Jon Swain in
Harare
|
It may not be surprising that, as befits any mad dictator, President Mugabe is now the proud owner of a palatial £4.5 million mansion in Harare and a similarly lavish country hideaway, each fitted with the latest electronic security systems, including anti-aircraft missiles. But why should all this have been provided for him by the People's Republic of China? The explanation lies in a deal struck in 2005 whereby Mr Mugabe handed over to China his country's mineral rights, including the world's second largest reserves of platinum, worth £250 billion. In return for allowing the Chinese to cart away more than half a billion pounds' worth of minerals a year, Mr Mugabe not only makes a vast personal fortune for himself and his henchmen, but is given all the arms he needs to keep his criminal regime in power, including guns, jet fighters and military vehicles. (For further details, see my colleague Richard North's EU Referendum website.) Contrast this with our own Government's response to Mugabe's tyranny. Since Zimbabwe is included in the 28 areas of "common foreign policy" we have ceded to the EU, we can do nothing except in conjunction with our EU colleagues. On Monday we saw the humiliating spectacle of Gordon Brown pleading with the EU's President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to add 36 more names to the list of Zimbabweans on whom the EU has imposed pathetically ineffectual "personal sanctions". Otherwise, the EU's only contribution is to give Zimbabwe €25 million a year in aid, which Mr Mugabe welcomes as a way to give food to his supporters while the rest of his people starve. All this provides a remarkable parallel to what is happening elsewhere in Africa. In Sudan the tyrannical government is given full support by China in return for a monopoly on its large reserves of oil. Meanwhile, EU politicians wring their hands over the tragedy unfolding in Darfur, while a pitiful EU military force in Chad notably fails to protect a million helpless refugees from the genocide waged on them by China's friends in Khartoum. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as we learned from an excellent report in The Daily Telegraph last week, China last January signed a "minerals for infrastructure" deal, worth £2.25 billion, under which it bought the rights to some of the world's richest copper and cobalt reserves, in return for building roads, railways, hospitals, dams and airports. This is the country where, five years ago, the EU proudly sent its first military force bearing the ring of stars insignia - to achieve precisely nothing. We now learn that the Congolese government had first proposed such a minerals deal to the EU but, according to the country's deputy minister for mines, the EU replied that it "did not have the muscle that was needed". All over Africa we see a similar story. The ruthless but canny Chinese dictatorship props up equally ruthless and corrupt governments, as in Angola, in return for that continent's fabulous mineral reserves. Britain, which once ruled much of Africa, has handed over its policy-making to the EU, which does little but make sanctimonious and irrelevant gestures. Yet this is the continent which, in 2005, both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown proclaimed was "at the top" of their international agenda. It was in the same year that, as the EU's acting president, Tony Blair flew to Beijing to sign an agreement making the EU and China "strategic partners". It is only too obvious which "partner's" strategy is proving the more successful. A mad vision of a 'green Gulf' in the North Sea Anyone wanting final proof that Gordon Brown lives on another planet should consider his boast to last week's EU "Mediterranean summit" that "Britain's North Sea could be the Gulf of the future for offshore wind". To help Britain meet its EU target of generating 32 per cent of our electricity from "renewables" by 2020, Mr Brown says he wants to see 3,000 giant wind turbines built round our coasts. The "optimum" capacity of an offshore turbine is 3 megawatts (MW), so the nominal capacity of Mr Brown's turbines would be 9,000MW. But due to the vagaries of the wind, they would produce on average only a third of this, say 3,000MW. The Drax coal-fired power station in Yorkshire has a capacity of 3,800MW. Thus the entire output of Mr Brown's "Gulf of the future" would be less than that of a single conventional power station. The cost of building his turbines, estimated at £2.3 million per MW, would be at least £20 billion (the £10 million cost of the solitary 3.5MW turbine recently built in Cromarty, Firth, ran out at £2.8 million per MW). In addition, someone (who?) would have to build up to a dozen gas-fired power stations just to provide backup for when the wind is not blowing. We could get considerably more electricity from two new nuclear power stations at a fraction of the cost. Fortunately, there is no possibility that Mr Brown's 3,000 turbines, each the size of Blackpool Tower, will get built. It is impossible that they could be erected at a rate of one every working day for 11 years, not least because the world has only one ship of the size needed to install them. Such fantasies are only made possible by the fact that we are all forced, through our electricity bills, to pay a hidden subsidy to the turbine developers, which is 50 per cent higher even than the near-100 per cent subsidy we pay towards onshore wind energy. But if Mr Brown is living on the Planet Krypton, he has, alas, been joined by David Cameron and our entire political class. Not one MP, it seems, dares question a policy the total insanity of which they could work out for themselves just by spending 20 minutes on the internet. 'Europe' brings down the bird that set it free A longtime reader, Peter Howell, sends me a handsome painting of a Douglas DC-3 to mark the fact that he had just taken one of the last commercial flights allowed in these historic aircraft before they were grounded for ever last week by an EU directive. The DC-3, or Dakota as the RAF called it, was the ultimate workhorse of the Second World War, playing a key role in the liberation of Europe and Asia. (Mr Howell's father survived being shot down in one in Burma.) As I reported in February, a 175-page document, known as EC Regulation 1899/2006, imposes new technical requirements on all passenger-carrying aircraft operating in the EU, making no distinction between giant airliners and small vintage aircraft such as the Dakota, long a popular draw at airshows. T o fit these old planes with escape chutes and all the other safety paraphernalia mandatory in a jumbo jet was prohibitively costly. Thus did "Europe" finally ground the aircraft which 60 years ago helped liberate it. |
Illegal hunting is threatening rhino and elephant populations
BBC
Saturday, 19 July 2008 22:54 UK
Zimbabwe is to introduce a bank-note worth
Z$100bn in response to
rampant inflation - but the note will barely cover
the cost of two loaves of
bread.
Some Zimbabweans are already
calling for higher denominations in a
country where the official annual
inflation rate has exceeded 2,200,000%.
Independent economists
believe the real rate is many times higher.
Zimbabwe's meltdown has
left at least 80% of the population in
poverty, facing mass shortages of
basic goods.
The country's central bank has introduced several new
notes already
this year in response to the hyperinflation.
In
January, a Z$10 million note was issued, followed by a Z$50
million. By June
the denominations had reached tens of billions.
Daily
bread
In a notice in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, central
bank
governor Gideon Gono said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe would introduce
the
new notes - known as special agro-cheques - to help
consumers.
"This new $100 billion special agro-cheque will go into
circulation on
Monday," the notice said.
But Zimbabwe residents
say the latest note is already worthless, and
does not even cover their
daily lunch.
"Nowadays, for my expenses a day, I need about Z$500
billion," one
resident said.
"So Z$100 billion can't do
anything because for me to go home I need
Z$250 billion, so this [note] is
worthless."
Zimbabwe was once one of the richest countries in
Africa.
But it has descended into economic chaos in recent years,
with many
international observers blaming the policies of President Robert
Mugabe.
