http://www1.voanews.com/
But negotiators from the MDC formation of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
said little progress has been made in talks with President
Robert Mugabe's
longtime ruling ZANU-PF, and that a deadlock in the
discussions should be
declared
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington 11
February 2010
A member of the South African facilitation team which
left Harare this week
after two days of consultations with parties in the
Harare unity government
on issues troubling the power-sharing arrangement
said Thursday that her
team was "comfortable" with the situation and ongoing
negotiations.
But negotiators from the Movement for Democratic Change
formation led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said little progress has
been made in talks
with President Robert Mugabe's longtime ruling ZANU-PF,
and that a deadlock
in the discussions should be declared.
Political
sources said mediators representing South African President Jacob
Zuma who
were in Harare from Monday to Wednesday put pressure on all
negotiating
sides to come to agreement, but without apparent results.
ZANU-PF
representatives in the protracted talks reportedly told Mr. Zuma's
team they
were under strict party orders not to make further concessions
until Western
sanctions have been removed. Negotiations were to pick up
Monday, though MDC
sources said it was unlikely anything would change.
South African
facilitation team member Lindiwe Zulu, an adviser on
international relations
to Mr. Zuma, told VOA Studio 7 that mediators remain
positive but want to
see a conclusion to the negotiations soon.
The governing partners are
haggling over the appointments of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe Governor Gideon
Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana as well
as the swearing-in of MDC
provincial governors and MDC Treasurer Roy Bennett
as junior agricultural
minister, among many other issues.
More optimistic than some, political
analyst Zenzo Nkomo told VOA Studio 7
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo the South
Africans are experienced mediators and
have a good chance of producing
results despite seemingly irreconcilable
differences between ZANU-PF and the
two MDC formations.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tafadzwa Mutasa Friday 12 February
2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe's shaky government looks increasingly
likely to being
split right through the middle as the two main coalition
partners tussle for
political power, analysts warned, saying the divisions
threaten to derail
crucial reforms and throw the whole administration into a
gridlock.
Political analysts however said the uneasy alliance between
President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) was not about to crumble
yet.
Mugabe last week issued a directive to all Cabinet ministers to
start
reporting to his two vice presidents John Nkomo and Joice Mujuru,
altering a
constitutional reporting structure in
government.
Tsvangirai immediately rejected the directive, declaring it
unconstitutional
and wrote a counter directive to all ministers to disregard
the directive.
A constitutional amendment passed last year puts
Tsvangirai in charge of
overseeing the formulation of government policies
set by Cabinet and states
that all "ministers will report to the Prime
Minister on all issues relating
to the implementation of such policies and
plans".
Political analysts said Mugabe's directive was not only
tantamount to
usurping Tsvangirai's powers and put brakes on reforms, but
could be a sign
of frustration that his populist and hardline policies were
being blocked by
the Premier.
"ZANU PF is backtracking on the global
political agreement but more
importantly Mugabe realises that he and his two
deputies have nothing to do
and the Prime Minister is doing all the work,"
John Makumbe a political
commentator said.
"But we are faced with a
situation where we clearly have a dual government
because of the two centres
of power which will inevitably lead to a gridlock
of government operations,"
Makumbe said.
The two rival parties are engaged in a bitter dispute over
how to equally
share executive power, the appointment of senior government
officials and
the removal of Western sanctions.
The MDC accuses
Mugabe of refusing to swear-in party treasurer-general Roy
Bennett as deputy
agriculture minister, appoint five provincial governors
from the party and
end the tenure of the attorney general and Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe
governor.
Mugabe in turn says Bennett would be sworn in only if he is
acquitted of
terrorism and banditry charges and that the MDC should lobby
its allies in
the West for the removal of sanctions imposed on his inner
circle and
convince what he says are pirate radio stations to stop
broadcasting
"propaganda" messages into Zimbabwe.
Strained
relations
Relations between the two parties have been rocky at best but
were strained
further this week after Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Economic
Empowerment Minister Savior Kasukuwere from Mugabe's party gazetted
regulations spelling out how foreign and white-owned businesses would have
to cede majority stakes to blacks within the next five years.
The
rules have rattled foreign investors, especially companies in the mining
sector who on Wednesday started closed door meetings with the government to
seek clarification on the regulations.
Tsvangirai, whose MDC party
has ridden on the promise of investor friendly
policies, said he was not
informed of the rules and declared them null and
void, further exposing the
lack of cohesion and growing fissures within the
administration.
"It
is clear there is no cohesion between the partners in government and we
are
on the verge of sliding back to a time when we had no government in
place,"
John Robertson, a Harare-based economic consultant said.
Zimbabwe's
economy registered its first growth in 2009 after a decade in
freefall
marked by hyper-inflation and although it is still in a delicate
stage of
recovery, it was expected to register higher growth this year in
anticipation of increased foreign investment inflows.
This may never
happen with the continued squabbles hurting Zimbabweans the
most.
The
country's majority cautiously welcomed the unity government last year,
with
the hope that it would reverse unemployment of over 90 percent, deliver
badly needed social services and guarantee political freedoms.
That
hope may be quickly fading away and the first signs of growing anger
were
seen last week when government employees went on strike.
"We never liked
this arrangement (unity government) in the first place but
it was the only
option. Although things are better off, there are no jobs
and people are
really struggling," said Aaron Makunike, 36, who was
retrenched from a
commercial bank in November.
Bureaucratic tentacles
ZANU PF had
until March 2008 enjoyed uninterrupted rule since independence
from Britain
and is still finding it difficult to share executive power,
political
commentators said, adding that the MDC had naively underestimated
ZANU PF's
bureaucratic tentacles after nearly three decades in power.
The
government needs to put a united front at a critical time when civil
servants have gone on strike to demand higher pay and with the country
facing looming food shortages after a failed agriculture season due to
drought.
The administration risks paralysis at a time the government
needs to
confront looming food shortages after most crops succumbed to
prolonged dry
spells countrywide.
Analysts said if unchecked, the
divisions could escalate, with ZANU PF
ministers reporting to Mugabe and
those from the MDC taking orders from
Tsvangirai.
But none of the
parties wants to be blamed by the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) for the failure of the uneasy marriage,
analysts said, adding that
this could keep bickering coalition together
until the next
elections.
"It's going to limp along with more disagreements and some
things being
implemented to appease SADC," Makumbe told ZimOnline. "So it
will continue
running so that it remains standing and because it will be the
only game in
town," he said. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondents Friday 12 February
2010
HARARE – The European Union (EU) on Thursday said it will
continue to
support efforts to revive Zimbabwe’s economy and providing
humanitarian
assistance despite sanctions the bloc slapped on President
Robert Mugabe and
his ZANU PF party inner circle in 2002.
"The EU
restrictive measures have been there since 2002, but they are not
directed
at the population of Zimbabwe,” the EU food security co-coordinator
in
Zimbabwe Pierre-Luc Vanhaeverbeke told reporters in Harare at the
unveiling
of a US$13 million grant to support Zimbabwe's agriculture for the
next
three years.
The grant which will be channelled through the United
Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is meant to boost production
capacity of
mostly small scale farmers across the country through training
and buying
inputs such as seed, chemicals and fertilizer.
“EU has
released quiet a substantial assistance to Zimbabweans since we
strongly
feel that the stabilisation and eventual resuscitation of
agriculture is
crucial . . . EU is not certainly going to abandon the people
of Zimbabwe in
their time of dire need. We strongly feel that the
stabilisation and
eventual resuscitation of agriculture is crucial to the
overall economic
development of Zimbabwe," Vanhaeverbeke said.
“This project is part of
the EU's initiative to see Zimbabwe moving from
food aid to food
security."
