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Zimbabwe Govt Predicts Inflation To Peak At 700% In 1Q 04
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)--Zimbabwe's finance minister
forecast deepening
hardships and inflation of 700% in a country already
facing its worst
economic crisis as he announced the annual budget
Thursday.
Painting a bleak picture, Herbert Murerwa said government
services
like health and education declined sharply this year; industry was
running
at below 50% capacity, and most of the country's infrastructure
was
crumbling.
Inflation, officially running at 526%, is
expected to climb to 700% in
the first quarter of next year, before starting
to dissipate, Murerwa said
in an address to Parliament.
The
budget deficit, forecast at 7.5%, reached 11% in 2003, fueled by
runaway
inflation, he said.
In what he called a budget of "stabilization
measures," Murerwa said
the government aims to reign in a record 13.2%
decline in the nation's gross
domestic product this year and bring the
deficit back on target for 7.5%.
This would be achieved through a
range of fiscal measures to increase
revenue and curb overspending by the
government, he said.
"The challenges are surmountable," Murerwa
said, adding: "It
is...imperative we avoid aborting painful measures" toward
recovery."
Previous economic reform packages have frequently been
abandoned in
midstream.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of political
and economic crisis,
exacerbated by the government's often-violent program to
seize thousands of
white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to
blacks.
The southern African nation faces acute shortages of food,
hard
currency, gasoline and other essential imports. Unemployment in the
formal
economy is estimated at 70%.
The World Food Program
estimates at least 5.5 million Zimbabweans,
nearly half the population, will
need emergency food aid in coming months.
Murerwa said the central
bank will next month announce new currency
exchange and interest rate
policies to help fight inflation.
The official exchange rate is
currently 824 Zimbabwe dollars to the
U.S dollar, but the U.S. currency
fetches up to 6,000 Zimbabwe dollars on
the thriving black
market.
Murerwa also said the government will pay "renewed
attention to the
generation of foreign exchange and the elimination of
parallel market
activities." He didn't elaborate.
From Jan. 1,
income tax will be eased for lower-paid earners, and new
15% value-added tax
on goods and services will be introduced.
Private gasoline
importers will be subject to a new levy to the
state-run National Oil Company
to ease its debts and enable it to boost fuel
imports, Murerwa said.
Dow Jones Newswires
11-20-031304ET
SABC
05:16:34
Zimbabwe unveils 2004
budget
November 20, 2003, 07:42 PM
Zimbabwe's
economic decline is far from over. Herbert Murerwa,
the Minister of Finance,
today unveiled his budget for 2004 warning the
economy will have contracted
by 30% at the end of this year.
If it was any respite for the
troubled country - he told
parliament in Harare this afternoon that the rate
of decline will ease to
about 8% at the end of 2004. The Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU)
leadership was today granted a R500 bail after spending
two nights in cells
for a nationwide strike that saw over 300 of its members
arrested.
As the labour movement leadership appeared in the
magistrates
court for demonstrating against the unending economic crisis that
is making
life unbearable for workers - it was budget day with Murerwa
presenting
measures sought to address the crisis.
Over
R1.2 billion - that is what the Zimbabwe government plans
to spend next year
- 11% beyond its revenue expectations. However, Murerwa
is hoping several
measure to stimulate agricultural, mining and
manufacturing productivity will
bring more resources into the economy -
especially the scarce foreign
currency.
He hopes emphasis on production will be able to
deal with the
country's number one enemy - inflation expected to end the year
at around
700%. However, opposition parliamentarians are not convinced
Murerwa's
budget statement will do anything to stop the economic
slide.
Industry welcomed the budget but expressed hope the
government
would implement it. Several of last year's budget pronouncements
remain
unattended up to today raising fears the same fate could fall on the
2004
budget.
Mail and Guardian
Zimbabwe suspension all 'lies'
Harare
20 November 2003 08:05
Zimbabwe's foreign
minister on Wednesday insisted that the southern African
country is entitled
to attend next month's Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting
(CHOGM).
The minister, Stan Mudenge, maintained that Zimbabwe was back as
a full
member of the 54-nation organisation, saying its 12-month suspension
from
the Commonwealth council had lapsed on March 19 despite an announcement
by
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon on March 16 that it had
been
extended for a further nine months.
Mudenge told parliament that
the troika -- Australia, Nigeria and South
Africa -- which slapped the
country with the year-long suspension had not
renewed it.
Zimbabwe was
suspended from the Commonwealth councils after presidential
elections in
March last year were declared neither free nor fair by many
international
monitors.
