The ZIMBABWE Situation
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IMF Executive Board Upholds
Sanctions Against Zimbabwe
International Monetary Fund
Press Release No.
06/45
March 8,
2006
The Executive Board of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) met today to review Zimbabwe's overdue financial obligations to the
Fund and consider the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe. The Board noted that as a
result of Zimbabwe's full settlement of its arrears to the IMF's General
Resources Account (GRA),1 the
Managing Director had withdrawn his complaint with respect to compulsory
withdrawal (see Press Release No. 06/33).
Following the discussion, the Executive Board decided not to restore Zimbabwe's
voting and related rights and not to terminate its ineligibility to use the
general resources of the Fund at this juncture.
The Board also considered issues related to
Zimbabwe's outstanding arrears to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
(PRGF)-Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF) Trust Fund.2 It
noted that Zimbabwe's economic crisis calls for urgent implementation of a
comprehensive policy package comprising several mutually reinforcing actions in
the area of macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms. The Board urged
Zimbabwe to continue its efforts to resolve the remaining overdue financial
obligations to the PRGF-ESF Trust, and agreed that the Fund will consider
further Zimbabwe's overdue financial obligations to the PRGF-ESF Trust within
six months of the date of this decision.
Because GRA and PRGF arrears are subject to separate
legal frameworks, the various decisions taken by the Executive Board to address
outstanding arrears to the PRGF-ESF Trust remain in place. Therefore, Zimbabwe
remains excluded from the list of PRGF-eligible countries (see Press Release No. 01/40).
Zimbabwe has been in continuous arrears since
February 2001 and is the only case of protracted arrears to the PRGF-ESF Trust,
which currently amount to SDR 83 million (about US$119 million).
1
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/pam/pam45/pdf/PAM45.pdf2
http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/prgf.htm
Mutasa Threatens To "Physically Eliminate" MDC
Officials
Zim Daily
Thursday, March 09 2006 @ 12:05 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
State Security minister
Didymus Mutasa has said the
intelligence will not hesitate to "physically
eliminate" mercenaries in the
opposition MDC's anti-senate faction bent on
subverting the democratic
processes in Zimbabwe by seeking to illegally
unseat "President Mugabe's
democratically elected government." Mutasa
alleged that the MDC was linked
to an arms cache discovered in the eastern
city of Mutare Tuesday. Mutasa
said the intelligence had already uncovered
that there was a plot to
destabilise the country in a scheme involving
opposition members and army
officers.
"This is a
disastrous way that (MDC leader Morgan) Tsvangirai
has chosen for himself,"
Mutasa said. "We will not fold our hands and allow
the anti-senate faction
to subvert our democratic processes through their
regime change agenda being
pursued from 10 Downing Street. The security
forces are prepared to meet any
threat to our sovereignty. We know
everything that is going
on."
Mutasa said the suspect, Peter Hitchmann was "now
co-operating"
and he has already revealed his principals and how the MDC is
involved in
this mutiny attempt. He said the intelligence have already
gathered that the
captive was working for an organization funded by the US's
intelligence arm
CIA called the Freedom Movement "with opposition members
Roy Bennett and
Giles Mutseyekwa as the coordinators." "We will lave no
stone unturned,"
Mutasa said, adding that the government will now remove all
ex-Rhodesian
officers from its security ranks.
"We will
like to sternly warn the MDC to desist from attempting
to unseat the
government through undemocratic means. We will eliminate them
physically, we
will not hesitate to do that," he said without elaborating.
But the MDC
denied complicit in the arms cache, with MDC spokesman Nelson
Chamisa saying
the allegations were part of a wider plot by the State to
arrest some of its
leaders and to smear Tsvangirai and his supporters.
Chamisa said it was
clear the timing of the find was aimed a derailing their
congress scheduled
for next weekend.
"We wish to state categorically, that while
we believe
Zimbabweans have lost faith and confidence in elections, our
desire to
effect democratic change shall be realised through peaceful,
democratic
resistance," Chamisa said. Zimdaily heard that Mutare South
legislator Giles
Mutsekwa and the MDC's Manicaland treasurer Brian James
have already been
arrested in connection with the find, which was unearthed
at Hitschmann's
house, a former member of the white settler army before
independence.
Zimdaily heard that Hitschmann is a serving member of Zimbabwe
Republic
Police's special constabulary auxiliary unit.
Chamisa said the government - which has openly shown more
hostility against
Tsvangirai's wing of the MDC - wanted to use the weapons
discovery to arrest
prominent figures of the faction and scuttle the
congress which Tsvangirai
hopes to use to galvanise his supporters for what
he has said shall be a
programme of popular resistance against Mugabe and
his ruling ZANU PF party.
The congress is scheduled to take place on March
17 and 18. "The
dictatorship is disturbed by this event (upcoming congress),
given that
earlier attempts to destroy the party over the Senate election
failed
dismally," Chamisa said. According to the police, the arms cache
included
AK-47 automatic rifles, machineguns, shotguns, pistols, revolvers,
tear gas
canisters, flares, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a two-way
radio
communication system.
Mugabe's police arrest three after seizing arms
cache
The Scotsman
JANE FIELDS
POLICE in Zimbabwe have arrested three men after
unearthing an arms cache
they said was going to be used by the opposition
party to overthrow Robert
Mugabe, the president.
State media said
police had found the cache on Monday at the home of Michael
Hitschmann,
believed to be of German descent, in the eastern city of Mutare.
Police
picked up Brian James, a provincial treasurer for the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), from his home in the wealthy Mutare suburb of
Murambi early yesterday morning. Giles Mutsekwa, the opposition MP for
Mutare North constituency, was arrested in the capital, Harare.
The
official Herald newspaper said the cache included an AK-47 rifle, four
FN
rifles, seven Uzi machine-guns, 11 shotguns and a set of two-way radios.
The
paper claimed that Hitschmann, whose father owns a security firm in
Mutare,
was linked to an association of former Rhodesian soldiers calling
themselves
the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement, which has vowed to oust the
government by
military means.
Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the MDC, said the party
was the victim of a
state plot.
Lack of resources hinders police
operations
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2006-Mar-09
OWING to a severe shortage of resources, Zimbabwe Republic
Police is failing
to provide adequate food and blankets to detained suspects
at various police
stations.
Inmates revealed this yesterday when they met
the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Defence and Home Affairs during its
tour of Matapi, Highlands
and Harare Central holding cells.
Chairman of
the committee, retired colonel Claudius Makova, said some of the
inmates
interviewed by the committee said they were now relying on food from
friends
and relatives.
"The inmates generally complained of lack of food, toilet
paper and
blankets. They said they were now relying on supplies from home
brought by
their friends and relatives, especially at Harare Central and
Highlands
cells," he said adding there were, however, no complaints by the
suspects of
ill-treatment by the police.
Makova said the committee
noticed that toilets were blocked and water
seeping into some of the
cells.