Once a regional bread basket, Zimbabwe has suffered persistent
food
shortages since 2000 when President Robert Mugabe embarked on
controversial
land seizures displacing white commercial farmers and
replacing them with
under-funded and poorly skilled blacks, mainly of his
ZANU PF party.
FAO country representative Gaoju Han described the EU
grant as a positive
step.
"The project that is being officially
launched today is valued at 9.2
million euro (US$13 million), and a
timeframe of three years," said Han. "In
addition to thanking the EU for
this generous contribution, the extended
multi-year timeframe is a positive
development which will allow for better
planning towards recovery activities
(as opposed to one-year funding in the
past).”
Under this new
facility, FAO will work towards the improvement of
agricultural productivity
in Zimbabwe and to reduce the dependency of
vulnerable communal households
on humanitarian assistance, he said.
"There are two pillars within this
project, that is, the continuous
promotion of conservation agriculture (CA)
and the coordination of
agricultural activities."
According to FAO,
conservation agriculture has potential to boost cereal
production margins to
1.5 million tonnes this year and the grant would also
ensure the sustainable
use of soil, water, nutrients and proper utilisation
of farm power to boost
yields.
“Our principal objective is to improve agriculture productivity
and
consequently reduce the dependency of vulnerable rural communal
households
on humanitarian assistance. Priority would be equipping small
scale farmers
with requisite technical skills to improve production levels,”
said FAO.
More than 130 000 farmers are expected to benefit by year end
from the
programme that was initiated in 2004 targeting 5 000
farmers.
Since 2002, the EU has not been giving direct aid to Zimbabwe
because of the
sanctions imposed over allegations of gross violations of
human rights and
election irregularities by Mugabe’s party. But the veteran
leader argues
that the West imposed the sanctions as punishment for his land
seizures that
target white farmers. – ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Friday 12
February 2010
HARARE - CITES officials on Thursday said poaching was
a regional problem
and not confined to Zimbabwe alone, although they said
they have heard
"rumours" of illegal hunting by the country's military and
senior
politicians.
CITES boss Willem Wijnstekers, who jetted into
Harare late Monday
accompanied by the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora's chief enforcement officer John
Sellar, met with
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Defence Minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa
during his four-day visit to Zimbabwe.
The CITES
secretary general also met Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
Environment
Minister Francis Nhema, Police Commissioner General Augustine
Chihuri and
other senior government officials over rampant poaching
decimating wildlife
in the southern African country.
Wijnstekers told reporters that his
visit was meant to probe "what was on
the ground and talk to the responsible
agencies on increasing (numbers) of
rhino poaching".
"It's a regional
problem affecting South Africa, Mozambique, you are not
alone," he said
adding that he was pleased that various arms of government
realised the
poaching problem in the country.
"We can do ourselves better if we work
together."
Sellar however said they had heard "romours" of the poaching
involving the
military officials.
"There are romours that the
military and politicians were involved in
poaching, but we are not worried
who is behind it, but that a rhino has been
poached. I was assured that
those involved have been arrested and are before
the courts."
The
visit by the CITES officials comes after a report in December by
TRAFFIC,
IUCN and three other wildlife organisations said Zimbabwe and South
Africa
have the highest incidences of poaching on the continent.
Nhema
attributed the increase in poaching to the sophisticated equipment
that is
being used by poachers who are supported by international
syndicates. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Simplicious Chirinda Friday 12 February
2010
JOHANNESBURG - The new chairman of Zimbabwe's electoral
commission will
oversee his Herculean task to overhaul the country's skewed
electoral system
from his Namibian base, he told ZimOnline this
week.
Former Harare High Court Judge Simpson Mtambanengwe, who sits on
the
Namibian bench after retiring from his Zimbabwean job in 2004, was last
month named by the unity government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as chairman-designate of the new Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC).
"I have accepted the position in
principle and I am awaiting further
notifications because they are still in
the process of finalizing other
issues," said Mtambanengwe by phone from the
Namibian capital Windhoek.
"I shall be working from here because I have a
fulltime job but if the need
arises needing my attention then we will
see."
The new ZEC is part of several commissions including one to oversee
the
media and another to take charge of human rights issues that are part of
reforms that Zimbabwe's power-sharing government must implement to re-shape
and democratise the country's politics that has been characterised by
violence and gross human rights violations almost from independence from
Britain in 1980.
But Mtambanengwe, who replaces a pro-Mugabe former
military officer and High
Court Judge George Chiweshe as head of Zimbabwe's
electoral management
authority, faces by far the toughest job running
elections in a country
where every major vote over the past decade has
produced a contested result.
Mtambanengwe would not be drawn to disclose
details about how he plans to go
about democratising Zimbabwe's electoral
system that the opposition says
gives Mugabe the privilege of being referee
and player on the electoral
field. "We will see when we get there," was all
the judge would say when
asked about the task ahead.
Respected in
Zimbabwe and in the region after helping reform the Namibian
judiciary
system after that country's independence in 1990, Mtambanengwe has
worked as
acting Chief Justice of the Namibian Supreme Court. He also
chaired the body
that oversaw Namibia's elections held recently.
Mtambanengwe briefly
returned to the Zimbabwean bench in 2006 to preside
over the corruption
trial of then Harare High Court Judge Benjamin Paradza
who he found guilty
and sentenced to three years in jail. However Paradza
did not serve the
sentence after skipping the country before sentence.
Paradza's lawyers
had argued during trial that the charges against their
client were meant to
punish him for embarrassing the government after he
(Paradza) in 2003 freed
an opposition mayor who had been arrested for
holding an illegal political
meeting.
The government denied that the corruption case against Paradza
was
politically motivated.
Other people lined up to serve with
Mtambanengwe on the new electoral
commission are two members of the old ZEC
Theo Gambe and Joyce Kazembe, who
was deputy head of the discredited
commission.
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair general manager Daniel
Chigaru, University
of Zimbabwe law professor Geof Feltoe, a P Makoni and S
Ndlovu and Pastor
Godwill Shana, who is a former chairman of Transparency
International
Zimbabwe complete the list of ZEC commissioners. All are yet
to be formally
appointed to their new jobs.
The old Chiweshe-led ZEC
is accused by the former opposition MDC of rigging
the March 2008 election
to block outright victory by Tsvangirai against
Mugabe in a presidential
ballot that the MDC-T leader won, but with fewer
votes than required to
avoid a second round poll.
Mugabe's supporters then unleashed a ruthless
campaign of violence to force
Tsvangirai to withdraw from the second round
presidential poll that analysts
had strongly tipped the former trade
unionist to win.
The two rivals were later forced by the regional SADC
alliance and the
African Union to agree to form a government of national
unity that includes
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who heads the
smaller formation of
the MDC. - ZimOnline
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010
23:38
IT will be a task of Herculean proportions for the sanctions
imposed on
Zimbabwe to be revoked quickly even if the country meets the
democratic
benchmarks set by the United States, Britain and their Western
allies,
political analysts have said. Calls for the removal of the embargoes
have
continued to grow against the backcloth of the gains of the
one-year-old
inclusive government.
President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu
PF party have been joined by Sadc and
the African Union in calling for the
removal of the sanctions. Even Mugabe’s
bitter archrival and now premier,
Morgan Tsvangirai, wants the embargoes
removed, albeit piecemeal.
The
argument is that Zimbabwe’s political risk has been drastically reduced
and
that the removal of the sanctions would open avenues for multilateral
loans,
grants and lines of credit to revive the vegetative economy.
The inclusive
government has since its inception last February failed to
raise a
staggering US$8,5 billion to shore up the economy.
The US, Britain and their
allies in the European Union (EU) have set
benchmarks the inclusive
government should meet if sanctions are to be
scrapped, among them the
restoration of the rule of law, respect for human
rights, media freedom and
institutional reforms.
