Zimbabwe.
Any censure from these two sources would have spelt doom for
the President's
career.
With all this history, is there a possibility
that President Mugabe faces
his waterloo in December?
Tekere, a former
ally and now strident critic, on Monday said opposition to
President
Mugabe's candidature within ZANU PF was weak, and that his
archrival had a
clear run to the next polls.
"Opposition to (President) Mugabe within the
party is weak and incoherent.
(President) Mugabe is like the person who
climbs up a tree and says 'I will
never come down'," Tekere said.
There
are two reasons why President Mugabe will be retained, according to
Tekere:
his patronage system, and his fear of prosecution for alleged human
rights
violations.
"There are so many people in ZANU PF who say if (President)
Mugabe goes I
will be finished. Some of those who were appointed as
ministers deserve to
be garden boys, but keep those posts through
patronage," Tekere said.
The one-time ZANU PF secretary general said there
was "mammoth corruption"
in the country involving those in influential
positions, people who do not
wish to lose those benefits. To Page
42
Accounts of the Parliamentary debate of 1998 sparked by
Mavhaire's remarks
show concern over the patronage system is not
new.
Former ZANU PF Mutare South MP, the late Lazarus Nzarayebani, cited it
as
the reason a group of legislators was attacking Mavhaire for calling for
President Mugabe's resignation.
Aeneas Chigwedere, then Hwedza MP, told
Parliament that Mavhaire had been
pursuing "politics of regionalism", and
accused him of wanting to use
legislators as pawns in ousting President
Mugabe.
However, Nzarayebani lashed out at Chigwedere, calling him a "mad
man"
seeking to be noticed so he could be appointed to Cabinet. Sure enough,
Chigwedere was later appointed Minister of Education.
Political analyst
Eldred Masunungure agrees with Tekere's assessment of what
is likely to
happen at congress.
"I have no doubt, I am almost definite, very confident
that he will sail
through almost effortlessly," Masunungure said.
He said
President Mugabe's "storm-troopers" - war veterans, chiefs, the
women's
league and the youths - were working flat out to ensure there would
be no
opposition.
He said war veterans, led by Jabulani Sibanda, could well have
been promised
more lucrative benefits if their patron won.
"Those opposed
to Mugabe may not even get the opportunity to make their
candidacy known,"
said Masunungure. "They certainly would be victimised (if
they did)."
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Senior Business Reporter
BERTHA Chimandi, a
housewife and mother of three, enjoys preparing food for
her two primary
school daughters, but it is making that food during the late
hours of the
night that bothers her.
Almost every day of the week, power supplies to
her residential area in
Mufakose are cut off by the country's power
utility.
The frequent power outages have caused Chimandi and her family an
unbearable
nightmare: because half the time power is restored late at night,
she has to
wake up and start preparing food for her daughters' breakfast the
following
morning, and for lunch packs to carry to school.
"I have no
choice but to wake up at these odd hours to prepare food for the
children.
Otherwise by the time I wake up in the morning there won't be any
electricity. This is just too taxing," Bertha grumbles, frowning with
agitation.
Her plight epitomises that of millions of Zimbabweans who have
to contend
with countrywide power blackouts by power utility ZESA that have
left
households and industry metaphorically groping in the dark.
The
frequent power outages, caused by the declining capacity of ZESA's aging
power plants, and diminishing power imports due to the scarcity of foreign
currency, are taking an unprecedented toll on the manufacturing industry,
the farming community and other business sectors already grappling with a
severe economic crisis now in its seventh year.
Hardest hit are miners,
who have been failing to cash in on a boom in global
mineral and metal
prices because of production constraints, worsened by the
power
cuts.
Although Zimbabwe is endowed with vast mineral reserves, such as
platinum,
gold, diamonds and coal, the erratic power supplies are
increasingly
hampering production at the country's mines.
"It is
affecting mines seriously and production is grinding to a halt," says
Chamber of Mines president Jack Murehwa.
Murehwa says miners were
spending most of their production time mopping up
flooded mines, filled by
underground water when pumps stop running because
of the power
cuts.
"Rather than producing, mines are spending time pumping out flooded
mines.
It is a horrible situation and we are losing revenue," Murehwa
says.
To underscore the dismal performance of the country's gold mining
sector,
once the mainstay of the mining industry, gold deliveries to
Fidelity
Printers and Refiners declined by 24.2 percent from 6.6 tonnes
during the
period January to August 2006 to 5 tonnes during the comparative
period in
2007.
Besides miners, the country's embattled industrialists
are grappling with
reduced operational capacity, also largely precipitated
by the daily power
cuts but exacerbated by foreign currency
shortages.
"The damage they (power cuts) are causing is so significant. You
can't talk
of manufacturing without power. Energy is the backbone of the
manufacturing
industry," says Callisto Jokonya, president of the
Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries.
ZESA chief executive officer Ben
Rafemoyo blamed the frequent power cuts on
unreliable supplies from regional
power utilities.
Rafemoyo disclosed that Mozambique's Hydroelectrica de
Cahora Bassa had
recently reduced power supplies to ZESA to 100MW from
300MW.
"We are concerned about the power supply situation, (which) is a
combination
of coal shortages, plant availability and the impact of reduced
access to
imports," Rafemoyo said.
He said locally generated power would
only increase around December after
refurbishments at its Hwange Power
Station, backed by Nambia's power
utility, which has lent ZESA US$40 million
for the programme.
Economic analyst Daniel Ndlela warned that in the absence
of meaningful
investment in the energy sector, the country's industrial
sector might
collapse.
"The power shortage is going to continue because
we are not paying regional
suppliers. We are bound to continue with power
cuts as long as we manage the
crisis this way," Ndlela said.
