Zim Standard
By Caiphas
Chimhete
MOST new commercial farmers who occupiedformerly white-owned
farms during
the controversial land reform programme, are reportedly failing
to pay their
workers stipulated wages because of low production levels over
the past
three years, The Standard has been told.
Apart from that,
the gazetted monthly wages for farm workers are
pathetically low that most
of them are living in abject poverty.
Deputy secretary of the General
Agricultural Plantation Workers Union of
Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ), Gift Muti, said
the union was currently visiting the new
farmers in an effort to make them
pay the stipulated wages. Some workers go
for two months without getting
their wages.
Muti said most of those failing to pay workers were farmers,
who invaded
prime farm land during the government-sponsored land invasions,
which
started in 2000.
He said while some new farmers comply, others
were hostile to GAPWUZ
officials, forcing the union to seek recourse to the
labour court.
"Some comply after we have discussions with them but there
are other cases
where we end up at the labour court for arbitration," said
Muti, who could
not give the exact number of farmers the union had taken to
court.
Muti said the union had, in the past few months, successfully
lobbied 120
new farmers in Mashonaland West, 60 in the Midlands and more
than 50 in
Masvingo to pay their workers the recommended wages.
The
president of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union (ZCFU) Davison
Mugabe
confirmed the problem, saying the new farmers were having
difficulties
paying their workers because they were "starting up".
Mugabe said the
situation was compounded by drought that has ravaged
Zimbabwe for the past
three years.
"Most of the farmers are new and they do not have enough
money to fall back
on when the situation is as bad as it is now unlike
established farmers. You
must bear in mind that we have been having drought
for the past three
years," Mugabe said.
Farm workers who spoke to The
Standard last week said apart from the erratic
payment of wages, their
monthly earnings were pathetically low.
The lowest paid farm worker (A1)
gets $450 000, a figure that still falls
well below the poverty datum
line.
The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) says a family of six now
requires
about $9 million a month to live a normal life.
Anna Ndlovu,
who works at a farm in Matabelelalnd North, owned by a senior
official in
the President's Office, last week said at times they went for
two months
without being paid.
She said most workers were living a deplorable life.
"How do they expect us
to survive on this amount, when a two-litre bottle of
cooking oil is going
for $167 000? They (government) should see what they
can do for us," said
Ndlovu, a single parent.
As at the end of
August, she grossed $192 400 while net earnings went down
to $184 128 after
NSSA deductions of $5 772 and the $2 500 that was
subtracted after she
borrowed maize meal from the farm owner's grocery shop.
But Mugabe,
however, tried to justify the low wages saying: "We know the
$450 000 a
month is low but you must also take into consideration that the
workers do
not incur transport costs and food is cheap at the farm."
Zim Standard
Letters
I WRITE this letter as a former teacher who left the
profession a few years
ago because of the lousy salary that I was getting.
Teachers, hard-working
and crucial though they are, have been reduced to
what one might term
"useless form of human currency".
For their
predicament, teachers have no one to blame but themselves. Most
teachers are
just too humane and tender-hearted to the point of stupidity if
not idiocy
and need to be "radicalised".
During my short stint as a teacher, I noticed
that most teachers are
hard-working and dedicated to their work and yet they
are ridiculed,
despised and earn salaries that barely constitute a living.
Look at teachers
when they retire - most become almost social welfare cases.
The very same
people they work so hard and tirelessly to educate are the
ones who look
down upon them later on in life. Show me a hard-working
teacher and I will
quickly show you a fool of the highest order.
To
all the teachers out there I say - your dedication to duty is your
greatest
undoing. Teachers can revolutionise their salaries and working
conditions.
For society and their employer to respect and reward them
accordingly, there
should be a deliberate attempt by teachers to produce
poor results
nationally.
If teachers in their wildest imaginations think that their
employer will
come up with good salaries on a silver platter, they are
living in dreamland
and should come down to mother earth and get to grips
with reality.
As long as students continue to pass and proceed to
secondary schools,
colleges and universities teachers will always remain a
laughing stock. I am
fully cognizant of the fact that most teachers are
peasants and they also
have school-going children; this is where the problem
lies.
There is a need, however, to take cognizance of the fact that for
anyone to
win any war; they must turn a blind eye to whoever might be the
victim or
casualty. This is one of the painful principles of war.