The EU member states will meet in Brussels next
Saturday to decide on the
sanctions amid reports that member states were
divided on the issue –– some
are calling for the lifting of embargoes on
state firms while others want
targeted restrictions eased.
The EU imposed
sanctions on 203 key Zanu PF and government figures allegedly
involved in
violence and human rights abuses and 40 companies associated
with the
individuals and their sources of finance. Tsvangirai agrees that
certain
benchmarks have yet to be met and that it was up to Western capitals
to
decide the course of action to take on the sanctions, but says there was
a
case for easing targeted sanctions against Mugabe and members of his inner
circle.
“It (reduced political risk) is a very positive signal to those
who doubt
that they have anything to benefit from this inclusive
government,”
Tsvangirai said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in
Davos a
fortnight ago.
His deputy, Arthur Mutambara last week said:
“Sanctions should have been
removed yesterday to pave way for investment. We
need investment, not
sanctions.”
Political analysts this week said the
removal of sanctions would only be
beneficial to the country if it was done
simultaneously by the EU and the
US.
EU embargoes, they argued, may not
take long to scrap, but the US would need
to repeal the Zimbabwe Democracy
and Economic Recovery Act (Zidera) of 2001,
which would be a Herculean
task.
The Act was passed by Congress as part of the US’s “support to the
people of
Zimbabwe in their struggle to effect peaceful, democratic change,
achieve
broad-based and equitable economic growth, and restore the rule of
law”.
The US sanctions were last year extended by a year by President Barack
Obama
through an executive order. The US Embassy Office of Public Affairs
told the
Zimbabwe Independent that for Zidera to be repealed it had to go
through
either the House or Senate and must subsequently be introduced in
the other
chamber.
Hearings would be conducted in each of the bodies and
if the proposed repeal
is upheld by both houses it would then be
abrogated.
“Note that even without repeal of Zidera, removal of bilateral
debt relief
restrictions and support for removal of multilateral debt relief
restrictions and multilateral financing restrictions can be implimented upon
a presidential certification that certain conditions have been met,” the
office said.
The conditions to be met are the restoration of rule of law,
election or
pre-election conditions, land reform and the military and police
being
subservient to government.
“Without these conditions being met, the
president can waive restrictions if
he determines it is in the US interest
to do so,” the office added.
The office said it was difficult to give a
timeframe as to when sanctions
can be lifted if the benchmarks were
met.
“It could be as little as two or three months depending on what else
congress is doing,” the office said.
The office said there were two types
of restrictive measures: restrictions
prohibiting US citizens and businesses
from doing business with specially
designated individuals, including
parastatals; and travel restrictions.
“These restrictions are pursuant to a
presidential executive order, last
renewed by President Obama in March
2009. The president has the power to
revoke the executive order, in which
case there would be no restrictions on
anybody, or to lift restrictions on
specific individuals,” the office said.
Travel restrictions were imposed by
presidential proclamation. The US
Secretary of State determines whom they
apply to. The president has the
power to withdraw this
proclamation.
Political commentator Alex Magaisa said both the US and the EU
needed to
appreciate the delicateness of the situation in Zimbabwe and note
the
progress that has been made since the inception of the inclusive
government
to decide the process and speed at which they should lift the
sanctions.
Magaisa argued: “Like all coalitions, ours is a sensitive one,
which as we
have seen most recently, responds immediately to external
influences.
Sanctions are more than about punishing wrongdoers; they are
also a
mechanism to encourage good conduct. As such, when there is any
positive
response, it becomes necessary to review the relevance and utility
of the
sanctions.”
He argued that the removal of sanctions at any given
time did not indicate a
point of finality.
Magaisa added that with the
untapped resources in Zimbabwe, there was no
doubt that many countries were
thinking of a constructive engagement with
the inclusive government. The
international media reported this week that
the EU was divided on the
embargoes issue and that it was most likely that
some targeted sanctions
would be struck off.
Some countries reportedly led by the Netherlands and the
UK were of the view
that the restrictions should remain in place, while
others headed by Germany
and Denmark were pushing for the easing of the
measures in a bid to force
Mugabe to play ball in the ongoing negotiations
to put finality to the
outstanding issues of the global political
agreement.
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010 23:08
TALKS to tackle
outstanding issues of the global political agreement have
deadlocked, amid
reports that facilitator - South African President Jacob
Zuma - will arrive
in the capital at the weekend to push for fresh elections
by April next
year.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday told the Zimbabwe
Independent
that his party wanted finality to the talks and was ready to
"park" the
outstanding issues and go for elections to resolve the country's
decade-long
political impasse. "Outstanding issues should not inhibit
progress," the
premier said. "We are waiting for a report from the
negotiators whom we have
asked to conclude the talks. If there are any
outstanding issues we will
park them and proceed."
Tsvangirai's
sentiments are in line with what Zuma said last month and came
after a
stalemate in negotiations which resumed on Monday and ended on
Wednesday.
They were supposed to unlock the logjam on the outstanding issues
of the
global political agreement (GPA) with both Zanu PF and the MDC-T
digging in
their heels.
Tsvangirai said a new constitution should be enacted by
October followed by
fresh elections six months later.
Zuma's
facilitation team - made up of former South African ministers Charles
Nqakula and Mac Maharaj, and the president's international relations advisor
Lindiwe Zulu - which flew into the country on Monday to assist in the
negotiations - left Harare on Wednesday morning empty-handed.
The
latest talks, which were held in the Rainbow Towers Hotel's presidential
suite, reportedly cemented polarisation between Zanu PF and the
MDC-T.
The parties were deadlocked on the rehiring of central bank
boss Gideon
Gono, appointment of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, and
provincial
governors, and the refusal to swear-in MDC-T treasurer-general
Roy Bennett
as deputy Agriculture minister.
Zanu PF wants sanctions
lifted and "pirate" foreign radio broadcasts stopped
by the MDC-T before it
can concede to some of its demands.
The sources said Zuma's
facilitation team would brief him on the stalemate
before he flies to Harare
tomorrow to meet President Robert Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur
Mutambara to map out a way forward.
"There was no iota of movement on
any of the outstanding issues," one of the
sources privy to the talks said.
"There is now cementation and consolidation
of polarisation because Zanu PF
and the MDC are digging in."
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC-T spokesperson,
told the Independent yesterday that
the party's national executive had met
on Wednesday to receive a report on
the negotiations and were not
impressed.
"We received a report from our negotiators and it would
appear there is zero
movement and progress-free development on the talks,"
Chamisa said. "As a
party we are demanding finality, closure and conclusion
on these talks. We
don't want to keep Zimbabweans in suspense and anxiety.
We are holding
everyone to ransom."
Efforts to get comment from
Zanu PF negotiators - Patrick Chinamasa and
Nicholas Goche - were in vain at
the time of going to press.
The sources said Zuma was expected to
announce a deadlock on the outstanding
issues on his visit and then press
for fresh elections.
The sources said Zuma met Tsvangirai on the
sidelines of the World Economic
Forum in Davos a fortnight ago and informed
him that regional leaders were
proposing an election to end the country's
political impasse.
Tsvangirai reportedly bought the
idea.
Mugabe last December told the Zanu PF congress to gear up for
fresh
elections and is today expected to tell his party's central committee
meeting to prepare for polls next year.
Both Zanu PF and the
MDC-T have lined up rallies throughout the country to
explain their
positions on the constitution-making process and the
anticipated
polls.
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010 22:44
LOCAL
Government minister Ignatius Chombo and Information minister Webster
Shamu
(pictured) are leasing out their farms to former white commercial
farmers,
Mashonaland West secretary for lands and resettlement Temba Mliswa
has
alleged.
