Zim Online
by Wayne Mafaro Friday 21 December
2007
HARARE - Aged and worn out firefighting equipment at
Zimbabwe’s airports
frequently breaks down, compromising the safety of
travellers and airport
staff, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of
Zimbabwe (CAAZ).
In an internal document that was shown to ZimOnline on
Thursday, the CAAZ
said most of the fire engines and ambulances at airports
including at the
country’s main Harare International airport were long past
their designed
lifespan.
The confidential document titled: “2008
Proposed Capital Projects Budget”
says the CAAZ planned to spend US$4.5
million buying replacement fire
tenders and ambulances from an unnamed
French company.
“The objective of the project is to replace the existing
fleet which has now
passed their useful life and most of them are out of
service. This current
fleet is breaking down regularly which is not safe for
airport operations as
this often results in the airport being downgraded,”
CAAZ said in the
document dated October 25, 2007.
The CAAZ did not
say how it planned to raise the required foreign currency,
which is in
critical short supply in the country, but said the French
supplier was
expected to deliver fire engines and ambulances between January
and July
2008 and on condition all payments were done timeously.
Previous such
deals between foreign suppliers and President Robert Mugabe’s
government or
its agencies have collapsed after Harare failed to pay due to
an acute
shortage of hard cash that has seen Zimbabwe also fail to import
food,
essential medicines, fuel and electricity.
The foreign currency crunch is
one of the most visible signs of Zimbabwe’s
deep recession that first set in
1999 after the International Monetary Fund
withdrew financial support
following differences with Mugabe over fiscal
policy and other governance
issues.
The economic crisis picked up pace after Mugabe began seizing
white-owned
land in 2000 for redistribution to landless blacks. The
controversial farm
seizures destabilised the mainstay agricultural sector,
which saw production
plunging by about 60 percent to leave the country short
of food.
Mugabe’s farm seizures also hit hard Zimbabwe’s once impressive
manufacturing sector that had depended on a robust farming sector for orders
and inputs.
Most of Zimbabwe’s industries have since the beginning of
farm seizures in
2000 either scaled down operations to below 30 percent of
capacity or shut
down altogether, in a country where unemployment is more
than 80 percent. –
ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Cuthbert Nzou Friday 21 December
2007
HARARE – China is to
supply engine kits for the
refurbishment of buses for state-owned Zimbabwe
United Passenger Company
(ZUPCO), as Beijing bolsters ties with President
Robert Mugabe’s government
that is shunned by Western countries. In addition
to engines, China will
also supply several buses to ZUPCO which services
some of Zimbabwe’s
remotest rural areas that are known for backing Mugabe
and his ruling ZANU
PF party.
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo told ZimOnline that
the deal was
aimed at ensuring reliable transport in rural
arrears.
“We have ordered 100 engines from China to refurbish our old AVM
and DAF
buses. So far we have refurbished five buses," said Chombo, who
strongly
rejected allegations that provision of buses to rural travellers
was a ploy
by ZANU PF to curry favour with voters ahead of key elections
next year.
Chombo did not say how much the deal that is being financed by
the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe is worth.
ZUPCO public relations manager
Richard Mlambo did not respond to questions
e-mailed to his office despite
having acknowledged their receipt.
The public transporter is among
several companies in which the state is a
major shareholder or is sole owner
that economic analysts and the
International Monetary Fund have urged the
government to fully privatise and
save cash.
Mugabe’s government has
cultivated relations with China as part of a new
"Look-East" policy adopted
after a fall out with Western countries that have
imposed targeted sanctions
on the Harare administration as punishment for
failing to uphold human
rights and democracy.
China - on a drive to expand economic links with
Africa - has since 2000
paid particular attention to Zimbabwe, selling
Mugabe's government fighter
aircraft and agreeing to a number of business
deals in exchange for mining
and other concessions.
Beijing has
however been accused of casting a blind eye to human rights
abuses by
Mugabe’s government and other rogue regimes in Africa such as in
Sudan in
its bid to gain access to their raw materials. - ZimOnline
Zim Independent
Constantine Chimakure/ Dumisani Muleya
VICE-PRESIDENT Joseph
Msika reportedly remonstrated with President
Robert Mugabe at the high table
where they were sitting last week during the
closing session of the Zanu PF
congress as tempers flared over militant war
veterans leader Jabulani
Sibanda’s bid to address the gathering against the
party’s decision to bar
him.
This came as more evidence emerged this week that Mugabe was
unprocedurally endorsed as the party’s presidential election candidate next
year.
Senior politburo members who were seated close to the
scene of the
drama in which Msika and Zanu PF chair John Nkomo almost walked
out of the
congress in protest at Sibanda’s actions said the fiery ruling
party deputy
leader lashed out at Mugabe in remarks that left him shaken.
The public
brawling by officials also shook onlookers.
When
Sibanda tried to hijack the congress, Msika turned to Mugabe and
said: "This
is your rubbish, we warned you that this boy is undisciplined
and look at
what has happened. I can’t take this rubbish, I’m going. John
let’s
go."
Those who witnessed the unprecedented incident — which was
broadcast
live on state television — at close quarters said Msika and Nkomo
then
hastily left their seats and walked a few steps as they tried to leave
the
congress. Members of the politburo and other dignitaries who were seated
close to Mugabe had stood up as the congress descended into
pandemonium.
Sensing danger and furious at the chaos, Mugabe jumped
out of his seat
and charged towards where Nkomo had been sitting while
conducting
proceedings. He grabbed the microphone and ordered: "All of you
sit down."
Silence quickly descended.
Sources said last week’s
extraordinary congress was unconstitutionally
convened by the politburo
which has no powers under the current Zanu PF
constitution to do
so.
Zanu PF legal affairs secretary Emmerson Mnangagwa told his
party’s
politburo on November 28 that last week’s congress was convened by
the
politburo apparently in May. In terms of the Zanu PF constitution, the
politburo has no powers to convene an extraordinary congress.
This was compounded by revelations last week that provisions of the
annual
Zanu PF conference were deliberately "mixed up" with those of
congress
through Article 6 (30) (3) of the constitution to secure Mugabe’s
confirmation.
It was also said congress had unprocedurally
"endorsed" Mugabe through
a confirmation process without the usual
nomination procedures. This was
said to be clearly unprocedural and
unconstitutional.
Exhibiting fury and shock after intervening to
prevent Msika and Nkomo
from walking out, Mugabe then addressed the
congress, saying what was going
on was unacceptable.
"What a
terrible ending to a harmonious, beautiful, absolutely proper,
legal
congress…What will the media say?" Mugabe said. He said the media
would
report there was chaos and confusion at the congress. Mugabe also said
the
party would not tolerate indiscipline and narrated developments around
the
Sibanda saga.
However, he was also at pains to avoid an outright
attack on Sibanda,
prompting senior party officials to claim that there was
a plot — after Zanu
PF officials had agreed the war veterans leader would
not speak — to allow
him to make an address through the back
door.
It is understood Zanu PF leaders, including politburo members
such as
Emmerson Mnangagwa and Didymus Mutasa, wanted Sibanda to address the
congress despite the party’s decision to block him. Sources said Mugabe by
an act of commission or omission was also responsible.
Mugabe
and Mnangagwa had of late been defending Sibanda who organised
the "million
man" march to secure the president’s endorsement as candidate
in next year’s
elections. Msika and Nkomo, among other top party officials,
have been
attacking Sibanda. They even boycotted his march.
The sources said
Nkomo and Msika were further irked by Sibanda and the
women’s league’s
attempts to have them and other politburo members censured
by Mugabe for
failing to turn up for the march.
War veterans and the women’s
league reportedly convened a meeting at
the Zanu PF headquarters on December
5 to review the million man march and
agreed that the ex-PF Zapu leaders
were against the endorsement of Mugabe.
"The meeting took close to
two hours and it was agreed between the war
veterans and the women’s league
that the failure by Msika and Nkomo to turn
up for the march reflected that
there were divisions in the presidium on
Mugabe’s candidature," one of the
sources said. "Sibanda made it clear that
Msika and Nkomo were against the
president and as such should be disciplined
for being disrespectful to
Mugabe, the politburo and the central committee."
The sources said
a series of meetings were held last weekend to pacify
Sibanda and the
disgruntled war veterans.
At one of the meetings in Harare on
Friday night, the sources said,
Mnangagwa reportedly assured Sibanda of
Mugabe’s backing and told war
veterans to continue campaigning for the
re-election of the octogenarian
leader.
"Mnangagwa made it
abundantly clear that Mugabe was happy with the
work of the war veterans,"
one of the sources said. "The war veterans were
told not to make public
announcements denouncing Nkomo and Msika and to
remain loyal to
Mugabe.
Mnangagwa roped in Sibanda and the war veterans in
September to
spearhead Mugabe’s campaign to win the party’s
endorsement.
This week, Sibanda placed an advertisement in The
Herald pledging the
war veterans’ loyalty to Mugabe and congratulating him
for his endorsement.
"This endorsement comes on the heels of the
million men/women march
which visibly and successfully showed that President
Mugabe enjoys the total
support of the people of Zimbabwe," read the
advertisement. "We affirm our
support for your candidacy and pledge total
mobilisation of the people to
turn out in their numbers in the March 2008
elections to ensure your and
Zanu PF’s resounding victory."
Zanu PF divisions over Sibanda were clearly manifested in the party’s
politburo meeting on October 24 when the issue was discussed at
length.
The Zimbabwe Independent — which was discussed at the
politburo
meeting on September 5 because of exclusive stories it is getting
from Zanu
PF meetings — at the time reported on politburo clashes over
Sibanda.
More evidence on this was provided to the paper this week
showing the
divisions were more serious than initially thought. At the
October 24
politburo meeting, Mutasa introduced the Sibanda issue, saying
there were
questions regarding campaigns and "procedural correctness" of the
war
veterans.
Mugabe quickly came in and said Sibanda was
leading the war veterans
across the country to demonstrate their solidarity
with him. He said he had
addressed one of their gatherings. Mugabe said
Sibanda was however linked to
various party activities in Bulawayo, but he
was not sure about the status
of his case as the war veterans leader claimed
to have appealed against the
recommendation to expel him from the
party.
Msika told the same politburo meeting that the Sibanda issue
was "very
delicate and disturbing". He said he preferred it should not be
discussed.
Msika also said he was not aware of Sibanda’s appeal against
expulsion and
as a result he stood expelled. He said Sibanda was "causing a
lot of
confusion" in Bulawayo and splashing money like confetti. Politburo
member
Solomon Mujuru said Sibanda was being funded by government to wreak
political havoc.
Dabengwa, Mujuru, Thenjiwe Lesabe, Angeline
Masuku and Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu also condemned Sibanda’s activities, while
Vitalis Zvinavashe and
Naison Ndlovu supported him.
Zim Independent
Jesilyn
Dendere/ Bernard Mpofu
THE Reserve Bank’s project to introduce
higher denominated bearer
cheques yesterday got off to a disastrous start
after the bank failed to
deliver cash to financial
institutions.
Thousands of people were unable to get cash amid
revelations that the
central bank only started distributing the new bearer
cheques to banks well
after normal banking hours.
By last night
officials from banks were still at the central bank’s
cash office trying to
get their allocations.
"We only started getting cash at about 4pm,"
said a managing director
with a local commercial bank.
The
central bank introduced $250 000, $500 000 and $750 000 bearer
cheques and
demonetised the $200 000 note claiming it was being hoarded by
cash barons.
Some banks were yesterday still issuing the $200 000 bearer
cheques which go
out of circulation at the beginning of next year. Long
queues were still
evident yesterday with most banks turning away clients who
wanted to
withdraw cash.
At ZB Bank along Rotten Row, people were being
admitted into the hall
in small numbers to avoid commotion to withdraw old
notes.
A source at the RBZ said the new bearer notes were being
dispatched to
the rural areas first before being distributed to urban
branches.
The crisis continued yesterday as pressure mounted on
central bank
governor Gideon Gono to name the barons who he has accused of
hoarding cash.
Gono on Wednesday said the bank was aware of people
holding on to cash
for speculation.
He offered to name and
shame the barons, whom he said included
high-ranking officials, to
parliament.
Gono said he felt let down by senior politicians who
were hoarding
large sums of cash.
Stakeholders have called on
the Finance and Budget Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee to immediately
convene and invite the governor to name
names. Last night Gono told the
Independent that the central bank had
already started pursuing the
barons.
"It’s part of the strategy to deal with the barons and so
far it’s
working," Gono said.
He said the bank had sent a team
to Masvingo to investigate some
barons who had moved $2 trillion from
Marondera on Wednesday night. On the
cash crisis, Gono said the situation
would improve by today because there
were "some issues that had to be sorted
out".
"It will not take a day. Our people have to be patient," he
said.
The Arthur Mutambara-led MDC faction yesterday called on the
chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Budget David Butau
to immediately convene the committee and summon Gono to name the cash
barons.
"The MDC parliamentary caucus strongly believes that
this is a serious
matter which needs urgent attention given the magnitude of
the national cash
crisis and therefore calls on the Parliamentary Committee
to expeditiously
deal with this matter in the interest of the nation," MDC
parliamentary
spokesperson Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said.
Zim Independent
Lucia Makamure
THE Secretary for Information
and Publicity, George Charamba, this
week filed a notice of opposition in
the Supreme Court maintaining that
prominent Harare lawyer Terrence Hussein
is guilty of unethical conduct for
representing a client challenging the
Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) which
he allegedly helped to
craft.
Hussein is representing Ndabenhle Mabhena who is challenging
the
constitutionality of some sections of the BSA.
In the court
papers, Charamba said he could not produce confidential
information he gave
to Hussein during the crafting of the Act as that would
result in the
information becoming public.
"Confidential information should be
treated as such or else the term
will lose its meaning if such information
becomes public," Charamba said in
his supporting affidavit. "Consultations
with Mr Hussein were intimate and
extensive. They made Hussein come in
contact with the soul and thinking of
government on the policy
issue."
Charamba said he had no objection if another lawyer was
assigned to
the case instead of Hussein.
"Information and
thinking behind any policy and law is treated as
privileged and therefore
confidential. The point is that the respondent’s
lawyer had access to
confidential information through the transaction that
the ministry had with
him and for that reason he cannot exploit it against
us. We have no
objection to some other lawyer handling the matter,"
explained
Charamba.
Last month, former Information and Publicity minister
Jonathan Moyo
lodged an affidavit with the same court in which he claimed
that Hussein did
not receive any "protected or confidential" information
from his office at
the time.
"At no time during the same period
did Mr Hussein receive in writing
or otherwise from me or from anyone else
in my office any protected or
confidential information or official secret,"
Moyo said in the court papers
Charamba said contrary to Moyo’s
claims he was responsible for the
crafting of the BSA.
"As
regards Professor Moyo’s affidavit, I submit that I maintain what
I stated
in my main affidavit and I have no reason to lie. Furthermore, I
wish to
state that I together with my junior then, Betty Dimbi, we were
responsible
for researching and drafting the broad principles which guided
the drafting
of the Broadcasting Services Act. I was responsible for
extrapolating from
various broadcasting laws of different jurisdictions the
principles which
underpin the current law." said Charamba.
Charamba said that work
on the broadcasting law started in 1997.
"In fact work of this area
started way back in 1997 whilst I was at
Cardiff University at which I
specialised in Broadcasting Media Studies
among other areas.
"Contrary to Moyo’s claim, I was closely associated with the whole
drafting
process including holding consultative meetings with the Cabinet
Committee
on Legislation."
The Supreme Court is yet to make a ruling on
Charamba’s application to
have Hussein recuse himself from the case between
the government and
Mabhena.
Zim Independent
Constantine
Chimakure
ZIMBABWE’S 65 prisons have been hit by a critical
shortage of food
that has culminated in some inmates suffering from
malnutrition and a
medical condition called pellagra, among a plethora of
other problems facing
the country’s penal system due to inadequate
funding.
In a damning report on the funding of the Zimbabwe Prison
Service
(ZPS) to parliament, the Justice ministry said it was battling to
feed and
buy uniforms for over 25 000 inmates throughout the
country.
The country has 43 prisons and 22 satellite
jails.
The ZPS said it was allocated slightly above $149 trillion
in the 2008
budget against its request for $286 trillion — 52% of what it
bid for.
As a result, the ministry said prisons would not be able
to adequately
pay for goods and services, military procurement, maintenance
of equipment
and buildings; staff transfers and programmes, acquisition of
fixed capital
and funding of Sadc prisons games next year.
