http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in News,
Politics
BULAWAYO — The two MDCs have insisted that in the absence of
security sector
reforms, foreign observers are needed to monitor the
forthcoming elections.
REPORT BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
Contributing to an
election debate series organised by Bulawayo Agenda last
week, the MDCs said
peace and regional stability was depended upon Zimbabwe
holding credible
elections monitored by observers from the continent and
elsewhere.
“We need the Sadc, African Union, United Nations and other
international
observers to come
to ensure a smooth transfer of power,”
Tapiwa Mashakada, the MDC-T deputy
secretary general said during the debate
series held at the Large City hall.
Mashakada, who is also the Minister
for Economic Planning and Investment
Promotion, added: “We need these
observers to help us hold a free and fair
election to ensure peace and
regional stability.”
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the secretary
general for the MDC, said in
the absence of security sector reforms, it was
difficult to guarantee free
and fair elections.
She appealed to the
security chiefs to respect the will of the people in the
event that Zanu PF
lost the election.
“On security sector reforms, all that we are simply
saying to the security
chiefs and those in the state security organs is that
they should respect
the will of the people to ensure peace after the
elections. “That is all we
are asking for.”
In 2008, the MDC-T
accused the military of leading a violent campaign for
the re-election of
President Robert Mugabe. The party said 200 of its
supporters were
murdered.
Zanu-PF insists that western observers will not be allowed to
monitor the
elections, arguing they were hostile and harboured a vendetta
against the
former liberation movement.
Recently, Foreign Affairs
minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said western
observers were not welcome as
long as sanctions were still in place.
While the MDC’s have been calling
for security sector reforms before
elections, Zanu PF officials have argued
that this was not necessary and not
part of the Global Political Agreement
(GPA).
Defence minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa recently said that the push
for
security sector reforms was driven by an illegal regime change agenda.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Local, News, Politics
ZANU PF
infighting has deepened amid reports that several provincial
executives will
be purged as the battle to succeed President Robert Mugabe
rages
on.
REPORT BY OUR STAFF
This comes at a time when the fight for
the control of Manicaland province
has taken a new twist with reports that a
recent petition to Mugabe against
secretary for administration, Didymus
Mutasa contained forged signatures.
The fights have so far resulted in
the dissolution of the Killian
Sibanda-led Bulawayo provincial executive and
the appointment of a new one
led by Callistus Ndlovu.
The squabbles
also pro-mpted the party to dispatch a team to probe problems
in Manicaland
where officials led by women’s league boss Oppah Muchinguri
and Justice
minister, Patrick Chinamasa wrote the petition accusing Mutasa
of fanning
divisions and dictatorial tendencies.
Sources said different factions in
Zanu PF were battling to control
provinces to position themselves for the
succession of Mugabe. The fights
were pitting two main factions, one loyal
to Vice-President Joice Mujuru and
another sympathetic to defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa.
A politburo member said after Manicaland where
provincial chairman Mike
Madiro, a perceived ally of Mnangagwa, was recently
suspended; the axe would
soon fall on more provincial executives.
He
said the next target was the John Mafa-led executive in Mashonaland West,
followed by the Lovemore Matuke executive in Masvingo and the Mashonaland
central one led by Dickson Mafios.
“These fights are about
succession. People are fighting to dominate the
provincial structures so
that when the time for succession comes, they will
be in a better position
to win,” said the politburo member.
Fresh details emerged that although
the petitioners accused Mutasa of
imposing candidates in constituencies,
some of the signatories had
approached the Zanu PF secretary for
administration to be installed as the
party’s representatives without going
via the primary election route.
It is understood that Mutasa had been
protecting the so-called heavyweights
in the province and had told them he
would not render such support in the
forthcoming elections.
It
emerged last week that Chinamasa had allegedly dispatched Agriculture,
Mechanisation and Irrigation Development minister Joseph Made to Mutasa so
that he would persuade Basil Nyabadza to pull out of the race for Makoni
Central in the forthcoming primary elections.
