Breaking News Breaking News
(On behalf on the Commercial Farmers Union)
CHARLES Anderson (early 40’s), a farm manager, was shot and killed at noon
today by unknown assailants. The family had returned from a visit to Mrs
Cindy Anderson’s parents farm next door and had only been away for an hour.
They were in the company of their two children, aged 13 and 10. One of the
children is said to have received a minor injury perpetrated by one of the
four intruders.
The farm, Dunmaglas of Norfolk Estate, is 378 hectares in extent and is in
the Glendale/ Mazowe farming area of Mashonaland Central.
The family disembarked from their vehicle to go into their home, when
Anderson noticed the locks had been tampered with. The door into the house
was open and there was evidence of looting.
Anderson is said to have been shot in a narrow passage, and a neighbour said
judging by the extent of the injury he was shot in the head at close range.
Anderson is a keen hunter and was armed with a licensed rifle; it is thought
that he fired a shot into the air to scare away the intruders, as a rifle
round is evident in the wall. A medical doctor has been on site and
confirmed the death of Mr Anderson.
His wife is said to have heard four shots and then hastened to investigate,
She was accosted by two people who threatened to kill her. They are said to
have told her to lie down and cooperate. They then stole a red Nissan 2,7
pick up to use as a get away vehicle.
A security team sweeping the area came upon this vehicle along the Chiweshe
communal area road where it had been involved in an accident. It is not
clear if the occupants were then apprehended.
The farm is under a compulsory notice of acquisition, Section 8 and is under
the Model A2 scheme. Anderson is said to have reached an amicable agreement
with the new owner, Permanent Secretary for Lands and Agriculture, Mr Ngoni
Masoka over ongoing farming operations. A Government advertisement of 3rd
February 2002 clearly indicates that Masoka is the successful beneficiary.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police had not yet arrived at the farmhouse by 3 pm
although they had been informed of the incident.
This brings to 12 the number of farmers whose lives have been lost due to
criminal activities on farms since the invasions began in February 2000.
Updates will be made available as information is received from the area.
Ends
2nd June 2002
For more information, please contact Jenni Williams
Mobile +263 11 213 885 or +263 91 300 456
Email jennipr@mweb.co.zw or prnews@mweb.co.zw
News update
(On behalf on the Commercial Farmers Union)
An update in
from Mazoe indicates that the weapon used to murder Anderson
was an AK 47
Assault Rifle. Five spent cartridges and a live round were
recovered from the
scene.
No arrests have as yet been made but a farm worker has been able
to provide
a description to the Police who were on site late
afternoon.
Some household goods loaded on the pickup were recovered at
the scene of the
accident, as well as Anderson's rifle.
It is also of
interest to note that the family had taken their dogs to their
parents for
the night, leaving the house unoccupied. They had returned this
morning and
then went out to collect the animals from their parent's house.
They were
only away for 60 mins or so before the noon incident.
The farm, which is
in two sections, straddles a council road and on one side
of the road, there
is an A1 (villagised) resettlement and on the other side
is the section set
aside for the Permanent Secretary Cde. Masoka.
When the incident
occurred, the children were told by their mother to go and
lock themselves in
the car, which they did. But one of the assailants is
said to have followed
them and threatened to shoot them if they did not get
out of the car - this
could have lead an assault on one of the children.
The Andersons like
many other farmers are packing up their household goods
to leave and make way
for resettled farmers. They were in the process of
gradually moving furniture
to a new home. Anderson had agreed to plant a
wheat crop for the new owner to
purchase time to complete the grading and
selling of his own Tobacco
crop.
Mrs Anderson and the two children are in shock and have been taken
to a
friend in Harare.
Breaking News story filed earlier ..
CHARLES
Anderson (early 40's), a farm manager, was shot and killed at noon
today by
unknown assailants. The family had returned from a visit to Mrs
Cindy
Anderson's parents next door and had only been away for an hour. They
were in
the company of their two children, aged 13 and 10. One of the
children is
said to have received a minor injury perpetrated by one of the
four
intruders.