If
doctors and nurses can go on strike and leave patients dying in order to
be
heard and rewarded appropriately, then surely teachers can emulate them
in
order to be taken seriously. Why take your work seriously when your
employer
is not serious about your well-being and welfare?
Already the medical
professional has its own board, in a bid to improve
salaries and working
conditions at the expense of other civil servants.
Teachers are taken for
granted because they cannot leave for greener
pastures in droves like
nurses, doctors and health technicians. Let it be
known that teachers can be
like hypertension or high blood pressure. They
have the potential to kill
silently. There is a great urgency for the powers
that be to set up a board
for the teaching profession, similar to the Health
Services Board.
To
the powers that be, I ask: Which is more important and valuable, the
golden
eggs or the hen that lays the eggs?
It is high time the teachers showed
them where those doctors, nurses and
pharmacists come from. You have been
patient and sympathetic for far too
long and to your own
detriment.
Finally and to all the teachers once more I say - wake up!
Stop watching a
game you are supposed to be playing.
Son of the
Soil
Jahunda
Gwanda
Zim Standard
Letters
WHILE the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) is busy trying to
persuade us to
believe that tourism is showing signs of recovery, they could
do several
things that will make tourists feel most welcome.
One of
them is the safety of tourists once they set foot on Zimbabwean soil.
South
Africa has just published a report that says it is much safer than it
was
before. That can only persuade more tourists to feel they will be safer
there and that can only be at the expense of Zimbabwe.
The security of
both domestic and international tourists at the various
resort areas is key
to promoting greater inflows of visitors.
The other area needing the
attention of the ZTA is the stretch of the road
to the Harare International
Airport just past 1 Commando Barracks, where
visitors are greeted by the
stench of overflowing septic tanks. This is not
the image Zimbabwe wishes to
portray. Where does the effluent go? Is there
no one in the City Council or
at the Barracks who sees this health hazard,
year in year out? And why is
the matter not resolved once and for all?
In case they do not understand
what I am suggesting, I am sure it would not
cost a lot to connect the
septic tanks to the sewerage lines either in St
Martin's, Arcadia or
Sunningdale compared to the threat to human life and
pollution to
tributaries feeding into Lake Chivero, Harare's main water
reservoir.
In any case, who is the councillor/commissioner or MP for
the area and just
what are they doing about this problem? It is such a
negative point for
tourists to be greeted by something like that after they
touch down at the
airport.
Zimbabweans are so submissive. The
residents of the three suburbs mentioned
above have endured the stench for
years yet they appear not to have
protested demanding action on the
overflowing effluent from the Barracks.
They should demand action from
whoever claims to represent them and serves
their interests.
Another
area with a similar hazard is the T-junction of Sam Nujoma Street
and
Norfolk Road in Mount Pleasant opposite Golden Stairs garage. The septic
tanks there are always overflowing and just how people at the garage can put
up with something like that is puzzling. Surely their health is more
important?
The City Council and the Ministry of Health should order
the Ministry of
Defence to deal with the problem so that there is regular
emptying of the
tank.
Not everyone in Harare can afford mineral
water. Let's get things right the
first time.
M
Watema
Mount Pleasant
Harare
Zim Standard
Letters
SEVERAL recent events have helped to unmask the undemocratic
nature of Zanu
PF. One of these is the apparent absence of any consultations
on what status
to bestow on and the venue of Henry Matuku Hamadziripi's
final resting
place.
If Zanu PF is as democratic as it misleads
people into believing, it would
have allowed/tolerated free and open
discussion and in the end accepted the
majority decision. As it is, it looks
to me that it is the minority decision
that prevailed over others.
But
the fact that others who should know better preferred silence and
retreated
into dark corners for fear of being seen, suggests fear instead of
democracy
rules Zanu PF.
If Hamadziripi was instrumental in transforming Zanu PF
from a
constitutional reformist party to a revolutionary party pursuing the
armed
struggle, what was Robert Mugabe, as an individual, instrumental
in?
The second example of how undemocratic Zanu PF is the reported
expulsion of
war veterans' leader, Jabulani Sibanda.
A democratic
organisation would have asked Sibanda to appear before a
hearing. No, in
fact, they would have checked with people who are alleged to
have carried
out an interview during which Sibanda is alleged to have
uttered things that
so offended the ruling party.
