http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Politics
ZANU
PF has said Finance minister Tendai Biti must stop moaning and ensure
that
funding for a referendum on a new constitution and elections is made
available as a matter of urgency.
BY OUR STAFF
Biti on Friday
said he had written to President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai advising them that the country does not have
sufficient funds to
hold elections and referendum.
Zanu PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo
yesterday insisted that funding would be
made available at the “right” time,
but could not say from which sources.
“We are not worried about what Biti
said,” he said. “Biti knows that funding
is available. He is playing to the
gallery and trying to show that he can
influence when elections are
held.”
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) requires close to US$200
million for
holding both the referendum and elections.
Gumbo said
nothing was going to stop the holding of elections early next
year as
demanded by his party.
He said the two MDCs should ensure that the
constitution-making process is
concluded by Tuesday in line with a Zanu PF
resolution at its recent annual
people conference in Gweru.
Biti said
it was clear that the country could not fund elections from its
own
resources, urging Mines and Mining Development minister Obert Mpofu to
remit
diamond revenue for the process.
“I have already written to the Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and to the
President Robert Mugabe informing them
that our resources will not be
sufficient,” he said.
“They must sit
on Obert Mpofu about diamond exports. It is quite clear that
the
international community has to come to our assistance. Zimbabwe will not
have sufficient resources on its own to fund both the referendum and the
election.”
The Finance minister said lack of transparency,
accountability and looting
of diamonds have made his job a
nightmare.
Biti also revealed that Mugabe and the service chiefs have
agreed to a free
and fair election next year.
“I am coming from a
national security council meeting attended by service
chiefs,” he
said.
“The President, Prime Minister the Vice-President (Joice Mujuru)
and
everyone present were talking about one thing, the importance of having
a
clean election next year. I am hopeful that we will have that clean
election
next year,” Biti said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Politics
BUHERA — Zanu PF Central Committee member, Joseph Chinotimba,
who led the
violent land invasions in 2000, has called on political parties
and
Zimbabweans to maintain peace and tolerance ahead of forthcoming
harmonised
elections.
BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
Addressing hundreds
of people gathered at Mutiusinazita Secondary School in
Buhera South
recently, Chinotimba said: “Zimbabweans must find common ground
and work
towards developing the country for the benefit of future
generations
regardless of political differences.”
He added that election time was a
moment where old wounds opened.
“President [Robert Mugabe] and Prime
Minister [Morgan Tsvangirai] usually
have tea together, but here you are
fighting because of political
differences. Unite and use that effort to
build your country for the benefit
of current and future generations,” added
Chinotimba.
Chinotimba, who is eyeing the Buhera South constituency which
he lost to
MDC-T candidate Naison Nemadziva in 2008, donated 4 000 chicks to
teachers
at Mutiusinazita Secondary School to “beef up their paltry
salaries”.
He said the donation was an incentive to the civil
servants.
“They always mourn that their salaries are too little and usually
threaten
to strike. As a concerned villager and parent, I saw it fit to
donate some
chicks to enable them to pursue poultry projects to get an
incentive.
“Teachers play an important role in the society and they
should always be
motivated. These school-based programmes will go a long way
in achieving
this goal,” he said.
Chinotimba has also been
rehabilitating schools and clinics in Buhera like
Chipondamudzi Clinic,
Chabata, Mushongwi and Devuli primary schools in a bid
to address a plethora
of challenges bedevilling villagers in Buhera South.
Acting deputy
Manicaland provincial education director, Oswell Marange,
applauded
Chinotimba’s gesture in helping out teachers.
“We applaud the kind
gesture. At least our teachers are incentivised and
their remuneration is
very important. Such fundraising projects always
motivate them and I urge
influential people like Comrade Chinotimba to
continue embarking on such
projects since teachers play a critical role in
our society,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Politics
MUTARE — War veterans’ leader, Jabulani Sibanda, operated in
Manicaland
province recently, where he allegedly forced villagers perceived
to be MDC-T
supporters to surrender their MDC-T material and publicly
announce their
support for Zanu PF.
BY CLAYTON
MASEKESA
Willard Chimbetete, the MDC-T Nyanga South Member of Parliament,
said
Sibanda had made an unwelcome visit to his constituency.
“Yes he
[Sibanda] descended in my area last week and held several meetings,
warning
traditional leaders and villagers against voting for the MDC-T.”
“He
summoned all headmen and their subjects to a meeting at Nyarukowa
business
centre and Magarati Primary School, where the headmen were told
that the
MDC-T should not be allowed to hold any meetings in the ward. they
were
warned not to vote for MDC-T in the next elections,” Chimbetete said.
He
added: “Sibanda is telling villagers in my constituency and other areas
in
Nyanga to surrender their MDC-T material and publicly renounce their
support.
“He is also using headmen to intimidate people. He openly
told villagers
that he would not stop at anything, even if it means using
violence to wipe
out anti-Zanu PF elements in Nyanga.
“Villagers are
now living in fear as they don’t know what he will do next as
he is
promising violence. We want Jomic to intervene urgently because people
are
now living in fear.”
Mutasa South MP, Trevor Saruwaka, also confirmed
Sibanda’s presence in
Mutasa and condemned his activities.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Local
A bleak festive
season awaits several hundreds of households in the country
after thousands
of workers were thrown out of employment mainly due to
company
closures.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
Several companies also failed to pay
their workers the 13th cheque citing
the current harsh economic
environment.
Although civil servants got bonuses, the money failed to
make a significant
difference to their lives as most of them earn “peanuts”
in comparison to
their increased needs during the festive season.
On
average, civil servants earn US$400 a month. But the worst nightmare are
retrenchments.
Statistics show that close to 100 firms closed shop
since last year,
throwing hundreds of workers into the streets. The
retrenchments are further
worsened by the rising unemployment rate, which
tops 80% nationally.
“How do I tell my kids that I have no money for
Christmas?” said Ernest
Nyoni, who used to work for a clothing firm that
closed in Bulawayo
recently. “I am stranded. To think of Christmas would
worsen my already high
blood pressure.”
The economic hardships have
resulted in several companies failing to give
their employees bonuses while
others owe their workers’ salaries dating back
to several months.
For
example, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, National Railways of
Zimbabwe and New Zim Steel in Redcliff have failed to pay their workers full
pay for the past few months.
At least 3 000 workers at New Zim Steel
said they have not been paid since
May this year and their children have
been thrown out of school.
“We saw in the newspapers that we would be
paid before Christmas, but up to
now they have not paid us,” said one worker
who requested anonymity.
“We are in trouble because apart from having a
bleak Christmas.our children
will not go back to school because we have not
been paying fees. They
(children) did not get end-of-year results because we
have arrears.”
Jacob Nyatanga, who works for a security company in
Bulawayo, said he has
not been getting full pay for the past three
months.
“There is no Christmas for some of us. It is just a wish. How I wish
I was a
civil servant. I could be having my full pay every month and bonus
now,” he
said.
“We are being given US$50 per month and this has been
going on for the past
three months. Until today I have not been paid and
there is no communication
as to when we will be paid.”
Nyatanga said
he earns US$150 per month.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) boss
Japhet Moyo said most workers
were going for Christmas “empty-handed”, as
several companies failed to pay
salaries and bonuses.
