http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in News
SADC has insisted that the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) should be fully
implemented before Zimbabwe
can hold polls as the regional bloc would not
allow the country to go for
elections when conditions are not conducive.
Report by Owen
Gagare
The body, guarantor of the GPA that gave birth to Zimbabwe’s
inclusive
government, is also trying to resolve President Robert Mugabe and
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s fallout with MDC leader Welshman
Ncube.
Sadc is adamant on playing a role in monitoring the GPA through
the
facilitation team and representatives of the Sadc troika on Politics,
Defence and Security in the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(Jomic), which Zanu PF is strongly resisting.
South African President
Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team comprising Charles
Nqakula, Lindiwe Zulu and
ambassador to Zimbabwe, Vusi Mavimbela, this week
met Jomic co-chairs
Nicholas Goche (Zanu PF), Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga (MDC) and Elton
Mangoma (MDC-T) on Wednesday to
discuss Zanu PF’s refusal to allow Sadc
representatives to sit in full Jomic
meetings.
Mavimbela and Nqakula
later met Ncube to discuss his grievances with Mugabe
and
Tsvangirai.
The meeting followed a letter written by Ncube on March 28 to
the chairman
of the Sadc troika, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and
copied to Zuma,
in which he expressed his displeasure at being excluded from
principals’
meetings where key political issues are discussed in
contravention of the
Sadc Maputo resolution of August 18 2012.
The
resolution directed Mugabe and Tsvangirai to include the MDC leader at
all
principals’ meetings instead of Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
Zulu, who is also Zuma’s international relations advisor,
refused to divulge
details of the Jomic discussions but said Ncube’s
grievances would be
discussed with Zuma.
Mangoma however revealed
that the Jomic meeting had resolved the Sadc team
would be attending its
co-chairs’ meetings.
“What still has to be resolved is them joining the
full Jomic meetings,”
said Mangoma. “As you know, the MDCs have no problem
with that but Zanu PF
has been resisting. We agreed that the facilitation
team should come back on
the 30th of this month to meet negotiators and
resolve the issue,” Mangoma
said.
In his meeting with the
facilitation team, Ncube also raised concerns that
Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Mutambara had unilaterally appointed Justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa and
Constitutional Affairs minister, Eric Matinenga, to
write an election
roadmap without consulting him.
Ncube also complained that Mugabe and
Tsvangirai were also disregarding the
Sadc-backed elections roadmap crafted
by negotiators.
Zulu said although GPA parties were free to discuss
issues around the
election roadmap, Sadc would only agree to a roadmap which
does not violate
the GPA and Sadc resolutions while ensuring that polls are
held in a free
and fair environment.
She said Sadc was keen to ensure
Zimbabwe does not hold election ssimilar to
the violent 2008 presidential
poll run-off widely condemned as a sham.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
THE Zanu PF
element of the inclusive government has unilaterally withdrawn
Zimbabwe’s
application for electoral funding from the United Nations (UN) as
part of a
well-calculated move to avoid scrutiny in the run-up to, during
and after
the next crucial general elections, it has emerged.
Report by Elias
Mambo
Fearing the UN mission, which is demanding meetings with political
parties
and civil society organisations before releasing money to fund
elections,
would shift the spotlight to dark corners of the country,
President Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu PF ministers last week blocked the team
from Turtle Bay,
the UN’s headquarters in a New York neighbourhood on
Manhattan.
Sources said Mugabe and his Zanu PF officials feared the UN
team led by
Tadjoudine Ali-Diabacte –– a former member of the Togolese
Election
Commission who has served as an election observer for the National
Democratic Institute –– would use the opportunity to visit Zimbabwe to
gather information about the political and security situation in the country
instead of only focussing on electoral issues.
The UN team wanted to
meet political parties and civic groups. It also
intended to visit the three
Mashonaland provinces, Manicaland, Masvingo and
Midlands, including areas
where violence erupted during the disputed 2008
presidential election
run-off.
Zanu PF was scared of this and then blocked the mission, sources
said.
“The reason why Mugabe and his closest courtiers don’t want the UN
team is
that they want to avoid close scrutiny before, during and after
elections,”
a senior government official said.
“If they allow the UN
team in they fear it would gather detailed information
on the political and
security situation, and then use it to refocus
international attention and
debate on Zimbabwe ahead of elections.”
As hinted at by Justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa this week, Mugabe and his
loyalists are afraid of the sort
of exposure and condemnation they suffered
after the visit to the country in
2005 by UN envoy Anna Tibaijuka following
Murambatsvina
devastations.
Tibaijuka’s damning report said the shacks demolition
campaign which
targeted victims with mass forced evictions affected 900 000
men, women and
children even though to date the recommendations made by the
UN Secretary
General’s special envoy on human settlement issues are still
not yet fully
implemented.
Zimbabwe, which has been slapped with
sanctions by Western countries over
policy differences and human rights
violations, also survived being put on
the UN Security Council agenda in
2008 after a blood-soaked presidential
election run-off in June
that.
Around the same time the country also survived UN scrutiny over a
cholera
outbreak which killed 4 0000 and affected 100 000 after former
United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) chief in Harare, Agostinho
Zacarias,
who had close links with Zanu PF, failed to take preventive
measures.
Sources said these experiences influenced Mugabe and his
ministers to block
the UN team even if the UNDP partly funded the
constitution-making exercise
and has always mobilised humanitarian support
for Zimbabwe.
“The Zanu PF section of government has a cocktail of
measures to prevent
outside scrutiny. They don’t want the UN, they also
don’t want Western
election observers, they are determined to limit the
presence of Western
journalists and restrict the involvement of Sadc during
Zimbabwe’s
elections,” another official said.
“That is why the UN,
Sadc troika representatives, (South African President
Jacob) Zuma’s
facilitation team, foreign journalists and Western observers
are being
restricted. It is an irony because this is happening at a time
when the West
is now willing to engage Mugabe and accept his victory if he
wins freely and
fairly.”
Recently a group of Western countries, Friends of Zimbabwe,
including the
European Union (EU), United States and Asia-Pacific states,
among others,
met with Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC representatives, as well as
Sadc envoys, in
London to assess the situation in the country and map the
way forward.
The EU even lifted sanctions on ministers and Zanu
PF-associated entities,
except on Mugabe, his family and security services
chiefs and state mining
companies.
The US this week sent an envoy
Andrew Young to Harare in a bid to mend
diplomatic relations.
This
followed the blocking of the UN team. Government had on February 4 made
an
official request to the UN for US$250 million the constitutional
referendum
and general elections through a letter jointly written by Finance
minister
Tendai Biti and Chinamasa to UNDP country representative Alain
Noudehou.
In response on February 11, the UN said a Needs Assessment
Mission (NAM)
would have to visit the country before funding could be
released. Chinamasa
and Biti wrote another letter on April 4, indicating
Zimbabwe’s readiness to
welcome the NAM.
However, when Zanu PF
realised the UN team wanted to meet a variety of
players, among them,
political parties and civic groups such as the Zimbabwe
Election Support
Network, ZimRights, National Association of
Non-Governmental Organistaions,
and Women of Zimbabwe Arise – groups at
forefront of resisting repression
and human rights abuses – it changed its
mind and started making
excuses.
“It was clear the UN team would glean too much information and
also
effectively monitor the elections by virtue of their funding. Zanu PF
wants
as little scrutiny as possible, hence the U-turn on funding,” a source
said.
Noudehou confirmed different expectations that led to the deadlock.
“In the
course of deploying the mission to Zimbabwe, it became clear that
there were
different expectations on the modalities of the NAM,” he said.
“Further
efforts were made by the UN to engage with the government and
explain the
purpose and scope of the NAM. As of now, no agreement has been
reached on
the modalities.”
Last month Zanu PF collapsed Jomic
meetings after insisting Zuma’s
facilitation team and Sadc troika
representatives should not be involved in
full Jomic meetings. Sources said
this was also because Zanu PF feared
scrutiny.
To limit further
scrutiny, Zanu PF is also resisting an extraordinary Sac
summit before
election and making it difficult for Zec to accredit foreign
observers by
and journalists to monitor and cover the election respectively.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
A
VISIBLY tired looking President Robert Mugabe presided over the country’s
33rd Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare
yesterday where his advanced age was evident as he struggled to cope with
the demands of his duties in front of a capacity crowd.
Brian
Chitemba/Hazel Ndebele
Mugabe, 89, looked increasingly frail and
struggled to walk as he hobbled on
while inspecting the guard of
honour.
He had earlier stumbled and almost fallen while lighting the
Independence
flame when he missed a step after receiving the torch from
school pupils.
The veteran leader who has ruled since Independence in
1980 further
struggled to climb the steps leading up to the VVIP tent to
join his wife
Grace, Vice-President Joice Mujuru, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, and
deputy prime ministers Arthur Mutambara and Thokozani
Khupe.
He also laboured to read his prepared speech and his once booming
voice was
barely audible.Yesterday’s incidents fed into the growing
perception that
Mugabe is now infirm due to old age and
ill-health.
Mugabe stumbled and almost fell during the 2012 official opening
of the
Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo, only to be rescued by
Zambian
President Michael Sata and his aides.
He was similarly
rescued by one of his aides when he missed a step and
almost fell during
last year’s Independence Day commemorations in an
incident witnessed by
Zimbabwe Independent reporters.
This has raised serious concerns in Zanu
PF about the viability of Mugabe’s
candidacy for crucial polls this year
amid fears he might falter in the
middle of elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
THE
long-running battle between Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo
and
Mines minister Obert Mpofu has turned nasty in Matabeleland after Moyo
pushed for reshuffling of the Bulawayo provincial executive.
Report
by Brian Chitemba
Moyo ensured the removal of Killian Sibanda, who is
seen as a close ally of
Mpofu, as Bulawayo provincial chairperson and
influenced the appointment of
his associate, former cabinet minister,
Callistus Ndlovu, as the new
chairperson.
Sibanda was demoted to
deputy chairperson. Moyo and Ndlovu both hail from
Mangwe district in
Matabeleland South province from where the Zanu PF
chairman is building his
power base to land the party’s vice presidency.
Moyo and Mpofu have
emerged as frontrunners to succeed the late
Vice-President John Nkomo who
succumbed to cancer in January. The successor
would need an endorsement from
the majority of the party’s 10
provinces.Although the battle for the
vice-presidency is intensifying, it is
the scramble for Zanu PF chairmanship
that has triggered widespread
infighting in the party.
If Moyo
becomes vice-president the position of chairman becomes free for
all.
Moyo and Mpofu have been embroiled in a turf war for more than
two years
when Nkomo’s health started deteriorating. Their fights culminated
in
suspensions and counter-expulsions of the party’s Matabeleland North and
Bulawayo leadership.
Zanu PF sources said Moyo was using his
influence as national chairman to
ensure his close allies were in control of
provinces.
Some top Zanu PF officials have accused Moyo of
misrepresenting findings on
problems rocking Bulawayo to justify Sibanda’s
removal.
Moyo led a delegation comprising secretary for administration
Didymus Mutasa
and national commissar Webster Shamu on March 27 to
investigate problems
bedeviling Zanu PF in Bulawayo.
Sources said
Moyo was challenged by Matabeleland heavyweight Eunice
Sandi-Moyo at last
week’s politburo meeting over recommendations to demote
Sibanda who was
elected late last year.
Sandi-Moyo, sources said, expressed
disappointment over Khaya Moyo’s abuse
of his influence to appoint his ally
Ndlovu, who is largely unpopular in
Matabeleland following a statement he
made in Madlambuzi in Bulilima,
Matabeleland South on June 20 1984
describing Zapu as a “dead donkey”.
Ndlovu crossed the floor from PF Zapu
to Zanu PF in the early 80s and Mugabe
rewarded him by appointing him Mines
minister after the 1985 elections.
“The people who elected Sibanda in
December are not happy over the sudden
imposition of Ndlovu as the
provincial chairperson,” said a Zanu PF source.
