Zvakwana Newsletter #021
April 23,
2003
Day 1 of the Stayaway Apr 23-25 ~
The spirit of resistance lives
Thou shalt not be a
victim.
Thou shalt not be a perpetrator.
Above all, thou shalt not be a
bystander.
Holocaust Museum,
Washington, DC
Over 70% support for the first
day of the stayaway - keep it up!
Many Zimbabweans out there have supported the ZCTU's stayaway. Resistance
is rising. However we still have several numbers of callous business owners in
the low density suburbs unwilling to participate in collective action.
By clicking this link you will
find a list showing some of the businesses who refused to give their support.
We will be giving this list to the ZCTU because it is evident that by being
open they can afford to meet the full costs that are impacting on their
workforces.
The majority of workers are failing to cope with transport costs to get from
home to work. Many are now working for nothing and thereby failing to make their
budgets. It is unacceptable and it is no surprise that the ZCTU have called for
mass action to protest the price of fuel.
Click here to see who
decided that it was a good idea to go shopping on a stayaway day.
This is not just another stayaway. This is the
beginning of a strong lobby of civic organisations saying Enough is Enough and doing what Mbeki and Obasanjo were meant to do but
failed. Which is to get Mugabe to either come to the negotiating table or go off
to live in the desert in Libya.
All of these actions are building confidence and courage for the final push
to rid Zimbabwe of the mugabe dictator. Many street leaders are getting stronger
by the day and the Zvakwana movement is becoming a force to be reckoned
with.
Lodge a complaint with the
Police
Protest the ongoing violence
and brutality in our country and telephone Chihuri on 011 808 290 and Bvudzijena
on 011 801 172.
Moyo's ridiculous
propaganda
In a Herald report they
claimed that:
Scores of garages remained open for
business in the city centre and other parts of the city.
Of course The Herald reporter failed to mention that most garages have the
following sign at their premises:
Supa gets tough with
bob
There is a welcome new
interviewing style at ZTV. Supa Mandiwanzira launched some tough questions
dealing with the militia, violence, land and even succession at mugabe the other
night. The small man did his usual trick of trying to wriggle free by saying
that everything was much better in "his" country than elsewhere in Africa. Supa
corrected him saying that the majority of Zimbabweans think differently. We are
enough of mugabe and his rich cronies.
and some poetry for you from 1996
Presidential
Motorcade
Masi, Jamu and I
wave our hands to the
President.
The windows of his limo
are tinted
and are always closed.
The motorcade travels fast
but Masi and Jamu say
the President waves
back.
We wave our hands
every time the
motorcade passes
in the hope it will stop
to drop a coin.
But we hear
the chauffeur does not
know
the 'Give-way' sign
nor the 'Stop' sign.
by Julius Chingono
(1996)
If you need some help . .
.
The Help lines are available for YOU and your friends, colleagues, and
neighbours who are victims of political violence. This service is provided on a
voluntary basis by citizens who are concerned that, in the current volatile
situation, other citizens may meet problems or require help. Here are all the
numbers: please print this out and put it next to your telephone, carry it in
your diary or whatever . . . and pass this message on to spread the Help line
numbers far and wide.
Harare
744970; 336911; 308257; 091 924030; 091
924029
Bulawayo
091 408026; 011 430746; 023 514895
Tensions within Zimbabwe are
nearing the breaking point
Agreement
is nearly universal that responsibility for Zimbabwe’s dismal situation rests at
Mugabe’s door—and that unless he steps down or is removed from power, the
country will continue to stagger toward collapse. The question becomes whether
Mugabe’s fin de regime is marked by violence, displacement, and unmet
humanitarian needs or whether he and his inner circle at some point come to
terms with the reality of their situation. Now is the time for the international
community to forge a common message that clearly condemns violence and demands a
return to the rule of law and a democratically elected government. The next
months will be pivotal for Zimbabwe, and the risks of wider violence and
instability compel urgent action. Mugabe’s departure will not guarantee a quick
reversal, but it will certainly be a necessary first step toward realizing the
country’s tremendous potential. Long-term prospects for Zimbabwe still give
reason for hope—if Zimbabwe is able to move peaceably beyond Mugabe and avoid a
hard crash.
Read the document published by The Center for
Strategic and International Studies on their website www.csis.org
Let’s shout the rotten eggs out. It is time that Zimbabwe was liberated from
this greedy government.
Zvakwana, Sokwanele, Enough is Enough!
FinGaz
ZCTU warns of
further mass action
Staff
Reporter
4/24/03 1:32:04 AM (GMT
+2)
THE government has until tomorrow to
reverse last week's fuel price
increase or face further mass action to press
home labour's demands,
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary
general Wellington
Chibhebhe said
yesterday.
The ZCTU, the umbrella body for
Zimbabwe's trade unions, kicked off a
work stayaway yesterday that is
supposed to end tomorrow.
The organisation
is protesting a steep fuel price increase that
resulted in the cost of petrol
rising by more than 200 percent and that of
diesel going up 68
percent.
Chibhebhe said the ZCTU's general
council would meet after tomorrow's
deadline to decide on "more effective
mass action" if the government did not
accede to the labour body's
demands.
"This one (Wednesday to Friday
stayaway) is just a precursor of more
serious things to come. The general
council will meet after Friday and
decide on the way forward as would have
been demanded by the people," he
told the Financial
Gazette.
The ZCTU mass action follows a
successful job stayaway called by the
labour-backed opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) last month,
which closed down most of business for
two days.
Following the mass action, the MDC
gave President Robert Mugabe an
ultimatum to agree to several demands made by
the party or face further,
more comprehensive mass
action.
The party has said it plans to go
ahead with the mass action after the
government failed to respond to its
demands.
The government on Tuesday accused the
ZCTU of working with the MDC to
remove Mugabe from power through a series of
mass actions, a charge
Chibhebhe yesterday
denied.
But the ZCTU secretary general said
although his organisation did not
have a political agenda, it was in the
government's best interests to avoid
a combined ZCTU-MDC mass action aimed at
addressing workers' concerns.
"In fact, it
would be because of government's actions if there was to
be such a
situation," he said. "People will just be expressing their
displeasure at the
way government is mishandling their concerns. If fuel
prices are reduced, the
government will have avoided further confrontation,
which I would say seems
unavoidable.
"The problem is that this
government doesn't want to come out in the
open and accept that it has failed
because it believes it has a divine right
to rule us
forever."
A snap survey in Bulawayo, Harare
and Mutare yesterday showed that
many workers and companies had responded to
the ZCTU's stayaway call, with
several businesses remaining closed throughout
the day.
Manufacturers were closed in Harare's
Graniteside, Willowvale,
Southerton and Msasa industrial areas, while only a
few small outlets,
especially those serving food, were open in the central
business district.
Most banks remained
closed.
In Bulawayo, the heavy industrial
areas of Belmont and Donnington were
deserted while major shops and most
banks were closed.
Observers in Kwekwe,
Masvingo and Gweru said there was low activity,
while reports from smaller
towns indicate that several businesses were
forced to close later in the day
due to a poor turnout by workers.
A senior
manager with a leading food manufacturer in the Southerton
area said the
majority of the company's workforce had not reported for
duty.
"I can say 90 percent of our employees
did not report for work. We are
not sure whether they will report tomorrow so
we can't be certain whether
production will be resumed before Friday," he
said.
He added: "There is no way we can take
action against workers who didn
't come to work because as you know, some of
them have been affected by the
shortage of
transport."
Few operators of privately owned
commuter buses made transport
available yesterday, making it difficult for
those workers who tried to
report for work to
travel.
Meanwhile, although no major cases of
violence were reported,
Chibhebhe said police had arrested 12 ZCTU leaders in
Bulawayo and Gweru on
Tuesday and
yesterday.
In a statement issued yesterday,
the Brussels-based International
Confederation for Trade Unions (ICFTU)
condemned the arrests, saying: "The
ICFTU has given the strike its support
and condemns the arrest of trade
unionists by the police. We urge the
international community to condemn the
brutal action of the
police."
FinGaz
ZCTU piles fresh
pressure
By Abel Mutsakani Deputy
Editor-in-Chief
4/24/03 1:52:54 AM (GMT
+2)
ZIMBABWE'S labour movement yesterday
piled fresh pressure on President
Robert Mugabe, bringing several businesses
to a halt in a national strike
that analysts say could mark the beginning of
a path that will eventually
lead to the 79-year old leader's exit from
power.
A major constituency of the
opposition Movement Democratic Change
(MDC) party, the umbrella Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) called
the three-day job stayaway to protest
against a more than 200 percent fuel
price hike announced by the government
last week.
