Zim Independent
PROFESSOR Arthur Mutambara, the recently elected leader of one
of the rival
factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), this week
gave an
exclusive interview - his first locally - to the Zimbabwe
Independent. The
Independent also wanted to interview founding MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai,
who now leads the other faction, but he said he would
only be able to do so
after his congress this weekend. News editor Dumisani
Muleya (DM) spoke to
Mutambara (AM) on Tuesday on a wide range of issues
just before he flew to
South Africa.
DM: Since you now lead one of the MDC factions
and you have been
in charge for slightly more than two weeks, can you tell
us in detail what
your political agenda is?
AM: Let me
start by making preface remarks. First of all, we
need to resolve the debate
around the issue of reuniting the MDC. We need to
resolve the issue of how
to reposition and refocus the party. Above all we
should not lose sight of
the agenda: that is fighting Zanu PF and its
political
culture.
We have to fight this culture of dictatorship,
intolerance, and
develop and build a new value-system, democratic
institutions both in
government and in civil society. To do this we need to
have a democratic
constitution first.
DM: How are you
going to do that?
AM: We must always maintain the moral high
ground that we are
occupying now. To do that it means we must ourselves be
democratic. That's
why we are opposed to people who don't respect collective
decision-making
and believe in violating constitutions and then use violence
as a means of
settling disputes.
DM: How about the issue
of re-establishing cohesion in the MDC?
AM: The first prize
is unity. If that can't happen then we can
go for amicable divorce, resolve
the issue of the name and allocation of
assets. We should do it in a manner
that allows us to preserve our MPs and
democratic space.
The third option if we can't agree is to go to court, the Zanu
PF courts.
From there we can build a new party relevant to the generality of
Zimbabweans.
DM: Going back to the need to refocus the
MDC, what will this
entail?
AM: We need a patriotic and
nationalistic opposition coming in
the tradition of our history, culture and
the liberation struggle. Zanu PF
at the moment is a negation of the values
of the liberation struggle.
(President Robert) Mugabe and Zanu PF do not
represent what the heroes of
the struggle fought for.
DM:
How are you going to tackle all these problems facing
Zimbabwe at the
moment?
AM: Let me finalise my point on what we represent.
Our foreign
policy is rooted in the national context and experiences of our
people. It
is also based on notions of regional and continental integration.
We also
want to define sovereignty in the national, regional and African
context. At
the moment Zanu PF, for all its pretences, is the greatest
threat to our
national sovereignty. By subjecting citizens to repression and
poverty and
going about picking fights with everybody and presenting itself
as fighting
against the world, Zanu PF poses a threat to the country, region
and even
Africa. We believe in the territorial integrity of all
countries.
Lastly, we will distinguish political allies and
strategic
partners. In this era of globalisation, you can't survive without
strategic
partners in the international community and global
institutions.
Our political allies are parties which
represent the interests
of the people, like the ANC in South Africa, and
other parties in the region
and beyond.
DM: You are now
on the political scene, so what? What's new
under the
sun?
AM: Our idea is to build a strong political party which
has
capacity - intellectually, structurally and practically - to deliver. We
need to re-brand and refocus. We also need to debate and ultimately address
the substance and content of the change we need.
The MDC
also needs new strategies. We can't afford to go to
elections without Plan
B. Not only should we have Plan B, but also Plan C, D
and E. I hope those
responsible for rigging elections are listening
carefully. It's not going to
be business as usual. We have the capacity to
outgun Zanu PF intellectually,
outflank them strategically and outrun them
in the streets. We will
outmanoeuvre them in every arena of political
combat.
DM:
Some of your critics say you have been out of the country
for too long and
thus are out of touch with Zimbabwe's political dynamics
and realities. What
do you have to say to this?
AM: To begin with, I must say I'm
not more qualified to lead
than other Zimbabweans. I have only stepped
forward and I want to make a
contribution. I went out of the country to
learn and I hope my education and
experiences will add value to the
struggle.
It's a myth that I'm out of touch. When I was out
of the
country, especially in South Africa, I always came home. I was a
consultant
for many local companies and I addressed numerous meetings
here.
In my own home area - Mutambara village in Manicaland -
I
helped, working with others, to develop our area. I have also been working
with civil society and political groups albeit at a lower level. So I'm very
clued-up about what's going on.
DM: Other people say
coming from the ivory tower as you do, you
are out of sync with grassroots
politics and cannot mobilise a critical
mass. What do you have to
say?
AM: Those who say that don't know Mutambara. I'm a
street
fighter. As university students we fought in the streets, not just
for
payouts, but for democracy and against misrule and
corruption.
What we were saying 16 years ago is exactly the
kind of problems
we are confronted with now, if not worse. The only
difference is that the
problems have now become a national crisis. We
started fighting for
democracy and political and civil liberties while we
were students when some
of our critics today were still members of Zanu PF
and in its Youth League.
DM: There are suggestions that you
haven't graduated from
student politics and that you need to be taken to a
finishing school. What's
your comment?
AM: I accept
criticism and I hope to learn and thrive to be a
good leader from it. I have
strengths and weaknesses, just like everybody
else, but that's why I work
with a team. They will teach me some things and
I will do the
same.
DM: Your assumption of leadership has caused a stir.
Some say
you were brought in because your faction needed a Shona politician
for an
ethnic balancing act. Are you a token leader?
AM:
Mutambara a token Shona leader to help revive the fortunes
of a dying
Ndebele faction? What a travesty of justice! What a misnomer!
What raw
tribalism! I'm my own man.
Those who know me know I can't be
a token. The barrage of
attacks I have been enduring in the state media show
that I'm not a token. A
token which causes so much interest in politics must
be interesting indeed!
I reject lock, stock and barrel such
tribal interpretation of
politics. It's part of the Zanu PF culture which we
need to destroy. I came
in on the basis of my leadership qualities and
credentials, not because I'm
Shona.
I'm not a tribal
populist and I don't follow the wind. I follow
reason and principle. A
leader is there to make unpopular decisions popular.
I also chose the side I
did on the basis of principles - my stance against
violence, respect for
collective decision-making and party constitution.
DM: Let's
move on to the economy. How are you going to fix this
virtually collapsed
economy if you were to end up in government?
AM: Firstly,
let's accept the gravity of the crisis. The
economy, as every one says, is
in intensive care unit. Let's acknowledge the
problem before we can start
searching for a solution. Then we can talk about
the economic model and
stabilisation we need for this economy. We can then
also talk about the role
of strategic partners in all this.
In the next two weeks we
are going to release a two-pager of our
economic blueprint. Later we will
have a comprehensive macroeconomic
blueprint. It will be a holistic
multi-variable mathematical economic model.
It will be followed by a
stabilisation programme. After that we can
introduce a plan of growth and
how to sustain it.
Going forward, we will move to a
knowledge-based and
technology-driven economy. There are cheaper and
suitable technologies we
can use, for instance WiFi and WiMax, to develop
our economy.
We charge Mugabe's regime with appalling
economic ignorance.
They are in denial and seem to believe in an atomic or
single-variable
approach to economic analysis. That's ignorance of the
highest order. You
can't say inflation is our number one enemy as if
inflation works
independently of other variables.
DM: But
for all this to work, after dealing with the
superstructure, you need to
address agriculture which underpins the economic
base. How are you going to
deal with that?
AM: We believe in land reform and we will
move swiftly to clear
the chaos on the farms, audit land allocations and
have a rationalisation
programme. Then we will address security of tenure
and funding. Tenure can
take the form of title or 99-year leases which allow
people to plan and
invest in long-term projets.
This will
then address issues like food security, foreign
currency shortages (we need
to work with strategic partners), fuel, power,
all these
things.
DM: How about the issue of sanctions which Zanu PF
has been
talking about? What will you about it?
AM: If
there are any such sanctions, you can't call for their
lifting before you
lift internal ones. Zanu PF must first of all lift the
sanctions it has
imposed on Zimbabweans via misrule, mismanagement,
corruption and
repression. That has to be addressed before we can talk about
external
sanctions. We have never believed in the imposition of sanctions on
our
country. That is Zanu PF propaganda.
DM: Lastly, is it true
you are married to former Secretary to
the President and Cabinet, Dr Charles
Utete's daughter? If so, won't this
compromise you
politically?
AM: This is a malicious rumour and an untruth.
For the record, I'm
married to Dr Jacqueline Sekesai Mutambara (nee
Chimhanzi) and we have two
children.
Zim Independent
Eric Chiriga
FOOD processor,
National Foods Holdings Ltd (Natfoods), has
temporarily ceased production of
edible oils which contributed 20% to the
group's total
revenue.
The group said the stoppage had been caused by lack
of raw
materials.
Production of the oils is expected to
resume in May when it is
anticipated that key raw materials which include
soya beans and cotton seed
would be available.
"The
Harare manufacturing plant of National Foods has run out of
raw materials
and is, at the moment, not producing any edible oils," said
Natfoods
spokesperson, Linda Musesengwa, in response to questions from
businessdigest.
"Oils sales contribute approximately 20%
of the group's total
revenue," Musesengwa said.
Natfoods
said the raw material shortage had been largely due to
lack of foreign
currency.
"We import our raw materials, foreign currency
permitting, from
the most cost-effective sources at any given time, which
can meet our
quality specifications," Musesengwa said.
She said crude oil was normally imported throughout the year to
augment
local raw material supplies which do not fully meet local
demand.
"Unfortunately, the shortage of foreign currency has
hindered
the import of normal requirement of crude oil; it is this challenge
which
has resulted in the closure of our plants until the coming oil seed
harvest," she said.
She added that the non-availability
of soya beans for oil
production was also likely to affect the production of
stock feed.
In its financial results for the year ended
December 31, 2005,
Natfoods warned that operations would be affected by lack
of raw materials,
a view analysts viewed as a profit
warning.
The company said the Grain Marketing Board (GMB),
the key
supplier of raw materials, had significantly cut supplies, leaving
the food
processor in the lurch.
"We expect the first
quarter of 2006 to be extremely difficult,"
said Natfoods' board in a
statement accompanying the group's financial
results.
"GMB has significantly reduced our wheat allocation and we have
no other
source of raw materials as the availability of foreign currency is
very
limited," the board said.
The board added that supplies of
stock feeds had been limited
because critical raw materials like soya cake
and maize were in short
supply.
The Natfoods board said
the flour division had performed well in
the first half of the period under
review, and this had been due to 4 000
tonnes of wheat procured under a
Memorandum of Understanding with the GMB
for allocations over and above
those stipulated by the parastatal.
"In the second half of
the year the division survived solely on
GMB wheat allocations and flour
rationing had to be enforced," the board
said.
The group
made a profit after tax of $701,7 billion in the
period under review and
declared a final dividend of $600 per share payable
on April 28, after
having paid an interim dividend of $250 per share.
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
THE property market
is expected to experience increased activity
during the first half of the
year, spurred by investors seeking to hedge
against rising
inflation.
Inflation surged to 782% for the month of February, up
168,8
percentage points on the January figure of 613,2%.
Ideal Properties director, Gary Shilton, told businessdigest
this week that
the recent inflation figure would inevitably push property
prices upwards
and might force owners to hold on to their assets as a cover
against
inflation.
Those seeking to hedge themselves against spiraling
inflation
will push demand for properties.
"Properties have
become the safest form of investment as a hedge
against inflation in
Zimbabwe. As such property prices will continue to be
pegged in line with
the prevailing inflation rate," said Shilton.
"The recent
increase will soon translate into property prices,"
he said.
"Over the past six months we have seen property prices
increasing four
times. The increases witnessed were not due to an increase
in demand over
supply in the market but due to sellers increasing the
selling prices in
line with inflation to ensure that they are not losing in
real terms," said
Shilton.
He said since the beginning of the year, property owners
have
ensured that they maintain the value of their properties in line with
inflation.
Shilton said that going forward, prices would
continue to firm
if the local dollar continues to lose value against major
currencies in a
hyperinflation environment.
The residential
market is also expected to improve compared to
the last quarter of 2005 as
potential buyers are beginning to adjust to the
massive increases of prices
being implemented.
Zim Independent
By Michael Mtungwa
ONE of the
nightmares I experienced as a youth growing up in
Bulawayo in the early
1980s - that is in between trying to find employment
and escape the ravages
of Gukurahundi - was the failure to get a newspaper
that could express the
tribulations and despair of my fellow youths and the
generality of the
population in that city and region as a whole.
Depending on
the Herald and the Chronicle in the whole country
meant a horrible genocide
that left 20 000 dead was virtually uncovered and
remains a myth to the
majority of the population in Zimbabwe today. The 20
000 is almost the same
number as the losses suffered by Zimbabwe as a whole
in the liberation
war.
It was therefore with a heavy heart that I read Geoffrey
Nyarota's
long, patronising article in the Financial Gazette of March 9,
partly
because I learnt later that Nyarota was one of the editors of the
newspaper
I resented during Gukurahundi. I suppose what made it worse is
that the
article came out a few days before March 13, the day 23 years ago
that
Joshua Nkomo fled Zimbabwe for the United Kingdom after enduring
various
forms of humiliation by the Zanu PF government.
In seeking to promote Morgan Tsvangirai - against whom I have
nothing - and
to portray Welshman Ncube as the leader of an ethnic club,
Nyarota also
sought to justify the senseless mass murders committed by
Robert Mugabe's
government. I could not help but feel mad at his comparison
of an act of
lunacy that was ignored by the whole world to what he called
"the predatory
raids" on Mashonaland by the Ndebeles' "forefathers". A
number of Zanu PF
politicians have used the same comparison when cornered to
explain the
genocide, notably ex-Zapu vice-president Joseph Msika, who has
been accused
of failing to control his tongue in his old age.
Not
surprisingly, Nyarota believes the only development to read
from Nkomo's
capitulation to Zanu PF is the creation of a one-party state
and the demise
of Zapu, which he accuses of having had a "largely ethnic
following". He
makes the same accusation of regional focus against Zapu
2000, but
astonishingly leaves out the ZUD, a Harare-based grouping that
never made
any pretensions to being national. No thought is given to the
thousands of
lives that were saved in both Matabeleland and the Midlands and
in Zimbabwe
as a whole by Nkomo's humiliating submission to a party he knew
had no
vision for the country, and whose bankruptcy of ideas is plain to
everyone
today.
The portrayal of Nkomo as a traitor for embracing the
Unity
Accord by comparing that act to Ncube's alleged involvement in a plot
to
push for a government of national unity has been a common feature in the
utterances of both Tsvangirai and senior members of his party, and shows how
little our progressive leaders care about the plight of Gukurahundi
victims.
Apart from steering away from the common reasons
that led to the
split in MDC, such as Tsvangirai's rebellion against his
national council,
and indeed the obstinate resolve by Ncube and his
colleagues to stick to a
white elephant, Nyarota strives to show that there
have been bad Ndebele
leaders in Zanu PF as well, notably Jonathan Moyo and
Enos Nkala, just as
there have been Shona victims to Mugabe's rule - 300 he
says, insinuating
this should make the Ndebele stop what he portrays as
playing the victim.
I will not seek to justify the loss of
any human life, as
Nyarota does, but comparing genocide to the killings that
have taken place
since the formation of the MDC is to express that you do
not empathise with
the hurt felt by the survivors of the
genocide.
Nyarota also emphasises the ethnic angle to the
split in the
MDC, simply because Ndebele leaders Gibson Sibanda and Ncube
led it.
Notably, while the import of his argument is that ethnicity is
behind much
of the problems afflicting the MDC today, he places the blame on
the leaders
of one camp and leaves the "mainstream" MDC, as he calls it,
untouched.
Where he criticises the "mainstream" MDC, it is to advise it on
how to
proceed in future, such as whom a government it forms must work
with.
What also baffles my mind is Nyarota's eagerness to
embrace Zanu
PF leaders and sympathisers who have been complicit in the
destruction of
the country either as protagonists or cheerleaders while he
trashes
opposition leaders who have stood up to both Mugabe and opposition
leader
Tsvangirai.
Gideon Gono, Mutumwa Mawere, Oppah
Muchinguri and Dumiso
Dabengwa are therefore praised as progressive leaders
alongside MDC members
from Matabeleland who support or are perceived to
support Tsvangirai, and
these are the people he suggests Tsvangirai should
work with. Arthur
Mutambara is flogged for being an opportunist who joined a
tribal band, and
is advised to stay away from politics because he has been
away for too long
and has a PhD in robotics anyway. To bolster a perfect
argument, Nyarota
deliberately removes the context of Mutambara's praise of
Tsvangirai - and
Mugabe by the way - and his anti-senate
position.
However, what frightens me and indeed most of the
victims of
Mugabe's rule since 1980 is that Nyarota's views mirror the
opinions of many
people in civic society and among intellectuals in Zimbabwe
today, some of
whom he mentions by name. Like Nyarota, many of these leaders
care little
about whether Tsvangirai is right or wrong. Many of them waited
until they
realised he still has support, and then attacked his opponents
using the
same views expressed by Nyarota. In his lengthy essay, Nyarota
also leaves
out the violence perpetrated by Tsvangirai against members of
his party last
year, which was probably his way of fighting the plot Nyarota
is alleging.
Not even one of our boisterous civic groups condemned that
orgy, because
doing so would have cast aspersions on the moral authority of
Tsvangirai.
If you ask me, I would say Zimbabweans want a
president who will
steer this country from the economic and political mess
it is in, restore
confidence in the population and re-establish meaningful
relations with the
international community, but beneath this lies the fact
that Zanu PF
poisoned our society to believe ruling is a preserve of the
majority ethnic
group, and this has been supported, both implicitly and
explicitly, in
business, politics and even in civic society and even by some
of the most
"progressive" people in this country. To deny the xenophobia
that exists
between Shona and Ndebele in Zimbabwe and attack those who state
the obvious
is simply hypocritical. And hiding behind one's tribal bigotry
by pointing
fingers at others and dodging pertinent issues is hardly the way
to address
the crisis in Zimbabwe now.