The
ministry said under the goods and services subhead, the ZPS had
requested
$64,8 trillion and was allocated $63,8 trillion and this would
impact
drastically on the well being of both prisoners and officers.
"This
item is the most problematic as it takes care of the basics such
as food,
clothing, medication, bedding and toiletries," read the report.
"From our
bids against the allocation it shows that we have a deficit of $10
432 845
600 000 and this will impact negatively on the procurement of
rations for
prisoners."
The ministry said the ZPS this year struggled to feed
inmates
resulting in malnutrition in prisons.
"During the 2007
fiscal year we have been struggling to provide
prisoners with barest food
items, that is sadza and cabbage (soup of
cabbage) without cooking oil. The
unbalanced diet has led to malnutrition
and to a medical condition called
pellagra," the report read. "Malnutrition
put a strain on the (prisons’
department of) medical supplies and services,
which is also under-
funded."
Pellagra is avitamin deficiency disease caused by dietary
lack of
niacin (vitamin B3) and protein.
The ministry said
rations took the bulk of the allocation of the ZPS’
institutional provisions
since the prices of basic commodities were always
on the upward trend
leaving very little for other essential such as medical
supplies, clothing,
bedding and toiletries.
The ministry said uniforms for both inmates
and officers have never
been adequate for a long time now.
Most
prison officers, the ministry added, have not received a full
complement of
their uniforms for the past five years and the uniforms they
have were
totally worn out.
Those who have been recruited during the same
period have not received
trench coats, jerseys, barathea suits and
caps.
"Some of the uniforms such as the barathea suits, caps and
accountrements require foreign currency to be procured," the report read.
"As for inmates the situation is even worse since inmates exchange the same
clothes when they go for courts or to gangs thereby exposed to infectious
diseases."
The report said there was also shortage of blankets
in the prisons.
"Blankets purchased for the past years have not
been enough to cater
for even one prison complex…The few blankets that may
be available will
force many inmates to share a blanket, which may result in
nefarious
activities taking place," the report added.
It said
the lack of tissue paper in prisons had resulted in the
blockages of
drainage system and sewerage pipes as inmates resort to using
pieces of torn
blankets.
"Paying for utilities will remain a mammoth task given
the hikes in
water, electricity, rates, and other service charges. Water and
electricity
cuts will remain the order of the day during 2008 fiscal year,"
the ministry
said.
Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has ordered Lands minister
Didymus Mutasa to
suspend the issuance of new land offer letters until
contested land
acquisition cases are concluded.
According to a
report of a meeting on December 4 between Mutasa and
Zanu PF Mashonaland
West provincial leadership, Mutasa said Mugabe
instructed him to stop the
issuance of offer letters and not invalidate
those he had already
signed.
The meeting was called to discuss grievances concerning the
continued
farm acquisitions in the province and was attended by Zanu PF
secretary for
information and publicity Nathan Shamuyarira, politburo member
Webster Shamu
and President of the Senate Edna Madzongwe, among
others.
"His Excellency, President Mugabe had only instructed him
(Mutasa) to
stop the signing of new offer letters and not to invalidate old
offer
letters," read the report.
The continued issuance of
offer letters had created confusion in the
farming community with white
farmers defying eviction notices and contesting
them in courts, delaying the
processing of the cases.
There are more than 5 700 land acquisition
court challenges throughout
the country still to be finalised.
The confusion had also sparked friction between Vice-President Joseph
Msika
and Mutasa.
Msika was against the continued invasion of productive
white-owned
commercial farms while Mutasa wanted a further removal of the
remaining
farmers.
The Zanu PF Mashonaland West provincial
leadership last month
recommended the nullification of Mutasa’s recent offer
letters and eviction
of all new beneficiaries allocated farms unprocedurally
because they were
disrupting production.
It also recommended
that over 70 white farmers remaining in the
province should be allowed to
continue farming since they had good working
relations with the local
communities.
However, Mutasa is said to have told the meeting that
state organs
vetted the white farmers.
"The vetting of white
farmers to remain on land was done by relevant
authorities and Ministry of
lands in consultation with local leadership and
that a consolidated list was
then used to consider which white farmers to
remain," the report read. "He
(Mutasa) showed the meeting signatures of
those who had recommended these
offer letters." They were Mashonaland West
chief lands officer Farukai
Chikomba, provincial war veterans chairman
Mashava Mugwagwa, Zanu PF
provincial chairman John Mafa, and Governor Nelson
Samkange."
Mutasa’s vetting exercise ruled that only six farmers should remain on
land,
while the provincial leadership had recommended 73. Shamuyarira had
told the
meeting that as provincial leaders and politburo members they were
not being
consulted when land allocations were being implemented, hence
their decision
to approach Msika to address the anomaly.
"He (Shamuyarira)
disclosed that as a province they are not there to
derail the land reform,
but to further enhance it through an all-inclusive
systems that recognise
the inputs of those at provincial level," the report
read.
Shamuyarira conceded that as a province they had carried out their own
vetting exercise of white farmers to remain on the land outside the mandate
of Mutasa’s ministry.
He said it was their belief that they
were assisting Mutasa’s ministry
and not derailing the land
reform.
Turning to the acquisition of Rydings Farm, upon which a
private
primary school was built, acquired by the government and allocated
to Mutasa’s
personal lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa, the Lands minister said
everything was done
above board.
"Furthermore it was revealed
during the meeting that Rydings Farm was
a haven of hostile displaced
anti-Zimbabwe political elements of the white
community and that its
allocation to Mlotshwa was not a unilateral act by
minister Mutasa, but was
done after thorough consultation with the same
provincial leadership which
has gone to town condemning it," the report
added.
The
acquisition of the farm affected almost 200 pupils, but the school’s
board
of trustees applied for an urgent relief order from the High Court
barring
Mlotshwa from interfering with the school’s operations.
At the end
of the meeting, there was agreement that offer letters
issued by Mutasa were
the only legal documents that authenticated land
ownership and should be
respected.
Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
THE 2007/8 agricultural season publicised as "the mother
of all
agricultural seasons" could turn out to be the worst season ever as
farmers
fail to access the necessary inputs on time for planting, experts
have
warned.
Reports coming from most provinces show that
farmers have been forced
to plant an estimated 40% of the area normally put
under crops because of
the shortages of seed, fertiliser, draught power and
equipment, threatening
prospects of a bumper harvest next year before it
even starts.
Despite the best spell of wet weather since the
cyclones of 2000, the
mechanisation programme equipment is still stored at a
number of government
premises while farmers fail to till the land. In
Chiredzi hundreds of
ploughs lie idle in the rural council
yard.
Fertiliser and seed companies said they had no capacity to
satisfy the
national requirement due to lack of foreign currency and
unrealistic prices.
There is also a critical shortage of pesticides and
other chemicals.
Zanu PF central committee report presented at the
party’s
extraordinary congress last week exposed vast differences between
what the
farmers require to produce enough food and the resources made
available by
government.
The report said local seed houses made
available around 28 450 tonnes
of seed. This is enough to cover 1,2 million
hectares compared to the
targeted 3,2 million hectares of land. The quantity
account for only a third
of what the country requires.
Government said it was going to address the shortfall through
importing the
seed from Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.
To date a mere 794
tonnes of seed have been imported from Zambia, the
report said.
The report noted that serious shortages were in the fertiliser section
with
local producers not in a position to fully exploit their capacity due
to
unviable prices, shortages of phosphates, foreign currency, coal and
power.
"The fertiliser industry are prepared to produce 53 950
tonnes of
Compound D between October and December and 46 714 tonnes of
Ammonium
Nitrate (AN) between September and February 2008 subject to
immediate
availability of foreign currency amounting to US$12 million for
spare parts
and raw materials, an improvement in electricity supplies and a
reviewed
price," the central committee report said.
The country
requires 720 000 tonnes of compound and 774 000 of AN each
season.
The report said government would bridge the gap through
imports of
fertiliser from China and South Africa.
Government
has issued permits to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe to
engage Insthona for
the immediate importation of 50 000 tonnes of urea and
41 000 tonnes of
compound D.
Insthona is the company which brought substandard
fertiliser into the
country resulting in the firing of the then Agriculture
secretary Simon
Pazvakavambwa.
Last year Intshona supplied
about 800 tonnes of the substandard
fertiliser, prejudicing the country of
up to US$300 000.
The report said the supply of fuel, coal and
electricity remained
critical.
However, farming experts said
the situation on the ground throws into
disarray all government prospects of
a quick fix to the free falling
agricultural sector and the economy at
large.
Experts say government efforts to boost production would not
yield any
positive results under the current legislative set-up and the
continued farm
invasions, which have created uncertainty for investors to
embark on
business expansions.
"The situation continues to be
untenable unless farm-grabbing and
farming implements seizures by top
government officials at the expense of
ordinary farmers, power blackouts and
unavailability of inputs are
addressed," one expert said. "Nationally
agricultural output has predictably
declined further relegating government
efforts to a national joke."
He said the major constraint to
increased productivity was the
uncertainty of tenure in the agricultural
sector where farmers are evicted
on a daily basis.
Continued
acquisition notices, disruptions, acts of violence on farms
and lack of
land-based collateral were some of the problems farmers face."
The
chaotic land reform programme, which from inception has been
condemned by
international donors as unworkable and a recipe for disaster,
has turned out
to be just that. Over the past six seasons production in all
facets of
agriculture has plummeted, dragging the economy down with it.
Farmers have estimated production to have fallen by 70%, resulting in
the
country surviving on food handouts and grain imports to bridge food
deficits.
Experts said farming activities require proper
financing, planning and
expertise which have been conspicuously absent since
the inception of the
land reform programme seven years ago.
Analysts attributed the continued slide of production to inherent
policy
contradictions from government officials as causing confusion on the
ground.
The confusion has sparked serious row between the Ministry of Lands
and
provincial leadership.
The ministry continues to issue offer
letters while the provinces
sought to boost production with the remaining
white farmers not being
disrupted. From the inception of the fast-track land
reform white commercial
farmers clinging on to the land were considered to
be the primary obstacles
to the success of the exercise.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure
AN army jury has ruled that it has the jurisdiction to
court martial
Albert Matapo, who is at the centre of an alleged foiled
military coup
against President Robert Mugabe, on charges that he deserted
from the army.
Judge Advocate Captain Anderson assisted by
Lieutenant Colonel
Mkwananzi, Major Badza, Major Moyoweshumba, Major Mutembo
and Major Kurambwi
a fortnight ago said the court martial should proceed
once the prosecution
produces evidence that Matapo ran away from the
army.
Matapo is facing treason charges with five other men accused
of
plotting a coup against President Robert Mugabe’s government and has been
in
police custody since May.
The ruling came barely a few days
after Matapo’s lawyers, Warara &
Associates, filed an application in the
High Court to stop the army from
proceeding with the court martial, arguing
that their client did not
complete military training.
The
lawyers also wanted the army to provide documentation to
substantiate their
claim against Matapo.
A court martial is a military court that
deals with disciplinary and
misconduct cases by soldiers and is presided
over by a Judge Advocate, who
by law should be a member of the
force.
Charles Warara of Warara & Associates told the Zimbabwe
Independent
last week that army prosecutor Major Gumbura was last Friday not
sure
whether he would provide the required documents when the case commences
on
January 28.
"The court made it clear that the case can only
proceed if the army
provides documents on Matapo’s alleged desertion, but
Gumbura told the court
he was not sure he was going to find the documents,"
Warara said.
The documents needed include a roll call from the
Zimbabwe School of
Infantry, a report of the officer who first reported of
Matapo’s absence
from his base and copies of the last pay advice issued by
the Zimbabwe
National Army to the accused.
The court also wants
an affidavit by an officer who made follow-ups on
Matapo at his given
address within 90 days after he deserted.
"What puzzles me is the
fact that it took the army 16 years to track
my client when he was employed
by the government for a considerable time,
said Warara. "Matapo worked for
the government under the Ministry of
Education as a teacher and later worked
for the Public Service and all that
time the army failed to charge him for
desertion," added Warara.
Matapo’s lawyer said since his client did
not complete army training,
the question before the courts would be the
constitutionality of bringing a
recruit before a court martial.
"My client did not finish basic military training and failed the cadet
training course and we now want to know if he as a recruit can be trialled
before a court martial on desertion charges, said Warara.
Zim Independent
TWO
Kenyan rights groups urged voters on Wednesday to scrutinise
candidates
running in this month’s national election, saying some contenders
were
guilty of land grabbing.
Protected areas and land belonging to
state-owned companies worth some
34,5 billion shillings (US$550,7 million)
were illegally given away since
around 1961, according to a report by the
Kenya National Commission on Human
Rights (KNCHR) and the Kenya Land
Alliance.
Some 15 parliamentary aspirants were named in the report
as having
acquired land illicitly.
"Ours is basically to ask
that we vote wisely," Odenda Lumumba of the
Kenya Land Alliance told a news
conference.
"Even if they are elected, we still have a battle to
ensure that they
are not again appointed as ministers, because one of them
could easily land
at the Ministry of Lands."
A 2004 report
commissioned by President Mwai Kibaki found that top
politicians, including
Kenya’s first two presidents, grabbed huge tracts of
public land for
political patronage and recommended that they be tried and
the land
returned.
Among the political figures cited in Wednesday’s report
were Defence
minister Njenga Karume and a firm belonging to the family of
opposition
presidential candidate Raila Odinga.
The company is
said to have bought land for a molasses plant at about
a tenth of its value,
paying 33,000 shillings per acre.
Karume, a close Kibaki ally, is
said to have acquired 1 000 acres of
land at about 2 600 shillings an acre,
then sold it back to the government
at about 186 000 shillings per
acre.
"We have a problem if our political class cannot even
acknowledge that
they got things illegally, irregularly," KNCHR chairman
Maina Kiai said.
"The best way to move forward is for them to come
forward and say: ‘We
are sorry, we regret it, we’ll pay the market value,
then we can begin the
process of reconciliation."
Odinga and
Karume were not immediately available for comment.
On December 27,
Kenyans vote in what is likely to be the east African
country’s tightest
contest in 44 years of independence.
Many say the closeness of the
race shows how democracy has advanced
since independence from Britain in
1963, but others worry that it heightens
the potential for fraud and
violence in a campaign marred by chaos and vote
buying
allegations.
One man was killed and four cars torched in election
violence in
different parts of western Kenya, newspapers say. —
Reuters.
Zim Independent
This is
a letter sent to parliament by the Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists in response
to the passage of the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act
(Aippa) Amendment Bill this week.
Dear Honourable
members
WE acknowledge and welcome the fact that Zanu PF and
the Movement for
Democratic Change have at last seen the need to engage and
seriously
dialogue on issues affecting our country.
We are
encouraged that the two parties have found time to sit down and
look at
contentious laws that have a detrimental effect to our democratic
aspirations and general development of Zimbabwe.
As a
professional and trade union body representing 98% of practising
journalists
in Zimbabwe, we are also encouraged to realise that both sides
of Parliament
have now publicly acknowledged the flaws in Aippa and have
closely looked at
the law and made recommendations for amendments.
We however, are
extremely disturbed by the fact that none of the
negotiators saw it fit to
consult stakeholders in order to come up with
amendments that are owned
rather than imposed on the media industry. We
realise that some of the
information which the negotiators were given in
respect to the situation in
the industry was certainly coloured to meet
certain ends.
We
are encouraged that the period for newspaper licence renewal may
move from
two to five years but still we don’t see any reason why we should
keep on
our statutes a section of law that will hold the industry and
investors at
ransom. We urge that once a licence is granted, it must stay as
it is for
investors in other sectors of the economy.
We have also looked at
the proposal to establish another statutory
media regulatory body and we
want to appeal to the parties involved to have
a serious reconsideration of
this. Statutory regulation of the media has
never worked in any democratic
society.
Statutory regulation of the media is actually
anti-democratic. In fact
in Africa, south of the Sahara, Zimbabwe is the
only country moving in this
direction. Uganda has for the past 10 or so
years tried to insist with
statutory regulation but their story has been one
of dismal failure.
No one, including the Ugandan government has any
confidence in the
project. For seven years, the Uganda Media Council
received just three
complaints from the public. Compare that with the
successful self regulatory
Media Council of Tanzania which is the envy of
the world. It receives at
least 24 complaints every month. Very senior
government ministers including
the Prime Minister have used the Tanzanian
Media Council to complain against
the media.
