http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5697712.ece
From
The Times
February 10, 2009
Martin Fletcher in Harare
It is the 85th
birthday of President Mugabe this month and the zealots of his Zanu (PF) party
are determined that it should be an occasion that their great leader will never
forget.
In recent days they have been out soliciting “donations” from
corporate Zimbabwe and have drawn up a wish list that is scarcely credible in a
land where seven million citizens survive on international food aid, 94 per cent
are jobless and cholera rampages through a population debilitated by
hunger.
The list includes 2,000 bottles of champagne (Moët & Chandon or
’61 Bollinger preferred); 8,000 lobsters; 100kg of prawns; 4,000 portions of
caviar; 8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates; 3,000 ducks; and much else
besides. A postscript adds: “No mealie meal” - the ground corn staple on which
the vast majority of Zimbabweans survived until the country’s collapse rendered
even that a luxury.
Those who prefer to give in cash, not kind, are invited
to send “donations” of between $ 45,000 and $ 55,000 to a US dollar bank account
in the name of the 21st February Movement, a youth organisation controlled by
Zanu (PF) and named after the date of the President’s birthday.
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Western diplomats and
aid workers were stunned when shown the list. “It’s just appalling. It’s like
they are either completely oblivious to what’s happening in their country, or
completely impervious and just don’t care,” said one. “It’s shocking and
obscene,” said another, who noted that lobsters were unobtainable in Zimbabwe
and would have to be flown in.
Others said it showed that the Mugabe regime
had no intention of curtailing its excesses after entering a unity government
with the Movement for Democratic Change later this week.
The Times cannot be
entirely sure of the list’s authenticity but it came from a reliable source who
was contacted by this newspaper, not the other way round. The source had no
vested interest in its publication, was hesitant about releasing it and had
himself received it from three or four separate businesses that had been
approached for donations.
He said that in each case the approaches were made
by groups of youths from the 21st February Movement who were aggressive and
threatening, and warned that they would make life difficult for the businesses
if they did not stump up. In most cases they are doing so because the cost of
fighting the quasi-mafia that runs Zimbabwe is simply too high. Zimbabweans
became accustomed long ago to the “elite” staging extravagant celebrations for
the birthday of the increasingly reviled President - last year’s reportedly cost
$ 1.2 million - but the organiser of this year’s bash is Patrick Zhuwawo, Mr
Mugabe’s nephew, who seems determined to outdo his predecessors.
At the
launch of the fundraising campaign in a Harare hotel last month, Comrade
Zhuwawo, the out- going Deputy Minister of Science and Technological
Development, said that thousands of youths and invited guests would join the
first family for the celebrations in Chinhoyi, in Mashonaland West, Mr Mugabe’s
home province, on February 28. He said that hundreds of cattle, goats and sheep
would also be slaughtered for the lavish one-day celebration.
“It’s an
important day for Zimbabweans to celebrate the life of our great leader and
Africa’s hero,” he said. “Zanu (PF) continues to receive massive donations from
the corporate world, ordinary Zimbabweans and from people from all walks of life
and we are confident that this year’s celebrations will be the best.”
He even
suggested that the event would raise funds for the underprivileged, which led
one outraged academic to quip last night that this would include almost every
Zimbabwean not invited to the party and that most would happily accept the
extravagance provided that it was Mr Mugabe’s last.
Mr Mugabe’s birthday
parties are seldom understated affairs. The celebration two years ago featured
20,000 guests in the Mboka football stadium in the city of Gweru, which was
shown on national television. It featured giant cakes, children in brightly
coloured sashes mingling with the “elite” and a speech by the President
denouncing homosexuality. For his 80th birthday - which he celebrated in his
home village of Kutama, 50 miles west of Harare - the day began with a Catholic
Mass followed by a festival of school choirs, a police band and a performance by
the gospel singer Fungisai Zvakavapano.
Zimbabwe’s newspapers often publish
huge colour advertisements wishing the Old Crocodile birthday greetings from
state enterprises that have been haemorrhaging money for years.
This year,
however, the Zimbabwean media have reported that even some Zanu (PF) members
have complained about the planned celebration. Dzikamai Mavhaire, a senator,
told a recent provincial executive meeting in Masvingo: “We cannot fundraise for
a single person when we have millions of starving Zimbabweans in the country . .
. Only [Mugabe’s] personal friends and relatives within the party or outside
should do that.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Birthday list
2,000
bottles of champagne - Moët & Chandon and ’61 Bollinger
500 bottles of
whisky - Johnny Walker Blue Label, 22-year-old Chivas
8,000 lobsters
100kg
king prawns
3,000 ducks
4,000 portions of caviar
8,000 boxes of Ferrero
Rocher
16,000 eggs
3,000 cakes - chocolate and vanilla
4,000 packs of
pork sausages
500kg cheese
4,000 packets of
crackers
______________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11257
February 9,
2009
Tanonoka Whande
I AM very tempted to hold my breath and cheer,
wishing with every fiber of my existence that the Government of National Unity
(GNU) to be consummated by dictator Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai and his
Movement for Democratic Change on Wednesday will take hold and
succeed.
Sadly, I am cursed with pessimism. Fear comes uninvited.
With all
the odds staked against the success of this GNU, this thing called hope, remote
and faint as it might be, lingers and flatters lazily about. It is hope forcibly
born out of a desire to see the cessation of hardships inflicted on our
compatriots by the same man whom we are now expected to trust to bring national
salvation.
We are expected to put our lives in the hands of the same man who,
over the decades, has taken so many of our peoples’ lives. Our break with the
past is to be overseen by the man who has soiled the past we are so desperately
trying to abandon and forget about.
Unfortunately, I am one of those who can
never think that Robert Mugabe can do anything positive for the people of
Zimbabwe; not after the man gave himself almost 30 years to destroy everything
in his path, like the fabled bull in a China shop.
He used the 30 years at
the helm of a peaceful, prosperous country to convince the world of his
character.
There was a chilling display of brutality. There was an undisputed
demonstration of economic incompetence and of corruption.
We lived through
human rights abuses during which we witnessed so many of our compatriots die and
many more go missing.
Property rights were taken away from us and many of us
lost property to our own government.
Our judiciary was contaminated while our
Parliament became a madman’s bedroom, where political sadism was practiced at
the expense of legislative protocol.
Our homes were bulldozed to the ground
and others were set alight as our own government, our supposed protectors,
exposed our infants, the elderly and the infirm to the elements.
Millions of
our compatriots were forced to flee the country of their birth to seek
protection among strangers outsider our borders because our own government
wanted to do them harm.
I find it ironic that I sit here in Gaborone,
unwelcome in Zimbabwe, my mother country, where a foreigner, Mengistu Haile
Mariam, the Butcher of Addis, where he is known to have killed more than 500 000
of his own people, is given sanctuary and sits and lives in comfort at our
expense.
That is the ultimate insult.
Meanwhile, the so-called African
leaders met during of their endless and now meaningless summits in Addis Ababa
and elected Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi as Chairman of the African
Union.
They were also addressed by Mugabe who bombarded the hapless
presidents with details of his “impressive” record as President of
Zimbabwe.
After the March 29 elections SADC forced the winners of an election
to relinquish a clean mandate legitimately given to them by the people. For
SADC’s sake this arrangement must succeed then SADC may, at least, claim that
they achieved something.
But I am a worried soul.
My greatest fear is that
the presence of the MDC in this government, in which Zanu-PF is clearly
dictating both the terms and the direction, resuscitates Mugabe and strengthens
his brutal regime. The MDC’s presence in this government legitimizes Mugabe in
the eyes of the world and the last thing we want to see now is Mugabe
replenishing his strength.
I pray that this unity is temporary. I wish it
could have been slated to last only a few hours because I feel terribly uneasy
with an angel (figurative) who keeps following and asking the devil’s help to
cross a river. Can the angel do so without compromising himself?
I hope this
is temporary.
Zimbabweans had voted for a clean break with Mugabe and the
opening of a new chapter. We got neither.
It is my hope that the MDC knows
something we do not know. They are obviously taking a very big risk on behalf of
the nation, a risk that might end up leaving Mugabe in a stronger position than
he enjoyed before the agreement.
