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Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)
June 22, 2003
Posted to the web June 23,
2003
ZIMBABWEANS have stashed more than $1 billion in foreign
accounts as the
southern African country bleeds under a severe foreign
currency crisis, it
was learnt this week
A study by a leading
financial institution in Harare says the figure could
be higher if corporate
tax dodging and keeping export earnings outside
Zimbabwe were to be
included
$1 billion in foreign accounts, that is a startling figure for
many in
Zimbabwe who are battling with no fuel and sometimes electricity
power cuts
The irony is that the money being kept by nationals outside is
enough to
take care of the country's fuel and electricity requirements for a
year
Barbican Financial Holdings, is responsible for the research that is
putting
to question the conscience of some of the country's rich
nationals
The research shows that much of this $1 billion is in South
Africa, the
United Kingdom and the United States. Economists say it is this
money, kept
offshore, that is fuelling the black market in
Zimbabwe
Finance minister Herbert Murerwa recently said new measures
would be
announced to attract the foreign currency sitting outside the
country when
it is desperately needed at home. These measures would form part
of a new
monetary policy due to be announced later this
month
Analysts, however, have scoffed at Murerwa's statement saying most
of this
money is suspected to be slush funds of some of his colleagues in
Cabinet
and in the ruling Zanu PF which would never be voluntarily
repatriated
They also say the other money, savings of Zimbabweans working
in South
Africa and abroad, was also unlikely to come home because most of
the savers
blamed President Robert Mugabe's government for making them
economic
refugees
Desperate as Zimbabwe may be for foreign currency,
many agree there would be
no significant inflows until tangible incentives
are put in place in Harare
These measures include democratisation, the
restoration of the rule of law
and an agreement with key financial
institutions such as the International
Monetary Fund that have blacklisted
Zimbabwe
Until that happens a lot of Zimbabweans will continue to keep
their hard
currency outside the country's borders.-SABC and our own
Staff.
Energy Experts Predict Total Power Blackout
Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)
June 22, 2003
Posted to the web June 23, 2003
Kumbirai
Mafunda
ZIMBABWE might face a total power blackout within four years
if efforts are
not made to find local alternative sources of energy, it has
emerged
Energy experts say regional power supplies, which Zimbabwe
depends on for
extra power, are dwindling and might run out within four
years
Already Zimbabwe is experiencing power shortages because its
imports from
South Africa, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC),
have been cut for non-payment
This has forced ZESA to
introduce intermittent load shedding that is
crippling domestic and
industrial services
ZESA's grid assets manager, Cletus Nyachowe said the
Southern African Power
Pool (SAPP) had already indicated that regional
electricity supply is
dwindling, while demand for power is estimated to
increase at a rate of 1000
MW per year
SAPP co-ordinates the planning
and operation of the electric power grid
among power utilities in the
southern Africa region. It is made up of 12
SADC members
The reduction
in regional supplies is likely to hurt Zimbabwe most, as it is
heavily
reliant on imports to cover for deficits in local
electricity
generation
ZESA imports 35% of its electricity from South
Africa's Eskom, HCB of
Mozambique and Snel of DRC. The other 65% is generated
locally by two local
power supply sources, Kariba Hydro Power Station and
Hwange Thermal Power
Station
The other three thermal power stations in
Harare, Bulawayo and Munyati have
shut down because of coal
shortages
New investments in projects such as Gokwe North and Batoka
Gorge have failed
to take off as a result of the country's failure to access
international
loan financing
Major financiers, among them the World
Bank and the African Development Bank
(ADB), have abandoned Zimbabwe's
electricity development plans citing the
country's inability to honour
loans
Zimbabwe needs about US$5 million every month to pay for
electricity imports
and also requires a similar amount to service debts
monthly. A further US$5
million is needed for wheeling charges
However
the chronic foreign currency squeeze has resulted in the once
prosperous
nation incurring arrears amounting to US$109,7 million. Suppliers
such as
ESKOM have now classified ZESA as an "interruptible customer" that
is charged
a 12% penalty per month for defaulting on payments
To compound the
problem, Energy and Development Minister Amos Midzi, has
revealed that there
has been no considerable investment in power generation
made since
independence
"It is therefore imperative that we start to invest in power
generation as a
matter of urgency, targeting especially those projects that
give us
electricity in the shortest possible time," Midzi told a recent
ZNCC
breakfast meeting on how to break the vicious cycle of electricity
shortages
in Zimbabwe.
No Way Out for Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
June
22, 2003
Posted to the web June 23, 2003
THE recent early
resignation of the governor of the Reserve Bank does not
necessarily mean
that policy is about to change
I think it is clear to everyone that we
effectively had a governor whose
hands were tied by politics and could not
really independently implement a
credible monetary policy in the face of the
perceived government's right to
access to the treasury. It is also fact that
the interest rate regime that
we have seen to date has really been manoeuvred
to allow excessive
government borrowing. Something that is not about to
stop
Our focus on interest rates has really been
misinformed
The main issue is that a government that borrows excessively
to spend money
on non investment activities is not good for the economy
regardless of where
interest rates are sitting. A comment was made recently
that we need not
focus on inflation targeting but on growth. It is true that
high interest
rates can stifle growth but what is even more stifling is the
manner in
which money has been printed and spent
The real issue is to
ensure that the economy begins to grow and any new
monetary policy to be
followed must ensure that there is some calibration
between fiscal policy and
monetary policy but unfortunately this has never
been the case in Zimbabwe.
