02 December 2006
Police attack peaceful marchers of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
Washington – The United States condemned police violence against a peaceful march by the women's rights organization WOZA – Women of Zimbabwe Arise – which resulted in injuries and the arrest of more than 70 individuals.
The Department of State on December 1 called the action a "brutal reaction to this peaceful effort of Zimbabwean citizens to exercise their rights," and called for the immediate release of those still under arrest.
The United States has continued to condemn the Zimbabwe government of Robert Mugabe for its human rights violations and gross economic mismanagement. In February 2005, for example, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Woods called Zimbabwe "a textbook case of bad and illegitimate governance." (See related article).
This year, the United States government and American labor organizers denounced attacks against the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. "The government's actions against those wishing to protest on behalf of greater democracy, better wages and access to treatment for AIDS sufferers is another example of its denial of the basic rights of its citizens," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on September 15. (See related article.)
The full text of the statement on Zimbabwe's women's right demonstrators can be found on the State Department Web site.
For more information on U.S. policy, see Africa.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Independent, UK
'At
home I am an enemy of the state, here Anna is a shoulder to lean
on'
Published: 03 December 2006
Thabitha Khumalo is the vice president of
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions and this year won UK Woman of the
Year. Khumalo, 46, has just
launched the campaign Dignity.Period! with
Action for South Africa (ACTSA).
She lives in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
The
moment I saw Anna's face I recognised her from the movies. My stomach
was
churning, but as soon as she sat down she was warm and friendly.
Our
first meeting was at a coffee shop in London. ACTSA had contacted Anna
in
order to help raise awareness of some of the health issues affecting
women
in Zimbabwe. We sat down together and I explained to her that the
average
minimum wage for a woman in my country is £12 per month, and yet a
box of 10
tampons costs £3. What woman in her right mind would rather spend
money on
tampons rather than on basics like food? The female life expectancy
is now
34 years: and they are dying from preventable infections. Anna was
horrified.
Anna told me that when she was in Zimbabwe she got very
sick, and the couple
she was staying with looked after her until she got
better. They became good
friends, so I think she felt she wanted to give
something back. It so
happened that I also knew the farm where she had
stayed, and when I told her
that it had been repossessed and all the people
displaced, it broke her
heart. She started crying and I did too.
From
that moment our friendship blossomed. Every time I came to the UK I
would
call her and we would go to the theatre, or just chat over the phone.
Eventually we managed to organise a fundraising event with her friends from
the film industry. It was beyond words. The lights, the decorations, the
most beautiful women in the most beautiful gowns - it was a different world
for me. I was mesmerised.
Although our lives are very different, Anna
and I have a very strong
connection. We are both go-getters with a lot of
determination and energy.
Like me, she is also a single mother, which can be
a huge challenge. So even
though we come from different environments, we are
sort of in the same boat.
When I compare our two worlds, it amazes me
that they can co-exist and I
think that is why our friendship is so
important. I come from a place where
I have no rights, or freedom of speech.
It's survival of the fittest. I have
to learn from what I have seen of
Anna's world so that we can work towards a
better Zimbabwe.
In the UK
I feel like a human being again, whereas at home in Zimbabwe I can
feel
isolated. At home it's difficult for me to have friends because I am an
enemy of the state and people are petrified to be seen to be talking to me.
Here, you have no time to cry because you have always got to be strong, but
when I come to the UK I know that in Anna I will always have a shoulder to
lean on.
Anna Chancellor is widely recognised for her role as
Duckface in Four
Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and on television as
Caroline Bingley in
Pride and Prejudice. More recently Chancellor, 41, has
made appearances in
Spooks. She lives in London and has a daughter called
Poppy.
Thabitha is a bit like a film star: she's very beautiful and
incredibly
strong and incredibly vulnerable, all at once. Her openness is
characteristic of the people in Zimbabwe, which is probably why I felt very
at home there and very at home with Thabitha.
I met Thabitha after
receiving an email that said something like, "Women in
trouble in Zimbabwe -
no sanitary products". I thought that was horrendous -
the idea of never
being able to have a tampon when you need one. But the
real reason I felt a
necessity to help was that I became incredibly sick
while I was working in
Zimbabwe and a local woman took me to her home, fed,
bathed me and looked
after me until I got better. I loved her so much. In a
way my friendship
with Thabitha is a repayment to her. Weirdly, when I told
Thabitha this, we
worked out that this woman was actually her cousin's wife.
The day we met
we talked and cried. Appalling things have happened to her -
she's been
arrested, raped and other things that you can't imagine. In
Zimbabwe you can
be arrested for holding a meeting or a banner. She hides
Nurofen in her hair
because she knows that they are going to hurt her. It's
life on such an
extreme edge - she is like a woman at war, she puts herself
on the front
line.
For me it has never been a problem being friends with people from
different
backgrounds. Thabitha is from Africa, and I grew up in the West
Country;
Thabitha is a warrior and I consider myself to be a coward. When I
ask her
how she manages to survive she says, "You have a fifth gear; there
is
somewhere else you go in very extreme times." My fear is that I don't
have
the fifth gear and my hope is that I do.
I wish I could spend
more time with Thabitha. I still haven't cooked her
roast chicken, which is
what I'd really love to do. We did have a marvellous
day together once when
we went to see a play about Mugabe and then walked
back through Soho and we
ended up in a posh hotel where we lounged around on
sofas talking about men.
We weren't focusing on the big problems - just
laughing at the small
ones.
I feel incredible affection for Thabitha - not just because of the
campaign,
but because I feel easy with her. In her own country many people
don't want
to know her because she puts her neck out. I think it's a lonely
life for
her. I hope that one day she and I could just be relaxed together.
We had a
brief glimpse of it very, very late at night on those
sofas.
ACTSA has produced a Dignity.Period! wristband. The sale of one
will provide
one woman with three month's supply of sanitary products, tel:
020 3263 2001
or email campaigns@ actsa.org
Thabitha Khumalo is the
vice president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions and this year won UK
Woman of the Year. Khumalo, 46, has just
launched the campaign
Dignity.Period! with Action for South Africa (ACTSA).
She lives in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe.
The moment I saw Anna's face I recognised her from the movies.
My stomach
was churning, but as soon as she sat down she was warm and
friendly.
Our first meeting was at a coffee shop in London. ACTSA had
contacted Anna
in order to help raise awareness of some of the health issues
affecting
women in Zimbabwe. We sat down together and I explained to her
that the
average minimum wage for a woman in my country is £12 per month,
and yet a
box of 10 tampons costs £3. What woman in her right mind would
rather spend
money on tampons rather than on basics like food? The female
life expectancy
is now 34 years: and they are dying from preventable
infections. Anna was
horrified.
Anna told me that when she was in
Zimbabwe she got very sick, and the couple
she was staying with looked after
her until she got better. They became good
friends, so I think she felt she
wanted to give something back. It so
happened that I also knew the farm
where she had stayed, and when I told her
that it had been repossessed and
all the people displaced, it broke her
heart. She started crying and I did
too.
From that moment our friendship blossomed. Every time I came to the
UK I
would call her and we would go to the theatre, or just chat over the
phone.
Eventually we managed to organise a fundraising event with her
friends from
the film industry. It was beyond words. The lights, the
decorations, the
most beautiful women in the most beautiful gowns - it was a
different world
for me. I was mesmerised.
Although our lives are very
different, Anna and I have a very strong
connection. We are both go-getters
with a lot of determination and energy.
Like me, she is also a single
mother, which can be a huge challenge. So even
though we come from different
environments, we are sort of in the same boat.
When I compare our two
worlds, it amazes me that they can co-exist and I
think that is why our
friendship is so important. I come from a place where
I have no rights, or
freedom of speech. It's survival of the fittest. I have
to learn from what I
have seen of Anna's world so that we can work towards a
better
Zimbabwe.
In the UK I feel like a human being again, whereas at home in
Zimbabwe I can
feel isolated. At home it's difficult for me to have friends
because I am an
enemy of the state and people are petrified to be seen to be
talking to me.
Here, you have no time to cry because you have always got to
be strong, but
when I come to the UK I know that in Anna I will always have
a shoulder to
lean on.
Anna Chancellor is widely recognised for her
role as Duckface in Four
Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and on television as
Caroline Bingley in
Pride and Prejudice. More recently Chancellor, 41, has
made appearances in
Spooks. She lives in London and has a daughter called
Poppy.
Thabitha is a bit like a film star: she's very beautiful and
incredibly
strong and incredibly vulnerable, all at once. Her openness is
characteristic of the people in Zimbabwe, which is probably why I felt very
at home there and very at home with Thabitha.
I met Thabitha after
receiving an email that said something like, "Women in
trouble in Zimbabwe -
no sanitary products". I thought that was horrendous -
the idea of never
being able to have a tampon when you need one. But the
real reason I felt a
necessity to help was that I became incredibly sick
while I was working in
Zimbabwe and a local woman took me to her home, fed,
bathed me and looked
after me until I got better. I loved her so much. In a
way my friendship
with Thabitha is a repayment to her. Weirdly, when I told
Thabitha this, we
worked out that this woman was actually her cousin's wife.