“This is seen as
circumventing as leaders impose their allies willy-nilly
under the guise of
strengthening the party.”
War veterans are also unhappy with the move and are
in the process of
petitioning Khaya Moyo.
However, Khaya Moyo on
Tuesday defended the appointment of Ndlovu and other
additional provincial
executives.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
Potential
voters say Zimbabwe’s voters’ roll is “ridiculously expensive,”
making
democracy a costly pursuit, as its lack of accessibility is likely to
hinder
the holding of credible elections expected in a few months.
Report by
Wongai Zhangazha
An individual or organisation has to fork out about
US$30 000 to get a
comprehensive copy of the voters’ roll from the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission (Zec) as it is being sold for US$15 per
ward.
Zimbabwe has 1 958 wards meaning one has to part with about US$29
370 to
access the full roll.
Social and political commentators this
week rejected the high cost of the
voters’ roll and called for a downward
review to enable easy access to the
public document.
Social
commentator Maxwell Saungweme described the cost as
“ridiculous”.
“Selling the voters’ roll at such an exorbitant price is
extremely
ridiculous; more so given that the roll is produced using
taxpayers’ funds,”
said Saungweme.
“It’s sad that democracy has
become a game of the rich elite in Zimbabwe
where if one wants to be voted
for they have to fork out lots of money in
campaigns, including such simple
but crucial processes like accessing the
voters’ roll. Deputy Minister of
Justice Obert Gutu said there has always
been a problem surrounding the
prohibitive cost of the voters’ roll.
“My understanding is that Zec will
endeavour to provide electronic copies of
the voters’ roll,” said
Gutu.
“This, of course, will make it cheaper for political parties and
other
stakeholders to access the roll. Of course once democracy is made
accessible
to the rich only, it becomes a bastardised version of fascism and
tyranny,”
he said.
MDC policy chief Qhubani Moyo said the US$30 000
price tag is “grossly
unreasonable and very prohibitive”.
Efforts to
get a comment from Zec vice chairperson Joyce Kazembe were
fruitless as her
phone was not reachable on Wednesday.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
THE
ministerial committee appointed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to come up with a “legal and political election
roadmap” has its work cut out as it must wait for parliament to resume
sitting next month.
By Paidamoyo Muzulu
Parliament is due to
open on May 7, but can resume a week earlier to deal
with urgent
issues.
The team compromising Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa and
Constitutional
and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric Matinenga is tasked
by the
principals, Mugabe, Tsvangirai and deputy premier Arthur Mutambara,
with,
among other issues, aligning the electoral laws, Urban Councils Act
and
Rural District Councils Act with the new draft constitution endorsed in
the
March 16 referendum, and coming up with a poll date.
The draft
creates room for parliamentarians to be elected using the
first-past-the-post system and proportional representation, in addition to
the creation of provincial councils.
Matinenga on Tuesday said
cabinet had not yet discussed any draft texts of
the amendments envisaged,
more than a month after endorsement of the draft.
“The cabinet committee
on legislation has seen nothing of the proposed
amendments since last
month’s approval of the draft constitution. Not much
has been happening on
the drafting side,” he said.
The coalition government has in the past four
years failed to meet its own
timelines to implement reforms outlined in the
Global Political Agreement
(GPA) after negotiators and their parties reneged
on agreed positions. In
fact the GPA outlines the roadmap to elections but
this has largely been
ignored by the unity government
parties.
However, the parties are now being pushed to action because
parliament’s
term ends on June 29 and the legislature has to pass the laws
before its
automatic dissolution.
Tsvangirai confirmed on Tuesday
government was set to complete harmonising
the country’s electoral laws to
the new charter.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai have contradicted each other on
election dates on
numerous occasions since they formed the coalition
government in 2009.
Mugabe, Chinamasa and Zanu PF have repeatedly
demanded, among other dates,
that general elections be held on or before
June 29 — which is now
impossible to meet given processes underway — when
the current parliament’s
tenure ends, but Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and the MDC led
by Industry and Commerce
minister Welshman Ncube have dismissed the calls
insisting poll dates would
only be decided by consensus.
Matinenga
confirmed he was going to meet with Chinamasa over poll dates.
“We have
only met once since that announcement was made and the meeting was
very
short after minister Chinamasa said he was still to receive
instructions
from his principal,” Matinenga said.
Sadc — guarantors of the GPA — and
the MDC formations insist on full
implementation of reforms contained in the
GPA before polls are held to
ensure credibility, while Zanu PF is adamant
the recently endorsed draft
constitution and removal of sanctions were the
only outstanding issues
delaying the plebiscite.
Parliament is
expected to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill to enable
Zimbabwe to hold
the next elections under the new constitution.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
This opinion
piece is prompted by Pedzisai Ruhanya’s article in the Zimbabwe
Independent
last week headlined “Tsvangirai-Ncube pact game-changer” in
which he urges
forces opposed to President Robert Mugabe to form a coalition
in the next
general elections.
By Benjamin Chitate
The fact that politicians
and analysts continue to wish for a united front
against Zanu PF in the
coming elections proves that unity of purpose is a
noble
idea.
However, the unity being called for remains wishful thinking for as
long as
MDC leader Welshman Ncube is not interested in such an
arrangement.
The best way is to leave it to the people to decide, even
though analysts
and commentators should be allowed to continue wishing and
hoping.
My humble opinion though, is that it is Ncube who is the
stumbling block to
any efforts to unite the two parties. Some years back,
before Arthur
Mutambara was dethroned, Ncube and the late Gibson Sibanda
addressed a rally
at which the two took turns to tell the people that the
2008 mistake of
supporting Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader Simba Makoni’s
presidential bid will
never be repeated because the people of Matabeleland
will have their own
candidate standing in the elections.
That seems
to have stuck into Ncube’s head, even though he knows any
unification talks
or negotiations around a united front will suggest MDC-T
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai as the candidate.
All Ncube wants to prove therefore is that a
Ndebele candidate can win
enough votes to spoil the chances for Tsvangirai
and retain Mugabe in power.
In Ncube’s heart and mind, he doesn’t mind
Mugabe ruling for life, and hopes
that by the time Mugabe dies, his party
will have grown enough to take over.
The argument by the MDC led by Ncube
today for refusing to engage in a
coalition with anybody is that their 2011
congress resolved that the party
will field its own candidate in elections
which were then expected to take
place in 2011 as if the so-called
resolutions were cast in stone.
A closer analysis of the same resolutions
will show that Ncube had been
singing the same tune well before the
congress.
I had a discussion with a few colleagues from the “MDC-Green” —
a discussion
which was balanced and they did not want to blame anyone, but
the ego and
selfishness displayed by leaders from both parties. To use one
of the
colleagues’ words: “Our problem (me and you) is that we are victims
of our
leaders’ selfishness and egos. Imagine how strong the MDC would be if
we
were still a single force. It’s so sad. But mark my words, one day we
will
get there and one day we will be a united force and this country will
be
better.”
One of them blamed it all on Ncube whom he accused of
being rigid. I
completely agreed with this opinion from within the rank and
file of
MDC-Green because Ncube himself had told me several times in e-mails
or
Facebook exchanges that his party will not move from its congress
resolution
to field its own presidential candidate.
The last time
Ncube shared his position on a possible coalition with me was
on January 3
this year when he said in a Facebook message to me: “This year
I have
absolutely no intention of participating in any debate to do with
coalitions.”
This is evidence of the difficulties in the
practicalities of forming a pact
which Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
David Coltart and Tendai Biti alluded
to in the past — Ncube is just not
interested, even though some in his own
party are.
On his part,
Tsvangirai has publicly said he is willing to engage with other
pro-democracy forces which are willing to work together to defeat Mugabe,
and the same position has been stated by the MDC-T spokesperson Douglas
Mwonzora and several other officials.
But the Ncube camp’s resistance
is based on the fact that the MDC-T changed
positions after an initial
agreement between the negotiators on the
allocation of seats to be contested
in the 2008 elections, a position that I
find childish.
Childish
because that decision to review the allocation of seats was made by
the
MDC-T national executive and national council, whose mandate was to give
the
final approval of things that had been agreed in negotiations. So, did
the
then MDC-Mutambara (MDC-M) expect the MDC-T national executive and
council
to just rubber stamp the agreement without giving an opinion?
And the
2008 elections proved the MDC-T right because the results proved the
fact
that the negotiators had been more generous to the smaller of the two
MDC
parties.
Had the MDC-M accepted the MDC-T position, more of their
officials,
including Mutambara and Ncube themselves, would have been elected
into
parliament, and probably some of the 8% votes that Makoni got could
have
been in the united MDC’s favour.
True, Tsvangirai may have won
an outright victory in 2008 if the parties
were united, but that was not to
be because of ill-informed decisions by the
MDC-M, in which Ncube as the
secretary-general was a major player.
Now it is up to those in MDC-Green
who really believe in a united front
against Zanu PF to do what their
consciences tell them to. The problem seems
to be that some of them fear
Ncube for his education.
Ncube’s stance exposes him as an unreasonable
and unforgiving man.
As said by one MDC-T official in a recent exchange,
if Ncube had facts to
prove that the MDC-T was insincere in the 2008
negotiations those are the
facts he could have brought to the negotiating
table, but he knows very well
that the MDC-T’s review of allocation of seats
was vindicated by the
election results themselves.
So the easiest
thing for him to do is to blame MDC-T and Tsvangirai for the
2008 failure to
form a pact.
Ncube himself knows very well that Zimbabwe is better off
without Mugabe,
and that Tsvangirai is the only person at the moment with
the greatest
chance of beating Mugabe in an election, having done so in
2008, but he
cannot stand the idea of helping him (Tsvangirai) to the
throne.
The biggest mistake Ncube and those within his party encouraging
him not to
entertain hopes of a coalition is that they are failing to read
the mood of
the people calling for a coalition and think these calls are
coming from
people who think Ncube’s support base is growing.
One of
Ncube’s aides wrote: “The panic around the whole country as well as
in the
diaspora around this quest for reunification tells us there is
something
that we are doing right and the MDC-T people are afraid that their
horse
will lose this election again.”
My conclusion is that because of his
personal hate for Tsvangirai, Ncube has
cleverly played around the ignorance
among his fellow colleagues in the
party to promote his personal agenda as
evidenced by his mobilisation of
people to support a congress resolution he
wanted and then treating the same
resolution as if it is cast in
concrete.
Chitate writes from New Zealand.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in News
CABINET has
been forced to tackle bureaucratic bungling and systematic
disenfranchisement of potential voters by the Registrar-General’s office
countrywide, something which could result in thousands of people failing to
vote and possibly swing the upcoming general elections in Zanu PF’s
favour.
Report by Owen Gagare
Although thousands of people, mainly
from the country’s uniformed forces,
have easily registered to vote
countrywide, ordinary citizens are finding it
difficult to to do so,
particularly in areas perceived to be MDC strongholds
such as Matabeleland
regions.
Potential voters are being turned away from registering en masse
while at
some centres, like Bulawayo, workers at the RG’s office are only
allowing as
few as 20 people to register per day.
Government sources
said in February, for instance, only 600 people
registered as potential new
voters in Matabeleland South, while Matabeleland
North had 900. Bulawayo
registered 1 000 potential voters.
Harare had the highest voter
registration turnout countrywide at 17 000,
boosted by soldiers, police
officers and their spouses who are being
commandeered to register and told
to vote Zanu PF.
The chaotic operations of the RG’s office resulted in
ministers discussing
the matter in two consecutive cabinet meetings,
culminating in ministers
tasking co-Ministers of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi
and Theresa Makone with
coming up with recommendations on how the RG’s
office should work ahead of
the crucial polls.
Makone, who made a
presentation to cabinet on Wednesday last week, confirmed
this, saying
government would soon have a policy position on the matter.
“It’s an
issue that is of concern,” Makone told the Zimbabwe Independent
this week.
