VOA
By Thomas
Chiripasi
Harare
27 October 2005
Top officials
of Zimbabwe's currently divided Movement for Democratic Change
have opened
talks to try to resolve a bitter and embarrassing internal
dispute over
whether the opposition should run candidates in the senate
election set for
November.
Faction leaders also ordered subordinate officials and the
rank-and-file to
desist from violence and tone down rhetoric in the quarrel,
which has
sparked some clashes.
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who
insists the party must boycott the Nov.
26 election of a restored upper
house, and Secretary General Welshman Ncube,
leader of a faction that has
defied Mr. Tsvangirai in nominating 26
candidates, met in Harare with other
members of the party's Top Six, a
semi-formal steering committee.
The
senior officials agreed that Mr. Tsvangirai and his spokesman, William
Bango, would speak for the anti-election faction, while all statements from
the camp which has moved to field candidates were to come from Deputy
President Gibson Sibanda.
After extending olive branches, the
factions agreed to meet again Friday to
address more substantive issues,
like how to reconcile the 26 candidates
nominated this week with Mr.
Tsvangirai's threat to expell those politicians
from the
party.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bango said party officers and members of the rank
and file
were told to avoid acrimonious statements and to eschew all
violence or
threats.
Correspondent Thomas Chiripasi reported from the
MDC's Harare press
conference.
Earlier, reporter Carole Gombakomba of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe spoke
with MDC National Council member Sekai
Holland who said the opposition
divisions went beyond the senate elections
issue. For one thing, said Ms.
Holland, there was never meant to be a
National Council vote on Oct. 12 when
the factional split
emerged.
Some political analysts say the MDC may have lost a significant
following
because of its public bickering over participation in elections
for the
senate, restored by the ruling party through constitutional
amendment
legislation which the opposition opposed.
Other argue that
the MDC and Mr. Tsvangirai could be strengthened by the
dispute.
Studio 7 reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyele sought the views of
political experts
Joseph Kurebwa, a University of Zimbabwe political science
lecturer, and
Jessie Majome, a lawyer and spokesman for the National
Constitutional
Assembly. She said the MDC retains strong support, but picked
a bad time to
let its internal divisions flare.
The Star
October 28,
2005
By the Editor
It is extraordinary to see the
lemming-like propensity which
opposition parties on this continent have for
self-destruction. And now the
same is happening in Zimbabwe.
After overcoming the huge hurdles that President Robert Mugabe has
always
placed before his would-be opponents, the Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC) came within a whisker of winning the most contested seats in
its first
election in 2000.
It has being going downhill ever since. Of course
that has mostly been
because a startled Mugabe has been driving it downhill.
He mobilised all the
large resources of the state to do so, from shutting
down opposition papers,
to invading farms to cut off the MDC's economic
lifeline, to simply beating
the hell out of MDC politicians.
And so ultimately the fate of the MDC is Mugabe's fault. It
demonstrates
that Zimbabwe is not really a democracy, though it pretends to
be one. It is
an ironic truism of such quasi-democracies that you can only
have as much
democracy as the real power allows you.
Nonetheless the MDC has
hastened its own demise by poor leadership and
here Morgan Tsvangirai must
accept most of the blame. He showed appalling
judgment in allowing himself
to be entrapped in a treason trial which sapped
much of the party's energy
and resources.
He also failed to exploit the huge popular anger
at Mugabe's Operation
Murambatsvina this year to raze shacks and informal
businesses.
And now Tsvangirai has precipitated what looks like the
imminent
disintegration of the MDC by overruling a decision by its national
council
to participate in senate elections next month. That
has
driven most of his lieutenants into open rebellion.
Tsvangirai may
be right that it is pointless for the MDC to persist
with parliamentary
politics when Mugabe merely rigs elections against them.
He appears
ready to lead the party on an extra-parliamentary course of
mass action, a
risky but perhaps ultimately inevitable option. But he is
nonetheless
obliged to respect the opinion of the majority or risk
comparison with
Mugabe.
The alternative is the chaos now ensuing.
The
Herald (Harare)
October 27, 2005
Posted to the web October 27,
2005
Fidelis Munyoro
Harare
The High Court yesterday overturned
the decision by TelOne to fire 1,254
workers who went on strike a year ago
after management refused to implement
an arbitrator's award of a salary
increment.
The court found the strike was legal since the disposal order
granted to
TelOne was nullified on appeal.
