| The ZIMBABWE Situation | Our
thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe - may peace, truth and justice prevail. |
HARARE,
18 Sep 2003 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's beleaguered Daily News newspaper has
won a
court victory allowing it to resume publishing, after police twice
raided its
offices and confiscated equipment.
The Zimbabwe High Court on Thursday
granted an order sought by the Daily
News, the country's sole independent
daily newspaper, barring police from
seizing equipment and giving it
permission to continue operating while its
registration was being
processed.
A week ago the Supreme Court ruled that the publishers of the
Daily News and
its sister Sunday paper, the Daily News On Sunday, were not
properly
registered and therefore operating illegally.
The Supreme
Court made the ruling after refusing to hear an application by
the company,
challenging the constitutionality of the registration exercise
being
conducted by a government-appointed media and information commission.
On
Friday last week, heavily armed riot police and security details from the
Law
and Order Section and the Central Intelligence Organisation occupied
the
eight-storey building housing the newspaper's offices in central Harare,
as
well as the newspaper's printing factory in the industrial area of the
city.
More than 100 computers were seized from the newspaper's offices on
Tuesday
as police continued their crackdown.
Daily News advocate
Adrian De Bourbon told the court on Thursday that the
police raids on the
newspaper's offices were unacceptable.
"It was not necessary for the
police to embark on a capture and seize
exercise. Police were on an ulterior,
sinister and illegal exercise to
destroy and suppress press freedom," he
argued.
However, the first respondent, a police Chief Superintendent
Madzingo,
countered in papers submitted before the court that "we as the
police do not
stand by and watch an illegality. We act, we arrest and we
seize."
Section 8 of the controversial Access to Information and
Protection of
Privacy Act saved the day for the newspaper as it states that a
media house
whose registration forms are being considered by the media
commission is
permitted to continue operations until the matter has been
determined.
The Daily News lawyers submitted registration papers to the
commission on
Monday this week.
A round of applause reverberated
around the courtroom after Judge Yunus
Omerjee made his ruling.
The
chief executive officer of the newspaper, Samuel Siphepha Nkomo, said
the
company would sue the police for loss of revenue. "We generate a lot of
money
from sales and advertising, but the overzealous behaviour by police
deprived
us of an opportunity to earn money."
Daily News staffers' jubilation at
the ruling was short-lived - upon
returning to their offices they discovered
that their desk drawers had been
ransacked and cash and other personal items
were missing.
Nonetheless, the staff of the Daily News were said to be
battling to produce
an edition of the paper for Friday.
The closure of
the paper had been met with international condemnation, as
rights groups
warned that media freedom was under threat.
[ENDS]
FinGaz
RBZ misfiring
9/17/2003 9:36:22 PM (GMT
+2)
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s rush of impatience with those
banks it
is accusing of fuelling the foreign currency parallel market is
bound to, as
surely as the sun rises from the east and sets in the west, be a
public
relations disaster.
In a series of startling events over
the past few weeks, the RBZ,
which seems to be out of its depth when it comes
to the problems besetting
the country’s currency markets, has already
cancelled the foreign currency
dealership licence for one banking institution
and has threatened to deal
the same blow to several other institutions. Law
enforcement agents have
since been let loose on the banking sector but there
isn’t even scant
evidence that the central bank is getting the situation
under control right
now. These acts of desperation will not, in our view,
help much. All it will
do is drive the thriving parallel market
underground.
In fact the failings of the RBZ have become such a
permanent feature
on the Zimbabwean financial scene that few, if any, believe
that, even
though the jury is still out, it would be able to do anything
right this
time around. This is moreso given that the tenure of the past
immediate
governor Leonard Tsumba’s team has had so many banana skins in its
path.
Who will forget the United Merchant Bank debacle that caused
seismic
waves that shook the entire banking sector in 1998 when the central
bank
failed to ring-fence the problems at UMB and only tried to address the
bank’
s financial difficulties after they had emerged publicly?
Or the November 1997 exchange rate mayhem, which many felt, ended in
victory
for speculators? Since then, the local unit, which up until 1997 had
been in
fine fettle, initially suffered bouts of weaknesses before touching
off the
terrifying swift depreciation that has seen it hit all-time lows
with
devastating knock-on effects on the entire economy. Today the
dollar’s
continued instability lies at the heart of the RBZ’s
dilemma.
This is why it is widely felt that much as the central
bank, which is
supposed to control the country’s financial levers, has in the
past been
made a scapegoat for discontent over unpopular and unwise
decisions
following extensive political interference, it should equally
shoulder the
blame. It is a watchdog that never even barks but, in fact,
sleeps on the
job!
If anything, the RBZ should be charged with
neglect. The fire-fighting
institution takes too long to intervene in
critical issues and has been
known, by it own actions, to have invited
further speculation particularly
in the foreign exchange market. It has
sanctioned transactions in the market
at above the official market rate. A
case in point is the tobacco proceeds
banks have been directed to sell to
fuel procurement companies at a rate of
US$1 to Z$1 600.
Much as
it is said that central bankers are like cream, such that the
more you whip
them, the stiffer they get, we sincerely hope that after all
the justifiable
criticism of ineptitude levelled against them, the RBZ will
realise that
crisis management will not get us anywhere.
FinGaz
The creature behind the ZANU PF mask-
Brian
Kagoro
9/17/2003 9:37:37 PM (GMT +2)
On April 18 1980, the
Union Jack was lowered and for the first time
thousands of our people sang
"God Bless Africa".
