http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 13:13
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — President Robert Mugabe wants to retire but
he fears that if he
leaves now, Zanu-PF will disintegrate and the country
degenerate into a
possible civil war, former confidant and comrade-in-arms,
Enos Nkala
yesterday said. Nkala, a Zanu PF founding member and former
Defence, Finance
and Home Affairs minister, met Mugabe behind closed doors
at Joshua Mqabuko
Nkomo Airport in Bulawayo on Friday evening.
In
an interview with The Standard at his home in Woodville suburb yesterday,
the former nationalist divulged the details of their surprise meeting,
saying the one hour-long conversation with Mugabe touched mainly on Zanu-PF
succession politics, the inclusive government and the future of the
country.
Nkala said Mugabe told him he wanted to retire but was too
scared that
Zanu-PF would collapse.
“From what we discussed,
Mugabe said he is tired and wants to retire but he
cannot do so now because
Zanu-PF will die,” he said. “He cannot leave when
the party is in such a
state. What is holding him now is managing and
containing Zanu-PF to prevent
it from disintegrating.”
Nkala said Mugabe was managing the party
politics to ensure that there was
no chaos in the country, while other
people close to him were pressuring him
to continue leading despite his
desire to rest.
“My own reading is that if he had his own way, he
could have quit and taken
a rest but circumstances around him and
implications of what might happen
are holding him,” he said. “My own reading
is that the President is not his
own man.”
However, Nkala refused
to name the people close to Mugabe who were urging
him not to
quit.
He however disclosed that Mugabe confided in him that he was
yet to find a
successor within Zanu PF, who could lead the party and keep
the country
united.
“He said he has not yet found a successor
with qualities to hold the party
and the country together. Politics is a
dangerous game. It is not a sport
where the leadership of a party should
just exchange hands without proper
grooming and handling,” said
Nkala.
Mugabe, according to Nkala, said factionalism was eating away
at the party
and, “if not handled properly,” could explode into a civil
war.
“Mugabe did refer to factions and that they are eating away the
party. He
said Zanu PF is no longer united,” Nkala said. “From our
discussion, this
issue (succession) is very dicey. This will produce an ugly
situation in the
end, if not managed properly. It is not a good thing. It
can produce chaos,
even a civil war and we do not want
that.”
Nkala said although names of possible successors came up
during the
discussion, he would not mention them. “The basic thing is that
he is
looking for, or grooming someone who can handle Zanu PF and contain
enemies
associated with these factions for the sake of the party and the
country,”
he said.
Asked to comment on whether he thought Mugabe
should retire, Nkala said
after the meeting, he felt for “the sake of peace”
that Mugabe should not go
because “Zimbabwe came out of a conflict and not
democracy and this gives a
picture of what to expect if he goes now before
the Zanu PF internal
politics are managed properly.”
He said
although he had been calling for Mugabe to retire, after the
meeting, he was
no longer sure whether he held the same views.
“We don’t want any
civil war or chaos in this country,” Nkala said. “We want
peace. It’s easy
for people to say Mugabe must go, Mugabe must go, but most
of them do not
know that he is the glue that has been holding this country
together.”
He said Mugabe should stay and manage the situation,
arguing that people
should not forget that the same people in the army,
civil service, police
and intelligence were the ones who fought the
liberation war, hence they
could not be divorced from the politics of the
country. “You need a good
manager like Mugabe to keep these stakeholders
together for the sake of the
country,” said Nkala. “Small issues have
sparked chaos in other countries
and you cannot tell me that you think life
will go on as usual if Mugabe
dies today and someone takes over without
managing such stakeholders.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 13:03
BY SILENCE
CHARUMBIRA AND PATRICE MAKOVA
MUSIC superstar, Oliver Mtukudzi, has
scoffed at reports of poor health,
warning that people should be wary of
false prophets. One of the rising
self-proclaimed Pentecostal “prophets”,
Ambassador Ishmael (real name
Ishmael Mangwanya), recently “prophesied”
during an inter-denominational
gathering in Harare that Mtukudzi was in a
health scare and instructed his
congregation to pray for the
artist.
However, in a wide-ranging interview at Pakare Paye Arts
Centre in Norton on
Thursday, Tuku, as the music icon is popularly known by
fans, said he was
healthy and was hearing about the prophet and his prophecy
for the first
time.
“Maybe the time for false prophets has come,”
he said.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a religious frenzy that has seen
people claiming
to be prophets, predicting the fates of important people
across Zimbabwe and
the continent.
Popular Nigerian preacher, TB
Joshua, has popularised the trend locally
after purportedly making several
predictions that are said to have come to
pass.
He is credited
with predicting on February 8 this year the death of a
southern African
president within 60 days. Malawian President Bingu wa
Mutharika subsequently
died within the named time.
This has driven thousands of people in
Zimbabwe to believe there are people
among them, who have been anointed by
God to foresee the future.
Local “prophets” are mainly
self-proclaimed and are traditionally associated
with Apostolics, a
pseudo-Christian religion that mixes Biblical teachings
with African
spirituality. Apostolics usually speak in tongues when they
claim to be
possessed by the Holy Spirit. Most of them have however, turned
out to be
fake, capitalising on the weak emotions of a people going through
a troubled
time.
TB Joshua has torn apart the former ruling Zanu PF, who fear
his proposed
visit to Zimbabwe for the National Day of Prayer later this
month may
further divide the heavily splintered party and anoint former
opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and leader of the mainstream MDCto take
over as
president of Zimbabwe.
Mtukudzi, a devoted member of the
Methodist Church in Zimbabwe said if the
“prophet” was genuine, he should
have approached him and not preach to the
whole nation.
“Who knows when I
am sick?” he quipped. “Is it the prophet or me? Do I
look like I am sick?
Maybe he meant another Mtukudzi.”
But a spokesperson for Ambassador
Ishmael, Mavhima Mupapuri yesterday said
Mtukudzi’s feelings could not
determine whether the prophecy was false or
not.
He said although
prophecy was not a word of knowledge, it was necessary to
foretell the
future.
“The role of prophecy is for people to get help from God. If
he (Mtukudzi)
chooses to listen he will be helped,” said Mupapuri.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 13:01
BY OUR
STAFF
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe on Friday stood for more than an hour, as he
addressed a meeting and did not show any signs of fatigue or weariness. As
if to make the feat more impressive, the 88-year-old veteran leader was
offered a podium, but he politely turned it down and instead chose to
address people without the aid of anything to lean on.
Mugabe was
speaking at the launch of the Gwanda Community Share Ownership
Trust Scheme,
in Colleen Bawn, 30 kilometres south of the Matabeleland South
capital.
The crowd that had gathered was left in awe that Mugabe
literally stood on
one spot, without fidgeting or seeking support, and
looked comfortable as he
spoke.
Mugabe has had to fight mounting
rumours and speculation about his health,
with reports that he almost fell
at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair
(ZITF) in Bulawayo two weeks
ago.
The president has insisted he wants elections this year, but
questions have
been raised if he would be able to get onto the gruelling
campaign trail.
As if to prove that he has what it takes, Mugabe has
taken a somewhat
punishing schedule, which would make even younger people
cringe at the mere
thought of it.
On Wednesday, Mugabe chaired what has
been described as an explosive
politburo meeting that lasted more than seven
hours.
On Friday he was in Bulawayo where he presided over the
donation of blankets
and other equipment to Mpilo Hospital.
From
there he was off to Gwanda, where he actively participated at the share
ownership scheme. He also donated 250 computers to 25 schools in the
province.
Later that evening, the seemingly never tiring Mugabe
had a 45-minute
meeting with former Defence minister, Enos Nkala before
flying back to the
capital at about 7pm.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 13:00
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — Civic groups in Matabeleland region have vowed to
campaign for a
NO vote during the constitutional referendum if the draft
does not include
devolution. Devolution of power was one of the issues that
dominated debate
during outreach meetings by Copac.
Zanu PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo last week ruled out devolution in the new
constitution setting the stage for confrontation with civic groups and other
political parties.
Zapu and the Welshman Ncube-led MDC have said
they would force for a Sadc
Extra Ordinary Summit if Zanu PF blocked
“devolution of power” in the new
draft constitution.
A report of
the co-chairpersons of the select committee meeting held on May
14 reveals
that “it was agreed that the provincial governors would be
elected by an
electoral college consisting of MPs and chairpersons of the
Rural District
Councils (RDC’s) in the respective provinces.”
The President would
then officially appoint the governor.
Bulawayo Agenda executive
director Thabani Nyoni said they were campaigning
for the direct election of
governors by constituencies and members of the
provincial assembly that
would head the provinces to ensure clear separation
of powers between
central and provincial government.
“Our position is very clear that
we will campaign for a NO vote if there is
no devolution or it comes as
decentralisation,” said Nyoni. “People in the
outreach said they wanted
directly elected governors and directly elected
members of the provincial
assembly for clear separation of powers between
the central provincial and
local government.”
Effie Ncube, the director of the Matabeleland
Constitutional Reform Agenda
said his organisation would not support a
constitution that furthered the
marginalisation of other
provinces.