It could very well be that they find
something different, but at any rate
just suspending someone without giving
them a platform to defend or present
their own side of events is as
undemocratic as you can get. What this case
only confirms is that a decision
to suspend Sibanda was taken long back and
that an excuse to justify the
action is being cooked up. Why does Zanu PF
act so frightened of discovering
the truth? Zanu PF is its own worst enemy,
not Jabulani Sibanda, not Tony
Blair or George W Bush.
Yet another example of the undemocratic nature of
Zanu PF is the decision by
Elliot Manyika, the ruling party's political
commissar, announcing that
there will be no primaries to select potential
candidates to take part in
the race for the Senate.
Manyika said Zanu
PF would adopt a "common consensus method and as always
the Central
Committee and the Politburo have the final say." What the hell
is that and
since when has it subscribed to this view and why? What has
changed and what
is suddenly wrong with a process they used only in January
and February this
year ahead of the 31 March Parliamentary elections.
Before they even
start Zanu PF is preparing to rig the whole exercise
against its members!
That is democracy Zanu PF style. No wonder there is so
much disgruntlement
in the ruling party. Why have an election if the central
committee and the
politburo are going to have a final say. Why doesn't it
just go ahead and
handpick those it wants as its candidates instead of this
hoax of an
election exercise.
Next, they will extend the "common consensus method"
to everything. This is
how a dictatorship operates.
Even in
traditional societies, the chiefs consulted their court officials
and once
in a while the court jester acted as their conscience, ridiculing
and
amplifying their misplaced decisions, forcing them now and then to
evaluate
their decisions.
Further examples of Zanu PF's intolerance can be found
in Cain Mathema's
attack on non-governmental organisations that have
provided boreholes for
rural communities to draw water for their drinking
and livestock purposes.
The issue for Mathema to answer is: Why are
non-governmental organisations
providing boreholes when the government was
supposed to provide rural
communities with tap water? Would he rather the
rural communities had no
water at all, because that is what he seems to
suggest - so that more people
can die from waterborne diseases!
The
other face of Zanu PF's undemocratic and intolerant nature is Edwin
Muguti's
attack against the British. Thankfully the local chief and
villagers - the
real beneficiaries of the UK aid - were there to speak for
themselves.
Mathema, Muguti and the others on the gravy train do not
represent the views
of the majority. Where their own government fails to do
anything they would
rather no one did anything at all.
Tirivanhu
Mhofu
Emerald Hill
Harare
Zim Standard
Letters
AT
the moment there is job freeze in the public sector. The purpose is to
save
on government expenditure. But what is really happening is very
puzzling.
Posts which are in the lowest grade where a worker gets
less than $3 million
are being frozen. However, at the same time posts that
pay millions more of
dollars are being created for favourites.
William
Nhara got a new post in the President's Office, specially created
for him
since he had no job after losing the 2005 Parliamentary elections.
This post
definitely costs the government many millions of dollars.
Is this a job
freeze when bigger and more costly posts are opened any time
for Zanu PF yes
men?
The other example of job creation is the Senate. New jobs are going
to be
created for 66 jobless Zanu PF hero-worshippers as well as the
supporting
staff and it will cost the taxpaying public billions of dollars.
And yet the
majority of the tax payers are living a hand to mouth existence
while the
government spends their taxes extravagantly and
unplanned.
The Zanu PF government should be ashamed of continuing to
cause suffering to
the people of Zimbabwe.
D R
Mutungagore
Sakubva
Mutare
Zim Standard
Letters
I
am surprised that you raised the issue "RBZ grants Gono farming loan". As
far as our Reserve Bank Governor is concerned, corporate governance relates
to other people and not RBZ employees.
If you recollect when Gono was
appointed, the Mashonaland East Governor
asked him to declare his
interests.
As far as I can recall, it was widely believed in financial
circles that
Gono was the major shareholder in the Financial Gazette. Gono
did not, among
a number of things, declare his interest in the Financial
Gazette.
If Gono is untruthful about such a matter how can we trust him
on other more
important issues?
I would be interested to know how
much Productive Sector Support funding was
granted to Gono's farms and the
Financial Gazette.
It is interesting to notice that appointments to
financial institutions must
be vetted by the central bank. Who vets
potential employees for the central
bank?
