VOA
By Peta Thornycroft
Harare
24
October 2008
Zimbabwe's prime minister designate Morgan
Tsvangirai says he will attend a
meeting of regional leaders in Harare
Monday after he boycotted the last
session a week ago because he had no
passport to travel to Swaziland. Peta
Thornycroft reports that Mr.
Tsvangirai will attend a last ditch regional
meeting which will try and
remove a deadlock on filling top cabinet
positions in any new government of
national unity.
Morgan Tsvangirai still has no passport but will not need
one for the next
regional meeting because it will take place in
Harare.
A Movement for Democratic Change spokesman said he is attending
even though
many conditions agreed to in the power sharing agreement signed
on September
15 have been broken by President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said pro-democracy activists
continue to be
arrested and harassed, in particular leading figures from the
Women of
Zimbabwe Arise organization. Three of them were arrested earlier
this week
at a peaceful protest outside government offices.
One,
Jenni Williams, remains in detention in Bulawayo.
Chamisa also pointed to
the state-controlled mass media, which runs the only
two daily newspapers
and the one television and four radio stations. The
state media carries
daily reports hostile to the MDC.
Having been denied a passport since
June, Mr. Tsvangirai last weekend
refused to attend a meeting called by the
Southern African Development
Community, SADC, which is mediating a
settlement of Zimbabwe's ever
deepening political, economic and humanitarian
crisis.
Now he has said he will attend another SADC session in Harare, at
which
leaders from Mozambique, Angola. Swaziland and the Democratic Republic
of
Congo are expected to attend.
The SADC mediation, which began last
year, and ended in failure eight months
later, restarted after Zimbabwe's
elections in March in which the MDC
narrowly beat ZANU-PF in the
parliamentary elections and Mr. Tsvangirai won
the first round of the
presidential poll from Mr. Mugabe.
Heading the team is former South
African president Thabo Mbeki who has
continued to facilitate despite fears
that the power-sharing agreement is
unlikely to succeed.
The present
deadlock is about allocation of cabinet positions. ZANU-PF wants
all the
security posts, such as defense, the police and security ministries
with Mr
Tsvangirai, so far, being allocated the social service positions.
Mr.
Tsvangirai wants the home affairs ministry which controls the
police.
Some of his lieutenants, such as MDC secretary-general Tendai
Biti want 10
ministries re negotiated including local government,
information and foreign
affairs.
Most of Zimbabwe's population is
hungry and at least two million have been
identified by the United Nations
as in need of immediate food aid. Non
governmental organizations say they
are struggling to get around official
red tape and begin emergency feeding
programs.
http://www.nation.co.ke
By KITSEPILE NYATHI SATURDAY NATION
CorrespondentPosted Friday, October 24
2008 at 21:21
Zimbabwe's
parliament has been forced to adjourn until November 11, after
running out
of money to sustain its operations as delays in setting up an
inclusive
government continues to paralyse national institutions.
The assembly only
started sitting early this month, six months after the
March elections due
to the political impasse blamed on President Robert
Mugabe's controversial
re-election.
The suspension of parliament was announced by the acting
leader of the
House, Mr Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling Zanu PF, after the
feuding
parties came together to support a motion to declare the gripping
food
shortages in the country a national disaster.
"Because of the
constraints relating to the non-existence of the inclusive
government, the
House will not be sitting for a while," he said.
"In the event measures
are put in place, we may be able to call for the
sitting of the House at a
much earlier date."
Parliamentarians were told that the government had
run out of money to pay
for their accommodation and allowances during their
sessions.
Critical phase
Talks to conclude the setting up of the
power sharing agreement between the
ruling party and the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party
reach a critical phase on Monday when
regional leaders visit Harare.
The Southern African Development Community
(SADC) troika on security will
try to persuade Mr Mugabe and his rivals Mr
Morgan Tsvangirai and Prof
Arthur Mutambara to finalise the allocation of
Cabinet posts.
The setting up of the inclusive government has been in the
works since
September 15, when the three leaders signed an historic power
sharing pact
to end Zimbabwe's decade old political and economic
crisis.
Parliament is expected to approve a constitution amendment giving
force to
the power sharing arrangement and disruption of its settings might
further
delay the process.
Compared to other law makers in the
region, Zimbabwean legislators are
poorly paid, with their monthly salaries
averaging less than $5 (Sh400).
They also complain that they had been
informed that the government currently
had no money to buy vehicles for the
210 House of Assembly members and 96
senators.
Zimbabwe's worsening
economic crisis and the threat of a major food crisis
has injected urgency
to the process of establishing a new government.
Opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai will attend a summit next week meant to
rescue a stalled
power-sharing deal and use it to lay out his grievances
against President
Robert Mugabe, the MDC said on Friday.
Mr Tsvangirai had threatened to
boycott the talks, saying an election may be
needed to break a deadlock in
negotiations with Mugabe over control of
cabinet seats in a new
government.
He snubbed a similar meeting in Swaziland on Monday citing
Harare's refusal
to give him a new passport.
But the MDC said today
he would attend the October 27 summit in Harare.
"Monday's platform
presents us with a perfect opportunity to articulate our
compelling case for
equitable and sustainable power-sharing in a unity
government. So we will be
there...," Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
spokesman Nelson Chamisa
said.
The MDC says Mugabe is trying to seize important ministries and
sideline the
opposition and Chamisa cited a "litany" of Zanu-PF actions he
said went
against the spirit of a power-sharing deal signed more than a
month ago.
"You have the issue of the passport, the hate language used by
state media,
threats by war veterans, all those things will be presented to
SADC and in
the process (we will) try to make Zanu-PF see the profit of
working
together," he said.
Zimbabwe's militant war veterans
threatened this week to "take action"
against Tsvangirai. The MDC has
accused war veterans loyal to Mugabe of
attacking its
supporters.
Tsvangirai and Mugabe signed the power-sharing deal brokered
by South Africa's
former president Thabo Mbeki on Sept 15 but it has since
stalled over who
should run which ministries.
Fruitless
talks
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe earlier urged Tsvangirai
not to
boycott the summit and said only more dialogue would break an impasse
over
cabinet posts.
"When you seek a solution to a problem, you talk
to those that you disagree
with," Mothlanthe said on South Africa's public
broadcaster SABC. "You can't
make peace with your friends. You make peace
with your enemies, your
adversaries."
Fed up with weeks of fruitless
talks, the MDC leader did not attend an
emergency Southern African
Development Community (SADC) summit in Swaziland
this week that was to
address the Zimbabwe deadlock.
It was rescheduled.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
24
October 2008
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday told African
diplomats that
Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF are negotiating in bad faith over
the allocation
of cabinet ministries. On Wednesday Tsvangirai also met
European diplomats
at the Spanish ambassador's residence where he briefed
them on the state of
the talks. He slammed what he called Mugabe's
disrespect for African leaders
and institutions and said Mugabe's regime was
trying to saddle the MDC with
responsibilities, while denying them any real
authority.
The Prime Minister designate appeared to be lobbying the African
and
international community to take tougher action on Mugabe's intransigence
after the signing of the power sharing accord in September. On Monday
Tsvangirai failed to travel to Swaziland for the SADC troika summit on
Zimbabwe after the government refused to renew his expired passport. The MDC
leader pointed to this incident as a sign of insincerity on the part of the
regime. If the talks deadlock persists Tsvangirai said the MDC would appeal
for arbitration from elder statesmen in Africa and the international
community in general.
Adding to MDC frustrations is the fact that
mediator Thabo Mbeki has shown
his clear bias towards Mugabe. Instead of
condemning Mugabe's unilateral
grabbing of ministries, Mbeki made attempts
to justify the allocation in a
report he tabled to the SADC troika of
Swaziland, Mozambique and Angola -
the grouping meant to deliberate on the
deadlock at the rescheduled meeting
on Monday. With Mozambique and Angola
traditional allies of Mugabe, there
are worries the meeting will attempt to
force Tsvangirai to cave-in to
Mugabe's unreasonable demands.
Despite all
their frustrations the MDC had on Wednesday told Newsreel they
would not be
boycotting Monday's meeting of the SADC troika. Party spokesman
Nelson
Chamisa told us the MDC respected African institutions that were
trying to
help and would 'definitely' attend the summit. 'We are going to
present our
case for an equal share of power and are comfortable with all
the organs of
SADC and the African Union.'
Despite this, numerous news sites have run
stories expressing concern over
an MDC boycott. South Africa's new
President, Kgalema Motlanthe, on Friday
urged Tsvangirai not to boycott the
Harare summit. 'When you seek a solution
to a problem, you talk to those
that you disagree with. You can't make peace
with your friends. You make
peace with your enemies or adversaries,' he told
South African radio. The
MDC however confirmed there was never a decision to
boycott in the first
place.
Meanwhile Tsvangirai will this weekend address rallies in Marondera's
Chinotimba Stadium, Gandanzara in Rusape, Sakubva Stadium in Mutare, and
Chibuwe in Chipinge. The party said the rallies were part of their attempts
at giving feedback to their supporters on the state of the power sharing
talks.
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
24 October 2008
Posted to the web 24 October
2008
Harare
OPPOSITION party leaders and diplomats have described
the power-sharing
agreement signed on September 15 as a "forgery" after it
was discovered the
document was an altered version of the original one
agreed to on September
11.
The issue has brought into question
circumstances surrounding the deal which
has caused anger and infighting in
Zanu PF and the MDC. The parties are
divided over the deal and have of late
been battling to seal widening
cracks.
The September 15 document
that was signed at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in
Harare by President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister-designate Morgan
Tsvangirai, and deputy prime
minister-designate Arthur Mutambara with
facilitator former South African
President Thabo Mbeki, contains crucial
omissions.
Sources said the
main MDC faction's chief negotiator Tendai Biti has written
to Mbeki about
the changes -- which he described as a "forgery" -- and was
assured that the
issue would be rectified. It is not known who made the
alterations, but the
agreement was tampered with after it was given to Zanu
PF to allow
government to do official binding and inserting in folders.
In the
September 11 document signed by all leaders, Section 20.1.7 which
deals with
senior government appointments states that "the parties agree
that with
respect to occupants of senior government positions such as
permanent
secretaries and ambassadors, the leadership of government,
comprising the
president, deputy presidents, prime minister and the deputy
prime ministers
will consult and agree on such prior to their appointment".
The paragraph
is missing in the September 15 agreement.
In place of that paragraph in
the final agreement, Section 20.1.7 now has
"Senate". Even then the senate
issue was changed.
In the September 11 agreement, the paragraph on the
senate, Section 20.1.9
read: "The president shall, in his discretion,
appoint five persons to the
existing positions of presidential senatorial
appointments.
"There shall be created an additional six (6) appointed
senatorial posts,
which shall be filled by persons appointed by the
president, four (4) of
whom will be nominated by MDC-T and two (2) by
MDC-M."
This was changed in the final agreement.
The final
agreement now reads: "The president shall, in his discretion,
appoint five
persons to the existing positions of presidential senatorial
appointments.
"There shall be created an additional nine (9)
appointed senatorial posts,
which shall be filled by persons appointed by
the president of whom three
(3) will be nominated by Zanu PF, 3 by MDC-T and
3 by MDC-M".
MDC leaders and diplomats said although the changes do not
fundamentally
alter the balance of power as enshrined in the agreement, they
do raise
questions of "chicanery" during the talks.
"In criminal law
this is called forgery," a senior MDC official said. "We
have raised this
with Mbeki and we were assured that the issue would be
rectified."
One diplomat said: "Although these issues appear minor,
the question is not
the alterations per se, but the motive behind it. Who
did it and why?"
Tsvangirai recently referred to this as "omissions" at a
press briefing and
indicated the issue was part of outstanding matters in
the talks.
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
24 October 2008
Posted to the web 24 October
2008
Loughty Dube
Harare
THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC has
written a letter to former South African
president Thabo Mbeki raising
concerns over what it believes is his latest
example of backing for
President Robert Mugabe.
