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Mon Sep 1,
10:04 AM ET
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's main opposition called on regional
powers on
Monday to pressure President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party
to be more
flexible in power-sharing talks.
Negotiations between
the two sides ended at the weekend without a deal, but
a spokesman for South
African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the
talks, said they were
still alive.
"We hope the SADC and President Thabo Mbeki are going to
play the umpire
role and help to have flexibility on the part of ZANU-PF,"
said Nelson
Chamisa, spokesman for the Movement for Democratic
Change.
The regional bloc Southern African Development Community (SADC)
appointed
Mbeki as mediator in July.
"ZANU-PF has to be persuaded to
be rational and put the people first. The
dialogue is not just about power.
It has to go beyond that," Chamisa told
AFP.
"They (ZANU-PF) are not
committed to finding a solution to the problems
bedevilling the country. All
they want is power," he added.
The talks, which began in July, have
stalled amid differences over how to
share executive powers between Mugabe
and opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai in a national unity
government.
The rival parties returned home from South Africa at the
weekend after
Mbeki's bid to kick-start the talks failed.
Mbeki had
separate talks with negotiators from both camps on Friday.
His spokesman
said Monday that the talks would continue, but declined to say
when or how
they would resume.
"The mediation and the talks continue, it is an
ongoing process. Don't
listen to the insinuations that the talks broke
down," spokesman Mukoni
Rashitanga told AFP.
Chamisa insisted Monday
that the continued detention of four opposition MPs,
arrested last week, was
"part of the ZANU-PF strategy to undermine our
majority in
parliament."
"One wonders about the sincerity of ZANU-PF in the talks.
You can't be
hunting down the very people you are negotiating
with."
Mugabe has threatened to form a new government without the MDC if
the
impasse continues.
The 84-year-old leader, in power since
independence in 1980, was re-elected
in June in a one-man presidential
run-off after Tsvangirai, victor in the
first round, bowed out amid
widespread electoral violence.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3322
September 1, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Members of
Parliament,
arrested last week, appeared in court on alleged offences
committed during
the run-up to the June 27 presidential election
runoff.
Pearson Mungofa, the MP for Highfield East, appeared at the
Harare
Magistrates' court on Friday facing charges of causing disaffection
among
the armed forces.
Mungofa is accused of teaming up with MDC
party's secretary Tichaona
Mudzingwa and "spreading lies that Morgan
Tsvangirai has won the March 29
elections."
Tsvangirai, leader of the
mainstream MDC, won the first round of Zimbabwe's
presidential elections in
March but official results showed him falling
short of a
majority.
Mugabe was re-elected in June in a one-man presidential run-off
after
Tsvangirai pulled out amid widespread electoral
violence.
Mungofa was arrested last Tuesday after being sworn in as a
Member of the
House of Assembly when Parliament opened.
It is alleged
that the Mongofa and Mudzingwa intended to meet Zimbabwe
National Army (ZNA)
Commander Lieutenant General Philip Valerio Sibanda over
power transition
before the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) officially
announced the
results.
Mungofa's lawyer Alec Muchadehama challenged the decision to
place the MP on
remand, saying there was no reasonable suspicion that he had
committed any
offence.
The State alleges the two were referred to the
Officer Commanding KGVI
military camp, Lieutenant Colonel Lunga, who
informed them that Sibanda was
not available.
The two allegedly
misinformed the soldiers that Tsvangirai had won the
presidential poll with
62 percent when ZEC had not announced the results.
The State accuses the
two of intending to cause disaffection among the
defence forces.
On
the same day, the Harare regional court imposed a fine of $200 on the MDC
MP
for Epworth, Eliah Jembere, for failing to attend court.
He is accused of
raping the wife of an MDC councillor in his constituency
while her husband
was in remand prison for another politically-related case.
Jembere
defaulted trial on May 27 and was placed on the police wanted list.
He was
arrested on Monday last week when he attended the swearing-in
ceremony for
legislators at Parliament.
The court fined him, saying he had been in
wilful default. He was remanded
out of custody to September 4 for
trial.
Meanwhile, the trial of St Mary's legislator Marvelous Khumalo
accused of
throwing stones at the house of former Chitungwiza Mayor,
Darlington Nota,
opened last Thursday.
He is being charged with
another nine MDC officials. The nine pleaded not
guilty to the charges when
they were arraigned before Chitungwiza magistrate
Shane Kubonera. They were
remanded to September 8 for continuation of
trial.
Testifying in
court, Nota said he was relaxing at home when he heard noises
from outside.
He said a gang introduced themselves as MDC supporters and
started shouting
obscenities at him and denigrating the President.
International Herald Tribune
The Associated PressPublished: September 1,
2008
HARARE, Zimbabwe: Not all Zimbabwean aid agencies can
get back to work in
the impoverished country, despite a government
announcement that a ban had
been lifted, a spokesman for an umbrella
organization said Monday.
"The state effectively wants to increase
control over" independent aid
groups, said Fambai Ngirande, spokesman for
the National Association of
Non-governmental Organizations, after a daylong
meeting with government
welfare officials. He said security officials were
also at the meeting.
The government had called the aid groups to the
meeting after announcing
Friday that it was lifting a ban imposed almost
three months ago while
accusing independent aid groups of supporting
opposition activists.
"The state will only recognize the more
welfare-oriented NGOs which are
registered as private voluntary
organizations. Other NGOs will remain under
suspension," Ngirande
said.
He said groups allowed to resume work had been asked to resubmit
registration information, including details about their staff and the amount
of food they were importing to distribute, and would have to work closely
with local authorities.
Government officials were not immediately
available for comment.
Adam Berthoud, a program manager for the international
aid group Oxfam, said
he also understood that some groups would not be able
to resume work in
Zimbabwe. But he said Oxfam was registered and was making
plans "to start
our humanitarian scale-up."
Aid groups have denied
the government's accusations of supporting opposition
activists, accusations
leveled when it imposed the ban shortly before a June
presidential runoff.
The ban had been widely condemned.
A month ago, the governing party
agreed to lift the ban to help open the way
to power-sharing talks with the
opposition, but those talks have stalled
over how much power President
Robert Mugabe should surrender. Negotiators
met briefly last week in South
Africa, but no progress was reported.
U.N. humanitarian agencies predict
the number of Zimbabweans who will need
help to stave off hunger will rise
to more than 5 million by early next
year.
Zimbabwe's government
routinely blames the country's economic collapse on
European and U.S.
sanctions that target people and companies linked to
Mugabe with travel bans
and asset freezes.
While they are meant to spare ordinary Zimbabweans,
already suffering from
chronic shortages of food, medication, electricity
and water, Zimbabwean
officials say the sanctions help discourage foreign
investment, loans and
aid.
The opposition blames Zimbabwe's crisis on
Mugabe's increasingly autocratic
and corrupt rule. Zimbabwe began unraveling
after Mugabe ordered the
often-violent seizures of white-owned commercial
farms. Mugabe says the
campaign was meant to help landless blacks, but most
farms went to his
generals and Cabinet ministers.
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
01 September
2008
Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations attempting to
provide
HIV/AIDS-related aid to people living with the disease say many of
their
would-be clients continue to suffer though the government nominally
lifted a
ban on such services weeks ago.
The government imposed a
ban on all NGO provision of aid in early June, but
backtracked in stages on
providing services to those afflicted with
HIV/AIDS. NGOs say the
government's official communications on the lifting
the ban did not arrive
in a timely way, however.
The National Association of Non-Governmental
Organizations says the ban
endangered the lives of people living with
HIV/AIDS as their lifeline to
groups providing antiretroviral drugs and
other forms of care was severed.
The Mutare-based Family Caring Trust says
it has now received formal notice
from the provincial administration that it
can resume its work.
The group's executive director, Jephias Mundondo, told
reporter Carole
Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that there is a
lot of catching up
to do to save lives - but for some HIV/AIDS patients it
may already be too
late to reverse the fatal trend.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3315#more-3315
September 1, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the mainstream MDC,
says he has
refused to sign a power-sharing agreement because the deal would
make him a
lame duck of a Prime Minister.
He said he would resist
pressure to sign an agreement that did not reflect
the aspirations of
Zimbabweans.