While the contestants literally circle
around each other in the arena, sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies must remain
firmly in place.
There should be no letting up and the pressure must be
maintained or even tightened until we see a deliberate willingness to free the
Zimbabwean people and to give back the people their freedom and protection.
I
do not believe this marriage of convenience will last. I fear its consequences.
There is too much at stake for both sides and compromise is going to be
necessary. Yet compromise is one thing the two camps are at pains to make.
I
do not believe in this exercise at all, not because of Robert Tsvangirai but
because of Robert Mugabe. My fear and reluctance are born from past and current
experiences.
The resilience of the Zimbabwean people is a matter of public
record. Zimbabweans have managed to somehow survive under the most of
excruciating circumstances. They have miraculously provided food for themselves
and their families.
We fought like lions to liberate our country and still
refuse to be tamed by anyone.
For several decades, everyday has been D-Day
for Zimbabweans because Mugabe treated us with disdain.
On Wednesday, we
enter a new phase which, regardless of whether the GNU holds up or not, will peg
a watershed on our political landscape. It alarmingly requires of us to trust
Robert Mugabe more than we have ever done before.
I think the international
community is expecting a little too much of Zimbabweans, knowing as we do that
there is absolutely no way something called a government of national unity can
emerge and last in
Zimbabwe.
_____________________________________________
http://changezimbabwe.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1959&Itemid=2
Written
by CZ Correspondent
Monday, 09 February 2009
MDC President, Morgan
Tsvangirai, will be sworn as President on Wednesday morning and address a public
gathering at Glamis Stadium, Showgrounds in the afternoon.
MDC secretary for
information and publicity Nelson Chamisa, said Prime Minister Tsvangirai was
expected to address Zimbabweans at about noon.
Tsvangirai would have been
sworn in as Prime Minister, with MDC vice-president, Thokozani Khupe, and Arthur
Mutambara of the splinter MDC faction sworn in as deputy prime
ministers.
Chamisa said, as this was a national event, no party regalia
should be worn, and would not be entertained
"This will be a historic
occasion for the country. It marks the beginning of a new era; the final miles
of a journey to a new Zimbabwe," said Chamisa in a Press
statement.
________________________________________
http://www.zimbabwemetro.com/news/mdc-bans-party-regalia-at-inaguration/
Local
News
February 10, 2009
By Simba Dzvairo
© zimbabwemetro.com
The
inauguration of Morgan Tsvangirai
The Movement for Democratic Change(MDC) has
banned party regalia at the inauguration of Morgan Tsvangirai as the second
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.
In a statement released late Tuesday the party
said the gathering at Glamis Arena is a national event and not a party
rally.
‘No party regalia will be entertained at the event as this is not a
party occasion but a major national event. This will be a historic occasion for
the country. It marks the beginning of a new era; the final miles of a journey
to a new Zimbabwe.’,read part of the statement.
MDC President Tsvangirai will
be sworn in as Prime Minister tomorrow while the MDC Vice president and Makokoba
senior Member of Parliament Thokozani Khupe, will be sworn in as deputy prime
minister.
Tsvangirai will read his oath while placing his hand on the bible
and will be sworn by President Mugabe assisted by the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku at a colourful ceremony at the Glamis
Arena.
“I, Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, do swear that I will well and truly
serve in the Office of Prime Minister, so help me God,” he will say, taking the
oath of
office.
____________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11294
February 9,
2009
Harare
The mainstream Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
outlined plans for a massive non-partisan celebration after the inauguration
Wednesday of Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai.
“No party regalia
will be entertained at the event as this is not a party occasion but a major
national event,” MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. “This will be a historic
occasion for the country. It marks the beginning of a new era; the final miles
of a journey to a new Zimbabwe.”
In accordance with the party’s commitment to
provide the most open and accessible inauguration of the Prime Minister in
history, the MDC is working with relevant authorities to open up as much of the
Glamis Arena as possible to accommodate the large number of Zimbabweans expected
to throng the historic day than ever before.
Zimbabweans from all over the
country will be expected to join the celebrations in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare,
that starts in the morning, with the Prime Minister is expected to address the
“bumper crowds” that the multi-party rally is expected to draw.
“This will be
a gathering where the Prime Minister will address the people, giving a statement
on direction and content of policy and basically outlining the trajectory,”
Chamisa told The Zimbabwe Times.
The celebrations intend to deliver on
Tsvangirai’s commitment to organize an inauguration celebration that will rally
all Zimbabweans to meet the great challenges of our time, food and jobs and
reviving the social services sectors.
Chamisa said the MDC was committed to
ensuring that the celebrations are organized in a way that reflects the common
values of Zimbabwe’s people, shared aspirations and commitment to addressing
challenges facing Zimbabwe as one united nation.
Tsvangirai will on Wednesday
become Zimbabwe’s second Prime Minister after Mugabe, who assumed the post at
independence in 1980. The post was abolished in 1989 when he led a campaign to
introduce reforms that entrenched him in the executive presidency.
“Gates
will be opened in the morning and the Prime Minister is expected to address the
people around noon,” he said.
Tsvangirai will be sworn in as Prime Minister
on Wednesday while the MDC vice president, Thokozani Khupe, will become one of
the two deputy Prime Ministers, with Prof Arthur Mutambara, who leads the
breakaway MDC faction occupying the other post.
“We have to shift from a
partisan to a pluralistic mode,” said Chamisa. “It’s a new dispensation.”
He
said that party regalia would be strictly forbidden as the celebrations were
open to every Zimbabwean, including supporters of rival parties. He denied that
the police had imposed a ban on party regalia.
“It’s our own decision, not
that of the police,” he said.
Asked if the rally had been cleared by the
police, Chamisa retorted: “We don’t need police clearance to hold a national
event. Do you seek police clearance to hold a Cabinet meeting?”
Chamisa said
the MDC was working to ensure that all the remaining unresolved issues were
sorted out, describing the process as “work-in-progress”.
The release of
abductees before February 11 was under discussion by the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (JOMIC), but is obviously a serious obstacle to
progress if it is not resolved in the next few days.
On Monday political
detainees all failed to appear in court ostensibly because there was no
fuel.
Only freelance journalist Shadreck Manyere’s case was heard by a
magistrate on Monday where defence lawyers told the court how prison officers
denied him medical treatment by taking him away from the Avenues Clinic, a
private hospital in Harare despite an order by a High Court Judge that the state
should complete an investigation into allegations by him and other co-accused of
torture whilst in unlawful detention.
Manyere is charged along with six MDC
activists on alleged acts of banditry, sabotage and terrorism.
On Monday,
Manyere failed yet again to appear in court for remand, ostensibly because
prison officials did not have fuel for transport to bring them to
court.
“It’s an issue of utmost concern to us and I can assure you a lot is
happening,” Chamisa told The Zimbabwe Times.
“We can’t divulge the details;
we want to secure their release. Its worrisome. They are victims of political
machinations, we have demanded their release. We are taking practical measures
and palpable steps (to ensure their release).”
Another outstanding issue is
the enactment of the National Security Bill, drawn up by the mainstream MDC. It
is believed that the negotiators have agreed on the Bill and that it will be
fast-tracked through Parliament this week.
Both the House of Assembly and
Senate have adjourned until tomorrow.
There has been agreement on sharing of
provincial governorships, with the mainstream being allocated MDC five
provincial gubernatorial posts, Zanu-PF four and getting to appoint an extra
minister of State and the last one going to the Mutambara MDC.
The review of
the appointments of the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gideon Gono and
Attorney-General, Johannes Tomana, had also been demanded by the mainstream MDC,
which is reported to prefer Alec Muchadehama as the new AG.
The MDC appears
to have accepted the SADC position that this should be deferred until after the
formation of the inclusive government. Critics say for restoring confidence in
the economy and in the rule of law these are key appointments.
Chamisa said
the Cabinet line-up was expected to be presented at a press conference in Harare
on
Wednesday.
_________________________________________
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_2466658,00.html
09/02/2009
14:00 - (SA)
JOHANNESBURG
Zimbabwe's opposition number two, Tendai Biti,
will take up a post of government minister later this week, sources with the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said on Monday, rejecting reports he had
decided to boycott the power-sharing deal.
