http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
20:54
ZIMBABWE'S Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai is on a
whirlwind consultation tour on policy issues before he is sworn in -
possibly next week after resolution of the deadlock on the allocation of
ministries.
The stalemate over the distribution of
ministries will almost
certainly be resolved when President Robert Mugabe
returns home from the
United Nations General Assembly. Sources said only
four government
ministries - finance, home affairs, local government and
foreign affairs -
remain contested.
There is also a dispute
over prisons and water resources ministries.
This means effectively 25
ministries have been agreed upon.
Mugabe is entitled to appoint 15
ministers, Tsvangirai 13 and the
deputy prime minister-designate Arthur
Mutambara three.
The negotiating parties met last week after their
leaders failed to
resolve the issue to try to break the
impasse.
However, the negotiators decided to refer the issue back
to their
principals whom they said were better placed to deal with the
matter.
Sources said a compromise could be found on the matter by dividing
contested
ministries between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
Once the
deadlock is broken, Mugabe will announce the new cabinet next
week to pave
way for the inclusive government.
Tsvangirai's spokesman George
Sibotshiwe confirmed his boss was
meeting various economic and social
groupings as part of his consultations.
As prime minister Tsvangirai will be
responsible for policy formulation and
implementation.
"The
main purpose of his meetings is to consult with various sectors
of the
economy and different groupings to get their views on reconstruction
and
recovery of the country," Sibotshiwe said.
"He is going to give a
comprehensive briefing about the outcome of his
consultations at the end of
this process."
Tsvangirai is accompanied on his tour by his
advisers Ian Makone,
Eddie Cross and Wellington Chadehumbe.
Tsvangirai's consultations indicate his optimism about the
power-sharing
agreement signed last week between Zanu PF and the MDC under
the aegis of
former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
There are reservations
about the deal, which leaves Mugabe as
president. "The deal as far as we are
concerned is the best thing for the
country," Tsvangirai said last week. "We
will be able to work within the
deal to achieve the necessary
transformation."
Mugabe, who remains the head of state and
government,
commander-in-chief of the defence forces and chair of cabinet
and the
national security council, also said this week the agreement would
work.
''Every one of us is actually positive about the agreement,
or the
need to cement the agreement and make it work,'' Mugabe said in New
York at
the United Nations General Assembly before his address last
night.
''I don't see any reason why we can't work together as
Zimbabweans,''
he said. ''We are all sons of the soil, as we say, and the
differences arise
purely from your own conceptions of what Zimbabwe should
be and what the
government of Zimbabwe should be.''
They said
Tsvangirai wanted to ensure that he is fully informed about
the dire
economic and social conditions before taking office soon.
Sources
said Tsvangirai has so far met business leaders and captains
of industry,
the farming community and players in the agricultural sector,
the mining
sector, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups and
the labour
movement. He is also expected to meet more players in other
sectors of the
economy and various interest groups including the media.
Some of
the specific groups he has met are the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries,
Chamber of Mines, NGOs including the World Food
Programme and Food and
Agriculture Organisation, and the Zimbabwe Congress
of Trade Unions, from
where he launched his political career. Late
yesterday, he met farmers'
representatives.
He has asked the Chamber of Mines and the CZI to
draft policy
documents for their respective sectors. Sources said business
representatives wanted to know how Tsvangirai would proceed with the
contentious issue of indigenisation.
The MDC leader is said to
be also focusing on the resumption of food
aid to deal with the current
humanitarian crisis.
According to the United Nations, over 5,1
million people -
approximately 45% of the population - would have no access
to food by
year-end.
Tsvangirai is trying to get an
appreciation of the food crisis,
especially in rural areas.
He
would also focus on the revival of the ruined agricultural sector
to restore
production to avert food shortages next year.
Tsvangirai's economic
policy document drawn up before the March
elections states that the basic
objectives of reconstruction would be to
"stabilise the national economy,
restore macro-economic fundamentals and
initiate a process of economic
recovery". It says there would be a need to
tackle inflation, interest rates
and exchange rate problems as fast as
possible to create a stable
macro-economic environment.
The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) said in a report this
week Zimbabwe needs about US$5
billion in foreign aid over five years to
re-build its shattered
economy.
The report, compiled after the signing of the
power-sharing agreement,
said US$1,6 billion of the financial aid would be
needed immediately to
facilitate recovery.
By Dumisani
Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
20:42
THE Arthur Mutambara-led MDC has re-established its grip on
rebellious
MPs who last month struck a deal with Morgan Tsvangirai's
formation and
voted for Lovemore Moyo as Speaker of the House of Assembly
against their
own candidate.
Authoritative sources said the
Mutambara formation recently warned the
MPs that they would be expelled from
the party and lose their parliamentary
seats if they defy their leaders in
future.
The sources said the party leadership reined in the
legislators after
last week's signing of an inclusive government deal
between Mutambara,
Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe.
The
three parties agreed, among other things, that for one year should
any
"electoral vacancy arise in respect of a local authority or
parliamentary
seat, for whatever reason, only the party holding that seat
prior to the
vacancy occurring shall be entitled to nominate and field a
candidate to
fill the seat subject to that party complying with the rules
governing its
internal democracy".
The sources said Mutambara's party told the
rebellious MPs that it
would use this provision to expel them and nominate
loyal members to fill
the parliamentary seats.
"The MPs now
have an axe hanging over their heads," one of the sources
said. "The party
leadership now has re-established its grip on the
legislators and they have
to tag along with what the party says if they are
to save their
jobs."
Seven out of 10 MPs from Mutambara's MDC voted alongside
Tsvangirai
legislators to elect Moyo Speaker of the House of
Assembly.
This was despite the Mutambara formation sponsoring
former Gwanda MP
Paul Themba Nyathi.
Moyo polled 110 votes
against Nyathi's 98, despite the fact
MDC-Tsvangirai had 99 MPs in
parliament on the day of voting.
Moyo's election has since been
challenged in the High Court by
independent legislator Jonathan Moyo saying
the MDC-T legislators violated
the principle of secret voting.
Moyo said the MDC-T MPs showed their ballot papers to the party's
deputy
president Thokozani Khupe, secretary-general Tendai Biti, chief whip
Innocent Gonese and spokesperson Nelson Chamisa after voting.
Moyo's application seeking the nullification of the election of the
Speaker
is being backed by three MPs from the Mutambara faction - Moses
Mzila
Ndlovu, Patrick Dube and Siyabonga Ncube.
Meanwhile, despite the
current impasse on sharing cabinet posts
between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, it
is understood Mutambara's camp will head
the ministries of Education,
Sports, Arts and Culture; Industry and
Commerce; and Regional Integration
and International Trade.
Authoritative sources said Mutambara was
allocated the ministries
without hitches when he met Mugabe and Tsvangirai
last Thursday.
During the meeting, Mugabe and Tsvangirai disagreed
on which
ministries their parties should have, with Zanu PF reportedly
insisting on
taking key ministries, among them Defence, Home Affairs, Local
Government
and Finance.
According to the deal, Zanu PF will
have 15 ministers, MDC-T 13 and
MDC-Mutambara three. Zanu PF will also have
eight deputy ministers, MDC-T
six and MDC-Mutambara one.
"There
were no problems with negotiations on the Mutambara side," one
of the
sources said. "He managed to secure the posts that his party wanted
without
any hitches and Mutambara spent most of his time watching Tsvangirai
and
Mugabe slugging it out for the remaining ministries."
The sources
said the Mutambara faction also managed to secure the
deputy Foreign Affairs
post.
Edwin Mushoriwa, the MDC-Mutambara formation spokesperson,
confirmed
to the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday that some ministries were
allocated to
his party.
However, he declined to reveal the
portfolios arguing that "things may
change" when the principals meet to
finalise the allocation upon the return
to Zimbabwe of Mugabe from New
York.
"It would not be correct to say that we are happy with the
ministries
we were allocated," Mushoriwa said. "The negotiating process is
ongoing and
there might be more compromises when the principals
meet."
By Loughty Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
20:03
THE power-sharing deal signed last week by President Robert
Mugabe and
leaders of the two formations of the MDC has raised a spectre of
hope that
the new government will open up media space in the country by
licensing
closed newspapers and new radio and television
stations.
Media players said they were also expecting
repressive media laws like
the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (Aippa) and
Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) to be
repealed.
According to the agreement signed by Mugabe, Arthur
Mutambara and
Morgan Tsvangirai, the inclusive government will recognise the
importance of
the right to freedom of expression and the role of the media
in a
multi-party democracy.
The agreement noted that despite
the provisions of the BSA, no
licences have been issued to private
broadcasters.
The government under Mugabe's rule has maintained
tight control of the
media.
Using Aippa, the government closed
several newspapers, among them the
Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday,
the Tribune and the Weekly Times.
But under the inclusive
government deal, the newspapers may bounce
back.
The parties
agreed to ensure that all applications for private radio
and television
stations and newspapers under the BSA and Aippa are processed
immediately.
The deal further stipulated that "all Zimbabwean
nationals including
those currently working for or running external radios
stations be
encouraged to make applications for broadcasting licences, in
Zimbabwe, in
terms of the law".
The three parties pledged to
take steps to make the public media
objective and provide balanced reporting
to all political parties.
Misa-Zimbabwe in response to the
agreement appealed to the incoming
government to prioritise the
transformation of ZBC from a state broadcaster
into a public service
broadcaster (PBS).
"The role of the PBS is that of enhancing the
national collective
responsibility of engaging the people of Zimbabwe to
actively participate in
national discourse by freely expressing, imparting
and accessing information
through the broadcaster irrespective of one's
political affiliation,
religion, ethnicity, colour or creed," Misa-Zimbabwe
said.
It said the African Charter on Broadcasting, which calls for
a
three-tier system of broadcasting that includes public service, commercial
and community broadcasting, can be used as a benchmark for the enactment of
the enabling legislation and policy formulation.
The charter
stipulates that regulation in broadcasting and
telecommunications should be
exercised by public authorities protected
against interference, particularly
of a political or economic nature.
It also states that
government-controlled broadcasters should be
transformed into PSBs, that are
accountable to the people as represented by
an independent board that serves
the overall public interest.
Misa-Zimbabwe said ZBC should
therefore be run by an independent board
which is representative of civil
society, the media, churches, labour and
the business community, among
others.
The media watchdog said this would cushion the institution
from
falling into the hands of political and economic interests that
compromise
its public service mandate.
By Loughty Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
20:02
A BULAWAYO man has filed an urgent High Court application seeking
the
nullification of last month's appointment of nine councillors by Local
Government minister Ignatious Chombo to run the affairs of the MDC-led city
council.
The application was lodged with the High Court
yesterday by MDC ward
chairperson for Emakhandeni, Billy Ncube, through his
lawyer Job Sibanda.
Ncube said he has the right to challenge the
appointment because he
was a ratepayer and a Bulawayo resident.
Chombo last month appointed the councillors, businessmen Omega Sibanda
and
Ernest Marima, former Zanu PF councillors Tryphine Nhliziyo, Alderman
David
Ndlovu, Dennis Ndlovu, Alderman Abednico Nyathi, Tadubana Tshuma and
Emmanuel Kanjoma, to assist the MDC council to run its affairs.
Under the Urban Councils Act, the minister has the power to appoint
additional councillors to represent special interest groups.
Ncube in his application says Chombo abused provisions of the Act by
appointing Zanu PF members to council instead of appointing special
interests group representatives.
He said it was clear from
those appointed that Chombo was only
bringing back Zanu PF supporters and
officials into council through the back
door.
"The second
respondent (Chombo) in appointing commissioners failed to
discharge his
obligations in terms of the Act. To put it more bluntly, the
second
respondent attempted to bring back to council via the back door some
failed
candidates in last council elections and past Zanu PF councillors and
alderman, in an effort to have Zanu PF represented in council," reads
Ncube's
application.
