Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
A small victory
NOTHING more
reveals the paranoia and insecurity felt by this regime than
the arbitrary
way they have dealt with Andrew Meldrum, vindicated in the
courts this week
yet threatened with deportation by a spiteful government
that long ago lost
the battle for hearts and minds.
I first met Andy shortly after his
arrival in Zimbabwe in 1980. He impressed
me as a conscientious journalist
keen to acquit himself well in the
challenging environment of a society in
transition. Unlike many of the
foreign correspondents already based here he
carried none of the baggage of
the past and, if anything, was anxious to give
the country's new rulers a
fair hearing.
But like anybody
following events here over the years, he witnessed a
once-hopeful beginning
turn sour as a result of greed, corruption and an
unwillingness to accept
democratic norms. His reports in the Guardian
inevitably reflected the
growing disaffection of a society oppressed and
plundered by its wayward
rulers. Yet his reporting remained balanced and
fair. As the BBC's John
Simpson noted on Monday, it would be hard to find a
more objective
correspondent.
When he became a target of the ministerial cronies
around President Mugabe,
Andy accepted his fate philosophically and
gracefully, as viewers of CNN and
the BBC will have seen.
There
were no indignant outbursts, only a principled stand shared by
all
Zimbabweans.
"This was a victory, not just for me but for
freedom of the press," he
stated after his acquittal on
Monday.
But, unbeknown to him and his wife Dolores, the Minister of
Home Affairs had
12 days earlier signed an order cancelling his permanent
resident status.
This vindictive move was unprecedented. Permanent
residents have hitherto
enjoyed the rights and protection afforded to
citizens. John Nkomo showed
inexcusable weakness in acceding to the demands
of the hardliners around
Mugabe in arbitrarily withdrawing the rights of
somebody who had lived in
this country for 22 years without once breaking its
laws.
Andy has acquired a home and an adopted family. He has put
numerous
dependants of employees through school and college. He has shown
nothing but
kindness to friends and colleagues. I have often sought his
invariably
sensible advice. To be given 24 hours to leave everything that was
dear was
a cruel and undeserved fate which tells us more about this
misanthropic
regime than about its victim.
On Wednesday he was
given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and his
deportation order will be
suspended until the outcome of the appeal is
known. That is however only a
temporary reprieve. They are clearly
determined to get rid of
him.
I recall saying goodbye to a number of academics and journalists
at
Salisbury airport in the 1970s as the rollcall of the Rhodesian
Front's
prohibited immigrants mounted. Guardian correspondent Peter Niesewand
was
among them. Then in 1977 I found myself included on PK van der Byl's
hit
list.
What this purge of the media and opposition activists
revealed most was the
changing fortunes of the RF regime. No government
confident of its political
security acts to remove critics in violation of
their legal rights.
The Mugabe regime is demonstrating precisely that
insecurity that weak
governments everywhere betray. Andy Meldrum was found by
the courts to be
innocent of the charges brought against him. This was
despite clumsy
ministerial pressure on the prosecutor and a catch-all legal
framework
designed to trap all possible transgressors.
It was the
government's showcase trial under draconian new laws designed to
"prove" that
foreign correspondents peddle "falsehoods" about Zanu PF's
record of violence
and misrule.
In the event the court found no such thing. Meldrum had
behaved like any
reasonable journalist would be expected to in filing his
story, the
magistrate ruled. The refusal of the police to answer queries from
the press
was a significant factor in scuttling the state's case. Wayne
Bvudzijena was
understandably not called to the witness stand.
It
was a signal defeat in particular for Information minister Jonathan Moyo
who
drew up the profoundly defective Access to Information and Protection
of
Privacy Act. He has proved to be a sore loser as well as a liability to
the
regime whose foolish mantras he parrots.
Sadly, the only
lesson he and his malevolent master are likely to learn from
all this is the
need for "more fire". Having lost this one he will be
all-the-more determined
to prosecute others.
President Mugabe himself appeared confused by the
outcome. At first he
acknowledged from Cuba that the courts should decide
Meldrum's fate. "A
person who has committed a crime must be tried," he
insisted on arrival in
Havana. When told Meldrum had been acquitted, he
declared that it would
create "gridlock".
In other words court
verdicts are useful only where they convict, a point
his host would have
appreciated!
As for Andy, this must be a time of great anxiety. As if
the ordeal of a
trial were not bad enough, he and Dolores must now face an
arguably worse
fate. This is his home. Ties and friendships built over 22
years are not
easily severed.
But he has at least one consolation.
He has stood up for all of us in the
media and civic community, been
vindicated in the courts, and shown the
world what a mean-spirited regime we
are dealing with here.
Together with his successful hearing before
Justice Anele Matika on
Wednesday, Andy has secured from the courts a good
measure of justice.
Whether that persists remains to be seen. For the time
being he should
savour his small but significant victory. It is a victory for
all
Zimbabweans in their quest for truth and justice.
Zim Independent
Farmers fight for survival on land
Augustine
Mukaro
ZIMBABWE'S commercial farmers have a history of prevailing against the
odds,
be these drought, hail, pests or cyclones. But over the past two years
they
have been at the mercy of Zanu PF's naked aggression in the drive
to
redistribute land.
Continued disturbances on commercial farms have
sparked sharp differences
between the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU)
leadership and stakeholders on
how to take on government in a bid to resolve
the controversial land reform
programme.
Two diametrically opposing
positions of confrontation and dialogue have
emerged as the CFU tries to
bring sanity to the sector, which in the past
contributed about 17% of
Zimbabwe's gross domestic product. But government
has spurned the olive
branch proffered and proceeded with its chaotic and
often violent seizure of
land with impunity.
The invasion of commercial farms that began in
February 2000 has elicited
mixed responses among the stakeholders who at the
outset did not expect
government to go to such extremes in the
exercise.
After a year of violent disturbances which claimed several
lives of both
farmers and their workers, some commercial farmers felt that
the land issue
would not be resolved through confrontation with government.
Numerous
challenges against acquisition in the courts have not achieved the
desired
results. Even in instances where the courts ruled government
supporters had
to evacuate invaded farms, the rulings were not obeyed with
the police
claiming they could not act as this was a "political issue" or
there was
"insufficient manpower". Government at the same time appointed new
members
to the judiciary, whom commentators said were more likely to rule in
favour
of the land programme with less regard for individual
rights.
With confrontation having failed, the CFU convened a special
congress in
March 2001 where a group of commercial farmers resolved they
would work more
closely with government
They resolved that commercial
farmers should be recognised as loyal
Zimbabweans, committed to playing a
constructive role in the future of
Zimbabwe.
"Zimbabwe is our home - we
have nowhere else to go," the congress announced.
"We must resolve our
differences. We must find a Zimbabwean solution.
Indeed, we believe we have
found a Zimbabwean solution."
The result was the formation of the
Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative
(ZJRI).
The congress appointed a
team to open dialogue with government and other
stakeholders.
The
farmers' constructive attitude was well received and representatives of
the
private sector joined them to propose a resettlement programme in
support of
land reform. This proposal included the essential components for
a successful
resettlement programme - land, tillage, inputs, credit and
technical support.
In May 2001 the proposals were formally submitted to
Vice-President Joseph
Msika. Msika responded before the month was out,
describing the proposals as
a "step in the right direction in pursuit of
dialogue". The initiative was
endorsed by Sadc and the Commonwealth as a
progressive programme through
which land redistribution could be resolved
without conflict. However,
violence continued on the farms.
In July 2001, government and ZJRI held their
first formal meeting to verify
the submission of 531 farms, representing a
total area of 967 452 hectares
out of the pledged one million hectares of
uncontested land.
Despite ZJRI chief sponsor John Bredenkamp and leading
negotiator Nick
Swanepoel convincing all farmers to withdraw court cases
against government,
the state responded by instituting compulsory
acquisitions under Section 8,
an order which gave farmers 90 days to vacate
farms from the date of service
of the order.
