IOL
Basildon
Peta
October 01 2008 at 07:33AM
Zimbabwe's
much-vaunted power-sharing deal seems to be on the rocks,
after Robert
Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai again failed to break the deadlock
over the
allocation of cabinet portfolios.
Tsvangirai and Mugabe met in
Harare on Tuesday, after the latter's
return from New York and tried to
unravel the stalemate, which their
negotiators had failed to
resolve.
Mugabe, upon his arrival in Harare on Monday, had declared
there was
no stalemate and that a new cabinet would be appointed by the end
of the
week.
Movement for Democratic Change spokesperson Nelson
Chamisa confirmed
that Mugabe and Tsvangirai had met but had failed to
resolve the stalemate
over the allocation of cabinet
portfolios.
Chamisa told The Star that the
MDC would now appeal to mediator Thabo
Mbeki and the guarantors of Mbeki's
mediation, the Southern African
Development Community and the African Union,
to intervene and try to break
the impasse.
Chamisa said Mugabe
was demanding "to be at the centre and marrow of
the new
government".
"We are still poles apart in terms of the allocation
of ministries to
achieve legitimate power-sharing," Chamisa
said.
Chamisa said Mugabe had demanded control of all key
ministries
including Finance, Home Affairs, Defence, Foreign Affairs,
Justice,
Information, Mines, Agriculture and Youth Affairs.
"This approach of claiming the marrow of the government while
peripherising
the MDC is completely unacceptable," he said.
"The mistake that
Zanu-PF is making is to imagine that we are
desperate to be in the
government. We are not in a hurry to be
chauffeur-driven. We are a
people-driven party."
Chamisa said the arrangement proposed by
Mugabe would make the MDC "a
mere cosmetic accessory and mere lipstick" to a
government effectively
controlled by Mugabe. "We have said no to his
proposals," Chamisa said.
He said many of the social ministries
being allocated to the MDC like
Correctional Services, Infrastructure
Development and others would leave the
MDC unable to define a new course for
Zimbabwe despite its winning the first
round of elections on March 29, which
were hailed by the international
community as having been largely
credible.
Chamisa said the matter was now in the hands of the
mediator, SADC and
the AU.
He emphasised that in view of the
enormous suffering of the people of
Zimbabwe, their intervention was acutely
urgent.
Tsvangirai earlier this week called for the urgent
constitution of an
all-inclusive government to try to begin resolving
Zimbabwe's sustained
economic collapse.
This article
was originally published on page 5 of The Star on October
01, 2008
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5053
September 30, 2008
HARARE (AFP) -
President Robert Mugabe and opposition MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai met
Tuesday but failed to agree on a share-out of ministries in a
power-sharing
government, the opposition said.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP
that the deadlock had been referred
back to former South African president
Thabo Mbeki who mediated the
agreement signed earlier this month.
"As
MDC, we refuse to be junior partners in the inclusive
government,"
Chamisa said. "Any power-sharing is supposed to be a
partnership of equals.
As a result of this there has been a deadlock. The
matter has been referred
to the mediator."
Arthur Mutambara, the
leader of a faction of the MDC and a signatory to the
power sharing
agreement did not attend the meeting after he was caught up in
floods and
his flight was cancelled in China, a party official said.
He was in China
for the World Young Leaders Forum and should have flown to
Zimbabwe on
Sunday.
The standoff follows Mugabe's claim on Monday that a new
government would be
formed by the end of the week.
"Unfortunately,
there has not been any movement on the part of Zanu-PF who
are insisting on
taking all the powerful ministries against the spirit of a
power-sharing
agreement," said Chamisa.
A source close to the negotiations said the
standoff was over the local
government, home affairs, foreign affairs and
finance ministries.
"We are hoping that SADC (Southern African
Development Community) who are
the guarantors of this deal and the AU
(African Union) will help us resolve
this matter," said Chamisa.
The
situation in the country was dire, he said.
On Monday, Mugabe said four
ministries remained to be allocated and denied
there was a
deadlock.
"We will be setting up government by the end of the week,"
Mugabe said on
his return from the United Nations general assembly meeting
in New York.
"We never said there was a deadlock."
Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Mutambara agreed on September 15 to a landmark
power-sharing
agreement.
Under the agreement, Mugabe will remain as head of state after
nearly three
decades in power while Tsvangirai is to take up a new post of
prime
minister.
