THE MDC has resolved to stage
another mass action, following the government's refusal to yield to a wide
range of demands it made last month.
The
decision, which could result in more arrests of members of the opposition
party, was reached at the MDC's national executive meeting held in Harare
yesterday.
Paul Themba-Nyathi, the MDC
spokesman, said the mass action would put more pressure on the government to
address 15 demands outlined by the party on 19
March.
The conditions, which include the
restoration of the rule of law, were openly rejected by President Mugabe at
the burial of the late Minister of Higher Education and Technology, Swithun
Mombeshora, at Heroes' Acre on
21 March.
Mugabe was quoted in The
Herald, saying he had no time to listen to "sell-outs" like MDC president,
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Nyathi said: "We have
no option but to stage another stayaway as Zanu PF has failed to meet the 15
demands we gave them last month."
The MDC
spokesman, however, refused to say when the stayaway would take
place. "The dates of the mass action will only
be known at the appropriate time," he said.
Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena, declined to be drawn into discussing
the latest stance by the MDC.
"I am not
going to comment on that issue," Bvudzijena said when contacted for comment
yesterday.
The police have reacted
heavy-handedly to previous mass actions. More
than 200 MDC MPs and supporters have been arrested in recent weeks for
organising last month's two-day stayaway, which took place on 18 and 19
March. The police alleged that the mass action
was accompanied by violence.
Among
opposition MPs arrested were the party's vice-president, Gibson Sibanda,
Themba-Nyathi, David Mpala, the MP for Hwange East and Jealous Sansole, MP
for Lupane.
The other demands made by the
MDC include the release of all political prisoners and an end to all
State-sponsored violence against its members and the torture of suspects in
police custody.
WORLD Vision Zimbabwe (WVZ) is
busy putting together the 2004 relief budget following indications that the
country could be headed for another food
crisis.
"Prospects for the upcoming
agricultural season are very unfavourable. The situation is further
complicated by the rapid economic decline, high prevalence of the HIV/Aids,
political instability and issues of governance," WVZ said in its report for
March 2003.
The agricultural sector
suffered a blow this season due to inadequate rainfall, which has plunged the
country into the throes of another disastrous
drought.
WVZ, a key food relief agent in
Zimbabwe, noted that the volatile political and economic conditions
prevailing locally had contributed
to starvation.
The agency said it had
expanded food distribution after wide consultations with the Vulnerability
Assessment Committee, which advised that more aid was
needed.
The report said: "Given the
existing and residual strain on coping capacities from the current crisis,
anticipated further economic and agricultural decline, the government and
humanitarian aid agencies were advised to prepare for widespread food
insecurity for the year 2003-2004."
An
estimated 7 million people were said to be in dire need of relief aid last
year, but the figure could increase due to poor
harvests
Mutare City Council is expected to
make at least $27 million from illegal shacks in the city, it has been
established.
From January this year, the
council started charging shack dwellers $990 a structure a month. Sternard
Mapurisa, the director of housing and community services, said Mutare had 18
000 illegal structures.
He said in January
alone the council got $3 788 537,87 from shack dwellers. He told a recent
community services, housing, health and education committee meeting that the
amount had been collected in a week.
"We
are hopeful that the collection of the shack levies will improve in the
future," he said.
City treasurer Kudzai
Mumbengegwi said his department had collected $4 million from the shacks in
two weeks.
"This figure would improve if
the council effectively enforced the levying of the shacks," Mumbengegwi
said.
Joseph Chinotimba, a chief
inspector with the Harare Municipal Police, is facing a second charge of
violating his conditions of service.
This
emerged at a disciplinary hearing at Town House last
Thursday.
Simbarashe Muzenda, the chairman
of the committee presiding over the hearing, postponed the proceedings to 8
May after Chinotimba did not turn up.
His lawyer, Aston Musunga, asked for time to prepare Chinotimba's defence on
the second charge.
Musunga said he had
failed to contact his client to inform him of the date of the
hearing.
On the latest charge, Chinotimba
is alleged to have contravened Clause 18 (g) (i) and (ii) of the Harare
Municipality Undertaking (General Conditions of Service) Statutory Instrument
66 of 1992 as read with Section 12B (2) (b) (i) of the Labour Relations
Amendment Act of 2000.
Cosmas Mukwesha,
representing the council, said Chinotimba allegedly, without the authority of
his employer, became a director of Edlan Security (Private) Limited, a
security company. This resulted in a conflict of interest with the employer's
official duties.
This charge arose when
Chinotimba unwittingly gave his employer a $500 000 cheque on 24 February
this year, for the repair of toilets at Machipisa bus terminus in
Highfield.
Chinotimba, who signed the
cheque for Edlan Security (Pvt) Ltd, presented the cheque when his employer
was first supposed to hold a disciplinary hearing against him on the first
charge.
