Moneyweb
Gideon Gono has
been given a stark choice by Robert Mugabe: either support
the government's
widely condemned economic policies, or resign.
Tawanda Jonas
Fri Oct
12 06:31:33 SAST 2007
Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ), has been
given a stark choice by Zimbabwean president Robert
Mugabe: either support
the government's widely condemned and controversial
economic policies, or
resign.
The warning came after Mugabe's various
public statements and Gono's
Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement announcement
last week revealed sharp
policy differences between the two men.
The
two men were formerly supportive of each other; they have now publicly
differed on how Zimbabwe should extricate itself from the current economic
quagmire, which is further hurting the poverty ravaged local
population.
Gono attacked the government for trying to muscle into
foreign businesses
through legislation that would require all foreign-owned
companies to cede
51% of their shares to black Zimbabweans.
Currently
awaiting presidential assent, the Indigenization and Empowerment
Bill has
been touted by Mugabe and his government as a black economic
empowerment
initiative. However, Gono recently declared that the move was
tantamount to
a "grab all and run strategy", which could prove disastrous to
the
economy.
Gono urged the government not to take over foreign-owned
companies,
especially mines and banks. The Reserve Bank governor said that
the banking
sector should not be destabilized by a few "well-connected
cliques, some of
whom are already making the most noise in support of this
initiative, who
would want to amass wealth to themselves in a starkly greedy
but
irresponsible manner".
According to confidential sources,
Mugabe's stern warning to Gono came after
Mugabe said that he was very
disturbed by Gono's statements criticising
government policies such as the
slashing of prices by 50% and the
Indigenization and Empowerment
Bill.
"Following Gono's recent statements, Mugabe has become livid and
told Gono
point blank during the meeting that he should support the policies
of the
government or resign and make way for others who were willing to
pull
Zimbabwe from the current economic crisis," a source said.
Gono
criticized the Indigenization Bill recently, saying "a fine
balance should be
struck between the objectives of indigenization and the
need to attract
foreign investment."
This angered a number of senior officials such as
the Minister of Finance,
Samuel Mumbengegwi, Minister of Indigenization and
Empowerment, Paul
Mangwana and Minister of Policy Implementation, Webster
Shamu, who
reportedly asked Mugabe to clip Gono's wings.
After his
meeting with Gono, Mugabe told supporters of his ruling Zanu PF
party that
his government would stick to price controls and would seize
control of
profiteering companies.
"We will have to seize the companies and the
services... whether transport
or any other service being rendered by a
company or organization," Mugabe
said. "If they don't follow our way, we
will take over the companies. We are
warning you, be straight forward, this
is our country together."
The Reserve Bank governor has made it clear
that he is not supportive of the
seizure of companies nor the price
slashing.
"Of particular concern to us as monetary authorities would be
any attempts
to forcibly push the envelope of indigenization into the
delicate area of
banking and finance," Gono said.
On Tuesday, Gono
briefed Western diplomats on his latest monetary policy.
The diplomats
reportedly wanted to know whether or not they should heed
Mugabe or Gono on
economic policy matters. They reportedly also wanted to
know whether
Zimbabwe would experience an economic policy shift.
Gono repeated to
diplomats that there was a link between political troubles
and the economic
crisis, a view that angers Mugabe.
"Our economic challenges and policies
cannot be read and viewed in isolation
of the political challenges," Gono
said.
Globe and Mail, Canada
STEPHANIE NOLEN
From Friday's Globe and
Mail
October 12, 2007 at 12:36 AM EDT
KHUNTULU, MALAWI - Something
is missing in Malawi these days: anxiety. The
sense of tension and strain
that underlay nearly every conversation and
interaction in the past few
years, hungry years, is absent. There is a
lightness in most parts of the
country, an expansiveness, a certain sense of
peace.
It has to do
with the nkhokwe, the woven twig corn cribs that stand in the
yards of every
house. They're full. They're full to overflowing at many
houses, two-thirds
full with plenty of corn at others. Certainly so full
that no one bothers to
guard them. Who would steal, when the country has a
grain surplus of more
than a million tonnes?
A record harvest, a massive surplus of the staple
crop, would be good news
anywhere in the developing world. But it's
particularly gratifying in
Malawi, a country that has been plagued with
critical food shortages several
times in the past decade. In 2002, an
estimated 1,500 people starved to
death in the worst food shortage since
independence. In 2005, the United
Nations World Food Program scrambled to
supply emergency rations to more
than five million people, nearly half the
country.
This year, Malawi is itself supplying the WFP, selling 400,000
tonnes of
maize for use in emergency operations in neighbouring
Zimbabwe.
The key question is, What happened? How did Malawi go from
famine-plagued to
food exporter?
While steady rains have undoubtedly
helped, that's not the whole answer.