Besides
electricity cuts, Zimbabwean miners and industrialists are under
pressure
from increasing operating costs, which have been influenced largely
by
rampant inflation, currently at close to 7 000 percent year on year.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
RETAILERS have reported an improvement in commodity supplies
after a chaotic
government crackdown on businesses triggered commodity
shortages and
resulted in empty supermarkets shelves.
Retailers have
since July been battling to restock after manufacturers cut
down on
production, citing raw material shortages and viability constraints
triggered by a government blitz on companies that forced prices down by at
least 50 percent.
Willard Zireva, the chairman of the Retail Association
of Zimbabwe (RAZ),
told The Financial Gazette this week that retailers had
recorded an increase
in product supplies from manufacturers.
"There has
been an improvement, which is noticeable. We now have more
products to sell
than we had before," Zireva said.
Zireva, also the chief executive officer of
OK Zimbabwe, one of the country's
leading supermarket chains, said he was
hoping the improvement in supplies
would be sustained.
"As distributors,
we have spoken to suppliers who have indicated that they
are seeing an
improvement as well," said Zireva.
The RAZ boss, who fell victim to the price
blitz after he was arrested in
July for allegedly flouting the government
enforced price freeze, said goods
were selling fast because of panic buying
by consumers.
Under the price crackdown launched mid-July, several business
executives
were arrested and charged with violating the price control
laws.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono has labelled the blanket price cuts
irrational and a threat to business viability.
Gono last week pledged to
ensure that basic commodities would soon be
available on the market after
promising producers concessionary funding to
spur production and improve
output.
But that pledge has been met with scepticism in the market.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube Political
Editor
THOUSANDS of farmers got a shot in the arm this week after the
government
moved in for the second time in four months to address the
critical shortage
of farm equipment, which was weighing down its agrarian
reforms.
Under the programme, launched on Monday, small-scale farmers
received 50 000
animal-drawn ploughs, 70 000 animal-drawn harrows, 70 000
knap-sack
sprayers, 45 000 scotch carts, 20 000 animal drawn cultivators and
1 000
animal-drawn planters.
Farmers under the commercial A2 farm model
will share a total of 1 200
tractors, 50 combine harvesters, 800 ploughs,
800 disc harrows, 300
planters, 200 boom sprayers, 200 fertilizer spreaders
and 200 hay balers.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono said
eight
further phases of the programme would be launched until 2010.
The
programme, Gono said, is meant to end Zimbabweans' penchant for talking
without action.
"For a long time, there has been a void of practical and
sensible
interventions, and instead, what we have seen are eloquent problem
descriptions, excellent excuses for doing nothing, and very limited
proffering of workable solutions," he said. "Where solutions have been
proffered, no implementation took place," added the RBZ boss.
President
Robert Mugabe, who was the special guest of honour, said the
programme would
end what he said was Zimbabwe's position as the "laughing
stock" of the
region.
"Without doubt, the equipment and implements I have just enumerated
will
further increase the capacity of our farmers in a way that should
realistically move us closer to government's vision of a Zimbabwe that is
more than self-sufficient in food security," President Mugabe said.
But
critics fear the phenomenon of the "cell phone farmer", the endless
chaos on
the farms and worsening power shortages could torpedo government's
grand
plans.
The availing of farm equipment has been undertaken against the
backcloth of
declining agricultural production in the past seven years,
which government
critics attributed to the fast-track land reform
exercise.
But political analysts and agricultural experts who spoke to The
Financial
Gazette this week said while President Mugabe's passionate plea to
the new
farmers to up production was important in light of the serious food
shortages, continuing farm invasions - which have worsened over the past two
weeks - and the entry of part-timers into the sector, would wreck any
chances of a real revival.
President Mugabe, aware of criticism that the
programme is an extension of
his patronage system ahead of polls next year,
said even his opponents stood
to benefit: "Whether you are ZANU PF or MDC,
tose tinodya (we all eat)
sadza."
Renson Gasela, opposition Movement for
Democratic Change shadow minister for
agriculture, who attended the launch,
said the mechanisation programme, if
run properly, would raise production.
But he warned that the exercise could
be dealt a body blow by absentee
landlords and continuing invasions.
"As long as we allow invasions and give
implements to cell phone farmers, we
are in trouble; production will not
increase significantly," he said.
Eldred Masunungure, professor of political
science at the University of
Zimbabwe, said while a political dimension
could not be ruled out with
elections on the horizon, there was urgent need
to retool
farms, many of which were stripped of equipment by both white
farmers and
invaders at the height of the land seizures.
"It is laudable
that President Mugabe is seen to be addressing the
de-mechanisation on the
farms, but this is only but one dimension of solving
the multifaceted
problems bedeviling the sector," he said.
"The country needs to address the
chaos that we read about every day playing
out on the farms. As long as we
have disruptions on the properties, his plan
to increase production by
supplying implements could come to nought."
Experts said Zimbabwe's ability
to secure enough power to irrigate crops, in
the event of poor rainfall,
would determine the season's success.
Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo
earlier this year said the winter wheat
crop had been written off after
power cuts disrupted irrigation of the
winter crop.
Last week, Mozambique
announced it was cutting power supplies to Zimbabwe
because of an unpaid
debt.
Gono noted this concern when he said key to farm recovery would be
the
guaranteed supply of inputs such as seed, fertiliser, fuel and chemicals,
whose provision he pledged to help improve.
FinGaz
A response
offered by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to a
consumer's
complaint, which was published in the letters section of the
September
27-October 3 issue of The Financial Gazette shows that in the
prevailing
anything-goes malaise within the country, inefficiency is now
proudly
brandished as a valid excuse for shoddy service.
