FinGaz
Rangarirai Mberi News
Editor
SOUTH Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has urged
Zimbabwe's
security forces to respect the outcome of polls next week, even
as the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) refused to condemn the utterances
of
defence chiefs that threaten the credibility of the elections.
And
President Robert Mugabe's decision on Monday to invoke presidential
powers
to amend electoral laws, so that police can be allowed into polling
stations, will also be seen as a fresh assault on agreements reached in
talks mediated by South Africa.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander
Constantine Chiwenga, Police Commissioner
General Augustine Chihuri and
Paradzayi Zimondi, the head of Zimbabwe
Prisons Services, have said they
will not accept any result except one in
which President Mugabe is the
winner.
They said they would never salute either of the two main opposition
challengers, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai
or former finance minister Simba Makoni, saying they were "British stooges"
and "puppets".
Zimondi's statement was the most theatric. He said he
would lock himself
away at his farm and take up arms to defend his land,
which he believes will
be threatened under a new government.
These
threats have caused alarm in the region, which had hoped for free and
fair
elections in Zimbabwe, where the continuing political crisis has
centred on
disputed election results since 2000.
It is against this background that the
ANC has urged the defence chiefs to
respect the outcome of elections at the
end of this month.
"The ANC urges all institutions of state in Zimbabwe, and
in particular the
security forces, to remain non-partisan and to respect the
outcome of the
elections," the ANC said in a statement.
The opposition
has deplored the leading role of the military in Zimbabwe's
elections.
Former and serving military personnel also head key state
institutions.
South Africa has led a regional effort over the past year
to get ZANU-PF and
the MDC to agree on political reforms. Although the talks
resulted in
constitutional reforms that both parties said were the basis for
the holding
of free elections, the opposition says ZANU-PF has reneged on
most of the
agreements, leaving the electoral field tilted in its
favour.
Last week, South Africa's deputy foreign affairs minister, Aziz
Pahad, said
Zimbabwe could not afford yet another disputed election, as this
would only
prolong the country's political and economic crisis.
But even
as South Africa raised concerns over the threats by the security
forces, ZEC
chairman George Chiweshe - himself an ex-army officer - said the
commission
would not condemn these utterances because speaking out "would be
going
beyond the mandate of ZEC."
FinGaz
Njabulo
Ncube Political Editor
CRITICS have reacted with outrage to President
Robert Mugabe's last minute
tweaking of electoral laws just days ahead of
elections.
The changes allow police officers access into polling booths,
from where
they had been banned under laws agreed with the
opposition.
The police will help the physically handicapped to cast their
votes, under
regulations made by President Mugabe through the Presidential
Powers
(Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Electoral Act) (No. 2)
Regulations, 2008
on Monday.
Government opponents and critics see the
changes as a negation of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
guidelines and principles for
conducting democratic elections in the
region.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), an independent election
monitoring body, says the last minute change to electoral laws severely
undermines the credibility of the polls.
ZESN chairperson Noel Kututwa
said the changes were made unilaterally
without consultation and agreement
of other parties.
Kututwa said: "The recent announcement that the electoral
regulations have
been unilaterally changed to require police officers to be
inside polling
stations could undermine public confidence that their vote is
their secret.
"Further, voters requiring assistance to cast their ballots
should be able
to designate a person of their choice to help them mark their
ballot. This
announcement effectively reverses important electoral reforms
that were only
gazetted in January 2008 ".
Observers say the decision to
have police officers based 100 metres away
from polling stations would have
been an important measure to enhance public
confidence in the secrecy of
their vote.
Deploying police officers inside polling stations is in
contravention of
Article 2.1.1 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines
Governing Democratic
Elections.
Regarding assisted voting, due to
illiteracy, physical handicaps or old age,
the principle of "equal
opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be
voted for" as enshrined in
Article 2.1.6 of the guidelines, requires that a
voter should be free to
select a person of their own choice to help them
mark their
ballot.
Allowing voters this choice "is not burdensome to the electoral
process and
will enhance accountability and public confidence in the
process", the
guidelines say.
The opposition has called for an immediate
withdrawal of these measures, and
charges that ZANU-PF has already been
abusing the law by telling rural
voters the police would assist them put the
"X" against President Robert
Mugabe's and other ruling party candidates'
names.
Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the Morgan Tsvangirai faction of the
MDC, said
his party would today lodge an urgent court application against
the change
of rules.
"We have instructed our lawyers to challenge these
particular changes, which
permit the police to rig the elections on behalf
of ZANU-PF," said Chamisa.
But the Arthur Mutambara faction of the MDC said
it saw nothing wrong with
the changes.
"In fact it did not make sense for
the police to be 100 metres away," said
spokesman Gabriel Chaibva. "We also
don't see anything wrong with police
assisting the physically handicapped to
cast their votes. It makes sense
that the police be inside the polling
station, not outside, to maintain law
and order."
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori
Staff Reporter
A NEW report on staffing levels within Zimbabwe's
crumbling healthcare
system paints a dire picture of the impact of the brain
drain, with vacancy
rates for crucial skills in hospitals as high as 70
percent.
More than 3 500 nurses and 969 doctors had left government
health
institutions by September 2007 after the health professionals
intensified
their hunt for better opportunities in the region and abroad, a
report
prepared by the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe (NCZ) says.
Statistics
in the report show there were 3 502 vacancies for nurses and 969
vacant
posts for doctors at the end of last year.
The health sector report gives an
insight into the devastating impact of the
skills flight from
Zimbabwe.
The NCZ document, prepared by the Directorate of Human Resources
and
entitled "Programme Performance 2008", shows an escalating crisis that
has
not only weighed heavily on service delivery in state health
institutions,
but has compromised the quality of health professionals
graduating from
training institutions.
"Out of a total of 1 761 doctors
on the whole approved establishment, 792
were in post as at September 2007,
reflecting a vacancy rate of 46 percent,"
the report says.
However,
crucially, most of this existing staff consists of trainees.
"It should be
noted, as in most categories, that the figures of those in
post are
significantly boosted by the medical cadet. Head of departments and
consultants show high vacancy rates of 74 percent and 73 percent
respectively."
The report says the positions of department heads and
consultants are
critical, "as they are also responsible for the training of
other doctors.
With such vacancy rates, the quality of the graduating
trainee could be
jeopardized."
Environmental Health Services had a
relatively high overall vacancy rate of
51 percent. The report said there
were no (Environmental Health Technician)
EHT tutors, water safety,
sanitation and waste managers, port health
managers and environmental health
training officers(100 percent vacancy
rate).
NCZ president Clara Nondo
said this week that as a result of the exodus of
qualified and experienced
health professionals, training institutions are
under increased strain
because they have to increase intakes to cover the
gap.
The council's
figures showed a worsening health worker to patient population
ratios, as
well as the plummeting quality of service due to the loss of
experienced and
qualified health workers.
Out of the required four radiation protection staff
required in government,
there were two in September 2007, while out of the
required 459
radiographers, there were only 261.
The government required
578 pharmacists, but only 332 posts were filled
during this period, leaving
246 vacancies.
The Public Service required a 35 285 staff complement to
operate
efficiently, but as at September 2007, only 26 347 posts were
occupied,
leaving about 9 000 staff vacancies.
The low staffing levels
are a result of a deepening economic crisis that has
rendered the Zimbabwe
dollar worthless, making monthly salaries meaningless
to
professionals.
Last year, a parliamentary committee heard that Zimbabwe's
road network was
crumbling because there was not a single civil engineer
left in government.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans are believed to be
working outside
the country, with 37 percent of these in the United Kingdom,
35 percent in
Botswana, five percent in South Africa and 3.4 percent
estimated to be in
Canada.
With the country's inflation rate at more than
100 000 percent, the brain
drain is expected to accelerate as the quality of
life deteriorates further
in tandem with real incomes.
Researchers said
this week the brain drain is also being driven by high
taxation, shortages
of basic commodities, shrinking personal freedoms and
rights, pessimistic
views about the future and poor economic and political
policies that have
destroyed the middle class.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
MORGAN Tsvangirai has claimed secret talks between Welshman
Ncube and
Emmerson Mnangagwa were at the centre of the opposition Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) split in 2005.
Tsvangirai made the
allegation in an interview with South African radio
station Talk Radio 702
this week.
He claimed to have minutes of meetings between Ncube and members
of a
ZANU-PF faction led by Mnangagwa, the governing party's legal
secretary, who
is also Rural Housing and Amenities Minister.
A row over
participation in the Senate elections in 2006 had widened the
rift, but
Tsvangirai said the "majority of our people are not aware" of a
dispute over
Ncube's negotiations with the ZANU-PF faction.
"After the elections in March,
they began negotiating with a faction of
ZANU-PF, the so-called Tsholotsho
group - Mnangagwa, Jonathan Moyo and
Pearson Mbalekwa, etc.
"There is
confirmation of this, we have minutes of these meetings. They
began
negotiations for a third force. To us, this was a betrayal of the MDC
agenda. When this failed in September, a month later, there was the split,"
Tsvangirai said.
Moyo, ironically, is now a key Tsvangirai
ally.
According to Tsvangirai, participating in the Senate elections would
have
been to "depart from our strategic position of opposition to piecemeal
constitutional amendments", as the upper house had been provided for by the
17th amendment.
Tsvangirai maintained that support for Simba Makoni by
his rivals in the MDC
was a continuation of their "collaboration with
ZANU-PF".
"Those same former MDC leaders are now in collaboration with
ZANU-PF by
endorsing Makoni," he charged.
Despite his opposition to any
accommodation with ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai told
the radio station he would be
ready to forge a united government with his
opponents should he win
elections next week.
"Even if I were to get 95 percent (of the vote), my role
is transitional,
from an undemocratic society to a democratic
society.
"My role is transitional. In order to have that soft landing, we
will need
all forces to have confidence in the country, there's no way we
can
stabilise the country (without doing so).
"As far as I am concerned,
I will happily form, a whatever government of
national unity or national
government, that will see this country moving
forward," Tsvangirai
said.
A recent private poll put Tsvangirai ahead of President Robert Mugabe
in the
election, with Simba Makoni coming in a distant third.