He said 2012
was a very difficult year for workers, as 5 000 were formally
retrenched up
from about 4 000 the previous year.
“The number could be much more
because this is for those formally
retrenched, but we know several companies
just closed shop,” said Moyo. “It
has not been a good year for workers and
their Christmas is also a
nightmare.”
ZCTU southern region
spokesperson Percy Mcijo said the situation was worse
in Bulawayo, which
recorded the highest number of company closures.
He said it would not be
surprising to hear that some workers succumbed to
stress. “The situation is
just terrible and it will come as no surprise if
some residents die of
stress. It’s a gloomy Christmas. It is very sad
indeed. For many in
Bulawayo, Christmas is just a pipedream and nothing
else,” he
said.
“It is just an unnecessary luxury which many people cannot
afford.”
Mcijo said some families were now even breaking up over company
closures “as
some breadwinners are now failing to provide”.
“Families are
breaking up because of this. The outlook is very bleak because
there seems
to be no light at the end of the tunnel for the struggling
companies,” said
Mcijo.
“Already, we have reports that a number of firms are saying they
will not
re-open in January.”
Association for Business in Zimbabwe
chief executive officer, Lucky Mlilo,
recently said the increase in the
number of firms applying for voluntary
liquidation in Bulawayo signalled
tough times ahead.
He said the situation could deteriorate, triggered by
intimidation and
violence that characterised the country’s general
elections. Elections are
expected to be held next year.
The
government has announced several initiatives to revive industries in
Bulawayo. The Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) is
one such initiative that was launched in October 2011.
To date, CABS
— which has been tasked to disburse the US$40 million under
Dimaf — has said
less than a quarter of that money has been disbursed.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Local
A storm is brewing
in Bulawayo once again with accusations that the
preliminary census results
released by the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency
(ZimStats) have suppressed the
city’s real population.
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
The complaints, which
have become commonplace since Bulawayo was recognised
as a province, show
that the city’s population has not risen since 1992.
In the recent
census, Bulawayo had a population of 655 675, compared to 1992
when it was
reported to have a population of 620 936, igniting fears the
city’s
population figures could have been fixed.
The Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association [BPRA] suspects that the
suppressed numbers could be a
political ploy.
“BPRA is concerned that the preliminary population census
results are
inaccurate and may have either been politically manipulated to
misrepresent
the population in Matabeleland or are a result of incompetence
by ZimStats,”
the association said in a statement.
“The association
fears that the results will be used as a basis for reducing
developmental
allocations for the Matabeleland provinces and Bulawayo, which
have been
marginalised since independence.”
BPRA further said it was highly
improbable that all three Matabeleland
provinces, Bulawayo and Matabeleland
North and South only constituted 16% of
the population and were smaller than
Harare.
Population figures are the basis for planning development
projects.
“BPRA believes that the results announced by ZimStats are
inaccurate and
authenticate concerns raised by Zimbabweans in August that
the methodology
used by the agency missed out on some people,” the
association said in a
statement.
“The association believes that the
methodology used by the agency was flawed
and fears that the results may
have been tampered with for political
reasons.”
However, others
maintain that it could be possible that Bulawayo could have
registered
negative growth due to the massive de-industralisation of the
city that has
seen people leave for other towns in search of jobs.
In comparison
however, to other statistics, ZimStats figures are lower.
Statistical
research company, Wolfram Research, in 2004 estimated that
Bulawayo had a
population of 699 385 people, while in 2007 the population
was estimated at
731 003, showing that there was an upward trajectory in
growth.
The
Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security Foundation, an
international network of seven regional resource centres for urban
agriculture and food security, estimated that Bulawayo’s population was at
700 000 in 2009, another figure higher than the ZimStat one.
Previous
mayors, Joshua Malinga and Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, have questioned
previous
census reports, arguing that there was a deliberate ploy to reduce
Bulawayo’s population.
A cursory glance at this year’s population census
shows that only Bulawayo
recorded negative growth, while all the other
provinces recorded significant
growth.
Efforts to get a comment from
ZimStats were futile, as calls went
unanswered.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Local
MASVINGO — Hundreds of communal farmers from Masvingo province are
losing
draught power as dozens of cattle are reportedly dying owing to lack
of
drinking water as well as pastures.
By Tatenda Chitagu
The
Standard was told that the most affected areas were the arid districts
of
Chivi, Chiredzi and Mwenezi.
Masvingo provincial livestock officer, Aaron
Muchazivei, confirmed the
cattle deaths, but said the beasts were crossing
into Masvingo province from
Beitbridge in search of water.
“We have
received reports about the cattle deaths in Mwenezi and Chiredzi,
but
Mwenezi is the most affected. The cattle that died in Mwenezi were
coming
from Beitbridge — which is another province — in search of water. So
it may
sound as if the cattle were from Masvingo province,” Muchazivei said.
He
could not however, shed any more details as he was waiting for a report
from
the crop and livestock assessment exercise which is underway.
“It will be
difficult to be specific. I do not have the details since we can
only get
them after the assessment,” he said.
Efforts to get figures from the
veterinary services department proved futile
as the provincial veterinary
officer, only identified as Dr Dzimwasha,
refused to take questions from The
Standard. But farmers said the situation
was pathetic as most of them were
forced to sell their beasts at low prices
upon realising they were about to
die of thirst.
“Most farmers are selling their cattle at give-away
prices. The situation is
very bad . . . cattle are moving long distances in
search of water as major
rivers and dams have wilted,” a farmer from
Chiredzi who requested anonymity
said.
He said if the rains did not
fall in the next fortnight, it would spell
disaster.
Although other
provinces have received some rains, Masvingo has not yet
received
significant rains as yet, a situation that has also seen boreholes
drying
up.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Community
News
The concept of conservation agriculture (CA) is proving to be a
success
among the Hurungwe farming communities, with farmers reporting high
yields
from little inputs used on small pieces of land.
By
Christopher Mahove
The European Union, through the Food and Agricultural
Organisation, provided
more than nine million euro to support CA activities
across the country
aimed at empowering smallholder farmers to improve their
livelihoods.
The project involves training of extension staff and farmers
who would in
turn train other farmers, who are then provided with inputs
such as seed and
fertiliser using the lead-farmer approach.
A tour by
the European Union and its partners recently revealed more and
more farmers
were now embracing the concept, considering the erratic rains
the country
has been receiving in the last few years.
One such farmer who benefitted
from CA is 52-year-old Kenneth Nyarenda, who
has established a
mini-demonstration site at his plot where he works with 10
farmers whom he
trains at the main demonstration site.
Nyarenda was selected by the
community at ward level because of his track
record in farming and was
confirmed by the Department of Agriculture and
Extension Services as the
government department that is mandated with
working with farmers at
grassroots level.
Nyarenda said he had learnt that conservation
agriculture was a sure way to
get high yields from a very small piece of
land using less inputs, adding
that a one- hectare plot would yield up to
six tonnes of maize.
“A couple of years ago before conservation
agriculture, we used conventional
tillage methods where we would use a
plough for tilling the land and we
wasted a lot of fertiliser, because we
would just drill fertiliser
throughout the row, now with the introduction of
CA, we just open basins,
which is one of the CA principles for minimum
tillage, applying fertiliser
only at planting station instead of drilling
everywhere without necessarily
benefitting the crop,” he said.