In replying in last
week's issue, to Lovemore Magaso's complaint that ZESA
was fleecing
consumers through unjustified electricity disconnections, the
power
utility's Corporate Communications Department exposed a serious lack
of
strategic and innovative thinking at the Authority in times of crisis.
ZESA's self-congratulation and exoneration for failing to send bills to
consumers timeously shows that the managers do not subscribe to the
principle that "the customer is king", which President Robert Mugabe
stressed at Harare International Airport when he arrived from New York last
week
Magaso's complaint that the power utility rushes to disconnect power
supplies despite the fact that it would not have sent the hapless consumers
the latest bills is echoed by millions throughout the country. As a result,
ZESA's attempt to trivialize Magaso's complaint by implying that he, as a
consumer, is to blame for not receiving a statement of his account on time
is a pathetic attempt to shift the blame for inefficiency at the parastatal
.
The Corporate Communications Department gave a number of lame excuses
to
justify ZESA's failure to manage its billing system efficiently. Chief
among
these, we are told is the cost factor. What exactly does that mean?
Are we
being told that consumers must be penalised for the paper shortages,
technical faults and postage costs the department cites as some of the
constraints causing delays in the mailing of bills? If it is the case that
ZESA can no longer afford to send out bills and expects consumers to be
either soothsayers or waste long hours in queues to inquire about their
accounts, why does it still need all those millions of employees in its
system?
It stands to reason that if ZESA has abolished some functions in
its billing
system, there should be a corresponding reduction in staff and
the consumer
should not be burdened with paying for a redundant bureaucracy.
In fact, if
ZESA is no longer sending bills because of paper shortages and
the high cost
of postage, the savings should benefit the long suffering
consumers in some
form. What form, the Corporate Communications Department
may ask. One main
benefit should be that just as ZESA expects consumers to
bear with it with
regard to the constraints it is facing, it should be
equally accommodating
towards consumers.
ZESA's vindictive rush to
disconnect consumers' power supplies when it knows
it is the one that fails
to send out bills on time is unjustified. It is the
responsibility of
managers to realise that they have to come up with
innovative ideas to cope
in crisis situations. They must be able to use the
available resources to
maximum effect to make up for systems that are no
longer effective. ZESA
management needs to start doing this if it is to
dispel the widespread
perception that its frenzied electricity
disconnections are a fund-raising
ploy.
In order to cut off the electricity supplies of consumers who are
penalised
despite ZESA's admission that its billing system is shambolic, the
Authority
has armies of workers who visit the residences of alleged
defaulters to
effect the disconnections and deliver relevant documents.
These teams visit
affected households not once, but twice, first to
disconnect and then to
reconnect electricity once the poor consumers have
coughed up the hefty
financial penalties. ZESA allocates resources in terms
of fuel and man-hours
for these work gangs to go out every day to perform a
negative function -
depriving consumers of an essential service.
Why
can't the ZESA management turn the problem into a public relations
opportunity and a win-win situation? Have the power utility's managers ever
heard of thinking out of the box? Instead of sending teams out into the
community to disconnect electricity and then back again to reconnect, why
not have these employees deliver bills? It makes far much better sense to
let the hundreds of workers who drive out everyday to deprive customers of
an essential service perform a more positive role and enable consumers to
pay their bills on time.
The suggestion by the Corporate Communications
Department for consumers to
use its e-billing facility can only complement
an established and sound
system, not replace it. But even then, the truth is
that the overwhelming
majority of households do not have access to computers
and the internet.
Those who have these facilities in their homes cannot use
them sometimes for
weeks on end because of the frequent power outages that
are not related to
the non-payment of bills.
The conditions that the
power utility expects consumers to abide by as
stated on the official ZESA
billing forms are unnecessarily punitive
considering that the parastatal
cannot even meet its part of the accounting
bargain as expected in any
business transaction. One of the conditions is:
"Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority reserves the right to issue interim
electricity accounts or
accounts based on average consumption for various
reasons e.g. faulty
meters, locked premises where consumers are consuming
power and other
factors." The final condition on the page is a threat that:
"Electricity
supplies will be disconnected at any time without further
notice if account
remains unpaid after due date."
What ZESA does not state under those
conditions is why the onus should be on
consumers to guess what they should
pay when it is the utility's
responsibility to present statements detailing
consumption. ZESA has a legal
obligation to deliver bills to consumers and
as long as it has not decided
to forgo payment it should not try to shirk
this responsibility by citing
shortages and the inability of the postal
service to deliver mail on time.
That is none of the consumers'
business.
The ZESA management should come up with alternative ways of getting
bills to
consumers instead of spending their days twiddling their toes in
their
air-conditioned offices. Managers are paid to think and steer the
operations
of the parastatal in an accountable and transparent and efficient
manner.
They have no right to earn their lucrative salaries for throwing
their hands
into the air and victimizing the people they are supposed to
serve .
An efficient billing system is one of the basic principles of
accountability
and good corporate governance. But if, as it seems, ZESA is
quite happy to
pass the buck and force consumers to pay for its failure to
meet this basic
business obligation, then God help us all.
-mmakuni@fingaz.co.zw
FinGaz
Mavis Makuni Own
Correspondent
THE latest Transparency International Corruption
Perceptions Index (TICPI)
shows that African countries are among the most
corrupt in the world, with
only one, Botswana, featuring in the top 50
"cleanest" nations.
The TICPI defines corruption as "the abuse of public
office for private
gain" and measures the incidence of corruption among a
country's
politicians and public officials.
Thirty countries out of the
total 193 nations of the world are not included
in the survey due to a lack
of sufficient data.