For all the talk
about a united front and Zanu PF abuses since
2000, none of the leaders in
the civil society groups, most of whom are
based in Harare, have mentioned
that by far the biggest crime Zanu PF has
committed since Independence is
the Gukurahundi atrocities. Some of these
leaders still prefer the safety of
referring to these as "disturbances". At
the same time, it is the common
language of the Zimbabwean press that the
MDC is Zanu PF's biggest challenge
since Independence? Really? A challenge
that cost 20 000 lives to put down
and became a lost cause because of
xenophobic politics is relegated simply
because those who coin our language
are now feeling the pinch as
well.
The disappointing thing for one who lived through the
horrors of
Gukurahundi is that little has changed. Many of these academics
and civil
society leaders either cheered Mugabe on or happily looked away
when the 5th
Brigade rampaged through Bulawayo and Matabeleland. Many of
them would also
accuse Ndebele victims of Mugabe's brutality of thinking all
the Shona are
guilty of the atrocities. Not that they think this is the
situation, but
because by so doing, they think they exorcise the part they
played during
that time, for not only Mugabe and Zanu PF will be charged
with genocide
should that time come, but also the various editors and
opinion leaders who
helped him cover up the crimes from the
world.
It is also depressing that many of these opinion
leaders, just
like Mugabe, have not changed. Mugabe committed crimes against
humanity in
the 1980s because of the support he received when he made
inflammatory
speeches and accused his opponents of being tribalists and
traitors simply
because many among their leaders belonged to a different
ethnic group and
rejected his one-party state notion.
Like Mugabe, Tsvangirai too can become a despot after being
encouraged to
disregard internal democracy in his own party, and after
seeing that even
sinking to the violence he condemns in Zanu PF will not
earn him any
reprimand, so long as he chooses his victims carefully.
It
was admirable for Tsvangirai to state that the senate, just
like parliament
by the way, will not change the suffering Zimbabweans are
going through, but
this self-serving stance cannot be used to cover up the
dark side he has
exhibited through all this.
* Michael Mtungwa is a Zimbabwean
writing from South Africa.
Zim Independent
By Prof Jonathan Moyo
IF there is
one thing that no responsible Zimbabwean can deny
today, it is that our
country is in the throes of a devastating economic
meltdown coupled with the
collapse of key national institutions, especially
those charged with the
delivery of essential services to ordinary people
such as jobs, health,
education, housing, transport and food.
Despite this
self-evident fact, it is shocking that opinion and
policy-makers across the
political divide remain preoccupied with
self-indulgent agendas at the
expense of the resolution of the clear
economic meltdown and the decay of
critical public institutions that have
brought unprecedented suffering among
Zimbabweans.
The economy has become the main opposition to
Zanu PF rule and
President Robert Mugabe and his cronies have no solution to
this opposition
outside the brutality of a knee-jerk law and order response
of ruling by
terror. In the circumstances, Zimbabweans at home and in the
diaspora,
including the ancestral spirits, are crying out for a new vision
and the
emergence of those capable of fashioning that
vision.
This is why Zimbabwe today is haunted by the
perennial wisdom
that where there is no vision the people
perish.
If nothing is done to intervene as a matter of
national urgency,
more people will perish as some already
have.
It is against this backdrop that the welcome entry (or
is it
re-entry) of Arthur Mutambara into national politics has been received
with
mixed reactions by vision-hungry Zimbabweans.
While
appreciating Mutambara's call for a broad-based united
nationalist and
democratic front against the ruling Zanu PF clique, neutral
Zimbabweans have
been surprised if not disappointed by his decision to join
and lead one of
the feuding and arguably weaker MDC factions when he had a
golden
opportunity to work on reuniting the two factions under a new
nationalist
and democratic vision that could also rope in many disgruntled
Zanu PF
members and supporters who can clearly see that Zanu PF has become a
shelf
political party with no democratic ideology nor vibrant
policies.
Joining either of the MDC factions as its leader
was not a
viable premise for unity or political growth for Mutambara by any
stretch of
imagination from the standpoint of visionary
politics.
Neither of the MDC factions needed a leader because
they both
clearly have plenty of leaders some of whom engineered and
spearheaded the
split whose only purpose, intended or not, is to give Zanu
PF a false sense
of comfort while the country is fatally
bleeding.
What the two factions needed, and still need, as do
the ranks of
opposition politics in the country in general, is a visionary
political
broker, not leader, and Mutambara could have been that and
more.
He still can be but the task would now be much harder
and much
more complicated yet still worthy of trying given that politics by
its very
dynamic nature is forever full of endless possibilities with twists
and
turns in which nothing is ever ruled out.
Up to now,
opposition politics in Zimbabwe have been doomed by
two major drawbacks.
The one is the mindless preoccupation with
personalities at the expense of
ideology and policies and the other is the
failure to understand that no
opposition will ever rule this country without
attracting significant
membership and support from Zanu PF's rank and file.
Before
splitting into the two currently warring factions, the
MDC had reached its
limit in crafting an opposition propaganda based on the
hatred of not just
Zanu PF but also of people linked to or associated with
Zanu
PF.
The effect of this MDC propaganda of needless hatred
combined
with the violent reaction to it by Zanu PF ensured that there could
not be
an exodus of Zanu PF members and supporters crossing over to the
MDC.
The situation is now worse with the factionalisation of
the MDC:
it would be foolhardy for anyone to expect hordes of Zanu PF rank
and file
to flock to either of the MDC factions.
Meanwhile, the vision problem is much more serious in
officialdom which has
run out of all steam and is now out of its depth when
it comes to dealing
with the ongoing economic meltdown and collapse of
public institutions. The
popular line in officialdom has been to confuse
symptoms with causes and to
foolishly declare inflation and corruption as
the country's alternating
number one enemies.
While it is true that corruption is rife
in Zimbabwe and that
runaway inflation - which was 782% last month and is
set to hit four digits
this month - is making the lives of consumers and
businesses hell, the truth
is that both unbridled corruption and
hyperinflation are symptoms and not
causes of the economic
meltdown.
The cause is to be found in the political system
that is
dominated by people without a vision.
President
Mugabe and other Zanu PF leaders who imitate him have
claimed that the
economic meltdown has been caused by alleged enemies whose
Zanu PF inventory
includes Tony Blair, George W Bush, the International
Monetary Fund, World
Bank, unnamed neo-colonialists and imperialists, the
West, Rhodies and their
presumed local puppets.
What is most unfortunate about the
Zanu PF identification of the
causes of the current suffering gripping the
nation is not only that it is
devoid of visionary thinking but also that it
is so demagogic as to
guarantee a zero policy response.
While Zanu PF leaders have a lot to chant when it comes to
slogans about
"looking east" and dogmas against neo-colonialists and
imperialists and
their regime change agendas, they notably have between
little and nothing to
say about what should be done technically from an
action-based policy point
of view. If Tony Blair is the cause of the
suffering that all Zimbabweans
are now experiencing, what should Zimbabweans
do to or about him in order to
alleviate or eliminate their suffering?
In September 2005,
President Mugabe told Zanu PF supporters who
had gathered outside his party
headquarters to complain about the biting
effects of fuel shortages that the
"fuel situation would start improving in
two weeks".
But
six months later the fuel situation has not improved in the
country but has
in fact gotten chronically worse.
The only action that Zanu
PF leaders have been able to implement
thus far is a crude law-and-order
approach in which the ruling clique
connives with some ambitious elements
within state security organs to visit
terror on perceived enemies under the
guise of fighting alleged economic
crimes which happen to be the norm among
the power elite.
A case in point is the selective arrest and
prosecution of
individuals accused of abusing fuel facilities when the abuse
is not only
palpably rampant within Zanu PF and officialdom but is also but
only one
symptom of the economic meltdown.
Whether Mugabe
and his ruling colleagues like it or not, and
whether Zanu PF media
mouthpieces can see or report it or not, the one fact
that all Zimbabweans
and the whole world can see is that Zanu PF's Waterloo
is the ongoing
economic meltdown. The economy has become the real
opposition to Zanu PF
and the ruling party has no response because it cannot
have any as the
lunatics have already bolted out of the asylum.
This is why
everyone else who was making a lot of noise about
the situation in Zimbabwe
over the last five or so years, including Tony
Blair, is now playing quiet
diplomacy like Thabo Mbeki. There is no
initiative on Zimbabwe in Sadc, none
in the African Union, none in the
European Union and none at the United
Nations. By the time Kofi Annan is
ready to visit Zimbabwe in a few months
time, Mugabe might also be ready for
an exit deal due to the fires of the
economic meltdown.
The initiative is now in Zimbabwe and in
the economy. Zanu PF
must now come to terms with the dictates of the
economy and simply claiming
as usual that there are economic saboteurs in
our midst will not do with
galloping inflation in the 1 000% range,
unemployment over 90%, poverty over
95% while businesses are closing down,
property rights are unsettled as
education, health, housing and public
transport fall apart.
No democratic government anywhere in
the world has ever survived
three digit inflation let alone four digit
inflation now on the horizon in
this country and it would be folly of the
highest order for anyone in the
Zanu PF leadership to dream that they will
survive the ongoing onslaught
from the economy.
Short of
ruling through terror, which would quicken his
downfall, there is just
nothing that President Mugabe can now do to turn
around the economy besides
stepping down and allowing for structural reform
of national politics in
constitutional terms before the holding of
harmonised presidential and
legislative elections before or by 2008 when his
tenure is due to
expire.
If he does not allow this, he and his securocrats who
are
currently causing confusion in the newspapers they own or control such
as
the Financial Gazette and the Mirror, should be assured that Zimbabwe
will
go up in smoke whatever they do.
Experience from
around the world, including in countries that
are not democratic, has shown
that when the economy becomes the main
opposition, the game is over for the
ruling elite and it's time for everyone
else, including members and
supporters of the ruling party, to close ranks
and forge a common and united
nationalist and democratic front under
visionary leadership in the national
interest.
* Prof Moyo is an independent MP for
Tsholotsho.
Zim Independent
Candid Comment with Joram Nyathi
LAST week I wrote about
Zimbabwe's dubious distinction in
winning an award for agricultural
production. There has since been a
consolidation of that record with the
country setting an unassailable lead
in the inflation
stakes.
The latest figure from the Central Statistical Office
released
on Friday was a mind-numbing 782%.
I don't know
if it is necessary for me to say what I would do if
I were Finance minister
Herbert Murerwa. On Wednesday he had attended a
meeting in Washington of the
IMF board with RBZ governor Gideon Gono where
they were told "well done for
clearing your country's arrears under the
General Resources account, but
sorry, there won't be any money coming your
way anytime
soon".
It doesn't matter how nicely it was
expressed.
We had a serious discussion about Gono's
appointment as Reserve
Bank governor in 2003. The general line of discussion
was whether he would
be able to change the course of the collapsing economy.
My argument was that
he should have been given carte blanche to do what ever
was necessary to
reverse the decline otherwise why would he want to sully
his reputation. He
was hailed in the media as a turnaround strategist after
he turned the CBZ
into a blue-chip bank in record time.
President Mugabe reputedly slammed the previous RBZ governor
Leonard Tsumba
for relying on textbook concepts when what was needed were
home-grown
solutions.
It's turning out that Gono is no different from
his predecessors
except that he has been allowed to commit the sin that
others were condemned
for - to devalue the currency to a worthless piece of
paper. Former Finance
minister Simba Makoni was labelled an economic
saboteur for proposing the
same. But the politics haven't changed a
bit.
I have never believed in the efficacy of devaluation
unless you
really have something big to export. The decimation of Zimbabwe's
agriculture has seriously undercut industrial and commercial production to a
point where there is very little business to justify random
devaluation.
The inflows from the diaspora don't justify the
pain we are
being subjected to. When do you stop once you succumb to the
speculative
demands of the few people in the diaspora who promise to fill
the country's
foreign currency reserves if there is sufficient
devaluation?
Part of Gono's undoing is that Mugabe's verbal
support is not
backed by concrete policies on the political
front.
Witness how much he is fighting to restore relations
with the
international community while Mugabe attacks the same countries
that want to
help us. How do you hope to get balance-of-payments support
from the IMF
when your government attacks the same institution as enemies of
Zimbabwe?
How do you achieve macroeconomic stability when government is
obsessed with
having its finger in every piece of the
pie?
After destroying agriculture and rendering land almost
valueless
through nationalisation, government has now set its sights on
mining where
it is demanding a free shareholding of up to 51% for certain
minerals. Given
the cost of mining investment, that ill-advised policy can
only be a huge
turn-off for potential investors.
Friday's
inflation data set a record for the country since Gono
assumed control at
the RBZ. For once his forecast of 800% was nearly
correct. Our nearest
competitor in the inflation stakes is Iraq with 40%.
That is a country at
war in which on average 10 people are blown to
smithereens by bombs in
Baghdad every day.
Our closest rivals on the African
continent are fellow
basket-cases like Angola and Zambia. But they are very
poor competition at
17,7% and 19% respectively. We all know that Angola has
just emerged from a
long civil war while in terms of resources Zambia has
never significantly
recovered since the collapse of copper prices in the
1970s. But at least
they are looking up.
Zimbabwe has
enjoyed relative peace for all the 26 years of
Independence until government
itself declared war against commercial farming
in 1999. It is no consolation
that at one point countries like Yugoslavia or
Bolivia had inflation going
up by 1 000% every day. The issue is that we
should never have got to where
we are if we were pursuing modestly prudent
economic policies. It is as if
we were trying to reinvent the wheel merely
to prove that we are a sovereign
state.
That experiment has reportedly taken the country's GDP
back to
1953 levels. As if to crown our wonderful achievement, the country's
name is
not only the last in the alphabet but we also sit snugly at the very
bottom
of the inflation heap at number 223. That puts our nearest rival,
war-wrecked Iraq 742 percentage points away.
Our nemesis
that we are always eager to challenge to a duel, the
United Kingdom and the
European Union, have an inflation average of 2,2%.
That's how badly
different we are and there is definitely no economic
turnaround in sight. We
can only hope that Gono will achieve his target of
200% inflation by
year-end. It is a huge leap of faith even for the most
optimistic patriot
given the state of agriculture and our limited foreign
currency generation
capacity.
So long as Gono cannot convince his principals to
change their
politics, we are doomed. What is needed is a whole new culture
of doing
business and the harnessing of all available resources to move
forward. Gono's
piece-meal selection of variable symptoms as "enemies" is at
worst an excuse
for doing nothing and at best an alibi for
failure.
His advisors should tell him these elementary
truths.
Zim Independent
By John Robertson
AS Zimbabwe's
remarkably good 2005/6 rainy season moves into its
final phases, evidence is
growing that food production will yet again fall
well below the volumes
needed.
Bruce Gemmill's ("Waiting to reclaim my land",
Zimbabwe
Independent, February 24), description of the lands he used to farm
as
silent, empty and resembling a graveyard can be applied to almost all the
land that used to produce Zimbabwe's food surpluses.
The
various efforts that have been made to persuade Zimbabweans
in particular,
and the world in general, that our land reform has been a
resounding success
have sounded more absurd with each passing year.
Of course,
the definition of the word "success" can be carefully
altered to fit in with
the ruling party's claim that ownership of the land
has been restored to
indigenous Zimbabweans and that is the "success" that
was wanted, but even
that claim is stretching credulity. What value is such
ownership when even
the farmers who have been resettled on the land can be
evicted on the whim
of a party heavyweight?
As Gemmill points out in his
excellent article, what matters
most is production, and apart from modest
crops for the growers' own
consumption, that is not happening. Much higher
levels of commitment and
experience are needed to produce large-scale crops
for competitive markets,
but these will never be forthcoming from people who
have no security of
tenure and therefore no confidence that only they will
reap what they have
sown.
Apart from property rights,
other components of the system that
used to work for commercial farmers, and
therefore for the country, were the
market for land, which permitted a
market price and collateral value to be
established, and the transferability
of ownership rights through the market.
These attributes permitted the land
to be used as security for bank loans,
while the security of tenure the
owners believed they had permitted
long-term planning.
These, in turn, supported the investment process that allowed
the farmers to
turn land into productive and sustainable farms.
By
comparison, today's farmers are seriously disabled. Far from
empowering them
by giving them free land, the policy-makers have
disempowered them by taking
away every one of the components of a
well-proven system that delivered
excellent results.
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
GOVERNMENT last
week kept its finger firmly pressed on the
self-destruct button by
announcing plans to amend mining laws to allow the
state to take over mines,
a plan experts say sounds the death knell for the
sector.
If the plan is translated into action, analysts say, it will
lead to the
collapse of the mining industry with investors fleeing with
their investment
capital.
They say the proposal aggravates Zimbabwe's battered
reputation
wrought by its chaotic land reform, lawlessness and attack on the
opposition
and independent media.
Analysts said the move
would worsen Zimbabwe's tumbling ranking
as an investment destination and
prolong its isolation from the rest of the
world.
In what
experts liken to nationalisation of the sector, Mines
minister Amos Midzi
said the amendment would allow government to take a 51%
shareholding in
strategic foreign-owned mines.
He said mining companies would
cede 25% to the state for free
and give the other 26% to empowerment groups
that would pay for the stake
over a five-year period.
Midzi told the Chamber of Mines on the amendments: "Government
has made two
giant steps: to be an active player in the mining business and
to indigenise
51% in some instances of all foreign owned companies."
He
said government would hold controlling shares in companies
mining energy
minerals like coal, uranium and methane gas. Government will
have 51% in
platinum, diamond and gold mines "In gold government shall
participate in
big mines," Midzi said.