Over the past couple of years, Malawi
has broken with an orthodoxy long
advocated by Canada and other Western
donor nations: The impoverished
country has gone back to subsidizing poor
farmers. Condemned by donors as an
impediment to the development of a
sustainable agricultural sector, the
subsidies have been a raging
success.
"What is different [this year] is the access to inputs,"
explained Patrick
Kabambe, permanent secretary in the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food
Security. "People are so poor they use recycled seed
and no fertilizer. They
can't meet their needs that way and they grow no
surplus. People sink deeper
and deeper into poverty. It's a vicious cycle.
We had to do something."
Starting in 2006, and on a larger scale this
year, the government
distributed coupons to low-income farmers to allow them
to purchase
50-kilogram sacks of fertilizer for 950 kwacha ($7) rather than
the market
price of 4,500 kwacha. As a result, the average farmer's yield
jumped to two
tonnes a hectare from 800 kilograms.
The fertilizer
subsidy cost the government $62-million - 6.5 per cent of the
total
government budget, a "whack of cash" in the words of one top
economist - but
that pales in comparison to the $120-million the government
spent importing
food aid in the 2005 famine. And the sale of maize to
Zimbabwe and other
countries will inject an additional $120-million into the
national economy,
a sizable figure here.
Mary Kalika certainly thinks the subsidy policy
makes sense. Ms. Kalika and
her five children farm a little less than a
hectare of land in this
nine-house village in central Malawi. "We harvested
42 oxcarts of maize this
year; that is the most ever for this land," she
said. "It's very good news,
and it's because of the subsidized
fertilizer."
Ms. Kalika has already sold some of her surplus to buy seeds
and tools to
plant tomatoes to sell in town for cash. She may put a new roof
on their
house, and buy the children school uniforms if the tomato crop does
well.
That's Mr. Kabambe's goal, his vision for helping people out of the
cycle of
poverty. That seems straightforward enough, but the history of
subsidizing
agriculture here is a lesson in the competing interests and
influences that
go into the politics of food and aid.
Back in the
1990s, the Malawi government gave the poorest farmers a package
of
fertilizer and seeds every year. The program was so popular that in 1999,
they made it universal, for all farmers, and posted a large national
surplus. But starting in 2000, the donor nations on whom this country
depends for nearly half its budget forced the government to scale back and
then finally to scrap the policy, saying it "distorted the market" and would
prevent a sustainable agricultural base.
The result? Smaller and
smaller harvests and two years of famine.
Some blame fell on poor rains,
but it was also true that the 75 per cent of
the population who are
subsistence farmers could not afford either
fertilizer or seeds.
That
left them vulnerable to what the development industry calls "shocks" -
such
as one household member contracting HIV or malaria and being too sick
to
farm - leaving them with too little to eat and forced to sell items of
value
to survive. At the same time, larger farmers and traders capitalized
on the
poor harvest by stockpiling, while the government made decisions that
were
both ill-advised and corrupt, and mishandled the national strategic
grain
reserve. The next few years were a disaster.
"We didn't advise the
government to stop starter packs [of free seed and
fertilizer]. We said if
you want to subsidize, it has to be targeted," World
Bank country director
Tim Gilbo said. "It doesn't make sense to subsidize
those who can afford to
buy. We didn't have a problem with it, our only
advice was that it should be
targeted."
But in fact, in 2002, World Bank staff told The Globe and Mail
that the
subsidies were a vote-buying scheme that made it virtually
impossible for
any solid agricultural market to develop in the country, and
that they were
pushing the government to scrap it.
"Over time we have
softened our stance a little," acknowledged Mr. Gilbo,
who was not in Malawi
then.
But the market-distortion sentiment was echoed at the time by many
donors,
including Canada and Britain, who funded the subsidies - this was
the era of
total dominance of the idea that private sector investment and
development
was the fastest way to end poverty - and the government was
forced to
abandon the program.
Eventually, the Malawi government took
a stand, quite out of character in
Africa where donor countries dictate
domestic policy. "The president said
[to civil servants] that he would never
go begging for food for his people
again," Mr. Kabambe recalled. Stuff the
donor countries, they said, in
essence: Bring back the subsidies. Hence the
low-cost fertilizer. And a
370,000-tonne surplus last year. And the
record-smashing 1.2 million tonnes
this year.
"The subsidy is the
best thing to happen in the agricultural sector in
years," said Richard
Petautchere of the Malawi Economic Justice Network, an
organization that
advocates for the poor. "We have the land, we have the
water, we have
everything, but that doesn't matter if you just can't buy
seeds or
fertilizer."
Mr. Kabambe said donors have also come to see the wisdom in
the subsidies -
"they've all come back around to say we want to support
this" - and Britain
and the EU have pledged to underwrite the fertilizer
coupons for four years.
Mr. Gilbo said that of course it was positive
that Malawi has a food surplus
this year, but he argued that this national
surplus will drive the price of
maize low, which means farmers earn less for
any surplus they grow and also
remove any incentive to grow more than they
will eat the next year.