A score of 10 means a country is squeaky clean while 5.0
is considered
the borderline figure
distinguishing countries that do not
have a serious problem from those
experiencing an epidemic of the
cancer.
In the latest ratings, countries such as Algeria, India, Japan,
Lebanon,
Mauritius, Slovenia, etc, are shown to have improved their ratings
although
most still scored well below the median 5.0. The United States is
among
countries whose ratings have dropped during the survey period despite
having
a score of 7.3.
The list shows that the cleanest countries in the
world with an almost
perfect score of 9.6 each are Finland, Iceland and New
Zealand followed by
Denmark (9.5), Singapore (9.4) Sweden (9.2) and
Switzerland (9.1).
The next rung consists of Norway (8.8) Australia and
Netherlands (both 8.7),
Austria, Luxembourg and United Kingdom (all
8.6).
Canada scored 8.5, Hong Kong 8.3, Germany 8.0 and Japan 7.6.
France and
Ireland are tied at 7.4.
Superpower the United States is in a three-way tie
with Chile and Belgium at
7.3. The only other country to have once held
superpower status, Russia,
languishes at the bottom of the corruption heap
with a score of 2.5 the same
performance as Nepal, Benin, Gambia, Guyana,
Honduras, Phillipines, Rwanda
and Swaziland.
The least corrupt country in
Africa is Botswana although it is rated only
just above the borderline mark
at 5.6 falling in the same category as
Cyprus.
Botswana performs better
than Africa's economic powerhouse, South Africa,
which has a score of 4.6
and ties with Tunisia.
The gravity of the
problem of corruption in Africa
is underscored by the fact that only
Botswana features in the top 50 least
corrupt countries at slot number 37.
South Africa and Tunisia are 51st on
the list.
The country with the fastest growing economy in the world, China
is,
however, also one of the most corrupt, recording a score of 3.3.
It
is in a 10-way tie with Brazil, India, Egypt, Ghana, Mexico, Peru, Saudi
Arabia and Senegal.
Zimbabwe with a score of 2.4 is in an eight-way tie
with Burundi,
Azerbaijan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Indonesia,
Papua New Guinea
and Togo.
Transparency International rates Haiti with a
score of 1.8 as the most
corrupt country in the world.
The most corrupt
countries in the world in the one to 10 slots (more on the
list because of
ties) are: Haiti, Myanmar, Iraq, Guinea, Sudan, Democratic
Republic of
Congo, Chad, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Equatorial Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire,
Cambodia and Belarus.
Rwanda, which has one the most tragic recent
histories because of the 1994
genocide in which more than one million people
were butchered, fares better
than some other African countries with its
ranking of 2.5.
Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, seems to be
unfairly saddled
with the image of being the most corrupt nation on the
continent. With a
score of 2.2, it is tied with Sierra Leone, Angola, Congo
Republic and
Kenya.
Some countries such as Afghanistan, Liberia and
Somalia are not included in
the ratings because of lack of adequate
data.
The 10 most corrupt heads of state in the world who have stolen up to
US$35
billion from their nations are also rated.
Top of the list is
former Indonesian president Mohamed Surhato who is
believed to have
embezzled between US$15 and US$35 billion.
The list includes some dictators
who are now deceased such as Ferdinand
Marcos of the Philippines, Slobodan
Milosevic of Yugoslavia and Jean Claude
Duvalier of Haiti.
Africa is
represented on the list by former strongmen Mobutu Sese Seko of
the former
Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and Sani Abacha of
Nigeria.
Mobutu is said to have looted more than US$5 billion during his
32 years of
autocratic rule while Abacha plundered from his nation's coffers
to the tune
of US$2.5 billion in a much shorter period.
The fact that
there are currently no incumbent African heads of state on the
list does not
mean that the pillaging has abated.
According to recent press reports, the
World Bank estimates that about US$40
billion is stolen from Africa by
corrupt leaders every year and is stashed
in foreign bank accounts.
It is
estimated that about 25 percent of the gross national product of most
African countries is lost this way.
The World Bank (WB) and the United
Nations recently announced the setting up
of a system to help developing
nations, including those in Africa, recover
assets stolen by corrupt leaders
and secretly sent overseas.
"There should be no safe haven for those who
steal from the poor", says WB
president, Robert B Zoellick, who is
spearheading the project in
collaboration with United Nations secretary
general Ban Ki-moon.
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori Staff
Reporter
GOVERNMENT'S plans for an ambitious economic revival programme,
to run well
after presidential and parliamentary election in March next
year, could
still fail to inspire an economic rebound due to traditional
hurdles that
have resulted in the failure of previous reform programmes,
analysts said.
The Zimbabwe Economic Development Strategy (ZEDS), the
successor to the
National Economic Development Priority Programme (NEDPP) to
be launched
between 2009 and 2013, is still at the formulation
stages.
But a transitional economic programme to run during the election year
will
be put in place while the finer details of ZEDS are being worked out,
Economic Development Minister Slyvester Nguni said last week.
Nguni said
ZEDS would be a medium term strategy, integrating macroeconomic,
structural,
sectoral and social considerations to lay out a set of wealth
creation and
poverty reduction measures.
"ZEDS will be a vehicle for meeting the basic
socio-economic needs of
Zimbabweans as enunciated in the 2015 Millenium
Development Goals (MDGs),"
he said.
The MDGs that will anchor ZEDS
include the eradication of extreme poverty,
the fight against HIV and Aids
and the promotion of gender balance.
Nguni claimed the blue print, which will
the 10th such policy in 27 years,
has been designed to absorb any shocks
that could be posed by the dynamic
economic environment.