The Bulawayo City Council is the first
respondent in the matter.
Ncube further alleged the councillors
save for Sibanda and Marima,
were not representing any interest group but
Zanu PF.
"All the appointed councillors, save for two, the third
respondent
(Sibanda) and the fourth respondent (Marima) are former Zanu PF
councillors
and aldermen of the Bulawayo City council. All save the two
represent no
particular interest group save Zanu PF," Ncube
said.
Chombo has been accused of interfering with the running of
urban
authorities that are dominated by the MDC.
By Loughty
Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:59
IT is a very hot Tuesday and the scorching sun has no mercy on
the
hundreds of weary people gathered at Rimuka Primary School in
Kadoma.
Nothing seems to deter the crowd that has gathered
to receive the
long-awaited food aid. Not even the stench of nearby toilets
could move them
an inch from their positions.
The atmosphere is
tense and curiosity is written all over their faces.
They all wanted to be
sure their names were in the bhuku reupenyu (book of
life).
The
book refers to a register of food aid recipients.
The food they are
waiting to receive is their sole means of survival
and if their names are
not in the book, it means they can't receive food
aid.
What is
striking about the crowd is the large number of children.
The
majority of them are either HIV-positive or living with a parent
with HIV or
in child-headed families.
For Angela Muchemwa (13), it is one of
the very rare days she can put
a smile on her face, feeling relieved of the
burden she has to go through on
a daily basis to feed her little
brothers.
Today she does not have to move around households looking
for some
laundry to wash or clean in exchange for katsaona (a small cup of
mealie-meal or sugar).
Muchemwa is one of 1 485 beneficiaries
of food distribution in
Mashonaland West by the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society
(ZRCS) under its
home-based care programme.
The programme is an
outreach initiative that sees volunteers visiting
and at times looking after
people living with HIV and Aids.
ZRCS was in Kadoma this week to
deliver 26,5 tonnes of maize, cooking
oil and sugar beans.
"I
move around asking people if they have any laundry that I can do in
exchange
for food or money that can 'push' me for the day," Muchemwa said,
lamenting
the food crisis in the country.
She has been staying with her
grandmother for more than 10 years after
her father passed away in 1995 and
her mother in 2002. The granny is not
feeling well.
"At times I
do not go to school as I will be working to get food. If I
don't do that we
will starve to death. Today I am happy because I am going
to get some food
that will keep me at school," Muchemwa said.
Nyasha Lot (18), whose
parents passed away when she was only 11, said
she was forced to drop out of
school to raise money to look after her
brothers and sisters.
"I began doing house chores in households in this area when I was 11
years
old to raise money to buy food," she recalled.
In Rimuka, many
children have resorted to providing labour in various
forms to solve matters
of the "stomach".
A local resident, John Tembo, said the situation
was traumatising and
needed urgent attention.
"Children as
young as 12 years can be found at a number of houses
offering to do laundry
and other menial jobs in exchange for food or money,"
Tembo said. "What type
of laundry can a 12-year-old do? Imagine them being
given blankets to wash
and the distance they have to travel to fetch water."
Tembo added:
"These children are abused. It won't be surprising to
find that rampant
sexual abuse cases are going on. Who knows what other
services they will be
providing in those houses?"
He said a number of young girls were
being employed at a local
nightclub as dancing queens.
Ten-year-olds Kelthy and Verire Nyembe of SQ area in Rimuka, who were
also
waiting for food aid, said their absence from school was as a result of
lack
of school fees and food.
Kelthy said: "We do not go to school
because we don't have school
fees. At times we have to fetch firewood which
we sell for $800 a bundle to
raise fees."
Yvonne Chisanhu (12)
who looked much younger than her age and wearing
torn clothes, could not
help but pour tears down her frail cheeks as she
narrated how she had not
eaten anything since morning.
According to World Food Programme
(WFP) and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO), Zimbabwe is facing a
food insecurity crisis widely
regarded as the worst on record.
According to the June 18 2008 report of the FAO and WFP joint crop and
food
supply assessment, the total number of food-insecure persons in rural
and
urban areas will be 2,04 million for the period between July and
September
2008, rising to 3,8 million between October and December and
peaking to 5,1
million between January and March 2009.
The food insecurity in
Zimbabwe is said to have been caused by a
succession of small harvests, poor
agricultural policies and a declining
economy, characterised by
hyperinflation, high unemployment and a rapidly
depreciating currency. High
HIV and Aids prevalence rate, which has
contributed to increasing levels of
vulnerability, is also a reason.
The ZRCS has acquired 383 tonnes
of food aid to be distributed in the
eight provinces of Zimbabwe targeting
to feed 24 000 people.
The ZRCS Secretary-General, Emma Kundishora,
said: "This initial
deployment will provide almost 24 000 people with enough
maize, beans and
cooking oil to last for one month. A total of 260 100
people infected or
affected by HIV and Aids will be supported each
month."
She said many of these vulnerable people were on
anti-retroviral (ARV)
medication and for it to work effectively food was
greatly needed.
"Without a full stomach many of those on ARVs are
now choosing to
default on their treatment as they cannot cope with the
debilitating side
effects," Kundishora said.
Antonia Tsikira, a
55-year-old bedridden Aids patient who stays by
herself in Ward 4 in Rimuka,
is one of the people who have been affected by
the shortage of
food.
Tsikira gets assistance from caregivers who regularly check
on her.
"I have my sister's child who stays close by who often
comes and
checks on me. Food has been my biggest worry and at times I would
go the
whole day without eating," Tsikira said. "I am glad I have managed to
receive some today."
By Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:57
THE all-inclusive government agreement signed last week by the
country's
main political parties has since run into difficulties regarding
the sharing
of key ministries between Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations.
To understand the impasse and other issues
related to the deal, our
Political Editor Constantine Chimakure this week
interviewed the
spokesperson of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC, Nelson
Chamisa. Below are
excerpts of the interview.
Chimakure:
Honourable Chamisa can you tell us the meaning and
significance of the
power-sharing agreement signed on September 15 between
President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai and
Deputy Prime
Minister-designate Arthur Mutambara?
Chamisa: Given the political
impasse, economic haemorrhage, collapse
of social services and the deadening
impoverishment in the country, the
September 15 compromise represents an
important platform and opportunity for
rebirth, reconstruction and national
healing. In short, it marks the
beginning of a new era and charting of a new
course to achieve prosperity,
freedom, peace and justice for our country.
The agreement is a full stop to
hate, polarisation, divisions, plunder of
our economy and the suffering of
our people and a beginning of what is best
for Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans
Chimakure: Tsvangirai went into the
negotiations having set some
demands, among them, a pact based on the
outcome of March 29 elections. He
also wanted to be head of government, to
have the power to appoint and fire
ministers and above all to chair
cabinet.
If you look closely at the agreement, Tsvangirai did not
get what he
wanted, what happened?
Chamisa: The central
strategic objective of us entering into this
dialogue was to give
Zimbabweans a chance. In particular, there were five
things that were ideal
to us namely:
*Giving our people the opportunity of writing a
constitution written
by them for themselves;
*Embarking on a
democratisation agenda that will see, among other
things, the repeal of all
laws that affect the right to freedom of movement,
association and assembly
of our people. Laws that suppress freedom of
speech, media and
expression.
*The rehabilitation of our economy and more importantly
the
transformation of the same to a people-centred dynamic
tiger-economy;
*The opportunity for our country to undergo national
healing and
national integration and the character of ensuring that every
Zimbabwe is an
equal citizen and
*The obligations to ensure the
professionalism of state institutions
and that they are in full compliance
with the constitution and in particular
the rule of law, serving the people
of Zimbabwe.
By way of clarification, we wanted a prime minister
who has both the
responsibility and the authority to transact the business
of government. We
got that in the agreement. The agreement gives the prime
minister authority
to formulate and implement policies as well as
supervising all ministries to
ensure accountability and effectiveness in the
discharge of government
business.
True, the agreement does not
give us all we wanted. But what we got,
in the spirit of compromise, is
sufficient to enable us to start activating
the democratisation and economic
stabilisation agenda.
The agreement is a bridge to the attainment
of these objectives. In
short, we have remained loyal to the founding
principles and values of our
movement and indeed to the working peoples'
aspirations and fundamental
ideals as articulated at the historic formation
of the peoples' movement in
1999.
Chimakure: What is the
party's position regarding President Mugabe's
pronouncement to the central
committee last Thursday that he and Zanu PF
were still in
charge?
Chamisa: The executive authority resides within three
pillars namely
the president, the prime minister and the cabinet. There is
no dominant
party to the other. It is a partnership of equals premised on
the spirit of
collective leadership and cooperative
partnership.
There is no veto power residing in any one pillar.
This agreement is
not about who is senior to the other. It is about the
opportunity to bring
food, jobs, health, prosperity and satisfaction to the
people of Zimbabwe.
Contestations about who is in the driving seat are not
going to feed the
people of Zimbabwe. Arrogant party positions are not going
to restore our
economy nor are they going to make our businesses viable.
Partisan interests
undermine our national capacity to respond to bread and
butter demands of
our workers and their families.
Chimakure: Is
it a correct analysis that the agreement implies that
Mugabe will be more
powerful than Tsvangirai? Mugabe has the final decision
having consulted
Tsvangirai? Who has "real" power between the president and
prime
minister?
Chamisa: Within the context of the agreement whenever the
word
consultation is used, it is a simple way of saying the prime minister
and
the president should agree on every issue. This, therefore, means that
the
president cannot act without the prime minister's consent. However, the
prime minister has an unfettered power in administering, controlling and
supervising government. The question of who has real power misses the point
by a significant margin. Granted, the arrangement is complex, but certainly
workable. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to make a
difference.
Chimakure: What are the problems in forming a new
cabinet? Is it not a
sign of insincerity on the part of Mugabe to insist on
retaining key
ministries?
Chamisa: There is a deadlock arising
from Zanu PF's insistence on all
key ministries motivated by the
grab-and-take all mentality. We believe in
genuine power-sharing on an equal
basis on all the agreed key ministries in
a give-and-take spirit consistent
with the dictates of an all-inclusive
arrangement. The biggest problem in
this regard remains a residue of denial
in some quarters that things have
changed in Zimbabwe. There are some in our
midst who are caught in a
time-warp.
The strategy is an attempt to make the MDC a junior
partner in the
government by allocating it junior ministries. We refuse to
be mere
accessories to a body of government that is principally Zanu PF. An
inclusive government should reflect the wishes of the people as expressed on
March 29 2008.
Chimakure: Which key ministries does Zanu PF
want to retain and which
ones do you think you should have and why do you
think you deserve them?
Chamisa: Negotiations are currently
underway on the allocation of the
ministries. It is not possible for us to
negotiate in public. It will be an
act of bad faith.
Chimakure:
Why was the issue of parceling out ministries not dealt
with before the
power-sharing deal was signed?
Chamisa: The substantive issue was
around executive authority. After
settling the issue, we were hoping to deal
with ministries and the
appointment of governors, but the mediator requested
and pleaded with us to
deal with the two issues after signing the inclusive
government agreement.
We didn't anticipate an impasse over the
outstanding matters. We were
motivated by the fact that good faith would
prevail.
Chimakure: If the impasse continues, what will be the next
move?
Chamisa: The agreement is underwritten by Sadc and the
African Union.
As the situation obtains, there is a deadlock already. In the
event of the
impasse continuing the facilitator can unlock it.
Chimakure: Why did the MDC agree to have 31 ministers when in your
March
2008 elections manifesto you promised to have a cabinet of 15? Can the
inclusive government sustain such a huge cabinet given Zimbabwe's bleeding
economy?
Chamisa: We believe in a small and efficient cabinet.
As you are aware
this is a compromise set up. It is just a stopgap measure
to deal with the
unprecedented crisis in the country. It is not what we
believe in as a
matter of conviction.
