[This report
does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations] |
Government Planning New Currency
SW Radio Africa
(London)
30 October 2007
Posted to the web 30 October
2007
Tererai Karimakwenda
A severe shortage of bearers cheques
has hit the country and the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is reported to be
drafting plans to introduce a new
currency. Bearers cheques are currently
the only legal tender in Zimbabwe.
Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa
spoke to sources within the RBZ who
said the plan is to bring in the new
notes once a substantial amount of the
current bearers cheques have been
removed from circulation. Muchemwa said
this is an attempt by the RBZ to
lower the exchange rate and to limit
hoarding. The exchange rate for US$1
surpassed the Z$1million mark in mid
October.
Muchemwa explained that
for 2 weeks now account holders have been finding it
difficult to withdraw
their hard earned money at the banks because they run
out of notes as early
as 10:00 am. This has made planning very difficult for
people whose salaries
are deposited automatically. Long winding queues can
now be seen at most
banks, including Stanbic, Stanchart, Zimbank, Barclays
and all building
societies.
Zimbabweans joke that they are "queue people" a funny way
of dealing with
the daily grind of spending hours in a queue. But the bank
queues are now as
long as queues for basic commodities which continue to be
very scarce and
extremely expensive.
Economic experts have insisted
that the introduction of a new currency will
not solve anything unless there
are wholesale changes in the general
political and economic climate.
Businesses are closing weekly and investors
have looked away from Zimbabwe,
due to disruptive government policies,
corruption and mismanagement. Instead
of permanent solutions, economy
experts say the government keeps
implementing stop-gap measures and leaping
from one crisis to another.
Government Threatens Companies Over Foreign Exchange
SW Radio
Africa (London)
30 October 2007
Posted to the web 30 October
2007
Henry Makiwa
Zimbabwean companies face severe punishment
if they use the foreign currency
black market to finance imports, state
media reported on Tuesday.
In its latest bid to tame the world's highest
inflation rate, the government
will now require companies to provide proof
of their import costs before
they set their prices, the official Herald
newspaper quoted an official of
National Incomes and Pricing Commission
(NIPC).
"Companies and individuals caught violating price management
legislation
will face the full wrath of the law," the NIPC chairman
Goodwills
Masimirembwa told the Herald.
He added: "We will demand to
see foreign currency invoices converted at the
official exchange rate to
determine the selling price. The commission is,
therefore, warning that law
enforcement agencies will demand documentation
on the imported goods. Those
found not complying will be dealt with
accordingly."
The
state-controlled NICP is closely linked to Mugabe's office. It's latest
statement flies in the face of the policies of central bank governor Gideon
Gono who warned against any new price control measures last week and said
there should be no repeat of the "anarchy" triggered by the price
freeze.
Food shortages have worsened since Robert Mugabe's government
ordered
businesses to roll back prices to mid-June levels. The move
triggered panic
buying and emptied shop shelves. Price controls led to a
slowdown in
inflation in August but the official figure shot to a record
7,900 percent
last month.
Economist John Robertson says Mugabe's
policies of forcing the economy to
"bend to his muscle" will not
work.
He said: "Its unfortunate that Mugabe thinks that using force and
printing
more money will bring the desired effects.
"For starters it
is impractical for companies to acquire foreign currency on
the formal
market because it's just not there. Businesses therefore rely on
the black
market and they have many more costs to consider in transport and
administration, so they can't be taken to be investigated for every little
thing they do. The new measures will only push the basics out of the shops
again."
Government has only allowed retailers to set prices at 20
percent above the
wholesale price, and the pricing commission has said it
would allow firms
only to calculate import costs by using the official
exchange rate.
The official rate is Z$30,000 to the U.S dollar. But the
local unit trades
at an estimated 30 times weaker on the black market, where
most firms source
their foreign currency due to shortages on the formal
market.
SADC Mediation Talks Miss Deadline
SW Radio Africa
(London)
30 October 2007
Posted to the web 30 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
The SADC led mediation talks on
Zimbabwe, already behind schedule on several
fronts, have missed Tuesday's
key deadline for agreement on a broad
framework for free and fair
elections.
Despite worries that failure to meet Tuesday's deadline will
be another step
down the slippery slope for the mediation talks, there are
reports the
negotiating teams have assembled in Pretoria to thrash out the
remaining
stumbling blocks.
The talks are set to resume Wednesday
and it is expected that all the
remaining issues will be tabled for
discussion. Issues still to be tackled
are the roles of the police, military
and the CIO during the elections, and
the contentious issue of when to
introduce the country's new constitution.
Both sides have agreed on a new
constitution but are divided over when to
introduce it. Zanu-PF wants to
introduce it after the elections, while the
MDC insist it has to come
before.
The MDC's head of foreign Affairs, Professor Elphas
Mukonoweshuro, said
while negotiators have missed their 30th October
deadline, it was not a
matter of sticking to deadlines on such crucial
talks.
'It is more of a matter in ensuring that agreed positions are
understood by
all sides and that they will not be revisited. In the course
of discussions
it has become apparent that they cannot be rushed to meet
today's (Tuesday)
deadline,' Mukonoweshuro said.
Reports indicate
that a settlement was within President Thabo Mbeki's grasp
between the
fiercely antagonistic opposing parties. Analysts have warned
both sides not
to let this opportunity pass because they won't get another
one like it in
the near future.
Tuesday had been earmarked as the end of six months of
talks aimed at
producing an agreement on the crisis rocking the country.
According to the
MDC more than 3000 of its supporters have been on the
receiving end of
intimidation and violence by Zanu-PF supporters.
The
current talks constitute the most comprehensive and sustained attempt to
reduce tensions between Zanu-PF and opposition parties and resolve the issue
of free and fair elections. It is hoped the talks are set to move into high
gear, as all sides are now eager to come up with some kind of
conclusion.
