The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
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Speaking through their lawyers this week, the directors
said they feared for
their safety.
"We are being tried and found
guilty in the media. We have done nothing
wrong and are not fugitives from
justice," said the directors in a statement
issued through their lawyers.
"Without the necessary constitutional
assurances, it would be difficult for
us to defend ourselves publicly and
fairly through the legal system," they
said.
The directors, all believed to be now in the UK, said they
would "make their
next move" after getting security
guarantees.
"After the requisite assurance has been made by the
police publicly, we
would be in a position to consider our next move," they
said
Police spokesman Ass Commiss-ioner Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday said
the
police wanted to arrest the directors.
"We do not deal with
lawyers," said Bvudzijena. "We deal with the
individual, we go for the
individual. I can confirm that we want to arrest
them (NMB directors) so that
we can interview them regarding their case," he
said.
The NMB
board in a statement this week said LTB was not a subsidiary of the
bank as
has been reported in the media.
"Contrary to what has been reported
in the press, neither LTB Money
Transfers nor LTB Finance House are
subsidiaries of the bank and the bank is
not a shareholder in either
company," the statement said.
The board meanwhile has announced the
appointment of Dr David Hatendi as
acting managing director and Mario Dos
Remedios as acting finance director
in the interim.
The Zimbabwe
Independent esta-blished that the directors have written to
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono to complain about the
handling of their
case. Insiders at the RBZ said an executive of LTB, a Mr
Friedlander,
together with Mushore, met Gono in Harare last Wednesday to
explain the
nature of his business and the relationship between LTB and NMB.
But
investi-gations had already started.
RBZ sources said the decision by
the police to arrest NMB directors on
charges of externalising foreign
currency was taken despite the fact that an
initial probe had cleared the
bank of any offence.
Banking sources said the full NMB saga was not
being told.
The directors said in December last year NMB submitted to the
central bank's
Exchange Control an application for permission to conduct
money transfer
business in respect of non-resident Zimba-bweans through LTB.
LTB collected
foreign currency from Zimbabweans abroad with a view to
effecting Zimbabwe
dollar payments to named beneficiaries in
Zimbabwe.
LTB disposed of its foreign currency through authorised
dealers. NMB was
then provided with Zimbabwe dollar equivalent which was
disbursed to
Zimbabwean beneficiaries on LTB's instructions. NMB generated an
income from
the administration of the Zimbabwe dollar payments. It is
believed the
arrangement brought into the country at least £3
million.
There was further panic in the banking sector this week
after it emerged
that the majority of financial institutions in Zimbabwe
operate money
transfer businesses through foreign-registered insti-tutions.
At least four
banks in Zimbabwe have had direct dealings with
LTB.
The Independent this week heard that an investigation carried
out by Chief
Supt Nicholas Mhene of the Fraud Squad initially concluded that
there was no
externalisation of forex but that NMB might have helped LTB,
a
British-registered company, to trade in foreign currency. The team,
sources
said, has since been joined by Chief Supt Musariri Mabunda amid
allegations
that the new man has replaced Mhene as head of the
investigation.
Mhene yesterday said "nothing has changed" and that he
was still in charge
of the case.
Mhene's team, together with the
Reserve Bank's investigators, Mukurazhizha
and Mathe, initially raided NMB
Bank on Monday last week and took away a
number of files.
Police
returned to the bank later in the day and took away with them
Oliver
Mutsekwa, a back office manager, on the pretext that they wanted
to
interview him in connection with a fraud case which occurred in Masvingo.
On
Wednesday last week the bank's assistant general manager
(international
banking) Cecilia Muronda and general manager (treasury)
Learnmore Chatima
were also taken to Central Police Station for
questioning.
Last Thursday police armed with AK47 assault rifles
visited the homes of the
directors trying to effect an arrest but failed to
locate them.
The following day, police sealed the offices of NMB Bank
demanding to see
the directors who were not present. In the evening police
announced on
television they were looking for the
directors.
Makoni, bank sources said, was already in the United
Kingdom on holiday
while Mushore is believed to have slipped out of the
country via Kariba into
Zambia, then to South Africa before he joined
Makoni.
Police have since impounded Mushore's Mercedes Benz M Class
SUV in Kariba.
His two other Mercedes Benz saloons which were being serviced
at Zimoco were
also impounded on Tuesday.
Zim Independent
President tightens decree
Dumisani Muleya/Blessing
Zulu
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has further tightened the decree on the
detention of
suspects to ensure that no bail is granted for 21 days in
circumstances
where there are prima facie grounds for a charge.
Before
the decree was amended suspects could not apply for bail for 14 days
in
matters where there was a prima facie case. Suspects will however still
be
detained for seven days where there is no prima facie case regardless of
the
amendment.
The first Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures)
(Amendment of Criminal
Procedure and Evidence Act) regulations were contained
in Statutory
Instrument (SI) 37 of 2004 promulgated on February
13.
The latest amendment, SI 41, is said to have come into effect on
February
20.
The original version says a "judge or magistrate
shall order his (suspect's)
further detention or issue a warrant for his
further detention for a period
of twenty-one days (unless the charge is
earlier withdrawn), and no court
shall admit such person to bail for a period
of fourteen days from the date
when an order or warrant for his further
detention" is issued.
According to the new one, "unless the charge or
charges against him
(suspect) are earlier withdrawn, (he shall) remain in
detention for seven or
21 days, as the case may be, from the date when an
order or warrant for his
further detention was issued . no court shall admit
such a person to bail
during that period".
Meanwhile, lawyers for
jailed Zanu PF central committee member and Telecel
chair James Makamba, who
is facing allegations of illegally externalising
foreign currency, have
challenged the presidential decree.
Makamba, who has spent 25 days in
detention, was arrested on February 9 and
first appeared in court on February
14. Since then he has been trying to
secure bail and a hearing on the mater
continues today in the High Court.
In his application to the Supreme
Court on Wednesday, Makamba's lawyer,
Sternford Moyo, said Mugabe's recent
edict was "unconstitutional, null and
void".
"The applicant
(Makamba) respectfully submits that these regulations are
unconstitutional in
that they allow the executive to usurp judicial
functions in violation of
Section 79 of the constitution," Moyo said.
"They violate the
presumption of innocence contained in Section 18
subsection 3 of the
constitution."
Moyo said Mugabe's regulations "render ineffective the
right of an accused
to be brought before a court as contained in section 13
subsection 4 of the
constitution".
President Mugabe recently used
his emergency powers to amend the Criminal
Procedure and Evidence Act to
ensure people arrested on suspicion of
specific commercial crimes are
detained for up to two weeks without bail
where there is a prima facie
case.
Moyo said the changes purported to "substitute the opinion of a
policeman
for that of a judicial officer and thereby allow the executive to
usurp
judicial functions".
"The resultant situation is injurious
to the administration of justice and
the reputation of the judiciary and the
image of the country," Moyo said.
"The country will, inevitably, be perceived
as a police state."
Zim Independent
Gift to Mugabe has opened way for dialogue -
Deuschle
Itai Dzamara
PASTOR Tom Deuschle of Hear the Word Ministries,
recently criticised for
giving President Robert Mugabe a $30 million gift,
believes his gesture has
opened avenues for national dialogue and led Mugabe
to admit failure.
The barrage of criticism came from Zimbabweans both
at home and abroad
following a report in the Zimbabwe Independent in January
on the money
raised by the church in Harare to give to Mugabe as a
present.
Deuschle led a delegation of 20 members of his church a
fortnight ago to
present the gift to the Zanu PF leader. Deuschle sounded
confident in an
interview on Wednesday that his church's gesture, which he
says has already
been embraced by other church leaders in the country, would
lead to national
dialogue.
"The country is polarised," he said.
"We have a serious crisis. As a church
we should help bring peace in
Zimbabwe," said Deuschle.
"By giving the gift to the president we
didn't mean to endorse his policies
but to engage him in dialogue. It is
unprecedented (the gift) in this
country and the president acknowledged that.
He publicly admitted that his
government had failed on the economy, the land
reform and other national
issues. That is a major disclosure and confession
by the head of state and
we can now move on from there."
Deuschle,
whose church constructed a state of the art complex - Celebration
Centre - in
the affluent suburb of Borrowdale, said after Mugabe's
admission, his
delegation made it clear to him that a leader who ignored
God's ways was
doomed to fail.
"We made it clear to the head of state that any
family head or government
that disobeys God's ways in its policies would fail
and that is the
situation Zimbabwe finds itself in. But the question is how
to move on from
there. Must we continue demonising each
other?"
After presenting the gift to Mugabe, Deuschle said, his
church has been
engaging other church leaders to create dialogue at a
national level that
includes the government, the opposition MDC and civil
society.
"We have had many meetings with church leaders in Harare and
Bulawayo
such as Archbishop (Pius) Ncube (of the Catholic Church Bulawayo
Diocese).
We are trying to initiate dialogue in the country. There has been a
mixed
response to our approach from members of society but we will do our
best to
bring peace in this country," he said.
"Basically Mugabe
said that the church should be the ears and eyes of the
nation. He urged us
to co-ordinate with our colleagues and play a major role
in bringing peace
and restoring prosperity to the country through dialogue,"
Deuschle said.
Zim Independent
Gono's appeal shot down
Augustine Mukaro
DONORS
have shot down Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono's appeal for help
in
implementing his monetary policy, saying government should first create
a
conducive environment for political dialogue and economic
growth.
Gono has been meeting diplomats in Harare over the past two
weeks to soften
donors' hard-line position on Zimbabwe and to convince
financiers to open
new lines of credit as well as provide balance of payment
support.
Diplomatic sources who attended Gono's luncheons said donors
would be
meeting soon to "make a collective response" to the governor's
request.
"As Zimbabwe already owes its creditors, the first thing will be
to demand a
convincing debt repayment plan with government commitment," the
diplomat
said.
"We would also demand a workable plan for the
creation of a viable economy
and a return to the rule of law. We want a
culture of accountability and
credibility which respects democratic values
and principles."
A Japanese embassy spokesman this week confirmed
meeting Gono together with
other diplomats but would not give details of what
transpired.
"We pay respect to the monetary policy and financial reforms
which Gono has
undertaken and wish success of it," the spokesman
said.
"However, an environment which is conducive to the
international community
to extend its support to Zimbabwe must be developed
through economic and
political reforms."
Sources said diplomats
were in the process of forming a taskforce that would
lobby for the
implementation of their demands by the government and
other
stakeholders.
"We are proposing to set up a diplomatic
taskforce that will monitor
government's commitment and progress on our
demands. The taskforce will then
recommend to the international community as
and when the environment is
fine," the diplomat said.
At
diplomatic luncheons hosted by the United Nations Development Programme
and
the Sudanese embassy last week, Gono appealed for donors' support for
what he
called "self-correction measures".
Sources said Gono's appeal was
aimed at urging donors mainly in Europe,
Japan and the United States to
soften their demands for a political
settlement before opening lines of
credit.
Donors insist the 1998 donors conference recommendations on
land reform
should be revisited, effectively meaning that they are not
accepting the
current mode of agrarian reform despite Zimbabwe's frantic
efforts to
cover-up serious discrepancies through legislative changes.
Zim Independent
'Mugabe trying to divide MDC' - Tsvangirai
Dumisani
Muleya
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has accused President Robert Mugabe of
trying
to divide his party along ethnic lines.
Tsvangirai said in
an interview that Mugabe was trying to drive a wedge
between MDC leaders from
Mashonaland and those from Matabeleland for
political gain.
"The
whole strategy is to divide the MDC along regional lines. He wants to
say
'you Ndebele guys come and let's talk' in order to divide our party,"
he
said.
"But it's a non-starter because our leaders from
Matabeleland know they are
national leaders and not regional barons. We can
see through his political
shenanigans."
