| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
Keeping one's head down is the worst thing to do in
Zimbabwe. Either leave
the country, or you stay and fight. Even if you don't
go looking for
trouble, it will come looking for you. I have been heartened
by my son's
transformation. He hasn't led a mutiny yet, but I know he is not
following
orders blindly anymore either. I have been encouraged by the young
women I
saw lying in hospital - raped, beaten. "We are just waiting for this
to heal
so we can get out and organise some more actions. We won't rest until
Mugabe
has gone," they told me. I have been inspired by the
erstwhile
"non-political" mothers' union in my church, praying to God to
"remove this
pharaoh from our land. Help us to be strong like David as he
faced Goliath."
As I dance to the very meaningless but melodious Rambai
Makashinga (Stay
Strong - a ruling party-sponsored jingle played every 30
minutes on all
radio stations), I am energised and glad to be part of the
rewriting of
Zimbabwe's history.
Thandi Chiweshe is a Harare-based
feminist activist.
Daily Nation, Kenya
Nowhere to run for former tyrants
Idi Amin is
dying in a hospital in Saudi Arabia. The former dictator who was
accused of
massive crimes, has lived the last 25 years in comfortable
exile.
Fortunately, this kind of impunity is becoming a thing of the past.
When I
asked a Saudi diplomat a few years ago about the possibility of
Amin's
extradition or prosecution, he told me that ''Bedouin hospitality''
meant
that once someone was welcomed as a guest in your tent, you did not
turn him
out.
In fact, Bedouin custom mandates hospitality for three
days only. But it is
this kind of blind welcome which made for the old adage,
''kill one person,
you go to prison; kill 20, you go to an insane asylum;
kill ten thousand,
and you get invited to a peace conference.''
Amin
is part of a shrinking club of ex-tyrants living safely in exile.
Their
number includes Amin's equally brutal successor Milton Obote, now in
Zambia.
Haiti's Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier is hiding out in France.
Mengistu
Haile Mariam, whose ''Red Terror'' campaign in Ethiopia targeted
tens of
thousands of political opponents, now enjoys the protection of
President
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Paraguay's Alfredo Stroessner, who used
torture
to maintain a 35-year reign, is retired in Brazil.
Amin's
regime was responsible for widespread murder and torture and the
wholesale
exile of his country's Asian community. When he was ousted in
1979, he
eventually wound up in Saudi Arabia, where he has lived in ease on
a Saudi
stipend.
If Amin's rule provided an enduring symbol of madness and
tyranny, his
comfortable exile has proved equally symbolic -representing the
safe havens
that ex-dictators were long able to expect.
Times are
changing, however. The establishment of the new International
Criminal Court
and the war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former
Yugoslavia represent a
new determination by the international community to
seek punishment of the
worst international crimes.
Despite fierce US opposition, 91 countries
have ratified the international
court, and recently, the court's prosecutor,
Mr Luis Moreno Ocampo,
announced that he was looking into crimes in the
Democratic Republic of
Congo as a possible first case.
National courts
have also shown an increasing willingness to hold
individuals to account for
abuses committed abroad. The arrest of General
Augusto Pinochet in London in
1998 on a warrant from a Spanish judge for
crimes allegedly committed in
Chile sent a message to tyrants that they
could not avoid justice by hiding
behind walls of impunity.
Just last month, Mexico extradited the
notorious Argentine naval officer
Ricardo Miguel Cavallo, to Spain for
alleged torture and ''disappearances''
during Argentina's 1976 to 1983
''dirty war.''
Justice also seems likely to catch up with Hissene Habre,
the former
dictator of Chad. Habre, who lives in exile in Senegal, was
indicted by a
judge there three years ago on atrocity charges, though the
Senegalese
courts ultimately ruled that they did not have jurisdiction to try
him.
Habre's victims are now seeking his extradition to stand trial in
Belgium,
and Senegal has agreed to hold him pending an extradition
request.
Last year, a Belgian judge visited Chad to investigate the
charges, while
the Chadian government has formally waived Habre's
immunity.
Exile is becoming harder to find. The shadowy Peruvian spy
master, Vladimiro
Montesinos, now on trial at home, was surprised two years
ago when he was
denied refuge even in Panama, the traditional safe haven for
washed-up
despots. (Raoul Cedras of Haiti and Jorge Serrano of Guatemala are
there
now; in the past it hosted the Shah of Iran.)
Montesinos's boss,
ex-President Alberto Fujimori, is clinging to his
rediscovered Japanese
citizenship to shield himself from extradition back to
Peru.
Charles
Taylor, Liberia's embattled president who has been indicted for war
crimes by
a UN-backed court, may find temporary shelter in Nigeria, but it
probably
won't protect him for long.
And if Saddam Hussein is ever located, it's a
sure bet that he won't enjoy a
comfortable retirement.
It is
unfortunate that Amin will die in his ''tent'' without being brought
to
justice, but the world is a smaller and smaller tent. One day, the Idi
Amins
of this world will find they have nowhere to hide.
Mr Brody is special
counsel, Human Rights Watch.
The Herald
Central bank rapped
Herald Reporter
THE Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe stopped the normal printing of money 12 months
ago and failed to
take corrective measures in March when the total amount of
money in
circulation was only $145 billion despite warnings of a galloping
inflation
and huge salary increases that were expected in July.
Highly placed
sources said the central bank failed to make adequate
provisions for the
supply of money even though inflation was expected to
grow from 225 percent
in March to the present 365 percent.
The collective bargaining exercise
for both the Government and the private
sectors was predicted to result in
over 100 percent salary increments, which
would entail that the amount of
cash in circulation should have at least
doubled to over $300
billion.
Prices of most goods and services have gone up by over 100
percent with most
people requiring not less than double the amount of money
they needed in
March to pay for their basic requirements.
Sources
close to the central bank said there was need for at least $200
billion to be
printed, which is a far cry from the bank's plan to inject a
paltry $24
billion into the economy.
Questions were being asked on why the central
bank was not putting people at
retail outlets that will collect money
everyday and ensure that it is banked
and circulated.