“Made was asked at the
meeting in Mutare last weekend and he confirmed
that,” a source
said.
At the meeting, a highly charged Chinamasa ripped into Nyabadza
accusing him
of working for whites, citing the Chisumbanje ethanol project
and the Save
Valley Conservancy issues.
Chinamasa is also said to
have told the meeting that Madiro and his deputy
Dorothy Mabika were being
harassed for allegedly stealing a calf.
The duo is being charged for
allegedly stealing cattle donated to President
Mugabe by a Manicaland
farmer.
This has riled some members who felt that as minister of Justice,
Chinamasa
should avoid working with people facing serious
charges.
Chinamasa, Mutasa and Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo were
yesterday not
answering their phones.
‘some leaders are happy
with The status quo’
A Zanu PF official queried the co-option of a senior
central bank official
into the commissariat department led by Webster Shamu.
He said there were
suspicions that the official had been planted by another
emerging faction
which had no links to both the Mujuru and Mnangagwa
factions.
“The official is now acting as a consultant and fundraising for
the party,
but our fears are that this is meant to prop up this faction,”
said the
official.
The official said although Zanu PF was posturing
about the need to go for
elections soon, most senior leaders such as Mujuru,
national chairman Simon
Khaya-Moyo and Mutasa were against
polls.
“Some of the leaders want the situation to remain like that
because they
believe that in the event Mugabe is incapacitated, they will
automatically
be elevated,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Local,
News
MUTARE — Suspended Mutare mayor, Brian James (pictured right) is at
loggerheads with the city’s town clerk, Obert Muzawazi over allegations that
he is blocking the local authority from accessing loans from
banks.
REPORT BY CLAYTON MASEKESA
Muzawazi recently told Zanu PF
secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa
that the city had not been
paying workers for four months now, as James was
allegedly influencing banks
to stop giving council overdraft facilities.
Mutasa is the patron of the
Manicaland Business Action Group (MBAG), set up
recently to find ways of
resuscitating distressed companies in the province.
But James last week
described the accusations as “unfortunate”. He said
residents and ratepayers
of Mutare had the right to know why the council’s
financial system was
paralysed.
James blamed council’s current management for problems facing
the city.
“At the same time, the council refuses to engage independent
consultants to
fully analyse the debtor account and so determine its origins
and the true
level of recoverability,” he said.
“Council’s reluctance
to implement independent audits to their yearly
financials only endangers a
growing lack of confidence in council’s
financial capabilities and its
ability to repay its ever-growing loans.”
James said council should
overhaul its accounting practices in order to
solve the serious cash flow
problems.
He said council had failed to provide a meaningful cash flow
projection,
hence banks and other lending institutions were not prepared to
take a risk
by lending the municipality.
James called for the
investigation of council’s budget processes and an
appraisal of the
council’s revenue capabilities.
“Council should engage independent
consultants in coming up with a budget.
It should re-open cordial and
meaningful dialogue with the city’s ratepayers
associations, because right
now the council requires support from these
associations,” he
said.
James was suspended by Local Government minister, Ignatius Chombo
last year
over allegations of gross mismanagement.
But the mayor
believes his suspension was a well-orchestrated move by
councillors and
senior managers to block the auditing of council finances
and illegal land
sales.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Local, News
THE Zimbabwe
Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) has started rectifying the
mix-up at
the examination body which saw scores of students failing to get
their
O’level and A’level examinations results.
REPORT BY NUNURAI
JENA
The affected students who sat for their examinations last year
recently said
they were still waiting for their results, nearly three months
after others
got theirs.
Benoni Mugove who sat for his A’level exams
at Chinhoyi High 2 said he
finally got his English Literature results after
the mistake was corrected.
But Mugove has doubts about the mark he was
given. He said he was given an
average pass mark to silence
him.
Mugove said of the three English Literature papers he sat for, he
was told
that one of them was missing. But he was surprised that Zimsec went
ahead to
give him the results.