He
said with the use of mulching, crops maintained some degree of moisture
which helped them in the event of dry spells.
Another farmer, Darlington
Mutami, of ward 11 in the same area, said he had
since abandoned his main
maize field to concentrate on his small plot at his
homestead as it was
giving him enough to feed his family and surplus to
sell.
“I have
since stopped receiving inputs from the project and am now buying my
own
seed and fertiliser. I don’t use much fertiliser because I also use
manure,”
he said.
He added that the use of mulching meant he had no problems of
weeding, but
conceded the mulch was scarce in the area, forcing them to use
it on smaller
portions than they would have wanted.
“Under normal
conditions mulch is supposed to come from the previous crop,
but because of
the communal set up, we have livestock also coming in and
taking up some of
the mulch,” he said.
A crops officer, Felix Nzvirume, said the idea of
basins was also important
in achieving the required plant populations and
also in the making of
manure.
“One of the factors which contribute to
low yields in Zimbabwe is the plant
population.”
“With the basins,
you can achieve a high plant population because you can
put three seeds into
one basin and then when the seeds emerge, you can later
remove one to remain
with two, so they can achieve the right population. So
the issue of
precision is important as it achieves high yields,” he said.
He said the
basins also harvested some amount of water, thereby prolonging
the life of
the plants.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Community
News
BULAWAYO — Bulawayo City Council [BCC] has blasted Water Resources
and
Management minister Samuel Sipepa-Nkomo for failing to explain the delay
in
connecting water supply from Mtshabezi-Umzingwane pipe to the
city.
BY SILAS NKALA
Sipepa-Nkomo had previously promised that the
city, which is facing a
serious water crisis, would start receiving water
from the pipeline a
fortnight ago.
A representative of the city’s
water crisis advocacy sub-committee,
Armstrong Sibanda expressed concern
that Bulawayo continued to face a water
crisis despite assurance from
Sipepa-Nkomo that the problem would soon be
addressed.
“The city is
still on 96 hours water-rationing,” said Sibanda.
“The promised projects have
not been able to deliver water to the residents
of Bulawayo — Mtshabezi
pipeline remains a mysterious dream.”
Sibanda said the committee recently
visited the pipeline and was informed
that the project was
complete.
“But the minister has not come back to explain what the
challenge is despite
the fact that he told residents at a service delivery
conference a month ago
that the city would have water from Mtshabezi soon,”
said Sibanda.
BCC director of engineering services, Simela Dube said the
council was yet
to be advised by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority
[Zinwa] on a date for
the commissioning of the Mtshabezi-Umzingwane
pipeline, a project expected
to supply the city with 17 megalitres of water
per day.
Efforts to get comment from Sipepa-Nkomo were fruitless at the
time of going
to press.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Community
News
Bulawayo — A Mzilikazi man has taken reforestation to a higher
level.
BY SILAS NKALA
Tree-planting enthusiast, Kheyi Masuku of
Mzilikazi in Bulawayo started an
indigenous and citrus trees nursery at his
home sometime in 2009 and has not
looked back.
He has nursed
thousands of seedlings which he mostly distributes to
individuals and
organisations interested in tree-planting programmes.
Masuku said his
project, which was all along based in Bulawayo, has spread
to Nkayi and
Gokwe where he has planted 20 000 seedlings of both citrus and
indigenous
trees.
“I have opened trees nurseries in Nkayi ward 6 at Sibangelana at
Councillor
Bernard Nyathi’s home. I also opened another one in Gokwe at
Mateta 2 Jabula
Centre,” said Masuku.
He said a total of about 20
000 tree plants were growing in Gokwe and Nkayi
while 10 000 plants were in
Bulawayo.
“For the period 2011-2012, I have distributed over 5 000 plants
in Mbembesi,
Bulawayo, Shurugwi,Umguza, Nkayi, Tsholotsho and Gokwe South
excluding those
which I planted at the new nurseries I have opened in Nkayi
and Gokwe.
“My aim is to assist the government in controlling
deforestation and to
reduce the effects of climate change which are
affecting the country,” said
Masuku.
He said he was concerned by the
way trees were being cut in urban areas as
people sought to clear land for
urban agriculture or to get firewood.
Masuku said he was engaging the
Bulawayo City Council in an effort to
conscientise it on the need to
safeguard the few available trees.
He said he had also engaged the local
authority to give him land to conduct
his tree-planting activities as he
currently does that at his home where
there is little available space.
“I
have not received any assistance from anywhere but I am still talking to
the
council to see if they can offer me land for the nursery.
“I am also
requesting the government to assist me with space because there
are a number
of citrus trees which I intend to plant that may assist in the
provision of
employment if the nursery is given a space,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Community
News
SHEBEENS are increasing in numbers in most of Harare’s high-density
suburbs.
By Tawanda Marwizi
The development, most pronounced in
Mbare, Chitungwiza, Epworth, Norton and
other populous suburbs, has become a
cause for concern for families living
near the illegal drinking
spots.
Residents who spoke to the Standardcommunity had no kind words to
shebeen
operators, saying they were exposing their children to improper
behaviour.
“It is very shameful to watch visibly drunk men passing out
urine a few
steps away from my gate, not to mention exposing their manhood
to innocent
children playing in the streets,” said the disgusted Agnes
Chiropa, a
resident who lives at a nearby shebeen in
Chitungwiza.
“What picture could they be drawing for the
children?”
A survey conducted by this paper revealed that a growing
number of drinkers
preferred shebeens than drinking at legal beerhalls,
mainly due to their
proximity.
But due to the absence of ablution
facilities at most shebeens, most of the
drunkards who spend their quality
time drinking opaque beer relieved
themselves in nearby drenches. Others did
so in the open.
A Harare City health official who spoke on condition of
anonymity, confirmed
the problem was rising and urged police to launch an
operation to root them
out.
“We all know that the water problem has
become a national disaster and it
will be unhealthy for shebeens to operate
in the suburbs without running
water and proper toilet facilities. Police
should just do their job,” said
the official.
However, efforts by the
police to discourage the operation of shebeens are
hitting a brick wall,
amid reports shebeen queens paid bribes to senior
police
officers.
Zephaniah Mandirahwe, who is the Chitungwiza City Council
spokesperson, said
they were working towards closing all
shebeens.
“They have to be destroyed. they are becoming a health menace,”
said
Mandirahwe.
The most popular shebeens in Chitungwiza include
KwaBla Midza in St Mary’s,
KwaMai Mishy and Musuva-Musuva in Unit
D.
Some people in the country are pushing the government to legalise
shebeens,
arguing that they immensely contributed to the independence of the
country,
as they were used by nationalists as rendezvous during the
liberation
struggle.
The South African government has already
legalised shebeens, which are among
the popular drinking places, especially
in the high-density suburbs.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Community
News
Nearly 100 orphans at Makumbi Mission Orphanage in Domboshava were
last week
treated to an early Christmas party by Hyundai Zimbabwe.
The
motoring company donated hampers and hosted an end-of-year Christmas
party
at the orphanage.
By Don Makanyanga
Addressing the beneficiaries
at the ceremony, Rotary Club of Harare Dawn
president, Tafadzwa Katemauswa,
said they found it befitting to celebrate
Christmas with the
less-privileged.
“We have come here to celebrate Christmas with you and
also to hand over a
present that was given to us by our friends from Hyundai
Zimbabwe, to share
with you. Our club has historical ties with this
orphanage.