Examples were
cited of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, which has taken
drastic measures of
placing its people at some of the big wholesale and
retail outlets to ensure
that tax was being paid for goods being purchased.
"Why is the Reserve
Bank not doing anything when its job is to supervise all
financial
transactions and know which points deal in cash?" asked
the
source.
Other sources claimed that the normal printing of money
was stopped to
coincide with the "final push" by the opposition MDC, which
failed but had
now left a cash crisis.
"This is a very dangerous
political game being played," said one source.
"The crisis started in
March when the bank realised that there was only $145
million in circulation.
This would have given them enough lead-time to deal
with the July scenario of
the huge salary increments and galloping
inflation.
"The bank knew
this and decided not to take any action," said the source.
He dismissed
claims that the bank was trying to control money supply and
inflation by
starving the market of cash, which was largely being used for
speculation in
foreign currency deals or that the central bank did not have
enough foreign
currency to buy ink and paper to print money.
"That is absolutely rubbish
because they are the custodians of foreign
currency. Their primary
responsibility is to manage money," he said.
He accused the central bank
of fuelling the parallel market as it entered
into "swap" deals with some
banks to raise foreign currency on the black
market and was willing to pay
them using similar rates.
There were fears that the near riots that
almost occurred at the weekend as
bank clients scrambled for cash at most
banks and building societies in
Harare, could continue as more people
received their salaries.
Irate callers who phoned The Herald yesterday
said officials at the central
bank should either resign or solve the cash
crisis immediately.
"How can you have a central bank whose supreme
responsibility is monitoring
the supply of money, fail to make adequate
provisions for the country's
requirements.
"It is their responsibility
and duty to monitor all financial transactions
but they have so far failed to
take action to ensure that even the money
being collected by supermarkets,
wholesalers and other traders is being
channelled through the banking
system.
"This can only be deliberate sabotage or gross incompetence,"
said one
caller who declined to be named.
Daily Nation, Kenya
Democracy is not just about elections
When I first
lived in the US about a decade ago working in the
anti-apartheid movement, my
boss Randall Robinson of TransAfrica Forum who
had led an effective
grassroots campaign demanding US sanctions on apartheid
South Africa, used to
remark that what happens between elections is more
important than the
elections themselves.
This, he said, is the period that determines whether a
country has democracy
and whether it can provide social justice and
development for its citizens.
These words have proved prescient for
Africa over the last decade. Even
though almost all the countries in the
continent have held some form of
election, one can count fewer than five that
have real democracy and
accountability, and are delivering or trying honestly
to deliver a better
life for their citizens.
One need only look at the
recent "elections" in Togo, where the longest
serving President in Africa
(and second only to Fidel Castro in the world),
Gnassingbe Eyadema, extended
his long rule after first overturning the
constitutional term limit;
Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe used Moi-like
terror tactics of violence and
intimidation to force his way back to power;
and even Charles Taylor's
electoral win in 1997 in Liberia for illustrations
of "empty
elections."
In an article published in the July 2003 edition of Journal
of Democracy
titled, "Africa: States in Crisis," Richard Joseph, the director
of the
Programme of African Studies at Northwestern University, Chicago,
argues
that without a restrengthening of the African state and its ability
to
deliver to its people, election-driven democracy will continue to be
a
failure.
Reading this article reminded me of the heated discussions
we had in the
pro-democracy movement with Western scholars and analysts
between 1992 and
2002 regarding the role of elections without institutions
and structures
that could protect the people of Kenya and provide a suitable
framework for
politics.
The Western "experts" saw elections as a quick
fix to a multitude of
problems, and as a reasonably cheap way of resolving
the direction and
leadership of a society.
But for us in the reform
movement, it was, and still is, clear that without
structural changes that
provide a level playing field in the elections and
does away with the "winner
take all, first past the post system," Kenya
would likely sink further away
from democratic change and into the failed
states realm that have become
commonplace in Africa.
Our argument was that in a situation where
violence and State patronage were
tools for holding on to power and were
controlled by a few powerful people,
elections were bound to be manipulated.
There was therefore a need for
fundamental restructuring and if this meant
postponing elections, then so be
it.
These arguments were the seed for
the campaign for constitutional reform as
one of the ways to change the
fundamentals of governance, and it found
expression in the slogan, "No
reforms, No elections."
US Ambassador Smith Hempstone, for all the good
work he did in challenging
(initially by accident) the Moi regime, must bear
some responsibility for
the 1992 election debacle and its attendant violence,
intimidation and
crisis by forcing political and religious leaders to abandon
their campaign
for constitutional reform at a time when the Moi regime was on
its heels,
and proceed to elections even while clashes were raging
on.
But this article is not about casting blame, even though Africa's
reliance
on foreign "experts" has often hurt more than helped as the fixation
with
structural adjustment has proved. This is about strengthening democracy
in
Kenya so that it moves beyond the elite driven spoils system, to one
that
provides value and prosperity for Kenyans.
In this area of
strengthening democracy and moving away from the predatory
habits of the
political elite, the Narc Government, thus far, has done
reasonably well. It
has raised our hopes as Kenyans, an integral and
necessary ingredient for
fundamental change. It has provided, perhaps, the
beginning of reform in the
fiscal and banking sectors that can result in
more lending and savings by
Kenyans by reducing government reliance on
domestic borrowing through
Treasury Bills that provide an easy killing for
banks. It has also done well
in the push for free primary education.
Moreover, by insisting on
producing a privatisation policy that reflects
Kenya's national interest and
is not a photocopy of the World Bank/IMF
blueprints that are dusted off the
shelves and applied to all circumstances
as they arise, the Government is
also showing an understanding of the role
of the state in providing a basis
for development rather than allowing
everything to be taken up by
foreigners.
On this score, as Prof Joseph reminds us, "the amazing growth
of South Korea
and Taiwan was accompanied by high levels of public
expenditure on health,
education, and other social
services."
Mauritius and Botswana are touted as Africa's success stories
in economic
growth. But in each country, "vigorous social welfare policies -
sustained
the livelihoods of those placed at risk by rapid economic
transformations."