"He's going to be in cabinet. It's
going to happen, 100%," a senior official in the party told Deutsche
Presse-Agentur dpa.
"We were all a bit surprised by this thing (MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai's agreement to join a Mugabe-dominated government) but he's
fully behind this now," another party official, who is tipped for a ministerial
position in the unity government.
Both sources tipped Biti to become finance
minister, the most prominent of the 13 ministries awarded to the MDC in a
September power-sharing deal, according to which Mugabe remains president and
Tsvangirai becomes prime minister.
Mugabe's Zanu-PF will control of 15
ministries and a breakaway MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara will have
three.
Tsvangirai is scheduled to be sworn in as prime minister on Wednesday.
The cabinet is due to be sworn in two days later.
MDC secretary-general
Tendai Biti was part of the more hardline faction within the MDC that opposed
joining a government that is heavily skewed in Zanu-PF's favour.
The MDC,
which won the last parliamentary elections, had previously insisted on a more
equitable deal.
In the end, after coming under sustained pressure from other
southern African countries, the party voted last week in favour of Tsvangirai's
proposal to join the government and try to effect change from within.
Given
the ruinous state of Zimbabwe's economy, the finance ministry is seen as a
poisoned chalice. A strong candidate will be needed to convince Western powers
to abandon their wait-and-see approach to the new government and commit large
amounts of aid.
"He would be very well suited," the source tipped for a
ministerial post said of the popular Biti.
Analysts say that Zimbabwe's
economic turnaround will have to be mostly African-funded - at least in the
short-term.
On Sunday, South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, who has
been involved in the power-sharing talks, floated the prospect of Zimbabwe
ditching its worthless currency for the rand.
"It may be practical for them
to enter into an arrangement with our Reserve Bank here and adopt the rand as
their currency," Motlanthe said in an interview with state
television.
Meanwhile, while Tsvangirai is being sworn in on Wednesday, a
group of MDC members and opposition activists that have also been campaigning
for democratic change will probably still be languishing in prison.
Despite
Tsvangirai insisting last week that around 30 political prisoners, who including
leading rights activist Jestina Mukoko, be released before his inauguration, MDC
sources said they did not think they would be freed on time. - Sapa-dpa
-
SAPA
______________________________________________
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=1857
By
Isaac Chihota
for ZimEye.org
Published: February 10,
2009
Harare
(ZimEye)
The leader of the MDC rebel faction, Arthur
Mutambara faces a massive party revolt as party members react to his recent
speeches and actions which have been largely viewed to be ‘nonsensical’ and
‘irrational’. Mutambara, pictured above, known for using ‘great swelling words
the ear cannot endure’, might find his political career reaching a dead-end as
many of his supporters desert the MDC for the late Joshua Nkomo’s recently
revived veteran party, ZAPU.
Two of Mutambara’s top party henchmen who on
condition of anonymity spoke to the ZimEye have detailed how ‘ludicrous,
disgraceful, and irrelevant’ they find their leader to be. Many in Bulawayo have
already deserted the MDC for ZAPU along with scores of others in the United
Kingdom. At least two meetings have already been held since January in
Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city as well Leeds where large numbers
turned up in support of ZAPU. One of the people attending the ZAPU meetings,
identifying himself as Clement emphatically told the ZimEye:
‘ZAPU is still
alive!’
Until recently, many Ndebele’s found themselves aligning by default
to Mutambara’s faction instead of Tsvangirai’s as the latter was accused
reportedly of running the party on tribal grounds and favouring Shona’s above
Ndebeles.
Many Zimbabweans both Shona and Ndebele also expressed concern at
Mutambara’s September 15 speech which they said was ‘childish, emotional, and
more of a colloquial than a formal speech to be delivered by the leader of a
national party.’
Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, Mutambara recently told
donors to ‘shut up’ in expressing their views on Zimbabwe.
“All the sceptics
must now shut up and support what Zimbabweans want. Listen to us as
Zimbabweans,” he said
The leader of the MDC splinter group, who almost always
poses in front of cameras with a rude cynical wink, faces a massive exit of
supporters in particular Ndebele’s who have vowed to leave the party and to
instead join ZAPU. (ZimEye,
Zimbabwe)
_____________________________________________
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2009/feb/09/zimbabwe-mugabe-power-tsvangirai
Commentators
criticise South African and regional leaders for pressuring opposition MDC
leader into agreement
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding
between their respective parties in Harare.
There is little enthusiasm among
bloggers and commentators for Zimbabwe's unity deal, which should see Morgan
Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, sworn in as prime minister on
Wednesday.
The prevailing sentiment is that Tsvangirai has buckled under
enormous regional pressure - especially from South Africa - to accept a deal
that still leaves power concentrated in the hands of the wily Robert Mugabe.
Denford Magora, a Zimbabwean blogger, believes that Tsvangirai and his Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC), have capitulated to Mugabe, who has ruled since
1980.
"To all intents and purposes and if we go by what MDC supporters have
always been saying, then their party has surrendered to Mugabe. They go into a
government that is loaded to the gills with Mugabe's cronies."
Ray Hartley,
the editor of the Times, South Africa, denounces Pretoria's pressure on
Tsvangirai to accept the unity deal and urges the Obama administration to reject
South African demands to resume aid to the Mugabe regime.
"South Africa and
other neighbours who insist on supporting the criminal regime are free to supply
aid. But western governments must maintain their sanctions - especially those
aimed at individual members of the Mugabe regime and the companies they
control."
Eddie Cross, on the Metro Zimbabwe blog, deplores not just South
Africa but the regional group, the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), for siding with Mugabe, who has managed to hang on to power after
controversial elections that saw Tsvangirai win the first round of the
presidential poll but abandon the run-off due to state-sponsored
violence.
"The fact that SADC clearly backed the position of the Mugabe
regime at last week's meeting in the face of overwhelming evidence and rationale
is a real indictment of African leadership. They were not even acting in defence
of their own interests, let alone the interests of the long-suffering Zimbabwe
people."
Daniel Molokele, on ZimOnline, is one of the few to offer a -
half-hearted - defence of Tsvangirai and the MDC.
"The MDC decision to
endorse the SADC-brokered process represents a decisive shift on its part from
the flamboyant idealism that exuded from its launch in 1999 to a much more
down-to-earth practical approach. The MDC appears to have opted to go down the
path of realism and pragmatism in its ongoing quest for democratic change in
Zimbabwe."
Meanwhile, the This is Zimbabwe website has published undercover
pictures of emaciated prisoners and links to an article in the Zimbabwean
newspaper that provides details about the grim conditions in the country's
jails.
_____________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/1513.html
09 February,
2009 03:35:00 By Cris Chinaka
More of the same: Emmerson Mnangagwa
HARARE
Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai are
expected to appoint political allies to a unity government who lack the
credentials to lure Western donors and investors to rebuild the ruined
economy.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is due to join
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in government on Friday under a September power-sharing
pact.
Tsvangirai will become prime minister and is due to be sworn in on
Wednesday alongside his MDC deputy Thokozani Khupe and MDC faction leader Arthur
Mutambara, who will both be deputy prime ministers.
Speculation is rife in
the local media that Mugabe and Tsvangirai will appoint their close political
lieutenants into a 32-member cabinet whose major challenge will be to turn
around an economy ravaged by the world's highest inflation rate, put at over 231
million percent last June.
Analysts say the country needs a high profile
economist or technocrat who commands international respect and neither side can
afford to spend time forging political alliances.
"The names being floated
around are all very familiar and expected, and unfortunately none of these
people have the solid international credentials that can help the government to
manage the economic crisis we are facing," said Eldred Masunungure.
"I think
for the economic ministries, the parties should have cast their nets wider and
outside their established ranks to get real skilled people with business or
financial experience to help out," Masunungure told Reuters.
Western donors
want assurances that the new government will be a democratic one prepared to
make bold economic reforms, tall demands in a country that witnessed violence
and power-sharing negotiations often close to collapse after elections.
While
critics say Mugabe has brought Zimbabwe's economy to its knees with reckless
policies, Tsvangirai has only made vague promises and not spelled out how he
would bring financial stability.