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 18:00
SOLDIERS, partly blamed
for the brutal wave of violence that gripped
the country before the 27 June
presidential election run-off, have been
awarded hefty salary increases
ranging between $3 trillion and $10 trillion.
Several Zimbabwe
National Army (ZNA) officers confirmed the
developments to The Standard amid
reports that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) had sanctioned a daily
withdrawal limit of $1 trillion for the
soldiers.
The RBZ is
now responsible for procuring army supplies and salaries
for the security
forces.
However, while the soldiers were excited about their
windfall, it was
not the same story among other arms of the security forces
such as the
police.
"As police officers, we are not aware that
we will get hefty salary
increments," said an officer speaking on condition
of anonymity. "The
government is afraid of soldiers and we are not surprised
that they have
awarded them a lot of money."
Corporals saw
their salaries ballooning from $150 billion to $2,5
trillion while sergeants
are now earning $4,7 trillion, up from $180
billion.
This means
while the rest of the Zimbabwean population is only able to
withdraw a
paltry $100 billion at a time - only enough to get them to and
from work -
soldiers are the only ones whistling merrily all the way to the
bank.
Building societies and a foreign-owned commercial bank
confirmed that
they were providing preferential treatment to officers from
the army by
allowing them daily withdrawals of between $1 trillion and $2,5
trillion.
Banks, however reportedly maintained the $100 billion
daily limit for
members of the public - an amount hardly enough to buy a
loaf of bread, now
selling at $120 billion.
Efforts to get a
comment from RBZ were fruitless.
But angry members of the public
who spoke to The Standard said they
were seriously disturbed by this
preferential treatment being given to
soldiers. They criticised the RBZ for
failing to sympathise with the
suffering masses.
Samuel Mwedzi
of Kambuzuma told The Standard that he was upset that
for the past week he
had failed to withdraw money to buy basic commodities
that have run out at
home.
"It is unfair that I should wake up every single day to join
a long
queue just to get $100 billion, which is not enough for anything at
all
while the military are being allowed withdrawals of $1 trillion or
more,"
Mwedzi said.
Many of the callers saw the preferential
treatment of soldiers as an
act of gratitude for their part in the ruling
party's campaign in an effort
to win the presidential election run-off at
all costs.
Other observers said it was important for the government
to keep the
military happy during a time of increasing economic
instability.
ZNA spokesperson Colonel Ben Ncube could not be
reached for comment
yesterday as his phone was continuously
unavailable.
By Foster Dongozi/Bertha Shoko
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:57
NEARLY 20 suspected Zanu PF
youths and war veterans allegedly raped a
Buhera woman in the four days she
was detained at their base in Nhamo
village, Buhera Central, in Manicaland
after the youths failed to find her
husband, the MDC has
said.
The woman, who is 32 and cannot be identified, is
being treated at a
private clinic in the eastern border town of
Mutare.
Pishai Muchauraya, the MDC Manicaland provincial
spokesperson, said
the woman was taken to Baravara base in Nhamo village
after they failed to
locate her husband, who was an MDC election agent
during the March 29
elections.
Her husband is in
hiding.
"They raided the homestead on the 19th of June looking for
the husband
and when they were told that he was not there, they
force-marched the wife
to the base," Muchauraya said. "She told me she was
raped by over 18 men in
the four days she was kept at the
base."
Authorities at the private clinic confirmed to The Standard
last week
that they were treating a woman, who was raped in
Buhera.
"I can confirm that she is here and still going through
assessments,"
said an official.
The youth militia and war
veterans, said Muchauraya, released the
woman after noticing that she was
bleeding excessively.
"On learning that she had been set free we
sent our car to pick her
up. This is when we realised that her condition was
serious. We took her to
a private clinic here in Mutare," said Muchauraya,
who is MDC MP-elect for
Makoni South. "I hear she is getting worse even
though a doctor (name
supplied) drained semen from her."
The
medical doctor was reported to be in the operating theatre when
The Standard
called for comment.
Muchauraya said they did not report the matter
to the police because
"when an MDC supporter goes to report an incident he
or she is the one who
gets arrested, accused of inciting violence. In most
police stations they
actually refuse to attend to our
supporters."
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said he had not
received a
report, but dismissed MDC claims that the police were arresting
opposition
supporters who went to report cases of violence at their
stations.
"I have said this time and again that, we as the police
are impartial
and we arrest anybody who commits a crime," Bvudzijena said.
"Their
statement is misleading and it's not true."
There have
been several reports of women who were reportedly raped by
Zanu PF militia
and war veterans in bases that were established countrywide
to drum up
support for President Robert Mugabe in the 27 June election
run-off, in
which he was the sole candidate.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
withdrew from the race a few days before
the poll, citing violence against
his supporters.
By Caiphas Chimhete
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:56
A top United States envoy
last week said the current situation in
Zimbabwe was discouraging many
students from applying their education to the
development of the
country.
Speaking on Thursday last week at an orientation
of a group of
students awarded undergraduate scholarships to study at
various American
universities, the Deputy US Ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Katherine Dhanani, said
many students "see no future" in Zimbabwe. The
students will be leaving the
country next month.
"Today, too
may of Zimbabwe's brightest students, after they complete
their studies, see
no future for themselves applying their learning back
home in Zimbabwe,"
Dhanani told the students.
Most of the students were assisted in
their applications by the United
States Achievers Programme
(USAP).
"I am quite sure that one element of Zimbabweans'
aspirations for
their future is for the nation to once again become a
country to which
students hurry back after graduation. A country in which
their education is
a major force for development, and a country in which
returning students
feel their contribution is valued and
rewarded."
Dhanani commended the students for achieving so much
under difficult
conditions. A number of students were affected by the
government's Operation
Murambatsvina in 2005. Their plight was worsened by
the mass exodus of
teachers from schools and the economic challenges facing
most ordinary
Zimbabweans.
"It's quite an achievement that you
have reached this point. I would
like to congratulate you for your excellent
results which earned you
acceptance," she said. "Your achievement is all the
more impressive given
the difficulties of the last years and especially of
recent months."
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 18:42
INTERNALLY displaced MDC supporters, who are returning to their homes
following a drop in politically-motivated violence, are being hauled before
village kangaroo courts chaired by war veterans to answer charges of
"selling out" and "seeking refuge" in other parts of the country, the
opposition party has said.
The proceedings are
conducted at torture bases headed by war veterans
and Zanu PF militia, who
masterminded President Robert Mugabe's violent
election campaign in the 27
June poll run-off.
Those found "guilty" are made to pay fines in
the form of money,
livestock or they perform community service in their
respective areas.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected talks
with Mugabe, demanding
an end to violence and release of political
prisoners.
The MDC has said that at least 120 of its activists and
supporters
have been killed since the 29 March election, over 10 000 injured
while more
than 200 000 were internally displaced because of the
government-sponsored
political violence.