The day we met
we talked and cried. Appalling things have happened to her -
she's been
arrested, raped and other things that you can't imagine. In
Zimbabwe you can
be arrested for holding a meeting or a banner. She hides
Nurofen in her hair
because she knows that they are going to hurt her. It's
life on such an
extreme edge - she is like a woman at war, she puts herself
on the front
line.
For me it has never been a problem being friends with people from
different
backgrounds. Thabitha is from Africa, and I grew up in the West
Country;
Thabitha is a warrior and I consider myself to be a coward. When I
ask her
how she manages to survive she says, "You have a fifth gear; there
is
somewhere else you go in very extreme times." My fear is that I don't
have
the fifth gear and my hope is that I do.
I wish I could spend
more time with Thabitha. I still haven't cooked her
roast chicken, which is
what I'd really love to do. We did have a marvellous
day together once when
we went to see a play about Mugabe and then walked
back through Soho and we
ended up in a posh hotel where we lounged around on
sofas talking about men.
We weren't focusing on the big problems - just
laughing at the small
ones.
I feel incredible affection for Thabitha - not just because of the
campaign,
but because I feel easy with her. In her own country many people
don't want
to know her because she puts her neck out. I think it's a lonely
life for
her. I hope that one day she and I could just be relaxed together.
We had a
brief glimpse of it very, very late at night on those
sofas.
ACTSA has produced a Dignity.Period! wristband. The sale of one
will provide
one woman with three month's supply of sanitary products, tel:
020 3263 2001
or email campaigns@ actsa.org
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Violet Gonda
THE arrested Women of
Zimbabwe Arise and supporters were released into
the custody of their lawyer
on Friday but are expected to formally appear in
court Monday.
Two of those arrested, Magodonga Mahlangu and another woman called
Sylvia,
have been hospitalised as a result of injuries sustained at the
hands of the
police. Although they were assaulted on the day of the
demonstration on
Wednesday and despite showing serious signs of injuries the
police kept the
women in detention until Friday afternoon.
Speaking shortly after
being released group coordinator Jenni Williams
said; "None of the police
officers who arrested us and beat us up so
brutally wanted to come forward
and make any statements that are necessary
for us to be taken to court, so
things dragged on and nothing was happening.
The lawyer had prepared an
urgent application to take us to court when I
think the police realized they
had no option but to release us and asked us
to report to court on
Monday."
She also said what brought the matter to a head was that
the two
activists, Mahlangu and Sylvia, had to be taken to hospital.
Mahlangu, who
is one of the WOZA leaders, was allegedly beaten across her
back and fell
down on the floor knocking her head on the day of the
demonstration.
At least 36 activists were charged on Thursday under
the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act.
The activists
were arrested Wednesday during the launch of their
People's Charter in
Bulawayo. WOZA said the Charter was a result of a
yearlong countrywide
consultation demanding social justice for all
Zimbabweans. Ironically police
used brutal force to disperse the group, as
they were commemorating
International Human Rights Defenders Day.
It's reported that baton
stick wielding riot police descended on the
peaceful gathering and started
assaulting people to force them to disperse.
At least 60 people including
mothers with their babies were arrested on the
day, although some of them
were later released.
The arrested are accused of "participating in
a public gathering with
the intent to cause public disorder, breach of peace
or bigotry."
Several others were left needing medical attention
including an 18
month old baby and an elderly woman who had serious
injuries.
When asked if it's wise to take children to these
demonstrations
Williams said the mothers say; "We have rights and this child
needs a better
future and I am sorry I have no one else to leave the child
with and I must
be allowed to exercise my right."
Dear Family and Friends,
As the Minister of Finance presented what he
called a "people orientated"
budget this week, two senior executives from the
country's biggest bakery
were starting a four month prison sentence. The two
men, the CEO and
Operations Manager were found guilty of putting the price of
bread up by
50% in September without government permission. The bread price
is
controlled by government here but is set at sub economic levels which
has
left most bakeries cutting their staff, blending flour with maize
meal,
switching off slicing machines and reducing the number of hours that
their
ovens work. Bread has already become a luxury for most Zimbabweans but
none
of this was mentioned as the propaganda in the state media whipped
the
issue into a frenzied witch-hunt. There was talk of "economic
saboteurs"
and a state prosecutor called the men "leaders in a criminal
enterprise."
The sentencing of two men from the biggest bakery will
undoubtedly have
only one result - shortages. At first it will be bread and
then other goods
whose prices are controlled by government - sugar,
margarine, cooking oil,
milk, salt, soap and so the list goes on and
on.
One can only imagine what words a prosecutor would use to describe
the
government officials who this week approved an increase in the cost
of
water in Harare from 8 to 130 dollars a cubic metre. It doesn't take
an
economist, mathematician or even primary school arithmetic to know
that
this is more than 50%. The double standards in Zimbabwe are so
staggering
that you are left in no doubt that it is all about control, plain
and
simple control.
This first week of December 2006 also saw control
being exercised in the
streets against the protesting voices of women. Waving
placards and singing
songs, unarmed women belonging to WOZA were arrested in
Bulawayo. Calling
for affordable housing, education and healthcare, the women
were arrested
by riot police. Some of the women had babies on their backs.
When ordered
to pick their placards up off the street WOZA said police beat
the women on
their backs and buttocks with batons. Can you imagine beating a
woman with
a baby? Several people were hospitalized, including a
baby.
63 women, 4 men and 6 babies were arrested.
Perhaps they
will meet the two bakery officials in prison.
It is hard to see sense in
Zimbabwe this December. In the mayhem there is
almost no sign of the
opposition MDC - both factions seem to have gone
quiet. The odd individual
raises their head and their voice but the party
as a whole seems rudderless
and lost having spent almost the entire year
fighting themselves rather than
the oppression. Zimbabweans are cowed and
need brave, decisive and united
leadership. People generally are scared to
act, scared to speak out and
scared to protest. This week as people were
called on to bang pots every
evening for two minutes at 8 pm, to bang for
an end to hunger, the night air
was quiet, deathly quiet. My pot sounded
awfully loud, alone out there every
night.
Until next week, thank you for reading and for caring. Love
cathy.
Copyright cathy buckle 2nd December
2006.
http:/africantears.netfirms.com
New Zimbabwe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa presented the 2007 budget on November 30.
Here,
Tendai Biti, the secretary general of the MDC faction led by Morgan
Tsvangirai gives his
reaction:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Tendai Biti, MP
Last updated: 12/02/2006 21:32:58
THE 2007 budget
statement announced by Hebert Murerwa yesterday represents
yet more evidence
of the mediocrity, dishonesty and the bankruptcy of ideas
of the Zanu PF
regime.
More than that, it represents the paralysis in governance arising and
connected to the succession issue in Zanu PF. Quite clearly, the decisive
pronouncements and the proscribing by Murerwa against the RBZ governor's
quasi-fiscal actions is a reflection of the intense civil war that is taking
place in the corridors of Zanu PF.
The economic crisis arresting
Zimbabwe is structural and cannot be treated
by cosmetic, populist, recycled
and neo-liberal measures. We are a failed
State, wherein 80 percent of the
people are unemployed, real inflation is
over 3 000 percent and where 80
percent of the population earn far below the
bread-line salary of $180 000.
We are a country bedevilled by the complete
destruction of the supply side
of the economy. For almost 10 years since
1997, the country has endured
gross negative growth rates, a phenomenon
unkown even in countries that have
been at war.
Industry is operating at 25 percent of its normal productive
capacity. And
at the back of this, the country has seen unmitigated
corruption and
Zimbabwe has acquired for itself a shameful ranking of 157
out of 159 on the
corruption ladder. The quality of life for ordinary
Zimbabweans has
deteriorated and life expectancy has dropped to 34 years.
This is the state
of the crisis and any honest budgetary approach should
begin by recognising
that the causes of the crisis are man-made and they are
underpinned by a
crisis of governance and a crisis of legitimacy. Blaming
the crisis on
non-existent sanctions or droughts reflects the perennial
dishonesty that
has become the national religion of this regime. It reflects
a denial mode
that results in the government's inability to craft proper and
honest
solutions to the problems bedevilling the nation.
The pumping
of billions of dollars for inputs into the agricultural sector,
which has
been the norm of all budgets, has clearly failed to revive this
critical
sector and to restore us to our erstwhile status as the
bread-basket of the
region. Wrong people, namely Zanu PF chefs and other
mobile phone farmers
were allocated the land and what has happened is that a
noble cause was
bastardised by subjective execution.
Equally, the pumping of billions
into mining, the creation of a mining fund
and the proposed purchase of
mining equipment will not resuscitate this
sector. For starters, the reason
why mining output is decreasing and why
gold deliveries have declined is not
because there is no production, but
because of the massive leakages in the
system. In any event, trying to
revive an economy such as ours through
agriculture and mining is a false
premise. The Zanu PF vehicle of
accumulation based on agriculture and mining
for supply side recovery is a
model that was true and correct in the 19th
century. Raw materials without
any value addition have never been vehicles
for growth. It is manufacturing,
industry and lately technology, managed in
a local, inward-looking framework
bereft of any neo-liberal blemish. That
will be the starting
point.
