We have been inundated by emails from individuals with all sorts of extreme opinions about the MDC - followers of one faction or another. We will now no longer publish any of these, using only material published elsewere. We trust readers to use their own common sense about the accuracy of reports, taking into account the original source.
Zim Online
Thu 23 February 2006
HARARE - More than half of
Zimbabweans hold President Robert Mugabe
directly responsible for the
country's dire economic crisis, while only 24
percent believe his government
can revive the comatose economy, according to
a survey by a local political
think-tank.
The survey was conducted in the last quarter of 2005 by
the
Harare-based Mass Public Opinion Institution (MPOI) and on behalf of
Afro-Barometre, an international public opinion institute.
A
mixed bag of 2 000 people were polled in both opposition-supporting
urban
areas and in rural areas where the government enjoys more support. The
results were released late on Tuesday night.
"More than half
(52%) of Zimbabweans blame the incumbent government
for the country's
economic condition," reads part of report by the MPOI on
the findings of the
survey.
Only 27 percent of Zimbabweans have
accepted claims by the government
that the country's economic problems were
because of sanctions by former
colonial power Britain and its Western allies
opposed to Harare's seizure of
white-owned farmland for redistribution to
landless blacks, according to the
survey.
And an even smaller
percentage of the 12 million Zimbabweans believed
statements churned daily
by the government's propaganda machine that the
main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party was also to blame
for their economic
plight.
"The sanctions message, which the Government associates
with the
'regime change' agenda of Tony Blair and his "imperialist" allies,
has been
absorbed by just over a quarter (27%) of the citizens.
"The opposition MDC and the previous colonial governments have largely
been
absolved, with only 4% thinking that the MDC is to blame for the
parlous
state of the economy," the report says.
Zimbabwe's economic crisis
has manifested itself through acute
shortages of food, fuel, electricity,
essential medical drugs and just about
every basic survival commodity.
Unemployment is pegged at more than 80
percent while annual inflation shot
up to 613.2 percent in January, making
it one of the highest such rates in
the world.
But Mugabe, 82 - and in power since Zimbabwe's
independence from
Britain 25 years ago - denies ruining the country's once
vibrant economy and
instead blames Western sanctions for wrecking the
economy.
The United States, European Union, Australia, Switzerland
and New
Zealand have imposed financial and visa sanctions against Mugabe and
his top
officials over their failure to uphold the rule of law, democracy
and human
rights.
While Mugabe says his dispute with the West
is over his seizure of
white land for redistribution to landless blacks,
only less than one percent
of interviewees said they regarded the land
redistribution as a matter of
priority. Most listed food, failure to find
jobs or HIV/AIDS as their more
serious worries than owning
land.
Commenting on the survey, MPOI director and also head of the
University of Zimbabwe's political studies department, Eldred Masunungure,
said it revealed a deep sense of pessimism among the populace about Mugabe
and his ruling ZANU PF party's ability to change the country's economic
fortunes.
He said: "There is a deep sense of pessimism
regarding the state of
the economy and the citizens believe the
possibilities of the present
government turning around the economy are next
to nil.
"This pessimism which is found both in the urban and rural
areas is
not captured in the speeches of the government authorities,
including the
President."
The MPOI report has also been sent to
the government but ZimOnline was
last night unable to get comment on the
matter from Information Minister and
government spokesman Tichaona Jokonya.
- ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 23
February 2006
BULAWAYO - Bitter differences have emerged between
senior officials of
one of the factions of Zimbabwe's main opposition
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party over plans to recruit popular
former student leader
Arthur Mutambara to head the faction.
Mutambara, a respected robotics scientist and businessman, is popular
especially among Zimbabwe's fast-dwindling middle class and intelligentsia
who remember him from his days as a firebrand student leader in the late
80s.
MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube and deputy president
Gibson
Sibanda, who together co-lead the anti-Tsvangirai faction of the
opposition
party want Mutambara as their president because of his impressive
track-record and also because the former student leader belongs to
Zimbabwe's majority Shona tribe - a useful factor in any national
election.
Ncube and Sibanda belong to the minority Ndebele
tribe.
But the plan by Ncube and Sibanda to rope in Mutambara
appears to have
triggered a damaging split with MDC deputy secretary Gift
Chimanikire,
yesterday accusing his two colleagues of plotting behind his
back to recruit
the former student leader and of wanting to behave like
"Shona king-makers".
"The group has been calling clandestine
meetings behind my back and
they invited Arthur Mutambara without even
consulting me and other party
officials in their attempts to be Shona
king-makers," a fuming Chimanikire
told ZimOnline on Wednesday.
Chimanikire, who is Shona and seems to have banked on that factor to
land
him the leadership of the Ncube/Sibanda faction of the MDC, vowed to
resist
attempts to make him step aside for Mutambara, who he called an
"expatriate"
who had not contributed anything to Zimbabwe or the MDC.
Mutambara,
who has studied and worked in Britain, the United States
and South Africa,
has spent most of the last decade outside Zimbabwe.
"They are
pleading with me to step down from contesting the presidency
but want
Mutamabara to stand unchallenged but I ask: who is Mutambara? We do
not know
him, he is an expatriate who has not contributed anything to
Zimbabwe and
the MDC," said Chimanikire.
And to add to Ncube and Sibanda's
problems, according to insiders, was
the fact that Chimanikire who is more
known among MDC members could win
against Mutambara in a free and fair poll
when then faction holds its
congress in Bulawayo next weekend.
But Ncube, who has publicly stated that all members of the MDC were
free to
contest any posts in the faction if nominated by provinces,
yesterday sought
to downplay differences with Chimanikire saying the
selection of leaders was
a prerogative of the forthcoming congress.
He said "I do not want
to comment on any allegations made by anyone
but the selection of leaders is
the prerogative of congress and leaders are
not selected by individuals as
Chimanikire is alleging but anybody is free
to nominate
anyone."
Describing allegations by Chimanikire that he himself and
Sibanda were
behaving like Shona kingmakers as ridiculous, Ncube said:
"Chimanikire has
the party constitution, he should know better. The
constitution is clear
that any party member is entitled to stand for any
position."
Ncube, Sibanda, Chimanikire and others broke ranks with
Tsvangirai
after failing to agree on whether to contest last November's
controversial
senatorial election.
Tsvangirai opposed
participation saying there was no point in doing so
because the poll was
going to be rigged by Mugabe. The MDC president also
argued that the senate
lection was a waste of money when more than a quarter
of the 12 million
Zimbabweans were starving.
But Ncube and others insisted that the
MDC should contest the election
because its national council had voted to do
so and accused Tsvangirai of
being dictatorial by refusing to abide by the
council vote.
This weekend's congress by the Ncube/Sibanda faction
and next month's
congress by Tsvangirai's faction will complete the breaking
of the MDC into
two rival political parties.
Political analysts
are unanimous that the disintegration of the
six-year old MDC - Zimbabwe's
most vibrant opposition party ever - could
rewind the political clock back
to the 80's and early 90's era when the
country was a virtual one-party
state under Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF
party. -
ZimOnline.
Zim Online
Thu 23
February 2006
HARARE - At least 43 women protesters who were
arrested on Tuesday for
demonstrating against plans by President Robert
Mugabe to hold a lavish
birthday party at the weekend were still in police
custody last night.
Thirty women from the original group of 73
protesters were released on
Tuesday to leave the 43 still in
custody.
The women, who are from the National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA)
pressure group that is fighting for a new, democratic
constitution for
Zimbabwe were arrested on Tuesday after they marched in the
streets to
register their anger at Mugabe's birthday plans.
Lawyer Andrew Makoni, who is representing the women told ZimOnline on
Wednesday that the police appeared keen to keep the protesters in custody
last night.
"From the look of things, they are likely to spend
another night in
the cells. Forty-three are in custody now after some were
released last
night," said Makoni.
Police spokesperson
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena refused to
comment on the arrests
yesterday.
But NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku said his organisation
was planning
more protests in reaction to the "arrogance" shown by the
police over the
continued detention of the women.
"We are
meeting over the matter to see how to show our anger to the
regime. We
cannot rule out another march soon," said Madhuku.
The NCA has
organised several street protests over the past few years
against Mugabe's
government which they accuse of gross human rights
violations and
repression. But most of the protests have been violently put
down by the
police. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 23 February 2006
MASVINGO - A Zimbabwean deputy
government minister is embroiled in a
bitter dispute with a local
businessman over a business premise at Rutenga
rural business centre owned
by an evicted former white commercial farmer.
Isaiah Shumba, who is
the Deputy Minister of Education, Sport and
Culture, earlier this week filed
papers at the Masvingo magistrates' court
seeking to evict the businessman
Tarisai Mare from the premises.
But Mare has defied the eviction
order insisting the property was left
in his care by the owner Trevor Patel
who left the country in 2000 after the
seizure of his farm by the
government.
In papers filed at the courts, the deputy minister
wants the court to
order Mare to move out of the premises since he has a
valid lease agreement
from the Mwenezi rural district council.