The deal brokered by Mbeki was heralded as a historic
initiative to resolve
Zimbabwe's political deadlock and economic
melt-down.
Once one of Africa's most prosperous countries, Zimbabwe now
suffers the
world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 11.2
million percent,
leaving 80 percent of the population living in poverty.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5036
September 30, 2008
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - Masvingo Mayor Alderman Femias Chakabuda and two
councillors dace
the risk of being booted out of the Movement for Democratic
Change after an
investigation commission found them guilty of misconduct at
the conclusion
of the enquiry yesterday.
The MDV officials say in
defence that they publicly announced they had
joined Zanu-PF in order to
save their lives in the turbulent period back in
June.
The four
member MDC commission of enquiry set up to probe Alderman Chakabuda
and
councillors Daniel Muchuchutu and Selina Maridza completed its probe on
Monday amid reports that the trio might be forced to relinquish their
positions or be booted out of the party.
Chakabuda who was elected as
Mayor of Masvingo following the March 29
elections is accused of defecting
to join Zanu-PF during the violence-ridden
campaign for the June 27
presidential election.
Muchuchuti is accused of undermining the authority
of the party by
exchanging harsh words with MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai
while councillor
Maridza is also accused of defecting to join
Zanu-PF.
Lawson Mapfaira, the chairman of the commission probing the trio
said
yesterday that they had completed their investigation and found the
trio
guilty of misconduct.
"For the past week we called all the three
to give evidence", said Mapfaira.
"Our findings were shocking since we
discovered that even some sitting MDC
MPs had also secretly defected to
Zanu-PF for fear of being killed or
harassed during the run-up to the June
27 presidential election.
"Although our findings are not yet public we
found the trio guilty of
misconduct and it is up to the party to take
appropriate action.
"According to our terms of reference if they are
found guilty, as in this
case, they will either be fired from the party or
they will just relinquish
their posts in council".
In terms of the
agreement signed between Zanu-PF and the two MDC parties on
September 25, in
the case of a vacancy arising within a local authority or
in Parliament the
party currently holding the seat will just nominate a
replacement without
any challenge from the other two parties which are
signatories to the
agreement.
The mayor and the two councillors ruffled feathers in the MDC
after they
publicly announced their defection at a Zanu-PF rally held in
Mucheke
Stadium Masvingo, during the run-up to the June 27 presidential
election.
However in their defence outline during the hearings conducted
by the
commission the mayor and councillor Maridza maintained that their
announcement to have defected to Zanu-PF was made for the sake of protecting
their lives during that period of political violence.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
30
September 2008
As Zimbabwe's national political leaders wrangle
for control of key
ministries in a unity government that is having trouble
coming together,
local officials of the Movement for Democratic Change are
accusing the
incumbent minister of local government, Ignatius Chombo, of
meddling in
municipal affairs in Harare, the capital, Mutare.
The
Harare and Mutare city councils are controlled by the former opposition
MDC,
whose combined formations have a majority in the lower house of
parliament
and whose founder, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been designated prime
minister but
has yet to be sworn in.
Chombo is a stalwart of the Zimbabwe African
National Union-Patriotic Front,
or ZANU-PF, of President Robert
Mugabe.
MDC sources said Chombo called Mutare Mayor Brian James on
Tuesday and
ordered him to seat representatives of special interest groups -
all of whom
are ZANU-PF politicians who were defeated in March general
elections. Chombo
is said to have warned James he would be removed if he
refused to seat the
so-called special interest
representatives.
Neither James nor Deputy Mayor Admire Mukorera could be
reached by VOA.
Mutare City Council staff said they were both locked in a
meeting.
Chombo is also said to have recently reversed a decision by
Harare City
Council to reinstate city employees fired by the former Harare
Commission
managed by Sekesai Makwavarara, a controversial ZANU-PF
appointee. They
included housing director Numero Mubaiwa, city treasurer
Misheck Mubvumbi
and engineering director Christopher
Zvobgo.
Makwavarara's commission, put in place in 2004 after the
MDC-controlled city
council was removed by the ZANU-PF central government,
said the former
employees had performed poorly, but courts eventually ruled
they had been
wrongfully fired.
MDC-controlled councils across
Zimbabwe have been besieged by supposed
representatives of special
interests, particularly rural councils where they
exercise voting rights.
They are appointed by district administrators who
are predominantly ZANU-PF
loyalists.