The model of the Asian tigers, the fantastic growth of China and
India are
not being spurred by agriculture or mining but by these
alternative
development paradigms.
The identity of inflation as the
number one enemy in Zimbabwe is a
reflection of a paralysis of analysis.
Inflation is a macro-economic
indicator of the relationship between the
supply side and the demand side of
the economy. It is a symptom of the
sickness of the economy but is not the
sickness itself. Thus it is important
to identify the real causes of
inflation. As popular local musician Oliver
Mtukudzi would say, " Ongorora
chikonzero chaita musoro uteme."
Unfortunately, the budget does not take
this into account.
The
projected 2007 budget deficit as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product
is
17 percent. This is a huge deficit considering that the regional average
is
3 percent. This budget deficit, and more importantly the way it is
financed,
will create major inflationary pressures. We have seen in the past
how
Gono's quasi-fiscal experiments, equalling almost the official 2006
budget,
created excess money supply of over 1 000 percent and resulted in a
major
inflationary push.
Moreover, to have budget in respect of which $1,4
trillion or 35 percent is
going to be allocated to salaries alone, is a
disaster. When one adds
interest payments, it means that almost 80 percent
of the budget is
recurrent expenditure. Such a scenario is not only sad, but
demands that
Murerwa and his colleagues must resign. If almost 80 percent of
the budget
represents salaries and interests, then it means that the
critical budgets
to health, education and social services, have suffered.
Indeed, Murerwa and
his colleagues will go to town about the $1,3 trillion
(30 percent of the
budget) allocated to capital expenditure but what is not
disclosed is that
the bulk of that money is going to pay for penalties and
punitive arrear
interests on existing incomplete projects such as the
Torkwe-Mukosi dam and
the dualisation of the Harare-Bulawayo
highway.
The raising of the tax-free threshold from $20 000 to $100 000
will be
applauded as being positive. However, the reality is that the
majority of
the population do not even earn $50 000 per month and the
bread-line salary
is $180 000 while inflation realistically stands at about
3 000 percent. One
cannot even buy anything meaningful with $100 000 in a
supermarket.
Zanu PF being Zanu PF, one thing that concerns this regime
is power and the
desire to reproduce itself legally and extra-legally. No
wonder the budget
allocation to the army and the police in real terms has
grown by more than
50 percent, with the army being allocated an embarassing
figure of $225
billion for recurrent expenditure. This slush fund given to
"the boys" is
more than half the budget allocation to the Ministry of Health
and Child
Wefare. It's a shame!
One can go forever critiquing the
sterile and recycled ideas from Minister
Murerwa. The bottom line is that
these people are now tired. as Franz Fanon
said many years ago, exhausted
nationalism is a danger to the national
question in Africa. Zanu PF has
clearly become a danger to the public good
of the majority of
Zimbabweans.
Zimbabweans are tired of high-sounding fiscal and monetary
policy
pronouncements that have failed to stimulate economic growth and to
inspire
investor confidence in an economy that has become a collective
African
shame.What Zimbabwe needs is a political solution to the national
crisis.
What Zimbabwe needs is a new government that has the support and the
faith
of the ordinary people who have borne the brunt of failed economic
policies
and a profligate government that continues to live outside its
means.
Zimbabwe needs to embrace sweeping political reforms that include
a new,
people-driven Constitution, free and fair elections under
international
supervision, a reconstruction and stabilisation programme in a
post-transitional era and a period of national healing. Nothing short of
this political solution will save our country.
Tendai Biti, MP, is
the MDC Secretary General of the MDC faction led by
Morgan
Tsvangirai
New Zimbabwe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa presented the 2007 budget on November 30.
Here,
Priscilla Misihairabwi, the deputy secretary general of the MDC
faction led
by Arthur Mutambara gives her
reaction:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, MP
Last updated: 12/02/2006
21:32:46
WHEREAS the Budget statements are meant to confirm and take forward
the
nation's commitment to prioritise and protect those expenditures that
can
substantially contribute to economic growth, job creation, and overall
poverty reduction, to also contain measures to improve pro-poor service
delivery and strengthen public expenditure management, the hopelessness of
Zimbabwe's entire budget exercise and process, in this environment, is again
exemplified by the Minister of Finance's 2007 budget statement.
If the
Minister cannot predict what will be the level of public expenditure
next
month, how then does he intend to predict a whole year expenditure
pattern.
The bids by the ministries make no sense whatsoever, with or
without Gideon
Gono's quasi fiscal expenditure forays.
So no matter what the Minister of
Finance pronounces within the framework of
the 2007 budget, by omission or
commission, his action will lead to more
misery and further unprecedented
economic decline. This will be the ninth
successive decline in GDP since
1998. Is this what the Minister's budget
about, or he is just taking the
people of Zimbabwe for a ride?
If we judge by the way the economy will
go, the Minister should concede that
his budget is not a good omen, or else
retract and go back to address the
country's fundamentals -stop corruption,
restore rule of law and hence
restore confidence of the investor in the
economy - before presenting what
the official press will obviously call a
bold budget statement.
The only hint at reducing inflation worthy noting
was rescuing away Gono's
appetite for quasi fiscal forays to come under
Treasury, at an exorbitant
cost of $1000 billion, to the tax payer. The
nation is being told that this
will bring inflation down to 350-400% by
October 2007. But with all the
economic fundamentals that brought about the
high inflation in place,
inflation is unlikely to come down. The allocations
and estimates given by
the Minister of Finance will continue to be eroded by
the inflation
pressures, mainly due to lack of production and continued
growth of
expenditure by this government's bloated
administration.
In the view of the MDC the fundamentals that require
attention in order to
halt the collapse of the Zimbabwe economy are the
following:
Zimbabwe must stop denying the causes of the country's
economic problem and
come to terms with itself - seek genuine dialogue with
the people of this
country.
Engage the people of Zimbabwe (the civil
society, business, farmers,
workers, churches) on fiscal policy, development
of the economy and
democratic rights of citizens.
Move away from the
position of sustained macro-economic mismanagement and
adopt a sound
macroeconomic policies aimed at curbing inflation and laying
the foundation
for economic recovery.
Refrain from bad governance - asset stripping and
corruption and looting of
state owned enterprises and assets and engage the
nation towards achieving
of MDGs in order to reduce poverty.
Stop all
forms of violent disruptions of the normal economic activities,
lack of
commitment to transparency, accountability, respect for human rights
and
democratic processes.
Any budget speech that ignores this framework
continues to be self delusion
and a joke for the people whose pain deepens
especially immediately as a
result of tinkering at the edges of a sick
Zimbabwe economic body in
national budget statements.
Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga is Deputy Secretary General of the MDC
faction led by
Professor Arthur Mutambara
From SW Radio Africa, 1 December
By Tichaona Sibanda
Zanu PF's turf war
involving two factions led by retired general Solomon
Mujuru and party
strongman Emmerson Mnangagwa has now spilled over into
parliament. A key
ally of the Mujuru faction, Industry and International
Trade Minister Obert
Mpofu, now faces the danger of being forced to reveal
the culprits behind
the looting of the giant steel making company
Ziscosteel. Speaker of
Parliament John Nkom who recently revealed his
ambition of standing for the
presidency once Mugabe retires, said Mpofu had
a case to answer for
allegedly lying under oath in parliament. A privileges
committee is to be
appointed soon to investigate Mpofu who submitted
conflicting information
while giving oral evidence in parliament about the
deal that saw an Indian
firm, Global Steel Holdings, assuming control of
Ziscosteel without any
contractual agreement or injection of capital. It was
during this hearing on
September 20th that Mpofu presented information
before the portfolio
committee in which he referred to a file which he said
contained 'shocking'
information which implicated unnamed MP's in corrupt
dealings at Zisco.
Analysts say Mpofu, allegedly from the Mujuru faction,
did not know that
most of the names contained in the report were from the
same faction.
Vice-President Joyce Mujuru is reported to have intervened and
stopped him
from giving evidence before the committee. But the damage had
already been
done. MDC acting Treasurer-General Elton Mangoma said everyone
who has seen
the report knows that Mpofu is now trying to protect his
allies. He said
attempts to bring Mpofu to reveal all in Parliament are just
a diversionary
tactic because the other faction will see to it that he does
not appear
before a privileges committee.
From The Herald, 2 December
By Tawanda Kanhema
Foreigners from neighbouring
countries are swarming Mutare in search of
diamonds, turning Marange
district to the south and other areas along the
Birchenough-Mutare highway -
the source of the diamonds - into vending zones
for gems at giveaway prices.