But the
pollsters said a large proportion of respondents were either
undecided or
declined to reveal their preferences.
FinGaz
Charles
Rukuni Bureau Chief
BULAWAYO - Heads are rolling at the Bulawayo branch
of Zimbabwe Newspapers,
publishers of the Chronicle and Sunday News, over an
advertisement by
independent presidential candidate Simba Makoni.
Two
production department employees have been suspended and the editor of
the
Sunday News, Paul Mambo, was summoned to head office in Harare because
the
advertisement quoted a story carried by his paper.
The general manager of the
branch, Sithembile Ncube, confirmed the
suspension of two employees but
insisted that this had nothing to do with
the advertisement. She said the
action was taken because they had not
followed certain procedures.
The
advertisement in question was published in the Chronicle of March 13. It
quoted from a story published in the Sunday News of March 9 2008, which was
headlined: "Dr Makoni backers asked to leave ZANU-PF".
The advertisement
included an excerpt that said: "The Governor and Resident
Minister for
Matabeleland South province, Cde Angeline Masuku, told the
President that
the province was facing food shortages because they received
seed and
fertilizers late and that their farming activities were affected by
the dry
spell that followed.
"She said private transporters were refusing to haul
food to remote parts of
the province due to poor roads among other
issues."
The advertisement said in big, bold letters: "We have failed" -
(President)
Robert Mugabe, at the launch of the ZANU-PF manifesto
2008.
Sources said it was this line, saying "We have failed" - (President)
Robert
Mugabe, that led to the suspension of Milidzi Khupe the assistant
production
manager and a colleague, Zenzo Ngwenya.
Sources said there was
an unwritten rule at Zimpapers that advertisements
from opposition parties
must be cleared by the editor before they are
published.
Under the
Southern African Development Community Principles and Guidelines
Governing
Democratic Elections adopted in August 2004, all political parties
must have
equal access to state media. Although Zimpapers is a public
company, the
government is the majority shareholder.
Sources said Khupe did not see the
advertisement in question before he
knocked off. When Ngwenya arrived, they
said, he let the advertisement
through because he thought it had been
cleared.
Ngwenya and Khupe are reported to have been suspended on Monday on
instructions from the Zimpapers head office in Harare after management in
Bulawayo had refused to suspend them.
Zimpapers chief executive Justin
Mutasa and group human resources manager
Herbert Simemeza were both reported
to be out of their offices when The
Financial Gazette phoned to seek
confirmation.
Ncube, however, confirmed the suspensions but said this was not
because of
the content of the advertisement but "over the procedure of
accepting
adverts".
"In every system, there are procedures," she said.
"These were not followed
in this case."
The editor of the Sunday News,
Paul Mambo, declined to comment, referring
all questions to
Mutasa.
Makoni is battling it out with President Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai of
the
Movement for Democratic Change and another independent candidate,
Langton
Towungana, in elections next week.
FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe Staff Reporter
IT was not just refined
diesel, but processed gold as well that government
officials were led to
believe lay below the Maninga hills in Chinhoyi.
The government faced
acute embarrassment last year after its most senior
officials were taken for
a ride by n'anga Rotina Mavhunga, by convincing
them she had discovered
refined diesel at Maningwa hills.
Now, it turns out, the officials also
incredibly believed the hills were
stacked with processed gold.
Mavhunga
appeared in court yesterday seeking bail following her
incarceration over
her extravagant claims that she had discovered refined
diesel in a
hill.
Although this would be absurd to many, she easily duped the government
into
giving her a farm, foodstuffs and a $5 billion cash windfall.
Court
documents show that in a briefing to Cabinet last year, deputy police
commissioner general Godwin Matanga, who led a "diesel taskforce" to
Chinhoyi, indicated that Mavhunga had also discovered pure gold.
"My team
and I were led to various places in Chinhoyi and Guruve where the
spirit
medium claimed she had discovered processed gold.
"The gold had already been
taken to Maningwa hills with the help of war
veterans to await handover to
the head of state of the Republic of Zimbabwe,
Cde RG Mugabe," Matanga told
ministers.
In court yesterday, state prosecutor Chris Mtangadura opposed the
granting
of bail to Mavhunga.
The spirit medium argued that a Chinhoyi
magistrate erred in denying her
bail last month.
She said in its decision
to deny her bail, the court relied entirely on
state allegations that she
had made strenuous efforts to "evade justice"
when no evidence was
presented.
During Mavhunga's bail hearing last month, a police officer
testified that
Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, who allegedly shielded
Mavhunga from
arrest, manhandled policeman who were detaining the
n'anga.
On her part, Mavhunga claimed she was denied food and water while in
custody.
The state alleges that the spirit medium committed the offences
between
April 2006 and July 2007.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
THE Attorney General (AG)'s office faces a critical staff
shortage and has
100 vacancies for the prosecutors to fill, a report by
government's law
office said this week.
The report explains the
circumstances surrounding the postponement of a
number of cases that include
the murder case involving Jephias Mavangira,
husband to High Court judge,
Justice Susan Mavangira.
"As earlier indicated in this report, there is a
critical shortage of staff,
which needs to be addressed as a matter of
urgency.
"Right now there are 100 vacancies for law officers and prosecutors
in the
office," the report says.
It adds that the deputy AG (Criminal
Division), Johannes Tomana, is about to
conclude a tour of all prosecuting
stations nationwide to assess the scale
of the crisis and see what
improvements can be made to make the justice
delivery system more
efficient.
The report also says the AG's office is considering incentives to
enable it
to retain staff.
The report also highlights the reason why a
number of criminal cases set
down for hearing the High Court between January
28 and February 25 could not
begin.
"In the matter of State vs Jephias
Mavangira set for the 14th of January
2008, trial did not commence as the
prosecutor who was assigned to deal with
this matter recused himself at the
last minute and there was not enough time
to allocate the matter to anothe
officer for the trial to commence.
"This matter was postponed sine die.
Witnesses were present," the report
says.
In January, The Financial
Gazette reported that the complainant in the
matter had lodged the matter
with the presidency, accusing Tomana of having
irregularly withdrawn the
case.
The report also shows that other criminal cases could not proceed as
there
was no fuel to bring accused persons to court or bus companies
refusing to
accept travel vouchers given to witnesses.
FinGaz
Clemence Manyukwe
Staff Reporter
Political tolerance remains a pipe dream, hate language,
intimidation the
hallmark of the ZANU-PF campaign
JOAO de Miranda, head
of the SADC observer mission to the elections to be
held next weekend, said
the polls would be a key test of the region's
commitment to free and fair
elections.
And South Africa's deputy foreign affairs minister, Aziz
Pahad, says
Zimbabwe could not afford another disputed poll outcome, saying,
"I don't
think it's possible for Zimbabweans to sustain the level of
political
tensions and economic crisis that they are undergoing at the
moment."
According to SADC: "The development of the principles and guidelines
governing democratic elections aims at enhancing the transparency and
credibility of elections and democratic governance as well as ensuring the
acceptance of election results by all contesting parties."
Today, the
Financial Gazette gives Zimbabwe's report card on compliance so
far with
regional norms on elections.
lSADC requires "full participation of the
citizens in the political process,
freedom of association and political
tolerance."
Although violence is reportedly down from previous elections,
incidents of
political violence continue, with some going to
court.
Rights group, ZimRights, has accused the Minister of Policy
Implementation,
Webster Shamu, of setting up bases in Chegutu from where
youths harass
opposition activists. Shamu has not responded to the
accusation.
Zimbabwe also denies citizens living outside the country the
right to vote.
The Zimbabwean diaspora is widely estimated at three million.
Political
tolerance remains a pipe dream, with hate language and
intimidation being
the hallmark of the ZANU-PF campaign. ZANU-PF also denies
food aid and farm
equipment to villagers suspected of supporting the
opposition. Villagers are
also being forced to attend ZANU-PF rallies
countrywide.
lRegular intervals for elections as provided for by the
respective national
constitutions
Elections in Zimbabwe have been held
regularly, but in the latest case there
was an attempt to postpone the polls
to 2010. In a speech marking his 84th
birthday in February, President Robert
Mugabe said the plan had been opposed
by, among others, South
Africa.
lEqual opportunity for all political parties to access the state
media
Although state media is now covering the MDC and independent candidate
Simba
Makoni, ZANU-PF continues to receive by far the widest coverage. In
its
latest report, the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe reports that in
February, ZANU-PF got a total 202 minutes on news bulletins on the
ZBC.
The MDC got only nine minutes, while Makoni had 26 minutes, but much of
the
coverage on him was to allow ZANU-PF officials to malign his decision to
stand for President.
And while the ZBC now flights adverts and interviews
for all candidates,
radio presenters are being compelled to play, at
frequent intervals,
pro-ZANU-PF songs recorded especially for the
campaign.
This is in addition to news coverage and ZANU-PF's own campaign
jingles.
There has only been token coverage of the opposition at
Zimpapers.
lEqual opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted
for
The opposition has protested against a decision by the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC), to allocate fewer polling stations to urban areas than in
rural areas.
In many urban districts, voters may fail to vote, as there
are too few
stations to accommodate all registered voters in the event there
was a large
turnout.
The "right to be voted for" also appears lost on
ZANU-PF and government
institutions. State media have mounted a relentless
campaign to discredit
Makoni, not for his policy positions, but merely for
challenging President
Mugabe, even when this is a right guaranteed by the
constitution.
lIndependence of the judiciary and impartiality of the
electoral
institutions
ZEC is still not as independent as government
claims. President Mugabe still
appoints members of the commission.
l
Voter education
Independent groups, such as the Zimbabwe Election Support
Network, have been
barred from conducting voter education, even though the
ZEC's own programme
has been desperately inadequate.
l Acceptance and
respect of the election results by political parties
proclaimed to have been
free and fair by the competent National Electoral
Authorities in accordance
with the law of the land.
The country's defence force chiefs have come out in
public to say they would
not accept any other outcome apart from President
Mugabe's win.
