VOA
By Sithandekile Mhlanga and Patience Rusere
Washington
24 August 2007
Police in Zimbabwe's second city
of Bulawayo arrested six members of the
activist group Women of Zimbabwe
Arise early Friday, but freed them late in
the evening after allegedly
threatening them with death if they did not
cease protest
activities.
WOZA National Coordinator Jenni Williams said police officers
took the women
to the Khami ruins about 40 kilometers outside the
Matabeleland Province
capital, and told them they would be thrown into a
reservoir there if they
did not quit the group.
WOZA sources said
Maria Moyo, Rosemary Siziba, Aida Ndebele, Margaret Ndlovu
and two others
were taken from their homes by police around dawn. The group
said police
also tried to break into the home of Magodonga Mahlangu, a WOZA
official in
Bulawayo, but having failed to gain entry, then seized her dog.
In
Masvingo, capital of the province of the same name, police were said to
have
raided the homes of two WOZA members Thursday night seeking
documents.
Williams said the six Bulawayo women were traumatized by the
ordeal,
particularly Maria Moyo who is ill, while another had a one-year-old
infant
with her.
She said the police officers released the women
after some white journalists
visiting the Khami resort area approached
them.
Williams told reporter Sithandekile Mhlanga of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe
that she suspects that the motive behind the raids raids is that
police
learned her organization held an annual congress earlier this month
in
secret, avoiding official scrutiny.
Elsewhere, political and civic
activists say that in the wake of the
Southern African Development Community
summit last week, the government has
resumed cracking down on its opposition
among political parties and civil
society groups.
On the weekend
immediately following the summit, some 15 clerics and
opposition members
were arrested while conducting a prayer meeting in
Chitungwiza, a satellite
city south of Harare. A few days later, police
arrested two American women
who were filming a documentary about rape in
Zimbabwe, deporting them to
South Africa.
On Thursday, sources said, plainclothes police officers
attempted to arrest
organizers of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and the
Zimbabwe National
Students Union as they spoke at a public meeting in
Gwanda, but the two
managed to escape.
Also Thursday, agents of the
Joint Operations Command, a coordinating
mechanism for the country's police,
military and security agencies,
interrogated officials of the Bulawayo
Agenda, threatening them with arrest
if anyone in a meeting they have called
for Saturday, Aug. 25, mentions
President Robert Mugabe's name.
Then
on Friday police in Bulawayo seized WOZA members from their homes.
Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition Programs Manager Pedzisai Ruhanya tells
reporter
Patience Rusere he thinks the crackdown is meant to bolster Mr.
Mugabe's
reputation as a resolute figure who does not care about public or
international opinion.
VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye and Loirdham Moyo
Washington
24 August 2007
Mounting and already
severe food shortages in all parts of Zimbabwe have
lent new impetus to the
quest for a solution to the political and economic
crisis, analysts
say.
Chronic food shortages over the years have taken a heavy toll,
particularly
in children, with malnutrition widespread and the distended
child bellies of
kwashiorkor appearing even in urban settings, as reported
recently by Harare
public health officials.
The 2005-2006 Zimbabwe
Demographic and Health Survey, compiled by the
Central Statistical Office,
reported stunted growth in 29% of children under
the age of five. The Harare
City Council's health department collaborated in
the
study.
Meanwhile, consumer desperation has led to tragic incidents such
as a
stampede for extremely scarce sugar in Bulawayo, resulting in three
deaths.
Economists say the scarcity of staple goods has been exacerbated
by the
government drive since last month to reduce prices by fiat, which
emptied
supermarket shelves as Zimbabweans rushed in to purchase leaving
merchants
with heavy losses.
The government has allowed some prices
to rise to draw goods back into the
market, including those of sugar, tea
and chicken, but little improvement is
reported.
Perspective on the
acute shortages of food items and other basic commodities
was provided by
independent development consultant Roger Mpande and Advocacy
and
Communications Manager Fambai Ngirande of the National Association of
Non-Governmental Organizations.
Mpande told reporter Ndimyake
Mwakalyelye of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that the food emergency in the
country is reaching critical proportions.
From Mutare, reporter Loirdham
Moyo reported that millers complain they
often go for days without receiving
grain allocations from the state-run
Grain Marketing Board, reflecting
disruption in the supply chain of the
national staple maize meal.
Zim Online
Saturday 25 August 2007
Own
Correspondent
JOHANNESBURG - Southern African Development Community
(SADC) executive
secretary Tomaz Augusto Salomao has recommended that
Zimbabwe undertakes
comprehensive economic reforms that should include
currency reforms,
expenditure cuts and a stable policy environment,
according to a report
presented to regional leaders last week.
In the
report to the SADC heads of state summit in Zambia, contents of which
have
until now been kept a closely-guarded secret, Salomao echoed
International
Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations that Harare must act on a
host of
distortions in the troubled economy.
The Mozambican diplomat who has been
at the helm of the regional body's
secretariat since September 2005 said
robust policies were needed "to reduce
the overvaluation of the exchange
rate, to reduce the budget deficit and to
control the growth of domestic
credit and money supply which fuel inflation,
and to reduce price
distortions in the economy".
"Equally important is the need to avoid
frequent changes in policy
initiatives, which have caused uncertainties and
led to the view that the
policy environment is unpredictable," said
Salomao.
Salomao was tasked by SADC at a special summit in Tanzania last
March to
recommend a rescue package for Zimbabwe, in the eighth year of an
economic
recession that threatens to disturb prevailing regional peace and
security.
The report was not adopted at last week's SADC summit and was
forwarded to a
committee of regional finance ministers for their
blessings.
In the same report, Salomao recommended the restoration of
balance of
payments support for Zimbabwe to ease shortages of foreign
currency in the
country and to boost the capacity to build Harare's hard
cash reserves.
"The restoration of the country's foreign exchange
generating capacity
through Balance of Payments support is crucial: however,
the most urgent
action that is needed to start this process is to establish
lines of credit
to enable Zimbabwe to import inputs for its productive
sectors, particularly
for agriculture and foreign currency generating
sectors.
Zimbabwe is believed to have operated on less than a week's
import cover
since her economic crisis started towards the end of 1999 after
the IMF
pulled the plug on aid in protest at mismanagement by President
Robert
Mugabe's government.
The IMF pull-out immediately sent a cue
to other Western donors and
investors to withdraw from Zimbabwe, leading to
a crippling foreign currency
crisis that has manifested itself through
shortages of fuel, power and other
essential raw materials. The tottering
Zimbabwean economy has contracted by
around 40 percent due to the problems
faced the country.
The IMF has over the years encouraged the Zimbabwean
authorities to
implement wide-ranging macroeconomic reforms to arrest the
economic decline.
The southern African country has twice survived
expulsion from the
institution due to outstanding arrears, which stood at
more than US$131
million at the end of last June.
The accumulating
arrears are expected to jeopardise Zimbabwe's chances of
surviving another
IMF attempt to expel the country from the Fund.
The board is expected to
meet in September for the crucial review meeting
after giving Zimbabwe six
months to implement a comprehensive economic
recovery programme to stop a
seven-year slide.
At its last review meeting in February, the influential
IMF board of
directors urged the Harare authorities to resolve the arrears
problem
promptly, and warned that it would again consider Zimbabwe's
outstanding
debts in six months.
Zimbabwe has been in continuous
arrears to the IMF since February 2001 and
is the only case of protracted
arrears to the Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility-Exogenous Shocks
Facility Trust.
The IMF suspended Zimbabwe's voting rights country in
2003, forcing Harare
to make surprise payments totaling US$193 million
between 2005 and 2006 to
clear its arrears.
But Mugabe, who has ruled
since independence from Britain 27 years ago, has
accused the IMF and other
Western donors of treating his country unfairly
and saying Zimbabwe was
unlikely to clear the arrears without guarantees
that aid and its voting
rights would be restored.
Salomao reiterated the Zimbabwe government
position by calling for the
removal of so-called sanctions against the
country.
"SADC should do all it can to help Zimbabwe address the issue of
sanctions,
which is not only hurting the economy through failure to get BoP
support and
lines of credit, but also through reduced markets for its
products," said
the SADC chief.
Mugabe and more than 100 of his
lieutenants are banned from setting foot in
the European Union, United
States, Australia and New Zealand under targeted
sanctions imposed in
2002.
The sanctions also include the freezing of their assets in these
countries
as well as an arms embargo - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 25 August
2007
By Regerai Marwezu
MASVINGO -
Ruling ZANU PF youths on Wednesday abducted and held
captive a Zimbabwean
journalist for more than six hours in Gutu district in
the southern province
of Masvingo after they accused him of working for a
US-based anti-government
radio station.
Godfrey Mutimba, a correspondent for the weekly
Standard newspaper,
was in Gutu to investigate allegations that ZANU PF
youths were beating up
villagers who had attended a memorial service for the
late opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) national chairman Isaac
Matongo.
Matongo's memorial service was held at his rural home in
Gutu about
two weeks ago.
The ZANU PF youths pounced on Mutimba
and detained him for close to
six hours after they accused him of working
for the Voice of America's
Studio 7, a radio station run by exiled
Zimbabwean journalists.
The youths threatened to beat up Mutimba
whom they accused of churning
out anti-government propaganda at the radio
station. He was only released
after senior ZANU PF officials in the area
ordered his release.
"I had gone to Gutu to investigate allegations
that some villagers
were being victimized for attending Matongo's memorial
service. But before I
could complete my work, a group of ZANU PF youths
abducted me and threatened
to beat me up.
"They accused me of
working for Studio 7. But I told them I was from
the Standard newspaper.
Even when I showed them my Press (identification)
card, they refused to
listen and continued harassing me," said Mutimba.
Attacks and
harassment of journalists by ZANU PF supporters are common
in Zimbabwe ahead
of election times. Several journalists have been arrested
and beaten up in
the line of duty over the past four years.
For example, last month,
the wife of Zimbabwe army commander Jocelyn
Chiwenga, beat up award-winning
photographer Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi who was
covering a tour of supermarkets by
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Zimbabwean government,
that has shut down four privately-run
newspapers and arrested over a hundred
journalists over the past four years,
accuses foreign-based media of pushing
a "regime change" agenda in the
country. - ZimOnline
Zim Independent
Loughty
Dube
THE Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)'s plot to
silence Bulawayo
Archbishop Pius Ncube by linking him to a sex scandal is in
disarray as
details of the plot have started leaking, exposing the
intelligence service's
role.
It has now been established that
the CIO is behind the sting operation
which exposed the Archbishop's alleged
affair.
The disclosures of the CIO involvement in the saga comes at
a time
when questions are being raised over whether Ernest Tekere - a former
senior
CIO officer who was identified as the private investigator in Ncube's
scandal - had the capacity to conduct such an evidently large project on his
own.
According to information from former minister Enos Nkala,
Tekere
featured in massacres of civilians by government forces in
Matabeleland and
Midlands in the 1980s. He apparently worked with his former
employers in the
Ncube sting operation.
Sources said the CIO
worked closely with state-media journalists to
target Ncube for allegedly
sleeping with different women when he is sworn to
celibacy. It is said the
CIO set up the sting over a period of two years and
poured a lot of money
and resources into ensuring Ncube was exposed. After
the plot, a campaign of
publicity was then launched to "expose, shame and
silence" the cleric, it is
said. State media journalists were arranged to
publicise the project in its
various phases.
Video footage - which allegedly shows Ncube in
explicit sexual acts -
and photographs were produced and distributed to
selected state media
journalists. Some of the footage has also been given to
online publications
for maximum publicity.
According to
reliable sources, the first phase of the plot is the $20
billion adultery
case filed by Onesimus Sibanda, who is suing Ncube over an
alleged
adulterous affair with his wife Rosemary.
The first phase however
did not achieve the desired results as
Zimbabweans rallied behind Archbishop
Ncube and dismissed the whole episode
as a plot by the government to silence
the vocal government critic.
The manner the first phase was
executed in and the way it was
publicised by the state media has also given
credence to the view that it
was a state hatchet job.
However,
the Independent will reveal that the CIO and the state media
have not given
up on Archbishop Ncube but are now working towards unleashing
more exposés
on the cleric to be done in the remaining two phases.
The second
phase of the three-phase operation will entail another
lawsuit to be filed
by Sibanda where this time he is claiming that his wife
Rosemary infected
him with the HIV virus which she acquired from Ncube.
Two weeks ago
state media editors, journalists, a lawyer and state
security agents met at
a Bulawayo hotel to map out strategies on how they
will proceed with the
smear campaign on the vocal cleric.
However, a few days after the
meeting state newsrooms were awash with
talk about the plot and a witch-hunt
has already been instituted to find out
who leaked the information among
those present at the planning meeting at
the hotel.
The
Chronicle recently carried a story where it said it will "break"
stories
involving more lawsuits from Sibanda and other people over Ncube's
adulterous relationships.
The third phase of the planned smear
campaign will be a disclosure
through a story that Archbishop Ncube fathered
two children with a married
woman from Esigodini in Matabeleland
South.
The sources close to CIO operations however say a sticking
point that
is delaying the planned exposé of Ncube is on modalities of
convincing the
husband of the Esigodini woman to agree that the children are
not his.
Subsequent meetings have been held between the state
editors,
journalists and state security agents to fine-tune details of the
case
before the stories are published.
The sources also
revealed how the alleged footage involving Ncube was
acquired and doctored
by the state security agents.
The sources said state security
agents tampered with telephone lines
to Ncube's house at St Mary's Cathedral
and later sent fake technicians who
later said the fault was in cables in
Archbishop Ncube's bedroom.
After gaining access to his residence
the CIO operatives then
installed the surveillance cameras.
Sources close to the plot also indicated that the CIO paid nurses at
the
Catholic-owned Mater Dei hospital to take blood samples of Archbishop
Ncube
when he was admitted there while suffering from a mild stroke.
The
sources claim that DNA tests were performed on Ncube's blood which
they say
will prove that he fathered the children in Esigodini.
Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
GOVERNMENT has started reversing the unrealistic prices
decreed by the
government last month in what amounts to a major climb-down
after the
programme backfired.
Sources privy to the policy
shift said the Price Monitoring and
Stabilisation Taskforce has been
mandated to rethink the operation as the
Zanu PF leadership gives in to
pressure to stop the destructive exercise.
From its launch, top government
officials have failed to agree on the blitz,
with Vice President Joice
Mujuru and central bank governor Gideon Gono
understood to oppose
it.
Mujuru is next week expected to address business captains at
the
Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe congress which starts in Victoria
Falls
on Wednesday. She has been mandated to clean up the mess caused by the
price
blitz and would reconstitute the taskforce. This comes after President
Robert Mugabe has been convinced his campaign has been a huge
disaster.
"The Emcoz slogan 'for industrial peace and productivity'
will be
under stern test at a time when neither peace nor productivity in
Zimbabwean
industry are as they need to be," the employers said in a
statement
yesterday.
Government sources this week said Mujuru
has been actively promoting
dialogue between government and business at all
levels. This has resulted in
the holding of consultative meetings between
price monitoring taskforce
members and businesspeople across the
country.
The retreat by the state has manifested itself in the
upward revision
of prices and services almost on a daily basis. The most
notable revision
this week was in the telecommunications sector where
operators were allowed
to raise rates to 10 times the June 18
standard.
The price monitoring taskforce has been given a new
mandate to revise
the prices of all commodities in response to the
recommendations submitted
by various stakeholders.
The
taskforce was last week presented with an assessment report of the
blitz,
clearly showing that the crackdown has had disastrous consequences,
rendering government's stakeholder-driven turnaround initiative useless,
reducing government revenue, promoting parallel market activities, eroding
investor confidence and militating against efforts to reduce
inflation.
"Shortages of basic commodities, deteriorating services
in virtually
all sectors and the general public outcry forced government to
revise the
policy in relation to representations submitted by the
stakeholders,"
sources said.
Sources said the taskforce office
at the Police General Headquarters
has received thousands of representations
from affected businesses seeking a
review of the pricing structure in
relation to the production costs.
"Businesses are clamouring for a credible
pricing mechanism that ensures
both business viability and affordability to
consumers," the sources said.
"The taskforce is now in the process of going
through the various
representations and recommending the appropriate
adjustments, which might
see a complete departure from the price blitz
directives."
The past week has seen a major shift with government
backing down on
unrealistic prices set out during the price reduction
crackdown resulting in
serious shortages. Government this week approved the
increase in
telecommunications tariffs, freight charges, and train and
airfares. Earlier
in the week, it had allowed suppliers of foodstuffs, soap,
farming inputs
and tyres to hike their prices to ensure the supplies on the
market.
Foodstuffs whose prices were increased included sugar, tea-leaves,
chicken
and soda. Prices of motor vehicle tyres, Bata shoes, the whole soap
range
and maize seed were also increased. It proceeded to re-license 42
private
abattoirs to avert the worsening meat shortages which had forced all
butcheries to close.
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
THE Minister of Transport and Communications,
Christopher Mushowe, and
Air Zimbabwe chief executive Peter Chikumba are in
Russia to revive the deal
to buy five Ilyushin and Tupolev planes from the
former communist country.
According to information to hand the two
and other senior officials
left for Russia last week to revive the deal
despite serious misgivings
being expressed by the national airlines
technical staff over the planned
US$381,8 million deal between the country
and Russia. They are scheduled to
return next Monday.
Government sources said the Ilyushin planes to be bought are three
IL-96-400
P for passengers and two IL-96-400 M for cargo at a cost of
US$381,8
million.