The war veteran leader who
spearheaded the violent farm invasions in the run-up to the 2000
parliamentary election, is accused of giving unauthorised interviews to the
government-controlled Herald newspaper
last year.
The first hearing did not
occur after a committee, comprising of MDC councillors, recused
itself.
It was replaced by a committee
chaired by lawyer Oscar Ziweni.
On the
second charge, Chinotimba is not supposed to take up a position elsewhere as
a director while he is still employed by the council. He is a director or
signatory of cheques for Edlan Security (Pvt)
Ltd.
"Chinotimba is employed as a security
officer in the capacity of chief inspector," reads the
charge.
"He could not, therefore, become a
director of another security undertaking while in the employment of the
council as this will result in a conflict of interest with his
duties."
On the first charge, Chinotimba
is accused of contravening Clause 18 (p) as read with Clause 18 (h) of the
conditions in that he communicated or made available to a recognised mass
media, information concerning the business of the council, without the
authority of his employer.
The information
was published in The Herald issue of 9 and 10
October 2002.
Sida head attacks African
states for wasting resources
4/14/2003 6:43:44 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE new Swedish International
Development Co-operation Agency director-general, Maria Norrfalk, has blamed
some African countries for wasting resources by engaging in wars against each
other.
In her first official message
released by the Swedish Embassy in Harare last week, Norrfalk said the misuse
of resources contravenes the 2000 Millennium
Declaration.
The declaration mandates
governments to ensure that national resources are used for developmental
purposes.
She said: "If an increased flow
of investments and assistance to Africa is to be of benefit, the countries
themselves must take their task of combating poverty and corruption
seriously.
"And if the Millennium
Declaration pledges are are to be given any credibility, governments cannot
wage expensive wars with each other or with their
citizens.
A country's resources must be
fairly distributed and democracy must
be strengthened."
Sida is working on
how governments are succeeding in co-ordinating their policies to promote
development.
"Sida is moving in the
direction of supporting entire sectors, such as the healthcare sector as this
is an issue of democracy.
"A country's
government is responsible for overall poverty-reduction policy. Donors can
then contribute to this process in different ways,"
said Norrfalk.
Sida spends US$54
billion (Z$2 970 billion) a year in its developmental
projects.
ROMAN Catholic Church bishops in
Zimbabwe have made a scathing attack on the corruption in the public and
private sectors and the politicisation of food distribution by government and
Zanu PF officials.
The Zimbabwe Catholic
Bishops' Conference (ZCBC) described as immoral the skewed distribution of
food along political party lines.
It is
alleged that a Zanu PF party card is now a prerequisite for accessing cooking
oil, maize-meal and other essential
commodities.
Political analysts regard
this strategy as part of a campaign aimed at reversing Zanu PF's dwindling
support base.
"People's lives are at stake
and the nation cannot afford to entertain the politicisation of food, while
people are starving. This is immoral. "The
demand for citizens to produce a party card before receiving food should be
stopped forthwith," ZCBC said in its pastoral
letter.
ZCBC called for the protection of
rights and the welfare of all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation
and the eradication of widespread
corruption.
"The government is not only
for the ruling party, but must protect all its citizens, their rights, as
well as their welfare. "We condemn some
members of government who have practised partiality and have openly refused
to serve people who do not belong to their
own party.
"It should be clear to
citizens as well as government that no social group or political party has
the right to monopolise power. "Preferential
treatment and selective justice undermine the stability and credibility of
the government," ZCBC said.
The pastoral
letter was signed by the late Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa, Archbishop Pius
Ncube, Reverends Michael Bhasera, Francis Mugadzi, Alexio Muchabaiwa, Helmut
Reckter, Robert Ndlovu, Angel Floro and
Patrick Mutume
The church leaders
appealed to the government to "take the lead" in promoting dialogue to
resolve the country's mounting political and economic crises. They also
called for the arrest of political thugs terrorising perceived enemies of the
government.
"From the standpoint of moral
concern, we call upon the government, especially the individuals that
represent the government at the ground level, to deal urgently with those
elements in our society that have placed themselves above the law and are
constantly harassing other citizens," the church leaders
said.
They also lamented the "frightening
levels of corruption as has been embraced by both the leadership and ordinary
citizens".
"Current shortages of basic
commodities have provided an opportunity for corruption by people in
strategic positions, including government ministers and other government
officials," the bishops said.
ZIMBABWEANS have been urged to
exploit investment opportunities in the Mozambican port city of
Beira.
"The message from Mozambique is for
businesses in Zimbabwe to invest, mainly in the tourism sector. Of course,
there are also opportunities in the construction of schools, clinics, roads
and bridges." the mayor for Beira, Chivavice Muchangage
said.
