http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
October
30, 2009
Jan Raath in Harare
The United Nations torture
investigator warned yesterday that Zimbabwe's
fragile coalition Government
could collapse, saying that his expulsion from
the nation showed that
President Mugabe and his party continued to hold "the
real
power".
Manfred Nowak, who was detained on Wednesday night when he
arrived in
Harare, blamed Mr Mugabe for blocking his entry and said there
was evidence
that torture was once again being used to stifle dissent. He
said he would
recommend that the UN Human Rights Council should take action
against
Zimbabwe.
Mr Nowak had been due to spend a week in Zimbabwe
to investigate allegations
of human rights abuses. He was originally invited
by Patrick Chinamasa, the
Justice Minister, in February, and then by Morgan
Tsvangirai, the Prime
Minister, but was told at Harare airport that he did
not have security
clearance.
The visit was supposed to signal a
willingness by the new Government to
address the claims of human rights
abuses under the rule of Mr Mugabe. The
President formed a unity government
eight months ago with Mr Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
but the Prime Minister has since
refused to work with his adversary and has
accused Mr Mugabe of reneging on
his promises.
After Mr Novak
returned to Johannesburg, he denounced his treatment as "a
very alarming
signal about the power structure of the present Government".
He said: "It
sheds a clear light as to where the real power is lying in this
unity
Government ... There are certainly some parts of the Government who do
not
want me to assess the current conditions of torture. There are strong
indications that this was just not done by the Minister of Foreign Affairs
without at least the knowledge of President Mugabe."
He added: "There
are alarming reports of violence in rural areas; of
intimidation and
torture."
Ephraim Masawi, a spokesman for the President's Zanu (PF)
party, denied that
Mr Mugabe was involved in the expulsion.
Mr Novak
has joined a growing number of people expressing anxiety at a
renewal of
violence and intimidation against supporters of Mr Tsvangirai and
human
rights groups after a period of relative calm.
Amnesty International
warned that "Zimbabwe is on the brink of sliding back
into the post-election
violence that marred the country last year", when
soldiers, police,
intelligence agents and Zanu (PF) militiamen murdered at
least 100 MDC
supporters and tortured thousands to ensure that Mr Mugabe won
the
presidential run-off election. Mr Tsvangirai withdrew and Mr Mugabe was
declared the winner of a one-man race that was dismissed overwhelmingly as a
fraud.
A week ago, a group of heavily armed police raided an MDC
house in Harare,
claiming that they were searching for weapons. They forced
the caretaker to
dig up the garden with his hands but did not find
anything.
Two days later the chairman and chief executive of the National
Association
of Non-Governmental Organisations, an umbrella body of the
country's
charities, were arrested at Victoria Falls airport. They were
accused of
holding an illegal political meeting and held for two days before
being
released on bail.
On Tuesday there were two abduction attempts
on other MDC officials. One
escaped when she screamed for help but the
transport manager, Pascal
Gwenzere, was dragged out of his township home by
armed men in civilian
clothes. He is still missing.
A day later two
officials at the Zimbabwe Election Support Network were
arrested in a
village in the remote northwest of the country where they were
holding an
election education workshop. They were charged with holding an
illegal
meeting.
Teachers in rural areas have been reporting the redeployment of
Zanu (PF)
youth militias in schools. The incidents, which were once rife,
had become
sporadic since the unity Government was formed.
Recent
events have raised fears that the lull in violence will be
short-lived.
"What we are seeing now was exactly how the violence began in
the campaign
for the presidential run-off elections between March and June
last year,"
Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the MDC, said. "We are beginning
to see the
formation of another storm of violence."
http://allafrica.com/comments/list/aans/post/post/id/200910290028.html
The Herald (Harare)
29 October
2009
THE United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture Mr Mafred Nowack
last night
tried to gatecrash into the country as the Sadc Troika arrived to
review the
Global Political Agreement signed by Zanu-PF and the two MDC
formations last
year............................
Comments:
Author:
juhlman
Fri Oct 30 03:08:11 2009
Gatecrash? The man had an invitation from
the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe? On
whose authority was he denied entry?
Funny the Herald calls it
"gatecrashing", they spout the idiocy their lords
tell them to.........
Yes, we all know,
ZANU-Poof/Mugabe............
Funny, the Herald calls itself "the
Newspaper of the Government of
Zimbabwe", I thought that the Prime Minister
was part of the Government of
Zimbabwe.
But as we all know, he isn't,
the JOC/CIO and Politburo of ZANU-Poof is the
real goverment of
Zimbabwe.......
"Total Empowerment!"
http://online.wsj.com
OCTOBER 29,
2009, 6:19 P.M. ET
The U.N. is outraged at
Robert Mugabe's rudeness.
The United Nations is shocked that its torture
inspector has been deported
from Zimbabwe. "I think I have never been
treated by any government in such
a rude manner than by the government of
Zimbabwe," Manfred Nowak huffed on
Thursday.
The special rapporteur
for the U.N. Human Rights Council says he is alarmed
that an invitation
extended to him by Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's nominal
prime minister, was
disregarded by Robert Mugabe's immigration officials.
This is not, he
protests, in the spirit of February's shaky power-sharing
deal between
Zimbabwe's dictator and his democratic challenger.
Forgive us if we can't
work up the correct degree of outrage at Mr. Nowak's
treatment. Mugabe has
been abusing, dispossessing, murdering and most
recently starving his
domestic "enemies" for the better part of 30 years.
For much of that time,
he was garlanded in so many Western honors it almost
seems surprising he
didn't win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Even now, despite ongoing EU sanctions,
he is being courted at the highest
levels. Last month Brussels sent a
high-level delegation to Zimbabwe, led by
Development Commissioner Karel De
Gucht, for talks that included Mugabe. And
earlier this month, Madrid said
it would use its turn at the rotating EU
presidency next year to push for
more talks between Brussels and Harare.
Meanwhile, Mugabe's abuses remain
unchecked, including attacks on members of
Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change and invasions of still more
white-owned commercial farms.
But, of course, this is nothing more than what
dictators of Mugabe's ilk
always do. The wonder of it is that the West keeps
knocking on his door,
seeking to reason with a man who treats them with the
contempt they probably
deserve.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
22:10
A SPECIAL Sadc team started meetings with political players
yesterday
in a bid to prevent the country from sliding back into political
repression
and economic meltdown.
The meetings, which were due
to culminate in critical encounters
between the Sadc team and main political
leaders who include President
Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara today, would give
clear indications about the future of
Zimbabwe's troubled inclusive
government.
The Sadc team is led by Mozambican Foreign
Affairs Minister Oldemiro
Baloyi and includes Zambian Deputy Foreign Affairs
Minister Fashion Phiri
and his Swazi counterpart Lutho
Dlamini.
Sadc executive secretary Tomaz Salomao and South
African facilitators
to the Zimbabwe dialogue, Frank Chikane and Mojanku
Gumbi, are also part of
the fact-finding mission.
Salomao
said the Sadc team was in Harare to review the implementation
of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).
Zimbabwe is going through a fresh
political crisis after Tsvangirai
and his ministers from the MDC pulled out
of power-sharing, citing Mugabe's
failure to implement the GPA and the
dispute over a series of outstanding
issues.
Of late
repression has been intensifying after months of a reprieve
since the unity
government was formed in February.
The Sadc team yesterday met
representatives of political parties and
diplomats as part of its
consultations.
The group met Zimbabwe's Foreign Affairs
permanent secretary Joey
Bimha, Sadc diplomats, negotiators from
Tsvangirai's MDC, Mutambara and his
smaller MDC faction, and several
stakeholders.
After the meetings yesterday, the Sadc team will
today meet Zimbabwe's
three main political leaders, Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Mutambara. It would
also meet European diplomats and officials from the
Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee.
After
yesterday's meeting, MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said his
party had
tabled its issues.
"We made our presentations and
representations on the issues that are
of concern," he
said.
Sadc chairman, DRC President Joseph Kabila, was expected
to arrive in
Harare last night after failing to make it on Wednesday to push
for a quick
resolution of the problem.
Kabila's
intervention, and the presence of South African officials,
would highlight
the gravity of the political crisis in Harare and determine
whether the
unity government can be saved from a looming break up. - Staff
Writer.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
20:24
A HIGH Court judge has ruled that Presidential Affairs minister
Didymus Mutasa must testify as a defence witness in a case where a white
commercial farmer is facing prosecution for refusing to vacate a farm in
Mashonaland West. Justice Bharat Patel on Tuesday dismissed with costs
Mutasa's application to bar a lower court from compelling him to testify as
a defence witness.
In his judgment Patel said the former
Lands minister should testify in
the criminal case where commercial farmer
Robert Mckersie faces prosecution
before a Chinhoyi magistrate for allegedly
contravening the Gazetted Lands
Act by refusing to leave Chapungu Farm in
Mhangura.
The judge said Mutasa's evidence would be relevant to
the case.
Mckersie's defence is that he was given an offer
letter by Mutasa
which constitutes the requisite "lawful authority"
entitling him to remain
in occupation of the farm without contravening the
Gazetted Lands Act.
Mckersie claimed he returned his offer letter to
Mutasa to correct a
spelling error of his name. The letter was never handed
back to him.
"He now wants the applicant (Mutasa) to testify on
his behalf by
confirming that the offer letter was in fact originally issued
to him,"
reads Patel's judgment.
However, Mutasa's reasons
for refusing to testify were that the
evidence sought by Mckersie did not
constitute a valid defence to the charge
and was therefore irrelevant and
inadmissible.
The minister also said he could not be compelled
to divulge matters
involving land allocation as these were privileged by
dint of public policy
and public interest and that he was only being called
as a witness in order
to degrade his character.
Patel threw
out Mutasa's arguments. The judge said where an offer
letter is lost or
destroyed, the evidence of the issuing authority or other
public official
may be necessary in order to establish that the letter was
in fact issued to
the occupier concerned at the relevant time.
Patel adjudged:
"Such evidence would undoubtedly constitute the
requisite lawful authority
and a valid defence against a charge of
contravening Section 3. Having
regard to the foregoing, I am satisfied that
the testimony required from the
applicant (Mutasa) as to whether he did or
did not issue an offer letter to
the fourth respondent (Mckersie) in
relation to the land in question is
highly relevant and clearly admissible
for the purposes of the fourth
respondent's acquittal or conviction under
Section 3."
"Moreover, given that such evidence is to be elicited from the
applicant in
relation to what he himself did or did not do vis a vis the
fourth
respondent as the authority responsible for issuing offer letters,
there can
be no question of him having to divulge any official secret or
other
confidential information inimical to public policy or the public
interest. I
am therefore quite unable to perceive any logical basis for the
privilege
claimed by the applicant on the facts of this case."
Patel said
as for the degradation of Mutasa's character, there was
nothing meaningful
in the founding papers to substantiate the apprehended
attack on his
character.
"Ultimately any such apprehension must be weighed
against the
constitutional right of every accused person to be afforded a
fair criminal
trial as enjoined and guaranteed by Section 18 (3) of the
constitution and
in particular the right "to obtain the attendance and carry
out the
examination of witnesses to testify on his behalf", reads the
judgment.
Patel said Mutasa failed to establish a basis for
justifying the
interim relief that he sought and that the High Court could
not interfere
with the subpoena issued by the Chinhoyi Magistrate's Court by
barring
Kutayi Ndudzo (magistrate) or any other magistrate from compelling
Mutasa to
testify at Mckersie's criminal trial.
Mutasa was
ordered to pay Ndudzo costs he incurred on legal
practitioner and client
scale.
"I am not persuaded that his (Mutasa) approach to this
court was so
unjustified or unnecessary as to warrant a punitive award of
costs," said
Patel.
Initially, a warrant of arrest was
issued against Mutasa by Ndudzo on
October 6 after he failed to turn up at
Chinhoyi courts to testify.
The warrant was cancelled on
October 9, the day Mutasa made an
application to the High Court for him not
to testify in the case.
Mckersie's case resumes on November
4.
Meanwhile, in a similar case a Mutare provincial magistrate
Billiart
Musakwa granted Mutasa's application not to testify as a defence
witness in
a case involving another white commercial farmer, Alan
McGregor.
Musakwa ruled that compelling Mutasa to give evidence
in the trial of
McGregor was a way of attacking the land reform programme
and exposing the
minister to ridicule and belittlement.
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
22:03
ZANU PF's politburo last night ordered the party's Harare
province to
hold elections next Saturday, despite reports that the
restructuring of the
province was far from being complete. Party deputy
spokesperson Ephraim
Masawi said the politburo was satisfied with the work
of a co-coordinating
committee tasked with sorting out the province that has
been dogged by
infighting and factionalism.