The condition of the deal requires the Zimbabwean
government to make a
30% cash down payment which translate to US$114,5
million. The remaining 70%
will be in the form of a loan.
Deliveries will start next year from the Voronezh Aircraft
Construction
Company (Vaco) plant once the final deal is signed.
Vaco is one of
the biggest factories in Russia producing passenger and
cargo
aircraft.
The deal will be financed by Ilyushin Finance Co, one of
two state-run
Russian companies involved in domestic aircraft construction
and sales
programmes.
Ilyushin Finance Co focuses on financing
IL-96-300, IL-96-400,
Tu-204-300 and An-148 aircraft.
The deal
has caused jitters among the airline's pilots and engineers,
who have
expressed serious concerns over the technical quality of the
aircraft. The
staff want the airline and its engineers to a have greater say
in any
planned acquisitions following problems with recent plane
acquisitions from
China.
Russian planes are notorious for technical faults and
failures which
have resulted in them being labelled "flying
coffins".
"They (Mushowe and Chikumba) are reviving the deal
despite technical
reports discouraging them from going ahead with the deal.
Human safety
concerns should prevail ahead of political and monetary gains
in aviation,"
said one engineer.
Sources said Air Zimbabwe's
routes are mostly north/south which is
overland and to the Far East where
two-engine planes are ideal. The Russian
planes have four engines. "Spare
pulling (buying spares) is difficult as no
other country in the region flies
such a plane, even on the destination that
the national airline flies. The
history of the plane has never been inviting
for passengers," sources
said.
It also emerged on Wednesday that the planes government wants
to buy
were still on the drawing board and have not yet been approved by
aviation
experts. This is supposed to be the newer version of the
Ilyushin.
"What is surprising is that Aeroflot-Russia (the Russins
airline) are
buying Boeing and Airbus planes. They had an order for
Ilyushins which they
cancelled last year," said one engineer.
Despite the Ilyushin being cheaper than the Boeings, they are
expensive to
maintain as they are on record as being fuel guzzlers and their
spare parts
are difficult to buy.
The initial agreement to buy the planes was
signed by the Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono and Mushowe during their
visit to Moscow in April last
year.
Zim Independent
Loughty Dube
DETAILS of a plot hatched by the
CIO spy agency working hand in hand
with state media journalists have
emerged with indications that the two
worked hand in glove in planning and
exposing the adultery story involving
Archbishop Pius Ncube.
Archbishop Ncube was slapped with a $20 billion adultery lawsuit at St
Mary's Cathedral a month ago after he was served with the papers by the
Deputy Sheriff, who was accompanied by a large contingent of journalists and
photographers from the state media.
However, details have
emerged that the journalists present during the
serving of papers were part
of a well-orchestrated plot involving the CIO.
It has also emerged
that the state media journalists and even
President Robert Mugabe had
information about the issue long before the
story was broken.
Sources among journalists that were part of the team say the plot was
master-minded by the state intelligence agency and involved editors at the
state media organisations and involved a South African Broadcasting
Corporation (SABC) team.
It also emerged that Archbishop Ncube
was duped by the SABC team to
agree to an interview where he unknowingly
answered questions that were
later on twisted to implicate him in the
adultery case.
The SABC team, led by correspondent Supa
Mandiwanzira, arrived in
Bulawayo two days before the adultery story was
exposed, after fixing an
appointment with Archbishop Ncube for an interview
on the situation in
Zimbabwe.
Archbishop Ncube agreed to the
interview after he was told that
Mandiwanzira was the SABC correspondent in
Zimbabwe.
However, SABC is now investigating the allegations that
Mandiwanzira
used SABC credentials to set up the sting interview after
viewers raised
concerns over the integrity of the South African
broadcaster.
Mandiwanzira runs one of the top media production
companies in
Zimbabwe, Mighty Movies, and also provides the SABC with news
productions on
Zimbabwe.
The current affairs managing director
of SABC, Snuki Zikalala, quoted
in South African media last week said they
would investigate the matter
immediately and take "appropriate
action".
"We are hearing this for the first time. If there is any
truth in what
has been said then we will take the appropriate action,"
Zikalala said.
He said Mandiwanzira was not a fulltime SABC
employee, but owned an
agency from which the SABC commissioned stories on a
daily basis.
Mighty Movies might lose its contract with SABC if it
is found that
Mandiwanzira abused his SABC credentials.
In a
sting operation that was not communicated to station heads at the
ZBC
Montrose studios the Harare-based journalists, led by Mandiwanzira,
arrived
at the studios on Friday and did not state their mission as is
usually the
case when news crews have assignments covered in the
jurisdiction of sister
stations.
Mandiwanzira's cameraman was on Sunday, a day before the
sting
operation, at St Mary's Cathedral where he was seen filming the Sunday
Mass
but left earlier when he realised that Archbishop Ncube was not
presiding
over the ceremony.
On Monday morning the day of the
operation, Mandiwanzira, allegedly
then provided SABC jackets to Zimbabwean
state broadcasters, editor-in-chief
Tazzen Mandizvidza and Voice of Zimbabwe
station head Happison Muchechetere
who interviewed Ncube, under the guise
that they were from the SABC.
Mandiwanzira also recruited Montrose
ZBC photographer, Solo Chinara to
film footage that was used on the ZTV news
bulletin.
According to the plan hatched by the CIO, the idea was to
ensure that
the SABC crew kept Archbishop Ncube in the city for the
interview to allow
papers to be served on him while cameras were
rolling.
It is alleged that during the interview one of the initial
questions
put to Ncube by Mandiwanzira was what he thought about Catholic
bishops in
the US who had broken their vows of celibacy.
Ncube
replied to the question: "Everybody is a sinner, there is nobody
who does
not sin."
The statement was later broadcast on ZTV to appear as if
Ncube had
been responding to a question on whether he had engaged in an
adulterous
relationship with Rosemary Sibanda, the woman whose husband is
suing
Archbishop Ncube for adultery.
Munyaradzi Nzarayapenga,
the lawyer representing Onesimus Sibanda, the
man suing Archbishop Ncube,
convened a quick press conference for state
journalists to announce the
lawsuit.
In Zimbabwe it is unusual for lawyers to call press
conferences for
any case they are handling. But the involvement of the state
in the matter
was made more apparent by statements made by President Mugabe,
a week before
the sensational allegations were made public.
Mugabe told Zanu PF supporters during a gathering at the Zanu PF
headquarters in Harare, soon after a closed door meeting of the central
committee, that there were some members of the clergy who were involved in
sexual relationships with married women, yet they wanted to project images
of puritans.
Mugabe warned that clergymen sleeping around with
other people's wives
were going to be exposed soon for what they
are.
"Where is the godliness?" Mugabe said at the time. "One cannot
tell
the difference between a bishop and a layman anymore. Some of them have
sworn to celibacy, but they sleep around."
The earlier claims
by Mugabe indicate that he was aware of the
impending smear campaign by the
CIO to tarnish Ncube.
It has also emerged that the breaking of the
story was to be done in
three phases and after the publicising of the case
there are still two more
phases left before the media completes its
hatchet-job on the vocal cleric.
The other two phases will allege
that Archbishop Ncube has two
children with an Esigodini woman while in
other stories the state media will
allege that Sibanda will claim that
Archbishop Ncube infected his wife who
then infected him with the HIV and
Aids virus.
Zim Independent
Pindai
Dube
THE Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) is broke and has
failed to pay
its workers their August salaries. Zimra workers were due to
be paid their
August salaries today but management at the tax revenue body
has written to
the workers informing them that the organisation is
broke.
In a circular to all the parastatal's staff countrywide
Zimra
Commissioner General Gershem Pasi said the organisation did not have
any
cash and was negotiating for funding with the Ministry of Finance. Pasi
said
he was hoping that workers would be paid their salaries before the end
of
August.
"Due to financial constraints, please be advised
that we will not be
able to meet the pay day of 24th of August 2007.
Negotiations are still
going on between the Ministry of Finance and our
selves," reads the
circular. "You will therefore be advised of developments
as they unfold."
Zimra is facing serious cash flow problems as a
result of the ongoing
price blitz that have seen the revenue collected by
the parastatal body
dwindling.
Zimra's plight has also been
worsened by the high number of people
losing their jobs and this has
contributed to the dwindling tax base.
A recent government study
said that Zimra could lose as much as $1,3
trillion. in lost revenue as a
result of the blitz.
Pasi however expressed confidence that funding
will be secured to pay
the workers by August 31.
"I remain
positive that funding will eventually be made available and
that you will be
paid by 31 August 2007. I expect all employees to be
patient and continue to
be productive," Pasi said in the circular.
But tax officers this
week charged that cashflow problems at Zimra
were a result of
mismanagement.
"The main reason for the lack of funds is because
Zimra gave early
retirement packages to more than 40 senior and middle
managers as part of
the restructuring exercise but immediately after they
were paid out, the
ministry reversed the decision and said all the managers
who had been given
the early exit packages should return to work," said a
worker speaking on
condition that he was not named.
Zim Independent
Lucia Makamure
LEGAL experts have
expressed concern over the failure by the
magistrates courts to set a trial
date in the case of 23 MDC activists
accused of banditry, despite a High
Court ruling that there was a lack of
evidence against them.
The experts have further argued that the continued incarceration of
the
opposition activists was tantamount to state persecution.
This
comes in the wake of the magistrates courts' decision to further
remand the
activists a fortnight ago to October 8 on bail.
The activists have
appeared in court for a record 53 times and by
October 8 they would have
clocked six months on remand.
This, the activists' lawyers said,
calls for an enquiry into the
violations of the activists' rights as
enshrined in the Zimbabwe
Constitution.
Alec Muchadehama, one
of the lawyers representing the activists, said
it now appears that the
lower courts were colluding with the state to come
up with unjustified
further remands.
"The courts have not been forthcoming with a trial
date which has
resulted in the violation of my clients' right to a fair
trial," Muchadehama
said. "If a case goes beyond six months before a trial,
it triggers an
enquiry as my clients' right to a fair trial would have been
violated."
He said if an enquiry is undertaken, his clients' case
would be made
stronger by the fact that the activists were in police custody
for over
three months.
"My clients have been in custody for the
large part of the prescribed
time which calls for an enquiry," Muchadehama
said.
The case of the 23 MDC activists has been described by the
legal
experts as clear indication of the dearth of the rule of law as due
process
in prosecution has not been adhered to.
The experts
argued that the police arrested the activists before
completing their
investigations.
Wilbert Mandinde, legal officer for the Media
Institute of Southern
Africa, said the courts were using further remands to
cover up for the state's
failure to come up with incriminating evidence
against the alleged petrol
bombers.
"The police have not been
following the proper procedure of
investigating before making arrests in
this case as they have been using
excuses of needing more time to carry out
investigations when they have
already arrested the suspects," said Mandinde
- a former Harare magistrate.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
acting director Irene Petras said
there was concern over the long period the
activists have been on remand.
"We have been following the case and
we are concerned that the
activists have been on remand for that long," said
Petras.
Petras said Justice Lawrence Kamocha's judgement in
granting the
activists bail showed that there was very little or no evidence
at all to
support the charges against the activists.
"It is
important that the courts provide a trial date for this case as
soon as
possible as justice delayed is justice denied," added Petras.
In a
bail application ruling in favour of the activists - including
MDC MP Paul
Madzore - Justice Kamocha ruled that the state had failed to
strengthen its
case with the passage of time.
"As far back as 10 May 2007 the
police had promised to bring critical
evidence against the applicants from
South Africa but with the passage of
time it turned out that they had
obtained nothing from South Africa
incriminating the applicants," Kamocha
said.
The judge said police could not prove as alleged that the MDC
activists were trained at a farm known as Lala Bundu in South Africa. He
said police also failed to substantiate the existence of the
farm.
He ruled that it was unjustified to grant the police more
time to
carry out their investigations while the activists were still in
custody.
"This is clearly pre-trial incarceration for the purposes
of carrying
out investigations which is undesirable and has always been
frowned upon,"
ruled Kamocha.
Kamocha also noted the state's
failure to strengthen its case when he
granted bail to two other activists,
Morgan Komichi and Denis Murira.
"The state's allegations are
contradictory. the state case has not
been strengthened after a long time
has elapsed. There will be no
justification to keep the applicants in
custody pending trial," said Kamocha
in his judgement.
Kamocha
in passing the bail ruling also revealed that investigating
officer
Assistant Commissioner Musarashana Mabunda had provided conflicting
evidence
on the dates when the activists are alleged to have undertaken
military
training in South Africa.
"The allegations that are being preferred
against the applicants are
not clear in that at one stage it was being
alleged they underwent military
training between December 2006 and March
2007 in Pretoria and Orange Free
State. As time progressed it was alleged
that the military training in South
Africa took place in 2001,"said
Kamocha.
Mabunda is said to have further contradicted himself by
swearing in an
affidavit on June 19 that the alleged training took place in
South Africa in
different phases between 2002 and 2006 which the judge said
makes it
difficult for accused to know the period they allegedly underwent
military
training.
The police recently issued two reports,
entitled Opposition Forces in
Zimbabwe: A Trail of Violence and Opposition
Forces in Zimbabwe: The Naked
Truth, Volume 2 to substantiate their claims
that the opposition and the
civic organisations are working together for the
purpose of violently
overthrowing the government of President
Mugabe.
The reports according to the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Non-Governmental
Organisations Forum seek to portray opposition parties and
civic
organisations as grouped together with the aid and assistance of
foreign
governments for the purpose of violently overthrowing the
government.
"The reports are interesting and informative on account
that they
naively reveal about the politicisation of the police, the use of
state
resources for party political purposes and the psychology and
occasionally
astounding jurisprudential ignorance of members of the ZRP,"
said the forum
on the reports.
However, the collapse of the
case has exposed the police's failure to
prosecute the alleged petrol
bombers and has discredited their reports.
The NGO Forum has called
the report "at best a falsehood, at worst a
lie" mainly because they suspect
most of the information used to compile the
report to be false.
The gradual collapse of the case has exposed Mugabe for having misled
the
Southern African Development Community (Sadc) leaders in March to
believe
that Zimbabwe was under siege from the MDC.
The court's failure to
prosecute the alleged "petrol bombers" has also
resulted in friction between
the Attorney-General Gula-Ndebele and the
government.
Nonetheless the failure by the courts to prosecute the alleged petrol
bombers did not deter the government from telling the just-ended Sadc summit
that the country was under siege from the opposition.
Both the
President and the Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa made
it clear that
the MDC was responsible for the petrol bombings yet no
successful
prosecution has taken place.
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
COMPANIES set to release interim half-year
results have had to rework
their books after the June and July year-on-year
inflation figures were
finally released this week.
The Central
Statistical Office (CSO) on Wednesday announced the
figures barely a week
after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) had released
the June rate to be
used by companies scheduled to announce their interim
financial results for
the period ending June 30.
Most companies had resorted to using
estimates to work their
inflation-adjusted results after Finance minister
Samuel Mumbengegwi ordered
the CSO not to release the figures which he
feared would scare away
"potential investors".
"The
year-on-year inflation rate for the month of July as measured by
all items
on the Consumer Price Index stood at 7 634,8%, gaining 383,7
percentage
points on the June rate of 7 251,1%," the CSO said.
The CSO is
mandated with the compilation of national statistics that
include the
calculation of the inflation numbers using the CPI.
The last
official inflation figures released by the CSO had been 1
729,9% for
February.
The 2 200,2%, 3 713,9% and 4 530% inflation figures for
March, April
and May respectively were confirmed by government
departments.
Inflation had opened the year at 1 593,6% in
January.
The inflation figures blackout by the CSO had put the
corporate sector
in Zimbabwe in a difficult position about what inflation
figure to use for
financial reporting purposes.
In a circular
to all financial institutions dated August 17 entitled
"Inflation figures
for May and June 2007 to facilitate reporting by
financial institutions",
RBZ governor Gideon Gono had advised banks to use 4
530% and 7 251,1% as the
year-on-year inflation figures for the months of
May and June respectively,
with 55,4% and 86,2% being the respective
month-on-month inflation
rates.
The central bank also confirmed that the year-on-year
inflation for
May was 4 530%. The figures were first revealed by
businessdigest last
month.
The announcement of the June
inflation figure by the RBZ and the CSO
came when listed companies scheduled
to release their interim results for
the period ending June 30 were working
on their own estimates for the June
inflation figures.
Last
week, African Banking Corporation came up with an annualised
inflation
estimate of 6 184% for June 2007 to report their accounts in
inflation-adjusted terms as per IAS 29 requirements.
ABCH had
estimated that CPI closed at 9 974 012,2 end of June, which
translates to an
annualised inflation figure of 6 184% from the June 2006
index.
Zim Independent
Kuda
Chikwanda
NMB Bank, which was defrauded of US$6,3 million this
year by a
syndicate of officials in its treasury department, has secured an
investor
willing to inject US$7 million in exchange for equity in a
corporate finance
deal that constitutes the bank's rescue
package.
Businessdigest is reliably informed that the investor, a
local company
whose identity is still under wraps, is engaged in discussions
over the size
of shareholding entitled to it once it comes to NMB's
assistance. The
discussions are expected to be complete next
week.
It has also been established the investor is currently not a
shareholder of the listed company. Efforts to get the identity of the
investor from NMB management proved to be futile with acting NMB chief
executive officer Benson Ndachena refusing to disclose much.
"Work is underway, that is true. Unfortunately we cannot share
anything with
the public at the moment," Ndachena said.