Traditionally the special interest representatives seated on
rural district
councils or city councils speak for disadvantaged groups such
as the
handicapped.
Attempts to reach Chombo on his mobile phone for
comment were unsuccessful.
Local Government Secretary Sesil Zvidzai of
the Tsvangirai MDC formation
told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that the party
is now mobilizing urban residents to stand up
against the alleged
interference by Chombo.
Elsewhere, the newly
elected mayor of Marondera, Mashonaland East province,
said Tuesday that he
was in fear for his life following a second abduction
attempt by suspected
state security agents.
Mayor Farai Nyandoro said Marondera lawmaker Ian Kay
and MDC security agents
thwarted the latest abduction attempt on Saturday
following the Marondera
Agricultural Show.
Nyandoro, a member of the
Tsvangirai MDC formation, told reporter Carole
Gombakomba that he is
disappointed at continued threats against his party
members who assumed they
would no longer face political violence with a
power-sharing pact in
place.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5030
September 30, 2008
By Eddie
Cross
IN A recent meeting with diplomats, faced with serious concerns
about the
workability of the arrangements negotiated with Zanu PF, Morgan
Tsvangirai
laughingly said "this new government is like a union between a
donkey and a
horse, it could produce a mule - not very pretty, but
functional".
One of the diplomats responded that mules are sterile - they
cannot
reproduce themselves. That is probably just as well!
Because
the deal has not yet been even consummated, we do not have the
beginnings,
so no progress. I understand that Mr. Mugabe came back from his
trip to the
UN General Assembly in New York this morning. It had been
rumored that he
was not due in until next Friday; so that is progress. Now
we need to get
things moving so that a new government can be sworn by next
weekend and we
can finally start work.
The one thing that observers are generally
failing to see in this situation
is that the swearing in of a new Cabinet
and government will in fact signal
the end of the Zanu-PF Junta. Over the
past ten years we have seen a gradual
shift from Cabinet government to rule
by a civilian/military junta. This
Junta remains firmly in charge today and
is working at fever pitch to sweep
their tracks and secure a last minute
meal at the nation's expense. I think
they have now accepted that their time
in control is nearly over and that
the SADC process has gone too far to be
reversed.
Once a Cabinet is sworn in and Morgan Tsvangirai becomes Prime
Minister with
responsibility for supervising and managing all government
ministries, we
will again be governed by a more conventional government
system - power and
control will shift from the Junta to the Cabinet where it
actually belongs.
The effectiveness of the new arrangements will then
depend on our ability to
mould the new team into a cohesive whole that will
work together to put the
country back onto its feet. Given our recent
history, that will not be
easy - but at the same time it's not impossible.
We have many advantages
over other States that have had to try and bring
their countries back into
the mainstream of development after conflict and
decline. We have not been
swept by violence and armed insurrection. Our
armed forces, remain generally
disciplined and professional, they will take
orders. Our economy is in
tatters and dangerously close to complete
collapse, but the fundamentals are
all there.
If we finally get this
deal consummated, MDC will have very largely achieved
what it set out to
achieve nine years ago - a peaceful, legal and democratic
transfer of power
to a new government that can effect fundamental change in
the way our
affairs are run. Sure we have had to compromise and share power
with Zanu-PF
and the transfer has only come about because our neighbors have
helped us
hammer out a deal that enables us to work together during the
transition,
but once the new team is in place and starts work, we can say
that power is
once more in democratic hands and has been wrested from a
military dominated
Junta that was destroying our country.
This past week we have been trying
to meet all stakeholders in an effort to
try and find out what are the
fundamental problems and concerns of the
people who make things happen in
Zimbabwe. A team led by the Prime Minister
designate has met the food
industry, the bankers, the mining industry
leadership and the combined
farmers unions. It is not a pretty picture.
The food people told us they
have insufficient stocks to feed the country,
that the capacity to finance
and physically import the quantities needed to
prevent starvation and
hardship were just not available. Industrialists told
us they were working
at 10 percent of their capacity and could not fund the
necessary recovery in
their activity if the wider economy was stabilized and
returned to growth.
The miners said that three quarters of all gold mines
were closed and
overall the industry was operating at 20 per cent of
capacity. The bankers
said they feared for their staff as crowds of people
gathered at all banking
halls and ATM's in a desperate effort to gain access
to their funds as
inflation, now at over a billion per cent per annum,
simply destroyed their
savings and salaries while they stood in queues.
