Tsvangirai to sue Mugabe

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 21:05

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has threatened to sue President Robert
Mugabe for making a series of unilateral appointments which he has described
as “unconstitutional, null and void”.

Mugabe recently unilaterally appointed provincial governors, judges and
ambassadors, angering Tsvangirai who said the president’s actions were
unlawful. Tsvangirai also wants to challenge Mugabe’s appointments in 2008
of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and Governor of the Reserve Bank Gideon
Gono without consulting him.

In a letter to Sadc facilitator, South African President Jacob Zuma dated
October 7 in the possession of the Zimbabwe Independent, Tsvangirai said his
party was considering taking Mugabe to court over the “illegal”
appointments.

“I am extremely concerned about President Robert Mugabe’s and his party’s
lack of commitment either to the GPA, to the Sadc resolutions or the
constitution and laws of Zimbabwe. I have now resolved not to recognise any
of the illegal appointments made by President Mugabe,” the letter says.

“This applies to a significant number of government positions, including a
member of the Cabinet (the Attorney-General), 10 governors and senators,
five senior judges of the Supreme and High Courts, and six ambassadors
(including to South Africa).  My party will also consider taking legal
action on these matters, which will bring into stark light the
constitutional crisis which we now face.”

Tsvangirai added that: “I have made President Mugabe aware of the legal
position and of my concerns on successive occasions and have urged him to
respect the law and thus avoid such a confrontation.”

However, constitutional lawyer Lovemore Madhuku told the Independent
yesterday that there were no legal remedies for Tsvangirai to what Mugabe
has done, adding that the solution for the impasse was “purely political”.
He said that the current problem was not a constitutional matter but a
political issue.

Madhuku said taking Mugabe to court was a waste of time because Section 31
(K) of the national constitution does not allow the courts to enquire into
how the president exercises his discretion.

Section 31 (K) of the Constitution states that: “Where the President is
required or permitted by this Constitution or any other law to act on his
own deliberate judgment, a court shall not in any case inquire into any of
the following questions or matter – (a) whether any advice or recommendation
was tendered to the President or acted on by him; or (b) whether any
consultation took place in connection with the performance of the act; or
(c) the nature of any advice or recommendation tendered to the President;
(d) the manner in which the President has exercised his discretion.”

It goes further to say where the president is required or permitted by the
constitution or any other law to act on the advice or recommendation of or
after consultation with any person or authority, a court shall also not, in
any case, inquire into the nature of any advice or recommendation tendered
to the president.

The courts, the constitution says, will also not ask the manner in which the
president has exercised his discretion after the consultation.

Madhuku said because of this section, the Supreme Court would not allow such
a lawsuit to be brought before it.

He said: “It can’t even go to the courts. That is how presidents are
powerful all over the world. It is simply a non-starter because it is
prohibited by the constitution. It must therefore remain a political problem
that needs purely a political solution.

“By taking it to court, they want the courts to make a determination of who
is telling the truth between the Prime Minister and the President and the
courts would have to determine who is bona fide between the two of them when
the President swore that he would abide by the Constitution. It is a strange
concept.”

Madhuku added that there was no way that Mugabe would tell the courts that
he has violated the constitution that he swore to abide by.

Just last week, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara suggested that MDC-T
should approach the Supreme Court if it had any qualms about matters of
constitutionalism. The Supreme Court is the constitutional court of the
country.

Mutambara told parliament that the appointments were determined by the Head
of State.

“Matters of constitutionalism can only be determined by our courts. The
Supreme Court should sit down and decide. There hasn’t been a determination
or challenge on the matter,” he said.

Tsvangirai has notified the Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku on the illegal
appointment of the judges and the president of the senate Edna Madzongwe and
urged them not to consider the governors as members of the senate. He has
also written to several countries and the United Nations (UN) over the
unilateral appointment of ambassadors. The UN however said it could not deal
with the issue. But the European Union says it was considering the matter.

Faith Zaba

Principals’ relations plunge further

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:59

THE recent good working relationship between President Robert Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has all but broken down in bitterness and
recrimination after the president’s recent unilateral appointments which
outraged the premier and re-ignited their fierce rivalry.

Mugabe’s and Tsvangirai’s relationship deteriorated further this week after
the prime minister boycotted cabinet for the second time this month. Instead
of attending Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the most important gathering on the
government calendar, Tsvangirai chose to travel to Zambia to meet President
Rupiah Banda to brief him on Mugabe’s increasing unilateralism within the
inclusive government.

Mugabe said this week he wants the referendum on the new draft constitution
in March and elections in June next year. His relations with Tsvangirai will
almost certainly get worse towards elections.

Tsvangirai went to Zambia on Tuesday morning and returned in the evening for
the MDC-T’s consultative meeting at Glen View 1 in Harare. Tsvangirai has
been holding consultative meetings to find out what his supporters think
about the current political situation in the country and his continued stay
in the collapsing inclusive government. The move might culminate in the
MDC-T pulling out of government, precipitating the collapse of the coalition
in which Mugabe and Tsvangirai were awkward political bedfellows.

Tsvangirai’s trip to Zambia is also part of the consultations on the state
of the inclusive government. The MDC-T leader is expected to hold more
meetings with regional leaders, including South African President Jacob
Zuma, as part of his diplomatic campaign to resolve the current political
stalemate in the country.

Tsvangirai on October 7 wrote to Zuma complaining about Mugabe’s unilateral
appointments of provincial governors, judges and ambassadors without
consultation. He said the appointments were “unconstitutional, null and
 void”.

Besides staying away from cabinet on Tuesday, Tsvangirai has also not
attended his Monday meetings with Mugabe on October 11, 18 and 25. The
premier boycotted cabinet on October 12, but attended last week’s meeting
before keeping away on Tuesday.

While Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka was not available for
comment, ministers who attended cabinet on Tuesday said the premier was not
there.

“He was not there for the second time inside three weeks,” one minister
said. “It shows there is something wrong. His relations with Mugabe have
deteriorated and the bad blood is back. There is now a lot of mutual
animosity, hostility and bitterness between them.”

Another minister said Tsvangirai was now boycotting cabinet and his Monday
meetings with the president because he has felt betrayed by Mugabe.

“Tsvangirai feels betrayed by Mugabe and he is very disappointed with him,”
the minister said. “This explains his behaviour and actions of late.”

Tsvangirai recently spoke publicly about betrayal by Mugabe, in a move which
left his critics feeling vindicated. Tsvangirai’s critics insisted right
from the beginning that trusting Mugabe betrayed political naivety on the
prime minister’s side because the president had a record of letting down
even his own political loyalists and allies.

“Events of the past few months have left me sorely disappointed in Mr Mugabe
and in his betrayal of the confidence that I and many Zimbabweans have
personally invested in him,” Tsvangirai told journalists in Harare on
October 6.

Tsvangirai had decided in 2008 to put aside his personal and political
differences with Mugabe and work together with him in the inclusive
government. After a number of meetings, the two started warming up to each
other, boasting in public their working relationship was now cordial. They
even castigated the media for trying to cast aspersions over their new-found
friendship.

Tsvangirai went all over the world, defending Mugabe and reminding everyone
he was a liberation struggle hero whose besmirched legacy could still be
rescued.

However, when Mugabe told Tsvangirai at their Monday meetings on October 4
that he had appointed governors arbitrarily, the prime minister was stunned
and felt betrayed. He summoned his party’s national executive on October 5
to discuss the issue and the following day he addressed journalists
expressing his disappointment with Mugabe.

The premier told journalists he felt betrayed and was “sorely disappointed”.
He even referred to Mugabe and his loyalists as his “yester enemies and
tormentors”, revealing his bitterness. Mugabe and his previous regime
harassed Tsvangirai, arrested and charged him with treason on a number of
times. In 2007 police brutally assaulted him at Machipisa police station
after blocking him from addressing a political meeting in Harare.

In a flurry of activity after their October 4 tense meeting, Tsvangirai on
October 7 wrote a series of letters to Mugabe, Zuma, United Nations
secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, European Union Commission president Jose
Manuel Barroso, Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfedt and Chief Justice
Godfrey Chidyausiku expressing outrage at the president’s actions which he
described as “nonsensical and rank madness”.

Mugabe has also been on the offensive, worsening their mutual hostility. He
has also referred to Tsvangirai’s complaints as “nonsensical”.

Dumisani Muleya

RBZ restored to lender of last resort

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:54

GOVERNMENT has restored the banker-of last-resort function of the
debt-ridden Reserve Bank after injecting US$7 million to improve fluidity of
banking operations.
A lender of last resort is an institution, usually a country’s central bank,
which offers loans to banks or other eligible institutions that are
experiencing financial difficulty or are considered highly risky or near
collapse.
Zimbabwe has 25 operating banking institutions, comprising 15 commercial
banks, five merchant banks, four building societies and one savings bank.
The banking sector is now largely dominated by commercial banks following
the migration of some merchant banks into commercial banking.
Finance minister Tendai Biti and central bank governor Gideon Gono yesterday
reached an agreement in the capital that would result in the re-emergence of
overnight lending, revival of the interbank market and ultimately improving
confidence in the financial services sector.
The central bank was rendered redundant after government last year adopted
the use of multiple currencies to stem unprecedented inflation. The central
bank has an estimated US$1,5 billion debt incurred during the decade-long
economic meltdown.
The decision by the Finance ministry to restore one of the core functions of
the apex bank could be a response to numerous calls from International
Monetary Fund and local banks which raised the red flag warning of an
imminent exposure of banks in the absence of a lender of last resort.
Local banks are currently holding US$2 billion in deposits.
“As Ministry of Finance we are officially restoring the lender of last
resort function of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,” Biti said. “To us this
marks the completion of a task we set out to do at the bank.”
He added: “We are providing amounts to the tune of $7 million which is
consistent with the mid-term fiscal statement. We have got the power and
discretion of increasing these amounts depending on how the
lender-of-last-resort operation is going to operate…If there is going to be
demand I can assure you that we can increase that amount from $7 million.”
Before the restoration of the lender-of-last-resort function, the apex bank
in July scrapped statutory reserves as a stop-gap measure to reduce bank
vulnerabilities and systemic risks.
The restoration of the function to the central bank — save for printing
local currency — is also expected to reduce lending rates currently as high
as 30%. This measure could again be a reprieve for depositors on the other
hand as it is expected to increase depositors’ interest rates.
Gono said he was “pleased” that treasury had surpassed the central bank
expectations after the former initially pledged US$5 million to revive the
apex bank operations.
He said the bank — which during the Zimbabwe dollar era faced criticism of
misappropriating funds held in foreign currency accounts — had set up a
committee tasked with an oversight role of the lender of last resort funds
in line with good corporate governance principles.
The central bank chief said the agreement would “add a tonne of confidence
where there was a tenth of confidence”.
He expected the monetary development to boost transactions carried through
the country’s national payment system.
The Real Time Gross Settlement, according to Gono, has since resumption last
year in April facilitated transactions worth US$14,5 billion while cheques
and internet banking accounted for US$200 million apiece.

Bernard Mpofu

Private firms hired for parastatal audit

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:52

THE Comptroller and Auditor-General’s Office has subcontracted private
companies to help it audit state enterprises in a bid to beat the October
deadline to submit audited financial statements, said a cabinet minister.
State-owned companies were given till the end of October to submit financial
statements for auditing in line with the recently approved Corporate
Governance Framework that compels all  78 state enterprises to present
audited reports.
State Enterprises and Parastatals minister Gorden Moyo said last Friday
there has been a sudden urgency by parastatals to meet the set deadline.
“I gave a directive in August that within three months all parastatals and
state enterprise’s chief executive officers should submit their salary
structures for ratification.
“Also all parastatals should have their boards fully constituted by end of
October (on Sunday). From preliminary reports the comptroller and
auditor-general is inundated by demands from parastatals to get their
financial statements audited to the extent that the auditor-general has
sub-contracted private companies to help in checking the books,” said Moyo.
He said the move has also been necessitated by the fact that most
parastatals had not had their financials checked in the past five years,
thereby burdening the government accounting office.
However, Moyo did not disclose what measures would be taken on parastatals
that failed to meet the deadline and what government had decided on the
remuneration of CEOs.
According to the document, financials statements of state enterprises or
parastatals should be audited annually by the Comptroller and
Auditor-General or a nominee from that office.
A national code on corporate governance would be a major step for Zimbabwe
in its effort to instill discipline and good conduct in corporates to
balance the interests of companies, shareholders and communities in which
they operate.
The national governance code covers such issues as board and directors,
culture, ethics, values and development, integrated reporting and
disclosures, government’s role and corporate governance, compliance and risk
management and specific requirements for state owned enterprises.
The corporate governance framework was approved by cabinet on October 13 and
is going to be launched in November, Moyo said.
He added that since issuing the directive, he is pleased that “some CEOs
have been fired and boards suspended because the line ministries are
following the government policy and all ministers are bound by it”.
“The potential of parastatals is that they can contribute 40% gross domestic
product so half of the economy is with the 78 parastatals.
“But we had a situation whereby some individuals, people who created big
untouchable monarchs, were milking these institutions with impunity for
selfish parochial benefits,” said Moyo.
This year government projects an 8,1% GDP.
Government is currently drafting a Parastatals and State Enterprises
Management bill that would provide for the codification of the corporate
governance policy to give it legal force, said Moyo.