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC spokesperson, confirmed
to the Zimbabwe Independent
yesterday that the party had written to Mbeki
complaining about a document
he authored and presented to the Sadc troika in
Swaziland on Monday
defending Mugabe's unilateral allocation of ministries a
fortnight ago under
the unity government deal.
Chamisa, however,
declined to reveal the contents of his party's letter to
Mbeki.
"It
is true the letter was written to Mbeki expressing our utter disgust at
the
report attributed to him and we were expressing our position in response
to
the document," Chamisa said. "I will not give you details of what was
contained in the letter as this will be against the spirit of the
negotiations which we are still committed to."
Sources within the
party said the MDC asked Mbeki to step down as the
facilitator of the
negotiations between Mugabe's Zanu PF and the two
formations of the MDC
because of perceived bias.
The sources said the MDC accused Mbeki of
ignoring the concerns raised by
the party on the allocation of "key"
ministries and simply endorsed what
Mugabe gazetted.
Mugabe allocated
to Zanu PF important ministries like defence, foreign
affairs, local
government and home affairs, but the MDC said the
distribution was
tantamount to "power grabbing", not sharing.
It said it should be in
charge of the ministries of finance and home
affairs.
The Sadc troika
meeting called to break the impasse on Monday failed to take
place after
Tsvangirai did not travel to Mbabane arguing that the government
should
issue him with a new passport. The government had on Sunday
reportedly
issued him with an emergency travel document valid for three days
and not
valid for transit through South Africa.
The troika meeting is now
expected to take place in Harare on Monday.
Meanwhile, Chamisa said
failure by the government to issue Tsvangirai with a
new passport was a
demonstration of insincerity on the part of Zanu PF in
concluding the
power-sharing deal.
"Several political events on the ground serve to
illustrate Zanu PF's lack
of genuineness and commitment to the political
settlement," Chamisa said.
"These include the unilateral appointment of
provincial governors, the
convening of parliament without consent of the
MDC, the unilateral
allocation of key ministries to Zanu PF, the swearing-in
of the two
vice-presidents, and the continued use of hate speech and hate
language by
the public media."
Chamisa said it also included the
politicisation of food aid and the
deployment of soldiers in preparation for
by-elections even though the
political settlement has frozen all polls for
12 months.
"The history of President Tsvangirai's application for a new
passport just
goes to show the condescending and petty-minded attitude of
Zanu PF towards
the MDC, with which it is meant to be forging a new
political reality, and
to the individual who is now the prime
minister-designate," he added.
ZIMBABWE
ELECTION SUPPORT NETWORK
Harare - 24 October 2008 - The Zimbabwe
Election Support Network (ZESN)
notes with serious concern the announcement
by the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission that it will proceed with preparations
for the holding of
by-elections despite a clause in the agreement between
ZANU-PF and the two
MDC formations not to contest each other should
vacancies arise in the House
of Assembly and Senate.
While elections
are the tenets to any democracy, the timing for holding the
by-elections is
not appropriate. Cognisant of the gross politically -
motivated violence and
human rights violations that took place in the run up
and post June 27
run-off election, ZESN strongly believes that people are
still traumatised.
Furthermore the ordeals of violence have left societies
dehumanised and have
engendered feelings of hatred and polarisation within
the country. The
murder, assault, abduction and displacement of scores of
people after the 29
March harmonised elections cannot be condoned. People's
homes, livestock,
properties were torched to ashes, while some were left
disabled. ZESN had
one of its observers killed in Hurungwe North
constituencies for observing
the harmonised elections on 29 March 2008 and
many other observers were
harassed and victimised. Several ZEC officials
were arrested and it is
alleged that at least one ZEC official was abducted
and murdered. The
criminals who in most cases have been named and identified
have neither been
arrested nor prosecuted. On the contrary many of the
victims are still
facing false allegations of political violence and as such
will not able to
freely participate in any election process. The conditions
are simply not
conducive for the conduct of a free and fair by-election in
any part of the
country.
It is against this backdrop that ZESN is gravely concerned
about the timing
of these by-elections as the economic and socio-political
environment as
well as the legal framework governing elections is not
conducive for the
holding of any election in the immediate future. This
therefore calls for
the need for national healing, cohesion and
depolarisation of the society
which is also recognised in the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU), in which
parties involved had agreed that for a period
of 12 months there will be no
by-elections owing to the fact that the
country was not ready for another
election. Article XXI, clause 21.1 states
that ..should any electoral
vacancy arise in respect of a local authority or
parliamentary seat, for
whatever reason, only the party holding that seat
prior to the vacancy
occurring shall be entitled to nominate and field a
candidate to fill the
seat.... .
Recognising that the holding of
the by-elections is in accordance with the
laws governing elections in
Zimbabwe, and that the people have a fundamental
right to elect
representatives of their choice, it is ZESN's considered view
that the MOU
rightfully acknowledged the need to give the people a 12 month
period for
some breathing space and national healing.
ZESN further notes the
urgency for the following measures before any
election in any constituency
is held:-
· Fundamental reforms to restore the bill of rights and
restore basic
freedoms both in the statute book and in actual
practice;
· Practical measures to end lawlessness, repression,
persecution of
government critics, human rights activists and human rights
defenders;
· Fundamental electoral reforms to redress existing flaws and
ensure a level
playing field;
· The establishment of an independent,
accountable and transparent electoral
management body;
· A credible
electoral process;
· Transparency in postal voting and tabulation of
results;
· Restoration of the independence and professionalism of all
institutions of
government namely the Police, the Army, Civil Service,
Attorney General's
Office and the Judiciary.
In as much as ZESN
supports the holding of elections, the Network adamantly
encourages a
democratic and transparent process where fundamental human
rights such as
freedom of association, movement, expression and campaigning
are recognised.
The electorate should also be provided with comprehensive
voter education
and information. Political parties are strongly discouraged
from harassing
and intimidating voters, engaging in vote buying, misusing of
state
resources among other malpractices.
ZESN therefore re-emphasises on
the need to inculcate a culture of political
tolerance, respect and fair
political contest. A transparent, independent
and accountable electoral
management that fosters credible elections.
Values and practices of
political tolerance, respect, non-violence and
dialogue are the only means
of resolving political differences before any
election takes place.
End//
Background
There are three vacant seats in
the House of Assembly, Gokwe-Gumunyu
resulting from the death of ZANU PF's
Mr. Ephraim Mushoriwa, Matobo North
seat vacated by MDC's Mr. Lovemore Moyo
(elected Speaker of Parliament) and
Guruve North resulting from the death of
ZANU PF's Mr. Cletus Mabharanga.
There are also three vacant constituency
seats in the Senate, Chegutu seat
vacated by Mrs.Edna Madzongwe (elected
President of Senate), Chiredzi seat
vacated by Mr. Titus Maluleke (ZANU PF)
on appointment as Provincial
Governor of Masvingo and Gokwe South vacated by
Mr. Jaison Max Kokerai
Machaya (ZANU PF) on appointment as Provincial
Governor, Midlands.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, October 24, 2008 - ZIMBABWEAN banks have
started looping off
six zeroes from the currency to accommodate the growing
number of digits
amid revelations the central banking is working of new
reforms in the
banking sector.
Banking industry
sources said on Friday Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ), Gideon Gono, would
next week make an official announcement on new
reforms in the sector, among
them an increase in the current daily cash
withdrawals and cheque
limits.
Stanbic Bank, one of the 14 commercial banks operating in
the country,
on Friday put our a circular informing its customers that with
effect from
Monday next week, it would remove six zeroes from all
accounts.
"With effect from 27 October, 2008 account balances with
the bank will
be re-dominated with figures rounded off to the nearest 1,
000, 000 as a
work around solution," read part of Stanbic Bank circular
given to customers
as they queued to withdraw Zd 50 000, the daily cash
limit.
Speculation in the banking swelled that Gono would most
probably hike
the daily cash limit from Z$50 000 to $500 000 for
individuals. The current
limit of $50 000 is not enough to buy a single loaf
of bread. The central
bank has loop-off zeroes from the country's currency
two times since August
2006.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
24
October 2008
Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, the leaders of Women
of Zimbabwe
Arise (WOZA), will spend yet another weekend in prison after the
magistrate
who was due to rule on the pair's bail application on Friday
delayed her
judgement to attend a workshop.
The two activists were
arrested in Bulawayo during a WOZA demonstration,
protesting the extreme
hardships, including the critical food shortages,
being suffered by
Zimbabweans. More than 200 activists converged at a
government complex
demanding to be heard by the heads of service delivery,
about what is being
done to address the humanitarian crisis affecting
millions of Zimbabweans.
However riot police used force to disperse the
peaceful protesters and some
women were arrested before the demonstration
even began. They were later
released. But Williams and Mahlangu, who are
being charged under the
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for
allegedly disturbing the
peace, still remain in custody after they were
denied bail last
Friday.
Magistrate Charity Maphosa was due to rule on the pair's bail
application
this Friday after reserving judgement on the matter on Tuesday.
But on
arriving at court their defence lawyer, Kossam Ncube, was informed
that
Magistrate Maphosa was not available because she was 'forced' to attend
a
workshop, and that another magistrate would deliver her verdict. Instead
Magistrate Sophie Matimba delayed the ruling until Monday at
11.15am.
Williams and Mahlangu remain in Mlondolozi Female Prison where
conditions
are terrible. WOZA spokesperson Annie Sibanda told Newsreel on
Friday "the
cells are extremely overcrowded and full of lice, and food is
also extremely
limited." She explained that prisoners receive only a small
amount of sadza
with green vegetable cooked in water - no salt or any other
form of
nutrition. She added that prison guards also routinely insult
inmates.
"We are not surprised by the state's delay in releasing the
women," Sibanda
explained. "But we are anxious to get them out as soon as
possible because
of the terrible conditions that are being forced to cope
with."
Human Rights Lawyer Gabriel Shumba, from the Zimbabwe Exiles
Forum, told
Newsreel on Friday the continued detention of the WOZA pair
"exemplifies the
intolerance still evident in Zimbabwe." The forum and other
human rights
lobby groups, including Amnesty International, have widely
condemned the
arrests and called for Williams and Mahlangu to be immediately
released.
"The situation, including the desperate humanitarian crisis is
indicative of
the fact that ZANU PF is not willing to let go," Shumba said.
"As long as
this is the case, Zimbabweans will never be accorded the
freedoms that are
theirs by right."
Monday's ruling will come as the
SADC Troika on Politics, Defence and
Security meet in Harare to discuss the
Zimbabwe talks deadlock. Shumba said
the MDC will have a golden opportunity
to raise the WOZA case with SADC
leaders and put pressure on ZANU PF. But
Shumba added that SADC itself has
repeatedly indicated "they are unwilling
to intervene in the crisis and more
than willing to accommodate ZANU
PF."
WOZA's spokesperson agreed that this issue needs to be raised with
SADC to
show the obvious lack of change on the ground in Zimbabwe. Sibanda
expressed
anger that there has been no response from the regional
bloc.
"These arrests are telling of the extreme's ZANU PF will take to
remain in
power," Sibanda said. "SADC should be saying something and needs
to say
something."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday,
24 October 2008 09:37
The MDC notes with concern the continued arrests and
beatings of civic
society leaders and activists, further pointing to the
intransigence of Zanu
PF in letting democracy thrive in the country in line
with the new political
dispensation.
The MDC notes with concern the
arrest and detention of Women of Zimbabwe
Arise (WOZA), Jennie Williams in
Bulawayo for staging a peaceful sit-in at
government offices demanding the
immediate formation of an inclusive
government and the access of food by the
starving millions in the country.
Williams, Nokuthula Mahlangu and a
group of other concerned women were
demanding food aid for millions of
starving Zimbabweans and the immediate
formation of an inclusive
government.
As women they were showing real concern about the continued
abuse of food
aid by the Zanu PF regime as a political tool while millions
of Zimbabweans
who are in dire need of food assistance are going
hungry.
It is also the women who are bearing the brunt by the stalemate
in the
negotiations to form a transitional government as they and their
children
are mostly affected by the ever-rising price increases and the
decline in
social services such as water, transport, housing, health and
education.
