http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 09:07
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has met Sadc mediator in Zimbabwe Jacob
Zuma to
push for the immediate implementation of the regional bloc's roadmap
towards
free and fair elections in the country next year.
Tsvangirai met Zuma
on Wednesday as a 30-day deadline set by regional
leaders for Zimbabwe's
coalition partners to implement outstanding issues
lapsed without movement.
Regional leaders set the deadline, which expired
this week, when they met in
Namibia last month.
Zuma's spokesman Zizi Kodwa yesterday
confirmed the meeting but referred all
questions to Tsvangirai's office,
saying "it was the Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe who requested the meeting and
it's only appropriate that they
should comment on
it".
Tsvangirai's spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka last night
confirmed the
meeting. He said his boss raised the issue of clearing
remaining global
political agreement sticking points and the need for a
roadmap for free and
fair elections.
Officials close to
Tsvangirai, also the MDC-T leader, said he had been
mandated with pushing
Sadc and the African Union, through Zuma, to pay
closer attention to
Zimbabwe's political processes to ensure a free vote.
"He is there to
discuss with Zuma how best Zimbabwe can avoid another
disputed election," a
source said. The parties had committed themselves to
implementing 24 issues
they claimed to have agreed on within the deadline,
while continuing
negotiations on three deadlocked matters: the swearing-in
of Roy Bennett
into government and the appointments of Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana.
Zuma, appointed by Sadc to
mediate and ensure the implementation of the
political agreement which led
to the formation of the inclusive government,
had told his regional
colleagues last month that implementation of the
issues would form the basis
"for the conviction to grow that Zimbabwe can
reach her goal of holding free
and fair elections".
But top officials in the MDC-T said a party
national council meeting last
week resolved to push for elections after
resigning themselves to the
reality that unresolved issues were likely to
remain as shown by lack of
movement within the agreed 30-day
timetable.
Mugabe said days after the Sadc meeting that he would not
give in to the
concessions until sanctions were removed, despite having
earlier committed
himself to the Sadc deadline.
To Page 2
MDC-T
officials told the Independent that as result, a general election next
year
was inevitable. They said they had tasked Tsvangirai to fight for
greater
regional involvement as well as push for faster implementation of
electoral
reforms whose contents are already on the table.
The party now wants
coalition partners, Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara to agree on an actual timeframe for the polls to
avoid an ambush
situation by Mugabe.
Mugabe's Zanu PF party has already announced
that an election is inevitable
next year, while Mutambara has reiterated
that the political and economic
environment did not favour polls. Mugabe and
Tsvangirai are likely to get
their wish for a 2011 election, soon after a
constitutional referendum which
should be held in the first quarter of next
year. Tsvangirai and Mugabe have
greater control of both central government
and parliament than Mutambara.
"It is almost certain that Zimbabwe should
return to the ballot box next
year because these outstanding issues are
unlikely to be solved within the
lifespan of this coalition government,"
said an MDC-T official close to
Tsvangirai. "The meeting with Zuma was part
of the election preparation
because we want Sadc to start preparing a
monitoring team."
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC-T spokesman, said he did
not have details of Zuma
and Tsvangirai's meeting, saying the Prime Minister
was in South Africa on
government business.
Tsvangirai is in
South Africa where he addressed an economic summit on
Zimbabwe. He told
delegates that he was keen on fresh elections to break the
coalition
government logjam.
"I am extremely grateful for the leadership that
Sadc has shown in its quest
to find a lasting solution to the Zimbabwe
crisis by prescribing an exit
strategy from the current transitional
arrangement, which strategy includes
a roadmap to a free and fair election.
This will not be easy, but with help
from South Africa and Sadc, and the
rest of the international community, it
is possible," he said without
specifying a timeframe.
Chamisa said the Sadc 30-day deadline had passed
this week without any
movement because neither inter-party negotiators nor
the principals met to
discuss how to implement the issues before the expiry
of the deadline. He
said an MDC national council meeting last week
emphasised the need for Sadc,
as well as local stakeholders, to ensure free
and fair elections.
Chamisa said apart from intensifying regional
lobbying, his party was
pushing for faster implementation of democratic
reforms to avoid delays in
holding elections.
"This government
has always been temporary. Any longer gestation period will
benefit Zanu PF
because they are the ones being cleansed and sanitised by
this government,"
he said.
"Election preparedness and readiness is not just a function
of timetables.
What is important is a framework for fair elections. That is
what the party
is focused on."
Some of the issues the MDC has
decided to push for are electoral and media
reforms, as well as
demilitarising rural areas where Chamisa alleged
soldiers were still
intimidating people. Tsvangirai told delegates to the
economic summit that
discussions were underway to achieve these reforms
before the next poll.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 12:47
GOVERNMENT
has gazetted the Attorney-General’s Office Bill which provides
for a board
to supervise the operations of one of the institutions at the
centre of
Zimbabwe’s political stalemate that has stunted economic growth.
But rights
lawyers say the Bill falls short of addressing challenges facing
the AG’s
Office such as independence from the executive, low remuneration
and
corruption.
They cite President Robert Mugabe’s strong influence on the
appointment of
the board members as one of the Bill’s weaknesses.
The
AG’s Office has repeatedly been forced to defend allegations that it is
being used to prosecute Mugabe’s rivals, while ignoring Zanu PF officials
and activists implicated in political crimes.
“The president has a larger
say in the appointment of the board as he has
the power to appoint at least
four members of the seven member board,” said
Andrew Makoni, chairperson of
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a group of
over 100 lawyers that has
represented activists prosecuted for their
political work.
”He also
appoints the Attorney-General,” Makoni says. “Virtually all the
appointed
board members are appointed by the executive. Parliament, which
represents
the people, has no say in the appointment of the board. Although
it is
provided that this board shall not be subject to the control of any
person
or authority, the appointment process in my view compromises its
independence.”
The purpose of this Bill, first introduced in 2005, is to
constitute the
Attorney-General’s Office as a service outside the public
service. It should
provide for the administration of the AG’s Office and
conditions of service
for staff.
Alleged politically motivated
prosecutions as well as the continued stay of
AG Johannes Tomana that have
emerged as some of the contentious
power-sharing disputes were unlikely to
end, Makoni said.
According to the gazetted Bill, the AG’s office board shall
also consist of
the AG, a commissioner of the Public Service Commission and
not more than
four members appointed by Mugabe.
Section 5(3) of the Bill
states that the “board shall not be subject to the
control or direction of
any person or authority other than for the purpose
of audit by the
Comptroller and Auditor-General of those funds of the office
that are voted
by parliament or charged on the Consolidated Fund by this Act
or any other
law”.
Makoni said issues of remuneration would also affect the prosecuting
authority’s independence as staff, whose salary structure is not clearly
defined, could still be tempted to engage in corrupt activities to boost
income.
“Contrast this with the South African National Prosecution
Authority (NPA)
Act 32 of 1998, which guarantees the earnings of the
officials in the NPA,”
Makoni said. “It specifies the salary of the office
bearers in a simple
formula: The salary of the national director shall not
be less than the
salary of a judge of the High Court; the salary of a deputy
national
director shall not be less than 85% of the salary of the national
director;
and the salary of a director shall not be less than 80% of the
salary of the
national director,” said Makoni.
He added: “Such clarity in
earnings of the officials guarantees their
independence as their earnings
will not be diminished by politicians who
might want to use their financial
muscle to influence prosecutions and
decisions. There are many imperfections
in this Bill, such that I recommend
a complete revision.”
Wongai
Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 12:46
A
POLITICAL row has erupted in Zanu PF over controversial newspaper adverts
placed in the local and South African press by party chairman Simon Khaya
Moyo.
The issue has raised disquiet within Zanu PF structures,
particularly among
senior party officials, who are now querying Moyo's
agenda and the damage
the adverts are inflicting on the party. Some
newspapers have been
interpreting the adverts to mean President Robert
Mugabe's party has now got
into election mode and was stirring the troubled
political waters by
resorting to familiar threatening language and
name-calling.
Well-informed sources said grave concerns about Moyo's adverts
have been
raised at various party forums, especially among politburo
members. The
worries of the politburo members include that Moyo's adverts
had not been
sanctioned by the party, no party structure was involved in
their
preparation and it is not known for certain who is paying for them,
although
Moyo apparently used his friends to place them and later reimbursed
them.
In one of the adverts, Moyo claims that Zanu PF is an "unstoppable
machine"
and that "off-shoot political parties will remain off-shoot,
offside and
scoring own goals". He then goes on to talk about the
liberation struggle,
the 1987 Unity Accord between Zanu and Zapu, the land
reform programme, and
the country's resources and sovereignty.
Senior
Zanu PF officials have questioned why Moyo was placing the adverts
which
were not officially approved by the party and what his agenda was. A
senior
Zanu PF official said Moyo was working with an organised group of
people who
want to position themselves for the Zanu PF leadership and
possibly the
presidency of the country. The official said the issue was
being viewed in
the context of Mugabe's succession race in which Moyo's name
had from time
to time come up.
"The adverts were not approved by the party as is usually
the case and no
party structure was involved in their production," a senior
Zanu PF
politburo member said.
"They are also not being paid for by the
party and this raised even more
serious questions about Moyo's agenda," he
said. "We understand a friend of
his paid for them but he was reimbursed.
However, we do not know for sure
who is behind all this. This has caused
problems in the party. Everyone who
has seen the adverts is asking what
Moyo's agenda is behind all this. They
are controversial. The adverts don't
even make political sense in some
aspects. What does it mean that Zanu PF is
an 'unstoppable machine'? What
are off-shoot political parties? The football
metaphors of off-side and own
goals in politics are also misplaced. In
football how can an offside player
score an own goal? It shows he doesn't
even understand football and this is
making us a laughing stock."
Moyo
was not available for comment. Even Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo
could not
be found. However, senior party officials said the issue had
raised disquiet
in the party and left Moyo in the spotlight.
The situation is fuelled by the
recent eruption of a simmering power
struggle between Vice-President John
Nkomo and Moyo.
Nkomo and Moyo clashed recently in Bulawayo over the
co-option of central
committee members as a new form of succession surfaced
in Matabeleland.
Senior Zanu PF officials say Nkomo and Moyo, who showed
traces of political
hostility against each other during the Zanu PF
leadership nomination
process before last year's elective party congress by
not working together,
are now battling to control the Matabeleland political
turf. Obert Mpofu,
another Zanu PF politburo member, is also one of the
senior politicians from
the region battling Nkomo for control and
supremacy.
"There is a new power struggle in Matabeleland which has a
succession
dimension. Nkomo is eyeing the Zanu PF leadership, so is Moyo.