“Cabinet has been dealing with this matter for the last two weeks
and we
have been given two weeks to come up with a policy position. We are
working
on the issue and it will again be deliberated in cabinet soon. The
outcry in
the countryside is reaching a crescendo that can’t be ignored. It’s
a big
issue that we are trying to rectify.”
Makone also confirmed reports that
ordinary citizens were being turned away
from registering at the RG’s office
although members of the uniformed forces
were being registered in droves.
She said this was also discussed in
cabinet.
In their deliberations,
ministers across the political divide voiced concern
at the operations of
the RG’s offices, with some narrating ordeals they
suffered at the hands of
officials there, and frustrations people have
endured to get services,
including being registered as voters.
Ministers were also unhappy that
despite the RG’s office collecting about
US$1 million per week from its
operations, people were still experiencing
difficulties accessing birth
certificates, national identity documents and
passports, among other crucial
documents needed in their day to day lives
and to register as
voters.
One government official said the turning away of potential voters
was a
deliberate ploy by the RG’s office to rig the elections. “We know that
Zanu
PF supporters, police officers and soldiers are being bused in to the
RG’s
offices to register but somehow the same office is not showing the same
enthusiasm in registering ordinary members of the public. It appears to be a
well-calculated move to disenfranchise potential voters because we all know
where the loyalties of the RG (Tobaiwa Mudede) lie,” said the
official.
“Besides members of the uniformed forces, you will also recall
that officers
from the RG’s office was in the last two years registering
members of some
apostolic sects as voters. The sects which were targeted
have leaders who
are sympathetic to Zanu PF and they have actually been
campaigning at church
gatherings and urging their people to register to vote
for the party.”
Two days after last week’s cabinet deliberations, Mudede
issued a statement
urging people to register as voters, reminding them to
bring necessary
documents to avoid being turned away at his
offices.
“Documents required for one to register as a voter are full original
birth
certificate for persons born in Zimbabwe together with national
identity
document (metal, polythene-synthetic or legible green waiting pass
with
holder’s photograph) or a valid Zimbabwean passport and proof of
residence,”
he said.
Disenfranchising voters by demanding proof of
residence and other
unnecessary things is viewed as one of the most trusted
Zanu PF weapons of
rigging votes. In the 2002 presidential election, Zanu PF
was accused of
rigging polls in Harare by reducing the number of polling
stations while
electoral officials were accused of conducting their duties
slowly,
resulting in congestion at polling stations. Some people failed to
vote
because of the congestion despite an extension of the voting
exercise.
Besides, Zanu PF has deployed its functionaries at the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission (Zec) to manage the elections and their outcomes.
Previously, the
party directly deployed army commanders and other loyalists
to go and run
elections.
Zec would be under the spotlight in the next
elections after it bungled the
2008 presidential election by withholding the
results for over a month,
while allegedly fiddling with ballots to engineer
a run-off to save Mugabe
from what appeared to be certain defeat before he
resorted to a brutal
presidential run-off campaign for survival.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in News
THE Commercial
Farmers Union (CFU) this week called on government to honour
its obligations
to compensate commercial farmers who lost properties during
Zanu PF’s
chaotic fast-track land reforms as the first step in restoring
normalcy and
full production in the under-performing agricultural sector.
By Staff
Writer
Speaking to the Zimbabwe Independent in Harare on Monday, CFU
president
Charles Taffs and his deputy Peter Steyl dismissed as “falsehoods”
stories
alleging the organisation had made a dramatic U-turn on its
opposition to
the chaotic land reform and now wanted to be considered for
land
re-distribution by government.
“Contrary to claims that we never
applied for the land, the truth is that we
applied to be considered as
well,” said Taffs.
“Over a thousand applications (were sent) to
(Agriculture) Minister (Joseph)
Made, but we did not get even a single
response; not even an acknowledgement
letter.”
The CFU lamented the
collapse of the once productive agricultural sector
which was triggered by
various factors attributable to the wholesale
expropriation of land without
compensation.
They said their organisation had always accepted the need
for land reform,
but stressed the need to fully compensate dispossessed land
owners instead
of nationalisation and mass expropriation that took
place.
“Fourteen years after the start of the fast-track (land reform)
programme,
people have access to land, but they cannot raise the capital to
farm.
Production has consequently fallen and many farms lie idle,” said
Taffs.
“There can be a skills transfer and co-operation between the
current land
owners and the former owners, but the starting point is an
acknowledgement
by government that there is a conflict over the land,” he
said.
Taffs called for a resolution to the conflict between beneficiaries
of the
programme and CFU members who lost land, but still retain title
deeds.
“Those people with the land are in a trap because the lack of
secure tenure
prevents them from raising capital. Instead of achieving
viability many of
these farmers have now become contract farmers beholden to
those who give
them inputs and also set prices for their produce,” said
Taffs.
He said authorities were aware of the problems in the agricultural
sector
and CFU’s proposals to tackle them, but meaningful progress is being
hampered by political posturing ahead of this year’s crucial general
elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in News
SIX years after
government adopted the controversial Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment
Act, the MDC-T is still trying to weigh the best policy
response and has
conceded that Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere
has taken full
advantage of its parlysis to push ahead with the programme.
Report by
Herbert Moyo
The indigenisation policy was launched by the Zanu PF
government in 2007 and
the party has continued to force its implementation
even after the formation
of the government of national unity (GNU) with the
MDC formations in 2009.
Zanu PF has made indigenisation the centrepiece
of its election campaign,
along with the land reform programme.
MDC-T
policy documents indicate the party is sweating over three possible
responses and acknowledges that in the interim, Kasukuwere is taking
advantage of its lack of clarity to sow further confusion among its
supporters.
The options as listed in the internal document entitled
The MDC-T’s Response
to Kasukuwere’s Indigenisation Policy range from
outright opposition,
engaging Zanu PF in dialogue or merely ignoring the
programme — all with the
aim of discrediting it as a detrimental
“exclusively” Zanu PF policy akin to
the land reform programme.
“The
MDC-T could offer no resistance to the implementation of the
(Indigenisation) Act in the hope that the public will perceive it as an
exercise wholly driven by Zanu PF to the total exclusion of the MDC-T,”
reads the document.
“In this scenario, the detrimental effects of the
Act would be ascribed to
Zanu PF. Kasukuwere has taken full advantage of the
MDC’s ambivalence on the
indigenisation issue. On numerous occasions he has
indicated that he has the
Prime Minister (Morgan Tsvangirai)’s support in
implementing the provisions
of the Indigenisation Act.”
Kasukuwere
said on Wednesday in an interview he is receiving mixed signals
from MDC-T
ministers and parliamentarians and castigated their alleged lack
of clarity
which he pinned on “their desire to please the international
community”,
which militated against their co-operation in policies designed
to benefit
Zimbabweans.
“I have had to talk to Tsvangirai because he is the head of
government and
indigenisation is part of government policy,” said
Kasukuwere. “The last
time I checked with him, sometimes he would say ‘yes’
and other times he
would say ‘no’, so as the responsible minister I had to
take the initiative
and implement government policy. The bottom line is the
MDC-T does not know
what they want and the party lacks an alternative policy
to empower
Zimbabweans.”
While the MDC-T initially opposed the
programme, the party’s youth wing
tried to secure funding for projects under
the Youth Fund run by Old Mutual
and the Indigenisation
ministry.
MDC-T youth assembly secretary Promise Mkhwananzi is on record
complaining
about possible discrimination against party youths in the
allocation of the
funds, seemingly indicating the party’s desire to benefit
from the
programme.
Efforts to get a comment from MDC-T spokesperson
Douglas Mwonzora were
futile.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in News
FOR democracy
to take root and be sustainable, strong and viable political
parties with
the capacity to represent citizens and provide policy choices
that
demonstrate ability to govern for the public good are critical.
Report by
Herbert Moyo
Political analysts say all over the world there is a growing
problem of
increasing disconnect between citizens and their elected leaders,
a decline
in political activism, and a growing sophistication of
anti-democratic
forces.
This is presenting serious problems to
democratic political parties which
have to deal with challenges of internal
democracy before seeking to
introduce democracy in wider
society.
Susan Scarrow, an associate professor of Political Science at
the University
of Houston who has written extensively on the subject, says
intra-party
democracy is key to the development of democracy across society,
although it
is a very broad term.
Some advocates for intra-party
democracy argue, on a pragmatic level, that
parties using internally
democratic procedures are likely to select more
capable and appealing
leaders, with more responsive policies, and, as a
result, enjoy greater
electoral success. Moreover, some converge on the
premise that parties that
“practice what they preach” strengthen democratic
culture
generally.
“Political parties are crucial actors in representative
democracies … Those
who emphasise the participatory aspects of democracy
place the most value on
intra-party democracy as an end in itself. They see
parties not primarily as
intermediaries, but rather as incubators that
nurture citizens’ political
competence,” Scarrow says.
“To fulfill
this role, parties’ decision-making structures and processes
should provide
opportunities for individual citizens to influence the
choices that parties
offer to voters. These opportunities will help citizens
expand their civic
skills, and inclusive processes can boost the legitimacy
of the alternatives
they produce. In this way, party institutions can
perform useful educative
functions while also transferring power to a
broader sector of
society.”
This kind of debate is currently going on in Zimbabwe as the
country’s main
political parties embark on vetting applications and
selecting candidates to
represent them in the next general
elections.
The most controversial example which speaks to the issue of
intra-party
consensus and broad democracy is the selection of MDC-T Bulawayo
provincial
chairperson Gorden Moyo for the Makokoba constituency in
violation of party
resolutions not to field male candidates in seats
currently held by women.
The seat is presently held by the party’s deputy
president Thokozani Khupe.
However, Moyo has tried to justify the party’s
flawed decision claiming he
is the MP for Makokoba. He even dismissed
assertions Makokoba was reserved
for women, arguing he became the
constituency’s MP through some internal
party arrangement — certainly
undemocratic even if true — when Khupe was
appointed deputy prime minister
in 2009.
However, Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma has clarified the
issue, saying
Moyo is a non-constituency MP in terms of Paragraph 20.1.8 of
Schedule 8 of
the Constitution as amended by Amendment No. 19 which created
the inclusive
government. He said Khupe — not Moyo — remains MP for
Makokoba, putting the
MDC-T, which claims to be a democratic party, in an
invidious position over
the issue.
Analysts say the party failed a
simple test by manipulating its own rules to
accommodate Moyo at the expense
of women.
The Makokoba saga has brought into sharp focus wider problems
of internal
democracy in the country’s main parties, especially now ahead of
elections.
The MDC-T leadership has also been accused by disgruntled
supporters of
disqualifying popular aspiring candidates in a bid to protect
the party’s
unpopular bigwigs who would lose free and fair
primaries.
Such developments create a negative image of the MDC-T — the
party most
likely to take over from Zanu PF and which won in the 2008
parliamentary
polls — with questions being asked whether it is any different
from Zanu PF,
the party it seeks to replace.
Zanu PF pretends to
embrace democratic centralisation which gives freedom to
members of the
party to discuss and debate matters of policy and direction
before
collective responsibility when in reality the party is run by
imposition via
the politburo, its administrative organ of the
decision-making central
committee.
In theory, the central committee is Zanu PF’s decision-making
body
in-between congresses, but in practice, it is an unelected clique in
the
politburo which makes decisions, undermining the central committee,
hence so
many party decisions, including sometimes selection of party
candidates for
elections — are made by the politburo and imposed on the
central committee
for rubber-stamping.
In 2008, all major parties had
two or more candidates in some
constituencies, reflecting failure of
internal democratic systems to manage
competition and attendant differences.
This is likely to be repeated in the
next elections.
Internal
democratic mechanisms often fail in Zanu PF and the two MDC
parties, making
it difficult for them to convince voters they can promote
democracy in wider
society when they are failing to do so internally.