It was the end of an era which still plagues
contemporary Zimbabwean
political conversation. Independence was also the
beginning of a new hope
for black Africa.
Many envied Robert
Mugabe’s promising economy, significantly literate
population and imminent
stability in the midst of turmoil.
Yet many also prayed for his
failure, believing that white pebbles of
civilisation had been cast before
swine.
This racist trait of critique and analysis resonates with
some of the
anti-Mugabe writings that one reads in our papers.
In an uncharacteristic display of "sainthood" Mugabe "the
so-called
terrorist" called upon his former jailers and oppressors to join
him in
building an inclusive and common future for Zimbabwe. It was a plea
dictated
more by economic exigencies rather than deep
convictions.
Mugabe’s real challenge was that of converting the
racialised
compartments of Zimbabwean society into a united democratic
nation.
The fault lines in the society he inherited were legion and
so were
the inequities.
The colonial state had invented and
encouraged ethnic tension as an
effective tool for conquest and continued
rule. There were also unrepentant
pockets of white neo-Nazi
types.
The Zimbabwe that Mugabe inherited in 1980 was a severely
divided
society.
In the broad sense ethnic division served two
purposes, namely, that
of delaying united self-liberation efforts and also
that of creating
imagined bases of antagonism and suspicion.
One’s place of geographic origin — which had largely been determined
by
colonial policies — was elevated to a place where it became as sacrosanct
as
religion.
In the enterprise of building a united nation, Mugabe —
of necessity —
needed to de-trabilise as well as de-racialise
Zimbabwe.
This was more than the psychological notion of
co-existence because
these differences were immersed in and bounded by
material differences as
well.
In this sense re-distribution was
an inescapable part-solution to the
dilemma he faced.
The
settler community established for itself separate residences,
schools, social
clubs, amenities, rights and privileges.
Colonial law entrenched
this separateness by ensuring that blacks had
less rights, recognition and
status.
It was — so the colonists argued — a condition of nature.
Nature
dictated that blacks be the "hewers of wood and carriers of
water".
This notion of blacks occupying a permanent labourer status
pervades
every aspect of colonial thinking and policy.
Black
entrepreneurship was unimaginable, let alone black leadership or
professional
society.
Colonial law and institutions did not just assume black
incapacity;
they re-enforced and reproduced it through education, discipline,
punishment
and other forms.
At the core of the colonial
political economy, was stratified and
systematic denial of black humaneness,
dignity and sense of worth.
Initiative and innovation were anathema
to these stereotypes.
Many white folk did not understand why blacks
were agitating for
change and why they were ungrateful for the menial jobs,
self deprecating
civilisation and two-faced Christianity they had received at
such great
sacrifice to life and limb of the missionaries.
This
idea of gratitude in oppression is not entirely dissimilar to
claims by our
current rulers that we should suffer silently because they
liberated us at
great risk to their life and limb.
The reverse side of white
hegemony was black uncertainty — and at
times, confusion about the
self.
Many blacks, especially within the leadership of the
nationalist
movement, exhibited a syndrome of obsession with mimicking the
colonial
oppressors they were fighting in opulence and
lifestyles.
This political split personality disorder was
maintained and
reproduced by a ruthless civil service and very repressive
laws such as the
Unlawful Organisations Act and Law and Order (Maintenance)
Act.
Admittedly, there were many instances where the co-option
was
voluntary due to a sense of inadequacy.
I call this the
"civilised native" syndrome.
The colonial state machinery made one
weigh their priorities between
principle and safety. Dissent was
characterised as ingratitude, and
therefore, of necessity, devoid of
virtue.
White Rhodesians thus lived in a make-belief world where
the majority
black people were happy, indeed happier than their counterparts
in
black-ruled Africa.
To them the evidence was in the seeming
silence of the majority. This
illusion of a content citizenry is also similar
to the "Rambayi makashinga"
cult which has emerged in the last three
years.
It is a cowardly premise that is terrified of the truth and
thus
creates a false sense of security through demonising its opponents
as
boogey-man directed by some alien interests.
Why else would
"freedom fighters" shut down private newspapers using
the heaviest-handed
tactics? Why else would "liberators" detain opponents
for mere expression of
discontent?
As a consequence of the Rhodesians’ insular view of the
world, black
people remained largely a symbol of curiosity, sympathy or
ridicule among
white folk.
White children were fed a myriad of
myths about blacks who were
largely referred to as "coons or
kaffirs".
These myths led to an ingrained sense of mistrust and
fear, which
translated itself into violence against black
people.
The white citizens assumed a responsibility to tame the
so-called
"black savages" or marauding communists. Ian Smith spoke of a
threat to
white civilisation, Christianity and commerce.
This is
frighteningly similar to notions of "a threat to the gains of
liberation"
propagated by Zimbabwe’s current political leadership.
This
construction of patriotism on the basis of "threats and fear" can
be referred
to as "iron-fisted patriotism" or "political fundamentalism".
Political fundamentalism is an unwitting industry for political
criminals and
national collapse as it shields regimes from scrutiny by
their
citizens.
It has nothing to do with the democratisation of
ZANU PF, but rather
the "Zanunisation" of democratic and liberation
discourse.
Its proponents are cocooned in a surreal world and they
hold onto a
self-destructive political idiom based on false truth-claims. It
espouses a
political idiom that seeks to exchange utility for morality by
claiming to
represent the people’s aspirations and values.