The ZCTU strike comes hard on the
heels of an economically devastating
mass strike called by the MDC last month
to protest against Mugabe's rule.
University
of Zimbabwe (UZ) Institute of Development Studies analyst
Brian Raftopoulos
said the unstated but ultimate objective of resurgent
pressure on Mugabe by
the MDC, the ZCTU and civic groups remained the
same.
"They want to bring him back to the
table to negotiate a solution to
the economic, political and social crisis
gripping the nation," the
respected academic told the Financial
Gazette.
UZ political scientist Eldred
Masunungure said the ZCTU stayaway was
being used to tell the government not
only to address the issue of fuel
price increases but also the broader
national crisis.
He said: "Clearly it is also
a way of telling the government to
address the broader national economic and
political crises at the root of
which lies the issue of
governance.
"The high price of fuel is a
genuine issue touching every Zimbabwean
and it is this bottled up anger
within the populace that both the MDC and
ZCTU are harnessing to push the
government to address the syndrome of crises
Zimbabwe is
facing."
Raftopoulos said the consensus among
the internal political
opposition, labour and other civic groups was to
pressure Mugabe to
negotiate a new and democratic
constitution.
The groups also want Mugabe to
agree to end political violence and
lawlessness and to usher in a
transitional period that would lead to free
and fair
elections.
Raftopoulos said although regional
leaders had continued to back
Mugabe in public, even they were also eager to
see the Zimbabwean leader
normalise the situation in his
country.
Regional leaders are said to be
quietly leaning on Mugabe to end
alleged human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and
to negotiate with his opponents
a way out of the multiple crises threatening
the country with collapse.
Raftopoulos told
the Financial Gazette: "Put differently, the renewed
pressure we are seeing
from the opposition, labour and civic groups and also
from within the region
is meant to push Mugabe to negotiate his
exit."
He said any deal that would end with a
fresh and democratic
presidential election would most likely mean the end of
Mugabe's political
career.
The aging leader
was unlikely to want to contest again against MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who he narrowly beat in a presidential ballot last
year that was marred by
violence and allegations of fraud.
Referring
to an offer by Mugabe during an interview on state
television earlier this
week to meet Tsvangirai to discuss Zimbabwe's
problems, Raftopoulos said
Mugabe himself appeared to be slowly coming to
terms with the inevitability
of his departure from power.
Mugabe told the
state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) that he was prepared
to talk to Tsvangirai if the MDC leader would
accept his victory in last
year's controversial presidential ballot.
The
MDC has refused to recognise the legitimacy of Mugabe's government
and has
filed a court application contesting the results of last year's
presidential
poll.
During the ZBC interview, Mugabe also
for the first time encouraged
members of his ruling ZANU PF party to openly
debate his likely successor as
head of the
party.
"It is in part an admission of the
pressure he is getting from all
quarters including from his peers in the
region and it is also in part an
admission of the fact that it is inevitable
that he goes," Raftopoulos said.
Tsvangirai on
Tuesday rejected Mugabe's pre-condition for
talks.
His MDC party has said it is planning
new but unspecified mass action
to force Mugabe to submit to several demands
key of which is that he should
call a fresh, free and fair presidential
ballot.
Meanwhile, the ZCTU this week said its
job stayaway could be
indefinite unless the government reversed the steep
fuel price hike, a
demand the government is unlikely to be able to meet since
without the
increase, the state-controlled National Oil Company of Zimbabwe
could
collapse under debt.
Raftopoulos said
the MDC and ZCTU were likely to intensify pressure on
the government in the
next few months.
The ZCTU's threats of an
indefinite job stayaway and the MDC's
warnings of fresh mass action unless
its demand for a fresh election was
heeded were all additional pressure being
mounted on the government, he
said.
But
Raftopoulos said he foresaw negotiations between the protagonists
taking
place before the threats were actually carried out.
FinGaz
ZCTU stayaway widens
cracks in TNF
By MacDonald
Dzirutwe Business News Editor
4/24/03 1:48:38
AM (GMT +2)
THE call for a work stayaway
to protest a massive fuel price hike has
widened cracks in the
government-business-labour Tripartite Negotiating
Forum (TNF) working to
resolve Zimbabwe's economic crisis, with analysts
this week saying the
increasing use of mass action for protest could be the
last straw for
companies already on the verge of collapse.
The country's labour watchdog, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU)
called for a three-day stayaway that began yesterday, after the
government
failed to heed demands to immediately reverse a fuel price
increase of over
200 percent announced last week.
The ZCTU has
branded the fuel price increase "illegal" and a "crime
against humanity",
saying it will make life tougher for workers, forcing up
their cost of living
while worsening an operating environment that is
already harsh on local
companies.
ZCTU president Lovemore Matombo
this week said because of the price
hike, transport costs alone would now
account for 80 percent of workers' net
pay, while the poverty datum line had
shot up to above $125 000.
He said the fuel
price increase had overtaken the TNF stipulated
minimum wage of $46
000.
Wages are among the issues discussed by
the TNF, which comprises the
government, business and labour and is supposed
to be examining measures to
alleviate Zimbabwe's worsening economic
crisis.
The fuel price increase was also a
subject of TNF discussions, of
which the government says labour was a
participant.
Economic commentators told the
Financial Gazette that the ZCTU's
decision to press ahead with this week's
stayaway had highlighted
deep-rooted divisions between the government, labour
and business, which
called into question the future of the
TNF.
In a statement after the fuel price hike,
labour announced that it was
no longer participating in the
TNF.
The analysts said relations between the
government and business, which
are already suspicious of each other, were
also likely to cool if there was
an overwhelming response by the private
sector to this week's stayaway.
Several
businesses chose to remain closed yesterday, while a large
number of
transport operators also seemed to have heeded the stayaway call,
with many
workers unable to find transport to work.
Commentators said the TNF had lead to some positive developments in
the past
few months, including the long-overdue devaluation of the local
currency in
February.
But the souring of relations between
the TNF partners would in future
make it more difficult for labour and
business to approach the government on
important issues that they wanted
action on, the analysts said.
"The TNF is now
in a shambles because the trust that had brought the
three parties together
is no longer there," said Kingdom Financial Holdings
economist Witness
Chinyama.
"Government will obviously be
looking to see whether industry
participates," he
added.
Century Holdings analyst David
Mupamhadze told the Financial Gazette:
"We are beginning to wonder whether
there was a unity of purpose among the
TNF
parties.
"We had hoped that the marriage would
last and there were positive
indications from the talks. The confrontational
approach does not help when
the economy is hanging by a thread and it can
only plunge us further down
the doldrums."
The analysts said the increasing use of mass action to press the
government
to take action on Zimbabwe's economic crisis could be the last
straw for
Zimbabwe's already embattled companies.
This
week's stayaway follows a successful two-day mass action called
by the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in March, which
closed down
most of industry and commerce.
The MDC has
also said it will soon go ahead with further mass action,
after the
government failed to respond to a two-week ultimatum to agree to
several
demands made by the opposition.
Although
losses resulting from last month's stayaway have not been
quantified, the
mass action is said to have led to lost production
and
earnings.
Analysts said if most of
business remained closed for another three
days and was also forced to deal
with another mass action in the next few
months, the impact on companies
already hard hit by the economic crisis and
the recent introduction of power
rationing would be devastating.
Apart from the
foreign currency, fuel and raw material shortages that
companies have been
battling for more than two years, business has also been
hit by
government-imposed price controls, spare parts shortages and the
introduction
of electricity load shedding.
Representatives
of industry say some manufacturers have been forced to
cut production by at
least 50 percent in the past three weeks because of
load shedding, while
several jobs could be under threat if the electricity
rationing
continues.
Economic commentators said coming
on top of these problems, a
three-day stayaway and further mass action could
be too much for small
companies already on the verge of
collapse.
"From an economic point of view,
it's lost production that we are
talking about and it does not do well for an
economy like ours," Chinyama
told the Financial
Gazette.
Mupamhadze added: "It's not time for
that (mass stayaway) especially
when you look at the precarious position we
are in.
"Some companies are bound to collapse
and this will have a negative
effect on industrial output and
unemployment."
He said more company closures
would also worsen Zimbabwe's commodity
shortages, the result of cut-backs in
production as well as drought and a
government land reform programme, which
have slashed agricultural output.
The analysts
said the increasing propensity for mass action would also
worsen Zimbabwe's
risk profile with international investors, who are already
nervous about
investing in the country.