"Defendant is allegedly occupying the property and has refused to
vacate
despite numerous demands. I pray that the court grant me the order to
evict
the respondent," says Shumba in papers filed at the court.
But in
his defence, Mare told the court that he would resist eviction
by anyone who
was not the legitimate owner of the property.
Masvingo magistrate,
Timeon Makunde, is expected to deliver judgment
on the case on 15
March.
Several Zimbabwean government ministers and senior officials
of
President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU PF party have been accused over the
past six years of using their political muscle to seize properties from less
powerful individuals under the guise of land reforms. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 23 February
2006
By Kidane Alemayehu
It is a well known fact that
Ethiopia, a country that has never been
colonized, has for ever been a
symbol of freedom and has inspired many
countries which suffered under the
yoke of oppression to strive for liberty.
It is also a fact that
Ethiopia has played a prominent role in the
process of the struggle for
freedom, which preoccupied the African continent
throughout most of the 20th
century.
Many countries throughout the African continent have
benefited from
Ethiopia's diplomatic and material assistance during their
periods of
desperate struggle for independence from
colonialism.
Examples of this remarkable support include the
Ethiopian Government's
support for liberation fighters such as Nelson
Mandela who has acknowledged,
in his own book, that he had received military
training and financial
support in Ethiopia.
It is to be
recalled also that Ethiopia was the main party that took
the racist
apartheid regime of South Africa to the International Court of
Justice
pressing for the liberation of Namibia, a country that is now free
and
prosperous.
Ethiopia's significant role in the establishment of the
Organization
of African Unity (presently known as the African Union) is
another important
factor that greatly facilitated the speedy independence of
numerous
countries that suffered under severe conditions of colonialism, and
the
unfolding process of increasing unity among African
countries.
One country that had a similar benefit from Ethiopia's
support for its
struggle against racism and colonialism was
Zimbabwe.
Those in authority in the Zimbabwe government do know the
full extent
of the very substantial assistance provided to them by the
Ethiopian
government and people during their years of desperate struggle for
freedom
from Ian Smith's vicious misrule.
How did the Mugabe
government express its gratitude for this generous
Ethiopian assistance? His
government has given refuge to Ethiopia's worst
dictator, Mengistu Haile
Mariam, a criminal whose record should subject him
to prosecution at the
Hague International Court of Justice. This is an
insult to the Ethiopian
people. Shame on the Zimbabwe Government!
A polite query for
President Mugabe: could it be possible that your
betrayal of the Ethiopian
people for USA dollars (referring to your
government's admission of having
given refuge to Mengistu at American
behest) may have had something to do
with the total failure of your
government policy and devastation of
Zimbabwe's once vibrant economy?
Whatever Ethiopia did in support
of Africa's struggle for freedom
emanated from its own abiding inner
principle and belief in independence.
It, therefore, does not crave
for gratitude from recipients of its
support during their struggle for
freedom. Nevertheless, there is no doubt
that the people of Zimbabwe would
not support their current government's
action of harboring a criminal that
had inflicted a grievous damage on the
Ethiopian people.
Dictator Mengistu presided over a regime that was responsible for the
murder
of thousands of innocent people but, thanks to the Zimbabwe
government, has
yet to face justice and be accountable for his odious
crimes.
The tragedy that could ensue from this circumstance is that murderous
dictators like Mengistu and Liberia's Taylor could set an unfortunate trend
for other irresponsible leaders to engage in similar abuses of authority and
take refuge with like minded dictators. President Mugabe himself is a case
in point.
There will be time when sooner or later the present
Zimbabwe regime
will be removed and the people of Zimbabwe will offer their
formal apology
to Ethiopia for having given refuge to one of the most
vicious and murderous
dictators the world has ever seen.
"Ethiopia shall raise its hands unto God." (Psalm 68:31)
* Kidane
Alemayehu is a retired United Nations official residing in
U.S.A.
Daily Champion
(Lagos)
February 22, 2006
Posted to the web February 22,
2006
Jide Bakare
Ilorin
For the past few days, the site of the
Kwara State Commercial Farming, being
pioneered by the white Zimbabwean
farmers at Shonga in Edu Local Government
Area of the state has become a
be-hive of activities as the expatriate
farmers have begun the harvesting of
the produce on the farm.
Business Champion gathered that at least, 4,000
tonnes of maize are expected
in the harvesting exercise, which is still in
progress, while a total number
of eight tones has been already realized from
the already completed
harvesting of soya beans on the farm site.
When
the duo of Mallam Nurudeen Imam and Mr. Bisi Abidoye, the Special
Assistant
to the Kwara State, Governor, Dr Bukola Saraki on Media and
Communication
and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor respectively led
journalists
to the farm site on Friday, scores of the residents in the
community, whose
services were engaged by the white farmers were seen
working assiduously in
carring the already dried and plucked maize into
harvesters which remove the
chaff and separate the grains from the corn with
ease and
convenience.
Apart from the labourers, it was also discovered that the
farm site,which
covers several hectares of land, had been turned into a sort
of excursion
centers as students of the Nigerian Army School of Education,
Ilorin, and a
team, led by the Special Assistant to the Oyo State Governor
on Government
projects, Mr. Remi Olajide were met going round the farm site
in sheer
amazement.
Speaking with journalists, a member of the
13-member Zimbabwean team on the
farm, Mr. Dan Swart, who disclosed the
quatities of the produce realized in
soya beans and expected to be realized
from maize added that his team had
cultivated three hectares of tomatoes
capable of producing 70 tonnes each.
Noting that the harvested maize
would be sold for between N45,000 and
N50,000 per tonne,, Mr. Swart, who
stressed that the production level would
be higher in the next planting
season, said that the harvested produce would
first be kept in storage
before they would be later release to the market
for purchase by
consumers.
Also speaking on the farm, Mr. Remi Olajide, who said he
studied in Europe
described the farming practice at the Shonga farm as
exactly the same being
practiced in Europe, expressing the optimism that the
Zimbabwean farmers
would soon turn around the situation of things in
relation to Agriculture in
Nigeria such that in the nearest future, massive
food exportation would
become a common phenomenon in the country.
The
Kwara State Commercial Agricultural Initiative, the maiden planting
season
of which was flagged off in September last year has been according
the State
Governor, Dr Bukola Saraki a standing ovation and commendations
both within
and outside the country, cumulating into the giving of different
national
and International awards to the Governor.
It would be recalled that at
several fora, Dr Saraki has announcedhis
determination to explore the
Agricultural Initiative to make an
unprecedented history in the fortune of
the country through agriculture,
which he repeatedly claims, has more
potentials to than crude oil to fetch
money for the country.
Sunday Times, SA
Wednesday
February 22, 2006 15:27 - (SA)
By Donwald Pressly
The Zimbabwe
Republic Police is struggling to attract public trust while the
country's
independent newspapers and broadcasters are enjoying rising levels
of trust,
according to an independent survey, Afrobarometer.
The survey released on
Wednesday - through Idasa in South Africa - shows
that of a study of 1,048
in a main survey and 64 adults in a sub-survey of
victims of Operation
Marambatsvina - 60% of those surveyed in the main
survey did not trust the
police much, while only 39% trusted them somewhat
or a lot.
In the
sub-sample, 86% of respondents did not trust the police much and just
14%
trusted them a lot or somewhat.
Distrust of the police is great in urban
areas with 71% of urbanites not
trusting the police much, compared to 55% in
rural areas. This was up from
58% and 39% respectively in
2004.
Afrobarometre asks whether Operation Marambatsvina - which saw the
destruction of informal housing and businesses in urban areas and
spearheaded by the police in 2005 - could have played havoc with public
trust of this law enforcement institution. It says that the figures gave
"clear insight into this".
The survey was carried out in October
2005.
The military and the judiciary enjoy 50% and 53% respectively of
trust of
the respondents in the main survey - the only categories to enjoy
the
support of at least half of the population.
Close behind,
however, are opposition political parties and independent
newspapers.
Independent newspapers and broadcasting services
attracted 44% and 41% trust
respectively. Although no figure was given to
compare independent
broadcasting services in 2004, independent newspapers
notched up only 25%
trust.
Opposition political parties climbed from
14% trust in 2004 to 47% in 2005.
This was described by Afrobarometre as a
"dramatic recovery" - from May 2004
when the previous survey was carried out
to October 2005.
The surveys show a rise in trust of opposition political
parties in this
time from 18% to 51% among urban respondents and from 15% to
45% among their
rural counterparts.
Government controlled media
services perform worse than their independent
counterparts. Both the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Services - State monopoly
electronic media - and the
State controlled Zimpapers stable of newspapers
are trusted by 33% and 28%
respetively. This was down from 42% and up from
27% respectively in
2004.
I-Net Bridge
Sunday Times, SA
Wednesday
February 22, 2006 09:18 - (SA)
More than two-thirds of Zimbabweans
consider food shortages as one of the
most important problems they are
facing, according to findings of a private
survey.
