FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube
War of words
rages on Sinister CIO moves alleged
MOVEMENT for Democratic Change president
Morgan Tsvangirai will meet his
deputy, Gibson Sibanda, today in what could
be a last ditch effort to end an
internal crisis that has rocked the
opposition party over participation in
next month's Senate
elections.
Tsvangirai yesterday maintained that he did not recognise the
26 candidates
who were nominated for the November 26 election on the MDC
ticket, branding
the nomination process a "fraud".
The MDC leader's
spokesman, William Bango, said Tsvangirai "had not shifted
an inch regarding
the senatorial polls," but was pressing for "a political
solution to what is
a political problem."
"Mr Tsvangirai is seeking a political solution to
this. He does not believe
in retribution. He wants to initiate a process of
national healing in the
party so that, through debate and discussions, the
party can focus on
challenges before it, that is, to deal with dictatorship.
There has to be a
healing process. Remember there is no dispute over
principles of the party
but only the Senate. He wants to give dialogue a
chance," said a
conciliatory Bango.
Party sources said today's meeting
between the two former trade unionists
would be the starting point in
attempts to break the impasse.
The latest development comes as it looked
increasingly likely the party
could mount its worst campaign for a major
election since its inception in
1999 and the landmark 2000 parliamentary
poll in which the MDC almost ended
ZANU PF's reign.
In a further twist to
the political intrigue, several provinces this week
disowned candidates
standing on the party's ticket in the Senate election,
reiterating their
position to boycott the poll while also citing the
unprocedural manner in
which candidates were selected.
The pro-senate faction of the party
insists the MDC will contest in Harare,
Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and
South, Midlands, Mashonaland West and
Masvingo. However, provincial
executives from Harare, Midlands, Masvingo and
Mashonaland West this week
said they did not sanction the registration of
candidates in their
provinces, charging that some of the candidates were not
party
members.
The sole MDC candidate in Masvingo, Hilda Sibanda was, according
to
documents at hand, suspended from the party in August for helping to
campaign for former Masvingo Central legislator Silas Mangono, who stood as
an independent candidate in the March parliamentary election. Mashonaland
East provincial chairman Alois Mudzingwa and provincial secretary Frank
Chamunorwa have since migrated to Harare province, where they will stand as
MDC candidates in the Mabvuku-Tafara and Mbare-Hatfield constituencies,
respectively, but the Harare province refuses to recognise their
candidature.
Chamunorwa and Mudzingwa, who was the MDC's candidate
for Murehwa North in
March, left MDC officials wondering how they had
managed to transfer from
the Mashonaland East constituencies to
Harare.
The Midlands North provincial executive also disowned the three
candidates
who will battle it out for Senate seats in the province.
Provincial
secretary Edgar Sithole said a provincial executive meeting held
on October
21 had resolved not to participate in the poll. "The province
resolved not
to participate in the senatorial elections and minutes of the
meeting are
available," Sithole said, adding that the province would not
provide any
support.
The Mashonaland West executive has also taken a
similar stance on the
election, saying the four candidates nominated on
Monday were unsanctioned.
"The two candidates from Hurungwe West and
Kadoma are not our members, the
other two are in our structures, but they
did not come from our wards and
districts so we do not know where they are
going to get about 800 polling
agents since our structures are refusing to
participate," the executive said
in a fax signed by provincial chairman
Japhet Karemba.
Following Monday's nominations, which confirmed a split
in the party, and
shocking claims made by St Mary's legislator Job Sikhala
that the feud in
party had been sparked by a row over funds donated by
Ghana, Nigeria and
Taiwan, leaders of the two opposing factions spoke in
more conciliatory
tones, although they maintained their positions on the
contentious Senate
issue.
MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube,
believed to be the leader of the
pro-senate faction, which also includes
four of the most senior party
officials including Sibanda, this week broke
his silence, telling SW Radio:
"The MDC has potential to resolve these
problems and recover from the
crisis."
"I can tell you there were
compelling arguments for non-participation and
equally compelling arguments
for participation and what the council had to
do at the end of the day was
to make a value judgment as to which tactfully
and strategically would best
serve the interests of the party.
"I hope the MDC leadership will rethink
and reflect seriously on the things
which bind us together as individuals in
the same party and those are the
founding values of the party. As long we
can have a re-commitment to those
values, then I have no doubt in my mind
that we will find the solution to
the problem that we face at the moment,"
Ncube said.
Both sides, however, will have to make concessions if the costly
impasse is
to be broken and a détente reached.
Tsvsangirai, on one
hand, believes the pro-senate position taken by some of
his colleagues has
been hijacked by state security agency, the Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), while Ncube called for the "renunciation of
all forms of
violence as instruments of political organization and
recommitment to the
MDC principle of democratic decision making."
Sibanda last week accused
Tsvangirai of complicity in acts of violence
perpetrated on some party
members over internal differences.
Bango yesterday said Monday's
nominations had exposed the CIO's hand in
compounding the MDC crisis. "He
(Tsvangirai) knows the secret service has
hijacked the differences over
senate. He knows it has come out in full force
to capitalize on the dispute.
A lot of what's happening is a product of CIO
work and the other guys in the
party who had a legitimate difference with
their colleagues have had their
own views hijacked and distorted by the
secret service in an attempt to
amplify or exaggerate the divisions.
"Mr. Tsvangirai is very clear that
the involvement of the CIO has a positive
spin in that all CIO projects and
schemes to destroy the MDC during the past
five years have failed dismally,"
Bango added. "The involvement of the CIO
will achieve the opposite effect as
it galvanizes people against the state
and reminds them of the ultimate goal
of fighting the dictatorship," Bango
said.
FinGaz
Rangarirai
Mberi
SOUTH African low cost airline kulula.com this week began daily
flights on
the Johannesburg-Harare route, posing a fresh threat to national
flag
carrier Air Zimbabwe.
