Zim Independent
Dumisani Muleya
A MASSIVE diamond
racket involving millions of hard currency is
feared after gemstones bought
from Marange by the government-run Minerals
Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe (MMCZ) could not be fully accounted for.
Mining
sources said yesterday there were investigations
instituted by the
government, which involved the central bank, to find out
the truth about
diamonds bought and sold by the MMCZ, the sole selling and
marketing agent
for minerals produced in Zimbabwe.
The country has 44 types
of minerals which include gold,
platinum, emeralds and
diamonds.
Zimbabwe is said to have lost US$300 million due to
looting of
diamonds in Marange.
The MMCZ is a parastatal
under the Ministry of Mines.
Sources said the MMCZ recently
bought and sold for US$1,7
million, a parcel of 36 146 carats of diamonds
from Marange. The parcel
contained 32 314 carats of industrial and near-gem
rough stones and 3 833
carats of gem quality diamonds.
The gem quality diamonds fetched US$1 523 502,10 near-gem
stones, which were
1 192,86 carats got US$23 857,20 and industrial diamonds,
which were 31
128,14 carats, cost US$155 640,70.
This means the diamonds
were sold at an average of US$47 per
carat, a value too low compared to
current market trends since about 10
years ago. In 1997 a parcel of 50
carats of diamonds cost US$27 230 yielding
US$544,60 per carat. A parcel of
four carats was selling for US$1 569,68 a
carat.
The
current market value for a rough diamond of 9,75 carats is
US$3 000 per
carat. The value for a cut diamond of 3,65 carats is US$9 000 a
carat. The
value of diamonds depends on carat, colour, clarity and
cuttability.
Sources said diamond experts consulted by
government on the
issue had queried the deal, saying the diamonds were
"grossly undervalued".
It is said Reserve Bank authorities
were worried the country
could have lost millions in foreign currency in the
process.
An independent diamond expert said yesterday the
MMCZ
transaction raised more questions than answers. He said government
should
intensify inquiries into the issue to ascertain if there was fraud
involved
in the diamond sales.
"The above figures and
values show anyone who has an idea of how
diamonds are produced and sold
that there was gross undervaluation of the
parcels," the source said. "This
means a deal involving millions of US
dollars could have been at stake
during the buying and selling of these
diamonds. Surely how can more than 36
000 carats of diamonds, which include
nearly 4 000 carats of gem quality,
cost a mere US$1,7 million?"
Fears of a diamond scam came as
it emerged Zimbabwe could have
lost nearly US$300 million to dealers and
smugglers since the
state-sponsored invasion of British-listed Africa
Consolidated Resources
(ACR) plc's Marange diamond claims. The diamond rush
and subsequent looting
has attracted thousands of panners from all corners
of the country,
including dealers from the region.
Repeated efforts to get comments from MMCZ CEO Onesimo Moyo and
public
relations manager Pretty Murwisi were unsuccessful. The MMCZ
telephones went
unanswered.
ACR is locked in a legal battle with the MMCZ
over the diamond
claims in Marange. The British firm, which has local
shareholders, has
written to President Robert Mugabe asking him to intervene
to stop the
pillaging of the diamonds.
Mugabe has since
appointed a cabinet committee to deal with the
issue.
ACR
has also written to Mines minister Amos Midzi, Moyo and also
alerted the
Kimberly Process Certification System, which regulates the
diamond trade,
about the Marange diamonds situation.
Midzi was also not
available for comment yesterday.
The Marange diamond claims
initially belonged to Kimberlitic
Searches, a subsidiary of global diamond
giant, the De Beers Group of South
Africa, whose EPO expired in
March.
However, the MMCZ recently seized the claims through a
special
grant, which ACR argues violates the Precious Stones Trade Act that
prohibits any licensed dealers like the MMCZ from engaging in mining
activities.
Zim Independent
STATE Security minister Didymus Mutasa last week
ruffled the
feathers of a South African delegation attending the Joint
Permanent
Commission on Defence and Security in Victoria Falls by using what
the
visitors considered undiplomatic language at a state dinner hosted for
them.
This is likely to worsen frosty diplomatic relations
between
Harare and Pretoria.
Sources who attended the
dinner hosted by the Zimbabwean
government to welcome the South African
dignitaries said the visitors were
taken aback by Mutasa's attacks on SA
ambassador Mlungisi Makhalima for
making representations to the Zimbabwe
government on behalf of dispossessed
white farmers from his
country.
Mutasa is also alleged to have uttered "sarcastic
gibberish" on
South Africa's passing of a law legalising same-sex
marriage.
This comes amid a diplomatic tiff last week after
the state
media announced on Friday that South Africa had scrapped stringent
visa
requirements on Zimbabweans wanting to travel to that
country.
The South African government has since issued a
statement
denying ever making such an undertaking at the Victoria Falls
meeting.
"(The) South African government at no stage during
the second
session of the Zimbabwe-South Africa Joint Permanent Commission
on Defence
and Security, agreed to waive visa requirements for the Zimbabwe
nationals,"
a statement from the home office said.
Mutasa's speech at the dinner, sources said, set a bad tone for
the
proceedings as it was unprecedented at such a forum where politicians
usually exchange niceties about mutual co-operation.
Unconfirmed reports this week said South Africa was considering
launching a
formal complaint with the Zimbabwe government on Mutasa's
remarks.
Mutasa headed the Zimbabwe delegation to the
joint commission.
He was delivering a speech "to welcome" the South Africans
when he started
to refer to issues to do with the land
reform.
He told the gathering of about 60, which included SA
Defence
minister Mosiuoa Lekota and four deputy ministers, of his meetings
with
Makhalima to deal with the issue of dispossessed South African sugar
farmers.
Mutasa insinuated to the gathering that he had
told Makhalima
that Zimbabwe was taking away land from white farmers and
there was nothing
to stop him from taking land from white South African
farmers whom the
ambassador was trying to represent, the sources
said.
"He also told the gathering that South Africa was too
legalistic
in dealing with land distribution, suggesting that Zimbabwe did
not
necessarily follow the law in executing the land reform programme," a
source
said.
Mutasa, according to a source, then opened
up on the South
African government for passing the Civil Union Act which
legalised gay
marriages. He indicated that such practices would never be
condoned here and
was surprised why South Africa as an African country would
legalise same-sex
unions.
The source said Lekota, who
spoke after Mutasa, gave the
minister "a lecture" on why South Africa had
passed the legislation.
"He said it was not a question of
moral righteousness but an
issue of freedoms and democracy as enshrined in
the South African
constitution. He said the issue of moral right or wrong
was for God to judge
and not humans," the source said. - Staff
Writer.
Zim Independent
Shame Makoshori
SPEAKER of the House of Assembly John
Nkomo yesterday ruled that
the Minister of Industry and International Trade
Obert Mpofu must be charged
for contempt of parliament for allegedly lying
under oath when he appeared
before a parliamentary portfolio committee in
connection with the Zisco
looting affair.
Nkomo said
Mpofu has a case to answer. If found guilty, Mpofu
faces a fine or up to two
years in jail, or both.
This follows a complaint by the
parliamentary portfolio
committee on Foreign Affairs, Industry and
International Trade that Mpofu
committed perjury.
"The
Speaker has had the opportunity to study the material and
rules that an
offence exists. The minister, under oath, referred to
information that he
said implicated other Members of Parliament (in the
Zisco looting). He
however later denied the existence of the information
without retracting the
previous statements," Nkomo said.
"These facts clearly
disclose a prima facie case of falsifying
information before parliament and
so there is a case of contempt of
parliament."
Ruling
Zanu PF MPs reacted with general calm, while opposition
MDC MPs celebrated.
MDC MP Job Sikhala shouted that Mpofu was "finished".
"Obert wasviba, aenda
uyu, you are gone shamwari (your reputation is
tarnished and you are gone my
friend)," he said.
Acting Leader of the House Emmerson
Mnangagwa said a committee
must be appointed to try Mpofu. "I move a motion
that a privileges committee
be appointed to investigate," he
said.
The committee will hear evidence from members of the
parliamentary portfolio committee and from Mpofu himself. It will then
submit its findings and recommendations to the House which can either
endorse or reject them.
This is the same process which
was followed when former MDC MP
Roy Bennett was jailed by parliament for a
year after he floored Justice
minister Patrick Chinamasa in
2004.
Zim Independent
Augustine Mukaro
DISMISSED Agriculture permanent secretary Simon Pazvakavambwa
yesterday
remained mum over the fertiliser saga, despite threatening to
spill the
beans if he was fired.
The importation of inferior
fertiliser, which sparked clashes
between Ministry of Agriculture officials
and the Reserve Bank, claimed
Pazvakavambwa as its first victim when he was
relieved of his duties on
Wednesday.
Chief Secretary to
the President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda
announced the sacking of
Pazvakavambwa on Wednesday.
President Robert Mugabe proceeded
to appoint Shadreck Sariri
Mlambo as Agriculture permanent secretary with
immediate effect.
Contacted for comment on his dismissal,
Pazvakavambwa said he
would not run his life through the
press.
"I have a very secure and happy future," Pazvakavambwa
said. "I
cannot run my life through the press, so I will not comment on this
development. Why don't you wait and watch the developments as they
come?"
Pazvakavambwa appears to have been used as a scapegoat
for a
botched deal in the importation and distribution of sub-standard
fertiliser
to farmers through a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
facility.
Of the 70 000 tonnes imported, 8 000 were deemed to
be of
inferior quality.
Correspondence made public as the
fertiliser saga unfolded
showed that Pazvakavambwa authorised the release of
the consignment to the
Grain Marketing Board and its subsequent distribution
to farmers on July 26.
In an analytical report to the GMB
general manager,
Pazvakavambwa said results from tests carried out on the
inferior fertiliser
were within the acceptable range.
Sources said Pazvakavambwa's dismissal was endorsed after a
National
Economic Recovery Council (Nerc) meeting two weeks ago at which
Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono clashed with several ministers, including
Economic
Development minister Rugare Gumbo, Deputy Finance minister David
Chapfika
and Industry and International Trade permanent secretary Christian
Katsande,
who accused him of making arbitrary decisions.
Vice-President
Joice Mujuru chaired the meeting at which Gono
was attacked. He later
stormed out of the meeting, according to reports.
Pazvakavambwa is being accused of trying to distance himself
from the
importation of inferior fertiliser from South Africa when he toured
and
tested samples of the product at the Intshona workshop in South Africa.
He
was also accused of failing to issue import permits on time.
Gono and Made were set to appear before a Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee
on Agriculture this week to answer questions on how the
fertiliser was
imported.
Zim Independent
Loughty Dube
ZANU PF national
chairman John Nkomo has fingered cabinet
ministers Emmerson Mnangagwa and
Sithembiso Nyoni as individuals who poured
money into Tsholotsho, causing
serious divisions in the party two years ago.
Nkomo was
giving evidence on the second day of a civil lawsuit
in which former
Information minister Jonathan Moyo is suing him together
with fellow
politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa for defamation amounting to
$200
million.
Testifying, Nkomo alleged certain individuals had
funded
officials in the Tsholotsho district co-ordinating committee (DCC).
Asked by
the presiding judge, Justice Francis Bere, who the funders were,
Nkomo
responded by naming the two cabinet ministers.
"People who were paying members of the Tsholotsho DCC are
Emmerson Mnangagwa
and Sithembiso Nyoni. There was $2 million that was to be
availed by Nyoni
in unclear circumstances," Nkomo told the court.
Nkomo said
the problem in the Tsholotsho DCC was that other
members of the committee
were paid foreign money while others were not paid,
which he said caused
divisions in the committee.
"During the meeting we called in
Tsholotsho in January 2005 to
find out what happened at Dinyane, revelations
were made that some people
were paid monies and in one case a Mafu told the
same meeting that he
travelled to Harare where he was paid monies by
Mnangagwa," Nkomo said.
Nkomo denied defaming Moyo and said
the allegations were
fabricated by Moyo to divert attention from his waning
political career.
"These allegations are false and this is a
case of someone
bringing issues in a bid to divert attention from his waning
political
career. That is the reason he is coming up with such creations,"
Nkomo said.
"When this young man (Moyo) joined the party the
next thing he
was in the central committee and the next minute in the
politburo and
suddenly he was a cabinet minister. He then became bigheaded.
He came on
board at the speed of light and that confused him, he saw himself
as a
genius."