Nqobile Bhebhe

Mugabe poll strategy targets youths, churches

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:49

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF has adopted a new strategy of mobilising
voters by appealing to the youths and trying to penetrate churches,
especially apostolic sects, in a bid to win elections he wants in June next
year.
Mugabe is pushing for a referendum on the new draft constitution in March
and elections in June next year.
In the past Zanu PF highly depended on the army, police and the intelligence
service, as well as war veterans and its militias, to coerce Zimbabweans to
vote for Mugabe and his allies but the party is now using both persuasion
and coercion as a new strategy to woo voters, mainly in Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s urban strongholds.
Mugabe has also taken his electioneering to churches. Recently he importuned
the Johanne Marange sect in Manicaland to canvass for votes.  Vice-president
Joice Mujuru has also addressed the church members in Mashonaland Central,
while Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has also been addressing churches.
Dressed in apostolic sect white robes, Mugabe attended the Johanne Marange
Passover ceremony in July, in what political observers said was a desperate
attempt to shore up his waning political fortunes.
It emerged that during the apostolic sect church gatherings, the Zanu PF
leaders openly encouraged church members to support their party.
Zanu PF officials say the party was targeting the Apostolic (Vapostori)
sect, with a membership running into millions, to register as voters and
spread the party’s propaganda ahead of possible 2011 polls.
Zanu PF’s electioneering last week took on a new dimension with Mugabe
giving Big Brother Africa loser Munyaradzi Chidzonga $300 000 in a move said
to be aimed at wooing youths to rally behind his party which has lost ground
to the MDC-T, mainly in urban areas. When Mugabe handed over the money ––
whose source was not clearly explained –– it became clear he was trying to
rope in Munya to his campaign. Munya said he would oblige and made it
clearer this week he prepared to “serve the president.”
In an interview with the BBC’s Harare Correspondent Brian Hungwe, Munya said
he was prepared to dabble into Zanu PF politics if Mugabe invited him. “He’s
a great man, yes he has had his ups and downs, but if he invited me I would
feel much obliged. I would be much obliged. I think that anything the
president asks me to do, I will do.”
Political observers say Mugabe wanted to use Munya to catch the youth vote.
Youths have long deserted Mugabe and Zanu PF and shifted their vote to
Tsvangirai and the MDC-T.
The involvement of Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment minister Saviour
Kasukuwere, Media, Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu, and
Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo in the Munya saga exposed Zanu PF’s
intentions. When Mugabe joined the fray, it became clear there was a
political agenda behind their statements and feigned generosity.
Zanu PF has also roped in young musicians, including a 10-member group
called the Born Free Crew, which released an eight-track album titled Get
Connected. The album was produced by urban grooves artist Sanii Makhalima
and was handed over to Mugabe during a national youth assembly meeting at
Zanu PF headquarters three weeks ago. The tracks are loaded with songs
praising Mugabe with a special appeal to the youths to be close to the
ageing president.
“Stay connected panetwork naGushungo….VaMugabe ndevedu/Hatimbofa takavasiya
(We will never abandon President Mugabe),” are part of the praise-singing
lyrics.
The propaganda songs are being aired on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) television and radio stations, sparking a barrage of criticism from
MDC-T, MDC and civil society.
It seems Mugabe and Zanu PF adopted South African President Jacob Zuma’s
campaign style which included using artists and celebrated disc jockeys to
appeal to the youths who constitute the largest voting bloc.
Sources say Moyo is behind the crafting of the new campaign gimmicks which
emphasise more of persuasion than coercion.
Another Zanu PF mobilisation plot is to use the indigenisation policy to
lure the youths and women to get votes before the polls, which  civil
society and MDC formations say should be delayed to allow implementation of
electoral and democratic reforms.
Mugabe pushed for the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act that
stipulates that indigenous Zimbabweans should own a 51% stake in companies
operating in the country, a move seen as a plan by Zanu PF to grab assets
and use them for campaigning to win elections.
Zanu PF’s national conference due in December in Mutare will be held under
the theme: “Total control of our resources through indigenisation.”
Recently, Mugabe reiterated the need for Zimbabweans to control natural
resources, especially minerals in an apparent reference to diamonds being
mined in Chiadzwa. Zanu PF could also get money from diamond mining
companies in Marange to sponsor its campaign.
After realising that support was diminishing in the run-up to the June 2008
presidential runoff, Mugabe, who was defeated by Tsvangirai in the first
round, used a campaign of violence and intimidation to retain power.

CAAZ battles to stay afloat

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:28

DEBT-LADEN Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) is struggling to stay
afloat as most of its flight equipment is obsolete and its capacity
utilisation remains at an all time low of around 20% since the introduction
of the multiple currency regime 18 months ago.
CAAZ chief executive officer David Chawota made the revelation when he gave
evidence to the Transport and Infrastructural Development parliamentary
portfolio committee on the state of airports and operations of the authority
on Tuesday.
“We are operating at a deficit. Our capacity utilisation is at 20% and most
of our properties are lying idle. The authority is just managing, we are
living from hand to mouth,” Chawota said. “Ground to air communication
systems need to be upgraded, in fact they need to be replaced. The
surveillance system at Harare International Airport is outdated. It was
bought in 1992. Normally this type of equipment has a life expectancy of
between 10 and 12 years. In other words it is long overdue for replacement.”
CAAZ said the decade-long economic meltdown which the country experienced
since the turn of the century has also negatively contributed to the low
capacity utilisation at the authority.
“Underutilisation of airports was a result of low air traffic. Traffic has
gone down since 1997 to 2009. It dropped from an all time high of 82 000 to
the current low of 30 000 flights per annum. Thus, capacity utilisation and
revenue generation have become a real challenge,” Chawota said.
The authority has international debts to the tune of US$150 million and most
of the debt was contracted for the now obsolete equipment. More than 10
airlines, among them Qantas, British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa
discontinued flights to the country for both economic and political reasons.
Committee chairperson Blessing Chebundo asked him when the split of the
authority would be completed so that two entities, one for services and the
other for regulating aviation, would be done.
“We are still a regulatory authority and service provider,” Chawota
responded. “Separation of functions is at an advanced stage. The cabinet is
reviewing the legislation. A new Act will have to be promulgated and the new
entities created. The separation should go ahead.”
The embattled aviation authority is operating without a board after the last
board’s term expired at the end of 2009 and the minister has not appointed a
new one. This has further complicated matters at the authority as no one is
currently giving policy direction.
Meanwhile, the committee this week criticised Air Zimbabwe for abandoning
the Harare-Luanda-Kinshasa route, accusing the national airline of making an
unpatriotic decision without taking into consideration Zimbabwe’s
intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 1998 and 2000.
Former Mashonaland West Governor and Hurungwe North MP Peter Chanetsa made
the attack against Air Zimbabwe management when it appeared before the
portfolio committee on Tuesday to give evidence on its restructuring
exercise, recapitalisation project and update on its retrenchment scheme.
“We lost our lives defending Congo. Now other airlines are enjoying our
sweat,” Chanetsa said amid cheers from fellow members of the committee.
“What happened to the internal services we were given by Congo to service
Mbujumayi, Kinshasa and Katanga?”
Zimbabwe deployed about 12 000 soldiers to help prop up the fragile
Congolese government of the late Laurent Kabila, which was fighting against
rebels from Rwanda and Uganda who wanted to create independent states in the
vast central African country.
In response, Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer Peter Chikumba said: “Air
Zim applied and sought business. The internal operations in Congo then were
intended to generate cash in foreign currency. We got out after it was no
longer viable to do so. The operations are now being run by a joint
partnership between South Africa and a local airline. For us, it is better
to operate as a through line.  It was no longer viable to operate
internally. There were skirmishes and other associated security risks in the
country (Congo).”

Paidamoyo Muzulu

Faction-riddled Byo elects central committee members

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:28

ZANU PF Bulawayo province has elected six people to be co-opted onto the
central committee after the politburo had initially rejected a list
presented two months ago as the power struggle rocked the region.
Senior party officials said the province had also selected seven special
councillors to be added to Bulawayo city council’s 29 MDC-T and MDC
councillors, despite spirited resistance against the move by the political
parties and civic groups.
The elections were held on Sunday at the provincial headquarters – Davies
Hall -- and were chaired by provincial chairman Isaac Dakamela.
Dakamela confirmed on Wednesday that the provincial coordinating committee
(PCC) met at the weekend, but declined to discuss the issue.
Senior Zanu PF members told the Zimbabwe Independent that politburo members
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Eunice Sandi-Moyo, Absolom Sikhosana and central
committee member David Ndlovu attended the meeting where Emmanuel Kanjoma,
Themba Ncube, Dennis Ncube, Jevan Maseko, Anna Moyo and Yona Mpofu were
chosen to fill central committee vacancies. Zanu PF elected central
committee members last year, but Bulawayo had six vacancies.
The elections were held, sources said, following an order from the Zanu PF
department of administration last week. The chosen members list will then be
forwarded to the politburo for approval.
Earlier attempts to co-opt former Bulawayo mayor Abednico Nyathi, former
Bulawayo political commissar Raphael Baleni, Violet Ncube, Dennis Ndlovu,
Nelly Dupute, Elphus Tshuma and Misheck Velaphi two months ago hit a brick
wall after the politburo rejected the list in what party insiders say was a
fight between national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo and John Nkomo. The list
was perceived to be consisting of Nkomo’s allies. The central committee is
Zanu PF’s decision-making body and members are elected by district
coordinating committees.
“The election of the central committee members was done under protest
because there was no quorum of the provincial coordinating committee since
only 76 people attended instead of 95,” said the Zanu PF insider.
Another Zanu PF official claimed that the weekend meeting was initially
supposed to endorse a list that was rejected by the politburo, but Dakamela
led the election of a new list. The source said the initial list had been
rejected because it had seven names instead of six and the party leaders in
Bulawayo were supposed to drop one name rather than elect new names.
Dakamela, however, declined that he influenced the outcome of the elections.
The senior Zanu PF members said Nyathi, Kanjoma, David Ndlovu, Dennis
Ndlovu, Thandabana Tshuma, Eneysses Nhohwedza and Omega Sibanda would be
appointed as Bulawayo special councillors by Local Government minister
Ignatius Chombo.
The source said Dakamela also sent out letters of dismissal to over 70
provincial council members who have not been attending meetings. Zanu PF
Bulawayo province has resolved to sack officials accused of sabotaging party
activities before the December conference in Mutare where members are
expected to endorse President Robert Mugabe as party’s candidate in next
elections, possibly next year.
The party’s structures in Bulawayo are in shambles as members are joining
the revived Zapu in droves while others have become members of the two MDC
formations.