Under Zimbabwe's laws, only members of
parliament can become cabinet ministers but the power-sharing deal also allows
Mugabe and Tsvangirai to nominate unelected members to the Senate.
The two
could use this window to appoint technocrats into cabinet but analysts say they
will likely choose ministers from inside their ranks to strengthen party unity
ahead of expected elections after about two years.
CRITICAL REFORMS
John
Robertson, a leading economic consultant, said although Zimbabwe would be better
off if technocrats occupied key posts, it was now more important for old foes
Mugabe and Tsvangirai to agree on reforms and inspire international
confidence.
"I think they have to get the policy framework right first, and
then in Zimbabwe's case, it is convincing the world that we are putting bad
politics and bad policies behind us ... and that's going to take a while," he
said.
Mugabe - whose ZANU-PF will retain greater control of the security
ministries, mines and agriculture - is expected to bring back into the
government party officials who helped him make a political comeback after losing
the first round of the presidential election in March.
These include Emmerson
Mnangagwa, seen as his potential successor, current Defence Minister Sydney
Sekeramayi, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Labour Minister Nicholas
Goche.
Tsvangirai's team is expected to include MDC secretary-general Tendai
Biti, tipped to become finance minister, and 31-year-old party spokesman Nelson
Chamisa who would be the youngest minister in the cabinet.
Eric Matinenga, a
prominent lawyer who has defended Tsvangirai in the past, is also expected to
join the cabinet.
Tsvangirai's party will largely be in charge of economic
and social ministries such as health and education, water, energy and power
development - all sectors have been devastated in Zimbabwe's 10-year economic
crisis.
Taking over the finance ministry will put enormous pressure on
Tsvangirai to show millions of desperate Zimbabweans, as well as the
international community, that he has a strategy to tackle severe food and fuel
shortages and high unemployment.
He may be pre-occupied by trying to make
sure Mugabe, a master political tactician, does not outfox him as the two sides
compete to steer policies.
The southern African country has turned from a
regional bread basket into a basket case where more than half its people are
surviving on food aid and a quarter have been forced to flee abroad as economic
refugees.
Mugabe, who will be 85 later this month and has been in power since
Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980, says the economy has been
strangled by Western countries opposed to his seizures of white-owned farms for
blacks.
But Zimbabweans are tired of accusations and counter accusations made
by Mugabe and Tsvangirai. They want relief and few care who provides it.
Hardships are deepening by the day.
The deadliest cholera outbreak in Africa
in 15 years has added to the urgency. The number of people suffering from
cholera in Zimbabwe has risen to more than 69,000 cases, U.N. figures showed.
The epidemic has killed 3,397 people out of 69,317 cases since
August.
______________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11261
February 9, 2009
By
Mxolisi Ncube
JOHANNESBURG
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe has
pledged to help neighbouring Zimbabwe in its bid to adopt the South African Rand
as its own currency, as a desperate measure to reign in inflation, which is
currently the world’s highest.
Zimbabwean authorities recently authorized the
adoption of multiple currencies, among them the United States dollar, the
Botswana Pula and the Rand, as the local dollar continued to be eroded into
worthless paper within a few days of circulation of each new note.
It is now
believed that Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Gideon Gono, has prescribed the
adoption of the Rand as one of the best ways to deal with inflation, which is
caused by a decade-long economic crisis that is blamed on the bad governance
policies and miss-management of the country’s resources by President Robert
Mugabe.
While some sectors of the South African community have condemned
Gono’s move, which they fear might further inflate the already weak Rand,
Motlanthe told South African media Sunday that his country’s northern neighbour
could be allowed to adopt the Rand as its standard currency.
He said that
this move would be allowed as his country tries to nurture Zimbabwe ’s
much-vaunted national unity government, between Mugabe and opposition leaders,
Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara of the divided Movement for Democratic
Change, which is expected to take off sometime this week.
“We have to help
them so that the coalition government works,” Motlanthe told the South African
Broadcasting Corporation Sunday.
Motlanthe said that it might be practical
for the Zimbabwean authorities to enter into an arrangement with the South
African central bank, which would most likely allow the adoption of the stronger
rand to become the common currency between the two countries, to replace the
Zimbabwean dollar.
Motlanthe is the current chairman of the regional Southern
African Development Community (SADC) bloc, which brokered the all-inclusive
government idea after Zimbabwe ’s ill-fated elections in which Mugabe claimed
victory last year.
Motlanthe also urged the international community to help
the new Zimbabwe government adding to recent calls by the broader African Union
for the international community to lift targeted sanctions against Mugabe and
other top members of his ZANU (PF) government.
However, the Congress of South
Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) late last month accused Motlanthe of adopting the
same “quiet diplomacy” policy on Zimbabwe promoted by Thabo Mbeki, his
predecessor, who is also the current mediator in the Zimbabwean crisis. COSATU
has criticized Zimbabwe’s adoption of the rand, saying that this will further
weaken the South African currency.
“Zimbabwean authorities want to spread
inflation throughout the region in the way the Cholera virus was spread,”
COSATU’s Secretary General, Zwelinzima Vavi told the media in Braamfontein,
Johannesburg recently.
“They want to bring down other regional economies
alongside the Zimbabwean dollar and that will have a devastating effect on the
whole region, just like the Cholera that we are experiencing,” added
Vavi.
_____________________________________________
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?from=rss_&fArticleId=4834236
Experts
say Motlanthe's suggestion will merely formalise things
February 10,
2009
By Ethel Hazelhurst
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was not considering
the use of the rand to anchor its worthless currency, the central bank said
yesterday.
This follows a suggestion by President Kgalema Motlanthe on an
SABC Sunday broadcast that it "may be practical for [Zimbabwe] to enter into an
arrangement with the Reserve Bank here and allow the rand to become the common
currency" to help Zimbabwe's crippled economy, now that a government of unity
was in place.
Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, told
Business Report yesterday that a formal bi-monetary arrangement with South
Africa "is not an option we are considering", adding: "I have not exercised my
mind on this issue."
Gono said his recent statement on monetary policy did
not refer to using the rand to anchor the Zimbabwean dollar.
Gono gave no
updated inflation figures in his policy statement, but did say that broad money
supply growth had risen from 81 000 percent in January last year to 658 billion
percent in December, according to the Zimbabwe Independent. This is an
indication of the rate at which the central bank is printing money - at a time
when the real economy is shrinking.
Gono yesterday denied knowledge of a
document bearing his name, which describes the rand as "the naturally obvious
currency of choice to anchor the Zimbabwean dollar".
SA Reserve Bank
spokesperson Samantha Henkeman declined to comment on Motlanthe's suggestion,
but said the bank had "not been formally approached".
Dennis Dykes, the chief
economist of Nedbank, said: "Zimbabwe's terrible monetary policy has contributed
to its dysfunctional economy. If the rand were adopted, Zimbabwe would
automatically adopt the interest rates and monetary policy of the SA Reserve
Bank."
Mthuli Ncube, the head of Wits Business School and a professor of
finance, said that if the new Zimbabwean government wished to base the economy
on the rand, it would face the problem of acquiring enough rands, either through
exports or a very large loan from a bank.
As Zimbabwe's export capacity is
almost exhausted and it poses a poor credit risk, neither provides an obvious
solution.
An analyst who did not want to be named said it was difficult to
calculate the sum needed. "In South Africa about R1 000 is circulating for every
person," he said. However, the local economy was much larger and wealthier and
Zimbabwe could manage with less. "But nevertheless, we are talking of billions
of rands."
Ncube said the SA Reserve Bank could make the rands available
through the banking system. On how the scheme would be financed, he said South
Africa's action "would be a trigger for donor countries". And the loans raised
would eventually be paid for from export proceeds, once the country was
functional again.
But replacing Zimbabwe's currency would effectively contain
inflation only if "the government also practised fiscal discipline", he
warned.
He dismissed criticism that this would be a burden to South Africa.
"The Zimbabwean economy is only a small fraction of the size of South Africa's
economy. There are already an estimated 3 million Zimbabweans living in South
Africa [and] sending remittances in rands. The rand is already being used in
Zimbabwe and these suggestions would merely formalise things." Business Watch,
page 2
______________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11266
February 9, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
Harare
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) employees are
reportedly faced with dire straits following the failure by the central bank to
pay their salaries for December 2008 and January 2009.
