http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Politics
BULAWAYO —
Chances of any coalition of political parties ousting Zanu PF in
the next
elections were slim because the former ruling party uses “terrorist
tactics”
to maintain grip on power, leader of the Matabeleland Liberation
Organisation (MLO), Paul Siwela said last week.
NQOBANI
NDLOVU
His comments come following calls for all political parties in the
country
to unite to enable them to unseat President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF,
which
has been ruling since independence in 1980.
The main political
parties in the country include MDC-T, MDC, Zapu and
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn.
MDC-T secretary-general, Tendai Biti late last
year also said only a
determined coalition of political parties would unseat
Mugabe, who has
ruling the country uninterrupted for the past three
decades.
However, Siwela said Zanu PF would unleash terror against any
coalition in
any election in order to remain in power.
The former
ruling party failed to transform from being a “terrorist group of
1970s into
a democratic party” that could govern the country where elections
are freely
and fairly contested.
“Zanu PF would always revert to terrorism to
maintain grip on power,” said
Siwela. “Zanu PF cannot countenance losing
power through electoral process.
So any coalition would not achieve anything
because Zanu PF would rather
kill for power.”
The MDC-T has said at
least 200 of its activists were killed by Zanu PF
youth militia and State
security agents during the 2008 violent elections.
But Zanu PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo dismissed Siwela’s assertion that the
former
ruling party, which lost the majority in Parliament in 2008 election,
was a
terrorist organisation.
Gumbo however, vowed that Zanu PF would still
defeat all parties whether
they formed a coalition or not.
“Even if
they come together, we will still defeat them. We are not worried,”
said
Gumbo. “Zanu PF is geared for elections and victory is certain.”
Although
calls for an electoral pact among political parties are getting
stronger,
the Welshman Ncube-led MDC has said it would not unite with MDC-T
because
they have different values and principles.
MDC split with MDC-T, led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in 2005 over
whether or not to participate
in the senatorial elections.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Politics
ZANU PF is
delaying the constitution-making process so that elections are
held after
the UN World Tourism General Assembly in August when there would
be little
international glare on the country, sources in the former ruling
party said
last week.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
If pushed to hold polls earlier
than that, the sources said, the party would
make sure elections are
conducted under the old charter which gives it
advantage against its
political rivals.
They said Zanu PF was cognisant that it would not win
free and fair
elections without intimidation or violence, acts which it
cannot do before
the tourism assembly as this would further dent the
country’s tainted human
rights records.
The party, which is battling
to have sanctions on President Robert Mugabe
and his cronies lifted, would
not want another disputed election, especially
before the UN meeting, at a
time the country is trying to woo back tourists.
“To start with, Zanu PF
has never wanted elections after the defeat of
2008,” said one source. “All
along it has been grandstanding. It will only
agree to holding elections
when it can no longer stop the process and this
is likely to be after the UN
meeting in August.”
The sources said the MDC formations were aware of
Zanu PF’s machinations and
are determined to push for reforms so that polls
are held before the
meeting.
MDC leader, Welshman Ncube said Zanu PF
has been calling for elections for
the past two and a half years but doing
everything possible to make sure
they do not happen.
“I cannot say
it’s the UN meeting but it has been their strategy since 2010.
They talk
left and act right,” said Ncube. “They have done everything to
delay the
constitution-making process by making new demands while shifting
the blame
on other parties.”
At the party’s national conference in Mutare in 2010,
Zanu PF resolved to
hold elections “without fail” at the expiry of the term
of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) and the inclusive
government.
MDC-T is demanding that elections be held “urgently” this year
after the
referendum and when all electoral reforms agreed to in the GPA,
which are
part of the Sadc roadmap to free and fair polls, have been
implemented.
“We also demand the complete removal and replacement of ZEC
[Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission] secretariat, security sector reform,
eradication of
all forms of State-sponsored violence and access to State
media,” said party
spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora. “For the MDC-T elections
have to happen this
year.”
He accused Zanu PF of delaying the
crafting of the new constitution by
making “outrageous, unreasonable and
unsustainable demands”.
The MDC formations and Zanu PF have failed to
agree on issues to do with the
national prosecuting authority, devolution,
land commission, running mate
clause as well as the truth and reconciliation
commission.
A special cabinet committee is set to meet this Wednesday to
iron-out the
sticky points.
Ncube said Zanu PF could not continue
delaying elections this time around
unless there was a new constitution,
flexible on dates or an amendment for
the current charter.
He said
they must be held by September 27 this year.
Ncube said if Parliament is not
dissolved sooner, it will automatically be
disbanded on June 29, which is
five years from the date Mugabe was sworn-in.
“The five years expires on
June 29 2013 and on that date Parliament will
automatically be dissolved,”
said Ncube. Once it is dissolved, the
constitution says elections must be
held 90 days from the dissolution of
Parliament which basically means
elections must be held before September 27
this year.”
Experts said
with the current slow pace of electoral reforms, it was
virtually impossible
to hold elections in March or June as presently touted.
They said after
the conclusion of the new constitution, a minimum of three
months was needed
to synchronise the charter with such laws as Posa, Aippa,
Electoral Act and
the Bill of Rights.
“Ideally, you would need about 12 to 18 months for
such an exercise,” said
one expert who refused to be named. “With the way
things are shaping, it is
almost impossible to have a referendum,
synchronise the new constitution
with other laws and then hold elections in
June this year.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Politics
MDC-T
Youth leader, Solomon Madzore’s intentions to run for the Dzivaresekwa
Parliamentary seat have split the party’s district structures, as jostling
for the sole ticket to represent the party in the next election
intensifies.
BY CHRISTOPHER MAHOVE
The district is reportedly
split into two groups, one which is pushing for a
“local” candidate with a
grasp of the constituency’s problems, with the
other supporting Madzore’s
candidature.
The anti-Madzore camp is arguing that the constituency has
been lagging
behind in terms of development because it has been represented
by people
from other areas.
