http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Saturday 09 October
2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe has again been classified as one of 22
countries in
"protracted crisis" where a combination of weak institutions,
political
instability and vulnerability to natural disasters expose a
significant
proportion of the population to a high risk of chronic hunger
and food
insecurity.
The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
said in its "State of Food
Insecurity in the World 2010" hunger report
jointly published with the World
Food Programme (WFP) this week listed
Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Angola,
Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad,
Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic
People's Republic of Korea, Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Eritrea as
among countries requiring special
attention because of their precarious
humanitarian and political
situations.
Other countries in this category are Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti,
Iraq, Kenya,
Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan and
Uganda.
"Faced with so many obstacles, it is little wonder that
protracted crises
can become a self-perpetuating vicious cycle...They
represent ongoing and
fundamental threats to both lives and livelihoods,
from which recovery may
become progressively more difficult over time," said
the preface to the
report, signed jointly by FAO Director General Jacques
Diouf and World Food
Programme Executive Director Josette
Sheeran.
Chronic hunger and food insecurity are the most common
characteristics of a
protracted crisis, with the report noting that on
average, the proportion of
people who are undernourished in countries facing
these complex problems is
almost three times as high as in other developing
countries.
An estimated 1.7 million Zimbabweans are forecast to face
hunger during the
current 2010/11 marketing season that ends in March next
year.
Of these, a significant 1.3 million people are from the rural areas
where
last season's production was affected by shortages of inputs and a
mid-season dry spell that destroyed most crops.
The food shortage has
also been blamed on President Robert Mugabe's
controversial land reform
programme that saw hordes of his ZANU PF
supporters invading more than 4 000
productive white-owned farms since 2000.
Critics have blamed the lack of
proper extension services to the resettled
black farmers for the slump in
food production during the past 10 years.
A study by the Zimbabwe
government and the UN earlier this year also
revealed that more than one
third of children under five years are
chronically malnourished and
stunted.
The National Nutrition Survey, which was conducted in January
2010, revealed
a worsening problem of chronic malnutrition, posing long-term
survival and
development challenges for Zimbabwe.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 10:04
PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe has grabbed virtually all executive powers from
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai after unilaterally appointing provincial
governors, endangering
the survival of the fragile inclusive government.
Mugabe's decision
to appoint governors on his own without consulting
Tsvangirai is one in a
series of moves which have been rejected by the
premier as a violation of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and thus
invalid.
According
to the GPA, Mugabe is not supposed to make such appointments
without
consulting Tsvangirai.
However, Mugabe has practically seized
all executive powers and used them to
make unilateral decisions which have
left Tsvangirai looking powerless and
weak, while threatening the existence
of the shaky coalition.
In terms of the GPA executive power is shared
between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
cabinet. Mugabe chairs cabinet and that way
has laid claim to the "head of
government" title, apart from being head of
state. A power struggle has been
raging between him and Tsvangirai over this
issue, although it seems Mugabe
is now resorting to brazen means to
consolidate his power and assert his
authority.
In yet another
action which showed Mugabe was acting in complete disregard
of the GPA and
riding roughshod over Tsvangirai, Mugabe appointed 10
provincial governors
for two-year terms despite that issue remaining as one
of the unresolved
outstanding issues.
Mugabe's assault on the GPA, seizure of almost
all executive power, and
arbitrary appointment of governors yesterday forced
Tsvangirai to convene an
emergency MDC-T national executive meeting to
discuss the critical
situation. The meeting rejected Mugabe's controversial
decision and mandated
the party to campaign against
it.
Tsvangirai yesterday expressed outrage at Mugabe's decision,
especially
linking the issue of governors to the lifting of sanctions,
describing it as
"rank madness and utterly
nonsensical".
Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara were only
told by Mugabe on
Monday at a meeting to discuss the remaining outstanding
issues of the
global political agreement about the appointments, which top
government
sources said the president had made last
Friday.
Mugabe also categorically told Tsvangirai and Mutambara that
he will never
swear-in Deputy Agriculture minister-designate Roy
Bennett.
Tsvangirai told journalists yesterday after a six-hour
emergency meeting
with his national executive that: "To my utter surprise,
and shall I say
disgust, Mr Mugabe advised me on Monday that he had
nichodemously
re-appointed the former governors in the same manner in which
he appointed
the previous governors on a Sunday, when most of us were at
church.
"The Prime Minister, who has to consent to their
appointments, knew nothing
about it. He (Mugabe) confirmed to me and DPM
Mutambara on Monday that he
has no intention of ever swearing in Roy. The
matter of Roy Bennett has now
become a personal vendetta and part of a
racist agenda."
Tsvangirai threatened to fight the unilateral
appointments by going around
the country telling his supporters not to
recognise the 10 provincial
governors.
The first of such
briefings will be provincial executive meetings starting
this weekend in
Bindura in Mashonaland Central and in Karoi in Mashonaland
West.
The
three political principals had agreed on a five, four and one formula,
where
MDC-T was supposed to appoint five governors, Zanu PF four and MDC-M
one.
Tsvangirai said his national executive had also resolved not
to recognise
the appointments made in the last 18 months, which were done
"unconstitutionally" without consulting him.
"The MDC's national
executive has today resolved that we must make a stand
to protect the
Constitution of Zimbabwe and to return it to the
custodianship of the
citizens of Zimbabwe," he said.
"We now similarly call on the people
of Zimbabwe, at whose pleasure we
serve, not to recognise these individuals
as the legitimate holders of the
posts to which they have been
unconstitutionally and illegally appointed. In
doing so you must all remain
peaceful."
Tsvangirai said his party no longer recognised the
appointments of the
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, Attorney-General
Johannes Tomana, five
judges appointed on May 20 2010, the six ambassadors
appointed on July 24
and Police Service Commission announced in March this
year.
He said he would advise the countries to whom the ambassadors
were posted
that the appointments were illegal and therefore null and
void.
Tsvangirai also said he would advise the Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku
on the illegal appointment of the judges and the president of
the senate,
Edna Madzongwe not to consider the governors as members of the
senate.
He plans to tell co-Home Affairs ministers and the National
Security Council
that the appointment of the Police Service Commission was
illegal.
The MDC leader said Sadc should urgently intervene to
restore
constitutionality in Zmbabwe. He invited Sadc to deploy observers
before the
constitutional referendum to help protect the rights of
Zimbabweans to
express their views freely and without violence or
intimidation.
"I don't want to understate the nature or extent of the
current crisis. It
is nothing short of a constitutional crisis, which is why
I have urged Sadc
(Southern African Development Community) to intervene as a
matter of
urgency," Tsvangirai said.
However, analysts say his
chances of pulling off a victory are almost zero
because all the
institutions Tsvangirai is telling not to recognise Mugabe's
appointments
were controlled by Zanu PF.
The premier attacked Mugabe for trying to
link many issues, including the
appointment of governors, to the lifting of
sanctions.
"This is rank madness and utterly nonsensical," he said.
"It is tantamount
to surrendering the sovereignty of this country. All
Zimbabweans know that
Mr Mugabe and his colleagues brought the restrictive
measures on themselves
through the flagrant abuse of human rights and
economic disaster which they
inflicted on this country," he
said.
"All Zimbabweans know that these restrictive measures are the
result, not
the cause, of that economic disaster. They know that these
restrictive
measures affect the individuals concerned, not the country as a
whole, as
the economic turnaround since my party joined the government has
shown."
Sources in the MDC-T national executive meeting told the
Zimbabwe
Independent that the meeting was heated with some members saying
they should
withdraw from the shaky unity government because Mugabe was
taking them for
a ride.
However, Tsvangirai told journalists
yesterday that they had no intention of
pulling out of the government, but
would remain committed to ensure that
future elections are free and fair and
that Zimbabwe writes a new
pluralistic constitution.
"If their
intention is to push us out, we don't have any intention of
pulling out - we
will not grant them that wish. The MDC utterly rejects any
suggestion that
power is an entitlement through historical legacy or that
power is a
God-given right of an individual or individuals." he said. "I was
prepared
to work with Mr Mugabe to allow him to address the mistakes of the
past and
to help him to rebuild his legacy."
However, Tsvangirai added: "The
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."
Faith Zaba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
09:45
NATIONAL hero Welshman Mabhena’s family yesterday rejected the
honour of
having the former PF-Zapu secretary-general buried at the national
shrine,
accusing President Robert Mugabe of shedding crocodile
tears.
Mabhena’s brother, Norman, a former central committee member
in both PF-Zapu
and Zanu PF, told the Zimbabwe Independent that his brother
told his family
before he died that he did not want to be buried at the
National Heroes Acre
if the honour was extended to him because he had
nothing anymore to do with
Zanu PF and Mugabe.
This would come as a
serious public snub to Mugabe and his Zanu PF
politburo.
Mugabe
yesterday sent former Zapu chairman Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu to
negotiate
with the Mabhena family the need to bury the late nationalist at
the Heroes
Acre.
This followed a message sent to the family by Zanu PF chairman
Simon Khaya
Moyo on Wednesday night informing them of the politburo decision
to declare
Mabhena a national hero. Moyo confirmed that he had informed the
family that
Mabhena had been declared a national hero.
However,
the family rejected the honour, saying that Mabhena had clearly
indicated
that he did not want to be buried at the Heroes Acre if proclaimed
a
national hero, but in Bulawayo at Lady Stanley Cemetery.
Mugabe then
dispatched Ndlovu to the Mabhena family to negotiate with them
to accept the
honour, but they declined, in a direct snub of Mugabe and his
politburo.
Norman Mabhena said the family made it clear to
Ndlovu, who is currently
Senate deputy president, that they did not
recognise the national hero
status conferred on the former Matabeleland
North governor.
He said the family was going ahead to bury Mabhena at
Lady Stanley Cemetery
in Bulawayo tomorrow.
“Ndlovu came to the
family house to discuss the issue and I told him to go
back to tell Mugabe
to leave us in peace, not in pieces,” Norman said. “Zanu
PF should stop
wasting our time because my brother had nothing to do with
that party
anymore. We are not accepting the national hero status because
Mabhena said
he didn’t want to be buried at a Zanu PF shrine (National
Heroes
Acre).”
Ndlovu confirmed that he met the family between 9am and 10am
yesterday where
he was told in no uncertain terms that the Mabhena family
was rejecting the
honour.
“I met the family and they told me of their
decision (to reject the hero
status) which we respect,” he
said.
Mabhena died on Tuesday at his Bulawayo home and was declared a
national
hero following a lengthy politburo meeting on
Wednesday.
Mabhena was a fierce Mugabe critic. Mugabe fired Mabhena
as governor in 2000
after the latter accused him of sabotaging development
in Matabeleland.
Norman Mabhena said it was sad that Zanu PF wanted
his brother to be buried
at the National Heroes acre when they neglected him
from 2000 until the time
of his death.
He said Mugabe declared
that the national shrine was a Zanu PF burial place
and that disqualified
Mabhena who was no longer a member of any party.
“Mabhena was no
longer a Zanu PF member or any party and thus he can’t be
decorated by
Mugabe as a national hero because his record speaks for
itself,” Norman
Mabhena said. “My brother told the family before he died
that he didn’t want
Mugabe to declare him a national hero after being
victimised and abused for
complaining about underdevelopment in the region.
“Zanu PF is trying
to play politics,” Norman Mabhena said. “They are now
declaring our brother
a national hero when he has been suffering in the last
10 years due to
neglect by the same government he served. Mabhena fought the
struggle and
worked hard for this country but was treated badly after that.
Zanu PF
should not pretend to love him now that he has died.”
Mabhena took
part in the liberation struggle and was detained by the Ian
Smith regime at
Whawha and Salisbury prisons for several years. He was the
PF Zapu
secretary-general before the Unity Accord in 1987 and became a
member of the
Zanu PF central committee before rising to the politburo. He
was also a
minister before becoming a provincial governor.
Mabhena was
instrumental in the negotiation of the Unity Accord which ended
the
massacres of civilians by the Fifth Brigade between 1982 and 1987.
At the
height of tensions between Zanu and Zapu, Mabhena, alongside Joshua
Nkomo,
who was forced to flee the country after surviving an assassination
attempt
by government security forces, was one of the senior Zapu officials
dismissed by Mugabe from government under the pretext of the discovery of an
arms cache on Zapu properties.
Mabhena was arrested and detained
by the Mugabe government alongside other
senior Zapu officials and former
Zipra commanders in the early 1980s for
about two years, including Dumiso
Dabengwa, Edward Ndlovu and Lookout
Masuku, who died in 1986 soon after his
release from atrocious prison
conditions.