In a pre-recorded
interview with state television last week, Mugabe said the
opposition MDC
comprised "very shallow" and some "well-disposed" people who
have got
depth.
"What I might say is that there are some good people in the
MDC, some
well-disposed persons who look at things differently from how
Tsvangirai
looks at them," Mugabe said.
"I didn't know, it's
unfortunate that the depth of understanding and
appreciation of some of the
members of the MDC is very shallow. Those of
them with deeper depth are the
ones who would want discussion and we
encouraged those to discuss with our
own people, progressive ideas."
Mugabe said talks were problematic
because those with "shallow ideas" in the
MDC were resisting "certain
conclusions" of those with depth and "this is
the
difficulty".
However, Tsvangirai said Mugabe wanted to clinch another
Unity Accord by
dividing the MDC. He said his party would resist manipulation
on ethnic
lines.
"They are trying to create imaginary division in
the MDC but we are closing
ranks in light of those purported differences," he
said. "He wants to divide
the party through Unity Accord II and move forward
on his own terms."
Tsvangirai dismissed as fabricated recent state
media reports that MDC
secretary-general Welshman Ncube wanted to resign over
the selection of a
candidate for the forthcoming Zengeza parliamentary
by-election.
Ncube himself said that was false. He said such stories
smacked of "divide
and rule tactics".
MDC officials say there have
been attempts by Zanu PF since the 2000
parliamentary election to use
primitive ethnic manipulation to undermine the
MDC. They say this strategy
lies at the heart of unsubstantiated claims that
Ncube wants to oust
Tsvangirai from party leadership.
Those who believe in ethnic
jugglery, the MDC says, think the claims that
Ncube wants to depose
Tsvangirai will alienate voters in Mashonaland from
the opposition.
Zim Independent
Zanu PF refutes BBC torture camps reports
Dumisani
Muleya
ZANU PF has dismissed as "blatant lies" BBC reports that it has set
up
training camps to drill youths on how to torture and kill its
opponents
ahead of next year's general election.
Zanu PF spokesman
Nathan Shamuyarira said there was "no truth whatsoever" in
the BBC
documentary shown on Sunday saying President Robert Mugabe's party
was
training youths as terror gangsters.
"Those are blatant lies by
imperialist agents who peddle falsehoods about
our country and government,"
Shamuyarira said. "There is no truth whatsoever
in that."
The BBC
showed in its Panorama programme what it called an undercover film.
Its
correspondent Hillary Andersson said the international broadcaster and
human
rights groups had talked to nearly 100 young people who had spent time
at the
training camps.
About half of the girls and women interviewed said
they were regularly raped
during the training at what Mugabe's regime calls
"job training centres",
the BBC said.
One woman, identified only
as Debbie, said she was raped nightly for six
months after being forced into
a camp at the age of 20. She contracted HIV
and fell pregnant before fleeing
to South Africa.
"They said no one can complain because it's part of
training," she told the
programme.
A teenager whose name was not
given said she was raped every night and
ordered to take part in the murder
of an elderly woman.
"She was screaming. She even messed herself
until she died," the teenager
said. "I beat her also."
The BBC
said: "It is all part of a horrific process designed to mould youths
loyal to
Robert Mugabe and his party."
However, Shamuyarira replied: "That is
a lie which they are spreading
worldwide."
The opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) and human rights groups
have complained about
youths trained at such places as the Border Gezi
Training Centre whom they
accuse of terrorising opposition supporters.
Some training centres are in
Mount Darwin, Bindura, Masvingo,
Zvishavane and
Kamativi.
Government claims the centres are there to equip youths
with vocational
skills, while its critics say they are there to churn out
"shock troops".
The MDC has said the graduates from the centres, who are
indoctrinated with
Zanu PF anti-colonial propaganda to defend government,
were responsible for
the widespread political violence since
2000.
It has accused the militant youths, known as "Green Bombers"
because of
their green attire, of helping government to rig the disputed
2002
presidential poll.
The BBC said Mugabe had visited the camps
and was aware of what was going
on.
The documentary said six camps
housed thousands of Zimbabweans aged between
11 and 30 and that an estimated
50 000 youths had already been trained.
Zim Independent
MDC youths to protest for electoral reforms
Itai
Dzamara
AS debate rages in the MDC on whether or not to participate in next
year's
parliamentary election, the party's youth wing has resolved to
stage
protests demanding electoral reforms.
Opposition MDC
national youth chairman Nelson Chamisa revealed in an
interview on Wednesday
that the youth league's national executive had at a
recent meeting endorsed
party leader Morgan Tsvangirai's position calling
for electoral
reforms.
Chamisa said the push for electoral amendments could only be
done through
"democratic means of protest" considering the hard-line stance
of President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF in engaging the
opposition.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa last week said there
would be no
electoral amendments ahead of the poll scheduled for March.
Chinamasa said
elections would be held under the current system and alleged
that the MDC
feared defeat.
Tsvangirai has said although
consultation in the party continues over the
issue of next year's election,
the party position is to demand electoral
amendments. He said the MDC would
contest the election only under a set of
minimum conditions that could
guarantee a free and fair election.
"We subscribe to the party
position that we should contest next year's
election but only after
amendments to the electoral system that create
minimum conditions for a free
and fair election," Chamisa said.
"But it is incumbent upon us as the
youth movement in the party to actively
campaign for electoral amendments. We
have therefore resolved to stage,
starting soon, peaceful protests until the
regime agrees to amendments."
The Kuwadzana legislator said the youth
league would have to defy repressive
laws designed to close the democratic
space.
"Our challenge is to disobey the instruments of repression
meant to close
the democratic space and to enable Zanu PF to rig elections.
We have to go
the (Lovemore NCA chairman) Madhuku way of disobeying laws such
as Posa and
engage the regime head-on," he said.
"The masses are
agitated and disillusioned," Chamisa said. "We have to make
Mugabe shift his
position."
Chamisa, who was on a tour of neighbouring countries
recently, said the MDC
youth wing had been mobilising members and colleagues
in Sadc countries.
"We are coordinating international pressure and
have already planned to have
demonstrations staged in countries such as South
Africa and Botswana
simultaneously with our own protests in order to engage
regional leaders in
this democratic struggle," he said.
Zim Independent
Bank of England adopts new EU list on Zim
Staff
Writer
THE Bank of England (BOE) has adopted the revised European Union list
on
Zimbabweans slapped with targeted sanctions over repression and human
rights
abuses in Zimbabwe.
BOE on Tuesday issued an addendum to
the original notice on Zimbabwe on the
EU's renewed measures against
President Robert Mugabe and 94 of his
associates who are on the 15-member
bloc's black-list.
The EU unanimously renewed its sanctions on
February 25 for another year,
saying the crisis in Zimbabwe has remained
largely unchanged.
Sanctions, which include a travel ban, asset-freeze
and an arms embargo,
were first imposed in February 2002. They were renewed
last year and last
month for a year.
BOE said its supplement to
the financial sanctions on Mugabe and his cronies
was to update the EU
blacklist lodged with the bank.
"The purpose of this supplement,
which is issued in accordance with the
powers delegated by HM (Her Majesty's)
Treasury, is to advise of the
addendum to council regulation no 314/2004
issued by the European Union on
25 February 2004," the bank
said.
"The prohibition against making funds or economic resources
available shall
not prevent the crediting of frozen accounts by financial
institutions that
receive funds transferred by third parties to the account
of the listed
person or entity, provided that any addition to such accounts
is also
frozen."
The bank said financial institutions are required
to inform it of any such
transactions.
Here is the EU list of
Mugabe and his lieutenants under targeted sanctions:
1.Mugabe Robert
Gabriel - President, born 21.2.1924
2. Buka Flora Minister - of State
in Vice-President's Office, born 25.2.1968
-3. Bonyongwe Happyton -
Director-General Central Intelligence Organisation,
born 6.11.1960
-
4. Chapfika David - Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic
Development
5. Charamba George - Permanent Secretary Department for
Information and
Publicity, born 4.4.1963
6. Charumbira Fortune
Zefanaya - Deputy Minister for Local Government,
Public Works and National
Housing, born 10.6.1962
7.Chigwedere Aeneas Soko - Minister of Education,
Sports and Culture, born
25.11.1939
8. Chihuri Augustine - Police
Commissioner, born 10.3.1953
9. Chikowore Enos - Zanu PF Politburo
Secretary for Land and Resettlement,
born 1936
10. Chinamasa Patrick
Anthony - Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs, born
25.1.1947
11. Chindori-Chininga Edward Takaruza - former Minister of
Mines, born
14.3.1955
- 12. Chipanga Tongesai Shadreck - Deputy
Minister of Home Affairs
13. Chiwenga Constantine - Commander Zimbabwe
Defence Forces, General, born
25.8.1956
14. Chiwewe Willard - Senior
Secretary in the President's born 19.3.1949
15. Chombo Ignatius Morgan
Chiminya - Minister of Local Government, Public
Works and National Housing,
born 1.8.1952
16. Dabengwa Dumiso - Zanu PF Politburo Member, born
1939
17. Goche Nicholas Tasunungurwa - Minister of State for National
Security in
the President's Office, born 1.8.1946
- 18. Gula-Ndebele
Sobuza - Chairman of Electoral Supervisory Commission
19. Gumbo Rugare
Eleck Ngidi - Minister of State for State Enterprises and
Parastatals in the
President's Office born 8.3.1940
20. Hove Richard - Zanu PF Politburo
Secretary for Economic Affairs, born
1935
- 21. Hungwe Josaya Dunira -
Provincial Governor: Masvingo, born 7.11.1935
- 22. Kangai Kumbirai -
Zanu PF Politburo Committee Member, born 17.2.1938
23.Karimanzira David
Ishe-munyoro Godi - Zanu PF Politburo Secretary for
Finance, born
25.5.1947
24. Kasukuwere Saviour - Zanu PF Politburo Deputy-Secretary for
Youth
Affairs, born 23.10.1970
25.Kuruneri Christopher Ticha-ona -
Minister of Finance and Economic
Development, born 4.4.1949
- 26.
Langa Andrew - Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications
27. Lesabe
Thenjiwe V - Zanu PF Politburo Secretary for Women's Affairs,
born
1933
28. Machaya Jason Max Kokerai - Deputy Minister of Mines and
Mining
Development, born 13.6.1952
29. Made Joseph Mtakwese - Minister
of Agriculture and Rural Development,
born 21.11.1954
30. Madzongwe
Edna - Zanu PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Production and
Labour, born
11.7.1943
31. Mahofa Shuvai Ben - Deputy Minister for Youth Development,
Gender and
Employment Creation, born 4.4.1941
- 32. Mahoso Tafataona -
Chair, Media and Information Commission
33. Makoni Simbarashe - Zanu PF
Politburo Deputy Secretary General for
Economic Affairs, born
22.3.1950
34. Malinga Joshua - Zanu PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for
Disabled and
Disadvantaged, born 28.4.1944
35. Mangwana Paul
Munyaradzi - Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare born
10.8.1961
36.Mangwende Witness Pasichigare Madunda - Provincial Governor:
Harare born
15.10.1946
37. Manyika Elliot Tapfumanei - Minister
without Portfolio, born 30.7.1955
38. Manyonda Kenneth Vhundukai - Deputy
Minister of Industry and
International Trade, born 10.8.1934
39.