“We are definitely disgruntled that an
area as big as Dzivaresekwa does not
have the freedom to choose its own
representatives and always has
expatriates imposed on them. An area like
this requires someone who is
domiciled in the constituency, as they would
have influence on the voters,”
said one senior district executive member,
who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
He said the imposition of
candidates from outside the constituency had
contributed to voter apathy, as
the electorate was not happy with the
performance of previous MPs, who were
not from Dzivaresekwa.
“Since 2000, the figures of people who voted for the
party has gone down
from 13 000 to just 6 000 in 2008,” said the MDC-T
official.
“This is because there has been a general outcry over the
imposition of
candidates who are not from the area.”
Another district
executive member said he was prepared to stand as an
independent candidate
should Madzore win the party’s ticket to contest the
constituency. “If he
has extra cash to spend, he should go and spend it in
Glen View or Westgate
where he stays. we cannot be fooled by the cheap
projects he is dicing for
the gullible youths here,” he said.
But Madzore could neither confirm nor
deny that he was vying for the
Dzivaresekwa constituency. “What I know is
that we are obviously going to
have youths standing in a number of
constituencies, but it is too early. I
don’t know yet [where I will
contest]. I don’t know what the people will
say” he said.
Madzore
dismissed complaints by some members of the district structures,
saying
those were scared of competition.
“To talk of imported candidates is a
political statement by someone trying
to protect their turf, but it is what
the people want and no one should deny
the people what they want. that is
democracy,” he said.
Madzore said projects running in the area were
initiated by the youth
assembly.
“People find it hard to
differentiate between the Youth Assembly and Solo
Madzore, but the party is
bigger than Solo Madzore. The Youth Assembly is
rolling out a number of
projects throughout the country,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in
Politics
The MDC-T has criticised the deal signed between Impala Platinum
Holdings of
South Africa and the government for the transfer of a
controlling stake in
Zimplats to the state and local community, saying it
was designed to fund
Zanu PF’s “terror” election campaign.
BY OUR
STAFF
Under the empowerment transaction valued at US$971 million,
Zimplats would
avail a loan to the new shareholders at an annual interest
rate of 10%.
But MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora accused Zanu PF of
using the deal
to try to raise funds for its party activities.
“That
is asset-grabbing on the part of Zanu PF. it does not increase
national
wealth. We must adopt policies that are designed to grow the
national cake
instead of just sharing what is there,” he said.
“We know that the proceeds
[of the transaction] will be abused. All funds
must be held by
treasury.”
Mwonzora said the housing of the funds under the National
Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Fund instead of the Ministry of
Finance was designed to
sponsor Zanu PF’s “terror machine.”
He said
that the position of the MDC-T was that there was rather need to
create jobs
for thousands of school leavers, attract capital and investment
into the
country, and emphasise on the environment, among other concepts
enunciated
in the party’s economic Juice policy.
But Zimplats board chairman,
Muchadeyi Masunda said the platinum producer
was excited about the company’s
indigenisation deal.
“From our perspective as a board, this [deal] is a
milestone in the history
of the extractive industry in the country,” Masunda
said yesterday.
“The problem with you journalists is that you think of
these things in terms
of people suddenly having a lot of money in their
hands.
“No, we are not going to give people money; it does not work that way.
We
have been doing these things anyway, but the only difference is that they
are now being formalised.”
He said having the community as a
shareholder meant that Zimplats could now
account for the money it spends on
the development of the community.
“The community will acquire the
shareholding over time through dividends,”
Masunda said.
“What it
means is that they have the potential to earn dividends once they
have paid
off the money needed to acquire their shares.
“The community does not have
the clout to go out there and raise the money,
so we will do that since we
have the clout.”
Masunda said he hoped the deal inspires more businesses,
including those
which are not in the extractive industry.
“We cannot
be a nation of vendors,” he said.
“We need many Zimplats for the economy
to peak and for people to have
pride.”
Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment minister, Saviour
Kasukuwere, reiterated that
the indigenisation programme was primarily meant
for broad groups of people
in the community.
“Our emphasis on broad-based participation has clearly
shown that the
indigenisation programme in the main does not benefit elite
indigenous
persons, but broad groups of indigenous people,” said Kasukuwere
at the
event.
“It is therefore, apparent that the greatest
beneficiaries of this programme
to date, are not well to do individuals, but
the broad masses.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Politics
TWO camps have
emerged within Zanu PF, with one opposed to the holding of
elections this
year, while the other prefers polls in June, The Standard has
learnt.
BY PATRICE MAKOVA
Despite Zanu PF’s public posturing
that elections should be held as soon as
possible, sources said most senior
officials holding positions in government
and MPs, were against the holding
of elections this year.
But Zanu PF secretary for administration, Didymus
Mutasa yesterday dismissed
reports that the party was not ready for
elections saying those were views
of a few individual members.
A
politburo member said all was not well, as most party officials were of
the
view that Zanu PF was not yet prepared for elections and wanted them
postponed even to next year.
The Zanu PF official said some of the
party gurus were afraid that if
elections were held soon and in the event
that President Robert Mugabe won,
they would not be accommodated in the
future government.
“Some of the officials against elections are cabinet
ministers. They want
the current GNU set up to be extended, so that they can
continue looting.
Some have been implicated in corrupt deals,” said the
politburo member.
“Others know elections will spell the end of their
political careers and
they will do anything to have them
postponed.”
The politburo member said officials against early elections
were already
lobbying Mugabe and other members of the presidium, warning
them that early
polls would spell disaster for the party.
But
officials opposed to early elections were said to be facing serious
opposition, mostly from the party’s so-called “Young Turks”, who are itching
to take over from the old generation.
Another senior official and MP
said the Young Turks were confident that
whether Zanu PF won or lost the
next elections, they would be
well-positioned to take up senior leadership
positions in the party.
“The Young Turks and a few others are arguing that
there will be a
constitutional crisis if elections are postponed beyond
September this
year,” said the MP.
“On the other hand, those against
elections argue that a crisis will be
avoided if the two MDCs agree to the
plan and another constitutional
amendment is done.”
However, the
official said it would be up to Mugabe to decide which side to
take, but it
was likely that he would take the side of those wanting
elections this
year.
Zanu PF at its annual national people’s conference held in Gweru
last month
resolved that Mugabe should dissolve Parliament and proclaim a
date for the
elections if the constitution-making process was not concluded
by last
Christmas.