Totemless
Croydon
South London
Zim Standard
ZIMBABWE'S problems would be fewer if belt-tightening by
ordinary
Zimbabweans was matched by similar measures and not just rhetoric
from its
leaders.
Ten days ago, President Robert Mugabe thanked
Zimbabweans for their
resilience, in particular, in the light of problems
facing the country. He
said: "It is that spirit of endurance and commitment
to the national cause
which saw us defeat colonialism and win our freedom
and independence."
Last month Zimbabwe even surprised the International
Monetary Fund by
coughing up US$120 million to reduce its arrears to the
Bretton Woods
institution. This was followed by a further US$15 million this
month.
The IMF was startled by this sudden show of the spirit of
sacrifice because
it was acutely aware that while Zimbabwe was finally doing
the right thing
since 2000 other sectors were going to suffer. It was partly
this
realisation which led the IMF to question Zimbabwe's ability to find
resources to enable it to reduce its arrears
The same sacrifice made
in order to pay off the country's arrears to
international financial
institutions is called for when dealing with the
problems confronting the
nation. It can be argued that Zimbabwe's problems
emanate from a total lack
of will to limit the penchant for lavish
lifestyles or the sense to examine
and question whether what is being
considered or done is really necessary
and in the greater national interest.
If Zimbabwe's leadership had
capacity for such reflection and the will, they
would have, as far back as
2000, paused to question whether unleashing
violence was an appropriate
method of redressing historical land imbalances.
They would also have
reflected on how the country was going to afford goods
it does not produce
when every exporting sector was being run down or forced
to cease
operations.
Last month and at a time when the country could scarcely
afford fuel for its
critical sectors, a decision was made to host regional
air forces, when
common sense would have dictated a postponement as part of
belt-tightening.
Counterparts from the region would have understood, given
the country's
predicament. But the show went ahead regardless of the
effects. It was a
remarkable demonstration of skewed priorities but one that
unmasked how the
country is being run.
The national carrier, Air
Zimbabwe, had to delay or transfer passengers
paying in foreign currency
because it had no fuel for its aircraft.
But that is not all. At a time
when the mention of Zimbabwe conjures up
images of extreme hardships, the
country boasts probably the largest
population of luxury vehicles outside
South Africa on the continent,
especially by its government ministers and
officials.
Chad recently discovered oil yet it has placed limits on
overseas travel
while Rwanda has impounded 2 500 government vehicles
questioning whether
government ministers really need them. Rwanda suggests
government ministers
"be with the people". This maybe extreme, but it
demonstrates the kind of
belt-tightening alien to their Zimbabwean
counterparts.
Overseas trips by Zimbabwe's ministers are numerous, yet
they cannot be
justified in terms of real immediate or long-term benefits to
the country.
They are like investing in a pyramid scheme.
Yet if the
resources gobbled up by foreign trips were channelled to domestic
needs, the
fuel crisis would not be so critical. Industries would not be
acutely
affected and they would be able to produce scarce basic commodities
while
export earning-sectors would be supplying foreign markets and
therefore
generating hard currency to, in turn, enable the country to pay
for its
imports.
Politics has largely become an avenue for pursuing private
business
ventures. MPs are granted constituency travel allowances, yet how
many of
them actually use this facility for the purpose of visiting and
consulting
with the people who elected them? If the MPs were genuinely
engaged in
consultative or report back processes there would be no
complaints about
legislators who only remember their constituencies when
campaigning starts.
It is clear therefore that the travelling allowances
are being used for
other purposes other than for what they are intended. A
start could be to
reduce the allowances to half of the present entitlement,
as part of
belt-tightening. Such a move may be used to justify
underperformance, but
even with all the allowances in the world, they would
never deliver.
The same could be extended to government ministers and
their officials, as
would a review of the number and performance of our
expensive foreign
missions.
The Senate, whose elections are due at
the end of November, is an indication
of how the government expects
belt-tightening by ordinary Zimbabweans
without attendant responsibilities
on its part. Opposition to the Senate is
fuelled by the insensitive timing
and because of scarce resources. Sixty-six
new senators, offices and
supporting staff will mean more in government
expenditure, placing a greater
burden on the taxpayers. Let's cut our suit
according to our cloth.
Belt-tightening must be for everyone.