The announcement immediately made a
negative impact on the
international scene with sources saying the issue
could have played a major
part in scuttling Zimbabwe's attempt to get the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF)'s executive board to re-open financial
assistance lines.
The board made a big issue out of the
proposal that was a clear
departure from the government's promises to
protect private investment,
property rights and fair business
dealings.
The IMF has told Harare since 1999 to respect
property rights
and come up with a clear investment policy that ensures
confidence and
security.
At national level the impact of
the proposal was dramatic with
foreign mining companies openly expressing
their fear and reservations about
the plan.
Implats, a
major shareholder which owns 86,7% stake in Zimplats,
which operates
Zimbabwe's biggest platinum mine in the Selous area, said the
proposal would
affect its operations.
Chief executive officer David Brown
was cautious but warned that
the plan would render expansion at existing
mines "uneconomic".
The world's biggest platinum miner, South
Africa's Anglo
Platinum, currently developing Unki platinum project, said it
was concerned
with Zimbabwe's proposal.
Other players
were "disturbed" by the proposal which they say
smacks of an attempt to
nationalise mines the same way it nationalised land.
Midzi
for his part did not explain why government would need to
grab mines save to
say "there was need to benefit the majority of the
disadvantaged
people".
Analysts believe the move would sink the industry
which,
ironically, is the only sector registering some modest
growth.
The mining sector grew by 7% last year making it the
only
industry to register growth over the past three years.
It contributes 4% to GDP and 25% to the country's foreign
currency
earnings.
With agriculture having collapsed and other
industries in dire
straits, the mining sector has become one of the biggest
employers in the
country.
The proposal therefore poses a
serious threat to foreign mining
companies that are already hard pressed
because of Zimbabwe's heavy handed
foreign currency
regime.
Economic consultant Daniel Ndlela said if government
carries out
its threats the sector would follow
agriculture.
"It's a greed policy that will bring the mining
sector to a halt
just like what happened to agriculture when they invaded
farms and
nationalised land," Ndlela warned.
He said the
nationalisation of companies was a 1970s policy that
is no longer
fashionable in the new global village.
"That policy ceased to
be fashionable more than 30 year ago,"
Ndlela said.
"What's fashionable now is sustained growth, reduction of
poverty and
partnership with investors and the private sector."
The
proposal could cause massive capital flight as investors
fear losing their
property, he said.
Analysts say it would also strangle the
little capital that has
been trickling into Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is in its
ninth year of
disinvestment.
Analysts wonder why
government wants to grab more mines when it
has not been able to run its
owns.
State mining concern Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation
(ZMDC) has failed to resuscitate closed
mines.
It has a trail of collapsed ventures since 1980. It
closed its
biggest gold producer, Sabi, in 2002. ZMDC also left thousands of
people
jobless when it closed its copper smelter in Mhangura. Mhangura is
now a
ghost town.
While government has made public
commitments to reopen the
mines, there has been very little progress on the
ground.
According to unconfirmed reports, more than 4 000
small mining
companies have closed down since Zimbabwe's financial crisis
started in
1999. More than 10 other big mines have been shut down since
2000.
Falcon Gold, owners of Dalny (Chakari) and Venice
Mines, both
near Kadoma, is threatening to shut down because of huge losses
caused by
the foreign currency problems.
Experts also
warn that the plan could degenerate into a
diplomatic crisis with South
Africa.
Harare's attempt to muscle into South African
companies is bound
to irk Pretoria, they said.
Over the
past five years South African companies have invested
heavily in Zimbabwean
mines on the basis of protection offers under the
Bilateral Investment and
Property Protection Agreements (Bippas).
Midzi's proposal
would affect two SA companies, Shaft Sinkers
and Mmakau Mining, that
recently opened Eureka Mine which had been closed
for the past five
years.
The move is likely to affect SA's Metallon Gold Mine
that
operates five local mines and produces more than a third of Zimbabwe's
gold.
Owned by black entrepreneur, Mzi Khumalo, Metallon is
currently
embroiled in a fight with indigenous empowerment groups over a 30%
stake
which was initially reserved for local business
people.
Stanmarker, led by Lloyd Hove, is suing Metallon for
breach of
contract while the Manyame Consortium which includes John Mkushi,
Albert
Nhau and banker Mthuli Ncube is yet to pay for its
stake.
If the government becomes a shareholder it would need
to pump
out huge amounts of foreign currency for expansion
programmes.
"Government does not have local money, worse
still hard
currency," said an independent economist, Blessing
Sakupwanya.
Armed with the new law, government is likely to
muscle into
Metallon which owns Arcturus Mines, Shamva Mine, Mazowe, How
Mines and
Penalonga.
The five mines have an annual gold
production of 180 000 ounces,
employs 10 000 people and sustains 500 000
more.
"The closure of such mines would affect thousands of people
in
both the sector and supporting industries," Sakupwanya
said.
Implats' Mimosa Mines will also be
affected.
Other analysts detect a measure of guilt atonement
in Midzi's
proposal saying it could have been triggered by President
Mugabe's criticism
of non-performing ministers during his birthday
interview.
They say he is trying to over-compensate for his
inadequacies
and the policy risks dying a natural death.
Zim Independent
Comment
NO matter how much the Zanu PF government tries to
deny its
egregious human rights record, it is nevertheless working
feverishly to
demonstrate that it can attack civic liberties with
impunity.
The events of the past two weeks following the
arrest of
opposition MP Giles Mutsekwa and other members of the MDC on
charges of
conspiring to assassinate President Robert Mugabe, amply
demonstrate the
extent to which government is prepared to subvert
fundamental human
liberties using methods, including arbitrary arrest, which
have no place in
a democracy.
The state case collapsed on
Wednesday with charges being dropped
against the accused.
What has emerged from the state's latest debacle is that the
world has seen
all too clearly that Zimbabwe is not a democracy and security
agents, which
include the Central Intelligence Organisation and the police,
do not respect
basic human rights or legal due process.
It is also crystal
clear that the government is prepared to
cause alarm and despondency to
fulfil a political agenda set by the ruling
party. This is not the first
time the country has been made to endure
immense anxiety and tension because
of state-authoured dramas designed to
portray President Mugabe and his
government as victims of Western
conspirators.
But such
was the clumsy amateurism of this latest episode that
the state case quickly
collapsed. On Tuesday evening High Court judge,
Justice Charles Hungwe,
ruled the continued detention of the accused and the
confiscation of their
property unlawful. The judgement should be hailed as a
bold illustration of
judicial activism which has been lacking of late among
some of his
colleagues on the bench. He said the illegal detention and the
refusal by
police to allow lawyers to access the accused "deserved the
highest possible
censure".
"It cannot be justified in a democratic society,"
said the
judge. "One cannot simply condone such a blatant refusal of access
by the
police. This is the type of conduct that brings the administration of
justice into disrepute."
Court documents state that the
accused were abused and tortured
while in custody. Even after they had been
remanded in custody by a court,
the police and the CIO still continued to
detain them when they should have
been transferred to remand
prison.
The documents detail the ZRP's disrespect for lawyers
and the
legal process and a culture of obduracy designed to subvert
individual
rights.
Such was the conduct of the police and
the CIO that even
prosecutors, who are state lawyers and should be on the
same side as law
enforcers, were victims of harassment and
intimidation.
State counsel who had travelled from Harare to
bolster the state
case had to leave Mutare unceremoniously after threats
from the police and
the CIO, it is reported. The area prosecutor had to
abandon his home and
find alternative accommodation after the police and the
CIO accused him of
siding with the defence.
Justice
Hungwe rightly describes this behaviour by the police
and the CIO as "a
shocking development". The pattern of partisan behaviour
by state agents is
evident from the Gukurahundi era in the early 1980s, to
the arraignment of
Zanu Ndonga leader Ndabaningi Sithole on treason charges,
through to the
Cain Nkala murder case and the Ari Ben-Menashe saga.
This
unprofessional behaviour has not been missed by alert
judges. Justice Sandra
Mungwira captured this well in her ruling in the
Nkala
case.
"The (police) witnesses conducted themselves in a
shameless
fashion and displayed utter contempt for the due administration of
justice
to the extent that they were prepared to indulge in what can only be
described as works of fiction ..."
Repeated claims by
police commissioner Augustine Chihuri that
Zimbabwe has a professional
police force as demonstrated by assignment to
United Nations duty abroad
cannot stand the test of sincerity in the face of
the shocking conduct of
the police in dealing with the Mutare case. With
equal measure claims by
State Security minister Didymus Mutasa that Zimbabwe
has a competent
intelligence apparatus which managed to save the nation from
a terrorist
plot is simply laughable. There was no plot other than that
concocted in the
minds of ministers and partisan security officials.
Whenever
charges of human rights abuse are raised against
Zimbabwe, our rulers have
been quick to accuse the media of painting a
negative image of the country.
We have even been accused by our colleagues
in the state media of lying. But
it is clear this week who has been wielding
the brush to tar the image of
the country.
Can Chihuri or Mutasa dispute Justice Hungwe's
summation that
the Mutare incident was "the type of conduct that brings the
administration
of justice into disrepute"? The Commissioner of Police and
Minister for
State Security should be held accountable for this disgraceful
episode.
Zim Independent
The Eric Bloch Column
WHEN Mines and Mining
Development minister Amos Midzi announced
a fortnight ago that government
had approved amendments to the proposed
Mines and Minerals Bill, the
inevitable reaction was that no government
could be so vested with a
national death wish.
Those amendments are tantamount to a
gargantuan nationalisation
of the mining sector.
As the
minister outlined the proposals, any rational listener
could only assume
that government was dismayed in the extreme that, despite
its vigorous
efforts to that end, it has still not totally destroyed the
Zimbabwean
economy notwithstanding more than a quarter-century's endeavours
to do
so.
So potentially disastrous are the new intents that one
must
presume that government might have been in a state of great distress,
saying: "Although we did our very best to destroy the Zimbabwean economy by
collapsing agriculture, which was its foundation, through an ill-conceived,
unjust, immoral programme of land acquisition, implemented even more
devastatingly than its conception, the economy is still not completely
destroyed.
"Although we tried very intensively to
reinforce the economic
collapse by alienating the international community,
by contempt for law and
order, matched only by like contempt for human
rights and for democracy, by
allowing corruption to prevail unabated as an
ever greater pervading cancer,
and by gross fiscal mismanagement, the
economy still lingers on, even if in
a very debilitated
state.
"Where did we go wrong? How did all these actions
only bring
the economy to its knees, not to total destruction? What can we
do?"
Undoubtedly the worthy ministers and their multitudes of
advisors pondered and pondered on not only how their strategies could have
failed, but also on what now to do. And, eventually, one of them will have
said:
"Now that agriculture is almost extinct, and as we
do not
recognise the informal sector as a genuine element of the economy
(and we
failed to kill it with Operation Murambatsvina), the strongest
remaining
element, and that with the greatest potential as catalyst for
economic
upturn, is the mining sector. So let us destroy it, and how better
to do so
than by nationalising it."
His colleagues will
have stared at him with amazement, never
having being aware of such
deep-seated brilliance! In fact, they had been so
unaware of such profound
intellect among them that, after some reflection,
they probably wondered
whether they had missed some key point that would
negate the whole
scheme.
"How," they will have asked, "will our taking
ownership of the
mining sector complete the destruction of the economy? How
will that bring
about the long-awaited economic
Armageddon?"
The fount of inspiration will have leaned back,
savouring the
moment of supremacy and undivided attention, and then surely
will have
explained: "If we dictate that the state must own 51% of all
shares in
mines producing energy minerals, platinum and diamonds, and that
the state
and appropriately approved indigenous companies own a like
proportion in
large gold mines, we will ring the death knell of mining and,
thereby, of
what little else remains in the economy.
"On
the one hand investors, the world over - foreign and
domestic investors
alike - will never again want to invest in Zimbabwe, for
they will say:
'First they took the land, now they take the mines, then they'll
take the
factories, then the hotels, then the banks, and then anything else
that is
left.' And, what is even more, all those already involved in mining
will be
demoralised in the extreme, losing any and all interest in their
operations."
To ensure that demoralisation and complete
loss of interest
occurs, the state proposes that all existing platinum,
diamond and energy
mineral mines - coal, natural and coal-bed methane gas
and uranium - must
cede to the state 25% of all shares immediately following
upon the enactment
of the intended laws, no payment whatsoever being given
for those shares. A
further 26% must then be transferred to the state over
the following five
years - with no indication, at present, whether there
will be any payment
for those shares and, if so, the fairness of valuation
and the terms of
payment.
The demonic brilliance of the
economy-destroying proposals is
underscored by the fact that, in addition to
the gross inequity of
expropriation and deprivation of property rights,
government's track-record
of mismanagement of almost every parastatal, and
of virtually every economic
venture that it has ever been involved with,
virtually assures that even the
most viable of mines will lose all viability
once government is in control.
Soon those mines will have
performance records commensurate with
those of Ziscosteel, Zesa, the
National Railways of Zimbabwe, the Grain
Marketing Board, the National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe and the majority of
the other state-controlled economic
enterprises.
In the case of the non-energy minerals -
platinum, diamond and
large gold mines - the proposals are marginally less
oppressive, but only
very marginally so! All existing mines will have to
cede to government, or
to approved Zimbabwean indigenous companies, 10% of
all shares within two
years, a further 30% within the next following three
years, and another 10%
within two years thereafter, so that within seven
years the state and
Zimbabwean ownership will be at least
50%.
No details are released as to the values to be placed on
the
shares, but clearly government intends that the sellers will effectively
pay
themselves, without government putting up even one brass farthing, for
it is
intended that the incoming legislation will also introduce an
obligation
upon mines to pay royalties to the state (over and above existing
liability
to income tax and a milliard of indirect taxes). So the generous
state will
take from one pocket of the mining industry in order to place a
little in
the other pocket, creating the impression that the enforced
disinvestment is
pursued with equity.
Yet to be disclosed
is how government will determine which
Zimbabweans, and which Zimbabwean
companies, will be approved as
co-shareholders with non-Zimbabweans, but if
the past is anything of a
guideline, the fundamental criteria will
undoubtedly be the extent of
nepotistic association, approved political
activity and influence-wielding
ability of those who will be given the
accolades of investment approval,
supported by state
funding.
In like manner, can it now be assumed that in order
to pretend
that there is still wide-ranging international investor interest
in the
mining sector, Zimbabweans will shortly be recipients of yet another
deluge
of state propaganda as to the merits and magnificent successes of its
"Look
East" policies - which have yielded a cement factory, brickfields, a
glass
factory, and management of a coal-starved iron and steel producer, a
flood
of eastern-produced commuter omnibuses, nine aircraft (still being
paid for)
and comparatively little else!
In his
statement, Midzi made no reference to the Bilateral
Investment Protection
Agreements to which Zimbabwe is party, and the impact
that they should have
upon the proposed legalised "theft" of the mining
industry by government.
However, as government has had almost total
disregard for those agreements
in pursuing its land acquisition,
resettlement and redistribution programme,
it is too much to expect that it
will give them more than even the slightest
glance, as it embarks upon its
buccaneering intents upon
mining.
The one and only redeeming feature of the minister's
statement
was his acknowledgement that he has met with some "stakeholders in
the
mining industry to brief them on the government position", and they had
indicated "they need to make further consultations, and would respond in a
few weeks' time". Although probably a vain one, one must hope that -
although improbable - government will heed the responses when they are
forthcoming, and will markedly reconsider its cataclysmic intent of
completing the implosion of the economy.
Zim Independent
Muckraker
IT is sometimes impossible to imagine that
a former editor of a
national newspaper can turn bootlicker just because he
cannot think beyond a
tribal laager.
Last week we had
more than a surfeit of it when a former Daily
News editor filled a whole
page in the Financial Gazette with drivel of
ethnic
politics.
It was evident in the article that there is no love
lost between
Geoffrey Nyarota and Welshman Ncube while his admiration for
Morgan
Tsvangirai blinds him to obvious realities.
So
every political movement led by somebody from Matabeleland is
ethnic-based?
Even Joshua Nkomo's Zapu is described derisively as having a
largely "ethnic
following".
Those who broke away to form Zanu in 1963
evidently don't have
ethnic origins. They are born nationalists. Ncube was
accused of leading a
"rebel faction".
We never heard much
of ethnicity when Edgar Tekere left Zanu PF
to form ZUM or when the feisty
Margaret Dongo formed ZUD or Enock
Dumbutshena formed the Forum
Party.
Remember there was also NAGG before its leader Shake
Maya was
catapulted to the echelons of the MDC without questions asked. Now
Arthur
Mutambara is being accused of "strategic miscalculation" by accepting
"leadership of an irrelevant ethnic-based clique".
Why
irrelevant and ethnic you might ask? Because they dared
challenge Tsvangirai
for leadership after he failed to win the presidency in
2002. Just why he
should not be challenged is not explained.
All that is
emphasised is the myth of Tsvangirai's "bedrock of
support" which he has
never been able to demonstrate. Is Nyarota so shallow
he subscribes to the
myth of a majority tribe in Zimbabwe? Where is it
based?
It is of course pertinent that Nyarota is eager to remind
readers of his
stay in Bulawayo. He was working for the Chronicle when the
Zanu PF genocide
occurred. We would love to read a single story he wrote in
support of
democracy. He should never pretend that his legacy and his
backing for the
atrocities of the 1980s are not known.
We also liked his advice
to his idol Tsvangirai: "If there is
sufficient evidence to suggest that,
notwithstanding his grassroots support,
he has become a liability to the
struggle then he must prescribe an
appropriate medicine, cognisant of the
fact that it takes a great man to
sacrifice self for
nation."