The challenge for Narc is to reconstruct a viable state
that can be relied
on to provide internal security, infrastructure, and the
rule of law on the
one hand, and on the other, to expand democratic
governance, increase the
role of ordinary people, and not to allow policy to
be at the mercy of a
political elite whose major objectives are
personal.
One way to do so is by is ensuring that capable and competent
students are
able to take educational and other opportunities that can
increase their
capacity.
While the process of opening up the
universities (Maseno University seeming
to be the exception) to become
centres of learning and opportunity can be
said to have started with the
appointment of Chancellors other than the
President, there is more that can,
and should be done. to ensure that more
people are able to join the middle
class as a way to increase the tax base.
Mr Kiai, a founder member of the
Kenya Human Rights Commission, writes from
Washington DC.
The Mercury
Chaos reigns as workers are unable to access their
salaries
July 28, 2003
By Basildon Peta
Johannesburg: Chaos reigned in Zimbabwe at the weekend as thousands of
civil
servants and other workers failed to access their monthend salaries at
banks
because of the crippling shortage of Zimbabwe dollars.
The riot
police had to be called in to protect bank installations as
angry workers
threatened to vent their anger at bank workers and to destroy
banking
installations. One bank in the city centre was damaged as police
repelled
angry customers on Saturday.
Even Zimbabwe's normally timid state
run media have now acknowledged
the intolerable magnitude of the cash
crisis.
The Sunday Mail reported yesterday that its switchboard had
been
jammed by calls from angry Zimbabweans
calling for the
resignation of the entire top management at the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
But the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said the
problem was much
wider and the first step towards resolving it should be the
resignation of
President Robert Mugabe and his entire cabinet in favour of a
new regime
that would command the respect of multilateral lending
institutions.
Union secretary-general Wellington Chibebe said the
fact that Mugabe
and his cabinet were still in power despite the economic
crisis was a huge
indictment on Zimbabwean democracy. In any other democratic
country, they
would have long resigned, he said.
The cash crisis
has been exacerbated by the fact that it is
monthend and many civil
servants are trying to access their salaries.
Ironically, the civil
servants got hefty pay increases, but they
cannot enjoy this money because
they cannot get the cash.
Many were stranded as they failed to
withdraw money from ATMs
yesterday.
Many banks have restricted
withdrawals to 5 000 Zimbabwe dollars (R100
at the official market rate and
only R20 on the functional black market
rate).
The money is only
adequate to buy a pizza at lunchtime for those who
can still afford the
luxury of enjoying lunch.
With Zimbabwe's inflation now pegged at
370%, Zimbabweans carry their
cash in paper bags when they do their
shopping.
Thieves have stopped snatching wallets and reports of
pickpocketing
have become rare.
They instead opt to smash car
boots for the huge bags of cash stowed
there in what some now call
"boot-pocketing".
The Sunday Mail partly blamed the cash shortage
on some people who, it
said, were hoarding Zimbabwe currency
to
sabotage Mugabe's government.
The Herald
Russian delegation keen to invest in Zimbabwe
Business
Reporter
A THREE-member delegation from Russia which was in the country last
week to
explore opportunities in platinum mining has expressed keen interest
to
invest in the country.
Although the Herald Business could not
ascertain whether any deals were
concluded, Mines and mining Development
minister, Mr Edward
Chindori-Chininga said the team had been impressed with
what the country had
to offer.
"The team was impressed by the
presentation by the Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) and said
they would relay their decision in
writing after they return home," the
Minister said.
As part of their fact-finding mission, the team had met
representatives from
ZMDC with a view of finding out what the corporation had
to offer.
The ZMDC acting chief executive, Mr Domnic Mubayiwa told the
team that they
were already engaged in exploration activities at their claim,
which was
adjacent to Zimbabwe Platinum's Ngezi
complex.
Sampling
ZMDC had started soil sampling and trenching in
a bid to determine the
reserves that exist within the claim.
Mr
Mubayiwa was optimistic that there were significant deposits of platinum
and
platinum group metals within the claim.
The team, which was in the
country at the invitation of the embassy of
Russian Federation, is
representing Novilsk Nickel, one of the top mining
companies in
Russia.
Zimbabwe is poised to become one of the major players in the
platinum
industry since it boasts of the second highest deposit of the
mineral in the
world, after South Africa.
The country has a
competitive edge over South Africa in that its deposits
are closer to the
surface than those in that country.
It is, therefore, cheaper to mine
platinum in Zimbabwe than in South Africa.
Platinum is expected to
surpass gold as the second largest foreign currency
earner in the country in
the next five years.
Zimbabwe has three producers of platinum group
metals which are Zimbabwe
Platinum Mines, Zimbabwe Mining and Smelting
Company and Anglo American
Corporation.
The three mines control all of
Zimbabwe's platinum deposits.
Producers
Anglo-American Zimbabwe
and its parent company Anglo Platinum South Africa
recently held a ground
breaking ceremony for its US$90 million (74 billion)
Unki Platinum project in
Shurugwi which will create 1 300 jobs.
The project had been on the cards
for more than 10 years.
Zimplats will spend US$140 million ($115,3
billion) on the development of an
underground mine at its Ngezi
complex.
The construction of the mine is expected to commence next
year.
Zim Standard
Violence hits banks
By Caiphas
Chimhete
ANGRY customers broke through two premises belonging to
Beverley
Building Society in Harare and police had to forcibly turn thousands
away as
Zimbabweans swamped banks yesterday trying to desperately withdraw
salaries
and life savings.
Two branches of Beverley, its main
office along Samora Machel Avenue
and the one at Market Square, had their
front windows smashed during the
commotion as people struggled to gain entry
into the building society's
banking halls.
"The crowd was
pressing forward in order to gain entry into the
banking hall and in the
ensuing commotion this big window was shattered. I
have never seen anything
like that," said Albert Mabvira, a Fawcett Security
guard at Beverley's main
branch along Samora Machel Avenue.
Zimbabwe's riot police had to
order people out of many banks
countrywide during the last two days after
tempers flared as monthly paid
customers jostled for services.