Nguni said
government had realised that exclusion of communities in crafting
policies
had resulted in the failure of past programmes.
This time, a nationwide
consultative process would be undertaken to create a
viable economic rescue
package under ZEDS.
The idea, he said, was to understand the priorities of
rural communities and
incorporate them in the national budgeting
processes.
However, during the implementation of the NEDPP, government made
similar
overtures to business, but was the first to violate the pact by
unilaterally
dumping the policy before its shelf life was over.
This left
many of the legislators who attended the first of the consultative
meetings
in Harare last week not sure if government had the capacity to deal
with the
crisis that has devastated the economy.
"I see in my mind the Economic
Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP),
Zimprest (Zimbabwe Programme for
Economic and Social Transformation), the
NEDPP and the First and Second
Five-Year Economic Development Plans," said
Mabvuku opposition Member of
Parliament Timothy Mubawu.
"My question is that what have you learnt that
will give me the confidence
that ZEDS will deliver? I do not see you coming
up with anything new but
reproducing pieces of the previous documents," he
said.
President of the Chiefs Council Fortune Charumbira claimed there were
"policy evaporations" in all the failed economic blueprints.
This had led
to a situation where ministries took ownership of the policies
at the
expense of the majority.
"You have come up with plans and consulted people,
but then their priorities
and ideas disappear in the final draft and nobody
comes back to explain to
them. What we see in the policies is references
from university textbooks,
which mean what we said, did not matter," said
Charumbira.
"Remember that after five years, the economic situation will be
different
and ZEDS will be irrelevant. We need an emerging strategy
approach,"
Charumbira reminded the minister.
The Financial Gazette had a
brief chart with the Permanent Secretary for
economic development Judith
Kateera after the presentations.
"There has been a very weak link between
economic programmes and the
national budget so we have said our budgets
should fund what people say.
Most programmes had a short-term implementation
timeframe. So there is merit
in moving the economy from short-term to
medium-term planning to give the
policy room to steer development," Kateera
said.
The Growth with Equity Economic Plan (1981), ESAP (1991), the Poverty
Alleviation Programme (1994) and Zimprest (1996-2000) were all medium term
plans but all failed to inject life into the ailing economy.
Infact, the
country's Gross Domestic Product has declined by between 30
percent and
forty percent since 2000.
The poverty levels have escalated from 55 percent
in 1995 to 72 percent in
2003. The poverty level could now be close to 90
percent.
Hospitals are struggling to procure critical drugs due to foreign
currency
shortages, while the education system has gone into the intensive
care.
Raw sewerage is now gushing at every street corner in the high-density
areas
because local authorities are broke.
Zimbabwe's manufacturing
sector has collapsed due to growing levels of
unutilised capacity.
Output
collapsed by seven percent in 2006 alone, in contrast to a growth of
3,2
percent in 2005.
The question is: What is the wisdom of having to come up
with a programme to
be implemented after 14 months, and having a stop-gap
policy measures in
between now and 2009? Is the crisis still too mild to
trigger urgent policy
measures?
FinGaz
Shame
Makoshori Staff Reporter
THE spectre of diminishing food output and
expensive fuel imports that has
haunted Zimbabwe for close to a decade has
become a spot of bother among
policy makers and scientists, who are now
scrambling for measures to curtail
the catastrophic consequences of the
crisis.
Last week oil prices increased to US$80 per barrel, further
throwing
landlocked Zimbabwe into a complex situation.
Analysts say the
increase in international oil prices meant that apart from
the growing
demand for food imports, the fuel bill would surge, requiring
more financial
resources for petroleum imports.
But the recent discovery of biofuels could
be a silver lining on a dark
cloud for the country.
"Biofuels are a very
new development worldwide but with the escalation of
international fuel
prices, biofuels provide a cheaper alternative source of
energy," Zimbabwe
Academy of Sciences president Christopher Chetsanga told a
conference in
Harare last week.
The biofuels, Chetsanga said, were not only attracting
attention in
Zimbabwe, but had recently attracted the attention of policy
makers
worldwide due to the rapid increase in international oil
prices.
Bio-fuels extracted from Ethanol and Jatropha are at the centre of
plans by
the country to emulate the Malaysian and Cuban examples on fuel
production.
"It is important for Zimbabwe to engage in the development of
biotechnology
energy crops such as Jatropha, soyabeans and sugarcane so that
the country
can quickly work towards reducing the amount of fuel that it is
importing by
systematically replacing it with biofuels," said
Chetsanga.
"Cuba is already working with a Jatropha variety that can yield 1
500 litres
of biodiesel per hectare. This is a good model for Zimbabwe to
emulate. As a
country, we cannot afford to delay using biotechnology to meet
our strategic
development needs," he said.
However, energy analysts say
Zimbabwe and Cuba are at
different stages of economic
development.
Zimbabwe, battling a seven-year economic recession characterised
by high
inflation and foreign currency and fuel shortages, may not afford
the costs
of new technology for biofuel plants, given the pressing need for
food
imports to prevent starvation.
Science and Technology Development
Minister, Olivia Muchena, said despite
lack of resources, government had
made an undertaking to allocate at least
0,5 percent of the annual Gross
Domestic Product to biotechnology research,
development and application.
"The challenge is on the private sector to add
another 0,5 percent to make
it one percent," Muchena said.
Finealt, a government-owned company, has
proposed to construct a biodiesel
plant, which is expected to produce 300
000 litres per day.
If the Finealt plant finally starts functioning, it would
require sufficient
raw material stocks.
Government has demonstrated no
capacity to develop the Jatropha plantations.
Major focus in the development
of biofuels had been on the empowerment of
communal and small-scale farmers
to produce the seed because the volatile
economic environment in the country
has discouraged critical offshore
capital inflows.