The impact of hyperinflation on Zimbabwean pensioners: Mr Keswa's
story
Sokwanele Report : 30 October2007
Those who have not been exposed to
Zimbabwe's hyperinflation may find it
difficult to comprehend the intensity
of the suffering it causes to the
country's citizens. What difference does
it make to people's everyday lives?
To say that inflation has become a
matter of life and death for many, may
sound like an exaggeration to readers
outside Zimbabwe. But that is the
tragic reality as this real life story
illustrates. Inflation is a direct
cause of incredible stress and
hardship.
The names in this article have been changed to protect the identity
of our
interviewee and people around him, but all the other details are
exactly as
provided to our reporter.
Mr Bernard Keswa is 85 years of
age. The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)
employed Mr Keswa for most of
his working life. His pension from the NRZ
amounts to a paltry 33,000
Zimbabwe dollars plus some loose change. This
income will not even buy him
the lowest denomination postage stamp available
in Zimbabwe.
To get
the measure of this sum, consider that a pound sterling now equates
to
something in excess of a million Zimbabwe dollars. In other words our
85-year-old pensioner receives the equivalent of a tiny fraction of one
pound a month to live on. Of course it is ludicrous. In fact it is an insult
to Mr Keswa, a man who has worked hard all his life, deprived now of a
dignified old age. 33,000 Zimbabwe dollars will not even provide a single
one-way ride into town in an emergency taxi (public transport). (At the time
of speaking to Mr Keswa an emergency taxi trip cost 150,000 dollars, but the
fare increases almost daily).
The old Rhodesian Railways (precursor
to the NRZ) was one of the country's
major employers and a rock-solid
financial institution under colonial rule.
It provided financial security to
employees and pensioners alike and was
much respected for that. But
uncontrolled inflation and gross mismanagement
of the national economy over
nearly a decade have eroded pensions (and not
just of railway employees) to
the point at which they are now effectively
worthless. Mr Keswa is a tragic
example of this trend: he is only one among
hundreds of thousands. And
remember, there is no social security network in
Zimbabwe to provide even
the basics like food, shelter, medicine, water and
electricity.
Out
of his paltry 33,000 Zimbabwe dollars, Mr Bernard Keswa is expected to
feed,
educate, clothe, and accommodate his four grand-children
(Beatrice[15],
Brian[11], Belinda[8] and Beater[5] ) whose parents died of
AIDS in 2005.
Imagine the stress that comes with the responsibility of
feeding four
vulnerable children on an income that will not buy a postage
stamp.
As a diabetic, Mr Keswa also has to provide himself with a
special diet.
This is an extremely difficult task: due to the current food
shortages in
Zimbabwe Mr Keswa can no longer even afford a simple ordinary
breakfast. It
is impossible for him to find food like the brown rice that
forms part of a
special diet for diabetics, and even if he could, he
wouldn't be able to
afford to buy it.
Mr Keswa said that finding
flour or bread is like looking for snowballs in
the Sahara. To eke out his
meager supplies during the times he has no
alternative sources of food or
support, Mr Keswa mixes small amounts of
mealie-meal, sugar and water into a
stiff paste. He then rolls the paste
into small balls and boils them in
water. The cooked product is called
"maqhebelengwana", and is usually eaten
accompanied by a cup of tea, but Mr
Keswa says it has been a long time since
he has had tealeaves and sugar in
his cupboard.
Mr Keswa owns a
four-roomed house in Luveve, a high-density suburb on the
western side of
Bulawayo. He bought the house during the "good old days"
when the NRZ
floated a rent-to-buy scheme for its workers. Now two rooms
leased to a
well-mannered couple provide Mr Keswa with a modest monthly
rental that does
no more than pay for electricity, water and city council
rates. But at least
he has a roof over his head: many poverty-stricken
pensioners had their
fragile homes destroyed by the government during
Operation Murambatsvina. Mr
Keswa, as hard as it may be to believe it, is
lucky.
The reality is
that the Roman Catholic Church is Mr Keswa's salvation.
Through its
philanthropic programme called the St Vincent's Society for the
Very Poor
[SVP], a society that looks after the most needy in the community,
Mr Keswa
receives regular handouts of sugar beans and mealie meal. Though
the
handouts arrive with long intervals between them (these were never
intended
to provide more than a food supplement for the very poor) they go a
long way
towards keeping extreme hunger from his door.
The SVP has, until recently
when certain members of the Luveve Community
took over, also been providing
the funds to educate Mr Keswa's four
grand-children. And the church has
managed to provide him with clothes to
wear for a number of
years.
Help Age Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organisation that assists
the elderly,
has given Mr Keswa supplements of sorghum, grain and bulgar.
These have been
an essential part of his diabetic diet.
Mr Keswa's
story highlights the charitable spirit of the community he lives
in because,
with their help, he has over the past five years been able to
find ways of
coping with his special dietary requirements despite the
extreme
difficulties presented by hyper-inflation and poverty.
Mr Keswa makes
sadza made from ground sorghum (mhunga). This mhunga, or milo
as it is also
called, is brown in colour and is a delicacy for Shona
traditionalists. (It
is served in wooden utensils during holy ceremonies
(zvirango zvinoera)).
Mhunga's metabolisable energy content is about 5-10%
lower than maize, but
it has a protein content that is 10-12% higher.
Mr Kaswa takes an extra
precaution of his own: including garlic onion in
vegetables and other dishes
is now an ingrained habit because, as he says,
"It keeps me away from Dr
Gloria's vital medical check ups. It also saves me
the humiliation of having
to kneel down before my benefactors begging for
money to pay for Dr Gloria's
check ups".
The responsibility Mr Keswa has for his four young
grandchildren means that
he is keenly aware that he has to do all he can to
stay healthy. Without
him, they become mere numbers in the nation's growing
AIDS-orphan
statistics.