“Devolution must be there because it is democracy, because
it is what the
people of Zimbabwe want, because it is what the people of
Zimbabwe fought
for,” said Ncube. “People of Zimbabwe wanted to rule
themselves, wanted
democracy and meaningful
participation.”
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association
coordinator Rodrick Fayayo said
they were campaigning for a devolved state
with directly elected governors
for purposes of
accountability.
“Copac should respect the people’s wishes and not
negotiate anything,” said
Fayayo.
Early this year, Mugabe
rejected “devolution of power” saying Zimbabwe was
too small for that and it
would also divide Zimbabweans.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:58
BY NUNURAI
JENA
WAR veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda has come under fire from villagers
in
Mashonaland West who accuse him of harassment as he continues his
whirlwind
tour of the province ahead of elections this year or in 2013.
Sibanda has
been in the province since last week where he addressed rallies
and
allegedly forced schools to close early so that he could “instruct”
teachers, chiefs and headmen on what they needed to do to ensure a Zanu-PF
victory.
In Hurungwe, Zvimba and Makonde districts, Sibanda
allegedly threatened
villagers that they would be evicted from the areas if
they sup-ported MDC.
A villager who attended one of the meetings said
traditional leaders were
directed to teach their subjects to vote “wisely”
or risk the unknown.
“Sibanda is telling supporters that Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will
never rule Zimbabwe even if he wins the next
elections,” he said.
A businessman who owns a shop at Mudzimu
business centre told The Standard
he was force-marched to attend one of the
meetings.
“No one is allowed to miss his meetings, even those aged
100 years have to
attend,” said the businessman.
At Mudzimu
business centre, Sibanda gave MDC-T supporters a one-week
ultimatum to
surrender their party’s membership cards or risk being chased
from the
area.
In Magunje, Sibanda met all Hurungwe chiefs and headmen and
allegedly told
them to report MDC activists to war veterans in the
area.
“We were told that we will go hungry if MDC-T wins as a new
government will
stop all the allowances we are getting,” said a headmen who
requested
anonymity.
He said the traditional leaders were then
instructed to compile lists of all
youths aged between 12 and 25 years and
hand them over to their respective
DCC chairmen.
A teacher in the
area said Sibanda’s rallies were affecting school
operations.
War veterans invited Sibanda
Mashonaland
West Zanu PF chairman John Mafa confirmed Sibanda was
campaigning for
Mugabe, but said the party was not involved as war veterans
operated
independently.
Mafa said Sibanda was not invited by the party but by war
veterans in the
province.
Sibanda yesterday said he was not yet
campaigning for Mugabe as he was just
meeting people in different
provinces.
“This programme has been going on for the last two years.
We have been to
Manicaland and Masvingo meeting parents in order to
enlighten them of their
role in the party,” he said.
Last year,
Sibanda was in Masvingo for several months where he was
eventually allegedly
kicked out by the provincial leadership who accused him
of undermining the
party in the province because of his unorthodox campaign
methods.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:52
By Tatenda
Chitagu
MASVINGO — A decision by Zanu PF political commissar, Webster Shamu,
to
endorse results of the chaotic district coordinating committee (DCC)
elections in Masvingo province, gave an upper hand to Defence minister,
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s faction, accused of manipulating the voting process
against a rival camp, headed by Vice- President Joice Mujuru. The
endorsement was reached at a meeting held at Chiefs Hall in Mucheke suburb
last week.
In the polls, the Mujuru faction — led by former
Masvingo governor, Dzikamai
Mavhaire — continued to lose ground to the
Mnangagwa camp, under the
stewardship of Higher and Tertiary Education
minister, Stan Mudenge.
The Mnangagwa camp has so far grabbed four
seats out of Masvingo’s seven
districts.
In a press statement
issued last week, Shamu, who is the Minister of Media,
Information and
Publicity said Zanu PF had only nullified the Chiredzi DCC
polls. This was
despite swirling complaints from the Mujuru faction that
polls in most
districts were not free and fair.
“The Chiredzi results were
nullified due to gross irregularities. The
province was asked to organise a
re-run,” reads the press statement.
In Chiredzi, the polls were
aborted following disagreements over the
composition of the voters’
roll.
Shamu said the meeting unanimously agreed and accepted the
results of DCC
elections in Chivi, Bikita and Mwenezi
districts.
He also called for the completion of other polls in Gutu
and Bikita, which
were abandoned.
The minister ordered elections
in Masvingo South, which were aborted after
rival Zanu PF factions clashed
at Shumba Primary School. Police had to fire
shots to disperse supporters of
the rival factions, who pelted the school
windows with
stones.
For the Masvingo urban polls which were also marred by
violence, Shamu ruled
out a re-run, insisting he would dispatch a team to
investigate the
allegations of candidate imposition and “make
recommendations accordingly”.
Mnangagwa and Mujuru are in a bitter
struggle to strategically position
themselves to succeed President Robert
Mugabe in the event that he steps
down.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:49
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
THE National University of Science and Technology (Nust), has
been given the
go-ahead to resume its medical school studies, ending almost
a decade of an
acrimonious battle with the Zimbabwe Medical Council (ZMC).
Since 2004, when
it was inaugurated, the medical school has been operating
on stop-start
basis, but there is optimism that this time it will be
sustainable.
“We have advertised for places and we are going ahead,”
an elated Felix
Moyo, director of marketing and publicity at the university,
said. “All I
can say is that whatever requirements were requested of us, we
have met.”
Moyo said the main concern that had been raised was that
of staffing, but
this had since been addressed.
He said the
institution received communication a fortnight ago that it could
go ahead
with recruitment for the medical degree.
For years now, Nust has been
battling the ZMC, which was refusing to
recognise the degree being awarded
by the university, torching a political
storm in
Matabeleland.
The new development will come as a relief to scores of
students, many of
whom had been forced to abandon their studies, while
others were compelled
to seek further studies in Malawi and Zambia. A number
of Zimbabwean
students have in the past few years been stranded in the two
countries and
have relied on the benevolence of
well-wishers.
Washington Mbizvo, the permanent secretary in the
Ministry of Higher and
Tertiary Eduaction, said the issue was now behind
them and they had put in
place all the necessary equipment.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:45
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — Zipra ex-combatants said they would seek a court
order to bar the
Zanla war veterans from conducting cleansing ceremonies at
Njelele shrine in
Matobo, Matabeleland South. Zipra Veterans Trust
spokesperson, Baster
Magwizi, last week accused Zanla veterans of failing to
respect the culture
and values of the people of Matabeleland by sneaking
into the shrine.
“We cannot allow them to continue with their
untraditional acts. They are
acting unZimbabwean, acting like aliens with an
ulterior motive of not only
to anger people of Matabeleland, but to also
trample on their culture,
traditional systems and values,” said
Magwizi.
“Our Zipra comrades are with the people and will always
stand ready to
defend the people. We are defending the people from Zanla
comrades by
seeking a restraining order to bar them from ever entering the
Njelele
shrine.”
Zipra said it had already approached a human
rights organisation to seek a
High Court order barring Zanla ex-combatants
from “deliberately undermining
the Ndebele traditional customs, values and
culture” through their visits to
Njelele.
Matshobana Ncube, a
human rights lawyer with Abammeli BamaLungelo Abantu
Network, confirmed he
had been approached, adding that an urgent court
application would be filed
soon.
Last year, Zipra stopped a Zanla project to exhume skeletons in
Chibondo at
Mt Darwin.
Zanla war veterans have been accused of
visiting Njelele shrine to bath
naked in nearby rivers, as part of their
cleansing ceremonies.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:39
BY
PATRICE MAKOVA
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has been dragged into the fight for
the control of
Mashonaland Central province with information emerging that
the two warring
Zanu PF factions are pampering him with gifts, as they
compete to outdo each
other in order to win his backing.
Sources told
The Standard that the battle for power had turned nasty, with
members of a
faction led by Transport, Communication and Infrastructural
Development
minister, Nicholas Goche and its rivals loyal to vice- President
Joice
Mujuru, digging up dirt against each other.
The sources said
Goche, Youth Development, Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment minister,
Saviour Kasukuwere and provincial chairman, Dickson
Mafiosi, a week ago went
to Mugabe behind the back of Mujuru, provincial
governor Martin Dinha,
politburo members Lazarus Dokora and Alice Chimbudzi,
as well as other
central committee members.
They handed over a state-of-the-art
planter and other farming equipment
sourced from Brazil by the province as a
belated 88th birthday gift.
An official who was present during the
handover, which took place after
hours at the State House, said Mugabe was
very excited to receive the gifts
and was all praises for Goche, Kasukuwere,
Mafiosi and others present. “It
became apparent that the donation was meant
to curry favours because soon
after the handover, they requested for a
meeting with the President, where
the likes of Mujuru and Dinha were
attacked left, right and centre,” said
the official.
He said
Mugabe was told that Dinha, as provincial governor was allegedly
selling
land and was supported MDC-T. Mujuru was also attacked for allegedly
causing
divisions during the District Coordinating Committee elections. “It
was
suggested that Mafiosi, as the provincial chairman, should replace Dinha
as
the governor,” said the official.
