Zimbabwe
Desperate times in ZimbabweJul 11th 2007 | HARARE
From Economist.com
ZIMBABWE is an increasingly wretched place and, sadly, will grow more miserable for some time yet. This week an outspoken Roman Catholic Archbishop, Pius Ncube, who has become the strongest voice of opposition in the country, described the economic situation as “life-threatening”. That was an understatement. Years of economic collapse, provoked by dreadful misrule, have already taken a huge toll on Zimbabwean lives: the population has been battered by hunger, poverty and AIDS; some 3m people are estimated to have fled abroad; life expectancy has dropped to medieval levels.
Mr Ncube has also called on outsiders—notably on Britain, the former colonial power—to make some sort of (peaceful) intervention to remove the government of the ageing president, Robert Mugabe. But outsiders either lack the inclination to push Mr Mugabe to go, or they lack any effective means of getting him out. Yet until Mr Mugabe’s undemocratic regime is replaced, there is no hope of any recovery.
An idea floated at the weekend that an economic lifeline could be thrown from neighbouring South Africa, if the almost worthless Zimbabwe dollar were pegged to the South African rand, is nothing but fantasy. It has already been rejected by Zimbabwe’s leaders as a threat to their “sovereignty”. The Southern African Development Community (and thus South Africa) said on Wednesday July 11th that it “disassociates” itself from any such notion. In any case the corrupt elite in charge of Zimbabwe is profiting handsomely through currency trading. Nor would South Africa wish to subsidise Mr Mugabe’s misrule. Nor, indeed, would it be a simple matter to achieve rapid currency union between South Africa (with single digit inflation) and Zimbabwe (six digit inflation, where notes are worth less than toilet paper).
Yet Mr Mugabe is not sitting comfortably. A recent claim by an American diplomat that economic collapse would provoke regime change within six months carried the whiff of propaganda, but it is inevitably a worry for the 83-year-old president. His people are growing frustrated over the high price of petrol and food, along with their despair at political repression. In the past Mr Mugabe managed to buy off political allies and sustained some popularity (at least in rural areas) by snatching commercial farm land and dishing it out to his supporters. But that trick cannot be repeated. There is some expectation that foreign businesses may be targeted next, but the most valuable ones remaining—mines—will be difficult for Mr Mugabe to grab without upsetting South Africa. That leaves few options.
Instead the president, who famously despises “bookish economics”, has decided to outlaw inflation. Price freezes have only been enforced through the arrest of scores of businessmen who are accused of profiteering. The result: shops are bare of basic goods, as businesses refuse to sell more than a minimum of flour, sugar, maize and other items at a crippling loss. There has been panic buying all over the country. In Harare, the capital, crowds wait outside supermarkets ready to rush in and grab whatever they can. Where basics such as cooking oil are available they are rationed by shopkeepers. Fuel is in short supply, with long queues of cars reappearing outside Harare’s petrol stations. As factories prepare to close operations their owners, in turn, are being arrested and forced to keep operating.
Choked by hyperinflation and arbitrary restrictions Zimbabweans have had to become increasingly creative to survive. Many of those left behind in the country are staying alive only thanks to remittances from migrants in South Africa, Britain and elsewhere. A local businessman repeats the widely-held prediction that the current system will collapse within six months—and that Zimbabwe, under new management, will become Africa’s fastest growing economy. “Then again”, he smiles, “we have been saying this for years.”
The Australian
July 12, 2007
02:43pm
Article from: AAP
FOREIGN affairs has upgraded its travel
warning for people bound for
Zimbabwe, as violence escalates in the African
nation and the economy verges
on collapse.
The Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is urging people to
reconsider their need to travel
in Zimbabwe, which is spiralling into chaos
under the leadership of
President Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabweans are suffering under increasing
violence and hyperinflation,
which prompted the Mugabe regime to order shops
and businesses to reduce
their prices or face arrest.
Last week price
inspectors accompanied by teams of police began visiting
shops countrywide
ordering prices down, sometimes by as much as half under a
police blitz
dubbed Operation Reduce Prices.
Since the inception of the operation
police crack teams operating in
conjunction with other government units have
arrested thousands of
shopowners.
In its upgraded travel advisory,
DFAT said: "We advise you to reconsider
your need to travel to Zimbabwe at
this time due to the high level of
criminal activity, the absence of the
rule of law, and deteriorating
economic conditions which could lead to civil
unrest at any time.
"This includes visits to national parks and Victoria
Falls.
"The security situation could deteriorate quickly and without
warning, and
Australians could be caught up in violence directed at
others.
"In these circumstances, departure options may be severely
limited.''
Travellers were also cautioned about the economic chaos
befalling the
country.
"Zimbabwe is experiencing hyperinflation, mass
unemployment, a severe
shortage of foreign exchange, and the breakdown of
basic services such as
power, water and transport,'' DFAT
said.
"Health services are unreliable. Basic commodities such as food,
fuel and
medical supplies are now in short supply, leading to panic-buying
in shops
and supermarkets.''
Last updated: 07/12/2007
10:46:26
Broadcast Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Violet Gonda: We have invited economist Professor Tony Hawkins on the programme again for an update on the unfolding events in Zimbabwe. The Mugabe regime has introduced controversial laws, which force retailers to cut their prices; effectively making them sell at a loss.
Now, Professor Hawkins, last time we spoke you doubted the predictions of the outgoing US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell who said the inflation rate would be 1.5 million percent by the end of the year. Now that the government has attacked vendors and threatens to take over businesses, do you not think he could be right?
Hawkins: Not really, No. I remain unrepentant on that. I don’t think anyone can predict what the inflation rate is going to be in two, three months time let alone at the end of the year and therefore I am very cautious. I think that if we get an inflation rate for next month or rather for this month, for July, we’ll see a marked reduction in the rate of inflation as a result of all these price cuts.
Now, how sustainable those are is another matter but I think in reply to your first question I would certainly say I haven’t altered my position on that. We don’t know what the underlying inflation rate is and it’s impossible to guess what it’s going to be. We haven’t seen the published inflation rate now since April.
Violet: And just in connection with the price cuts, are we not seeing deliberate financial self-destruction on the part of the government here?
Hawkins: Well you know I am sure the government would say it wasn’t deliberate self-destruction. If you talk to the guys in government they will say the policy is working - that businesses are abiding by the rules and cutting prices, that the parallel market exchange rate has come down quite dramatically and that they are making progress. That’s what they would say. I would merely say this is short term. In a week, 10 days or two weeks time the situation can be looking very different.
Violet: How will recent events affect the black market?
Hawkins:
Well the black market has been given a tremendous boost – for the black
market for goods and services. As I was parking my car yesterday or the day
before yesterday a guy came up to me and asked if I wanted sugar and cooking
oil. That’s the kind of things going on. There is a thriving black market out
there. People are going into the shops, buying products before they disappear
off the shelves at these lower prices and then going around the corner selling
them at much higher prices on the black market.
Violet: Do you think we are
going to see businessmen leaving the country in large numbers or are they able
to profit out of this situation?
Hawkins: Well I think something has to give in a relatively short time. I don’t believe that the government can maintain the kind of pressure that they are putting on businesses for long. Once firms start saying; “look we have to close because we can’t operate under these conditions.” The government’s bluff would have been called. They will either have to take over the firms as they have threatened to do or they will have to agree to back down on prices. And I think there are a lot of saner voices in government saying to those in the cabinet taskforce and elsewhere – this can’t last, you going to have to think about the next stage of the operation.
Violet: And of course the government has also threatened to take over businesses. Has the government got the power and finances to take over businesses?
Hawkins: Well I would have thought not but against that one didn’t think they would go as far as they have gone in respect of imposing these price controls and forcing firms to roll-back prices. So I think if it’s just taking over firms, the finances doesn’t really matter to them, you just take them over and the Reserve Bank prints the money to give them working capital. That’s the way they run parastatals. So they might as well run ordinary businesses like that too.
Violet: And you talked about this being a short-term solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe. Now, people on the ground will appreciate the short-term benefits of these price cuts but in the long run they would suffer as soon as goods disappear from the shelves - you know we have heard of people taking advantage of the forced reduction. You are on the ground, are people thinking long term?
Violet: That is what I actually wanted to ask you. Many have said the attack on the business community is the biggest crisis that Zimbabwe has ever had, shops are empty, millers have stopped producing, there is no fuel, no food, and no businesses – how long will this last?
Hawkins: I think it is impossible to say. There are very few cases and I can’t think of one anyway, where we have gone as far as this, down this road and that is why I think the government will pull back. I think the government will blink first rather than business and government will realise within a relatively short time that this policy can’t work and it will have to come up with a different plan, which will include allowing prices to return to more normal levels.
Violet: And of course it seems with what’s happening right now the government can force the prices of all sorts of things down, but it seems they have hit a brick wall on fuel and can’t force it down. What can you say about this?
Hawkins: Well that is exactly the position. The cost of importing fuel we are told is +ZW$100 000 a litre and… (inaudible)… well it’s only NOCZIM or the state are bringing in cheap fuel that this can be maintained. If people have to go – if importers, dealers, filling stations have to go to the parallel market and buy the dollars at ZW$100 000 to the US dollar there is no way they can import fuel and sell it for half that price. So that is why the fuel supplies are drying up. The only fuel that is available is through NOCZIM.
Violet: And it seems Mugabe is making it look as if the government is doing everyone a favour, especially the ordinary people in Zimbabwe right now. But the local currency has virtually become worthless. Some have said the crunch can come when the security forces refuse to be paid in Zim dollars. Are we further away or closer to the point when soldiers and the police refuse to be paid in Zim dollars and start looting?
Hawkins:
Well I am afraid I don’t think I can answer that question. I really don’t have
any insight into how the mindsets of the guys in the arms forces work. All I
would say is that I think that the initial cutting of prices would have been
welcomed by a lot of the very poor people, poorly paid workers including the
police and the soldiers and so on. But it’s a question of how do you sustain
that? And as you’ve just mentioned with the fuel – it’s impossible to sustain
it. And I suspect it would be impossible to sustain it with things like bread
and other necessities going forward, and as I said earlier that is when the
crunch will come.
Violet: So do you think this is this
the start of the beginning of the end for the regime?
Hawkins: I wouldn’t go that far. I think the regime; the government can easily reverse its policies. Do another u-turn and just say; “okay we going to the prices that were ruling last week or whatever.” You know businesses have to keep operating and if they can operate at a profit they will do that. And people are not going to close down, shut up shop because of a crisis like this they will try and work their way through it. If they can’t then they will close down. But if they can find a way of working through it or if the government is going to do a u-turn as I suspect it would have to then we can stagger on for a while yet.
Violet: What about this issue of the Rand. It was reported this week that it might be the key weapon to bring political change to Zimbabwe and that SADC may be considering including Zimbabwe in the Common Monetary Area (CMA). Can this strategy work?
Hawkins: I would have thought not. I mean it seems odd to me that SADC should be suggesting this. I mean in the sense that there are only four countries that are members of that area - South Africa, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho - and you know, including a country with an inflation rate of say 5000% in a monetary area were the other players have got an inflation rate of around or six percent, is hardly feasible in the short term and it also means that they would have to be backed by big loans from somewhere, presumably South Africa or perhaps Botswana or perhaps Angola or some countries that do have some foreign exchange. But you are then asking Mr. President Mbeki who has just been snubbed, we are told by the Zimbabwean government, who didn’t sent their team down to the talks with the MDC - which was taking place in South Africa just a few days ago. The reports say they didn’t send their team.
I would say it is hard to believe that Mr. Mbeki was going to throw away what was a very strong bargaining chip. In other words if he is going to give Zimbabwe any help at all he is going to want to extract some movement from the Mugabe government on the other side. We already have the Minister of Information here saying it is all wishful thinking and the South Africans practically denying that there is any such plan on the table. But that is all I know, I only know what I read on the web.
Violet: But
would you not think – and these are some of the reports we seeing on the web
also that perhaps South Africans would want to be involved in something like the
CMA, with Zimbabwe and use that as an incentive for Mugabe to drag him to the
negotiating table?
Hawkins: Well in theory yes, but in
practice I think one has to bear in mind that the Mugabe government - I mean
this is not the first time a rescue package has been on the table. You can go
back to 1998 to the UN land reform rescue package that was rejected. And ever
since then every time there has been suggestions that somebody might put a
rescue package together - in return for some political change in Zimbabwe - the
government here has said no and so it’s just a question of whether the
government now has got to the point were they are prepared to say yes. And Mr.
Mugabe as recently as Saturday or Sunday has said there is no need for a new
constitution. So this is the status quo.
Violet: And the
last time we spoke you said there is no economic solution without sorting out
the political crisis in Zimbabwe. And many would say - where is the opposition
as you’d think they would capitalize on this crisis right now? What would you
say to that?
Hawkins: Well I would agree with you, you would think the opposition will capitalize on the crisis but the opposition appears to be unable to do so. And the opposition does seems to believe that the government of Zimbabwe is going to fall in its lap like a ripe plum without doing anything, and I think this is a sadly mistaken position to have taken.
Violet: But
on the other hand when people say the opposition could be capitalizing on the
crisis, what exactly could they do? What options do they have on this
matter?