Brian Chitemba

Families in the open after govt destroys homes

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:21

GOVERNMENT has destroyed several homesteads in Mashonaland West belonging to
those who do not have offer letters, leaving more than 20 families with
young children living in the open.
This has resulted in a humanitarian crisis in Baruka Village 1, about 15km
out of Chinhoyi  along the Harare-Chirundu Road near what is now known as
the “Diesel Mountain”, and in Long Valley and Gambara settlements in
Mhangura and Makonde.
The destruction of the properties was done through the District
Administrator (DA)’s office, which said the occupants were staying illegally
as they did not have offer letters for settlement.
The villagers, however, denied the claim, arguing that the land was “taken
from white farmers” for them to settle as part of the land re-distribution
exercise.
Reached for comment, Mashonaland West Provincial Administrator Christopher
Shumba said he could not give details on the operation but confirmed that it
was a process being undertaken in the province.
“This is a process to make sure that people live in the area legally,
according to the law. Why don’t you call the (Mashonaland West) governor, he
will be the rightful person to comment,” he said.
Mashonaland West Governor Faber Chidarikire confirmed to the Zimbabwe
Independent that his province for the past two weeks has been forcibly
removing illegal settlers.
“Those people are squatters from Muzarabani, Gokwe and some Midlands areas
who illegally settled themselves in the areas and are disturbing resident
villagers,” Chidarikire said. “They have been told well in advance to return
to their homes and that if they wanted to stay in the province they should
follow set out procedures. Some complied and left, but others were
big-headed thus had to be removed.”
When the Independent visited the areas on Tuesday, members of the evicted
families sat hopelessly in the open fields close to their burnt homes.
Rubble from destroyed huts and granaries were scattered around.  Blankets,
pots, cups and clothes were packed in plastic bags, while at some burnt
homesteads abandoned donkeys, goats, chickens and guinea fowls could be seen
around the yards.
The families, especially young children who constitute a huge number of the
evicted, were traumatised and faced many risks staying in the open fields.
With the rains starting to fall, fears were growing among the villagers that
they will be exposed to waterborne diseases.
“I still can’t believe how some people can be so cruel as to destroy our
homes and leave us with nowhere to go,” said 45-year-old Merenia Bvumba
whose seven huts and a granary were destroyed and is now living in the open
with 10 family members, eight of them children.
“It was two weeks ago when six men from the DA’s office came and instructed
us to put all our property outside because they said we did not have offer
letters. We did that and spent a week staying outside before they came
 back.”
In a manner reminiscent of the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, the officers
from the DA’s office forced the villagers to destroy their own homes and
return to their former villages.
Bvumba’s family moved to the settlement three years ago from Siakobvu –
Nyami Nyami in Kariba (300km from Chinhoyi) after being told “there was land
taken from the whites that was being redistributed”.
“We are not squatters, we also deserve to be on this land,” Bvumba said. “We
have tried to get these offer letters but each time we go to the DA they
would tell us they were coming to “peg” (sic) the land. Now they just remove
us like this with nowhere to go.”
Thomson Chandendema, who witnessed the destruction of some of the homes in
Long Valley area, described the move as sad.
“About 20 families’ huts were destroyed and by people who said they were
from the lands office. The families were accused of staying in the area
illegally. They were left with nowhere to go. Some were taken in by some
families who felt sorry for them while others are staying at the banks of
Munwa River,” said Chandendema.
Hunger is already stalking the villagers and some children are not going to
school following the disturbances.
A tearful Otilia Mandimo narrated how she had struggled to
look after her seven-year old daughter and three-year old granddaughter who
have not had a decent meal in weeks following the destruction.
The children were eating wilted raw sweet potatoes with water.
“We were told that we were not allowed to stay here thus we had to leave.
They did not offer us any alternatives or transport to ferry us back to our
original homes. I come from Chivhu and it is very far,” said Mandimo.
“We are stranded and I cannot even think properly. My child and
granddaughter look at me failing to understand what’s going in, this has
really disturbed them. I can only look back at them helplessly. Julie
(daughter) is currently not going to school because of the disturbances.”

Wongai Zhangazha

‘Sanctions’ not to blame — EU

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:15

RELATIONS between the European Union (EU) and Zimbabwe have been sour over
the past decade with President Robert Mugabe accusing the bloc of agitating
for regime change through the imposition of sanctions and backing the main
MDC party led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Since the formation of the unity government, Zimbabwe and the EU have opened
re-engagement talks. The Zimbabwe Independent editor, Constantine Chimakure
(CC), on Wednesday spoke to the newly appointed EU head of delegation to
Zimbabwe, Ambassador Aldo Dell’Ariccia (AD), in the capital on the issue,
among others. Below are excerpts from the interview.
CC: Were you sincere when you were quoted in the state media soon after
presenting your credentials to Mugabe that there was press freedom in the
country?
AD: My intention was to give some kind of positive message and my view is
that the private media in this country show some vibrant independence. Your
newspaper, for instance, is an excellent source of information and an
example of media vibrancy in the country.
If you look at NewsDay, the Independent and the Financial Gazette there
seems to be  no self-censorship and in my view this demonstrates press
freedom, although I am not saying there is complete press freedom.
There is still a monopoly in broadcasting which should be ended by
legislation and reforms captured in the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
CC: Can you talk of press freedom when we still have draconian laws in our
statutes which inhibit it, journalists still in exile while others are
facing criminal charges in the courts?
AD: I presented my credentials after I had only been in this country for
nine days. My impressions were for those nine days. I have now been here for
two months and I still believe that some of the things written demonstrate
media independence and vibrancy.
I am informed there are legislative reforms taking place to improve the
environment. It’s a long process but we hope of improvement. I see it from
the optimistic point of view that the government of national unity is aiming
at getting a better environment, generally in the country.
I will try to meet the authorities of the Zimbabwe Media Commission and the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe to see how we can possibly support this
process.
On legislation, it is a matter of a sovereign state to decide.
CC: Let’s turn to the latest impasse in the inclusive government on recent
key appointments, among them, governors, ambassadors, etc. Tsvangirai has
written to Western capitals, the EU and the UN saying the ambassadors should
not be recognised. What is the EU stance on the issue?
AD: When we had the briefing by Mr Tsvangirai about these issues, I asked
him if this was meaning that the GPA was no longer in force and his answer
was very clear –– the GPA goes on. He said his party was still in the
government of national unity. That was very important because it is on the
basis of the GPA that we have established the re-engagement process with the
country.
We have six ministers dealing in the re-engagement dialogue who have
attended high-level ministerial meetings in Brussels and now the process
will continue here in Harare …
The issue (Tsvangirai’s letter) is being analysed by our protocol service.
CC: Is the EU happy with the implementation of the GPA?
AD: The GPA to us is very important because it is the basis of our
re-engagement with Zimbabwe in the process towards normalisation of
relations.
We have seen positive outcomes of the GPA. There are outcomes which were
very important like the establishment of the Zimbabwe Media Commission and
the Human Rights Commission.
We don’t interfere with the functioning of the GPA, but we are pleased that
there are efforts of finding joint ways of moving the process forward in the
development of the country. There are some results that are tangible.
My team and I have the task of reporting to our headquarters on the
evolution of the GPA. There have been ups and downs, but we hope for
positive things.
CC: Can I have dates of the Zim-EU re-engagement meeting in Harare?
AD: No, no, there are no dates yet. We have started discussing the matter
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…
CC: When can we expect the lifting of sanctions?
AD: What sanctions? First of all, they are not sanctions but restrictive
measures. The measures have been in force since 2002 and were a result of
certain circumstances. They are reviewed every year to assess how the
situation has evolved. The last review was February 2010. The measures were
imposed on people who violated human rights and during the last review some
people and companies were removed from the list.
These restrictive measures are not a stumbling block to the economic
development of Zimbabwe. These are targeted sanctions, targeted on certain
individuals and certain companies and not the population of Zimbabwe.The
interesting point in the debate is that there are accusations that the
restrictive measures are to blame for the slow pace of the development of
the country, that they have an impact on goods and services prices, etc.
There is no evidence of that, there is no demonstration how the EU
restrictive measures have an impact on the economy.
The support of the EU to the Zimbabwe   population has been sterling. The EU
is the main development partner of Zimbabwe.
CC: Is it not that the EU has been bankrolling humanitarian projects only in
the country?
AD: It’s not correct. The issue has been that because of the restrictive
measures, we cannot channel our cooperation through government. We channel
our cooperation through international organisations and non-governmental
organisations. Nevertheless, this is done under the national development
plan and all the projects are implemented with the cooperation of line
ministries.
So, even though there is no direct support to the government, our
cooperation goes into the strategic development of the country and it goes
largely beyond strictly humanitarian aid. Just yesterday, the EU announced a
13,8 million euros envelope to go into the sugar industry. It is very
important because beneficiaries of this project are smallholders. The money
is for boosting production in the sugar sector.
Trade between Zimbabwe and the EU has been increasing steadily. I am pleased
to say the EU has been the second most important trading partner of Zimbabwe
after South Africa.
CC: Do you think Zimbabwe can have free and fair elections next year given
the violence that erupted during the constitution-making outreach meetings
recently?
AD: It is very difficult to extrapolate one event to the other. But in order
to have elections that satisfy and reflect the will of the people you must
have certain conditions in place and it is important for us to see if the
conditions are fulfilled or not. You must have an electoral commission which
is functioning properly, you must have a voters’ roll which is complete and
clean, you must have voters’ education.
The violence was very worrying, more so to the people of Zimbabwe. The
violence demonstrated that there is some more homework to be done to make
sure there is no repeat of such incidences, especially during elections.
CC: According to Mugabe, your mission here is regime change?
AD: The position of the EU is that we do not interfere with internal affairs
of the country. We believe that the people of Zimbabwe have the political
maturity and are literate to chart their destiny without us coming to tell
them what to do.
We are pleased when there is progress towards democracy, development and the
will of the people is granted.

Health delivery still on the ropes despite GNU

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:53

AN elderly woman lies on a stretcher bed just outside Parirenyatwa Hospital’s
casualty department in the scorching summer heat waiting to be attended to.
As the heat hits her wrinkled skin, the woman groans in pain, with tears
streaming down her cheeks.  Her weary looking relatives are now slowly
losing hope of ever getting assistance from the medical staff.
Another hour passes by, but still no movement in the queue. Eventually, they
slowly start pushing the stretcher bed into the hospital and join the long
queue inside. They cannot believe that this was happening at one of the
country’s biggest referral hospitals.
Max Mukurunyorova has gone through this before. Just two months ago, he
brought a friend’s father.
“If you are not ‘jagged up’ (sic) here, your relative will die on the
stretch bed,” said Mukurunyorova. “The service is very slow and frustrating.
Two months ago, I came with a friend’s father who was seriously ill. We got
to the casualty at 6pm only for him to be admitted at 4am.”
He added: “Doctors and nurses here are overwhelmed by the job. From the look
of it there seems to be a shortage of nurses and doctors. There is not
enough staff to run the casualty department. The service is pathetic.”
The service is worse in the evenings with some of the casualty wards poorly
lit and a strong stench coming from the toilets. Some of the blankets are
worn out and visibly dirty, with blood stains sometimes.
The situation is not unique to Parirenyatwa, but a portrait of all
government hospitals, which despite the slight improvement since the unity
government was formed in February last year, are still in need of
resuscitation.
Only a few doctors remain and most of these are students or interns.
Hundreds of qualified health personnel left for other countries at the
height of the economic meltdown.
A combination of poor remuneration and bad working conditions has frustrated
the remaining nurses.
People interviewed by the Zimbabwe Independent said the principals in the
government of national unity should not prioritise elections but healthcare.
One patient, who preferred not to be named, said: “We read that they are
talking about having elections next year. I would prefer that they
prioritise on improving health facilities at hospitals before the
 elections.”
Parirenyatwa group executive chairperson Thomas Zigora in an interview last
week said the workload at the hospital had increased and the staff could not
meet the demand for healthcare.
Zigora said: “Right now, as of today (Wednesday) we would probably have 900
in-patients who will be admitted, we will see about 300 at the casualty area
and 200 at specialist clinics that is not the workload that was there
before.”
He blamed their staff woes on the failure by government to review health
systems since Independence.
“For nurses right now we have filled our establishment (of 261) and that is
also why we cannot employ the trained nurses who are at home.  We are now
asking for a review of the establishment but it takes time because it is a
process and finance is not approving expansion.”
“Yes clearly we have very few doctors and nurses because the workload has
increased overtime. If we look at scientists, pharmacists, specialist
doctors, specialist nurses in intensive care, theatre, and midwifery they
are few.”
The Health ministry in its 2011 budget proposal presented last week proposed
a review of establishments not only at Parirenyatwa but at a national level
to include rural health centres, district general hospitals, central
hospitals and training schools since demand has increased.
The budget proposal also mentioned that some medical equipment and
facilities have outlived their lifespan and needed replacement for example
at primary level care 78,3% of health facilities did not have functional
sphygmomanometers (BP machine) and functional x-ray machines.
“Government needs to continue with this phased equipping of health
facilities but seriously look into accelerating this process of equipping
its health facilities,” reads the proposal.
On why patients had to wait for long hours before treatment, Zigora said
there was a misunderstanding.
“Pari (Parirenyatwa) will see 300 people in a day at casualty, Pari will at
any given moment have at least one doctor at the casualty between 11am and
2pm, they may have two or three doctors so they will take time with each
patient that they see. So delays will be there because these will be like
300 people, 50 of whom are coming at the same time,” he said. “People should
try to be patient. What we have is a tragic system, that sometimes people
don’t understand first come is not necessarily first served. Workloads have
increased so much so that keeping pace with it is difficult.”
Health minister Henry Madzorera last week said his ministry was working very
hard to improve conditions at hospitals and laboratories and hoped that
money earned from Chiadzwa diamonds in Manicaland would significantly
improve service and motivation of health workers.
“Conditions of service do not lie in the Ministry of Health alone. We rely
also on industry and commerce and the Ministry of Finance and Mining. ”
“We have so much expectation from Chiadzwa to change our fortunes around but
so far it’s just talk and nothing much has been done in the line of
improvement,” Madzorera said.
United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray said, while announcing that
his country has committed an additional $3,2 million to strengthen the
quality of public health laboratories, urged the private sector to come in
and assist the government to create an effective and attractive medical
system.