In a letter dated January 21 to the Zanu PF politburo in the
possession of
the Zimbabwe Independent, Mliswa implicated Chombo and Shamu
in the scam
involving senior Zanu PF officials subletting more than 30 farms
in the
province.
Mliswa also said Chombo and Shamu were
multiple-farm owners.
The lands secretary promised to expose all
multiple-farm owners in the
province and also those subletting their pieces
of land to whites in a
report he will present soon to the party
leadership.
“There appears to be a cartel of our supposed members who
are in favour of
and have been supporting the white farmers. In my findings
I have found that
most of those that are involved in this cartel are
legislators in their
areas and they should be strongly reprimanded,” reads
Mliswa’s letter.
“The audit which has been suggested in the land reform
exposes the
leadership,” he said.
Mliswa said it was unfortunate
that those in the higher echelons of the
party were flouting its resolutions
agreed upon at congress last December,
which said offer letters, leases and
certificates of occupation should
indicate both names of
spouses.
The congress also resolved that sub-letting would not be
tolerated and that
the party should enforce its policy of one person,
one-farm.
He said the report he would present would detail the names
of those with
multiple farms and the names under which those farms were
registered.
Mliswa, who was reinstated in the proavincial party
structures together with
the provincial chairperson John Mafa and his deputy
Frank Ndambakuwa on
Wednesday, said he had been suspended because of the
report which will
expose multiple-farm owners in Zanu PF and together with
their close family
members who are leasing out farms.
He said his
suspension was an attempt to silence him and suppress what he
described as a
damning report.
Mliswa alleged that Chombo and Shamu were engaging
former white farmers from
Chegutu and Zvimba who were instrumental in the
damning judgment from the
Sadc Tribunal which ruled that Harare should halt
its land reform programme.
Mliswa told the politburo that his family
had been threatened through
telephone calls and he had had suspicious cars
unregistered driving past his
house.
Land and Rural Resettlement
Minister Herbert Murerwa has warned resettled
farmers subletting farms to
former white commercial farmers that they risked
losing their
land.
When contacted for comment, Chombo said whatever Mliswa was
alleging was
nothing new as he had over the years been accused of having as
many as 15
farms.
Chombo said Mliswa should bring these issues to
the party leadership with
evidence that he owned those alleged
farms.
“There is nothing new about what he is saying. He must prove
what he is
saying because I have been accused of having as many as 15
farms,” said
Chombo.
Shamu yesterday refused to
comment.
Meanwhile, Mafa, Mliswa and Ndambakuwa were reinstated on
Wednesday at a
meeting attended by the acting national political commissar
Richard Ndlovu
and two other politburo members Oppah Muchunguri and Absolom
Sikhosana.
Faith Zaba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11
February 2010 20:04
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe monetary policy
statement a fortnight ago
instills a somewhat cautious optimism on the pace
of economic recovery.
There have always been worries and talk about
Zimbabwean banks not doing
enough to let credit flow into the economy, more
or less the same worries
that gripped the world after global banks suddenly
slowed on lending after
the sub-prime mortgage market crisis induced
recession.
Governments around the rich world responded through "quantitative
easing",
flooding the markets with liquidity to ease banks' worries of
liquidity
crunch. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) still worries today
that
hastened withdrawal of this fiscal support to the markets could
jeopardise
the global recovery process.
Of interest therefore to Zimbabwe
is the rate of credit creation in the
economy, and in particular, the
ability of banks to generate loans from the
deposits at hand, measured by
the loan-to-deposit ratio.
Total bank deposits are currently sitting at about
US$1,3 billion, with the
loan-to-deposit ratio at 49%. The general
perception in the economy is that
the banks are taking a very cautious
approach towards lending and they
should instead let credit flow more freely
into the thirsty economy.
Understanding the behaviour of the banks would be
very important in creating
and stimulating the right policies that will
support the commendable
economic recovery process the country is currently
enjoying. What exactly is
the position of regional countries on the ability
of banks to create loan on
their balance sheets, and are Zimbabwean banks so
much off the mark? Let us
look across Africa and see if we can draw any
important lessons on this
important aspect.
Across the Limpopo, South
Africa sits on about US$321 billion in deposits,
with loans at US$306
billion, thus giving one of the highest loan-to-deposit
ratios in
sub-Saharan Africa at 95%.
The structured finance market, which doesn't exist
in Zimbabwe, is active in
South Africa. Globally, securitisation has brought
about the ability of
banks to increase liquidity and spread risk, implying
more loans can be
generated on bank balance sheet. For now let us pay a
blind eye to some of
the challenges of securitisation that emerged from the
sub-prime mortgage
market crisis where greedy originators tricked the
markets, and indeed
successfully.
Securitisation is dead in the
Zimbabwean markets, which means therefore that
banks have to keep a closer
eye on both liquidity and credit risks as assets
sit permanently on their
balance sheets until they mature.
Looking at it closely reveals that in fact
there aren't any meaningful
assets to securitise because the asset classes
in the market are too narrow.
Impliedly, it would therefore be dangerous for
banks to have high
loan-to-deposit ratios because they cannot repackage and
sell these on the
secondary market to generate liquidity and spread
risk.
Expecting Zimbabwean banks to quickly follow the South African model
and
shore up the loan-to-deposit ratio to around 90% or thereabout may be
expecting too much. Although this high loan to deposit ratio existing in
South Africa hit the banks hard during 2009 when by June 2009 impairments
had reached US$18,5 billion due to slowdown in economic activities, the
South African banks continue to create more value in loans ahead of the
traditional liquid assets, with the liquid asset ratio at only 5%.
A
rather efficient loan distribution mechanism exists in the South African
economy where private households account for the greatest chunk of credit,
taking up 38% of the total loans. The manufacturing, mining and agriculture
sectors take up only 4%, 3% and 1,5% of total loans respectively.
Across
the Zambezi, Zambia's deposits stood at only US$3,1 billion in
October 2009,
with a loan to deposit ratio of only 57%. Although having
witnessed strong
GDP growth of above 5% for the six years to 2008, the depth
of the financial
markets remain very shallow in Zambia, just like Zimbabwe.
The shallow
markets have constantly resulted in the poor transmission of
monetary policy
in influencing real economic activities on the ground.
Resultantly, Zambia's
borrowing rates have remained very high and
prohibitive. The excessive
credit spreads reveal huge underlying
inefficiencies in the market borne out
of inherent high credit risk in an
economy whose fortunes correlate strongly
with the swings in copper prices.
It is important to note that key
developments have taken place in the
Zambian market, which overall is good
for the development of the credit
markets.
The central bank's aggressive
liquidity sterilisation exercise that
responded to the influx of donor funds
and high copper prices then in the
2004-2008 period in order to tame
inflation has moderated. Subsequently, the
yields on government paper have
come down significantly from about 18% in
December 2008 to about 9%
currently.
This has somewhat reduced the past overbearing influence of the
government
crowding out private sector borrowers, and the loan-to-deposit
ratio should
therefore be expected rise from the current levels, whilst the
liquid asset
portfolio, which makes up 19% of total assets, should be coming
off as banks
should now be pursuing the lucrative credit markets.
However
when evaluated against its GDP, Zambia's deposits to GDP at only 20%
reveal
a huge challenge in the ability of the local financial institutions
to
influence growth at the household level, and that explains why consumer
credit in Zambia from micro-finance companies is among the highest in the
world at around 10-15% per month, whilst credit from mainstream banking at
around 25% is high considering the inflation and yield curve dynamics in the
economy.
The important lesson we are drawing from Zambia is that the
current economic
stability in Zimbabwe may not necessarily imply reduced
cost of credit and
efficient market pricing mechanism. A lot of work still
needs to be done at
the policy level to avoid market failure, and that
starts with the need to
understand the importance of a secondary
market.