Farmers pleaded for
security on their farms and the return of the rule of
law and said that with
four weeks to go to the annual planting season, only
five percent of the
necessary inputs for the new crop were in place. They
told us that if
nothing was done about this, yet another year of shortages
and hunger would
be inevitable in 2009 with no chance of relief until 2010.
A delegation from
the cities told us that water shortages were now
critical - that public
health and sanitation were in jeopardy throughout the
country. Teachers told
us that virtually no real teaching was going on in
schools and that many
students would simply have to repeat the year to get
back on
track.
Despite the daunting and stark conditions confronting all sectors
of our
economy and society we were encouraged as, sector by sector,
leadership
pledged themselves to help us get out of this mess as quickly as
possible.
Just yesterday I was with a team who were working on what to do in
the first
100 days of the new administration - how to improve services and
stabilize
the economy? How to get Zimbabwe working again?
Can we do
it? Yes we can! Mules may not be pretty but they can work and work
effectively. But we have to demonstrate that before a skeptical and wary
world. We also have to try and meet the needs and aspirations of the
millions of our people who have patiently supported us and fought with us in
what has been a principled and non-violent democratic struggle to regain our
freedoms.
We are nearly there.
http://www.radiovop.com
MASVINGO, October 1 2008 - The Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor, Gideon Gono, has revealed that he is ready to quit
and that he is
just waiting for an excuse to do so.
Gono, who opened up for the first time ever to people who had gathered
for a
field day at Zimbabwe Chief's Council president Fortune Charumbira's
Acton
farm last Friday, said he does not need much pushing to leave the
RBZ.
"I am even looking for an excuse, I do not need much
effort to be
pushed out. If anyone wants to take my job, let them come
forward," Gono
said.
Gono, who had rumours flying after he
allegedly tendered his
resignation following the talks deal between the
country's two main
political parties, ZANU PF and the MD), said he too was
also surprised by
the fact that Zimbabwe's decade-long political and
economic crisis has not
brought the country's economy to its knees
yet.
"Zimbabwe's ancestors are strong. It is surprising to see
our economy
standing by now," said the central bank
governor.
He vowed to keep the money printers running 'till
kingdom come'. This
is despite the fact that his excessive printing of money
has helped increase
the rate of inflation.
"Im not afraid
to print money and i will continue doing so until those
who imposed
sanctions on us (the West) have lifted them," Gono said, before
comparing
Zimbabwe's troubled economy with the prevailing global trends.
"People accuse me of steering inflation by printing more money, but
the
international financial sector is also facing such challenges," said
Gono.
The central bank governor admitted that the country
was facing a cash
shortage, following the pulling out of a German firm which
used to supply
Zimbabwe with paper for printing money.
Giesecke and Devriet parted ways with the RBZ in protest of president
Mugabe's disputed one man ruoff election contest, which saw the MDC pulling
out, citing violence.
"We had run out of the paper to print
money, that is why the maximum
withdrawal limits were so low. We were still
looking for the paper," said
Gono.
The RBZ on Monday
increased the daily maximum withdrawal limit from a
paltry $1000 to Zd10 000
and Zd20 000 for individuals and corporates
respectively.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5042#more-5042
September 30, 2008
By
Our Correspondent
HARARE - Monday and Tuesday saw queues of unprecedented
magnitude build up
outside all banks and building societies as the
government announced an
increase in the cash withdrawal limit from $1000 to
$20 000.
In an ongoing battle to keep pace with hyper-inflation, the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe also introduced new Z$10,000 and Z$20 000
banknotes.
The new notes were introduced on Monday as part of sweeping
currency reforms
designed to reduce the burden of carrying large sums of
cash amid galactic
hyperinflation.
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono
widened the family of banknotes with the
two new higher denomination
bills.
But the new Z$20 000 bill is vulnerable to counterfeit because of
the
mediocre security features on the note.
While cash queues clogged
the city center Monday especially the Samora
Machel Avenue/First Street
banking area, the RBZ carted the new currency
into the black market where it
mopped up the foreign currency available in
the market. By Tuesday the
Zimbabwe dollar was plunging to new depths, with
US$1 trading at Z$1
000.
Few Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were dispensing the new
banknotes on
Tuesday.
It remained unclear how much money was in
circulation but central bank
sources said the banknote shortage was a result
of a scarcity of Treasury
Bills at the central bank.