Wongai Zhangazha

Violence set to flare up as elections loom

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:43

THERE is a general sense of fear and anxiety gripping Zimbabweans concerning
the upcoming elections mooted for mid next year, as Zanu PF fights for its
survival. Analysts say violence is likely to flare up, following reports
that President Robert Mugabe has reactivated the state security apparatus to
intimidate people into voting for him.

With the announcement by Mugabe that polls are likely to be held by mid
2011, after a new constitution, reports have filtered through that the 86
year-old leader has started mobilising for the elections. His plans, the
reports say, include deploying the army, Central Intelligence Organisation
agents and the police to ensure his victory in the elections.
Critics say the prevailing political environment was not conducive for
elections considering that the same polarised situation that saw the June
2008 presidential run-off turn bloody has not changed. The military has been
fingered in Zanu PF’s terror campaign in the constitution-making outreach
programme.
In rural constituencies, military bases are reportedly still intact while
the Joint Operations Command (JOC) is active at district level to plot
Mugabe’s way to an election victory.
Mugabe is said to be pushing for elections next year because he believes
MDC-T is limping and his party has a chance to romp to a landslide victory.
Civil society is lobbying for critical democratic and electoral reforms to
allow for free and fair elections, which will bring to an end a troubled
coalition government, formed after the signing of a Global Political
Agreement in September 2008.
MDC-T says international observers and peacekeepers should be deployed to
Zimbabwe to contain Mugabe’s violence, but presidential spokesperson George
Charamba has dismissed Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s plea, saying
Mugabe would never agree to that.
Constituencies that were hit by political violence are still being haunted
by the events of 2008 and are not ready to face another wave of violence
next year.
Zaka Central MP Harrison Mudzuri, whose constituency was a political hotbed
in 2008, said intelligence officers recently set up a “command centre” in
the district to coordinate Zanu PF’s violence.
“As a party (MDC-T), we are not worried about Zanu PF but we are concerned
about institutions like the CIOs, police and the army used by Mugabe to
intimidate our supporters,” said Mudzuri. “Under the current situation, we
are not guaranteed of free and fair elections because of security forces
armed to the teeth to intimidate innocent civilians.”
MDC-T blames Zanu PF for the killing of 200 of its supporters and maiming of
thousands others in state-sponsored violence in the run-up to the June 2008
presidential run-off.
Mudzuri said the “murderous” JOC needed to be disbanded to allow for a free
environment before Mugabe proclaims elections dates.
The president, in consultation with other principals, makes a proclamation
of election dates after which the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) starts
preparing for the polls.
Analysts said the rural electorate still live in fear as perpetrators of the
2008 violence have not been made accountable.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s South Africa regional coordinator Dewa
Mavhinga said there were no legislative or institutional mechanisms to
prevent violence and intimidation in the event of another election.
He suggested that Sadc leaders and the international community deploy a
peace-keeping force to Zimbabwe before and after elections to monitor and
prevent violence and intimidation.
Mavhinga said violence was likely to escalate in the next polls given that
Mugabe and his cronies have rich-pickings from the Marange diamonds.
He demanded government accountability of all diamond revenue from Marange to
eliminate the risk of the money being used to fund a violent election
campaign.
“Without a physical presence in Zimbabwe of a peacekeeping force, it is most
likely that we will head for another violent election that will not reflect
the free will of the people,” said Mavhinga.
“Everyone must play their part to prevent another bloody, illegitimate
election. Churches, communities and civil society must devise mechanisms to
protect their communities, and reject and expose violence wherever it
occurs.”
Other analysts blame Tsvangirai, who they said did nothing after the killing
of 200 of his supporters.
The negation of the issue of the security apparatus and the failure of MDC-T
to clearly insist on a change of both personnel and attitude when they had
the leverage to do so was a complete betrayal of the mandate that the party
got from Zimbabweans after the 2008 elections, civic observers say.
Political commentator Julius Mutyambizi-Dewa said: “He is now fast becoming
a liability to his own supporters who are growing frustrated about being
exposed to deadly violence but at the end of the day their party does
nothing other than offering comradeship to the perpetrators.
“A responsible political party would fight for its supporters; it would
fight for the victims and bring justice for their departed souls and the
troubled lives of their orphaned children and their widows. Accountability
would have done that and the insistence by MDC on reconciliation before
justice was an irresponsible anxiety driven by prospects of being in
government.”
Mutyambizi-Dewa said holding elections under the current scenario will be
very irresponsible because there are no reforms on the political front to
guarantee credible elections.
He said the reform of security institutions and the re-orientation of
security personnel into a more national apparatus rather than a partisan
force should have been key.
“Unfortunately from their attitude MDC also seems to be showing an
inclination towards replacing Zanu PF sympathetic security personnel with
MDC sympathetic personnel which is not the solution but in fact is one side
of the same coin. The security ought not to be an apparatus for either Zanu
PF or MDC or any political party. The security ought to be a national
apparatus,” said Mutyambizi-Dewa.

Brian Chitemba

Agriculture set to continue on recovery path

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:12

AGRICULTURAL production for the 2010/2011 farming season is in the hands of
the farmers as conditions for success, such as favourable rains and
availability of inputs, have improved compared to the last few years.

Unlike past seasons when the agricultural sector had to muddle through
perennial shortages of inputs and funds, there has been a significant
improvement in planning for the coming season.
Government has provided  US$30 million towards the support of smallholder
farmers, but Ngoni Masoka, permanent secretary in the Ministry of
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, said more should be
done.
“In Zimbabwe, it is necessary that the government supports our smallholder
farmers earnestly if we are to restore the food basket status of the country
and achieve food security. It has to be a deliberate policy to support our
farmers just like our neighbours are doing,” Masoka said.
The president of the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union, Silas Hungwe, said there was
additional support for tobacco and cotton farmers who had entered into
contracts with buyers.
“However, there is no support for the small grains, but government is making
subsidised fertiliser available to farmers,” Hungwe said. “This fertiliser
is charged at US$15 per bag and is available through GMB depots.”
Government provides subsidised fertiliser to communal farmers to try and
improve food security in the country.
Once a breadbasket of the region during the first two decades of
Independence, Zimbabwe had become a beggar as it faced serious grain
deficits in the last three years as a result of erratic rains and shortages
of inputs induced by the economic downturn. In addition, production also
plummeted when Zanu PF supporters forcibly took commercial farms from white
farmers during the land reform programme. For the last 10 years, Zimbabwe
has been relying on food handouts from aid agencies.
Agriculture is the centre of gravity for the economy contributing 19% of the
gross domestic product (GDP) last year. GDP is the most important measure of
economic activity in the country as it is the crossing point of expenditure,
output and income.
While the input costs are still very high, compared to regional averages,
farmers are able to access fertiliser, chemicals and seed on time.
Transportation of the inputs, Hungwe said, had improved as farmers now
access them close to their farms.
Input costs, as is the case with all real sectors, remain high with a 50kg
bag of fertiliser costing US$30 compared to the regional average of around
US$7 and this may weigh down a continued growth of the sector which expanded
18,8% this year against an anticipated 10%.
In 2009, agriculture grew 14,9% from a 39,3% contraction a year earlier at
the height of the economic downturn.
This year’s growth was mainly driven by tobacco which, to the surprise of
many, doubled to 120kgs on the 2009 figure. More than US$320 million was
realised from the sale of the crop this year.
The acting chief executive officer of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing
Board (TIMB), Andrew Matibiri, said planting for the next crop had started.
“There are no figures as to how much of the crop would be produced,” said
Matibiri. “However, indications from the seed sales show us that we can have
a minimum of 90 million kgs.”
Matibiri said 72% of the crop that was sold this year came from contract
farming with the remainder coming from farmers who “look after themselves”
as they finance their own crop.
Agribank and FBC Bank on Wednesday floated tobacco bills worth US$10 million
aimed at supporting farmers. Other banks have different funding mechanisms.
Matibiri added that they would get a clearer picture by mid next month when
they would have collected the information from all tobacco growing
districts.
Hungwe said government had also initiated a programme where farmers without
the capacity to buy inputs would work on community projects under the
supervision of councillors and local leadership and get seed and fertiliser
in return.
“Farmers are also entering contracts with other companies where they receive
inputs and will repay after harvests,” said Hungwe.
This could be a departure from the heavy dependency on government handouts
farmers had become used to since the turn of the century.
Government and donors said they would assist 956 000 communal (A1), old
resettlement and vulnerable farmers with inputs to cater for 0,25 ha each.
Inputs in the basket include a 50kg bag of compound D fertiliser, 50 kg bag
top dressing fertiliser and 10 kg of maize seed.
Masoka, however, bemoaned the fact that government support to the
agriculture sector had been hovering below 10% of the national budget and
that in the current season over half a million smallholder farmers will not
receive support.
“Despite the immense contribution of the agriculture sector to the national
economy, a record of vote appropriations indicates that agriculture
received between 2% and 7,5% of the national budget between 1995 and 2010.
In the 2010/2011 season, 575 185 smallholder farmers will not receive inputs
support,” Masoka added.
It was predicted at the 14th Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum
held in August there was a  high probability that Zimbabwe would receive
normal to above normal rains during the 2010/2011 season.
The forum, which was held in Harare comprised climate scientists from the
National Meteorological Hydrological Services within the Southern African
Development Community region working with the Sadc Drought Monitoring
Centre.
While the conditions are supportive of a successful agricultural resurgence,
the residue of the preceding season’s problems could dent a rapid growth.
One area which faced problems was cotton selling where there was a standoff
between the farmers and the buyers.
Cotton farmers held on to their crop season asking for “reasonable” prices
as the buyers, who were also contractors offered very low rates. It required
government intervention, setting the price at a minimum 35c per kilogramme.
Things got worse when new players, especially Sino-Zimbabwe, came in
literally reaping where they did not sow as they started buying cotton
bypassing the contractors.
This threatened the viability of the sector, with no comprehensive
mechanism, such as passing the proposed legislation that sought to protect
the farmers and contractors.
Apart from the legislation, other stakeholders such as the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) could also play a decisive role in the
success of the agricultural season. Zesa has on many occasions promised
farmers that they would not be affected by load shedding but this has not
been honoured.