Private investors,
analysts said this week, are generally attracted to
investment that brings
in quick returns.
This is the reason why it could be critical for government
to take interest
in the development of the Jatropha plantations that the
Ministry of Science
and Technology Development is spearheading.
Zimbabwe
guzzles about 3,5 million litres of fuel per day. For the biofuels
to meet
this target, production should be on a large scale.
An outgrower programme
mooted by the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe to
plant 5 000 hactares of
Jatropha in every province could be a positive
starting point.
And
analysts see the success of biofuel projects as a possible catalyst for
the
creation of downstream industries.
Chetsanga said biofuel production could
benefit the economy because the
sourcing of energy crops from farmers will
benefit the resources-poor rural
small-scale farmers.
There is, however,
concern that as some energy crops are also food crops,
their use in biofuel
production may compromise the food needs of the
country.
"This concern
can be met by using biotechnology derived energy crops with a
high biofuels
yielding capacity," said Chetsanga.
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Senior
Business Reporter
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has
cancelled its annual
national congress scheduled for December due to an
economic turmoil and a
price blitz that threw most of its members into the
lurch.
Most of its members are still smarting from a July price blitz
that forced
prices down 50 percent, triggering massive commodity shortages
that have
turned out into a huge embarrassment to the government.
"We
have postponed it (congress) to assess the impact of the price slash
first,"
Joseph Malaba, the CZI chief executive officer, confirmed to The
Financial
Gazette.
The CZI annual congress was supposed to have taken place in August.
Members
have used the annual ritual to reflect on industry concerns, map the
way
forward and elect new office bearers.
Industry sources said captains
of industry were walking a tight rope: having
the congress now would create
unnecessary tension between industry - already
accused of working with
President Robert Mugabe's enemies to effect regime
change in the country -
and the political leadership as the current
environment presented real
prospects for a charged debate on the country's
governance and its cost to
the economy.
The polarised and tense political environment in the country
made it a very
difficult proposition to hold the annual congress, an
industry source
indicated.
"It's extremely difficult to openly engage in
critical dialogue," the source
said.
A number of the confederation's
members are still counting the losses of the
government crackdown on
industry, undertaken principally to reign in
inflation, said by former US
ambassador to have been cruising towards the
1.5 million mark and presenting
the prospect of a regime change in the
country.
The CZI last year held
its annual congress in July in Bulawayo under the
theme "Building a
Framework for Sustainable Economic Recovery".
It was not immediately clear if
it was the membership that had lobbied for
the cancellation of the annual
congress, or if it was the leadership that
had come up with the
idea.
Effectively, if the congress is going to be held next year, this would
be
within five months of the 2008 annual general meeting, which would be
held
in July or August.
There were indications the CZI leadership could
be forced to hold the
cancelled congress concurrently with the one for 2008,
or force the 2008
congress further down the year to December.
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori Staff Reporter
. . . as
NIT disburses funds to Harare alone
INDIGENISATION and Empowerment Minister
Paul Mangwana has intervened to
prevent irregularities in the disbursement
of state funds by the National
Investment Trust (NIT) to distressed
companies and small and medium scale
enterprises, The Financial Gazette has
heard.
Mangwana says government policy had not been adhered to by the
state
empowerment agency during the distribution of the funds.
An
investigation carried out by the ministry had revealed that the bulk of
the
government allocations to NIT had been doled out to companies in Harare
and
not evenly distributed across the whole country.
The value of the funds were
not revealed but the Minister told parliament
recently that close to 80
percent of all government disbursements to the NIT
for lending purposes had
been taken up by companies in the capital.
"When I got into the ministry (in
February) I discovered that the NIT was
disbursing most of its funds to
businesses in Harare alone," Mangwana said
while answering questions from a
parliamentary portfolio committee.
"I asked why 77 percent of the NIT's
funding was being given to Harare
companies alone with only eight percent
(going to) Matabeleland and four
percent (to) Manicaland."
"I said this
is not what we want, lets distribute the funds equally. It is
merely
ensuring that government policy is followed," he said.
In March last year,
the NIT, a government agency, which warehouses shares
for empowerment
purposes, unveiled a $1 trillion empowerment fund to bail
out 53 distressed
companies from collapse due to the volatile economic
environment.
Last
year, the agency estimated that at least two million people would
benefit
from its Money Market and Real Estate funds, a policy intervention
to solve
the entry of people into the property market.
But analysts this week said the
agency, which has largely depended on
handouts from the National Social
Security Authority and government, has not
been given sufficient recourses
to monitor and follow up on overdue
recoveries.
This could be the reason
why there were high concentrations of disbursements
in the metropolitan
cities.
At least 100 companies have been recapitalised by the NIT in the past
two
years.
The trust was set up in 1996 to help promote business
initiative through the
funding of viable business projects.
FinGaz
From Proceedings of
the ZIMCODD August 2007 Nation
For more than two successive decades, the
economy of Zimbabwe is in circular
cumulative decline, with life expectancy
falling from the maximum of 62
years in 1987, to 57 years in 1992 and 37
years in 2005.
On 1-2 August 2007, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and
Development (ZIMCODD)
convened a Conference on Zimbabwe's policy and
development prospects. The
conference, which attracted the participation of
many government and civil
society actors, was historic in terms of its wide
participation, the
inclusive character and depth of its deliberations, its
wide-ranging
analyses and recommendations. This paper addresses, in the
context of the
ZIMCODD Conference, issues of concern around Zimbabwe's
economic development
policies and future development prospects. The key
points of reference here
are the values and goals that guided liberation on
the African continent.