Fiscal policy has always been driven by politics
and has thus made monetary
policy a secondary tool used to support political
strategies. As a result the
Reserve Bank has really never been in control
and I doubt that this will
change
In order for the economy to begin to grow the only thing lacking
is
confidence and political certainty particularly where we see companies
being
threatened with closure if they do not follow a political line. That
is
antiquated, unfair and very short sighted. But we really can't expect
more,
can we. Our economy is now characterised by sheer political expediency
and
has ceased to be a normal economy
Inflation is likely to continue
to get worse as prices are de-controlled and
we continue to have foreign
exchange problems. An increase in interest rates
above inflation is likely to
further stifle growth and will not result in
inflation easing off as interest
rates only play a small part in
contributing to inflation which is largely
imported inflation
Imported inflation will increase over the medium term
due to politics and
not necessarily economics
For investors I would
advise for them to stay invested in equities in the
medium term and take
profits as often but further reinvest these to
diversify risk
Strictly
speaking, there is no way out except for a new
political
dispensation
Quote of the week It is better to be violent,
if there is violence in our
hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence
to cover impotence.-Mahatma
Gandhi
Vince Musewe is an independent
investments consultant and co-author of the
book 'A trustee's guide to
investment management' and may be contacted on
pensions36@hotmail.com
Nerp Doomed As State Dithers On Targets
Zimbabwe Standard
(Harare)
ANALYSIS
June 22, 2003
Posted to the web June 23,
2003
Kumbirai Mafunda
GOVERNMENT has already thrown some
spanners into the much-vaunted National
Economic Recovery Programme (NERP) as
evidenced by its failure to honour set
targets, Standard Business has
established
"NERP is facing the same fate as its predecessor plans
because ministries
are behaving in the same old way. It all points to a
failed programme before
it has even gone far," said a leading
economist
"We have big problems that need massive surgery but the
government is
prescribing aspirin for ailments that need an operation. By
merely
identifying the symptoms, you don't treat the problems," added the
economist
Upon its formulation in February, economic commentators pointed
out that
NERP, the government's then new economic recovery programme, was
doomed and
would face the same fate that befell failed past economic
reforms
While the 50-page document was applauded at its launch as showing
a lot of
promises if the State stuck to its intended projects, many experts
say it
has already become just another piece of paper because the government
has
not honoured any of its pledges, say experts
President Robert
Mugabe's administration has concocted five economic reform
papers since
independence from Britain in 1980, but none seems to have
worked so
far
Under its latest policy, named NERP, government undertook to make
a
quarterly review of the exchange rate which it had adjusted upwards
in
February to $824 to the US dollar from an unrealistic $55 to the
greenback,
among other initiatives to kick start its floundering
economy
However, the first quarterly review of the dollar was due at the
end May and
yet government has not indicated whether it would bite the bullet
and once
again devalue the local currency to meet market
demands
Exporters have argued that astronomical rises in input costs such
as fuel,
which can now only be sourced on the black market, and the scarcity
of hard
currency, were clear signs that the local unit was overvalued
compared to
the currencies of major trading partners
Zimbabwe National
Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) vice-president, David Govere
blames bureaucratic
bungling for the NERP's miscarriage
"NERP was based on regular action but
government's bureaucratic methods
don't allow for speed and agreed reviews.
Events in the market have already
superseded the current pegged exchange rate
of $824," observed Govere
ZNCC trade and advocacy officer James Jowa
blasted business for not exerting
enough pressure on government to honour its
pledges. "Government can only
budge when there is pressure. But right now
there seems not to be much
pressure from the business sector," Jowa
said
On the 50:50 sharing of export proceeds, government has again failed
to
review the requirement quarterly, as it promised in February. Its
other
failures to stick to NERP set targets include the promise to
engage
international creditors to explore possibilities for debt
rescheduling
Four months down the line, not only has Zimbabwe's voting
and related rights
with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) been cancelled,
Harare is far
from reaching any agreement with the powerful Bretton Woods
institutions
over the resumption of aid
Respected Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions' chief economist, Godfrey
Kanyenze, said the government had a
long-standing history of crafting
documents that were only good on paper and
never executed
"While the Tripartite Negotiation Forum has churned good
policy documents,
the government machinery has taken a 'life as usual'
approach resulting in
the deepening of the crisis
"The economy
increasingly resembles an aeroplane on auto-pilot, cascading to
meet its
inevitable demise," Kanyenze observed
He blamed the State for failing to
align NERP, which was crafted long after
Zimbabwe's financial year, with the
national budget
"It is an open secret that most ministries have already
overrun their
limited allocations for the 2003 budget period. In such an
environment,
ministries will focus on those activities they planned to
undertake, which
are supported by resources
"The lack of progress on
implementation could also reflect the lack of
dialogue with line ministries
and other organisations regarding their
obligations under NERP," said
Kanyenze
Despite undertaking to reduce inflation to 96% by December, it
is now racing
past the 300% mark and is forecast to reach the dreaded 1000%
by December,
the highest ever in Southern Africa
"There has been an
absence of sterilisation measures to deal with
hyper-inflation," said a
Bulawayo-based economic commentator
Kanyenze rapped the government's
failure to bring sanity to the energy
sector still experiencing constant
power outages despite pledges by power
supplier ZESA to rectify the
problem
"Load shedding has negated the objectives of NERP and any efforts
by the
private sector to fulfil its mandate," Kanyenze
observed
Several companies have reduced working hours and cut down on
staff because
of the reduced power supply. Others in agriculture,
manufacturing and mining
say the power shortages threaten their survival.