But the cabinet and parliamentary committee tasked
with breaking the impasse
on constitution-making has since failed to meet
the deadline and there are
no signs that Mugabe would unilaterally call for
elections.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Local
NOVEMBER
2012 was a dark month for me as it was the beginning of a
three-month ordeal
at the hands of police officers.
BY NUNURAI JENA
This started with
my arrest by traffic police officers stationed at
Murombedzi Growth Point in
Zvimba.
I had never seen the inside of a police cell in my 47 years of
existence,
but that month I spent two nights as a guest of the State — in
the
not-so-hospitable cells.
My crime, I dared to question the police
officers’ action of wanting to
ticket a passenger who had his safety belt
fastened.
They claimed that I had accused all police officers countrywide
of being
corrupt, thereby undermining their authority.
What further
baffled me is that they lied under oath in court.
Still on the Murombedzi
case, I am sure the police became very hostile to me
the moment they
discovered through their counterparts that I am journalist.
I will not go
into details of the Murombedzi issue because the case is
pending before the
courts, save to say that I was shocked to learn that four
of the six police
officers at the roadblock ganged up and framed me.
But what shocked me
the most was how the police officers connived and
twisted facts so that they
could charge me with “undermining police
authority” by claiming that I had
labelled them as very corrupt officers.
As if that was not enough, some
police officers visited me on the last day
of last year and demanded to
search my office.
Initially, I refused to be arbitrarily
searched.
The officers claimed they wanted to search the offices of
Zimbabwe Human
Rights of Association (Zimrights), an organisation for which
I am a board
member.
Ironically, Zimrights has no offices in
Mashonaland West province.
I finally allowed them to search my office in the
presence of my lawyer and
as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, they found
nothing.
According to a search warrant, which was hastily drawn up after
my lawyer
insisted that they could only search my office after producing it,
they were
looking for “voter registration slips and other voting materials
contrary to
the Electoral Act”.
One notable irony on the search
warrant was that it referred to the police
officers as “peace officers” when
their conduct was anything but that.
Cops thrive on telling
lies
the police were at it again last Sunday.
This time, a police
vehicle rammed into my car, causing serious damage at
the back of my
vehicle. I have my doubts on whether this was genuinely an
accident,
considering my ordeal at the hands of the police over the past
three
months.
It is difficult to accept. Again the police officer behind the
wheel on that
fateful day misrepresented facts. What shocks and infuriates
me most is the
degree to which the said officers are willing to lie.
He
lied that he was alone in the vehicle at the time of the accident, when
in
fact he had a passenger.
Who is this person that he was trying to
protect?
Secondly, the officer, a Mr Dube, stationed at Chemagamba Police
Station,
failed to produce a licence. I still maintain that the officer is
unlicensed.
I requested to see his licence from the investigating
officer but up to now
the officer has not produced one.
The reason I
am insisting on the officer producing the licence is that just
recently I
saw him doing some driving lessons.
I was shocked to see him at the wheel of
a police vehicle on the day in
question.
The officer was then charged
with driving without due care, an offence that
attracts only a US$20
fine.
I am sure this was done to pacify me so I could stop insisting to
see the
officer’s driving licence.
If the officer had recently got a
police driving licence, he was supposed to
drive under instruction for six
months.
But it is these blatant lies by police officers that made me
conclude that
besides the corrupt tendencies levelled against them by
President Robert
Mugabe last year in Gweru, they are a bunch of liars as
well.
Back to the searching of my office, I think the shadowy Law and
Order
officers countrywide are an extension of some political functionaries
masquerading as police officers.
Surely, how can the whole police
force of about
20 000 people have their name soiled by a few rogue officers?
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Local
PARENTS and
guardians last week said the new school term started on a
positive note
compared to previous years despite a few incidents in which
some pupils
failed to get places.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
Most parents who spoke to
The Standard expressed gratitude that the majority
of the schools in the
country had given them a grace period to pay fees and
were not sending their
children back home.
“They gave us a grace period for paying fees,” Prisca
Tome, who has children
attending Dzivarasekwa 1 High School said.
“At
least the children are in class and they told me they have already
started
lessons. It is better than in previous years, where they would send
those
without fees back home.”
Tome was in a queue to pay the US$185 fees for
each of her two children at
the school.
She said she could not bask
in the grace period as school authorities were
unpredictable and could
decide to send those in arrears back home anytime.
Those seeking
vacancies at the school were waiting impatiently in a short
queue outside
the administration block. They were hoping to see the school
head, who was
said to be in a meeting.
Another parent said she had been turned away
from several schools around the
city because her daughter was transferring
from a private college in the
city centre.
Such schools as
Dzivarasekwa 2 High had notices pasted at their entrances
indicating they
did not accept students from private colleges.
At Gillingham Primary
School, also in Dzivarasekwa, there was a short queue
of parents who were
paying the US$30 per child fees for the term.
They said they were happy
that the fees remained the same as last year,
although they heard that an
increment of US$15 had been proposed.
At Warren Park 6 Council School, a
notice which read: “We have no places for
all classes,” greeted those who
entered the reception area. An administrator
at the school said the school’s
vacancies had been filled mid-2012.
Classes at the school were already in
full swing, with just a small queue of
parents who were paying
fees.
The Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and Culture David Coltart
said the
term had started well. “By and large, schools are functioning well
—
learners are already learning and teachers are back at school.”
The
situation was almost the same across the country.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Community
News
BUHERA — The current rains have been a relief to many farmers around
the
country, but not for communal farmers in Buhera district.
BY
TAWANDA MARWIZI
Several villagers have been left stranded and face
severe food shortages
after their crops last week were swept away by the
heavy rains.
The rains left some of the fields with deep gullies and also
swept away
perimeter fences, making it easier for livestock and wild animals
to feed on
what had been left of the crops.
Villagers who spoke to
Standardcommunity said they were facing another year
of food crisis
following the destruction of the crops. “The fields have been
destroyed
already, which is likely to be another year of hunger,” said one
of the
villagers, Mainos Zvakare.