NMB is expected to issue
a cautionary statement to shareholders next
week advising them of plans by
the bank to embark on the recapitalisation
exercise and informing them of
the advanced state of negotiations with the
investor.
"Their
(NMB) cautionary note will be released next week as
negotiations are
underway to recapitalise the bank and manage the effects of
the fraud. The
recapitalisation exercise is the only way foreign currency
can be raised at
the moment," said a source privy to developments.
The source said
the two parties had reached an agreement where the
suitor company will make
a foreign currency injection into the company to
cover the reported US$6,3
million stolen from the bank.
"NMB needs foreign currency and not
local currency. This investor has
come in with what NMB needs - hard
currency. Once NMB and the investor
finish discussing matters to do with
shareholding, the matter will be put to
shareholders to vote. But this
investor has legitimate foreign currency,"
the source said.
The
source said NMB had already engaged the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ)
seeking approval for the deal. No comment was given by the central
bank at
the time of going to press.
NMB found itself in a dilemma when the
central bank gave it two weeks
to transfer client balances to banks of their
choices soon after the fraud
was uncovered in May.
It faced an
uphill task in making payments to affected clients but has
since managed to
make significant compensation to reduce arrears.
The alleged
fraudster, Shane Mandara, was an assistant manager in the
treasury
department and fled the country as the net closed in on him.
The
fraud went for six months before it was detected by the bank's
auditors
following a tip-off from an employee who had left for another bank.
The
fraud is said to have started when the RBZ returned the management of
foreign currency accounts to commercial banks.
The money was
transferred through a personal foreign currency account
using falsified
documents. In other cases Mandara claimed the money was
meant for repayment
of an RBZ loan, which the central bank has since
dismissed as false. Mandara
is now believed to be in the United States.
However, police are yet
to make any arrests three months after
receiving a report from the central
bank in June giving details of the
suspects and five local banks fingered in
the matter. The report had the
addresses and offices of the suspects while
the banks involved told RBZ
investigators that they were not aware that some
of their clients were party
to the scandal.
Zim Independent
Kuda
Chikwanda
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has axed 131
employees in a
streamlining exercise after scathing attacks by the
International Monetary
Fund (IMF) on its quasi-fiscal
activities.
Most of the employees left at the end of July while
those remaining
will leave at the end of this month.
Approval
has already been secured from the Ministry of Public Service,
Labour and
Social Welfare Nicholas Goche to proceed with the retrenchment
exercise.
Businessdigest has established that 17 managerial
employees, including
two divisional heads and 114 non-managerial workers
face the sack. The names
of the affected workers however are being kept
under wraps.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono confirmed the retrenchment
exercise and said
it was natural for the central bank to carry out
introspective assessments
of its staff complement.
"Please note
that, like any organisation, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
does naturally
occasionally carry out introspective assessments whose
outcomes can be
either increments or reductions of staff on board."
"It is also
during such exercises that strategically, it is always
opportune to certify
that one does not inadvertently take prisoners on board
through extension of
windows for voluntary exits, as well as the weeding out
of any extreme cases
of corporate indiscipline as defined in labour
statutes," Gono
said.
Gono also said the Labour ministry had duly authorised the
entire
process on July 30, 2007 and approved each name on the retrenchment
schedule. The exercise, which was kick-started in March this year, got the
approval of the RBZ works council.
In an internal memo dated
March 8, 2007, Gono informed RBZ employees
that he was complying with a
directive issued from the ministry of Finance
for RBZ to focus on its core
business.
He also said he had warned in his first quarter monetary
policy
statement delivered in January that RBZ had set up Fiscorp (Pvt) Ltd
- a
special purpose vehicle set up to mop up RBZ's quasi-fiscal operations
by
March 1, 2007.
"It has become necessary that we follow-up on
these matters with a
clear realignment of the bank's internal core
activities, appropriate
structures, supporting skills and manning levels,"
Gono said in the memo.
He urged RBZ employees to not only consider
the exercise seriously but
even volunteer for it by March 20 in order to
allow for the new re-aligned
structure to be in place by April 1
2007.
"Please feel free to do so because as governor I do not want
to lead a
team of management or staff whose hearts and minds are not totally
focused
on the challenges confronting us at the bank or those not dedicated
to serve
their country with everything they have at their disposal," he
said.
The IMF fired salvoes at the central bank late last year
after an
Article IV consultative team visited the country in December saying
RBZ's
quasi-fiscal operations were inflationary.
This year the
IMF released a report in which it lambasted RBZ
quasi-fiscal financing for
resulting in losses amounting to 75% of Zimbabwe's
Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).
The fund blamed the central bank for worsening the economic
crisis
through subsidies, cheap financing availed to agricultural and public
enterprises, the interest cost of market operations and unrealised exchange
losses from an overvalued currency.
The Troubled Bank Fund
(TBF) availed to banks in 2004 and loans to the
Grain Marketing Board at
concessionary interest rates were fingered as other
major quasi-fiscal
activities.
Zim Independent
By Nyasha Nyakunu
THE Media
Institute for Southern Africa-Zimbabwe (Misa-Zimbabwe)
welcomes the debate
that has been generated following the publication
recently of its statement
criticising the unethical conduct of the state
media in its reportage of the
alleged adultery case involving Roman Catholic
Archbishop Pius Ncube of
Bulawayo.
The fact that the state media used the statement to
vilify and attack
Misa-Zimbabwe at the expense of the pertinent ethical
issues raised was an
unfortunate digression if not an admission of their
errant and
unprofessional conduct.
In raising the issue of
ethics Misa-Zimbabwe was not coming to the
defence of Archbishop Ncube but
was acting within its mandate of promoting
and enhancing media
accountability and professionalism.
The media's role of reporting
on events as they unfold remains
sacrosanct but comes with the highest
professional standards and codes of
ethics that any journalist worth their
salt can never dispute.
Misa-Zimbabwe is therefore unapologetic in
having taken that firm
position regarding the outrageous coverage relating
to the archbishop's
alleged illicit affair with a married
woman.
Misa-Zimbabwe draws great comfort from the fact that other
seasoned
independent journalists and citizens were of similar discomfiture
and took
the opportunity to educate journalists and the public at large on
the
ethical dictates of the profession based on their wide and shared
experience
in the profession.
Media freedom and freedom of
expression of which Misa-Zimbabwe will
defend day and night is not licence
to impugn and malign but hinges on fair,
objective and balanced reporting
which upholds the right to human dignity
and privacy.
This is
even more imperative in terms of Zimbabwean statutes once the
matter or
subject at hand becomes subjudice, which automatically became the
case upon
the serving of papers on Archbishop Ncube by the Deputy Sheriff.
Reporting on matters that are subjudice or before the courts demands
proceeding with great caution to avert the risk of convicting or acquitting
involved parties before judgment is pronounced and undermining court
proceedings and above all the independence of the judiciary.
The responses and debates that ensued following publication of our
statement
should have focused therefore on the ethical conduct of the media
without
delving into the moral rectitude of Archbishop Ncube and his alleged
lover.
Both the state and private media have in the past
reported and
published photographs of commercial sex workers who ply their
trade in the
country's urban red light districts.
Care has,
however, been taken to cover the faces of the commercial sex
workers in
question ostensibly with the ethical objective of avoiding the
stigmatisation or ostracisation of the subjects in question by society at
large.
In this instance, the gloves were off and the woman at
the centre of
the alleged adulterous affair was openly paraded on national
television and
in state newspapers.
The ethical conduct and
motive of the state media then becomes
questionable in that
regard.
In stating its reservations, Misa-Zimbabwe never suggested
that the
conduct or indiscretions of prominent public figures should not be
subjected
to scrutiny but that such reportage should be guided by the
highest
professional standards that respect human dignity and
decency.
The branding of Misa-Zimbabwe as agents of imperialism is
therefore
immaterial and neither here nor there as it diverts from the
discussion on
whether the state media was professional and ethical in its
reportage of the
events around the issue at hand. For the benefit of those
who chose to
vilify Misa-Zimbabwe by asking whose interests the organisation
represents,
our unequivocal response and position is that Misa-Zimbabwe's
values for
which we make no apologies are shaped and informed fundamentally
by the 1991
Windhoek Declaration.
The organisation's advocacy
activities, networks and partnerships, are
forged around shared values that
seek to advance among other objectives, the
aims and objectives of the
Windhoek Declaration, African Charter on
Broadcasting, African Charter on
Human and Peoples Rights and the Banjul
Declaration on the Principles of
Freedom of Expression.
The last time we checked, the Windhoek
Declaration, which informs
Misa-Zimbabwe's core business, was known and
referred to as having been
agreed to and signed by southern African heads of
state on their own
volition and wisdom. Simply put, Misa-Zimbabwe has a
duck-to-water
relationship with the afore-mentioned declarations and
charters and works
within the realm of their set objectives and principles.
To therefore link
the aims and objectives of the Windhoek Declaration,
African Charter on
Broadcasting and the Banjul Declaration on the Principles
of Freedom of
Expression in Africa with "Western imperialist machinations"
smacks of
far-fetched diversionary propagandist accusations.
In
stating its position Misa-Zimbabwe is, however, happy to note that
the
Herald's columnist Nathaniel Manheru seized the opportunity offered by
the
publication of our statement in the state-controlled national daily to
acknowledge the establishment and existence of the Media Council of Zimbabwe
(MCZ) which he said should have been interested by the subject in question
as it pertains to media professionalism and accountability.
The
acknowledgment of the existence of the independent,
self-regulatory media
council is noted and acknowledged as progressive.
Misa-Zimbabwe is
reliably informed that the MCZ is well on course and
will soon be playing
its role as expected by Manheru and the rest of the
citizens of
Zimbabwe.
That is as it should be where it concerns instilling
media
professionalism, responsibility and accountability as espoused under
the
Banjul Declaration on the Principles of Freedom of Expression in
Africa.
Zim Independent
By Otto
Saki
ON March 11, the government of Zimbabwe in one of its
usual acts of
brutality carried out spates of arrests and torture against
political and
civil society leaders who were gathering under the banner of
the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign.
This was the final straw before the
Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) called for an extraordinary
summit on March 29. The news of
the summit was received with mixed reactions
of confusion, hope and anxiety
with a keenness to see an end Zimbabwe's
continued political, social and
economic decline.
The Sadc
heads of states mandated South African President Thabo Mbeki
to mediate
between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change. Over the last five months, many interested parties have
watched with
frustration at what appears to be a missed opportunity.
In these
five months, Zimbabwe has slid further into crisis, crippled
by runaway
inflation of over 5 000% and the crumbling economy, made only
worse by
President Mugabe's latest political attempts to avert disaster.
In
this context, it is worth returning to the original mandate put
forth by
Sadc on March 29 through the enabling communiqué. The Sadc Organ on
Politics, Defence and Security made a resolution, shortly after having been
briefed by Mugabe on the developments in Zimbabwe, and made the following
resolutions.
The summit:
* recalled that free,
fair and democratic presidential elections were
held in 2002 in
Zimbabwe;
* reaffirmed its solidarity with the government and
people of
Zimbabwe;
* mandated Mbeki to continue to facilitate
dialogue between the
opposition and the government and report back to the
Troika on the progress.
The extraordinary summit also encouraged enhanced
diplomatic contacts which
will assist with the resolution of the situation
in Zimbabwe;
* mandated the Sadc executive secretary to undertake a
study on the
economic situation in Zimbabwe and propose measures on how Sadc
can assist
Zimbabwe recover economically;
* reiterated the
appeal to Britain to honour its compensation
obligations with regard to land
reform made at the Lancaster House; and
* appealed for the lifting
of all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe.
It is interesting to
note that results of elections in 2002 remain a
sore point for the Sadc
region and ruling party. The election was held in an
environment which makes
it impossible to accept the results as having been
free and
fair.
It is shocking as it is annoying to know that in 2007, 13
wise men
from Sadc held a meeting to inform anyone and everyone who cared to
know
that one of theirs was lawfully elected in 2002, five years
earlier!
Solidarity for peoples oppressed has been a phenomenon
that predates
post-independence Africa. Sadc states expressed their
solidarity with the
government of Zimbabwe and its peoples.
It
however remains ambiguous as to the beneficiaries of this
solidarity. Is
Sadc supporting the general masses of Zimbabwe or a few of
their comrades
with whom they have shared a history? It is very difficult to
support the
victor and vanquished unless one is engaged in acts of
self-deceit.
South Africa has been involved in
"behind-the-scenes efforts" to
contribute to Zimbabwe's recovery, with
little success.
While engaged in the mediation efforts as a "good
neighbour" Mbeki in
an address in the ANC Today remarked: "It is clear that
some within Zimbabwe
and elsewhere in the world, including our country, are
following the example
set by Reagan and his advisers, to treat human rights
as a tool for
overthrowing the government of Zimbabwe and rebuilding
Zimbabwe as they
wish. In modern parlance, this is called regime
change."
The statement seems to betray the partisan thinking in the
Sadc-anointed mediator. Signs of such views have admittedly culminated in
the South African-led mediation informing Zimbabweans that there is no time
in Zimbabwe to discuss the constitution before the next
election.
It is not more important to have a new constitution which
protects
fundamental rights and freedoms than it is to have another election
for
which Sadc will plead a retrospective acceptance as having been free and
fair!
Zimbabwe's economy is unfortunately experiencing the most
severe
difficulties since attainment of black majority rule. The economic
recovery
of Zimbabwe is heavily embedded in the current constitutional,
legal and
social crisis.
A rescue package from Sadc will make
meaningful changes if Zimbabwe
leaders are accountable, if institutionalised
thievery and plunder is
exorcised and if adherence to rudimentary principles
of economics is
acceptable. Self-defeatist policies and populist agendas
which are
short-lived should be discarded. In the absence of such, a few
individuals
will use the so-called economic rescue package to further
leverage
themselves from their own doings.
The redistribution
of the land remains critical in addressing colonial
imbalances. However, the
Zimbabwean land reform programme is the best
example of how not to carry out
a land reform. It is an unmatched lesson on
how to run an agro-based economy
aground.
The British have been blamed for all the woes that have
befallen
Zimbabwe. It remains my humble view that Zanu PF and the government
should
wholly accept messing up, as Zimbabweans are tired of being told that
Tony
Blair is responsible for a low life expectancy, non-productivity on the
farms and the looting of diamonds in Marange.
The West has been
blamed for the arrest of journalists and closure of
independent media; the
criminal Operation Murambatsvina in which 700 000
people were left homeless,
and the arrest, torture and persecution of
legitimate political
activists.
That prices have been reduced and now food and basic
commodities are
in short supply, that 3,5 million Zimbabweans have fled from
Blair into
South Africa, Botswana and interestingly the United Kingdom, and
record
numbers being deported from South Africa (the mediator) on a daily
basis.
Let's be honest, this can't fly anymore!
To cap the
extraordinary summit, Sadc leaders were extremely concerned
by the continued
imposition of sanctions on Zimbabwe. The bold line between
individuals,
ruling party, government and Zimbabwe has been deliberately
obliterated. The
state, the party and the country are one and our neighbours
seem to have
accepted such notions.
Zimbabwe still remains one of the countries
that have a trade surplus
with North America and the European Union. In any
event, Zimbabwe has
adopted a "Look East" policy, when the East is looking
to the West. So Sadc
should not make this an issue; our leaders are not
interested in London or
Washington DC because there is Kuala Lumpur or
Beijing.
After reading and giving an interpretation to the Sadc
communiqué
which is reflective of the dearth in mediation efforts, one will
be forgiven
to conclude that the Sadc efforts were never about Zimbabwe, but
about
serving an individual, a political party and a kleptocratic leadership
which
has become the greatest threat to the existence of
Zimbabweans.
Consequently, Sadc heads of state concluded during the
recently held
summit that the problems in Zimbabwe were exaggerated,
reflective of
different and limited understanding of the problem in
Zimbabwe.
Students of medicine will aver that the best way to treat
an ailment
is to make a proper diagnosis, failure of which might cause
complications
for both the patient and doctor.
* Otto Saki is a
lawyer with Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Zim Independent
Dumisani
Muleya
SOUTHERN African Development Community (Sadc) leaders
ended their
summit in Zambia last week deeply divided over the Zimbabwe
issue, exposing
diplomatic weaknesses in the regional bloc which is
struggling to tackle the
simmering trouble-spot in its
backyard.
There was great expectation - perhaps misplaced - that
Sadc would be
able to effectively deal with the Zimbabwe crisis which is
doing serious
collateral damage to the region.
The Zimbabwe
situation is undermining the regional economy and has
also triggered a wave
of largely economic refugees into neighbouring states.
It is discouraging
investment into the region and donor aid, particularly to
Sadc itself which
depends on it for its operations.
These destabilising dynamics,
among other reasons, were seen as a
raison d'être for Sadc leaders to come
up with a plan and take strong
measures against President Mugabe's regime to
end the crisis.
However, Sadc leaders failed to tackle the issue
due to inherent
weaknesses within Sadc and intense divisions among leaders
stemming from
regional rivalries and self-interest.
The
geo-political dynamics - coupled with negative competition for
influence
among leaders of the Sadc region - militate against unity of
purpose when it
comes to such issues as dealing with a rogue member state.
This allows
Mugabe by default to appear as a skilful statesman who gets
desired
diplomatic outcomes by running rings around his colleagues.
Zambian
Finance and Information ministers confirmed that Sadc failed
to deal with
Mugabe and suggested that maybe retired statesmen like former
South African
president Nelson Mandela and ex-Zambian president Kenneth
Kaunda might be
able to persuade him to change his ways.