Hawkins: Well you know the opposition has
repeatedly talked about protests and strikes and so on and so on and basically
never really delivered. Certainly not for the last five years and they do look
inert and they do seem to be slow on their feet in terms of responding to
challenges when they come and the fact that they a split into two factions, all
these things, do certainly create the impression of an organization that is not
actually a government in waiting, lets put it that way.
Violet: And
what about the business community itself. Why has there not been an outcry. You
know, businesses are being forced to reduce their prices to half of what they
originally bought their products for and people are being detained for
overcharging. More than 1300 people have been arrested so far and some of them
are financial directors of big companies. But there is still no widespread
outcry from the business community. Why is that in your
view?
Hawkins: Well you know business is not organized
in many countries and certainly not in this one to participate in political
campaigns and crisis of this kind. This is not what business is about. Business
is not there to be in opposition to the government of the country it is not its
job, it is not its aim or intention. It wants to just get on and make money and
do its job and when this kind of crisis comes up it is not a surprising that
there should not be an outcry from business because business is not organized to
deal with this sort of thing. Its just not used to it does not expect this sort
of thing to happen. And I think it was terribly taken aback and surprised and
astonished when it happened.
Violet: And
earlier on I asked you if we are going to see business people leaving the
country in large numbers. What about just the general public - is there going to
be a mass exodus of people to neighbouring countries as a result of this new
crisis?
Hawkins: Oh you know, I would need to carefully
answer that one, I think you know we get all these numbers about how many people
are already leaving and voting with their feet going to South Africa and
Botswana and so on. We have no idea how accurate these numbers are etcetera and
therefore you know it is very difficult to make any predictions along these
lines I just don’t have enough information to be able to say that. There are a
lot of people who do not have the choice, they can’t afford to move. They can’t
get the foreign currency to go set themselves in another country and so on there
are a lot of practical snags in the way of just packing your bags and
moving.
Violet: And if the financial crisis continues in Zimbabwe, how would this affect neighbouring countries?
Hawkins: Well the South Africans and to some degree the Botswana have found that the main drawback is being the inflow of illegal immigrants or refugees or whatever you want to call them. At the same time there is no doubt that some of the neighboring countries, particularly those two, have benefited from getting a lot of Zimbabwe skills particularly in the construction industry that are short-staffed and in the mining industry were their skills are short and they have been basically recruiting skills from ZimbabweDoctors, accountants, bankers, teachers and university lectures and whatever are all taking positions. In that sense there has been a positive impact on some of those countries. And I would also say that Zimbabwean Industry has lost markets, lost competitiveness and these markets have been taken over by others mostly by South African companies. So there has been if you like some benefit going to these countries, Zambia has taken over a fair bit of Victoria Falls tourist traffic.
Violet: Is
that the reason, perhaps, that you have neighbouring countries like South Africa
that haven’t criticised what the regime is doing in Zimbabwe, especially with
these latest price reductions?
Hawkins: I wouldn’t say
that. I think the South Africans have their own problems in the sense that there
is, as you know full well, there is a lot of support across the continent for
President Mugabe’s policy because there have been deemed pro-African,
anti-European and to stand up against the donors, against the British, against
the Americans and others and this strikes a cord and this resonates well in some
quotas as you know.
Violet: And
finally Professor Hawkins with all that it has done, can the government reform
and re-brand itself?
Hawkins: I don’t think so but you
know there are many people who do. The British foreign office as you know is a
supporter of a re-branded Zanu PF under somebody like Simba Makoni. The South
Africans would like to see a re-branded Zanu PF and I suspect there may well be
others. But I don’t know there are too many Zimbabweans voters that would have
too much faith in Zanu PF re-branded or un-branded or whatever.
Violet: Thank you very much Professor Tony Hawkins.
Hawkins: Ok.
Audio interview can be heard on SW Radio Africa’s Hot Seat programme. Comments and feedback can be emailed to violet@swradioafrica.com
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting Political
Editor
Mugabe on collision course with Mbeki
REGIONAL efforts to broker a
settlement to end Zimbabwe's deepening economic
crisis are crumbling after
the ruling ZANU PF boycotted a third meeting in
Pretoria, with President
Robert Mugabe saying the key area pertaining to the
proposed dialogue (the
need for a new constitution), was non-negotiable.
According to diplomatic
sources, the latest twist to the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) initiative puts President Mugabe on a collision
course with President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who, despite racing
against time to nudge ZANU
PF and the main opposition to a negotiated
settlement ahead of next month's
Lusaka summit, is also fighting a growing
influx of economic refugees from
Zimbabwe.
Mbeki gave a brief update to SADC leaders at the recent summit of
the
African Union in Accra, South African officials have said. He is
expected to
make a more comprehensive report-back to a SADC Heads of State
summit in
Lusaka next month.
The economic meltdown, fuelled in recent
weeks by the ongoing blitzkrieg on
businesses accused of hiking prices of
goods and services allegedly in order
to topple President Mugabe's
government from power, has meant that
Pretoria - thrust at the centre of the
SADC mediation effort - cannot
continue with its softly, softly approach to
the Zimbabwean crisis,
diplomatic sources said.
"It is not going to be
business as usual anymore," said one diplomatic
source.
But with ZANU PF
opting to stay away from the talks, the regional bloc,
which, this week
dismissed reports of a plan to rescue Zimbabwe's
freefalling economy by
pegging its troubled dollar to the South African
rand, would be forced to
ratchet up pressure on a seemingly errant
neighbour.
The ruling party duo
of Public Service Minister Nicholas Goche and Patrick
Chinamasa, the Justice
Minister, failed to turn up for a crucial round of
talks, which were
scheduled to get underway last weekend.
Sources say these now aborted
meetings were to centre on constitutional
reform, which would be a crucial
part of any agreement between the two
sides.
Opposition representatives
Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube, the
secretaries-general of the two factions
of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), returned home early
this week after being stood up
by ZANU PF in Pretoria.
This is the third
meeting that ZANU PF has not bothered to attend since
March 1, when SADC
tasked the South African leader to mediate between ZANU
PF and the fractured
opposition party.
Last month, the ruling party failed to attend the opening
session of the
meetings after its team had asked for more time to finalise
its position
paper.
ZANU PF sources say internal rivalries continue to
hobble the party's
participation in the Mbeki
initiative.
According to
one source, some "former ZANU PF stalwarts" had questioned the
composition
of the ZANU PF delegation, while the perceived allegiances of
Goche and
Chinamasa to the factions vying for power in the ruling party had
also been
brought up.
Chinamasa yesterday refused to comment on why he had failed to
attend the
meeting in South Africa.
It has also been suggested that the
Joint Operations Command (JOC) - a
grouping of senior government figures and
military officers that is
increasingly making key policy decisions for the
country - has shown
opposition to the talks.
Despite the chorus of
denials over reports of a SADC rescue plan, ZANU PF
has also grown sceptical
of Mbeki's mediation effort.
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who
doubles up as the JOC chairman,
referred all questions to Chinamasa and
Goche.
Mutasa, a confidante of President Mugabe, has previously stated that
ZANU PF
only grudgingly agreed to take part in the Mbeki effort.
The
ruling party was only participating in the talks so as not to appear
rude to
Zimbabwe's neighbours, he was quoted as saying.
As concern grows across the
region over the accelerating deterioration of
the economic situation in
Zimbabwe over the past two weeks, there is
evidence of increasing
frustration within Mbeki's government over the lack
of progress in the
talks.
South African Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma could
not
conceal some of that frustration this week.
Asked why ZANU PF had
snubbed the weekend meetings, she said: "There must be
a good reason why
they did not turn up," stressing that her country
continued to be concerned
about the crisis.
"We are concerned about the situation in Zimbabwe
generally. The economy of
Zimbabwe has been deteriorating over time. It is,
in part, for that very
reason that SADC has decided that there must be
discussions and
reconciliation because it is very difficult to rebuild an
economy in a
country where there is a very severe divide and
polarisation."
South Africa has avoided commenting directly on Zimbabwe's
latest crackdown
on businesses, accused by President Mugabe of engaging in
moves designed to
remove him from power.
SADC wants Mbeki to get ZANU PF
and the opposition to agree on electoral and
constitutional reforms, so as
to ensure that elections scheduled for next
March are free and fair.
The
non-attendance of the ZANU PF delegation at the SADC mediated talks came
after President Mugabe told loyalists in Harare last Friday that there was
no need for a new constitution.
Despite the fact that his government has
made 18 constitutional amendments
since independence, President Mugabe
maintained the existing constitution
was serving the nation well.
The
President said: "They say we want a new constitution. New constitution
yekudii (for what)? What's wrong with the present one?"
The Zimbabwean
leader sees any demands for sweeping constitutional and
political reforms as
part of a plot by his adversaries to unseat him. But
the opposition says a
free and fair election is not possible without a new
constitution agreed to
by all stakeholders.
In an interview with the Financial Times in April, Mbeki
said ensuring an
election whose results would be accepted by all parties was
the main goal of
his mediation.
SADC, meanwhile, has dismissed media
reports of a plan to peg Zimbabwe's
currency to the South African
rand.
Leefa Penehupifo Martins, SADC head of communications, said Tomaz
Augusto
Salomão, executive secretary of the regional body, had completed a
study on
the economic crisis of Zimbabwe and was putting together proposals
for
recovery.
"A study has been conducted and a report will be prepared
and presented to
the Summit Troika of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence
and Security for
consideration in due course," Martins said.
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting
Political Editor
THE rival factions of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
have exchanged charges and counter-charges against
each other for the
apparent failure of unity talks, amid indications that
prospects for
concluding a "unity pact" before elections next year are more
remote than
ever.
Arthur Mutambara's faction, in a statement this
week, accused Morgan
Tsvangirai's group of throwing spanners in the works
during efforts to
reunite the two factions. But Tsvangirai's faction has hit
back, casting
doubt on the Mutambara faction's sincerity after it publicised
details of
the negotiations.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, deputy
secretary-general of Mutambara's
faction, accused Tsvangirai of reneging on
an agreement to sign a code of
conduct document, which had already been
endorsed by Mutambara and the
secretary-general of his faction, Welshman
Ncube.
Tendai Biti, Ncube's counterpart in Tsvangirai's party, had also
approved
the document.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga was responding to comments
made by Tsvangirai at a
rally held in Marondera recently, that he was
against "elite pacts and
attempts to pick-up individuals as uniting the
party".
She said Tsvangirai only signed the code of conduct after pressure
had been
brought to bear on him but subsequently refused to attend a joint
press
conference to launch the document.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga also
alleged Tsvangirai had arbitrarily altered the
composition of his
negotiating team to include several people known to be
against unity.
But
yesterday Biti challenged the Mutambara faction's claims, denying that
Tsvangirai had made any of the utterances attributed to him.
Biti, who
leads the Tsvangirai faction's unity efforts, questioned the
sincerity of
his counterparts. "I will not comment in public on ongoing
negotiations. But
to disclose the contents of the negotiations and goings-on
is a tragedy and
a reflection of that person's integrity. It (disclosure)
raises questions
about the interest, motive and genuineness of certain of
some of my friends.
The integrity of that person should be questioned;
whether he is working in
the interest of Zimbabweans or ZANU PF."
Biti said the disclosures by the
Mutambara faction could defeat the purpose
of engagement.
"Any
ill-advised statements will destroy our goodwill. If premature
disclosures
are made, then we have a problem with the people whom we are
dealing with,"
said Biti.
Critics charge that the MDC, which split in 2005 over bitter
differences on
strategy, was as a result unable to present a strong
challenge to ZANU PF as
it did when it first contested elections in
2000.
A then formidable MDC shocked President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF by
winning
57 seats against the ruling party's 61.
Two years later,
Tsvangirai narrowly lost to President Mugabe in
controversial presidential
elections marred by violence and condemned by
international
observers.
Meanwhile, a marginal opposition party, ZANU Ndonga, has thrown
its weight
behind Tsvangirai's candidacy for the presidency next
year.
ZANU Ndonga, which is famous for entrenching a one-party hegemony in
Chipinge until 2005, this week said it had resolved to back Tsvangirai in
presidential elections that will be held concurrently with parliamentary and
local government polls next year.
FinGaz
THE shortages of
basic commodities became more acute this week, heightening
the desperation
among consumers, as the clampdown on prices yesterday led to
the arrest of
Willard Zireva, head of the country's largest retail chain.
As the
clampdown on business entered its second week, there has been no end
in
sight to the chronic shortages of food and gasoline reminiscent of supply
glitches, which sparked food riots in 1998.
Police and government
inspectors continued cracking down on shopkeepers and
sales managers accused
of defying orders to slash prices by half, raiding
wholesale chain Makro and
other retail outlets yesterday in a desperate
attempt to halt rampant
inflation, which raced past 4 500 percent in May.
Supermarket shelves and
industrial refrigerators were bare of mealie-meal,
bread, meat and other
staples.
Supplies were cleaned out by hordes of shoppers who descended on
supermarkets and other outlets coming in after police and inspectors
enforcing the price cuts to pre-June 18 levels, raising the spectre of
retrenchments and company closures.
Factories, stores and petrol stations
have been unable to replace goods sold
at below the original cost.
Fuel
stocks have also run out, putting an end to the long lines of cars at
petrol
stations but creating long, winding queues of desperate commuters
seeking
affordable transport to take them to and from their workplaces.
Private
commuter omnibuses are resisting government's directive to cut fares
by
three-fourths by abandoning their routes with most of them now spending
much
of their time hunting for the elusive fuel.
