Minister wants security forces to guard mines

Zim Online

Saturday 02 December 2006

            HARARE - Zimbabwe Finance Minister Hebert Murerwa has proposed
placing the country's major mines under the protection of state security
forces to curb leakage of precious minerals most of which are smuggled out
of the country.

            Murerwa, whose drastic proposal comes amidst reports by local
papers that Zimbabwe could have lost through underhand dealings up to US$300
million worth of diamonds from a diamond field in the eastern Marange
district, also proposed that all small-scale mines be registered with the
Ministry of Mines for easy monitoring of their operations.

            The Finance Minister, who made the proposals while presenting
his 2007 budget statement to Parliament, said:

            "To curtail leakages of minerals and to harness foreign currency
earnings from the mining sector, I propose that, with immediate effect, all
unregistered small scale mining operations be registered with the Ministry
of Mines and Mining Development and all major mining zones declared
'protected areas' manned by security forces."

            Murerwa, who predicted the key mining sector to grow by 4.9
percent next year, did not however say how the cost of keeping the army
camped at various mines across the country would be met.

            Besides leakage of precious minerals such as gold and diamonds,
Murerwa said there were several other serious challenges facing the mining
sector such as availability of hard cash to import equipment that were also
hindering production.

            The lack of extensive mining re-capitalisation at existing mines
and investment in new mining exploration programmes has remained a major
constraint to the expansion of mining operations, according to Murerwa. This
has been compounded by disruptions to power supplies, coupled with rising
mining production costs which affect viability, he added.

            He said: "Owing to the challenges, gold deliveries declined by
24 percent, from 10 552.04 kg in the period January - September 2005, to 7
991.57 kg in 2006.

            "Asbestos production declined slightly from 93 326 tons by
September 2005 to 82 252 tons for the same period in 2006. However, platinum
production increased marginally from 3 563.34 kg in 2005 to 3 822.77 kg in
2006."

            The Finance Minister however said record high international
mineral prices have seen improved foreign exchange receipts from mineral
exports.

            Gold prices have risen to over US$600 per ounce, while copper
and platinum prices have risen above US$7 000 per ton and US$1 200 per
ounce, respectively. Similarly, nickel prices have more than doubled to over
US$30 000 per ton. - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe's arrears to IMF shoot to US$127 million

Zim Online

Saturday 02 December 2006

      HARARE - Zimbabwe has accumulated arrears of more than US$127 million
on its obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the issue is
likely to dominate discussions when an IMF team comes to Harare next week.

      Figures posted on the IMF website show that Zimbabwe has built up
arrears amounting to 84.68 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) since clearing the
initial arrears in March 2006.

      The current arrears translate to about US$127.68 million as at October
31.

      Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa on Thursday revealed that arrears on
the external debt stood at US$2.2 billion on October 31 but did not disclose
the creditors and how much was owed to each.

      Presenting the 2007 national budget to Parliament, Murerwa said a
combination of poor economic policies, corruption and sanctions had placed a
great strain on the country's ability to service its foreign debts.

      The total foreign debt stock stood at US$4.1 billion as at 31 October
2006. The arrears include unpaid principal and interest on funds owed to
multilateral financial institutions and other creditors.

      "Zimbabwe remains committed to honouring its external obligations,"
Murerwa assured the international community.

      Zimbabwe's failure to service its foreign debt forced the IMF to
suspend Harare's voting rights in the fund in 2003 as the international
lender began moves to expel the southern African country.

      The country only got a reprieve in March this year when it cleared
part of its arrears to the IMF.

      The issue of outstanding debt is however expected to feature again
when an IMF team visits Zimbabwe from December 4 to 16 for Article IV
consultations with the Harare authorities.

      The purpose of such Article IV visits is to monitor compliance of IMF
members with the fund's policy reform programmes and the payment of debts.

      The Bretton Woods institution has moved to February next year a
scheduled board meeting on Zimbabwe. - ZimOnline

Central bank lifts ban on seven money transfer agencies

Zim Online

Saturday 02 December 2006

      HARARE - The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has lifted a ban on seven
money transfer agencies (MTA) out of the country's 16 agencies that the
central bank ordered closed last October for contravening exchange control
regulations.

      In a statement released on Friday, the RBZ said reissuing of licences
to the selected agencies was "premised upon anticipated performances and
pledges to comply with the provisions of Exchange Control Statutory
Instrument 77 of 2004 by the respective MTA's.

      "These licenses are valid with immediate effect for a period of one
year and the Reserve Bank will from time to time continue to monitor the
operations of these MTA's to ensure compliance."

      Agencies whose money transfer licences were reinstated are Barnfords,
CFX Bank, Pacific, Zimpost, NMB Bank, Stanbic Bank and FedEx International
Services.

      MTAs mushroomed in Zimbabwe since 2004 and have primarily served as a
channel for the more than three million Zimbabweans, or more than a quarter
of the country's population, living and working abroad to remit cash back
home through official banking system.

      RBZ governor Gideon Gono had however accused the agencies of
channeling funds from the Diaspora to the illegal parallel market where
rates are better than those offered by banks before shutting them.

