The ZIMBABWE Situation
An extensive and up-to-date website containing views, views and links related to ZIMBABWE - a country in crisis
Please note: You need to have 'Active content' enabled in your IE browser in order to see the index of articles on this webpage
Zimbabwe secret agents stoke MDC divisions
Zim Online
Fri 21 October
2005
HARARE - Intelligence minister Didymus Mutasa has said state secret
agents
are working hard to manipulate divisions rocking Zimbabwe's main
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party to accelerate its
collapse,
ZimOnline has learnt.
Mutasa, a close confidante of
President Robert Mugabe, made the
disclosure during a closed meeting last
Saturday of senior ruling ZANU PF
party and government politicians from his
Manicaland home province.
The meeting to plot strategy for ZANU PF
in Manicaland ahead of the
November 26 senate election took place at Mutare
Polytechnic College in the
eastern border city of Mutare.
In
attendance, among other top ZANU PF and government leaders were
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Transport Minister Chris Mushohwe,
Energy
Minister Mike Nyambuya and Agriculture Minister Joseph
Made.
Sources who attended the meeting said Mutasa
described bitter
wrangling in the MDC over whether the party should contest
the senate
election as a godsend that the state's spy Central Intelligence
Organisation
(CIO) had to exploit to the full.
"My boys (CIO
spies) are on it big time. This is a God-given
opportunity and if we fail to
destroy them (MDC) this time, then we might
never ever get another chance
like this. My ministry will not miss this
opportunity," a source quoted
Mutasa as having told his colleagues.
According to the sources,
Mutasa did not give details of what state
intelligence operatives were doing
to fuel division in the MDC but said he
only indicated that huge resources
including large quantities of money had
been set aside to be used to
infiltrate the opposition party and buy off
some of its feuding senior
leaders.
Mutasa, who also oversees land reform and food aid
distribution, would
neither confirm nor deny the matter, saying he does not
discuss
security-related issues with the Press.
He told
ZimOnline: "Ask me about food or land reform and I will talk.
But I will
never talk about the security ministry." The MDC is sharply
divided over the
senate poll with party leader Morgan Tsvangirai vehemently
saying the party
should not contest the election because it will be rigged
by ZANU PF which
he accuses of stealing elections in the past.
Tsvangirai, who has
accused other senior leaders wanting the party to
run in the poll of being
motivated by selfish desire to join the government's
gravy train, said the
proposed new senate would be of no value in a country
that should be better
directing scarce resources to fighting hunger
threatening a quarter of its
12 million people.
The MDC leader is backed in his position by the
party's key youth and
women's wings. But several other top leaders said to
be led by party
secretary general Welshman Ncube say the party should not
surrender
political space to Mugabe and ZANU PF by boycotting the senate
poll.
They also insist that Tsvangirai should abide by a decision
of the MDC's
national council that last week narrowly voted for the party to
participate
in the election.
Political analysts say the
widening divisions over the senate poll
mirror deep-seated differences in
the MDC over what strategy to use to
unseat President Robert Mugabe and ZANU
PF.
They say that if not managed carefully the wrangling could
precipitate
a break up of the six-year old party that was launched in 1999
to become the
biggest threat yet to Mugabe's 25-year stranglehold on
power.
Tsvangirai has claimed the crisis gripping the MDC - the
worst the
party has ever faced - was also being fuelled by state agents he
says have
infiltrated the party. - ZimOnline
Tsvangirai drums up grassroots support for senate
boycott
Zim Online
Fri 21 October 2005
HARARE - Opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party leader
Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday toured
eastern Zimbabwe mobilising lower wrung
party leaders to back him in a
bitter wrangle with other senior party
leaders over whether to contest next
month's senate election.
Zimbabwe's biggest opposition party
appears headed for a split after
its top leaders failed to agree on the
senate poll with Tsvangirai insistent
the MDC should boycott the poll while
the party's national council, many of
whose members hope to win seats in the
new senate, seeking to contest the
poll.