Another round of negotiations between the opposition and
Zanu-PF ended at
the weekend without a deal. But a spokesman for South
African President
Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the talks, said they were
still alive.
The talks, which began in July, have stalled amid
differences over how to
share executive powers between President Robert
Mugabe and Tsvangirai in a
national unity government. Arthur Mutambara,
leader of the breakaway faction
of the MDC, has been part of the
talks.
In his most revealing interview, Tsvangirai told The Standard
newspaper at
the weekend he had endured immense pressure to sign a deal with
Mugabe.
The opposition leader said the negotiations had been
characterised by heated
exchanges as he and Mugabe haggled over the roles
they could assume in a new
inclusive transitional
government.
Tsvangirai said Mbeki was responsible for preparing the
controversial draft
that would have made the opposition leader a lame duck
Prime Minister and
entrenched Mugabe's grip on the country.
He
refused to sign the agreement, saying he needed more time to reflect and
consult. Tsvangirai said it was left to Mbeki to come up with the final
draft during the Heroes' Holiday after he and Mugabe had failed to agree on
some sticking points.
The parties argued on the terms of the
transitional government and its
duration, the constitution and the need for
amendments, the roles and
functions of the Prime Minister and the
President.
Under Mbeki's draft, Tsvangirai said he realised that he would
become an
overburdened Prime Minister without any authority: he would not
chair the
Cabinet and would not have any power to appoint, censure or
dismiss
ministers.
Yet Tsvangirai would be expected to make sure the
economy of country, he
accused Mugabe of destroying, was back on
track.
In that ceremonial role, it would be his responsibility to ensure
the state
"has sufficient resources and appropriate operational capacity to
carry out
its functions effectively".
Tsvangirai said he came under
serious pressure from the three leaders to
sign the agreement.
Harsh
words were exchanged as he was told that was the "best agreement" he
could
get under the circumstances. If the agreement was unworkable, he could
still
get back to Sadc leaders, he was told.
Tsvangirai said Mugabe fiercely
opposed any constitutional amendment that
would dilute his duties,
insisting, he needed to remain head of state,
government and being
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Frustrated by the process,
Tsvangirai said at one point he suggested that he
and Mugabe swap roles in
an effort to test the sincerity and fairness of the
arrangement.
Tsvangirai said: "Mugabe fumed. He said no ways, he
could not become the
Prime Minister."
While Tsvangirai refused to
sign, both Mugabe and Mutambara agreed to the
deal.
Tsvangirai
insisted he took a right decision not to sign. He, however, said
he made the
decision after exhausting all efforts to reach an agreement that
would
ensure Zimbabwe had a transitional government that could take
Zimbabweans
out of the present political and economic crisis.
While the MDC had
pressed for Mugabe to be a ceremonial President,
Tsvangirai revealed he
ended up making significant concessions to the
84-year-old leader for the
sake of the voters who wanted a way out of the
crisis.
"Fully aware
that we won the March 29 election, we could have demanded
nothing but
outright victory," he said. "But we reached a position, where we
said it was
important for cohabitation with Zanu-PF for the sake of the
country."
"I said yes, Mugabe can remain the Commander-in-Chief of
the Armed Forces. I
also didn't object to Mugabe heading the National
Security Council," said
Tsvangirai, referring to the body known presently as
the Joint Operations
Command, a group made up of army, police, prisons and
Central Intelligence
Organisation chiefs.
"We hoped this would show
we were genuine in the quest to find an agreement
to establish a
transitional government that rebuilds confidence in Zimbabwe
and ensure
there is food, jobs and justice for Zimbabweans."
But Tsvangirai said his
overtures were fruitless because Mugabe, whom he
said had not had a
"paradigm shift and still thought he was the winner",
refused to make some
compromises on the functions of the PM.
Mugabe insisted that he chaired
the Cabinet.
"I pointed out we could not have a ceremonial Prime
Minister. It would have
been unprecedented," Tsvangirai said.
"Mugabe
wanted to me to be responsible for solving the problems he created,
yet he
didn't want me to have the full authority to carry out that task. The
other
problem was how could I be asked to sort out the mess (economic
problems)
when the person (Mugabe) who created it in the first place was in
charge of
the Cabinet," Tsvangirai said.
He said it was ironic that pressure was
being brought to bear on him to sign
the agreement, yet it was Mugabe who
was supposed to be pressured into
ceding power.
"He refused to share
power," said Tsvangirai. "He opened Parliament, now he
is talking about
appointing a Cabinet. This goes against the spirit of the
talks."
Despite failure of the talks, Tsvangirai said he would not
give up.
He spoke as he prepared to leave for SA en route to Zambia where
he will
attend the burial of Zambian President Levy
Mwanawasa.
Tsvangirai would then embark on a diplomatic offensive in West
Africa, amid
indications that the MDC intends to ask the AU and the UN to
take over from
where Mbeki left.
Party leaders said it was time the
two bodies took a central role in trying
to get a deal for Zimbabwe as
economic hardships worsen.
Commenting on the way Mutambara's faction has
sided with Zanu-PF in
Parliament, Tsvangirai said: "Events this (last) week
show serious political
opportunism and the betrayal of people's
project."
Mugabe has threatened to form a new government without the MDC
if the
impasse continues.
Tsvangirai won the first round of
Zimbabwe's presidential elections in March
but official results showed him
falling short of a majority.
Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980,
was re-elected in June in a
one-man presidential run-off after Tsvangirai
bowed out amid widespread
electoral violence.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 01 September 2008 11:25
JOHANNESBURG, THE Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) says it is
seriously considering shelving the
power-sharing talks completely accusing
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe
of breaching the agreed and signed
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), party
spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa told
us.
In an interview, Chamisa
said the MDC would issue a press statement
this afternoon (Sunday) detailing
the course of action his party would take
following the stalled talks in
Pretoria on Friday.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is still in South
Africa whilst Zanu (PF)
leader president Mugabe has returned to his crisis
plagued southern African
nation.
"There is a general feeling
among the civic societies, the Movement
for Democratic Change circles and
the nation at large that Zanu (PF) and its
leadership are holding the nation
at ransom.
"We will issue a full statement tomorrow (Sunday) on our
way forward
following the collapsed talks in Pretoria," said
Chamisa.
President Thabo Mbeki's spokesperson, Mukoni Ratshitanga,
said the
discussions were facing challenges but could not reveal what
challenges were
they.
He refused to shed more light pertaining
the halted power-sharing
talks on Friday referring CAJ News to Zanu (PF)
Patrick Chinamasa, the
ruling party's chief power-sharing negotiator and the
two MDC factions'
spokespersons.
"I can not comment on this
matter, but there is a need for both
parties to resolve the Zimbabwe
crisis," said Ratshitanga.
The talks came to a standstill on Friday
when president Mugabe refused
to co-chair the cabinet with Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of the main
opposition political party in Zimbabwe
arguing that such arrangements would
hamper proper running of the
government.
Tsvangirai, who won 100 seats in parliament whilst
Mugabe garnered
only 99 were expected to join hands with Mugabe on an equal
power-sharing
government of national unity, but the 84-year old leader has
vehemtnly
rejected any moves and proposals to co-chair the cabinet with
Tsvangirai
neither handing over the security ministry under MDC fearing the
opposition
leader would abuse power.
Speaking on the sidelines
of the stalled talks in Pretoria,
Joshua-Mambo Rusere of the Zimbabwe
Political Victims Association (ZIPOVA)
said the nation and civic societies
saw it coming before the talks were
stalled.
"These talks are
nothing but just to waste time and resources for
nothing. We have been
repeatedly telling the world that Mugabe is
full-fledged dictator and that
he would never ever listen to president Thabo
Mbeki's
initiatives.
"We knew it that the talks would completely fail
because Mugabe has
never accepted another person becoming a leader ahead of
him. We have enough
evidence to prove that from the liberation struggle up
to this present
moment, Mugabe was involved in dirty tactics, of course some
of them linked
to disappearance or death of former military commnders and
Zanu (PF)
leadership in the bus," said Mambo-Rusere--CAJ News.
http://www.businessday.co.za
:
01 September 2008
Foreign
Staff
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe is expected to name his
cabinet shortly,
after power-sharing talks on Friday failed to resolve a
disagreement over
the country's executive powers.