Thus, the firm could not
initiate disciplinary action against the workers
purely for going on
strike.
The workers struck in October last year after management refused
to award
them an increment as recommended by an arbitrator in March of the
same year.
This was after both the workers and management failed to reach
an agreement
following an internal dialogue which had been recommended by
the Labour
Court.
Earlier the company, which was cited as the
respondent in the case, had
successfully sought a disposal order declaring
the strike illegal, had the
order rendered ineffective on appeal by the
workers.
A certificate of no settlement was then issued paving way for
the workers to
embark on a lawful collective job action, which did not go
down well with
management.
In haste, the management conducted
disciplinary hearings, which resulted in
the workers being suspended and
subsequently fired without benefits.
But the workers - through the
Communication and Allied Services Workers'
Union of Zimbabwe - petitioned
the higher court to set aside the findings
against them.
Justice Rita
Makarau found the TelOne decision to fire the workers to be
unlawful since
the strike was legal.
"In my view, it is in this regard that the
respondent (TelOne) erred," said
Justice Makarau.
The Labour Act
provides that, subject to the provisions of the Act, all
employees, workers'
committees and trade unions have the right to resort to
collective job
action to resolve disputes of interest.
The Act does not only have
provision for the issuance of disposal orders
during illegal strikes, but
also gives protection to employees engaged in
lawful collective
action.
Therefore, workers who go on lawful strike could not be liable
for breach of
contract and their employment could not be terminated on the
grounds that
they engaged in a lawful collective action.
Justice
Makarau found that it was grossly irregular and TelOne's decision to
fire
the workers flew in the face of the express letter of the law.
"It is not
permissible. It seeks in vain to make the code (of conduct)
superior to the
provisions of the Act under which the code is registered,"
she
said.
In fact, she said, TelOne's code of conduct was not compatible with
the laws
of Zimbabwe.
The code of conduct, she said, was essentially
part of the terms of the
contract of employment between the employer and
employees, therefore it
could not override the law of the
country.
Justice Makarau said the disciplinary hearings conducted by
TelOne were a
nullity as nothing lawful came out of them even if the company
met all the
requirements of the code and the law.
"They have to be
set aside as being grossly irregular.
"The disciplinary proceedings by
the respondent against its employees who
engaged in the collective job
action of October 6, 2004 are hereby set
aside," said Justice
Makarau.
In their petition, the workers had sought to quash the decision
by the
company to use its code of conduct to discipline the workers on the
basis
that it was grossly unprocedural, tainted with bias and that it had
set up
an incompetent body to enforce the code.
TelOne, however,
argued that after the Labour Court discharged the show
cause order, the
parties were at large to dispose of the dispute using other
remedies.
TelOne had also argued that it was not barred by any law
from dealing with
its workers under the company's code of conduct.
Mr
Tendai Biti of Honey and Blankernberg appeared for the workers, while Mr
Selby Hwacha of Dube, Manikai and Hwacha represented TelOne.
We note that all national elections the MDC party has participated in to date have neither been free or fair.
We note that participation in the 2005 parliamentary election was one with a heavy heart after the regime failed dismally to comply with guidelines of basic fair election standards as set out in our Restore Document. We also note that at the time the regime also dismally failed to pass the SADC Election Guidelines and Principles as agreed in Mauritius on the 18th of August 2004.
We note that the decision to participate in the elections in 2005 was reached after extensive consultation and that not every single member of the MDC supported the move to participate although consensus was reached to do so in the end. We further note that it was a good thing to witness democracy at work.
We conclude that it was a mistake to participate in the parliamentary elections given the background and the shortcomings we documented as a party in our post election report.
We note that nothing has changed and the regime still fails the litmus test. The Senate issue is unique in that it is an additional expenditure by a regime on an economy already in the morgue. We also sadly note that it is only an instrument of furthering patronage in the regime's gravy train in their effort to appease the loyal but failing political deadwood.
Given this background and in view of the 33-31 vote we see the benefit of collation of opinion and acknowledge the supremacy of people views as a strong basis for democracy. As a democratic party we value each individual's personal choice and understand the beauty of being outnumbered makes democracy an efficient mediator. We also understand that under the circumstances, it is also necessary to stage a rebellion to safeguard national interest. This is the view we understand the President saw fit to exercise. It is our hope that the President and those in favour of participating move past this democratic expression of views by the simple majority in equal stride with the President's courageous stand to boycott. Their ability to work together through this despite their differences is what is going to make the MDC a stronger party. One only has to look at the glee the regime's mouth piece, The Herald, has b een displaying over this. They have given this more coverage than they gave us during the entire 2005 election! A break up of the party is exactly what the regime wants by highlighting our differences rather than our similarities.