The RBZ has long
complained that it was failing to account for almost half
of the money in
circulation; implying hoarding of currency or that money was
outside the
official market. Supermarkets are struggling to handle the vast
stacks of
cash that are required to purchase precious little. Most shops
have
introduced banknote counting machines to speed up the queues that form
while
money is manually counted.
The new bills are intended to further reduce
the time spent in queues. But
so far that has not happened. The new Z$20 000
withdrawal limit remains
woefully inadequate. There are also widespread
complaints that holders of
Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) are allowed to
access US$1 000 daily while
everyone else is scrambling for a paltry Z$20
000.
Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai heard harrowing tales of
the
desperation cash situation when he toured banks last weekend.
At
least four depositors have dragged Gono to court in a legal challenge
over
the withdrawal limits. Rodgers Chigwededza, Tinashe Gotora, Jackson
Mabota
and Precious Mwateyeni of human rights pressure group, Restoration of
Human
Rights have lodged papers in the High Court seeking a declaratory
order that
the cash withdrawal limits are illegal because they violate their
constitutional rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which
Zimbabwe is a signatory.
"The limit is not based on any rational
basis and its imposition is
capricious," they say in court papers lodged by
their lawyer, Alec
Muchadehama. "Respondents cannot just impose withdrawal
limits which are not
based on any sound or rational economic considerations.
I submit therefore
that the imposing of such withdrawal limits by the
respondents be declared
unlawful. I further submit that the limits are a
blatant infringement of
applicants' various constitutional
rights."
The two new bills introduced this week join a family of
banknotes that was
introduced two months ago when the country ran out of
banknotes. The new
banknotes, introduced after slashing ten zeroes from the
currency, are
rapidly devaluing as a result of hyperinflation. Coins
introduced together
with the new banknotes are fast ceasing to be
instruments of trade because
of weakening value.
The central bank was
forced to introduce the new currency after widespread
complaints that
computer systems were failing to cope with the number of
digits arising from
large transaction values. Right now there are serious
pricing distortions
in the economy, with widespread dual pricing of
commodities.
There
are two distinct sets of prices for consumers using cheques and swipe
cards
on the one hand and the other for those using scarce cash. For
example, a
bottle of a brand of cough syrup costs Z$13 000 if paid for in
cash. The
same bottle costs Z$60 000 when one uses a swipe card or cheque.
The
central bank has also licensed 1 000 retailers to sell goods in foreign
currency under the so-called FOLIWARS scheme.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/muponda18.18817.html
By Gilbert Muponda
Last updated:
09/30/2008 15:09:28
SUB-SAHARAN African states urgently need expanded and
more dynamic private
sectors, more efficient and effective
infrastructure/utility provision, and
increased investment from both
domestic and foreign sources.
Privatisation is one way to address these
problems. But African states have
generally been slow and reluctant
privatisers; a good percentage of
industrial/manufacturing and most
infrastructure still remains in state
hands.
Given prevailing public
hostility towards privatisation, and widespread
institutional weaknesses,
such caution is defensible, but nonetheless very
costly. The long-run and
difficult solution is the creation and
reinforcement of the institutions
that underpin and guide proper market
operations.
Clear benefits from
privatisation have been recorded in terms of the
contribution to government
financial flows and at the enterprise level where
there is a definite trend
for privatised enterprises to improve performance,
largely as a result of
new investment, which has a delayed positive effect
on
employment.
Ten countries account for most of the privatisation in Africa
so far:
Mozambique, Angola, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Guinea,
Madagascar,
Nigeria (federal government only) and Uganda.
A study
points to the surprising difficulty of obtaining transaction data in
many
countries and the failure of most governments to establish monitoring
procedures so as to be able to track and evaluate enterprises'
post-divestiture performance.
The trend of the privatisation process
in Africa reflects some of the
problems: lack of political commitment, poor
design, insufficient resources,
weak management, and corruption. The trend
is a cause of concern because
privatisation is a one-off opportunity not
only to reduce the fiscal and
administrative burdens of a large public
enterprise sector but also to
stimulate private sector development, to
instil greater government
accountability, and to contribute to the fight
against poverty; and that
opportunity has been grasped by few
governments.
Zimbabwe has had several stop-start-stop attempts at
privatization
programmes. A few entities have been successfully privatised
such as Cotton
Company and Dairibord. The current economic situation will
require tough
choices to be made and allow privatisation and
commercialisation of several
so-called "strategic"
entities.