Today, media
houses in Uganda have launched their own self-regulatory
body.
We also wish to remind honourable members of Parliament that Zimbabwe
has
subscribed to a number of international conventions that are against
statutory regulation of the media. It is important to note that Zimbabwe is
one of the countries that founded the famous 1991 Windhoek Declaration which
among other things upholds media diversity, pluralism and independence.
Media independence is not possible if government regulates the media through
statutes.
We also note the Banjul Declaration of 2002 of
Principles on Freedom
of Expression in Africa of the African commission on
Human and People’s
Rights which states that "effective self regulation is
the best system of
promoting high standards in the media".
May
I also remind you that the media, out of its own volition and
consistent
with the spirit of the principles that Zimbabwe subscribe to,
undertook a
three-year project to establish the Media Council of Zimbabwe.
Contrary to
sentiments from certain sections, the self-regulatory body was
established
after wide consultations that involved every single newsroom in
the country,
every single media house, every single editor, the civil
society, the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and
Communication, the
Ministry of Information and Publicity, representatives of
different
political parties to include the MDC and Zanu (PF) in every
province, the
Zimbabwe National Editors’ Forum which represents private
media editors, the
Zimbabwe Association of Editors, which represents all
state media
editors.
All these parties endorsed the idea of a self-regulatory
body. We have
correspondences to this effect from the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee
which we engaged on numerous occasions and indeed
afforded them an
opportunity to
share the Tanzanian experience with
an expert from that country. The
Ministry of Information and publicity was
the first to be approached at the
time of the late Dr Tichaona Jokonya and
we worked with them on the project
until the time of its
launch.
A constitution of the Media Council of Zimbabwe was drafted
and
endorsed by virtually all parties and the Parliamentary Committee and
the
Ministry of Information had inputs into this. A code of conduct is in
place
and this was also endorsed by all journalists and stakeholders.
Elections
were held and a board put in place and the secretariat with an
executive
secretary will be in place before the end of the
year.
There has therefore been massive work to this project and it
is a
tragedy for a new project to be formulated without benefiting from the
experiences of the other. The inclusion of the media council in the
amendments is an acknowledgement of our efforts to establish a media council
in the country.
It is also important to note that media
councils throughout the world
are based on consensus building, understanding
and respect. An imposed
regulatory body in the
media will find
itself shunned and alone.
We therefore kindly ask for Parliament to
afford the industry to make
an input into the amendments before it.
Otherwise we will have to go back
again to the drawing board.
The spirit in these negotiations has been that the ruling party and
the
opposition have found each other; we urge that this extends to finding
the
people as well.
Thank you.
Matthew
Takaona,
ZUJ President.
Zim Independent
Bernard
Mpofu
ZIMBABWE National Chamber of Commerce President Marah
Hativagone
yesterday accused the Reserve Bank of playing a blame game on the
current
cash crisis.
Reacting to remarks by central bank boss
Gideon Gono on Wednesday that
the business sector was part of a syndicate
involved in illicit cash deals,
Hativagone said the "blame game" was
"counter-productive".
Announcing a new family of bearer cheques —
$250 000, $500 000 and
$750 000 — Gono said the cash crisis was a result of
cash deals by the
business sector and cash barons, among them senior
government officials and
politicians.
Gono said out of $67
trillion the central bank had injected into the
market, only $2 trillion
could be accounted for.
In a live broadcast on the introduction of
the new bearer cheques,
Gono blamed business for illegal monetary activities
in what seemed to be an
apparent reaction to Hativagone, who earlier on
Wednesday said the cash
crisis was affecting the business
sector.
"This morning I saw a businesswoman on TV complaining and
almost in
tears (about the cash shortages),"said Gono. "How can you remove
the speck
in one’s eye when there’s a log in your own."
But
Hativagone yesterday said she was surprised that her morning
interview on
ZBC TV’s Business Today programme had sparked a row with the
central bank
chief.
"I am shocked. I was not crying at all but advocating for my
constituency whom for the past two weeks was criticising me for not making a
public statement regarding the cash shortages," she said.
Turning to the introduction of the new family of bearer cheques,
Hativagone
described it as a welcome development, but said it was a shift
from what
Gono had earlier told the country.
She said the business sector had
expected Gono to come up with a new
currency as he suggested last month.
Zim Independent
Kuda
Chikwanda
EVERY manager had a terrible 2007 but none could have
been so stressed
as the one who ran National Foods, one of Zimbabwe’s
biggest food
processors. It was probably one of the most agonising years for
Natfoods
which had to struggle with price controls on virtually every
product it
produces. The government made sure that everything that National
Foods
produces, from salt to stock feeds, was controlled. As the year closes
Natfoods’s management can at least heave a sigh of relief for having managed
to keep the company open during the trying times.
The listed
company was almost crippled during the disastrous July
price blitz as the
vast majority of its commodities are controlled products.
Even though
government later backtracked, the damage had been done and
Natfoods was left
counting its losses.
When another listed giant Innscor Africa took
over about 50% equity in
the conglomerate, it was widely agreed that
Natfoods had to change the
structure it adopted in 2003 to
survive.
The second major restructuring in four years took place as
the company
sought to rationalise its structure, decentralise and make it a
leaner and
more efficient entity.
The exercise lasted 90 days
and saw the company devolve from six units
into 10 Strategic Business Units
(SBUs).
These new units will each have their own board of
directors. They will
be allowed to operate their own books of accounts as
opposed to the 2003
structure in which decision-making and finances were
centralised.
"The goal was to increase efficiency, unlock value and
ultimately
turnaround the company," Natfoods spokesman, Golden Chekenyere
said.
"We aimed to create more focus and empower the leaders
appointed, and
also give them autonomy to run the SBUs and have them totally
committed to
their SBUs. They will have the freedom to run those units,
their own bank
accounts and cheque books."
Innscor assumed
management control from South African food giant Tiger
Brands, which became
the second largest shareholder after Innscor with
26,08%.
The
new divisions are Oil and Malt, Stockfeeds, Milling, Natpack,
Retail,
Pre-packs, Natfoods Distributors, Retail, Properties, Transport and
the
Botswana Milling.
"We took that decision on September 6 and gave
ourselves three months
to turnaround the company and I think we will sing a
different tune, that of
success in 2008," Chekenyere said. Natfoods is not
the only company that
struggled this year.
Beneath Chekenyere’s
optimism one can still detect uncertainty.
This is the same
uncertainty gripping all industrialists in Zimbabwe.
The year 2007
has been extremely challenging for the business
community. Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president Marah
Hativagone said: "2007 is
definitely a year we would all love to forget".
Since the start of
the year, inflation maintained its upward spiral
starting off the year at
just over a 1 000% and with the last known figures
recorded at 14
840%.
Compounding the problem has been the Central Statistical
Office (CSO)
which has been under orders to sit on inflation figures for
most of the
year. CSO only managed to announce inflation for six months in
2007.
Financial planning and reporting thus became a challenge in
Zimbabwe’s
hyper-inflationary environment without inflation figures. Banking
institutions appealed to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), which released
inflation figures in April after a two-month embargo.
Hardly
two months later as dwindling energy supplies further crippled
the
struggling economy, government came up with the infamous directive that
forced all companies to revert to prices prevailing as of June
18.
Shops failed to re-stock as the business community could not
buy at a
higher price from suppliers to sell to consumers at below
cost.
Food and commodity shortages set and several companies shut
their
doors to the public. Large retail companies like OK Zimbabwe and TM
incurred
huge losses while their executives were arrested for overcharging.
Some are
still facing trial.
In just two weeks, OK lost about
$38 billion while TM lost between $35
billion and $40 billion.
Natfoods lost $18 billion on salt it imported from Botswana — charges
which
the company strenuously denied despite admitting that they had indeed
incurred serious losses on many of its product lines.
National
Tyre Services (NTS) suspended a lucrative contract to supply
tyres for
another listed entity, Delta. Markro Mega Centre was hit hard when
police
officers forced it to reduce its prices to ridiculous levels.
Bakers were forced to incur losses of between $15 000 and $20 000 a
loaf
while Schweppes said they had made massive losses since the government
June
18 decree.
Bigger companies announced that they were
"restructuring" but a closer
look showed that they were actually
down-sizing. Smaller companies simply
went bankrupt.
Companies
were forced to embark on strategies to ensure their
survival. Some of these
strategies have been nothing short of just beating
authorities at their own
game.
The importation of luxury goods has been one of the ways that
have
helped businesses survive. Imported goods are not subject to price
laws.
Expensive commodities have now flooded shops and because of
the
rapidly depreciating Zimbabwean dollar, these commodities have been
considerably more expensive than locally manufactured ones.
This has prompted threats of a new price blitz and heightened
uncertainty in
the business sector.
Efforts by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
to intervene and salvage
something out of the crisis have largely been
unhelpful.
The central bank introduced the Basic Commodities
Supply-Side
Intervention (Bacossi) facility in September to offer cheap
funding to
affected business and allow them to return to full
productivity.
However, much of the money accessed under Bacossi has
found its way
onto the stock market where it has fed a bull run. This is
because the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) has been offering good returns
above inflation
in the wake of the RBZ’s refusal to offer better interest
rates.
"Much of that money has not found its way to Small and
Medium
enterprises. So while some companies have accessed it, not all
companies
along the production chain managed to get it, and that explains
why some
companies are not producing," Hativagone said.
Over
$10 trillion was injected in Bacossi together with US$13,2
million.
But one thing remains certain — without concrete
measures to right the
situation, companies are set to endure another
agonising year in 2008, while
Natfoods may be forced, yet again, to embark
on another restructuring
exercise.
Businesses will need to find
new strategies for next year. Its
promising to be no better than
2007.
Zim Independent
Kuda
Chikwanda
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is planning to
launch an
investigation into Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) belonging to
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in its bid to hunt down those who
traded on the parallel market.
The investigation will start
early January when the central bank
interviews the non-governmental
organisations.
Sources told businessdigest that the NGOs will be
called to the
central bank for "routine" interviews to explain how they
liquidated their
foreign currency earnings.
The NGOs have since
been informed by the central bank to prepare
supporting documentation
detailing how they liquidated their foreign
currency during the
year.
"We were told that we would attend interviews to explain and
verify
our foreign currency liquidation. The interviews are in January,"
said a
senior official with one NGO.
"We saw it coming. At my
organisation we are covered, most of us have
our receipts. We warned a
number of other NGOs to be prepared, if they are
caught off-guard then is
will be unfortunate," the official said.
The move has sparked a
rush by affected NGO employees who have made a
beeline for Botswana, South
Africa, Zambia and Mozambique to return with
receipts to give to the central
bank as supporting documents to justify
their liquidations. Businessdigest
spoke to employees at a Harare-based NGO
who were preparing to make a visit
to Botswana to get receipts and cover
their trails.
"I am going
to Botswana to get those receipts. If I don’t I will be
charged with dealing
on the parallel market," said one of the employees.
National
Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango) chief
executive
officer, Cephas Zinhumwe, said he was not aware of the
developments.
"I will comment when the issues are out, when
they are indeed called
to the interviews," Zinhumwe said.
RBZ
governor, Gideon Gono, was not available for a comment as he was
said to be
in meeting over the cash issue. The central bank believes that
some NGOs
could be the source of the foreign currency that is being traded
on the
parallel market.
Zim Independent
Bernard
Mpofu/Jesilyn Dendere
DID anyone ever imagine being asked to
bring a coat hanger to the dry
cleaner’s shop or container to the grocery
shop for milk or cooking oil
purchases? It’s happening here and a lot of
other things too.
Expecting mothers should bring their own water
for sanitary purposes
in buckets when they go to give birth at rural health
centres. That is not
all. Patients at public hospitals are being asked to
bring drips, surgical
gloves, dressing and syringes.
Coupled
with this egregiousness, many service providers have now
permanently
forgotten the courtesy of saying thanks to clients or
apologising for
delays. The customer is no longer king. It is the simple
shopkeeper, petrol
attendant or security guard who has become a god.
There is
correlation between the deterioration in service delivery and
the current
decay in this economy. In an environment of shortages, those
providing a
service or selling goods which are scarce have developed a
measure of
arrogance that has resonated in all sectors of the economy.
We have
witnessed waiters harassing diners complaining about bad food
or delays in
service. It’s take it or leave it, or worse still, get out of
here!
Customers are now expected to be grateful to shop attendants or a
security
guard who wield the power to ensuring food on one’s table or
inflicting the
pain of a breadless breakfast. It’s the client who now has to
bow, curtsy,
smile and say thank you to the shopkeeper.
For an ordinary
Zimbabwean, 2007 will go down as the year that saw a
relentless erosion of
basic customer service delivery in virtually all
business
sectors.
Tales of meanness, shortchanging customers and the
unfriendly attitude
from shop assistants have not only become a reflection
of the country’s
ailing economy in its eighth year of crisis but also a
seemingly popular
culture that has relegated shoppers to mere
beggars.
There was no explanation or apology when supermarkets
withdrew
complimentary plastic carrier bags from supermarkets. Not to be
outdone,
hoteliers have joined the trail, with latest observation showing
that most
of them are charging accommodation and breakfast separately ahead
of the
Christmas holidays.
"We have resolved to this new
pricing model as a way of matching our
rates with the prevailing economic
environment," said an employee with a
city hotel. "As you know, our pricing
system has been curtailed by
authorities and this makes it increasingly
difficult for us to offer these
additional services at no
cost."
"Zimbabwe Tourism Authority should shift from its marketing
strategy
characterised by a plethora of events that are marked with pomp and
fanfare
and evaluate critical issues of service delivery offered by its
members",
said one tourism player.
"Frequent power cuts are
adversely reflecting an unreceptive ambience
at most hotels and lodges in
Masvingo and Manicaland and if this goes
uncorrected we will suffer. No
tourist would want to part with money for a
blacked-out hotel that has no
television or air conditioner," he said.
Fast food outlets have
also become part of service delivery
short-changers. The month of November
saw several pizza outlets changing
their packaging to unattractive polythene
bags from traditional packaging
boxes. Opaque beer drinkers have not been
spared from this culture of
disservice as seen by most beer outlets around
the country requesting
patrons to bring empty containers in different forms
and shapes.
Despite hygienic shortcomings posed by these
operational changes,
consumer watch groups are merely calling for consumers
to "report such
anomalies".
Providers of key amenities,
especially quasi-government organisations
including power utility Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority has become so
desperate that it asks residents
to raise money to buy spare parts and
components for broken down
equipment.
"Recently we were asked to contribute a $1 million
towards purchasing
a fuse and transformer oil when an electrical fault
developed on our power
grid," said Brighton Kwanisai of Chizhanje area in
Mabvuku.
On the other hand the lethargic culture of the police has
reportedly
seen police acting swiftly to emergency cases only when
guaranteed of smooth
logistical plans by those reporting the cases. This
lack of swiftness has
also brought horrific experiences that have become
typical of the appalling
conditions that continue to deteriorate
unabated.
"It was so traumatising to share a house with a
decomposing body that
had been left for days because police did not have
transport to carry the
body to the nearest mortuary. Well-wishers had to
assist in carrying the
corpse and washing powder was used to get rid of the
pungent smell", said a
resident of Makomo area in Epworth.
Walking into an up-market apparel shop a notice that reads: "We regret
that
from October 8 we are no longer able to offer credit" welcomes you.
Interestingly, glued next to this notice is another that seems reminiscent
of the June price blitz. "No bulk purchases permitted," it
reads.
This has become the trend with most clothing stores that are
traditionally known for their credit facilities. For them, suspending this
universally applied way of selling is only a ripple effect of the prolonged
cash crunch and inflationary pressures. Sadly for would-be buyers, the
festive holidays will not be filled with customary merriness, as they will
have to fork out several millions of dollars in cash to buy clothing
outfits. It costs more than $55 million to purchase a formal shirt while
ladies outfits cost around $40 million.
Responding to written
questions relating to deteriorating standards,
an official from the Consumer
Council of Zimbabwe said the consumer watch
group’s activities were geared
towards monitoring retailers and bankers.
"CCZ officer Tawanda
Danda said that the "free fall" on service
delivery stemmed from the lack of
human resources resulting from massive job
cuts, poor business ethics and
"profiteering".
Efforts to get comment from Retailers Association
of Zimbabwe
president, Willard Zireva were fruitless.
Meanwhile, a leading chain store has suspended its annual promotion
that had
become synonymous with a surprise Christmas present for winners.
