Jan 15th 2004
From The Economist print
edition
First get the basics rightAfrica remains poor mainly because of
bad government, says Robert Guest. The remedies look simple, but will be hard to
apply
THE view from the pick-up truck rolling through the
Zimbabwean countryside was grim. Field after field that should have been
prepared for planting was idle and choked with weeds. But the farmer driving the
truck—let's call him “Dave”—had no time to stop and grieve. He had an
appointment to get his tractors back.
As part of President Robert Mugabe's programme of
“land reform”, Dave's big farm had been carved up among half a dozen members of
the ruling party, ZANU-PF. These middle-ranking cronies had in turn been thrown
off by a big shot, a former brigadier with his own militia, who grabbed the lot
for himself.
Under Zimbabwean law at the time, black would-be
farmers allocated plots of formerly white-owned land were supposed to take only
the land. The crops, cows and combine harvesters were deemed still to belong to
the people who had sown, reared or bought them. But when Dave tried to salvage
his moveable possessions, the brigadier's bodyguards blocked his way. So Dave
got himself a court order and a promise of an armed police escort to help him
reclaim this modest fraction of his life's accumulated assets.
He arrived at the local police station at the
appointed hour, with some friends to help and your correspondent, incognito, to
observe. The armed escort did not show up. The police chief shrugged and mumbled
excuses. Then the brigadier stormed into the police station to complain that
someone (possibly the farmworkers he had evicted) was stealing “his” crops at
night. The police immediately dispatched a car and four officers to assist him.
It was a striking vignette of how selectively the law is applied in Zimbabwe.
Property rights are secure only to the extent that you enjoy the favour of those
in power.
Land reform was supposed to benefit the poor, and
indeed some 134,000 people have been allocated plots. Mr Mugabe promised the new
farmers seeds and fertiliser, but delivered almost none, partly because he has
evicted the farmers who used to grow the seeds. Few of Zimbabwe's new farmers
know much about farming, so yields have plunged. Half the population now depends
on food aid, which the ruling party shamelessly tries to reserve for its own
supporters. There is a harsh partisan logic to this. Didymus Mutasa, ZANU's
foreign-affairs secretary, once said the country would be better off with only
half its current population, “with our own people who support the liberation
struggle”.
Sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter, “Africa”) is the
world's poorest continent: half of its 700m people subsist on 65 US cents or
less a day. Even more worryingly, it is the only continent to have grown poorer
in the past 25 years, despite the explosion of technology and trade that has
boosted incomes in other regions. Not even Africans want to invest in Africa: an
estimated 40% of the continent's privately held wealth is stashed offshore. This
survey will ask two questions. Why is Africa so poor? And what are Africans
doing about it?
The short answer to the first question is “bad
government”. As recent events in Zimbabwe show more vividly than any economics
textbook could, rulers who respect neither property rights nor their own laws
swiftly impoverish their people. No other African country has regressed as fast
as Zimbabwe has over the past five years, but several have made similar mistakes
in the past from which most have yet to recover. Only one African country,
Botswana, has been consistently well governed since independence. Not
coincidentally, average incomes in Botswana have grown faster than anywhere else
in the world in the past 35 years, from bare subsistence to over $3,000 a year.
But only one African in 400 lives in Botswana.
|
|
 |
|
|
The short answer to the second question is that many
individual Africans are working hard to better their own lot, but their rulers
are prone to getting in their way. Too many governments are predatory, and not
enough are competent. On the plus side, the continent has grown more democratic
since the end of the cold war, raising hopes that African governments will
become more responsive to their people's needs. That is very welcome. But, as
Africans say, you cannot eat democracy. The real test is whether democratic
governments will be able to lay the foundations for economic growth.
A few African countries are growing rapidly. Leaving
aside those that have enjoyed sudden oil windfalls, the best performers are
Mozambique, Rwanda and Uganda, which notched up growth rates of 12%, 9.7% and
6.2% respectively in 2002. All three countries have been doing well for a decade
or so, and all three can plausibly claim that this is a result of better
governance. The catch is that all three are growing from the lowest base
imaginable, having suffered cataclysmic civil wars. All three have been given
torrents of aid—between 50% and 70% of the national budget—to help them rebuild.
None has yet regained its (modest) pre-war prosperity, and Rwanda's growth
slowed in 2003.
Some African presidents, led by Thabo Mbeki of South
Africa and Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, are promoting a grand pan-African plan
to promote better governance, attract more aid and boost growth. Most of the
proposals obviously make sense: who could be against less corruption or better
telephone links? But the plan will work only to the extent that individual
African governments take it seriously.
Power in Africa today resides with national
governments. Africa's nation-states may be artificial creations of the colonial
era, but no one has the stomach to re-draw Africa's borders, so the continent is
stuck with them. Progress, if and when it comes, will come country by country.
The best-governed places will probably grow fastest, so African politicians must
get the basics right: spend within their means, pass sensible laws and see that
these are enforced even-handedly. Until they do, nothing else will move.
EU Parliament Calls For Tougher Sanctions On ZimbabweBRUSSELS
(AP)--The European Parliament called on European Union governments
to toughen
sanctions against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe Thursday,
saying
existing restrictions have done little to change Mugabe's human
rights
record.
In a joint resolution adopted by 66 votes with four against and
two
abstentions at the end of the session, the E.U. assembly urged
E.U.
governments "to adopt a more active and urgent approach to the
Zimbabwe
disaster, to include renewal of targeted sanctions."
The
parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France, called for an extension
and
tightening of existing travel bans on Mugabe and his ministers.
It
said a more "vigorous enforcement" of the restrictions and demanded
European
countries strictly enforce the visa ban. The vote also called for
widening
sanctions to include those who financially supported Mugabe's
political
ZANU-PF party.
"Conditions in Zimbabwe are now spiraling out of control,"
said U.K.
conservative Geoffrey Van Orden. "Mugabe and his ZANU-PF cronies
have
systematically pillaged and brutalized the once prosperous country
of
Zimbabwe ...We need to set the people of Zimbabwe free."
The
parliament also criticized last years visit of Mugabe to Paris, France,
on
the invitation of French President Jacques Chirac, who asked for a
suspension
of the travel ban on Mugabe to E.U. nations, so the Zimbabwean
leader could
attend a Franco-African summit there.
The resolution comes as E.U.
foreign ministers prepare to reassess their
sanctions against Zimbabwe which
are due to expire Feb. 20.
Last year, Paris threatened to bloc the
extension of sanctions against
Mugabe if it did not get an exemption for the
Zimbabwean leader to travel to
France.
The issue caused deep divisions
between London and Paris over how strict the
E.U. sanctions against Zimbabwe
should be.
The U.K., the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden have all pushed
for tougher
sanctions against Zimbabwe and are expected to back stricter ones
this time
around again.
E.U. nations slapped diplomatic sanctions
against Mugabe two years ago,
imposing an E.U. visa travel ban on Mugabe and
other Zimbabwean officials
and an arms sale ban on Zimbabwe. They also froze
Zimbabwean assets in
Europe after failing to get Mugabe to improve human
rights and reverse
policies that have created a massive food crisis in a
country that was once
southern Africa's breadbasket.
Mugabe has
cracked down on the independent press, the judiciary, opposition
officials
and human rights workers in recent years.
Dow Jones Newswires
01-15-041239ET
UN News Centre
UN joins forces with US to prevent water-borne disease in
Zimbabwe's capital
15 January – In a bid to avert the spread of water-borne
diseases in
Zimbabwe, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has
teamed with
the United States to provide a steady supply of clean water to
the capital,
Harare, and outlying areas.
According to the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), Zimbabwe's economic
crisis had made it impossible to purchase
adequate water purification
chemicals and as a result, the city could not
provide a regular supply of
clean water.
A $200,000 grant from the US Agency for International
Development (USAID),
channelled through UNDP, has allowed the purchase of
chemicals needed for
water purification and made it possible for Harare to
increase its clean
water stocks to as many as four days' worth. The city had
problems in
maintaining a constant water supply to all its residents due to
inadequate
chemicals because of foreign currency shortages.
In the
long-term, however, the supply of clean water to Harare remains a
concern,
OCHA said. The city's two main reservoirs, which are downstream
from the
area's industry, are susceptible to pollution. Zimbabwe's dire
economic
situation, meanwhile, makes it nearly impossible to fund repairs
and
maintenance of the capital's infrastructure, leading to the rupture of
pipes
carrying treated water. Aggravating the situation, the water system
requires
an upgrade to serve the city's growing population.
What began in 2002 as
a food crisis in Zimbabwe has grown into a major
humanitarian emergency, with
people suffering the effects of a deteriorating
economy, HIV/AIDS, depleted
social services and policy constraints,
according to OCHA. As the country
enters its fifth successive year of
economic decline, Zimbabwe faces critical
shortages of foreign exchange to
maintain essential infrastructure and
inflation has soared.