      However closure of MTAs appeared to have had little impact on the
black market which has continued to flourish with the American dollar now
fetching

      anything above Z$2 000 compared to the official market rate of one
greenback to Z$250. - ZimOnline

Shona language breaks new ground

Zim Online

Saturday 02 December 2006

      HARARE - Internet users are now able to use the Shona language to
search for information following the launch this week of a Zimbabwe dormain
name by international search engine, Google.

      In addition to English, Zimbabweans using the Google search engine to
look for information on the world wide web are now able to get the results
in the local vernacular.

      Shona becomes the sixth African language into which users of the
Google search engine can translate their results.

      Others are Afrikaans, Swahili, Xhosa, Yoruba and Zulu. - ZimOnline

China Zim's Knight in Shining Armour? ZTA Sees Differently

Financial Gazette (Harare)

November 29, 2006
Posted to the web December 1, 2006

Stanley Kwenda
Harare

WHILE the official government mantra has been touting China as an emerging
business market helping to revive the battered Zimbabwean economy through
its "Look East" policy, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is singing a
different tune.

After making numerous trips to the Asian giant aimed at fostering economic
ties through tourism ventures, the ZTA says the country is yet to be known
in the world's biggest emerging market.

"Zimbabwe is not known as we would like it to be in China, we are not known
in that market as a destination. Let's not fool ourselves, Egypt, Tunisia,
Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and Zambia are well known far much better than
us," said Karikoga Kaseke, ZTA chief executive officer.

He was briefing the media on his organisation's recent trip to the World
Travel Market (WTM) and China Tourism and Travel Mart (CTTM), which were
held simultaneously in London and China respectively.

"We have to work very hard to make sure that we are known by embarking on a
serious destination awareness campaign. When we were in China one would say
we are selling this thing from Zimbabwe and they would ask where is
Zimbabwe. It's embarrassing as we are not known and we don't know the
Chinese market. The problem is that we were trying to sell everything to
everyone and it does not work like that. Others had particular packages for
a certain group of people," said Kaseke.

He added that the Zimbabwean tourism sector has failed Chinese tourists.

He said, "We have been giving the Chinese western food, a lot of eggs and
omelette which they don't like but that's what we have been busy feeding
them. They want Chinese tea and water. But although we have been doing the
wrong things, now we have a good understanding of what the Chinese market
wants."

"What we have been doing is to take a package for a German tourist and give
it to a Chinese. In other words, we have been basically giving the Chinese
German food at a German cost and as a result we have been pricing ourselves
out of the market."

Zimbabwe hoped that through the adoption of the "Look East" policy and
granting of Approved Destination Status by China, arrivals from Asia would
increase and help fuel the economy. But that has not been the case and
instead increased arrivals have been registered from African markets,
particularly South Africa.

Kaseke also revealed that from next year, his organisation will be targeting
arrivals of about 2 000 Chinese tourists a week. But this plan seems to be
still-born considering the unreliable service offered by Air Zimbabwe, which
only flies to China once a week.

Contrary to government mantra of disregarding the west, Kaseke says his
organisation is looking everywhere, "east, west, north and south."

Meanwhile, the ZTA has since included the bulk of the western countries in
its target markets contained in the yet to be launched national tourism
strategic plan which is yet to be unveiled by the government.

Among the prime tourism target countries are Ireland, Russia, Germany, the
Scandinavian countries, Spain and France.

The quasi-government body is also planning to include in its destination
packages attractions in other countries.

In yet another embarrassing twist, the ZTA has been painstakingly making
forays in the greater part of the Asian tourism market without interpreters.

"It's an area we are working on. In Asia, Chinese is the widely spoken
language yet our officers try to sell the country to them in English, which
makes no sense," said Kaseke.

The freefall in the country's tourism sector began after the invasion of
commercial farms by liberation war veterans and the violence that ensued in
the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary elections which resulted in Zimbabwe
being listed as an unsafe destination for visitors.

Fuel and foreign currency shortages have further undermined the tourism
sector, which can hardly command 40 percent occupancy and tourist arrival
rates.

Zimbabwe economic crisis seen worsening

Reuters

Fri Dec 1, 2006 1:29 PM GMT

By MacDonald Dzirutwe

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has predicted its economy will grow for the
first time in years with inflation easing, but analysts say the government
appears unable to arrest an economic crisis increasingly fuelling political
tensions.

The former British colony is in the grip of a deep recession, largely blamed
on President Robert Mugabe and dramatised by the world's highest inflation,
rising poverty, unemployment above 80 percent and shortages of foreign
currency to food.

But Finance Minister Hebert Murerwa said on Thursday the economy had turned
a corner, forecasting growth of 0.5 to 1.0 percent in 2007 after a 2.5
percent decline this year.

Inflation would ease to 350-400 percent next year and fall below 10 percent
by December 2008, he said. It measured 1,070.2 percent in October.

The turnaround was premised on an expected rebound in agriculture, an
improved mining performance and more tourists.

Analysts disagree, saying the worst is yet to come.

"The forecast on inflation is highly optimistic ... there will be huge price
increases next year," said Anthony Hawkins, professor of Business Studies at
the University of Zimbabwe.

"This is because output is going to continue to fall and inflation will
remain very high. We could as well be looking at 2,000 percent inflation,"
Hawkins told Reuters.

The government has in the past missed its targets by wide margins and the
economy has shrunk in real terms since 2000.