"The heating system and the sewer especially at Harare were broken
down. The
maintenance unit at the station said they did not have resources
to repair
the damages," he added.
During the same tour, Makova said the
police officers complained of lack of
accommodation and poor remuneration,
a situation the Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri highlighted to the
same committee last year.
"The police officers said they were being paid low
salaries and were also
facing accommodation problems. At the end of the day
this affected their
performance," Makova said.
The Bikita West
legislator, however, said the problems being faced by the
police were a
result of low budgetary allocation from the central
government.
The
Ministry of Home Affairs was allocated $5,9 trillion in the 2006
national
budget.
"We are aware that the Ministry of Home Affairs and ZRP didn't get
what they
applied for in the budget. As such, the challenges are a result of
inadequate funding from the fiscus. These problems are also due to the
sanctions that the country is facing.
"What we are seeing is a
manifestation of the problems in the country caused
by the sanctions. The
country is under siege," said Makova.
During a similar tour last year inmates
at Harare Remand Prison said they
had resorted to using Bible pages for
toilet paper and generally raised
concerns about squalid living conditions
worsened by food shortages.
The same year, the Supreme Court also ruled that
the conditions at Matapi
holding cells were a contravention of human rights
and ordered the
government to upgrade them.
This has, however, been
hampered by lack of resources, Makova said.
Makova said the committee is
expected to visit Masvingo, Matabeleland and
Manicaland provinces on similar
tours before compiling a report with
recommendations to be tabled in
Parliament.
Zimbabwean Journey
"We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even
when
confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot
be
changed. When we are no longer able to change a situation - just think of
an
incurable disease such as inoperable cancer - we are challenged to
change
ourselves."
- Viktor Frankel
-
Like a woman in childbirth, Zimbabwe is in the throes of labour.
She has
come far, the seemingly unbearable pain, the relentless pressure, the
fear
of what is and what might be, the knowing that no matter what, there is
no
going back, only forward. The periods of relalative calm in between the
next
and more powerful wave of pain, are so small and short now; more than
ever
before - barely giving any significant chance of catching our breath
or
energy so as to brave the next onslaught. This labour has engulfed so
many
in the past, continues to threaten to drown so many of us in the
ever
increasing ocean of physical, emotional and spiritual
turmoil.
Every woman knows that once she has experienced childbirth she
is never,
ever the same again. It is a terrifying experience, fraught with
risk, with
indescribable torment between the heart and the common sense. We
try to
understand the mechanics behind a process that has happened so many
times
before to so many others before us. Yet we also know that we stand to
lose
all we have invested in this state, and should we lose the end reward,
we
are also painfully aware of the horror that awaits us; the depth of what
we
stand to lose not forgetting our own sanity. Yet, we go on, for the
dream
beckons and if we stop dreaming, we stop hoping and only then, is all
we
work, play and live for lost.
Viktor Frankel talks about the
survival rate in the concentration camps as
being 1 in 28. Yet he has also
based his revolutionary new form of
psychology on what he saw in those camps.
"For what then matters is to bear
witness to the uniquely human potential at
it's best, which is to transform
a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn
one's predicament into a human
achievement."
Time and again through
the progress of the birth of our new nation, we have
born witness to
countless heroes and heroines who have met their
"impossible" circumstances
with their personal best performance at their own
spiritual, mental self
actualisation - in short; they have become who and
what God intended them to
be. They have shone or continue to shine their
light for the rest of us to
see our way through the darkest of days. Time
and again my heart spills over
and I am galvinised into action when sent a
reminder of just how selfish we
can become locked into our comfortable
homes, jobs and families. We try
desperately to avoid the pain of seeing
what must be seen. Of feeling what
must be felt. Of experiencing what must
be experienced. Of doing what must be
done. Of being as big a part of the
birth of a new nation as any one of those
saints who have dared to put it
all on the line to risk a better future for
those who will come after us.
By all accounts, local and global, we are
on the verge of collapse and
hopefully, rebirth. I see people walking or
pushing their bikes so very
slowly early in the morning to conserve energy; I
challenge you to look
carefully; let your gaze linger a little longer. You
will see the skeletal
frames through the clothes, the despair and pain etched
on every single face
as these poor, poor people head for their workplaces for
what must amount to
close to not even enough to feed a starving family any
semblance of a meal a
day. To know that should one of their children become
critically ill, there
is no place to go for help, drugs or effective care. To
exist every day. day
after day, to try to look after a family; no matter how
hopeless. As your
eyes connect with theirs, you will see just how privileged
we are to have
all we need right at our fingertips, and yet we moan, we
complain, we waste
precious life energy on our opinions.
I apologize
if I offend with my perceptions but the time is here to throw
off the cloak
of deceit, of self-pity and of comfort. it is time to do what
must be done in
order to see our country through this labour; that we may at
the very least
be able to know that the suffering in our lives and those
around us is not
dependant on whether or not we succeed in becoming a new
nation / government
/ generation. Our suffering is worth nothing if this is
all we are doing it
for!! My challenge to every one of you out there is to
look deeply into your
own life and see that there is meaning in our pain. in
our suffering. We are
not simply looking to an end point ie:"a new country"
or "a new beginning"
.... if that is all we are wanting then our journey is
worth very little. But
if we can see how much we have grown and how far we
have come as a single
soul and as a communal soul, if we can see that the
meaning of all this pain
is growth, self-discovery and a deep, transparent
peace with who we are no
matter the circumstances, then my friends, we are
already experiencing the
birth of our new nation.
If the economists, history and the facts
themselves are correct, we are
about to enter the final stage of childbirth.
Short yet all-encompassing and
incredibly intense. Let us hold onto the
quality strands that we have become
through all our experiences good and bad,
let us weave our individual fibres
together so that the resultant fabric is
beautiful, strong, resilient and
stands the test of time. So that, when we
stand back at the end of our days,
we see that from afar, that fabric bears
the colours of the New Zimbabwe
flag, flying high above the heads of a people
who live together in peace,
respect and embrace each other's culture and
differences. A people who are
committed to throwing aside their own needs in
order to ensure that all our
children may have a brighter day where they
belong.
In closing, let each one of us all over the world celebrate the
part of us
that was and is, and always will be Zimbabwean. Let us see our
journey as a
blessing and Divine interception in order for us to find
ourselves, to test
ourselves and to discover what holds the greatest meaning
for our personal
peace and happiness. For my own part, it's all those things
we have here
that cost not a cent. Family, friends, sunshine, history, wide
open spaces,
the people, easy smiles and greetings, informal gatherings of
every kind at
every opportunity, traditions, sunsets, the first rains, my
birthright, my
children's happiness at doing all the things that I did as a
kid growing up
in this country. So, this is my fourth child, my fourth
labour. I know that
it will probably be the hardest and most dangerous. But I
also know that
there is no going back, and I shall dig deeper than ever, feel
the fear and
keep on going. For great things come with great risks and my
soul drives me
on. Let us do what we can the best we can. All we have to give
is all we've
got ... it will be enough and we shall find ourselves and each
other by
doing it.