"All those farmers who begged, borrowed and stole
to buy extra fertilizer
last year are now looking at that decision and
rethinking it," he said. "The
lower the maize price, the better it is for
food security but worse for
market development."
Only getting more
people out of subsistence agriculture and into the larger
economy will
ultimately end poverty, Mr. Gilbo said. He noted that there is
an
"opportunity cost" to Malawi spending so much on subsidies - money that
otherwise might have been spent on anti-malarial bed nets or roads to the
most isolated villages - and subsidies, a blunt instrument, may not be the
best way to get the poor what they need most.
And, he said, there is
a risk of "silver bullet syndrome," with people
overconfident that Malawi is
now food-secure. "What concerns me is this
feeling that Malawi has changed
from an import nation to an export nation,"
Mr. Gilbo said. "This year you
had good conditions, subsidies, lots of
rainfall and the neighbours are
short. If next year there is no rain and
South Africa has a huge surplus -
then what? It's just not true to say that
the fertilizer subsidy has
overcome all the problems."
Mr. Kabambe said he understands the need to
develop the market, but the
World Bank and others are not always realistic.
"There are parts of this
country where the 'market' doesn't exist. We can't
say the market will take
care of it," he said. "The government has a
responsibility."
His emphasis, instead, is to try to persuade farmers to
grow crops other
than maize - high-value items such as Ms. Kalika's
tomatoes, that can be
sold for cash - and to promote small-scale irrigation
so farmers are less
vulnerable to fluctuations in rainfall.
But in
the meantime, the fertilizer coupons stay. "We have no time-frame for
ending
subsidies; over the medium term they're going to be there," he said.
"They
will be phased out as income levels of farmers rise. We see it as a
worthwhile investment. Look at the cost of doing nothing."
Zim Online
Friday 12 October 2007
By Nqobizitha Khumalo
BULAWAYO
- Hundreds of war veterans marched through the streets of Zimbabwe's
Bulawayo city to show solidarity with President Robert Mugabe, who is
fighting to silence dissenting lieutenants from his ruling ZANU PF party
eager to see him step down.
The veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s
liberation war are hardline supporters of
Mugabe and have in recent weeks
held pro-Mugabe marches across the country,
in what ZANU PF insiders say is
an attempt to silence a faction in the
ruling party that is pushing for a
new leader to be appointed at a party
congress in December.
The
veterans - who insist Mugabe is the only one fit to rule Zimbabwe
despite a
worsening economic crisis blamed on his leadership - marched from
Makokoba's
Stanley Square into the city centre, waving placards denouncing
the veteran
leader's Western critics and singing war songs.
Veterans chairman
Jabulani Sibanda told the veterans the march was "to show
support and
solidarity to President Mugabe and we say everyone should
support the
President and any party member who does not support this
revolution will be
considered a sell-out."
Sibanda later accused some senior leaders of ZANU
PF's Bulawayo province who
did not come for the solidarity march of being
against Mugabe.
"Some of the people who did not come for this solidarity
march are against
the President and those people surrounding President
Mugabe," Sibanda told
ZimOnline. He did not mention the names of the ZANU PF
members he claimed
were opposed to Mugabe.
Party insiders say many of
the senior ZANU PF politicians from Bulawayo and
the surrounding
Matabeleland region are in league with retired army general
Solomon Mujuru,
heading the faction that is pushing for Mugabe's replacement
in
December.
The Mujuru camp last December successfully blocked Mugabe's bid
to extend
his rule to 2010 without going to the ballot but the veteran
leader made an
about turn and offered himself to stand in next year's
elections.
Zimbabwe holds presidential and parliamentary elections next
year. Mugabe,
who earlier this year said there was no vacancy for his
position, has said
he will stand for re-election next year to take his rule
to more than three
decades.
But there is growing speculation Mujuru's
faction could nominate a surprise
challenger to Mugabe at ZANU PF's congress
in December. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 12 October 2007
By Wayne Chinyoka
HARARE -
Zimbabwe's agricultural production is poised to plummet further
amid
revelations that the country has so far secured less than five percent
of
the agricultural sector's fuel requirements for the 2007/08 season.
In a
development likely to hurt the key tobacco sub-sector, only nine
million
litres of fuel have been acquired by the cash-strapped Harare
authorities
against a demand of about 200 million litres.
A senior official in the
ministry of energy and power development Morgan
Mudzinganyama said the
situation was further compounded by the late delivery
of the fuel at a time
most tobacco farmers should have started planting
their crops.
"We do
not have enough fuel. Only nine million litres is coming into the
country
for the whole season," Mudzinganyama told a parliamentary portfolio
committee on energy, mining environment and tourism yesterday.
The
fuel would be sold at $59 000 a litre compared to the black market price
of
around $550 000 a litre.
The shortage of fuel for farmers comes at a time
when the Harare authorities
have set an ambitious target of almost doubling
the tobacco output from 77
million kilogrammes to 120 million
kg.