Kulula.com will charge R729 for the
flight, lower than the route average.
Bookings opened on Tuesday. Air
Zimbabwe is currently charging $12 million
for the same trip, which is at a
premium to kulula.com's fares, even at
parallel market currency rates.
An
Air Zimbabwe official confirmed this week that the national airline would
soon raise its airfares in tandem with exchange rate movements.
Air
Zimbabwe, unable to increase frequencies due to its small, ageing fleet,
is
already lagging South African Airways (SAA) on the Harare-Johannesburg
route.
With the South African national carrier already flying into resort
town
Victoria Falls, kulula.com's arrival could see a further shrinkage in
Air
Zimbabwe's share of the market.
Some of kulula.com's flights on the
route would be run jointly with British
Airways, kulula.com executive
director Gidon Novick said.
"The people we are targeting are currently either
travelling by road or not
travelling at all," Novick said.
Low cost
airlines have seized significant market share from larger South
African
airlines by offering low cost flights that strip out the excess
luxury that
traditional operators price into airfares.
Offering a no-frills service helps
low cost airlines to afford knocked down
charges, thereby selling far more
seats than the larger airlines.
Attempts by Zimbabwean investors to set up
airlines to rival Air Zimbabwe on
the domestic market have failed in recent
years.
Two airlines, Zimbabwe Express Airlines and Expedition Airlines,
folded due
to high costs and sluggish bookings.
Their undoing was
imitating Air Zimbabwe's business model, and not offering
an alternative,
experts said then.
Air Zimbabwe spokesman David Mwenga said this week he was
unaware of
kulula.com's plans to offer direct competition to Air Zimbabwe on
the
lucrative route.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube
A CATASTROPHE of
alarming proportions is lurking at Hwange National Park
with reports the
devastating drought is decimating hundreds of wildlife
daily at the
country's largest game park.
The wildlife crisis at one of southern
Africa's renowned wildlife
sanctuaries comes at a time when the entire
southern African region is
experiencing a crippling drought. In Zimbabwe
alone, nearly four million
people are estimated to be in urgent need of
drought relief.
As the drought takes its toll on wildlife, it also emerged
the country's
depleted national herd had also been heavily knocked, with the
majority of
Zimbabwe's livestock reportedly in poor
condition.
Officials at Hwange National Park and wildlife enthusiasts in
Matabeleland
North where the national park is located spoke this week of a
serious crisis
unfolding at the park, claiming as many as 100 elephants had
perished due to
thirst and hunger in the past month.
They said the
park, estimated to be home to the largest population of
elephants with about
30 000 , is faced with an acute shortage of water which
threatened all the
animals in and around concessions in the area. The park
is also home to over
100 species of mammals and nearly 400 of birds.
Wildlife enthusiasts said
boreholes sunk at the massive game park, the 19th
Century royal hunting
ground of the Zulu warrior King Mzilikazi, had long
dried up leaving the
thousands of animals on the verge of death due to
thirst.
"I
personally counted up to 100 elephants that died as a result of the
drought.
The situation is so serious that some of the animals are walking
dead. It's
just a matter of time before all the animals are wiped out unless
it rains
anytime soon," said a safari operator in the area, speaking on
condition
that he is not named. "Carcasses of dead animals litter the park,
the park
smells of decaying animals," added the safari operator. He said
apart from
elephants, zebras, buffaloes and some small game had been
decimated by the
drought; a situation he said urgently needed government
intervention.
"This is a blow for indigenous safari operators that
benefited from the
governments land reform programme. The crisis at the park
does not augur
well for the tourism business," he said.
"We are
loosing clients. Tourists don't want to see suffering animals as is
happening in Hwange. It's a crisis, which the media in the country is
ignoring. We might end up without wildlife to talk about," he
said.
Authorities this week said they were yet to make a count at Hwange
National
Park to determine the extent of the crises.
Major Edward
Mbewe, the public relations manager at National Parks and
Wildlife
Management, said the authority was aware of the effects of the
drought at
Hwange National Park and was moving with speed to address the
water
shortages at the park, a vital foreign currency earner for the
country.
Mbewe said the shortage of diesel had long been addressed
with several
thousand litres having been made available to try and drive
pumps at the
park.
"We are doing something," said Mbewe. "The source
of the problem is the
drying up of natural water resources at the park," he
said, adding that more
than $2.5 billion was needed to improve the pumping
system at the park.
Tourism players benefiting from Hwange National Park
were also chipping in
with donations to avert the looming crisis. Shearwater
Adventures said on
Tuesday donated 400 litres of diesel to the National
Parks and Wildlife
Authority.
Wildlife farmers in the Hwange Safari
Concession said the acute shortage of
diesel had also hampered National
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority
efforts to operate boreholes in the
park.
It is understood the wildlife authority needed 50 000 litres of diesel
to
drive boreholes at the park which had been rendered useless due to lack
of
fuel.
Hwange National Park comprises the Main, Sinamatella, the
Robins and
Exclusive camps. The main camp is situated at the main entrance
to the park
and has numerous pans and pumped waterholes all of which had
long dried up.
"We are concerned about the terrible situation at the park
hence this
gesture of our social responsibility," said a spokesman for
Shearwater
Adventures.
Renson Gasela, the Movement for Democratic
Change shadow minister of
Agriculture and Resettlement, has accused the
government of not caring about
animals.
"The country needs not only
maize for the starving population but stockfeed
as well. If we take we
livestock into consideration, the country needs to
import more than 1.8
million tonnes of grain to cater for both humans and
livestock," he
said.
FinGaz
Chris
Muronzi
INVESTIGATIONS into the high profile corruption case at the
Zimbabwe United
Passenger Company (ZUPCO) are almost complete amid
indications that the case
would be handed over to the Attorney-General's
office soon for advice and
possibly prosecution.
Police spokesman
Wayne Bvudzijena said the force is hoping to record two
warned and cautioned
statements before surrendering the case implicating
ZUPCO chairman Charles
Nherera, to the AG's Office.