Children are failing to go to school because the teachers are
on strike
while most hospitals are operating below capacity, as they have no
drugs,
doctors and nurses. There is an outbreak of diseases such as cholera
in the
country which clear evidence of deteriorating standards in the
country.
Yet the Zanu PF regime is fiddling and arresting civic society
leaders while
the country burns.
While it is clear that Zimbabwe is
burning, Zanu PF has shown a glaring
deficit of sincerity in the
implementation of the political settlement.
The MDC demands an immediate
end to the harassment and arrest of civil
society leaders and activists. We
demand that Zanu PF complies with the
people's will, which is the expedient
formation of an inclusive government
that will result in unfettered
democracy where the people of Zimbabwe will
be free to express themselves.
After all the right of citizens to freedoms
such as assembly, association
and speech is guaranteed in the political
settlement signed by the three
leaders of the three major political parties
on 15 September 2008.
It
is now clear that Zanu PF is an antithesis to democracy and freedom in
Zimbabwe.
In a new Zimbabwe citizens shall have the right and freedom
to protest and
express themselves in a peaceful and democratic
manner.
MDC Information and Publicity
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
24 October 2008
Posted to the web 24 October
2008
Lucia Makamure and Wongai Zhangazha
CHAOS is expected to
reign supreme during Zimbabwe Schools Examinations
Council (Zimsec)'s Grade
7, 'O' and 'A' Level examinations which commence on
Monday due to the strike
action by teachers over poor remuneration and
working
conditions.
Teachers have been on strike since September 2. Teachers have
been on
intermittent strikes since the beginning of the year with most often
conducting lessons only once or twice a week.
The Zimbabwe
Teachers Union (Zimta) and the Progressive Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
yesterday said the Zimsec examinations would be written
under unusual
circumstances.
Grade 7 examinations start on Monday, while the 'O' and
'A' levels begin on
November 3.
Zimta spokesman Sifiso Ndlovu said:
"The examinations will be written under
unusual circumstances as the
education system is operating below 40% and
there might be no teachers to
invigilate the examinations."
He added that Zimta had received a report
from Mashonaland East where
teachers at a school in the province failed to
turn up to invigilate an Art
practical test and the headmaster had to carry
out the duty alone.
Ndlovu said postponement of the examinations until
next year would have been
better to preserve the quality of the country's
education.
Raymond Majongwe, the PTUZ president, said this year's
examinations were not
necessary as the academic calendar was disturbed by
the economic and
political events prevailing in the country.
He said:
"We have communicated to the permanent secretary of education that
examinations for 2008 are not necessary. The government wants to have the
exams written for political reasons."
Majongwe said although teachers
sympathised with schoolchildren and parents,
they would not be able to
invigilate considering the paltry salaries they
received this
month.
Teachers were this month paid between $60 000 to $100
000.
Representatives from Zimta are today expected to meet with Ministry
of
Education permanent secretary Stephen Mahere to address the
crisis.
A reliable source at Zimsec said even though the examination
dates and
timetables were announced, the conditions the students were going
to write
under would affect the credibility of the tests.
"We were
told that the dates came from the Ministry of Education and it was
a direct
order that the examinations be written on those dates. The ministry
said it
was Zimsec's homework to make it possible," the source said. "One
really
wonders how the students are expected to write when some entry forms
are
still to be processed. The normal trend is that students make
corrections on
the forms which Zimsec will amend until everything is correct
and then the
statement of entries will be issued. They haven't received that
and they are
expected to write on Monday. There is total chaos."
The source said June
results were yet to be released.
"The June results are still to be marked
and very few people are interested
in marking them because of the pathetic
salaries," the source said. "Under
normal circumstances those who sat for
the June examinations should have
known their results around September or
October before they sit for the
November tests so that they don't waste
their time repeating a subject they
would have passed."
The source
said there was a critical shortage of staff at Zimsec especially
in the
examinations administration department.
"This month they gave workers a
net salary of $12 000. Who would want to
come and work and get such peanuts?
They tried to recruit eight contract
workers who they said would pay $829
000, but out of the eight, only two
agreed.".
Efforts to get a
comment from Mahere were in vain at the time of going to
press
yesterday.
http://www.mineweb.com/
One of
Zimbabwe's medium size gold mines has been forced to close as it
cannot pay
its power bills due to slow payment for its gold from the
country's Central
Bank
Posted: Friday , 24 Oct 2008
HARARE (Reuters) -
A
Zimbabwean gold mine was this week forced to shut down after failing to
settle an electricity bill with the country's state power company,
threatening the jobs of 600 workers, an industry official said on
Friday.
Gold accounts for a third of export earnings in Zimbabwe's
battered economy,
but the industry has been hampered by frequent power cuts,
shortages of
foreign currency and workers and delays in payment by the
central bank.
Golden Valley, a medium-sized mine located in Kadoma, 150
km (88 miles) west
of the capital Harare, closed this week after failing to
settle its debt
with state-owned electricity firm ZESA Holdings, an official
with the
Chamber of Mines said.
The mining company blamed the central
bank subsidiary Fidelity for delaying
payment for the gold sold to it by the
firm, the official said on condition
of anonymity. Fidelity is the sole
purchaser and refiner of the precious
metal in Zimbabawe.
"We have
serious issues affecting miners and the Golden Valley issue is only
but one
of several problems the industry is facing," the official said.
Golden
Valley officials were not available for comment.
Zimbabwe's gold output
tumbled 44 percent to 2,624 kg in the first seven
months of this
year.
Miners in the southern African nation, which is struggling with an
economic
crisis marked by inflation of 231 million percent and chronic food
and fuel
shortages, receive 40 percent of their earnings in foreign
currency.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Synodia Bhasera, Staff Reporter
THE
introduction of shops selling groceries and other commodities in foreign
currency might have come as a welcome relief to companies that were battling
to restock, but it has actually worsened the plight of the Zimbabwean
worker, still being paid salaries in the fast-depreciating local
currency.
Trade union leaders interviewed by The Financial Gazette, said
this week the
scheme has done little to alleviate the suffering among
workers who now need
hard currency, which they are not earning, to buy basic
commodities.
Gideon Gono, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, last
month
legalised foreign currency transactions involving groceries and fuel.
The
facility is however, limited to companies licenced by the RBZ.
This
was meant to enable manufacturers of various goods to generate foreign
cash
needed to import raw materials, increase capacity utilisation and
improve
the availability of goods on market, leading to a marked reduction
in prices
as competition intensifies.
But most basic commodities have vanished from the
supermarkets shelves only
to appear in shops licensed to retail in foreign
currency.
"The situation is making it difficult for us to survive. How are we
supposed
to transact using foreign currency yet we are paid in local
currency? Even
those prices in Zimbabwe dollars are also very high. Our
members are quite
unhappy with that arrangement," said Joseph Chinotimba,
president of the
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions.
Chinotimba, who
doubles up as the vice chairman of the combative Zimbabwe
National
Liberation War Veterans Association, said it was contradictory that
shops
licensed to sell goods in foreign currency were not paying their
workers in
that currency.
"It is painful that they are not paying their workers using
the same
currency. Where do they expect them to get it?" he asked.
A
survey conducted by The Financial Gazette showed that most licenced
outlets
have demarcated their supermarkets into two sections - an almost
empty
section selling in local currency and a well-stocked one that sells in
hard
currency.
Cynics are poking fun at the scheme, saying all it has helped
achieve is to
worsen the informal currency exchange markets. Consumers are
now being
forced to buy foreign currency using their salaries at "the cheque
rate" or
to moonlight in order to raise the hard currency needed to make
ends meet.
It also emerged during the survey that even locally produced
commodities
were being sold in foreign currency.
A pint of sterilised
milk was selling at US$5, which could easily translate
into R40 yet the same
product fetches about R9 in South Africa.
Lovemore Matombo, secretary general
of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, said the situation had become
unbearable for the workers.
He said the union could have mobilised workers to
protest, but shelved the
idea in order to give a chance to the inter-party
dialogue between ZANU-PF
and the Movement for Democratic Change to
succeed.
"We could have engaged ourselves in protest but because there is
this
discussion between the political parties, we didn't want to be seen as
sabotaging the power-sharing agreement," Matombo said.
"The whole process
does not benefit workers but the business people. This is
purely an economic
failure, which requires political solution."
Economist John Robertson said
more workers were going hungry because the
shops that had stocks were
trading in foreign currency.
"It's regrettable that the shops that have
reasonable stocks are asking for
foreign currency and it causes further
shrinkage in consumption and
increases hardships," he said.
Zimbabwe
Independent (Harare)
24 October 2008
Posted to the web 24 October
2008
Lucia Makamure
LAWYERS representing MDC leader Arthur
Mutambara and his two co-accused, who
are facing contempt of court and
publication of falsehoods charges, have
accused the Attorney-General (AG)'s
office of abusing its authority by
selectively applying the law to
"prosecute dissent".
Mutambara and the Standard newspaper, represented by
chief executive officer
Rapheal Khumalo and editor Davison Maruziva, are
accused of violating
sections of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)
Act.
The three allegedly published or communicated a statement
prejudicial to the
state after the weekly published an opinion piece on
April 20 authored by
Mutambara headlined "A shameful betrayal of national
Independence".
They also face a contempt of court charge arising from the
same article,
which questioned a High Court ruling by Justice Tendai Uchena
dismissing an
application by the leader of the other formation of the MDC,
Morgan
Tsvangirai, to compel the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release
the
results of the March 29 presidential election.
On Wednesday,
lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, representing Mutambara, told regional
magistrate
Morgen Nemadire that the AG's office was using the law
selectively,
especially on contempt of court charges.
Mtetwa submitted to the court an
article published in the Herald on March 17
2005 in which President Robert
Mugabe slammed a ruling by the Electoral
Court nullifying the results of a
nomination court for Chimanimani
constituency.
Uchena was the judge
in the case.
Mugabe described the ruling as "madness" and went further to
say: "I don't
understand the court's decision."
Mtetwa asked why the
AG's office did not push for the prosecution of Mugabe
and the Herald if it
was impartial.
She said the charge of contempt of court against
Mutambara, Khumalo and
Maruziva could not stick because the state had failed
to obtain a written
complaint from Uchena.
However, in response
prosecutor Tawanda Zvekare told the court that the AG's
office issued a
statement on behalf of the judiciary and as a result was the
complainant.
"The judiciary itself may not be aware that they have
been derided or that
the statement said may be contemptuous to them,"
Zvekare argued. "The state
took it upon itself to remedy this case and that
is why we don't have a
statement from Justice Uchena or the High Court
itself."
Earlier this year, Master of the High Court Charles Nyatanga
submitted a
letter to the court saying that he issued a statement on behalf
of the
judiciary in response to Mutambara's article after a request by the
police.
Nyatanga later described the article as "contemptuous of the
judiciary".
Nemadire remanded out of custody Mutambara, Maruziva and
Khumalo to November
12 when he will make a ruling on whether the case should
be referred to the
Supreme Court as requested by the three's
lawyers.
Linda Cook and Advocate Deepak Mehta represented Maruziva and
Khumalo.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Friday, 24 October
2008 10:49
ZIMBABWE'S domestic debt rose 1,3 million % inside three
weeks to $1
trillion on August 8 from $79,6 million recorded on July 15,
official
figures revealed this week.
The rise in government
domestic debt levels, which is now being kept
secret by the Reserve Bank,
was sparked by huge interest payments which
account for $822 billion of the
total debt.
The debt has been ballooning because of the Reserve Bank's
advances to
government, largely for the March 29 and June 27 presidential
elections,
agricultural mechanisation programme and food imports.
"The stock of government domestic debt by mid July stood at $1,064
trillion,
reflecting an increase of 1,3 million from $79,6 million,
according to
official figures obtained from the Reserve Bank on Wednesday.
With
government's continued reliance on borrowing from the local
market, domestic
debt is estimated to be nearing $100 trillion.