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai told the
Zimbabwean
Standard newspaper before Friday's talks outside Pretoria that
President
Thabo Mbeki was behind the controversial draft deal that would
have made
Tsvangirai a largely powerless prime minister, and entrenched
Mugabe's grip
on the country.
The MDC leader had refused to agree to the arrangement,
saying he would
consult his party. His rejoinder was to be the basis of
Friday's discussion.
Tsvangirai also said talks preceding Friday's
meeting had been heated, and
that it was left to Mbeki to come up with the
final draft during Zimbabwe's
Heroes' Holiday, after he and Mugabe had also
failed to agree on the terms
of the transitional government and its
duration, and the constitution and
amendments.
"All the negotiating
teams are back (in Harare)," MDC spokesman Nelson
Chamisa said. "Nothing was
achieved in the latest round of engagement in SA
to break the deadlock. We
remain where we were."
Negotiators from Zanu (PF), the main MDC and a
smaller breakaway MDC faction
separately met Mbeki, who is mediating the
talks.
The smaller faction of the MDC is led by Arthur
Mutambara
Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said yesterday that the
dialogue
would continue, but declined to give details.
"It is a
continuous process, not a single event," Ratshitanga said.
The
power-sharing talks have stalled over how executive power should be
shared
by Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who refused to sign an agreement that would
have
made him prime minister two weeks ago. Tsvangirai has protested against
the
proposed deal, saying it does not give him enough executive powers in
government.
The opposition leader beat Mugabe in a March 29 election
but fell short of
enough votes to avoid a runoff vote, which was
controversially won by Mugabe
after Tsvangirai pulled out, citing violence
and intimidation against his
supporters.
In his weekly column in
the state-controlled Herald, viewed as reflecting
government thinking,
presidential spokesman George Charamba said Mugabe did
not need the go-ahead
from the Southern African Development Community
(SADC ) to form a
government. Mbeki is the SADC-mandated mediator in talks
between the
parties.
The "cabinet will be announced, quite soon,"
Charamba, who writes under the
pen name Nathaniel Manheru,
said.
Charamba also warned that police would act if MDC legislators
continued to
harass Mugabe as they did when they taunted and heckled him
during his
opening of parliament speech on Tuesday, reports said.
The
MDC , human rights activists and political analysts have said if Mugabe
goes
ahead and appoints a cabinet, he would be breaching conditions of the
memorandum of agreement agreed to by the parties.
Mugabe has
already appointed provincial governors from his Zanu (PF) party.
The MDC
said it would lobby the African Union and the United Nations not to
recognise Mugabe as Zimbabwe's president. With Reuters
http://zimeye.com/article0211310808.html
By Vusi Moyo
31-08-08
Bulawayo-Zimbabwe's war veterans' movement plans to prevent the
main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from entering
parliament
until they apologise for heckling and booing President Robert
Mugabe on
Tuesday during his official opening speech.
The movement's
national chairperson Jabulani Sibanda is reported to have
contacted state
media institutions revealing the plan.
Sibanda said: "What the MDC did is
un-African. We will force them to
apologise for disrespecting the legitimate
president of Zimbabwe."
Sources from the state media who spoke to the
controversial war veterans'
leader say Sibanda's voice had overtones of
violent assaults on the MDC and
its supporters.
The threats suggest
retribution against opposition supporters who bore the
brunt of brutal acts
in the run up to the 27 June presidential run off.
Scores of opposition
supporters were murdered in the run up to the
presidential election at the
instigation of operations that were being
commandeered by the liberation war
heroes to ensure President Mugabe's
victory.
According to Sibanda,
the liberation war veterans are to embark to marches
similar to the one
dubbed "Million men march" they held in November last
year to garner support
for President Mugabe.
The million men march was used to intimidate
opposition supporters in the
run up to the March
elections.
On Tuesday soon after Mugabe's speech, scores of ZANU
PF supporters who had
gathered at parliament protested as MDC legislators
emerged from the
building and marched to the building which houses the
opposition in central
Harare.
Meanwhile the main opposition
MDC says it has unearthed a plot by the
Attorney General's office and
members of the Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) to
secure
convictions against MDC MPs in a bid to reverse its majority
in
Parliament.
Deputy Attorney General, Johannes Tomana is said to be
leading the plot in
which Zanu PF is planning to secure convictions and lay
more charges against
MDC MPs.
Last week five MDC MPs were arrested in
Harare during the opening of
the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe.
Four of
them, Pearson Mungofa, the MP for Highfield East, Eliah
Jembere, Epworth;
Bednock Nyaude, Bindura South and Trevor Saruwaka,
Mutasa Central are still
in police custody. They were denied bail.
Nyaude was granted bail by a
Bindura magistrate but the State has appealed.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.u
Monday, 01 September 2008 11:01
MDC
MANICALAND
1.Deaths
Justice Gundumura from
Chimanimani West,who was shot on his leg during
the June Presidential run
off and had his leg amputated,died yesterday
28/08/08 at Mutare Remand
prison awaiting trial.His body is said to be at
Mutare General Hospital
mortuary.
Ennet Chiremba(78) from ward 5,Chiremba Village,Chief Makumbe
in
Buhera West died on 16/08/08 at Rusape General Hospital due to injuries
sustained after she was brutally attacked by ZANU PF militias led by Amon
Chamahwinya and Philip Gundunwa among others.Ennet is wife to Headman
Chiremba of Buhera.
2.Violence
Headlands
Constituency
Sherphered Maisiri(42) from ward 8,Village 55 in
Headlands had his
house set ablaze by ZANU PF militias ed by Lovemore Nhema
on 22/08/08 at
around 2300hrs.Maisiri said on the fateful night the militias
numbering over
30 came to his house chanting ZANU PF slogans and were
looking for him as he
had fled to Mozambique fro refuge during the June
historically state
sponsored violence..Among the youths were Philemon Fombe
and Razor Ncube who
were also part of the gang that raped his wife Beauty
Maunganirwa in June.He
lost several of his clothing and food in the
process.The matter was reported
to Inyati police Station RRB no 0367577.On
the same night,the same group
again set ablaze the house of one Norman
Chitovhoro(64) from Ward 8,Village
54 in Headlands.He also reported to
Inyati policeRRB no 0367578
Musikavanhu Constituency
Senzeni Makusha(46) from ward 22,Chiso village, Gumira in Muskavanhu
Constituency was grabbed by Zanu militias who abducted her to a deserted
house on 12/08/08 at around 1900hrs.The militias started beating her with
logs and iron bars.The youths among them Tara Makaza and Nhamo Tendi told
Mukusha that they were sent by Morris Mukwe and Mapfumo,ZANU PF war veterans
who were leading terror campaign in Chipinge and are inciting violence in
the area.She reported the matter to Chibuwe police RRB
no.0068103.
Buhera South
-Chokuse Mupango,Ward for
Buhera South and was killed on 16/04/08 was
buried under unfriendly
circumstances on 15/08/08.Mutiusinazita Police
Officers commanded Mupango's
relatives to dig his grave as they go to
Birchnough Bridge mortuary to ferry
his corpse.The officers took Chokuse's
decomposed body without any post
mortem carried and buried it upon arrival
at his house with only his
enstranged wife and a few children present while
everyone else was barred
from attending the funeral.Mutiusinazita police
refused to carry out the
post mortem yet the body had stayed for 4months at
the mortuary awaiting
post mortem.
-ZANU PF terror campaign leaders have resorted to
illegal diamond
panning in Chiadzwa after the party failed to pay their dues
for inciting
violence and murdering MDC sympathisers during the run-up to
the June
Presidential run off.Colonel Kennedy Makavanga who works at Defense
Headquarters in Harare and is originally from Chimbudzi Village,Headman
Mhaka in Buhera was arrested at Chiadzwa diamond area on 20/08/08 and was
taken to Mutare Remand Prison where he stayed for a few days.Makavanga is
reported to have been boasting of having killed MDC supporters and throwing
them in the crocodile infested Ruti dam in Buhera.Makavanga was leading
terror campaign in Buhera together with Major Svosve of Inkomo Barracks.He
is out on bail.