“We have not been receiving such heavy rains
for the past nine years and we
have been on record having drought for all
these years.”
Buhera is one of the semi-arid districts in the country
which constantly
experiences food shortages owing to poor rains.
An
agricultural extension officer, Robson Masaiti, also said the erosion
caused
by the rains was likely to result in another drought in the
district.
“The rains are heavy and our soils are very poor that they
can’t hold it,
resulting in severe erosion in the fields,” said
Masaiti.
He blamed poor farming methods for the erosion.
“People here
do not care about the good methods of farming and this results
in severe
erosion in the event of heavy rains like this,” he said.
Last week,
Agricultural Extension Services [Arex] officials were teaching
some
villagers in the district good farming methods to curtail massive
erosion.
District administrator, Rolland Madondo said he was aware of
the disaster
that had rocked most parts of Buhera, adding that his office
was in the
process of finding ways to assist those affected.
“We have
been informed about the disaster that happened in the district and
as I
speak, we have since sent officials to assess the extent of the
damage,” he
said.
He added that it might be another difficult year for the district
as they
were likely to have food shortages.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Community
News
GUTU — Marauding baboons and monkeys are wreaking havoc here,
digging out
newly-planted seeds, crops and killing livestock.
BY
JAIROS SAUNYAMA
The baboons target small domestic animals such as
chicken, ducks, sheep and
goats, which are easy to kill.
Villagers
who spoke to Standardcommunity last week said they could face
another food
crisis this year because the animals were affecting their
farming
operations.
The most affected villages include Munemo, Chezira, Murapata
and Magaya
because they are near big mountains such as Chiunidza, Tsinga and
Cheshumba.
The villagers said the wild animals had run out of food which
they usually
scrounge for in the mountains and had resorted to putting up a
fight to get
what they wanted.
“Our lives depend on farming and if
this problem continues, then we are
going to die of hunger,” said Maria
Chingwere of Munemo Village.
“If we plant our maize or groundnut seeds today,
the next day you wake up
and the animals would be digging along the lines,
plucking out the seeds.”
Another villager, Mathius Majoni, said the
animals were also killing
domestic animals.
“Apart from plucking the
seeds from the ground, the animals are killing
chickens, guinea fowls, goats
and sheep,” he said.
The villagers said at times they tried to scare them
away by making noise
and putting scarecrows, but this had failed to stop the
hungry animals.
“We spend our time in the fields but the animals continue
to troop in. A
troop of baboons is very stubborn and sometimes we run for
our lives,” said
Majoni.
Headman Simba Munemo of Munemo Village, said
they would soon engage the
Department of Parks and Wildlife Management to
assist them in dealing with
the animals.
“This season is worse than
before and we are trying to engage responsible
authorities like Parks and
Wildlife Management to help us,” he said.
Wild animals like baboons
usually come into conflict with people when they
face food
shortages.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Community
News
HURUNGWE — Members of some Apostolic sects (Mapostori) here are
hampering
government efforts to eradicate tick-borne diseases by refusing to
dip their
cattle saying it is against their beliefs, a district veterinary
officer has
said.
BY MOSES CHIBAYA
Veterinary officer for
Hurungwe-Kariba district, Nyaradzo Rukatya said
resistance by the church
members had contributed to the 80% mortality of
livestock in the
district.
“The problem we have is that farmers are not cooperating
despite us getting
dipping chemicals,” said Rukatya.
“Some of them
just don’t turn up with their cattle. They don’t want. We have
those people
who go to Mapostori, they will tell you that they don’t take
their animals
for vaccination.”
Despite the resistance, the veterinary department had
made some inroads
towards eradicating the diseases, he said.
It
started with dipping goats and sheep together with cattle to break the
ticks’ life cycle.
Rukatya said there had been a 8% decrease of
cattle mortality in the
district since the department started dipping goats
and sheep, following a
capital injection by the European Union
[EU].
“Basically, we usually get a 80% loss from tick-borne diseases, but
right
now there is a reduction of about 8%,” Rukatya said at a recent field
organised by the EU.
Through the Food and Agriculture Organisation of
the United Nations and with
funding from the EU, at least US$3,7 was
injected for dipping activities for
small-holder farmers
countrywide.
About 4,5 million cattle or 90% of the total number of
cattle countrywide
are targeted.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Community
News
MOST boreholes in Harare are contaminated with heavy metals from
unlined
municipal dumps, exposing residents to diseases, an official from
Environmental Management Authority (EMA) has confirmed.
BY SOFIA
MAPURANGA
The failure by the Harare City Council to provide potable water
has forced
residents to drill shallow boreholes, even in inappropriate areas
as sources
of drinking water.
But health experts have warned
residents against drinking water from such
boreholes, especially from those
that are near dump sites.
EMA director general, Mutsa Chasi last week said
surveys of water samples
taken in Harare indicated that underground water
was contaminated.
“Drilled boreholes may not be clean and are
contaminated with heavy metals.
Surveys are showing contamination of
underground water, especially from
unlined municipal dumps like Pomona,”
said Chasi.
She said heavy metals such as lead and mercury from dump
sites were seeping
into underground water, posing a health risk to residents
who drank the
water assuming that it would be safe.
Chasi was
speaking at the Environmental Management Authority Laboratory
[EMAL]
International Standards Organisation /International Electro-technical
Commission (ISO/ IEC) 17025 certificate presentation ceremony in
Harare.
EMAL is the second environmental testing laboratory to be
accredited by
Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service
(SADCAS).
It was certified as a testing laboratory for microbial and
chemical analysis
of raw and potable water.
Most Harare residents had
resorted to bottled or borehole water because they
no longer felt safe
drinking water from the local municipality since it was
discovered to be
polluted by sewage.
SADCAS chief executive officer, Maureen Primrose Mutasa
said policymakers
should embrace accreditation as a best practice for
national development.
“Accreditation is increasingly being accepted as
the most transparent,
non-discriminatory mechanism to assure competence of
conformity,” said
Mutasa. “It increases reliability and competitiveness of
products and
enhances market access, thereby facilitating trade.”