However, Mandela and
Kuanda may not have leverage on him for
historical reasons. Former Botswana
president Sir Ketumile Masire succeeded
in lobbying Kaunda to introduce
political reforms in 1991 when Zambia was in
crisis.
Despite
their public efforts to appear united, Sadc leaders were
sharply divided at
last week's tense summit in Zambia on how to deal with
the Zimbabwe
situation. The regional leaders were for the most part at odds
over
Zimbabwe's controversial economic report which they failed to
adopt.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who recently said Zimbabwe
was like
a "sinking Titanic", said Sadc leaders were satisfied with
Zimbabwe's
explanation on human rights accusations, electoral laws, and
progress in
talks for a negotiated settlement between Zanu PF and MDC. His
remarks
sounded like a poor attempt to gloss over the problems.
The rift among the leaders was triggered by differences over the
economic
report which, despite President Thabo Mbeki's denials, has proposed
attaching stringent conditions to Zimbabwe's planned rescue
package.
The conditions to the "take-it-or-leave-it" deal sparked
resistance
from Harare authorities, while other Sadc leaders felt the report
was a fair
assessment of economic circumstances in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe and his ministers argued that the economic crisis was caused by
US
and European Union sanctions, which were imposed after repression, human
rights abuses and electoral manipulation.
Other leaders, while
acknowledging the sanctions issue, think Mugabe's
policies are also to blame
for the crisis. South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana,
Lesotho and Mozambique
want Sadc to act on the Zimbabwe issue, while Angola
and Namibia are backing
Zimbabwe.
Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe have a mutual defence pact.
Since Angola
has taken over the Sadc organ on politics, defence and
security, Zimbabwe
will be better protected in the region.
Other countries appear neutral and this division makes it virtually
impossible for Sadc to act with one voice on Zimbabwe. Zambia and Malawi are
helping Zimbabwe with food exports.
The schisms in Zambia among
leaders created a sense of paralysis. Due
to the rupture, the economic
report was merely noted - not adopted - and
sent back to finance ministers
so they could draw up an economic rescue plan
in consultation with the
Zimbabwean government.
Diplomatic sources familiar with Sadc
protocols said the report is now
practically a "dead letter".
The confidential report, compiled by Sadc executive secretary Tomaz
Augusto
Salomao, had conditions for aid to Zimbabwe tougher than those
usually
imposed by global institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund. The
IMF said this week Zimbabwe has not been listening to advice.
The
demands were designed to secure concessions of political reform
from
Mugabe.
The conditions included the need for political and legal
reforms,
economic liberalisation and privatisation of public
enterprises.
Sadc also demanded fundamental structural reforms,
including an
overhaul of public enterprises and the public service, the
removal of
administrative controls in pricing, restoration of the rule of
law and
property rights, as well as improvements in governance.
The bloc wanted Zimbabwe to immediately address the economic crisis by
implementing a comprehensive stabilisation package comprising several
mutually reinforcing actions.
It also wanted a tightening of
fiscal and monetary policies. It had
expressed alarm over quasi-fiscal
activities by the Zimbabwean central bank
and recommended liberalisation in
pricing and exchange rate regimes.
Sadc wanted a reduction of the
budget deficit and fiscal discipline to
contain inflation, now officially 7
634,8%.
The bloc said the crisis was extremely serious and needed
to be
tackled urgently to limit the continuing implosion already
destabilising the
region with a wave of economic refugees.
Sadc
proposed sending economic advisers to oversee the implementation
of the
economic rescue programme. This implied firm methodologies and
reporting,
progress monitoring and censure in the process.
While the economic
report caused divisions, Sadc leaders did reach
consensus on Mbeki's report
on talks between Zanu PF and MDC.
The Sadc communique said the
leaders "welcomed the progress and
encouraged the parties to expedite the
process of negotiations and conclude
work as soon as possible so that
elections are held in an atmosphere of
peace, allowing the people of
Zimbabwe to elect the leaders of their choice
in an atmosphere of peace and
tranquillity".
However, analysts say Zanu PF is merely going
through the motions and
even if an agreement is reached soon, with the
current imbalanced power
relations between the parties it would largely
protect Mugabe's interests.
Sadc has been weak from the start due
to the circumstances and purpose
for which it was established. Formed in
April 1980 as the Southern African
Development Coordinating Conference by
Frontline States, Sadc's main
objective was to coordinate development
strategy for the region and also
counter apartheid South Africa's
"Constellation of States" project as well
as resist its economic and
military might.
Some observers thought it was a way of opposing
apartheid, but in fact
it was more a case of protecting weaker regional
states from South African
aggression. The apartheid-era South African
government viewed itself as the
target of a "total onslaught" by
Soviet-backed Marxist regimes in the
region. It reacted through a
counter-attack described as a "total strategy"
which involved economic and
military destabilisation of the region from
Angola, Zambia, Mozambique,
Botswana to Zimbabwe.
Thus Sadc was not a customs or political
union, which means its
ability to deal with internal problems was very
limited.
In fact, Sadc has so far not been able to resolve any
political
problems within itself except when a group of countries act in
their
self-interest in the name of the body as happened in 1998 when
Zimbabwe,
Angola and Namibia joined the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
war.
By the same token, South Africa and Botswana also invaded
Lesotho
under the name of Sadc to restore order following an outbreak of
turmoil
after disputed elections in that country. In the 1980s, Zimbabwe
intervened
in Mozambique on its own.
The DRC war created a
major row between Mugabe and Mandela, who as
Sadc chair, refused to allow
Sadc to get involved as a bloc. Prior to that,
Mugabe and Mandela had
clashed the year before at a Sadc meeting in Luanda
making it difficult for
the group to act collectively on the DRC and
Lesotho.
Zim Independent
By Charles Mangongera
I HAVE been watching the
Arthur Mutambara political soap opera from a
distance ever since the
robotics professor was jettisoned from his otherwise
impressive academic
career to lead a faction of the MDC as a rookie
president after the
opposition party had imploded in October 2005.
I must say I have a
lot of respect for Mutambara as an academician but
I find him to be too
coarse as a politician. I have listened to and watched
several interviews
that he has given to different media both here and abroad
and I have never
seen such a grandiose display of political immaturity.
Mutambara is
in the same league as Robert Mugabe in that they both
want to present
themselves as the most intelligent brains that have ever
happened to
Zimbabwe. A few years ago, Mugabe was boisterously telling us
that Morgan
Tsvangirai and Gibson Sibanda must not get involved in politics
because they
are intellectually bankrupt and should stick to their
professions as "tea
boys" and "train drivers". Today we hear Mutambara
calling Tsvangirai an
"intellectual midget" and a "hopeless leader".
One does not have to
be a professor of anything to be a good leader -
and moreso in political
leadership.
I am suddenly reminded of an article that the late
eminent scholar
Professor Masipula Sithole once penned in his weekly Public
Eye column in
the Financial Gazette. In that article, entitled "Common sense
is all that's
needed", Sithole argued that one does not have to be a
political scientist
to be a politician, nor an economist to be able to
balance one's payments.
He says common sense will do.
I agree.
One does not have to be an intellectual giant to inspire
confidence as a
leader, especially in politics. In a follow-up article, the
good professor
further argues that one only needs common sense and luck to
be a
leader.
Honestly, I do not understand Mutambara's "beef" with
Tsvangirai. As
many others have argued before, I find it incredible that
Mutambara is angry
with Tsvangirai because he says the latter has refused to
be the sole
opposition candidate in the 2008 presidential election. Why
would Tsvangirai
spurn such an offer when he has always wished to be
president of Zimbabwe?
And more fundamentally, does Tsvangirai need
Mutambara to anoint him
as the sole presidential candidate for next year's
plebiscite?
In my view, Mutambara is being economic with the truth.
If he thinks
that Zimbabweans are stupid people who will believe his
egoistic verbiage,
then he is not fit to govern.
There is no
doubt that Mutambara himself wants to be the number one
citizen of the
country. The problem is that he is not his own man and for
him to openly
declare his desire for the presidency would be intolerable for
his handlers.
He is working with very clearly defined terms of reference.
Mutambabara demonstrates that he is a hopeless leader himself when he
argues
that he is pulling his faction out of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign
because it
is furthering Tsvangirai's interests but at the same time calls
for all
democratic forces to unite against Mugabe.
If Mutambara says his
faction supports Tsvangirai as a single
candidate for next year's elections,
then which interests of Tsvangirai's is
he against in the Save Zimbabwe
Campaign?
This sort of confusion is reminiscent of his much-hyped
entry into
politics when he called himself the anti-senate president of the
pro-senate
faction, whatever that meant.
My own assessment of
Mutambabara and his handlers is that they are
covetous of Tsvangirai because
of his popularity with the masses of
Zimbabwe. And that is a feeling that
they share with Mugabe.
While Mutambara wants to boast about his
knowledge of WiFi and WiMax,
Tsvangirai has managed to articulate people's
bread-and-butter issues in a
humble manner. In the court of public opinion,
Tsvangirai has beaten
Mutambara hands down.
By shunning
Mutambara, Zimbabweans have demonstrated that they would
rather be governed
by a humble and people-centered "intellectual midget"
than by a pompous and
self-righteous intellectual giant.
Mutambara and his backers have
realised that they cannot dislodge
Tsvangirai and therefore are resorting to
desperate measures to gain
relevance among Zimbabweans. They must go back to
the drawing board.
This is the same confusion that is engulfing
proponents of the
so-called "Third Way" who include the likes of Jonathan
Moyo and a few
armchair activists in the diaspora. These are people who
think that mounting
a serious challenge against Mugabe's dictatorship is a
stroll in the park.
It is not and in such a gargantuan struggle
there are bound to be some
differences in terms of tact and strategy. Even
in the liberation movement
there were struggles within the
struggle.
To then turn around and blame all the shortcomings of the
opposition
movement on Tsvangirai is being naïve and unfair. Tsvangirai was
brave
enough to stand up and challenge Mugabe when many of us were quaking
under
his totalitarian rule. Now that he has won the hearts and minds of the
people some of us think because we were fortunate enough to have university
degrees we can just kick him out and ride on his popularity.
I
challenge all those that are proposing a "third way" to form their
own
political parties today and leave Tsvangirai and his MDC and we will see
how
far they will go.
The third way agenda is advanced by some sections
of the intellectual
community who have a missed-opportunity mentality. They
look at Tsvangirai
and think it could have been them at the helm of
leadership in the
opposition movement because they have university degrees
and he does not.
How many of us have university degrees but have
failed to run even our
own families? Some of us even have seven university
degrees but we have
ruined a once vibrant economy!
History is
full of names of great political leaders who never went
through law school
or the school of political science. John Major became
prime minister of
Britain at a crucial time in the history of the country
but he never went to
university
* Charles Mangongera is a human rights and development
expert based in
Harare.
Zim Independent
By Jupiter
Punungwe
LET'S suppose in a certain village the headman decrees
a law that
everybody who goes hunting must bring all the meat to the
headman. The
headman, as the leader, will cut the animal in half and give
the hunter one
half and keep the other half for himself.
However the hunter can only cook meat when he has the headman's
permission.
The hunter gets his side of the meat, if he brings
the animal on the
day he kills it. If he comes a day after, the headman gets
all the meat. The
hunter's half of the animal is kept in the headman's
fridge.
On some days when he runs out of meat, the headman cooks
the hunter's
meat. Of course he gets some dried vegetables for the hunter to
eat his
sadza with. The hunter can not question the way the headman has
taken his
meat.
All he can do is gratefully and quietly accept
his dried vegetables.
Here is the question. How many people will go
hunting in this village?
Isn't it most likely there will be no hunters left
at all!
The little story might sound improbable and quirky but this
is exactly
how foreign currency earnings by Zimbabwean exporters are being
managed.
An exporter must repatriate all his earnings to a foreign
currency
account in Zimbabwe. If he does so within 30 days, the Reserve Bank
(headman) takes 40% at the official rate (read 7% of actual value). After 30
days the RBZ takes everything.
The remaining 60% has to be kept
in an FCA.
Exporters can also use that remainder with written
permission from the
RBZ. If the RBZ is in desperate need of foreign
currency, they just issue a
directive to have all the money in the FCA
converted to local currency at
the official rate.
How many of
you are still wondering why Zimbabwe's exports have been
declining rapidly?
The hunters have stopped hunting and are leaving the
village one by
one.
Zim Independent
By Crisford Chogugudza
ZIMBABWE, once a
promising democracy and beacon of hope in sub-Saharan
Africa has
irretrievably slipped into the troubled waters of an increasingly
fierce and
brutal dictatorship.
The country is on the brink of an
unprecedented economic collapse and
its revival under the current
administration is impossible to imagine.
It would appear there are
elements in the Mugabe establishment who are
determined to bring the country
further down to its knees at all costs in
defiance of the brave and
incessant calls for a democratic transition in
Zimbabwe.
Personal aggrandisement, manipulation of nationalism and abuse of
pan-africanism have become key to Zanu PF politics in recent
times.
Zimbabweans continue to risk death and are being embarrassed
daily at
border posts as they attempt to flee the country in search of
survival in
neighbouring countries.
Unofficial statistics put
the figure of Zimbabwean refugees in the
diaspora at more than five million,
with the majority being in South Africa.
The reality of life in Zimbabwe
today is that of gloom and despair.
Democratic transition through
universal suffrage is increasingly
becoming a distant reality.
What we see in Zimbabwe today is a regime that is virtually on a war
path
with its own people.
Unofficial reports say that the number of
people disappearing in the
country under mysterious circumstances has
increased sharply as the regime
sets out to deal with rising political
dissent.
Freedom of expression, the most crucial of all human
rights, continues
to be criminalised with President Mugabe recently signing
another
controversial piece of legislation aimed at further curtailing
freedom of
expression in Zimbabwe.
Emails and telephone
communication to and from Zimbabwe are now
subject to gagging courtesy of
technology received from China.
Threats, discrimination, detention,
and violence continue to affect
freedom of expression in the
country.
Members of the opposition and their sympathisers have
become subjects
of wanton arrest and harassment.
Critics allege
that the once respectable judicial system in the
country has either been
infiltrated or staffed with Zanu PF apologists whose
judgements are either
selective or questionable in most instances.
The Mugabe regime has
by its brutal acts imposed a siege mentality
amongst common people by
creating a culture of fear resulting in people
becoming afraid to speak
out.
Since Mugabe's loss of the constitutional referendum in 2000
there has
been a systematic strangulation of all the means available for
Zimbabweans
to express themselves.
Journalists who dare publish
the slightest criticism of any hostile
government policy are branded enemies
of the state and end up in detention
and their newspaper without a
licence.
The story of The Daily News is a classic
example.
Today there is a lot being said about the possibility of
free and fair
elections in Zimbabwe.
It is inconceivable how
this can be achieved in a state where there is
no press freedom or simple
freedom of expression or association.
The opposition and anti
establishment civil organisations are only
given national press coverage
when they stage peaceful demonstrations and
get beaten up for expressing
their democratic rights.
The idea here is being to portray them as
law breakers.
The question to ask now is what options exist for a
successful
transition in Zimbabwe, democratic or otherwise.
A
number of suggestions have been put forward but there is virtually
nobody
who has committed themselves to helping the people of Zimbabwe in the
same
manner as has happened in Sudan's Darfour region and other trouble
spots in
Africa.
If the current trend in the way things are deteriorating in
Zimbabwe
continues Zimbabwe could be another Rwanda.
Some have
invested immense hopes in South African President Thabo
Mbeki, but all what
Mbeki has managed to do is to raise Mugabe's political
ego and buy time for
him. Critics have said that South Africa is actually
benefiting more from
the Zimbabwean crisis than otherwise.
Some have questioned whether
South Africa's Thabo Mbeki is unable or
unwilling to help solve the Zimbabwe
political mess.
His failure to rein in Zanu PF in the inter-party
talks raises more
eyebrows about his integrity and suitability as a peace
broker.
The overly fancied Sadc initiative spearheaded by Thabo
Mbeki is
doomed to fail as long as Mbeki shies away from the carrot and
stick
approach to Zimbabwe's problem.
Mugabe has very little
respect for his fellow African leaders and
these leaders have blindly
supported his dangerous and expensive war of
words against the
West.
Sadc has neither the institutional capacity nor the political
will to
resolve Zimbabwe's problems.
It is high time the more
powerful members of the international
community take the Zimbabwe crisis
more seriously to avoid a humanitarian
catastrophe.
It is now
time to draw up a UN Security Council plan for Zimbabwe
similar to that for
Darfour, East Timor or Kosovo. The earlier this is done
the
better.
However, most Zimbabweans prefer a peaceful transition of
power if
that can be achieved.
But the idea of democratic
transition in Zimbabwe through elections is
academic.
Elections
will not work in Zimbabwe for as long as they are run by the
same
individuals and institutions that have run previous ones.
A new
constitution for next year's elections may not be conceivable
now but major
concessions can still be made in terms of repealing major
aspects of
electoral law, ie the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act
(Aippa) and Public Order and Security Act (Posa).
Without the above
considerations, elections will come and go and as
usual, Mugabe will still
be there with a disputed mandate and legitimacy.
A leadership
renewal or re-branding in the opposition hierarchy is
manifestly becoming
imperative.
The era of professional leadership is long gone, it's
either the
current leaders radically change tactics or hand over to a fresh
pair of
hands.
The increasingly belligerent twin MDC leadership
should be
complementing not decimating each other.