Nkomo told the court that party members at
the Tsholotsho
meeting of January 2005 told the Zanu PF national leadership
that the
resolutions in Tsholotsho were to remove Joseph Msika as
vice-president and
bring in Mnangagwa while Patrick Chinamasa was to replace
Nkomo, and
Thenjiwe Lesabe was to come in as
vice-president.
The defence team made several references to
politburo minutes in
their bid to prove that Nkomo and Dabengwa did not
defame Moyo.
Nkomo also testified that Moyo was never in the
liberation
struggle.
"I never met him, I did know him and
I have never met anyone who
says they know him. Even in the camps that he
says he was I never had the
privilege of knowing he was there," Nkomo told
the court.
Moyo in his evidence-in-chief indicated that he
took part in the
war of liberation and had been in camps in Tanzania and in
Zambia.
It also emerged in court that Matabeleland North was
the only
province in the country that backed a party directive for
Vice-President
Joice Mujuru to be voted into office.
The
revelations came out in court where confidential and private
minutes of the
Zanu PF politburo meeting of the first of December 2004 were
read out as
part of evidence presented by the defence team.
The minutes
indicated how unpopular Mujuru was during the time
and also show that there
was serious whipping of provinces to back her into
her current
position.
Extract 3.69 of the politburo minutes state that
President
Mugabe was angry at why only Matabeleland North province had
complied with a
party circular that was sent out to all provinces urging
them to back a
woman candidate for the vice-president's
position.
This meant that 11 of the country's 12 provinces
did not
initially back Mujuru for the position.
The
secret party documents that include politburo, central
committee and Zanu PF
district co-ordinating committee minutes, are now used
as public records in
court with each team using them to support its case.
The
Tsholotsho saga caused serious ructions in Zanu PF that led
to the
suspension of provincial chairpersons and Moyo's ultimate dismissal
from
government over his alleged role in the foiled palace coup.
Senior government ministers and officials who include Chinamasa,
Abedinigo
Ncube, Andrew Langa, and war veterans leader, Joseph Chinotimba,
are
expected to testify in the case.
The case continues today at
the Bulawayo High Court.
Moyo in his court papers claims that
Nkomo and Dabengwa alleged
that he had "instigated, funded and led the
hatching of a plot against
Mugabe and others in the top leadership of the
party".
Zim Independent
Dumisani Muleya
FORMER MP and businessman Tirivanhu
Mudariki, who together with
senior government officials including
Vice-President Joice Mujuru, have been
linked to the Ziscosteel looting
saga, is a key business partner of the
Mujuru family.
Mudariki and the vice-president were named by the National
Economic Conduct
Inspectorate (NECI) as some of the officials who benefited
from pillaging
Zisco.
NECI says the two travelled together to Botswana a few
years
ago, at one time in October 2003, on Zisco resources although their
mission
had nothing to do with the government-owned company in their
official
capacities.
Enquiries by the Zimbabwe
Independent show Mudariki, who is
involved in mining, tourism and wildlife
sectors, is a business partner of
Vice-President Mujuru's husband, retired
army commander General Solomon
Mujuru.
Rtd Gen Mujuru and
Mudariki, representing Kupikile Resources,
have lately been embroiled in a
court battle over River Ranch diamond mine
with Bubye Minerals which claims
to own 70% of the mine in Beitbridge.
Mujuru and Mudariki
were appointed directors of River Ranch on
April 27 2004 following an annual
general meeting held by majority owners of
the mine, Rani International
Ltd.
Mujuru and Bubye officials have appeared before the
Anti-Corruption ministry to explain themselves over the murky
dispute.
Bubye was originally given the right to operate
River Ranch by
liquidator of the mine Peter Bailey of KPMG after its
original owners,
Auridium of Australia, pulled out seven years ago citing
falling diamond
prices on the international market.
Bubye's directors include Michael Farquhar and his wife Adelle,
and
Sibonokuhle Moyo, wife to Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa, Simon
Khaya
Moyo.
Bubye, which took control of River Ranch in 1999
following
Auridium's withdrawal, accused Rani International, Southern
African
Development and Kupikile Resources of "unlawfully and forcibly"
seizing the
diamond mine. But Rani International said Bubye was kicked out
after it
failed to pay its debts.
Mudariki is a local
director of Rani Resorts, a tourism
development company owned by Rani
International which has interests in
Zimbabwe's mining, tourism, and
wildlife sectors. Rani wants to invest in
Kariba and Gonarezhou national
parks.
Apart from his travels to Botswana with Vice-President
Mujuru on
Zisco resources, Mudariki is linked to Harare-based Rochive
Consultants
which provided a bulldozer to the Redcliff-based integrated
steelworks firm
for questionable payments.
"Rochive
belongs to one T Mudariki. The company's association
with Zisco from records
availed to NECI dates back to year 2002. The company
has been paid by Zisco
for three years," NECI says in its Zisco report.
"It started
from a modest $12 477 721,75 in 2002 to an
astronomical figure of $1 580 187
677 in 2004. The figure of $1,5 billion
paid to Rochive in 2004 is a huge
amount of money paid for the services of
one piece of equipment, a
bulldozer."
NECI questioned how Rochive was identified to
provide its
bulldozer to Zisco. Sources say Mudariki and Vice-President
Mujuru went to
Botswana in 2003 on a business mission which appeared to be
connected with
Zisco albeit unofficially. It remains unclear so far what
their interest in
Zisco was.
However, this has raised
eyebrows because of reports that there
were politicians trying to buy
Zisco's Botswana subsidiaries, Ramotswa and
Tswana Iron & Steel,
collectively known as Unabo.
NECI investigators who went to
Botswana to probe the Zisco graft
discovered plans were already under way to
sell the two subsidiaries for
US$3 million to undisclosed buyers by repaying
their parent firm funds that
were used to controversially purchase them in
2001.
Zisco was overpaid by the owners of the subsidiaries by
more
than US$500 000 but Zisco officials have failed to explain who
benefited
from this. It was suspected that this was a way of transferring
money to
Botswana by Zisco officials on the pretext of acquiring the
companies. It
remains a mystery who pocketed the US$500 000.
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
THEY were
launched amid fanfare, and President Robert Mugabe
said they were a
"landmark event in the history of the country" as he handed
them over to
elated new farmers.
But three weeks on, the excitement is
dying down. The farmers
are beginning to wake up to the limitations of the
new lease documents they
received from government on November 16. A close
reading of the document
shows that it neither fully guarantees security of
tenure nor can it be used
as collateral to get loans from
banks.
Financial risk experts say the lease document is full
of vague
and loose legal statements that pose a serious potential risk to
any
financial institution that may want to accept it as
collateral.
They say the lease is flawed and porous, opening
it to political
abuse by government. They say even the security of tenure
that the leases
were initially thought to provide is under threat from
clauses that give too
much power to the government as the
lessor.
Section 20 of the lease says government can cancel
the lease at
any time under conditions it deems necessary. "The lessor may,
at any time
and in such manner and under such conditions as it may deem fit,
repossess
the leasehold or any portion if the possession is reasonably
necessary in
the interest of defence, public safety, public morality, public
health, town
and country planning or the utilisation of that or any other
property for
purposes beneficial generally or to any section of the
public."
Lawyer Chris Mhike said such sections scare away
banks from
lending to holders of such leases.
"That
clause is dangerously wide because it wipes away the same
concept of
security of tenure that it is seeking to entrench for the benefit
of the
farmers," Mhike said.
"The inclusion of wide and vague
provisions in legal documents
and instruments is unreasonable and untenable
in any democratic society," he
said.
Mhike said it was
sad that a "government that pledged to be
revolutionary should give its
citizens rights that are less than the ones
that the coloniser gave to
himself".
The document goes further to erode the security by
stating in
sections 23 that government shall not be obliged to pay or
compensate the
farmer for improvements that it has not approved. That means
a farmer can be
booted out of the property with nothing.
"This means that government has the right to compulsorily
acquire
developments effected by the farmer under the flimsy reason that
they have
not been approved," said Mhike.
Bankers are worried that the
lease is not transferable without
permission from
government.
An official from a local commercial bank said the
fact that the
lease cannot be transferred and the right of government to
repossess the
property make it impossible for banks to consider it as
collateral.
"It's very difficult because it does not give us
the guarantee
that the bank will be able to recover its money if the farmer
defaults on
the loan payment," said the official.
The
previous leases that were held by farmers before the land
reform could be
auctioned if the farmer failed to pay. The new owner was
entitled to utilise
the farm for the remaining portion of the lease's
duration.
Most banks have already given the lease
document a wide berth as
a security asset.
But the
scandal goes beyond land. Section 9.5 says no farmer
shall sell five heads
of cattle without offering one to government. "Any
group of five or more
head of cattle reared or pastured on his or her
leasehold at any time, the
leaser shall, in writing, offer one in five head
of cattle from such group
to the lessor (government)," says the lease.
It states that
government shall have the first right of refusal
to buy the cattle. If
government fails to take up the offer the farmer is
prohibited from selling
the cattle at a price higher than what the
government was prepared to pay
for them.
Simply put, this means that government is not only
controlling
the price of cattle but is also giving itself the right to buy
20% of
national herd at a price that it sees fit.
The
saddest part of the document, experts say, is that it does
not leave room to
the farmer to challenge the cancellation of the lease.
Amendment 17 of the constitution says farmers shall not bring to
court land
issues involving government. This means that farmers can lose
their land and
improvements on it without any alternative for redress at
law.
Human rights lawyer Otto Saki said the lease does
not have
checks and balances to deter government from using its authority to
prejudice the farmer.
"Such a document could be used as a
political tool by government
to dispossess people who are perceived as not
loyal to the party," said
Saki.
Even more worrying is
that past experience with regard to land
has shown that government can
tamper with tenure laws when it suits its
agenda.
For
instance, after failing to win court cases against white
commercial farmers,
government went on to amend the constitution which
effectively nationalised
the land.
Saki said like most laws that have been created in
the past six
years, the lease does not provide the required checks and
balances that
protect the farmer.
"Because it lacks the
required checks and balances to avoid
abuse, there is nothing that can stop
the government from cancelling the
lease at any time especially when it is
armed with such dangerous Acts as
Amendment number 17," said
Saki.
"For example there is nothing that can stop the
Minister of
Agriculture from cancelling a farmer's lease to bring in his
connections."
Zim Independent
Nqobani Ndlovu
THE Speaker of
the House of Assembly, John Nkomo's bold
pronouncement that he would stand
for the highest office in the land when
President Robert Mugabe retires from
office has rattled his rivals and
sparked debate on his suitability for the
post.
It has also disturbed the political machinations on the
broad
and messy national chessboard on the succession
issue.
Nkomo made the revelations when responding to a
barrage of
questions from journalists at a function of the Bulawayo Press
Club last
week.
When asked about speculation that he
aspired to succeed Joseph
Msika as vice-president, Nkomo retorted: "Why stop
at the vice-presidency?
Why not the presidency?"
Nkomo
said there was no chance of him retiring from politics as
this was like a
"cancer" in him.
He said he would need the equivalent of
chemotherapy treatment
to cure him of "the political bug" that he claimed
has afflicted him since
1954 when he joined politics.
Before Nkomo's unexpected pronouncements last week, the
political
temperature in Matabeleland and throughout the country has been
heating up
over who would replace Msika when he leaves office. There was
speculation
that Nkomo was positioning himself for the post.
Other
contenders who were touted to give Nkomo stiff competition
in the race
include politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa, Industry and
International Trade
minister Obert Mpofu and Zimbabwe's Ambassador to South
Africa, Simon Khaya
Moyo.
Dark horses in the race were Small and Medium
Enterprise (SMEs)
minister Sithembiso Nyoni and politburo secretary for
education, Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu.
The declaration by Nkomo
that he would have a go at the highest
office if chosen by the people is a
twist in the tail in a succession debate
that is always undertaken in
undertones.
By his open declaration, Nkomo has thrown his
candidature into
the hat that already has the names of Vice-President Joice
Mujuru, Emmerson
Mnangagwa and former Finance minister Simba
Makoni.
Others vying for the presidency have not come out so
openly,
largely for fear of Mugabe's reaction.
Mugabe has
often reacted angrily to any debate on his successor
and several party
leaders were reprimanded and some suspended from the party
after meeting at
Dinyane School in Tsholotsho two years ago, which Mugabe
said amounted to a
coup.