Zim Standard
By our
staff
FOUR of Harare's suburbs have been hit by a spate of cable thefts
with
telephone services to more than 200 consumers affected during the month
of
September alone and service provider TelOne says replacement cables are
not
locally available.
In one of the suburbs, which is worst affected
by the cable thefts, services
to more than 100 subscribers have been
suspended.
According to TelOne the suspension of services to subscribers will
be for an
indefinite period, owing to the unavailability of cables to
restore
services. Telephones services are critical in cases of emergencies.
A delay
in calling emergency services because of vandalised lines could mean
the
loss of lives.
"The situation has been worsened by the fact that
there are no cables
available on the local market, hence they have to be
imported. With current
severe foreign currency shortages it would be
difficult to get that
allocation now as they are equally important sectors
of the economy that
urgently need foreign currency. "These problems have
resulted in a huge
backlog of faults in the said areas and this has resulted
in customers
experiencing delays in restoration of service," TelOne's public
relations
executive, Phil Chingwaru said.
Zim Standard
By our
staff
BULAWAYO - The Bulawayo City Council has been hit by a shortage of
engineers, making it difficult for the authority to attend to essential
services.
Addressing residents at a city hotel recently, executive
mayor Japhet
Ndabeni-Ncube revealed that the city was facing a critical
shortage of
engineers.
He said 27 engineers had left the council during
the past few months.
Residents have in recent weeks endured water
blockages and burst sewer
pipes, among other things and the council has
failed to rectify the problems
timeously.
The non-availability of
fuel has also forced the local authority to confine
refuse removal to the
central business district.
Ndabeni-Ncube disclosed that the were 425
water leaks, 150 water blockages
and many burst sewer pipes which could not
be rectified due to serious staff
shortages in the city.
On the water
situation, the mayor said the council was now pursuing plans to
extend
further north the Nyamandhlovu aquifer in a bid to augment the low
water
levels trickling into the city.
In Nyamandhlovu, the mayor said, only 8
out of 78 boreholes were working as
most of them were vandalised by war
veterans at the peak of farm invasions
in the year 2000.
Zim Standard
By Ndamu
Sandu
EMPOWERMENT outfit Nkululeko Rusununguko Mining Company of Zimbabwe
(NRMCZ)
has sought the intervention of President Robert Mugabe in its bid to
acquire
15% stake in Zimplats Holdings Ltd.
NRMCZ won the right to
partner Zimplats last year ahead of National
Investment Trust (NIT) and
Needgate.
Standardbusiness heard last week the move comes hard on the heels
of efforts
by Mines ministry to scuttle the transaction in favour of a
created Special
Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that would accommodate all losing
bidders for the
empowerment stake.
Industry sources say while Mines
minister Amos Midzi was pushing for an SPV,
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
Governor Gideon Gono was pushing for NIT to
acquire the empowerment stake
including the financing of the transaction.
The letter to President
Mugabe, sources say, outlines impediments faced by
the empowerment group to
acquire the transaction.
While it could not be established the actual
date the communication had been
sent, sources told Standardbusiness last
week that the letter had been sent
to President Mugabe last
month.
Sources say NRMCZ had raised concern over the reluctance of the
ministry of
Mines and Mining Development on policy issues such as the final
percentage
on indigenous empowerment in the white metal producer. Zimplats
had
indicated that it wanted to know the final percentage as it was worried
about political statements to the effect that indigenous players were
entitled to 50% in mining ventures. Sources say concern was also raised on
attempts by Midzi to scuttle a cabinet decision to award 15% to NRMCZ by
sounding the idea of an SPV as a pre-condition for progress.
Standardbusiness broke the story in August of plans by Midzi to set up an
SPV that would accommodate losing bidders, Needgate and
NIT.
Nkululeko requested Midzi to put his proposal in writing. Sources
say Midzi
failed to do so.
Sources say the empowerment group had
raised concern on the role played by
Gono in stifling the conclusion of the
empowerment deal.
Gono has in the past raised concern over the
composition of NRMCZ saying it
(NRMCZ) "was gate-crashing into platinum
business riding on political
connections".
Sources say the
empowerment group had expressed concern over the delay by
Impala Platinum
Mines (Implats) to conclude the transaction. Implats are the
largest
shareholder in Zimplats.