Defence Forces chief Constantine Chiwenga, police commissioner
general
Augustine Chihuri and Paradzayi Zimondi, the head of the prison
services,
have issued threats they would not accept a victory by the
opposition. Any
other leader apart from President Mugabe was a "sellout",
and they would not
salute him, they said. Zimondi has "ordered" his officers
to vote for
President Mugabe and ZANU PF.
lNon-discrimination in the
voters' registration and existence of updated and
accessible voters
roll
The MDC has mounted a failed bid to have ZEC release an electronic copy
of
the voters' roll.
The parlous state of the voters' roll is revealed in
a separate High Court
application by MDC MP Trudy Stevenson seeking to
compel ZEC to provide her
with an electronic copy of the Mount Pleasant
voters' roll. The roll throws
up names of the dead.
"I have noticed that
Desmond William Lardner-Burke is listed as a
voter.Desmond William
Lardner-Burke was minister of Law and Order under Ian
Smith, and I cannot
believe that he is still alive and residing in Mount
Pleasant," Stevenson
says in her court papers.
lTimeous announcement of the election date
The
MDC say it was ambushed by the president's announcement of March 29 as
the
election date, when the issue was still under discussion under SADC
initiated talks.
The opposition says that the announcement signaled the
collapse of the
talks. In a recent opinion piece in the Australian and South
China Post
newspapers, MDC founding legal secretary David Coltart
writes:
"The fact that the elections are called for March 29 gives a clue as
to the
absurdity of President Mugabe's attempt to legitimise his brutal
dictatorship.
This date gives opposition parties scant time to
organise and rally their
forces, a task already made almost impossible due
to crackdowns on media
freedom and on public gatherings."
· The member
state holding elections must establish impartial,
all-inclusive, competent
and accountable national electoral bodies staffed
by qualified personnel, as
well as competent legal entities including
effective constitutional courts
to arbitrate in the event of disputes
arising from the conduct of
elections
The contention that former state agents, including ex-army
figures, still
occupy key positions in ZEC still remains.
· The
member state must take all necessary measures and precautions to
prevent the
perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices
throughout the
whole electoral process, in order to maintain peace and
security
At
his rally in Highfields, Makoni accused ZANU PF of vote buying after some
civil servants found increased salaries in their accounts without
notice.
Observers have also questioned government's monetary donations, some
amounting to $10 billion, farm equipment, civil servant salary hikes, food
donations, and promises of residential stands.
· Ensure the
availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying
out democratic
elections
According to the latest pre-election update by ZESN, "a number
of challenges
were faced during registration and processes. In some
provinces, the absence
of adequate material was experienced as people
wishing to register were
turned away as stationery was not available at the
inspection centers.
In Harare, some people who refereed as voters were not
given registration
slips and were asked to collect these from ZEC head
office. This greatly
compromised their chances of voting since these people
would be unable to
vote without these slips in the event that their names do
not appear on the
voters roll on Election Day."
The Financial Gazette has
also reported that the ZEC urgently needs $84
trillion to import generators
to power polling stations. The ZEC is also
short of ground staff, and has
plundered the civil service for staff.
· Ensure the transparency and
integrity of the entire electoral process by
facilitating the deployment of
representatives of political parties and
individual candidates at polling
and counting stations and by accrediting
national and/other
observers/monitors
The MDC has instructed its lawyers to mount a court
challenge demanding that
ZEC give the number of postal voters, where they
will come from and where
they will be cast in the face of secrecy on the
matter.
Zimbabwe has invited SADC, Africa, parts of the Third World, and one
European country, Russia, to observe the polls.
But government has
refused to accredit Western observers, as their countries
had "already
pronounced themselves on the election".
This week, Information and Publicity
Secretary George Charamba announced his
department and the secret service
would screen hundreds of applications by
foreign journalists to cover the
elections. Government sees foreign
journalists as undercover observers and
secret agents of Western
governments.
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori Staff
Reporter
THE Zimbabwean economy is losing trillions of dollars through
power outages,
which intensified this week and could reach alarming levels
in the next few
months, industry players and commentators said.
The
country plunged into a near-national blackout last week, hardly two
months
after two nationwide blackouts hit the country in January after
systems
disturbances on common electricity grid linking most of southern
African
countries.
The systems disturbance had also plunged Zambia and parts of
Botswana into
darkness.
However, Zimbabwe's electricity woes have been
more pronounced than those of
its neighbours, including South Africa, which
recently introduced load
shedding due to increasing power demand spurred by
a growing economy.
Industry experts said at least 20 hours of production time
was being lost
every week due to power outages since January.
Hardest hit
are sectors like mining and agriculture, which have both
suffered immensely
from a nine-year economic recession ravaging the country.
The mining industry
is still compiling statistics to unravel the loses
incurred by the sector
through the intensifying power shortages, said
Chamber of Mines chief
executive officer, Joseph Malaba.
However, Malaba said the extent of the
losses to the sector were high.
"In general, mines are affected by power cuts
like everyone else. But you
will remember that 17 companies have signed an
agreement with ZESA to import
power.
"The objective was to minimise
disruption in the mines. We have not been
able to quantify the losses at
this stage, but it is something that we are
working on now.
"We do not
have global figures because mines' operational costs are
different from
another," Malaba said.
Independent estimates put the losses in production
time in the mining sector
at not less than 40 hours per week per mine. This
translates into millions
of United States dollars.
Recent financial
results from mining sector companies gave an indication of
the quantum of
losses mining companies were picking up as a result of power
supply cuts to
operations.
During the nine months to June 2007, Falgold reported that ZESA
downtime
totalled 763 hours, an equivalent of production losses of over 700
ounces,
or revenue amounting to US$443 000.
Zimbabwe's mining industry is
valued at more than US$20 billion.
A spokesman for a leading retail chain,
Denford Mutashu, said the losses
that retailers incurred as a result of the
power cuts were huge.
"The effects have been felt more on those products that
depend on
refrigeration," he said.
There are fears that the escalating
power cuts could significantly militate
against prospects for growth in the
beleaguered economy.
Industrialists this week said they were already
suffering from a plethora of
other problems such as foreign currency and
spares shortages, fuel and
massive brain drain.
Captains of industry said
it was difficult to quantify their losses in
monetary terms.
"Our
calculations show that companies had been losing four hours of
production
per day," said Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce economist,
Tichaona
Mudzviti.
"This translates to about 20 hours per week. We assume that
production has
gone down and capacity utilisation is at 20 percent in the
formal sector.
"But you will find that the economy relies heavily on the
informal sector,
the backyard businesses.
"These have also ground to a
halt because the frequency of the power cuts
has escalated," Mudzviti
said.
In some cases, companies were also failing to run payrolls because of
electricity shortages.
As a result, most were spending huge costs running
generators, which gobbled
large amounts of diesel or petrol, also in short
supply.
Experts said food-processing industries had also been among the
sector's
hardest hit by the power shortages.
In a recent interview,
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president
Callisto Jokonya urged
Zimbabwe to boost coal production to mitigate the
power supply
crisis.
"What we need to do is make sure that coal production is returned to
full
throttle, and with the other small generators we will be ok," Jokonya
said.
Zimbabwe requires 1 500 megawatts of electricity daily and has been
importing 35 percent of this requirement from three regional power companies
in South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia.
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori Staff
Reporter
PROGRESSIVE Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president and
Great Zimbabwe
University history lecturer Takavafira Zhou has been fired
after the
institution of higher learning labelled him an "academic
terrorist".
The University also said Zhou's teaching and university
service were
unsatisfactory.
Zhou, who leads Zimbabwe's most radical
workers' union that has on several
occassions led anti-government strikes,
has been teaching at Great Zimbabwe
University since 2004.
He has
instituted legal action to challenge his dismissal.
Court documents obtained
by The Financial Gazette this week indicate that
his four years at the
university were stormy. Zhou has clashed with the
Great Zimbabwe University
Vice Chancellor Obert Maravanyika on a number of
occasions, including an
instance over allegations that he spearheaded a
strike at the university in
2006.
Attached to the court documents is a letter to the university's
chairman,
Honour Mkushi, which was copied to President Robert Mugabe in his
capacity
as Chancellor, in which Zhou alleged he had been victimised because
he
failed a history student, Precious Chitapi.
In a December 2006 dossier
alleging corruption within the University's
administration, Chitapi is cited
as Maravanyika's "girlfriend", but
documents at hand identify her as a
"relative" of the Vice Chancellor.
"University regulations have been changed
and applied in retrospect merely
to benefit Precious," Zhou said in a letter
dated February 29 2008.
"When she scored 39 percent in June 2007, regulations
were changed at the
insistence of the VC (Vice Chancellor) to allow for
supplementary
examinations in a semesterised system.
Her mark was raised
to 40 percent to allow her to get into the supplementary
range. When she
scored 47 percent and 42 percent in two history courses in
November 2007 and
an external examiner confirmed that these were clear cases
of failure, the
VC extremely got angry," Zhou alleges in the court documents
he has filed to
challenge his dismissal, copies of which are in the
possession of this
newspaper.
"What is baffling is the unwillingness of Precious to appeal using
the
normal university procedure," Zhou says. He cites other cases, such as
one
in which lecturers were allegedly victimised after a sociology
candidate,
Hwicho Hwicho, who is alleged to be related to the VC,
failed.
Zhou alleged the lecturers were obliged to "buy peace" by re-marking
examination scripts.
He alleged the "abuse of power" at Great Zimbabwe
University had triggered a
staff exodus. Out of a possible staff complement
of nine, the history
department only has four lecturers.
Zhou charged
that Maravanyika's personal vendetta against him was rooted "in
his false
belief that" Zhou was the brains behind a dossier in 2006 alleging
corruption in the university administration.
The document led to an
extensive investigation by the Ministry of Higher and
Tertiary Education
into the affairs of the university.
Maravanyika accused Zhou of saying and
writing "bad things about President
Mugabe and himself."
"When I reminded
him that, while I could talk of President Robert Mugabe in
the History of
Zimbabwe since 1890 course, I could not figure out why I
would talk of an
unknown figure in history by the name of Prof Maravanyika,
he was very
angry," Zhou said.
"The VC called me an academic terrorist," he
alleged.