Pedzisai Ruhanya,
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director, said although the
MDC-T has fared
much better than Zanu PF in allowing open discussion over
many critical
issues, the party appears to be “sliding into Zanu PF-style
intolerance of
dissension and double-standards as the Moyo case shows”.
“How can one
even begin to talk about democracy in relation to a party like
Zanu PF which
has failed to put in place mechanisms for leadership renewal
and even
refused to entertain any discussion on the issue?” Ruhanya,
said.
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairperson Lovemore Madhuku
said the
MDC-T has been “drifting towards intolerance”, accusing its
leadership of
worrying dictatorial tendencies.
While the MDC-T was
imposing Moyo, Zanu PF was doing the same by removing
its elected Bulawayo
provincial chairperson Killian Sibanda and replacing
him with former cabinet
minister Callistus Ndlovu. The MDC led by Welshman
Ncube has also been
accused of impositions and arbitrary dismissals.
Analyst Godwin Phiri
said Zanu PF has a long tradition of hostility towards
internal
dissent.
“Zanu PF structures have no stamp of democracy and are only
constructed to
meet the needs of the leadership,” said Phiri.
Phiri
said clashes between Zapu and Zanu in 1963 following internal
differences
and the resultant breakaway by the latter, as well as infighting
during the
original MDC split, shows internal democracy has never taken root
among
local political parties which are riddled with factionalism, divisions
and
power struggles.
This political culture of intolerance and suppression of
internal dissent
has now come to symbolise Zanu PF politics since its
formation in 1963
although it seems to be common in the other parties as
well.
“Open discussion and democracy on a national scale must flow from
internal
democracy within political parties and civic organisations,” said
Dumisani
Nkomo of Habakkuk Trust. “There is no way we can expect parties and
civic
groups to promote democracy in society if they are not democratic
internally.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Business
The Chinese
government has raised red flags on Zimbabwe’s creditworthiness
after
insisting the cash-strapped government settle all outstanding arrears
before
accessing additional funds for infrastructure development
projects.
Report by Taurai Mangudhla
This comes as it emerged this
week that the Chinese government has been
armtwisting the Zimbabwean
government to settle debts, including those owed
by Zimbabwean companies to
Chinese firms.
Addressing journalists earlier this week, Finance minister
Tendai Biti said
government had yielded to the pressure, paying about US$50
million to China
since January in respect of the arrears to unlock new
funding for
infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy
sector.
Zimbabwe paid a total US$76,5 million for servicing external
loans between
January and March 2013.
“Part of the reason why we have
had to pay this huge outlay is that we have
concluded agreements with Sino
Hydro in respect of the construction of and
installation of two generators
at Kariba South that will cost around US$400
million, so China will not
release fresh money unless we are up to date with
our arrears and all of you
know how important Kariba South is to Zimbabwe,”
said Biti during his March
state of the economy report briefing.
China has announced a commitment to
fund expansion of Hwange Thermal Power
Station (HTPS) as part of concerted
efforts to help Zimbabwe deal with an
800 megawatts (MW) power
deficit.
The country generates an average 1 400 MW compared to a rising
national peak
demand of 2 200MW.
“We are also hoping that in the next
two months government will conclude
agreements towards the construction of
Hwange (Thermal Power Station) units
seven and eight. Part of the money we
have paid is to facilitate the
unlocking of those agreements, so that’s the
first budgetary pressure, loan
repayments,” said Biti.
He added: “As
all of you know Hwange unit one to six are over 25 years past
their
sale-by-date, which is why they are operating at 40% of the installed
capacity of 750MW.”
Apart from the power projects, Biti said China
had indicated it would only
start releasing the US$45 million towards
capital projects at Victoria Falls
international Airport after settlement of
arrears.
Last week, a ground breaking ceremony officiated over by Vice-
President
Joice Mujuru was held in Victoria Falls to officially mark
commencement of
the construction of a new runway and tower at the resort
town’s airport.
Giving a breakdown of the funds repaid to China, Biti
said government had
paid US$27,1 million to clear local company Farmer’s
World’s debt for
farming equipment and tractors which it bought from China
for resale in
Zimbabwe around 2006.
The company defaulted, resulting
in government, the guarantor, assuming the
debt.
Another unspecified
amount was repaid for loans taken by the Industrial
Development Corporation
in 2005-6.
Government has also had to repay US$3,9 million in respect of
the amount
that Zisco Steel (now NewZim Steel) owes to the Chinese, despite
an
agreement with NewZim Steel majority shareholders Essar Africa Holdings
to
assume all the company’s debts.
The agreement is yet to be fully
consummated pending delays by Mines
minister Obert Mpofu in approving one of
its major preconditions; the
release of ore rich deposits in the Mwanesi
area, which are expected to feed
the steel plant in the long
run.
Another US$10 million was paid upfront to China for the supply of
medical
equipment that Zimbabwe wished to purchase.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Business
The Zimbabwe
Council for Tourism has allayed fears the planned United
Nations Tourism
Organisation congress preparations could be in shambles,
saying all was on
course.
ZCT president Glenn Stutchbury said a range of activities
initiated by the
public and private sectors were under way aimed at ensuring
the resort area
was geared to hosting an event of its
magnitude.
“Tourism operators in Zimbabwe are looking forward to this
event, which will
have a major impact on business levels and will have
longer-term advantage
for the Zimbabwean travel and tourism
sector.
Operators are all playing a role in helping to make sure Victoria
Falls is
ready for the congress and that it can cope with the demands made
by the
large number of people who will be in attendance,” he said.
A
total of US$16 million is being spent by hotel groups on refurbishment,
which includes the already-completed work on the A’Zambezi Hotel, with
US$4,5 million being spent on upgrading and changes at the Victoria Falls
Safari Lodge, US$3 million on a major refurbishment of the Victoria Falls
Hotel and US$1,5 million on a complete refurbishment and rebranding of the
new Cresta Sprayview Hotel.
Other hotels involved in refurbishment
activity include Elephant Hills, The
Kingdom at Victoria Falls, the Rainbow
Hotel and Ilala Lodge, various works
which total US$1,15
million.
“All of this work is either complete or scheduled for completion
well in
time for the UN WTO meeting, and all of it will have a long-term
benefit in
that the results of the refurbishment will be enjoyed by all
visitors to
Victoria Falls in coming months and years, not only those people
present for
the WTO gathering,” said Stutchbury.
Public works being
undertaken in the Victoria Falls area include extensions
to the resort’s
airport, widening and resurfacing of roads, construction of
a new
electricity substation, installation of a new water pipeline,
improvements
to fibre-optic links and bandwidth availability, and upgrades
to the
Victoria Falls Hospital and other medical facilities.
The ZRP Tourism
Police have been working with hotels on issues such as
education of staff on
crime awareness.
“There is an unmatched commitment among everyone,
whether public or private
sector, to the success of this important event, in
recognition of the
benefit to Zimbabwe’s travel and tourism sector, not only
at the time of the
congress but in the period afterwards, when a successful
meeting could bring
positive word of mouth about Zimbabwe in general and
Victoria Falls in
particular,” said Stutchbury.
“The Zimbabwe Council
for Tourism and its members are working closely with
all relevant
authorities to ensure maximum co-operation and efficiencies in
the run-up
period and during the congress period. We are determined to
achieve all we
set out to do and we know how much this means to Zimbabwe as
a
whole.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Business
ZIMBABWE’S mineral
output increased in February 2013, with platinum
recording 1 219,61 kg from
1 007,59 kg in January, according to Chamber of
Mines figures.
Report
by Taurai Mangudhla
The mining body’s monthly production statistics,
quoted in Finance minister
Tendai Biti’s March State of the Economy report,
show copper output grew to
702,63 tonnes compared to 599,43 tonnes in
January, while nickel output
increased to 882,88t from 739,37t in January
2013.
Despite a ban on raw chrome exports, which is expected to be lifted
in the
first half of this year, chrome production rose to 11,142t in
February, up
from 9,223t prior month.
Coal production stood at 169,6t
in February from 1612,7t in January, while
rhodium output was 103,38kg in
February compared to 87,81kg in January.
However, gold production fell
slightly to 1 066,3810kg from 1 088,4431kg in
January and palladium also
fell significantly to 422,63kg from 767,75kg.
Minerals continue to
dominate the country’s exports, which amounted to
US$689 million between
January and March 15 this year, compared to US$768,2
million in the same
period in 2012, a 10,3% decrease.
Of the US$689 million exported so far,
mineral exports shipments accounted
for 68,8%, followed by tobacco which
accounted for 14,8% and manufacturing
which accounted for 10,5%.
As
at March 15 2013, Zimbabwe’s mineral exports stood at US$473,6 million,
compared to US$510 million realised in the corresponding period in 2012 and
representing a 7% decrease, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ)’s
computerised export payments exchange control system
(CEPECS).
According to CEPECS, platinum dominated mineral exports with
US$210 million,
followed by gold at US$124 million and diamonds fetching
US$113,7 million.
Gold exports are currently below expectationbecause the
RBZ’s Fidelity
Printers do not have enough money to buy the yellow metal
from local
producers.
As a result, a good amount of gold production,
particularly from small scale
miners, has found its way into neighbouring
South Africa through illegal
channels.
The total diamond exports for
the month amounted to US$113,7 million, of
which Mbada Diamonds had the
highest export shipments of US$44,7 million,
followed by Anjin Investments
with US$30,4 million.
Diamond Mining Corporation exported produce worth
US$18,4 million in January
2013 while DTZ OzGeo exported US$833 715 worth of
diamonds followed by River
Ranch Mine whose export shipments amounted to
US$118 517 in the period under
review.
Diamond revenues are also
underperforming as the sector is shrouded in lack
of
transparency.
Biti, in his March state of the economy address, said his
department was
working on a statutory instrument that would ensure
government collects 50%
of diamond revenues.
The minister indicated
government was also crafting a piece of legislation
meant to increase
royalties, particularly on diamonds and platinum
temporarily by an
unspecified margin, to mobilise resources for the upcoming
decisive
election.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in
Business
Government has engaged private millers to import grain to
compliment its
effort in ensuring food security in the country, Finance
minister Tendai
Biti said early this week.
Report by Fidelity
Mhlanga
Presenting his March state of the economy report, Biti said
millers made a
commitment to import 150 000 tonnes of maize, with some
already importing it
from South Africa at US$320 per tonne.
Following
erratic rainfall, farmers are this year expected to produce 800
000 metric
tonnes of maize against 2,2 million metric tonnes needed to feed
the nation
annually.
“Given the constrained fiscal space, the involvement of the
private sector
in importation of grain is unavoidable. Hence, it is
paramount that
government continues to encourage the current ongoing private
sector
initiatives in the importation of grain,” Biti said
The grain
importation programme would be funded by both government and
private sector
players.
Biti said government was committed to mobilising and
ring-fencing US$5
million towards importation of maize, but at the expense
of displacing some
budgeted expenditure programmes.
He added Treasury
would also avail US$1 million to the concerned ministries
for the
operationalisation of the commodity exchange, given the parlous
state of the
finances. An attempt to use the Grain Marketing Board as the
buyer of first
resort will create problems for farmers, the Finance minister
noted.
According to Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) the
country has
to date imported 432 400 tonnes of maize to meet the cereal
gap.
Commercial Farmers Union President Charles Taffs said the country
was
facing a grain deficit because lots of maize land has been converted
to
tobacco farming, thereby threatening food security in the
country.
Planted maize hectarage in 2012 declined 19% to 1 689 786
hectares, from 2
096 035 hectares in 2011.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in
Business
Zimbabwe’s sharply declining inflation rate against a rapidly
collapsing
productive base is causing headaches for the country’s fiscal
authorities.
Report by Clive Mphambela
The country is failing to
enjoy the benefits of low inflation mainly due to
the country’s growing
dependence on imports.
Presenting the state of the economy address for
March 2013, Finance minister
Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe’s continuously
declining inflation rate was
largely as a result of the country’s dependence
on imports, particularly
from South Africa.