More than 1 000 MDC
activists are languishing in the country's filthy
jails facing
politically-related charges.
The militia-sponsored retribution
project is most pronounced in
Manicaland, Masvingo, the Midlands, and
Mashonaland provinces.
MDC officials last week said the retribution
campaign was rampant
despite overtures by Mugabe's administration for a
negotiated political
settlement between Zanu PF and the MDC.
MDC provincial spokesperson for Manicaland Pishai Muchauraya said
party
supporters, who had gone back to their homes, were being charged with
"selling out" by war veterans and militia.
"Those found guilty
are forced to pay a returnee's fee, which can be
in the form of money, a
goat or chickens. The poor ones without anything to
their names are forced
to perform community service," said Muchauraya, who
is also the MDC MP-elect
for Makoni South.
MDC activist Kenneth Katsere from Ward 4 in
Mutambara in Chimanimani
was initially sentenced to perform three weeks of
community service but the
sentence was reduced to three hours due to
extenuating circumstances.
The circumstances: his homestead was
burnt down before the elections
and he had also surrendered a
goat.
The goat was slaughtered and fed to the raucous youth militia
at a
base in Gonzoni Village in the same district.
John Neshiri
and Thelma Mureyani, party district treasurer and
chairperson respectively,
were sentenced in absentia after they fled their
homes on learning that they
were wanted at the base.
"They were found guilty of seeking
'asylum'. John's sentence was to
water fields belonging to war veterans for
three days at an irrigation
scheme in the area," Muchauraya
said.
The militia told the MDC activists that they had disgraced
the country's
name by fleeing their homes and seeking sanctuary at embassies
of foreign
countries.
They had sought sanctuary at the US and
South African embassies.
Tsvangirai sought refugee at the Dutch
embassy after learning that his
life was in danger.
MDC
co-ordinator for Zaka district, Peter Imbayarwo, said it was not
safe for
members of the opposition party to return to their homes as torture
bases
were still operating.
He said headmen and village heads, affiliated
to Zanu PF, were telling
the returnees to join former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair in London or
pay a beast so they can be "accepted back" into the
community.
"Some are paying goats, chickens or money to the village
heads but it's
not a guarantee for one's safety because they (militia) might
come for you
during the night. They (village heads) are making quick money
out of a
crisis," said Imbayarwo, who is MDC chairman for ward 19 in
Zaka.
Imbayarwo, who was head of the MDC Zaka office when two
activists were
killed after they were doused with petrol and burnt by
suspected Zanu PF
militia in April, said opposition supporters continue to
be tortured at
Serry torture base in the district.
Mildred
Kamunhu, whose husband Chamunorwa Chidarikire was an active
MDC member
during the run up to the 2005 election, has fled Chinhoyi in
Mashonaland
West after marauding Zanu PF militias threatened her with death.
"It's no longer safe for me to stay in Chinhoyi because they have
labelled
me an MDC supporter because my husband was an active member of the
MDC,"
said Kamunhu, who is now staying in Harare.
An MDC activist, who
requested anonymity for fear of victimisation,
said war veterans and militia
camped at Chisheche centre near Gutu Growth
Point in Masvingo province, were
forcibly taking away food and livestock
from homes of opposition
supporters.
"If they arrive at your home and they don't get you,
they just take a
goat or chicken for slaughter at the base. No one will dare
follow them
because they will torture you. Actually, they have established a
pen at the
base," said the woman from Chisheche village, who has since fled
to Harare.
The militias are opposed to the dismantling of bases
because they are
benefiting from the crisis. "They have no food at their
homes so they are
determined to remain at the bases because they (bases)
have become their
sources of livelihood."
An elderly poor woman
from Gutu surrendered a bucket of a wild small
grain fruit called Nyii to
the base commander so she could be accepted back
into the
community.
She had nothing to her name.
Zanu PF
spokesperson Nathan Shamuyarira could not be reached for
comment.
Police chief spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said they
have not received
any reports of people being forced to surrender goats or
perform community
service so that they are accepted back into their
communities.
He said the torture bases, which he referred to as
"information
centres", were all dismantled soon after
elections.
"We urge people to report such people to the police
because there are
some people who are taking advantage of the situation,"
said Bvudzijena. "If
it is happening, it is criminal and they should be
arrested."
By Caiphas Chimhete
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:53
BULAWAYO - A war veteran
who was part of a group of Zanu PF officials
from Plumtree who slaughtered a
stray beast to feed militias at a terror
base was last week jailed for nine
years for his role in the
politically-motivated
offence.
Paul Tshuma (61)'s conviction marked the start of
a surprise clamp
down on ruling party supporters who terrorised villagers
with impunity in
the name of ensuring victory for President Robert Mugabe in
last month's
one-candidate presidential election run-off.
Plumtree magistrate, Mark Dzira handed down the sentence on Monday
after
Tshuma pleaded guilty to the charges saying they were desperate for
food at
the campaign base.
He was ordered to pay the state $3 trillion for
the beast or spend
another six months in prison.
In their
initial court appearance, Tshuma's accomplices, Gabriel
Ndlovu (56), Ophias
Msimanga (36) and Ncedanini Khumalo (22) pleaded not
guilty and were
remanded in custody to 21 July for trial.
The prosecutor, Philani
Mpofu said the four slaughtered the beast on
22 June and fed it to war
veterans at a Zanu PF campaign base in the
Soholoba area.
He
said they collected the stray cow from Elizabeth Ncube's homestead.
This was after they told her that they were collecting all stray
animals on
behalf of the government.
On arrival at the base they slaughtered
the beast valued at $3
trillion. Ncube reported the case to the
police.
They were charged with contravening Section 114 (2) (a) (i)
of the
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23 (stock
theft).
A number of villagers in Plumtree reportedly lost their
cattle to the
Zanu PF officials who set up torture bases at almost every
business centre.
They allegedly extorted food and money from hungry
villagers and
forced young girls to cook for them in scenes reminiscent of
the operations
of the North Korean-trained 5 Brigade in Matabeleland and the
Midlands in
the 1980s.
Sources said Zanu PF officials were now
frantically trying to cover up
the crimes following the arrest of the war
veterans.
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:51
BULAWAYO - A Gwanda magistrate last week
released 10 Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) supporters facing charges
of political violence
ahead of the 27 June presidential run-off election
after the state failed to
bring witnesses to back its
claims.
The MDC activists from Umzingwane district were
arrested for allegedly
beating up Zanu PF supporters who were campaigning
for President Robert
Mugabe.
Among those arrested were Thulani
Moyo and Mthandazo Moyo, the
provincial organising secretary and
vice-chairman respectively for the
Arthur Mutambara-led MDC.
Matabeleland South regional magistrate, Takudzwa Gwazemba ordered
their
release on Thursday, almost a month after their arrest saying the
prosecution had failed to prove its case.
"The magistrate
released the MDC supporters because of lack of
evidence," said MDC
provincial spokesman, Thandeko Zinti Mnkandla. "The
state failed to bring
witnesses."