"Harare
provincial elections will be held next Saturday," Masawi said.
"The
politburo has ordered the elections."
But sources in the
politburo had earlier on told the Zimbabwe
Independent that the
restructuring of the province might not be completed in
time for the
December congress.
The sources said Harare was likely to attend
the congress as observers
with no voting rights as they did at the Youth and
Women's leagues
conferences, where they almost fought each other over which
faction should
be allowed to attend the meetings.
Infighting between Hubert Nyanhongo and Amos Midzi, who are both vying
for
the provincial chairmanship, has affected the restructuring
exercise.
Because of the infighting the province has gone for
more than a year
without a provincial executive.
The
politburo member said: "We have not yet concluded the
restructuring
exercise. The exercise goes on. The problem with Harare has
always been
about individuals wrestling for power. The problem at the
moment, it seems,
is on tribal lines with the Zezurus saying Harare is their
capital and they
will not let a Manyika or Karanga take control of the
province.
The elections had initially been pencilled in for
August following the
cancellation of the results of the previous poll held
in December last year
by the politburo, due to intra-party violence by the
feuding factions.
Nyanhongo had defeated previous chairperson
Midzi in a fiercely
contested election that saw the two main factions led by
retired army
commander General Solomon Mujuru and defence minister Emmerson
Mnagagwa
seeking to gain control of the metropolitan
province.
The politburo member said one of the biggest
impediments to resolving
the power struggle, which might spill into the Zanu
PF congress, was the
politburo, which was also deeply divided on factional
lines.
Insiders at the party headquarters told the Independent
that the
succession race to replace the late Vice-President Joseph Msika was
also
affecting the exercise with factions trying to coerce party chairman
John
Nkomo to favour their side in exchange for a nomination for the
vice-presidency post.
A person needs the support of at
least six of the 10 provinces to be
nominated vice-president. So far four
senior members, Naison Ndlovu, Cain
Mathema, Ambrose Mutinhiri and Obert
Mpofu have openly declared their
interest in the post.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF supporters from the party's district coordinating
committee 3 (DCC), which includes Rugare, Kambuzuma, Warren Park,
Dzivaresekwa and Mufakose high-density suburbs, were protesting yesterday at
the party headquarters against what they described as a biased restructuring
exercise.
The supporters told the Independent that 16
districts have been set
up, with Midzi's supporters and some 23 districts in
Nyanhongo's stronghold
being excluded.
When Mugabe arrived
for the politburo meeting, the supporters sang
songs denouncing the Midzi
faction and politburo member Tendai Savanhu.
Faith
Zaba
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009 22:20
THE
Zanu PF succession race to replace the late Vice-President Joseph
Msika has
become messy with senior party officials trying to outmanoeuvre
each other
in a bid to block national chairman John Nkomo's
ascendancy.
The struggle over Msika's replacement took
a new twist yesterday,
widening divisions in Zanu PF ahead of the crucial
congress in December.
The fight over who will take over has
become more confusing with plots
and subplots emerging.
The Zanu PF
politburo last night intervened and resolved to bring all
10 provinces into
the fray to ensure that Msika's successor is nominated
alongside other
members of the presidium bringing a new dimenson to the
race.
Prior to this, the battle to succed Msika had been
fought only in the
Matabeleland provinces. The politburo decision - which
emphasises seniority
in the party hierachy - will give Nkomo a major
boost.
The politburo agreed that the vice-president and
chairperson's posts
will go to ex-PF Zapu officials.
The
provinces were given a deadline of November 14 to submit their
nominees to
the party.
Naison Ndlovu, Cain Mathema, Ambrose Mutinhiri and
Obert Mpofu have
publicly declared their interest to succeed Msika, while
Nkomo has said
according to Zanu PF's constitution, a person is nominated by
the provinces.
While some senior politicians are trying to stop
Nkomo from taking up
the shared number two spot in the party, others want to
form an alliance
with him in exchange for his position if he gets the six or
more nominations
from the 10 provinces.
However, forming
such an alliance, Zanu PF insiders said, could lose
him the support of those
in the Matabeleland provinces and former PF-Zapu
members who feel there is
an unwritten agreement stating that the chairman's
position is reserved for
the former PF-Zapu.
Zanu PF insiders told the Zimbabwe
Independent that the faction led by
retired army commander Solomon Mujuru
asked Mutinhiri to throw his hat into
the ring to scuttle Nkomo's efforts,
while another group which was part of
the so-called Tsholotsho plot is
campaigning for Naison Ndlovu to take up
the post.
Mpofu is
said to be more of a spoiler than a serious contender.
The
fight has also taken a new twist with former senior PF-Zapu
officials this
week disowning Mpofu.
The senior members, who occupied top
positions in PF-Zapu at
Independence and before the 1987 Unity Accord, told
the Zimbabwe Independent
in separate interviews that as far as they were
concerned, Mpofu allegedly
deserted the party during the liberation struggle
in the 1970s.
Mpofu, the senior officials said, was never a
member of PF-Zapu at
Independence in 1980 and therefore he should not even
be eyeing the
vice-president post as it was reserved for the most senior
surviving member
of that party.
One official in the Zanu PF
politburo, who preferred anonymity,
challenged Mpofu to produce his PF-Zapu
membership cards from before
Independence and after.
The
official said they did not know much about Mpofu until 1987 when
he was
appointed non-constituency MP by Mugabe.
"We didn't know him
after Independence," said the top official. "Some
of us can produce our
cards we got in Lusaka and also after Independence.
Where are his cards? It
is clear that he joined Zanu PF in 1980 and we were
in Zapu and we didn't
know him, we knew our members.
"He is just a spoiler who knows
that he does not qualify. He was just
a small boy when we joined politics.
By shouting at senior Zapu members, he
is creating enemies and digging his
own grave."
Another senior member, who also preferred
anonymity, said Mpofu
allegedly disappeared in the 1970s when he went to
India and only emerged
after Independence.
"As far as we
were concerned, he deserted the struggle and he left
Zapu in the 1970s.
Otherwise, how do you explain the fact that he was
elected into the Zanu PF
provincial membership in Matabeleland North in
1980?" he
said.
The official said Mpofu should not vie for the
vice-president's post.
"The question is where was he after he
went for his Zipra training and
where was he after India? The ones that were
sponsored by Zapu came back and
we had a list of them. He hides behind
(retired army commander General
Solomon) Mujuru because he trained with
him," he said. "But where did he go
after that training? Maybe he can tell
us which highest position he held
while in Zapu. I think the general public
will be interested to know this."
What irked former senior
PF-Zapu members were statements made by Mpofu
at a Zanu PF election victory
celebration in Nyamandlovu when he attacked
some of the candidates vying for
the post. He said they never won a ward
election in the constituencies and
do not even have the support of their
wives.
However, when
the Zimbabwe Independent contacted Mpofu, he said he
never threw his hat
into the race but only said that if people wanted him to
be vice-president,
he would gladly take up the post.
He declined to give a short
profile of his political life. He also
declined to react to assertions that
he was never a PF-Zapu member after
1980.
Mpofu said: "No
one has said anything to me about it. How can I talk
about something I
cannot determine - which I cannot also pre-empt? I don't
want to discuss
these issues - I am not a Zanu PF spokesperson."
According to
his curriculum vitae he submitted to parliament, Mpofu
said he joined the
liberation struggle in 1967 and went through military
training in Morogoro
in Tanzania in 1968. He said he operated in (Sipolilo)
Guruve, Deka, Binga,
Kazungula, Hwange, Tsholotsho and Lupane areas.
There is a gap
in his political career from there until 1987, when he
was appointed
non-constituency MP.
But according to a profile by an online
publication, which said it
interviewed Mpofu, the minister was quoted saying
Zapu awarded him
sponsorship in 1973 to pursue academic studies up to
1980.
In 1980 Mpofu was reportedly elected onto the Zanu PF
Matabeleland
North provincial executive and rose to become a member of the
central
committee and the politburo.
Mpofu worked as a line
manager at Zimbabwe Newspapers in Harare in the
mid-1980s. He was then
appointed general manager of Zimbabwe Grain Bag (Pvt)
Ltd, a manufacturing
company established by Zanu-PF in Bulawayo.
Meanwhile, the former
PF-Zapu officials also said people like Mathema
might expose themselves
after declaring an interest.
They said Mathema allegedly rebelled
against the Zipra command and was
rescued by the British High Commission and
sent to London where he was based
until 1980.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
22:14
ZIMBABWE'S troubled financial system is exposed following
revelations
by the IMF that the Reserve Bank has continued to channel
statutory reserves
to finance quasi-fiscal projects, which has rendered it
incapable of backing
up banks.
According to a report
made by a visiting IMF team this month, the
central bank has continued to
utilise "unencumbered international reserves"
further eroding dwindling
state coffers.
The negative position, the report stated,
means that the RBZ was
US$38,6 million short of assets required to bail out
banks in the event of a
liquidity crunch.
"The RBZ has used
foreign reserve assets to fund its operating
expenses, withdrawals of
foreign currency amounts and debt service, as well
as payments on behalf of
the government," the report states. "The total
value of fund outflows is
reported to have been $45,5 million between
end-December 2008 and
end-August. The RBZ also accumulated $40,3 million in
arrears on operating
expenses during the first nine months of 2009."
Out of the fund
outflows made between January and August this year,
US$16,3 was pumped out
to finance supraministerial activities that included
financing troubled
airline, Air Zimbabwe, paying presidential scholarships
and financing
diplomatic missions.
The report further revealed that the
central bank accrued operating
arrears in salaries, debts to the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority, pensions,
communications and courier
services.
The report also paints a bleak picture of the economy
in 2010.
"The macroeconomic outlook for 2010 is subject to
significant
uncertainty, and the balance of risks to the outlook is slanted
to the
downside," the report said. "On the downside a possible deterioration
in the
political situation, a potential emergency of liquidity or solvency
problems
in the banking system, or insufficient progress in maintaining the
rule of
law and enforcing property rights could undermine
growth."
The report added: "In addition, a possible sudden stop
to capital
inflows, higher than expected domestic credit growth or an
adverse
terms-of-trade shock could trigger a disorderly balance-of-payments
adjustment with a concomitant negative impact on the financial system
stability, revenue and growth."
The Bretton Woods
institutions however projected that Zimbabwe's
economy could record a
"higher-than-projected export commodity prices and
capital aid inflows"
which could trigger a 3% economic growth.
Bernard
Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
20:31
TWO Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) employees were
arrested
on Wednesday evening in Dete, Hwange, for holding a public outreach
workshop
on the constitutional reforms without police clearance. The two,
Thulani
Ndhlovu and Ndodana Ndhlovu, were arrested despite the fact that the
police
were present throughout the workshop.
Ndodana
Ndhlovu was subsequently released but Thulani Ndhlovu was
yesterday still in
police custody and being charged with contravening
Section 24 of the Public
Order and Security Act (Posa), which Zesn and many
other civic and human
rights groups want to see repealed.
"We have in the past also
criticised partisan policing and this latest
arrest is a worrisome
continuation of the same trend," said Zesn chairperson
Tinoziva Bere. "At
the time of this statement, Thulani has been transferred
to Hwange police
station and lawyers have been deployed by Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights
to attend to the matter."
The arrest came barely five days
after the arrest of National
Association of Non-Governmental Organisations
(Nango) board chair Dadirai
Chikwengo and chief executive Officer Cephas
Zinhumwe in Victoria Falls on
similar charges.
Chikwengo
and Zinhumwe appeared in court on Tuesday and were released
on US$100 bail
each.
"These developments are very disturbing as they
drastically undermine
efforts of building confidence in national processes
which Zesn had despite
its concerns been willing to give a chance," Bere
said. "Such action on the
part of state institutions and actors against
legitimate and lawful citizens'
participation make one wonder why all of a
sudden the police are
particularly keen to monitor the activities of civic
organisations.
Faith Zaba
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
20:37
THE Comptroller and Auditor-General has made more shocking
revelations
that expose gross abuse of state resources, with government
vehicles being
taken away by top government officials and state assets, fuel
coupons and
cash being misappropriated.
In her report for the
first quarter of 2009 financial year tabled in
parliament last week the
Comptroller and Auditor-General Mildred Chiri
showed how rampant corruption
is in government.
In addition to the cars being
possessed by ministers and their
deputies and permanent secretaries, the
report revealed that state assets
such as laptops, computers, fax machines,
cell phones and spares of cars
were stolen but no police reports were
made.