Bon Marché
has for the first time withdrawn the French Connection promotion
in unclear
reasons. However, inside sources say the move had been
necessitated by the
mid-year arbitrary price controls that almost paralysed
the economy.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
IN the first half of 2007 the shops had food but most
people did not
have money. The reason was that most people earned below the
poverty datum
line.
Their salaries were not enough to buy the
basic commodities.
Midway through the year (June) the same people
could not find food,
even if they had the cash.
The reason was
that government had cracked down on retailers and
manufacturers purportedly
to deal with businesses that were profiteering.
Four months into
the second half of the year the situation changed
again.
This
time there was neither food nor money. The reason this time was
that banks
had run out of cash and the shops were yet to recover from the
June price
blitz.
The central bank was blaming cash barons whom it said were
holding on
to money to buy foreign currency on the parallel
market.
Most Zimbabweans will remember 2007 as probably the
toughest year
since Independence.
It was a year when they had
to scrounge for food even though the
country had not experienced a
drought.
It was a year when they spent the longest time queuing for
food
because government had cracked down on the manufacturers and
retailers.
It was the year when their standard of living plunged to
the lowest
levels because of the economic crisis.
For the first
time in the history of this country people were asked to
bring their own
bandages and syringes to hospitals.
For the fist time Zimbabweans
were asked to bring their own containers
to buy milk from reputable
retailers like Spar.
For the first time people could not find
Coca-cola in the shops.
People in the rural areas were cut off from
towns because of the
transport crisis that characterised this year. For most
people however 2007
will be remembered as the year the cost of living
skyrocketed as the
Zimbabwean dollar continued to lose value against major
currencies. It will
probably be the worst Christmas holiday ever for most
Zimbabweans.
Perhaps one measure that can clearly illustrate how
miserable life was
in 2007 is the cost of living. Inflation galloped to 14
840% during the
year. In January inflation was around 1 593,6%. This means
that 2007
witnessed a massive spate of price increases for all basic
commodities.
A survey conducted by businessdigest revealed that two
litres of
cooking oil which was being sold at $6 780 in January rose to $450
000
before being reduced to $220 000 after government ordered all retail
outlets
to slash prices.
By yesterday the same quantity of
cooking oil was going for $9,5
million.
A loaf of bread which
cost $780 in January is now being sold above $1
000 000, but this week most
bakers were still pushing for a further review.
A 10kg bag of
mealie meal which cost $1 300 at the beginning of the
year is now going for
between $4,5 million and $5 million.
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe
director Roseline Siyachitema said
speculative tendencies this year resulted
in most retailers increasing their
prices in line with
inflation.
"It was a terrible year for consumers as prices of most
basic
commodities were being increased, largely due to speculative
behaviors. No
consumers had it easy this year," said
Siyachitema.
Genesis Bank group economist, Brains Muchemwa, said
price increases
this year were "astronomic" and consumers felt the pinch as
their salaries
were not increasing inline with the rate of
increases.
"There should be a pricing system which takes into
consideration the
cost build up of commodities as most prices were
unjustified," said
Muchemwa.
Independent economist, John
Robertson, said prices could increase at a
faster rate next year as
"business try to cushion themselves against rising
production costs caused
by the fall of the dollar against major currencies".
Inflation
opened the year at 1 593,6% before rising to 1 729,9% and 2
200,2% in
February and March respectively before touching 3 713,9% in April.
The figure rose further to 7 251,1%, 7 634,8% and 6 592,8% in May,
June and
July.
Zim Independent
By
Nhlanhla Nyathi
CASH is the simplest method of payment and
means of settlement for
virtually any type of transaction.
There is no latent risk associated with a cash transaction unlike
other
forms of payment such as cheques, electronic transfers and many other
information technology-backed systems that can go wrong.
Most
forms of payment disadvantage either party in a transaction as
goods are
sometimes released after the seller confirms credit of funds in
their bank
account or sometimes goods are released without confirmation of
payment
having gone through the account. Such an arrangement requires a
certain
level of trust as one party in the transaction has the upper hand
over the
other.
It is clear why cash is a favoured method of settlement
especially in
developing countries facing financial challenges in
rolling-out costly IT
infrastructure to support cashless
transactions.
In Zimbabwe like any other country, cash is used on a
daily basis
albeit in higher proportions because of the effects of the
hyper-inflationary environment that has eroded the purchasing power of the
Zimbabwe dollar because of the economic recession.
This could
justify the running of the printing press now and again by
the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to compensate for eroded buying power of
money in
circulation. Although the hyper-inflationary environment as
indicated by the
October inflation rate of 14 840%, can in part explain the
high demand for
cash, the informalisation of the Zimbabwean economy ushered
in by the
economic recession pursuant to the shutdown and scaling down of
operations
by many multi-national companies (MNCs) has had a hand in the
shift in modus
operandi of the whole economy resulting in the high usage of
cash.
MNCs and large local corporate entities dominated the
commercial
trading environment. MNCs were well organised and set a strict
corporate
culture based on transacting with bona-fide banking institutions
that
partnered them in their long-term growth strategies. Consequently all
financial transactions were handled by their personal bankers to facilitate
servicing of loans and to maintain a banking track-record for future loan
appraisals.
In addition, banking institutions had access to
foreign currency and
well developed International lines of credit,
encouraging MNCs to bank all
their sales revenues to access the foreign
currency.
The era of the economic recession heralded the shut-down
and scaling
down of operations by most MNCs ushering in the era of the
informalisation
of the Zimbabwean economy.
The informal sector
was characterised by small business operations,
the main objective of which
was to fill the gap left by the closure of MNCs.
For Zimbabwe, the informal
sector was the only viable option as MNCs and
foreign direct investment was
not forthcoming due to negative international
perception.
Unfortunately the informalisation era brought with it new
complications
associated with the fact that most of the new entrepreneurs
did not have
adequate capital to effectively replace MNCs. The corporate
culture of
yester-year broke down with the informalisation of the economy as
most of
the entrepreneurs tried to make ends meet with little working
capital and
with virtually no access to the privileged personalised banking
MNCs used to
have.
Most people in the informal sector do not have business
accounts with
commercial banks or deliberately operate out of the banking
system to evade
the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority tax net.
Those
who had business accounts maintained them for the sole purpose
of clearing
the odd cheque received once in a while. Consequently, the
corporate culture
of yester-year has transformed to that of fragmented
entities more inclined
to use cash in their daily dealings because of the
lack of access to the
total banking package.
There is no need to deposit sales revenues
because the informal sector
has no loans to service and no hope of accessing
other investment banking
services offered by financial
institutions.
The privilege previously enjoyed by MNCs through
personalised banking
has become a pipe-dream for the informal sector,
resulting in many financial
transactions being undertaken outside the
banking system.
The prohibitively low withdrawal limits imposed by
the RBZ further
exacerbated the need to keep cash outside the banking
system. Many people
knew that if they deposited cash, difficulties would be
experienced in
withdrawing it because of the unworkable daily limits placed
on withdrawals
and yet the cash was needed on a daily basis to purchase
foreign currency
that had found its way to the parallel market.
Press reports indicating that $65 trillion is missing from the banking
system came as no surprise. The informalised Zimbabwe does not need to
deposit cash because it simply circulates outside the banking system to buy
foreign currency used in the importation of trading stock and thereafter,
the stock in trade is sold for cash to the public.
It is a
vicious cycle that operates efficiently outside the banking
system. If
foreign currency was available in the banking system, there could
be a
motive to deposit all savings as part of the effort of accessing
foreign
currency.
As it stands, foreign currency is in the illegal parallel
market,
outside the banking system and the Zimdollar, which is the primary
agent
used to buy hard currency, once withdrawn from the banking system will
keep
circulating outside the banking system chasing dwindling foreign
currency
inflows.
The amount of local dollars needed to
purchase hard currency will keep
increasing in line with the depreciation of
the Zimbabwe dollar on the
parallel market, further putting pressure on the
RBZ governor to print more
cash.
Plans by the RBZ governor,
Gono, to initiate the second phase of
slashing zeros and subsequently
introducing new bearer cheques through
operation Sunrise 2 will not stop the
vicious cycle.
Cash barons will slowly build up their cash piles
outside the banking
system through their various business empires and get
back to business as
usual. This has become a business culture in the
informalised Zimbabwe.
The wait-and-see attitude adopted by the RBZ
governor to the current
cash crisis only serves to strengthen people’s
resolve to remove money from
the banking system and keep it in their homes.
Zimbabwe has fundamentally
changed since the onset of the economic recession
and will only normalise
once foreign currency becomes available through the
formal banking system.
Even the introduction of higher
denominations will not help the
situations. It seems that barons are here to
stay unless and until Zimbabwe
sorts out its economic mess.
Nyathi is a director of LCE Capital, a private firm trading in the
United
Kingdom and Zimbabwe. He can be contacted on 0912 250 092.
Zim Independent
Boldwill
Hungwe
THE 2006 World Economic Forum’s Global Information
Technology report
ranked Zimbabwe last among Southern African economies that
are developing
Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The Harvard scale of ICT usage was employed in determining grades and
Zimbabwe was rated 2,4 on a scale of five.
Moreover, the sector
is still on stage 2 of the HUG scale which is a
model used by Harvard
University to measure ICT development level of a
country.
The
low rating seems to fly in the face of the initiatives that
government
claims to have taken in order to enhance the development of ICTs
in
Zimbabwe.
The question then is how that National ICT policy
framework in
September could make Zimbabwe’s position better on the ICT
development
ratings?
While the government’s move can be viewed
by many as positive, more
certainly needs to be done to improve the
political and economic environment
for ICTs to develop.
The
government’s position on ICTs, on a verbal note, exposes its
determination
to do so.
"Zimbabwe will be counted among other developing
countries that have
embraced ICTs and whose people’s lives have been
transformed by the
development of communication technologies," Information
minister Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu was quoted as saying in a local
daily.
What is left is the government’s commitment to see to it
that such a
proposition won’t lie idle like many polices that fell short of
implementation.
Much has been said about President Mugabe’s
sourcing and distribution
of computers in schools and the rural
electrification programme that the
government has embarked on.
Some quarters have applauded that as a huge promotion for ICTs in
Zimbabwe.
Given the present political and economic challenges
the country is
facing, it is highly unlikely such an endeavour will yield
positive results
for ICT development unless urgent measures are taken to
improve some areas.
Zimbabwe has limited access to ICTs owing to
several reasons.
A Zimbabwe e-readiness survey report 2005 says
ICTs access is hampered
by high tariffs for using the infrastracture and ICT
services.
Zimbabwe relies heavily on imported electricity. The
power generated
locally is not able to meet the demand, the report
said.
The report says the legal framework is another major threat
to the
development of the ICT sector.
Critics have noted with
concern that provisions of the Broadcasting
Services Act of Zimbabwe and the
Interception of Communication Act pose a
huge threat to the development of
ICTs.
The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe is
also the biggest impediment to the development of
ICTs.
Zimbabwe’s regulatory bodies lack coherent policy framework
to guide
the ICT sector, the e-readiness report said.
"While
Zimbabwe has committed itself to fulfilling the TRIPS
Agreement, it lacks
cyber laws in its legal framework to address e-commerce
issues such as
on-line contracts and digital signatures" the report said.
"Like
any other country, for example USA has the Patriot Act. The
problem comes on
the interpretation and implementation of the laws, with
some laws having
been applied impartially," said Brian Mukudzavu, a local
ICT
expert.
Some have criticised the defective application of the law
by the
regulatory bodies.
Critics say BAZ and Protraz were not
functioning properly because of
political interference.
They
said the two organisations have shown that government is not
interested in
reforming the laws that govern communication and ICTs in
Zimbabwe.
"The government considers the telecommunications as a
strategic
industry and that’s why it took so long for government to issue
mobile
operating licenses to independent players."
Mukudzavu
said Zimbabwe’s laws don’t outrightly promote the
development of
ICTs,
He said so far BAZ had not issued a license to independent
radio
players even though it was established to do specifically
that.
"Licensing should be done taking convergence into divergence
as the
case with Zimbabwe at the moment," said Mukudzavu.
There
is concern in business circles that investors will continue to
shun Zimbabwe
and opt for other neighbouring countries like South Africa and
Botswana
because of their investor friendly laws.
Botswana has already
embarked on extensive public consultation to
liberalise its communication
related industries and move towards
convergence.
The ICTs
sector has also been affected by the inflationary
environment. Products such
as mobile phone lines are scarce and most find
their way onto the black
market where they are sold at exorbitant prices.
International
renowned IT companies have left the country because of
the economic
problems.
"IBM and Microsoft left the country because the economy
is not
performing but that in itself cannot be an excuse for not excelling
in the
field of ICTs," said Mukudzavu.
Skilled IT personnel are
also leaving the country for neighbouring
countries like Namibia, South
Africa and Botswana.
"Companies are no longer investing in training
of staff in fear of
losing them to brain drain," said a director with a
local ICT distribution
company.
Tafadzwa Nyoni, a Zimbabwean IT
expert based in Namibia, said he left
the country because of the
underperforming economy. He felt he was also not
growing professionally
because of the lack of development in the sector.
"I could not
continue to live on peanuts while I am aware of the value
of my potential in
IT which is well respected in Namibia when it comes to
remuneration" he
said.
Zimbabwe also has high levels of piracy in the ICT sector.
There is
need to increase the bandwidth. Mukudzavu, made an appeal to ISPs
not to
charge people using local traffic and try to do mirroring of
international
websites.
The e-readiness report also suggested
recommendations that if applied
could help in the development of
ICTs.
Appropriate policy interventions, the report said, could be
established to ensure ICTs are fairly made available to disadvantaged groups
and rural communities.
The tariff structure could be
rationalised to make it more affordable
to subscribers, the report
said.
There is need to "encourage full utilisation of existing
communication
infrastructure in order to minimize underutelised capacity
which constitutes
wastage of investment resources" the report
stated.
While there is a strong consensus that the recommendations
in the
e-readiness report are important in developing ICT in Zimbabwe,
analysts say
the declining economic and political environment will continue
to impact
negatively on the sector.
Hungwe is the chief
photo-journalist for the Zimbabwe Independent.
Zim Independent
By Martin
Tarusenga
WITH all the problems that have come with Zimbabwe’s
economic crisis,
it is surprising that many companies have still managed to
pull through
2007.
I remember a launch meeting that I had with
a director of one listed
company in January. He was quite worried about the
year ahead.
"Tell me how we are going to survive this year?" he
asked me. I could
tell that this was not just a "social
question".
It was a veiled business enquiry meant to extract some
free advice on
the strategies that he could implement to make sure that his
company at
least lasts until the end of the year.
He had
obviously asked the same question to many other people. The
idea, I believe,
was to gather as much information as possible in order to
come up with a
plan. As the conversation progressed I could see that his
main worry was the
management of treasury.
He had every reason to be concerned about
that area because inflation
was showing signs that it will not stop
galloping anytime soon. At the time
of writing this article inflation was
about 14 840%. The company has not
performed exceptionally well but at least
it did not fold.
In such an environment survival is the main goal
of every company.
The past year was probably the toughest for most
companies in
Zimbabwe. It required a certain degree of financial dexterity
to survive.
Managers and directors had to deal with revenues that
lose purchasing
power before they are received. At the same time there was
increasing
corporate financial obligations which included increasing staff
costs and
foreign currency-denominated expenditure for corporate capital
equipment.
All these came on the back of government’s hard line
position against
staff downsizing. Companies just had to keep their workers
or face the wrath
of the government which has unfortunately deluded itself
to believe that
there was a grand plan to change the regime.
Exchange controls and regulations were made even stiffer to create
government-captive financial/capital markets. Price controls ate into
corporate margins and profits.
It was a crisis in every
respect. The regulators did not make it any
better.
The RBZ for
instance requires 35% of any foreign currency that
corporations earn — with
the additional condition that any remaining foreign
currency in an FCA must
be used within a month of being deposited or else it
is forfeited to the
RBZ.
Regarding financial obligations price controls put a lid on
how much
corporates could earn from local sales. Staff costs were however
less easy
to control because of legal and political issues.
What’s worse, overdraft and other loan facilities were hard to come by
as
banks became reluctant to lend in the face of biting inflation,
controlled
lending rates and high credit default risk.
The ZSE as a source of
corporate finance remained limited to those
wealthy corporations. Credit,
debit cards and other forms of convenient
electronic payment systems were
still limited to the middle to upper class.