Going to
elections as divided will not earn them victory.
If Morgan
Tsvangirai lost the 2002 elections by 400 000 votes, simple
arithmetic tells
me that allowing him to go it alone will be a dangerous
gamble which could
erode his chances of winning elections.
The man is inspired by huge
attendances at political rallies which are
essentially made up of potential
supporters most of whom are not registered
voters.
It is
unfortunate he is rapidly losing the plot.
As things stand now,
Morgan Tsvangirai may lose substantial
Matabeleland and Midlands votes to
the rival smaller MDC Mutambara faction
thereby assuring Mugabe another
controversial election victory.
Political scientist and former Zanu
PF and government chief
propagandist Professor Jonathan Moyo has predicted
the possibility of a coup
in Zimbabwe as the political situation continues
to deteriorate.
This prediction is based on the assumption that the
soldiers
themselves are increasingly becoming despondent given the mass
desertions
witnessed recently.
If Mugabe does not act fast
enough to resolve the succession issue,
then a coup may be inevitable as
conditions for this eventuality are firming
each day.
The
question to ask is, will Zimbabweans accept a coup? The answer is
no! Coups
have the tendency to distort the process of democratisation.
Above
all, a coup would be a dangerous precedent for future
democratically elected
governments.
Cognisant of the failures of previous initiatives and
the likely
failure of current initiatives to bring about change in Zimbabwe,
the only
option left is to bring in the UN to make a decision on the future
of
Zimbabwe before it's too late.
Elections have failed to
change anything and Zanu PF has equally
failed to use its contested mandate
and legitimacy to save the country from
collapsing.
A UN
intervention strategy can start with forcing Zanu PF and the
opposition to
share power under the supervision of a neutral figure pending
the holding of
free and fair elections.
Alternatively, the UN and Sadc in
conjunction with local civic society
bodies could be allowed to organise and
supervise the 2008 elections and
hand over power to whoever
wins.
Zimbabwe is increasingly becoming a time bomb waiting to
explode.
* Crisford Chogugudza is a Zimbabwean academic writing
from London.
Zim Independent
By Jonathan Moyo
IT is something of an ordeal
for Zimbabweans and others in sections of
the international community who
expected last week's annual Sadc summit in
Lusaka to publicly throw the book
at President Robert Mugabe on account of
his continuing and irresponsible
failure to do the obvious to resolve the
widening and deepening Zimbabwean
crisis.
The summit dashed these baseless expectations by giving
Mugabe and his
delegation a resounding welcome and offering him the now too
familiar
solidarity proclamations which nevertheless are meaningless on the
ground.
What is the explanation of what happened in
Lusaka?
Notable from this saga is not that the Lusaka Sadc summit,
in the
footsteps of its predecessors since 2000, did not do anything about
resolving the Zimbabwean crisis but that anyone actually expected the summit
to do something when the fact is that there is really nothing meaningful
that Sadc can do.
Sadc was not set up, and therefore does not
have mechanisms, to deal
with national questions such as that dogging
Zimbabwe today.
What further weakens Sadc's capacity to intervene
in Zimbabwe is that,
as a development and not a political community, the
regional grouping was
actually created to seek, receive and manage donor
funding as opposed to
pursuing work funded from the coffers of its member
states who in fact have
failed to even pay for the construction of their own
headquarters.
Another fact is that donors who have been boycotting
Zimbabwe since
2000 are currently boycotting Sadc because of its perceived
solidarity with
Zimbabwe under Mugabe and Zanu PF.
But the same
donors are not boycotting individual Sadc members. Some
Sadc countries like
Mozambique continue to receive tremendous budgetary
support from
donors.
What this means is that Sadc countries can afford to play
summit games
as happened in Lusaka last week by proclaiming meaningless
solidarity with
Mugabe to the detriment of the regional grouping as long as
that solidarity
does not harm the relationship of individual members states
with the donor
community.
The intended transformation of Sadc
from a development coordination
conference - that emerged from the ashes of
the Frontline States - to a
development community with binding political and
economic obligations on its
members has not yet materialised and is not
about to happen.
A significant number of Sadc members also belong
to Comesa while
others belong to the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu)
with the former
promising a potentially much more lucrative and dynamic
market than the
latter which is rooted in apartheid South
Africa.
Among the continent's regional groupings, Sadc is arguably
the only
one with between little and no political or economic influence on
its
members.
For example, the Economic Community of West
African States (Ecowas)
and the East African Community (EAC) are better able
than Sadc to deal with
their collective interests including to address
problematic national
questions facing their members as happened with Ecowas
in Liberia and Sierra
Leone.
While there is a widespread belief
in Zambia and Malawi that
Zimbabweans should solve their own internal
problems in the same way that
Zambians and Malawians did when they
respectively removed from power through
electoral means Kenneth Kaunda and
his Unip party and Kamuzu Banda and his
Malawi Congress Party, this
otherwise correct belief fails to appreciate the
depth and breadth of the
Zimbabwean crisis in so far as it is about an
unresolved national governance
question and not merely about electoral
politics.
In 1998
political order and stability in Lesotho and the Democratic
Republic of
Congo were not restored through electoral politics. Any
suggestion that
elections can or will resolve the Zimbabwean crisis is
either disingenuous
or ignorant.
No national question anywhere in the world has ever
been resolved
through electoral politics.
In any case, the
Zimbabwean economy cannot afford massive elections.
Elections are
useful in changing governments or administrations where
regime rules of
governance are settled.
But elections are utterly useless where
such rules are contested as is
the case in Zimbabwe and indeed as was the
case in Lesotho in 1998 and the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Put differently, during the liberation struggle in this country, there
is no
sane person who thought that Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front could have
been
removed from power between 1965 and 1979 through elections without
changing
the regime rules of governance.
The armed struggle was waged
precisely in order to change the regime
rules of governance and the 1979
Lancaster House constitutional talks were
useful only in so far as they
altered the scheme of regime rules of
governance to introduce for the first
time in the country a justiciable Bill
of Rights and pave way for democratic
elections which should have in turn
institutionalised democratic
governance.
Unfortunately for Zimbabweans, whereas the 1980
elections put in power
a government from the liberation movement led by
Mugabe, that government and
its leader inherited the entire gamut of the
brutal Rhodesian scheme of
regime rules in the form of the state of
emergency declared in November
1965.
Consequently, the new
liberation government extended the 15 year old
Rhodesian state of emergency
by another 10 years from 1980 to 1990. What
this means is that from 1965 to
1990 the regime rules of governance in this
country were manifestly defined
by a vicious state of emergency whose
essence was to suspend the
implementation of a justiciable Bill of Rights
and unleash
Gukurahundi.
Whereas Ian Smith ruled this country for 15 years
under an officially
declared state of emergency, Mugabe ruled it for 10
years under similar
cruel circumstances from 1980 to 1990 leaving a
difference of only five
years between Smith's and his emergency
rule.
During that period, Mugabe made it clear that he was an
apostle of the
one party state and that therefore he wanted to be president
for life while
Zanu PF, especially after the 1987 Unity Accord, made it
clear that it
wanted this country to be a legalised one party socialist
state.
The contested regime rules of governance in Zimbabwe cannot
be
understood properly outside this background.
Although the
state of emergency and the one party state are no longer
law in formal
terms, they remain the name of the game and the political
culture in de
facto terms.
It is only in this very fundamental but quite nuanced
sense that
Zimbabwe does indeed require regime change whose meaning is not
as narrow as
merely changing the government of the day or removing Mugabe
from office
through elections.
Apart from the fact that Sadc
does not have a strategic capacity to
intervene to resolve Zimbabwe's
national question, there is no evidence that
there is any understanding
within Sadc of the contested scheme of regime
rules of governance in
Zimbabwe as the primary cause of the current conflict
in the country beyond
the sanctions discourse.
Indeed, the same regime scheme is not
understood by those who continue
to expect Sadc to take tough action on
Zimbabwe.
The only systematic attempt to change the scheme of
regime rules of
governance in Zimbabwe since Independence in 1980 was in
1999 when Mugabe
set up a constitutional reform process under the auspices
of the
Constitutional Commission.
Sadc did not support that
golden opportunity nor did the donor
community and many in the opposition
and civil society in Zimbabwe who today
expect Sadc to suddenly do something
to rein in Mugabe.
What happens next does not depend on Sadc but
primarily on
Zimbabweans.
* Jonathan Moyo is the independent
Member of Parliament for
Tsholotsho.
Zim Independent
Comment
EVERYTIME members of the Cabinet Monitoring and
Stabilisation
Taskforce are confronted with problems which have emanated
from the current
ill-fated price controls, their supposed solutions betray a
bewildering
paucity of appreciation of the basic fundamentals of running an
economy.
Comments from the taskforce members have in all honesty
not helped to
build confidence in a market that has been made to live on the
edge. The
government, in deciding to come up with drastic measures on trying
to
stabilise prices, was sending out the message that it was taking charge
of
the process and with it had solutions to achieving price stability,
halting
inflation and hopefully ushering in a new epoch of economic
recovery. But
there is all the evidence that the government is thin on the
ground on this
front.
This is best exemplified by the Cabinet
price monitoring taskforce
vice-chairman Elliot Manyika's response to
industry concerns when he paid a
visit to Olivine Industries last
week.
Management at the company had presented to the minister an
inventory
of problems faced by the food processor. These include power
outages, lack
of foreign currency, shortage of coal, water supply problems,
shortage of
raw materials, especially grains, erratic supplies and
unsustainable
interest rates.
These concerns echo throughout
the manufacturing sector where capacity
is plummeting with each passing day.
Olivine officials presented these
concerns to Manyika with the hope of
finding a solution to their problems.
Manyika's response, as reported on ZBC
news and in the press, was not only
hollow but exhibited a shallowness that
is consistent with government's
handling of the economy.
In
response to the concerns, he urged the company to continue working
with
government and to make maximum use of the available capacity so that
goods
are available to consumers. He didn't say by what stroke of magic he
would
achieve this.
Manyika here appears to have not understood that
industry is crying
out for policy measures that ensure that capacity
utilisation is enhanced.
It is important for the minister to note that
manufacturers can only survive
if they can fully utilise capital equipment
which has been lying cold in
factories. There is too much unused capacity in
the economy including
unemployed workers and idle plant and equipment that
could be used to
produce goods and services.
Pre-occupied with
executing a clampdown, there has not been
corresponding exertion in ensuring
that industries are revived and not
deliberately killed. There is credence
in the economic argument that price
stability, while desirable for any
economy, might sometimes not be
sufficient to achieving serious
macroeconomic recovery in the medium term. A
price stabilisation plan should
be accompanied by a plan to utilise capacity
and to produce goods of the
right quality.
Instead the quality of products has deteriorated as
manufacturers have
tried to cope with the limited capacity available. The
government has in the
past attacked quality deterioration and has tried to
issue specific product
standards. But this means that the government
bureaucracy controlling prices
tends to get bigger, more intrusive, and more
expensive but at the end still
achieves nothing. The quality and size of
bread available on the market is a
case in point.
It should be
noted that one of the simplest forms of evading controls
is quality
deterioration. Quality control on products has become an
additional expense
for manufacturers being egged on to churn out products.
Many manufacturers
are foregoing this key production process.
Manyika should be told
that not only do producers have an incentive to
raise prices, but consumers
also have an incentive to pay them. The prices
prevailing on the black
markets are way above not only the official price,
but even the price that
would prevail in a free market, because the buyers
are unusually desperate
and because both buyers and sellers face penalties
if their transactions are
detected.
Another lesson for Manyika is that price controls may
prohibit wage
increases that are out of line with the new trends in demand
and prices. But
a key cure for inflation is a combination of a prudent
monetary policy,
fiscal restraint and industry ability to produce more
goods. Price and wage
controls are the anesthesia that suppresses the pain.
The current mode of
price controls has virtually freed the central bank from
responsibility for
inflation. As a result the pressures on government to
avoid recession may
lead to a continuation or even acceleration of excessive
growth in the money
supply and with it, inflation. The painkiller is
mistaken for the cure. Is
Manyika aware of the new inflation figures
announced this week? The numbers
should be an apt reminder of policy
failure.
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
By Joram Nyathi
"DOES a president have
to be an intellectual for the country to have
the change it deserves?" This
was a key question posed by Mutumwa Mawere in
his article in the Zimbabwe
Independent last week titled "Zimbabwe and the
leadership
paradox".
He added: "Today even Mugabe accepts that Tsvangirai has
the
confidence of the educated and the working people while Zanu PF has the
support of the rural masses."
The answer to Mawere's question
is an emphatic NO. Yet we must be very
afraid when intellectuals, in their
desperation for change, begin to
question the value of education. Somebody
has given education a bad name.
By the time Mawere raised his
question, he had attempted to show how,
despite having many intellectuals in
all his cabinets since 1980, President
Mugabe has failed to develop
Zimbabwe.
"What is clear is that such leadership has failed to give
hope to
Zimbabweans and has dismally failed to fight poverty and entrench
the rule
of law," observed Mawere.
He then proposed an
experiment with the less educated who enjoy the
"confidence of the educated
and working people".
I have listened to countless tales of this
nature from less
sophisticated political activists and other frustrated
individuals. Nowhere
does Mawere demonstrate that Mugabe's policies have
failed because of "an
intellectually defined strait jacket". Instead his
deduction logically
dictates that the less educated should do better, or if
not, at least their
failures should be tolerated since intellectuals have
also failed.
I don't know how this categorisation should help
resolve the
"leadership paradox" Mawere is lamenting.
There is
an even deeper problem with Mawere's thesis. To him, people
should be
rewarded for their suffering under Mugabe's bad policies, not for
their
dedication to any philosophy or development policy. He is disappointed
that
those who have not suffered enough from Mugabe's bad policies,
presumably
intellectuals, might be elected into office.
Has Mawere forgotten
how Mugabe has manipulated the electorate and
exacted his reward for his 11
years of suffering in prison plus five in
Mozambique? It was the same reward
mentality that caused the crash of the
dollar in 1997 when war veterans were
awarded an unbudgeted $4 billion.
Yet the truth is that there were
and still are a lot more Zimbabweans
who sacrificed more than Mugabe and
there are many who have suffered worse
than Tsvangirai for a better
Zimbabwe. In both instances, many lost their
lives without demanding a
reward.
Because Mawere has convinced himself that the less educated
the
better, he has fallen into the trap which produces the "leadership
paradox"
Zimbabwe is saddled with: he asks whether it is fair to compare
Mugabe and
Tsvangirai when the latter has never been given the chance to
rule, reducing
the debate to personalities rather than issues, a favourite
pastime of
little minds. What do their parties stand for?
Where
do they stand vis-à-vis property rights, the rule of law,
economic policies
and the land question? These are the fundamental issues
which should inform
electoral choices, not a party leader's level of
education.
This is perhaps demanding too much if people like Mawere also accept
as
unqualified truth poisonous myths that "educated and working people"
support
Tsvangirai while Zanu PF "has the support of the rural masses". For
if the
MDC is suspicious of intellectuals, what other reason do they have to
support Tsvangirai than that he is someone they can easily manipulate for
selfish ends? The same applies to business. Are these the virtues upon which
we should elect national leaders?
Mawere can surely make his
case for Tsvangirai and denigrate Arthur
Mutambara without losing his usual
sense of balance. Do we have to throw out
the baby together with the bath
water? How can we get good leaders if we are
afraid to tell aspirants their
self-evident shortcomings? This is the same
culture which made the Mugabe
that we now love to hate.
The myth about support strongholds is
even more damaging for the MDC.
It sits so well with other allegations like
vote-rigging and the
characteristic indecisiveness about participation in
elections that the
party will remain a perpetual victim of unjust laws. If
the MDC has a
captive urban constituency, it can never lose there and
therefore need not
sell voters its policies. Protests against bad Zanu PF
policies
automatically translate into confidence in the MDC's. Conversely,
since Zanu
PF controls rural areas the MDC need not campaign there. But if
Zanu PF has
the "support" of the rural population why should it rig the
polls? It is as
if somebody needs to reeducate these people about Zimbabwe's
demographic
distribution.
There are as many rural and urban
people who have invested heavily in
Zanu PF as are disillusioned and
disenchanted like Mawere. The MDC still has
to claim a loyal constituency
beyond protest votes. While Zanu PF's
patronage system has enriched many a
venal fellow, in the MDC we are
investing in potential. So far that
potential remains unrealised and I am
not sure that the party's
over-dependency on the protest vote is any closer
to delivering the Promised
Land than it was in 2000.
The supreme paradox is that if
Tsvangirai's heart is with the poor
rural folk and they continue to support
Zanu PF, it means they don't know
him and his party. He goes to the rural
areas to talk more about what they
already know: their problems and Zanu PF,
than about himself and his party's
policies. The message is no better in
urban areas. I don't know if a little
more education would have made him
worse.
Zim Independent
MuckRaker
EVIDENCE of seriously delusional behaviour could
be found all over the
government press this week. There was a concerted
attempt to portray last
weekend's Lusaka Sadc summit in heroic terms.
Didymus Mutasa, for instance,
"hailed" the moves by Sadc to help Zimbabwe
overcome its current
"challenges".
In other words they are
trying to find a way to haul Zimbabwe out of
the morass that ministers like
Mutasa have produced. Those privy to Tomaz
Salomao's report, details of
which were carried in this paper last week,
will know this is a Mission
Impossible so long as people like Mutasa
continue to sabotage agriculture by
pursuing damaging and racist policies.
