Business Day
26 July 2007
Xolela
Mangcu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I
HAVE asked three distinguished Zimbabweans to join a panel discussion at
Wits University's Great Hall next Wednesday evening on the fate of their
country.
The panellists are Trevor Ncube, publisher of the Mail &
Guardian newspaper;
Elinor Sisulu, biographer of Walter and Albertina Sisulu
and a leading
member of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition; and Tawanda
Mutasah, the
executive director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern
Africa.
I have tried to get Zimbabwe's high commissioner in SA, SK Moyo,
to join the
panel but he is unavailable. I am not surprised when members of
the
Zimbabwean government declare their unavailability for anything these
days.
Just the other day they did not turn up for talks with the Movement
for
Democratic Change because they had more important things to
do.
Given my strong views on Zimbabwe, I have asked fellow analyst Khehla
Shubane to chair the discussion.
From our days at Wits University in
the 1980s, Khehla was universally
regarded as one of the more level-headed
among us. He was one of the very
few people who had no trouble talking to
you even if you were from the other
side of the political line.
But
why is it important to have such a public discussion, beyond the fact
that
Zimbabwe is now in free fall?
First, it is vitally important to
understand the broader political context
and political culture of Robert
Mugabe's Zimbabwe.
For far too long we have focused on the land grabs,
making it possible to
see Zimbabwe's problems as purely racial problems. And
that is why someone
like Ronald Suresh Roberts can write a book about
President Thabo Mbeki's
"native intelligence" on a lot of things, including
Zimbabwe, without saying
anything beyond "estimates of the Matebeleland dead
run to 20000". In the
book, Fit to Govern - The Native Intelligence of Thabo
Mbeki, how and why
and by whom those atrocities were perpetrated is
conspicuously absent.
For Roberts, these atrocities are insignificant
in the greater scheme of
things: "The regional villains of the self-styled
west, from King Leopold
and Cecil Rhodes, to PW Botha and Craig Williamson,
through Jonas Savimbi,
Mobutu Sese Seko and Teodoro Obiang Nguema, have
perpetrated violent and
kleptocratic horrors over longer periods than Mugabe
has time for in what
remains of his sad and violent
present".
Instead, he approvingly cites Mbeki's argument that the reason
Zimbabwe is
such a preoccupation of the west is because "white people died,
and white
people were deprived of their property". I would be embarrassed if
I was the
president.
The problem, of course, is that the president
himself is Roberts' s biggest
endorser. Frankly, it would make very little
sense to the victims whether
20000 people were killed in one massacre, and a
million in another .
In a brazen display of his lack of experience
with repressive regimes,
Roberts credits Mbeki for the fact that there has
been no military coup in
Zimbabwe.
Has the guy read anything about
Zimbabwe's political history under Mugabe?
For that you have to read
Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe, A Report on the
Disturbances in Matebeleland and
the Midlands 1980-1988.
I certainly hope Elinor Sisulu, who has written a
preface to the report,
will speak about those atrocities and thus take us
right into the belly of
the beast.
The second reason for a public
discussion on Zimbabwe has to do with what I
said a couple of weeks ago - as
black South Africans, we have a lot to
answer for when it comes to Zimbabwe.
A number of my friends were upset by
that generalisation- just like many
white progressives get upset by my
generalisations about white support for
apartheid.
And just as I have conceded that there are many white
people who "bit the
hand that fed them", I also concede there are many black
people who are
appalled by Mugabe.
However, my generalisations seem
to have worked very well, at least to the
extent that they got people to say
what they really think about Mugabe.
How else could I have known,
comrades, amid the applause and the ululations
for Mugabe at all of our
public gatherings? At least we now have the
opportunity to support the
people of Zimbabwe the old-fashioned way -
publicly.
The third reason
is about the exercise of democratic citizenship. We should
stop relying on
officials in the foreign affairs department for our
political
conscience.
Besides, they may even be more confused than all of us. In
other parts of
the world, foreign policy is a function of the power and
influence of
domestic lobbies.
The great historical question is: do
we have a lobby for Zimbabwe among us
black South Africans?
n The
panel discussion with Ncube, Sisulu and Mutasah will take place at the
Wits
University Great Hall on Wednesday August 1 at
6pm.
Mangcu is executive chairman of the Platform for
Public Deliberation, and a
visiting scholar at the Public Intellectual Life
Project at the University
of the Witwatersrand.
Mens News Daily
July 25, 2007 at 11:26
pm
There can be little doubt now that those of us who continue to live in
Zimbabwe are engaged in a desperate struggle that closely resembles a tug of
war. I do not think anyone who has interests here should either sit on the
sidelines and watch the struggle or ignore the play being acted out on this
particular stage at this time.
On the one side are those who control
the State and its machinery. On the
other are the MDC and its activist
supporters. This is not an equal
struggle, the one side holds all the
resources and capacity of a modern
State - the armed forces, the
administration, the Reserve Bank, State
controlled media and the
Legislature. The other side is under funded, have
no ready access to the
media, do not control the field of play and have only
themselves to rely on.
They have a global cheer brigade that encourages them
and applauds what they
are doing, but little else.
The reality is this. In the absence of any
effective intervention by South
Africa and its SADC allies, Mugabe is now
engaged in an exercise designed to
dismantle what is left of the private
sector, reduce urban populations by at
least a third and take over what is
left standing at the end of this
blitzkrieg either by the State or those
connected with the State.
This exercise has no legal basis, it is purely
political and is being
implemented with ruthless determination by people who
have their backs to
the wall and have nothing to lose. They are serious
about nationalizing all
the major foreign firms here, except perhaps for
certain selected mining
companies that are needed for the next stage. These
will be taken over one
by one by the State using either the State Trading
Corporation (the larger
retail groups) or the IDC (all major industry). With
the equities market
down dramatically this exercise will be supported by
payouts in Zimbabwe
dollars that will be deliberately depreciated by simply
printing money in
ever larger denominations.
The smaller concerns
will be liquidated by the price control exercise and
then taken over by Zanu
PF elements as well as individuals from the Armed
forces and the security
apparatus. These assets will be dished out as a
reward for compliance and
support and strictly controlled on a political
basis - move away from
support for the regime and you will immediately lose
your assets and rights
and be forced into exile - look at Mawere, Makoni
(NMB) and many
others.
Note that Zanu PF supporters and collaborators are being equally
targeted by
this exercise. Many are unhappy with the present operation and
the collapse
of the formal economy into which they have invested and secured
substantial
assets over recent years. This shows that those with power, no
longer regard
them as essential to their needs or operations. This is an
action by a tiny
group that is centered on Mugabe and is using the State
itself as its
support base.
They are deliberately destroying the
livelihoods of millions and hundreds of
thousands of jobs. They are also
systematically removing the means to supply
those same people with the
basics of life. Fuel and food are virtually
unobtainable right now. I am
informed that they have 40 million litres of
fuel stored in State controlled
facilities. Enough to keep them going during
the siege of the private sector
for several months - far longer than any
firm can hang on. Those affected
have only one option - flight. I am not
exaggerating or trying to panic
people, but a real refugee crisis is now
developing on our borders as two to
three million people try to flee to
anywhere that might provide them with
the means of survival.
This new wave of humanity is going to impact most
on South Africa where the
population of desperate, impoverished Zimbabweans
is about to soar to five
or six million. I leave to your imagination how
these new migrants will make
a living in South Africa. Please note that this
regime gives scant regard to
the interests of any of our neighbors - they
seek only their own survival on
a small island of a State in Central
Africa.
Their goal is a remarkable one - they are down sizing the economy
to a shell
of what we had before, they are reducing the urban population and
at the
same time the national population by forcing out those who are the
remaining
support base of the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai. When it is over we
will have
an impoverished, subsistence supported population with some
industrial and
commercial activity - all controlled either by the State or
by individuals
whom are themselves State controlled and directed. Under
these new
conditions elections, run by the military, will hold few dangers
for this
regime.
So back to the tug of war. This battle is not over,
we must, all of us who
have an interest in the future and welfare of
Zimbabwe and the region, now
become engaged in this tug of war. We can all
do something - I urge you to
take a short break from whatever you are doing
and think about what you can
do to help us pull this corrupt, despotic and
irresponsible disgrace of a
regime over the mound and consign them to the
dustbin of history. We can all
do something - let your mind run over what
you might do to contribute, no
matter how small, if we act together we can
make a difference.
It might be a small donation to Zimfund.com, it might
be a decision to delay
your departure from Zimbabwe and to try and struggle
on for a while longer.
A friend at Church has a small business that has been
wiped out - he has
gone to the UK to try and find a job and will then leave
with his family. If
he does, he takes yet another person out of the
struggle, leaving fewer
behind to pull on that rope. You might write a
letter to your MP or simply
help a local family without food or clothing. If
you run into a Policeman or
a Soldier - urge them to change sides. Every
person we can get to change
from supporting the regime to opposing it, is a
double victory.
Paul McCarthy wrote the song "Tug of War" for the group
"Wings" and says in
the lyrics that this is a tug of war to raise the flag
on this hill so that
afterwards we can all walk to a different drum. That is
what it is all
about; raising the flag for democracy, freedom, the rule of
law, justice and
equity, human rights and development. Help us do just
that.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 26th July 2007
Religious Intelligence
Thursday, 26th July 2007. 6:56am
By: George
Conger.