The workers say they
have lost hope they will receive their February salary given the lackluster
attitude and “absolute arrogance” of the bank’s governor, Gideon Gono.
It is
understood the central bank management, instead of addressing workers’
grievances over salaries, has resorted to threatening employees with
dismissal.
Said a workers committee representative on condition of anonymity:
“Workers have been too patient with the governor (Gono) and his management. They
are now saying enough is enough.
“They believe the time for people to know
the truth is now and that the world should know how bad the management style at
this bank is.”
The representative said there was deafening silence from the
management regarding the staff salaries which have been outstanding since last
year while there was no assurance the bank would meet its February salary
bill.
It is alleged the management is using a restructuring exercise as an
excuse for not settling the salaries on time.
Recently, Gono, in a memorandum
to workers, intimated that the central bank was undergoing a restructuring
exercise that would see some of its staff members being offloaded.
Reads part
of Gono’s memo: “In order to ensure that the nation gets the best out of the
sharp skills many of you had developed during our gallant journey of serving our
country over the past five years, some of you who so wish, will have the
opportunity of being re-assigned on secondment basis to needy arms of
Government, particularly in the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, Mines and
Industry and International Trade given our intensive interactions with them
during our various rescue operations over the past.”
The workers argue that
the salary bill had become too high for the RBZ following a massive hiring
exercise the central bank embarked upon as it undertook an array of quasi-fiscal
operations.
Consequently, the government, in clipping Gono’s wings, ordered
that the central bank should desist from continuing with its quasi-fiscal
operations as they had an adverse effect on the economy.
In presenting the
budget, the acting Minister of Finance, Patrick Chinamasa, pin-pointed the RBZ
as having played a significant role in the destruction of the economy.
He
cited spending of unbudgeted expenditure by the central bank as a major cause
for the weakening of the country’s economy.
As a counter-attack measure, Gono
announced the central bank’s plans to shed off the quasi-fiscal operation
undertaken by his bank to a company called Fiscorp which he said was to oversee
the management and running of the quasi-fiscal operations.
Some of the
workers, Gono hinted, could be offloaded to this company.
Said the workers
representative: “This bank is being run in a farm management style. The
management does not stick to stipulated and agreed to pay days.
“People are
even threatened with expulsion if they express discontentment over salaries.
Managers are paid allowances to stifle worker dissent. Those that speak out on
the welfare of the workers are threatened by Central Intelligence Organization
(CIO) operatives deployed by the governor himself.
“We wonder why the
governor can stoop so low.”
It is alleged the workers, through their council,
took the matter to the bank’s labour body but the matter died a natural death as
the labour board had allegedly had “its palms oiled” by the governor.
“Our
efforts to get the matter of salaries addressed through labour channels have
failed dismally because the governor has oiled the palms of the labour board
members. In fact, he removed the workers committee that was in place and
replaced it with his own which he again paid handsomely to sit on the salaries
matter.
“Right now, the channels of communication within the bank itself are
disabled, hence the governor and his management can do as they please and stifle
us at will,” the representative said.
The workers also allege Gono’s projects
have not been audited since he assumed office in November 2003. They allege that
large sums of foreign currency have disappeared from the bank’s coffers and been
banked in off-shore accounts where he uses a front to bank the said
funds.
RBZ spokesperson, Kumbirai Nhongo was not available for comment as he
was said to be in meetings to carry out the restructuring of the central
bank.
______________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11283
February 9, 2009
By
Our Correspondent
Harare
Zimbabwe’s external debt stock stood at US$ 4,69
billion last December as major sectors of the economy remained depressed when
the country was under international isolation.
The external debt is about two
and half times the size of the 2009 national budget presented on Thursday last
week.
According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, medium to long-term external
debt continues to dominate the external debt stock, accounting for 95,2 percent
of the total amount.
The remaining 4,8 percent is short term debt.
“Of the
country’s total external debt 95,3 percent is owed by government and parastatals
while 4, percent is owed by the private sector,” said Reserve Bank governor,
Gideon Gono when presenting his first monetary policy in his second term last
week.
Figures from the Reserve Bank show that the solvency of government was
already seriously compromised with the current interest rates, and technically,
the government’s finances will not be better with even a 1 percent rise in
interest rates.
The increasing government debt stock raised fresh fears of
renewed turbulence in the crisis-strapped economy, battling with high inflation
estimated to be over 10 billion percent.
The government has also been forced
to rely on domestic borrowings because its tax revenue base has dwindled
following company closures which have led to retrenchments.
This means that
in real terms, the government is collecting less revenue through corporate and
personal income tax.
The major effects of rising government debt would be an
escalation of the inflationary rate because of increased recourse to the
domestic market for funding.
“The contribution of medium-term debt in the
portfolio, which was about 63,5 percent at the beginning of 2008 is eclipsed by
365 days treasury bills which accounted for 99,999 percent of the total
government debt portfolio by the end of December 2008,” said Gono.
The
increase in the proportion of 365 day treasury bills has concentrated the
maturity profile of government debt within a short space of time thereby
exposing the portfolio risk
The average duration of the portfolio is less
than one year implying that the government rolls over the whole portfolio to
refinancing risk.
“Government is urged to issue long term instruments that
help smoothen the maturity structure of its portfolio,” Gono said.
During the
period under review, the monetary banking sector remained the major holder of
government domestic debt at 99 percent of the total.
Commercial banks
accounted for about $ 424 quadrillion (US$ 424 040) or 99 percent of the
monetary banking sector’s holding of domestic debt.
The remaining 1 percent
is accounted for by insurance companies, pension funds, financial institutions
and private investors.
As the country’s debt continues to increase, money
supply growth continued on an upward trend, in part as a reflection of the
prevailing macroeconomic imbalances under which government sector has largely
relied on domestic bank
finance.
___________________________________________
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0209/p09s02-coop.html
To reduce
poverty and create jobs, Africa must become economically competitive.
By
Jakaya Kikwete and Anders Fogh Rasmussen
from the February 9, 2009
edition
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Copenhagen, Denmark
African countries
are still a long way from achieving the full benefits of globalization, despite
solid economic growth.
In recent years, African economies on the whole have
grown at an average of more than 6 percent per year. But a look below the
surface reveals that much of the growth has come from higher commodity prices.
The trouble for Africa's economies is that prices are now falling. And growth
based on commodities alone is not enough to create jobs and reduce poverty.
A
new approach to development is therefore needed. We must have a renewed
international emphasis on improving the competitiveness of the African private
sector. Pouring aid money into the continent is not sustainable or helpful in
itself. Africa and its partners should focus on reducing the costs of doing
business by combating corruption, adding more and better post-primary education
and skills training based on private sector demand, providing access to
investment capital, better energy supply as well as basic
infrastructure.
These may look like steep demands, but together we have
created the Africa Commission to identify concrete initiatives that can
facilitate this type of change. The commission brings together major
stakeholders at the highest level: governments, researchers, civil society, the
private sector, and international partners. We are committed to finding new ways
to bring Africa up to speed and make it competitive with the rest of the
world.
But where do we start?
Africa's numerous small- and medium- sized
enterprises (SMEs) offer the best opportunities for growth and employment. They
are the backbone of prosperous economies. A good place to begin is to address
the constraints that SMEs face in accessing finance for investment. Banks are
often unwilling to provide investment loans as they perceive risks to be too
high. By developing an initiative for the financial markets in Africa we can
enable banks to supply growth-oriented SMEs with longer-term finance.
Another
area for intervention is energy. Access to energy is too often unreliable and
expensive. This reduces Africa's competitiveness with negative consequences for
growth and employment. Technologies for sustainable small-scale energy
production and distribution are available today in areas such as wind, hydro,
biomass, solar energy, and biofuel. So working on an initiative that can help
scale up market-based clean energy production in Africa and take advantage of
those technologies is a possible and effective step forward. An initiative could
foster access to finance as well as advisory services, skills training, and
support a good regulatory environment for small-scale energy production.