As if all this was not enough, Mr Keswa also
has heart problems, resulting
in the occasional serious heart murmur. For
someone living altogether on
charity and, as the church would say, by the
grace of God, it is nothing
short of a miracle that to date he has managed
to buy the prescribed drugs
which come at a cost of 7.4 million Zimbabwean
dollars. (Remember, his
railway pension is 33,000 dollars).
In April
this year 85-year-old Mr Keswa suffered a mild stroke that badly
affected
his speech and left his mouth looking twisted. All of his dining,
bedroom
and lounge furniture was sold to pay the doctor's consultation fees,
hospital bedding, medicine and physiotherapy costs.
Within
inflation-ravaged Zimbabwe Mr Keswa is one of the fortunate few whom
friends, the church and other charitable bodies have kept alive. The
government which has created the conditions leading to his sorry
predicament, provides him with nothing whatsoever for his old
age.
Were there even a semblance of democracy and free choice in
Zimbabwe, it
goes without saying that this government would have been shown
the door
many, many years ago.
Cashless Zimsec Enlist Soldiers And Police to Mark
Examinations
SW Radio Africa (London)
30 October
2007
Posted to the web 30 October 2007
Henry Makiwa
The
Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council (Zimsec) has requested the army
and
police to take over the marking of primary and secondary school
examinations, citing lack of funds to pay teachers.
Officials at
Zimsec have indicated that most teachers are likely to boycott
the marking
exercise after many expressed that the allowances offered are
too small. It
is now understood that some military personnel have been
undergoing training
in examination marking as part of government's strategy
to counter an
anticipated marking boycott by teachers.
According to figures
presented by Zimsec director Happy Ndanga to parliament
the organisation
needs more than Z$500 billion for the marking exercise.
This is against the
backdrop of a bid placed by the examinations council
where it sought to be
granted Z$1,5 trillion for its 2007 budget.
According to press reports
Ndanga recently told the parliamentary portfolio
committee on education that
their funding was "just a little over 50
percent" of their
needs.
Ndanga said: "We cannot run an examination at 50 percent capacity.
It must
be 100 percent. On the marking requirements, we need to pay
examiners
reasonable rates. We can only pay them reasonable rates if we are
given the
money to do so."
A senior teacher and examiner told
Newsreel that fears were rife that most
teachers would spurn the marking
exercise.
"We are aware that soldiers are considered as the only viable
option in the
face of recent developments that saw teachers joining in
strike action
organised by the Zimbabwe Teachers Association and the
Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe," said the teacher, who refused to be
named.
He added, "It will however be a joke because some of these
soldiers barely
made it to grade seven. On the other hand, the examination
results look set
to be delayed for the third year running again. It all goes
to say that
Zimsec has failed and they should have left our system in the
hands of the
Cambridge examination board."
Global March against Child Labour Zimbabwe 2007
May you please assist us by
publishing the Global march for us we are trying to encourage our people to work
on how we can meet the MDG goal number 2 by 20 15,by doing this we join the rest
of the World in campaigning for the return of all children back to
school
Thank you in Advance
Pastor Elfas
Zadzagomo
C.E.O
New Hope
Foundation
See attached document
MDC Crisis Meeting Will Decide Fate of Women's Executive
SW Radio
Africa (London)
30 October 2007
Posted to the web 30 October
2007
Lance Guma
The saga over the dissolution of the women's
executive led by Lucia
Matibenga looks set to be the subject of a make or
break crisis meeting this
week. Party president Morgan Tsvangirai is alleged
to be facing a potential
revolt over the manner in which Matibenga was
dismissed from the assembly,
and the subsequent meeting held in Bulawayo to
replace her with Theresa
Makone. Sources in the party hinted that Tsvangirai
could be forced into
reversing the dissolution of the Matibenga led
executive, given the
over-whelming tide of support for the former trade
unionist. Senior
officials have been meeting Tsvangirai privately and
explaining the
consequences of the decision by the management
committee.
Newsreel has it on good authority that the MDC leader is
leaning towards
reinstating Matibenga but a lot depends on the crisis
meeting scheduled for
this week. It was not clear which body between the
National Council,
National Executive and Management Committee was going to
meet, but one of
these has been tasked to resolve the mess. It now turns out
two women's
congresses were held in Bulawayo at the weekend. One at the
Emakandeni Hall
reinstated Matibenga while another allegedly held at Vice
President
Thokozani Khupe's restaurant put Makone in charge. On Monday
Makone denied
this, insisting they met at the party's Bulawayo office before
going for
lunch at Khupe's restaurant.
Meanwhile party officials
have dismissed press reports that the MDC under
Tsvangirai will split into
two groups, insisting they had the internal
mechanisms to deal with the
problem even if it meant expelling members who
were causing the problems.
'We want to create a political culture that goes
beyond removing Zanu PF and
Mugabe. We want a new Zimbabwe that respects
laws and peoples rights and do
away with these personality cults that
dominate our politics,' the official
said.
On Tuesday senior official Sekai Holland issued a statement saying
male
chauvinism was at the heart of problems in the MDC. She said despite
pledges
for a 'devolution of power' Tsvangirai was presiding over the
marginalisation of women in the party. Holland said initially there were 10
women in senior positions as proposed by the Women's Assembly after the
March 2006 Congress and this was to ensure the MDC met its one-third quota
of women. However the scrapping of deputy secretary portfolios had removed
'4 articulate, solid professional women,' leaving 2 out of 15 shadow
ministers in the MDC who are female.
Tsvangirai has so far argued the
re-structuring was meant to strengthen the
party ahead of elections next
year. Political commentator Dr John Makumbe
told Newsreel it was possible
the MDC leader knew more than he was telling
the public but the problem with
Matibenga's ouster was that there was
already a preferred replacement in
Makone. This he says is what has
complicated matters not to mention the
'mysterious' manner of her election.