"Investigations are continuing in this graft
case. We are waiting for two
statements but after that is done, the case
will be in the hands of the AG,"
said Bvudzijena adding: "We should be
finishing the investigations soon. We
are interviewing different witnesses.
We don't have a time frame on the
conclusion of the
investigations."
Transport baron Jayesh Shah of Gift Investments and
Nherera crossed swords
after the ZUPCO chairman alleged that Shah had told
state security agents,
the police and ZUPCO board members that he had
solicited for a bribe to
facilitate the purchase of buses by the public
transport operator.
The bribery allegations, which were also captured on
an audiotape, have also
sucked in senior government officials.
FinGaz
THE Zimbabwe dollar fell
against key currencies on the new interbank
currency market yesterday, but
uncertainty kept the exchange rate unsteady.
Banks quoted the benchmark
US dollar in a wide range between $60 000 and $95
000, traders saying the
local dollar would head even lower once traders
gained more confidence in
the new market.
At the central bank's currency auction market, companies
withdrew their
foreign currency bids this week, dealers said.
A
committee of commercial bank treasurers, the Treasurers' Forum, was set up
last Friday to establish structures for the interbank trading system.
Meetings were held at the central bank, but players were divided on the
opening rate and over how the market would work.
Zibusiso Nkomo, head
of the Treasurers' Forum, was unavailable for comment
yesterday. However,
dealers reported there was still uncertainty as to how
the market would
operate.
"The market is so used to being led by the hand nobody wants to
take
leadership," a dealer said yesterday.
But according to central
bank governor Gideon Gono, the RBZ will not be
involved in the market: "We
have said to the market 'determine your own
rate'. We've thrown it into a
fish pond; let the fish fight it out on their
own."
He ruled out
lifting a ban on bureaux de change.
A sign of the uncertainty was the wide
differences in rates between banks.
By mid-afternoon yesterday, CBZ had the
greenback at $78 305, Zimbank at $62
000, FBC Bank at $73 000 and Stanchart
at $58 200. On Thursday, a Barclays
branch had quoted $94 500, but another
indicated $82 000 yesterday. - Staff
Reporter
FinGaz
Felix Njini
EDGAR Tekere,
the veteran nationalist whose comeback bid to mainstream
politics suffered a
jolt last week, opened up this week saying he is bitter
and disappointed
with the manner in which his name was struck off the list
of ZANU PF
candidates vying for Senate seats.
The maverick former ZANU PF
secretary-general jettisoned from the party in
1988 for failing to follow
party protocol, has ended his 17-year sojourn in
the political wilderness to
rejoin the ruling party and was, until last
week's emergency politburo
meeting, coasting towards the reintroduced
Senate.
His dream was last
week shattered after the politburo dropped the firebrand
politician - who
became the first person within the ZANU PF leadership to
publicly oppose
President Robert Mugabe's China-style one-party agenda -
from the final list
of candidates contesting the November 26 elections.
Tekere's readmission into
ZANU PF is still hanging in the balance after his
request was referred to
the party's national disciplinary committee, chaired
by the ruling party
national chairman, John Nkomo.
Tekere, the only candidate to be dropped
from the list of 50 ZANU PF
candidates eyeing seats in the bicameral
parliament, this week said he was
disturbed by the outcome of the Politburo
meeting chaired by President
Mugabe.
The former firebrand said: "I am
disappointed by the decision taken by ZANU
PF and I do not know what to do.
I will wait for them. If he (Nkomo) wants
me, he has to come to me," said
Tekere who also complained of ill health
during the telephone interview.
"There is no logic to what has happened and
I do not understand. I will
understand better when I talk to Nkomo," Tekere
said.
But Nkomo said
he was not aware of any ZANU PF officials who had approached
Tekere to come
back into ZANU PF. The ZANU PF national chairman said the
members of the
disciplinary committee were looking into 'Tekere's
application for
re-admission into ZANU PF.'
"I do not know about any party officials who
approached Tekere. I only know
that we are dealing with his application
letter," said Nkomo adding; "When
he left the party, that was the same
corridor he used (disciplinary hearing)
and now that he wants to come back,
it is the same entry point."
Nkomo's comments virtually put paid to
speculation swirling in Harare that
Tekere could still make it to the upper
house, albeit courtesy of an
appointment by President Mugabe, who would want
to have a leash on his
rebellious former comrade. President Mugabe is
empowered by the Constitution
to appoint six non-constituency senators, in
addition to the 20 members of
the lower chamber.
Just before his
sacking from the ruling party, Tekere had appeared to be
mounting a serious
political challenge against the establishment, an issue
some political
analysts said this week was not likely to be easily forgotten
by ZANU PF's
jittery old guard.
At the time of his sacking, Tekere had charged that
"democracy was in the
intensive care unit." He had earlier publicly
castigated his party
colleagues for corruption and wanton violation of the
leadership code of
conduct.
In April 1989, he joined forces with
disgruntled sections of the student
movement and
To Page 39
workers to
form the Zimbabwe Unit Movement.
ZANU PF insiders said Tekere's comeback had
been a source of discomfort to
some party bigwigs strategically positioning
themselves in the
faction-ridden party as the battle to succeed President
Mugabe in 2008
reaches fever pitch.
"The succession battle, which has
taken centre stage lately within the
party, comes to the fore when veterans
like him (Tekere) want to make a
pronounced come back in a party they left a
decade ago," said a senior
politburo member.
Politburo sources
however, said Tekere had been dropped because he does not
carry a ZANU PF
card.
While Tekere was dropped from contesting the senate elections, the
Politburo
accepted Dzikamai Mavhaire's candidature. The outspoken Mavhaire
served a
two-year suspension after he called for 'Mugabe to go' in
Parliament. This
has prompted critics to say ZANU PF only forgives and
forgets selectively.