Marumahoko Rueben - Deputy Minister of Energy and Power Development,
born
4.4.1948
- 40. Masawi Ephrahim Sango - Provincial Governor: Mashonaland
Central
41. Masuku Angeline - Provincial Governor: Matabeleland South,
born
14.10.1936
- 42. Mathema Cain - Provincial Governor:
Bulawayo
43. Mathuthu T. - Zanu PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for
Transport and
Social Welfare
44.Midzi Amos Bernard - Minister of Mines
and Mining Development born
4.7.1952
45.Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo -
Speaker of Parliament, born 15.9.1946
46.Mohadi Kembo Campbell Dugishi -
Minister of Home Affairs, born 15.11.1949
47. Moyo Jonathan - Minister of
State for Information and Publicity in the
President's Office, born
12.1.1957
48.Moyo July Gabarari -Minister of Energy and Power
Development, born
7.5.1950
49. Moyo Simon Khaya - Zanu PF Politburo
Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs,
born 1945
50. Mpofu Obert Moses -
Provincial Governor: Matabeleland North, born
12.10.1951
51. Msika
Joseph W. - Vice-President, born 6.12.1923
- 52. Msipa Cephas George -
Provincial Governor: Midlands, born 7.7.1931
53. Muchena Olivia Nyembesi
- Minister of State for Science and Technology
in the President's Office
born18.8.1946
54. Muchinguri Oppah Chamu Zvipange - Zanu PF Politburo
Secretary for Gender
and Culture, born14.12.1958
- 55. Mudede Tobaiwa
Tonneth - Registrar General, born 22.12.1942
56. Mudenge Isack Stanilaus
- Gorerazvo Minister of Foreign Affairs, born
17.12.1941
57. Mugabe
Grace - Spouse of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, born 23.7.1965
58. Mugabe Sabina
- Zanu PF - Politburo member, born 14.10.1934
59. Mujuru Joyce Teurai
Ropa - Minister of Water Resources and
Infrastructural Development born
15.4.1955
60. Mujuru Solomon T.R. - Zanu PF Politburo member, born
1.5.1949
61. Mumbengegwi Samuel Creighton - Minister of Industry and
International
Trade, born 23.10.1942
62. Murerwa Herbert Muchemwa -
Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education,
born 31.7.1941
63. Mushohwe
Christopher Chindoti - Minister of Transport and
Communications, born
6.2.1954
64. Mutasa Didymus Noel Edwin - Minister of Special Affiars in
the
President's Office in charge of the Anti-Corruption and
Anti-Monopolies
Programme, born 27.7.1935
- 65. Mutinhiri Ambros -
Minister of Youth Development, Gender and
Employment Creation, Retired
Brigadier
66. Mutiwekuziva Kenneth Kaparadza - Deputy Minister of Small
and Medium
Enterprises Development born 27.5.1948
67. Muzenda Tsitsi V
- Zanu PF Politburo member, born 28.10.1922
68. Muzonzini Elisha -
Retired Brigadier, Ambassador Kenya, born 24.6.1957
69. Ncube Abedinico -
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, born 13.10.1954
70. Ndlovu Naison K.
- Zanu PF Politburo Secretary for Production and
Labour, born
22.10.1930
71. Ndlovu Sikhanyiso - Zanu PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for
Commissariat,
born 20.9.1949
72. Nhema Francis - Minister of
Environment and Tourism, born 17.4.1959
73. Nkomo John Landa - Minister
of Special Affairs in the President's Office
- 74. Nyambuya Michael
Reuben - Retired Lieutenant General, Provincial
Governor:
Manicaland
75. Nyoni Sithembiso Gile Glad - Minister of Small and Medium
Enterprises
Development, born 20.9.1949
76. Parirenyatwa David Pagwese
- Minister of Health and Child Welfare, born
2.8.1950
77. Pote Selina
M Zanu PF - Politburo Deputy Secretary for Gender and
Culture
78.
Rusere Tinos Deputy - Minister for Water Resources and
Infrastructural
Development, born 10.5.1945
79. Sakupwanya Stanley -
Zanu PF Politburo Deputy Secretary for Health and
Child Welfare
- 80.
Samkange Nelson - Tapera Crispen Provincial Governor: Mashonaland
West
81. Sekeramayi, Sydney Tigere - Minister of Defence, born
30.3.1944
- 82. Shamu Webster - Minister of State for Policy
Implementation in the
President's Office, born 6.6.1945
83.
Shamuyarira Nathan Marwirakuwa - Zanu PF Politburo Secretary for
Information
and Publicity, born 29.9.1928
84. Shiri Perence - Air Marshal, born
1.11.1955
85. Shumba Isaiah Masvayamwando - Deputy Minister of Education,
Sports and
Culture, born 3.1.1949
86. Sibanda Jabulani - Chair,
National War Veterans Association, born
31.12.1970
- 87. Sibanda
Misheck Julius Mpande - Cabinet Secretary, born 3.5.1949
l 88. Sibanda
Phillip Valerio - Commander Zimbabwe National Army, Lieutenant
General, born
25.8.1956
89. Sikosana Absolom - Zanu PF Politburo Secretary for Youth
Affairs
90. Stamps Timothy - Health Advisor in the Office of the
President, born
15.10.1936
91. Tawengwa Solomon Chirume - Zanu PF
Politburo Deputy Secretary for
Finance, born 15.6.1940
92. Tungamirai
Josiah T - Retired Air Marshall, Minister of State for
Indigenisation and
Empowerment, Retired Air Marshall, born 8.10.1948
93. Utete Charles -
Chairman of the Presidential Land Review Committee,
born
30.10.1938
94. Zimonte Paradzai - Prisons Director, born
4.3.1947
95. Zvinavashe Vitalis - Retired General, born
27.9.1943
-Denotes new listings.
Zim Independent
NRZ trains turned into brothels on rail
Shakeman
Mugari
A TIRED-LOOKING young man enquires at the booking counter whether he
can
find space in the sleeper section of the National Railways of Zimbabwe
(NRZ)
passenger train plying the Harare-Mutare route.
An equally
bored NRZ officer tells him the section is fully booked. "Nzvimbo
dzapera
musleeper tsano, endai kumbombera. Kana mozoteera mangwana. (The
sleeper is
fully booked. Go into the economy section or better still try
tomorrow),"
says the officer as he dismisses the young man.
Frustrated, the man
strolls through the station and hops into an Economy
coach, which is now
fully packed with passengers.
As he squeezes into a seat, in comes a
young woman who offers to accommodate
him in the sleeper section provided he
pays a "small fee".
Even before the train leaves the Harare station, it
dawns on the young man
that not only will he pay for the sleeper, but will
also be the woman's
client during the night long journey to
Mutare.
As standards continue to plummet at the beleaguered NRZ,
prostitutes are
cashing in on the collapsing system and using the sleeper
coaches as
brothels on rail.
The prostitutes dis-guise themselves
as genuine travellers and use the rooms
to entertain their clients throughout
the journey.
As the Zimbabwe Independent reporter who travelled by
train to Mutare last
weekend later discovered the ladies of the night only
take to the train
during peak periods especially month ends.
The
last Friday of every month is their busiest day as they target men
visiting
their families in rural areas along the railway line. During this
period the
train is so full many passengers are forced to stand in the
passage way
throughout the journey.
The story of the NRZ is one of a parastatal
that has been falling apart for
the past two decades.
It is a
testimony of how President Robert Mugabe's government has destroyed
the
robust infrastructure and companies it inherited from the Smith regime
at
Independence in 1980. On Friday last week the Independent witnessed
evidence
of a railway system that is on the brink of collapse.
The stench of
urine greets the passenger as he enters the train. The
situation resembles
the filthy alleys in many of Zimbabwe's cities.
"This train smells of
urine. The seats are in tatters, nothing seems to
function. Things have
crumbled," says one Thomas Mukoshora as he struggles
to make himself
comfortable on his seat.
The truth is that there is no system to talk
about. There is no running
water in the toilets. The acrid smell of urine
spreads to the coaches.
"It is a health hazard and it's only a matter
of time before we have a
crisis," says Lilian Mukoshora who claims to have
used the train for the
past 26 years. "The Rhodesia Railway was never in such
a mess. This is
beyond repair mwanangu."
The booking system is a
shambles and passengers literally fight for seats
whilst NRZ officials
stare.
The booking clerk who seems tired of his routine job allocates
a single seat
to more than four people.
The unfortunate ones are
forced to take a nap right next to the toilets. The
Blue train introduced
amidst pomp and fanfare in the late nineties is now a
pale shadow of itself
with coaches in a sorry state.
The television sets that once provided
over night entertainment on the long
intercity routes have since been
switched off owing to a licencing dispute
with Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC). The only entertainment in the
dilapidated coaches are the
foul-mouthed drunkards who occasionally crack
jokes.
The NRZ bar
has stopped operating and has been replaced by illegal beer
sellers who have
invaded the trains. The intoxicated drunkards are often
abusive especially to
ladies travelling alone.
The Independent witnessed one drunk man who
pestered women on the entire
journey to Mutare.
Passengers also
have to be careful not to be crashed in a stampede by
fighting man. On this
particular night there were more than four browls on
the train that left one
man badly injured. On two occasions an army officer
was called in to
intervene.
Before the NRZ degenerated to its current state a journey
from Harare to
Mutare took less than 8 hours starting from Harare at
21:30pm.
However on this particular occasion it took more than 11 hours
to get to
Mutare after the train was grounded for three hours in Rusape due
to
signaling problems.
"We must wait here (Rusape) until we have a
small train coming all the way
from Mutare to inform us the route is clear.
Hatifambe tinozoita zvakaitika
kuDete (We can't proceed or there will be
repeat of the Dete train
disaster)," explained the officer to angry
passengers who were by this time
threatening to deal with him.
The
station master for Rusape had disappeared from the scene after
angry
passengers had threatened to manhandle him.
The signals
along the railway line have been vandalised and the company has
failed to
raise enough funds to replace them. There is no functioning signal
between
Rusape and Mutare.
Over the past few years the NRZ has seen a number
fatal accidents. On all
occasions the NRZ has attributed the accidents to
either human error or
failure of the signaling equipment.
Zim Independent
Only 2% land given to ex-farm workers
Augustine
Mukaro
GOVERNMENT has allocated a mere 2% of the 11 million hectares acquired
under
the land reform programme in the past four years to former commercial
farm
workers, the Zimbabwe Independent heard last week.
At a
workshop in Masvingo last weekend to assess the situation of farm
workers
after the land reform programme, Mashonaland East Farm Community
Trust of
Zimbabwe provincial manager Clifford Mpande said of the estimated
350 000
former farm workers only 13% had benefited from the fast-track land
reform
programme.
"The farm workers were settled on 2% of the acquired
land," Mpande said.
"Official statistics as of the end of March 2002
indicated that only 1 183
former farm workers had been resettled. This is in
stark contrast to an
estimated 140 000 who had lost their jobs at the same
time."
"It has been estimated that currently only 600 commercial
farms are still
operational across the country, out of a total of 4 247 farms
reported by
the Central Statistical Office in 1997, meaning that 86% of farms
have been
closed.
"Given that the average work force on a farm was
40 people, it is estimated
that with the 90% of the farms fast tracked, over
320 000 farm workers had
been laid off by the third quarter of the 2002,"
Mpande said.
Before the inception of the farm invasions and
fast-track land reform
programme, commercial farms used to employ over 350
000 workers and offered
shelter to over 1,5 million including workers'
relatives and children. The
farming community constituted 15% of the
Zimbabwean population.
Mpande said between 60 and 80% of the displaced
workers were still at the
closed farms' compounds without a stable source of
income while the rest had
been forced back to their rural
homes.
Parliamentary portfolio committee on Public Service, Labour
and Social
Welfare acting chairman Paurina Mpariwa told participants
that
infrastructure and guaranteed human component were key to
propelling
Zimbabwean's agriculture-based economy.
Mpariwa said
the land reform programme had empowered historically
marginalised Zimbabweans
although like all programmes of its magnitude it
had its negatives such as
shortages of infrastructure and services to the
affected
communities.
"Facilities such as schools, water and sanitation,
health institutions and a
sound road network are among the top priorities of
the numerous demands and
challenges confronting the communities," Mpariwa
said.