When one then compares Zimbabwe to South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania,
Kenya
etc, there is definitely an anomaly on the low loan-to-deposit ratio
that is
peculiar to Zimbabwe. Kenya, with about US$12 billion deposits on a
US$35
billion GDP, has a loan-to-deposit ratio similar to Tanzania at around
68%.
The issues affecting the flow of credit can therefore be summarised as
follows: First, credit risk is still very pronounced in Zimbabwe at the
moment, and banks wouldn't want to buy into economy-wide risks that much
yet. Banks would argue that quality borrowers are very few, and because of
the depressed markets, the securities being offered by most of the borrowers
would be so difficult to turn into cash when push comes to shove.
With
the banking sector now having to contend with tough capital
requirements,
rising impairments out of exuberant lending may claim scalps
in the
boardroom.
Only foolish shareholders would subsidise management
inefficiencies and
imprudence manifesting in high loan-loss ratios. Second
comes the absence of
a risk-free liquid asset portfolio in the Zimbabwean
financial market, and
that ties up well with the nonexistence of
lender-of-last-resort
functionality due to poor capitalisation of the
central bank.
This compels the banks to keep more of the cash close to the
chest. Third,
we have the deficiency of a strong market pricing discovery
system due to
the absence of a yield curve and the defunct secondary market
for credit
securities.
This puts a lot of risk on loans, more so when
trying to generate liquidity
on bank balance sheets in times of
need.
Lastly, the country risk, on the back of huge debt level, is still very
high
and the international banks' country exposure limits remain
low.
Brains Muchemwa is an economist.
Brains Muchemwa
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010
20:02
PRICES of residential properties are distorted because potential
sellers use
comparative methods instead of proper evaluation. Property
analysts said
most residential properties and stands on the market were not
priced
correctly because sellers were comparing their properties with
similar ones
in classified sections of newspapers or on the internet which
in most cases
were not correctly priced.
A comparative method is when one
has a five-bedroomed house in Avondale
which they want to sell while a
similar property in the same area is being
advertised in the media for about
US$90 000 then sell their house using the
same figures.
Property analyst
Andrew Chifamba said such sellers were speculators who
inflated eventual
prices. Bona fide estate agents do proper evaluation.
Property analysts said
a number of aspects are taken into consideration
before a residential
property is sold for the correct price.
"The classified section and the
internet are just guides. Sellers should
talk to a number of estate agents
and find out the prices of residential
properties whose sales were concluded
if they are to peg the correct price,"
he said.
Chifamba said there were
a number of properties that have been on the market
for more than five
months because they were not priced correctly.
"The most difficult sellers
are those who bought or built their houses at
inflated prices in or before
2008. With the economy stabilising, they will
sell their properties for much
less than
they bought or built them," said Chifamba.
Meanwhile listed
property counters proved to be a durable investment in a
recession, judging
by their performance in January when compared to other
sectors.
Four of
the seven properties-linked listed companies which traditionally
have been
favourites for long-term investors achieved an "attractive
performance"
showing the benefits of increased scale which allowed them to
be in the same
league as blue-chip counters such as Econet, Innscor, Delta
or Meikles
Africa.
Dawn properties share price rose by 31% to 1,7c from 1,3c. Murray and
Roberts was up 26% from 17,5c to 22c. Willdale moved from 0,25c to 0,31c a
24% increase. Larfarge rose 5% to US$1,10 from US$1,15.
Three counters
however were in the red during the period under review with
Pearl Properties
going down by 13% to 2,6c from 3c, Mashonaland Holdings
eased by 11% from
1,8c to 1,6c. Pretoria Portland Cement Company was down 7%
from US$2,75 to
US$2,55.
"Property counters performed well across the board when compared to
other
sectors. While margins are likely to remain under pressure their order
books
have remained healthy and there are plenty of large-scale projects as
the
construction industry is improving," an analysts said on
Wednesday.
While a growing number of pundits have all but declared the
property market
healed, the latest evidence on the stock market and
distortions in housing
prices paint a different picture.
The downward
correction in property prices since dollarisation has in fact
enhanced
affordability, making it possible for more buyers to participate in
the
market. The reduction in costs is not the only aspect contributing to a
buyer's market; the increased availability of homes for sale at estate
agents and in classified section of newspapers is also giving homebuyers
further options.
Market analysts however said as long as liquidity does
not improve, the
property market was likely to remain generally subdued
during the remainder
of the year.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010
23:48
IT has always amused us how state-controlled newspapers are obliged
to
prefix their reference to issues such as sanctions with words such as
"illegal" when they are not illegal at all. This is to satisfy the whims of
their besieged political masters who would like Herald readers to believe
there is a conspiracy to bring about regime change. There is of course a
conspiracy, but it involves the people of Zimbabwe.
Another usage has now
crept in which we are seeing on a daily basis and that
is "widely
discredited".
If sanctions are so "widely discredited", why is the former
ruling party so
obsessed with their removal? We also have the daft
suggestion that Britain
"influenced" the other EU countries to put these
measures in place.
Anybody remotely familiar with EU politics would know that
anything the
British propose is likely to be opposed by the French! Getting
27 states to
agree to a common policy is impossible without buy-in at all
points. So the
image of an overweening Britain leaning on its European
rivals is a tad
remote from reality.
Morgan Tsvangirai is "coming under
intense pressure" to have the sanctions
lifted, we are told.
Is it
Tsvangirai coming under "intense pressure" or Zanu PF? What have they
done
to warrant the lifting of sanctions which they alone are responsible
for?
EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Brussels in two weeks to
review
their "common position". They are likely to lift some measures such
as those
relating to Zimbabwean companies. But because of ongoing land
seizures and
the glacial pace of reform on the constitutional and media
fronts, there is
unlikely to be much change in the status of President
Mugabe and his
immediate circle. Members of Woza were once again arrested
last week, not
the sort of thing that endears Zimbabwe to its
"detractors".
The media should make it abundantly clear that there has
been no reform
whatsoever in their sector. A media commission has been
formed but it is
paralysed by indecision. No new licences have been issued
to newspaper
groups while the so-called public media remains in the hands of
a
reactionary clique which still hasn't come to terms with its rejection by
voters in the 2008 election.
Which makes Kudakwashe Bhasikiti's
resolution on sanctions so ridiculous.
The people voted in 2008 for MPs who
had no time for Zanu PF's blandishments
on the sanctions issue. If a
majority in the House of Assembly were elected
on a platform which
repudiated the government's lame excuse for failure,
blaming precisely those
countries that were keeping Zimbabwe fed, why does
Bhasikiti think they will
have changed their minds by now?
The people have spoken. And they haven't
changed their minds as the
reception Bhasikiti received when proposing his
motion revealed. The House
let him know exactly what it thought of Zanu PF's
dishonesty over the
sanctions issue. It's a basket case.
Meanwhile, the
state press refers to the US sanctions Act, Zidera, as
"draconian". Wouldn't
that be a more appropriate description for Posa, the
Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act and numerous other measures
passed by the old
regime to fortify its dictatorship? Are these not Zanu PF's
sanctions
against the people of Zimbabwe? The Herald should stop these silly
labels.
Instead of giving an enlightened lead on policy reform, the state
media is
behaving like Izvestia in its last days as a public organ. How do
they think
they will be remembered when the rotten gang at the top has been
removed?
And by the way, it would be useful if those commenting on Zidera
were able
to get Congressman Barney Frank's name right. It is not
"Ben".
We are pleased to hear that Obert Mpofu has been disgorged of the
vehicles
he took with him when he left his last ministry. We have yet to
hear from
his former permanent secretary on his four vehicles.
"It is no
longer an issue," Mpofu told the Standard, lambasting the press
for pursuing
this fundamental issue of accountability.