Black
and white myths had a tangible side to them, especially where
access to and
ownership of resources is concerned.
The white man’s Rhodesian
paradise was — also paradoxically — the
black man’s hell on earth. The
co-existence and reconciliation that Mugabe
postulated in his grand speech on
March 4 1980 was an illusion, one that
placated his enemies’ fears while
postponing his people’s aspirations for a
better day.
It was
based on the wronged side offering forgiveness to their
offenders and the
offending party giving nothing real in return.
As a process, it had
less to do with the broad masses than it did with
elites signing pacts
regarding the accommodation of their mutual interests
within the
state.
This is why 20 years later we are encouraged to . . . strike
fear at
the heart of the white man, our real enemy".
A useful
critique of the failings of ZANU PF and its leadership must
begin by
interrogating the creature behind the mask of anti-colonial and
anti-imperial
rhetoric.
In a sense, we must undertake a process of discovering
the creature
behind the mask.
In particular, we must determine
if and how it has delivered on the
promises of independence.
Others may go further and look into the contrast between ideology
and
practice in ZANU PF politicking.
If indeed there is a
contradiction, a harsh critic might even suggest
that ZANU PF is a political
con. Whatever judgment one passes on it, ZANU PF
exists and the critical
issue is how to engage —if at all — with it.
From its inception,
ZANU PF marketed itself as a liberation movement
primarily concerned with
liberty, rights and democracy. It heroically led
calls for universal adult
suffrage.
Therefore, the conduct of elections, I mean the entire
processes,
institutions and practices remain a critical yardstick of how far
ZANU PF
has taken us from Rhodesia.
ZANU PF also called the
freedom to associate without being branded as
"terrorists, communists or
bandits" or being criminalised. It fought for the
right to a dignified
livelihood.
To what extent are these aspirations totally eroded by
current
shortages of basic commodities, hyper-inflationary economic policies
and
political repression?
Also central to the notion of
liberation were the freedoms of
conscience, free expression, full citizenship
and equality.
These values are trampled upon everyday by the
civilians from Maputo
and Lusaka.
Zimbabwean media, free
associations and mass movements are not free to
express themselves without
obstruction or recriminations. It may also be
important to ask whether women,
youth and minorities are in any better
position than they were under Ian
Smith. In other words is this thing called
Zimbabwe really a place for us
all? How far are the true ideals of the
liberation struggle realisable given
the prevalence of the language of hate,
the practices of grudge and
embarrassment, as well as organised violence?
Mugabe had a challenge of building a nation out of a commonwealth
of
inequity, bigotry and suspicion. Contrary to the emotive views of his
more
vicious critics, he did not inherit a paradise but rather an
apocalyptic
prophecy waiting to happen.
Zimbabwe was a nation
that had achieved forgiveness without structural
or psychological
transformation, truth, justice, reparation or restitution.
Clearly Mugabe’s
own successive errors and his character ensured that this
doomsday prophecy
became self-fulfilling.
While much benefit can be derived from a
critique of the global
political economy that produced and sustained him and
which may have impeded
his progress, we must look elsewhere for his evident
failures.
We must look to his character and style of leadership,
the two key
sources of insecurity in Zimbabwean politics. Mugabe’s concern
with
consolidating power made him —in real terms — unfaithful to his
espoused
ideals of freedom. It also made him unclear about his alliances with
the
empire and intolerant of those who dared say "this is not the best road
to
travel".
The seeds of Zimbabwe’s disintegration are as much
in its history,
global, political, economic dynamics and the man’s character.
These are
issues for which Lady Grace is not responsible, issues for which
ZANU PF is
nominally responsible, but more importantly issues that are not
solved by
recognising and patting him on the back.
Mugabe is
living proof of the fact that good leadership has nothing to
do with style,
image, charisma, charm, special skills or even book literacy.
He undoubtedly
has the persona but that has not been enough to save us from
ruin as a
nation.
Over and above his positive characteristics, his leadership
might have
taken us in a totally different direction if it had also been
about
authenticity, responsible stewardship, personal development and
consistent
cognisance of his strengths and weaknesses.
We may be
in a better off place if his leadership had been about
serving other people
and developing leaders around himself. I am not sure
that his leadership —
whatever one may think of it — was done any great deal
of good by keeping
company with the Hunzvis and Chinotimbas of this world.
That tendency
reproduces itself in the political history of the man. Once
again, this had
nothing to do with marrying a young wife or white
commercial
farmers!
Mugabe is erudite and articulate, but his
heart has hardly been where
his mouth is, namely with the suffering urban and
rural people of Zimbabwe.
The greatness of any good leader is not in his
greatness but in that of the
people he leads. We are – as a nation and a
people — in a state of
progressive moral, social, economic and political
decay.
That speaks volumes about our leaders and their success! As
Mugabe
prepares to vacate the seat of power — whether now or in five years
time —
he leaves a legacy of a great traveller who lost his way on the verge
of
destiny.
Tragically there has neither been a revolution nor
an evolution in
Zimbabwe, but rather regression back into a state of
multi-fold "unfreedoms
and inequalities" characteristic of the society and
state he took over in
1980. Mugabe made enormous sacrifices for the
liberation of Zimbabwe and in
many ways the positive aspects of his character
created the national aura of
success in the early days. But this historic
factor should not retain as
slaves to his brilliance, which may be a mere
gift from God?