The two, who
failed to work together before last year's congress, now view
each other as
rivals," another politburo member said.
"Their fight, which
is still a low intensity power struggle, can erupt into
a fierce battle. It
was discussed in the politburo last month after the two
clashed on the
co-option of central committee members in Bulawayo."
The Zanu PF politburo
last month rejected the co-option into the central
committee of Nkomo's
allies in Bulawayo.
The politburo ordered fresh elections to fill central
committee vacancies
for Bulawayo after rejecting seven names forwarded by
Isaac Dakamela, the
provincial chairman.
Former Bulawayo mayor Abednico
Nyathi, Dennis Ndlovu, Misheck Velaphi,
Elphus Tshuma, and former Zanu PF
Bulawayo provincial commissar Raphael
Baleni, Nelly Dupute and Violet Ncube
were supposed to have joined the
decision-making central committee, but were
rejected after Moyo intervened.
The issue has sucked in senior Zanu PF
leaders in Matabeleland, including
politburo members Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and
Absalom Sikhosana.
Moyo blocked Nkomo's allies in a move seen as retaliation
for the
vice-president's move to stop the chairman's faction from getting
onto the
central committee. Nkomo opposed the election of Bulawayo war
veterans'
leader Themba Ncube, former Bulawayo councillor Emmanuel Kanjoma,
businessman Charles Chiponda, Anna Moyo, Sifelani Dube, Otilia Pasipanodya
and Emily Hela. This has left Nkomo and Moyo on a collision
course.
Dumisani Muleya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
12:43
A SUBSIDIARY of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has accused an
official
in the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment of
using government indigenisation policies to grab a diamond
claim in which
the central bank has an interest.
On the other hand,
Wilson Svova, the Indigenisation ministry official,
argued that the RBZ
should have no business in diamond mining because the
government had already
weaned it off quasi-fiscal operations.
The case brings to the fore fears of
how individuals and institutions could
be abusing controversial government
policies to enrich themselves.
Svova, a partner in Shuma Mining Syndicate,
has claimed ownership of two
mining claims where Carslone Enterprises, a
subsidiary of the RBZ, is
constructing a diamond processing plant at a
disputed farm in the Midlands.
The processing plant and ownership of the land
is already at the centre of a
dispute between the RBZ and Gweru farmer
Magiel Jovner. Svova's firm has
entered into a deal with Jovner, hence his
insistence on staying on the land
ahead of the RBZ.
The takeover prompted
Carslone to petition the High Court in Bulawayo
seeking an order to
interdict Svova and his associates from entering
Carlsone's diamond
processing plant.
Carslone director Emmanuel Shuro accused Svova of forcibly
entering the
processing plant after claiming that the government's
indigenisation policy
empowered him to gain access into the plant.
"He
cannot therefore be allowed to intrude into the area under the guise of
indigenisation - which he clearly does not comprehend," said Shuro in his
court papers filed in July.
"As earlier on mentioned, the applicant
(Carslone) is a subsidiary of RBZ.
It is owned by the central bank of
Zimbabwe. It is an indigenous company.
How the indigenisation policy can be
applied to the applicant therefore
boggles the mind. The respondent
(Svova)'s misconception of indigenisation
must not be allowed to infringe
upon applicant's rights to its operations."
Shuro charged that Svova had
visited the plant on several occasions where he
forced Carslone's employees
to leave their employ and join Shuma Mining
Syndicate and made threats to
the employees in a "manner reminiscent of
medieval barbarism".
The
Carslone director said the area that Svova wanted to convert into his
"playground" housed a strategic government project and was a high security
area.
"Diamonds need to be protected given that they are a strategic
mineral. The
respondent's conduct is an affront to these efforts. He
basically has a low
appreciation of all this," Shuro said in his founding
affidavit lodged with
the High Court in Bulawayo.
But in defending the
takeover of the mining claims at Kleimpton Farm, Svova
said the RBZ had no
right to continue with mining operations at the farm as
it had been barred
from conducting any quasi-fiscal operations.
He said Carslone was neither the
owner, tenant nor tributary of the property
and had no right to interdict
him from accessing the processing plant. This
was because the company had
failed to renew its tribute agreement with
Jovner, the owner of the farm,
after the expiry of their partnership
agreement with him on June 24.
"The
Reserve Bank was instructed to refrain from its fiscal policy and it is
to
this effect that subsidiaries are to wind up and the Reserve Bank focuses
on
its core/main business."
High Court Judge Justice Cheda has since ruled in
favour of Carslone and
interdicted Svova and his associates from entering
the diamond processing
plant.
Apart from battling with Svova, the RBZ has
also been taken to court by
Jovner who sought to interdict the central
bank's subsidiary from mining and
processing diamonds on his farm.
Jovner
took Carslone to court after a joint-venture mining deal which the
two
signed in 2007 turned sour. A High Court judge has since ordered Jovner
and
the RBZ to find an amicable solution before approaching the
courts.
Kumbirai Mafunda
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
12:42
ZIMBABWE blew an opportunity to lure international energy investors
when it
snubbed the first high-ranking Africa-European Union Energy
Partnership
(AEEP) meeting in Vienna, Austria, this week.
The country
sent a junior diplomat to the meeting, whose aim was to secure
renewable
energy supplies for at least 100 million people on the continent
by
2020.
Zimbabwe is going through one of its worst energy crises since
Independence
in 1980 despite boasting vast untapped natural energy reserves,
which
include methane gas.
Some African countries, excluding Zimbabwe,
struck deals at the meeting,
according to French Minister for Ecology,
Energy, Sustainable Development
and Sea Green Technology and Climate Change
Negotiations, Jean-Louis Borloo.
Zimbabwe's ambassador to Austria, Grace
Mutandiro, briefly attended the
meeting, and left after an hour while
several African countries, including
South Africa, Kenya, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Togo, Senegal and Morocco
sent their energy
ministers.
A junior diplomat, Silibaziso Mangonya, was left to follow
proceedings after
Mutandiro left. Mangonya said Mutandiro had to rush for
another important
meeting when quizzed why Zimbabwe appeared not to take
such an opportunity
more seriously. It was not possible to get a comment
from Energy minister
Elton Mangoma.
Industry cites electricity shortages
as one of the biggest hindrances to
Zimbabwe's economic recovery bid. The
country desperately needs investors to
build new power plants and
rehabilitate obsolete equipment.
Recently, government announced that the
country would soon open its doors to
investors in the energy sector to
invest as independent power producers or
participate in public-private
partnership arrangements in the development of
larger power projects in the
country.
The country's energy sector produces a daily average of 1100
megawatts of
electricity on average against demand of 2100 megawatts. The
shortfall is
met by imports from regional countries.
Zimbabwe's absence
at the meeting attended by European financiers and energy
companies robbed
the country of an opportunity to enhance this drive.
Most African ministers
and their delegations used the opportunity to
engage in bilateral
negotiations both with their European counterparts and
potential
financiers.
Nqobile Bhebhe in Vienna, Austria
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
12:40
VICE-PRESIDENT John Nkomo has blocked efforts by Mines minister
Obert Mpofu,
his rival in the Matabeleland region, to slot his allies onto
the
Matabeleland North provincial executive.
The latest development is
part of a running feud between the two politicians
who are battling for
control of the region.
Party sources said Nkomo frustrated a bid by Mpofu to
restructure the
provincial executive that would have resulted in chairman
Zenzo Ncube losing
his post.
Ncube, sources said, is Nkomo's ally and he
reported the matter to the
vice-president who swiftly blocked Mpofu's move
by ordering provincial party
members to defy any moves to expel the current
executive.
The sources said Nkomo made it clear to Mpofu a month ago that he
was the
most senior party members in the region and would use his powers to
stop any
reshuffling of the executive. This left Mpofu with little choice
but to
shelve the plans, authoritative sources said.
Ncube confirmed that
Mpofu and allies were barred from removing him from
power after internal
discussions.
"We have managed to settle the issue in the party and they no
longer want to
remove me from office," he said.
On August 1, Mpofu wrote
to Ncube ordering him to call for an urgent
provincial coordinating
committee meeting on August 21 where a vote of no
confidence should have
been passed on the provincial executive.
The meeting flopped after it clashed
with a central committee meeting held
in the capital on the same
day.
Mpofu wrote to Ncube last month that his executive was unsuccessful in
championing vibrant party programmes in the province. Ncube was accused of
failing to hold meetings, or educating supporters on Zanu PF's position on
the new constitution.
"Mpofu accused Ncube of failing to lead the
province and requested an urgent
meeting where Mpofu and allies planned to
pass a vote of confidence. In the
letter, Mpofu said Matabeleland North was
a skeleton province due to lack of
political activity," said the
source.
Former provincial chairman Headman Moyo headed Mpofu's list that was
supposed to replace Ncube in a coup that would have seen vice chairman
Zwelitsha Masuku losing his post. Sithembile Gumbo should have taken over
from Madeline Bhebhe as women's league chairperson.
Zanu PF central
committee members who were linked to Mpofu's plans included
his wife
Sikhanyisiwe, Fati Mpofu, Melly Nkomo, Rebecca Fameli and Josephine
Moyo.
The central committee members held meetings earlier this year at Mpofu's
personal York House offices in Bulawayo to plot the move, which sources said
has not been permanently shelved.
Mpofu's other allies include Bulawayo
war veterans' leader Themba Ncube,
former Bulawayo councillor Emmanuel
Kanjoma, businessman Charles Chiponda,
Anna Moyo, Sifelani Dube, Otilia
Pasipanodya and Emily Hela.
Zanu PF insiders said Mpofu's plans faced serious
resistance from other
Matabeleland North central committee members like
Sithembiso Nyoni,
Sithokozile Mathuthu, Cain Mathema and Samuel Mgande who
are Nkomo's close
allies.
Mpofu, who has repeatedly refused to talk to
the Zimbabwe Independent, again
refused to comment.
"I don't talk to
people I don't know," Mpofu said before abruptly
terminating the
conversation.
Efforts to get a comment from Nkomo were
fruitless.
Brian Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 12:39
HIGH Court
Judges are among judicial officers who could be receiving bribes,
according
to a senior Anti-Corruption Commission official who has revealed
that graft
has pervaded virtually all levels of the justice delivery system.
Sukai
Tongogara, the Anti-Corruption Commission investigations manager, said
cases
of bribery involving magistrates, prosecutors, clerks of court and
lawyers
in private practice continued to rise.
She said some of the graft involved
judges presiding over cases involving
relatives and friends without
disclosing their interests.