Mugabe alleged that those who met at Dinyane were
plotting a
coup against him and the presidency.
He has
also accused those seeking to succeed him of consulting
witches. However,
there have been indications that there is serious lobbying
for the top
position going on and camps have emerged in the ruling party
over who will
succeed the 82-year old Zanu PF leader.
Political analysts
this week had mixed feelings on the
statements by Nkomo, with some saying he
had a fair chance of landing the
highest office while others dismissed him
as a pretender.
John Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe
political lecturer, said
Nkomo was not suitable to run for the presidency as
he did not have the
capacity to marshal support in Zimbabwe and lacked the
political stature of
other national leaders.
"John Nkomo
is correctly ambitious but suitability is another
issue," said Makumbe. "He
lost elections in 2000 and he does not have the
popularity of someone
aspiring to be president.
"He has not demonstrated a capacity
to run bigger things than
parliament and he does not have the capacity to
mobilise support in
Zimbabwe."
He added that
nationally,Nkomo was not known compared to Mujuru
who has been on a
whirlwind country tour to drum up support.
"We know Nkomo is
related to Mugabe and maybe he hopes for a
continuation of the dynasty but
democratically that would not work. Nkomo
does not have national stature in
the mould of (the late) Eddison Zvogbo or
Amai Mujuru," Makumbe
said.
More importantly, Makumbe raised the tribal factor in
Zimbabwean
politics against Nkomo's ascendancy.
He said
the Zezuru clique in the party would never allow a
situation where the party
is led by someone from the former PF Zapu, and
worse still, a person from
Matabeleland.
"The Zezurus would not allow anyone from PF
Zapu to be Zanu PF
president.
"They are comfortable with
Msika as vice-president because he is
a Ndau and not Ndebele and he stays in
Chiweshe and not in Jotsholo,"
Makumbe said.
"The Zezurus
in Zanu PF would never allow that. They make sure
they make whoever is
vice-president from that camp to be as useless as they
have done with
Msika," he said.
Max Mnkandla, a former sergeant in Zipra and
now president of
the Zimbabwe Liberators Peace Initiative (ZLPI), said Nkomo
did not have a
constituency and would find it difficult to identify his
support base.
"Even in Matabeleland which he claims to
represent he does not
have support. So how does he expect to get support in
Mashonaland? It would
be difficult for him and he also has a bloat that he
is related to Mugabe
and that relationship will taint
him."
Political analyst, Ibbo Mandaza, said Nkomo's chances
of landing
the presidency were slim.
"The actual
positioning for the presidency took place in 2004
when the vice-presidents
were elected and Nkomo only made it to the
presidium as national chairman
and all this gives the two vice-presidents an
advantage over him," Mandaza
said.
Former war veterans' national chairman Jabulani
Sibanda, who was
suspended from Zanu PF by Nkomo, said the next president of
the country must
be somebody who will adhere to the party and the country's
constitution
without any reservations.
"I do not know
whether John Nkomo can do that but he has a right
democratically to say that
he wants to be the president. What we have seen
in the past is that Zanu PF
can shut out leaders through unconstitutional
means," Sibanda
said.
Zim Independent
THE Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) has dismissed
two
broadcasting staffers over claims that one of them broadcast material
that
was not supposed to be aired and another over a costly air
boob.
Gilbert Nyambabvu, who has already left the country for
the
United Kingdom, was forced off Newsnet after he referred to the First
Lady
Grace Mugabe as the "late Amai Grace Mugabe" during a live news
bulletin.
He was instantly removed from the main news
bulletin for the
error. Nyambabvu was a presenter for Newshour, the
country's main news
television bulletin.
Lenon Mutseura,
a producer-presenter with This Morning edition,
was dismissed after he
carried a story on the morning news revealing that
Barclays Bank were the
new sponsors for the 2007 Premier Soccer League.
ZBH
spokesperson Sivukile Simango confirmed the dismissal of the
two
broadcasters.
"The disciplinary action taken against Lenon
Mutseura that led
to his subsequent dismissal is that he repeatedly
committed the same offence
even after several warnings," he said. "The
offence which cannot be
tolerated in any work place let alone a newsroom
calls for instant
dismissal."
On Nyambabvu he said:
"Gilbert Nyambavu was temporarily removed
from air for committing an
unpardonable gaffe while on air. That is a normal
disciplinary action for
presenters at ZBH. He later resigned to join his
wife in Britain," Simango
said. - Staff Writer.
Zim Independent
Augustine Mukaro
GOVERNMENT'S
decision to hand over water and sewerage management
to the Zimbabwe National
Water Authority (Zinwa) is illegal as it directly
contravenes the Urban
Councils Act which vests the management of the
services to local
authorities.
This week, government allowed Zinwa to take over
all water
functions in Harare that extend to distribution and billing of
consumers
with effect from today.
Combined Harare
Residents Association (CHRA) chairman, Mike
Davies said the Urban Councils
Act does not provide that council may
alienate water resources to a third
party.
He said CHRA was putting together a resistance
programme to
force government to comply with the Act.
Davies said Part XIII of the Urban Councils Act which deals with
water gives
council power to provide water to consumers and allowing Zinwa
to take over
the responsibility was illegal.
"A council may provide and
maintain a supply of water within or
outside the council area. And for that
purpose the council may: (a)In
accordance with the Water Act [Chapter 20:22]
take such measures and
construct such works, whether inside or outside the
council area, as it
considers necessary for the purpose of providing and
maintaining a supply of
water; (b) enter into agreements for the purchase
and sale of water and for
any other thing necessary in connection with the
maintenance and supply of
water."
Davies said Zinwa with
the blessings of government had usurped
the powers of a local
authority.
"There is no provision for the privatisation of
water," Davies
said.
"These are statutory requirements of
the local authority. To
make matters worse, water supplies in the city
deteriorated to unprecedented
levels over the past year when Zinwa started
meddling in the water affairs."
He said a CHRA general
council meeting scheduled for this
weekend would come up with a resistance
plan.
Government said from December 1, Zinwa would also
directly
supply and bill residents of Ruwa, Epworth and Chitungwiza while
work for a
nationwide takeover is underway.
Burst water
pipes and the replacement of worn-out pipes are now
the responsibility of
the water authority. Zinwa has also taken over the
administration of
Harare's sewerage works with immediate effect.
All workers in
departments dealing with water management who
until now were under Harare
City Council would be transferred to Zinwa.
Zinwa has also
been ordered to import chemicals directly from
manufacturers, effectively
doing away with middlemen who have been fleecing
the water authority through
exorbitant price mark-ups.
Water tariffs for consumers in
Harare will, with effect from
this month, go up to $130 per cubic metre from
$8, a 16-fold increase.
The price is for the first 20 cubic
metres after which a
punitive price is charged to discourage wastage.The
price will be reviewed
to $155 between January and March next year. Further
adjustments of $180 per
cubic metre will be introduced for the period April
to June next year.
Zim Independent
Lesley Moyo
A GWANDA magistrate has remanded two
officials of the pro-senate
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to next
month to give them time to file
their application to have their charge of
distributing subversive material
referred to the Supreme
Court.
Paul Themba Nyathi, the director of elections, and
Sithatshisiwe
Sibanda, the Matabeleland South administrator, are accused of
distributing
subversive material allegedly meant to incite soldiers and the
police
against government.
The two, who are accused of
violating Section 30 of the Criminal
Law and Codification Act, were not
asked to plead when they appeared before
Gwanda senior magistrate, Takudzwa
Gwazemba, on Wednesday last week.
The two senior officials
wanted to apply to have their case
referred to the Supreme Court for the
interpretation of the constitution in
relation to the charges laid against
them.
Nyathi and Sibanda, through their lawyer Thomson
Mabhikwa of
Mabhikwa, Likhwa & Nyathi Legal Practitioners, argue that
the section they
were charged under contravened Section 20 of the
constitution which
guarantees freedom of expression.
However, Gwazemba remanded the accused to December 6 to give
them time to
file their application challenging the constitutionality of the
charge
against them.
The state's case is led by Admire
Zvongouya.
The document the two are accused of distributing
in Gwanda is
entitled: A message to our armed forces, which was said to have
originated
in South Africa.
The state argues that the
subversive material was likely to
cause defections and dissatisfaction among
the members of the police and
army.
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
A RESERVE Bank
of Zimbabwe directive compelling banking
institutions to invest in bonds
tied up to the sizes of their balance sheets
has no basis at law, private
legal counsel to an unidentified financial
institution
indicated.
The counsel was given by Advocate Adrian de
Bourbon now based in
Cape Town.
The advice, a copy of
which was obtained by businessdigest this
week, was given to a local
commercial bank which sought legal opinion on the
central bank's order
forcing banks to invest part of their assets in the
five-year Financial
Sector Stabilisation Bonds and seven-year Economic
Stabilisation
Bonds.
The Economic Stabilisation Bond was suspended
following an
outcry by banks that take-up could throw financial institutions
into
bankruptcies, while the take-up threshold for Financial Sector
Stabilisation
Bonds was reduced over similar concerns.
The effect of the bonds was to lock up close to 90% of banking
institutions'
cash resources in long-term instruments, leaving them without
funds to
support short-term obligations.
Part of the money is locked
up in statutory reserves kept by the
central bank at zero
interest.
In his advice, advocate de Bourbon said there was
nothing in the
Banking Act that gave the governor powers to force banks to
invest their
money in the bonds.
"It is my view that
there is nothing in the Banking Act or the
regulations made in terms of that
Act which in any form regulates the
issuance of the bonds, or the directions
given by the governor as to the
holding of the bonds," said de
Bourbon.
He said the central bank did not have express
authority under
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act to force banks to take up
the bonds.
"The decision of the Reserve Bank is illegal in
the sense that
it is made without statutory power both with regard to the
creation of the
two types of the bonds and in relation to the mandatory
obligation imposed
on the financial institutions to convert a large
percentage of their assets
into bonds," said de Bourbon.
He said while the RBZ had a mandate to regulate financial
institutions and
fight inflation, this had to be done within the parameters
of the
law.
"It must be remembered that the Reserve Bank has a role
as a
regulatory authority, but its role in that regard is one strictly
stipulated
by the legislation, and it does not have executive powers outside
the
legislation," he said.
"In my view, no statutory
power exists to enable the Reserve
Bank to compel a financial institution to
convert 45% of its asset base
shown in its balance sheet into particular
instrument, no matter the
monetary policy motivation of such a decision,"
said de Bourbon.
He said while he acknowledged the role of
the RBZ in
implementing monetary policy, "it is nonetheless clear to me that
the powers
of the Reserve Bank in that regard are not
unlimited".
Advocate de Bourbon said there were strong
grounds for the banks
to challenge the RBZ's decision because the directive
was "grossly
unreasonable", warning that if implemented it would have a
negative impact
on the global ratings of financial institutions in the
country.
He said the banks could argue that the bonds could
lead to a
cash crunch that could force them to borrow from the central bank
at
punitive interest rates to finance short-term
obligations.
"With the recent increase in accommodation
rates, this will have
a significant impact on financial institutions, but
will undoubtedly benefit
the Reserve Bank as it will become a major
profit-making institution," de
Bourbon said.
He warned
that any legal challenge against the RBZ on the issue
should not be made by
a single financial institution since this would
provoke the wrath of central
bank governor Gideon Gono.
Zim Independent
Dumisani Ndlela
GLOBAL rating
agency, Global Credit Rating Company (GCR), has
placed Zimbabwe's financial
institutions on a rating watch and abandoned
short-term ratings due to a
highly volatile economic environment.
"All long-term ratings
have been placed on a rating watch due to
escalating volatility in the
Zimbabwean economy and the impact that this
will have on profitability
across the sector," GCR said in a note to
financial institutions under its
portfolio in Zimbabwe.
The Reserve Bank has made credit
ratings by international rating
firms compulsory for all financial
institutions following a liquidity crunch
that resulted in the closure or
placement under curatorship of at least 15
banking institutions since
2004.
The placement of a rating watch on financial
institutions'
long-term ratings means that GCR can call for a review of its
rating on a
financial institution more regularly than before, a GCR official
said from
the company's Johannesburg offices yesterday.
"This is standard practice under a volatile environment," said
Dave King,
speaking on telephone from South Africa.
Zimbabwe is
currently going through its worst economic crisis
characterised by runaway
inflation and food, fuel and foreign currency
shortages that have disrupted
normal economic activities in the country.