The farm, Dunmaglas of Norfolk Estate, is 378 hectares in
extent and is in
the Glendale/ Mazowe farming area of Mashonaland
Central.
The family disembarked from their vehicle to go into their home,
when
Anderson noticed the locks had been tampered with. The door into the
house
was open and there was evidence of looting.
Anderson is said to
have been shot in a narrow passage, and a neighbour said
judging by the
extent of the injury he was shot in the head at close range.
Anderson is a
keen hunter and was armed with a licensed rifle; it is thought
that he fired
a shot into the air to scare away the intruders, as a rifle
round is evident
in the wall. A medical doctor has been on site and
confirmed the death of Mr
Anderson.
His wife is said to have heard four shots and then hastened to
investigate,
She was accosted by two people who threatened to kill her. They
are said to
have told her to lie down and cooperate. They then stole a red
Nissan 2,7
pick up to use as a get away vehicle.
A security team
sweeping the area came upon this vehicle along the Chiweshe
communal area
road where it had been involved in an accident. It is not
clear if the
occupants were then apprehended.
The farm is under a compulsory notice of
acquisition, Section 8 and is under
the Model A2 scheme. Anderson is said to
have reached an amicable agreement
with the new owner, Permanent Secretary
for Lands and Agriculture, Mr Ngoni
Masoka over ongoing farming operations. A
Government advertisement of 3rd
February 2002 clearly indicates that Masoka
is the successful beneficiary.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police had not yet
arrived at the farmhouse by 3 pm
although they had been informed of the
incident.
This brings to 12 the number of farmers whose lives have been
lost due to
criminal activities on farms since the invasions began in
February 2000.
Updates will be made available as information is received from
the area.
Ends
2nd June 2002
For more information, please
contact Jenni Williams
Mobile +263 11 213 885 or +263 91 300 456
Email jennipr@mweb.co.zw or prnews@mweb.co.zw
ZIMBABWEAN
COMMERCIAL FARMERS WHO HAVE DIED SINCE THE INVASIONS BEGAN IN FEB
2000
1.
DUNN, Allan Stewart 7 May 2000 Seke - Mashonaland East
2. ELSWORTH, Henry
Swan 7 May 2000 Kwekwe - Midlands
3. STEVENS, David 15 April 2000 Murehwa
South - Mashonaland East
4. OLDS, Martin 18 April 2000 Bubi-Umguza -
Matabeleland North
5. WEEKS, John 14 May 2000 Seke - Mashonaland East
6.
OATES, Tony 31 May 2000 Zvimba North - Mashonaland West
7. BOTHA, William 23
July 2000 Seke/Marondera - Mashonaland East
8. OLDS, Gloria 4 March 2001
Bubi-Umguza Matabeleland North
9. COBBET, Robert Fenwick 6 August 2001 Kwekwe
Midlands
10. FORD, Terrence Samson 18 March 2002 Norton Mashonaland
West
11. BAYLEY, Thomas 1 May 2002 Mount
Hamden,
Mashonaland Central (died in his sleep after surviving a 37 day siege
by
militant youth which ended after he had to be hospitalised when he had
a
fall and broke his leg)
Reserve Bank Increases Lending to Government
Zimbabwe
Standard (Harare)
June 2, 2002
Posted to
the web June 2, 2002
Paul Nyakazeya
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has increased its lending
to the government which is already reeling under a record $279,36 billion
domestic debt, a move which economists say is likely to worsen the country's
budget deficit and add to the current rampant inflation.
The increased weekly lending to government which, according
to latest statistics from the Reserve Bank, saw a $2,46 billion jump between end
of March and the first week of April to $28,28 billion, comes at a time lending
to commercial banks has declined.