The mismatch between
fiscal revenues and expenditures also opened a
significant funding gap
resulting in government utilising the overdraft
window at the Reserve Bank,
while at the same time borrowing from the
domestic debt.
According
to the Reserve Bank, as of July 31 cumulatively, since the
beginning of the
year government raised 365-day treasury bills amounting to
$$21,1 of which
995 or $21 million was raised between April and July.
The RBZ advances
to government have over the past five years accounted
for about 80% of total
debt, a situation bank economists say is evidence
that government was broke
and had no other source of revenue other than the
domestic market.
Figures from the RBZ show that the solvency of government was already
seriously compromised with the current interest rates, and technically
government finances will not be better off with even a 1% rise in interest
rates.
The increasing government debt stock raised fresh fears of
renewed
turbulence in the crisis-strapped economy, battling with high
inflation
currently at 231 million %.
The surge in domestic debt
was the result of high interests on the
market which were in line with the
inflation rate.
Government has also been forced to rely on domestic
borrowings because
their tax revenue base has dwindled because of company
closures which have
led to retrenchments. This means that in real terms, the
government is
collecting less revenue through corporate and income
tax.
During the last monetary policy in July, Gono said the Reserve
Bank
had remained the major holder of government domestic debt at 95% of the
total amount.
Analysts say the debt stock was likely to rise
further on increased
borrowing by government to finance the import of wheat
and maize,
electricity, civil servants' salaries and sustain the Basic
Commodities
Supply Side Intervention (Baccosi).
"Commercial banks
accounted for about 99% of the monetary banking
sector's holding of domestic
debt. This is attributed mainly to banks'
active participation in Open
Market Operations," said the Reserve Bank.
The major effects of rising
government debt would be an escalation of
the inflationary rate because of
increased recourse to the domestic market
for funding.
With
inflation at 231 million % government's huge appetite for cash is
also
likely to spur increased money printing, pushing money supply growth
upwards.
The fact that Zimbabwe has no access to international
capital has only
aggravated the situation.
"The figure has a huge
bearing on the returns that investors will be
getting from the money market.
The money market is bound to continue issuing
investors with negative
returns in the short-term to minimise the harmful
effects of the huge
interest cost component on the debt figure," an
economist with the central
bank told businessdigest.
Meanwhile the Reserve Bank has kept the lid
on the money supply (M3)
figures. The official figure to date is 420 867,4%
for April. Economic
analysts this week said the figure could be nearing 150
million % after Gono
introduced 21 new denomination notes this year
alone.
Annual broad money supply growth has maintained an upward trend
since
November 2003 reflecting the inevitable Reserve Bank's intervention to
stimulate the supply side of the economy in the absence of external
support.
Official figures from the Reserve Bank show that on an annual
basis
domestic credit grew by 482 460,9% for April, largely driven by growth
in
credit to the private sector - 412 919,7%, credit to government - 734
013,7%, and claims on public enterprises - 216 066,7%. The Reserve
Bank has published the latest figures.
Credit to government has largely
been from domestic banks because of
the drying up of external lines. Lenders
in the domestic market no longer
have the capacity to meet the needs of
government.
By Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Nelson Chenga, Staff Reporter
THE
list of the country's failed or abandoned economic recovery blueprints
reads
like a table of contents of a monstrous doctoral thesis: "How not to
run an
economy".
As far back as the year 2000, the central bank, which controls
the financial
levers of the economy, had seen the economic recession gaining
momentum like
a loose typhoon in the making.
It pressed the alarm button,
but no one bothered about the shrill calls for
the country to either change
course or brace for the worst.
The twister struck and it did so hard. The
results of its destructive blow
are evidently clear today for the whole
world to see.
And after eight years of economic devastation, the country's
economy is now
literary down on its knees.
Agriculture, once the backbone
of the economy, is now a pale shadow of its
former self.
A robust
industry of the 1970s up to the year 2000 is long gone, decimated
by a
crushing economic crisis.
Inflation, which was manageable in the late 1990s,
has mutated into a
Titanic of unimaginable proportions.
Analysts trace
the country's economic collapse to, primarily, the unbudgeted
payouts of
gratuities to more than 52,000 independence war participants in
1997. This
was compounded by Zimbabwe's military adventure in the Democratic
Republic
of Congo, which at its peak, gobbled an estimated US$1 million a
day.
Then came the unplanned land seizures in 2000, which destroyed the
key
agricultural sector.
What followed thereafter was a raft of recovery
blueprints to roll back the
tide of inflation, but these could not pull the
economy out of the woods.
As of July, year-on-year inflation was quoted at
230 million percent, an
indication that the country's economy is on the
boil.
It was mainly the scary inflation outlook that jolted the Reserve Bank
of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) to press the panic button, giving birth to the Millennium
Economic Recovery Programme (MERP) in 2000.
At the time, inflation had
accelerated between 1997 and 1999 from an average
18 percent to 70.4 percent
by October 1999. This was hard on the heels of a
phenomenal decline in Gross
Domestic Product from 10.6 percent in 1996 to
almost zero in 1999.
In
August 2001 the then RBZ governor, Leonard Tsumba, in his assessment of
MERP, said: "High inflation levels have progressively wilted the country's
competitiveness. The loss of international competitiveness invariably
implies diminishing exports and foreign earnings."
He cited the
deteriorating terms of trade, declining international commodity
prices;
redu-ced balance of payments, a decline in both investments and
loans
capital flows; the accumulation of arrears on national debt and the
pervasive parallel market activities as some of the key factors that were to
weaken the country's recovery eff-orts.
"The weakening performance of the
economy was reflected in contraction in
manufacturing and mining.
Manufact-uring and mining sectors were depressed,
against the background of
week domestic and export demand, foreign excha-nge
shortages, cash flow
difficulties, rising production costs and energy
shortages," said
Tsumba.
Unfortunately efforts to avert an economic Tsunami have not been
entirely
successful beca-use they were either half-hearted or that there was
change
of course mid-stream.
The country's exch-ange rate has moved from
$50 per United States dollar in
August 1999 to about $1 billion on the
illegal parallel market as of
yesterday.
Low interest rates in an
environment of high liquidity have effectively
increased the pressure on the
exchange rate.
In March 2005 the then Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
economist, Godfrey
Kanyeze, hinted at some of the root causes of the
country's continued
failure to resuscitate its ailing economy.
He said:
"As things stand, without clearly spelt out national and sectoral
targets,
the pursuit of national development is akin to a ship without a
rudder on a
night without a star."
And when Gideon Gono took charge of the RBZ in
November 2003, it became
apparent that an economic turn-around required more
than just monetary
policy alone.
Gono has worked tirelessly to
resuscitate the country's economy, but he has
failed to gain support from
the politicians, whose endless infighting, has
derailed recovery
efforts.
"The problem we are facing in our country is of corruption across
the
country. Corruption, corruption, corruption has destroyed this country,"
said Gono addressing ZANU-PF delegates at an extraordinary congress in
December last year.
His statement came after many such comments that
clearly indicated why all
the past recovery programmes bore little
fruit.
"We cannot let an economy die because of individuals. We are all
responsible
for the success or failure of this economy.I think we have
allowed ourselves
to go down so much so that we now see indiscipline
everywhere in our
country. Lawlessness has become the order of the day yet
we need - all of
us - to play our role to make things work," said Gono in
February last year.
Beneficiaries of, for example, seed, fuel and foreign
currency sourced for
purposes of importing critical inputs have diverted the
largesse for
personal use and because no action has been taken against them,
the trend
has continued.
An all-inclusive government is probably an
answer, but those that will be
part of that political arrangement need to
have a collective will to
implement radical changes to resuscitate the
economy. But events since the
power sharing agreement was signed on
September 15 seem to point to more
problems for the economy.
Deep seated
mistrust between ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change
has been the
main driving force behind the delays in resolving the economic
crisis.
Perhaps the authorities should have heeded top-shelf advice from
former
justice and legal affairs minister, Eddison Zvobgo who told his
colleagues
in Parliament while debating the ballooning budget deficit: "We
have been
spending money without production as if the world owes us a
living.
"We have lacked the political will to put things right."
ZADHR
Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human
Rights
24 October
2008
ZADHR remains deeply concerned with the continued outbreak of
cholera in
Zimbabwe. Areas affected between September and October this year
include
Chinhoyi, Kariba and Makonde in Mashonaland West and Chitungwiza,
Chikurubi,
Dzivarasekwa, Kuwadzana Extension, Mabvuku, Highfield, Zengeza in
Harare.
120 cholera-related deaths have been cumulatively recorded this
year
including cases from earlier outbreaks between February and August
in
Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and Masvingo. A
case
fatality rate of 11.5% was recorded in Chitungwiza with 16 deaths from
a
total of 149 reported cases and of 12.7% in Chinhoyi from a total of
47
cases as at 14 October 2008.
The Government of Zimbabwe has grossly
underestimated the impact that
infrastructure breakdown is having on public
health in Zimbabwe. Water
supply is irregular or completely absent in most
urban areas, burst sewage
pipes continue to be left unattended and there is a
lack of refuse
collection. These factors create ideal conditions for the
outbreak and
spread of diseases such as diarrhoea, including its deadly forms
of cholera
and dysentery. ZADHR reiterates that access to proper sanitation,
the supply
of clean running water and preventing the outbreak of epidemic
diseases must
be treated as urgent priorities by the
Government.
Cholera is a disease that can be easily prevented and cured.
When cholera
does occur it has a short incubation period which means that it
does not
take a long time for an infected individual to show symptoms and
signs of
the disease once exposed. The symptoms are so aggressive that a
patient is
likely to present to a health facility for attention within a
short period
of time. Prevention of an outbreak of the disease is then
dependent on the
response by health authorities to isolate initial cases and
trace their
source.
Continued outbreak of a disease of this nature in
an urban setting is
failure at the prevention stage, the intervention stage
and the curative
stage. It is also a manifestation of the absence of
environmental health
officers and of the absence of effective governance at
the local authority
level. Interventions to manage cases and control the
spread of the disease
have mostly been undertaken by WHO, UN agencies and
non-governmental
organisations such as Medecins Sans Frontieres and Save the
Children UK.
The failure by the government throughout this year to
effectively manage
outbreaks of cholera, which has lead to a minimum of 120
preventable deaths
so far this year, indicates the absence of capacity and
ability within
government to manage public health.
ZADHR calls for an
urgent, coordinated and comprehensive response from the
Government to this
crisis in water and sanitation. Failure to do so, and
with the onset of the
rainy season, could result in cholera becoming
endemic. It is paramount that
the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare works
in conjunction with other
ministries concerned, such as that responsible for
water resources, and
ZINWA, to ensure that disease is prevented and that
Zimbabwean’s right to the
highest attainable state of physical and mental
wellbeing is
respected.
Raw sewage flowing in
Chitungwiza
“Our vision is enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health by all
Zimbabweans through a health service and
health service providers that
promote the right to health”
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=6357
October 24, 2008
By
Sibangani Sibanda
AS THE world reels under the burden of one of the
world's worst financial
crises, discerning investors should look to Zimbabwe
as a possible
destination for their funds.
The returns are,
literally, unbelievable!
On September 26, 2008, I invested in unit
trusts, to the tune of 3 million
Zimbabwe dollars. By October 13, this had
grown to thirty-seven million!
This was a better investment than I had ever
dreamed, so, on October 14, I
added another thirty million to my investment,
which effectively put my
total investment on that date at sixty seven
million. As I write this on
October 24th, some ten days later, my investment
has ballooned to over one
hundred and thirty two billion (yes, Billion)
Zimbabwe dollars. Where in the
world do you get returns like
that?
Now, before you rush to withdraw your moneys from the crumbling
stock
markets around the world and move them to Zimbabwe, where one American
dollar will buy you a couple of billion Zimbabwe dollars - if you sell by
cheque as opposed to about fifty thousand dollars if you sell for cash (and
if you are confused do not worry, we all are) - consider this investment
truism; the higher the returns, the greater the risk.