In addition, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is ravaging the
country. Recent estimates
indicate that around 34 per cent of Zimbabweans age
15 to 40 is infected,
and more than 2,500 people die every week of
AIDS-related causes. Delivery
of health, education, social and public
services has been undermined by a
lack of finance and the loss of human
resources to emigration and AIDS. One
result is that malaria, tuberculosis
and cholera cases are on the rise.
Another is that Zimbabweans face a severe
food security crisis in 2004. An
estimated 5.5 million people will require
food aid there during the coming
year.
VOA
Zimbabwe Human Rights Group Condemns Detention of Legislator
Peta
Thornycroft
Harare
15 Jan 2004, 15:35 UTC
The group Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights has condemned the continued
detention of a ruling
party legislator, whose release was ordered by
Zimbabwe's High Court
Sunday.
Zimbabwe's human rights lawyers have stepped in many times before to
condemn
police for what they consider unlawful detentions. But, in the case
of
Philip Chiyangwa, this is the first time they have intervened on behalf of
a
wealthy, ruling party member of parliament.
He is being jailed in
connection with the collapse of an asset management
company, whose directors
are now charged with serious fraud.
Through his lawyer, Mr. Chiyangwa has
argued that his arrest was politically
motivated and that police have abused
their powers. The police opposed any
attempts to free him for fear he would
interfere with their investigation.
But the High Court sided with Mr.
Chiyangwa and ordered his immediate
release.
Despite the order, police
are keeping Mr. Chiyangwa in custody, saying the
court order was incomplete
and was not served upon them properly.
So far, Zimbabwe police have
arrested three more investment bankers and
closed down another three asset
management companies. Police spokesman Wayne
Bvudzijena said Thursday that
the police would be continuing investigations
in the financial sector for
some time.
Zimbabwe: More Than 1,000 Malaria Deaths
UN Integrated Regional
Information Networks
January 15, 2004
Posted to the web January 15,
2004
Johannesburg
More than a 1,000 people died of malaria in
Zimbabwe during 2003, according
to a report published by the UN Relief and
Recovery unit in the capital,
Harare. Confirming the figure, World Health
Organisation (WHO) official
Jasper Pasipamire said the high number of deaths
was a "cause for concern."
Pasipamire said one of the major factors
influencing malaria mortality rates
in the country was the failure to detect
malaria cases at primary health
care centres. A total of 682,855 cases, with
1,099 deaths, were recorded by
the end of the year and confirmed by
Zimbabwean health authorities.
The situation was exacerbated by the level
of HIV infection. With ravaged
immune systems, people with HIV and AIDS were
more susceptible to
contracting diseases. About 27 percent of Zimbabwean
adults are HIV
positive.
Stanley Midzi, head of Zimbabwe's Malaria
control programme at the Ministry
of Health said Binga, Hwange, Lupane and
Nkayi districts in the southern
province of Matabeleland North were the worst
hit. "A majority of the
communities in these districts are settled in
far-flung areas, which are not
accessible for spraying insecticides," said
Midzi.
People in these areas were too poor to afford preventative
measures such as
mosquito nets and insect repellents.
The government's
spraying programme had been hampered by shortages of
chemicals and, in some
cases, inadequate fuel, the UN report found. To make
the best use of existing
resources, provinces had targeted districts with
the highest risk of
malaria.
WHO would be launching a programme to develop the skills of
primary health
care personnel and laboratory scientists in Zimbabwe at the
end of this
month, and take steps to ensure there was an adequate supply of
medicines in
all primary care centres in four key provinces, said
Pasipamire.
In neighbouring Namibia, between 300 and 1,300 people also
die of malaria
annually, while in Mozambique the disease was the main cause
of death last
year. Malaria is reponsible for a total of 200,000 deaths each
year in
Southern Africa.
From The Guardian (UK), 15 January
Mugabe arrest bid
fails
Tania Branigan
An application for a warrant to
arrest and extradite the Zimbabwean
president, Robert Mugabe, on torture
charges was rejected by a British court
yesterday. The human rights
campaigner Peter Tatchell said he had hoped to
bring President Mugabe to
justice through the British courts under
international human rights laws
because his repressive regime protected him
from prosecution at home. Mr
Tatchell had cited the example of the former
Chilean dictator, General
Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested when he visited
Britain for an operation
in 1998. But District Judge Timothy Workman,
sitting at Bow Street
magistrates court in London, said he could not issue a
warrant because the
president had absolute immunity to prosecution as a head
of state. "Whilst
international law evolves over a period of time,
international customary law,
which is embodied in our Common Law, provides
absolute immunity to any head
of state," he said. "I am satisfied that
Robert Mugabe is president and head
of state of Zimbabwe and is entitled
whilst he is head of state to that
immunity." Had the warrant been granted,
the Zimbabwean leader could have
been extradited to Britain from more than
100 countries. Mr Tatchell, who has
tried to carry out a citizen's arrest on
the president, said the judgment
denied justice to thousands of Zimbabweans
and allowed heads of state to
torture with impunity. "What is the point of
having laws against torture if
the main abusers, heads of state, are exempt
from prosecution?" he
asked.
Robert Mugabe
Mr Tatchell has most thoroughly and
carefully prepared this application for
a warrant for the arrest of Robert
Mugabe on allegations of torture in
Zimbabwe. He has provided me with a
wealth of information both factually and
on issues of international law. I
have read Mr Tatchell’s submission and the
supporting documentation. I have
also considered the case of Pinochet and
the International Court of Justice
ruling in The Democratic Republic of
Congo versus Belgium including the
separate and dissenting opinions in that
case.
The issue to which
I have directed my mind is whether President Mugabe has
immunity from
prosecution as a Head of State. It is accepted that he is
presently the Head
of State of Zimbabwe. Me Tatchell has argues persuasively
that the doctrine
of State immunity is not one which sites comfortably with
the State’s
obligation under International law to prosecute grave crimes of
universal
jurisdiction. Mr Tatchell has sought to persuade me that the
principal of
universal jurisdiction should be extended to override the
immunity afforded
to a Head of State.
Whilst International law evolves over a period of
time international
customary law which is embodied in our Common Law
currently provides
absolute immunity to any Head of State. In addition to the
Common Law our
State Immunity Act of 1978 which extends the Diplomatic
Privileges Act of
1964 provides for immunity from the criminal jurisdiction
for any Head of
State. I am satisfied that Robert Mugabe is President and
Head of State of
Zimbabwe and is entitled whilst he is Head of State to that
immunity. He is
not liable to any form of arrest or detention and I am
therefore unable to
issue the warrant that has been applied
for.
Tim Workman, Senior District Judge, 14th January 2004
News24
Zim paper manager walks free
15/01/2004 19:09 -
(SA)
Harare - Charges of criminal defamation were dropped on Thursday
against the
general manager of an independent weekly which printed a story
allegedly
insulting President Robert Mugabe.
However, the charges have
been maintained against one of the paper's
journalists.
The state
withdrew the charges against Raphael Khumalo in Harare
magistrate's court
before he had entered a plea, but not against journalist
Itai Dzamara,
arrested with Khumalo on Wednesday.
The charges against the newsmen arose
from a story run in the Independent
newspaper last week alleging that Mugabe
had commandeered a Boeing 767
aircraft from the national carrier Air Zimbabwe
for a vacation in Asia.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said
they feared the move "might be
preparatory steps, on the part of certain
elements within the state that are
fighting to muzzle the press, to forcibly
shut down the paper".
Released on bail after two days
"ZLHR is
concerned that if such a tragic trend is to continue, it will be
impossible
for journalists to continue carrying out their mandate to keep
the public
informed," the group said in a statement.
Dzamara was the co-author of
the story in the Independent newspaper with
Dumisani Muleya, who was arrested
on Saturday and released on bail two days
later with editor Iden Wetherell
and news editor Vincent Kahiya.
Dzamara was freed on bail of Z$20 000
Zimbabwe (about R36) and the case was
postponed to January 29.
The
country's most popular daily, the Daily News, was shut down in September
last
year and attempts to re-open it through court orders, have repeatedly
been
thwarted by the state.
The lawyers said the fresh arrests were a
"deliberate and calculated attempt
to muzzle the press" and would "compromise
the independence and entrenched
freedom of the press".
"ZLHR
criticises in the strongest of terms such blatant disregard of
the
independent press and demands that the press be left to freely perform
its
core function," said the lawyers.
Banks Agree to Clear Cheques After Intervention By RBZ
The Herald
(Harare)
January 15, 2004
Posted to the web January 15,
2004
Harare
SANITY returned to the banking sector this week when
some commercial banks
agreed to clear cheques of troubled banks following a
timely intervention by
the central bank.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
has through the Troubled Bank Fund met the
clearing and settlement
obligations of six banks, which had been ring fenced
due to liquidity
problems.
Different retail shops and other firms said they were advised
to start
accepting cheques from the troubled banks.
"We are now
accepting cheques from the banks that had been black-listed.
"This has
been communicated to us by our management and we are reliably
informed that
some mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that we would
recover our
funds in the event that any of the respective banks collapses,"
said a
cashier at one of the retail outlets in the capital.