Figures released by the (RBZ) revealed that the Reserve
Bank's lending to local banks declined by $4,151 billion over the same period to
$16,98 billion. The increased borrowing by government is bound to put more
pressure on the government's books, with economists predicting that the economy
will shrink by more than the 10% that government has predicted, to about
15%.
Misheck Mutetwa from the University of Zimbabwe told
Standard Business that the country was likely to incur a huge budget deficit
since government was a non-performing sector, and has a record of failing to pay
debts in time.
Said Mutetwa: "Increased net-credit to the government is a
risk for the Reserve Bank since the government's repayments have little or no
interest rates at all, whereas banks bring revenue to the economy. The drying up
of external support and lines of credit are already showing negative effects.
This scenario is unlikely to change unless most major sectors operate under a
conducive macroeconomic environment, one characterised by sustainable fiscal
deficit, low monetary growth, low inflation and production costs. Under the
current scenario, I would estimate the economy to shrink by up to 15% this
year."
Harare-based economic consultant, Andrew Shoriwa, said
government was deliberately suppressing interest rates in order to get cheap
money from the domestic market, following the drying up of international
sources. He said it was prudent for the government to hike interest rates in
line with inflation currently pegged at 114%, against interest rates ranging in
the mid 30%.
Zimbabwe's inflation rate is the second highest in Africa
after that of its ally, the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Another economic consultant, Oliver Davidson, was skeptical
of government's ability to pay back what it was borrowing from the national
bank.
"This is a negative development for the economy. Since the
Central Bank is part of the ministry of finance and economic development, there
is no guarantee the money will be returned with interest, if at all they repay
it," said Davidson.
The government's domestic debt is likely to increase
following its decision to subsidise tobacco farmers by offering them 80 cents
for every dollar they receive at the auction floors. This decision was taken to
break an impasse that was threatening to derail the country's biggest forex
earning industry, after buyers had protested against the government's managed
exchange rate of US$1:Zw$55, against a parallel market rate in excess of
1:400.
Zim Standard
The fear of angry
mothers
over the top by Brian
Latham
CITIZENS of a troubled central African country
were last
week amazed to learn that their minister of socialist reeducation
had in
fact not proposed a common uniform for all school
children.
Speaking to confused reporters, Comrade
Heinous said that
while it seemed like a good idea at the time, the idea of
being chased
through the streets by thousands of angry mothers had convinced
him to
change his mind.
The sudden U-turn is
said to have displeased the most
equal of all comrades who saw millions of
children dressed like deck chairs
as an important step forward in the
cultural revolution.
"It is worth noting that in our
endeavour to rid ourselves
of all the trappings of western colonialism, we
adopt the trappings of
Chairman Mao, Kim Il Sung and the cultural
revolution," said the most equal
of all comrades, speaking on an American
made satellite phone from the back
of his armour plated German limousine.
"Dressing our children in the
national flag and forcing them all to join the
youth brigade would signal
our strict adherence to Asian culture and make our
socialist friends in the
east very happy indeed."
The move follows an earlier announcement that all colonial
lackey school
names will be changed to reflect the troubled central African
nation's true
culture. From now on, schools cannot be named after the agents
or running dog
imperialism, it was announced. Instead, all junior schools
will be named
after Lenin, all senior schools after Mao and all universities
after Kim Il
Sung. To avoid confusion, schools will be numbered one to
5
000.
Meanwhile, suburbs will also be renamed. To
bring Avondale
in line with the troubled central African nation's culture, it
will now be
named after Fidel Castro, while Greendale will henceforth be
called
Gadaffi-on condition he keeps the petrol
flowing.
Asked what Messrs Lenin, Mao and Kim have to
do with
culture in the troubled central African country, the minister
for
misinformation, Herr Doktor Professor Joseph Marbles, frothing at the
mouth,
said it was a well-known fact that all three were in fact the
architects of
progressive African culture and anyone who disagreed with this
was an enemy
of the state and liable for imprisonment under the Police State
Act, POSA.