Agriculture Minister Rugare Gumbo this week said the target was
within sight
and that his ministry was doing everything in its power to
ensure that the
target is achieved.
The news of the shortages also
comes against the backdrop of a declaration
last week by Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono that the 2007/08
season would be "the mother
of all agricultural seasons".
Any fuel shortages would pose a major
challenge in Zimbabwe's quest to
rebuild the collapsed tobacco industry and
increase its foreign exchange
earning capacity.
At the height of its
agricultural boom in the late 1990s, Zimbabwe earned
more than a third of
her foreign currency from tobacco exports. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 12 October 2007
By Lizwe
Sebatha
BULAWAYO - Grade Seven examinations were thrown into chaos on
Wednesday when
several schools in Bulawayo received blank exam papers
forcing school
authorities to rush to photocopy question papers before the
exam could
resume.
In a classic demonstration of falling standards in
Zimbabwe's education
sector, five schools in Bulawayo received blank
question papers for the
Content exam that was set for
Wednesday.
ZimOnline on Thursday established that five primary schools,
Lockview
primary in Matshemhlope, Lotshe Primary in Mzilikazi, Mahlatini and
Mkhithika which are in Cowdray Park and Lobengula Primary, were affected by
the embarrassing blunder.
The Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council
(ZIMSEC), that administers public
exams in the country, has been accused of
serious maladministration with
several cases of incompetence being reported
almost every exam time.
Teachers and headmasters at the affected schools
told ZimOnline yesterday
that the Content Paper had to be delayed for over
three hours as they
battled to photocopy question papers from neighbouring
schools.
"The pupils were supposed to write the Content Paper in the
morning at 9am
but had to start after 12 mid-day as the Education Ministry
was making
efforts to photocopy the paper.
"This obviously affected
many students as they were also hungry when the
examination resumed at
12.30pm," a teacher at Lockview Primary School told
ZimOnline
yesterday.
Ministry of Education provincial education director Dan Moyo
confirmed the
gaffe by ZIMSEC when contacted by ZimOnline
yesterday.
"The affected students at the schools had to be 'quarantined'
while we were
photocopying the paper to avoid leakages," Moyo
said.
"It was a difficult situation as we had to decide either to
photocopy the
paper or cancel the examination altogether and call for a
re-write, a
situation that was going to inconvenience all
schools."
ZIMSEC has struggled to run exams after President Robert
Mugabe's government
localized public examinations in 1998.
There have
been numerous reports of exam paper leakages and mix-ups of
students'
results raising fears that standards of Zimbabwe's once revered
education
system could be seriously compromised.
Morale among Zimbabwean teachers,
who ended a two-week strike over poor pay
and working conditions, is still
said to be low after the government awarded
them a 420 percent salary raise
that will see the lowest paid teacher
earning Z$14 million a
month.
The teachers, who were among the lowest paid civil servants before
the
salary adjustment last week, say the money is still way below the
poverty
datum line that currently stands at Z$16 million a
month.
Thousands of experienced teachers have fled Zimbabwe, which is in
the grip
of a severe economic crisis, in search of better paying jobs in
neighbouring
countries, such as South Africa and Botswana. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 12 October
2007
Own Correspondent
JOHANNESSBURG -
Zimbabwe is one of the 10 countries seen missing a
worldwide target to slash
hunger by half before 2015, according to a report
released
today.
The World Hunger Index painted a gloomy picture for
developing
countries in the fight to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2015 as
agreed at
the United Nations Millennium Summit of 2000.
The
index said the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi,
Swaziland,
Liberia, North Korea, the Comoros, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Guinea-Bissau
and
Venezuela are unlikely to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets
related to hunger and child mortality.
"The ten countries that
have experienced the greatest setbacks towards
achieving the Global Hunger
Index target by 2015 are the Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Burundi,
Swaziland, Liberia, North Korea, the Comoros, Yemen,
Zimbabwe,
Guinea-Bissau, and Venezuela," said the report.
Once southern
Africa's breadbasket, Zimbabwe has grappled severe food
shortages over the
past seven years due to persistent drought and a chaotic
land reform
programme that saw President Robert Mugabe's government seize
white farms,
that produced the bulk of the country's food needs, for
redistribution to
landless blacks.
The Harare authorities say they will this year
import 400 000 tonnes
of maize from Malawi and a further 200 000 tonnes from
Tanzania to cover the
national shortfall.
Only two regions of
the world - Latin America and the Caribbean and
East Asia and Pacific - are
on track to reach all MDG targets related to
hunger and child mortality,
according to the report.
As part of the MDGs, the international
community set targets to cut
hunger in half and under-five mortality rates
by two-thirds by 2015.
According to the Global Hunger Index, most
countries will not reach
all these targets if progress continues at current
rates.