Zimbabwe Independent
Why Mbeki wants the MDC to capitulate
Sundaytalk with Pius Wakatama
IT was one of those days when its all
gloom and there is virtually
nothing to gladden one's heart. I was feeling
more dejected than usual for I
was just about to make myself a cup of coffee
to lift my spirits when,
without any warning, the electricity went off.
Load-shedding is what they
call these heinous disturbances.
To
cap it all, the deadline for me to submit this contribution to The
Standard
was fast approaching and I didn't have the faintest idea of what I
should
write about. I didn't know how I could further comment on the madness
going
on in Zimbabwe today.
I was looking for a good reason why I should
not follow many of my
friends like Chenjerai Hove and emigrate to a more sane
country when the
phone rang.
Horror of horrors, it was my uncle,
Mr Zanu PF himself.
I braced myself to politely listen to a lot of
drivel about the latest
diplomatic exploits of our illustrious president
against the British
colonialists and their puppet Morgan Tsvangirai. However,
I greeted him in a
cheerful but fake voice. He said that he had heard I was
in hospital and
wanted to know how I was feeling. I told him that I was
recovering well and
thanked him for his concern. He said he was not well
himself as his body was
all aches and pains. "What is the problem," I
said.
"Ndakarowha nemasoja, muzukuru, (I was beaten up by
soldiers)," he
said.
He said soon after the MDC organised
stayaway, he and some friends
were drinking at the local watering hole in
Mbare when a group of soldiers
entered the place, closed the door, and beat
up all the patrons
indiscriminately accusing them of being MDC supporters. To
tell you the
truth, this was music in my ears. I found it quite difficult to
hide my
enjoyment from my suffering uncle. In Shona we say 'Tsvatu waro' (You
had it
coming; you deserved it).
"But sekuru, you told me that
you are now a Zanu PF provincial
official with bodyguards. How could loyal
soldiers beat a ruling party
chef?" I asked.
"Havachafunga,
muzukuru. Ndakarowha zvekuti" (They don't reason
anymore. I was thoroughly
beaten up).
"Are you going to report this to the Politburo," I
asked. This time I
could not restrain myself from laughing.
"No,
I am now distancing myself from Zanu PF because the party has
totally lost
control," he said. I almost asked him whether he had seen the
light and was
going to join the MDC but I didn't.
The opposition and Zimbabwe as
whole should be thankful to the army
and the police. By indiscriminately
beating up hundreds of innocent citizens
including die-hard Zanu PF stalwarts
like my uncle, they are surely
destroying the party which the majority of
Zimbabweans now detest.
Freedom from tyranny does not come easy. It
has its price. The
incarcerations, beatings and even the killings that
Zimbabweans are going
through are a worthy sacrifice for the freedom of
Zimbabwe and her children.
It is through the State's brutish reaction to the
peaceful protest that the
majority of the people have seen the Zanu PF
government for the monster that
it is. Its following has now dwindled to a
few misguided zealots, criminals
and paid thugs. No decent Zimbabwean wants
to be associated with this
murderous party anymore.
Yes, there
are some simple-minded folk who support Zanu PF because
they were taken in by
its lies. The minister of information (or is it
disinformation) Jonathan
Moyo's incessant propaganda may sound silly and
childish to sophisticated
thinkers but it is not totally worthless. There
are some retarded and
mentally slow Zimbabweans who actually believe it,
especially among our
unsophisticated and less educated rural cousins. They
swallowed the land
reform (Hondo yeminda) gimmick and the blatant lie that
the British are
preparing to recolonise Zimbabwe and take away the land that
they were given
by Zanu PF and Comrade Robert Mugabe.
However, the dilapidation of
the economy, resulting in the
government's inability to fulfil its many
promises is making resettled
communities uneasy. They are asking the
government to deliver seed,
fertiliser, inputs and infrastructure, as
promised, in vain. The government
is broke and cannot deliver. The resultant
disgruntlement is causing what
little support Zanu PF still had in the rural
areas to crumble.
Zimbabwean propaganda also had its effect on
failed African countries
where colonialism is a ready scapegoat for all
failures and ills. It also
goes down very well among former freedom fighters
who suffered under the
British and who find it hard to forgive and forget the
past. It is amazing
how, even in South Africa next door, some fairly rational
people have been
taken in by the Zimbabwe regime's propaganda.
A
few days ago I was visited by a very intelligent businessman friend
from
South Africa. He was a fiery fighter against the apartheid regime and
was
imprisoned and tortured several times. As a Christian, he has forgiven
the
whites but he finds it difficult to trust them.
As we discussed the
Zimbabwean situation, my friend completely agreed
with me that the Zanu PF
government had failed and should go.
However, in the same breath,
he said; "But, what is worrying some of
us, Pius, is that Morgan Tsvangirai
and his MDC seem to be controlled by the
British. You see, we Africans must
be careful that we are not recolonised by
the British. I don't trust
them."
I told my friend that he had swallowed the Zanu PF
propaganda hook,
line and sinker.