There was controversy
over the former Zipra commander’s hero status, which
resulted in him being
buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery where Mabhena will be
buried
tomorrow.
Brian Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 12:40
CABINET
may soon review the Statutory Instrument that bans importation of
left-hand
drive vehicles and second-hand cars more than five years old.
The ban is
effective from March 31 2011 and by 2015, left-hand drive
vehicles should be
off the roads.
The review of the ban was revealed by deputy prime-minister
Arthur Mutambara
this week when he was responding to a question in
parliament from Mutare
South MP Fred Kanzama on whether the government had
consulted the public
before proclaiming Statutory Instrument 154 of
2010.
"The cabinet would meet with the minister to discuss the matter. As a
government we need to apply our minds before major policy announcements and
to review if we should amend the instrument if necessary," Mutambara
said.
He added that the inclusive government was facing a number of
weaknesses,
especially around policy inconsistency and instability.
"This
government faces challenges in the public perception," he said. "We
are
struggling to access finance. We have lots of policy inconsistency and
there
is
instability in the inclusive government. We do not need to send mixed
signals out there. We must apply our minds before announcing a policy. We
must stay the course and walk
the course of our decisions," he
added.
The deputy premier also said government had set up a cabinet committee
to
inquire into what drives inflation and work on the harmonisation of all
government workers' salaries. He was responding to a question by Zvishavane
MP Obert Matshalaga on whether government had a policy on incomes and
salaries for its employees.
"We have to harmonise salaries in the
government, quasi-government
enterprises, parastatals and local government
(councils). To that end we
have created a cabinet committee working on
cost-drivers and to harmonise
salaries. What is happening in parastatals and
local government authorities
is unacceptable. There should be justice and
equity in salaries of all
government employees," Mutambara said.
On the
other hand, Minister of Public Service Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said the
Public
Service Human Resources Audit preliminary report would be ready by
next
week. This was in response to a question by Silobela MP Anadi Silulu on
when
the audit report would be available.
"The payroll and skills audit took a
long time. We had to build a central
human resources depository and this
took six to eight months to complete,"
Mukonoweshuro said. This was
completed in December 2009. I am, however,
happy to announce that Ernst
& Young (India) -- consultants engaged for the
audit -- have promised to
deliver a preliminary report by next week."
Paidamoyo
Muzulu
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
12:37
THE Securities Commission of Zimbabwe (SEC) has clashed with
securities
firms over requirements that companies that operated before the
formation of
the statutory body should re-apply for registration and pay a
fee of US$12
000, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt.
The commission has
since threatened to revoke licences of firms that are
challenging the fresh
registration as unlawful.
In a circular to stockbrokers dated September 17,
SEC chief executive
officer Alban Chirume says all licensed securities
dealers must furnish the
commission with academic qualifications, birth
certificates, police
clearance and professional qualifications.
The
circular reads: "Please be reminded that failure to lodge your
applications
during this transitional period will result in your current
licence that
authorises you to conduct licensable and regulated activities
having no
force or effect upon the expiration of the deadline. To avoid
business
interruption, we urge you to take immediate action to regularise
your
licence."
Chirume says should an application be rejected, "even in instances
of a
simple omission to the required documents", the commission will forfeit
25%
of the application fee.
"Please be advised that, should the
application be rejected, even in
instances where it is on the basis of a
simple omission to submit the
required documents, 25% of the application fee
will be forfeited," the
circular reads. "It is therefore imperative to
ensure the submission of
complete documents with your application. Please
note the commission is
available for any one-on-one clarification on any
issue. It is our wish that
the migration is smooth, painless and
quick."
But the ZSE and members of the stock exchange argued through their
lawyers,
Kantor & Immerman that SEC misunderstood the law and cannot
demand further
registration and fee payments.
Addington Chinake of Kantor
& Immerman wrote back to Chirume on September 30
saying: "Having looked
at the facts and the law, we respectfully draw your
attention to the
following provisions of the Securities Act, 17 of 2004
(chapter 24:25) . (3)
Every person who, immediately before the fixed date,
was a registered
stockbroker under the repealed Act shall be deemed to be
the holder of a
licence issued on the fixed date authorising him or her to
trade or deal in
the same securities, and subject to the same terms and
conditions as he was
permitted to immediately before the fixed date."
The fixed date, Chinake
argued, is defined as being the date, in terms of
sub-section (2) of section
(1) the Act came into operation. The statutory
body became operational on
June 1 2008.
The ZSE and its members argued that any stockbroker or its
members
registered before June 1 2008 is "deemed licensed".
"Accordingly,
your demand that members of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange 'apply
for
licensing' is bad in law. Consequently, the demand for a licence fee is
also
fatally flawed. In the circumstances, we have advised members of the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and the ZSE that your demand is illegal," reads
Chinake's letter.
Chinake threatened to seek a declaration confirming his
point at law and an
urgent application to prevent SEC from stopping
operations of his clients.
He added: "Finally, your threat that Section 121
is voided by your statement
that "the deemed licence under which you
presently operate shall cease to be
of any force or effect" is bad in law.
Any attempt to stop the lawful
operations of members of the Zimbabwe Stock
Exchange on the basis set out in
your letter, will be resisted and, if
necessary, an urgent application filed
for urgent relief by the members and
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange to protect
their interests. We trust this will
not be necessary."
However, the commission boss further threatened members of
the ZSE saying
they had not heeded SEC's circulars.
In another letter
dated September 27, Chirume wrote: "Our circular of the
16th of August 2010
aforementioned gave the 30th of September 2010 as the
deadline by which SEC
should be in receipt of your application . we notice
that there are three
days left from the date of this letter, to the lapsing
of the deadline. This
serves as the last reminder that unless we receive
your application as a
securities dealer, complete with all the relevant
documents and proof of
payment fees, at the latest on the 30th of September
2010 any business that
you conduct shall be unlawful."
This is not the first time the securities
commission has clashed with ZSE
since the commission came into existence in
June 2008. Last year, the
commission fought with ZSE over the administration
of an investor protection
levy. SEC claimed it should administer and collect
the funds while the ZSE
argued it was not necessary to have another parallel
investor protection
levy.
Sources say at least eight companies had paid
SEC, but will soon claim that
money back.
"About eight guys paid out of
fear of being victimised. We have instructed
our lawyers to claim that
money," a source said.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 12:06
ZIMBABWE should
not expect elections in 2011 unless the country is willing
to have them
under the same conditions as the bloody June 27 polls of 2008,
a top
government official has said.
This was said as political parties in the
inclusive government were now
talking about a negotiated draft constitution,
a process which the official
said is likely to be as protracted as the
negotiations that led to the
signing of the global political agreement
(GPA), which gave birth to the
unity government in February last
year.
The official, who preferred anonymity, said there was no way democratic
reforms would be put in place as early as next year.
He said the earliest
possible time that Zimbabwe can expect elections is in
2012, adding when all
agreed democratic reforms outlined in the GPA, which
include electoral,
media and security reforms, would have been implemented.
“If you want an
election which is predicated on Zanu PF retreating or a
government of
Zimbabwe retreating and you suddenly have outsiders run an
election, you are
joking, it’s not going to happen,” said the government
insider.
“At the
very least 2012. If you want to have an election in 2011, you will
have to
say it is an election that generally repudiates the GPA — no new
constitution, no electoral reforms, no media reforms — nothing. So if that
is the election we want, then that’s fine.
He went further to say that:
“The bottom line is that if you want to walk
away from the GPA and have an
election as if there was never a GPA then you
can have an election next
year. But if you want to go through some semblance
that we are at the end of
the GPA processes that we agreed upon then the
earliest we can talk about is
2012.”
Giving an insight into the chaotic constitution-making process, the
official
said the three political parties in the unity government will now
have to go
back to the drawing board and agree on how best to
proceed.
Contrary to press statements from the Constitution Select Committee
(Copac),
which has announced that a drafting committee would be appointed in
January,
he said people should not expect one any time soon.
“Even the
(Douglas) Mwonzoras (Copac co-chairperson) are busy saying that a
drafting
committee of the constitution will only be appointed in January.
But first
of all there will not be any drafting committee at all anywhere in
the
future,” he said. “How do you draft a constitution from the data which
is
there, if you have no power to negotiate? Can I say these are the notes
to
draft a constitution; from which of the voices are you going to take?
They
don’t have anyone in that select committee who has negotiating powers.”
The
other two Copac co-chairpersons are Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana, who is not
in
Zanu PF’s politburo and MDC-M’s national executive member Edward Mkhosi.
Mwonzora is not in the MDC-T national executive.
The government official
said they would have to decide on whether they go
back to the initial agreed
model whereby they were going to use the Kariba
draft as the reference
point.
“Basically, the model that we had selected of making a constitution is
no
longer there. We have to find another. That model was based on the
understanding we were going to take Kariba to the people and the people
would say yes to this and no to that,” the source pointed out.
He
believed that 80% of the Kariba draft constitution would not have been a
problem and they would have had to change 20% based on the people’s
views.
“But if you repudiate Kariba, you are starting from scratch. You have
to
have people who have the full authority of the political parties to
negotiate, to give in and to compromise,” the official said, adding that:
“In that select committee there is no one from all the political parties who
has the mandate to negotiate because this was supposed to be a PR thing, so
who is going to negotiate for you there?”
He added: “So that whole
structure is not capable of delivering anything.
Because now you have the
different voices from the people, people in
Masvingo want one thing, now you
have to have people authorised to
derecognise that voice and recognise this
voice. This is a self-inflicted
problem."
The Kariba draft was negotiated
by negotiators from the three political
parties to the
GPA.
Faith Zaba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
12:05
DEPUTY Mines and Minerals Development minister Gift Chimanikire
this week
told the United States to “go to hell” if it wants to dictate to
Zimbabwe
who to sell its minerals to.
Chimanikire was addressing
small-scale miners in the Matabeleland South
provincial capital,
Gwanda.
“In terms of who we sell our minerals to, America cannot dictate to
us the
markets ...if they say our diamonds are bloody they can keep their
money or
go to hell. Zimbabwe has the right to choose its markets,” he
said.
Asked by miners whether he was expressing his personal opinion or a
government policy, Chimanikire said: “I am a government official and that’s
the official position… this is what we call ruling and I repeat America can
go to hell.”
This did not go down well with miners who felt that the
MDC-T official was
behaving like a “little Mugabe”.
Miners said
Chimanikire’s comments are misplaced and would only serve to
scare away
investors.
Earlier on he had told miners that “our country also competes with
other
countries for foreign direct investment. There is need for attracting
investors and for this reason we are vigorously marketing the
country.”
Chimanikire is on a familiarisation tour of the Matabeleland region
where he
is meeting miners.
During the meeting, miners confessed that
they are forced to smuggle gold to
South Africa due to high taxes levied by
Fidelity Printers, an arm of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which is the
official buyer of the precious mineral
in the country.
A representative
of women miners said: “It will be a difficult task to
abandon smuggling and
the black market.
“We are into full-time smuggling of gold to South Africa
due to the conduct
of Fidelity Printers. It takes ages for us to receive our
payments once we
sell gold to Fidelity Printers, but we receive instant cash
from our dealers
in South Africa. Therefore we are comfortable with
smuggling to South
Africa.”
The deputy minister said there was lack of
accountability of minerals
extracted in the country.
Chimanikire said:
“Every gramme or tonne produced should be properly
accounted for. Therefore,
there is need for dialogue and removal of
suspicion on the part of all
stakeholders so that the country gets the
necessary impetus for its economic
recovery.”
On capacity utilisation in the mining sector, Chimanikire said it
was still
averaging below 40%.
“While production in the mining sector is
low, it is further worsened by
lack of accountability in production
declarations.
“Stakeholders here cannot dispute that there are leakages. In
addition some
producers, big or small, choose not to remit taxes to fiscus
and this is
undesirable,” he said.
“Capacity utilisation still remains
lower than 40%. Admittedly the mining
sector is on its recovery path but its
performance still remains below
expectation.”
Miners told Chimanikire
that random power cuts by Zesa were severely
affecting their operations, to
which Chimanikire said: “Zesa is a national
problem which we have to live
with.”
Nqobile Bhebhe
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 11:58
ZANU PF bigwigs
in Matabeleland are fighting over the collapse of party
structures as senior
members snub critical meetings.
According to senior Zanu PF officials in
Bulawayo, former Information and
Publicity minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, who
is the politburo member tasked
with heading the party in the province, is
under fire for failing to
establish vibrant party structures.