Let us get up and look around ... and let us seize
every chance to do what
is good, what is right and what is God's purpose for
us here and now. Hope
is not about what lies in the future; hope is doing
what's morally,
spiritually and behaviourally pure and true .... no matter
the outcome, no
matter the circumstances. At the end of our days we can look
back at our
Zimbabwean journey and know that it was all meant to be - so that
we may
serve her and our God well. Walk with me now.
Debi Jeans
Crackdown on 'corrupt' Zanu PF bigwigs
begins
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Mar-09
THE
crackdown on Zanu PF bigwigs suspected of corruption has begun.
This week,
Zanu PF legislator for Chipinge South Enock Porusingazi and
Mutare
businessman Esau Mupfumi have been arrested on allegations of
fraudulently
acquiring over 1,3 million litres of diesel from the National
Oil Company
of Zimbabwe (Noczim).
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner
Wayne Bvudzijena
confirmed the pair had been arrested saying Mupfumi, a
member of the ruling
party's central committee, was nabbed in the capital on
Tuesday while
Porusingazi was arrested in Mutare on the same
day.
Mupfumi, a former policeman, is being held at Rhodesville Police Station
while Porusingazi, who snatched the Chipinge South seat from Wilson Kumbula
of Zanu Ndonga's stranglehold in the 2005 parliamentary polls, is detained
in Mutare.
According to Bvudzijena, Mupfumi has two cases to answer. In
the first
instance, he allegedly acquired 1 093 636 litres of diesel from
Noczim for
100 buses using duplicate permits when in fact he owns about
50.
"Mupfumi received fuel in excess of his requirement," Bvudzijena said.
The
Assistant Police Commissioner added that using the same modus operandi,
Mupfumi misrepresented facts once again to Noczim and received 20 000 litres
of diesel. In the case pertaining to Porusingazi, Bvudzijena said the Zanu
PF lawmaker allegedly used Chipinge South Public Works Association to
acquire 342 000 litres of diesel for his own use. Porusingazi is the
chairman of Chipinge South Public Works Association.
Porusingazi and
Mupfumi are scheduled to appear in court in Mutare today.
Mupfumi, a
transport operator, recently told a weekly newspaper that last
year he
received 5 000 litres of fuel, of which 2 000 were used on his 35
000
hectare tobacco crop.
He reportedly boasted that it was Manicaland acting
area public prosecutor,
Levison Chikafu and himself who called for a probe
into the abuse of the
Noczim subsidised fuel.
Last month, Mupfumi,
Porusingazi and nine others were questioned by the
police in Mutare on
allegations of abusing subsidised fuel from Noczim meant
for
farming.
Their questioning came barely three weeks after Reserve Bank
governor,
Gideon Gono, said in his 2005 Fourth Quarter Monetary Policy
Review
statement that farmers were abusing the Noczim fuel facility,
prompting
government to announce that it had blacklisted A2 farmers.
The
government is yet to disclose the names of those condemned.
Under the Noczim
arrangement, farmers would procure petrol at $11 000 a
litre and $13 500 for
diesel - way below the official and black market rates
averaging $200
000.
Gono in his policy statement said: "As monetary authorities, we continue
to
point out that the current arrangements is the fuel sector, under which
privileged few access fuel at subsidised prices is fomenting immense
leakages, where recipients of the subsidised fuel are tempted to make quick
gains through disposal of same in parallel markets, far removed from the
intended beneficiary sector of agriculture."
The arrest of Mupfumi and
Porusingazi came less than a week after the
Minister of State for State
Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and Anti
Corruption, Paul Mangwana, said police
would soon arrest suspected corrupt
people, among them, politicians.
He
disclosed that the Anti-Corruption Commission appointed last year by
President Robert Mugabe had carried intense investigations into alleged vice
in both the public and private sector.
President Mugabe has spoken
strongly against people in and out of Zanu PF
who used their privileged
positions to engage in corrupt activities.
Looming Soft Drink Shortage in Zimbabwe
Zim Daily
Thursday, March 09 2006 @ 12:04 AM GMT
Contributed by:
wezimbabwe
A serious shortage of soft drinks is looming
Zimbabwe. Delta
Beverages Limited's non-alcoholic plant faces closure
because it is failing
to raise foreign currency needed to purchase raw
materials. Delta Beverages
Limited is Zimbabwe's largest drink manufacturer.
Zimbabwe has had a
negative balance of payments for the past six years. The
country recently
cleared its arrears with the IMF, which had been
outstanding since 1999.
Zimbabwe has been facing foreign currency shortages
since 1999. This has
resulted in most foreign currency depended industries
nearly crumbling, the
most affected being the health and energy
sectors.
On Sunday Finance Minister, Hebert Murerwa and
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe boss Gideon Gono left Harare for meetings with the
IMF in
Washington. Murerwa is reported to have said Zimbabwe would ask for
assistance. Murerwa said: "Although our voting rights have now been restored
we need technical assistance and financial assistance. We know this will not
be automatically restored but this is something we hope to negotiate... We
will be meeting the board on Wednesday." This seems, to be a shift in policy
as Robert Mugabe has is record saying that we can do it alone. The Zanu PF
regime now recognises that they cannot do it alone as was signalled by
Mugabe when he told the new British Ambassador, Dr Andrew Po*censored* that
let's build bridges. Zimbabwe's economy took a nosedive in 2000 and has
never been able to rebound. Zimbabwe's economic crisis is characterised by
runaway inflation, soaring poverty levels, an unemployment rate of 70% and
chronic shortages of fuel, drugs and basic goods.
Zim spends $60 trillion on maize
imports
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2006-Mar-09
VICE-President Joice Mujuru has revealed that government
used a total of $60
trillion in financing the importation of maize to
complement the country's
food reserves last year.
Mujuru said this during
a national field day organised by SeedCo at Rattray
Arnold Research Station
yesterday urging farmers to fully utilise the land
to avoid such expenses in
future.
She said Zimbabwe is yet to clear its food import debt.
"The
country used a maximum of $60 trillion in 2005 for the importation of
maize
alone", she said.
She added that the money used was meant for the building of
dams, roads,
bridges and the installation of irrigation facilities to
complement the
successful implementation of the land reform programme.
"A
lot of money is going to social activities instead of implementing
developmental programmes", she said.
Mujuru said by importing food from
other countries Zimbabwe was sustaining
those countries economies rather
than its own, a situation that had fuelled
the country's inflation rate,
which currently stands at 613 percent.
The country, she said, should this
year avoid tendering a begging bowl for
food assistance from other countries
after it had received enough rainfall
to sustain a good harvest.
She
added that government would in two weeks time go around the country
inspecting those areas reported to be receiving low rainfalls in a bid to
assist the affected areas.
Mujuru also told the farmers not to embarrass
the country's leadership that
initiated the land reform programme by failing
to fully utilise the land and
assured SeedCo that government would continue
to support their research
initiatives.