The ailing economy
has suffered a cumulative gross domestic
product decline of more than 30%
between 1999 and 2005.
This year, GDP is projected to decline
by 5,1%, and by a further
4,7% next year, according to International
Monetary Fund forecasts.
The IMF has also projected average
inflation of 4 278,8% in
2007, suggesting increased volatility that could
prompt more regular rating
reviews next year.
Inflation
is currently at 1 070% year-on-year for October and
will average 1 216% this
year, according to IMF projections.
GCR said the six-year
economic recession had subverted the
intermediation role of Zimbabwe's
banking institutions, with negative real
rates on deposits discouraging
savings while lending had been constrained by
the high credit risk posed by
the economy and the exorbitant credit costs
faced by a limited number of
creditworthy borrowers.
As a result, banking institutions had
shown a preference for
low-risk, high yielding government securities which
have enabled them to
maintain nominal levels of profitability.
Zim Independent
By Admire Mavolwane
THE budget
presentation is always an event to look forward to.
Not that we are
fascinated by the famous briefcase photograph. Neither are
we excited about
the budget proposals but of late the budget presentation
has come to be
about the only occasion when some reasonably recent
statistics on the
economy are made public.
However, a story carried by the
Herald of November 21, in which
the Minister of Finance is reported to have
admitted that line ministries
have not been submitting returns for the past
six years, does not make good
background reading for budget
day.
In essence, the Treasury knows only what the ministries
have
been allocated, but is not in the picture as to how much has been spent
and
how much, if any, has remained in the kitty.
He is
also in the dark as to what happens to the leftovers. In
short, the books
have never been balanced and the accounts/year-end
financials have not been
signed off for over half a decade. We are, in a
way, not going into the 2007
from a position of strength, house keeping
wise.
As a
recap, this is what the minister said in his half-year
fiscal policy
statement with regards to GDP growth and the budget deficit.
For the second half of 2006, $140 billion (revalued) was
expected to be
collected, against an expenditure target of $327,2 billion.
In other words,
he expected government to spend 2,3 times more than it would
have collected.
This means that the budget deficit for this period would be
$187,2
trillion.
By our calculations, the budget deficit for 2006
would have
amounted to 24% of GDP. Our figures excluded parastatal losses
and other
quasi-fiscal expenses, which have not been comprehensively
quantified as far
as we are aware, for a very long time. We will review the
2007 budget
proposals next week.
Moving away from the
budget, last week we made remarks about the
investment market's discomfiture
with the liberal and sometimes aggressive
application of accounting
standards IAS41 and IAS40.
The former set the guidelines for
the estimation of the value of
biological assets while the latter pertains
to the revaluation of physical
properties classified as investment
properties.
The difference in application is that the IAS41
is in the domain
of management and as long as the external auditors are
happy with the method
of estimation it can be applied. For investment
properties, professional
property valuers are roped in.
The issue that has come up with regards to IAS40 is that many in
the market
are of the view that the property revaluations are rather
excessive
especially when compared with the familiar bench marks; US Dollar
and the
CPI indices, both official and independent.
For example,
listed property entities Mash and Dawn in their
financials published
yesterday did push through their income statements,
property fair value
adjustments of over 4 000%.
By comparison, the year-on-year
CPI inflation for September 2006
was 1 023,3% and the parallel market
devaluation of the local unit of
approximately 2 000%.
It
is rather unfortunate that the CSO is no longer publishing
the building
materials index which would have acted as another crude
benchmark. Maybe at
some future occasion the Real Estate Institute of
Zimbabwe will organise a
workshop to educate the market about the
methodologies applied in arriving
at property values.
We now turn to the actual results. Mash's
turnover, which can be
appropriately termed rental income, went up by a
sub-inflation 858% to $200
million, mainly on account of the structure of
the lease agreements.
Strong performance in the "other
income" line item from $14
thousand to $30 million, outpaced both the growth
in cost of sales of 1 824%
to $43 million and the 805% growth in operating
expenses to $94 million.
This saw operating income before revaluations
increasing ten fold to $94
million.
Then came the
contentious 4 345% growth in the value of the
property portfolio to $35,8
billion, which saw a colossal $34,4 billion fair
value adjustment being
booked through the income statement.
Added to finance income
of $85 million and $640 million arising
from the fair value adjustment of
equities it greatly boosted the growth in
the bottom line. Attributable
earnings of $24,4 billion were, in the end,
realised meaning that Mash
shareholders are 4 974% wealthier than they were
in 2006.
Not to be outdone, for the six months to 30 September 2006 Dawn
also booked
in a huge fair value adjustment. Unlike Mash, though, rather
than use
external valuators the directors of Dawn did an internal valuation.
The
outcome was a $88,8 billion appreciation in the value of their
properties
with the same figure finding its way into the income
statement.
Revenues grew 35 times to $300 million, driven
mainly by the
commissions from the recently acquired CB Richard Ellis. Of
this amount,
rental income, which is tied to Zimsun's turnover, amounted to
$83 million.
Finance income of $17 million, coupled with
other adjustment
gains of $56 million, saw attributable earnings of $61
billion being
realised.
In the aftermath of the results,
the market seems to have
believed the numbers from Dawn, especially the
contribution of CB Richard
Ellis and buyers were keen to add the counter to
their portfolios.
Consequently, the price gained $2 to $40.
On the other hand, it
appears some investors were keen to exit Mash, with
the counter being
offered at $40.
Zim Independent
Pindai Dube
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is
training South
African Railways (SAR) train drivers ahead of that country's
2010 Soccer
World Cup, an official said this week.
The
NRZ initiative comes at a time when the parastatal, said by
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono to be among a few state-owned
enterprises
beginning to show life after huge capital injections by the
central bank in
the past two years, has been plagued by fatal train
accidents largely blamed
on antiquated railway equipment.
NRZ public relations
manager, Fanuel Masikati, told the
businessdigest this week that 28 SAR
train drivers were in the country for a
three-week training
programme.
"SAR approached us last month to train their
drivers and we
agreed to help them and as I speak, 28 drivers are already in
the country
for a three-week training course which started on November 20,"
said
Masikati.
He added: "As you know we have got the
best training centre,
experts and drivers in the Sadc region. SAR is doing
it in preparation for
the 2010 World Cup they are
hosting."
Masikati denied reports that the NRZ continued to
lose
experienced personnel to SAR due to poor working conditions and
salaries.
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
THE Reserve
Bank has not yet established the much-awaited
Exchange Rate Impact
Assessment Board (ERIAB), four months after central
bank governor Gideon
Gono announced plans to set up the institution.
ERIAB was
expected to regularly review the exchange rate in line
with
inflation.
The local currency has been under sustained
pressure due to
hyperinflation, currently at 1 070% year-on-year for
October.
Although the local currency has depreciated by an
average of 4%
against a basket of major trading partners' currencies since
August,
analysts said this was far from reflecting the fair value of the
currency
since a devaluation made in August.
ERIAB was
expected to monitor and review the exchange rate
monthly and make
recommendations to the Reserve Bank on the fair value rate
for the currency
on the foreign exchange market.
Gono devalued the local unit
by about 60% to $250 against the
benchmark US dollar from
$101.
Sources indicated that there was no talk within central
bank
corridors of any imminent establishment of the ERIAB, suggesting that
Gono
may have completely changed his mind on the issue.
"The issue has not been a subject of discussion ever since the
governor made
the announcement in July. He has not moved an inch in setting
up the board,"
a source said.
Sources said market players had lost
confidence in the monetary
policy in respect to the management of the
exchange rate given the
inconsistent and lukewarm approach to the issue by
Gono.
Recently, the Chamber of Mines wrote a letter on behalf
of gold
miners, saying the failure to depreciate the local unit on the
foreign
exchange market posed a serious threat to the profitability of gold
mining
operations.
The market had hoped that a
professional body would recommend
"significant monthly devaluation"
reflecting the hyperinflationary
environment in the
country.
A local financial institution said in a recent
commentary that
Zimbabwe's dollar "remained highly overvalued based on the
purchasing power
parity argument".
Analysts said the
purchasing power parity exchange rate should
be at $369 against the US
dollar. The parallel market, which reflects demand
and supply fundamentals
is trading the greenback at over $2 000.
Zim Independent
Pindai Dube
THE Consumer
Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) has attacked bakeries for
making expensive
confectionary products and ceasing production of bread many
have said is of
very poor quality. Trust Masarirambi, a CCZ spokesman, say
bakers were
flooding the market with a wide range of expensive
confectioneries in a bid
to evade bread price controls.
"We have since approached the
Ministry of Industry and
International Trade about the issue. But we hope
the negotiations between
bakers and government will come out positive," said
Masarirambi.
He accused bakeries of making super loaf and a
modified type of
half-loaf which costs between $500 to $600 and $260 to $280
respectively.
"We are not law-enforcement agents but we want
to urge bakers to
desist from this practice of making the so-called super
loaf and other
expensive confectioneries which are beyond the reach of
many," Masarirambi
said.
"They have all the reason to
bake it but we are appealing to
them to consider the fact that the majority
of consumers are ordinary people
who can't afford the
products."
Bakery officials said the industry faces collapse
due to a host
of problems, chief among them continued government price
controls which have
left them on the verge of
bankruptcies.
Bread is one of the many products whose prices
are controlled by
government. The regulated price for a loaf is currently
$295. The controls
have resulted in a shortage of bread or production of
poor quality bread
that can hardly be sliced.
Zim Independent
Dumisani Ndlela & Shame
Makoshori
ZIMBABWE'S national budget has the
characteristics of a soap
opera: an ongoing episodic work of fiction with
several plots running
concurrently, intersecting, and leading into further
developments.
But, while the twists in a soap opera make the
audience laugh,
or more expectant, the turns in Zimbabwe's national budget
leave
stakeholders in shock and awe, and, yes frighted of a gloomy
future.
Known for being unpredictable like fiction because of
policy
inconsistencies, Finance minister Herbert Murerwa last year promised
something many believed would have required some Houdini
magic.
"The major policy imperatives and priorities in
dealing with the
challenges (or national economic crisis) remain credibility
and consistency
of policies and their timeous implementation," Murerwa said
when he
presented the current national budget last year.
Indeed, Murerwa could get the kudos for a consistent budget
policy system
achieved over the years: as expected, he was back in
parliament end of July
with a shock supplementary budget three times bigger
than the principal
budget.
But Isaac Kwesu, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer in
the
graduate school of management, was blunt: "This is in itself a sign of
failure and it shows that the minister did not come up with proper forecasts
on inflation."
To many, this indicated the crisis of
credibility in Murerwa's
proposals, signaled early in the year by
accelerating inflation that had
topped the 1 000% mark by June, astounding
his forecast of declining
inflation during the year which he projected to
end 2006 at 80%.
"A lot of the promises, if not everything
that he promised, were
not achieved. For instance, expenditure levels did
not tally with targets.
That is the reason why he resorted to a
supplementary budget," said Kwesu.
Murerwa has come under
intense criticism for unfulfilled
promises, and recently took the flak from
stakeholders for a failed
privatisation programme.
In his
budget proposals, Murerwa said at least six parastatals
would be privatised.
None has so far been privatised and the current budget
has only a month of
its life left before another one for 2007.
"It will be
embarrassing that the minister will come back to the
people with the 2007
budget without accomplishing these promises," said
Karikoga Kaseke, chief
executive officer of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority,
during a stakeholders'
consultative meeting in Harare.
The International Monetary
Fund (IMF), whose mission is
scheduled to arrive in the country a few days
after Murerwa's 2007 budget
proposals, has said inflation will this year
average 1 216%, and 4 278,8% in
2007.
Gross domestic
product, projected by Murerwa to grow by 14% this
year, will, according to
IMF projections, decline by a further 5,1% this
year and by 4,7% in 2007
after contracting by a cumulative 30% in the past
five
years.
The civil service has not been streamlined as
promised, while
the civil service salary and wage bill, which Murerwa
promised to contain
within 30% of government expenditure, could now easily
constitute 50% of
government expenditure after unplanned salary hikes during
the year.
In his plea for a vote on a supplementary budget,
Murerwa had
told parliamentarians that rising inflation had translated into
operational
costs for government ministries and departments, resulting in
the need for
additional resources.
"There have also been
financing challenges that arise as a
result of new projects and programmes
outside the budget framework," Murerwa
said.He said new requests had
emanated from operational requirements of line
ministries and projects under
an economic revival project, the National
Economic Development Priority
Programme, whose results are not visible eight
months since
inception.