Maravanyika on Tuesday denied the allegations, arguing Zhou was
conducting
himself in an "unprofessional" manner to the extent that he
fought students
in lectures and did not take arguments lightly.
"He had a
scuffle with a student in class and he threatened to fail anybody
who
reported the incident," Maravanyika said.
"Precious failed because Zhou
suspected that she was reporting to me what
transpired in the history
lessons. She is not my girlfriend, we are
related."
Zhou has engaged
Donsa-Nkomo Legal Practice to represent him in his fight to
win his job
back.
On March 7 2008, the law firm wrote to Mkushi demanding that the
university
reinstates Zhou, arguing his teaching records were excellent.
FinGaz
Wellington
Mbofana
IT has been suggested on countless occasions that the reason
President
Robert Mugabe and a number of his henchmen will not relinquish
power is
because they are afraid of prosecution for genocide arising from
Gukurahundi, crimes against humanity emanating from such campaigns as
Murambatsvina and other gross human rights violations.
I am always
fascinated to read or listen to debates on the emotive theme of
prosecution
of perpetrators of human rights violations.
I must state from the outset that
this article is not meant to critique
recent contributions or statements by
some opposition leaders on the subject
but rather to broaden the debate on
the emotive question of justice in
transitional societies.
Many
commentators share the popular ethical and legalist view of human
rights
organisations, which pushes for prosecution and punishment of those
guilty
of certain crimes.
It is generally believed that such prosecution and the
attendant punishment
will serve as a deterrent to future tyrants and
warmongers as well as act as
a repository of collective memory for affected
societies.
This position, which has in our time guided the prosecution of war
crimes
and crimes against humanity, gained currency from the post World War
II
Nuremberg and Tokyo trials where perpetrators of war crimes were
subjected
to victors' justice.
While those who stood trial after the
Second World War were powerless
individuals representing vanquished regimes
that had lost their weapons,
tyrants in our contemporary times manage
endemic systems that in most cases
are not uprooted at the time of
"democratic" change.
It is very common for the security apparatus to be
inherited with little
changes after negotiated or peaceful regime change.
This means continued
influence of and allegiance to leaders of the different
warring camps by
some pockets of the securocrats.
It is also not uncommon
for ousted regimes to command some measure of
political support in the
populace.
This means new governments would have to consider whether punishing
war
criminals would not provoke an armed backlash or civil unrest at the
same
time being mindful that perceived delays of justice would equally
attract a
backlash. It's a dilemma!
Chilean activist, Jose Zalaquett, at
one time chairperson of the
International Human Rights Internship Programme
and member of the
International Commission of Jurists, identifies "balancing
ethical
imperatives and political constraints" as the challenge of new
democracies
faced with a brutal past of human rights violations.
Faced
with such a dilemma, Max Weber suggests, in Politics, as a vocation
that
"political leaders should be guided by ethics of responsibility as
opposed
to the ethics of conviction".
The former suggests acting guided by the
predictable consequences of one's
action and the later acting according to
the law regardless of outcome!
While the two are different and may seem
diametrically opposed, each
contains traces of the other though in smaller
doses.
Some have argued that it is better to suffer longer under tyranny with
the
hope of total victory than to make progress through conceding some
compromises. I am convinced such fundamentalist views are not raised by
those at the receiving end of the gross abuses.
Experience from post
internecine conflict situations show that even with the
best political
settlement, perpetrators of heinous crimes would still wield
political or
military power or would still very much be entrenched in the
bureaucracy and
other state institutions.
These could not be smoked out and the institutions
overhauled overnight
without causing other problems. In any transition
compromises are made.
Unfortunately when such decisions are made, the
majority of citizens and the
victims are not consulted for they simply would
vote with their emotions.
As argued above, in some cases the effects of
threatening, let alone
pursuing those wielding power, are
catastrophic.
Buoyed by a possible victory in the Zimbabwe 2002 presidential
election, an
opposition party Member of Parliament was quoted as having made
a populist
announcement that once their candidate secured the ticket to
State House,
they would extend Chikurubi Maximum prison to accommodate
perpetrators of
crimes against humanity and other gross human rights
violations especially
from the top brass of the security
forces.
Predictably, the security chiefs responded unequivocally and
commonsensical
that that the presidency was a straight jacket and they were
gatekeepers to
State House. In other words, they would not let go of power
to go and rot in
Chikurubi! That killed the contest. With hindsight, perhaps
some form of
accommodation and compromises with the establishment could have
helped.
Unbelievably the same drama unfolded in 2008! It remains to be seen
whether
the outcome will be different.
The Patriotic Front of the late Dr
Joshua Nkomo and President Mugabe made a
lot of compromises at Lancaster.
While many are apt to criticise the
nationalists' concessions on the land,
the reserved seats, protection of
white minority interests etc, the truth is
the leaders were confronted with
the challenge of balancing the ethical
imperatives of justice and the
political constraints of dealing with their
nemesis who still held enormous
power in the security forces, the
bureaucracy and the economy!
South Africa had a similar dilemma and they
sensibly chose to compromise
with the apartheid barons and their generals
and gave in to what are
popularly known as the "Sunset clauses". They are
countless other examples.
The cost of prosecuting some of the tyrants and
perpetrators also poses an
ethical dilemma. In the case of Sierra Leone, the
UN backed Tribunal/Special
Court was at inception estimated to require about
US$4 billion. Similarly
the expenses in the trials of Slobodan Milosevic in
The Hague, perpetrators
of the heinous Rwandan Genocide in Arusha, former
Iraqi dictator Saddam
Hussein in Iraq etc, runs into billions of
dollars.
In our modern and civilised world, even fallen tyrants and
perpetrators of
the most dehumanising crimes have rights to a fair trial
(presumed innocent
until proven guilty) and humane treatment at everyone's
cost!
But the question is: Can't all the billions be used in rebuilding the
lives
of those who, like the "bush wives" of Sierra Leone, survived
barbarism of
the insurgents; the millions of Rwandese traumatised by the
worst genocide
of our time; the millions of Iraqis stripped of their dignity
and humanity
by torture and the millions of people in Yugoslavia who are
still haunted by
the mere mention of the name of the fallen dictator,
Slobo?
Justice as an end in dealing with past human rights abuses may be
derived
through different means as perceived from the point of view of the
international community on one side and the victims on the other. To the
international community justice is attained through prosecution and
punishment of offenders while the victims may see justice as reparation and
prevention of recurrence. While in theory the two positions can be "mutually
inclusive" or merged, in practice as mentioned above, they are actually
mutually exclusive.
It remains practicable however, to find ways to
disclose the full truth
about the past, remember the fallen, seek
compensation for the victims of
the greatest abuses and deter recurrence.
Truth and reconciliation
commissions, compensation funds and designation of
special development areas
as well as memorials and memorialisation in post
conflict areas across the
globe are attempts towards that.
Wellington
Mbofana is a Harare-based writer
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori Staff
Reporter
THE future of one of Zimbabwe's biggest irrigation projects,
Mushandike
Irrigation Scheme, is under threat following the Zimbabwe
National Water
Authority's (ZINWA) decision to give water rights to
independent
entrepreneurs .
The move seriously compromises the
capacity of water storage facilities and
canals and other irrigation
infrastructure due to increased demand, The
Financial Gazette heard this
week.
Mushandike Irrigation Scheme has been supporting at least 800 farmers
resettled under dry land irrigation for close to three decades.
It was
hailed as one of the most successful irrigation schemes in southern
Africa
in the 1980s.
But the debilitating effects of the country's escalating
economic crisis,
now entering its ninth year, have not spared the
project.
Farmers at the scheme had been growing mainly horticultural crops
and maize.
But documents indicate that this progress could be overturned by
the latest
decision by government.
Documents seen by The Financial
Gazette show that serious problems have hit
the scheme and the original
beneficiaries of the project "risked hunger due
to the shortage of water in
the irrigation scheme because of the unorthodox
act" of 13 more families,
who have been imposed by politicians, and have
been granted the authority to
use the water despite not having rights to it.
Original proprietors said
politicians were "arm- twisting the authority
(ZINWA) to force their cause
at the expense of the national agenda".
The dispute that has ensued has now
resulted in holders of water rights
seeking recourse at the administrative
courts in Masvingo, where they lodged
their papers in August last year. The
farmers are seeking to bar the new
settlers who "shocked" them by "taking
water outside the irrigation to
irrigate their dry land".
Last month,
they took their protest to the Minister of Water Resources and
Infrastructure Development Munacho Mutezo and demanded his intervention to
save Mushandike.
"It is clear that the decision made by ZINWA is
ill-advised and a danger to
the sustainability of Mushandike Irrigation
Scheme," the letter to Mutezo
dated January 31 2008, reads.
The letter
was written by Rodgers Matsikidze, a legal practitioner
representing the
Mushandike Irrigation Scheme beneficiaries.
"The decision by ZINWA has seen
infrastructure being destroyed, that is
roads, canals, and the surrounding
fence. In essence, the irrigation scheme
is on the verge of collapse if such
decisions are not reversed.
"Our clients believe that such a decision should
have taken into
consideration that there is need to preserve the
environment, need to have
the land surveyed and pegged for irrigation
purposes, need to assess the
capability of the night water storage dams and
canals to cope with the
increased water demand. In a nutshell, viability
assessment was not done,"
said Matsikidze.
He said there was no doubt
that ZINWA's approach to the issue of water
rights was "chaotic and counter
productive".
The lawyers said they had been restraining the affected farmers
from
demonstrating against ZINWA to avert violent clashes with the new
farmers.
FinGaz
Charles Rukuni Bureau
Chief
BULAWAYO - It has been a silent campaign, largely ignored by the
media,
apart from the advertisments that the organisation has published in
the
media.
But the Women's Trust's "Women Can Do it" campaign could
have a serious
bearing on who controls the next government if women
candidates pull
through.
The campaign for next week's harmonised
elections has focussed on the three
presidential aspirants who are all male,
but the Women's Trust has not been
dissuaded by this. It still believes
women can do it.
The trust, for example, argues that if all women candidates
make it, they
would have a 50 percent representation in the House of
Assembly. They would
constitute almost a third of the senate and 38 percent
of local government
seats.