The troubled central African nation's Police
State Act
says that citizens have the right to say anything they choose,
provided it
echoes the beliefs of the most equal of all comrades. Statements
that do not
reflect the most equal of all comrade's beliefs are liable to
attract a
two-year prison sentence and a fine that will be calculated as soon
as the
troubled central African country's currency is again worth the paper
it's
printed on.
The Zany regime, with a tentative
and doubtful grip on the
troubled central African nation, has said that it
will undergo a massive
cultural revolution to reinstall Chinese culture in
Africa. "We have had
enough of meddling by foreign agents of imperialism and
colonialism," said a
minister recently. "From now on we will reject all
things and all ideas from
the west and insist that our people once again take
up their home grown
culture, which history proves conclusively is identical
to the teachings of
Chairman Mao and Comrade Poto, the vanguard socialist who
fought westerners
so valiantly in wherever it was that he fought
themSKampuchea? Kaitano? No
matter, you know where I
mean."
Still, observers point out, the ruling if
troubled elite
of the troubled central African nation are expected to
experience problems
going without their Benzes. "Not at all," said Herr
Doktor Professor Comrade
Joseph Marbles. Benzes are made in Germany where I
had a distant ancestor
who was also oppressed by decadent westerners. The
fact is that country is
really our ally because they have no history of
oppression."
Zim Standard
In the name of God, go
PRESIDENT
Robert Mugabe was once a respected public figure. But now,
even if we ignore
the fact that he is is neither recognised nor accepted by
the free world, and
that a number of cabinet ministers lack credibility
because they weren't
elected, some of the statements coming from his cabinet
verge on the
lunatic.
And while the president insists on surrounding himself
with men like
Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Chinamasa, Joseph Made, Simba Makoni and
the
increasingly strange Aeneas Chigwedere, he can't expect to be
taken
seriously.
Just last week, Chigwedere announced that
all school children should
wear the same uniform. Predictably, the
announcement was greeted with public
outrage and derision. That he swiftly
retracted the announcement, claiming
it was "just a suggestion" only made him
look less capable.
While Chigwedere, who as Zimbabwe's education
minister should be
occupying his mind with more serious matters, may have
raised eyebrows with
his inane statement, other cabinet ministers are far
more threatening.
Take Jonathan Moyo. Once Zimbabwe's leading
'opposition academic',
Moyo is now firmly in the fold of his former enemy.
Moyo wasn't elected to
parliament. He has no mandate from the people of
Zimbabwe, yet he holds
immense power thanks to the whims of the president.
Despite this, he niftily
overcomes his professional credos to lecture anyone
who bothers to listen,
on his newfound version of democracy.
Agriculture minister, Joseph Made, also lacks a mandate from the
country, yet
he has presided over the demise of what was once Africa's
agricultural
showcase. Only last week, he threatened the Commercial Farmers'
Union with
"de-registration", though whether he has the constitutional
authority to
determine the fate of the now enfeebled farmers' union is
debatable. What
can't be contested is that he acted with arrogance when he
made the threat,
just as he acted with arrogance and contempt when he
unilaterally decided
farmers would not receive the meagre compensation they
are due under the
government's own obnoxious laws.
Joseph Made's continued presence
in cabinet, given that he was neither
elected nor has he ever shown himself
to be capable, is an embarrassment to
the country.
And then
there is the justice minister who toys with tradition to
rubber stamp Zanu
PF's authoritarian laws through parliament. Patrick
Chinamasa adds no weight
to Mugabe's desire to regain international
acceptance.