Beef, a traditional favourite in
the diet of Zimbabweans, has since
disappeared from shops and so have
substitutes such as fish, kapenta, baked
beans and tinned beef. Yesterday,
the government revoked licences of private
abattoirs, leaving the mammoth
task of supplying beef to state-run Cold
Storage Company, which is teetering
on the brink of collapse.
Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said Zireva,
the chief executive
officer of OK Zimbabwe Limited, a listed retail giant,
would face "various
charges" in connection with the pricing issue.
Zireva
is also the chairman of the Retail Association of Zimbabwe.
"We can confirm
that he (Zireva) was arrested. He is currently detained at
Harare Central,"
Mandipaka said late yesterday.
It is understood, however, that Zireva was
later released yesterday.
Government last Friday gazetted statutory
instrument 142 of 2007, which
states that all prices must revert to those as
at June 18. The statutory
instrument was meant to fend off criticism that
the crackdown was illegal.
Also yesterday, Industry and International Trade
Minister Obert Mpofu, who
is leading the campaign, described as mere
"hiccups" visible results of the
price war, empty shelves and long fuel
queues. He claimed Zimbabweans were
"excited" about the situation.
"This
is a major policy shift, which is having some hiccups at the moment.
But
that will be addressed soon. We have received compliments from all over
the
country and people are so excited. The situation is going to be much
better
than this," Mpofu said.
But experts warned yesterday that government itself
would suffer massive
losses in tax refunds to companies that have been
forced to sell their goods
at below cost.
The crackdown has also
increased tensions between labour, business and
government, after there were
suggestions by employers that salaries could
also be slashed, or at least
frozen.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general
Wellington
Chibebe said yesterday that affiliate unions, notably the
Zimbabwe
Construction and Allied Trade Workers Union, will hold meetings
with
employer representatives to discuss salary cuts.
Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries president Callisto Jokonya yesterday
said companies
could be mulling a range of survival strategies.
"Companies are discussing
viability issues and it is not surprising if that
(salary cuts) comes up,"
Jokonya said.
But Chibebe warned the labour union, which already planned to
roll out a
series of protests against poor incomes, would resist any such
attempts.
"The government is running around like a headless chicken to say
the least.
The Labour Act does not give the Minister of Labour or any other
government
agency any power whatsoever to slash salaries of employees who
are covered
by the Act," Chibebe said.
"We demand that the authorities
rethink on this heartless strategy, as it
will certainly throw the country
into chaos and eventually, anarchy. The
ZCTU is prepared to resist any move
to cut salaries of all workers by 50
percent and therefore, urges workers to
be prepared for massive resistance,"
said Chibebe.
Mpofu, however,
described as "nonsense" speculation over a wage freeze.
President Robert
Mugabe says the onslaught on businesses was necessary, as
his British
opponents had recruited local retailers and manufacturers in an
elaborate
plot to oust his government.
He told a ZANU PF meeting at the weekend that
the Zimbabwean economy was
"thoroughly pink", and that his party could not
claim to be ruling the
country if the economy remained in what he sees as
foreign control.
He said: "We can never secure or defend our people's welfare
from outside
the ring of national economic activity. A people with no
economy of its own
is not a sovereign people."
But now experts say
government, whose economic policies have decimated the
country's tax base,
will suffer a sudden drop in tax earnings at the next
corporate tax payment,
due in September.
Many businesspeople said yesterday they were already
preparing applications
for valued added tax (VAT) refunds after they were
forced to retail at below
cost. Businesses will seek to set off their losses
with VAT refunds, a top
tax expert told The Financial Gazette yesterday,
declining to be named.
As donor aid and other foreign funding dries up
because of opposition to
Zimbabwe's policies, government has come to rely
solely on both corporate
and personal taxation - plus printing money - to
fund its out-of-control
expenditure. This has made Zimbabwean taxes some of
the highest in the
world. - Staff Reporters/AP
FinGaz
Dumisani Ndlela Business
Editor
Companies buy groceries to keep workers in the offices
SOARING
inflation and commodity shortages have set off a new form of barter
trade:
companies are resorting to buying groceries for their increasingly
restive
workers to keep them in the office or busy running the machines in
the
workshops.
The trend quietly crept into the labour market at the
beginning of this year
but burst into the limelight this week when world
second largest platinum
producer, Impala Platinum (Implats), said it would
start importing basic
foodstuffs and household goods for its workers in
Zimbabwe.
Implats chief executive officer David Brown said the company had
been able
to function within the US dollar environment in Zimbabwe, but a
deterioration of the economic environment had prompted a refocus of
strategy.
Economists this week said as the battle for skills retention
intensified,
companies were likely to jostle for the most efficient methods
of boosting
employees' incomes by cushioning them from inflation and market
shortages.
Basic commodities have vanished from supermarket shelves following
a
government order forcing shops to cut prices by over 50 percent and a
directive freezing all price increases.
President Robert Mugabe and his
Cabinet have accused businesses of
profiteering and working in cahoots with
the country's enemies to create
social upheaval and trigger a revolt to
topple his government.
Consequently, crack units consisting of security
forces and a pricing
commission have been set up to raid shops and arrest
those who violate the
directive.
The buying of groceries for workers,
once seen as demeaning, is likely to
gain currency as a result of latest
shortages, the economists said.
"Any company that wants to retain labour and
human capital has to take care
of its workers," said Daniel Ndlela, an
economic consultant.
A number of companies had resorted to remunerating their
employees in US
dollars, hedging them against the local dollar, which has
been losing value
almost on a daily basis.
But, even with US dollars,
workers are now grappling with increasing
shortages of basic food
commodities.
John Robertson, an independent economic consultant, said
companies buying
their employees groceries wanted to ensure workers remained
healthy and fit
to handle expensive equipment and avoid accidents.
He
said workers grappling with shortages would spend entire working hours
trying to source food products from the market.
Hungry workers could
sleep at work or handle machinery improperly, resulting
in work-related
accidents.
"They'd rush out to look for bread and won't be in the office to
attend to
clients or run the machine," said Robertson.
He said companies
were being forced to source groceries for their workers to
keep them at work
and remain efficient.
"It's enlightened self-interest," said
Robertson.
Robertson said companies were increasingly worrying about the fact
that they
could lose skills as a result of the current situation.
"If
they have skills that can easily be sold elsewhere, they might decide to
leave the country," said Robertson.
FinGaz
Rangarirai MberiNews Editor
Govt's
latest stroke of genius borrowed from ancient times
IT turns out that
government's latest stroke of economic genius - Operation
Dzikisa Mitengo
(Operation Slash Prices) - is not very original.
It appears we have
cloned an idea first used back in AD 301, by some Roman
emperor called
Diocletian.
Faced with hyperinflation, Diocletian ordered that merchants
halve their
prices. He then set maximum prices for a range of basic goods.
Death awaited
those that defied the decree.
According to Wikipedia, the
know-it-all web encyclopedia, a succession of
Roman emperors, each eager to
have their own mug stamped on coins, had
minted coins with abandon. This was
worsened by what Wikipedia says were
"politically motivated confiscations of
property".
And, eager to buy loyalty, Diocletian minted more coins. This
stoked
hyperinflation and confidence in the currency plunged.
After a
series of attempted reforms - including changing the currency - the
emperor
finally stood on top of the highest available pedestal and
proclaimed what
has come to be known as the "Edict on Maximum Prices".
This order, after
cutting prices by half, slapped a price cap on over a
thousand goods - from
sausages to lions. But instead of taming inflation as
hoped, the controls
only managed to drive goods onto the black market and
create
shortages.
Merchants - your Roman version of Spar and some such modern day
sneaky
usurpers - were blamed for the inflation. And, get this, those that
criticised the move were accused of working, as they say in Zimbabwe today,
"in cahoots" with the Barbarians, tribes opposed to the
emperor.
Threatened with death - they had a variety of interesting methods of
execution then, if you watch movies - the merchants were also forbidden to
trade elsewhere at higher prices.
However, the Edict did not end the
crisis, as Diocletian's mass minting of
coins continued to drive inflation,
and the maximum prices in the Edict were
set too low.
Merchants either
stopped production, turned to the black market, or switched
to
barter.
There are only a few of the Roman parallels that the Zimbabwean
government
should perhaps worry about; the shortages that have already begun
to bite,
and the inevitable fact that Zimbabwe's more prosperous neighbours
will be
shaking their heads as they watch the neighbourhood bum rummaging
through
the bins.
But it is Diocletian's fate, following his crackdown,
that is intriguing.
After his price cuts failed, the emperor lost power, and
was banished to the
margins of the empire, from where he grew cabbages for
the remainder of his
life. An exciting prospect, then, for President Robert
Mugabe's opponents.
Yet, it's a prospect the President himself is unlikely to
lose sleep over.
There have been many versions on why the price cuts were
ordered.
Officially, it is because businesses were marking up prices
excessively,
with the twin aims of profiteering and stirring up trouble for
the
government.
On the other hand, others say, the price cuts are a
"political gimmick" by
government to win elusive urban votes next
year.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai belongs to this latter group, and
he
told his supporters as such on Sunday.
"This is a cheap political
gimmick for next year's election," he said. "What
we expect are policies
that ensure more jobs, more food and a better life
for all."
Which is why
the President will not worry about a miserable future on the
cabbage
patch.
If Tsvangirai's faction is not the "boardroom party" that its
spokesman says
it is not, then the party must concede it has, once again,
been caught out
by a ZANU PF that has again shown a better ability than the
opposition to
exploit the immediate needs of the poor for its own
ends.
Tsvangirai is obviously correct that the price cuts are a "political
gimmick". But what he fails to accept is that political parties, by their
nature, are there for two things alone; to take power, and to stay in power.
And they do this through "political gimmicks" - including price
cuts.
While ZANU PF has been conjuring up this latest "gimmick" from its
bottomless bag of scatty ideas, Tsvangirai has been spending his time
shaking a belligerent flywhisk at members of a rival faction.
Now, yet
again, he finds himself hurriedly having to react to whatever ZANU
PF has
set as the agenda.
And the former union leader finds he cannot condemn the
price cuts
outright - which would sound really odd to a poor urban audience
- but he
cannot support the move either.
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
ZIMBABWE is yet
to take an official position on the grim findings of a food
assessment study
undertaken by two major world agencies thus delaying the
availing of aid to
millions of people estimated to be at risk of starvation.
The Crop and
Food Supply Assessment Mission (CFSAM), conducted by the Food
and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP),
forecast
a large grain deficit for Zimbabwe this year.
In a report released last week,
titled "Hunger's Global Hotspots", the WFP
said its next programme in
Zimbabwe would be based on the findings of the
assessment team, but the
government was yet to make a formal commitment on
its needs.
"WFP is
still awaiting an official position from the Government of Zimbabwe
on the
Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission findings to formalise an
appeal and
recent meetings report that government is still reviewing the
report."
The government has declared 2007 a drought year, but remains
uneasy about
allowing aid groups it accuses of supporting the opposition to
have access
to vulnerable people.
The joint WFP and FAO assessment report
indicated that the country would
record a harvest of between 600 000 and 800
000 metric tones of maize this
year.
This falls far short of national
requirements of about two million metric
tones per year.
WFP said it was
coordinating between partners and donors to step up
humanitarian assistance
based on the CFSAM findings.
"Bi-lateral planning meetings are underway with
cooperating partners for
their respective areas of operation. Areas hardest
hit by the drought will
be priority areas to start in August or September,
resources permitting,"
reads part of the report.
Zimbabwe has suffered
incessant food shortages for a number of years, which
the government has
attributed to the drought.
However, critics have in the past pointed out that
the food shortages were
worsened by agricultural disruptions linked to the
chaotic land reforms.
FinGaz
SOUTH African companies affected by a clampdown on
business in Zimbabwe have
not made complaints to Pretoria's mission in
Harare.
Ronnie Mamoepa, the foreign affairs spokesperson, says if they are
faced
with a critical situation, they need to get in touch with the embassy
in
Harare and inform them of their plight.
Earlier this week, the Edgars
clothing chain halved its prices in Zimbabwe
after one of its executives was
arrested.
Other affected South African companies include Innscor Africa Ltd,
which
owns Nando's, Chicken Inn, Spar and Colcom.
State radio reported
that scores of top company executives have been
arrested since
Friday.
They are expected to appear in court on charges of violating
government's
order to cut prices and hoard goods.
-SABC News
FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe Staff
Reporter
EIGHT supporters of State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa have
been
convicted of culpable homicide arising from the 2005 death of war
veteran
Tina Wilson Mukono.
High Court judge, Justice Charles Hungwe
handed down the judgment last week.
ZANU PF Makoni North district chairman
Albert Nyakuedzwa, and seven other
ruling party members including Tonderai
Makoni, Delta Mandibaya and Maruva
Kurima, will be sentenced after their
legal representative has presented a
plea in mitigation.
Advocate Prince
Machaya, instructed by lawyer Aston Musunga, represented the
eight.
Musunga said on Tuesday: "They (Mutasa's supporters) were
convicted of
culpable homicide, not murder. One other person who did not
attend trial was
acquitted."
The person acquitted was the driver of a
ZANU PF vehicle at the time the
offence was committed.
It was the state's
case that the group assaulted Mukono after accusing him
of buying electric
cables stolen from a farm belonging to one of them.