Ndlovu, the
source said, also prematurely announced last week that the
province would
host Vice-President John Nkomo's celebrations to mark his
ascendance to his
current position, angering other politburo members in the
region who felt
that they had done enough preparations for the bash.
The celebrations which
were scheduled for October 2 at the Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair
grounds in Bulawayo were cancelled. It is the third
time this year the
celebrations have been cancelled.
The sources told the Zimbabwe Independent
that politburo members Eunice
Sandi-Moyo, Angeline Masuku, Edson Ncube and
central committee member
Tshinga Dube cornered Ndlovu, who is Zanu PF
secretary for education, on
August 26 at Zanu PF provincial headquarters,
Davies Hall, and demanded an
explanation why officials were snubbing party
meetings.
It emerged that only 50 members out of 150 officials attended the
provincial
coordinating committee (PCC) meeting on that day, raising the
concern of the
senior party officials in the region. PCC consists of
politburo, central
committee, national consultative assembly and provincial
executive members.
"Ndlovu was summoned to a closed-door meeting by Masuku,
Dube, Sandi and
Ncube who asked Ndlovu why he was failing to mobilise party
members to
attend critical gatherings," a senior Zanu PF member said.
"Masuku and
company who are seen as powerhouses in Matabeleland lambasted
Ndlovu for
failing to maintain vibrant party structures."
Irked by
Ndlovu's "lame excuses" why officials were snubbing meeting, the
source
said, Masuku, Sandi-Moyo and Ncube then walked out of the PCC
meeting.
Dube confirmed the meeting, but declined to discuss
details.
"I was at the meeting but we left early. I cannot discuss much
concerning
the issue," he said.
Before they walked out, the source said
Masuku, Ncube, Sandi-Moyo and Dube
read the riot act to Ndlovu whom they
challenged to implement effective ways
of reviving the collapsing
structures.
Another burning issue at the closed-door meeting by the Zanu PF
stalwarts
was Ndlovu's announcement that Bulawayo province would host
Nkomo's
celebrations when Nkomo had not confirmed he would attend.
"The
senior party members told Ndlovu that he was not supposed to call for
Nkomo's celebrations at a time party members were snubbing meetings. Ndlovu
was asked if he wanted to embarrass Nkomo due to a poor attendance," said
the source.
Ndlovu yesterday denied that party structures had collapsed
and that there
was infighting in the province.
Brian Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 11:56
VILLAGERS in the
diamond-rich Chiadzwa area have collectively resisted
relocation to Arda
Transau Resettlement Area, demanding a minimum of US$50
000 each as
compensation before they move.
The villagers have vowed to stay put until the
resolution of other issues,
which include the construction of permanent
structures for them at Arda
Transau, proper reburial of their relatives,
employment creation for their
children and security at the relocated area,
are put in place.
The 44 villagers, who were supposed to have been relocated
last week to make
way for the three diamond mining companies - Canadile,
Mbada and Anjin -
still remain at their homesteads insisting that they would
not move until
their demands are met.
Mutare West MP Shua Mudiwa
confirmed to the Zimbabwe Independent that
villagers want compensation first
before they are relocated.
Mudiwa said: "I am aware of the failed attempt of
the relocation of Chiadzwa
people. The villagers from Chiadzwa are demanding
that before they are
relocated they are given compensation."
"They are
not resisting relocation, but from the experience of the first 14
families
that were relocated to Arda, the villagers feel that the government
and
mining companies still have a lot to do before they are relocated."
The MP
said last week a truck that had gone to collect their belongings left
empty
because people refused to go until their demands were met.
Acting president
of Chiadzwa Community Development Trust (CCDT) Malvern
Mudiwa said the
villagers were demanding a minimum of US$50 000 each as
compensation.
"They do not want to be put in a temporary location,
instead they want
permanent houses to be ready for them, which reflects
their normal life and
not city life that they can't afford," Mudiwa said.
"They have also demanded
tight security where they would be relocated
because they have learnt from
other villagers in Chiadzwa that they have
lost their goats."
He said the Trust had approached the District
Administrator (DA)'s office
with the hope of getting their concerns heard.
However, Mudiwa said this
fell on deaf ears.
Efforts to get a comment
from the DA's office over the past fortnight were
fruitless.
Chiadzwa
villagers have constantly complained about the lack of proper and
genuine
consultation by government on relocation and compensation.
Last month at a
mining accountability and transparency conference held in
Harare, Chiadzwa
community representative Lovemore Mukwada said: "We are
very prepared to be
relocated, but what we are looking at from whoever is
responsible for
relocation is dialogue, transparency, partnership,
consideration of human
rights and those rights which go hand in hand with
relocation. We want our
relocation to resemble a rural relocation that is
where we were born and
bred."
Chikwada said villagers were demanding infrastructure development in
Chiadzwa, particularly Chiadzwa-Matongo road, Marange-Matongo road,
Mutsago-Marange via Buwerimwe, and Rombe via Karirwi road, among
others.
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:55
A GROUP of six policemen in full riot gear detain a man after 8pm
along
Sixth Avenue in Bulawayo city centre and orders him to empty his
pockets.
Out of fear, he complies as one officer “gently” knocks his head
with a
shiny baton stick.
A few minutes later, exactly at the same spot,
another team of equally armed
policemen stops a group of boys. In no time
the boys are made to lie down as
the police search them.
During the day,
police checkpoints have multiplied and vehicles are now
thoroughly
searched.
Police say they are looking for guns as the city has been hit by an
unprecedented spate of armed robberies, in some cases fatal.
These are
the footprints of the aftermath of the September 18 fatal shooting
of Chief
Superintendent Lawrence Chatikobo.
He was the Commander of the Criminal
Investigations Department’s Serious
Fraud Section at the time of his
death.
Chatikobo was gunned down at Cape to Cairo Restaurant and Bar in the
city by
suspected armed robbers who got away with more than
US$700.
Another policeman and three other people were injured.
Over the
past two weeks the Zimbabwe Independent has witnessed such a
routine as
residents are subjected to random searches without being given
any
explanation.
However, due to what residents now describe as “heavy
handedness” by police
when engaging citizens at night, they are now
questioning the rationale of
the crackdown.
There are reports that those
found without identification particulars are
thoroughly beaten and taken to
Central Police Station for screening.
Police boss Augustine Chihuri, speaking
at a church service held in honour
of the late Chatikobo, reiterated the
controversial “shoot to kill policy”
saying “he wished them (robbers) a very
short life”.
“I even appeal to God and my prayer is: ‘Lord, may you shorten
the lives of
these criminals….. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) will not,
and I
repeat, will not, stand akimbo and watch innocent citizens of this
country,
let alone police officers, being decimated by uncouth criminals in
a naive
and imbecile attempt to make our society lawless,” said
Chihuri.
While residents agree that it is the duty of the police to provide
security,
a feeling is developing that police have overstepped their
constitutional
mandate, in the process casting doubt on whether they are
simply providing
security or there is a hidden motive behind the
operation.
Amos Baloyi of North End said police are now treating all
residents they
meet at night as criminals.
“A few days after the killing
of that cop (Chatikobo), I thought the police
tightened security in search
of the suspects but their actions now suggest
otherwise,” Baloyi told the
Independent this week.
“Most people no longer feel safe to go out after 8pm
by car or foot, as one
is bound to meet and be searched by at least three
groups of intimidating
policemen.
“What is even more worrying is that
they even search your wallet as if a gun
can be hidden in it,” said
Baloyi.
However, police spokesman Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka
recently
said that there was nothing wrong with tightening security in the
city.
Anger against the police is fast building here as the police crackdown
dominates conversations among commuters and at informal gatherings.
“The
crackdown is now routine talk at commuter omnibuses… people seem fed up
with
the conduct of some policemen,” said Monica Phiri of Magwegwe.
Phiri said:
“Basing on various accounts by some victims, I am now of the
opinion that
the crackdown goes far beyond putting up a fight against armed
robberies…It
has all taken a political dimension.”
She added that: “This is just a
precursor of what will happen during the
build up to elections.”
Apart
from the unofficial “curfew”, night patrols and random searches,
police here
have set October 31 as the deadline for residents to present
firearms
including malfunctioning guns and licences to the nearest police
station.
Nqobile Bhebhe
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:52
IT'S like a dog barking up the wrong tree. That's how critics have
described
the Southern African Development Community (Sadc)'s decision to
set up a
presidential team to lobby the West for the removal of sanctions
against
Zimbabwe. The critics say Sadc should instead be pushing President
Robert
Mugabe to implement critical democratic reforms.
Sadc
recently appointed Presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Rupiah Banda
of
Zambia and Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia to engage the United States and
European Union to lift sanctions but analysts say the regional bloc's
snail's
pace in ensuring democratic reforms in Zimbabwe could hamper their
efforts.
The Western governments insist that further to the formation of a
unity
government by Mugabe, MDC-T's Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara
of MDC,
tangible reforms should be registered before sanctions are lifted.
Erstwhile
rivals, Mugabe and Tsvangirai, have been locked in a power tussle
with MDC-T
blaming the 86-year-old leader for delaying the full implementing
of the
global political agreement (GPA) by, among other things, refusing to
appoint
provincial governors while Zanu PF argues that sanctions remain the
major
sticking point in the agreement. Zanu PF has said full implementation
of the
GPA should be done simultaneously with the lifting of
sanctions.
Sadc was instrumental in the formation of the fragile coalition
government
last year, ending a decade-long economic recession largely blamed
on Mugabe's
maladministration.
Analysts said Sadc has a challenge to
ensure equitable sharing of executive
power by Mugabe and Tsvangirai as well
as dealing with other pressing issues
like the Democratic Republic of
Congo's civil war and the political unrest
in Madagascar. The removal of
sanctions against Zimbabwe, observers say, is
a secondary issue because the
delayed resolution of the GPA sticking points
is more
pertinent.
South-African based regional coordinator for Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition,
Dewa Mavhinga, said the Sadc presidential team was set up to
pander to
Mugabe's whims and had no intention of resolving Zimbabwe's
political
crisis.
He said the sanctions issue was used as an excuse by
Mugabe to avoid
critical democratic reforms.
"Sadc leaders must focus on
ensuring that Zimbabwe holds a credible
election, free of violence and in
which Zimbabwe's security apparatus plays
no part," said Mavhinga. "In this
regard, Sadc should be setting up a
presidential team to supervise future
Zimbabwe elections to ensure full
compliance with Sadc principles and
guidelines on the conduct of democratic
elections."
He said if the
sanctions are removed, Mugabe was likely to further demand
that the
externally-based radio stations close down before he appoints
provincial
governors and resolves the appointments at the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe and
the Attorney-General.
University of Zimbabwe political science lecturer Simon
Badza chided Sadc
for misplacing priorities. He said the Southern African
regional body had no
power to push for unconditional lifting of the punitive
measures, at a time
when Mugabe - Africa's oldest leader - and his Zanu PF
party could not
adhere to the spirit of unity underpinned by the
GPA.
"When Western powers imposed sanctions against Mugabe and his cronies,
they
were pushing for their interests. It's clear that the Western powers
would
like to see more democratic reforms first before they lift the
sanctions.
Sadc is focusing on the wrong issue," said Badza.
At a recent
Sadc summit, the regional heads of state and governments
reiterated calls on
the West to remove sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Washington, the EU, Australia and
New Zealand slapped targeted sanctions
against Mugabe and his lieutenants
for alleged human rights violations and
failure to respect rule of law. Part
of the sanctions include an assets
freeze and travel ban on Mugabe and top
aides as well as a ban on weapons
trade to Zimbabwe. The US passed the
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic
Recovery Act (2001) which mandates American
officials to vote against
financial aid from international financial
institutions to Zimbabwe until
democracy and the rule of law are
restored.
The West has maintained that the sanctions would remain in place
until there
is an end of violence, a return to rule of law and credible
media reforms
are achieved in the former Southern African breadbasket. A
process to write
a new constitution has been marred by violence and
intimidation by the
military who want to coerce Zimbabweans to support Zanu
PF's views.
Badza said those who imposed sanctions were sovereign states with
their own
foreign policies to serve their interests and would not listen to
Zuma,
Pohamba and Banda.
"African diplomacy has its own ways of dealing
with things; African leaders
believe there should be an African approach to
solve African problems, but I
think Zuma is not going to succeed," he
warned.
"The US and EU want to see changes in Zimbabwe. They have a wait and
see
attitude and then they will consider whether to lift the sanctions or
not."
Badza said the West did not need to be told by Sadc about the political
and
economic situation in Zimbabwe because they have their own people in the
country.