I explained to him that as far
as Zimbabweans are concerned, the
problem is not the British, the whites or
whoever. Our problem is the Zanu
PF government of Robert Mugabe which is
oppressing us and has brought this
country to its knees economically. In
fact, we now regard the British as our
allies because they don't like Mugabe
and his dictatorship just as much as
we. The British and the whites are not
imprisoning us, raping our children,
starving us or torturing us. It is the
Zanu PF government which is doing
that and this is no secret. It's being done
in open daylight. I am not
denying that the British did that in the past, but
that was the past and
only fools live in the past.
I am glad to
say I managed to convince my friend, at around midnight,
that Zimbabwe is not
fighting against the whites and the British, whatever
their faults might be.
We are fighting against a demonic dictatorship that
has no feelings at all
for the people of this country.
One can't say, though, that South
Africa's President Thabo Mbeki is
fooled by the Zimbabwe regime's propaganda
or President Mugabe's many suave
reassurances. I believe that Mbeki knows
very well that Mugabe is an
unscrupulous dictator. However, he has his own
agenda, or agendas.
The first one comes from his colonial
experience which, as in most of
us, left a hangover. A former freedom fighter
against white oppression
Mugabe's hatred of whites touches a resonating chord
in his sub-conscious.
He secretly admires Mugabe because in colonial Africa
the real man (Umdoda
sibili, murume chaiye) is the one who stood up
militantly against white
rule. In post-colonial Africa the hangover is there.
Most leaders who went
through the colonial era still admire those among them
who can thump their
noses at white Western powers even though they may be
cutting their noses to
spite their faces. Mbeki, therefore, dares not
criticise Mugabe openly.
The other agenda Mbeki has is economic.
South Africa sees herself as
the potential African economic and political
superpower. In this she is
competing with Muammar Gaddafi's Libya. Mbeki's
dream is for South Africa to
dominate and control Zimbabwe's economy. If
there is a political settlement
and a new government before this happens,
Zimbabwe could be a serious
competitor especially in the field of exports to
the rest of Africa.
For South Africa to do business freely in
Zimbabwe, a continuation of
the status quo would be ideal. This is why Thabo
Mbeki is in no hurry to see
the Zimbabwe problem resolved. He needs time for
South African businessmen
to come in and fill the void left by departing
Western companies.
To cement their ventures here, South Africans
need a friendly
government, preferably controlled by Zanu PF. Mbeki is afraid
that if there
is a new government of the MDC, Western economic interest and
conglomerates
will flood Zimbabwe and South Africa would be left out in the
cold as
happened to Zimbabwe in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
To avoid this, Mbeki would like the MDC to capitulate, in
negotiations
set up by him, and agree to a Zanu PF type settlement. With the
MDC
swallowed by Zanu PF, South Africa will be able to dominate the scene.
This
is why South African businessmen are being empowered by their government
to
come and do business in Zimbabwe.
They (South Africans) are
vultures coming to pick the flesh from the
carcass of a still breathing but
dying Zimbabwe.
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Zimbabwe Independent
There are so many little Mugabes among
us
Sundayopinion with Thandi Chiweshe
IMAGINE the post of
President not being an elected one, but one where
candidates have to apply,
be interviewed, and write an essay on what they
would bring to the
"job".
What would the job advert say? What can we take from the
current
profiles of African male leaders (yes, mostly male), that we know, so
that
we set the required "standard"? What can we learn from current
"person
specifications", that would make the task of looking for the
candidate
easier? If we are honest, I think the ad would go something like
this:
Situation Vacant: State President
Duty Station:
Badly run, bottom of the economic pile country in
sub-Saharan
Africa.
This former gem of a country now needs serious Lender to
Mouth
resuscitation.
Salary: When you get there you will pay
yourself what you want;
previous incumbents have done the same.
Benefits: Highly negotiable, between you and your conscience really.
Fringe
benefits include:
* Use of all national resources for your own
benefit,
* Any car/s you want, plus, as many chauffeurs as you
need,
* Free accommodation at State House, (and you can raid the
national
treasury to build an/other house/s should State House be
insufficient for
your needs),
* A Swiss bank account, with an
unmentionable balance
*Unfettered access to the national treasury,
and should this prove
insufficient you can help yourself to the guardian's
fund at Ministry of
Justice or any other money that doesn't belong to
you.
* Unlimited air miles on the national air-line or any other
airline of
your choice.
Reporting to:
No-one in
particular within your own country. Occasionally, you may be
expected to
deliver a state of the nation address, but you get to determine
what exactly
you want to say. Once a year, you will be expected to report to
a few
money-lenders you may borrow from.
Job specifications:
You will be required to run down your national economy as much as the
last
guy.
You are tasked with attracting investors, but only if they
give you
kickbacks. Terrorising your own citizens, stifling dissent, and
making
decisions that suit only you and key areas of your job. Other
key
performance areas include:
* Hiring and firing senior civil
servants, and members of the
judiciary.
* Keeping Parliament in
check and dissolving it as and when it
displeases you.
*
Floating along until the next round of interviews/elections, if of
course you
allow these to happen.
*Commanding the armed forces, mostly to kill
opponents and any
dissenting citizens.
Person
specifications
* Vision-less individuals with no clear sense of
direction for the
country.
* No academic credentials required,
just guts and viciousness.
*Corrupt or corruptible.
*High levels of kleptomania.
*High levels of
megalomania.
*High levels of paranoia.
*Ruthlessness.
*Certified/certifiable liars preferred.
*Demonstrable polygamy/polygymous tendencies.
*A proven track
record of bad relationships with women essential.
*Uncommitted and
unwilling to change the status quo, inspire anyone,
or do anything to change
the country or the world.