These are summarily cited here in terms of the
redress of inequalities in
land and asset ownership, economic growth and
development, nation-building
and democratic governance.
The Conference
noted that, for Zimbabwe to experience a breakthrough, there
is urgent need
for progress in the direction of (a) resource redistribution
and equity, (b)
a new culture of accountability, transparency and democratic
values in
public resource management, and particularly, (c) new, visionary
and
innovative policy approaches (beyond mere liberalisation), that
prioritise
and link population needs to local resource capacities and growth
challenges.
With the unfolding of the 21st century, economic policy
pronouncements in
Zimbabwe are attracting great interest amongst a
population eager to see
bread on the table. The population is eager to
understand the root causes of
current problems, as therein lie the clues to
a lasting solution. Since the
attainment of political independence in 1980
to date, Zimbabwe has
implemented more than 30 financial and economic plans
and programmes,
including annual, and 18 month state budgets, medium term
fiscal and
monetary policy reviews and statements. In fact one of the
latest, the
mid-term monetary policy review statement by the Reserve Bank
Governor
Gideon Gono on October 1 2007, was also just about a month after
the
mid-term fiscal policy review statement by the Minister of
Finance.
The mid-term monetary policy review statement, in its analysis of
policy
problems, chiefly identified 'supply-side constraints,' 'political
interferences in monetary and economic management' and 'sanctions imposed by
detractors opposed to the land reform'. It ended with agricultural and
marketing incentives for an emergent class of landowners. In its analysis of
the situation ZIMCODD was however, more explicit in its condemnation of the
failure of human development policy on the continent. The conference noted
that Zimbabwe, among other southern African countries, had failed to
transform the region's rich endowment of land, agricultural, mineral, forest
and fish resources, into wealth to benefit the more than 80 percent of its
population presently trapped in deepening poverty. Following the market
reforms in the 1990's the Government of Zimbabwe introduced many policy
innovations such as the Community and Cooperative Development Fund, The
Small Scale Enterprises Development Fund, the Ministry of Community and
Cooperative Development, the Model A and Model B land resettlement
programmes, in addition to other macroeconomic programmes such as the
Zimbabwe Programme for Economic and Social Transformation (ZIMPREST).
But
these policies largely resulted in the accumulation of both domestic and
foreign debt, and also to the long term situation whereby the state is
dependent on global financial and political structures, including states.
This trend helps explain why costly struggles against colonialism, and years
of different types of policies and development programs in the region are
not duly rewarded in the form of sustainable human and economic development.
Thus in 2007, policy developments in Zimbabwe cannot guarantee an
economically secure, egalitarian and democratic country. A skewed
macroeconomic environment has eroded wages and workers are generally exposed
to the vagaries of the market. Inflation in Zimbabwe is the highest in the
world outside a war zone, and basic commodities continue to be in short
supply.
To be continued next week.
Masimba Manyanya is a member of the
Zimbabwe Economics Society. These
articles are coordinated by Lovemore
Kadenge who can be contacted on email
lovemore.kadenge@gmail.com
FinGaz
David Govere
GOVERNMENT
announced this month the arrival of 1000 tonnes of wheat, which
was enough
to produce bread for the country for 18 hours.
The average wheat
consumption two months ago (that is July 2007) was 1500
tonnes of wheat per
day, approximately 10 000 tonnes per week moreso after
the Price Cabinet
Task Force had reduced the price of bread and raised its
consumption leading
to high demand and a short lasting party.
In desperation to replenish wheat
stocks, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)
liased with its traditional
suppliers to locate 36 000 tonnes of wheat in
Beira and Maputo while the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was organising another
18 000 tonnes in South
Africa through Intshona.
This scenario would have given a total of 54 000
tonnes of wheat
barely enough to last for five weeks to dovetail into the
next wheat
harvest.
This chronic shortage of bread, which is affecting
not only
households, but schools, hospitals, armed forces, hotels and the
entire
catering industry, would have been avoided.
The baking industry,
now laden with recently negotiated labour costs, high
costs of packaging and
diesel/paraffin costs, which have increased ten times
since July has asked
for a wholesale price of
$90 000 per loaf and to retail the bread at $100 000
per loaf.
This pricing accommodates a flour price increase from $6 million
per tonne
to $10 million per tonne to maintain viability of the milling
industry.
The shortage of wheat has created bread scarcity, creating ripe
conditions
for politicians and unscrupulous business people to wrestle the
little wheat
out of GMB and to mill it and ultimately sell flour at $200
million per
tonne when the regulated price is only $6 million per
tonne.
Traditional millers and bakers have simply been watching this
situation and
are bewildered and dumb-founded that while the President is
preaching price
sanity, some in his own inner circle people are driving the
price of flour
and bread crazy such that in the high
density suburbs a
loaf of bread is selling for between $450 000 and $600
000. The same people
have been known to drive the price of cement, sugar,
cooking oil, fuel,
bread, fertilizer, seed and most basic commodities
through the
roof.
Wheat from the new harvest is expected to come wet and in drips and
draps,
leading to even more bread shortages and sky rocketing
prices.
What is even more worrying is that the 54 000 tonnes of wheat
identified
would cost just over $15 million US dollars and the failure by
government to
mobilise this type of money is an indication that the country
is in serious
foreign currency shortages as confirmed recently by the
central bank
Governor who said he could not pay the tobacco farmers $20
million US
dollars after the delivery of the crop to the auction
floors.
The next maize harvest is expected in May 2008 while that of wheat is
expected in October 2008. Until then everyone in Zimbabwe has to brace for
tougher times with chronic food shortages and skyrocketing prices.