Provincial youth chairman, Godfrey
Tsenengamu, was surprised that such a
presentation of gifts had been done
without his knowledge.
“I am not sure that something like that
happened,” he said. “I should have
been informed because the 21st February
Movement is a youth’s event.”
Tsenengamu said he was the one who in
February this year pledged, on behalf
of the youths, to buy Mugabe a planter
as a birthday present. But Mafiosi
confirmed that he, together with Goche,
Kasukuwere and a few others indeed
presented a six-liner planter and other
farming equipment to Mugabe.
He said Mujuru was aware of the
presentation, but could not come, as she was
committed elsewhere. “We could
not invite everyone because it was not a
rally. As the chairman, I represent
the whole provincial leadership,” said
Mafiosi.
He also denied
that he was interested in toppling Dinha as governor. “The
discretion and
criteria of appointing a governor rests in the President,”
said Mafiosi. “By
handing him over a gift, this does not influence one to be
a
governor.”
He said Zanu PF in Mashonaland Central was united and had
a “solid chain of
command” with the provincial structures reporting to
Goche, who in turn
takes up issues raised to the politburo and
presidium.
Goche allies attack Mujuru, Dinha at rally
Last
week on Saturday, a meeting was held at Nzvimbo growth point, where
Dinha
and Mujuru were again allegedly lambasted for “thinking” they were
closer to
Mugabe.
The sources said it was interesting that Defence minister, Emmerson
Mnangagwa was also blasted.
In turn, Mujuru allegedly attacked Goche,
Kasukuwere and Mafiosi during a
tense politburo meeting last Wednesday,
where she accused the three of
undermining her.
The politburo
source said Mujuru was not happy her candidates lost in Mt
Darwin, Bindura
and Mazowe, although her loyalists retained Shamva, Mbire
and Muzarabani,
putting the two factions at par ahead of provincial
elections.
a
source close to the Goche camp, accused Mujuru of sponsoring former Guruve
North legislator, David Butau, to challenge Mafiosi as provincial
chairman.
Mafiosi’s Mt Darwin North parliamentary seat is also under
threat from a ZRP
superintendent identified only as Muponora, but the
legislator declared he
was ready for the challenge.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May
2012 12:37
BY JENNIFER DUBE
A 25-year-old HIV and Aids activist,
Dudzai “Bonnie” Mureyi, has been chosen
among 24 other women to participate
in this year’s edition of the Moremi
Initiative for Women’s Leadership in
Africa (MILEAD) Fellows Programme.
Living with albinism has not deterred
Mureyi, a qualified pharmacist, from
exploiting her talents both
academically and socially.
Dudzai, a former University of Zimbabwe
student, participated in the
inaugural Imagine Africa reality show aimed at
raising awareness of HIV and
Aids in 2008.
The MILEAD programme
is an initiative for the long-term leadership
development and promotion of
Africa’s most promising young women leaders.
Fellows go through a
year-long training and mentoring programme, designed to
build skills,
strengthen networks, and support women’s leadership on
critical
issues.
“She firmly believes that the best kind of empowerment that
an African girl
can ever receive is inspiration and a lesson on how to
believe in her own
abilities,” reads part of Dudzai’s profile on the Moremi
Initiative website.
Dudzai’s amazing life story was profiled in The
Standard two years ago and
bagged a gender-sensitive reporting award for the
newspaper.
Meanwhile, a Hatcliffe Extension woman has been nominated
for two awards in
the inaugural Iconic Women Awards sponsored by
Professional Women, Executive
Women and Business Women’s Forum
(Proweb).
Mary Zingwena (59), suffered a stroke in 2003 but still
opened a crèche for
Hatcliffe Extension children who were spending their
days playing in the
neighbourhood while their peers from other areas
attended lessons at
day-care centres.
Her crèche was demolished
at the height of the Operation Murambatsvina in
2005 but she revived it
afterwards, investing her monthly US$50 pension most
of the
times.
Zingwena was the only nominee for the Living Beyond Misfortune
Category and
was also nominated for the Social Work category together with
president of
the Association for Women’s Grassroots Clubs, Betty
Mutero.
Among the nominees for other categories are well-known women
including Hope
Sadza, Fay Chung, Sarah Kachingwe, Angeline Kamba, Collette
Mutangadura,
Susan Chenjerai, Rebecca Chisamba, Edna Machirori and Ruth
Mpisaunga.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:33
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
ZANU PF’s drive for an election this year seems to be
faltering, as the
party squabbles over District Coordinating Committee (DCC)
elections.
President Robert Mugabe had declared that he would announce
the way forward
on elections at the end of May, but with 10 days to go
before the end of the
month, such an announcement is yet to
come.
Instead of focusing on elections, the party is tearing its
collective hairs
apart trying to deal with the divisive DCC
elections.
DCC elections were supposed to be the democratising factor
within Zanu PF,
but as Mugabe bemoaned, they have been characterised by vote
buying,
violence and the imposition of candidates.
Webster Shamu,
the party’s commissar, has been given yet another chance to
try and sort out
the mess within the party, but there is pessimism that the
results would be
any different.
Disturbances have rocked Manicaland and Masvingo,
while Bulawayo and
Matabeleland North do not seem to find consensus on who
should lead the
party in those areas.
Midlands has also not been
spared, while question marks still hang over a
number of other districts and
provinces.
A Zanu PF aligned political analyst, Gabriel Chaibva
reckons the DCC
problems are internal and would not affect the party’s plan
to have
elections this year.
“That is an internal democratic
process of the party; it is different from
the national processes,” he said.
“The party can conduct elections in all
the DCCs throughout the country in
two days and we can still go ahead with
elections.”
Chaibva said
the DCC elections were a sign of the party’s democratic
vibrancy and should
not be misconstrued.
But Dumisani Nkomo, a political analyst, said it
would be suicidal for Zanu
PF to go ahead with elections when its house was
not in order.
“If they insist on going for elections then we will
witness apathy and in
some cases the party may field multiple candidates and
that will be suicidal
for them,” he said.
In 2008, Zanu PF went
for elections as a divided house and in some cases
they fielded more than
one candidate per constituency.
It is reported that in some cases the
candidates would persuade the
electorate to vote for Zanu PF legislators and
councillors, but they could
vote for whoever they wanted at presidential
level.
This saw the party, for the first time since independence,
losing its
majority in parliament, while Mugabe lost a first round vote to
MDC-T leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Nkomo said if Zanu PF insisted on
going for elections, there was a risk that
some scorned party members would
undermine Mugabe and in so doing “torpedo
has election drive”.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:26
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
ZANU PF would crumble if devolution is adopted in the new
constitution
because the party has been diverting national resources from
all regions to
sustain its continued stay in power, political analysts have
pointed out.
The party has rejected devolution although the Constitution
Select Committee
(Copac), a body tasked with crafting the new constitution,
noted that most
of the country’s 10 provinces wanted devolution at varying
degrees as the
answer to unequal development.
Zanu PF is prepared
to subvert the will of the people and has already
declared that the system
would not be allowed, describing it as divisive.
But political
analyst, Alex Magaisa, said devolution was not divisive, as it
simply gave
specific powers and functions to the provinces while retaining
the supremacy
of the national government.
Central government would be entitled to
withdraw these powers if it became
necessary and would keep control in
defence, foreign affairs, national
economic policy and taxation.
But Zanu
PF is not content with diluted power.
The party’s spin doctors,
President Robert Mugabe’s spokesperson, George
Charamba, Tafataona Mahoso
and Jonathan Moyo, have written passionately
against devolution, claiming
provinces that supported the system wanted to
secede.
Bulawayo
Agenda executive director, Thabani Nyoni, said Zanu PF was against
devolution because it did not guarantee the political and business interests
of the party’s elite, including securocrats.
He said the current
centralised system allowed the Zanu PF political elite
to enter corrupt
deals that benefit individuals without any form of
scrutiny.
“Devolution will open and democratise the public and
political space and
this threatens the business interests of Zanu PF and its
military cabal,”
said Nyoni.
“Without direct access to national
resources, with too many checks and
balances, Zanu PF cannot survive another
day.”
The party has been accused of channelling proceeds of diamonds
mined in
Marange district in Manicaland, to fund its day-to-day operations
and
election campaign.
Finance minister, Tendai Biti, has
complained that the proceeds of diamonds
were not flowing into the
Treasury.
“As Ministry of Finance, we fear that there might be a
parallel government
in respect of where the revenue is going and not coming
to Treasury. This
economy needs every resource it can get including diamond
revenue,” said
Biti, who is the MDC-T secretary general.
MDC-T
spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, said devolution was adopted by both
Copac’s
select and management committees, with Zanu PF represented by
ministers,
Nicholas Goche and Patrick Chinamasa. He said Zanu PF made a
somersault on
devolution after Moyo, who has labeled Copac a mafia, was
conscripted into
the Zanu PF advisory team to the constitution-making body.