Thomson Mabhikwa of Mabhikwa Legal Practitioners
represented the MDC
supporters.
By Nqobani Ndlovu
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:48
BULAWAYO - Starving villagers in Matabeleland are reportedly being
forced to
donate scarce grain and livestock towards President Robert Mugabe's
victory
celebrations, following the 27 June one-candidate presidential
election
run-off.
The celebrations started at Eland Police Farm in
Bubi District,
Matabeleland North, where soldiers and police officers
feasted on food
collected from villagers by the former liberation war
fighters.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) officials in
Matabeleland South
said villagers were being forced to donate food and funds
for the
"ward-based" victory celebrations.
Sources said the
practice was prevalent in areas like Lushongwe,
Matshetsheni, Wenlock and
Nyandeni, which bore the brunt of a Zanu PF terror
campaign ahead of the
widely condemned poll run-off.
Each household was ordered to
deliver about 5kg of samp and $200
billion in cash to war veterans stationed
at Zanu PF campaign bases.
Teachers in the surrounding schools were
also forced to donate $200
billion each despite earning less than $180
billion amonth.
Petros Mukwena, the secretary for the Arthur
Mutambara-led MDC said:
"It's so sad that after terrorising villagers to
vote for Mugabe, Zanu PF is
now coercing hungry villagers to donate food for
the so-called victory
celebrations."
The drought-prone
Matabeleland provinces are the hardest hit by the
food shortages facing the
country as a result of consecutive poor harvests.
The food crisis
has been worsened by the banning of non-governmental
organisations from
carrying out humanitarian work.
Zanu PF Matabeleland South
provincial chairman, Rido Mpofu claimed
that the donations were voluntary.
His Matabeleland North counterpart,
Headman Moyo could not be reached for
comment.
Mugabe won the election run-off with a 'landslide" after
MDC leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out, citing a campaign of intimidation
and violence
against his supporters that killed a score and injured
thousands others.
But Western leaders have refused to recognise
Mugabe and are instead
pushing for more punitive sanctions targeting his
inner circle for allegedly
stifling democracy in the country.
By Nqobani Ndlovu
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:46
LAST month's government
election promises are already beginning to
sound hollow: For many
Zimbabweans, daily survival has become an unending
nightmare, The Standard
can report.
Taavinga Madhende believed in the 100%
empowerment he was promised
during Zanu PF's election campaign. But the
reality is that his June salary
was only slightly more than $100 billion.
That is enough for a loaf of bread
or a day's fare on a commuter bus to and
from Chitungwiza.
Mollyn Munda, with a baby strapped to her back,
embodies the hardships
Zimbabweans have to deal with on a daily basis. She
has become a permanent
visitor to Western Union along bustling Samora Machel
Avenue for the past
week waiting to collect money sent by her brother in the
United Kingdom.
"They (Western Union) keep telling us that the
money has run out and
that we have to come back tomorrow," Munda
says.
"Many people who have not been lucky enough to get their
money sleep
out in the cold in order to be served first, but I can't do that
with the
child."
Munda is in a state of panic because her rent
is overdue.
"The landlord has said that I have to pay in two days
or leave," Munda
says, trying to calm her hungry baby. "He has told me that
I have to pay an
additional R20 fine for the delay or else she will evict
us. Accommodation
is hard to find these days, where will I go with the
children?"
In another part of the city, John Chengeta, a father of
four from
Budiriro, had his own problems. Chengeta has been going around for
three
days now with $150 billion he borrowed from work to buy maize-meal but
cannot find it. Chengeta says he was shocked when he finally found a 10kg
bag of maize-meal selling for US$4 (about $200 billion). In shock after
hearing this news, Chengeta headed for The Standard newspaper
offices.
"I was very angry about this and for a moment I was
tempted to report
them to the police but I decided to save my energy and
look for maize-meal
for my family," he said.
At least four
million Zimbabweans have left the country and are
resident in neighbouring
countries such as South Africa and Botswana and as
far afield as the UK and
US. Every month, they remit money to sustain
families back
home.
But not all Zimbabweans are fortunate enough to have
relatives in the
diaspora.
Mercy Taonezvi is one such
unfortunate person. Taonezvi's son needs
US$500 ($25 trillion as of Friday
last week) for a tonsillectomy.
To escape the unprecedented levels
of inflation in the country,
specialists are charging consultation fees and
medical procedures in foreign
currency. Taonezvi said she was told that if
she did not have foreign
currency, she could pay the equivalent of US$500 in
local currency at the
black market rate.
"My son needs the
operation but where can I get such a huge amount?"
said Taonezvi during a
recent visit to The Standard where she had come to
appeal for assistance.
"My medical aid cannot even cover an eighth of the
amount the doctors want.
I am at a loss."
Madhende, Chengeta, Munda and Taonezvi embody the
hardships
Zimbabweans are facing daily. While problems have been prevalent
since the
late 1990s, the pricing of goods in foreign currency has rattled
many
households.
The majority of the workers have their
salaries and earnings in local
currency which are barely enough for a decent
living. An average worker
earns $100 billion monthly and yet for many their
monthly expenditure runs
into trillions of dollars.
With the
exception of a few professionals working in the
non-governmental
organisations who are paid in foreign currency, most
ordinary Zimbabweans
are finding daily survival an unending nightmare.
And with each
struggling day, Zimbabweans are growing impatient for a
political settlement
that can bring an end to their suffering. For more than
10 years, the
economy has been grappling with runway inflation and food
shortages, a state
of affairs largely blamed on bad policies of President
Robert Mugabe's
government.
Hyper-inflation which has passed the nine million
percent mark has
meant that the Zimbabwe dollar is losing value on a daily
basis.
The state-sanctioned land grab after the February 2000
referendum and
the catalogue of human rights abuses that ensued saw the
economy plunging to
unprecedented depths. As the political impasse in the
country continues to
deteriorate, the economy is worsening and
correspondingly, the plight of
ordinary Zimbabweans.
"MDC and
Zanu PF should just get on with the talks," says Chengeta.
"We are really
tired of suffering. We have been very patient. Clearly Zanu
PF has failed
and whatever agreements they pursue, the MDC holds the key to
the country's
problems."
But many analysts say the talks are unlikely to yield
much because of
the gulf between the two parties.
Others
believe the current dialogue between the two feuding parties
can yield
something for the economy, provided it results in a settlement.
Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions,
said
the labour movement was banking on the current talks to succeed.
"We pray that the talks are successful," Matombo said. "Success
depends on
politicians themselves."
Economist Eric Bloch concurs: "It depends
on what the talks bring
about."
"If it is a right settlement
which brings about a government that is
prepared to take corrective
measures, a government which has international
recognition, we will have a
definite economic recovery."
Bloch said there was no way out unless
the country resolved the
political crisis.
"It will get worse
for everyone including Zanu PF," he said.
Independent economist Dr
Daniel Ndlela said there was a way out of the
crisis if the government
realised that there was a crisis.