Zimbabwe depends on its
southern neighbour, particularly on food stuffs.
Economist, Brains
Muchemwa told businessdigest that the rapidly
depreciating rand, which has
lost some 14% of its value against the US
dollar since October last year was
playing a huge part in Zimbabwe’s
inflation trend.
“The depreciating
weakened US/Rand exchange rate has filtered through to
dampen inflationary
pressures on the food items considering that over 90% of
imported foodstuff
come from South Africa,” Muchemwa said.
He said the inflation trend on
the food items would, until such a time that
Zimbabwe’s manufacturers of
foodstuffs come out of the doldrums, continue to
be closely correlated with
the US/Rand exchange rate movements and as such
the overall inflation
management framework will remain exogenous.
“Equally important is the
very weak domestic demand emanating from worsening
unemployment levels and
high levels of household indebtedness that have left
little disposable
incomes on the hands of consumers to effect strong
demand,” Muchemwa
said.
According to the latest figures from ZimStat, annual inflation as
measured
by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shed 0,22 percentage points to
2,76% from
2,98% in February 2013 as the effects of the downward pressures
on the South
African Rand continue to work through the economy through
imports.
The CPI for March stood at 101,2 points compared to 101,0 in
February 2013
and 98,5 in March 2012.
Biti said the domestic
liquidity pressure had also dampened domestic demand,
leading to relatively
slower rates of domestic inflation.
According to statistics from ZimStat, the
month-on-month inflation stood at
0,21% , 0,74 percentage points lower than
February rate of 0,95%.
The year-on-year Food and Non-Alcoholic beverages
inflation stood at 4,18%
whilst the non-food inflation rate was
2,04%.
Tendai Biti lamented the country’s ballooning trade deficit but
said given
the country’s constrained domestic manufacturing industry it was
necessary
to import food items.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in News
WHILE the
politics of Kenya and Zimbabwe have been strikingly similar since
2007,
notwithstanding the countries’ different histories and internal
dynamics,
variations quickly emerged last week when Kenyans witnessed a rare
and
historic smooth transfer of power as President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn
in
as the country’s fourth president.
Elias Mambo in Nairobi
Although
former prime minister Raila Odinga initially contested the
presidential
election outcome in the Supreme Court, he eventually accepted
the court’s
verdict which upheld the result and wished Kenyatta well in his
tenure.
The political maturity demonstrated by Kenyans sent a
positive message on
the prospects of Africa’s democratic
future.
Although Africa is slowly but surely transitioning towards a
democratic
dispensation after being blighted by one-party states and
dictatorships,
there are still significant pockets of resistance to
democratic change
across the continent in the form of military
dictatorships, coup leaders,
failed states and masked
autocracies.
The Kenyan experience still confounds many on how the deeply
divided nation
managed to hold fairly credible elections after the 2007
bloodshed following
disputed poll results.
Like Zimbabwe in 2009,
Kenya formed a unity government in 2008 after
political unrest in the east
African country which claimed over a thousand
lives.
Zimbabwe was
also rocked by political violence and intimidation during the
presidential
election run-off in June 2008, leading to an illegitimate
outcome and
signing of the Global Political Agreement to form a transitional
power-sharing government to create conditions for free and fair
elections.
Much like the case of Kenya, Zimbabwe’s coalition government
was to oversee
the writing of a new constitution and undertake political
reforms that would
culminate in free and fair elections.
Kenya’s
coalition government formed the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC)
which was
involved with the Elections Bill project that consolidated the
many laws on
elections.
The KLRC was also instrumental in the drafting of the judicial
reforms
legislation as well as the National Task Force on Police Reforms and
the
Police Reforms Implementation Committee which came up in five Bills,
including the National Police Service Bill.
As part of reforms
implementation, Kenyans allowed the International
Criminal Court (ICC) to
question Kenyatta on his alleged role in which more
than a thousand people
died after the disputed December 2007 elections.
Kenyatta’s lawyers are
co-operating with the ICC while his co-accused and
newly sworn-in
Vice-President William Ruto has already been cleared of war
crimes by the
ICC.
Gad Awuonda, a lawyer who served as a legislative drafter for the
Committee
of Experts on Constitutional Review that wrote the constitution,
said Kenya’s
coalition government worked very hard to implement reforms
before elections
were held.
“We have done a lot; passed many laws;
operationalised and commissioned
numerous institutions and we are now
regarded as a country with one of the
most progressive constitutions in the
world,” Awuonda told the Zimbabwe
Independent in Nairobi during Kenyatta’s
recent inauguration.
Reforms boosted the confidence of most Kenyans
resulting in them turning up
en masse to vote for the new constitution and
later in elections, without
being haunted by the horrors of 2007. Kenyans
stood in queues for more than
10 hours to cast their ballots in the recent
polls.
There was little suspicion that the person behind them in the
queue was
spying on how they were going to vote, erasing all fears of
reprisals.
Security forces responsible for the deaths of more than a
thousand people in
2007 had been reformed by the implementation of the
National Police Service
Bill and opted to remain professional and willing to
accept any outcomes of
the elections.
However, without political and
security reforms, it seems Zimbabwe’s next
elections would be held on an
uneven political playing field once again,
raising fears of yet another
disputed outcome and instability.
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director
Pedzisai Ruhanya said the country has
to first implement all agreed reforms
if the elections are to be free and
fair, and the outcomes
legitimate.
“Like in the Kenyan process, elections must be preceded by
critical reforms
in order to guarantee their credibility and acceptability,”
said Ruhanya.
“This requires that all election-related issues that are
captured in the new
draft constitution be implemented in theory and
practice.”
Although Zanu PF agreed to form a coalition government,
analysts say its
major priority was to use the respite not to prepare for
free and fair
elections but to regroup.
Analysts say its strategy was
to use the power-sharing agreement to close
ranks and prepare to recover
lost ground in the next elections. The MDC
parties have, however, been
preoccupied with the trappings of power,
forgetting the endgame was
elections.
Due to the main parties’ divergent and sometimes conflicting
interests, the
inclusive government has always been rocked by internal power
struggles and
infighting, derailing it from its main mission of restoring
political and
economic stability while preparing for credible
elections.
Four years after the coalition government agreed to implement
critical
reforms and draw up an implementation matrix to allow genuine
elections,
most of the reforms are still outstanding. If anything, Zanu PF
has been
digging-in by resisting reforms and making it difficult to hold
free and
fair polls. The party has been particularly defensive on security
sector
reforms.
Zimbabwe’s security forces were instrumental in
retaining President Robert
Mugabe and Zanu PF in power, making them their
pillar of support, and hence
the fierce resistance to their
reform.
Analysts say the security sector’s partisan involvement in
political and
electoral affairs of the state does not guarantee the security
of the
voters, making it difficult to have a peaceful democratic transition
in
Zimbabwe.
Unlike Kenya which dissolved the electoral body that ran
the bloody 2007
disputed polls and replaced it with the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries
Commission (IEBC), Zimbabwe has not revamped the
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec). Zanu PF has resisted any attempts to
reform the body.
Zec remains manned by controversial appointees linked to
Zanu PF and has
been accused of manipulating elections in the past,
including the recent
constitutional referendum, despite Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai giving
the body a clean bill of health.
During the
2008 presidential poll, Zec held onto the results for more than a
month, a
move which fuelled suspicions of electoral fraud. Results were
eventually
released showing Mugabe had lost to Tsvangirai in the first
round, but
critics say the delay was used to fiddle with his loss to ensure
a
run-off.
Critics say while election dates might be an interesting detail
in the
process, the real issue is the electoral context, environment and
administration of polls which are heavily loaded in favour of Mugabe and
Zanu PF.
“Elections in the absence of credible reforms mean an
extension of the
status quo, an indefinite postponement of the
democratisation agenda and
further entrenchment of Zimbabwe’s isolation from
the international
community,” said Dewa Mavhinga, a senior researcher for
Zimbabwe and
southern Africa at Human Rights Watch.
“This is what is
likely to happen if polls are held without reforms.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe’s nomination as Zanu PF’s candidate in the
forthcoming general
elections, given his old age, failing health and the way
he is now out of
touch with reality, is as preposterous as selecting a
village headman to act
as a rocket scientist leading a Mars exploration
mission.
By William
Muchayi
Since a typical village headman cannot match an astronautical
engineer in
terms of technical ability and capacity to run such a mission,
the
exploration would be doomed to fail, besides being a costly adventure
for
both the leader and his team.
Given that he is now struggling
with old age complications, detached from
current realities around him and
unaware of what is actually happening and
ought to be done to take Zimbabwe
forward, Mugabe is certainly no longer
suitable to lead Zanu PF into the
next crucial elections. In short, he is
now beyond his sell-by date and thus
incapable of providing the required
leadership in Zanu PF’s mission to win
the next polls.
Ongoing attempts by the party to rebrand Mugabe’s
battered image have
reached new levels of desperation with the emergence of
the “House of
Gushungo” clothes brand which targets first-time voters and
the urban
electorate as these two groups would be crucial in the coming
elections.
However, what Zanu PF fails to realise is that it is not the
outward image
of the party that matters most in luring voters, but what it
stands for.
In 1980, Mugabe inherited a healthy and vibrant economy from
the Rhodesians.
The Rhodesian dollar was worth approximately the same as the
British pound
sterling.
Despite that the economy was coming from full
United Nations sanctions, it
was relatively strong.
Zimbabwe enjoyed
gross domestic product growth rates of 11% in 1980 and
10,7% in 1981,
before it slumped to 1,4% in 1982 and declined by 4,2% in
1983 and 1984.
There was a sharp growth of 9,3% in 1985 before another heavy
retreat to
0,2% growth in 1986.
There was a general decade of recovery between 1986
and 1996 before the
country embarked on an ill-advised intervention in the
Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC) war where the country spent an estimated
US$1 billion.
Due to extended periods of economic mismanagement and
decisions such the DRC
war intervention, unbudgeted for war victims
compensation, wasteful
government expenditures, corruption and a series of
misguided policies, the
economy succumbed to the impact of structural
problems and
maladministration.
This was worsened by the badly
executed land reform programme.
The Zimbabwean dollar took a deep plunge
in 1997 and started its long
journey to liquidation by 2009. This was after
the unprecedented episodes of
hyperinflation that ravaged the economy and
lives of Zimbabweans. Few
countries in the world have had that sort of an
experience outside a war
situation.
This record failure by Mugabe’s
regime will go down in history as one of the
most astonishing.
So,
fielding such a candidate in a free and fair election would be a doomed
mission.
No matter how Zanu PF tries to rebrand Mugabe, as long as
Zimbabwe holds
peaceful and credible elections in which voters are allowed
to express
themselves without undue hindrances, he will lose because his
policies have
been destructive.
The land reform policy was noble, but
its execution was flawed. Genuine
reforms need to be driven by the quest for
justice and progress, not
short-term political agendas.
When the MDC
emerged in 1999 and Zanu PF resultantly lost support from
discontented
masses and the white community, Mugabe launched the chaotic and
violent land
reform programme to save his political career.
White farmers had to be
targeted as retribution for dumping him and as a way
of cutting the MDC’s
financial lifeline. In the end, the land reform
programme did very little to
alleviate poverty among the masses as it
largely advanced interests of a
small political elite, while punishing those
seen as sympathetic to the
opposition.
Given all these failures, rebranding Mugabe and Zanu PF will
not help much
as it is like advertising an expired product.
The
problem is, instead of rectifying his mistakes, Mugabe is always on the
defensive blaming sanctions imposed by the West for the country’s economic
demise.
Although sanctions have ended up having unintended
consequences, it is
economic mismanagement rather than sanctions that led to
Zimbabwe’s economic
collapse.
Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith was
slapped with sanctions through
Resolution 253 of the United Nations Security
Council in 1966 when he
declared UDI, but he managed to keep the economy
intact and running.