THE FORMER Bishop of Harare and Mashonaland Peter Hatendi
(pictured)
has accused his successor Dr Nolbert Kunonga of banning him from
functioning
as a priest.
In an open letter published on July 10
in the Zimbabwean, Bishop
Hatendi, denied rumours that he had left the
Anglican Church. His absence
from the pulpit was due to a ban issued by Dr
Kunonga, he explained.
"Not long after his consecration as Bishop
Dr Kunonga let it be known
that he had decided to deprive me indefinitely of
my divine right to
celebrate, officiate, preach and administer sacraments in
the Diocese of
Harare. The Diocese in which I was baptised when I was three
weeks old,
confirmed, ordained and consecrated Bishop."
No
reason for the ban had been given, he said.
However, in a letter to
the diocese dated Dec 22, 2002, Dr Kunonga
stated he intended to exercise
firm control over the diocese and "no one had
authority to over rule his
directives or to do anything without his prior
knowledge and approval,"
Bishop Hatendi said. Allowing him to continue
functioning as a priest
appeared to 'constitute a threat to [Dr Kunonga's]
control' of the diocese,
Bishop Hatendi said.
Elected Bishop of Mashonaland in 1981, Bishop
Hatendi resigned as
chairman of Zimbabwe's Electoral Supervisory Commission
in 2000 in protest
at government interference with the country's elections.
Dr Kunonga is an
outspoken apologist for the Mugabe regime and has been
banned from entering
the EU and the US for his complicity in the crimes of
the regime.
Bishop Hatendi noted that he had not fully complied
with the ban,
however. "On the premise that 'where there is a Bishop there
is a Church,' I
felt duty bound some time ago to set up an oratory altar at
home, and to
preach and celebrate in Anglican homes by invitation
only."
Archbishop Bernard Malango of Central Africa, Dr Rowan
Williams and Dr
Kunonga 'were duly informed of this,' he said.
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting Political
Editor
Mugabe meets business leaders
REPRESENTATIVES of Zimbabwe's
embattled business sector this week made a
major breakthrough when they met
President Robert Mugabe for the first time
in years and got him to commit to
a set of new economic reforms in a
development that might also see his
Cabinet taskforce on prices ease its
blitz.
Senior government
officials disclosed yesterday that President Mugabe, who
has of late
hardened his stance vis-à-vis business and Vice-President Joice
Mujuru on
Monday held a meeting with 12 captains of industry, who included
chairpersons of key sub-sectors such as manufacturing, mining, milling, and
banking.
The meeting, details of which are being kept a closely guarded
secret, was
held at State House, President Mugabe's residence, and lasted
for four
hours.
The business leaders, whose constituencies have suffered
losses running into
trillions of dollars since June 25 when the government
ordered a 50 percent
price slash, presented a document to the President
detailing economic
proposals they believe are required to ease tensions
sparked by the price
war and allow the sector to continue operating
viably.
No details have been made available on the proposals, but a "15-point
plan"
to rescue the economy, a source involved in the negotiations said, has
been
agreed between the President and the business leaders.
President
Mugabe, whose government has ruled the country since independence
in 1980,
has been on the warpath against the business sector, which he
accuses of
supporting a regime change agenda allegedly being pursued by the
main
opposition party and its allies.
Business leaders have denied the
charge.
Since the price crackdown was launched on June 25, over 4 000
traders,
including company directors, general managers and sales managers,
have been
arrested.
At the same time, serious shortages of products have
resulted in empty
shelves in supermarkets and other outlets because most
companies cannot
replenish their stocks - spelling potential trouble for the
ruling ZANU PF,
which will however, face a divided opposition in next year's
harmonised
polls.
"They (business) presented a confidential letter to the
President, and it
will activate a lot of things. The document outlines the
short-term,
medium-term and long-term solutions to rescue the economy," said
the source.
At the meeting, it is understood that President Mugabe urged his
government
to consider proposals crafted by business.
"The President was
really receptive to the proposals made by business. The
way forward agreed
was that government should negotiate with business and
work on the
proposals," the sources said.
The business delegation to the meeting included
representatives from key
organisations such as Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI) president
Callisto Jokonya, Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce president Marah
Hativagone, Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe
head Johnson Manyakara,
Delta Corporation chief executive officer Joe
Mtizwa, former CZI leader and
Ariston Holdings chief executive officer
Kumbirai Katsande, and Pindie
Nyandoro, chairperson of the Bankers
Association of Zimbabwe.
Also present at the meeting were members of the
Cabinet taskforce on price
monitoring and stabilisation, which is chaired by
Industry and International
Trade Minister Obert Mpofu.
After the meeting,
the businesspeople reportedly signed a letter, sent to
President Mugabe on
Tuesday, thanking him for "granting them an audience".
Government sources
said President Mugabe advised the business sector to
continue lobbying
government at their weekly meetings with Mpofu's team.
The meeting with
President Mugabe came as some large businesses inched
towards bankruptcy
because of mounting losses caused by the imposition of a
price cap on all
commodities.
President Mugabe last month ordered a 50 percent cut on the
prices of all
goods and services, charging that businesses were raising
prices and
deliberately reducing output in an economic "dirty tricks"
crusade to
trigger unrest and oust his government.
While the business
sector will regard the meeting with President Mugabe as a
major
breakthrough, there will be doubts as to whether government is willing
to
allow reforms to the extent necessary to keep the economy from further
ruin.
There have been signs over the past week, however, that the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC) could be readying some sort of
economic
recovery plan for Zimbabwe, even though government itself is giving
mixed
signals on whether it will accept reforms - whether prescribed by
local
businesses or by the region. On Tuesday, President Mugabe announced
that
Zimbabwe would implement a new economic plan that would be based on
what he
referred to as SADC's "recommended package of measures to turn
around the
economy".
On the same day, central bank governor Gideon Gono
talked of "on-going
regional deliberations on enhanced economic cooperation
with Zimbabwe",
saying this was one of the reasons he had postponed his
mid-term monetary
policy statement, which had originally been scheduled for
today.
Tomaz Salomão, SADC executive secretary, has since March 29 led a team
to
Zimbabwe to evaluate the state of the economy with a view to proposing
recovery measures.
Leefa Penehupifo Martins, head of communications at
SADC, said Salomão had
completed his study and was to report to the summit
troika of the SADC Organ
on Politics, Defence and Security.
The Zimbabwe
Economic Development Strategy - a blueprint first revealed by
The Financial
Gazette last November - would run between 2008 and 2010, but
now with SADC
backing, President Mugabe told Parliament.
Notably, however, government is
willing to run the reform plan only once
next year's elections are out of
the way and not immediately. This could
suggest that the planned programme
includes reforms that could be painful
for ordinary Zimbabweans.
FinGaz
Dumisani Ndlela Business
Editor
THE central bank has moved swiftly to allay fears of insolvency in
the
banking sector by insisting that interest rates and service costs remain
outside the influence of a Cabinet taskforce on prices that has sparked
economic chaos after forcing commodity prices down.
The Financial
Gazette reported two weeks ago that a wave of fear had swept
through the
banking sector after indications that government was planning a
clampdown on
financial institutions over what is seen as exorbitant bank
charges and high
interest rates.
The planned move was meant to augment a government crackdown
on industrial
operations and retailers.
But a notice sent out by central
bank governor Gideon Gono, who has taken a
tough stance against members of
the taskforce straying into the financial
sector, indicates that some
taskforce members had already covertly entered
the sector to force interest
rates and service costs down.
In a strongly worded notice to chief executive
officers of financial
institutions on Tuesday, Gono stressed that the
financial sector was outside
"unguided inspection, unguided dialogue,
unguided visitation or probe" by
members of the Cabinet crack unit led by
Industry and International Trade
Minister Obert Mpofu.
Gono insisted that
only the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor had
jurisdiction over the
financial sector, and solely had the mandate to foster
liquidity, solvency,
stability and proper functioning of the country's
financial system.
He
said his memorandum to the financial sector was in response to "some
distress calls and substantive information" that certain members of the task
force under ongoing government initiatives on pricing had visited financial
institutions demanding that interest rates or cost of services should be
reduced.
"In some cases, I am told, members of these committees have
demanded certain
confidential bank-client information and taken some such
schedules with
them.
"Given the potential for such acts to destabilise
the entire financial
system and the public's trust in the sector, as
governor, I have brought
this serious matter to the attention of the
chairman of the task force,"
Gono said in the memo, dated July 24, 2007, a
copy of which was shown to The
Financial Gazette by a senior bank
executive.
He has also met all Cabinet ministers and members comprising the
task force,
as well as deputy police commissioner Godwin Matanga, who is
overseeing the
operation.
He said they had agreed that the task force had
no jurisdiction over the
pricing of financial services and instruments, and
any members of the
taskforce approaching a financial institution on the
issue should be
"politely escorted out of the banks and if (they) offer
resistance, must be
apprehended and handed over to the police.
"Any
taskforce or committee issues or concerns by the public in respect of
product or service costing, interest rates or any other concerns about the
financial sector will be channelled to the governor who will use the
sufficient instruments available and/or powers at his disposal in terms of
the Banking Acts to deal with such genuine concerns," Gono said.