"There is a way out of the
crisis. But as long as people are in
denial, Zimbabwe is going nowhere," he
told The Standard.
Zim Standard
Business
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:29
SOUTH African Airways
(SAA) is mulling routing its
Johannesburg-Victoria Falls flights to
Livingstone in Zambia in a major blow
to Zimbabwe's ailing tourism industry,
authoritative sources said last week.
Standardbusiness
heard that officials at SAA recently held a meeting
with the Civil Aviation
Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) where they announced
the airline would no
longer fly into Victoria Falls.
Stung by the SAA decision, there
have been frantic efforts to persuade
the airline to stay put on the route,
said sources familiar with the
developments.
To this end,
officials at the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority are keen to
persuade SAA to
rescind its decision in a last bid to bolster confidence in
the ailing
tourism sector.
But SAA Country Manager, Winnie Mudariki poured
cold water on the
pending pull out insisting the airline was staying put on
the Victoria Falls
route.
"There is no way we can pull out of
the Victoria Falls route," she
said.
The pull out from Victoria
Falls route means that tourists intending
to visit one of the Seven Wonder
of the World will have to come via Harare
before connecting to the resort
town. With the unreliability of the national
airline, Air Zimbabwe, industry
players said the country would lose out on
arrivals from South
Africa.
Players in the industry told Standardbusiness that the
pull-out, if
effected would be a blow to the industry.
"It's
like a vote of no confidence to a destination," an executive
said. "SAA is a
respected airline."
Besides killing the perception about a
destination, the routing of the
flights to Livingstone will hit hard on the
pocket, insiders said.
SAA flies twice daily into Victoria Falls
and players in the industry
said on average each flight has 120
high-spending tourists from the major
source markets - Germany, UK, Japan
and US.
The tourists spend an average of two bed nights and the
tourism
industry will lose over 400 bed nights, a blow at a time the sector
said
arrivals were peaking up.
CAAZ will lose on departure
fees. At an average of 120 passengers per
flight and with departure fees of
US$30 a passenger, CAAZ would lose US$7
200 a day.
Standardbusiness also heard that CAAZ will lose US$1 000 a day in
landing
fees.
For the past eight years, the country has witnessed the
withdrawal of
reputable airlines citing viability problems.
Airlines to desert Zimbabwe include British Airways, Swiss Air,
Lufthansa,
KLM, Air France and Zambian Airways.
Ethiopian Airlines almost
pulled out in November but had "an eleventh
hour" change of
heart.
By Ndamu Sandu
Zim Standard
Business
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:26
MEMBERS of Eastern and Southern Africa
(ESA) and the European
Commission met last month to iron out "contentious
issues" as the two
trading blocs inch closer to the conclusion of a
comprehensive trade deal.
The European Union (EU) and the
African Caribbean and Pacific
Countries are negotiating for an Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA), in
line with World Trade Organisation's
reciprocity rule.
ESA and the EC met in Brussels, Belgium last
month where they
discussed the contentious issues such as Most Favoured
Nation clause,
safeguards or export taxes.
Under the WTO
agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate
between their trading
partners. Granting a member special favour (such as a
lower customs duty
rate for one of their products) has to be applied for all
other WTO members.
Both parties reiterated their concerns and ESA is working
on their common
position on these issues.
The 24-25 June meeting was a follow up to
a technical one held in May
in Lusaka, Zambia, where ESA presented the
various trade provisions it would
like to discuss in the framework of the
full EPA.
The Brussels technical meeting witnessed discussions in
trade related
issues - Intellectual Property Rights, Competition,
Sustainable Development,
Investments and Government
Procurement.
EC will come back with a joint text on investments and
Intellectual
Property Rights detailing both parties' interests.
Standardbusiness
understands that ESA is finalising a position on
competition which should
serve as a basis for further talks.
On
sustainable development, discussions will continue on the basis of
the EC
proposal.
The meeting agreed that more consultations and
discussions were needed
on government procurement but ESA gave a state of
play of the situation in
the bloc.
A separate working group on
services was formed. It will analyse the
proposals of the two trading
blocs.
The EC and ESA agreed on joint texts on Sanitary and
Phytosanitary
services; Technical Barriers to Trade; and Trade
Facilitation.
The next meeting will take place in
September.
ACP countries used to enjoy unilateral trade preferences
with the EU
for almost three decades under the Lomé
Conventions.
The Fourth Lomé Convention was replaced by the Cotonou
Partnership
Agreement in 2000, which extended these unilateral trade
preferences up to
the end of 2007.
But because most African
countries were unable to conclude
comprehensive EPAs they opted for interim
agreements in order to avoid trade
disruption that could result from failure
to conclude WTO compatible
arrangements by the deadline of 31 December,
2007.
To date the EU has concluded EPA talks with the Caribbean
bloc while
in Africa it has concluded interim EPAs with regional blocs and
individual
member countries.
Negotiations are being
conducted in regional blocs. Zimbabwe is
negotiating under the ESA
bloc.
Zim Standard
Business
Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:23
GWERU - Faced with an
ever-weakening local currency, buffeted by
unrelenting stratospheric
inflation, the question that is being asked
increasingly is how ordinary
Zimbabweans are coping daily, The Standard
reports.
From hawking all sorts of goods, to charging rent in foreign currency
or in
kind, and finding ways to withdraw more money from the bank than the
stipulated maximum, most ordinary Zimbabweans have become unwilling crooks,
adept at employing tricks to circumvent the system in order to
survive.
Most people interviewed agreed that the salaries that they
earn are
not in line with cost of basic commodities and services. Lyson
Mlambo an
immediate past trustee of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) told
The Standard that no worker in Zimbabwe was getting paid enough
to afford
the basic needs.
"What we are getting as workers
cannot even meet our transport costs,"
he said.
"This simply
means that we are doing something in order to survive.
This manifests itself
in the fact that while our salaries are not even
enough to cover transport
costs only, we still go to work on a daily basis,
and can still manage to
put food on the table."
The daily increase in the cost of goods and
services has rendered
wages and salaries irrelevant that the majority of
those in the formal
sector moonlight in order to make ends
meet.
With a critical shortage of the staple maize, some urban
house
owners - most of who have long taken to charging rent in foreign
currency
are demanding that tenants provide them with a minimum 20kg bag of
maize-meal as payment for rent every month. The practice has become
rampant.
Workers in the ever-shrinking industrial sector earn an
average of
$200 billion a month - not enough to buy a 20kg bag of maize meal
or a
two-litre bottle of cooking oil, but investigations by The Standard
have
revealed that most workers can still afford to buy these commodities
although they cost much more than their average earnings.
Civil
servants are no better off. Lecturers at tertiary institutions
in the
Midlands' capital, Gweru receive an average salary of $200 billion,
according to their June 2008 salary advisories.