“Zanu PF
realised that it was not ready for election after their chaotic DCC
(district coordinating committee elections), so they conscripted Moyo to put
spanners into the whole process,” said Mwonzora.
“They want to
buy time. If you hear them talk of elections, it is just empty
political
bravado.”
Moyo could not be reached for comment.
Zanu
Pf not robbing nation of national resources: Gumbo
Zanu PF spokesperson,
Rugare Gumbo, who also ruled out devolution, denied
that national resources
were being channelled towards propping Zanu PF’s
waning financial
fortunes.
“We have said Zimbabwe is a unitary state. How does devolution fit
in? We
can talk of decentralisation and not devolution,” said
Gumbo.
He added that Zanu PF would do what the “masses” want, but
would not say why
the party was against devolution, a concept voted for by
most provinces.
Devolution forces Zanu PF to address Gukurahundi
atrocities: Magaisa
Magaisa believes devolution would give people from
Matabeleland and Midlands
province, where an estimated 20 000 civilians were
killed during the
Gukurahundi massacre, the power to demand justice. Some of
the accused are
serving security chiefs and senior Zanu PF
officials.
“I think there is paranoia over the grievances in Matabeleland
arising from
the atrocities of the 1980s,” said the
commentator.
“The solution is not to ignore those grievances but to
address them.”
Magaisa added that Zanu PF had never outgrown its
attachment to the
one-party-state government since
independence.
“That mentality lingers on, more than 20 years after
the fall of the Berlin
Wall and the break-up of the Soviet Union, the
bastions of communism and one
party government,” said
Magaisa.
“Zanu PF is for centralisation of power — a strong centre,
represented by a
strong and all-powerful Executive President. Devolution
represents an
assault on this way of thinking.”
Analysts said
devolution enhances the democratic system, as more people
participate in
decision-making, addresses tribalism, as well as nepotism,
that influence
resource allocation.
“Devolution will enable the provinces to manage
local affairs more
efficiently and fairly. The idea is that central
government tends to
concentrate on the centre, not paying due attention to
provinces on the
periphery,” said Magaisa.
People in Matabeleland
region have complained about the delay in building
the Matabeleland Zambezi
Water Project (MZWP), accusing the government of
not giving priority to a
project that would address the region’s perennial
water
problems.
In Manicaland, people have also voiced concern about little
development in
the area, although diamonds worth billions of dollars benefit
other
provinces. Already, a diamond polishing and cutting college has been
set up
in Mashonaland West province, Mugabe’s home area.
It is
feared that the mining firms would only leave empty pits, polluted
rivers
and poverty-stricken villagers displaced from their ancestral
land.
In Africa, devolution is being practiced in countries such as
Kenya, Nigeria
and South Africa.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:14
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
AFTER almost 30 years working for the Harare municipality, Dominic
Badze
thought it was time to retire and live on his pension.
Half a
year later, he is yet to receive his pension, with his shoes worn out
from
walking to the Local Authority Pension Fund (LAPF) offices in the hope
that
he could persuade them to expedite his pay out.
“This is very
cruel,” he said desolately. “They are killing us.”
Badze said some
local authorities were offering their employees loans, which
would be paid
once their pensions were paid back, which no one knows when it
would
be.
He said he had been informed by people at the fund that pension
pay outs
were behind by three months, but Badze fears it could be worse than
that.
“As it is, I am from the doctor as I now have (high) blood
pressure from
stress, because after years of receiving a salary, all of a
sudden I have no
income and I am not receiving my pension,” he
said.
The former council employee said what made the matter worse was
that he had
been loyal to the council, while others left for greener
pastures during the
lean years of the last decade.
Badze’s case
could only be a tip of the iceberg, as thousands of pensioners
have been
waiting in vain for years for their pensions.
Some people are
reported to have gone into destitution while others
committed suicide as
they could not fathom living without an income,
particularly when they had
been paying contributions.
Local authorities too poor to remit
pensions— Moyo
Bulawayo mayor, Thaba Moyo (pictured), who is the first
vice-president of
the Urban Councils Authority of Zimbabwe, conceded that
councils were
failing to remit money to the pension fund, but blamed it on
the state of
the economy.
“The economic problems the country is
facing are the same ones that we face,
the truth is we do not have money,”
he said.
Moyo said despite indications on payslips indicating that
money was being
collected from employees “these were just on paper, they
were for the
payslip”.
He said it was impossible for local
authorities to remit money to the
pension fund, as they themselves did not
have money and had not taken a
deliberate position not to
pay.
Moyo said some local authorities, like the Bulawayo City
Council, had taken
a decision to extend by six months the contracts of
employees who would have
retired so that when they finally left work their
pensions would have been
processed.
LAPF blames local
authorities for failing to remit contributions
LAPF boss, Charles
Mandizvidza said the problem was that a number of
authorities were not
remitting the pensions they would have collected from
their staff. This made
it difficult for them to pay out pensions, he
claimed.
“The main
problem is the remittance of contributions by subscriber
authorities,” he
said, before asking for questions in writing.
He said the payment of
monthly pensions was three months behind schedule
owing to a “liquidity
squeeze emanating from financial incapacity to remit
monthly contributions
by subscribing member local authorities”.
Mandizvidza said he was not
in a position to name the defaulting local
authorities, adding that a
majority of them were in arrears.
He said the fund had begun
“aggressive and active engagement” with local
authorities to clear the
arrears.
Contacted for comment, Minister of Labour and Social
Welfare, Paurina
Mpariwa, asked for questions in writing.
She had
not responded to the questions at the time of going to print.
Former
council workers have raised their ire at the LAPF, saying it had a
number of
investments and these could be used to pay out their pensions in
the event
that local authorities delayed in remitting funds.
LAPF owns a number
of upmarket commercial properties throughout the country,
like Montagu
Centre, Liquenda House, Marimba Shopping Centre, LAPF House and
LAPF Centre
in Harare.
It also owns Jameson Hotel in the capital and has a joint
ownership of the
Kadoma Ranch Motel. It also owns LAPF House in
Bulawayo.
It has a number of interests in the retail sector
throughout the country.
The fund says it has 30 000 pensioners and
contributor members, while its
website says it had an asset base of about
US$91,5 million at the end of
December 2009.
“Surely, which means
they can afford to pay, we are suffering while they are
using our money to
invest yet we do not benefit,” a pensioner said on
condition of
anonymity.
He said he was struggling to pay utility bills, school fees and
other
expenses and this was making life difficult for him.
“Local
authorities and LAPF are not being fair to us,” he complained
bitterly.
“They are well-paid and drive fancy cars, while we starve.”
The
pensioner urged LAPF to pay like the National Social Security Authority,
which commences payment the moment someone retires. Pensioners get a minimum
of US$40 a month from NSSA.
“It is a small amount, but at least
they are paying,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 12:08
BY MOSES
CHIBAYA
DOMBOSHAVA — Scores of under-age children have died since last year
at an
Apostolic church shrine in Domboshava, where the church has
established a
make-shift “clinic” to cure various ailments.
The sect
does not allow its members to immunise their children or seek
treatment for
any illness in conventional health centres.
Local village
head, Maurice Muringai said he was troubled by the deaths of
children at the
Marange Apostolic Church shrine, which houses scores of
people, including
the sick and pregnant mothers.
The shrine has no proper ablution
facilities.
“My major worry about the make-shift hospital is the
death of children,”
said Muringai. “Last year we buried scores of children,
I don’t have the
exact figure but after forcing them to report every death
they will come
twice or thrice weekly to report the death of children. You
can calculate
how many would have died by the year-end.”
He said
officials from the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) once
visited the
shrine and urged the leaders to divide their followers into
smaller groups
arguing that the existing facility could not accommodate the
swelling number
of people.
The church leaders took no heed.
“Personally, I
have failed to deal with them and maybe only the government
will be able to
deal with them,” said Muringai. “The sad part of this is
that they are
protected by someone in authority.”
The make-shift “clinic”,
surrounded by plastic shacks, is just a few metres
away from the main road
linking Bindura and Harare.
When The Standard news crew arrived at
the shrine, expecting mothers were
milling around while children of
different ages were playing in the vicinity
of the compound.
One
youth from the area, Design Masengu, said his friend died of what is
suspected to be a sexually transmitted infection at the clinic where he was
being given “holy water” and prohibited from going to a proper health
centre.
A member of the apostolic sect, who refused to identify
himself, dismissed
the allegations denying that it was a shrine but
“homestead of someone”
hence it was improper to ask further
questions.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Douglas
Mombeshora said his
ministry was trying to engage leaders of apostolic
church sects so that
their members could seek treatment at conventional
health centres.
“We have these programmes where we are actually
trying to engage their
leaders,” said Mombeshora. “I actually visited them
and talked to their
leaders for three hours and they allowed us to immunise
children. It’s a
process and the numbers are increasing. It is a complicated
issue that needs
a tactful approach.”
11 000 children die
every year
A survey: Apostolic Religion, Health and Utilisation of
Maternal and Child
Health Services in Zimbabwe, carried out by Unicef last
year lamented the
low uptake of modern health services and poor immunisation
coverage among
religious objectors such as the Johanne Marange, Madhidha and
conservative
segments of Johanne Masowe.