Is it possible that this kind of drivel comes from
the spirit of
a man? Is this not the same dross we heard from Mugabe saying
he would tell
his supporters when he was ready to leave
power?
Needless to say these are the same idol-worshippers
who created
god Mugabe whom they now pretend to revile with a passion.
Nothing has been
learnt. And how does one who has become a liability to a
cause sacrifice
himself Geoff?
Still pushing his ethnic
line to ridiculous depths, Nyarota said
Mutambara's camp lost two ward
elections in Bulawayo because people don't
support ethnic initiatives. But
he didn't say why the same logic doesn't
apply to the Tsvangirai group's
loss of a ward election in Chitungwiza and
the more important mayoral poll
in Chegutu. It is a serious indictment of
our body politic that such
primitive thinking finds buyers in Zimbabwe.
Haven't we heard
all this before somewhere? Law enforcement
officers "unearth" an arms cache.
Information is then leaked to the official
media suggesting this is all part
of a wider plot against the government.
President Mugabe and other
luminaries denounce the opposition. Arrests are
made of suspects. They are
often abused. And then, many months later, when
the accused are brought to
court, the state's case collapses when the
"evidence" proves to be not only
unsatisfactory but in many cases
manufactured.
We all
recall the arms "discovered" on Nest Egg farm and other
Zapu-owned
properties in 1982. That led to the arrest of Dumiso Dabengwa and
Lookout
Masuku on charges of treason. They were acquitted in court but
detained
under the Emergency Powers. Masuku was allowed out to die.
Then there was a "plot" by the Rev Ndabaningi Sithole in 1995 to
overthrow
the government. Documents linking the Zanu leader to the shadowy
Chimwenje
movement were widely circulated but although he was convicted in
the High
Court, he was still appealing the case at the time of his
death.
Then there were the three Americans who were arrested
with
weapons of war in 1999. They had a map of State House, we were told.
Strangely, it was never produced at their trial. Their lawyers argued that
the three had been tortured while in custody.
Perhaps
most seriously in this litany of political arrests and
trial-by-media, we
had the case of Cain Nkala in 2001 where opposition MPs
were condemned to
languish in prison before a judge brave enough to expose
the state's
evidence as a complete fabrication could be found to release
them.
In this latest case, we have the familiar pattern
of leaks from
the investigations mixed with speculation by the Herald's
reporters, not to
mention a line-up of useful idiots to comment on
ZTV.
Police reservist Peter Hitschmann "is believed to have
recruited
ex-members of the Rhodesian army as well as the police force, some
of whom
are senior members of the MDC and former legislators, to work
towards the
opposition party's agenda for illegal regime change in
Zimbabwe", the Herald
breathlessly told us.
But where was
this information coming from, couched in the
language of Zanu PF? Then Peter
Tatchell's laughable Zimbabwe Freedom
Movement was drawn into the plot as if
to confirm the whole thing!
The Herald cannot understand why
the British authorities did not
arrest the balaclava-clad members of the ZFM
who appeared at a London press
conference. Somebody should explain to our
colleagues in the state media
that not every government arrests those
engaging in amateur theatrics,
especially when prosecutors are likely to be
laughed out of court!
"The cabal is alleged to have come up
with a list of targeted
individuals whom it wanted to eliminate and
consequently cause confusion and
mayhem in the country," read a story under
Caesar Zvayi's byline and those
of other gullible Herald
reporters.
What's the betting that list will never be
produced in court?
And since when has "causing confusion" been a criminal
offence?
"Police suspect that the so-called ZFM intended to
target for
elimination the remaining white farmers, top Zanu PF and
government
officials and business leaders to lend credence to opposition
claims that
Zimbabwe was a failed state where anarchy reigned supreme in the
hope of
bringing about foreign intervention and consequent illegal regime
change,"
the Herald told us.
Wasn't it Didymus Mutasa who
was talking about eliminating
people? He evidently thinks it's okay to say
so. As for Zimbabwe being a
failed state, it does not take the invisible ZFM
to provide evidence of
that, or that "anarchy reigns supreme" on the
farms.
"Police suspect that the group had planned to justify
its
existence to the donor community by destabilising the 21st February
Movement
celebrations held in Mutare's Sakubva stadium on February 25 by
throwing
teargas canisters and grenades into the venue," Zvayi and his
colleagues
informed readers.
It will be interesting to
see what evidence - if any - emerges
from this cloud of partisan
speculation. Over the weekend it was reported
that Hitschmann was a licensed
arms dealer and hunter. In other words he was
entitled to have the weapons
at his home. Did the police not know that? They
could have saved the Herald
considerable embarrassment by telling them!
Then, on Wednesday the state's
case began to unravel as key "suspects" had
their cases withdrawn before
plea.
What is curious in all this is that Hitschmann was widely
seen
in the 1980s and 90s as friendly to a number of state agendas,
particularly
on the wildlife front. We all recall the role Ari Ben-Menashe
played in
state machinations to entrap Tsvangirai just ahead of the 2002
election; and
how the state media swallowed everything they were told in
that case which
quickly fell apart. Events seem to be taking a familiar
pattern ahead of the
MDC congress.
Also of interest is
that remarks about "shadowy groups" causing
chaos attributed to the police
in Herald reports last week turned up in the
Sunday Mirror as attributed to
"security and intelligence agencies".
These same informants -
not a thousand miles from the Mirror's
newsroom we can safely assume - have
inventively managed to introduce the
Taiwanese into the picture thus giving
the whole bizarre conspiracy theory
an international twist. Actually, more
Jackie Chan! Then of course there are
the Italians! And who is it, by the
way, that has been trying to get the few
remaining white farmers to flee the
country? Certainly not Tatchell's
amateur performers.
Talking of amateur performers, we were interested to read claims
by George
Charamba's lawyer that recent articles published by the Zimbabwe
Independent
suggest his client is "incompetent.crooked and unprofessional".
We don't recall anyone saying that. But if Charamba's lawyer
insists, so be
it.
Meanwhile, could all journalists who believe Charamba has
been
less-than-professional in his dealings with them in the past,
particularly
in his replies to requests for comment on reports involving
President Mugabe
or the government, please contact us. We need to
demonstrate just how
professional he is!
In particular,
Charamba resents the suggestion that he "aligned
himself with political
factions at the expense of his national duty, which
he is very much aware
of".
Reports that he attended a rally for the Zanu PF mayoral
candidate in the recent Chegutu election must therefore be false and will
need to be retracted.
Confirming the public impression
that you have to be completely
delusional to serve in government nowadays,
we enjoyed the remarks by
Secretary for Environment and Tourism Margaret
Sangarwe that tourism since
1980 had "grown from strength to strength and
has seen the number of players
grow constantly over the years in
correspondence to the growing visitor
traffic".
She made
the remarks at the Silver Jubilee Tourism Awards where
the Minister of
Transport and Communications, Chris Mushohwe, presented an
award to Tourism
minister Francis Nhema for his "invaluable contribution to
domestic tourism"
while Mashonaland West governor Nelson Samkange looked on.
A case of one
minister rewarding another! Have things got that bad?
Nhema
has done his best in a losing battle with his cabinet
colleagues who have
contributed to the headlong decline of tourism by their
maladroit public
remarks. They should have been there to receive their
wooden spoons.
Meanwhile, we would be fascinated to know what Samkange has
done for
domestic tourism!
We were intrigued by a story by Munyaradzi
Huni on Sunday
entitled "Zim respects private property". It was essentially
a lecture by
Gideon Gono who had been quizzed on government's mining
proposals at his
recent meeting with the IMF executive board in Washington.
It was a "hot
issue", he disclosed. The Reserve Bank condemned any form of
expropriation,
Gono remarked, clearly having experienced some embarrassment
at the meeting.
Huni talked about the requirement that mining
companies should
cede 25% of their shares when the new legislation is
enacted. There will be
no compensation for this initial transfer. Apparently
Huni was unable to
grasp that this was in all probability what Gono was
talking about.
So the governor spelt it out. The RBZ supports
indigenisation,
he said. "However, for the betterment of the national
economy as well as
sustainable integration of Zimbabwe into the competitive
global space for
investment attraction, the process has to be done in
accordance with strict
observance and respect for private property rights as
well as through
market-friendly principles of fair value
exchange."
In other words not the approach taken by Midzi and
cabinet!
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
Vincent Kahiya
UNITED
Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan still has plans to
visit Zimbabwe even
though he did not find it necessary to pass through
Harare during his tour
of southern Africa this week.
The government, which last year
told us Annan would come to
Zimbabwe in March, was on Wednesday quick to
tell us that the UN boss still
had plans to visit on a "date convenient to
him".
Zimbabwe was not on the menu during the current
trip.
In South Africa, Annan made vague disclosures about his
desire
to visit Zimbabwe, not on his current trip, but on a special visit,
to
"discuss issues" with the Zimbabwean authorities.
South African media quoted him as saying; "The situation in
Zimbabwe is
extremely difficult. It's difficult for the Zimbabweans, it's
difficult for
the region and it's difficult for the world."
The situation
is so untenable that it calls for a separate trip
to southern Africa! Taken
in this context, the impending visit elevates the
Zimbabwean crisis to that
of Darfur in Sudan or Ivory Coast which have
warranted special visits by the
secretary-general.
President Robert Mugabe had invited Annan
to come to Zimbabwe to
see for himself the "great" work that has been done
under Operation Garikai
and that the orgy of destruction under Operation
Murambatsvina had not
caused any humanitarian crisis.
So
the feverish activity under Operation Garikai was designed to
prove to Annan
that his special envoy Anna Tibaijuka's report on the
humanitarian crisis
caused by Operation Murambatsvina, was "one-sided" as
Zimbabweans were happy
with the destruction of their homes and sources of
livelihood!
But the government would like to use the
visit as a publicity
stunt. I am sure our rulers can already visualise Annan
cutting the ribbon
to hand over completed houses at White Cliff in Harare or
Cowdray Park in
Bulawayo.
Annan would commend Zimbabwe's
valiant fight to end housing
shortages while Mugabe nods approvingly by his
side. Dream on.
As we said mid-last year following
publication of the Tibaijuka
report, the government was pushing the
frontiers of wishful-thinking too far
by expecting Annan to second guess his
envoy and commend, instead of
condemning, Zimbabwe.
The
follow-up visit by Jan Egeland confirmed the Tibaijuka
findings and exposed
the inadequacies of Operation Garikai.
When President Mugabe
virulently attacked Egeland at the Zanu PF
conference in December in
Esigodini, and when the party declared that
Zimbabwe would not welcome any
more envoys from the UN, the government
already knew Annan would not be
setting foot in Harare. This took the shine
out of Operation Garikai as
Annan was not coming to cut the ribbon soon.
Activity around the
construction projects has slowed down. People are being
allocated incomplete
houses with no running water or sewerage system.
Meanwhile,
at Hopley Farm victims of Murambatsvina are still
sheltered under plastic
shacks waiting for proper accommodation. They stand
very little chance of
being allocated the few houses that have been built
because the match box
structures have either been hijacked by politicians or
are being allocated
to Zanu PF supporters.
This is true even if Local Government
minister, Ignatious
Chombo, tried to deny it in January. This is what he
told the state media
then: "The allocation of houses built under Operation
Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle
is going on very well and the houses have been
benefiting the intended
beneficiaries, those who were affected by the
clean-up campaign.
"We have made sure that those who
benefited from the programme
did not have houses elsewhere and we have a
database where information about
those who have houses is kept and if an
individual cheated his way to get a
house, then we will get
him."
But this week he had jumped on the anti-corruption
bandwagon,
singing a completely different song.
"We
already have problems in Beitbridge, Bulawayo, Gwanda and
other areas where
undeserving people have been allocated houses." Chombo
disclosed.
"Therefore, councils should remove the names
of their
(government officials, their relatives, MPs, politicians) relatives
from the
operation's waiting list," he was quoted as saying in the Herald on
Tuesday.
And then in an explicit summation of the state of
government's
housing delivery programme, Chombo in the same article, said
Garikai houses
were for people who say unondiwana pamusika (you will find me
at the market)
when asked about their residential addresses. What a shame
for a government
which claimed Operation Murambatsvina had not created a
major humanitarian
crisis. Do we need Annan here to get decent
accommodation?
Don't be
parochial!
COLUMNIST Eric Bloch should stop being parochial
and see the
bigger picture.
Is it because he sits on
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono's
advisory board that he is unable to be
objective?
He knows the evils of inflation, no, hyperinflation,
and yet he
still supports the printing of money.
The
simple fact is that if the RBZ had not printed more money,
the FX (free
funds) from NGOs, among others, would have been lapped up by
money already
in circulation from industry and going to productive use.
He
implies that NGOs do not use, or use little of their money
for consumables.
What percentage of their funds are used for salaries alone?
And believe me, those close to 80 Samora Machel Avenue say the
rate used was
well above the mid-rate.
Presumably Bloch went on to justify
these schoolboy arguments
later in the column, but after just two columns I
did not have the stomach
to carry on reading.
Apologists
of this kind do not help the cause of the independent
press. At least a
disclaimer at the end of the article stating that he sits
on the RBZ board
(if in fact he does) would help readers realise that they
should take his
writings with a huge dollop of salt!
TCM,
Harare.
---------------
Why twist what I
said Chido?
WHILST I do not appreciate the
condescending and
castigatory tone of Chido Makunike's response "Confounded
by White African",
(Zimbabwe Independent, March 10), to my rebuttal of his
article on whites
securing a place in Africa, I nevertheless deem it worthy
of a reply.
He is probably right when he says that I
responded too
emotionally, but in my defence, who isn't getting emotional
about the prison
conditions we have to live under these days? It may be
alright for him in
Senegal, but as we all know it's a different story
here.
Nevertheless, if Makunike is serious about being
"used to
robustly debating issues on their merits" and if he is seriously
concerned
about his own adopted subject of white Africans securing a place
in Africa,
he should refrain from twisting what he reads to suit his own
views, thereby
distorting the truth.
For instance,
I made no suggestion of being "terribly
offended at the idea of whites
integrating fully into the black African
lifestyle". These are his words,
not mine. I actually believe that such
decisions are the legitimate right of
any individual to make.
What I do rebut is the idea
that as a group we should do
so or risk being shunned. Makunike has no right
to suggest that. It is a
black nationalist idea derived from black racism
and as such, should be
given no credence.
Mutual
respect, politeness, courtesy and good
neighbourliness have always been
enough for people of different races and
tribes to live in harmony until
some freak comes along and starts putting
wicked ideas into people's heads,
as we have discovered here.
If Makunike wants to
believe that I am "one reason why
racial harmony in southern Africa will
remain a mirage for some time to
come", he is entitled to that opinion, but
he should not twist what I said
to give credence to his
viewpoint.
I hope we now understand each other, because
I really
appreciate his obvious disenchantment with the Jonathan Moyos and
Tafataona
Mahosos of this world.
However, I still
make the point that African nationalism
far outweighs the reason he cites
and apologise profusely if he feels
offended because he thinks I am "denying
him the right to think for himself
and trying to put thoughts into his mind"
in the vein of a true- blue
colonialist.
White
African,
Bulawayo.
----------
Mutambara still to
deliver
MOST people, myself included, were relieved by
Professor
Arthur Mutambara's acceptance speech in which he said his mission
was to
reunite the MDC.
Most of us were wondering
how he was going to achieve
this, considering that he had already taken
sides by accepting the
presidency of the pro-senate
group.
Even within the pro-senate group itself,
Mutambara's
decision to accept the post did not go down well with others,
among them
Gift Chimanikire, who could have been promised the
presidency.
He did acknowledge MDC president, Morgan
Tsvangirai, as a
hero and spoke strongly about the need to forget the past
and move forward.
A week or so later, Mutambara was
quoted in the media
saying: "How do we talk about a regime which is criminal
and violent when we
ourselves are carrying out violent acts and violating
our own party rules?
We won't be qualified to fight Mugabe if we are little
Mugabes."
His statements were obviously aimed at
Tsvangirai.
Mutambara has obviously not had time to do
a careful
analysis of the situation, and must have relied more on
information supplied
to him by officials of the pro-senate
faction.
He obviously has not heard about the acts of
violence
committed by members of his own faction against members of the
other
faction.
He should certainly have heard about
people who lost their
eyes and teeth at the hands of activists from the
faction that he leads.
I personally do not condone
violence - whether committed
by Zanu PF, the MDC or the faction led by
Mutambara, who should refrain from
laying accusations before verifying his
facts.
Mutambara clearly stated his position on the
senate and
other government institutions, saying: "My position was that the
MDC should
have boycotted those senate elections. Not only that, I was for
the total
withdrawal from parliament and all the other election-based
institutions."
The hope of many Zimbabweans was that he
would quickly
consult with his colleagues with a view of persuading them to
pull out of
the senate, parliament and all other offices obtained through
dubious
elections.
However, a few weeks down the
line, Mutambara talks of
preparations for elections: "Even if we have to
fight elections under the
current constitution, we will build an opposition
so strong and formidable
that if Mugabe tries to rig elections, it will be
impossible for him to get
away with it."
Has
Mutambara already been convinced that his party will
contest any future
elections, even if Mugabe calls for an election for a
toilet
care-taker?
Some will argue that Mutambara needs more
time to put his
house in order, but so far, he has not yet lived up to his
acceptance
speech.
The best is for us to watch and
see.
Benjamin Chitate,
MDC
activist,
New Zealand.
----------
Fee hikes simply absurd
I PERSONALLY find it absurd that state universities have
hiked fees by more
than 10 times what the government support fund caters
for.
Many people working in industry earn far below
the poverty
datum line wage of $21,8 million, yet they expect ordinary
students emerging
from high school to pay as much as $50 million per
academic year.
Where do the relevant authorities
honestly think we
(students) will get such huge sums of
money?