"Only that way can Zimbabwe be
assured that we remain on top of any
challenges that confront the
agricultural industry", she said.
She also underscored the need for the
private sector to take a leaf from
SeedCo and work closely with government
agencies such as Arex to ensure that
farmers are equipped with the requisite
skills and knowledge to be able to
use the land more effectively.
She
added that government is looking at allocating land to seed houses for
breeding suitable varieties for the country so that the country may be
relieved of continuing to pump out huge amounts of foreign currency by
importing seeds every year.
"We would like to be in a position to produce
enough seed for the local
market and even export some to the region.
"My
message to the two Ministries of Lands and Land Reform and Agriculture,
which are both represented here, is to render our seed companies the
necessary support to enhance productivity in agriculture", Mujuru said.
Mawere addresses Forum
The Zimbabwean
LONDON - Exiled businessman
Mutumwa Mawere refuted claims by the Harare
regime that sanctions had harmed
the country, when he addressed a recent
meeting of the London
Forum.
The Mugabe regime itself was applying sanctions to the people of
Zimbabwe,
denying them food, jobs and the basic right to own property or
businesses,
he said.
Mawere was in London to defend his companies
against a state takeover. He
rejected claims in the state-owned press that
was a "fugitive", saying that
he had lost his Zimbabwean passport and was
effectively a non-person in
Zimbabwe.
In South Africa Mawere had
studied the policy of Black Economic Empowerment
(BEE) that the ANC
Government has been pursuing, and had seen this as a
blue-print that could
be applied in Zimbabwe to generate jobs and wealth.
Instead, the Mugabe
regime had passed a law by decree, which was
specifically aimed at stripping
Mawere of his business assets. Instead of
using existing laws government
created spurious grounds of "State
indebtedness", as a basis to take over
the running of the companies.
Mawere said the law should be seen in the
context of the wider stripping of
property rights in all sectors of
Zimbabwean society - from commercial
farmers through to the homeless victims
of Operation Murambatsvina. - Own
correspondent
Zimbabweans denied dignified funerals
The Zimbabwean
So many
Zimbabweans are dying that burial at Harare's cemeteries is becoming
a
privilege of the rich.
HARARE - Luis Mutero's last days of life
and his subsequent death portray
the scale of collapse of basic services
that historically had supported the
common people.
Luis, 38, was one
among millions of unemployed Zimbabwean youths. For much
of his life, he was
what is commonly referred to in Zimbabwe as a
"small-time dealer", the means
by which millions of formally unemployed
Zimbabweans eke out a bare living
by selling essential commodities on a
small scale.
But Luis fell ill.
He could no longer trade and he became homeless. He was
forced to hop from
one relative to the next seeking shelter. As his health
got worse, he was
admitted to Harare Central Hospital, the main state
hospital in the capital
city catering for the teeming poor. In Harare
Central, Luis became a victim
all over again. He was discharged after three
weeks because the hospital was
experiencing a critical shortage of essential
drugs, including those
necessary to treat his ailments, and vital equipment
was breaking down
because of a lack of money to import spare parts.
However, Luis was hit
with fees of more than Z$3 million [about US$29] for
his hospital stay. That
was the beginning of his nightmare. The hospital
refused to discharge him
until the bill had been paid.
Luis did not have the money. Nor did his
widowed and unemployed mother, who
was told her son would not receive water,
food or clean bedding until the
fee was paid. For two weeks Luis lay in his
bed in pain without food or
water. He could only eat when or if his mother
could raise the bus fare to
travel from Mabvuku, on the eastern outskirts of
Harare, to the hospital on
the western boundary of the city.
She was
already struggling to put food on the table for her other six
children, and
so Luis lay neglected on his hospital bed for days and nights
until he gave
his last gasps.
But the hospital's mortuary refused to release his body
until the bill had
been settled. Three days after Luis died, the family
managed to raise the
money and only then could they start organising his
burial. But now, to
their horror, they discovered that registered funeral
parlours were charging
between Z$30 and 50 million for the cheapest grave
space and other funeral
costs. Illegal operators charge about half this
amount.
So many Zimbabweans are now dying - many from AIDS-related
infections and an
increasing number from hunger-related causes - that burial
at Harare's
cemeteries is becoming a privilege of the rich. A grave space at
the
low-income Granville cemetery costs from Z$5.5 to 8.5 million during
weekdays and Z$10 to 15 million at weekends. This is in a country where the
lowest paid people earn less than Z$5 million a month and the majority earn
barely three times more, and where a large number of family breadwinners
have died from HIV/AIDS, leaving families headed by the elderly or by
children.
Luis was eventually buried in a coffin that looked as
though it might fall
apart if not handled carefully. Only a few relatives
accompanied the body
because they could not afford to hire a bus to ferry
mourners. There were
none of the usual flowers and wreaths at the funeral
in Mbare, one of Harare's
poorest suburbs. Mourners could not afford them.
They also went hungry,
because Luis's immediate relatives did not have
enough money to feed them.
"People are slowly losing their right to
dignity in life, and what angers me
the most is that the government is also
taking away that right of a
dignified burial. People are being hit twice, in
life and at death," said
the mourning uncle Phillip Mutero.
With more
than 200 people dying each day nationwide from HIV/AIDS, it is
inevitable
that more and more families will resort to non-customary burials.
In an
attempt to alleviate the crisis, Harare City Council has launched a
public
relations campaign to show that cremation is both quicker and cheaper
than
burial. - IWPR
Anticipate a changed Africa - Verryn
The Zimbabwean
'recognize that
this is a God moment for us'
BY MARTINE STEMERICK
As starvation
tightens its grip across Zimbabwe, increasingly desperate
exiles brave the
crocodile-infested waters of the Limpopo to try their luck
in South Africa.
Pregnant women and mothers with young children drag
themselves to
Johannesburg, where many of them appeal to the churches for
safe
haven.
At Johannesburg's Central Methodist Mission, Bishop Paul Verryn
works
tirelessly with volunteers and staff to feed and shelter these
homeless
refugees. In the endless queue of people waiting each day outside
his
office, five or more are from Zimbabwe. Without a regular source of food
or
blankets, the Bishop stretches scant supplies to meet the most pressing
needs.
Women and children sleep in the sanctuary of the church every
night, while
homeless men wrap themselves in blankets and sleep head-to-toe
like sardines
in the meeting rooms above. Conditions for 200 people in a
church building
not meant for housing are a nightmare, said the Bishop, but
a far sight
better than living rough on the inner-city streets.
Some
of the women appealing for help are refugees in the truest sense of the
word. "Just recently we had a small family of a child, a mother and a
father who came down. They had been to an MDC rally, leaving their
seven-year-old at home. He had been beaten up and was crying outside the
house. They decided to move. I won't tell you of the rest of her story
because it is too horrendous for words, but they certainly left Zimbabwe in
great fear of their lives."
Young girls harassed to join the youth
militia are also appearing more
frequently at Verryn's
office.