* The key operating words are mediocrity,
ruthlessness and paranoia.
Age:
Who said it mattered?
Anything ranging from 23 to 95. As long as you
are still on your feet.
However should you require human crutches, these
shall be permanently
provided, (Ref. Pope John Paul 2).
Wanted: A different type of
leader
Every Zimbabwean, (well if we don't count Jonathan and
Chinotimba), is
talking about the need for change. But what will that change
look like? I
don't know about you, but the change I want is not just a change
of the
current male faces we have to another lot. Unfortunately we keep
getting the
same type almost everywhere!
Look around you, in the
private sector, in NGOs and even in the
church, these are the men, (and a few
women), in whose hands we have
entrusted our lives and those of our children.
I have sat on boards of
various organisations where the most important item
on the agenda is always
the size of the vehicle to be bought for the
director. If it's not that it's
the amount of allowances to be paid, or the
benefits that the leaders want.
The substantive issues fall under "any other
business". The value system
that drives us is derived from the same place as
a Mugabe or a Chiyangwa's.
Sad, but true.
In feminist circles we
say the personal is political. For me any
person with kahupenyu
kakabvanyanguka - whose life is in tatters - has no
business wanting a
leadership position so s/he can mess around with anyone
else's
life.
How do we expect a person who by age 40 has no idea where
they are
going personally, has a messy domestic life and lots of issues with
their
wife/wives/husbands/children, to lead a small organisation? Never mind
lead
an entire nation? How do we expect a woman who is abused at home to
suddenly
stand up and represent Zimbabwe at the United Nations? Complete with
the
black eye she got last night?
In the same breath, anyone who
has bad personal finance-management
skills or lack thereof should never be
entrusted with the national treasury.
Same goes for the Johnny came-lately
who are on a fast track to primitive
accumulation. They are the types we see
holding three cell-phones - when he
can only speak into one at the same time!
Or building a 15 bed-roomed
house - as if they are competing with the Duke of
York?
But we never seem to learn.
It is the thieves
and crooked fellows that we already knew as having
run down a small NGO that
become the Ministers of tomorrow. Then we get
surprised when they go on
personal shopping sprees with their Ministerial
budget? If they kept
mismanaging ka-tuck shop, keku Highfield why do we
think they will suddenly
become serious members of Cabinet? As for abuse of
power and privilege, lets
not even start. When they go crazy bossing around
a small staff of six, what
if they suddenly find themselves in charge of a
whole ministry?
It has often been argued that power corrupts. But I tend to think that
it
starts in very small and often private spaces, with abuses of power that
go
unchallenged. By the time one becomes a Mugabe, ah anenge abva kure!
It
starts elsewhere. How many of us have relatives in our little families
of
whom we say, "mmm ava havatangwi ava!" (you can't deal with this one).
And
we all throw our hands up in despair at this "mountain" of a person
that
no-one dares mess with.
S/he is often a very megalomaniac,
violent, paranoid, unaccountable to
anyone, and just dictates "zvepamusha
pano", what should happen in this
home. This person moves into the public
sphere to occupy some fairly minor -
but powerful post.
A good
example is a policeman. Give that family dictator a truncheon
and that funky
police hat and you have an Idi Amin. Woe betide us all if
s/he becomes a
superintendent of a police station in Magunje! Everyone in
the family,
village, district etc will know kuti kwauyiwa.
So it just doesn't
start with a very big post, like the presidency. It
starts in whatever spaces
we are. Stories have been told of one current
Cabinet Minister whose first
act of "duty" was to buy himself new furniture,
new curtains and ordered two
new direct telephone lines. The man needed to
line up his power tools to be
felt. Having known that man and where he comes
from, this story is no
surprise. He is the kind of man even in his rural
village, always wants
everyone to know that he has a doctorate, and wants to
be greeted as
"Doctor". Now he is "Honourable Doctor". As far as the fellow
is concerned, a
Cabinet post is about enlarging his bank account and
standing kwaChivi, not
about improving you and I's lot.
I also remember working with one
woman who, on her first day at work
walked out of the office because the size
of her office was too small. "Is
this an office for a director?" she fumed.
She had to be cajoled to return
to work. These are the people we keep pushing
up leadership ladders as if we
don't know them.
There are so
many Mugabes among us. The only difference is that baba
vaChatunga occupies a
higher post than we all do. I have heard people
comparing Morgan Tsvangirai's
leadership capacity, (or is it potential?) to
Mugabe's. Without campaigning
for the man, I wonder what the STANDARD they
are holding him against is as
lofty as it sounds. Other than speaking Oxford
English and having the art of
eating cucumber sandwiches, I don't know what
is so high about the leadership
values and standards Mugabe has set. The job
description painted above fits
Mugabe to a T!
And if that is the standard that Tsvangirai or
anyone else must
surpass - that's a mighty low order!
Zimbabwe Independent
Brothers call Mugabe a hypocrite!
americannotes By Ken Mufuka
THE TransAfrica Forum sent a respectful
letter to President Robert
Mugabe on June 3. On June 6, the president of
Africa Forum sent another
letter to all members explaining why that
organisation has taken an
oppositionist position to Mugabe's so called
reforms in Zimbabwe. But first
let me mention two unrelated items that are
causing grave concern among
Americans here.
The Reverend Cannon
Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Church (Anglican)
in New Hampshire has been
elected bishop of that diocese.