ZJRI had offered to
assist newly-resettled farmers on lawfully-acquired
farms with one hectare of
tillage each for 20 000 settler families and to
donate $60 million worth of
inputs for crop and livestock inputs to
kick-start the
programme.
President Robert Mugabe on Heroes Day said ZJRI was an
indication that part
of the CFU members had had a change of heart and wanted
to join government
in the land reform programme. He said commercial farmers
should continue to
change their style of relating to government.
"Let
us turn our swords into ploughshares to work together because we cannot
avoid
each other," Mugabe said. "That is still our philosophy, but not at
our
peril, we do so provided there is reform, reform for injustice into
justice,
unfairness into fairness, division into unity. This is our gospel
as it was
in 1980."
Despite these words violence became widespread in Mhangura, Doma
and on the
outskirts of Chinhoyi. Farmers, their families and staff had to
be
evacuated. Equipment, inputs and cattle were looted and fixed fittings
and
fixtures from houses were trashed. At least one house was razed to
the
ground. In Hwedza, over 3 000 farm workers and their families were
displaced
after war veterans forced farm management to pay them off and truck
them
away.
Commonwealth Foreign Ministers met in Abuja in September
2001 at the
invitation of Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria. Ministers
from
Canada, Jamaica, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom
as
well as the Australian High Commissioner to London and the
Commonwealth
Secretary-General attended, giving birth to the Abuja Accord.
Resolutions
were passed regarding the land reform programme in
Zimbabwe.
The Abuja Accord advocated single farm ownership, respect for
the rule of
law, restoration of law and order, an end to new invasions and
the
evacuation of illegal settlers on undesignated land. But given
government's
track record of adhering to its own criteria, this became
another lost
cause.
Government proceeded to list single owned-farms,
breaching both ZJRI and the
Abuja Agreement.
Government went to court
in September seeking an interim relief order
against an interdict granted in
favour of the CFU in December 2000 that
government should restore the rule of
law on farms and produce a land reform
programme in keeping with provisions
of the Land Acquisition Act.
The interdict ordered government to produce
proof that it had restored the
rule of law on commercial farms and had a
workable land reform programme by
July 2001.
The new Supreme Court bench
ruled in favour of government, saying the police
had restored order on the
farms. But the aggression persisted.
With ZJRI, Abuja and other forms of
dialogue falling by the wayside over the
past two years, farmers have been
forced to revert to the legal route with
the formation of Justice for
Agriculture (JAG).
JAG, a new farmers' representative body, has been
formed to defend the
rights of farmers in place of the CFU which is seen to
be backtracking
despite the fact that its members are winning cases against
arbitrary land
acquisition in the courts.
JAG is now calling for a
return to the rule of law and believes that
Zimbabweans should not accede to
a disorganised and chaotic land reform
programme.
"To remain naïve
would be to betray the hopes and needs of over two million
people who depend
on agriculture for their lives," JAG has said.
Zim Independent
Jury out on prospects for African Union
THE launch
of the African Union this week marks a departure of sorts. It
reflects the
determination by a handful of African leaders to abandon
Africa's troubled
past - particularly its sterile rhetoric - and make the
most of the trade and
investment possibilities opened up by globalisation
and measures such as the
US African Growth and Opportunity Act.
There is an unambiguous commitment
to improved governance by leaders signing
up to Nepad, which the AU has
adopted as its lodestar, and an array of
bodies designed to make closer union
a reality.
But will it work? Will the understandable cynicism, not least
in Africa
itself, about the prospects for a new beginning, prove justified?
After all,
grand schemes for African union have proved unattainable
before.
Comparisons are being made with the European Union. This is a
good template
because it illustrates just how far the AU has to go in making
things happen
on the ground. The EU had its genesis in the European Coal and
Steel
Community of 1951 which was designed to harness German post-war
recovery to
French, Belgian and Dutch security concerns. That in turn grew
into the
Common Market set up under the 1957 Rome Treaty and the subsequent
European
Economic Community and European Union.
But all these
structures with their councils, commissions and parliaments
were built brick
by brick over 50 years with endless horsetrading and
inevitable concessions
of sovereignty. There were also significant
mutualities such as German
industry and French agriculture as well as
far-sighted statesmen working to
stabilise the new European order on both
sides of the Rhine. The threat posed
by the Communist bloc to their east
concentrated minds. Above all, closer
union was built on the strong
foundations of stable national
institutions.
African states have few mutualities. They all export
unprocessed raw
materials and prefer external trade partners to each other.
They are
reluctant to concede sovereignty and have weak national
institutions. Nor is
there any commitment to civil society structures or
democratic consensus
which underpin the EU.
There is another daunting
reality here. While South Africa's Thabo Mbeki has
warned against the
politics of blaming the West for Africa's shortcomings,
he is surrounded by
fellow rulers who have no intention of departing from
their old habits. Col
Muammar Gaddafi's crude demagoguery at Durban's Absa
stadium on Tuesday was a
reminder of the obstacles ahead. So was the
presence of President Mugabe, the
ghost at the feast.
Understandably the AU leaders agreed not to let
Zimbabwe's crisis rain on
their parade. That will be postponed for subsequent
peer review. But while
ignoring flawed elections in Zambia and Zimbabwe where
ruling parties
ensconced themselves in power, they insisted that Madagascar's
Marc
Ravalomanana, whose election was endorsed by his country's courts,
be
subject to a re-run because he had the temerity to defeat an
incumbent.
It is the concern that the AU will persist as a mutual
survival club where
unstable mavericks like Gaddafi and Mugabe can strut upon
the continental
stage that poses the greatest danger to the infant AU. If
they succeed it
will not be taken seriously. With regional building blocs
like Ecowas and
Sadc still struggling to promote intra-group trade, an
economic union seems
remote.
Mbeki, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo,
Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade, and Algeria's
Abdulaziz Bouteflika have a mountain
to climb if they want the new-look
Africa to succeed. They at least have on
their side international leaders
who are committed to giving them a chance
and domestic democratic
imperatives which the continent's rulers can no
longer ignore.
There will be plenty of tests for the much-vaunted peer
review mechanism
ahead. The AU and Nepad will be judged by how leaders handle
their first big
test which they have been studiously ignoring for the past
four months on
the grounds that institutional structures are not yet in
place. Regional
heads have already told Mbeki they are not prepared to appear
before any
review body to account for their performance. And the Nepad
implementation
committee has been extended from 15 to 20 members to include
its likely
saboteurs.
That's a predictable start. It remains to be
seen just how serious Africa's
leaders are about projecting a new profile.
Until then the jury is out.
Zim Independent
UN report blames Mugabe for deepening economic
crisis
THE forcible occupation of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe has
contributed to
the deepest economic crisis in the country's history, one
which is set to
worsen, the UN warned on Tuesday in a damning
report.
"Zimbabwe is currently a crumbling economy facing a grave
economic crisis,"
the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA),
based in Addis
Ababa, said in its annual overview of the economic health of
states across
the continent.
"The land issue is at the heart of
Zimbabwe's national economic crisis," it
said, adding that President Robert
Mugabe's government showed a "tendency
for inconsistency".
"Land
redistribution should go hand in hand with good governance to protect
output
and jobs," it said.
"The economy has been contracting since 2000 and
the outlook for 2002 shows
an increasing incidence of food insecurity,
poverty, inflation and worsening
balance of payments," the report
said.
Zimbabwe "is facing the worst crisis in its history," said
Patrick Esea, the
director of the ECA's Economic, Social and Political
division.