FinGaz
Charles
Rukuni
BULAWAYO - The future of tyre manufacturing giant, Dunlop
Zimbabwe, is still
uncertain as the company was only given US$300 000 to
manufacture tyres for
one specific client.
Contrary to reports that
the company had been allocated US$350 000 to enable
it to reopen and revert
to a three-day working week, managing director, Phil
Whitehead, said the
company had only been allocated $300 000 specifically to
manufacture tyres
for the President's office.
"From this amount we had to import tyres worth
US$87 000 because we do not
manufacture them leaving a balance of US$213
000," Whitehead said.
He said they had imported raw materials, which arrived
in the country on
Monday, but this would be exhausted in four
days.
Whitehead said he was disheartened by reports especially in the
mainline
media that gave the impression that things were likely to improve
at the
tyre manufacturing plant when nothing of the sort was
happening.
Last week, there were reports that the company would soon embark
on toll
manufacturing for a Chinese company.
"Right now we have a backlog
of nine weeks for tyres needed by the police
and army. But we cannot supply
them. We also have a backlog of nine weeks
with our creditors, so they
cannot supply us with raw materials," Whitehead
said.
"We require US$300
000 a week, which means we have outstanding orders worth
US$2.7 million and
owe our creditors the same amount. The last time we
received foreign
currency was on July 26 and this was only US$300 000,
enough for a
week.
"Whitehead said the two major problems the company faced were the
shortage
of foreign currency and arrears with their creditors.
This was
likely to be compounded by the abolition of the foreign currency
auction
system and the introduction of the open market announced by the
central bank
governor last week.
He said up to now locally manufactured tyres were cheaper
than imported
ones. But if the open market rate rose to the parallel market
level then the
price of tyres would have to increase by up to 150
percent.
"Government is our largest customer. Are they likely to accept a 150
percent
increase in price?" he asked.
FinGaz
Felix Njini
Billions of
dollars lost in vehicles, fuel abuse
AN internal audit at the Ministry of
Higher Education and Technology has
revealed pervasive corruption, with
billions of taxpayers' funds alleged to
have been misappropriated through
rampant abuse of vehicles and fuel
allocations.
The internal audit,
carried out by the chief internal auditor in the
ministry, a Mr. M.
Mupondori has revealed that vehicles worth more than $3.3
billion were
procured from local car dealers by ministry officials without
going to
tender.
Procurement expenditure above $1 billion should go through a
formal tender,
according to laid down procedures for government
departments.
"This regulation and rule was therefore, violated in the
procurement of
motor vehicles valued at $3.3 billion," said the
report.
The report also reveals that the ministry's accounting officer
together with
the director of finance and administration forced colleges to
surrender
various amounts of money to enable them to purchase the
vehicles.
Colleges which surrendered various amounts include Bulawayo
Polytechnic
($150 million), Joshua Nkomo Polytechnic in Gwanda ($300
million) and Kwekwe
Polytechnic ($80 million). Harare Polytechnic, Mutare
Polytechnic, Gweru
Technical College and Westgate are among the largest
contributors with
figures ranging from $500 million to $550
million.
Funds earmarked for office equipment, furniture and fittings,
machinery and
plant and equipment were diverted to buy the unusable
vehicles, the audit
revealed.
"The audit observed that colleges are
complaining about their failure to
operate efficiently because their funds
were siphoned off by head office to
finance the unbudgeted procurement of
these vehicles," said Mupondori in the
report.
The audit also
concluded that ministry officials did not follow tender
procedures when they
purchased the vehicles.
"With such an intentional top management
overriding of pertinent procurement
regulations, kickbacks cannot be ruled
out as the only carrot. This is fraud
and corruption," charged the
auditors.
The report also reveals that the permanent secretary in the
ministry,
Washington Mbizvo, has eight vehicles allocated to him which
include a
Pajero, Mazda Eagle, Defender, Peugeot 607, while the Minister,
Stan
Mudenge, has three vehicles - a Prado, Mazda B2500 and a Mazda
Eagle.
The deputy minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu does not have an official
vehicle, the
audit report revealed.
"The allocation and distribution of
ministry vehicles can only be described
as corrupt, it is not fair, not
reasonable and not honest," said the
auditors.
The auditors strongly
recommended that Mbizvo 'returns ministry vehicles
that are in the use of
non-civil servants including vehicle no.820-170N
which is used by his wife,
Mrs M. Mbizvo."
In another shocking example of inadequate controls on
government property,
ministry officials are also failing to account for 32
vehicles belonging to
the ministry.
Some cars are reported to be parked
at the homes of senior ministry
officials while some could have been taken
to their farms.
There are 28 other vehicles, which are not accounted for
in the vehicles
register.
"Ministry vehicles not located at the ministry
are feared to have been
stolen, stripped or misused, not only by greedy and
dishonest civil
servants, but also by non-civil servants who have no right
to use government
vehicles at all," said the audit.
There are also
allegations of rampant abuse of fuel coupons with the finance
director
alleged to have at one time squandered 1 000 litres of fuel in 48
hours.
The abuse of state property has compounded the cash-strapped
government's
problems, putting a further strain on the budget
deficit.
Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere has also been fingered for
abusing
government vehicles following an accident involving his son Gwinyai,
who was
driving a ministry vehicle while running errands at Chigwedere's
Goromonzi
farm.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube
THE government, whose attempts to fetter
non-governmental organizations hit
an unexpected hitch after the NGO Bill
failed to take off, has moved to
grant provincial governors power to
register and regulate the sector.
The ZANU PF government has an uneasy
relationship with NGOs, which it
accuses of working with opposition
groups.
Guidelines released to Harare-based NGOs recently indicate that
the office
of the provincial governor will now be involved in the
registration
process of NGOs under the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVO)
Act through
the Ministry of Public Service Labour and Social
Welfare.
New applicants for registration will be required to
obtain
clearance letters from district officers. The clearance letters are
obtainable after a vetting process.