In a statement, the
central bank said the institutions, which were facing
liquidity problems,
would be 'ring-fenced' and will operate under the
supervision of the central
bank.
"With this arrangement in place, the general public and the rest of
the
banking institutions are advised that cheques drawn on these clearing
banks
will receive final and irrevocable settlement at the Reserve Bank, as
is the
case with other clearing banks.
"The general public are,
therefore, reassured and urged to treat all cheques
drawn on clearing banks
as good and accept them without exception," said the
central
bank.
There has been speculation as to the causes of the illiquid
position of
banks with some analysts saying they were heavily exposed after
the issuance
of Grain Bills last year.
This has however been shot down
with market watchers saying that the issue
of liquidity was a result of the
speculative activities, which had come to
characterise the banking
sector.
"One should realise that the illiquid banks are not only those
which have
been involved in the raising of funds through grain
bills.
"It is entirely a result of the failure of the management at the
respective
banks to see beyond the acquisition of property thinking that the
situation
would continue as it was," said one analyst.
Most of the
banks which had been ring-fenced were either heavily involved in
speculative
activities or were preoccupied in non-core business activities.
A war had
erupted in the country's banking sector last week with the
traditional
commercial banks introducing strict requirements when settling
inter-bank
cheques.
The restrictive requirements were introduced on Wednesday and it
has emerged
that the 'big fish' in the financial sector are refusing to
co-operate with
the latest entrants arguing that the latter were not liquid.
The respective
banks refused to credit clients' accounts before a cheque has
been cleared
which led to the refusal of cheques by some of the retail shops
from the
blacklisted banks.
This caused a lot of inconveniences for
the banking public, as they were now
required to settle bills through
cash.
The Economist
Making Africa smile
Jan 15th 2004
From The
Economist print edition
Bad leadership has crippled Africa. But there
are, at last, signs of
recovery
“BLASPHEMOUS” was how the
information minister described an article in the
Zimbabwe Independent
complaining about President Robert Mugabe's habit of
commandeering commercial
passenger jets for his own use. It was a revealing
choice of adjective. Mr
Mugabe's henchmen do not really think their leader
divine, but they often
suggest that he is infallibly righteous, and that
those who defy him should
be smitten. The Independent's blaspheming scribes
were perhaps lucky to be
released on bail this week.
Zimbabwe provides a dramatic illustration of
how statist economic policies,
corruptly enforced, swiftly impoverish. In the
past five years, Mr Mugabe's
contempt for property rights has made half the
population dependent on food
aid, while his cronies help themselves to other
people's land and savings,
and build helipads for their own mansions. But
Zimbabwe's curse is also
Africa's. The main reason the continent is so poor
today is that
Mugabe-style incompetent tyranny has been common since
independence (see our
survey). The most important question for Africans now
is whether Mr Mugabe
represents not only their past, but their future as
well. There are
encouraging signs that he does not.
Consider first the
advance of democracy south of the Sahara since the end of
the cold war. In
the 1960s and 1970s, no African ruler was voted out of
office. In the 1980s,
one was. Since then, 18 have been, and counting. That
still leaves a lot of
countries where polls are rigged and dissidents
disappear, but it is surely a
sign that some African governments are
becoming more accountable to their
people.
Africa's media, too, are shaking off their shackles. Under most
of the
military regimes of the 1970s and 1980s, independent newspapers and
radio
stations were simply not allowed. Today, they are as numerous as they
are
irreverent. Television is still largely state-controlled and journalists
are
still persecuted—occasionally in most countries, systematically in
places
such as Zimbabwe and Eritrea—but, overall, the mighty are subject to
greater
scrutiny than before, which makes it a bit harder for them to abuse
their
power.
In the past couple of years, Africa has also grown more
peaceful. During the
cold war, the great powers fought a series of proxy
battles on African soil,
arming and aiding each other's clients' enemies with
scant regard for the
African lives their meddling cost. With the collapse of
the Soviet Union,
Africa's strategic importance waned. Its wars, however, did
not. Without
their superpower backers, some states crumpled, leading to new
and
exceptionally bloody struggles in countries such as Congo and
Liberia.
Fortunately, several of these conflicts seem at last to have run
their
course. Angola and Sierra Leone are at peace. The pointless border
clash
between Ethiopia and Eritrea has stopped. Congo's war, the worst
anywhere
since the second world war, is formally over. Liberia's warlord,
Charles
Taylor, has been driven into exile. Even in Sudan, which has known
only 11
years of calm since 1962, government and rebels are on the verge of
signing
a power-sharing deal.
This sudden outbreak of tranquillity has
various causes. Angola's war
stopped because one side won. Others have ended
because both sides were
exhausted, or because outsiders cajoled them into
putting down their weapons
and starting to talk. If Sudan's rulers make peace
this year, it will be
largely because they are terrified of what George Bush
might do to them if
they do not.
A long trek ahead
It is
too early to say that Africa has turned a corner, however. Sporadic
but
brutal fighting continues in Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, eastern Congo
and
western Sudan, among other places. There is still a risk that new wars
may
begin, or old ones reignite, for many of the causes of Africa's
instability
have yet to be resolved.
Because political office is a
quick route to wealth in Africa, people fight
for it. Since most Africans
feel more loyal to their tribe than to the young
and artificial nation-states
of which they are nominally citizens, it is
often easy for unscrupulous
leaders to win support by appealing to bigotry.
Because Africa is poor and
economically stagnant, there are a lot of jobless
young Africans for whom
joining a rebel group and looting the village next
door can seem like an
attractive career option. AIDS makes Africa even
poorer, and so less stable,
although some recent studies suggest that it may
affect slightly fewer
millions than previously estimated (see article).
If Africans are to have
a chance of pulling themselves out of penury, they
need governments that do
not stand in their way. They need leaders who
uphold the law impartially, but
otherwise let people do what they wish. They
need governments that pass
sensible budgets and stick to them. Fiscal
realism is more common now than a
decade ago, as the continent's generally
lower inflation rates attest. But
graft is still widespread: Angola's rulers
were accused this week of having
wasted or misappropriated $4 billion in
five years—more than 9% of GDP each
year. (They denied it, of course.)
Africa's two most important
countries—Nigeria and South Africa—are doing
several things right. Both have
swapped tyranny for democracy, and both are
using their diplomatic and
military muscle to end some of their neighbours'
wars. But both governments
are worryingly dependent on a single source of
revenue: oil, in Nigeria's
case, and white taxpayers, in South Africa's. If
Africa as a whole is to
prosper, the majority of its citizens will have to
produce more, fashioning
goods or providing services that the rest of the
world wants to buy. Given
that most Africans are subsistence farmers, that
will not be possible without
a vast social upheaval, with unpredictable
consequences. It is a daunting
challenge, but the alternative is likely to
be worse.
Rich countries
can help Africa, ideally by removing the tariffs and farm
subsidies that
throttle African trade. But in the end it is up to Africans
to solve their
own problems, starting with the ejection of some of their
current rulers. The
Big Men will not go quietly; but they are not immortal,
either.
ZBC
Air Zimbabwe takes legal action against Zimbabwe
Independent
16 January 2004
Air Zimbabwe has taken legal action
against the Zimbabwe Independent for
publishing falsehoods involving
president Robert Mugabe.
The national airline’s lawyers Chihambakwe,
Mutizwa and Partners Legal
Practitioners on Wednesday wrote to the
Independent demanding a retraction
and an apology in the newspaper’s next
edition.
The lawyers are under instruction to sue for defamation and
contumela should
the Zimbabwe Independent fail to publish an apology and
retraction with the
same prominence accorded the disputed report.
Last
Friday the Zimbabwe Independent published a story claiming that
president
Mugabe personally called Air Zimbabwe to commandeer an aircraft to
pick him
up from the Far East leaving loyal fare passengers on the route to
London
stranded.
The report also claimed that as a result of the commandeering
of the
aircraft the national airline lost more than $3 billion during the
five- day
period.
Air Zimbabwe issued a statement clarifying that
adequate notice over the
trip was given and arrangements to ensure that,
passengers were not
inconvenienced were in place before the president’s visit
to the Far East.
The national airline during the period realised $1,35
million making it
impossible to have lost $3 billion as alleged by the
Zimbabwe Independent.
Financial meltdown: a crisis with many faces
As the casualty list from
Zimbabwe's financial crisis lengthens, some
satisfaction is being felt that
prominent on the list are members are of the
very small minority that has
made obscene profits from the country's
economic
decline. But not all the
victims are deserving of their fate and many are
watching with dismay as the
repercussions threaten to sweep them away too.
For those in debt, the rise in
interest rates is reminding them of the need
to
always use borrowed money
very productively. Loan funds should have been
invested efficiently enough to
show a profit after meeting in full the
essential
interest payments and
the crucial capital repayments.
Bankers are being forcefully reminded that
they should have released the
loans
with the very same thoughts in mind.