Last week, German ambassador Albrecht Conze told the press that
continued
violence in the constitutional outreach exercise hampered the EU
envoys from
recommending the lifting of the sanctions. He said those behind
the
politically motivated violence wanted the sanctions to stay. Copac
suspended public hearings in Harare and Chitungwiza following violent
clashes that left one person dead and scores injured.
"They (West) will
be convinced by a stable political and economic situation.
Those who imposed
the sanctions want empirical evidence of critical reforms;
certain
behaviours of political parties have to change first. Therefore,
Sadc should
get their priorities right. Sadc must be vocal about the tense
political
situation in outreach meetings," said Badza.
Kudakwashe Chitofiri, a
political scientist, suggested that Sadc could win
the sanctions war if they
approach the West with positive results of genuine
reforms.
"Sadc must be
seen making significant progress before calling for removal of
sanctions.
Why can't Zuma engage Mugabe on the democratic reforms and then
rush to the
West to plead for the lifting of sanctions," he said.
Chitofiri said the
regional bloc was ineffective in dealing with the
obstinate Mugabe who shows
no signs of being moved by the group.
"Sadc has come up with many deadlines
regarding the ironing out of the GPA
outstanding issues," he said. "That
indicates the block is ineffective to
solve our problems so we need more
from Sadc than stage-managed deadlines
that are never met.
"In my
opinion, there is not much progress to meet critical political
reforms in
Zimbabwe. More needs to be done to convince those responsible for
sanctions
to ease them."
At the August Sadc summit in Namibia, Zuma set a one-month
deadline to
resolve outstanding issues to the GPA but nothing has been
achieved. During
the EU-South Africa summit last month, Zuma also lobbied
the EU to lift the
sanctions but he was told by the president of the
European Council Herman
Van Rompuy, to deal decisively with the Zimbabwean
situation.
New York-based Human Rights Watch recently said Zuma's
intervention has done
little to force Zanu PF to observe the rule of law or
stop it from engaging
in political violence.
Brian Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 11:37
WHEN
United States forces occupied Iraq in 2003, one incident -- the pulling
down
of Saddam Hussein's massive statue -- signalled the end of a regime.
There
have been divergent views on whether tearing down Saddam's statue and
attacking it with sledgehammers was instinctive or stage-managed. However,
it clearly marked the fall of a dictator.
Such is the power of statues
which, though lifeless, exude authority and are
at times associated with
certain regimes.
Smashing of statues could mark the end of an era as was the
case in
independent Zimbabwe when the people chose to bring down an effigy
of Cecil
Rhodes, the founder of the colonial state that was named after
him.
In the case of Saddam, the statue was more of an attempt to appear
omnipresent, as it was erected in the main square in Baghdad, at a time when
he was the leader of the oil producing country.
This was one of the rare
cases where, apart from Stalin, a serving head of
state, government or any
other institution had an effigy erected when they
were still in
office.
Communication expert Rufaro Gunduza says erecting a statue for a
leader who
had acquitted himself or herself well is one of the "multiple
ways in which
the state chooses to remember, honour, appreciate and solidify
the memories
of their living and departed gallant citizens".
What
happened last month when the government pulled down a statute it had
erected
to honour the memory of the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo in
Bulawayo has
raised questions as to who owns national icons.
Nkomo, a father figure in
Zimbabwean politics, had been honoured in
different ways since his death 11
years ago and this included naming roads,
an airport and a polytechnic
college after him.
The decision to erect two statues, one in Harare and the
other in Bulawayo,
was ill-fated as it faced resistance and criticism,
leading to the
abandonment of the project. Issues raised included failure to
consult the
family, location of the statue and the size of the
effigy.
Other national icons, especially those who participated in the
liberation
war, have had roads and schools named after them to honour them
for serving
the nation. Analysts said honouring national icons should be
chosen in
consultation with the respective families as it has social,
political and at
times religious significance.
Gunduza said the
initiative to honour an icon should be spearheaded by the
state, which not
only consults but "educates the family and friends of the
hero through a
task team which is sent to introduce the concept, justify the
state's
intentions and articulate the value to the family and the nation as
well as
the best location of the statue."
"So, national icons are owned by the
state," said Gunduza. "Situations and
circumstances are never uniform. For
instance, Joshua Nkomo was accepted as
a national hero and 'father
Zimbabwe'. Such a label automatically transcends
family, ethnic and
political prisms."
Gunduza said while there is consultation at the initial
stages, the statue
itself belongs to the state and routinely becomes a
national heritage site
which would attract tourists and others.
Another
analyst and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Godfrey Museka,
said the
issue of honouring heroes through statues was a "relatively new
concept in
Zimbabwe" and the people should be educated about it.
"If a statue is to be
erected, there is a social, political and religious
significance and the
family may not take it politely if they are not
consulted," said Museka.
"The social aspect comes in with the fact that the
family of the icon would
interact with the public after the erection of the
statue and during times
of political tension, there are people who may vent
their anger on family
members."
Museka added that when one takes a traditional religious
perspective, then
the family has every right to claim ownership as it is
taken that a dead
person's spirit needs rest and erecting the statue could
trouble the spirit.
Honour is not only bestowed in the individual's native
country but foreign
countries may also choose to do so. An example is that
of Nelson Mandela
whose statue was erected in London and there is another
one in Sandton City
(Johannesburg).
Museka said the honour and ownership
of national icons may also have
political motives.
"I think the recent
attempt to erect a statue in honour of Joshua Nkomo in
Harare and Bulawayo,
was done because the late vice president was seen as a
symbol to harmonise
the people at a time when people are not trusting each
other," said
Museka.
Another analyst, Phillip Pasirayi, who is also the executive director
for
the Centre for Community Development, said national icons belong to the
nation and not one sect but there should be consultation with the family on
anything that is being done.
"No one should gain political mileage out of
the honour," said Pasirayi.
Pasirayi added that honouring icons should entail
nationwide consultation,
which could be done by empowering parliament to
deliberate on any issue
related to this.
Leonard Makombe
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
10:32
ZIMBABWE Stock Exchange (ZSE) is the worst performing African
market due to
the low returns that it delivers to investors, compared to
other African
markets, Amstel Securities says.
In an investment report,
Amstel Securities said ZSE suffered a 7,5% drop and
this compared
unfavourably with other African markets such as Kenya and
Uganda that have
delivered returns of over 40%.
Amstel said the country needs to exploit its
mineral resources in order to
see growth.
“Liquidity remains an issue in
Harare with weekly volumes averaging between
US$2 million and US$3 million.
The only way to get
meaningful Zimbabwe exposure is participating in initial
public offers and
secondary offerings,” said Amstel
“The major driver of
growth will be the exploitation of the country’s
mineral wealth because
Zimbabwe’s recovery potential is large,” Amstel said,
adding that the
economy had the potential to treble in size.
“Zimbabwe’s economy can easily
triple in size to over US$12 billion by 2015.
As a matter of fact, some
estimates currently suggest that the Zimbabwean
economy is already double
the size of recent IMF estimates of just US$4,4
billion as of 2009.
Following a decade of economic decline and a two year
period of
hyperinflation, the economy of Zimbabwe hit rock bottom in late
2008 with
its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrinking by 14%, adding to the
already
steep decline which started around the year 2000,” Amstel
said.
“Dollarisation has provided significant benefits to Zimbabwe.
Improvements
in monetary, fiscal and economic policies have made Zimbabwe a
much more
vibrant economy with further recovery potential, in our
view.”
Amstel also said: “Beyond mining, Zimbabwe offers large opportunities
in
agriculture, cheap hydro power, and tourism which after a decade of
decline
has finally been revived. We forecast tourism to double in size to
US$1billion by the year 2015.”
In an interview, ZSE boss Emmanuel
Munyukwi said it is true that the market
has been affected but there is hope
for the future.
“The market has been affected for some time and the major
reason is due to
the lack of liquidity. Another reason is because of the
Indigenisation Bill
which brought about a lot of uncertainty since a number
of investors were no
longer keen to invest in the country,” he
said
“Price earnings ratios in most companies are quite low but with the
recovery
in the economy we hope for an improvement. Our stock market has a
future,”
he added.
Zimbabwe experienced a decade of decline where the
economy virtually
shutdown at the end of 2008. The year 2009 saw economic
expansion of 4% and
GDP of US$4,4 billion. The shrinkage in GDP between 1998
and 2008 was a
massive 50%.
Winfilda Shana
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 10:30
AN international
foundation on governance has ranked Zimbabwe at the bottom
of the Southern
African region, beating only strife-torn Somalia and Chad on
the
continent.
According to the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance 2010
released last
week, Zimbabwe was placed 51 out of the 53 African countries
judged for
their commitment to four pillars of governance - safety and rule
of law,
participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and
human
development. The latest index is the second since its introduction in
2007
to include 53 African countries following previous criticism over its
exclusion of North African nations.
Zimbabwe had an overall score of 31,
29 out of 100. In the Southern African
region, Zimbabwe was ranked the worst
performer.
The index also measures the delivery of public goods and services
by
government and non-state actors.
"It is also a case of the usual
suspects holding up the table with Somalia,
Chad, DRC and Zimbabwe fighting
it out for last place."
"Although Zimbabwe has made improvements in many
areas, it can take some
time for this to show up on the Mo Ibrahim Index,"
reads the report.
The 2010 Ibrahim Index gives a diverse picture about recent
progress on
governance across the continent. While many African citizens are
becoming
healthier and have greater access to economic opportunities than
five years
ago, many of them are less physically secure and less politically
enfranchised.
"We must ensure that the political side of governance in
Africa is not
neglected," the report says. "We have seen from evidence and
experience
across the world that discrepancies between political governance
and
economic management are unsustainable in the long term. If Africa is
going
to continue to make progress we need to pay attention to the rights
and
safety of citizens."
"This year in order to render the Ibrahim Index
more reflective of recent
performance, we decided to use the latest
available data for every indicator
where it was available. This means that
for the year marked 2007/2008, for
example 2008 data was used if available
and 2007 if not," the survey
indicated.
The Index used former leaders to
underline the importance of governance and
the reason why the survey is
carried out.
Bill Clinton was quoted saying "leadership is important
everywhere but
especially in Africa because the tasks faced by Africa's
leaders are
challenging and the lives of many millions of people will depend
upon the
performance of those leaders. The foundation is a good example to
create
growth, stability and peace in Africa."
Kofi Anan was also quoted
saying "Good governance and democracy are central
to Africa's development.
Without them it will be hard if not important for
African countries to
achieve the millennium development goals by 2015."
According to the index
the 2010 version includes an additional indicator
assessing governments'
statistical capacity, providing insight into
governments' commitment to
outcomes-driven policy-making and evaluation. New
indicators have also been
included to assess gender issues, provision of
antiretroviral treatment and
access to clean water and sanitation. However,
the paucity of data about
Africa continues to be a challenge for the
Foundation in the compilation of
the Index.
Official data for many key indicators of governance, for example,
poverty,
maternal mortality and physical infrastructure are patchy or
out-of-date.
Commissioning and finding indicators that allow these key
areas, among
others, to be included in the Index as well as strengthening
the assessment
of issues currently covered by the Index remain a core
priority for the
Foundation.
Mo Ibrahim's foundation was established to
develop a criteria for good
governance, stimulate public debate and
challenge the continent's leaders to
set the global benchmark on this issue.
The foundation has a vision to
promote and recognise good governance that
will drive Africa's political and
economic
renaissance.
Winfilda Shana
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 10:25
ABC Holdings
Ltd sees quality earnings ahead and hopes business growth will
be buoyed by
a strong economic outlook in the sub-Saharan region, CEO
Douglas Munatsi
says.
Munatsi says the overall economic outlook is looking bright for the
region
and will create a “solid foundation” for future business
growth.
He said: “The overall economic outlook for the sub-Saharan Africa
market is
increasingly positive, particularly on the back of higher
commodity prices.
This, together with the group’s strong balance sheet and
the improved
quality of earnings, creates a solid foundation for future
business growth.”
Munatsi says all group subsidiaries are now profitable.
Management now
intends to focus on expanding retail banking operations while
maintaining
the wholesale banking division as well.
He believes the
group’s full year results will show “improvements” over last
year.
Management intends to add 14 branches in line with its plans to
grow its
retail business.
Bank ABC Botswana posted an attributable profit
of BWP11 million, up 88%
compared to the previous interim period, buoyed by
improved net interest
margins and significant balance sheet growth.