“Religious objectors’
beliefs have had disastrous consequences for women and
children, and often
resulted in avoidable deaths among these groups,” reads
the
report.
According to the 2010 global systematic analysis of national causes
of child
mortality report, at least 100 children are dying every
day.
The report says around 10 758 newborns die each year in
Zimbabwe.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012
12:00
BY JENNIFER DUBE
Parked by the roadside, they look like
abandoned old wrecks ready for the
scrap-yard. But as soon as they splutter
and rattle into life, belching
choking clouds of smoke, passengers cram into
every available space,
sometimes even the luggage roof-rack.
For
residents of villages around Domboshava, a growth point about 20 km
north of
Harare, these battered and ancient Peugeot sedans and pick-up
trucks, long
retired from service in Harare where they are now likely to
attract unwanted
police attention, are the only reliable form of transport.
While
commuter omnibuses are a common sight in Domboshava, these only ply
the
Harare route and do not venture into the hinterland where the roads are
no
more than dusty tracks.
But these are the only “roads” connecting the
bustling growth point to the
mines in the Pote area and to a government
training centre, where most
villagers frequently travel to and from on their
daily business.
“Our roads are so bad that motorists are reluctant to
venture into these
areas yet people need to travel between Mverechena
Shopping Centre, for
instance, and Pote while others go to the training
centre on business
daily,”one resident said.
“The centre is about
2,5 km from Mverechena while Pote is about 14 km away.”
For the
operators of the jalopies, the bad roads have brought mixed
fortunes.
Biggie Mutukula (38) said plying the Mverechena-Pote
route for US$1 per
passenger on a one-way trip had for a long time sustained
him and his family
of five.
A trip to the training centre costs
five rand and only the small cars ply
that route because it is closer to the
shopping centre.
“We have other jobs that we are qualified for but
there are no employment
opportunities in this area,” said Mutukula. “Going
to Harare to look for a
job is futile so pirating is the only alternative
and we are fortunate to
have these old vehicles to make that
possible.”
Mutukula, a qualified carpenter and thatcher, said he once
led a good life
getting thatching contracts from white commercial farmers
who lived in
Domboshava and surrounding farms.
He said it was
difficult to do more than one trip a day and be able to
pocket US$10 as
there were too many operators and few passengers.
The driver of one of the
“pirate taxis” said police and council officers,
who frequently pounced on
them, also made their operations difficult as they
demanded bribes which
sometimes exceeded their daily takings
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 11:57
BY
SOFIA MAPURANGA
ZVISHAVANE — Villagers living in communities near Zvishavane
town have
accused Chinese mining companies operating in their areas of
destroying the
environment and encroaching into their fields that they have
been ploughing
for several decades. The villagers are incensed that large
swathes of land,
which encompass their fields, have been given to Chinese
companies
reportedly by the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development.
Councillor Norman Sibanda from Ward 5 under Chief
Mapanzure in Mhondongori
accused the Chinese nationals of starting mining
operations without even
consulting or engaging the villagers or the Rural
District Council (RDC).
“The ministry’s conduct is causing confusion
in our communities,” said
Sibanda. “The Chinese companies are flocking to
our communities and sampling
for mineral wealth without even notifying
us.”
Sibanda, who represented the villagers, was speaking at the
sidelines of a
Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela) meeting held in
Harare last
week.
He called on the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development to engage the RDCs
before issuing out mining licences to Chinese
nationals.
“China Zimbabwe, Jiang Chi and Jing Li are some of the
mining companies that
just walked into our communities, started taking
samples and when they were
done with their sampling, dumped the sand in our
pastures,” he said.
Sibanda said the communities mobilised themselves
against Jing Li after the
company allegedly took samples from people’s
fields and caused severe
environmental degradation.
“The
community chased these Chinese nationals in November last year after
they
dug and left deep pits in our fields, but they are back on the basis
that
they have been given mining rights by the Mines ministry,” said
Sibanda,
adding that the RDC was now at loggerheads with the community over
the
operations of the Chinese companies.
“The community lays the blame on
us yet our hands are tied,” said Sibanda.
“We cannot chase these people away
because even if we try to speak, our
voice is stifled by the Mines and
Minerals Act.”
Efforts to have the mining companies comment were
fruitless last week.
Zela coordinator, Shamiso Mtisi said such
challenges could be solved if
there was consultation between the affected
people and the mining companies.
“There is need for communities to be
aware of their rights and the
government should facilitate that by opening
debates on the issue of
transparency by mining companies,” said Mtisi.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 11:54
By Shingayi
Jena
WATER provision in Hatcliffe 1 and 2 gradually improved in the past two
weeks with residents managing to receive at least two days of uninterrupted
flow in their housing units. The area is one of the worst affected in the
Harare metropolitan province with dwellers waking up to queue for water at
community boreholes sunk by Unicef before dawn.
Harare Residents
Trust (HRT) community coordinator for the area, Ronia
Gwaze, said the
development would alleviate pressure on the boreholes and
improve sanitation
at household level.
“Residents on lower ground in Hatcliffe are
ecstatic following the advent of
running water in their household units in
the past two weeks,” she said.
Across town in the south western
suburbs of Kuwadzana Phase 3 and
Dzivarasekwa, construction of a water pump
station is near completion.
The station, based in Dzivarasekwa 2, is
meant to start increasing water
pressure from the two reservoirs, relieving
water woes in the area by the
end of June 2012.
Pevimagi
Chipindu, the managing director of Pevimagi (Pvt) Ltd, which has
partnered
the City of Harare, said the pressure booster would ensure water
supply in
the targeted areas by end of the first half of the year.
“The pump
station is to boost the water supply in the area and we are
already halfway
through with construction,” said Chipindu.
He said the junction
station in Dzivarasekwa supplied water to Kuwadzana
Phase 3 adding that the
pipe in place had become too small to adequately
supply water to the growing
population.
Willmore Mativenga, the HRT community coordinator,
covering suburbs such as
Greendale, Mandara, Chisipite, Highlands and the
Grange indicated that
scores of residents have gone for close to a decade
without running water,
yet they are charged for the unused council water
infrastructure.
Harare South areas of Uplands, Shortson, Hilton,
Picnic Park and Cheviot
continue to receive water once every week on
Wednesdays.
The water is usually dirty with residents of Uplands and
Cheviot now
preferring water from boreholes.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 11:48
By
LESLEY WURAYAYI
RESIDENTS of Harare’s Dzivaresekwa Extension suburb have
raised concern over
lack of proper schools, clinics and other social
amenities in their area.
While some sections of the suburb were properly
serviced by the Harare City
Council, there is an area where residents live
in shacks and without running
water.
Most of the residents who
live in this area are victims of the government’s
infamous Operation
Murambatsvina of May 2005, which affected over 2,4
million people across the
country.
The residents said their area seemed not to be part of
Harare as they hardly
received services such as refuse collection. Roads and
other infrastructure
were not attended to.
“Our children risk
their lives to get basic education as they cross a
dangerous stream to the
nearest school in Dzivaresekwa 2,” said Lovemore
Matanhu. “There are no
bridges at the crossing points and this greatly
compromises our children’s
safety.”
The only school in the area, Yemurai Primary, they said, was
not only
dilapidated but could not serve the whole community, forcing many
children
to attend school elsewhere.
“Years after being displaced to this
area, nothing much has been done to
improve our surroundings,” Matanhu
said.
Another resident, Patricia Saidi, said the residents feared a
possible
disease outbreak due to uncollected refuse.
“The City of
Harare has not listed us for refuse collection and waste is
overflowing into
the roads and into homes. The flies are too many and the
smell unbearable,”
she said. “The area is serviced by a worn-out tarred road
and most residents
use the bucket system.”
Fears of an outbreak of diseases such as
typhoid, dysentery and cholera are
not without a basis.
Thousands
of people in Harare, Chitungwiza, Bindura and Norton were affected
by
typhoid early this year. The outbreak was attributed to vending, poor
sanitation and erratic water supplies to residents.
The water
shortages forced residents to scramble for the resource from
unprotected
water sources such as shallow wells.
Estimates indicate that 40% of
residents in Harare and its satellite towns
do not have access to clean
water.
Efforts to get a comment from Harare City Council spokesperson
Leslie Gwindi
last week were fruitless.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
“The magnificent spectacle of African wildlife
is a key factor in Zimbabwe’s
tourism success,” the embassy of Zimbabwe’s
Travel and Tourism website page
rightly put it.
It added:
“Tourists are either moved or excited by the sight of a herd of
elephants
moving with a ponderous grace to the waterhole, or rolling in
mud-baths like
children at play...”
I don’t know how you will decipher this, but to
me it means that the
Zimbabwean government has full knowledge of our
wildlife’s worth; not just
to maintain an ecological balance, but also to
bring in the much-needed
revenue from the tourism industry.
Considering
this, it then boggles the mind when one considers the poor
wildlife
management tactics currently being employed in Zimbabwe, resulting
in very
little remaining of the wildlife that infested the country, say 20
years
ago.