A workers'
representative at one of the leading companies in Gweru,
who spoke to this
reporter said in view of the situation on the ground it
was "a miracle" that
people were still able to go to work. He said workers
had become
impoverished and could no longer afford the basics, and urged the
authorities to act urgently before the economy implodes.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono has set maximum
withdrawal
amounts of money that individuals and companies can withdraw from
their bank
accounts in a largely failed bid to control inflation. The
amounts are
constantly revised as inflation continues to spiral. The maximum
amount that
individuals can withdraw currently stands at a hundred-billion
dollars -
only enough to buy a loaf of bread.
Requiring large amounts of cash
for various needs, individuals have
devised ways of withdrawing far more
than the regulated amounts, meaning
circumventing the laws of the land in
order to get by.
The Standard has heard of creative individuals
able to withdraw large
amounts of money from banks after producing papers
from the
Registrar-General's office indicating they have funerals to
conduct. At the
height of the state-meddling in the fuel crisis,
enterprising individuals
would drive into a service station, a hearse in tow
and draw more than the
statutory limits.
At one bank,
individuals are able to withdraw as much as $20-trillion
Zimbabwean dollars.
It is thought this is after conniving with the bank's
staff. The concerned
individuals are quick to state that although they are
aware that such
transactions are illegal, "beating the system" has become
the only way of
surviving in Zimbabwe.
NANGO regional chairperson for the Midlands
Province, Peter Muchengeti
said the restrictions had criminalised
Zimbabweans. "The system has made
Zimbabweans criminals. The culture of
corruption has become endemic and even
if the system changes; it will take
time to redress."
Muchengeti said criminal activities included
changing foreign currency
on the parallel market, buying commodities and
selling them at a higher
price which he said meant "everyone" in Zimbabwe
has become corrupt.
But observers note that if the myriad crises
Zimbabweans are enduring
were occurring in other countries, there would have
been civil strife. But
rather than take up arms against an administration
that is seen as largely
responsible for most of their suffering, Zimbabweans
have devised ways of
beating the system in order to survive. Rather than
endure the suffering, a
number have even risked life and limb by illegally
crossing the
crocodile-infested Limpopo River to escape to South Africa, in
search of a
better life.
By Rutendo Mawere
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 19 July 2008 16:49
LET me tell you a story. All its
characters are fictional and any
similarity to anyone, alive, dead or
somewhere in between, is probably
fairly coincidental and mostly
unintended.
Once upon a time there was a country called
Nonesuch. It was called
this because no such land could ever conceivably
exist. Its inhabitants were
called Agogans because they were considered to
be a little on the gullible
side. According to the Ministry of Keeping
People Properly Informed with the
Truth and Nothing But the Truth, Agogans
were a happy, contented and unified
lot, who were a hundred percent
independent. Everyone was so harmonious that
nobody ever disagreed with
anyone else. Elections were totally unnecessary
as everyone would always
vote for the right leader. The Properly Informing
Ministry constantly
pointed out that Agogans had good reason to be grateful.
From time
immemorial their enlightened and visionary leader had created
idyllic
conditions and happiness, peace and prosperity abounded. No legal
system or
police force was needed because there were no malcontents and
deviants, but
if they ever established a legal system, it would have worked
impeccably and
there would never be any acquittals.
That was, complained the
Information Ministry, until the Interferons
decided to wreak such havoc by
sticking their prying noses into the internal
affairs of Nonesuch. The
armies of the Interferons consisted of a motley
array of brutal forces drawn
from a number of warlike nations. There were,
for instance, Americons, who
wanted to yank the chains, and Britons who
wanted to pinch back the very
land originally stolen by the Britons' robber
baron par excellence, Rhodes.
These marauding barbarians sowed the seeds of
dissention over the entire
land and let loose a lethal germ warfare virus
called Hyperinflation. They
destroyed the crops. They bribed Agogans to
attack fellow Agogans. They
encouraged Agogans to demand subversive things
such as democracy and free
and fair elections. They enlisted the walls to
write on themselves rude
comments about people in high places.
But Agogans are a robust lot.
All were united in their determination
to drive the Interferons from their
land for ever. They even took their
struggle to the United Nations Security
Council, demanding that a resolution
be passed requiring the Interferons to
immediately cease their terrible
meddling in the internal affairs of
Nonesuch. The Rushans and Chinans
vigorously supported this resolution. The
resolution was passed nem con by
the Council.
In real life too
the titanic struggle between good and evil has been
furiously waging down
the ages. Often evil seems to have the upper hand, but
then good just
manages to overcome its indefatigable opponent. Not many know
that the song,
Amazing Grace, was penned by a person who had been involved
in that most
wicked affront to humanity, the slave trade. John Newton had
captained a
ship plying the slave trade. While attempting to steer the ship
through a
violent storm, he experienced a "great deliverance." When all
seemed lost
and the ship would surely sink, he exclaimed, "Lord, have mercy
upon us."
Later in his cabin he reflected on what he had said and began to
believe
that God had saved him from the storm and that grace had begun to
work for
him. However, he continued for some time to work in the slave
trade, later
explaining that his full conversion took time.
Eventually he
became a church minister. When preaching in a London
parish in later years,
he drew large congregations and influenced many,
among them William
Wilberforce, who became a tireless campaigner for the
abolition of slavery.
His hymn, Amazing Grace, speaks of his religious
conversion which saved "a
wretch" like him. He was lost but now was found,
was blind but now could
see. Grace taught his heart to fear and grace
relieved his fears. Grace
allowed him to come through many dangers and
snares, and grace would lead
him to home.
Newton continued preaching until the last year of
life, although he
was blind by that time. The film, Amazing Grace, tells the
story of the
prolonged struggle of William Wilberforce to bring about the
abolition of
the slave trade in England. In the film Newton has already
become a
clergyman, but is wracked with guilt and is depicted as a penitent
who is
haunted by the ghosts of 20 000 slaves. When he goes blind, he says
that God
had already allowed him to see too much.
As well as
composing hymns, Newton kept extensive journals and wrote
many letters.
Historians accredit his journals and letters for much of what
is known today
about the eighteenth century slave trade.
And then there is Alfred
Nobel whose endowment established the Nobel
Peace prize. Nobel had invented
dynamite and had made his fortune from
selling this product. Nobel naively
believed his dynamite would "sooner lead
to peace than a thousand world
conventions" because as soon as men whole
armies could be utterly destroyed
in one instant, "they surely will abide by
golden peace." Little did he
know.
Unlike demigods called leaders who believe that they're
always right
and can do wrong, most of us lesser mortals do bad things and
have to
grapple with our consciences when we do those things. The dividing
line
between good and evil is frequently so indistinct that we are not sure
whether we're doing good or evil.
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 19 July 2008 16:45
THERE is
a story which, to this day, villagers in my local area still
reminisce
about.
In years gone by, men would often go on short hunting
expeditions,
relying on hounds, to chase and capture prey. The loyal hounds
would often
return with prey after capture and would be duly
rewarded.
But during a particularly hard season, the hounds'
behaviour changed.