The southern African country has grappled with unprecedented shortages
of
bank notes for the past two months, blamed largely on inflation and
hard
currency shortages to buy paper to print money.
Although
the government last week is said to have injected $12 billion
of new $500
notes into the system - on top of the $200 billion currently in
circulation -
the situation has continued to worsen.
Yesterday, commercial banks
ran out of cash while others, such as
Standard Chartered Bank - one of the
largest commercial banks - reduced
maximum amounts customers could withdraw
to $10 000 per customer.
Other banks were giving as little as $2
000, an amount that can only
buy two loaves of bread, as the maximum amount
that could be withdrawn.
Many workers who got paid through company
cheques said they had failed
to get salaries and wages because the amounts
involved were higher than the
maximum withdrawal limits allowed by almost all
the banks.
"I failed to cash my cheque with Century Bank and I also
tried with a
local hotel but it no longer accepts third party cheques. It
means I will
have deposit it into my Beverley account but the problem is it
will take
three weeks to get cleared," said Robbie Mataika of
Highfield.
Economists warned that the financial sector, which has
over the past
few years posted remarkable profits despite Zimbabwe's economic
and
political crisis, would soon collapse.
"This is the final
stage in the decline of people's confidence in the
banking sector. The
situation is actually going to worsen because people are
now going to keep
whatever amount of money they have at home," said Witness
Chinyama, chief
economist at Kingdom Financial Holdings.
"No one is going to
deposit money into banks because you cannot get it
when you want it and this
will starve the banks," Chinyama added.
He said government's policy
to print more money was "a stop-gap
measure" that would do little to solve
the current financial crisis, the
worst since independence from Britain in
1980.
Bankers, including Francis Dzanya, said a temporary solution
was for
the government to print higher denominations such as $5 000 and $10
000
notes that would enable people to do business and also bring down
inflation,
which currently stands at 364 %.
Independent economic
analyst, John Robertson, said printing more money
would not fuel inflation
because "there is this notion that printing more
money will fuel inflation,
it's not true".
Under the current situation that is the best way
forward," said
Robertson.
Zim Standard
Go east, says Mugabe
By Kumbirai
Mafunda
ZIMBABWE'S leader, President Robert Mugabe, has reiterated
that the
southern African country's future fortunes lie with Asian states and
other
African countries.
Opening Parliament on Tuesday, Mugabe
said his government would be
getting more involved in marketing Zimbabwe in
the non-traditional markets
of Africa and Asia.
"In ongoing work
to negotiate both bilateral and multilateral trade
agreements, we will note,
once more, the need to venture into
non-traditional markets such as Angola,
the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Libya and the Far East countries," the
78-year-old leader said.
Economic analysts said Mugabe's statement
was an admission that
international sanctions against his government were
biting.
"It is just political posturing. We don't have products
that interest
those markets. At the just-ended trade fair in Angola we were
battling to
display a few products and yet South Africa already has a strong
presence in
products and initiatives in that country," said economic
consultant, Peter
Robinson.
The shortage of bank notes has added
to the country's economic woes
and threatens to foment a show of public anger
as traditional salary dates
arrive with no cash available in commercial
banks.
This is despite last week's injection of $12bn into the
financial
system by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe meant to ease the cash
woes.
Experts said the appeal to go East has been on the cards for
a long
time now but there were no tangible benefits derived by industry
and
commerce from the exercise.
Others said the drive for Asian
investment was also hampered by the
fact that Zimbabwe had no money to fund
trade centres or economic
delegations to the Far East.
Despite
the rhetoric, Zimbabwe has so far only managed to launch one
trade centre in
the Far East, in Malaysia, and that has largely been funded
by Metropolitan,
a bank close to the governing party.
"The problem is not market
access but lack of production. You don't
need trade agreements but a
conducive domestic market," said one leading
local economist.
Western countries-among them the United States, Canada, New
Zealand,
Australia and the European Union-imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his
ruling
elite following his controversial victory in last year's
presidential
election.
Zim Standard
Tourism at Great Zimbabwe collapses
By Parker
Graham
MASVINGO - Hoteliers in Masvingo are tottering on the brink
of
collapse because of the drastic fall in tourist arrivals at the
Great
Zimbabwe, The Standard has established.
Masvingo, which
depended heavily on tourists to the Great Zimbabwe
from mostly South Africa,
Australia, Germany, Britain and the United States
of America, has been badly
affected by the drop in the number of visitors
from these countries. This has
also affected downstream businesses that are
dependent on
tourism.
In an interview with The Standard, several managers at
leading
Masvingo hotels, which traditionaly recorded impressive occupancy
rates at
this time of the year before the governing Zanu PF launched the fast
track
land reform exercise and a violent crackdown on opponents, said life
had
become very tough.
"Tourism is virtually dead in Masvingo
province. There are no foreign
tourists coming here. The situation is very
bad," said Susan Maphosa, a
manager at Ancient City Lodges.
"Presently we are surviving on conferences only and these conferences
are not
sustainable because we usually have only one or two conferences in
two
months, something that is not conducive for our survival," she
added.
Veronicah Moyo, another hotelier, said morale within the
industry had
gone down owing to the unfavourable political situation
prevailing in the
country.
"There are no tourists interested in
buying fuel from the black
market. It has become risky for them to travel to
Zimbabwe and having to
carry all that petrol," said Moyo.
"Foreign tourists are also worried by the political and security
situation in
the country," said Moyo, adding that while Zimbabwe was
previously a haven
for tourists in southern Africa, all that had changed
because of the unstable
political and economic situation.
Zim Standard
Snakes, rabbits dominate Midlands Show
By
Richard Musazulwa
GWERU-The Midlands show, the prime event on the
Midlands agricultural
calendar, has this year been reduced to a non-event due
to the absence of
traditional exhibitors, it emerged yesterday.
Agricultural experts say the show, which ends in the city today, is a
pale
shadow of its former self which depicts the havoc that has been wrecked
upon
the once thriving agricultural industry by the government's
policies.
Traditional cattle displays, a major source of attraction
over the
years, were absent this year and major players such as seed
companies also
shunned the event.