Even the
usually esteemed finance minister, who also lacks the
people's mandate, is
proving to be a disappointment. While Simba Makoni
presides over the demise
of the economy, no steps have been taken to halt
the Zimbabwe dollar's
alarming slide. Just a fortnight ago, one South
African Rand could be bought
for Z$30 on the black market, now it costs
Z$50. In any other country, that
might be cause for a finance minister to
resign. Instead, Makoni smiles wanly
and makes feeble excuses about
something called "Team Zimbabwe", the
implication being he cannot make
decisions independently. Well, if that is
the case, all Makoni is saying
about the meltdown of the Zimbabwe dollar, is
"I am not the one." That's a
cop out, and he knows it. Makoni is deeply
implicated in the misdeeds of
this government.
None of these men
lend credibility to Zimbabwe's image abroad. Indeed,
they are jointly
responsible for the country's parlous reputation.
There was a time
when Zimbabwe enjoyed better relations with the rest
of the world. It was a
time when, ministers were able to jet into London or
Paris without worrying
about humiliating scenes with immigration officials.
Those ministers, some of
whom were undoubtedly corrupt, were nonetheless
still able to behave
themselves. They could be guaranteed not to start
insulting their
benefactors, spewing forth racist rhetoric or feigning
righteous indignation
in front of the international press.
Gone are the days when Robert
Mugabe surrounded himself with men who
were at least moderately capable. Gone
too are the days when he tried to
strike a balance between the various ethnic
groups in Zimbabwe. In a last
ditch effort to save his presidency, no matter
the cost to the country, he
has surrounded himself with men and women who
will do his bidding, no matter
what the consequences are.
Right
now, any journalist would welcome back the affable Chen
Chimutengwende and
the equally likeable David Karimanzira and Joyce Mujuru
rather than deal with
the Machiavellian Jonathan Moyo. Chimutengwende was
far from perfect, but he
was very capable and human and better the old
'dancing kwasa kwasa kid' than
Moyo's relentless threats to freedom of the
press. One could disagree with
Chimutengwende over a civilised drink and
then go home, knowing that was the
end of the matter. Disagreements with
Moyo are altogether more threatening
and dangerous.
The old cabinets were perhaps staffed by benign
bunglers, human beings
who, though prone to corruption, lacked the street
fighting thuggishness of
Mugabe's new men.
In truth, Zimbabwe
has degenerated into a clichéd Third World
dictatorship. The country is now
like a ship whose captain is snoring while
the ship is rocking dangerously in
an angry sea. It might be Iraq or North
Korea for all the accountability-or
sense-emanating from its cabinet. The
men in Zimbabwe's cabinet have forced
through laws-aberrations of democracy
all of them-which make it illegal to
gather together to discuss politics and
that threaten basic freedoms like
association and speech, just to enable the
dear leader to continue dispensing
largesse to them while the people starve.
The legendary General
Oliver Cromwell could not have expressed our
sentiments more eloquently when
in 1653, he told the British Rump
Parliament: "You have sat here too long for
any good you have been doing.
Depart, I say and let us have done with you. In
the name of God, Go!"
Zim Standard
Hypocritical UK arms rogue states
londonline By Ken Tendayi Mano
THE next time you hear Tony Blair or
George Bush criticising corrupt
nations anywhere in the world, do not buy it.
It is all hogwash and double
talk.
It recently emerged that
Blair's government, according to the
Institute for Strategic Studies, has
authorised a £3.5 billion arms sale to
rogue states including Zimbabwe, which
bought rifles and military vehicles
worth £1 million in the past
year.
India and Pakistan, which are on the brink of a nuclear
war prompting
Blair to appeal for a peaceful solution to their crisis, bought
between them
arms worth £70.5 million.
India acquired Hawk
Fighter bombers, submachine guns, assault rifles,
tear gas and riot control
equipment, air to surface missile technology and
components for air craft
machine guns, combat helicopters and aircraft as
well as torpedoes. Pakistan
acquired components for helicopters, frigates
and military
communications.
Iraq, Iran and South Korea, branded by George Bush
as the axis of
evil, bought arms worth £42.25 million between them. Iraq
bought unspecified
military equipment, Iran acquired dual use equipment for
attack and defence
while South Korea also acquired unspecified military
equipment.