A total of 14 vehicles donated to the Ministry of Public
Service,
Labour and Social Welfare by the Reserve Bank in 2008 were neither
recorded
in the vehicle register nor the donations registered. Vehicle
registration
papers were not produced and therefore the report said
specification details
of the vehicles were not known to the
ministry.
"No authority to accept donations was availed for
audit. Vehicle
registration papers were also not produced. Accordingly,
specification
details of the said vehicles not known to the ministry thereby
rendering
their identification impractical in case of a dispute whilst under
the care
and use of the ministry," reads the report.
Former
Labour minister Nicholas Goche is alleged in the report to have
taken a pool
vehicle, a Toyota Prado SDF108, without authorisation from the
cabinet
office authority.
Former transport minister Christopher
Mushowe, the report said, took
three vehicles, while his deputy Hubert
Nyanhongo also took three cars and
the former permanent secretary another
three vehicles when they left the
ministry.
Industry and
Commerce former minister Obert Mpofu took possession of
two vehicles, while
his deputy Pheneas Chihota took one which he was
entitled to buy and former
permanent secretary took four cars before leaving
the ministry. The report
said there was no authorisation given.
In Masvingo, out of 12
vehicles sourced from the central bank, the
province could only account for
one which had been reportedly allocated to a
medical doctor who has since
absconded.
Former information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and
his former deputy
Bright Matonga were said to have taken computers, fax
machines and two
laptops which were donated by the central
bank.
Chiri's report further revealed that funds received from
the Ministry
of Finance by the Ministry of Public Service meant specifically
for rentals
were diverted to other use.
"The ministry was
granted an amount of US$6 249 from Ministry of
Finance specifically for
settlement of rentals to Richard Ellis on February
11 2009 yet only US$4 250
was paid reserving the balance of US$1 999 for
non-specified urgent
matters," the report read.
In addition, seven computer
processing units had missing components
reportedly stolen and no inquiry or
police report was made to establish the
circumstances surrounding the
disappearance of the parts.
Gross misuse of fuel coupons was
recorded in the ministries of
Education and Finance.
In the
Ministry of Education, a physical fuel coupons count was
conducted and the
quantity of fuel coupons on hand as at April 23 was 175
litres
diesel.
However, Chiri said the records indicated that the
quantity of fuel
coupons should have been 475 litres, made up of 175 litres
of diesel and 300
litres of petrol.
In the Ministry of
Finance, 100 litres of petrol and 50 litres of
diesel could not be accounted
for by the transport officer.
Turning to mismanagement of
funds, there was a discrepancy in the
Ministry of Finance between the amount
recorded as having been received from
the accountant general's office and
what was recorded as having been
disbursed by the accountant general and
also what was in the letters of
disbursement.
For instance
in the month of January the cash register recorded US$211
603 while the
accountant general's register recorded US$157 573 and R14 100
and the
letters of disbursement showed US$340 375-55.
In February,
US$87 466 was recorded in the cash register, while the
accountant general's
register showed an amount of US$69 748 and letters of
disbursement had
US$642 916,62.
"It is recommended that the above differences be
investigated and the
correct position to be reflected in the official
records," recommended the
auditor-general.
The Ministry of
Energy was accused of making payments amounting to
US$1 030 without
authorisation and the vouchers were neither stamped nor
dated.
On the Ministry of Health, Chiri said she was
concerned about the cash
shortages and depletion of hospital
infrastructure.
Gwanda district hospital was said to have
stocked expired drugs dating
as far back as 2000 at the time of
audit.
At Ingutsheni Hospital government has been prejudiced of
over US$3 200
as a result of paying salaries to eight former employees
during 2007 and
2008. It was alleged that there had been a verbal authority
conveyed by the
office of the provincial medical director.
Tsholostho district hospital recorded a cash shortage of R3
441.
On the Ministry of Higher Education, US$950, 91 was paid
in December
2008 to AMC Dalmer Chrysler SA (Pvt) Ltd by Harare Polytechnic
on behalf of
the ministry.
In addition, the ministry
borrowed coupons amounting to US$585 from
the polytechnic. At the time of
audit no refunds had been made.
In the Ministry of Home
Affairs, the Registrar General's revenue
collections were kept in safes
because they did not have foreign currency
bank accounts.
When auditors visited the Registrar-General's Offices at Makombe
building,
$252 648, 25 and R87 844 was found in the safe.
The Ministry of
Local government in Matabeleland North failed to
account for US$815.04 and
R250 out of the US$1 615 and R250 grants allocated
to the province for
Independence Day celebrations, while a total of US$1 570
advanced to 11 of
the ministry's top management officials travelling to
Bulawayo and Gweru
during the period of March 5 and March 7 remained
outstanding at the time of
audit.
A payment of US$512 recorded in the Ministry of
Information described
as lunch and dinner for two was made to the Ambassador
hotel and the
description of the payment was given as "burial of a hero"
without stating
or identifying the hero and the names of the
beneficiaries.
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October
2009 20:26
THE Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic)
has written
to President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
his deputy
Arthur Mutambara -- the principals of the global political
agreement
(GPA) -- to consider former white commercial farmers when issuing
99-year
land leases.
Responding to questions from the Zimbabwe
Independent on the
implementation of the GPA, Jomic said it recently wrote
to the principals
and line ministries requesting updates on what they were
doing to comply
with provisions of the power-sharing pact signed in
September last year.
Jomic has also launched investigations
into allegations of fresh farm
occupations and disruptions.
"The Jomic subcommittee on land is engaged in ongoing investigations
on what
is happening on the farms," the committee said. "It has also asked
the
principals to the GPA to consider former white commercial farmers when
issuing 99-year leases."
The move to consider white farmers
for the land leases came in the
wake of heightened tenure worries on farms
as more farmers face uncertain
futures countrywide.
The
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) this week said several farmers were
being
forced off their land and expressed fear that this would affect
agricultural
output.
The farmers union in a statement said: "Productive
commercial farmers
continue to be prosecuted by the Attorney-General's
office. Currently this
figure stands at 152 farmers. Several other farmers
are facing forced
evictions, illegal possession of farm equipment and
materials in the
presence of both beneficiaries and government authorities.
This is clearly
in violation of the terms of the global political
agreement."
The impact of the prosecutions and occurrences
countrywide, the CFU
said, would have a disastrous impact on the summer
cropping programme.
"The CFU therefore calls upon government to
immediately stabilise the
current situation as a matter of urgency. This
call is made in the
interests of the nation as a whole," the union said. "As
commercial farmers,
we are prepared to contribute to Zimbabwe's food
self-sufficiency, but can
only do so given the opportunity. Full production
of commercial farmland
would alleviate the necessity for the constant
importation of essential food
to Zimbabwe."
It called upon
government to clarify whether or not white commercial
farmers had any role
to play in the future of food production in the
country.
The CFU said in 2007 farmers were told that land was available on a
one-man-one farm and non-racial basis and were encouraged to make
applications to the Ministry of Agriculture through A2 application
forms.
"Approximately 800 applications were made but to date no
individual
farmer has received confirmation or rejection of their
application," the CFU
said. "It is a well-known fact that a substantial
amount of agricultural
land has been abandoned and unutilised during the
course of the fast track
land acquisition programme. However, Zimbabwe's
commercial farmers, who are
very highly rated internationally, and who have
the knowledge and experience
in high volume and high quality commercial
production, are being denied
access to their farms."
As a
result of alleged fresh land occupations, the General Agriculture
and
Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe (Gapwuz) reported that over 60 000
farm workers were made homeless since February 2009.
The labour
union estimates that between 80% and 90% of farm workers
lost their jobs
since the 2000 chaotic land reform programme.
Chris
Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009 20:22
NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisations (NGOs) have given a thumbs-down to the
inclusive government's performance since its formation in February. In a
declaration, directors of 120 NGOs who met in Victoria Falls at the weekend
for the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango) 2009
Directors Summer School expressed concern at the failure by the unity
government to address critical issues.
The declaration
read: "We the leaders of 120 Non-Governmental
Organisations working to
enhance social, economic and political development
in Zimbabwe . are
concerned about the growing list of challenges yet to be
addressed or
resolved by the inclusive government and thus requiring
immediate attention
- especially in regards to social service delivery,
transitional justice,
promotion and protection of human rights,
constitutional reform and
institutional reform."
The NGOs also noted a concern that the
inter party crisis signalled by
the disengagement of the MDC-T from Zanu PF,
had risen at a time when
Zimbabwe required cohesive, accountable and
democratic government to respond
to the predicted drought and the resurgence
of the deadly cholera outbreak.
The declaration also noted its
disappointment with the inactivity of
the global political agreement and the
parties' continued unwillingness to
perform their mandate and protect the
people.
It also castigated the inclusive government's failure
to be
accountable and transparent to the people about developments
surrounding the
MDC-T's disengagement.
The declaration
resulted in the arrest of Nango chief executive
officer Cephas Zinhumwe and
board chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo on Sunday
for violating a provision of
the Public Order Security Act (Posa) that bars
organisations and individuals
from holding political meetings without police
permission.
Zinhumwe and Chikwengo were on Tuesday released on US$100 bail each
and will
be back in court on November 25 for routine remand.
As a result
of the arrests, Nango on Wednesday snubbed a conference on
law reform
organised by Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa.
"These arrests
demonstrate the extent to which Posa is an incredibly
bad law and how it is
a serious deterrent to freedom of association and
freedom of assembly,"
Fambai Ngirande, Nango communications manager, said.
During
deliberations at the Victoria Falls conference, Chikwengo said
she was
taking over as chairperson of Nango at a time the inclusive
government was
struggling.
"I am coming in at a time when our baby (inclusive
government) is
failing to survive in the intensive care and relying on a
machine," she
said. "It is sad to note little progress has been made in the
(implementation) of the global political agreement."
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights director Irene Petras said that
civil
society was being excluded and was not respected by partners in
government.
"The biggest problem is that MDC do not consult
civil society in
political decisions while Zanu PF do not accept and
understand the role of
civil society," she said.
Petras
said that the continued lack of rule of law and lack of reforms
since the
formation of the inclusive government meant that civil society
would have to
maintain their role as watchdog of the state.
"We as civil
society are not here to make friends. We should remain
watchdogs. Just
because there is a political agreement does not mean we stop
speaking when
something is not going right," Petras said "I am not going to
compromise on
freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of the
press."
Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association director Emilia
Muchawa said
government had not managed to open up space for citizens to
operate.
"The inter party agreement was meant to open up space.
but we have
seen shutting down of space in other areas." Muchawa said. "Even
though we
have an inclusive government polarisation still
exists"
Meanwhile, delegates at the conference expressed anger
at the presence
of Central Intelligence Organisation spies to monitor the
deliberations of
the NGOs.
One of the delegates, Edison
Chiota, said at the meeting: "What do we
do when we have uninvited guests at
our meeting? I love to have my
grandfather and aunt with me but I do not
need them to follow me to my
bedroom."
Kudzai
Kuwaza
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
20:34
AN Air Zimbabwe flight from South Africa on Sunday was forced to
divert to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Airport in Bulawayo after failing to land at
Harare International Airport due to intermittent landing systems failure
triggered by electricity cuts. The airline's chief executive officer, Peter
Chikumba, who was aboard the daily UM362 flight to and from Johannesburg,
yesterday confirmed the incident.
The flight was redirected
to Bulawayo after the Civil Aviation
Authority of Zimbabwe (Caaz) systems
failed to grant pilots permission to
land because the runway had no
lights.
Passengers aboard the plane spent several hours in
Bulawayo before
flying back and arriving in Harare after midnight when the
problem was
fixed.
"I can confirm that there was a flight
delay, but the Civil Aviation
Authority can best explain reasons for the
divert (to Bulawayo)," Chikumba
said in a telephone interview with the
Zimbabwe Independent.
Caaz runs all airports in the
country.
The authority's general manager, David Chaota, last
night confirmed
the incident saying there "is a problem on the runway and of
power supply".
"There are serious challenges on both power and
runway lights and we
are working on them," Chaota said. "According to our
plan, in two weeks time
we should have a solution on the runway problem, but
for power it's a 2010
issue because we are engaging other players like
Zesa."
He said the flight "was on hold" for 30 minutes before
it was diverted
to Bulawayo.
Sources at Harare
International Airport said the plane was diverted
after generators at the
terminal failed to power the airport after scheduled
electricity
load-shedding by Zesa. The power utility last week embarked on a
two week
load-shedding programme expected to cut power by 250 megawatts.
The flight's delay, sources said, came after a South African Airways
flight
was "recently" forced to divert to Bulawayo airport, prompting
concerns of
Caaz's preparedness to host international airlines.
"Our
aviation is facing serious problems," said the source.