“This Christmas is going to be one with a difference, as we
have managed to
bring you Father Christmas to celebrate with you,” he
said.
This was the first time that the Christmas party at the orphanage
has been
graced by father Christmas.
Acting Matron of Makumbi Mission
orphanage, Maria Sumuperl, told
Standardcommunity that the children were
happy after getting a rare chance
to meet Father Christmas.
“These
children are really excited to get this opportunity.
“It is something that
has always been their wish and it’s now a dream come
true for most of them,”
said the acting matron.
“We are happy with the support that we have always
received from Rotary
club.
“I urge them not to tire and continue to
have a heart for these
under-privileged children,” she added.
Hyundai
Zimbabwe chipped in with more than US$2 000, which was complemented
by
Rotary Club of Harare Dawn members funds.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Business
ZIMBABWE will
meet its US$27 million debt obligation to Export-Import Bank
of China
(Eximbank) in order to get another loan from a Chinese company
meant to
finance expansion of Kariba South Power Station, a senior
government
official has said.
REPORT BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
Sino Hydro wants to
finance the US$400 million expansion of Kariba but has
said it cannot do so
unless the debt owed to Eximbank has been cleared.
The expansion would
result in additional generating capacity of 300MW.
Speaking at a signing
ceremony between the Zimbabwe Power Company [ZPC] and
Sino Hydro in Harare
last week, Energy and Power Development
permanent-secretary Partson Mbirimi
said the government had not finalised
financial aspects related to the
project as a result of the debt.
“As far as I’m aware, government
appreciates the significance of this
project. Nonetheless, to the extent
practicable, government acting as
guarantor for the loans is prepared to pay
that amount.
“The Finance ministry has indicated that they think it will
be possible to
pay that amount, although I can’t indicate when,” he
said.
“It [loan repayment] is a prerequisite to financial
closure.”
The country owes the Eximbank US$27 million for agricultural
equipment
acquired through the Industrial Development Corporation and
Farmers’ World
owned by Muzarabani South MP, Edward Raradza.
A report
by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy
earlier this
year showed that Sino Hydro had said that it would not release
funding for
Kariba South from Eximbank until the debt had been cleared.
ZPC last week
signed an Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract
[EPC] with Sino
Hydro, under which the EPC contractor was required to source
financing for
up to 90% of the project financing from banks on behalf of
ZPC.
Under
an EPC contract, the contractor designs the plant, procures the
necessary
materials and builds the project either directly or by
sub-contracting some
of the work.
Kariba South Power Station extension is being developed as a
standalone
Special Purpose Vehicle [SPV] which combines the assets of the
existing
plant and the proposed power station extension and operated by a
single
operator to maximise the value of the resource.
To avoid the
complexities and delays likely to arise from introducing equity
from third
parties in a project involving existing state assets, the SPV
would subsist
through a combination of debt and internally generated cash
flows, with ZPC
being the only shareholder.
Mbirimi said there was major interest
presently being shown by the Chinese
government to develop additional hydro
projects on existing dams dotted
around the country as well as other
independent power producers in Gwayi and
Gokwe North.
Power shortage
problems being addressed — Gapare
ZPC Chairman Victor Gapare said the board
and management were addressing the
power shortage problem from two
fronts.
The first involved addressing the gap between actual generation
and
installed capacity at existing thermal power stations namely Hwange,
Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare.
The second front involved the
construction of new generation capacity.
Zimbabwe generates an average of
1 200MW, against a demand of 2 200MW.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Business
WHO
would have thought that the wheels of the economy would come off after a
good run in the first three years of the inclusive government? Those with
supernatural powers of course!
REPORT BY NDAMU SANDU
Indeed
goods are plenty on the shop shelves but it’s of no use if the
targeted
consumer does not have money.
It was by all accounts a tough year for the
workers who had to bear the
brunt as companies struggled to stay afloat.
Salary increments and the once
proverbial 13th cheque rapidly became foreign
concepts.
Cost containment became the buzzword at strategic meetings at a
time the
cost of living went up, effectively eroding the little money that
workers
had.
Even companies that had the capacity to pay bonuses
joined the chorus.
Banks also thought they would reap where they had not
sown by imposing
extortionate bank charges. Banks’ siblings, microfinance
institutions, upped
the ante with high interest rates of up to 40% per
month. Ironically, these
were the same institutions established to help
fight poverty.
The honeymoon would be brought to an abrupt end soon after
government
announced plans to control bank charges and interest rates to
deal with the
sector’s mischief-makers.
The lawlessness of yesteryear
reared its ugly head after three banks shut
down during the course of the
year.
Interfin was placed under curatorship after the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe
[RBZ] found the institution to be unsafe and unsound.
Royal
and Genesis banks surrendered their licences after failing to meet the
minimum capital requirements.
The National Social Security Authority
took up an 84% stake in ReNaissance
Merchant Bank [now Capital Bank], a move
that removed the institution from
curatorship. The bank had been placed
under curatorship last year after
founding directors — Patterson Timba and
Dunmore Kundishora — had allegedly
spirited away depositors’
funds.
Afre shareholders booted out Timba from the board — alongside
Norman Nyazema
and Daud Dube — following recommendation from the insurance
regulator,
Insurance and Pensions Commission.
Kundishora had resigned
from the Afre board during the course of the year.
An investment vehicle
owned by Mines minister Obert Mpofu rescued ZABG from
closure after agreeing
to invest in the troubled bank in an assets backed
transaction. The bank has
turned the corner and has been renamed Allied
Bank.
Mauritian banking
group, AfrAsia snapped up a 35% stake in Kingdom Financial
Holdings Limited,
ensuring the bank met the minimum capital requirements.
The group has been
rebranded AfrAsia Kingdom Zimbabwe.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono announced in
August that phased capital
requirements for banks designed to have minimum
equity capital of US$100
million by June 2014, sparking uproar from bankers
who felt that the central
bank boss wanted to “kill off” some institutions.
The uproar was to spill
into cabinet but Gono had the final
say.
Banks are working to meet the first phase deadline of US$25 million
by
December 31.
The International Monetary Fund loosened its
restrictions on technical
assistance, paving the way for a Staff Monitored
Programme. This came after
government met the conditions required — timely
reporting of data and
removal of ghost workers from payroll.
Winston
Churchill once said that to jaw-jaw is always better than to
war-war. This
message seems to have escaped Rainbow Tourism Group [RTG]
shareholders as
they tore each other apart.
During the course of the year, shareholders
finally buried the hatchet and
agreed on the appointment of a new board
chaired by industrialist Joseph
Kanyekanye.
The board went on to
appoint Tendai Madziwanyika as CEO last month to
replace Chipo Mtasa, who
quit the hospitality group in March.
As companies reposition to meet the
new challenges, so is the exit of chief
executive officers and managing
directors.
Those that left among others include Washington Matsaira [Standard
Chartered
Bank], Sibusisiwe Ndlovu [Afre], Josphat Sachikonye [RioZim],
Nyasha
Makuvise [CBZ], Charles Nyambuya [Tractive Power Holdings]and Joe
Mutizwa
[Delta].
Mutizwa was appointed to the Starafricacorporation
board to provide the
skills necessary to revive the company.