Tsvangirai's spokesman
William Bango told ZimOnline that the embattled
MDC leader addressed ward,
district and branch executives at Chiendambuya in
Makoni North constituency
before proceeding to Rusape and Nyanga districts.
All the areas visited by
Tsvangirai are in the eastern Manicaland province.
According to
Bango, the opposition leader will next visit Chimanimani
and Chipinge also
before proceeding to cover Midlands, Masvingo, the
Mashonaland and
Matabeleland provinces.
"We will go to Chimanimani and Chipinge in
the eastern direction, I
cannot give you the exact locations or dates when
we visit these areas for
obvious security reasons," Bango said.
The MDC is sharply divided over the senate poll with Tsvangirai
vehemently
saying it should not contest the election because it will be
rigged by ZANU
PF which he accuses of stealing elections in the past.
Tsvangirai,
who has accused other senior leaders wanting the party to
run in the poll of
being motivated by selfish desire to join the government
gravy train through
the Senate, also says the proposed new Senate would be
of no value in a
country that should be better directing scarce resources to
fighting hunger
threatening a quarter of its 12 million people.
The MDC leader is
backed in his position by the party's key youth and
women's wings. But
several other top leaders said to be led by party
secretary general Welshman
Ncube say the party should not surrender
political space to Mugabe and ZANU
PF by boycotting the senate poll.
They also insist that Tsvangirai
should abide by a decision of the MDC's
national council for the party to
contest the election.
Political analysts say the widening divisions
over the senate poll
mirror deep-seated differences in the MDC over what
strategy to use to
unseat President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF.
They say if not managed carefully the wrangling could precipitate a
break-up
of the six-year old party that was launched in 1999 to become the
biggest
threat yet to Mugabe's 25-year stranglehold on power. - ZimOnline
Zimbabwe bank governor concedes virtual failure of
forex auction
Zim Online
ANALYSIS:
system
Fri 21 October 2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe's
central bank on Friday virtually conceded the
failure of its much-vaunted
foreign exchange auction system and effectively
sanctioned a
pseudo-devaluation of the local dollar as part of wide-ranging
measures
aimed at restoring economic stability, economic analysts said.
In a
televised review of the country's monetary policy - described by
analysts as
a positive statement of intent but one that lacked clear
solutions to the
country's six-year-old economic crisis - Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor Gideon Gono introduced wide-ranging measures aimed
at attacking the
inflation scourge, encouraging production and increasing
the country's
capacity to generate foreign currency.
He conceded the failure of
the foreign currency auction system -
introduced in January 2004 and at the
time touted as the panacea to Zimbabwe's
perennial hard cash problems - and
reintroduced the inter-bank foreign
exchange market to operate side by side
with the auction market.
Gono said with immediate effect, exporters
would now surrender 70
percent of their proceeds onto the interbank market,
and would have up to 30
days to hold on to the foreign currency after which
it would be sold on the
prevailing interbank rate.
"Through
authorised dealers, exporters can sell their foreign exchange
in FCA
balances, at a market-determined rate on the interbank market," Gono
said
Individual foreign currency holders, non-governmental
organisations,
embassies and Zimbabweans abroad will also sell their foreign
currency on
the interbank market.
The managed auctions would,
however, continue to operate, with
exporters disposing 30 percent of their
earnings on that market.
Gono predicted that the auction rate would
converge with the market
determined interbank rate by December
2006.
Foreign exchange shortages have fuelled a thriving black
market where
the local currency is trading at three times the official rate.
The Zimbabwe
dollar was trading at 26 004 to one greenback at the auctions
on Thursday
compared to around 90 000 on the black market.
The
RBZ chief also called for resolute action by the government to
stop the
invasion of commercial farmland and for the protection of private
property
rights. These, he said, were important pre-requisites for the
restoration of
investor confidence.
Other measures included the introduction of
the "toll manufacturing"
concept under which Zimbabwean firms currently
operating below capacity
would enter into arrangements with foreign
companies to utilise local
factories at a fee.