Leonard Makombe / Paidamoyo Muzulu

The return of foreign money to the bourse

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:09

THE ZSE has had a good run over the past fortnight with the week ending
October 22 recording a hefty gain of 5,53%. This was in addition to the 1,6%
recorded the previous week. On a month to date basis to 26 October 2010, the
industrials have amassed 7,6% in the process reducing the year to date
losses to just 2,97%.
The market capitalisation has also benefited from this bullish trend
advancing 10,81% for the month to settle at US$3,702 billion. To put this
into perspective, out of the 18 trading days in October so far only five
days have closed on the downside.
Market breadth for the month to date is also positive with 40 risers, 22
fallers and 14 static counters. Best five performers for the period were
Steelnet, which doubled to 0,2 cents, ZBFH, Hwange, Zeco and AICO. The
latter four had gains of between 34,7% and 53,8%. At the bottom of the
performance table were Interfresh, Ariston, Pelhams, PG Industries and
Interfin.
The bullish trading is being driven by the return of foreign investors to
the local bourse. Of the total turnover of US$24,1 million that was injected
into the market since the month began US$16,8 million, which equates to 70%,
came from offshore investors. Selective buying has been evident on the
market as most of these funds are favouring heavyweight counters
particularly Delta, Innscor, Econet and Hippo. Amongst the large caps, gains
in October alone ranged from 9.5% to 33,3%.
The current run is special because this year the market has generally been
quiet as it was being weighed down by negative developments like political
uncertainty and the policy that foreign companies operating in the country
should offer at least 51% of their shareholding to indigenous investors.
Many counters have been trading with Relative Strength Index (RSI) levels
below 30, which, amongst chartists, is seen as a strong indicator of being
oversold. A correction has been due for a long time but was delayed because
local investors do not have money to make new investments. So the return of
foreign funds is a big relief to the market.
If the upcoming results for the periods ending August/September come out
above market expectation then this positive run might well continue.  In
normal economies positive results ideally drive up the markets. US markets,
for instance, that had been wobbly due to the effects of the Great Recession
came to life after the release of better- than- expected financial results
in the third quarter of 2010. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is so far up
3,5% since the beginning of October whilst the FTSE and Nikkei have put on
2,9% and 0,1%, respectively.
Locally, the market eagerly awaits the interim results from Econet, OK
Zimbabwe, Delta, Seedco and AICO to name but a few. Econet financials are
expected to be good as the company benefits from its expansionary programme
of increasing its network coverage and subscriber base. Average Revenues per
user which were US$17,97 in the full year to February 28 2010 are
nonetheless expected to come down to regional levels of below US$10. The
effects of the mobile broadband that was launched last week together with
the impact of per second billing will only be felt in the full year results
to February 28 2011.
On OK Zimbabwe, investors would want to assess the success management has
had in trying to turn around the fortunes of the company using the US$20
million it raised in March this year. Also under spotlight will be any
progress the company would have made in reducing shrinkage levels as well as
recovering the market share that is now in fragments due to increased
competition, a development that has put pressure on margins.
Delta is another counter whose results are keenly anticipated with sales
volumes projected to be higher as a result of the addition of new packaging
lines. The group embarked on an ambitious US$160 million capital expenditure
programme over three years. During the past six months, the company spent
US$30 million on upgrading its production lines. Major projects include the
installation of the PET line and two lager lines. The upward revision to the
GDP figures should also impact positively on company revenues as there is a
positive correlation between economic growth rates and the consumption of
beverages.
There is very little to look forward to on the mining counters as most of
them are struggling. However, the sector in general is tipped to grow by
more than 30% driven by increasing activity in gold, platinum and chrome.
The talk about large mining houses in the country mulling listing as a means
to comply with indigenization directives is generating some excitement on
the local bourse. This is because the available mining counters do not have
any exciting prospects.
Likewise, not much is expected from the pair of Seedco and AICO owing to the
seasonal nature of their business. The first half of the year is usually
cost accumulation for AICO as it will be distributing inputs to farmers.
Seedco, on the other hand, will have a high cost structure during the first
half as it acquires seed crops from the farmers.
Should the earnings season kick off with positive results at a time when
foreigners are still present in the market, then we could expect the firm
market trend to continue. Any positive improvements in sentiment on the
political front — though seeming largely unlikely at the moment — will be an
added bonus for equity investors.

Kumbirai Makwembere

Principals to decide on Zisco’s fate: Ncube

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:08

INDUSTRY minister Welshman Ncube says his ministry has shortlisted three
companies –– Jandal Steel of India, Acerlor-Mittal and Sino Zimbabwe ––
bidding to acquire a controlling stake in the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel
Company (Ziscosteel), but principals of the inclusive government will have
the final recommendation.
Ncube told MPs on Wednesday that the sale of Ziscosteel would be concluded
by end of November if the principals –– President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara –– select a
partner from among the three potential investors shortlisted by his ministry
to buy a 60% stake in the company.
He said his ministry has made recommendations on who should be selected to
buy the equity in the debt ridden company.
Ncube said: “I am happy to say that the ministry has come to the tail-end of
the selection process. We received four bids and three of them are
technically sound. We recommended three companies to the principals for
their consideration. These are Jandal Steel of India, Accer-Mittal and Sino
Zimbabwe. The principals are considering this and a decision would be made
within the next weeks.”
He said this in response to Kwekwe MP Blessing Chebundo who had asked what
the ministry was doing in finalising the resuscitation of the ailing
steelmaking company.
Ncube conceded the matter had taken long to conclude but remained convinced
that a resolution would be found and alleviate the suffering of Ziscosteel
employees who have borne the brunt for the last couple of years.
“It is unfortunate that it has taken so long to complete this matter. The
matter has been outstanding since 2009,” the minister said. “We did inherit
the process of trying to identify a partner to allow Ziscosteel back into
production. We are aware Zisco is bleeding and the employees should find
respite. The matter will be finalised in the next three to four weeks.”
The process of identifying a partner for Ziscosteel had been bogged down by
a number of issues, among them, the large debt overhang, political
instability, an unstable monetary policy and failure to find local investors
who had deep pockets needed to revive the company.
“Zisco has two major debts, one to a Chinese bank that was due and has been
renegotiated to be paid by end of 2011. The other debt involves US$240
million from a German bank. Any new investor had to make a commitment to
liquidate this debt which has caused some government properties in Botswana
and South Africa to be attached,” Ncube said.
“The investor had to put in US$65 million for refurbishment of blast
furnaces four and three and the coke oven. In addition to all this, the
investor should also be in position to pay for government shares when the
government divests.”
He added: “Foreign investors were also sceptical of the economic and
political situation in the country. They were worried if the government of
national unity was sustainable, the monetary policy was shaky and local
investors could not raise that kind of money.
Our banks could not do it. This explains the delay.”
Last week, opulent businessman Philip Chiyangwa wrote to Mugabe asking him
to consider his company to buy the Ziscosteel stake.
The minister’s response could dampen the businessmen’s plans which were
hitched on the clarion call for indigenisation.
Jindhal is the world’s third largest steelmaker by tonnage with an annual
turnover of about US$2,1 billion and forms part of the larger Jindhal Group
with total assets in excess of US$12 billion.
Jindhal’s rival, ArcelorMittal South Africa, a subsidiary of the world’s
largest steel manufacturer, ArcelorMittal Group with a market capitalisation
in excess of US$35 billion, is also said to be back in the race.
ArcelorMittal has a presence in more than 60 countries. By February, Arcelor
was said to have been holding onto cash of over US$300 million to invest in
Zisco in anticipation of a possible acquisition of the Zimbabwean steel
asset and make its first foray into iron production.
The new round of bidding came soon after government shot down a
recommendation from the ministry that shortlisted Jindal Steel (Pvt) Ltd of
India and the South African subsidiary of Arcelor-Mittal, another global
steel giant.
Ziscosteel is the largest steel works in the country. Over the years the
company has faced many operational problems and has been dogged with
countless corruption scandals.
As of early 2008, the company was producing less than 12 500 tonnes, way
below the break-even capacity of 25 000 tonnes. It is wholly owned by
government.

Paidamoyo Muzulu

Biti slams privatisation phobia

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:07

FINANCE minister Tendai Biti has criticised a “phobia” within the coalition
government for stalling a proposed plan to list three parastatals on the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
Biti’s remarks come eight months after he told market watchers during a
reverse listing of Tedco Ltd (now TNFH Ltd) that government would
recapitalise three state-owned enterprises by going public.
Although Biti did not name the parastatals, speculation was rife that mobile
phone operators NetOne, currently struggling to claw back market share since
the dollarisation of the economy last February, was one of the targeted
state firms.
This development extends the listing drought on the capital-starved exchange
that has to date seen only two reverse listings — Tedco and CFX (now
Interfin).
Biti was responding to a question from the parliamentary committee on budget
chairman Paddy Zhanda during the presentation of oral evidence to the
committee.
Zhanda, Goromonzi North MP, asked Biti why government was reluctant to wean
off perennial loss-making state companies.
The lawmaker cited the public listing of Cottco and Dairibord, formerly
state-owned entities, which became profitable after listing on the ZSE.
Among some of the state-owned companies in the red are Zesa, NRZ, GMB, Air
Zimbabwe, CSC and Agribank.
“Zhanda said: I don’t think there is anything that you can salvage from Cold
Storage Company. When is the right time to privatise? I think it’s not fair
to tax people earning as low as $180 to buy Mercedes Benz vehicles for
executives of struggling parastatals.”
In his response, Biti said his counterparts in the inclusive government were
cautious to list or privatise parastatals despite enormous pressure being
piled by state enterprises on the fiscus.
Government is generating nearly US$140 million in revenue monthly and this
figure could increase when key utilities contribute a projected 40% to the
Gross Domestic Product.
“There is phobia in government of the word privatisation,” Biti said. “I
personally hoped that there would be three listings on the ZSE of formerly
100% state-owned entities. It hasn’t happened. We are in October and trust
me, it is not going to happen before the end of the year. I think it’s a
tragedy as some of us have argued (that) I would rather own 10% of an
elephant than 100% of a rat.”
In June, former Parastatals and State Enterprises minister Joel Gabuzza said
government was expected to privatise 11 state-owned enterprises.  He said
“discussions were underway” to wean off Cold Storage Company, Grain
Marketing Board, Agribank, Ziscosteel, National Oil Company of Zimbabwe,
Allied Timbers, Air Zimbabwe, NetOne, TelOne, Infrastructure Development
Bank of Zimbabwe and ZIPAM. But to date discord within government has failed
to attract potential suitors of the state enterprises.

Bernard Mpofu

Zim needs to shake off investor fears: Report

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:06

ZIMBABWE needs to shake off investor fears that its indigenisation and
empowerment policy is not a nationalisation attempt of foreign owned firms
as widely viewed abroad to enable the mining sector to attract investment, a
gold sector special report says.
A report compiled by the World Gold Analyst Special Report commissioned by
the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe highlights wide-ranging problems the
industry is facing.
The report cautioned government against pursuing a nationalisation plan or
be seen as doing that through its indigenisation plan.
“If indigenisation possibility represents a form of creeping
nationalisation, overt nationalisation still hovers as a perceived threat to
many looking at the country and the administration from London, New York,
Toronto, Johannesburg or Sydney,” the report said.
“Fear is generated by government sponsored actions of the early part of the
decade that saw expropriation of land owned by white farmers and
particularly the acts of violence that accompanied the re-distribution
moves.”
But President Robert Mugabe denies he plans to nationalise mines arguing the
policy is meant to empower Zimbabweans.

Perceptions count
The industry also faces weaknesses such as perceived security risks,
scattered mines, undercapitalisation and power supply problems.
“Perception probably doesn’t represent the situation on the ground within
the country now but perceptions count. Investors need reassurance from a
government tough on law and order,” said the report.
“There is lack of money to build more logically sized mines and power
supplies are limiting normal operating and constraining expansion. Mines are
installing their own generators but this is costly.”
According to the report, the gold mining industry has lost a lot of valuable
skilled personnel to the region and abroad in the last decade due to
economic recession,  which has impacted on the growth of the industry. Mines
say if no substantial capital is re-invested in the business, the gold
sector output is forecast to increase steadily from 4,9t in 2009 to 7,5t in
2010; 10,4t in 2011; 12.5t in 2012 and progressively to 25t by 2015.

Lack of skilled workers
“Lack of appropriate skills at all levels of the industry is of great
concern to mining management and a very real limiting factor on growth,”
stated the report.
“The industry has lost a lot of skill in the last decade and the skills base
which had been developed in this country since 1980 were second to none and
today, if you go anywhere in the world, Zimbabweans are running major
undertakings.”
Infrastructure, another critical challenge to the growth of the industry
with issues like improved roads and rail networks and water supplies, should
be addressed in order to attract investment for industry’s growth purposes,
the report said.
“The question of appropriate level of infrastructure to support mining is an
important one that would be explorers and miners place high on their list of
desirables when considering investing in a particular country,” it added.
Security of tenure, the report said, was another major risk factor that will
challenge growth of the gold mining industry, the report says.

Some good news
On a positive note, the study says Zimbabwe is home to “world class”
greenstone belts and generally unexploited sulphide resources.
“Zimbabwe has proven gold production record and there may be deposits of
greater size than those already exploited and has an understanding of
mining, its importance plus the skills needed to develop the industry
(although they might not all be in Zimbabwe currently),” stated the report
“Sulphide potential needs to be quantified as little structured exploration
work has been undertaken thus far throughout the long history of the
industry.”