Papers submitted to court
by George Mukono, the man who had in fact stolen
and sold the cables but had
turned state witness, said: "The accused were
driving a white vehicle
belonging to ZANU PF Makoni province when they found
the victim. The accused
started assaulting Mukono all over the body using
hosepipes and a tyre
strip."
The court heard that the accused persons later handed Mukono over to
the
police, but that he died while being taken to hospital.
He was
declared a provincial hero. A medical report established the cause of
Mukono's death as a ruptured spleen and multiple injuries.
Nyakuedzwa and
the others were among another group convicted in 2006 of
assaulting war
veteran James Kaunye to prevent him from challenging Mutasa
in the ruling
party's primary elections in 2004.
After serving their jail term for
political violence two months ago,
Nyakuedzwa and his colleagues remained in
prison, to await the verdict in
the Mukono case.
The case sucked in
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who was charged with
allegedly
pressuring Kaunye to withdraw the case against the group.
A magistrate
acquitted the Justice Minister last year, and an appeal against
that
judgment was recently withdrawn by the Attorney General's office.
However,
five others, including Central Intelligence Organisation operatives
also
accused of intimidating Kaunye, will stand trial in September.
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting
Political Editor
THE government has sanctioned a church outreach
programme to solicit
ordinary Zimbabweans' input into a proposed "National
Vision" document,
which its backers say is meant to assure a prosperous
future for the
country.
Trevor Manhanga, one of a group of clergymen
seeking to facilitate dialogue
between the ruling ZANU PF and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), told The Financial Gazette that the
President's Office had cleared
the church leaders to conduct their outreach
programme in the rural areas,
beginning in Mashonaland West province.
"We
have just cleared this (outreach programme) with the President's Office,
so
as to introduce our team to governors and local authorities in the area,"
Manhanga said.
Under the country's tough security laws, any public
meeting of more than
five people requires prior notification or approval of
the police.
The outreach programme, which will entail sending teams of
facilitators
across the country to meet with the general populace to solicit
their ideas
on "the Zimbabwe we want", had initially been scheduled to begin
in May.
But budgetary constraints caused delays until the United Nations
Development
Programme and other aid groups intervened.
Manhanga said the
church leaders would meet traditional leaders.
The church leaders, under the
Zimbabwe Catholics Bishops Conference,
Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe
and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches,
last year presented a preliminary
document entitled The Zimbabwe We Want,
Towards a National Vision for
Zimbabwe to President Mugabe and opposition
leaders.
FinGaz
Charles Rukuni Bureau
Chief
THE Bulawayo City Council has issued summons against Alpha
Construction
demanding $883.2 million to put up proper roads, water and
sewerage
reticulation in section 12 of Cowdray Park, which the company
failed to
complete.
Alpha Construction, which is owned by Bulawayo
businessman, Jonathan Gapare,
was awarded a contract to service and build
more than 500 houses but failed
to complete the project, forcing the council
to cancel the contract.
The summons were issued on June 19 and were served
two days later, giving
the company 10 working days to respond.
Promise
Ncube of Coghlan and Welsh, who is representing the council, said he
had not
received any correspondence from the company or its lawyers
indicating
whether they intended to contest the case or not.
The Financial Gazette could
not get comment from Job Sibanda, who has been
representing Alpha.
There
has been a tug of war between the council and Alpha since October 2004
when
the council ordered the company to vacate the site for failing to
complete
the project, which should have been done by February 2003.
The council
demanded $1.1 billion from the company in October 2005 so that
it could
rectify the mess the company had made but the company claimed it
was still
able to fulfil its contract.
It claimed that it had completed 313 houses that
were now occupied. Two were
complete and unoccupied, 48 were roofed and were
having final touches done
to them, 69 were at wall plate level, 12 at window
level, 28 at slab level,
26 at foundation box level, eight at excavation
level and 26 at ground
level, making a total of 532.
The council said
only 261 houses were occupied. Two houses were complete but
did not have
toilets, two were at slab level, 10 at window level, 52 at wall
plate level,
83 roofed, and 106 stands were vacant. It however, said it had
issued only
64 of the completed houses with occupation certificates.
"The developer had
gone ahead to issue fake occupation certificates to the
beneficiaries
purporting that these were issued in terms of the Model
Building Bye Laws,"
a council document said.
The company also claimed that it had completed 84.35
percent of the sewer
system and 70 percent of the water reticulation system,
but council
engineers said water reticulation was 76 percent complete and
sewers were 78
percent done. Roads were sub-standard and were only 10
percent complete.
In its summons, the council says it wants $228 million for
resurveying,
$409.7 million for water reticulation and $245.5 million for
roads.
It, however, clearly states that this was the value as at May 30 2007.
Final
payment is likely to take inflation into account and will depend on
when
judgment is granted and when Alpha will pay the bill.
The case will,
however, provide little relief to residents who have been
waiting for
council action for nearly three years because council argues
that they
entered into a private contract with Alpha.
The council had already
established that 117 houses encroached onto the next
stand and this could
end up affecting 220 stands.
There were also several cases of
double-allocation of stands with some
houses having two title deeds. Though
the council asked residents to
register with its Luveve office in 2005 to
establish who owned what and the
extent of double allocations, it has never
released the results of that
exercise.
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
A BULAWAYO councillor has called on Environment
Minister Francis Nhema to
take advantage of his post as chairman of the
United Nations Commission on
Sustainable Development to get donors to fund
alternative forms of energy to
save the country's trees from
decimation.
Alderman Matson Hlalo said Nhema should encourage donors to
sponsor products
like paraffin or gel stoves so that they can be provided at
subsidised
prices to be sold to poor families, who are being forced to cut
trees for
firewood because of power cuts.
He said he had read council
minutes of 1964, which showed that the council
was at the time providing
residents with refrigerators at subsidised prices.
The same could be done
with stoves today, he argued.
Nhema was elected chairman of the commission in
May amid stiff resistance
from the European Union, which argued that the
post could not be given to a
country that had destroyed its agricultural
base following the controversial
fast-track land reform. Some reports also
accused Nhema of running down a
farm that he had acquired.
Hlalo's
comments followed heated debate in council over the sale of
firewood. Some
councillors, including former deputy mayor Angilacala Ndlovu,
said the
council should intensify its efforts to curb wood poaching and even
stop
granting licences to people that sold firewood.
The councillors suggested
that the selling of firewood should be centralised
so that the origins of
the firewood could be established because some people
were now cutting
exotic trees that lined the city streets.
Clr Phinias Ndlovu, however, argued
that this was a national issue that
should be dealt with by the government.
He said people were resorting to
firewood because of the shortage of
electricity. The firewood had become too
expensive for some people. To make
matters worse government workers
confiscated firewood from those trying to
bring it from outside the city.
"Instead of agreeing here to continue
harassing the poor, we should get the
government to improve the situation.
Some of the people we are talking about
are old women who cannot even afford
to buy firewood," he said.
FinGaz
THE recent
signing of the protocols under the auspices of the Tripartite
Negotiating
Forum (TNF) by the social partners represented a landmark event
in the
history of social dialogue in Zimbabwe.
Most people however, mistakenly
thought and hoped that the mere signing was
going to immediately transform
the fortunes of our sickly economy.
Events of the past few weeks have,
however, brought to the fore a number of
inherent weaknesses in the social
dialogue framework in Zimbabwe. The recent
unilateral freeze in the price of
goods and services by the government and
the subsequent price war declared
on the business community (a vital social
partner) represents a major
violation of the core principles underlying the
social contract.
In
countries that have successfully implemented a social contract that
success
was underpinned largely by high levels of mutual trust, cooperation,
transparency, confidence and openness among the social partners. The need
for mutual trust, unity of effort and purpose and the meeting of minds
(consensus ad idem) cannot be overemphasised. The inspired Word of GOD
reminds us that a house divided against itself will not stand.
While the
Incomes and Pricing Stabilisation Protocol recommends the
management of
prices taking into account the twin issues of consumer
affordability and
business viability, government, in implementing the price
freeze without any
consultation of its partners has acted in bad faith,
dealing a severe blow
to the success of social dialogue in Zimbabwe. This
move by government also
highlights the dearth of consistency and credibility
in government policies.
Without consistent and credible policies no one will
take us seriously as a
nation. Government has declared a price war with
industry, accusing it of
being an agent of the 'illegal regime change'.
How the declared price war and
clamp-down on business is going to bring in
more foreign currency inflows
into the country and attract the much-needed
foreign direct investment (FDI)
and the requisite balance of payment (BOP)
support only the government
knows.
The truth is that without dealing decisively with the causes of the
crisis,
no amount of clampdown will resolve the crisis. It is apparent that
this was
a populist and ad hoc stratagem by a government that is
increasingly
becoming desperate and behaving like a drowning man who
clutches at a straw.
This is also in spite of the mounting evidence proving
the inefficacy of
price controls.
Global experiences of countries that
have gone to the extremes and
implemented price controls show that they have
never achieved their desired
objectives. Implementing price controls is a
self-defeating exercise as it
is always accompanied by widespread shortages,
declines in the quality of
goods on the market, collapse/closure of
companies and subsequent
retrenchments, the emergence of a thriving black
(underground) market.
Furthermore price controls require large government
bureaucracies for their
enforcement.
Government has established a
taskforce on price monitoring and stabilisation
comprising a number of
cabinet ministers to monitor and clamp down on
businesses defying the price
freeze. This taskforce is however, running
parallel with the National
Incomes and Pricing Commission, creating
unnecessary confusion and
conflicts. There is also an open disconnect
between the National Incomes and
Pricing Commission and the TNF as the
former is not part of the latter which
should have been the case. This would
ensure harmony and synergy in terms
prices and incomes policy.
Government has threatened to take over companies
defying the price freeze
through the resuscitation of the defunct Zimbabwe
State Trading Corporation.
This threat is a major bane for investor
confidence in a country that is
battling to attract foreign and domestic
investment. Moreover, the
government does not have the financial resources
to finance these envisaged
takeovers except through money printing
inflationary sources funded through
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). Such
a move again is suicidal. Surely
government has not learnt a thing from the
chaotic and haphazard land reform
exercise.
It is becoming clear that the
government has never been serious in dealing
decisively with the crisis
apart from these ad hoc and piecemeal measures
that it has been implementing
half heartedly over the past decade.
Even the social contract, if it is
implemented, will not achieve anything.
While indeed the protocols may be
good and laudable on paper without an
effective institutional mechanism for
their implementation, monitoring and
evaluation we will remain in these dire
straits. An analysis of past
governmental policies will reveal that
government has always exhibited
lethargy and inertia when it comes to
implementation of agreed and well
meaning policies, thereby militating
against the success of those policies.
Without discipline among the social
partners, especially on the part of
government to fully implement the
protocols then we will remain in a hole.
When you are in a hole you should
stop digging, but it would appear that the
government is continuing to dig.
Government does not want to learn from this
fact and from its past
mistakes.
While the government has been blaming, threatening and cracking
down on
business, there has been no corresponding action on the ground by
the
government to create an enabling environment for the businesses to
operate
in and thrive. Government seems to be oblivious of the fact that the
major
driver of hyperinflation in Zimbabwe has not been profiteering and
overcharging by business but rather excessive government expenditure and a
budget deficit that is being financed largely through seigniorage.
Government is simply playing the blame game by refusing culpability and
responsibility for the crisis.
It is not a secret that a number of
businesses are struggling to remain
afloat at the moment, with most
operating well below 40 percent of capacity.
Hence, government should be
supporting and cooperating with businesses,
which are suffering owing to
government's own acts of commission and
omission. Government is simply
trying to buy time and deflect attention from
the crises.
Without a firm
commitment by all the social partners (especially the
government as the
major driver of the value chain) to be bound by the ideals
and principles of
a social contract then any hopes for a basis for
sustainable turnaround will
remain a pipe dream.
Furthermore, the government on its part should deal
decisively with the
political risk factor as identified by the Kadoma
Declaration so as to
instil confidence and credibility in the
economy.
Without dealing decisively with the political dimensions of the
crisis our
efforts will be reduced to groping in the dark. While the signing
is a major
milestone, it does not automatically translate into an overnight
turnaround
without the discipline and commitment to implement
it.
Prosper TM Chitambara is an economist with the Labour and Economic
Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ). The Zimbabwe Economics
Society articles are coordinated by Lovemore Kadenge and he can be contacted
on email lovemore.kadenge@gmail.com. Cell
0912 980 016
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting
Political Editor
THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has
grossed a total of $1.5
billion from a blitz targeted at defaulting new
farmers and businesses, The
Financial Gazette has learnt.
NSSA
officials disclosed this week that the national pension fund had issued
penalties amounting to a total of $3.5 billion to defaulting new commercial
farmers and entrepreneurs who were not remitting employees' contributions to
the pay-as-you-go scheme and to the Workers' Compensation and Insurance Fund
(WCIF), which employers collect to cover work related
injuries.
Compliance officers who were deployed in Harare last month to swoop
on
companies under an operation called "national compliance blitz" collected
$1.5 billion from a confirmed $2.7 billion, after making visits to 3 614
companies in Harare alone.
The blitz, the officials, said also made 577
new registrations.
In the prime commercial farming area of Chinhoyi,
compliance officers
deployed to resettled commercial farms collected $111
million out of a
confirmed $855 million from 1 113 defaulting commercial
farmers, as some of
the farm owners were not present at the time of the
visits.