The top ten countries on track to meet the Global Hunger
Index target
based on the Millennium Development Goals are Cuba, Kuwait,
Fiji, Peru,
Uruguay, Egypt, Tunisia, Djibouti, Syria and Iran.
This is the second year the index has been released by International
Food
Policy Research Institute in conjunction with German Agro-Action and
Concern
Worldwide.
"Worldwide, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
Burundi
experienced the greatest setbacks towards achieving the Global
Hunger Index
target for 2015, followed by Swaziland, Liberia, and North
Korea," the
report said.
The researchers attributed the
setbacks in the fight against hunger to
conflicts affecting the countries. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 12 October 2007
By Grace
Kwinjeh
JOHANNESBURG - The Standing Committee of Zimbabwe's Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai has just suspended its
Women's League
leadership in a top-down coup.
This makes me step back
and consider two views of women's liberation.
"The emancipation of women
is not an act of charity, the result of a
humanitarian or compassionate
attitude. The liberation of women is a
fundamental necessity for the
revolution, the guarantee of its continuity
and the precondition for its
victory," said late Samora Machel, the founder
of liberated
Mozambique.
For Machel, "to destroy the system of exploitation and build
a new society
which releases the potential of human beings . . . is the
context within
which women's emancipation arises."
Here is another
context and quotation: "Feminism is the radical notion that
women own their
vaginas', according to an anonymous sister, with vagina
meaning an
expression of feminism, womanhood, strength, resilience,
struggle, as well
as our body and reproductive capacity."
The female body is a site of
struggle. This is the reason why in war
situations, opposing parties take
pride in raping women.
A Congolese feminist, Christine Schuler
Deschryver, estimates that in the
conflict-ridden eastern DRC "more than
200,000 women, children and babies
are being raped every day, and right now,
thousands of women and children
are being taken into forests as sex
slaves."
In Zimbabwe, where I was jailed and tortured for peacefully
participating in
a protest march last March, patriarchy has resulted in some
democracy
activists temporarily losing the value system that helped us to
stand
against President Robert Mugabe's tyranny in the first
place.
We are seeing regular instances of sexism and misogyny, sadly
perpetrated by
would-be liberators whose leadership is now marked by moral
decadence.
Sexism is immoral and should be treated as such.
We
would have short-changed ourselves as women if we agree to yet another
reproduction of the debauchery, unfairness and inequality that we inherited
at independence, and that soon reared its head in Mugabe's ruling party when
he ordered the mass arrest of women for being on the street alone at night
in 1982.
That which united democrats in civil society and the MDC
when we went to
battle against Mugabe's regime was a common understanding of
what we wanted
to achieve in a new Zimbabwe.
That included a clear
vision of the positioning and placing of women, who
have endured decades of
patriarchal oppression passed on like a baton stick
from one system to
another, from the settler colonialists to the
nationalists - and now sadly
to the present-day liberators.
Even before the MDC was formed eight years
ago, Zimbabwean women made great
strides in fighting for their emancipation.
We took on Mugabe before the
boys even woke up to their own
oppression.
The women's struggle was led by women like Everjoice Win,
Shereen Essof,
Priscilla Misihairabwi, Nancy Kachingwe, Yvonne Mahlunge,
Isabella
Matambanadzo, Thoko Matshe, Janah Ncube, Lydia Zigomo, Rudo
Kwaramba, and
Sekai Holland, fellow torture survivor and head of the
Association of
Women's Clubs.
Our first fight was for recognition as
equal human beings to our male
counterparts.
The Legal Age of
Majority Act now recognises us as adults, we can vote, open
bank accounts
and even marry should we choose to - none of which were
possible without the
consent of a male connection, be it brother father or
uncle. We were
perpetual minors.
The Matrimonial Causes Act now recognises our right to
own property,
independent of our husbands or fathers. After we challenged
physical abuse,
Parliament passed the Domestic Violence Act.
This
background made some of us suitable candidates for leadership in the
MDC.
At what point, then, did we women become minors once again,
answerable to
male authority, becoming subjects of agendas that have nothing
to do with
our empowerment or liberation for that matter?
With the
MDC's attack on its Women's League, we are relegated once again to
second
class citizen position.
The first contact women like Lucia Matibenga
(former head of the MDC women's
league), Sekai Holland and myself have with
our bodies each morning after we
wake up and take a bath, is the scarring
inflicted by Mugabe's police.
These scars are deep, physical and
psychological, but their political
significance is that they can be the
source of our liberation. They are our
badges of honour, marking us as
comrades who have been on the frontline
facing the enemy head
on.
ZANU PF has a military history and what Mugabe calls 'degrees in
violence'
that we all know of. However, we have been too slow to address
other forms
of violence perpetrated against us by our brothers in the
democratic
movement.
We are told by men in the MDC: "It is taboo, it
causes unnecessary
confusion, divisions, we have one enemy."