The report said that the occupation of white-owned farms,
coupled with poor
weather conditions, had led to "the lowest agricultural
performance in
recent years". In May, Zimbabwe's Finance minister, Simba
Makoni, announced
that the country's overall economy shrank by 7,3% in 2002,
while the
agricultural sector, the historical pillar of the economy, suffered
a
decline of more than 12%. The ECA report projected negative growth of 5%
for
2002. It noted that 75% of the country now lived in poverty. - AFP.
Zim Independent
UN steps up Zim probe
Dumisani Muleya
THE United
Nations panel of experts investigating the plunder of Democratic
Republic of
Congo (DRC) mineral resources is deepening its probe
on
Zimbabwe.
Diplomatic sources said the UN team - which last year
blamed Rwanda and
Uganda for pillage in the DRC - is now digging deeper into
the scramble for
DRC mineral wealth.
The initial five-member group
led by former Ivorian Energy minister Safiatou
Ba-N'Daw admitted failure with
its Zimbabwe probe in April 2001.
However, a technical advisor to the
current UN panel, which has more
experienced experts, was in the country last
week to intensify
investigations into the complex Zimbabwean network of
military-controlled
companies operating in the DRC.
The UN team,
which is trying to uncover wide scale and systematic looting in
the DRC, is
expected to release its report in two months. Zimbabwe was last
year accused
of trying to chop down vast DRC rainforests in a US$300
million
deal.
Sources said controversial South African businessman
and diamond dealer Niko
Shefer, who featured prominently during the rush for
DRC mineral
concessions, was at the centre of the
probe.
Information at hand indicates Shefer, former chair and chief
executive of
Greater Diamond Company (Liberia) Ltd which was linked to the
"blood
diamond" trade in Sierra Leone and Liberia, met Zimbabwean and DRC
military
and political leaders over diamond mining deals.
Shefer
is said to have met the late DRC President Laurent Kabila, his
cabinet
secretary Kalal Lukani, leading Zimbabwean politicians, senior
defence force
commanders, and retired Major-General John Dauramanzi in
December 1999 and
January 2000.
Their discussions, sources said, revolved around mining
activities.
Companies involved in mining exploration at the time included
Comiex, which
represented Kabila and his immediate circle of political and
military
advisors, Osleg which stood for Zimbabwean military interests, and
Cosleg
which was a joint venture between Comiex and Osleg.
Another
enterprise linked to the network was the Mineral Business Company
(MBC)
established to extract diamonds, gold, copper-cobalt and other
strategic
minerals.
Sources said MBC was initially financed by Cosleg although
it later failed
to raise the required capital. Kabila, in consultation with
Zimbabwean
defence force commanders and Dauramanzi, sources said, offered
Shefer 50% of
MBC's business in return for the capital. About US$30 million
was needed.
Shefer, also former chief executive of the collapsed
Tandan International
Holdings (Pty) Ltd, was supposed to use a Zimbabwean
company, Thorntree
Industries (Pvt) Ltd, as a corporate vehicle for his
investment.
Efforts to get comment from Dauramanzi were
unsuccessful.
However, Shefer - who was convicted for fraud in 1989 -
denied these claims.
In an interview from Johannesburg last week, Shefer said
he was not involved
in diamond deals.
"I was not involved because
I don't deal in diamonds," he said. "I was only
invited during the launch of
MBC in Kinshasa about two years ago."
Asked whether he met Zimbabwean
leaders, Shefer said: "I have never met them
in my life. But I have met this
retired old man, Dauramanzi for tea at
Meikles Hotel."
Sources
said Shefer's Tandan Group helped to train Zimbabwean military
officers to
grade and evaluate diamonds in January 2000.
Shefer, who was born in
Ecuador and holds Israeli and South African
passports and speaks six
languages, confirmed linking army officers to the
Diamond and Gold Exchange
in Johannesburg for training.
"I introduced them to the School of
Diamonds and gave them contact telephone
numbers," he said. "Whatever
happened after that I don't know."
However, ZDF spokesman Mbonisi
Gatsheni yesterday said: "The Ministry of
Defence and ZDF have no records of
officers sent to South Africa for that
training."
But sources said
about 24 officers, mostly majors, both retired and serving,
were trained as
diamond buyers in teams of six each.
"The first two-week course ended
during the third week of January 2000 and
the following one was held on
January 24," a source said.
"They were expected to cut 5 000 carats a
month, which meant that 30 000
carats a month could be achieved when the
first batch was deployed to work.
The officers were paid military-scale
salaries."
Zim Independent
GMB officials arrested
Loughty Dube
POLICE in
Matabeleland North have arrested 30 officials for allegedly
abusing food aid
for personal gain. The officials obtained the maize for
distribution to
hungry villagers from the Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
Some of those
involved have appeared in court.
The arrested suspects include GMB
officials, war veterans, councillors and
District Development Fund (DDF)
officials.
A source in Bulawayo said the arrests could just be the
tip of an iceberg.
This would confirm claims by humanitarian food
organisations and donor
age-ncies that food distribution had been politicised
and diverted to feed
Zanu PF supporters, the source said.
The food
scandal allegations surfaced amid reports that DDF truck drivers at
the
Bulawayo depot had been suspended pending investigations into
allegations
that they were demanding payment for food deliveries to drought
relief
recipients.
The 30 suspects are believed to be part of a team of
government workers
operating in cahoots with war veterans and Zanu PF
councillors in diverting
food relief meant for starving families in
Matabeleland North.
Most of those arrested were operating in the
drought-ravaged districts of
Binga, Bubi-Umguza and Tsholotsho.
A
DDF official in Bulawayo refused to comment on the suspension of the
truck
drivers and referred all questions to the provincial governor, Obert
Mpofu,
who was not available for comment.
Five of the accused war
veterans from Tsholotsho appeared in court on
Tuesday and were remanded in
custody after they failed to raise $20 000 each
in bail.
A police
spokesman confirmed the arrests and said some of the suspects had
already
appeared in court.
"It is true that police arrested some officials
involved in a food scam and
some of them have appeared in court. Others are
yet to appear," said the
police spokesman.
According to
information gathered by the Zimbabwe Independent, the 30
arrested were
diverting truckloads of drought relief maize meant for
starving villagers and
selling it at inflated prices on the black market.
Some of the maize was sold
along political lines.
Under the government drought relief scheme,
maize is official-ly sold at
$500 for a 50kg bag but the officials are said
to have been selling it for
as much as $1 500 a bag.
"War veterans
took advantage of the fact that they are overseeing the
distribution of
drought relief in the districts and they charge as much as
$1 500 for a 50kg
bag of maize," said the source.
"The war veterans are running
thriving businesses from their homes and one
can buy maize and other scarce
goods at very exorbitant prices but if one is
a known Zanu PF supporter one
can buy the food cheaper," said the source.
Zim Independent
Citrus farms face disease threat
Blessing Zulu
THE
citrus farming sector worth US$45 million is under threat from a
major
outbreak of psylla and black spot diseases on farms seized by war
veterans
in Mashonaland Central province.
Marauding war veterans have
seized listed and unlisted farms in the
province.
There are fears
the new settlers may not be able to buy the chemicals needed
to halt the
spread of the diseases.
Diseases such as psylla and black spot ruin
the appearance of citrus
products, thereby rendering them unexportable. Both
re-occur every year and
are spread by wind and the movement of oranges to
market.
"Psylla has to be sprayed now with Citramet and Azodrin,"
said an
agricultural expert. Spraying of black spot begins in October
using
chemicals such as Benlate and Diathane.
"The EU will not acecpt
black spot-infested fruit and those with psylla will
be lucky to make the
local market," the expert said.
Zimbabwe exports around three million
cartons of citrus every year valued at
about US$15 a box.
"There
are fears that the settlers who are just reaping the oranges after
forcibly
evicting the farmers will not be able to buy the chemicals needed
to combat
the spread of these diseases," the source said.
Jenni Williams,
spokesperson for the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), said
the looting of farm
produce had been stepped up at the multi-million
dollar
horticulture-producing Insingisi Farm near Bindura.
"The
invaders who have been hand-picking the farm produce have now moved in
with
two tractors and two trailers to harvest the oranges in the farm
orchard,"
Williams said.