And then there were those hundreds
of youths all with the birth date of
April 18 1980 recruited without
authority.
This is how Zanu PF wants us to remember them: Greedy and rotten
to the
core.
And still they occupy vast column inches in the "public"
press denouncing
Morgan Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti in the redundant language
of the Jurassic
era.
By the way, what steps has Biti taken to ascertain
the author of that
scandalous article in the Herald 18 months ago,
purportedly by Biti
preparing for a transition -- that was described by a
judge as good bedtime
reading -- in other words fictional? Despite it being
a transparent forgery,
Biti was arrested on the basis of it and charged with
treason. Who penned it
and why did the Herald publish such a dubious
document containing errors
Biti would never have made?
And then there was
the assault on Nelson Chamisa with an iron bar at the
airport and the theft
of his laptop. What has he done to ascertain
responsibility for that
episode? Is it not in the public interest to know?
Meanwhile, the
Registrar-General's office is still refusing to give the MDC
an electronic
copy of the voters' roll. This is an obvious breach of the
GPA. Yet the MDC
says nothing.
Let's welcome Reg Austin to the Human Rights Commission and
hope he gets to
the bottom of these episodes of human rights abuses and
political
obstruction that have so tarnished the nation.
The South
Africans, by the way, have reportedly offered to clean up the
voters' roll
with funding from the British and Americans. But the RG's
office has
declined the offer.
The story is as yet unconfirmed. But it is extraordinary
how much damage
well-placed individuals can do to democratic prospects.
Godfrey Majonga is
currently refusing to accept applications for licences
because, he claims,
the administrative structures are not in place. A
statement will be made in
due course inviting applications. No application
will be accepted before
then, he says.
Does he really need to wait for
instructions before proceeding? Why doesn't
he take charge and start
work?
We were sorry to hear of the man who lost US$85 000 to a con
artist.
Regional magistrate William Bhila spoke of the "stupid superstition"
that
led a Harare man to surrender the proceeds of the sale of his house,
car and
property to pair of bogus prophets.
Bhila chided the victim for
believing their claim that an evil snake was
about to destroy his whole
family.
We should be circumspect here. Is this not the same "stupid
superstition"
that led to senior politicians and police officers buying the
claims of a
young woman that diesel flowed from a rock in
Chinhoyi?
Congratulations to the Herald for publishing a photo of Ben
Freeth taken
some months ago after he had been severely assaulted by farm
invaders in
Chegutu. It was important to publicise the criminal assault that
as far as
we know nobody has been charged with.
Lawyer Gerald Mlotshwa
was quick to accuse Freeth of contempt of court for
remarks the farmer, who
has now lost his farm, allegedly made about Justice
Bharat Patel in online
publications following Patel's ruling in the Sadc
Tribunal case.
Whatever
the merits of that issue, it was useful for diplomats and others
currently
under pressure to lift sanctions to see the consequences of
depredations by
"war veterans".
The article was headed "White farmers attack judje
(sic)".
A documentary film Freeth had made on his own experience of the land
invasions was widely seen abroad to critical acclaim.
The documentary was
"full of falsehoods", the Herald's correspondent Fidelis
Munyoro charged
without a scrap of evidence. You can bet he was rushing to
"judje" before
seeing it. But there, next to Munyoro's article was the
picture of a
battered and beaten Ben Freeth to illustrate just who was
telling
"falsehoods".
Well done guys. Another own goal!
We noticed the
prominence given by the Herald to Copac's advertisement
dismissing claims in
the Standard that there had been irregular payments to
MPs. Funding from the
Zimbabwe Institute was essentially for supporting the
independent
secretariat and facilitating the training of thematic
committees, we were
told. ZI support has been in the form of direct payment
to service
providers.
This is well and good. It is important to have this correction.
But there
was something missing here. The Copac advert made reference to
inaccuracies
in the Sunday Mail edition of January 24 and the Standard of
January 24 and
January 31.
The Herald report omitted the reference to the
Sunday Mail.
Still with matters of clarification, it was useful to have a
statement by
Gapwuz, the agricultural and plantation workers union, on
record recently.
They called for an end to the chaos on the farms "which
continues to destroy
the livelihoods of farm workers".
"Gapwuz neither
condones nor encourages the current attempts to deliberately
take over farms
by way of murdering, attacking and intimidating workers and
their
employers," it says.
Fresh farm disturbances have reportedly rendered over 4
000 farm workers
homeless since the formation last February of the
GNU.
We have heard recently about the importance of public policy on the land
issue. What part of public policy, we ask, is the eviction of thousands of
workers who happened to be born in Malawi or Zambia?
No doubt we will
soon be feeling the consequences of Zimbabwe's clumsy
diplomacy over the
issue of the Botswana wildlife officers arrested for
entering Zimbabwe
illegally. We will not comment here on the merits of the
case. But what we
can say is that we see the urgent need for participation
by all three GNU
partners in foreign policy-making so the last-ditch
loyalists in Munhumutapa
Building don't completely isolate us.
In an editorial yesterday the Herald
woke up to the need for good relations
with Botswana - a bit too late for
that.
We note the statement from Botswana that their phone calls to the
Foreign
Affairs ministry went unreturned. And Botswana's foreign minister
Phandu
Skelemani said their vice-president, Mompati Merafhe, had been unable
to
speak to President Mugabe about the issue in Addis Ababa on the sidelines
of
the AU conference. Foreign minister Simba Mumbengegwi was unable to
arrange
an interview, we gather, because the president departed earlier than
scheduled.
Botswana's frustration with Zimbabwe's maladroit moves
resulted in the
response that Zimbabwe should withdraw its defence and CIO
attachés from
Gaborone and that these posts would be "frozen and never to be
filled".
That's what happens when you try to settle scores. Can any of this
be said
to be in Zimbabwe's interest? It looks like another own
goal!
On the subject of settling scores, how many people have now been
acquitted
in the courts or had their charges dropped before plea? The
number is
mounting: Pascal Gwezere, Mordecai Mahlangu, Thamsanqa Mahlangu,
Alec
Muchadehama, and Ransome Makamure have all had charges dropped or been
acquitted.
Several are prominent lawyers. Makamure is an MP. It is a
shocking roll call
and, as in the Botswana case, the state, thinking it
would teach them a good
lesson, has itself been taught a lesson in common
sense!
Finally, can the editor of the Herald tell us who Chris Mbanga is. Any
relation of Wilf?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010
23:46
IT is indisputable that the Zimbabwean economy is recovering. The
state of
the economy today is significantly different to that which
prevailed a
little over a year ago. However, it is also indisputable that
the economic
recovery is a very long and slow one, and that there continues
to be much
which continues to ail the economy. It cannot be credibly
contended that
the economy has fully recovered, or even that the recovery so
far achieved
is considerable in extent, when over 85% of the population
struggle to
subsist on incomes below the poverty datum line, and more than
half of the
population is under-nourished and suffering pronounced
malnutrition, with
incomes below the food datum line. The harsh fact is that
when an economy
has been whipped and beaten for over 12 years, it cannot be
transformed
overnight.
Of the innumerable constraints upon economic
recovery, one of the foremost
ones is the scarcity of resources within the
money market. In relation to
the economy’s needs, funds within the majority
of the banks and other
financial institutions are minimal. Almost every
entity within commerce and
industry, the mining and tourism sectors, and
other economically engaged,
has a critical need to access funding. Many of
them have a substantial asset
base, including properties, plant and
equipment, and other assets, but have
a grievous lack of working capital,
let alone the capital necessary for the
refurbishment, rehabilitation,
replacement and upgrading of those assets.
This lack of working capital, for
most, was occasioned by very considerable
operating losses in 2008, when the
extreme hyperinflation (greater than ever
previously experienced, anywhere
in the world) not only eroded consumer
spending power and therefore greatly
reduced sales volumes for most
enterprises, but also increased operational
costs exponentially.