She said this at a Joint Judicial-Legal
profession colloquium held at
Victoria Falls last week. The Law Society of
Zimbabwe organised the
colloquium.
"The Commission has received cases
against magistrates, prosecutors, clerks
of court, legal practitioners,
officers of the Labour Court, traditional
chiefs and judges," said Tongogara
in her presentation.
"Of these cases the highest number received were cases
of bribery and
corruption against magistrates, prosecutors and clerks of
court."
When asked by delegates the extent of corruption and bribery at the
High
Court, Tongogara said judges' cases contributed 1% of bribery and
corruption
matters reported to the anti-corruption commission.
She
said judges represented the lowest number of corruption cases being
handled
by her organisation, but some lawyers said it was worrying that
senior
officers such as judges could be involved in any form of graft.
"This was
really surprising because people did not expect to get that from
the judges
due to the vigorous screening they are supposed to undergo before
appointment," a lawyer who attended the colloquium told the Independent this
week.
Tongogara cited interference in the independence of the judiciary
as the
biggest contributor to possible cases of corruption. Poor
remuneration, lack
of supervision, weak monitoring mechanisms, inadequate
work facilities,
greed, lack of integrity and unprofessionalism also
contributed to the
scourge, she said.
Some lawyers were fraudulently
selling properties, conniving with
prosecutors to solicit money to obtain
judgments and conniving with clerks
to remove documents from records, she
said.
Senior Assistant Commissioner Benjamin Mhiripiri, the director of legal
services in the police, admitted that cells at Matapi Police Station were
inhabitable, and pledged to convince his boss Augustine Chihuri to close
them down.
This was after lawyers questioned the continued use of
detention cells that
posed a danger to human life. Matapi Police Station in
Mbare, is notorious
for its dehumanising conditions.
Mhiripiri's
admission came as a group of local women activists have taken
steps to have
the facility closed down. Lawyers for Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(Woza) members
detained at Matapi in April for protesting against poor
energy supplies,
have written to the co-Ministers of Home Affairs notifying
them of their
intention to apply to the Supreme Court for Matapi to be
declared
inhabitable. Mhiripiri admitted that many police officers had
abandoned
their public duties and were using their positions to coerce
bribes as well
as do private work using police uniforms and other resources.
"Regrettably
some of our members abuse these wide powers to advance their
own selfish
interests. We have recently received correspondence from some
magistrates
complaining that some of our members are now specialising in
debt
collection, judging by certain cases brought before them," he
said.
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 12:38
IN
Zimbabwe the tag “war veteran” is not one that draws much inspiration.
Many
Zimbabweans, particularly in rural and farming communities, bear body
scars
as their most vivid memories of encounters with veterans of the
country’s
1970s war of liberation.
This band of what was once regarded as the country’s
heroes have turned
villain in most Zimbabweans’ eyes.
But one group of
ex-combatants is trying to change this perception.
Irked by the negative
reputation war veterans have earned over the years,
Ray Ncube, a retired
army colonel, has joined with fellow ex-combatants from
the Zimbabwe
People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra) to make peace their main
priority.
The group, which was Zapu’s armed wing during the war against
colonialism,
has embarked on a peace building campaign aimed at rebuilding
war veterans’
battered image. Zapu and President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu were
the two parties
that led the fight against colonialism.
Ncube chairs the
Zipra war veterans trust headquartered in Bulawayo, but
with members
countrywide.
Ncube spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent this week about his
group’s
initiative, which he said was anchored on national healing. This was
after
realising that the true values of the liberation struggle had been
sacrificed for personal and political gain by “selfish” politicians, some of
them ex-combatants.
Instead of rehabilitating former combatants,
politicians are taking
advantage of ex-fighters’ poverty to use them as
cannon fodder in violent
political and self-enriching projects such as farm
invasions.
Ncube said Zipra’s community-based initiatives were inspired by
the feeling
that some of their war colleagues were being used by
self-serving
politicians who thrived on violence to gain power and
control.
“There is a disturbing phenomenon where ex-combatants are involved
in
political violence. We feel that ex-combatants are becoming victims of
abuse
during the process of elections or any national events,” said Ncube on
Wednesday.
“In 2008 there were elections which were bloody and most of
the people who
committed the violence were ex-combatants. That is not good.
That was not a
civilised way of doing elections,” he said. “People know who
to vote for and
they should have been allowed to exercise their right to
vote for a person
of their choice, or even to be voted for,” he said.
The
Zipra Trust was formed in 2008 to cater for the welfare and dignity of
Zipra
war veterans.
Ncube said his group had been with grassroots communities and
traditional
leaders in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces to discuss “where
the war
veterans had gone wrong”, as a first step towards restoring
ex-combatants’
dignity.
He said communities discussed ways of solving
disputes that arose from
political violence and how victims and perpetrators
could achieve
reconciliation at these meetings.
Some of the areas where
these meetings have taken place are Bulawayo,
Gwanda, Gweru, Beitbridge,
Manama, Bulilima and Mangwe.
The group, Ncube said, planned to roll out the
programme countrywide to
counter the influence of rogue war veterans who
turned communities into fear
zones during election periods.
The group
says it is not linked to the revival of Zapu, which elected former
Home
Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa at a congress last month.
“Zipra Trust is a
national organisation,” Ncube said. “We have
representatives in all
provinces of the country. We refuse to be viewed as a
tribal group.
Recently we held a workshop with representatives from all the
provinces and
the idea was to come up with ideas on how to introduce
transformational
measures that will move communities all over Zimbabwe from
a culture of fear
to a culture of peace and transparency.”
Ncube also dissociated Zipra from
the Zimbabwe National Liberation War
Veterans Association (ZNLWVA), a
militant group of war veterans still loyal
to President Robert
Mugabe.
Now led by Jabulani Sibanda, ZNLWVA members have been at the
forefront of
violent election campaigns and farm invasions since it turned
into a
de-facto Zanu PF militia in 2000 under the leadership of the late
Chenjerai
Hunzvi.
“Zipra Trust is not an appendage of any political
party. While it is an
inescapable reality that Zipra was the military outfit
of Zapu, the mandate
of the Trust to date is to take care of the welfare of
the people who
sacrificed their lives to bring Independence to the country,”
asserted
Ncube.
“We are just Zipra former fighters who are not connected
to Zapu. All we
want is to establish peace and tranquility and also to look
after the
welfare of war veterans,” he said.
Ncube said national healing
was the best route to stability, but criticised
the way a specially
appointed government organ was handling the process.
“The current national
healing process is being touted in the media with
nothing specifically being
done on the ground.
“There is need to walk on the ground, talk to the people
and making them
meet with those whom they think perpetrated the violence,”
Ncube said. “This
is an issue that should be discussed openly. Moreover,
methods should vary
from community to community because the violence starts
in the community.
You can not prescribe the same treatment for different
communities because
the circumstances and magnitude can be different,” he
said.
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:43
A RECENT report says Zimbabwe has become one of the world's least
competitive economies, but analysts foresee growth if the relative stability
brought about by the formation of the coalition government is followed
through with policies that can unlock credit and
investment.
According to the 2010-2011 Global Competitiveness Report
released by the
World Economic Forum (WEF) last week, Zimbabwe is six places
down the
previous year at 136th out of 139 countries.
The economy, which
had been on a free-fall until the formation of the
coalition government, has
failed to significantly grow despite the country
holding strategic minerals
such as gold, diamonds and platinum.
Economic researchers who compiled the
report pointed out that dilapidated
infrastructure, limited healthcare and
education services and poor
institutional frameworks made Zimbabwe less
competitive in the global
marketplace. Over 13 500 business leaders
worldwide were polled before the
report was compiled.
Economists who
spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent this week noted that while
Zimbabwe was
still recovering from a 10-year economic decline, lines of
credit, sound,
consistent economic policies and trade were crucial to
increasing the
country's competitiveness.
Farayi Dyirakumunda, an economist and executive
director at African
Investment Markets, told the Independent that Zimbabwe
was in the initial
stages of an economic recovery cycle and indications on
the ground revealed
"a changing corporate landscape driven by a set of
reforms including
dollarisation, and deregulation across various
sectors".
"The country's competitiveness will continue to improve if we
maintain
policies that place a focus on the drivers and facilitators of
productivity," he said.
"The country's overall global competitiveness
has been hindered over the
years by shortcomings across the basic
requirements of productivity. Limited
attention has been given towards
efficiency enhancers and there is a
deficiency of innovation and
sophistication factors," said Dyirakumunda.
According to the WEF report, the
sharp fall in Zimbabwe's ranking was due to
a decline in the majority of the
12 pillars used to rank overall
competitiveness of each country. These are
institutions, infrastructure,
macro-economic stability, health and primary
education, higher education and
training, goods market efficiency, labour
market efficiency, financial
market sophistication, technological readiness,
market size, business
sophistication and innovation.
Economic analyst
Eric Bloch told the Independent on Monday that Zimbabwe's
economic rating
will improve, but this would be "very long and slow".
"The most critical
requirement for significant improvement to be achieved is
the creation of an
internationally acceptable secure investment environment,
including
unequivocal governmental and activist organisations and respect
for property
rights," he said.
Bloch said unlawful expropriation, occupation and or abuse
of property must
cease. Unreserved compliance with Bilateral Investment
Promotion and
Protection Agreements (Bippas), he said, was a key element
missing in
Zimbabwe.
"There is need for unequivocal respect by
government, police and armed
forces, and the courts for human rights," Bloch
said.
Bloch and Dyirakumunda both said Zimbabwe's ranking was "fair" as the
economic recovery that commenced in 2009 was snail paced.
"Currently
Zimbabwe has minimal economic competitive ability due to the
immense
volatility in governmental policies, and in parastatal service
delivery,"
Bloch said
Economists said Zimbabwean businesses could become more
competitive if the
government and international partners improve access to
finance, resist
pressure to erect trade barriers, upgrade infrastructure,
improve healthcare
and educational systems and strengthen governance
institutions.
Coronation Financial Service investment analyst Lance
Mambondiani called for
regional integration to increase Southern Africa's
trade competitiveness.
"Integration tends to promote higher growth through
such channels as
improved resource allocation, greater competition,
technology transfers and
learning and improved access to foreign capital.
Trade and investment tend
to increase in countries which have opened
themselves up to the world
economies and growth itself tends to promote
integration," he said.
"Needless to say, Zimbabwe and Africa are a totally
different proposition to
the European Union or Nafta countries. African
countries have a history of
bad governance, dictatorships and protectionism.
Whether a common ground can
be achieved to narrow political divisions is
perhaps the biggest stumbling
block in implementation," he said. The US,
Mexico and Canada make up the
North American Free Trade Agreement, shortened
to Nafta.