Total
operating income for BancABC Mozambique stood at BWP49 million. After
tax
profit fell to BWP13 million owing to a higher tax rate.
BancABC Tanzania
achieved a profit of BWP6 million, up 183% in the
comparative period last
year.
BancABC Zambia recorded a BWP7,5 million profit, compared to a loss of
BWP13
million in the first half of last year — largely helped by a
turnaround
strategy the group implemented.
BancABC Zimbabwe also recorded
a profit of BWP7 million, up 246% from 2009’s
BWP2 million.
Management
says business in Zimbabwe continues to increase. The group’s
Zimbabwe
operation’s total income increased BWP59 million, up 195% to June
2010.
The group sold its holdings in PG Zimbabwe and part of its shares
in Star
Africa Corporation this year.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 10:24
ZESA Holdings
(Pvt) Ltd must court investors to shore up its operations and
stimulate
economic growth in the country, the Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce
(ZNCC) has said.
In a position paper titled From Stability to Economic Growth
- A ZNCC
Proposition, the chamber said it was ironic that even though
business was
operating at 30 percent capacity, the power utility could not
provide enough
power to sustain the economy.
"The government of Zimbabwe
is the largest investor in ZESA, a dysfunctional
monopoly, with a crumbling
infrastructure. Private investors have to be
invited to this organisation,
while policies to allow private power
generators must be made investor
friendly and implemented expeditiously,"
said ZNCC.
ZNCC said laws must
be put in place to enforce wholesale national use of
energy savers, while
all new buildings should be fitted with solar power
water heaters.
ZNCC
said Zimbabwean consumers were not committed to saving power, a
situation
which was worsening an already bad situation.
"Consumers must be compelled to
use energy savers, pay market rates and fit
solar powered water geysers.
Banks must be encouraged to support citizens
who want to invest in power
generation to take advantage of liberalised
policies," said ZNCC.
"We do
not even have capacity to import excess power from South African.
There have
always been expansion plans, but such plans were based on
bilateral and
multilateral support," the chamber said.
ZNCC said Zesa has not been able to
generate enough revenue due to subdued
tariffs, bad governance, political
interference and poor management,"
Zesa has made no investment in new power
stations since Hwange Thermal's
second stage was commissioned in the early
1980's.
The chamber also accused local companies of "unscrupulously pursuing
supernormal profits" to finance unsustainable affluent lifestyles by their
boards, neglecting business ethics and good corporate governance.
The
business representative body also challenged government and civic
society to
"name and shame" poor-performing state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
and proposed
a strategy to inculcate a corporate governance culture in the
public
entities.
"There is overwhelming evidence that boards in the public and
private sector
have abandoned universally accepted business practices,
sacrificing
corporate ethics on the altar of reckless
expediency.
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
10:22
THE challenge of a depleted skills base in Zimbabwe has been a
topical
subject for some time. I would be the first one to admit that the
challenge
of a skills deficit is multi-layered and cannot be addressed using
linear
thinking. The least we can do to begin unpacking the challenge is to
embrace
dynamic multi-variate thinking. In the debates on recapitalising our
skills
base, the human resources (HR) perspectives have been too pedestrian
to be
of real impact. HR is not just human capital management. This myopic
characterisation of HR imposes an artificial intellectual ceiling, limiting
HR’s potential contribution to nation-building.
First, we need to rescue
the HR agenda by explaining what HR is and is not
about.
HR= talent X
organisation
Talent is about how people move into, across, up and out of the
organisation. Organisation is about pro-actively jigging and re-jigging
the structure, capabilities and culture of an organisation to create value
for the organisation’s stakeholders. The case of Taco Bell will help us
flesh out this idea. In the early 1980s US’s Taco Bell, a fast food retail
giant’s fortunes were waning. A radical new strategy based on three
organisational capabilities was conceived: innovation, efficiency and
talent. Discerning readers might question why I referred to the strategy as
radical. Innovation and efficiency are strange bed fellows. Innovation
raises costs while efficiency seeks to reduce them. The centre-piece of the
strategy was to unleash creativity at the store level. That meant for the
first time store managers had to be degree holders, including MBAs. But
Taco’s
organisational layers meant that new ideas from the brilliant, highly
educated and well-paid managers would have to go through more than three
management layers to get approval.
Taco Bell stripped the layers, leaving
managers at the store level with just
one management layer to deal with. The
three organisational capabilities of
innovation, efficiency and talent
conspired to trigger an exponential growth
in profitability. Innovations
such as warm-and-serve whereby food
preparation was outsourced sprang. All
that was needed in a Taco Bell fast
food outlet was just to unpack and warm
the food. Individual stores came up
with ideas such as serving food in
schools and at beaches, for instance,
deploying the warm-and-serve
capability.
The point of the case is that talent was a consequence of
strategy and
ranked equally with other capabilities which HR addressed with
undivided
enthusiasm.
In an effort to widen and sharpen the understanding
of Zimbabwe’s skills
challenge we developed a paper at the Strategic Human
Resources Initiative
Network (Shrin). Shrin is a Zimbabwe-based
network/think-tank that brings
together non-HR and HR business leaders and
academics to discuss business
issues from a strategic HR perspective, as
illustrated by the Taco Bell
case.
A phenomenon our paper looked at
closely is what we have coined skills
cannibalisation. Skills
cannibalisation is when critical and
difficult-to-replace skills are made
redundant by people taking positions
and economic pursuits that require them
to use a different skills set. The
paper identified six principal ways
skills cannibalisation has been
occurring in this country.
*
First, the informalisation of the Zimbabwean economy during the past
ten
years cannibalised essential skills. We do not have the statistics to
show
the numbers of skilled people who left informal employment to ‘work for
themselves’ (a transliteration from isiNdebele and chiShona). Anecdotal
evidence shows that many skilled people were sucked into the vortex of
wheeling and dealing. Largely, this wheeling and dealing hardly qualifies as
entrepreneurship as it involved pursuing arbitrage opportunities (the
practice of obtaining goods at a lower price and selling them at a higher
price in the same market). Examples of such arbitrage opportunities abound
such as buying fuel from one garage and selling it to the next garage and
foreign currency dealing. With the re-emergence of a formal economy
arbitrage largely vanished overnight. The question is: where are these
skills now and what efforts are being made to rehabilitate them? Employers
appear to be wary of re-engaging people who have not been practising for a
long time, not so much on the grounds of skills redundancy, but the fear of
bringing into the organisation people who have assimilated cultures at
variance with sound business. Are organisations being overly cautious and
paranoid? Would anyone want to re-engage people who had been used to making
quick money?
* Second, some skilled Zimbabweans that emigrated
overseas are doing
menial tasks. It is an open secret that a great number
of skilled
Zimbabweans who have migrated to countries such as Britain work
as
blue-collar employees. Some have switched careers and have trained as
nurses. For example we have educators and bankers who are training as nurses
overseas.
* Third, some essential skills have been cannibalised
by the not-for
profits requiring only a fraction of those skills on the back
of generous
pay packages and working conditions. This applies to
professionals who have
remained in the country and those who have emigrated.
For instance, I have a
cousin, a brilliant UZ-trained medical doctor who
scooped numerous book
awards. She emigrated to one of the countries of the
Great Lakes of East
Africa. She is no longer practising medicine but working
as a senior manager
in some NGO dealing with community health issues. We may
never know the
extent of such serious talent cannibalisation until research
is done.
* Fourth, anecdotal evidence shows that some skills have
been
cannibalised by the emerging agricultural sector as result of the land
reform programme. For lack of solid research we can only hypothesise.
However, our hypothesis is without basis. We have a small sample of
professionals who have retired from active employment to pursue farming.
That in itself is not a problem. The reality still remains that the emerging
agricultural sector is indeed cannibalising essential skills. The extent of
cannibalisation and its impact will remain debatable until solid research
quantifies this phenomenon.
* Fifth, organisations have been
practising internal cannibalisation
when they move up technical skills into
general managerial positions. The
skills needed to be successful as a
general manager differ markedly with the
technical skills for which the
promoted manager was trained for. What makes
this cannibalisation is that,
normally, succession planning is largely not
done for technical positions.
Even though a replacement is found, the level
of competence reached by the
departing employee is not matched.
* Sixth, another form of skills
cannibalisation occurs when
organisations’ policies encourage early
retirement leading to a nation’s
premature depletion of essential skills.
Normally, the retiring employees
use their packages to fund
cannibalisation-promoting new pursuits.
Going forward, we foresee skills
cannibalisation taking new dimensions. A
potential area is the health sector
where the supply of trained nurses
appears to be beginning to exceed demand.
A large number of nurses, might,
as a stop-gap measure, work as temporary
teachers.
Skills cannibalisation can create a skills deficit even when
skilled people
are physically present in the country. Cannibalisation can
also severely
constrain a country’s supply of top skills, entrenching
structural
weaknesses into the economy through ratcheting labour prices and
learning
costs.
Human capital mobilisation strategies must be awake to
these omnipresent
realities.
* Share ideas at brettchulu@consultant.com
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:43
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF politburo met on Wednesday
to decide
whether the late nationalist Welshman Mabhena should be designated
a hero or
not, reigniting the debate about heroes in the country.
The
politburo eventually resolved Mabhena was a hero. The issue was fraught
with
controversy. Although he contributed immensely to Zimbabwe’s liberation
struggle and had a watertight record, Mabhena was a fierce critic of Mugabe
and had abandoned Zanu PF. All the same he was declared a national hero
although his family rejected the honour.
But the main question still
remains: Who is a hero and who is not and what
criteria is used to determine
that?
The selection of heroes by Mugabe and his party is riddled with
controversy.
Some dubious characters who should not be at the National
Heroes Acre lie
there, while others who deserve to, do not. Under pressure
to justify his
party’s partisan and inconsistent approach, Mugabe recently
claimed the
criteria used to select heroes is based on “consistency and
persistence”
during and after the liberation struggle.
“The Heroes’ Acre
is a place for those who fought for the liberation of the
country,” Mugabe
said.
Therein lies the problem. There are many people who distinguished
themselves
during the struggle in different ways. The trouble is that there
is no
public criteria to judge who is a hero and who is not. Mugabe’s word
is the
criteria. The Zanu PF politburo only comes in to endorse his word.
Although
lobbying happens, Mugabe is the final authority.
We recently had
an insight into this when Mugabe’s spokesman, George
Charamba, writing under
a nom de plume in the Herald, revealed a heated
debate which once exploded
between Mugabe and the late Vice-President Joseph
Msika over whether James
Chikerema was a hero or not. According to Charamba,
Msika, a founding
nationalist who pioneered the struggle before Mugabe and
others joined,
thought Chikerema was a hero. Mugabe thought he wasn’t. Msika’s
argument was
that Chikerema was a pioneer of the struggle. Mugabe said while
that was
true, Chikerema faltered and ended up joining Ian Smith in the
ill-fated
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia experiment between 1978-79. Mugabe said that
government
dropped bombs and smothered liberation struggle fighters and
their
supporters in Mozambique and Zambia.
However, Mugabe’s flawed argument lacks
consistency, which is what Msika
should have told him point blank.
The
George Nyandoro case is always the obvious example. Nyandoro served as a
cabinet minister in the 1979 internal settlement government
(Zimbabwe-Rhodesia) but was declared a national hero when he died in 1994.
Ndabaningi Sithole and Chikerema who also served in the same government were
left out. So Mugabe’s argument collapses on its own. Of course, Mugabe may
want to dig out other issues about Sithole and Chikerema to justify his
argument, but the problem is lack of criteria to judge who is a hero and who
is not.
Take the case of Lookout Masuku, former Zipra commander, whose
record as a
fighter was unimpeachable. Compare that with the cases of Cain
Nkala and
Chenjerai Hunzvi, let alone Border Gezi. What is to be made of
this?
It’s pretty clear there is no consistency here. And that’s what happens
when
there are no guidelines to determine such things. We need a public body
and
guidelines to select national heroes.
BY DUMISANI MULEYA
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 11:06
WHERE does the
power of the country’s security chiefs start and end?
The security chiefs,
also referred to as securocrats, proved that they were
kingmakers eight
years ago when they vowed never to salute anyone without
liberation war
credentials.
They repeated this on the eve of the 2008 elections, which to
many observers
was a clear coup d’état in prospect as it meant that there
would be chaos if
the winner of the elections bore no war
credentials.
The securocrats have known only one king in the past 30 years,
and in as
much as they have been linked to various factions fighting to take
control
of Zanu PF, they have shown that their allegiance is to President
Robert
Mugabe.