Parliament has been given more teeth under
Constitutional Amendment Number
18, which means that women could have more
say in government if they make
it.
"At 52 percent of the population, the
power of numbers is on our side," the
trust says in its campaign, which is
promoting women candidates without
looking at their political
affiliation.
"With so many women already nominated and standing as
candidates, the goal
post is in sight. We need to cross that finishing line
with resounding
impact."
At first glance, the numbers are not impressive.
Of the 1 958 candidates
contesting council seats, only 740 are women.
The
situation seems worse in the House of Assembly where only 118 women out
of
710 candidates are contesting 210 seats. The senate battle looks much
healthier. There are 61 women candidates out of 196 contesting 60
seats.
But the trust seems quite happy.
"The two main objectives of our
campaign were first to get more women to
stand as candidates and secondly to
get people to vote for women
candidates," Women's Trust campaign manager
Lydia Mavengere said.
It achieved the first goal because there was a 49
percent increase in the
number of female candidates contesting parliamentary
seats. Only 58 women
contested House of Assembly seats in 2005. A total of
919 women are
contesting the elections next week.
The trust will only
know the impact of its campaign on the second goal when
the results are
out.
But some observers say, the women's vote should not be ignored because
it
cuts across political lines and could upset some party heavyweights if
women
take heed of the campaign.
"It is in your interest to make sure
that the woman standing as a candidate
in your constituency is elected," the
campaign says.
Indeed women can do it, if they use their numbers.
FinGaz
Dumisani Ndlela Business
Editor
DOMESTIC debt has maintained its upward trajectory, hitting $1.6
quadrillion
during the first week of March as inflationary pressures
continued to soar,
militating against any little prospects of an economic
recovery in the
country.
The government's domestic debt stock was
last week reported by this
newspaper to have touched $1.4 quadrillion at the
end of February, from $60
trillion during the first week of February.
The
debt had stood at $21 trillion at the start of the year.
Of the current
government debt stock, $13 trillion is already outstanding, a
sign that the
government's default risk is intensifying on the domestic
market.
Treasury bills (TBs), the most common debt instrument by the
government,
account for $233 trillion of the current debt stock, with an
interest charge
of $692 trillion.
The government has entirely depended on
domestic sources to finance its
ever-increasing budget deficits, resulting
in increased money printing.
Bilateral and multilateral financial
institutions terminated balance of
payments support to the country over
alleged human rights violations by
President Robert Mugabe's government,
accused of rigging the 2002
presidential election to retain power.
The
latest figure appears to suggest the enlargement of the government's
appetite for funds as the ruling party battles to retain power on the March
29, 2008 elections.
The government is facing increasing expenditure
pressures emanating mainly
from escalating inflation, which recently touched
100 580.2 percent
year-on-year for December 2007, a world record for a
country not at war.
The inflation rate is projected to have touched fresh
records in the months
of January and February.
The pressure on
expenditure appears to have also been stoked by a hugely
expensive election
scheduled for the end of this month, which has forced the
government to
scramble for cash to placate a restive electorate and civil
service.
President Robert Mugabe announced at one of his campaign rallies
that he had
signed a fresh salary schedule for civil servants to stem a work
boycott by
teachers and other civil servants.
The effect of this fresh
unbudgeted measure would be to bloat the government's
salary bill and push
expenditure way higher that forecasts made in the 2008
national budget,
which has greatly suffered from escalating costs of goods
and services
rising beyond projections.
The Financial Gazette reported last week that the
electoral machinery was
gobbling huge sums of money ahead of harmonised
elections scheduled for
March 29, 2008.
Finance Minister Samuel
Mumbengegwi allocated $209 trillion for the 2008
elections, saying this
would fund personnel costs, vehicle procurement and
other election related
costs.
However, indications are that the election could now cost in excess of
$1
quadrillion to be implemented.
Assuming there is a run-off, as widely
projected by political analysts in
the event that non of the four
presidential candidates secures a 51 percent
majority, more expenditure
would be required to oil the election machinery.
Political scientist,
Jonathan Moyo, has indicated that the election would be
extremely expensive,
stretching state resources "to the limit".
"This election is going to be
very, very expensive," Moyo told journalists
at a press club in Harare. "If
you look at the government budget, you will
realise that we are going to
have an election we cannot afford."
Zimbabwe is holding its first harmonised
elections, combining presidential,
legislative, senatorial and local
government elections.
FinGaz
Staff
Reporter
Huge capital injections into the money market could push
liquidity to the
quadrillion-dollar mark, further exacerbating inflationary
pressure in the
economy, commentators said.
Dealers and analysts said
the money market remained a recipient of huge cash
injections during the
week on the back of intensifying government spending
spurred in part by a
looming election and inflationary pressure.
"Chances of (the) money market
surplus position breaching the unimaginable
$1 quad-trillion mark have been
drawn closer during the week, ignited by
enormous volumes of cash flowing
into the market," an analyst with Kingdom
Stockbrokers said in a note to
investors.
The Financial Gazette reported last week that domestic debt had
burst
through the quadrillion-dollar mark to reach an all-time high of $1.4
quadrillion on February 29, after touching a high of $60 trillion at the
beginning of the month.
The government is facing increasing expenditure
pressures emanating mainly
from escalating inflation, which recently touched
100 580.2 percent
year-on-year for December 2007, a world record for a
country not at war.
The inflation rate is projected to have touched fresh
records in the months
of January and February.
In notes to investors, the
KSB analysts said the hugely excessive liquidity
conditions on the money
market were being spurred by a number of factors,
among them the
following:
l On-going credits towards various productive sectors of the
economy;
l Expenditure to cater for the administration of the on-coming
harmonised
elections;
l Civil servant salaries that have recently been
heftily increased;
l Non-sweeping of excess funds on financial institutions'
trading positions
into the 7-day NNCD by the RBZ;
l Low Treasury bill
support by financial institutions and other investors
due to its low
return;
l Government payments for gold whose support price was recently
increased by
700% to Z$700 million;
l Other Government expenditures such
as concessionary advances to ZINWA and
ZESA, among others;
l
Hyperinflationary pressures that are making Government expenditure
astronomical.
"As a result of the above-stated factors, the money market
surplus
conditions have continued to trade above the half a quadrillion
(dollar)
mark," the analyst said.
Current money market positions are
averaging $500 trillion, with daily
market positions often skyrocketing to
over $700 trillion in excess cash.
In response to the heightened liquidity
levels in the market, investment
rates have been remained stuck in a
quagmire, with the 7-14 day investments
attracting rates below 50 percent
while the 30-90 day rates stayed put at
below 250 percent.
The Treasury
bill rate has been unchanged at 340 percent.
FinGaz
Shame Makoshori Staff
Reporter
BOARDROOM squabbles have erupted at the State Procurement Board
(SPB) where
executive chairman Charles Kuwaza and human resources, finance
and
administration director Cosmas Neshamba, have locked horns over
allegations
of fuel theft, misuse of state property and
incompetence.
In one of the incidents, Neshamba's actions are alleged to
have cost the SPB
$8,5 billion in penalty fees after he failed to remit
Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE)
to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
The
dispute led to the suspension of Neshamba from the SPB on February 6
this
year after he wrote to Kuwaza, angrily stating: "You are in the
twilights of
your career and I still have a working life to protect. I have
been
accommodative enough and I will not sign anymore for opaque
transactions
starting this Thursday."
Last month Kuwaza suspended Neshamba, citing theft
and incompetence.
"On December 13 2007, you drew 1 250 litres (of diesel)
into an unknown
vehicle," Kuwaza wrote to Neshamba on February 26. This was
followed by
another withdrawal of 300 litres on December 31 2007 using
vehicle AAG 0087.
"The vehicle tank capacity could not possibly account for
this fuel.
"You are suspected to have withdrawn fuel on a number of occasions
without
requisite authority (and) you are therefore charged with theft, or
failure
to take reasonable care of or to account for, or making improper or
unauthorised use of fuel," the letter to Neshamba alleges.
"You failed to
remit staff PAYE to ZIMRA from May 2007. You have not offered
any
explanation for your failure to meet this statutory obligation.
"You did, in
fact, ignore the executive chairman's questions. In the event,
ZIMRA charged
$8,5 billion as penalty as a result of your failure to do your
work.
"You
are therefore charged with incompetent performance, or failure to obey
lawful instructions or standing orders from the board."
Neshamba is
alleged to have refused to sign a performance contract and be
appraised by
the executive chairman in 2006 and 2007.
The documents say Neshamba had
failed to "consistently" present financial
statements, a key result area for
his portfolio.
It adds that in violation of treasury instructions, Neshamba
had failed to
hold finance meetings.
He had also failed to prepare
estimates of revenue for 2008, and two months
into the year, the estimates
had not been produced.
The SPB chairman alleged that in 2005, Neshamba had
used a vehicle
registration number AAG0087.
He was involved in an
accident at his home but failed to produce evidence to
the chairman that he
was entitled to use the car, or report the accident to
the police, or claim
insurance.
The vehicle has not been repaired, the documents show.
"You
have failed to properly account for the vehicle usage, including
submission
of the vehicle logbooks for the greater part of the period. You
are thus
charged with theft of, or unauthorised use of, SPB property."
The SPB has
instructed Neshamba not to leave Zimbabwe without notifying
Kuwaza.
But
Neshamba has hit back, alleging Kuwaza was much more corrupt.
He said Kuwaza
was desperate to secure a job with ZIMRA and wanted to
impress
them.
"There is rumour anywhere that you are trying to secure a job with
ZIMRA and
you would not qualify if you were found not to have been paying
taxes,"
Neshamba wrote to Kuwaza in a letter dated March 6.
"I wonder why
you are claiming not to have been aware that we were not
paying taxes. You
advised me in 2005 when you still liked me to drive
vehicle AAG9987. Please
note that your wife and children also do not have
authority to drive
although they do so.
"You personally do not report your accidents. For
argument's sake, you had
an accident with a CMED vehicle in 2005 that was
not reported. (sic) The
vehicle was a write-off after the accident."