"The country is facing some
economic challenges and the assistance by
Sadc would go a long way to
reviving our once vibrant and efficient
economy." Mutasa told the
Herald.
Why wasn't he asked why it should be left to others to
rescue Zimbabwe
from suicidal policies both in agriculture and the wider
economy? Why are we
in the embarrassing position of looking to our
neighbours to help us out of
this mess?
"The government is
working hard to stabilise the economy and with
support from member countries
we are likely to win this economic war,"
Mutasa lamely claimed.
Which planet does he live on? Has he seen the empty supermarket
shelves, the
fuel queues, and everywhere the evidence of a country in
economic decline?
How is Sadc going to get us out of this man-made disaster?
Those attending
closed-door sessions report that Salomao didn't mince his
words on the
extent of the crisis. Even the summit communiqué, normally a
polite
statement glossing over problems, went straight to the heart of the
matter.
The summit urged the parties to expedite their
negotiations in
Pretoria "so that the next elections are held in an
atmosphere of peace
allowing the people of Zimbabwe to elect the leaders of
their choice in an
atmosphere of peace and tranquility".
Why
say that if it was already the case? Why spell out the need for
people to be
able to make a free choice in a tranquil political environment
if Zimbabwe,
as Patrick Chinamasa claimed on Zambian television, was a
"normal"
democracy?
We argued after similar state self-congratulation in Dar
es Salaam in
March that events would come back to haunt them. Now they have
as Zimbabwe
is top of the agenda at every Sadc meeting, having its dirty
laundry hung
out to dry for all to see.
The MDC let
everybody down again by not taking advantage of the
opportunity to respond
to Chinamasa by exposing the state's fabrication of
charges against its
members and the escalation of state violence that
followed the Dar es Salaam
meeting. That would have warranted a press
conference and world attention.
They should have exposed the government's
much-touted dossier as a pack of
lies, as shown in court. But they missed
their chance.
However,
the MDC's central concern on the need for electoral reform
has now been
taken up by President Mbeki and will not disappear so easily.
Those
in government that are looking to Sadc to rescue them from their
own idiocy
should bear one small fact in mind. Sadc is the beneficiary of
donor funding
dressed up as "development partnerships". Even the Sadc
secretariat is
bankrolled by EU donors. There is no question of EU funds
going on a
Zimbabwe rescue plan that does not solve the political problem of
Zimbabwean
ministers destroying the economy. Price controls have exposed the
limitations of political intervention in the market and ministerial
ignorance of how an economy functions.
The Sadc rescue plan is
a chimera - something that Mutasa can talk
about to make it look as if the
Sadc cavalry will charge to our salvation.
But it won't happen. Mutasa isn't
winning the economic war. He is
self-evidently losing it. And he is part of
the problem. So long as his ilk
are in charge things will just get steadily
worse - as everybody but him can
see.
Applause in Lusaka for
Zimbabwe's wayward leaders doesn't equal
solutions to their incorrigible
mismanagement and the plight of the people
they oppress. When the
self-congratulation dies down what is left - more
empty
shelves?
Those writing for the Herald from the depths of
Munhumutapa Building
usually like to show off their learning. But on Monday
they got it badly
wrong when they described four revolutionary leaders as a
"trio".
Headed "three presidents stand above the rest", the letter
cited
Presidents Mugabe, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
as a
"trio" which stood "head and shoulders" above the rest. We suspect the
Iranian leader was chucked in at the last minute!
But Muckraker
is intrigued. Why has Hugo Chavez, with all that oil,
never visited Zimbabwe
when he is applauded here as a revolutionary hero? He
gives free heating oil
to New York's poor in winter months. But none to
Zimbabwe. Indeed, why
doesn't anybody come here anymore?
Muckraker was hoping to see
some clue in the state media to explain
Abdoulaye Wade's sudden decision to
skip Harare last week. What was he
planning to do in the first
place?
The Herald told us it was a state visit. But state visits
last longer
than a day, usually involve a visit to another centre apart from
the
capital, and include a number of courtesy calls and visits to memorials.
Above all, they are not arranged at the last minute. They are constantly
mixed up in the state media with official visits. Any foreign leader flying
over the country is said to be on a state visit!
It was in fact
an official visit.
So what was it about? Zimbabwe and Senegal are
hardly close. Wade,
until recently, was an advocate of Nepad. Mugabe is
Nepad's target! Perhaps
he was on a secret AU mission tasked by fellow West
African leaders ahead of
the Lusaka summit.
That mission would
have been doomed from the outset if it sought to
win a more amenable stance
from the Zimbabwean leader. Wade could have
realised that the signals from
Harare were less than friendly and called the
whole thing off. He wouldn't
want to suffer the same fate as Olusegun
Obasanjo and Joaquim Chissano who
still bear the scars of daring to
intercede where none was
wanted!
Muckraker is surprised that the Sunday Mail in its
stories on Rotina
Mavhunga, the Chinhoyi-based n'anga, could have missed a
story right under
its nose. Our information is that Mavhunga was not far
wide of the mark in
seeing diesel emerging from the rocks. The story that
the Sunday Mail missed
was how it got there in the first place.
Given the newspaper's revolutionary credentials, it is remarkable that
it
failed to get to the bottom of this one!
We liked the juxtaposition
of headings in the Herald on Monday.
"Diarrhoea cases rise," "Msika blasts
foreign media."
Indeed, there's a lot of it going
around!
Former Zambian vice-president Nevers Mumba appears to
be a very
confused Christian. Speaking at an apostolic conference in
Bulawayo last
week, he likened what he called the West's bully-boy tactics
to the Biblical
Goliath who was slain by tiny David, according to a report
in the Sunday
News.
Referring to the just-ended Sadc summit in
Lusaka, he said it was at
such meetings that the West's Goliaths made their
presence felt. Small
African countries couldn't even speak up for their
interests because they
were afraid of the Goliaths, Mumba
claimed.
From there it was a small hop, skip and a jump to support
for
President Mugabe's land seizures.
"Without land there is no
independence," he helpfully remarked.
Zambia has not exactly been
blessed in its choice of politicians.
Kenneth Kaunda ran the country into
the ground over the years by the
adoption of disastrous policies such as
nationalisation and
collectivisation. Frederick Chiluba compounded the
damage by firmly fixing
his hand in the national cookie jar, according to
news reports.
Posturing prelates of the Mumba variety should not
surprise us. We
have several of our own. But the comparison with David and
Goliath was
stupefying. Who was it who unleashed the Fifth Brigade on
Matabeleland:
David or Goliath? Who was it who carried out Operation
Murambatsvina: David
or Goliath? Who has the forces of repression at his
disposal: David or
Goliath? Who uses violence to cow his critics: David or
Goliath?
Mumba must be blind when he compares this brutal regime
with little
David, the shepherd boy. Courageous African leaders do not beat
their people
into submission. And good Christians do not speak up to endorse
those
tactics in the name of God.
"You have to be able to
identify the challenge of Zimbabwe," Mumba
declared. "You can never be the
answer to Zimbabwe's challenges if you do
not identify the
Goliath."
Indeed, his Bulawayo audience would have known perfectly
well who the
Goliath was. It is only redundant nationalists like Mumba who
can't see him.
Mumba needs to be reminded of Kofi Annan's words:
"Africans must guard
against a pernicious, self-destructive form of racism
that unites citizens
to rise up and expel tyrannical rulers who are white,
but excuses tyrannical
rulers who are black."
Mabelreign
Girls High School pupil Diana Kawendu appears to have been
taught the fine
art of selective reporting in the course of her studies. She
was afforded a
lifetime opportunity, we are told, to read out her
award-winning essay in
the Sadc Schools Essay Competition to Sadc heads of
state in Lusaka. This is
how she explained poverty in the region:
"Drought has also
contributed to poverty in the Southern African
region. It has lowered water
levels in dams powering hydro-electric stations
leading to an energy crisis
that has translated into intermittent power cuts
and load-shedding in some
countries."
So it has nothing to do with poor planning and
incompetent
administration?
"There are some political reasons
for poverty in the southern African
region," she continued. "The
colonisation of Africa robbed the indigenous
people of their means of
production - land - which was the cornerstone of
the African continent's
economy."
Indeed it was. But its redistribution in Zimbabwe has
been accompanied
by greed and lawlessness leading to a dramatic decline in
production.
Zimbabweans, as a result, are poorer today than at Independence
in 1980. And
we have difficulty agreeing with Diana that Zimbabwean troops
sent to the
DRC in 1998 helped to address poverty in the region. We think
their
deployment compounded Zimbabwe's economic crisis.
President Mbeki was reluctant to stay for the public reading we are
told,
but President Mugabe caught him by the sleeve and held on so there was
no
escape!
We congratulate Diana on her award and wish her well even
though we
don't necessarily agree with all her conclusions. She seems a
talented
writer. But her teachers at Mabelreign Girls High, or whoever her
supervisors were, get no marks for encouraging an uncritical approach to
essay-writing which panders to Sadc rulers by excusing them from any
responsibility for policy failures and poor management. What about the
Lesotho high dam project?
But then again, public relations is a
much more rewarding career than
journalism!
Finally, still
on the subject of inspired letters to the editor, we
enjoyed the missive
from P Togarepi of Harare who said that President Mugabe
was "the people's
messenger".
Does that mean we can tell him where to go?
Zim Independent
by Eric Bloch
IT is
indisputable that most of Zimbabwe's infrastructure is
deteriorating at a
horrendously pace.
The ability of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (Zesa) to
meet the country's energy needs is on a continuing
decline.
Although inadequate availability of foreign currency and
an
insufficient power supply from neighbouring countries are key
considerations
and contributors to the intensifying non-availability,
locally, of adequate
power to service national needs, of even greater impact
is the accelerating
inability by Zesa's infrastructure to produce,
consistently, the electricity
supplies needed for a continuing economy and
for the wellbeing of the
populace.
In part, the endless "load
shedding", is due to fast ageing generating
and distribution equipment and
grids in a rapidly intensifying state of
ineffective operational
ability.
The foreign exchange resources do not exist to obtain the
spares and
replace equipment required, and the distressed state of Zesa's
finances, as
a result of unrealistic governmental curbs on tariffs,
precludes the
authority from importing most of its essential
needs.
Its distressed circumstances are worsened by a continuing
exodus of
many of its skilled personnel, who are as prone to join the
pronounced
Zimbabwean "brain drain" as pertains to almost all sectors of the
Zimbabwean
economy.
In like manner, the Zimbabwean
infrastructure for servicing the
country's water needs is catastrophically
poor.
Although it cannot be denied that adverse climatic conditions
have
contributed to the widespread water scarcity, those conditions are far
from
the principal causes of the water availability
constraints.
Harare still has considerable water resources, and yet
its residents
suffer very frequent interruptions of supply, sometimes for
many days on
end.
The same is true of many other cities and
towns.
The overriding cause is the gross inability of the Zimbabwe
National
Water Authority (Zinwa) to apply even a modicum of efficiency to
the
provision of water to consumers.
Zinwa has contributed to
the water supply problems in areas where
others are responsible for its
distribution, by its failure to ensure
reliable supply to the distributing
authorities.
In Bulawayo, by way of example, after more than a
decade of repeated
assurances, a pipeline from the Mtshabezi Dam has yet to
be completed, and
supplies from Nyamandlovu Acquifer are far below the
possible because of
failure to maintain adequately the boreholes and pumps,
notwithstanding that
the City of Bulawayo provided much of the required
funding.
Zimbabwe's health services are imploding, with hospital
equipment
becoming so aged that much of it should be scrapped, whilst
potentially
useable equipment is inoperative due to the lack of spares, and
non-availability of sufficient technical maintenance skills.
The distressing near collapse of the health sector is also markedly
due to
the immense numbers of doctors, nurses, radiographers, radiologists,
physiotherapists, and others who have joined the "brain drain", and due to
government's inability to provide sufficient of funding.
Transportation infrastructure is another facet of the national
operating
framework that is becoming ever less operational.
All too often,
railway accidents, because of defective signal
networks, and insufficient
operational locomotives and rolling stock,
together with inadequate track
maintenance, are key contributants to the
inadequacies of the rail
systems.
The same holds for governmentally-controlled road
transport, and
especially so insofar as passenger movement is
concerned.
There is never-ending talk of the acquisition of new
buses and other
vehicles (primarily from the Far East), but little
alleviation of transport
constraints is apparent.
Within the
cities and towns the transportation ills are compounded by
innumerable
non-operational traffic lights, exceptionally poor street
lighting, almost
non-existent road markings, near total disappearance of
street signs, and
myriads of pot-holes.
A similar litany of deficiencies can be
ascribed to the majority of
the other parastatals that government persists
with in order, allegedly, to
service the needs of the Zimbabwean people and
their economy, but which in
practice are persisted with in order to maintain
and enforce command economy
principles, whilst assuring those in favour of
continuing executive
employment.
Those deficiencies pertain to
the Grain Marketing Board, Agricultural
Research and Development Authority,
Cold Storage Company, National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe and many
others.
But most recently, the particularly intense, almost total,
collapse of
infrastructure has been characteristic of Zimbabwe's
telecommunications.
Making telephone calls is becoming an ever
greater mission.
An endeavour to make intercity calls can
necessitate anything up to 30
attempts until an audible connection can be
achieved on Zimbabwe's land-line
telephone network.
On the
mobile telephone networks, local, national, regional and
international calls
invariably result in messages such as "network busy",
"the subscriber you
have dialled is not reachable", and the like, thanks to
gross
over-congestion of over-sold, inadequate networks.
Using the
national landline service to telephone anyone in South
Africa is a
gargantuan, virtually impossible, task, greater than Hercules'
cleaning of
the Augean Stables!
Whether this is due to non-payment by the
network of external debt, or
other causes, has not been disclosed, but the
harsh fact is that it is
nearing the impossible to make land line calls to
South Africa, whilst
making them by recourse to mobile telephones requires
the perseverance of a
saint!
So much worse has the telephone
service become that it now takes five
times as long to get a wrong
number!
An economy cannot function without effective communication,
and the
ever greater impairment of Zimbabwe's telephonic infrastructure is
yet
another nail in the coffin of a grievously emaciated
economy.
To survive, commerce and industry may be tempted to resort
to smoke
signals.
However, with the countryside fast becoming
denuded of firewood, as
people strive to counter the non-availability of
electricity, that would be
a short-lived solution.
Others may
contemplate relying upon semaphore signals, but unless the
recipients can
read semaphore, that will be of no use, let alone the
constraints of long
distance communication.
Yet others may consider relying upon pigeon
post, but with the vast
scarcity of basic food stuffs, and widespread
poverty the pigeons are more
likely to end up in the cooking pots than at
their intended destinations.
Perhaps the solution is to revert to
the days of runners with cleft
sticks.
At least communications
may eventually reach their destinations
whilst, at the same time, some
inroads would be made into Zimbabwe's
gargantuan unemployment
crisis.
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
By Dumisani Muleya
THERE was a great
deal of expectation -almost certainly misplaced -
before last week's Sadc
meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, that the regional leaders
would finally gather
enough diplomatic grit and moral fibre to tackle the
Zimbabwe crisis once
and for all.
Sadc leaders could not, observers reasoned, just stand
by and watch a
key country at the heart of the regional bloc self-destruct.
The
consequences of that to the embattled Zimbabwean people and collateral
damage to the region would be too ghastly to contemplate.
The
Zimbabwe situation is undermining the regional economy and has
triggered a
wave of economic refugees into neighbouring states. It is also
discouraging
investment into the region and donor aid, particularly to Sadc
itself which
depends on it for its operations. This was the premise of the
argument and
rationale of the expectations.
However, last week's Lusaka summit
proved beyond reasonable doubt
those expectations were unfounded. Although
the Sadc leaders put it to
President Robert Mugabe that the situation in his
country is critical and
cannot be ignored anymore, they simply could not do
anything because they
really can't.
Remarks by the Zambian
ministers afterwards that perhaps Sadc leaders
must engage the likes of
former presidents Nelson Mandela and Kenneth
Kaunda - Mugabe's peers - to
talk to him over the issue clearly suggested
that their efforts at the
summit failed.
Sadc has been weak from the start and is
ill-equipped to deal with a
rogue member state like Zimbabwe. It was formed
in 1980 as the Southern
African Development Coordinating Conference by
Frontline States that wanted
to coordinate
the development strategy
of the region and counter apartheid South
Africa's "Constellation of States"
project as well as resist its economic
and military might.
Sadc
is thus not a customs or political union with strong guiding
principles. It
is a hotchpotch community of nations, democracies, tyrannies
and kingdoms,
largely brought together by history and geography.
Sadc has failed
to collectively deal with conflicts within the region
from the Mozambican
civil war during the 1980s, the Angolan civil strife,
the Zambian crisis,
Malawi under Kamuzu Banda, Lesotho coups, Swaziland
situation, the DRC war,
conflict between Botswana and Namibia over the
Caprivi Strip, and now the
Zimbabwe disaster.
Only individual states have been able to
intervene effectively in
conflicts under the banner of Sadc. Zimbabwe
intervened in Mozambique and in
1998 in the DRC, together with Angola and
Namibia as Sadc. The three
countries have a mutual defence pact and fight
from the same corner most of
the time as they did in Lusaka combating those
against Mugabe.
South Africa and Botswana also invaded Lesotho
under the name of Sadc
to restore order following an outbreak of turmoil
after disputed elections
in 1998.
The DRC war created a major
row between Mugabe and Mandela, who as
Sadc chair, refused to allow Sadc to
get involved. Mugabe had used his
position as chair of the Sadc organ on
politics, defence and security to
act.