Analysts say the role that the securocrats play, apart
from attending to the
security and defence of the country, is shrouded in
secrecy typified by the
Joint Operation Command (Joc), which was supposed to
be dismantled after the
unity government set up the National Security
Council.
Joc had so much influence in the government, especially prior to the
constitution of the inclusive government. Joc worked together with a very
powerful clique of bureaucrats and technocrats serving both in government
and the private sector, which formed the nucleus of decision
makers.
While the inclusive government has been a game changer, the
securocrats,
technocrats and bureaucrats have maintained their stranglehold
on the reins
of the state which to some extent has caused ruptures in the
shaky political
construction.
The security chiefs include Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri,
Army Commander Constantine Chiwenga,
intelligence chief Happyton Bonyongwe,
Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi
and Air Marshal Perence Shiri.
Analyst, Alex Magaisa, a law lecturer in the
United Kingdom, said the
“utterances” by the security chiefs on whom they
would salute showed that
they were “politicians in military robes with an
active role in deciding the
leadership question.”
Inversely, analysts
said, the president could also be seen as the civilian
face behind the
military junta calling the shots in the day to day running
of the
country.
Service chiefs, themselves veterans of the liberation war, are said
to be
the power behind the throne, especially given their strategic and
timely
interventions during elections and they have heavily benefited from
spinoffs
that come with being close to the king.
However, while they may
be the power behind Mugabe, there is a school of
thought which has emerged
saying their power is only relative, that is, it
exists for as long as the
king is around.
It suggests that this power would disappear with the exit of
the king and as
such, the securocrats are uncertain of their future should
the president go.
Therefore, analysts say, they are eager to make sure that
he stays in power.
Analysts added that it was important to adopt a serious
security reform
programme.
Sabelo Ndlovu, an analyst based in South
Africa, said the issue of what had
to be done with the securocrats was
“sensitive” but had to be addressed.
“They have been used and abused and made
to even utter terrible words that
compromised their professionalism and
impartiality,” said Ndlovu. “What is
needed in my opinion is security sector
reform that looks into the future.
Amnesty might be inevitable in Zimbabwe
to allay fears of both perpetrators
and victims. It is a very sensitive
issue involving delicate balancing of
perpetrators’ fears and victims’ cries
for justice. But it is politics.
Nothing is impossible.”
Magaisa said it
was most likely that the security chiefs’ biggest fear was
prosecution for
human rights violations dating back to the days of
Gukurahundi (when an army
brigade was deployed in the western parts of the
country to quell dissidents
but ended up killing civilians and grossly
violating their rights) and more
recent events in the power struggle between
Zanu PF and the MDC.
“The
military has been accused of perpetrating atrocities and those who
command
them are obviously fearful of what might happen to them, especially
seeing
what has happened to the likes of Charles Taylor, former President of
Liberia now on trial at The Hague,” said Magaisa. “There has also been a lot
of noise from human rights groups both at home and abroad. People are
entitled to their opinions and to make as much noise as possible about
accountability for rights violations but I am not sure those noises have
really helped Zimbabwe to achieve the political changes that it
needs.”
Far from pressuring them out, Magaisa added, these calls have given
the
security chiefs greater resolve to remain in power “for as long as it
takes.”
Another analyst, Trevor Maisiri, founder and executive director
of the
African Reform Institute, a Harare-based think tank, said the current
situation, where the military has too much say in political affairs, was a
result of the emergence of strong personalities over the past 30
years.
“Once military professionalism is destroyed by personalised political
systems, this will result in the creation of what are termed ‘parallel
forces’ and these are normally presidential guards, state-sponsored military
groups and many others,” said Maisiri. “They become a part of the
‘privatisation’ of security by alienating and peripheralisation of the
mainstream security services, making them an exclusive group that only
serves the personalised state structures.”
Maisiri added that this would
take away the allegiance of the security
sector from the state and invest it
in either one man or one political
strand — usually a political
party.
“Typically, this is what has happened in many African countries,
including
Zimbabwe,” added Maisiri.
He said it would be unfair to put all
the blame on the military as
politicians had benefited from the situation
and would, therefore, want to
perpetuate it.
As such, it is a two-way
relationship with each benefiting from occupying a
certain office. “I don’t
really think that the military in Zimbabwe is
singly dictating issues and
conditionalities to President Mugabe,” said
Maisiri. “I think what we have
is a relationship within which decisions are
being made by agreement and
mutuality.”
The analysts said the solution to these problems lay in a
negotiated “return
of the securocrats to the barracks.”
Ndlovu said the
transition of South Africa from apartheid to democracy in
the early 90s and
that of Zimbabwe from Rhodesia would give lessons which
could help in the
current situation.
“Something had to be done to them to facilitate
transition,” said Ndlovu.
“The solution was to involve them in any
transitional negotiations. Amnesty
was used to allay security forces’ fears.
Our forces are in a similar
dilemma.” Maisiri added that this could not be
done overnight though, as it
would involve a lot of negotiations and
guarantees.
“Unfortunately or fortunately the issue of security sector
reforms is a
‘give-and-take’ scenario,” said Maisiri. “However, the more or
less that is
given the more unsubstantiated it becomes. There must
therefore be a lot of
patience, sobriety, flexibility, diplomacy and
streamlined conditionalities
when instituting security sector
reforms.”
Leonard Makombe
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:04
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has a particular fondness for the United
Nations
General Assembly, probably because it is one of the few
international
platforms where he can meet with as many other heads of state.
Or even
possibly because he genuinely believes it is a platform for serious
international governance to be debated and hopefully made international
law.
In the instance of this year’s General Assembly, Mugabe must have been
smiling beyond measure when the African Union Chair, President Bingu wa
Mutharika of Malawi in his UN address mentioned Zimbabwe in the same
sentence as Cuba. I would not know if Zimbabwe can be described as similar
to Cuba in any particular way given the history of these two countries, but
WaMutharika’s comments are key pointers to Zanu PF’s international image
reinvention strategy, a strategy which now clearly intends to present Mugabe
as an African version of Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez regardless of the fact
that he is neither, nor as resourced.
Alternatively this would also
translate to an attempt to present the Zanu PF
leader as an
anti-imperialist, anti neo-liberal, pro-people leftist hero.
This is so
particularly in the aftermath of what has turned out to be the
West’s
disastrous invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Some might argue that
this is a
difficult sell by any means but such a fact should not impede
analysis of
the same.
The first point of analysis is that because Zanu PF officials can
no longer
travel the globe as in the past, they have a deliberate strategy
to utilise
every opportunity they get under the auspices of the United
Nations, the
African Union and Sadc. And this they will do at the highest
level. The
general pitch and plan is to counter the human rights and
democracy
narrative that has gripped these international institutions by
painting a
picture that emphasises protection of national sovereignty before
a
wholesale adoption of universal democratic values. On the African
continent,
particularly with Sadc, Zanu PF seems to have succeeded. At least
for now.
The heads of state and government in Sadc that had been most
inclined to
criticise Zanu PF seem to have gone quiet, especially President
Ian Khama of
Botswana and President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania. If the media
reports
around the now controversial issue of the Sadc Tribunal are to be
believed,
these two leaders have now adopted a less direct approach to the
problems of
Zimbabwe.
Secondly, Zanu PF knows that the AU is a difficult
creature to straddle and
so they emphasise due process in the role it can
play in dealing with
Zimbabwe. The bureaucratic nature of the AU as well as
its deference to Sadc
on anything to do with Zimbabwe makes any serious
action well nigh
impossible. Add to this the multitude of much more serious
conflict zones
such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Madagascar,
then the AU is
as good as an ally for Zanu PF, especially with the
Pan-Africanist trend of
seeking to have African problems solved by
Africans.
Thirdly, Zanu PF has thoroughly exploited the general scepticism
that other
African governments have had towards Western judgment of their
national
elections as well as other domestic policies. An immediate example
would be
Rwanda President Paul Kagame who at the UN General Assembly was
quoted in
the Guardian newspaper as saying: “It has become clear that the UN
has
evolved into a two-tier organisation, reflecting a world that seems to
be
divided into two categories: one with inherent laudable values, rights
and
liberties, and another that needs to be taught and coached on these
values.”
Such statements from a fellow African president would no doubt fit
snugly
into Zanu PF’s double standards and regime change
narrative.
Fourthly, the United Nations General Assembly is considering
reform to its
Security Council, with Africa clamouring for a permanent seat,
and Mugabe
has made it a point to endear himself to the major proponents of
these
proposals. This entails him potentially exchanging Zimbabwe’s support
for
these reforms in return for continued protection at the UN and other
international summits. To compound matters even further, Zanu PF has
probably promised support to one of the countries intending to get permanent
membership of the council, countries which include South Africa, Algeria,
Egypt and Nigeria. Add to this, the fact that other countries that are
seeking reform of the Security Council are also leftist governments in Latin
America, governments in South East Asia and Australia and one realises that
the options for political bargaining by Zanu PF are many.
Finally, the
fact that Mugabe has gone out of his way to seek solidarity and
understanding with China, Russia, Iran and some Latin American governments
has led to the issue of sanctions on Zimbabwe being rejected. This is
primarily due to China’s presence in the Security Council with tacit support
from Russia. In return Zanu PF has bargained away the country’s mineral and
other resources for this sort of support, a fact that shall affect future
generations of Zimbabweans in what can only be a negative way.
So the
return of Mugabe from the UN is indicative of a Zanu PF strategy that
seems
to have worked thus far. The ambiguity of the Afghanistan and Iraq
wars has
left a sour taste in the mouths of many African and Latin American
governments, which in turn has led to muted responses in how to deal with
the problems in Zimbabwe, even though the majority of African governments
know that Zanu PF is primarily responsible for the crisis that Zimbabwe now
finds itself in.
All of this does not mean the actions of Zanu PF have
been in any way
revolutionary. On the contrary, they are an attempt to
return to the past
through false reinvention in order to regain lost glory.
It might be working
for now, but in the final analysis, it will not
triumph.
By Takura Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:00
THE year 1960 symbolised hope and freedom for 17 states in Africa.
For
African states, independence signified the opportunity to adopt
sovereignty
and finally occupy equal footing with their former imperialists
in the
changing global arena. Beyond this, self-determination relayed the
foresight
of economic development and shared fiscal benefits.
Fifty years
after independence, the hopes and prospects envisioned are far
from visible.
Colonialism in its pure sense is no more, but neither is the
economic
self-sufficiency envisioned. Five decades after tears, sweat and
blood
poured for African autonomy, the continent is plagued with a range of
tragedies that threaten African peace and prevent economic
development.
Volumes have been written about Africa's troubles; both from an
Afro-centric
and Western perspective. Some standpoints suggest the continued
prevalence
of colonialism after 50 years of independence and the resultant
failure for
African growth.
Others focus on the benefits of colonialism
and its potential to outweigh
the perceived costs.
The common thread in
many of the viewpoints is the appalling state of
African
countries.
Cameroon received independence from France in January 1960.
Reports of human
rights violations and long presidential terms, coupled with
endemic
corruption and economic mismanagement persistently plague the state
to this
day.
Togo was next to gain independence in April 1960. Togo's
history since
independence from France has however, been littered by
military coups and
unconstitutional changes to government.
In June of
1960, Mali and Senegal ceased to be French colonies. Independence
for Mali
has been met with relative political stability and regular
democratic
elections.
Sporadic fighting between Tuareg factions and the military,
however has led
to deaths in the poorest region of Mali.
On the economic
front, the Malian population has been faced with poverty,
and threats to
food security.
Although Senegal has experienced relative stability, conflict
in the
Casamance region of the state, remains a menace to overall
peace.
Also in June of 1960, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC)
gained independence from France and Belgium respectively. Despite
widespread
poverty and traits of a fledgling democracy in Madagascar, the
state was
considered relatively peaceful until 2009. An uprising in January
of 2009,
instigated by Andry Rajoelina exposed the cracks of pervasive
disgruntlement
in the state.
Coups d'état and civil wars in the mineral
rich DRC have marred its history
since independence. While conflict has been
quelled in most of the country,
the eastern region of Congo remains racked
by violence. Somalia achieved
independence from Italy and Britain in July
1960. Clan-based factions,
terrorism and the breakdown of the rule of law
characterise the state,
giving rise to the dual phenomena of piracy and
warlordism.
In August 1960 there was a spate of independences, as eight
African states
joined the ranks of their independent counterparts. Benin,
Niger, Burkina
Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central African Republic (CAR), the
Republic of
Congo (Brazzaville) and Gabon all received independence from
France. Benin's
first 10 years of independence were marked by
precariousness, caused by
successive coups. With the transfer to multiparty
democracy, relative
equilibrium gradually returned.