More than 30 foreign-registered vehicles from
at least five countries are
observed daily streaming into Mutare - which has
become a vantage point for
buyers - and roaming the Birchenough-Mutare
highway as foreign nationals and
Zimbabweans living abroad join the diamond
rush, fuelled by the absence of a
standardised price for the precious
stones. "We have been seeing 20 to 30
South African vehicles daily, about
three to four from Zambian, four from
Botswana and at least one each from
Mozambique and Malawi," said Retired
Lieutenant Colonel Misheck Matsatswa,
the chief security officer for Africa
Consolidated Resources whose
concession for the diamond fields expired in
March and was not renewed.
Trade in the precious stone has reached
fever-pitch, with South Africans
leading the pack as they make daily
incursions into Mutare and surrounding
areas, buying diamonds in rands from
villagers and urbanites along the way.
Following the expiry of
African Consolidated Resources' concession,
foreigners have been making a
beeline for eastern Zimbabwean to try their
luck in the country's new El
Dorado and recent visits by Government
officials and the media have also put
Marange and Chiadzwa under the
spotlight as a source of gems at bargain
basement prices for resale at
highly profitable margins. The price of one
clear diamond - of approximately
one carat weight - is selling for between
R100 and R1 000 for South Africans
and between P80 and P400 for Batswana,
and is understood to fetch seven to
10-fold in South Africa and Botswana.
Buyers from Botswana, Malawi, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique
and Zambia are coming into Mutare
every day, and most of them have
established sources that fan out into the
rural areas to buy diamonds for
them. Locals have also started going to
Botswana and South Africa to sell
their diamonds, mostly bought off from
desperate panners for less than $100
000 and resold for over $800 000 in
Harare and for even more in South
Africa. Diamond tourism has also emerged
in Mutare and at Hot Springs Health
Resort, which is closer to the diamond
fields. The resort has been receiving
an increasing number of South African
tourists in recent months, presumably
coming to look for diamonds.
The Herald visited Marange on Tuesday
afternoon and witnessed booming
illicit trade between South African buyers
and local diamond suppliers along
the Birchenough-Mutare highway, which has
become busy since the tightening
of security around diamond fields. Constant
police raids along the highway
have not significantly dented the illicit
trade as locals continue to
advertise and sell their diamonds to motorists
at growth points and on the
streets in Mutare. A South African-registered
vehicle scouting for suppliers
pulled off along the highway and its
occupants talked to a local
schoolteacher before making a high speed
take-off on seeing The Herald crew.
The 64-year-old schoolteacher also
bolted into the bush before we caught up
with him less than 100 metres off
the highway. He said the South Africans
had asked him where Hot Springs
resort was and where they could buy
diamonds. He directed them to Chiadzwa,
which has been declared out of
bounds to foreigners.
Police
officers manning the turn-off to Marange along the Birchenough-Mutare
road
said they would not allow vehicles with foreign registration to proceed
to
Marange or Chiadzwa unless the driver proved he was from Marange. "We are
searching all cars, and will not permit those with foreign registration to
proceed unless they prove they are from Marange and produce their Temporary
Import Permits," said an officer manning a checkpoint. They have set up
checkpoints on all roads leading to the diamond fields, confining the trade
to growth points, the highway, and Mutare urban, where almost every fifth
person has a diamond or knows where to get one. A young Zimbabwean woman
from Mandara, Harare, said she had come to do "market research" for a
Malawian who would fly into the country on Thursday. She had brought along a
digital camera, with which she photographed samples of the available gems.
Police officers at Chiadzwa said the panning for diamonds had fallen down
with increased patrols in the area, but locals who were involved in five
months of extensive panning are reported to be stashing small pouches of
gems in their homes.
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 1 December
Pearlie Joubert
"I pay R120 a month for my piece of
shack floor in Phillipi. There are 15 of
us, sleeping like animals on the
ground. But I never complain; every night I
lie down, I think of my five
kids back in Harare." Patience Moyo (52) is one
of hundreds of Zimbabweans
flocking into the Cape Town townships. Most are
women, Moyo says, and many
are professionals or others who had well-paid
jobs until their country's
economic meltdown. The women arrive carrying big
plastic bags filled with
knitted tablecloths, sitting-room seat-covers,
home-sewn clothes and cotton
curtains, which they sell door to door in the
townships. In Phillipi and
Guguletu I met a Zimbabwean schoolteacher, a
nurse, a hotel chef and two
secretaries. All left their homes and children
to make money for groceries
that they can't get, or can't afford, in their
own country. Until four years
ago Moyo was a maths teacher in a Harare high
school. As with thousands of
other Zimbabwean civil servants, her salary has
been rendered almost
worthless by hyper-inflation.
Explained Moyo: "My husband is a
qualified electrician, but he's got no work
and I couldn't find him any in
Zimbabwe -- we looked everywhere. We've got
five kids and we've got a nice
big house in Harare. But we're starving
there. We can't afford even basic
foods any more. Apart from teaching kids
maths, the only thing I can do is
knit. I started knitting tablecloths to
sell, but people at home don't have
the money. That's why I came here." It
is not something she enjoys. She and
the other Zimbabweans hate the high
crime and the xenophobic hatred they
encounter in South Africa - mainly from
young people. "Every day people
shout 'kwere-kwere' at us. Lots of people
say they like my things, but they
won't give money to kwere-kweres from
Zimbabwe. It hurts me but I say
nothing because I'm so needy of their
kindness and money," Moyo said. South
African women are the most
sympathetic. "They know we are desperate, that we
are also mothers and that
we don't want to be here," said 43-year-old Sylvia
Khumalo, who shares a
backyard wendy house in Guguletu with 19 other
Zimbabwean women. Slightly
smaller than a single garage, the house has no
ceiling.
Cape Town is not the only destination - they told me that
"busloads" of
Zimbabwean women arrive in Johannesburg every day. They enter
South Africa
on a legal one-month visa, stay here for a month, go home and
return a month
later -- effectively spending six months a year away from
home. The bus trip
from Harare to Johannesburg takes 14 hours and costs
R200. An economy train
ticket to Cape Town costs a further R200. Explained
Harare native Pretty
Tekere, who shares a one-bedroom shack with six other
women in Khayelitsha:
"We don't stop in Johannesburg; too many Zimbabweans
are already there.
Durban, Pietermaritzburg, East London, Port Elizabeth and
Bloemfontein are
full of Zimbabwean women selling stuff. Cape Town is far
and it's expensive
to come here - so it's not too crowded yet." In many Cape
Town townships,
residents rent out backyard shacks or wendy houses to these
women for as
much as R400 a month a head. The women interviewed by the Mail
& Guardian
pay between R30 and R50 a week for sleeping space on a floor,
the use of an
outside toilet and an outside room with a cold water tap and a
basin, which
serves as a bathroom. If they want hot water, they boil a
kettle on a fire
and wash themselves in a plastic bowl.
Said
Tekere: "There are landlords in the townships who built rooms in their
backyards especially for us, and they make a good living - their places are
always full. We never say no to a woman who wants to stay. It's really
dangerous out there if you're a foreigner." The women insisted that their
shack should not be photographed; they are terrified they might be evicted
if their accommodation is identified. Tekere said wistfully that "people in
your country have more money than we have. You have a stable government and
food is much cheaper here". But she is no uncritical admirer of South
Africa: "So much else is wrong here. A lot of our sisters are raped here. We
get robbed. If people want your bag, they stab you. Even the kids here have
guns. You have a very scary country." Sam Parks (not his real name), owner
of a four-room brick house in Guguletu, rents a shack the size of large
tool-shed in his backyard to up to 20 Zimbabwean women. He charges a weekly
rent of R35 a head, but denies rack-renting: "I'm not renting out my
backyard shack. The people staying here are my family and you are not
welcome," he said, shutting the door in my face.
Travel from
Harare to Cape Town and accommodation cost the women R500 a
month each. If
they work seven days a week and sell one bag full of doilies,
they can make
up to R1 500. But they have to collect about half of their
earnings on
future trips because their customers can only afford to buy on
credit. "Some
people pay R10 a month; some R20 per month. I can only come
every second
month, which means we have to come back for as long as one year
to recoup
the cost of one tablecloth," 58-year old Barbara Kasani said. As
they earn,
the Zimbabweans buy groceries - mainly oil, sugar, maize meal,
salt and
flour - which they take back to Zimbabwe. They take no cash home.
"If you
take money into Zimbabwe, you have to declare it at the border. If
you take
food, they let you through. We buy food here and we pray that it
will last
for the two months until we return to South Africa," Kasani said.
She feels
she is on a treadmill. "We're trapped, and it's terrible to feel
that way.
While I'm here, I mainly eat pap and cabbage; once a week we buy
some
chicken heads and legs. "But I have to save every cent I make to buy
groceries, otherwise it doesn't pay to come here. We're Zimbabweans - we
like meat. Eating pap and cabbage and sleeping on the floor makes me feel so
depressed I don't want to wake up in the morning."
Herewith the views of two prominent economists, from a purely financial
or
economic perspective, on Government's recent issuance of so-called
'99-year
leases' to new farmers. Their opinions pertain mainly to the
value of the
leases from a collateral point of view. Also included is a
relevant article
from today's 'Zimbabwe Independent'.