Early
this month, Vaka Concrete — an indigenous construction company where
Mutizwa
is chairman and major shareholder — unveiled its US$4 million
concrete
building products.
Cheers resonated in the tourism industry after two
major airlines began
flying into Zimbabwe, a move that helped the country
become accessible to
tourists.
Emirates introduced flights into
Harare in February while KLM resumed
flights in October after a 13-year
break.
Mozambican airline LAM and Namibian flag carrier Air Namibia also
resumed
flights into Zimbabwe. The arrival of these airlines is a plus for
the
country as it readies to co-host the UNWTO general assembly in Victoria
Falls next year.
In a landmark decision, the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme withdrew
monitors and allowed Zimbabwe unhindered
exports of the Marange diamonds,
ending years of intensive lobbying by
government which insisted it had met
the minimum conditions required to sell
the gems.
Despite the high production of diamonds, Treasury says revenue
is not
flowing into national coffers, forcing Finance minister Tendai Biti
to cut
the 2012 national budget by US$400 million.
Government
launched the Industrial Development Policy in March to help
accelerate the
growth of industries. Industries required recapitalisation to
replace
obsolete equipment and provide working capital.
A recent report by the
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries shows that
capacity utilisation, on the
increase since the use of multiple currencies,
went down to 44,2% this year
from 57,2% recorded in 2011, spelling gloom for
the industry.
2013
outlook
In the outlook, politicking will dominate in the run-up to the
watershed
elections in 2013, Gono’s final term ends in November and watch
out for the
new money bags — the chiefs — after being given custodianship of
community
trusts amid reports that some are seeing the projects as part of
their
dynasties.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Opinion
This is my last
column of 2012, and at the end of another year that has
flown by in a flash
and a blur, I cannot help but reflect on what were its
most striking
concerns.
Opinion by Rosie Mitchell
This column has grown
increasingly environmentally focused, reflecting the
escalating onslaught on
our God-given natural surroundings, flora and fauna,
and I’ve no doubt next
year will see more of the same, with ranting such as
mine continuing largely
to fall on deaf ears.
We are indeed the most destructive and ungrateful
of species living on a
planet shared by a decreasing number of other
species, whose living space we
are systematically ruining.
In the
long run, the human species will pay the price for our greed and
inability
to heed the multitude warning signs and the insights from experts
about what
our future, and that of this planet, holds, if we carry on with
our
outrageous, selfishly motivated, money-driven behaviours which lead us
to
plunder the land and all creatures living on it with such
short-sightedness.
Regardless of all the publicity directed at the
“ruination” of Harare’s
wetlands, each day, I see ploughs and tractors and
construction machinery
blatantly destroying our only lifeline to water, and
that of 6,5 million
humans, not to mention all the other species, dependent
downstream from us
on the rivers whose only collection source of water is
these vleis in our
city.
The commercial-style farming observed all
over the city in vleis, is no
longer the work of poor downtrodden people, on
the whole, it is primarily
the work of greedy people taking advantage of the
failure to enforce the
laws that prohibit this behaviour which has only
today in mind, and does not
look to the bleak future it is
creating.
I see such people overseeing “their” fields. They drive there
in their cars,
often very expensive models. No law enforcement agency ever
stops them. As
has been pointed out over and over and over by myself and
hundreds of others
trying to get this message across, this is not about
“bunny hugging”, it is
a humanitarian crisis in the making, because we are
running out of water
already. Few people are listening to the
warnings.
So, I must continue to repeat the mantra, and will do so,
through next
year — no wetlands, no water.
There are many soldiers
fighting for the conservation cause, the vast
majority of us, without
payment.
Writings such as these are a year-round voluntary exercise and
those running
conservation trusts of various kinds do their fine works
without salary
because they actually give a damn — about the long-term
future, not just
about today and their own personal needs and
wants.
I only wish that our army would swell till it’s large enough and
powerful
enough to have the kind of high-level impact required to actually
put a stop
to the destruction, before the last pangolin, rhino, wild dog is
murdered,
the last indigenous tree falls.
Songo Area highlighted at
Ian Nyschens Trust event
An event last weekend run by just some such
soldiers, the Ian Nyschens
Zambezi Valley Conservation Trust, “Preservation
For The Next Generation”,
raised awareness of its anti-poaching efforts and
its conservation and
community development projects in the Songo
area.
On display were various excellent art by artists from the area as
well as
from Chitungwiza and Mabvuku, all created from various recycled
materials.
Patrick Lupi and band and the Mabvuku Mbira Ensemble entertained
attendees.
Nyschens first ranger deployed by national parks
In 1954,
Ian Nyschens was the first Ranger ever employed by the Department
of
Wildlife Management which later became National Parks and Wildlife
Management.
In 1995 he met Steve Pope at a ceremony at Pope’s bush
camp in the Campfire
concession along the southern boundary of Mana Pools
and learned of his
efforts to establish hyena research projects to study
their influence in
predator populations in Mana. Aged 83, Nyschens with Pope
set up this Trust
to educate children in ecology and environment and to
spearhead conservation
projects.
Threat of extinction of wildlife
species real
New venue in Borrowdale, The Circle, hosted the “Preservation
For The Next
Generation” fundraiser, which also received support from
Telecel, for
anti-poaching, conservation, and the promotion of community
development in
the Songo area.
Representatives from the Ministry of
Tourism and National Parks and Wildlife
attended and Wildlife Officer
Munyaradzi Nhira spoke on anti-poaching
efforts by Parks, highlighting
difficulties experienced by anti-poaching
units and the level of
sophistication now being shown by professional
poachers.
The
presentation left no doubt that much be done to help Parks safeguard the
valuable animals that are our national heritage, and ensure future
generations actually have wildlife to enjoy.
Ben Vermeulen spoke on
conservation and the need for urgent awareness of the
very real threat of
extinction of so many precious wildlife species in our
country.
Songo
Wildlife Management Area lies north of Siabuwa between the Sengwa and
Ruzirukuru Rivers. Realising the vulnerability of communities here, the
Trust set up community projects to help people improve
livelihoods.
The event highlighted Songo and showcased the various
proposed projects,
including fish farming, creation of an artificial wetland
to attract and
conserve bird life, plantations for fruit and fruit products,
and a worm
farm both for income and for the resultant high quality organic
fertiliser
to enhance crop production.
Feedback: rosie@wildimaginings.net; 0772 212
730
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in Environment,
Opinion
The year 2012 has no doubt been an eventful year on the
environmental scene
in Zimbabwe, for the better and for the
worse.
Opinion by Chipo Masara
Maybe the one thing that many would
not have failed to notice is how
environmental issues have gained
prominence.
As with the rest of the world, it is clear that although it
might have taken
long enough, Zimbabwe has finally acknowledged that
environmental issues are
anything but trivial.
Problems such as
wetland abuse, deforestation, climate change, poaching,
littering, veld
fires, water and air pollution, land degradation through
mining, and
wildlife conservancy invasion, among others, have become widely
talked about
issues.
Unlike in the past, when many people had no clue as to what the
fuss about
the environment was all about, 2012 has presented a better
picture as far as
environmental awareness is concerned.
Environmental
organisations such as Environment Africa, Forestry Commission,
Conservation
Society of Monavale, Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe,
Mukuvisi Woodlands,
Friends of the Environment, Miracle Missions, Zimbabwe
Environmental Lawyers
Association (Zela), have been highly instrumental
throughout the year in
helping spread environmental awareness, as well as
implementing numerous
corrective measures.