The owner of the farm, Collin Taylor, told the Zimbabwe
Independent last
week that the farm was not listed for resettlement. The farm
has an orchard
valued at $5 million and a $25 million packhouse for oranges.
The farm also
grows roses for sale in the lucrative Dutch
market.
Jim Davies, a farmer in Bindura, was served with a Section 7
order which
allows him to contest his farm's acquisition in
court.
"I planted my oranges 10 years ago and I was just about to
reap the benefits
but my farm has been affected by settlers," said
Davies.
"Last year I earned US$14 000 and this year I am expecting
more because as
trees grow older you reap more. Last year I exported the
fruit to Europe and
this year I am exploring the Russian market which is
offering better
prices."
Workers at Thrums Farm said the farm
owner, Brian Crawford and most of their
fellow workers, had fled after being
threatened although the farm had not
been listed. Guy French of Nyamuwanga
Farm in the same province was also
evicted by the settlers who have descended
on his orchard for his orange
crop.
The oranges are being sold at
Mbare Musika while some are left to rot on the
ground, posing a serious
disease hazard.
Some farmers have opted to leave the country in
search of greener pastures.
Mike Hood of Sun Croft Farm in the province has
already left the country for
Botswana.
Fred Wallis, the managing
director of the $450 million Biri Dam, said his
plans to venture into
horticulture had been dashed.
"Most of the 68 farmers who had
invest-ed in the scheme are affected by
either Section 5 or Section 8
orders," said Wallis.
"Horticulture, especially citrus, would
certainly have been on the programme
of a significant percentage of various
far-mers in our scheme but as the
situation stands, no one can invest in
horticulture, or anything else for
that matter," said Wallis.
Zim Independent
Chinamasa tried to 'use' parly - Blackie
Dumisani
Muleya
HIGH Court Judge Fergus Blackie, who retired yesterday amidst a storm
of
controversy after he sentenced Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa to
three
months in prison for contempt of court, has said the minister had tried
to
use parliament to avoid arraignment.
In his ruling, Justice
Blackie, who stepped down at the age of 65 after 24
years of judicial
service, said Chinamasa was an interested party when he
introduced the
General Laws Amendment Bill in parliament earlier this year.
He said the
minister wanted to duck the charge of "scandalising the court".
The
Bill, which also contained amendments to the Electoral Act, proposed to
alter
the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act to stop the courts from
initiating
contempt of court proceedings against individuals.
The minister
however failed in his endeavour because the Supreme Court later
set aside the
Bill as unprocedural.
Blackie said the amendment inserted a new
section saying a court or tribunal
may, on its own motion, only institute
proceedings for contempt of court
against any person if the contempt occurred
before the court or when the
contempt took place in relation to an ongoing
case.
It would also prevent retrospectively the courts from
instituting charges
against people accused of scandalising the
judiciary.
Blackie said Chinamasa claimed the reasons for this
amendment was to help
the public to freely express their opinions on
judgements because currently
"the public's voice is muffled by fear of being
charged with contempt of
court".
However, the judge dismissed
Chinamasa's claims.
"Chinamasa has given no explanation or
justification for the need to make
this amendment retrospective," he said.
"In the circumstances of this case
the reason is obvious, though at no stage
in the debate (in parliament) did
Chinamasa reveal that
reason."
Blackie said Chinamasa's change was calculated to compromise
the
independence of the judiciary.
"The amendment merely takes
away from a court the independence and
discretion to determine for itself
whether to institute proceedings for this
type of contempt," he
said.
The judge said the minister's claim was not supported by
precedent.
"This case (against Chinamasa) was the first of its kind
in the High Court
in 20 years," he said. "There has been no instance in
Zimbabwe of abuse by
the court of this prerogative or its procedures. There
has been no public
outcry and no academic writing in Zimbabwe against its use
or its
continuation."
Blackie said the amendment was self-serving
and insincere.
"This bald statement by Chinamasa of the reasons for the
amendment is
couched in terms of concern for the right of the general public
to feel free
to criticise judges without fear of being held liable for
contempt," he
said.
"It is ironic that the amendment was
introduced into parliament in the same
session as two other Bills, the Public
Order & Security Bill and the Access
to Information and Protection of
Privacy Bill. Both of these Bills are now
Acts. Both of them limit, on the
pain of severe penalties, the public's
right to criticise the executive."
Daily News
Councils accused of failure to account for ZINRA
funds
7/19/02 8:24:20 AM (GMT +2)
From Sandra
Mujokoro in Bulawayo
THE Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (ZINRA)
has blamed urban
councils of failing to account for money drawn from the Road
Fund.
This has led to delays in disbursements amid allegations that
the fund
does not have enough money.
During a meeting in
Bulawayo between the Urban Councils' Association
of Zimbabwe and members of
the parliamentary portfolio committees early this
week, Harare Executive
Mayor, Elias Mudzuri, asked where the money was going
as only a few councils
were benefiting from it.
Mudzuri said most councils were struggling
to raise money and taxing
already overtaxed
residents to fund road
repairs when the Road Fund was set up
specifically for that
purpose.
He said most roads were in urgent need of repair in most
cities and
towns but this could not be done as there were no
funds.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, Swithun
Mombeshora, said
the authority had so far collected about $2 billion from the
two-and-a-half
percent levy from fuel pump sales.
More money was
expected from traffic offence fines and vehicle
licencing.
According to a reliable source, only $600 000 is currently in the fund
's
coffers, not enough to meet the demands of local authorities.
James
Bwerazuva, a ZINRA board member, could not confirm the amount in
the Road
Fund, saying the money was available but the councils who failed to
account
for the money they received last year would not be given any more.
The money is used for refilling potholes only while the cost of
resurfacing
and building new roads was met by individual councils.
"Some local
authorities do not have qualified engineers and
accountants to give
comprehensive acquittals on how the funds were used,"
said
Bwerazuva.
He said before the money was disbursed, the councils
should approach
ZINRA with a detailed works programme indicating the roads to
be repaired
and the expected costs.
He said the initial money
was given without conditions but the second
tranche could not be given out
before the councils fully accounted for the
first tranche.
"Our
secretariat has received several complaints that some councils
have diverted
the Road Fund to other council commitments. This is very easy
to trace since
the money is deposited into a specific account," said
Bwerazuva.
He said about 20 urban councils had come back for the second
allocation but
none had come back for the third time.
He said most urban councils
were reeling under a financial crisis and
had been forced to divert funds to
cover long-standing problems.
Daily News
Lawyers attack Moyo's outburst over
Chinamasa
7/19/02 8:23:41 AM (GMT +2)
By Sam
Munyavi
Lawyers' associations and civic organisations yesterday
strongly
criticised Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for Information
and
Publicity, for his vitriolic attack on Justice Fergus Blackie following
his
judgment against Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal
and
Parliamentary Affairs, on two counts of contempt of court.
The Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ), the Legal Resources Foundation
(LRF) and
the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said Moyo's outburst in
the
government-controlled Herald newspaper was in contempt of court and
he
should be charged.
Blackie on Wednesday sentenced Chinamasa
to pay a fine of $50 000 or
serve three months in prison on the first count
and three months in prison
without the option of a fine on the
second.
The first charge arose out of criticism Chinamasa made in
The Herald
in September 1999 on sentences imposed by Justice Mahomed Adam on
three
Americans convicted of possession of arms of war.
Chinamasa said the sentences were too lenient and induced "a sense of
shock
and outrage in the minds of right-thinking people".
The second
charge was that he did not attend a contempt of court
hearing relating to the
first charge.
Moyo attacked Blackie's judgment as a "kangaroo
judgment" and accused
him of racism.
Sternford Moyo, the president
of the LSZ, would not comment for
ethical reasons since he had represented
Chinamasa in a related matter.