3.Councilors Sworn In
Mutare rural
district Councilors,Chipinge Town Councilors and
Chimanimnai Rural District
Councilors were all sworn in at their respective
council chambers on
20/08/08.MDC controls Chipinge Town Council and would
have controlled
Chimanimani Rural District Council if ZANU PF would not have
appointed two
Chiefs and two of its losing councilors as 'special
councilors'.'The
swearing in ceremony started at 2000hrs instead of the
official time of
1000hrs due to several misunderstandings within the chamber
as MDC was made
to wait the whole day long for missing ZANU PF councilors.
Nyanga
Rural District Councilors were sworn in on 22/08/08 and MDC won
chairmanship.
Makoni Rural,Rusape Town Council,Mutasa
Rural,Buhera Rural and
Chipinge Rural are yet to be sworn in.
For more information please call MDC (Zimbabwe) Hon. Mr. Nelson
Chamisa
0912940489 National Spokesperson or Luke Tamborinyoka 0912850556 or
(South
Africa) Nqobizitha Mlilo 0835274650 or George Sibotshiwe
0766330314
-----------
Comment
...
written by Mafirakureva,
September 01, 2008
Do we as Zimbabweans have to sink so low for the sake
of power? What kind of
government will sit down and strategise on what kind
of violence to unleash
on its own people? We voted against poverty,poor
governace, corruption and
misguided policies by our Government. True heros
like Cmrade Tongo would not
have found it dificult to accept Tsvangirai as
the leader of Zim. As soon as
Zanu accepts this paradox the better. The
Liberation war was fought so that
we would be able to vote for anyone we
wanted to rule us. Even if it means
voting out incompetent Comrades. Even if
it means the entire dare
rechimurenga if they are corrupt and incompetent.
Indeed Incompetent and
Corrupt Comrades are holding Zimbabwe at ransom.
Tosvika kupi tichitongwa
nevanhu vanozviona sekuti they have the right to
rule and no one else has
that right. The Liberation war was fought for the
rights we are being
denied. We are capable of defending our sovereinty.
Soverignty does not mean
having the right to torture, rape, kill and maim
your own people.
http://www.businessday.co.za
01
September 2008
A DECADE ago, Zimbabwe's inflation
rate was 32% and a year ago it was over
7000%. Now it's supposedly
11,2-million percent, but unofficially anywhere
between 20-million and
30-million percent. At these levels, it hardly
matters what the figure is
precisely. This is a currency whose real value
has been utterly destroyed,
just as has the Zimbabwean economy.
But stabilising the currency might
not be that difficult, if the right kind
of political settlement were
forthcoming. The danger is that the talks that
seem to be under way will
yield a settlement that does less than nothing for
Zimbabwe's economic
prospects, because it fails to put viable leadership in
place and is ruled
unacceptable by potential donors.
Zimbabwe's central bank has long been
printing money to finance a fiscal
deficit that must by now have reached
absurd proportions. A couple of years
ago it was estimated at upwards of 80%
of gross domestic product (GDP), with
the public debt running at nearly 200%
of GDP. Zimbabwe is believed to be
$2,5bn to $3bn in arrears to
international lenders.
Tackling hyperinflation would require a package of
extremely tough fiscal
and monetary policy measures, as well as the
liberalisation of price
controls, and of interest and exchange rates. Though
inflation as
stratospheric as Zimbabwe's has rarely been seen anywhere,
there are some
successful precedents for bringing down hyperinflation,
particularly from
eastern Europe.
The University of Zimbabwe's Tony
Hawkins reckons that stabilising the
currency could be relatively easy. But
foreign aid would be essential. Not
only would international lenders have to
forgive Zimbabwe's foreign debt and
help it restructure its domestic debt,
but donor agencies would also have to
fund essential social services such as
education and health, in an
environment in which public spending would have
to be suddenly and sharply
cut. International donors are already feeding
30%-40% of Zimbabwe's
population. They would have to do much more.
Multilateral agencies such as
the World Bank might take a bit of time to
deliver funds, so initially aid
would probably have to come through
bilateral agreements with donors such as
the UK, the US and possibly the
European Union, Hawkins argues.
That means any settlement will have to be
acceptable to them. And one in
which Robert Mugabe retains significant
influence is very unlikely to fit
the bill.
That could mean failure
to effect even an immediate stabilisation programme.
At present, those who
can, buy in dollars, in a burgeoning black market in
currency, food and
fuel. Those who can't, starve. The longer the economy
continues to spiral
downwards, the harder it will be to rebuild it. As it
is, rebuilding
Zimbabwe's economy will be an immensely difficult task, one
that will take
decades, even with decent leadership and a high degree of
social
consensus.
Zimbabwe's economy has contracted continuously for the past
decade, and this
year is likely to be the worst yet, with the economy likely
to decline by
more than 10%. Investment is minimal, the middle class barely
exists any
more, and the skills lost in the huge brain drain are unlikely to
be
regained soon. Far-reaching structural reforms are needed to sort out the
parastatals that now control large swathes of the economy and to sort out
the land issue.
Donor agencies are likely to impose stringent
conditions anyway. But whoever
is in charge will have to take tough
decisions.
And the most urgent of these is to do whatever it takes to
cut inflation, so
that the Zimbabwe dollar or any currency that replaces it
can regain some
worth. President Thabo Mbeki should keep in mind that
whatever kind of
settlement he's trying to pull together must at the very
least provide the
basis for that to happen.
By Violet
Gonda
1 September 2008
One of the oldest credit card and travellers
cheques companies American
Express has ceased operations in Zimbabwe
effective 1st September. The
company which issues travellers cheques to
international travellers said it
was suspending its operations in Zimbabwe
because of lack of business.
The news will deal a huge blow to
Zimbabweans already suffering hardships
especially the cross border traders
who flock to neighbouring countries to
make ends meet. This will also have
an adverse effect on overseas travellers
who rely on the travellers' cheques
as there are restrictions on the amount
of cash people can carry when
leaving Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile the Standard newspaper reported American
Express had stopped
operations to comply with the regulations under the
sanctions imposed by
Western countries on Zimbabwe.
Economist Tony
Hawkins also wrote: "This is the first sanction to affect
Zimbabweans as a
whole rather than targeted individuals and organisations.
Affected banks
will now have to issue cheques from other providers of the
service."
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Lance
Guma
01 September 2008
The MDC intends to hold its 9th anniversary
celebrations at Mkoba Stadium in
Gweru this coming Sunday but questions
remain over whether the police will
sanction the gathering. After weeks of
on and off talks between ZANU PF and
the MDC not much has changed in terms
of the climate of repression. On
Thursday the annual general meeting of the
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition was
disrupted by riot police amid signs the
'ZANU PF leopard has not changed its
spots.' On Monday another subtle
reminder of the intolerance came when
youths in a ZANU PF truck vandalised a
banner written 'Morgan is more' at
the party's Harvest House headquarters.
The youths ran away before the MDC
security officials could apprehend
them.
The MDC was formed on the 11th of September 1999 and over the
weekend plans
to celebrate their achievements from these past 9 years. A
statement from
the party says they have invited representatives from the
trade unions,
churches, student movements and other civil society partners.
Party
President Morgan Tsvangirai will make the keynote speech at the venue
in
what is set to be his first big rally since pulling out of the June 27
presidential run-off. His last rally at the Glamis Arena outside Harare was
disrupted by hordes of over 2000 ZANU PF youths who brutally assaulted those
who attended. Nkulumane MDC MP Tamsanqa Mahlangu was one of those
hospitalised after the attacks.
Sunday's gathering will take place
under the theme, 'Together to the end -
Celebrating the People's Victory.'
In addition to the Mkoba rally the MDC is
planning to hold several
provincial celebrations. A senior official told
Newsreel that despite the
troubles in the country the party had done well
against the odds in securing
a majority in parliament and having their
National Chairman Lovemore Moyo
elected Speaker of Parliament. In the March
29 election Tsvangirai outpolled
Mugabe into second place but the regime
controlled Zimbabwe Election
Commission said he did not secure the required
50 percent plus 1 vote under
the country's new electoral laws and ordered a
run-off.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
Business Report
September 1, 2008
By Nontyatyambo Petros
On a visit to
Harare, Zimbabwe with friends a week ago, we were in the
airport building
hardly 10 minutes when the power went out, leaving
passengers stuck without
their luggage.