The RTGS system in
Zimbabwe has recently shown its lack of capacity to
handle the influx of
settlements as economic actors pushed to reduce
exposure to the Zimbabwean
dollar in a reaction to RBZ threat to render any
excess liquidity
valueless.
Despite the hostile economic environment there was clear
evidence of
residual economic activity which showed that it was almost
resistant to the
politically induced economic crisis.
One
wonders how these activities could have succeeded in being so
resistant.
Treasury departments must be working very hard. What stands out
against the
inhibitive economic fundamentals deriving from the said controls
and
regulations are emergent economic activities outside of the politically
selfish controls and regulations.
The evasion of the controls
is of course to be expected from all
rational people including even the
selfish crafters of these regulations.
Simple arithmetic tells us
this is the case with proceeds from the
export of primary goods like
minerals and agricultural product which rarely
find their way back into the
economy.
The same applies to export proceeds of accounting,
actuarial, and
other tertiary skills exports that Zimbabwean companies and
individuals
provide.
The battle for survival by rational
welfare-maximising economic actors
against all forms of government
inhibitive controls has intensified. No
government in the world has ever won
a battle against the market.
As corporations seek to survive they
will need forex to buy the
foreign currency to buy capital
equipment.
Equally, the corporation will need to keep local
currency to pay the
restless local staff and local suppliers.
Treasury departments in Zimbabwe are obviously working ingeniously to
keep
the corporates afloat through correct levels of liquidity, maintenance
of
appropriate lines of credit and using accurate forecast models.
One
apparent way Zimbabwean corporations are meeting their forex
obligations is
partner with foreign companies say in the UK that specialise
in taking say
the pound sterling in exchange for paying out the Zim dollar
to
beneficiaries in Zimbabwe at the prevailing parallel exchange
rates.
Such companies include those that operate legally within the
RBZ money
transfer agency framework. Partnerships with such companies,
"legal" or
otherwise enable the local corporation to raise forex from the
foreign
company.
Forex telegraphic transfers can be made by the
foreign company for
purchases of desired imports.
The other
apparent method of raising forex is for the corporations to
raise forex
directly from the domestic parallel market in exchange for the
Zim dollar.
The forex can be sourced from incoming tourists, Zimbabweans
working abroad
and those who have decided to make a living smuggling forex.
Individual forex money brokers have also been doing brisk business
especially at Road Port where in theory they operate outside of the
prescribed exchange controls.
We are in reality, a dollarised
economy hanging onto a useless
Zimbabwean dollar for the sake of selfish
politicking.
The hard cash raised from such parallel market deals
ends up in legal
FCA’s where they are cleared within the stipulated periods
to offshore
accounts that the RBZ will never ever track.
Another way is to buy Old Mutual shares at the ZSE and sell them at
the LSE.
It appears treasury departments just need to be technically
compliant for
their corporations to keep afloat.
Such efforts to evade government
controls are not necessarily new to
Zimbabwe. Restrictions on dollar lending
and borrowing in New York in the
1960s and 1970s coupled with stringent
reserve requirements contributed to
the emergence of the now popular
Euro-dollar markets.
In the face of controls similar to those in
Zimbabwe, investors in
Venezuela buy shares of Venezuelan stocks like their
renowned CanTV and sell
them in New York for US dollars.
Markets are forever the winners, always a step ahead, and authorities
in
developed economies have since learnt to simply work with them.
Tarusenga is principal consultant with systemics consulting. Contact
Mtarusenga@aol.com. Tel: 0912 889
716.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
THE property market remained subdued this year, with
prospects of
recovery remaining weak on the back of increasing inflationary
pressures
which persisted throughout 2007.
According to a
Knight Frank’s Africa Report of Property for 2007,
there were minimal
residential developments in the country this year with
"residential
development activity mainly focused on the servicing and
subdivision of
land".
The first half of last year saw the property market playing
second
fiddle to other investment vehicles such as the money market and the
stock
market.
This trend continued until government embarked on
a controversial
price blitz in June.
Eric Shilton of Real Homes
said property sector was hampered by
government’s bureaucratic system which
made it impossible for developers to
put up new structures.
"The cumbersome bureaucratic system has seen property playing second
fiddle
to other investments markets. The regulations have made transactions
in the
property sector slower."
He said many residential properties were
not completed because of the
cost of building materials. Other costs in the
construction sector have gone
up as well.
"Potential homeowners
are less optimistic about property market
prospects in the coming year
(2008) as evidence by the reduction of house
and building which were
completed this year," Shilton said.
Real Estate Institute of
Zimbabwe (REIZ) said for the eighth year
running, there were no major
developments on the property market due to the
unstable economic environment
and hyperinflation.
"Demand for space to let, particularly
commercial, continued to shrink
as companies downsized on space
requirements," REIZ said.
"Rentals, although increasing in sympathy
with inflation, were still
way below regional levels and at the levels they
are, are not good enough to
attract new developments."
REIZ
said current office rentals were under US$1 per square metre
compared to
between US$5 and $10 per square metre in the region.
"Rental
returns for property owners were severely being affected by
inflation-driven
building operating costs, in particular rates, water and
security," REIZ
said.
"The tenant, in deciding to take up space, looks at the total
occupation costs and we now have in the majority of cases instances where
operating costs exceed rentals by up to one and a half times," REIZ
said.
REIZ said there was an acute shortage of houses and flats to
let,
contributing to the steep rise in rentals.
"In the case of
houses and flats to let, one particular supply side
bottleneck is the much
talked about Residential Rent Regulations which
caused institutions to shy
away from housing as this sector had poor returns
due to
controls."
Properties remained priced beyond many potential buyers
in a market
where the bulk of the country’s working class no longer qualify
for bank
loans or mortgages.
"High inflation has led to the
dollarisation of prices whereby the
market considers residential property
values in US$ terms even though
transactions can only be legally undertaken
in Zimbabwe dollars," said
Knight Frank in a report.
"In terms
of local currency, values have risen by over a 4 000% since
the beginning of
the year," Knight Frank said.
A standard medium-density house,
which cost between $150 million and
$200 million in January last year, is
now priced above $100 billion.
A standard three bed-roomed house in
the high-density areas now cost
over $50 billion from $60 million in
January.
Some houses in low density areas are prices at over a
trillion
dollars.
Figures obtained from Southbay Real Estate
indicate that, rentals in
Harare had also significantly gone
up.
Rentals for residential properties for medium and low density
houses
were pegged at between $150 000 and $300 000 in January but are now
at above
$100 million.
Most home owners are now charging their
rentals in foreign currency.
The trend of quarterly rent reviews
became the norm as property owners
sought to cushion themselves from the
galloping inflation. The year saw a
decline in industrial
output.
"Although the prevailing poor economic environment has led
to a
decline industrial output, there are no vacancies in Harare and
Bulawayo,"
said Knight Frank.
Knight Frank said occupier demand
during the year from emerging small
enterprises was very strong for small
industrial units (200-500sq m).
"Institutional interest in
industrial property investment however has
waned over the last few years,
reflecting a perception that the sector will
continue to decline in the
short to medium-term."
Knight Frank said high quality retail space
is fully let with not
major developments in the pipeline.
"As
with offices, institutions are showing strong interest in suburban
retail
space although, due to lack of supply, this can only come in the form
of new
developments," said Mazarire.
According to information gathered
from the country’s four building
societies; Central African Building
Society, Beverley, Intermarket and FBC
Building Society most mortgage
applications were turned down because the
applicants did not meet the income
requirements.
Compared to other investment, the property seems to
have benefited
from the price blitz.
With other sectors
struggling due to price controls investors seemed
to have found an option in
the form of the property sector.
This growth came in the form of
prices and no new structures.
However, even that recovery was not
enough to surpass the growth on
the stock market.
According to
the Genesis Bank group economist, Brains Muchemwa, the
unlisted property
market to date has gained an average of 80 000% against
inflation rate year
to September at 3 576%.
"The property sector, though a huge
disappointment when compared to
other asset markets in Zimbabwe, has been
exuberant on the back of
increasing money supply, foreign currency shortages
and dwindling influence
of the construction industry since 2002," Muchemwa
said.
Muchemwa said the fact that properties were trading at a huge
discount
means that unlisted property market in Zimbabwe remains a very
attractive
market.
Zim Independent
I AM
a nomad. If conditions at a particular place are not conducive to
grafting,
I go find somewhere else to work. However, that’s not always
desirable — or
even practical.
One situation that comes up frequently in Harare
during the rainy
season (well, whatever season), is the loss of power. Now,
depending on when
the magetsi (power) goes and you have work to do, you can
either call it a
day and hit the pub, or suck it up and get to work. Yeah
it’s possible to
get work done in a power-cut — if you have the right stuff
beforehand.
There are four basic requirements for spending the
working day without
AC power:
Some kind of phone, either a
corded landline or cell, or both
A laptop (or many, if you’re a
rich bugger) with spare batteries;
Some form of Internet
connectivity; dial-up, CDMA or preferably
broadband;
Non-perishable food you can get to without opening your fridge.
A
phone seems like a given for a worker, but it’s especially important
in a
power-cut. Given how popular cordless phones are these days, you should
always keep a hard-wired handset around; those default red PTC sets are
perfect. Even if you’re landline free, make sure you have a mobile with
either a fully charged battery or a spare.
A laptop is also a
given for today’s workers. What may not be obvious
is the need for extra
batteries. Now, I know how hard it can be to get any
thing out of the
accounts for accessories (I once had to sweat bullets just
for a USB mouse),
but remember most laptops won’t last much more than a
couple of hours on
batteries. Extra batteries give you extra runtime in a
power-cut.
Of course, a phone and laptop don’t mean jack if you
have no way to
get online. I have broadband using a USB modem, so my
"net"works even with
no power (the USB modem draws power from the laptop
batteries). If you’re
not so lucky, you have to settle for dialup speeds
using an analogue modem.
You can replace a phone and laptop with a
higher-end smart phone. They
often include support for email and web
browsing. While the form factor of
these device can be awkward to deal with,
in a pinch they frequently do the
biz.
Finally, you need chow.
It’s hard to get any work done under any
conditions if your basic needs
aren’t met. Make sure you have non-perishable
food readily accessible; last
thing you want to do is open the fridge,
causing cold air to be let out
(don’t want the perishables going bad).
Being able to work
powerless is not for everyone. It’s not practical
for some jobs or
locations; neither is it cheap. However, with the resources
and preparation,
it can be done.
Right, where did I put my maputi?
Your Internet junkie,
Yoshi.
Zim Independent
Orirando
Manwere
LAST week’s Zanu PF extraordinary congress, which
endorsed President
Robert Mugabe’s candidacy for the 2008 presidential
election, failed to
address the political and economic crisis facing the
country and exposed the
party’s continued abuse of sate resources to remain
in power, analysts have
said.
Zanu PF, the analysts say,
continues to cling to power due to vote
buying, corruption and exploitation
of ordinary party members.
They alleged that Mugabe secured his
endorsement after distributing
cars and farming equipment to traditional
chiefs and party members and used
war veterans through their leader Jabulani
Sibanda last month to organise
the so-called million man march to garner
support for him.
Ironically, the analysts observed that Mugabe told
the congress to
fight corruption and vote buying to ensure election of the
right candidates
for legislative and council elections.
Mugabe
said it was the election of party candidates that often
presented problems
in the ruling party as prospective leaders resorted to
vote
buying.
The congress came at a time when the country is
experiencing its worst
economic crisis, coupled with an unprecedented cash
crunch which central
bank governor Gideon Gono, in his address to congress,
blamed on unnamed top
government and ruling party officials.
Despite the remarks by Gono on inherent corruption by the party and
government officials, the congress failed to adopt practical measures to
curb the rot except appealing to "all citizens to combat corruption wherever
it occurs" as one of the congress resolutions.
The analysts
said the ruling party’s congress had failed to address
"bread and butter"
issues affecting the country and exposed the leadership’s
double standards
in ensuring their continued stay in power.
University of Zimbabwe
(UZ) political scientist John Makumbe said the
nomination and endorsement of
Mugabe was clearly undemocratic and could not
be compared to this week’s ANC
congress in Polokwane where members freely
chose leaders through secret
ballot and public debate.
"Prior to the Zanu PF congress, members
were coerced to endorse
Mugabe. They were not allowed to choose alternative
candidates as happened
at the ANC congress. This clearly demonstrates that
Zanu PF is an
authoritarian party where incumbent leaders ensure that they
remain in power
by hook or crook," he said.
Makumbe said the
congress had failed to come up with concrete measures
to combat corruption
following Gono’s allegations that top government
officials were behind the
current cash shortages.
He said the congress had also failed to
review economic policies to
arrest the current crisis.
Another
UZ political scientist Eldred Masunungure said it was
unfortunate that Zanu
PF had also roped traditional leaders, who are
supposed to be apolitical,
into divisive politics.
"Remarks by Chief Fortune Charumbira that
traditional leaders were
behind President Mugabe because he had given them
cars, tractors and land
clearly show how the ruling party has continued to
abuse state resources to
get support," Masunungure said.
"I
don’t think Chief Charumbira sprang a surprise. He and the rest of
the
traditional leaders have been openly pro-Zanu PF.
"They have become
part and parcel of Zanu PF and they have been
entangled in the Zanu PF gravy
train."
Instead, Masunungure argued, traditional chiefs must have
been
unifying factors in their areas of jurisdiction.
"They
have become partisan because of the (material) things they are
being given
by government. How do you expect them to allocate farming
implements and
inputs to people who do not support Zanu PF in their areas?
There is now a
"Zanufication" of society," he added.
In a solidarity message to
the congress, Charumbira — who is the
president of the Chiefs Council — said
the traditional leaders were happy
with Mugabe and they would "go out in
full force" to mobilise communities to
vote for him in the 2008
elections.
Said Charumbira: "In the run up to the congress, some
people from the
opposition were asking me if I would be attending the Zanu
PF congress. I
don’t understand why they would ask such a
question.
"Why don’t they understand that Cde Mugabe and Zanu PF
were
responsible for reclaiming the land that had been stolen from
us?
"You can not be called a chief when you have no land. We will
die with
you. Chiefs have two responsibilities, to fight for their subjects
and fight
for their country."
He said the notion that
traditional leaders should be apolitical was
"hogwash" and chiefs from
Zimbabwe would not allow it to deter them from
supporting Zanu PF in its
agrarian reforms.
Chief Charumbira said chiefs were surprised that
the MDC had
"smuggled" the issue of the "role of chiefs" on to the agenda of
the
inter-party talks.
"Chiefs have been given cars and
tractors under government schemes and
the right to work with those in charge
of Operation Maguta (a food security
programme spearheaded by security
forces) in the allocation of agricultural
equipment procured by the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe under the farm
mechanisation programme," Charumbira
said.
Commenting on corruption, Masunungure said the congress had
failed to
act upon Gono’s remarks because the top leadership was
involved.
Gono told delegates to the congress that some of the cash
barons who
have caused the serious shortage of cash in the country were
senior
government and ruling party officials abusing their mandate to lead
the
implementation of its programmes.
Masunungure said if the
government was committed to fighting
corruption, there should be arrests and
prosecutions of the culprits.
"Instead, nothing has happened.
Ordinary people including Zanu PF
supporters are suffering, as they cannot
access cash from banks. The
congress shied away from discussing and coming
up with concrete measures to
address this problem. Zanu PF supporters left
the congress angry," said
Masunungure added.
Speaking at the
congress, Zanu-PF Mashonaland East provincial chairman
Ray Kaukonde
challenged Gono to produce a list of the alleged cash barons so
that they
could be brought to book.
"We want to ask what is causing these
people not to be arrested…I hope
heads will roll on this issue because
people are suffering and production is
at a standstill as they queue for
their hard-earned cash," said Kaukonde.
National Constitutional
Assembly chairperson Lovemore Madhuku said
Zanu PF could not talk about
combating corruption because "the whole Zanu PF
machinery is
corrupt".
He said the invitation of Gono to address members of the
ruling party
at its special congress was in itself an act of corruption and
abuse of
personnel from state institutions.
"Zanu PF can not
talk about curbing corruption.
"You need a completely new political
leadership guided by a new
democratic people-driven constitution to deal
with that and the rest of the
factors affecting our country," said
Madhuku.
Zim Independent
Lucia Makamure
ALBERT Matapo, one of the six men accused of
plotting to topple
President Robert Mugabe in May, is certainly going to
spend the festive
season in remand prison as a result of the current strike
by magistrates and
prosecutors.