Sanctions on Smith’s colonial regime forbade the UN’s
122-member states from
selling oil, arms, motor vehicles or aeroplanes to
the regime. Despite all
this, the Rhodesia economy grew between 1967 and
1972 amid sanctions busting
measures.
Contrary to the Rhodesian
situation, Zimbabwe still trades and does business
with much of the world,
including the support it gets from Sadc, Comesa,
African Union and key
economic regions like Asia, Latin America and Middle
East, which include
huge economies like China, India, Brazil and Russia.
Western countries still
give it humanitarian aid.
Cuba has been under American sanctions for more
than 50 years, but has one
of the best health care systems in the world. By
contrast Zimbabwe’s health
care system has all but collapsed. Mismanagement
is one of the biggest
problems destroying Zimbabwe.
Mugabe has
presided over a corrupt regime for 33 years and its ineptitude
has ruined
the country. International corruption watchdog Transparency
International in
its corruption index for 2012 ranked Zimbabwe number 163
out of 174 most
corrupt countries in the world. Within Sadc, Zimbabwe is
ranked the most
corrupt nation.
One wonders whether there would ever be any
acknowledgement of failure by
Mugabe and his Zanu PF loyalists. Even though
they send their children to
learn abroad after destroying Zimbabwe’s
education, Zanu PF leaders are
still in denial.
When they fall sick,
they rush to seek treatment outside the country.
Look at the South
African situation, despite continuing inequalities they
have managed to
maintain their infrastructure and when former president
Nelson Mandela falls
sick, he is not flown out of the country for medical
attention.
Zimbabwe’s education sector has not been spared from the
effects of
mismanagement. That is why Mugabe and his Zanu PF officials send
their
children abroad instead of developing world-class local
institutions.
This “House of Gushungo” brand designed to target
first-time voters and the
urbanites will not work if the approach is to mask
dictatorship and failure.
How do people begin to see Mugabe and Zanu PF
differently when perpetrators
of the 2008 electoral atrocities are still
roaming the streets? How do
voters change their minds about Mugabe and Zanu
PF when victims of the
Gukurahundi massacres have not had an apology, let
alone compensation from
the state for those killings?
Repressive
legislation curtailing political and civil liberties is still in
place, so
why would voters think the situation has changed?
At the age of 89, Mugabe
should be enjoying his pension with his
grandchildren and providing advice
whenever required.
He does not have any track record and new ideas to be
a credible candidate
to run the country again. Seeking re-election is just a
selfish attempt by
his party and himself to protect narrow and personal
interests at the
expense of the nation.
Muchayi is a political
analyst who can be contacted on wmuchayi@gmail.com
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Politics
GEOFFREY Nyarota,
one of Zimbabwe’s award-winning journalists and now CEO of
Buffalo
Communication (Pvt) Ltd, has ventured into politics and is fighting
for a
ticket to represent the MDC-T in Makoni South in Manicaland in the
next
general elections.
Nyarota is best known for the Willowgate scandal in
which he in 1987 exposed
cabinet ministers’ corruption over discounted
buying and inflated selling of
cars from a state enterprise, Willowvale
Motor Industries.
His career took him from teaching to government, state
newspapers, including
the Chronicle, and private media, the Financial
Gazette and Daily News.
After his long career, he wrote Against the
Grain: Memoirs of a Zimbabwean
Newsman published in South Africa in
2006.This week Zimbabwe Independent
chief reporter, Owen Gagare (OG) spoke
to “Geoff” Nyarota (GN) about his new
political career and history in
journalism. Below are excerpts:
OG: You had a successful career in
journalism. Why did you choose to
venture into politics rather than remain
in the media, if not as an editor,
perhaps in a different capacity, for
instance, as a consultant?
GN: The changeover from journalism to politics is
a very common phenomenon
the world over. Like politicians, journalists
believe, sometimes genuinely,
that they can transform the world into a
better place.
In the United States in recent decades a long list of
prominent journalists
tried to repackage themselves as politicians when they
became candidates for
political office. The list includes such notable
journalists as Patrick
Buchanan, Ralph Nader, Al Gore, Al Franken and Norman
Mailer.
In Zimbabwe the most outstanding journalist to undergo the
transformation to
a politician was Dr Nathan Shamuyarira.
My own
decision to venture into politics was partly inspired by my teacher,
Michael
Ignatieff, a Canadian professor and director of the Carr Centre for
Human
Rights Policy at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard
University, before he became leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in
2008.
Before this entry into politics he was a professor, author, as well
as a
journalist.
I have been a journalist, a published author and was
a guest professor at
Oslo University in Norway and visiting professor at
Bard College in upstate
New York.
OG: When you came back from the
United States, you were supposed to be the
editor of the Daily News. What
happened?
GN: To be quite honest, I am not sure I know what happened and I do
not wish
to go public on my speculation on why I was dismissed by a company
that
relocated me from the United States at considerable expense. But I took
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) to court for unlawful dismissal.
They lost the case and I was awarded damages in February 2012. They still
have not paid me the more than US$100 000 involved, including legal fees.
Meanwhile, I have endured severe suffering and deprivation for three
years.
OG: Did the failure of this plan influence your going into
politics?
GN: Not really. I went into business in my own right, instead,
launching
Buffalo Communication (Pvt) Ltd in 2011. We are publishers of
magazines,
including On the Road, a motoring publication, The Harare
Agricultural Show
Magazine and, recently, The Chamber of Mines
Journal.
OG: Many people these days, unfortunately, go into politics to
make money.
What is your mission?
GN: I believe it is immoral for anyone
to go into politics just to make
money. The quest for money or riches in
politics is what leads to corruption
such as currently prevailing in
Zimbabwe. Aspiring politicians should make
their own lives comfortable
before they seek to make the lives of those who
vote them into office
comfortable.
OG: How did you come up with the decision to contest in
Makoni South? Were
you approached or was it your independent
decision?
GN: The decision to contest the Makoni South constituency was
thrust upon me
by the MDC-T structures in that constituency. When I returned
to Zimbabwe in
2010 they approached me and appealed to me to consider
standing. After a
period of consideration and consultation I finally agreed
to their proposal
in December 2012. The choice of this particular
constituency was natural, as
it is my home constituency. While I was born in
Mutare, I grew up in
Mudzimukunze Village, just outside Nyazura.
OG:
What is the problem between you and MP for Makoni South, Pishai
Muchauraya?
GN: In my view the problem emanates from a failure by the
sitting MP,
Honourable Muchauraya, to come to terms with the reality of
democratic
elections every five years when aspiring politicians can
challenge him in
peaceful elections.
On the morning of February 28 he
phoned me and threatened to kill me.
Rivalry between candidates is normal,
but when that degenerates to
death-threats that is going overboard. So I
reported the matter to the MDC-T
leadership through the organising
secretary, Honourable Nelson Chamisa but
he did not respond. So I then went
to the police. The matter is now in their
hands.
OG: There have also
been claims of tribal hostilities between you and
Muchauraya amid reports
you believe he should stand in Chipinge, not Makoni
South because he is a
Ndau. What is the story?
GN: Stories of tribal hostilities between me and
Honourable Muchauraya
started circulating when someone distributed flyers
demanding that he should
go back to his own area of origin, Chipinge. The MP
jumped to the conclusion
that I was responsible.
OG: What are your
prospects of winning primaries and then general elections?
GN: I believe
winning the primary election against the sitting MDC-T
candidate will be
more challenging than winning the parliamentary election
against whoever is
finally chosen as the Zanu PF candidate.
Generally speaking, I am very
confident of victory but there is a lot of
hard work to be done.
OG:
Do you have a thick skin to withstand the pressures and rigours of
politics?
GN: A journalist would need to be gifted with a particularly
thick skin to
be able to survive for three years as editor-in-chief of the
original Daily
News. Being arrested on a total of six occasions, to be
threatened with
death and to actually escape an assassination attempt, while
seeing your
printing press completely destroyed in a bomb explosion and your
office
targeted for a grenade attack, as all happened in my case, is
certainly not
stuff for the weak-kneed.
OG: Who do you think will win
the presidential poll and also the general
elections, and why?
GN: The
presidential election will be a tough race. President Robert Mugabe
will
have the advantage of incumbency and populist political strategies such
as
the agrarian revolution, whatever its initial shortcomings and, more
recently, Zanu PF’s indigenous empowerment campaign. Advanced age is the
president’s veritable Achilles’ heel; that and the widespread perception
that his party is steeped in corruption of epidemic
proportions.
However, his chances have recently been buoyed by opinion
polls by
traditionally pro-MDC-T pollsters.Mugabe’s main rival, MDC-T
president and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has over the years emerged
as a very
serious contender for the presidency.
He is a very popular
politician among voters disillusioned by years of
rampant corruption and
economic decline because of mismanagement on the
part of Zanu
PF.
Tsvangirai has scored own goals of late, however, through widely
reported
tales of unsavoury sexual behaviour and utterances on critical
issues that
have been made without adequate consideration of the
implications.
Overall though, Tsvangirai appears headed for victory
although it will not
be a stroll in the park. Prospects of victory in the
parliamentary elections
appear to be also tipped in favour of MDC-T
candidates in an electorate
which is simply tired of 33 years of
debilitating Zanu PF rule.
To be continued. Next week Nyarota talks about
Willowgate and his failure as
Chronicle editor to cover the Gukurahundi
massacres.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Opinion
Zimbabwe’s
hierarchy in government, aided and abetted by the
state-controlled media,
continuously attributes the appalling decline of the
manufacturing sector to
the so-called “illegal international sanctions”.
Column by Eric
Bloch
Undoubtedly they do so in order to divert the attention of the
people away
from the actual causes of the abysmal contraction of industry,
notwithstanding that most Zimbabweans are not so gullible as to be so easily
misled.
Despite the protestations of deceptive politicians, most
Zimbabweans are
very conscious and aware of many of the real causes of that
progressive
decline of manufacturing operations over the last 14
years.
The reality is that almost all of the causes of the near demise of
Zimbabwe’s
once substantive manufacturing sector were occasioned by
ill-considered
government policies.
Of the many reasons for
industrial collapse was hyperinflation which
progressively intensified until
it peaked at levels never experienced
anywhere in the world, in
2008.
That inflation soared upwards to innumerable trillions per cent and
could
not even be authoritatively measured.
Prices were not rising
monthly, weekly or daily, but hourly. In consequence,
the capital resources
of all enterprises, including those of industry, were
eroded until they
virtually became non-existent, gravely retarding the
ability to fund viable
operations.
At the same time, the wholly-decimated spending power of
consumers resulted
in the corrosion of demand for manufactured products
while the operating
costs of the manufacturing enterprises soared
upwards.
Although Government continuously sought to attribute the
hyperinflation to
actions of others, and to circumstances beyond its
control, the harsh facts
were that to an overwhelming extent government was
the catalyst for the
uncontrollable escalation in prices.
It
endlessly resorted to increasing money in circulation through printing,
notwithstanding the absence of any real reserves to support the
currency.
It incurred expenditures far beyond its means and resources,
intensified by
extensive corrupt and self-serving spending.
In
addition, there was pronounced mismanagement of numerous parastatals,
which
supposedly supplied the economy and the population with essential
services
and needs.
These parastatals endlessly increased their charges, impairing
the viability
of industry and prejudicing the economy and populace in
general.
Compounding these ills that government and its underlying public
sector
created, it put endless hurdles to industry’s ability to source the
much-needed replacement capital.
Having destroyed the value of
Zimbabwe’s currency, government then rightly
demonetised Zimbabwe’s currency
and adopted the present multi-currency
system.
However, the
impression was that this was only a short-term, transitional,
measure, and
that Zimbabwe would revert to its own currency.
In consequence, almost
all the population, and most businesses, feared
depositing funds into
Zimbabwe’s banks, being convinced that, as had
previously occurred,
government would expropriate the foreign currencies
without due
compensation.
Thus, the financial sector was hit by a liquidity crisis,
and hence was
unable to provide financing facilities to business for its
working capital
requirements.