Then
there is the matter of youth and employment. Young entrepreneurs in Africa face
particular challenges, even when they are skilled and have innovative ideas.
Opportunity for young entrepreneurs is key to Africa's future. We're planning a
youth initiative to help young entrepreneurs start up and develop businesses and
allow them to create jobs. An initiative could provide a new and innovative
environment for young entrepreneurs, targeted risk capital, skills training, and
advisory services.
By establishing the Africa Commission we have created a
platform for finding effective means of improving job opportunities for young
Africans. We share a common goal of building societies where all young people
have a prosperous future. We want to put employment of youth at the top of the
international agenda.
In the coming months we will concentrate our efforts on
transforming these principles into concrete actions. We will work closely with
our partners and the private sector to harness the required commitments to be
able to launch the initiatives after the commission's final meeting in May
2009.
Our aim is to assist Africa's aspirations to achieve the full benefits
of globalization through a change of mind-set. Most important, we must shift our
focus toward enterprise-led development in Africa: Aid in itself will not ensure
sustainable development. Improving Africa's competitiveness will.
Jakaya
Kikwete is president of Tanzania and chairman of the African Union. Anders Fogh
Rasmussen is prime minister of Denmark. Both are members of the Africa
Commission.
_____________________________________________
?
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=117079&sn=Marketingweb%20detail
David
McCarthy
09 February 2009
An analysis by David McCarthy - First published
on Moneyweb, July 2007
On Sunday evening South African president Kgalema
Motlanthe suggested that Zimbabwe could adopt the rand as its currency. He
reportedly told the SABC that "may be practical for them to enter into an
arrangement with the reserve bank here and allow the rand to become the common
currency." This plan was originally mooted in July 2007 when it was reported
that the South African Development Community was putting together a rescue plan
for the Zimbabwean economy, which would involve effectively extending the rand
monetary area into that country. In the following article, published on Moneyweb
on July 10 2007, David McCarthy analysed the cause of hyper-inflation in
Zimbabwe, as well as the benefits and potential dangers of the suggested plan
both for Zimbabwe and South Africa. We are republishing the article in light of
its renewed relevance today.
Hyperinflation is caused by the government
printing money to pay its obligations.
The value of a currency is determined
not by markets but by the government that issues it. This is because governments
have (more or less) the exclusive right to create money. Most simply, they print
banknotes, but they can also purchase outstanding treasury bills or bonds with
cheques, or create electronic balances that banks can access - for instance by
paying government employees using electronic transfers.
In all developed
countries, and in most developing ones, the government tries to carefully
balance how much currency it removes from the economy (by collecting taxes and
selling bills or bonds) and how much it injects (by paying wages of civil
servants, buying goods from the private sector and purchasing bills and
bonds).
This balance is performed on a daily - if not hourly - basis to
ensure that nothing strange happens to interest rates, which are the barometer
of money supply and demand. If there is too much money, overnight interest rates
will fall, while if money is tight, they will rise. The overnight interest rate
itself could be used to dictate how much liquidity the central bank needs to add
to or remove from the system, but for various reasons central banks often prefer
to use other techniques.
In the UK, for instance, the Bank of England
apparently tries to track every government outlay and collection, and matches
liquidity to this, so overnight interest rates sometimes fluctuate a little
wildly when there is a mistake about the timing or amount of a particular
payment. But they very rarely get it wrong over a month, and because the markets
know this and expect stability to continue, monthly interest rates there are in
fact very stable.
Because governments control the value of currency, when we
accept banknotes in exchange for valuable goods or services we are implicitly
trusting that the government won't render the value of the paper we hold
worthless by printing a whole lot more of it very suddenly. Of course, we could
conceivably only choose to accept goods or other services in exchange for our
own, and if we lived in a barter economy we would have no other option but to do
so, but money is so convenient that it has been with us in many forms for
thousands of years.
What has happened in Zimbabwe is that the sense of trust
that is essential for paper money to function has broken down, because the
government abandoned its duty to protect its currency. It began to print money
to pay its obligations, without removing a corresponding amount of money from
the economy in tax receipts (by raising taxes) or issuing treasury bonds (by
raising borrowing). This meant that there was more and more money chasing fewer
goods and so prices began to rise.
Even if the effect is small and prices
rise quite slowly, eventually inflation becomes self-reinforcing because
individuals and businesses become accustomed to price changes and so increase
prices just because they expect that everyone else will increase their prices
too. In this sense, inflation becomes "entrenched" and is extremely difficult to
get rid of. However, in hyper-inflationary times, the effect is ever so much
worse. Here, pricing becomes a race - each business tries to increase its prices
faster than all the others - and the result is an inflationary
death-spiral.
The mechanism by which individual businesspeople decide by how
much to raise prices each day (or in Zimbabwe, apparently each hour) is not well
understood and is the focus of much research by macro-economists (they call this
the "transmission mechanism"). In Zimbabwe an obvious source of macro-economic
information for individual businesses is the unofficial or parallel rate of the
Zimbabwe dollar against the US dollar, which I would imagine most business in
Zimbabwe watch fairly closely, even if they do not rely directly on imported
goods.
The origin of the problem in Zimbabwe lay with the collapse in tax
revenues caused by the seizure of white-owned farms. This meant that the
government had suddenly either to borrow, or print, a lot of money to cover
outgoings. Either because the central bank was incompetent, as the IMF claims,
or because they couldn't borrow enough on private markets to meet expenditures,
they decided to print money.
If Zimbabwe were to join the rand currency area,
key issues would be the "price" at which it joins the area and on how the switch
is structured. The rate of exchange between (worthless) Zimbabwean dollars and
South African rands is crucial.
For instance, when East Germany joined West
Germany, and DDR marks were exchanged for deutschmarks, the rate at which the
exchange was made was very favourable to the east Germans. The west Germans,
collectively, paid a fortune and many economists attribute the economic pain
Germany suffered after unification partly to this issue.
According to the CIA
factbook, the Zimbabwean economy is only about 1/25th the size of South
Africa's, so the effect on individual South Africans could be quite small if the
deal were priced correctly. In aggregate, however, the cost could be huge if the
arrangement were mispriced.
A possible way of structuring the deal would be
for the South African government to lend Zimbabwe sufficient funds to "rand-ise"
their economy. Without adequate guarantees, say from Western donors, this would
expose the South African taxpayer to the substantial risk of ultimate Zimbabwean
default, which, as I discuss below, is extremely likely.
Of course, we would
also need to worry about precisely how the switch was administered: we could end
up substantially enriching a group of already extremely wealthy ZANU-PF
oligarchs who are ultimately entirely responsible for the demise of their
country's economy.
Given the extent of corruption in Zimbabwe and the fact
that property rights there (which are crucial for a prosperous future) have
apparently been almost completely obliterated, this is a critical issue and one
which could derail the entire operation.
A further complication would be the
treatment of the existing stock of Zimbabwean-dollar denominated government
debt. One option might be to allow the economy to "rand-ise" but not to allow
the government to switch its debts into rands - effectively forcing the
Zimbabwean government to default on its existing debt as a precondition for
entry.
If the Zimbabwean government were allowed to convert its existing debt
into rands, and then defaulted, this would have serious consequences for our own
economy.
The South African Reserve Bank would also need to take control of
the Zimbabwean banking system because private banks - bizarrely to
non-economists - also create money when they write loans and this would need to
be controlled in order to prevent Zimbabwean banks from becoming a source of
inflation for the rand currency area as a whole.
For Zimbabwe the effect of
moving to rands would be almost instantaneous. Trust in the currency would be
restored and no-one would feel the need to raise prices. The economy would
return - gradually - to normal, assuming that the currency change was
accompanied by a return to the rule of law.
There would probably still be
large price changes - both up and down - as the relative prices of goods
adjusted to normal levels (one of the effects of high inflation is uncertainty
about relative prices) but prices would soon settle down.
Stockpiles would
disappear and people would feel comfortable selling their goods again. Germans
still remark on how, after the deutschmark was introduced in western Germany in
1948, goods appeared on the shelves, as if from nowhere, and, more than fifty
years later, many ascribed their reluctance to give up the mark for the euro to
this apparent "miracle".