Speaking on behalf of the society,
Mordecai Mahlangu, a counsellor
with the society, said Moyo's comments were
"most unfortunate and the
language was most intemperate".
Mahlangu said: "Our greater concern as the Law Society is that on his
own
admission the minister had not seen the judgment. On what basis can he
base
his criticism of a judgment he has not seen? It was not an
informed
criticism."
Mahlangu said Moyo was "given to outbursts.
He is an expert on
everything."
Sarah Moyo, the chairperson of
the Legal Resources Foundation board of
trustees, condemned Moyo's language
as "intemperate and disrespectful".
She said: "As a government
minister he should conduct himself in a
more sober manner. He doesn't do
anybody any good. The language is terrible,
even the conduct of the minister
himself."
Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of the NCA and a lecturer
in
constitutional law at the University of Zimbabwe, said: "Moyo's
utterances
are even worse than Chinamasa's. The courts should charge him with
contempt.
If they don't, the public will lose confidence in
them."
He said Moyo's utterances were "a very serious attack on the
rule of
law. The first thing they should have done is go to the Supreme
Court. That
is how the rule of law operates. You simply cannot say you are
not going to
comply."
He said it was wrong for Moyo to label
Blackie a "Rhodesian racist"
when he was, in fact, appointed to the bench in
1986 by President Robert
Mugabe.
Madhuku said Chinamasa risked
being arrested by members of the public
as he was "a fugitive from
justice."
Blackie, who retired at the end of the day yesterday,
refused to be
interviewed.
Chinamasa, who was said to be out of
the country, could not be reached
on his cellphone yesterday.
Daily News
Kangai acquitted of $228m corruption
7/19/02 7:55:13 AM (GMT +2)
By Pedzisai Ruhanya Chief
Reporter
KUMBIRAI Kangai, the former Minister of Lands and
Agriculture, and a
luminary of the liberation struggle, was yesterday
acquitted by the High
Court in Harare on corruption charges involving $228
million.
His former permanent secretary, Tobias Takavarasha, and
Martin
Muchero, the suspended chief executive of the Grain Marketing Board
(GMB),
were also set free by Justice Charles Hungwe.
Hungwe
noted that the State failed to lead evidence against the three
and the
allegations levelled against them were based on suspicions that
criminal
offences might have been committed.
He said the investigating
officer's suspicion that criminal acts might
have been committed failed to
stand because under cross-examination by
Jonathan Samkange, the defence
lawyer, the court was not convinced by the
police evidence.
Hungwe ruled that as far as Kangai and Takavarasha were concerned,
there was
no evidence to show they did anything wrong in the conduct of
their business
as public officials.
He rejected allegations by the State that
Kangai and Takavarasha
connived with Muchero to defraud the
government.
The judge said because Kangai, Takavarasha and Muchero
were doing
their work separately, the onus was on the State to convince the
court they
connived to commit criminal offences, especially in awarding
tenders to four
different companies, for their benefit.
He said
Muchero was overzealous in carrying out his duties when he was
tasked by the
government to turn around the GMB into a profit-making
organisation, but that
did not
constitute a criminal offence.
Hungwe said he
accepted the evidence of Charles Kuwaza, the former
permanent secretary in
the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
Kuwaza said the
correct procedure was that if failure to go to tender
resulted in financial
prejudice, the minister could take action against the
offender.
Hungwe ruled that if the State believed that by failing to go to
tender to
procure maize, Muchero acted unlawfully, then his juniors should
also have
been charged.
The judge said there were so many inconsistencies and
contradictions
in the State's case and the investigations were
incomplete.
He said the State also failed to establish whether the
maize allegedly
exported was the same maize being imported, as
alleged.
Hungwe dismissed the evidence given by Renson Gasela, the
MDC MP for
Gweru Rural, and former GMB general manager.
He said
Gasela gave his opinions on the procurement of maize and tried
to implicate
the three.
Kangai yesterday said he wanted to rest and would
comment on the court
outcome later.
"I am very happy, but right now
I need some rest. You can come back to
me later," he said.
Kangai, 64, was on $250 000 bail on a charge under the Prevention
of
Corruption Act.
During the trial, Kangai maintained that he
was innocent of any
wrongdoing and alleged that some politicians were out to
destroy him. Kangai
lost his Cabinet post following his arrest.
Takavarasha was on $50 000 bail for allegedly misappropriating nearly
$160
million through fraudulent deals at the GMB.
Muchero, also on $50
000 bail, faced charges of fraud and corruption
involving $176
million.
The State alleged that following a poor farming season in
1997/8, the
GMB was tasked to import 460 000 metric tonnes of maize for
domestic
consumption and to replenish strategic grain reserves.
Kangai, the State alleged, convened a meeting attended by
Takavarasha,
Muchero and the late deputy secretary for Lands and Agriculture,
Gordon
Sithole, in June 1998 at which he underlined the need to stick to
proper
grain buying procedures.
That entailed the GMB going to
tender and adhering to pricing and
import and export programmes and other
regulations that govern parastatals
in terms of the Audit Exchequer Act and
the GMB Act.
Guardian
Zimbabwe courts v government
Andrew Meldrum,
Harare
Friday July 19, 2002
An extraordinary showdown looms between
President Robert Mugabe's government
and the country's judicial system after
the justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa was sentenced to three months in jail
for contempt of court.
A leading government official said the order by a high
court judge to jail
Mr Chinamasa would be defied. "The sentence imposed on
the minister has no
force of effect," said David Mangota, permanent secretary
of the justice
ministry.
Mr Chinamasa's prison sentence, and a fine of
Z$50,000 (£650), were imposed
on Wednesday by judge Fergus Blackie after the
justice minister repeatedly
refused to appear on contempt of court
charges.
Mr Chinamasa, one of Mr Mugabe's most trusted ministers, was
called to the
court on the grounds that his harsh public criticism of a court
decision
showed contempt. Mr Chinamasa had attacked as too lenient a sentence
of six
months' imprisonment on three Americans convicted of illegal
possession of
arms. Mr Chinamasa said the sentence "induced a sense of shock
and outrage
in the minds of right thinking people".
"He has
deliberately scorned and avoided the process and directives of the
court. His
only response to the authority of the court has been abuse and
threats,"
Judge Blackie said on Wednesday.
The influential information minister,
Jonathan Moyo, attacked the jail
sentence handed to Mr Chinamasa as
"shocking, outrageous and sinister".
Business Day
Harare mocks judge's
sentence
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARARE
Zimbabwe's government yesterday ridiculed a judge who sentenced
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa to jail on contempt of court charges,
saying the
sentence was of "no force or effect".
This followed Wednesday's decision
by Judge Fergus Blackie, who retired from
the bench yesterday after 24 years,
to sentence Chinamasa to three months in
jail and a Z50000 fine on two
charges stemming from his criticism of the
sentence given to three Americans
found guilty of possessing illegal arms in
1999.
Police refused
yesterday to enforce the sentence, while Information Minister
Jonathan Moyo
described Blackie as "a racist Rhodesian" who presided over "a
kangaroo
court".
Observers said the government's defiance was dragging the country
into open
conflict between President Robert Mugabe's regime and the
judiciary, much of
it regarded now as seriously compromised by the
appointment of pro-Mugabe
judges to the bench.
Legal experts, who
asked not to be named, said attacks on the judge
"constitute direct
interference in the judiciary".
"Only the supreme court can strike down a
judge's ruling. Now we have a
civil servant telling a judge his judgment will
not be obeyed," one said.
VOA
Zimbabwe Farm Seizures May Be Jeopardizing Drought Aid
Elaine
Johanson
United Nations
18 Jul 2002 22:32 UTC
Donors pledging
emergency drought assistance to southern Africa Thursday
have expressed
concern about what they consider misguided government
policies in the region,
that may be worsening the crisis. U.N. officials
admit this concern could
limit the amount of aid the major donors are
willing to give.