"As a committee, we are aware of the general poor living
conditions of most
farm communities but this is a mammoth task which
cannot be left to
government alone to accomplish but should involve all
stakeholders with an
interest in the agricultural sector."
Zim Independent
Government's Far East export drive suffers major
setback
Shakeman Mugari
THE government's export drive in the Far East has
suffered a major setback
after its Singapore Expo Centre closed down because
of mounting operational
costs.
It also emerged this week that most of
the business deals signed between
Singaporean and local businessmen had
failed to take off due to lack of
commitment from the Zimbabwean
side.
The Singapore Expo Centre, officially opened by President
Mugabe two years
ago, closed in December because the promoter, Metropolitan
Bank, was facing
escalating maintenance costs.
Metropolitan Bank
chairman Enock Kamushinda, a major architect of the Asian
initiatives,
confirmed in an interview on Wednesday that the centre had shut
down in
December.
"We shut it (the Singapore Expo Centre) sometime in
December due to mounting
costs. We are going to incorporate that into the one
in Malaysia. But we are
still in business," said
Kamushinda.
Kamushinda denied claims that he used the Malaysian Expo
Centre to persuade
the host government to give him a banking licence.
Kamushinda got the
licence around July last year.
The Zimbabwe
Independent is reliably informed that the Expo Centre in
Malaysia could also
have been shut down. But Kamushinda said the Expo had
only been moved to new
central offices.
"We want to make it a one-stop shop. That is why we
are centralising the
centres," he said.
Despite Mugabe's many
business trips, trade between Zimbabwe and the Asia
Tigers remains minimal.
An agreement between with Malaysian business people
to build a TV/DVD
assembly plant in Zimbabwe has not been implemented. There
are now fears that
the agreement might fail to take off.
The Independent understands
there has been no progress despite numerous MOUs
signed with Malaysia for
various business proposals. Malaysia is understood
to have agreed to
construct a PC assembly plant and an egg production
facility. These are yet
to be implemented due to lack of commitment from the
Malaysian government and
the local businesspeople.
Zimbabwe's foray into the Far East is part
of the Asia/Africa Investment
Technology Promotion Center launched as a Tokyo
International Conference on
African Development (Ticad) initiative last
year.
The programme is funded by the government of Japan and
implemented through
the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
headquarters in
Vienna.
The South/South initiative under the Ticad
programme envisages closer
co-operation between African countries and South
East Asian economies in the
areas of trade and investment.
Mugabe
has for the past three years promoted investment and trade with South
East
Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand but there has
been very
little to show for it.
Japanese ambassador to Zimbabwe Tsu-neshige
Liyama last week said he was
happy with Zimbabwe's progress under Ticad. He
said Ticad was not just about
trade and investment but was a replica of New
Partnership for Africa's
Development (Nepad).
"The concept is the
same," said. "It is a twin of Nepad. We support the
Nepad concept because it
is a sister programme of Ticad. Ticad is Nepad made
in Japan," he said.
Zim Independent
War vets take over NRZ department
Loughty Dude
WAR
veterans have taken over the security department of the National
Railways of
Zimbabwe (NRZ) amid allegations that the parastatal is losing
millions of
dollars in property claims from customers.
According to information that
came to light during an outreach programme by
the Portfolio Committee on
Foreign Affairs, Industry and International
Trade, the war veterans are
allegedly interfering in the smooth operations
of the
parastatal.
Moses Mzila, a member of the portfolio committee that
visited Bulawayo this
week, confirmed that they had received disturbing
information on the
presence of the war veterans at the troubled
parastatal.
"Workers at the NRZ brought their complaints to the
portfolio committee but
management says it is not aware of the presence of
the war veterans. The
question to ask is who is paying these people if
management is not aware of
their presence?" said Mzila.
Efforts to
contact NRZ corporate affairs manager Misheck Matanhire proved
fruitless by
the time of going to press.
Mzila said members of the public told the
committee that war veterans
operate from an office at the parastatal's HQ and
have been allocated a
vehicle that they use for their
operations.
"The war veterans are operating from office number 402
and they were
allocated an NRZ vehicle number 558 and we are saying this is a
case of
complicity by some parties in management and the war veterans who are
also
said to be involved in the disappearance of goods from wagons," Mzila
said.
"We have asked the police to arrest these criminals because
this is a simple
case of mischief by people who have no mandate to be doing
what they are
doing at the NRZ."
NRZ workers who made
representations to the team said they were at times
assaulted by war veterans
whom they accused of stealing goods from wagons.
"The reports we have
received on the war veterans are alarming and what
makes this whole issue
grave is management that is supposed to be in charge
says it is not aware of
the presence of these people who have been stationed
around that office for
months now," Mzila said.
A worker at the NRZ said the war veterans number about 10.
The NRZ does not have a security officer at the
moment, as the post was not
filled when the former incumbent left a couple of
years ago.
Zim Independent
Gono's success hinges on politics
Vincent
Kahiya
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has been meeting
diplomats in
Harare in a bid to soften donors' hardline position on Zimbabwe
and to sell
his monetary policy. The plan is to convince financiers that the
country's
economic fortunes are changing for the better.
It appears
Gono has been roped in by government to push its changing policy
position
from "we can go it alone" to courting Western financiers. But there
are a
myriad problems along the way for Zimbabwe.
Gono in his monetary policy
statement launched last December said he would
engage the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.
"We will engage whoever we owe money. Yes we
will approach the IMF and the
World Bank to work out a plan to pay what we
owe them," said the governor.
Gono would like to widen his scope and
approach traditional donor states
like the European Union countries, the
United Kingdom, Commonwealth
countries and the United States.
However
for Zimbabwe to get the much-needed balance of payment support from
these
countries there has to be a strong indication that President Robert
Mugabe's
government is now committed to the rule of law and democracy.
Diplomats
from donor states who attended one of Gono's meetings last week
said they
were preparing an "appropriate response". They said donors were
looking
beyond the monetary policy - towards government offering a total
package
that would include breaking the political impasse in the country and
making a
far reaching deal with the opposition before the holding of free
and fair
elections.
Economist John Robertson said Gono should concentrate on the
exchange rate
and boosting exports before approaching donors for balance of
payments
support.
"We cannot ask donors to be giving us foreign
currency when we should be
earning it from exports," said
Robertson.
He said the local currency was overvalued, which was killing
exporters both
big and small.
"We want donors to provide forex which
we are failing to earn from exports.
Once the exchange rate is right and
exporters are happy we will need to
borrow less," he said.
Government
wants a strong Zimbabwe dollar against the United States dollar.
But analysts
say this can only happen with improved availability of foreign
currency to
trade on the auction system.
"For now there will not be a sudden deluge
of forex in the formal sector of
the economy, which means someone has to fill
in that gap," an economist
said.
This week agency reports quoted
Information minister Jonathan Moyo - who
usually mirrors Mugabe's mind - as
saying Zimbabwe would pay its US$270
million debt to the IMF to raise the
country's credit rating.
Ziana this week quoted Moyo as saying the IMF
was impressed with Zimbabwe's
economic reforms and that he was confident the
country would not be forced
to withdraw its membership from the fund -
another volte-face.
In his birthday interview with Newsnet two weeks ago,
Mugabe said Zimbabwe
could work with the World Bank and not the
IMF.
"The bank can help us immensely, and we are working on how we can
regain the
assistance of the World Bank," said Mugabe.
"I'm not sure
with the IMF whether we are on good terms with them.
"I mean in financial
terms, and we have paid our debts, whether we could go
back to them and
invite them to come and help us. I doubt because their
ideas are completely
wrong," he said.
Analysts this week said Moyo's statement was an
admission that the country
could not deal with the current economic crisis
without bridging finance
from multilateral lending agencies and
donors.
But the changing mood won't be enough to appease international
financiers as
long as President Mugabe's government refuses to abandon its
muddled
policies which have seen the president taking cheap shots at the IMF,
the
World Bank and Western donors whenever it suits him.
Gono's
success with the Bretton Woods institutions and international donors
depends
on how these lenders are prepared to overlook Mugabe's populist
rhetoric
about imperialists and their supporters and focus on the
country's
potential.
President Mugabe's government has defaulted on
external debts of more than
US$3,5 billion, while Mugabe has told the IMF "to
go to hell".
Analysts this week said Mugabe, whose party is facing an
election in 12
months' time, has been painted into a corner by growing
dissatisfaction
among the urban poor and the working class on the one hand,
and the demands
of Western financial institutions and the international
community.
Mugabe, they said, was likely to continue pouring scorn on the
West, the IMF
and the World Bank and hope to open new markets among Asian
Tigers, African
and South American allies to shore up his image as a champion
of the third
world.
But there has been very little to show for this
"look east" policy and
South-South co-operation mantra as the country
desperately seeks balance of
payment support which started to dry up when
Mugabe dragged the country into
the DRC war in August 1998.
The
situation was exacerbated when government embarked on an unplanned
seizure of
white commercial farms four years ago to stem an opposition MDC
onslaught
ahead of a parliamentary election in 2000. Donors took flight when
government
breached the principles of the October 1998 land donors'
conference which
stipulated that land reform should be carried out in a
transparent manner and
aimed at poverty alleviation if it was to receive
international
support.
Then in September 2001 the IMF declared Zimbabwe ineligible to
use funds
under its poverty reduction and growth facility. On June 13, 2002
the
executive board of the IMF adopted a declaration of non-cooperation
with
Zimbabwe and suspended technical assistance to the country. A year later
the
executive board suspended the voting and related rights of Zimbabwe in
the
IMF. Last December a further ban started a process which could
ultimately
result in the compulsory withdrawal of the country from the
IMF.
During this process, Zimbabwe will have ample time to improve its
relations
with the IMF to reverse the economic slide and meet its overdue
financial
obligations.
On the other hand the European Union in 2000
announced an immediate freeze
on bilateral high-level contacts. In 2002 it
imposed targeted sanctions on
Zanu PF politicians and officials considered to
be Mugabe's cronies. This
has widened the gulf between Zimbabwe and the EU
which last month extended
the targeted sanctions and put additions to the
list of those banned from
travelling to Europe.
Zimbabwe has been
excluded from the United States' Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act (Agoa),
which seeks to put preferential terms on some
African products entering the
US. Zimbabwe is slowly being left out of the
Nepad initiative in which
African countries are committing themselves to the
precepts of good
governance as a way of promoting trade and investment from
Europe.
All
these international measures against Zimbabwe have coalesced into
trade
embargo that will take time and skill to unravel. But there are fears
Gono's
efforts could be sabotaged by Mugabe's government which is already in
the
election mode.
While Gono has been given the greenlight to talk to
the Bretton Woods
institutions and other donors analysts say the timing is
most inauspicious.
He needs a political gambit to take to the negotiating
table.
Zim Independent
Where are all the political hyenas?
WHEN the ENG
scandal was first exposed at the end of last year nobody could
have foreseen
its ramifications. Nor could Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono
have realised
that he had opened a Pandora's box. The ripple effects on the
banking sector
have been devastating amid calls by President Mugabe for a
broad
anti-corruption campaign.
The question people are asking now is whether
Gono is up to the task and
whether he has the resources needed to deal with a
crisis of this magnitude?
The stakes went higher when at the weekend the
Reserve Bank released a long
list of companies that have not remitted their
foreign currency earnings for
last year and are under investigation. But this
appears to be only the
tail-end of a whale.
If Mugabe is serious about
fighting corruption the inquiry should suck in
all those who were involved in
unethical deals that led to the closure of
bureaux de change. It must also
scrutinise politicians selling fuel on the
black market. What is going to
happen to those who externalised the local
currency, leaving banks almost
redundant because they didn't have cash? The
inquiry would not be complete if
it didn't examine businessmen and
politicians who sourced subsidised grain
from the Grain Marketing Board and
sold the mealie meal at extortionate
prices to the hungry masses. That's
"filthy lucre".