"They were not paying contributions," said Stanley Kuodza, NSSA
assistant
general manager-regional operations and compliance.
Kuodza said
NSSA would channel the recovered funds into investments.
"We will invest that
money to generate more returns and build more houses,"
Kuodza said.
NSSA,
officials say, will soon target three more provinces, including Harare
and
Mashonaland East, in the crackdown to compel farmers to remit employees'
contributions.
The incidence of non-compliance are high in the commercial
farming sector,
where resettled farmers who grabbed farms at the height of
the land reform
exercise are accused of taking advantage of the chaos that
accompanied the
reforms to avoid paying taxes and levies to local
authorities.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
LAWRENCE PHIRI, the prosecutor in the trial of seven suspects
accused of
plotting to overthrow the government, has stepped down from the
case and
quit the Attorney General's office.
Legal sources said
yesterday that Phiri left the prosecution team last week,
but the reasons
for his departure were not immediately clear.
"Phiri has left, and the
Attorney General's Office is battling to find a
suitable person to take over
the sensitive case in light of the fact that
most experienced law officers
have already left," a source said.
Speculation is rife that Phiri has joined
colleagues who have left the
Attorney Gneral's Office to become
magistrates.
The Attorney-General's Office has been hit by a staff exodus
attributed to
harassment, poor working conditions, and low salaries. -
FinGaz
Zhean Gwaze Staff Reporter
THE
Zimbabwe Banks and Allied Workers' Union (ZIBAWU) and the Bank Employers'
Association of Zimbabwe (BEAZ) have once again reached a deadlock over the
July cost of living adjustments, triggering fears of industrial action in
the banking sector.
The bank employees are still bitter over
non-compliance by their employers
with an arbitration-determined adjustment
to their salaries over two months
ago.
The police turned down plans for
street protests by the bank employees,
fearing this could be hijacked by
unruly elements and set off mayhem on the
streets.
But the latest impasse
is likely to further agitate the bank workers.
Sources told The Financial
Gazette that the two parties met to agree on the
adjustments but reached a
deadlock on Tuesday.
ZIBAWU president Blessing Majuru confirmed the deadlock
when contacted for
comment this week.
"We have reached a deadlock because
employees want a minimum salary that
reflects the real cost of the family
basket in the supermarkets," Mujuru
said.
However, BEAZ was only offering
$2 million, he said, resulting in the case
being referred once again for
arbitration.
Both parties were expected to meet the Public Service Minister
this week.
FinGaz
Stanley Kwenda Staff
Reporter
GONE are the days when long distance travellers could choose
between road
and rail transport. Then, the train was popular for its
affordability and
comfort.
But now, the National Railways of Zimbabwe
(NRZ), the country's only
passenger rail transport company, is a shadow of
its former self. Not only
has rail services become unreliable, travelling by
train is now
uncomfortable and a big risk.
A series of management changes
at the NRZ, which were supposed to transform
the company, have only served
to hasten the parastatal's descent into
paralysis.
With the rather bold
slogan, "NRZ -keeping you on track," the rail
transporter has nevertheless
been operating contrary to what it proclaims in
its payoff line.
A visit
to the main railway station in Harare last week gave some insight
into the
real extent of the collapse.
Passengers travelling on the sleeper class, once
considered the elite coach,
have to wait for boarding time with rumbling
stomachs. Previously,
travellers on the coach were pampered and could have
something to eat before
departure.
Inside the first class waiting room,
passengers are forced to endure an
oppressive stench from a toilet directly
opposite and have to spend long,
idle hours waiting for a train that might
never come.
Not too far away, a stray cat darts out of one of the waiting
rooms, chasing
a rat.
Weeds have overgrown the rail tracks. The blue
wagons, once the pride of the
NRZ when they were first introduced a decade
ago, are run down and grind
along with little maintenance.
On the train
are broken seats, out-of-order signs on toilets and broken
beds, a situation
that renders the comfortable and leisurely travel once
afforded by rail a
distant dream.
The decay is visible and undeniable but one is left with the
nagging feeling
that the rot goes much deeper.
The state of the railway
service mirrors the economic decline in Zimbabwe,
once the busy hub of
trans-sub-Saharan trade.
As is the case in the rest of the country itself,
corruption, mismanagement
and neglect have contributed to the rapid
deterioration of what used to be
one of Africa's most efficient rail
systems.
What is left of the NRZ is collapsing infrastructure and a depleted
fleet.
One effect of the decline has been to slow down trade transactions.
But the
more chilling impact is the rise in deaths on the nation's
railways.
Last year the parastatal embarked on a drive to raise funding to
renovate
its collapsing infrastructure, but the begging bowl is still far
from full,
leaving the NRZ unable to secure key signalling equipment, the
absence of
which experts say has contributed to an increase in the number of
accidents,
including one in which 13 people were killed in Dzivarasekwa high
density
suburb in Harare at the beginning of the year.
In August last
year, an accident near Victoria Falls killed five people.
Witnesses said
some were burnt to ashes in the inferno. The crash was blamed
on signal
failure.
The biggest rail accident in the history of the country occurred
along the
Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route in 2003. Fifty lives were
lost.
NRZ chief executive officer, Rtd Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai, said
last
year that the national rail transporter's Centralised Train Control
(CTC)
system needed urgent attention to minimise loss of life.
The CTC
system traces the movement of trains throughout the country,
allowing
crucial communication between the train driver and the controller.
The NRZ
boss said at the time that the CTC system had been compromised
because of
vandalism, theft and years of negligible maintenance.
"A programme is
currently underway and it involves the replacement of the
vandalised and
stolen equipment along various sections of the railway
networks," said
Karakadzai.
The parastatal is still using an outdated signalling system,
"Paper Order",
in place of the more modern CTC. Paper Order is an antiquated
system that
allows a train driver to proceed without signals, as the paper
shows him his
path. But an error can prove fatal.
NRZ blames its woes on
foreign currency shortages.
The company says it is adopting new measures to
curb accidents by organising
annual refresher courses for drivers and other
staff. This additional
training would determine their future with the
parastatal.
But the NRZ knows it cannot afford to sack personnel even if they
are found
wanting. The parastatal is losing hordes of its most experienced
staff to
South Africa, which is recruiting skilled manpower for its Gautrain
transport project for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Under the government's
Public Private Partnerships initiative, introduced in
2005 to encourage
partnerships with private business, the NRZ was identifies
as one of the 58
projects to be executed under the initiative. But there
have been no takers.
FinGaz
Personal Glimpses
with Mavis Makuni
AS the tumult and confusion accompanying the
government's price control
blitz deepened this week, a frustrated and hungry
cynic remarked that he
would not be surprised if the next state move was to
decree what and how
much people should eat for breakfast, lunch and
supper.
This Zimbabwean expressed his frustration after an exhausting
weekend of
hunting for basic commodities during which he could not access
bread, milk,
sugar and eggs, the ingredients that normally give him an
affordable
breakfast. In the end he had to settle for a "breakfast" of sadza
and green
vegetables late in the afternoon. Not that there is anything wrong
with
sadza and relish but there is a time for it and people should be free
to
choose what to eat and when. The prevailing chaotic situation means that
Zimbabweans can no longer even do the most mundane and routine things, such
as planning their daily meals, without feeling the suffocating grip of
government control of their lives.
There must be relatively few
Zimbabweans - and these can only be the
privileged beneficiaries of the
ruling party's patronage system - who do not
want the government off their
backs. Its increasing encroachment on
individual freedom through the command
structures it has put in place to
regulate virtually every aspect of life in
the country is achieving the
exact opposite of the impact it hopes for, that
is winning the hearts and
minds of the battle-weary populace.
Most
deplorably, it is curbing the very fundamental freedoms and liberties
that
independence and sovereignty are supposed to bestow on the generality
of the
people. As things stand now, only the most gullible can fail to
discern that
while the government disguises its fight for political survival
as concern
for the welfare of the people, its actions degrade those same
people and
exacerbate their plight each time it embarks on these
ill-conceived
crackdowns.
When the government embarked chaotically and violently on the
land
re-distribution programme in 2000, the ordinary person was told that
this
was for his benefit in the sense that he would be rescued from the
dusty
bowls of the rural areas to be resettled on rich and fertile land that
the
white man had unjustly kept for himself. Seven years down the line, the
picture that has emerged is that the land was seized for the benefit of the
ruling elite, some of whom are still holding on to multiple farms even as I
write. Instead of benefiting the nation as a whole, land reform has enriched
the ruling elite beyond their wildest dreams but taken a heavy toll on the
rest of the people.
The runaway inflation and severe shortages that have
resulted in the high
prices that the government is now desperately trying to
tame through the
heavy-handed populist but economically disastrous measures
it has resorted
to can all be traced to the destruction of the agricultural
sector. The
slogan, "our land is our economy", that was rammed down the
nation's throat
ad nauseam at the height of the land seizures, has come back
to haunt the
people in a cruel way in the form of food insecurity,
unaffordable prices,
increased poverty and record unemployment. The least
one would have expected
would be that the government had learnt a thing or
two about its rash
approach of implementing poorly thought out policies for
the sole purpose of
scoring political points and showing bravado. These
political adventures
have always left the people traumatised and worse off
than before.
The government has proved itself to be a slow or unwilling
learner. In 2005,
with the people still struggling to overcome the negative
impact of the
ruination of the agricultural sector, the government plunged
headlong into
another policy disaster. This was the violent destruction of
abodes and
informal trade structures under Operation Murambatsvina which
caused untold
human misery by rendering millions homeless and depriving even
more of
livelihoods. The same government that did not care a hoot what
happened to
these people it left at the mercy of the elements in the middle
of winter
expects to be believed when it invokes the welfare of the people
to justify
its latest game for political survival.
In response to
universal condemnation of the Murambatsvina demolition spree,
the government
gave a mile-long list of reasons why it had been necessary to
act as
violently and vindictively as it did. It was claimed that the
high-handed
action had been necessary because the government needed to
provide decent
accommodation for its people, it needed to get rid of
criminal elements such
as foreign currency dealers and hoarders and
smugglers of commodities.
Considering the tumult this impulsive action
caused and the rhetoric
unleashed to justify it, it should have been the
panacea for all the
problems that the government is claiming to be still
tackling through the
ongoing clampdown on the business sector.
In its July 8-14 issue, the ZANU-PF
mouthpiece, The Voice, says the
government embarked on the blitz on prices
"to protect people from
escalating costs of living engineered by the MDC and
its British partners to
cause chaos". The ruling party weekly claimed that
the MDC went into an
alliance with some industrialists "to unilaterally
increase prices with the
hope of stirring an uprising against the people's
government." Rather than
convince any discerning Zimbabwean of the
government's concern for his or
her welfare, all that these convoluted
claims do is betray the government's
paranoid fear of the opposition. Why,
for example, should a "people's
government" which is secure in the knowledge
that it enjoys universal
support, be apprehensive about an uprising against
it?
So much has been blamed on the MDC that the nation has been given the
impression that the opposition party is more powerful and influential than
the government of the day. The MDC is supposed to be so powerful that it can
order the international community to do as it says, hence the accusation
that it caused targeted sanctions to be imposed on government officials. It
is through this same pattern of twisted reasoning that demands have been
made for the MDC to call for the lifting of sanctions and to accept the
outcome of the 2002 presidential elections. The opposition is also portrayed
as having so much control over events in Zimbabwe that it can effortlessly
put the business sector under its spell to destabilise the economy and the
government.
If we were living in a normal democratic atmosphere where
people could vote
freely, the government would be in danger of talking
itself out of office by
convincing the electorate that the MDC is the party
that commands respect,
influence and attention where it matters - with the
people, the business
sector and the international community. The
government's ongoing clampdown
on prices adds insult to injury because while
it proclaims from the mountain
tops that it is undertaking the operation on
behalf of the people, there are
dead giveaways that this is a game of
political survival.
The main one is that the government is not prepared to
address the economic
and governance fundamentals that would bring about
lasting solutions. As it
has done on a number of occasions in the past, it
continues to shout "wolf"
and furiously mops the flooded floor while leaving
the leak in the roof to
get bigger. The people are only pawns in these
endless games of political
subterfuge.
Feedback:
mmakuni@fingaz.co.zw
FinGaz
National Agenda with Bornwell Chakaodza
A FUNDAMENTAL lack of
professional and personal courage!
This is what it is with those men and
women in the ruling ZANU PF party who
disagree with the current government
crackdown on retailers, manufacturers
and other businesses but dismally fail
to speak their minds publicly about
the mayhem. Their behaviour is truly
inexcusable!
Obviously, not all Cabinet ministers and senior ZANU PF members
are singing
from the same hymn sheet concerning the mayhem that we are
seeing at the
moment. The bottom line question then becomes: Why not speak
out if you are
profoundly troubled by some of the things that are happening
to commerce and
industry in this country? Are ministers really running their
ministries or
the real running is being done from elsewhere?
There is of
course the danger of being rubbished and dismissed from Cabinet
and the
party but what is better and more redeeming: marching like a boy
scout or
holding a higher moral ground by giving a different perspective to
things,
thereby helping to control this insanity in the market that we are
presently
witnessing.
When good men do and say nothing, then evil prevails. And I do
know that
there are men and women of goodwill in ZANU PF who are aware of
the serious
ramifications of the present policies but are too damn scared to
come out.