Analysts, including the International Monetary Fund, have urged Mugabe's
government to address fundamental structural problems, including respecting
private property rights and easing foreign currency controls which have
worsened shortages and driven a thriving black market.

"IN GOD'S HANDS"

They say the government should curb excessive spending and quasi-fiscal
activities, which Murerwa promised to stop in a move viewed as an attempt to
placate the IMF, due to visit Zimbabwe next week.

The central bank has this year spend $1.2 billion (610 million pounds) in
bailing state firms, municipalities and state departments. A third of the
money would be absorbed in the 2006 budget, raising the deficit gap to 18.7
percent of GDP, from 5 percent last year.

"Such quasi-fiscal expenditures have risen to levels that are now
undermining our turnaround efforts by systematically increasing the growth
of money supply and therefore fuelling inflation," Murerwa said in the
budget presentation.

Mugabe's government now relies on the domestic bank sector to raise funds to
plug gaps in the national budget after being shunned by international donors
over policy differences, like the seizure of white-owned farms for blacks.

A freeze on funding by foreign lenders has left Harare nursing external
arrears of $2.2 billion.

Murerwa increased the rate at which workers started paying tax to Z$100,000
(200 pounds) in a bid to cheer restive workers but analysts said this was
below the official poverty datum line of Z$170,000 and would soon be eroded
by inflation.

"Zimbabweans should brace for tough times ahead. I get the feeling the
government is not serious in addressing the crisis, this was a non event,"
James Jowa, a Harare based economist, said.

Murerwa seemed to leave it all in God's hands.

"Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day
by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal
glory that far outweighs them all," Murerwa said quoting a verse from the
bible.

Top bakery executives jailed over prices in inflationary Zimbabwe

International Herald Tribune

The Associated PressPublished: December 1, 2006

HARARE, Zimbabwe: Two of the nation's most senior bakery executives served
the first day of four-month jail terms Friday after being convicted of
raising the price of bread without government approval.

The government fixes the price of bread under price control laws, and bakers
have been in dispute with authorities since the beginning of the year over
soaring costs of producing bread in the hyperinflationary economy.

The official inflation rate is over 1,000 percent.

Burombo Mudumo, chief executive officer of Lobels, one of the nation's
biggest bakers, and his operations manager Lemmy Chikomo were sentenced
Thursday by Harare magistrate Faith Mushure who ruled they "openly defied
and flouted the law" on pricing, court officials and attorneys said.

In September, the bakery increased its price of a regular loaf from 185
Zimbabwe dollars (US$ 0.74 ?0.56) to 300 Zimbabwe dollars (US$ 1.20 ?0.92)
without the approval of the Trade and Industry Ministry.
Mudumo is also the head of the independent National Bakers Association.

Mushure refused to free the executives on bail pending an appeal by their
attorney, Eric Matinenga.

"A correct message should be sent to other would-be offenders lest they get
attracted to this fast-becoming-notorious practice of overcharging," she
told the executives.

Last week, the bakers' association asked for a price increase in a letter to
the trade ministry to 500 Zimbabwe dollars (US$ 2.00 ?1.53) for a regular
loaf, citing massive increases in prices of flour, fats, sugar and other
baking ingredients and gasoline needed to deliver their products.

Mudumo's organization said many smaller bakeries had already gone out of
business and warned that bread would likely disappear from the shelves
altogether in coming months if prices were not increased - with the loss of
thousands of jobs as more bakers shut down.

Bakers battled to trim production costs by phasing out printed packaging
with their brand names, finding inferior ingredients, blending flour with
corn meal and shutting down slicing machines, it said.

The imprisonment of the two respected executives was expected to send shock
waves through Zimbabwe's embattled industrial sector.

Facing acute shortages of gasoline and spare parts as well as regular power
and water outages in the crumbling economy, many factories are operating at
below 30 percent of capacity, according to the independent Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries.

In recent months, executives of the main dairy products producer and a
fertilizer company were briefly detained by police for alleged violations of
the Pricing of Goods Act. None has been convicted.

Mushure sentenced the two bakery executives Thursday to six-month prison
terms with two months suspended.

Meanwhile, prices of uncontrolled goods continued to soar amid government
efforts to curb inflation.

Beer and soft drinks rose by up to 60 percent on Wednesday, and producers
cited soaring costs of ingredients and transport. Regular beer exceeded the
equivalent of US$ 4.00 (?3.00) a bottle, representing an increase of more
than 2,000 percent in at least six rises this year.

Acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and medicine and other
essential imports, along with regular power and water outages, have crippled
production, and revenues from agricultural and manufactured exports, mining
and tourism have dwindled. The meltdown has largely been blamed on the often
violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms since 2000,
which disrupted the agiculture-based economy.

Zimbabwe: AIDS epidemic worsens in rural areas

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Date: 01 Dec 2006

FAO tackles problem on several fronts

Rome, 1 December 2006- Despite improvements in HIV prevalence rates in some
countries, the epidemic is continuing to worsen in rural areas in the
developing world, where up to 70 percent of the population depend on
agriculture for subsistence, and the spread of HIV and AIDS is further
intensifying poverty and vulnerability, FAO said on World AIDS Day.