There
are six countries in crisis in southern Africa: Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique,
Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is Zimbabwe that is causing
donors most
concern. Of the 13 million people facing starvation in the
region, about six
million of them live in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the
government there is engaged
in a very controversial land-reform program,
which involves seizing and
breaking up the farms of white farmers.
Donors and U.N. officials agree
the land redistribution policy has made a
bad situation worse in Zimbabwe.
Kenzo Oshima of Japan, the U.N. coordinator
for emergency relief, notes that
in 1992, during one of the worst food
crises to hit the region, Zimbabwe was
still a food-surplus country. Today,
Zimbabwe is a food-deficit
country.
"We have noted that there are a number of policy issues
affecting the crisis
and compounding the crisis," he said. "The fast-track
land resettlement
program has seriously affected one of the most productive
sectors, and is a
leading cause of the decline of the economy and a factor
that is
contributing to the crisis."
U.N. officials say Zimbabwe has
other policy flaws, notably in the private
sector. The government is said to
have a virtual monopoly in the marketing
and distribution areas.
A
Zimbabwean representative told the gathering of donors that the government
is
trying to make some policy adjustments. But apparently not in the
land
program. He explained Zimbabwe believes measures to meet drought
situations
in the longer-term hinge on giving the land back to the
people.
But it is the present crisis and the possibility that donors will
hold back
on aid that commands the attention of relief workers. Mr. Oshima
says some
major donor governments seem to be treading carefully and keep
coming back
to the so-called issues of governance.
"The extent to
which the governance-related problems influence a donor
decision to provide
emergency assistance, I do not know. But I think the
process of dialogue has
started, including in Zimbabwe," he said.
The United Nations has appealed
for more than $600 million in emergency aid
for southern Africa. This would
be used primarily for food shipments. But
some of the funds would go toward
propping up nutrition, health, water,
education and child protection
services.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named James Morris, the
director of
the World Food Programme, as his special envoy for the
humanitarian
situation in southern Africa. Mr. Morris will work with African
governments
to promote a better response to the food emergency. He is also
expected to
keep in touch with the donors to ensure the aid is used
efficiently and
going to those most in need.
Agape Press News Summary July 18, 2002
Bob's Buddy, Farrakhan "most evil
ever..."
One of the nation's most prominent black conservatives calls the
current
liberal black leadership the most evil combination ever -- and he
believes
they are also "traitors". Jesse Lee Peterson says while President
Bush
prepares for war against Saddam Hussein, Nation of Islam leader
Louis
Farrakhan is showing his support for the Iraqi dictator. Peterson
points out
Farrakhan actually made a trip to the rogue nation and was quoted
as saying,
"The Muslim-American people are praying to almighty god to grant
victory to
Iraq". Peterson thinks Farrakhan should stay in Iraq. In addition,
he says
"the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and others are traitors to
this
country," and says even black members of Congress are part of this
liberal
black "Rogue's Gallery." Peterson says Cynthia McKinney of Georgia
made the
comment the president allowed the September 11 attack on America to
happen
so he, Bush, could profit from it. Peterson asks: "How wicked can you
get?"
Peterson says liberal blacks like Farrakhan and McKinney are
domestic
enemies who hate America and are out-of-step with most black
Americans on
these issues.
EU urged to turn screw on Mugabe
Ian Black in Brussels
Saturday July
20, 2002
The Guardian
Britain is urging the European Union to impose
new sanctions on Zimbabwe
after President Robert Mugabe's failure to meet
international demands on
democratic reforms and ending violence.
EU
foreign ministers, including Jack Straw, will meet in Brussels on Monday
for
what promises to be a heated debate on the issue, with deep divisions
among
member states about how to proceed.
Diplomats said yesterday that
Britain, backed by Germany, Sweden and the
Netherlands, wanted the immediate
extension of a visa ban and assets freeze
to 20 more senior members of the
ruling Zanu-PF party.
Mr Mugabe and 19 of his closest ministers and
security chiefs were targeted
in earlier sanctions agreed in February, though
those measures have been
widely criticised as ineffective.
Other EU
members want to put off any action until a meeting between the EU
and the
Southern African Development Community group of countries - which
includes
Zimbabwe - in September.
Amid mounting demands for action, Geoffrey Van
Orden, vice-chairman of the
foreign affairs committee of the European
parliament, said yesterday: "EU
countries are not enforcing sanctions. There
is supposed to be a travel ban
and asset freeze in place on Mugabe's close
supporters but senior Zimbabwean
ministers and officials have been at large
in Europe in recent weeks.
"Unless the bans are extended to include any
key regime figures, ie all
ministers, senior military and police officers, as
well as leading
businessmen who have helped to bankroll Zanu-PF, then the EU
will have
failed."
The Save Zimbabwe campaign also called for the
"real and enhanced
application of smart sanctions" against the regime. It
demanded more aid to
help stave off the threat of famine while ensuring any
humanitarian
deliveries were not creamed off by the regime.
Sanctions
were imposed after Mr Mugabe refused to let EU observers freely
observe the
presidential elections. Europe also cut off ?128m (£82m) in
development
aid.
The EU condemned the electoral process as "deeply flawed" after
months of
state-sponsored violence and intimidation, a huge propaganda
campaign by
state media and widespread disenfranchisement.
Since his
disputed victory Mr Mugabe has stepped up his campaign to
redistribute
farmland to landless blacks, telling white farmers to stop
working their
fields in preparation for giving them up.
Zim reduced to spectator at AU launch
Paul Themba Nyathi
In Durban last week the
African Union (AU) came into being, finally replacing the Organisation of
African Unity (OAU) which has for the past 39 years represented Africa's
collective fortunes and misfortunes.
The OAU can, to some
degree, claim credit for expediting the total decolonisation of Africa, and it
can to a large extent also be credited with creating an intra-African
appreciation of the need for continental unity. What has clearly been the OAU's
major achievement has been its ability to promote the African continent's
distinct identity.
The OAU's attempts at conflict resolution among its member states have been
less successful as evidenced by continued internal and cross-border conflicts
still raging in some parts of the continent. But the OAU's sigal failure is to
be found in Africa's economic decline and the poverty which relentlessly stalks
the continent. Hopefully the AU will deal with the issues that matter most to
ordinary citizens of Africa. These issues all come back to good governance whose
direct windfall should be peace, security and economic stability, leading to
affordable lifestyles as well as food security for Africa's people.
Should the AU allow the likes of Gaddafi and Mugabe to use it as a platform
for parading their philosophies of hate and racism, then the AU will go exactly
the same way as the OAU - economically and dogmatically. The archaic nature of
the Gaddafi/Mugabe paradigm is a direct cause of the misery of those countries'
populations.
"Musoro wegudo wave chinokoro," so our combative anti-imperialist appeared
shut out of the Durban conference. It took Gaddafi's eccentric posturing to
remind the delegates that Mugabe was also in attendance. Mugabe, the destroyer
of his country's economy, the impoverisher of his own people and the man who
boasts of degrees in violence, had nothing to offer at a conference where
serious leaders sought ways out of their countries' difficulties.
Even far away in Durban, where Africa's place in the community of civilised
nations of the world was being mapped out, Gaddafi brought everybody down to
earth with a thud. There are in Africa still people like Gaddafi and Mugabe who
have defined their leadership around tormenting their citizens on the basis of
colour.
"My friend Mugabe, forgive the whites. They are now poor - forgive them. You
are free. You are bigger than them. We are mighty." So ranted Gaddafi in that
incautious moment of vintage dementia.
How many times have we heard neighbours pleading with a crazed wife-beater to
stop beating his wife because the "errant wife" has now learnt her lesson and
that the violent crazed husband is bigger than the wife? "Hayibo Gushungo
umyekele usezwile baba. Kambe usungaze umbulale?" Gaddafi's plea to Mugabe is
played over and over in violent households where wife-bashing is prevalent. In
most cases, the crazed husband is not aware of his demented and destructive
behaviour until it is too late and there is a fatality.