Since independence in
Niger, this poor West African state has been
challenged by a history of
rebellion and military coups. Added to this are
extended periods of drought,
which continue to challenge food security.
Like many states in the West
African sub-region, Burkina Faso has spent a
large portion of its
independence under military rule. A politically
unsteady state has been the
consequence of Burkina Faso's succession of
coups and the possible
illegitimacy attached to its present ruler, Blaise
Campaoré.
Ivory Coast
may have commenced independence on positive economic and
political notes,
but a failed coup in 2002 plunged this state into political
turmoil. Civil
war broke out from 2003 until 2005 and despite a host of
peace agreements,
the state is faced with a fragile peace and the potential
for the resumption
of war.
Similarly, in Chad, the exhilaration surrounding independence was
transitory, due to a swift turn to dictatorship and the preservation of
authoritarian governance since then. CAR's history since independence has
been characterised by military coups and civil unrest. A strong central
government gives rise to concerns on the democracy of the state. The
Republic of Congo has, like many of its African counterparts, struggled with
a one-party system, civil war and one of Africa's longest serving
presidents.
Its array of challenges since independence impede
peace
and security in that state. Although Gabon has been confronted with
autocratic rule since independence, it remains relatively stable and is one
of the few states without a bloody past.
Nigeria's independence in
October 1960 was next in line. Nigeria's political
history has not differed
much from its counterparts, in that a series of
military dictatorships
wrenched the state into political instability.
Corruption in this oil-rich
state continues to beset Nigeria's national
institutions, giving rise to
questions on the viability of the state's
democratic practices. Mauritania
rounded up the year 1960 with its
independence in November. The state's 11
experiences of coups since then
have threatened the prospect of political
stability.
However, with the election of Mauritania's first-ever
democratically elected
president in 2009, the state has shown some signs of
departure from its
previous trends.
The overarching trend in all the
states mentioned above is that poverty
features prominently and contributes
to many of the political complexities
therein.
As with many other global
issues, establishing the root cause of Africa's
political and economic
turmoil is fundamental for understanding the dynamics
of the African
continent. Arbitrary boundaries have been largely responsible
for ethnic
conflicts on the continent. This is due to the forced separation
of ethnic
groups across states and the forced assimilation of others within
states.
Colonialism also replaced the pre-colonial governance structures
with
Western ones and created the culture of kleptocracy. This was through
the
creation of hierarchical ruling structures.
Within these ruling structures,
colonial rulers placed Africans in positions
of leadership and enticed them
with status and wealth. Economic rewards
given to African elites were
trapped within elite circles, creating a
dominant class at the expense of
other Africans and the continent's natural
resources. Despite the demise of
colonialism, the African elites maintained
their relationships with former
colonialists. In this way, elites were
continually rewarded for draining
their states' natural resources.
Colonialism furthermore created single-crop
economies, which sentenced
African economies to market-based fluctuations.
Forced integration of
developing states into the international trading arena
augmented the already
prevalent inequality between developed and developing
states.
Despite these undeniable effects of colonialism, Africans have a part
to
play in the current state of the continent. With the realisation that
colonial systems were detrimental to African prosperity, the onus fell on
Africans to systematically abandon predatory methods of governance, in
favour of more equitable ones. The extensive record of African experiences
with war and poverty should suffice in deterring the monopolisation of power
or resources, which contribute to the appalling state of African states.
Corruption instead, remains an overarching problem in a majority of the
African states mentioned. Challenges experienced in the first 10 or 20 years
of African independence could be dismissed under the pretext of growing
pains -- in this case, the departure from the legacy of
colonialism.
Despite the independence of African states, some governments of
former
French colonies are allegedly still linked to France. Chad and Ivory
Coast
for instance, are some of the cases wherein political interference
from
France continues to obstruct efforts at forging ahead from the legacy
of
colonialism.
France has been accused of neo-colonialist practices, and
while this may be
true, this continuing Afro-French relationship is
unsustainable to the
degree it exists, without the assistance of African
elites. Colonialism
undoubtedly initiated unfavourable practices, but how
feasible is it to
continue allocating blame of injustices against Africa, to
past eras and
present opportunists, while African leaders persist in power
grabbing and
economic greed?
Half a century after colonialism, if all
Africa's ills are blamed on
colonialism, the African state is in danger of
allocating the blame of
present government actions to the past era. In so
doing, Africans play a
prominent role in condoning corruption and
maladministration on the premise
of colonialism. This in itself is the
replacement of Western domination with
African-based domination, and
continuing to refer to it as the legacy of
colonialism. Persisting in using
colonialism as an explanation for Africa's
ills gives the perspective that
despite having gained independence, African
states are powerless to external
influences, whether past or present. It
follows that African states are
capable of continuing with this negative
legacy and not in changing it. This
is arguable, given the positive
developments in states like Ghana. At what
stage in Africa, will it suffice
for colonialism to no longer be given the
fall for Africa's problems?
While the legacy of colonialism is an explanation
for Africa's dire
situation, 50 years after colonialism these negative
effects in Africa
should be fading away, instead of persisting or growing.
An overall
commitment to good governance and state well-being is
fundamentally lacking
in many African states. Africans therefore need to
strike the right balance
between the real legacy of colonialism 50 years
later and the models of poor
governance that exist on the continent in order
to develop and progress. -
CAI.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 11:35
THE
state press must be running out of adjectives to describe Zanu PF heroes
whose funerals seem to be increasing with each passing week.
A few weeks
ago it was President Mugabe's sister Sabina who was being
showered with
praise. And her claim to fame? Well, she was the president's
sister!
More
recently Ephraim Masawi has been praised to the skies because he was "a
man
of the people".
What does that mean and who coined it? We don't recall
anybody calling him
that in his lifetime. We do recall him being a
stone-thrower of note in the
1970s.
The Herald told us "several"
residents of Mbare lined the streets to catch a
glimpse of the funeral
procession.
Is "several" the correct word? Let's hope Masawi's cortege
attracted more
than "several" people, especially when the Mbare
Revolutionary Choir sang
some of their songs.
President Mugabe narrated
how Masawi and other youths engaged in acts of
sabotage "and caused a real
breakdown of law and order against Ian Smith's
regime".
Indeed, but it
wasn't just Smith's regime that witnessed a breakdown in law
and
order!
The party did all it could to assist Masawi, politburo member Tendai
Savanhu
said.
"Together with other comrades we did what we could to
assist a dear comrade.
He said that after (treatment in) South Africa he
would want to go to China
to receive proper treatment. He said Cde Menard
Muzariri would direct him to
the specialist doctors in China."
Why after
30 years of Zanu PF rule do we not have sufficient specialists
here? In fact
we have some excellent specialists still putting up with
primitive
conditions in Zimbabwe but Zanu PF's elite prefer to be treated
abroad.
In this connection we enjoyed the Sunday Mail's front page last
weekend. On
the one side: "Claim what is yours: President." On the other:
"US$35m
vanishes from Noczim."
Must be another n'anga story.
Air
Zimbabwe chair Jonathan Kadzura was in the Sunday Mail last weekend
mouthing
nonsense about how "our youths were pushed into making the rash
decision of
voting for their own disempowerment in the 2008 plebiscite"; and
how the
nation has "endured 10 long difficult years buttressed by those of
Anglo-Saxon origin and their cronies in the West who imposed illegal
sanctions on this very innocent and God-fearing nation."
This racist
rubbish comes, not from Tafataona Mahoso, as one might suppose,
but the
chairman of one of our most important - and least successful -
parastatals.
Instead of devising ways to restore the national carrier
to profitability,
he is busy advertising his loyalty to Zanu PF and cursing
our youths for
voting the wrong way.
"Have you ever wondered why all the
Western-funded NGOs focused all their
attention on Marange and not the other
diamond mining corporates..," he
asks? It's all part of the Western
regime-change agenda you see!
"Those who came into power out of spreading
fear and anxiety had been
promised aid and grants by their friends from the
same anchoring countries,"
he continues.
"Fellow Zimbabweans," he
admonishes. "The long-term fight should continue if
the Zanu PF vision is to
be realised one day."
So the AirZim chairman is fighting for Zanu PF's
long-term vision, not for
the recovery of the airline he is employed to
serve. This is a shocking
dereliction of duty.
Fellow Zimbabweans. If you
wish to protest against partisan posturing of
this sort, exercise your
discretion when booking your next ticket.
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are
also free to protest against Kadzura by
choosing another airline when flying
home.
Labour economist Dr Godfrey Kanyenze told US businessmen at the
recent Just
Business conference held in Harare last week that the government
should
exploit the remittances of Zimbabweans working abroad.
Why should
people who have been refused the right to vote hand over their
remittances
to a government that has still not met the terms of the global
political
agreement and is damaging the economy by not doing so? Let's by
all means
harness the contribution of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. But let's
also
ensure the GPA is fully implemented so their hard-earned funds are not
wasted.
Have you noticed how many of the Herald's columnists are
writing from
abroad? Reason Wafawarova is the most obvious example. He is a
super-patriot
writing from the comfort of Australia. Reason will be the last
person to
share the challenges facing his countrymen. He amusingly ends his
contributions with the slogan: "It is homeland or death."
Well, it
certainly isn't homeland in Reason's case.
Then there is Stephen Gowans in
Ottawa and Obi Egbuna in Washington. They
are happy where they are. So is
Nancy Lovedale in Beijing. Zimbabwe's
suffering is something these people
can pontificate about without actually
having to experience!
Then there
are all those Zimbabweans based in the UK like "Cad Mash" who
write
indignant letters to the Herald denouncing the MDC and Britain. These
super-patriots would be funny if they were not such blatant
hypocrites.
Owners of businesses along the lakeshore of Lake Chivero have
been visited
by war veterans in recent days, we are told, and warned that
their politics
are not in keeping with the indigenisation campaign. They can
expect a
forced takeover, they have been told.
We need to watch this
space and ensure that Zimbabwe's reengagement
negotiators do not continue to
get away with pretending that all is well in
Zimbabwe when it manifestly
isn't.
Now we learn that Sadc has set up a three-member presidential team
to lobby
for the removal of sanctions against Zimbabwe. Presidents Jacob
Zuma of
South Africa, Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, and Rupiah Banda of
Zambia are
expected to travel soon to the US and Europe to urge Western
leaders to lift
sanctions.
This is an exercise in futility if ever there
was one. Zuma will be told
what he has repeatedly been told in London,
Brussels and Washington - that
progress can only be made when Zimbabwe
implements the GPA terms.
These are not terms foisted upon Zimbabwe. They are
terms agreed between the
three political leaders in the country. They
include an end to farm seizures
and political violence, observance of the
rule of law, and licensing of
media outlets.
Instead we have a
continuation of farm seizures including those supposedly
protected by Bippa
treaties, persistence of political violence during the
outreach campaign,
contempt for the Sadc Tribunal, and partisan control of
broadcasting.
Zuma fatuously suggests that lifting sanctions would "give
a chance to the
efforts we are making there and empower Sadc to do more on
Zimbabwe".
What efforts? Is anybody aware of these efforts? And why can't
Sadc do what
it is supposed to do as a guarantor of the GNU instead of
pathetically
wringing its hands and pretending there is nothing it can
do?
It won't cost anything to license radio stations. It won't cost anything
to
stop the violence and bring the culprits to book. It won't cost anything
to
stop farm invasions. It won't cost anything to uphold the rulings of the
Sadc Tribunal.
This is the message the three envoys will get in London
and Washington. This
time the hosts need to turn up the volume.
Poor
Tom Saintfiet! His career as the senior national football team coach
seems
to have ended before it started. He was kicked out of the country on
Tuesday
due to the fact that he did not have a work permit. While he and
Zifa should
have ensured that he got a permit before he commenced his
duties, there is
no hiding the fact that there was a clique which was out to
get
him.
Whether his stay was illegal or not, some people took it upon themselves
to
ensure that he was whisked out of the country as soon as possible. The
treatment of the Belgian since he "landed" the job leaves a bad taste in the
mouth, to say the least.
The clique, led by certain sections of the
media, soccer administrators and
powerful interested parties appear to have
vowed to bar the coach. It
boggles the mind why Zifa waited until this week
to submit the application
for a work permit. We wonder if it was a
coincidence that the ZTV crew was
still at the stadium when Jonathan
Mashingaidze (Zifa acting CEO) came to
deliver the news of the deportation.
Was it not another act aimed at further
humiliating the coach as was the
case since he was appointed?