"Zimbabwe is now back as a full member and is therefore
entitled to attend
the (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) CHOGM in
Abuja in December
2003," Mudenge declared.
He said Zimbabwe's
suspension need not be reviewed because it was for a
specified period and
when that expired, the country automatically became a
full member
again.
"The suspension was finite. To continue with it required a fresh
decision.
Such a fresh decision was never made," he said in a special
statement to
lawmakers, just two days after Nigeria's president and this
year's host of
the CHOGM, Olusegun Obasanjo, visited Zimbabwe for talks with
President
Robert Mugabe on the issue.
Mudenge said McKinnon's
statement on March 16 was "based on falsehood and
therefore without effect"
because South Africa and Nigeria had rebutted his
claims.
"Put
blatantly the secretary general lied," said Mudenge, accusing
Australian
Prime Minister John Howard and McKinnon of "breathtaking
arrogance" and of
being "consumed by racist emotionalism".
"There are many who regard Mr
Howard as a notorious international outlaw who
was recently involved in the
illegal invasion of Iraq, murdered innocent
women and children and effected
unauthorised regime change.
"In fact they believe that he should be told
clearly and firmly that 'regime
change' is not a Commonwealth policy or
principle and that he must stand
trial at the Rome International Criminal
Court for his crimes," said
Mudenge.
Obasanjo, after talks with Mugabe
on Monday, said he was still "consulting"
on whether to issue an invitation
to Mugabe.
Howard, McKinnon and Britain do not want to see Mugabe at the
summit while
most black Commonwealth countries support Zimbabwe.
It is
feared that continued disagreement over Zimbabwe could widen the rift
between
African Commonwealth members, led by Nigeria and South Africa, and
the
so-called "white Commonwealth". - Sapa-AFP
Daily News
Collective conspiracy of silence cause for
shame
Date:20-Nov, 2003
"AFRICA is for Africans"
is the cry by Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi.
"Quiet diplomacy" is the call by
South African President Thabo Mbeki.
A deathly silence is the
response by the rest of Africa to Zimbabwe's
continuing and escalating
collapse. There is no doubt that there is a
collective conspiracy of silence
on the African continent when it comes to
Zimbabwe and it beggars
belief.
Three years into the 21st century we are still a continent
suffocated
by racism, swamped in double standards and led by men who are
determined to
see, hear and speak no evil when it comes to their fellow black
African
leaders.
The picture was very different when it was
white men oppressing black
people. Then the word racism was used in every
speech and on every podium
across the continent.
Now, as
Zimbabwe's government oppresses black and white people, there
is a deathly
hush from Africa's Big Men and their silence is cause for
continental shame
and global ridicule.
Surely the time has come for African leaders
to come out of their
mansions, step out of their motorcades, leave their
lavish official banquets
and see the immense suffering of the very people
that voted them into power
in the first place.
African leaders
have totally lost touch with their people. This has
never been more
accurately demonstrated than it was last month by South
African President
Thabo Mbeki. In a country where Aids has reached crisis
proportions, Mbeki
said that none of his friends had died of Aids and went
further to say that
in fact he did not know a single person who had died of
Aids in his
country.
This is a leader totally out of touch with his people and
tragically
it is this very man that Zimbabwe continues to look to for
assistance in
ending a crisis which has destroyed the very fibre of life
here.
Three months ago the Zimbabwe government gazetted new minimum
wages
for domestic workers.
For a man or woman who lives on the
property and is supplied with
lights and water, the stipulated monthly wage
is Z$12 000.
One loaf of bread here this week is Z$2 000. So in
exchange for a
month's labour, a domestic worker earns enough money to buy
just six loaves
of bread.
Zimbabwe's domestic workers are the
lucky ones because they have a job
and a roof over their heads.
Unemployment here is now more of an epidemic than Aids is in South
Africa and
Botswana and yet still Africa's leaders do and say nothing about
Zimbabwe's
governance. What are they afraid of?
What are they waiting for? So
where have all the good men of Africa
gone? The men who fought so bravely and
selflessly against colonial rule and
for liberation.
Now they
have their freedom they have forgotten what oppression is
like. Zimbabweans
feel so utterly betrayed by their black brothers across
the continent and
particularly over the border that it just makes us weep.
People
like Nelson Mandela who is the idol of millions across Africa
and indeed
around the world - where is he now and why is he so silent about
the horrors
in Zimbabwe?
I cannot believe that a man of such principle has
allowed political
diplomacy to stand in his way.