I thought that university education was supposed
to be
free to all citizens with the relevant
qualifications.
This is pushing people more and more
into abject poverty.
Why should we suffer and yet other countries are
offering better educational
conditions? Honestly, how are we expected to
survive? Someone is definitely
behind all this rot which must stop right
away.
I think it is high time we woke up from this deep
slumber.
How can the economy improve when future
leaders are
indirectly denied their basic tertiary educational
rights?
Failure to attain tertiary education will have
a deeper,
negative economic impact on the ordinary
Zimbabweans.
This country has certainly gone to the
dogs.
Angry Nust Student,
Bulawayo.
---------
Wake up
industry!
READING the latest batch of quoted company
results, one is
struck by the various chairmen's sheep-like use of the word
"challenges".
How sad they prostitute honesty and
integrity by failing
to call the situation what it
is.
To add insult to injury, they try and make excuses,
no
doubt to "stay in government's good books" by attributing the
"challenges"
to a poor agricultural season. In fact, viable farms, mostly
with
facilities to overcome droughts, were
destroyed.
Successful civilisations and economies have
been built on
certain truths and values. It is high time the captains of
commerce and
industry found the guts to set an
example.
JK Morris,
Harare.
---------
A carer's ordeal at the
hands of social welfare department
Editor - EXTREME
frustration is being experienced through
the utter incompetence of certain
sections of the Department of Social
Welfare due to their apparent inability
to provide the public with the
necessary forms at the opening of the New
Year.
Is this the usual civil service's lack of care,
or just
incompetence?
Obviously the department does
not consider that some
people could die or lose jobs due to their clerks'
inability to properly
execute their duties.
A lady
I know is taking care of an Aids orphan, thrown out
by his elder brothers
at the age of six.
He is now 11 years old and going to
school, but needs
special care to overcome the trauma and infection wrought
by parental
irresponsibility.
On February 4, his
carer went to Parirenyatwa Hospital to
get a repeat prescription for drugs
which he had been on for several months,
and are considered necessary for
him to live.
A clerk noticed that the department had
registered the
child in Chitungwiza and the result - no pills because of the
wrong form! Do
they not have telephones or know how to use
them?
The carer had to incur additional expenses on
transport to
Chitungwiza. All necessary forms - birth certificate, letters
etc, were
produced for the welfare officer but they had no forms, some
several weeks
into the New Year, effectively meaning there was to be no
pills.
How many more innocent souls are to suffer
through
clerical incompetence?
On February 28, some
three weeks after spending more money
on transport, losing working time and
getting even more frustration, forms
were finally obtained. This was,
however, not the end to the tale of woe.
On leaving
work at 10am the following day for Parirenyatwa
to collect the drugs, she
was told that the forms, consultation and
admission were for free, save for
the drugs for out-patients.
I was left wondering why
people are tossed from one queue
to another, as a process which should have
taken an hour at the most, took
an entire working
day.
The carer finally paid $209 000 for the drugs
which she
could ill-afford as she is raising and educating this child on a
domestic
worker's wage.
This ordeal raises plenty
of concerns:
* Why do we pay an Aids
levy?
* When are African women going to be considered
as part of
the workforce, whose time is valuable and should not be
wasted?
* Offices should have clear signs directing
patients/clients to the proper places for their desired
services;
* Why bother to go to doctors who prescribe
drugs which
obviously do not get to the public sector hospitals, but find
their way to
the private sector?
* How are these
medicines being distributed and by whom?
Are the Government Medical Stores
involved in distribution, and can they
account for the drugs they issue?
and
* Who else supplies Aids drugs and why are they so
expensive?
DJ Barker,
Harare.
People's Daily
More Zimbabwean vendors are flocking to Lusaka to
do business, Zambia
Daily Mail reported Thursday.
Zambia's
immigration department public relations officer Mulako
Bangweta also
confirmed the increased number of Zimbabweans entering his
country on
business visits.
"We are aware of the influx of the Zimbabwean
travelers entering the
country on 30 day business visits," Bangweta
said.
But when asked on whether the department is aware that the
neighboring
nationals are vending in Zambia, she said it is up to the
relevant local
authorities to check on the matter and report to the
Immigration Department.
The cross border traders association (CBTA)
at Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has urged the
Zimbabweans to sell their
products at markets rather than vending on the
streets in Lusaka.
CBTA Chairman Greenwell Shimukonka attributed
the influx of cross
border traders to Zambia's economic growth and the
problems in Zimbabwe.
Lusaka Mayor Mike Mposha threatened last
Sunday to arrest people
buying from street vendors to check the widespread
cholera.
Over 100 people have been killed since cholera broke out
in the
southern African country in August 2005. It is partly blamed on the
street
vendors.
Source: Xinhua
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
16 March
2006
Agents of Zimbabwe's feared Central Intelligence
Organization forced
suspects in the alleged presidential assassination plot
in the eastern city
of Mutare to sign documents corroborating a 12-page
confession by the
accused ringleader that implicated the political
opposition, according to
sources well informed about the case.
These
sources, speaking on condition they not be named, said two lawyers
attached
to attorney general's office, Florence Ziyambi and Joseph Jagada,
fled
Monday night from Mutare back to Harare after coming under heavy
pressure by
CIO operatives to use the confession of Michael Peter Hitschmann
to connect
the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President Robert Mugabe to
the
Movement for Democratic Change.
A Mutare police source said there was a
"drama" at the Mutare Central Police
Station as five CIO agents accused the
two state lawyers of supporting the
opposition MDC when they questioned the
affidavits signed by the accused
under duress.
At another point, the
lawyers insisted that the agents suspend interrogation
and leave the room
where the suspects were held so they could talk to their
lawyers.
Sources said CIO agents and police later threatened to
arrest state
attorneys when they refused to surrender the affidavits, which
were said to
have been "doctored." The assistant prosecutors later used the
affidavits to
convince Attorney General Sobhuza Gula Ndebele that there was
not enough
evidence to pursue the case against the members of the
opposition, who
included one sitting member of parliament.
Prosecutor
Levison Chikafu is said to have sought clearance from Harare to
release some
of the suspects on bail, though the Mutare high court
subsequently dismissed
charges against MDC parliamentarian Giles Mutsekwa
and two other men. A
fourth opposition official had been released without
charges earlier in the
week.
The former suspects declined to comment on the allegations about
the CIO's
role.
Reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe asked lawyer
advocate Eric Matinenga, who has handled high-profile
cases including the
2004 treason trial of MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai
(in which he was
acquitted), about the involvement of the security service
in the judicial
process.
MDC Youth Chairman for Manicaland Knowledge
Nyamuka, released with Mutseka
on Wednesday, said he and fellow activist
Thando Sibanda were tortured by
soldiers into admitting the opposition
joined in a plot to assassinate
President Mugabe.
Zim Daily
Friday, March 17 2006 @ 12:05 AM GMT
Contributed by:
correspondent
Our Congress celebrates six years of the
people's sacrifice and
commitment to our common vision of a new Zimbabwe and
a new beginning. It
will also look at how we can retain the confidence of
millions of
Zimbabweans who see us as their only source of hope. Six years
ago, the
people laid the foundation for the struggle against tyranny; the
struggle
for good governance; the struggle for a better life for all
Zimbabweans.
This week, we take stock of how far we have
traveled towards
fulfilling that vision. We take stock of the challenges and
lessons drawn
from our experiences in the past six years. And the lessons we
have derived
will help shape and determine our programmes in fighting this
dictatorship.
We all bear witness to the visible signs of collapse and ruin
around us. The
Congress will look at how as a party we respond to all those
issues. Going
back to the people is not a charade.
It is
a culture that we have entrenched so that we continually
subject ourselves
to the people to determine whether we still remain the
embodiments of their
dreams and their vision. Once again, as leaders, we go
back to the people
who gave us the mandate; the people who bestowed upon us
the responsibility
of saving our nation from a corrupt and inept government.
Once again, we
present ourselves to the people's court where the party
leadership, the
party programmes and party policies come up for scrutiny by
the real owners
of the party.
The Congress will culminate in elections where
delegates are
expected to give a fresh mandate to a new leadership that will
have the onus
of making sure we achieve our vision of a new Zimbabwe. The
second national
Congress therefore provides a window for leadership renewal
and rebirth; a
new and committed leadership that realizes and cherishes the
importance of
carrying the nation's hope on its shoulders. The delegates
will also discuss
amendments to the party's constitution as well as
proposals for
institutional reform.
The party needs to be
rebuilt and reorganized to reflect our
experiences and the new thinking that
we must have as a political formation
that is at a crucial stage in the
struggle. New policy proposals will also
be debated and refined so that we
march bravely into the future with
programmes that reflect a new thinking
derived from our experiences since
2000. We will also take a crucial
decision on whether it makes sense to
continue participating in elections
whose results are pre-determined.
The Congress will take a
position on whether the electoral route
under the current electoral
management system remains viable. Or whether we
should widen our options to
include using people power to put pressure on
this regime that has reduced
us to paupers and beggars in our own
motherland. We realize there is
strength in unity. Together, we shall win.
Zim Daily
Friday, March 17 2006 @ 12:04 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
The embattled dissident MDC faction
led by robotics Professor
Arthur Mutambara has written to Information
minister Tichaona Jokonya
pleading for coverage in the public media. The
faction, fast losing its grip
on the electorate, said it was baffled by the
turn of events after its
February 25 congress that endorsed Mutambara as the
faction leader. The
faction's deputy Information chief one M.M.M Changamire
alleged in a letter
leaked to Zimdaily that there has been an edict to
impose a blanket news
embargo on the faction.
"We are
reliably informed by sources at the ZBC and Zimpapers
that the Permanent
Secretary in your Ministry has imposed news embargo on
the MDC led by Prof.
Mutambara," Changamire said in his letter, a copy of
which is in possession
of Zimdaily. "Public media are under instruction not
to say anything about
us except when one of us is dead or arrested. This
embargo is supported by
the 'deafening' silence the public media have given
to our
activities."
In his letter of protest, Changamire said
despite attending the
activities, public media workers have not reported on
"Prof Mutambara's
acceptance speech at the 2nd MDC Congress of the 25th
February 2006. the
Press Conference held soon after the congress on the 26th
of February 2006
and Prof Mutambara's meeting with MDC structures in
Chitungwiza on Sunday
the 12th of March 2006." The embattled faction said
prior to their congress,
the "public media were awash with stories about
us."
"We believe it was meant to fan and perpetuate division
in the
MDC," the letter said. "Cde Minister, we are a party committed to
freedom of
information and expression and we expect your Ministry to enhance
and
complement our efforts to build a democratic Zimbabwe. Your Permanent
Secretary's unwarranted interference with information dissemination will
further damage the already battered image of our country." The letter urged
Jokonya to "investigate and take the necessary corrective measures." Efforts
to obtain comment from Jokonya were futile.
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 03/17/2006 11:51:58
ZIMBABWE'S veteran opposition
leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, could see his
position seriously undermined in a
leadership race at the weekend that is
expected to deepen the split within
his party.
Tsvangirai, the most formidable opposition leader since
Zimbabwe's
independence 26 years ago, faced for the first time several
challengers for
the presidency of a faction of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC).
Once posing the biggest challenge to President Robert
Mugabe's rule, the MDC
split late last year after Tsvangirai's decision to
boycott senate elections
and the gap between the rival camps showed no sign
of being bridged.
During a three-day MDC congress opening in Harare on
Friday, Tsvangirai
would square off against Roy Bennett, a white former MDC
MP, lawyer Tendai
Biti, former Harare mayor Elias Mudzuri, academician
Elphus Mukonoweshuro
and economist Tapiwa Mashakada.
While Tsvangirai
was expected to win the presidency, analysts agreed that
his leadership
would be weakened after facing challenges from within his own
supporters and
from rival Arthur Mutambara, who was elected MDC leader by
another camp
three weeks ago.
Mutambara, who returned to Zimbabwe after spending 15
years abroad, was a
respected former student leader who had said he wanted
to reconcile the MDC,
but his appeals had so far fallen on deaf
ears.
A media consultant and political commentator Bill Saidi said:
"There is no
chance of them getting back together becoming the MDC of the
old.
"The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
(Zanu-PF)
party will exploit the division as much as
possible."
University of Zimbabwe political analyst Heneri Dzinotyiwei
said: "By
holding separate congresses, the two groups are underscoring the
split, and
showing they are irreconcilable."
A former trade union
leader, Tsvangirai, fought unsuccessfully in court to
throw out Mugabe's
2002 election victory, alleging vote-rigging in the polls
that he claimed to
have won.
University of Zimbabwe political scientist Joseph Kurebga said:
"One sure
effect of the split is to dilute the strength that Morgan
Tsvangirai had as
an opposition leader over the past six
years.
"There is no question about the negative impact the split has had
for both
groups. Tsvangirai may command the support of his admirers from his
trade
union days, but he will lose a significant number of those who have
jumped
ship."
Independent analyst Augustine Timbe said Tsvangirai
would "emerge from the
congress weaker as he will be leading a faction, as
opposed to an entire
opposition movement, which once dared to challenge the
ruling party".
But, Nelson Chamisa, the spokesperson for the faction led
by Tsvangirai said
the party was "poised for its greatest times".
He
said: "The congress is like a blast furnace from where we will emerge
stronger." - AFP
Sur, newspaper for Southern Spain
Annastazia Ndlovu Women's feature Service
Are
you looking to ensure that the love of your life stays by your side
forever?
That is exactly what the umuthi - magical herbs believed to be
"love
potions" - promise. Needless to say, the fabled umuthi is not easy to
come
by. Not only are there doubts as to whether these herbs really exist,
they
have also hastened the end of some relationships.
Take the case of Barbara
Rusere. Married to a Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority manager, she
reportedly wrapped his underwear in umuthi and placed
it in the glove
compartment of her car. The two had been married for 12
years and were going
through a rough patch, no longer sharing the same
bedroom. Her husband,
Raphael Rusere, explained to the magistrate, before
whom he was brought on
charges of violent attack on his wife, that he found
his underwear in his
wife's car when he was looking for his own car keys.
He confronted her
and she denied that they belonged to him. Raphael turned
violent and struck
Barbara with a stone, hurting her left ankle. The
magistrate would hear none
of it, however, and sentenced him to 15 months in
jail, nine of which were
suspended conditionally and six of which he had to
make up for by doing 210
hours of community service at Pararenyatwa Hospital
in
Harare.
Debate
While Raphael has appealed against the conviction
and sentence, Zimbabweans
in general are debating the value of love potions.
Ukudlisa (Zulu for
secretly administering a love potion to a spouse) is a
highly controversial
subject. Debate usually centres on whether or not these
potions even exist.
Some say it is a myth and an invention of jealous people
bent on destroying
other people's relationships. The relatives of a man, on
the other hand, are
usually quick to accuse his wife of using love potions
to ensure that their
son listens to her and no other person in the
family.
Says President of the Harare-based Zimbabwe National Traditional
Healers
Association, Gordon Chavunduka, "It is not true that only women are
involved
in ukudlisa. Men also use love potions to get women to fall in love
with
them."
Love potions come in various forms, including tree roots,
and concoctions.
Some potions are believed to help a man successfully
propose to women. "The
men put the herbs under their tongues so that they
can talk their partner or
girlfriend into doing whatever they want", says
Chavunduka. Some men
dissolve a mixture of herbs in water and gurgle with
it. As they spit out
the mixture, they say aloud all their wishes and plans
for the object of
their love. Others have talismans that they keep in their
pockets so that
any woman they meet and fancy falls in love with them. "With
others, it is
inborn, and women dream about such men and just fall in love
even when the
man makes no effort", Chavunduka added.
But for those
who must work hard to get noticed, Chavunduka and company have
a variety of
ingredients for zany concoctions that can be secretly slipped
into food and
offered to lovers. Scraps of flesh from a blind puppy will
make a woman
blindly do whatever a man wants. A lizard's tail will tie a
woman to the
house when she has finished her duties at home instead of going
out to look
for boyfriends and gossip. The heart of a pigeon ensures that
the wife is
always in the company of her husband.
Love potions are particularly
common among men and women who are anxious
about marital fidelity in light
of HIV/AIDS. A snap survey in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe's second city, revealed a
booming trade in love potions. The
elderly women in this trade usually
conduct business in public toilets to
avoid detection. A visit to the public
toilets at the Bulawayo Communal bus
terminus is an eye opener. Women
display their potions on the toilet floors,
touting for customers. Seemingly
oblivious to the smell in the filthy
toilets, the women advertise their
wares to every person who comes in. Those
who cannot stand the smell can
always visit traditional healers.
Door-to-door
And a new breed of
love potion peddlers moves from door-to-door, selling the
love potions to
housewives in the comfort of their homes while their
husbands are away at
work. "These women sell a variety of products, ranging
from aphrodisiacs to
love potions that ensure that the husband sticks around
and does not run
around with other women", says a woman who was once
confronted by a trader
selling "women's things". There is a widespread
belief locally that love
potions and aphrodisiacs from Malawi and Zambia are
the most potent. Some of
the herbalists travel overseas, and one even has
agents in the United
Kingdom. She asserts (on condition of anonymity):
"These herbs have been in
use before you were born and no harm has come to
society because of them.
Those who overdose give us a bad name, but it is
possible to do so even with
Western medicine. If someone takes a chloroquine
overdose, do you then say
that chloroquine is not good?"
Meanwhile, the debate continues,
especially in circumstances that are not
easily explained - how else to
account for situations where a woman is
abused physically and emotionally,
such as when her man brings another woman
into the house in her presence,
and yet stays put?
Chavunduka and his team have the answer: it is the
power of the love potion.
As far as we can see, however, the jury is still
out on that one.
March 17, 2006
By Andnetwork
.com
BINGA chiefs have called on the Government to quickly
intervene and
control elephants which are destroying crops and homesteads in
the district.