Having lost most of the capital base
needed for viability, the only recourse
that industry could have was
sourcing new investment. But government created
unpenetrable hurdles to
procuring that new investment.
As there were very few within Zimbabwe who
had the wherewithal to fund
investment, the only substantive sources of that
investment were foreign.
But now, over and above foreign investors’
concerns as to the probable
consequences of a premature reinstatement of the
Zimbabwean dollar,
government has also created diverse deterrents to such
investment.
The most substantive of those deterrents is the
Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment policy.
Although with only
very rare exception, potential investors were very
willing to have
indigenous Zimbabwean co-investors, they were not prepared
to provide almost
the entirety of the capital required, effect
technology-transfer and
provide access to their markets, if they were to be
reduced to the levels of
minority investors, without any assurance of
repayment of capital provided
by them to fund the majority shareholders.
At the same time, the
potential investors were discouraged by the excessive
bureaucracy prevailing
and intensifying indications of growing political
instability in Zimbabwe as
well as the increasing absence of respect for
property and human rights, as
well as law and order.
As if all this mismanagement did not suffice to
preclude recovery and
viability, the situation was worsened by running down
of parastatals whose
services were essential for survival of
industry.
The power utility Zesa, (which presumably denotes “Zero
Electricity and
Substantive Accounts”), was not provided with the essential
funding to
maintain and enhance its electricity generation and supply
infrastructure.
This caused industry to be subjected to recurrent losses of
essential energy
supplies, precluding production and often resulting in
massive losses when
power outages disrupted manufacturing
processes.
In like manner, the inadequacy of services from many other
parastatals,
including the National Railways of Zimbabwe, are immense
retardants to
effective operations. In addition, Zimbabwe’s taxation laws
are extremely
counter-productive to industry.
These include excessive
import duties on essential inputs of manufacturers,
and in all material
respects, no substantive export incentives.
The reality is that the only
impact of the international sanctions are upon
those few enterprises owned
by or associated with government or by certain
specified,
politically-connected individuals, and on parastatals.
The key constraint
on these organisations and individudals is their
inability to access
international loans and lines of credit. All the other
alleged consequences
of the sanctions are specious and unfounded.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Opinion
It was
interesting to note a new propagandist advertising her wares in the
Herald.
By the MuckRaker
Mai Jukwa (who we are told is
actually a man) clearly thinks she can earn
her stripes by abusing the
British ambassador, calling her a “liar”, and our
intelligence over the
matter of Patrick Chinamasa’s short-term visa.
Deborah Bronnert was
“merely a lowly employee who is obliged to consistently
parrot a line
however idiotic”, Mai Jukwa squawked in her “Political
Mondays”
column.
Isn’t that the perfect definition of a captive state
propagandist, squarking
for her supper? Mai Jukwa even paid tribute to
Nathaniel Manheru as she
launched into a tirade against Bronnert over
Chinamasa’s supposedly
undiplomatic treatment by the UK.
Strangely
enough, Chinamasa himself didn’t seem to mind too much a dose of
British
patronage. Like many Zanu PF bigwigs he was only too happy to get
the nod
for a London visit.
“”We all know she is lying,” Mai Jukwa
continued.
“She knows we know she is lying. Even hopelessly inebriated
drunkards can
discern her dishonesty.” That would appear to include Mai
Jukwa!
Who’s fooling who?
Not content with this outburst, Mai
Jukwa claims Bronnert was forced to
carry on “parroting an outrageous
narrative hoping the simple-minded natives
will swallow it.”
Well
here is one simple mind that has swallowed the Herald’s outrageous
narrative. And like all these narratives they invariably end up abusing
Morgan Tsvangirai.
“The intended recipients of her lies are not the
discerning intelligentsia
but weak padlock-brain types like Morgan
Tsvangirai who can be controlled
and manipulated.”
Again, is that not
a perfect definition of Herald and Sunday Mail
publicists?
The state
media has resorted to ad hominem attacks on Tsvangirai in the hope
we
wouldn’t notice Zanu PF’s failure of governance.
That is the big lie that the
latest parrot has been hired to tell. And no,
we’re not swallowing
it.
Mai Jukwa’s attempt to take her gibberish into the social media realm
has
been met with disdain in some cases and outright contempt in
others.
Social networkers told Mai Jukwa where she could put her puerile
propaganda
and in true Zanu PF style she responded by deleting the
unfavourable
comments and keeping those that supported her.
Who is the
liar now?
Chombo’s ‘legacy’
The onslaught on Finance minister
Tendai Biti is unrelenting. Ironically,
Local Government minister Ignatius
Chombo this week decided to join the
bandwagon, accusing Biti of
“deliberately starving the agricultural sector
of support to spawn food
shortages”.
Chombo said the MDC-T’s policies prejudiced farmers as supporting
them would
set them on a collision course with their handlers and
financiers.
The same could be said of Chombo who has been punishing
urbanites for voting
for the MDC-T by sabotaging urban
councils.
Notwithstanding the cruel joke of the Sekesai Makwavarara-led
council,
Chombo has been smuggling-in Zanu PF apparatchiks through the back
door
disregarding the will of voters.
He has been suspending mayors
willy-nilly under the guise of ensuring “sound
local governance” yet the
outcomes of his interference have been the exact
opposite. Chombo has
reduced elected representatives to lame duck status by
vetoing any proposals
and crushing dissent with accusations of corruption.
Considering the
revelations from his messy divorce, Chombo should be the
last man to accuse
anyone of being corrupt.
The state of Harare today, where water shortages
and potholes reign supreme,
is a fitting tribute to Chombo’s
legacy.
As if to confirm his conspiracy against MDC-T-led councils Chombo
urged
people to vote “wisely” and avoid the “mistakes” in past elections
where
urban seats were filled by councillors from the MDC-T.
He said
the MDC-T councillors ended up preoccupied with enriching themselves
at the
expense of service delivery.
The three fingers are pointing back at you,
Cde Chombo.
Of pseudo war vets…
The British were preaching false
tenets of democracy while working to
recolonise the country, war veterans
“leader” Jabulani Sibanda was quoted
as saying last weekend. He described
the MDCs as “neo-colonial agents keen
to facilitate a return to Rhodesia
under the guise of democracy”.
Most Zanu PF apparatchiks parrot this
facile mantra because they can’t think
of anything intelligent to
say.
But there was more idiocy to come.
“Zanu PF is a messenger of
God,” Sibanda told us who “was sent to bring
peace and harmony.”
So
peace and harmony is it? Does anybody associate those qualities with
Sibanda? And which countries will be willing to advance funds to Zimbabwe
with people of this calibre at the helm?
Sibanda by the way played no
part at all in the liberation war. Like many of
the loudest mouths in
President Mugabe’s campaign he is ignorant of where
the real threat to the
country lies.
Too close for comfort
The death of President Hugo
Chavez of Venezuela and his succession by his
vice-president have led
pundits to comment on his rule. Some of these have
been interesting. “On the
positive side of the ledger Chavez did more than
buy votes and prop up
bankrupt regimes such as his close ally Cuba,” Latin
American expert Jorge
Heine noted as quoted in BusinessDay.
When Chavez took over in 1998 the
standard of living for most Venezuelans
hadn’t changed since
1963.
“On the democratic side of the ledger the balance sheet is worse,”
biographer Rory Carroll wrote.
“Chavez was a hybrid –– an elected
authoritarian,” he wrote. “His country’s
elections were held on time but
were of the free rather than the fair
variety. He closed down
opposition-supporting TV stations, saturated his
image via state-sponsored
media and packed the Supreme Court with loyalist
judges.” In Carroll’s view
he was “a brilliant politician and a disastrous
ruler”.
Doesn’t this
sound familiar?
Ill-timed ‘prophecies’
Finally “Prophet” Uebert
Angel of the Spirit Embassy Church took time from
preaching the gospel to
“predict” the result of the English Premier League
tie between Manchester
United and Stoke City last Sunday.
Angel told his followers he was going
to his office to “watch” the match
between Stoke City and Manchester United
24 hours before kick-off.
When someone pointed out the match was a day
later, on April 14, NewZimbabwe
reports Angel replied: “But I’m watching it
today.”
During his Sunday service sermon Angel said he had “seen”, in a
vision,
Stoke City manager Tony Pulis congratulating Manchester United boss
Alex
Ferguson. Angel’s church had only uploaded the video to YouTube on
Monday, a
day after the match.
The controversial Angel claimed to
have predicted the death of former
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
last year although the video of the
“prophecy” only surfaced after her
death.
Muckraker is very keen to have Angel’s prophecies on pertinent issues
like
the outcome of the general elections now and not for them to surface
after
the act.
Let’s have it now prophet!
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in
Opinion
As Zimbabwe turned 33 yesterday, it is pertinent to ask: why have
we fared
so badly on the economic front and yet we have been consistently
ranked as
one of the most promising emerging economies in the
world?
Candid Comment with Itai Masuku
As we recently pointed out,
soon after Independence, Zimbabwe enjoyed GDP
growth rates of 11% in 1980
and 10,7% in 1981 before it stalled to 1,4% in
1982 and was a negative 4,2%
in 1983.
There was again a sharp 9,3% growth in 1985 before another heavy
retreat to
0,2% growth in 1986. In 1990, when, in the words of the former
Minister of
Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Bernard Chidzero, the economy
was “on its
knees”, we adopted Esap (Economic Structural Adjustment
Programme) whose
main aim was to grow the economy by 5% a year over five
years.
We did peak at around 7% in 1997 before Black Friday got us back
into the
negatives from 1998. We were in a tailspin until 2008, in what has
been
dubbed the lost decade.
Thereafter, we recorded growth (or was
it more of recovery?) rates as high
as 7,3% between 2009 and
2011.
Now, we’ve been constantly revising our growth rates downwards to
below 5%.
The economic reasons for this are multifold and include, as
pointed out by
the IMF over the years, poor formulation and implementation
of comprehensive
economic adjustment and reform programmes.
These
relate to, but are not limited to, poor public financial management
and
expenditure policy, poor monetary and exchange policies, the need for
central bank reform and with it general financial sector reform and the
provision of timeous macro-economic statistics.
Under public sector
financial management can be included the need for public
sector enterprise
reform. The death of former British prime minister
Baroness Margaret
Thatcher brought this to the fore again.
To attempt to answer the
question posed earlier, the answer is that we have
never had consistent
economic policy.
We half-heartedly experimented with the command economy
in the first decade
of Independence, then had a dalliance with IMF-sponsored
programmes in the
next decade.
We then adopted the Look East policy,
but only did just that, look.
In-between we had doses of the homegrown
economics whose major components
have been land reform and
indigenisation.
The tragedy of all this is that this wasn’t inspired by
economic
imperatives, but by political expendiency. This is why
politico-economic
changes have been done in a piecemeal approach, damaging
the economy, and
with it the populace.
It would have been far better
perhaps to get it over and done with, that is
what constitutes
revolution.
Imagine if we had radically followed the path of
indigenisation and land
reform 10 years after Independence? We’d have long
learnt our lessons and by
now we would know what’s good for us and what’s
not.
Now after the next political election, we don’t know what our
politicians
are holding as their next economic trump card.
Perhaps it
is about time we had independent economic think tanks who chart
the way for
the economy, irrespective of the political parties, in a way the
Fed directs
monetary policy in the US independently of sitting governments.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Opinion
“IT
is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”
Opinion by Chris
Mhike
While that opening line is drawn from the scriptures, this piece is
neither
a sermon nor a theological pontification on the subject matter —
just a
reflection on the meaning of Zimbabwe’s Independence as we celebrate
the
33rd anniversary of the country’s liberation from colonial
rule.
As most Zimbabwean leaders claim to be Christian, a religious
introduction
might help drive the point home. That preliminary idiom from St
Paul as he
writes to the Galatians, is remarkably striking in its
elucidation on the
purpose of freedom, at least from a Christian
perspective.