She
said accreditation contributes towards national, social and economic
development, thereby helping reduce poverty and improving the quality of
lives for the general populace.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Community News
HARARE —
Unscrupulous commuter omnibus operators are taking advantage of the
current
rains to hike fares, especially during peak hours, knowing that
desperate
commuters would scramble into their vehicles for fear of
downpours.
BY TAWANDA MARWIZI
However, other commuters are
resisting the fares preferring to while away
time wandering around town
until late into the evening when the charges
would have been
reduced.
For the past two weeks, commuters to Chitungwiza have been
charged between
US$1,50 and US$2 during peak hours, especially when it’s
raining.
It usually costs US$1 per person for a single trip.
Others
from suburbs such as Mufakose, Glenview, Waterfalls and Budiriro fork
out
between US$1 and US$1,50 a trip where they usually pay US$0,50.
“It’s
very unfair for us to pay a dollar to Waterfalls which is less than 10
kilometres [from town],” said Trust Mabota.
He said that it had
become a trend for transport operators to increase fares
every rainy
season.
Mavis Kuenda said: “We have just come from the holidays and as we
speak,
children need money to go to school and we need rentals. Where can we
get
the money to pay US$2 to go to Chitungwiza?”
Some commuters now
prefer to go for private vehicles which rarely increase
fares.
Misheck Dongo from Chitungwiza said he preferred to board
private cars from
the city centre because one can negotiate the
fare.
“Apart from that, it’s risky to board kombis when it is raining because
most
of the drivers always speed regardless of reduced visibility, slippery
roads
and potholes,” he said.
“Most of the drivers just want to make
a quick buck at the expense of human
life.”
Disgruntled commuters,
who felt cheated by the increase, caused commotion in
Harare’s central
business district [CBD] last week.
There was confrontation between the
commuters and commuter operators at a
terminus along Albion Street which
nearly degenerated into a fist-fight as
commuters were demanding that fares
to Waterfalls be reduced to US$0,50 from
the US$1 they were
charging.
“You need soldiers to beat you up again,” shouted one man who
was among the
crowd. “Those who are charging a dollar must just leave this
place.”
Last year, soldiers beat up kombi drivers and touts in central
Harare in
revenge after their colleagues had been beaten by touts.
This
resulted in the restoration of order in the city as some rank marshals
deserted their spots for some days for fear of the soldiers.
ZRP
national traffic police spokesperson, Tigere Chigome said he was
concerned
about the unjustified fare hikes as they caused tension and fights
between
the public and transport operators.
“What surprises me is that fuel
prices are just normal, they don’t go up
because of rains but they still
charge exorbitant fares to the public, which
is not fair,” said
Chigome.
He said they would encourage traffic officers to control the
situation,
which he said needed the help of the public.
New operation
to weed out touts
The police have launched another operation to weed out
touts and rank
marshals in the CBD. The touts are being accused of
harassing commuters and
shoppers as well as making “noise and
inconvenience”.
Late last year, police arrested over 500 touts and rank
marshals and over
half of them were sent to jail or given community service
sentences.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in
Business
Communal farmers have taken charge of tobacco farming in
Zimbabwe and now
constitute over 40% of registered farmers this year,
Finance minister Tendai
Biti has said.
BY MOSES CHIBAYA
He was
addressing a press conference at his offices in the capital last
month,
where he gave a monthly update on the state of the economy.
Tobacco
production has remarkably boosted the rural economy, providing jobs
to
hundreds of workers in a country which has an unemployment rate of over
80%.
“For tobacco, I am pleased to say that as of the 23rd of
November 2012, some
63 352 growers had registered for the 2013 season
compared to the 33 808 of
last year,” said Biti.
“So we expect to
have a record crop next year. At least 22 182 new growers
have been
registered for 2013.”
Biti said the country recorded 145,5 million kg
last season and “because the
crop was good, the collections were a record
US$580 million at an average of
US$3,88”.
A1 farmers accounted for
43% of the growers, while A2 commercial and
small-scale farmers accounted
for 7%, 40% and 10% respectively.
Agriculture has always been a pivotal
sector of Zimbabwe’s diverse economy,
along with mining, tourism and
manufacturing.
Tobacco was once Zimbabwe’s largest export commodity,
accounting for a third
of all foreign currency earnings, along with gold and
other minerals.
Almost 99% of the crop was exported to 69 different
countries in the 1990s.
Biti said major exports comprised minerals, which
were at 61,8%, followed by
tobacco at 21,8%.
Rural farmers are
presently investing in building their own tobacco barns,
grading shades as
well as purchasing bailing machines.
But they have always complained
about the effects of climate change, high
costs of inputs and poor prices.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Business
BULAWAYO’S
retail sector has virtually collapsed following the closure of
several shops
and supermarkets in the city centre last year.
BY MUSA DUBE
Retail
was the only remaining robust sector following the closure of various
companies in the manufacturing and textile industries.
The most affected
retail businesses were new shops and supermarkets owned by
indigenous
people.
Buscod Chain Supermarkets closed its last shop at the end of last
month,
leaving close to 400 workers jobless.
The company’s managing
director, Bambo Bambo said the closure was caused by
a marked increase in
the number of retail supermarket outlets in the city.
This, he said, had
made retail business less viable.
“We are therefore getting into those
business areas that are little explored
such as clothing and that do not
need a large number of employees and where
competition is less,” he
said.
Buscod Supermarket emerged at a time when traditional supermarkets
were
facing operating challenges that saw many of them failing to stock
basic
commodities.
Another supermarket chain, Tashas Supermarkets
closed four of its branches
last year, also leaving hundreds of workers
unemployed.
The company was placed under judicial management late last year
after it
failed to settle US$3 million it owed creditors, most of them local
banks.
Tashas had 10 outlets in the city and rose to prominence at the
height of
economic challenges to compete with established supermarkets such
as TM and
OK.
It was also one of the first supermarkets to import
basic commodities from
South Africa during the hyperinflationary
period.
Tashas Supermarket, which had become a household name in
Bulawayo, is also
planning on restructuring and diversifying into other
lines of business, a
source said.
“There is a retail shop in almost
every street and at every corner of the
town and this makes competition very
stiff,” said a manager with Tashas who
requested anonymity. “Several
companies especially in the manufacturing
sector closed down in Bulawayo and
this also negatively affected our
business.”