Much controversy surrounds this
matter and there are obviously other
fundamental issues at stake. The JAG
Trust's viewpoint remains very
clear: -
1. The acquisition of the vast
majority of these properties is still
subject to legal dispute, in terms of
the lack of legal procedure
followed, the human rights abuses perpetrated and
the criminality
involved.
2. The State-inspired and sponsored
breakdown of the rule of law and the
resultant abject disregard for property
rights in commercial farming
areas has paved the way and allowed for, what
has amounted to, wholesale
theft of farms, the improvements thereon and in
most cases, movable
assets in the form of equipment, livestock and even
crops, that are not
covered under the Land Acquisition Act.
3. The
fact that, at this time, no farmers have been compensated, either
timeously
or equitably, for the improvements on their properties by the
State - coupled
to the fact that, at some time, the historical dispute
over 'tenure of the
land' will have to be resolved.
4. As a result of all the above and even
under Zimbabwean law,
substantial damages arise, which, at this point in time
- six years on
from the commencement of the illegal evictions of commercial
farmers and
workers - by far exceed the value of the land and improvements
thereon.
The JAG Trust stands firm on our principles and will
continue to focus
and adhere to the following: -
a) There can be no
meaningful future development on any illegally
acquired agricultural land,
whilst the acquisition of that land and the
improvements thereon remains in
dispute; where human rights violations
and criminality issues exist; and
especially, given that no timeous nor
equitable compensation, or damages,
have been paid - either to the
property owners or to the displaced and
severely affected farm workers.
b) No subsequent or replacement tenure
system can (given the above facts)
- by any stretch of the imagination - be
put in place, fulfilling the
required fundamentals of a tenure system;
bankability in a free-market
environment to enable the raising of essential
short-term and long-term
capital; or transferability in a free-market
environment.
The JAG Trust firmly believes that the people of
Zimbabwe will only
achieve true freedom and empowerment through individual
ownership of
land, especially agricultural land. Not through State
ownership.
The JAG
Team
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZIMBABWE'S
NEW 99-YEAR LEASE
Summary and Comment
Government's intentions to
replace former freehold title to agricultural
land with 99-year leases
appears to offer political advantages that make
the concept attractive to
political authorities, but no advantages to the
lessees can be determined
from the lease agreement, other than that the
agreement commits the lessee to
separate yearly rentals for the land and
improvements, rather than a single
purchase price.
For any improvements on the land, the rental calculated
by the
authorities, or lessor, is payable by the lessee for the following
25
years, unless the lessee chooses to reach agreement with the Ministry
of
Agriculture for the outright purchase of these improvements. And,
on
signing the lease, the lessee is required to pay within three months
a
one-off deposit equal to the sum of the annual rent on the land and
the
annual rent on improvements.
These outlays secure for the lessee
the rights to occupy and farm the
area specified in the lease. These rights
bring with them a series of
obligations and requirements that must be met at
the lessee's expense.
They include:
· Taking up permanent residence on
the property, or appointing a manager
who will move onto the property within
three months
· Fencing and farming the property in a sustainable manner
acceptable to
the lessor
· Gaining approval for a five-year development
plan that will have been
submitted ahead of the signing of the lease
·
Initiating minimum developments as required by the lessor within three
months
of signing the lease. Minimum developments within the first three
months
include:
Ø Development of a permanent homestead and water supplies for
personnel
and animals
Ø Provision of approved access roads
Ø Erection
of adequate accommodation for employees, and
Ø Initiating minimum production
in terms of the approved plan
Ø Clearance of not less than 30% of the area
intended for cropping
A new five-year plan must be submitted for approval
on the expiry of an
existing plan or if the lessee is directed to do so by
the authorities.
Other requirements include ensuring that no illegal
tree-felling takes
place, no noxious weed growth is left unchecked, no
poaching of wildlife
takes place, fire-breaks are maintained and measures are
taken to prevent
soil erosion as well as to prevent the development of plant
and animal
diseases.
Where lessees inherit plantations, they are
required to rehabilitate and
maintain them to the satisfaction of the
authorities. All lessees are
required to assume full responsibility for
maintenance, repairs and
replacements required to ensure the upkeep all other
improvements already
on the property.
If the lessee fails to meet
these responsibilities, the authorities will
be entitled to carry out the
work and recover the costs involved from the
lessee.
While the
duration of the lease is 99 years, the lessor reserves the
right to terminate
the lease if the lessee becomes insolvent, or fails to
properly manage the
leasehold, fails to meet the terms and conditions of
the lease, fails to meet
the rental or other financial commitments to the
lessor or fails to pay the
required rates, levies and other charges to
local authorities.
If the
authorities do not receive settlement or acceptable
representations after
giving the lessee 30 days notice of its intention
to terminate the lease, the
lessor is entitled to cancel the lease and
repossess the leasehold after
another 90 days.
Comment on the Lease Agreement
>From the point
of view of the farmers, the leasehold terms and
conditions suggest that the
farmers will have to have confidence in their
abilities as well as courage to
commit themselves to five year plans, and
will have to meet very high
standards to retain their rights to continue
farming. Two issues arise from
this: firstly, as a percentage of the
population, the number of farmers who
have skills of this order is very
small; secondly, even those who have the
necessary skills are likely to
find that profitability will still elude them
on their small-scale
leasehold operations.
Government's intention is
to have tens of thousands of farmers work to
their A2 land resettlement
format with the support of 99-year leases. If,
for political reasons, the
intention is that very nearly all of these
farmers are to be defined as
successful, generously low performance
levels will have to be accepted when
interpreting the terms of the lease
agreement.
Concessions that permit
farmers to be "successful" without being
profitable will make subsidies an
absolute necessity. In effect, farmers
will be invited to become reliant on
subsidised input costs together with
support prices for crops. Under such
arrangements, the farmers' need of
loan facilities to finance their
operations will be greatly reduced.
For farmers, this will be just as
well, as their prospects of using their
99-year lease agreements as
collateral in support of bank loans are
extremely poor. This is true even
though in Section 24 of the lease
agreement, government claims that, because
the lease can be registered in
a deeds registry and endorsed to the effect
that certain sums are owed to
certain lenders, the lease can serve as
collateral for the loan.
While some banks might extend loans to certain
farmers in token gestures
to show compliance with government policies; given
the government's
determination to see their land reform policy succeed, the
lease
agreements will be found to have no legal standing as collateral
for
several fundamental reasons:
- At the most basic level, the lease
agreement does not qualify as
collateral because the property referred to in
the agreement cannot be
bought or sold on an open market and it therefore has
no market value
- The lessor's rights to terminate the lease after serving
the lessee 90
days' notice renders what is left of the 99-year duration of
the lease
irrelevant. While the lender's debt recovery RIGHTS might remain
intact,
their PROSPECTS of recovering the debt will have been
effectively
demolished.
- The claim that borrowed money used to carry out
improvements on the
property increases the value of the property does not
translate into a
realisable sum of money that can be recovered by the lender
in the case
of the the borrower defaulting on the repayment terms.
-
Borrowers might default on repayment obligations at any time, but
would
certainly do so if evicted from the property by the lessor. In
apparent
recognition of these shortcomings, Section 24.3 of the lease
agreement
provides for amounts outstanding to be recovered from the person to
whom
the lease is ceded or transferred, and states that the final transfer
of
the property will not be permitted until the intending new lessee
has
settled the previous leaseholder's debt or the new lessee has come to
an
acceptable arrangement with the lender.
This highly impractical
provision is certain to cause every new applicant
to seek an unencumbered
property. Every property that is burdened by
outstanding debt will remain
vacant and every affected lender will be
forced to forfeit the amounts
owed.
But as the lease documents will not be readily accepted as
collateral in
the first place, government will have to remain committed to
support and
subsidies, the costs of which will be borne by taxpayers and will
impact
on the whole country through inflation.
Direct government
assistance to individual farmers so far has been
typically confined to farm
inputs, but the authorities have tried to
encourage farmers to also become
owners of their own farm equipment,
rather than source the needed capital
items from the state. Loan finance
is usually essential for the purchase of
such assets.
Lessees trying to buy farm implements might be able to
borrow from banks
on the strength of the security of a Notarial General
Covering Bond that
would put the bank's claims ahead of concurrent creditors
if the farmer
went insolvent or was evicted from the leasehold for some other
reason.
However, as these items of equipment would be moveable assets,
the bank
would face the additional risk that the assets could be moved
beyond
their reach ahead of the disclosure of financial
difficulties.
For the government, the advantages centre on features of
the arrangements
that will permit the State:
- To acquire and exercise
ultimate control over the land
-To make agricultural land an asset within the
gift of the State
-To eliminate pressure groups of farmers empowered by
property rights
-To re-allocate land that officials consider is not being
efficiently
used
-To protect peasant communities from the harshness of
market forces
-To receive rental incomes from all lessees
-To receive
separate rental incomes from the improvements installed by
previous property
owners
-To administer, regulate and control the initial selection of
lessees
-To directly influence the selection of successors when existing
lessees
choose to vacate their leaseholds or have their leases
cancelled
In its launch of the new 99-year lease agreements, government
made no
reference to these underlying objectives, but confirmation of their
being
intrinsic to government's thinking is its basic distrust of market
forces
and its unwillingness to permit citizens to exercise freedom of
choice.