Mandela is not
the only one; there were hundreds more in South Africa
who relied on the
ordinary people in Zimbabwe to help them in their time of
need. And we did,
black and white, we boycotted South African goods, signed
petitions and stood
on the streets to protest oppression across our border.
Africa is
bedeviled by double standards. When international observers
said elections
here were rigged and that people were terrified and
intimidated into voting
Zanu PF back into power, African leaders disagreed.
They gave
Robert Mugabe their blessing and allowed the ruination of
Zimbabwe to
continue. They said: "we have different standards here
in
Africa."
It is ludicrous, insulting and racist to infer that
if a man is
beaten, harassed and denied access to food before an election it
is not
wrong by African standards.
In three weeks time,
Commonwealth heads meet in Nigeria for Chogm. The
debate has been raging for
months as to whether President Mugabe will be
allowed to attend due to
Zimbabwe's suspension from the Councils of the
Commonwealth.
It
is at this meeting that Africa's leaders have the chance to redeem
themselves
and make a clear and unequivocal statement about Zimbabwe.
A
statement, which would say that there is an urgent need for
fundamental
change in Zimbabwe because freedom of speech, movement and
association no
longer exist.
A statement, which makes it clear that, it is not
governance when
inflation runs at 525 percent and unemployment at 80
percent.
The chance for Africa's leaders to speak out is right
now.
By The Litany Bird
Tobacco Farmers Seek Review of Exchange Rate
The Herald
(Harare)
November 20, 2003
Posted to the web November 20,
2003
Harare
TOBACCO farmers are lobbying Government for a review
of the exchange rate
for tobacco and a back-pay for those farmers who
delivered their crop during
the 2003 selling season.
The president of
the Zimbabwe Association of Tobacco Growers, Mr Julius
Ngorima, said his
organisation had decided to take this route to ensure
viability in tobacco
production.
A review of the exchange rate, after the conclusion of the
selling season,
would set a precedent in the history of the country's tobacco
industry.
During the just-ended selling season, farmers were being paid
$824 for every
United States dollar.
Cotton growers usually receive a
back-pay at the end of the season to make
up for depressed prices that would
have been offered during the selling
season.
"We are fighting for a
review of the exchange rate, and in August this year,
we met the Minister of
Finance and Economic Development, Dr Herbert Murerwa,
and he promised us that
he would take the matter to Cabinet. We are still
waiting for the response,"
said Mr Ngorima.
The issue of the review of the exchange rate affected
this year's selling
season as, on two occasions, growers temporarily
suspended trading at the
auction floors.
Farmers decided to hold on to
their crop midway through the season in
protest against the stagnant exchange
rate, and this trend continued until
the end of the main selling
season.
This has also seen the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board
announcing two
mop up sales dates within the same selling season as it was
suspected that
some growers were still holding on to their crop, intending to
deliver it
next season.
"Tobacco organisations have met the relevant
authorities and we are keen to
continue talking to them on the issue," added
Mr Ngorima.
It, however, remains unclear how they would be back paid, as
there are no
instruments under the current legislation allowing for such
provisions.
Tobacco, unlike other crops, is paid for in foreign currency
and the growers
get a special rate, which is set by the Ministry of Finance
and Economic
Development.
This would mean that the crop is not
subjected to price fluctuation in US
dollar terms but farmers would be hard
hit under a hyper-inflationary
environment, as is the case
presently.
Efforts to get comment from the Ministry of Finance and
Economic Development
proved fruitless.
Mail and Guardian
Zimbabwe signs African Union treaties
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
20 November 2003 15:55
Zimbabwe
has signed five African Union treaties, including pacts on human
and women's
rights, corruption and the environment, the AU said on Thursday.
The
Southern African country's permanent representative to the AU, Andrew
Mtetwa,
also signed protocols on Tuesday on the 53-member body's proposed
court of
justice and an amendment of its constitutive act, the AU said in
a
statement.
Mtetwa pledged his country's "appreciation to the AU for
continued support,
particularly with regard to the assistance rendered by the
former
Organisation of African Unity [OAU] during the country's [1970s]
liberation
struggle," the statement noted.
The Ethiopian capital Addis
Ababa has been the headquarters of the AU since
its formation in July 2002 to
succeed the OAU, which was also headquartered
there from its formation nearly
four decades ago.