Chris Muronzi/Winfilda Shana

US$10 million bills to support tobacco farmers

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 18:43

AGRICULTURAL Development Bank of Zimbabwe (Agribank) and FBC Bank Ltd on
Wednesday floated Tobacco Bills worth US$10 million to support tobacco
farmers for the 2010/11 season.
Agribank says the money raised will be channelled towards mobilising
financial support for tobacco famers for the growing, curing and
transportation of the crop to auction floors next year.
Neverseez Capital Ltd and FBC Bank are the financial advisors for the
transactions.
In an interview with businessdigest on Wednesday, Neverseez Capital Ltd CEO
Iyanda Nyanda said there was no closing date for the tobacco paper.
“We are operating at a first come first serve basis and we will close once
the intended target has been achieved,” he said.
Neverseez Capital Ltd is also the financial advisor of the Agro-bills which
were floated this year.
Nyanda said they were expecting a positive response as tobacco had become
the best paying crop whose production had increased significantly this year.
“There are no prescribed assets on the market at the moment for both
insurance and pension funds. We have created an opportunity for them to
enhance and strengthen their positions before the year ends with this
exercise,” Nyanda said.
In a statement on Wednesday Agribanks said: “The referred institutions
hereby invites investors, including, but not limited to pension and
provident funds, insurance companies, life mutual commercial banks and other
interested institutions as well as individuals in Zimbabwe, to subscribe to
bills amounting to US$10 million.”
The bills will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of
Zimbabwe. The interests for the bills are negotiated on private placement
basis with a maturity period of 360 days from date of issue. Payments will
be made to investors by the settlements agent by due date of maturity.
“Most of the tobacco farmers are small scale and indigenous who need support
to produce more next year,” added Nyanda.
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board CEO Andrew Matibiri told businessdigest
that tobacco production in Zimbabwe would increase next year as seed
sufficient to cover 110 000 hectares had been sold while about 15 000
farmers had so far registered to grow the crop.
“The number of registered farmers has increased by 80% from last year.  The
pace at which tobacco seed was being bought showed that farmers were geared
to increase production,” he said.
Matibiri said the deadline for registration of growers for marketing tobacco
has been set for October 30.
Last season, 52 000 farmers registered to produce tobacco on 65 000
hectares.
At the close of the auction floors on September 3, more than 120 million kgs
of tobacco had been sold with the contract system contributing the bulk of
the deliveries.
The industry had projected an output of 77 million kg to go under the hammer
but this was later revised twice, first to 93 million kgs and then to 114
million kgs.
This year tobacco sales kicked off in February, earlier than the traditional
month of April, to enable farmers to access cash to pay up debts.

Muckraker: Indeed Mutambara should know better

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:49

PRESIDENT Mugabe is evidently mobilising his forces for an early poll. One
of the more bizarre dimensions to this campaign was the “kidnapping” of
Munyaradzi Chidzonga at Harare airport last week and his subsequent
appearance at State House where he was handed $300 000 by the president.

Hundreds of fans were waiting to greet him at the airport only to see him
whisked off in a maroon Mercedes. DStv, the show’s sponsors, didn’t get a
look-in until later.
This is a pity. Munya enjoyed extensive popular support in Zimbabwe for his
role in the Big Brother All Stars Reality show. He has now blown that away
by allowing himself to become part of Zanu PF’s election campaign. He was
“over the moon” meeting Mugabe, we are told. One of his life’s dreams had
come true.
Sadly, he will soon discover that it is something of a nightmare as he
realises he will be made to pay for his $300 000.
Sorry Munya. There is no such thing as a free lunch!
The episode did have its amusing moments however –– such as Zanu PF bigwigs
who know nothing about the Big Brother programme claiming the vote was
rigged, something they admittedly know a lot about!

Muckraker was shocked by Arthur Mutambara’s remarks claiming President
Mugabe’s appointment of senior officials was perfectly legitimate.
This is extraordinary. A rookie lawyer just out of law school will tell him
that a constitutional amendment revises any existing laws. That is why it’s
called an amendment –– it amends current constitutional provisions.
Constitutional amendment No 19 requires senior appointments to be made on
the basis of consultation between the president and prime minister. That
includes the police force and the judiciary.
Mugabe’s officials may choose to pretend this is not the case but we can
expect them to advertise their ignorance. Mutambara should know better. How
long is his party going to continue to indulge his erratic and misguided
support for Zanu PF?

Tafataona Mahoso considers himself to be a supervisor of media ethics. He
once set up a committee which he claimed was a response to a national demand
for improved conduct in the media.
Of course no such demand existed beyond his office. And to illustrate just
how partisan and phony such calls are, Mahoso in last Sunday’s “African
Focus” column referred to “the provocative choice of former Rhodesian Selous
Scout Roy Bennett as Deputy Minister of Agriculture”.
Bennett’s lawyers not so long ago wrote to the press to point out that
Bennett was never a member of the Selous Scouts. This is something the state
media has invented and which they peddle at every opportunity.
It isn’t too difficult to find the truth of the matter. A good journalist
would not have much difficulty establishing the facts. But Mahoso doesn’t
seem to care. He is evidently prepared to ignore the facts and repeat the
lie that Bennett was a Selous Scout.
In fact he was in the police reserve. As was the case with Phillip
Chiyangwa, this was part of his compulsory national service. As Mahoso made
such a fuss about the importance of media ethics some years ago we have no
doubt he will now avail himself of this opportunity to correct the record.

Itai Garande in the Herald on Monday adopted what he no doubt considered a
legally safer approach. He referred to Bennett as “a political veteran
having served in the Rhodesian police force and is alleged to have been in
the notorious Selous Scouts although he denies this”.
Here again we have somebody professing to be a journalist who has access to
the facts but prefers to repeat what his handlers have fed him. So much for
ethics!
And by the way, has Mahoso’s tenure of posts at the Zimbabwe Media
Commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe been investigated for
any possible conflict of interest? If not why not?

We were dismayed by Morgan Tsvangirai’s remarks in Mabvuku last week. He
claimed the mooted election for next year would be “violence-free”.
What evidence leads him to make such an indulgent claim? Don’t the facts
suggest otherwise? And here was Tsvangirai speaking in the home constituency
of Tonderai Ndira who was brutally murdered in May 2008. As far as we know
no progress has been made in bringing his killers to justice. Why did
Tsvangirai choose to ignore this appalling political crime and instead sound
like Pollyanna on a bad day?
But we are pleased that much of the media have picked up the contradiction
between ZEC chair Justice Simpson Mtambanengwe’s concern that conditions are
not yet ripe for elections –– that they would need substantial amounts of
both financial and material resources to bring ZEC’s operations up to
speed — and deputy chair Joyce Kazembe’s statement that Mugabe’s word was
her command and that the ZEC was “ready for elections”.
It may be worth reminding ourselves at this point that Kazembe was deputy
chair to Justice George Chiweshe in conducting the 2008 polls.

An independent ZEC was one of the key reforms specified in the GPA. There
was concern in civil society that Justice Mtambanengwe would have difficulty
running things from Windhoek.
And who should we listen to regarding who will be admitted as observers?
Last week George Charamba appeared in this paper announcing the
disqualification of Britain, America and the EU because they had taken an
“antagonistic stance”.
“We have made enough concessions,” he declared. “This is now a hard-knuckled
phase of Zimbabwean politics.”
So the Office of the President will decide who can be admitted as an
observer, not the ZEC? And those countries monitoring the poll who are not
“antagonistic” can be guaranteed to look the other way when necessary. And
is it appropriate for the president’s spokesman to be threatening voters
with a “hard-knuckled” campaign?

Living in Zimbabwe, we have come to expect incompetence and monopolistic
tendencies on the part of state-controlled companies such as Zesa and ZBH.
Few can still be surprised by the intermittent power cuts and the drab
programming the latter showcases for us every passing day.
We have come to expect the worst from them rather than the best because
circumstances have reduced us to think that way. Very few still fuss about
whether the load-shedding “schedule” which Zesa once claimed to have, is
still followed. On certain rare occasions we are pleasantly surprised to
discover –– after phoning home to enquire –– that there is electricity.
As for ZBC, we are apologetic about not paying our licence fees in spite of
the fact that most of their programming is unbearable and those who can
afford to have opted for satellite television, a point that needs to be
spelt out for Webster Shamu who thinks the Chinese can teach us how to
improve things at Pocket’s Hill.
People have just accepted that ZBC is ZBC — a centre of chronic amateurism
as long as we are under the current political regime. No amount of
re-launches and new television seasons can convince them otherwise. As US
President Barack Obama stated, “You can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a
pig.”

On private companies however, Zimbabweans are generally tolerant, if not
downright accommodating of their operating shortcomings. Econet for
instance, periodically subjects its subscribers to network “challenges”
which most Zimbabweans take in their stride albeit with murmurings and
complaints. Generally speaking, Zimbabweans endure these scenarios under the
impression that we are coming out of a socio-economic hiatus and thus should
give them some more time to put their house in order.
We have tolerated the irritating voice telling us the number we are trying
to reach is currently unavailable even though we know it can’t be true. We
have also tolerated Econet’s move in 2008 to change us from contract
subscribers to pre-paid. The contract platform was no longer viable in the
current economic situation, we were told, and just like that we were placed
on the pre-paid platform.
Recently they introduced the new broadband service which we are told will
revolutionise Internet usage in the country. Its efficacy, however, is still
subject to review and is not the subject of this article. But kudos to them
for that initiative.
However, as has become the case each time they change over to some new
platform, someone has to be screwed. 3G service subscribers, who were on a
contract platform, were paying US$25 a month. But since the launch last
week, they have been placed — without warning — on this new platform which
requires them to pay US$98 for one gigabyte of data.
Apart from the vagueness on how subscribers will be able to navigate on this
new platform, subscribers have again gotten the short end of the stick as
the contracts they had agreed to have been revoked and they have to come up
with a wad of cash to get the same service.
To add insult to injury Econet didn’t allow the subscriptions on the
contract platform to run their course. Apparently subscribers were given
airtime and once that was over, we must go and pay.
As usual one can only expect the odd grumble and murmur from Zimbabweans and
ultimately life goes on. The impression one gets in all of this is we must
be grateful for what we get no matter the standard.
I wonder when we will start to demand a better deal from service
providers –– in all spheres –– and get our hard-earned dollars’ worth.

Shamu thinks the Chinese can enhance Zimbabwe’s propaganda output to
effectively counter criticism from the West. They will soon cotton on that
it is impossible to “enhance” anything emanating from the state media which
is incorrigibly locked in the bad habits of a lifetime. Thirty years on and
still no other channel, still no professional management of news, still no
diversity of voices. Meanwhile, some of the nation’s best journalists are
stuck in exile. The Chinese may find they have nothing left to teach!
Nigeria by the way got TV in 1960, the same year as us. But they have dozens
of independent channels to choose from.

Finally, could somebody in our legal fraternity explain the requirements of
Posa. Are those holding meetings required to seek the permission of the
police, or are they required to simply inform the police?
We ask because it was reported last week that the MDC has been refused
permission to hold report-back meetings (on the grounds that they applied
too late) in Highfield, Budiriro, and Glen View while President Mugabe has
proceeded with his, including the installation of a chief in Gutu.
What is the position of Sadc on one party in the electoral contest being
excused the need to apply and the other party being refused the right to
hear a report by the
prime minister on the current gridlock?
Tsvangirai was eventually able to proceed with his meetings after the
intervention of Home Affairs minister Theresa Makone and Tendai Biti. But
how does this episode meet the “free and fair” requirements of any election?
In this connection we were amused by Caesar Zvayi’s comments in the Herald
this week that Morgan Tsvangirai needs to “become truly Zimbabwean” and
“tune in to the majority sentiment”.
So here is the representative of the party that lost the 2008 election
instructing the winner to get in tune with the “majority sentiment”.
Hail no Caesar!

Eric Bloch: Addressing industry’s recovery needs

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:47

LAST week this column sought to address some of the many critical actions
required to halt, and reverse, the decline presently being experienced by
the manufacturing sector, and which must be addressed in the forthcoming
2011-2015 industrial policy framework for revitalisation of the economy to
be released shortly by the minister of industry and commerce, Welshman
Ncube.

Some of the most urgent needs addressed last week were enablement of access
to working capital (for almost all manufacturing enterprises desperately
require recapitalisation), restoration of effective and reliable services by
parastatals in general, and by Zesa, TelOne, National Railways of Zimbabwe
and Air Zimbabwe, in particular.  Also identified was that there is a
pronounced necessity for restoration of harmonious and collaborative
employer-labour relations.
However, as important as it is that those issues be rapidly and dynamically
addressed, there are many others which must also receive urgent and
effective attention if a real and meaningful transformation of the decimated
manufacturing sector is to be achieved.  Some of the key urgencies which
need to be focused upon include:

    * Reversal of the intense brain drain experienced by Zimbabwe over the
last decade.  The skills resources of all economic sectors have been
grievously depleted, and the manufacturing sector has not been an exception.
As the economy declined inflation soared upwards, infrastructure  declined,
education and health services deteriorated and life for many became
increasingly unbearable. Millions left Zimbabwe for perceived greener
pastures elsewhere in the region, and further afield.  For the
manufacturers, this included the loss of skilled management, of the
technologically endowed, and of trained, experienced labour.  The result has
been  diminished volumes of production, lowering of quality output and
failure to keep pace with international technological developments.

Although most Zimbabweans, when seeking livelihoods elsewhere, had every
intention to return home once Zimbabwe transformed for the better, they have
since sunk new roots.  Many have experienced career advancement, married and
had families, acquired investments, and now have sharply diminished
expectations of coming home, save for those negatively impacted by
international economic declines, rendering them unemployed.  Therefore,
reversal of the brain drain now requires an intensive focus upon development
of new skills resources.
Tertiary education and training within industry must be vigorously upgraded,
in part by seeking transitional services of expatriates, and guidance and
support by international development agencies.  Concurrently, those skilled
who are still in Zimbabwe, and those whose skills are to be developed, must
be motivated to remain in Zimbabwe.  This necessitates infrastructural
restoration, internationally correlated remuneration packages, and
regionally aligned taxation levels.