He said efforts to see the marked
paper were thwarted as Zimsec officials in
Mashonaland West told him this
was not possible.
“I doubt if they are my results. I have been calling
Zimsec and officials
were telling me that they are failing to locate another
paper. I am
surprised that out of nowhere they gave me results with an
ordinary symbol,”
said Mugove.
Contacted for comment, Zimsec director
Essau Shingirai Nhandara said Mugove
had initially registered the wrong
option on one of his A’level subjects.
“The centre corrected the ano-maly
using the amendment form. Zimsec then
normalised his entry and the results
were released on March 8 2013,” he
said.
‘STUDENT GETS WRONG
RESULTS’
Misheck Meda, a student who had written A’level, said he was
also given an
ordinary pass mark after pestering Zimsec for his
results.
Meda said he was prepared to go to court to force Zimsec to
provide him with
his correct results.
Students who fail to get their
results are charged a search fee of US$10 by
Zimsec.
Sources at the
Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture said a probe
into the
examinations results fiasco was underway to get to the bottom of
the
issue.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Local, News
THE National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) says it will be unconstitutional
to delay
polls after the expiry of parliament on June 29, as it will leave
the
country at the mercy of the executive without checks and balances.
REPORT
BY OUR STAFF
In resolutions passed after the meeting of the NCA’s
National Taskforce, the
organisation said: “The NCA condemns attempts by the
parties in government
to delay polls because parliament’s term expires in
June and any extension
beyond that date is illegal and
unconstitutional.
“It will be illegal to have the executive running the
country without
Parliament.”
Zimbabwe is preparing for the watershed
harmonised elections to bring to an
end the life of the inclusive government
which is widely viewed as
dysfunctional.
President Robert Mugabe had
indicated that elections should be held on or by
June 29.
The two MDC
formations however insist that they should be held once reforms
necessary
for the holding of free and fair elections are in place.
Some of the
conditions the two MDCs said are necessary for the holding of
credible
elections include security sector and media reforms.
Zanu PF has already
said that reforming the security sector is a
non-starter.
The NCA
said it was “saddened by the double standards exhibited by the MDC
who are
complaining about reforms before elections and yet they agreed to
participate in a referendum in a skewed political environment”.
“As
the NCA we believe that there should be no excuses of reforms because
the
referendum was held in such an environment and yet no party complained,”
it
said.
NCA is set to hold a General Assembly before the end of next month
to
determine its future. NCA chairperson Lovemore Madhuku has hinted that
the
body: would be transformed into a political party.
The NCA, was
one of the bedrocks on which the MDC was formed. The body said
it broke
ranks when MDC started enjoying the trappings of power after the
formation
of the inclusive government in 2009.
During the referendum last month,
NCA campaigned unsuccessfully for the “No
vote”, arguing that Zimbabweans
had not been given adequate time to read the
draft constitution.
The
“Yes” vote prevailed after 3 079 966 voted in favour of the draft,
leaving
NCA to fight another day as only 179 000 voted against the document.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Local, News
ELEVEN
people were injured, three of them seriously, when a commuter omnibus
overturned after overzealous municipal police officers threw spikes at it
while travelling into the city centre.
REPORT BY OUR
STAFF
Some of the injured passengers were ferried to Parirenyatwa
hospital. The
incident occurred along Harare Street, metres away from Market
Square bus
terminus.
A crowd which gathered at the scene immediately
meted out instant justice on
one of the municipal policemen. A police
officer attending the scene said
the driver was attempting to evade the
municipal officer.
“He had to be swiftly whisked away to save his life,
as the public became
enraged. They were baying for his blood,” said the
officer who refused to
identify himself.
A witness who only
identified himself as Moyo blamed the municipal police
officers for the
accident. He said due to “overexcitement”, the officers
threw spikes at the
commuter omnibus thereby endangering the lives of many
passengers.
Contacted for comment, council spokesperson Leslie Gwindi
said commuter
omnibuses were no longer allowed in the central business
district.
He refuted allegations that overzealous municipal police
officers carelessly
threw spikes at commuter omnibuses.