Though not exactly the welcome visitors expect, it was no
cause for alarm to
a bunch of South African travellers. After all, we too
have learned not to
always expect power from Eskom.
Out into the
streets of the city the sun was dazzling. But this only served
to illustrate
the economic despair. Signs of neglect are conspicuous. The
buildings have
not seen paint in years, many parts of the city are overgrown
and even in
the opulent suburb of Borrowdale you find the story of a country
in
ruin.
It is a vastly understated story. The shops are bare. Where you can
find
goods, the quality is suspect. You are more likely to discover a tray
of
eggs at a traffic intersection than inside a store. The prices are
inflated.
Driving around at night is a rigorous test of memory skills.
There are few
streetlights and you cannot stop at a garage to ask for
directions because
many are closed and those that are open have no petrol.
The fuel shortage is
clearly of no concern to Zanu-PF leaders, judging by
the gas-guzzlers parked
outside the party's head office.
People
morosely go about their business and speak in hushed tones about
their
suffering. Some see an exit as their only way to survive.
South Africa is
still a top destination, notwithstanding the xenophobia. An
old man tells me
that he has been trying to come to South Africa to look for
a job as a chef.
He worked for some of Zimbabwe's top hotels in his heyday.
But failure to
obtain a passport has dashed his dream. One journalist says
he wants to take
his wife and children out of Zimbabwe.
At the Avondale flea market stall
holders vastly outnumber buyers.
Consequently even the worst of bargainers
is able to drive prices to rock
bottom.
"Please buy something, I have
children and can't go home empty-handed," begs
one man. Bargaining over
prices here quickly results in a collision course
with your
conscience.
A young man in his mid-30s calls me aside. "My sister, I
make these
sculptures. Come 2010, one can make real money.
"I ask you
to please arrange for me to come to Johannesburg. I can work from
your
garage and you can employ me to make the sculptures," he pleads.
The need
to eke out an income is paramount as the stall holders resolutely
ignore
protests that their weighty sculptures will be a challenge to take
home.
The sellers accept rands or call a Rastafarian who is also the
forex dealer.
For a couple of rands you get huge wads of Zimbabwean
dollars.
Back at the airport on the day of our departure, a visit to the
bathroom is
nauseating. There is no water to flush, no toilet paper - only
the stench of
stale urine. Here, one minute the price of a cold drink is R8,
the next it
has gone up to R10.
It is this backdrop that President
Robert Mugabe and Captain Morgan
Tsvangirai (he's more on a plane than in
the country) must bear in mind as
they engage in high politics. The
securicrats must also face the facts,
because evidently, a settlement cannot
be reached without their say-so.
The recent gains of the Movement for
Democratic change are by no means cause
for celebration. Tsvangirai's views
on the economy are still a mystery. He
has the daunting task of keeping the
party united while charting a way
forward. He is not known for being a
unifier and has no real strategists
around him.
For his part, Mugabe
must remember that the results of the March 29
elections show an electorate
fed up with his rule. His Zanu-PF could not
consolidate its support and
failed to make inroads into the MDC's urban
support.
It is time that
both men put their political opportunism aside to get
Zimbabwe out of its
quagmire. While at it, Mugabe could teach South Africa's
new ANC leadership
what it takes to ruin a country.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3309
September 1, 2008
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - South Africa Constitutional Court judge Justice
Edwin Cameron has
apologized for the part his country has played in
worsening the AIDS crisis
in Zimbabwe by condoning bad governance by
President Robert Mugabe.
In a sometimes tearful presentation to civic
society leaders and journalists
in Harare Saturday, Cameron, a
self-confessed HIV-positive homosexual, said
poor governance in Zimbabwe had
exacerbated the AIDS crisis.
"I would show less than ordinary human
decency if I failed to express my
remorse and shame at the part my own
country, South Africa, has played in
condoning, colluding with and
supporting this state of affairs."
Cameron said at the launch of the
Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Human Rights
Charter: "To be healthy, to be well, to
be able to face this epidemic with
strength and will, Zimbabweans need good
government - a wise, democratic,
just, people-led government based on the
rule of law.
"The world waits and watches as Zimbabweans continue to
struggle to secure
these fundamental rights in their own
country."
The Zimbabwe HV/AIDS and Human Rights Charter, spearheaded by
civic groups,
the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Law Project, together with
Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR), is based on nationwide
multi-sectoral consultations
with various institutions and
individuals.
The charter serves to assert the aspirations of various
sectors within the
Zimbabwean society and also seeks to ensure that the
rights of people living
with HIV/AIDS are protected, respected and
fulfilled.
It is, however, not a legally binding document, but
justifiable, said ZLHR
board member Jacob Mafume.
The outspoken
Cameron delivered his keynote address, his voice breaking, as
he recalled
how he lived paralyzed with fear and silence of stigma after his
diagnosis
in 1986.
"I became severely ill with AIDS in October 1997," said the
South African
Supreme Court of Appeal judge.
"But because I could, on
the salary of a judge, afford the expensive
anti-retrovirus drugs then, I
was given my life back and I am now privileged
to live a vigorous,
health-filled and engaged life because I have good
medical care and access
to treatment."
Cameron said South Africans living with HIV/AIDS fought
tooth and nail for
their rights in his country against President Thabo
Mbeki's government which
was initially locked in denial about the presence
of AIDS.
Cameron said there was little hope for Zimbabwe if the people
were not
prepared to fight for the rights, adding opposition to tyranny was
an
indispensable part of the struggle to create a sound and just system of
governance that includes a healthcare system favouring vigorous engagement
with the pandemic.
Cameron, who saluted the human rights lawyers in
Zimbabwe, said Mugabe's bad
governance had worsened the situation because
there was collapse of health
structures, and a critical shortage of
ARVs.
He said poor governance had also impeded sound and effective
prevention
policies.
Mugabe, however, argues that his drive to
increase access to anti-retroviral
drugs has been hampered by a severe
shortage of foreign currency resulting
from sanctions imposed on his
government.
Of the 1.3 million people living with HIV and AIDS in
Zimbabwe , 86,000 are
on anti-retroviral therapy while 260,000 people who
need the treatment have
no access.
UNICEF said last year Zimbabwe had
the world's highest percentage of
children orphaned by AIDS, with one in
four children having lost at least
one parent to the disease.
UNICEF
says Zimbabwe continues to lead in the care of the orphans and
vulnerable
children, with 90 percent of the country's orphans having been
absorbed into
extended families.
Cameron said Zimbabwe is currently "cursed" with one
of the lowest life
expectancy in the world.
"According to the World
Health Organization, a male Zimbabwean can expect to
live only to the age of
37," he said. "For women, life expectancy is even
lower - only
34.
"These shocking figures are a direct outcome of the ghastly nightmare
of
misgovernance that has afflicted Zimbabwe for the last eight years,"
Cameron
said.
"They are a consequence of the misrule, tyranny,
brutality and regime-led
thuggery that has led many hundreds of thousands of
Zimbabweans to flee
their own country - and that has imposed on those who
remain, misery,
hunger, beatings, oppression and disease-afflicted
mortality."
http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?contentid=6049
Markus
Reichardt, South Africa writer
1 Sep 08
Most foreign companies are sticking with
Zimbabwe through its economic and
political crisis. But can they help to
repair the country?
"Any company doing business in Zimbabwe is
keeping the regime alive." So
Zimbabwe's opposition party, the Movement for
Democratic Change, condemned
Anglo American for planning to press ahead with
a $400m investment in the
country devastated by the misrule of Robert
Mugabe.
MDC treasurer Roy Bennett said in June of the investment: "Anglo
American is
complicit with the regime, as whatever they're doing in Zimbabwe
has the
endorsement of the regime."
Bennett warned firms thinking of
doing deals with Mugabe's government that
they would be "scrutinised and
dealt with accordingly", should the MDC ever
take full executive
power.
According to Bennett, no foreign company can survive in Zimbabwe
without
giving "patronage" to the Mugabe government that has terrorised its
opponents. The MDC estimates that 100 of its supporters were killed, 5,000
abducted and 20,000 forced from their homes before the party's leader,
Morgan Tsvangirai, pulled out of an election run-off against Mugabe in
June.