He said the crisis was being fuelled by
a tendency in the party leadership
to respect personal friendships over
party procedure. Makumbe said
Tsvangirai had to show leadership strength and
nullify both congresses that
took place at the weekend and order a fresh
start to the process.
Dongo and Matibenga: history repeating
itself
New Zimbabwe
By Grace Kwinjeh
Last updated: 10/31/2007 05:48:52
"I APPEAL to my fellow war veterans not to let your suffering be used by
selfish and greedy politicians who caused your suffering. This will not benefit
you at the end of the day. Comrades, you should stand up and be a watchdog of
the government. If you do not, you will have fought for nothing," freedom
fighter and former independent MP Margaret Dongo.
But after first being elected as an MP in 1990,
Dongo almost didn't make it back into office. She lost in the 1995 elections as
an independent candidate after rampant voter fraud in her district was
engineered to ensure her defeat.
When she set a nationwide precedent by taking the
government to court, many called Dongo "mentally unbalanced" and said she was
simply carrying a grudge against President Robert Mugabe.
(Extract from The Republic of Dongo: Parliamentarian
Margaret Dongo, By Joyce Jenje-Makwenda, Zimbabwe)
HISTORY has a way of repeating itself in mysterious
ways. The Secretary General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tendai
Biti, recently signed a letter dissolving the Women's Assembly of the
party.
The same heroic Biti 12 years ago, joined other
activists in fighting Zanu PF's intransigence, when the party fired vocal
politician Margaret Dongo from its ranks. With the support of pro-democracy
activists, Dongo challenged Zanu PF in the Harare South constituency and the
courts and won.
Activists united in Harare South to campaign for
Dongo for many reasons, with the main one being she had been a voice of reason
within the Zanu PF structure, saying things "Mugabe's wives" (her crude
description of Mugabe loyalists)could not say.
"I'm saying this because I was in that parliament. I
endured a lot of hardship under a one-party monopoly. You stand up and try to
reason with him, and one tells you, ‘You are a bitch, go and cook in your
house.’ Or tells you to sit down, that you are a minority..." said Dongo in an
interview with Frontline World.
Thus she became a symbol of defiance against a system
many feared and at the time thought was invincible, as has been the case with
most post-colonial African states. She lit a candle of hope that the one party
system could be challenged and dismantled, bringing the possibility of new
political organisations with a different value system to that of Zanu
PF.
I want to posit here that the Harare South battle
should therefore be viewed in the context that it was an extension of the whole
process that led to the formation of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
in 1998 and subsequently the MDC in 1999.
It is, however, important to rewind this particular
tape a little bit to understand the dynamics that played themselves out at the
time within Zanu PF and their relevance to the political discourse today, within
the MDC. I will use various theoretical positions and traditions to explain
Dongo's battle in view of what Lucia Matibenga is up and against in the MDC
vis-à-vis the question of intra-party democracy and women's empowerment as a
pre-requisite of good governance.
Writing in the Financial Gazette of 11 October,
journalist Clemence Manyukwe gave an account of some of the victims of Zanu PF's
internal dictatorship, among them Dzikamai Mavhaire and his famous "The
President must go" speech, Frederick Shava, and Edgar Tekere. While all these
have since been neutralised or silenced, none made a mark in our collective
conscience the way Dongo did.
The battle in Harare South was important and still
has a relevance to us today especially for those whose political activism was
then propelled by Dongo's victory. What was the principle behind the
overwhelming support for Dongo's battle against the Zanu PF 'chefs'?
It was a brutal and lonely fight for Dongo. Zanu PF
put all its resources in campaigning for Vivian Mwashita who had been Dongo's
best friend. They had the control of the media, government resources, top
politicians went into Harare South to de-campaign Dongo. Senior Zanu PF female
politicians for their own political survival took sides with the men.
It is against this background that Matibenga's battle
in the MDC is important for us activists who were inspired and greatly
influenced by Dongo in our political activism. The above scenario is repeating
itself in a rather bitter manner. Reading Biti's statement after the High Court
ruling on Matibenga's challenge of her committee’s dissolution, in which he
claimed “victory” and “vindication”, my heart sank. The statement represented
several tragedies and dangers for those of us who have been engaged in the
protracted struggle for democracy.
While our interpretation of the judgement passed by
the High Court is that only the Women's Congress can dissolve its leadership,
the MDC leadership seems to have their own.
The first concern is to do with moral leadership,
what lessons can the MDC learn from the “struggles within the struggle” during
the war of liberation as documented by the late Masipula Sithole? Sithole does
not rule out the possibility of conflict in political organisations, however
what matters is how the leadership responds and handles the conflict. The 70's
“struggle within the struggle” claimed lives, one of them the highly esteemed
politician Herbert Chitepo. How were these developments a precursor of the kind
of party Zanu PF is today? Dictatorship? Violence?
"The Zimbabwe liberation movement has been torn apart
by tribalism and regionalism, but rarely will this be admitted in public by the
leadership and organisations in question, preferring distant Marxist ideological
explanations. Those who may be tempted to think ideology is the answer to
tribalism and regionalism will do well to remember that in both 'bourgeois' and
'proletariat' societies, national cohesiveness and consciousness are achieved
through power sharing and management of representative institutional
structures," wrote Sithole.
In a prophetic letter after the assassination of
Chitepo, his brother Ndabaningi said: "I cannot be indifferent to the death of a
man such as Chitepo for political expediency. It is immoral and wrong. I am in
this struggle because of moral quality otherwise I would have nothing to do with
it."
Is there a moral value in Matibenga's struggle within
the MDC? The late Sithole answers this by saying: "In the long run, morally
right actions will triumph over politically expedient actions. Just watch and
see."