“Look, that
[throwing of spikes] happens under exceptional circumstances.
When the
driver is told to stop then he must do so. If he doesn’t stop what
do you
expect the officer to do?” he asked.
Gwindi instead accused some commuter
omnibus drivers of abducting police
officers and passengers.
Asked to
comment on the dangers posed to the commuting public, he insisted
that
passengers should instead “turn on the driver for refusing to stop when
told
to do so by a municipal policeman’.
The incident was only a snapshot of
the spate of daily confrontations
between the council and commuter omnibus
drivers.
In 2010, eight people were injured after a pair of municipal
officers threw
a spike in front of a moving commuter omnibus in a bid to
stop it after
accusing the driver of flouting the city’s parking
by-laws.
The commuter omnibus then overturned and crashed into another
vehicle at
Corner Julius Nyerere and Robert Mugabe in the central business
district.
The two municipal police officers fled the scene after noticing
the damage
they had caused.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Local, News
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said Zimbabweans must not fight each
other in
the run up to the elections expected later this year and called on
citizens
to promote peace in the country.
REPORT BY MOSES CHIBAYA
Speaking
at a peace-building event organised by churches at Chinhoyi stadium
yesterday, Tsvangirai said that it was important for Zimbabweans to draw a
line that they would never fight each other again.
“Today I endorse
words spoken by President Mugabe on Independence Day in
Harare. Violence is
a culture that is strengthened by impunity. If people
continue to beat each
other, it becomes the political culture of the
country,” he
said.
Tsvangirai expressed surprise that although Mugabe was calling for
peace, it
was other departments of government that were boldly proclaiming
that the
country would never be taken by the pen.
“That kind of
statement is not congruent with the statements being said by
the President.
Others are saying if so and so wins, we will overthrow him by
a military
coup. That is not in the spirit of advancing peace and stability
in the
country. Every one of us is equal before the law and God,” he said.
The
PM called on citizens to register and vote in the forthcoming elections
and
said it was important that the will of the people was defended.
Speaking
at the same occasion, businessman and Zanu PF Chinhoyi aspiring
Member of
Parliament Phillip Chiyangwa called on Tsvangirai as the PM to
help create
employment for the thousands of unemployed youth in the country.
“I am
asking Tsvangirai to descend [to the grassroots]. For there to be no
hooligans, there must be food, there is need for jobs. Right here in
Chinhoyi, there are no factories for people to work. There are many
unemployed people as a result of that,” said Chiyangwa.
“My plea to
the high official in government present here is that there
should be no
hunger or else disputes will arise in light of where we are
going
[elections]”.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Community
News
VICTIMS of the Chitungwiza blast are still living in makeshift tents
three
months after the incident with promises of alternative accommodation
from
different organisations yet to be fulfilled.
REPORT BY HAZVINEI
MWANAKA
Six people died while several families were left homeless when
more than 12
houses were destroyed in the blast which originated at the home
of a
traditional healer, Speakmore Mandere.
The Zimbabwe Red Cross
Society has been providing tents to survivors of the
blast which police said
was caused by explosives.
A recent visit by Standardcommunity revealed
that survivors were exposed to
the vagaries of the weather.
“The
moment it rains we are left exposed. Water ends up flowing into our
makeshift tents damaging our utensils,” said Fungai Kanyama.
Godwell
Zalengela, another victim, said only his television set had survived
the
recent rains which destroyed most of his goods in the tent.
Other
survivors of the blast said they now feared an outbreak of water-borne
diseases such as cholera as all of them were using a single
toilet.
“With the perennial water shortages in Chitungwiza, our lives are
in
danger,” said another survivor.
She said they had no money to buy
firewood as they no longer had electricity
which was cut off after by the
blast.
“We do not have anything to help ourselves with. The major
challenge is
money to reconstruct our houses. We appeal to well-wishers to
come to our
rescue, especially now that winter is around the corner,” she
said.
Zalengela said if they secured building materials, they would be
able to
reconstruct their houses.