If we
keep believing this, it means that like our sisters in ZANU PF we may
find
ourselves on the eve of independence in the same position they were in
at
Lancaster House.
Their leading woman in the state, Joice Mujuru, was
suddenly elevated to
Vice President but served merely as a place holder, for
as the succession
battle rages it is clear she is not Mugabe's natural
successor. She has not
pushed any women's agenda beyond party politics and
sloganeering.
Everjoice Win, gender officer at ActionAid, insists that we
will not unite
with Mujuru for the sake of biology. Having a vagina does not
necessarily
mean we are the same.
Says Win: "Whatever "deal" is
worked out to resolve Zimbabwe's crisis, women
and their rights should be at
the centre of it. We want feminists -women who
care about the rights of
other women and who are prepared to rock the
patriarchal boat - to be in
leadership positions and to be there when the
deal is made."
But of
the top six dealmakers from two MDC factions and the government, only
one is
a woman.
For a long time, women have been bashed into silence: 'If you
speak out he
will beat you up more'.
Yet whether we speak up or not,
we still take a beating. Now, at what may
become a time of renewed
patriarchy under the mantle of the democratic
opposition, it is a historical
obligation for any woman to stand up against
the kind of bigotry that is
being forced on us, even by our own brothers in
the new liberation movement,
a movement still not mature enough to treat us
with respect.
a..
Grace Kwinje is the deputy secretary for international relations in
the MDC
led by Morgan Tsvangirai. She is presently a visiting scholar with
the
Centre for Civil Society and writes in her personal capacity.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
11 October
2007
The British government says it is keeping in touch
with U.K. companies with
operations in Zimbabwe as to the implementation of
so-called indigenization
legislation passed by the Harare parliament and
awaiting signature by
President Robert Mugabe.
The legislation would
allow the state to take a 51% stake in all companies
in which the majority
interest is not held by indigenous black Zimbabweans.
It remains to be seen
if Harare will move to enforce the legislation, once
signed by President
Mugabe, in the case of foreign owned mining companies
and banks, many
British-based.
London's stance was clarified Wednesday in a debate in the
House of Lords
when Minister of State Lord Mark Malloch-Brown of the Foreign
and
Commonwealth office responded to a question about the risk to British
interests posed by the bill.
Contacted today, the Foreign
Office initially declined to comment further on
the matter, saying the
question was "commercially confidential." But a
Foreign Office official
later reiterated some Malloch-Brown's points in an
e-mail dispatched late
Thursday.
British sanctions against top Zimbabwean officials also came up
in the Lords
debate.
Malloch-Brown said these had not had a great
impact as the individuals
targeted had "prudently moved their assets out of
the UK" before they could
be frozen.
Malloch-Brown disclosed that the
Foreign Office is "pressing hard" for the
European Union to send an envoy to
Zimbabwe to assess human rights
conditions ahead of a December summit in
Lisbon of and African Union
leaders.
The Foreign Office communication
said Britain is "exploring with EU partners
how best an EU envoy could help
support the transition to democracy in
Zimbabwe, particularly in advance of
the elections in 2008." It said Foreign
Secretary David Miliband would
"discuss this further" with other EU foreign
ministers Oct. 15 in
Brussels.
Baroness Park of Monmouth, who sits in the House of Lords, told
reporter
Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that however
concerned
Britain may be about the Zimbabwe crisis, it cannot compel the
Harare
government to change policies.
VOA
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
11 October
2007
Electricity shortages in Zimbabwe are set to worsen
with power suppliers in
the region further restricting supplies due to the
state power authority's
failure to pay arrears.
Officials at the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority said the state entity
owes US$42
million to various suppliers. Mozambique's Cahora Bassa has cut
back
electricity flows to Zimbabwe to 100 megawatts from 300 megawatts,
while the
Democratic Republic of Congo's national utility has cut
transmissions to 50
megawatts from 150 megawatts.
Zimbabwe's inability to produce sufficient
electricity has forced it to
import 35% of the national requirement of 650
megawatts from neighboring
countries, especially South Africa, but also
Mozambique and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Parliamentary Public
Accounts Committee Chairwoman Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai
confirmed the cutbacks by regional
suppliers.
Economist Daniel Ndlela
told reporter Blessing Zulu that due to the deep
power cuts the few
Zimbabwean companies remaining afloat are struggling to
survive.
VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
Washington
11
October 2007
Zimbabwe will not be joining the
Commonwealth of Nations countries
assembling in Kampala, Uganda next month -
it pulled out of the organization
in 2003 under heavy pressure from Britain
and others over the conduct of its
2002 presidential election.
But
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon told VOA Wednesday that he
is
certain Zimbabwe will rejoin the Commonwealth - but the ball is in Harare's
court.
Zimbabwe quit the Commonwealth, a grouping of mostly former
British
colonies, after it was suspended amid allegations that the 2002
presidential
election was rigged. Of the 53 leaders expected at the Kampala
meeting, 18
are from Africa.