News that Anglo American, through its subsidiary Anglo Platinum,
was putting
a further $400m into the Unki platinum mine in Zimbabwe has
turned the
spotlight on other companies investing in the blood-soaked
country.
On June 30, supermarket Tesco became the first UK company to
announce that
it would withdraw from Zimbabwe - just a week after saying it
would be
"irresponsible" to leave the country. The retailer said it would
stop
sourcing £1m worth of produce from Zimbabwe, "as long as the political
crisis persists".
The German government then persuaded Munich-based
company Gieseke &
Devrient, which had supplied banknote paper to the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
for 45 years, to stop selling to the country.
Following the papermaker's
exit, Vienna-based software company Jura JSP
stepped in to help the Mugabe
regime keep printing the money it needed to
keep ahead of hyperinflation,
despite the desperate revaluation of the
Zimbabwe dollar in late July.
Yet foreign companies retain a major
presence in Zimbabwe. UK banks Standard
Chartered and Barclays, British
American Tobacco and oil firm BP have all
stayed in the country. US-based
Chevron and Coca-Cola are there, as is
Canadian shoe company
Bata.
But the truly big players in Zimbabwe's economy are South African.
Nearly 20
of the top 40 shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange have
Zimbabwean
subsidiaries. Alongside Anglo American, other South African
companies
dominant in Zimbabwe include SABMiller, which has a stake in
Zimbabwe Delta
Breweries, and Old Mutual, the asset manager that remains
invested in
property and insurance in the country.
It is in mining
where the South African presence is felt strongest. In 2007,
mining
accounted for half of Zimbabwe's exports. Metallon Gold, which has
moved
aggressively into Mugabe's Zimbabwe in recent years, produced more
than half
of the country's gold from five operations in 2007. And Zimbabwe's
largest
platinum producer, Zimplats, is 87% owned by South African miner
Impala
Platinum.
Given the vital role mining plays in supporting Zimbabwe's
economy, it is no
wonder Anglo American has been criticised for keeping up
its investments in
the country.
The London-listed company defends its
developing of the Unki mine, which it
says fully complies with all existing
laws on investing in Zimbabwe. Anglo
American says it has a duty towards the
650 employees, their families and
all those depending indirectly on the
project, which the company has
invested in since 2003. Anglo American has
been in an investor in Zimbabwe
for 60 years.
Anglo Platinum chief
executive Neville Nicolau told analysts during a
presentation in
Johannesburg in late July that the Unki project was some two
years from
production. "We think there is a long-term growth position in
Zimbabwe," he
said. "We don't hang our future on any one political party but
on the
prospects of the country as a whole." Anglo American has also made
clear
that if it pulled out of Zimbabwe, the Mugabe regime "would assume
control
of the project".
Chinese challenge
Mining insiders in Zimbabwe
fear that Mugabe is gradually transferring a
range of mineral rights to
Chinese companies - or to front companies run by
political cronies in his
Zanu-PF party, some of which have close ties to
Chinese state-owned
enterprises. In July, China joined Russia in blocking a
UN security council
resolution that would have imposed sanctions on Mugabe
and his associates.
And Chinese trade with Zimbabwe is increasing. The
number of visitors from
China to Zimbabwe has risen by more than 25% since
2002.
Few
individual Chinese companies maintain a significant profile in Zimbabwe
but
their presence is felt and hated. A Bulawayo-based MDC supporter says:
"We
know who [the Chinese companies] are, how they benefited when Zanu-PF
locked
up MDC supporters and closed their businesses. When Mugabe is gone,
China
will have to do some explaining."
Zimbabweans habitually refer to the
cheap Chinese manufactured goods that
Mugabe has allowed to flood
uncontrolled into the country, and which have
driven many Zimbabwean
manufacturers out of business, as "zhing-zhong". This
loosely translates as
"substandard".
Beijing has offered helped to keep Mugabe in power. In
2005, China sold
Mugabe's regime riot control equipment and air force
trainer jets for $200m.
The tiles for Mugabe's Harare palace were a goodwill
donation from China.
Mugabe calls his pro-China policy Look East,
suggesting that Zimbabweans
should learn to cook Chinese food and to speak
Mandarin. Beyond exempting
Chinese imports from customs duties, Mugabe has
given Chinese companies
contracts to supply all public buses and provide the
generators for Zimbabwe's
power company, which his brother-in-law, the
appropriately named Reward
Marufu, runs. For all this, Zimbabwe pays China
mostly in kind - tobacco,
mineral rights and mineral concentrates - as
Mugabe's government lacks
foreign exchange because its own currency is
worthless.
So should the miners leave, to deprive the regime of its
critical foreign
currency? "If we do, there are dozens of Mugabe's cronies
who with Chinese
skills and money stand ready to take our mines," says a
senior miner at one
platinum operation. A Zimbabwean colleague agrees,
saying: "If the Chinese
come, they will fire many people, pay the rest less
and pay Mugabe money to
do as they please."
Apart from the first-hand
experience with zhing-zhong, China's reputation
among Zimbabweans has also
suffered from stories of its hard-line approach
to labour, safety and
environmental issues in the copper mines of
neighbouring Zambia. Zambian
unions blame one of the worst accidents in the
country's history, where 46
people were killed in a blast in April, on the
negligence of the Chinese
mine managers.
The problem in estimating the extent of the Chinese
involvement in Zimbabwe's
mining industry is that barter has replaced
commercial transactions, and
police and army officers often cooperate with
Zanu frontmen or middlemen in
allowing mined minerals to be shipped overseas
without any benefit to the
Zimbabwean economy. Rumours abound in Zimbabwe of
special deals granted by
Mugabe to Chinese businesses allowing them to ship
mineral concentrates and
agricultural products out of the country in return
for continued Chinese
supplies of essential items to the regime: riot gear,
small arms and
ammunitions. The latter became particularly critical since
Zimbabwe's last
munitions factory was forced to shut down in early 2008
because of a lack of
spares and raw materials.
Residents of Mutare,
on the Mozambique border, claim that large numbers of
trucks go across the
border unchecked - with the full knowledge of police
and customs officials.
The trucks are thought to carry minerals, such as
chromite, the source of a
key ingredient of stainless steel.
While the Chinese have been
circumspect about their presence in the country,
Mugabe has not. From 2005
he began rather publicly leasing a growing number
of farms, seized from
white farmers, to Chinese interests on a contract
farming basis for what
locals in the Marondera district describe as
"peanuts".
Tough it
out
So what can foreign companies not wanting to succour the regime or
abandon
its people, and their operations, do? By being there, companies
theoretically continue to support the regime through their tax payments, but
with inflation running at millions of per cent, these are irrelevant, as
they are paid in Zimbabwean currency. Under hyperinflation, the regime
survives by printing money irrespective of its income.
Provided they
can steer clear of being forced to provide direct support for
Mugabe -
foreign currency or otherwise - companies must ask themselves two
questions.
Can they continue to survive until a post-Mugabe political
dispensation
offers better opportunities? And does it make commercial sense
to do
so?
Moral qualms aside, some economists are beginning to suggest that the
level
of devastation wreaked upon Zimbabwe's agricultural sector through
farm
seizures, the violence against individuals and the recent compulsory
acquisition of the majority stakes in all important businesses by Mugabe's
regime may have put paid to a commercial reason to
remain.
Zimbabwe-based economist John Robertson has pointed out that
inflation is
now the greatest threat to Mugabe's rule. Its rise to above
three million
per cent is seen as the key reason why he and his henchmen
finally agreed to
talk with the opposition in South Africa in
July.
Pressed by the looming inability to print more money, because of EU
sanctions and a shortage of quality paper, Mugabe may finally have been
forced to the negotiating table. But Robertson warns that even if a
political settlement emerges from these talks, low trust and the punitively
low official exchange rate of the Zimbabwe dollar will hamper the return
from a remittance-based economy to a formal one.
If a deal is
eventually struck between Mugabe and the opposition, the moral
imperative
for companies to leave the country could fall away. But at a more
practical
level, the reason for leaving could be the state of the economy,
which has
morphed into an informal system dominated by barter and shady
deals. A
thriving, officially illegal, cross border trade in remittances
worth an
estimated $1bn a year, from 3 million Zimbabweans working outside
their
country, has drip-fed a shadow economy and kept everyday life barely
going.