    * Another urgent need is for government to ensure that Zimbabwean
industry is not (as is presently the case) confronted with unfair import
competition.  Manufacturers must be prepared to confront competition, where
such competition is based upon quality and delivery reliability, and upon
price, save and except when the price competitiveness of the imported
product is a result of pronounced subsidisation by governments of the
countries from whence the competitive goods emanate.

The internationally prevailing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt)
prescribes acceptable levels of export incentivisation and subsidisation,
but certain Far East countries operate with contemptuous disregard for Gatt.
(By way of example, one of those countries subsidises textile and clothing
exports to an extent of 180% of wage content!)  Zimbabwe must impose custom
duties upon such products as would substantially level the playing field
between the Zimbabwean products and the competitive imported products.
Moreover, many products enter Zimbabwe disguised as manufactured within
Sadc, and therefore duty exempt, whereas they are actually manufactured
further afield and should have been subjected to duty.
In addition, considerable volumes of goods are smuggled into Zimbabwe,
evading the customs duties’ net.  All these circumstances create advantage
for the imported goods which cannot viably be competed against by Zimbabwean
industry, and government must intensively contain the prejudice.

    * Although the extent thereof must not exceed Gatt limitations, Zimbabwe
needs to facilitate, with export incentives, enhanced manufacturing sector
exports, as the extent of domestic consumer spending power generally does
not suffice to accord the manufacturing sector viable production volumes.

Linked to all those needs is the great requirement of restoration of
business confidence, for no businesses can survive, let alone grow, when the
owners and management are devoid of confidence as to the future.  Absence of
confidence results in demoralisation, which clouds vision as to
opportunities and suppresses motivation to strive for change.  Currently,
business confidence in the manufacturing sector is at an all-time low.  As
if working capital inadequacies, recurrent confrontation with labour,
erratic resource availability from parastatals low levels of consumer
spending power  and unfair import competition do not suffice, manufacturers
also fear loss of ownership and control of their enterprises because of the
unjust Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment legislation.  That fear is
exacerbated and compounded by the draconian demands of indigenisation
activists, staunchly supported by some of the more extremist politicians.
In addition, intensifying political instability, and endless and increasing
confrontation between the different arms of the so-called “inclusive
government” inevitably fuel concerns that economic recovery will not occur,
that necessary foreign investment is increasingly alienated, and that
prospects of international lines of credits required to restore liquidity to
the money market, are increasingly declining.
Therefore, yet another essential need for recovery of industry is that
government, finally and very belatedly, unites in constructive actions to
restore business confidence, and reincarnates the economy.

Kenya’s lessons for Zimbabwe

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:41

IN AUGUST Kenyans trooped to the polls in large numbers and voted
overwhelmingly for a new constitution promulgated to give birth to a new
nation.
The process of making a new constitution started 20 years ago, marked by
violent street skirmishes, piecemeal amendments and failed reviews. In 2005
there was a referendum that changed the face of Kenyan politics and
germinated seeds of the violence that engulfed the country after bungled
elections in December 2007.
Despite the acrimony of those elections, the protagonists entered into a
power-sharing arrangement. This political marriage was not given a long
life, but has produced a new constitution that, if fully implemented, will
radically change the face of Kenya.
The new constitution is a product of the deal brokered by former UN
secretary general Kofi Annan and other eminent African personalities to
address the root causes of the political violence that has accompanied
elections in Kenya since multi-parties were introduced in 1991.
The new constitution has a number of features that revolutionalise
governance in Kenya. While avoiding creating two centres of power with a
position of executive prime minister, the new constitution ends the era of
imperial presidency by checking and balancing executive powers through
creating a senate, boosting legislative oversight powers and creating
commissions to implement land policy and other national matters.
The constitution also increases the governing role of citizens by giving
them power to recall poorly performing parliamentarians and participate
directly in running local development projects.
With very extensive human rights protections, Kenyans can boast of being in
the same league as South Africa, which is touted as having one of the best
constitutions in the world in terms of human rights. The new Kenyan
constitution has also dealt a fatal blow to impunity, exclusion and
marginalisation of communities and groups, abuse and misuse of public
resources and offices, as well as tribalism, nepotism, and other negative
“isms” and schisms.
It should be noted that it was not smooth sailing all the way to August 4.
Among the incidents that almost derailed the making of the new constitution
were the illegal insertion of the words “national security” in the bill of
rights, a grenade attack on a rally opposing the proposed constitution, and
the deliberate use of misinterpretation, propaganda and lies by its
opponents.
Why did the Kenyan peace deal work while Zimbabwe’s has hobbled? What
lessons can Zimbabweans draw from Kenya to address the political crisis that
continues to threaten to tear Zimbabwe apart?
After Kenyans had washed themselves in a bloodbath that claimed more than 1
100 lives and displaced over 300 000 people, the international community was
relieved when President Mwai Kibaki and Orange Democratic Party (ODM) leader
Raila Odinga agreed to form a coalition government. They also agreed to
establish commissions looking into human rights violations and the 2007
presidential election results and procedures, and review the constitution to
address the underlying causes of the violence, including land ownership,
youth unemployment and regional poverty.
The speed with which this deal was reached and implemented has attracted
attention from as far as the Philippines and as close as Zanzibar on how to
manage coalitions and make constitutions that address economic and political
problems. But the country that has paid keenest attention to Kenya’s
coalition management and political transformation is Zimbabwe.
When the Kenyan deal was struck in February 2008, there were murmurs that a
trend of trading democracy for stability in Africa was being established by
allowing election losers to repudiate the results or incumbents to rig
themselves into staying in power, and then negotiate “elite pacts” to share
the spoils at the exclusion of the poor and marginalised. Among the
countries seen as potential power-sharers were Tanzania/Zanzibar, Ghana,
Uganda, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia, Zambia and Malawi.
Nevertheless, the speedy resolution of the 2008 Kenyan political crisis has
offered useful lessons on managing both conflicts and power-sharing
coalitions. One could say that although the Kenyan response to election
rigging — widespread and dramatic violence — shook the country to its senses
to address long-standing historical grievances, poor governance, economic
mismanagement and other issues, it came at a high price: thousands of dead
and displaced people, more than US$1billion in property destruction, and the
reversal of an impressive economic performance of 7,1% annual growth.
The Kenyan power-sharing government started on shaky ground. At the outset,
it was dogged by controversies and challenges that kept its guarantors on
the edges of their seats. For instance, there was constant bickering between
and within the main political parties on matters such as patronage and
privileged access to subsidised credits, foreign exchange allocations,
import licences, public-sector jobs, protocol arrangements of the prime
minister and vice president, handling sensitive issues such as immunity,
critical policy initiatives, cabinet appointments, and a litany of other
issues.
The Zimbabweans seemed to have learnt from the mistakes of Kenyans when they
negotiated the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that formed a coalition
government comprising President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF and the two MDCs of
Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara. For instance, while the Kenya
National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR) pact did not have an
implementation and monitoring committee, the GPA has a mechanism that is
supposed to review it after 12 and 18 months. Ironically, the KNDR that
depends on the goodwill of the two principals seem to have worked better
than the GPA that has a joint monitoring committee.
Two and half years later, and despite widely being regarded as ill-defined,
Kenya’s power-sharing deal has delivered more output than Zimbabwe’s more
elaborate one. The KNDR has proved that it is not the elaborate enumeration
and clarification of government powers that is most critical, but rather the
personalities of the principals. Odinga, despite having residual powers
delegated by Kibaki, used his personality to acquire and exercise more
executive powers than those stipulated in the deal, and is generally
regarded as a de facto co-president. On the other hand, Zimbabwean Prime
Minister Tsvangirai seems to exist at the mercy of Mugabe, who continues to
hog the executive powers.
To a great extent, the success of the From Page 15

Kenyan deal hinged on the relationship of the principal political players:
Kibaki and Odinga. Besides having a good chemistry between them, they
respect each other and have a history of working together in opposition to
Moi and as allies in the post-Moi government. On the other hand, Mugabe and
Tsvangirai have never worked together and deeply loathe each other.
Kibaki’s and Odinga’s personalities are neatly complementary. While Kibaki
is a relaxed, patrician politician who shuns public appearances, Odinga is a
charismatic crowd pleaser with strong grassroots support. Kibaki also likes
to delegate and feels comfortable enough to share the limelight with Odinga,
who possesses acute political instincts that Kibaki is aware of, not
threatened by, and respects. In the case of Zimbabwe, Mugabe avidly despises
Tsvangirai for his perceived lack of intellect and overreliance on foreign
support.
Additionally, Kibaki is deeply conscious of his legacy which was blotted by
the post-election violence, and did not object to Odinga doing the
donkeywork to restore it. But Odinga also had an interest in seeing the deal
succeed: building a track record on which to run in the 2012 presidential
elections. Odinga’s ascent to the presidency will be a personal milestone:
to obtain what eluded his father, who, despite being fondly called “the best
president Kenya never had”, remained the doyen of opposition politics due to
cultural stereotypes from some Kenyans about his ethnicity. In fact a joke
doing the rounds in Kenya in 2007 was that Americans would elect a “Luo
president” before Kenya did!
In Zimbabwe, Mugabe is not as constrained by term limits as Kibaki, who had
to invest his remaining presidential days in crafting a legacy. With a
twilight presidency, Mugabe is desperate to salvage his sunken political
legacy.
When the violence broke out after Kibaki’s re-election, it engulfed most
parts of the country and paralysed the region. Countries such as Uganda,
Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern DRC and South Sudan, which rely on Kenya for access
to the sea, felt the costs of the violence that halted the transportation
system and almost shut down the regional economic engine.
The African Union (AU) swiftly dispatched its then chairman, Ghanaian
President John Kufuor, on a fact-finding mission to the country. Thereafter,
he recommended the formation of a group of eminent persons under the
leadership of Annan. Annan, having recently retired, had time and saw an
opportunity to spruce up his image in Africa that had been dented by
criticism that he did little or nothing to stem the 1994 Rwanda genocide
when he was UN undersecretary for peacekeeping.
Armed with an endorsement of regional organisations such as the East African
Community and the Inter-governmental Authority on Development, an AU
mandate, financial backing from the Western countries, technical expertise
from the UN and civil society, and the support of the Kenyan people, the
Annan-led team struck a peace deal within a month.
In conflict situations such as Zimbabwe and Sudan, the international
community is divided in understanding the conflicts and addressing them, but
in Kenya it spoke with one voice. While Kofi Annan, Graca Machel and
Benjamin Mkapa worked full-time facilitating the Kenyan deal, two South
African presidents have facilitated the solution to Zimbabwe’s political
crisis on a part-time basis.
It remains to be seen whether other Africans will learn from Kenya’s
experience. However, Kenya’s constitution-making and power-sharing success
should not be regarded as the best blueprint or model of successful
peacemaking, as all countries go through different experiences that
influence the deals reached and how they are implemented. It is not easy to
replicate the Kenyan experience, but it is useful to keep it in mind as a
reference.

Dr Wafula Wokumu is a research fellow with the Institute for Security
Studies’ African Conflict Prevention Programme in Pretoria. —
the-african.org.