Indeed we have not only watched but many of us are
victims of that Zanu PF system of dictatorship and tyranny which birthed itself
during our liberation struggle.
Still on the leadership question, writing after being
sacked as South Africa's Deputy Minister of Health, Nozizwe Madlala–Routledge
said in an article entitled ‘Seeking servants of the people: “When we choose
leaders, we need not give up our own power by putting them on pedestals that
distance them from those that they lead. We need not accord them hero worship or
fear them so much that we cannot tell them what we think or feel, that we can
only tell them what they want to hear. We need not allow them to think they have
the last word and that they may not be challenged. True leadership is about
giving people the feeling that they can be heard, regardless of who they are and
how junior they may be."
The uneasy feeling one gets in supporting Matibenga's
cause is of being at war with the leadership with the consequence of serious
political backlash. I want to argue further that the MDC is faced with these
problems because of the failure to dismantle the exhausted patriarchal model of
liberation as espoused by Horace Campbell and others; a model whose main
characteristics are sexism, dictatorship and cronyism.
In the same the way the nationalists integrated
themselves into the colonial systems, the MDC and other social liberation
movements such as the Movement for Multi-party Democracy in Zambia have become
hybrids of these models.
Of this system, Campbell says, "instead of liberation
becoming the foundation of a new social order, the militarist and masculinist
leadership turned the victory of the people into a never ending nightmare of
direct and structural violence."
The failure to break from colonial and nationalist
politics can be described as another instance of what Frantz Fanon called “false
decolonization” or “political decadence”. Fanon said: "In its beginnings, the
national bourgeoisie of the colonial country identifies itself with the
decadence of the West. We need not think that it is jumping ahead; it is in fact
beginning at the end."
Fanon goes further to say, (and this explains the
prevailing status of the MDC): "It is already senile before it has come to know
the petulance, the fearlessness, or the will to succeed of youth."
And so Biti goes further to state in his statement:
"Contrary to the opinions of others, the decision was not based on patriarchy,
chauvinism or contempt of the feminist movement."
What Biti seems not to understand is that the
authority he has to actually write this statement derives itself from
patriarchal privilege, one that he and his cohorts do not have the ideological
sophistication to articulate in order to dismantle it. That is the tragedy. Thus
the commission investigating the conduct of the women's assembly for instance is
made up of three men in a party that is blessed with so many well meaning and
capable women. Biti sees nothing wrong with this. Not to mention again that the
National Executive and National Council of the party were never informed of this
decision.
In fact, like Dongo and Mwashita in Zanu PF then, MDC
women are placed in the ridiculous situation of acting like wives in a
polygamous union. Those in such unions will tell you that when you “talk too
much'” you are denied conjugal rights and other benefits until you behave. And
so measures are put in place in the MDC system to regulate the behaviour of
leaders especially how women respond to patriarchy and chauvinism.
Even more telling is the fact that their opinions are
regarded as those of “others; they are not part and parcel of the party's common
vision and understanding, of what constitutes intra-party democracy on the one
hand the emancipation of women on the other.
The fact is that the 'feminist movement' is just
another and not part and parcel of the revolution as advanced by great
revolutionaries like Oliver Tambo or Thomas Sankara who said: "May my eyes never
see and my feet never take me to a society where half of the people are held in
silence.” Or Samora Machel who said: "The idea that we can wait until later to
emancipate women is wrong, because it means leaving reactionary ideas to grow so
that they are harder to fight later."
The great pan-Africans proposed a liberation model
that sought to restore the black woman of her dignity so viciously stripped of
her by the settler colonialists. Their concept of revolution was not just
political, for instance placing certain men in power, it was also social,
meaning a total break-down of all institutions of power and
oppression.
Just to advance my thesis further on the relationship
between intra-party democracy, women's emancipation and good governance, I will
use the example of Mozambique's FRELIMO which has produced not just some of the
greatest women in Africa, let’s take Graca Machel, but one of the best
governments too. Fresh from winning the inaugural US$5 million Mo Ibrahim Award
for African Leadership, former President Joaquim Chissano, denounced autocratic
rule saying it has no room on the African continent anymore.
For the MDC women I will leave them with the advise
of the late nationalist Oliver Tambo to ANC women in 1981: "Women in the ANC
should stop behaving like there was no place for them above the level of certain
categories of involvement. They have a duty to liberate us men from antique
concepts and attitudes about the place and role of women in society and the
development and direction of our revolutionary struggle."
And so I will conclude by saying the fact that today
when we speak out we are 'othered', called 'whores' and have to defend what we
stand for gives us an insight into the 'New Zimbabwe' we are fighting
for.
Grace Kwinjeh is an activist and member of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). She can be contacted on e-mail:
gkwinjeh@gmail.com
It’s the constitution stupid!
New Zimbabwe
By Blessing
Zulu
Last updated: 10/30/2007 10:08:57
THE year is March 2008, President
Robert Mugabe has called for a national
election, and people have not been
told about the location of polling
stations except the day --
Saturday.
When people wake up to go and cast their votes, they are told
people in
Harare have already cast their votes at the Zanu PF headquarters
and Gumba's
Supermarket and President Mugabe has won a landslide victory.
Imagine if the
same scenario is replicated throughout the
country.
What is the likely reaction from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of
one faction of
the MDC? What will be the reaction of the international
community? I will
not answer these questions, as I do not have the spiritual
powers of Rotina
Mavhunga, the diesel mystic.
I am now convinced that
the circus that happened at the so called Women's
Congress in Bulawayo
demonstrates that Mugabe's government can run an
election better than the
MDC faction led by Tsvangirai. It is now clear that
Tsvangirai has been busy
missing the point and scoring own goals repeatedly.