Organisations already in operation
are required to "regularize their
position with the governor's
office."
No time frame for such regularisation has, however, been set,
according to
sources in the NGO community.
NGOs, which have been
jittery over a Bill, which seeks to monitor their
operations and bar foreign
funding of local non-governmental organizations,
received an unlikely
reprieve when President Robert Mugabe refused to assent
to the
legislation.
However, the government's move to restrain the sector has
already seen many
donor agencies cutting or suspending funding altogether,
to the detriment of
many developmental and relief projects throughout the
country.
The National Association of Non-governmental Organisation
(NANGO) this week
reacted angrily to the new operational guidelines, saying
they would further
curtail the operations of the sector.
"The NGO sector
was not consulted in the formulation of this policy.
"The Legal and
Humanitarian representative structures within NANGO are
currently analyzing
the implications of these developments with a view to
coming up with a set
of recommendations, which will be table before a
broader NGO community at a
meeting to be convened in the not too distant
future," NANGO said in a
statement.
NGOs operating in Harare and Bulawayo have already sought
audience with
their respective governors in light of the latest
development.
FinGaz
Chris
Muronzi
FINANCIAL services giant Old Mutual is wielding the axe on scores
of
employees to do away with staff excess to its requirements while at the
same
time seeking to contain spiralling costs.
In a circular issued
this month, Old Mutual invited staff to take up
voluntary retrenchment
packages but hinted it might go the route of
compulsory retrenchment if the
offer fails to attract sufficient takers.
Sources said the circular dated
October 5 incensed the militant Zimbabwe
Insurance Employees' Union (ZIEU),
which this week described the proposed
exit packages as
"peanuts."
Old Mutual is offering one year's salary, $6 million
stabilisation
allowance, pay in lieu of leave, prorated bonus and 75 percent
of monthly
salary for each year of service as part of the
package.
Lawrence Gonye, the diversified group's assistant general
manager-human
resources, said a wave of company failures seen in the past
and declining
disposable incomes have caused a huge dent on Old Mutual's
revenue.
Old Mutual had embraced new technology and processes, which also
requires
fewer people to operate.
"In the event that the company does
not get sufficient offers to adequately
reduce staff numbers, it will
proceed with the route of compulsory
retrenchment via the Ministry of Labour
in terms of Statutory Instrument 186
of 2003.
"Since such
retrenchment will be negotiated, Old Mutual is unable to give
any detail of
the extent of the package that will be arrived at. However, in
the event
that Old Mutual is compelled to go the route of compulsory
retrenchments, it
will have no option but to identify individuals who are
surplus to its
requirements," said Gonye.
Meanwhile, the vocal ZIEU announced this week
that the industry had reached
a deadlock in salary negotiations with the
issue now being referred for
arbitration.
The union's organising
secretary, Farai Mupopori, accused the employers of
negotiating in bad
faith. The employers, he said, have offered a minimum
wage of about $3.4
million, a far cry from the $10 million demanded by ZIEU.
ZIEU has also
asked for a 172 percent salary increase across the board to
cushion its
workers from the high cost of living but the employers said they
could only
afford 15 percent.
"In essence we are saying the employer is negotiating
in bad faith and lacks
seriousness. The matter is being referred to an
arbitrator. An arbitrator
will sort that issue after the position has been
ratified by the National
Employment Council," said Mupopori.
"In the
event that the company does not get sufficient offers to adequately
reduce
staff numbers, it will proceed with the route of compulsory
retrenchment via
the Ministry of Labour in terms of Statutory Instrument 186
of
2003.
"Since such retrenchment will be negotiated, Old Mutual is unable
to give
any detail of the extent of the package that will be arrived at.
However, in
the event that Old Mutual is compelled to go the route of
compulsory
retrenchments, it will have no option but to identify individuals
who are
surplus to its requirements," said Gonye.
Meanwhile, the
vocal ZIEU announced this week that the industry had reached
a deadlock in
salary negotiations with the issue now being referred for
arbitration.
The union's organising secretary, Farai Mupopori,
accused the employers of
negotiating in bad faith. The employers, he said,
have offered a minimum
wage of about $3.4 million, a far cry from the $10
million demanded by ZIEU.
ZIEU has also asked for a 172 percent salary
increase across the board but
the employers said they could only afford 15
percent.
"In essence we are saying the employer is negotiating in bad
faith and lacks
seriousness. The matter is being referred to an arbitrator.
An arbitrator
will sort that issue after the position has been ratified by
the National
Employment Council," said Mupopori.
FinGaz
Crisford
Chogugudza
WHEN President Robert Mugabe first announced his intentions to
retire in
2008, l and many others paused a little and wished 2008 was like
next year
or so, it sounded like it was very near but quite far in reality.
It appears
most Zimbabweans at home and in the diaspora cannot really wait
that long
for the man to resign.
President Mugabe's announcement and
subsequent re-announcements to retire
seem to have fallen on deaf ears
because the plan does not address the
immediate problems of the country
which may be resolved if he announced that
he is resigning in 12 to 18
months. The complex nature of the country's
problems require a succession
plan to be put in place sooner rather than
later. Again, some people's
renewed interest in the ZANU PF succession plan
stem from the 'failure' of
the once mighty opposition MDC party to unseat
the increasingly unpopular
but crafty ZANU PF leader through the polls.
Some have questioned the logic
of having elections whose results do not
reflect the popular will of the
electorate in a meaningful way. President
Mugabe can be succeeded by members
of his own party or by the opposition
through democratic elections or a
bloodless popular uprising akin to the
Orange Revolution in
Ukraine.