Parastatals such as Zisco, ZESA, CSC, NRZ and Air Zimbabwe are
leading
candidates for privatization from which the State can raise a
substantial
amount of capital to finance infrastructure and other social
services.
Given the attractiveness of some of these assets, the State can
include
requirements to dispose of these assets in the much needed foreign
currency
provided local and indigenous partners are somehow accommodated.
Foreign
partners normally help to strengthen the talent base and access to
foreign
markets and a stable financial base.
African governments'
commitment to the process has generally been
half-hearted. The controversy
starts with why African governments have
privatised. The study says that
most governments have privatised reluctantly
and not for the reasons set out
in policy statements. Rather, it is other,
non-stated factors that have
motivated the process; and this is particularly
relevant now that major
enterprises are being privatised and corruption is
surfacing as an
issue.
Governments have not made efforts to sell the process to the
people. So,
programs have tended to stagger along, prompted by the Breton
Woods
institutions and other donors. Zimbabwe may be faced with a similar
situation very soon.
Case studies indicate that the following have
been the principal incentives
for African countries to divest: political
change; need for World Bank, IMF
and donor financial assistance; need to
generate proceeds; precarious state
of some public enterprises; need to
maintain employment levels; and at times
the need to satisfy vested
interests.
An important claim is that, despite an expressed desire to
broaden
ownership, in practice little has been done to accomplish this
objective.
Privatisation is not an end in itself, but it is a key tool
for improving
the efficient allocation of resources, for mobilising
investment, and for
stimulating private sector development. It does this
because it brings into
the open the inefficiency of state run businesses;
makes investment
opportunities available; highlights the need and becomes
the catalyst for
capital market development; and contributes towards
openness by forcing
government dialogue with the public.
There is a
growing pattern of flawed classification of enterprises as
strategic and
non-strategic (monopoly utilities have invariably been left
out of the
privatisation program), non-establishment of important operating
policies,
non-transparent use of proceeds, weak mobilisation of potential
investors,
weak privatisation agencies and the lack of appropriate legal
authority.
The lessons of experience are being applied center on the
following:
demonstrate commitment; pay greater attention to securing
consensus; ensure
transparency; invest more in design and preparation; put
institutional
building blocks in place before launching a program; and do
more to broaden
ownership.
Now that most countries have gained
experience of the process and have
developed their capacity to manage it,
privatisation has entered its main
phase. This phase has four noteworthy
features which have important
implications for the privatisation process:
emphasis on large enterprises;
increasing demand for public information and
accountability; creation and
growth of capital markets; and much greater
efforts are underway to
stimulate private investment.
Indeed, with
new investment in many of the privatised enterprises, we are
seeing improved
performance, expansion and new jobs being created. And that
is the message
that we must get across to labour leaders and politicians.
They know that
privatisation will focus attention on poor resource
allocation,
inefficiencies, and weak corporate governance. But they must
also understand
that it is bringing in: the investment that is needed in new
technology,
people and marketing; better value products and services which
benefit local
consumers; better working conditions and pay; and, in the
longer term more
sustainable employment.
Many of the Asian economies had characteristics
similar to African economies
today. Foreign investment and investment in
developing human capital were
crucial elements to success. Local
participation and skills transfer were
also central.
Africa can now
do likewise with the added advantage of being able to use
much cheaper and
advanced information technology to skip a generation in
development. An
economic recovery strategy for Zimbabwe should be centred on
the private
sector playing a leading role in mobilising capital, skills and
other
resources.
It's expecting too much from any government to be able to lift
the country
after years of deep recession. The key is therefore for the
state to create
a conducive environment in addition to divesting from state
enterprises and
create more room and opportunities for private sector
participation.
Gilbert Muponda is a Zimbabwe-born entrepreneur. This
article appears
courtesy of GMRI Capital. He can be contacted at gilbert@gmricapital.com.
More
articles at www.gmricapital.com
Forwarded message from Esther Baylis follows ....