However, small-scale farmers
were in full force at the show exhibiting
their rabbits and chickens while
the National Parks chipped in with their
snakes and crocodiles for
exhibition.
Show chairperson Trevor Shaw attributed the absence of
hoofed animals
to the recent foot and mouth outbreak in the province, an
explanation
commercial farmers in the province scoffed at, laying the blame
squarely on
the disruption of farming activities by the government
Zim Standard
Chitungwiza residents threaten to sue over sewage
problem
By our own Staff
SOME residents of Chitungwiza
have given the town council seven days
to stop the continued open flow of raw
sewerage near their homes or face
legal action. Manyame Park residents in
Chitungwiza, through their attorney,
Unity Sake of Coghlan, Welsh and Guest,
have already written to the town
council demanding an immediate rectification
of the problem.
They said the open sewerage drain in Chitungwiza
posed a dangerous
threat to public health to residents of Manyame Park,
including children who
cross the drain to and from school.
"Under the circumstances, we are instructed to demand as we hereby do
that
you remove the said cesspool or construct a proper covered sewerage
drain
immediately or in any event within seven days of receipt of
this
letter.
"Should you fail to do so, we are instructed to
proceed with a court
application for an order compelling you to do so in
terms of the Public
Health Act," said the letter.
The letter,
addressed to the director of health services, Mike Simoyi,
was also copied to
the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health and
Child Welfare,
Elizabeth Xaba.
Simoyi could not be reached for
comment.
The open sewerage drain is very close to Chaminuka Primary
School and
pupils are frequently seen playing in the sewerage.
"More importantly, it is dangerous to school children of Chaminuka
Primary
School who have to cross this open cesspool everyday on their way to
school.
The risk to these children and the residents of Manyame Park
contracting
cholera and malaria cannot be over-emphasised," said Sake, in
the
letter.
Chairman of Manyame Residents Association, Moses Mazhande,
said the
association was in the process of compiling a list of people who
have fallen
ill as a direct result of the exposure to the
sewerage.
"The authorities are neglecting their duty. We tried to
seek audience
with the authorities, including the mayor, but nothing
materialised despite
that we are the ratepayers. We will soon seek
compensation for all those who
suffered because of this neglect," said
Mazhande.
If Manyame residents are successful in forcing the
council to rectify
the problem, it is likely to open floodgates of cases with
ratepayers from
other sections of the suburb demanding an end to sewerage
problems that have
dogged Chitungwiza for many years.
Suburbs
such as St Mary's, Zengeza, Unit D, H, G, D, N and G in
Chitungwiza
constantly experience burst sewerage pipes posing a health
hazard to the
city's drinking water as the raw sewerage finds its way into
the water
reticulation system.
Zim Standard
Chombo's commission to probe Mudzuri
collapses
By Henry Makiwa
THE government-appointed
committee to investigate the alleged
misconduct, financial mismanagement and
corruption by suspended Harare
executive mayor, Elias Mudzuri, has been
crippled by the departure of key
members who allege that it harbours
political motives, The Standard has
learnt.
According to an
enquiry tabled before the High Court on Thursday as
part of Mudzuri's counter
application to his suspension, three key members
have abandoned the
commission complaining on the underlying political
machinations
involved.
Among the members who have reportedly left the commission
are
Christopher Tapfumanei, the committee's original chairman, Harare
Central
Hospital's medical superintendent; lawyer Florence Ziumbe, and one
G
Chihota.
The trio was in the initial line up of commissioners
to investigate
Mudzuri appointed by Local Government, Public Works and
National Housing
Minister, Ignatius Chombo.
Mudzuri says in his
opposing application: "I have been reliably
informed that Tapfumanei has
declined to accept the appointment, (while)
Ziumbe has since responded
indicating that she is not part of the committee.
"No response has
been received from Chihota although it is understood
that he has declined the
appointment."
The court application is aimed at reversing Chombo's
provisional
suspension order and subsequently retaining Mudzuri back in
office.
"The minister's actions and abuse of power were clearly
motivated by
malice and bad faith in the desire to thwart the democratic
representation
of the people of Harare in determination of civic affairs,"
said Mudzuri, in
his application.
He added: "It is clear that
the lapse of time and the failure to
commence investigations is not concerned
with the speedy resolution of this
matter and the intention is to frustrate
the opposition council."
Harare City Council, including executive
mayor Mudzuri, is dominated
by councillors from the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
According to a letter sent to Mudzuri's
lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa of
Kantor and Immerman Legal Practitioners, a copy of
which is in the
possession of The Standard, Ziumbe distanced herself from
Chombo's
committee.
Chombo suspended Mudzuri without salary on
April 29 and immediately
set up a committee to investigate the alleged
incompetence of the capital's
mayor.
Three months have however
lapsed now without the commencement of the
investigation on
Mudzuri.
It is now understood that Chombo has replaced Tapfumaneyi,
Chihota and
Ziumbe with lawyer, Shingi Mutumbwa, who has represented Zanu PF
in a number
of land cases; Tendai Savanhu, the ruling party's losing
candidate in Mbare
East constituency in the 2000 elections, and George Mlilo,
the losing Zanu
PF mayoral candidate in the 2002 Bulawayo
election
This has fuelled suggestions that Chombo might be plotting
to ouster
Mudzuri through the use of a Zanu PF-backed commission.
Zim Standard
Skewed Zim exchange rate dampens business
confidence
By Caiphas Chimhete
THE government's failure to
live up to its pledge to review the
exchange rate for exporters on a
quarterly basis has widened the gap of
mistrust between it and the private
sector, economists and industrialists
have said.
They said the
government's failure also flies in the face of noble
objectives of the
National Economic Recovery Programme (NERP), which places
trust and
co-operation between the government and the private sector as
its
cornerstones for economic progress.
Herbert Murerwa, the
Minister of Finance and Economic Development,
announced a new exchange rate
for exporters of US$1 to Z$824 up from Z$55 in
February, and also pledged to
review it on a quarterly basis to keep the
sector viable in the facing of
ever rising inflation.
Murerwa also promised to review, on a
quarterly basis, the 50:50
export proceeds surrender
requirement.