Muchangage was speaking during an
official visit. He was accompanied by Americo Jeremias, his director of
Construction and Urbanisation, and Anabela Santiago, a councillor in charge
of co-operation affairs in the port city, among other visiting
delegates.
The delegation was taken around
Mutare by executive mayor, Lawrence Mudehwe, and had the opportunity to view
various development projects, including the city's Hobhouse housing section
and the Green Market informal business
sector.
Beira, situated about 280km east
of here, has a twinning arrangement with
Mutare.
Mozambique, said Muchangage, has
room for entrepreneurs keen to invest in the construction and tourism
sectors.
Much of the port city's
infrastructure was destroyed in the 10-year civil strife that followed
Mozambique's independence in 1975.
"Mutare
is set to benefit from the twinning arrangement and Beira as well, since we
have discovered there is a lot that we need from here," the visiting mayor
said.
He added: "We cannot promise much of
what is on offer in Beira save to say Zimbabweans should come and see for
themselves what we have."
The port city
would soon construct a warehouse where local companies can store products
intended for sale in Mozambique.
Mudehwe
also invited Mozambicans to look at similar investment opportunities in the
eastern border city.
Muchangage promised
to lobby the central government to loosen visa requirements for Zimbabweans
intending to take up serious business opportunities in Beira and its
immediate environs.
POLICE in Mutare are defying a
court ruling ordering them to return $117 000 seized from an MDC official
arrested last month.
The cash, a mobile
phone and other personal belongings were confiscated from Pishai Muchauraya,
the MDC spokesman in Manicaland, as the government - through the police and
other State security agents - launched a crackdown on members of the
opposition party whom it accused of organising the 18-19 March
stayaway.
Scores of MDC officials were
arrested and thrown into police custody across the country on allegations of
contravening provisions of the draconian Public Order and Security
Act.
In Mutare, Muchauraya was arrested
along with three other MDC members: Giles Mutsekwa, the MP for Mutare North,
Patrick Chitaka, the chairman for Mutare North and Knowledge Nyamhoka, the
councillor for Ward 4 in Sakubva.
All four
have since appeared before the courts on initial remand and are out on
bail.
Last Monday, Mutare magistrate,
Samuel Zuze, ordered the police to return all items confiscated from the MDC
spokesperson, a reaffirmation of a ruling made during initial remand by Lloyd
Kuvheya, a different magistrate.
The
police voluntarily returned a mobile phone and personal
belongings confiscated from Muchauraya before he appeared before the
courts.
CONTINUED policy shifts
tailor-made to ease tension in Zimbabwe will not bail out the economy from
the current economic crisis, MDC said
last week.
In a joint statement, MDC
secretary for economic affairs, Tendai Biti and shadow finance minister,
Tapiwa Mashakada, said economic turnaround can only occur if government
pursues comprehensive stabilisation and
recovery programmes.
"March 2003 has
gone down as the month when the non-coherent macro-economic policies of Zanu
PF entered into whirlwind confusion and panic stance, ultimately plunging the
Zimbabwean economy into deeper catastrophe," read part of the
statement.
The two legislators blamed the
loose fiscal policy for causing perennial budget deficits and excessive
declines in economic activity.
Inflation,
officially pegged at 280 percent in Zimbabwe, is now the highest in the
region.
There was also no clear path to
follow with regard to the exchange rate and interest rates
regime.
An exchange rate of $824 to the
greenback has been introduced to exporters with other transactions trading at
$55 to the same unit.
Distortions also
exist in interest rates, where exporters and the productive sector were
borrowing at heavily subsidised rates, while other sectors were accessing
loans at exorbitant rates.
"With the
continued shortages of basic foodstuffs owing to the illegitimate regime's
chaotic land reform programme, Zimbabweans are left at the mercy of God for
survival.
"Firms, on the other hand, have
adopted survival strategies to evade the controls by packaging the scarce
commodities in either too small or too large forms with prices beyond the
reach of many Zimbabweans," the
statement said.
A number of companies,
particularly parastatals, were already teetering on the verge of
collapse.
The National Railways of
Zimbabwe, Wankie Colliery and Air Zimbabwe were among the worst
affected.
Export earnings had also
declined from about US$1,4 billion (Z$77 billion) in 1966 to about US$1,7
billion last year. Estimates suggest that earnings could further plunge to
about US$1,4 billion this year.
"The
consequence of this structural retrogression are the long-term negative
impacts on: (a) agricultural sector's economic
contribution, which is unlikely to attain former levels in the near
future; (b) substantial multiplier
consequences on manufacturing and service sectors (for instance, from the
demise of the tobacco industry); and (c) key industries brought to an abrupt
halt, for example, the cement manufacturing sector."