The trouble with Bishop Robinson,
(who has not yet been consecrated)
is that 20 years ago he left his dear wife
(till death do us part) and their
two lovely girls because he had fallen in
love with a man. As you can
imagine, all hell has broken loose.
The second issue is a statement by Ahmad Chalabi, a supposedly
American Iraqi
puppet who has lived in London during the last 20 years.
Chalabi says that
Saddam Hussein is still alive and has been paying young
Iraqis bounty for
every American killed. There is evidence that those caught
so far have been
found with American money. The US government has conceded
that if this is
true, and the list of Americans killed after "victory"
continues to grow,
then there is more trouble than President George Bush
ever dreamed of in his
worst nightmare.
We will keep an eye on this story for
you.
Now the real story of this letter.
Brother Randal
Robinson organised TransAfrica Forum in the sixties in
response to the
continuing cruel treatment and oppression of blacks in South
Africa. Robinson
was a gifted Harvard trained lawyer, who forewent a
corporate legal career in
order to start this organisation. Its great
success first came when in 1984
they forced President Ronald Reagan (against
a veto) to sign the
Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act.
Nelson Mandela's freedom came in
1991 and together with the NAACP and
other groups, they take credit for it as
well. I have investigated this in
order to show that they have an impeccable
record in fighting for black
rights.
On the June 3, they wrote a
letter to President Mugabe saying three
things. They urged him to "create a
transition to democratic rights for all"
Zimbabweans as a matter of urgency.
Secondly, and this is important as a
self-fulfilling prophecy. "The situation
in Zimbabwe is crumbling quickly."
Thirdly, they answered Mugabe's
oft-repeated argument that his
government is doing the legal thing in their
treatment of opposition
offenders. "Repressive and violent policies (not
withstanding their
legality) does not render them justifiable or moral
because of their
presumed legality."
The last point is very
important in that everywhere, whether in South
Africa or under the Jim Crow
laws in the US, whites, who then said that they
were following the law,
wickedly oppressed blacks. The retort by Martin
Luther King was that the
faithful must refuse to obey wicked laws, even
under threat of death. The
brothers are on familiar territory.
Forum President Bill Fletcher,
also a Harvard lawyer, wrote a second
letter to his members who wanted a full
explanation as to why a brother had
publicly rebuked a brother. Generally,
this is taboo in black politics.
Brother Fletcher says that the
"decision to issue a statement strongly
condemning the current regime of
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe was far
from easy. President Mugabe (was)
a hero of mine and I had been a strong
supporter of the Zimbabwe National
Union during the liberation war." Brother
Fletcher probably speaks for many
thoughtful blacks in the US. President
Mugabe had the whole world in his palm
when he started. Many blacks
supported his policies, including land
reform.
Brother Fletcher goes straight to the heart of the
matter.
President Mugabe, he says, is a hypocrite!
Wow.
"The rhetoric of the Mugabe regime is disconnected from the
actual
evolution of the country post independence. Its militancy (the
rhetoric)
stands in opposition to many of the practices that he himself
followed in
the years subsequent to the Lancaster Agreements of 1979. (If)
the truth be
told, (President Mugabe) supported the structural adjustment
policies
insisted upon by the IMF and World Bank. It was the backward
anti-people
policies of his government that resulted in the development of a
major
opposition in the late 1990's."
Admittedly, President
Mugabe has convinced many people in the US that
his land reform was aimed at
redressing past wrongs by colonial regimes.
Fletcher says that in
fact, "the land issue was largely ignored by
President Mugabe's government
until a mass opposition movement arose that
challenged his, then undisputed
leadership role." And then Fletcher goes for
the kill. He says the land
reform was no reform at all. "It benefited not
the mass of agricultural
workers and farmers, but instead first and foremost
the party faithful of
Zanu PF, the ruling party."
The danger is not that Mugabe will now
fall prey to the opposition
party in Zimbabwe. Now wait to hear this.
President Bush and Britain's Prime
Minister Tony Blair are born again
imperialists.
"Despite many other human rights situations that have
been far worse,
both within Africa as well as globally, Bush and Blair have
called attention
to the alleged plight of the white farmers and their loss of
land. We
(blacks) share nothing in common with the politics or sentiments of
Bush and
Blair."
These two imperialists may "choose to opt for a
military intervention
(covert or overt) in Zimbabwe in order to install a
regime more favourable
to their imperial ambitions. Such a step would have a
catastrophic impact
region wide."
Mugabe gave an interview to a
South African radio last week. In this
interview he said that if Zimbabweans
can only hold fast, and practise
frugality and satisfy only "their simple
needs" (his words) an economic
recovery in the "shortest possible time" (his
words) was possible.
During the Sisulu funeral visit,
Mugabe had his limousine flown to South Africa for his enjoyment while
his
wife spent $100 000 Rand in four days. With such simple needs, recovery
is
not round the corner.
Zimbabwe Independent
State targets civil society bodies
By
Caiphas Chimhete
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe, determined to silence
dissenting voices
against his government's gross human rights abuse and
economic
mismanagement, has widened his spectrum of targets to include civil
society
organisations involved in democracy and governance issues in the
country,
analysts have said.
They said over the past two years,
the government has cobbled laws
designed to restrict the operations of civil
society organisations, and in
some cases threatening workers of such
organisations with unspecified
actions in a bid to silence or weaken
them.
In a show of desperation, the government has also formed
dubious
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that "praise-sing" Zanu PF's
failed
policies, responsible for the current socio-political and economic
mess.