The foreigners
would bring their raw materials to Zimbabwe and pay the
local manufacturers
foreign currency-denominated fees for producing their
products.
Gono also called for fiscal restraint in the fight against inflation,
which
was pegged at 359.8 percent in September. Annualised inflation is
expected
to decline to a single digit figure by March 2007.
But analysts
said most of Gono's measures would only succeed if there
was political will
from the authorities.
"He has recognised the depth of the problem
but it will take more than
mere recognition of the problem to fix the
crisis," noted consultant Harare
economist John Robertson.
The
analysts said, in coming up with the new measures, Gono found
himself in the
unenviable position of having to maintain a balance between
the expectations
of a militant political establishment keen on winning votes
in next month's
elections for Senate seats and the austere conditions set by
the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"On the one hand, it is clear
that the governor was trying to conform
to the conditions set by the IMF
while, on the other, one sees some
hesitation in moving towards a free
market economy because the governor
knows such a situation would not be
acceptable to the powers that be," said
an economist with a Harare bank, who
did not want to be named.
The IMF told the Zimbabwe government to
move towards the restoration
of economic and political stability as part of
wide-ranging reforms that
would see Harare regaining full membership of the
multilateral lending
institution.
The country survived
expulsion last month after the RBZ made two
surprise payments amounting to
$135 million towards clearing its arrears
with the IMF.
The
analysts said new measures would not destroy the thriving foreign
currency
parallel market despite the reintroduction of the inter-bank
system.
"The shortcoming of the latest review, as with previous
ones, is that
the bank has once again failed to address the fundamental
issue of a market
in the sense that the governor's statement was silent on
whether people will
be allowed to go to an authorised dealer and purchase
foreign currency as
and when they wish," the bank economist
said.
He said the reason why the parallel market was thriving was
because
companies and individuals could not easily get hard cash to transact
their
business.
"In other words, there is no market because
people are only required
to sell and not buy when the need arises." -
ZimOnline
Zimbabwe public school exams plunged into crisis after
question papers leak
Zim Online
Fri 21 October 2005
HARARE - The Zimbabwe
national school examinations scheduled for next
month have been plunged into
crisis after examination papers were leaked to
the public.
The
Ordinary and Advanced Level examination papers were said to have
leaked to
the public when a truck which was transporting them from Harare to
the
southern Masvingo city dropped some of the papers along the
highway.
The question papers are said to be already in wide
circulation in
Harare's western suburbs of Glen Norah, Highfield and Glen
View.
But the Zimbabwe School Examination Council (Zimsec), charged
with the
running of national examinations in the country, says it will not
alter
dates for this year's exams despite the leakage in
Harare.
Zimsec director Happy Ndanga, told ZimOnline on Thursday:
"The
situation is under control and we are dealing with examination centres,
but
we are not going to change the examination dates."
The
local examinations body has however been under fire for failing to
properly
run examinations or ensure papers are not leaked to the public.
Zimbabwe
localised examinations in 1995. Before then Zimbabwe's public
examinations
were largely run by Britain's University of Cambridge.
Education
Minister Aeneas Chigwedere could not be reached for comment
on this latest
incident of leakage of examination papers.
A cabinet minister was
forced to resign nine years ago after his
daughter was caught in possession
of leaked examination papers.
Zimbabwe's education system, once
revered as the best on the African
continent, has collapsed just like
everything else in the country reeling
under a severe political and economic
crisis.
School infrastructure is run down because there is no money
for
maintenance while thousands of teachers have fled to seek better
opportunities in neighbouring countries and beyond. -
ZimOnline
Police turn down Z$1 billion donation from "suspected MDC
sympathiser"
Zim Online
Fri 21 October 2005
BULAWAYO - The police on
Tuesday turned down a Z$1 billion donation by
a Bulawayo-based businessman
to buy an electricity transformer for a police
camp alleging the businessman
was linked to the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
party.