"The AIDS epidemic is having a devastating impact on rural populations in
developing countries. The heavy loss of agricultural labour in countries
where the majority of the population lives in rural areas is likely to
affect productivity, food production, food security and poverty for decades
to come," said Marcela Villarreal, Director of FAO's Gender and Population
Division.

"Even in countries where antiretroviral treatment possibilities are
increasing, it is unlikely that they will be made available to a large
number of people in poor rural areas. By undermining food production, the
epidemic also aggravates the vicious circle of hunger and poverty," said
Villarreal.

In response to some of these challenges, FAO is using a range of strategies
to tackle the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

FAO assists countries in the development and implementation of agricultural
policies and strategies aimed at preventing and mitigating the impact of the
epidemic on poor and rural households.

Labour-saving technologies have been introduced in an effort to address
AIDS-related labour shortages. FAO's Junior Farmer Field and
LifeSchoolsensure that children orphaned by AIDS gain agricultural knowledge
and skills that would otherwise be lost following the death of their
parents.

Food and nutrition programmes have been launched, improving people's immune
systems and helping fend off opportunistic diseases.

FAO also assists countries in the promotion of gender equality, especially
regarding access to and ownership of productive resources.

Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe, FAO has been assisting the Government in the development and
implementation of an agricultural sector policy. These efforts have
culminated in Zimbabwe's first Agricultural Sector Strategy on HIV/AIDS, a
five-year plan recently launched by the Government.

The plan involves launching an agricultural management information system to
monitor health issues and service delivery. It also stipulates a need to
accurately assess the cost of HIV and AIDS to farming communities, as well
as exploring the extent to which rural households are vulnerable to the
epidemic.

These interventions, supported by FAO, are crucial steps in establishing an
effective national response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

Contact:

Pierre Antonios
Media Relations, FAO
pierre.antonios@fao.org
(+39) 06 570 53473
(+39) 348 252 3807

Zimbabwe shows way for Africa AIDS fight - Mugabe

Reuters

      Fri Dec 1, 2006 12:41 PM GMT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe is showing the way for Africa in the fight
against HIV/AIDS, President Robert Mugabe said on Friday as he urged
Zimbabweans to take greater personal responsibility in stopping the
epidemic.

Zimbabwe is among the countries worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which
kills more than 3,000 people every week and accounts for 70 percent of
hospital admissions.

But the crisis-hit southern African nation has also become one of the few
AIDS bright spots on the continent after its HIV prevalence rate declined to
18.1 percent this year from 25 percent five years ago.

Health experts attribute the drop to more condom use and the success of
programmes encouraging people to have fewer sexual partners.

Mugabe, in a speech to mark World Aids Day published in the official Herald
newspaper, said Zimbabweans should remain on guard for a disease that the
United Nations says killed 2.9 million people globally in 2005, 2.1 million
of them in Africa.

"I wish to urge all Zimbabweans to adopt a radical shift in the fight
against the epidemic by reducing the personal risk of contracting HIV,"
Mugabe said.

"We must not be complacent. This drop, which is the only one in southern
Africa, suggests that we are on the right track and we have many lessons to
share with our neighbours," he said.

The veteran Zimbabwe leader, who has ruled the country since independence in
1980, said the government anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programme had been
hamstrung by lack of funding. Critics say this has been worsened by a deep
economic recession blamed on official incompetence.

The government had increased the number of people accessing the life
prolonging ARVs from 26,000 in 2005 to 46,000 this year -- although the
figure is still far short of the 600,000 people who need the drugs -- Mugabe
said.

Time for a rethink on AIDS campaigns - UNAIDS

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

DAKAR, 1 Dec 2006 (IRIN/PLUSNEWS) - Friday is annual World AIDS Day but
despite a boom in publicity campaigns such as this one, the disease
continues to spread in Africa because basic details about the illness are
not reaching the right people, UNAIDS has warned.

According to a report released last week by the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 4.3 million new cases of HIV were registered
in 2006 and 65 percent of them were in Africa. Some three million people met
an early death because of HIV/AIDS in 2006, the report said.

In sub-Saharan Africa, there are 24.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS,
five million more than in 2004.

A glimmer of hope comes from West Africa, where except for Mali the
prevalence shows signs of stabilising, and in some cases even slowing.

Southern Africa remains the most affected region, but isolated Zimbabwe has
nonetheless registered a drop in prevalence rates amongst pregnant women,
the report said.

Prevention is the key, according to UNAIDS.

"New data suggests that where HIV prevention programmes have not been
sustained and/or adapted as epidemics have changed - infection rates are
staying the same or going up," UNAIDS said in a statement at the report's
release.

The report singled out Uganda as an example both of possibilities and
pitfalls. Often praised for reducing its infection rate from 20 to six
percent in ten years, thanks to a voluntary prevention policy, Uganda is now
showing a resurgence in HIV/AIDS infections.

"This is worrying - as we know increased HIV prevention programmes in these
countries have shown progress in the past - Uganda being a prime example,"
said Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS. "This means that
countries are not moving at the same speed as their epidemics."

According to the UNAIDS report, "People at highest risk - youths, women and
girls, men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, injecting
drug users and ethnic and cultural minorities - are not adequately reached
through HIV prevention and treatment strategies because not enough is known
about their particular situation."