Half of all households, including many in the top income bracket,
depend in
some way on these remittances.
In Harare, in mid-July, paper to print the
money was already running out, as
the regime struggled to find the foreign
currency to buy the right quality
paper. The embattled Central Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe had capped daily
withdrawals, but these were not enough to buy
the bus ticket to get to the
bank, or enough for a loaf of
bread.
Another danger to Zimbabwe's economy, should a political deal be
struck,
could be rising expectations. Imara SP Reid analyst Warwick Lucas
argues
that for companies to leave now "would destroy shareholder value".
Assets of
some companies operating in Zimbabwe will be worth five times
their present
value after a political settlement, he
predicts.
University of Zimbabwe economist Tony Hawkins warns that an
initial rally in
Zimbabwe-related assets such as property and shares could
create unrealistic
expectations over the pace of the recovery. For example,
for Zimbabwe's
economy to recover to pre-2000 levels over the next five
years, per capita
income would have to grow at 15% a year. Hawkins argues
that this is
impossible given "the level of devastation" in the
economy.
While some in the international community may well make
emergency funds
available to Zimbabwe in the wake of a political settlement,
the
continuation of even a small number of Mugabe's allies in positions of
power, coupled with the inexperience of the MDC in governing, will make
Zimbabweans, especially skilled workers with good jobs elsewhere, wary of
returning. By regional standards, Zimbabweans tend to be exceptionally well
educated, and many have found a new life in neighbouring countries. Those
returning would be the ones who did not.
All of this makes for what
looks like a long and difficult road to economic
recovery for Zimbabwe.
Indeed, it could be so long that it may make simple
economic sense for some
of the existing foreign businesses to sell out. At
present, certainly, no
one is thinking of investing.
South African sugar producer Tongaat Hulett
says that, in the current
situation, its strategy for its two subsidiaries
is to manage the operations
on a basis that ensures that the infrastructure
and skills base is
maintained.
Shoprite, the South African retailer,
has stopped importing goods for its
supermarkets in Zimbabwe, because it
cannot access foreign exchange to pay
for them. Instead, it sources what it
can from local suppliers. A Shoprite
spokesman says: "We have not yet
written off our investment but we haven't
budgeted for next
year."
China, which has persisted in selling weapons and tools of
repression to
Mugabe, must know that the day of reckoning is coming, since
the 84-year-old
tyrant cannot rule indefinitely. But for the moment, perhaps
the chrome,
platinum, tobacco and other natural resources that Beijing can
source from
Zimbabwe's desperate regime at rock-bottom rates are too good to
pass up in
the midst of a global commodities boom where capacity constraints
are
creating genuine scarcities.
If Mugabe's misrule has really
damaged Zimbabwe's economy beyond medium-term
repair, China could always
opportunistically pick up the pieces from those
companies that do decide to
sell out. After all, a responsible, honest
business can no longer function
in such an informal barter economy no matter
who comes after
Mugabe.
Any company wanting a reason to give up on Zimbabwe, morally and
commercially, need have looked no further than the behaviour of the
political negotiators from MDC and Zanu-PF who, after agreeing to meet in a
South African hotel for talks to resolve their country's political crisis,
suspended them to move to another, "more appropriate" venue. The reason? The
venue where the talks began had no minibars in the
rooms.
London-listed Camec's $100m loan to Mugabe
Central African
Mining and Exploration (Camec), the London Aim-listed mining
company, is
expanding quickly in Zimbabwe after acquiring two mining
concessions,
formerly owned by Anglo Platinum, from Zimbabwe's state mining
company. As
part of the deal, signed in April, Camec arranged to lend $100m
to the
state-owned Zimbabwe Mineral Development Corporation, to help it
fulfil
"contractual obligations" to the Mugabe government.
On April 11, Camec
announced that it had acquired two sets of claims, which
were formerly part
of Anglo Platinum's Unki platinum mining concession by
taking over a company
called Lefever Investments, registered in the British
Virgin
Islands.
Lefever owned 60% of a Zimbabwean company, Todal Mining, with
the remaining
40% being held by the Mineral Development Corporation, which
is controlled
by Mugabe and is one of the state-owned entities targeted by
smart
sanctions.
Camec said it had paid $5m in cash and issued shares
worth $236m to buy
Lefever. But it also put up a $100m loan, "to enable
Lefever to comply with
its contractual obligations to the Government of the
Republic of Zimbabwe".
Pushed on what "contractual obligations" Lefever
might have had to the
Zimbabwe government, Andrew Groves, Camec managing
director, said: "The
$100m loan provided was used to pay off Zimbabwe's
external creditors." His
comment came after he had announced the company's
first quarter results.
Roy Bennett, MDC treasurer-general, said on July
21 that should the MDC get
into power in Zimbabwe, "any deal done under the
kind of circumstances
surrounding the Camec acquisition of those mineral
rights will not be
honoured and will be undone".
Groves has responded
defiantly, saying: "Assuming the MDC gets into power
then let them try. That
deal was done in accordance with all the laws of
Zimbabwe . [The MDC] will
find the deal very difficult to undo and we will
take the issue to
international arbitration if necessary. This kind of thing
was tried on us
before in DRC."
Camec's results statement for the first quarter of 2008
states that work had
already started on the site of the Zimbabwean mine. It
added: "Todal has
negotiated the right to export platinum from Zimbabwe and
has also secured
agreement to allow it to expatriate the profits generated
by its mining
operations in the country."
The episode shows the
pressure Mugabe's government is putting on foreign
companies,
long-established in Zimbabwe, to appease the regime. Sources in
the
Zimbabwean mining industry suggest that Anglo American was forced to
surrender part of the Unki project because of Mugabe's indigenisation
policy, which rules that all foreign companies in Zimbabwe should soon be at
least 51% black Zimbabwean-owned. Visits from members of Mugabe's secret
service, the Central Intelligence Organisation, to the homes of individual
Anglo American executives in Zimbabwe are also said to have "sped up"
events.
In response, Anglo American says negotiations and discussions
between itself
and the Zimbabwe government had been taking place for two
years, resulting
in the cession of the claims in April this year.
But
it seems that a cash-strapped Mugabe regime, needing money to bankroll
its
ongoing repression and the election campaign, pushed Anglo American to
hand
over the concessions.
http://www.independent.co.uk
By Alistair
Dawber
Monday, 1 September 2008
Phil Edmonds, the former
England spin bowler turned miner, is said to be
annoyed about the press his
businesses get for operating in countries such
as the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Zimbabwe, because other, bigger,
companies operate in the same
region and don't get so much stick.
He should probably get used to it as
his latest venture is no less
controversial. Today MrEdmonds is set to list
Bioenergy Africa on the
Alternative Investment Market (Aim), which will
operate biofuel projects in
Mozambique and has raised £8.6m from the IPO.
The topic of biofuels can get
people's hackles up, as they argue that the
land used to generate ethanol
could be better used to grow crops for food,
keeping the cost of feeding
people lower.
Bioenergy Africa counters
by saying that the land in Mozambique had already
been set aside for such a
project and that by 2013, it plans to employ 7,000
local people. What is
more, the groupundertakes feedingprogrammes that cater
for as many as
1.5million in southern Africa.
All that is genuinely very commendable,
and at the same time,because there
is great demand for biofuel, Bioenergy
Africa islikely to be a commercial
success. MrEdmonds, however, probably
cannot complain too much that he gets
a few googlies from critics when he
mines for platinum in Zimbabwe, and uses
land that could grow food in
Mozambique for the production of fuel.
East African Standard
Updated 4 hr(s) 7 min(s) ago
By Peter
Okong'o
Reality TV shows are all the rage now and, given the huge
following they
have, it is just possible by 2015 this is what most TV
stations will be
screening.
One such show is Big Brother Africa
(BBA). Modelled on its highly successful
UK cousin, this version - currently
in its third season - has all the
ingredients guaranteed to snag in another
record viewing audience for
Multichoice Africa, which owns DStv, the channel
with the sole rights to
screen the show. These include debauchery (or hints
of it), scheming,
revenge, heartbreak and so on.