Professor
Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the
President's Office, seems to have outdone himself in his efforts to taint the
MDC and blame it for every ill that is currently afflicting Zimbabwe's
political, social and economic landscape.
Zanu PF, being Zanu PF, would not have waited for the mass action to succeed
and not seize the opportunity to expose the rogue soldiers and army deserters
before the recent by-elections were held. Zanu PF and Moyo would definitely
not have wasted time and the country would have been bombarded ad nauseum
with that "information".
The remarkable
thing is that these so-called deserters did not look like soldiers at all.
They were scruffily dressed and had torn uniforms. If they were truly
deserters, the whole country would have been alerted of their desertion long
before the mass action and the by-elections. Moyo would have been given a
platform on State-controlled media to denigrate the MDC at every
opportunity.
The whole country would have
been subjected to a barrage of propaganda on radio and television about these
deserters, given the fact that the government has already accused the
opposition and its leadership of planning to topple the government through
unconstitutional means.
Morgan Tsvangirai,
Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela are already on trial for treason. This
evidence would definitely have been brought up during the State's case
against the MDC trio. The fact that it was not brought up means there is no
truth behind all this propaganda. That is why Moyo seems to have outshone
himself in his concerted efforts to portray Zanu PF and the Mugabe regime as
an upright and democratic government.
Moyo
has to realise that he cannot fool all the people all the time. People have
memories and due to the hostile climate that this country is presently
experiencing, those memories are definitely not short. People will remember
and know that Zanu PF is nothing but a party of promises and no action, when
it comes to issues pertaining to genuine national
development.
This whole charade is focused
on ensuring that the Mbekis and Obasanjos of this world keep on supporting
Mugabe and his party in trying to win back international recognition, which
was withdrawn with the suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth councils,
followed by smart sanctions on Mugabe and 76 of his cronies in Zanu
PF.
They are not allowed to roam about the
world as freely as they did just four years ago. That to Mugabe - who earned
the nickname "Vasco da Gama" due to his penchant for travelling - must
be very painful. Zanu PF must have thought it was just rhetoric on the part
of the international community at large. It must be dawning on them that the
international community means business, as its tolerance for dictators
wanes.
Now that Saddam Hussein, another
dictator par excellence, has fallen and that USAid has withdrawn funding for
Zimbabwe's attendance at Southern African Development Community meetings, the
message must be sinking in.
USAid went a
step further and threatened to impose similar sanctions on any southern
African state that hosted Zimbabwe for any Sadc
meeting.
This tightens the travel
restrictions imposed on Mugabe and his henchmen. None of the Sadc countries
would risk losing aid and international links because of Mugabe's
arrogance.
So for Zanu PF what better way
to try and divert attention from itself than arresting its own hooligans whom
it had unleashed on its own people?
Even
the so-called Chipangano had to be seen to be reined in. But it is still
incredible that only 10 members of this terror gang could have caused the
untold torture, harassment and intimidation of thousands of people in Mbare
and its environs.
This further exposes the
plot by government to be seen to be democratic all of sudden. They are trying
to play to the international gallery and pretending that they are returning
the country to the rule of law.
Too
late Moyo. The people in this country cannot be hoodwinked any more. They now
know all the tricks in Zanu PF's bag.
WITH effect from 20 March, 2003,
the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Dr
Ignatius Chombo, was assigned interim responsibility over the Ministry of
Higher and Tertiary Education.
When I
heard the news it precipitated me into a mortuary-frozen state. It sent
ice-cold shivers down my spine as I pondered why, in this day and age,
fortune still favours the conspicuously
inept.
Despite being educated to doctorate
level, Chombo conducts his ministerial duties in a manner that gives
education an extremely bad name.
Most of
his decisions are so devoid of logic that they exhibit a tendency towards a
Stone Age mentality. With all due respect, he has nothing to show, not only
for his education, but for his grey hair.
At a time when government coffers have more holes in them than those in a
watering can, Chombo's recommendation of the creation of the positions of
governors for Harare and Bulawayo exposed how limited his thought process is
- his logic is as flawed as that of a housewife who cuts herself with
a kitchen knife because she has bandages in the medicine
cabinet.
With the majority in unison that
the country does not require governors at all, it takes one driven by a
strong dose of Dutch courage to advocate for the creation of more such
unnecessary positions.
The rationale that
district and provincial administrators can effectively perform the duties of
governors is lucid; it need not be put
to test.
If Chombo does not see merit
in the abolishment of the office of governor, he deservedly invites scorn and
ridicule that will inevitably reduce him to a national political slapstick
comedian.
Chombo need not have had his
thinking cap on in deciding on the merits and demerits of the office of
governor.
It is obvious that the office is
a reckless policy aimed at squandering the taxpayer's hard-earned money,
better dispensed with expeditiously.