Unfortunately, bankers and borrowers
alike
enjoyed a lengthy period during
which the efficiency of the borrower and the
due
diligence of the banker
were made almost irrelevant by the widening gap
between
the rapidly rising
rate of inflation and the suppressed rates of interest.
Assets bought with
borrowed money were apparently so certain to rise in
value
that borrowers
and the bankers had no doubts the debts would be easy to
repay.
In
believing that they would never lose the advantages of the
steeply
sloping
playing field, the borrowers appear to have forgotten that
depositors were
constantly on the alert for rates of return that would not
destroy the value
of
their savings. And while waiting for that, they
became very much less
inclined
to save anything.
Like the slow build-up
of snow on a mountain slope, the problem became
deeper
and deeper until it
reached a weight that could not be supported. Over
almost
three years, the
severely negative real rates of interest eroded the value
of
savings to
such an extent that tens of thousands of people have lost their
life's
savings. But so severe did the problem become, it started to pose
problems
for borrowers too.
Government is the biggest borrower of all, and by the
beginning of 2003 it
discovered that the funding of the budget deficit was
becoming difficult, as
the
nation's savings were no longer big enough to
supply the hundreds of
billions of
dollars needed.
Limits are imposed
on the size of the overdraft the Reserve Bank can offer
the
government,
but by mid-year, government had chosen a different option: the
Reserve Bank
itself was required to buy most of the Treasury Bills being
issued.
As in
the case of extending an overdraft to government, this made
necessary
the
printing of money that was not supported by economic
activity. In turn, this
increased the certainty of rising inflation.
As
higher inflation rates were being recorded each and every month,
savers
became very much more enthusiastic about exploring other investment
options,
and
these included shares on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, foreign
exchange,
stocks
of selected goods and home improvements - almost anything
rather than
leaving
their money in the banks.
But while savings inflows
to the banks were declining, borrowers were given
stronger encouragement to
borrow even more. The Governor of the Reserve Bank
included the topic in his
monetary policy statement in December, in which he
assured productive sector
borrowers that access to loan funds would be
maintained at 30%.
The
Governor also said that additional funding to meet demand would
be
derived
through the imposition of statutory reserve requirements on
discount houses
and
building societies and also by increases in the
reserve ratios that would
apply
to savings and time deposits held by
banks.
But by the beginning of December, the persistent market shortages had
been
worsened by increasing demand for overdraft facilities from the
retail
sector.
By then it was already too late to hope that declining bank
deposits and
tightening liquidity would be overcome by higher reserve ratios,
themselves
a
function of the declining deposits. The scene was set for the
weight of snow
to
start sliding down the mountain slope, and it should be
noted that the
build-up
of problems came well before the Monetary Policy
Statement on December 18
2003.
As so many different influences were
bearing down on the markets, a
bullet-point sequence might help to describe
events:
S From the second quarter of 2003, inflation started gathering
momentum. By
August, prices were double those in March, and prices in
November were
double
those in August. Many producers and retailers
accepted the need to double
and
redouble wages over those periods and
expected to have to double them again
by
about March 2004. Prices were set
at higher levels to meet this need.
S Interference in the parallel market
exchange rate from September brought
slowed and stopped the movements in the
rate. Cross-border traders, who had
been
able to buy Zimbabwean goods at
significant discounts found the bargains
less
and less attractive as
rising Zimbabwe prices at the fixed exchange rate
eroded
the gap.
S
Exporters had previously survived because of the widening gap
between
local
costs and the weakening Zimbabwe dollar exchange rate. When
the exchange
rate
stabilised, conversions of foreign earnings yielded
Zimbabwe dollar sums
that
were no longer sufficient to cover wages and
other costs. This initially led
to
demand for bigger overdrafts.
S
Retailers had expected continued strong demand for consumer goods to
be
supported by the wage settlements and the larger tax-free annual
bonuses,
but as
prices had doubled in just three months and consumers knew
they had to plan
for
even bigger increases in January school-fees, rents
and transport, spending
was
cut to bare essentials.
S By December,
cross-border traders had been further discouraged by
government's decision
avoid purchasing foreign exchange on the market and to
capture its needs by
confiscating it from currency traders and travellers.
S December sales
volumes were extremely disappointing almost across the
board.
Many
manufacturers were awaiting payments for the consignments of goods
supplied,
but the retailers' poor sales made the settlement of
their
accounts
difficult.
S This also led to applications to banks for
bigger overdrafts, but the
retailers' limited successes were at higher rates
of interest. Most
manufacturers, with their own costs to meet, were unwilling
to accept the
goods
back into stock.
S Efforts by the banks to
accommodate their clients and the more sluggish
movement of funds through the
banking system further increased money market
shortages.
S Rising
competition for the limited funds available forced interest
rates
very
much higher. This triggered a response from formerly prejudiced
savers, who
moved money from low interest rate deposits into money market
investments.
S This worsened the banks' liquidity. It forced them to go to
the money
market
to borrow back the funds they had lost because they would
not increase
deposit
rates to acceptable levels. In the process, interest
rates were forced even
higher.
S As returns from the money market became
more attractive, fund managers,
investors on the stock exchange and even the
individual holders of savings
diverted yet more of their funds into the money
market.
S As a consequence, banks had to increase their overdraft rates even
more
dramatically, and the rising risks of defaults made them more
cautious.
S Financial embarrassment was caused to borrowers who had been
depending
upon
further rises in the Zimbabwe dollar values of their
various speculative
investments. The reversal of their fortunes is now in
progress, and it
appears
to be gathering momentum.
Present and
immediate prospects have been severely disturbed by these
developments.
S
As effective interest payments have risen to as much as Z$500 000 a
month
for
every Z$1 million borrowed, borrowers have tried and are still
trying hard
to
get out of debt.
S In trying to liquidate assets such as
luxury vehicles and US dollars, the
market has been flooded with offers and
prices have fallen steeply.
S Potential cash customers for such assets are
now considering their
options,
which include investing surplus funds at
rates from 400% to 600% or more.
S If the asset prices remain weak, the
capital plus compounded interest will
buy perhaps twice as much after a few
months.
S Sales of assets are proving increasingly difficult and certain
banks are
facing the prospect of failure due to the possible bankruptcy of
too many of
their clients.
S Official domestic inflation rates are likely
to remain high even though
some
procurement costs will fall in line with
the lower Zimbabwe dollar cost of
US
dollars. Fuel prices are reflected in
the Consumer Price Index at the
official
level, not the actual prices that
have been paid in recent months, so the
sale
of fuel at lower prices will
not affect the index.
S However, increases in rates, rents, electricity,
water, school fees,
medical
fees and wages across the full spectrum of the
labour market are likely to
cause
a doubling in average prices between
December 2003 and April 2004.
S The first few weeks of the foreign currency
auction system are likely to
be
affected by increased foreign exchange
supply and subdued levels of demand
as
manufacturers await firmer
indications of their sales prospects. Retailers
might
not pass on falling
production costs if new supplies of goods are not being
offered aggressively
to the market.
S Although excess stocks are overhanging the local market, the
prospects of
offering the goods to external markets have been damaged by the
changed
exchange
rate.
S Pressure on exchange rates will make exports
unprofitable until the
conversion of foreign earnings into Zimbabwe dollars
offers the exporters
reasonable profit prospects. A major cost element that
will have to be
covered
will be a doubling of the wages within the next
three or four months.
S While the interest rates remain high and
uncertainties persist, some
exporters will have the option of placing
available capital into the money
market rather than using it to buy inputs
for continued production.
S Other exporters, particularly commodity producers
like the mining
companies,
might be forced to suspend operations until the
exchange rate falls to the
required levels.
S Withdrawal of exports for
whatever reason will ultimately impact on
foreign
exchange supply levels
and force up the bidding at the auction.
S To speed the arrival of the needed
exchange rate, the Reserve Bank might
be
expected to intervene in the
market. It could buy all the available foreign
exchange if it perceived the
bids to be too low to sustain exporter
viability.
S Government could also
pay a higher rate for the 25% of export proceeds
relinquished to government.
Moving this figure up from Z$800 to one US
dollar to
$3 000 or Z$4 000 to
one would improve the blend rate and might tip the
scales
for some.
S
An improvement on this idea would be to always have this quarter of
the
earnings converted in full at the auction rate.
S However, government
might have need of lower cost foreign currency to pay
for
food imports
from about mid-2004.
S The severity of the food shortages and the possibility
of hunger causing
serious social and economic instability should be taken
extremely seriously.
The need for some form of foreign assistance has
become very much more
apparent
in recent weeks as Zimbabwe has allowed its
savings and productive resources
to
be run down so thoroughly.
Painful
as they are, the latest economic developments are likely to
improve
Zimbabwe's eligibility for external assistance, but far-reaching
political
changes will be essential and acceptable proposals for these will
be needed
before any useful progress can start.
Assuming these changes
clear the way for the return of the IMF, the first
six
months after the
needed political changes would be likely to result in a
modest
recovery of
confidence through promises of a full restoration of the rule of
law
and
of property rights.