Inner-city missions like Central Methodist in Johannesburg are
hugely
important in meeting the needs of the poor, but resources for this
kind of
ministry are thin. The church co-ordinates a feeding scheme for
rough
sleepers, but it isn't enough.
"What we need first of all is
funding to get this building into a state of
acceptable cleanliness. The
second would be if we could cook at least one
balanced meal at a central
spot every day for everybody because people are
scrounging all sorts of food
from rubbish bins. I worry myself sick that
they are going to get poisoned
because they are not eating fresh food and
because many of them are already
health compromised," said Verryn.
"And once one starts that kind of
feeding scheme, it needs to be
sustainable. You can't raise people's
expectations and then tell them, 'No,
for the next four weeks, there's not
going to be any food.' So, that's the
second thing. Third, there are basic
needs for people to be able to get to
and from the Home Affairs department .
Most of that happens in Pretoria, so
that's a train fare there and
back."
Although the outside world may think that what is happening at
Central
Methodist is commendable, Verryn finds himself "very ambivalent
about the
quality of what we are able to do here and would want it to be
very
different."
"Some of the people we have in the building are
extraordinary people:
accountants, school teachers, qualified nurses, a
doctor. Some are very
ingenuous in the way they are making jobs and little
projects trying to
begin. So, sometimes just a little seed money for
somebody to go and start a
small business would make all the difference. We
have wire artists, people
who are making fly fishing lures. We have
ballroom dancing, a drama group,
all sorts of enterprises. Our goal is to
try to enable people to take
responsibility for their lives; to reduce
dependency is a critical
priority."
Verryn urged the Church to pray
for a politically sustainable solution for
the Zimbabwean
crisis.
"The second thing I would pray for is that while peace is not in
place,
people seeking asylum and refuge find a more humane welcome in the
countries
to which they flee, and that in South Africa, we have the
opportunity for
them to be granted full refugee status, almost in response
to the way we
were hosted and cared for during the difficult years by the
Zimbabwean
government of that time.
"And thirdly, it would be so good
if we could pray for the health of
refugees on every level. Some people
come here who are really very sick.
They are young people and there isn't
enough to sustain them and bring them
to a place of health. Unfortunately,
we have had two people die in hospital
in the last week: one young man of
19 and another who has a two-month-old
baby back in Zimbabwe. The tragedy
is enormous so health is a big issue for
us.
"And then finally,
prayers that begin to recognize that this is a 'God
moment' for us in South
Africa. That Zimbabweans and people from the DRC
and other exiles who seek
help are a gift, especially to the Christian
community. It's an opportunity
for us to open our hands and knuckle down
and be what we say we are. And in
actual fact to be transformation agents
and to recognize that the people who
come across our borders are given to us
for a very short while. And that
they may be the people who ultimately are
the agents of change when they
return to their countries. And for us to use
the opportunity of them being
over here to inculcate standards of care and
humanity that anticipate a
changed Africa. Those are my prayers for the
church in Lent."
AIPPA protects coup plotters
The Zimbabwean
BY A SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT
'Even Mugabe has no access to
information'
HARARE - To many Zimbabweans, reports of military
groups calling for the
violent overthrow of Mugabe provide a glimmer of hope
that their suffering
will soon end. The claims also arouse great concern
that such action may
plunge the country into a civil war.
Skeptics,
however, view the militant claims with suspicion, largely because
of the
scanty information about them.
From the trickle of information coming out
of Zimbabwe, the independent
press has gleaned that the militant groups are
believed to have reached
advanced planning stages and could carry out a coup
to remove Mugabe at any
moment.
Since the claims emanate from inside
the country, independent journalists,
most of whom have fled the country,
may not be able to penetrate the iron
curtain provided by the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(AIPPA), to reach such networks
and dig out the information, which is of
great interest to the public, and
also to Mugabe himself. The draconian
AIPPA, which Professor Moyo should
have called NAIPA (No Access to
Information and Privacy Act) muzzles the
press so much that the country is
now in virtual
darkness.
Independent journalists may therefore not be able to locate the
leaders of
the Zimbabwe Patriotic Resistance Forum (ZPRF) or the Patriotic
Military
Front (PMF), especially because they are believed to be right
inside Mugabe's
government. The militants also make a great effort to remain
secret, and
almost certainly enjoy a great amount of cover that even the CIO
may not be
able to uncover early enough to save Mugabe.
The burden
therefore remains on the shoulders of the state media, who are
exempted from
the clutches of AIPPA. The state journalists have been
entrusted with the
duty of informing the nation on matters of great
interest, just like these
claims that some people are planning a violent
removal of Mad Bob. This is a
crucial moment when the government that
employs them is in great need of
vital information, and it would be an
immense disservice to their bosses if
they do not do the work.
The basic information they need is already on
the table. The people who are
plotting to overthrow the government that pays
them are believed to be in
the CIO, the Zimbabwe National Army, the Zimbabwe
Military Police, the
Zimbabwe Republic Police. They include retired ex-army
chiefs and war
veterans who are Zanu (PF) office bearers and government
officials.
Unfortunately, there are virtually no real journalists left in
the country,
as there are no doctors, teachers, business people, farmers and
so on. Even
the beggars have fled, and the real cops now work for South
African security
companies because they would not stand the mad orders they
had to take.
If, however, by any slim chance there were any enterprising
ones among them,
they would be detained, tortured, fired, murdered or
expelled from the
country, even before they reached the juicy sources of
information - thanks
to AIPPA and the Public Order Security Act
(POSA).
The information blackout therefore persists - denying even Mugabe
himself
access to information. If he does not repeal it as a matter of
urgency, he
is sure to remain uninformed till his own lieutenants overthrow
him and lock
him up in Chikurubi.
Meanwhile, the real plotters would
continue enjoying the immunity provided
by their positions in the armed and
secret services, aided by AIPPA of
course.
Urgent media reforms needed - Chinamasa
The Zimbabwean
BY LIZ
MCINTYRE
HARARE - Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, launched
this week into what
appeared to be a veiled attack on the privately-owned
media. He pressed for
'urgent reforms' in media coverage to 'assist in
beaming out to the outside
world our (Zimbabwe's) aspirations, our stories
and our world view'.
The comment has been viewed by many as
'contradictory' due to the mass
coverage set aside for Mugabe's 82nd
birthday, an event that appeared to be
a campaign to improve presidential
popularity.
No less than 16 stories and two 16-page supplements were
published by
government newspapers during the birthday celebrations and
regular
programming on ZBH television was suspended to make room for
100-minute
interview with the President.
The saturation seeped from
newspapers and television to the airwaves of
radio where the 90-minute
speech was also aired and, according to Zimbabwe's
media monitoring project
team, 'praised Mugabe's liberation war credentials
and leadership
qualities'
The coverage has been described by the independent media to be
a
governmental attempt to get 'even more control and less diversity'. They
claimed that the Mugabe Government 'is determined to suffocate all
independent thought and replace it with its own narrow, Zanu (PF)
definitions'.