ZANU PF’s claims and contradictions
In
1980 ZANU PF claimed to represent the nation with all its layers
of
distinction and difference. It claimed to speak for the middle class,
the
working class, the peasantry, women and the young, in short
everybody.
This was particularly evident from the policy of "gutsa
ruzhinji".
Impliedly ZANU PF also claimed to be a refuge for minorities and
other
marginalised groups in society. The real test of ZANU PF’s rule is
the
extent to which its policies and style of governance have managed
to
represent, recognise and protect these different layers of
citizenship.
Perhaps a lighter test may be to inquire into which categories
of
citizenship it has privileged and which it has disempowered and
why?
This myth of an inclusive party is burst by the sheer greed
that
flourishes on the backs of a highly impoverished and over-taxed
working
people. A case in point is the allocation of A1 model
farms.
ZANU PF politics has also claimed to base itself on
specified
ideological premises and a litany of promises. When the masses in
Zimbabwe
wake to the reality of an obscenely wealthy and increasingly
repressive
political class, then they must either question their status or
the status
of ZANU PF as a liberation movement.
Their status is
pretty straight forward — they are not free to
criticise nor are they free
after criticism. They are not free from
Rhodesian-style repressive
legislation, be it AIPPA, POSA or the PVO Act?
Their status also suggests
that majority rule has quickly been swallowed by
a new accomplice class of
merchants and politicians with investments in
everything including the
manufacture of toilet paper.
Individually and collectively the
majority Zimbabweans are — or have
become — Fanon’s "wretched of the earth".
How else does one describe life in
a sea of shortages?
ZANU PF
claims to be a Leninist-Marxist type vanguard party. But
recent municipal and
other elections suggest that it does not have the
support of the workers,
intellectuals or urban intelligentsia. It is a
self-styled socialist movement
engaged intensively in the confiscation of
the assets of the settler
bourgeoisie for the benefit of the indigenous
petty bourgeoisie. A party
committed to black empowerment but encourages
profiteering from black
people’s misery by taking over fuel stations and
trading the scarce commodity
at exorbitant prices.
It eludes me how genuine liberators can —
without conscience or
guilt — steal from the landless and the working class?
In reality behind the
mask of anti-imperialism is a shameless greed and
relentless appetite for
power!
Now that the white boogeyman —
who allegedly held all our land, our
industries and the rest of society — is
gone, we have serious introspection
to do! We must ask the simple but
difficult questions about our respective
interests, in this thing called
Zimbabwe. What in the name of God is it? And
how are we related or not
related to it as an ideal and a lived reality?
.. Brian Kagoro
is a human rights lawyer and political commentator
FinGaz
Causes of the current crisis in Zimbabwe- Godfrey
Kanyenze
9/17/2003 9:41:50 PM (GMT +2)
SO much has
been said concerning the causes of the crisis afflicting
Zimbabwe’s economy;
jingles have been played so regularly on radio and
television (Rambai
Makashinga), giving a certain perspective regarding the
causes of the
crisis.
There is so much debate regarding what caused the crisis
and how it
should be resolved. Understanding the causes of the crisis is the
first step
towards identifying and implementing remedial measures to correct
the
malaise. If the diagnosis is wrong, so will be the solutions
offered.
Causes of the crisis —
The official
(government) position
The government continues to blame everyone
else other than itself for
the crisis. The official approach is that the
crisis is emanating from
efforts by the west to recolonise Zimbabwe. This
position is articulated in
the Millennium Economic Recovery Programme (MERP)
launched in 2000, the
National Economic Revival Programme (NERP) launched in
February 2003, the
ZANU PF manifesto, and has characterised most of the
President’s speeches.
According to the MERP, the crisis is seen in
the context of " . . .
deleterious effects of neo-imperialist machinations
aimed at limiting
national sovereignty over the redistribution of national
assets such as land
in favour of indigenous Zimbabweans. These machinations
are aimed at
frustrating national efforts to transform the Zimbabwean economy
so that it
cannot reach higher levels of development as well as withstand
acts of
economic destabilisation," (page 13: 1.3).
In his
address at the opening of the 52nd ZANU PF central committee
meeting in
Chinhoyi on December 11 2002, the President attacked business and
blamed it
for hyperinflation.
He declared: "While many manufacturers and
traders want to blame it on
production costs, it is clear that the consumer
is being ripped off, abused
and taken advantage of by avaricious, heartless
business people, several of
whom would want to politicise production
processes in sympathy with white
landed interest," (The Herald, December 12
2002, page 1).
The NERP contends that the crisis has been
compounded by the existence
of "a hostile external and domestic environment,
arising from our detractors
’ opposition to our land and agrarian reform
programme", and sanctions
(2003, page 2).
This external focus of
the diagnosis of the causes of the crisis is
also reflected in paragraph 10,
which argues: "Furthermore, the negative
perceptions of our detractors and
their portrayals of our land reforms
internationally have dented the
country’s image. Confidence in the economy
is at its lowest ebb as a result,
adversely affecting private investment and
tourism," (page 3).
The policies flowing from this framework have been a disaster. The
fixed
exchange rate undermined the viability of business while price
controls
created shortages of all basic commodities, which resurfaced at
prohibitive
prices on the parallel market.