By
calling for the appointment of more governors, against the background of the
depleted State coffers on one hand and the duplication of duties on the
other, Chombo is gulping poison in the forlorn hope that he does not
die.
He is embarking on a nationally
suicidal course whose repercussions will indeed be
far-reaching.
The minister has fared
disastrously in his dealings with city councils that are being run by mayors
from the Movement for Democratic Change.
His interference, especially in the affairs of the Harare City Council, is
way beyond that of the call of duty.
His
efforts to bulldoze mayor Mudzuri have impacted negatively on the latter.
Mudzuri, with the massive support of Harare residents, has remained resolute
and steadfast, focused on bringing the city back to its Sunshine City status,
ruined by successive years of Zanu PF council leadership
since independence.
Given his
educational credentials, Chombo disgraced himself by giving credence to a
dubious petition that he alleges to have been authored by some Mbare
residents.
He gave education an extremely
bad name by stooping so low as to lend his weight to a fake petition, yet it
is public knowledge that the said petitioners were, in fact, a few hired
hooligans whose numbers were swelled by some traders and rural-bound
travellers, forcibly bundled into trucks and delivered to Town
House.
The strategy was so poorly
conceived and executed that the minister lit a matchstick to his
reputation.
His standing plummeted several
rungs on the socio-political ladder.
It
would not be surprising that it is now anchored right at the base, given his
specious track record, earned from the series of below-the-belt punches which
he has relentlessly and unashamedly delivered to Harare Executive Mayor
Mudzuri and his councillors.
With the
magnitude of problems wreaking havoc in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary
Education, appointing Chombo as the acting minister was as foolhardy as
asking a toddler to teach a crawler how to
walk.
Both the university and polytechnic
education systems are currently in such a state of paralysis and
deterioration that Chombo, given his naivety, does not have the acumen to
arrest.
Prospects for restoring normalcy
to higher and tertiary education in general, and the reopening of the
country's oldest institute of higher learning, the University of Zimbabwe, in
particular, have been dealt a severe body blow as President Mugabe's penchant
for reshuffling losers and under-performers continues to be
insatiable.
As Chombo joins the legion of
the recycled ministers - which includes Dr Witness Mangwende and Dr Herbert
Murerwa to mention but the duo - who were given new leases of life through
presidential patronage against a backdrop of poor performances, I for one can
only wonder when the voice of reason, vociferous for some time now, will be
taken heed of.
Cyprian Ndawana is a
Zimbabwean political and social commentator.
A MASSIVE supplementary budget
could be tabled before Parliament in the third quarter of the year amid
revelations that most ministries had already spent large chunks of their
allocations with only four months into the
year.
A treasury source said high costs of
goods and services consumed by line ministries and government departments had
eaten into the $784 billion 2003 national
budget.
"We have cases, at the moment,
where some departments and ministries are struggling to meet their
commitments," the treasury source said.
Herbert Murerwa, the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, tabled a
$52,97 million supplementary budget last year to cater for civil servants'
cost of living adjustments, funding for agriculture and the mitigation of
drought effects.
This year's supplementary
budget could run into billions of dollars.
Bulawayo chartered accountant, Eric Bloch, said costs of importing food were
ballooning by the day, with the rise in lending rates fuelling the interest
burden incurred by the government.
Bloch
said: "There is no doubt that the budget will be inadequate. The critical
question is: To what extent will the government look at recovering increased
expenditure by raising taxes and
borrowing?"
The chartered accountant said
shortages prevailing on the money market and punitive interest rates make it
difficult for the government to finance the deficit through
borrowing.
The government may look at
improving tax revenue by either raising sales tax on non-essential items or
increasing tax levels for high
income earners.
Duty on luxuries could
also be raised, but this could be met with resistance from neighbouring
trading partners such as South Africa
and Zambia.
"We have not lived within
our means since independence and this means we have had to borrow heavily,"
said Bloch.
Analysts said the other
problem is that the nation is expending large sums of money that were not
budgeted for.
It is estimated that $715
billion would be required to support the multiple exchange rates prevailing
in several sectors of the economy.
The
$784 billion budget announced by Murerwa was based on the assumption that
inflation would be reduced to around 96 percent before the end of the
year.
Inflation is now expected to end the
year within the 450 and 500 percent range.
THE tobacco-selling season is
likely to mirror the stormy season experienced by farmers last year when
Zimbabwe's three auction floors open on 23
April.
The season could go down in history
as the worst period for tobacco farmers and the nation, following the chaotic
land reform exercise, which disturbed farming activities and displaced an
estimated 500 000 farm workers.
The
ensuing confusion made it difficult for farmers to make projections on
harvests.
For instance, the Farmers'
Development Trust, headed by Lovegot Tendengu, was expecting 200 million kgs
of flue-cured tobacco to pass through the auction
floors.