A total of 46% of
Zimbabweans surveyed said they had gone without food often
in the past year,
according to the poll from the Afrobarometer public
opinion
institute.
"Food insecurity is by far the most troublesome problem for
Zimbabweans and
has in between mid-2004 and late 2005...dethroned economic
management as the
number one problem," according to the findings.
The
survey was conducted from October 9 to 26, covering both urban and rural
areas with a sampling of 1,112 respondents carried out by the Mass Public
Opinion Institute, a Zimbabwean non-governmental research
organisation.
United Nations aid agencies estimate that four million
Zimbabweans out of a
population of 11 million are in need of food aid
following years of poor
agricultural yields.
Asked to list their top
three worst problems, some 45% of respondents listed
management of the
economy at the top while 39 percent chose transportation
and 35%
unemployment.
Health, Aids and education came in at the lower end of the
list of the 10
top problems, with 8% of respondents choosing those areas as
their worst
headache.
Some 79% of respondents said they knew someone
who had died of Aids.
The survey also revealed widespread pessimism about
the economy, with 82% of
Zimbabweans saying that they expect living
conditions to be "much worse" in
the year ahead.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2006/2006-02-22-01.asp
By Gideon Chawawa
HARARE, Zimbabwe,
February 22, 2006 (ENS) - These days, the Makoni family
can only afford
bacon on Saturdays, soon after payday. It has become a
symbolic reminder of
years past, when Zimbabwe used to run smoothly and they
used to breakfast on
the typically English bacon, eggs and baked beans.
The Makonis are a
middle-class family of five living in a middle-class
suburb of Harare, the
Zimbabwean capital. The family misses the short car
trip they used to make
to the supermarket to buy breakfast goodies. Because
of the ongoing fuel
crisis, they now send their eldest son Tatenda down to
the shops to pick up
the bacon and baked beans and thus save what little
petrol they have for
more pressing purposes.
When Mrs. Makoni opens the packet of bacon she
realizes it smells bad. Mr.
Makoni takes the bacon back to the supermarket,
only to find a long queue of
disgruntled shoppers bringing back rotten
merchandise. Some have sachets of
milk gone sour while others have steaks
that have turned green.
"It's the power cuts," explained the demoralized
shop manager. "We have been
having intermittent power cuts for 36
hours."
Welcome to Zimbabwe in 2006, where such blackouts are daily
occurrences and
power cuts can last more than two days. It is now quite
usual to see smoke
rising from gardens and chimneys as people cook food and
boil water on open
fires.
When the power does come back, there is no
guarantee it will stay on, and so
there is frantic rush to cook the next
meal, do the ironing, work on the
computer and charge cellphones and
batteries.
In factories, machines stop operating and pumps go
quiet.
Assuming you can find them, a packet of six locally-made candles
now sell
for more than a quarter million Zimbabwean dollars, about
US$2.50.
Officials at the government power utility Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply
Authority, ZESA, blame the power cuts on Gideon Gono, the powerful
governor
of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
ZESA Executive Chairman
Sydney Gata told the government-owned daily "The
Herald" that the
government's 2003 decision to reverse tariff increases it
had already
sanctioned was at the heart of the power crisis.
"A government-approved
tariff adjustment was implemented in January,
February and March 2003 but
then reversed by the minister of energy at the
request of the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe, which sought to meet its own
inflation targets," said
Gata.
This, Gata said, led to ZESA suffering a 45 percent loss in
revenues.
ZESA currently produces a kilowatt-hour of electricity at a
cost of 1,386
Zimbabwean dollars but because of the low tariffs, sells it
for just 218
dollars. As a result of the discrepancy, last year it suffered
operational
losses of eight trillion Zimbabwean dollars, US$80
million.
"Gono would like the world to believe the loss was due to
mismanagement, yet
the truth is the buck stops at his doorstep," said the
senior ZESA official.
"Because of the loss, ZESA no longer has the money to
import power from
neighboring countries."
ZESA generates about 60
percent of the country's energy needs when all power
stations are working at
full throttle. At the moment, though, several units
at the flagship Hwange
plant near Victoria Falls are closed because of a
shortage of coal and spare
parts. Hwange normally supplies 15 percent of
Zimbabwe's
electricity.
Small coal-fired power stations in the country's two main
cities, Harare and
Bulawayo, have been shut down altogether. When
transformer stations break
down, they cannot be repaired because there are
no spares.
The country imports about 40 percent of its normal total power
consumption
from South Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of
Congo. In
recent weeks, all three suppliers have cut off the power
intermittently
because of ZESA's failure to pay bills.
Importing
electricity costs ZESA huge amounts of money - nearly US$12
million a month,
assuming it has the cash. As Gata told "The Herald," the
company's total
revenue is currently equivalent to only a third of its
import
costs.
ZESA argues that if it could make its customers pay economically
viable
rates, it would earn enough Zimbabwean dollars both to buy the
foreign
exchange needed to pay for imported supplies, and to purchase the
parts to
repair broken-down equipment in power plants and transformer
stations.
But the central bank chairman will not allow a price increase.
"ZESA is
charging sub-economic tariffs, thanks to Gono," said a senior
finance
official at Electricity House, ZESA's headquarters in
Harare.
The official said Gono is blocking tariff reviews because rising
electricity
prices would drive up the already massive rate of inflation,
which in
January reached 613 percent over January 2005.
What angers
the general public is that the power cuts are not planned. In
the past, ZESA
used the national newspapers to announce the schedule for
when different
areas would be without power.
But now it has stopped making predictions,
so people have no way of making
provision.
According to Gata, this is
because the company is itself unable to do
forward planning. "These power
cuts are not part of planned load shedding by
ZESA. With planned load
shedding, we always advised our valued customers of
the days, dates and
times when it was in operation," he said. "The
[new-style] power cuts are
due to factors far beyond the power utility's
control."
The blackouts
plunge many parts of the country into darkness at
unpredictable times.
Industry is the worst-hit sector, because some plants
have no standby
generators. Domestic users find themselves unable to cook,
while perishables
rot in their fridges.
Precious Shumba, spokesman for the Combined Harare
Residents Association,
said it is scandalous that the public is left to
guess when the power might
be cut next. "ZESA is taking residents for
granted," he said. "Electricity
just goes out at any time of day. It makes
it difficult for people to plan
their daily schedules."
There seems
to be no end in sight. The long-term solution for Zimbabwe would
be to build
more power stations while ensuring that existing ones have the
resources to
keep running. Zimbabwe's power industry is mulling a 20 year
development
plan worth more than US$3.5 billion that would see the Hwange
coal-fired
plant upgraded with two more units, the Kariba hydroelectric
station
expanded, and a new methane powered unit built in Matabeleland.
But as
the weekly "Zimbabwe Independent" commented, "All there is to the
plan is a
document which will be discussed for many years without anything
actually
being done, as demand for power continues to outstrip supply.
"Zimbabwe
will soon not be able to import any power because exporters are
anticipating
increased domestic demand in their respective countries.
Zimbabwe needs
help."
So the expansion strategy is a pipe dream, while central bank
governor Gono
refuses to allow the power utility to increase tariffs in the
interim. For
the Makonis, a return to their old breakfast habits seems a
long way off.
{Published in cooperation with the Institute for War and
Peace Reporting.
Gideon Chawawa is the pseudonym used by a Zimbabwean
journalist.}
Business Day
Dumisani
Muleya
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ZIMBABWEAN
President Robert Mugabe gave a lengthy interview to state
television on
Sunday night to mark the occasion of his birthday yesterday -
he turned 82.
He spoke on a hotchpotch of unrelated subjects, which might
prove a reality
check for Zimbabwe's citizens.
Mugabe spoke on issues spanning history,
economics, politics, culture,
morality, HIV/AIDS, his own personal health,
his succession struggle, the
performance of his cabinet, gay people,
football and even Valentines Day.
He whinged about slavery and
colonialism, neoimperialism, alleged plots to
oust his regime, the dominance
of the global order by the west and the
United Nations reform agenda. He
attacked US President George Bush and
British Prime Minister Tony Blair for
interfering in Zimbabwe's internal
affairs. African leaders were described
as cowards for failing to tell Bush
and Blair "to go to hell" after they
rejected Mugabe's disputed re-election
in 2002.
South African
President Thabo Mbeki, his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun
Obasanjo and others
who tried to resolve Zimbabwe's political and economic
crisis were told to
"keep away".
Posing as a moral knight, Mugabe also whined about cultural
and moral
decadence in Zimbabwe. He lashed out at gay people and youths who
aped
western culture. Mugabe's cabinet ministers also came under fire for
corruption and incompetence.
The International Monetary Fund was
described as a monster and a political
instrument for regime
change.
On economic policy, he rejected orthodox ideas - "bookish
economics" as he
calls it - and vowed to pursue doggedly his own voodoo
prescriptions. He
said he would continue to print money on a massive scale
to alleviate
socioeconomic hardships.
Exonerating himself from any
failure, Mugabe blamed capricious weather
conditions and sanctions for the
economic crisis in Zimbabwe.