He said
attempts to arrest members of the financial sector over pricing
issues
should be immediately reported to him, the police commissioner
Augustine
Chihuri, taskforce chairman Mpofu or the Minister of Finance
Samuel
Mumbengegwi.
"In putting in place these safeguard measures, as governor, I am
attaching
great importance on the need to preserve the public's full
confidence and
trust in the banking system as the fulcrum of the economy's
local and
international transactions, both in production, trade and
commerce," Gono
said.
Interest rates are influenced by several factors,
such as the central bank's
accommodation rate, normally described as the
cost of money.
The central bank's accommodation rate currently stands at 600
percent for
secured borrowing and 700 percent for unsecured
borrowing.
Banks have in the past complained that they were in a squeeze
because they
were paying a large percentage of their deposits to the central
bank through
statutory reserve ratios, leaving them with very little from
which they also
had to pay depositors interest.
FinGaz
Clemence
Manyukwe Staff Reporter
POLICE fabricated an elaborate story about a farm
that does not exist and
created two fictional witnesses in a desperate bid
to link opposition
activists to "terrorism", a High Court judge said in what
could further dent
the image of the Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP).
The South African farm at which the police claimed opposition
activists
arrested at the height of a spate of petrol bombings a few months
ago were
trained in terrorist activities does not exist, while the two
witnesses that
the police said had implicated 13 members of the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) in a series of the bombings are also a figment of
the law
enforcers' imagination.
High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha
made the damning remarks on
Tuesday, when he ordered the release of the 13
activists after more than
five months in custody.
The group had been on
remand since March on allegations that they were
behind the bombing of
several government installations.
Part of the judgment reads: "The police had
alleged that the applicants had
trained at a farm known as Lala Bundu Farm.
When challenged to show on the
map where Lala Bundu Farm was, they failed to
do so. It turned out to be
non-existent."
Among those released are Glen
View Member of Parliament Paul Madzore, his
brother Solomon, who is the
party's youth secretary general, Chitungwiza
Member of Parliament Fidelis
Mhashu's driver Shame Wakatama, Peter Chikwati,
a former opposition Harare
City councillor, and activists Tonderai Ndira and
Kudakwashe
Matibiri.
"The applicants went on to further point out that in a desperate
attempt,
the state even claimed that it had evidence from one Peter
Chindodana and
one John Zhuwawo, but those turned out to be fictitious
persons who did not
exist. When the state was ordered by the court to
produce these individuals
to show that they existed, it failed to do so,"
the judge said.
Justice Kamocha said there was confusion on the charges that
the accused
persons were now facing. At one point, Police Assistant
Commissioner
Musarashana Mabunda had said the MDC members were accused of
undergoing
military training in South Africa between December 2006 and March
2007, only
to subsequently make a complete U-turn to allege that the
training had taken
place in 2001.
The judge said the prosecutor, Tawanda
Zvekare, told the court that the
police made four trips to South Africa to
investigate the matter, but that
they had been denied entry on two occasions
on the grounds that they had not
followed proper procedures.
The
opposition activists, who were represented by human rights lawyer Alec
Muchadehama, were granted $10 million bail each and were ordered to report
to the police three times a week. The ZRP has been dogged by criticism that
police have become the leading edge of the state's worsening rights abuses,
notably the detention and torture of opposition and civic society leaders in
March this year.
The force has also been accused of harassing legal
officers, defying court
orders and acting as if the ZRP is an extension of
the ruling ZANU PF party.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
TOBACCO deliveries to Zimbabwe's auction floors slumped from 1
million
kilogrammes to 700 000 kilogrammes in the past week owing to
operational
challenges, The Financial Gazette established this
week.
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chief executive officer Andrew
Matibiri
said although prices remained firm, deliveries slowed down because
of
shortages of fuel, incessant power cuts and the shortage of tobacco
wrapping
paper.
The season's average selling price remained at US$2.32
per kilogramme.
This year's average selling price has increased by 20 percent
from last year's
US$1.92 per kilogramme.
"There has been a shortage of
wrapping paper supplied by Hunyani Paper and
Packaging because of failure to
get the import component on the paper.
However, diesel and frequent power
cuts have been a major challenge,"
Matibiri said.
ZESA Holdings has
increased load shedding due to reduced power generation at
Hwange Power
Station caused by limited coal deliveries following a series of
breakdowns
at Hwange Colliery Company Limited, the country's sole supplier
of
coal.
Deliveries are around 56 million kilogrammes although the season is
expected
to end at 80 million kilogrammes when it closes in
September.
The latest tobacco harvest is a slight departure from a previous
pattern of
steady decline in crop output that began seven years ago.
The
predicted 80 million kilogrammes will represent a slight rise from the
55
million kilogrammes sold last season.
The golden leaf, which enjoyed a peak
of over 200 million kg in 2000, has
slid year after year over the last six
years to 160 million kg in 2001/2, 85
million kg in 2002/03 to 68 million kg
in 2004.
A shortage of inputs, under capitalisation and the government's
chaotic land
reform programme have been blamed for the output decline of a
crop that was
once the country's key foreign currency earner.
Matibiri
said farmers continued to be enthusiastic and were already working
on their
seedbeds for the next season's crop.
FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe
Staff Reporter
THE High Court has ordered Senate President Edna Madzongwe
to vacate a farm
in Chegutu that she allegedly forcibly seized last
month.
The order followed an application by the owner of the property,
Richard
Thomas Etheridge, of Stockdale Farm, which cites Madzongwe and the
Minister
of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement, Didymus Mutasa as
respondents, that
an offer letter issued to Madzongwe had no effect.
High
Court judge Yunus Omerjee granted Etheridge interim relief by consent,
barring Madzongwe from the property.
In court papers, Etheridge claims
Madzongwe and other people acting on her
behalf entered the property on June
20 this year and occupied a portion of
it in anticipation of his
eviction.
The forcible occupation occurred after Mutasa had served Etheridge
with a
notice, dated May 2, 2007, to vacate the farm by August 30 to make
way for
Madzongwe.
On June 15, the farmer was served with another notice
informing him of the
government's intention to acquire equipment and
materials from the farm.
Etheridge said Madzongwe's offer letter for the
property, dated March 6, was
null and void, as the farm had not been
acquired.
Part of the interim court order reads: "(Madzongwe) and all other
persons
claiming occupation of the property through her, and any other
person not
being a representative, employee or invitee of applicant
(Etheridge),
forthwith vacate the property."
The temporary order
authorises the deputy sheriff to enlist the assistance
of the police in the
eviction of any persons illegally occupying the farm.
In her affidavit, dated
June 27, Madzongwe says she only went to the farm to
initiate discussions
with Etheridge for the smooth handover of the property,
on the strength of
the offer letter that had been issued by Mutasa.
She denies acting
unlawfully.
"I categorically deny all allegations of any unlawful activities
by myself
and or persons under my control. At no time have I threatened
injury to the
applicant's person or persons nor to his property.
"While I
have attended at applicant's farm on a number of times, I have done
so for
the sole purpose of working out a smooth handover/takeover of the
farm and
its operations."
The Senate president said Etheridge had consented her
presence on the
property.
"My presence on the farm has been with the
applicant's consent. On the
contrary, applicant has all along assured me
that he would allocate
accommodation for certain of my employees to ensure a
smooth
handover/takeover. It is only recently in June 2007, that I have come
to
suspect that applicant no longer wishes to proceed with his agreement of
co-habitation."
Shingi Mutumbwa represents Madzongwe.
Three years ago,
the government said influential officials owning more than
one farm would be
prosecuted, but critics say prime farmland continues to be
parcelled out to
top ZANU PF officials.
Last year, the Bulawayo High court set aside Mutasa's
decision to withdraw
an offer letter to businessman Langton Masunda, in
favour of the Speaker of
the House of Assembly and ZANU PF chairman, John
Nkomo.
The judge barred Nkomo from interfering with Masunda's occupation and
use of
the land allocated to him, including Jijima Lodge and its environs.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
A HARARE magistrate has given Nathan Makanza, a government
doctor, until
tomorrow to produce a medical report to verify claims that
seven alleged
coup plotters were tortured in custody.
It also emerged
this week that the unexpected resignation of lead state
prosecutor in the
coup plot case, Lawrence Phiri, had caused delays in
proceedings.
On
Monday, a magistrate gave a Friday deadline for a medical report to be
produced, according to Charles Warara, the lawyer representing the alleged
coup plotters.
"The doctor explained that he did not get a court order
directing him to
produce a medical report. Eventually, the court directed
that he should
produce the report by Friday," Warara said.
Warara added
that the case had been stalled after Phiri left the Attorney
General's
Office for a new posting.
The Attorney General had, however, assigned another
law officer to the case.
"We could not proceed with the case. The prosecution
did not have their
house in order," Warara said.
"They have not responded
to our bail application. It has put us in a very
difficult position."
The
seven accused, who were arrested in May, face treason charges arising
from
allegations that they planned to overthrow President Robert Mugabe.
The
alleged ringleader of the conspiracy, Albert Matapo, intended to install
himself as prime minister and then "invite" the Minister of Rural Housing
and Social Amenities, Emmerson Mnangagwa to become president.