On their seven-day tour itinerary, Destiny Travel & Tours, a
local travel
and tour company wrote: “Not guaranteed is the chance to come
across
lions...fingers crossed for the best of luck in
Africa.”
As disappointing as this might sound to someone planning to
visit Zimbabwe
and obviously hoping to come up-close and personal with the
wildlife that is
often associated with the allure of Africa, I applaud the
company for their
honesty!
As much as the Zimbabwe Parks and
Wildlife Management Authority would love
for us to keep on believing that
the country still has an abundance of
wildlife, the situation on the ground
spells otherwise.
However, because the wildlife audits have not been
carried out in a long
time, it is still difficult to say with certainty just
how much wildlife is
left.
A drive around the country, especially
if it is through game park areas,
previously guaranteed one an encounter
with all sorts of animals, the Big
Five included. Now, you should consider
yourself very lucky to spot any one
of the magnificent creatures.
When
you are lucky enough to, the experience is no longer as pleasant as the
animals are continually withdrawing as they now evidently perceive humans as
foes.
Conservancies that used to be home to a great number of our
wildlife have
long been invaded by people whose motives clearly have nothing
to do with
wildlife conservation. Considering that these areas are in
climatic region
five where conventional agriculture cannot thrive owing to
the extremely dry
weather conditions, one would wonder why the sudden
interest in these areas,
if it is not for personal gain from the wildlife
resources in the areas,
and the trees.
Johnny Rodrigues, chairman
of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force has
reiterated on the fact that the
invasions have “nothing to do with
conservation” and warned that animals
would continue to be killed for
personal gain.
And true to
Rodrigues’ word, very few of the vast number of elephants that
were home at
the now invaded Chiredzi River Conservancy are said to be
left.
Hunting animals for the pot has been a practice that has been
in place since
time immemorial, but this used to be conducted in a
sustainable manner. The
killing of elephants and rhinoceros currently going
on can only be aimed at
profiteering from their tusks and horns, at the
expense of our wildlife
population, which is fast dwindling.
Now
that we seem to have settled for destroying the wildlife resource, we
might
also need to settle for a serious drop in the country’s appeal and
subsequently less tourists.
By Chipo
Masara
For feedback, email cmasara@standard.co.zw
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 11:39
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
CABINET is deliberating on the conversion rate to be used
on the Zimbabwe
dollar bank balances prior to the use of multi-currencies in
2009, Finance
minister, Tendai Biti has said
Biti told stakeholders
attending the launch of FinScope consumer survey
Zimbabwe 2011 last week
that he was preparing a policy brief to Cabinet on
how the liabilities would
be settled. “There is a strong section of Cabinet
which is saying, why don’t
you have an upper cut-off period that will
benefit those with smaller
balances, but it’s a policy issue, which the
Finance ministry cannot resolve
alone,” he said.
Biti said Treasury had set aside US$7 million in the
2010 budget for
demonetisation and agreed to use a conversion rate of 35
quadrillion for
US$1.
“The problem which we ran out with was that
for the majority of people who
actually needed the money, they were going to
get US$1,01 on their balances,
so it doesn’t make sense,” Biti said. “Then
we had the problem of the rich
and the super-rich people, they were going to
get significant levels of
money but we have the moral issue which we have
not resolved.”
Biti said government was aware that some people had
engaged in rent-seeking
activities and the challenge was how to strike a
balance between the
interests of the poor and the super-rich.
The
move, if implemented, would bring closure to an issue which has been
pending
since the country dumped the Zimbabwean dollar three years ago.
When
the country adopted the use of multi-currencies, it did not address the
Zimbabwean dollar liabilities, throwing into disarray the fate of
millions.
The most affected were the pensioners or those that had
recently retired,
whose hard-earned monies vanished
overnight.
Analysts have said the non-resolution of the Zimbabwean
dollar liabilities
has worked against boosting confidence in the banking
sector.
An estimated US$2,5 billion is reportedly circulating outside
the formal
system in the country’s economy. The FinScope consumer survey
Zimbabwe 2011
confirms that: 31% of Zimbabweans do not save, 27% keep all
their savings at
home, while 17% of individuals have savings products from a
bank.
“People mainly save to be able to pay for living expenses
during hard times,
as well as for education, school fees and emergencies,”
reads part of the
findings.
Biti said the central bank
authorities, the Finance ministry and banking
sector representatives would
discuss the report and the relevant law amended
to address the findings if
need be.
The survey was done by Finmark Trust in conjunction with the
Zimbabwe
National Statistics Agency and ran from July to November last year.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012
11:43
BY NDAMU SANDU
OFFICIALS from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank will
visit the country next month for crucial talks
in Zimbabwe’s first step
towards clearing its US$9,1 billion external
debt.
The visit comes after two crucial meetings in Tunisia and
Washington DC,
where consensus was built among all creditors and other
stakeholders over
the process of resolving the country’s external
debt.
Finance minister, Tendai Biti, said on Thursday the
resolution of the debt
question would unlock fresh capital into the country
needed to drive
economic growth.
Biti said he had briefed
President Robert Mugabe on the debt question and
was given the nod to
re-engage the country’s creditors.
This has resulted in negotiations
with the IMF and World Bank — a framework
for accelerated engagement next
month.
“If we reach this agreement, it will pave the way for donors
to help us with
our US$9,1 billion, either through cancellation or
forgiveness. We need to
deal with the arrears because these are a
precondition for us to access the
huge amounts that are at the World Bank
and IMF,” Biti said.
Zimbabwe’s arrears to the World Bank are US$507
million, US$140 million to
IMF and US$409 million to the African Development
Bank (AfDB)
Biti said Zimbabwe had moved mountains for the donors to
come to the
decisions reached in Tunisia and in Washington DC and
Zimbabweans have to
speak with one voice for the debt question to be
addressed.
Zimbabwe’s external debt had been termed unsustainable up
to 2029 by a
consultant hired by government three years ago.
The
principals in the inclusive government approved the Zimbabwe Accelerated
Arrears Clearance, Debt and Development Strategy (ZAADDS) in March after
months of haggling, as one faction of the inclusive government was arguing
the country was too rich to be declared a poor country.
ZAADDS
uses a combination of debt relief and resources pledging to clear the
country’s debt.
The programme was then presented at a High Level
Debt Forum in Tunisia in
March.
Another meeting was held on the
sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Spring
meetings in Washington DC last
month.
IMF and the World Bank are considered the international
“Commissioner of
Oaths” and once they agree on anything, Zimbabwe’s other
creditors would
follow suit.
‘Clearing debt critical for
rehabilitation’
Biti said once the debt question was settled, the country
could tap into the
huge amounts from the Bretton Woods institutions to
address the
infrastructure deficit in the country.
AfDB estimates
that Zimbabwe needs US$16 billion for infrastructure
rehabilitation.
“You will not get that money from the private
institutions, but from the
IFIs (international financial institutions), the
IMF, World Bank and African
Development Bank, so it’s important that we deal
with the issue of arrears,”
he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 11:34
BY KUDZAI
CHIMHANGWA
TWO Cabinet ministers have questioned the manner in which the
ethanol
project in Chisumbanje in Chipinge was started in a new twist to the
US$600
million venture. This comes as the promoters have been at the doors
of the
ministry of Energy and Power Development in a bid to force the
introduction
of mandatory blending and save the project from
collapse.
There has been a slow uptake of ethanol from Chisumbanje,
as fuel players
are reluctant to blend the product. As a result, production
stopped after
the plant reached its 10 million litres storing capacity in
December last
year.
The ethanol project is a partnership between
the Agricultural and Rural
Development Authority (Arda) and Billy
Rautenbach’s Rating and Macdom
Investments in a 20-year Build, Operate and
Transfer (BOT) arrangement to
transform estates at Chisumbanje and Middle
Sabi.
Rautenbach’s company, Green Fuel, is advocating government
endorsement to
make it mandatory for fuel companies to blend petrol with
ethanol, but
Finance minister, Tendai Biti, said there were outstanding
issues that had
to be addressed first.
Biti said the investor had
taken huge Arda estates to produce sugarcane and
the Zimbabwe Development
Trust, which owned land in Naunetsi constituting 1%
of the
country.
“So that estate is now about 4% of Zimbabwe. That land was
not bought, it
was taken for free,” said Biti. “So the government of
Zimbabwe is saying
what is the ownership structure now because you have
taken all this land
which you have not paid for. you have put US$200 million
or US$300 million,
but that is not equal to 4% of Zimbabwe. That must be
clarified.”
Biti said the other issue relates to technology, adding
that scientists must
explain whether Zimbabwean cars are ready for blending
and at what
percentage.
“The third one, is a ministry of Finance
issue. The ethanol is being sold at
US$0,10 less than the ongoing price of
hydrocarbons.
“The price of our ethanol production has got a fixed
cost structure. How
then do you say it’s 10% of a volatile, flexible thing,
yet we know the
prices of hydrocarbons are not determined by cost structures
— they are
determined by politics. That is where we are saying, you are
being greedy
and we will not accept it,” said Biti.