Next week, I
can start to withdraw funds from my investment. I will not be
able to draw
the money in cash. The financial house will give me a cheque,
which I can
only deposit into my bank account. Suppose I decide to withdraw
ten billion
dollars from my investment on Monday, I will deposit it into my
account and
wait four days for the cheque to clear, which means I will only
be able to
make my first withdrawal on Thursday! And then I can only
withdraw fifty
thousand dollars (which today is the price of a loaf of
bread, but may not
be enough to buy half a loaf next Thursday!). At that
rate, it would take me
two hundred thousand days or five hundred and
forty-eight years to get all
my money out!
Of course Doctor Gono, our Reserve Bank Governor (whose
honorary doctorate
he is rumored to have conferred on himself as chairman of
the University of
Zimbabwe Council), will argue that I can make some
payments by cheque. There
are just a couple of problems with that. Firstly,
most businesses in
Zimbabwe today do not accept payment by cheque - because
they would rather
not have their money in the bank! Secondly, anything worth
buying in
Zimbabwe today can only be purchased in American dollars or South
African
Rands!
It is beginning to sound like the only option I have
is to leave the money
invested in the unit trusts, which means that by
Christmas, I will probably
be a quadrillionare - a term that I have only
ever heard used in Zimbabwe!
This will expose me to two further
risks.
The Zimbabwe stock market could follow the rest of the world and
come
tumbling down - an unlikely scenario, given that we do not read from
the
same economics text books as the rest of the world, or Doctor Gono could
decide to take away thirty-five zeroes from the Zimbabwean currency
(thirty-five is as good a number as any, as there seems to be no logical
basis for the number of zeroes removed at a time). We are, in Zimbabwe,
extremely "wealthy" paupers!
Meanwhile, President Mugabe spent a
couple of days in Uganda attending a
meeting of the leaders of three African
Economic blocks - the Southern
African Development Community (SADC), the
Common Market for East and
Southern Africa (COMESA), and the East African
Community (EAC) (although the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation seemed to
think that the last acronym
stood for East African Country). The idea of the
meeting was to try and
merge, as far as possible, the functions and
memberships of these three
groupings to avoid duplication. As the ZBC put
it, "(such and such a
country) is a member of COMESA and is also an East
African Country, and
(another country) is a member of SADC, but is also an
East African Country",
which left me with the impression that these
countries had to give up one or
the other of their memberships. Although I
do not see how they can give up
being East African Countries!
Anyway,
my question is, why do these so called Economic blocks feel that it
is
necessary to invite an economic joke like Zimbabwe to their meetings?
What
possible value could Zimbabwe add, particularly as only those who are
responsible for our current economic mess attended the meetings? Other
Zimbabwean political interests, who appear to have a better grasp of reality
were not there, which was probably just as well because they had the
temerity to keep some of Southern Africa's finest sons waiting in vain in
Swaziland - another Southern African state with a "credibility
gap".
Still, the jokers have the highest percentage of billionaires in
the world
today. That must count for something. I think.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Ray Matikinye, News Editor
Thriving firewood
trade inflicts irreparable damage to the environment
THE dim-lit streets fill
up with kids who bolt out of their houses and
cavort to celebrate the moment
electricity is switched back. Often, the
impromptu frolic is accompanied by
cat-whistling adults.
They also alert their neighbours: "Magetsi adzoka"
(Electricity is back!)
As if the country's power utility has done them a
favour by heeding God's
command for there to be light, some housewives, eyes
made bleary by choking
smoke, never miss the opportunity to acknowledge the
Almighty's grace.
Zimbabwean townsfolk are grudgingly getting used to
frequent power cuts as
the country experiences severe power
shortages.
Over the years the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA)
Holdings,
the state-run power utility, has had problems expunging its debts
due to
severe foreign currency shortages. This has resulted in major
suppliers such
as Hydroelectric de Cahora Bassa in Mozambique, Eskom of
South Africa and
Societe National d'Electricity of the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC)
withholding supplies.
The South African power utility has
been going through a bad patch itself
with public criticism mounting over
its failure to adequately cater for the
domestic market prompting it to
load-shed consumers as well.
Early studies had shown, about a decade ago,
that the whole of the southern
African sub-region would experience power
deficits this year, which would
constrict their ability to
export.
Zimbabwe imports 35 percent of its national power needs from
Mozambique,
South Africa and the DRC.
The country is also facing power
shortages due to declining generation
capacity even though the authorities
have mooted contingent plans to revive
decommissioned power plants to
bolster existing capacity at Kariba on the
border with Zambia and the
coal-fired generators at Hwange Colliery.
But the unscheduled power blackouts
have opened up opportunities for poor
farming communities living along major
highways.
"Selling fire wood used to be a winter season pastime.
"Now it
is an all-year round occupation," bragged Ambrose Zhuwao (44) a
former
farmhand who has remained on a derelict property along the
Harare-Chirundu
highway.
Zhuwao says the constant power cuts have given him an opportunity to
cut and
sell firewood to motorists along the main highway.
Along major
highways, groups of men and young adults scramble towards the
road verges
cluttered with small piles of fuel wood whenever cars stop by.
"This pile
consists of hardwood," one of the youths retails his pile.
"For only Z$15 000
you can warm and prepare meals for your family for
several days."
And the
thriving trade in firewood has inflicted irreparable damage to the
erstwhile
lush woodlands in commercial farming areas.
Travel along any major highway
and witness how small piles of firewood
compete with distance markers on the
road verges.
"You do not need start up capital. All you invest in is a sharp
axe and
stamina to make yourself some money for basic commodities," adds
38-year old
Arimando Banda who sells firewood a few kilometres outside
Kwekwe, mid-way
between Harare and Bulawayo.
And the roaring firewood
trade has raised authorities' hackles, infuriating
environmentalists and
conservationists alike.
"The settlers have exploited an opportunity presented
by power shortages and
desperate city dwellers that drive along the highway
in search of cheaper
firewood than that sold by urban wood vendors," Phillip
Manyanza, an
environmentalist with the Environmental Management Authority
said.
He said the firewood sales could trigger desertification in areas where
good
vegetation used to thrive.
Trees that take years to mature are
felled in no time at all to feed the
insatiable demand for fuel wood as an
alternative to counter frequent power
cuts, Manyanza said. "Such
deforestation to meet an immediate need causes
the destruction of the
aesthetic value of the landscape," he added.
To reduce the power deficit,
ZESA concluded a US$50 million inter-utility
deal with NamPower last year
under which the Namibian parastatal would pay
for the refurbishment of its
power stations in exchange for electricity
exports. So far two units have
been completed and the other two would be
done before year end.
Ben
Rafemoyo, ZESA"s chief executive officer, said the refurbishment would
add
an additional 400 megawatts to its generating capacity.
But a power
generation expert this week said the country entered into an
unfair and
costly deal with NamPower.
"We will pay US$5 million monthly for a US$50
million loan for the next five
years and have to supply Namibia with
electricity while consumers here go
without power for hours each day," a
consultant with ZESA who refused to be
named said.
According to the
agreement, Zimbabwe has to import from neighbours when it
falls short in
order to fulfill the agreed quota.
"By the time we finish paying off the loan
in five years, the power station
will be due for refurbishment. So we have
not added any value or found a
solution to our electricity deficit," he
added.
The energy consultant said Zimbabwe could make a lot of savings, were
it to
use the amount it spends on power importation to import energy saving
fluorescent bulbs instead.
"The conventional bulb gives 10 percent light
and 98 percent heat unlike the
fluorescent one which gives more light and
significantly less heat. Assuming
we have six million bulbs in all
households, we could save enough energy to
export the agreed quota to
Namibia and reduce the frequency of load-shedding
for the benefit of the
consumer," the expert said.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Shame Makoshori, Senior Business Reporter
.as output
plunges 10,000%
THE escalating economic crisis in Zimbabwe has dealt a body
blow to the
fishing industry, amid reports that output has declined by over
10,000
percent, The Financial Gazette can reveal.
Players in the
fishing industry said the fuel crisis, global warming and the
general
economic meltdown are now the biggest threats to the continued
survival of
the industry, which used to contribute significantly to the
country's
foreign currency earnings.
For instance, in 2005 the industry generated about
US$2 million, enough to
buy essential drugs to last the country's major
referral hospitals a month.
The Financial Gazette can reveal that output has
nosedived from an estimated
2,000 kg per fishing rig per night to as little
as 15 kg.
Scores of jobs have been lost as producers trim their operations
with others
relocating to other lucrative markets.
Stanford Mafa,
president of the Zimbabwe Kapenta Producers' Association
confirmed the
industry faced viability concerns, with production costs
soaring through the
roof.
"Most companies need an average of about 80 litres of diesel per
day...there
is a great risk, however that after purchasing the fuel the
fishermen can
come back empty handed because the business has become so
unpredictable.
"We had to close down for more than 10 days instead of the
usual four days
during the full moon's break last week. We would rather keep
the little
diesel we have than take the risks, the costs of production are
too high,"
said Mafa.
He said apart from the fuel shortages, the industry
has no foreign currency
required to bring into the country imported
spares.
Fishing, once a lucrative business in Kariba and the eastern
highlands, is
quite popular in Zimbabwe where fish is consumed across all
strata of
society.
A slump in production might put pressure on fish
prices as the law of demand
and supply sets in.
A manager with one of the
leading fishing companies in the country said
while the economic crisis had
hit the industry, the global warming
phenomenon was fast catching up with
producers.
As a result, making accurate predictions and planning fishing
seasons has
turned out to be a major nightmare for fish
farmers.
"Remember there is the global warming factor, which has made fishing
patterns highly unpredictable," he said. "The winds are blowing stronger on
the lake than before and the peak seasons have been shifting. The peak
seasons used to be around November and December. We had better catches in
winter this year, it is highly unpredictable and it makes operations
difficult," he said.
Some companies have scaled down their operations in
Zimbabwe and relocated
to Mozambique's Lake Cahora Bassa as a result of the
continued slide in
output.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Vote Muza, Matters Legal
THIS past weekend, as
has been my practice over the past few years, I
visited my communal home
with the intention to see my small plot to ensure
that preparations for the
imminent rain season were on course.
I'm proud to inform readers of my
column that besides being in the business
of hassling in courts and giving
legal advice to the public, yours truly is
also into communal farming since
tilling the soil and harvesting is at the
centre of my heart.
Had I been
one of the lucky ones to have an allocation of State land as a
resettled
farmer, I'm fully convinced that I would have, through my passion
for
farming, done wonders on my plot of land.
Since it is now given that I may
never have a chance to be resettled because
my previous efforts were
rejected by government officials, my wish to be a
farmer on a large scale
may never be fulfilled.
Several things struck me as I strutted up and about
my village, meeting
relatives and childhood friends and discussing
nostalgically with most of
them asking questions about the outcome of the
political talks between
ZANU-PF and the MDC.
Since I was someone coming
from the city, and also being aware that I'm an
enlightened son of the
village, they expected to get a spot on analysis and
update of this
significant political event.
Most were concerned of course with wanting to
know whether there has been
any positive news, and if not, for how long they
had to wait. I had a torrid
time trying to explain to them the impasse and
my understanding of the
reasons for the political deadlock but it appeared
that most of them were
now extremely impatient with the belligerent two
political groups.
To their belief, their current misery is unlikely to come
to an end for as
long as there is no political compromise.
Another factor
that struck me with extreme alarm and concern was the abject
hunger and
starvation that has besieged my home village and as a matter of
fact, my
entire district. Since, readers may be keen to know my origins, I'm
proud to
announce that I'm from the Mangwende clan of Murewa and my village
is
located just 60km out of Harare.
Since I was born and grew up witnessing
events around me, I have never come
to see the sheer extent of suffering
caused by hunger similar to what I saw
this past weekend. Save for a few who
managed to harvest last season, many
homesteads are at the point of
starvation due to lack of the staple
maize-meal.
For the two days that I
was at my communal home, I received no less than
half a dozen people a day
coming to beg for food, and poor as I am, I found
myself unable to
assist.