He
denied stealing fuel, alleging it was Kuwaza who had instead stolen SPB
fuel.
"It is usually advisable to ask if you do not understand a
transaction. You
are the one I suspect to have stolen this very diesel from
the service
station," Neshamba alleged.
"I saw you at the service station
filling four 20-litre containers that were
on the back seat of vehicle AAG
0086. You panicked to the extent of driving
away without signing for
consumption.
"Where were you taking the fuel? You drew 120 litres of diesel
on that
particular day (into) your vehicle (yet) when completely empty (it)
takes a
maximum of 57 litres," Neshamba wrote.
He continued: "You wanted
your domestic workers to be paid in cash. There
was no cash in the banks
(and) for some reason you were not cooperating.
"I only got the message form
you after Christmas when you instructed me to
write a cheque.
"Now you
are asking for a 1 900 percent increase as back dated pay to
October 2007 on
the wages that you deliberately delayed. I will not pay
that, it's a
fraudulent claim."
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
THE country will
have to cough out US$120 million to import about 300,000
tonnes of wheat
needed to take it to the next harvest around November, a
senior National
Bakers Association (NBA) official revealed this week.
David Govere, the
NBA official and Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe
(EMCOZ) senior
vice-president said the country has run out of wheat,
resulting in serious
bread shortages hitting the market.
"At a consumption rate of about 40 000
tonnes of wheat per month Zimbabwe
needs just over 300 000 tonnes of wheat
to the next harvest, which will cost
about $120 million United States
dollars while simultaneously pursuing an
aggressive wheat farming programme
that will see the country producing the
500 000 tonnes required
annually.
"Without this strategy the bread shortage problem will persist,"
said
Govere.
Players in the milling and baking industries started
alerting authorities
round about mid December 2007 that based on the current
consumption of 7500
tonnes of wheat per week or 30 000 tonnes per month the
wheat stocks would
last up to March.
Meanwhile the year's wheat planting
season starts in May and the harvest
only comes in mid November, but will
require drying and transportation to
result in flour being delivered to the
bakeries in the first week of
December.
This is a pattern known every
year.
"All industry players suggested that it was necessary to start building
imports to cover the seven months from April to October. Much to the
surprise of all industry players government decided to allocate the currency
available to import flour directly under the BACOSSI (Basic Commodities
Supply Side Intervention Facility) arrangement to one baker," said
Govere.
Whereas National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC) has reached an
agreement with bakers to wholesale bread at about $7 million per loaf,
traders taking advantage of the shortage are selling the same bread at
between $15 and $25 million dollars with no end in sight for this upward
spiral.
"What we need is to increase bread production by earmarking
around 15
million United States dollars every month for the wheat account,
then we
will be able to import around 40 000 tonnes of wheat monthly, which
will see
all pricing madness disappear and this time we need to channel all
the
available funds to GMB (Grain Marketing Board) so that they play their
national role of equitable distribution.
"Another distortion that must be
removed is the PSIF or BACOSSI type
initiative because it creates two
categories, that is, those that accessed
the cheap funds and those that did
not.
"By restoring GMB's role, we will not only have leveled the playing
field
but used an institution fully accountable to the authorities in terms
of the
national distribution system.
"NIPC efforts have been hampered by
the skewed distribution and the uneven
playfield amongst industry players
but there is an opportunity to bring all
the players together and use the
bread industry as an example for business
sanity," said the EMCOZ senior
vice president.
Govt trims winter crop target
Kumbirai
Mafunda
Senior Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE has targeted 70 000 hectares
for wheat production in a desperate
bid to end chronic bread
shortages.
Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo told The Financial Gazette this
week that
the government would plant 70 000 hectares of wheat, which will be
put under
irrigation, during the winter planting season.
"We are
targeting to put 70 000 hectares of wheat this season," said Gumbo.
The new
target is a reduction from last year's ambitious target of 76 000
hectares.
The country failed to meet the crop target and ended up planting
45 000
hectares, almost half the targeted hectarage, because of a myriad of
problems among them frequent power cuts, poor planning and inputs
shortages.
Because of the reduced hectarage, Zimbabwe only harvested 144 000
metric
tonnes of wheat, its tiniest crop harvest since independence. This
output
was against projections of 400 000 metric tonnes required to meet the
country's annual domestic consumption.
Critics this week warned that the
targeted plant hectarage remained
unattainable owing to the same problems
dogging farming operations in the
country.
The critics warned that
erratic electricity supplies would once again
significantly slash the crop
hectarage and reduce the wheat harvest,
lurching the country further into a
crisis that could force it to resort to
imports.
Zimbabwe is grappling
with frequent power outages caused by a lack of
investment to expand local
power generation and foreign currency shortages
to import
electricity.
The country has suffered severe bread shortages since the
collapse of
commercial agricultural production in 2000.
The land grab
exercise has backfired as consumers are now importing bread
from
neighbouring Botswana, South Africa and Zambia.
Ill-informed price controls
imposed last June by the government have
worsened the bread shortages.
An
attempt to import 36 000 tonnes of wheat to augment dwindling supplies
hit a
snag after Mozambican authorities impounded the wheat consignment
after the
government failed to pay for the wheat stocks.
Millers' associations
close ranks
Staff Reporter
THE Millers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ)
would be disbanded this month with
its membership migrating to the Grain
Millers Association of Zimbabwe
(GMAZ), The Financial Gazette can
reveal.
MAZ mainly comprise the country's largest milling companies namely
National
Foods Limited (Natfoods), a subsidiary of Innscor Africa Limited,
Blue
Ribbon Industries (BRI) and Victoria Foods, owned by agro-industrial
giant
CFI Limited.
GMAZ has a membership numbering up to 200, largely
drawn from the small to
medium-size millers.
Sources revealed this week
that high-level talks between GMAZ and MAZ
executives were nearing
conclusion in what would see large and small millers
speak with one
voice.
The industry had previously been split into two categories after
small-scale
millers protested at what then appeared to be preferential
treatment MAZ was
giving to the big three, Natfoods, BRI and Victoria,
leading to the
formation of GMAZ.
"The disbandment of MAZ will strengthen
the effectiveness of GMAZ, which
will become an all-encompassing voice of
the milling industry.
We see this development further improving our lobby
initiatives by ensuring
that for once the industry speaks with one voice,"
said an industry source.
"While government had absolutely no problem with the
current arrangement, we
felt on our own that we were giving the Ministry of
Industry and
International Trade and the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission (NIPC),
among others, too much on their lap when we can make
their work much
easier," added the source.
The sources said the
existence of two lobby groups in the milling industry
was overloading the
NIPC and government, which had to sift through rims of
documentation from
GMAZ and MAZ when it could do with one position paper.
Contacted this week
for comment MAZ chairman Mike Manga said: "I can confirm
that development.
We want to achieve unity of purpose in pursuing industry
issues. Discussions
are in progress."
MAZ and GMAZ are expected to upraise officials at the
Industry Ministry of
the development next week.
Sources said GMAZ, whose
chairman Tafadzwa Musarara was said to be out of
the country on business,
was almost through with consultations among its
members with Bulawayo having
endorsed the absorption of MAZ members.
"The leadership of GMAZ has been to
Bulawayo to consult members in the
southern region and has done the same
thing with Harare. While that process
is still underway, they haven't come
across anything that could militate
against the incorporation of MAZ members
into GMAZ," added a source.
The merger is taking place at a time when
government has intensified its
crackdown against the milling industry, which
it is accusing of violating
price controls.
Last week Manga, who doubles
up as the group chief executive officer of BRI
was arrested for increasing
the price of flour without the NIPC's authority.
Manga's arrest, the second
arrest after a similar incident in February 2007,
followed hard on the heels
of the arrest of Natfoods managing director
Jeremy Brooke on similar charges
the previous week.
Brooke and Manga are currently on bail.
Millers are
currently grappling with severe shortages of grain, particularly
wheat and
maize, a situation that has been compounded by government's
reluctance to
offer them viable prices.
To beat the price controls and save their
operations from collapse, millers
have been asking buyers to pay separate
invoices for the controlled grain
and transport charges.
In October last
year, government de-registered more than 100 trading
licences citing alleged
violations of trading rules i.e. hoarding, side
marketing and overpricing of
maize meal. The millers were later
re-registering.
FinGaz
Mavis
Makuni
The headline, "Tsvangirai faction turns to police for assistance"
in the
March 17 issue of the state daily, The Herald, caught my eye because
it gave
the impression that there was something unusual about such an
occurrence.
The story was about an incident that is reported to have
taken place at a
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally in the
Kwekwe-Redcliff
constituency at which party leader Morgan Tsvangirai was
speaking. The
Herald reported that the rally was abandoned when the crowd of
2 000 people
objected to the introduction by Tsvangirai of Tapera Sengwene
as the
constituency candidate in the March 29 elections instead of Aaron
Chinhare.
Police are reported to have escorted Tsvangirai from the rally
.
My purpose in this piece is not to debate the events that occurred at the
rally as reported by the state daily but to focus on the role of the police
force as a national institution that is supposed to guarantee the safety and
protection of all Zimbabwean citizens The police are supposed to execute
their duties ethically and professionally regardless of the political
affiliation of the people involved. The intro of the state daily's story,
which reads: "The Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC faction, which has in the past
described the Zimbabwe Republic Police as partisan and unprofessional, is
turning to the force for assistance following incidents of violence during
its rallies", implies that because the MDC had criticised the police force
in the past, it should not have expected assistance.
This is wrong.
Stakeholders in this country who pay taxes have every right
to criticize the
police and other public servants when they are not
fulfilling their mandates
as expected. When the press and other stakeholders
express concern about the
conduct of the police force, they do so in the
hope that the shortcomings
identified in such criticisms are addressed for
the benefit of all. As a
journalist who writes about various issues, I
certainly do not expect the
expression of my views to be held against me if
I have to deal with an
institution I have written about before.
The same should apply to opposition
political parties. They should not be
"fixed" for commenting on the conduct
of government officials and
institutions. Neither should those in public
service be so insecure and
sensitive to criticism as to bear grudges and
feel the need to resort to
retributive action. It is well known that the
spotlight lingers on public
figures and officials and those who choose
politics as a career should
accept this. The public is entitled to take them
to task for their actions
and decisions.