Zimbabwe is already
viewed as an unsafe investment destination because
of the economic crisis and
the escalation of political tension since
2000.
Mupamhadze said the civil unrest that
was likely to accompany mass
action could result in the little foreign direct
investment still tricking
into the country drying
up.
"The more a country experiences social
unrest, the higher its risk
profile increases," he
said.
"This will undoubtedly affect the
country's ability to attract
investors back into the economy. One of the
fundamental issues you look at
as an investor is whether your investment will
be secure," he added.
But MDC economic advisor
Eddie Cross said the mass actions organised
by labour and the MDC were part
of a broader struggle for change
in
Zimbabwe.
"We are in a new phase in the
struggle for change and the fuel issue
is just a spark point," Cross told the
Financial Gazette.
"This is the end game, we
have to see the way it goes and hope it does
not turn violent," he
said.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said in
a statement this week: "After
the ZCTU stayaway, let's all brace up for the
final push in an all-inclusive
lawful mass action to demand the resolution to
this national crisis."
FinGaz
Fuel subsidy on the
cards
By Sydney Masamvu Assistant
Editor
4/24/03 1:24:32 AM (GMT
+2)
CABINET was yesterday expected to
discuss proposed measures that
include a fuel subsidy for public transport, a
hike in minimum wages and the
gazetting of new commuter fares in a bid to
pacify a restive nation burdened
by economic hardships, the Financial Gazette
has established.shedding.
ior government
officials said the Finance, Labour and Local Government
Ministries met on
Tuesday to discuss and had agreed on several proposals
that were supposed to
be tabled before Cabinet yesterday for
approval.
The Local Government Ministry
oversees Zimbabwe's urban transport
sector.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Cabinet
meeting
- chaired by President Robert Mugabe - had been re-scheduled from
its normal
Tuesday slot to make way for a Politburo meeting to discuss the
hero status
of the Matabeleland South Governor Stephen
Nkomo.
Nkomo died over the weekend and was
declared a national hero.
The government
officials told the Financial Gazette that yesterday's
meeting was expected to
consider fast-tracking the approval of several
short-term measures to
alleviate the plight of workers in light of this week
's Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) work stayaway.
The
stayaway, which began yesterday with some businesses staying
closed, was
called to protest a shock fuel price increase that saw the cost
of petrol
rising by more than 200 percent and that of diesel by 68 percent
a
litre.
The government sources said issues
supposed to be tabled at the
meeting included an increase in minimum wages,
the gazetting of new official
commuter bus fares, means of alleviating power
rationing and a three-tier
fuel pricing
structure.
If approved, the three-tier fuel
pricing system would lead to a
government subsidy on fuel for the public
transport sector.
"We are in a meeting right
now, we are trying to come up with a
cocktail of measures to be implemented
immediately to help ease the plight
of workers and the rest of the population
because of the current economic
difficulties," a Cabinet minister who
attended the meeting told the
Financial Gazette during a break
yesterday.
"The meeting is mainly to look at
the urgent issues concerning
workers, which need to be addressed right now,"
he added.
It was not possible to secure
comment on the matter yesterday from
Information and Publicity Minister
Jonathan Moyo, who was said to be
attending the Cabinet
meeting.
However, ZANU PF secretary for
information and publicity Nathan
Shamuyarira said Cabinet was meeting for its
usual weekly deliberations on
matters of national
importance.
But he denied that the reason the
issues of fuel, minimum wages and
commuter fares were on Cabinet's agenda
yesterday was because the government
was panic-stricken and was attempting to
scuttle the ZCTU mass action.
He said:
"Cabinet meets every week and it is doing just
that."
Government sources said the three-tier
fuel pricing system discussed
on Tuesday by Finance, Labour and Local
Government Ministers Herbert
Murerwa, July Moyo and Ignatius Chombo was being
considered because of plans
to increase the price of petrol to around $800 a
litre by year-end.
Leaded petrol costs $450 a
litre after the increase, while unleaded is
priced at $500 and diesel at $200
a litre.
To cushion industry and workers from
future price increases, there
would be different prices for commercial
companies, for industry and private
vehicles, as well as a government subsidy
for public transporters under the
proposed three-tier pricing
system.
Also to cushion commuters, government
sources said ministers on
Tuesday discussed staggered commuter fares
increases that could be gazetted
tomorrow if approved by
Cabinet.
They said Cabinet was also expected
to approve minimum wages, which
would be revised upward by about 50 percent
from the levels agreed on by the
government, business and labour before last
week's fuel price hike.
Moyo yesterday
confirmed that adjustments would be made to minimum
wages, but declined to
disclose the level of the adjustments until the
proposal was approved by
Cabinet.
"The income committee responsible for
working on adjustments of
minimum wages is doing so right now and that is all
I can say at the moment
before Cabinet approval," he
said.
The minimum wages agreed upon before the
latest fuel price increase
were $22 354.46 for the agricultural sector, $40
860.76 for agro-industry
and $46 217.02 for all other workers except domestic
employees.
Official sources said Cabinet was
yesterday also expected to discuss
proposals by the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (ZESA) for exporters
to pay their tariffs in foreign
currency to allow the parastatal to raise
hard cash for power imports and
payment of debt arrears.
The sources said
companies had indicated that they could not make hard
cash payments and would
rather lay off staff and downsize operations in
response to ZESA's decision
to introduce load shedding.
Some manufacturers
are said to have cut production by at least half in
the past three weeks,
while jobs are under threat because of the
load
shedding.
lLocal Government Minister
Chombo last night announced new commuter
fares following the fuel price hike.
Chombo said the new fares would now be
$60 for a distance between zero to six
kilometres, $100 for 6.1 km to 10km,
$200 for 10.1 to 20 km and $300 for 20.1
to 35 km.
Commuter train fares have been
doubled to $60.
The government also warned
commuter operators that if they did not
resume operations today their
licences would be revoked.
FinGaz
Fresh onslaught on
rule of law expected
By Luke
Tamborinyoka News Editor
4/24/03 1:35:46 AM
(GMT +2)
THE retirement of
Attorney-General (AG) Andrew Chigovera could deal
another blow to the rule of
law in Zimbabwe by giving the government the
chance to appoint a political
functionary who will serve the interests of
the ruling ZANU PF instead of the
justice system, analysts said this week.
Chigovera, Zimbabwe's attorney general for almost three years, retired
two
weeks ago at the age of 50.
His sudden
retirement at such an early age has raised speculation that
he was forced out
of office by senior government officials who felt he was
not doing enough to
advance the interests of the ruling party.
Chigovera's office has come under attack in the past 12 months
from
government officials for not vigorously prosecuting opposition Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) supporters and
officials.
Several of the party's members were
cleared without charge when they
appeared before the courts, sometimes with
the consent of the state, while
the AG's office also made concessions in
several cases involving white
farmers contesting the compulsory acquisition
of their land by the
government.
Last
April, Information and Publicity Minister Jonathan Moyo accused
prosecutors
of being biased against ZANU PF and although the AG's office is
supposed to
represent the government in court cases, some state departments
engaged
private lawyers to appear on their behalf.
Analysts this week pointed out that similar accusations were levelled
against
white judges two years ago, resulting in a spate of resignations
from the
bench.
Several senior white judges were
accused of serving the interests of
the MDC and those of white farmers,
accusations that were followed by
resignations that commentators say allowed
ZANU PF to appoint officials
biased towards the ruling
party.
The analysts said the strained
relations between the government and
the Attorney General's Office could have
contributed to Chigovera leaving
office and that the ruling party would be
eager to replace him with someone
who would toe the
line.
Although the government has not
indicated who might succeed Chigovera,
his deputy, Bharat Patel, and State
Enterprises Minister Paul Mangwana have
been named by ZANU PF officials as
likely candidates.
Mangwana is also a former
deputy Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary
Affairs.
"Chigovera's resignation was
obviously a capitulation to government
interference but what is clear is that
we are likely to see a ZANU PF
functionary being appointed to this sensitive
post," University of Zimbabwe
law lecturer, Lovemore Madhuku, told the
Financial Gazette.
"There is no doubt that
whoever gets the post will know what is
expected of him: to serve the
interests of the party, and that will
obviously be bad news for the rule of
law, which demands that the law takes
precedence over other considerations,"
he added.
Political commentators said although
the post of AG was one coveted by
experienced and competent lawyers, very few
professional attorneys were
willing to sacrifice their principles by
virtually becoming a ruling party
puppet.
This made it more likely that the government would appoint a
"political
functionary", the analysts said.