However, last week - more than four months later - he
said the
government would review the exchange rate "soon" as
promised.
"We agreed that we would quarterly review the exporter's
exchange rate
to ensure their continued viability and such a course of action
is on its
way," Murerwa said.
The Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce (ZNCC) advocacy and policy
manager, James Jowa, said the failure by
government to implement its policy
kills business confidence in a country
whose economy has been nose-diving
for the past few years.
"When
a new policy is announced, the private sector, including
exporters,
manufacturing ... in fact everyone, expect it to be implemented
and that
builds trust. If a policy is not implemented, as is the case, then
it kills
the trust and business confidence," said Jowa.
The ZNCC manager
said even if the government was to devalue instantly,
the export sector might
not abruptly respond due to the general economic
meltdown characterised by
rising inflation, currently at more than 364 %.
Jowa's sentiments
were also shared by independent economic consultant,
John Robertson, who said
by abandoning its own policy, the government was
plunging the country's
economy further into chaos.
He said due to the current skewed
exchange rate, most exporters and
manufacturers were making huge losses and
were contemplating closing down or
reducing production to remain in
business.
"Over valuing our currency is bad for exporters but good
for
importers, but the economy cannot grow because of imports. The
current
exchange makes no sense at all," said Robertson, who added that the
market
would soon be flooded by imports as struggling manufacturers fail to
supply
local demand.
Anthony Mandiwanza, the president of the
Confederation of the Zimbabwe
Industries (CZI), admitted that the
government's failure to live up to its
policy review promise has had a
negative impact on its members.
The Dairibord of Zimbabwe Limited
chief executive officer said the
government should consider that in February,
when the last exchange review
was done, inflation was just above 100% but it
has since ballooned to
364,5%, clearly showing the need for an urgent
review.
"As a result of this, most companies are fast losing
viability and the
competitive edge on the international market," said
Mandiwanza, whose
organisation represents hundreds of manufacturing and
exporting firms in the
country.
The CZI, said Mandiwanza, was
negotiating with Murerwa, so that the
issue is solved as a matter of
urgency.
Zimbabwe's economic slump, which started in 1997, has
impacted
negatively on the country's economic sectors. The export and
manufacturing
sectors are among the hardest hit due to rising costs of
production and the
scarcity of foreign currency to procure raw
materials.
The country's total exports went down to US$1,5bn last
year from
US$1,6bn in 2001. In 2000, exports stood at US$2,2 bn.
Zim Standard
Letters
AU should act on errant
members
THE emergence of the African Union (AU) as the outright
replacement
for the toothless OAU was applauded by all African countries who
happen to
be its affiliates. This was because of its declared all-embracing
radical
and pragmatic programmes and policies in its endeavour to foster
peace and
stability through the promotion of transparency and good governance
among
its affiliates, the African states.
However all this seems
to be a coated bitter pill. The AU's apparent
reluctance to intervene in the
political and socio-economic crisis
bedeviling Zimbabwe is a clear
demonstration of its departure from its
original policies.
What
logic is there in ignoring the Zimbabwe crisis in its infancy
preferring to
act on it when it degenerates into something worse like
genocide and
bloodshed as happened in the case of Burundi, Rwanda, Somalia
and
Liberia.
The African Union should demostrate its resolve to reverse
political,
economic, social and humanitarian crises in Africa by being
proactive rather
than reactive.
Moreover, it is said a stitch in
time saves nine. Insisting that the
Zimbabwe crisis be left to Zimbabweans
themselves to solve is like
entrusting the custody of dogs to crocodiles?
Much worse; it is a sure
recipe for civil unrest if it becomes the only
option open to ordinary
Zimbabweans to address their common
concerns.
Madagascar did it and was unanimously brought into the
Union! The
African Union should discipline the crocodiles first and force
them to share
the pool with the dogs. Because Mugabe continues to hold on to
power, and
the road to economic recovery remains blurred.
His
childish "Tanga wati mambo" (recognise my monarchy first) approach
to the
crisis is a solution valid only in the ruthless dictator's own
mind.
Paul Mafuratidze Mhofu
Warren
Park
Harare
Zim Standard
Demonstrating the might of the mice
Sundaytalk with Pius Wakatama
LAST weekend the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces displayed its entire military
might in Shurugwi. The commandant of the
Zimbabwe military, Colonel Thomas
Moyo, who was the director of the
demonstration, said the purpose of the
demonstration was to showcase the
magnitude of the firepower available to
the armed forces and its devastating
effects.
"The essence is to remind commanders of the amount of fire
power at
their disposal that can, with good planning, be brought to bear on
opposing
forces," he said.
The director of army training,
Colonel John Mupande, said the fire
power exercise had shown that the ZDF was
a formidable force capable of
defending the country from its
enemies.
"We are so strong that people may not understand our
capabilities," he
said
I am neither a warmonger and nor am I a
pacifist. I believe that a
country needs a strong army to defend its
territorial integrity and its
people from greedy aggressors of which there
are rather too many in this
world. During times of disasters well-equipped
armies are also called upon
to assist the population and to alleviate
suffering. Deep down, therefore, I
am proud that Zimbabwe has a strong army
which can meet most challenges.
However, I am not so sure that most
Zimbabweans, myself included, are proud
of what our armed forces stand for
today.
The Shurugwi display was not put on to show commanders what
firepower
they have at their disposal, as was stated. It was what is
called
sabre-rattling which is a way of warning real or imagined enemies so
that
they may not dare attack.
Now, who are Zimbabwe's enemies
today who need to be so warned?
Usually enemies do not come from
afar but are one's very neighbours.
Most of the countries which fight, do so
over territorial disputes, over
land. As far as I know Zimbabwe does not have
any serious border disputes
with her neighbours, Then whom are we trying to
frighten (Watiri
kutyisidzira ndiani)?
From our President's
statements, one of those we are trying to
intimidate is none other than the
most powerful nations on earth, the United
States of America and the United
Kingdom. I quote from the Daily News on
Sunday of 20 July 2003: "As United
States and British pressure mounted on
President Robert Mugabe to step down a
fortnight ago, he told his supporters
the children of the two countries'
citizens in Zimbabwe would be the first
to die if they invaded this country
as they did in Iraq.