The director of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace
(CCJP),
Tarcitus Zimbiti, conceded that the Zanu PF government had made
it
increasingly difficult for civil society organisations to operate in
the
country.
Zimbiti said the Public Order and Security Act
(POSA) and the Private
Voluntary Organisation (PVO) Act made it almost
impossible for civil
organisations to carry out education awareness
campaigns, particularly in
the rural areas, which are a domain of the ruling
Zanu PF party.
"To organise a workshop in rural areas, lets say on
voter education,
you need clearance from the police and the Electoral
Supervisory Commission
(ESC).
"After that, you also need to be
cleared by the local headman as well
as the Zanu PF leadership in that area.
This is particularly prevalent in
Mashonaland Central province," said
Zimbiti.
Mashonaland Central Province, where the first group of the
monstrous
youth brigade was trained at the Border Gezi Training Camp, is
notorious for
politically-motivated violence.
"If you tell a
rural gathering that people have a right to choose
their leaders, you will be
asking for trouble from the headman, Zanu PF and
even the police," said
Zimbiti.
The chairman of Crisis in Zimbabwe, Brian Raftopolous
noted that the
current assault on civil society organisations, including the
church, was
part of Mugabe's widespread attacks on all opposition voices,
which started
in 2000 after the rejection of the government-sponsored draft
constitution
in a referendum.
"The government has enacted laws
to thwart opposition voices. Apart
from that State security agents threaten
civil organisations, workers with
death, particularly in the rural areas,"
said Raftopolous, whose
organisation champions democracy in the
country.
The government has flighted adverts on the national
television and in
newspapers, labelling civil organisations, including the
church, as agents
of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
working to undermine
its authority.
As a direct result of the
restrictive laws and intimidations, several
civil organisations have either
closed or restricted their operations to
projects that do not put the
government's undemocratic tendencies and human
rights record into the
spotlight.
The laws have seriously hampered the operations of such
organisations
as Amani Trust, the Legal Resources Foundation, Transparency
International
Zimbabwe (TIZ), the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and
the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), CCJP as well as church
organisations.
The government last year forced the closure of Amani
Trust, which
provided support for victims of political torture and organised
violence,
after the organisation had released a documentation on rape cases
at
national youth training camps.
Amani Trust director Tony
Reeler, who has since relocated to South
Africa, was labelled an "MDC puppet"
and threatened with death.
Ironically, Amani formed in 1993,
initially provided assistance to
former freedom fighters suffering from
trauma and it also gave testimony to
a government commission investigating
war veterans' compensation claims in
1997.
The Legal Resources
Foundation, which gives legal advice to the
under-privileged, has
substantially changed the content of its programmes on
the constitution and
the declaration of rights in 2002 after intimidation.
"Similarly,
the Association of Women's Clubs (AWC) decided to formally
halt its
programmes on voter education, women's legal rights and human
rights issues
because of fear of intimidation," said a recent report by the
Human Rights
Watch, an international human rights watchdog organisation.
Offices
of the NCA, a coalition of civil organisations, have on
several occasions
been subjected to arbitrary police searches "for
subversive
materials".
As he widens his spectrum of targets, Mugabe's
repressive hand has
also been extended to the church in his political quest
to close democratic
space in the country.
The Human Rights Watch
said the religious community in Zimbabwe has
split between groups openly
critical of the government's human rights record
and those that are "muted"
in their criticism.
The organisation said there was deepening
crisis in the church as
economic conditions worsened in the country as a
whole and attacks by state
agents and Zanu PF supporters against pastors in
the rural areas continued.
Zimbabwe Independent
Commuter omnibus operators cash in on fuel
shortages
By Valentine Maponga
THE move by the government
to help ease transport difficulties faced
by urban commuters as a result of
the current fuel shortages by designating
a number of filling stations for
the exclusive use of commuter omnibus
operators is proving a boon for some of
the transporters - drivers and
conductors are now themselves trading the
commodity on the thriving black
market.
A snap survey by The
Standard revealed that many commuter bus
operators were no longer ferrying
people after filling their vehicles,
preferring instead, to sell the petrol
at rates far above the government
stipulated pump prices of $450 per litre of
leaded petrol and $200 per litre
for diesel.
"I do not see the
reason why I should be driving people around making
less money when I can
reach my target in less than an hour through selling
fuel," said one
emergency taxi driver identified only as Themba.
"The money, which
we are getting from commuting, is not enough for our
expenses and I think the
fares being paid by commuters need to be revised,"
he said.
Commuter transport operators hiked their fares following fuel price
increases
of about 300 percent announced by government in March, but the
government
reacted by pegging the fares lower, a move they claimed is
driving them out
of business.
Some omnibus owners are finding the illegal trade in
fuel an
unexpected boon as they say traditional costs such as the maintenance
of
vehicles were now greatly reduced because they no longer travelled
long
distances to ferry passengers.
"I now do not have any
problems in maintaining my vehicles because
they cruise less distances and
this way they make much more money since
there are no extra costs involved
except just getting to the fuel queue,"
said one owner who refused to be
named.
The preference by minibus operators to trade in the scarce
fuel made
easily available to them through the new legislation, has left
many
thousands of commuters stranded while others are now being forced to
walk to
work or travel long distances on the back of open
trucks.
It is now common on Zimbabwean roads to see smartly dressed
office
workers, both male and female, perched precariously on the back of
open
lorries that are taking advantage of the void left by minibuses to ply
the
lucrative township routes.