President Mugabe has committed a litany of errors which have made
Zimbabweans sink deeper than such countries as Mozambique, Central African
Republic, Malawi and Tanzania in the UNDP development index. President
Mugabe does not seem convinced that his continued occupation of the State
House is increasingly becoming more of a liability than anything. He is not
at all concerned about the rapid death of the Zimbabwe nation state and the
decadence of the economy. The man carefully talks about succession to soften
people's minds and divert their attention from matters important to their
daily lives to remotely important issues such as UN reform and his obsession
of the Blair-Bush alliance in world politics. He uses the succession debate
so tactfully in the same way he talked about land reform to absolve himself
from the obvious blame on the current status quo which has made some of us
especially in the diaspora lose our pride and respect among fellow
Africans.
The ZANU PF ruling elite does not seem to understand how crucial a
properly
planned succession plan could help in resolving our current
problems at
home. In the UK, the ruling Labour Party is already openly
discussing Tony
Blair's succession, the opposition Conservatives (Tories)
are doing the
same. In France and other progressive democracies of the West
and elsewhere
succession is more of a palatable topic than it is taboo in
Zimbabwe. Closer
home in Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Zambia and South
Africa, succession
plans proved to be very effective and had a stabilising
effect on the
economies and politics of the above countries. This is
debatable though in
the case of Tanzania and Zambia.
Early succession to
President Mugabe has never before been as important to
Zimbabweans as it is
now. The issue of succession will always help people,
business and industry
to plan ahead in a predictable fashion.
It is manifestly true that President
Mugabe's hostile foreign policy against
the West compounded by archaic and
ineffective economic policies is
reminiscent of the banana republics of the
1970s and 80s. These poor
policies being promulgated and directed at
ill-informed and expired
intellectuals operating in a constitutional
dictatorship are largely
responsible for the current state of affairs in
Zimbabwe.
Conventional wisdom states that you do not fight the West, UK and
US in
particular, irrespective of how seemingly vindicated your course could
be -
the result is that you will be ignored and condemned to starvation if
you
are a small country.
The MDC on their part have a responsibility to
the people of Zimbabwe,
especially the urban folk to try and introspectively
reanalyse their own
policies and leadership style and possibly effect some
changes at the top.
This may be the only way they can ever succeed in
reclaiming the people's
stolen mandate. If the MDC does not reflect very
seriously on their
leadership structures and style, they run the risk of
being relegated to the
very fringes of national politics and could remain in
opposition for the
next 20 years as happened to President Abdullah Wade of
Senegal.
Essentially, the MDC needs to behave like a government in waiting.
What this
means is replacing the party president or the president replacing
some of
his rotten apples who, like their adversaries in ZANU PF, are
ineffective,
impotent and becoming increasingly irrelevant to the
contemporary
geo-politics of Zimbabwe.
Finally, succession to President
Mugabe should be openly debated and done
properly to ensure an orderly
transition. President Mugabe's early exit from
office, not power because he
does not have it anymore could be one of his
greatest contributions to the
people of Zimbabwe in recent years.
Zimbabweans need to be liberated from
ZANU PF bondage.
It is also unfortunate that the 1980s slogan 'long Live
President Mugabe'
seems to have turned into reality.
FinGaz
EDITOR - I am tired of counting zeros
on financial figures. If we are to
remove these useless zeros on prices and
on bank savings and everything
else, what will be the economic implications,
considering that our currency
is no longer exchangeable across the
borders?
Is there anything wrong if someone who earns $3 000 000 per
month is said to
earn $3 000 and the mealie-meal and rent s/he was paying is
also reduced by
the same zeros and the savings s/he has in the bank is also
reduced by the
same number of zeros? Won't that save us useful time and also
conserve
precious ink and paper?
I am no economist but I don't see
how this can't be done. Where else is our
currency used that we might be
afraid it may mitigate against us?
I would be happy if the authorities could
give us a detailed response if
this is not workable, and not just dismiss
this argument without furnishing
us with facts.
This should be the
starting point in introducing the new currency announced
by governor Gideon
Gono.
Livison Kahondo
UK
FinGaz
Chris
Muronzi
HORTICULTURAL concern Interfresh Holdings Limited is closing down
its prime
flower subsidiary, Smithfield, due to viability
problems.
"Smithfield, a 12-he-ctare hypercium growing and exporting
operation, which
struggled because of volatile and weak stem prices and
production falling by
40 percent is being closed down on viability grounds,"
Inter-fresh chairman
Lishon Chipango said.
The move brings a fresh
challenge to Inter-fresh as the horticulture group
has had to contend with
compulsory acquisition of its land by government.
Interfresh has, however,
restructured its operations over the years to
remain profitable. Reve-nue
streams have, in recent months, been boosted by
volumes from the group's
Mazoe Flo-wers and Bloomfield Flowers, which
recorded a 73 percent growth
buoyed by Euro-denominated exports.
The Interfresh business is made up of
Mazoe Citrus Estates, Mazoe Flowers,
Marlon Trading, Wholesale Fruiters,
Citi-fresh, Interspan, Trans-fruit,
Intercrop and Marlon Trading.
FinGaz
Njabulo
Ncube
ZIMBABWE has, in recent weeks, accelerated grain imports from South
Africa
to avert hunger stalking the former breadbasket of southern Africa,
The
Financial Gazette can reveal.
Grain industry sources last week
spoke of huge consignments of grain coming
through the border town of
Beitbridge, a claim confirmed by the South
African Grain Information Service
(SAGIS).
Of South Africa's total maize exports of 60 498 tonnes for the
week to
October 14, the bulk of 45 048 tonnes of white maize was destined
for
Zimbabwe compared to 21 377 for the week ending October 7, statistics
released by SAGIS last week revealed.
Harare, desperate to import
grain to avert starvation in and around the
country, had predicted a bumper
harvest of 2.4 million tonnes of grain.
However, statistics show the country
harvested between 500 000 and 800 000
metric tonnes of grain and needs to
import about 1.2 million tonnes of grain
to replenish depleted silos at the
Grain Marketing Board.
According to SAGIS, smaller amounts of white maize
went to eight other
African countries, with Angola buying 4 817 tonnes and
Botswana 4 364
tonnes.