The project
has continued to be shrouded by concerns to do with
transparency, as
government has not been forthcoming in protecting the
venture.
Energy and Power Development minister, Elton Mangoma,
told stakeholders at
an energy synergy meeting last week that mandatory
blending would go against
market liberalisation in the petroleum
industry.
Mangoma said several ministers were distancing themselves from the
project’s
creation, raising fears that the process had not been done
properly.
Cabinet set up an inter-ministerial taskforce headed by
Agriculture
minister, Joseph Made, to spearhead an assessment of the
project, but
Mangoma said that Green Fuel representatives were continually
approaching
him and avoiding the taskforce.
“This thing takes
time. The viable option is that Green Fuel should be given
the opportunity
to export. As long I’m minister, I will protect the
interests of the
majority. I don’t want to go into the pricing, the facts
are so murky, and
these things must be done properly. Green Fuel has been
given an opportunity
to work with government,” said Mangoma.
Mangoma said government was
prepared to issue out licences for ethanol
blending, right up to E100, but
this would all depend on what the market
wanted.
“We have to plan
and co-ordinate this (biofuel) issue. it’s a confidence
thing. To cobble the
policy in an inclusive government is very difficult,”
he said, adding that
Zimbabwe had no policy to make E10 mandatory.
Biofuel energy is
anticipated to help cut the country’s massive fuel import
bill, provide
energy supply security, promote rural development and
investment, as well as
reduce poverty.
Sugar, which is a key element for ethanol production,
takes 12 months to
mature in Zimbabwe while elsewhere, it can take up to 15
months or more.
‘Comprehensive policy on biofuel
vital’
Ambassador of Brazil to Zimbabwe, Maro da ‘Silva, told delegates
that Africa
would be one of the best places in the world in the production
of biofuel
due to the abundant sunlight and a wide market.
“The use
of biofuel in Zimbabwe will depend on the decisions that are made
now.
Forty-five percent of our own energy matrix comes from biofuel,” she
said.
“There is need for a comprehensive policy for ethanol
production, as the
state has a pivotal role to determine what’s best for the
country.”
She said up to 70 000 small farms in Brazil were producing
ethanol, with
millions of jobs created by the ethanol industry, while 8% of
vehicles
produced in that country were flexi-fuel, meaning they could use
both
ethanol and non-ethanol blended fuel.
A 2009 study, titled
Bio-Fueling Southern Africa, focusing on Malawi,
Mozambique and Zambia,
acknowledged that the introduction of bio-fuels would
reduce dependence on
petroleum products, stabilise fuel prices, and create
employment, among
other benefits.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 11:28
BY KUDZAI
CHIMHANGWA
UNDER-CAPITALISATION and use of obsolete machinery were militating
against
most parastatals’ ability to effectively discharge their mandates, a
recent
audit by the Comptroller and Auditor-General has
revealed.
According to the audit, carried out in December 2010, this has
resulted in
repairs and maintenance constituting a higher percentage of
administrative
costs.
the Comptroller and Auditor-General, Mildred Chiri,
said some parastatals
still operated with poorly-constituted boards or
without boards, thereby
creating a policy vacuum at the top, leaving those
below to act without
proper guidance.
She underscored the
fact that parastatals were established with financial
resources from
taxpayers, which meant that the main stakeholders in
State-owned enterprises
were members of the public, whose taxes have been
invested in the said
corporations.
A case in point shows that going concern findings
reveal that NetOne was
defaulting in remitting licence and spectrum fees to
the Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz)
and the debt
had grown to US$7 213 546 by the end of the period under
review.
NetOne did not remit annual licence and spectrum fees for the
financial
years ended December 31 2009 and 2010.
“This matter
indicates the existence of a material uncertainty, which may
cast
significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going
concern,”
said Chiri.
She noted that the entity was failing to service its
non-current
liabilities, which had become overdue, thereby increasing the
company’s risk
of failing to service short-term obligations, as they fell
due.
NetOne promotions lacked Insight: Chiri
Another
anomaly noted was that NetOne increased marketing expenditure not in
line
with revenue growth.
Revenue decreased by US$23 million but marketing
expenditure increased by
US$4 million in 2010.
This resulted in
potential loss due to promotions which did not add value to
revenue
contribution and Chiri’s office recommended that management carry
out a
cost-benefit analysis of the promotions they intended to
make.
Promotions embarked on, include the Valentine promotion for
post-paid
customers. Customers were given a reduced tariff of 50% for NetOne
to NetOne
calls.
A total of 1 260 calls were made during the
promotion.
Another promotion included the Independence promotion,
where participants
got five short message services (sms) if they recharged
US$1 worth of
airtime. A total of 570 663 US$1 vouchers were loaded during
the promotion.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 13:30
Terence
Chimhavi
The misguided notion being peddled by many a politician in
support of the
Copac-led constitution-making process that the new charter
will lead to free
and fair elections should be quickly discarded. Not only
is this view a
blatant lie on the part of those peddling it; it also smacks
of cheap
political rhetoric and subterfuge on those trying to justify the
millions of
donor funds that they fruitlessly spend in hotels and bars.
Almost two years
beyond its initially set deadline, the constitution-making
process has
tottered from one crisis to the other, encountered numerous
hurdles,
including at one time a crippling shortage of funds due to waning
donor
support and confidence in the process. As it stands, Copac has since
delivered what it has termed the first consolidated draft constitution to
the “management committee” although with “parked issues”.
It is
still not clear who is to decide on these parked issues before the
draft
constitution can be brought to parliament and eventually to a
referendum.
What is clear is that it is no longer relevant what the people
might have or
might not have said during the chaotic outreach meetings
conducted by Copac,
but that the discretion now lies with a few party
representatives to agree
and decide on what they will present in the form of
a draft constitution to
a referendum. Talk about a people-driven
constitution!
However,
after reading the draft, one is struck by the glaring similarities
between
it and the current constitution, especially with regards to the
powers that
remain vested in the proposed executive presidency, itself
singled out as
one of the key factors behind the governance crisis gripping
the country.
Simply, too much power is vested in one individual, itself a
very
undemocratic practice that is a slap in the face of participatory
democracy.
The same crisis is certainly behind the infighting in Zanu PF
driven by the
succession issue and is the main reason why they cannot
discuss leadership
renewal among themselves. This is now manifesting in the
serious infighting
and violence that has characterised the district
coordinating committee
elections and the current restructuring exercise.
There is certainly
no need and it defies logic in this day and age to
concentrate so much power
in an individual in any government or political
power structure for that
matter. In no way should any individual from the
executive arm of State be
above and beyond reproach of the other two arms of
State – the legislature
and the judiciary. No democracy can work under such
ludicrous conditions,
and most certainly such an arrangement cannot support
a free and fair
election, especially one in which the incumbent
participates.
Many of the provisions in the draft constitution in
circulation gravely
exposes the two MDC formations as not being genuine in
their self-proclaimed
mandate as the leaders of democratic change and reform
in the country. Even
as we acknowledge the fact that whatever constitution
will be brought for a
referendum will be largely a negotiated document, the
extent to which the
new charter neglects and omits fundamental tenets
inherent of any democratic
constitution relevant and alive to the realities
of us as a people and as a
nation clearly betrays the selfish and monetary
interests that drove the
three parties to author a new constitution for the
country on behalf of the
people, while all along trying to convince the
public that they were being
consulted and included all the
way.
It was very treacherous of the MDC, especially the formation led
by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to vilify and victimise its civic
friends and
strategic partners for trying to knock sense in the party and
its leadership
that they were playing their cards wrong in allowing
themselves to fall for
the Zanu PF trap by making it a preserve of the
politicians alone to author
a constitution on behalf of the
people.
It is also mind-boggling why the current draft is mum on the
Diaspora vote.
After all, we heard Copac during earlier episodes of its
ongoing circus
loudly proclaiming that it had gone on overdrive to consult
the Diaspora in
the writing of the new charter. And to think that the two
MDC formations are
also in support of the two vice-presidents’ agenda
clearly betrays how
easily they can be swayed by Zanu PF into changing
earlier positions and
principles. In all this, it is clear that Zanu PF is
in the driving seat.
Never mind that they seem not to want the constitution;
for them it makes
just perfect sense to be wasting and buying time in
government.
It is against this background that the government and
especially the three
parties in that government should wake up to the
reality that their futile
project code-named Copac is a waste of the
country’s time and resources.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 20 May 2012 13:23
Life has become
unbearable in Harare due to frequent water cuts experienced
almost on a
daily basis.
The cuts are a result of Harare City Council’s intensified
water rationing
exercise that is seriously affecting
residents.
For the past two weeks, the city council has been
intermittently cutting
supplies resulting in some suburbs failing to get
water for days.
The situation got worse on Friday and Saturday when
the water shortages were
felt right in the city centre.
Office
workers in high-rise buildings found it tough to spend the two days
without
water in their toilets. The lack of water at both workplaces and
homes is a
health time bomb waiting to explode.