"Passengers scheduled
to arrive in Harare early ended up arriving at 1am due
to the flight delays.
South African Airways has also experienced similar
problems and this is not
desirable for the industry."
Caaz recently won an award which
"merits International Gold Star for
Quality in the realm of customer
satisfaction, innovation and technology as
established in QC1OO Total
Quality management control".
Meanwhile, unlike in recent years
where the national airline struggled
to remain operational due to fuel
problems that hit the country, Air
Zimbabwe is currently seeking US$750
million capital to renew its aircraft
fleet and hanger fire protection
system.
If a potential deal sails through, government could
surrender 60%
shareholding of the struggling airline to a private
investor.
Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009 18:37
ZB
FINANCIAL Holdings chief executive officer Elisha Mushayakarara has
come
under fire from the board amid suspicion he could have sanctioned
cosmetic
accounting at the financial services group, businessdigest can
reveal.
Non-executive director John Nhavira, in correspondence to hand, has
accused
Mushayakarara of turning a blind eye to illegal, hard-to-detect
tricks that
made earnings look a whole lot better than they are.
"Basically, the
gist of my argument is that in order for financial
statements to reflect the
institution's operations and financial conditions
in terms of 36b means
indicating the long term and current assets and
liabilities. In the extreme
going so far as to show net current assets,"
said Nhavira in correspondence
to Mushayakarara, which was copied to all
board members.
"Net
current assets may be an extreme which has not happened before
and may not
be necessary. The basics at least as previously reported in this
market as
they had been displayed in the power point presentation does seem
to satisfy
the issue of 'reflecting .financial condition'."
Mushayakarara is also
accused of board contempt. According to
documents dated August 26 the week
the financial result were unveiled to the
public, Mushayakarara called the
financial institutions directors on short
notice to adopt the financials but
did not give them the actual financial
statements.
ZB spokesperson
James Hove confirmed the correspondence saying:
"Indeed a board member wrote
a letter to our group chief executive, Mr Elias
N Mushayakarara and copied
to all board members expressing concerns about
the accounting treatment of a
number of issues during the process of
consideration and approval of the
group's half-year financial results for
the period ended 30 June,
2009."
ZB says concern raised centred on the appropriateness of
proposed
accounting treatment of the group's insurance operations -- ZB Life
and ZB
reinsurance -- particularly the life assurance business.
"Accounting standards extant at the moment provide two methods of
treating
insurance operations on consolidation of financial statements. The
first
option is to show the gross position of the assets, liabilities and
profit
or loss. This option shows the total assets, liabilities and profit
or loss
of both the group and policyholders' funds. Transfers to the
insurance fund
of the policyholders' assets, liabilities and profits or
losses are then
effected leaving a net position reflecting the group's
assets, liabilities
and profit or loss position," said Hove.
Another option the group
considered is to show the shareholders'
assets, liabilities and profit or
loss.
He said: "The policyholders' assets, liabilities and profit or
loss
are then shown by way of a note to the accounts. You will appreciate
that
both methods will result in the net position being the same. The board
adopted the net reporting position and the performance of the policyholders'
funds was shown as a note to the published financial statements. This
accounting treatment was deemed to be the fair and accurate."
ZB
says there was no intention or attempt "to conceal, misrepresent or
cover up
anything regarding the performance of the Group."
Instead, insiders say
Mushayakarara and his executives took the board
through a power point
presentation of the financials and considered the
accounts adopted.
"The change then, when read together with the clauses in the Companies
Act
gives the impression of concealment. Cosmetic or creative accounting in
the
suggested manner as proposed, that is simply listing assets and
liabilities;
it is in my view concealing the financial condition of the
institution,"
alleged Nhavira.
"If this was not the case, there would be no incentive
to change.
Cosmetics by nature hide, conceal and designed to deceive the
beholder that
the face presented is without blemish, that there is no acne,
black spots or
wrinkles," he said.
According to the correspondence,
Mushayakarara was warned of jail time
should it be proven that he sanctioned
"cooking of financial books".
"The penalties, as you may have seen are
one or two years in prison.
The question to be addressed therefore is that
shall we take the risk, are
we prepared to stand before a judge and defend
our assumed position and
categorically state that the change as envisaged
was not designed to conceal
or to deceive the public?" Nhavira
asked.
In earlier communication, Mushayakarara was accused of pursuing
a
Machiavellian principle at the bank - the means justify the ends - and was
accused of leading the group towards a scandal such as Enron and Century
bank where executives connived with auditors to mislead the market and
shareholders.
"However, I fear that 'Machiavellian' principles are
leading us to
'Enron' and 'Century Bank' practices. In both these instances,
the
management and board 'knowingly' concealed or falsified material matters
concerning their institutions. In our case the board was placed in an
invidious position - to connive in the concealment of the true state of the
institution's financial state - all in the name of Machiavellian
principles," Nhavira alleged.
"Machiavellian principles are by
nature unethical and immoral. All
those who practise such principles always
end badly because they contain
within them the seeds of their own
destruction," he said. ZB confirmed that
a board member had raised concerns
over proposed accounting treatment but
denied wrong doing.
The
group says its life assurance business in question has never had
an adverse
actuarial report.
The ZB spokesperson added: "Existing accounting
standards provide for
two methods of disclosing assets and liabilities;
either separating current
and non-current portions of the balance sheet, or
as a listing in order of
liquidity. The group adopted the former approach
after it was felt that such
disclosure would provide better information to
the readers of the financial
statements."
The financial services
group says all issues raised by the director
where addressed and is pleased
with its accounting practices.
"The group complies with International
Financial Reporting Standards
("IFRS") and consults widely when there is
need," ZB said.
ZB Financial Holdings interim results for the interim
period saw its
flagship ZB Bank posting a loss of US$$1,5 million while ZB
Building Society
posted modest profit at US$91 000.
Intermarket
Banking Corporation made a loss of US$7 200.
The group's reinsurance
business, ZB Reinsurance saved the day with a
pre-tax profit of US$1,71
million and achieved an underwriting profit of
US$1,4 million.
Commenting on the results Mushayakarara said banking operations were
largely
subdued during the interim period as a result of the unavailability
of
liquidity and the rapid turnover on customer balances which made it
difficult to structure longer-term products desired by businesses.
Mushayakarara added that the group's life assurance business "largely
remained inactive" for the half year under review owing to the generally low
levels of disposable income obtaining across the economy.
He said:
"The re-insurance, business on the other hand, enjoyed better
fortunes as
businesses reviewed their insurance portfolios in anticipation
of increased
production."
ZB life Assurance posted a loss of US$5,1 million after
distribution
to minority shareholders emanating from the fair value loss on
the
Mashonaland Holdings stock on the ZSE.
ZB Financial Holdings in
June had announced that it planned a private
placement. A signal which
analyst said showed that the financial sector was
cracking silently under
the weight of dollarisation or more importantly the
minimum capital
requirements for the financial industry.
Analysts also said it could
signal that government which is the major
shareholder in ZB Financial
Holdings with a 67% equity holding was willing
to dilute its stake, perhaps
in a very significant way.
Chris Muronzi/Paul
Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October
2009 18:35
THE current spell of political uncertainty in the country
could not
have come at a worse time. Investor confidence had improved
considerably
following the crafting of reasonable economic policies early
this year. Both
the private sector and government hosted several investor
conferences within
and outside the country aiming to attract
capital.
At all of these meetings, key politicians in the country
pledged to
work towards sustaining the economic revival. Even some known
sceptics were
beginning to warm to the new government as it scored some
modest
achievements in the first six months albeit with known squabbles
within.
A recent survey by the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI)
revealed that on average capacity utilisation improved from
below 10% in
2008 to 32, 3% by August. Some companies that had closed shop
altogether
resumed operations while those that had not re-opened yet were
hoping to do
so soon.
The recovery story which a year ago
seemed a pipe dream has been
slowly becoming a reality. Early this year the
economy was projected to grow
by 3, 7% but the estimate has since been
reviewed upwards to 7%. This is
because some sections of the economy have so
far recovered faster than was
predicted.
The effects of the
positive outturn in the real sectors also filtered
onto the stock
market.
Equities had a positive bias until a fortnight ago when the
disagreements within the inclusive government mutated into a crisis. From a
dip of US$1, 2 billion in March the market capitalisation peaked at US$4,3
billion this month driven by foreign buyers.
With locals being
net sellers the market had largely been supported by
foreign investors who
were piling into heavily capitalised counters in
anticipation of an economic
turnaround.
It is believed that above 80% of the trades on the
stock exchange
after dollarisation have been coming from
foreigners.
The remaining 20%, estimated at US$1million per week,
are trades by
locals. New money from domestic investors on the market is
still negligible.
Instead, most of the trades by locals are switches from
one counter to
another plus sales of shares mainly to foreigners to raise
liquidity.
Value of trades has been averaging US$1m daily and
this is above
average for an economy whose gross domestic product (GDP) is
projected at
US$3, 4 billion for the year as a whole. In fact this makes the
ZSE the
fourth most active market in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa,
Nigeria
and Kenya.
It is a no-brainer that if the political
standoff is not resolved
quickly and amicably the country could experience
another spell of capital
flight.
This is not desirable
considering the effort that was put in to retain
old capital and to attract
new money. This time around the capital flight
could be more severe as the
country would have proved that redemption is
beyond its current
capabilities.
While it takes one wrong decision to destroy
market confidence it
takes a much longer time and more effort to rebuild it
when it is lost.
The costs of lost confidence are usually much
higher and more painful
to bear. For instance corporate deals that were
currently under
consideration will most likely be put on hold until the dust
settles. Few
investors would dare to risk their money where political
tension is high.
This would be a major setback to companies
that were hoping to attract
new funding from existing and potential
investors. Several listed companies
had lined up rights offers in a bid to
raise funds for working capital and
expansions of their
operations.
Others had reached advanced stages with private
placement arrangements
to prospective investors in exchange for
cash.
All these initiatives may amount to nothing if the political
tension
is not quickly diffused. If the companies fail to raise capital they
will
not be able to expand capacity usage. Tax revenues which hitherto have
been
rising will decline again in the process hampering service delivery by
government.
More people will be laid off while products may
disappear from the
shelves once more. In the end everyone will be a
loser.
The uncertainty surrounding the survival of the unity
arrangement has
been at the heart of the performance of the stock market for
months now.
Risk averse investors were buying on recovery prospects while
those
unconvinced about the "inclusive" arrangement did not bother coming in
at
all.
Those who invested, say, in March when prices were
low, have so far
amassed high returns. However if the environment
deteriorates further, all
these gains could be quickly wiped out. Investors,
being rational beings,
usually do not wait until they have lost
everything.
The normal thing is to cut losses and move on. Losing
capital at this
point will be akin to moving back ten big steps after
everyone celebrated
two forward steps achieved since a coalition
administration was formed.
Ranga Makwata
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
18:33
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti has projected a rise in government
revenue next year, despite the current dwindling of monthly revenue he said
had reached a "plateau". Biti told parliament last week that monthly revenue
generated since June had remained stagnant, signalling a budget deficit for
the current fiscal year.
This means government would fail to
generate US$1 billion targeted in
the revised national budget, piling more
pressure on the fiscus following
the dollarisation of the economy in
February.
He said plans to increase revenue in a "shallow budget" of
US$1,3
billion was a reflection of lack of meaningful foreign direct
investment in
the economy.
"Our income has averaged from US$4
million per month in January 2009
to $25 million in February, $40 million in
March, to a high level of $98
million in June," Biti said.
"But in
June we reached a plateau. We have failed to break the $100
million mark. In
June we were $98 million and in September we collected $90
million. So we
have reached a plateau vis-a-vis our collection and in the
budget that we
are currently working on right now, we are actually working
on modest
figures of estimates of collections of $110 million per month,
which we will
give you a shallow budget of $1,3 billion, which is why
Honourable Mangoma
(Economic planning minister) is correct when he says we
just have to have
investment in this country otherwise we are sunk."
Dogged by the
current economic problems, the Finance minister said any
plans to service
the US$5,7 billion external debt using the current revenue
inflows were far
fetched. Government requires over US$60 million for wages
and pensions each
month apart from other expenditures.
"So if our unvalidated debt is
$5,7 billion, it means assuming that we
are living on water and air and
God's grace, we are required to pay that
debt for six years and clearly that
is not sustainable," Biti said.
Plans by the treasury to effect the 30%
increase in budget could be in
line with far reaching tax proposals made by
the Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI) for the November national
budget for 2010. The industrial
body is among other tax reforms pushing for
an increase in value added tax
from the current 15%, a move that is likely
to see a surge in consumer
prices.