Murewa is in geographical Region Two and usually receives normal
rainfall
permitting for fair harvest hence my affirmation that it is only
now that I'm
witnessing hunger and starvation in this area.
I now shudder
to imagine how other places or regions that are dryer than
Murewa are being
affected by this critical food shortage if my own district
with its
reputation for good harvests is in the predicament that it is in
presently.
Such thoughts are indeed shocking.
However, when I look at the current
debacle, I see it as nothing but a
man-made crisis.
Zimbabwe has a duty
at international law, being a member of the United
Nations and as such bound
by its statutes to take all necessary steps to
ensure that some basic
economic and social rights for its citizens are
respected, protected and
fulfilled.
More particularly Zimbabwe is bound by the International Covenant
on
Eco-nomic, Social and Cultural rights.
Clearly therefore, the State
has an obligation to ensure that everyone
affords at least what is termed
"standard" living, which guarantees adequate
food and other basic
necessities of life.
Every citizen has a fundamental right to be free from
hunger and an
im-portant obligation again is imposed by the United Nations
on its member
states to individually and through international co-operation,
take measures
and introduce specific programmes to im-prove methods of
production,
conservation and distribution of food.
It is more than
apparent that the current agricultural catastrophe is a
direct result of our
government's poor policies.
While to some extent factors like the HIV/AIDS
pandemic and economic decline
all contribute to the food insecurity being
experienced in Zimbabwe, food
experts including the World Food Programme and
the Food Agricultural
Organi-sation have stated that "government policies
and practices have also
been a factor in the food crisis".
It is on
record that whenever challenged about our agricultural
shortcomings,
government has not lost an opportunity to argue that there is
no food crisis
and has told the United Nations and international donors that
Zimbabwe does
not need food aid.
And despite being warn-ed that our harvest for last year
was insufficient to
meet the country's needs, government officials remained
stiff and
unyielding, still insisting that all was well.
The crisis was
exacerbated during the June election fiasco where government
flatly rejected
any intervention by the United Nations and food aid donors
to avert the
present widespread starvation.
There is more than enough evidence that our
government is guilty of a
serious omission in so far as its policies and
strategic timing to limit or
avoid people suffering due to the absence of
food is concerned.
Evidence also therefore abounds that Zimbabwe, as a state
party to the UN's
key instruments outlawing hunger and starvation, is
overwhelmingly guilty of
directly or indirectly reneging on its obligations
towards its citizens.
The extent of the suffering in cities and rural areas
caused by food
shortages and also the absence of basic commodities is a
clear manifestation
of State orche-strated injustices.
For when we talk
of justice, we are not only talking of what is done in the
courts since
justice is about providing for the basic economic social and
cultural needs
of the people.
In Zimbabwe today, justice can have no other meaning than
providing every
man and woman in society with food, water and other
necessities. To me, any
other meaning given to the words "justice" or "human
rights" is only empty
talk and devoid of any real words or content.
Those
in government need to swallow their pride and avoid a looming epic
humanitarian disaster since it is almost now certain that without any
serious action to sound an SOS to the international community, many lives
are going to be lost.
And, to have Zimba-bweans dying of hunger with all
our sophistication and
the recent land revolution will be extremely
emba-rrassing.
C/o Muza & Nyapadi Legal Practitioners.
Email:
muzaandnyapadi.com
Website: www.muzaandnyapadi.com
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Friday, 24 October 2008
10:45
NETSAI Makombe yesterday joined hundreds of people who waited
patiently to be served at a commercial bank along First Street in the
central business district of Harare.
She was wielding a soiled
khaki envelope filled with various
documents. As Netsai drew closer to the
enquiries desk, she pulled out two
copies - a burial order and an
affidavit.
Her demeanour suddenly became grumpy when she greeted the
customer
care officer. She sighed heavily, before explaining her ordeal to
the bank
official who seemed to be listening attentively.
She has
lost one of her aunts who apparently has a different surname
to hers but one
thing for sure is that she needs cash, supposedly for the
funeral.
"Tete (my aunt) wanted to be buried in Chivhu," she murmured to the
client
services officer. "I want to withdraw $2 million from my account in
order to
meet part of the funeral expenses," she explains whilst other
customers
queuing behind her keenly follow the proceedings.
After explaining, she
was handed over a bank form which she took no
time to complete.
Upon completion of the requisite form, the bank official told her to
make a
follow up to the application after two days.
Although she knows that
her reason to withdraw money - true or
fabricated - seemed compelling,
ultimately she knew that her chances of
receiving such an amount rested on
the bank's discretion.
This has become the order of the day at most
financial institutions in
Harare as Zimbabweans seek ways to siphon the fast
depreciating local
currency from their bank accounts.
For some,
this has become a shrewd way of breaching an insufficient
daily cash
withdrawal limit of $50 000, increased by the Reserve Bank last
week.
The central bank concurrently introduced a new $50 000
denomination
with a new withdrawal limit amid massive price hikes of basic
goods and
services.
With a record annual inflation of over 231
million%, Zimbabweans are
no longer making real savings in the financial
sector, save for some foreign
currency dealers eking a living from
transactions on the buoyant parallel
market foreign currency exchange rate,
widely known as the "cash rate"
market.
Banks on the other hand
have effected relatively high minimum account
balances of up to $400 000 for
savings accounts in order to promote savings
among low-income
earners.
The result of this insufficient withdrawal limit and foreign
currency
dealings has overwhelmed banks and other financial institutions
with long
queues becoming a common feature at most banking halls.
This thriving unofficial exchange rate market became popular after the
suspension of electronic transfers by the Reserve Bank earlier this month.
So high are the parallel market exchange rates that US$3 converted at the
"cash rate" could secure a return ticket to Bulawayo, which costs between $4
to $5 million.
A wide discrepancy between the official interbank
exchange and the
parallel market rates has relegated the former to
redundancy, trading
yesterday at less than $400 to the greenback.
The alternative parallel market cash rate was yesterday trading at $45
000
to the United States dollar, about 110 times the official rate which
also
operates on cash transactions.
Apart from the biting effects of the
comatose economy, the country is
also grappling with a high mortality rate
because of the HIV and Aids
pandemic, which are claiming hundreds of human
lives each week. This means
that the volume of traffic to banking halls will
continue to be high unless
widely accepted monetary reforms are
introduced.
Failure by the central bank to disclose information on the
money in
circulation since the beginning of the year has made it virtually
impossible
to ascertain the financial crisis, while most bankers seldom
speak on record
on matters relating to the central bank.
A bank
executive who spoke to businessdigest yesterday said the cash
crunch was now
beyond the central bank's redemption adding that the
formation of a new
government between President Robert Mugabe and opposition
leaders Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara could restore the financial
sector.
"Gono is now tinkering with the payment system hoping that a political
settlement would resolved these challenges," said the banker who requested
anonymity. "No banker would want to see these long queues at banking halls.
The central bank has lost control of money supply growth and this practice
of applying
for bulk cash withdrawals is a sign of patronage by the
central bank."
Former University of Zimbabwe economics professor Rob
Davies said the
emerging trend of withdrawing large sums of money from banks
was a
reflection of deep-rooted problems in the financial sector.
"Focusing on this chaos caused by monetary authorities is trivial,"
Davies
said. "What should be asked is why the Reserve Bank has remained
quiet on
money supply growth figures since March and why central bank
accounts have
not been audited for four years. Hyperinflation is being
caused by the
central bank although it is easy to blame business for the
price
hikes."
Questions sent to Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president
John
Mangudya on Monday were not responded to at the time of going to press
as he
was reportedly
engaged in a series of board
meetings.
However, Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono recently vowed to
continue
printing money to meet the cash demands.
"I will not stop
printing money until sanctions are removed. It is for
infrastructural
development," Gono said.
By Bernard Mpofu
http://www.fingaz.co.zw
Lovemore Kadenge, Economic Viewpoint
Events
on the ground point to a dangerous situation
THE economic situation is not
getting any better, and the reasons are there
for all to see.
As of
now, history is not important as it has more potential to devour our
core
existence as a nation.
Events on the ground point to a dangerous situation
especially if the
political protagonists take further their negotiations as
the people are
finding it difficult to make ends meet.
Economists will
say if inflation is feeding on itself then there will be
more need for the
government and stakeholders to resort to desperate
measures to find a
solution if the economy is to remain functional.
In fact, the desperate
measure seems to be political instead of being aimed
at enhancing production
and incentive to work.
If the July annual inflation rate was above 231
million percent, I wonder
how authorities are interpreting this information
which is causing alarm and
despondency in all economic sectors albeit being
three months behind
reality.
On a daily basis, the inflation rate
translates to more than 500 000 percent
on average, which is very
unfortunate given that our national leaders
continue to adopt the
wait-and-see attitude.
The situation impacts negatively on our nationhood's
reputation such that if
it takes little time to recover from this situation,
then heroes would be
created over very small efforts, which the current
status quo is refusing to
honour and consider hearing.
While we
appreciate the central bank's explanation that Germans have refused
to
supply it with paper on which to print money, now that we have a
home-grown
solution, is it still necessary to maintain these cash withdrawal
limits
especially at $50 000.
From a layman's point of view, with the above rate of
inflation, its really
ideal without being asked or told for the central bank
to review withdrawal
limits twice a week if they are to remain meaningful to
citizens, otherwise
the monetary authority will be accused of denying
citizens their hard earned
cash.
Honestly, how are the bank queues going
to end when individuals are made to
withdraw what is not even enough for
them to buy lunch, or meet transport
requirements, let alone buy something
to take home after work?
With a lot of things being sold in foreign currency,
it follows therefore
that if the central bank is really interested in
people's survival, cash has
to be made available urgently to enable families
to have decent meals and
avoid situations of bad publicity when images of
hunger stalked people are
flighted around the world by international news
agencies despite the fact
that some of them are millionaires if not
billionaires.
It's not that we are trying to oppose everything that the
central bank does
but at times this should happen.
When the RTGS and
internal bank transfers where banned I believe it was in
the belief that
people would stop "burning" money (kupisa mari) without
considering the
cause of this syndrome.
It is also my belief that in the process we forgot
that people still have to
settle their transactions, thereby putting
necessary pressure on cash and
cheques payment modes.
Now with
restrictions on cheque transactions as it is believed to be the
remaining
avenue being used for "burning" money, should we expect better
economic
fortunes?
In some circles it is being argued that kupisa mari is a poor
policy
reflection.
While subscribing to the above, the truth is that due
to high inflation
being fuelled by under production, the need to purchase in
foreign currency
and the central bank's massive quasi fiscal operations, to
mention a few,
any economic activity may technically be illegal, implying
that Zimbabwe has
become a scholarly "do as you like" country with no one in
control, thus
putting much strain on the rule of law.
"Burning" money is
not that technical but something that comes upon a
realisation of a better
exchange rate when compared to the one obtaining
officially.
Given that
the cash exchange is very low when compared to the RTGS,
inter-bank and now
the cheques rate, it follows that we will soon have no
cheques or these
would be left for the government related transactions.
Why have these three
been criticised so much despite being minimally used
when compared to
cash?
I don't believe the central bank would ban the use of cash since it has
been
the chief culprit in these illegal foreign currency
transactions
Those in the banking sector argue that if it were not for the
foreign
currency related minimum capital requirements, the inter-bank rate
would be
indeed a true reflection of our exchange rate as evidenced by the
RTGS,
inter-bank or cheque rates, where individuals and companies are paying
the
highest prices for them to find this scarce resource (forex).
This
then implies that foreign currency will remain in abundance on the
parallel
market while the formal sector remains starved due to penalties it
is
imposing financially on legal citizens.
But the question arises, is this what
we want? If not, then what are the
real measures being put in place to
ensure that those with the foreign
currency are rewarded fairly to make them
continue availing it to the formal
system?
As a nation we look forward to
our leadership to consider national
sentiments and views as the country
belongs to all of us.
Lovemore Kadenge is the president of the Zimbabwe
Economics Society (ZES).
He can be contacted on cell (0912732873) or e-mail:
lovemore.kadenge@gmail.com
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and
not
necessarily of ZES.