The report did point towards healthier sexual behaviour among youths, which
it said contributed to a decline in prevalence rates in youths between 2000
and 2005, especially in Rwanda, Burundi and urban areas in Burkina Faso and
Cote d'Ivoire.

But Piot said that is not enough. "Action must not only be increased
dramatically, but must also be strategic, focused and sustainable to ensure
that the money reaches those who need it most," he said.

The African scourge

Los Angeles Times

A look at AIDS-stricken Zimbabwe shows its people are ready to tackle the
epidemic -- with just a little help.
By Kristen Ashburn, KRISTEN ASHBURN is an award-winning photojournalist
whose work has been published in the New Yorker, U.S. News and World Report
and Mother Jones magazine.
December 1, 2006

TEN MILLION AFRICANS ARE infected with HIV. Eighteen million have already
died from the virus. One in four children in southern Africa has been
orphaned. Forty-three million more Africans will die of AIDS by 2010.

From December 2000 through the summer of 2006, I pursued some of the
individual stories behind these grim statistics, in four African countries.
I began in Harare, Zimbabwe, an epicenter of the AIDS epidemic, where these
photos were shot. At first, it was difficult to grasp that 35% of that
beautiful country's population is HIV-positive; every week, 3,000 people
there die from AIDS-related illnesses. In nearly every Zimbabwean home,
someone is sick or dying of AIDS.

The country's overwhelmed and largely ineffective healthcare system provides
almost no access to medical treatment, no family planning and very little
sex education. Indeed, the slogan of the healthcare program proclaims that
"Home Care Is Better Care."

The elderly are forced take care of their adult children dying of HIV/AIDS,
and their children's children, on small government pensions. Ten-year-olds
are compelled to join the workforce. Young girls often fall prey to older
HIV-infected men who entice them with gifts and financial support. A vicious
cycle of unemployment, poverty and the spread of the virus rolls on.

A generation of factory workers, educators, medical personnel and political
leaders has been lost to the disease. The subsistence farm culture is being
wiped out, and the collective spirit of the nation is at risk. It is
impossible to assess the ultimate emotional and cultural impact that
HIV/AIDS is wreaking on the Zimbabwean people.

And yet I was struck by the strength of so many, especially in the country's
HIV support groups. Despite their own desperate need, volunteers take time
to care for those dying of AIDS. They bravely lend assistance to others,
knowing that, ultimately, they will share the same fate. Their strength of
character is remarkable.

In the U.S., people often tell me that nothing can be done to effect change
in Zimbabwe. They fear that the scope and complexity of the AIDS problem
there is too great. The readiness I discovered among the Zimbabwean people
to tackle the problem can't be underestimated. They could serve as examples
for us all, and with even a small amount of assistance, they could make
great progress against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Zimbabwe starts process to impeach minister - report

Reuters

      Fri Dec 1, 2006 11:05 AM GMT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's parliament has started impeachment proceedings
against one of President Robert Mugabe's ministers on charges he falsified
evidence before a legislative panel, the official Herald newspaper reported
on Friday.

According to official minutes, Industry and International Trade Minister
Obert Mpofu -- a senior member of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF -- told a
parliamentary committee in September that some MPs had looted the
state-owned Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel).

The government had withheld a report backing the claims over fears it would
scuttle talks between the struggling steel firm and a foreign investor, the
record showed.

A week later, Mpofu appeared at the committee and denied making the comments
or the existence of the report, it said.

The chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Industry and
Trade, Enoch Porusingazi, had asked the parliament speaker to allow contempt
proceedings against Mpofu in an unusual move by government legislators.

Mpofu is a member of the powerful inner politburo of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF
party, which dominates parliament.

"It is the chair's ruling that the facts clearly disclose a prima facie case
of prevarication as a witness or of presenting false, fabricated or
falsified evidence to the committee by the honourable Minister," Speaker
John Nkomo told Parliament.

If found guilty Mpofu faces a fine or up to two years in jail, or both.

Local private media has speculated that the impeachment process was part of
a power struggle to succeed Mugabe, whose 6-year presidential term ends in
2008. Mugabe has previously indicated he could step down then.

Ziscosteel was the main foreign currency earner before independence from
Britain in 1980 but output has fallen sharply because its main furnace -- 
accounting for 70 percent of production -- has been derelict for years.

A $400 million investment by India's Global Steel Holdings to rehabilitate
Ziscosteel collapsed in September.

The Herald this week quoted Zimbabwe's ambassador to China saying
state-owned China Metallurgical Group Corp (MCC) had made a $3 billion bid
for majority shares in Ziscosteel. But officials in MCC's planning and
overseas investment departments denied making the bid.

Analysts describe finance minister's budget as a non-event

      By Lance Guma
      01 December 2006

      Jokes are already doing the rounds in Harare that whichever planet
finance minister Herbert Murerwa lives on, every suffering citizen would
love to join him there. In yesterday's budget Murerwa, who has been
wallowing in the shadows of the reserve bank governor over policy matters,
claimed Zimbabwe's economy had turned a corner and predicted inflation would
go down from the current 1070 percent to between 350 and 400 percent.