"We recommend an increase in the
rate of VAT to 17.5% and a sharp
reduction in the number of exempt products
to compensate for revenue loss
under other tax heads. This will revert to
15% once revenue generation has
improved," reads the CZI input to the
national budget.
"The due date for VAT payments should revert to the
end of the month
following the month which VAT is accrued to encourage
credit creation in the
economy."
Apart from the tax reforms
industry also recommended the creation of
an "Independent Budget Office" to
"oversee the budget from a non-partisan
perspective".
The Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce is against plans to increase
VAT to improve
revenue generation. Instead it recommends that government
should lower
taxes.
"In order to then increase the revenue base the following
recommendations are being made. Review or reduce all taxes - VAT, Pay As You
Earn, corporate tax etc to stimulate demand by attracting more players and
compliance," the ZNCC said.
Government, the ZNCC further
recommended, should also consider flat
rate on excise
duty.
Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009 18:30
ZIMBABWE Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) is going ahead with
mining at
its Marange Diamond Mine in direct contempt of a High Court order,
business
digest can reveal. Documents to hand show that ZMDC management
ignored the
court ruling barring the company from mining in the area after
African
Consolidated Resources (ACR) sought a court order in an ownership
dispute
over the diamond fields in Zimbabwe's eastern highlands.
The documents
show that after the High Court ruling on September 29 it
was business as
usual at ZMDC. Management has continued to mine in the area
to
date.
ZMDC produces an average 1 300 carats of diamonds a day,
according to
documents.
This follows the ruling by the High Court
confirming the ACR"s claims
registered in its name on the Marange diamond
fields, a development which
would have created problems after ZMDC occupied
the area.
Instead, ACR is opting to partner government in the mining
project but
government is not keen to have the group aboard.
ACR
CEO Andrew Cranswick announced: "As soon as the joint venture
achieves
physical possession of the claims its immediate priority will be
the
establishment of full security as soon as is practicable. Thereafter
the
company hopes to make further announcements in respect of its intentions
to
establish a mutually beneficial operation as the situation develops."
ACR acquired the claims in early 2006 but was evicted in October
2006
forcing the company to institute legal action in the High Court.
There are problems pertaining to the country's diamond mining
following the
events which unfolded at the Chiyadzwa diamond field since
2006.
This has led to a continued focus on the country's diamond mining
which is
still in its infancy and there are threats that the country would
be
suspended from the Kimberley Process.
ACR said in the last three years,
they have attempted to work with all
elements of the Zimbabwe government to
agree on a joint venture.
In its annual report published in July this
year, ACR noted that the
issue of the Marange diamond fields had remained
topical in the world news.
Operations on the diamond fields in
Manicaland led to a recent visit
by the Kimberley Process review
team.
"This review has led to dissatisfaction with the status
quo
and the company has stressed that tenure needs to be resolved in order
to
enable formal mining so that Kimberley Process compliance can be
achieved.
"The company is pleased to note the security of tenure
evidenced by
the High Court judgment, and hopes that the security and
transparency of
operations that the joint venture intends to put in place
will be recognised
by the Kimberley Process," added
ACR.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
18:28
TENSION between Finance minister Tendai Biti and Reserve Bank
governor
Gideon Gono over control of government financial levers has turned
into a
legal dispute on who has authority over the recent US$510 million
financial
aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Last week saw Biti
and Gono
upping their campaigns to claim custody of the Bretton Woods
institution's
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) disbursed last month to stem the
global
economic recession.
The funds came after a G20 meeting in
March generated US$262 billion
to assist global economies. Zimbabwe received
US$510 million worth of SDRs
while China and South Africa received US$30
billion and US$2 billion
respectively.
Asked by Mutare Central
MDC-T legislator Innocent Gonese about
government's policy regarding
financing of trade rates under the IMF during
parliamentary questions
without notice time last week, Biti said the
treasury had the mandate to
disburse the funds.
He said the International Financial Organisation
Act of 1980 gave the
minister "sole authority" over the funds.
"This Act prescribes that the Minister of Finance is a governor of
Zimbabwe's fiscal agent to both the World Bank family and the IMF," Biti
argued. "It is very clear Section 7 subsection 2 that the Minister of
Finance is the authority on the issue of SDRs. However, the bank (central
bank) is the bank and that is reflected in both the International Financial
Organisation Act and in Section 49 of the RBZ Act."
The SDR is
neither a currency, nor a claim on the IMF, but rather, it
is a potential
claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members.
Holders of SDRs
can obtain these currencies in exchange for their SDRs
in two ways - either
through the arrangement of voluntary exchanges between
members or by the IMF
designating members with strong external positions to
purchase SDRs from
members with weak external positions.
In addition to its role as a
supplementary reserve asset, the SDR
serves as the unit of account of the
IMF and some other international
organisations though this role is slowly
diminishing with increased regional
cooperation especially within
Europe.
In a clear attack on Gono, Biti told MPs that: "This money was
given
to every country and no one can wake up one morning and say I looked
for
this money, I need to be congratulated."
Parliament, Biti
further argued, "would propose what to do with the
SDR next month" at the
presentation of the national budget.
Government sources said Biti was
likely to allocate a large portion of
the funds towards infrastructural
development, much to the disgruntlement of
indigenous farmers eyeing the
lion's share.
Apart from the global crisis, Zimbabwe currently with a
-9% current
account and an invalidated external debt of US$5,7 billion
requires foreign
direct investment and an estimated US$10 billion to
stimulate economic
recovery.
The state controlled daily, the
Herald, last Friday "revealed" that
the central bank boss should be in
charge of the funds.
The newspaper quoted the soon to be amended
Reserve Bank Act as the
legal instrument granting the central bank control
over state reserves.
"The bank shall establish and maintain an
international reserve which
shall consist of all or any of the following
assets (i) the entitlement to
make reserve tranche purchases from the
International Monetary Fund and (ii)
the holdings of Zimbabwe of Special
Drawing Rights of the International
Monetary Fund," reads the Act.
"The bank shall, to the best of its ability, maintain the
international
reserve at a level which, in the bank's opinion, will be
adequate for the
execution of the monetary exchange rate policies of
Zimbabwe and for the
prompt settlement of the country's international
obligations."
While it is not clear when the funds would be injected into the
economy, the
Finance minister seems to be aware that interest on the SDR
could jump from
the current 0,26% to higher levels. A higher figure would be
reminiscent of
the 1980s when the non-concessionary funds attracted 5,5%
interest during
the late Finance minister Bernard Chidzero's era.
"I have no doubt in
my mind that this current low rate of interest
that is levied on the SDRs is
going to go up," Biti said.
Meanwhile the House of Assembly referred
the proposed changes to the
Reserve Bank Act to the legal committee after
the first reading. The
amendments would see existing central bank powers
being clipped.
Bernard Mpofu/Leonard Makombe
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
18:25
THE partial disengagement from government by the MDC-T may scare
away
investors who had shown keen interest in the country, economic analysts
have
said. The MDC-T disengaged from the government a fortnight ago citing
President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF's refusal to fully consummate the global
political agreement (GPA) signed last year and resolving of outstanding
issues of the deal.
Analysts who spoke to businessdigest said
the partial withdrawal had
the potential to plunge the country into deep
economic and political
crisis - worse than what was experienced last
year.
A Kingdom Bank analyst who requested anonymity said the
disengagement
of the MDC-T would have a negative impact on the economic
recovery process.
"The year 2008 was not good for the economy because
both local and
foreign investors had no confidence in the country," the
analyst said. "When
the global political agreement was signed and the
inclusive government
incepted in February this year, investors started
coming in with the hope
that things such as the rule of law, property rights
and human rights would
be restored."
Since the formation of the
unity government, Zimbabwe has hosted
several investment conferences with
the aim of luring foreign investors.
Though showing willingness to
invest in the country, investors have
been cagey over the political
situation and the current crisis would put a
huge dent on investment
prospects.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Obert
Sibanda said
investors had started trickling in, but the MDC-T partial
pullout would send
the wrong signal.
Sibanda said: "Investors were
coming because of the political
stability that had begun prevailing in the
country. It had started giving
them confidence. Any sign of collapse creates
a lot of panic among potential
investors who may have started showing
interest in investing in the country.
"A lot of investors have been
enquiring about the position in the
country and the future and we keep
assuring them that this is a passing
phase. Some had already started
querying long before the disengagement
following some pronouncements in the
media."
The Kingdom Bank analyst said the situation has made investors
to
trade carefully.
"Investors who had adopted a wait and see
attitude are beginning to
see that the fear they had was right," the analyst
said. "They are beginning
to realise that anything can happen. Issues such
as the Nestlé and KML have
indicated that there is still no guarantee of a
conducive business
environment."
He added: "The only changes are
the exchange control regulations;
these allow capital movements but this has
shown that it is not in
isolation, it is not a guarantee for a safe
investment destination to
potential investors. It is like an amber sign at
the robots, investors are
proceeding with caution."
Sibanda
appealed to the GPA principals to resolve their differences
amicably.
"We need to put the country first before personal
interests," he said.
Government had projected that by December capacity
utilisation in
industries would reach 60%.
According to the 2009
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
manufacturing report, the
manufacturing sector is in a recovery mode as it
accounted for 14% of export
shipment.
Jesilyn Dendere
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
18:07
POLITICAL risk remains the major deterrent factor to those
interested
in buying stakes in local companies looking for possible suitors,
analysts
have said. Faced with liquidity problems and low productive
capacity, local
companies look for salvation beyond the country's borders,
offering
potential investors varying stakes in the firms.
However,
the negotiations have yielded nothing to date.
At times negotiations
start but mid way through it is announced that
the deal has fallen through
or in other cases it has taken until forever to
conclude the deals.
Three of the high profile deals which surfaced this year include the
R167
million worth of stake that South Africa's Shoprite wanted in OK, the
sale
of Ariston by Delta and the upping of investment levels in TM
Supermarkets
by Pick n Pay.
These have been on the table for some time and in some
instances there
is confusion as to where the negotiators are heading as the
case of OK and
Shoprite where what is said in South Africa is different from
what is said
in Zimbabwe.
An analyst with an investment bank said
while there are many factors
inhibiting the conclusion of the deals,
political risk remains the biggest
threat to any meaningful
progress.
"There are many guys who are interested in investing in
Zimbabwe but
the question which they always ask is how long would the
Government of
National Unity last.
"Their fear is that if the GNU
fails, then we may be going back to the
Zimbabwean dollar era and all those
things related to that period of time,"
said an analyst from an investment
bank.
This has been made worse by recent developments when MDC-T, a
partner
to the Global Political Agreement, "disengaged" from government
three weeks
ago.
Apart from the political risk, there are other
factors which have also
contributed towards the breakdown of negotiations or
lengthy discussions.
There is what analysts have called the ownership
and control factor,
where managers of some of the business courting possible
suitors are also
the owners of the firms and are not prepared to have their
shareholding
diluted to an extent where they do not have a say.
"In
terms of the modern corporate structures, there are institutional
investors
who come into a company and buy a stake. By agreement these
investors may
let the managers continue running the business but when
relations turn sour
they may decide to call the shots and this is what local
managers do not
want," added the investment analyst.
As such the local
managers-cum-owners are prepared to part with only a
fraction of their stake
so that they remain in charge of the decision-making
in the business, but
this would not be enough to spur the business.
At times the stake these
managers-cum-owners dangle is not attractive
enough for the investor to take
the risk.
This has been the case with most of the smaller transactions
which
have been going on since the beginning of the year.
Negotiations have also stalled over the proper pricing of local assets
as
the international investors say the value has dropped significantly while
shareholders think otherwise.
Most foreigners are attracted to the
local assets because they think
they have been run down and are now very
cheap.
Local shareholders, on the other hand, argue that they have held
on to
the assets at a time when the country was going down and thus are not
prepared to part with them for any value which is lower than what they think
they are worth.
"In some cases, negotiations have stalled over
prices and we have to
be honest, there are managers who are not correctly
pricing their assets and
that is why it takes so long to conclude," added
the analyst.
Leonard Makombe
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29
October 2009 19:11
IT is a fascinating commentary on Zanu PF's internal
politics that one
of the most unpopular politicians in Matabeleland has
thrown his hat into
the ring in the current contest for the vice-presidency.
Mines minister
Obert Mpofu has announced that he will be a candidate despite
the fact that
he is not only hugely unpopular in the Matabeleland provinces,
he is
ineligible in terms of the 1987 unity accord.
That agreement
was very clear: Only ex-Zapu members qualify for the
job.
That
excludes Mpofu. He got into bed with Zanu PF in 1987.