Forestry Commission for instance, has been on a
vigorous reforestation
campaign, putting in place an ambitious project that
involves planting at
least 10 million trees each planting season. However,
persistent veld fires
have been retrogressive towards such
efforts.
Also interesting to note in 2012 was how the corporate world in
Zimbabwe
seemed to have finally heeded the call for them to “green” their
operations.
Most notable has been the Nyaradzo Funeral Group, which has been
involved
this year in numerous environmental initiatives.
In spite of
the increased awareness of environmental matters and much
talking about it
however, it would in most cases seem that it’s more often
than not just talk
without the action to back it up. This has especially
been the case
regarding the on-going wetland abuses.
In spite of representatives from
the Environmental Management Agency (EMA)
insisting that wetland abuse would
not, under any circumstances, be allowed
to go on, the ecologically
sensitive areas continue to be wiped out. For
instance, where the National
Sports Stadium wetland used to be, now stands a
Chinese-owned
mall.
The Gunhill/Highlands wetland has been sold off to land developers,
who are
getting it ready for construction. if no stop is soon put to the
developments, it will also soon be nothing but a memory of what
was.
There are also reports of plans to build the so-called Mall of
Zimbabwe on
the Borrowdale wetland.
These developments have made many
question whether EMA has what it takes to
protect the
environment.
Considering that wetlands are a major source of underground
water supply,
while also serving as free water purifying systems, among many
of their
roles, wiping them out will spell doom for a country already facing
acute
water problems.
Environmental degradation through mining
activities, is another area that
has remained a thorn in the flesh for most
communities in the country.
Judging from reports gathered at a workshop
hosted by Zela incorporating
many mining stakeholders last Tuesday, most
mining companies operating in
the country seem to have brought to the
communities in which they operate,
more burdens than they have brought
relief.
Besides digging up and leaving open trenches that have not only
damaged the
landscape, but injured and in some cases killed people and their
livestock,
there are increased reports of miners polluting water sources.
This is
posing a serious danger to both people and their
livestock.
The Save River, a source of water for millions, is reported to
have been
heavily polluted by chemicals dumped in it by some companies
mining diamonds
in the Chiadzwa area.
But although the Chiadzwa
diamond area has clearly received the most
attention, miners in other areas
like Mutoko, Bindura, Kwekwe and Hwange, do
not seem to be doing any better
either.
It would seem the concept of sustainability has not yet been
fully embraced
by the mining sector.
Litter is another problem that
bedevilled the whole country for the year and
does not look like it is in
any hurry to go away. There is still a serious
lack of bins, garbage still
rarely gets collected and people continue to
litter like there is no
tomorrow!
2012 has also been the year that saw the invasion of wildlife
conservancies
like the Save River Conservancy, a move that had a negative
bearing on the
country’s wildlife safety and the conservation of the animal
sanctuaries.
The tourism sector was heavily affected.
Besides
encouraging poaching activities that further dwindled the country’s
wildlife
numbers, the move also encouraged unprecedented tree-cutting in the
conservancy areas.
Tobacco farmers worsen deforestation
Tobacco
farmers, who have been mostly blamed for the country’s present state
of
deforestation, have continued to rampantly cut down trees, especially the
indigenous ones which can take more than a century to fully
mature.
It would seem very few of the tobacco farmers seem to be taking
seriously
the requirement for each of them to have a woodlot from which they
can get
the wood to use in treating their crop.
As we wrap up 2012,
it is hoped that all the environmental knowledge
gathered over the year may
materialise into positive action that would help
restore the country’s
environment.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Opinion
According to the report titled, Baseline Survey on Sector
Specific Capacity
Building Requirements for Committees of Parliament,
commissioned by
parliament with the assistance of the European Commission
and United Nations
Development Programme and released recently, 65% of the
country’s current
MPs still require intensive training in legislation and
budget analysis.
Sunday Opinion by Benjamin
Chitate
Mathematically, this implies that there are some 35%
parliamentarians who
have mastered the skills, either because of training
received during their
term in parliament, or skills acquired before they
came into parliament.
Another implication here also is that the average
parliamentarian needs more
than one term in parliament in order to fully
digest and master the skills
intended by the various training programmes
they undergo.
Let me emphasise the fact that a lot of donor agencies and
private companies
have invested a lot of money in training our
parliamentarians, and the
knowledge gained from such training has to be put
to good use for the good
of the country.
Unfortunately with
parliamentarians, the knowledge may be wasted if they
fail to win the next
election. Where such knowledge is retained in
parliament for another five
years, it may help develop the country.
The MDC’s sitting candidate
confirmation process has been in force since
before the split of the
original MDC in 2005, and was used in the 2005
election.
It is a very
thorough process that should scrutinise what the
parliamentarian has done
during their term in office, with the candidate
having to answer questions
from the electorate on specific deliverables.
Used objectively, it is a
process that can help screen out the
non-performers, thereby enabling
quality representation. The pass mark of
two thirds approval by the same
electorate that would have been involved in
primary elections is a huge vote
of confidence, and is democratic.
Democracy is all about people making
choices for themselves without
influence from leadership. In the sitting MP
verification process, the
electorate can have their questions answered, and
then exercise their
democratic right to have the same parliamentarian
represent them or not in
the next parliament.
The process is not an
imposition of candidates as some critics would want
people to
believe.
The sitting MP confirmation exercise is an even more challenging
process
than mere primary elections because while the sitting needs a two
thirds
approval vote to be confirmed, the sitting MP can easily walk back
into
parliament with a mere 40% vote in a primary election where the first
past
the post method is used.
To illustrate my point, if there were
three aspirants contesting to
represent the party in a constituency where
there is a sitting MP from the
MDC, the votes will be shared among four
contestants, making it easy for the
sitting MP to win even when he has not
managed to please two thirds of the
electorate during the duration of the
past parliament.
What all Zimbabweans should watch out for with interest
is the level of
coverage of this so-called imposition of candidates in some
sections of the
media, who always try to find some fault on anyone opposed
to Zanu PF and
Robert Mugabe, and seem not to find anything positive from
the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC and its officials.
Zimbabweans from all
walks of life, irrespective of the political party they
belong to, must
therefore always think about quality representation before
deciding who
should represent them in parliament.
Zimbabweans must take time to digest
Nhamo Mhiripiri who is quoted in a
recent report saying it was critical to
understand why the MDC-T decided to
confirm sitting candidates without
subjecting them to primaries. It would be
wasteful to lose a highly
performing parliamentarian who should use the
confirmation exercise to
identify their shortcomings in order to deliver
better in the next
parliament if elected in the national elections.
The sudden interest in
the internal affairs of the MDC by persons associated
to Zanu PF gives
credence to the speculation that the opposition of the
sitting MPs
confirmation exercise is a Zanu PF and CIO strategy to cause
divisions in
the MDC ahead of elections.
The MDC must never be deterred by such
shallow-minded armchair critics and
concentrate on their continued effort to
improve governance quality.
It may take time for some people to realise
the benefits, but from an
economic perspective, given the shrinking
resources, it is better to give
someone on whom resources have been
invested, if they are still popular with
the people and successfully account
for their previous term in office.