As the initial beneficiaries of land redistribution are being
given the
land free of charge through the exercise of government patronage,
the
intention is that their successors will also take over the land free
of
charge through the transfer of patronage to them. However, they will
be
expected to pay a rental to the state for the use of
existing
improvements or pay the former lessee for improvements carried out
during
their tenancy.
In previous presentations in support of its
99-year leasehold
propositions, Government has cited the fact that
considerable areas of
land in certain developed countries are successfully
leased to farmers.
Unfortunately, the conditions the Government of Zimbabwe
has entrenched
in the leases make them distinctly different from conditions
that apply
in first world countries.
In the countries concerned, the
leased land in question is not owned by
the State; a property-owning
individual, family or company owns it, each
lease is on an identifiable piece
of land, each lease has a market value
and each lease is therefore
marketable. Because of the marketability of
the lease, it can be offered as
collateral in support of a loan.
This protects the lessor, as a bank that
is owed money that the lessee
cannot repay has the legal right to place the
lease on the market. When a
new lessee pays for the remaining years covered
by the lease, the bank
will recover the funds owing. Laws governing tenant
rights also protect
lessees, but in exchange they are required to meet these
fully acceptable
obligations or forfeit their rights.
In the event of
a lessee deciding to relinquish a lease, the market value
of the remaining
years will be established in the market, a buyer will be
sought through the
market and the transaction will be formalised and
registered in the market by
real-estate agents and conveyancers. Other
than collecting transfer duties
and registering the new lessee, the State
plays no part in the
procedures.
These features make all such lease agreements bankable in
other
countries, but the leases being issued by the Zimbabwe government are
not
bankable, simply because no mechanism exists that could be used
to
establish a market price and no market exists that will permit a
normal
transfer of ownership of the pledged security.
Government's
right to approve or reject any applicant wishing to take
over an existing
lease further distances the arrangements from the open
market requirements of
genuine, bankable collateral.
Notes on the evolution of leasehold to
freehold title Leasehold
arrangements first evolved from the earlier feudal
systems in Europe, as
landlords and tenants tried to find means of unlocking
the capital value
of land. As the shortcomings of leasing became apparent and
as the power
of the landed aristocracy waned and as the need for capital and
security
of tenure increased, freehold ownership rights offered the
required
assurances.
When new areas of settlement and investment were
being established in the
Americas, the feudal systems of Spain and Portugal
were transplanted into
South and Central America. However, in North America,
the evolving
freehold land tenure systems were adopted. Today, hundreds of
years
later, South and Central America remains a collection of
developing
countries, but North America has become the most prosperous area
in the
world.
The essential difference between these two vast areas -
and the essential
difference between the former communal and commercial areas
of Zimbabwe -
is that, where they had individual title, the owners of the
land used its
capital value as leverage to raise the funds required to
develop the
land's potential as well as their own. With access to the capital
they
needed and the confidence that came from security of tenure over
their
property, they achieved remarkable successes.
Property owners'
title deeds provided them with a bridge that led
directly into the banking
sector. Their ability to make long-term plans
and their eagerness to repay
their loans to preserve their ownership
rights drew from them exceptional
levels of resourcefulness, ingenuity
and determination to succeed.
By
contrast, where the occupants of the land were tenants, their ability
to
raise money to carry out development work or to augment their own
skills was
severely limited. Their uncertain hold on the land they
occupied, but could
not own, left them with neither the means nor the
incentives to plan ahead,
and they never felt inclined to shoulder the
burdens of expense, risk and
effort to invest in productive capacity that
would enhance the value of
someone else's property.
Today, many South American countries are moving
towards individual
freehold property rights in an effort to accelerate
development. China
has accepted the need for individual property rights, and
ownership
rights are being restored to East European families that
were
dispossessed of properties after the USSR extended its territories
after
World War II.
Zimbabwe's proposals are taking the country in the
opposite direction.
The government's declaration at the end of the lease
agreement that " .
the lessee may use this Lease as collateral in securing
agricultural
financial assistance from any financial or agricultural
institution" is
not enough to make the lease acceptable to lending
institutions.
As the conditions created by land reform have effectively
eliminated the
collateral value of farmland, they have made development
funding entirely
the responsibility of the State and they have made each
individual's
performance dependent on State subsidies and support. Personal
progress
within such a system has therefore become dependent upon
political
patronage, rather than upon resourcefulness, good management and
hard
work.
Although fixed assets of some value could be built with
money loaned by a
bank, the separation of land from the improvements on that
land makes the
recovery of the debt almost impossible if the borrower
defaults. This is
because the farmer's right to remain on the land is
conferred, not by
business procedures supported by market forces, but by a
political act
that the bank cannot challenge.
Investment is the first
requirement for economic growth. By according a
capital value to land,
considerable capital sums are unlocked and made
available to the investment
process. Individual property rights, market
prices for land, transfers of
ownership through the market and the
official registration of ownership
rights make up the essential
components of the market mechanism that releases
this capital onto the
market.
The responsibility, accountability and
legal obligations that go with
individual freehold property rights quickly
help communities to accept
the challenges of modern economic development and
they place the means of
achieving profound economic empowerment within reach
of the majority. But
because Zimbabwe's authorities consider these levels of
success to be a
threat to the ruling party's power-base, these advantages are
being
denied to Zimbabwe's population.
Zimbabwe's current policies
very clearly have nothing to do with
empowering the people. Government's
decision to revert to feudal
State-ownership of land is already proving to be
a massively retrograde
step.
John Robertson
November 28
2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farm
leases have no collateral value
Zim Independent
23 November 2006
By
Eric Bloch
IT was almost five years since the government first stated
that its
policy on agricultural land tenure would be the issue of 99-year
leases
to farmers, ownership of the land being vested in the
state.
Over those years, there were repeated assurances that the issue of
the
leases was imminent, that the leases would be available to all as
would
use the lands productively, that they would entrench the
farmers'
security of tenure and that they would be the foundation for
the
long-awaited recovery of Zimbabwe's decimated agricultural
sector.
The repute of the Zimbabwe government for fulfilment of policies
and
undertakings has long been known to be implemented (if implemented
at
all) at one of three speeds: slow, very slow and stop.
However,
rarely has been governmental inaction as pronounced, and inept,
as has been
the case of the farm leases. The government has almost 20
million hectares of
land available at its disposal, albeit that despite
its renowned, prolific
and vociferous contentions to the contrary, most
of that land was unjustly
and inequitably expropriated from legitimate
farmers.
Fifteen years
after enacting the Land Acquisition Act, more than six
years after declared
intents of redistribution of the expropriated lands,
20 years after much land
vested in the government as a result of
purchases funded by the United
Kingdom and five years after enunciating
its 99-year lease policy, the
government has granted 125 leases,
encompassing an aggregate of less than 1%
of the land supposedly to be
redistributed and resettled. Big deal! What a
spectacular achievement! At
that rate, all the land will have been leased to
farmers by about the
year 2500!
Nonetheless, there was great blowing
of fanfares, and much ceremonial,
when a fortnight ago the first 125 leases
were released to the lessee
farmers.
Although the government is
supposed (as part of its war against
inflation) to be curbing its
expenditure, it unhesitatingly hosted a
massive shindig at the Harare
International Conference Centre, graced by
President Robert Mugabe, the
Minister of State for Security and Lands and
numerous other ministers and
dignitaries as well as a deluge from the
media (mainly
state-controlled).
Mugabe implied that the issue of the leases, as
commenced that day,
heralded the start of a new era for Zimbabwe. Not only
did he contend
that the wrongs of more than a century were being righted, but
also that
the future of agriculture was assured. None can credibly argue that
there
were no wrongs perpetrated in the past. These included the abhorrent
Land
Apportionment Act which was law for over 40 years, unjustly
and
unacceptably barring indigenous and non-indigenous black Zimbabweans
from
land ownership.
But there were commensurate wrongs
committed by the present government:
its spurious, never-ending contentions
that whites had "stolen" the land,
now expropriated by the government, remain
as specious as ever.
In fact, in its iniquitous commandeering of land
ownership, devoid of
regard for international precepts of justice, for human
rights, for
enforcement of law and order, and without fair compensation, the
reality
is that the government has done exactly that which it has
repeatedly
alleged were the offences of the past.
However,
commensurate in magnitude, to that government offence, is that
in committing
it, the government has brought the entire economy to levels
commensurate with
the greatest poverty prevailing worldwide, has
alienated most of the
international community and, directly relevant,
reduced most Zimbabweans to
near starvation. That contrasts with only 10
years ago, when not only did
Zimbabwe wholly feed itself but also much of
the region.