From: Esther Baylis
[baylissimo@absamail.co.za]
Sent: Wednesday, 1 October 2008 3:41
AM
Ron and Margaret have been using my laptop since Courtney's
accident and I
am taking the liberty of writing to everyone who emailed them
to my email
address. I know that they appreciate each and every contact but
I'm
concerned that they will not be able to let you have the details that
you
have asked for anytime soon. The Netcare Milpark Hospital has opened a
bank
account from which all Courtney's medical expenses will be
paid:
Account Holder: MILPARK
HOSPITAL
Bank: NEDBANK
Branch Name: FOX
STREET (82 Simmonds Street, between Fox and Main
Sts, Johannesburg, South
Africa)
Account Number: 1908466545
Branch Code:
190805
Swift Code: NEDSZAJJ
Current
Account
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU USE THE REFERENCE THAT WILL
MAKE SURE THAT THEY
ALLOCATE FUNDS: SPARROW CJ MS
If you would
like to speak to someone at the hospital, please call their
Marketing Manager
Amelda Swartz on 011 480 5686 or 082 783 8492 or email
aswartz@milpark.netcare.co.za
Best
regards
Esther Baylis
082 881
8826
===================
Forwarded message
from Dawn Holtzhausen follows ....
From: Dawn Holtzhausen
[costalotazw@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 1 October 2008 5:49 AM
Subject:
Bank Details for Courtney Sparrow (mauled by
lion)
Thank you so much for your
prayers and support, words are not enough to
express our sincere gratitude on
behalf of the Sparrow family.
Courtney has been moved to a
neurological ward and had a lumber puncture
over the weekend in order to
drain the fluid build-up on her brain. The eye
specialist came to see her -
she has a constant flow of fluid running from
her eye and the neurosurgeon
was concerned that it was spinal fluid but the
eye specialist says her tear
duct has been destroyed along with other issues
relating to her lower eye lid
- she will need surgery to correct this, but
he is not in a hurry and will
try and schedule it when the neurosurgeon
replaces the bone in her scull.
Still no news of when this could happen -
her brain is still swollen, but is
coming down little by little every day.
For your interest, Many
of the South African News Papers are now running
this story and YOU magazine
will be featuring it shortly. I think anything
that gets this story out there
would be beneficial so thank-you for taking
the time to forward it to folk in
your mail box.
Thanks and Regards
Dawn
Holtzhausen
costalotazw@yahoo.com
+263 9
289666/+263 23 751170
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, October 1 2008 - The Financial Gazette, one
of Zimbabwe's few
remaining independent newspapers - has been plunged into
turmoil following
the resignation of several of its experienced
journalists.
The pink paper, as it is popularly known,
this week lost its Business
Editor Dumisani Ndlela, who resigned after
serving the paper for one and a
half years.
Ndlela, an
experienced financial and business reporter as well as Hama
Saburi's
confidante, the paper's Acting Editor in Chief, joined the paper in
April
2007 from the Zimbabwe Independent.
Ndlela's departure followed
that of Clemence Manyukwe, the paper's
senior political reporter, who called
it quits mid-September.
Since April this year, The Financial
Gazette has lost a total of five
experienced reporters including News Editor
Rangarirai Mberi, Senior
Reporter Kumbirai Mafunda, together with Hama
Saburi and Arts Reporter
Stanley Kwenda, who also doubled up as a Features
and News reporter.
Mberi left in April to head Econet Wireless'
corporate communications
department, while Mafunda, a versatile political
and business reporter,
resigned from the paper in May after he was denied
permission by Saburi to
further studies in Germany. Mafunda has since joined
the Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights as the organisation's
spokesperson.
Kwenda too quit the paper in May after attending
a training course in
German and is now working at Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition.
The crisis at the newspaper reportedly reached a
peak this week
following the departure of Ndlela, forcing Saburi to recall
the paper's
Political Editor and veteran journalist Njabulo Ncube, from his
annual
leave. Ncube who returned from a training course in Sweden last week,
was
supposed to report for duty in a fortnight's time.
Pattison Matsikidze, who once worked for the collapsed Daily Mirror
and
Nelson Chenga, who used to work for The Herald, are some of the paper's
remaining reporters.
Shame Makoshori, the senior business
reporter, who is reportedly
frustrated by events at the paper, is now the
sole business reporter while
Synodia Bhasera is responsible for the Property
Gazette and coordinates
supplements.
It is feared that the
paper could lose its News Editor, Ray Matikinye,
anytime, as he is
disgruntled by management's decision not to allocate him a
vehicle as agreed
when he joined the paper in April.
Ncube too, sources said,
could also be recruited into the Prime
Minister designate Morgan
Tsvangirai's office, owing to his vast experience.