The Commercial Farmers Union, the
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association and the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board put
the figure at between 80 million and 120 million
kgs.
Optimists such as Tendengu are
convinced that the chaotic land reform created new farmers, who closed the
production gap left by white
commercial farmers.
Critics however,
believe that the new farmers started late. They also experienced a host of
problems in securing seed and equipment.
The situation was compounded by a critical shortage of seed
and fertilisers.
The decline in tobacco
production is likely to negatively impact on the agro-based economy and its
ability to earn foreign currency.
The
country, which is experiencing a foreign currency crisis due to reduced
tobacco earnings, donor fatigue and poor export performance, needs huge
reserves to meet its growing fuel and electricity import
bills.
For example, the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority requires US$165 million (Z$9 billion) to pay
arrears to the World Bank, European Investment Bank, Africa Development Bank
and suppliers of imported power and
spare parts.
The foreign currency
shortages have also adversely affected industry's ability to import essential
raw materials. This had, in some cases led to scaled-down production or
complete shut-downs of over 300 companies last year
alone.
Farmers will not be able to earn
sufficient returns that can cover costs incurred during the farming season.
They would be left with little money to plough for the next
season.
"Load-shedding which began a few
weeks ago, is likely to worsen the constraints facing farmers. The mining and
manufacturing sectors have lost billions of dollars as a result of
load-shedding," a local economic
analyst said.
Retrenchments look
certain in the tobacco industry and other supporting sectors. The tobacco
industry used to employ 700 000 people prior the land reform
programme.
To add to the confusion,
international buyers are still to commit themselves to purchasing the golden
leaf, which contributes nearly 30 percent of Zimbabwe's foreign currency
earnings.
It is feared that international
buyers could have abandoned Harare in favour of more stable
markets.
Analysts said the anticipated
decline in the crop, blamed on political and economic turmoil, could also
have scared away buyers.
The requirement
that all tobacco purchases be conducted in foreign currency sourced offshore
could be another contributing factor.
Tobacco Trade Association president, Jim van Heerden said: "It is a bit early
to name international buyers coming to Zimbabwe because most of the
travelling arrangements were done late.
"The tobacco industry didn't know the size of the crop and the exchange rate
to be used. Such information is important to
buyers."
Tobacco companies normally meet
international buyers and other players in the tobacco industry around
February and March.
It is during this
period that the industry gets to know the number of merchants participating
at the floors.
Individual tobacco
companies will start visiting international buyers this month although no
details about this were immediately
available.
The Tobacco Merchants
Association said its members were meeting over the issue but could not
release details of their discussions.
Auction floors are expected to market a small flue-cured tobacco crop of
between 80 million and 120 million kgs for the first time since 1990. Only
133 million kgs were produced that year due to adverse
weather conditions.
Other poor seasons
were 1979, 1984 and 1988 when 111,6 million kgs, 119,9 million kgs and 111,9
million kgs were sold respectively.
Crop
output is however, said to have been as low as 56 million kgs in the 1960s
because farmers were still at a learning
stage.
Last year, Zimbabwe produced 165
million kgs which fetched US$377 million (Z$60 billion) from flue-cured
tobacco sales.
Previously, Zimbabwe has
produced 215,9 million kgs of flue-cured tobacco in 1998, 192,1 million kgs
in 1999, 236,9 million kgs in 2000 and 2002, 5 million kgs in 2001 and 165,8
million kgs in 2002.
Auction floors have
been allocated one sale each a day compared to six sales in the past in
anticipation of reduced crop intake.
An
auction floor can trade between 3 600 to 4 000 bales of tobacco in one sale.
Sales would be increased if deliveries
improved.
Feisal Greenland, the general
manager of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Auction Centre is looking at the situation
from a positive perspective.
Greenland
said: "We are likely to counter the financial losses caused by the reduced
production because there will be a high demand for tobacco this year due to a
world reduction in production."
Brazil,
the largest tobacco producer in the world, is expected to auction about 480
million kgs this year, compared to 560 million kgs
last year.
Greenland expects prices to
increase from last year by between 20 and 30
percent.
Other economic pundits expect the
price to remain the same as last year's averages in United States dollar
terms.
David Slack, of the Burley
Marketing Zimbabwe said tobacco prices would be the same as last year in US
dollar terms.
Earnings will improve in
Zimbabwe dollar terms because of the shift in the exchange rate used by
exporters from $158 against US$1 to $820.
"The high exchange rate will offset the losses we would have made due to low
sales," Slack said. Flue-cured tobacco fetched an average price of US$226,66
/kg ($35 925/kg).
Giles Watson, the
general manager of the Tobacco Sales Floors said: "My feeling is that prices
this year would be pretty much the same as last year in US dollar
terms."