To execute such a
task we need an independent prosecutor in the mold of
Kenneth Star in the
Bill Clinton inquiry, answerable only to parliament and
beyond President
Mugabe's further power. The independent prosecutor should
have his own
investigators and a broad mandate to probe suspected cases of
money
laundering, illegal dealing in foreign currency, minerals, and
insider
trading on the ZSE. He should have enough power to tackle politicians
and no
patent crime should be set beyond the ambit of law enforcement
agencies.
This will obviate the need for the president to use
"patently
unconstitutional" instruments such as the Presidential Powers
(Temporary
Measures) (Amendment of Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act)
regulations as
is the case now. Such an approach will not only broaden the
scope of
investigations but will also speed up the prosecution process to
avoid the
long detention of suspects.
Making the independent
prosecutor answerable only to parliament does not in
any way impugn President
Mugabe's own commitment to fight corruption. What
it does is give the
campaign a national character. Rather than the
anti-graft campaign being
viewed as a Mugabe election gambit, people need to
feel that they own the
process, that it is enduring and fair. As it is there
is a lot of scepticism
about the timing ahead of a crucial parliamentary
election.
Nor is it
healthy for Gono to be seen as settling scores with old rivals in
his
clean-up of the financial sector. A victim complex is being allowed
to
develop. The aspersions against Gono are not helped by the fact that most
of
the victims of his monetary policy have so far been banking
institutions.
This was to be expected as it is a field in which Gono has a
lot of
experience.
But that is also the source of his
limitations.
An independent prosecutor and his multi-skilled
investigators should come in
handy. There are lots of hyenas looting gold
quarries across the country and
others slouching on ill-gotten farms they
cannot use. The parastatals are a
major drain on the fiscus while civil
servants have all but turned
government offices into mini-fleamarkets. A
major clean-up is long overdue.
If Mugabe wants to be believed he has to
state categorically that violence
will not be tolerated as a means to power.
It is not enough for him to
denounce only people using money to buy their way
into power. If the
anti-corruption campaign is a time for a new hope and
national regeneration,
it must cover all facets of our social, economic and
political life.
Most skilled people are leaving the country en mass
because of the current
crisis and the anxiety associated with our often
violent elections. So long
as people in the Diaspora feel that the money they
send home through the
official channels will abet Zanu PF tyranny, there will
be very little of it
flowing into the system. And we need tonnes of
forex.
No amount of sunshine journalism about a resurgent economy can
hide the fact
that there is very little foreign currency to trade on the
auction system.
In essence problems of fuel, electricity, transport and drug
shortages will
be with us for a long time. Gono cannot solve problems of
lawlessness and
human rights abuses that rightly should be the domain of
politicians. ENG
cannot be blamed for our current political and economic
problems.
Zim Independent
Economy still on a downward spiral
ALTHOUGH
improbable, one must hope that the knowledge of law of the Minister
of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, is
somewhat
greater than his awareness of economic affairs. Last week, he
demonstrated
that he very clearly does not appreciate or understand the
circumstances of
the Zimbabwean economy. Confronted with the fact that he has
withdrawn
government's request of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) for
$127 billion of funding for Zimbabwe's 2005 general elections, he
stated
that the reason for that withdrawal is that with the upturn in the
economy,
Zimbabwe is able to fund the election without international
assistance. (Of
course, if he says that is the reason, there couldn't
possibly be any other,
such as that UNDP would wish to evaluate the
legitimacy of Zimbabwe's
electoral process, could there be? No, of course
not!).
But if Chinamasa believes there is an economic upturn occurring in
Zimbabwe,
he either does not understand anything relative to economics, or is
a victim
of governmental self-delusion, for far from there being any
upturn
whatsoever, the economy is continuing in its seemingly endless
decline.
Maybe the minister and his colleagues have been misguided by the
momentary
fall in inflation in December last, when the year-on-year
inflation
diminished by 3,36%. However, if they were duped by that almost
unique
decrease (!!) in inflation, they must have overlooked that in
January,
inflation resumed its upward climb, rising from 598,7% to an
all-time record
high of 622,8%.
There is much, much more that
evidences the intensely distressed state of
the economy. It is estimated that
at least three-quarters of Zimbabwe's
employable population is currently
without gainful employment. That is
despite the fact that the employable
population has diminished by about 3
million people, being those who have
sought employment in South Africa,
elsewhere in southern Africa, in the
United Kingdom and mainland Europe, the
US, Australia, Canada and various
other countries. Nevertheless, more than 4
million Zimbabweans desirous of
employment remain in Zimbabwe, but are
either unemployed or only partially
employed. The unemployed include
hundreds of thousands of displaced farm
workers, many retrenched miners as
the mining industry was progressively
forced to curtail operations, due to
rising costs and inadequate revenues,
and vast numbers of contract workers
laid off by industries suffering from
shrinking domestic markets and loss of
competitiveness in export
markets.
An even more horrifying statistic is that more than four-fifths
of Zimbabwe'
s population is barely subsisting, at levels below the Poverty
Datum Line
(PDL), and more than half of those poverty-stricken Zimbabweans
are so
impoverished that their very survival is in doubt, they existing at
levels
below the Food Datum Line (FDL). They are grossly under-nourished
and
suffering the ills and pangs of grievous malnutrition.
Zimbabwe
needs 1,8 million tonnes of maize per annum to feed itself, but the
current
crop inclusive of production in the communal lands, is unlikely to
amount to
even 300 000 tonnes. Minister Made will attribute the inadequate
crop to
climatic conditions, but the realities are that the government has
brought
commercial farming to its knees, has only belatedly - and
inadequately - made
inputs available to new farmers, and that even in
optimal climatic
conditions, total maize production would have been most
inadequate. So too
will be this year's production of wheat, and of many
other
crops.
Perhaps Minister Chinamasa bases his contention of economic upturn
on the
fact that the provisional estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) in
2003
reflect a negative growth of 15%, whereas forecasts for 2004 suggest
that
GDP will shrink by 12%. But it stretches credulity too far to interpret
a
marginally lesser contraction of the economy in 2004 from that of 2003
to
indicate an economic upturn! And if one is to accept Chinamasa's
statement
that the economy is now in recovery mode, it is necessary to ignore
the fact
that present estimates suggest that government's fiscal deficit
will, this
year, be about 15% of GDP, raising government's borrowings by
many, many
billions of dollars, which will in turn fuel further
inflation.
The allegedly reviving economy is in such a state that many
exporters are
teetering upon the precipice of collapse. This is partially a
direct
consequence of certain of the prevailing monetary policies of the
Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). Although those policies were formulated with
the
best of intentions, and after wide-ranging consultation by RBZ's
governor,
Gideon Gono, some of them are having dire repercussions upon
exporters (and
upon many other industries and economic sectors). Exporters,
who were
dependent upon a realistic, "blended" exchange rate late last year
of about
US$1: $4 800 to achieve viability in an operating environment
of
continuously rising costs, are suddenly faced with a "blend" rate of
about
US$1: $3 200. At that rate they cannot survive, and particularly so as
their
costs of production continue to rise, and concessional interest rate
loan
facilities do not suffice to close the gap between operational costs
and
revenue receipts. Exporter circumstances are worsened further in
instances
where their foreign exchange needs exceed the foreign exchange that
they are
entitled to retain from their export proceeds, forcing them to buy
currency
in the foreign currency auctions, generally at a higher price than
that at
which they had to sell export proceeds.
As if the survival of
export enterprises is not sufficiently in jeopardy,
they are further
afflicted by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(Zesa) not only
applying unjustifiable, draconian tariff increases, but also
demanding
payment in foreign currency (and having the unmitigated gall to
apply the
spurious US$1: $824 governmental exchange rate, instead of the
weighted
average auction rate (of US$1:$4 138 as of the second of last week'
s
auctions).
The conditions confronting exporters are such that many have
had to
discontinue export operations, and this must result in a contraction
of the
amount of foreign currency as will be available at future auctions,
after
whatsoever small currency stockpile as the RBZ governor has been able
to
accumulate has been exhausted. Already, the amounts bid for at each
auction
are at least 50% greater than the foreign currency available at
each
auction, and that despite the fact that the auction committee is
restricting
bids in accord with a priority listing. The prospects, in the
very near
future, are bleak, for the amount of foreign currency as will be
available
will be well below national needs. As a result, Zimbabweans can
anticipate
recurring shortages of fuel, medications and many other imports,
and
increasingly frequent and lengthy episodes of electricity
load-shedding.
So stupendous (sic!) is the economic upturn that almost
all wholesalers and
retailers enjoyed (sic!) low levels of trade in December
last. Whilst
normally the weeks and days ahead of the festive season are
times of
greatest trade volumes for the distributive trades, with the
populace
applying year-end bonuses, leave pay and other emoluments to the
purchase of
long-desired goods, that was not the case at the end of 2003. So
great had
been the inroads of inflation throughout almost all of that year,
that most
consumers resorted to the shops only for essential consumables,
foodstuffs
and the like. Those fortunate enough to have any remaining funds
after those
purchases, held them to pay school fees, municipal rates, and the
like in
January.
The result has been massive overstocking of
furniture, clothing, textiles,
footwear, and many other products, and
therefore the orders placed upon
industry after the end of the annual
industrial recess were few and far
between. Retailers are desperately trying
to dispose of excess stocks and,
in an attempt to do so, are reducing prices
considerably, and in some
instances below cost, in order to generate greatly
needed cash flow. These
reductions may have had some impact upon inflation
rates in February, but
that impact will be short-lived, for rising costs of
imported inputs for
commerce and industry in response to progressively
increasing exchange rates
at the foreign currency auctions, due to a growing
scarcity of foreign
currency, rising wages and other costs will all shortly
fuel inflation
upwards once again. Is that the economy which the honourable
minister
alleges is in upturn?
Zim Independent
Muckraker
In lotto a miss is as good as a
mile
Media and Information Commission chair Tafataona Mahoso thinks there
is "an
immense ideological war" going on in Zimbabwe. "The corporate sector
and its
sponsored media do not want the popular nature of the current fight
against
corruption to become clear. They prefer the opposite impression,
which their
media are working hard to create, the impression that the fight
against
corruption is or should be strictly elitist, technocratic and
managerial."
wrote Mahoso in the Sunday Mail this week.
Mahoso wants
to give the impression that the private media have been trying
to shield
corporate malfeasance and would rather that it was not exposed.
Far from it,
Zimbabweans from all walks of life have been calling for
tougher measures to
deal with corrupt elements in our body politic. Until
President Mugabe
decided it was time up, the impression had been created
that so long as you
stayed under the protective arm of Zanu PF you could
behave as you
liked.
It was only after the exposure of the monumental fraud at ENG
Asset
Management Company that government started to get serious about
fighting
corruption. That in part explains why there are more Zanu PF chefs
than
anybody else being dragged to the courts. It is possible that cases
of
impropriety may be going on in the corporate sector without being
reported
because they are difficult to detect. But people are more readily
irked by
such cases in the public sector, not to spite Zanu PF but because
they are
financed from the public purse.
We all know about the
Willowgate motor vehicle scandal, the Pay For Your
House scandal, the War
Victims Compensation scandal and the amassing of
farms by well-connected Zanu
PF officials against government's own one man,
one farm policy. Mugabe in
July last year ordered those who had grabbed more
than one farm to surrender
them within two weeks. There was no response to
that ultimatum. Minister for
Special Affairs in the office of the President
responsible for Lands, Land
Reform and Resettlement John Nkomo last week
said those who ignored calls to
surrender extra farms faced possible
prosecution. You can be sure most of
those refusing to surrender the extra
farms are Zanu PF chefs. Just wait till
we get the list.