This is supported by the retort from Simon Khaya Moyo,
Zimbabwe's ambassador
for South Africa, who spoke out against SA's Business
Day newspaper for
reporting that Mugabe had verbally attacked President
Mbeki. Moyo criticised
the author of the article stating: "he and his like
minded (sic) are too
small to drive a wedge between Mugabe and Mbeki because
Zimbabwe is not for
sale".
The interpretation by the MMPZ is that the
media is failing to act in its
professional capacity that should see a
balanced account of events
communicated to the public.
The Watchdog
role of the media is also being hindered by governmental
controls and
pressures. The state media in its entirety failed to question
the cost of
the lavish birthday celebrations - a point of public interest to
Zimbabweans
suffering under the current economic crisis. They also failed to
report the
arrests of demonstrators challenging the extravagant affair.
The
'Zimbabwe Independent' described the celebrations as 'the clearest sign
of
his (Mugabe's) detachment from events on the ground'
Former student
leader, Arthur Mutambara, was also the victim of unbalanced
media attention.
'Spot Fm' used the story to endorse the government's view
using Zanu (PF)
official, William Nhara as its only source. He said: "MDC
should not be
taken seriously as it does not have a solid agenda and a
programme for the
people of Zimbabwe", while ZBH'S coverage was described by
the Monitoring
commission as 'condescending'.
Party Politics
The Zimbabwean
Mutambara's speech
dissected
EDITOR - I was not impressed by Mutambara's speech on
becoming
"president".
"The pre-1980 Robert Mugabe is part of
the revolutionary tradition
that defines us," he said. Are we set for more
chimurengas? Does he support
bands of men shooting people up with
guns?
"We revere Mbuya Nehanda," he said. Are the spirit mediums
going to
run his
faction as they have run Zanu (PF) all these
years too?
"There was need for a land revolution in Zimbabwe." What is
wrong
with
land reform? Revolutions are violent, chaotic bloody
things. We have
had
enough of revolution in Zimbabwe. There are
more orderly ways of
doing
things than through
revolution.
"Some western governments reneged on agreements." He
sounds like a
Zanu
(PF) party parrot here. Which western
governments? What agreements?
Why did
they "renege?"
Mutambara never even mentioned land tenure and property rights. Does
he
want to continue controlling the people like every government
before
him by
not giving ownership of land to individuals
throughout the
agricultural
sectors?
Mutambara sounds as
though he is a Zanu (PF) mujiba, not a World Bank
or IMF
mujiba
necessarily.
CONCERNED, Harare
Mutambara a 'sell-out' -
Mutasa
HARARE - The ruling Zanu (PF) party is increasingly getting
unsettled
with MDC
pro-senate faction leader Arthur Mutambara,
with government's
intelligence chief Didymus Mutasa alleging that the
robotics professor was
an undercover Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
operative recruited to
pursue the US's imperialist agenda. Addressing a
belated 21st February
movement celebration in Hurungwe East at the weekend,
Mutasa urged a timid
Zanu (PF) audience to reject Mutambara's leadership
alleging he was a
"sell-out" recruited by US President George Bush to "cause
illegal regime
change in Zimbabwe."
Although Zanu (PF) has over
the years sold President Mugabe's
candidature based on his academic
achievements, Mutasa, in a move that
smacked of double standards, told the
Zanu (PF) supporters that one did not
need to be a professor to lead.
"Musatyisidzirwe kuti tine maProfessor aiwa
(Do not be intimidated by the
composition of the MDC faction which has two
professors (Prof Welshman Ncube
and Mutambara)," Mutasa said. "Hutungamiriri
hauna mhosva nema
Professor.
Solidarity platform
LONDON - A
non-partisan platform open to Zimbabweans from all walks of
life
who agree to work together against a common enemy while
maintaining
their own individual political stance has been
mooted here.
The organisers believe such a platform would be a
healthy and
democratic path to take in the collective endeavour to remove
Mugabe and his
long-failed Zanu (PF) Regime.
They advocate
bringing Zimbabweans together under a Solidarity Banner
both inside the
country and throughout the Diaspora in a unity of purpose to
defeat the
common enemy.
"When the common enemy has been defeated and to
consolidate true
democracy, those who want to form different political
parties and do so.
But for now working together in Solidarity is the only
way forward in
Zimbabwe," said a spokesman for the founding
group.
"It is important that we waste no time in campaigning for a
Zimbabwe
Solidarity Action right across the world. Members of existing
political
parties will not need to abandon their political ideologies,
opinions or
policies. Only we, the people of Zimbabwe, can make a real
difference to the
plight of the people of Zimbabwe today, he said. - Own
correspondent
MDC responds to ZASG 'faked
rally'
I would like to respond to the article that appeared in The
Zimbabwean
on Page 8 of the 2 - 8 March edition in my capacity as the
organiser of the
meetings held in Johannesburg on 25 and 26 February on
behalf of the MDC in
Johannesburg.
As part of the MDC's
programme towards preparations for the Congress
in March, which took the
delegation to Britain and America, the purpose of
the visit to South Africa
by Mr Matongo and Ms Thokozani Khupe was to
address concerns and listen to
recommendations expressed by party members
living in South Africa, and to
update them on congress preparations. Mr
Matongo informed members that
Diaspora Party structures would be fully
incorporated into the main
organisation and highlighted the need for members
to organise themselves
into structures in preparation for the selection of a
representative South
African national executive team.
The National Chairman Mr Matongo
at no stage stated that ZASG '...had
misled the nation and the SADC region
that it had a public following, yet it
was being run by one
man'.
I was present at all meetings addressed by the delegation and
I wish
to state that Mr Matongo acknowledged the contributions made by
organisations and individuals towards the struggle for a free and democratic
Zimbabwe.
I also wish to set the record straight that Ms
Thokozani Khupe did not
'insist that the MDC supporters in South Africa were
not doing much for the
party..' as stated in the article in the same edition
on page 2, entitled
'MDC appeals for Congress funds,' but instead
acknowledged the hardships
faced by Zimbabweans taking refuge in South
Africa. She expressed concern at
the divisions that had been created in
South Africa and acknowledged the
gatherings' commitment to a united and
strengthened South African MDC party
structure under the leadership of the
President Mr Morgan Tsvangirai. -
Jacqueline Zwambila, MDC Chegutu
Parliamentary Candidate
The errors are sincerely regretted. -
Editor
MDC New Zealand backs Tsvangirai
AUCKLAND - Members of Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC) met in Auckland last week and made the following
resolutions:
1. The situation in Zimbabwe needs all people
to unite and
confront the dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe.
2. It is time concerned Zimbabweans, wherever they are, get
involved in
efforts to bring about change, rather than watch from the
terraces as the
situation continues to deteriorate.
3. MDC President, Morgan
Tsvangirai, has made enough effort to
bring back his colleagues who have
strayed from the vision to remove the
dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe
from power, but his efforts have been
repeatedly spurned.