The Retailers
Association of Bulawayo said retailers started recording a
decline in sales
following the sprouting of wholesale outlets in the city.
The association
said most of the wholesalers were also operating as
retailers.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in
Business
MINORITY shareholders in TN Bank, mostly former Tedco
shareholders, are set
to reap rewards from the Econet takeover of the
financial institution, bank
founder Tawanda Nyambirai said last
week.
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
Speaking to Standardbusiness last week,
Nyambirai quashed market reports
that the Econet acquisition of TN Bank and
its de-listing from the stock
exchange was only in the best interests of the
main shareholder. The reports
said the takeover would negatively affect
minority shareholders.
Nyambirai said the last time he assessed the
minority shareholders’ attitude
towards the acquisition of the bank by
Econet was at an extraordinary
general meeting (EGM) in June
2012.
“At that EGM, the shareholders, including minority shareholders,
voted in
favour of the transaction 100%,” he said. “All our minority
shareholders
without dissent welcomed Econet and saw the value that I saw
Econet bringing
on board.”
Nyambirai said that the rationale behind
the transaction was premised on the
shareholders’ realisation of the
inevitable integration of
telecommunications with banking.
Under the
transaction, TN Bank minority shareholders will be offered Econet
shares in
exchange for stakes in the bank.
The bank’s management felt that
engagement with potential investors would
likely add value to the company as
the current trading price on the bourse
undervalues it.
The company’s
share price has plummeted by 50% from its listing price of
32,08 US cents in
June last year. It is trading below its net asset value
(NAV) of US$0,25c
per share.
TN will de-list from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) should
the deal sail
through.
“As much as they know that TN Bank is
undervalued, they know that Econet is
much more undervalued than any other
counter on the ZSE,” said Nyambirai. “I
do not see any TN Bank minority
shareholders who will fail to find the
transaction attractive.”
TN
Bank said that it needed to raise capital to meet the central bank’s
minimum
regulatory capital requirements of US$100 million by December 31
next year.
After the de-listing exercise, shareholders would continue
trading shares on
a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
Market analysts felt the procedural
action would have been to offer
minorities a price preferably at a premium
to the trading price.
They argue that since up to 83% of TN Bank’s issued
share capital was held
by Econet and numerous trust vehicles, the majority
shareholders could
railroad resolutions through that best suit them. TN Bank
is trading at a
discount of around 36% to its net asset value of US$0,25c
per share, a
reflection of its low trading volumes.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in
Business
ZIMPLATS’ indigenous partners will settle government’s US$153
million
outstanding debt to the platinum producer under a transaction
unveiled on
Friday.
BY OUR STAFF
The company last week signed
the empowerment transaction with the government
valued at US$971 million in
which locals would have 51% in the white metal
producer.
The
transaction had been valued at US$818 million but shot up to US$971
million
after factoring in government’s debt.
A 2006 agreement between Zimplats
and the government stated that instead of
paying US$153 million cash for
land rights, government would give Zimplats
credits against
indigenisation.
Zimplats would then facilitate the transaction by
providing vendor financing
to the indigenous entities at an interest rate of
10% per annum under the
new transaction.
Vendor financing would be
repayable from 85% of the dividends declared by
Zimplats on the
indigenisation shares.
The new shareholding of Zimplats will see Impala
Platinum owning 49%, the
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
Fund (NIEEF) holding 31%,
Zimplats Employee Share Ownership Trust 10% and
Community Share Ownership
Trust 10%.
NIEEF will have to pay US$590
million while the Community Share Ownership
Trust and Employee Share
Ownership Trust’s share of the purchase price is
US$190 million
each.
The transaction will see indigenous entities receiving 15% of 51%
of
dividends declared by Zimplats.
“Assuming a 100% dividend payout
on free cash-flows over the next 10 years,
this will result in indigenous
entities receiving an estimated US$164
million in cash-flows,” said an
overview done by the transaction’s financial
advisors, Brainworks Capital.
“Zimplats has sustainably generated average
net profit per annum in excess
of US$100 million per year since 2010 and
this performance is expected to be
sustained going forward.”
An overview of the transaction calculated by
Brainworks Capital shows that
the value of Zimplats on an asset valuation
basis is about US$1,7 billion.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Implats
chief executive officer, Terence
Goodlace said he was pleased that after
some two years of hard work and
diligence, an acceptable solution had been
reached.
“Through broad-based empowerment, we believe that the country would
be able
to broaden participation by locals in the resource sector, spread
wealth,
and expand growth opportunities to propel the country’s economy to
higher
levels,” said Goodlace.
The government has been using
empowerment transactions to settle debts owed
to mining firms.
In the
Mimosa transaction unveiled last month, indigenous partners were set
to pick
up the US$57 million bill incurred by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in
Opinion
Intra-party democracy systems can have positive or negative
consequences on
national systems depending on the internal policies used by
political
parties or the political context of the country.
Sunday
View by Resource Election Center
The ability of political parties to put
in place progressive policies that
ensure the professional selection of
qualified candidates can go a long way
in providing leadership that will
effectively lead Zimbabwe towards
sustainable development.
Though
some might argue that too much party democracy may dilute the power
held by
political party leaders, the benefits of intraparty democracy at a
macro
level are much greater.
Therefore, internal party systems should uphold
universally recognised
democratic principles, for example, transparency,
accountability and
participation.
Internal party democracy has a
wider impact on national governance. It
enhances a necessary democratic
culture within political parties that will
naturally transcend to the
society at large.
The representation of the electorate’s ideas starts at
grassroots level and
in most cases through political parties, therefore the
internal party
procedures should be free and fair so as to facilitate the
transfer of the
electorates’ views and ideas from the grassroots to the
national level.
For that reason, the opening up of political parties is
essential in that it
creates space for new ideas and new members, who will
then be part of the
national system through national elections, if they are
selected as party
candidates.
Major effects of failed internal party
democracy are imposition of
candidates, disturbance of democratic stability
and loss of political
support for the party.