The seven
accused persons denied plotting to overthrow the government and
have pointed
out that they were picked up from a private office while
planning to form a
political party.
In June, the High Court barred members of the public from
attending the
hearing after an application by the state that the case be
heard in camera.
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting
Political Editor
INTERNATIONAL aid groups have mobilised less than half
of the grain required
to close a growing food deficit in Zimbabwe, a United
Nations (UN) agency
has said.
The UN launched a US$215 million appeal
for humanitarian and food aid early
this year after grim projections that
this season's grain yields would only
come in at half the nation's annual
domestic requirements. The size of the
appeal would have enabled the UN to
feed close to two million Zimbabweans
facing starvation.
Grain Marketing
Board acting head Samuel Muvuti disclosed on Tuesday that
Zimbabwe is to
import 200 000 tonnes of grain from Tanzania, to add to
another 200 000
tonnes that has been acquired from Malawi.
But the country remains in need if
aid, relief agencies say.
In its mid-year humanitarian appeal review released
this week, the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said
donors had mobilised only
US$122 million of the US$253 million required
overall and this would leave
swathes of the country at risk of
starvation.
"Following this mid-year review, the 2007 Consolidated Appeal
Process (CAP)
has a revised total requirement of US$253 million. As of 12
July, a total of
US$122 million has been contributed, leaving unmet
requirements of US$131
million. The majority of the funding received so far
has been for the food
sector, with 91 percent of requirements funded," the
UN office said.
In justifying the review of the food appeal, the UN said more
Zimbabweans
were seeing their livelihoods eroded by an economic crisis that
has further
undermined food security.
The body also referred to fresh
forced evictions, although it said these
were not on the scale of Operation
Murambatsvina/ Operation Restore Order,
the 2005 government clean-up
exercise.
FinGaz
Kumbirai Mafunda Acting Political
Editor
A FACTION of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
plans to
mount a diplomatic offensive in the region to lobby leaders ahead
of next
month's Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in
Lusaka.
Arthur Mutambara's faction says it will send a delegation
comprising its top
leadership to most of the 14 SADC countries to hold talks
with leaders
before next month's summit, which is taking place at a crucial
stage in the
mediation process.
The party said the meetings are part of
an on-going diplomatic campaign by
the opposition to engage regional leaders
in dialogue on the political and
economic situation in Zimbabwe.
The MDC
faction plans to meet some of SADC's most influential leaders,
including
Botswana President Festus Mogae and Zambian leader Levy Mwanawasa,
incoming
SADC chairman, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, current
SADC head
Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and South African President Thabo
Mbeki.
Mbeki, who is brokering dialogue between the ruling ZANU PF and
the two
factions of the divided opposition party, is expected to update his
SADC
counterparts on the progress of his mediation efforts, which are feared
to
be in danger of collapse because of a lack of cooperation by the ruling
party.
The Mutambara faction's spokesperson Gabriel Chaibva confirmed the
planned
mission, saying his party would use available options to lobby SADC
leaders.
"We will not stop at anything that we believe will assist in finding
a
permanent solution to Zimbabwe's crisis. The problems in Zimbabwe are an
African issue," Chaibva said.
SADC is under growing pressure to find a
solution to the crisis. Kofi Annan,
the former United Nations
Secretary-General, at the weekend described the
Zimbabwe crisis as
"intolerable", and criticised African leaders who cling
to power for too
long.
"The ever downward spiral of Zimbabwe is both intolerable and
unsustainable.
We all have a stake in resolving the crisis," Annan
said.
The former UN chief, who is now chairman of the Alliance for a Green
Revolution in Africa, criticised African leaders for shielding each other
from censure, even when some of them are guilty of gross human rights
violations.
He said the practice was "a pernicious, self-destructive form
of racism that
unites citizens to rise up and expel tyrannical rulers who
are white, but to
excuse tyrannical rulers who are black". SADC leaders have
so far expressed
concern about the economic and political situation in
Zimbabwe only
privately. Ahead of the March summit that appointed Mbeki to
mediate,
Mwanawasa broke ranks by publicly denouncing Zimbabwe as a "sinking
Titanic".
The Mbeki mediation mission has appeared to be stuttering in recent
weeks,
with ZANU PF missing crucial meetings and refusing to allow debate on
the
need for a new constitution.
President Robert Mugabe has publicly
said he will not negotiate a new
constitution, and on Tuesday opened a new
session of Parliament that will
debate an 18th amendment to the
constitution. The MDC opposes the amendment,
demanding an entirely new
constitution.
However, the talks now appear to be on course again after the
ZANU PF
representatives, Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche finally
travelled to
South Africa last week to meet Mbeki's mediation team, after
failing to show
up for earlier, scheduled meetings.
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
UNITED States
president George W Bush has nominated James McGee, a black
diplomat, as
America's next ambassador to Zimbabwe.
McGee will replace Christopher
Dell, who ended his tour of duty earlier this
month to take up a new
assignment in Afghanistan.
McGee has served in a number of African countries
during previous diplomatic
postings.
"The president intends to nominate
James D McGee, of Florida, to be
ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary of the United States of America
to the Republic of Zimbabwe.
Mr McGee, a career member of the senior foreign
service, recently served as
ambassador to the Republic of Madagascar," the
White House said in a
statement on Tuesday.
McGee has also previously served as US envoy to
Swaziland.
Earlier in his career, he served as counsellor for administrative
affairs in
Abidjan, Cote d' Ivoire.
Relations between Zimbabwe and the US
became frosty during Dell's term.
Before his departure, Dell said his
successor would maintain the pressure on
the Zimbabwean government.
On
the day he left Zimbabwe, Dell was famously chased through Harare
International Airport by a Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation news reporter,
who asked whether his was a "mission un-accomplished", an allusion to the
government's repeated charges that during his three-year stint in the
country, the American envoy had pursued a "regime change" agenda.
Dell
was a constant thorn in the flesh for the ruling ZANU PF party when,
given
the slightest opportunity, he could predict the imminent collapse of
President Mugabe's regime citing hyperinflation and the general difficulties
faced by Zimbabweans as a result of misrule.
Dell at one time predicted
inflation would reach as high as 1, 3 million
percent before the end of this
year. This, he said, could be the tuning
point for President Mugabe's
regime.
But President Mugabe hit back accusing Dell of instigating civic
strife in
Zimbabwe to force his government out of office.
FinGaz
Clemence
Manyukwe Staff Reporter
FIRST, there was a reserve force. Then there
wasn't. Now, President Robert
Mugabe says, there is.
In March,
Defence Minister Sekeramayi announced the creation of an auxiliary
force
under the Defence (War Veterans Reserve) Regulations of 2007 Statutory
Instrument 64.
But not long afterwards, during a question and answer
session in the House
of Assembly, he backtracked, telling Members of
Parliament that the
government had "no such plans".
Confusing the issue
even further, the Ministry of Defence, through the
"Department of War
Veterans", then convened meetings across the country,
where the chairman of
the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Board,
retired general Solomon
Mujuru, addressed ex-combatants.
Addressing a joint sitting of Members of the
lower House of Parliament and
senators on Tuesday, President Mugabe said:
"It will also be remembered that
to further bolster the defence forces,
government recently gazetted the
Defence (War Veterans Reserve) Regulations
of 2007. These regulations are
meant to guide the conduct of those eligible
war veterans who decide to
voluntarily join the war veterans reserve
force."
This was in stark contrast to Sekeramayi's earlier remarks in
Parliament,
when responding to a query by the Movement for Democratic Change
shadow
minister for defence, Giles Mutsekwa.
"Mr Speaker, the government
has no plans to form a reserve army," Sekeramayi
said.
President Mugabe
counts war veterans among his most loyal supporters.
FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe Staff
Reporter
Critics say new laws will only widen political chasm
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe warned against "parochial, partisan interests" when
he opened
a new session of Parliament this week, but his critics point out
that a
range of new laws he aims to push through this session will only
widen the
chasm between him and his opponents and put paid to any hopes for
economic
recovery.
The analysts said most of the proposed new legislation has a
partisan agenda
designed to entrench existing repressive laws.
The last
bill to be passed was the overwhelmingly opposed Interception of
Communications Bill, which allows government to snoop on private
communication.
Government critics say the next session is likely to deal
with even more
pieces of legislation designed to entrench state
repression.
Among the most contentious bills to be debated is the 18th
Constitutional
Amendment Bill, which is expected to have a bearing on the
country's
succession politics.
Parliament will also debate the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill and
amendments to the Mines and Minerals
Act, both of which seek to ensure a 51
percent shareholding in all firms for
locals.
The 18th constitutional amendment, the analysts said, would have a
negative
bearing on the on-going talks between ZANU PF and the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), being brokered by South African president Thabo
Mbeki.
The Bill will, on the other hand, extend the ruling party's
patronage system
by increasing the number of Members of Parliament, while
placing President
Mugabe in a position to influence the selection of his
successor.
As an indication that trouble is brewing over the proposed laws,
Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of one faction of the opposition MDC, said on
Monday that
government should withdraw the 18th amendment to show it was
serious about
the SADC talks.
Tsvangirai said he had ordered legislators
aligned to his faction to attend
President Mugabe's address in Parliament on
Tuesday this week, a departure
from the party's position to boycott all the
President's addresses.