Even
the recently announced working capital package for basic commodities
(BACCOSI) is likely to have no impact due to the combined effect of foreign
exchange shortages and price controls obviously worsened by the March 2008
election demands. Inflation reduction targets will therefore remain a pipe
dream for the foreseeable future.
This shortage scenario is leading to
the destruction of formal businesses in
milling and baking while promoting
speculators and traders as well as
massive de-industrialisation. It should
be noted, however, that the central
bank governor has fought hard to retain
the integrity and viability of the
manufacturing sector.
The current
capital erosion and deindustrialisation will take years to mend
and with the
opening of borders under the Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa
and the Southern African Development Community, Zimbabwe
will be easily
reduced to a trading country.
Tourism has its champion in Minister Francis
Nhema, Health has its
representative in David Parirenyatwa while Agriculture
now has a strong
voice in Minister Rugare Gumbo but sadly no strong voice,
champion or
representative exists for the manufacturing industry at policy
or Cabinet
level and this sector is so vital for the turnaround and economic
prosperity
of this country and with an attitude, from those directing this
key ministry
of fighting their own constituency, rapid de-industrialisation
is certain to
take place.
David Govere is the senior vice president
of the Employers Confederation of
Zimbabwe and group chief executive officer
of Harambe Holdings.
FinGaz
Comment
POWER utility
ZESA Holdings is hogging the limelight for the wrong reasons
altogether.
ZESA has cut the image of a problem child in the
boardrooms of regional
power utilities - Hydroelectrica de Cahora Bassa,
Eskom and Snell - whose
account could have been long condemned into the
black book had it not been
for the camaraderie, which exists among the
utilities' principals.
In spite of the spirited attempts to present a
rose-tinted picture of the
situation at ZESA, its ineptitude has become too
glaring to be swept under
the carpet.
What is also coming out clearly is
that the magnitude of the power crisis
blighting the country's economy is
now beyond ZESA. It now calls for
concerted efforts from everyone
concerned.
Unless ZESA expunges its niggling debts with the regional power
utilities,
the situation is likely to worsen, putting the much-vaunted
economic
turnaround off the rails.
But it should not end with retiring
ZESA's external obligations. It must
extend to cover the revival of power
generation projects, which have been on
the backburner since the 1990s and
ensuring that the parastatal operates
viably before preparing ZESA for
part-privatisation.
While there is no need to press the panic button as yet,
we feel no amount
of incentives can reinvigorate industry without including
ZESA and coal
producer, Hwange Colliery, in the equation.
Scheduled and
unscheduled power outages are having catastrophic effects on
industry,
particularly agriculture, which should reboot the country's waning
economic
fortunes.
Mining has been the worst hit, suffering serious plant damages
owing to the
power cuts. Several mining houses may not recover from the
losses incurred
despite the firming international prices.
In agriculture,
half the winter wheat crop is a write-off. Tobacco, Zimbabwe's
single
largest foreign currency earner is in no better situation.
Tourism, which has
been the only bright spot, is counting its losses.
Intermittent electricity
outages have damaged electrical appliances for
hotels and retailers, who are
struggling to restock following the moratorium
on price increases.
In
order to make up for the lost production, companies are resorting to
night
shifts, but because load shedding is not being restricted to peak
periods,
this is just a stopgap measure.
The general public has been suffering in
silence, venting its frustration by
resorting to wanton tree-cutting and
causing extensive damage to the
environment.
What is more frightening is
that patience among ZESA's regional partners is
wearing thin at the least
expected time.
Mozambique this week threatened to reduce power supplies to
ZESA citing
Harare's failure to meet its commitments. The camaraderie, it
would appear,
is no longer a factor.
The tragedy in the electricity
generation sector, ZESA to be precise, is a
consequence of years of inaction
on the part of government. It has its roots
in lost investment
opportunities.
Opportunities that could have resulted in increased power
supplies were not
taken up and by the time the country's bureaucrats smelt
the coffee,
potential financiers had lost interest, taking their investments
to
destinations where foreign direct investment (FDI) is literally
worshiped.
The country's electricity situation should not have been this
severe had the
powers-that-be made it possible for ZESA to tie the knot with
any one of the
19 suitors that were keen on increasing output at Hwange
Power Station in
the mid 1990s.
Similarly, the situation could not have
been so severe had ZESA received the
necessary support to partner Rio Tinto
and the National Power of UK to
develop Gokwe North power station.
In
both instances, it was politics, which got into the way.
Opportunities wait
for no one, particularly where it concerns FDIs, which
get attracted to
freer economies.
Poor pricing, dramatised by the July price cuts, has also
been at the centre
of ZESA problems. For a long time now, the utility has
been charging
sub-economic tariffs, leading to a situation where ZESA cannot
replace
ageing plant and equipment let alone expand current
capacity.
Zimbabwe is capable of producing up to 90 percent of the country's
electricity requirements, but sadly this has not been the case because of
red tape and bureaucratic bungling.
Of the 2000MW needed to meet local
consumption at peak times, ZESA is only
producing less than half that. The
country has become heavily dependent on
imports at a time when it is wafer
thin on foreign currency reserves.
And yet ZESA could have increased its
hydro and thermal power supplies,
leaving it with excess to export. We
wonder if sanctions and the alleged
interference from Britain and the United
States are to blame!
It is vital for the powers-that-be to revisit several
power projects that
are gathering dust in bottom drawers in word and in
deed.
But before they can do that, they need to put a human face on the
impeding
indigenisation laws to make it possible for foreign investors to
fund these
capital-intensive projects.
But as Gideon Gono, the central
bank governor rightly put it recently,
"recipients of this advice are at
liberty, without offence or obligation, to
accept in full or in part, or
differ wholly or in part with such advice."