Mugabe, on a lighter note, said his doctors
had told him his health was
good, to the extent that his bones were like
those of "a 30-year-old boy".
He also spoke about football and what he
had bought his wife, Grace, for
Valentines Day.
To return a verdict
on Mugabe's interview: it provided the clearest sign yet
that he is rapidly
losing his grip on reality. Mugabe's detachment from
events on the ground
and the situation around him shocked many. He appeared
hopelessly handcuffed
to the past, and confirmed that he is beyond his
sell-by date as a
leader.
Mugabe's analysis of the current political and economic
crisis was premised
on shaky grounds, and was, in the end, barely
interesting. Due to the lack
of intelligent analysis, Mugabe was found
wanting on real issues. He was
unable to articulate the political, policy
and institutional issues
underlying the prevailing crisis. Eventually, he
turned the interview into a
platform for a "blame game" typical of a messy
political endgame.
He further proved that he was not only a political
dictator but an
intellectual one as well, refusing to consider other
people's ideas.
Describing others as intellectual slaves, Mugabe fails to
realise that he
himself is a prisoner of shibboleths of the
past.
However, Mugabe's interview provided interesting insights into his
make-believe world. It showed he is rigidly opposed to reform. It indicated
what he thinks about African leaders, including Mbeki: that they are not
revolutionaries, but cowards.
The interview also exposed Mugabe's
threadbare grasp of modern economics and
his struggle to get to grips with
global dynamics. It helped to confirm his
wholesale abdication of reason and
a complete breakdown of common sense in
government.
Mugabe avoided
certain telling issues too, including the fact that state
institutions and
government departments - a vast swathe of the bureaucracy -
have now
collapsed due to leadership and policy failures. Zimbabwe has no
effective
means for policy formulation and implementation.
The situation is
compounded by government's failure to deliver even basic
services - water,
electricity, education, roads, transport and health care -
the sort of
things that make any government legitimate.
Without political legitimacy,
nothing will work for Mugabe, who has shown he
is indeed a man of the
past.
Muleya is Harare correspondent and Zimbabwe
Independent news editor.
Independent Judge Flees to
UK
Benjamin Paradza found himself on trial after issuing one too many
judgements against the Mugabe government.
By Tendayi Mabasa in Harare
(AR No.54, 20-Feb-06)
Benjamin Paradza, widely regarded as the last truly
independent judge in
Zimbabwe, has fled the country and is believed to be in
hiding in the United
Kingdom.
When President Robert Mugabe appointed
Paradza - a hero of the liberation
struggle against white minority rule - to
the bench in 2000, he may have
believed he was getting yet another compliant
judge who would accommodate
the political ends of the head of state by
ignoring or bending the law.
But Paradza instead proved to be a turbulent
and independent arbitrator
whose judgments infuriated Mugabe.
When
Paradza, 51, was called for sentencing in January this year, in a trial
regarded as trumped-up by the United Nations, Amnesty International, the
International Commission of Jurists, the International Bar Association and
other international movements, the judge disappeared. He is widely believed
to have crossed the border to South Africa in a cargo truck, and made his
way from there to Britain.
One judgement that particularly infuriated
the president was an order
Paradza gave to police in January 2003 to release
from custody the elected
mayor of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Elias Mudzuri,
a prominent member of
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change,
MDC.
Mudzuri and 21 other MDC members had been arrested at a ratepayers'
meeting
under a provision of the draconian Public Order and Security Act,
POSA,
requiring that police permission be obtained for any gathering of more
than
two people. Police can even break up a meeting between two people if
they
judge it to be "a threat to public order."
Ironically, POSA is
an almost exact replica of the Law and Order
(Maintenance) Act used by Ian
Smith, the prime minister of Rhodesia, to
suppress black nationalists such
as Paradza and Mugabe during the liberation
struggle for Zimbabwe in the
Sixties and Seventies.
"To understand this turn of events, one has first
to understand the thinking
behind the animal called POSA," a human rights
lawyer who did not want to be
identified told IWPR. "POSA was specifically
cobbled together to destroy the
MDC. So when Paradza ordered Mudzuri's
release from police custody the
battle lines had been
drawn.
"Remember that Mudzuri had given Mugabe a special slap in the face
by
becoming the first executive mayor of Harare, thus making the nation's
capital a stronghold of the opposition party. Mudzuri became the first
target of the campaign to destroy the MDC. Paradza was frustrating that bid.
He had become 'non-compliant' and therefore had to be hounded out of
office."
Police defied Judge Paradza's release order, but when Mayor
Mudzuri appeared
in court, the charges against him were
dropped.
President Mugabe is unforgiving towards those who oppose his
wishes, and the
Mudzuri case was only one of several in which the judge
annoyed him. Paradza
also overturned a government notice evicting 54 white
Zimbabwean farmers
from their farms. He also ordered the government to issue
a passport to
Judith Todd, a veteran human rights and democracy opponent of
the Ian Smith
government, after Mugabe stripped her of Zimbabwean
citizenship. Todd had
proved to be as strident a critic of Mugabe's human
rights abuses as she was
of Smith's.
A month after Paradza ordered
the release of Mudzuri, police raided the
judge's chambers, arrested him and
threw him into prison, where he shared a
cell with 15 other prisoners.
"There were lice and mosquitoes, and the
communal toilet did not flush," he
said. "The smell was unbearable. I felt
humiliated and degraded."
He
was charged with corruption and obstructing the course of justice by
trying
to influence three fellow judges to release the passport of a man
then
awaiting trial on a murder charge. Russell Labuschagne, a business
partner
of Paradza, was recently tried and found guilty of murdering a
poacher on
his safari property, and has begun a 15-year jail sentence.
Paradza
denied the charges made against him, and the United Nations'
rapporteur on
human rights has said the judge is in reality being punished
for judgements
that were "unpalatable to the government". Amnesty
International issued a
statement saying his arrest was "more likely to have
been politically
motivated" as part of efforts by the Zimbabwean authorities
"to harass,
intimidate and force out judges who are perceived to be in
support of the
political opposition".
Paradza was released on bail of about 600 US
dollars and ordered to forfeit
his passport. He was subsequently found
guilty on all charges, but failed to
appear at the Zimbabwe High Court in
January to hear his sentence, which was
likely to be three years minimum
rising to a possible ten years
imprisonment. Judge Simpson Mutambanengwe
issued a warrant for his immediate
arrest.
But by then it was clear
that Paradza was already out of the country.
"Paradza has been used to
demonstrate to other members on the bench that if
you don't toe the line, if
you don't comply with the political leadership,
then you will not receive
protection," said Arnold Tsunga, director of
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights. "To decide whether he received a fair
trial, look at the way the
case started. He was arrested in chambers by a
constable in a manner that is
highly irregular, and he was humiliated in the
process of being
arrested.
"By running away, I think he is saying he did not get a fair
trial. He felt
his colleagues won't have enough clout to withstand political
pressure, and
I guess it explains why he's on the run."
A British
embassy spokesman in Harare questioned by the state-owned Herald
newspaper
refused to confirm or deny Paradza's presence in Britain, but
noted, "The
United Kingdom will afford protection in cases where prosecution
is being
used as a tool of persecution against individuals."
Tendayi Mabasa is the
pseudonym of a Zimbabwean journalist.
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-mutambara-his-own-man-/2006/02/22/1397755.htm
(AllAfrica.com English Via Thomson Dialog
NewsEdge)Harare, Feb 22, 2006 (The
Herald/All Africa Global Media via
COMTEX) --IT is four days to the second
or is it first congress of the MDC
faction led by party vice-president,
Gibson Sibanda; and as anticipated, the
drama has already unfolded with the
fractious MDC's amoeba legacy
manifesting itself again.
Two of the faction's top-four leaders
expressed interest in the post of
party president; Gift Chimanikire (deputy
secretary general) and Gibson
Sibanda (vice-president and current acting
president).
But what surprised many was the entry of a rank outsider; the
39-year-old
former University of Zimbabwe student leader, Professor Arthur
Mutambara. A
man who has not even lived, let alone worked in Zimbabwe over
the past 15
years and who was not in the trenches in the MDC's formative
years. The
party's South African branch even disowned him saying he was not
even an
active member.
Also astounding was secretary general,
Professor Welshman Ncube's admission
that any card-carrying member of the
MDC can contest for the party
presidency. By this proviso, if someone were
to buy the MDC card today, they
could stroll to the congress in Bulawayo and
fight it out with founder
members like the long-suffering deputy secretary
general.
Chimanikire felt rightly used by his Matabeleland colleagues who
made him
believe the top-job was his simply by virtue of being the
Shona-face among a
band, the Tsvangirai-group derisively dubbed "three
Ndebeles and a white
rebel."
But who is Mutambara, and why did Ncube,
Sibanda and Dulini-Ncube risk the
fragile unity in their faction by bringing
him in? Was it their decision --
if not -- who was behind it?
From
his resume, Mutambara is more of an academic than a politician.Born on
May
25 1966, the man who is director of payments at the Standard Bank in
Johannesburg has an impressive resume.