An easing in the foreign exchange shortage and the
stabilisation of the
exchange rate could be expected to follow. Past
inflation would need to be
properly reflected in the official exchange rate,
if such a rate is
retained,
but it is likely that the IMF would demand
that the gap between the official
and
auction exchange rates should be
eliminated.
In this scenario, the initial easing of the foreign exchange
shortage would
be
almost entirely dependent on soft loans in the form of
balance of payments
and
budget support. As every productive sector as well
as the service and
tourist
industries, have sustained damage and
Zimbabwe's export earning capacity has
been cut by almost half, very
considerable assistance will be needed until a
substantial part of the lost
earnings has been recovered.
Before a start could be made to restore the
former output levels, at least a
year would be needed to formalise and
complete the legislative components of
the
restoration of property rights
as part of a full revision of the
Constitution.
This will help to further
consolidate the investor confidence needed to
encourage the return of
investors and skills, and by then the continued
failure
of farming should
assist in clearing away the last resistance to the idea of
experienced
farmers returning to their lands.
Reasonable crops might be expected in
subsequent years, but the damage done
to
irrigation capacity and many
specialist services might be expected to take a
lot
more time. For the
beef and dairy industries, a limited recovery could take
seven years or
more.
----------------------------------
John Robertson
January
11 2004
Dear Friends
Kay is out of Intensive Care and in High Care
and is stable. Her progress has been slow, but she is now eating on her own and
receiving physiotherapy.
We have todate raised 104 million
Zimbabwe dollars, approximately a third of what is required. We appeal to you
all again, as the costs are rising daily - approximately R2200.00 per day /
Z$1.75 million.
The family have been concentrating on Kay's
recovery and have not made any progress on the poisoning.
Let's stand
together and see them through. We shall all be better for
it.
Donations will be kindly
administered by Ernst and Young. Cheques to be made payable to Ernst and Young
(Bulawayo) - Gerry House, 6th Avenue, Bulawayo
or P O Box 437, Bulawayo, and
clearly marked ' for Kay Conolly Appeal' attention Mr
Dave Power. Due to our erratic postal service, if possible please could you
drop us an email to say that there is a cheque in the post, so if it doesn't
arrive we can follow it through. Alternatively Rand Cheques can be deposited into this
account:
Name of Account: Sunninghill Park
Clinic - Kay Conolly's reference number T144550.
Bank: Nedbank - Riviona -
RSA
Branch Nr: 196905
Swife code: NEDSZAJJ
Account Nr: 1969101466
PLEASE NOTE THAT ITS EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT THAT KAY'S REFERENCE NUMBER IS PUT ON THE DEPOSIT
SLIP.
TO ADMINISTER THIS WE REQUIRE THAT A
COPY OF THE DEPOSIT BE SENT TO OUR APPEAL ADMINISTRATOR
BELOW.
We now have a collection point
in the UK, and when a sufficient amount is collected it will be passed onto the
Beresford
Trust in
Jersey.
David Lushington
DNL Management
Services
166 Oxford Road
Abingdon
OX14 2AF
Tel : +44 (0)1235 533
165
Fax : +44 (0)1235 521 963
Email : dnlms@corunna.com - please enter NOTJUNK in the subject
heading.
Appeal Administrator
- Peter Ward - Tel: 091 277 991 - Fax: 263-9-471459. Email:-
prward@netconnect.co.zw
Please
forward this appeal to as many people as you can.
We thank those who have responded to our request
and for all the messages of support.
For those emailing deposit slips please persevere,
this is not a scam. Our email lines are so unreliable at the
moment.
Kind
regards
Wendy
Greaves
Appeal
co-ordinator
Farm Machinery Imports Generate Big BusinessThe Herald
(Harare)
January 15, 2004
Posted to the web January 15,
2004
George Chisoko
Tehran
THE 420 tractors and 23 combine
harvesters, which are expected to arrive in
Zimbabwe in time for the winter
cropping programme have already generated
big business for local
manufacturers of agricultural implements.
Employment opportunities have
also been created for drivers and technicians
who would be tasked with the
operations and maintenance of the units.
The Agricultural and Rural
Development Authority, which is the contracting
partner to the acquisition of
the tractors has already contracted local
companies, Bain New Holland and
Hastt Zimbabwe to manufacture and assemble
implements such as discs, harrows,
planters and sprayers for the tractors in
a deal worth several millions of
dollars.
The tractors will be a major boost to the winter programme in
terms of land
preparation while the combine harvesters would help in the
harvesting of
summer crops such as soya beans and maize.
The combine
harvesters will also relieve pressure during the harvesting of
the wheat
crop.
Last season, farmers lost huge tonnes of wheat due to delays in
the
harvesting of their crop, owing to the acute shortages of
combine
harvesters.
The few farmers who had the combine harvesters
charged prohibitive rates and
as a result some farmers could only watch as
the rains destroyed their
crops.
Arda chief executive, Dr Joseph
Matowanyika said the tractors would impact
positively on land reform and
boost the authority's tillage unit, which
currently has a fleet of about 45
tractors.
Arda is also expected to send at least 15 of its staff to Iran
in two weeks
time to get acquainted with the operations and maintenance of
the tractors.
The regional manager of the Iran Tractor Manufacturing
Company, Mr Aliveza
Moradi said the loading of the tractors into containers
ready for shipment
should start very soon.
The consignment of tractors
is made up of 320, 110 horsepower, 20, 75 hor-
sepower and 80, two wheel
drive tractors.
Dr Matowanyika said the big horsepower tractors would be
used for ploughing
while the small ones would pull implements such as
planters and sprayers.
The Zimbabwean delegation, which is being led by
the Minister of Lands,
Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Cde Joseph Made,
yesterday toured the
Iran Tractor Commercial Company where it was taken
through a wide range of
tractors and implements.
Earlier in the day
the delegation visited an animal-breeding centre where it
was shown the
processes of semen collection, artificial insemination and
embryo
preservation.
New Zimbabwe
Lawyers, human rights activists under
siege
15/01/04
'You lawyers, you want to show off. You think you can
just interfere in
matters anywhere ... you are only a lawyer at court. Here
you are nothing.
Get away. Get out of the charge office. Far away! Go to your
court.'
Police have subjected most of Zimbabwe's human rights lawyers to
such
attitudes during their attempts to represent arrested protestors
and
opposition supporters in recent years. Many have also been arrested
or
assaulted themselves while performing this legal duty.
After South
African President Thabo Mbeki's recent controversial claim that
human rights
are being used to try and overthrow President Robert Mugabe's
government, and
attacks on Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) in the
state media, the
group anticipates even greater obstacles ahead for lawyers
in
2004.
This warning is contained in a new report by ZLHR director and
human rights
lawyer Arnold Tsunga titled 'The Legal Profession and the
Judiciary as Human
Rights Defenders in Zimbabwe in 2003: Separation or
Consolidation of Powers
on the Part of the State?'
The report outlines
20 examples of attacks on lawyers and the judiciary
during 2003, ranging from
arrest, harassment, assault and torture to denial
of access to clients and
the state's refusal to respond to judicial
decisions with which it does not
agree. Some involve multiple abuses, and
not all cases are
documented.
It points to a recent 'unwarranted attack' in the
state-controlled newspaper
The Herald on ZLHR following an article in late
November in which it argued
in defence of the judiciary and the legal
profession.
Among other things The Herald called ZLHR a 'phoney
non-governmental
organisation which in fact does the bidding of foreign
governments, and sees
rights of all those that are not white farmers or
members of the MDC
[Movement for Democratic Change] as non-human
rights!'
On the contrary, the ZLHR is a non-partisan body whose
objectives include
strengthening human rights in Zimbabwe, protecting the
constitutional rights
of all people and advocating observance of the rule of
law and the
independence and integrity of the courts and
lawyers.
Further, Mbeki's 'unfortunate remarks' had the potential to
create 'a real
danger of human rights defenders being attacked or clamped
down on in
Zimbabwe'. Mbeki accused people in Zimbabwe and elsewhere of using
'human
rights as a tool for overthrowing the government' and 'rebuilding
Zimbabwe
as they wish. In modern parlance, this is called regime
change.'
ZLHR believes that these remarks are likely to have far reaching
and grave
consequences on the operating environment of human rights defenders
in
Zimbabwe.
The ZLHR report argues that the separation of powers
between the three
organs of a democratic state - the Judiciary, Executive and
Legislature
(Parliament) - provides checks and balances over the way state
power is
exercised, allows for equality before the law and the enjoyment of
rights
based on the rule of law.
In dictatorial regimes or states
where democracy is failing, there is
blurring of the separation of powers.
The Executive, which controls the
state machinery - including the army,
police and other law enforcement
agencies - often becomes stronger than other
organs and begins to undermine
them.
In Zimbabwe, the Executive today
routinely refuses to enforce judicial
orders that are seen to be unfavourable
to the state or the ruling ZANU PF
party. 'The Executive has also attacked
the judiciary openly, quite
unprofessionally and unfairly in a number of
cases.'