"No competent
lawyer worth his salt will join this sinking ship," said
lawyer Tendai
Biti.
Madhuku added: "The answer is likely to
be found in a political animal
such as (Justice Minister Patrick) Chinamasa.
He was the ideal AG because he
was a card-carrying member who fitted well
into ZANU PF's scheme of things."
Madhuku said
Chinamasa, appointed Justice Minister in 2000 and
replaced by Chigovera as
AG, had earned his promotion to Cabinet minister
after his stint as what the
government considered an exemplary
attorney
general.
The commentators said
Zimbabwe's new attorney general would have to be
willing to preside over
political prosecutions, even if the cases had no
legal merits and would have
to be tough on white farmers contesting the
designation of their farms for
resettlement.
Biti, who is also Member of
Parliament for Harare East, said the
appointment of a "politically correct"
AG was likely to result in more
arrests of MDC activists, more than 500 of
who have been detained by the
police in the past
month.
He told the Financial Gazette: "The
office will become more rotten,
the rule of law will become the loser and
there will be more political
prosecutions. What is clear is that the vacant
position provides the regime
with a new window to appoint a functionary who
will be prepared to be more
subservient than
Chigovera.
"That functionary must be someone
who is prepared to touch dirt
without any gloves on because the government
will want political decisions
to prevail over the dictates of the
law."
This, analysts said, would be a severe
blow to the rule of law in
Zimbabwe, already undermined by the resignation of
senior judges in the past
two years and the selective administration of
justice by the police.
The police are accused
of failing to apply justice equally to ZANU PF
supporters, primarily blamed
for the political violence that has plagued
Zimbabwe for more than two years,
and MDC activists and other members of the
public who have been affected by
the violence.
"Whoever it (new AG) will be,
that person will have to know that he
should not make concessions or allow
himself to be directed by the dictates
of the law as Chigovera did so many
times," Madhuku said.
"It will be another sad
chapter for democracy and the rule of law,"
he
added.
Analysts said another blow to the
rule of law would worsen the country
's risk profile for foreign investors,
many of whom have maintained a
watching briefing over Zimbabwe in the past
three years, while investing
their money in countries in the region perceived
to be safer investment
destinations.
The
decline in the rule of law has also contributed to the withdrawal
of aid by
international multilateral agencies, worsening Zimbabwe's severe
foreign
currency shortages.
"The appointment of a
political functionary will mean an increase in
political prosecutions,
massive resignations of prosecutors and greater
bungling by state bureaucrats
as has happened before," Biti said.
"It is the
government itself that will become the loser because the
justice delivery
system will lose credibility both locally and
internationally," he
added.
FinGaz
MDC officials in sex
and bribes scandal
4/24/03
1:55:07 AM (GMT +2)
THE opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)'s Johannesburg
executive has completed
investigations into allegations that party officials
in the South African
capital are demanding sexual favours and bribes from
Zimbabweans seeking
letters to support applications for refugee status,
according to MDC
secretary general Welshman Ncube.
The
allegations have been published in South African Press reports,
which say
desperate Zimbabweans fleeing from grinding poverty at home have
been forced
to fork out as much as seven thousand rands or about $735 000
for letters
confirming that they are victims fleeing political
violence.
Women asylum seekers have reportedly
been asked to have sex with
officials in order to secure the letters of
support.
Ncube said the MDC had asked its
executive in Johannesburg to
investigate the allegations being levelled
against some of its officials.
The
Johannesburg executive is supposed to make recommendations to the
party's
national disciplinary committee, headed by vice president Gibson
Sibanda, on
action to be taken against the culprits.
Ncube
said: "We are aware of the allegations being made against some
of the party
officials and we have already asked the party district there to
investigate
the matter, which they have done.
"They have
indicated to me that they have sent their recommendations
to me for onward
transmission to the vice president, who is chairman of the
national
disciplinary committee and that is what we are waiting
for."
- Staff
Reporter
FinGaz
Minimum lending
rates set to reach 70 percent by
year-end
Staff
Reporter
4/24/03 1:45:49 AM (GMT
+2)
MINIMUM lending rates could top 70
percent by the end of the year,
forcing local banks to further cut lending to
individuals and companies that
are already struggling to raise finance for
crucial projects, according to
analysts'
forecasts.
The analysts said lending rates
had maintained an upward trend for the
past two months, a surge that had been
expected by the market since the
introduction last November of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe's dual interest
rate
policy.
The policy is supposed to discourage
consumptive borrowing by applying
higher interest rates to non-essential
borrowing, while offering
concessionary rates to producers and exporters to
encourage production.
Rates, which ended last
year at below 40 percent, have risen to
between 45 and 57 percent, against a
return of at least 25 percent for
current accounts and 50 to 60 percent for
investment funds.
Economists this week cited
the rising cost of money and shortages of
funds on the money market, where
rates have risen from around 30 percent to
more than 60 percent in the past
month.
The analysts said continued shortages
on the money market could put
upward pressure on lending rates in the next
few months, with devastating
consequences for many local
companies.
In its Economic Vision newsletter
for the first quarter of 2003, the
Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) forecast
that lending rates, which ended
last year at 39 percent, could have shot up
to 75 percent by the end of
2003.
Kingdom
Financial Holdings economic analyst Witness Chinyama said such
high rates
would squeeze out many firms and individuals would not be able to
borrow
because they would be unable to repay the
loans.
He said they would also put banks at
risk of bad debts, which could
force many financial institutions to cut back
on lending to protect
themselves.
Chinyama
told the Financial Gazette: "Many companies were borrowing to
survive because
of low interests rates, but the increase will mean an
increase in credit risk
and many companies will not be able to borrow.
"Obviously banks have issued a lot of loans and this means they will
be faced
with many defaulters, leading to a major reduction in
income."
First Mutual fund manager Simiso
Nzima added: "No one can afford to
borrow at such high rates because the
problem of price controls and the
shortage of foreign currency still
persist."
Price controls have forced many
companies to cut back on production
because they cannot recoup their costs,
which are being forced up by
inflation of 228
percent.
Local analysts expect to end the year
at around 300 percent, but the
International Monetary Fund has forecast that
inflation will have topped 500
percent by
year-end.
Meanwhile, foreign currency
shortages have hampered imports of raw
materials and spare parts,
contributing to declining output.
Analysts
said if some firms were no longer able to borrow to finance
important
projects, they could be forced into further production cut backs,
which would
worsen commodity shortages and adversely affect foreign
currency
inflows.
Hard cash inflows have
plummeted in the past three years because of a
fall in exports and a decline
in foreign investment and the suspension of
balance of payments support by
international multilateral agencies because
of government policies that have
eroded the rule of law and property rights.
"The stand-off between the government and the international community
led to
substantial reduction in bilateral and multilateral donor financing
and as
such, foreign exchange annual earnings fell from an excess of US$2.5
billion
in the mid 1990s to current low levels of under US$1 billion," the
CBZ said
in its first quarter commentary.
"Against this
background, increased foreign exchange earnings can only
be generated through
increased export earnings, which can only be achieved
through incentivising
exporters," the bank added.
Economists said
also affected by rising lending rates would be credit
stores, micro-finance
institutions and clients of leasing companies, who
might find themselves
unable to raise leasing finance for important
equipment and other
assets.
FinGaz
Zim's top trade
negotiators quit ministry
Staff
Reporter
4/24/03 1:32:11 AM (GMT
+2)
ZIMBABWE'S three top negotiators at
regional and international trade
summits have left the Ministry of Industry
and International Trade,
hampering the country's preparations for the World
Trade Organisation (WTO)
summit in September, government officials said this
week.
The three negotiators, Jabu Mtetwa,
Carlson Mbegabolowe and Samson
Mutanhaurwa, have handled Zimbabwe's trade
negotiations for several years.
Industry and
International Trade Ministry officials said Mtetwa had
joined the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) while Mbegabolowe
was now working for the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa
(COMESA).
Zimbabwe is a beneficiary
and signatory of COMESA and SADC free
trade
protocols.
The Industry and
International Trade officials said Mutanhaurwa had
been transferred to the
Government Tender Board.
Government officials
this week said the departure of the three trade
experts would adversely
affect Zimbabwe's preparations for the WTO summit
scheduled to take place in
September in Cancun, Mexico.
"These guys were
the experts on trade issues and at one stage, they
spent a lot of time in
Geneva at the WTO headquarters for at least six
months," a trade official who
spoke on condition of anonymity told the
Financial
Gazette.
"They were involved in most of the
preparatory work and certainly the
country will suffer because of these
developments since it takes a lot of
time for new people to understand these
trade issues," the official added.