"The overall requests by line ministries,
departments and
grant-aided institutions for additional funding to support
recurrent and
capital expenditure as well as projects under the NEDPP, now
stand at $614
trillion ($614 billion under the new currency system). This is
against new
projected additional revenue of $140 trillion ($140 billion new
currency),
taking account of the higher nominal GDP of $840 trillion,"
Murerwa said.
Kwesu said Murerwa had promised to rein-in
profligate ministries
but all ministries spent their budgets within three
months and were rewarded
with new budgets.
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
ZIMBABWE is saddled with a current account deficit of US$543,3
million this
year as major sectors of the economy such as manufacturing,
mining,
agriculture and mining remain depressed. Presenting the 2007
national budget
yesterday, Finance minister Herbert Murerwa said the country's
balance of
payments (BOP) position continued to be under severe pressure,
against a
background of declining exports, absence of BOP support, lines of
credit and
foreign direct investment.
"Reflecting this, a current
account deficit of US$543,3 million
is projected in 2006 as both
manufacturing and mining performance remain
depressed," Murerwa
said.
Murerwa said the country was however committed to
honouring all
its external loan obligations, suggesting that the severe BOP
position
partly arose from sanctions imposed on the country by the European
Union and
the United States. This year, mining, manufacturing and
agricultural exports
were projected to decline by 0,2%, 10,5% and 6,3%,
respectively. The
under-performanced has resulted in an estimated decline of
6% this year.
"With agriculture and tourism still to fully
recover, their
contribution to export growth remains limited,"
said
Murerwa said imports, which increased marginally by 0,2%
last
year, driven by increased food, electricity, fuel and manufactured
imports,
were projected to decline by 1,6% this year against a background of
foreign
currency shortages.
"On the capital account, net
inflows amounting to US$298,4
million was envisaged. Foreign direct
investment into mining and some
parastatals under the Look East initiatives
are the major factors
contributing to the positive capital account balance,"
Murerwa said.
Due to the total external debt outstanding of
US$4,1 billion as
at October 31, external payment arrears stood at US$2,2
billion.
Zim Independent
Augustine Mukaro
IN a rare admission of failure to arrest
the economic slide,
Finance minister Herbert Murerwa yesterday told
parliament that the country
was under siege from lack of balance of payments
support, skyrocketing
inflation and under-performing agricultural
sector.
Presenting the 2007 national budget, Murerwa said it
was no
secret that the country faced a crisis characterised by lack of
balance of
payments support, lines of credit, foreign direct investment and
"deliberate
efforts to undermine our economic turnaround initiatives". He
blamed
sanctions by the West as one of the causes of current economic
decline.
Murerwa said the country faced a number of economic
challenges,
including ever-increasing prices, distortions in the pricing of
key
commodities and utilities, unemployment and rising poverty
levels.
Other woes include foreign exchange shortages, low
industrial
capacity utilisation, underutilised land, rising corruption in
both the
public and private sectors and deteriorating provision of basic
public
services.
Murerwa lamented the poor maintenance of
infrastructure,
inconsistent policy pronouncements, declining clarity over
the role and
accountability of the key institutions of government and
perceptions of lack
of commitment to effectively deal with the challenges
facing the economy.
"One of the consequences of the above
challenges is the
emergence of very large income disparities, with the
majority of the lowest
paid workers earning below the poverty datum line,"
Murerwa said.
"The deterioration in the welfare of our people
has seen their
capacity to access basic healthcare services, education,
housing and other
amenities collapse overnight under the prevailing
hyperinflationary
environment."
He said this was
happening at a time when a small proportion of
the population was
accumulating wealth, in part benefiting from the price
distortions arising
from some of the policies and facilities meant to
protect the very
poor.
"Regrettably, some of the wealth accumulation is a
direct
product of the prevailing indiscipline in our economy. We have
amongst the
citizens individuals benefiting from abuse of public resources
and thereby
contributing to unnecessary public expenditures and economic
hardships," he
said.
Zim Independent
Augustine Mukaro
GOVERNMENT has
no capacity to meet the total financing
requirements for the agricultural
sector.
Presenting the 2007 budget, Finance minister Herbert
Murerwa
told Parliament that government will continue to play its part, and
expects
greater involvement of the private sector including the banking
community to
fund the farming sector.
"Historically, the
banking community has funded the operations
of commercial farmers," Murerwa
said. "Under the auspices of the National
Economic Development Priority
Programme, the private sector is being
encouraged to go into the production
of their requirements of feedstock for
processing such as wheat and
soyabean. I would like to challenge the private
sector to fully participate
in this programme in the forthcoming season."
He said the
banking community had raised concern with security
of tenure as a major
factor limiting its capacity to support farmers.
"The
issuance of 99-year leases to some of the A2 farmers by His
Excellency the
president on November 9 2006 should allay these fears, and
introduce an
environment conducive for banking sector involvement in the
financing of
agriculture," Murerwa said.
He said the 99-year leases could
be registered with the Deeds
Office like title deeds, thereby enabling banks
to recoup their money from
the lessee or any other person to whom the lease
might be transferred. The
land, however, remains state property and can only
be transferred with the
consent of government.
"A1 model
farmers will also soon be assured of security of
tenure through the issuance
of usufruct permits, which give the legal right
to use and derive benefit
from state land," he said.
Murerwa said government will
monitor and review agricultural
producer prices, balancing this against
changes in costs of production and
reasonable rates of return for the
farmer. He said to attract and give
confidence to foreign investors,
government was fully committed to honouring
all its international
obligations under various protocols.
Zim Independent
Shame Makoshori
ZIMBABWE'S budget has bounced back to
trillions of dollars,
three months after the central bank removed three
zeros from the currency.
In August, the Reserve Bank slashed
three zeros from the
Zimbabwe dollar after computer systems crashed for
failing to handle
multi-digit transactions.
The decision
adjusted the 2006 expenditure from the original
$451 trillion to $451
billion but rampaging inflation has continued to fuel
money
supply.
Analysts have already said two zeroes are back on the
currency.
Presenting the 2007 national budget proposals in
parliament
yesterday, Finance minister Herbert Murerwa announced a $24
trillion budget
with a 17% deficit.
Real GDP growth was
however expected to remain at marginal
levels of about
1%.
Most sectors of the economy were expected to either grow
by
marginal levels or decline as a result of rampaging inflation and acute
foreign currency shortages.
One of the major driving
sectors of the economy, mining was
expected to grow by a marginal 4,9 %,
agriculture by 9,4 % while marginal
gains were expected in the key
manufacturing sector. The 2007 budget
translated to a growth of 5 313% over
2006's anticipated expenditure outturn
of $451 billion.
Driving the anticipated high expenditure were the Public Service
Commission
that was allocated $1,4 trillion for employment costs.
The
Ministry of Education, trapped in operational problems that
have seen many
schools failing to get books and other requirements, was
allocated $721
billion.
Agriculture's allocations were broken down as
follows:
agricultural research institutions, $44,6 billion, training $6,2
billion,
irrigation rehabilitation $33,8 billion, tobacco production $16,2
billion
while $14,2 billion was committed to the 2006/7 summer
crop.
Tourism was allocated $10 billion, with key emphasis on
the
development of infrastructure in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier
Park
while the Ministry of Health, reeling under a financial
crisis,
got $590 billion.
As per tradition, Murerwa
blamed the country's economic crisis
on sanctions that the west has imposed
on Zimbabwe for violating human
rights, lack of balance of payments support
and a culture of pillage that
has gripped Zimbabwe.
He
promised to implement strong disinflation programmes,
currently in four
digit levels, to bring it to between 350% and 400% by
December 2007 and
subsequently to under 10% by December 2008.
"Failure to
contain expenditures within the economy's financial
resource capacity would
entail higher inflation, compromising prospects for
economic recovery and
growth," Murerwa said.
"In order to achieve the inflation
targets in the budget
framework, it is imperative that greater focus be
placed on the containment
of monetary expansion, complemented by consistent
and mutually agreed
mechanisms of determining prices and incomes," he
said.
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
FINANCE
minister Herbert Murerwa insisted in his budget
statement yesterday that the
economy will grow despite the absence of the
key economic indicators and
policies to support his claims.
In his multi-trillion dollar
budget which analysts described as
a huge disappointment, Murerwa said he
expected the economy to grow by
between 0,5 to 1% next year. He said the
growth would be underpinned by
increased production in agriculture, mining
and tourism.
"This is due to the anticipated improved
performance in
agriculture and mining," said Murerwa.
However, judging by the trend in previous budgets, very few
people believe
Murerwa's forecasts.
His predictions came at the same time as
he was admitting that
his forecast last year that the economy would grow by
between 1-2% had
failed.
The economy declined by 2,5% in
2006 despite claims that it
would grow on the back of a 23% increase in
agricultural production. In 2005
the economy declined by
3,8%.
Murerwa said in his statement that the agriculture
sector would
grow by 9,4% due to the timely supply of inputs and prospects
of good rains.
"Against this background, and also taking
account of forecasts
by the Meteorological Department of a near-normal
rainfall season,
agricultural output is expected to register a growth of
9,4% in 2007," said
Murerwa.
This year the government was
forced to revise its growth target
twice. Presenting the budget last year,
Murerwa said the sector would grow
by 28%. He later backtracked during the
supplementary budget and revised the
target to 23%.
Yesterday Murerwa changed the projection again saying
agricultural
production would increase by 9,4%.
Analysts were sceptical of
his forecasts in the face of
perennial shortages of inputs and tillage
power.
Murerwa said the manufacturing sector would decline by
2% from
the 7% last year.
Indications are however that
the rate could be higher because of
the continued closure of companies in
the sector. This year alone more than
300 companies are reported to have
closed shop due to viability problems
caused by lack of raw materials and
foreign currency.
More than 30 exporting companies have
shutdown. Nearly 20% of
companies in the bakery industry have closed
down.
Analysts say the few companies that are still operating
are also
in danger of closing because of government policies like price
controls and
an unviable foreign currency regime.
Murerwa
had "good news" on the inflation front, saying it would
come down to levels
of 350-400% by December next year. This was despite the
fact that his
previous target dismally failed. For instance, his projection
of 230-250% by
end of this year is already wide of the mark with strong
indications that
inflation will end the year above 1 000%.
The new target on
inflation does not tally with those made in
the National Economic
Development Priority Programme (NEDPP) which he said
the budget would
support. Under NEDPP inflation was forecast to end the year
between
20-30%.
Murerwa also said the mining sector would rebound
from a 14%
decline expected this year to register a 4,9% growth next
year.
Zim Independent
By Renson Gasela
HOW fake
fertiliser was imported tells the nation, like no other
story, how state
institutions have all been collapsed under the Reserve Bank
of
Zimbabwe.
It is clear that the RBZ now runs everything
instead of
facilitating. We hear that they have imported combine
harversters, tractors,
ploughs etc. Who actually imported
these?
It was reported last week that the RBZ was going to
rehabilitate
agricultural equipment and farm machinery. Who is going to
select the
companies that will do the rehabilitation?
Let
me go back to the fertiliser. The unknown South African
company was given
the order in June to supply Compound D fertiliser because
we are told that
by June 30, the Chemistry & Soil Research Institute had
carried out
tests on the fertiliser, presumably samples. The company was
given an order
of US$45 million to supply the fertiliser.
We know that the
local fertiliser industry requires around the
same amount of foreign
currency to import raw materials to manufacture all
the fertilisers required
in the country. Although this allocation was done
in June, if this was made
to the local industry, at least they would have
been in full production half
the year and produced more than half the
country's
requirements.
The economic benefits of providing foreign
currency to enable
local industry to operate should really be in the
priorities of the monetary
authorities.
If it was
necessary that manufactured fertiliser be imported,
the correct thing would
be to go to tender, get samples tested by experts
and award the tender.
Resources should have been made available to either
the Grain Marketing
Board to import or to the local fertiliser companies.
It was
reported that a delegation of senior personnel from the
Ministry of
Agriculture and the GMB went to inspect the quality of
fertiliser. What do
those senior officials know about the chemical
composition of the fertiliser
other than looking at the composition as
written on the
bag?