      He also believes the agricultural sector will see a 9,4 percent growth
while the mining sector would grow by 4,9 percent. Murerwa could just about
be the only Zimbabwean who thinks the economy as a whole will grow by 1
percent in the next year. This years Z$24 trillion budget represents a 5000
percent increase from last year. Although the minister increased the
tax-free threshold from Z$20 000 to Z$100 000 analysts say this is little
relief to struggling workers who have had to contend with a much higher
reduction in their disposable income.

      Mufandaedza Hove, Secretary for Economics in the Tsvangirai MDC,
described the budget as a 'non-event.' He told Newsreel that the finance
minister was not the president and could do little to influence some of the
key political decisions that need to be made in order to change things
around. Hove said, 'they fail to find evidence of growth forecasts against
the backdrop of consistent decline in the gross domestic product (GDP)."

      Amidst Murerwa's bold declarations prices shot up in the country.
Commuter fares are up from Z$400 to Z$500, soft drinks Z$500 to Z$800, beer
Z$800 to Z$1100 and milk went up from Z$786 to Z$1129 per litre. The
increases were wide ranging and included items like biscuits, sweets, orange
juice, and baby foods. Hove conceded that Murerwa might have been trying to
outshine Gideon Gono in presenting an optimistic budget and making subtle
attacks on the reserve bank's measures.

      SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Zimbabwe's on-going crisis worries UK Lords

zimbabwejournalists.com

      By a Correspondent

      LONDON - The on-going political crisis in Zimbabwe was discussed
yesterday in the House of Lords where members raised their concerns about
the situation in the country. Please find below extracts from the debate on
a motion taking note of the report of the European Union Committee on the
European Union and Africa: Towards a Strategic Partnership. (34th Report, HL
Paper 206, Session 2005-06) and Follow-up report. (49th Report, HL Paper
269, Session 2005-06). 30th November 2006

      Lord Hughes of Woodside: ..... As stated by the noble Lord, Lord
Bowness-I am sure that it will be repeated by others-what is happening in
Zimbabwe is a real problem. It is suggested that the delay in setting up the
second EU/African summit was due largely to the weak response from the
African Union over Zimbabwe. The African Commission on Human and People's
Rights (ACHPR) has considered the situation in Zimbabwe and has been quite
damning in its resolutions on the situation there. The trouble is that,
although that has been perfectly clear, the African Union has not faced up
to its responsibilities; it has not endorsed the committee's report.

      How are we going to proceed with Zimbabwe? It is incredibly important
that it is dealt with, irrespective of whether it is tied in with a common
strategy. It is true that the quiet diplomacy of President Thabo Mbeki does
not appear to bear any fruit. There is a dilemma about how we should
respond. I do not think it actually says so in the report. The implication
in some parts of the report is that progress on the development of the
strategy should in some way be linked to how the African Union behaves over
Zimbabwe. To link the two is a very tempting prospect, but it is a real
dilemma.

      Perhaps we underestimate the way in which the Zimbabwean situation and
Mr Mugabe's brutal rhetoric about colonialism will bear fruit. About 12
months ago, I was part of a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
delegation to South Africa. While there, we met the Parliament's foreign
affairs committee, which is more or less equivalent to our Select
Committees. We were getting on fine until the issue of Zimbabwe was raised.
The chairman responded with such ferocity that I was really set back on my
heels. He was absolutely furious. He said quite clearly that we had to learn
that colonialism is dead and that we should not interfere in what is
happening in Zimbabwe. Admittedly, at the end of the committee session,
several members of the committee, whom I have known for many years, said
that the chairman did not really represent the opinion of the committee. I
asked why they did not say so; the fact is they did not.

      There is a real lack of enthusiasm in South Africa, which I would not
have expected, given its own record and that of the African National
Congress. I would have expected the African National Congress and the South
African Government to be much more open and fiercer in their stance about
what is happening in Zimbabwe. I say with regret that I do not buy the
proposition sometimes put forward that Mugabe is the oldest of the African
leaders and, therefore, by tradition Africans always bow to the elder of the
tribe. That is not good enough. It is not good enough for people to say that
it is up to Zimbabwe to solve its own problems.

      I recognise that in South Africa the problems were solved in the main
by the people of the country; they were the ones who made the greatest
effort. But that does not mean we should not interfere. Recently, I reminded
one of my colleagues that no one in this country said to us, "You must not
interfere in what is happening in South Africa". They asked us to help; if
they had not asked us, we would not have been there. Therein lies the rub.
There is no coherent call coming from within Zimbabwe.

      Earlier this week, I attended a meeting with Archbishop Pius Ncube
from Bulawayo. He had a very sad and depressing view. They do not know what
to do. There is no coherent leadership there, so it makes life doubly
difficult. Lest anyone make any mistake about it, I am not for one moment
suggesting that we stop saying that what is happening in Zimbabwe is wrong.
I am not saying for a second that we should do other than condemn what is
happening and call on the British Government, the South African Government
and the rest of the African Union to take action before the situation
worsens.

      What is happening in Darfur, for example, makes what is happening in
Zimbabwe seem a bagatelle. That is not true. One cannot measure human rights
in that way. Human rights in Zimbabwe are slipping deeper and deeper into
the chasm. If Zimbabwe reaches the cataclysmic level of violence that is
taking place in Darfur, it will be too late. I beg my friends in the African
Union to speak up.