Thereafter, capital resources were further extensively
diminished by the
demonetisation of Zimbabwe currency.
The demonetisation
was very necessary, in order halt the hyperinflation, and
for other reasons,
but nevertheless also had the very negative consequence
of further
decimating the working capital available to Zimbabwean
enterprise.
Although, in 2009, the manufacturing sector of the economy
experienced a
relatively impressive growth in productivity, from under an
abysmally low of
less than 10% of capacity, to approximately 40%, that was
still far short of
needed productivity levels to attain comprehensive
economic recovery.
Similarly, most other economic sectors (with the very
prominent exception of
agriculture), did not realise fully their potential,
albeit that they did
experience some growth, whilst no significant growth
was attained in
agriculture.
In order to achieve such potential,
virtually every enterprise has a chronic
need for working capital
injections. The funding was (and continues to be)
necessary to enable
timeous purchase of operational inputs, to effect
payment of wages and other
operational costs, and in order that customers
could be accorded credit
terms. Provision of credit has generally been a
prerequisite for enhanced
sales, as wholesalers, retailers and other
distributors have been as greatly
subject to cash availability limitations
as were, and are, their
suppliers.
Where normal economic circumstances prevail, businesses in need of
working
capital either seek funding from investors, or resort to the money
market.
However, there are very few in the domestic market as have the cash
resources to effect investments, and the limited numbers that are so
possessed very understandably seek investments which are on exceptionally
favourable terms, exploiting the fact that there are more in need of
investment than there are investors. This, of course, is a major deterrent
to those who are soliciting investment. Foreign investors are also
presently few and far between. Although there has been a great influx of
foreign investors evaluating opportunities and potential in Zimbabwe, most
are not yet willing to effect the investments, whilst they are poised to do
so as soon as they consider that the right investment environment
prevails.
They perceive the prerequisites of such environment to include
political
stability (the first step thereto being the belated full
implementation of
the Global Political Agreement and real progress towards
formulation and
adoption of a genuinely democratic constitution). They also
require that
there be genuine, evident, respect for property and human
rights, and for
full implementation of law and order, concurrently with
unequivocal
commitment to Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreements.
With there presently being limited opportunity to procure working
capital
through recourse to investment funding, most desperately pursue the
alternative of seeking finance from the money market. But, with a few
exceptions, the market has relatively minimal resources. On the one hand,
the market’s ability to access international lines of credit is immensely
restricted; for most potential providers of such credit facilities apply the
same criteria as do foreign investors, in assessing the risk factors. Those
criteria presently deter most from providing credit lines, for the
perceptions are (validly) that political stability does not yet exist, and
that there is recurrent evidence of absence of respect for property and
human rights, and for law and order. In such instances as limited facilities
are granted to the money market from abroad, they are generally of very
short duration.
On the other hand, inflows into the money market from
local sources are also
considerably less than required to enable provision
of working capital needs
to Zimbabwean enterprise. The amount of money in
circulation is extremely
small, as compared to that required for a virile
economy. This is
exacerbated by the extent that the populace in general and
businesses in
particular, do not use the banking system. Aware of the
extensive scarcity
of currency, many are fearful that if they deposit their
inflows into the
banks, they will not thereafter be able timeously to
withdraw them as and
when required.
In consequence, the financial sector
is under severe constraints in making
advances to the Zimbabwean enterprises
which necessarily crave working
capital injections. Moreover, to such
limited extent as the banks and other
financial institutions are able to
make facilities available, they commit
themselves to the provision of those
facilities for exceptionally short
periods of time. This is usually of
little benefit to intending borrowers,
for the funds are required for a
sufficiently long time to source and obtain
of inputs, to use those
resources, effect deliveries of the resultant
outputs, and receive payment
for those deliveries.
Whilst there are still a divers range of economic
recovery obstacles, most
of which require political will to resolve, the
straitened circumstances of
the money market is a major one of those
obstacles. That market’s
illiquidity greatly hinders Zimbabwe’s economic
recovery, and must be very
urgently addressed.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010
23:29
ON February 11 2009, the MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn
in as the
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe to form the inclusive government. This
development followed the signing of the Inter-Party Agreement between the
two formations of the MDC and the then ruling Zanu PF party in September
2008.
The signing of what is referred to as the global political
agreement (GPA)
and the consummation of that agreement brought some hope of
reforming the
state after years of human rights violations. The history of
these
violations threads from the Gukurahundi period through every
post-independent national election and protest to the electoral farce of
June 27 2008 which actually reinvigorated the talks after President Robert
Mugabe's election was disputed by both domestic and international actors on
the basis of egregious human rights violations and other electoral
malpractices by Zanu PF and its surrogate state security agents.
In my
understanding the GPA is a stopgap measure meant to bring sanity to
Zimbabwe's political environment after the human rights violations committed
by Zanu PF and state security agents. It has a clear mandate to deliver
constitutional, media, security service sector and law reforms as well as
bringing socio-economic stability after almost a decade of recession. The
parties to the GPA also agreed to bring law and order in the country as well
as justice to victims of human rights violations.
In this regard, the
inclusive government of Zimbabwe is a transitory
arrangement. It's not
permanent. Simply put, the role of the inclusive
government is like that of
Biblical Moses whose role was to deliver the
children of Israel from
bondage, oppression, hunger and slavery to the
promised land of Canaan where
they could enjoy their fundamental freedoms
including the pursuit of
happiness. Zimbabweans have been facing unjust
persecutions, human rights
violations, hunger, unemployment and poverty from
the then Zanu PF regime.
They want the restoration of their rights and
dignity as espoused in the
GPA.
If the inclusive government fails to play this Moses role as is
currently
the case, more than a year after its consummation, then Zimbabwe
needs a
Joshua and this Joshua should be the holding of free and fair
elections
supervised by Sadc, AU and the UN with no role whatsoever for the
military
and other Zanu PF surrogates responsible for the past electoral
frauds.
In my view, in order to interrogate the work of the inclusive
government as
a transitory agent, there is need to understand what a
transition entails,
the types of transition and the one currently in place
in Zimbabwe. This
will assist people to realise why this kind of transition
is failing or
succeeding.
A transition refers to a regime change or
simply a change of governance. A
regime change is a change in the
institutional structure of a given country.
It is the formal and informal
organisation of political power, and of its
relations with the broader
society.
A regime determines who has access to political power, and how those
who are
in power deal with those who are not. It should be a government of
and with
citizens and not a government without citizens as was the case with
the Zanu
PF regime. That's why there was need to change that regime so that
it could
be a regime of and with citizens. There is nothing criminal about
citizens
working towards regime change. Regimes should be periodically
changed using
lawful means.
There are basically three types of
transitions. Transition through
transaction; this happens when the
authoritarian regime initiates the
process of democratisation of its body
politic but remains a decisive
political actor throughout the transition
although opposition political
parties and other players are part of the
process.
The second one is transition via extrication. Scholars of
transitions point
out that this type of transition occurs when the
authoritarian regime is
weakened but not as significantly as is the case in
the transition by
defeat. However, in this situation, the authoritarian
regime has less power
to negotiate as in transition by
transaction
Transition via regime defeat involves a decisive defeat of the
authoritarian
government leading to the end of authoritarian rule and the
establishment of
a democratic government
From these three types of
transitions, Zimbabwe is experiencing transition
by transaction where the
two MDC formations led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and the one led
by his deputy Professor Arthur Mutambara and
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu
PF party are in a compromise agreement
following the signing of the GPA in
September of 2008. The regime has more
comparative power in relation to its
partners. That's why the outstanding
issues can only be resolved at the
pleasure of Zanu PF.