Granted he has an illustrious
academic career that culminated in his
attainment of a Doctor of Philosophy
degree in Robotics and Mechanotronics,
becoming the first Zimbabwean to
achieve that feat.
He was again one of the first two Zimbabweans to win
the Rhodes scholarship
to study at Oxford University in the UK in December
1990 eventually ending
up on the selection committee which was always
reserved for whites.
Mutambara scored another first by being the first
Zimbabwean to work at the
nerve centre of American intelligence and
technology, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration from
1996.
He served as a visiting research fellow at NASA (JPL), in Pasadena,
California in 1996; and then as a visiting research scientist at NASA John
Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland, Ohio a year later.
Mutambara has
managed NASA grants in various capacities since then and has
been a member
of the US National Science Foundation and the Robotics Review
Panel
Committee since 1996.
Most importantly, Mutambara is a permanent resident
of the United States as
he holds a Green card; thus he may become the second
Zimbabwean politician,
after former finance minister Chris Kuruneri, to have
permanent residence in
two diametrically opposed countries.
This
close association with one of the centres of American espionage raises
questions about Mutambara's entry into national politics, especially at a
time US-Zimbabwe relations are at an all time low and when the later has
clearly declared its intentions to unconstitutionally unseat the Government
in Harare. Two years ago, Mutambara was quoted as saying he had no interest
in national politics, he may have to tell the nation what made him change
his mind.
Is he his own man?
That aside, his candidature is a
serious indictment of the leadership in the
Sibanda-led faction. Here are
people who, for the past six years, claimed
that they had what it takes to
lead Zimbabwe but who could not find a leader
from among themselves when
push came to shove.
They had to look outside to rope in someone who was
not even in the trenches
during the formative stages of their party. Someone
who is clearly out of
touch with existential realities in Zimbabwe. Politics
by its nature
presupposes gradual development; if the top-four in the
Sibanda-led faction
failed to develop over the past six years what guarantee
is there that they
will ever develop?
A lot has been said about
Mutambara's leadership qualities based on his days
in the UZ Student
Representative Council (SRC). However, after perusing
reports of his
exploits, one is persuaded to believe the late MDC Spokesman,
Learnmore
Judah Jongwe's constant refrain that, "Mutambara's only claim to
fame as a
student leader was that he was arrested and detained by police."
His
story reads like the portrait of a hooligan.
His assumption of the SRC
presidency marked the turning point from the
progressive activism that had
been nurtured by the likes of Rt. Brig Felix
Muchemwa and the late national
hero, Witness Mangwende, that had student
leaders as partners in national
development.
Mutambara introduced hooliganism and the perception that a
good student
leader is he who opposed and called the State names.
Why
would one reach this conclusion?
Mutambara hails from none other than
Mutambara Village well-known as a
stronghold of Bishop Abel Muzorewa's UANC
party that sacrificed the
liberation struggle in order to rule for less than
a year.
He enrolled at the UZ in 1987, after a successful stint at
Hartzell High
School, to read for a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical
Engineering.
He was elected president of the UZ SRC on August 15 1989,
having served as
secretary general to the SRC executive that was led by
Edgar Mbwembwe the
previous year. Soon after his election, relations between
students and the
Government soured amid allegations of anti-government
activities by the
students. Mutambara claimed that the university and the
students' union were
autonomous institutions.
"Since the union was
established by an Act of Parliament, it is autonomous
and exists outside
Government and university authority," Mutambara was
quoted as saying (The
Herald August 25, 1989.)
Two months later, the University of Zimbabwe was
closed indefinitely on
October 4 1989, after Mutambara incited students to
demonstrate leading to
the destruction of offices and vice-chancellor
Professor Walter Kamba's
Mercedes Benz car. The vice-chancellor's car was
only saved from being burnt
by police intervention, though all its windows
and lights were smashed.
This is the legacy Mutambara left on campus,
which is why a bar in the SU
building -- October 4 -- was named to mark the
violent demonstrations.
Prior to the unrest, Mutambara's office had
issued a series of inflammatory
publications that were secretly distributed
to students on October 2.
One document titled, "In Defence of Academic
Freedom" claimed that the
Zimbabwe Government was worse than the De Klerk
regime in apartheid South
Africa.
Mutambara's argument was that the
University of Zimbabwe, whose Chancellor
was ironically Cde Mugabe, had to
be autonomous.
He was quoted as saying Cde Mugabe's influence ended at
Churchill Avenue,
the southern border of the campus, saying Emergency Powers
Regulations could
not be allowed to operate on campus.
But Professor
Kamba differed saying, "Though the university could have
academic freedom
and autonomy, it still had to operate within the laws of
the country because
it was set up by an Act of Parliament, which could
either be repealed or
amended. The institution is an integral part of
society."
After the
riots, Mutambara, his secretary general, Enock Chikweche
(Munyaradzi Gwisai)
and the then Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
secretary general,
Morgan Tsvangirai were detained under the Emergency
Powers (Maintenance of
Law and Order) Regulations.
This was the first time the State had taken
such drastic action against
students who, since independence, had maintained
a policy of dialogue.
The politicisation of the student movement was
evident in the way
Mutambara's SRC joined the bandwagon to demonise the
outcome of the 1990
presidential and parliamentary elections, which,
ironically were endorsed by
their partners in the ZCTU.
The SRC,
which represented aspiring workers, surprisingly also wanted to be
at the
forefront of May Day celebrations along with the ZCTU but was barred
by the
Government from doing so.
Mutambara began calling himself "the executive
president of the SRC"
inviting attacks from the Political Science Students
Association that, on
May 30 that year, accused him of dictatorial
behaviour.
There certainly appears to be nothing progressive in
Mutambara's tenure, the
only notable thing was that it was the watershed of
student activism, which
has never been the same again.
Now if this is
the base that Mutambara hopes to build on, then he needs to
be reminded that
national politics is a world apart from student politics,
and Zimbabwe has
since moved beyond politics of confrontation, which is why
Tsvangirai is
singing the blues today.
But if as he said in his statement, "as
Zimbabwean citizens, it is part of
our civic duty and obligation to develop
political and economic solutions to
the country's current problems," then he
is welcome to national politics.
If he wins the MDC presidency on Sunday,
many wait to see if he will live up
to that statement.
Curriculum
Vitae
ARTHUR G. O. MUTAMBARA, PhD
Standard Bank
5 Simmonds
Street, Johannesburg, SA
cell: (+27)-83-287-9091 Office:
(+27)-11-631-1146
arthur_mutambara@sbic.co.za
CAREER
SUMMARY
A Standard Bank Director with responsibilities in 17 African
countries. A
Research Scientist and Professor of Robotics and Mechatronics
from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and NASA, with business
experience and skills as a Management Consultant with McKinsey &
Company.
High technology expert and leader, global strategy specialist, and
an
entrepreneur who advises senior managers and business leaders of top U.S.
companies. Community leader, public intellectual, and activist who is
extensively involved in socio-economic issues in both the U.S. and
Africa
EXPERIENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
STANDARD BANK, JOHANNESBURG
SA, 2002-Present: Director, Stanbic Africa
(Payments) Developing and
executing an Electronic Payments strategy in
seventeen African
countries
McKINSEY & COMPANY, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
USA
Management Consultant. Provide strategic advice to senior managers
and
business leaders of top USA companies
Industry Sectors: High
Technology, Telecommunications, Automotive Assembly,
Electrical
Power/Natural Gas, Manufacturing, Financial Institutions, and
Pharmaceutical
and Medical Products.
Functional Expertise: Technology Management,
Corporate Strategy, Global
Strategy, Corporate Finance, Post-Merger
Management, Business Building, and
Operations Strategy and
Effectiveness
Accomplishments
Telecom company (Fortune 100)
Corporate strategy, Growth study; impact: 20%
increase in
revenues
Hi-Tech company (Fortune 500) M&A/ Change of Ownership;
impact: smooth and
effective transition
Insurance company (Fortune
100) Corporate strategy-Business unit strategy:
25% increase in new
business
Banking and Securities (Fortune 100) Global strategy-business
unit strategy:
creation of new products
Hi-Tech company (Fortune 500)
operations and marketing: 30% increase in
sales
Chicago Public School
Systems, review of teaching effectiveness
Internal knowledge management:
The value proposition for global outsourcing
of call centers
Chicago
Public School Systems, review of teaching and learning effectiveness
(work
in progress)
Sustainable Profitable Growth (insurance practice): designed
innovative risk
management products
Business Building (High Tech):
Developed a complete semester set of lectures
for Kellogg Business
School
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS,
1999-2000
Advanced engineering research, publication of books and journal
papers,
taught undergraduates and graduates in the MIT Aeronautics and
Astronautics
Department. Assistant Professor, 1999-2001
Established
and supervised teaching and research activities in the fields of
sensor
fusion, and robotics.
Managed graduate controls and mechatronics
laboratories, including budgets,
grant proposals and hiring
Taught
undergraduate classes in feedback control systems, and computer
system
architecture.