The new body, loosely modelled on the EU, is to have a
Pan-African
parliament from mid-December and eventually a peace and security
council, a
common court of justice and a common African currency. --
Sapa-AFP
VOA
Little Response to Zimbabwe Strike Call
VOA News
20 Nov 2003,
11:04 UTC
Reports from Zimbabwe are indicating little early support
for a two-day
nationwide strike called by union leaders to protest the
arrests of dozens
of labor activists during anti-government
demonstrations.
The country's leading labor union federation - the Zimbabwe
Congress of
Trade Unions - had called for the strike to begin Thursday. The
union
leaders said the strike was also designed to reinforce a call for
lower
taxes and an end to what the group calls government violations of civil
and
trade union rights.
But reports from the capital, Harare and other
cities say businesses, cafes
and shops appeared to be open as usual and
traffic was moving normally.
During anti-government protests Tuesday,
riot police arrested at least 300
people in the capital, Harare, and two
other cities - Bulawayo and Mutare.
All but 65 of them have been released
on bail or were freed after paying
fines. But the union leaders remain in
custody; among them union president
Lovemore Matombo and secretary-general
Wellington Chibebe. The Congress of
Trade Unions says several people were
beaten by police and that at least
three people were seriously injured.
Police have not responded to the
allegations.
The government had
warned against the demonstrations. It is against the law
in Zimbabwe to hold
a protest without government permission. Zimbabwe is
experiencing a severe
economic crisis - with an annual inflation rate of
around 526 percent,
chronic unemployment and shortages of cash, fuel and
food.
Utete Land Report: the Details
The Herald
(Harare)
November 20, 2003
Posted to the web November 20,
2003
Harare
3. In cases of widowhood, the surviving spouses should
have first option to
take over the lease provided they can work the land
productively. The lease
should also take account of the situation of multiple
wives where
applicable.
4. Upon the dissolution of a marital union,
the spouse who leaves the farm
should be fairly compensated. This measure
will encourage commitment to the
land.
5. Public infrastructure
investment and development in new farming areas
should be rationalised so
that women, men and children can live together,
share work loads and
concentrate investment in one household.
6. The development of farm
technology that can be used by elderly women, men
and children should be
prioritised in view of the high mortality of young
and middle aged men and
women in rural households.
7. Farmer training should be community-based
in order to endow new farmers,
particularly women with children, with farming
skills without prejudicing
farm operations at their inception. This helps to
mitigate farmer
absenteeism from the land.
8. The certification of
farm worker skills is critical to allow new farmers
access to a skills data
base.
9. Tillage services should be provided especially to the child and
women
farmers and the elderly, to facilitate productive land use in A1
areas.
10. There is need for the re-orientation of existing and new
extension
workers to make them appreciative of and sensitive to gender, age
and other
needs of the new farmers.
11. Zimbabwe should implement the
ILO convention that forbids child labour.
Medium and Long Term
1.
Marital legislation such as the Marriage Act 5:07 and 5:11 should be
reviewed
with respect to the needs of women in rural Zimbabwe. Where there
are
multiple wives, legislation should stipulate formulae for
appropriate
compensation in the event of a marital dissolution while
safeguarding
productivity and continued operation of the farm.
2. The
custodians of customary law must develop formulae to enable women to
access
land through inheritance and other means. A quota of 40% is a
starting point
to ensure that women's participation in agriculture is
sustained.
3.
New courses on small ruminants and registration of livestock in
individual
household members' names are necessary to safeguard the property
rights of
men, women and children in specific households.
4. Extension courses
should be developed to suit the needs of different
management regimes on
farms e.g. male dominated, female managed or employee
managed. It is
essential to devise training that recognises the lead person
in any farm
enterprise and equips them to meet the challenges of farming in
newly settled
areas.
5. Rural centres need to be developed to provide housing, water,
electricity
and other services in order to stabilise rural labour in general.
Labour
itinerancy prevents its efficient utilisation by new and old farmers.
This
would benefit women and children who are usually in contract or
seasonal
workers on the farms.
6. Existing family and marriage
legislation such as Marriages Acts 5:11
5:07, the Deceased Estates Act, needs
to be reviewed in view of the influx
of large numbers of black farmers into
commercial farming. This legislation
should examine the issues of succession
and inheritance where farm lessees
die testate or intestate, having many
children, multiple wives and
dependents.
7. Monitoring of land use has
to be efficient and effective so that
under-utilised land is put back into
circulation. Thus the proposed National
Land Board should be fully
representative incorporating the interests of all
stakeholders, particularly
women.