With the artificially fixed exchange
rate, most foreign currency
transactions (in excess of 80 percent of all
foreign exchange transactions)
were driven to the parallel market, implying
the official coffers are almost
dry. The decision to close bureax de change
at the end of November 2002
effectively drove almost all foreign exchange
transactions onto the parallel
market. Foreign exchange inflows collapsed
from a high of US$18.5 million
during the week ending September 27 2002 to
US$500 000 by week ending
December 27 2002. The economy is now in an informal
mode.
The alternative
explanation
The
alternative explanation takes a historical analysis of events that
culminated
in the crisis.
The year 1997 was in many respects the turning
point. Disgruntled at
its marginalisation, especially through the
implementation of ESAP, civil
society groups started agitating for their
inclusion in the development
process more strongly in 1997.
Clearly, strike activity peaked in 1997 as workers’ purchasing power
was
eroded through inflation.
More tellingly, war veterans had been
complaining about being left out
in the political landscape of Zimbabwe, to
which the President would respond
by challenging them to compete with others
for consideration. However,
during the first half of 1997, the war veterans
organised themselves and
undertook demonstrations to put their case
forward.
While at first the government chose to ignore them, the
demonstrations
became increasingly raucous, culminating in the war veterans
interrupting
the President’s speech at the Heroes’ Acre in August 1997.
These
demonstrations had by then become too loud and dangerous to
ignore.
Realising that the game was up, the President reached an
agreement
with the war veterans in November 1997 whereby each of the
estimated 50 000
ex-combatants was to receive a one-off gratuity of Z$50 000
by December 31
1997 and a monthly pension of Z$2 000 beginning January
1998.
Since this was not budgeted for, the government sought to
introduce a
war veterans levy, which was rejected by workers through
ZCTU-organised
demonstrations. Government had to resort to borrowing to meet
its
obligations.
In August 1998, the government sent Zimbabwean
troops to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help the government
of that
country deal with rebels who were at the point of taking over the
capital
city Kinshasa. The involvement in the DRC war was estimated to cost
US$33
million a month.
This was followed by the decision to
increase civil service salaries
by between 69 percent and 90 percent at the
beginning of 2000, just before
the referendum of February 2000 on the
government proposed new constitution.
Since such salary increases were not
budgeted for, government had to borrow
to meet the expenditure.
When Zimbabweans rejected the proposed constitution in the
referendum,
government deliberately encouraged the occupation of farms by war
veterans
and other pro-government elements. This followed accusations by
the
government that white farmers had provided transport for their workers
to
vote against the proposed new constitution.
From the
chronology of events, it is clear that the land invasions
were a vendetta
against the white farmers for openly supporting and
facilitating the
opposition.
Realising that its support base was dwindling, the
government embarked
on the fast-track land resettlement programme. Since
then, there was a
breakdown of the rule of law and the period before, during
and after the
June 2000 Parliamentary elections was characterised by violence
and
intimidation.
"Project money" was disbursed at ZANU PF
rallies as a way of
attracting voters. The impact of these political
decisions is particularly
acute with respect to the budget
deficit.
The budget deficit progressively deteriorated from 5.5
percent of GDP
in 1998 to 24.1 percent by the end of 2000. The deficit had
been targeted to
decline to 3.8 percent of GDP by the end of
2000.
Domestic debt, which stood at Z$24.5 billion in 1995 shot up
to Z$347
billion by end of 2002. The country accumulated arrears on its
foreign debt
repayments in 1999, which rose to US$1.3 billion by December
2002.
Against this background, the relationship between Zimbabwe
and its
development partners deteriorated such that Zimbabwe earned itself
a
high-risk profile (pariah status), resulting in the acute shortage
of
foreign currency.
Against the backdrop of the breakdown of
the rule of law and
anti-western rhetoric, the relationship between Zimbabwe
and the powerful
western economies reached an unprecedented low level. Donors
deserted the
country, resulting in the current acute shortage of foreign
currency. As a
result, a thriving parallel market has emerged, which has
virtually become
the only port of call for foreign currency
seekers.
The position that the current crisis emanated from the
descent into
lawlessness and bad governance was reinforced by the TNF, where,
through the
Kadoma Declaration the government, business and labour agreed
that the way
forward involves the ascent to good governance.
The
Kadoma Declaration puts an ascent on internal factors as the cause
of the
crisis and not external intervention. The argument that external
forces,
disgruntled by the seizure of white farms, is the reason for the
crisis has
no basis, especially when the descend to crisis is explored in a
historical,
chronological order.
The land grab started in earnest after the
February 2000 referendum,
when in fact the crisis had started as evidenced by
the economic decline
since 1997.
Since 1997, all key economic
indicators have shown a persistent
downward trend. In fact, by the time the
land reform programme started in
earnest, development partners had already
deserted the country. In addition,
sanctions cannot be used as an excuse
since they were implemented in 2001
and were targeted at individual persons.
They came long after the economy
was in decline.
The issue is
that if the country was creditworthy, it could easily
raise funds, implying
"sanctions" are not the issue. The question is why is
it that even our
so-called friends are not willing to help us materially?
They say a friend in
need is a friend indeed!
Attempts at resolving the crisis through
the Tripartite Negotiating
Forum and other fora will be discussed in the next
article.
Dr Godfrey Kanyenze is the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions economist
and a member of the Zimbabwe Economics Society and a former
president of the
society
FinGaz
Confusion over dualisation of Harare-Masvingo
road
Henry Masuku
9/17/2003 9:36:02 PM (GMT
+2)
DUALISATION of the Harare-Masvingo road has created confusion
among
owners of businesses located along the highway.