The large cabinet is a
strain on the economy, but it is what is
practicable under the
circumstances. We have not abandoned our conviction of
a small cabinet. Mind
you this is not an MDC government, but an inclusive
government.
Chimakure: On the economy, can Tsvangirai insist that he has the key
to
unlock international funds and technical aid given the cautious optimism
the
US, Britain, the European Union and multilateral financial institutions
have
adopted on the deal?
Chamisa: Prime minister Tsvangirai with the
support of the entire
cabinet has the ability to unlock the international
support that is required
to prevent the economic decline. The economic
policy the inclusive
government will pursue will be the major determining
factor.
Another factor will be the distribution of key ministries
among the
parties. The ministries should be shared equally and genuinely to
build
confidence and create an appetite for business in the country so that
we
boost local and international investment.
Chimakure: Are
there areas of potential conflict between the two MDC
formations and Zanu
PF, especially on the powers and functions of the
president and prime
minister in relation to the cabinet and council of
ministers?
Chamisa: The key priorities are to feed the people, fix the economy,
heal
the nation, democratise our country, restore the dignity and freedoms
of the
people of Zimbabwe and getting business back to business. On these
priorities, we believe there is no conflict and in fact there is a shared
understanding that makes our competencies complementary rather than
competing.
Chimakure: Why is it that the deal has no timeframes
on implementing
most of its provisions, except on the new
constitution?
Chamisa: The deal presupposes urgency in respect of
each issue covered
by the pact. That is why there is an annual review
mechanism captured in the
agreement. The agreement is a fire-fighting
construct, a crisis-soft landing
mechanism. In short, a catharsis to enable
national healing and
reconstruction of our country.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008 19:46
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe yesterday reviewed the maximum daily cash
withdrawals for individuals and corporate. Individuals will from Monday
withdraw $20 000 up from $1 000 while corporates would be allowed to
withdraw $10 000.
The bank also announced that
individual foreign currency account (FCA)
holders can withdraw any amount
from their FCA with no limitations.
Gono made the announcement when
he handed over 570 foreign currency
exchange dealership licences to
retailers and wholesalers. A total 600
companies had applied for the
licences.
"Of the figure, 533 licences have been issued to FOLIWARS
operating
retail and wholesale licences, with the balance of 37 licences
issued to
FELOCS and FELOPADS, being oil companies and service station who
will sell
fuel in foreign currency," said Gono.
What remained
to be seen is how the Reserve Bank will meet the new
daily cash demands by
financial institutions, when it had been failing to do
so with the maximum
withdrawals at $1 000.
Yesterday, four Harare residents filed an
urgent High Court
application seeking an order outlawing cash withdrawal
limits saying they
were depriving peoples' right to life as enshrined in the
Constitution and
international conventions.
Rogers Chigwededza,
Tinashe Gotora, Jackson Mabota and Precious
Mwateyeni cited finance
minister, Reserve Bank and three financial
institutions -- CABS, POSB and
Metropolitan Bank -- as respondents.
The applicants want the High
Court to bar the finance minister and the
central bank from imposing
withdrawal limits.
"In the event there be any limits 1st and 2nd
respondents (Minister of
Finance and Reserve Bank) should widely consult all
stakeholders and take
into account their daily practical needs and that
limits be revised once the
withdrawal limits become inadequate," read the
application. "The third,
fourth and fifth respondents (CABS, Metropolitan
Bank and POSB) should allow
applicants to withdraw in demand monies of the
applicants held by them."
The applicants said limitation of
withdrawals were inhumane, degrading
and a violation of the right to life as
stated in Article 11 of the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights.
Yesterday's daily cash withdrawal review comes at
a time when most
commercial banks have increased bank charges, raising fears
among economists
that business in the financial sector would
decline.
The increase has seen a bank statement attracting a fee of
between
$200 and $1 000 per leaf page depending on the bank.
An
internal transfer now attracts between $3 000 and $10 000 in
charges.
It will cost one between $50 000 to $120 000 to get a
smaller
cheque-book and a bigger one between $100 000 and $400 000 depending
on the
bank.
Some commercial banks like CBZ charge per leaf if
a company or
individual applies for a chequebook. For corporates it costs
$750 per leaf
while for individuals its costs $250.
An internal
and cross-bank transfer now attracts charges of between
$10 000 and $15
0000.
To apply for an ATM card one has to part with between $30 000
to $100
000, while to replace one would cost between $50 000 and $250
000.
This means an individual who earns $15 000 has to save for at
least
three months before they can apply for a new cheque book only if the
charges
are not reviewed.
Individuals are charged between $300
and $1 000 to withdraw money from
an ATM and on the counter.
Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) transactions are charged between $8
000
and $13 000.
Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president John
Mangudya yesterday said
the banks charges were in response to cost resulting
from the
hyperinflationary environment.
By Paul
Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:44
THE Reserve Bank should stop participating in all quasi-fiscal
operations but focus on monetary reforms in order to kick-start the
country's
ailing economy currently being worsened by incoherent government
policies, a
UN agency has reported.
According to a
report compiled by independent technocrats commissioned
by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country representative
Agostinho
Zacarias, a three-pronged plan could stem the economic recession
that has
been precipitated by bad policies.
Quasi-fiscal financing involve
providing credit at low nominal
interest rates to selected sectors whose
prospects of repaying are so low
that these credits are often viewed as
subsidies.
The report titled Comprehensive Economic Recovery in
Zimbabwe
prescribes government to address macroeconomic fundamentals in the
first two
years, effect institutional and structural reforms and carry out a
"second
generation" institutional and structural reforms that are necessary
to
ensure sustainable and inclusive growth.
"There is a broad,
although not complete agreement that, because
Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is
directly attributable to fiscal expansion and
reckless credit creation by
the central bank, the starting point for
stabilisation programme must be a
combination of fiscal retrenchment and
monetary constraint," reads the
report.
"The immediate priority is to terminate all quasi-fiscal
operations
and incorporate them into the national budget, as was tried in
the 2007 but
abandoned in the 2008 budget," the report said.
The central bank governor, Gideon Gono has since 2004 undertaken
quasi-fiscal operations in projects such as the Basic Commodity Supply Side
Intervention (Bacossi), the Farm Mechanisation exercise and the Agricultural
Support Enhancement Facility (Aspef) -- primarily funded by unprecedented
printing of money. These measures have seen the central bank assuming what
critics termed "supra-ministerial" powers that entail providing agricultural
credit, farm inputs and food rations.
But the result has been a
suppressed capacity utilisation in
manufacturing, hyperinflation, a widely
criticised foreign exchange regime
and a prolonged economic recession when
regional peers are booming.
The report however warned that the
cessation of quasi-fiscal
activities by the Reserve Bank could result in
"knock-on" effects on
agriculture, troubled parastatals, importers and the
financial sectors.
Instead the UNDP proposed an overhaul of the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority
operations and the formalisation of the informal sector in
order to improve
treasury coffers.
The full extent of the
country's "fiscal crisis" according to the
report is unknown, partly because
of the "very substantial discrepancies"
between budget data and statistics
published subsequently by the Ministry of
Finance. This match, the report
stated was primarily caused by the
withholding of quasi-fiscal activities
from the annual budget statements
since 2006.
"Although the
full extent of the quasi-fiscal activities is unknown,
estimates by the IMF
put the overall financial borrowing requirement at 64%
of GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) in 2006, when the central budget deficit was
3% of GDP,
implying a quasi-fiscal deficit of 61% OF GDP and of 82% in
2006," the
report said.
However official statistics released by the central
bank in the
mid-term monetary policy indicate that domestic debt ballooned
to
unprecedented levels surpassing three-quarters of GDP on the back of
excessive government borrowing and an unprecedented money supply
growth.
Handing over several implements to a government committee
on food
production this week, Gono defended his quasi-fiscal activities
arguing that
the United States Federal Reserve this week broke away from
"orthodox and
rigid" economic policies to save a "fierce financial meltdown"
that was
triggered by the near collapse of the US financial markets. The
proposed
US$700 billion plan to save the economy from rapid recession will
be
presented before the US Congress today.
"We have, however,
not given up in innovating making positive
difference in our economy," he
said.
"Those who follow the unfolding developments in the USA and
European
financial markets have now realised that what they are implementing
as
fire-fighting tools to fend-off the fierce financial meltdown in their
backyards are in fact quasi-fiscal operations through their central
banks."
He added that the farm mechanisation programme would extend
beyond
2010. Early this year, visiting International Monetary Fund officials
advised the Reserve Bank to "eliminate" quasi-fiscal activities but Gono
continued with the interventionist policies arguing that he was operating in
"desperate situations" that called for non-text book economic
measures.
By Bernard Mpofu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:40
ZIMBABWE'S property sector is expected to remain largely stagnant
until December because of high inflation and interest
rates.
Property development flourishes in economies that
have less that 15%
inflation rate. Zimbabwe's inflation is officially 11,2
million percent.
Simon Russell a director with Ideal Properties,
said the fact that
there has not been any meaningful property development in
the city,
indicates that all is not well.
"The property market
has not witnessed any growth. Of course the
rentals have been increasing but
that is not how we judge growth," said
Russell
"We judge growth
by the number of units that are being developed. As
for the increase in the
rentals, that is purely inflationary."
He said the property market
had not grown over the past eight years
owing to the unstable economic
condition.
"The future of the sector remains bleak unless the
inflation rate
stabilises and interest rates become viable. We (property
sector) know that
there will be an improvement if the political parties work
together," said
Russell.
The number of stalled construction
projects bears testimony to the
gloom that pervades the sector. Investors
are currently scared to commit
their funds to new projects because of the
economic instability.
"If one builds a complex, they will be lucky
to get half of the
building's replacement costs if they sell it," said an
evaluator with a
local real estate company.
The current lack of
progress has also worsened the infrastructural
problems that have stalled
development since Independence. Added to this is
the issue of water problems
that continue to haunt the city.
By Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:35
WITH a week left before the 2008 tobacco selling season ends,
farmers
have missed the targetted output by about 70 million kilogrammes
from the
initial projection of 120 million kg.
Figures
made available from the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board
(TIMB) on
Tuesday revealed that a total of 44,9 million kg valued at
US$145,6 million
was sold on the 97th day of trade compared to 70,4 million
valued at 164,9
million achieved during the same period last year.
The 120 million
kg initial projection was revised twice during the
first quarter of the year
to 100 million kg and then 70 million kg because
of heavy rains and the
shortage of fertiliser and diesel.
Tobacco which used to be the
country's major foreign currency earner
after mining, is now second,
accounting for about 35% of all hard currency
receipts as production
continues to decline.
Of the 44,9 kg million, Burley Marketing
Zimbabwe (BMZ) handled 5,2
million kg valued at US$18,4 million while
Tobacco Sales Leaf (TSL) sold 4,8
million kg valued US$16,9
million.
The Zimbabwe Tobacco Auction Centre (Zitac) processed
transactions
amounting to US$17 million from 5,2 million kg. Contract
farmers sold 29,5
million kg valued at US$93,1 million.
The
44,9 million kg sold so far is a far cry from sales during the
country's
days of glory, when tobacco production reached a record high of
236,13
million kg in 2000.
Tobacco production has declined since the
country embarked on the land
reform programme in February 2000.
This was because most beneficiaries of the land redistribution
programme had
little knowledge or inclination towards tobacco farming. In
2001 a total of
202,5 million kg was sold. The decline continued in 2003 to
2005 when 81,8
million kg, 69,1 million kg and 73,3 million kg were sold. In
2006, 55,5
million kg were sold while only 73,5 million kg were sold last
year.
Farmers have, however, expressed optimism that the sector
is destined
to be revived following the conclusion of a political settlement
between the
country's three main political parties.
As had
become the norm with previous seasons, there were delays in the
official
opening of the season as issues that had haunted the previous
seasons
resurfaced.