The ruling party is a party that has attracted people of goodwill
and the
usual delusional - the latter in the majority. Not much can be done
about
the delusional majority. My message is aimed at the few who understand
the
knock-on effects of the decision to attack for short-term gains an
industry,
which is already in crisis.
If a political party, more so the
one which is holding the reins of power,
does not and cannot acknowledge
what is wrong with the policies it is
pursuing, then it becomes difficult
for that party to reform and to change.
It is important for any party or
organisation to be self-critical.
In any event, it is in the nature of any
organisation that purports to be
democratic to have disagreements and
differences of opinion.
In any institution or organisation, you derive
comfort in people you agree
with and growth in people you disagree with.
Disagreements and different
views are a challenge to find sustainable
solutions to problems. In other
words, it is important to see a different
opinion as an opportunity, not a
hindrance to progress.
It is in the
above context, I believe, that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor
Gideon Gono warned against populist measures that would muddy
the already
troubled waters and in the process squandering everything for
short term
gain. The RBZ governor, in his statement published in the
Zimbabwe
Independent of last Friday was essentially looking at the bigger
picture
rather than a narrow one.
Said Gono "It is our strongest conviction that only
through a holistic
framework can we stabilise prices, without inducing
shortages in the
market." I find it inconceivable that anyone would want to
disagree with
this simple and common sense approach to our acute
crisis.
Change needs to come from multiple fronts. Is it not time therefore
for the
thinking individuals and decision-makers in Cabinet and the ruling
party to
take off their gloves and say that things are simply not working?
We have
been stuck in a paralysed desperation for a long time now and the
decision-makers need to ask themselves the question: Could we not have done
things differently or better? Why allow people without sober and cool heads
to hijack things all the time?
We study history in order to avoid the
mistakes of the past. There has been
a litany of mistakes that have been
committed by the ruling party but no
lessons have been learnt from
them.
Operation Murambatsvina immediately comes to mind but there are many
others.
The ruling ZANU PF does not seem to have learnt anything from the
uncontrolled chaos that resulted from the fast-track land reform programme,
the invasion of firms and companies a few years ago, and now another form of
Murambatsvina in terms of the irrational methods used: the clampdown on
commerce and industry.
Life under the rule of the current government in
recent years has become a
living nightmare. Now the constitutional
gerrymandering that is going on in
the form of the 18th constitutional
amendment is meant to prolong ZANU PF's
hold on power, come rain or
sunshine.
Given the looming shortages of food and other commodities and the
virtual
collapse of the health delivery system, how many more Zimbabweans
will go to
their early graves until the ruling party and MDC and others
parties
negotiate a political settlement?
Forget about the forthcoming
2008 election. By hook or crook ZANU PF will be
back. Politics is power and
not many people give up power easily,
particularly a party that thinks its
prosecution of the armed struggle gives
it the right to rule forever. The
MDC and anyone for that matter must stop
deluding themselves that they can
win an election under the present
political and electoral
environment.
"We will show them in March 2008" seems to be the general
feeling among
Zimbabweans. Consummate courage or just plain foolishness? No
doubt the
latter. Under the present circumstances, MDC is powerless and
impotent to do
much about Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic
crisis.
That is why I am putting a lot of premium on the small quiet
reformists
within ZANU PF and the Cabinet to reflect the voice of reason and
to show
the way forward in terms of trying to change the system and policies
subtly
from within. They must not allow the old minds to rule the roost. The
struggle that is going on beneath the surface of ZANU PF, although
confusing, may in the end make a difference. Failing that, then we can
always fall back on God's intervention and time. Nobody can fight time. At
some point, everything comes to an end. Everyone including prime ministers
and presidents has, at some stage, to narrow their horizons and bow to the
passage of time.
Until that time comes, which does come for all of us,
Zimbabwe remains a
riddle - a riddle hinging on the life or death of a
single man whose past
great achievements cannot be denied but who now runs
his government like a
submissive family.
borncha@mweb.co.zw
FinGaz
Takura
Zhangazha
THE standoff between the government and business has been
interesting but
depressing to follow. Interesting and depressing because it
has brought
forth numerous analyses revolving around the "final demise" of
the country's
economy and as a result thereof, the fall of the much troubled
ZANU PF
government or alternatively, from state-approved analysts, debate
around how
business has been raking in super profits without taking into
account the
suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.
Obviously there is a
populist dimension to the latter argument as
simultaneously the former
purveys an orthodox economic principles argument
within the debate around
how the state is following the dictates of a
fictional book called "how not
to run an economy"! And within this conundrum
of the now ever apparent empty
supermarket shelves, scarce petrol (no matter
what they say it is actually
costing per litre) and the public scramble for
much less immediate items
such as clothes, cars and building materials by
the urban few, the parallel
market finds itself in the unenviable position
of becoming the fundamental
but flawed economic guarantor of survival in the
country.
Such events and
debates in their occurrence need to be carefully analysed if
we are to get
any bearing on the future of the country's economy and its
impact on the
already dire political situation revolving around issues of
contested ruling
party legitimacy as a government and the "final kicks of a
dying horse"
arguments that predict an imminent collapse of not only the
economy but the
country itself. And these are realities that need to be
argued about because
of the dangers of continuing to link economic decline
with political decline
as has been the case since the food riots of 1998 and
labour-backed mass
actions of 1999/2000.
The first reality of the Zimbabwean economy relates
directly to how its
citizens have over the last six years, amidst high
unemployment, a
continually damaging land reform exercise, Joseph
Chinotimba-led invasions
of industries, and the spiralling costs of the
greenback versus the local
currency, learnt to survive against all odds
outside of the state with the
seemingly legitimate assistance of a long
existing informal economy, thanks
to structural adjustment programmes in the
1990s. As well as the fact that
this same said survival has been couched and
referenced in terms of the
language of the "end is nigh" noises that have
been reliant upon waiting
upon the mistakes of the ZANU PF government in
order for society to rise out
of its slumber.
The second political
reality is the difficulty of explaining the seeming
lack of a national voice
of protest aimed at the shortage of goods in
supermarkets combined with
issues about whom to blame for such a predicament
in the first place. In the
public eye, one cannot easily blame government
because the evident languages
of protest had hitherto been about the rising
cost of living and also the
added factor of the complicity of the public
that has been rushing to and
fro to purchase whatever, wherever it has been
declared reduced by members
of one ZANU OF taskforce or the other.
Neither can one blame business for
easy capitulation or be vindictive
against them because of the language that
has been used by oppositional
groupings that has never really placed
business, together with ZANU PF, as
being part of the problem because of its
willingness not only to toe the
line but to separate itself from the rest of
civil society, save for when
their executives are arrested.
So, as it
stands, the current policy directive by government as regards
pricing of
commodities has served to induce an ambiguous response from the
Zimbabwean
public, one that has varied strands to it. Chief among these are
the general
comments about how it is clearly unsustainable on the part of
government to
carry on in such a direction, another strand that argues that
while the
policy is in place, there are opportunities to capitalise as much
as is
possible, and yet another that argues that business has always had it
so
good and so it deserves a little bit of being boxed about, while in all
of
this, there is no coherent articulation of national protest at the events
of
the last week.
If they have been there, then they have either not been
consistent enough or
are too focused on declarations of either "the end is
nigh for the regime"
or that it is an "unsustainable" state of affairs,
fully forgetting that
these sort of absolute descriptions not only
disempower citizens to struggle
but that they have also been part of the
protest language for so long, they
have stopped having an impact.
And of
course one cannot leave out the political humour that this creates
within
the populace, a humour that finds laughter at the government for its
rash
policies as well as business people for getting caught up within the
brutality of the state police (like the rest of us) and even at ourselves
wherein we all get into some sort of difficult situations outside some
supermarket or the other, that can be discussed and scoffed at after church
services or during public transport conversations.
All of these
understandings of the government induced economic crisis are
within the
framework of opportunities that abound in the informal economy,
its
possibility to serve as an option as the supermarkets are emptied and
agents
involved in the crackdown on industry release their new found
To Page
17
From Page 14
supplies onto the streets of the urban poor at an
immeasurable profit.
As dire as the circumstances are, there is still time to
circumvent the
worst possible scenario in determining the country's future,
which is that
of a collapsed state that never espoused any clear solutions
within the
midst of a crisis and therefore was bound to feature on academic
discussion
agendas as part of typical resistance politics in contemporary
Africa.
First on the way forward list, the government must disabuse itself of
the
notion that it can nationalise industries in a petty attempt at
reverting to
'gutsaruzhinji'. Even if within cabinet meetings, Obert Mpofu
as responsible
minister gets pats on the back for his unbelievable
activities all over the
country, he should be aware that his colleagues have
vested interests in
most of the businesses that he is purging and also that,
in the nature of
ZANU PF culture these political pats
on the back could
easily become slaps. The government is no longer neutral,
or a father figure
in these economic shenanigans. Instead it is also as
guilty a player as any
another, not least because of its rumoured
participation in the parallel
market or its controversial land reform
programme.
It would be better if
government got off its high and desperate horse to
talk to business together
with labour/civil society and iron things out
because not only are shortages
of commodities a big issue here, but also in
order make true realities of
what a publicly legitimate social contract
would become.
Business must
come to terms with the fact that it no longer can operate
solely on the
basis of profit. It has to attempt to take such populist
initiatives from
the government and expand its understanding of market
competition by
providing cheaper products with the spending capital of the
public in mind.
While it is an easy target for the state, it needs to begin
to position
itself strategically as "people's business" outlining employment
levels,
people conscious pricing schemes and avoiding continually alienating
the
labour unions in such a politicised economy.
Most important perhaps is the
role that labour, civil society and the
opposition must play. There must be
an immediately concerted effort to
re-frame the economic circumstances not
only as part of a blame game
targeting the ruling party and government but
the exposure of the problem as
both an urgent social welfare crisis that
needs to be redressed not just
through politics but through the principle of
community reliance and
assistance to the most exposed. Anticipating riots
and a collapse of the
economy linked to political change as a consequence of
ZANU PF policies is
impolitic and inadequate. Civil society must find ways
to redress some of
the social ills that are apparent and actively provide a
humane face that
represents hope, possibility and the promise of a better
tomorrow.
lZhangazha is senior programmes officer at MISA Zimbabwe
FinGaz
Ken Mufuka
THE fact that Dr Simba
Makoni was publicly called a sellout puts the matter
in the public
domain.
But our readers will say, "Ken, wait a moment, who makes this
infamous
charge about a beloved son of the soil, a prince of the Makoni
paramountcy?"
The accusation has been traced to my good friend the Minister
of
Information.
The basis of this infamous charge is that while in Cape
Town, Dr Makoni made
a statement to the effect that there was a feeling in
ZANU PF that things
cannot continue as they are now, and that ZANU must
reform itself, be reborn
from within if it is to win the future. That is a
measured standard academic
presentation. But in my zeal, I jump the gun. The
offending sentence or
words were to the effect that Mukuru's departure was
"imminent."
On hearing the idea of imminence, my brother, Professor
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu,
went ballistic. Ndlovu was wrong on all accounts.
Imminence in the
Zimbabwean context can take as long as six weeks to several
years. Makoni
was absolutely within the ZANU PF doctrine. It is ZANU PF
which first
proposed the idea of reformatio continua (borrowed from Samora
Machel of
Mozambique).
At 84 years of age, Mukuru's departure is
definitely imminent, whether by
the law of gravity or by the desire of the
party to recreate a new stellar
leadership. A man is given three score
years, but by good fortune or the
strength of his body, he can add another
10 years. We are all subject to
natural law. Even Mukuru is not above
natural law. Score number one goes to
Prince Makoni.
Makoni has been
called worse names before. On August 25, 2002, Mukuru
himself addressed the
Zimbabwe parliament and said these words. Anyone who
called for devaluation
of the currency was "an enemy of the state and a
saboteur." Previously, on
May 7, Makoni had addressed the same body in the
heat of the land reform
programme.
Inflation was rampant at 112 percent, and the economy, because of
the farm
invasions, had declined by 12.2 percent. Makoni saw the dangers of
an
unbridled land invasion programme. He said these words. "The government
should assure peace and security for all citizens through an end to
violence, and enable the economy and business to function normally for the
well being of the nation." He added, the government should "enable farmers
to farm without disruption." There are two issues here. The government is
responsible for peace and security. Secondly, Dr Gideon Gono has said
similar words about the necessity of farmers being allowed to farm in a
secure environment. So what else is new under the sun?
Makoni's monetary
policies, which consisted of a mixture of interest rate
manipulation and
dollar devaluation, came at a time when the mineral
revolution in Zambia was
in its infancy. Makoni's policies could have
stabilised the mining industry
in readiness for a take-off. That take-off
has now benefited Zambia and its
kwacha has since revaluated by 50 percent.
Historically, Makoni was correct
on all the major economic diagnostics, and
Mukuru called him a saboteur.
Round two goes to Prince Makoni.
The real charge is that Makoni is indoda
sibili (a real man) and perhaps he
is a prophet before his time. That charge
we will concede. In last week's
Internet issue of Zimdaily, Mukuru complains
that there are no men left in
his Cabinet any more after the departure of Dr
Eddison Zvobgo. He is not
getting honest feedback from the ZANU PF
stalwarts. I disagree. The Zimbabwe
Cabinet has had luminaries of the likes
of Dr Bernard Chidzero, Prince
Makoni and Dr Herbert Murerwa.