"Implats are claiming that they cannot proceed
with the transaction because
a number of groups were introduced to them by
the Mines ministry," a source
said.
Impala, sources say, were
shifting the goal posts saying it was unable to
conclude the transaction
until the bilateral agreement between Zimbabwe and
South Africa to protect
South African investments in the country had been
signed.
Efforts to
get comment from the usually reliable Gono were unsuccessful
throughout the
week so was NRMCZ spokesperson Alex Manungo. Under the
arrangement, NRMCZ
will buy 13.4 million shares in Zimplats at the ruling
price on the
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
The empowerment stake has been at the
centre of controversy with Needgate at
one time saying, "they were the sole
owners of the 15% equity and waiting
for the official announcement".
Zim Standard
By Bertha
Shoko
HIV positive Zimbabweans could be living on the edge of death
following
revelations that the country's sole manufacturer of
Anti-Retroviral drugs
(ARVs) is failing to import raw materials used in the
production of the
vital medication.
The Standard understands that
Varichem Pharmaceuticals Private Limited, the
country's sole manufacturer of
generic ARVs is facing problems due to
shortages of foreign currency needed
for importation of raw materials. The
foreign currency crunch is also
understood to be affecting the whole
pharmaceutical industry, which faces
insurmountable hurdles in sourcing hard
currency from the official
market.
Varichem manufactures the ARV combination Stalanev that contains the
active
ingredients, staduvine, lamudivine and nevirapine. Stalanev is used
as a
first line in the management of HIV. The other combination it
manufactures
contains Zidovudine and lamudivine also used as an alternative
to Stalanev.
Highly placed sources at Varichem told The Standard that the
pharmaceutical
company was last allocated foreign currency by the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
through the auction system on 18 July 2005. The sources
said the
pharmaceutical company requires more than USD$350 000 a month but
could
require more as demand for ARVs increases.
If a foreign
currency injection is not made as a matter of urgency, they
warned, the
country could run dry of the ARVs on the private market where
the majority
of people using the anti-Aids drugs source them.
"The pharmaceutical
industry is forex-intensive and therefore lack or
shortage of foreign
currency will affect operations in a big way. Right now,
the shortage of
foreign currency is only affecting the private sector and if
anything is not
done, there will be no ARVs on the private market," the
sources
said.
There are fears also that the shortages might affect government's
public ARV
programme, carried out at major institutions such as at Harare
Central and
Parirenyatwa hospitals in Harare.
About 30 000 HIV
positive people against a backdrop of more than 300 000 who
need the drugs,
are benefiting from this scheme which has failed to expand
since its
inception last year due to limited resources and lack of external
funding.
Contacted for comment, Dr David Parirenyatwa, the Minister
of Health and
Child Welfare, referred questions to Varichem saying they
would be in a
better position to say exactly what is
happening.
"Varichem may have its challenges like any organisation, but
they would be
in a better position to tell you. As for our government run
ARV programmes
they have been able to keep up with the supplies we need,"
Parirenyatwa
said.
An official with Varichem told The Standard that
the company was working
flat out to reverse the impending drug
shortages.
"Our parent ministry, the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare, is aware of
this problem and they are assisting us by seeking
dialogue with the central
bank," said the official.
Other players in
the drug procurement and distribution industry confirmed
that the
pharmaceutical industry faced a foreign currency crisis.
Benson Tamirepi,
the managing director of Health Care Resources, told The
Standard that most
of the drugs being manufactured by Varichem have a "high
import content" and
therefore required foreign currency.
Tamirepi, whose company distributes
pharmaceuticals, surgical medication and
equipment from Varichem and other
companies, said the government must
prioritise allocation of foreign
currency to health institutions.
Other than Varichem, the Medicines
Control Authority of Zimbabwe recently
licensed two Indian companies,
Ranbaxy and Citla, to supply Zimbabwe with
generic drugs, while Caps
Holdings Limited has been awarded a licence to
manufacture ARVs. These other
players might help avert the pending drug
crisis.
Zim Standard
By our staff
KARIBA - VIP
delegates attending the World Tourism Day celebrations in
Kariba last week
came face to face with the reality of the fuel crunch when
a boat ran out of
fuel in the middle of Lake Kariba.