Prior to that, Mugabe
and Mandela had clashed in 1997 at a Sadc
meeting in Luanda making it
difficult for the group to act collectively on
the DRC and
Lesotho.
According to former Botswana President Sir Ketumile
Masire, whose
country chaired Sadc for 16 years, Sadc leaders were invited
to witness the
signing of an agreement between President Eduardo Dos Santos
and Jonas
Savimbi when it was thought Unita and the Angolan government had
reached a
peace accord.
But Savimbi did not turn up, and Mugabe
seized the opportunity, Masire
says in his autobiography Very Brave or Very
Foolish, to hold a meeting of
the Sadc organ on politics, defence and
security.
"Instead of reporting to a meeting chaired by Mandela,
the chairman of
Sadc, Mugabe chaired it himself. Afterwards Mandela felt
this was wrong; as
chairman of Sadc Mandela should have chaired any summit
meeting to receive a
report and felt that Mugabe should be told this,"
Masire says.
"Mandela went to Zimbabwe to discuss the situation and
he came back by
way of Botswana to tell me Mugabe felt he had done nothing
wrong, and that,
in fact, he would do it again."
This led to a
cold war between Mandela and Mugabe, culminating in a
showdown at the Sadc
summit in Blantyre in 1997. Subsequently a fierce fight
for control of the
Sadc organ ensued until Mugabe was removed as chair when
it was resolved
that the chairmanship should rotate.
To dramatise Sadc failures,
when Mandela was Sadc chair he tried with
Mugabe and Masire to secure
political reforms in Swaziland and they failed
due to lack of cooperation by
King Mswati.
Ironically, Sadc is now failing to secure reforms in
Zimbabwe because
Mugabe is refusing to cooperate.
Prior to the
Swaziland initiative, Mandela, Mugabe and Masire had
tried to deal with the
Lesotho crisis after a coup in 1994 without much
success as the problem
flared up in 1998, leading to South Africa and
Botswana's military
intervention. This shows Sadc lacks capacity to deal
with internal
situations.
Therefore, its failure last week in Lusaka to deal with
Zimbabwe is
hardly surprising.
Misguided haughtiness
FOR a rocket scientist, Arthur Mutambara's
wisdom leaves little to the
imagination.
He shocked the nation
when he inadvertently committed political
abortion by joining a party
"faction" with no future, thus effectively
killing off his political career
before it even began.
Leaders are there to unite the people, yet he
chose to join a
"faction" split along tribal lines.
One wonders
where he came from. Could he be a Zanu PF plant?
Indeed his
incoherent utterances recently to the gallery mirror
similar incoherent
utterances by Zanu PF leaders.
Mutambara's claim that he has been
in opposition politics longer than
Morgan Tsvangirai holds no bearing for
the agenda of reform through next
year's elections.
For someone
who leads a party that failed to obtain 600 votes in the
Zaka by-election,
his grandiosity is misguided.
CKM,
Harare.
--------
Zesa must let go of monopoly
I AM
a businessmen based in the UK and am writing to urge the
government of
Zimbabwe to allow private companies to supply electricity to
individual
customers in Zimbabwe.
Clearly the government has no capacity or
the finances required to
meet the expenses of importing
electricity.
I am looking at the possibility that following a
de-regulation of Zesa's
monopoly of the supply of electricity, many
companies can come onto the
scene and compete for customers. Families with
children in the Diaspora will
be able to have their electricity paid for by
their loved ones abroad.
Given that payments will be made outside
Zimbabwe using major
currencies, supply will be reliable and consistent.
This will benefit
households, business and attract investment as well as
tourists.
Zesa should relinquish its monopoly to allow private
investment into
the area of electricity supply given its inability to meet
national
consumption needs.
An independent energy commission
can be set up to monitor and enforce
compliance on standards.
Zesa can then focus on provision of electricity to public schools,
hospitals
and industries that wish to continue using them.
There will also be
need for a change in law to protect the customers
who use this
scheme.
Courage Shumba,
United
Kingdom.
--------
Shameful
blunder
I LEARNT yesterday with great shock that
cellphone tariffs have
been increased with immediate effect from about $600
per minute to about $7
000 per minute.
Are these prices
those standing at June 18 or exactly the ones
they slashed a month ago? What
made them slash prices only to take us back
to exactly those old
ones?
I think government must apologise to the entire nation
that it
made a blunder and return all prices to where they
were.
Joshua Chisango Mutyavaviri,
By
email.
-----------
We are
watching
HOW sad that such a beautiful country as
Zimbabwe did not have
an inspirational leader like Nelson Mandela to welcome
in its independence.
Sadly the poor people of Zimbabwe are
led by a man who does not
care whether they live or die.
We want you to know that people all over the world are seeing
what is
happening and that we pray that you have the courage to stop this
evil
man.
Alison Rowell,
Australia.
-----------------
Please, go
vote
THE last two weeks have been a stark reminder to
many desperate
Zimbabweans, who are either hungry, pauperised, ill,
depressed, or losing
their minds that the Zanu PF regime is a losing
liability come 2008.
Even better - and rather interesting -
is the knowledge of its
dysfunctional supporters and leadership that the
time has come to say
goodbye. And this time it promises to be real. Without
water, electricity,
mealie-meal, transport or any other basic need for that
matter, Zimbabweans
are starkly reminded why they need to go and vote next
year. Not just that,
but more importantly that they know not only whom to
vote for but moreso
whom not to vote for.
C
Rushwaya,
crushwaya@fastermail.com
--------------
Enough Tsvangirai
PROFESSOR Arthur Mutambara's recent announcement that MDC unity
talks have
collapsed did not come as a surprise considering Morgan
Tsvangirai's lack of
commitment to unity.
We have had enough of Tsvangirai since
1999 and we do not regret
the position taken by the Mutambara
faction.
As far as representation is concerned, we are on a
50/50 state
of affairs.
Some of us never wanted Morgan
Tsvangirai to lead the united MDC
because he was going to give us endless
problems.
We are ready for a bruising fight with both
Tsvangirai and
Robert Mugabe.
Anyone who is against the
wishes of the people is an enemy. We
will stand with Mutambara in
2008.
K Chihwayi,
Harare.
---------------
Selling souls to
the devil
I LISTENED to the speech made by Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists
President Mathew Takaona at the graveside of the late ZBC bureau
chief,
Moses Gumbo, and remained with more questions than
answers.
Takaona told mourners that Gumbo had once told him
that the
money he earned at ZBC was not even enough to pay his rent so he
made ends
meet by ferrying passengers in the company car. This reality is
very sad.
I was left wondering why the reporters at the state
broadcaster
continue to sell their souls to the devil for peanuts. Surely
it's time for
all those who help President Mugabe to peddle lies and insults
against his
opponents to realise that the only winner in the game is Mugabe
himself and
no one else.
If workers at the state
broadcaster earned a lot of money from
what they do then we would understand
that it is politics of the stomach.
I am sure that the
situation is the same for people who work for
state
newspapers.
They are being used as pawns in a dangerous game.
Today they
live to praise Mugabe whose days are surely numbered both as a
president and
a human being. What will befall his bootlickers like Ruben
Barwe and the
likes of Tarzeen Mandizvidza? These guys should remember that
they have
tainted their names. All I can ask of the pawns at ZBC is that
they free
themselves from the chains that bind them.
Busani Moyo,
Magwegwe, Bulawayo.
VOA
By Ntungamili Nkomo
Washington
24 August
2007
The Zimbabwean opposition faction led by Arthur
Mutambara says it is taking
resumes from people who would like to run for
office in next year's
watershed general election.
But faction
officials said that for the time being they are only accepting
candidates
for existing seats and not for the additional 80 constituencies
that could
be established if parliament passes controversial constitutional
amendment
legislation proposed by the ruling ZANU-PF party and generally
seen as
improving its election odds.
Faction Deputy Spokesman Abednico Bhebhe
told reporter Ntungamili Nkomo of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that final
selection of candidates will begin
only after parliament has disposed of the
amendment one way or another -
then the formation will call a special
congress to nominate its candidate
for the presidency.
As a JAG member or JAG Associate member, please send any classified
adverts
for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG Classifieds: jagma@mango.zw - JAG Job Opportunities: jag@mango.zw
Rules for
Advertising:
Send all adverts in word document as short as possible (no
tables, spread
sheets, pictures, etc.) and quote your subscription receipt
number or
membership number.
Notify the JAG Office when Advert is no
longer needed, either by phone or
email.
Adverts are published for 2 weeks
only, for a longer period please notify
the JAG office, by resending via
email the entire advert asking for the
advert to be
re-inserted.
Please send your adverts by Tuesdays 11.00am (Adverts will
not appear until
payment is received.). Cheques to be made out to
JAGMA.
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1.
For Sale Items
2. Wanted Items
3. Accommodation
4. Recreation
5.
Specialist Services
6. Pets Corner
7. Social
Gatherings
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
OFFERED FOR
SALE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1
Generators & Inverters for Sale
The JAG office is now an official
agent for GSC Generator Service (Pvt) Ltd
and receives a generous commission
on sales of all Kipor generators and
equipment. Generators are on view at
the JAG office. Please could all
those JAG subscribes who deal directly with
GSC, rather that through the JAG
office, clearly stipulate that the
commission if for JAG.
The one stop shop for ALL your Generator
Requirements SALES:
We are the official suppliers, repairs and maintenance
team of KIPOR
Equipment here in Zimbabwe. We have in stock KIPOR Generators
from 1 KVA to
55 KVA. If we don't have what you want we will get it for
you. We also
sell Inverters (1500w), complete with batteries and
rechargeable lamps. Our
prices are very competitive, if not the lowest in
town.
SERVICING & REPAIRS: We have a qualified team with many years
of experience
in the Generator field. We have been to Kipor, China for
training. We
carry out services and minor repairs on your premises. We
service and
repair most makes and models of Generators - both petrol and
diesel.
INSTALLATIONS: We have qualified electricians that carry out
installations
in a professional way.
SPARES: As we are the official
suppliers and maintainers of KIPOR Equipment,
we carry a full range of KIPOR
spares.
Don't forget, advice is free, so give us a call and see us at:
Bay 3,
Borgward Road, Msasa. Sales: 884022, 480272 or admin@adas.co.zw
Service: 480272, 480154
or gsc@adas.co.zw
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1.2
For Sale
So Far and No further! Rhodesia's Bid for Independence during
the Retreat
from Empire 1959-1965 by J.R.T. Wood
533 pages; quality
trade paperback; pub. Trafford ISBN 1-4120-4952-0
Southern African edition,
pub. 30 Degrees South : ISBN 0-9584890-2-5
This definitive account traces
Rhodesia's attempt to secure independence
during the retreat from Empire
after 1959. Based on unique research, it
reveals why Rhodesia defied the
world from 1965.
Representing Volume One of three volumes, Two and Three
are in preparation
and will take us to Tiger and thence to 1980;
To
purchase:
Zimbabwean buyers contact Trish Broderick: pbroderick@mango.zw
RSA buyers:
WWW. 30 degreessouth.co.za or Exclusives Books
Overseas buyers see: http://www.jrtwood.com
and a link to
Trafford Publishing http://www.trafford.com/04-2760
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1.3
For Sale
Road motorcycle for sale. YAMAHA - Model YZF 600cc -
Thundercat - in
immaculate condition.
Highest cash offer
secures. For further details contact Dave on 011 600 770
or 091 22 55
653 or email dapayne@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.4
For Sale (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
1996 Toyota Land-cruiser for
sale. Very good condition with plenty extras.
Tel: 498001, 0912 437845 or
email dtoy@zol.co.zw
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1.5
For Sale (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
ZNSPCA IS SELLING GOODS DONATED
FOR RESALE TO HELP WITH OUR WORK.
ZNSPCA HQ 156 Enterprise RD. Tel
497574/ 497885
OLD/ NEW BOOKS SALE RECORDS-MAGAZINES JIGSAW
PUZZLES, TOYS, VIDEO'S
BOOK/JUMBLE SALE 4 AUGUST 10 - 12 PM
156
ENTERPRISE RD
LARGE MIRRORS
113cm x 139 cm - $3
600 000
90 cm x136cm - $3 000 000
70 cm x 61.5cm - $900
000
59,5cm x 62 cm - $700 000
PARQUET WOODEN BLOCKS
(SMALL) APPOX 15 SQ METRES - 2 MIL
OREGON PINE FRENCH DOOR - 2
MILL
PINE COFFEE TABLE GLASS TOP 2mtr X 1mtr - $3.
MIL
PRINTERS TRAY - $ 500 000
2 SECOND
HAND STEEL DOORS WITH FRAMES WINDOW FRAMES- SOME WITH GLASS
PEDESTRIAN GATE
FENCING POLES
FIRE WOOD - $150 000 PER
BAG
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1.6
For Sale (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
10 kg LPG cylinders (empty): ea-
20
2 kg LPG cylinders - need attention ea- 10
Army (ex) steel
frame stretchers: 20
Bar (small): 25
Book case (teak) 2 shelf
small: 20
Camping stools and chairs: 6 - 10
Coffee table
30
Dart board with darts 15
Fans various from fixed to
oscillating: 30 - 40
Garden hose on hose roller 15
Rucksacks
(Hiking) (empty!): 20 - 40
Pentium 1 computer and screen 30
Soda
streams and CO2 cylinders - 10 and 15
Spring-Master 4 serving bowl
Hostess Food Warmer: 50
Steel garden swing chair (1950 era):
60
Steel garden round table and four chairs and securing chain:
55
Steel chaisse longez: 20
Well used golf set with various clubs
and woods and about 2 doz golf balls:
30
Figures represent US$ also
payable at the current equivalent.
Email: timcopley@zol.co.zw for more details or
Phone 301646 or 011 201 231
for
viewing
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.7
For Sale (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Nissan CWA 45. 15 tonne Lorry with
10 Tonne trailer. 176000 kilmetres.
Immaculate condition. Phone 747777
mornings or
011606595
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1.8
Items for Sale (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
1. GENERATORS AND
INVERTERS
Following units ex stock:
Generators - 5 Kva
Silenced, 15 Kva Silenced, , 40 Kva Silenced, John Deere
60 Kva Open Frame,
John Deere 100 Kva open frame.
Inverters - 1500 Watt complete
with 1 x 100 Amp Hr battery and charger in
cabinet
5000 Watt complete
with 4 x 100 Amp Hr Batteries and charger in cabinet
Large Range
of Generators available from 5 - 2200 Kva ex import (some in
Bond South
Africa)
....................................
1.9
POWER CUTS (Ad inserted 23/08/2007)
Can't cook your food?
Problem solved.
Get yourself a wood stove or three legged cast iron
pot.
Email dapayne@zol.co.zw
....................................
2.
HARROW DISCS
We now have imported Harrow discs (24", 26" and 28")
available :
3. FORAGE HARVESTERS
Single Row forage
harvesters available ex stock
4. AGRICULTURAL
SPRAYERS
Tractor Mounted 12 Metre / 600 Litre tank Boom sprayers
and Canon sprayers
in stock.
5. D1SC
HARROWS
Imported Offset disc harrows suitable for 80 Hp Tractors
currently on order
and will be available August / September,
2007.
Please phone:- Radium Africa - Tel + 263 4 335848 /
307740
Sean Bell: + 263 11 600389, Keith Lowe + 263 11
800859
E-mail: radiumkeith@junglecomms.com
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1.9
For Sale (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Rare book for sale/Rhodesiana,
Welensky's 4000 days, The life and death of
the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland, by sir Roy Welensky, personally
signed by Sir Roy, with dust
jacket.US$50.00 equivalent. Email -
zermatt@mweb.co.zw
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1.10
For Sale (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
NISSAN SUNNY , EX SALOON , 1999
MODEL, AIRBAGS , ABS , CD PLAYER , ALL
ELECTRICS , FULL HOUSE , WHITE &
SILVER , PRISTINE CONDITION. PHONE
JUSTIN
011402896
VW JETTA VR6 , 1998 MODEL , AIRBAGS ,
ABS , MP3 PLAYER , ALARM/ IMMOBILISER
, ALL ELECTRICS , FULL HOUSE , RUBY RED
, PRISTINE CONDITION.
PHONE JUSTIN 011402896
BRAND NEW
TRUCK TYRES, 12R22,5" , GOODYEAR KELLY , MADE IN SOUTH AFRICA.
PHONE
011402896
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1.11
For Sale (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Buy the Wiztech 223 Super
Satellite Receiver and receive satellite TV FREE
by using your existing dish!
This is a one-of payment - NO SUBS to pay. No
hidden costs. SABC 1,2, 3,
Botswana, e-TV, SA News International, CNBC,
Press TV, Trade and Travel,
several religious channels, Radio stations like
RSG, Radio Pretoria, SAFM, 5
FM, 2000 Fm etc. Contact Joe Esterhuizen on
Harare 339378 (anytime) or 0912
338414 or e-mail countryjukebox@hotmail.com
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1.12
For Sale (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Scrap-booking papers for sale,
various themes - holidays, baby christenings,
birthdays, weddings etc. sold
as sets as well as single pages sold. Lots of
designs, colours including
tartans, florals, etc. Also frames, borders,
tags, word/thought bubbles used
for scrap-booking. Please sms or call Carol
on 091 2 264160 to arrange to
see.