These included the support price, a new exchange rate
as well as the
settlement of the outstanding foreign currency account
shortfalls.
Farmers also expressed concern of over maximum cash
withdrawal limits,
shortage of fuel and paper to wrap their
tobacco.
The official opening of the season was delayed by a week
for the
seventh consecutive year after the TIMB failed to get the requisite
response
to farmers concerns.
When the season finally opened,
farmers were promised $70 million per
US dollar earned but as soon as the
floors opened farmers blocked sales
protesting the "low and unattractive"
opening price. Angry farmers
reportedly tore up sales tickets and stood on
tobacco bales to block
auctioneers, while others tied up their
bales.
The situation was only resolved after the Reserve Bank
introduced a
floating exchange rate that saw the support price falling
away.
This measure gave stability to tobacco sales sessions at the
three
auction floors. Hardly a month later farmers raised concern in May
about
withdrawal limits and amounts that they were getting from banks, which
they
said, were too little.
The Reserve Bank responded by
issuing special cheques in denominations
of $5 billion, $25 billion and $50
billion and a special withdrawal limit of
$100 billion for farmers which was
above $5 billion for the rest of the
banking public.
The issue
of withdrawal limits presented a major headache for
officials at the floors
who had to contend with increasing numbers of
farmers most of whom had to
spend days and weeks at the floors while trying
to access their
money.
The situation presented a healthtime bomb as available
facilities in
terms of toilets failed to cope resulting in the farmers
resorting to using
the bush and sleeping in the open.
Apart
from withdrawal limits, the season has also been affected by
transport and
diesel shortages that have seen some farmers, especially those
in the
small-scale sector failing to deliver their crop to the floors.
By
Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:07
The new Speaker of Parliament MP Lovemore Moyo has called on the
people of Zimbabwe to unite for the good of the
country.
THE Honourable MP Lovemore Moyo, who
is also the acting national
chairperson of the Movement for Democratic
Change said good words that must
get the applause of every progressive
Zimbabwean.
The deal that the two MDC formations entered into with
Zanu PF is a
reflection of serious compromises that nationalistic quest
calls for.
I am really happy to have a Speaker who thinks with such
magnamity
when it comes to the task of getting Zimbabwe back on
track.
Yet the success of the noble project that he calls all
Zimbabweans to
invest in will also demand a reformation if not a radical
transformation in
personalities and the starting point will be with him. As
the national
chairperson of the MDC he failed to unite his own political
party.
The MDC that is led by Prime Minister-designate Morgan
Tsvangirai went
into the March elections divided; it was a loose coalition
of people fed up
with the rule of Zanu PF and we saw the circus in many
constituencies where
MDC-T fielded more than one candidate.
There are many such constituencies which the party lost because they
divided
the vote among themselves.
I do not doubt Lovemore Moyo's tenacity
to change but it has to come
quickly.
It is very unfortunate
that the people of Zimbabwe are hungry for
success and that the MDC will
never be allowed to play around the learning
curve in
government.
A country besieged by hunger, poverty, the trampling of
its rights and
outright bullying from liberators turned revolutionary
aristocrats will
never have the patience to see the MDC write a book which
has an erratum
that is larger than the content itself.
The
position that Moyo has is an influential one because he is the
referee for
people making laws in a country where the rule of law is a
concept existing
only on paper.
On October 13, 2007 in the UK Moyo declared that he
"would not have
regard to the MDC Constitution . . . and that he could
actually tear it
apart".
He proceeded to completely disregard
the Constitution as he had
boasted.
He went on to dissolve a
committee that was provided for
constitutionally. In doing so he did not
want to hear other views.
Up to now I am one of those few people
who are still waiting for my
views to be heard and for business to be done
properly.
The euphoria that greeted his election is understandable
but we do
need to point out these clear inconsistencies.
I
worry for the country if we have leaders who proceed by claiming
credibility
on the altar of hypocrisy.
People still have memories of the Lucia
Matibenga (MDC Women's
Assembly) and the MDC UK and Ireland
saga.
For if we start from a point of sweeping our weaknesses under
the
carpet we proceed on fallacies and fantasies and five years from now the
MDC
revolution will have been the Mwai Kibaki one which had to be challenged
after it failed and was seen to be unfit for all purposes because it became
a circus of corruption, nepotism and tribalism.
We should not
forget that Mwai Kibaki was in opposition in 2002 and
Kenya had suffered
under the autocratic rule of Daniel Arap Moi and Kibaki
was henceforth
heralded as a saviour when he first ascended to power.
A Speaker of
Parliament is at the centre of the legislative arm of the
government.
He presides over the making of laws and must be the
custodian of such
laws.
Zimbabwe will be the laughing stock of
the world if they have a
Speaker who will boast that he will not be held to
account for the same
laws.
Things change, some of them very
fast, the Speaker must reinvent
himself for the good of his offices. He must
start by calling himself acting
national chairperson of the MDC led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, he
is yet to be confirmed in that post by due
process and he is not a
substantive national chairperson yet. Those small
things matter.
He should be able to remind others that the party is
called MDC whose
leader is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and not
MDC-Tsvangirai because
that personalises the people's party and extends the
same problems of
cultism that has doomed African politics.
The
inclusion of the MDC in government can make or break the party and
the
excitement which followed the agreement must not override the cautious
approach that needs to be taken.
The public should be able to
see in the MDC a functioning democracy
where the ministers and all portfolio
holders adhere to laws made from a
disciplined and industrious
parliament.
In the run-up to the unconstitutional process that was
later called
"dissolution" of the MDC UK and Ireland and the MDC Women's
Assembly the
acting national chairman violated not only the Constitution but
the due
process principle with impunity.
There was open
favouritism prompted by nepotism and bribery and I put
these allegations
squarely at the door of Moyo and in doing so I am mindful
of the serious
implications this may have on my future career prospects.
I do not
hate anyone especially from the MDC but a friend who will not
tell you the
truth is not a good friend at all.
In the past the acting national
chairperson heard the views of one
side, which bought him an air ticket and
paid his hotel bills; but still
thought he was not compromised and that he
still had credibility in whatever
he did later.
Of course the
products of what he did have been derided to this day
and we have not
accepted it; but in this dispensation my hope is things will
be done
differently.
He is not the first Speaker Zimbabwe has
had.
There are two to emulate; Cyril Ndebele who is my best Speaker
ever
because he is the person who against all odds protected vigorously the
principle of impunity for words said in Parliament.
Yes he is
the man who shielded Dzikamai Mavhaire from censure for
saying "Mugabe must
go!" and he is also the person who protected Margaret
Dongo when she said:
"Mese muri vakadzi vaMugabe . . ."
That was exceptional given that
she was one of the only three
opposition MPs in Parliament that time. It was
under Ndebele's leadership of
the house that the War Victims Compensation
Fund saga and the Harare
municipality corruption case were brought before
the scrutiny of the public.
I think Ndebele is only seconded by
John Landa Nkomo because the
preceeding Parliament had no
incident.
That brings me to the worst Speakers who should never be
emulated.
Emmerson Mnangagwa is the worst because during his tenure people
fought in
Parliament.
Three people were involved but only one
was arrested; Roy Bennett. All
committed the same offence in my view but
Bennett may have been arrested
because he was a white MDC
parliamentarian.
So Bennett was arrested because he was a white
member of the MDC and
Emmerson Mnangagwa did nothing to stop his unfair
incarceration.
The other very bad example of the leadership of the
house can be seen
in 1984 when Didymus Mutasa was at the helm.
Moyo must look at all these people and his own immediate past which
can be
challenged, as he unconstitutionally interfered with structures when
as an
acting national chairperson he did not have the most important and
basic
thing; the locus standi to do the work of a substantive.
He can
change but he has little time; that change must come faster for
the good of
the party and the nation.
By Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:04
SINCE Independence, the policies of Zimbabwe's rulers have been
informed more by a burning desire to get recognition and glory as
world-renowned statesmen than the will to advance the interests of
Zimbabweans.
The world-acclaimed policy of national
reconciliation proclaimed in
1980 was the first sign of the rulers'
priorities. Without doubt, the policy
of reconciliation was noble in the
circumstances to provide a foundation for
nation-building.
However, it was aimed more at getting Zimbabwe's rulers a place in
history
as statesmen than advancing the cause of Zimbabweans.
In the
misguided spirit of reconciliation we neglected to force some
of the white
racist citizens to abandon their wicked ways against blacks.
As a
result black farm labourers continued to live and work in
appalling
slave-like conditions on the farms, just as before Independence.
The
political leaders made no effort to get whites to repent from their
racist
ways or get them to appreciate the need to share land equitably, all
in the
false spirit of reconciliation.
As a result, race relations in the
country did not improve as whites
felt no need to repent from and abandon
their Rhodesian anti-black outlook.
To show that the policy of
reconciliation was more of a publicity
stunt than a gesture aimed at
nation-building, the triumphant black rulers
only extended the olive branch
to whites and not to fellow blacks.
As a result, the new black
rulers did not find it worth their while to
reconcile with their black
war-era adversaries like Ndabaningi Sithole,
Henry Hamadziripi, Bishop Abel
Muzorewa and Dzinashe Machingura.
Sithole and Hamadziripi were not
forgiven even in death as they were
denied an opportunity to be buried at
the hallowed National Heroes Acre.
Having announced their presence
on the world stage with the
self-serving policy of national reconciliation,
Zimbabwean leaders proceeded
to put in place the physical infrastructure
necessary for them to play out
their glory-seeking foreign
policy.
They built the Harare Sheraton Hotel, a white elephant in a
sea of
poverty, to host the Non-Aligned Movement in 1986.
Zimbabwean leaders hosted NAM, in keeping with their desire to enhance
their
standing in the international community.
The National Sports
Stadium was yet another project meant to give the
spotlight-crazy Zimbabwe
leadership a place to hold national events from
which to pontificate to the
bemused masses in their impressive English.
The annual Heroes Day
commemorations are only a platform for the
leaders to get an opportunity to
showcase their oratory skills and posture
as the world's most daring leaders
who can fire broadsides at the world's
white leaders with reckless
abandon.
The ruling elite's actions since Independence clearly show
that
genuinely remembering the gallant fallen and living heroes has never
been
one of its priorities.
Since Independence, they have been
obsessed with pursuing a
glory-seeking foreign policy to the almost total
exclusion of advancing the
interest of the liberation war heroes living and
departed whose sacrifices
brought them to power in the first
place.
The leaders are more interested in "dealing a felling blow
to that
intransigent and incorrigible racism" (in the words of President
Mugabe)
ahead of improving the lot of their black people.
While
the country's leadership annually pontificates at the obscenely
opulent
Heroes Acre on Heroes Day, there are still a lot of fallen war
heroes who
lie in unmarked graves in and outside the country.
A group of
concerned war veterans going by the name, Fallen Heroes:
The exhumers, is
literally scavenging in the bush using their bare hands in
search of the
remains of their comrades, with no state support whatsoever.
While
the country's leaders use the occasion to remember the fallen
heroes to fire
more broadsides against imperialists, Mai Tapiwa in Mberengwa
at Chegato
wonders how and when she will ever get to see where her brother
Cde
Zvandasara lies buried, more than 30 years after he left for the
liberation
war.
Mbuya Jura in Rusape has given up hope of ever knowing how her
beloved
son Tendai perished in the war and where his remains lie. Mainini
Madube in
Mberengwa at Chavengwa has resigned to the fact that her wish to
know where
the remains of her war veteran brother Abraham lie, will never be
granted in
her life time.
But the concerns of these peasants
must be subordinated to and come
second to the selfish leaders'
all-important goal of "dealing another blow
to that intransigent and
incorrigible racism" and imperialism, even if it
means Zimbabweans will be
reduced to beggars and economic refugees all over
the world as a
result.