"Mugabe facing political and economic turmoil,
said Zimbabwe was ready
to retaliate if the US and the UK, implacable critics
of his government's
skewed policies, deployed their soldiers here to throw
him out of power as
they did to Saddam Hussein.
"Mugabe said in
Shona: Zvavakaita ku Iraq havangambozviedza muno.
Vanotanga kufa vana vavo
muno. (They will never attempt to do what they did
in Iraq because it will be
their children who will be the first to die.)
He gave the warning
at a political rally in the Chivi South
Constituency in Masvingo, near the
site of the proposed Tokwe Mukosi dam.
Surely, one would expect
such words from Gringo, the comedian and not
from the President of the
Republic of Zimbabwe. I would like to think that
our President was not
serious but just joking otherwise I would begin to
question his
sanity.
You and I know that it would be insane to ever imagine our
tiny and
starving country can stand up to the might of Britain and the United
States
put together.
Indeed, Saddam Hussein and his comical
Minister of Information (who
sounded just like our own Jonathan Moyo)
harboured such imaginations or
should I call them hallucinations. Where are
they today?
The idea of the United States having to use force to
remove regimes
that abuse people's human rights is not so far-fetched as some
would like to
think. It might have been unthinkable under some of the more
diplomatically
minded US presidents but not under religiously motivated
"cowboy George
Bush".
The US has "blacklisted" Zimbabwe and
noted that "freedom and dignity"
were "under assault" in the country. Where
this blacklisting will lead to
only time will tell.
It is
nonsensical for our president to threaten the United States and
Britain by
saying that if they attack Zimbabwe their children would be the
first to die.
There are in fact more black Zimbabweans in the UK and the US
than there are
whites in Zimbabwe. Estimates are that there are 500 000
black Zimbabweans in
the UK alone while there are 50 000 whites left in
Zimbabwe.
Apart from the UK and the US, our show of force in Shurugwi was
intended to
frighten the opposition. It was intended to warn them against
resorting to
armed insurrection. Indeed it would be folly to even imagine
that the Zanu PF
regime can be toppled by violent revolution. The might of
the politically
partisan Zimbabwe armed forces is formidable. We all saw the
brute force,
which was used to foil the peaceful demonstration during the
March
stay-away.
What about actual violent rebellion? It would be totally
quashed
within minutes. The might and brutality of the Zimbabwe armed forces
is
indeed formidable.
However, it is not only by might that
repressive regimes can be
toppled. It is also by might that oppressive
regimes can cling on to power.
By the same token, they can disintegrate due
to dissatisfaction and dissent
from within. Already signs of stress due to
the rigors of holding on to
power by force as well as international pressure,
is telling on the ruling
party and the government. Signs of this are showing
within the once united
Zanu PF. There are telltale cracks that no amount of
sloganeering can paper
over.
Not all people in Zanu PF are
without conscience. Most of them don't
belong to the clique of those who have
killed, tortured, raped and looted
and are afraid of what will happen to them
if their protector, Mugabe, goes
or if Zanu PF loses power.
I am
surprised at the number of party members, some of them high
ranking, who
encourage me in my writing. Some of them make excuses for the
President and
blame greedy and irresponsible ministers, especially newcomers
to the party,
for the mess we are in. Others blame the president.
Some of these
say that he is weak and not strong enough to discipline
or dismiss wayward
and corrupt party leaders. Yet, others blame the
President.
They
say that he is the one who encourages violence. "If only he would
step down,
Zanu PF and the country could be saved," they say.
The suffering
that Zimbabweans are going through due to shortages and
ever-spiralling
inflation is not affecting ordinary people alone. It is also
affecting
faithful party members, the police, soldiers and even the dreaded
party
militias.
We saw them at petrol queues when garages still had
petrol. We are
with them in bank queues. We jostle with them at supermarket
queues. And we
see them also waiting for the few available buses and
emergency taxis at
ranks. They are suffering as much as we are. One day all
these will say,
enough is enough and that will be the end of Zanu PF and the
government.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Zim Standard
Comment
Dual fuel pricing system another daft
idea
AT a time when the people of this country are in the
throes of an
unprecedented crisis, the government intends to introduce a dual
fuel
pricing system - one for them and their loss-making and
unproductive
parastatals, and the other for the long-suffering
Zimbabweans
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that
there will be
one law for government departments and parastatals and another
for the rest
of the population. The price of fuel that will be charged to
government by
Noczim will be much cheaper than the price that will be charged
to the
general public by private oil companies.
Effectively,
this means we are heavily taxed by this regime to enable
it to buy fuel
cheaply with our money while the little that is left in
people's pockets will
by and large go to buy the more expensive fuel on the
open market. Where is
the sense in that?
Whatever happened to that universal dictum of a
government of the
people, for the people and by the people? What is the moral
basis for a
government to seek to shift the burden of its ineptitude on the
people it
purpotes to govern?
There is no justification for the
government, which is funded by the
taxpayer to make things easier for the
ruling class at the expense of the
general public when it is its bounden duty
to protect the interests of
people by providing necessities like fuel at
affordable prices.
Besides the moral issue, Zimbabweans are very
clear that even that
cheap fuel will find itself on the black market after
corrupt civil servants
have got their hands on it and, as usual, realise how
easily they can make a
quick dollar.
And even if the dual fuel
pricing system was introduced, how is it
supposed to work? Who constitutes
"public transport"? Is it Zupco? Is it the
emergency taxis? What about
ambulances, rural buses and all the other
hangers' on?
Zimbabweans are the third highest taxed nation on this planet and
instead of
the money going to create employment and looking after the most
vulnerable
groups in our society and building infrastructure, it is
enriching the
already wealthy few and well-connected people within the
system.
There is no doubt in our minds that the government does not have
the
slightest clue of how to solve this national crisis. Things are
getting
worse everyday.
The cash crisis, the fuel crisis,
unaffodability of basic
commodities - the list is endless.