The chiefs told Chronicle on the sidelines of a
Matabeleland North
chiefs workshop which was held in Bulawayo on Monday and
Tuesday that
although villagers had been expecting a good harvest because of
the good
rains, it would be impossible now as their crops had been destroyed
by
elephants.
They said if the Government delayed in controlling
the elephants, the
villagers would be forced to take the matter into their
own hands and kill
the animals.
"Ever since CAMPFIRE took over to
look after the animals from the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority, a few years
ago, we have been experiencing these
problems," said Chief Timothy
Sinansengwe, of Sinansengwe area, whose area
of jurisdiction lies on the
Zambezi River basin.
"We are blessed
with good soils in this district and whenever we have
good rains our people
work hard in the fields but elephants and other wild
animals come and
destroy their crops."
Chief Sinansengwe said such developments had
resulted in the people of
Binga relying on food handouts which they get
either from the Government or
Non Governmental Organisations.
"Our
people spend their time tilling land for wild animals. We have
been turned
into beggars despite the fact that our people are hard working.
Some people
are even saying we are lazy, but that is not true" he said.
Chief
Sinansengwe also said besides elephants, hippopotamus and
crocodiles were
killing villagers in his area.
"In my area, we now have a lot of
orphans as their parents were killed
by animals," he said.
Chief
David Sinakatenge, of Chunga also expressed concern over the
havoc caused by
the elephants.
"During this time of the year, when there are crops in
our fields the
elephants destroy them. After harvesting the little we would
have got they
come to our homesteads and destroy our huts and granaries," he
said.
"At times these elephants trample on people. Since the beginning
of
this year, five people have died in my area after they were trampled by
the
elephants."
Chief Sinakatenge said the elephants were coming
from the Hwange
National Park and nearby safaris.
Chief Wilson
Siamupa, of Muchimba area said the animals were
destroying their fields as
well as their gardens.
"Food security in our area has been threatened
by these problematic
animals. What we now need is for the Department of
National Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority to step in and control
these animals," he
said.
"The proceeds which we get from CAMPFIRE
as villagers fall far short
from what we lose."
Eight people were
killed and 64 families had their houses and
granaries destroyed in the
district last year by elephants.
Source : Zimbabwe
Chronicle
Foreign Policy in Focus
By Salih
Booker & Ann-Louise Colgan | March 17, 2006
Editor: Emira
Woods
2006 will help clarify whether the
compassionate concern for the
African continent, worn like a badge by
western leaders last year, is a true
determinant of Africa policy, or
whether it merely masked other, more
"strategic" and less "benevolent"
impulses and interests.
In 2006, Africa will witness a new
wave of U.S. soldiers landing
on the continent for training and other
missions, as Washington takes aim at
reshaping Africa to better serve
America's security interests. The trend in
the Bush Administration's Africa
policy is toward an even greater focus on
the so-called "War on Terrorism,"
with emphasis on intelligence gathering,
securing "ungoverned spaces" on the
vast continent, and pre-positioning
soldiers and equipment to project force
globally and to deter al-Qaeda in
Africa. But American involvement in actual
peacemaking or peacekeeping
missions in Africa is far less likely, even as
genocide continues in Darfur,
Sudan.
The same Africa
policy is equally intended to secure access to
West African oil, which the
Bush Administration now views as a strategic
national interest. Imports of
African oil are projected to grow from their
current 15 percent of the U.S.
total to 25 percent by 2015. The U.S. already
imports more oil from Africa
than Saudi Arabia, and within a decade it could
become a greater source of
oil imports than the whole of the Persian Gulf.
This year,
when it comes to U.S. relations with Africa, the
pre-occupation of U.S.
officials with oil and guns will stand in stark
contrast to the expressed
concern of the American people regarding the
ongoing genocide in Darfur and
global health challenges like HIV/AIDS and
the bird flu. The Bush
Administration's policy also fails to address
Africans' own concerns with
human development, still an urgent priority
despite last year's proclaimed
Africa focus.
From Live 8 to LIVE X: Assessing the Aftermath
of "Africa's
Year"
If 2005 was the "year for Africa," 2006 is
likely to offer a
different picture of U.S. designs on the
continent.
Last year, rich country governments fell over one
another making
new promises to double aid, relieve debts, treat more people
living with
HIV/AIDS, and support African initiatives. The promises made
were wholly
inadequate, but they now provide African governments, civil
society and
international activists with specific measures to hold rich
country leaders
and institutions accountable in 2006.
The
Group of Eight (G-8) rich country leaders last year promised
to increase aid
to Africa by $25 billion annually by 2010. This year will be
the first
opportunity to measure progress towards this commitment.
While European Union countries have committed to provide 0.7
percent of
their Gross National Product (GNP) in development assistance for
impoverished countries by 2015,1 the U.S. still refuses to embrace that
longstanding commitment.
The Bush administration claims
that it has tripled aid to Africa
since 2000, but the reality is that U.S.
development aid to Africa has not
even doubled. The total of all forms of
U.S. aid to Africa increased by only
56 percent during President Bush's
first term, and over half of the increase
consisted of emergency food aid
rather than development assistance. In his
new budget for 2007, the
President has requested only $3 billion for the
Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA), which he had initially promised would
reach a budget of $5 billion
per year by 2006.
In successive years, the amount requested
and ultimately
appropriated has fallen far short of the President's promise.
Only three
African countries have received any money from the MCA to
date-Benin, Cape
Verde and Madagascar.
Last September,
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank approved a G-8 plan
to cancel the debts of 18 countries, 14 in
Africa, beginning in 2006. This
move by the G-8 and the financial
institutions set an important precedent
for 100 percent debt cancellation,
but it excludes the majority of African
countries. It also continues the
precedent of future debt relief being tied
to harmful economic conditions.
At present, there are still 20 African
countries burdened with such
conditions in the queue for possible future
debt cancellation. The debt deal
equally fails to acknowledge the
illegitimate nature of these debts, most of
which resulted from
irresponsible loans to former unrepresentative regimes
and did not benefit
the people that must now pay them.
Contrary to popular
perceptions, more money continues to flow
out of Africa than trickles in
from donors. There are also real concerns
that additional nations now in
line for debt cancellation will have to wait
at a minimum until mid-2007-a
full two years after the G-8 Summit in
Scotland-for their debts to be
cancelled to the World Bank, and that these
countries will have to continue
paying their debts in the meantime even
after they have met all the onerous
creditor conditions.
On HIV/AIDS, the G-8 promised last year
to make treatment
available to all who need it by the year 2010. But these
rich countries
failed to say how they would reach this goal and how much it
will cost. Last
year, the deadline passed for the "Three by Five" initiative
of the World
Health Organization, which was intended to put three million
additional
people living with HIV/AIDS on life-saving therapy by the end of
2005. The
goal was not met: only an additional one million people had been
given
access to anti-retroviral treatment by the end of the year, and the
death
toll from the pandemic still surpassed three million people in
2005.
This year, the United Nations General Assembly Special
Session
(UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS will review progress and challenges in meeting
the
goals set by the 2001 UNGASS, and will discuss the new universal access
targets for HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support to be achieved by
2010.
But without a significant new political and
financial commitment
from the U.S. to the Global Fund to fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria and
other important multilateral initiatives,
little change is anticipated in
the course of this pandemic and new targets
will likely remain elusive. At
best, one in ten Africans in need of
antiretroviral treatment is now
receiving it.
While last
year was marked by the "Live 8" concerts, this year
will feature the "LIVE
X" military maneuvers in West Africa. This "live
exercise" will see 6,500
troops of the NATO Response Force sweep in on the
10 islands that constitute
Cape Verde for 14 self-sustaining days of
make-believe missions. LIVE X is a
large-scale military exercise to be run
out of the Netherlands with forces
coming from bases in Germany, Spain and
France. Sadly, the nearly three
million people internally displaced in
Darfur and threatened by continuing
violence cannot expect to see a "live
exercise" of a Response Force to
provide them protection and facilitate the
delivery of humanitarian
assistance.
The LIVE X and other training exercises, such as
operation
"Africa Endeavor 06" scheduled for Pretoria in July, along with
military
sales programs and military officers training, are indicative of
the higher
priorities of U.S. policy in Africa. Testifying before Congress
in 2005,
General James L. Jones, Supreme Allied Commander of the U.S.
European
command, said, "the breeding grounds of terrorism and illicit
activity on
the continent of Africa require our attention." He said that a
more
pro-active U.S. approach would offer a "powerful inoculation" against
future
terrorist activity. Jones stated that U.S. military programs in
Africa,
"support the long-term strategic objectives of the 'Global War on
Terrorism'
by building understanding and consensus on the terrorist threat;
laying
foundations for future 'coalitions of the willing;' and extending our
country's security perimeter."2
General Jones described
dozens of current U.S. initiatives on
the continent designed to develop
effective security structures in Africa
and boost African governments'
counter-terrorism efforts-from NATO action on
the Mediterranean in North
Africa, to the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism
Initiative, which is the
long-term interagency plan to combat terrorism on
the continent. These
initiatives are the framework through which the U.S.
envisions engaging
future threats on the African continent.
With 1,500 U.S.
troops of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of
Africa based in Djibouti
since 2002, an increase in training exercises
across the continent and an
explosion in Africa-focused anti-terrorism
training programs, what is now
unfolding is the most significant U.S.
military engagement in Africa since
25,000 troops went to Somalia in 1992.
More importantly, this ongoing
expansion of U.S. military assets and
interests in Africa reflects a growing
bias toward African militaries as the
key institutions through which to
promote security in the region, a security
defined differently than that
presently preoccupying most African
governments and their
people.
Africa's "New" Strategic Value: The U.S. Quest for
Energy
Security
At present, conventional wisdom holds that
African oil will
occupy a position of even greater strategic importance to
the U.S., Europe
and Asia (principally China) over the next decade. Africa
has always been
considered of strategic importance to U.S. global interests
because of its
enormous resources and its expansive geography. Now, it is
estimated that
the U.S. will invest over $10 billion per year in oil
activities in the
region in the coming decade. According to the latest trade
statistics
(2004), oil imports account for more than 70 percent of all U.S.
imports
from Africa.
The principal motivation for the
U.S. focus on African oil is
uncertainty over Middle East oil supplies and
the consideration of petroleum
imports as a matter of national security.
According to observers, West
African oil is advantageous for western
countries because it is high-quality
and low sulphur (therefore easier to
refine) and closer to markets in the
U.S.
It is also
assumed that because this oil is mostly extracted
from offshore fields, it
is somehow removed from political instability and
conflicts in the producing
countries and can more easily be protected from
turmoil. However recent
headlines remind us that the 50-year turmoil over
oil extraction in Africa
continues unabetted. Hostage-taking and takeovers
of oil platforms in the
Niger Delta are becoming almost routine and are
increasingly the defining
strategy for marginalized communities demanding
justice and economic
compensation from foreign oil companies and the
Nigerian
government.
In fact, the projected increase in U.S.
investments in Nigeria's
oil industry and the subsequent U.S.- Nigeria
security deal on the Niger
Delta, point toward a further militarization of a
longstanding conflict over
economic compensation for environmental damage
and economic injustice. In
early 2006, a court in Nigeria ordered Royal
Dutch Shell Oil Company to pay
$1.5 billion in compensation to the ethnic
Ijaw inhabitants of the Niger
Delta, where clashes over the control of the
region's oil wealth have
intensified. The Ijaw community took the case to
court after Shell refused
to pay compensation ordered by the country's
parliament. These demands for
compensation for decades of environmental
damage are increasingly part of
the rallying cry of armed groups in the
Niger Delta threatening Nigeria's
oil industry.
Some in
the U.S. foreign policy establishment argue for a
"geopolitical shift in
U.S. energy policy" by replacing the Persian Gulf
with the Gulf of Guinea as
America's main foreign spigot for oil. However, a
failure to understand that
Africa's oil wealth is itself a source of violent
conflict and instability
is likely to aggravate the situation further and
make U.S. operators easy
targets in local battles.
Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Case of
Sudan
While U.S. geo-strategic interests define the heart of
Africa
policy, the growing U.S. presence on the continent is being cast in
terms of
a humanitarian mission for public relations purposes. In East
Africa, the
U.S. anti-terrorism task force is rebuilding schools and
clinics, installing
water pumps and making medical house calls, as part of
the campaign for
hearts and minds-especially in heavily Muslim parts of the
continent. The
State Department estimates that 75 percent of public
diplomacy resources for
Africa are engaged in reaching out to the Muslim
community, which
constitutes about 43 percent of the continent's population.
As one Task
Force soldier put it, "It's about pushing the boundaries of
where we are
wanted."3
But perhaps nowhere is the
confusion between the warm façade of
humanitarianism and the cold
calculations of security concerns more
revealing than in U.S. policy toward
the Sudan. And 2006 is likely to be the
pivotal year in determining the
course of U.S. relations with Sudan and the
ultimate response to the
genocide in Darfur.
On the one hand, the Bush administration
accuses Khartoum of
genocide-a crime against humanity -and has taken some
steps to respond to
this crisis. Yet on the other hand, the U.S. forges a
strategic alliance
with the Sudanese Mukhabarat (intelligence services) and
is anxious to
maintain an intelligence-sharing relationship with the
Sudanese government
in the context of the so-called "War on Terrorism." Last
spring, in an
attempt to forge closer ties with the Islamist regime in
Khartoum, the CIA
sent a private jet to transport the Sudanese head of
intelligence, General
Abdullah Gosh, to Washington for high-level
talks.
Recently, Gosh's name was revealed on the list given
to the
International Criminal Court by the United Nations (UN) Commission of
Inquiry into the crimes against humanity in Darfur, suggesting that he is
one of the most senior officials responsible for the genocide. Now, the CIA
is building a listening post on the outskirts of Khartoum to monitor events
in the Horn of Africa and wants Khartoum's cooperation.4 This continuing
collaboration shows how the growing U.S. relationship with Khartoum
constrains the U.S. response to the genocide in Darfur.
As Africa policy increasingly mirrors cold war dynamics, U.S.
policy toward
Sudan reveals a similar hierarchy of geo-strategic interests,
equally
distorting and bringing equally negative consequences. In this
hierarchy of
interests, intelligence sharing with Khartoum is more important
than
stopping the genocide that has already claimed over 400,000 lives. And
Sudan's North-South peace agreement is valued more for facilitating the
normalization of ties with the Khartoum government (including the prospect
of lifting sanctions and renewing U.S. operations in Sudan's growing oil
industry) than for the reconstruction of the South and the development of
its people.
In 2006, as during the past two years,
vigilant advocates and
observers will highlight this duplicity and will urge
the Bush
administration to place higher priority on stopping the genocide in
Darfur
and providing support to the Southern Sudanese' efforts to realize
the full
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA).
Whose Security? Human Security through Human Rights
and Human
Development
This year, U.S. policy toward Africa
should provoke a focused
debate over what really constitutes security in
today's world.
While the Bush administration promotes
conventional concepts of
U.S. security interests in Africa (restricting
opportunities for terrorism,
securing oil, combating drug trafficking, and
monitoring uranium
production), this perspective is at odds with a broader
concept of human
security interests in Africa. The latter conceptualization
emphasizes the
interdependence of all peoples and countries, the priority
that must be
given to defeating AIDS and other public health challenges, to
reducing
poverty and protecting the environment.
Africa
remains by far the region worst affected by HIV/AIDS,
still the greatest
global threat to human security and far more deadly than
terrorism. Yet
little progress can be expected again this year in turning
the tide of this
global pandemic. In addition, the ideological bent of Bush
Administration
policies on HIV/AIDS is directly at odds with African
countries' priorities.
African civil society groups, like the Pan-African
Treatment Access Movement
(PATAM) will continue to assert their opposition
to the administration's
imposition of abstinence-only efforts and other such
restrictions that
hinder a comprehensive approach to this crisis.5 In the
U.S., Europe, and
Africa, the HIV/AIDS crisis continues to grow each year.
The
consequences of the Administration's failure to prioritize
human security
and to address HIV/AIDS with appropriate urgency will also
increasingly be
felt as the world prepares for a possible bird flu pandemic.
The best way to
protect Americans against a catastrophic outbreak of the
H5N1 avian
influenza virus is to work to prevent and control outbreaks
elsewhere in the
world-by helping to strengthen the emergency public health
infrastructure in
affected developing nations and by ensuring access to
treatment in those
countries, especially in Africa.
In early 2006, the first
cases of avian flu have appeared in
West Africa, and international agencies
warn that impoverished African
countries could be devastated by such an
outbreak and that Africa could be
the "weakest link" in the global effort to
arrest the bird flu before it
begins to be transmitted by humans.6 This
year, the U.S. and other countries
must work with African countries to
address this grave and growing challenge
before it is too late. Recent polls
show a majority of the U.S. public is
concerned about the spread of bird
flu, and the Administration's Africa
policy should be seen to reflect this
in 2006.7
As countries in East Africa declare a state of
emergency in
response to drought, and the UN estimates that millions of
people in these
countries are at risk of starvation, Africa's vulnerability
to humanitarian
crises will continue to require international attention. The
structural
roots of such crises, in economic and environmental terms,
require real
scrutiny and investment by the international community this
year, to sharpen
the focus on human security for people in Africa and
globally-for the two
are increasingly connected.
The
Ballot & The Bullet: Key Countries in Transition
In 2006,
some of the largest countries on the African continent
remain plagued by
insecurity and conflict, but most are in the process of a
transition
requiring U.S. and international support this year.