In the 80s and 90s, Zimbabwean leaders were happy to
globe-trot with
the self-same white imperialists they denounce today, while
the war
veterans, the people whose sacrifices brought them into office were
wallowing in abject poverty.
It had to take a march on state
house in 1997, orchestrated by the
fiery war-veteran Chenjerai Hunzvi to get
the leaders to remember the
suffering war veterans.
It was only
concerned black entrepreneurs through the AAG (Affirmative
Action Group) and
IBDC (Indigenous Business Development Centre) who
championed the cause of
black businesses in the 90s while government leaders
were content to bask in
the glory of their role as chief protector of white
interests through the
policy of reconciliation.
The much-hyped land reform when it
finally came was motivated more by
the leaders' desire to vicariously strike
a blow against the British through
grabbing their white kith and kin's
farms, than a genuine desire to empower
blacks.
The leadership
committed national resources to turning Zimbabwe into
the USA of Africa,
policing the African continent while Zimbabweans
continued to sink into
poverty. I thought charity was supposed to begin at
home.
They
spent millions of US dollars in the war in far away DRC, spent
yet more
millions of US dollars fighting Renamo in Mozambique.
All this,
while Zimbabweans continued to suffer in poverty just like
in the colonial
times.
While the Mozambican campaign may be justified considering
how the
Mozambicans had helped Zimbabweans in their fight for independence,
the DRC
campaign cannot be explained in any other way except
self-aggrandisement.
If it was principled Pan-African solidarity
that motivated Zimbabwean
leaders to commit more resources to turning
Zimbabwe into Africa's
self-appointed continental policeman at the expense
of the welfare of
Zimbabweans, why did they refuse to give South Africa's
PAC and ANC space to
set up bases from which to launch their fight against
apartheid?
Could it be a cowardly realisation that Zimbabwe was no
match for the
apartheid regime's mean fighting machine? In contrast to
Zimbabwe's cowardly
refusal to host ANC and PAC bases, Kaunda in true
principled African
solidarity through thick and thin, hosted all liberation
movements from
Southern Africa giving them guerrilla bases, including
Zimbabweans, even
though Zambia shared a border with the powerful
Rhodesians.
While Samora sold out the ANC at Nkomati, Kaunda
remained steadfast
until all southern African countries gained freedom and
independence.
Zimbabweans paid mere lip service to the cause of
total African
independence from colonialism and apartheid.
So,
evidently, Zimbabwe's current leaders cannot be counted among
genuine and
sincere African heroes who dedicated their lives to improving
the lives of
the Africans at home and in the diaspora.
These genuine and sincere
African freedom fighters are people like
Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah,
Thomas Sankara, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth
Kaunda, Martin Luther King Junior,
Malcolm X, Oliver Tambo, Dedan Kimathi,
Bob Marley, and Marcus
Garvey.
Zimbabwean leaders are merely a bunch of shameless
power-obsessed,
self-important hypocrites who opportunistically use the
cloak of
Pan-Africanism to camouflage their selfish interests.
They are more interested in caressing their monstrous egos than
improving
the lot of the citizenry of Zimbabwe.
By Kudakwashe Marazanye:
Social and political commentator.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:02
THE signing of a power-sharing agreement between the country's
three
main political parties last week raised hopes for the revival of one
of the
world's fastest shrinking economies.
President
Robert Mugabe and the leaders of the two formations of the
MDC -- Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara -- signed the pact at a
colourful ceremony
in the capital.
There were reports soon after the agreement was
inked that the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other
multilateral financial
institutions were ready to assist Zimbabwe's
inclusive government stabilise
the flagging economy.
The
international financiers suspended financial and technical aid to
Zimbabwe
in 1998 citing poor economic policies.
Analysts this week said the
country's economic recovery could be
achieved if the international community
provides financial and technical
assistance.
The assistance,
the analysts argued, would only come if the new
government formulates a
specific recovery plan that contextualises the
multi-dimensional causes of
the current economic crisis and prescribes a
solution.
The
analysts dismissed repeated claims by Tsvangirai that the MDC "has
the key"
to unlock international finance, saying he had no capacity to have
sanctions
imposed by the United States, Britain and its European Union
allies
lifted.
Neither Zanu PF nor the MDC, the analysts argued, had the
power to
influence the policy decisions of the countries which imposed the
embargoes.
"It is not Tsvangirai who holds the key to economic
recovery in
Zimbabwe, but a combination of sound policies and a different
approach to
governance that locates economic change in the realm of the
actions of free
thinking citizens and not objects of a benevolent state,"
argued South
African businessman Mutumwa Mawere.
"The thinking
of state actors has to change and a new realisation has
to dawn that it is
not the state that holds the key to progress, but
citizens pursuing their
own self-interest. A country that does not respect
the rule of law, or human
and property rights has no one to blame than its
leaders."
He
said Zimbabwe was in a quagmire and urgently needed access to
capital
markets, but insisted that external inputs could only assist if the
environment in the country was conducive.
"Accordingly, the
prospects of economic recovery are not good, least
because of the threat of
international support, but mainly because no one
has yet taken
responsibility for transforming a once vibrant and promising
country into a
basket case," Mawere said.
"The people in government blame those
that are and have never been in
government for the collapse. The
international community is also blamed for
the free fall of the
economy."
Political commentator and law lecturer at the University
of Kent at
Canterbury in Britain, Alex Magaisa, said Tsvangirai was
important to
economic revival.
"Tsvangirai holds the (economic
revival) key to the extent that his
presence and power in government is more
likely to receive favourable
support from the international supporters," he
argued.
"But beyond that he will need to manage the resources
prudently and
efficiently if there is to be a measure of success. Receiving
financial
support is one thing; using it efficiently is another, totally
different
matter altogether."
Magaisa said Zimbabwe would
struggle to revive the economy without
international support.
Magaisa said: "It is saddled with enormous debt and suffers from a
massive
shortage of foreign currency.
"It needs to access key international
lines of credit to kick-start
its economic revival programme.
But this is going to be a challenge given the global financial turmoil
that
is crippling the countries such as Britain and the America that could
provide such assistance."
Even economists are united that
without international aid the country's
economy would continue to
slide.
ZB Financial Holdings group economist Best Doroh said the
prospects of
recovering without international support were very slim given
that in the
past 10 years the country had created a huge gap in terms of
foreign
currency availability.
"Both our current account and
capital account deficits have continued
to widen, and thus our balance of
payments position has remained poor,"
Doroh said.
"The extent
of the gap created by years of economic contraction
certainly require major
international support in order to restore
macro-economic stability. Local
financial resources will only supplement the
external support."
Economist and investment analyst Lance Mambondiani said the economic
success
of the new government would ultimately depend on the extent of
co-operation
it is able to secure from trade and industry, the farmers and
the trade
unions.
"It (new government) has also to persuade the people to
accept a long,
preferably five-year period of austerity so that the country,
at present
having one of the lowest savings rates in the world, is able to
save more,
invest more and employ more," Mambondiani said.
He
said the country's new economic "managers" were confronted with a
big task,
which may take "forever if they fail to get international
support".
University of Zimbabwe economics professor Anthony
Hawkins recently
said it could take Zimbabwe 10 years to get the country
back to where it was
in the 1990s and 15 years to where it was in the 1980s
if there were no
consistent practical policies supported financially by the
international
community.
Independent economist John Robertson
suggested that before Zimbabwe's
economy is revived, it is going to get
worse.
"The new government has to prove that they deserve to be
given lines
of credit and international support as money alone will not
solve our
problems. We need policies that encourage more production, exports
and
attract investors," said Robertson.
To immediately cushion
the public against further suffering, the new
government has been advised to
accept funding by international organisations
without conditions often
associated with adjustment projects.
The analysts said one of the
major problems with the previous
government was lack of clarity and
consistency in policy direction.
While President Mugabe famously
rebuffed "bookish economics", the
country's economic model has often been a
confused blend of social equity
and market economics.
"The
fragility of the Zimbabwean economy requires an economic approach
which is a
judicious mix between the free markets approach and an
entrepreneurial
paternalist state to guide development," Mambodiani
suggested.
"Implementing these structural reforms should aim toward a competitive
society that thrives on global trends, and putting the bubble economy
completely behind us."
He said restoring investors' confidence
should also be a major
objective of the new government.
"Before
we can attract foreign investment, the interest rate policy
will have to be
reassessed to attract sizable domestic investment,"
Mambondiani
added.
Doroh weighed in: "If there is stability in terms of the
domestic
macro-economic environment, and if our tariff structures are
aligned to the
those in the region, and if we remove a lot of the non-tariff
barriers to
trade then that's a very good starting point in terms of
improving trade
with other countries."
Magaisa said to improve
trade Zimbabwe needs to create a more open and
trustworthy political
system.
"Zimbabwe has been shut off from international programmes
that assist
African countries trade-wise because of its repressive political
system in
the recent past. If that can change, I think Zimbabwe's fortunes
will be
vastly improved," he said
Magaisa said Zimbabwe needed
to shift from its narrow, politically
motivated Look East policy and be more
open to other countries.
"The East itself it not necessarily
charitable; it seeks to improve
its own selfish interests, as does everyone
else," he said
"Zimbabwe should not be encumbered by a narrow
policy that looks only
to one regional block. Even the East itself trades
more and more vigorously
with the West so why should Zimbabwe take a narrow
East-centred route?"
By Paul Nyakazeya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 25 September 2008
19:00
FOLLOWING the historic signing of what I refer to as the "Rainbow
Political Agreement"
(named after the hotel where the
final agreement was reached and the
signing ceremony was conducted; and the
metaphor of a rainbow) on September
14, five key procedures require
immediate attention.
The first step was done last Saturday just
before the signing
ceremony, in which the ministries were
created.
Disappointingly, the principals elevated what one could
have expected
to be departments into full ministries. This was done in a
desperate attempt
to have 31 ministries and jobs for boys.
For
example, it is a waste of resources to have the following as
separate
ministries:
1. Prisons and Correctional Services
2.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs
3. Information Communication
Technology
4. Public Works
5. Public Service
Going by this ill-advised, duplicating and overlapping list and using
the
South African format of clustering ministries, the principals should
organise the ministries into clusters as follows:
(1) Security,
Law and Justice cluster:
1. Defence
2. Home Affairs
3. Justice and Legal Affairs
4. Prisons and Correctional
Services
5. Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs
(2)
Foreign relations cluster
1. Foreign Affairs
2. Regional
Integration and International Trade
3. Transport
4. National
Housing and Social Amenities
5. Information Communication
Technology
6. Water Resources and Management
7. Science and
Technology Development
(5) Social services cluster
1.
Education, Sports, Arts and Culture
2. Health and Child
Welfare
3. Labour and Social Services
4. Women's Affairs,
Gender and Community Development
5. Higher and Tertiary
Education
6. Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment
(6) Intergovernmental co-ordination cluster
1. Public Service
2. Local Government, Urban and Rural Development
3. Media, Information
and Publicity
Thirdly, the principals will have to agree as to
which ministries will
have deputies and that no party shall have its own as
a minister and a
deputy.
The fourth step will be the allocation
of ministries to each of the
three parties.
There is no better
allocation than asking the three principals one
after the other, to indicate
preferred ministries from each party's priority
list, cluster by cluster,
until they are all shared.
The fifth step will be to assign persons
to each ministry.
Clause 20.1.2. of the agreement stipulates that
"the President and
Prime Minister will agree on the allocation of ministries
between them for
the purpose of day-to-day supervision" and 20.1.3 (l) also
stipulates that
after consultation with the vice presidents, the prime
minister and deputy
prime ministers, the president will allocate ministerial
portfolios in
accordance with the agreement.
Guided by the
principle, "let the best person be appointed for each
government
responsibility", each principal will propose three nominees in
order of
preference for each of the ministries allocated for each of the
political
parties.
A leadership in each of the political parties should not
be guarantee
of a ministerial portfolio.