If what was reported on ZimOnline that Agriculture
ministry's
permanent secretary Simon Pazvakavambwa in reply to a letter from
the RBZ on
November 7 stated that the ministry did not know the suppliers of
fertiliser
as they were known or selected by the RBZ is true, then this
country is
truly finished. Is it not the role of the RBZ to ensure
compliance? If it is
now the importer, who will dare challenge
it?
* Renson Gasela is MDC Secretary for Lands and
Agriculture.
Zim Independent
AS the world commemorated International Women
Human Rights
Defenders Day this week, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR) takes the
opportunity to highlight some of the hazards faced by such
activists in
their work to protect and promote human
rights.
From March to September this year, ZLHR represented
over 550
individual women human rights defenders charged with various
offences
ranging from obstruction of traffic to conduct conducive to public
disorder,
all in their attempt to petition local and national leadership on
social,
political and economic issues which continue to bedevil our country.
Not a
single successful prosecution of these women human rights defenders
has been
recorded since 2003 when ZLHR embarked on the human rights
defenders
project. This has confirmed our perception that laws are being
used in
Zimbabwe as a tool of persecution rather than of
prosecution.
The accounts of the arrests, harassment,
conditions of
detention, assaults and torture exemplify the typical
treatment meted out to
women human rights defenders in Zimbabwe when they
attempt to assert their
rights, and the culture of impunity and disrespect
by the law enforcement
agents for the fundamental rights of the people they
are obliged by law to
protect:
* On May 10 2003, 46 women
were arrested during a march to
commemorate Mothers' Day in Bulawayo. They
were detained at Bulawayo Central
and Nkulumane police stations. ZLHR
lawyers attended at both stations, but
were told that the Law and Order
Section at Bulawayo Central was closed and
nobody knew where the women were
being held. The lawyers were not allowed to
have sight of the detention book
and the duty inspector advised them to see
a senior police officer who was
equally unhelpful. To avoid spending the
night in custody and to buy their
freedom, the women were forced to pay
fines of contravening section 7 (b)
Miscellaneous Offence Act (MOA). The
fines were subsequently challenged in
court.
* On June 14 2004, 43 women, including some with
breastfeeding
babies, were arrested at a community hall in Bulawayo while
discussing
potential self-help projects. Legal advice had been sought and
provided to
the women to the effect that, in terms of the Public Order and
Security Act
(Posa), police notification was not required. The women were
detained
overnight at Bulawayo Central police station for contravening
section 24 of
Posa which criminalises the holding of public political
meetings without
notifying the regulating authority. They were released
after the magistrate
ruled that meetings such as the one in which the women
had participated were
exempted from notification.
*
Following the government's introduction of the
Non-Governmental
Organisations Bill which sought, among other things, to
criminalise human
rights work through the proscription of receipt of foreign
funding for such
activities, 50 women were arrested on October 5 2004 for
attempting to hand
over a petition to parliament against the promulgation of
the
Bill.
Among the arrested women were journalists who were
covering the
demonstration. The women were whisked to Harare Central police
station where
ZLHR lawyers were denied access to their clients and had to
sneak into the
holding cells under the guise of seeing another client. The
attempts were
unsuccessful, as lawyers failed to interview all their
clients. On the
morning of October 6 2004, lawyers succeeded in accessing
the women human
rights defenders who complained that the holding cells were
filthy and
overcrowded and that the police continuously harassed them
verbally and
physically.
The Officer-In-Charge admitted
during a meeting with the lawyers
that the charges were frivolous and would
not stand in a court of law but
refused to release the women. On the next
day, officers from the
Attorney-General's Office indicated that they were
prepared to prosecute the
women under section 19 and 24(1) of Posa. Bail for
the detainees was not
opposed. The accused appeared in court and were
granted free bail and
remanded to November 11 2004, on which date the
charges were withdrawn
before plea, confirming the use of Posa as a tool of
harassment and
repression.
* On March 31 2005, over 300
women gathered in Africa Unity
Square in Harare on the eve of the
parliamentary elections to pray for a
peaceful polling and post polling
environment. Around 1800 hours, the women
were arrested, and ZLHR lawyers
who were deployed to attend to them were
informed by the police that they
were not allowed access to their clients
until the next
morning.
The following day the lawyers reported to the police
station,
where it was established that over 265 women had been arrested and
were
occupying the backyard parking lot of the police station. The officer
commanding Police Internal Security Intelligence (PISI), Inspector Ndou,
indicated that they had arrested the women for allegedly contravening a
section of the Miscellaneous Offences Act (MOA) or the Road Traffic Act in
that they had blocked a thorough-fare or pavement.
The
police finally settled on charging them with contravening
section 3(2) of
the MOA which provides that any person who encumbers or
obstructs the free
passage along a street, road, thoroughfare, side walk or
pavement shall be
guilty of an offence liable to a fine or imprisonment for
a period not
exceeding three months.
The police were not keen to take the
women to court to answer to
the charges alleged. After much consultation
with the women the detainees
were forced into paying admission of guilt
fines in order to buy their
freedom. This position was agreed to by all the
women as they had been
subjected to cruel and inhuman conditions of
detention such as the use of
one toilet, sleeping in the open all night, and
also being assaulted by law
enforcement officers during arrest. Some of the
women were hospitalised and
treated for various injuries and complaints were
lodged in relation to their
ordeal with the police and in the police cells.
A fine of $25 000 was agreed
for each of the 265 women but later
successfully challenged the payment of
the fines in
court.
* On May 4, members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(Woza) staged
a demonstration in Bulawayo protesting against the exorbitant
increase in
tuition fees for primary, secondary and tertiary institutions.
Over 166
people were arrested including 77 school children who were released
on the
same day.
The activists were detained at different
police stations in and
around Bulawayo - Bulawayo Central, Queenspark,
Mzilikazi, Hillside,
Donnington and Sauerstown. The recording of warned and
cautioned statements
only began on May 6 after the detainees had already
spent two days in
detention. The docket was taken to the Public Prosecutor
on May 8, but he
declined to prosecute and ordered the detainees to be
immediately released.
The police had intended to charge the
women human rights
defenders with contravening section 7C of the MOA which
relates to any act
that is likely to lead to a breach of the peace or to
create a nuisance or
obstruction. The women reported death threats by police
officers against the
leadership of the women's group, and ZLHR lawyers were
forced to deliver a
formal letter of complaint to the police with a request
to launch an
investigation into the alleged death threats;
and
* On September 11, 107 Woza members were arrested during
a march
to Town House. The women had been carrying objection letters and
placards
with them to Town House demanding better service delivery in
Harare, more
affordable rates and the dissolution of the illegal commission
currently
running the city of Harare. The women were met at the entrance to
Town House
by police and were arrested. Five police trucks ferried those
arrested to
Harare Central police station where they were separated and
taken to six
different police stations in Harare - Braeside, Mbare, Glen
Norah,
Highlands, Chitungwiza and Harare Central in an effort to frustrate
the
efforts of their lawyers in securing their release.
Some of the women were tortured during detention and a pregnant
woman among
those arrested went into labour and was rushed to Parirenyatwa
Hospital
where she later gave birth. Fifty-six women required medical
treatment for
bruises and skin diseases and upper respiratory tract disorder
which they
acquired in detention. Many exhibited signs of mental distress.
They were
charged under the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act),
which was
immediately challenged as unconstitutional.
These cases
handled by lawyers and members of ZLHR provide a
shocking picture of the
operating environment for women human rights
defenders in Zimbabwe and the
abuse to which they are consistently
subjected. ZLHR is appalled at the
comprehensive and systematic desecration
of human rights accorded to human
beings in general and women in particular.
There has been an overt
intensification of repression by key state actors
against women human rights
defenders over the last few years. This growing
tendency to restrict
political and social space has been consolidated with
startling impunity,
selective application of the law, and the continued
promulgation of laws
which inhibit the enjoyment, promotion and protection
of fundamental rights
by women human rights defenders.
Further, the existence of
conservative and fundamentalist
prejudices as embedded in traditional views
alongside general human rights
aspirations has meant that women human rights
defenders have led a war on
two fronts, the national and the domestic. With
such convenient excuses as
"national security" and "culture", a vicious and
voracious clampdown on such
defenders has been perpetrated by both state and
non-state actors.
Zim Independent
News Editor's Memo
MINISTER of
State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and
Anti-Corruption Paul Mangwana made
headline-grabbing remarks at the weekend
in the press when he claimed
corruption allegations against top government
officials in the Ziscosteel
scandal were "red-herring cases".
Speaking head-in-the-clouds
in the Herald, Mangwana said it was
irrelevant that government officials had
allegedly abused public funds on
extravagant hotels bookings, air tickets,
food and drinks, and entertainment
allowances on missions that had nothing
to do with Zisco.
Mangwana said reporting accusations against
his government
colleagues meant people's attention would be shifted away
from the "correct
focus". He also suggested that exposing them for graft was
"scoring cheap
political points". The media, he said, should focus on the
activities of
Zisco managers, not those of the ministers. It was indeed a
dramatic
performance by him.
This means Mangwana is not
concerned about political corruption,
an abuse by government officials of
their office for illegitimate, private
gain. The end-point of political
corruption is a kleptocracy, literally
"rule by thieves".
Here we are with a minister of "Anti-corruption", currently also
acting as
Information minister, describing very serious allegations of
corruption as
"red-herrings" and exposing graft as "scoring cheap political
points". This
is the same minister who in September told us in an interview:
"Very soon we
will take action and police will arrest those involved in
corruption at
Ziscosteel."
Can the minister tell us who has so far been
arrested in
connection with Zisco? Will there ever be a probe into the issue
when he
describes pillaging of public funds and key leads into possibly
deep-rooted
corruption as non-issues?
To dramatise his
antics, Mangwana at one time in September told
the Voice of America that he
would not discuss the NECI report on Zisco
because it was a "state security
document".
How does a report which exposes corruption and
abuse of public
funds become a state secret? Is hiding blatant corruption in
the interest of
state security in Mangwana's view?
Is
that what he wants to tell taxpayers and investors when
explaining
government policy on corruption?
Besides that, it would be
interesting to know why Mangwana is
speaking on behalf of the
Anti-Corruption Commission - which is a statutory
body established in terms
of the constitution - when it actually has its own
staff and
chairman.
Everytime he does this he actually undermines the
commission
because it is supposed to be an independent constitutional body
that
discharges its functions without interference from him or anybody for
that
matter.
The commission is empowered under the
Anti-Corruption Commission
Act to "combat corruption, theft,
misappropriation, abuse of power and other
improprieties on the conduct of
affairs in both the public and private
sectors". It also has the mandate to
exercise its powers concurrently with
those of the police, meaning it is
authorised, working with police, the
courts and the Attorney-General's
Office, to raid premises, search and seize
documents in its normal course of
duty.
The commission can do this on its own initiative,
according to
the law. So why is Mangwana pretending to be its CEO and
spokesman?
Mangwana's role, in terms of the law, is largely
administrative.
He is only supposed to receive reports from the commission
and then to
report to parliament. He is also expected to deal with the
regulation,
funding and staffing of the commission, not its investigations
and the
contents of its reports.
In the end what Mangwana
has been doing posturing as a
ministerial investigator under the
Anti-Corruption Commission may very well
have been
illegal.
By the way, what does Mangwana understand by
corruption? Our
understanding is that corruption is a general concept
describing any abuse
of public or private office, position or trust for
personal gain and other
illegitimate forms of
self-enrichment.
There are different forms of corruption,
including rent-seeking
which is the process where an individual or
organisation seeks to benefit
through manipulation of the economic
environment, rather than through trade
and production. There is cronyism,
nepotism, patronage, extortion, bribery,
embezzlement, money laundering,
drug trafficking, and organsied crime. Most
of these flourish in Zimbabwe
today.
Effects of corruption on politics, public
administration, and
institutions are very critical. Corruption undermines
democracy and good
governance by flouting or even subverting formal
processes.
It also thwarts development because it causes
considerable
economic distortions and inefficiencies. Economists argue that
one of the
factors behind the underdevelopment of Africa and Asia, apart
from current
global dynamics and historical circumstances, is corruption.
This claim is
given credence by Mangwana's virtual defence of corrupt
activities as he did
on Saturday.
Zim Independent
Muckraker
GOVERNMENT wins
fees battle," proclaimed the Herald ecstatically
last Friday. The story was
in response to a High Court ruling against the
Association of Trust Schools
who sought the court's intervention to increase
school fees after government
said they could not.