This week the
honeymoon is over for the 12 house-mates as they nominate one
of their
number for expulsion. Tension was high in the house yesterday as
everyone
pondered their fate, fearing the worst. Suspicion and mistrust have
already
set in with strategic alliances all around.
Viewers are also allowed to
vote out house-mates and sparks will soon start
flying. But I sympathise
with folks in good old Zimbabwe. Viewers have to
vote in their choice for
eviction by SMS on their mobile phones. However,
for our brothers and
sisters down in Harare, this will likely prove a tall
order. They have to
pay what is certainly a world record for a single short
text message:
Zimbabwean $4.63 million!
Here in Kenya, we only have to part with Sh35,
still quite a premium by any
standard, but certainly not as crazy as what
our suffering cousins down
South have to pay.
That is what
super-hyperinflation does: It renders your currency so useless
that unless
it is converted to euros or US dollars, it looks like a cruel
joke.
You see, Brother Bob (President Robert Mugabe) has ensured that
any vestiges
of respect that the country's central bank, the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe,
enjoyed have been stripped away.
Just how are folks in
'Zim' making ends meet? They face the kind of choices
neither you nor I have
ever had to make: Do I spend my sacks of worthless
currency on a loaf of
bread or airtime to SMS my vote (which may or may not
count anyway) on a
group of youth living in luxury and enjoying three square
meals a
day?
In 'Zim', they laugh at you if you offer to pay for anything in
local
currency. They prefer the South African rand or the US dollar. Better
still,
barter trade will do just fine.
Experts estimate real
inflation to have clocked 12,000 per cent. In fact,
Zimbabwe has
consistently broken the world record for inflation for the last
two
years.
And unless the ruling Zanu Patriotic Front and opposition Movement
for
Democratic Change strike a power sharing deal soon and begin reforms,
things
will just get worse.
The writer is The Standard's Senior
Associate Editor, Business.
pokongo@eastandard.net
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com
1st
Sep 2008 02:01 GMT
By
Chenjerai Chitsaru
YOU cannot rule it out completely: there could be
pot-bellied VIPs in
unnamed African capitals ordering a number of
soothsayers or shamans or
spirit mediums, or - to give them their original
title - witchdoctors, to
ensure Barack Obama wins the United States
presidential election next
November.
Some of them are said to be
celebrating already, after Hurricane Gustav
neared New Orleans last week,
persuading the ruling Republican Party to
scale down its showcase convention
in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Hurricane Gustav was, conveniently, elsewhere
as the Democratic Party of
Senator Barack Obama held their glittering
convention in Denver, Colorado,
Much beer was brewed for the witchdoctors,
who were credited with diverting
the hurricane away from Denver during the
period of the convention - or so a
number of reports suggest.
Most of
this is pure speculation, some of it cooked up by the Ku Klux Klan
to
besmirch Obama's reputation with rumours of his attachment to the
purveyors
of Black Magic.
The logic is, of course, that with Obama in the White
House, all African
leaders will expect to be given free rein by the US
government. Zimbabwe,
for instance, would expect so-called sanctions to be
lifted immediately
after Obama's inauguration in January. Robert Mugabe
would follow this up
with a State visit to the US, not only to congratulate
the new president,
but to sound him out on political asylum.
His
relief would not be so overwhelming that he would anticipate his
continued
occupation of State House in Harare for any length of time
exceeding a few
months.
But he would probably insist on naming a new ambassador to the
USA, Comrade
Coltrane Chimurenga
The more pragmatic dictators - of
which there are few, strange as it may
seem - still firmly believe Obama
will, first and foremost, be the president
of the USA, not the Honorary
President of the other USA, Muammar Gaddaffi's
United States of
Africa.
The Libyan leader last week signed a deal with the Italians for
US$5 billion
in reparations for their long, cruel and bloody occupation of
his country in
the 20th century.
Gaddaffi is one leader who would
benefit from a "nice" attitude from
President Obama. He might propose that
Obama pay his first foreign state
visit to Libya, where he would be feted
lavishly as the first US president
to officially endorse the Libyan
dictator's grand plan for a United States
of Africa, of which he would,
naturally be president.
A few months ago, he invited African politicians,
journalists and other
customarily impecunious political wannabes, to Tripoli
where he planned to
have them endorse his proposed USA, before a crucial
conference of the
African Union. They were to campaign for the project at
the summit in Accra.
The plan flopped and his USA project is still alive
only in his imagination.
But with the largesse from the guilt-ridden
Italians, Gaddaffi can be
expected to relaunch his campaign
afresh.
In general, African leaders expect to be left alone to exploit
their people's
patience with and fear of them. It is only when the soldiers
are not given
what they believe to be a fair share of the loot do that they
decide to bump
off such leaders and institute something they normally style
a
"revolutionary" council or nursery or kindergarten.
In Zimbabwe,
few people expect any such interference in the running of the
country by
Mugabe and the people who surround him today and are believed to
be living
off what is left of the fat of the land.
On a very serious note, most of
the world has tended to watch on the
sidelines as African leaders brutalised
their people. In a few cases, going
back to the 1960-70s, foreign
governments linked their support to such
regimes to the "political
correctness" of their ideologies.
It is still difficult to justify such
support for people like Idi Amin or
Macias Nguema or Joseph Mobutu. Today,
it is still a mystery why both Sadc
and the African Union find very little
ground on which to demand the
expulsion of Mugabe's regime from their
councils.
The Commonwealth, which refused to lift its suspension of the
country from
membership when the time came for its review, acted with
dignity and
tenacity. The majority of the group's members are from the
developing world.
The US law which calls for Zimbabwe to regularise its
adherence to
democratic norms, in exchange for a massive aid package, has
always been
seen by the Mugabe regime as something which it would agree to
only if it
forsook its sovereignty, surrendering it to Uncle Sam.
Yet
how much is this sovereignty worth in terms of how Zimbabwe has allowed
its
economy to be controlled by China? Beijing is a newcomer to foreign
direct
investment.
As a basically communist political and economic government,
it has dispensed
with most of the niceties adopted by the capitalist
world.
Angola, with is oil wealth, has virtually surrendered its own
sovereignty to
the Chinese. What is now appreciated is that most of the
wealth accruing
from the links between the two countries has benefited only
a few fat cats
in Luanda.
President Eduardo dos Santos' daughter is
one of the most prosperous
entrepreneurs today. She flaunts her wealth
shamelessly, according to a
recent report. Elections are due this week and
are being touted as the first
democratic plebiscite for years.
The
country emerged from a civil war, in which its major instigator was
Jonas
Savimbi, who came to a nasty end before he could achieve any of what
he
perceived as his cherished goals.
Dos Santos was a protégé of Agostinho
Neto, the founding president of the
republic. He has shamelessly amassed
wealth, but was not squeamish about
criticising Mugabe as a leader with
little regard for the more refined
tenets of democracy.
Dos Santos
critics must have reacted with smirks when he offered Mugabe
advice on
democracy. After this week's elections, Dos Santos is likely to
conduct
himself the way Mugabe did after his 27 June election farce.
Reports
from Luanda say the ground has been set for a massively rigged
election. Dos
Santos is a product of a liberation movement, as Mugabe, Thabo
Mbeki and
Jacob Zuma are. These men's respect for democracy as it is
understood in its
purest form is something you have to search for with a
microscope.
Obama could hardly afford to intimate to the American
people that he
harbours any sympathies for such leaders. His profile
includes a capacity
for political combat which some have characterised as
being ruthless, with
no holds barred.
But everyone seems to stop
short of accusing him of engaging in bare-faced
chicanery, or the sort of
political skulduggery which men such as Mbeki,
Zuma, Mugabe, dos Santos and
Gaddafi would find perfectly permissible
For the United States, an Obama
victory would signal the emergence of a
system of government which rejects
racism and bigotry and cherishes only
honesty, hard work and faithful and
dedicated service to the people.
All this will sound entirely
mealy-mouthed to people who know politics for
what it has been for thousands
of years.a very dirty business indeed.
But throughout history there have
emerged men and women, as politically
fallible as many others, who performed
their duties with such remarkable
fair-mindedness, even their critics
conceded a grudging admiration for them.
Obama could be that catalyst for
change, prophesied by people such as Martin
Luther King Jnr. That great
icon's dream could be about to be realised