Dignitaries in the boat were
Environment and Tourism minister Francis Nhema,
Mashonaland West Governor
Nelson Samkange and management officials of the
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
(ZTA).
The boat ran out of fuel on its way from Msambakaruma Island, the
venue of
the celebrations and delegates had to endure a two-hour anxious
wait before
a speed boat came with additional fuel.
At the evening
cocktail, Samkange chose to be economic with the truth
blaming the fuel
crisis on sanctions. Tour operators said the biting fuel
shortage was
affecting their businesses. Operators also blasted national
carrier Air
Zimbabwe for choosing flying days not conducive to travellers.
Air Zimbabwe
flies to Kariba thrice a week on Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturday.
Air
Zimbabwe was also blasted for delaying in its flights and cancellation
of
some flights. Indeed tour operators' attack on Air Zimbabwe was
opportune.
The Saturday flight to the resort town was moved from 7.30 am to
10.00am. It
was later cancelled.
Nhema was initially booked on the Air Zimbabwe
flight but because of the
inconsistency of the national carrier, he
cancelled the booking. Nhema and
his entourage were booked on Alliance
Aviation that flew the delegates to
and from Kariba.
Alliance
Aviation is a new kid on block in the aviation industry that
commenced
operation in August. Meanwhile the 2005 Travel Expo open at the
Harare
International Conference on Thursday. The 13 -15 October exhibition
will be
held under the theme "Providing Hospitality for 25 years with a
bright
future".
ZTA had set a target of 150. Over 170 international buyers have
confirmed
participation at the annual showcase as of Friday.
Zim Standard
By Caiphas
Chimhete
THE State will dole out more than $36 billion to former
political prisoners,
ex-detainees and restrictees, in what analysts said
yesterday is
economically dangerous "vote-buying" ahead of next month's
Senate elections.
The analysts warned that payment of gratuities to war
collaborators was a
repeat of a disastrous "appeasement policy" and would be
a replica of the
1997 economic disaster triggered by the award of $50 000
each to war
veterans, which sent the economy into free fall in what came to
be known as
"Black Friday".
Last week, the government sanctioned a
one-off payment of $6 million
gratuity and provision of loans to finance
commercial projects, education,
medical as well as funeral expenses to
ex-prisoners, detainees and
restrictees, numbering about 6
000.
Assistance would also be given to their dependent children wishing
to pursue
academic or vocational training, while those attending
non-government
schools and institutions will be entitled to an education
grant equal in
amount to the education benefit at government
institutions.
In addition, funeral grants to the beneficiaries would be
availed at the
same rate as those paid to civil
servants.
Beneficiaries intending to embark on income-generating projects
will be able
to apply for loans under the Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees
and
Restrictees Act.
University of Zimbabwe political scientist,
Eldred Masunungure, said it had
become a pattern for Zanu PF to "buy votes"
ahead of any major election in
which it expects a major challenge.
He
said the vote-buying campaign was a clear indication that the ruling
party
had lost the support of people who were suffering because of President
Robert Mugabe's scorched earth economic policies.
Mugabe, under siege
from marauding war veterans led by the late Chenjerai
"Hitler" Hunzvi,
awarded former freedom fighters $50 000 each in 1997 -
sending the economy
into a tailspin from which it has never recovered.
It appears the
government has not learnt much from that disaster.
Masunungure said:
"That has become a pattern. It has to be understood in the
context of
politics of patronage - Zanu PF's political survival tactic. If
Zanu PF
fails to do that it will be gone for good and the leaders know that.
It's
going to be devastating. It will compound an already bad economic
situation."
Independent economic analyst John Robertson agreed,
saying the $36 billion
would have a huge negative impact on the country's
shrinking economy because
the government's excessive spending had not been
matched by production.
Paul Themba-Nyathi, the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change
spokesperson said the payment of gratuities was a campaign
gimmick by Zanu
PF, which always bribed gullible members of society towards
major national
elections.
Two weeks ago, Mugabe told the same war
collaborators that fuel, that has
dogged the country for the past five
years, would be readily available. That
prophecy is still to be
realised.
Robertson said the payment would create problems for the
Minister of
Finance, Herbert Murerwa, who will need to accommodate the
former war
collaborators in next year's budget, considering that the country
was
failing to pay for fuel, feed the nation or service its international
debts,
but would factor salary increases of civil servants in January next
year.