Commonwealth head since 1999, McKinnon
voiced satisfaction that South
African President Thabo Mbeki is reporting
progress in the talks he is
mediating between the ruling ZANU-PF party and
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change.
McKinnon urged
President Robert Mugabe to "listen very carefully to the very
serious
concerns raised by leaders" of other Southern African countries
whose
economies are suffering due to the spillover from Zimbabwe's political
and
economic crisis.
McKinnon said the Commonwealth Secretariat, along with
national leaders, had
been engaging Zimbabwe on the issue of rejoining the
world body, but with
little success.
Executive Director David
Chimhini of the Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust told
reporter Ndimyake
Mwakalyelye of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that Harare's
decision to stay
aloof from the Commonwealth involves a certain cost to the
country.
American Chronicle
Scott A. Morgan
October 11, 2007
The current pace of
negotiations to resolve the internal strife within
Zimbabwe is not fast
enough at least one African President Believes. His
views are so strong that
he will be in Harare before the end of October to
see if he can do what
others have failed to do so far. That is bring the
ruling ZANU-PF and the
main Opposition MDC together to reach a settlement to
end the current
impasse.
President Sade of Senegal who incidentally came up with the
blueprint for
NEPAD (New Economic Program for African Development) along
with President
Mbeki of South Africa and the former President Obassanjo of
Nigeria is
concerned about both the state of Affairs within Zimbabwe and the
lack of
progress with the mediation of President Mbeki. President Mbeki has
recieved
copious amounts of criticism for his policy of "Quiet Diplomacy"
while
dealing with the Zimbabwe Crisis. In the eyes of some critics this
policy
has been seen as shielding President Robert Mugabe from International
Criticism and Scrutiny.
Over the last few years there have been
several attempts to resolve the
ongoing crisis in the Southern African
Country. SADC( Southern African
Development Council) the regional bloc
dealing with economic and security
issues has been divided over Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe left the Commonwealth after
that body was divided over how to deal
with the crisis. Some states wanted
Censure while others wanted Sanctions to
be placed on the country. To this
date only the African Commission on Human
and Peoples Rights has attempted
to deal with the situation only to have its
efforts thwarted.
The main reason for the Mission by President Sade
is that there is no
Official African Union Position regarding Zimbabwe. That
body did send a
fact finding mission to Zimbabwe after the Controversial
2002 Presidential
Elections but there have been no other attempts by that
body to mediate the
crisis. The ongoing economic and political crises
threaten a planned EU-AU
summit planned to take place in Portugal in
December. British Prime Minister
Brown has indicated that if President
Mugabe attends the summit he will not
attend. Several Southern African
States have said that they will not attend
if President Mugabe is not
allowed to go to the summit.
Regional Countries most notably South Africa
and Botswana will watch with
baited breath as Zimbabwe holds both
Parliamentary and Presidential
Elections in 2008. The last couple of
Election Cycles in Zimbabwe have been
marred with violence. More often then
not they have been committed by
supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF. In Recent
Weeks there have been an
increase in the number of protests that have been
dispersed by State
Security Forces (Police and CIO Agents). Whether or not
History repeats
itself remains to be seen.
This step by President
Sade is crucially timed. He notices that the efforts
of President Mbeki have
yet to show any progress. The Economy continues its
free fall and the
crackdown on those who oppose the Government can be
arrested on a
whim.
Another Idea that he has is to allow Britain to be part of the
process. This
may be a non-starter in Harare but it is a step that may need
to be taken.
Senegal is the first African Power to openly question the
Process of
Mediation in Zimbabwe. Which country will stand up and agree with
this bold
initiative? There is not much time left for Zimbabwe however.
LONDON - 12 October 2007
One of the biggest demonstrations ever held by Zimbabwean exiles
is to take
place in London outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, Strand (opposite
Charing
Cross) tomorrow, from 2 6 pm.
Priests and religious, parish
justice and peace groups and Zimbabweans will
gather to mark the fifth
anniversary of the Zimbabwe Vigil, which has been
held outside the Embassy
every Saturday since October 2002 to protest
against human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe and to campaign for free and fair
elections.
The Zimbabwean
opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
has called on
all its members in the UK to attend.
The demonstration will be attended
by Kate Hoey MP, Chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe, who
(at about 3 pm) will be presented with
a petition to hand to the Prime
Minister, Gordon Brown (see attached
letter).
The petition reads: "A
Petition to European Union Governments: We record our
dismay at the failure
of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
to help the desperate
people of Zimbabwe at their time of trial. We urge the
UK government, and
the European Union in general, to suspend government to
government aid to
all 14 SADC countries until they abide by their joint
commitment to uphold
human rights in the region. The petition has been
signed by thousands of
people passing by the Vigil.