The WEF report corroborates findings by the World
Bank/International Finance
Corporation (IFC)'s Doing Business Report which
noted that despite notable
improvements in some key indicators, Zimbabwe was
still rated unfavourably
for business. The two indices are the world's most
widely followed gauges of
economic competitiveness.
Zimbabwe is rated 159
out of the 183 economies surveyed by the Doing
Business Report, released
earlier this year.
The ranks are important determinants of the global
distribution of Foreign
Direct Investment.
FDIs marginally grew to US$60
million in 2009, up $8 million from the US$52
million recorded in 2008,
according to United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development figures
released in July.
Economic analyst John Robertson said a stable political
environment was key
to competitiveness globally.
"Zimbabwe needs to
invest and attract investment in major sectors of the
economy to improve
infrastructure, limited healthcare and educational
services, and poor
institutional frameworks that make it less competitive in
the global
marketplace," he said
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:35
THE re-emergence of more Zimbabwean banks will result in a serious
dogfight
over deposits as banking institutions struggle to sustain
operations, a
Tetrad Group report says.
A weekly market report by the
group says the re-opening of previously shut
banking institutions—Barbican,
Trust and Royal Bank — could result in more
banking institutions employing
aggressive tactics in frantic efforts to have
a portion of Zimbabwe’s bank
deposits currently standing at over US$1, 8
billion.
The return of the
three banks closed six years ago by the central bank would
increase
commercial banks to 17, a figure some critics say is too high for
Zimbabwe’s
small economy.
“The struggle to secure deposits is still inherent. Subdued
economic
activity has not made it easy for banking institutions to revive
themselves,” the group said.
“Ironically, Barbican, Trust and Royal Bank
were re-issued their banking
licences. This brings the total number of
commercial banks to seventeen.
Competition is going to be stiffer and a lot
of banks are going to find
their slice of the cake much smaller than before
as the dogfight worsens.”
Also expected to open its doors to the public is
Time Bank which was granted
its licence last November.
The new banks are
unlikely to be a reprieve for jobless bank employees who
faced retrenchment
early this year. Some banks have already announced more
job
cuts.
Half-year interim financial results have shown that although most banks
made
varying profits during the period, at least 1000 bank workers were
retrenched during the first half of the year.
The financials also showed
that most banks reported a profit although some
such as NMB, Barclays and
MBCA were at loss positions.
Deposits grew from US$1,4 billion in January to
US$1,8 billion at the end of
June although banks remained prudent in their
lending.
Tetrad Group says ongoing restructuring exercises characterised by
job cuts
and streamlining operations resulted in staff costs eating into
company
profits.
“The losses were mainly due to high operational costs,
which varied from
retrenchment costs to high staff expenses in general,”
reads the group’s
weekly report.
With interest rates expected to go down
in the next months as banking
institutions go for lending with longer
tenure, it remains to be seen how
many institutions will wade through, given
the liquidity problems prevailing
on the market.
More so, with most banks
having generated non interest income from
commissions and fees, less
aggressive banks could continue to feel the
pinch.
Most banks are
charging between US$3 and US$5 in monthly service charges.
BancABC and CBZ
were some of the biggest earners of interest income with net
amounts of
approximately US$21,2 million and US$9,408 million
respectively.
Bernard Mpofu
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:34
THE Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines says the country needs between US$3
and US$5
billion to recapitalise the sector over the next five
years.
Speaking at Zimbabwe’s second mining Indaba on Wednesday, the
chamber’s vice
president, Winston Chitando said the country needs the money
to ensure that
positive growth and viability is maintained in the mining
sector.
“Zimbabwe needs about US$5 billion for recapitalisation of the mining
sector
over the next five years,” Chitando said
“It is important to
realise the requirement for investment in infrastructure
that supports
growth in mining,” he said.
Chitando said of the US$5 billion, US$1 billion
would be channeled towards
gold production with platinum taking up US$1, 2
billion, ferro chrome US$250
million, nickel US$110 million, coal US$280
million and diamonds US$300
million.
“Most minerals are expected to
record increased volumes of production in
2010 compared to 2009,” he
said.
Chitando says production could have been higher with the provision of
better
power supplies and funding.
“The future looks very bright and
mining will continue to be prominent.
Coal, gold, chrome, iron ore, nickel,
and diamonds are expected to be the
main attractions,” he said.
Chitando
says a stable operating environment had provided better
opportunities for
planning and execution of projects.
“Investor interest is still high as
evidenced by the number of business
enquiries for investment opportunities.
Supplier-miner relations have
improved considerably with some credit being
availed to producers,” he said.
According to the chamber of mines, it is
estimated that to achieve self
sufficiency in electricity, about US$10
billion may be required for the
various electricity generating projects
including Sengwa and Batoka which
will result in an additional generating
capacity of 3 000 MW.
“The country has immense potential and is
under-explored. Zimbabwe has the
second largest known deposit of platinum,
quality coal, gold, chrome, and
diamonds,” Chitando said.
Chitando said
the Chamber anticipates production of ferrochrome for 2010 to
be 145 000
tonnes and platinum 8 700 kg while gold is expected to peak at 8
500
kg.
A total of 520 000 tonnes for chrome ore is anticipated this year, which
will be 170% higher than last year.
Zimbabwe’s mining sector has been
trailing behind the rest of the world in
terms of mineral exploration and
development and has lost out on major
“commodity booms” enjoyed elsewhere
mainly as a result of the “lost decade”
between 1998 to 2009.
Presenting
the mid term- fiscal policy in July, Finance minister Tendai Biti
said
mining productivity continued to be hamstrung by erratic power supply.
“This
has meant that mining houses have not been able to sustain increased
production even in cases where they have had limited access to lines of
credit in support of recapitalisation,” he said.
Paul
Nyakazeya
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 11:32
ZIMBABWE’S
cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on
policies has
weakened significantly while payments remained poor, the
multinational
lending agency says.
Zimbabwe, together with Somalia and Sudan — countries
which are destabilised
by war and have been declared failed states — are in
protracted arrears to
the Fund’s poverty reduction and growth trust
(PRGT).
The trio made baby steps in reducing total arrears to the fund,
paying a
combined US$26,51 million and leaving their total balance at US$1,9
billion.
In a report released last week, IMF says while economic policies
improved
last year, renewed political instability and subsequent policy
slippages
intensified macro-financial vulnerabilities.
“While tax policy
and administration improved significantly, the authorities
moved away from
cash budgeting, wages and capital expenditures were ramped
up, rapid credit
growth increased systemic vulnerabilities in the banking
system, and serious
governance problems remained at the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe,” said IMF. “So
far in 2010, Zimbabwe has made three payments to
the Fund totaling US$1,3
million (equivalent to SDR 0,85 million).”
The country’s payments exceeded
Zimbabwe’s new obligations falling due for
the period and the authorities’
commitment to quarterly payments to the Fund
of about US$100 000.
Last
year, Zimbabwe paid a paltry US$200 000 to the IMF.
Zimbabwe, which has been
in arrears to the PRGT since February 2001, owes
the Fund US$134,85 million,
which translates to 7% of the total owed by the
three countries which are in
protracted arrears.
Zimbabwe owes IMF, the World Bank and African Development
Bank US$1,4
billion as at the end of June this year.
In May, an IMF team
visited the country and the Fund’s executive directors
urged the authorities
to take corrective action to return to cash budgeting
and a path to medium
term sustainability.
The directors also urged the authorities to contain the
“rising systemic
banking risks, and to improve the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe’s governance.”
“Directors further urged the authorities not to use
their SDR holdings to
finance budgetary expenditures, and to continue to
make timely payments to
the Fund and increase them as payment capacity
improves,” added IMF. “The
Board also noted the benefits of the Fund’s
technical assistance provided
since May 2009 in targeted areas and decided
to add macroeconomic statistics
to the targeted areas in which the Fund
provides technical assistance.”
IMF directors have also agreed to keep in
place the remedial measures that
were imposed with respect to Zimbabwe’s
arrears to the PRGT and to review
the country’s overdue financial
obligations to PRGT within six months.
Zimbabwe’s relations with the Fund
improved significantly since last year
and in February this year the
country’s voting rights were restored.
Leonard Makombe
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 11:28
THE
Anti-Corruption Commission has been accused of corruptly protecting
former
ZBC finance director Oniyas Gumbo, who allegedly attempted to
fraudulently
wrestle control of a Harare real estate company, Assetfin Pvt
(Ltd).
The
accusations come at a time when the term of office of current
commissioners
has ended, amid concerns that the commission had done little
to investigate
vice in the country and bring culprits to book, especially
bigwigs in both
the private and public sectors.
The commissioners’ term ended last September
and are reportedly demanding
golden handshakes for doing little in the form
of houses and luxury cars,
cash and generators.
In a damning letter of
complaint to the outgoing chairperson of the
commission, Eric Harid, dated
August 26, Assetfin director Paul Chidawanyika
claimed that three officers
were blocking the commission from probing Gumbo
for alleged fraud and
forgery when he tried to seize the property firm in
2007.
Chidawanyika
and Antony Parehwa, current Assetfin directors, are embroiled
in a bitter
ownership wrangle of the company that has also seen top cops
accused of
fighting in Gumbo’s corner. Parehwa and Chidawanyika own 50% of
Assetfin
through their company Unitime Investments Pvt (Ltd), while the
remainder is
owned by Gumbo.
Gumbo allegedly forged a CR14 form and submitted it to the
Registrar of
Companies on June 27 2007 purporting that he owned 100%
Assetfin. He is
currently facing a criminal trial over the matter at the
Harare Magistrates’
Courts.
In his letter to Harid, Chidawanyika accused
Charles Charuma, Antony
Mahwamba and Isaac Takawira — officers in the
Anti-Corruption Commission —
of corruption.
The letter was copied to
co-Home Affairs ministers Kembo Mohadi and Theresa
Makone, and Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, among others.
Besides writing the
letter to Harid, Chidawanyika also filed a complaint
with the Harare Central
Police State, case IR081978, against Charuma,
Mahwamba and Takawira.
He
said the three officers were aware that his company had made a corruption
report against Gumbo in March 2010 to the commission and that affidavits
were proffered by witnesses.
“This case against Oniyas Gumbo has gone
nowhere, but has been suppressed or
interfered with,” wrote Chidawanyika.
“The issue to be resolved by the
Anti-Corruption Commission and other law
enforcement agents is CR14 form
(copy attached), forged by Oniyas Gumbo and
delivered to the Registrar of
Companies… Criminals should not be allowed to
abuse the office of the
Registrar of Deeds and Companies because such office
is the custodian of the
property rights of the country.”