All parties will
probably hold their primary elections soon. The fear is
that the candidacy
of the next elections will be botched because there are
already certain
individuals that have been targeted for nomination.
There will most
likely be impositions of candidates by over-domineering
elites. The
imposition of candidates is worsened by the culture of
clientelism that has
perverted internal party politics. This may lead to
voter apathy since the
party would have failed to put forward the candidates
preferred by the
electorate.
Primary elections are generally divisive and have, in the
past, led to
intraparty conflicts. The possible forthcoming primary
elections will serve
as a barometer to measure the possibility of the
recurrence of political
violence in the 2013 national election.
If
the selection of candidates is not managed well, there is a possibility
of
intraparty violence going beyond internal violence. If the selection of
candidates is contested, there are more chances that the harmonised
elections will be highly contested.
Already in some areas in the
Mashonaland provinces, violence has erupted
with some aspiring candidates
accusing the old seat holders.
Internal democratic procedures, which lack
the adherence to true democratic
principles, have led to the splits and
crises within political parties. For
instance, the MDC has split into four
parties since 2005 and Zanu PF
internal politics are riddled with
factionalism. This has been caused by
disgruntled party
supporters.
When a candidate loses primary elections, legally, there is a
chance for
them to stand as independent candidates. Consequently, this will
probably
lead to the splitting of the party’s votes and the loss of
confidence of the
electorate in the political systems.
Parties
therefore need more open candidate selection methods guided by
democratic
internal and national legal frameworks that can influence
political parties’
discretionary power in proposing candidates.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Opinion
It is extremely
difficult to convince the young generation that voting in
national elections
is important.
The Standard Opinion
The reason for this is not far
to find. All our youths have in the past
decade seen the futility of the
whole electoral process because it has been
subverted now and again to suit
certain interests.
None of our born-frees have ever experienced the joy
and satisfaction of a
free and fair election. They have therefore concluded
that elections do not
change anything.
They cannot be blamed for
this. It is therefore incumbent upon political
parties to change this
thinking. How they are going to do this is entirely
up to them but one thing
is clear, the outcome of the forthcoming watershed
elections will be most
crucial in the country’s progress towards a modern
country where democratic
processes are respected and the youths hold the key
to this!
The
youth, only 18% of whom voted in the last general and presidential
elections, are generally uninterested in changing the course of history yet
the future is mostly theirs. This contradiction has to be straightened out
so that the millions of dollars to be spent on the voter registration
exercise can be justified.
But how can the voter-registration
exercise be made attractive to a
techno-savvy generation that has had its
day-to-day living revolutionised by
technology? The smaller MDC formation
led by Welshman Ncube is right in
proposing that it should be possible for
voter registration to be done
online.
The young generation is
naturally repulsed by the old way of doing things.
This is the generation
that has grown doing virtually all important
transaction online, be it
applying for university places, banking their
allowances, applying for their
visas or even courtship.
Unlike the older generation, which grew up in a
time when it was mandatory
to carry pens on their ears, the youth don’t need
writing the way we used to
and queues just drive them mad.
Two things
are important therefore, namely that youths are drilled on the
importance of
voting and that voter registration is made as simple as
possible for
them.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Editorial
The
United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference will be
held in
August this year and it isn’t within anyone in Zimbabwe’s power to
change
that date.
From the Editor’s Desk with Nevanji Madanhire
Zimbabwe
is co-hosting the funfair with its northern neighbour Zambia, which
further
complicates the matter.
The conference has now become a peg on the
Zimbabwean calendar around which
other events are tethered. The nation is
unanimous that the hosting of this
event should not be scuppered in anyway.
The dates of our harmonised
elections therefore have to be determined by
this event more than any other.
One school of thought argues that the
elections should be held before the
UNWTO conference while another argues
for after the event. Those in the
first school say the conference can be
used to restrain the behaviour of
political parties in the period leading to
and after the elections.
This argument is
understandable.
Electoral violence and manipulation have become the bane
of Zimbabwean
politics. Every election, without fail since independence, has
been
characterised by violence; what has only varied is the degree. In spite
of
the government of national unity, which has brought a semblance of peace
and
sanity to the political landscape, the polarisation is still deep and is
simmering under the surface ready to erupt at the slightest
trigger.
Could the world attention that will be brought about by the
international
conference help curtail electoral violence? Many think so;
after all the
raison d’état of the conference is to show that Zimbabwe has
shed its dirty
past and is ready to join the community of nations as a
stable democracy!
Many countries, especially in the west, are ready to
withdraw their
participation in the conference if they deem the conditions
not conducive
enough. Already Germany is threatening to pull out and even
campaign against
Zimbabwe’s hosting if bilateral trade pacts between it and
Zimbabwe are not
respected.
This chorus could gain ground if other
democracies indicate they would baulk
at undemocratic electoral process and
shun the conference.
Considering this, June would be the ideal month to
hold the harmonised
elections. March, which President Mugabe seems to be
pushing for, is a wee
too early because those with a propensity for violence
can still engage in
it and clean up their act in time for the conference. To
do this when the
elections are held in June would be practically
impossible.
The school that argues for elections after the conference is
the one that
wishes to avoid the glare of world attention during and after
elections; it
is the same group that has a tendency towards electoral
manipulation and
violence.
This group does not appreciate what the
hosting of UNWTO conference sets to
achieve. They are not aware the
conference is not just an event but part of
a process to rebrand the
country. Engaging in any electoral violence after
the conference will still
have the effect of reinforcing the country’s
pariah status which we are
trying to change.
Turkey, which hosted the conference last year, receives
about 30 million
visitors annually; if Zimbabwe could receive even a tenth
of that, it surely
would have arrived, so to speak. Zimbabwe has the
capacity to handle that
kind of figure and, I think, that’s the message that
Tourism and Hospitality
minister Walter Mzembi and all the others engaged in
the hosting of this
conference are trying to send out to the
world.
For Turkey, tourism contributes US$25 billion to its national
earnings;
again even a tenth of that would be good for Zimbabwe. These
figures only
help to illustrate how tourism could easily be the most
important cog in the
machine of Zimbabwe’s turnaround strategy.