8. New farm practices that accommodate traditional gender
requirements
should be harnessed to encourage women and men's participation
in
agriculture. Specialised crop and animal husbandry training focusing on
men
and women's preferences in all farming systems, should be mounted both
on
and off farms to stimulate productivity.
9. Irrigation schemes
should be designed and run in such a way that at least
40% of women hold land
benefiting from such a facility, especially where
they have responsibility
for children and other older or indigent people.
10. The issue of
child-headed households arises in communal areas. It is
likely to become an
issue on A1 and A2 farms. Current family legislation
provides that minors are
placed under the guardianship of related adults.
Given that the capacity of
minors to farm productively in A1 and A2 farms in
limited, farmers should be
encouraged to write wills and organise their
operations in ways that protect
their progeny and dependents. In this regard
the interest of children should
be safeguarded.
11. A special programme should be organised in tertiary
institutions to
encourage young women studying agriculture, wild life and
other related
subjects, to choose farming as their preferred occupation.
Supportive
financing, marketing and other infrastructure must accompany this
programme
to make it attractive to young women.
iv) Farm Sizes and
Review of Resettlement Models
1. Variability in sizes of plots demarcated
for resettlement is a common
feature within and across the A1 and A2 models
countrywide. This phenomenon
renders categories of A1 and A2 meaningless in
as far as plot sizes are
concerned.
2. These variations also manifest
within the same Province and in most cases
where topographical or viability
considerations are not an issue. Also
notable was the phenomenon of
demarcations undertaken without due cognizance
of the topography of the land
in question, i.e. a hill of a vlei
constituting the bulk of the plot, or a
demarcation which splits
complimentary structures between different plots
thereby rendering both
plots nonviable. It is imperative that farm sizes take
account of viability
considerations both in terms of land use and the
existing infrastructure.
Some reorganisation of plot demarcations has to be
undertaken as soon as
possible and even more so, before the leases for the
affected plots are
drawn up.
3. In Matabeleland North and South
Provinces, land ownership patterns as
well as the modalities for land use
need to be reviewed as soon as possible.
This imperative is particularly
reinforced in Matabeleland South Province
where ranching is the mainstay of
agricultural activity. Settler emplacement
was undertaken on the basis of the
A1 self-contained variant and yet the
only viable A1 variant is the old
three-tier system.
Apart from viability considerations, the model
presents real problems for
the beneficiaries on accessibility of social
amenities given the vast
distances from their homes to where such facilities
can be found. Similarly,
this creates real challenges for Government in terms
of the planning and
provision of the necessary facilities and institutions.
There is therefore a
compelling need to redesign this model
expeditiously.
Media Alert: Photojournalist Assaulted, Equipment Destroyed
Media
Institute of Southern Africa (Windhoek)
PRESS RELEASE
November 20,
2003
Posted to the web November 20, 2003
On November 18 2003,
Shadreck Pongo, a photojournalist with the Standard
newspaper, was severely
assaulted and injured by the police in Harare while
covering a nationwide
demonstration organised by the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions
(ZCTU).
Riot police apprehended him while he was shooting photographs
of
demonstrators and pulled him into a police truck where they
severely
assaulted him with police batons.
The police seized the
camera and destroyed it before dumping Pongo on the
periphery of the city
centre. Pongo was rushed to the Avenues Hospital in
Harare hospital where he
is receiving medical attention.
Contacted for comment on the incident,
police Spokesperson Assistant Police
Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said that
the it is difficult for the police
to distinguish between journalists and
demonstrators adding that media
workers tend to make themselves part of the
demonstrations.
When told that some of the journalists and media workers
display their
accreditation cards but still get beaten and/or arrested, he
said that the
media workers must distinctly separate themselves from
demonstrators. He
said that the police would want to know clearly that
journalists are merely
observing.
Meanwhile, Andrew Moyse, the
director of Media Monitoring Project of
Zimbabwe (MMPZ), and seven other
civic leaders were also arrested during in
the demonstration. They were
detained at the Harare Central Police Station
and are expected to appear in
court today, November 20.
MISA-Zimbabwe notes with concern that despite
the accreditation by a
government appointed Media and Information Commission
(MIC) journalists and
photographers are still being beaten and denied access
to areas where they
need to cover events. The police have so far refused to
identify the
accreditation cards and have mostly targeted journalists from
the private
media.
BACKGROUND
The ZCTU action was organized to
pressure the Zimbabwean government to
reduce taxation ahead of the
announcement of the national budget. According
to the ZCTU the protest was
also against the government's abuse of human and
trade union rights.