Chidawanyika
said Charuma, Mahwamba and Takawira were aware that Gumbo had
made
misrepresentation and had committed fraud and forgery in a bid to
assume
100% ownership of Assetfin.
“They (officers) have upheld this CR14 form in an
attempt to present it as a
genuine document, thereby, favouring Oniyas
Gumbo,” he alleged in the
letter. “They have also not taken into
consideration affidavits by the
witnesses, which confirm crimes committed by
Oniyas Gumbo.
If these affidavits had been taken into consideration, Oniyas
Gumbo’s crimes
would have been exposed before the arrest of Willie Mushayi
(deputy
registrar of companies).”
Chidawanyika added: “It appears there
is a clear criminal abuse of duty or
obstruction of the course of justice
and corruption by them as public
officers.”
He also wrote to the police
saying the Anti-Corruption Commission officers
contravened the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23)
because they failed to carry
out their duties as public officers.
Chidawanyika said Parehwa reported the
alleged corruption case against
Gumbo — case RR22/04/10 — and Charuma,
Mahwamba, and Takawira were fully
aware of it and failed to act. Instead, he
claimed, the anti-corruption
officers levelled counter accusations as a way
of victimising him and
Parehwa.
As part of counter accusations in favour
of Gumbo, Charuma arrested Mushayi
on July 1 before he gave evidence
exposing Gumbo’s fraudulent activities.
Charuma, Chidawanyika said,
deliberately ignored statements issued by
witnesses namely Parehwa, John
Mwarumba, Misheck Mutara and Emilda Mapanzure
who disposed off
affidavits.
“The suppression of the above affidavits was meant to promote the
counter
case by Gumbo while suppressing the case reported by Parehwa,”
Chidawanyika
wrote.
Criminal Investigation Department spokesperson,
Inspector Augustine Zimbili
declined to comment on the latest fight between
the Assetfin shareholders.
Gumbo’s criminal trial continues on
Tuesday.
Brian Chitemba
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:10
SIGNIFICANT progress has been made by the Common Market for Eastern
and
Southern Africa (Comesa), the East African Community (EAC) and the
Southern
African Development Community (Sadc) to establish an enlarged Free
Trade
Area (FTA) encompassing 26 countries in east and southern Africa by
2012.
A report presented to recent summits of the Comesa, EAC and Sadc said
the
three regional economic communities are committed towards deepening
integration through the harmonisation of their trading
arrangements.
Chairperson of the Tripartite taskforce, which is spearheading
the
implementation process, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, said a draft plan of
action on the FTA has been approved by the three secretariats for adoption
at the forthcoming Tripartite Summit of the Heads of State and Government
expected in early 2011.
However, Comesa and Sadc have already endorsed
the roadmap on the framework
document for consultations and negotiations on
the Tripartite FTA.
The two endorsed the roadmap in their individual capacity
as separate
trading bodies at their recent summits held in August and
September
respectively. The EAC is also expected to back the action plan at
its summit
scheduled late this year.
"The member states have had
sufficient time to review the documents and to
propose improvements," said
Mwapachu, who is also the EAC
executive-secretary.
"It is expected that
when the Tripartite summit next meets, the heads of
State and government
will pronounce themselves on the way forward on the
establishment of the
single FTA."
The draft roadmap agreed in November 2009 by the three
secretariats has 14
annexes covering various complementary areas that are
necessary for
effective functioning of the proposed regional market.
The
main proposal is to establish the FTA on a tariff-free, quota-free,
exemption-free basis by simply combining the existing three FTAs.
By
2012, it is expected that all the three FTAs will not have exemptions or
sensitive lists thus promoting the smooth movement of goods and services
across member states.
Provisions have, however, been made for those that
wish to continue
maintaining sensitive lists, especially with some big
partners such as the
European Union.
Comesa said it is happy with the
document and urgaed all stakeholders to
continue working together for the
success of the FTA.
"We endorse the draft agreement establishing the
Tripartite Free Trade Area,
together with the annexes as the basic
negotiating documents for
consultations and negotiations on the Tripartite
FTA," Comesa said in a
communiqué released after the summit.
Comesa
chairperson, King Mswati III of Swaziland also said that by working
collectively, member states stood to benefit more as opposed to working
individually.
"Working closely with our sister organisations, we have
demonstrated that,
acting jointly and through the tripartite arrangement, we
can tackle the
most intricate problems facing us in this part of the world,"
Mswati said
soon after assuming the chairperson at the summit held at the
beginning of
the month hosted by his country.
Sadc, which is expected to
host the forthcoming Tripartite summit, said it
is committed towards moving
this integration process forward for the good of
the region.
"Summit
noted with satisfaction the preparations towards establishing the
Comesa-EAC-Sadc Tripartite FTA," Sadc's communiqué reads in part, adding
that preparations are now underway for the next Tripartite summit.
"To
this end, Summit mandated the Chairperson of Council and the Executive
Secretary to consult with member States regarding the dates and venue of the
Tripartite council and summit meetings," says the Sadc communiqué issued
after the Summit hosted by Namibia in August.
The new Sadc Chairperson,
President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, also
said in his acceptance
speech: "I will work to further strengthen
co-operation among member
countries with the objective of increasing our
capacity to confront and
solve the common challenges we face."
Comesa, EAC and Sadc approved the
current Tripartite agreement at their
inaugural summit of heads of State and
government held in Kampala, Uganda in
2008.
At that historic tripartite
summit, leaders from the three organisations
resolved to immediately start
working towards merging their FTAs into a
single grand FTA with the ultimate
objective of fast-tracking the attainment
of continental integration as
envisaged by the African Union.
The creation of a grand FTA with a combined
population of about 568 million
people and a Gross Domestic Product of
US$625 billion would open borders to
literally half of the continent,
spanning the entire southern and eastern
regions of Africa, from Cape to
Cairo.
It would facilitate the smooth movement of goods and services across
member
countries, boosting intra-regional trade.-sardc.net
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 11:50
NEXT
week leaders from around the globe will meet in New York for the UN
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit. The actions they take over these
three days could hold the key to creating a stable, successful future for
millions of the world’s poorest people.
The MDGs were agreed 10 years ago
with a palpable sense of urgency.
Something needed to be done to save the
lives of mothers dying needlessly in
childbirth, to get the millions of
children missing out on an education into
school, to fight the spread of
killer diseases and first and foremost to
halve the number of people living
in poverty across the world.
Those leaders, a decade ago, set themselves a
deadline of 2015 to achieve
the goals. So with the clock ticking down to
2015, now is the time to take
stock, review progress and press hard on the
accelerator pedal to speed up
in the areas which need the most urgent
attention.
The Summit takes place in the tailwind of the global financial
meltdown. In
this difficult economic climate the temptation is for nations
to pull back
from the international commitments they have made. It is a
temptation that
the UK government is determined to resist. The new coalition
government has
been clear — we will keep the promises made to the world’s
poorest people,
and maintain our commitment to reducing poverty around the
world.
But aid is only part of the story. Trade and investment are the
engines of
economic growth, offering the only sustainable way out of the
grinding
poverty that afflicts nearly a billion people across the globe.
Boosting
private investment and enterprise in the developing world has the
potential
to help us meet every single one of the MDGs. People with secure
jobs and
fair wages have the opportunity to lift themselves out of
poverty.
The UK goes to the Summit putting women and girls at the forefront
of its
efforts. Investing in them will reap dividends. How can countries
propel
themselves towards sustainable economic growth when 50% of its talent
are
not given the opportunity to make a contribution? Every day about 1 400
women die in pregnancy or childbirth, nearly all of them in the developing
world. This cannot be allowed to continue. The UK will be making a huge
effort at the Summit to bring an end to this daily tragedy and will be
pushing other governments to do likewise.
In Zimbabwe, maternal mortality
has worsened significantly over the last 20
years; moving further away from
the MDG target. This is a huge concern. The
UK has been providing support to
health improvements in Zimbabwe for a
number of years, protecting the lives
of mothers and newborn children,
especially those affected by HIV and Aids.
We have improved access to
family planning services, including
contraceptives, life-saving obstetric
services and newborn care.
And what
of the 2000 deaths a day — mostly children, the vast majority
preventable —
from malaria? The disease leaves only tragedy in its wake —
families
suffering, countries robbed of future talent and huge burdens on
health
services already at breaking point. It is right that tackling malaria
is
also right at the top of the UK’s agenda for the summit.
Everyone of us has
an interest in meeting the MDGs, but they can only be met
with the
determination of governments, charities and businesses, civil
societies and
citizens. We now urge others attending the summit to join the
UK in agreeing
a course of action that will meet the MDGs by 2015, setting
us on the path
to eradicating poverty once and for
Mitchell is the UK Secretary of
State for International Development.
By Andrew Mitchell
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:47
WOULD you regard a pay hike of 437% as "humble"?
The state's
public relations machine was over the weekend creaking into
action to
persuade an understandably sceptical public that President Mugabe's
huge
salary increase was "ever so 'umble'", as one of Dickens' characters
might
say.
The Sunday Mail reported that the head of state could now go shopping
following his pay rise from US$400 to US$1 750.
President Mugabe can now
be "a happy shopper", the paper reported. He can
open an account at
Edgars.
The hike represented a relatively small amount when compared to the
salaries
of parastatal bosses, we were assured.
Wasn't Mugabe already a
"happy shopper"? Is it seriously suggested that on
all those trips abroad he
didn't bring home a single item? Purleez!
And is it also seriously suggested
that Zimbabwe's top retail stores would
have refused him credit when he was
earning US$400 a month? Somebody could
lose their head for such lèse
majesté!
Still on the subject of presidential perks, we were surprised to
note First
Lady Grace Mugabe being referred to in newspaper advertisements
as "Her
Excellency".
Only the president and foreign ambassadors based
here carry that title.
Admittedly members of the "first family" can call
themselves what they like.
Even the title "First Lady" is a courtesy title
with no constitutional
basis. In fact it is an Americanism and it has no
official standing there
either!
We suspect this was a case of somebody
who doesn't know any better handing
out "airs and graces", as the expression
goes! Or is it "Heirs and Graces"?
It appeared in a large ad headed
"Appreciation Note". It said "the Marufu
family and Her Excellency, the
First Lady Mrs G Mugabe would like to extend
their appreciation to the
following people who assisted during the funeral
of Cde Reward
Marufu".
There then followed a long list headed by "His Excellency the
President of
the Republic of Zimbabwe".