To avoid falling into the regime's trap we encourage the President and the opposing leaders to shame the regime by showing our true democratic colors. We urge you to show that in MDC we can have different views and opinions without ending up like Mavhaire, Tekere and others in Zanu who were thrown out for having different views.
We changed our ways! We are not Zanu! We can differ on opinions but can still work together. The enemy is out there and smiling with each difference. Our strength is in our diversity of opinion and that is why we became Chinja!
Lastly we take this learning curve as a wonderful opportunity to strengthen our "checks and balance" of power within the party and ultimately within the proposed national constitution. This has just become the test case for us to look at and debate the power of "veto" by a sitting President at the coming National Congress.
Acting Secretary General
Andrew Mudzingwa
Tel: 214 458 6066
MDC-Dallas, Texas Branch
The Herald
By Jefrey Gogo and Brian
Benza
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is holding consultations with key
stakeholders
in connection with the introduction a new currency next year,
as announced
in the Third Quarter Monetary Policy Review Statement last
week.
"We are currently holding consultations with Government on the idea
of
introducing a new currency as these issues are of national
importance.
"In the past we have talked about introducing just a new note
but it has
since been overtaken by the idea of a new currency.
"The
currency has more to do with the relative value of our money in
comparison
to our trading partners whereas new notes would just be an issue
to do with
the design of the money," said an RBZ official who refused to be
named.
The new currency will be valued in terms of purchasing power
parity with the
intention of easing the money circulation and need for
higher denominated
notes due to hyperinflation.
"I would not want to
talk like the authorities have already rubber-stamped
the idea but I am sure
we are going to try and equate a unit of the new
currency to, for example,
the prevailing price of a loaf of bread," said the
official.
If the
idea is approved by the Government, it will greatly reduce the amount
of
cash that people have to carry around for transaction purposes while a
currency might psychologically breathe new confidence into the
economy.
Earlier indications were that the central bank had already
started printing
new notes to replace the bearer cheques currently in
circulation.
But the governor took everybody by surprise when he
announced the central
bank would next year introduce a new currency when
presenting his Third
Quarter Monetary Policy Review Statement.
"As
previously announced that the RBZ was working on the introduction of a
new
currency, we are pleased to give notice that this will be done in the
new
year 2006, at a date to be announced once consultations with relevant
stakeholders have been finalised," said Dr Gideon Gono.
Zimbabwe's
currency has traditionally consisted of a mixture of cents and
notes.
The coins ranged from one cent to one dollar while notes were
available in
the following denominations: $2, $5, $10 with $20 as the
highest
denomination.
However, due to changes in the economic
situation brought about by the
Economic Structural Adjustment Programme
(Esap), the country was prompted to
introduce new notes in four
denominations - $50, $100, $500 and $1000 -
between 2001 and
2003.
The introduction of the new notes gradually saw the unofficial
phasing out
of the coins as the value of the dollar continued to depreciate
against most
major currencies.
A crippling notes' shortage between
May and September 2003 resulted in the
introduction of bearer's cheques in
three denominations - $5 000, $10 000
and $20 000 - initially for six
months.
Since the cheques proved an effective remedy for the cash
shortages, the
central bank extended their lifespan first to December 2004
and subsequently
to December 2005.
The extension was expected to give
the RBZ enough time to work on the design
and printing of new notes as a
precursor to the phasing out of the bearer
cheques.
The Herald (Harare)
October 27,
2005
Posted to the web October 27, 2005
Harare
Managing
Director of the United Nations Common Fund for Commodities,
Ambassador Ali
Mchumo, arrived in Zimbabwe yesterday to assess progress of
projects funded
by the UN agency.
He will also be briefed on new project proposals and
their budget
requirements.
The Fund, an inter-governmental financial
institution, benefits many
countries by financing development of commodity
producers.
Addressing journalists in Harare soon after arrival, Mr Mchumo
said he was
looking forward to hear areas where the Fund could assist
Zimbabwe.
"I am looking forward to hear new projects, which the Fund can
assist and I
will also be moving around the country to assess the projects
we have been
funding," said Mr Mchumo, who was voted into office last
year.