The issue of police
professionalism is particularly critical during a period
such this one when
national elections are only a week away. The role of the
police should be to
guarantee peace and security so that every citizen who
wishes to cast his or
her ballot for candidates of his or her choice can do
so without any
apprehension. Unfortunately the police have not always
conducted themselves
ethically and professionally in dealing with political
issues and
situations.
It was a sad spectacle indeed that this month of March in which
Zimbabweans
are supposed to go to the polls to express their will about how
they want to
be governed also marked the first anniversary of one of the
most heinous
politically motivated acts perpetrated by the police. I refer
here to the
battering of opposition politicians and activists on March 11
last year.
Zimbabweans were reminded of the handiwork of law enforcement and
other
state security agents when those gruesome pictures of Morgan
Tsvangirai, the
leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and other
victims were
published in press advertisements inserted by various
groups.
The gallery of pictures of victims of state-sponsored violence
included the
swollen faces of Tsvangirai and Nelson Chamisa and the bandaged
and blood -
soaked head of a victim whose face was not shown. There were
also pictures
of the two women victims, Sekai Holland and Grace Kwinjeh with
broken bodies
and limbs to prove that police brutality knows no bounds. To
cap it all, the
advertisements reminded everyone of the unnecessary death of
Gift Tandare
during that onslaught.
It is incidents like these that give
the police a bad name and raise serious
questions about their
professionalism. As far as next week's elections are
concerned, the
impartiality of the police force has been put into further
doubt by the
statement of Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri who
has announced
that he will only accept the victory of President Robert
Mugabe in the
polls. Chihuri and the Commander of the Defence Forces,
General Constantine
Chiwenga and the Commissionerx of Zimbabwe Prison
Services Retired General
Paradzayi Zimondi have vowed that they will not
salute Makoni and Tsvangirai
if they win the presidential election.
What this actually means is that these
three top security chiefs are not
prepared to accept the expression of the
will of the people of Zimbabwe. The
people have the right to elect a
president of their choice next week. It can
be any of the three main
candidates, namely President Mugabe, Simba Makoni
and Morgan Tsvangirai. The
role of the army and other service arms is to
accept the choice of the
people. Elections are not about their preferences
but the expression of the
will of the people of Zimbabwe.
There would be no point in holding elections
if the will of the electorate
is to be subordinated to the wishes of service
chiefs. The disturbing
question that begs an answer only a week before the
crucial elections is
what will they do to ensure that the polls produce an
outcome to coincide
with their stated preferences regardless of the way the
electorate may vote?
FinGaz
Ken
Mufuka
Last week's article: Elections Are about Change, attracted
powerful
rejoinders from our readers. They demanded that the subject be
debated
further. Emails selected are only representative.
B.
Chibga is a ZANU-PF stalwart who suggested that in my article, which
appeared to him to have been sympathetic to Simba Makoni, I could have
compromised my integrity, or that I was detached from reality. His main
point is that: "We might be rural and backward, but to tell us that someone
who rebels against our party decision remains a member of the same party is
stretching things a bit. To even assume that he will have a clean sweep of
Matabeleland and Manicaland in the elections left me wondering whether you
actually know what you are talking about, or you just read some books
somewhere in America."
That prognosis was based on the following
observations by my researchers.
They concluded that the $50 000 gratuity
payments to war veterans marked the
watershed that separated Mukuru from the
electorate of Zimbabwe.
After that date, our researchers assert, Mukuru's
grip on power was
sustained, not by the legitimate organs of authority but
by the support he
derived from the war veterans. These veterans buttressed
this authority
through beatings, killings, threatening, land invasions and
the deaths of
hundreds of blacks and 11 whites caught in the maelstrom. I
agree with that
assessment.
Professor Jonathan Moyo uses 2006 as the
crucial year in which Mukuru was
left sitting on a "shell party" whose soul
had departed.
Coupled with voodoo economics and inflation at 100 000 percent
all sensible
men in ZANU-PF began to realise that their gains could be
negated if
Mukuru's tenure was prolonged. Dumiso Dabengwa does not put a
date on this
but says that conversations were carried on in South Africa.
All those
involved were in agreement that Mukuru must go, for the sake of
the party
and country.
They feared a "Chiluba." A Chiluba refers to the
Zambian situation where
Kenneth Kaunda overstayed in power and was
overthrown in an election by a
naïve and ignoramus newcomer, who gave away
the copper mines to the
imperialists for free.
Makoni's position, in our
opinion, would have been enhanced if the ZANU-PF
chiefs had openly declared
their interest in change rather than cower behind
some bushes in mortal fear
of Mukuru.
Our prediction was that at best, Makoni would master about one
quarter of
the electorate, thus making him the real challenger to Morgan
Tsvangirai.
There are only two choices in our opinion, Tsvangirai and
Makoni. The centre
of gravity in Zimbabwe is in the Harare and Mashona
provinces. Nominally,
Tsvangirai does well in Harare. Nobody can govern
Zimbabwe unless they
capture the majority of the three Mashona provinces.
That is where the
population density is. Mukuru's success depends on whether
the voters in the
Mashona provinces finally come into their
own.
Mukuru has been tried and tested. A continuation of a culture of
fear
through the war veterans combined with voodoo economics has failed to
resuscitate the economy.
We accept the premise that the British and the
Americans have closed all
international monetary lending avenues. No change
of government, no economic
rescue package. It is as simple as
that.
Takesure Zhowa asks: "Tell me, given that Simba is an independent
candidate,
if he wins what will be his composition of his
government?"
This will apply to Brother Tsvangirai as well. A corrosive ZANLA
culture has
permeated the whole populace. Brother Zhowa, in the event of a
change of
government all those shameless politicians who are now cursing
Tsvangirai
and Makoni will declare themsleves New ZANU-PF or shadow MDC.
"Taisapota
takawhanda. Vana vaidyei dai takabuda pachena." (We supported you
behind
doors. Our children had to eat.) Even Brother Chinotimba will
probably be
the first to "join the people."
This is sad but true.
S.
Biri says: "For a very long time I have been following up on your
articles
and wish to commend you for your unwavering support for a better
Zimbabwe."
Another brother asked: "Ken, what is your take on Tsvangirai?"
Tsvangirai is
as decent a man as one will ever come across in Zimbabwe
today, and it is
hoped that he will rise to the occasion when the call for
leadership comes.
His trade unionist credentials make him a consensus
builder. Trade Unions
have a tradition of consultations.
Mukuru has
called Tsvangirai a "tea boy" and of course a puppet of the
Anglo-Americans.
It does not matter how many tea cups he has served, as long
as he has served
them with honesty and vision. Tsvangirai understands the
basic premise that
a lawless and extralegal atmosphere cannot be the basis
of a prosperous
Zimbabwe. Those with doctorates don't understand the
simplest fundamentals.
That he will need a think tank does not in any way
subtract anything from
his leadership. US President Ronald Reagan was a
better leader than
President Jimmy Carter precisley because the former
confessed his ignorance
while the later poked his nose into everything.
Tsvangirai's problems stem
from the ZANLA syndrome, people who see and use
positions as a means of
acquiring privileges and a secure place in the food
chain, "kudya" (to eat).
They therefore worship the leader and utterly spoil
him, behaving like his
wives (Margaret Dongo's words) failing to tell the
truth to power, and
elevating leaders into demi-gods.
Ken Mufuka is a professor at Lander
University (USA). He can be reached at:
kenmufuka@yahoo.com.
FinGaz
Comment
THE unprecedented
expansion in domestic debt levels this year, caused mainly
by intensifying
government borrowing, is indeed a very worrying development.
As reported
by The Financial Gazette last week, the stock of domestic debt
held by
government increased from $60 trillion on February 1, 2008 to $1.4
quadrillion by February 29, 2008.
The debt level stood at $21 trillion on
January 1, 2008.
This week, new statistics reveal that domestic debt has
soared to a new
record high of $1.6 quadrillion in the first week of
March.
This is very unsettling for obvious reasons.
The debt burden has
the effect of slowing down the economy.
Now, considering that Zimbabwe's
economy has been in the doldrums for nine
successive years, the effect of
this huge debt level is too ghastly to
contemplate.
Firstly, the debt is
coming at a very huge cost. As reported again elsewhere
in this issue,
interest on treasury bill instruments, the most common debt
instrument for
the government, amounts to $692 trillion, against a principal
TB borrowing
of $233 trillion.
Essentially, a large part of government revenue is going
towards servicing
the debt, and this significantly limits the capacity for
public spending on
critical areas like health, education and other social
services, including
even infrastructure projects like road
construction.
This partly explains why the country's public health delivery
system has
collapsed while its education system has deteriorated
significantly to the
extent that it has turned out to be a huge bother even
to those employed to
teach in the country's class rooms.
Our roads are
also in a state of disrepair, with hundreds of lives being
lost every year
due to accidents caused by potholes on the major highways.
The cost of
vehicle maintenance has also increased markedly as a result of
the poor
state of the country's road infrastructure.
Secondly, if the government
finances its budget by borrowing excessively
from the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, it propels money printing or money
creation, which stokes money
supply growth.
Money supply is the generation of new money, in other words,
an additional
stock to money already in circulation.
Large-scale money
printing propels high inflation, which is the equivalent
of a drastic loss
of the purchasing power of money.
Inflation touched a high of 100 580.2
percent year-on-year for December
2007, a world record for a country not at
war.
The inflation rate is projected to have reached fresh records in the
months
of January and February.
The central bank has previously warned
that money supply growth levels were
currently too high for the size of our
economy.
Thirdly, and certainly the most worrying aspect to a leadership
concerned
with the future of the country's young and future generations, is
what it is
bequeathing to the next generation in terms of the debt burden
and its
effect on their welfare.
The current accumulation of excessive
debt might entail high servicing costs
in future, will effectively come in
the form of punitive taxation levels to
future generations.
Considering
that Zimbabweans are already among the world's most heavily
taxed citizens,
it boggles the mind to think of what this will entail.