Zimbabwe Independent
(Harare)
COLUMN
23 October 2008
Posted to the web 24 October
2008
Eric Bloch
THE only thing in Zimbabwe that is declining
at a greater pace than the
economy is the level of business
confidence.
Almost without exception, the business community is naught
but doom and
gloom, depression and despondency, pronounced pessimism and
filled with a
near-absolute conviction that economy is beyond
recovery.
The overwhelming majority of Zimbabwe's "captains" of
commerce and industry
have totally convinced themselves that the entirety of
the economy will very
imminently cease to exist, that their businesses will
be wholly destroyed,
that they will be joining the vast ranks of
impoverished, and that the
economy, their businesses, and their anticipated
loss of any and all wealth,
is wholly beyond redemption.
Admittedly,
there are a few (but only a very few!) of a different frame of
mind. They
are not oblivious to the appalling circumstances prevailing in
Zimbabwe.
They are wholly aware of the dismal lack of genuine democracy, of
the
endless, contemptuous disregard for the fundamentals of the rule of just
law, of the abysmal disregard for human and property rights, of the
extensive abuses of power and the gargantuan prevalence of corruption, of
the worst ever sustained hyperinflation ever experienced, and of the ongoing
contraction of the economy.
And they are aware that these are but
some of the immensely great negatives
that characterise Zimbabwe today. But
they do not allow it to blind
themselves that, in time, there will be
transformation. They do not
myopically fail to recognise that a
metamorphosis will occur, although
inevitably it will be long and slow. They
recognise that there are very
intense problems, but perceive problems to be
challenges which must be
addressed, and potentially transformed into
opportunities.
It is not that they are hallucinatory optimists, but are
determined to be
realists who neither succumb to unfounded wishful thinking,
or to misplaced
or exaggerated pessimism formed from narrowed vision which
conceals the
evidence of history that ultimate change, and therefore
recovery, is
undoubted. (They do, however, recognise that further grievous
deterioration
may well precede the assured ultimate upturn and that it is
vitally
necessary to strategise for survival through the period of further
decline).
However, so extensively widespread is the pessimism that the
distressed
perspectives of the despondent majority can well turn their
prophecies into
realties, thereby greatly exacerbating the diabolically bad
prevailing
circumstances.
That pessimism is blinding all too many of
the business community from
seeing opportunities of overcoming, or at least
of minimising, the
innumerable afflictions bearing down upon the operations
of their
enterprises. In very many instances, that pessimism is also
stimulating
business decisions which are only knee-jerk, reflex reactions,
without
considered evaluation of the consequences of those decisions. There
are very
numerous examples of such ill-considered, grossly counterproductive
decisions.
One such example is that a large number of businesses in
general, and
industry operations in particular, recurrently decide to
discontinue sales,
notwithstanding their holdings of stock, on grounds that
anticipated
replacement costs exceed attainable sale prices for those
existing
stockholdings.
In striving to avoid losses upon stock
replacement, the enterprises
disregard the magnitude of continuing cost,
inclusive of salaries and wages,
rents, finance charges, costs of utilities,
and very diverse administrative
costs. In the absence of sales, there are no
revenues to cover those costs,
and therefore seeking to avoid an envisaged
future loss, immediate losses
are incurred.
Instead, those
businessmen should recognise the adage of decades past, that
"no one makes a
loss by taking a profit" and, therefore, as long as the
existing stocks are
sold at prices above cost, a profit is realised which
can service the fixed
costs. Thereafter, upon more costly replacement of
stock, the replacement
stocks must be priced above their cost, thereby
enabling profit to cover
ongoing fixed costs.
In like manner, all too many businesses seek to
pre-empt future inflation by
pricing their products on a foundation of
estimated replacement costs,
instead of the actual costs
sustained.
As the cost inflation is futuristic, such inflation does not
at all at that
time prevail within the economy, resulting in the prices of
the products
being considered by customers to be excessively high, with many
such
customers therefore not purchasing the goods, leaving the enterprise
possessed of unsold stocks, without the revenue flows required to fund
operations, let alone to yield profits.
Moreover, to such extent that
sales are attained, albeit of lesser
quantities than intended, the seller is
fuelling inflation, and that
inflation adversely impacts on the seller's
operating costs.
Yet a further example is that of the fortunate few (many
miners and other
exporters) who directly or indirectly trade foreign
exchange, other than
within the interbank market. Normally, rates of
exchange are driven by the
relationship of availability to demand, as is the
case with any commodities
in a normal economic environment, and for an
extended period of time that
was certainly so in Zimbabwe's foreign currency
alternative markets (usually
known as the parallel market).
But most
of those trading their foreign exchange now determine their selling
rates by
aligning them to their projections of forthcoming inflation, or
using
indices such as the Old Mutual Implied Rate (OMIR), which is a
notional rate
determined by correlating the price of Old Mutual shares on
the London Stock
Exchange with that on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. But
those share prices
are driven primarily by perceptions of political
developments, both positive
and negative, and by the performance of Old
Mutual's operations in diverse
countries, resulting in immense fluctuations
unrelated to
inflation.
The results of the sellers of foreign exchange resorting to
inflation or
OMIR rates to determine selling prices of their foreign
exchange have, in
recent weeks, been a sharp decline in demand for that
foreign exchange. This
is due to intending purchasers not having the working
capital resources to
fund purchases, or to their recognition that the
magnitude of the foreign
exchange costs would, when incorporated into the
selling prices of their
goods, be such as would make much of those goods
unsaleable.
Concurrently, in the few instances that trades are effected,
they are yet
further fuellants of the horrendous hyperinflation which is
destroying the
Zimbabwean economy. The foreign exchange sellers are victims,
together with
all others in Zimbabwe, of that hyperinflation, so effectively
they are
allowing avarice to shoot themselves in the foot.
These are
but a few of many examples of how many businessmen are destroying
themselves
and the economy, and thereby unintentionally according substance
to their
excessive pessimism, which has reduced business confidence to near
zero
levels, also therefore negatively impacting upon much-needed
investment,
which is a fundamental for a substantive economic turnaround.
The
imbalance between the many, many pessimists, and the few optimists, and
the
even lesser number of realists, is reminiscent of the writings, more 150
years ago, by Charles Dickens, in A Tale of Two Cities, when he wrote: "It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times,.............it was the
season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing
before us...........". Most of Zimbabwe's business community align their
perspectives with the second part of each stanza, and thereby preclude the
first part from materialising.
http://www.cathybuckle.com
24th October 2008
Dear Friends.
Another
week gone by and still no settlement in Zimbabwe while the agony of
the
people continues with even greater ferocity. Despite the heart breaking
reality of starving children and villagers surviving on wild fruits and
roots, the rising death toll from of cholera and water-borne diseases and
supermarket shelves empty but for 'Cabbages and Condoms' as Cathy Buckle
describes the situation in her hometown, Robert Mugabe still had the crass
insensitivity to make a joke at the nation's expense. Speaking after the
failure to reach agreement last weekend, Mugabe commented, "It went very
well - in the wrong direction." This supposed off-the-cuff witticism by the
Dear Leader was greeted with sycophantic mirth by his hangers on.
That
was just the start of a week of humorous 'jests' by various Zanu PF
functionaries. When Morgan Tsvangirai was denied a passport to allow him to
travel to Swaziland to attend the meeting of SADC leaders, the explanation
given was that there was no paper to print passports. The reason of course
was Sanctions; that was why the country was running out of bond paper!
Tsvangirai applied for a passport five months ago and during those
intervening months the Reserve Bank Governor has issued thousands of new
bank notes - printed on bond paper! Instead of telling Mugabe to behave
himself and issue the new Prime Minister with a valid passport, the cowardly
SADC leaders decided to postpone the talks for a week and then resume in
Harare. The king of Swaziland offered to send his personal jet to collect
Morgan Tsvangirai. Another joke perhaps but Morgan wasn't falling for that
one and remained in Harare while Mugabe flew off to a summit in Kampala
where the situation in Zimbabwe was high on the agenda. So now we see why
Morgan was denied a passport, another sick joke on the regime's
part.
Then it was the turn of a group called Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Justice. No joke
intended! They are a group of pro-government lawyers,
heaven knows what
justice they stand for. They issued a statement accusing
the MDC 'of sowing
seeds of chaos and mayhem' and called on Mugabe to go
ahead and install a
new government, urging him to declare a State of
Emergency. Someone should
tell this self-serving bunch of lawyers that the
outstanding emergency in
the country is impending starvation. 'Nzara',
hunger, is the word on
everyone's lips while Mugabe and his cronies play
games with the country's
future and condemn five million people to
starvation.
Nothing changes in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe. Back in 1992
I was teaching
teachers on a remote mission station. Now that really was a
drought year and
I remember that commercial farmers were carrying grain out
to starving
villagers in the rural areas. The then Minister of Agriculture
announced
that in order to pay for drought relief the price of food would go
up and
people 'Should adjust their lives accordingly'. The sick humour of
that
remark incensed me into writing the following poem. I make no apology
for
copying it here, the message is as relevant now as it was
then.
He who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune
To pay for drought
relief The price of foodstuff will go up, the Honourable
Minister said,
adjust your lives accordingly. Hear the Honourable Minister's
words all you
good Zimbabweans.
Tighten your belts another notch. Rest assured drought
relief is on its way-
only accept that someone always has to pay. Harden
your hearts to hungry
children, explain to them in simple terms, times are
hard. They will surely
understand- and adjust their appetites accordingly.
Mothers hush your crying
infants, their cries disturb the peace. Stretch the
food a little further,
make it last another day! Remember drought relief is
on its way. only accept
that someone always has to pay. In town your
husband's lost his job, your
kids at school faint clean away. The old ones
in the village totter slowly
to the grave. Tell them to be patient, explain
to them in simple terms,
times are hard.
They will surely understand -
and adjust their deaths accordingly.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle.
PH
HARARE, 24 October
2008 (PlusNews) - Excitement is mounting in Zimbabwe with the news that the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has found the country's
Round 8 application for funding "technically sound", and has recommended that
the grant be approved.
Photo:
Allan Gichigi/IRIN
Zimbabwe
applied for at least US$500 million
The Technical Review Panel (TRP) of the Global
Fund is an independent body of health experts and academics that reviews the
technical merits of every application the Global Fund receives.
When the
Global Fund's board of directors meets in November in New Delhi, it will either
accept or reject the TRP's decision on Zimbabwe and other countries. The Global
Fund board has never rejected a decision by its TRP but Zimbabwe has a history
of troubled relations with the organisation.
Zimbabwe applied for at
least US$500 million for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis programmes earlier
this year.
The country's relationship with the Global Fund has not been
a rosy one. In seven rounds of funding disbursements, Zimbabwe's applications
have been successful in only two.
AIDS activists and health officials
had expressed disappointment over the Global Fund's previous decisions to
exclude Zimbabwe, citing the already limited resources available to tackle its
health burden.
Zimbabwe's health minister, David Parirenyatwa, has
frequently accused the Geneva-based agency of political bias, which the Global
Fund has strongly denied. When the Global Fund declined the country's round
seven grant proposal in 2007, government officials attacked the Fund for making
politically motivated decisions.
Zimbabwe is one of the countries
hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic, with an estimated prevalence rate of 15.3
percent. The public health system has collapsed over the years due to poor
budget allocations, shortages of foreign currency and a massive brain drain.
In Round 8, Zimbabwe's Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) -
responsible for drawing up the country's funding proposals - requested about
US$300 million for HIV/AIDS, and US$58 million for its TB programme. The CCM
also requested about US$80 million to revive the country's ailing health sector.
Counting chickens before they hatch?
Jon Liden,
Head of communications at the Global Fund, told IRIN/PlusNews that although the
TRP had recommended that Zimbabwe be awarded the money, it was "considerably
premature" to announce that these applications would be approved.
Liden
said the panel had placed Zimbabwe's proposal in "Category 2". According to
Global Fund procedures, this meant the request for funding had been recommended
for approval, provided clarifications or adjustments were met within a specified
timeframe.