A series of
regional preparatory meetings have been lined up for the
months before the
Mexico summit, to enable the region to come up with a
common position on
several issues that will be discussed in
September.
Industry and International Trade
Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi said
there were competent trade officials
remaining within the ministry who would
be able to adequately represent
Zimbabwe at the regional preliminary
meetings and at the WTO
summit.
"When a senior official is working, he
does not work in isolation, he
works with subordinates," said Mumbengegwi.
"Although they have left, some
officers will be able to do the
work."
He said the fact that regional trade
blocs had snapped up the
officials was an indication of the impressive skills
within the Industry and
International Trade
Ministry.
He said: "Mbegabolowe did not leave
for something completely different
from what he was doing here. In fact, this
is something that is good for
Zimbabwe because it is recognition of the
calibre of the personnel we have."
FinGaz
Zim's domestic debt
shoots up to $360bln
Staff
Reporter
4/24/03 1:33:28 AM (GMT
+2)
ZIMBABWE'S domestic debt has jumped
$20 billion to $360 billion,
according to central bank statistics that
analysts this week said indicated
that the government had been forced to
continue borrowing from the domestic
market because corporate tax payments
were inadequate to meet its
growing
requirements.
According to
statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the
domestic debt rose from
$340 billion at the beginning of the month to $360
billion as of Thursday
last week.
The debt ended last year at $226
billion and had risen to $230 billion
in
January.
Reserve Bank figures show that the
debt reached $300 billion in the
first quarter of this year but fell to
around $265 billion before climbing
again.
Analysts said the slight drop in domestic debt figures could be the
result of
the government resorting to using its overdraft facility with the
central
bank to raise money to meet its commitments.
The analysts said the steady rise in the debt was a reflection that
corporate
tax payments were not sufficient to meet the government's huge
appetite for
funds.
Corporate bodies pay their taxes to the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(ZIMRA) three times a year, in February, June and
November.
ZIMRA has yet to indicate how much
corporate tax has contributed to
the national coffers, but analysts said
revenue from taxes was unlikely to
be adequate for the government, which
needs money to import food, fuel
and
electricity.
The analysts said the
domestic debt was unlikely to decline in the
short-term because the
government's appetite for cash would continue to grow
as food insecurity
increased and several ministries and parastatals
requested supplementary
funds from the Treasury.
Best Doroh, an
economist with Zimbabwe Financial Holdings, said
several parastatals were
facing financial difficulties and would seek funds
from the government to
finance their operations.
"Already a number of
parastatals are struggling and they need further
financing, which will
effectively lead to further support from the domestic
market," he told the
Financial Gazette.
"The importation of grain
that is expected until the end of the year
is set to lead to another demand
for cash," Doroh said.
The analysts said
continued borrowing on the domestic market would
widen the budget deficit,
which Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa had planned
to reduce to 11.5 percent
of gross domestic product from 14 percent in
2002.
Commentators however say the deficit is
likely to end this year around
25 percent of gross domestic product that the
government will have not
choice but to finance using money borrowed from the
domestic banking sector.
This would fuel money
supply growth - which rose 22.6 percentage
points to 148 percent in November
- putting further pressure on inflation.
Inflation rose 228 percent in the year to March, up from 220.9 percent
the
month before, and is expected to end the year around 500 percent,
worsening
Zimbabwe's worst economic crisis in 23 years of
independence.
"The trend of the domestic debt
is one way, it will continue to rise,"
said an economist with a local bank.
"Very soon, we will be having a
supplementary budget and this will definitely
result in the debt rising for
the better part of this
year."
FinGaz
Future of TNF: fuel
price rises and govt's
obligations
4/24/03 1:21:45 AM
(GMT +2)
The Financial Gazette this week
launches a new column, Economic
Viewpoint, which is being published in
collaboration with the Zimbabwe
Economic
Society.
This was the second major
increase in the price of liquid fuels in
less than two
months.
What was shocking about the price
hikes was not the upward review per
se as these had been long anticipated,
but rather the magnitude of the
increase. The huge price increases are
already having a knock-on effect on
the prices of commodities throughout the
economy given that fuel is used as
a major input in all aspects of production
and service delivery.
The fuel price increases
have serious implications for the future of
the Tripartite Negotiating Forum
(TNF), which comprises government, labour
and
business.
The unilateral increase in the price
of a major production input by
the government flies in the face of the
principle of tripartism, which
places emphasis on price increase restraint,
negotiation and consultation.
As it is, the government failed to consult the
other two social partners
before effecting the shocking fuel price
increases.
On January 30 2003, the three
social partners signed the "Prices and
Incomes Stabilisation Protocol", whose
guiding principles include
cultivating a culture of tolerance and restraint;
sharing a common vision
regarding the future development of the country;
negotiating in good faith;
ensuring the partners are accountable to each
other; subordinating sectoral
interests to national interests and promoting a
mutually beneficial
environment.
The
protocol also seeks to adopt a flexible approach that will allow
for
adjustments to cater for new and unforeseen developments; upholding
measures
aimed at eradicating poverty and ensuring strict confidentiality of
issues
under negotiation.
Among key government
obligations is the need to reduce the budget
deficit to 11 percent of gross
domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2003 and
to reduce inflation to 96
percent by the end of the year.
The government
should also introduce value added tax and address the
fuel/urban transport
problem and facilitate the importation of spare
parts.
However, events on the ground are there
for everyone to see. They show
that the government has already thrown the
protocol into the dustbin.
For a start, there
are no meaningful efforts by the government to
reduce the budget deficit to
11 percent of GDP this year. In fact, the
government is busy displaying its
huge appetite to spend by stepping up the
printing of money and borrowing,
with domestic debt fast approaching the
$400 billion
mark.
There are very high chances that the
Minister of Finance will be
forced, as has become the norm, to go back to
Parliament with a request for
a supplementary budget as most government
departments are already living
beyond their
means.
Related to the government's inability
to live within its means is the
rate of inflation, which was pegged at 228
percent during the month of March
2003. The massive fuel price increases this
month will put paid to all
efforts to reduce the rate of inflation to
two-digit levels by December
2003.
In fact,
inflation is generally believed to be above 500 percent in
real terms in
light of consumers obtaining basic commodities on the black
market, where
prices are in some cases 10 times above the gazetted ones. It
is due to enter
hyperinflation mode, even in the official figures, due to
the massive fuel
price increases.
The fuel price increases have
also compromised the government's pledge
to address the urban transport
problem. Already transport fares have more
than trebled after the new fuel
prices and for most workers, it now no
longer makes economic sense to
continue working as the monthly cost of
transport has shot far above their
monthly salaries. To make matters worse,
very few buses are now available on
the roads and there are no meaningful
undertakings by the government to
resolve the shortages of spare parts as is
espoused in the
protocol.
What this implies is that the
government has very little respect for
the other partners in the TNF. It now
faces a tall order in trying to
convince business not to raise prices above
the controlled levels.
Equally, the government
now faces the impossible task of convincing
labour not to demand an upward
review of salaries and wages and a general
improvement in the working
environment.
If the government is so obsessed
with ensuring the survival of the
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM)
by massively increasing the price
of fuel, it should also be concerned with
the survival of the generality of
industry and commerce by lifting its
crippling price control regime.
As things
stand, there is hypocrisy on the part of the government in
its handling of
the economic affairs of the country. Arguments regarding the
survival of
NOCZIM fly in the face of ordinary and suffering Zimbabweans as
this fails to
acknowledge that Zimbabweans, by being compelled to ensure
that NOCZIM
survives, are subsidising corruption, which has been so open and
rampant at
the state fuel procuring agency.
The
significant fuel price increase will not result in any meaningful
improvement
in the fuel supply situation, as it will not lead to an
improvement in the
supply situation of foreign currency. Instead, it will
result in
hyperinflation, more company closures and a further decline in
exports, thus
curtailing the economy's ability to generate foreign currency.
It is a
vicious cycle and very difficult to make a breakthrough unless
efforts are
made to engage the international community for assistance in
bridging the
foreign currency deficit until the economy can generate
sufficiently on its
own.
This is however not to suggest that the
social partners, particularly
business and labour, should despair and abandon
the TNF process. There is
need for the social partners to go back to the
drawing board and take stock
of their achievements and failures and undertake
a re-commitment to the
principles of the TNF. Business and labour should
spell it out in
categorical terms to the government that it should exhibit
seriousness of
commitment in addressing the economic dislocation and in
engaging the social
partners at the TNF.