The only contribution to that historic event that Mugabe could make was a
stark reminder from his friend Gaddafi that the world is dealing with a
vindictive, violent man who had to be prised off his helpless victim by being
humoured into believing that he is mightier than the prey. I hope the assembled
African heads of state understood what ordinary Zimbabweans have to live with
every day. I hope they understood how meaningless most of the AU's Constitutive
Act provisions are when Africa tolerates and condones actions of leaders who
brutalise their own citizens.
Zanu PF is not an ordinary political party. It is a cult that inflicts
violent rituals on its political opponents. Its economic policies belong to the
world of the occult, and these policies lend themselves to the voodoo economic
processes that have led Zimbabwe's economy to the graveyard. The country is
being bled to death by the forces of darkness in Zanu PF.
Is it possible that someone at the Durban conference finally noticed this
sorry condition of Zimbabwe? Does that explain why those who would normally be
Zimbabwe's high priests of voodoo economics, its delegation, joined the rest of
the Southern African Development Community, according to a report, to
reluctantly endorse Nepad?
Despite the presence of Gaddafi, Mugabe and other relics of that feature of
African leadership that is absolutely obnoxious, the Durban conference gave
Thabo Mbeki and his reforming colleagues a grudging nod to lead Africa out of
its largely self-inflicted poverty and disgrace.
The New Partnership for Africa's Development is indeed a challenging and
complex initiative that should inform serious debate in Africa generally and
particularly here in Zimbabwe, where all attempts at pursuing specific economic
development strategies have met with total failure - remember Esap, Zimprest,
Merp, 10-point recovery plan, etc. Remember the first five or six years after
Independence when we had, North Korea-style, a tendency to set economic
objectives for each year? Who will remembers Gore rekupindura zvinhu? Gore
remasimba evanhu? Whatever became of those ridiculous postures?
Zimbabweans will find it difficult to engage in a meaningful debate on Nepad
because of the oppressive political environment in the country. Among other
requirements, Article 49 of Nepad requires that African leaders take joint
responsibility for this juggernaut - promoting and protecting democracy and
human rights in their respective countries and regions, by developing clear
standards of accountability, transparency and participatory governance at the
national and sub-national levels.
With its Public Order and Security Act (Posa), Zimbabwe fails at the very
first hurdle. Debate on political matters in Zimbabwe now is less frequent than
it was during the worst of Ian Smith's Law and Order (Maintenance) Act. One
understands why there is hostility towards Nepad in Zimbabwe: it is considered
inconvenient, unAfrican and imperialistic because it espouses concepts like
"democratic societies".
In Zimbabwe there is only one interpretation of democracy and that is defined
by Mugabe and Zanu PF's will. Anything else is imperialistic nonsense peddled by
the MDC and their British sponsors. Nepad, for all its flaws - and they are
there - at least attempts to look forward. Mugabe and Gaddafi seek to take
Africa 100 years backwards.
Durban accentuated Zimbabwe's isolation vividly. Here is a country with 22
years of governance experience behind it, being upstaged by eight-year-old South
Africa on matters that are important and relevant to Africa's future.
Zimbabwe, with some of the most experienced economists found in international
financing houses spread all over the world, that was the envy of the region and
the continent at large, was reduced to a spectator in Durban, in fact an
embarrassing spectator at that. The rest of the world today perceives us as it
does thanks to Mugabe's barbaric approach to governance. There is nothing
sovereign about Mugabe's brand of governance. It is primitive, predatory and
shameful, and we reject it.
Paul Themba Nyathi is MDC director of elections.
Economy continues spiral of decline
Godfrey Marawanyika
LACK of clear policies
has, more than anything else, accounted for Zimbabwe's rapid economic decline
since 1997, analysts say.
Due to the ad-hoc economic
management for the past two years, analysts see no immediate reversal in the
country's fortunes.
Policy inconsistencies and reversals have seen some sectors of the economy
running their own exchange rate regimes while the Zimbabwe dollar has remained
pegged at an official rate of $55: US$1 since October 2000.
Economic rationale has been overtaken by political expediency as the country
lurches from one crisis to another.
Per capita gross domestic product (GDP), which peaked at US$2,115 billion in
1996, has declined to a projected level of US$1,529 million by the end of this
year. Export performance has continued to decline since 1997, with the exception
of 1999 when some notable gains were registered.
Government's failure to rein-in its run away expenditure resulted in the
budget deficit reaching 23,7% of GDP in 2000. Fiscal indiscipline by the
government has remained a serious problem, with the domestic debt rising from
$25 billion in 1995 to $300 billion by June this year.
External debt service ratio (debt service as a percentage of exports of goods
and services) rose from 17% in 1997 to 25% by 2000.
According to the World Bank, debt service difficulties become increasingly
likely when the ratio of the present value of debt to exports reaches 200-250%
and the debt service ratio exceeds 20-25%.
Savings as a proportion of GDP collapsed from a level of 21% in 1995 to 7,2%
by last year, while investment as a percentage of GDP declined from 26,1% in
1995 to 8,6% by 2001.
According to official figures, employment fell from a growth rate of 4% in
1996 to minus 8,7% by last year. By contrast, population growth has remained
stable at around 3%.
In December 1997 government was forced by its 50 000 militant war veterans to
pay each one of them a once-off lumpsum of $50 000 and a monthly pension of $2
000 each from January 1998. This came to $4 billion, which was not budgeted for.
In another policy adventure in 1998, the government sent troops to the
Democratic Republic of Congo at high cost to the economy gobbling at least US$3
billion a month. The following year the government decided to increase the
salaries of President Robert Mugabe, cabinet ministers and provincial governors
by 178%. In January 2000, all civil servants were awarded salary increases
ranging from 69% to 90%, an expenditure not budgeted for but embarked on to woo
votes in an election year.
This unbudgeted expenditure meant that the government had to resort to
borrowing to meet the payouts. The farm invasions of 2000 led to a general
breakdown of law and order and raids on factories, which led to the subsequent
resignation of former Minister of Industry and International Trade Nkosana Moyo
in protest.
The general decline in the state of the economy took a severe knock ahead of
the presidential election March when war veterans and Mugabe supporters were
left to run riot on commercial farms and stop all production.
Despite the introduction of the 18-month Millenium Economic Recovery
Programme (Merp) in 2000 to arrest the economic decline, there was no political
will to pursue this initiative.
Like its predecessor Zimprest, the programme was hardly followed and the
economy is now being managed on a crisis basis. The government says it has not
ditched Merp but has instead incorporated it into its agro-led recovery
programme.
Over the past three years the government has been battling to find a workable
solution to address the exchange control problems to avail.
After abandoning the fixed exchange rate system that had been in use in the
1980s, the government embarked on economic reforms in 1991 and operated on a
dual exchange rate system until June 1994. The authorities adopted a managed
floating exchange rate the following month, but due to inflation the exchange
rate had by August 1995 become overvalued. The negative effects were not readily
visible until 1997 because the central bank had healthy foreign currency
reserves. This, coupled with further crashes in 1998, saw the monetary
authorities returning to the fixed systems of the 1980s.
Between February 1999 and August 2000, the currency was fixed at $38 to the
US dollar. The exchange rate policy was given the impression that it was working
well because of 1997/8 crashes had left the currency significantly undervalued.
However, by December 1999 the under-valuation had all been wiped out by
rising inflation and the monetary authorities experimented with a crawling peg
system for two months from August to October 2000. Since then the official
exchange rate has been fixed at US$1 to $55 and the resultant development of a
thriving parallel market where the greenback can be sourced at $700.
Zim Indep.
The ZSE takes on global capitalism
At The Market with Tetrad
CALL it a blow against
international capitalism and American imperialism. Whilst the ZSE industrial
index reaches new record levels, international stockmarkets are plunging.