Other countries which bought arms are: Sierra Leone
which spent £6.5
million on machine guns; Angola spent one million pounds on
military utility
vehicles; South Africa forked out £63.5 million; Kenya used
one and half
million pounds; Egypt used £36.5 million to buy rifles, semi
automatic
pistols and submachine guns; Gabon acquired subversive vehicles for
one and
half million pounds; Morocco acquired for £2.5 million submachine
guns,
rifles and revolvers; Namibia bought submachine guns and assault
rifles
worth a million pounds; Nigeria bought military utility vehicles for
£4.5
million and Zambia acquired rifles and submachine guns for one and a
half
million pounds.
Libya (imagine) acquired unspecified arms
worth £6 million in 999 and
£0.5 million in 2000.
In the Middle
East, Israel bought arms worth £12.5 million; Lebanon
acquired arms worth two
million and Saudi Arabia bought arms worth £13
million.
The list
is endless.
The worrying fact is that these arms may not be used
for military
purposes but for slaughtering people who have the guts to stand
up against
corrupt governments. Zimbabwe is a case in point as the British
Defender
vehicles are notoriously being used to crash demonstrations by
dissenting
voices.
Countries such as Indonesia, India, Zambia
and Kenya can also use them
against their own people.
The other
fear is that some of the arms may end up in the wrong hands.
And with world
terrorism on the rise, who knows where the guns will end up.
But
hear them talk!
Zim Standard
No water for three days in Harare North
By our own Staff
A MAJOR water pipe burst last week leaving some
northern suburbs of
Harare without water supplies for three
days.
The worst affected suburbs were Bluff Hill, Sunridge, Emerald
Hill,
Mabelreign and Marlborough which ran dry, forcing residents to fetch
water
from the homes of friends and relatives residing in other parts of the
city.
Only those families with boreholes were not severely
affected.
Scores of residents told The Standard that supplies to
their property
had been disrupted from 2pm on Thursday afternoon and had
still not been
restored by Friday afternoon. Contacted for a comment, an
official of the
City of Harare Water Works Department confirmed that there
had been a
disruption in water supplies in some parts of Harare.
"There was a burst pipe which caused the problem but we have repaired
it and
restored supplies.
"If the residents are phoning your newspaper,
refer them to our
offices, " he said.
One house owner in
Marlborough told The Standard that his family had
in the past three days been
forced to obtain water for domestic use from
friends residing in Mount
Pleasant.
"As I speak, there is no water at my house and this has
been the case
for the past three days," he said.
Another
householder in Bluff Hill said they had been helped by
relatives in Warren
Park.
"I have been driving to and from Warren Park since Friday,
fetching
water for domestic use and so the children can have a bath before
school,"
said the resident.
Zim Standard
'Stay out,' ZBC workers tell Moyo
By
Farai Mutsaka
BELEAGUERED workers at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC)
have demanded that minister of information and publicity,
Jonathan Moyo,
stay out of their retrenchment talks.
Information
obtained by The Standard has revealed that the workers,
who were shocked by
the state run broadcaster's decision to lay off over 500
workers, felt
comfortable about the retrenchment exercise being handled by
the Gideon
Gono-led ZBC board with no input from Moyo.
The Zimbabwe Union
of Journalists (ZUJ) which has stepped in to ensure
fair play, has also
mandated that the ZBC board deals with the matter.
Authoritative
sources at the institution told The Standard yesterday
that the workers
committee regarded Moyo with mistrust and were concerned
that his involvement
in the talks would jeopardise the whole exercise.
Since taking over
the information portfolio, Moyo has tried to staff
the public media houses
with Zanu PF apologists and has often behaved like
the editor-in-chief of
both the ZBC and government-control press.
The ZBC launched a
massive recruitment exercise just before the
presidential election in a bid
to bolster President Mugabe's reelection
chances.