"To mark our Fifth Anniversary we are
submitting this petition to all EU and
SADC governments. The Vigil wants to
make it clear that we are not asking
for a halt to humanitarian aid, but we
would like to see government to
government assistance to the SADC countries
halted until they honour their
human rights obligations to Zimbabwe. We
suggest that the money should go
instead to the suffering people of
Zimbabwe."
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London,
takes place
every Saturday from 2 to 16pm to protest against gross
violations of human
rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil
which started in October
2002 will continue until internationally-monitored,
free and fair elections
are held in Zimbabwe. For more information see: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
©
Independent Catholic News 2007
Dr Pita Sharples, Co-leader of the Maori Party
Tuesday 9 October 2007
The Maori Party has today released a statement, following a caucus briefing with leading Zimbabwe political figure, Sekai Holland.
The Maori Party supports the initiative taken by Southern African Development Community (SADC) in bringing together Zimbabwe President H. E Robert Mugabe and the other member nations.
"The important point for us – is that African nations have indicated that mediation and talks are their immediate priority – and we believe it is appropriate that the Maori Party supports their aspirations for such talks to take place" said Dr Pita Sharples, Co-leader of the Maori Party.
"We do, however, condemn the extreme violence that occurred in the attacks of March 11 this year – which the talks seek to address" said Dr Pita Sharples.
"The Caucus was briefed this morning about the fatal shooting of Mr Gift Tandare, youth chair of the National Constitutional Assembly in Harare, as well as being alerted to the numbers of members from the Movement for Democratic Change that were assaulted and taken into custody, including Sekai Holland" said Dr Sharples.
"If such violence continues, the talks will inevitably fail" said Dr Sharples.
"The hope of the people, is that these talks will pave the way for a free and fair election in which all Zimbabwe people, including the four million or so who live outside of their homeland, are able to take up their democratic right to a vote".
"Ms Holland talked to us about the way in which abuse by one person, brings shame to the whole community" said Dr Sharples. "She shared also that the solutions are to be found in focusing on their own unique culture and indigenous mechanisms to assist the people in their journey to peace, justice, equality and development".
"These are values that we uphold as Maori, and are indeed, part of the common beliefs of indigenous peoples across the world".
"We endorse the call for the United Nations to give urgent priority for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance to be provided to Zimbabwe" said Sharples.
"The key point that has been shared with us is that reconciliation and liberation can only be achieved with the full involvement of all leaders of the South African Development Community working together, including President Mugabe" said Dr Sharples.
"The irony of the current situation is that the struggle for liberation of which Dr Mugabe was a leading figure has turned into another struggle for liberation in which it was reported to us, that sadly Dr Mugabe is now the oppressor of his own people. We are hopeful that a peaceful resolution initiated by the Southern African Development Community will eventuate for all the people of Zimbabwe" said Dr Sharples.
"We endorse the call of the Movement for Democratic Change and of many Zimbabwe people for the United Nations to give urgent priority for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance to be provided to Zimbabwe" said Sharples.
"The violence must stop; the talks must proceed unhindered; and the United Nations must step in and acknowledge the crisis that is occurring in Zimbabwe" ended Dr Sharples.
Background
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State Summit held in Lusaka, Republic of Zambia, on 16-17 August 2007, commended President Thabo Mbeki in the progress made in the negotiations between Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotric Front (ZANU-PF) and both factions of the Movement for Democratic Change.
The Lusaka summit elected his Excellency Mr Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, President of the Republic of Zambia as the SADC Chairperson; and was attended by the Heads of State from Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, United Republic (Tanzania), Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Sekai Holland is giving a public address at the Law School (Victoria University of Wellington); 5.15pm-7.15pm; Tuesday 9 October. Contact Driden Kunaka : ph 021 - 046 - 6814
Cricinfo staff
October 11,
2007
Tino Mawoyo has been stripped of the Zimbabwe A captaincy following
misbehaviour by him and other players in camp in Bulawayo early last
month.
A Bulawayo-based newspaper reported how players broke camp rules
by bringing
women into their hotel rooms during their matches against South
African
National Academy played at Queens Sports Club. The same publication
also
reported that Mawoyo was arrested outside a sports club for public
drinking
but was not taken to the police station after the police were paid
off.
The publication of the story sent shockwaves through Zimbabwe
Cricket
leading to a disciplinary inquiry. National selector Vumi Moyo, who
was the
team manager at the time, was asked to submit a report and he did
not deny
the that that the players had brought women into their
rooms.
Sources said if the police had charged Mawoyo, he would have been
suspended.
Pace bowler Blessing Mahwire has replaced Mawoyo for the
South African
Airways Challenge pool B match against Gauteng at Bulawayo and
ZC board
member Cyprian Mandenge has taken over as team
manager.
Mawoyo, who captained Zimbabwe at the Under-19 World Cup in
Bangladesh in
2004, remains a vital member of the Zimbabwe A squad at the
top of the
batting order. He was promoted to the senior team against India A
and South
Africa A but struggled and was demoted back to the A
team.
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