It emerged
this week that the government, which has started work on
the project, is yet
to consult the companies.
Should the Ministry of Transport and
Communications bungle the
project, a court challenge that could cripple the
exercise may emerge.
Companies operating along the highway this
week insisted that
construction of the road network would not affect them
since the ministry
has not approached them.
The manager and
owner of J. Masters Auto Repairs, Joe Masters, said he
was not aware that his
company was on the construction site.
He said: "I am not sure of
what is going to happen to my company as
construction of the road has already
begun. Maybe what is going to be done
is bypass my company because the city
council has given its approval for us
to build permanent
structures."
Sources told The Financial Gazette that the government
was likely to
pay almost $1.5 billion for plant hire for the construction of
the first two
kilometres.
"The government has hired heavy
earthmoving equipment to construct the
first 1.06 kilometres before the end
of this year. The construction has
begun, but has been slowed by fuel
shortages, which have reduced our pace on
the construction site," the source
said.
Efforts to get comments from Transport Minister Witness
Mangwende were
fruitless.
FinGaz
Should dictators be allowed to go scot free?
Mavis Makuni
9/17/2003 9:50:26 PM (GMT +2)
Many years ago,
I read an article by American writer Theodore White in
which he gave his
impressions of China seven years after the death of
Communist Party
strongman, Mao Tse Tung.
White reported on the progress the new
Chinese leadership had made
towards repudiating Mao’s doctrines and reversing
the damage they had
caused.
White’s description of Chairman
Mao’s determination to impose his will
on the people at any cost has remained
etched in my mind for almost 25
years.
He wrote: "Mao’s thought
was simply a dogma or a slogan, least of all
a coherent doctrine. It should
be thought of as a spike driven by the will
of one man into the minds of his
people." White described how this spike was
"driven through the living flesh
of the people until they bled, hungered or
died at random".
These words were written almost a quarter of a century ago but looking
around
the world today, the American journalist could have been describing
Saddam
Hussein, Augusto Pinochet, Slobodan Milsevic, Charles Taylor or any
number of
equally savage contemporary despots and warlords.
At the height of
their tyrannical and repressive reigns, dictators and
authoritarian rules
exude an air of infallibility, invincibility and
immortality that seems to
anaesthetize them against any normal human
emotions and
sensibilities.
When they have the reins of power firmly in their
brutal grip, these
men are prepared to fight to the death — of thousands or
even million of
their own people — to safeguard their positions and cling to
power.
A common thread linking these cruel rulers wherever they are
found on
the globe is their unfathomable desire to kill, to inflict pain,
suffering
and humiliation on large sections of the population. Brutal
purges,
extermination, genocide, torture disappearances and persecution are
their
shared methods of operation.
Dictators also share a common
bond in that these chilling acts of
savagery and unbridled violence cause no
mental distress whatsoever to them.
They regard themselves as having a divine
right to rule for life or even
from beyond the grave as is the case in North
Korea where Dear Leader Kim
II-Sung is said to rule eternally.
Exactly what evil lurks in the hearts of these men? I have always
hoped that
the world would one day get to hear the answer from the horse’s
mouth when
these characters are brought before international tribunals or
courts of
justice to account for their brutality and abuse of power.
But
alas, events so far seem to suggest that when push comes to shove,
these
ruthless men with hearts of stone are cowards lacking the courage of
their
convictions. They seem to be unwilling to look the world in the eye
and say:
"This is why I did what I did." They are far from keen to take
responsibility
for their actions.
Take the case of Saddam Hussein. After his
spectacular deposition by
the Americans, one would have expected him to come
out blazing with the same
bravado he exhibited over all the years of his
dangerous brinkman-ship when
he defied the whole world. I expected to hear
him declare his readiness to
lay down his life for the ideals he previously
pursued with such ruthless
tenacity.
But what did the man do? He
wasted no time before creeping into hiding
from where he cowered but feigns
bravery by issuing statements urging Iraqis
to shed more blood for his
incomprehensible cause.
The American occupation of Iraq has opened
a Pandora’s box of the most
horrific and flagrant human rights violations
imaginable. The fugitive
Saddam has not offered a single word of explanation
of these horrendous
acts. It was only after his two sons were killed in a gun
battle with
American soldiers that the deposed dictator was moved to issue a
statement
mourning their deaths and describing them as martyrs.
What the world wants to know is what Saddam has to say about the estim
ated
300 000 people whose remains have been found in mass graves all over
Iraq.
Why did they have to die? Why is he only moved to comment on the
deaths of
his ferocious sons Qusay and Uday?
If this man were ever brought
before a tribunal, it would be
interesting to hear his explanation for the
construction of all those
obscenely opulent "presidential palaces" and
statues of himself at almost
every street corner when most Iraqis lived in
grinding poverty and Baghdad
and other cities could have done with a fresh
coat of paint.
Saddam’s cowardice in the face of the inevitable is
of course, not
unique. The most notorious practitioner of genocide, Adolf
Hitler, resorted
to suicide when the net was closing in, thus avoiding
explaining in his own
words why it was necessary to kill six million Jews.
The world deserved a
better answer than the one given by some Nazi Officers
at the Nuremberg
trials: "We were following orders."
Even those
who have been cornered for war crimes and other atrocities
do not seem to
welcome the opportunity to argue their cases and convince us
all of the
nobility of their intentions.