The three names-list
is meant to allow the President, Vice Presidents
and Prime Minister and
Deputy Prime Ministers wider choices to settle on the
best candidate or
compromise nominee in the event there is little or no
consensus on the
ministerial nominees.
After the assigning of the ministerial
portfolios, the President shall
make a formal announcement.
By Levi Mhaka
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 25 September 2008
18:54
I WRITE to answer an opinion article by Bekithemba Mhlanga in the
Independent of September 19 titled "Will Matabeleland get fair
representation?"
Before I go into detail, let me answer
him. No. The deal signed was
not for fair representation of Matabeleland,
Mashonaland or any other
region. It was simply a deal that would put
together the political parties
to find a workable measure to the economic
meltdown, while the country
awaits the crafting of a new democratic
people-driven constitution in 18
months.
It is a fact that
Matabeleland has provided much oxygen to MDC-T and
deserve better treatment,
but this is not an MDC-T government and therefore
putting tribal appeasement
political demands on the working document will be
turning a blind eye on the
real objectives that made Tsvangirai to commit to
work with people who wish
him dead.
It is an unfortunate scenario that people choose to look
backwards
when we are supposed to look forward. What Mhlanga needs to
realise is that
the appeasement game has never produced successful results.
If we date back
into history, Britain signed an appeasement deal with Hitler
in 1938. The
result was catastrophic - World War II.
The
power-sharing deal should not act as an appeasement club for the
spirits of
Joshua Nkomo, Lookout Masuku or King Lobengula who are no longer
participants of this struggle.
Let it be known that should we
decide to play the appeasement spirit
games, we then have to appease the
spirits of Learnmore Jongwe, Talent
Mabika, Austin Mpandawana, Tichaona
Chiminya, Isaac Matongo or Tonderai
Ndira.
The fact that Zanu
PF failed to "truly take up the mantle for Lupani,
Kezi and Mawabeni" should
not be used as a control in the experiment to
judge other political parties.
MDC-T is a party with its own policies
different from Zanu PF.
Tsvangirai is no fool either to forget those that contributed to the
democratic process. I myself contributed too and a lot of others. I have
scars on my back, I was in jail, but I understand that this is not an MDC-T
government, it is a Government of National Unity. It encompasses
all.
There is no room for trivial tribal politics. There is no room
for
fair representation, although everybody deserves fair representation.
This
would be a wrong platform to be asking for that.
By Daniel
Chigundu
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 25
September 2008 18:56
PROFESSOR Geoff Hughes of the University of the
Witwatersrand who
writes for the Johannesburg Star made some useful
observations regarding the
September 15 signing ceremony which has been so
hyped in our state media.
He said the success of any deal
of this sort depends on trust,
goodwill and compromise.
President Mugabe's speech, he said, did not augur well in this
regard.
"His praise for President Thabo Mbeki for 'finding an
African solution
to an African problem' was a revealing piece of
isolationist thinking,"
Hughes said. "After all, he and his henchmen have
been the major source of
the problem."
"Mugabe's usual rant
about British and American 'interference' ignores
the fact that the economic
meltdown he has presided over now necessitates
aid from all sources. It will
be interesting to see the role of the Chinese
in this respect," Hughes
observes.
Mugabe's comment that "democracy in Africa is a difficult
proposition"
is normally one heard from right-wing whites, Hughes notes.
"His argument
has nothing to do with Africa - it is simply intolerance of
opposition."
Indeed.
What surprises us about
Mugabe's speech on September 15 was its
complete lack of depth. Here was an
opportunity for Mugabe to deliver a
speech that positioned him as a
statesman who accepted responsibility for
policy failures and understood the
need for national unity in overcoming the
damage.
Instead it
was the usual stream-of-consciousness that sought to blame
the British and
Americans for all the country's setbacks. Slumped on the
table in front of
him, he saw no need to capture the importance of the
occasion or to provide
leadership. It was just more of the same. And the
body language of those
listening told its own story. Morgan Tsvangirai
covered his face in
embarrassment. Mbeki looked around the room as if to say
"what on earth is
he talking about?"
Unreported in the official media were the cheers
that greeted every
mention of Ian Khama's name. Mugabe certainly understood
the significance of
this and attempted to suggest he was close to Khama's
parents at the time of
Independence. This probably came as news to
Ian!
Mugabe claimed he had never issued a word of reproach about
Botswana.
But this was disingenuous. He may not have said anything but his
newspapers,
directed from his office, have been vitriolic.
But
what was even more interesting in Mugabe's remarks was his failure
to
acknowledge the presence of his two vice-presidents. They didn't get a
mention either from Mugabe or the other dignitaries present who showered
praise on everybody else.
Those who have accused Mugabe of
being a closet royalist will have
found ammunition in his fawning reference
to King Mswati who Tsvangirai had
supposedly snubbed, among others.
Tsvangirai had resisted all entreaties to
sign up, Mugabe said.
"Even the king!" he declared to everybody's amusement.
Except
Grace. She sat there unsmiling throughout, the Iron Mask
evident to all.
This uncomfortable ceremony marked the end of her ambitions
as well as her
husband's. She was just a stone's throw from the prime
minister-designate
who she had sought to humble during the election
campaign. Now it was her
turn to eat humble pie.
Those fortunate to watch the signing of
Zimbabwe's power-sharing
agreement whether on TV or in-person had an
opportunity to witness why there
is more to this story than the details of
the agreement itself. For the very
first time in Zimbabwe's history Mugabe
had to share the stage with someone
who had won an election against him.
Someone that he has repeatedly vilified
in speeches, in his own media and in
countless exchanges with Sadc and the
AU over the years. Moreover, he did
this in front of a host of leaders from
the region. And in doing so, the
myth that he alone is the only leader of
Zimbabwe was shattered. Although
more and more Zimbabweans have been coming
to this realisation for a while,
leaders in Sadc and the AU have taken more
time to appreciate it. Last week
changed that.
After the signing ceremony, the two main rivals had a
chance to speak
and in doing so, history may have been made. With the stage
now freely
available to the two long-time protagonists without the filter of
the state
press and without the interference of the army or police, the
audience had a
chance to evaluate the men on their own merits and in the
context of today's
Zimbabwe. The stark contrasts were not only ideological,
but generational as
well.
Tsvangirai spoke from prepared notes
in a speech that was
well-written, responsible and hit on some important
points. He quoted from
Mugabe's speech in 1980 about turning swords into
plowshares and moving
forward in unison. He talked about the need for the
immediate resumption of
food aid, the need for medicines in clinics, the
restoration of the economy.
He also spoke about the sacrifices that so many
have made in Zimbabwe over
the years. He referred to the war of Independence
but also reminded the
audience that he too carries scars from a different
phase of the struggle.
He outlined a five-point action-oriented plan to get
Zimbabwe moving again.
In a sense, it was Tsvangirai's coming out
party. He is now an African
statesman, sharing the same stage as Mugabe. And
to some, Tsvangirai's road
to the job was just as tough as many others who
have overcome injustice in
Zimbabwe and elsewhere on the continent to reach
positions of influence.
Mugabe spoke without notes. Although he
stuck to a script that hasn't
changed in decades, many of his other remarks
were not focused and he didn't
seem prepared for the event. It was clear
that he thought this day would
never arrive and at times it was unclear if
he fully realised that it had.
He had sharp words for the British and US
sanctions and railed against the
external interference in Zimbabwe. He
pronounced that what he viewed as an
externally-driven regime change project
was dead. He underlined that he will
use his authority as president but gave
no indication as to why he had
agreed to the power-sharing
arrangement.
He mused that Zimbabweans outside on the street must
be wondering what
is going on, but he suggested that others go and tell them
as it was
important for them to know. It was clear that although he has
signed an
agreement diminishing his powers, he will be as critical and
uncompromising
as ever. He also made light of the challenges that democracy
and elections
pose for Africa and chided opposition movements for expecting
"more than
they deserve". At times, he responded to catcalls from the
audience,
something he has never had to do before. The configuration of the
audience
was clearly new. He spoke almost entirely in the past tense and did
not
mention an ordinary Zimbabwean at any point in his remarks.
This open stage allowed the audience to view the sharp contrast
between the
two men in an unfiltered, unprecedented way. This therefore has
the
potential to be an important turning point in Zimbabwe's transition. It
was
as if Tsvangirai seized the moment, while Mugabe was seized by it.
This was an occasion that the applause-o-meter was made for. The crowd
in
attendance clearly spoke with their hands. Mugabe's monopoly of the
political stage in Zimbabwe is over. In addition, and potentially more
importantly, his monopoly over telling Zimbabwe's story to Sadc and the AU
also appears to be over as well. President Kikwete remarked that we are
witnessing a new generation of African leaders.
Information
minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu has urged the press to act
"responsibly" on the
current situation following the political settlement.
It was therefore
curious to see the following remarks in the Herald's
Nathaniel Manheru
column last weekend.
British settlers, Manheru claims, are angry
that the agreement
supposedly ties the MDC to Zanu PF's rhetoric on the
Third Chimurenga.
"They are not appeased even by promises of an
independent land audit
which MDC-T has been agitating for, but whose
operationalisation is sure to
draw blood redder than the setting
sun.
"Who will be in it," Manheru asks? "Who will dare go to the
countryside to start processes calculated to appease (Tony) Hawkins and
(John) Robertson's yearn for a return to settler agrarian policy? Then you
will have a real war here of the kind not even America can put
out."
So this is "responsible journalism" Zanu PF-style?
Threatening
bloodshed if the commitment by all parties to remove
multiple-farm holders
is implemented?
Please let's take note of
those threats from the crumbling ancien
regime's apparatchiks who are
abusing the public media to subvert agreements
reached by warning of
violence if they are adhered to.
What has Ndlovu got to say about
this manifest abuse?
The Herald recently published a promotional
sidebar headed "A legacy
of inclusive governments". It deceitfully suggested
"Zimbabwe has a history
of putting the national interest first before
political considerations as
President Mugabe has appointed inclusive
cabinets that reflected the
diversity of opinion on the political scene
since 1980".
This suggests the political agreement signed last week
was the product
of a magnanimous president, not a reflection of his
diminished authority.
This week he abandoned steps to produce an inclusive
cabinet, which he had
only last month suggested was of compelling
importance, to jet off to the UN
to strut upon the world stage.
As for a history of inclusive governments, the people of Matabeleland
may
have a different view. An estimated 20 000 lost their lives in
Gukurahundi
because they got in the way of Mugabe's one-party-state project.
General Peter Walls is described in the same article as "former RF
commander". Does anyone else know about this mysterious post?
And how about this for a piece of deception: "Unconfirmed reports say
the
new inclusive cabinet to be appointed in the wake of the power-sharing
deal
will have 15 Zanu PF ministers, 13 MDC-T ministers and three MDC
ministers
to reflect the popular vote during the harmonised elections."
Does
the retention of Mugabe's dead-wood who have got the country into
this fine
mess really reflect the will of voters? Is that what they voted
for: decline
and dereliction?
The Herald should be careful with articles of this
sort. They
discredit the whole inclusive government project by identifying
it with past
repression and failure. Some of the people mentioned as
reflecting Mugabe's
policy of inclusiveness subsequently had their property
seized and their
life's work destroyed.
Shouldn't Zanu PF
recognise the popular will and take a rest instead
of pretending they have
some historic mission to defend? Nobody buys that
hogwash
anymore.
South Africa, having provided us with so many examples
of poor
governance in recent years, this week managed to show Africa's
immovable
despots how it's done. Whatever we may think of Thabo Mbeki and
his Aids
denialism, his crony police commissioners, and his rigid support
for
manifestly incompetent ministers, the manner of his going - disciplined,
dignified and diligent - set an example of how leaders can put the national
interest before self-serving claims of indispensability.