The tragedies
do not end there.
Key factors driving a successful agricultural economy
include that the
farmers have security of tenure, and that they have access
to funding the
development and working capital. It must be acknowledged that,
to some
extent, the leases may give security of tenure; prima facie, they are
to
endure for 99 years.
That security is an essential if lessees are
to be motivated to develop
and improve the farms, for none will risk capital
and effort if they fear
imminent loss. But, the security of tenure is not
assured.
On the one hand, the government has vividly demonstrated its
disrespect
for tenure laws, readily overturning them, in its enactment of the
Land
Acquisition Act, and numerous amendments thereto, and then
implementation
thereof. How can farm lessees be assured that the government
will not, in
the future, similarly renege on its leases?
On the other
hand, the government also reserves the right to terminate
leases where the
lessees do not properly work and exploit the farms. In
theory, there is some
justification for that right, but the inequity is
that the government retains
for itself the determination whether or not
the farms are effectively used.
Thus the government will be prosecutor,
judge and jury while the lessees'
rights of "defence" are minimal, not
even including an entrenched protection
of "vis majeure", otherwise known
as "acts of God".
Therefore, the
assurances of security of tenure are naught but an
elaborate fade, which may
well result in many not proceeding on their
farm development with commitment
and conviction, whereupon the government
can validly give effect to
termination provisions!
Compounding the lease farce is the government's
contention that the
leases accord the lessees collateral to secure
borrowings. That
contention is founded upon provisions that while the land
may not be
encumbered, the improvements thereon can be offered as security
for
funding.
Furthermore, the government states that if there is a
change of lessee,
then lenders can look to the new lessee for repayment of
such loans as
secured by the collateral of the improvements. The sad reality
is that
these provisions demonstrate a total lack of any realistic
appreciation
of private-sector provision of loan funding.
A lender
needs to know that collateral is readily realisable, should
realisation be
necessary in order to recover unpaid loans. To achieve
that, the collateral
must be freely disposable, albeit usually by public
auction initiated by the
deputy sheriff. That is not possible in
instances where a lender defaults,
but remains the farm lessee, unless
the improvements are wholly
moveable.
Similarly, when a new lessee moves on to the farm, and
notwithstanding
that the government states that he will then be liable to the
lender,
there is no effective recourse against him unless the improvements
are
moveable, or the new lessee has other assets which can be
lawfully
attached and disposed of.
Therefore, despite everything the
government has said to the contrary,
the farm leases have no collateral value
or, at the least, very little,
and therefore the likelihood of the financial
sector being able or
willing to provide the new farmers with requisite
finance is remote in
the extreme.
Worsening the situation further, the
government has now abdicated from
its lawful obligation to compensate former
farmers for the improvements
they had effected, for it has now transferred
that obligation to the new
lessees.
Once again the government is
wiping its hands of legal and moral
obligations. In the process, it is
burdening many lessees with
unsustainable
debts.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reality
dawns on new lease holders
- Zimbabwe Independent -
01 December
2006
Shakeman Mugari
THEY were launched amid fanfare, and
President Robert Mugabe said they
were a "landmark event in the history of
the country" as he handed them
over to elated new farmers.
But three
weeks on, the excitement is dying down. The farmers are
beginning to wake up
to the limitations of the new lease documents they
received from government
on November 16. A close reading of the document
shows that it neither fully
guarantees security of tenure nor can it be
used as collateral to get loans
from banks.
Financial risk experts say the lease document is full of
vague and loose
legal statements that pose a serious potential risk to any
financial
institution that may want to accept it as collateral.
They
say the lease is flawed and porous, opening it to political abuse
by
government. They say even the security of tenure that the leases
were
initially thought to provide is under threat from clauses that give
too
much power to the government as the lessor.
Section 20 of the
lease says government can cancel the lease at any time
under conditions it
deems necessary. "The lessor may, at any time and in
such manner and under
such conditions as it may deem fit, repossess the
leasehold or any portion if
the possession is reasonably necessary in the
interest of defence, public
safety, public morality, public health, town
and country planning or the
utilisation of that or any other property for
purposes beneficial generally
or to any section of the public."
Lawyer Chris Mhike said such sections
scare away banks from lending to
holders of such leases. "That clause is
dangerously wide because it wipes
away the same concept of security of tenure
that it is seeking to
entrench for the benefit of the farmers," Mhike said.
"The inclusion of
wide and vague provisions in legal documents and
instruments is
unreasonable and untenable in any democratic society," he
said. Mhike
said it was sad that a "government that pledged to be
revolutionary
should give its citizens rights that are less than the ones
that the
coloniser gave to himself".
The document goes further to
erode the security by stating in sections 23
that government shall not be
obliged to pay or compensate the farmer for
improvements that it has not
approved. That means a farmer can be booted
out of the property with nothing.
"This means that government has the
right to compulsorily acquire
developments effected by the farmer under
the flimsy reason that they have
not been approved," said Mhike.
Bankers are worried that the lease is not
transferable without permission
from government. An official from a local
commercial bank said the fact
that the lease cannot be transferred and the
right of government to
repossess the property make it impossible for banks to
consider it as
collateral. "It's very difficult because it does not give us
the
guarantee that the bank will be able to recover its money if the
farmer
defaults on the loan payment," said the official.
The previous
leases that were held by farmers before the land reform
could be auctioned if
the farmer failed to pay. The new owner was
entitled to utilise the farm for
the remaining portion of the lease's
duration. Most banks have already given
the lease document a wide berth
as a security asset.
But the scandal
goes beyond land. Section 9.5 says no farmer shall sell
five heads of cattle
without offering one to government. "Any group of
five or more head of cattle
reared or pastured on his or her leasehold at
any time, the leaser shall, in
writing, offer one in five head of cattle
from such group to the lessor
(government)," says the lease. It states
that government shall have the first
right of refusal to buy the cattle.
If government fails to take up the offer
the farmer is prohibited from
selling the cattle at a price higher than what
the government was
prepared to pay for them.
Simply put, this means
that government is not only controlling the price
of cattle but is also
giving itself the right to buy 20% of national herd
at a price that it sees
fit. The saddest part of the document, experts
say, is that it does not leave
room to the farmer to challenge the
cancellation of the lease. Amendment 17
of the constitution says farmers
shall not bring to court land issues
involving government. This means
that farmers can lose their land and
improvements on it without any
alternative for redress at law.
Human
rights lawyer Otto Saki said the lease does not have checks and
balances to
deter government from using its authority to prejudice
thefarmer. "Such a
document could be used as a political tool by
government to dispossess people
who are perceived as not loyal to the
party," said Saki. Even more worrying
is that past experience with regard
to land has shown that government can
tamper with tenure laws when it
suits its agenda. For instance, after failing
to win court cases against
white commercial farmers, government went on to
amend the constitution
which effectively nationalised the land.
Saki
said like most laws that have been created in the past six years,
the lease
does not provide the required checks and balances that protect
the farmer.
"Because it lacks the required checks and balances to avoid
abuse, there is
nothing that can stop the government from cancelling the
lease at any time
especially when it is armed with such dangerous Acts as
Amendment number 17,"
said Saki. "For example there is nothing that can
stop the Minister of
Agriculture from cancelling a farmer's lease to
bring in his
connections."
Zimbabwejournalists.com
By Rhoda Mashavave
INSTANBUL - Zimbabwe
is among countries that continue to experience
music censorship from the
ruling government resulting in musicians who wish
to sing about the
country's on-going political and economic crisis having to
do that from
abroad.
Belarus, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Turkey, Cuba
and China are
some the countries which also continue to experience music
censorship from
their governments.
A musical conference,
Freemuse, which held its 3rd Conference in
Istanbul, Turkey with the theme
entitled "Music will not be silenced",
discussed the issue of censorship and
many others affecting the arts world.
A report prepared by Maxwell
Sibanda, a Zimbabwean journalist and
Freemuse committee executive member,
said: "Censorship of music has been
rife in Zimbabwe but it has been made
worse by the reign of the then
Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo who
blacked out foreign from being
played in Zimbabwe.
"Zimbabweans
have been forced to listen to the songs which were
composed by government
bootlickers."
Even to this day, following Moyo's departure from the
ruling party,
music which is considered against the President Robert Mugabe
is never
played hence many local singers have turned to gospel music which
is
considered non political.
The censorship has forced the
Chimurenga music icon, Thomas Mapfumo,
to live in exile in the United States
of America. Not only musicians have
suffered even the radio presenters who
played music composed by those viewed
as anti-government were retrenched
from their jobs.
Said Sibanda: "In Zimbabwe, music has for
centuries held a special
place in the people's culture and identity.
Harvests, rain and hunting
ceremonies, celebrations, wars and traditional
rituals are all accompanied
by particular songs and music. The Zimbabwean
politician has also embraced
music, composing catchy tunes which are spiced
with campaign messages. The
government began commissioning musicians to
record music productions in
2000, most being songs supporting land policies.