However, even if the Zimbabwean economy is
successfully "rand-ised" it is quite likely that the ZANU-PF government would
soon find itself in a precarious position.
One can think of the Zimbabwean
economy using rands as an economy on the old gold standard: since even
governments cannot manufacture gold there was a fixed amount of coinage and for
every guinea a government spent it had to collect one in taxes or borrow one
from someone else.
The South African Reserve Bank would still keep a monopoly
on printing rands and the Zimbabweans would no longer be able to print money to
pay their bills. They would need to finance their huge deficit either by
collecting taxes or by issuing explicit debt.
Given the size of their deficit
this would be impossible, and they would end up massively cutting public
spending and/or raising taxes, with serious economic consequences. The
near-inevitability of eventual Zimbabwean default should be a crucial
determinant of the structure and pricing of "rand-isation" - if it does not
prevent it altogether.
Of course, Zimbabwe is already in an extremely dire
position, and because of this, we ourselves are threatened. The potential
economic effects of a currency union need to be evaluated in this light: no
option is easy. One cannot help feeling that things would have been simpler if
our government had handled this situation with more foresight and diligence a
few years ago when it first arose.
David McCarthy is a senior lecturer in
finance at the Tanaka Business School, Imperial College,
London
_____________________________________________
http://www.hararetribune.com/our-town/1-news/138-zanu-pf-govt-in-threat-to-fire-all-teachers.html
Our
Town - News
Written by Times
Monday, 09 February 2009 02:19
Striking
teachers are set to defy a Zimbabwe’s government ultimatum to return to work
tomorrow in spite of threats of instant dismissal.
In an apparent about turn
education authorities moved from pleading with striking teachers to attend
classes to threatening them with dismissal.
Education secretary Stephen
Mahere warned striking teachers that they now risked being "replaced".
He
said student teachers and retired teachers would be recruited to "fill
vacancies".
Teachers have been on strike since September last year and so far
all efforts to resolve the labour dispute have failed. They are demanding about
US$ 2000 a month. Presently their salaries in Zimbabwe dollars translate to just
US$ 4.
Teachers have so far rejected government all offers including food
hampers and more recently shopping vouchers.
Their union - the Zimbabwe
Teachers’ Association - has rejected payment of salaries of its members in local
currency.
Battle lines have been drawn and all indications are that the
teachers are not about to give in to government treats.
The union says a
third of members have already quit their jobs. Some have left the country and
others have simply abandoned the profession owing to low salaries and poor
working conditions.
Meanwhile schools and parents continue to be at
loggerheads over demands that fees be paid in foreign currency.
Some schools
are demanding as much as US700 (R7 000) a
month.
______________________________________________
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2009-02-09-voa46.cfm
By
Jonga Kandemiiri and Taurai Shava
Washington, Gweru
09 February
2009
Striking Zimbabwean teachers Monday defied an ultimatum by a top
education official who threatened them with dismissal if they failed to show up
for work this week.
Education Ministry Permanent Secretary Stephen Mahere
ordered teachers back to work after the government promised to pay part of their
wages in grocery vouchers and the rest in the Zimbabwean dollar. But unions
representing the teachers turned down the offer, reiterating their demand for a
monthly salary for starting teachers of US$ 2,200.
The Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe said teachers were prepared to be sacked by the ministry
rather than return to work.
Acting Chief Executive Officer Sifiso Ndlovu of
the Zimbabwe Teachers Association told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that teachers will only go back to work if the government meets
their demands.
Classrooms in the high density suburbs or townships of the
Midlands capital of Gweru were mostly empty Monday morning as teachers stayed
home despite the government ultimatum to report for duty or be sacked,
correspondent Taurai Shava reported.
Elsewhere, dozens of students from
Midlands State University were injured when police broke up a campus
demonstration against hard currency fees.
National Spokesman Blessing Vava of
the Zimbabwe National Students Union told reporter Chris Gande of VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that three student leaders were severely beaten then taken into
police
custody.
______________________________________________
http://www.slate.com/id/2210830/
And is it
germ warfare when cholera sufferers are forced to cross international
boundaries?
By Christopher Hitchens
Posted Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, at 11:24
AM ET
The situation in Zimbabwe has now reached the point where the
international community would be entirely justified in using force to put Robert
Mugabe under arrest and place him on trial. Why do I say this now?
Mugabe did
kill a lot of people in Matabeleland in the 1980s on punitive expeditions
inflicted by special units, trained by North Korea, against an ethnic group not
his own. And he has punished recalcitrant voting districts by the indiscriminate
denial of food supplies. But this doesn't quite rise to the level of "genocide."
His soldiers may at one time have taken part in the opportunist looting of the
resources of Congo, but this doesn't exactly qualify as invasion or occupation.
Zimbabwe is not a harbor or haven for wanted international terrorists, and it
isn't a player in the international WMD black market,
either.
______________________________________________
http://www.swradioafrica.com/news090209/prison090209.htm
By Violet
Gonda
9 February 2009
Lack of fuel is being used by prison officials as an
excuse for not presenting scores of political prisoners for a court hearing. MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai had demanded the release of all political detainees
before he was sworn in as Prime Minister, but with just two days to go before
the inaugural ceremony, Robert Mugabe, his partner in the inclusive government,
is still playing the political game at his own pace.
Human rights lawyer
Andrew Makoni said all 16 political detainees failed to appear in court for
their routine remand hearing on Monday because the State said it did not have
fuel to take them to court.
It had been hoped that all the persons accused of
attempting to overthrow the ZANU PF regime would have been released by now as a
sign of goodwill, but only two, Pascal Gonzo from the Zimbabwe Peace Project
(ZPP) and activist Tawanda Bvumo, have been released. They were released on
Friday because the State failed to produce any evidence against them. They had
been in prison since early December.
However the other 16 detainees,
including ZPP director Jestina Mukoko and MDC official Concillia Chinanzvavana,
were on Monday remanded in their absence.
Mukoko and eight others were
remanded to 11 February, the day of Tsvangirai’s swearing in, while the case for
the second group of seven has been postponed to the 16th February.
This group
includes photo-journalist Shadreck Andrew Manyere, MDC Director of Security
Chris Dhlamini and Morgan Tsvangirai’s former aide Gandi Mudzingwa.
Most of
the prisoners were abducted from their homes in October last year while others
were kidnapped in December. The accused persons say they were tortured into
making submissions of plotting to destabilise the Mugabe regime.
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights have expressed extreme concern about the health
conditions of some of the prisoners.
Makoni said some of them were taken to
the Avenues Clinic at the weekend and seen by doctors but were not treated
because prison officials took them back to jail before they could receive
treatment.
The lawyers said: “To us they are just playing games as they had
the fuel to take them to hospital and back to Chikurubi Maximum prison… The
doctors had actually recommended that they be detained there (at the hospital)
for observation because some of them exhibited signs of serious illness. But
they took them back to prison and now they are saying they don’t have fuel to
take them to the Magistrates’s court for their routine remand. To us they are
not serious at all.”
He added that the release of the two activists on Friday
clearly showed that the State really had no evidence against the accused. “This
actually signals the beginning of the collapse of the State’s case in respect of
all the accused prisoners, including Jestina Mukoko; because there is really no
evidence that anything of the sort suggested by the state occurred.”
It
remains to be seen if Tsvangirai will withhold his consent to be appointed Prime
Minister, if all political prisoners are not released by
Wednesday.
Meanwhile, it’s reported the MDC leader will be sworn in at a
private ceremony on Wednesday, followed by an address at the Glamis stadium at
the Showgrounds in Harare. Tsvangirai is expected to outline a 100-day
rebuilding and democratisation
programme.
______________________________________________
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/10/zimbabwe-mugabe-reneges-deal
Chris
McGreal in Harare
The Guardian, Tuesday 10 February 2009
President Robert
Mugabe's regime has reneged on an agreement to release dozens of opposition
activists, who have been abducted and severely tortured to extract false
confessions of terrorism, before tomorrow's swearing in of a power-sharing
government in Zimbabwe.
Doctors' affidavits seen by the Guardian reveal a
pattern of torture of many of the 30 political and human rights activists held
by the state for months. Nine of the prisoners seen by doctors were subjected to
simulated drowning, being hung by their wrists in handcuffs and beaten, and
high-voltage electric shocks.