The Salvation Army in Bindura,
war veterans, Zaoga Bindura, and Food King
were among those thanked. We were
rather surprised to see Vice-President
John Nkomo's name missing from the
line-up. And why did the
Director-General, President's Department and
Staff, not ensure the president's
many titles, which we see everday in the
state media, were included.
There has been much discussion in the media
of the new fees for passports.
And in every report there has been emphasis
on the need to ensure the
Passport Office is ready for the surge of
applicants keen to take advantage
of the reduced fees.
But predictably
the Passport Office was swamped by applicants last Friday.
They could only
manage 230 people a day, those lining up were told. Come
back on
Monday.
Rather like Beitbridge, this is a human disaster. Why can't the
Registrar-General's office get its act together? Why should the Zimbabwean
public be made to undergo this ordeal, especially when it was anticipated?
Why did the RG's office make an announcement on reduced fees when it wasn't
prepared to manage the consequences?
Another point needs to be raised
here. Zimbabwean passports have very few
pages compared with other
countries. And many countries have imposed visa
requirements on our
nationals for various reasons in recent years which
fills up the
pages.
Many applicants would be happy to pay extra for a larger passport.
Wouldn't
that reduce queues and increase revenues?
Meanwhile, what is
happening about the building near the old Drill Hall that
has been standing
there unused for years? Isn't that supposed to be a
Passport Office? And
wasn't this a scheme that involved affirmative
action-builders with
political backgrounds?
The name Kuchi comes to mind!
Does Stan Mudenge
want public respect or public ridicule? First he was
threatening to jail the
heads of tertiary institutions. Then he was playing
fast and loose with the
Queen's English (or the Queen's language as the
state media likes to
say).
Principals and vice-chancellors should know they were breaking the law
by
excluding students who couldn't pay fees, Mudenge announced at the Harare
Polytechnic graduation ceremony. He lashed out at the media for reporting
that students were prevented from writing exams for non-payment of
fees.
"Such a claim is playing fandango dance with the facts; it is based on
a
farrago of confusion which has created a phantasmagoria of conflicting
images of dreamland on the minds of the public," the minister said to
laughter from his audience.
Our question is: was the laughter with him or
at him?
We understand the minister is one of many advanced degree holders in
cabinet. But does he have to show off like this? As for his assurance that
no students had been expelled for non-payment of fees, there is another word
the minister needs to be familiar with: populism!
A good speech last
weekend came from VP Joyce Mujuru. Underscoring the fact
that Zanu PF
deplored all forms of violence, the Herald reported her as
saying: "Zanu PF
liberated the nation from the colonial yoke and there was
no reason for the
party to turn against the people it had freed."
Indeed! But we should of
course add that it wasn't Zanu PF alone that
liberated the country. There
were one or two others involved!
What does Theresa Makone think about the
arrest and detention of American
doctors who were providing their skills to
assist poor sick Zimbabweans who
cannot access healthcare? These African
American Christian volunteers were
here to help. In particular they were
assisting Aids patients. A New
Zealander and a Zimbabwean were also arrested
as part of the volunteer
medical group.
Makone told the Zimbabwe
Independent recently that reforms in the police
force would result in a less
partisan force. That presumably means fewer
arbitrary arrests.
The state
media has been talking endlessly recently about changing
"negative
perceptions" of Zimbabwe. Nothing could have been more calculated
to portray
a negative perception of Zimbabwe than the arrest and detention
in filthy
cells of volunteer doctors providing help to sick Zimbabweans
whose
government is no longer able to help them.
This is another own goal that will
be reported widely around the world. Let's
have no more squealing about
"negative perceptions" from apologists for
this regime.
Police were
on high alert last Friday because they were suspicious of
advertisements in
the local media by a company urging people to wear red,
the Herald
reported.
Africom, a communications company, had been advertising in the
local media
urging people to "simply wear a dash of red".
Prizes were
offered for people wearing the best outfit.
Police spokesperson Andrew Phiri,
who said he had "received conflicting
reports" on the intentions of the
organisers, warned the public to be "on
their guard and report to the
nearest police station any suspicious or
anti-social developments".
It is
not known how many Zimbabweans reported "anti-social developments" in
their
vicinity. Perhaps Phiri should tell us what "conflicting reports" he
had
received, if any. Messages such as "Get ready to celebrate the arrival
of
Zimbabwe's most advanced communications network" might be deemed
subversive
in certain paranoid circles but most people would see it for what
it was - a
simple rebranding exercise.
What we can be sure about is that foreign
companies seeking to invest here
will be deterred by this sort of
heavy-handed response to a simple
advertisement by a company that sought to
raise its business profile.
Muckraker was intrigued by reports of "scores
of illegal settlers" who have
"helped themselves" to farms in the Chakari
area of Mashonaland West. The
settlers began moving in last year, the Herald
told us, and have intensified
their activities in the last two months
"endangering developmental plans by
the rightful farm owners".
Then came
this announcement: "Zanu PF last week said they had never ordered
anyone to
invade land and if their supporters were involved, it was a
criminal act on
their own part." The party called for the eviction of all
illegal
settlers.
One of the affected farmers said: "These people are MDC-T
supporters. They
want to cause confusion on farms and they are supported by
NGOs."
Provincial chairman Robert Sikanyika joined in: "We don't welcome any
invasion of private property. We have already made our position clear
regarding this issue and these squatters should be chased
away."
Delightful isn't it? "Rightful owners chasing away squatters". What
goes
around comes around.
We only have one question: Were the "invaders"
wearing red?
Finally, Muckraker was distinctly unimpressed by Reuters'
interview with the
president.
It was designed to show how well and alert
Mugabe is. And it did the very
opposite.
There were long pauses during
which the presidential mind appeared to drift,
and just when the interviewer
thought it safe to venture a question, the
monologue resumed.
There were
too many of these stops and starts to suggest all was well. At
times he
looked as if he was reading the paper in front of him.
The interview will
have done little to inspire public confidence. And why
did we have to have
Reuben Barwe doing a voice-over against scenes of
traffic? Was this a
Reuters interview or not? If so, there should have been
far more
interventions from interviewer Cris Chinaka and none at all from
Barwe.
What we did hear was Chinaka laughing his head off at Mugabe's
not-so-funny
reference to chickens and eagles. Interviewers should never be
impressed by
the person they are interviewing. It is Rule No 1 of good
interviewing.
Generally, Mugabe was allowed to get away with all sorts of
claims such as
the suggestion that regime change would come when the people
wanted it. The
last time they wanted it, in 2008, they were brutally denied
it. Then there
was the claim that he had politically outlived Bush and
Blair. The
difference of course is that in democracies heads of government
change!
In all it was a very unsatisfying performance from all concerned. And
Reuters should never have provided a platform of this sort unless they were
going to ask some reasonably robust questions.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:45
SEVERAL Western diplomats abruptly departed the funeral of the late
Sabina
Mugabe, sister of president Robert Mugabe, after Mugabe availed
himself of
his obituary speech to berate Western countries, and to tell them
to “go to
hell, to hell, to hell, to hell!”
The Foreign Affairs
minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi subsequently summoned
those diplomats to a
session of castigation for having done so. However, if
the state-controlled
media is to be believed (which is not always possible,
but probably
justifiable in this instance), two weeks ago the minister again
demanded the
presence of those diplomats in order once again to spew a
diatribe of hatred
upon them.
The media claims that the minister aggressively reproved the
ambassadors,
alleging that all that their countries were intent upon doing
was to bring
about regime change in Zimbabwe and attain unhindered control
over Zimbabwe
and its wealth. He alleged that their strategy to achieve
these objectives
was to destroy the economy, primarily by imposing
non-existent illegal
sanctions upon that economy. Non-existent because such
sanctions as do exist
are not illegal, but within the unequivocal rights of
imposition of the
countries applying them, and barely targeted at the
economy. Those
sanctions are focused upon the Zimbabwean politicians, their
families and
their associates, as are seen to have contempt for
international norms of
democracy, human rights, respect for law and order,
justice and property
rights. And the economic consequences of the sanctions
are generally
minimal. However, this did not deter the Foreign Affairs
minister from
vigorously reiterating the specious allegations against the
Western
countries.
Moreover, in doing so the minister claimed that those
Western countries,
having deliberately imposed hardship upon the Zimbabwean
population, then
try to endear themselves to that population by recourse to
provision of
humanitarian aid. The minister is reported by the state media
as having
emphatically stated to the diplomats that Zimbabwe does not need
that aid
from the West, for it is wholly able to look after its own people.
He
energetically implied that the Western countries were not entitled to any
gratitude and appreciation from Zimbabwe and its people for the Western
largesse, which was only being given as a salve to conscience for having
caused the hardships, and in order to create a sense of indebtedness to them
on the part of the Zimbabwean populace. He also stated vociferously that
Zimbabwe was not in need of such aid, for it could look after its own
people.
Such a contention by the minister, and to all intents by
government, for he
was speaking for and on behalf of government, must
provoke the query in the
minds of the world in general, and of Zimbabweans
in particular, as to
whether government and the minister are living in cloud
cuckoo-land, are
victims of self-deception, and purveyors of fiction and
myth. Is it that —
contrary to all national and international impressions
and perceptions —
Zimbabweans are devoid of poverty, hardships and
suffering? What is the
reality?
The reality is indisputably that poverty
is extremely pronounced and
widespread. The reality is that if the
Zimbabwean government is able to
look after the people, as the minister
claimed (notwithstanding government’s
state of undoubted bankruptcy), it is
failing to do so. In a recent issued
national crop food situation report,
released on August 9, the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) and World Food Programme
(WFP) stated that although Zimbabwe’s
production of maize, has improved
“significantly”, the country is still food
insecure.
The report states that about 1,68 million people will require food
assistance in the first quarter of 2011. Although there has been a marked
improvement and increase in food production, at least 15% of Zimbabwe’s
population will require food aid in rural areas. In addition, although not
addressed in the FAO/WFP report, it is generally believed that more than
half of the urban population of Zimbabwe has income below the food datum
line, and therefore unable to adequately sustain itself, and desperately in
need of aid.
And, it is not only food aid that is necessary, but also aid
to produce
food. In the 2009/2010 agricultural season, United Nations
agencies and
other humanitarian organisations distributed nearly 140 000
tonnes of
fertiliser and top dressing, and 22 373 tonnes of maize seed, to
more than
700 000 households. This contributed substantially to Zimbabwe
achieving a
production, in the last season, of 1,66 million tonnes of
cereals, as
against total needs of 2,09 million tonnes, resulting in a
shortfall of 428
000 tonnes.