The judge ruled that the trust schools
had not exhausted all the
relevant channels before seeking the intervention
of the court. She said the
Trust should follow the Education Act, according
to which if schools are
denied the right to increase fees by the Secretary
for Education, they can
still appeal to the minister.
The
court ruled therefore that it could not "usurp" the powers
of the minister.
Fortunately that's about as far as the government's victory
goes. The court
ruling does not absolve government of blame for the problems
that have
caused the need for constant fee reviews amid an unstable
macroeconomic
environment. That victory can only be temporary and the war is
far from over
following this week's Supreme Court appeal.
In a similar
vein, on Monday there was a report that child and
maternity mortality rates
had gone astronomical. This, said Health and Child
Welfare minister Dr David
Parirenyaywa, was a result of prohibitive service
fees at hospitals,
shortage of equipment, drugs and skilled personnel.
Parirenyatwa revealed that the maternity mortality ratio had
spiralled from
283 deaths per 100 000 live births in 1994 to 695 deaths per
100 000 by
1999. This represents a shocking increase of nearly 145%
mortality rate in a
space of five years. Even then, Parirenyatwa said the
2002 census indicated
that the rate had "risen tremendously", implying that
the 145% was a
conservative estimate.
Other media reports show that at the
national level, the life
expectancy for a Zimbabwean man has plummeted to 37
years while that for a
woman is down to 34 during the same
period.
These figures trash any claims of a reduction in HIV
infection
rates from about 24,6% to 18%. You also need to be utterly
heartless to
maintain the illusion that the land reform has been a tool of
empowerment
when close to 70% of the poor are dying like flies because they
cannot
afford basic treatment. Which is where a leader who cares for his
people
should show his mettle.
Incidentally, what has
become of the witchdoctors who were
touted as an alternative to the
collapsing health system?
These figures should give Zanu
PF chairman John Nkomo moments of
sober reflection following his ebullient
interview in which he said politics
had become for him a cancer that could
not be cured.
Nkomo told journalists at the Bulawayo Press
Club that for him
there was no half-way house. He was ready to run for the
president's post
once he was chosen by the people, he
said.
What we liked about his comments is that he didn't need
to
apologise for his ambition, which is often treated as if it were a crime
to
want to be president of the country.
He was however
less convincing in his claims that before
quitting politics one must make
sure those taking over would not waver. He
said the current leadership had
invested a lot in getting the country to
where it is, adding: "We do not
want to hand over the baton to people who
later divert (deviate?) from the
proper path."
Millions of Zimbabweans who have been
pauperised by government's
inept policies are in fact itching for a change
of "path". They missed the
golden era that majority rule promised as
Parirenyatwa's revelations
demonstrate.
There were
reports of a frenzied scramble last week for farm
equipment imported by the
Reserve Bank. The Herald reported that the usual
gang of "influential"
people was already throwing their weight about to make
sure they grabbed the
bigger portion of the cake.
This would not be tolerated,
warned Reserve Bank governor Gideon
Gono when told of Ali Baba's 40 thieves
milling around the equipment at Nijo
farm, 20km northeast of
Harare.
"It would definitely be a tragedy if this equipment
gets
misdirected to benefit a few prominent members of society, more so if
they
are people who have already benefited from other past programmes or
those
who have the means to buy the equipment from their own resources,"
lamented
Gono.
The aura of de javu is overwhelming. It is
very likely that it's
the same gang that seized the best farms, the best
farmhouses, the best
irrigation equipment and the best vehicles during the
land invasions that
now wants to be the first to get more free equipment for
their relatives and
multiple spouses. They have been so accustomed to
getting everything for
free from government, it's a miracle that they still
buy themselves
underwear.
One can only hope that the
screening procedure will be tighter
this time around.
We
liked the fact that the Herald had its eyes and ears open to
respond timely
to the din of the stampeding thieves before the equipment was
looted
Zisco-style. It's a pity Nathaniel Manheru thinks anyone who exposes
corruption is out to discredit President Mugabe as head of a "rotten
administration". And Anti-Corruption minister Paul Mangwana calls all such
exposes "red herrings". It tells you all you need to know about government's
commitment to fighting the scourge.
Then there was an
angry little piece in the Herald about the
African Leadership Prize
sponsored by Mo Ibrahim, a tycoon from Sudan. He
proposes to give prize
money to African leaders for two major objectives:
firstly, that they try to
do well in their political positions, secondly
that they appreciate that
there is virtue in leaving office at the height of
one's
popularity.
The Herald writer said the prize money was "an
insult". Which it
would be if the leaders' conduct did not invite ridicule,
but he imputes
wrong motives.
"The award," the angry
author wrote piously, "is rooted in the
white supremacist doctrine that
Africans are little children who should be
rewarded for being good Africans
like students who are given prizes during
speech and prize-giving
days."
This is a case of a badly mixed metaphor. Prize-giving
competitions are neither white nor supremacist but are meant to groom
students to be good citizens. It is therefore demeaning to claim those
school occasions are bad for the students.
The real
tragedy of African leaders is that having been taught
how to be good
citizens as students, they fail so badly as adults in
politics that somebody
has to find it necessary to cajole them with money
just to do well and to
induce them to leave office.
One hopes that the Herald writer
has heard about the Nobel Peace
prize, the Pulitzer Prize for Literature,
the Noma Award and even the CNN
African Journalist of the Year Award to know
that there is nothing white or
supremacist about promoting and rewarding
talent.
We know if the Nobel committee, sitting in Stockholm,
had
awarded Mugabe the Nobel prize for revolutionary leadership in Africa,
there
would be wild celebrations in official circles that he had been
vindicated
"for his principled stand on the land issue".
The writer has forgotten how his paper feted GMB boss Samuel
Muvhuti's
dubious leadership award received in Spain earlier in the
year.
The disgraceful conduct of our leaders is father to Mo
Ibrahim's
prize. It is anguished desperation for a self-respecting,
principled
leadership. Rather than the prize, it is the leaders who refuse
to grow up
who constitute an insult to the African
personality.
There was an interesting story on Tuesday
titled "Sadc resists
EU pressure on Zimbabwe" in the Herald. The resistance
being celebrated was
that the European Union had "failed to resolve the
situation in Zimbabwe"
and wanted Sadc to help, but the latter had refused
to interfere in our
internal affairs.
The Zimbabwean
delegation to the joint EU-ACP parliamentary
assembly in Barbados was led by
Masvingo South MP Walter Muzembi who brought
us the good news of Sadc's
resistance.
The head of the Namibian delegation cheekily
asked if the EU
would fund his country's land reform programme in exchange
for help in
resolving Zimbabwe's simmering crisis.
This
"insult" was rejected, to which he responded: "Therefore
for us in Africa we
feel that we cannot assist you (EU) in resolving the
situation in Zimbabwe
because of the same reasons you are refusing to fund
the land reform
programme in Namibia."
What are we supposed to make of this
posturing? First, it is the
first time Namibia has acknowledged that there
is a situation that needs to
be resolved in Zimbabwe. Second, it is the
first time we have been told they
have a magical solution to that
situation.
As for Zimbabwe, it's hard to see how the position
adopted by
Sadc helps our cause when the same neighbours are themselves
doing roaring
business with the EU. What's a sauce for the goose should a
sauce for the
gander isn't it?
Ironically, the same
edition of the Herald led with a story on
police arresting 2 189 Zimbabwean
"border jumpers" between November 13 and
25 alone trying to cross the
Limpopo River. No need to say which direction
they were heading, which makes
it a Sadc problem more than an EU one. Mind
you these figures don't include
the hundreds who are deported from South
Africa and Botswana every
week.
How this national humiliation can be turned into a
victory
against the EU boggles the mind.
Manheru this
week promised to give us a few lessons in future
about packaging news. He is
most welcome.
Meanwhile, we are getting a few advance notes
from the Herald
while we wait for his scholarly input. On their page 5 on
Wednesday they led
with a story in which an exuberant Ignatious Chombo said
he was "impressed
by the calm" at Town House. Harare had turned around in
terms of service
delivery and all the squabbles had ended, he enthused. All
that was needed
was to maintain the momentum, he told council employees whom
he said
deserved residential stands for sterling
performance.
Then came the killer punch: "Cde Chombo
commended the acting
director of waste management Mr Leslie Gwindi for
keeping the city clean,"
the Herald intoned dutifully.
Directly opposite Gwindi's head on page 4 was a huge picture
whose caption
read: "Time bomb . A Dzivaresekwa man walks past a heap of
garbage which has
made this road impassable by motorists. The disposal of
garbage in street
corners, which is common in most parts of Harare, poses a
health hazard to
residents."
To Manheru we say charity begins at home. We can
safely tell
Chombo he is talking garbage.
Last week
the Herald reported that South Africa had relaxed
stringent visa
requirements for Zimbabweans. This falsehood was denied
before the week was
out. This week it claimed the Chinese were waiting in
the wings to pour US$3
billion into troubled Ziscosteel. Again, before the
week was out it was
vehemently denied by the Chinese.
"There is nothing like
that," said Metallurgical Corporation of
China in an interview with Reuter
news agency. Is there a conspiracy here to
expose the Herald for what it
truly is - a conveyor belt of lies and
propaganda?
Still
undaunted, the paper on Tuesday claimed Thompson Tsodzo
was permanent
secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education!
Luckily for
them, when such things happen Tafataona Mahoso
conveniently goes deaf and
mute. Perhaps all Herald stories should end with
a caveat for readers:
"Believe this story at own risk."
Zim Independent
Eric Bloch Column
By Eric Bloch
IT
is a natural trait for most always to desire more. When life
is good, they
wish it better, and when it's bad, they wish it good. And that
is
particularly so when an economy is in great distress, resulting in
hardships
for almost all, and extreme poverty, misery and life-endangerment
for
many.
So great has become Zimbabwe's economic oppression that
even the
desire for positive change has been suppressed among many of the
population
who, having experienced an ever greater decline over almost 10
years,
believe that poverty is now endemic and cannot be reversed, but can
only
intensify.
Nevertheless, some remain with eternal
hope and expectation,
aware that ever since creation there has always been
evolution and change,
albeit sometimes inordinately
slowly.
In Zimbabwe, that hope and expectation has been
particularly
pronounced ahead of the annual budget statement in recent years
because the
state of the economy has been so horrendous that the yearning
for change has
intensified exponentially, and there is deep-seated belief
that the budget
is potentially the greatest catalyst for such
change.
Imagine the nationwide joy and excitement that would
have
characterised hearing the Minister of Finance, Herbert Murerwa
delivering
his budget statement yesterday, had he said instead of that which
he did
say: "Albeit belatedly, government has recognised that the dismal
economic
circumstances afflicting Zimbabwe were not, as it has been believed
until
now, occasioned by Tony Blair, George Bush, the European Union,
sanctions
(illegal or otherwise), white farmers, industrialists, retailers,
the
political opposition, or the independent media. Government has now
realised
that, in fact, it has been its own policies, its policy
inconsistencies, and
its blatant disregard for well-intentioned sound
advice, that has caused the
cataclysmic collapse of the
economy!
"And, believe it or not, as government's
second-greatest wish is
to achieve well-being for all, it is determined upon
achieving essential
change, even if transformation requires diametrically
different policies
than heretofore (of course, government's greatest wish is
to survive, in
power, intact and free, with unhindered power and
wealth!).
"Therefore, your government has devised new
economic policies,
which it is going to implement forthwith, determinedly
and dynamically,
bringing about the greatly overdue metamorphosis. Key to
those polices are:
* Immediately, government is going to
deregulate the economy,
allowing it to be driven by market forces, which
have been recurrently
proven, in every one of the world's successful
economies, to be the only
forces that actually work. Hereinafter, government
will only regulate the
economy to the extent necessary for national security
(such as control on
the production of nuclear weapons!), for national
health, and for the
preservation of national moral well-being. In all other
respects, the
economy will drive itself, steered by its operators, save that
in order that
there will be a sufficiency of market forces, government will
vigorously
stimulate and incentivise competition;
* As it
is critical that government lives within its means, and
thereby not be the
trigger of ongoing, soaring hyperinflation, it has
decided that it must
immediately cut its spending, which has been grossly
excessive, and often
misdirected, for many years, and that that cut must be
of very great
substance. This is to be achieved in many ways. First and
foremost, it is
time that we recognise that the only war in which Zimbabwe
is engaged is an
economic one, and therefore we do not need the continuing
gargantuan defence
expenditures to which we have resorted for years.