Tsvangirai is quick
to say there is nothing special about Lucia Matibenga,
but surely this is
not about Matibenga but about the rule of law and abiding
by the party
constitution. A few months ago, he whipped his Members of
Parliament to
endorse the controversial Amendment Number 18 Bill, whether
this was good or
bad only history will tell. But I think history will judge
him harshly. The
decision has riled Tsvangirai's strategic allies in the
civic
groups.
It must be emphasised that Zimbabweans have suffered enough --
our inflation
is the highest in the world at nearly 8 000%, life expectancy
is below 35
years and unemployment about 85%.
We pray to the almighty
everyday that in future we must not have a leader
who abuses the people and
the constitution like Mugabe, but with the
behaviour of the opposition, our
prayers are not being answered. We are
tired of being tired.
Whenever
there is change it must have substance and the unfortunate events
unfolding
in the MDC are proof that the opposition and the ruling party are
conspiring
to disappoint the people of Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai must be the last court
of appeal in the MDC, but for him to
ignore his National Council and
National Executive and unilaterally fire
elected officers using his kitchen
cabinet in Thokozani Khupe's restaurant
is rather disturbing.
It is
not surprising that the media and groups normally sympathetic to
Tsvangirai
have lost confidence in his leadership abilities. People do not
have
electricity, food, clean water, medicine and other basic essentials yet
the
MDC is again focusing on internal problems.
The MDC has its roots in
labour and mostly the poor. It is unfortunate
therefore, that Tsvangirai has
allowed the haves and have-more to elbow out
the poor and the workers.
Theresa Makone, whose husband Ian Makone is
Tsvangirai advisor and funder,
has become the chef in Tsvangirai's kitchen
cabinet and is giving Tsvangirai
the wrong advice.
What is baffling is the fact that Theresa Makone has not
done anything in
Mashonaland East where she was the chairwoman. The MDC as
we all know does
not have a single seat in Mashonaland East and does not
seem to be making
any progress in this province. Where then is Tsvangirai
getting the
impression that she is the Messiah for the
women?
Tsvangirai is surrounded by lawyers such as Tendai Biti, his
secretary
general, but for a whole secretary general to endorse such an
illegal move
is baffling. From this circus it is clear that Tsvangirai and
Biti have now
become a liability to the party and are a danger not only to
the nation but
to themselves.
It is a national disgrace that even the
most senior leaders in the party are
being kept in the dark about the goings
on. But typical of Zanu PF, they do
not have the guts to go public, and the
people can only here through hearsay
what is happening in the party. Real
democrats must never allow the devil to
run away with the pulpit. The truth
shall set us free. In this regard I say
hats off to Grace Kwinjeh for
standing firm.
What guarantee do we have that these individuals will
respect Zimbabwe's
constitution once in government? Can anyone ever control
them if they are in
power and have the state resources at their disposal?
These are the
questions that the nation failed to ask Mugabe in the 80's and
we are paying
dearly. Not challenging our leaders and asking tough questions
is now the
conventional wisdom for Zimbabweans across the political
divide.
The wisdom, or lack of the same, says if it’s Mugabe or
Tsvangirai you
should hedge, flee, dodge and spin at all costs, don't
criticize.
After the split with the Welshman Ncube faction and the public
sympathy that
he got from most people, Tsvangirai now has an unhealthy
disregard for
democracy and the party's constitution enhancing the prospects
of
miscalculation.
Tsvangirai must show his respect for the people
and democracy by reversing
this very unpopular decision to use the kitchen
cabinet to smoke Matibenga
out of the party. If this is not done as of
yesterday, the party will
resemble the last 30 minutes of the Titanic, there
will be so many jumping
the ship.
There is no denying the fact that
Matibenga has grassroots support and
kicking her out unceremoniously is
likely to shake the resolve of many party
supporters, they may not join
Arthur Mutambara or Mugabe, but they will not
vote.
The MDC as we
knew it was a broad based democratic movement, but is now
dead. It’s now
just a political party seeking power. This was supposed to be
a watershed
election for Mugabe but again Tsvangirai has made another
strategic
blunder.
Blessing Zulu is a former political reporter with the Zimbabwe
Independent
and is now based in Washington DC. He can be contacted at
zuluble@hotmail.com
Former NMB boss Mushore in court for
initial remand
From The Herald, 30 October
By Daniel Nemukuyu
Former NMB Bank deputy
managing director James Mushore, who was arrested in
Harare last week after
being on the police wanted list for three years,
yesterday appeared at the
Harare Magistrates’ Courts facing six counts of
flouting Exchange Control
Regulations and one count of breaching immigration
laws. Mushore, who has
been living with his family in the United Kingdom
since 2004, is accused of
instructing his subordinates to export US$2 460
470, £285 000, R3 million,
30 000 euros, and 800 000 pula to a London bank
without the Reserve Bank’s
approval. The State further alleges that Mushore
illegally dealt in foreign
currency amounting to £2 861 864,28 and US$216
524,20. Mushore is also being
charged with violating the immigration laws by
leaving Zimbabwe for Zambia
through an undesignated point in Kariba.
On Sunday, Mushore was
released from police custody following a High Court
order by Justice
Felistus Chatukuta, but was yesterday summoned to court for
initial remand.
Mushore (50), who was represented by Mr Innocent Chagonda of
Atherstone and
Cook, mounted a bail application before magistrate Ms Olivia
Mariga, who
remanded him in custody to today pending a ruling. Prosecutor Mr
Obi
Mabahwana opposed bail on the grounds that Mushore left the country
illegally through an undesignated point in Kariba on his way to Zambia,
where he boarded a flight to the UK. Mr Mabahwana called the investigating
officer, Superintendent Edward Marodza, who testified that Mushore’s
passport was not stamped on his exit. Supt Marodza further told the court
that Mushore had given "false" information about his residential address
during his stay in Zimbabwe. "Mushore told the police that he was to reside
at number 27 Hobbleton Avenue in Glen Lorne, but a follow-up at the said
house revealed that Mr John Bredenkamp was the owner of the
house.