Water is central to a hygienic
lifestyle, and without it residents find it
difficult to maintain standards
that keep diseases at bay.
The 2008 cholera epidemic, which claimed
over 4 000 people, is a case in
point which shows that lack of clean water
is a recipe for disaster.
Just a few months ago cases of typhoid were
experienced in high-density
suburbs such as Kuwadzana and
Mufakose.
The Harare City Council is advised to act fast to maintain
consistent water
supplies before the city slides back to the crisis of 2008.
The city risks
reversing commendable gains that were recorded in containing
the deadly
cholera four years ago.
Without adequate water
supplies, residents will troop back to the
unprotected shallow wells and
drains, putting themselves at risk of
contracting water-borne diseases. Who
wants another cholera outbreak?
So far, the city appears to be
trivialising the problem, judging by the
response given by its spokesperson
Leslie Gwindi who blamed last week’s
water shortages “to inspection on
plans and pipes being carried out by
engineers”.
Obviously Gwindi
knows the problem is not that simple, considering that
council lacks
adequate water treatment chemicals and has to deal with a
crippling
load-shedding exercise by the Zesa, which reduces its water
pumping
capacity.
Clearly a strategic approach to the problem is needed to
ensure
uninterrupted water supplies before more lives are put in danger.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Ten years from now — that
is in 2023 — elections in Zimbabwe and the rest of
the developing world will
be fought and won on the environment. The parties
that can articulate their
programmes on how to maintain our environment, and
hence our own survival as
a nation, will come to the fore. In other words,
environment issues will set
“regime-change agendas”. The emergence of “Green
parties” around the globe
in the past three or so decades should not be
dismissed contemptuously as
being of nuisance value simply because their
presence in parliaments is
still weak. Their beliefs will begin to come to
the fore when the world
begins to realise how important the issues of the
environment are for the
very existence of humanity. Green parties’ main
focus is environmentalism.
The Green Party of the United States, for
example, has as one of its major
tenets what it calls “ecological wisdom”:
“Human societies must operate with
the understanding that we are part of
nature; not separate from nature. We
must maintain an ecological balance and
live within the ecological and
resource limits of our communities and our
planet. We support a sustainable
society which utilises resources in such a
way that future generations will
benefit and not suffer from the practices
of our generation. To this end we
must practice agriculture which
replenishes the soil; move to an energy
efficient economy; and live in ways
that respect the integrity of natural
systems.”
Zimbabweans should begin to think in a similar manner. We
have not placed
the environment in its proper place in our country’s
political matrix. The
environment is still a peripheral issue in determining
how our country
should be governed. This is despite the fact that our very
delicate
environment is a constant threat to national
stability.
Presently, Zimbabwean politics is based on the following template:
Independence-Sovereignty-Values (of our liberation struggle). Although this
is an important perspective that ensures our nationhood is properly
grounded, it becomes too backward-looking as the world changes at breakneck
speed and the environment takes up an ever more important role in defining a
nation’s wellbeing
When our politics troughs out of the stage it
finds itself in now, the
template will change to something like:
Independence-Governance-Environment.
A country can no longer continue
to talk about sovereignty or territorial
integrity without talking about the
environment. Territorial integrity is
about borders; we can defend borders
but if the borders surround a
desecrated environment they might not be worth
defending.
Zimbabwe has always been under the threat of
desertification as the Kalahari
Basin encroaches into most countries in
southern Africa including Zimbabwe.
Indeed, almost two-thirds of Zimbabwean
soils are already beginning to show
characteristics of Kalahari sands —
powdery, reddish and infertile.
As desertification sets in — food
gets scarcer and scarcer in the farming
areas — people migrate towards the
green areas which they see as oases and
rural-urban drift intensifies.
Imagine the instability that goes with people
moving into areas — already
populated — where they see their Canaan? The
competition for resources
becomes fierce, spawning instability. People in
the southern regions of
Zimbabwe, called ecological regions 3,4 and 5,
because of sparse rain and
poor soils, are already beginning to complain
that the land reform programme
kept them away from the wet regions in the
Mashonaland provinces. As their
areas become ecologically worse off due to
unsustainable agricultural
practices, they will begin to push northward. The
environment automatically
becomes a national stability issue.
Unfortunately desertification is
now, interestingly, creeping from north to
south too. The regions which
constitute our bread basket — that is regions 1
and 2 —are also experiencing
man-made desertification as deforestation
rises.
Many of the
farms that changed ownership during the land reform programme
are now the
major sources of firewood for cities and towns as these continue
to
experience power problems due to insufficient generation of electrical
energy.
One only has to watch in the evenings as truckloads of
firewood roll into
Harare. In the next 10 years the Mashonaland provinces
may well be as barren
as the worst parts of the southern provinces if the
unbridled deforestation
continues. Add to this, the gold panning taking
place all round the country.
Recently gold was discovered on Heinz Farm near
Chinhoyi, within days the
farm had been laid to waste as people from all
walks of life, including
security forces, joined the gold
rush.
Two things emerged from the Heinz Farm experience: The people’s
hunger for
resources and their potential to destroy the environment;
and the
supine response by the government and law enforcement
agencies.
Many more other threats to our environment exist. These
include overgrazing
and over-cultivation of the land. For far too long
wealth among African
communities has been measured by the number of animals
a family possessed.
This tradition has not changed with the growth in
population meaning more
people are acquiring more beasts and competing for
finite pastures.
Interestingly, even those who have been settled in areas
suitable only for
cropping have brought their beasts to the farms upsetting
the ecological
balance of the environment.
While the
constitution-making process is still on, can what goes in it be
influenced
by the grave concern about the environment? Can the issue of the
environment
be elevated above a mere right, to make it a governance issue
equal to
sovereignty and democracy? Is it possible to place the sustained
and
systematic destruction of the environment among crimes against humanity
such
as genocide and forcible transfer of population?
I have received a
lot of flak whenever I have confessed that I am a
climate-change sceptic.
Whatever the veracity of research behind this, it
has become more of a
distraction in developing countries than a real
environment
issue.
What should concern Zimbabweans now is whether they can bring
their
government to account regarding tangible environment issues and
whether they
can educate the people on day-to-day threats to the environment
without
overly being seized with the politics of climate change.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
In the 1990s, when one
travelled from Harare to Mutare, he or she would
marvel at the farms which
lay stretched along the highway road especially
this time of the season.
Vast fully-utilised tracks of farms, mainly of
tobacco, could be seen along
the road — one felt a sense of fulfilment, that
farmers were doing their
job, not only for themselves but the country at
large. We were proud to be
Zimbabweans and it felt good.
What I saw recently when I travelled to my
rural area are vast tracks of
unfarmed land, left unattended, by those who
grabbed the farms and reaped
where they did not sow. The results of the
so-called land reform have been
the underutilisation of our fundamental
asset – land. Because our economy
is agro-based, Zanu PF under the
leadership of President Mugabe, prescribed
the demise of our economy through
the grabbing spree which even paralysed
the once famous Kondozi farm. Most
of these grabbers must have finally
realised that they are not farmers after
all. They thought farming was
cheap.
Like the land
reform, the indigenisation programme is noble but the only
problem has to do
with the handlers, most of whom disastrously mishandled
the land reform
project in 2000 when the madness began. Under such
circumstances, one would
think that we would tread carefully, so that we do
not inflict more damage
to our already stressed and battered economy.
But who cares? —
President Mugabe allowed his lieutenants to grab the farms
and loot the
farming implements, in the hope that he wins their hearts. He
is unwisely
doing the same with the indigenisation programme. His cronies
are now filthy
rich and can afford to buy their way to electoral victory.
For example, they
can now ferry and feed their supporters for weeks on end
so that they
demonstrate against the so-called imposition of candidates in
the ongoing
DCC elections.
Having, on countless occasions, postponed the
succession issue in his party,
Mugabe is increasingly losing his grip. One
is not sure whether the Mugabe
we used to know is still in control of his
party. Of course he once admitted
that he is no longer listened to by his
lieutenants. He also said he would
not retire leaving his party in
shambles.
If he is still listened to, let him compel Information
minister Webster
Shamu to implement a cabinet directive to dissolve the BAZ
board and have it
reconstituted properly. He should translate what he said
on Independence Day
into action.
The ongoing battle in Zanu PF
pitting Vice-President Joice Mujuru and
Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa,
if not handled properly, will be the
straw that broke the camel’s back. The
two deny that they have presidential
ambitions during the day, but during
the night they are busy positioning
themselves to take
over.
These are the same people who confessed to successive US envoys
that they
wanted Mugabe to go. Surely the succession issue is going to have
some
ripple effect on Zanu PF survival. The only honourable way for Mugabe
to
correct the situation is to facilitate a smooth transfer of power if he
loses the coming elections, which, unfortunately, looks very likely. This
will also improve his chances of leaving the political stage with some
dignity.
Mugabe still has a role to play for the future of our
country. The choice is
his to do what is right for the nation he helped
liberate, or to please his
ungrateful lieutenants at the expense of the
majority. Whatever he chooses
to do, history will judge him accordingly.