A baffled Peter Richardson told ZimOnline on Thursday that
the police
had turned down his donation alleging he was strongly linked to
the MDC, an
allegation he denies.
Zimbabwe, which is going
through a severe five year economic recession
blamed on President Robert
Mugabe's policies, is heavily polarised along
political lines. The 81-year
old Zimbabwean leader has fought a bruising
five-year battle against the MDC
and its backers.
The businessman had offered to buy an electricity
transformer for
police officers at Ross Camp, the biggest camp for police
officers in
Bulawayo, who have been without electricity for the last six
months after
their transformer blew up.
Richardson said the
Officer Commanding Bulawayo province Senior
Assistant Commissioner Lee
Muchemwa phoned him on Tuesday telling him that
his donation was no longer
welcome as the police had already bought the
transformer through their
Harare office.
Muchemwa could not be reached for comment on the
issue.
"I was doing this on humanitarian grounds after seeing the
whole camp
in a complete blackout. The families there are also using
firewood to
prepare their meals.
"In early August, I approached
the Officer Commanding the province
with an offer to donate funds to buy the
transformer, after I had been told
that the problem was caused by a faulty
transformer, which burst in July,"
said Richardson.
Richardson
said the police initially agreed to accept the offer only
for them to turn
around on Wednesday when they snubbed the offer.
"A friend in the
police told me that the Police Internal Security
Intelligence which had been
tasked to carry out some vetting exercise on me
had declared that I am
linked to the MDC and cannot be allowed to donate to
the
police.
"I don't even know where they got that from because I have
got nothing
to do with politics . . . the donation had nothing to do with
politics," he
said.
The decision to reject the money to buy the
transformer has however
not gone down well with junior officers at the camp
who accuse senior
officers of pursuing selfish agendas.
"They
(senior police officers) initially wanted us to contribute $5
million each
towards the purchase of the transformer but we failed because
most of us
earn a paltry $3 million a month.
"The authorities are just worried
about their own welfare since their
section of the camp was not affected by
the blackout," said a junior officer
who refused to be named for fear of
victimisation.
Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena refused to
comment on the issue.
The Zimbabwe
government has in the last five years purged police
officers it suspected of
supporting the opposition, replacing them with
loyalists from the ruling
ZANU PF party and national youth service
institutions. - ZimOnline
Zimbabwe in
Crisis
VOA
By Jela De Franceschi
Washington, D.C.
20 October
2005
|
|
The International Monetary Fund warns that Zimbabwe's troubled economy is
near collapse with rampant inflation and soaring poverty. The IMF details the
economic crisis gripping the country once known as a breadbasket of southern
Africa. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's opposition leaders are considering a
boycott of next month's elections for a newly created upper house of
parliament.
Zimbabwe is suffering its worst economic crisis, with unemployment and
interest rates at a record 70%, and inflation running at more than 350%. The
International Monetary Fund warns that Zimbabwe's gross domestic product will
likely shrink another seven percent this year. And some economists predict that
by year's end inflation could reach 1,000%.
Hundreds of businesses have closed, foreign investment has dried up, Western
governments have frozen aid and millions of people are in danger of starvation.
Zimbabwe's Social and Economic
Meltdown
 |
| President Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe |
Domestic and overseas critics blame Zimbabwe's
economic crisis primarily on President Robert Mugabe's strongman rule and
quasi-Marxist economics. Among the problems most often cited are Mr. Mugabe's
land re-distribution policies, endemic corruption, the absence of the rule of
law and Zimbabwe's involvement in Congo's civil war.
Chester Crocker, Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University's
School of Foreign Service, served as Assistant Secretary of State for African
Affairs during the Reagan Administration. He says the social and economic
meltdown in Zimbabwe includes political intolerance, electoral fraud and gross
human rights violations.
According to Professor Crocker, "The country is being trashed. The economy is
being
 |
| Millions of Zimbabweans need food
aid |
trashed. The human rights abuses are horrendous,
the politicization of food distribution, a number of things of that kind. They
don't paint a pretty picture of the country. I think we are going to see more
and more reports of how bad it really is."