His bid to file an application
for refusal of further remand fell by
the wayside, as the courts could not
hear it due to the industrial action
and it will probably be heard next year
if the magistrates resume work.
Matapo’s lawyer Charles Warara said
he wanted the courts to free his
client and join his family and enjoy the
festive season as he was convinced
that he did not commit treason as alleged
by the state.
"We wanted to make an application for refusal of
further remand but we
cannot as long as the magistrates and prosecutors are
not at work," said
Warara.
Matapo is just one of the many
suspects who have been denied their
right to speedy justice as enshrined in
the constitution because of the
strike.
For the first time in
Zimbabwe’s 27 years of Independence, magistrates
and judicial officers went
on strike in protest at poor working conditions
and low salaries thereby
denying litigants and accused persons their right
to swift justice in the
courts.
The industrial action that is in its eighth week has
virtually
paralysed operations at the magistrates courts throughout the
country with
law experts saying criminal courts have been turned into remand
institutions.
Regional magistrates, who did not join the
strike, are dealing only
with remand cases.
Besides dealing
with criminal cases the magistrate courts also handle
civil cases such as
solemnising marriages, maintenance issues and
appointment of
executors.
Prominent lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the situation at
the courts has
become desperate as they have been reduced to remand
institutions.
"Since the strike started in October the courts have
been failing to
handle court applications, sentences and acquittals and
other judicial
procedures, but now they are
only dealing with
remands," said Muchadehama.
In an interview with The Zimbabwe
Independent, Muchadehama said the
judiciary is the weakest arm of the state
since it has no money of its own
and relies on handouts from others which
therefore robs it of its
independence.
"Their substance depends
on the Public Service Commission which itself
doesn’t have money and can
choose when to or not to give them money," said
Muchadehama.
Muchadehama bemoaned the losses that have been incurred due to the
strike.
"How does one quantify the loss to clients who have
paid their lawyers
to go to courts and the time that has been lost yet no
one has come forward
to explain to the nation why they are being denied
their basic human
rights," Muchadehama said.
He added that all
that is happening at the courts mirrors that the
country has lost respect
for the rule of law.
"It is high time that someone challenged the
government for infringing
on the basic rights of people. The government has
an obligation to explain
to people on what is happening at the courts,"
added Muchadehama.
Last week at least 150 lawyers signed a petition
calling the
government to address the grievances of the striking
magistrates,
prosecutors and court support staff.
The petition
was handed to parliament on Monday in recognition of the
International Human
Rights Day.
The human rights lawyers said they were concerned with
the continued
violation of human rights.
"Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights and its undersigned members and
some of its partners’ members
note with concern the continued violation of
human rights with impunity by
the government of Zimbabwe, and its refusal to
address the country’s long
standing human rights concerns," said the lawyers
in the
petition.
In the petition, the lawyers said the strike was making
life difficult
for suspects and those in remand.
"The on-going
strike by the magistrates, prosecutors and the court
support staff has made
the lives of suspects and those on remand difficult,"
the lawyers
said.
"Because the courts are not working, the prisoners at police
stations
are not taken to court within the stipulated time limits, or at
all.
"Those in custody continue to be deprived of their rights to
liberty
and trial within a reasonable period, all because the government is
broke
and unable or unwilling to give the court officials remuneration that
enables them to live in dignity."
The human rights lawyers
called upon the government to improve the
working
conditions and
salaries of judicial and legal officers.
"The government is called
upon to award decent salaries to and improve
the working conditions of the
affected judicial and legal officers."
Earlier this year in January
Justice Rita Makarau took a swipe at the
government for neglecting the
judiciary when she officially opened the 2007
legal year.
"It
is wrong by any measure to make the judiciary beg for its
sustenance. It is
wrong to make the judiciary beg for resources from any
other source. Yet, if
I do not do so today, the judiciary shall continue to
operate without
computers, without adequate stationery and shall continue to
use libraries
that the Chief Magistrate has aptly described as varying only
in their
degrees of uselessness," said Makarau in her speech.
The judiciary
also happens to be one of the hardest hit government
departments by the
brain drain.
The UN Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors adopted
by the Eighth
United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the
Treatment of
Offenders, Havana, Cuba, August 27 to September 7 1990
expressly and without
reservation state that reasonable conditions of
service of prosecutors and
adequate remuneration should be facilitated and
made available by
governments.
This is so as to improve access
to justice and fair treatment,
restitution, compensation and assistance for
victims of crime.
The year ends on a low note as a number of
suspects who include
suspected criminals and traffic offenders who are in
custody awaiting trial
will greet the New Year behind bars as the government
has robbed them of
their basic rights to a fair trial within a reasonable
time as enshrined in
the United Nations Declaration of Human
Rights.
Zim Independent
By Alex
Magaisa
RECEIVED wisdom attributes the collapse of Zimbabwe to
rampant abuse
of human rights. So pervasive is this view that the language
of human rights
dominates every facet of discourse on Zimbabwe.
That the human rights perspective is so dominant is testament to the
great
efforts of the human rights movement both in and outside Zimbabwe.
The result is that challenges to the power and legitimacy of the
Mugabe
regime are invariably predicated on human rights violations.
That
may well be true but to the extent that it obfuscates other
grounds upon
which the authority of the regime can be effectively
challenged, the human
rights narrative has been limiting.
In other words, it is important
to appreciate that there are other
ways of attributing the collapse of
Zimbabwe, beyond the human rights
narrative. One of these ways is to
understand the collapse as a failure of
resource management by an inadequate
regime.
The preference for the language of human rights is
understandable —
the evidence of abuse is capable of dramatic and effective
presentation
evoking emotion and sympathy across nations, it is popular and
makes
headlines.
Indeed, the human rights movement has created
an industry in which
individuals gain a living whilst doing something about
which they feel
passionate.
But the dominance of the human
rights narrative should not lull us
into the belief that it is the only or
even main index upon which the power
structures within a nation can be
managed or challenged. The human rights
narrative has been hugely useful in
mobilising the population but its
dominance has also been
limiting.
It has been limiting in that it is at once too narrow and
too dominant
in relation to other ways of understanding the problem and
challenging the
power structures of the Mugabe regime.
It is
too narrow because it confines the critique of the Mugabe regime
within the
language of human rights, so that every aspect of its failures,
even if it
can be articulated and challenged on its own independent basis,
tends
invariably to be couched within the human rights narrative.
This is
hardly a complete representation of the weaknesses of the
Mugabe regime and
the consequent collapse of the country.
Rather, it has to be said,
it is more apt to specify the regime’s
incompetence in managing the nation’s
resources. It is neither necessary nor
inevitable to dress this in the
language of human rights.
The fact is they have had 27 years to
transform the nation’s economy
but instead, having inherited a sound economy
from their colonial
predecessors, they have caused its demise.
To say that this is a result of human rights violations is to mask the
managerial incompetence of the regime, which should be a legitimate point of
challenge by those who think they can do better.
The
opposition’s claim to power should not simply be that they claim
to be
better protectors of human rights but that they are better managers of
the
country’s economic resources. The opposition can and should be able to
challenge the power of Zanu PF on its failures on the economic front,
outside the usual human rights narrative.
The land question is
a concrete and relevant example of an issue that
has been dressed in the
language of human rights, whereas, it can, equally
and perhaps more
effectively be dealt with from the perspective of economic
management.
In other words, the relative weaknesses about and
emanating from the
contentious fast-track land reform programme are best
captured and
effectively represented as an illustration of the regime’s poor
grasp of
economic fundamentals.
It is undoubtedly a human
rights matter, but from a political
viewpoint, the most potent charge
against the regime is that both the
process and outcome has shown the
regime’s failure to usefully and
profitably manage a strategic economic
resource.
To simply view land as a matter of human rights is to
confine the
matter to cyclical debate, in which holders claim their existing
rights,
against equally legitimate rights of those that seek to redress
historical
wrongs. An economic view of land however, cuts across such
cyclical debates,
focussing mainly on whether land is put to its most
effective use in terms
of productivity.
The blow of the
seizures might have been cushioned if the regime had
made a proper plan to
economically manage the resource properly and
effectively.
As
it is, seven years after the initial farm seizures, the issue is
not
confined to whether the government violated human rights but whether it
has,
in fact, managed that resource effectively. That it has failed and has
shown
no promise that it can do any better should be sufficient ground to
challenge its authority. The question has to be asked: What does it hope to
do in the next five years that it has failed to achieve in the previous 27?
This is the regime’s greatest point of weakness, shorn of the cyclical human
rights debate.
It is, of course, easy to categorise everything
under the banner of
human rights but it does not always provide an accurate
picture or
strategically effective challenge.
Countries can,
and a number do, thrive economically, despite charges
of human rights
violations, China being, perhaps, a prominent example, with
one of the
world’s fastest growing economies yet remains accused of all
kinds of rights
violations.
But it is not even necessary to go that far. The
average Zimbabwean
often reminisces about the old days, referring
ironically, to the colonial
days. "Zvaiva nani" — ("it was better"), they
say, a sad indictment of the
current regime’s economic
performance.
It is not that Rhodesia was the best protector of
human rights. Far
from it! It is that despite being a human rights violator,
the colonial
regime remained an effective manager of economic resources, so
that even
though tainted by the unfairness and inequality, even those in the
periphery
were capable of sustaining even the most basic existence, which
persons in
comparable situations today cannot.
A rural
businessman could operate a shop in the township — which today
he cannot.
Thus at that time, the greatest challenge against the regime’s
authority was
its failure to respect human rights but the same could not be
said of its
ability to effectively and productively manage the economy.
As it
stands today, the present regime fails on both counts, yet
whilst much is
made of the human rights failures, little is attributed to
poor economic
management.
This, of course, is not to diminish the value of human
rights nor is
it to undervalue the efforts of the movement that sustains the
language of
human rights.
It is simply to urge alternative
strategies of challenging the
legitimacy and validity of claims to sustain
authority — to say that the
challenge does not simply have to be human
rights based but can also be
articulated on the basis of poor economic
management.
It is to suggest that the challenge can more usefully
be sustained on
the basis of the regime’s painfully evident failures in
economic management.
It is for the opposition forces to address
these limitations and
demonstrate cogently how it can do better in terms of
fair, equitable and
profitable resource management that would sustain a
sound economy.
Hardly three months before the presidential and
parliamentary
elections, there is no indication from the respective parties
about their
policies on these issues, besides continual critiques of the
patently
obvious collapse.
As it is, Zimbabwe presents a
perfect case study for students of
management on how not to manage economic
resources. It does not need the
apparel of human rights to demonstrate these
failures.
But in challenging the power structures, it is necessary
to articulate
a position focussing squarely on these specific failures and
how the
opposition hopes to do better. That way, there is movement and
diversity
from the cyclical human rights debate towards those aspects to
which the
regime can have no ground to stand on.
Zim Independent
Comment
THE government of President Mugabe was this week
flaunting its
democratic credentials after fast-tracking through parliament
four Bills
amending a raft of contentious pieces of
legislation.
Two laws, the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act and
the Public Order and Security Act, have sat on our statute
books like a
curse for over five years as government has maintained that
there was method
in its madness in enacting them. This paper has over this
period recorded
statements by government officials defending Aippa and Posa
as necessary
legislative weapons which will not be amended because they were
serving the
government well.
But the Zanu PF government was
this week at pains to demonstrate that
it had morphed into an institution
amenable to progressive engagement with
the opposition, hence the amendment
of the laws. Leader of the House and
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa
defended the tramelling of the Bills
through parliament because this was
necessary under the negotiated
settlement with the opposition.
Chinamasa’s statement betrayed a desperation within Zanu PF to
legitimise
President Mugabe’s continued stranglehold on power even when
evidence
abounds that he is way past his best-before date. This is Zanu PF’s
hurried
gardening to pretend to be levelling the political playing field on
the eve
of important elections in March next year.
The Bills in our view
still fall far short of democratic requirements
in the attempt to launder
the soiled image of the Zanu PF regime.
We note that despite
progressive clauses on accreditation of local
journalists and licensing of
media houses, the law still puts serious curbs
on media
freedom.
Under the new dispensation the old partisan Media and
Information
Commission is being replaced by a Zimbabwe Media Commission
which like its
forerunner bears the perilous traits of Orwellian thought
control.
The new commission possesses sweeping quasi-judicial
powers where it
can sit as a court to investigate, prosecute and sentence
journalists and
media houses deemed to be out of line. Fines are paid to the
commission and
not the state! More flagrant though is the fact that appeals
against its
decisions to the Administrative Court do not nullify the
verdicts of the
commission.
What kind of justice is
this?
The new commission remains an unwanted bureaucratic appendage
in this
modern era when statutory regulation of the media is frowned upon.
But to
add to this red tape, the law also sets up a Media Council to be
chaired by
one of the commissioners. A cursory reading of the law brings to
the fore
the duplication of roles. The commission has powers to "cause … an
investigation" in the event of a breach of ethical codes. On the other hand
the council can also "cause an inquiry" on issues to do with breach of
ethics.
The layers of bureaucracy and replication of roles can
only cause
delays, which is against the spirit of a well- constituted media
council:
that is to resolve disputes between media and the public
expeditiously. We
share the sentiments of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
and the Media
Institute of Southern Africa (Zimbabwe) that self-regulation
is the way
forward.
The amendments continue with the government
tradition of barring
foreign journalists from working in Zimbabwe. There are
amendments to
Section 80 — which deal with abuse of journalistic privilege —
to bring it
in line with new sections to do with breach of journalistic
codes. This
appears to soften this section of Aippa which is notorious for
criminalising
the profession. But this does not remove the axe which has
continued to hang
menacingly over the heads of reporters and their
editors.
The Zanu PF government still has on the statute books
Section 15 of
the Public Order and Security Act which makes it an offence to
"denigrate
the name of the president". There is also the Criminal Law
(Codification and
Reform) Act which brought together some of the more
detestable aspects of
Posa and Aippa with new names and more restrictive
clauses. Total media
reform entails getting rid of these laws
altogether.
We also do not regard the amendment to Posa as a
guarantee that police
will change their modus operandi when dealing with
opposition supporters and
civic activists. The amendment provides that the
organisers of public
gatherings should "enter into a dialogue" with the
police before the law
enforcers block the holding of a
gathering.
This is a cumbersome process which is unhelpful in an
environment
where our police do not have people skills. We do not see the
law stopping
the police taking instructions from politicians or simply
blocking a rally
on the specious pretext of lack of manpower. Why does one
have to dialogue
with the police to express their right to demonstrate? But
most worrying in
all this is nothing has really changed in Zanu PF. It is a
party that does
not believe in competition and does not resultantly have the
will to reform
its ways.
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
THE Sadc-initiated talks between Zanu PF and the MDC
that started in
March to find a lasting solution to Zimbabwe’s political and
economic crisis
hang in the balance despite piecemeal agreements between the
protagonists.
Reports say Zanu PF and the MDC are failing to agree
on two crucial
issues — the introduction of a new constitution and on the
dates of next
year’s harmonised elections — and it is now evident that the
talks may
collapse. We are told that the ruling party’s politburo on
September 5
resolved that it would not accept a new constitution before the
polls or any
agreement that might lead to its ouster.
The
ruling party also insists that elections will be held in March
next
year.
On the other hand, the MDC argues that it only supported
Constitutional Amendment No 18 after being assured by talks’ facilitator,
South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, that President Robert Mugabe had assured
him that a new constitution would be in place before the
elections.
A draft constitution agreed to by both parties is
already in place and
in the custody of Mbeki. Again we are told that the MDC
wants the elections
moved to June in the event that the opposition party
reaches an agreement
with Zanu PF. The party argues that the agreed reforms
should take root
first before the harmonised polls.
Besides
agreeing on Constitutional Amendment No18, the MDC and Zanu PF
also reached
consensus on the amendment of repressive laws — the Public
Order and
Security Act (Posa), the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act
(Aippa) and the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA).
The amendments
were tabled and passed by the lower House on Tuesday
and the Senate on
Wednesday and now await presidential assent.
But it is because of
the differences on the date of elections and new
constitution that I see the
talks collapsing despite assurances by Zanu PF
chief negotiator Patrick
Chinamasa that the two parties are closer to an
agreement. Just as predicted
by civic organisations such as the National
Constitutional Assembly when the
MDC supported the constitutional amendment,
it seems Zanu PF is taking the
opposition down the garden path.