Attacks on members of the legal profession have increased in
recent years,
and the state has not always cooperated fully with lawyers in
the discharge
of their duties, especially when they act for political
opponents of the
ruling party or for human rights defenders.
He cites
as a strong example the attacks on human rights lawyers who tried
to
represent members of the National Constitutional Assembly and others who
were
arrested during peaceful protests in October last year.
The police were
'completely uncooperative', manhandled lawyers, ejected them
from Harare
Central station and refused access to the detainees. 'Such
conduct by the
police is unlawful and undermines the due administration of
justice and the
rule of law. It must be stopped.
'The attitude of the police to lawyers,
which continues to deteriorate at an
alarming rate in Zimbabwe, is
increasingly becoming an issue of serious
concern to lawyers.' It is
impossible to administer justice when law
enforcement agents refuse to
cooperate with or allow lawyers to access
clients. 'The rule of law will not
work in this type of environment.'
Three instruments clearly spell out
the government's obligations and
responsibilities towards ensuring a
Judiciary free from political or other
interference, the ZLHR report
states:
* UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary
(1985), Article
1, which states: 'The independence of the judiciary shall be
guaranteed by
the state and enshrined in the Constitution or the law of the
country. It is
the duty of governmental or other institutions to respect and
observe the
independence of the judiciary.'
* UN Basic Principles on
the Role of Lawyers (1990), Principle 17 which,
states: 'Where the security
of lawyers is threatened as a result of
discharging their function they shall
be adequately safeguarded by the
authorities'
7 Constitution of
Zimbabwe, Section 79B, which states: 'In the exercise of
judicial authority a
member of the judiciary shall not be subject to the
direction or control of
any person or authority.'
A year ago the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Independence of Judges and
Lawyers, Dato' Param Cumaraswammy, expressed deep
concern about
deterioration in Zimbabwe of 'the independence of the judiciary
and its
impact on the rule of law.' Many local and international groups
and
individuals have echoed his concerns in the past year.
There is no
doubt under both international law and Zimbabwe's constitution
that lawyers
and judges ought to be allowed to practice independently, and
without undue
interference, harassment or impediment from the state or
non-state
actors.
It is critical, the ZLHR report concludes, 'that the principle of
separation
of powers be adhered to if democracy is to work in Zimbabwe'.
Instead 'there
is an unhealthy level of political interference with the
judiciary and the
justice delivery system.'
'Judges and lawyers need
to operate in a safe and free environment so as to
strengthen justice
delivery and improve the integrity of the courts. The
responsibility to
ensure the safety of judges and lawyers rests with
the
authorities.'
But instead of protecting lawyers, the authorities
are at the forefront of
attacks on the legal profession. 'With an
administration of justice system
that is not effective and cannot offer real
remedies to aggrieved parties,
the rule of law is violated and lawlessness
creeps in.'
Further, lawlessness erodes the confidence of local and
foreign businesses
and investors, citizens lose confidence in the rule of
law, and courts are
unable to serve the national good.
'An environment
where there is still hope for remedies is the least that the
people of
Zimbabwe deserve. Politicians must therefore leave the judiciary
and lawyers
alone'.
Finally, the ZLHR report argues, African leaders should take care
not to
compromise the security of human rights defenders on the continent:
'Mbeki
runs a big risk of compromising his own credibility as a
responsible
leader', particularly in the eyes of most Zimbabweans.
The
consequences for Mbeki's brainchild NEPAD, the New Economic Partnership
for
Africa's Development, 'will be fairly predictable given its impression
of
being rooted in observance of human rights, good governance and the rule
of
law.'
* This column is provided by the international Bar Association -
an
organisation that represents the Law Societies and Bar Associations
around
the world, and works to uphold the rule of law. For further
information,
visit the website www.ibanet.org
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1:
A GRIEF REVISITED
I took a drive from Chegutu up to Chakari and
them down to Kadoma. It was
a nostalgic drive for I had known the road well;
and the farmers and their
families and what they grew and had developed
from.
It came upon me like a towering wave - the grief I mean. I saw it
coming
as I drove and the more I drove the more I saw it.
I saw those
wretched huts clustered in haphazard groups in the middle of
those red soil
lands. I tried to wave at one of the occupants but he shook
his fist at me,
it was because I was white I suppose and because he had
been indoctrinated to
hate me for that. It is hard not to hate those evil
men in the propaganda
and power business in Zimbabwe.
Around the huts were the ubiquitous
mealie patches looking miserably
unkempt. The maize was mostly a yellow
shade of green and half choked by
weeds. The patches, for they are almost
never fields, have the depressing
haphazardness of the huts - as if nobody
cares. Overall I find these
settlements scattered all over the country, are
surrounded with an
overwhelming feeling of dark despondency and
despair.
In areas which I had once known to be treed with beautiful bush
there were
many stumps - angular ugly things to people that love trees; and
the hard
light brought their forms out all the more starkly.
I drove
past the farms one by one. It was almost as though I was paying my
last
respects to them and their owners - as though they were casualties
sprawled
on a battlefield. One by one I remembered them. I remembered
their crops;
their beef herds; their fence lines; their machinery - their
standards of
excellence that had seen them succeed when so many had failed.
It had
been so quick - this degeneration into listless mediocrity. I have
seen
people die from cancer and I suppose that this is much the same. The
cancer
in the form of the squatters appeared and gradually encroached and
choked
those farms to a standstill just like the weeds were choking the
squatters
mealies now. And on the way men and women were broken. I had
seen them, I
had tried to comfort them. I had seen them choked - big men
and strong women
choked and crying as their lives work was destroyed before
their eyes and
they had to leave homes that they had built with their own
hands.
Some
of the sign boards were still up. They stood like anachronisms by the
side
of the road. I wondered why they had not been taken away. Maybe they
were
seen as captured banners as in old military establishments. May be
there was
just too much apathy to bother removing them.
Suddenly the wave of grief
hit me. All that sorrow that had been building.
All those despairing faces.
It was as though the miserable landscape that
now presented itself to me had
transposed itself within my soul and images
of similar, hopeless farm and
farmers landscapes had joined them. All
those houses I saw with no
windowframes, no rooves, no furniture; all those
faces I have seen, unshaven
and aged coming out of the prisons; visions of
Terry Ford lying in his own
blood with his dog Squeak; images of farm
workers thrown out of their homes
and left by the side of the road with
their belongings; it was all too
much.
As I carried on driving all the way around what should have been
60km of
commercial farm land I saw the road and landscape blur before me as
the
tears ran hot down my cheeks. It was as though those farms did not
exist
anymore for I could not see them.
I thought of the evil men that
had engineered this death and I was angry. I
thought of all the people that
could have done something to stop it but had
rather chosen to appease those
evil men. I thought of all the people that
had just carried on their lives
as though they didn't care because the evil
hasn't come to them yet, I
thought of all the people that had just run away
and hadn't tried to help
from those far off shores. I thought of all those
that had just washed their
hands of Zimbabwe's unhappy plight.
But deep down in my heart I knew that
justice was coming and that those
evil men knew it. I knew that there was a
far bigger wave building a
little way off to sweep over our land and cleanse
it. I knew that we all
had a part to play in that but that the timing
depended on when we all
started to play our parts in honesty and with courage
- and with God in our
hearts.
Ben
Freeth
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2:
Dear Editor,
The behavioural patterns of some Zimbabweans since
the results of the
Referendum, nearly four years ago has possibly caused
other Zimbabweans to
study some of the history of Africa.
Pieter
Lessing travelled extensively in Africa in 1960 when much of Africa
was newly
independent, near independent or entirely independent. He covered
22 000
miles on a fact finding tour in a Land Rover. He then wrote the
book: The
African Kaleidoscope.
Lessing uses Arthur Schopenhauer's words to start
his book:
"Man is at bottom a wild, horrible creature. We know him merely
as broken
in and tamed by what we call civilisation, and hence the
occasional
outbreaks of his nature shock us. But where and when the padlock
and chain
of legal order fall off and anarchy enters, then he shows himself
what he
is."
Fortunately Jag appears to understand the importance of
the 'padlock and
chain of legal order' when what ought to be a more
responsible 'mother
body' for farmers has been seen to be more than cavalier
about legality and
is now, is just maybe, a little sad and sulky about its
lost credibility,
and just maybe its membership and mandate. Jag on the other
hand has shown
respect for the chain and padlock it seems.
Farmers,
whether they like the padlock and chain of legal order or not,
might take the
time to contemplate Kenya African National Union and Kenyan
Legislative
Council members Mr. OGINGA ODINGA's words - circa 1960: "If
Africans regard
it as entirely their own affair whether they want to revert
to savagery as a
way of life, should the head savage in such an event
necessarily have the
same say in the United Nations as the men who lead
Britain, the United
States, Canada or Russia?"
Odinga's words remain somewhat
undated.