As
such, the TNF should continue to play a major role in providing a
platform
upon which social dialogue can take place. The problem is that,
unlike NEDLAC
in South Africa, and in line with the initial proposal from
the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions for a statutory stakeholder-driven
social dialogue
platform, the TNF is currently not statutory and what it
agrees on is subject
to approval by Cabinet.
There is need to make
it statutory so that whatever is agreed on is
binding and not subject to
approval by Cabinet or be varied by any
one
party.
In addition, business and labour
should undertake to engage the
government on the aspect of the chairmanship
and secretariat of the TNF.
Should they continue with the current
International Labour Organisation
(ILO) arrangement where the government
takes charge of both the chairmanship
and secretarial duties, thus making it
both referee and player in this
economic and political
game?
Or rather should they separate the two
roles and possibly modify the
ILO arrangement to have a rotational
chairmanship or a completely
independent
chairmanship?
After all things have been said,
the social partners have to realise
that time is not on their side. The
economy continues to sink and Zimbabwe's
future is not bright at all, as the
President wants Zimbabweans to believe.
They are the ones on the ground
affected by the economic mismanagement and
therefore much better placed to
comment on how they are affected than the
President, especially given that he
is enclosed in the State House gardens
most of the
time.
It will certainly take time to reverse
the downward trend and will
take decades to restore the country's productive
capacity in industry,
commerce, mining and, more so, on the decaying
farms.
James Jowa is chief
economist of the Zimbabwe National Chamber
of Commerce, a participant in the
TNF.
FinGaz
Beef herd drops from
6.5mln to 250 000
Staff
Reporter
4/24/03 1:29:25 AM (GMT
+2)
ZIMBABWE'S national beef herd has
dropped from 6.5 million two years
ago to an estimated 250 000, which could
threaten the viability of the
country's beef industry, according to
Department of Veterinary Services
director Stuart
Hargreaves.
The decline in the national
herd has been blamed on the government's
controversial land reform programme,
drought as well as stockfeed and
vaccine
shortages.
Hargreaves said the decline was
threatening the viability of the beef
market, which in the past relied on
commercial producers for supplies.
However,
the commercial herd has been depleted because of the change
of cattle
ownership resulting from the land reform
programme.
The government's controversial
seizure of white-owned land for
reallocation to black peasant and aspiring
commercial farmers has resulted
in smaller numbers of cattle being held by
large-scale commercial farmers
breeding cattle for the beef
market.
Hargreaves told the Financial Gazette
that small-holder farmers
resettled under the A2 phase of the land reform
programme were concentrating
on building up their herds and were not yet
willing to bring them to market.
"The A2
resettled farmers are building up their herds and they are not
yet prepared
to take any for slaughter, and this has also contributed to a
shortage of
beef," he said.
Beef shortages have also been
compounded by drought, which has led to
the death of cattle in the past 12
months.
The shortage of stockfeed and
important cattle vaccines had also
contributed to the problems faced by beef
producers, who last year provided
about 670 000 cattle for
slaughter.
Farmers served with eviction
notices by the government have also
reacted by de-stocking, while commercial
farmers whose land has not been
designated for compulsory acquisition have
also reduced their herds because
of the uncertainty in the agricultural
sector.
Hargreaves said fewer calves were
being reared in the commercial
sector, and there was little beef slaughter in
the first quarter of this
year, adversely affecting the beef
market.
The shortages of beef and the rising
cost of producing meat has forced
the price of beef up to between $1 700 and
$2 000 a kilogramme, compared to
the government controlled price of $370 a
kg.
FinGaz
Letters
There
is more to farming
4/24/03
1:18:36 AM (GMT +2)
EDITOR - Seems that
ZANU PF have rather too late realised there's more
to farming than just
grabbing a farm! It must be exceedingly embarrassing
for them to be forced to
consider actually giving back a few of those
farms.
Could productivity possibly involve
two important factors that seem to
be missing in many of the "new farmers"? I
am talking first about actually
knowing how to farm, and secondly living on
the farm and being prepared to
do some very hard
work!
Whether many farmers will trust a regime
which took all they owned and
forcibly threw them off their land is another
question altogether.
How many stories have we
heard of farmers who thought they'd "done a
deal" only to be evicted just as
the crop was ready to reap? No doubt some
naive and ever-hopeful individuals
will believe they can trust this lot,
there always are such
people.
But I think most will be extremely
cautious. The current regime is not
well known for honesty, integrity or for
sticking to its word.
C
Frizell,
United
Kingdom.
FinGaz
Letters
Zim's
malady
4/24/03 1:19:52 AM (GMT
+2)
EDITOR - It is there for everybody to
see that Zimbabwe is so diseased
that it would be difficult to imagine that
we could ever bring it back to
life without some political surgery or even
amputation.
It's sad that we have to
repeat the same things over and over again -
the degeneration of the economy,
emasculation of people's freedoms,
repression, inaction and myopia and
foolish arrogance by the rulling party.
We
have undergone so much suffering and when we think the worst
situation is
over we find ourselves in even more torture, more suffering and
more
repression.
It is of very grave concern that
despite what we are going through we
do not, as a nation, seem to have a
clear and decisive strategy about how to
quickly and effectively deal with
our situation inorder to liberate
ourselves from this twin monster of
economic and political suffering.
With
different segments of our society, from political structures to
civic
organisations, we are from time to time demonstrating what most people
have
concluded about Zimbabweans - docility and the excellent gift of
talking
without acting.
How many times have our
political and civic leaders talked about
decisive action? Every now and then
we hear leaders annoucing that "we have
now resolved to liberate ourselves"
but these claims have never being
transformed into any meaningful
actions.
There is a grave danger in leaders
announcing some action when they
are not yet fully prepared for it. First it
puts the "enemy" on the alert.
More
importantly leaders lose credibility because they will be
labelled as
parroters.
Interesting is the underlying tone
of "peaceful means of engagement"
always carried out in this messages. I do
not think it is important even to
mention the form of engagement in terms of
whether it is peaceful or not.
Clearly,
qualifying a liberation action as peaceful simply implies
being loyal to or
even fearful of the regime. Peaceful in whose terms? And
does the situation
at hand guarantee that liberation objectives will be
achieved through
peaceful means given the nature of the regime?
I think it is more important to talk of an appropriate means of action
to
achieve an objective and not whether or not the means are peaceful.
The
situation dictates the means and not vice
versa.
Strategists say that if you are not
ready don't strike at all but when
you strike, strike
hard.
Decisive encounters win wars.What is
needed is careful planning,
organising of a strong irresitible coalition,
assessment of the enemy's
capabailities and weaknesses, formulating multiple
strategies and counter
strategies and evaluating each strategy's objective
and contribution to the
overall objective.
Sin Tzu, the great Chinese warrior, advised that plan your stratgey so
that
you divide the enemies forces, so that those that you attack at any
given
point are few.
At these points, use an
overwhelming force.This requires boldness and
a strong resolve in the
leadership, and the ability to fight to the
bitter
end.
It also seems that the
pro-democracy forces in Zimbabwe are lacking on
the propaganda war and use of
information. A good coalition with sensible
media houses on the use of
information can bring good results.
Simon
Bere
simonbere@yahoo.com
FinGaz
Letters
African leaders are one and the same
nightmare
4/24/03 1:20:56 AM (GMT
+2)
EDITOR - The apparition and spectre of
African leadership that has
haunted post-colonial Africa was founded by the
late former leader of Ghana,
Kwame
Nkrumah.
There was nothing profane and
vulgar about his desire to liberate his
people, but as usual and as is
typical of African leaders, Nkrumah had other
nefarious objectives and
innumerable strings attached to his objective
of
liberation.
Nkrumah firstly defied logic
and did not listen to the voice of reason
by enforcing and effecting
pro-Communist ideologies that only yielded the
then unfortunate and
regrettable death of Ghana's economy.
All this
was done in the name of unity, Pan-Africanism and fighting
against European
imperialism.
While the eyes of the people of
Ghana were shut in their sleep, the
duplicitous, acquisitive and miscreant
leader accrued great wealth for
himself and his cohorts, silenced political
opponents with torture and
murder, insatiably sought to be worshipped by the
people that he liberated,
embezzled and misused state monetary resources and
endorsed an infinite
number of
abominations.
All these iniquitous sins were
committed in the name of liberation and
what Nkrumah achieved at the end of
his political career was surnaming his
people with abject
poverty.
What sort of liberator was he who
found immense pleasure in watching
his people suffer while he folded his arms
and guffawed with laughter?