Chinamasa, who is also Justice
minister, told parliament on Tuesday
that 97% of the talks have been
covered, but Tendai Biti, the
secretary-general of the Morgan Tsvangirai
faction, immediately denied it.
Though this week’s amendments will
go a long way in addressing the
technical aspects of the negotiations, the
changes need to be felt on the
ground.
There is need for a
paradigm shift especially by the police who have
frequently used Posa to ban
opposition meetings and anti-government
protests.
The MDC
should fight tooth and nail to force the Mugabe regime to
introduce a new
constitution that will guarantee free and fair elections
conducted by a
properly constituted Electoral Commission.
The commission should
not be made up of presidential appointees or
former members of the army and
state security organs.
It is also my proposition that the
constitution should take away the
power vested in the Registrar-General’s
Office to register voters under the
supervision of the ZEC. The ZEC should
be solely in charge of voter
registration.
If the MDC fails to
push for such changes, then they should simply
walk out of the talks and
find alternative ways to fight Mugabe’s
dictatorship.
It seems
the only path the MDC should take now is to abandon the
negotiations given
what Chinamasa told parliament on Tuesday and Mugabe’s
pronouncement last
Thursday at the Zanu PF’s extraordinary congress.
Chinamasa
reminded the MDC that it should not expect to win on every
one of its
demands.
"It’s a 50-50 situation, you give in order to get
something back,"
Chinamasa said.
But it is evident that the MDC
has been on the losing end in the talks
given that it agreed to some
amendments that did not at all broaden the
democratic space in the
country.
One example centres on Posa. While the MDC was pushing for
the
abrogation of a provision that compels political parties and civic
organisations to seek police authority to hold rallies and marches, the
clause has remained on the statute books.
The repressive law
was amended to the effect that parties and civic
organisations can now
appeal against banning of their rallies or marches to
magistrates’ courts
instead of the Home Affairs minister. This does not in
any way enhance
democracy. It is a fact that courts in this country have
been abused by the
government to further its interests and given that
magistrates’ courts fall
under the Public Service Commission, one wonders if
magistrates would be
able to withstand pressure from government’s political
muscle.
In my view, the amendments were piecemeal and would do little to
enable
citizens to enjoy basic freedoms such as the freedoms of association,
assembly, and expression.
If indeed Mbeki was given a guarantee
by Mugabe that a new
constitution would be in place before the 2008
elections, the South African
president must push the Zanu PF leader to
honour the pledge.
Mugabe should not have his way. His wings must
be clipped, even if it
means Mbeki has to seek support from Sadc which
appointed him talks’
facilitator.
The real danger is that if
the talks collapse, the MDC, especially the
Morgan Tsvangirai faction, may
boycott next year’s polls and, given its
support base, the elections would
not be deemed legitimate by either the
local or international
community.
That would mean another five years of international
isolation and
poverty for the majority of Zimbabweans which even Zanu PF may
balk at.
Zim Independent
MuckRaker
WE were interested in President Mugabe’s call to the recent
Zanu PF
congress to be wary of candidates intent on buying votes. Did this
include
those handing out tractors and ploughs, we wonder? Chief Fortune
Charumbira
at the Zanu PF special congeress on Friday helpfully disclosed
that the
distribution process was managed by ruling-party
organs.
Then of course there are the pick-up trucks for chiefs and
electrification of their homes. There is also the maize-seed distribution
which the ruling party claims as the product of its generosity.
But, apart from that little tussle involving Jabulani Sibanda, the
most
significant aspect of the congress was Gideon Gono’s admission that
senior
government and ruling-party officials are responsible for the current
cash
crisis because they hoard money.
"Corruption, corruption,
corruption", Gono said is at the root of the
country’s woes.
People were spending days and nights in queues for cash, the governor
noted.
The central bank had released $67 trillion into the market but only
$2
trillion could be accounted for. "Our question is: Who has all the other
money? We cannot keep on printing money before we account for the other $65
trillion."
So there you have it. Corrupt ruling-party bigwigs
with their snouts
in the trough are busy accumulating cash and profiting
from the current
shortages. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank is printing money
and thereby
contributing to the soaring inflation rate.
Inflation is arguably the most serious problem facing the country
today. And
so long as the present corrupt administration continues in power
it will go
on rising.
Again we ask, what is Samuel Undenge doing in the
Anti-Corruption
portfolio?
The Concorde is cruising to
victory in March 2008," John Nkomo assured
delegates in Harare last
week.
Is this the same Concorde that was taken out of service
several years
ago?
And Munyaradzi Huni, in writing his
hagiographical accounts, should be
careful not to stretch credibility too
far. He repeats the assertion that
one million people brought business to a
halt in the centre of Harare on
November 30. He is right that business was
brought to a halt just as Zanu PF
is bringing it to a halt throughout the
country. But only the most
starry-eyed observer would put the figure at one
million. It was more likely
100 000.
That is quite a lot of
people and there is more credibility to getting
the numbers right than
buying into the fantasies of Zimbabwe’s delusional
rulers.
But
Huni was dead right on the MDC. Selling the party to voters next
year would
be "like selling stale meat to a butcher boy", given their
fragmentation, he
said.
It has been said before and we will say it again: the MDC is
letting
the nation down with its wretched schism. People want unity against
the
tyranny, corruption and incompetence they find embedded in Zimbabwe’s
ruling
class. They want inspired leadership.
Can you imagine
that a ruling party presiding over 14 000% inflation,
80% unemployment, and
plummeting living standards, and not a clue how to get
out of this mess,
stands a better chance of winning than a party committed
to recovery and
democratic change?
Zimbabweans will not easily forgive the MDC for
engaging in their
silly little school-yard quarrel as the nation burns. But
we welcome their
statement on Sunday that they will work for unity with the
rival (Mutambara)
faction. Now let’s see that happen.
Tafataona Mahoso appears to think that "a majority even of European
countries" now support Zimbabwe. Please can we have the names of those
countries so we can check with their embassies? We would hate to think he
was making it up. They should also be asked if the dispute with Zimbabwe is
merely a bilateral one, as claimed.
It is remarkable how local
propagandists can make statements of this
sort and get away with it because
journalists don’t ask questions.
Which brings us to the
proposed Zimbabwe Media Commission emanating
from the inter-party talks. Let
us make sure no suspicious characters
claiming to speak for journalists find
their way on to that reconstituted
body. "The commissioners will be chosen
on the basis of their experience in
the media," we are told. That obviously
rules Mahoso out. But let’s see this
"code of ethics" that is being proposed
to ensure it doesn’t look anything
like the one we were told the nation was
clamouring for in 2000.
Mahoso’s current commission cannot claim to
be a custodian of ethical
conduct in the media, especially if it looks the
other way when Herald
columnists use distasteful language to denigrate John
Makumbe on the basis
of his albinism.
It is quite obvious to us
that the new beast is designed to upstage
the independent Media Council by
borrowing many of its salient features.
Vigilance will be required
here.
For instance, on November 22 the Herald carried a picture of
a
burnt-out bus to accompany a piece by Reason Wafawarova, who still won’t
tell us why he prefers living in Australia to Zimbabwe. The caption read:
"Many people are now aware of the democratic shortcomings of the MDC and its
apparent inherent violent tendencies."
This is about as
dishonest as it gets for a newspaper. Nobody in the
MDC was successfully
prosecuted for that bus burning. Indeed it is one of
several lies that the
state media propagates without challenge. The MDC
doesn’t seem to
object.
On this same note, why has Nelson Chamisa not told us
what is
happening in his case? Who attacked him at Harare airport and what
have the
police done to apprehend the culprit? This is something any
politician
should be beating a drum about. Yet Chamisa has allowed the
impression to
gain ground that he doesn’t care.
Quick to seize
the opportunity thus afforded, Home Affairs minister
Kembo Mohadi claims he
has had no response to letters written to the MDC
asking for details of
their claims of human rights violations.
Why hasn’t Chamisa raised
his own case with the minister and then sent
his letter to the press so the
country can have a first-hand example of
state brutality? Why is he allowing
this opportunity, which is manifestly in
the public interest, to
pass?
Spare a thought for the residents of Alexandra Park who
have been
without electricity now since December 7. It came back on again on
Thursday,
December 13 at 8pm but went off again the next day at 3pm. It was
off for a
week before this.
Zesa claims it is load-shedding.
Then why is it so unevenly balanced
and sporadic? Why has Alexandra Park and
Belgravia been targeted?
Residents are still getting their
bills.
As we read in the state press of Mugabe’s "victories", we
should
remind ourselves of the realities of his party’s delinquent rule as
thousands of Zimbabweans cope without power and in many places without
water. To all these people we convey our sympathies and ask: Have you
registered as voters?
We have received the following
message from a Nigerian (we suspect)
purporting to be a Zimbabwean
journalist. We reprint it (largely) unedited.
"Hello, I am sorry I
didn’t email you about my travelling to Africa
for education program, the
program is taking place in three major countries
in Africa. Ghana, South
Africa and Nigeria. It has been a very sad news and
bad moment for me, the
present condition that I
found myself is very hard for me to explain. I
am really stranded in
Nigeria because I forgot my little bag in a taxi where
my money and passport
documents were kept
on my way to a hotel that
am staying.
"I have no more money left with me. I am now owning
(sic) a hotel bill
of $1 200 and they wanted me to pay the bills soon else
they will have to
seize my bag and hand me over to the hotel management.
Please I need some
help from you urgently to help me back home, and I need
you to help me with
the hotel bill and i will also need $1 000 to feed and
help myself back home
so please can you help me with a sum of $2
200?
"To sort out this problems here. I need this help so much and
on time
because I am in a terrible and tight situation here, please
understand how
urgent i need your help.
I am sending you this
e-mail from the city of Lagos. I will appreciate
what so ever you can afford
to send me for now and I promise to pay back
your money as soon as I return
home, you need to transfer the money through
Western Union, please email me
back."
It purported to come from something called "Media in
Zimbabwe". We
particularly liked the promise to repay when he got
home.
Is it our imagination or is Godwills Masimirembwa
becoming
increasingly unhinged? In the Herald of last Friday he declared
that Angela
Merkel was an "economic exterminator using the human rights card
in the hope
of sidelining President Mugabe".
"Men and women of
principle do not join the bandwagon in launching an
unjustified attack on a
man who defends universally defined and accepted
human rights," Masimirembwa
claimed. "This explains why President Mugabe is
so popular with the common
man, with the people. Amongst his peers he stands
for the truth. He defends
and promotes that which is right. That is why
those of his peers who
yesterday hesitated to be openly on his side are
today championing his
defence, steadfastly standing by him against the
Germanic race’s
attack."
Many of those who support Mugabe would find this
lickspittle drivel
nauseous. It does nothing to help the ruling-party’s
propaganda cause except
to make it look foolish. So what is happening here?
It looks very much to us
that Godknows is angling for a seat in parliament
and this craven
boot-licking is the way to get it. But it is also an insight
into the
fevered mind of a Zanu PF apparatchik who has been given the
economy as a
toy to play with as the nation hurtles down the
chutes.
Tere’s a very different spin on the Zanu PF congress
from South Africa’s
Sunday Times.
"They came in Hummers,
Mercedes-Benz MLs and BMW 7-series wearing
Gucci, Georgio Armani, Hugo Boss
and suits from London’s exclusive Savile
Row and gorged themselves at a
lavish banquet. All to honour a man who has
beggared his
country.
"While most Zimbabweans continued their desperate scramble
to eke out
a living this week, 10 000 of the country’s ruling Zanu PF party
ignored the
economic and political abuses of President Robert Mugabe’s
27-year reign to,
once
again, anoint him their presidential
candidate for next year’s
elections.
"Under a leaden sky,
the 83- three-year-old Mugabe and his young wife,
Grace, arrived at the City
Sports Centre in Harare in a newly imported,
armour-plated black
Mercedes-Benz S600 — sporting a number plate reading
ZIM-1. While the first
couple made their way into the hall bedecked with
portraits of Mugabe,
no-one, not even Mugabe’s trusted lieutenants, was
allowed to park next to
his vehicle. In fact, a sentry stood guard over it
for the duration,
occasionally using a cloth to wipe off raindrops that
dared to fall on the
vehicle."
How others see us!
Zim Independent
SMARTING from the outspoken attack by the German
Chancellor, Angela
Merkel, at the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon upon Zimbabwe’s
political
hierarchy, that hierarchy and its highly developed, albeit
intentionally
misguided propaganda machine, have responded
vituperatively.
Seeking the most insulting words it could possibly
find, it alleged
that the German Chancellor was a Nazi. Not only was such an
allegation
specious and unfounded in the extreme, and inevitably most
hurtful, but it
smacked of "the pot calling the kettle black".
The Nazi regime of 1933 to 1945 was one which was devoid of any regard
or
respect for human rights, property rights, democracy or justice.
It
was one which unreservedly pursued acts of genocide, unhesitatingly
enforced
its will with cruelty, torture and total disregard for any
fundamental
rights of man.
It brought about the demise of 12 million innocent
people, subjected
many millions more to imprisonment in concentration camps,
press-ganged many
into being medical experimentation guinea pigs, and much
else.
In pronounced contradistinction, the Germany of today is a
total
democracy, has an absolute respect for human and property rights,
ensures
unreserved justice for all, interacts positively, constructively and
to
reciprocal benefit, with all of the international community, save and
except
only for those who do not espouse similar principles, and is a very
major
development and humanitarian aid contributor to the world’s
under-developed
and developing countries, and the needy.
On the
other hand, Zimbabwe is a country which triggered the ruthless
deaths of
thousands in the genocidal Ghurukundu operations in Matabeleland
in the
mid-1980s, vast misery and suffering in Operation Murambatsvina, less
than
three years ago, has imprisoned many without trial for extended
periods, has
used extreme cruelty in effecting arrests, and tortured many
after arrest.
And that is a country that has the temerity to unjustly dub
another a
Nazi!
Undoubtedly, the reality is that the truth hurts, and
therefore the
Zimbabwean political regime writhed in agony when Angel Markel
(and other EU
leaders) called upon Zimbabwe to change its ways, and that
agony prompted
the vitriolic attack upon Chancellor Merkel by Zimbabwe’s
propaganda
machine. And there lies another similarity between the Zimbabwe
of today and
the Germany under the Nazi rulership of seven decades
ago.
When Hitler came to power, he appointed Joseph Goebbels as
minister
for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
Goebbels
(according to very many sources, including the renowned
Encyclopedia
Britannica) lacked any moral code, save and except only for
that of
nihilist, without regard for truth or principle.
He unreservedly
used state-controlled media in determined endeavours
to brainwash the German
populace. In particular, Goebbels firmly believed
that if anything was
repeated sufficiently often it would ultimately be
believed.
There is absolutely no doubt that the Zimbabwean government and its
propaganda machine believes likewise. Year after year, the Zimbabwean
population, and the world at large, are told that the land reform programme
is completed, and a great success.
Facts such as that
agricultural production is at less than a third of
that of seven years ago,
and that Zimbabwe has had to import hundreds of
thousands of tonnes of food,
as against it previously supplying the region,
are conveniently
ignored.
So too are the facts that a vast number of recipients of
the land do
not endeavour to use it, and many others abuse it.
No regard is had to previous genuine ownership rights, or to bilateral
investment protection agreements. But all are expected to believe that the
land reform has been successfully achieved!
As if this does not
suffice, the state-controlled radio services now
triumphantly proclaim,
almost half-hourly, that 2007/8 will be the "Mother
of Agricultural
Seasons", notwithstanding the heretofore failure of much of
the land reform
programme, and the inadequate timeous availability of
inputs.
In like manner, government continuously claims that save for drought
impacts
upon agriculture (mainly non-existent or minimal), all Zimbabwe’s
economic
ills are due to the evil machinations of Western countries, led by
Britain,
determined upon recolonisation of Zimbabwe and rigid, permanent
control of
all under-developed and developing countries.
To give credibility
to those bogus contentions, the principal cause of
the economic ills is
claimed to be "illegal international sanctions". What
absolute,
unadulterated nonsense!
As previously stated in this column, if
sanctions exist, they would
not be "illegal", for any country has a right to
choose which countries it
will trade with, invest in, and give funding
support to, and no law
precludes it doing so.
Furthermore, with
the sole exception of the Zimbabwe Democracy Act of
the United States, which
requires the US to veto funding support to Zimbabwe
by international bodies
such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), no
economic sanctions have
been imposed upon Zimbabwe by any country.