"I very much appreciate of what the Government of Zimbabwe and its
people
are doing for the development of their country and we hope to work
together
in identifying the projects and commodities that needs
funding."
Mr Mchumo said the Fund seeks to create buffer stocks where
farmers, for
example, would deposit their produce in a national warehouse
and would be
allowed to borrow from financial institutions using produce as
collateral
security.
The produce stored in the warehouse would be
released in times of shortages,
he said.
The projects to be funded,
said Mr Mchumo, should be capable of being sold
within the region and not
produce peculiar to a certain country.
The Fund seeks to address the
issue of pricing and how to add value to
commodities produced, said Mr
Mchumo.
The diplomat said developed countries that contribute the bulk of
the source
of funding of the organisation does not dictate the operations of
the Fund.
"This is not an opportunity for developed countries to dictate
to small
nations since the donors have no say on where or who should benefit
from the
Fund," said Mr Mchumo, a Tanzanian.
"There have been no
attempts by these developed countries to influence the
operations of the
Fund. The money is primarily for poor countries and they
can not say these
monies should be given to Zimbabwe or Zambia."
The organisation also gets
money from subscriptions contributed by the 106
member
countries.
Zimbabwe is one of the paid up members, said Mr
Mchumo.
The Fund was negotiated in the United Nations Conference on Trade
and
Development (UNCTAD) in the 1970s and was concluded in 1980.
It
became operational in 1989 and in 1991 the executive board approved the
first commodity development project.
By May 2005, the Fund had
approved 211 projects with an overall cost of
US$400 million.
New Zimbabwe
By Joseph
Katete
Last updated: 10/28/2005 05:46:38
THE Miss Tourism World finals
hosted by Zimbabwe early this year were an
unnecessary expense and would not
be held again in 2006 as scheduled, a
government official said this
week.
Addressing a press conference at the launch of a new pageant, Miss
Tourism
Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive officer,
Karikoga
Kaseke said government had resolved not to host the pageant
again.
"After holding the Miss Tourism World we sat down and tried to
find out
whether there were any tangible benefits for holding such an event
and it
was very difficult to quantify them (the benefits)," said
Kaseke.
Zimbabwe had to pay US$2 million to the pageant licence holders
led by John
Singh host the event.
Apart from that, it had to bankroll
the travelling, accommodation and meal
expenses for more than 80 models,
scores of regional and international
journalists as well as Miss Tourism
World officials, who came for the event.
Many Zimbabweans were not aware
of Miss Tourism World pageant, until late
last year when the country won the
bid to host the beauty contest ahead of
Thailand and China. Zimbabwe became
the first African country to host the
pageant. The event was held on
February 26 at the Harare International
Conference Centre.
A call to
Singh on Thursday wasn't immediately returned.
Although Zimbabwe has said
it is not going to hold the Miss Tourism World
pageant in Harare, recent
press releases from the Miss Tourism World
Organisation suggested that
preparations to host the event were underway.
The title-holder of the
Miss Tourism World is Miss Czech Republic, Zuzara
Putnarova (18) who was
crowned in Harare.
The reigning national beauty queen Oslie Muringai, who
finished a
commendable second princess represented the country - Daily
Mirror
The UK Herald
BILLY BRIGGS October 28 2005
BRITAIN expressed concern
to Malawi yesterday that the process of impeaching
President Mutharika was
affecting the running of the country and could
adversely impact its
relations with the international community.
An open letter from Britain,
France, Germany, Norway, US, South Africa and
the EU Commission, said the
current situation could affect the African
state's stability and urged its
politicians to redouble their
anti-corruption efforts.
The letter also
raised concern over the devotion of the national assembly to
the impeachment
proceedings and the almost "total exclusion of the ongoing
food
crisis".
At the same time, Malawi has been cleared of allegations of
supplying Robert
Mugabe's regime with tear gas bought with UK aid money. An
investigation by
the UK government found there was no substance to claims it
was flouting
sanctions by supplying Zimbabwean police with the gas - which
has been
linked to at least 11 deaths, including five babies, during a
recent
incident in Zimbabwe.
The former British high commissioner to
Malawi wrote to the UK government
expressing concern at the nation's
purchase of tear gas worth £500,000, as
such a large order rang alarm
bells.
The allegations were denied by the Malawian government in June, and
yesterday, the Department of International Development (DFID) said an
investigation had shown there was no evidence of misuse of aid money from
Britain.
Amnesty International called yesterday for an independent
inquiry into how
Zimbabwe obtained tear gas.