Taught graduate classes in nonlinear control systems, and
advanced robotics.
Presented graduate research seminars in multisensor
fusion and decentralised
estimation and control.
Chaired and
participated in academic committees.
Visiting Research Scientist,
1999-2001
Carried out research activities, wrote research proposals,
managed research
grants in the fields of decentralised estimation,
multisensor fusion, and
modular robotics.
Managed a $500,000 NASA
research grant, and a $200,000 NSF grant
Research into wheeled mobile
robots, decentralized communication in scalable
flight
formation.
Research into mechatronic design methodology, and modular
robots.
Supervised Masters and PhD research students in the areas of
decentralised
estimation and sensor fusion.
Author, 1999-2001. Wrote
sixteen refereed journal papers in the areas of
Decentralised Estimation,
Distributed Control, Sensor Fusion, Modular
Robotics, and Mechatronics.
Authored three Electrical Engineering books that
are widely used in
Engineering Graduate Schools, including MIT:
Decentralised Estimation and
Control for Multisensor Systems, February 1998
Design and Analysis of
Control Systems, June 1999
Mechatronics and Robotics: Design and
Applications, December 2001
CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY (THE ROBOTICS
INSTITUTE), PITTSBURGH,
PENNSYLVANIA, 1998
Advanced robotics
research, seminar series, and NASA/ARL research grant
proposal with the CMU
Robotics Institute.
Visiting Research Scientist, 1998
Carried out
research activities, wrote research proposals, managed research
grants in
field robotics, multisensor fusion, and modular robotics.
Managed a
$200,000 NASA/ARL research grant
Research into experimental unmanned
vehicles (XUV), their communication and
supervised autonomy.
Research
into mechatronic design methodology, and modular robots.
Supervised
Masters and PhD research students in the areas of wheeled mobile
robotics.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION (NASA),
1996-1997
FAMU-FSU COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA,
1995-1997
Teaching undergraduates and graduates, engineering research
activities,
research publication in the Mechanical
Department.
Assistant Professor, 1995-1997. Established and supervised
teaching and
research activities in control systems, mechatronics and
robotics.
Managed a $400,000 NASA research grant, and a $200,000 NSF
grant
Taught undergraduate classes in feedback control systems, and
introduction
to robotics and echatronics.
Taught graduate classes in
nonlinear control systems, and advanced robotics.
Presented graduate
research seminars in multisensor fusion and decentralized
estimation and
control.
Supervised undergraduate and graduate controls and mechatronics
laboratories.
Chaired and participated in academic
committees.
Research into wheeled mobile robots, decentralised
communication in scalable
flight formation.
Research into mechatronic
design methodology, and modular robots.
Supervised Masters and PhD
research students in the areas of decentralised
estimation and sensor
fusion.
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Rhodes
Scholarship, Recipient, Zimbabwe (1991). Selection committee member:
Florida
(2000), Illinois (2001-02)
Fulbright Fellowship, Awarded,
1991
Public Lectures, Numerous (socio-economic) presentations in the US,
Zimbabwe, and South Africa (1995-2001)
Africa Technology and Science
Strategy (ATSS), Founder and President
Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Elected Member,
1994
Institute of
Electrical Engineers (IEE), Elected Member, 1995
British Computer Society
(BCS), Elected Member, 1996
National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE),
Student advisor, FAMU-FSU 1996-7
US National Science Foundation, and the
Robotics Review Panel Committee
member,
1996-2002
EDUCATION
McKINSEY & COMPANY, USA,
2001
Mini-Master of Business Administration (MMBA), March 2001, Corporate
Finance, Strategy, and Microeconomics
OXFORD UNIVERSITY, OXFORD, UK,
1991-1995
Doctor of Philosophy, March 1995, Robotics and
Mechatronics
Master of Science, October 1992, Electrical
Engineering/Computer Engineering
UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE, HARARE,
ZIMBABWE, 1987-1990
Bachelor of Science (Honours), December 1990,
Electrical and Electronic
Engineering
VISA STATUS: Zimbabwean citizen
with U.S. permanent residence (Green card).
pro-senate
faction
By Violet Gonda
22 February 2006
The return of former student leader Arthur Mutambara to the country
has
landed like a bombshell in the increasingly volatile world of opposition
politics. He is expected to be voted the new president of the MDC pro-senate
faction at their congress this weekend.
Expectations of
Mutambara's presence has dominated Zimbabwe journalist
news sites and caused
much excitement especially in the forums in the
Diaspora.
So
who is this new kid on the block and why is his return threatening
to
overturn the political situation in the country?
Sidney Masamvu, a
journalist and the analyst for Southern Africa for
the International Crisis
Group (ICG) says Mutambara was his senior at
Hartzell High School in
Manicaland. Masamvu remembers students looking up
to him for leadership
because of his academic achievements.
Mutambara left Hartzell in
1986 after completing his A levels and
moved to the University of Zimbabwe
(UZ) where he staged a number of
demonstrations as a student activist back
in the 80's protesting against
corruption.
He gained his
doctorate from Oxford University and became a Rhodes
scholar. For the last
decade he has been mostly in the United States where
he attained high status
as a scientist in the field of robotics . He went on
to work for the US
space agency NASA.
There has been some mixed reactions to the news
that the 40-year-old
academic is returning to Zimbabwe. Some say that being
a student activist
several years ago is hardly a qualification to lead a
political party in the
very changed situation of Zimbabwean politics in
2006. Others say he could
be just the figure to bring together the disparate
elements of the MDC
party. He has huge stature, wide respect and a
prodigious intellect.
In any event there are certainly big hurdles
to be overcome, not least
is the fact that he is relatively unknown to
ordinary Zimbabweans. Some say
that to be a leader of the opposition
requires courage rather than
intellect.
Masamvu says politics
in Zimbabwe, let alone Africa, has not really
matured to an extent where
academic credentials take precedence. He said
although it is a positive
element to have someone who is educated, "it's
really going to be a
different ballgame when Arthur is down under a tree in
Chendambuya in
Samangwa village in Gokwe, meeting the average villager. This
is the
politics of understanding the needs of the common man."
He said
whatever their positives and negatives, this is where you see
the charisma
of Robert Mugabe and the charisma of Morgan Tsvangirai as they
are people
who can still command a large following on the ground. Masamvu
said
Mutambara would have to climb down from his ivory tower to come to the
basics as the common man does not want to hear about theories but wants to
know when he is going to see freedom and how to feed his
family.
Outspoken political commentator Dr John Makumbe said he
respects
Mutambara's reputation but believes he has taken a wrong turn that
would be
difficult to extricate himself from by aligning himself with what
he termed
as "the lifeless pro-senate camp." Dr Makumbe believes Mutambara
should
rather have offered to be part of Morgan Tsvangirai's
executive.
Some say whatever the pros and cons of Mutambara as a
candidate he is
the only show in town as far as the MDC party is concerned.
The farce of the
separate factions squabbling over the symbols and name of
the party, and
organising separate congresses is serving no apparent purpose
except those
of providing enormous amounts of amusement to the ruling
party.
As Masamvu says, "The MDC would never be the same as a
splinter
opposition. No matter how popular one faction is, they are chasing
a wild
goose if they are dreaming of unseating ZANU PF."
Mutambara himself has so far played a cautious game between the
factions and
refused to declare himself for either side. Instead he pledged
to reunite
the MDC in his first public statement earlier this week.
The
analyst for Southern Africa agreed that the MDC now needs people
like
Mutambara to add value and re-energise the struggle. But perhaps the
biggest
challenge is going to be challenging a system where the ruling party
controls the 'democratic process' at every
stage.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By
Lance Guma
22 February 2006
Two of the most prominent civic
groups in Matabeleland, Bulawayo
Agenda and Bulawayo Dialogue have
apparently taken sides in the ongoing
opposition feud. This week for example
sees the two groups hosting meetings
in Bulawayo on Thursday and Friday
respectively. Both have invited
high-profile individuals aligned with the
two factions. Bulawayo Agenda led
by Gordon Moyo and thought to be firmly
behind MDC President Morgan
Tsvangirai has organised a seminar on Thursday
which is expected to be
attended by Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
President and
Tsvangirai ally Lovemore Matombo, Pastor Neta from the
Christian Alliance
and Dr Themba Dlolo.
The theme for the
meeting is 'Economic Woes worsen: what are the
prospects?'. Bulawayo
Dialogue on the other hand has lined up a Friday
meeting with a similar
theme 'Food shortages: Who is to blame?' and invited
pro-senate officials
including Members of Parliament, Priscilla
Misihairambwi and Job Sikhala.
The same meeting will apparently be attended
by Zanu PF's Cain Mathema who
is also Governor for Bulawayo Metropolitan
Province and Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni
of the newly launched Patriotic Union of
Matabeleland (PUMA).