Despite
the direct responsibility that the U.S. shares for some
of Africa's current
conflicts, and despite the U.S. capacity to provide key
support for conflict
resolution on the continent, the current U.S. approach
to promoting security
in Africa intends to keep the U.S. one step removed
from engagement with
African initiatives. The U.S. refuses to participate in
multilateral
peacekeeping efforts in Africa, and it has failed to lead
international
action to protect the people of Darfur.
In its Sudan policy,
as noted above, the U.S. subordinates human
rights concerns to a
geo-strategic agenda. There is a clear and urgent need
for an international
intervention in Darfur to stop the genocide, provide
protection to civilians
and humanitarian operations, create a climate for
successful peace talks and
help facilitate the return of displaced people to
their lands. The African
Union mission in Darfur needs and deserves
international support to arrest
this crime against humanity.
But 18 months since it
acknowledged that genocide was taking
place in Darfur, the U.S. has yet to
articulate and pursue a plan to stop
it.
Meanwhile, the
people of southern Sudan have stepped onto a new
political battleground for
continuing their own struggle for
self-determination and development in the
south. With the tragic death last
summer of the southern leader, Dr. John
Garang, the vision of a "new Sudan,"
unitary and democratic, has lost its
principal prophet. The Islamist segment
of the Government of National Unity,
which holds the reins of power in
Khartoum, intends to go slow in
implementing the CPA, and U.S. engagement
this year will be critical in
holding Khartoum to its previous commitments.
Sudan also faces growing
challenges from other alienated and marginalized
communities throughout the
country, particularly the Beja people in the
east, and these challenges will
likely grow in the coming months.
The conflict in northern
Uganda continues this year despite
limited efforts at resolution. It has
attracted international attention to
the broader question of child soldiers
but inadequate efforts to end the
violence of the Lord's Resistance Army,
which has recently been implicated
in attacks across the border in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Parliamentary and
presidential elections are planned for the DRC
by the end of June, and these
will mark the first free elections in that
country since independence in
1961. These votes will form a key step in the
peacemaking process in DRC,
though ongoing instability in the east of the
country and the presence there
of Burundian and Rwandese militias remains a
destabilizing reality. Many
Congolese refugees have not been returned,
especially in eastern Congo, and
will not be able to vote, and there are
concerns that the international
community may be overly eager to simply hold
some manner of elections this
summer in order to declare a successful
transition and to begin reducing the
role of the UN mission there. It is
estimated that more than 1,000 people
are still dying each day in the
humanitarian crisis in eastern
Congo.8
In West Africa, countries like Liberia and Sierra
Leone will
this year take the first steps in the long climb up and out of
the deadly
chaos visited upon their people during the past two
decades.
2006 began with the inauguration of Africa's first
woman elected
President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia. Her
accomplishment is part of
the picture of increased representation of women
in the political process in
Africa. Three African countries-Rwanda,
Mozambique & South Africa-rank among
the top 15 countries worldwide in
the percentage of female parliamentarians
(more than 30 percent). Two of the
four female Prime Ministers in the world
today are in Africa-in Mozambique
and São Tomé e Princípe.
Yet the West African sub-region
remains unstable, as several
countries emerge from civil war seeking to
consolidate peace processes and
plan for elections, including Cote d'Ivoire,
which is scheduled for
elections in October 2006. There is still a large
presence of UN
peacekeeping operations in the area, with more than 25,000
troops in
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire
combined.
In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country,
President Olusegun
Obasanjo has expressed interest in seeking a third term
in 2007, a move that
would require a constitutional amendment. Members of
the Nigerian National
Assembly have expressed dismay at this possibility.
Nigeria remains a key
partner for the U.S. in Africa, and its internal
challenges (poverty, ethnic
and religious violence, HIV/AIDS, environmental
issues) must be confronted
as part of its ongoing democratic
transition.
In East Africa, recent important elections have
failed to
produce new and inspiring choices. In Ethiopia, a government
crackdown
following a wave of political unrest, has left over 100 opposition
politicians, journalists, intellectuals and aid officials behind bars for
well over five months now and in Uganda harsh tactics were used to deny the
opposition presidential candidate a fair contest at the
polls.
In each case, public outcry and calls for democratic
change will
continue to grow in 2006. The current battles over
constitutional reform in
Kenya are indicative of the new arena for political
struggle on the road of
democratization. African civil society actors demand
a new social contract
between African states and their citizens to guarantee
basic rights
regardless of which party may be in power. In Somalia, the
power vacuum and
absence of social and economic infrastructure continue to
be neglected by
the international community, and should receive new scrutiny
in 2006 beyond
the prism of the so-called "War on Terrorism" and related
security concerns.
In southern Africa, Zimbabwe poses deep
questions regarding how
authoritarian rule will eventually be ended there
and highlights major
challenges facing all the former white minority ruled
states in that
sub-region. The African Commission on Human and People's
Rights of the
African Union (AU) has adopted a resolution strongly
denouncing Zimbabwe's
human rights practices. The move marks the first time
the AU has observed
and condemned a member state's government for rights
abuses. This year,
greater political efforts will be required to press for
negotiations between
the government and opposition in Zimbabwe, though the
recent splintering of
the opposition now poses new challenges. In South
Africa, where the
government has promised to transfer 30 percent of
commercial farmland to
black owners by 2014, less than four percent had been
redistributed by the
beginning of 2006.
In North Africa,
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's
recent trip to Algeria, Morocco
and Tunisia highlights the warming
relationship between the U.S. and these
countries, with the backdrop of a
perceived mutual interest in confronting
Islamic militants and other
terrorist threats. However, the dual threats of
radical religious
fundamentalism and the anti-democratic authoritarianism of
governments in
many North African countries require a well-informed policy
response if the
U.S. is to help increase the chances for sustainable
democracy, and decrease
the chances for conflict in this vital
region.
In general, the wave of democratization that has
swept over
Africa during the past decade and a half has all but put an end
to military
regimes and one-party rule. The continent has settled into a new
era of
multiparty politics where elections are now the norm for competing
for a
share of local, regional and national power, and the competing parties
are
representative of a range of ethnic, regional, social and economic
interests. At the same time, some civilianized military rulers and old-style
despots are still in place, and have been able to beat back challenges from
newly legal opposition parties and their leaders.
Whether
by fixing election results or merely abusing the
advantages of incumbency to
deny airtime, public space or security to
opponents, the heavy hands of
those in power still carry significant weight.
As a consequence, Africa
continues to be the continent with the youngest
population and the oldest
political leaders.
The African Union continues to develop its
own institutional
structures to promote continent-wide integration, and it
is developing its
capacity to respond to conflicts and other political
challenges. However, as
the shortcomings of its mission in Darfur
demonstrate, the AU is still a
nascent organization and needs concerted
international support in its
efforts to address genocide and other serious
challenges around the
continent. The refusal of the AU to transfer the chair
of the organization
to Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir in January 2006,
because of concerns
over Darfur, marked an important step and a break from
its predecessor
institution's shortcomings.
Finally, the
United Nations Human Rights Council, proposed by
the UN Secretary-General
and likely to be established in 2006, will offer a
reformed vehicle for
addressing violations of human rights in Africa and
making recommendations
for changing state behavior toward its citizens.
As pointed
out by Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a
strong and effective Human
Rights Council is in the interests of all,
especially of Africa.9 Recent
expressions of U.S. opposition to the latest
proposals for this body are a
cause for concern, and the U.S. should
continue to engage in international
efforts to create a strong and credible
body as one concrete expression of
U.S. support for African human rights
priorities.
Conclusion
In 2006, the narrow notion of security promoted within
current
U.S. Africa policy, and the U.S.' rejection of the more holistic
concept of
"human security," will be challenged by the growing threat posed
by public
health concerns and other global issues. This dichotomy will also
serve to
illuminate the divide between African priorities and American
imperatives on
today's global challenges.
Increasingly,
the interests pursued by this Administration
appear to be at odds with what
average Americans want to see in U.S. Africa
relations. Recent polls show a
real interest on the part of the American
public in African affairs, and
indicate a more sophisticated understanding
of shared interests in
addressing shared global challenges.10 These polls,
and escalating activism
on Darfur and other key issues, show public support
for greater U.S.
engagement on African priorities.
In recent years, as the
"compassionate conservatism" of the
White House in its Africa policy has
been showcased at home and abroad, the
trends and expressions of Africa
policy that are the most revealing have
received the least scrutiny. The
Administration has successfully kept the
spotlight on its humanitarian
façade and away from the creeping expansion of
the U.S. military presence on
the continent and the ongoing preoccupation
with oil. In 2006, as concern
grows over the most pressing security threats,
from HIV/AIDS and the bird
flu to the ongoing genocide in Darfur, the U.S.
will face increasing demands
to adapt its Africa policy to address these
contemporary
challenges.
Endnotes:
1. Gleneagles
Communiqué on Africa, "Climate Change, Energy and
Sustainable Development,"
July 2005. Available at:
<http://www.fco.gov.uk/Files/kfile/PostG8_Gleneagles_Africa,0.pdf>.
2. Statement of General James L. Jones, USMC, before the Senate
Foreign
Relations Committee, September, 28 2005.
3. James Brandon,
"To Fight Al Qaeda, US Troops in Africa Build
Schools Instead," Christian
Science Monitor, January, 9 2006.
4. "Sudan: It'll Do What it
Can Get Away With," The Economist,
December 1, 2005.
5. For information on the Pan-African Treatment Access Movement,
see: <http://www.patam.org>.
6.
Jason Gale, "Africa, Overwhelmed by AIDS, May Struggle to
Control Bird Flu,"
Bloomberg, January 19, 2006.
7. The results of a poll
conducted by the Harvard School of
Public Health in February 2006 are
available at:
<http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press02232006.html>.
8. Ingrid Melander, "UN Warns of Humanitarian Disaster in the
DRC," Reuters,
February 13, 2006.
9. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, "Africa Must
Take a Leading Role,"
International Herald Tribune, January 9,
2006.
10. The results of a poll conducted by the Program on
International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) to assess public opinion on African
issues are available at:
<http://www.americans-world.org/digest/regional_issues/
africa/africa_sum.cfm>; see also the results of a poll
commissioned by
the International Crisis Group in June 2005 to assess
American attitudes to
the Darfur crisis are available at:
<http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3492&l=1>.
Salih Booker is Executive Director and Ann-Louise Colgan is
Director of
Policy Analysis & Communications, at Africa Action, the oldest
Africa
advocacy organization in the U.S.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Oswelled
Ureke
issue date :2006-Mar-17
OVER 8 000 Zimbabweans deported from
South Africa this month are living in
destitution at the Beitbridge border
post, with some dying and their bodies
lying unclaimed in a hospital
mortuary, an international migration
organisation has said.
Islene
Aravjo, the health advisor for the International Organisation of
Migration
(IOM), yesterday said the 8 000 was a figure recorded this March.
A senior
Zimbabwean official has also confirmed that there is an influx of
deportees
from South Africa.
On average, there were at least 2 000 Zimbabweans deported
from South Africa
every month, for illegally residing in the country,
indicated the report.
"There are 8 000 deportees at the Beitbridge border
post right now. Most of
these people do not have money because they would
have gone to work on South
African farms and get booted out without pay.
They become destitute and it
becomes a humanitarian concern," Aravjo
said.
"Some of the deportees are evidently ill and in most cases do not have
food
or money to transport themselves back to their home, so they cross back
into
South Africa by wading across the Limpopo River. Some, in their
desperation,
try to walk back and fall ill or die along the way with no one
to identify
them."
She said many of these people had been hospitalised
and died, with their
bodies lying unclaimed in the Beitbridge Hospital
Mortuary.
"Right now, there are as many as 20 corpses in the Beitbridge
Hospital
mortuary, when it is supposed to hold only six," said
Aravjo.
Aravjo added that 80 percent of the deportees were below 25 years of
age and
were mostly teenagers.
She said her organisation was in the
process of establishing a reception
centre at the border post to accommodate
deportees and source bus fares for
them so that they could travel back to
their original homes.
Zimbabwe's principal immigration officer, John
Kambunda, could not confirm
the figures released by IOM. "You would have to
contact the principal
immigration officer for Beitbridge over the figure. I
would have been in a
better position to comment had I got the figures from
the organisation
concerned (IOM)," Kambunda said.
He, however, admitted
there was an influx of deportees at the border post
and confirmed the
establishment of a reception centre.
The immigration official said:
"Deportees face problems after clearance by
immigration. Some of them get
stranded because they have no food to eat and
have nowhere to sleep, while
others do not have money to travel back to
their homes.
"We are in the
process of establishing a reception centre about which you
shall be
informed. It is an inter-ministerial project that will involve the
Social
Welfare Department as well as the ministries of health and home
affairs."
Aravjo made the revelations at a briefing over Sweden's
extension of US$5
million (40 million Swedish Kroner) support towards
humanitarian assistance
in Zimbabwe at the Swedish Embassy in the capital
yesterday.
Many Zimbabweans have left the country in pursuit of economic
fortunes
outside the country, but most of them have done so
illegally.
South Africa has introduced a tight Visa regime against
Zimbabweans to
control their movement into the country. Many have, however,
beaten the
tight restrictions by wading across the mighty Limpopo River,
risking their
lives in the process.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-17
The MDC anti-senate
Harare province has snubbed the majority of leader
Morgan Tsvangirai's
lieutenants who were jostling for positions ahead of the
faction's congress
slated to kick off in the capital today.
Impeccable sources in the party
yesterday said the province held its
nomination exercise last Saturday and
dumped top members of the faction with
close links to Tsvangirai.
Among
those snubbed were trade unionists Tapiwa Mashakada, Paurina Mpariwa
and
Paul Madzore - all legislators in Harare - and businessman Ian Makone,
Elton
Mangoma, Dennis Murira and the party's European Union representative
in
Brussels, Grace Kwinje.
The sources said during the nomination, Tsvangirai
was elected unopposed as
president, while Thokozani Kuphe was selected vice
president ahead of
Getrude Mthombeni and former governor of Matabeleland
North Welshman
Mabhena.
Khupe is said to have amassed 108 votes against
Mabhena and Mthombeni's six
and two, respectively.
Isaac Matongo was
re-nominated national chairman unopposed while lawyer
Tendai Biti beat three
rivalries to the post of secretary general.
"Biti garnered 82 votes beating
Mashakada who amassed 66, Makone and Mangoma
failed to get a single vote
each.
Mashakada, long perceived to be Tsvangirai's close associate, was
touted to
take over the reigns as the secretary general of the
faction.
The sources claimed Mpariwa lost heavily to Lovemore Moyo for the
post of
deputy secretary general after she only garnered 44 votes against
her rival's
106.
The nomination exercise also saw former executive mayor
for Harare Elias
Mudzuri coming out the favourite for the post of organising
secretary after
he polled 106 ballots against Madzore's 36, while Murira,
Gweru businessman
Patrick Kombayi and Size Moyo received no votes.
The
sources added that one Morgan Komichi and former Chimanimani legislator
Roy
Bennett were nominated organising secretary and treasurer general,
respectively. They were unopposed.
Bennett is reportedly on the run after
he was allegedly implicated in the
Mutare arms cache case, in which state
security agents found arms of war in
the possession of a former Rhodesian
soldier.
Kuwadzana legislator and incumbent spokesperson for the faction,
Nelson
Chamisa beat Kwinje for the office of secretary for information and
publicity garnering 118 votes against his rival's six.
"Madzore and
Mashakada, who were crying foul over the whole exercise left
Harvest House
(faction's headquarters) in a huff as they were not nominated
by the Harare
province. They castigated the nomination process saying it was
manipulated,"
added the source.
"Hopes for powerful positions in the faction for those left
in the cold
after the nomination process continue wilting after Tsvangirai
held a
meeting at Harvest House on Wednesday and announced that the
management
committee (former top six) be composed of only eight individuals
and not 13
as previously planned," the source claimed.
Tsvangirai
reportedly wants the leadership to be composed of the president,
his vice,
national chairman, secretary general, deputy secretary general,
organising
secretary, deputy organising secretary, and treasurer.
"Since some people are
already complaining over the suggestion by their
leader, Tsvangirai will
either stick to the eight or would personally
appoint five more people," the
source added.
Mpariwa yesterday confirmed that indeed the nomination exercise
took place
in Harare and she lost her bid to become deputy secretary
general.
"I lost a bit to Moyo, but the race is still open in other
provinces. In
Harare they are not all that gender sensitive," she
said.
Matongo said as national chairman he was yet to receive the results of
the
nomination exercise.
"The deadline for submission of the nomination
results is tomorrow (today),"
Matongo added.
While efforts to get a
comment from other affected officials were fruitless
yesterday, Chamisa
declined to speak to The Daily Mirror when contacted.
He said: "I do not want
to speak to you and reporters from your newspaper. I
am contemplating
barring journalists from that newspaper from attending our
congress."
At
the time of going to pres yesterday nomination exercise was still going
on
in the party's remaining 11 provinces.
Today's congress is the second in the
fractious MDC after the pro-Senate
camp held its assembly in Bulawayo in
February and elected Arthur Mutambara
as its president while Gibson Sibanda
and Welshman Ncube retained their
posts as vice president and secretary
general respectively.
Former deputy secretary general Gift Chimanikire was
elevated to the post of
national chairman while Priscilla Misihairambwi
Mushonga landed the post of
deputy secretary general.
Both factions claim
to be the real MDC and last Sunday Mutambara said
members of the anti-Senate
camp must repent, accept punishment and join his
camp as followers.
He
accused the Tsvangirai camp of breaching the MDC's constitution and
called
for the re-unification of the main opposition party.
The MDC split into two
camps last October over participation in the November
25 Senate polls.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Business Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-17
WHEAT farmers
are demanding a producer price of $25 million per tonne during
the
forthcoming winter-crop production season, up from last year's $7
million.
The farmers cite the escalating rise in production costs as the
reason for
their call for the hike.