Independent food security experts predicted that
about 4 million people in
Zimbabwe are in urgent need of food handouts until
the next harvest in May.
Recently, the government, which has flatly
refused to appeal for
international food assistance, citing conditions
attached to the handouts,
admitted it urgently needed to import 222 000
tonnes of maize to feed around
2.2 million needy people in its
books.
The country would need about US$240 million to import 1.2 million
to cover
the next eight months. Alternatively, it needs to import 150 000
tonnes a
month for the next eight months to cover the 1.2 million tonnes
deficit.
FinGaz
Staff Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN
exporters have been thrown a lifeline through Africa Forfeiting
Limited
(AFL), an international company that has busted trade barriers
pinning down
the region's export potential by coming up with a new product
that takes
funding-related worries off their shoulders.
Born out of research that
highlighted arbitrage opportunities within the
region's interest and
exchange rate regimes, AFL, which has identified
Melfast Factoring Company
(MF), as its partner in Zimbabwe, carries with it
answers to a myriad of
impediments that had handcuffed local and other
regional states' abilities
to grow their exports.
Simply put, arbitrage is the art of exploiting
yield-disparities in
different centres. These profitable spots have become
particularly useful to
Zimbabwe - in the throes of a sharp interest rates
spike compounded by
biting foreign exchange shortages.
The
prohibitive cost of money is now an albatross around Zimbabwean
exporters'
necks when viewed against their competitors basking in the glory
of
relatively stable economies. On one hand, the International Monetary
Fund's
(IMF) presence in the key competing states has all but sealed
Zimbabwe's
fate, which has not received balance of payments support from the
Fund since
1998, but has rebooted confidence in markets leveraged by the
all-powerful
global lender on the other.
Through its latest product offering aptly
named Product Forfeitare (PF), AFL
addresses the exporter's limitations by
helping access lines of credit
facilities and ensuring invoices are paid
upfront.
In essence, the exporter is guaranteed of cash-flow support free
of the
heavy interest rates existing locally through early payments availed
without
collateral among other things.
Collen Magurah, an executive
director for AFL, said the interest and
exchange rates disparities make it
easy for his company to access lines of
credit facilities cheaply on behalf
of clients, regardless of the deterrent
high political risks in their
backyards.
While the product is tailor-made for all exporters,
irrespective of their
size, it has definitely opened new frontiers for the
greenhorns with no
capacity to scan the regional environment and do due
deligence on potential
clients.
In an environment where lending rates
have scaled past 400 percent, not many
small to medium-size exporters have
the wherewithal and patience to wait for
90 days before receiving payment
for the products.
"We (AFL) realised that countries like Zimbabwe
may
need to take advantage of the lower interest rates within the region by
taking advantage of this product to access foreign exchange lines of credit
facilities without any major hassles. Local companies should take advantage
of this opportunity otherwise they will be left behind as this product also
targets other regional markets," said Magurah.
FinGaz
TWO major developments that will
certainly have far-reaching consequences on
industry and commerce happened
last week. These are the establishment of the
interbank foreign exchange
market and the upward review of key interest
rates in line with inflationary
pressures. And it was about time too!
As noted in one of our editorials
four months ago, this is nothing short of
victory for pragmatism because it
denotes not only the ability to listen to
the voice of reason but also
reckoning the influence of realities.
We have said it before that no
exchange rate regime is likely to serve all
countries at all times - the
choice is the country's own. It is a question
of best-fit and not
one-size-fits-all. In other words issues concerning
exchange rate policy
entail delicate balancing because exchange rates can
influence or be
influenced by other macroeconomic variables. But there is no
denying that in
Zimbabwe's case, the policy of gradual devaluation has had
adverse
consequences.
It is also pertinent to note that floating the local unit
brings the
exchange rate in line with the expectations of the International
Monetary
Fund, which has had problems with government over what the fund
views as
misguided macroeconomic and structural policies. The Fund last
August said
the Zimbabwe dollar was overvalued by 63 percent. The exchange
rate is not
only now more realistic but the devaluation is also of paramount
importance
in that Zimbabwe is moving towards meeting the conditionalities
of the IMF,
from which it cannot remain estranged. Which is why, in our own
estimation,
biting the bullet by allowing the local unit to free-float
against the
greenback shows that the monetary authorities have decided to
operate rather
than use the tried but failed time-buying tactics of
outpatient therapy.
We welcome this not only as a cathartic turning point
but also a bold move
considering the weighty political and nationalistic
connotations matters
concerning devaluation had assumed. Despite
overwhelming evidence that
political rhetoric notwithstanding, the Zimbabwe
dollar could not be
defended, the idea of devaluation had become
sacrilegious and its proponents
were labelled economic saboteurs. The
country's political leadership got
bent out of shape over the slightest hint
of devaluation.
The free-float strategy, though belated, is therefore a
positive development
because we believe that the US dollar is worth whatever
the markets are
prepared to pay for it. Not only that but allowing the value
of the dollar
to be established by market forces also allows the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
to implement monetary policy far more effectively. It
provides the means for
avoiding the ineffectiveness of direct
controls.
Of course in welcoming the long overdue devaluation, we are
mindful of the
fact that, coming as it does against a background of dented
international
credibility, the move can only mean tough times ahead for
Zimbabwe. This is
especially more so given that the country might have to
seek recourse to
international financiers to cushion the blow of the
currency devaluation.
This happened to the Philippines in 1997 following
the exchange rate mayhem
which was touched off by prolonged speculative
pressure on the country's
currency from hedge funds. Having said that, it is
important to emphasise
that this does not however take away the need for a
change in Zimbabwe's
exchange rate policies. Our only hope now is that when
they finally set
their ground rules, the interbank foreign exchange market
players will do so
to assure the integrity of interbank flows.