Government
using CIO agents to spy on exiled
Zimbabweans
4/14/2003 6:34:07 AM
(GMT +2)
Please inform your readers to
take note of the fact that leaving the country does not make any citizen
safe.
While in the UK, I got friendly with
a man I have since discovered is a CIO officer living in Luton, England, and
pretending to be a student.
He is financed
to do all sorts of things that nobody in Zimbabwe could possibly afford to
do.
He comes to Zimbabwe regularly, files
reports on other Zimbabweans frequently, and he can always afford to pay his
university fees in order to retain his UK student
visa.
This government has its eyes and
ears all over the place at the taxpayer's
expense.
While many of us here are
starving, have no medicines, no fuel, no jobs, no future etc for lack of
forex, the government is spying on its own citizens
abroad.
Be warned, choose your friends
carefully or make sure you do not come back to Zimbabwe before President
Mugabe goes.
Also, if you discover anyone
who is serving this government against the people, keep a good diary on them
for future use.
The governments of Europe,
the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc, will be helpful when we ask for
co-operation in extraditing
these thugs.
Meanwhile, keep your eyes
open. They can target your family back
here.
This letter
is a special tribute to B & B (George W Bush and Tony Blair), the two
bravest leaders in the world.
Congratulations, Sirs, on your sweet success in Iraq. Now the people of Iraq
are finally going to experience true democracy and
freedom.
It is my humblest pleasure to
address this note to you.
I would like you
to show the world that you are not in Iraq for their oil but to restore good
governance and democracy, by carrying out similar operations in Africa in
general and Zimbabwe in particular.
The
people of Zimbabwe are in a similar, if not worse situation, than the people
of Iraq were before the fall of Saddam
Hussein.
People are being maimed,
murdered, raped and tortured every day for their political
affiliations.
Every member of the
opposition has officially been labelled "an enemy of the
State".
People despise President Mugabe,
not the State. Mugabe can never be the State. Honourable Members of
Parliament are being arrested and beaten up for no
reason.
Please, Sirs, show the world and
the United Nations that where democracy is at stake there can be no
compromise.
Mugabe must be given 48 hours
or less to leave office.
I wish to compare one fallen country
we all know against Germany
under Hitler.
It is really going to be
up to you to decide whether I am making a mockery of you know who, or I am
indeed being truthful with my opinion. I hope I shall not be offending anyone
by making some frank but
earthly comparisons.
I shall begin in
the beginning. It shall not be the famed Biblical beginning that went like
this: "In the beginning there was the Word". It shall be a beginning as an
earthly beginning for earthlings.
The
beginning begins in Bavaria, the well known home of the highly fancied BMW
cars. We shall term Bavaria the home of Hitler, of course there being no
developmental equalities with our well-known Zvimba. If anyone disputes that
Austria instead of Bavaria is the starting point, then the other starting
point could as well be Malawi instead of
Zvimba!
Sometime in the late thirties of
the past century, there was a man. The man was a leader of his people and his
country. He led his people to a war that still remains the greatest war ever
to be fought in history. The war that was invited to the people was aptly
known as the Second World War.
The war
ravaged several countries, killed economies of many participating countries
and ruined the social fabric of millions of people through bereavement,
displacement and other ills associated with the art
of war.
Adolf Hitler saw greatness in
himself. He was a very proud and arrogant man. He thought that the German
people, who were Aryan by descent, were the most superior. He wanted to
create a pure race for the world, where blue eyes, a skin lacking in the
pigment enhancing hormone melanin and naturally flowing hair would be a
measure of superiority. He was more than a racist. He was a dangerous
supremacist, just like the KKK.
At first,
when the man started barking, world leaders watched in awe. He made demands
that were quickly acceded to in the destructive policy of appeasement. When
he had enough proof that the rest of the world would just let him have his
way, he started having his way in a big
way.
Neighbouring states started falling
under his blitzkriegs. So swift were his invasions of other states that those
world leaders who were guilty of appeasing him realised their folly when he
was almost knocking on their door-steps in readiness to
attack.
So, Hitler had a love for war. He
managed to move the entire world into a very long war. During his days as an
ardent lover of war, he developed a hatred he could not hide. He hated
Jews!
The man had more than enough hatred
for Jews. He endeavoured to exhaust all his abilities to cause pain on people
by working full throttle on satanic experiments on the Jewish people.
Undisputed historical facts even show us that the Jews were positively
discriminated against, with the few lucky ones being dog-tagged as 'Juedens'
for easy identification. This was just in case they erroneously benefited as
ordinary German citizens.
Somehow the
world managed to end the Nazi terror after some six long years of serious
hostilities with the dictator. The eventual success of the allies against
Hitler was an achievement that still remains remarkable
even today.