Economic sanctions against the country were triggered by Mr. Mugabe's policy
of forcibly seizing land owned by the country's white farmers, and the
implications of his policies for private property rights and foreign investments
in the country. Started five years ago, Mr. Mugabe's land re-distribution has
crippled agricultural production, lead to widespread shortages of food and
robbed Zimbabwe of its major exports and income producers, corn and tobacco.
 |
| Homeless children in Zimbabwe drinking water from a
broken water main |
According to the World Food Program,
about four million people in Zimbabwe are now in need of food aid. A recent
operation to "clean up" cities by bulldozing alleged illegal dwellings has left
another 700-thousand people homeless, adding to the ranks of the hungry. Even
the Zimbabwean military has been hit by chronic food shortages.
Peter Kagwanja of the International Crisis Group in Pretoria, South Africa
says many members of Robert Mugabe's 40-thousand strong army are angered by the
government's refusal to increase their salaries and provide adequate food. Mr.
Kagwanja says disgruntled soldiers could pose a threat to President Mugabe's
regime, which depends on the state security apparatus for its survival. He says,
"One of the most recent indicators that things are bad are reports that more
than 2,000 members of the military have been sent on forced leave because the
Army can't feed them. That came as a shock because the military is really 'the
goose that lays the golden egg' in Zimbabwe. In the past, the leadership has
been able to convince the population that their problems are directly linked to
the impact of sanctions imposed on the country by 'imperialistic powers.' But
this is beginning to lose hold."
Zimbabwe's Few
Supporters
Peter Kagwanja says Zimababwe, shunned by the West, now relies heavily on one
of its few remaining supporters, South Africa.
Mr. Kagwanja says, "One of the reasons many people feel strongly that
Zimbabwe can't collapse or disintegrate is simply because South Africa would do
everything in its power to ensure that it has no failed state at its doorstep.
Also South African companies have invested in Zimbabwe and are owed by Zimbabwe.
If South Africa shut down its main companies today, Zimbabwe would go dark in a
minute. Electricity is supplied from South Africa, telecommunications, as well
as investments in towns and other areas."
But many observers doubt whether South Africa has sufficient resources to
keep Zimbabwe afloat indefinitely.
Earlier this year, Mr. Mugabe launched a policy called "Look East," which
seeks trade and political agreements with Asian countries friendly to Zimbabwe,
primarily China.
Robert Lloyd is Professor of International Relations and Director of the
Center of International Studies and Languages at Pepperdine University in Los
Angeles, California. He says the "Look East" policy is chiefly intended to
ensure Mr. Mugabe's political survival.
"Because resources have been shrinking, Mugabe has been forced to find new
patrons," says Professor Lloyd. "His traditional relationship with Britain has
been strained to say the least. The United States has been busy trying to
isolate the government. South Africa deals with Zimbabwe, but it is sort of
cordial and correct, not necessarily warm and embracing with lots of money being
given. The European Union has been trying to isolate Zimbabwe. This leaves China
as a source of resources and patronage."
And like most analysts, Professor Lloyd contends Mr. Mugabe uses the
country's resources for personal gain and to consolidate his authoritarian rule.
Professor Lloyd says, "He has been able to control those resources and then
pay
 |
| Soldiers in Robert Mugabe's
army |
individuals who participate in supporting his
rule. As time has gone by, he has run out of sources to keep the patronage. If
you play out the trend into the future, you could see a point when he simply
would not have resources to do that. And at that point, you could see a very
quick regime change in the country."
Robert Mugabe, says Professor Lloyd, already has challengers within his own
party who are willing to strike a power sharing arrangement with the opposition
in the event of Mr. Mugabe's political downfall. There is still hope, note many
observers, for a peaceful democratic transition in Zimbabwe. Although some
opposition leaders oppose next month's parliamentary elections, they say they
remain committed to assuming power through the ballot box.