After what
appears to be a flirtation with Frolizi, Zapu awarded him
sponsorship in
1973 to pursue his academic studies in India where he secured
a BCom degree
in 1980. But in that year he was elected to the Zanu-PF
provincial
membership in Matabeleland North.
He was appointed non-constituency MP
in 1987. In 1990 he was elected
MP for Bubi-Umguza representing Zanu-PF. In
1995 he was again appointed a
non-constituency MP, suggesting that at key
junctures in his career he was
dependent upon patronage.
The
"distinguishing" elements of his career include a spell as GM of
the
Bulawayo-based Zanu PF company, Zimbabwe Grain Bag, and blowing the
whistle
on Willowgate. He also worked for Zimpapers.
He wreaked enormous damage
on the economy when he ruled at the end of
June 2007 that all prices should
revert to their June 18 levels. This was at
a time when inflation was close
to breaching the 5 000% mark and increasing
exponentially.
So
why does Mpofu think he qualifies? Very simply he is a favourite of
President Mugabe. He is seen as doing the president's bidding in
Matabeleland. You can imagine how that goes down in that part of the
country! Furthermore, he is not exactly highly regarded by the other
candidates who see him as an intruder in the regional pecking
order.
It will be fascinating to see how his candidacy progresses.
There won't
be too many wagers placed on this particular horse.
We
were pleased to see the other candidates telling Didymus Mutasa to
get lost
when he attempted to interfere. They have it sown up among
themselves, with
a bit of jostling here and there. When push comes to shove,
John Nkomo,
whose hobbies we gather include ballroom dancing, will quickstep
up to his
rightful inheritance.
We often wondered how Tafataona Mahoso was
able to get away with the
daft claim that the MDC drew up Zidera. Anybody
even remotely interested in
US politics would know that Congress does not
invite foreigners to draft
their legislation. That was an urban myth
invented by Mahoso and propagated
within the ranks of his party by
undiscerning spokesmen.
Now he has a helpmate in the form of Gabriel
Chaibva who, like several
MDC-M members, really belongs in Zanu PF.
Chaibva on ZTV last month repeated the story that MDC leaders had
drawn up
the legislation. Mahoso quoted Chaibva approvingly in one of his
interminable rambles last week.
And where had Chaibva got his
information? From Mahoso of course!
Mahoso was distraught last week
about what he sees as an "anti-land
redistribution campaign" in South
Africa.
"For instance, one Mondli Makanya (sic) wrote in the Sunday
Times of
October 18 an opinion (piece) called: 'This isn't Zimbabwe, so
let's ditch
the myth of land-hungry masses'." Black South Africans wanted
jobs, not
land, Makhanya pointed out.
This was of course heresy to
the spitting Mashoso who denounced (and
misspelt) Makhanya, claiming that
"as usual the white racists hire an
African to spread the myth that Africans
do not want their land back."
He forgot to mention that Makhanya is the
editor of the Sunday Times,
which is run by Avusa, a black-owned company,
and has a circulation of
several million.
Amazing isn't it that
Mahoso can propagate the racist myth that behind
every successful or
outspoken black is a white man!
Muckraker is not too keen to take
issue with sensible Herald
commentator Funny Mushava, but as he repeats
another urban myth, this may be
a good time.
"Zimbabweans made it
clear at the March 28 2008 elections. the
government that they want,"
Mushava wrote last Sunday. "By not giving one
party an absolute majority
they were telling the politicians that they do
not want a dominant political
party as had been the case with Zanu PF since
Independence."
Is
this really true? Were Zimbabweans saying that?
This particular urban
myth is designed to comfort Zanu PF in its loss.
We often see it wheeled
out. But what Zimbabwean voters did was to remove
Zanu PF's majority. They
said quite clearly they didn't want a continuation
of Zanu PF's misrule.
They didn't set out to create some parliamentary
balance. That may have been
how things turned out, but it wasn't a conscious
decision by the voters. How
could it have been? Mostly they wanted to
protest against conditions
wrought
by the ruling party. They wanted something better. Isn't that
the
truth?
Muckraker was interested to see a letter in the
Sunday Times regarding
Pick 'n Pay's interest in Zimbabwe.
"In my
opinion it is not a safe venture to invest at the moment,"
Kudzai Maweni
wrote. "The government is too unpredictable. How do you all of
a sudden
become confident as an investor in a government that is controlled
by a
party that has no respect for property rights or, at the very least,
chooses
to ignore them when it sees fit? These are the same people who once
implemented a price freeze in a hyper-inflationary environment. Need I say
more?"
Nope!
Finally, we were interested to note that
while an MPLA delegation was
in Harare last week expressing its solidarity
with Zanu PF and taking a
swipe at white farmers, a court in Paris
was
hearing the most shocking evidence of corruption involving senior
French politicians and Angolan officials.
This involved the sale of
oil to France and the supply of weaponry to
Angola.
Needless to
say, none of this was reported in the Herald!
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
19:08
A STORY is currently doing the rounds, with pronounced biblical
shades. Can it have foundations in truth, with history repeating itself? "In
the year 2009, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in Zimbabwe, and
said: 'Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see
the end of all flesh before me, for such wickedness cannot, and shall not,
continue. Therefore, Noah, thou shalt build another Ark, and save two of
every living thing, be it bird or beast, along with a few good
humans.'
"He gave Noah the plans, saying: 'You have six months
to build the Ark
before I will start the unending rain for forty days and
forty nights. Make
thee an ark of Zimbabwean timber; rooms shalt thou make
in the ark, and the
length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its
breadth shall be fifty
cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Build the ark
with haste, for you have
only six months before I shall release the flood
and obliterate earth's
evil.'
"Six months later, the Lord
looked down and saw Noah in his yard, in
very great distress, weeping
intensely with great tears pouring from his
eyes, but the Lord could not see
an ark. 'Noah!' He roared, 'I'm about to
start the rain. Where is the Ark?'.
'Forgive me, Lord', begged Noah, 'but
things have
changed.'"
"'I could not begin to construct the Ark without a
building permit. I've
been arguing with the inspectorate about the need for
a sprinkler system in
the Ark. Further, my neighbours claim that I've
violated the neighbourhood
zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard, and
exceeding the height
limitations. I had to go to the city council, and to
the Local Government
ministry for a decision, and the weeks and weeks went
by, despite the
absolute urgency of the matter.'
'"Then
Zesa demanded a deposit, far beyond my means, for its future
costs of moving
power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the
passage for the
Ark's move to the sea. I told Zesa that the sea would be
coming to us, but
they would hear nothing of it. Getting the wood was
another
problem.
There's a ban on cutting local trees, without
governmental consent,
because the Environment ministry says that it will
upset the balance of
Zimbabwe's ecological system. Although I very promptly
made the necessary
application, in triplicate, and paid the massive
application fees, in United
States dollars, and have repeatedly enquired of
the ministry, I still await
the wood cutting permit. I have tried to
convince the ministry that I need
the wood to save us all from extinction -
but no go!'
"'When I started getting the animals, the SPCA
prosecuted me. The
Zimbabwe Republic Police insisted that I was confining
wild animals against
their will. They argued that the accommodation is too
restrictive, and that
it is cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a
confined space.
And then the Transport ministry said that
it would take six months
after completion of the Ark to plan a route to the
sea. I told them that
that was not necessary, for the sea would be coming to
my back yard. They
threatened to have me committed!
Then the Environment department intervened yet again, ruling that I
couldn't
build the Ark until I had arranged and conducted an environmental
impact
study on your proposed flood.'
"'I am also still trying to
resolve a complaint and demand of the
Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment ministry on how many affirmative
action persons must be included
in the Ark building crew.
And the Home Affairs ministry
insists that I provide a list of the
people who want to work on the Ark, so
that it can be verified that they are
not from non-designated
groups.
Moreover, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU), and the
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), in a rare
instance of
collaboration, are insisting that I hire only union workers with
Ark-building experience, paying them wages based upon the Poverty Datum Line
(PDL), even though I don't have sufficient funds to pay such
wages.'
'"To make matters worse, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(Zimra) has
seized all my assets, claiming that I am trying to leave the
country
illegally, with the national wealth of endangered species, and
without tax
clearance. And the CIO and the Politburo claim that your
instructions to me
are naught but a diabolical scheme to bring about regime
change, a plan to
dispossess Zimbabweans of their lands and their rights,
and to recolonise
Zimbabwe, so they have raised endless obstacles to my
constructing the Ark.'
'"So, please, please forgive me, Lord,
but it will take at least ten
years for me to finish the Ark that you want
me to build, and with the
never-ending hurdles constructed by the
authorities, the inordinately great
bureaucracy and red-tape, and intensely
great governmental authoritorism, it
might take very much
longer.'
"Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine,
and a magnificent
rainbow stretched across the sky. Noah looked up in wonder
and amazement,
and then he asked: 'You mean that you are not going to
destroy the world?'
"'No,' said the Lord. 'The Zimbabwe
government has beaten me to it.'"
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009
18:42
PRIOR to Amendment No14 of the Constitution, which was
promulgated in
1993 (Act 4 of 1993), appointments to senior positions in the
police force,
the defence forces and the prison service were made by the
President (Robert
Mugabe), acting on the advice of the Commissioner of
Police, the commander
of the relevant branch of the defence forces or the
director of prisons, as
the case may be.
Accordingly, it was
the head of the police, army, air force or prison
service who made the
determination as to whom should be appointed or
promoted to a particular
rank to fill a vacancy and he advised the president
accordingly.
The president was required to act on
the advice given to him. However,
there was a provision enabling the
president to give the commissioner, the
commanders and the director-general
directions of policy to achieve a
suitable representation of the various
elements of the population.
Amendment No 14 made significant
amendments. In relation to the police
force, it was to be under the command
of the Commissioner of Police (now the
Commissioner-General) who would be
appointed by the president, after
consultation with such person or authority
as may be prescribed by an Act of
Parliament.
The
constitution also provides that the Act is to make provision for
the
administration and discipline of the police force, including the
appointment
of persons to offices or ranks in the police force and their
removal from
office or reduction in rank. Similar provisions apply in
relation to the
defence forces and the prison service.
The Commander of the
Defence Forces, and every commander of a branch
of the defence forces, will
be appointed by the president, after
consultation with such person or
authority as is prescribed by an Act of
Parliament.
That Act must also make provision for the administration and
discipline of
the defence forces, including the appointment of persons to
offices or ranks
in the defence forces, their removal from office, reduction
in the rank,
etc.
The Commissioner of Prisons is also appointed by the
president, after
consultation with the person or authority prescribed by Act
of Parliament,
which Act also must make provision for the administration and
discipline of
the prison service, including the appointment of persons to
offices or ranks
in the prison service, their removal from office, and
reduction in rank.
The Police Act provides, in relation to the
appointment of the
Commissioner-General of Police that the president must
act in consultation
with a board consisting of the chairman of the Police
Service Commission,
the retiring Commissioner-General, if he is available,
and one or two, if he
is not available, other members appointed by the
president from among the
permanent secretaries of
ministries.
The Act goes on to provide that the president may
appoint, by
commission, any person to commissioned rank and may promote any
officer to a
higher rank or reprimand, suspend, reduce in rank or discharge
any officer.
There is the qualification that, when
exercising the power to appoint,
promote, reprimand, reduce in rank or
discharge any person, the president
must have due regard to, but shall not
be bound by, the advice of the
minister, tendered after consultation with
the Commissioner-General.
In the case of the defence forces,
the provisions of the Defence Act
are similar to those in the Police
Act.
The Commander of the Defence Forces is appointed by
the president
after consultation with the minister.
Likewise, the Commander of the Army and the Commander of the Air Force
are
appointed by the president after consultation with the
minister.
In tendering any advice or making any
recommendation in relation to
any such appointment, the minister must act in
consultation with a board
specifically appointed for the
purpose.
The board consists of the chairman of the Defence
Forces Commission,
the Secretary for Defence, the retiring Commander, if
available, and one or,
if he is not available, two other persons appointed
by the president.
The president appoints, by commission, a
person to a commissioned rank
and may promote or temporarily appoint any
officer to a higher rank. When
exercising his power of appointment or
promotion, the president must
consider the advice of the minister tendered
after consultation with the
appropriate commander.
In the
case of the prison service, the powers of the president are
very similar.
The Commissioner of Prisons is appointed by the president,
after
consultation with the Minister of Justice.
Before tendering
advice on the matter, the Minister of Justice is
required to consult the
Prison Service Commission. The president may, by
commission, appoint any
person as a commissioned officer, and may promote
any commissioned officer
to a higher rank or reprimand, suspend, reduce in
rank or discharge any
commissioned officer.