Bulawayo Dialogue led by Qubani Moyo and Jethro Mpofu have voiced open
support for the pro-senate faction of the party while Bulawayo Agenda
campaigned against the senate elections and even distributed fliers to that
effect in the run up to the poll. The group played a key role in mobilizing
support for Morgan Tsvangirai's White City rally in Bulawayo just before the
senate elections. With both groups pulling in different directions, how long
they will keep organising rival meetings in the city remains to be
seen.
The MDC split into two factions when party leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
defied a National Council vote on whether to participate in the
polls citing
the sentiment of the party's grassroots and the fact it was a
waste of
national resources. His colleagues however accused him of being
dictatorial
and said he should respect the narrow October 12 vote. The
political fallout
with his colleagues has severely weakened the
party.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe
news
The Herald (Harare)
February
22, 2006
Posted to the web February 22, 2006
Harare
FISHING
industry operators will have to fork out $1 billion a year for a
fishing
permit at Lake Chivero, the Parks and Wildlife Authority has
announced.
In addition, they will also be required to pay a
developmental fee of $10
million every month.
The fishing permit fees
were increased from the $20 million pegged last year
after the authority
failed to finance proposed development at Lake Chivero
where they own a
recreational park which also offers accommodation
facilities.
Due to
lack of resources the authority was also battling to develop research
projects and ensure security for the lake.
Parks public relations
manager Retired Major Edward Mbewe yesterday said
apart from failing to pay
for the absolute conservation management, the
authority was being ripped off
by fish operators who were taking home at
least $1,5 billion every
month.
"We were having problems each time we raised the permit fee
because the
operators gave us the impression that they were not getting much
when, in
actual fact, after carrying out investigations we realised that
they were
making huge profits," Rtd Maj Mbewe said.
He said the new
business approach adopted by the authority also emphasised
that they charged
prevailing market rates on all their services and
facilities.
"We are
aware that even if we peg our permit charges at $1 billion they will
still
make huge profits because they will also, in turn, adjust their fish
prices."
Rtd Maj Mbewe said of the 12 fish operators at Lake Chivero,
five have
already paid for their permits while the other seven had promised
to do so
before the end of the month.
He said the authority would
further increase permit fees for other water
sources such as Darwendale and
Rusape dams and Lake Kariba, which like Lake
Chivero is home to many fish
species.
"We are currently conducting negotiations with fish operators
from these
areas while we do our groundwork on the developmental projects
that need to
be carried out. Not much will be charged at dams such as
Darwendale and
Rusape because there is not much fish. There is also not much
work that
needs to be done in those places," Rtd Maj Mbewe
said.
Fishing is regarded as one of the most lucrative business ventures
in
Zimbabwe in the face of ever-escalating prices of beef and
poultry.
Although the country has been under a drought spell in the last
four years,
the fish population has proved resilient.
Environment and
Tourism Minister Mr Francis Nhema recently spoke of the need
to put a more
economic value on the country's natural resources to maximise
benefits which
would be ploughed back into environmental development
programmes.
He
cited Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique as some of the
countries
in the region which depended, to a large extent, on fish for their
export
revenues. For example in the 1990s Namibia's mackerel fish flooded
the local
market, in the process threatening the local fishing industry.
"We need
to come up with strategies to ensure the country really benefits
from our
resources. My ministry has come up with many fish breeding projects
in
various dams to breed unique types of fish that would be attractive on
the
international markets," Mr Nhema said.
The Herald (Harare)
February 22,
2006
Posted to the web February 22, 2006
Business
Editor
Harare
A GROWING number of individuals and corporates have
called on authorities to
take stern measures to ensure equity and fairness
in the financial sector in
view of an apparent pursuit of supernormal
profits, by banks, without due
regard for the need for balanced returns to
the banking public.
This comes against the background of banks offering
"peanuts rates" on
deposits, most ranging between 0 percent and 30 percent,
for current, call,
time, and savings accounts, while the same banks are
pocketing returns of as
high as 500 percent in 91-day Treasury
bills.
Over the last few years, banks have been reporting huge profits
when the
rest of the economy has been battling to fend off obtaining
economic
challenges.
However, this sector has not effectively
ploughed back into the economy and
has, instead, continued to make huge
gains out of depositors' and investors'
funds.
The high rate of
inflation -- at 613 percent last month -- has left the
banking public
poorer.
When contacted to explain why they are rewarding depositors so
poorly, most
banks proffered the explanation that these rates are low
"because the RBZ
(Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe) is charging us high borrowing
rates, as well as
statutory reserves for which they are not paying us
interest".
However, analysts have dismissed this as a flimsy reason given
the facts on
the ground where, for instance, some banks are believed to be
making
trillion-dollar profits, which is directly contradictory to the
proffered
hypothesis of "squeezed margins".
"Such a dichotomy can
only mean one thing for sure, and that is to say
perhaps our banks have now
become far too engulfed with the profit motive,
without paying equal
attention to their growth and developmental roles in
the economy for which
their very licences were granted in the first
instance," remarked one
analyst.
Some argue that the basic tenets of national income accounting
indisputably
say that in any given year, when national output is declining,
supernormal
profits by one or some sectors are in general most likely to be
a reflection
of "blood lost" by other sectors, and sucked by those that are
expanding,
particularly if their growth is not backed by actual tangible
resource
generation.
In this case, the banking sector's reported
multi-trillion profits could be
a reflection of an implicit tax to the
banking public and corporates.
Even when argued that a large part of
their profits are from RBZ Open Market
Operation (OMO) bills and Treasury
bills, the argument still holds: Why are
they not sharing the "spoils"
fairly with depositors so as to promote a
national savings culture to
support current and future investments?
President Mugabe declared 2005 a
year of investment attraction -- both local
and foreign.
But without
a determined savings culture, growing the country's investment
base will
remain an elusive aspiration.
It is for this reason that authorities have
been called upon to come up with
"market-friendly" interventions to help the
plight of the defenceless
banking public and, in the process, lay solid
foundations for a resounding
national savings culture.
Regions such
as Asia managed to achieve significant economic growth figures
buoyed by
average investment levels of 35 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP),
which completely dwarfs Zimbabwe's current thresholds which are
estimated at
under 15 percent of GDP.
"From the seemingly unbridled appetite for super
profits, clearly borne out
of parasitic deposit rates to savers, our banking
sector can be said to be
militating against the virtuous aspirations of
investment promotion,
employment creation, GDP growth promotion, and even
inflation control," the
analyst said.
Questions have been raised on
whether the banks are doing enough to turn
around the economy.
Are
the banks meaningfully lending to corporates? Are they supporting
farmers
with innovative financing instruments? Are they raising offshore
lines of
credit to shore up the domestic economy?
Are they advising their
depositors on how to optimise value for money? Are
their charges
justifiable? Are they following up on overdue export revenues?
What then
explains their out-of-this-world super profits, when most sectors
of the
economy are ailing?
Contacted for comment yesterday, advisor to the
Governor of the Reserve Bank
Mr Munyaradzi Kereke had this to
say:
"It is really not encouraged for supervisors of banks to publicly
comment on
banks' own private business management strategies, as this may
conflict with
the various confidentiality clauses, as well as the
principal-agent
relations we are bound by as central bankers.
"But
what I can say is that I agree with you that there is now an incredibly
yawning gap between deposit rates and investment/lending rates, so much as
to now constitute a significant cause for concern to various stakeholders,
particularly the hard-working depositors."
"Our Governor, Dr Gideon
Gono, is innumerably on record clearly stating the
central bank's steadfast
desire to shun any intrusive controls or
dictatorial policies on banks,
precisely on the back of the understandings
and undertakings that the
banking industry give to the Governor on their
promised unfailing
co-operation with monetary authorities on areas of mutual
benefit to the
national economy," he said.
On the extent to which banks were living up
to their promised level of
co-operation, Mr Kereke could only say that
monetary authorities were "deep
in our shafts to ensure that sooner rather
than later, hard facts speak for
themselves, which would better inform
policy flexibility, realism, and an
adept correlation of stakeholder actions
with peculiarities attendant in our
economy, and all of this through
constructive dialogue, moral suasion and,
in indeed, appropriate invoking of
the battery of tools statutorily
deposited in the Governor's realm of
operation".
February 22, 2006,
By Tagu Mkwenyani
Harare :CHINA has started sending maize to
Zimbabwe as it moves to
avert a food crisis, threatening millions of people
in the country.
In the past, western countries have provided
assistance to Zimbabwe
during the times of droughts but the flow of aid has
diminished over the
past few years as relations between the European Union
(EU) and Zimbabwe
deteriorated.
The EU has slapped economic
and travel sanctions on Mugabe and
officials close to him, tightening screws
on the regime accused of human
rights violations. President Mugabe, blaming
the west for the economic and
political crisis gripping Zimbabwe, has
declared his country is now pursuing
a look East policy.
Under
the new policy, Mugabe hopes to court China, which has one of
the fastest
growing economies in the world and other Asian countries to come
to
Zimbabwe's assistance. Only last month, China donated an MA60 plane to
Zimbabwe which will be used by Air Zimbabwe. Sources said China was
exploring ways to further assist Zimbabwe which is facing its worst economic
crisis.