They decided to satisfy their own interest first, which
meant often, the
hunters returned to the village empty-handed.
Until, that is, a certain fellow decided to take the hounds at their
own
game. This fellow, affectionately known as Mutsvuku, on account of his
light
hue, decided that, since the hounds could not be trusted when left to
their
own devices, he had to do something about it. He decided that it was
best to
run alongside them. Mutsvuku was so fast, sometimes, he even
outpaced the
hounds. That ensured that he would always be on hand to
retrieve the prey
upon capture.
Sometimes, I can't help thinking that Zimbabweans
have placed too much
reliance on hounds to do the chasing of freedom and
democracy on our behalf.
You have to look at the character of the
hounds upon whom we have
entrusted our future to see the problem that we
currently face. I thought we
could sample some of the hounds chasing freedom
on our behalf via the
African Union. Here is a sample:
Paul
Biya - Cameroon
The man is 76 years old and he has been in charge
of Cameroon since
1982 -two years after Mugabe began his reign in Zimbabwe.
In 1996, a new
Constitution was adopted, providing for two presidential
terms. His terms
would have ended in 2011. But in April 2008, he announced
plans to amend the
Constitution to allow him to stay on beyond 2011, by
providing for
indefinite terms, jettisoning the two-term limit. The new
Constitution was
adopted by Parliament under the watchful eye of the
military. The effect of
these changes is to hand the life-presidency to
Biya. Can we, surely, trust
him to deliver freedom?
Jose
Eduardo Dos Santos - Angola
Dos Santos has been in charge of Angola
since 1979. From 1975 to 2002
the country was ravaged by a civil war pitting
Dos Santos' Popular Movement
for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and Jonas
Savimbi's Union for the Total
Liberation of Angola (UNITA). The war ended
when Savimbi was killed by
government troops in 2002 and the parties cobbled
up a Government of
National Unity. Sounds familiar? The first and only
multi-party elections
were held in 1992, the results of which were rejected
by Savimbi, leading to
a resumption of the civil war.
There
have been no elections since 1992. The next elections are
scheduled for 2008
(Parliamentary) and 2009 (Presidential). If Dos Santos
goes through, he will
be staying upwards of 30 years in power. But he is
likely to face the same
storm as his colleague in Zimbabwe. Can we rely on
him to deliver
democracy?
Yoweri Kaguta Museveni - Uganda
When
Museveni seized power in 1986 through the National Resistance
Army, he
reasoned that Western-style multi-party democracy was not
appropriate and
introduced the no-party democracy system. Political parties
were effectively
stultified leaving the National Resistance Movement to
virtually dominate
Ugandan politics. The 1995 Constitution set a two-term
limit on the
presidency and the first direct presidential elections were
held in 1996,
which aided by state resources, Museveni won with 75% of the
vote. The
second election in 2001 was blighted by allegations of cheating,
although
his challenger and former ally and personal physician Kizza Besigye
lost his
legal appeal.
Besigye was subjected to various forms of harassment,
including
charges of treason and rape. This caused local and international
condemnation and cutbacks in foreign aid. The former blue-eyed boy of
African politics had morphed into the usual character of the Big Men of
African politics. Is Museveni to be trusted with democracy?
Omar Bongo - Gabon
The Gabonese President is, probably, the longest
serving political
ruler in the world, a title he earned when former Cuban
leader Fidel Castro
stepped down earlier this year. He became president in
1967, aged just 31.
He is a wealthy man but has been accused of siphoning
state resources of the
small but oil-rich country. Some of his children have
been part of his
government. Multiparty elections were held in 1993, ending
what was,
effectively, one-party rule. The Constitution was amended in 2003
to remove
the restrictions on presidential term limits, effectively opening
a way for
him to rule for life. He allegedly rules with an iron fist. Is he
to be
trusted with democracy?
Yahya Jammeh - The
Gambia
Jammeh, who claimed to have a cure for AIDS, took power by
Coup in
1994 and was subsequently elected in 1996. He was re-elected in 2001
and
2006 amid concerns about the lack of fairness of the election. Press
freedom
is restricted and he shares Mugabe's intense hatred for gays, whose
heads he
has threatened to chop off. Opposition parties are allowed but
their chances
of gaining any power are severely limited. Along with Omar
Bongo, he has
publicly endorsed Mugabe's recent election in Zimbabwe. A
trusted hound?
Muammar Gaddafi - Libya
The
long-serving Libyan leader has been in power since 1969, when he
seized
power through a Coup. He has been one of the staunchest supporters of
President Mugabe, a relationship which dates back to the liberation war
days. His previously frosty relationship with the West has thawed in the
last eight years and is widely seen as a pro-active Pan-Africanist. But
elections are not on his favoured list of priorities and is reported to have
said before the 29 March elections in Zimbabwe that leaders like President
Mugabe and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, "should stay in power until they have
solved all the problems in their countries or die while still in power",
effectively advocating life-presidency. Can this hound be relied
on?
General Omar Hassan al Bashir - The Sudan
Omar al
Bashir seized power in war-torn Sudan through a military coup
in 1989. He
has little favour for multi-party politics. When he seized power
he said it
was to save the country from "rotten political parties". In 1993
Al Bashir
was appointed the president and won the 1996 non-party elections.
When the
parliament sought to reduce the President's powers in 1999, Bashir
dissolved
it and declared a state of emergency. In 2000, he was re-elected.
Since
2003, Sudan has been at the centre of world attention in view of the
atrocities in the Western Darfur region.
In 2004, Bashir is
reported to have stated that he would remain firm
and not bow to anyone
except God, something that Zimbabweans may have heard
recently from their
own leader. Bashir shares Mugabe's frosty relationship
with the West, whilst
building a cosy alliance with China, which, in turn is
enamoured by Sudan's
oil reserves. The two men have the fortune of being
favoured by China and
Russia, both acting as bulwarks against UN sanctions
or tougher measures.
They also share the fortune of support from Africa's
most powerful country -
South Africa. More recently, Bashir has been the
subject of an unprecedented
move by the chief prosecutor of the
International Criminal Court, who has
sought to bring charges genocide and
crimes against humanity.
These are some of the leaders in the African Union. They are the
hounds that
Zimbabweans have set forth in the hunt for freedom. Some hounds,
lately,
have become more sympathetic and would be prepared to help in the
pursuit of
freedom. But the howls of these kinder ones, from Botswana,
Zambia, Liberia
and a few others are easily drowned out. There is no doubt
that Zimbabwe
needs African support to resolve its crisis, but the
pro-democracy movement
has to be careful not to put all its eggs in one
basket or, for that matter,
to trust that these counterparts will deliver
freedom and
democracy.
Alex Magaisa is based at The University of Kent Law
School and can be
contacted on a.t.magaisa.ac.uk
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 19 July 2008 16:26
THE government last week
rolled out its Basic Commodities
Accessibility Programme - a populist scheme
that sacrifices scarce hard
currency supporting foreign jobs, companies and
products at the expense of
local firms and their
workers.