Contrary to claims by Mahoso that the fight against
corruption "has exposed
the imperial forces and their stooges as the real
enemies of the ordinary
Zimbabwean", people are wondering why it took
government this long to launch
the fight? Zimbabweans are wondering whether
it will get real "bloody" to
expose the big fish. Is Zanu PF capable of
self-regeneration or is the
current hype about corruption Mugabe's electoral
plank as we approach
another parliamentary election?
We were startled
by a new political outfit calling itself MDC Supporters
for Democracy, which
until last week was unknown to most of us, clamouring
for MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai's head. Sunday Mail political editor
Munyaradzi Huni claimed this
was a "powerful arm of the opposition party".
Why has it remained virtually
unknown for this long we wonder? Its leader,
one Kurauone Chihwayi, is a
frequent letter writer to the Sunday Mail. All
along he has been calling
himself president of some obscure debating
society. Presumably this was to
camouflage his deep involvement in
opposition politics.
Huni might
care to explain to us what position Chihwayi occupies in the MDC
since its
formation four years ago. "While we agree with all of you (who are
these?)
that democracy in Zanu PF is non-existent, we also believe we must
take an
audit of democracy in our own party, MDC. The status quo within the
MDC is
continuously taking a nose-dive and we seem to be facing more
problems than
Zanu PF," wrote Chihwayi in his letter which he decided to
forward to
Huni.
Probably the MDC will have enough time to answer Chihwayi's
questions. But
with founders such as Chihwayi, we are not surprised the likes
of Huni are
having a field day over alleged splits and factions in the
MDC.
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Austria Tirivafi Kangai was roped
in this week to
sing for his supper after the European Union last week
renewed targeted
sanctions against the country's political leadership. The EU
said Zimbabwe
failed the test in five key areas: politically motivated
violence,
commitment to free and fair elections, commitment to a free press,
an
independent judiciary and an end to invasion of private
properties.
In an article carried in the Herald on Monday, Kangai claimed
there was no
legal basis for the allegations because Zimbabwe was not given
the chance to
defend itself. "Talk of politically motivated violence does not
hold water
anymore," said Kangai. "There have not been any significant cases
of
political violence for the past two years."
It is the first time
that a senior Zanu PF official has acknowledged that
there was ever
politically motivated violence in the country. Why the past
two years? What
was happening all along?
A lot has been said about the verdict passed by
the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network (ZESN) concerning the conduct of the
Gutu North
parliamentary poll. Everybody pronounced them peaceful and that
they set an
auspicious precedent for future elections. The impression was
given that
Zimbabweans have a propensity for violence, all that is needed
being an
election to act as a catalyst. What is not explained is the role of
the
candidates themselves who take an electoral challenge as a declaration
of
war. Which is why nobody, especially in the Zanu PF camp, wants to
explain
why there was only limited violence in Gutu North.
What we are
not told is that Josiah Tungamirai (Zanu PF) and Casper Musoni
(MDC) are
relatives and agreed from the outset that there would be no
bloodshed over a
political post. The Standard carried a story on February 15
of Tungamirai
ordering war veterans leader Joseph Chinotimba and his band of
violent thugs
out of his constituency after they harassed Musoni's staff at
his Zouma café
at Mpandawana.
Zim Independent
Govt abuses overdraft facility
Godfrey
Marawanyika
GOVERNMENT has contravened the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act by
over shooting
its overdraft limit from the central bank as stipulated by law.
This week
businessdigest established that government had side-stepped
stipulated
regulatory requirements on its overdraft from the central bank, as
it had
been availed $80 billion.
This is more than the stipulated $228
billion in a space of a week. This
effectively means that government accessed
$308 billion.
The move is in direct contravention of the Reserve Bank
Act which states
that government cannot exceed more than 20% of the previous
year's revenues.
Last year the estimated revenue and international
grants amounted to $1,141
trillion.
The central bank's State of
Assets and Liabilities documents for January
indicate that there were loans
and advances amounting to $789 trillion made
as of January
16.
This was up from $480,trillion as of January 9.
Director of finance and administration Peter Mujaya compiled the
reports.
Although the advances are normally used either for liquidity
support and
loans to banks during that period there were no advances made to
such areas.
Investigations have since revealed that the increases
were due to huge
increases of overdraft borrowing by
government.
According to the Reserve Bank Act, the central bank shall
not lend or
advance "moneys to or directly buy, discount or rediscount bills,
notes or
other obligations from the State or any Fund established by the
State so
that the amount outstanding at any time exceeds the equivalent of
twenty per
centum of the previous year's ordinary revenue of the
State".
The regulation however excludes government stocks and
Treasury Bills
purchased on the market for monetary policy
purposes.
This regulation effectively means that since last year's
Revenue and
International Aid Grants amounted to $1,141 trillion, government
had to
limit itself to only $228 billion, but instead ended up gobbling $80
billion
more in a space of a week.
The over-expenditure by
government flies in the face of RBZ governor Gideon
Gono's claim during his
monetary policy announcement that while the private
sector accounted for a
greater part of credit creation in the economy,
government access to the
Reserve Bank overdraft was within approved
statutory limits.
The
continued appetite for easy cash by government is set to worsen
inflationary
pressures, which the central bank is battling to contain.
The failure to
rein in on government's quest for money has been problematic
over the years
as it has been failing to live within its stated
policy
framework.
Analysts said although the central bank had not
justified such huge quench
for funds, the money could have been used to pay
for civil servants'
salaries, who recently got a 250% salary
hike.
The Act however is silent on penalties to be exacted in case
government
surpasses the limits.
Zim Independent
74 exporting firms blacklisted
Godfrey
Marawanyika
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has blacklisted 74 exporters
who failed
to meet last week's deadline to remit their export
earnings.
The firms have been barred with immediate effect from
accessing foreign
currency on the auction system.
The blacklisted
firms are among the initial 200 companies which failed to
remit a total of
US$175 million in export earnings when the deadline expired
last
week.
The latest development comes against a backdrop of the central
bank's hard
line stance against defaulters a fortnight ago in which it
published a list
of 220 firms accused of non-acquittal of the regulatory
Currency Declaration
(CD1) forms and not repatriating export earnings by the
December 15
deadline.
A central bank spokesperson this week
confirmed the classification of the
firms, adding that the latter have
again been barred from accessing foreign
currency through the auction floor
system.
"By the end of Sunday February 22, at least 74 exporters had
not yet
responded," the spokesperson said. "As indicated in the media, all
exporters
that did not respond at all by February 22 would be handed over to
the
National Economic Conduct Inspectorate (Neci), Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority
(Zimra) and the police for further investigations with the aim
of
prosecution.
"Exporters who fail to fully comply with the
Reserve Bank's directive will
not be allowed to access foreign currency from
the auction floors and their
other exchange control requests will not be
attended to until they clear
their record of overdue export
payments."
Although the decision was taken to publish the list of
defaulting firms not
all the published names had not yet repatriated their
money to the RBZ by
the end of last year.
This has however been
blamed on bureaucratic banking procedures.
The central bank said the
offending parties were causing foreign currency
shortages and pain to the
innocent public.
Despite the amendments of the CD1 forms in 2002 by
the central bank this has
failed to stop the continued hemorrhaging of
foreign currency, which was
largely caused by the distorted foreign currency
system as exporters were
under-invoicing their products.
The
central bank this week published another set of firms which had not
yet
complied, bringing the total number of firms published so far to
340.
Following the RBZ's meeting with the companies concerned the central
bank
has so far received US$5 million.
"Some exporters have
pledged to repatriate another US$15 million in the next
seven days," the
spokesperson said.
"Over US$36 million was cleared and work is
underway to reconcile with other
exporters.
"All those exporters
who responded or are making significant efforts to
clear their CD1
non-acquittals or immediately call for payments of overdue
amounts, will be
allowed to continue exporting but under the close scrutiny
of the RBZ, Zimra
and Neci."
The list of firms that had not responded to the RBZ
warnings included
parastatals, Zimbabwe Stock Exchange listed firms as well
as prominent
indigenous entities.
The businesses had utilised
facilitites offered by virtually all the
country's commercial banks.
Zim Independent
NGOs to get preference on forex
Ngoni Chanakira
THE
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) is developing a special scheme
for
non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and embassies who access
foreign
currency for some of their operations.
An RBZ official
said the scheme was intended to lessen delays in allocating
foreign currency
to NGOs and embassies now that the central bank had
tightened the operations
of financial institutions.
NGOs and embassies also use the prevailing
auction rate as quoted by
authorised dealers to charge for services
denominated in foreign currency.
The move comes less than three months
after the RBZ introduced its foreign
currency auction system largely meant to
solve the country's crippling
situation.
The foreign currency
auction system began on January 12 with suppliers
offering US$20,6 million
for auctioning.
The system has resulted in the Zimbabwe dollar being
devalued in disguise
from $824 to about $4 138 against the United States
dollar as of Thursday,
February 26.
Sixteen auctions have been held so far.
The foreign currency supply had largely been from the
mandatory sales to the
auction upon receipt of foreign exchange by exporters,
auction offers from
exporters and other suppliers of foreign exchange, FCA
liquidations after 21
days and other market purchases.
While the
foreign exchange auction system has unlocked substantial amounts
of foreign
exchange, which was hanging speculatively outside the formal
system, it has
now met resistance from exporters because of the low rate
being
offered.
Individuals are still selling money on the parallel market
at much higher
rates than the RBZ.
The RBZ has accused exporters
of still securing money from the parallel
market.
"This is not
on," RBZ governor Gideon Gono told chartered accountants last
month. "Those
who get caught with their hands in the till will only have
themselves to
blame. They were borrowing from the parallel market and now
expect to be
bailed out by the RBZ."
The RBZ said it was now conducting a
sector-by-sector investigation to try
and find out which sectors needed
help.
"Some sectors are benefiting from the system yet they are not
decreasing
their prices," Gono said. "They should ensure that benefits also
filter
through to the people. We have given manufacturers a 30% window to try
and
cushion them against problems that they have been facing. This should go
a
long way in helping them."
In terms of the monetary policy
statement announced by Gono on December 18,
the central bank advised that
concessionary finance at a maximum all
inclusive interest rate of 30% would
apply to all productive and export
sectors.
Under this facility,
statutory reserves contributed by financial
institutions were made available
to commercial and merchant banks for
on-lending on a revolving
basis.
Eligible productive sectors were agriculture, mining,
manufacturing,
construction, transport, communication, and
tourism.
All small and medium-scale enterprises were eligible for
funding.
Sectors not being supported by the scheme included financial
and investment,
financial organisations, individuals, non-governmental
organisations,
parastatals and quasi-governmental institutions, and passenger
transport
organisations.
Gono said the facility was for productive
use such as plant and equipment
for industrial and agricultural purposes and
professional equipment, working
capital, refinancing of existing debt for
eligible expenditure, excluding
offshore loans, as well as pre-and-post
shipment financing.
Meanwhile foreign exchange inflows have risen
from below US$11,7 million in
November last year to US$85,4 million last
month.
So far about US$60 million has been received by the RBZ for
auctioning.
Zim Independent
Parallel market very much alive
Shakeman Mugari
THE
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ's) foreign currency auction system
introduced
two months ago continues to play second fiddle to the parallel
market which
has continued to flourish.
The auction system has failed to curb the
parallel market that continues to
mop up the bulk of the foreign currency
from individuals in the country.
Zimbabweans abroad continue to feed the
black market with money sent into
the country through money transfer
facilities.
The rates on the auction floors also continue to lag
behind the black market
rates which remain the most viable foreign currency
exchange facility in
Zimbabwe.
Market watchers said they feel the
auction is not a proper representation of
the situation on the
ground.