Caution, however, should be taken to
avoid situations where some people have
been in parliament uninterrupted for
32 years.
While experience is vital, the MDC should improve its candidate
selection
process by limiting terms to not more than 30 years in a single
position, be
it council, parliament or senate.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 22, 2012 in
Opinion
“Ask five economists and you’ll get five different answers — six
if one went
to Harvard. —-Edgar R Fiedler
Opinion by Phillip
Chichoni
There have been debates and comments in the past weeks on
whether it is
possible to create a million jobs in Zimbabwe over the next
five years. Many
economists and analysts interviewed by the various media
say it is a dream.
In other words, it is impossible.
When Marconi
told people that he was developing a device that would enable
communication
between long distances without the use of cables, many thought
he was insane
and that it was impossible. But we have wireless communication
now. People
have always laughed and scorned at visionary people saying they
are
dreaming. History has shown that nothing is impossible if one is
committed
and passionate towards achieving it. And that the greatest
achievers started
as great dreamers.
Instead of analysing how impossible something is, why
not look at how we can
make it possible? In this case, let us look at the
job creation mission in
Zimbabwe.
How many people are unemployed in
Zimbabwe?
The starting point is to look at how many people are actually
unemployed. In
the United States and Europe, unemployment is measured by the
number of
people who are registered for unemployment benefits while seeking
jobs at
any given time. So you find that every month or quarter, the
government
releases unemployment figures.
We do not have an
unemployment register. Instead, the figures are estimated
by various people
and range from 50% to 90% unemployment. Now if 90% of the
people were
unemployed and the state gives no unemployment benefits, that
means the
majority of the people would be starving and destitute. But they
are
not.
We have a very high level of informal business activity in this
country. It
employs a large majority of the “formally unemployed” people. In
many cases,
it even pays more than formal employment. I have spoken to many
informal
business owners, like vegetable sellers and clothing traders. Many
generate
revenues above the US$5 000 a month VAT threshold, with some making
as much
as US$20 000 in good months, like during the festive season or when
the new
school year begins. A good number support over six dependents and
they live
well. So should these people be counted among the 90%
unemployed?
Great depression solution— public works
When the great
depression of the 1930s devastated industry in the US,
unemployment reached
record high levels. To solve the problem, the
government started public work
programmes: constructing roads, bridges and
other massive state-sponsored
infrastructure projects. These created lots of
jobs and helped the economy
start recovering.
A similar solution can work in Zimbabwe, but it needs
huge financial
investments. If the government manages to mobilise funds for
infrastructure
development, which the country desperately needs after
decades of
dilapidation, the work will enable businesses in the supply chain
to recover
and new ones developing. This will create jobs, and possibly over
a million
if the projects are big enough.
More practical solution —
developing SMEs
There are thousands of informal businesses operating in the
country. Most
are one-person outfits while others employ a few people each.
Let us say,
for argument’s sake, that there are a hundred thousand such
informal
businesses and SMEs. If each one employs one more person, that will
create
100 000 jobs immediately. Five more people and that will be 500 000
new
jobs. That is not impossible if the SMEs and informal businesses are
growing.
To grow, most of these businesses need support. The majority
of the owners
lack essential business and financial management skills. As a
result, they
are not running optimally and efficiently to enable them to
grow. Equipping
the owners with essential business skills will improve their
capabilities in
building growing and profitable businesses, which will
create employment.
Formalising these businesses will help them get
contracts from the state and
big companies, thus giving them opportunities
to accelerate their growth.
Many fear that formalising is an arduous and
expensive process, but the
government promulgated the Private Business
Corporation Act specifically to
enable informal businesses to incorporate
simply and affordably.
A few weeks ago, the Harare branch of the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of
Commerce organised a workshop to train SMEs on essential
skills. I helped in
the training on record-keeping and business planning,
while a representative
from the SPB facilitated on how to participate in
government tenders. The
business owners who participated said they couldn’t
wait for more such
training.
Best wishes in growing your
business.
Banks have a role to play
Banks could organise business
skills training to customers they lend money
to. This will help them run
their businesses more proficiently, be more
profitable and reduce chances of
defaulting on their loans. The facilitation
fees could be levied on the
loans. That way we can all play a part in
accelerating SMEs’ growth and
creating new jobs.
Phillip Chichoni is a strategic business planning
consultant who works with
entrepreneurs and growing businesses. You may
contact him by email
on:chichonip@smebusinesslink.com or visit: http://smebusinesslink. com.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Editorial
While it is a cliché that politicians are like diapers and must
be changed
at the right time, in the case of South Africa, the tenets of
democracy have
guaranteed the cleanliness of the diapers and all has been
well to date
because those who have returned to office have done so in peace
and election
results have not been sat upon, challenged or delayed in
release.
Sunday View by Clement Moyo
President Jacob Zuma’s
re-election to ANC Presidency in the face of a stiff
challenge for the seat
by his right hand man Deputy-President Kgalema
Motlanthe last week deserves
recognition and an accolade.
Not only did Motlanthe challenge Zuma for the
top post in ANC, a position
that by default makes one the President of South
Africa; he also graciously
accepted defeat as he continues to serve as
Deputy-President of South Africa
until 2014 if he so wishes.
As a
political party, ANC has managed to show other liberation movements and
labour movements in the region that leadership renewal is not a taboo but a
natural and necessary process.
Prophets of doom had predicted chaos
at ANC’s 53rd national elective
conference as Montlanthe decided to stand
against Zuma for the top post.
Why? It’s unusual and effectively
uncomfortable for an incumbent head of a
political party to be challenged
even within the so-called “democratic
movements”.
There are lessons
that Zimbabwe’s political parties can learn from ANC
leadership
renewal.
While the recent election did not lead to a change at the top
leadership
post of ANC, the fact that Motlanthe contested against the
incumbent for
control of ANC is significant and a good precedent for
democracy at party
level and national politics.
Also, one major
aspect worth noting is that Zuma’s victory does not give him
the right to
act as he pleases. Zuma can be recalled, just as Thabo Mbeki
was recalled
from the top post as South Africa’s president according to the
party
constitution. Such is the power of a people-led political
organisation, a
side of the political coin that is still foreign to Zimbabwe’s
political
parties.
In Zanu PF, any attempt to challenge Mugabe for party presidency
would
definitely lead to bloodshed and purging on an unprecedented scale.
Such
change or leadership contests have also been resisted by parties that
regard
themselves as stalwarts for democracy like MDC.
It is common
knowledge now that the unexpected MDC split in 2005 was due to
internal
disgruntlement and conflict of interests from within the party. It
is also
an open secret that those with ambitions to challenge Tsvangirai for
MDC-T
leadership fear the consequences of retribution, blackmail or possible
victimisation.
One can easily be blacklisted as a dissident and be
flushed out of the party
structures without consequences. Such scenes nearly
manifested themselves at
the last MDC-T congress in Bulawayo which was
marred by violence, a generic
trademark of Zimbabwe’s political
parties.
Also, the 2009 secret amendment of MDC-T party’s constitution to
extend the
term of the post of president from two consecutive terms to being
“tailor-made” to Morgan Tsvangirai’s pleasure could have left a number
disappointed.