      The report concludes that a proper EU strategy towards Africa would be
of great benefit to the people of Africa. We must remember that that is the
objective of the exercise. We must also ensure that aid gets through
quickly, is focused and is for the benefit of the people. This report is a
major contribution to making that work.

      Baroness D'Souza: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Bowness, for
initiating this debate on a clearly important report. I shall also talk
about Zimbabwe, in particular the EU sanctions agreed in 2002 against
Zimbabwean officials and Government personnel, and precluding personal and
official travel in and from that country. It has long been a concern of
mine, which I have raised in previous debates. I am grateful for a letter
from the noble Lord, Lord Triesman, in answer to a question, in which he
unequivocally says that we will push for the targeted measures to be
maintained. That is a great relief.

      In 2003 I was working with an organisation called the REDRESS Trust,
an anti-torture organisation. Mr Henry Dowa was a chief inspector at Harare
Central Police Station, an accomplished and brutal torturer. We found out
that he was a member of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) working with CIVPOL, an organisation that trains policemen. He had
clearly been sent there by President Mugabe as a reward for doing a good
job.

      We unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the UK Government to arrest
him, particularly since we thought it likely that he would be travelling
back from Kosovo via London, either to go on leave or when his term of
office came to an end. We tried to persuade the Government to arrest him for
crimes against humanity, under the UN Convention against Torture, which
imposes an obligation on states to act on such serious crimes, using the
umbrella of universal jurisdiction or customary law. We had collected sworn
affidavits from two of his victims, one a bona fide refugee in the UK-with
all the rights that that implies-the other a dual British-Zimbabwean
citizen.

      The Attorney-General's Office wrote back to us and said that we were
not dealing with British citizens, so they could not do anything about it-"Let
it be". I wrote to the UNMIK High Representative in Kosovo, Mr Steiner,
pointing out the record and telling him about the sworn affidavits of Mr
Dowa's victims. Eventually, Mr Steiner wrote back that he was regrettably
unable to act because he had scarce resources and, indeed, his job was
really to seek out Serbian war criminals, not to arrest those who might have
committed crimes against humanity-I am not quoting him exactly.

      I then wrote to the UN Secretary-General, which I thought appropriate
at that stage, pointing out that the UN had a strong obligation to ensure
that it did not enable torturous regimes to reward their own people with
what is seen as quite a prize: being able to travel abroad and have tax-free
allowances. Eventually, I got a reply from someone in the secretary-general's
office, who pointed out that Mr Dowa had returned to Zimbabwe. He had
clearly been tipped off, and I suppose the only small gratification was that
we had curtailed his tax-free allowances and stay in Kosovo. However, the UN
Secretary-General's office made it quite clear that they would insist upon a
proper procedure to investigate the case, and that proper action should be
taken. That is fine, and one would expect that to be said. As things are in
Zimbabwe, however, that is a very vague and faint hope. Of course, nothing
has happened since.

      It is now reliably reported that Mr Dowa is once again practising his
brutal trade, and was implicated in the most recent torture of trade union
officials in Harare. No one did anything-not the UK Government, the UNMIK
forces or the UN Secretary-General-and nothing really has happened since,
except for a report by the REDRESS Trust, which records the following
paragraph from the Herald, a Mugabe-supporting newspaper in Harare:

      "We had to prematurely call back one officer from the contingent you
are going to replace in Kosovo not for misconduct but because he had been
subjected to stressful treatment after a group called REDRESS had falsely
accused him of torturing suspects here at home. We are not in the habit of
torturing people in this country and allegations are always made now and
then".

      I retell the story because there is a good case for sanctions not only
to be maintained but possibly extended when the EU reviews them after five
years, in February 2007. I ask the Government to see what they can do to
persuade the EU to extend sanctions against officials and Government members
by precluding recruitment to any EU peace or other mission and to make
representation to the UN to ensure that it does likewise. If we are serious
about getting a loud and clear message to Mr Mugabe, we must use what means
are at our disposal.

      The noble Lord, Lord Hughes of Woodside, has already mentioned a
potential EU/Africa summit. There is a great deal of discussion about it. I
understand that at least two EU member states would be quite keen to have
sanctions against Mugabe and any of his officials dropped so that the summit
could take place in one of the EU member states-one of them is Portugal. I
am very worried that it takes only one country to veto a decision on
sanctions for them to be dropped. It might be possible for either one of
those two countries, or indeed another country, to prevail upon the new
accession states to veto the sanctions against Zimbabwe. That would mean
that Mr Mugabe could once again strut the international stage, with the
added honour, as it were, of having sanctions against his country and his
officials dropped. That would be a great tragedy.

      It is important to conclude that we are not talking about trade
agreements but about a regime which is murdering people day in day out, and
in increasing numbers. Unless we can use the means at our disposal-in
particular, now we are talking about sanctions-there is some question about
how complicit we are in this kind of human rights abuse.