They say holders of small quantities of foreign currency feel
short-changed
by the auctions where the RBZ strictly controls
rates.
The parallel market is currently hovering at around US$1:$5
500 and there
are indications that it could firm further if the auction rate
continues to
creep upwards.
The Reserve Bank has the power to
decide the rate appreciation and
fluctuation on the
auction.
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union's chief economist Godfrey
Kanyenze said the
parallel market would continue to exist until government
and the RBZ address
the issue of supply through increased
production.
"We haven't done anything," he said. "There is still an
absolute shortage of
foreign currency. We need to look at the issue of
supply."
Kanyenze said the acute foreign currency shortage would
continue to sustain
the parallel market.
"There remains a shortage
in the market and that gap is being filled by the
black market," he
said.
The market attributes the increased activity on the black
market to an
increased number of rejected bids on the auction
floors.
The central bank has thrown out more than 800 bids since
inception of the
auction system.
Officials privy to the auctions
say most of the rejected bids were for
holidays. This, according to the
market consensus, creates a viable market
for the dealers who offer the
foreign currency at premiums.
The central bank however insists that
the rejected bids were for less
essential activities.
The
Zimbabwean dollar has begun to take a bashing on the auction floors
with
rates being on the slide for the past three weeks.
Over the
past three weeks the Zimbabwe dollar has lost ground against almost
all major
currencies.
After initially firming to about US$1:$3 600 the Zimbabwe
dollar has now
plunged to US$1:$4 214.
Major parallel market spots
for traders in Harare this week continued to be
a hive of activity despite
government's intensified blitz on them.
Harare's Africa Unity Square, now
a popular market for traders, has
continued to supply the capital city with
the greenback, South African rand
and Botswana pula.
Members of
the Apostolic Sect (Mapositori) sect are still trading despite
heavy police
presence.
The Road Port Station also remains a conducive hiding place for the traders.
Informal traders from neighbouring countries
continue to off-load their
foreign currency onto the black market, instead of
the official banking
channels riling the RBZ.
Zim Independent
Letters
Forex issue: Bloch has lost the
plot
DO you have an aspiring Zanu PF apologist disguised as an eminent
economist
contributing a regular column?
I ask this question in
respect of Eric Bloch and my question is based on his
recent lengthy
pontification on the subject of foreign currency auctions.
Does he really
believe that Zimbabwe is now operating an honest, transparent
and open
foreign currency exchange system? Perhaps he does, as he also seems
to
believe that Gideon Gono's new monetary policy (a "veritable tour de
force"
according to Bloch) will eliminate inflation, restore the external
value of
the Zimbabwe dollar and restore the Zimbabwean economy. He also
appears
confident that Zimbabwe will now be able to re-engage the IMF and
the World
Bank.
Perhaps Bloch also believes that the appointment of Didymus
Mutasa as a
Minister of Anti-Corruption (another veritable tour de force)
will eliminate
or even significantly reduce the corruption that is so
prevalent throughout
Zimbabwe's economy.
Bloch, it seems, has lost
the plot - both politically and economically.
Let me remind him that the
single most important reason for the precipitous
decline of the Zimbabwean
economy is the disastrous policies and practices
of the regime that has
(mis)governed this country for the past 23 years.
Because of its
policies the productive base of the economy has been
significantly eroded, if
not destroyed.
Has Bloch forgotten that the fundamental and most
important purpose of any
economy is the creation of wealth? Is he unaware
that this government has
deliberately destroyed or neglected its
infrastucture (eg agriculture,
transport) misallocated resources to
non-productive purposes on a massive
scale (examples too numerous to
mention), rewarded incompetent acquisitive
cronies rather than creative
entrepreneurship (examples too well-known to
need repeating) and
institutionalised corruption etc?
Does he really believe that Gono
can wave some magic wand called "new
monetary policy" and somehow restore the
productive capacity of Zimbabwe's
shattered economy?
Does he
really believe that the appointment of Mutasa will remove the cancer
of
corruption? Where should he start his anti-corruption drive? When Nero
was
fiddling and Rome was burning would the Roman firefighters have
dared
criticise the emperor's negligence?
Get real, Mr Bloch, the
only way that the Zimbabwean economy can begin the
long, slow, and painful
process of recovery is after the removal of the
regime that has brought it to
its knees.
As has been stated often, the beginning of the restoration
of the Zimbabwean
economy will be when there is a change of government -and I
do not mean some
meaningless recycling of failed Zanu PF cabinet ministers.
They are the
problem - they are not part of the solution.
I can do
no better than refer Bloch and other Zanu PF fellow travellers to
his fellow
columnist Chido Makunike's comments (Independent, January 9):
"The most
tragic way we cheat ourselves as a society in crisis and decline
is by
pretending that there can be any appreciable way to arrest and reverse
our
fall as long as Mugabe, his regime and all the negative values that
they
represent rule Zimbabwe. There can be no regeneration of a genuinely
free,
peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe until not just the head of the system,
but
the system itself is overhauled."
Perhaps we now have the
explanation for Bloch's opposition to "stay aways"
or any serious attempt to
peacefully remove this regime - he is part of it.
RES
Cook,
Harare.
Zim Independent
Letters
What is Bloch's excuse for working with
Mugabe?
Dear Editor, ERIC Bloch's column "Economic destruction not the
path to
political change" (Zimbabwe Independent, February 27) made some
interesting
and puzzling reading.
I have had the pleasure of
interacting with him in many respects as a
journalist, networking partner and
a resident of Bulawayo.
He has (I am not so sure that this still
holds true) established himself as
an authority on economic, social and
political matters. Many a time people
questioned me on the gentleman's grasp
of socio-economic issues and why the
media found so much fascination about
quoting and interviewing him. Although
I had no answer to this, one academic
described Bloch as nothing more than
"that Bulawayo-based
bookkeeper".
Reading through his article I was amazed at how
perilously close he came to
confirming this perception. In a nutshell, Bloch
is in the auction committee
just to do that - see whether we can balance the
books. The moral, social
and political cost of doing so or the mechanisms of
doing so are of no
consequence to him.
But then who can blame him
for being another prominent askari from
Matabeleland following closely on the
footsteps of Jonathan Moyo? It is not
clear what framework of fixing the
economy he is working within. It is not
the people who are working in the
diaspora who have caused the economic
problems that the country is
facing.
It is not their relatives either who have given Zimbabwe a
bad credit rating
but the Zanu PF government. If Bloch were to proceed from a
cause - effect,
problem - solution-basis he would realise that no matter how
many auction
meetings he attends the problems facing the country will not go
away.
Somebody needs to point out some facts to Bloch regarding the
queries that
have been raised with regard to sourcing funds from people in
the diaspora.
The primary reason why Zimbabweans have found
themselves working in the
diaspora, legally and illegally, is because of the
calculated misrule and
economic sabotage that has been perpetrated by the
government of Zimbabwe
that Bloch wants to support.
The amount of
income they will generate from them is nothing compared to
what the mines,
farms, factories and holiday resorts of the country are
capable of
generating. Zimbabwe was never going to be run on migrant income
remittances,
even Wenela failed.
The only way to eat an elephant is by taking one
small piece at a time but
surely that does not include its
droppings!
Secondly, Bloch needs to realise that there is no greater
tsotsi that the
people in the diaspora fear more than Zanu PF. They know
fully well that
foreign currency is required to support and finance either
directly or
indirectly the activities of the disputed presidency of Robert
Mugabe.
The middlemen that they have dealt with before ensured that
their families
had food to eat, could pay for medication, buy clothes and
bury their kith
and kin. So the question of who is fooling who is
resolved.
If the foreign currency is required for business purposes,
the market is
already settling that. Yes, there was a market called the black
market - it
was the market - period. If Bloch does not think this is true he
can go and
ask industry executives, energy and telecommunication utilities or
he can do
some quick arithmetic to establish how much we paid the Libyans for
the oil
to get a rough idea of what the market rate was. The government
has
basically come in to try and cheat the market.
Of all people
Bloch should know better that his justification does not wash.
There is no
way that the Jewish community in Germany would have stood up
during the
Second World War to fix the economy and loudly say what the Nazis
had done
was wrong but that the important thing was to strengthen and
re-build
Germany.
The only exception to this would be the pipe-smoking Thabo
Mbeki who has
decided to side with Mugabe regardless of the weak moral,
political and
social arguments for doing so.
I trust Bloch does
not get me wrong. I am not against the economic recovery
of Zimbabwe. I am
against the illogical reasoning by those who seek to help
the Mugabe regime
tidy up the mess that it has systematically created over
the years. I suppose
Bloch's conscience has not allowed him a good night's
sleep over the last few
days and has been forced to explain why he is doing
what he is
doing.
When he has tried to, he has made a big mess of
it.
Everybody has an excuse for being part of the committee. It could be
that
they are protecting their jobs which they hold courtesy of Zanu PF or
they
are Mugabe's homeboys or in fear of their lives. What is Bloch's
genuine
excuse?
If you intend to work with the auction committee
please go ahead and I wish
you all the best. There is no need for you to
stand up in public and justify
your deeds. If you are going to be charged for
eating a portion why not eat
the whole goat?
Bekithemba
Mhlanga,
UK.
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
Bosom buddy
WHILE President Mugabe and 14 other G15 leaders sat in the
air-conditioned
auditorium of Caracas last week the Venezuelan National
Guard was engaged in
pitched battles with protestors.
The ZBC and Herald news crews
who accompanied Mugabe to Venezuela did
not tell us three people were killed
and up to 50 injured, including two
journalists, in the
clampdown.
Troops firing tear gas and plastic bullets stopped
opposition
protesters from marching to the venue of the summit to demand a
recall
referendum against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
Reports say Chavez backers in distinctive red berets were allowed into
the
venue of the summit despite a ban imposed by Interior minister Lucas
Rincon.
The supporters were escorted by a National Guard tank.
Three
months after the opposition umbrella group, the Democratic
Co-ordinator (CD),
gathered more than three million signatures for a
referendum against the
leftist Chavez, Venezuela's electoral authority was
poised to reject the
petition.
The only way to revive the referendum, guaranteed
under Chavez's 1999
constitution, would be for hundreds of thousands of
signatories to reaffirm
their intentions - an option that seemed certain to
be rejected by the CD as
impractical, hence the
demonstration.
The demonstrations did not however deter Mugabe
from piling accolades
on Chavez whom he praised for taking a hard line
against perceived Western
enemies. After Cuba's Fidel Castro, Chavez is
poised to be our octogenarian
president's key ally in the fight against
imperialism.
Mugabe's choice of friends should be beneficial to
the whole nation
though and we hope Chavez will be a worthy ally. His country
is a major oil
producer!
It is not surprising that Mugabe
was at his best in praise of Chavez.
In his speech, Mugabe made it clear that
all the problems in Venezuela and
Zimbabwe were the fault of the United
States and the United Kingdom
respectively.
Associated Press
reports that Chavez bestowed Mugabe with a replica of
South American
independence hero Simon Bolivar's sword.
"I give you a replica of
liberator Simon Bolivar's sword," Chavez said
last Thursday after the two
leaders signed an energy cooperation agreement.
"For you, who like
Bolivar, took up arms to liberate your people. For
you, who like Bolivar, are
and will always be a true freedom fighter,"
Chavez said. "He continues,
alongside his people, to confront the
pretensions of new
imperialists."
Journalist Francisco Toro writing from Caracas
said Mugabe in his
speech hit an "emotional high talking in heart-rending
terms about how
transnational capitalism robs the children of Zimbabwe of
their food".
Toro was quick to attack Mugabe's posturing by
pointing out who was
making Zimbabwe's children go to bed
empty.
"I didn't know that I could despise any political
message more than I
despise Chavez's," said Toro.