US explains its policies towards Zimbabwe

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 19:38

“ILLEGAL Western sanctions” is now one of the most popular clichés in
Zimbabwe’s national conversation.  The US Embassy would like to dispel five
myths about the US’s position on Zimbabwe by stating clearly the real US
policy towards Zimbabwe.
US sanctions not blocking Zim’s economic recovery
The US does not maintain sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe or the
country of Zimbabwe.  US sanctions target individuals and entities that have
undermined democratic processes or institutions in Zimbabwe.  More
specifically, US sanctions target individuals who, among other things, are
senior officials of the government of Zimbabwe, have participated in human
rights abuses related to political repression and/or have engaged in
activities facilitating public corruption by senior officials of the
government of Zimbabwe.
US sanctions also target entities owned or controlled by the Zimbabwean
government or officials of the Zimbabwean government.  Unless a transaction
involves a blocked individual or entity, US persons may, and are encouraged
to, conduct business in, and trade with, Zimbabwe and its people.
The US Treasury Department updates targeted sanctions related to Zimbabwe by
adding individuals or entities to the Specially Designated Nationals and
Blocked Persons List (SDN List) as new individuals or companies emerge, or
are identified, who meet the criteria for designation, and by removing
individuals or entities from the SDN List when they no longer meet the
criteria for designation.
The US welcomes the opportunity to modify the targeted sanctions regime when
blocked Zimbabwean officials demonstrate a clear commitment to respect the
rule of law, democracy, and human rights.
This includes genuine support for the full implementation of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA), which was brokered by Sadc and agreed to by the
leaders of Zimbabwe’s transitional government, and preparing for free, fair,
and peaceful elections which will reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people.
Targeted sanctions should not be used by Zimbabwe’s leaders as an excuse to
abrogate their responsibilities towards their own people under the GPA.
US not preventing Zim’s access to financial aid

The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economy Recovery Act (Zdera), signed into law in
2001, and provisions contained in subsequent appropriations acts, restrict
the ability of the US to cast its vote in support of new assistance to
Zimbabwe from international financial institutions (IFIs), except for
programmes that meet basic human needs or promote democracy.
Zimbabwe, however, was already, and remains, ineligible for multilateral
loans before Zdera due to its arrears to the IFIs.  Zdera is not an obstacle
to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery or its re-engagement with the IFIs.
US has no trade embargo against Zimbabwe
There is no US bilateral trade embargo against Zimbabwe.  Trade levels
fluctuate, but in 10 of the past 12 years (with the exception of 2007 and
2009, when the global economic crisis affected nearly all markets), the
trade balance between Zimbabwe and the US has favoured Zimbabwe, often by a
large margin.
US has not cut off aid to
Zimbabwe
In fact, the US provided over US$300 million in 2009 and over US$200 million
in 2010 for humanitarian, food, health and democracy and governance
assistance to Zimbabwe.  In 2011, the US will continue to provide this level
of assistance while also raising its commitment to fight HIV and Aids in
Zimbabwe by US$10 million to a total of US$57,5 million and by adding
Zimbabwe to the US president’s Malaria Initiative country list, resulting in
an additional US$10 million to assist Zimbabwe’s national malaria control
effort.
US not trying to impose own agenda on Zim, Africa
As President Barack Obama has said many times, Africa’s future is up to
Africans.  The US supports the Zimbabwean people in their effort to fully
realise the promise of democracy, human rights and economic development.
The US advocates full implementation of the GPA, and the holding of free and
fair elections that will reflect the will of the majority of Zimbabweans.
As President Obama has said, “development depends on good governance.  That
is the change that can unlock Africa’s potential.  And it is a
responsibility that can be met only by Africans”.  Political freedom and
stability are in the interest of all
nations and all people who wish to enjoy lasting peace and prosperity.  The
US is a partner and a friend in this effort.

Sharon Hudson-Dean is the Public Affairs Officer and Spokesperson for the US
Embassy in Harare.

Editor's Memo: The GPA is all but dead!

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:06

THE lack of political will exhibited by the three partners in the inclusive
government to fully consummate the Global Political Agreement (GPA) has left
the pact dead in the water and only alive on the paper they signed.
It is instructive to note that President Robert Mugabe’s intransigence and
the lack of tactics on the part of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are to
blame for the paralysis in implementing the GPA, while Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara has, to a larger extent, fuelled the tension between the
two protagonists by making reckless statements in support of unilateral
decisions by the 86-year-old president.
The three principals met on August 4 and reached consensus on 24 of the 27
sticking issues of the GPA. An implementation matrix on the agreed issues
was drawn up and was dispatched the following day to South African President
Jacob Zuma — the Sadc-appointed mediator of the Zimbabwe political crisis. A
full Sadc Summit followed immediately and the matrix was adopted and hailed.
Alas, two months down the line, the implementation matrix has been dumped,
the shaky inclusive government has since drifted into murky waters with more
new problems threatening its existence emerging – courtesy of Mugabe’s
intransigence.  The ageing leader appointed ambassadors, re-appointed
provincial governors without consulting the premier, has declined to revisit
the re-appointment of central bank czar Gideon Gono, the hiring of
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, and has adamantly refused to swear-in
MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett as Deputy Agriculture minister, among a host of
other breaches of the GPA provisions.
In protest, Tsvangirai poured vitriol on Mugabe and wrote to Western
capitals and international multi-lateral organisations asking them not
recognise the ambassadors and also telling them that the country had plunged
into a constitutional crisis. Mugabe said to hell with the protest and has
since declared that there will be elections by June next year to end the
inclusive government.
There is no doubt that we are suffering from a serious crisis of leadership,
where the principals have discarded the GPA to pursue narrow political
interests. It’s a pity that from the day of the formation of the inclusive
government, Mugabe and Tsvangirai went into the trenches, not to move the
country forward, but to use state institutions to outclass each other.
In this dog-eat-dog fight, Mugabe emerged victorious because of the support
he has from the state security sector. Zimbabwe has evolved from a promising
public state at Independence to the current security state where the
apparition of the security elites dogs all political processes.  Structural
power is firmly being controlled by Mugabe and his hardliners, including the
security chiefs, leaving Tsvangirai with a bloody-nose and no Plan B.
A cursory look on the implementation matrix agreed on August 4 shows that
nothing has been done to fulfill it. The principals had agreed that within a
month they would broaden media freedom by implementing far-reaching reforms,
among them, the regularisation of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe,
appoint a new ZBC board and constituting the Zimbabwe Media Trust to have an
oversight role on public-owned, but state-controlled newspapers.
Consensus was reached that within a month a balanced land audit commission
would be appointed, and that within two months a land tenure system would be
in place anchored on a lease-hold system that guarantees security of tenure
and collateral value of land.
It was also agreed that within a month, the long-awaited National Economic
Council would be in place, and that within two months there will be an
adoption of a non-partisan and inclusive principles and framework for
designation of national heroes. With immediate effect, the principals had
agreed that Media and Information permanent secretary George Charamba should
be a professional and apolitical official, Police Commissioner-General
Augustine Chihuri and co-Home Affairs ministers Kembo Mohadi and Theresa
Makone were to reaffirm the right of citizens and political parties to
freely organise political activities; the Electoral Act should be amended;
and the regularisation of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the
appointment of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission expedited, among a
host of other issues.
It is common cause that these commitments were never met because of the
leadership crisis we have in the country, rendering the GPA practically
dead. We can now safely assume that the country will return to the misrule
of 2008 and flawed elections will follow.

Constantine Chimakure

Candid Comment:Gobsmacked by Zesa’s billing shambles

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:05

THE problems facing the country’s parastatals are all too familiar and
hardly need reprising as the comatose entities are often in the news, albeit
for all the wrong reasons. Suffice it to say that the country’s
fiscus-bleeding parastatals would make suitable material for a case study on
how to run down a company.
Due to its central role in the economy and the layman’s life, Zesa has come
to typify the rot of parastatals. It frequently makes news for what appear
to be insurmountable challenges. And like other state entities it has ready
excuses  for all seasons to explain its shoddy service and power cuts.
In winter unplanned power cuts are blamed on increased demand; during the
rainy season  it is to do with water seeping into cables and trees falling
on power lines; at any other time Zesa can cite maintenance works, coal
shortage or the perennially troublesome Hwange power station, among others.
I thought I was familiar with Zesa’s plethora of ailments until I visited
its billing division with the most mundane of tasks — paying an electricity
bill. Little did I know what I was in for.
After failing to receive a July bill for a recently-completed house I am
renting I decided to visit Zesa’s billing offices at Megawatt House on
August 16. After a quick computer check I was told that they were still to
allocate the premises an account number and, in the meantime, could I bring
them my meter reading and meter number?  I obliged and the following day the
details were entered into a hardcover exercise book. Much as I wanted to, I
was told I could not pay anything until allocated an account number, and was
asked to return at the end of September.
I returned at the beginning of October, only to be told by the same employee
that an account was still to be opened and NO, I could not pay until
allocated one. After arguing that I thought this was utterly ridiculous and
nonsensical as my bill was surely mounting, he suggested that I see a
manager (name supplied) at Zesa payment offices a short distance across the
street. The receptionist there told me he was not in, and called an
accountant to attend to me. After making several futile calls she promised
to phone me that week on a Friday, and gave me her business card for good
measure.
When she didn’t and her landline continuously went unanswered I took another
trip to her office on Wednesday. She was not in, I was told, as she was now
working in Chitungwiza! This necessitated yet another trip to Megawatt
House, where I met the now familiar employee. He again told me I still had
no account number and he was sorry I still could not pay.
Pointing to a pile of hardcover exercise books he whispered in a
conspiratorial tone: “Those books are full of customers in the same position
as you and they can’t pay because due to technological challenges we can’t
open accounts for them!” He then referred me to the same manager at the
payment offices before wishing me good luck because “vakuru vacho
havavhunduke (the managers are not easily moved)”.
So yet again I found myself at the payment offices, and, you guessed right,
the manager was not in and the receptionist had no idea when he would
return.
Two weeks ago we carried a story in which Energy and Power Development
minister,  Elton Mangoma lamented that the biggest problems facing Zesa is
that residents were using electricity without paying for it, to the extent
that  Zesa  is currently owed more than US$400 million which he said could
have revamped the parastatal, resulting in less load-shedding. The irony,
minister, is that there are many who wish to pay, but Zesa won’t let them.
As I ponder my next move, I’m bracing myself for a mega-bill and the spectre
of disconnection when Megawatt House eventually gets its shoddy act
together.

Stewart Chabwinja

Comment: Mugabe’s strategy for 2011 elections

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

Thursday, 28 October 2010 20:03

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe now seems to be pushing for elections next year. He
is in a hurry for the polls to secure another term before his health further
falters.

If Mugabe waits until 2013 he would be 89 years old and even his sycophantic
loyalists would be unconvinced that he could pull it off at that age. There
is no precedent in the democratic world where a candidate has gone to
elections at 89 years old!
If Mugabe goes for elections in 2013, as most people in Zanu PF and the two
MDC parties want, this means he would end his five-year term in 2018 at the
age of 94 and cumulatively after 38 years in power!
Obviously, Mugabe’s advisors, if he has any, can see all this. So it is
better for him to force elections next year when the body still permits, not
when the spirit is willing but the body weak as would be the case in 2013.
So it is clear that his agitation for elections is entirely a personal
agenda as was the case in 2008. In 2008 Mugabe faced an election alone as
MPs still had two more years to go, but he dragooned everybody (after his
attempt to secure two more years in power through the backdoor was blocked
at the Zanu PF Goromonzi conference) into elections and, as we now know, it
was a disaster for him and Zanu PF. Elections motivated by personal
interests and narrow agendas can easily backfire.
Mugabe is again forcing the nation into elections motivated by his personal
interests, which include his well-known but less-talked-about agenda to be
life president.
Mugabe’s strategy for these elections is to use the army, police,
intelligence and war veterans, alongside churches, musicians and artists,
particularly gullible youths failing to make it in the market, and all
instruments of coercion to mobilise votes. The public media is the theatre
for his propaganda campaign.
There is no doubt anymore that Mugabe wants to die in office for many
reasons, but particularly to avoid being held to account for his excesses
while in office. Whatever his loyalists and lackeys say, Mugabe’s rule by
any measure was a failure.
It was characterised by gross human rights abuses, intolerance, harassment,
political arrests and detentions, disappearances and even killings of fellow
citizens for merely holding different views and belonging to different
parties from his. Mugabe’s rule has also been dogged by impunity,
corruption, nepotism and economic ruin. In short, misrule and mismanagement
were the hallmarks of his rule.
Granted, Mugabe was part and parcel of the liberation struggle but after
that he hounded, arrested and tortured his comrades, including Joshua Nkomo,
a pioneer of the struggle. Most of the genuine veterans of the struggle were
left to die or languish in poverty. Cronies and opportunists are the ones
benefitting from his reign. Mugabe’s education policies and other
interventions helped to empower the population, but on balance they pale
into insignificance compared with his failures.
That’s why Mugabe would rather die in office.
He wants the elections soonest to guarantee his future. Palpable insecurity
and fear of the future are his main worries. So he needs elections — which
he calculates to win by hook or by crook — to ensure personal security and
whatever remains of his tattered legacy.
To do this he has to extricate himself from the GPA which has restricted his
powers and contained him, while making his future uncertain.
That is why Mugabe is not interested in electoral reforms and laying down a
roadmap towards free and fair elections. He wants elections on a terrain he
understands better; where violence and intimidation would be the main
determinants.
While his partners in the inclusive government and Sadc are pushing for the
implementation of the GPA, Mugabe is busy getting his political ducks in a
row and campaigning. It may not be too obvious that Mugabe is already
beating the campaign path, but he is all over the show talking about
indigenisation and sanctions. Behind-the-scenes, he is massively mobilising
for the “do or die” poll. And for many, sadly, it will be the latter rather
than the former.