"With this decision, it is my sincere hope that ZANU
PF and President Mugabe
will also show restraint and maturity. In this
regard, the withdrawal of
Constitutional Amendment No.18 that is currently
awaiting its first reading
in the Lower House will be a good and decisive
confidence-building measure."
According to constitutional lawyer Lovemore
Madhuku, the amendment would be
the "final nail" in the coffin for the Mbeki
mediated dialogue.
"The amendment goes against the spirit of dialogue. The
basis for dialogue
is to replace unilateral decision-making with consensus
and the inclusion of
the opposition. The amendment has its origins entirely
in the ZANU PF
politburo," Madhuku said.
The proposed economic bills
would "terrorise" business, in much the same way
the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) and Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA) were used to cow independent media and
civic society.
Madhuku
said legislation alone would not bring a solution to the country's
economic
and political crisis.
"Law making is not the way out of a crisis. The
so-called economic laws will
be equivalent to POSA and AIPPA in the economic
field,"
ZANU PF has, since 2000, pushed through Parliament laws designed to
deal
with perceived threats to its rule, but these have only served to
polarize
political opinion.
The majority of the laws were declared
unconstitutional by the Parliament
Legal Committee.
Among laws introduced
in controversial circumstances was the General Laws
Amendment Act, which
required urban voters to prove that they had lived in
an area for 12 months
before an election.
Under the same law, chiefs and traditional heads - allies
of ZANU PF - were
required to vouch for anyone registering as a voter in the
rural areas.
The law also limited postal voting to diplomats and members of
the armed
forces, disenfranchising about three million Zimbabweans estimated
to be
living in the diaspora.
ZANU PF has also fast-tracked laws that
classified millions of Zimbabweans
of foreign descent as foreigners, making
them unable to vote.
In addition, ZANU PF reacted to a flood of lawsuits
sparked by the land
reform exercise by amending the constitution so that the
courts effectively
lost jurisdiction over such disputes.
FinGaz
Nkululeko Sibanda Staff
Reporter
ZIMBAWE'S health delivery system is set to get a major boost
following a
decision by health professionals, based both in the country and
in the
diaspora, to form a trust to raise funds for the revamping of the
tottering
sector.
The health delivery system continues to face
numerous challenges that
include lack of adequate state-of-the-art
equipment, brain drain, and low
salaries for personnel.
Paul Chimedza,
the chairman of the trust and president of the Zimbabwe
Medical Association
(ZIMA) said yesterday there were a lot of gaps in the
health sector that
required to be filled, adding it was not the
responsibility of government
alone to address the challenges facing the
sector.
Said Chimedza: "We
felt that there were a lot of things that we could do as
professionals, both
here at home and abroad, to address the challenges
facing the health sector
in the country. We have realised the need for
equipment, refurbishment of
the existing equipment, and shortages of
sundries, drugs, and many other
things.
"Through the Zimbabwe Health Access Trust, ZIHAT, we hope we will be
able to
address these problems and bring back the good and efficient health
delivery
system, " he said.
Chimedza added that the drought situation,
the HIV and AIDS pandemic, and
the economic crisis bedeviling Zimbabwe had
made it impossible for
stakeholders to channel their resources to the
sector.
"The Zimbabwe Health Access Trust is targeting to bring together more
than
100 000 Zimbabweans in the diaspora and we hope that we will be able to
raise enough funds to help us in our endeavour," Chimedza said.
The ZIMA
boss is the chairperson of the trust, while Susan Mtangadura (SFG
Insurance
managing director) is the vice chairperson.
Other members of the trust
include Eugene Mlambo (Tetrad Group chief
executive officer - CEO), Chipo
Mtasa (RTG CEO), Vuyelo Chitimbire (director
ZACHT) Joselyn Chaibva
(Zimbabwe Pharmaceutical Company), Marah Hativagone
(Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce president), Douglas Mamvura
(e-Tranzact managing
director), Supa Mandiwanzira (CEO-Mighty Movies), and
Partson Mapanda (ZIMA
Midlands president).
Chad Tarumbwa (ZIMA Bulawayo Branch president), Enock
Tatira (ZIMA vice
president), Godfrey Skipa (USA based technical director
and ZIHAT diaspora
representative), Mike Mbizvo (World Health Organisation
representative based
in Geneva) make up the rest of the members of the
Trust.
The trust will formally be launched at a function to be held at a
Harare
hotel on August 2.
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
THE
government has announced a new nine-member board for the country's sole
grain marketer, the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), which is expected to usher
in new management for the loss making parastatal.
Former Reserve Bank
deputy governor and Infrastructure Development Bank of
Zimbabwe chief
executive Charles Chikaura will chair the new board, which
has been mandated
to restructure the parastatal and appoint a substantive
general manager or
chief executive.
This raises questions about the future of Samuel Muvuti, who
has served as
GMB boss in an acting capacity since 2003.
Agriculture
Minister Rugare Gumbo said yesterday the new board would be
tasked with
"streamlining the management structure" and expanding commercial
operations
- under which GMB manufactures its Silo range of foodstuffs - a
division
that has been the mainstay of the institution.
The last GMB board, which was
chaired by businessman Enock Kamushinda, was
dissolved in 2005. The rest of
the members of the new board are Basilion
Sandamu, Francis Muchada, Martin
Rushwaya, George Magosvongwe, Edward
Raradza, Aurthur Nyamukapa, Sara
Ndhlovu and Michael Bregger.
FinGaz
Dumisani Ndlela Business Editor
THE
public enthusiasm that accompanied the government's crackdown on
retailers
and manufacturers has turned into anxiety for the restive
population, but
one man faces the most invidious task: Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono.
Gono hastily called off a scheduled mid-year monetary policy
statement that
was due next week, saying he needed time to analyse the
implications of the
government price controls and an imminent supplementary
budget.
But indications are that the consequences of both are likely to be
uncomplimentary, and Gono might find out he has a very difficult assignment
crafting a monetary policy framework that could take the country out of its
present economic quagmire.
Sources indicated that there is growing
hostility among Cabinet members
against Gono, who is understood to have
vigorously opposed the campaign
against industry spearheaded by a cabinet
taskforce on prices led by
Industry and International Trade Minister Obert
Mpofu.
There are even suggestions of fissures between Gono and Finance
Minister
Samuel Mumbengegwi over the central bank boss' interest for an
oversight
role in fiscal issues, particularly prudent spending to compliment
his
efforts to rein-in inflation and reduce money supply growth, the sources
indicated.
Apparently, Gono is the front man for the government's
economic turnaround
programme, but recent events and developments indicate
his foot has been
taken off the front of the campaign. The supplementary
budget is essentially
a call for additional expenditure, and figures
reported by The Financial
Gazette last week do not inspire hope this fresh
budget is aimed at
repairing a faltering economy.
The direction the
policy decision and implementation had gradually taken
indicates that fiscal
policy will likely take a bigger role in the political
scheme as the country
drifts towards elections next year.
The political and economic truth does not
favour a fiscal policy having an
overbearing influence during the present
crisis; rather, it favours the
taking of a bigger role especially in
tackling the inflationary scourge.
Fiscal policy should play a diminishing
role in the country's economic
stabilisation efforts, and instead trail the
monetary policy by
complimenting its inflation-busting measures.
But
Gono's latest withdrawal of a scheduled mid-year monetary policy
statement
betrays the fact that monetary policy is playing second fiddle to
the fiscal
policy, and so Gono would have to mobilise all his creative
genius to ensure
that he comes up with a policy that accommodates a
profligate government
already oiling its machinery for a ruling party
victory in 2008.
As news
reports suggested this week, Gono's twice yearly statements have
become the
major highlights of Zimbabwe's economic calendar but analysts say
official
policies such as last month's directive to slash prices by half
continue to
frustrate efforts to revive the economy.
Gono said in his statement
cancelling the scheduled mid-year monetary policy
review statement that he
had done so because of "the need for more time to
enable the Reserve Bank to
analyse the policy implications and way forward
with regards to the on-going
government programme on pricing structures in
the economy".
He
highlighted that there was "need for the monetary policy statement to
draw
synergies from the imminent fiscal supplementary budget statement."
The
effect of a government clampdown on industry to force prices down has
been
to create widespread shortages of basic food commodities, as well as
acute
fuel shortages, grounding the economy to a near-standstill.
Scarcity, by
nature, generates inflation, and this adds impetus to a problem
the
government is already exacerbating through profligate spending.
High
government expenditure has stocked inflationary pressures, creating an
unbearable burden on industrial operations that have either closed down or
downsized to remain viable.
The effect of this has been to push
unemployment to 80 percent.Inevitably,
Gono will again be forced by the
government to run the printing press to
raise money for grain imports and
other basic commodities, further damaging
the prospects of a successful
turnaround programme.
The move will mean more money in circulation but too
few goods on the
market.
The country is already in a liquidity trap.
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
UNLICENSED drug
dealers are flooding the market with a variety of
antiretroviral drugs
(ARVs) that could do more harm than good, the country's
medicines regulatory
body has warned.
The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) said
this week that
individual drug importers had flooded the local market with
ARVs, which they
are selling from unlicensed locations such as flea markets
and hair salons.
MCAZ fears the drugs could expose the public to health
hazards as
counterfeit medicines usually cause drug resistance.