Dr
Chidzero's advice was ignored. Prince Makoni was called a saboteur and
now a
sell out! Dr Murerwa, though unassuming, is a man of deep learning, a
thoroughly good man in his heart, and has correct instincts. In the battle
against inflation, he went straight to Economics 101. The fundamentals of
inflation are that too much money chases too many goods. Unless you increase
production, you cannot beat inflation by gimmicks. He was humiliated and
when he asked to be let go, he was refused an honourable exit.
And Dr.
Zvobgo himself died a very sad man. He was marooned to inactivity.
Makoni
therefore joins that rare cabal of gifted and stellar men of
character who
were maligned unfairly by political operatives paid to get
angry on behalf
of Mukuru. Round three for integrity goes to Prince Makoni.
Remember me, my
brother, when you come into your kingdom. It can't be long
now.
The last
round we will concede to Makoni's detractors. Makoni is too brainy
for most
of the chaps who run ZANU PF on the slogan, Mukuru Woye, Makoni
Pasi naye.
Prince Makoni does not suffer fools gladly. He is so much above
his mates
that he is the only cabinet minister in Zimbabwe who actually kept
appointments and apologised if he was late.
In his reply to the
accusation of selling out to the British and Americans,
his statement was
rather academic. "I have contributed more to this country
than those who now
claim to be custodians of what it means to be Zimbabwean.
To mask poverty
and the misery of our people can never be what determines
patriotism."
Prince Makoni is talking of the Human Development Index (HDI),
used by the
United Nations to determine if a country is better off than it
was say, 20
years ago. When Makoni was finance minister inflation was 112
percent. It is
4 500 percent now. Life expectancy was 56 in 1980. It is now
34 and
declining. Income levels were U$750 per person 1980, that figure has
declined to less than U$350 per person.
Using the HDI is not the way to
win arguments. A prince must learn to speak
the language of the common
people. The way to go about it is to say: Vangani
vachadya chingwa pano?
Mafuta eOlivine avakuwanikwa kuhope. It does not hurt
to curse out your
detractors a little while keeping your princely dignity.
I rest my case.
Makoni is cool. He is our man!
FinGaz
Comment
THE current year
opened with all the ingredients of yet another difficult
period for the
country, bearing the brunt of what is undoubtedly the worst
recession to hit
a sub-Saharan economy in living memory.
Not even the most pessimistic
analysts had anticipated the situation to
deteriorate so fast, especially
given that many thought the crisis had hit
bottom. After all, there was a
general feeling that authorities had learnt
lessons from the terrible
mistakes of the past. It was logical, therefore,
to expect that the
authorities would adopt a fresh approach to rescue the
country's economy and
atone for their sins, mitigating the impact of a
drought and the lingering
effects of a chaotic land reform embarked upon
seven years ago.
It has
all been wishful thinking!
But how wishful the thoughts for progressive
policies! The wheels have come
off earlier than anticipated, with all the
official forecasts made earlier
in the year proving way off the mark. Here
is one example.
Reports suggest that the wheat harvest from the current
season will be below
expectations. Government had set a target of at least
76 000 hectares to be
put under irrigated wheat this winter season but
because of lack of farming
equipment and shortages of essential inputs,
farmers only managed to plant
an estimated 8 000 hectares. It is now
emerging that 5 000 hectares of the 8
000 hectares of winter wheat could be
written off after wilting in the
fields because of incessant power blackouts
and a crippling diesel shortage
that affected the irrigation of the
crop.
Out of the 14 million litres of fuel required for a successful season,
only
five million litres had been secured three weeks before the planting
deadline. Winter wheat depends heavily on adequate irrigation and as such,
reliable electricity supplies are crucial to the success of the programme.
Without even taking into consideration the heavy repair costs incurred by
the farmers to keep irrigation equipment running, and the need to service
loans secured from the banks, a crop write-off of the projected magnitude
would certainly worsen the country's economic outlook, which is not looking
any better. At a time when the whole economy is grinding to a standstill
owing to acute shortages, the country would be forced to resort to expensive
wheat imports to cover the deficit.
The power outages, partly a result of
poor coal deliveries from Hwange
Colliery Company, have dealt a hammer blow
on wheat farmers and the country
at large, regardless of the assurances made
by ZESA Holdings in May this
year that it had curtailed supplies to domestic
and industrial users to meet
the needs of wheat farmers. Indications are
that the electricity cuts might
become more severe going forward. ZESA has
issued another warning, saying it
will intensify load shedding owing to
reduced coal supplies from Hwange.
The writing is on the wall. The
authorities should put in place contingency
measures to deal with the
resultant shortages. The time is now to look
elsewhere to bridge the huge
deficit, which does not offer any relief at all
to the monetary authorities
already inundated with requests for foreign
currency allocations from other
critical economic sectors.
With a national wheat requirement of over 420 000
metric tonnes annually, a
number of critical areas requiring foreign
currency would be sacrificed, or
rather, would have to do with shoe-string
allocations, enough to avert
closure. While the drought has seriously
reduced yields, there is no denying
that the biggest contributor to the
current crisis has been poor planning.
Following the massive looting and
destruction of irrigation infrastructure,
the government was expected to
invest substantial resources into mitigating
the impact of dry spells but it
has been a case of too little, too late.
Ever since the year 2000 when the
government embarked on emotive land
reforms, farming preparations have been
in disarray. The entire distribution
chain, from the input supplies, funding
and right through to the marketing
of the crop, is fraught with man-made
hiccups.
It has been suggested before that the country needs to make it
possible for
the baking and milling industries to fund wheat production
through
out-grower schemes, but this will no longer be possible given the
heavy
losses now being suffered by both industries as a result of the
ongoing
crackdown on prices. A further decline in wheat production can only
worsen
the flour shortages.
Those that installed generators are finding
it hard to source the fuel to
carry out irrigation continuously.
Developments in wheat and maize farming
seem to suggest that this year will
be the most difficult since independence
in terms of food security, putting
more pressure on the already rapidly
devaluing currency.
With fuel costs
constituting a significant portion of the overheads, the
strain on the
agricultural, milling and baking industries could have seen
prices shooting
through the roof, decimating the already depressed or
reduced disposable
incomes of most consumers. But with the price controls
firmly in place,
farmers and industry will be the biggest casualties.
What the price freeze means
Readers' responses to
Govt move
EDITOR - On my way home from work, I stopped at TM Newlands
only to find no
meat, no sugar etc, but outside I was offered, in whispered
tones by a
vendor, sugar at $3 million for
20kg!
Rose
Harare
EDITOR - The price freezes are
ill-considered, last-minute attempts to
reverse the results of government's
creation of inflation by maintaining a
bloated civil service and security
force, paying unnecessary subsidies to
parastatals, having far too many
Members of Parliament and Senators,
allowing too much corruption, and
thinking it can escape the consequences of
its incompetence by simply
printing money. If it had any decency, it would
resign en masse.
W
Marnich
Harare
EDITOR - The price freeze will cripple many businesses
and result in empty
shelves, a flourishing black market and less tax being
paid. Is this what we
want?
W Nicholls
Harare
EDITOR -
If a rent freeze is enacted, the owners will sell their properties
to buyers
who want to occupy the properties. The owners will invest the
proceeds
elsewhere in order to get a proper return, and their former tenants
will
have nowhere to stay or conduct their businesses.
N
March
Harare
EDITOR - Why do politicians think all they have to do
to create a new law is
open their mouths? Without any Act or Statutory
Instrument, there is no
binding price or rent freeze.
M
Woolpsmurch
Harare
Nail on the head
EDITOR - I read Bornwell
Chakaodza's column in last week's online edition of
The Financial Gazette. I
fear your approach, Bornwell, is far too rational
for the current situation,
but it certainly semed to hit the nail on the
head. Hope you recover well
from the surgery.
Alan Keller
US
----------------
The price
freeze could work if . . .
EDITOR - The price freeze seems to be
settling down to government accepting
that slashing prices by an arbitrary
50 percent is not the way to go, but to
demand commerce and industry apply a
25 percent mark-up to their costs.
To the layman, this is an unreasonable
profit mark-up. But consider this: If
a retailer buys something for $100 and
has to sell it for $125 but the new
stock costs $125, representing an annual
inflation rate of 300 percent, then
he would make no profit or be able to
pay wages and other overheads. So
government must now reduce inflation to
below 300 percent and this can be
done.
The government now urgently needs
to also come to the party. The most
glaring one is the exchange rate of
$250/US$, which allows a well connected
person to buy a new pick-up truck
for less than the cost of 100 litres of
petrol two weeks ago ($15 million).
Someone has to pay the difference and
that is the not well connected povo,
alias inflation. The government has set
a rate of $60 000 per litre of
petrol. In South Africa, Zambia and
Mozambique a litre of fuel costs the
equivalent of about US$1, so the
government could start by setting the
exchange rate at $55 000/US$. The
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) should then
direct all available foreign
currency towards Noczim and other importers of
essential goods and stop
people accessing RBZ money from buying vehicles,
etc.
The government must eliminate different exchange rates for different
sectors
of the population as this only distorts the economy. This can take a
day to
effect.
Also taking a day to effect, the Minister of Finance
should review the tax
brackets monthly so anyone earning less than the
poverty datum line would
not pay tax. This will allow labour to reduce its
demands for constant and
high wage reviews, which negatively impact on the
25 percent profit margin
referred to earlier.
The government should stop
printing money for unbudgeted expenditure like
doubling the police force,
until things stabilise. All government ministries
should be forced to work
to their budgets.
If the government comes to the party with these three
things the current
price freeze could work.
A
McCormick
Harare
---------------
I must be living on another
planet
EDITOR - I see from a newspaper report that on June 28 2007
"the Cabinet
Taskforce on Price Monitoring and Stabilisation froze all
residential and
industrial rent increases".
In addition, the Minister
of Industry and International Trade said that the
Taskforce "reminds" the
public "that an immediate moratorium is imposed on
rent increases of both
commercial and residential properties pending the
finalisation of
appropriate regular formulae by both commercial and
residential rent
boards".
I must be living on another planet, because I thought that only the
National
Incomes and Pricing Commission can take this sort of action, not a
Cabinet
Taskforce; that the Commission can only exercise its functions by
making
by-laws; that its by-laws have no effect until they are published in
a
statutory instrument; that both sets of rent regulations are alive and
well;
that there is no moratorium on rent increases and that the National
Incomes
and Pricing Commission Act applies only to incomes and prices of
goods and
services, not rents.
M
Willis
Harare
-------------
Jonathan Moyo's Bill pure
hypocrisy
EDITOR - Jonathan Moyo, the former minister of
information's Gukurahundi
Memorial Bill is pure hypocrisy meant to pull the
wool over our eyes. Moyo
is not in a position at all to speak on behalf of
Gukurahundi victims.
Moyo's abuse of the critical Gukurahundi issue to gain
political mileage and
sympathy is a great disservice to those affected. Just
a few years ago when
John Nkomo called Moyo a mafikizolo in ZANU PF, Moyo
hit back saying he has
been in ZANU PF for longer than Nkomo because he was
never ZAPU. So there we
have Moyo publicly admitting his allegiance to the
party that sanctioned
Gukurahundi.
In the same vein I am disappointed
with the acres of space Moyo is being
accorded to air his views. Moyo should
stew in his unpublished works so that
he knows what freedom of expression
is. Where would he air his views if he
had succeded to ban all private
newspapers and online news sites. Moyo
should not have it both ways. He can
fool some of the people some of the
time but not everyone all the
time.
Asher Tarivona Mutsengi
Canada
----------------
Egoism
alone will not derail dream
EDITOR - Mavis Makuni writes that
egoism could derail dreams of a pan-
African government. Well, maybe not.
What is it that causes Ghana to be the
choice arena for clueless politicians
seeking to divert attention from
misgovernance at home by touting overtly
unlikely visions?
A single continental government would be based on what
common standards?
Would it be corruption or fiscal prudence? Will there be a
human rights
standard on national debt? Do Zimbabweans wish to substitute
their
relatively benign tyranny for some of Africa's failed states status?
Naturally, President Robert Mugabe, who seems to believe he carries the
people with him on this issue, will call for a national referendum on the
issue. Another massive no by the people not egoism will defeat the
idea.
Jacob Mungoshi
Canada
Business Day
John
Kaninda
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CORPORATE
SA yesterday broke its silence on the unfolding meltdown in
Zimbabwe, with
lobby group Business Leadership SA calling for decisive
political and
business leadership to deal with the crisis.
The call comes after a
controversial decision two weeks ago by President
Robert Mugabe's government
to enforce price cuts for a wide range of
foodstuffs and consumer items,
which has resulted in a chronic shortage of
basic goods. Mugabe accused
businesses of raising prices as part of an
effort by western opponents to
overthrow his 27-year-old government.
Business Leadership SA for the
first time also indicated that it wanted
business to be part of the process
of finding a solution, and pledged
support to the design of an inclusive
package of measures to resolve the
crisis in Zimbabwe.
In a
statement yesterday, Business Leadership SA president Saki Macozoma
said:
"By all accounts, the country is faced with a systematic meltdown. We
believe that decisive leadership at both political and economic level is
required to steer Zimbabwe towards a comprehensive economic recovery. Such a
plan has to involve all the people of Zimbabwe and their representatives and
requires a new political consensus.