"Yes, the information about Round 8 has leaked out from
Zimbabwe due to a decision this time to inform countries in advance of the board
decision about whether their applications have been recommended or not," said
Liden.
"This was done so that those whose applications were not
recommended could quickly turn around a new or improved application for Round 9,
which has already opened."
David Parirenyatwa, who is also
Chairman of the CCM, has welcomed the TRP's decision. "We are delighted by this
piece of news. We know, yes, the board still has to endorse the decision by the
panel [TRP], but we know that's just a formality," he told IRIN/PlusNews.
Read more
Activists shout from the sidelines
New government gives HIV-positive people hope
AIDS organisations still grounded
No documents? No
treatment
"Once the panel says a proposal is technically sound, it is unlikely the
board will fail to take the recommendation. Our financial coffers had run dry
and this is a welcome relief."
Dr Douglas Gwatidzo, Chairman of Zimbabwe
Doctors for Human Rights, agreed with Liden that it might be too early to
consider Zimbabwe's application as granted.
"Should the board approve
this application, based on information we have about previous grant
disbursements, we will only receive this money in April. We must look at this
with an open mind. There is an urgent need of HIV/AIDS funding, so while we wait
for the Global Fund we must look elsewhere or otherwise our people will continue
to die."
Gwatidzo said the decision to request a grant to strengthen the
health system was "very wise" because the performance of all other grants for
HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria depended on a fully functional health delivery system.
Of the 1.7 million people living with HIV in Zimbabwe, only 100,000 are
accessing treatment free government treatment, but 320,000 people are still in
need of antiretroviral drugs.
Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS
NET) Date: 30 Sep 2008 - In July, the region's national vulnerability assessment committees (NVACs)
indicated that a significant proportion of the region's population would be at
risk of food insecurity during the April 2008–March 2009 consumption period, and
would require some kind of assistance. These numbers were projected to peak at 8
million over the November to March hunger season. Food insecurity in Lesotho,
Namibia, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, southern and parts of central Mozambique, southern
and western Zambia, and parts of Malawi, has resulted from several factors, but
especially poor harvests as a result of excessive rains and floods that led to
loss of crops and disruption of livelihoods, followed by an end of season dry
spell in February and March that also further reduced crop yields. - Currently and during the upcoming hunger period, Zimbabwe faces (and will
face) the most severe and prevalent levels of food insecurity in the region due
to poor harvests resulting from adverse crop growing conditions in 2007/08 and
the country's continuing economic and political crisis. A joint FAO/WFP crop and
food supply assessment mission in May estimated that the food insecure
population would peak at about 5.1 million from January to March 2009. Recent
assessments and further monitoring by the Zimbabwe NVAC have confirmed these
results. - Humanitarian assistance from governments, the UN, and other humanitarian
agencies is critical between now and the start of the next early harvests in
March 2009 to help stave off hunger and save livelihoods. Currently, these
efforts have mitigated food insecurity through targeted food distribution and
food for work or food for assets programs. Progress has been limited in
Zimbabwe, where the government had suspended NGO activities through the end of
August, delaying program implementation and assistance to an estimated 2 million
beneficiaries. Humanitarian agencies have resumed operations and are expected to
scale up assistance to meet the food needs of an increasing number of households
between now and April 2009. In all countries, it will be critical for additional
donor support to be secured to offset the current commodity shortfalls and
expected pipeline breaks that WFP currently faces.
- In most of Southern
Africa, food security conditions have been stable since the 2008 harvests
(April–June) and are expected to remain so until the peak of the hunger season
(November–February). Overall, crop growing conditions were favorable last
season. Regional maize production was above the past 5–year average and above
last year's levels, largely due to South Africa's bumper crop. While most
countries produced above average harvests, prospects for excellent harvests were
compromised by excessive rains and flooding in December and January, followed by
a dry spell in February and March. Elsewhere, such as Lesotho, Swaziland, and
Zimbabwe, and other localized areas where conditions were unfavorable and
production was below average, households are already moderately food insecure.
Full_Report
(pdf* format - 425 Kbytes)
http://www.radiovop.com
Mugabe Chooses - Kirsty, Yes.
Morgan, no
It is absurd that the Prime Minister
designate of a country should be
forced to grovel to get a passport. It is
equally absurd for the
state-controlled media to continue to parrot the
"sanctions" mantra of its
government controller, chief Zanu (PF)
propagandist George Charamba, when
Zimbabweans know that anybody with enough
US dollars can get a passport in
48 hours. We find it disturbing that the
SADC troika leaders decided to
postpone the summit and move it to Harare,
rather than force the Mugabe
regime to issue a passport to Morgan
Tsvangirai.
In any normal country, citizens have a right to a passport.
It is not
aprivilege to be dished out only to government-approved
applicants.
This is a perfect illustration of what is fundamentally
wrong with
Zimbabwe.We are trying to bring about a democracy here. And the
people of a
democracy are free to travel anywhere they like, without
interference from
the state.
The utter insanity of so much that
goes on in our country these days
isfurther illustrated by the fact that
Mugabe recently gave Olympic swimmer
Kirsty Coventry, who lives in the USA
but was born in Zimbabwe, a diplomatic
passport, while the country's prime
minister has, for more than a year, been
forced to travel on an Emergency
Travel Document.
A thought-provoking article by an award-winning
Zimbabwean author,
bemoans the fact that we Zimbabweans laugh too
much.
But reading Tuesday's Herald reduced us to hysterical
laughter.The
Charamba-controlled daily was outraged - Morgan has been happy
enoughtravelling on an ETD all this time, why is he now making a fuss about
going
to Swaziland with it?
They chose to ignore the
fact that the document was only issued on
Sunday,and there are no direct
flights to Swaziland, necessitating a trip
toJohannesburg where a visa is
mandatory and takes a good few days to be
issued.
There is no
doubt that the paper is not the issue here. This is just
another example of
Mugabe being vindictive, mean and nasty. But more than
that, it is an
indication of his determination to cling to power. He wants
everyone to
know that he is still in charge. The power is in his hands,
never mind what
other silly pieces of paper he might have been forced to
sign.
We applaud Ian Khama for his strong stance on the matter and eagerly
await
the response of other SADC leaders to his lead.
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with 'For Open Letter Forum' in the
subject line.
To subscribe/unsubscribe to the JAG mailing list, please
email: jag@mango.zw
with subject line
"subscribe" or
"unsubscribe".
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Sally Bown - In answer to Just Andrew's .attack on Ben Freeth.
Dear
JAG,
Just Andrew obviously lacks the courage of his convictions or he
would not
be afraid of writing under his own name. Everyone is entitled to
their own
convictions. I sense that Just Andrew harbours deep pain and anger
and
blames God for it somehow.
In answer to Just Andrew's
points:-
1/ Anyone who has a cursory knowledge of Islam and Christianity,
is aware
that Allah is the exact opposite of the Judeu/Christian God. As
Asama Ben
Laden was heard to say on public television, Islam loves death.
This
statement is borne out by the extremist actions seen worldwide.
Ordinary
Muslims get swept along with the tide unless they have the strength
and will
to choose to reject it.
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
brings Life, and 'Life abundantly.'
It's a mind, spirit and heart condition,
which results in a way of
approaching life.
2/ Don't feel 'saddened'
that Ben Freeth is openly expressing affiliation to
a God that brings Life.
God isn't 'brought into' any situation. He already
knows, and is in every
situation where someone seeks Him.
3/ Of course God is a factor of
politics. People whose deepest held
beliefs and principles are formed and
founded in the Judeu/Christian ethic,
will behave and think along those same
beliefs and principles. People whose
deepest beliefs and principles are
formed by fear and revenge will behave
and think along that understanding,
whether it is Islam, Witchcraft,
Ancestry Worship or whatever.
God isn't
on any one 'side'. He is on the side of each individual who truly
seeks Him.
Only He knows who is truly seeking Him, but it can become fairly
obvious
sometimes.
Of course understanding this means having to actually do some
research and
read a Bible and a Koran to compare the basic beliefs and
principles.
Something that many self-proclaimed atheists tend not to
do.
'I don't believe in God, therefore He does not exist' but, 'God does
not
believe in atheists, therefore atheists do not exist'.
God is
there even for atheists if they want to find Him. It is a personal
journey.
No one can do it for you. We have all been given free will, and
now I
understand that scientific research into the brain confirms that there
is a
'free will centre' in the brain. We can all choose whom we will serve
and
how we will behave; and there are consequences attached to each
decision.
These consequences can have far-reaching effects for good or ill.
The
responsibility of choice is ours individually
4/ Regarding whether Mugabe
is a God fearing man; Jesus taught 'by their
fruits you shall know them',
but God waits until we are dead before He
finally judges us. There is always
room for change.
5/ No, God is not a magician and the Bible does not
teach that He is. He
will not provide any magical solutions. He works in
and through peoples'
lives, but more things are wrought through faith and
prayer than the world
can conceive of, as many believers will testify
to.
The choice set before every Zimbabwean is between Life and Death.
Choose
Life.
Yrs
Sally
Bown
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
Ben Freeth
Dear JAG,
I am disappointed that "just Andrew" does not
wish to identify himself. Is
he afraid to be identified? To repeat again:
"Fear of man will prove to
be a snare." [proverbs 29]..
In Zimbabwe, I
am quite convinced that "fear of man" has been a major part
of our downfall..
It is as a result of intense fear that the country is in
such a mess..
Dictators get away with killing and stealing and destroying
because so few
are prepared to actively resist that evil.. They are afraid..
Maybe "just
Andrew" should identify himself if he wants to be part of the
solution to the
mess that Zimbabwe is in..
Just Andrew is "saddened that Ben Freeth is
bringing God into national
politics" and somehow believes that I am saying
that God has joined MDC!
If God made us and knows the best path for us
and gave us the law 3500 years
ago on Mount Sinai to give a nation its best
chance of thriving, why lament
bringing God into it? Is He relevant to the
individual and not the nation
as well?
I challenge "just Andrew" to
come up with a single civilisation that has
ignored Gods principles as
endorsed in the ten commandments, and thrived
over time...
As for
Mugabe being "God fearing" what a lot of bunkum... Jesus said that
"by
their fruit you will recognise them" [Mathew 7:16]. If his fruit is
death
and destruction it is quite plain for all to see that Mugabe does not
fear
God.. He is rooted to the very antithesis of God and what is good..
The
fruit of the suicide bombers [that I am rather perversely likened to]
is
death and destruction too.
God has not joined MDC either. God loves
us all. He merely wishes us to
follow Him and do things His way. If there is
no-one doing things Gods way
and lifting a moral voice in the nation and in
our own lives we will
continue to see hatred and lies and death and
destruction continue to swamp
us whoever is in power.
If we do not
bring God into the equation in a mighty way, self interest will
remain on the
throne and everyone will continue to suffer. We have not
taken Mugabe to
court [and suffered severely as a result], to see God left
on the sidelines.
If that makes "Just Andrew" sad, I am sad too.
Yours
sincerely,
Ben
Freeth....
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3.
Cameron & Jacqueline Henwood
Dear JAG,
I have read up on your
website & hoping you can bring some luck our way. We
have a position
available for a Zimbabwean family wishing to work & live on
a mixed
farming property nearby Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia.
We have
actually sponsored a Zimbabwean family on this farm before & we
would
love to do so again. This position being available for a male that
is
familiar with most aspects of farming there is a large family home to
go
with the position and the school being nearby/Bungunya & the school
bus is
provided. The salary will be negotiable. I would really
appreciate
circulation of this email or maybe email me back if you know of
the correct
website I should be looking on. Looking forward to hearing your
reply.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Yours sincerely Cameron &
Jacqueline Henwood "STRATHMORE FARMING COMPANY",
TOOBEAH, 4498 QLD,
AUSTRALIA. PHONE NO'S: 0746775207, 0427757208 or
0427775207, fax no
0746775285, email address: henwood@bigpond.com
attention: Jacqui
Henwood.
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All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions of
the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
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