In cross-examination, Mr Chagonda dismissed the "fictitious"
address
allegations as "nonsensical and misleading". "The allegation that
Mushore
gave a false address to the police at the airport is, with greatest
respect,
nonsensical and misleading. That is the address he used even before
he left
for the United Kingdom and it (the property) is registered in his
name. We
can tender the title deeds of the house as exhibit in this court to
prove
that the house is his and he had plans to stay there during his stay
in
Zimbabwe. Mr Mushore was to stay at the house and whoever was occupying
his
house was to accommodate him during the stay. Mr Bredenkamp was only
using
the house, but it is still registered in Mushore’s name," said Mr
Chagonda.
Mushore was arrested in Harare on Wednesday last week.
During his stay in
Zimbabwe, Mr Chagonda said, he communicated with the
Attorney-General’s
Office. The court heard that in April last year and
January this year, chief
law officer Mr Joseph Jagada wrote letters to the
defence lawyers seeking a
"convenient date" for the court case. It was
submitted that in the two
letters, Mr Jagada insisted that the matter did
not warrant placement of the
accused person on remand. The court further
heard that NMB Bank had since
been convicted and fined as a company and that
the same charges were being
preferred against Mushore, except for the
immigration count. According to Mr
Mabahwana, between July 23 and October 28
2003, Mushore directed the then
general manager (treasury), Mr Learnmore
Chatima, and senior manager Simon
Ngirande to export foreign currency from
Zimbabwe. On July 23 and 24 2003,
Mushore allegedly caused the exportation
of US$880 470 and £125 000 to
London Trust Bank. It is further alleged that
Mushore caused the release of
more than US$1 580 000, £160 000, R3 million,
800 000 pula, and 30 000 euros
between September 24 and October 28 2003. The
State alleges that his vehicle
was later recovered in the resort town.
Zimbabwe halts
prospecting
From Business in Africa (SA), 30 October
By Sherilee Bridge
Zimbabwe's mining industry
has taken another blow with news that the
Zimbabwean government has
suspended the issuing of exclusive prospecting
orders last week. According
to the Zimbabwe Independent, hundreds of
applications submitted by
prospective mine developers as far back as 2003
have not been processed. Not
only has this brought exploration work in the
country to a standstill, it is
depriving the country of foreign direct
investment in the form of
exploration money. "Speculation is now rife that
government wants the mining
sector to be indigenised before opening it up to
more players," said the
report in the Zimbabwe Independent. The
Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill,
which forces foreign companies to sell
51% of its shareholding to locals, is
now awaiting President Robert Mugabe's
approval after it sailed through
Zimbabwe's Lower and Upper Houses of
parliament. Already its introduction
has created investment uncertainty and
resulted in several of that country's
largest investors, particularly in the
platinum industry, holding off on new
investment there. Now exploration
companies may be turned away from the
country and like other commodities
producers, could seek a home in less
restrictive, more investor-friendly
neighbouring countries like Mozambique,
Namibia and Madagascar. The United
Nation's World Investment Report,
released earlier this month, said foreign
direct investment in Zimbabwe
slumped by 61% in 2006. South African
Institute of International Affairs
(SAIIA) estimated in a 2006 report on
Zimbabwe that about 27 of South
Africa's biggest listed companies have
operations in that
country.
"Long-standing business ties have not been severed by the
current economic
problems, although many companies have preferred to
'ringfence' their
Zimbabwe operations, keeping financials separate from the
overall group
operations, as a way of riding out the storm," SAIIA said in
its report
titled A Nation in Turmoil: The Experience of South African Firms
Doing
Business in Zimbabwe. "Although most companies have limited contact
with
head office in South Africa, they believe that if they were faced with
a
real problem the parent company would intervene to help them," the SAIIA
said. "However, the fact that Zimbabwe has not signed the trade and
investment protection agreement drawn up with South Africa makes companies
feel more exposed to the vagaries of Zimbabwe's economic policy,
particularly as regards property and nationalisation of assets," the report
noted.
Zimbabwe is South Africa's most important trading partner
in Africa and one
of the 15 countries, globally, with which South Africa
exchanges the highest
volume of trade. China has become a major trading
partner to Zimbabwe,
second only to South Africa and China is also the
largest investor in
incremental investment in Zimbabwe. Earlier this month
firms from Qatar and
the Ukraine announced deals totalling more than US$200
million in Zimbabwe's
infrastructure " further proof that Zimbabwe is
determined to sever ties
with the US and European Union in the wake of
previous year's sanctions and
build stronger ties with the Middle and Far
East. And while reports out of
Zimbabwe indicated that there have been some
deals concluded under the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill, these have
been low key and said to
involve much smaller companies. Sam Chikowore, the
operations director of
exploration firm Exporien Mining, told Zimbabwe
Independent that the mining
sector has been neglected compared to other
sectors such as agriculture.
Confiming that no new prospecting orders were
being issued despite the
industry's representation to the relevant
ministries and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, Chikowore said Zimbabwe's
government should put in place
mechanisms to safeguard the sector to ensure
that players develop the mines
before they offload it.
ACT launches Zimbabwe food aid and recovery
appeal
Action by Churches Together International (ACT)
Date: 30 Oct
2007
GENEVA, October 30, 2007--Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International
has issued a $3.6 million appeal to respond, over the next
twelve months, to
the growing humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.
An
inflation rate exceeding 7,000 percent has had a devastating impact on
the
general population, but especially so on vulnerable people already
struggling to make ends meet.