When
countries bid to host big international events such as the Football
World
Cup and the Olympics, they wish to show off their progress and their
status
in the world. The World Cup put South Africa firmly on the map in
2010;
there is no doubt now that the country is up there among the community
of
nations hence it was invited to join Brics [major emerging markets
comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and now South Africa] at the end of
that year and eventually doing so the following year.
Many African
countries have over the years also sought to showcase their
progress by
hosting tournaments such as the African Cup of Nations which
South Africa
has been honoured to do again this year.
Angola’s hosting it in 2010 was
meant to show off the country’s post-war
progress and the way it was using
its vast oil and diamond revenue to
develop itself. Indeed Angola is now one
of the biggest economies in Africa.
The UNWTO conference therefore offers
Zimbabwe an opportunity to showcase
the best of itself and, hopefully, this
should include its stability and
political maturity. The country should
therefore clean up its political act
first before hosting the conference and
this can only be done if elections
are held before the conference and held
in an atmosphere that is consistent
with international standards of
democracy.
It was the political instability of the turn of the millennium
that hit hard
our tourist receipts; to host a major tourism conference
before stability is
permanently restored is the height of
foolishness.
First things must come first: harmonised elections in a free
and fair
atmosphere and a smooth transfer of power, if that’s the wish of
the
electorate. Then we would have proved ourselves worthy of being the most
preferred tourism destination in southern Africa, a status which I believe
belongs to us, but which, at the moment, we don’t deserve.
Besides
the imperative cleaning up of the politics before the conference,
the
country should also spruce itself up in terms of cleanliness and its
general
outlook. Zimbabwe happens to be about the most littered country
anywhere.
Organisers of the UNWTO conference seem to think the
conference should only
be a Victoria Falls affair; it is not! The country
should come through as a
total package; we haven’t seen any efforts towards
this with all events
seemingly focused on the resort town.
If the
Turkey experience is anything to go by, we will most likely receive
about 1
000 guests, (Turkey got 1 200); these should be encouraged to travel
around
the country. This therefore means all cities and tourist resorts
should be
visible at the conference, but we are not hearing any noise from
them!
But civil society should begin making noise about having
elections before
the conference, if only to rein in political
waywardness.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
January 13, 2013 in Editorial
In
the run-up to the discredited 2008 harmonised elections, an elderly
relative
in Seke Communal Lands related how she and other villagers had been
told at
a Zanu PF meeting that it would be futile for them to vote for MDC-T
leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, since he never participated in the liberation
war.
Sunday Opinion with Desmond Kumbuka
The only credible
candidate for the presidential position, they were told,
was none other than
Robert Mugabe. So by implication, the electorate
effectively had only one
choice among the candidates — Robert Mugabe.
This has been Zanu PF’s
method for the past 32 years. The country,
unfailingly, goes to the polls
whenever they are due in terms of the
constitution, but strictly to elect
those that the “revolutionary party”
deems to be the right
candidates.
This is precisely the basis of statements by army generals
who have vowed
that they will never salute anyone, specifically Tsvangirai,
even if he wins
the elections, because he does not possess liberation war
credentials.
When Mugabe boasts his regime has always complied with
constitutional
provisions on polls and has never skipped an election, what
he does not say
is that Zimbabweans have always been accorded the right to
vote but not the
choice of who to vote for. This has created a puzzle for
the generality of
Zimbabweans: what is the point of voting when one cannot
decide who to vote
for?
The right to identify those that must be
voted for, as things stand, belongs
to those who fought in the liberation
war. And since Zanu PF arrogated
itself the exclusive franchise to the
liberation war, only it can decide who
should be voted for. This
prescriptive form of democracy has been the
hallmark of its electoral agenda
since coming to power in 1980.
Worryingly, Zanu PF behaves as if the
liberation war was an ideal to which
revolutionaries had to aspire to as a
qualification for the future
leadership of the country. Sadly today, Zanu PF
shamelessly exploits this
very unfortunate episode in our lives and subverts
internationally accepted
democratic principles in the name of a
revolutionary struggle.
It is a terrible indictment of these
revolutionaries that the lucky
survivors of our liberation struggle now seek
to reward themselves for
helping to liberate the country by clinging to
power and looting state
resources with impunity. This is a callous betrayal
of the scores of truly
revolutionary Zimbabweans who died in the struggle.
The democracy for which
these Zimbabweans sacrificed their lives was
certainly not to monopolise
power and pursue self-aggrandisement, but one
that would allow each and
every Zimbabwean one-man-one-vote, to elect
leaders of their choice.
It is indeed a sad reflection of the moral
standards in this country that
more than 30 years after the death of one of
the foremost revolutionaries,
Josiah Magama Tongogara, controversy still
rages on around the causes of his
death, because there are those who still
seek to gain political mileage from
his demise.
Similarly, the late
Vice-President Joshua Nkomo must surely be turning in
his grave every time
his name is invoked by hypocrites who desperately seek
to associate
themselves with him in a vain attempt to bolster their
wafer-thin political
credentials.
What Zimbabwe needs today is a new generation of visionaries
who can
turn-around the country’s battered economy, not clueless geriatrics
who hold
out their participation in the liberation struggle as a passport to
holding
power in perpetuity.
Zanu PF should not be allowed to hold
this country to ransom any longer
because the price already paid as a debt
of gratitude for its role in the
liberation struggle far exceeds what it is
worth. In any case, only
mercenaries put a price on their involvement in a
war, and Zanu PF has
demonstrated beyond any doubt that it holds its
participation in the freedom
struggle as a mercenary enterprise for which it
must exact a fee.
Claims by Zanu PF that Zimbabwe is under
neo-colonialist threat are pathetic
and baseless in a new world order where
democratic forces are becoming ever
more bold and assertive.
While
Zimbabwe is not Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt or even Libya, events
in
the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring are a harbinger of the
inevitability of change. The late Muammar Gaddafi, former Libyan strongman,
probably believed he was invincible when the winds of change swept through
his country, crashing him and his regime — all because he failed to read the
signs on the wall.
Lately, Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad has
tenaciously clung to power
through his country’s 21-month uprising, but even
he must know by now that
the end is nigh.