Slobodan Milosevic, former President
of Yugoslavia, has fought like a
tiger at the International Court of Justice
in The Hague to deny culpability
for the horrors that went on under his
regime, despite overwhelming evidence
to the contrary.
In
Africa, Warlord Charles Taylor, who has been indicted for war
crimes by a
human rights tribunal in Sierra Leone, has not acted like an
innocent man who
welcomes the opportunity to exonerate himself. Instead,
right up to the time
of his departure for exile in Nigeria last month, the
man used subterfuge and
gimmickry in the hope that he could escape the
inevitable. Even when he could
see that he had reached the end of the road,
he still hinted darkly: "God
willing, I will be back."
Augusto Pinochet of Chile has cited ill
health and senility to avoid
facing the music for atrocities committed by his
regime in the 1980s.
Another South America human rights abuser,
Alberto Fujimori, fled to
Japan and looks set to fight extradition back to
Peru where the population
is baying for his blood for similar
brutality.
One of Africa’s most savage dictators, Idi Amin, who
killed hundreds
of thousands of people in Uganda, died in Saudi Arabia,
taking his dark
secrets with regard to his barbarity to the
grave.
Should such people be allowed to continue to go scot-free?
When things
are going their way, these strongmen fly into a rage when their
misdeeds are
pointed out to them. Attempts to make them see sense and change
course are
greeted with self-righteous indignation at what they call
interference in
their "internal affairs".
They hide behind the
smokescreen of sovereignty to maintain their
destructive and callous stances.
In short, they stubbornly harden their
hearts.
But when the
chips are down they fight mightily to distance themselves
from these events.
They cannot have it both ways! They should not be allowed
to pontificate from
both sides of their mouths. They should face the music.
UN News Centre
UN agencies step-up operations to address food shortages
in Zimbabwe
18 September – United Nations agencies and other humanitarian
organizations
are stepping up operations to address food shortages and their
underlying
causes in Zimbabwe as whole communities have exhausted stocks long
before
the next harvest, according to the latest update released
today.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is now scaling up operations in
Zimbabwe
as food needs are expected to increase sharply over the next seven
months
before the April 2004 harvest.
Last month, the WFP food aid
programme reached rural populations in 31
districts, some 1.1 million
beneficiaries, up from 22 districts in the
post-harvest season in May.
Assistance is expected to increase to cover 36
districts this
month.
To address longer-term food insecurity, non-governmental
organizations
(NGOs) have so far secured funds to provide agricultural
assistance to
slightly over 590,000 vulnerable households, according to the
UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO).
This assistance will
include maize, small grains, and bean seeds. In
addition, several other types
of assistance such as training services.
Health also remains a concern in
Zimbabwe. The country has experienced a
number of disease epidemics in the
past 12 months threatening the lives of
thousands of children and other
vulnerable sections of the population.
"It is apparent from such
outbreaks that there is an urgent need to
strengthen the extended programme
of immunization (EPI) through provision of
adequate transport, fuel and
vaccines to conduct mop up vaccination
campaigns," said the UN office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA).
MSNBC
Media crackdown tests S.Africa policy on Zimbabwe
By Ed
Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 18 — South African President Thabo Mbeki
faced scrutiny
on Thursday over his government's handling of the worsening
crisis in
Zimbabwe, where critics accuse President Robert Mugabe of
widespread rights
abuses.
A fresh crackdown in Harare has
discredited past assurances from
Pretoria that the situation was improving,
analysts said.
In the latest blow to South Africa's so-called quiet
diplomacy,
Nigeria, which will host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government
meeting
in December, has said Zimbabwe will not be invited -- despite
Pretoria's
efforts to ensure Mugabe attends.
But with three months
to go before the summit, a lot could change.
Zimbabwe was suspended from the
group in March 2002 after accusations that
Mugabe had rigged his
re-election.
Nigeria and South Africa have long presented a united
front on
Zimbabwe, deepening divisions on race lines in the 54-member
Commonwealth,
made up mainly of former British colonies.
Mbeki held
out hope in parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday that
Zimbabwe could still be
invited, saying Zimbabwe's year-long suspension
handed down in March 2002 had
expired.
''I'm not aware of any additional sanctions that have been
taken by
... an authorised body of the Commonwealth ... and so we'll await
the
decision of the host president (Olusegun) Obasanjo as to whether
that
invitation is extended,'' he said.
LOSING PATIENCE WITH
MUGABE
Analysts say Mbeki's stance has so far yielded few
results.
''Zimbabwe has repeatedly embarrassed him ... but he is in a
box,''
said John Stremlau, head of International Relations at
Johannesburg's
Witwatersrand University.
''He's opposed to
sanctions, he can't use force, he doesn't want to
use megaphone diplomacy ...
what does he do now?''
Analysts say Mbeki must privately be losing
patience with Mugabe,
who -- judging from Mbeki's own public utterances --
has consistently failed
to keep his word to Pretoria.
In February,
Mbeki said Zimbabwe had pledged to review and change new
media laws which
critics, including Britain, say are being used to stifle
the independent
media and opposition.
''One of the matters we've raised with them is
that there have been
complaints raised about ... legislation passed that has
an impact on the
press. That it was necessary to look at that legislation and
see what was
wrong with it and change it. And indeed the Zimbabweans have
agreed to
that,'' he said.