Fourthly, excessive
domestic debt levels inevitably affect the country's
credit rating and the
cost of any future offshore borrowings.
The country's credit rating is
already too bad, and offshore credit lines,
including commercial ones, have
been cut off because of a worsening economic
crisis.
Apparently, there
are already signs debt servicing has already become an
issue on the domestic
market.
Of the current government debt stock, $13 trillion is already
outstanding, a
sign that the government's default risk is increasing with
the accumulation
of more debt.
Multilateral financial institutions like
the International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank have also ceased offering
balance of payments support to the
Zimbabwe government.
Apparently, this
is the primary reason why government has intensified its
recourse to
domestic sources of financing and in the process taking no due
regard of the
consequences of such increased domestic debt levels.
The government has
entirely depended on domestic sources to finance its
ever-increasing budget
deficits, resulting in more money printing.
Yet the pressure is
increasing.
Fuel is in short supply, as are maize meal, the country's staple
food, most
of the basic commodities such as sugar and cooking oil, as well
as foreign
currency. These shortages have spawned informal markets for
everything,
including fuel and foreign currency.
It is imperative that
government adopts a sound debt management policy to
curtail the continued
expansion of domestic debt and turn around the country's
economy.
The
major problem is that government is spending more than it earns in
revenue,
forcing it to meet this through excessive borrowing.
But for the sake of
future generations, it should start living within its
means.
Vote Makoni for real change
EDITOR -
As we approach the elections, Zimbabweans need to do some serious
introspection and ask themselves what kind of Zimbabwe they want to see
after March 29. Do we want to maintain the status quo or do we want to see a
change for the better in our standard of living?
The emergence of Simba
Makoni as a presidential candidate has added a new
dimension to this
question. This is because for the first time, real change
is manifestly
possible with his election victory. No doubt, he has got the
thumbs up from
all Zimbabweans itching for real economic, social and
political
change.
The reason why this is likely requires that we look at the
capabilities of
the other candidates. Obviously, voting for President Robert
Mugabe means a
continuation of the current suffering and maintenance of the
dictatorial
style of governance. It is of no use and a sheer waste of time
discussing
real change being possible under President Mugabe.
On the
other hand, Morgan Tsvangirai's candidature this time around exudes
no hope
for real change. Since 2000, the man has been facing a decline in
the number
of votes for his party. This state of affairs will not change for
him.
Secondly, his support base is only in the urban areas of Harare,
Mutare,
Masvingo, Kwekwe and Kadoma. This is too thin a support base to win
a
presidential election.
Thirdly, he has made no effort to campaign in
the rural areas of Mashonaland
and in particular, Mashonaland Central, East
and West, which are the largest
and most populous provinces in the country.
In fact, he commands no support
in the rural areas of
Mashonaland.
Finally, he has made no overtures to ZANU-PF supporters or
opinion leaders
to capture the vote of this group of disillusioned
voters.
On that analysis alone, the Makoni factor becomes ever so enticing.
Here is
a candidate who arguably has the largest electoral support of all
urbanites
in the country. Powered by an alliance with Aurthur Mutambara, he
adds on
the Matabeleland MDC support base rural and urban. In fact, the
Makoni-Mutambara combination is a match made in heaven.
With the
discontent in ZANU-PF, he takes a huge chunk of the ZANU-PF support
base
both in the urban and rural areas, particularly in the vital
Mashonaland
provinces. You then have a recipe for electoral victory coming
the way of
Makoni and real change coming the way of long suffering
Zimbabweans. Even a
run-off is a distinct impossibility.
Zimbabweans reading this have to soak
this into their hearts and ask
themselves what it is that they want. Voting
for Tsvangirai only means
registering a protest vote against the regime. It
does not translate to
electoral victory. It simply maintains the status quo
and hands victory back
to President Mugabe because Tsvangirai will not win
the election rigged or
not rigged. On the other hand, a vote for Makoni
guarantees victory and real
change.
There are no questions about his
capability to lead, govern and gain
confidence and trust from the security
organs of the State. Regionally and
internationally, he is well
respected.
So, if we want real change, what do we as Zimbabweans do on March
29? We all
go to the polling stations and vote for Simba Makoni. In order to
help him
form a government, we vote for Mutamabara-aligned MDC candidates
since they
are in alliance. Where there are individuals appearing as
independents
aligning themselves to Makoni, we vote for them too. The
ZANU-PF side of
things where there are the so-called moderates, will take
care of it self.
If we do this, we can all wake up after the results have
been announced, to
a new era of decent living and democratic governance, to
a return of true
dignity in our homes, regionally and internationally.
To
vote for Tsvangirai means a continuation of our suffering because he will
do
what he did in 2002 after the presidential election - nothing. He will
live
in perpetual opposition while the stock of Zimbabweans continues to
suffer.
So, vote for Makoni for real
change.
Realist
Harare
-------------
State media has failed
us
EDITOR - The announcement by the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings (ZBH) that
they are ready to give fair airplay to all political
parties in the
forthcoming harmonised elections is an insult.
The
Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) notes with great concern the
polarisation of the media in the country. Opening up the airwaves just 22
days before the election day could never undo the harmful effects of
pervasive state propaganda in favour of the ruling party over a sustained
period dating back to the year 2000 when draconian pieces of legislation,
which are not friendly to the media, were crafted.
ZBH wants to fool the
world to portray a false image that they are adhering
to the SADC principles
and guidelines for the conduct of democratic
elections. The SADC principles
and guidelines stipulate that there should be
equal access to the state
media for all parties.
The coverage of political news in the state media
remains skewed in favour
of ZANU-PF. The party has always been campaigning
through the state media
and it is grossly unfair to give the opposition very
little time to access
the electronic media.
The Broadcasting Services Act
only states that it will provide equal
opportunity rather than equal access
to the state media, Article 2: 2.1.5.
The state media has failed the citizens
of Zimbabwe, and has cast the
imposing image of an inescapable barrier to
the development of a culture of
openness, freely available and accessible
information, stimulating
non-partisan debate led by impartial facilitators,
which is essential to the
production of an educated, enlightened, critical
and responsible voting
public.
We, however, feel sorry for the rural folk
who have no other media
alternative and have been susceptible to
manipulation from the overdoses of
propaganda being churned out for a number
of years.
What is surprising now is the vast media coverage in the state
media
President Mugabe and ZANU-PF are being accorded. Instead of marketing
himself to the people, President Mugabe has been attacking his opponents
using hate language.
We condemn the abuse of state resources by the
ruling party and warn that
the day of reckoning is at hand. We appeal to
SADC, AU and the UN to
urgently look into and take note of the pre-election
developments in the
country.
The elections should be put in the world
spotlight and it should not come as
a surprise when consequences of a rigged
poll manifest themselves.
To President Mugabe, we say: "Beware of the ides of
March".
Blessing Vava
Information and Publicity
Secretary
ZINASU
---------
Urgent appeal to all Zim election
observers
Dear Observer,
YOU have been invited to
Zimbabwe to observe and report on our elections.
You have to understand the
importance of this mission.
The people of Zimbabwe are in a desperate
struggle for survival. Over three
million people have fled our country in an
effort to try to provide for the
loved ones they have left behind.
The
majority of the people that are left behind are subjected to
unbelievable
conditions. We have the highest rate of inflation in the world
at over 100
000 percent and our economy is in a free fall.
Most of our children have not
had any teachers at their schools for the
second half of last year and all
of the first term this year. Huge numbers
of these teachers have left the
country, the few that are left are on
strike.
Our unemployment rate is
well over 80 percent. Our health system has totally
collapsed, people are
being sent home to die. Medicines and drugs are in
short supply and the
small amount available is only affordable by the rich
elite.
Over four
million people urgently need food aid. Most people are unable to
afford
basic foods as the prices soar on a daily basis. Our life expectancy
has
plummeted to the lowest in the world. The average man can only expect to
live till 37 and the average woman will die by the time she reaches
34.
Our people are subjected to a brutal army and police force instructed to
crush all opposition politicians with indiscriminate arrests, torture and
beatings.
The government has trained a youth brigade that specialises in
theft, rape
and murder. Our leaders and their cronies do not care about the
people, they
only care about how much wealth they can muster out of a
stricken nation.
They are all like vultures feeding on a carcass.
Some
African leaders and their people see President Robert Mugabe as a hero
and
applaud him for what he has done over the past 28 years. They must
surely be
unaware of what he has done and is doing to his people.
He is a man who
openly brags about his "degrees" in violence. He has had his
political
opponents arrested, beaten up and tortured.
On behalf of the people of
Zimbabwe, we ask you to please understand that
you are not here to play some
kind of a game. Your job is a vital and
important part for the future of the
people of this country.
The authorities will try to hoodwink, bribe or
manipulate you into reporting
all is well and above board. You will need to
look past these so-called
officials and get in amongst the people on the
ground.
It will not take long to come up with the truth. The people of
Zimbabwe
cannot survive another five years of this brutal
government.
Honesty and integrity is all we ask for. Please, please help
us!
D Zulu
--------------
Civic society leaders
disappointing
EDITOR - I feel that we are being let down by
our civic society leaders. Why
I say so is in reference to Lovemore
Madhuku's article on March 8 with
regard to Simba Makoni's entry into the
race for State House.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with Makoni's challenge
to Morgan Tsvangirai
and President Mugabe. We as the electorate have the
ultimate power to decide
who must lead us and not Madhuku.
I fail to find
the relevance of the NCA if its leader does not want to form
his own
political party or openly join Tsvangirai. Who told him we should
love
Tsvangirai if we are not for President Mugabe?
The problem with Madhuku is
that he seems to have been caught in this
dangerous trait of cultic worship.
Cult leaders like President Mugabe and
Tsvangirai ward off any challenge
even from those who might wish to express
different opinions.
How can
Madhuku account for Tsvangirai's direct actions of defying his own
executive
in October 2005, which led to the split of the MDC? Here
Tsvangirai only
took advantage of his "popularity" with the bulk of his cult
worshippers and
vetoed the majority decision.
Anyway, we aren't going to be swayed by
Madhuku's irresponsible article in
your balanced newspaper.
Geofreey
Masvino