Officials from the Grain Marketing Board revealed that
the Asian
country which is fast taking over the energy and mining sectors in
Zimbabwe
would assist the country with maize. They revealed the first batch
of
supplies from China had already arrived in Harare but were not at liberty
to
reveal the quantities involved. A handover ceremony for the Chinese maize
will take place on Thursday at the GMB Cleveland Depot where senior
government officials, including the minister of Agriculture Joseph Made,
will grace the occasion.
A government source says the Zimbabwe
had appealed to China to assist
it with maize, which is critically short in
urban areas. Aid agencies say
about five million people need food aid and
the figure could rise in the
next few months. A number of Chinese companies
have been given farms in
Zimbabwe where they are growing maize. The farms
were previously owned by
white farmers who were chased off their land a few
years ago.
AND Zimbabwe
Mail and Guardian
Godwin Gandu |
Harare
22 February 2006 02:51
Divergent groups -- ranging from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to
Cabinet ministers, the security establishment and the opposition --
want
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono reined in, albeit for different
reasons.
"Some of the issues he touches are outside his
domain,"
complained opposition Movement for Democratic Change shadow
secretary for
economic affairs, Tendayi Biti. "His entanglement with quasi
financial
issues: providing money to local authorities and parastatals, his
creation
of the productive sector facility ... Those issues should be dealt
with by
central government."
This resonates with warnings
from Intelligence and Land Reform
Minister Didymus Mutasa, quoted in the
state-controlled Sunday Mail as
saying, "financial institutions, including
the Reserve Bank, had entered
into contract farming programmes with white
commercial farmers without
checking the status of those farms". He said that
his ministry had not been
consulted and was concerned about the "side-lining
[of] new farmers".
Recently the IMF too cautioned that the
governor was
overstepping his jurisdiction. Gono's delving into the
political and
economic arena has also caused embarrassment to security
chiefs. During his
Monetary Policy Statement last month the governor said
defence force chief
General Constantine Chiwenga had encouraged him to
revive agriculture to
avoid potential food riots. He said the general did
not want his troops,
accustomed to crushing dissent, to "turn their guns on
hungry Zimbabweans".
Gono's revelation "raised unnecessary
public fears about the
army", a senior Zanu-PF official told the Mail &
Guardian. "It was uncalled
for and unsanctioned."
Another
member of Zanu-PF's politburo also confided: "He has
become untouchable
because he has the backing of the president. If you
attack him, you risk
being accused of lack of patriotism. There is a general
impression he is a
messiah to take Zimbabwe out of its economic quagmire."
Every
three months, Gono invites captains of industry, Cabinet
ministers, army,
air force, prisons and police chiefs, the media and
diplomats to his
monetary policy briefing, where he often comments on
current political
developments in the country.
Tensions with the governor have
been simmering for some time but
have been muted because "many senior
government officials ... owe him
gratitude for lending them money from the
productive sector facility", said
another Zanu-PF source.
This mix of business and political interests, many commentators
have pointed
out, is central to the current factions that have formed in the
ruling
party. It is understood that the governor's comments about government
inefficiency, corruption and warnings of food riots have angered those
aligned to the vice-president's husband, retired general Solomon
Mujuru.
"He is going too far in using his Reserve Bank
platform to speak
on -political issues," said a senior Zanu-PF official and
politburo
heavyweight. "Gono was effectively now the prime minister. He is
now
answerable only to the president [to whom] he has access day in and day
out.
Very few of us have that access to Gushungo [Mugabe's clan
name]."
Concerns about the governor have not been discussed
in the
Cabinet or the politburo, nor have they been raised with President
Robert
Mugabe, but disenchantment is gaining pace.
Business Day
Dumisani Muleya
and Jonathan
Katzenellenbogen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
FORMER Rhodes scholar - who was later a US space agency National
Aeronautics
and Space Administration engineer and then a professor of
robotics - is set
to become the new leader of a faction of Zimbabwe's main
opposition party,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Arthur Mutambara, who led
student protests against corruption in Zimbabwe in
the 1980s, sees his
challenges as uniting the party and building its
credibility, after a split
last year.
However, Mutambara's election could also seal the split in the
party,
observers say. He arrived in Harare at the weekend and is expected to
take
over the leadership of the MDC faction led by party deputy Gibson
Sibanda at
a party conference this weekend.
As a Manyika, a Shona
sub-group from Zimbabwe's eastern highlands, Mutambara
may be well
positioned to build support among the Shona majority.
The Sibanda faction
is seen as dominated by Ndebele members, who are a
minority in
Zimbabwe.
However, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose boycott of
recent senate
elections split the party, will hold his faction's party
conference next
month.
It is understood there were efforts at the
weekend by Tsvangirai's camp to
stop Mutambara from joining the Sibanda
faction.
Mutambara declined to be interviewed by Business Day yesterday,
but released
a statement that said his first mission would be to reunite the
MDC to
ensure that it regained its position as Zimbabwe's dominant
opposition. He
called for "reunification of all democratic forces fighting
for change in
the country".
"Zimbabweans have witnessed with distress
the split in the main opposition
party, MDC.
"For the past four
months, the party's top leadership has failed to unite
the ranks of the
movement," he said.
"As the party goes towards two separate congresses,
the infusion of new
leadership, untainted by current disagreements, is
imperative to facilitate
the reunification process. It is in this context
that I define the framework
of my entry into Zimbabwean politics."
New Zimbabwe
By Bekithemba
Mhlanga
Last updated: 02/22/2006 18:55:57
LEGEND has it that when king
Uther Pendragon died his son , Arthur, raised
in secrecy during troubled
times assumed the throne in way that urban
legends are made of.
As
Merlin, a wise magician, feared when King Urther died there was great
conflict over who should be the next king. Merlin used his magic to set a
sword in stone. Written on the sword, in letters of gold, were these
words:
"Who so pulleth out this sword of this stone is the rightwise born
king of
all England."
Of course all the contenders for the throne
took their turn at trying to
draw the sword, but none could succeed. Arthur
quite by chance, withdrew the
sword for another use in a tournament.
Following this he became king.
Zimbabwe's circumstances could hardly be
described as being in this mould
but again the situation that has unravelled
over the last few hours cannot
be said to be far from this. It's the stuff
that urban legends in Zimbabwe
are made from.
Professor Mutamabara we
are told has re - entered the politics of Zimbabwe.
This statement or
assertion must be placed in its proper context. The last
time that Mutambara
, to the every Jack or Jill , Phiri or Banda was in the
political field in
Zimbabwe ,was some seventeen years ago as the President
of Student
Representative Council at the University of Zimbabwe. It's a long
time
ago.
Robert Mugabe was sixty six years old, Munyaradzi Gwisai was still
called
Enoch Chikweshe, students at the University of Zimbabwe were still
having
three course meals including non residents. A student concession
flight with
Air Zimbabwe to Bulawayo cost Z$96. Students worshipped the
ground walked by
Sidney Malunga , Morgan Tsvangirai and Edgar Tekere. How
things change.
Socialisim and communism held sway at the time. Shadreck
Guto and Kempton
Makamure, may his soul rest in peace, were big time king
makers on who would
ascend to the throne of the students council. Redstars
was the preferred
football team for all the dyed in wool communists.
Professor Mutambara ,
then simply known as AGO, was a leading member of the
Society for Modern
Scientific Thought and flirted with the Society for
African Studies (S.A.S).
It was a time when the PAC and the ANC battled
for the souls of the
excitable students on campus. Seventeen years ago
during those days of
student activism of Mutambara's time the politics at
the University was
highly tribal. The north voting for one candidate and the
south , amajaha ,
voting for the other. Hence we ended up with Mutambara on
one corner and
Sikhumbuzo 'Razor' Mkandla on the other.
How bizarre
that this week, during the week when Robert Mugabe is
celebrating his 82nd
birthday, Prof Mutambara could possibly be coronated as
King Arthur. He will
find, as much he knows that, his friends in the
trenches have been grinding
national politics for the past six or seven
years. He will find that other
cadres have emerged, submerged and passed
away. Different and questionable
characters have walked the very same path
that he treaded at Mt
Pleasant.
He will find a resolute, ferocious, vile and violent Robert
Mugabe who will
brook no nonsense from anyone. He will know that students
payout are no
where near the Z$300 to Z$500 range for residents that was the
case during
his time.
As we started we must end with intriguing
legend of King Arthur. The story
goes that as peace settled over the country
things turned sour within the
court of Camelot and civil war broke out.
Arthur was set upon a boat and
floated down the river to the isle of Avalon.
Here his wounds were treated
by three mysterious maidens. His body was never
found and many say that he
rests under the hill with all his knights - ready
to ride forth and save the
country again.
Ahoy, King Arthur, let the
party begin welcome to national politics.
Bekithemba Mhlanga is a
Zimbabwean journalist and is based in West Sussex,
England. He can be
contacted on: MhlangaB@outreach3way.org