By 2005 it had recorded a
number of music albums and videos. Former
Information Minister Professor
Jonathan Moyo wrote and composed several of
the songs. The Zimbabwe 2005
parliamentary elections turned out to be a
battle of songs."
He added: "Elliot Manyika, a cabinet minister and
the ruling Zimbabwe
African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu PF)
national commissar and
elections director composed an eight-track album
called Zimbabwe 2005.
Former Information Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo
released his own
campaign album called Phambili LeTsholotsho. The Movement
for Democratic
Change (MDC) released a set of compositions by legislator
Paul Madzore which
were played at their political rallies."
The
Zimbabwean musician has been speaking through music, through song.
For
others the right to sing freely has been curtailed by being denied
airplay
at state controlled radio and television stations. For others who
"compose
and sing the right songs", the airwaves have been their
playground."
Whilst in Ivory Coast it is almost the same story
as popular reggae
artist Fadal Dey lamented, some of his songs were not
being played on the
radio and state television as his music is considered to
the rebelious.
He described censorship of music as violation of
human rights.
"It pains me a lot that my music is not being played
on the national
radio or television. My songs are a mirror to the society I
live. It is a
crime to shut them out from the radio and television. People
need to listen
to my songs," said Fadal.
On a good note Fadal
said: "The sale of my songs have tripled because
people are now curious to
hear my music because of the boycott from the
public radio and
television."
"I have been inspired by this gathering that I have more
energy to
complete my new album entitled Free Iraq. The world should know
that people
in Iraq are suffering and they need our support," Fadal said at
the end of
the conference. He sings in French.
Shakeb Isaar, an
exiled video jockey from Afghanistan, was not very
lucky. He had to flee his
country after receiving death threats from radical
religious group. He now
lives in Sweden where he got asylum.
"I would have loved to live in
Afghanistan but I received threats of
death from fundamental Islamic people.
The government turned a blind eye on
my plight. My body was ripped that I
have cuts all over my body. My crime
was for playing foreign music on the
television," said Isaar.
"The people who beat me asked me questions
like why are you trying to
change the culture, society and the belief of
Afghanistan people. Some of
the people who beat me up were even wearing
police uniforms. I could not
even trust the policemen or anyone else," Isaar
said.
Isaar is now living in Sweden where he continues to work as Tolo
television entertainment correspondent.
"Though I miss my job in
Afghanistan. I think Sweden is the best
country for foreign immigrants who
have suffered under their own people. The
Swedish government helped me a
lot. Now I have a lot of friends and I feel
secure. I am in touch with my
family in Afghanistan but I had to change my
identity for my own security,"
said Isaar.
In Belarus music sang in Belarusian language is assumed
to oppose the
state.
"Music sang in Russian language is considered
to be supporting the
ruling regime," said Lemez Lovak, a British reacher who
presented a report
on Belarus entitled "Belarus -Hidden Truth".
Though Turkey has almost crossed the bridge on censorship of music,
the
country still has a long way to go.
Hakki Bulut a Turkish artist said:
"Censorship is still alive in
Turkey".
Artists from Turkey gave
their testimonies on how they have suffered
during different regimes and how
they have managed to move on.
Ferhat Tunc a Turkish singer who was once
arrested and tortured said:
"Despite censorship we will continue to sing and
express ourselves.
Verdat Tursali had a different opinion as he
said: "Censorship is
really a villain and the people who exert it should be
punished."
For the two days researchers, artists and media people
discussed
challenges and problems of censorship especially in closed
societies.
The next conference will be held in four years time, for
artists,
researchers and media personnel continue to fight censorship from
all
corners of the world.
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa
LONDON
- Once again the government of Robert Mugabe has deployed its
army into
rural Matabeleland.
In scenes reminiscent of the start of the
Gukurahundi campaign against
the people of Matabeleland, members of the
military (and propped by their
handlers such as Sydney Sekeramayi), are in
Matabeleland at the excuse of
sovereignty.
It is disturbing
that one of the same ministers who were in charge of
the "security"
portfolio during the genocide in Matabeleland and the
Midlands is seeing it
very normal that the army is present in the same
Tsholotsho area where the
bloodiest campaign of the Gukurahundi era was
held.
The Army is
accused of firing at night to intimidate villagers. It
must be recorded that
the memories of that barbaric campaign are still fresh
in the minds of
Ndebele people although the entire world has decided to
sweep it under the
carpet. Some of the people now left at the mercy of the
army are victims of
the previous campaign whose call for at least an apology
have been ridiculed
by the legitimating of the Genocide by one of ZANU PF's
senior leaders and
spokesperson, Nathan Shamuyarira.
Statements by Shamuyarira were
followed by total silence from other
senior figures from Mashonaland such as
Robert Mugabe, Joice Mujuru, Didymus
Mutasa etc making it clear that when
Nathan Shamuyarira spoke he was indeed
echoing their concerns.
When the Gukurahundi campaign started, it was under the disguise of
helping
commercial farmers and protecting the sovereignty of the country.
The
current campaign is under the guise of "Operation Maguta", an operation
no
person in Matabeleland invited from the government. Senior political
figures
from Matabeleland such as Paul Themba Nyathi have been arrested
under
trumped-up charges.
The crime of Paul Themba Nyathi, a war veteran
and veteran human
rights activist (one of the three founders of ZimRights),
has been to tell
members of the Zimbabwe National Army that they should
refrain from beating
their fathers and brothers and from raping their
mothers and sisters, both
legitimate words from a person who gave a lot for
the freedom of his
country. In the past people from the largely marginalised
provinces of
Matabeleland have complained peacefully by voting the
Opposition.
Their genuine concerns have been that they do not have
water to
survive, they have complained against the marginalisation of their
languages
as the government has deliberately destroyed languages such as
Ndebele,
Kalanga and Tonga by making sure they are not introduced in school
curricula
in Matabeleland and in the Ndebele speaking parts of the Midlands
(the
majority). People in Matabeleland have seen their culture eroded and
another
culture replacing it, they have been humiliated by being shown that
they are
indeed second-class citizens in their own country.
What is happening in Matabeleland now is a symptom of what has become
of
Zimbabwe. On 13 September this year (2006) labour leaders were rounded
up,
viciously beaten, taken to police custody and tormented for more than 48
hours.
They had their clothes taken off and were made to appear
inhuman by
all standards. This was the reaction of the government to their
organising
of peaceful protests against rising costs of living and unfair
wages, again
both legitimate concerns of a labour leadership in a country
that we all
suffered much to free. On the occasion again their torment was
ridiculed as
self-inflicted harm by Didymus Mutasa, the Minister for State
Security.
Yesterday the same minister gave a statement that such or even
worse action
will be taken against future protesters.
The MDC
UK and Ireland wishes to deplore in the loudest of terms this
kind of
attitude. As Zimbabweans we will no longer stand aside as our
Ndebele and
Kalanga brothers and sisters are butchered and genocides are
committed under
our noses. We resolve to join in the fight against
repression in
Matabeleland and walk the walk if need be. The era when people
in
Mashonaland, Masvingo and Manicaland regarded what happens in
Matabeleland
as an Ndebele thing is over, as Zimbabweans we are back to the
spirit of the
First and Second Chimurenga when the principle was common
nationhood.
In the same light we would like to warn the
government and its thugs
that our leaders are untouchable. Our mothers and
sisters are untouchable.
Our fathers and brothers are untouchable. We will
not allow their continued
humiliation and persecution. In urging the
Government of Zimbabwe not to
continue turning our army into a band
murderers and demand that the army be
pulled away from the peace-loving
people of rural Matabeleland, we want to
remind them that Zimbabweans are
capable of far worse things than they (the
government) would have imagined.
We are capable of exploring unseen heights
to free ourselves. Yet we remain
committed to our responsibilities as a
people to give peace a chance, to let
the souls of our fallen heroes rest in
peace!
Our silence must
never be seen as cowardice but just being
responsible. Zimbabweans are not
cowards, we are the same people who in
1684, led by Tombolaikona Tjimwango
(Changamire Dombo) drove Portuguese
imperialists away from our country, we
are the same people who, led by
Mzilikazi, challenged and fought against
oppression from Shaka, we are the
same people who led by Lobengula, fought
against the British in the
Anglo-Ndebele War, and led by Mbuya Nehanda and
Mkwati fought in the First
Chimurenga.
We were led by Joshua
Nkomo, Ndabaningi Sithole, Josiah Tongogara,
Hebert Chitepo and others to
fight for our independence. Recently Zimbabwean
soldiers took part in
campaigns in Mozambique, Somalia and the DRC. We are
the same people, we
have the same blood. Robert Mugabe and his cronies do
not hire people from
other countries to be our soldiers, police and CIO. We
are more than capable
of doing far worse things than Didymus Mutasa could
have imagined in his
sleep. If he thinks we are lying "Ngaambozviedza awone
chete!"
JULIUS SAI MUTYAMBIZI-DEWA IS THE SECRETARY FOR MDC UK AND IRELAND
Contacts: 02077206614, 07984254830 and mdcsecretary@yahoo.co.uk