4. Morgan Tsvangirai is the legitimate leader of the MDC until
congress
elects another President.
5. We don't recognize the meeting
held in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's
second largest city last weekend as an MDC
congress, and the one and only
MDC congress to be held in Zimbabwe this year
is the one that will take
place on 18 and 19 March 2006 in
Harare.
6. The desire by Professor Arthur Mutambara, leader of
the
opposition grouping formed out of the meeting held in Bulawayo by mostly
former MDC officials, to bring back the break away group into the MDC, is a
welcome initiative, and should the concerned former MDC officials realize
the need to confront the regime in order to bring about a better life for
all Zimbabweans, the door must be kept open for them to do so, provided they
follow the appropriate procedures in so doing.
7. MDC New
Zealand will respect the resolutions that will come
out of the 18 - 19 March
2006 congress.
8. MDC New Zealand will mobilize Zimbabweans
based in New Zealand
to work towards creating democratic space in
Zimbabwe.
9. MDC New Zealand will share notes with other MDC
structures in
the Diaspora in an effort to come up with a common approach
for Zimbabweans
in the Diaspora in the struggle to bring about a better life
for all
Zimbabweans.
10. MDC New Zealand will always strive to
give a realistic impression
of the true Zimbabwean situation to the New
Zealand and South Pacific
communities. - Ben Magaiza, Public Relations
Officer, MDC New Zealand
MDC to walk the talk
The Zimbabwean
BY OWN
CORRESPONDENT
HARARE - Morgan Tsvangirai's faction of the MDC is
gearing itself for active
resistance politics. This is the message the
party's leadership will take to
its congress at Harare's City Sports Centre
next weekend.
"The time for talking is over. It is time to walk the
talk," said Nelson
Chamisa, secretary for information, in an exclusive
interview with The
Zimbabwean this week.
Ten thousand delegates are
expected to attend the congress under the banner
of "Rallying the people for
a new Zimbabwe".
"We want to get a mandate from the people on the way
forward, particularly
in terms of participation in elections in view of the
skewed nature of the
electoral process under the control of the Zanu (PF)
government," said
Chamisa. "The rigging continues and we believe it is
futile to follow that
route."
He said the party had invited all the
rebels, who held their own congress in
Bulawayo two weeks ago, to attend
this congress. "This is the only platform
for raising the leadership issues
that have split the party," said Chamisa.
"So we hope they will attend and
participate meaningfully so that we can all
go forward."
Other
democratic forces in Zimbabwe, including churches, civic organisations
and
pressure groups have also been invited to attend, as have diplomatic
representatives and political parties from the region.
A number of
constitutional amendments will be tabled for discussion at the
congress and
are expected to generate active input from the provinces.
All party posts
will be up for grabs and prospective candidates have already
begun
campaigning for these.
Chamisa emphasised that the MDC was a broad-based
party, which sought its
mandate from its supporters at every level. "Morgan
Tsvangirai is not the
MDC. The people are the party," he said. "Congress
is expected to
demonstrate this very clearly."
Divided, we attack from all sides
The Zimbabwean
BY SKID
MASUKU
Never mind how anyone interprets the differences in the
MDC, the reality is
simply that humans never view things the same. Sadly,
the politicians who
have been a beacon of hope, to whom the duty of
reinstalling democracy and
economic recovery was entrusted, are busy getting
at each other's throats.
It may not be accurate to credit the CIO with
the split in the MDC, but that
alone provides powerful ammunition for Zanu
(PF) and the two MDC factions to
gain political capital against each other,
while the so-called senate still
has to find something to do, several months
after it was imposed.
The MDC may not have needed to debate the senate
issue in the first place.
At that stage the opposition party had long
realized that it would never win
elections held under current circumstances
which permit wholesale rigging by
the ruling party.
The only wins the
MDC ever got were in its strongholds, where voters voted
so overwhelmingly
against ZANU (PF) it rendered the rigging ineffective.
Effectively the
MDC leaders are squabbling over something that doesn't
actually exist, and
Mad Bob must be laughing his head off at the success of
his political
jugglery.
"Even the squabbling in the MDC won't stop us in out 'look
east' programme,"
was one of his recent quips.
With or without the
'senate', the MDC has to abide by its conviction to lead
the people out of
the Zanu (PF) tyranny and economic chaos. Instead of
wasting their time on
the senate circus, the MDC leadership should explore
innovative means of
making more people realize the urgency of changing
national political and
economic policies. It has to mobilize everyone,
including the army, police
and even Zanu (PF) members themselves.
Nonetheless, if the MDC chaos
develops into a complete split, it may as well
be accepted as democratic
action, and possibly the clichéd blessing in
disguise.
Remember that
in 1962 the Zapu leaders argued over whether to agree to a
settlement with
the colonialists or demand the country back with the barrel
of a gun. Joshua
Nkomo preferred to settle the matter peacefully with the
British, and wanted
to use his prerogative as leader for a final decision.
There developed the
'pro-armed struggle' and 'anti-armed struggle' factions
of the party. Those
who opposed Nkomo, the 'pro armed struggle' group that
included Mad Bob,
labelled him a sellout and dictator. The same happens
today when Morgan
Tsvangirai uses his prerogative to take a pragmatic
decision for the MDC
about the senate issue.
The central issue that split Zapu at that time
was nevertheless much more
important than the senate farce that threatens to
divide the MDC today.
Provided there is no change of policy or political
suicide in either MDC
faction, the perceived split would also provide a
second front for the two
MDCs to remove ZANU (PF) from power.
As a
violent man himself, Mad Bob knows that well-orchestrated violence
could
unseat him in a day. That scares the hell out of him and plays havoc
to his
deteriorating mental health, as he strives to cling on to power and
avoid
getting jailed or executed for his heinous crimes.
The emergence of the
Zimbabwe Action Support Group probably explains the
increased numbers of Mad
Bob's CIO operatives in Joburg. However their
skills, or their absence,
still have to be tested. In metropolitan areas
densely populated by
Zimbabweans their cover is often easily blown, and some
of them are rumoured
to have been murdered.
The Men in Dark Glasses also betrayed Mad Bob in
the late 1990s by not
informing him early enough about the imminent
formation of the MDC, which
drove him real mad.
In the face of a
threat of violence, no one needs to be reminded how the mad
one reacts. He
may already have the Chinese training another murder squad
for him in the
army, with which to wipe out resistance to his rule as he did
with the
Gukurahundi in the 1980s.
ZESA signs deal with China's Catic
The Chronicle
Business
Reporter
ZESA Holdings Limited has signed a US$10 million deal with China
National
Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) for the supply of
working
capital to refurbish power equipment.
In a telephone
interview yesterday, ZESA executive chairman, Dr Sydney Gata,
said that the
transaction, which was concluded on Monday this week was aimed
at replacing
obsolete equipment to increase efficiency in energy supplies.