      ...
      The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): (Responding to
references to Zimbabwe)...When talking of governance it is important to talk
about Zimbabwe, which a number of noble Lords, including the noble Lord,
Lord Bowness, my noble friend Lord Hughes of Woodside, the noble Lord, Lord
Chidgey, and the noble Baroness, Lady Chalker, mentioned. We and our EU
partners are deeply concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe. The
Zimbabwean Government's policies hurt rather than help Zimbabweans.
Inflation is rampant and Zimbabweans now have the lowest life expectancy in
the world. The noble Baroness, Lady D'Souza, mentioned the importance of the
sanctions regime.

      With the European Union, we will maintain pressure on the Zimbabwean
regime to reform, including through the renewal of EU targeted measures on
the Government of Zimbabwe in February next year. The noble Baroness, Lady D'Souza,
proposed an extension of those sanctions. Negotiating the current sanctions
regime was pretty difficult; I say that as somebody who pressed our EU
partners hard to make the current regime as tough and robust as possible.
Not all member states share our view, but we will continue to press for the
strongest possible sanctions regime. I agree with the noble Baroness that
torture and human rights abuses should not be tolerated, wherever they
occur.

      On Zimbabwe, I agree with my noble friend Lord Hughes that African
Governments and leaders must press harder for change in Zimbabwe, as it has
a direct impact on the region and the continent more generally. We take
every opportunity to raise this with African leaders, to encourage them to
address the situation. My noble friend is right about the ambivalence
towards the Zimbabwean situation in South Africa. I have myself experienced
that ambivalence.....

      Lord Hughes of Woodside (Bob Hughes) was Labour MP for Aberdeen North
1970-97 and Chair of the Anti-Apartheid Movement 1976-95. He served as Joint
Chair of the Movement for Colonial Freedom 1970-74 as Chair of ACTSA (Action
for Southern Africa).

      Baroness D'Souza was the founder and research director of the
International Relief and Development Institute (1977-85) and was Executive
Director for Article 19, the anti-censorship organisation from 1989-98. From
2002-2004 she was Director of the Redress Trust joined the Westminster
Foundation for Democracy as a Governor in 2000.

      Baroness Amos was born in Guyana and joined the Cabinet as
International Development Secretary in May 2003 before becoming Leader of
the House of Lords and President of the Council in October 2003.

Ozias Bvute in court on forex charges

Steven Price

December 1, 2006

Zimbabwe Cricket's managing director Ozias Bvute appeared in court on
Wednesday to face charges of contravening the country's Draconian foreign
currency exchange regulations.

The pro-government Daily Mirror reported that Bvute was charged in his
personal capacity for exchange-control anomalies. The newspaper claimed
Bvute illegally made payments of nearly US$1.5 million outside Zimbabwe. The
payments included university tuition for three ZC scholarship players,
including Hamilton Masakadza, who was at the Free State University in South
Africa.

The other charges against Bvute include authorising commission payments from
monies obtained from television rights, to UK based marketing agent, Octagon
CSI.

In all instances, the paper reports, the Zimbabwe board and Bvute did not
approach the country's central bank for approval.

He is set to return to Harare Magistrates Court on December 4 for further
trial.

© Cricinfo

Econet foils mobile phone lines racket

New Zimbabwe

By Torby Chimhashu
Last updated: 12/02/2006 00:01:40
ECONET Wireless staff foiled a potentiallly damaging black market racket
involving soldiers and police officers when they turned away about 30
servicemen from the mobile network firm's offices in Harare on Wednesday
morning.

About 20 uniformed soldiers and 10 uniformed policemen turned up at the
giant cellular firm's office along Herbert Chitepo Avenue near the American
Embassy where they demanded to be sold pre-paid and liberty lines.

The large group of the uniformed officers, according to staff, had been
terrorising expectant customers who had slept in the queue on Tuesday
evening and replaced unfortunate buyers with their own people.

It is said they paid amounts ranging between $3000 and $5000 to their
"planted" buyers in the long and winding queue which stretched for almost a
kilometre.

"We refused to sell them lines. We told them applications should be
submitted through their respective offices. We felt bullied. There was no
need for them to buy in uniform," a sales agent at Econet Wireless Herbert
Chitepo said.

A big number of buyers slept at the offices in anticipation of getting the
mobiles lines which were released recently. Mobile phone lines are very
scarce in Zimbabwe.

Queuing buyers were issued with cards to avoid chaos. Concerns were raised
when one woman collapsed in the queue after the uniformed soldiers and
police officers tried to reshuffle the prospective subscribers.

In the ensuing jostling, said eye witnesses, "ghost" buyers were flushed out
prompting the uniformed security agents to try and buy the lines themselves.

A thriving black market of mobile lines especially Econet and state-run Net
One has pushed the cost out of the reach of ordinary people. Each line
fetches $80 000 on the parallel market but officially costs $25 000 plus
free airtime of $20 000.

In a bid to stamp out the parallel market, Econet Wireless has announced
that it will de-active lines that are found to have been purchased and
re-sold on the black market.

When a line is sold to a subscriber, they are given a sim certificate and
ownership form to be produced when replacing either a damaged line or lost
line.

This is always in the name of the original buyer or subscriber. But when
lines are re-sold on the parallel market, the original owner at times gives
away the sim certificate but when problems arise, the new owner is unable to
go to Econet for recourse.

Econet Wireless in the biggest mobile phone company and boasts of more than
850 000 subscribers. It is the third largest cellular company in sub Saharan
Africa after Vodacom and MTN.