"Urgent, sober-minded and
decisive leadership is called for. As business we
want to be part of the
solution and pledge our appropriate support to the
design of an inclusive
package of measures to resolve the crisis in
Zimbabwe."
Attempts
to intervene in the economic and political crisis that began more
than seven
years ago have yielded no fruits.
Leaders of the
14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) in
March gave
President Thabo Mbeki the responsibility of facilitating talks
between the
Zimbabwean government and the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change.
The SADC intervention came after the failure of Mbeki's
approach of quiet
diplomacy.
The SADC said yesterday it was preparing
a series of measures to help rescue
Zimbabwe's economy, now in its ninth
year of recession. The SADC's committee
on politics, defence and security
will consider the proposals at its next
meeting.
Meanwhile, a recent
United Nations (UN) report on trends in the number of
asylum seekers'
applications clearly indicates that SA should brace itself
in the coming
months for arguably the most extraordinary exodus of people
from a country
not at war .
Jack Reden, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees regional
information
officer, said that last year, 25000 Zimbabweans applied for
asylum in SA - a
figure that is only a fraction of the real number of people
crossing the
border, as shown by a document recently released by the
International
Organisation for Migration .
The document says that
from January to May , more than 86000 undocumented
migrants were returned to
Zimbabwe, bringing the number of undocumented
returnees from SA to nearly
166000 since May last year .
For Reden, the increase in the number of
Zimbabweans officially seeking
refuge in SA reflects either an increase in
the numbers of people crossing
the borders every day or an increase of those
applying for refuge.
The latest turmoil in Zimbabwe does not bode well
for SA. As Reden said: "If
there were stability there, people would clearly
remain inside Zimbabwe."
The last recorded increase in the numbers of
Zimbabwean refugees would
remind many of Mbeki's statement made in May
during an address to Parliament
when he said South Africans would have to
learn to live with the increasing
influx of refugees in the
country.
This poses a number of challenges. First, the growing number of
asylum
applications will certainly put the refugee section of the home
affairs
department under increased pressure.
There remain hundreds of
thousands of outstanding asylum seekers'
applications which, according to
advocacy groups, are gathering dust in
refugee offices as the process to
grant asylum has been plagued by
corruption.
An increase in the
number of refugees in SA will also pose the challenge of
integrating them
into local communities. In the past, the government has
been accused of
failing to educate its locals and campaign against
xenophobia, which has led
to violent altercations between refugees and local
communities. With
Bloomberg and Reuters
VOA
By Howard Lesser
Washington,
DC
12 July 2007
In Zimbabwe, a plummeting economy
and deepening food shortages have drawn
new pleas for help this week from
religious and government leaders in
neighboring South Africa. Tuesday in
Johannesburg, Catholic Archbishop Pius
Ncube said Harare's economic policies
are exacerbating food shortages in the
rural south, which could soon bring
deficiencies to urban areas. And in
what appears to be a departure from
Pretoria's stance on the crisis, Foreign
Affairs Minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma says her country and the Southern
African Development Community
(SADC) should intervene to rescue Harare's
sinking economy. Zimbabwe-born
pro-democracy activist Annabel Hughes is
former executive director of the
Zimbabwe Democracy Trust. She says that
despite the encouraging words from
Zimbabwe's neighbor, the policies of
Harare's one-man ruler are what is
stifling change.
"Regardless of what is going on, everything is in the
hands of Robert
Mugabe. Everything. The state, the food. So unless
something happens with
Robert Mugabe, nothing is going to turn around," she
said.
Beginning this month, the government ordered shop and business
owners to cut
the price of basic goods, such as cornmeal, sugar, bread, and
meat, and
observe inflation-reducing price caps to halt a rampant escalation
of costs.
Zimbabwe businesses effectively cleared their shelves of goods
alst week,
and argued that the price cuts would prevent them from making a
profit.
Annabel Hughes says the government's latest pricing moves have
compounded an
already deteriorating situation.
"What is going to
happen, I think, just like any other country, where
hyperinflation has
overtaken the economy, is that people will just start
bartering on an
informal basis. They'll cut the shop side altogether.
Because of these
rules that are coming in, it's going to make it all
unsustainable. They
will obviously find a way of getting food for people to
trade, but not
necessarily dealing with Zimbabwe dollars," she said.
Earlier, the Mugabe
land redistribution policy that fostered a takeover of
rural farms by black
Zimbabweans was blamed for a decline in rural
productivity. But now that
the economic crisis is escalating in the cities,
pro-democracy activist
Hughes says she believes that efforts by SADC to
mediate the situation may
be coming too late.
"They should have done so many years ago. I really,
really point a finger at
South Africa for ignoring this crisis for as long
as they have. They have
received warnings time and time and time again
about what is going on in
Zimbabwe and have just turned a blind eye and have
claimed that they have
been working on a quiet diplomacy basis, which is as
far as I'm concerned,
the biggest travesty of all time because they've been
doing nothing, knowing
that this economy is going rapidly down the drain,"
she said.
Reacting to the South African foreign minister's apparent
divergence from
Pretoria's quiet diplomacy policy, Hughes tempers her
optimism with an
assessment that the Mugabe government's political
objectives far outweigh
the regime's willingness to compromise and listen to
the advice of others.
"I think it's absolutely fantastic that they've
finally admitted to the fact
that Zimbabwe needs help. I mean, how are they
going to do it is the next
thing because they've got to work with a regime
that refuses to take any
advice from anybody, that refuses any involvement
from anybody, and who are
set on winning the elections in 2008, and that's
all they care about," she
noted.
With forecasts of dramatic food
scarcity in the rural south and impending
deprivation coming to urban areas,
the former Zimbabwe Democracy Trust
executive predicts that the ruling
ZANU-PF political party will do all that
it can to ensure it maintains a
hold on power in next year's elections.
"There is no way that unless you
are a supporter of ZANU-PF, you're going to
get food. People have been
starving for a long time, particularly in
southern Zimbabwe, where the
Archbishop Pius comes from. Southern Zimbabwe
has always been left out in
the cold in connection with ZANU-PF because they
supported a different
party," she pointed out.
SABC
July 12, 2007,
06:15
By: Manelisi Dubase
As food crisis in Zimbabwe continue to
exacerbate and Condoleezza Rice, the
US secretary of state, has called upon
diplomats to support the people of
Zimbabwe, who she says are suffering from
misrule. Rice was addressing
diplomats from the African Union and the
Organisation of American States who
are gathered in Washington for a two-day
conference on democracy.
Zimbabwe is again in the news in the United
States and the media there
report on rampant food shortages and
sky-rocketing inflation. However, there
are other problems on the continent
which will be under scrutiny at this
conference. One of them will be the
ongoing conflict in Darfur. Rice told
diplomats that too many lives have
been lost, and immediate action is
needed.
"We must not let the
government of Sudan continue this game of cat and mouse
diplomacy, making
promises, and then going back on them. It is our
responsibility, as
principled nations, as principled democracies, to hold
Sudan accountable,"
she said.
Darfur always top agenda
Africans agreed that Darfur remains
one of very few stains in an otherwise
peaceful continent and Alphar Konare,
the chairperson of the AU commission,
says that the issue of Darfur is
always on top of their agenda.
"Believe me, we have the will to stop this
drama in Darfur. We have the will
that our continent will never again know
the drama of Darfur," Konare said.
Konare also said the AU's mission in
Darfur has other serious constraints.
He did not explain what they are, but
it later became clear that the mission
has run out of money.
Never have a head of state been
politically marooned like what Bob is at the
moment. The drastic
metamorphosis from a freedom fighter to a despot is
equally shocking.
Zimbabwe has not and will never run short of credible
leaders. There are too
numerous statesmen to mention.
Political commentators and
political scientists will agree with me that
there is nothing new of
Mugabe's past that can make him see social sense
where there is no
political self centring. That being that paints a gloomy
picture for
Zimbabweans; we believe in earnest that what civic pressure
groups had
failed inflation would succeed, 'acharohwa nezveusiku gore rino'.
I am not
predicting that Mugabe will rule till Jesus comes but wait a
minute, how old
is Mugabe for argument's sake? Most of us would prefer
waiting for his
natural death which if I am right was 48 years ago,
considering that the
life expectance for Zimbabweans is 35 years. Albeit
Mugabe seem to defy
every scientific norm. What makes him we without our
concern? What makes him
breath without oxygen? What makes him win without
votes? What makes him
young without youth? What makes him Zimbabwean without
being one? May be he
has lost the keys to the state house? 'Kunyika kwedu
hatingadaro'
In a book "Confronting authority" written by
Derrick Bell, a black American
who took 1 year unpaid leave to confront the
US authority on behalf of the
disadvantaged black woman, at Harvard Law
School, noted," even those who are
considering confrontation as an
alternative to passive acceptance, there are
no ten easy steps to adopting a
more aggressive stance to the indignities
suffered by individuals or groups
you wish to defend" This shows why
Zimbabwe is now 40 years backwards
although we have more political parties
and civic pressure groups than in
any peaceful country living although still
devoid of any political effect.
There is simply no easy step to confronting
and defying authority. Further
more Mugabe belongs to a class of his own, a
complex mixture of naivety and
political mongering, devoid of reason and
humanity. The dilemma that we
Zimbabweans face is that African states
continue to have solidarity with the
head of states rather than the people
of individual countries, further more
governments in Africa do not necessary
include the electorate but the
elected or self imposed. Opposition though
progressive have found themselves
incapacitated by a windfall of repressive
legislations hurriedly passed to
ensure a crackdown on all progressive
forces. The war on terror has
subsequently added a blow to opposition world
wide, as rogue governments can
crackdown on opposition in the name of war on
terror privy of Western
World.
Zimbabwe will be free and is going to be free, Mugabe or
no Mugabe. We
should actively debate on Zimbabwe after Mugabe because that
is the reality
now than ever. Mugabe will not be president come 2008
elections, mark my
words. As much as we have wanted to see him go forcefully
at least I am one
of them for a specific reason which even Mugabe knows
better, I feel the
inflation has a more ferocious fire power than all
wishful thinking put
together now than anticipated, 'dzawira mutsvanda
kaidzi mhanduwe'. Each
time I look at Zimbabwe's economy and political
mayhem, the more I
personally take the entire ZANU(PF) leadership to blame,
how on earth
somebody elected by the people forsake the same electorate and
instead look
after the interest of a ghost like Mugabe or Mkabe forgive me
for the lack
of knowledge as to where he comes from? As far as I am
concerned, only Simba
Makoni has voiced his concern about the state of
Zimbabwe, the rest lets
sent them to hell together with Mugabe. I still
believe strongly that the
opposition in Zimbabwe needs to unite for the good
of the nation. All
opposition leaders in Zimbabwe must understand that they
owe what they are
to the people of Zimbabwe and not to themselves, at least
no one is more
intelligent than the Zimbabwean electorate, if you think so
then don't seek
our votes, come on guys, this is our country and not your
country. We owe it
to the generation to come and not to our selfish
political gains. Mugabe is
an example of a political venture which went
wrong, we don't need another
example, be warned!
By Elliot
Pfebve
Human Rights Activist
Political Commentator
Boston Herald
By Christopher Blagg/ Music
Wednesday,
July 11, 2007 - Updated: 07:09 PM EST
The semidefunct jam-rock group
Dispatch has made a habit of exceeding
expectations. Ten thousand people
were expected for its 2004 "farewell" show
at the Hatch Shell. Instead,
110,000 came.
Dispatch has returned, surprising the music
industry yet again, selling
out this weekend's three-night benefit concert
at Madison Square Garden in
New York City to raise money and awareness for
Zimbabwe - a country
suffering from economic collapse, drought and the
HIV/AIDS crisis. Dispatch
is bigger than ever.
At their
rehearsal space in Sherborn a few months ago, the trio seemed
just as
surprised as everyone else. "I was nervous about playing even one
show at
the Garden," said bassist/guitarist Pete Heimbold, "I mean, it's one
thing
to play at the Hatch Shell for a free concert . . ." Added drummer
Brad
Corrigan, "Our last show (at the Hatch Shell) was such a good one, such
a
wild one, that we were just wondering if there was any more pixie dust
left."
The magic is indeed back, considering the band
managed to sell out
Madison Square Garden without the help of radio singles,
MTV or other
mainstream media outlets. Three years out of the spotlight
didn't lessen the
band's momentum from that Esplanade
concert.
"After the Hatch Shell, everyone, including people
from the music
industry were saying, 'You have to get back together. Look at
your fan base
now!' For me it was more like, 'What a great way to go!"' said
guitarist
Chad Urmston.
Their reunion comes not out of
boredom or desperation (all three enjoy
solo careers, Urmston fronts the
popular State Radio), but out of
conscience. "If we were getting together
just to play music and eke out a
paycheck I don't think it would have
worked. So to have an opportunity to
get everyone together and then to not
just be entertainers, but to give
voice to a story, that's a huge deal,"
said Corrigan.
So why Zimbabwe? Urmston lived in Zimbabwe for
six monthswhen he was 18,
and the troubled nation and its people have held a
grip on him since. One of
Dispatch's most popular songs, "Elias," came out
of his experiences there.
"In the past 15 years, Zimbabwe's
become a story of tragic proportions,"
said Urmston. "We wanted to do
something that had a connection to the three
of us, that wasn't necessarily
all over the press, and something that we
could bring some awareness
to."
- christopherblagg@gmail.com