The pronouncement might sound rather obvious to many
readers, perhaps too
obvious to the extent of superfluity. Indeed, even in
non-religious spheres,
people are ordinarily set free to freedom, just as
doors are opened so that
they are open, taps turned on so that water flows
out, and fire set alight
for light.
One might understandably argue
that to save breath, to save space in
newspaper columns, or preserve airtime
in the broadcast media, the obvious
does not have to be
said.
However, from time to time it is important to re-state or clarify
motive.
Or, put differently, to inquire into the motive for
actions.
There will be times when doors are opened only to get someone or
something
out, and therefore opened for purposes of shutting out; times when
taps are
opened only to check if water runs in the pipes, or fire set alight
for
heat — not light.
Things are not always what they obviously or
subtly seem to be.
It is therefore perhaps appropriate that as we
commemorate Zimbabwe’s
Independence this year, we collectively ask the
question — yet again: for
what purpose was the struggle for Zimbabwe waged?
What is the Independence
that we gained 33 years ago in 1980 all
about?
Because the war for Zimbabwe’s liberation was, and remains
essential —
precious lives were lost — it is only proper that the discussion
proceeds
from the premise that the struggle for Independence was precisely
for the
attainment of freedom for Zimbabweans, that is, liberation from
colonial
subjugation, personal liberty for any and all citizens from the
repression
of rulers (of any race or tribe).
This reminder is
necessary today because the perspectives of rulers are not
always synonymous
with those of the ruled. Besides those wielding and
exercising power, there
are also political parties and politicians who are
promising to deliver
Zimbabweans from what they say is a repressive regime.
They promise to
usher in a new and better Zimbabwe. The subject reminder or
reflection
applies to these aspirants too.
The thinking of Zimbabwean rulers today
is perhaps best reflected in the
official theme for this year’s Independence
celebrations: “Zim @ 33 —
Peace, Prosperity and Economic Empowerment for
National Development”.
Indigenisation and economic empowerment have
certainly dominated discussions
at governmental, political party and other
platforms of national discourse
in recent months and years.
These
topics are now being specifically linked to the Independence
celebrations.
While the seemingly obvious reason for the liberation
struggle of the 1970s
might be “liberation” or “freedom”, a reading of the
words of Prime Minister
Robert Mugabe (as he then was), authored in
September 1981, further
illustrates the fact that the understanding of
ordinary citizens on the
subjects of liberation and Independence might at
times differ from that of
the ruling elite.
“The antagonism that
expressed itself finally in the form of a liberation
war had been nurtured
by a host of ever-growing grievances, chief among
which was that of
land-hunger.
It was mainly on the principle of the recovery of the
fatherland that the
armed struggle was built,” wrote Mugabe in the aftermath
of Independence, in
a foreword to the book titled The Struggle for
Zimbabwe.
While the premier of the day understood land — “recovery of the
fatherland”
to be the chief grievance in the struggle for Independence —
thousands or
millions of other citizens probably had liberation and freedom
in their most
basic form in mind on top of grievances besides land and
empowerment.
Today, on the one hand, there are thousands, perhaps
millions of
Zimbabweans, who are still pre-occupied with the idea of
re-claiming land.
Many are so passionate about the “fatherland” agenda they
have transformed
from the humble and simple comrades they were in 1980, into
land barons for
whom multiple farm ownership and extreme wealth from
proceeds of the land is
now an acceptable station.
The view that the
national leadership should stick to the original
principles of the struggle
is currently held by many, and should be spelt
out here.
The
disjuncture between the ruler’s perspective from the understanding of
the
ruled, on liberty, freedom, happiness and other related issues, is an
old
problem.
Even the colonial ruler thought the oppressed African was happy
in that
oppression. Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith is quoted as having
expressed
his confidence about the happiness of the subjugated
African.
Addressing the Rotary Club in Salisbury (now Harare) on December
21 1972,
Smith is reported to have said: “I have been taken to task in
certain
quarters for describing our Africans (black Zimbabweans) as the
happiest
Africans in the world, but nobody has yet been able to tell me
where there
are Africans who are happier — or, for that matter, better off —
than in
Rhodesia.”
Yet only a few hours after Smith’s address to the
Rotarians, a military
communiqué from the Rhodesian security forces reported
that guerillas
(freedom fighters) had attacked a white owned property —
Altena Farm in the
north-eastern Zambezi Valley area. Africans were not so
happy after all.
They wanted Independence, freedom and liberty.
As
confirmed by this year’s official Independence theme, political elites
today
are firmly focused on economic empowerment. This empowerment is widely
understood in local economics, law and politics to mean enrichment through
the forced appropriation of shares from foreign-owned companies to locals or
crudely from whites to blacks.
But there are also thousands, perhaps
millions other Zimbabweans, who do not
necessarily aspire to be farmers and
are therefore not absorbed by the
“fatherland” reclamation agenda. There
are multitudes without the ambition
to be employers, shareholders or company
directors — they need equal
opportunities, jobs, freedom and
happiness.
Besides material things, there is a deep hunger in many
communities for
greater levels of free speech, community radio stations,
free media, free
movement, free association, equality before the law, fair
and sensible
application of just laws and humane treatment at police
stations or other
public spaces.
People out there want many other
things besides land and companies. Some
care a lot about the basics —
shelter, clean water, education, health,
transport and food — before we even
start talking about issues like land,
indigenisation and other such
objectives.
Freedom stands in stark opposition to repression.
Independence contrasts
with dependence.
So, if it wasn’t for freedom,
in the basic sense understood by millions of
ordinary Zimbabweans, that
Zimbabwe’s liberators set us free, then let the
message ring clear today —
at 33, that for Zimbabwe’s Independence to remain
meaningful and relevant to
the majority we must be independent for
Independence, liberated for liberty,
and freed for freedom.
Mhike is a local lawyer practicing in Harare. He
writes here in his personal
capacity.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Opinion
THE apparent
success of Zanu PF in blocking a UNDP team from coming to
Zimbabwe on a
poll-funding related assessment mission suggests the MDC
formations have yet
again capitulated to Zanu PF’s signature bullyboy
tactics.
Zimbabwe
Independent Editorial
The decision to bar the team from a body which
partly funded the country’s
costly constitution-making exercise by availing
no less than US$22 million,
sends the wrong signals at a time the country is
purportedly seeking to
re-engage the international community and effectively
repair its battered
image.
More importantly, by allowing Zanu PF to
bulldoze its agenda, the MDC
parties are complicit in setting the stage for
another sham election whose
implications would be ghastly for a nation just
emerging out of the woods.
On Monday there were claims Zanu PF had
yielded to pressure from the MDC
groups — a rarity in the life of the
coalition government — by allowing the
UN elections assessment team, stuck
in neighbouring South Africa, to visit
the country to audit the political
environment before funding forthcoming
polls following Zimbabwe’s request
for US$250 million.
The reality check was not long in coming.
A
day later MDC leader, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, told the media “we
have agreed to look for money internally, but without ignoring external
support”, as there was no consensus in government on the terms of reference
for a UN inspection team.
It is mostly dictatorships — the likes of
reclusive North Korea — that are
averse to external scrutiny for they have
much to hide, not aspiring
democracies like Zimbabwe.
The failure by
the MDC leaders to square up to Zanu PF’s depredations and
self-serving
political strategy has been a recurring theme in the life of
the unity
government. The MDC parties have raised the white flag on, among
other
disputed issues, GNU ministerial allocations, governors, the
Attorney-General and RBZ governor, blatant violation of Sadc resolutions and
outstanding GPA reforms.
To cap it all was Tsvangirai’s shocker this
week in announcing he and
President Robert Mugabe had agreed an election
roadmap would be crafted by
two cabinet ministers from their parties to
inform dates for crucial
elections this year.
In what appeared to be
readiness to bend over backwards to accommodate Zanu
PF, Tsvangirai seems to
have conveniently forgotten the tripartite Global
Political Agreement (GPA)
he signed in 2008 contains a roadmap to elections
which Sadc — guarantors of
the GPA — resolutely insist on.
Like an insatiable beast, Zanu PF will
only wring yet more concessions from
the pliant MDCs.
And as we’ve
pointed out before, Tsvangirai’s poisoned-chalice role of
superintending
preparations for elections might come back to haunt him.
He has
effectively relinquished the option to cry foul should Zanu PF steal
the
vote, as it has been accused of doing in previous elections.
Just how the
MDCs expect the imminent elections to be free and fair when the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission — which they believe rigged the last
election — remains
wholly unreconstructed and staffed with largely the same
pro-Zanu PF
security agents is a mystery.
What’s more, the stakes are much higher
this time as defeat could be
tantamount to political demise, which could
make for a cutthroat
contestation, literally.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
April 19, 2013 in Opinion
WHEN the history of
Zimbabwe — which commemorated Independence Day
yesterday — is eventually
written properly, as intellectually competent and
candid as possible, it
shall partly record that after years of oppression
and patient sufferance
local people revolted against their oppressors to
fight a war of liberation
during the 1970s.
Editor’s Memo with Dumisani Muleya
It shall
document sacrifices and losses people suffered during that
struggle; things
done in their name and promises made by their leaders
either to motivate
them to fight on or as part of their vision for the
future or
both.
Like all liberation movements, Zanu PF, which fought alongside the
now
defunct Zapu, promised to liberate people to ensure freedom and create
equal
opportunities in a reasonably free and democratic society in which
everyone
is equal before the law.
It also undertook to eradicate
discrimination on the basis of race, tribe,
colour or creed; that there
would be tolerance of diversity, freedom and
justice.
Naturally,
people thought they were assured and rightly hoped for better
lives in which
critical social services such as shelter, water, electricity,
education,
health, transport and others would be available.
People were also told
they would recover their land and get equal economic
opportunities to
improve their lives.
But it was the idea of liberty, in its most basic
form and broadest sense,
that seemed to appeal to many the most. Some hoped
for liberty in the
Hobbesian sense or Sir Robert Filmer’s way, while the
more realistic had
John Locke’s philosophy of restrained liberty in
mind.
However, as Zimbabweans commemorated Independence Day yesterday,
the reality
of betrayal, broken promises and post-Independence horrors was
inescapable.
Of course, fat cats, who have benefited immensely from
Independence, would
downplay this because their lives are heavenly compared
to the hellish
existence of the poor.
This has been the story of
Zimbabwe Independence commemorations for many
years now.
The
political and business elites, who always place adverts all over the
media
and make some self-serving noises about it, have always been more
enthusiastic to celebrate Independence Day than the ordinary people
themselves who fought the liberation war.
In many respects, the
history of Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe and
Zanu PF is a history
of betrayal, human rights violations and usurpations as
well as disastrous
economic failure.
To prove this, let facts speak for themselves: Mugabe’s
regime right from
the start violated human rights on a horrific scale as
shown by Gukurahundi,
later Murambatsvina and the 2008 electoral killings,
among other
brutalities.
More dramatically, some who fought the
struggle, including its heroes like
Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku,
among others, were rewarded with arrest,
torture and death, on false
charges.
Ordinary people across the country who lost relatives, friends
and their
possessions supporting the struggle are not just living in misery,
but under
Rhodesian-like conditions, daily facing poor service delivery;
without
water, electricity, education, health and public transport
facilities,
besides restricted civil and political liberties.
The
facts also show Mugabe’s regime ruined the economy through misrule and
mismanagement manifested via unprecedented hyperinflation before 2009 and
liquidation of the local currency.
Further evidence of that is to be
found in the running down of public
enterprises, utilities and
infrastructure.
Liberty is virtually non-existent as people now have to
apply to police to
gather and are punished for voting as they wish — in
other words denied
their basic rights.
These catastrophes and their
ramifications inevitably show Zimbabwe is
independent, but not free. As
Joshua Nkomo, also hounded after Independence,
wrote in his memoirs, The
Story of My Life, freedom in Zimbabwe still lies
ahead.