The sole sanctions have
been travel, investment and educational
constraints upon Zanu PF hierarchy
and their families (albeit that children
are being unjustly victimised for
the offences of their parents). No other
sanctions exist.
The
Zimbabwean government contends otherwise, citing the absence of
balance of
payments support from the IMF, of development funding from
international
bodies, and of lines of credit from the world banking
community, and others.
The reality is that such funding is not forthcoming
as an act of sanctions,
but because Zimbabwe is perceived as a horrendously
great credit
risk.
On the open admission of Zimbabwe’s Minister of Finance,
Senator
Samuel Mumbengegwi, when he delivered his 2008 national budget
statement,
Zimbabwe’s external debt amounts to US$4,1 billion. Of that
amount, almost
66%, being US$2,7 billion is in arrears!
In
addition, Zimbabwe has an economy on the threshold of total
collapse. For at
least the last five years it has had negative economic
growth. Its projected
fiscal deficit is 11% of GDP. Inflation has soared
upwards, exceeding 20
000%. Businesses are closing down, and others
down-sizing. The
infrastructure is derelict and unable to service national
needs.
Such an economy cannot fund settlement of its arrear
debts, let alone
fund new ones, and therefore none but the insane or very
profoundly
philanthropic, would make funding available. Not doing so is not
sanctions,
but normal financial prudency.
However, by constant
Goebbels’ like repetition of its contentions that
there are sanctions,
government strives to convince the populace thereof so
as to deflect
attention from its own culpability.
Zim Independent
Editor's
Memo
By Dumisani Muleya
THE ruling Zanu PF’s recent congress and
South Africa’s governing ANC
conference have come and gone. In Zanu PF
tyranny prevailed while in the ANC
democracy triumphed.
The
Zanu PF congress, according to President Robert Mugabe himself,
had a
"terrible ending" due to the ugly public brawls sparked by the fights
between a section of the Zanu PF leadership and the war veterans. I can’t
agree more with Mugabe that his party’s stage-managed and chaotic congress
had a "terrible ending", but for a different reason. It was indeed a
terrible ending because dictatorship won the day and in the process ensured
more suffering is yet to come for Zimbabweans.
The contrast
between the Zanu PF congress and the ANC conference was
striking. While the
ANC was electing new leaders in Polokwane through a
democratic and
transparent process, including the secret ballot, Zanu PF had
been
"endorsing" its failed leader through a confirmation process that was
even
opposed by Mugabe loyalists like Women’s League leader Oppah Muchinguri
at a
politburo meeting on November 28.
The Zanu PF process was not just
anti-democratic but embarrassing as
well.
The chairmen of
provinces were railroaded into reading a standard and
pathetic endorsement
letter confirming Mugabe as leader. The letter
ironically provided the
clearest evidence of political manipulation,
including violation of the
party’s procedures and constitution.
Mugabe was endorsed in terms
of Article 6 (30)(3) of the current Zanu
PF constitution at that
extraordinary congress. However, Article 6 only
deals with issues of the
annual National People’s Conference, not
extraordinary
congress.
The relevant section (30)(3), says one of the powers and
functions of
the Zanu PF conference — not congress — is to declare the
president of the
party elected at the last congress as the presidential
election candidate.
That is why Mugabe was in December 2001 declared the
Zanu PF candidate at
the Victoria Falls conference ahead of the 2002
presidential election.
At the heated politburo meeting on November
28, Dumiso Dabengwa raised
this issue clearly. He pointed out Zanu PF legal
affairs secretary Emmerson
Mnangagwa was "mixing up" provisions of
conference and congress.
Mnangagwa, who should know better as a
lawyer, claimed the
constitution was being followed despite clear evidence
it was being
violated. Mnangagwa was the architect of the Mugabe endorsement
bid. Senior
Zanu PF officials such as Joseph Msika, Dabengwa and Muchinguri
had serious
reservations about this procedure.
As things stand
now, Mugabe is a disputed Zanu PF candidate ahead of
elections. His
desperate plea that party officials who lose primary
elections must not
throw spanners in the works was also an appeal to those
who are sulking over
his controversial endorsement not to sabotage him.
After clumsily
bulldozing his way through congress via a blatantly
contrived endorsement,
Mugabe is clearly running to a standstill. He is
racing to win the March
elections, but after that what happens? He will find
himself still in the
blind alley with all the problems besetting the country
hovering over his
head.
The economic meltdown will without a doubt worsen. This means
hyper-
inflation and shortages of almost everything, including food, water,
electricity, cash and survival commodities. The already worthless local
dollar will continue crashing against base currencies.
Indeed,
the black market will take over the whole economy. In other
words, we will
be worse off when or if Mugabe is re-elected. Everybody,
including Mugabe
himself, knows this. However, this is what the Zanu PF
congress voted
for.
Contrast that with the ANC conference which rejected a fairly
successful leader who had steered his economy through eight years of
uninterrupted growth.
While Thabo Mbeki was leading South
Africa along that growth path,
Mugabe was pushing Zimbabwe through a similar
period of unprecedented
cumulative economic decline, entering the country in
the Guinness Book of
Records for all the wrong reasons — the highest
inflation in the world,
fastest contracting economy outside a war zone,
shortest life expectancy,
weakest currency, etc.
The ANC voted
out Mbeki for trying to overstay his welcome as party
leader. The party also
disliked his leadership style, centralisation of
power, abuse of state
power, arbitrary dismissals of those who disagreed
with him, and refusal to
listen to other views and accommodate dissent.
Mbeki was also punished for
tribalising and villagising government. Apart
from that, Mbeki had become
fatally alienated from the masses because of his
elitist
politics.
However, instead of removing Mugabe, the Zanu PF congress
retained him
as party leader amid a serious economic and political crisis,
showing the
two parties have different political cultures in currency. Zanu
PF members
and supporters believe in sycophantic politics while ANC members
reject that
and want participant democracy.
In Zimbabwe
sycophantic politics have been rooted in the political
culture since 1980
and that is why Mugabe and his government could get
away — literally — with
murder while people are watching.
People get the government they
deserve, it is often said, and no doubt
Zimbabweans deserve Mugabe’s corrupt
and incompetent regime. Until
Zimbabweans and Zanu PF members in particular
start holding their leaders to
account, like the ANC did this week, the
current crisis will persist.
Xmas request to Santa Bob
SANTA Bob, makorokoto, amphlope, congratulations, they inform me you
secured
the candidacy, after intimidation and declaring the other time that
there
was no vacancy. My main concern, with all due respect, Santa Mugabe,
is
about the coming Christmas for our children.
Yours are secure and
comfortable, but I refer to the majority of
children in the country, a lot
of whom are orphaned. Truly, Christmas used
to be a time for jubilation and
merry-making, but in the past years you have
made it one of empty stomachs
and no merry- making. I have just 10 requests.
Firstly, could you
make bread available this season? The rains have
been good and your
government will make a lot of noise about a bumper
harvest, promising us
wheat. But first things first: We need bread this
Christmas. We cannot
afford rice anymore thanks to your economic policies.
May you make
fuel available, for the few of us who still have hopes of
linking with folks
in the rural areas and other towns. Consult Nomatter
Tagarira, the spirit
medium, who once upon a time mentioned she could
conjure refined diesel out
of a rock by striking it with her staff. This
done, fuel will be in
abundance. I will hasten to request the availability
of spare parts for
buses so that they ply our roads with safely.
I also request that
you make money available in our banks. Talk to
Gideon Gono, he might print
some more bearer’s cheques, that won’t increase
inflation, for it has
already hit the ceiling. Remember th Reserve Bank
governor on Friday said
your cronies were fuelling the country’s runaway
inflation through illicit
dealings. He talked of corruption and that the
country is losing a lot of
money because of the top officials. We need money
urgently for
Christmas.
Thousands of households in Harare, Bulawayo and other
towns have been
plunged into darkness owing to vandalism and theft of Zesa
property worth
billions. That was the news in January 2007 and the same
remained throughout
the year.
Should we expect the same during
Christmas and the New Year, Santa
Bob? I was thinking of electricity for
those who would want to while away
time with their CD players. The
loadshedding game this time should be played
fairly. Why not start with the
grid that feeds the State House so that the
occupants experience a black
Christmas.
What about making flour available Santa Mugabe. We might
need that to
bake a few cakes, provided there is milk on the shop shelves,
eggs too,
maybe margarine or butter, cooking oil and cheese as
well.
Indulge us with soft drinks, even a few beers for those who
would
rather drown their worries. We do not mind this time where these will
come
from, even if you can get them for us from as far as China or from
Chavez in
Venezuela. Schools will be opening soon, and as a concerned
parent, please,
check with Aenias Chigwedere on the standards that have
declined of late.
School performance has greatly depreciated, I really
wonder how the few
remaining patriotic teachers are doing.
Even
higher education standards have declined as manifested by the
University of
Zimbabwe on graduation day. I hope you had time to walk around
freely
without any fear of the hungry thugs that have been created by Gordon
Brown
and George Bush.
You know because of endemic diseases, many people
need medical
facilities but the ones we have are so run-down that even David
Parirenyatwa
is ashamed of them. He might resign for having a ministry with
no functional
health facilities and no doctors and nurses to serve the
already dying
population.
Comrade Santa, you might not have
noticed this, but we are dying
slowly. Women continue to bear the brunt of
the HIV and Aids pandemic with
limited knowledge on the disease and lack of
access to treatment.
This is despite the fact that women constitute
the majority of your
supporters and as the most infected and affected, are
denied comprehensive
sex education, treatment, care and
support.
You always deny it, but check with Tobaiwa Mudede (not
trustworthy for
he keeps false records), just try to check how many
professionals are
hurriedly applying for passports, and also check how many
have left the
country in the year 2007 that is just coming to an
end?
Comrade Santa, you have been so stubborn but the writing is on
the
wall for all to see, no one wants to remain in the country in such an
economic situation that beats all records. Worse, with the elections coming,
with your esteemed Zanu PF green bombers and youths out there to torture and
kill, I don’t think I would want to be one of the unfortunate ones to be
around, come 2008.
I wish you and the First Lady and the First
Family and the First Thugs
in your government a soul searching season of
repentance as we suffer
because of your ill-timed policies. Once more, rule
us till you (or all of
us) drop dead.
Happy festive season
Santa Bob. You are pencilled for your annual
leave come January. Where are
you heading to this time? Try the Caribbean
Islands. But please do not
overstay; we want you back before the elections.
Clyde B.
Chakupeta
Guyana.
--------------
Let Mugabe
teach us democracy
I WAS surprised to hear President Mugabe
boasting the other day at the
UN Summit of having taught Ian Smith
democracy. Mugabe went on to say that
as a result Smith was farming freely
in Zimbabwe.
I would like to sincerely appeal to the old man to
also teach us the
same democracy. So that in turn we will live freely, walk
freely, speak
freely in Zimbabwe and campaign freely for the opposition. He
should also
teach the journalists democracy so that they will write freely
and express
their views freely. We all promise to be good students like
Smith, who when
taught democracy farmed freely. All along I thought
democracy belonged to
the family of dinosaurs that perished millions of
years ago, not knowing we
have the best
tutor of democracy — our
own President Mugabe.
Concerned Zimbabwean,
Harare.
-----------------
Going back to the
future
HISTORY surely keeps on repeating itself. Towards the
general election
which ushered Robert Mugabe into power in 1980, former
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
prime minister, Bishop Abel Muzorewa, held what was dubbed
the Huruyadzo
Star rally at, ominously enough, Zimbabwe Grounds. For four
days people (me
included) feasted on beer, meat and sadza.
Overhead, four helicopters hovered over the grounds blairing UANC
slogans
and chanting "Ngatipindei muZimbabwe yedu. Zimbabwe yakanaka
vakomana."
Everybody, especially the good Bishop and his
international backers,
sincerely believed that the UANC would victoriously
walk into the new
Zimbabwe.
But we all know what happened. All
I am trying to say is; do not use
"million man marches" and rally
attendances as indicators of a political
party’s popularity. Zimbabweans are
very good at putting up pretences. You
will only know their true allegiance
at voting time as Bishop Muzorewa will
tell you.
Masawi
Munyanyi,
Harare.
--------------
Hope rests
with voters
By Ryan Mbuya
NOW that Zanu PF has
endorsed Robert Mugabe as their presidential
candidate, it is up to
Zimbabweans to tell him and his party that this is
the end of the
road.
Have we not given Zanu PF enough time for them to rid us of
this man
who has brought only suffering for Zimbabwe and its people. Every
time he
goes to international fora he comes home empty-handed.
Funny that Iran may want him to spew garbage at the USA and UK but it
would
rather supply its oil to those countries and not Zimbabwe. The same
goes for
African leaders.
With this unwanted "hero" we do not have fuel, we
do not have food, we
do not even have that toilet paper he calls money, we
do not have
electricity. He even has the guts to accept his governor telling
companies
to close late for Christmas to boost production. What production
when there
is no water, no electricity, no fuel to move the goods, and now
workers
because they are in queues at the banks.
It would be
better for all companies to close early so that people can
sleep in queues
for their cash.
Without Zanu PF, we would stil be the jewel we were
in 1980 and would
not be worrying about our children’s future. Without them
we would be
competing with the best.
Winds of change have been
blowing in all of Southern Africa and
Zimbabwe will be no exception. This
week, the ANC barred Thabo Mbeki from
seeking another term as head of the
party. This culture of voting out
leaders that have done their part is
commendable.
If Mbeki had been allowed to serve another term, he
would have
destroyed the good work that he did in the last two
terms.
Jacob Zuma must be given a chance to prove his capabilities
and if he
fails, then the culture of relieving him of his duties through the
secret
ballot must be maintained.
Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique,
Malawi and Tanzania have all changed
leaders but Mugabe still wants to hold
on despite his monumental failures.
Even given another term, he cannot
rectify the situation. It is overwhelming
for him and we certainly need new
blood.
Contact rtmbuya@yahoo.co.uk
-----------
Cash barons must be named
IN his remarks last night, the RBZ governor
disclosed that some of the
cash barons were senior government officials and
well-placed senior Zanu PF
officials who are hoarding large sums of cash for
speculative and money
laundering purposes thereby causing serious cash
shortages in the country.
We note that it is not the first time the
governor has made these
remarks.
At the Zanu PF extraordinary
congress he made these remarks in front
of the Head of State, politburo and
central committee members of Zanu PF.
The MDC parliamentary caucus strongly
believes that this is a serious matter
which needs urgent attention given
the magnitude of the national cash
crisis.
The parliamentary
committee on finance and budget, with all the
immunity and privileges
granted to its witnesses is indeed the rightful
platform for such
disclosures to be made.
MDC parliamentary caucus calls on the
finance and budget committee to
urgently convene a meeting and invite the
governor to name these cash
barons.
It is criminal that those
who are in the employ of the state, charged
with the duty to service the
people, can be so cruel to inflict such intense
suffering on the very people
they were entrusted to service.
We specifically call upon the
chairperson of the parliamentary finance
and budget committee, Hon David
Butau MP to immediately convene the
committee and invite the
governor.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-
Mushonga,
MDC Parliamentary
Spokesperson.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
20 December
2007
Zimbabwean civil society activists said they planned
to hold demonstrations
around the country to express displeasure at a
package of amendment
legislation passed this week by parliament in what
opposition politicians
called a pro-democratic process.
National
Coordinator Ernest Mudzengi of the National Constitutional
Assembly, which
seeks a new constitution and has criticized the political
opposition for the
compromises it has struck with the ruling ZANU-PF party
in the context of
South African-mediated crisis resolution talks, said his
organization will
organize protests nationally.
The crisis talks led this week to the
passage of amendments to laws widely
considered draconian and repressive,
including the Public Order and Security
Act, the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act, and broadcast
and election laws.
Officials
of the Movement for Democratic Change say the amendments
constitute an
initial step in a longer-term reform process, and that they
will contribute
to making the upcoming presidential and legislative
elections more free and
fair.
But civic activists say the opposition and the ruling party failed
to
consult them on the amendments, and criticize both MDC factions for
acquiescing in "cosmetic" changes.
Crisis In Zimbabwe Coalition
Senior Programs Manager Pedzisai Ruhanya told
VOA reporter Patience Rusere
the amendments don’t widen the democratic
space.
But Legal Secretary
Innocent Gonese of the MDC faction led by Morgan
Tsvangirai responded that
the amendments are a step towards free and fair
elections given that the
ruling party was initially opposed to any reform
steps at all.