In May 2000, the Dow Jones
industrial index was at about the same level as the ZSE industrial index at 10
500. Since then, the ZSE index has risen a staggering 748% to 88 644 and the Dow
Jones has fallen 20% to 8 470. All of this where the US economy has fallen
marginally in a couple of quarters whilst our economy has plunged. Imagine what
the index would be if we had had positive economic growth? Doesn't George Bush
wish he had our economy?
Probably not. A great deal of the fall in share prices in the US, with most
of the world catching the cold, is to do with the corporate governance issues
that arise from some spectacular accounting frauds at Enron and WorldCom amongst
others. The Americans are beginning to realise that their generally accepted
accounting standards (GAAP) allow a fair amount of leeway in how one actually
describes the profit figure at the end.
Stories abound over the profit measures used, the favourite being EBITDA
(earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) or, as the
Spectator describes it, the earnings you would have had if you hadn't had to pay
any expenses.
Corporate executives' share options were supposed to align their interests
with those of the shareholders. In fact, in a number of cases executives did
everything to increase share prices so that they could benefit from their
options. "Everything" included fudging the figures. Zimbabwe shouldn't have that
sort of problem except perhaps with the hyperinflationary accounting standard
IAS29 (incomprehensible accounting statements) that increasingly looks as if it
was drafted by the Anderson's accounting practice. Like America, however,
executive options are not currently expensed when issued, they simply appear as
an increase in the number of shares in issue.
Another area where Zimbabwean companies may face problems is of course what
exchange rate to use. Zimpapers apparently held discussions with their auditors
as to what the appropriate exchange rate would be to denominate a Sterling
liability. The auditors felt that it should be at the parallel market rate
whilst Zimpapers believed, correctly, that there was no single freely accessible
market and that the actual parallel rates talked about were largely "one-off"
occurrences. Not to say that there is no parallel exchange rate but only that it
is extremely difficult to get any precise information that is consistent across
the financial markets.
In addition to the parallel rate, anecdotally between Z$600 and 700 to the
US$, there is the blend rate which is the net rate one would get if you sold
currency giving 40% to the Reserve Bank at the "official" rate of $55 to the
US$. Ignoring the other exchange rates such as tobacco and gold, there is also
the implied rate on Old Mutual shares, currently at around $552 to the US$ on
the relative prices between London and Zimbabwe.
If George Bush had invested in the ZSE he would have made a spectacular
profit but not enough to compensate for the sharp decline in the exchange rate.
He might also have had a small problem repatriating the proceeds! Looking back
again to May 2000 his US$100 would have bought $3 800 which would now be worth
$32 240 or just over half the money he started with in May 2000, at the Old
Mutual rate. Even losing money on the Dow Jones industrial index he would still
be 38% better off. With those kinds of numbers he probably prefers his own
problems.
It is instructive though to revisit our exchange rate problems especially
with much rumour and speculation about interest rates coming down. The rumours
are so rife that we have had situations where the money market has been $12
billion short and overnight rates have collapsed, with an apparent overnight
borrowing rate of 57% pa. At the same time we are bombarded with statements
calling for the closure of bureaux de change and castigating banks for dealing
in the parallel market because the parallel rate has moved to the new levels in
a very short period.
The reasons for the collapse in the parallel rate are quite simple. The
Reserve Bank's insistence that tobacco merchants pay in US dollars has seen
supply to the private sector drying up, whilst the land issue and general
political and economic malaise has contributed to the already large unsatisfied
demand for forex.
Another major contributor to these rates has been the unreal monetary policy
that we have pursued since January 2001. A great part of our exchange rate woes,
with the inflation rates, is self-inflicted by the very people charged with
safeguarding the value of our monetary unit.
The argument, splashed over full-size newspaper adverts, is that low interest
rates are benefiting industry and the productive sector. There is more than a
hint that cheap money is also benefiting conspicuous consumption. That may be
true, but at a horrendous cost to the rest of the economy in terms of inflation
and of course the exchange rate. Even so, looking at the gearing ratios of
quoted companies, there is little evidence to suggest a borrowing binge. Even
the money supply numbers show private sector credit creation falling in real
terms. So whilst a few corporates benefit from unrealistically low interest
rates, savers and consumers suffer.
Savers because they are losing the value of their savings and consumers
because prices are rising faster than their incomes. Naturally, government and
the public sector generally have been borrowers and there must be an element of
subsidised prices in service deliveries. It has been argued that government is
not interest rate sensitive. However, this does not explain why they have
borrowed so much more when interest rates are lower.
What do the corporates that borrow savers' money actually do with it? If they
are importers they buy large stocks of goods, putting pressure on exchange
rates, then sit on those stocks whilst the exchange rate falls further and then
sell the savers those stocks at higher prices. The saver gets burnt both ways
which is why there has been such an asset price bubble in real assets as savers
try to keep up with inflation.
The exporter, on the other hand, borrows money to try and slow down his
export receipts because he is hoping for higher local dollar earnings. This also
puts pressure on the exchange rate. They are not economic saboteurs, they are
simply following the policy rules made by the authorities. Easy to fix. Simply
increase interest rates to real levels and do away with subsidised lending and
of course do something about the exchange rate.
Dropping interest rates and keeping the currency artificially pegged will at
best worsen the current situation.
UN Sets Drive to Avert Famine in Southern Africa
|
July 19
— By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Widespread food shortages and rampant AIDS have
put nearly 13 million southern Africans "on the very edge of survival," the
United Nations said on Thursday, appealing for an urgent $611 million in
aid.
"There is still an opportunity to avert famine and to save lives, but this
window is closing rapidly," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima
said.
"I call on the international community and the countries concerned to join
hands with the United Nations in a partnership to avert another human tragedy on
the African continent," Oshima, speaking on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, told a meeting at UN headquarters.
UN officials blame the crisis, the region's worst since a deadly 1992
drought, on a combination of severe drought, floods, economic decline and
government mismanagement.
The famine has been aggravated by the residual debilitating effects of past
conflicts and the region's extremely high AIDS infection rate, which has killed
many farmers and left millions of orphans, the officials say.
The 12.8 million people threatened with starvation live in Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and about half of them are children,
the officials said. Other countries in the region are also threatened although
to a lesser extent.
The $611 million in emergency aid would be devoted primarily to immediate
food shipments, but the funds would also help prop up agriculture, health,
nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child protection services, a UN
statement said.
COHERENT AND COMPLETE RESPONSE
To help the region better provide for itself over the long term, Annan was
naming James Morris, executive director of the Rome-based World Food Program, as
his special envoy on the humanitarian crisis in southern Africa, Oshima
said.
Morris' task would be to travel to the region and work with governments to
ensure a "coherent and complete response to the crisis," Oshima said. He would
also work with international donors to ensure aid was used efficiently and went
to those most in need.
The emergency appeal would funnel the most money--$285 million--to Zimbabwe,
where severe food shortages caused by drought and government land seizures
threaten more than 6 million of the country's nearly 14 million people.
Zimbabwe is also severely plagued by AIDS, which has orphaned some 600,000 of
its children and infected more than 2.2 million of its current residents,
according to UN figures.
Another $144 million would be earmarked for Malawi, where more than 3 million
people will require food aid by the end of the year, the United Nations
said.
Zambia, where some 2.3 million people need emergency food aid and water due
to a prolonged drought, would be allotted $71 million.
Mozambique, where some 70% of the population is living below the poverty
line, would get $44 million in aid after floods and other natural disasters
destroyed three or four consecutive years of crops in many areas, the United
Nations said.
In Lesotho, earmarked for $41 million in emergency aid, about a fifth of the
country's 2.2 million people require food aid. About $19 million would go to
Swaziland, where 21% of the population of 1 million need food assistance after
two consecutive disastrous farming seasons, the world body said.
The remaining funds would be used to address the crisis at the regional
level, it said.
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