The basic commodities will be available through
so-called People's
Shops - a euphemism for shops that will only be accessed
by people with Zanu
PF membership cards. The government is intent on the
politicisation of basic
commodities and creating jobs for Zanu PF members.
Its record is clear on
this.
It is a myth that people's shops
will make basic food available at
cheap prices. They will become a conduit
for channelling goods to the
parallel market. Government fuel obtainable
from Noczim ends up on the
parallel market. This latest scheme will be no
different.
Perhaps the government never learns because those who
are supposed to
ensure that the ordinary people benefit are the drivers of
the lootocracy,
driving this country over the precipice.
It is
perplexing that we can have a whole government sitting down to
agree to
purchase soap, salt, cooking oil, maize-meal and other basics when
local
companies are crying out for foreign currency to enable them to
produce the
same goods being imported. In effect, the government sees
nothing wrong in
subverting local manufacturers and throwing thousands of
workers out of
jobs! What kind of empowerment is that?
The reason why local
companies are hampered in continuous
production/manufacturing is because of
intermittent power cuts, coupled with
erratic water supplies. Why is it so
difficult to address these impediments
so that industry can begin to meet
local demand with local products?
During the March harmonised
elections, Zanu PF campaigned on a ticket
of ensuring availability of maize
meal, nation-wide. Shops are still without
maize meal - and this for a
nation that used to be the breadbasket of the
region! There is no will to
tackle the crisis many Zimbabweans are facing
beyond photo opportunities
such as the one provided by Wednesday's launch of
the Basic Commodities
Accessibility Programme.
If there are foreign investors, as claimed
at Wednesday's launch, let
these be directed towards enhancing the capacity
of local companies to
produce and meet local demand and if there is a
surplus, channel this to
export markets.
There is a problem
when the government, whose role should solely be to
enable and facilitate
business, transforms itself into a player. Its
penchant for involving itself
in matters outside its normal role has
produced disastrous results. Noczim,
the Cold Storage Company and Woolworth's
are examples that immediately come
to mind. Clearly there is conflict when
these so-called people's shops
supplant existing retail outlets, rendering
investment and jobs
redundant.
The government is quick to accuse the business sector of
working
against it, but this is typical of government's approach whenever it
is
confronted with something it does not comprehend. The best way of dealing
with shortages is to ensure that those who produce are well supported and
resourced. There will be no incentive for the parallel market if the formal
market is awash with basic goods.
The Basic Commodities
Accessibility Programme is nothing but a
feel-good pseudo-panacea project
that in reality does nothing to solve the
current problems. In fact it will
further distort the economy by stoking
inflation and disempowering local
manufacturers. South African businesses
are delighted with the
windfall.
It is an indictment of the people supposedly in
leadership positions.
Is that what they won the election to
achieve?
Zim Standard
Opinion
Saturday, 19 July 2008 16:20
THE last time I was in Lusaka - a few
months ago during a Sadc
summit - what hit me with the force of a
pile-driver was the optimism of the
people, just ordinary people going about
their normal business.
This was during the last term of the
presidency of Levy Mwanawasa, a
man once pilloried as "a cabbage", after a
horrific accident during which
some people thought he had lost his
marbles.
My last visit had been in the early 1990s, a few years
after the
ouster of President Kenneth Kaunda, the founding president, ruler
of Zambia
since independence in 1964 until 1991.
Frederick
Chiluba was president then and there was despair in the air,
specifically at
the airport, where I stopped to catch another flight to
Europe. A girl
waiting at the airport turned out to be an old friend. She
said she was
waiting for anyone going overseas who could take her with him.
What for? I
asked. She said something to the effect that anywhere else would
be better
than her own country.
A few years later, she was dead.
Mwanawasa's presidency has been spectacular, politically and
economically.
What has endeared him to many Zimbabweans must be his stance
on the
imbroglio we have faced since 2000. His denunciation of President
Robert
Mugabe's impunity vis-a-vis democracy in our country has been
succinct and
robust.
So, when a few weeks ago, during the African Union
summit in Egypt, it
was announced he had died in Paris after being rushed to
a hospital there,
an understandable air of despair must have enveloped both
Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
Fortunately, after an awkward period of
silence, the government in
Lusaka announced he had survived. In his absence,
the declaration from the
AU on Zimbabwe was nothing dramatic, except for
Raila Odinga's public
assertion that Mugabe should be temporarily barred
from the AU until he
holds free and fair elections.
Mwanawasa
had previously and publicly declared that Zimbabwe, under
President Robert
Mugabe's stewardship was a "sinking Titanic". None of the
other leaders of
the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) had come
anywhere near to
condemning the situation in our country in such graphic
language.
South Africa's Thabo Mbeki had made the astonishing
statement that
there was "no crisis" at all. Would he and the other Sadc
leaders take up
Mwanawasa's forthright language to raise the stakes in the
group's campaign
to get Mugabe to do the "right thing"?
Unlike
Mbeki, Mwanawasa has no "liberation war credentials". But he
has earned the
respect of his colleagues in Sadc through the steady and
efficient
administration of his country. Zambia's economy has developed fast
since he
came to power. Certainly, there are some who believe he is "the
best thing"
that has happened to their country since 1964. He is serving his
second and
last term and it must be the hope of many Zambians and even
Zimbabweans that
whoever replaces him is not another KK or Chiluba.
If the three
countries which formed the ill-fated federation of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland,
Zimbabwe has fared the worst. Ironically, at the
height of that
British-inspired union, Southern Rhodesia was the most
prosperous, but also
the most politically explosive. Its government's racist
policies had all the
elements of a burgeoning apartheid-style regime.
Today, Zimbabwe's
economy is the worst of the three former states of
the federation. Even its
political upheavals are more spectacular than
anything that has occurred in
the other two countries.
Its leader, moreover, became the head of
government when the founding
presidents of the other two were in power:
Kaunda in Zambia is still alive
but long out of power, but Kamuzu Banda in
Malawi has long passed on, after
he had lost power in an
election.
All these statistics must rankle with Mugabe in his most
private
moments of reflection. Why would he believe his tenure must continue
indefinitely when the country is in such a mess and the likelihood of it
getting out of it seems decidedly remote, as long as he is in the
saddle?
What appears to have been accepted by many is that
Zimbabwe's road to
perdition has been preordained and that Zanu PF will play
a key role in the
manner in which the country will resolve its
crisis.
That Sadc, the AU, the United Nations and even the European
Union have
all failed to bring the men and women at the top in Harare to
book can no
longer be disputed. Only the people themselves can wield the
final weapon to
undo the destruction wreaked on the country in eight years
of political and
economic sloth.
Mwanawasa may be remembered
for having tried to infuse a sense of
urgency in trying to deal with Mugabe,
but we must all be sorry that
although his spirit was robust and willing,
the flesh was probably not equal
to the task.
saidib@standard.co.zw