The
state media spent the whole week reminding us of Mbeki's "heroic"
role in
forging last week's political settlement. What they didn't say was
how the
example of his departure also contributed immensely to Zimbabwe's
democratic
liberation!
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 25 September 2008
18:52
WITHIN days of his diplomatic triumph in Harare, uniting
seemingly
irreconcilable forces, he had been laid low by his own
party.
The story of Thabo Mbeki's defeat by rivals within
the ANC has all the
ingredients of a powerful drama. But it also contains an
example of humility
which South Africa's neighbours could learn from. How
many African leaders
have agreed to step down when their time was clearly
up? You can count them
on one hand. Mbeki still had six months to run in his
term.
But what President Jakaya Kikwete pointed out rather
tellingly at last
week's ceremony was that a new generation of leaders have
replaced the
standard-bearers of the independence struggle. Kikwete is
himself among the
youthful successors. In fact there has been a change of
leadership three
times since Mwalimu Julius Nyerere stepped
down.
Then there is Botswana where Africa's youngest leader has
spoken out
against the tyranny of Africa's oldest.
That
explains the sustained applause his name evoked at every mention
on
September 15.
The other hero of the hour was of course Thabo Mbeki
who presided over
Zimbabwe's Rainbow revolution. Not the most popular figure
in opposition
circles, he was nevertheless appreciated for his patience and
persistence in
resolving a crisis Zimbabweans themselves were unable to
resolve.
But within a week of Mbeki's triumph he had fallen upon
his sword.
Confronted by evidence of a mounting revolt of opponents in his
own party
and unfailingly loyal to the ANC that bred him, he accepted their
letter of
recall with calm dignity. While South Africa's management of its
political
crisis has absorbed observers, nobody seems to have noticed the
implications
for our own. Mbeki's departure leaves a vacuum in regional
diplomacy which
will be impossible to fill. His successors have none of the
skill or clout
to deal with the obdurate despot to the north. Nor do any of
the Sadc
leaders who gave Mbeki his mandate.
This comes at
exactly the moment the unity process has run aground -
again.
Here all parties were delinquent in failing to settle the distribution
of
power within the new regime before the signing ceremony. Following his
talks
with Mugabe last Thursday, Morgan Tsvangirai disclosed that: "They
wanted
everything - all the key ministries".
This would be suicidal for
the new order. Power-sharing requires
goodwill and sincerity, not greed and
obstinacy. Anyway, elementary good
sense would dictate that any attempt to
retain the Ministry of Finance, one
of the many stumbling blocks last
Thursday, we gather, would see a stayaway
by international lenders and
investors.
Zanu PF needs reminding that the whole negotiations
exercise had one
principal objective: to prevent Mugabe and his cronies from
inflicting
further damage on the economy by populist posturing of the sort
that has
caused incalculable damage over the past decade. The collapse of
agriculture, education, health, industry and commerce and the emigration of
hundreds of thousands of our citizens are all the direct product of a regime
that refuses to listen or change. No international lender of note will sink
money in a government that persistently declines to govern
well.
By clinging to ministries like Finance and Agriculture, Zanu
PF is
telling the world it won't change its stripes.
Tsvangirai
has described Mbeki's departure as "a blow". Without his
supervision, it is
believed, Mugabe will feel less inclined to make
concessions in the
distribution of cabinet portfolios. But without a genuine
sharing of power
there can be no long-term settlement.
Those around Mugabe don't
seem to appreciate this elementary point.
They think the agreement is
designed to hire the MDC to dig them out of the
hole they have been working
on for 10 years. They want to hang on, abusing
power and behaving
badly.
The US embassy supplied 54 visas for Mugabe's entourage to
the UN
General Assembly this week. That includes his wife and son, according
to
press reports.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai can't secure a passport
from the
Registrar-General, a Mugabe loyalist.
Nothing more
encapsulates the extent of the problem. Zanu
PF-controlled broadcasters and
newspapers pour forth a toxic lava of hate.
Opposition leaders and
independent newspaper editors face time-consuming
court cases for allegedly
bringing the state into disrepute by telling truth
to power.
Mugabe declines to negotiate in good faith an all-inclusive government
but
instead takes his family and officials on a trip to New York.
Mbeki, it is reported, may stay on as mediator, but this would be
problematic if he goes to court to rebut charges made in the Nicholson
judgement.
Last week's celebrations came much too soon. The
seriousness and
flexibility needed to make the settlement work are
altogether absent. That
is the real story this week.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 25
September 2008 18:50
WHEN ANC leader Jacob Zuma said you don't hit a
dead snake on the head
in reference to President Thabo Mbeki, I assumed he
knew what he was talking
about, for that is what Mbeki has been since
Polokwane.
Yet there are sadistic elements in his party who
not only derive
pleasure in beating a dead snake on the head but in also
grinding it to the
ground.
Mbeki was forced to resign on
Sunday, which he did with disarming
dignity. Zuma had not expected it. The
pronouncement by Judge Chris
Nicholson on his corruption charges acted as a
spur to the Zuma camp which
has been on the rampage, threatening judges and
every institution likely to
stand in the way of their hero's path to the
presidency.
The mob led by Julius Malema has become a Frankenstein
monster;
neither Zuma nor the ANC should feel at ease. We are witnessing
here not a
people's democracy, but mobocracy at its worst. The world is
watching in
alarm the ANC's headlong rush given that Mbeki had only six
months to
complete his term. There was no need to cause such turbulence by a
person
who should soon be leader of the most powerful economy in the
region.
But then South Africa presents paradoxes and dilemmas.
There are
sections of business who hate Mbeki for his foreign policy,
especially his
supposed cosy relationship with President Robert Mugabe and
would love to
see him go. He "allowed" Mugabe to set a bad example with his
land
expropriations, and now his plans for the mining sector. But they liked
Mbeki's liberal approach to business back home.
They liked
Zuma's posturing about Mugabe, not simply to spite Mbeki,
but also because
it gave the illusion of a changed ANC towards Zimbabwe once
Zuma assumes
office. But the same people are anxious about Zuma's probable
domestic
policies given the ANC's alliance with the leftist Cosatu and the
South
African Communist Party. What will stop Zuma from using his
demagoguery to
go the Robert Mugabe way?
Zuma himself has been trying since before
Polokwane to allay these
fears, going all the way to Europe and the United
States to assure investors
that their money would be safe. Unfortunately he
can't overplay this card
without upsetting his partners who gloat over what
Mugabe has done in
Zimbabwe, if only SA can avoid the wholesale destruction
of commercial
agriculture and hunger.
But for the ANC's petty
vindictiveness against Mbeki, Zuma might shirk
a task which it is his
appointed hour to execute. South Africa has been
blessed to have each leader
in the right temperament. It needed the
stabilising charisma of Nelson
Mandela at its most volatile hour of majority
rule in 1994. It thus managed
a relatively peaceful transition.
Then followed the calculating
pragmatism of Thabo Mbeki to entrench
black majority rule while the
different races were held under Mandela's
charm. He made lots of blunders
and many enemies in his 15 years in the
presidency, but there is consensus
that the economy flourished and a black
middle class grew exponentially
under his reign.
He is accused of being an aloof intellectual,
while Zuma is more
affable; closer to the people like Nelson Mandela but
without the latter's
intellect and personal integrity.
Never in
the history of nations has a leader been so vicariously
penalised at home
and abroad for another's sins as Mbeki has been for
Mugabe. For all his
alleged faults about crime, unemployment, cronyism and
Zuma, none looms
larger than his "failure to deal" with Mugabe. From then
on, every little
fault of Mbeki was all the more uglier for his association
with Mugabe in
inverse proportion as Zuma's victimhood grew. (Witness even
the risible
casuistry by everyone, including a gullible media, of trying to
blame the
Aids scourge among blacks on Mbeki and absolve the apartheid
system for
their squalor and backwardness which provide the most fertile
breeding
ground.)
Then came Polokwane, the mediation between Mugabe and
Morgan
Tsvangirai, then Nicholson's coup de grace and Mbeki was fair game.
It is
here that Zuma could have forfeited his historic mandate. Ousting
Mbeki
would be an ephemeral victory if it so divides the ANC that Zuma wins
with a
significantly reduced majority in next year's election that he is
unable to
complete his historic mission to give land to the
poor.
While a weaker ANC should be good for "democracy", it means
Zuma would
not be able to pass the necessary legal reforms to give land to
the poor.
There are many land owners in South Africa who still insist on the
market-based willing-seller, willing-buyer principle fully aware that
government can't raise the money, and meanwhile the poor are getting as
impatient as they were in Zimbabwe by 1999. The bogey of Mugabe's failed
enterprise cannot be used to freeze history forever. Will populist Zuma
resist the temptation to summon his mshini wami? Remember John F Kennedy's
dictum: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent
revolution inevitable."
In short, Zuma's was not a coup on
Mbeki; it was a coup for business,
it was a coup for the anti-land reform
lobby, for the country squire; most
importantly, Zuma might have staged a
coup against the nation's poor who
look to him to go further than Mandela
and Mbeki did in the struggle for
black economic empowerment. What a better
way to subvert one's authority
than to lead a fractured and emasculated ANC
at this critical hour! Mbeki
took care of the middle class and business; how
will Zuma address mass
poverty?
By Joram Nyathi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 25
September 2008 18:47
THE "unity government" agreement, signed by
Zimbabwe's leading
political parties last week, addressed the issues of
land, and therefore of
agriculture, amongst many other critical
considerations impacting upon
Zimbabwe's future.
Issues
of land ownership and usage have been amongst the most
contentious that have
fuelled not only the Zimbabwean political divide, but
also its troubled
international relationships, and those issues must be
constructively
addressed if there is to be a resolution to Zimbabwe's
economic and
political ills, and if the agreement is to be an effective
catalyst to
transformation of Zimbabwe from its currently appalling and
abysmal
circumstances.
After yet again berating the deeply hated
colonialist regimes of the
past, the agreement provides that: "Accepting the
inevitability and
desirability of a comprehensive land reform programme in
Zimbabwe that
redresses the issues of historical issues imbalances and
injustices in order
to address the issues of equity, productivity and
justice.
"While differing on a methodology of acquisition and
distribution the
parties acknowledge that compulsory acquisition and
redistribution of land
has taken place under a land reform programme
undertaken since 2000.
"Accepting the irreversibility of the said
land acquisitions and
redistribution.
"Noting that in the
current Constitution of Zimbabwe and further in
the Draft Constitution
agreed to by the parties the primary obligation of
compensating former
owners for land acquired rests on the former colonial
power.
"Further recognising the need to ensure that all land is used
productively
in the interests of all the people of Zimbabwe.
"Recognising the
need for women's access and control over land in
their own right as equal
citizens.
"The parties hereto agree to:
(a) conduct a
comprehensive, transparent and non-partisan land audit .
. . for the purpose
of establishing accountability and eliminating multiple
farm
ownerships.
(b) ensure that all Zimbabweans who are eligible to be
allocated land
and who apply for it shall be considered for allocation of
land irrespective
of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political
affiliation;
(c) ensure security of tenure to all land
holders;
(d) call upon the United Kingdom government to accept the
primary
responsibility to pay compensation for land acquired from former
land owners
for resettlement;
(e) work together to secure
international support and finance for the
land reform programme in terms of
compensation for the former land owners
and support for new farmers;
and
(f) work together for the restoration of full productivity on
all
agricultural land."
The provisions of the agreement are
like the renowned curate's egg
(good and bad in part).
The
introductory declarations fail to acknowledge that agriculture was
the
foundation and the mainstay of the Zimbabwean economy and that it was
reduced to near total destruction by the abysmal and tryannical approach to
land reform.
Undoubtedly, justice and equity dictated that
there be reform, but not
in a manner which would be economically
cataclysmic, and would reduce most
Zimbabweans to a state of extreme
poverty.