When appointing or promoting a
commissioned officer or exercising any
other powers referred to above, the
president is required to pay due regard
to the advice of the minister,
tendered after consultation with the
Commissioner of
Prisons.
It can be seen that the president, in relation to the
uniformed
forces, has complete control as to who will be promoted and who
will be
overlooked. It is not surprising that the top brass (or should it be
top-gold now?) will only salute the president.
In the case
of the public service, the president does not have such
sweeping powers of
appointing/promoting officials.
Chapter VIII of the
constitution deals with the Public Service.
Section 73 establishes a public
service for the administration of the
country and provides that an Act of
Parliament shall make provision for the
organisation, administration and
discipline of the public service, including
the appointment of persons to
posts or grades in the public service.
Section 77 provides
that the power to appoint persons to hold the post
of Secretary to the
Cabinet or secretary of a ministry shall vest in the
president, after
consultation with the Public Service Commission.
Section 15
of the Public Service Act provides that, subject to Section
11 of the Act,
the appointment of members of the public service and their
assignment or
promotion to officer or posts in the public service will be
effected by the
Public Service Commission, in consultation with the head of
ministry
concerned.
Then section 18 provides that when considering
persons for appointment
to, or promotion within, the public service, the
commission must have regard
to the merit principle, that is, the principle
that preference should be
given to the person who, in the commission's
opinion, is the most efficient
and suitable for appointment to the office or
post concerned.
It appears that the president is not happy with
the limited role he
has in relation to appointments or promotions to senior
posts in the public
service. It does not give him the same authority as he
has in relation to
the uniformed forces.
The Secretary
to the President and Cabinet has directed the Chairman
of the Public Service
Commission that any appointment or promotion of an
officer to the post of
deputy director, or to any more senior post, must be
submitted to the
Secretary in the office of the President and Cabinet for
approval by the
president.
The effect of that direction is that the Public
Service Commission
ceases to be the authority which has the discretion to
appoint persons to
the post of deputy director or
above.
It may only make a recommendation and then it is the
president that
makes the actual decision as to whether or not the person in
question should
be appointed. Section 11 of the Public Service Act provides
that the
president may give general directions of policy to the Public
Service
Commission and that the commission must take all necessary steps to
comply
with them.
However, a direction that all
appointments or promotions to a post of
deputy director or above must be
referred to the president for his approval
can hardly be described as a
general direction of policy. It is an unlawful
direction which has the
effect of amending an Act of Parliament.
The fact that the
Chairman and the members of the Public Service
Commission comply with the
direction from the President's Office, without
insisting that it is their
duty to comply with the rule of law, is a serious
indictment of their
professionalism.
Section 11 of the Public Service Act also
provides that if the Public
Service Commission fails to carry out any duty
imposed on it by the
Constitution or the Public Service Act, the Minister of
the Public Service
may direct the Commission to take such action as he
considers necessary to
rectify the matter.
The Public
Service Commission is clearly failing to carry out its duty
to make
appointments to posts of deputy director or above. It is allowing
the
president to make the appointments, which is unlawful.
The
administration of the Public Service Act has been assigned to the
Minister
of the Public Service. He is responsible for ensuring that the
Public
Service Commission complies with the provisions of the Public Service
Act
and the rule of law. He must direct the Public Service Commission,
forthwith, to cease its unlawful practice of referring promotions and
appointments to posts of deputy director or above to the
president.
George Smith is a retired High Court
judge.
By George Smith
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October 2009 19:58
THE
paralysis in government business as a result of the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led
MDC's decision to disengage over what it sees as Zanu PF's
failure to
consummate the global political agreement (GPA) has brought to
the fore the
inadequacies of the deal and the type of leaders we have in the
country.
Since the GPA was signed in September last year Zimbabwe had been
slowly
creeping out of its decade-long political and economic crisis
authored by
President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF's disastrous policies.
The
gains of the newly found peace and economic stability that were
being driven
by the inclusive government are now in reverse gear following
the MDC-T's
decision a fortnight ago to partially pull out of government,
although they
claim to have disengaged from Zanu PF, not government.
Two
cabinet meetings have since been held in the absence of Tsvangirai
and
ministers from his party. This clearly means government business is at a
standstill because almost half of the cabinet ministers have withdrawn their
services. Any decisions made by Mugabe and his ministers cannot be enforced
and can be deemed illegal.
Many questions on the benefits
of the disengagement have been asked,
but satisfactory answers are not
forthcoming from the MDC-T.
What is not in dispute is Mugabe
and Zanu PF's unwillingness to
resolve the outstanding issues in line with
Sadc's January 27 communiqué
that outlined the sticking points of the
agreement.
But the MDC-T's decision was hasty and the
reasons advanced were not
sufficiently compelling given that the party had
in September resolved to
consult its members and Zimbabweans at large on
whether or not to remain in
government. The consultations are apparently
still going on-going.
The current fight is not about moving the
country forward, but power
relations between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. We agree
with former Finance
minister Simba Makoni's view last week that the MDC-T
had disengaged from
Zanu PF because it wanted to have "jobs for the boys"
and not policies that
can deliver real change for
Zimbabweans.
"The people want stable and permanent jobs,
economic development,
repair of dilapidated infrastructure, food,
functioning health and education
systems and social support networks. The
people want their dignity and
respect back," Makoni said.
This may be considered harsh on the MDC which has been credited with
building confidence in the market and stabilising the currency. But this
goodwill is threatened as long as the fight with Zanu PF fails to resonate
with national aspirations. We believe that there are critical issues that
have not been dealt with by the inclusive government which are critical to
national development.
Besides the outstanding issues of
provincial governors and the
appointments of Roy Bennett as deputy
Agriculture minister, central bank
governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana, there are more
sticking points Mugabe and Tsvangirai have
never bothered to deal with.
While Mugabe and Tsvangirai accept
that a new constitution is
inevitable, their commitment to the process is
questionable. The process has
also been hamstrung by financial
problems.
According to the GPA, the parties to the deal agreed
to give priority
to the restoration of economic stability and growth in
Zimbabwe by leading
the process of developing and implementing an economic
recovery plan.
To that end the parties committed themselves to
working together on a
full and comprehensive economic programme to
resuscitate Zimbabwe's economy,
which would urgently address the issues of
production, food security,
poverty and unemployment and the challenges of
high inflation, interest
rates and the exchange rate. They agreed to
establish "a National Economic
Council composed of representatives of the
parties and of the following
sectors: manufacturing, agriculture, mining,
tourism, commerce, finance,
labour, academia and other relevant
sectors".
Almost eight months after the formation of the
inclusive government
and a year after the GPA was signed, the economic
council is yet to be
incepted when it should be the engine for economic
recovery.
The current impasse could have been avoided if the
inclusive
government had adhered to the GPA and put in place the periodic
review
mechanism in terms of Article XXIII. The parties agreed to constitute
a
committee composed of two representatives from each party to review on an
annual basis progress on the implementation of the priorities and objectives
set out in the GPA.
The committee would have made
recommendations to the parties and the
new government on any matters
relating to the agreement, more particularly
on measures and programmes that
may be necessary to realise full
implementation of the
deal.
Another outstanding issue that has largely been ignored
by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai is that of national healing, cohesion and unity.
When is the
programme going to be operationalised and what period of
Zimbabwe's
chequered history would be covered?
The three
issues we raise above are far more important in moving the
nation forward
than the bullfight for power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29
October 2009 19:56
AS the Zimbabwe crisis nosedives once again it
should be noted that
the Jacob Zuma administration bears a particular
responsibility for what has
gone wrong with the power-sharing agreement the
Zimbabwean political
parties entered into eight months ago. It is therefore
under a special
obligation to take action to resolve the crisis.
This responsibility stems from the fact that it was interim President
Kgalema Motlanthe who pressured the leader of the MDC Morgan Tsvangirai into
entering the power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe, even
though Mugabe had still not honoured a range of critical issues in the
political agreement he had signed four months earlier.
Former
President Thabo Mbeki brokered the agreement on behalf of Sadc
in September
2007. But then the victorious Zuma faction of the ANC forced
Mbeki to step
down after Polokwane and Motlanthe took over as interim
president to keep
the seat warm for Zuma. So it fell to him as head of the
country then
holding the chairmanship of Sadc to play the lead role in
ensuring that the
agreement was implemented.
Tsvangirai was reluctant to enter into the
power-sharing government
because Mugabe was playing games. First it was
discovered that the printed
document presented to Tsvangirai for signing at
the ceremony had been
surreptitiously altered in several critical respects
from the version to
which he, Mugabe and the leader of a small breakaway
faction of the MDC,
Arthur Mutambara,
had accepted in the
negotiations.
Mugabe had also blatantly violated a range of vital
aspects of the
agreement by unilaterally reappointing Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono and
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, both diehard Mugabe
loyalists and kingpin
figures in continuing efforts to manipulate the
treasury in Zanu PF's favour
and, together with the partisan security
forces, harass the MDC and its
supporters.
Mugabe had also
failed to disband the notorious Joint Operations
Command of military, police
and intelligence chiefs and place them under
civilian control, as the
agreement required.
Tsvangirai, realising that the devil was in these
details that kept
coercive power in Mugabe's hands, wanted Sadc to ensure
full compliance
before committing himself to the power-sharing government.
But Motlanthe,
growing impatient at the long delay, put pre sure on him to
quit stalling
and join the power-sharing government - telling him in effect
that he could
sort out the details later when he was in power as prime
minister and able
to build a
working relationship with
Mugabe.
In any case, he reminded Tsvangirai, Sadc was the guarantor of
the
agreement and there was a joint monitoring committee called Jomic to
oversee
the process. This was the height of naivety. Anyone who had watched
the
workings of tricky Mugabe over the years, during which he has rigged at
least three national elections, violated property rights, ignored the rule
of law and committed many human rights atrocities, should have realised he
could not be trusted to honour the letter, nevermind the spirit, of a deal
such as this.
But Tsvangirai thought the Zuma crowd, represented by
Motlanthe at
this point, would be a tougher and more reliable guarantor of
the agreement
than the limp-wristed Mbeki had been. After all Zuma's big
ally, Cosatu, had
been grievously abused by the Mugabe government when a
delegation paying a
fraternal visit to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
was arrested,
insulted and unceremoniously thrown out of the country in
2004.
That must have given Tsvangirai reason to believe he could expect
more
from the Motlanthe-Zuma-Cosatu-SACP axis than his dismal experiences
with
Mbeki. So he reluctantly agreed and went into the power-sharing
government -
the terms of which Mugabe has continued to violate ever
since.
Tsvangirai has put up with Zanu PF's continuous harassment for
eight
months. He has tried to put the best face on an intolerable situation
because the MDC's participation in the government was bringing at least some
relief to the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe. But precisely because of
that Zanu PF has been stepping up its harassment lately, fearing that the
MDC was gaining
increasing popular support.
Things reached
breaking point a fortnight ago after the indictment to
the High Court of the
MDC-designated Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Roy
Bennett - whom Mugabe has
consistently refused to swear in - on charges of
terrorism. Outraged,
Tsvangirai suspended his party's participation in the
unity government and
called on the Sadc countries to intervene.Even as
Tsvangirai calls on the
guarantors to intervene Mugage is treating them with
contempt, saying he
will not yield to any pressure nor give away any aspects
of Zanu PF's
authority.
To emphasise Mugabe's disdain for Sadc and the unity deal,
50 armed
police raided a house in Harare used by the MDC's out-of-town
leaders last
Friday night, ransacked the premises, seized documents and dug
up the garden
ostensibly in a search for weapons of which there were none.
There were also
reports of troops carrying out violent raids against MDC
supporters in the
rural areas across the country over the weekend. It seems
clear Mugabe doesn't
believe the Sadc leaders have the political will to
deal firmly with him. He
has faced them down before and he reckons he can
again.
The Sadc "troika" responsible for monitoring the situation in
Zimbabwe
is in Harare for negotiations on the crisis. But ultimately it is
South
Africa that has the clout in this region. It is up to Zuma to prove
Mugabe
wrong and show that he is prepared to honour his obligations
as
guarantor and deal firmly with the errant president. Doing that is
not
as difficult as Mbeki's apologists used to imply. No need for threats of
force or sanctions or other such unrealistic posturing. Just a simple
warning that if Mugabe doesn't implement the GPA fully and tries to rule
alone, South Africa will not recognise his government. It will regard him as
the head of an illegitimate regime.
Botswana's President Ian Khama
has already done that. - Business Day.