"This is
a dangerous practice because the medicines may have been subjected
to
inappropriate and hazardous storage conditions, thus affecting the
quality
and effectiveness of the medicine. Such medicines may be
counterfeited,
adulterated and contaminated, thus rendering them ineffective
and sometimes
dangerous."
Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa said his
Ministry was
fighting to stamp out the unauthorised drugs market, estimated
to be worth
billions.
"We are aware that people may want to make capital
out of it (trade)
especially in light of the HIV and AIDS pandemic," he
said. "We have invited
various other players such as SAfAIDS to evaluate the
problem," he added.
Medical experts say the collapse of the government health
system has created
a vacuum in which a parallel market for drugs has
thrived.
They warned that un-prescribed ARVs would result in drug
resistance.
Sixty-two thousand HIV-positive people are on the government's
treatment
programme, but this figure is expected to double by the end of
this year.
Altogether, 700 000 Zimbabweans are estimated to be in need of
treatment
urgently.
Zimbabwe has managed to reduce the prevalence rate -
making it one of the
few bright spots on the continent on AIDS - but experts
fear ground will be
lost to the effects of the economic crisis.
The
economic decline means government is unable to import enough drugs to
put
more people on treatment, and has also left the country short of medical
equipment and experienced personnel.
Health professionals say the massive
circulation of illegal medication
reflects serious shortcomings in the
control of the manufacture and
importation of drugs.
Most of the ARVs
sold on the parallel market are reportedly smuggled from
neighbouring
countries, where they are readily available and cheaper.
Employees steal
other drugs from pharmaceutical shops.
According to HIV and Aids lobby
groups, at least 3 000 people die weekly
from HIV and Aids-related illness.
FinGaz
A CRUDE and unethical attempt was made to turn Zimbabwe into a
depraved
nation of voyeurs or "peeping Toms" when explicit images touted as
depicting
an alleged sexual scandal involving the Archbishop of
Matabeleland, Pius
Ncube and a woman identified as Rosemary Sibanda, were
splashed on
television and in the official press over the past 10
days.
The images, which were reported by the official media to be the
result of
private surveillance undertaken over a two-year period by a
private
investigator hired by Onesimus Sibanda, were obscene in every sense
of the
word and should not have been shown on public television and
reproduced in
publications regarded as family newspapers. Moreover, if
Sibanda genuinely
undertook the operation to prove his wife's infidelity so
as to deal with
his marital problems, there is no earthly reason why the
whole sordid affair
should be foisted on the public as a national issue
requiring everyone's
attention and input.
For a private investigation
touted as having been undertaken for the
ostensible purpose of enabling a
cuckolded husband to prove a sexual liaison
between his wife and Archbishop
Ncube, the operation is itself replete with
sinister motives and
questionable ethics. If, as it is now abundantly clear,
Sibanda undertook
the operation so as to "donate" it to the media, questions
must be asked
about his motives for making such a move and whether this is
the kind of
"investigative" journalism this country needs. Sibanda has to be
a glutton
for emotional punishment to have required two years' worth of
pictures from
this intrusive operation when one episode of his wife's sexual
intimacy with
another man would have been more than enough to prove that she
had committed
adultery.
If Sibanda had undertaken the investigation purely for the purpose
of
solving his marital problems he would then have had to decide quietly how
to
proceed. The overkill surrounding the whole saga raises questions about
who
was behind it. The government should not stoop to the level of acting as
an
"agony aunt" in the personal affairs of individuals when there are
numerous,
serious national problems to be attended to. If I were an agony
aunt, I
would tell Sibanda that a man who feels compelled to share this kind
of
personal information about his wife with the whole nation is making a big
statement about himself.
The authorities rail regularly against Western
culture, saying it condones
abnormal practices such as homosexuality and
other forms of deviance and
permissiveness. But here they are
enthusiastically condoning the elements of
voyeurism and exhibitionism
written all over this lurid saga. Voyeurism is
defined as "sexual
gratification through clandestine observation of other
people's activities
or sexual anatomy." The surveillance on Archbishop Ncube
indisputably
involved an illegal break-in into his residence to install spy
cameras which
remained in place for two years, transforming the exercise
into a sexual
perversion rather than a simple information gathering
exercise.
The
official seal of approval given to this intrusive and unwarranted
violation
of privacy implies that the images culled over the two-year period
were
first submitted for high-level previewing so that those to be foisted
on an
unsuspecting public could be chosen and approved. It is not only sad
but
tragic to imagine anyone in officialdom being so morally depraved as to
derive pleasure from ogling at reel after reel of these images and gleefully
pronouncing them to be fit for public consumption.
It may be politically
expedient for the powers-that-be to condone this
episode because of the
identity of the woman's alleged lover, but it is
reckless and dangerous to
promote the erroneous impression being created
that "private investigators"
are above the law and can infringe on the
rights of others with impunity. It
is preposterous that a dishonest attempt
has been made to recruit the
public, a captive audience through television
and newspapers, as an
accomplice in this squalid affair. There are more
pressing issues that
should be the focus of national discourse, namely,
rampant public sector
corruption, human rights abuses, curtailment of
freedom of speech and other
liberties, hyperinflation, record unemployment
and widespread poverty.
At
the time the pornographic "peep show" was released into the public
domain,
most Zimbabweans were devoting their energies to hunting for food
and other
basic commodities in the aftermath of the confusion and anarchy
sparked by
Operation Dzikisa Mitengo/Slash Prices. It is cruel and
insensitive for the
authorities to try to divert attention from these bread
and butter issues by
regaling a harassed population with the obscene details
of an individual's
marital problems.
Today it may be Pius Ncube but who knows whose bedroom is
to be targeted
next if the state sees nothing wrong with snooping around
illegally when it
cannot prove that its intervention is called for because
national security
is threatened. Moreover, the privileged audience that
previews these
indecent images may become addicted to the pastime and demand
more and more
to be presented for their viewing pleasure. If the Ncube
debacle could be
pulled off now, just imagine how things will be when the
controversial
Interception of Communications Act comes into force.
mmakuni@fingaz.co.zw
FinGaz
ZUPCO buys luxury
buses
PASSENGER transport company, the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company
(ZUPCO)
has ploughed foreign currency earned from plying regional routes
into the
purchase of five new luxury coaches and 15 new bus engines and
replacement
parts.
The passenger transport company, which services daily
cross border services
to Francistown, Blantyre and Lusaka said the addition
of another regional
luxury coach service on the Harare-Bulawayo-Johannesburg
route had also
generated hard currency to acquire a total of 15 complete
sets of engines,
gear boxes and rear axles from First Automobil Works of
China to refurbish
its ageing fleet.
Despite the debilitating economic
crisis marked by out of control inflation
ZUPCO's revenue surged by 1 320
percent to $8.7 billion while profit after
tax increased to $1.4 billion for
the year ended December 31 2006.
ZUPCO, however, said fleet availability
deteriorated to 69 percent from 73
percent due to an aging fleet and a
shortage of spares.
- Staff Reporter
ACCA winter school
opens
ABOUT 160 members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
(ACCA) are scheduled to convene in Nyanga for the 2007 Winter School, which
opens today.
Indications are that issues to do with compliance with
international
accounting standards, which require inflation-adjusted
financial statements
for companies operating in hyperinflationary
conditions, might hog the
limelight.
The Institute of Chartered
Accountants' annual winter school grappled with
similar issues last
week.
"That issue is going to be discussed, but wide consultations will be
required to come up with a position," said Cuthbert Munhupedzi, the services
manager for ACCA Zimbabwe.
"Employers, many of whom will be represented
at this annual conference, need
to be reassured that accountants and
auditors are committed to sound
financial reporting and governance,
underpinned by a responsible approach to
business," said
Munhupedzi.
-Staff Reporter
Mugabe reiterates mines plan
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe has reaffirmed government's bid to take over control
of the
country's mineral resources and the mining sector through amendments
to the
Precious Stones Act and the Mines and Minerals Act.
The country's mining
sector has taken centre stage in recent months
following announcements by
the government that it would force foreign owned
companies to cede 51
percent shareholding to indigenous Zimbabweans.
In his remarks marking the
opening of the third session of Zimbabwe's
parliament, President Mugabe said
there was need "for the nation to assert
control over, and maximise
benefits, from its mineral wealth".
He added that following the discovery of
alluvial diamonds at the Marange
diamond fields, "a Bill to amend the
Precious Stones Trade Act (Chapter
21:06) together with the Mines and
Minerals Amendment Bill," would be tabled
for consideration and adoption by
parliament.
President Mugabe said parliament would also be requested to
ratify the
Association of African Diamond Producing Countries Convention,
which will
put in place diamond marketing strategies for member
countries.
The convention was signed last year in Luanda. -Staff Reporters
FinGaz
Comment
AMERICAN
screenwriter, producer and playwright Aaron Sorkin's play, A Few
Good Men,
which was made into a successful film in the early 1990s, examines
questions
of duty, honour, patriotism and rule of law that are quite
relevant to
Zimbabwe's situation.
More often than not, these values, albeit hidden in
the moral philosophy of
Sorkin's play, are abused to mean different things
to different people in
order to muzzle debate and advance sectional
interests.
The tragedy has been that those who do not agree with the
interpretations of
the powers-that-be have been made to pay a heavy price.