Could Econet find somebody with velvet tones
to replace the gentleman
currently bellowing down the line that "Your call
is being connected." Does
he really need to shout? And he is telling
whoppers about "the next time you
call you will be required to dial
077."
Econet are still - thankfully - connecting 091... calls for slow
starters
like Muckraker who has difficulty remembering his own number.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:33
GOVERNMENTS the world over, and throughout history, are renowned
for their
deep-seated convictions in their infallibility, and therefore
their
unwillingness to admit to error, or to effect any changes to their
policies
and determinations. They are imbued with deep, almost psychotic
conviction
that to effect change represents acknowledgement of fault and,
convinced
that they are incapable of fault, they cannot make any changes
which could
conceivably be construed as an admission that they had done
something
incorrectly. If change is unavoidable, then they determinedly
seek to
justify its necessity on grounds of external factors and
environmental
changes, rather than to have the maturity of openly
recognising error and
the consequential need for change.
Moreover, when
having to effect change, they will invariably do so very
reluctantly and
half-heartedly. As a result, all too often the changes are
inadequate and
ineffective, and their failure to deliver the required
results can then be
used by government to justify the original policies and
dictates, and to
emphasise that the demands for change, or policy reversals,
were misguided
or driven by destructive motives.
Throughout the three decades of Zimbabwean
independence, this characteristic
has prevailed. Tragically, despite
Zimbabweans now having a so-called
"inclusive government", this continues to
be so. In common with all other
governments, Zimbabwe's government is
apparently unable to appreciate that
none get it right all the time. It
reluctantly embarks upon change and
resorts to half measure changes. There
are numerous, pronounced examples of
this myopic frame of mind, in the
current period and the immediate past. A
few examples that can be cited
include:
* Ministry of Finance dictates on the mandatory usage by
commerce of
fiscalised electronic devices. It is incontrovertible that the
measure is a
very positive one, which will very significantly ensure Value
Added Tax
compliance, thereby substantially enhancing revenue flows to the
fiscus.
This has been evidenced in numerous other countries, including
within the
European Union and in New Zealand. However, the timing for
enforcing usage
in Zimbabwe is extremely inappropriate. Almost every
business is struggling
to survive in an environment of very limited consumer
spending power, and
consequential low revenue flows for
businesses.
In addition, money market liquidity is miniscule, resulting
in most
businesses being unable to access essential working capital.
Therefore,
businesses just do not have the resources to acquire and install
fiscalised
electronic devices at the present time. In addition, to date the
Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority has only approved two authorised suppliers of the
devices,
and the resultant near monopolistic circumstances has rendered the
devices
very costly.
After endless and widespread private sector
representations to government,
it has ultimately responded with the usual
half-hearted, inadequate
modifications of its policy. It has granted a
ludicrously inadequate
three-month extension of time within which
enterprises are to comply with
the mandatory obligation to install the
devices. The prospects of most
businesses being able to access the
necessary funding in that time are as
remote as the prospects of snow
falling in Zimbabwe in October! In
addition, the licensing of further
suppliers, their importation of the
devices, and installation thereof in all
prescribed businesses within those
three months cannot possibly be
achieved. Government, in line with its norm
when it has to make changes,
has given a grossly insufficient policy
variation to address the situation,
dealing with it with characteristic
half-heartedness. An extension to June
30 2011 would have made sense, if
the Minister of Finance Tendai Biti's
economic recovery projections have
substance.
* Another prime
example of doing too little, too late, is government's
alleged containment
of its expenditures to align them with its revenues.
That Biti is striving
to achieve a balanced budget, and to achieve
performance that is in sync
with that budget is most praiseworthy. But how
on earth can government
claim to be genuinely pursuing that objective when,
on the one hand, it
recurrently fails to pay public service salaries and
allowances fully and
timeously, and on the other hand it funds an expensive
travel to the US for
the president and 79 others, to attend a United Nations
meeting where only
the presidential attendance possibly reinforced by the
Minister of Foreign
Affairs, was necessary. (Presumably the First Lady
needed to do essential
shopping for the forthcoming festive season, and
equally it was probably
necessary for some security and secretarial
personnel, but were 80 in the
entourage really necessary?)
* Yet a further instance of too little,
too late, was when Biti, in his
2010 Budget Mid- Year Review, magnanimously
increase the Pay As You Earn
threshold from US$160 to US$175 per month. Not
only was this less than a
10% increase of the then prevailing, appalling low
level, but the new level
represented approximately 36% of the Poverty Datum
Line. Clearly,
Government has no qualms about taxing the impoverished,
although it
presumably needs to do so in order to fund extensive overseas
travels by the
political hierarchy! Even assuming that an average family
has two equal
income earners, which is highly unlikely, the minimum tax
threshold should
equitably be US$240 per month, but it would have been out
of character for
government to do that which was equitable and humanely
necessary.
* For years government has pretended to espouse the
principles of
decentralistion, and of devolution of administration.
However, the reality
is that all material issues are wholly and exclusively
attended to in Harare
(if attended to at all). Save for the appointment of
provincial governors
and resident ministers in Zimbabwe's 10 provinces,
there has been no
decentralisation. Persons living outside Harare
Metropolitan Province have
no alternative but to travel to Harare if they
require governmental actions
or decisions on anything of a material nature,
even if that materiality is
not of major substance. Ministries' offices in
the other provinces are
vested with no meaningful authority. The same
pertains to almost all
parastatals, with minimally significant issues having
to be referred to head
offices (which all too often fail to
respond!).
If meaningful advancement of Zimbabwe and its people is to be
achieved,
there is a critical need for a change in the governmental mindset,
with
recognition that substantial changes are not necessarily negative
reflections on the past, but demonstrations of maturity and responsibility.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010 11:39
THE
closing of ranks between Zanu PF and MDC-T legislators on the proposed
amendment to the repressive Public Order and Security Act (Posa) this week
comes as a relief to those who have been watching political developments in
Zimbabwe.
The proposed amendments to the law bring renewed hope to a
citizenry
increasingly disillusioned with the behaviour of politicians who
display a
penchant for squabbling at the expense of nation
building.
Amendments to Posa should be regarded as a precursor to the real
work that
lies ahead for legislators. President Mugabe's dictatorship has
long
trampled on civil rights and it is time that parliament took its
rightful
place in checking the excesses of the executive. During debate in
the House,
legislators noted that the law had been used to impede freedom of
speech and
assembly as well as other freedoms both before and after
Independence in
1980.
Zvishavane MP Obert Matshalaga and Mberengwa
legislator Makhosini Hlongwane
said the proposed amendments would ensure
that the people's freedoms would
not be tampered with. Although the MPs
pointed out the need for the
provision of more resources to law enforcement
agencies for the execution of
their duties, they should also have made the
point that the police need to
be professional and impartial because it is
not only resources that make a
police force competent but behaviour.
Zimbabwe needs a departure from the
status quo where the police see no evil
when Zanu PF supporters commit
crimes but show huge enthusiasm for the
persecution of Mugabe's opponents.
The amendments to Posa should be followed
by repealing or amending of other
oppressive pieces of legislation such as
the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act, Interception of
Communications Act, Official
Secrets Act, Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act and other laws used
to curtail civil liberties. The government
also needs to open up the
airwaves and ensure that the public sphere is not
interfered with.
Communication is an important part of democracies and it is
only
dictatorships that fear the voices of their own people. The airwaves
should
be opened up so that there are diverse voices in the media. Although
the
government has deregulated the operations of the print media, it is
obvious
that many Zimbabweans cannot afford to buy newspapers but rely on
radio
stations for information. There is also need to reform the security
sector
in general as the army, police and other arms of state security have
been
used to serve partisan interests.
Dealing with repressive
legislation is one of the moves that Zimbabwe
needs -- in addition to the
full implementation of the global political
agreement -- for it to be taken
seriously by the international community.
Western governments have made
their position clear on the need for the
reform of democratic institutions
in Zimbabwe and they have been consistent
in that the country needs to open
up its democratic space in order to be
accepted into the community of
nations.
Only last week the United States made the point that the country's
leadership needs to complement gains made on the economic front with
progress in the political arena. The point was further buttressed by the
European Union. Small steps such as the proposed amendments will ensure that
the country remains on course to fulfilling these expectations, most of
which are reflected in the GPA. Politicians need to take note of the
aspirations and wishes of ordinary Zimbabwean men and women who want to see
the country return to prosperity. MPs could also do well by making sure that
their principals fully implement the GPA.
Since its signing, the
country's political scene has been characterised by
bickering. The espoused
unity is becoming more of a charade. It is
imperative to note that most of
the issues that need to be attended to in
the GPA do not need money to be
implemented.
What is needed is political will and the MPs have demonstrated
that will.
Zimbabwe needs more MPs like Innocent Gonese who proposed the
Bill in the
first instance. His political will demonstrates that MPs do not
need to wait
for their parties to sponsor Bills as they can do so
themselves.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 08 October 2010
11:42
THE suggestion by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC
party that a
new constitution should be a negotiated settlement is a crass
violation of
the global political agreement (GPA) and antithetical to
democratic ethos
and values.
While it appears Tsvangirai is motivated by
political violence and
intimidation that littered the constitution-making
outreach programme in
Harare and other areas throughout the country to call
for a negotiated
supreme law, the underlying truth is that the MDC-T lacked
strategy to
influence the likely content of the new constitution.
The
situation became more untenable when the MDC-T was upstaged by a violent
Zanu PF in Harare, Tsvangirai's stronghold. It dawned on the party that the
draft constitution to emerge out of this outreach programme would likely
reflect more Zanu PF's position than that of the MDC-T. Put simply, the
MDC-T has realised that the game is up; it was too late for it to influence
the content of the new constitution.
Is it not puzzling that the premier
said that the new constitution should be
negotiated because it has turned
out to be more political parties-driven
than people-driven? From the onset
was it not clear that the
constitution-making process would be confined to
political parties'
contestations? This is why the MDC-T and Zanu PF came up
with documents,
which were circulated among their members and supporters,
stating their
positions on the new charter.
Tsvangirai should also not be
intransigent on the GPA - an accusation he
frequently made against the
octogenarian President Robert Mugabe.
The pact has no room for a negotiated
constitution. It states clearly and
categorically acknowledges in Article VI
that it is the fundamental right
and duty of the Zimbabwean people to make a
constitution by themselves and
for themselves and that the constitution must
be owned and driven by the
people and must be inclusive and
democratic.
The route being suggested by Tsvangirai is antithetical to
democratic
practice by taking away the right of the people to express their
views.
A negotiated process sacrifices constitutionalism in order to advance
constitutionality.
We agree that violence and intimidation have marred
the outreach programme,
but we cannot abandon that process for a negotiated
constitution. Violence
and intimidation has to be put to an end and how this
is done is Tsvangirai's
challenge in government. He must not expect Zanu PF
to end violence because
it has been in its DNA since 1963 and it has become
part of its culture and
tradition.
The worrying factor being that since
the harmonised elections in March 2008,
state security agents have allegedly
become part of Zanu PF's instruments of
coercion to protect and sustain a
presidential dictatorship.
Sadly, Tsvangirai has failed to demonstrate the
tactical and intellectual
capacity to deal with state security and Zanu PF
violence while in the
inclusive government. He has also failed to show his
political stamina to
influence institutional reforms to end political
partisanship in state
security organs.
Was this the right time for us to
write a new constitution when national
healing has not taken root? The
answer is a perfect no! A new constitution,
in the case of our country,
would be a trajectory to usher in a
democratic-development state at the
expense of the presidential state which
we are in. As a result, Mugabe and
Zanu PF will fight to retain the status
quo and will do everything to cling
to power.
My suggestion is that Zimbabwe should have embarked first on a
national
healing exercise, institute democratic reforms and hold elections
before
drafting a new supreme law. What I have observed with the current
constitution-making process is that it is a contestation of the current
structural power by the ruling elite, when it should be a governance charter
for posterity.
We should have drawn a lesson from Kenya where the
coalition government led
a process which produced a constitution now
comparable to that of South
Africa.
The Kenyan constitution voted for
overwhelmingly by people on August 4 is
expected to revolutionise governance
in the country. The constitution
avoided the creation of two centres of
power with a position of executive
prime minister and it also ended the era
of "imperial presidency by checking
and balancing executive powers through
creating a senate, boosting
legislative oversight powers and creating
commissions to implementing land
policy and other matters". Citizens were
empowered to recall non-performing
MPs and participate directly in running
development projects.
That's the way to go.
Constantine
Chimakure