This was a major improvement in production
volumes as against the previous
season, which had resulted in seven million
Zimbabweans being dependent upon
food assistance, but that improvement could
not have been attained if it had
not been for the immense provision of
inputs by the international community,
despite the minister’s claim that
Zimbabwe can look after its own people,
and does not need international
aid. Also, it cannot be overlooked that
despite the significant increase in
production volumes, the total output was
still not sufficient to meet the
needs of the rural population, let alone
also to satisfy the requirements of
even those urban residents as could
afford to purchase their cereal
requirements. Hence, the impoverished
economy, with its minimal foreign
exchange resources, had to resort to food
importations, to the prejudice of
innumerable other critical needs, and to
general economic wellbeing and
combating of the poverty that is so
widespread that it is believed
approximately 87% of Zimbabweans are
struggling to survive below the poverty
datum line (the minimum income
necessary for survival without endangering
health).
The government is allowing its fanatical hatred of Western countries
to
blind itself to realities, and instead to enunciate claims which are
total
fiction and myths. It convinces itself that the West has nothing but
evil
intents and machinations against Zimbabwe and its government. It
believes
that any and all Zimbabwean ills are wholly attributable to those
intents
and machinations (the only exception being acts of God, such as
droughts-actual and imaginary, and deviously conceptualised and implemented
strategies of political opponents, who are believed to be as Machiavellian
in their actions as is government).
If, as the minister claimed, the
government is able, unassisted, to look
after all Zimbabweans in need, why
does it not do so? If the government is
genuinely concerned about the
welfare and the wellbeing of the populace, why
does it not recognise that it
is bankrupt (financially and morally) and
therefore is unable to address
that welfare and wellbeing. If the
government’s concerns for the wellbeing
of all Zimbabweans were not
fictitious and totally mythical, but a real
reality, it would graciously
accept the international aid, instead of
castigating the donors.
Concurrently, it would make real and meaningful,
politically sound, efforts
to achieve the long-awaited, greatly needed,
economic turnaround. For this
it is necessary to engage the
West.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010 11:41
THE
Parliamentary Constitution Committee (Copac) outreach programme ends
this
month. As has been argued by the NCA, ZCTU and Zinasu it was
characterised
by political party dominance as opposed to a democratic
pursuit of the
people's views.
But as is typically characteristic of our inclusive
government, attempts
will be made to force Zimbabweans to swallow a bitter
but totally
ineffective pill.
At the recent 11th anniversary
commemoration of the formation of the MDC,
party president Morgan Tsvangirai
indicated that supporters should not worry
about the outreach programme of
Copac. Instead, he stated, all problems
around the constitutional reform
process would be addressed via a negotiated
process - a statement that in
effect confirmed the uselessness of the Copac
process for all its pretence
at being democratic and independent.
So once again, Zimbabweans shall be
asked to compromise for the sake of
"progress" as defined by Zanu PF, MDC-T
and MDC-M - the parties to the
inclusive government. That millions of
taxpayers' money, both Zimbabwean
and foreign, have been spent on an
outreach programme that never achieved
anything in particular is a fact that
the political leaders would have us
ignore. Instead, they ask of us a
complete trust in their ability to pursue
a democratic path behind the
closed doors of Munhumutapa building.
Essentially, they are asking us to
prepare for the second coming of the
Kariba Draft constitution. It may not
be named the "Kariba draft" again
seeing as Copac will be trying to save
face. However, the negotiations
around it will be similar in character and
import to those that led to
drafting and appending of signatures to the Sadc
mediator-endorsed Kariba
draft.
Like the processes in 2007 that led to
the meeting of parties on a boat in
Kariba, the constitutional negotiations
that the MDC president mentions will
be done with elections in mind. The
three political parties that comprise
the inclusive government will
negotiate with daggers drawn behind their
backs because their primary target
is the acquisition of power by pretence
to being democratic. In other words
they are turning our country's political
clock backwards as though they
never had an inclusive government.
Naturally they will play the blame game on
who is not functioning in the
interests of the people or the "findings" of
Copac. This is because they
would want their particular party's
constitutional principles to be endorsed
over and above those of their
rivals. This will include the regular threat
of campaigning for a "No"' vote
against the draft at the referendum. Even
Zanu PF, for the first time in
Zimbabwe's history, will threaten to vote
against a government
document.
The truth of the matter is that none of the political parties in
the
inclusive government are going to campaign for a rejection of their own
baby. They are simply going to negotiate again and again. If need be, they
will declare deadlocks and take the issue up with the Sadc mediator, until
they reach some sort of agreement on the form and nature of the executive.
And then they will all campaign for what they would want to call an
overwhelming acceptance of their negotiated draft.
What they however
potentially miss out on is an understanding of the full
political
ramifications of their Kariba 2 draft constitution. A joint
campaign for a
"Yes" vote to the draft would be a perpetuation of their
inclusive
government and an expectation of the public to understand the
same.
It
will also mean that in the event of a general election, there should be
the
acceptance of the possibility of the formation of another inclusive
government by way of electoral result, especially if the draft contains a
proposed executive that includes a president and a prime
minister.
Further, were such a general election to be held, the term of
office of the
resultant government would no longer be subject to the implied
time frame of
the GPA. Instead, it would have to last for the full five-year
term, and
therefore have an aura of permanence.
Secondly, because clauses
on property rights, especially as regards land and
minerals, will be
controversial no matter how many compromises the MDCs may
have arrived at,
the joint campaign will be viewed unfavourably by the
international
community. This is because Zanu PF will present these property
clauses as a
finalisation of its Third Chimurenga, regardless of counter
narratives of
the MDCs. It will potentially mean a triumph of one party
over the others
and because of a joint "Yes" campaign, will have Sadc's
endorsement.
Thirdly, the confusion that will engulf greater components
of civil society
will serve to give the inclusive government immunity from
direct or popular
criticism. Arguments concerning the opportunities for a
reformed Zimbabwe
will be ubiquitous in so far as they relate to a continued
availability of
funding for pursuing a path palatable to those with the
money to spend. This
debate will attempt to hoodwink Zimbabweans into
accepting false change on
the basis of the fact that the endorsement of the
process by the still
popular MDC-T is beyond reproach.
So as it is,
Zimbabweans must brace to be inundated with a Kariba 2 draft
constitution
with all the media and political spin that will come with it.
It will most
likely yield another inclusive government should it be the
framework through
which a general election is held. Except that such an
inclusive government
will be more permanent.
Takura Zhangazha can be contacted on
kuurayiwa@gmail.com
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
11:39
THE signing of the global political agreement (GPA) by the three
political
players, the MDC-T, MDC-M and Zanu PF was welcomed by all
Zimbabweans and
people the world over. The media, academia and the general
populace
described its signing as a historic and monumental occasion.
For
some of us, there was nothing historic or monumental about this
agreement as
indeed it was nothing but a compromise package offered to many
Zimbabweans
who had been robbed of an opportunity to practise their
democratic right to
choose.
For many, however, the signing of the agreement gave them hope after
going
through a decade of untold suffering and deprivation. Many looked
forward to
it as an opportunity to live again.
It is now two years after
the signing of the agreement and the subsequent
formation of the government
of national unity (GNU).
Many people have made an assessment of the
achievements and failures of the
GNU at different fora. Debates,
publications, seminars and conferences have
been held at different junctures
of the GNU's existence in an attempt to
measure whether it succeeded.
Unfortunately, most of the issues raised have
concentrated on whether the
political packages of the agreement have been
implemented. Dominating at
such platforms are issues to do with whether
there is supposed to be a
governor there, a minister here or such a
commission there. But to be
honest, how many of us sincere and hardworking
Zimbabweans at one time or
the other have cared to know the name of governor
of, for example,
Manicaland. In fact, how many of us ordinary Zimbabweans
know what these so
called governors are supposed to do. I am yet to find one
Zimbabwean who has
received much needed assistance from the incumbent
governors. In short, we
have wasted so much time looking at whether such and
such a meaningless
political appointment has been made for an obscure
political reason at the
expense of looking at how the GNU has fared in its
mandate to serve
Zimbabweans. When the agreement was signed, people looked
forward to having
food on their table, another opportunity to take back
their kids to school,
to be employed again and to live a decent and normal
life. It is such
issues that the GNU should be judged on.
For most long suffering
Zimbabweans, the GNU represented an opportunity for
their problems to be
looked at. They expected Parliament to start tackling
issues affecting the
ordinary man on the streets. Poverty, the right to
education, health and a
decent salary were the core issues the people
expected the government to
engage head on. After all, it's supposed to be a
united government if its
name is anything to go by. Two years down the line,
I am yet to hear
meaningful debate about the plight of the school children,
the college-going
young adult or about the hordes of unemployed Zimbabweans
miserably trying
to make ends meet by selling all sorts of wares on the
street corners. After
all, isn't this avalanche of problems what all
Zimbabweans expected the GNU
to tackle? Instead parliament spends precious
time debating how they are
supposed to benefit from one car scheme or the
other, how they would not
want so and so to be appointed to this post
because of the colour of his
skin or how this governor or this commissioner
are not supposed to be
removed from their post. Please parliament, that is
not what ordinary
Zimbabwean taxpayers expect you to spend their money
debating! They want
their Parliament, of the much awaited GNU, to debate on
bread and butter
issues like their salaries, their children's education,
their health and
their safety.
Please do not get me wrong, I am not saying that the GNU has
not done
anything to improve the lives of Zimbaweans. What I am saying is
that, more
can be done! Indeed, thanks to the GNU, most workers can now look
forward to
going to work every morning because they can now earn something
that can
make a difference. Our streets are once again filled with happy
school
children, walking their way to school. Our shops are once again
almost
filled to the brim with all sorts of basics and niceties. We can now
afford
to visit the rural folk more often because transport is now cheaper.
Car
owners can now have the luxury to drive into a service station, fill up
and
drive out in less than five minutes. The resettled farmer can now sell
his
cotton, tobacco or cucumbers and live on the profit of his sweat. But
more
can be done. The worker can earn more to make more than just a
difference.
The school kid can go to school and learn more from a happily
remunerated
teacher rather than spend half of their time playing in the
school grounds
because their teacher is unhappy and unwilling to teach. Our
shops can once
again be filled by our own local and cheaper products. We can
do more than
just visit our rural folk, we can bring them money and food to
make a
difference in their lives.
For the first time we have a government
with the opportunity to tap into
each other's abilities regardless of
political persuasions. But to do that,
those in the GNU have to make
important choices about what they hope to
achieve in the course of the GNU's
existence. They have to make hard choices
about prioritising the needs of
the Zimbabweans first and everything else
later.
For the two years of the
GNU existence, that trust has been very elusive.