The
corporation which currently employs a staggering 950 workers, will
be trimmed
to about 380 workers in a move meant to reduce the current
crippling salaries
and wages bill.
According to reports, the Zambian National
Broadcasting Corporation,
which is the same size as ZBC, employs just over
380 workers.
Sources at the institution said workers and the board
had agreed that
while the retrenchment exercise was inevitable, given the
unsustainable
salary bill at the corporation, the exercise had to be done in
a fair and
transparent manner.
"We met the board as workers and
emphasised the need for the process
to be done in a fair, competent and
compassionate manner. Some of us have
been at the ZBC for virtually our
entire working life. We agreed with the
board that retrenchment was
inevitable. It had to come and we are happy with
the board's assurances that
the process will be transparent and humane.
"While we have
confidence in Gono's board, we are, however, worried at
the involvement of
the minister and have made our feelings clear to the
board," said a workers'
representative.
ZUJ president, Matthew Takaona, whose association
has had meetings
with Gono over the retrenchments, said the process had to be
done according
to the law.
"All we want is procedure to be
followed. That is what we have told
the board. It has to follow the procedure
as laid down in the Labour Act,"
said Takaona.
Sources said
Gono's board, which had thus far taken a back seat to
Moyo, was now asserting
its authority and an inevitable clash loomed between
the board and Moyo over
the retrenchment exercise.
"There is certainly going to be clash
between Moyo and the board. On
one hand, the board is trying to bring a sense
of business prudence to the
ZBC, while on the other hand Moyo is concerned
about asserting his control
at the institution. Moyo doesn't care about ZBC's
business concerns and will
ensure that his proteges survive the retrenchment
exercise. The board has
realised that ZBC needs to be a commercial concern
and their quest is to
bring some business sense to the institution but
impressing this on Moyo is
an almost impossible task," said a
source.
Efforts to obtain comment from Gono were unsuccessful
yesterday. A
lady who answered his mobile phone said he was not ready to talk
to the
press about the ZBC issue: "I am sorry he is very busy and he says he
is not
at liberty to talk to you now," she said.
By yesterday,
Gono had not responded to questions faxed to his office
by The Standard on
Wednesday.
However, speaking in a television programme on Friday,
Gono said
workers and the board had agreed that the retrenchment was
inevitable:
"Those familiar with turnaround strategies know that the devil is
in the
detail of implementation and that is where we are."
Sources said the institution was now battling to raise money to
finance the
exercise, which is set to gobble about $1 billion. The
corporation has, to
date, borrowed nearly $250 million for its salaries
bill, The Standard is
informed.
A number of service providers have blacklisted the
corporation because
of its poor payment record. Phones have been cut at the
corporation's
Marondera, Bindura and Mutare bureaus over non-payment.
Vehicles from the
three provinces are now being repaired in Harare after
garages in the
provinces blacklisted the corporation.
Some of
the corporation's creditors have threatened to have the
institution's assets
auctioned in a bid to recover their money, while two
months ago, the Harare
City Council cut off water supplies to the Mbare
Studios following
non-payment of bills.
Zim Standard
CZI calls for dual exchange rate policy
By our own staff
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has
called for the
adoption of a dual exchange rate policy which will offer a
preferential rate
to local industrialists who are currently reeling under a
severe foreign
currency shortage.
While government has pegged
the US dollar at 55 to the local unit,
this is hardly accessible at
traditional sources such as commercial banks,
forcing industrialist to source
the greenback from the so-called parallel
market where it is currently
trading in excess of 400 against the Zim
dollar.
The
disparity between the two rates has adversely affected companies
which export
their goods, as they only receive their money at the managed
exchange rate,
while they would have sourced forex for the importation of
raw materials on
the parallel market.
In its latest quarterly magazine, Advocacy for
Business, the CZI said
the dual exchange rate would gradually be merged over
a period of six to
nine months.