Forthwith, we will not
purchase any further fighter aircraft, which fulfill
no purposes other than
image-building, prestige and self-edification, mainly
by use in dramatic
fly-pasts on national occasions. Moreover, we will sell
some of those that
we already have. In like vein, we will cutback heavily on
other equipment
and ordnance purchases. And, progressively, through natural
attrition, we
will reduce the numbers in the armed forces;
* Moreover, in
order to win one of the economic battles, we will
use our capable forces on
economically constructive infrastructural
development, desolated land
reclamation, and the like;
* Government has become aware that
much of its expenditure is as
a result of massively widespread corruption,
involving the misuse of state
assets, misappropriation of state services,
inflated prices on governmental
procurement, and numerous similar actions.
With immediate effect, government
will cease talking about containing
corruption, and will now energetically
fight it at all levels, without fear
or favour, and unhindered. Prosecutions
and dismissals will become the order
of the day;
* Further, to reduce the costs of government, His
Excellency the
president has agreed that the size of government be
considerably reduced,
with the number of ministers and deputy ministers
being halved forthwith,
and a corresponding reduction in the behemoth
infrastructures of the
ministries. In addition, only those with requisite
skills and willingness to
use them constructively will be accorded
ministerial office. Others,
irrespective of how well they may be politically
connected, will not be
active in the transformed government which is to
restore Zimbabwe's economic
fortunes;
* Hand in hand with
the cost-reduction measures, government is
determined that from now on the
long underpaid public service should be
properly remunerated on a
market-related basis but doing so shall be
directly inter-related with the
civil servants giving market-related
services. Salaries will be aligned with
the private sector, both as to
quantum and as to performance. Those that do
not perform will forfeit their
employment and that, combined with natural
attrition, will soon markedly
reduce the gargantuan size of the public
service;
* With the further intent of substantial expenditure
reduction,
international and regional travel by persons at all levels of
government is
to be rigidly curbed. Not only will travel be stringently
contained to the
absolute essential, instead of prestige building and
self-enjoyment, but the
sizes of delegations will be markedly reduced, and
all travel will be on
commercial airlines, instead of chartered, exclusive
flights.
* Government has long talked of total or partial
privatisation
of parastatals and their alignment with appropriate strategic
partners. With
a few exceptions, government has resorted only to talk, and
not action,
resulting in economically destructive parastatal inefficiencies
and
incompetencies, and even more fiscal burdens upon the state. It is time
-
nay, it is overdue - for action instead of talk. Government has therefore
decided to privatise the parastatals by immediately handing over to leading
private sector business, financial and management consultants, the mandates
to restructure and dispose of parastatals, in whole or in
part;
* However, of the few costs which government must allow
increase, one is the cost of tax collection. Progressively, the state has
abdicated responsibility of gathering - in taxes to the private sector. It
is that sector that now collects employment-related income tax, through
PAYE, collects VAT, withholds taxes on dividends, interest, various payments
to non-residents, transactions with parties without Tax Clearance (ITF263)
and much else. The private sector not only does so without recompense, but
also is subject to punitive penalties and interest when in default. And the
costs to the private sector as governmental tax-collectors are great, with
consequential negative economic repercussions. Hereinafter, in recognition
that the labourer is worthy of his hire, the private sector will be fairly
compensated;
Of course, such a budget speech was, and is,
naught but wishful
thinking!
Zim Independent
Comment
THERE is very little reason
for us to believe officious
announcements on Zimbabwe's diplomatic victories
or investment deals sealed
following President Mugabe's foreign currency
guzzling trips to the East.
As direct foreign investors
continue to thumb their noses at
Zimbabwe's wretched economic policies, our
rulers have resorted to inventing
funny little stories of gargantuan
investment deals purportedly sealed with
investors from newly-found friends
in China, Russia and of late Iran.
There is also official
adulation over supposed diplomatic
victories by Zimbabwe over its foes in
the West and in the region. Two key
events over the last seven days have
helped to expose government's infantile
plans.
Last
Friday, the official media screamed that South Africa had
scrapped stringent
visa requirements on Zimbabwe. The celebratory tone of
the story appeared to
suggest that South Africa had acquiesced to a
diplomatic onslaught by
Zimbabwe to liberalise the visa regime.
The story turned out
to be a BIG lie because there has not been
such an undertaking from Tshwane.
The South African government had to run
press adverts to correct this
deliberate disinformation.
Then on Monday, another parcel of
state disinformation came out
in the form of a story that suggested that
Metallurgical Corporation of
China (MCC) was taking a US$ 3 billion at the
corruption-peppered
Ziscosteel. In a bid to convince a generally sceptical
populace, Zimbabwe's
ambassador to China Chris Mutsvangwa talked of Zisco
regaining "its status
as the biggest steel manufacturer in Africa south of
the Sahara".
MCC was quick off the blocks the next day to
tell the world
through news agencies: "There's no such thing. We haven't bid
for it at
all."
It was another BIG lie and an
embarrassing one for government as
the confutation came from a supposed
close friend.
This kindergarten exercise of building castles
in the air is
being perfected into an art-form in a bid to bribe our
conscience that the
economy is about to turn the corner as a result of
diplomatic victories and
investment in mining and power
generation.
The denial by the Chinese that they were taking a
60% stake in
Zisco is a key event which casts doubt on the truthfulness of
other
announcements by government that it had secured
investment.
The denial also raises questions about the value
to the country
of President Mugabe and his huge delegations' trips in search
of investment.
They have very little to show for it. What is apparent is a
well-beaten path
leading to a morgue of failed deals predating the current
phase of the Look
East thrust in which the Chinese have been elevated to the
pedestal of
messiah.
We recall that the initial phase of
the Look East policy had
Malaysia and Indonesia featuring prominently and
how the experience of the
Asian Tigers was perceived to be the panacea to
our problems. Don't we
recall businessman Enoch Kamushinda's plans to
establish electronic
factories in Harare with the help of Malaysian
investors? We have still not
been told what became of plans which "were at
an advanced stage" four years
ago.
Can President Mugabe
and his delegations to Malaysia justify the
foreign currency spent in hiring
planes and staying at expensive holiday
resorts in the
East?
The same drama is being replayed but with China having
now
replaced Malaysia as the flavour of the month. The Big lie concept is
still
being employed religiously.
Vice-President Joice
Mujuru came back from China in August to
announce that Zimbabwe had signed a
US$1,3 billion energy deal with that
country. The deal involved the
exploitation of coal in Dande and the
establishment of thermal power plants
in the area. This was another flight
into fantasy.
Had
the MCC not responded quickly to clarify the status of the
Ziscosteel deal,
our government could have added this dud agreement onto the
list of
achievements of the National Economic Development Priority Programme
(NEDPP). There is now every reason to believe that the NEDPP is premised on
imaginary deals in the mould of failed Malaysian tie-ups.
But our government continues to be blind to the basic fact that
there is no
substitute for prudent economic policies and the rule of law
when it comes
to attracting investment.
Our rulers would rather resort to
fiction.
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
By Joram
Nyathi
BUT we said: "Why, won't you send troops, British
troops?" He
said, word for word: "Ah, because the British public would not
stand for
it."
We said: "Kith and kin
issue?"
He said: "Well, you know what happened when the Suez
War was
fought, and this was by the Conservatives, the British public was
against
it."
But we said: "No, we are not here
negotiating with the British
public, we are negotiating with the government,
and it is government action
we want."
The "we" was
President Robert Mugabe in a 2002 interview with
editor of New African
magazine Baffour Ankomah. The occasion in question was
a meeting in October
1965 between members of the newly-formed Zanu and
British prime minister
Harold Wilson to discuss whether the British
government would send troops to
stop Ian Smith's plans for UDI. Wilson said
the threat of an oil embargo
against Rhodesia would do the trick. It didn't.
More importantly, he said
the British public was against the use of force.
When
President Mugabe recently said the Lancaster House
constitution was
homegrown, that it was "sacrosanct" even, I was not just
shocked but
expected spirited objections from politicians and opposition
parties
currently lobbying for a "homegrown" basic law. I expected NCA
leader
Lovemore Madhuku to lead the protest, given his crusade for such a
new
constitution.
Not in Zimbabwe where selfishness and greedy
self-enrichment
have become pastimes.
What intrigued me
most about the Ankomah interview was a trait
that has become a hallmark of
Mugabe's - his brazen contempt for what Wilson
calls "the public" and Mugabe
calls "our people". Back then in 1965 Mugabe
couldn't understand why the
British government should bother itself about
public opinion in sending
troops to Rhodesia. Wilson as prime minister was
supposed to make a
unilateral decision regardless of the amorphous creature
called "the
public".
That attitude has not changed a bit if one considers
how
Zimbabwe found itself fighting a costly foreign war in the DRC in 1998
without parliamentary approval. It was the same with the payouts to war
veterans without a budgetary allocation in 1997. In a similar vein, he said
he let the war veterans break the law during the land invasions to spite
Wilson who had refused to use the British army against Smith. At least
George W Bush and Tony Blair had to produce "sexed up" reports to sway
public opinion and the people's representatives in favour of the Afghan and
Iraqi invasions.
Mugabe was furious when the bishops who
produced the Zimbabwe We
Want document said the Lancaster House constitution
was not homegrown. They
said the constitution did not represent the consent
of the people. Their
reasoning was that those who participated in the
Lancaster House
negotiations did so on behalf of "the people" but they were
not elected
representatives. But Mugabe was there and he believes he is "our
people".
People should not be consulted.
Nobody disputes
the crucial role played by war veterans and our
leaders in the liberation of
this country. Each one of them made sacrifices
either as a group and
severally for a better Zimbabwe. Each one of them left
the country when the
call to national duty could not be resisted. It was a
dangerous plunge into
an uncertain future. Many have not been accounted for
to this day, hence the
symbolic significance of the Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier at the National
Heroes Acre.
But to then claim that a homegrown constitution
could be cobbled
together in the musty halls of Lancaster House in England
is to stretch the
metaphor of representation beyond belief. That up to 18
amendments have had
to be made to that document since 1980 bears enough
testimony to the
inadequacies of the negotiation process, and those defects
reflect the power
imbalances between those involved and the compromises that
had to be made
for the sake of progress and to hasten majority
rule.
More fundamentally, to say the Lancaster House
constitution is
homegrown is to suggest that government sometimes plays
frivolous games like
setting up the 1999 Constitutional Commission and
conducting a costly
referendum in February 2000. It is to trash the votes of
thousands of
Zimbabweans, chiefly war veterans and other Zanu PF supporters,
whom
government persuaded to vote for its draft
constitution.
The truth about Mugabe's umbrage is that a new
constitution
would trim the powers of the president or even reduce his
office to a
ceremonial one in favour of an executive prime minister. It's
nothing to do
with speeding up decision-making, otherwise we would not have
reverted to a
bicameral system of parliament.
Second but
equally important, a new constitution would strip
Muagbe of the power to
appoint 18 unelected parliamentarians who give him
the same advantage as the
20 reserved seats for whites in the original
Lancaster House constitution.
He can't conceive of a future beyond himself.
Double-standards. Or am I
raising the moral bar too high for an African
government!
The point I am making is simple: Is it democratic that a few
individuals
fighting an independence war outside the country can thereafter
return to
foist a constitution on the nation without putting it to a
referendum, and
then declare it non-negotiable? Can that same constitution
equitably and
adequately address the traumatic experiences caused by the
need to change
property relations in the upheaval of the current land
reform? What are the
views of constitutional experts on Mugabe's claims?
Secondly,
what exactly was Mugabe referring to by "sacrosanct"
and "non-negotiable"?
Was it the constitution or Zimbabwe's sovereign right?
How far
constitutional is it that a head of state can foreclose debate on
any issue
of national significance?
Then there is the opposition's
response to the National Vision
document. Arthur Mutambara says it lacks
"economic vision" while Morgan
Tsvangirai says everything depends on Mugabe
and Zanu PF reforming
themselves for the good of the
country.
The basic error they and other critics of the
document make is
to view it as a rival roadmap to "challenge" their own. It
is not. The
bishops' vision is an end, the ultimate paradise, it is the
destination. It
is a "vision" in the classical biblical sense. What Zimbabwe
needs are the
transformative processes and forces to get us there, the
combatants and
strategists to lead us towards that vision. That is the task
at hand.