The agreement contends that the land acquisition and
redistribution of
the past eight years is
irreversible, but this
should
not deter the incoming government and its successors from
resorting
to major modifications and adjustments as will address the
past
breaches of justice, and will restore agriculture to its foremost
economic
role.
Moreover, the recurrent insistence that any
compensation to former
land owners be funded by the previously ruling
colonial power is naught but
abdication of responsibility and attempted
unfounded transferral of debt.
The agreement disregards that most
land that had been occupied in the
colonial era had not been occupied or
used prior to arrival of the
colonialists.
It also ignores the
considerable funding provided by Britain and
others after Zimbabwe's
Independence.
It takes no notice of the extent that government
issued certificates
of no interest, enabling transferance of land
ownership.
Very correctly, the agreement targets at attaining
productivity in
land usage, but does not seek to facilitate return to the
land of those who
had over decades proven their skills which yielded immense
productivity.
That return to the land would not only be a catalyst
for the recovery
of agriculture, but would also enable transferance of
skills to new farmers.
The agreement also calls for security of
tenure for landowners, but
even greater security is required.
Agriculture is a capital-intensive undertaking, and if landowners are
to
have access to necessary capital, they must be genuine landowners, and
not
just tenants with long-tenure leases.
Therefore, either Zimbabwe
must revert to land ownership evidenced by
registered title, or leases must
be readily negotiable and transferable.
If the politicians can
remove the chips from their shoulders, be
forward-looking instead of
dwelling in the past, can create a genuinely
enabling agricultural
environment, then given adequate time, agriculture
will again be Zimbabwe's
secure economic base.
If they are belatedly able to "think outside
the box", and instead
have constructive vision, agriculture will again be
Zimbabwe's greatest
employer of labour, its principal generator of foreign
exchange, the
fuellant for intensive downstream economic activity, and a
major revenue
source for the fiscus, in addition to once again being the
bread basket of
the region.
By Erich Bloch
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Thursday, 25 September 2008
18:45
HOME Affairs minister Kembo Mohadi this week presented us with a
rosy
picture of policing which does not necessarily identify with law
enforcement
in Zimbabwe.
Addressing military personnel
at the Staff College this week, Mohadi
said the police should "uphold its
primary role of dealing with civil
disorders with no political overtones as
well as riots with revolutionary
intent. In all these actions, minimum
appropriate force must be used."
The deception in the minister's
statement resonates with statements
from police chiefs whenever local police
officers go on United Nations
duties. Deputy Commissioner-General Godwin
Matanga last year said this about
professionalism in the force: "Without
doubt, it is a clear indication that
we are and have always discharged our
duties professionally and in
accordance with international police standards,
for had it not been for
that, the United Nations would not have invited us
to provide personnel for
peacekeeping duties."
But to an
average Zimbabwean, the professionalism of our police force
is not measured
by the number of peacekeeping missions ZRP officers
participate in. No one
really expects officers on duty in Kosovo or East
Timor to attack
demonstrators with truncheons and booted feet or to beat up
the leaders of
an opposition party at a police station. The police
Zimbabweans have known
lately will use a hammer to swat a fly.
In May last year the world
was confronted with gruesome images of
brutalised leaders of the opposition
and the National Constitutional
Assembly. They were victims of police
brutality which was condoned by the
highest office. President Mugabe at the
time disingenuously defended the
beating up of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai
in police custody saying
"chakadashurwa (it was thoroughly
beaten)".
"Of course he was bashed," Mugabe told a rally of Zanu PF
supporters.
"But he and his MDC must stop their terrorist activists. We are
saying to
him, 'Stop it now or you will regret it'."
The
instruction to the police at the time was clear -- crush dissent!
Six months
earlier Mugabe had also defended the police's heavy-handedness in
crushing a
planned workers' march. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU) was
forced to abandon plans for a series of anti-government protests
after the
organisers were beaten up and arrested while gathering for the
march in
central Harare.
"Police were right in dealing sternly with ZCTU
leaders during their
demonstration ... because the trade unionists want to
become a law unto
themselves," Mugabe said.
"We cannot have a
situation where people decide to sit in places not
allowed and when the
police remove them, they say no. We can't have that.
That is a revolt to the
system. When the police say move, move. If you don't
move, you invite the
police to use force."
The handiwork of the police -- bandaged
skulls and limbs, bruised
buttocks and thighs and swollen faces -- was given
extensive coverage around
the world. There was no remorse for this bloody
episode. It was considered
the right way of policing, especially after
receiving presidential
endorsement.
But the authorities are
aware that a police force does not gain
respect by beating up political
opponents and inconvenient civic leaders,
including lawyers. They are also
aware that the police force is more
effective in its duties if it forges
alliances with the general public and
not when officers run personal errands
for the powerful and the privileged.
Many victims of police brutality will
find it difficult to reconcile Mohadi's
statement with reality on the
ground.
Mohadi's sentiments without doubt are designed to fall in
sync with
the power-sharing agreement between Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations. The
agreement clearly states that "recruitment policies and
practices (of
uniformed forces should) be conducted in a manner that ensures
that no
political or other form of favouritism is practised". It also says
that
state organs and institutions should "observe the principles of the
rules of
law and remain non-partisan and impartial".
This is
easier said than done. In post-conflict societies,
reconstruction efforts
must focus on rebuilding and strengthening
institutions. The key to this
process is not just institutional reform
during the democratisation process,
but public perception of state organs as
well. Our police force has not only
been accused of battery and
heavy-handedness but of demanding bribes and of
sloppiness in carrying out
investigations.
In essence police
performance is not necessarily improved in the
democratic transition, on the
contrary, it tends to deteriorate. Violence
and arbitrariness are also not
reduced but can grow with its inefficiency.
The bad image that the public
has of the police is sustained by the police
force's poor performance, by
its violence and arbitrariness and by the lack
of prudent controls. There is
also an absence of institutional channels for
people to voice their
complaints about police behaviour.
The public is often torn between
the need for public security that
should be provided by the police and the
lack of confidence in it and even
fear of it. Lack of trust does not
translate into demands for improvement of
police performance or in demands
for control over it. To the contrary,
mistrust often goes hand in hand with
an acceptance of arbitrary behaviour
and inefficiency.
To build
trust, it is important for the police to perform routine
duties efficiently:
that is making an arrest without resorting to force and
attending to
incidents expeditiously. That's the police we want. Not the
make-believe
force Mohadi has conjured up.
By Vincent Kahiya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com
Children Should Not Be Used For Political
Ends
Thursday, 25 September 2008 18:43
AS a proud citizen of
Zimbabwe I would like to appeal to the new
government of national unity to
provide laws that make it illegal to force
school children to attend
political rallies.
Zanu PF is notorious for forcing school
children to wait for hours and
hours under the hot sun so that politicians
can address "huge crowds". It is
quite true that some hungry and thirsty
school children have fainted while
waiting to be addressed by these
politicians. School children must never be
abused, let alone for political
purposes, particularly when they are
incapable of voting.
Furthermore, political parties must not be allowed to use school
facilities
for the purpose of political rallies without paying for them. I
propose that
there be charges which schools should be free to stipulate and
such fees
should be paid before the said rally and the school should then be
allowed
to use such fees to develop their school, be it for purchasing
stationery or
furniture.
Never again must we allow the breeding of fear in our
young children
by forcing them to attend these rallies. Let's set the ball
rolling now and
safeguard the lives of our children. If the politicians want
to see children
at their rallies, then they should have their own children
wait on them, not
other people's children.
Benard
Dzumbunu
c.knowledge@sky.com
------------
Irony Of Mbeki's Fall
Thursday, 25 September 2008 18:41
NOT
even Shakespeare could have written a better plot for South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki.
The man who on September 11
brokered a Government of National Unity
between Zimbabwe's political rivals,
President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister designate Morgan Tsvangirai was
forced to resign by his political
party the ANC.
This came amid
accusations from a judge that Mbeki's office had a hand
in corruption
charges levelled against Mbeki's successor Jacob Zuma.
The leftist
governing ANC leadership went after Mbeki, asking him to
resign when he had
a little over a year to finish his last term. What seems
intriguing to most
is that Mbeki showed no emotion towards the political
guillotine over his
head.
He simply said he will step down and go through all
formalities.
When Zimbabweans asked Mbeki to cut Mugabe's
dictatorial tendencies by
denouncing violence in Zimbabwe he said
nothing.
What seemed interesting to me is that Mbeki does not seem
to care for
humanity. When South Africa was burdened by Zimbabwean refugees,
he refused
to pointout that, to Mugabe until it was too late.
The xenophobic attacks targeted Zimbabwean workers and a few other
African
foreigners. What happened during those riots was beyond
imagination.
When South Africa was under apartheid rules
Zimbabweans opened their
homes to their South African
neighbours.
We helped them and did not burn them at night as we
witnessed early
this year.
One would think since Mbeki is
business- minded, all that cheap
Zimbabwean labour pouring from the north of
the Limpopo only helped South
Africa's business interests to
grow.
Mbeki used his so-called quiet diplomacy to protect Mugabe
for as long
as he could because it served his interests.
The
West got fed up with the Harare government and cut all business
links with
Mugabe and his elite Zanu PF cronies. At least this touched the
economy
where it hurts most and has worked to bring the dictator to talk.
The irony of Mbeki's exit is that while he respects the will of the
ANC and
the people of South Africa, he fostered a deal that did not respect
the will
of the majority of Zimbabweans at home and abroad.
Mbeki did not
condemn the June election when Zanu PF released the army
units to urban and
rural Zimbabwe, cut off food aid to the needy masses and
bludgeoned
Zimbabweans for their allegiance to the Movement for Democratic
Change.
Mbeki did not rebuke Mugabe's hallucinations of a
Western conspiracy,
and his disregard of the ballot box.
While
the sun is up high in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the people trample
upon their
own shadows at mid-day, Mbeki's sun is setting.
I only hope that
Southern Africa rests from the political drama of
2008.
I wish
Mbeki well in what he embarks on, in any case he still has the
Zimbabwean
saga hanging.
The plot of Mbeki ends with his emotionless
resignation.
Tafadzwa
Canada.
---------------
Bank Charges Criminally
Ridiculous
Thursday, 25 September 2008 18:39
BANK charges have
gone ridiculous. For one to get a statement it costs
$5 000, for an internal
transfer it is $10 000.
For one to get a small cheque book
it costs $100 000 and the bigger
company cheque book costs $300 000. How do
banks arrive at these criminal
figures?
The maximum cash I can
get is a mere $1 000 after using a leaf which
has more value than the amount
being withdrawn.
It does not make sense at all.
What
justification does the bank have to charge such a high fee? They
should in
fact be grateful that under these harsh times I am giving them my
money to
keep and must not charge such punitive rates as if it is a crime to
bank
with them.
Gone are the days one happily banked and withdrew their
salaries.
Banks ought to sit down as a matter of urgency and treat
their clients
with the respect they deserve. For now they have lost one
client as I will
no longer be their client.
Get real and charge
realistic fees.
For now I will keep the little money I have under
my pillow at home
and access it when needed without any
hassles.
Cheated once again.
Harare.
-------------
Fleeced By Pharmacy
Thursday,
25 September 2008 18:37
I RECENTLY walked into a QV pharmacy in Harare
intending to buy some
medicine.
The price displayed on
the counter was $90 000. I advised the
attendant that I wanted to pay using
Visa card.
He advised me that the displayed price was for cash and
the swipe
price was six times more than the cash price. I asked why? All he
said was
that it was the norm. I would have to pay $540 000.
When a subsidiary of public quoted companies trading on the Zimbabwe
Stock
Exchange are also engaged in unethical conduct what is the future of
this
country?
Where is the NIPC and the ZSE in all this madness? We are
being
fleeced.
To the RBZ -- please allow me to withdraw all my
money from my bank
account so that I can buy my medicine at an affordable
price.
Sick person
Harare.