If farmers and their representative body are party to throwing
away the
chain and padlock, they can hardly plead "hard done by" to the
United
Nations at some later date.
In fact those farmers and their
representative mother body have knowingly
allowed themselves to be described
and indeed pigeonholed by dear old
Oginga Odinga - as SAVAGES.
How
much money does a farmer require before he happily takes on the title
of "A
Savage?"
Civilised Farmer -
hopefully.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
New Zimbabwe
MP Sikhala escapes arrest after surrender
By Staff
Reporter
15/01/04
CONTROVERSIAL MDC legislator Job Sikhala has apologised
to a Harare
magistrate and escaped arrest after he left court without paying
a $25 000
fine imposed for attacking a policeman.
Harare magistrate
Chipo Chikowore cancelled a warrant of arrest issued
Tuesday when Sikhala
surrendered and paid the fine.
"I have cancelled the warrant of arrest
because the police had not yet
served you with the document and you came here
on your own," the magistrate
told Sikhala.
Sikhala said he had been
"misdirected" by his solicitor who told him to go
home at the end of the
trial because he was preparing an appeal.
"I was misdirected by my lawyer
your worship. I had instructed him to appeal
against both conviction and
sentence and he said I was therefore not
supposed to pay the fine.
"I
am sorry your worship. I questioned the lawyer and he apologised. I could
not
do that deliberately because I had the money," said Sikhala.
Sikhala
assaulted a police officer at St Mary’s Police Station in June last
year
demanding that he releases his young brother, Harry, who had been
arrested
for allegedly assaulting a motorist.
He was initially charged under the
Public Order and Security Act but the
charges were dropped in September after
the State indicated that he should
be charged with an alternative lesser
charge of common assault.
In her ruling Ms Chikowore said after weighing
evidence given by witnesses,
the court concluded that the State managed to
prove beyond reasonable doubt
that Sikhala committed the
crime.
Passing sentence last Friday, the magistrate told Sikhala: "The
court
reminds you that you need not be feared but respected. Gudo guru peta
muswe
kuti vadiki vakutye (A person of your standing should conduct himself
in a
manner that will earn him respect from the young ones).
Sikhala
committed the crime on June 17 last year when he went to St Mary’s
Police
Station with the intention of forcing police officers on duty to
release his
young brother.
On arriving at the police station, Sikhala violently
ordered Constable Itayi
Matiza to release his brother, but was told that
another police officer was
dealing with the case. Sikhala suddenly jumped
over the counter and punched
the police officer once on the chest and held
him by the collar before
pushing him against the wall.
Another
policeman, Constable Chikono, subsequently called other police
officers who
rushed to the scene and found Sikhala harassing Constable
Matiza.
This
is not the first time Sikhala has been convicted by the same courts.
Last
August, Sikhala was fined $10 000 and $5 000 for negligent driving
and
driving without a licence respectively by another magistrate, Mr
Walter
Bherebhende.
In the case Sikhala, who was not a registered
driver, contravened sections
of the Road Traffic Act after he was involved in
an accident while driving
on the wrong side of Hombarume Road in
Chitungwiza.
New Zimbabwe
Fresh calls to strip Mugabe of knighthood
By Anthony
Looch
15/01/04
A BRITISH Foreign Office Minister Wednesday sympathised
with a demand that
Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe should be stripped of his
knighthood.
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean said she found it difficult
that he
continued to hold his knighthood.
She was replying to a call
from Tory ex-Foreign Office Minister Lord Blaker
at Lords’ question
time.
Baroness Symons said: “I have a great deal of sympathy with your
point, but
we have done our best to avoid making the argument with Mr Mugabe
a personal
one between him and the UK.
“He never misses a single
opportunity to point to the UK’s actions as being
the actions of a colonial
power directed against him.
“We want to avoid that but I find it very
difficult that he continues to
hold a knighthood.”
She added: “It has
not been easy to persuade some of the nations belonging
to the UN over the
appropriate measures against Zimbabwe, in the form of
condemnatory
resolutions.
“Anything that can be done should be done, to
internationalise action so
that we are not put into the position, which Mr
Mugabe desperately wants us
to be in, of being the lead nation, making this a
black versus white
argument, which it emphatically is not.”
Prime
Minister Tony Blair said last month he would look at withdrawing the
honorary
title.
Tory frontbench spokesman Lord Howell of Guildford expressed
concern over
the financial crises in Zimbabwe.
He said inflation there
was running at between 600 and 1,000%, interest
rates were at 450% and a
number of banks were unable to honour cheques
issued.
“What are the
next steps we are going to take, to rescue the people of
Zimbabwe?” he
asked.
Lady Symons replied: “The economic situation is desperate. The
most recent
inflation figure is 620%, and unemployment stands at between 70
and 80% –
this in a country which used to be the bread-basket of southern
Africa.
“These are truly appalling conditions which Mr Mugabe has
inflicted on his
country.
“We are providing more money for emergency
food programmes, and have given
about £62 million over the past three
years.
“But we do look to the international community and for pressure to
be
brought through the countries of the Commonwealth, who possibly have
more
influence than we do.” - PA
The Star
A critical white doesn't make a racist
January
15, 2004
By Max du Preez
I'm not sure whether I
should feel sorry for Democratic Alliance
leader Tony Leon or whether I
should blame him. Probably both.
My appeal to President Thabo Mbeki
in this space last week to allow us
citizens to get to know his thinking
sparked an unexpected reaction. I
thought my criticism was very mild and
peppered with compliments to his
strong personality and
intellect.
But many of Mbeki's followers did not think that. Or let
me rephrase
that: most of his black followers did not. I was attacked,
sometimes with
quite strong language, as a white man who disliked Mbeki
because he is
black.
Apart from letters and e-mail from angry
ANC supporters, I was hauled
over the coals by black callers to the Tim
Modise Network on Radio 702 and
Cape Talk on Tuesday morning when my column
was the topic of discussion.
I explained again: I feel the
president would do himself, his
government, his party and the country a huge
favour if he started to explain
to us citizens how his mind works. Don't
communicate to us via sidekicks or
civil servants. Let's have a debate about
the wisdom of attending
celebrations in Haiti before it happens rather than
after the fact. Help us
understand your strategies on Zimbabwe and HIV/Aids
by telling us how your
mind works.
One listener after another
called in to Modise's show to say that my
criticism was completely invalid;
that all black people knew exactly what
the president thought and only whites
like me didn't; that I was arrogant in
insisting that the president
communicate better and that I really meant he
should kow-tow to white
elitists; that I should not be allowed to criticise
the president, because he
had been elected by two thirds of the country's
voters; that I did not show
enough respect for the president because he was
black. One even suggested
that I had just discovered democracy and was
abusing it.
On
Monday night I was part of a panel discussion on Metro radio with
the
outgoing editor of the Mail and Guardian, Mondli Makhanya. His criticism
of
the government and the president is a lot more forthright than mine has
ever
been. He is not well liked for it in many circles, but he is not
called
disrespectful and elitist and racist.
The hour before I
was on Modise's show, he had a debate on Mbeki's
visit to Haiti. I cringed
every time a white listener phoned in, because
they all displayed a complete
inability to distinguish between slavery,
where human beings were owned and
traded as property, and repression by a
dictator.
They all
whined about the money that was spent in Haiti. It was clear
to me that most
of them never thought through the pros and cons of the visit
or contemplated
the significance of the Haiti celebrations for Africa and
Africans. They
didn't like Mbeki or his government and thought Haiti was a
convenient stick
to beat him with - as so many whites are doing with
Zimbabwe.
That is why Tony Leon is today the political leader of the majority of
white
South Africans - he sounds like these people far too often. I don't
think he
is racist, but I can understand why so many black people think he
is. He
creates the impression that he dislikes everything the ANC does or
stands for
and that he would never even consider congratulating the
government on some
of their better achievements. I'm sure to many black
minds that must sound
like he resents the government because they're black.
But if Leon
became all mushy and buddy-buddy, surely the ANC
leadership would trample all
over him. That's his dilemma. If he were a
black man saying and doing all the
things he does, he would be treated with
a lot more tolerance and respect.
Then again, surely he must have realised
that we had this faultline in our
politics after so many decades of white
rule and repression? Surely he must
know
by now that standard Westminster-style opposition politics do not
go
down well in our political and cultural system? Why does he find it
so
difficult to adapt his style?
I can understand why so many
black South Africans remain suspicious of
the attitudes of their white
compatriots. Whites are their own worst
enemies. Some of their apprehension
and feeling of alienation I can
understand. What I don't get is how they
can't see how incredibly lucky they
are to have had such a sweet transition
from racial repression to democracy;
how fortunate they still are to live in
a society that is stable, tolerant
and prosperous.
In the
meantime, I will engage with blind black prejudice against me,
but I will
never shut up or change my tune. That would make me a bad
citizen. It is also
time for black South Africans to stop thinking all white
people are ugly
racists.