"We have just
concluded another US$10 million transaction with CATIC for the
supply of
working capital to upgrade power networks. Actually the equipment
arrived in
the country on Monday and today (yesterday) we are just
concluding other
important factors of the deal with the Chinese," said Dr
Gata.
He said
that ZESA was facing foreign currency shortages that had adversely
affected
operations and the supply of electricity.
"We are not accessing foreign
currency from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe due
to the dwindling foreign
currency inflows. This is really creating
challenges in terms of our day to
day activities," said Dr Gata.
He said the deal with CATIC was in line with
the parastatal's five-year
Investment Development Plan aimed at raising US$2
billion to finance the
development of additional power sources.
Dr Gata
said that ZESA was courting three foreign partners to inject more
foreign
currency.
"While we acknowledge our smart partnerships with CATIC it is
imperative to
note that ZESA is in the process of engaging technical
partners who will
inject foreign currency in order to boost our electricity
supply base," he
said.
Dr Gata said that the machinery from CATIC would
enhance ZESA operations to
meet the changes in the international power
generation systems.
"This is the second part of our agreement with the
Chinese after we entered
into another contract for the supply of electrical
equipment late last
year," he said.
Under the agreement, ZESA would
contract farmers to produce tobacco and
cotton. The crops would then be
exported to China in exchange for the
working capital.
Dr Gata said that
ZESA would soon seal a US$15 million deal with South
Africa's power utility,
Eskom.
"Eskom is interested in assisting us with foreign currency but the
talks are
still in progress and I will provide further information if the
negotiations
are concluded," he said.
Dr Gata said that CATIC had in the
past five years invested more than US$3
billion in ZESA projects as the
power utility planned to increase power
supplies ahead of the expected
shortfall within the Southern Africa Power
Pool (SAPP) next year.
"Our
talks with China are through the guidelines of the Government's Look
East
Policy that is aimed at increasing co-operation with Asian nations," he
said.
Dr Gata said that ZESA was restructuring its operations to improve
its
financial performance after incurring huge losses in the past two
years.
In the full year to 31 December 2004, ZESA posted a $2,3 trillion
loss, from
a $230 billion loss in 2003.
Zim to scrap import tariffs
The Chronicle
By Alfonce
Mbizwo, Business Editor
Zimbabwe will scrap tariffs on products
from countries in Southern
Africa, within two years, as part of a regional
free trade protocol, a trade
expert said yesterday.
Already,
hundreds of products from the region are now entering the
country duty-free
after a tariff phase down of five-percentage points from 1
January this
year.
"Zimbabwe implemented a new tariff regime with regards to imports
from
the SADC region in line with the trade protocol.
"We reduced
the duty by five percentage points such that some of the
products that were
attracting 15 percent duty are now at zero percent," said
Mr Farai Zizhou, a
trade expert and chief economist with the Confederation
of Zimbabwe
Industries.
Zimbabwe has been reducing tariffs each year by an average
five
percent points with a target to achieve a zero tariff regime by the
time the
SADC Free trade protocol comes into effect in 2008.
However, concern remains about some member states that are still
worried
about the implications of free trade on their industry and have
defaulted in
reducing their tariffs.
Zimbabwe, along with Zambia and Malawi was
criticised by the SADC
Secretariat for failing to come up with a list of
goods that would be
exempted from tariffs, which Mr Zizhou dismissed as
untrue.
The SADC secretariat said the delay has jeopardised prospects
that
SADC region will be a free trade area among member states by
2008.
Malawi is said to have defaulted on its commitment to reduce
tariff
schedules but its acting Director of Trade in the Ministry of Trade
and
Private Sector Development, Mr Harrison Mandindi dismissed the report,
saying it was operating within the trade agreement of 1996.
He said
Malawi had indicated that it would reduce tariffs at a slower
pace in line
with its economic development and that it had been given more
time to reduce
tariffs because it was an Low Development Country.
Mr Mandindi also
said implementing the SADC protocol would have meant
Malawi allowing
imported goods, which are manufactured cheaply outside the
country, to enter
duty free and compete with locally manufactured goods on
the
market.
Mr Zizhou said was Zimbabwe unconcerned by the slow response
from
other nations, saying Zimbabwe was fortunate to be party to several
agreements that promote duty free trade.
"For us we are neutral
because we benefit from both the SADC and the
(proposed) Comesa Customs
Union)," he said.
Zimbabwe also has bilateral trade agreements with
Namibia, Mozambique
and Malawi, which allow it to trade duty free with those
countries based on
rules of origin.
With less than two years left
before the SADC free trade protocol
comes into effect, the preparedness of
member states will be the focus of an
inter-ministerial meeting scheduled
for Botswana next month.
South Africa has already zero-rated all
products with the exception of
sugar, clothing and textiles, whose export
are governed by different
protocols.
Parts of Bulawayo still without power
The Chronicle
Chronicle
Reporter
Parts of Bulawayo were last night still without electricity
supplies despite
repeated assurance from the Zimbabwe Electricity
Distribution Company (ZESA)
that power would have been restored by close of
business yesterday.
A survey carried out by Chronicle yesterday evening
revealed that suburbs
such as North End, Hillside, Burnside and Four Winds
were still plunged in
darkness since Saturday.
Mr Dan Magwenzi of
Hillside, said ZESA Holdings had not yet attended to
faults despite them
having made several reports.
"We have meat and other perishables in the
refrigerator and they have gone
bad. These people should swiftly react to
reports. We are sleeping early
because there is nothing to do. We can't
watch television. It's a
nightmare," he said.
Mr Magwenzi said some of
his neighbours had electricity.
A North End resident who asked not to be
named, said power had not yet been
restored since Sunday
afternoon.
"There are no power supplies here and we have made several reports
and ZESA
people told us that they would restore power by today (yesterday)
but
nothing has been done. We even phoned them referring to an advert in
Chronicle but some of the senior engineers professed ignorance over the
deadline stated," he said.
The resident said the persistent power cuts
were damaging electric gadgets
such as television sets and
refrigerators.
However, electricity was restored in some suburbs on Tuesday
night,
especially in the western suburbs.
"We did not have electricity
since Saturday but power was restored yesterday
(Tuesday)," said an
Entumbane resident.
However, a resident of Emakhandeni suburb said some
sections of the area
still did not have power.
In a notice flighted in
this newspaper yesterday, the ZEDC (Western Region)
said everything was
being done to normalise the situation and said all the
areas that were
affected would have supplies by close of business yesterday.
"The strong
winds caused severe damage to power supply equipment, mainly due
to trees
falling on power lines. The damage was very extensive mainly in the
low
density suburbs where most residents maintain trees on their premises,"
said
ZEDC.
The ZEDC said it was not possible to restore power supplies within one
day
because there was an overwhelming number of faults.
The most affected
areas were Southwold, Hillside, Waterford, Burnside, North
End, Morningside,
Matsheumhlophe, Morningside, Emakhandeni, Entumbane and
some parts of
Nkulumane.