"But
today, I was proven wrong. Robert Mugabe's speech to the G15
summit was a
document of such far-reaching criminal cynicism it made JVR
(Fifth Republic
Revolutionary Youth, an affiliate of Chavez's party) look
like a grammar
school kid, and Chavez himself like an amateur."
"No, Mr
Mugabe, if Human Rights Watch is to be believed, you are the
one who makes
sure your children go to bed hungry at night, and quite
literally," he
said.
Civic groups and the media in Venezuela were quick to
jump on
President Chavez, accusing him of borrowing Mugabe's tactics in
dealing with
protestors.
"In the last 72 hours, Venezuelans
have seen thousands of soldiers
round up on a large peaceful protest firing
hundreds of tear gas canisters,
plastic pellets and, on occasion, live ammo -
and leaving two dead and 30
injured," said an Amnesty International
release.
"They've seen tank and troop movements through many
cities, for
ill-understood reasons. They've seen President Chavez praise
Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe as a freedom fighter and immediately turn
around and
implement some of his tactics. For the first time, Chavez blamed
all of the
country's problems on the US bogeyman."
The
Financial Times this week reported diplomats in Caracas as saying
Chávez was
attempting to fan nationalist sentiment at home and set up an
external
distraction to domestic political troubles.
"Chávez is playing
the rebel, using the old Latin American mythology
of the tough comandante
fighting US imperialism," a diplomat in Caracas
said.
Such is
Chavez's hatred of the United States that he fired choice
insults to George
Bush at a huge rally in Caracas on Sunday. Chavez accused
the US of backing
opposition efforts to topple his leftist government. He
accused Bush of
heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief
2002 coup against
him."El muy pendejo se lo creyó (He was an asshole to
believe them)," Chavez
roared.
The offensive word pendejo in the lexicography of
revolutionary times
could translate to "moron", we have been
told.
Chavez is learning fast. Remember our "Howard is
a
genetically-modified kangaroo" and the Blair toilet!
Zim Independent
Why Mugabe retained old guard
By Chido
Makunike
WE have had a lot of recent pointers to how seriously Zanu
PF is
taking the MDC challenge in the general election scheduled for a year
away
from now. If the ruling party was caught off guard last time by the
stunning
performance of the MDC despite state intimidation and brutalisation
of its
members and supporters, this time they are going all out to make sure
that
doesn't happen again.
President Mugabe's retention of a
lot of his oldest guard in his
recent cabinet reshuffle makes a lot of sense
seen from this perspective.
Many have decried the recycling of deadwood of
not only dubious ability, but
of doubtful honesty despite a window-dressing
effort against corruption. The
anti-corruption effort of the last few months
suffered its first and most
severe setback with the re-appointment by Mugabe
of some of his dodgiest
cronies!
The mistake many of us have
made though, is to evaluate those cronies
in the context of their ability to
bring about an economic turn around.
While any sign of at least a slowing of
the sharp decline of the last few
years that we can largely thank comrade
Mugabe for would be welcome to him
and everybody else, that is far from the
most pressing issue for him and
Zanu PF. Not at all. The main issue is to
"win" the election at virtually
any cost. Any positive developments in the
political, economic and
diplomatic sphere that can be manipulated to this end
are welcome and will
be used to maximum effect, but in their absence
increased repression,
beatings, murder will do just fine as alternative
tactics.
So while it is ridiculous to expect the likes of
Didymus Mutasa,
Ignatius Chombo, Herbert Murerwa, Patrick Chinamasa and other
Mugabe cronies
to do anything to solve problems they had a lot to do to bring
about in the
first place, they can certainly be expected to do whatever it
takes to
ensure the good times keep rolling for themselves by going all out
to do
whatever it takes to ensure a Zanu PF "win" in the election. They have
the
excellent, highly motivating incentives of their personal fortunes
and
overall well-being to do what needs to be done.
Seen
from this perspective, Mugabe's choice of the slowest, most
dubious but most
loyal characters in his inner circle to take the party into
the election
makes perfect, brilliant sense. When your two or three freely
acquired farms
and other benefits of patronage are on the line, you are
likely to defend the
authority who made it possible for you to acquire them
with far more
enthusiasm! It is such brilliantly simple psychology by the
old master
manipulator that we tend to miss it by over-analysing
and
over-intellectualising it. Basically, you identify those personal
foibles
and control them. What could be more diabolically, beautifully simple
and
effective?
This would be the wrong time to appoint young
starry-eyed visionaries
who have illusions about the most pressing issue at
hand - being some
nebulous fixation with "turning around the economy,"
democracy, press
freedom and human rights. Hell, who cares about all this
when the regime's
very existence is threatened? This is no time to call upon
the country's
best and brightest, this is the time for the perhaps decrepit
but certainly
unquestioning, compromised and therefore loyal old
guard!
Even the retention of the controversial,
Johnny-come-lately,
ruthlessly bungling propagandist Jonathan Moyo makes
sense. It could have
been reasoned that since he was such an eloquent,
erudite, sharp and
seemingly principled opponent of Mugabe for many years
before he
capitulated, he is the best person to attack and bludgeon his
former
ideological soulmates in the independent press, civil society and in
the
donor community that he did rather well for himself working for for
many
years! It is interesting to note the contradiction between the
ruling
party's rhetoric of confidence versus its actions of panic. If the
"Third
Chimurenga" and its many purported positive offshoots had been the
boon that
it is claimed they were for Mugabe and the ruling party, there
would be no
need for the many other tactics of intimidation we are
witnessing. Members
of the judiciary have hanging over their heads the sword
of trumped-up
charges and allegations against them being blown up in the
Herald to keep
them in line. More ex-military men have been appointed to
governorships and
other blatantly political positions to unabashedly act as
tools of more
effective repression, in exchange for their personal and
business interests
being protected and bolstered. The devastatingly effective
Daily News has
been thrown into disarray and possible oblivion by a
combination of setting
up confusionists within, as well as expensive and
time-buying,
time-consuming legal battles before a compliant, scared and
compromised
judiciary.
Traditional leaders, through a
combination of outright bribery and
menacing intimidation have been roped in
to have personal reasons and fears
to be agents of the ruling party in their
rural areas of control. Under the
guise of fighting corruption, there is
under way a virtual pogrom of centres
of wealth that are thought to be
sympathetic to the opposition so that the
MDC fights the election financially
hamstrung as well as weak in every other
way. There is an aggressive campaign
of divide and rule against the MDC's
leaders which has begun to bear
fruit.
Leading lights of the opposition who are spiritually and
ideologically
weak have been compromised in their positions by the dangling
of perks.
Beatings, rapes and where necessary killings, with the police
either too
busy with preventing simple demonstrations to help or better
still, unable
to intervene "because that is a political issue, we do not have
permission
to touch it", will continue and increase.
More
innovative ways will be found to compromise and neutralise
independent
thinkers and regime critics. For instance, I hear prominent
Zimbabwe
Independent columnist Eric Bloch has been induced into being a
roving world
ambassador for the regime of Mugabe that he has been bravely
taking on for
many years now! He will be enjoying state-sponsored trips to
the glamorous
capitals of the Western world to persuade Zimbabweans seeking
shelter there
from the tyranny of Mugabe to send their hard-earned dollars
to the regime
from which they are running! I do not know if he will be
accompanied by
Jonathan Moyo or not.
Please Eric, get me a new fuel pump for
my car while you are in New
York and any other luxurious trinkets and toys
you can afford with your
presumably generous hard currency per
diem.
I have said before, and I repeat again, the stakes are
very high for
the regime of Mugabe in these, its last days, and it will leave
no stone
unturned to hang on to power before it is eventually kicked out. As
we are
already seeing, there will be many casualties in the struggle before
final
victory is achieved and Zimbabwe can get back to a period of peace,
sanity
and reconstruction in the aftermath of Mugabe.
-Chido
Makunike is Harare-based regular contributor.
Zim Independent
In memory of those who shouldn't have died
By Cathy
Buckle
THE end of February marks the end of Zimbabwe's fourth year of chaos
and it
is a month which will always be remembered as the time when the
madness
began.
For exactly four years I have been writing weekly
from Zimbabwe and on this
anniversary I thought it would be appropriate to
take a few sentences from
my articles in each of Zimbabwe's first four
February's in the 21st century
to show that it is political power and not
race or land that took us from
breadbasket to begging
bowl.
lShortly after the referendum in 2000 in which the people of
Zimbabwe voted
against constitutional changes proposed by President Mugabe's
government, I
described the invasion of our Marondera farm.
"The
war veterans had come. My son was barely out of the driveway. My hands
were
shaking so badly that it seemed to take me forever to clip the
padlock
closed. I ran into the house, begging my dogs to follow me. And then
they
started, hondo, hondo, hondo (war) the war veterans shouted, again
and
again. Then they started whistling and singing. The dogs were going
mad,
barking and howling and scratching at the doors to get out. I closed all
the
curtains and locked myself in my study, sat down on the floor and put
my
hands over my head, sobbing and shaking."
l In February 2001,
journalists protested the bombing of the printing
presses of the Daily News,
pressure mounted on Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay
to resign and foreign
correspondents Mercedes Sayagues and Joseph Winter
were declared prohibited
immigrants and thrown out of Zimbabwe. While this
was happening, I was
witnessing the agonising death from Aids of my ex-farm
employee Emmanuel.
Neither he nor I could afford anti-retroviral drugs and
Emmanuel's quality of
life had collapsed since we had been forced to leave
our
farm.
Saying "goodbye" to Emmanuel is not something I want to
remember. As I
embraced him, I could feel every rib and hear his gasping
struggle for
breath. I knew I would never see him again. "Go well Manuel," I
said, as his
father and I lifted him into the car. "Stay well Mrs Cathy," he
whispered in
response. That was the last time I saw Emmanuel and although he
died shortly
afterwards, his memory will always be a part of me.
l
In February 2002, two weeks before the presidential election,
political
violence and intimidation had engulfed the country. At least 15
people had
been murdered in January, electoral laws had been changed, priests
had been
arrested and militant youths manned road blocks country wide
demanding that
people prove their allegiance to Zanu PF by showing ruling
party membership
cards. One night my neighbour's house was petrol-bombed
because he was an
opposition activist and I wrote: "I ran out of my back door
to see a huge
fire consuming the house three doors away. A massive orange
glow lit the sky
and there were continuing explosions for the next hour as
windows and other
items heated and exploded. I ran inside to call the police
and the fire
brigade, but they would not come."
l In February 2003
hunger was widespread, the shops were empty of staple
food and the petrol
stations were dry. Queuing was a part of everyday life
as were attempted
protests, riot police and tear gas. World Cup Cricket
matches began in Harare
and I wrote about the death of 29-year-old Edison
Mukwasi who was an
opposition supporter and had been beaten and tortured
whilst in police
custody, first in 2001 and again in February 2003.
"Edison and others
were arrested by police for protesting at a cricket match
in Harare and
allegedly tortured whilst in police custody. He was released
without charge
and died shortly afterwards. Edison is survived by his wife
Gladys and their
two-week old daughter Nyasha."
l That takes me to February this year.
Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is now 37
years. Well over half of the population
need food aid, inflation is over
620%, the daily free press has gone and
every month judges in our courts
resign from the bench.
President
Mugabe has just turned 80 and when asked how close talks were with
the
opposition he said: "The devil is the devil, we have no idea of supping
with
the devil."
Looking back on it all, I can hardly believe Zimbabwe has
survived, but we
have, secure in the knowledge that nothing is forever. Those
of us that can,
have stayed, waiting for the time when we can pick up the
pieces of our
shattered country, heal the wounds, and start again. I write
this letter in
memory of Emmanuel and the hundreds of others who should not
have died.
-Cathy Buckle is an author and human rights activist based
in Marondera.