It is unfortunate
that at most the African presidents have defiled
their political careers with
such indescribable grime.
The list is endless
from the atrocious and malignant Muammar Gaddafi
whose vision of an African
Union is that of him presiding over Africa and
bludgeoning lesser African
leaders so that they pay homage to his
pilfered
prowess.
Of course, Islamic rule
will be the order of the day, and no lucid
person will accept such idiocy,
preposterousness and lunacy knowing very
well the iniquities associated with
Islamic dominance: zero tolerance,
extremism, a revolting and nauseating
allergy to liberality and emancipation
of women, primitivity and a sinful
thirst for bloodshed. The Christians in
Nigeria and Sudan can confirm
that!
The list extends to madmen like
Jean-Beddel Bokassa (noted for his
cannibalism), Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko
and the recently ousted Daniel arap
Moi who had ruled Kenya with an iron fist
and brandished a spear in the
other hand!
All these tyrants have synonymous characteristics of committing
atrocities
against their own people and repressing political
opponents.
Arnold
Mashava,
Mutare.
FinGaz
Letters
Talk
is cheap
4/24/03 1:18:01 AM (GMT
+2)
EDITOR - Zimbabwe, a country once
envied by many as a land of milk,
honey and peace is now a country of total
chaos. My heart bleeds for you
Zimbabwe, yes it really
does.
The leaders talk so much but do so
little to really practice what they
preach. It is said that talk is cheap,
indeed we have all noticed how cheap
it is for the ZANU PF regime to make a
lot of empty promises to the people
who voted them into power while so little
is done to balance the equation.
We have heard
of price controls / freezes but I wonder if these really
work . All I see is
a government that is promoting the black market. When
was the last time you
bought sugar, bread, mealie-meal, cooking oil and all
other scarce
commodities at their correct retail prices?
The government stopped the operations of all bureaux de change in an
effort
to stop the illegal trading of foreign currency, but I can tell you
right now
there are some of these money houses owned by top ranking
government
officials and are still carrying on the business of buying and
selling forex
at the parallel market rates under the diguise of money
lending houses
.
Where is the law and order in
Zimbabwe?
I lost my very close loved ones in
the struggle for Zimbabwe's
independence but I just wonder if this is what
they were fighting for. I
thought the fruits for the hard won independence
would be sweet.
So far we have only gained the
name Zimbabwe and we are yet to fully
liberate
ourselves.
Rasta4life,
Harare.
FinGaz
Comment
Season of deadlines and
ultimatums
4/24/03 1:22:42 AM
(GMT +2)
A SIEGE mentality has gripped
Zimbabwe, promising uneasy times for a
nation already on its knees because of
a debilitating political and
economic
crisis.
It seems to be open season
for deadlines and ultimatums as restive
citizens weary of the government's
seeming indifference to their plight take
matters into their own
hands.
It seems to be open season for
deadlines and ultimatums as restive
citizens weary of the government's
seeming indifference to their plight take
matters into their own
hands.
Not to be outdone, Zimbabwe's labour
watchdog has joined the fray by
giving the government its own
ultimatum.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) has not minced words,
last week demanding the immediate
reversal of a shock 200-plus percent fuel
price increase whose impact will be
a nightmare for workers and
employers
alike.
Faced with the
government's intransigence, the ZCTU has told its
members to stay home for
three days to protest the price hike.
A call
that, if successful, will further knock companies already under
pressure
because of fuel, foreign currency and raw material shortages as
well as power
rationing and price controls.
The season of
deadlines and ultimatums kicked off in earnest towards
the end of last
year.
Following the announcement of new tough
exchange control measures in
November, business made it known in no uncertain
terms that failure to find
some means of alleviating the impact of these
policies would force the
wholesale closure of Zimbabwe's
exporters.
The result was the long-overdue
devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, at
best a temporary measure that has
enabled companies to get over their most
immediate hurdles, but has done
nothing to tackle the endemic problems that
continue to plague
business.
Then came the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change
(MDC)-organised job stayaway that closed down most of
business for two days
in the middle of March as the labour-backed party
pressed for resolution of
Zimbabwe's economic and political
crises.
The stayaway was followed by a
two-week deadline for President Robert
Mugabe to agree to a negotiated
political settlement, or face massive
street
protests.
Meanwhile, teachers, fed
up with "unfulfilled promises" from the
Education Ministry, have given the
government until May 8 to resolve a
long-standing pay dispute or face a
strike when schools re-open next month.
The
siege mood sweeping the nation is a plea for swift and decisive
action to
resolve deep-seated and long-standing problems before an implosion
that will
be impossible to control.
Whether the
government is reading the signs is debatable, but it is
likely that for the
authorities, it will continue to be business as usual
until the crisis is so
far gone that there is no choice but to act.
But we hope it is dawning on Zimbabwe's leaders that this frightening
culture
of threats that seems to be emerging can only lead the country down
a road
that will take it nowhere but towards further
ruin.
As has been said so many times before,
it is necessary for the
government to come down off its high pedestal,
publicly admit its past
mistakes and commit itself to a bold course of action
that has the support
of all stakeholders.
A
good start would be to curb the state's runaway spending, the main
cause of
Zimbabwe's economic crisis, admit to the erosion of law and order
as well as
property rights and urgently set about restoring
these.
This would go a long way towards
restoring international investor
confidence in the country, which is crucial
if Zimbabwe is to secure the
foreign currency needed to set it back on its
feet.
Even at this late hour, it is still
possible to do the right thing. It
is in the best interests of the nation and
the nation's survival is after
all the prime concern of all patriotic
Zimbabweans.
A SIEGE mentality has gripped
Zimbabwe, promising uneasy times for a
nation already on its knees because of
a debilitating political and
economic
crisis.
It seems to be open season
for deadlines and ultimatums as restive
citizens weary of the government's
seeming indifference to their plight take
matters into their own
hands.
Not to be outdone, Zimbabwe's labour
watchdog has joined the fray by
giving the government its own
ultimatum.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) has not minced words,
last week demanding the immediate
reversal of a shock 200-plus percent fuel
price increase whose impact will be
a nightmare for workers and
employers
alike.
Faced with the
government's intransigence, the ZCTU has told its
members to stay home for
three days to protest the price hike.
A call
that, if successful, will further knock companies already under
pressure
because of fuel, foreign currency and raw material shortages as
well as power
rationing and price controls.
The season of
deadlines and ultimatums kicked off in earnest towards
the end of last
year.
Following the announcement of new tough
exchange control measures in
November, business made it known in no uncertain
terms that failure to find
some means of alleviating the impact of these
policies would force the
wholesale closure of Zimbabwe's
exporters.
The result was the long-overdue
devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, at
best a temporary measure that has
enabled companies to get over their most
immediate hurdles, but has done
nothing to tackle the endemic problems that
continue to plague
business.
Then came the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change
(MDC)-organised job stayaway that closed down most of
business for two days
in the middle of March as the labour-backed party
pressed for resolution of
Zimbabwe's economic and political
crises.
The stayaway was followed by a
two-week deadline for President Robert
Mugabe to agree to a negotiated
political settlement, or face massive
street
protests.
Meanwhile, teachers, fed
up with "unfulfilled promises" from the
Education Ministry, have given the
government until May 8 to resolve a
long-standing pay dispute or face a
strike when schools re-open next month.
The
siege mood sweeping the nation is a plea for swift and decisive
action to
resolve deep-seated and long-standing problems before an implosion
that will
be impossible to control.
Whether the
government is reading the signs is debatable, but it is
likely that for the
authorities, it will continue to be business as usual
until the crisis is so
far gone that there is no choice but to act.
But we hope it is dawning on Zimbabwe's leaders that this frightening
culture
of threats that seems to be emerging can only lead the country down
a road
that will take it nowhere but towards further
ruin.
As has been said so many times before,
it is necessary for the
government to come down off its high pedestal,
publicly admit its past
mistakes and commit itself to a bold course of action
that has the support
of all stakeholders.
A
good start would be to curb the state's runaway spending, the main
cause of
Zimbabwe's economic crisis, admit to the erosion of law and order
as well as
property rights and urgently set about restoring
these.
This would go a long way towards
restoring international investor
confidence in the country, which is crucial
if Zimbabwe is to secure the
foreign currency needed to set it back on its
feet.
Even at this late hour, it is still
possible to do the right thing. It
is in the best interests of the nation and
the nation's survival is after
all the prime concern of all patriotic
Zimbabweans.
A SIEGE mentality has gripped
Zimbabwe, promising uneasy times for a
nation already on its knees because of
a debilitating political and
economic
crisis.