The ACT members implementing the
alliance’s response, Christian Care (CCARE)
and Lutheran Development Service
(LDS), report that factors that have
hastened the country's economic decline
include the HIV and AIDS pandemic,
the impact that restructuring the
agricultural sector has had on the overall
food security, and a massive
unemployment rate, with some 80 percent of the
population considered to be
living under the poverty line.
In addition, 2007 saw one of the worst
harvests in recent times, with the
year officially designated as “Drought
Year” by the government.
The two ACT members aim at making food
immediately available to families
that have been identified as being
particularly vulnerable in the Chivi,
Mwenezi, Zvishavane, Mberengwa, Gwanda
and Beitbridge districts. In total,
close to 51,000 people will receive food
aid, if the appeal is fully funded.
The households being assisted include
those headed up by women, children and
elderly persons, as well as widows
and widowers, people suffering from
terminal illnesses or are physically
challenged. Also considered vulnerable,
are households living with orphans
and other vulnerable children, and
families with very little agricultural
means to support and sustain
themselves.
ACT member CCARE celebrated
its 40th year of service recently, while LDS has
been active in the country
for more than two decades.
Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International is a global alliance of
churches and related agencies working
to save lives and support communities
in emergencies worldwide.
CWS emergency
appeal: Zimbabwe food aid
Church World Service (CWS)
Date: 29 Oct 2007
Appeal Number: 641-W
Appeal Amount:
$200,000
SITUATION: Ongoing humanitarian problems in Zimbabwe continue to
prompt
concern and needed responses by the international community to help
alleviate serious food shortages. These shortages are affecting a large
segment of the population of the southern African nation.
RESPONSE:
Church World Service is supporting efforts of partner agencies and
fellow
Action by Churches Together (ACT) International members Christian
Care
(CCARE) and Lutheran Development Services (LDS).
This appeal is
*two-pronged- as it seeks to make food immediately available
to vulnerable
households at the same time building their capacity to
resuscitate their
crop farming activities in a sustainable manner. The scope
of the program
activities include:
- Food distribution to vulnerable
households;
- HIV and AIDS mitigation initiatives which include home
based care (HBC),
provision of psycho-social support and supplementary
feeding;
- Distribution of crop inputs and farmer training on
conservation farming;
- Establishment of nutrition gardens and training
on garden management;
- Distribution of small livestock for both food and
income generation;
- Community training.
The emergency component
of the program will be implemented over a period of
five months from
November 2007 to April 2008 while the recovery component
will be implemented
over a period of twelve months starting in November
2007.
The focus
will be on the southern Zimbabwe districts of Chivi, Mwenezi,
Zvishavane,
Mberengwa, Gwanda and Beitbridge, rural areas affected by
drought and
populated by subsistence farmers. General economic decline,
inadequacy of
rainfall and infertile soils in the districts have resulted in
poor crop
harvests, which affect the food security situation in the areas.
The
CWS-supported efforts focus on poor and vulnerable households.
Among the
components of the response:
Food Aid: Efforts will be made to stave off
severe malnourishment for 51,434
people who are the inhabitants of the
targeted areas. The food basket per
person will include 10kg of maize meal,
300ml of cooking oil and 1kg of
beans per person per month. In addition,
HIV- and AIDS-symptomatic persons
will each receive 10 kg of corn Soya blend
per month.
Crop Input Distribution: Crop inputs comprising seed and
fertilizers will be
distributed to 6,484 households. A seed pack will
include 10 kgs of open
pollinated varieties (OPV) -- maize enough for one
acre for both consumption
and seed production and 5kg to 10kgs of millet and
sorghum seed per
household. The project will proffer adequate training to
ensure that farmers
utilize techniques for seed
production.
Community-based Gardens: Eight community gardens will be
established in
twelve months under the program. The project will provide all
fencing
material requirements to protect the gardens from destruction of
crops by
animals. Live fencing will also be established for all the gardens
for
sustainability. Fencing materials will include barbed wire, pig netting
wire
as well as treated poles. The produce from gardens will be a major
source of
nutritious food for those infected with HIV and battling
AIDS.
Small Livestock Distribution: Small livestock comprising rabbits
and guinea
fowls will be distributed to vulnerable households on the
principle of pass
on the gift. That will be done as means of livelihood as
well as creating a
source of meat for the poor house holds in the project
areas. The
implementing organizations will source the birds and animals for
distribution.
HIV and AIDS Mitigation Initiatives: This component
will be comprised of
activities which seek to alleviate the impact of the
HIV and AIDS by
proffering adequate training to both primary and secondary
caregivers,
providing requisite home based care kits, education that
mitigates
stigmatization through awareness as well as providing
psycho-social support
to the infected and affected households.
The
program will also focus on the care and support for the orphaned and
vulnerable children in the program area. It will provide supplementary
feeding for HIV and AIDS-symptomatic persons. This part of the program will
lessen the burden of the poverty-stricken affected households by providing
supplementary vitamin and protein fortified corn-soya blend (CSB) at a
ration of 10kg per person per month. A total of 2,962 beneficiaries are set
to benefit from the program.
The total budget amount is $3,347,900.
That includes $1,642,027 in direct
food assistance; $465,336 for home-based
care; $249,328 in food security
(seeds and plantings)
costs.
Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be sent to your
denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN, 46515.
Please designate: Zimbabwe Food Aid (Appeal # 641-W).
For further
information about disasters to which Church World Service is
responding --
or to make a credit card contribution -- please visit the
Church World
Service Website at www.churchworldservice.org or phone
(800)
297-1516.
CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts:
(212) 870-3151;
Executive Director: Donna Derr, dderr@churchworldservice.org
CWS
/ ERP web site: www.cwserp.org
Imagine - one cannot even find a cigarette, let alone matches to light
it with. I won't even mention beer, with villagers now resorting more and more
to drinking the home made brew