Discussions on the proposal began
yesterday and the outcome should be made
available before mid-next
month.
The move comes at a time when costs of various inputs required in the
production process are continuing to skyrocket.
Representatives of two
major farmers' unions - the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union
ZFU) and the Zimbabwe
Commercial Farmers' Union (ZCFU) - yesterday confirmed
that discussions on
the issue had begun.
Economists from the Ministry of Agriculture have been
sucked into the
discussions that should determine the fate of the production
of the crop
during the forthcoming winter season.
Farmers are arguing
that prices of fertiliser, fuel, tillage services,
labour and other
variables had gone up by more than 10 times.
Although the ZFU director
Dzarira Kwenda could not be reached for comment,
an economist with the union
who spoke on condition of anonymity, and the
chairman of the Grains and
Cereals Producers Association (GCPA), Denford
Chimbwanda, yesterday
confirmed the commencement of the talks.
GCPA is a commodity association of
ZCFU.
Said Chimbwanda: "In fact, we were supposed to have started
discussions
much earlier. However, due to other commitments, the meeting was
postponed
to today (Thursday)."
"The farmers are expecting to know the
outcome of the meetings before the
end of this month and are keen to know
what price government will offer
before they go back to the
land."
Observers note that the meeting comes at that a time that the two
parties
are pulling in opposite directions.
Government desperately wants
farmers to grow wheat for food security as the
nation has been reeling under
wheat shortages for several years.
The shortage has had a strain on
government as it has been directing
little-earned foreign currency available
in the country towards the
importation of wheat in the last fours
years.
However, farmers are calling for a viable producer price, which they
say
must match the ever-escalating costs of production.
Both Chimbwanda
and the economist were reluctant to disclose the ideal
producer price
farmers wanted but sources confirmed the $25 million figure.
To buttress
their demands, a document made available to this newspaper
reveals farmers
arguing that costs of various inputs and variables required
in producing
wheat per hectare had gone up.
Last season a farmer required $7 million to
produce four tonnes of wheat per
hectare.
This time around a farmer
requires $80 million per hectare, an eleven-fold
increase.
According to
the document, the costs listed excluded
overheads in maintaining individual
properties and those in the production
of wheat in general.
Farmers also
argue that fuel last season was selling at below $10 000 per
litre.
This
time around the price of fuel has gone up to $110 000 - on the
official
market.
A 50-kg bag of fertiliser cost an average $350 000 last season. The
same bag
now costs $1.5 million.
"It must be taken into account that
those commodities (fuel and fertiliser)
are currently not readily available
on the market," reads the document.
The farmers argue that it was most likely
that the commodities were only
available on the black market.
This season
is the first time in three years that government has revoked its
decision to
announce a post-harvest producer price, after farmers threatened
not to grow
the crop.
Last season farmers deliberately withheld delivery of wheat in
protest.
This was after government rejected their demand for $12 million per
tonne,
before planting wheat in March.
Government was only prepared to
offer $7 million per tonne after farmers had
already harvested.
As a
standoff continued, the central bank came to the rescue by offering
farmers
a bonus of $2 million for every tonne of wheat delivered to the
Grain
Marketing Board (GMB) before the end of November.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2006-Mar-17
RESIDENTS of Highfield have resolved to demonstrate against
City of Harare
authorities over alleged poor service delivery.
The
residents met at Highfield's Zimbabwe Hall on Wednesday and expressed
their
growing displeasure at the local authority's dithering on basic
service
delivery.
While council was trying to spruce up its image in the face of
economic
challenges besetting the country, the ratepayers insisted they had
had
enough of being short-changed by the commission running the affairs of
Harare and demanded urgent action.
The meeting was organised by Crisis
Coalition of Zimbabwe and the Combined
Harare Residents' Association (CHRA).
This was part of similar gatherings
aimed at engaging residents
face-to-face listening to their concerns and
complaints.
Crisis
Coalition's Munyaradzi Zimunya alleged lack of transparency in the
commission's handling of public funds.
"The commission is not being
transparent on what it is doing with ratepayers'
money because services
continue to deteriorate even as rates are going up,"
Zimunya said.
"The
matter is worsened by the fact that there are no elected councillors
among
the commissioners, so no one really feels accountable to any
constituency in
that commission," he added.
CHRA spokesperson Precious Shumba, who chaired
the meeting, said it was
important that whatever action residents took, they
stayed away from
politics for their messages not to be misconstrued.
The
residents vowed to take to the streets and confront the chairperson of
the
Harare Commission Sekesai Makwavarara and area legislator Pearson
Mungofa of
the MDC.
Anna Bhaureni, the Highfield Ward 26 residents' association
chairperson
said: "Basic services have been neglected and city workers are
not committed
to their duty. I went to the superintendent's office and told
him to supply
me with, at least, a plastic bag to carry the rubbish if they
can't collect
filth from my house but they said they didn't have
one."
She went on: "When I went to pay my rates at the office, I found no one
in
attendance and took my complaint to the superintendent.
"I was told
there was no one to attend to us as the cashier had gone to town
to check
for his salary. If they can't serve us, then who will? Where are
they
putting our monies? People say the government is bad, but I don't think
so.
It is the people we have given positions that are bad."
Bhaureni said since
they elected Mungofa last year, Highfield residents have
never seen him
again. She said the MP stayed in Mabelreign, and therefore
unaware of their
suffering.
Bhaureni contended that Mungofa and Makwavarara deserved to be
protested
against for failing to spearhead development in the
constituency.
Another Highfield resident, who only identified himself as
Lawrence, said
most of them were prepared to demonstrate against
Makwavarara's team
anytime.
"Elected councils have been demonstrated
against and have been forced to
leave office. Nothing should stop us from
forcing Makwavarara and company
out of office too," he said. "Things are
just unbearable and we can't leave
the commission in place when it is giving
us nothing except a raw deal."
CHRA also issued a report about areas in
Harare it felt were ill-serviced.
The pressure group cited Dzivaresekwa
where raw sewage was reportedly
flowing from a house and Eastlea with
notable persistent water cuts.
Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG
Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUSTRALIA
Ad
inserted 18 January 2006
Manager - Hazeldean Pty Ltd
A position is
available for a hands-on manager, with a strong interest in
animal breeding
using measured performance, to take on a close working
relationship with the
managing director in the running of Hazeldean & its
sheep & cattle
seed stock enterprises. The position is at company
headquarters, Hazeldean,
located 15 minutes south of Cooma in
southeastern
NSW.
The
successful applicant will be required to contribute ideas and form
strategies
for the future growth of the property & business. Planning
&
budgeting are essential skills however a desire for hands on
involvement
is equally important.
The position would suit a team
player and one capable and willing to take
on more responsibility in the
future. We are happy to consider
employment of a suitably qualified or
experienced Zimbabwean.
Applications to:
Jim
Litchfield
Hazeldean
Cooma NSW 2630
Email: Litchfield@hazeldean.com.au
www.hazeldean.com.au
THE ZIMBABWE
CONNECTION
MOBILE: +61 414 363 006
(international)
0414 363 006 (within
Australia)
EMAIL: jill@zimbabweconnection.com
WEBSITE:
www.zimbabweconnection.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 9 February 2006
Wanted
Retired, energetic, fun loving
Book Keeper, living in Greendale,
Borrowdale, Chisipite areas in March, for a
small Nursery School : basic
administration, reception, books and general
helping out.
Please call Debi or Shelley between 8am and
12pm
482067
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 9 February 2006
HORSES / MANAGER
A mature,
responsible person who is experienced with and passionate about
horses
required by one of Zimbabwe's leading safari operators. This
challenging
position offers an extremely exciting lifestyle, full board
and lodging and a
very competitive salary. The right person should also
be able to get on as
well with people as with horses. Please send CV to
awc@africanencounter.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tanzania
Ad
inserted 9 February 2006
A vacancy exists for a farm manager on a mixed
farm in Tanzania.
Our core business is vegetables for export however
various other crops
and livestock operations are undertaken.
The right
candidate should have at least 5 years farming experience in
East/Southern
Africa, preferably with horticultural experience.
Responsibilities would
include daily farm management, record keeping to
Eurepgap specifications,
farm security and community liaison.
The candidate should be either
single or accompanied without children.
To start
immediately.
Package: $1500 per month, medical aid and usual benefits of
farm
management positions. Work permit to be provided by the
employer.
Company details to be found at www.gel.co.tz
Please send CV to: lizzie@gel.co.tz
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nursery
School or Infant Teacher
Ad inserted 9 February 2006
Experienced
Nursery School or infant teacher wanted for 2nd Term,
Avondale area. English
must be first language. Very good working
environment, mornings only, school
terms only. Good package for right
person - mail gandami@mweb.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 February 2006
Looking for a position, family left
Zimbabwe
Looking for a position for our maid who has worked for us for 22
years.
She is honest, friendly, very caring and excellent with young
children.
She does do basic cooking, housework, baby sitting. She come
highly
recommended by us and has been part of the family for many
years.
Anyone interested please contact me by email, pennydobson@mweb.co.za
or
phone
Angela Stephens 776451 mornings only, for an interview with
the
maid,
Maize.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Australia
Ad inserted 16 February 2006
WANTED; Millwrights,
Electricians, Diesel Mechanics, Refrigeration
Specialists, Town Planners and
Quantity Surveyors
Recruit Global will assist in looking for a job and
sponsorship
opportunities for the
right candidates wanting to move to
Australia.
Australia is experiencing a major skills shortage in all states,
we will
provide
services to assist in, visas, trade recognition
tests,
sponsorship, relocation, financial advice.
Contact us today at
Aussiemigrant
www.aussiemigrant.com
Brendon@aussiemigrant.com
Rebecca@aussiemigrant.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 February 2006
Vacancy for Live-In Housekeeper
Companion
JOB SPECIFICATION
The applicant should be a single
female, unmarried, widow, or divorced,
and must have a caring nature, and be
interested in cooking and the
welfare of an elderly lady.
Free
accommodation will be provided in a beautiful period house, circa
1700, own
bed-sitting room with television, fridge and microwave and
washbasin,
tastefully furnished with bookcases and easy chair, and
adjoining bathroom.
Use one of the sitting rooms in the house.
Food will be provided for main
meals, as part of the contract.
The Housekeeper will be responsible for
the general running of the house,
and its cleaning. She will prepare and
cook meals, and do some
shopping. Use of car will be available for this
purpose. She will act
as a companion to Mrs H L Franklin who is aged 88
years, a refined lady,
who is a widow.
Mrs Franklin has a Private
Nurse who attends to her personal care in the
mornings.
There will be
some laundry work of personal items for Mrs Franklin, at
present all bedding
goes to the laundry.
This job would be suitable for someone who requires
a comfortable home in
a small village in rural Shopshire. Nearest shops in
the village
including a Post-Office, General Stores, Butcher, Pubs, Doctors,
and
Anglican Church. Nearest Market Town, Church Stretton, 6 miles
South.
Nearest large town, Shrewsbury, 6 miles north. Nearest Railway
Station,
either Church Stretton or Shrewsbury.
Shropshire is an
Agricultural Country and there is no Industry, the
surrounding countryside is
an area of outstanding beauty and cultural
importance.
The
Housekeeper/Companion will have an average of two half days a week
off and at
least two hours per day in either morning or afternoon at
leisure, by mutual
arrangement.
Mrs Franklin's son, Mr Howard Franklin lives next door at
Dorrington
Court, and is normally around most days and often takes meals with
Mrs
Franklin. Mr Franklin is retired, but still travels as a Lecturer
in
Cruise Ships several times a year, and does after Luncheon
speaking
engagements in Great Britain.
Salary of Five Hundred Pounds
Sterling per calendar month and totally
free board and lodging.
Person
travelling from Overseas will be helped with their airfare.
The contract
as Companion/Housekeeper will be for a minimum period of
eight months, to be
extended.
Please apply with details of yourself and any relevant
information to:
HOWARD FRANKLIN Esq.
Dorrington
Court
Dorrington
Shropshire, SY57JD
Telephone 01743
718143
Email: howard@howardfranklin.freeserve.co.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 February 2006
ZAMBIA
PARTNER : FARMING OPPORTUNITY
ZAMBIA
Ex-Karoi farmer looking for a partner to invest in a promising
farming
organization situated 16 kilometers from Lusaka. Currently
farming
seed-maize, paprika, soya-beans and vegetables. The farm is 340
hectares
with approximately 100 hectares utilised. Excellent water available
for
expansion.
Interested parties please contact : jogs@zamtel.zm / 096 444 466
(Zambia)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 2 March 2006
RETIRED COUPLE OR SIMILAR, TO LIVE IN
SELF-CONTAINED COTTAGE ON GARDEN
SMALLHOLDING 5 KM FROM STELLENBOSCH. LIGHT
DUTIES IN MANAGING AND
SUPERVISING GARDEN STAFF AND GENERAL HANDYMAN/WOMAN
ACTIVITES ON THIS
SUPERBLY-LOCATED COUNTRY PROPERTY. REMUNERATION BY
NEGOTIATION WITH
PRINCIPAL, WHO CAN BE CONTACTED IN CONFIDENCE AT : MINER@MWEB.CO.ZW
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 2 March 2006
Looking for someone to fill this position. One side
of the company is
Haigar Tyre and Fitment Centre - small company with only 3
on the
payroll. We are looking for an elderly man - probably retired
and
looking for something to keep himself busy - he will be required
to
basically be there to order tyres, stock, monitor cars that come in
for
alignment etc etc; mainly be in the office on the phone - no
great
physical work.
If you are interested please give Darrell Haigh a
call on 331726 or 011
220 606. Many thanks.
We are also looking for a
reliable driver
?????
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 March 2006
VACANCY
FARM MANAGER, HARARE SOUTH -
TOBACCO/MAIZE. TO START ALMOST
IMMEDIATELY. MUST BE CONSCIENTIOUS AND
COMPETENT.
CONTACT be1371@mweb.co.zw with
C.V.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 March 2006
Positions Vacant
Maintenance Manager
wanted for busy dairy & cropping farm 30kms outside
Harare. Position
includes maintenance of tractors, boreholes etc,
running
of workshop and
buying of spares. Office work available for spouse.
Small house available on
farm with other company perks. Suitable
applicants
please phone 091
202692 or email account@kefalos.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMPLOYMENT
SOUGHT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 February 2006
"Fitter and turner seeking position as
handyman, technical sales rep,
stores man etc.
Phone Fred Harmse
091-319272,
882866."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 February 2006
EMPLOYMENT SOUGHT
I am a hard working,
loyal and honest man aged 34 with many years of
valuable work experience
looking for employment in a Managerial Role with
the right company. I have
been primarily involved in the Plastic &
Chemical Industry with past
experience in the Freight Sector (Import /
Export) working my way from the
bottom to a top position of Managing
Director for a
successful company in
previous employment. I am currently employed and
can be contacted on the
following E-Mail Address for further details and
a copy
of my Curriculum
Vitae: abutler@siltrade.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 22 February 2006
WAITER/CASHIER
Experienced waiter -
very well trained also trained by ex owner of
Restaurant in Stock control and
Cashier
Smart and well spoken, very good with the public
If any
business requires this young and enthusiastic male please write to
sherrols@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 2 March 2006
Employment Sought
Young Lady aged 19
years, educated to ZGC level: Diploma in Silvana
beauty academy, Diploma in
modeling, and have just completed computer
courses, in excel - word - etc,
willing to learn and do anything. Hard
working, out going and enthusiastic.
Please contact: Rochelle
Vermaak 091 347 982 or email: ed@zol.co.zw or caps@zol.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 2 March 2006
CONSULTANCY SERVICES
OFFERED
I a middle aged, degreed man with extensive experience
in:
* Cane Sugar and by-products production/processing.
* Small
Scale Edible Oil Milling/Equipment Sourcing, Installation and
Commissioning
* Middle Level Management
* Laboratory processes
*
Small Scale Food Processing
* Staff/Operator Training in ALL of the
above
* Small Scale food processing for Rural Development
* Beekeeping
and Honey Processing.
Also looking for JOINT VENTURE WITH COMPANIES IN
SMALL SCALE/ON FARM FOOD
PROCESSING, particularly in Southern
Africa.
I am looking for consultancy Opportunities - both long and short
term
assignments, and on-going.
Please contact me on gezana@hotmail.com; OR 00 +44 07789842285;
00 +44
07849163016; 00 +44 01296620515 for FULL
CV.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 16 March 2006
SEEKING CONTRACT
WORK
ZAMBIA/MOCAMBIQUE/MALAWI
I am a specialist in tractor
service/repairs, with 32 years experience,
having worked for several years in
hands-on and management positions, for
such companies as Bain New Holland and
Duly's. After leaving Duly's, I
become self employed (since 1990) with
similar work. Our work has
consisted of repairs/service work carried out at
our workshops in
addition to field service work as and when required. In
addition to the
above my business includes the sourcing of spares and
organising outwork
such as injector pumps, clutches, brakes and engine
machine work being
carried out by those companies offering the best service.
One department
of our business specialises in the service/repair work of all
tractor
steering related components such as steering boxes, orbital valves,
rams,
hoses, etc.
I would like to stress that I wish to work on a
contract basis,
preferably for a farming syndicate or a large, well
established farm
set-up as I have been self employed for 16 years and have a
commitment
towards children who are being schooled locally. I am seeking
such work
outside of Zimbabwe as we feel the economics of our country have
made it
impossible to continue a viable business. My wife and I wish to keep
our
home as a base for the stability of our children. We would like
to
travel back to Zimbabwe every 3 to 4 weeks to be with them.
We hope
the above meets with the approval of those looking for a
contractor for this
type of work.
For further information contact Doug or Tracy Edwards
-
tracspray@zol.co.zw or 068-22463 /
011212454
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
(updated 16 March 2006)