As a result of the kind of transition currently in place
where Zanu PF
controls the state through the Central Intelligence
Organisation, the army,
the police and the prison services, the reforms
necessary to make sure that
there is a transition to democratic rule in
Zimbabwe can only happen at the
pleasure of Zanu PF and its autocratic
system which has not be decisively
shaken. The refusal by Zanu PF to deal
with outstanding issues in the GPA
such as the appointment of provincial
governors as well as the disputes over
the appointments of the Reserve Bank
Governor and the Attorney General, the
continued disruption of the
Constitutional reform process and the failure
until recently to swear in
members of independent state commissions like the
Zimbabwe Media Commission
all point to the comparative power that Zanu PF
has in this
arrangement.
A proper transition to democratic rule should come up with new
values, new
democratic institutions and a fundamentally new political
culture premised
on the rule of law and the protection of citizens' civil
and political
liberties. In my view, Zimbabwe is yet to realise such things
in the media,
security service, constitutional and the general governance
framework since
the consummation of the inclusive government. This is
because the oppressive
system of Zanu PF is still in charge of the
state.
Zimbabweans, therefore, need to appreciate that the inclusive
government
born out of the compromise agreement by the political parties
involved can
virtually stall the transition and compromise the
democratisation agenda
relataive to transitional justice issues and other
broader human rights
issues such as the exercise of civil and political
liberties as well as
social, cultural and economic rights
In my view,
there is need for civil society organisations and the reform
wing of the
inclusive government to concentrate on democratic consolidation
and broaden
democratic struggles and refuse to be blinded by the
constitutional reform
process as the only avenue of democratising Zimbabwe.
The process of
consolidating democracy entails the strengthening democratic
institutions
(especially the rule of law and protection of civil and
political
liberties), extending democratic processes and preventing
democratic
reversals.
Political institutions and civil society need to be infused with
democratic
practices, for example by the empowerment of civil society
organisations to
increase popular participation and make it more difficult
for elites to
manipulate democratic institutions.
Authoritarian political
discourses need to be rejected and authoritarian
political actors such as
Christopher Mutsvangwa, Jonathan Moyo and Tafataona
Mahoso need to be
neutralised by profiling democratic intellectuals and
political activists.
There is need to have restrictions on the scope of
policy-making powers by
for example advocating for the exclusion of
authoritarian lawmakers from
the defence and police budgets to make sure
that the taxpayer dollars are
not used to fund oppression and abuse of human
rights by security
forces
Consolidation means that democracy has become routinised and
internalised in
political behaviour. No groups pursue unconstitutional,
illegal or
undemocratic means to achieve their aims. Elites and the wider
public accept
democracy as the preferred means of governance and deciding on
political
succession. Civic actors and other democratic players should
intensify the
struggle to see the emergence of a democratic political
culture in which
trust, tolerance and compromise are the dominant political
forms.
Democratic consolidation also requires having civic and political
players
prepared for a broader democratisation agenda, not piecemeal
reforms. They
should work to ensure that the values associated with the
stability of a
democracy such as moderation, cooperation, bargaining and
accommodation
exist among the political players. Moderation and
accommodation simply imply
toleration, pragmatism, willingness to compromise
and civility in political
discourse.
Ruhanya is a human rights
researcher.
By Pdzisai Ruhanya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Thursday, 11 February 2010
23:52
CIVIL servants are on industrial action. Besides a few blacklegs
the strike
seems to be universal. Many a time strikes are premised on greed
but this
cannot be said of the present civil servants' strike. When workers
believe
they are producing a lot but their employer is unwilling to share,
they
usually go on strike to demand higher wages. In most cases the workers
lack
a global picture of their company's performance. They may not be aware,
for
example, of the many costs the company incurs in procuring raw materials
or
transporting products to the market. They might even fail to appreciate
the
huge impact simple overheads have on the bottom line.
Unlike in
industry where workers can quantify with a great deal of accuracy
what they
produce, civil servants provide services which are difficult to
measure. But
without them government cannot function. This is why it is rare
for them to
ever, as a whole group, go on strike.
A lot is amiss in the civil service but
few appreciate the humiliation that
people feel when they are as grossly
underpaid as are our public servants.
For the record Harare City Council
pays its street sweepers higher wages
than government pays its middle
managers. The young men who make bricks in
Manyame river near St Mary's
township in Chitungwiza make more money than
civil servants. Flea market
stalls at Mupendzanamo in Mbare are more
rewarding than the air-conditioned
offices in Mukwati Building.
Without undermining the dignity of the street
sweeper, the brick maker and
the vendor, natural justice demands that
remuneration be determined by
certain standards which are placed in a
continuum according to the
contribution they make to the wellbeing of the
employer. Hence the permanent
secretary, who in Zimbabwe generally holds a
doctorate and is the chief
executive of his or her ministry naturally should
be paid a higher wage than
the humble worker who makes his tea.
One thing
outstanding about the current action is that the civil servants
are not
angry or bitter; they are just being sane. They are not throwing
stones;
they are just putting their payslips on the table for all to see.
The
response from the powers that be was predictable - there is no money to
up
your salaries! And to add insult to injury, a ridiculous amount was
announced as the increment commencing only in April.
But can we put the
civil servants' strike in another perspective?
A year ago the government of
national unity was inaugurated. We all remember
the swearing ceremony at
State House, but how many remember what happened
immediately afterwards? I
will remind you: the new ministers made a bee-line
for the CMED premises to
grab their limousines. There was one notable
exception: David Coltart
didn't.
Besides the Mercs, the ministers also got luxurious off-roaders,
which were
either Prados or Land Cruisers and a further third car. All put
together the
vehicles each minister got were worth about
US$150 000
putting to rest the lame excuse that there is no money to
increase the
public servants' salaries.
There is no doubt the ministers deserve all these
and other perquisites such
as housing allowances and chauffeurs (or do
they?). But look at the sheer
gap between what the ministers draw from the
fiscus and what their servants
in the ministries get! Taking home US$150
after four weeks of toil while
your boss raked in a thousand times more at a
go is good reason for anger.
During Kamuzu Banda's reign in Malawi, the old
ogre only allowed a Land
Rover each for his ministers and parliamentarians.
His reasoning was that
there was no justification for a people's servant to
live in the lap of
luxury while his constituency wallowed in abject poverty.
Examples such as
this put into proper perspective our leadership's
profligacy and their
hypocrisy when dealing with lesser mortals such as
those who make their
government work.
It is not only this manifestly
selfish depravity on the part of our
leadership which has spurred the
present crisis but also the corruption
which has made them grow richer and
richer every day while their subjects
have become poorer and poorer. The
civil servants know their bosses'
lifestyles, they know how many farms they
own, they know how many houses
they have and how many other cars they have
accumulated in their dubious
business deals. People who were living in
extreme penury only recently have
suddenly become contenders for space in
Forbes Magazine. You can tell by
their massive midriffs and the concertinos
of chins that now decorate their
necks.
This week it has been reported
that a huge consignment of diamonds has gone
missing. The civil servants
know their value and who is going to benefit
from that heist. It is not the
nation at large but a select few members of a
criminal gang that resides in
our corridors of power.
The heart of the matter of all this is misgovernance!
Our government is not
functional; it has been in a state of decay since the
turn of the century,
after having stagnated in the 1990s. Our civil service
was turned during
those years of decay and stagnation from a professional
workforce into mules
who have been used to administer decisions meant to
entrench a decadent
regime rather than uplift their own wellbeing. Now
instead of the smart
pin-stripe-suit-clad, briefcase-wielding young urban
professional we have
bribe-taking, basket-carrying vendors in government
corridors. Only a free
and fair internationally supervised election will put
an effective
government in place and the sooner this is done the
better.
Nevanji Madanhire