The
other highly contentious issue is that of interest rates. Raising the
accommodation rate to 415 percent and 430 percent for secured and unsecured
lending respectively, has already raised a hue and cry from industry and
commerce. Critics are arguing that the high interest rate regime will
inevitably further slow down the economy by causing business failures and a
high rate of unemployment in the short-term.
There is no arguing that
the move might indeed spawn recession in the
near-term. But then again, that
is the short-term cost of a long-term
solution! It is painful but necessary
because it would be difficult to tame
inflation and bring it down to
double-digit levels without causing any
unpleasant effects, as it is next to
impossible to make an omelette without
breaking eggs.
It is also
instructive for those critics who are saying that the interest
rate hike was
"a bit on the high side" to realise that in other countries
where economies
are firing on all cylinders, even without visible
inflationary signals, high
interest rates have been employed as a
pre-emptive strike to head off the
inflation scourge. It is all about
understanding the underlying factors and
seeing the big picture.
FinGaz
THINGS are so dire,
contradictory, complex, confusing and illogical in
Zimbabwe that very few
public officials have the courage to look
stakeholders in the eye and try to
explain what is going on.
In many countries, the main complaint about the
dissemination of public and
government information centres around the
esoteric jargon used.
Doctors, lawyers, the military, educators etc have
their own reasons for
using special jargon that is not easily understood by
others. The motive may
be to "soften the blow" or make some aspect of an
unpleasant reality more
palatable to the listener.
Spin-doctors
struggling to put across hard-to-sell policies and actions also
pitch in
from time to time with their own brands of verbal gymnastics. The
overriding
impression one gets is that no matter how unrealistic their
objectives may
be, the proponents of these different approaches are at least
trying to
court and woo audiences so as to win them over to their way of
thinking.
I have always felt that the difference between what happens
in these other
countries and ours is the contemptuous, patronising, taunting
and downright
confrontational and threatening approach public officials here
adopt whether
it is in interviews, at rallies, conferences or other
occasions.
Listening to some of these officials, even on television, is
an
energy-sapping affair, which often leaves one with a sour taste in the
mouth. Instead of being persuaded by these officials' venomous outpourings,
audiences more often than not feel harangued - hardly the best way to
influence people and win friends.
If you are a cash-strapped
Zimbabwean struggling to survive from one day to
the next, you can hardly
believe the Utopian scenarios that various public
officials paint in their
speeches and then try to force down your throat.
Listening to their glib,
deceitful, self-preserving and point-scoring
politicking when you have to
constantly confront the gruelling realities of
economic survival on the
ground is like getting a kick in your rumbling
stomach.
Things are
bad, but officials make them far worse by refusing to accept
realities and
persisting in trying to hoodwink the suffering masses to
accept their
jaundiced personal whims that are induced by living in opulence
amid
pervasive human misery, as the gospel truth.
One public official who has,
however, demonstrated that he is a different
kettle of fish altogether is
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono.
Now, I am the first to admit
that economics and topics like monetary policy
are Greek to me. I gave up
trying to understand the mysteries of how an
economy works a long time ago.
The only aspect of economics I have come to
appreciate the hard way over the
last few years is inflation, mainly because
it has relentlessly hit me where
it hurts most - my empty pocket! What I am
going to say in this piece is
therefore not about the success or otherwise
of Gono's policies, but the
genuine attempt he has made to communicate with
the people.
I have
often watched the breakfast meetings the RBZ boss has held throughout
the
country and marvelled at his courage in being prepared to face tough
questioning and harsh comments with dignity and civility. Evasive and
hot-tempered politicians, some of whom are to blame for the prevailing
economic shambles, should take a leaf from his book because he is willing to
consult widely with stakeholders regardless of their political affiliation.
Most importantly, he has demonstrated a rare ability to listen
empathetically and that way has been able to get feedback from the horse's
mouth - a missing link in most other policy formulation
initiatives.
When Gono was first appointed governor about two years ago,
I remember
remarking in this column how his efforts to establish a
transparent and
open-door policy were a breath of fresh air in an
environment where most
other officials depended on angry and deceitful
outbursts. to avoid facing
realities and taking responsibility for their
actions. Whatever else Gono's
weaknesses may be, in my book, he has passed
the test for accessibility,
accountability and pragmatism with flying
colours. The fact that he has
maintained this approach over the last two
years proves it was not a gimmick
when he first embarked on it. How I wish
we had more public officials like
him in this country. Most of our
self-inflicted problems would not look as
daunting as they do now because
the people would be free to voice grievances
and suggest
solutions.
Gono's pragmatism and willingness to engage in meaningful
dialogue instead
of just going through the motions, was much in evidence
when he addressed
members of the diplomatic community this week to update
them on the latest
goings-on and developments on the economic
front.
Something really caught my attention when he was discussing the
issue of
Zimbabwe's debt to the International Monetary Fund. After
explaining how the
money to make recent remittances to the IMF had been
raised, he thanked
those countries that had voted to ensure that Zimbabwe,
which was facing
expulsion, got a reprieve a few months ago.
He did not
end there, but - surprise, surprise - proceeded to thank even
those
countries that voted for Zimbabwe's expulsion, because, he said, their
motives were noble - they wanted to see this country doing better. I ask
you, how many of our "know-all-and-never-wrong" politicians would be as
gracious and open-minded in accepting constructive criticism?
Someone
has said, "Successful publicity over the long haul must be grounded
in works
that the public defines as good, motives that the public accepts as
honest
and presentation that the public recognises as credible."
Lest I be
accused of being gushing, let me hasten to say I am aware that
Gono is a
fallible human being who, like the rest of us, has no doubt made
mistakes.
But in my view he still stands head and shoulders above the rest
for
consistently endeavouring to be open, accountable, accessible,
encouraging
and optimistic under difficult conditions.
Most importantly, he has tried
to engage
Zimbabweans in genuine dialogue in the search for solutions rather
than
rhetorically try to browbeat them into submission. Contrary to what
many of
our macho politicians think, these are not signs of
weakness.