Zimbabwe must be one of the few countries in this world where its
citizens
are failing to access their own money in banks. Mamvemve of a
country - that
is what Zimbabwe has become.
We are at a loss as to how a bunch of
people can say tirikutonga.
Murikutonga chii?
Zimbabweans feel
morally outraged at what is going on around them. The
dual fuel pricing
system will strengthen the State as the main locus of
accumulation for the
Zanu PF chefs and their supporters and sympathisers.
It is common
knowledge that control of State office and positions has
always been seen as
an attractive prize for both members and supporters of
the ruling party.
Corruption and selling of government fuel from Noczim on
the black market is
bound to worsen.
The rich will become richer and the poor outside
Zanu PF, will become
poorer. The majority of Zimbabweans will become poorer
because they will not
have access to cheaper fuel from Noczim.
There has been a degrading scramble for land by a few at the expense
of the
landless majority. Now, that degrading scramble will be extended
to
fuel.
The propensity for this government to do things in
their own interest
rather than in the interest of the majority is indeed
legendary. When will
all this madness come to an end? Just how long can this
continue?
This crisis will continue as long as this regime as
presently
constituted remains in power. The present very critical state of
public
opinion and the depth of this country's economic difficulties does not
seem
to have made an iota of a difference to the ruling Zanu PF party. Many
of us
are bashing our heads against a brick wall - so it seems. The grim
nature of
this country's predicament has not really sunk home among the
ruling elite.
Politics is power and not many people would give up
power easily. This
is the problem that we are facing at the moment. President
Mugabe is not
prepared to surrender his personal ambitions in the interest of
Zimbabwe.
And the cronies who surround him within govenment and
outside as well
as the uniformed forces will defend to the last man their
ill-gotten wealth.
In other words, we are really stuck with Zanu
PF. And President Mugabe
feels much safer in State House than outside it.
This is the bottom line.
And it appears that people are naively
reading too much into the fact
that MDC MPs did not for the first time,
boycott the President's speech last
Tuesday marking the opening of
Parliament. While this could be a positive
gesture on the part of the
opposition MDC, people must not lose sight of the
fact that nothing positive
and redeeming is happening on the ground.
It is really a question
of "suffer continue".
The beast that is Zanu PF is alive and well -
at least for the time
being. It would be naive in the extreme for anyone to
think that things are
normalising when in reality they are not.
What the government is doing on the fuel front, on the cash front - in
fact
on every front - does not inspire confidence in its ability to provide
real
solutions to the problems bedevilling this country. It is cold comfort
that
the generality of Zimbabweans have lost faith in their government.
Be that as it may, we remain convinced about things are coming to a
head in
the not too distant future.
It is not God's desire to have such a
serious crisis in ours or in any
other economy going on forever.
It is clear to Zimbabweans and the rest of the world that President
Mugabe is
on the way out. MDC or no MDC, the President will have to one day
call it
quits. The worsening crisis will make sure of that.
About that, we
have no doubt
Zim Standard
A guide to shopping in central African trouble spots
overthetop
By Brian Latham
Things are rarely as they seem
in the troubled central African nation.
And while a clearly confused
disinformation minister has blamed much of this
on the opposition More Drink
Coming Party, that hardly seems possible.
After all, it's surely
more likely that Zany policy led to the curious
situation we find ourselves
in. Where else does one not only buy money, but
buy money in a supermarket
instead of a bank? The banks, you see, have no
money. The supermarkets have a
surfeit of the stuff.
Meanwhile the filling stations have no fuel.
For fuel you definitely
have to approach someone with Zany connections, after
first (and why does it
seem so natural?) buying a large drum to put the fuel
into.
Ah, but you say that's illegal. Well, it is, so before you
buy the
drum you have to head into the troubled townships, euphemistically
called
high densities, and buy a certificate to carry the fuel. Of course,
you can
also buy the certificate from the appropriate government department,
but
that's a lot more expensive and it takes longer.
All this is
time consuming and not inexpensive, but Zany policy is ...
well,
zany.
And what of those basic day-to-day necessities like bread?
Bread is
readily available on the troubled central African banana republic's
streets.
Where else? Sugar, mealie meal and other commodities more
normally
associated with the hygienic surroundings of large supermarkets, but
usually
unavailable there, are easily found hidden under grubby plastic
sheets on
the pavement.
Gone, sadly, are those happy days when a
stroll down the capital's
leafy avenues was interrupted by frequent calls
that went something along
the lines of, "Psst, you like my
sister?"
These days it's, "Psst, want some sugar, petrol, mealie
meal, foreign
currency, local currency or (definitely bottom of the list) my
sister.
Cheques gladly accepted."
Except that now even cheques
are in short supply. According to banks
in the troubled central African
lavatory, it's because the machine has
broken down, the paper has run out or
there's no ink. No doubt your own bank
will have it's own readily available,
glibly pronounced lie explaining why
it takes a month to get a cheque book
and why you can't have your own money.
Someone should sue them, of
course, but it probably won't happen.
There's something called the
deposit-demand principle (or something
like that) that means if you have
money in the bank, the bank is legally
obliged to let you have
it.
That's all very well, in principle, but in the troubled and
bankrupt
central African nation, it doesn't work like that. Instead you
deposit your
money in the bank, wait a month for a chequebook and then buy it
back from
the supermarket. The banks, as always, get off with impunity. Quite
why
troubled central Africans are in awe of banks is a mystery. They're
little
more than legalised thieves - and they're not even efficient at
that.
That's enough ranting about the grubby little money changers
(who no
longer change money).
What's truly amazing is how fast
all this has happened. And how
rapidly troubled central Africans have adapted
to alternative shopping.
Respectable old gentlemen in suits can
regularly be seen ducking
behind the supermarket to buy their
sugar.
Large and wealthy middle aged women step out of their
German
limousines and dash into the bushes to buy flour. It's all rather
wonderful
and if we didn't know any better, we'd think they're all buying
drugs -
except that nowadays the purveyors of recreational tobaccos and
powders to
the troubled central African nation's elite are about the only
people who
don't have to skulk around in sanitary lanes.
Every
cloud does have a silver lining after all.