One man was hung upside down from a tree and
dumped into a water-filled drum until he passed out. A 72-year-old man was held
in a deep freeze before scalding water was poured on his genitals.
Human
rights lawyers say the detainees have been tortured to force them to falsely
confess to bomb attacks on police stations or plots to overthrow Mugabe, in an
attempt by his regime to justify further state violence against the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had
demanded the release of the detainees, who include his own security chief and a
former close aide, as a condition for being sworn in tomorrow as prime minister
in a power-sharing government with Mugabe.
A deal was reached between the MDC
and Nicholas Goche, a senior negotiator in Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF, for 16
detainees to be released.
Some were to be taken to hospital last Friday and
then quietly freed by a judge in order for the regime to save face. Eight were
to appear in court yesterday on the understanding they would be freed. But none
of the detainees were produced after the prisons commissioner, Major-General
Paradzai Zimondi, refused to hand them over.
Zimondi is a hardline member of
the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which acts as Mugabe's security cabinet. JOC
organised the campaign of terror, beatings and killings against MDC supporters
during last year's elections. The general has threatened violence against the
opposition, and recently he burst into a court and broke up a hearing on the
release of some of the detainees.
The MDC is interpreting Zimondi's
intervention as evidence that the JOC intends to subvert the power-sharing
administration by continuing the violence and intimidation against Tsvangirai's
officials and supporters.
Suspicion over Mugabe's intent has been further
reinforced by what the MDC says is false allegations of corruption laid against
seven of its MPs last week in an attempt to overturn the party's newly won
majority in parliament.
The tortured detainees include Kisimusi "Chris"
Dhlamini, a former officer in the Central Intelligence Organisation, who became
the MDC's head of security.
According to an affidavit from a doctor who
examined Dhlamini in Harare's maximum security prison, he was repeatedly
assaulted, including being subjected to simulated drowning, hung by his wrists
in handcuffs, beaten and burned. The affidavit said there were injuries
consistent with high-voltage electric shocks as well.
Gandi Mudzingwa,
Tsvangirai's former personal assistant, was severely beaten with sticks, kicked,
subjected to simulated drowning and had his feet smashed with
bricks.
Doctors' affidavits on other prisoners show they were subjected to
similar tortures, particularly having their heads forced underwater. A
72-year-old MDC activist, Fidelis Chiramba, was forced into a freezer, stripped
naked and had his genitals burned with hot water.
Eight women are being held,
including Jestina Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, who was
abducted and tortured, and has been held in prison since last year, accused of
training insurgents in Botswana to overthrow
Mugabe.
_____________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18402&Itemid=109
The
Zimbabwean
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Remand proceedings in the matters
Jestina Mukoko v. The State, Concillia Chinanzvavana and Others v. The State,
Emmanuel Chinanzvavana and Others v. The State and Kisimusi Dhlamini and Others
v. The State resume in the morning at the Magistrate Court before Magistrate
Gloria Takundwa.
• Ms Florence Ziyambi, the Director of Public Prosecutions
in the Attorney General’s Office appears for the State while Mr Alec Muchadehama
appears for the accused.
• Ziyambi tells the court that prison officials
failed to bring the accused persons to court citing fuel shortages to transport
them.
• She asks the Magistrate to postpone the matter to Wednesday 11
February 2009 to allow the State to verify the defence lawyers’ account
pertaining to the deteriorating medical conditions of the accused persons.
•
Defence lawyer Muchadehama tells Magistrate Takundwa that the defence team is
concerned about the non-appearance in court of the accused. He says it is
unacceptable that the accused persons cannot be brought to court because of fuel
shortages
• Muchadehama tells the court that Mukoko requires urgent medical
treatment at a functioning medical institution such as the Avenues Clinic after
she was prematurely denied treatment and medication at the Avenues Clinic last
month.
• The defence lawyer says should the State confirm Mukoko’s grave
medical condition they must recommend to the Zimbabwe Prisons Service (ZPS) to
take her to the Avenues Clinic even before the next remand date is set.
•
Magistrate Takundwa remands Mukoko and Chinanzvavana and Others in absentia to
Wednesday 11 February 2009.
• In the matter between Emmanuel Chinanzvavana
and Others v. The State Muchadehama tells the Magistrate that Fidelis Chiramba
who is exhibiting evidence of congestive cardiac failure secondary to sever
hypertension and who had been taken for urgent medical examination at the
Avenues Clinic last Friday 06 February 2009 was abruptly taken back to Chikurubi
Maximum Prison.
• The defence lawyer says he wants the Magistrate to order
prison officials to take Chiramba back to the Avenues Clinic to be accorded
medical assessment and treatment.
• Just like in Mukoko’s case Ziyambi tells
the Magistrate that the State intends to verify the medical condition of
Chiramba and “the outcome of the verification is what map the way forward.”
•
Takundwa remands the accused persons in absentia to Wednesday 11 February 2009
with the consent of both the State and the defence attorneys.
• In the matter
between Kisimusi Dhlamini and Others Muchadehama complains that the court has
not been appraised by the State of the outcome of the investigations.
•
Muchadehama tells the Magistrate of the worrying medical conditions of Kisimusi
Dhlamini and Gandhi Mudzingwa who were taken away last Friday 06 February 2009
by prison officials in the middle of a medical examination and without any
regard to the medical conditions of accused persons.
• Muchadehama tells the
Court that the defence team wants the State to consider the inhuman treatment of
the political prisoners and to seek an explanation from the prison officials on
why they decided to defy Court orders by removing prisoners from the Avenues
Clinic so that the process partially undertaken by the doctors at the Avenues
Clinic can be resumed without interference.
• Muchadehama also asks why the
State has not furnished the court with a report on the investigations into
torture allegations, which were ordered by the Magistrate Court and another
investigation into the case, which was ordered by High Court Judge Justice
Karwi.
• The defence lawyer asks the accused persons to be provided with a
trial date and indicates that he will also make an application of recusal of
further remand.
• Ziyambi intervenes saying the police have actually complied
with Justice Karwi’s order and a docket was submitted to the Attorney General’s
Office last Friday in compliance with the High Court order.
• Ziyambi also
states that the AG’s Office is yet to peruse through the docket to ascertain
whether the investigations have been completed.
• The State’s lead prosecutor
hints that if a trial date is to be given it would be in the second term of the
legal year, around May 2009 because the first term of the legal year is already
full.
• Regarding the High Court order granted by Karwi in January with the
consent of the State, Ziyambi contends that the High Court order doesn’t reflect
what the State had consented to. She says the State realized an anomaly upon
perusal of the High Court order, which took them long to access.
• Ziyambi
says the High Court order which is to the effect that, “Whatever the doctor says
must be adhered to” is very ambiguous and too wide.
• She states that the
State has not had sight of the medical affidavits of the doctors who examined
the accused persons and will seek to verify allegations that prison officials
denied the accused persons access to treatment.
• With regard to
investigations into the torture allegations, which were ordered by the
Magistrate Court, Ziyambi says the request has been relayed to the police and
the State is still waiting for a response from the police and will furnish the
court once a report is received.
• Defence lawyer Muchadehama argues that the
State should now be ready with a trial date considering that State lawyers have
indicated that the docket is now complete and also bearing in mind that the
accused persons have been in State custody and remand custody for more than two
months.
• Ziyambi tells the Magistrate that the State lawyers and the defence
lawyers are failing to agree on a date for further remand on dates such as
Wednesday 11 February 2009 and Friday 13 February 2009 as the AG’s office is
severely constrained with a critical shortage of law officers.
• Muchadehama
grudgingly assents to a postponement of remand proceedings to Monday 16 February
2009.
• Takundwa defers remand proceedings to Monday 16 February 2009 and
orders the State to;
i. submit a report regarding investigations into
allegations of torture raised by the accused.
ii. furnish the Court on the
progress of investigations of their case.
iii. adhere to High Court Judge
Justice Karwi’s order allowing for the accused persons to be granted medical
examination and treatment.
iv. present a report by the Chief Prisons Officer
stating the reasons why prison officials are interrupting the medical
examinations and treatment of the accused.