Zimbabwe is replete
with such examples.
Simba Makoni, the former finance
minister and Nkosana Moyo, the former
industry minister, were honourable
patriotic sons of Zimbabwe whose
dedication to duty was beyond reproach but
this counted for nothing, as they
were hounded out of the system for no
other reason except holding views
different from those of their
colleagues.
The tendency for those that see themselves as paragons of virtue
has,
therefore, been to go into overdrive in pursuit of their beliefs
regardless
of the consequences. The zeal and vigour with which the land
seizures and
Operation Murambatsvina were executed is a case in point with
the current
crackdown on prices being another example.
For
self-preservation, Zimbabweans have resigned to their fate, preferring
to be
bystanders in a game in which their views should hold sway. In spite
of the
pessimism and despair, it is however, encouraging that a few voices
of
reason remain.
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono is among the voices not
relenting in
pointing out the correct course to right the eight-year-long
recession whose
characteristics are all too familiar. Earlier quoted in the
local press
calling for sobriety and sustainability in achieving the elusive
stability
in runaway prices of goods and services, Gono has had to defer his
monetary
policy review statement to analyse the policy implications of
recent
external and internal dynamics.
"We must avoid good intentions
having negative results. Everything needs to
be properly dissected looking
at the pros and cons so that we do not make
rushed decisions," he was quoted
saying in reference to a government order
banning the use of fuel coupons.
"The last thing we want is legitimate fuel
that runs the mines failing
because we have done what we have done . . . we
have hindered people from
going about their normal business," he added.
That coming from a man privy to
details of every economic activity is
indicative of the country's lack of
capacity to deal with the fuel crisis at
the moment. Gono knows only too
well that when it comes to the crunch, all
eyes will be on the lender of the
last resort to dig deeper into its drying
foreign currency coffers to pay
for fuel, electricity, fertilisers and other
competing needs.
All of a
sudden, the powers-that-be want the nation to believe that the
Zimbabwe
State Trading Corporation, which collapsed in the 1980s through
mismanagement, is rising from the ashes to resuscitate private enterprises
that have fallen victim to its flawed policies. God forbid! Faith has also
been placed in the rundown Cold Storage Company, which has been entrusted
with the sole responsibility of supplying the whole country with beef. How
the meat processor failed to restock the national herd, which fell from 1.4
million in 2000 to 250 000 currently, has conveniently become irrelevant.
All of a sudden the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim), which had
become known more for corruption than delivering fuel, has the capacity to
keep the country's vehicle fleet mobile. No mention is being made of
Noczim's shortcomings, which resulted in the de-regulation of the fuel
industry. On the backdrop of Gono's advice, we doubt if Noczim has
reinvented itself to meet the country's fuel needs.
It is unfortunate
that sober-minded people have opted for silence and
speaking their minds
under the cover of darkness, which is not helpful.
Exorcising the culture
that makes it a taboo to give an opposing viewpoint
is everyone's
responsibility.
Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke was spot on when he
noted that
"when bad man combine, the good must associate; else they will
fall one by
one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."
Gono
cannot win the war alone. More voices are needed to stand for what they
believe is right. We wonder who among the legislators feeding from ZANU PF's
patronage system has the guts to stand up and be heard. Is advice from their
constituencies ever taken up? Shame on them!
The approach to
policy-making has tended to be up-down, hence people who are
supposed to
benefit from these policies never relate to them.
It is time technocrats in
government and elsewhere took a leaf from Gono who
has tried to draw views
from all the key constituencies as opposed to taking
the prescriptive route.
True, much of Gono's advice has largely been ignored
but as they say, "all
that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good
men do nothing".
A land of milk and honey again . . . after Pius
Ncube
EDITOR - Hooray! We have managed, through a carefully
planned sting
operation, to expose that sanctimonious running dog of the
imperialists,
Pius Ncube, who was doing our country down.
Now ZESA will
no longer shed us 18 hours a day, fuel will be in huge
abundance and
transport woes will end, hospitals will be fully equipped and
manned and
death will be a thing of the past, local authorities will attend
to refuse
collection, roads and street lighting, corruption at all levels of
society
will be rooted out, farms will be fully utilised and there will be
no need
to import anything, foreign currency will flow in and inflation will
come
down, the police will start doing their national duty and crime and
social
vice will find their demise.
In short, Zimbabwe will now become the land of
milk and honey again; all
because we have brought down that pretentious
clergyman.
You, of little faith and even smaller minds, why do you waste the
precious
little national resources at your disposal to settle personal
scores while
the country descends into a chasm of dire poverty, anarchy and
oblivion?
What was said again about little things and little minds? You numb
my mind.
I give up.
Observer
Harare
-----------
Paranoia,
not panacea
EDITOR - The recent slashing of prices on
commodities by the government has
created further economic arguments and
political ambivalence. There has
emerged people who seem to be courting the
view that our government has the
capacity to stamp out lawlessness. Alas!
They also seem to suggest that the
merchants, the commuter bus operators and
other economic players such as
fuel dealers are liable for the lawlessness,
which has become the mainstay
of our country.
There is thus a fearful
symmetry. Clearly, the government is the real
culprit; it is the locus and
the perpetrator of lawlessness. Those who
espouse contrary views need to be
reminded that merchants of imported goods,
the fuel dealers and the commuter
bus operators are like all of us, victims
of circumstances, which were
engendered intentionally or inadvertently by
the government. The current
fluctuations of economic factors are neither
caused by the economic players
nor by our consumerism, but they are clear
seismic ramifications of
misgovernance.
It is true. At present, our country's livelihood depends on
imported
products and the scant foreign currency flowing from those in
exile. Our
fuel and many hospital supplies are imported commodities. So,
given our
indefinite international isolation and the sharp decline in the
value of our
currency, it is confounding and extravagant folly to expect
fuel prices,
commuter bus fares and treatment fees to remain within the
confines of
artificial regulation.
Official exchange rates are too
artificial; they do not embrace or reflect
the prevailing economic
variables. Therefore, we should expect prices of all
imported products to
continue spiralling. However, I make no negation that
there are a few rogue
elements who may be taking advantage of desperate
consumers by charging
extortionate prices.
Clearly, such miscreants can be censured, once there is
a broad and apposite
restoration of the rule of law throughout the country.
It is needless to
stress that the palpability of our government has been
graphically
illustrated by an amalgam of activities: its failure to
implement an open
and transparent land redistribution exercise; the
manipulation of electoral
processes; restriction of fundamental freedoms
contained in an edifice of
laws such as POSA and AIPPA, which were passed in
2002 to subvert political
liberalism; the use of war veterans, youth
militias, police and others in
attacking opposition supporters and civil
society representatives. Our
government lacks not only the qualification or
the courage to stamp out
lawlessness, but the integrity to do
so.
Reproach or rapprochement with the current government is like trying to
embellish or to put make-up on a frog. Such well-intended efforts will be
stultified by the enormity and the gravity of its recalcitrance and
brinkmanship. However, the glaring truth though is that slashing of prices
is not the panacea to our economic crisis.
It is economic foolishness and
political paranoia, which inevitably creates
an acute shortage of basic
commodities and brings untold suffering to the
masses. Phew!
Innocent
Kadungure
Ottawa, Canada
-------
Readers
Forum
Condom to
church
EDITOR - In pursuit of our
dream of an AIDS-free
generation, events unfolding are showing that there is
an area that is not
being targeted by the AIDS awareness programmes. We have
read and heard of
sex scandals involving leaders of Christianity from
Vapositori to those of
great churches like the Catholics. This group
preaches about abstaining and
discourages the use of
condoms.
It is time we target these people to make
them aware
of the dangers of HIV/AIDS. Innocent spouses are perishing in
silence as
their gullible partners are drawn into having 'holy" affairs.
They teach
about self discipline, abstaining, faithfulness but they behave
otherwise.
Let's save the nation and take a "condom
to church".
Lovemore Andrew
Magaso
Chitungwiza
------------
Recycle, not
reshuffle
EDITOR - I do not think it's proper to
say President
Mugabe is going to reshuffle his Cabinet but we must say
recycle instead.
Everyone knows the same old people who have run out of
ideas are going to be
replaced by either the old guard who were offloaded
years back or with those
who are currently serving. We want new ideas
please.
Lovemore
Maseko
Durban, SA
-------
Correct this misrepresentation of
facts
EDITOR - In a story in last week's
Financial Gazette
titled "Chikafu complains to AG about Chinamasa"
paragraphs 5 and 6 purport
that Mrs Lilian Kudya spoke to me, the Chief
Magistrate, about referring Mr
Chikafu's pending criminal trial to the
Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs. It also purports that
we discussed whether the same
Minister would give directives on how Mr
Chikafu's case would be dealt with.
For the benefit
of your readers, I emphatically deny
that Mrs Kudya asked me the quoted
questions or anything to that effect.
Mrs Kudya is
free to tell you what she asked me. The
truth is that she asked me whether I
knew which magistrate was to preside
over Chikafu's pending criminal trial.
My response was that I did not know
and that I had not been requested to
appoint one. She then indicated that
she and some of her colleagues had
presided over applications made by Mr
Chikafu, which made them reluctant to
preside over the trial. I suggested
that if she too recused herself then
another magistrate had to take the
case.