Chombo orders youth militia to evict
MDC supporters from Hopley Farm
From SW Radio Africa, 19 October
By Violet Gonda and Tererai
Karimakwenda
The minister for Local Government Ignatius Chombo visited
Hopley Farm
outside Harare on Tuesday and allegedly instructed the youth
militia to get
rid of anyone there who sympathises with the opposition
party. Hopley is one
of the camps where the government has dumped families
that lost their homes
during the demolitions of Operation Murambatsvina. Now
many families fear
that they will be further victimised by the militia. A
resident at Hopley
told us that the militia had already started identifying
suspected MDC
supporters and intimidating them. They arrived Wednesday
morning and are
going around arousing fear in these already vulnerable
people. The resident
we spoke to pleaded for help from the police, fearing
that the situation
might turn violent. Chombo told the Hopley residents that
some houses had
been completed under Operation Garikai, and that 150
families would benefit.
But there are at least 1000 people at Hopley in need
of housing. Residents
interpret Chombo's statements to mean that the few
ZANU-PF supporters would
be receive houses under Garikai. Residents at this
desolate camp said the
food they get is far from enough. They accuse the
government of blocking
churches that want to feed them from gaining
access.
Pro-democracy activists urge Zim poll strike
IOL
October 20
2005 at 10:02AM
Harare - A Zimbabwean civic body which is
advocating a new democratic
constitution in the southern African country,
Thursday called for a national
boycott of upcoming elections to a newly
created Senate.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a loose
alliance of
political, church, women's and student groups, called the
elections to
create an upper house of parliament "meaningless" and a "waste
of time and
resources."
"The NCA urges ordinary Zimbabweans to
refuse to be complicit in
Zanu-PF's exploitative grand scheme for diverting
national and international
attention from the root cause of suffering in
Zimbabwe, that is a failed
government," NCA spokesperson Jessie Majome told
a news conference.
The Senate will comprise 10
traditional chiefs, 50 elected senators
and six appointed by President
Robert Mugabe.
Critics say the move will strengthen the
parliamentary stranglehold of
the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union -
Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).
"The NCA urges all Zimbabweans to refuse
to be abused for personal
political gain and therefore refuse to vote in the
meaningless senate
elections," Majome said.
Mugabe last month
approved a controversial amendment to the country's
constitution, the 17th
since independence from white rule in 1980, which
provides for the formation
of the 66-member upper house of parliament.
Senate elections have
exposed divisions rocking the main opposition
movement, which risks a split
over whether to contest the polls.
Planned talks between the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change's
(MDC) top six officials did not
materialised Wednesday, with party officials
saying that some members of the
group were not available.
Hours after the meeting was due to have
taken place, MDC vice
president Gibson Sibanda issued a statement accusing
Tsvangirai of
"willfully violating the constitution of the MDC" by
disregarding results
from a vote to decide whether the opposition party
should contest the senate
polls.
The NCA said it watched with
"disgust the feuding and bickering" in
the MDC "a party that espouses
democratic ideals".
"Every Zimbabwean must refuse to be used and
abused by aspiring
politicians who wish to climb over them to reach the
dictated senate... for
personal wealth creation and self aggrandisement,"
the NCA said. - Sapa-AFP
Zimbabwe power firm gets $10m Chinese credit
line
Angola Press
Harare, Zimbabwe, 10/20 - Zimbabwe`s state-owned power company
said Tuesday
it had secured a US$10 million line of credit from China to
import equipment
to extend its national grid.
Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (Zesa) chairman Sydney Gata said the
utility planned to
electrify several new areas in the capital, Harare, and
other urban centres
using the Chinese financing.
He said the equipment for the project was
expected in the country by
December, and work would begin
immediately.
Vast new residential areas have sprouted in most urban areas
in Zimbabwe in
recent years, but many remain without electricity due to lack
of foreign
currency to import key equipment.
This has also been
compounded by power shortages in Zimbabwe, which only
generates 65 percent
of its electricity requirements, leaving the country to
import the balance
that it has been unable to do owing to the lack of
foreign exchange.