It is the “godfather” traits that engulf political
party leaders, making
them larger than life characters that turn parties
into cults. Such traits
also manifested themselves in Arthur Mutambara as he
resisted a democratic
ouster by Welshman Ncube, an event that led to another
split as he selfishly
believed himself to be larger than the party he
represented.
But the golden question remains: Are Zimbabwe’s political
parties learning
anything from across Limpopo? If so, what do they have to
show for it?
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Editorial
Zimbabweans are the world’s worst drivers, okay! I know you
don’t agree but
let’s talk about this on January 2.
Editor’s Memo by
Nevanji Madanhire
I know on that day you will be lying flat on your back
in some hospital bed
with all your limps bound in the plaster of Paris and
your head, all in
bandages, round like a football, your eyes peeping
tentatively at me through
slits.
As is always the case in holiday
accidents, it’s only the loved ones who die
while the culprit remains, most
of the time with minor injuries or fractured
limbs but otherwise very
alive!
Last year someone said, “I was overtaking a gonyet [haulage truck]
and then
the road turned!” It was the road that turned, eh? Now he lives
with the
burden of the guilt of having literally murdered all his loved
ones.
In Zimbabwe, bad driving begins right from the beginning; one buys
a
secondhand vehicle and then goes to buy a driver’s licence from corrupt
licensing officials.
Zimbabweans hate failing the driving test so
will fork out any amount to
avoid it.
But the truth of the matter is,
they hurry for driving tests before they
have had the hang of it. If you
fail once, that’s fine. Twice, that’s still
fine.
Thrice, that again
is still fine so long you are going back to your
instructor to go over it
again, all of it.
Word of caution, there should never be a shortcut to
obtaining a driver’s
licence. Know the Highway Code backwards. If you have
learnt your lessons
well, there is no way anyone can ask for bribe; the guys
at the VID only ask
for your money when they are sure you are in a hurry to
obtain a licence and
you have money you don’t know what to do with. Never
pay for a licence.
Don’t drive under the influence, stupid. This has been
said before. Don’t
give us the crap about being a better driver when you
have had a few. Truth
is: it isn’t true; alcohol will slow your reaction
time in tricky
situations.
Not only that, when you drive with a
bottle between your thighs, you’re
multi-tasking.
Your legs are meant
only to help you walk, remember when we were created god
didn’t have cars in
mind. By using them to drive, you have assigned them a
totally new task
which they may master over a long period of practice.
But, for them to do
that and work as a vice to hold your beer too? That’s a
completely new extra
task you are assigning to them. Just when they are
getting used to clutching
in, applying the brakes and accelerating, you are
asking them to hold your
beer. It’s simply not fair to them and the children
you are
carrying!
Talking of multi-tasking; speaking on your phone while driving
is another
example of impractical multi-tasking. Some even go to the extent
of
composing text messages and sending them while driving! Women are the
worst
culprits in this, I don’t care if you accuse me of
sexism.
Truth is women talk on the phone all the time while driving. Men
do too, but
they are briefer and to the point. Men’s greatest fault when
driving,
particularly in the cities, is girl-watching, or is it leg gazing?
They will
gaze at women in certain types of outfits, especially miniskirts
and let
their imaginations drift with them! Just look at their car bumpers
to see
what I mean.
The worst Zimbabwean drivers are those who live
outside the country,
particularly in South Africa.
That’s very
interesting because the South African Highway Code is tighter on
rules than
ours and when these drivers are down there, they drive very well.
Not when
they come over during the festive season with their Gangster
Paradise (GP)
registered vehicles. They become monsters on the roads, as if
trying to
imply that every local driver is a dunce.
They screech their wheels and
blow their horns as if every car is in their
way.
They see only the
car immediately in front of them; so in a traffic jam they
are always
swearing at the poor driver in front as if he could lift his
vehicle and let
them pass. But see them in January as they trek back down
South, crestfallen
and broke, their cars almost falling apart, the result of
the persistent
acts of road rage they engaged in.
Please care for the pedestrians and
the cyclists? The fact that you are
travelling in a chunk of metal
automatically puts these poor individuals in
a vulnerable position. Please
consider them when driving by approaching
pedestrian crossings and cycling
tracks soberly.
Avoid threatening them with bursts of speed and the sound
of your horn.
There is no reason to be vindictive; the pedestrians and
cyclists know the
full power of your vehicle. They also have the same rights
on the roads as
you do; courteous drivers know where and when pedestrians
have the right of
way.
Don’t speed, please. Have you noticed the
motorist you overtake who is
driving consistently at say 70km/h will arrive
at the same destination as
you almost at the same time? Have you wondered
why?
Your bursts of speed are not sustainable; you can only travel at
such speeds
for only small distances, usually only 5km and then you are
slowed down or
stopped altogether either by other traffic, farm animals or
other obstacles
on the roads. Our roads are not superhighways; they are
notoriously slow!
But if you abide by their dictates, you will avoid the
frustrations that
come with driving on them.
Overtake only when you
absolutely can’t avoid it and do it carefully because
there just might be an
unseen obstacle in the way or the road might have a
bend. Traffic signals
are not always visible, if they exist at all. Road
markings too, drivers
should ensure they look out for them.
And, do you know your
vehicle?
Below are the basics you must know about your car before you
take to the
road [courtesy of Automotive India]:
Space your car needs
on the road;
How steering response changes with speed;
How much of your
car is ahead and behind you;
In gear-response of your car (In the city you
need just the 1st and 2nd but
for highway you need to know of the 3rd, 4th
and 5th too);
How your car behaves under normal braking;
How your car
behaves under hard braking and it’s braking distance; and
The ground
clearance of the car.
In the New Year, don’t live with guilt of having
killed your family. Enjoy.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
December 23, 2012 in
Editorial
Yesterday thousands of Zimbabweans began travelling to various
destinations
for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The Standard
Editorial
At Mbare Musika and other various pick-up points, many were
stranded and
shocked to discover buses had unilaterally hiked their fares.
Passengers,
going to Mutare were told to cough up US$12, double the fare
they used to
pay.
It was the same for other destinations like
Masvingo with transporters
charging US$12. For a 40km journey from Harare
to Juru growth point,
travellers were paying US$6.
The steep rise in
fares left many families stranded. Imagine a family of
five travelling from
Harare to Chipinge for the holiday would require over
US$200 for their
journey home and back to Harare.
Those travelling to places like Victoria
Falls would part with more hard-
earned dollars.
But what
justification do transporters have for hiking fares each time
Zimbabweans
are desperate to travel to their rural areas? With the price of
fuel
relatively stable, surely transporters are only motivated by the desire
to
make a killing over the festive period.
Such profiteering, which puts a
dent on the festive mood for many struggling
Zimbabweans, is unwarranted and
should be stopped.
As many people travel, we wish to remind drivers to be
mindful of the
carnage that has been occurring on our roads. Already, the
past few days
have witnessed a marked rise in accidents that have claimed
many lives. Just
yesterday, Zimbabweans buried soccer legend Adam Ndlovu,
who died in an
accident that left his brother Peter with
injuries.
Caution should be the buzzword on the roads while drinking and
driving
should be avoided at all costs. Drivers should also guard against
driving
for long hours as this could lead to fatigue, which has been blamed
for a
number of horrific accidents.
It is, therefore, imperative for
transport operators to stop giving drivers
targets in order to maximise on
profit. Overworked drivers can cause
accidents.