Editor stands by Mugabe jet story
By Geoffrey Hill
THE WASHINGTON
TIMES
JOHANNESBURG — A newspaper editor, who spent the
weekend in jail for
publishing an article saying Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe commandeered
a Boeing 767-200 jet from Zimbabwe's national airline for
a family vacation
in Southeast Asia, said yesterday that the story is
true.
"There is no real dispute of the facts, even from the government,"
said
Iden Wetherall, editor of the Independent newspaper, who was released
on
bail yesterday along with two of his reporters.
"At the beginning
of January, President Mugabe and his family took a
commercial flight to Kuala
Lumpur [in Malaysia]. But, once there, he decided
to visit Indonesia and
Singapore, and instead of using local airlines, he
phoned Air Zimbabwe and
demanded that a plane, which normally flies the
Harare-London route be sent
to Malaysia to take him around the region," Mr.
Wetherall said by telephone,
summarizing the story that the Independent
published on Friday.
Mr.
Wetherall and the reporters, Vincent Kahiya and Dumisani Muleyi,
were
arrested Saturday under the country's draconian media laws, which
provide
penalties of up to two years in jail for criticizing the president.
Zimbabwean Information Minister Jonathan Moyo accused them of writing
"lies
that are blasphemous and disrespectful of the president."
The three are
expected to face court by the end of this month.
The story reported that
passengers, who had booked seats from Harare,
Zimbabwe, to London, were left
stranded by the sudden withdrawal of the
airplane.
Mr. Wetherall said
in a telephone interview yesterday that the issue was
one of public
accountability.
"Air Zimbabwe is owned by the state and, as president,
Mr. Mugabe is the
government's most-senior representative. The people of
Zimbabwe, as owners
of the airline, have a right to know what is happening to
planes which
should be carrying scheduled, fare-paying passengers.
"Air Zimbabwe's fleet is depleted, and the airline is losing money,"
he
said.
"Ours was a story of national public interest."
In
1980, Air Zimbabwe had 18 aircraft, but the carrier now is in
financial
difficulty, with a fleet of just five planes, of which only three
are in
service.
Mr. Mugabe was returned to power in 2002 in a disputed election,
which
many observers claimed was marred by violence and vote-rigging. Most
Western
countries, including the United States, Britain and Canada, have
refused to
recognize the result.
Mr. Mugabe also is barred from
entering the United States, Europe or
Australia because of his country's poor
record on human rights. As a result,
he has taken most of his recent
vacations in Malaysia.
Under Zimbabwe's media laws, drafted in 2001 by
Mr. Moyo, newspapers and
journalists must be licensed by the state, and
foreign journalists are
barred from working in the country. Radio, television
and most of the
country's newspapers are owned and controlled by the
state.
The Daily News, a privately owned newspaper, was shut down in
September.
Mr. Moyo was the subject of a story, when a South African
newspaper
reported that his $150,000 mansion in Johannesburg had been seized
by
creditors.
Business Report
Zimbabwean banks sent stock index plunging in
December
January 15, 2004
By Bloomberg
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's benchmark stock index had its steepest
monthly drop
in seven years in December, led by banks including units of
Barclays Bank and
Absa, on concern a central bank attempt to crush a
thriving foreign exchange
black market will cause some banks to fail.
The Zimbabwe
industrials index of 75 stocks fell 43 percent last
month, its biggest
monthly loss since October 1996, according to Bloomberg
data. The index has
dropped 25 of the past 26 trading sessions, with banks
among the biggest
losers.
Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
last month
ended a year of controls on the interest rate that banks charge
each other
to force them to stop what he called speculative
borrowing.
The move triggered a surge in the interbank rate to a
record 900
percent, raising concern that banks that borrowed to buy property,
luxury
cars and foreign exchange as a hedge against inflation, may
fold.
"What the governor is saying is that interest rates for
consumption
and speculative borrowing must attract market rates," said Mike
Tippet, the
managing director of Kingdom Stockbrokers.
Banks
have led the stocks' decline. Barclays Bank Zimbabwe, in which
the UK's
third-biggest bank owns a majority, fell 43 percent. The Commercial
Bank of
Zimbabwe, in which Absa, South Africa's fourth-biggest lender, owns
26
percent, dropped by half.
Trust Holdings, which in seven years
became Zimbabwe's biggest bank by
assets, slumped 70 percent in December. On
Tuesday the Zimbabwe stock
exchange suspended it from trading.
The exchange also suspended First Mutual, an insurer and asset
manager, which
said it had about Z$30 billion (R250 million) in ENG Capital
Asset
Management, which has since folded. It also suspended Century
Holdings,
former owner of Century Discount House.
The central bank shut down
Century Discount House last week, saying it
was not in a sound financial
condition. Since then, depositors have pulled
money from some new banks to
established ones such as the local units of
Barclays and Standard Chartered,
according to Dave King, the chairman of
Johannesburg-based Global Rating
Company.
15 Jan 2004 05:22:00 GMT
World Vision concerned about worsening
humanitarian crisis in
Southern
Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
World
Vision International (WVI)
Website: http://www.wvi.org
The Southern African
regional office of World Vision International is
extremely concerned about
the worsening humanitarian situation in large
parts of Southern Africa, with
Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe being
affected the hardest.
The
situation has been compounded by the low level of commitments made by
donors
to the region and to the United Nations 'Consolidated Appeal'
in
particular.
"Commitments by international donors are not
forthcoming and significant
breakages in the supply of food to the region do
occur at a time when the
hunger is at its worst," says Rein Paulsen, World
Vision's relief programme
manager in Southern Africa.
It has become
vitally important that donors commit resources that were
requested through
the current 'Consolidated Appeal'. While many needs apart
from food aid do
exist as a result of the current crisis, food aid remains
the immediate
priority. Should more donor resources not be forthcoming, the
recovery
process in large parts of Southern Africa will be
severely
jeopardised.
World Vision is currently supporting millions of
people in need throughout
Southern Africa in the biggest ever-emergency
response in its 52-year
history. The response to the crisis is focusing
specifically on Angola,
Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland and
Mozambique.
World Vision has been channelling emergency food aid
(including resources
from the World Food Programme and C-SAFE) into these
countries, as well as
conducting other interventions including agricultural
recovery programs,
HIV/AIDS and health programs, and water and sanitation
programs.
Daily News
Scrutiny of Zimbabwe banking sector long
overdue
Date:15-Jan, 2004
OPINION: I will never
forget that great surge of pride that
accompanied the opening of my first
bank account with one of Zimbabwe's
international banks.
There
were flowers on the enquiries counter. I was greeted with a
smile, offered
assistance in completing the application form and asked to
return in a few
days to collect my first ever cheque book.
When I returned to the
bank I was given a complimentary cheque book
holder, a pen, a book of deposit
slips and made to feel as if the bank
really appreciated my doing business
with them.
Thinking back to those days, and still dealing with that
same
international bank in Zimbabwe I cannot help but wonder what has
happened to
change everything and why our banks have been allowed to get away
with their
abominable behaviour.
The flowers have gone and so
has the smile. There is now a minimum
balance from which the bank
automatically deducts money instead of freezing
the account.
I
have to pay for a book of deposit slips or ask a sour and surly
security
guard to give me one individual slip.
There are no envelopes for
depositing cheques into the cheque deposit
box. There are no duplicate
deposit slips, just scraps of blank paper.
Every time I go to the
counter and ask for either my balance or an
interim statement, I have to pay.
My monthly statement is no longer posted
to me and neither are copies of
deposit slips.
For these I have to scrabble through a tatty
cardboard box which sits
on the enquiries counter. A cardboard box in which
highly confidential and
private information is there for anyone to look
through and remove
correspondence - even if it is not addressed to
them.
Gone are the days when correspondence from the bank was
marked
"Strictly Private and Confidential". In fact gone are the days when
anything
in this bank is either private or confidential.
There
are no screens at the tellers windows and withdrawals are
clearly visible by
the crush of people jammed in the queue less than a metre
away.
For the last 18 months I have not received even one cent of interest
on my
money in the bank. Instead I just see debits for things called
"Service
charges" and "Ledger Fees" and every month these debits get larger
and
larger, I can no longer get a certified cheque from the bank unless it
is for
an amount of over one million dollars.
I now wait a month or six
weeks for a new cheque book and when it
comes there is no complimentary
cheque book holder, pen or even a "thank
you" for doing business with our
International Bank.
One International Bank charges a comission for
cheques originating
from towns and cities different from that in which the
branch is located.
Another international bank charges a commission
for cash deposits.
In the last fortnight many of Zimbabwe's banks
have teetered on the
edge of collapse and across the country shops and
businesses are no longer
accepting cheques from seven of these
institutions.
It remains to be seen which of these banks have more
political clout
than the others, which will be saved and which will collapse
completely.
The scrutiny of Zimbabwe's banks is long overdue and
perhaps when Mr
Gono has finished with the more blatantly unscrupulous
institutions he will
turn the spotlight onto the bigger names in Zimbabwe's
banking. It will be a
light that is long overdue.
By The Litany
Bird