There
was no mention of the Minister at all.
H.
Mandeya
Chief Magistrate
---------
Why have goods we can't
afford?
EDITOR - I am shocked by the
castigation that the price
controls introduced by the government have
received so far, particularly
from the private media. Some so-called
economists have also chipped in to
belittle the efforts of goverment to
cushion the poor from the ever rising
cost of living.
Others have viewed price controls as a political strategy,
but the question
is so what if it's for the benefit of the poor employee? I
have never
understood the meaning of the phrase national interests. The
introduction of
price controls has clearly defined the phrase for me.
First, we are all Zimbabweans and that should come first
before we start
talking about party politics.
Fears were that firms would
close. Personally I think that
those that close will do so not because it is
no longer viable for them to
remain in business but because they have hidden
political agendas. Why
should we have basic products on the shelves that are
beyond the reach of
many workers? Is this not the same as closing down the
business?
Manhebbles
Mpandawana,
Gutu
-----------
This is doublespeak,
if you ask me
EDITOR - The Property Gazette
headline of August 29 2004,
"RBZ to keep an eye on property sector" clearly
shows the extent to which
government and business will tell you one thing
while they mean the other.
Doublespeak, as political pundits would
say.
In the article, RBZ governor Gideon Gono is quoted as
saying that they would start monitoring the property sector "in response to
the continuing wanton hiking of rentals in the real estate sector with scant
regard to macroeconomic fundamentals".
The governor
decried practices, which included "the
fuelling of property price increases
through quoting prices in foreign
currency'. Deja vu.
Naturally, an Estate Agents Council spokesman "agreed that
there is need for
continued dialogue and practical activity within the
sector to enhance the
governor's fight against inflation."
In the same issue of
Property Gazette, a 4-bedroomed house
in Zengeza was going for Z$110
million, a Hatfield house was fetching Z$290
million, while a one-bedroomed
flat was asking for Z$100 million. And this
was before the three zeroes were
removed, remember!
Today, in 2007, the same Zengeza house
is worth Z$4
billion (revalued), a 3-bedroomed Hatfield house is worth a
whopping Z$9
billion (revalued), while the same flat as above is fetching a
cool Z$6
billion (revalued).
Now here's the catch. Z$4
billion is actually the old $4
trillion if we include the three zeroes,
which were conveniently removed
last year. That means the Zengeza house has
gone up by . wait for it . 36
000 times in three years! Similarly, the
Hatfield house has gone up by about
31 000 times, while the flat is worth 60
000 times its 2004 price! Eish!
I "hope and pray " that my
figures are wrong. And could
some economist please check the above figures
for me before someone realises
I'm a cartoonist and therefore shouldn't be
talking about this!
But there's still hope for us yet. I
still have have faith
in Gideon Gono.
Tony
Namate
Harare
-------------
Politicians playing Father
Christmas
EDITOR - In the wake of the
prevailing economic crisis, a
number of unschooled self-proclaimed
economists have come up with their own
ingredients of uninformed populists
policies that snub what they call
bookish economics. Most of these
(politicians) have not even perused the
supposedley offending textbooks and
merely rely on hearsay from those of
questionable sanity. Dr G Lipsey in his
book an Introduction to Positive
Economics says "when a person rejects a
given economic theory chances are
that he is merely offering an alternative
theory."
As I have said elsewhere, price reduction is a
self-defeating attempt to prove popular with the party fathers playing
Father Christmas to the masses by indulging in this physical policy. Such
acts of chivalry are often met with catastrophic consequences such as the
collapse of the business sector due to shrinking profit margins against a
backdrop of rocketing inflation, stock exchange crash, retrenchment of
employees especially in the luxury goods sector.
With
this there is an unprecented acceleration in the
parity rate (a more
realistic measure of inflation). In short there will be
a depression.
Empirical evidence of the present situation proves this: There
has been a
marked increase in the number of redundant employees already in
the retail
sector due to reduced activity, PEPS stores have hinted of their
intention
to curtail their operations in Zimbabwe, Makro are unhappy and
have said
words to the same effect. This is merely a tip of what is
coming.
The laymen, perhaps caught up in the euphoria and
ecstasy
brought about by the frenzied looting of the shops of basic
commodities,
cheered at the prospect of nationalisation. After the
atrocities suffered
under the No Electricity Authority, No Water Authority,
No Railways, Air
Zimbabwe and Dead BC one would expect them to know better.
What is the use
of obtaining a cheap product that cannot be delivered? When
did any of us
ever buy diesel from NOCZIM at the said "official price"? What
is the use of
being able to potentially afford bread when all you can do is
stand in a
queue all day with no reward to show for it because no relative
or friend of
yours had the sense and foresight to join the police
force?
In democratic societies, there is a clear
distinction
between a political party, the government, and the state. Now,
why is it
that the Politburo, which is essentially a ZANU PF arm has to
decide on
matters of national importance? Why do I have to pay $50 000 to
get home at
2000hrs and kindle the fire and hunt for
water?
As Ken Mufuka asked: what shall become of
us?
Garikai Dzoma
Harare
The First Post
Moses Moyo in
Harare
The story of a cattle rustler shows how vindictive Mugabe's
justice can be
I was arrested by Mugabe's police the other day. They
caught me dealing in
foreign currency, and threw me into the Harare Remand
Prison. After six
hours I bribed my way back out onto the streets, but
during that time I met
a man whose plight made me forget mine.
His
name is Takawira Mwanza; he is 35, a tall, dark and softly spoken man. I
laughed when Takawira told me his story. As is so common in today's
Zimbabwe, I laughed to keep from crying.
Takawira is in jail because
he committed the ultimate Zimbabwean crime. He
stole from our President.
Mugabe hasn't forgiven him, and probably never
will. This is his story. He
was a soldier. More than that, he was a member
of the Presidential Guard, an
army elite dedicated to protecting Robert
Mugabe. He was stationed at one of
Mugabe's rural retreats, Highfields Farm
in Norton, 40km south of Harare.
The year was 2001.
The President, celebrating a close-run election
victory against the newly
formed Movement for Democratic Change, decided to
buy himself a present. He
had a prize bull flown in from China on Air
Zimbabwe, to join his fecund
herd at Highfields Farm.
The bull was
huge and white and the President named it Karigamombe, which
translates as
He Who Fells A Bull. No, I don't get it either.
Takawira fell in love
with the bull. "He was so beautiful," he told me.
"Also I had my own herd at
my village in Sanyati, and I decided my cows
deserved a bull like
Karigamombe."
He was due some leave, so he took it. The first night he
borrowed a truck,
made some excuse about a visit to a vet, loaded up
Karigamombe, and trundled
him the 80km to his village. His arrival was a big
event for the village -
and I imagine for Takawira's cows.
"I know it
was wrong to steal," he told me. "But a man has to look after his
family any
way he can." Takawira is not the most cunning of criminals, and
this wasn't
the most baffling of cases, even for Zimbabwe's military
intelligence
officers. They turned up the next day, took Karigamombe home,
arrested
Takawira for cattle rustling, and saw him sentenced to four years'
hard
labour.
A stern but reasonable sentence, you might think. Takawira did
his time,
looking forward to his release in 2005. He didn't get it. What he
didn't
know was, Mugabe had taken it personally.
"The President
doesn't think you have been punished enough," he was told. So
although he
had completed his sentence he was not to be released. That's why
I found him
in the remand prison. It's where the government puts anyone they
don't know
what to do with. "Perhaps one day the President will be in a good
mood, and
let me out," he says, with unjustified optimism. Fellow prisoners
say he
cries out in his sleep for Mugabe to release him, and let him return
to his
family.
Meanwhile Karigamombe continues to enjoy life with his family on
Mugabe's
farm. The bull is said to be very contented. And so, doubtless, are
all his
cows.
FIRST POSTED JULY 26, 2007
Earth Times
Posted : Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:32:34
GMT
Author : DPA
Harare/Johannesburg - Thirty-one people died from diarrhoea in western
Zimbabwe after relatives were unable to prepare rehydration solution because
there was no sugar, reports said Thursday. The outbreak occurred in Gokwe
district last month, said the official Herald daily.
Children
under the age of 5 were the most affected, according to the
report.
"I can confirm that 14 people have died in Siamchembo
area in Gokwe
North while another 17 died in Masita in Gokwe South," Deputy
Health
Minister Edwin Muguti told the Herald.
Villagers are
usually told to prepare a simple rehydration solution
using salt and sugar
for diarrhoea patients.
But sugar shortages meant it was impossible
in many cases to make the
life-sustaining mixture.
"Most homes
failed to prepare the oral rehydration solution because of
the sugar
shortage in their areas, Muguti said.
This contributed to the high
death rate. They could still have saved
lives by simply boiling water and
observing basic hygiene standards," he
said.
There are chronic
shortages of most basic goods in Zimbabwe, including
sugar, bread, cooking
oil and meat.
The situation has been worsened since the government
last month
launched a crackdown on high prices, which saw many goods
disappearing from
the formal market and reappearing on the black market at
much higher prices.
Lack of clean water, especially in arid rural
areas is also a massive
problem that contributes to the spread of
disease.
The deputy health minister said the diarrhoea outbreak in
Gokwe was
now under control.