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1.13
For Sale (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
1 x MF265S tractor - front to
back rebuild. $3 billion
1 x Ursus 3512 tractor - front to back
rebuild. $3 billion
1 x Renault ME160 7 tonne truck - immaculate
condition, new tyres, imported
batteries etc. + 1 x 5 tonne drop side trailer
- immaculate conditon, new
tyres etc. - $10 billion
Telephone
Marondera 079-21421, 0912 256 661, e-mail rdsaul@zol.co.zw
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1.14
FOR SALE (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Marondera - Ideal industrial
premises suitable for transport, storage,
procurement etc. Very attractive
property in very good condition, and in
good location. To include borehole,
very good security, access to railway
siding etc. Property size 6,051m2.
Outside covered workshop 700m2, inside
workshop 128m2, 10 offices, storage
rooms, 5 x 20ft containers, 3 bed-roomed
cottage + more. Asking price in the
region of $50 billion. Contact
details 079-21421, 0912 256 661, e-mail rdsaul@zol.co.zw.
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1.15
THE WEAVERY.(The African Craft Market) (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Going
Overseas or down South? Why not take hand woven gifts for your friends
or
family? These super articles which are light, easy to pack, take
or
send,
and fully washable. Some of our articles are to be discontinued;
so don't
miss out! Contact Anne on 332851 or 011212424.Or email joannew@zol.co.zw
Discount of 20%
on all articles.
Crocheted oven gloves--$810,000.
Cotton oven
gloves--$765,000.
Small woven bags--$665,000.
Large woven
bags--$810,000.
Crocheted bags--$945,000.
Single Duvet cushions(open
into a duvet)--$4,080,000.
Double Duvet cushions--$4,720,000.
Queen
bedcovers--$6,070,000.
Single bedcovers--$3,550,000.
3 piece
toilet set--$1,610,000.
Toilet roll holder--$550,000.
Bath
mat--$1,140,000.(small rug).
Cushion covers--$810,000.
Table
runner--$473,000.
Set(4)Bordered table mats +
serviettes--$1,610,000.
Set(6)Bordered table mats +
serviettes--$2,420,000.
Set(4) crocheted table mats
only--$1,280,000.
Set(6)fringed table mats + serviettes--$2,420,000.
The
table mat range is to be discontinued once present stocks are
sold.
Small(approx.105x52cms) plain cotton
rug--$1,140,000.
Medium(approx.120x65cms) plain cotton
rug--$1,610,000
Large(approx.150x75cms) plain cotton
rug--$2,420,000.
Ex.Large(approx.230x130cms) plain cotton
rug--$5,210,000.
Small patterned cotton rug--$1,610,000.
Small rag
rug--$1,140,000.
Medium rag rug--$1,610,000.
Medium patterned cotton
rug--$2,420,000.
Large patterned cotton rug--$3,230,000
Ex.Large patterned
cotton rug--$6,390,000.
Small patterned mohair rug--$3,180,000.
Medium
patterned mohair rug--$4,010,000
Large patterned mohair
rug--$5,210,000.
Ex. Large patterned mohair rug--$8,810,000.
Lots of
other articles. PLEASE be aware that prices may change without
notice and
orders take some time as they have to be woven and sent from
Gweru to
Harare.
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1.16
FOR SALE (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Are you leaving Zimbabwe and
wanting an investment to take with you? For
sale (Valuation certificate by
Sharon Caithness(Graduate Gemologist. USA)
available):-
Solid silver
tray (2.836 gms), Solid silver coffee set - coffee pot,sugar
bowl and milk
jug (1.307gms)
THE TRAY
Silver-English
Hallmark-Sheffield(1950). Oval. Handles and Edges
patterned.(Acanthus leaf).
Mass 2.836 gms. Z$ 1,363,000,000.00.
COFFEE SET
3
piece coffee set,beaded rims, acanthus leaf swan's neck spout,
scrolling
acanthus leaf handles and circular pedestal foot, comprising coffee
pot,
ivory cover finial and handle heatproof liners, wt. 797.00
gms(Z$
509,000,000.00), 2 handled sugar basin wt.315 gms(Z$ 202,000,000.00),
Helmet
cream jug wt. 195 gms(Z$127,000,000.00). Overall total mass 1.307
gms.
Birmingham c. 1905, Maker W.D., In original, oak presentation case,
hinged
brass side handles, with key, fitted lined interior of rich
cobalt
blue.$838,000,000.00
Total value, by Sharon Caithness
Z$2,201,000.000.00 (two billion, two
hundred and one million dollars). NO
"chancers".email joannew@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.17
For Sale (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Boat
Cougar 16' Hull on
trailer with Mercury redline 125 motor, electric start,
ride glide steering
system, two built in fuel tanks, one carry tank.
Various '94
Peugeot 405 body parts
Windscreen - cracked
Rear window (with
heater lines)
Bonnet
Boot
4 Doors (one bit of a
dent)
3 glasses for the doors
Door
panels
Headlights
Grill
Rear tail lights
Back
seats
Rims x3
Front & rear suspension
Boat
motors:
Mercury Blue line 40hp motor, running but needs minor attn,
complete with
controls, plus many spares.
Car for
Sale
Datsun 180U 1800 Automatic in good running
condition
Motorbike for Sale
Suzuki Bandit
400
Contact Tyron on 091 2 317 961 or 772156 for further
information
.........................................
2.
WANTED
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1
Wanted
By way of loan or donation to the JAG Trust. The Trust is
Capacity Building
a New Project which necessitates the furnishing of an
office with desks,
chairs, cupboards and shelving. Any surplus office
furniture or trimmings
will be welcomed. Phone
799410.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2
Wanted
Sheila Macdonald (Sally in Rhodesia) - If you have any of
Sheila Macdonald's
books for sale, please let JAG know the details including
condition etc with
your name, telephone number and price
wanted.
Telephone JAG - 04 -
799410
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3
Shotgun Wanted
Good quality, Baretta or Browning, 20 bore
over/under shotgun. In excellent
condition. Please contact the JAG office
on
799410.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.4
Wanted (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
ZNSPCA : We are looking to
purchase two second hand 165 / 13 inch rims for
our horse box and one of our
pickups. Currently we have no spare for these
vehicles. We are also looking
for tools for our vehicles - pliers, spanners
and screwdrivers - so please if
you are clearing your workshops we are keen
to buy your junk off you. Any
donation of the above equipment will be
greatly appreciated.
Head
Office: 04 - 497885 / 497574
ZNSPCA
Is also looking for
donations of
Buiding Materials:
Pit and River Sand,
Bricks
Second hand Window Frames, French door
Wooden
doors
Door handles/Locking Mech.
Fluorescent light fittings tubes
and bulbs
ZNSPCA is always looking for 2nd hand Dog collars,
leads, kennels and
blankets
ZNSPCA HQ156 Enterprise Rd or Tel:
497574/497885
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.5
Wanted (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Barwick School is in urgent need of
a changeover switch for a 60KVA
generator (approx 100 amps). Please phone
0912 262566 or
BarwickTrust@mango.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.6
Wanted (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
We are looking for deep freezers and
cold room units.
Please contact David and Janet Cunningham 09
251555/ 234879/232136 or
davidjanetc@yahoo.co.uk
You
can also contact Khosi Bhebhe - 09 251555/234879/232136 -
zimteam@impact.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.7
Wanted (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Am looking for a wheelchair for a
child who was born with severe curvature
of the spine and who now cannot
walk. Any suggestions as to who to approach
or offers please.
Julia
Burdett 744207, 0912236641, mtemwa@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.8
Wanted PAPRIKA GROWERS (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
We are looking for
Paprika Growers / Farmers for the 2007/2008 season. We
are an end user - we
are not agents and we do not want agents.
Please contact info@papriex.com or visit our website www.papriex.com for
further
information.
2.9 GYPSUM WANTED
GYPSUM -
Any quantity please contact: Roger Blair 062-2489 email
blair2@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
ACCOMMODATION WANTED AND
OFFERED
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1
House-sitter Wanted (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
I am looking for a
house-sitter for mid August till mid October on my little
farm in Bromley
There is no farming to be done, the settlers have seen to
that, just 6 pets
(4 dogs and 2 cats) to love and look after. I have a
lovely
home and
garden (the house is over 100 years old), good security with two
night
watchmen, and a very good house servant. We are 50 kms from Harare.
No money
exchanges
Please contact Jennifer at 073 3399 or 011 423614 - or sms, or
E mail
brookmead@mango.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2
FOR SALE (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Blue skies and warm
seas
Situated in the village of PENNINGTON in Kwa Zulu Natal Mid
South
Coast,close to the sea ,surrounded by up market homes and simplexes ,
three
golf courses in the town area ,an ideal investment for the future with
real
possibilities for a simplex development.The two beautiful acres are side
by
side with two road fronts together are 100 x 80 meters...,secluded
open
natural forest park land. ,almost level , 5 minutes from the beach and
the
very smart brand new Village Mall shopping centre. Price on
request.
Please look up our website www.coastalvillageproperties.com
to see all or
properties for sale in the village of PENNINGTON.Our mission
statement is
"Making homes more affordable" by reducing our commission
tariffs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3
PROPERTIES FOR SALE (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
GLEN LORNE - A Country
Home in Town
Lovely hilltop property on 6 1/2 acres with views
and beautiful garden with
msasa trees and abundant bird life.
3
bed-roomed home with wooden strip floors, 2 1/2 bathrooms, kitchen,
dining
room area, big lounge with fireplace, bar, covered
veranda.
Charming cottage with 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, open plan
lounge and
kitchen. Modern fittings. Single lock-up garage attached.
Independent to
main house - own ZESA and Water meters.
GOOD
BOREHOLE plumbed in to both houses
Double garage / Swimming pool / Staff
quarters for 4 / 2 x Mushroom Houses /
Chickens runs / Electric fenced all
round / Woodrow Art Studio
HELENSVALE
Thinking of
downsizing to a nice quiet area?
Situated on a quiet close this
is a very appealing 3 bed-roomed home with
pretty garden, slightly elevated
looking out over lovely msasas on 2 acres.
2 bathrooms, lounge with
wooden doors opening onto covered veranda, dining
room, fitted kitchen.
Alarmed / Swimming pool / 5000 litre storage tank /
walled with electric
fence and gate. Small Guest Cottage
Very charming with Oregon pine
features
Contact Helen Stephens: 011406428 or Kennan Properties:
334994,
302721
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
RECREATION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1
Need a break
Getaway and enjoy peace and fresh air at GUINEA FOWLS
REST
Only 80kms from Harare, Self-catering guest-house
Sleeps 10 people,
Bird-watching, Canoeing, Fishing, DSTV
REGRET: No day visitors. No boats
or dogs allowed.
Contact Dave: 011 600 770 or Annette 011 600 769
or 091
22 55 653 or email dapayne@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2
Savuli Safari (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
Self catering chalets in the
heart of the Save Valley Conservancy. Game
watching, fishing, horse riding,
canoeing, walking trails and 4x4 hire. Camp
fully kitted including cook and
fridges. Just bring your food, drinks and
relax. Best value for money.
U12 are 1/2 price
Contact John : savuli@mweb.co.zw or Phone 091 2631
556
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.3
GACHE GACHE LODGE - KARIBA (Across the lake.) (Ad inserted
7/08/07)
Still some available dates for August hols. Prices
reduced to 18 June!
Contact: Fatima - tourleaders@zol.co.zw or phone
301889.
Open for provisional bookings for December holidays
too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.4
Self Catering Holiday Cottages S.A (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Figtree
Self catering Holiday cottages almost on the beach in the quiet
village of
Pennington four cottages which may sleep comfortably 20 persons.
Minimum of
R300 per night and R60 per person per night.Kindly book in
advance so as not
to be disappointed. Contact Cindy or Willy on 27833002394
or Email : cvp@eastcoast.co.za We really look forward
to hearing from
you
all.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5
NATUREWAYS SAFARIS (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Urges you to take a step
back in time to the untouched, unchanged wilderness
of MANA POOLS. Away from
the rush and stress of the modern cities to an
exclusive paradise where you
can be at one with nature and interact with a
variety of interesting
neighbours such as elephant, hippo, waterbuck to name
just a
few.
Partake in a luxury Odyssey safari (and spend your days walking,
canoeing or
on safari drives) or climb into your canoe and set off on an
exciting
semi-participatory Explorer canoe safari down the mighty Zambezi
River. We
look forward to welcoming you to our magic world!
Email : bookings@natureways.com, Phone: 333
414 / 339 001, Fax: 333414 /
339008
Skype: natureways_reservations2 or
www.natureways.com
4.6.
SOUTHERN BELLE
Luxury Cruise Ship on Lake
Kariba
Christmas special 2007 - individual cabins on
offer:
Deluxe Cabin: US$ 195.00 per person per
day
Executive Cabin US $ 190.00 per person per day
Double
Cabins US $ 155.00 per person per day
Twin Cabins US $ 140.00 per
person per day
Triple Cabins US $140.00 per person per
day
Cruise dates 22 December to 26th December
2007
Departure times Marineland Harbour
10.30am
Cruise departure dependent on minimum of 24
passengers
Book now to avoid disappointment - bring the whole
family.
..................................
5.
SPECIALIST
SERVICES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1
Vehicle Repairs
Vehicle repairs carried out personally by
qualified mechanic with 30 years
experience. Very reasonable
rates.
Phone Johnny Rodrigues: 011 603213 or 011 404797,
email:
galorand@mweb.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2
SpeedWorx - WYNN'S
Intelligent Car Service has
arrived!
Why pay ridiculous prices and be without your car for
days.
Our services are done while you wait & cost a fraction
of the normal repair.
At SpeedWorx we
will:
Service your car
Increase your engine's performance
and improve your fuel economy
Completely flush your engine oil to prolong
your engine life
Restore your Power steering performance and stop it
leaking
Restore your Automatic Transmission performance and stop it
leaking
Completely flush your brake system and make you safe
Stop
your car overheating and reduce the risk of leaks
Remove bad odours from
the interior of your car and keep it fresh
Services done at your
home or office.
Contact: Bryan 011 612 650 or Russell 011 410
525.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3
VIDEO PRODUCTION
Filming & Editing of Weddings & Special
Events. DVD Production, Broadcast
Quality. DVD & VHS transfers. Call
Greer on 744075 / 0912 353 047
Greer Wynn - Focused Video
Productions: 0912 353 047 /
744075
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4
HUNTING TROPHY EXPORTS (Ad inserted
31/07/07)
For:
· Fast and efficient dipping and
shipping
· Professional administration and storage of
trophies
· Taxidermy in the USA
· Convenient
drop-off
Contact me, Joe Wells on Tel/fax (263) 04 490677, Cell:
(263) 0912 239305
Email: josh@zol.co.zw, Joobie62@yahoo.co.uk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5
MAGNA PLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL PVT LTD (Ad inserted
15/08/07)
PROCUREMENTS DIVISION
WE WILL FIND WHAT
YOU CANNOT - EITHER WITHIN THE COUNRTY OR OUT. PLEASE
GIVE US A CALL OR SEND
AN EMAIL AND WE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO DO OUR BEST TO FIND
WHAT YOU
WANT.
ROB and SUE - PHONE (04) 852658 - CELL - 011 601 885 / 023
924 896
EMAIL: macgyver@zol.co.zw
/ havill@zol.co.zw
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6
Highly recommended painter/tiler/brickworker (As inserted
23/08/2007)
.
Newton Samukuite. 2 Wakefield Road, Avondale. Cell
011 523624.
References available from Mary Dunphy, efgaz@mango.zw, tel/fax 308318
cell 091 2
401664
.........................................
6. PETS
CORNER
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1
Looking for a Home (Ad inserted 31/07/07)
Jack Russell male,
tan/white 'PERCY' needs kind and loving home. 5 years,
owner left. Has been
spoilt and adored. Tel Michelle on 884294 or 011602903
or e-mail gandami@mweb.co.zw.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.2
Looking for a Home (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Please would some kind
person give a home to 'Jessica'. She is a 4 year old
brindle English Bull
Terrier bitch. Loves cats but is terrified of other
dogs so doesn't get on
with them. If you are wanting an only dog Jessica is
for you, she has a
lovely temperament and just wants love in return. Tel
Michelle on 884294
011602903 or e-mail gandami@mweb.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.3
Lost (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Our little dog Molly, a miniature
Jack Russel brown and white in colour has
gone missing in the Dawnhill area
of Greendale between Greendale Avenue and
Coronation Avenue could even be
Rhodesville Avenue.
$1 million reward is offered for her safe return to
Delia and Philip Brown
23 Moulsham Road Dawnhill Greendale Please phone or
text 0912 201686 or 0912
235579 Thank
you!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.4
Looking for a Home (Ad inserted 15/08/07)
Lovely cat -bout three
years old, fat and fluffy, looking for a home. She
is very loving, but
doesn't like big dogs. Or let's say she isn't used to
them. Her name is
Ginger. Please urgently looking for a home for her!!!
Contact Sandy on 091 2
908262 for further
information.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.
SOCIAL
GATHERINGS
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.1
Country Juke Box (Ad inserted 7/08/07)
Come and party with
Country Juke Box. Bring the family. Children allowed.
Reasonable bar prices,
club menu and a great atmosphere. A wide selection of
dance music from the
60's to 90's, Country, Tiekkie Draai, Rock and Roll
etc. For details contact
Joe Esterhuizen on 339378 or 0912 338414 or e-mail
countryjukebox@hotmail.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAG
Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799 410. If you are in trouble
or
need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here to help!
To
advertise (JAG Members): Please email classifieds to: jagma@mango.zw
with subject
"Classifieds".