The world was saved from
the talons of a monster that had weird and devilish intents for the people of
the world. In defeating Hitler, the world learnt that it was very dangerous
to leave a mentally sick man to have in his control the keys into the
self-destruct button room.
This is what
Hitler the dead (I am sure there is no other Hitler, dead or alive to speak
of) did to German, the Jews and the world. Now for Baba vaChats, the local
behave-alike and look-alike!
At first he
was hailed as an enigma as he made the narrow path of righteousness even
narrower as he set standards that many envied but could not attain. He
preached no hatred and wished no bad fortune on anyone. He made the term
reconciliation look like his own addition to the
dictionary.
He added new dimensions to the
spirit of forgiveness, even though he confessed that he would not forget the
tribulations he had suffered from
his adversaries.
He was buying time! He
had to prepare himself for the kill. He had to assemble a private force that
could be used to advance his wishes. He looked to the very far East where he
found the North Koreans who were willing to extend their axis of evil to
southern Africa. The raw recruits were got
together and trained by the mean North Korean instructors in the art of
meanness. The result was a politically charged brigade of storm troopers who
would have matched the Christian Youths of the Nazis pound for pound and
wickedness for wickedness.
Look at the
operations they undertook in Matabeleland. I cannot dignify that operation as
a military operation. I will rightly call it a genocide committed by
gun-totting political misfits.
The scale
may have been far smaller than the Nazi/Jewish affair, yet the effects are
similar in devastation. Whereas the Nazi left millions of Jews dead, the
later-day storm troopers had a couple of tens of thousands scalps to their
credit. The two operations that straddle four decades were full of
hatred.
The gentleman in question saw it
fit also to employ the gullibility of young and vulnerable citizens to
enhance his cruelty and hatred. Party youths were assembled all over with
mandates to do as their fore-runners, the North Korean trained
gunmen.
The young men and women made
villages look like Hitler's concentration camps. The very trusted youths
graduated to the militia, where they were issued with G3 rifles with plenty
of live ammunition.
There was terror in
the villages! The Nazis were easily reflected in the actions of Zanu
PF. With striking similarity, the local
champion of intense hatred showed the world that he had some misgivings about
Jews as well. In a terrible display of lack of
statesmanship, he labelled the behaviour of some people by saying, "they are
as hard-hearted as Jews!"
A look at the
names of the two sister organisations will also reveal an uncanny
resemblance. Surely the gods could not be that
crazy!
There is something sinister in
those names. Yet a further scrutiny of the hierarchy of the two sister
parties would also reveal a resemblance that would make Lucifer wonder why he
is seeing two images of himself - one Aryan and the other
Bantu!
The abominably monstrous and vile
moustache worn by each of the two gentlemen speaks for
itself!
With time in his hands, the new
menace on the block decided to go nationwide, after realising that he had
completed the rout in Matabeleland. The thrust was then centred on everybody
who would not dance to his tune.
Torture
and more killings began to take centre stage as his regime went
haywire. He did not only manage to break the
feeble bones of most of those opposed to his thinking, but also managed to
wreck the economy, bringing it to its worst state ever since the
implementation of modern
trading principles.
Despite the
country's meagre resources, the armed forces have seen unnecessary combat in
battlefields around some African countries, thanks to the Hitler
look-alike.
The citizens of the
impoverished state have voiced their reservations about these excursions, yet
the man of his own ways has autocratically shut out the people's
voices. He will not listen to anyone but
himself.
When he speaks, he dances to the
assumed sweetness of his own voice, match to the chagrin of the captive
audience. The rest of the people matter
less.
There is no difference to what
Hitler gave Germany. Hitler visited war,
terror, hunger, death, pillage and everything a bad dictator could upon the
Germans.
One could ask: What did the
people of Zimbabwe get? They got what the Germans got under Hitler. They got
nothing but arrogant scorn from the
man himself. They got the money to buy Zanu
PF party cards and nothing else. They got Green Bombers who made their lives
a living hell.
They got political measles
and other political contagion, after shouting slogans that demeaned them for
that matter. They got nothing to smile
about! At first the world watched as the
gentleman made mincemeat out of the people of
Matabeleland.
Then some neighbouring
countries thought that the issue was not for them to intervene, yet their
economies were dangling dangerously because of the very actions of their
peer.
This evenly matches the appeasement
that was accorded to Hitler. I could go on and
on, yet I have to get going. I have a rare premonition that the Gestapo could
be zeroing in on me!
I shall assume that
this comparison has proven a point. The point
is that our once beautiful country has been driven into economic, political
and social desolation.
Thanks to Hitler's
bad example in leadership qualities, someone is emulating that madness big
time. If I am wrong, please disprove me. If I am right, I do not want any
accolades, since I cannot take trophies for agreeing with an old mathematical
axiom that one plus one is two.