It seems to be open season
for deadlines and ultimatums as restive
citizens weary of the government's
seeming indifference to their plight take
matters into their own
hands.
Not to be outdone, Zimbabwe's labour
watchdog has joined the fray by
giving the government its own
ultimatum.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) has not minced words,
last week demanding the immediate
reversal of a shock 200-plus percent fuel
price increase whose impact will be
a nightmare for workers and
employers
alike.
Faced with the
government's intransigence, the ZCTU has told its
members to stay home for
three days to protest the price hike.
A call
that, if successful, will further knock companies already under
pressure
because of fuel, foreign currency and raw material shortages as
well as power
rationing and price controls.
The season of
deadlines and ultimatums kicked off in earnest towards
the end of last
year.
Following the announcement of new tough
exchange control measures in
November, business made it known in no uncertain
terms that failure to find
some means of alleviating the impact of these
policies would force the
wholesale closure of Zimbabwe's
exporters.
The result was the long-overdue
devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, at
best a temporary measure that has
enabled companies to get over their most
immediate hurdles, but has done
nothing to tackle the endemic problems that
continue to plague
business.
Then came the opposition Movement
for Democratic Change
(MDC)-organised job stayaway that closed down most of
business for two days
in the middle of March as the labour-backed party
pressed for resolution of
Zimbabwe's economic and political
crises.
The stayaway was followed by a
two-week deadline for President Robert
Mugabe to agree to a negotiated
political settlement, or face massive
street
protests.
Meanwhile, teachers, fed
up with "unfulfilled promises" from the
Education Ministry, have given the
government until May 8 to resolve a
long-standing pay dispute or face a
strike when schools re-open next month.
The
siege mood sweeping the nation is a plea for swift and decisive
action to
resolve deep-seated and long-standing problems before an implosion
that will
be impossible to control.
Whether the
government is reading the signs is debatable, but it is
likely that for the
authorities, it will continue to be business as usual
until the crisis is so
far gone that there is no choice but to act.
But we hope it is dawning on Zimbabwe's leaders that this frightening
culture
of threats that seems to be emerging can only lead the country down
a road
that will take it nowhere but towards further
ruin.
As has been said so many times before,
it is necessary for the
government to come down off its high pedestal,
publicly admit its past
mistakes and commit itself to a bold course of action
that has the support
of all stakeholders.
A
good start would be to curb the state's runaway spending, the main
cause of
Zimbabwe's economic crisis, admit to the erosion of law and order
as well as
property rights and urgently set about restoring
these.
This would go a long way towards
restoring international investor
confidence in the country, which is crucial
if Zimbabwe is to secure the
foreign currency needed to set it back on its
feet.
Even at this late hour, it is still
possible to do the right thing. It
is in the best interests of the nation and
the nation's survival is after
all the prime concern of all patriotic
Zimbabweans.
FinGaz
And now to the
Notebook . . . Overzealous
Jonathan
4/24/03 1:24:42 AM (GMT
+2)
It seems that our prediction that the
overzealous Jonathan Moyo would
step on one too many toes has been proved
right.
It turns out that Zimbabwe's "prime
minister" is at loggerheads with
veteran ZANU PF politicians Nathan
Shamuyarira and Stan Mudenge over the
childish nonsense he lets people like
Chronicle editor Stephen Ndlovu
publish as news in state-controlled
newspapers.
Shamuyarira, who we are told as
ZANU PF information secretary is
supposed to be Moyo's superior in the party,
dismissed in a statement a
story by Ndlovu in which he castigated South
African President Thabo Mbeki
for abandoning Zimbabwe in a bid to please the
West.
Shamuyarira branded the story
"unfounded, ill-founded and
plain
falsehoods".
Mudenge, who is Foreign
Affairs Minister, weighed in against Ndlovu,
describing him as "misguided and
wrong".
Mukanya sees nothing to celebrate when
a fellow journalist is being
lambasted like that, even if the concerned
individual sometimes also doubles
up as a political commissar of the ruling
party.
But what is surprising in this whole
saga is how instead of Ndlovu
publicly sticking by his story and providing
more facts to back his initial
report, as any editor would have done, we have
the arch-enemy of journalism
himself, Jonathan Moyo, rushing to Ndlovu's
defence.
Why Moyo, who clearly is neither the
editor of the Chronicle nor the
author of the article in question should jump
to the defence of Ndlovu is
mind boggling to say the
least.
Or is this indeed proof that, as we
have suspected all along, the
author of the Chronicle article and several
other dubious stories that have
appeared in state newspapers is actually some
discredited turncoat desperate
to justify his presence at Uncle Bob's
Munhumutapa workplace?
And to my
brother-scribe Ndlovu, my advice is: if out of all the
people on this mother
earth only Jonathan Moyo is prepared to stand up and
speak in your defence,
then you should be worried.
Press freedom,
Moyo style
Still on Moyo. We were
surprised to learn from the Sunday Mail that he
believes: "Freedom of the
Press in Zimbabwe, within the confines of the law,
professional standards and
ethics, must be for the entire media not some of
it. Everyone must be held
equally accountable."
We entirely agree with
you Mr Prime Minister Loudmouth.
If only you
would explain why there has been this selective
application of your
iniquitous Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy
Act.
Why have only journalists from the
privately owned media been arrested
under this villainous law of yours or is
all this talk about equality before
the law just one of the many kindergarten
lies that you love telling people?
Same
old rhetoric
As expected, Uncle Bob was at
his best, delivering more invective
against the United States and Britain
during the annual independence
anniversary last
Friday.
Seemingly oblivious of the hunger,
pain and suffering for which his
government is responsible, Uncle Bob had
this to say: "We abhor
imperialistic machinations and iniquitous efforts by
Britain and its ally,
the United States, to re-colonise us and we stand ready
to resist such
attempts.
"Never, never,
never, never again will Zimbabwe be a colony."
Of course we have heard this kind of defiant rhetoric before from
North Korea
and from Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
And we all
know what happened to Saddam Hussein at the hands of
the
Americans.
The same might actually
happen to Uncle Bob, but this time not at the
hands of the Yanks but those of
hungry and angry Zimbabweans.
Statues to
pull down
It has been suggested that the
government should erect giant statues
of the Great Uncle in Harare, Bulawayo
and other major centres across
Zimbabwe so people can have something to pull
down Iraqi-style once freedom
returns.
As a
patriotic Zimbabwean, Mukanya would like to chip in with this
humble
suggestion: a national fund raising committee should be set up to
collect
money from willing Zimbabweans to fund this statue-raising
project.
Judging by the way the Great Uncle is
loved in Zimbabwe these days,
every citizen is more than likely to donate
something to this noble cause.
On his part,
Mukanya pledges his entire but meagre salary for this
month to this patriotic
project.
How nice it would be to throw our
shoes at the crumbled statue of the
Great Uncle!
FinGaz
UN extends DRC
looters' deadline
Staff
Reporter
4/24/03 1:32:45 AM (GMT
+2)
THE United Nations (UN) has extended
to May 31 the deadline for senior
Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) officials to respond to
allegations that they looted diamonds and
other natural resources during the
four-year DRC
war.
A UN official said the deadline had
been extended from March 31 to
give all those implicated by a UN report
issued at the end of last year time
to meet with the world body's
investigating panel and compile their
responses to the
allegations.
The official, Amin Mohsen, said
the UN would publish the responses of
those implicated in last year's report
on June 20.
"There was need to give everyone a
chance to dialogue with the
investigating panel, exchange views and have
adequate time to make detailed
responses," Mohsen, the UN official assigned
to the DRC, told the Financial
Gazette from New
York.
According to last year's UN report, high
ranking government and army
officials in Zimbabwe and the DRC are implicated
in the plunder of natural
resources during the civil war in the central
African country.
The Zimbabwean government has
dismissed the UN allegations, saying
they are part of a British plot to
discredit it.
But DRC President Laurent Kabila
has already suspended several of his
senior officials, including his envoy to
Harare, pending independent
investigations into the damning allegations
contained in the UN report.
Among the
Zimbabwean officials named in the UN plunder report are
Speaker of Parliament
Emmerson Mnangagwa, Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi
and Commander of the
Defence Forces General Vitalis Zvinavashe, who have all
denied the
allegations.
According to a UN resolution
passed in January this year, the 54
companies and individuals named in the
report were required to respond to
the allegations by 31
March.
Mohsen refused to comment on whether
the Zimbabwean officials had
shown interest in responding to the allegations
against them.
"The matter is still pending and
I cannot talk on that," he said.