Currently the gold mining sector
has a preferential rate of 90 against
the US dollar, whilefinance minister
Simba Makoni recently awarded an 80%
subsidy to tobacco farmers who ahd
threatened to withhold their crop from
the auction floors because of the
government's managed exchange rate policy.
"Such a prudent exchange
rate management policy will bring back
confidence in the currency market
through strengthening export activities as
well as restoring Zimbabwe's
position as a significant exporter of
agro-products," said CZI.
The industrial mother body urged government to demonstrate
political
commitment in dealing effectively with corruption, the cancer of
society.
"Politicians must end all forms of political violence and
intimidation
in the country to maintain stable conditions that are conductive
for a
healthy business environment. Rate policy is acting as a major
disincentive
to exporters and is worsening the foreign currency
crisis."
CZI said it was of paramount importance for the present
government to
take decisive steps to significantly reduce government debt,
which it said
was responsible the current macro-economic
instability.
Zim Standard
National savings hit all time low
By Paul
Nyakazeya
ZIMBABWE'S national savings, which have been hanging
precariously at
9% of the gross domestic product (GDP) since 1999, have
declined to an all
time low of 6%, Standard Business has learnt.
Sources at the Central Statistical Office (CSO) told this paper that
national
savings were currently pegged at $930 billion, a three percentage
point
decline from last year's $1 395 bn. The country's GDP is currently
estimated
at $15,5 bn billion.
Ideally, the savings ratio of an economy
are supposed to be pegged at
no less than 25% of the GDP, meaning that the
country's savings need to
improve four fold to achieve threshold levels. At
current GDP levels, 25%
translates to about $3 875 bn.
"Six
percent of the Gross Domestic Product is about $930 billion-it is
a very low
figure because the savings of any country are the source of its
future growth
economically. If we are to produce anything new the country
needs to be in
excess of 25% of the GDP," said the CSO source.
Presenting the 2001
and 2002 budget statement in October last year,
finance and economic
development minister, Simba Makoni, said overall
savings in Zimbabwe had
gradually fallen from 25% of the GDP in 1995 to 20%
in 1997 and 9% in 1999.
The savings ratio had been stable at 9% throughout
2000 and
2001.
"High domestic savings are a prerequisite for investment and
sustained
economic growth. Newly industrialised nations, such as South
Korea,
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, have achieved growth and
development
through high savings rates of above 30% of the gross domestic
product,"
Makoni said.
An economist who spoke to Standard
Business said a 6% savings ratio
was very low for a country that has been
failing to break even for the past
three years.
Independent
economic consultant, Andrew Shoriwa, said the figure was
indicative of a
deteriorating economy.
"For domestic savings to be pegged at 6% is
low by any standards. The
impact of little or no savings will be disastrous
and the effects are
already manifesting themselves," said Shoriwa, alluding
to the deteriorating
macro-economic environment characterised by company
closures and
retrenchment of employees.
According to statistics
from the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries,
over 450 companies closed shop
last year because of the economic
hardships.
Mail and Guardian
Furious farmer teargasses Zimbabwean
MP
A white farmer in Zimbabwe allegedly sprayed tear gas
at a ruling party
lawmaker who took over part of his farm under the country's
controversial
land reforms, the Sunday Mail said.
Isaac Mackenzie, an
MP of the ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union -Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF)
for the northern Kariba constituency, told
the paper that he had gone to
survey a plot allocated to him by the
government at Sapi Valley Farm on
Friday when the owner sprayed tear gas at
him.
According to Mackenzie,
farmer Cregg Welsey ordered his security men to
handcuff the legislator along
with his friend while farm workers hurled
stones at the pair.
The
incident was reported to the police, but the police representative could
not
be reached comment on Sunday.
The farm is among the hundreds of
white-owned properties earmarked for
compulsory acquisition by government in
a bid to correct colonial land
ownership imbalances which left whites, who
make up less than one percent of
the population, owning more than 70% of the
country's prime farmland. -
Sapa-AFP