Sparks is a veteran
South African journalist.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 29 October
2009 19:34
HATS off to the Comptroller and Auditor-General for once
again
unmasking the corruption inherent among our rulers. Thanks to the
Auditor-General's special report on ministerial accounts for the first
quarter of the year we now know that our rulers find nothing wrong in taking
government vehicles (some of them took four each) and making them their own.
In other countries this brazen exhibition of executive delinquency is
considered theft of state property.
Those caught with their
hands in the cookie jar are investigated,
charged and tried. In most cases
the culprits resign in shame and are forced
to return the loot. But we live
in a society where corruption has become so
endemic that exposes on graft
are regarded by the general public as
commonplace infringements which should
not stir popular indignation.
It is common practice for
motorists to give a policeman a bribe to
escape being ticketed or for
learner drivers to offer an examiner at the VID
an inducement to get a
driver's licence, notwithstanding driving
capabilities.
To
many Zimbabweans today, the 'inducements' and 'thank yous' paid to
public
officials do not constitute acts of corruption. It is now a way of
life. It
is fast becoming part of our culture. We are dangerously in denial
about
corruption.
Politicians caught with their fingers in the till
appear unaffected by
revelation of their nefarious deeds.
The report by the Auditor-General in spite of its damning contents
therefore
means very little to the political leadership of this
country.
If it meant anything, then a minister -cited in
the report as taking
possession of two ministerial vehicles - would have
refrained from bidding
for the vacant position of vice-president. He has
without any shame or worry
thrown his hat into the ring to contest for that
very powerful position.
He can confidently ask: "What's all
this fuss about two cars when
colleagues in high office have expropriated
farm property and equipment
worth millions of dollars? Why should I buy a
tractor when it can be grabbed
from the farmer next door? Who has ever been
arrested in this country for
stealing a whole crop of fruits or maize? Are
these not acts of valour; an
extension of the revolutionary spirit that
liberated this country? Why
should I then be arrested for just driving away
two vehicles?"
But this is state delinquency writ large. The
report provides
irrefutable evidence of systematic looting of state
resources and private
property by public officials. Sadly, our law enforcers
are impotent in these
instances even when evidence
abounds.
This should be a godsend opportunity for the
Anti-Corruption
Commission to flex its muscles and demonstrate its
relevance. The
parliamentary committee on public accounts has promised that
heads would
roll but that is hardly reassuring. We wait to see who will take
the
perpetrators to the guillotine first!
All the tough
talking by the public accounts committee is most likely
to amount to nothing
as long as there is no deliberate policy in this
country to fight corruption
in high places.
The failure to deal with corruption,
especially the type revealed in
the latest audit of ministerial accounts,
has a huge bearing on governance
in this country.
A
minister who grabs state vehicles cannot be trusted to efficiently
run a
public office because he/she is dishonest. The same is true about all
those
who stole tractors and other farm machinery in the name of land
reform. Good
governance is built on a strong foundation of integrity which
is lacking in
a big way among our rulers.
Many now have careers blighted
by violence, theft and corruption and
this is reflected in the way this
country has been governed. It's been a
crazy tale of bungling and
ineptitude.
The government cannot continue to hide behind the
false notion that
this country is hurting more from sanctions than issues to
do with bad
governance.
We have to ask ourselves what
preceded the other: bad governance or
sanctions? The truth is that the
targeted sanctions were a response to bad
governance in Zimbabwe. Real
evidence of that misgovernance can be found in
successive reports by our own
Auditor-General.
The contents of the report have been ignored with
contempt over the
years, hence the parlous state of our
economy.
It is appropriate at this point in our history to
start drawing up a
roll of infamy for our rulers. Their misdeeds must be
documented and
exposed. The acts of infamy must be analysed against our
leaders' so-called
liberation credentials to determine their contribution to
the development of
this country.
We deserve better
leaders as a nation. We cannot continue to be ruled
by bad politicians whose
only claim to leadership are liberation war scars
and not competence and
integrity.
By Vincent Kahiya
http://www.moneybiz.co.za
By Michael Hamlyn
One hundred and
fifty-two of the estimated 400 white farmers remaining in
Zimbabwe are
currently facing prosecution, according to a media statement by
the
Commercial Farmers' Union circulated here on Thursday.
Last week five
were found guilty of remaining on their farms and ordered to
vacate their
properties. They were also given fines of around US$300.
"A total of 12
farmers and 34 workers have been convicted to date,
heightening insecurity
in the agricultural sector countrywide," the
statement said. "Farmers who
continue to occupy and use their farms face
prosecution and
imprisonment."
According to the statement there has been a dramatic
scaling up of violence
against the few remaining Zimbabwean commercial
farmers and their workers,
and it is cause for great concern, both for food
security in Zimbabwe and
for the region.
Farmers are being driven
from their farms by beneficiaries who have been
fraudulently allocated the
farms on the basis of a previous listing of their
farm(s) in a Government
Gazette, the existence of an offer letter issued at
the sole discretion of a
minister or land officer in favour of the listed
farm(s) in question,
fraudulently generated offer letters, or taking the law
into their own
hands.
"The beneficiaries are from all walks of life including government
ministers
or related families, force officers [army, police and the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO)] and senior businessmen," the Union
said.
"The prevailing unjust legal position is such that, if a matter can
be
classified as 'political', as is the case with all matters relating to
land,
then the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) refuse to carry out their
constitutional duties, leaving commercial farmers and farmworkers
unprotected by the law."
Deon Theron, the president of the union,
said: "Owing to the ongoing
violations of commercial farmers and their
workers, the prosecution threats
and lack of security of tenure, the
majority of commercial farmers will not
be able to plant crops this
season.
"The estimated tonnage of maize, the staple food crop, for the
2009/2010
season is just 500,000 tonnes from 2,043,000 tonnes in 2000."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Friday,
October 30, 2009
Tensions rise as U.N. official is refused entry, blames
Mugabe
By Geoff Hill THE WASHINGTON TIMES
JOHANNESBURG | A
power-sharing agreement between Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe and a top
rival that envisioned an end to torture and famine has all
but
collapsed.
The latest blow came Thursday when Zimbabwe blocked a U.N.
torture
investigator Manfred Nowak from entering the country.
Mr.
Nowak had been invited to Zimbabwe by Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa,
who is a close ally of Mr. Mugabe.
But as Mr. Nowak and two other
officials transited Johannesburg on
Wednesday, they received word that the
visit had been postponed and not
rescheduled.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai then issued a fresh invitation from his
office and the group flew
to the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, where it was
denied entry.
"We
arrived there late Wednesday, and we were met by a man who claimed he
was
from the United Nations office in the city," Mr. Nowak told The
Washington
Times. The official was apparently a state security agent.
"We were
separated from the other passengers and were then told that we
would not be
allowed to enter the country," Mr. Nowak said. "Prime Minister
Tsvangirai
and our local U.N. staff tried to help, but we were escorted to
the VIP
lounge and told we would be put on the first plane out on Thursday
morning."
"I believe that the order to prevent us entering the
country came from
President Mugabe. Clearly, he feels that it is not a good
idea for the U.N.
to investigate allegations of torture in Zimbabwe," Mr.
Nowak said.
Ephraim Masawi, a spokesman for Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African
National
Union-Patriotic Front party (ZANU-PF), told the Associated Press
that
allegations Mr. Mugabe was involved in barring Mr. Nowak were "not
true."
Mr. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. In
recent years,
the nation's economy has collapsed amid a state-sponsored
campaign of terror
against opponents and widespread famine in a nation that
once exported food
to much of southern Africa.
The power-sharing
agreement followed a disputed 2008 presidential and
parliamentary election.
With Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) capturing the
most seats and the presidential contest headed for a
runoff, Mr. Mugabe's
government unleashed a campaign of beatings and torture
by ZANU-PF militia
and state security officials, according to hundreds of
eyewitness
accounts.
In February, a deal negotiated by regional leaders created the
new post of
prime minister for Mr. Tsvangirai, while Mr. Mugabe remained
head of state.
While the unity government has brought hyperinflation
under control and seen
a return of goods to once-empty shelves in city
stores, it has been marked
by tension between the two parties.
But
tensions have grown so bad that Mr. Tsvangirai announced earlier this
month
that he was "suspending" cooperation with government and ministers
from his
party stopped attending Cabinet meetings.
This week, the daily newspapers
- which, along with all TV and radio, are
controlled by the state - reported
that Mr. Mugabe planned to replace the
absent ministers with members of his
party.
Ministers from several neighboring countries met in Harare with
senior
members of MDC and ZANU-PF in an effort heal the rift.
Joey
Bimha, the top civil servant in the ZANU-PF-controlled Foreign
Ministry,
said Mr. Nowak had been told he could not come because officials
were
engaged with Mr. Tsvangirai's Cabinet boycott, according to the AP.
If there lived a spine eating ogre for which survival means feeding on a constant supply of protein derived from the spinal cords and backbones of fearless men, that ogre would be emaciated and die of starvation in Zimbabwe.
The Government of National Unity (GNU)’s cohesion is strained by the lack of genuine power sharing. Mugabe is not going to voluntarily relinquish authority; it has to be taken from him, only by men with cast-iron backbones. As with all progressive democratic societies whose governments are held together through loose coalitions, the collapse of such alliances due to ideological discord triggers an immediate call for fresh elections.
If free and fair elections were to be held for a village headman in Zvimba, Mugabe’s “ancestral” home, based on recent opinion polls, Mugabe would lose.
Mugabe lost the presidential election; ZANU (PF) has a minority in parliament and the unity government has set a bad precedent for Africa’s democratic roadmap. A GNU renders election results pointless, wastes scarce resources and breeds closet dictators within the opposition which had the people’s irrevocable mandate to remove tyranny.
The cycle of remunerating and appeasing dictators to avert further chaos must now cease and men with moral fiber and stainless steel vertebrae must now lead and take this fight to the end. Mugabe intimidates the populace and uses violence each time his political fortunes are threatened and menaces rural folk with incendiary remarks, feigning to revert to the bush war should the opposition come to power.
Democracy is not an event but a process and the opposition is merely part of that progression.
The GNU is illegitimate and illegal without the opposition and must be officially dissolved once the other party to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) withdraws. The GPA ought to then be nullified and Zimbabweans should return to UN supervised polls to elect a leader in a “winner takes all” democratic contest.
Zimbabwe will relapse into lawlessness in the absence of accountability and today marks another broken milestone on the treacherous road to elusive social equality and justice. According to a ZANU (PF) spokesperson, Mugabe has withdrawn an unprecedented invitation to a UN independent expert on torture at the last moment.
According to the United Nations, UN Special Rapporteur on torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment, Mr Manfred Nowak, is now unable to compile a report on ZANU (PF)’s
humanitarian abuses. Subsequently, United Nations human rights expert,
Manfred Nowak, was prevented from entering Zimbabwe on Wednesday and was
deported, after spending the night at the airport on the orders of ZANU (PF).
Under Zimbabwe's coalition agreement, the foreign ministry is controlled by
Mugabe. What does ZANU (PF) have to hide so desperately that it would rather
provoke a demarche?
To add insult
to injury, Minister of Information, Webster Shamu, was quoted as saying, “The
MDC boycott, which began on October 16, was affecting the government's work in
preparing for a new farming season and its efforts to turn around the
agriculture-based economy after years of recession. His Excellency (Mugabe) may
have to consider appointing ministers in an acting capacity to key ministries
for the sake of a successful agricultural season and general economic
turnaround.”
What a
revelation—fifteen days before the official commencement of Zimbabwe’s rainy
season, Shamu inadvertently discloses that the government is unprepared for the
forthcoming agricultural season. These preparations (draught power, fertiliser,
fuel and seed) should have been in place a year ago, not two weeks before
planting starts.
These
disingenuous comments come from a minister, whose government through the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s quasi financial activities wasted precious time and
squandered scarce funds, corruptly importing Chinese chalk dust, passed onto to
the hapless new farmers as fertiliser. Its cabinet embarked on a futile medieval
expedition of extracting diesel from rocks in a clairvoyant’s cave. ZANU (PF)
even justified the shortage of cereal production by blaming a monkey for
sabotaging the power supply to Zimbabwe’s only ammonium nitrate fertiliser
manufacturer thus affecting
agriculture.
The propensity
for ZANU (PF) to blame everyone but themselves for Zimbabwe’s ills is
manifesting itself again. The opposition, the perpetual fall guys, will now be
held liable for imagined sanctions, droughts and the looming shortage of cereals
and the dearth of investors.
“Every morning in my village, a gazelle wakes
up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it
will starve to death.
“It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or
gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running”. -- African
Proverb
Phil Matibe – www.madhingabucketboy.com