Meanwhile, some fuel stations in
Bulawayo have since last week been
selling petrol at the black market price
of between $1 200 and $1 400 a
litre, following a trend that started in
Harare, alleging that they are
already importing the rare commodity on their
own.
Most garages that had fuel throughout last week and the
beginning of
this week were selling both diesel and petrol for between $1 200
and $1400 a
litre, The Standard established.
Garage workers said
employers were already importing the fuel from
Botswana while some said it
was coming from South Africa.
"We buy the fuel in Botswana and
South Africa using Pulas and Rands;
that is why we are selling both petrol
for $1 200," said one garage employee
who preferred to speak on condition of
anonymity. "We can not sell the fuel
at the government controlled price but
our customers understand the
predicament we are in and are very supportive of
our endeavour to bring them
fuel."
Zimbabwe Independent
Cellphones aid Bulawayo
conmen
BULAWAYO - Mobile technology has frustrated the recent
police
clampdown on the flourishing currency black market here which is
now
thriving because money changers no longer meet in the streets, but
use
cellphones to make deals.
In fact, the police blitz has
helped push up prices of the American
greenback, which this week was selling
at about $2 000 to one US unit.
"The US$ is currently at Z$1 800,
the Pula at Z$325, Rand at Z$225
whilst the UK Pound is trading at $2 650 and
the rates increase in the
middle of the month," said a dealer who declined to
be named.
With local banks suffering a drought of foreign currency,
the daily
arrests of hundreds of money changers in the country has not
deterred the
forex dealers from operating as most of them are now using
cellphones to
conduct business with their clients, instead of congregating on
certain
streets.
"Instead of standing on street corners as we
used to do, we now
operate through the use of cellphones where our clients
phone us and we
travel to their offices to conduct transactions," said one
Bulawayo forex
dealer known only as Siphiwe.
Some foreign
currency dealers who spoke to The Standard said the fines
imposed by police
for offences of dealing in hard currency were as little as
$5 000 and
therefore easy to pay.
"This is the most lucrative industry in the
country right now and we
cannot be deterred by spending one night in cells
and then paying $5 000,"
said another money changer.
"$5 000 is
not even an eighth of what we make, so it is a risk we have
to take in order
to survive," she added.
The black market area here, also known as
the "World Bank", now has a
diversity of clients ranging from ordinary
citizens with a few dollars to
change, right up to big commercial banks who
are buying foreign currency
from the illegal money changers every
day.
"Banks are actually approaching us for foreign currency,
demanding
large amounts of Rands and US dollars," Sibongile Ncube, a foreign
currency
dealer said.
"We are doing the country a service by
being the mediator when it
comes to foreign currency. People would rather
trade their money with us
than with banks because that system has failed,"
she said.
She added: "Police can arrest us because it is their job
to do so and
we respect it, but it is also our job to provide Zimbabweans
with a
lucrative exchange rate for their money."
Ncube said
police continued to raid their street sites and arrest
anyone they suspected
to be a foreign currency dealer before detaining them
at the central police
station for the whole day.
"Citizens who work down town Bulawayo
are at greater risk of being
arrested with us because when police come they
take whomever they suspect is
a money dealer," said Ncube.
The
striving black market in foreign currency has also led to the
increase in
conmen taking advantage of the illegal exchange of money to
defraud
customers.
A number of Bulawayo residents have complained that they
had been
conned of money when trying to exchange foreign
currency.
Conmen who prey on those exchanging foreign currency,
especially the
man in the street just changing a few American dollars or
British Pounds,
deceive customers by placing a few real Zimbabwean dollars on
top and then
stuffing the rest with newspaper cuttings.
Zimbabwe Independent
Letters
Arresting Tsvangirai, Mugabe's
worst blunder
I wish to correct a number of political
commentators who suggested
that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had
failed to show massive
organised support for imprisoned leader Morgan
Tsvangirai (The Standard
15.06.2003).
When a person is not
deeply injured either by insults or physical
action, they normally react
almost with automatism. This is clearly shown by
people fighting over minor
issues or misunderstandings. However, if one lost
their loved one in death by
car accident for instance, the actual grieving
and sense of loss will only
come a few weeks later, usually after burial.
The normal thing is
that when a deeply painful event such as the
arrest of Morgan Tsvangirai and
his subsequent parade in shackles occurs,
the calm visible immediately after
is one just before the storm. For the
first time in the history of the
struggle for change by democratic forces in
Zimbabwe, Mugabe has made his
biggest miscalculation and mistake by
arresting Tsvangirai.
Here
in the UK, MDC members and supporters have been keeping the phone
lines busy
on the issue, some from S.Africa and and those back home have
done like wise.
They all agree on one thing. That there is now need to use
the kind of means
that will render any future attempts on talks null and
void, as well as
closing chances of amnesty for the looters and murderers
running the defunct
Zanu PF regime.The anger is so intense that the
illegitimate government will
live to regret a lost opportunity to deal with
a democratic and non-violent
Tsvangirai.
The next phase will be that of using unspoken language
which the
militant 'military old man' Mugabe will understand. There is no
doubt in
everyone's mind that the only sacrifice left is the one with a
potential to
be the ultimate. Change in Zimbabwe can no longer be left to
chance or
nature. Green Bombers beware, because your pay master Bob the
Builder may
fly away leaving the lot of you at our disposal.
Now
is the time, whether one is within or without the country.
Jennings Rukani
UK