Almost seven months on, Zimbabwe's
police shut down the private Daily
News last week after the supreme court
ruled the paper's publisher was
operating illegally as it had not registered
under the stringent media laws.
The high court ruled on Wednesday that
it be allowed to resume
publishing -- but police have already seized much of
the paper's equipment
as evidence.
Mbeki also said in February that
South Africa and Zimbabwe had
discussed legislation that was ''limiting
democratic freedoms ... and indeed
they are looking at that.''
On
Wednesday, Zimbabwe riot police arrested more than 100
demonstrators during a
protest against the constitution and a series of
amendments critics say have
entrenched Mugabe's rule.
''Nothing the President (Mbeki) has
supposedly done behind the scenes
has had any effect on the behaviour of
President Mugabe and his cronies,''
opposition leader Tony Leon said in a
statement.
News24
DA slams Mbeki's 'Zim promises'
18/09/2003 21:04 -
(SA)
Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki's promises about Zimbabwe
have the same
value as the "bearer's cheques" being printed by that country's
Reserve
Bank, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon said in his weekly South
Africa
Today newsletter.
"They look real enough, but in the end they
are worthless."
Leon reminded his readers that Mbeki predicted at the
World Economic Forum
in Durban in June that a solution to the crisis in
Zimbabwe would be found
within a year.
"Three months later, there is
absolutely no sign of progress. If anything,
the situation in Zimbabwe has
deteriorated," Leon said.
He said inflation in the country had reached a
record high of 427%. That
meant that prices were changing on a daily
basis.
In addition, laws that violated basic human rights were still in
place, and
political repression had intensified.
"Instead of
condemning this behaviour, President Mbeki spent the week
lobbying for the
Commonwealth to lift its suspension of Zimbabwe, and
arguing that Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe should be allowed to attend
the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Nigeria in December.
Leon further said he had been
visiting London this week, where he had a
number of meetings with both South
Africans and Britons.
"They shared a sense of embarrassment and
bewilderment at President Mbeki's
actions. Simply put: how does our current
stance on Zimbabwe help South
Africa? What cause does it advance? Which
principle does it uphold?
Certainly not the finest commitments of NEPAD (New
Partnership for Africa's
Development) and the African Union. Definitely not
the cause of human rights
and international solidarity.
"At best, our
stance is a throwback to the era of John Vorster, who used to
proclaim that
South Africa's domestic affairs were its own concern and did
not need any
outside meddling," Leon said.
News24
Zim activists released
18/09/2003 18:36 -
(SA)
Harare - More than 100 pro-democracy activists in Zimbabwe,
detained
overnight for staging a protest, were released from police custody
on
Thursday after paying a fine, march organisers and a lawyer
said.
However the chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA), which
organised the demonstration in central Harare on Wednesday, was
still in
custody, said NCA spokesperson Enerst Mudzengi.
He said the
chairperson, Lovemore Madhuku, had refused to pay the fine of
Z$5
000.
Three freelance photojournalists also arrested on Wednesday while
covering
the demonstration were released, according to lawyer Lawrence
Chibwe.
Police said they arrested the demonstrators and journalists for
engaging in
"conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace".
The group
had not obtained permission to hold the demonstration as required
under the
southern African country's strict security laws.
The demonstration by the
NCA, which is lobbying for a new constitution in
Zimbabwe, was also intended
to protest last week's forced closure of the
country's only independent daily
newspaper.
The Daily News was shut down by police after a court here
ruled it was
operating illegally.
News24
Cops stop vets at lions' den
18/09/2003 10:41 -
(SA)
Aubrey Ntobonge, Media24 Africa Office
Harare - War
veterans are still hanging around the front gates of the lion
and cheetah
park near here, but are hesitant to enter.
This follows an incident on
Monday when they were chased away by riot
police.
The unexpected
police action apparently came in the wake of the Zimbabwe
tourism board's
attempts to get tourists to return.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance
said in a statement: "The invasion of
game reserves by war veterans has made
it possible for some professional
South African hunters to poach animals that
otherwise would be protected."
Bigboy Madhonoro, acting manager of the
park, said police had arrived in
large numbers and forced war veterans to
leave the park. They threatened to
arrest them if their orders were
ignored.
The invasion was apparently led by a senior army
officer.
According to Madhonoro, police returned to the park on Monday
afternoon to
ensure all veterans had left the area.
But, by Tuesday
morning, the veterans had returned.
Park manager
threatened
Madhonoro said: "The situation is still tense. The veterans
are outside the
gate, but have closed it off from the outside."
The
veterans have also threatened to attack Brendon Snook, the park's
manager, if
he returns.
He was chased off earlier when the veterans said the park had
been handed
over to them as part of the controversial land-reform
programme.
The park boasts many animals including elephants, lions and
hyenas.
Johnny Rodrigues, chairperson of Zimbabwe's conservation task
force, said
negative publicity about the occupation of the park apparently
led to the
police action.
The Zimbabwean tourism board said last week
a delegation, led by minister
Francis Nhema, would be sent to South Africa to
take part in tourism month.
Attempts are being made to attract tourists
to the Zimbabwean side of
Victoria Falls.
The DA, however, condemned
the attempts and said the invasion of protected
areas had led to large-scale
destruction of wildlife.
Errol Moorcroft, the party's environmental
spokesperson, said those who
honestly valued environmental protection would
speak out about what was
happening in Zimbabwe and ignore Zanu-PF's attempts
to attract tourists.