The ability to prioritise
and put trust in the abilities of others has been
the missing link. For two
years partners in the GNU have concentrated on
vilifying each other's
attempts at making a difference. They have spent much
time in trying to find
fault in each other at the expense of putting up a
united front at nation
building. Others have spent time trying to claim
credit for anything that
has been remotely positive. At the same time, they
have spent precious time
on blaming the other parties for anything that has
gone wrong. In fact,
during the two years of the GNU's survival, the
partners in it have spent a
lot of time and effort looking for an
opportunity for the other to make a
mistake so that they can celebrate it.
Seriously, can anything positive
come from such an arrangement? These
people are supposed to be a
government, a government of national unity for
that matter.
The other
reality is that such compromise governments the world over have
never really
worked. Indeed, we learn from history that we do not learn from
history. For
us to break from this frame of stereotype, we need pragmatic
statesmanship
and more importantly, we need to stop this filibustering and
political
bickering and work for the common good. At least the GNU has
managed to tap
from almost all corners of the political landscape. Let's use
the experience
and business minds of the likes of Zanu PF's Walter Mzembi,
the energy,
drive and determination of the likes of the MDC-T's Tendai Biti
and Nelson
Chamisa and the intellect of the MDC-M's two professors Welshman
Ncube and
Arthur Mutambara.
Let's try to find strength in each other's abilities. The
government can
benefit from Zanu PF's experiences. Likewise, great benefit
can be derived
from the MDC's determination, youthfulness and drive. It is a
lot to ask
for, I know, but this agreement is what we have and let us try to
get the
best out of it. It is the U that is lacking in the GNU; Unity of
purpose.
Chitofiri is a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe's
Economic History
Department.
By Kudakwashe Chitofiri
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
12:31
ZIMBABWE now appears to be heading for the polls, possibly mid next
year,
after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed he had agreed with
President Robert Mugabe that "the prevailing peace was ideal for us to go
for elections".
Tsvangirai told his supporters last weekend during his
party's 11th
anniversary celebrations in Gokwe that he had agreed with
Mugabe that they
should go for elections and whoever loses should not
contest the result.
This followed confirmation by Finance minister Tendai
Biti that Mugabe had
ordered him to budget US$200 million for the referendum
on the draft
constitution and elections.
The issue of elections must be
taken seriously. Genuine democratic elections
are an expression of the will
of the people that provides the basis for the
authority and legitimacy of
government.
While Mugabe and Tsvangirai claim "the prevailing peace was ideal
for us to
go for elections", we think the environment is far from conducive,
let alone
"ideal".
It is true that Zimbabwe, which has invariably since
1980 gone through
cycles of political violence, is relatively stable and
calm since the
inclusive government was formed last year.
However, the
country is clearly not yet ready to hold free and fair
elections for many
reasons. The current electoral reforms have not yet been
finalised. There is
need for time to allow the reforms to be
institutionalised and new
institutions to start functioning efficiently.
Before free and fair elections
can be held there is need for far-reaching
political reforms. One of the
critical areas which need to be addressed
before elections is security
sector reform. The security forces have always
been used to influence
elections in favour of Mugabe and this must be
stopped.
This is a very
critical pre-condition to free and fair elections because
security forces
and para-military Zanu PF-linked structures have been at the
forefront of
unleashing violence and intimidation during elections.
There is also a need
to change the political culture and mindsets of
citizens. This will take a
long time but it must start now. Although
elections are confrontational by
nature, no one should be intimidated or
coerced to vote for anyone. It is
both inhumane and wicked for politicians
to walk on the corpses of their
countrymen back into power.
Before fresh elections Zimbabwe needs first to
fully adopt Sadc principles
and guidelines governing democratic elections.
These include creating
conditions to ensure full participation of citizens
in the political
process, freedom of association, assembly and speech,
political tolerance,
equal opportunity for political parties, independence
of the judiciary,
impartiality of electoral institutions, opportunity to
exercise the right to
vote and be voted for, voter education, acceptance of
election results and
the opportunity to challenge contested results in terms
of the law of the
land.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which runs
elections, must be impartial
and competent. A new voters' roll which is
accurate and up to date is
needed. Impartial voter education must be freely
allowed. Delimitation of
constituencies must be transparent and credible,
and there should be no
gerrymandering.
Elections are a process, not just
an event. For elections to be free and
fair, it is necessary the entire
process leading up to and including the
actual voting be peaceful, free and
fair. Political parties must be able to
campaign freely and peacefully.
Violence or intimidation must not be
allowed. Bribery and corruption, as
well as other illegal electoral
practices such as inducements by
politicians, must be prevented or severely
punished.
Political parties
contesting elections must have fair and equal access to
the public media.
Polling stations must be accessible to voters and be
adequately manned.
Monitors and observers must be given free access. The
counting of votes must
be done accurately and efficiently and results
announced promptly.
So far
Zimbabwe, still divided and nursing political wounds from the past,
remains
a long way from creating conditions for free and fair elections.
Government
must not take chances and in the process risk people's lives and
their
future by rushing to elections before the country is ready.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
12:30
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai naively told the world last
weekend that he
had agreed with President Robert Mugabe to hold elections
next year and that
whoever lost should not challenge the outcome.
The
decision to go for the polls, he quoted Mugabe as saying, was informed
by
the prevailing peace in the country.
While the election trajectory is the
only solution to our political crisis,
Tsvangirai's assumption that the
current relative peace would obtain in an
election period is daft, if not
downright foolish given that very few
democratic reforms have been
undertaken to guarantee credible elections.
Before Tsvangirai made his
pronouncement he should have asked himself a
simple question: Will
conditions have changed in 2011 from those that
prevailed in 2008 and
prevented a credible election?
Mr Prime Minister, fundamental obstacles to
credible elections remain and
there is nothing in the attitude of Zanu PF to
suggest that it will behave
differently this time around.
The top brass
of the security arm of the state have been accused of having
played a
fundamental role in the previous election and all the indications
are
that
they will do the same in 2011. Even under this inclusive government they
have shown scant respect for Tsvangirai.
This week we tried with no
success to get service chiefs to state their
positions on the outcome of the
proposed election next year given that
before the March and June 2008 polls
they vowed never to salute Tsvangirai
in the event of him winning the
election.
Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and Army commander
Philip
Sibanda declined to state their positions. Chihuri said he was not a
politician while Sibanda flatly said he didn't trust us.
Political
commentator and lawyer Alex Magaisa told me this week that for all
his
shortcomings, Mugabe is not stupid - he has seen the writing on the wall
and
knows he cannot win a free and fair election. Also on age and health
grounds, he probably realises that he needs to step down, but that choice is
no longer in his hands.
"It is vital to recall that Tsvangirai and the
MDC did not lose the
elections in 2008 - they won, but in Tsvangirai's case
by an insufficient
margin to give him the presidency," Magaisa said. "But
let's not forget that
the result of that election came five weeks after the
polls and God knows
what happened in that period."
The suspicion has
always been that the delay was used to ensure that he
failed to go past the
necessary threshold. Then of course you have the
practical issues of voter
registration and the voters' roll - which has been
a mess for years and
needs to be cleansed to get rid of the ghost voters.
In short, a credible
election requires a fundamental change in conditions,
including serious and
unbiased monitoring and enforcement of electoral laws.
So far we have not
seen evidence of those changes. Indeed the constitutional
reform exercise
itself is still to be completed.
Sadc needs to get more involved in ensuring
that those conditions are in
place and in particular to ensure that the fate
of the country is not in the
hands of the security generals.
An election
under conditions similar to those prevailing at the 2008
elections would be
a sheer waste of time, resources and most likely human
lives. Tsvangirai
must wake up to this reality and stop pretending all is
well.
Constantine Chimakure
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 17 September 2010
12:29
WHAT the hell is happening at the national carrier, Air Zimbabwe?
This must
be the question on the minds of many Zimbabweans who see the
strike by
pilots and the handling of the industrial action as emblematic of
deep-rooted problems that are being swept under the carpet.
The arrogance
exhibited by board chairman, Jonathan Kadzura towards striking
pilots is
reminiscent of the behaviour of a father who has failed to provide
for his
family but thunders with anger when challenged to at least put a
morsel of
food on the table.
As board chairman, Kadzura, together with other executives
at the airline,
should shoulder the blame for the near collapse of Air
Zimbabwe as they are
responsible for decisions that account for its failure
to make hay in a
market where it enjoys a virtual monopoly. Anybody would
have seen the
problems coming because Air Zimbabwe does not have a history
of excellence
in corporate governance. Examples abound, but one thing that
is clear is
that management has failed to consistently make business
decisions that grow
the value of the airline at a time when national
airlines elsewhere in the
region are the mainstay of the economy. For
example, South African Airways
recorded a pre-tax profit of R581 million,
44, 5% more than the previous
year. Management at Air Zimbabwe might be
tempted to hide behind the
economic malaise that has reduced the country to
a basket case but the real
problems are there for everyone to see: lack of
strategic planning,
mismanagement, political interference and patronage,
corruption, uneconomic
flights and the high incidence of senior government
officials who divert
planes from commercial routes. It is no wonder that Air
Zimbabwe is one of
10 companies that have been listed for attention by the
13-member
ministerial committee that is to give advice to government on
whether
parastatals should be hived off or restructured.
It is easy to
see a speck in other people's eyes but perhaps this is the
time for the
leadership at the airline to remove the log in its own eye
before trying to
use pilots as scapegoats. As if to confirm the poor
leadership, the board
and management have dragged their heels on dealing
with the pilots'
grievances, to the extent that they have even told the
airmen to go to hell,
as if they could be replaced with kombi drivers!
Meanwhile, the airline is
reportedly losing US$500 000 per day. Are the
pilots asking for a pay rise?
No! They are asking for the payment of
outstanding allowances which are part
of their contracts. It stands to
reason that even if their strike drags on
forever, the allowances would
still be due. So why let the airline lose so
much revenue when the panacea
is to find an amicable settlement. The dearth
of leadership in parastatals,
triggered by the appointment of people on the
basis of political patronage
instead of competence in specific areas,
threatens to ruin the economy
because these state utilities continue to milk
the fiscus when critical
areas such as health care cry out for funding. It
is time that the
responsible line ministry took action to end the rot that
has turned
parastatals into little fiefdoms.
Air Zimbabwe management must
be forced to produce their financials and
strategic plans that will turn the
business into a profit-making venture, in
line with the national vision of
economic recovery. Those that find the
kitchen too hot must quickly move out
and those mandated with superintending
over public enterprises must read the
riot act.
Edwin Dube