Efforts to get a comment from
Chitungwiza municipality were fruitless.
The Chitungwiza explosion made
international news headlines as the mystery
surrounding the blast remained
unresolved for weeks.
There was speculation that the explosion was caused
by supernatural powers
associated with goblins and
lightning-manufacturing.
However, police have concluded that the blast
was caused by a landmine
explosion.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Community
News
MUTASA — The community in Mutasa district is now getting improved
health
care services after the Bonda Mission Hospital received equipment and
machinery valued at over US$700 000.
REPORT BY CLAYTON
MASEKESA
The equipment and machinery which includes state-of-the-art
X-ray machines,
an ambulance, a service vehicle, an industrial laundry
machine and
mattresses, was sourced by Mutasa Central Member of Parliament,
Trevor
Saruwaka of MDC-T.
Villagers who spoke to Standardcommunity
said they were no longer travelling
long distances to Mutare or Rusape to
access medical services.
“Patients, especially those needing to get
x-rays done, used to travel over
100km to hospitals in either Mutare or
Rusape.
“We are happy that the community is now getting proper health
services at
our doorstep,” said Takudzwa Kuretu, a local
resident.
Kenneth Mutungwazi said the coming in of the equipment and the
upgrading of
Bonda Mission Hospital had come as a relief to the
community.
“We are now able to get medication and you can see that there
is a great
improvement,” he said. “Doctors and nursing staff are now willing
to work at
the hospital because staff accommodation and other buildings have
been
refurbished.”
Mutungwazi added that the administrative block was
now computerised while
the tarred road had been resurfaced.
“This
attracts doctors and nurses who have been shunning this place. With
this
development, our hospital is now one of the best in the country,” said
Getrude Chidavaenzi, an elder from the local Anglican Church.
To ease
the perennial water shortage, a 100 000-litre water tank was
installed. Two
full-time doctors are also now working at the hospital as
part of the
project.
Saruwaka said he was prompted to seek assistance for the
upgrading of the
institution after realising that its poor state, coupled
with shortage of
machinery was affecting the health delivery service in the
area. The MP was
once a patient at Bonda hospital in 1998.
“The
hospital was in a shocking condition. I realised that such a big
hospital
had no ambulance and a service vehicle. There were no essential
machinery
and equipment. The situation was sad,” he said.
“I am now happy that the
hospital has essential equipment for a good
delivery of health
system.”
The hospital also received three laptops, three desktop
computers and a
heavy duty photocopier, among other office consumables and
accessories.
Under the project which started in March last year, the
hospital is now
fenced and its buildings painted, while the 400m access road
was
rehabilitated.
Health and Child Welfare minister, Henry
Madzorera, said Bonda hospital was
an important referral hospital with a
huge catchment area.
“We will always look into the pot of available
resources to see how we can
help,” he said.
Bonda hospital run by the
Anglican Church is a referral hospital for Mutasa
and other parts of
Manicaland and can accommodate up to 200 patients
including maternity
patients.
It has a catchment area of over 100 000 people and it treats
over 25 000
people every year.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Business
FINANCE
minister Tendai Biti has ordered a probe into the affairs of the
Zimbabwe
Farmers Development Company (ZFDC) after government was forced to
settle its
Chinese loan.
REPORT BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
But ZFDC has insisted
that its books of accounts are in order. The company
is jointly owned by
Farmer’s World and government, with shareholdings of 55%
and 45%
respectively.
Biti said that in the first quarter of the year, treasury
paid US$76,5
million for external loan repayments. The bulk of these
repayments went to
China in respect of pre-inclusive government
debts.
Biti said of that figure, US$27,1 million went to clear Farmer’s
World debt
and Industrial Development Corporation arrears.
Around
2006, ZFDC borrowed the sum of US$55 million for the purchase of
tractors
and other farm equipment.
Biti said the government guaranteed the loan
and following the default, the
Chinese had to call on the guarantee, and
government had to pay this amount.
“On our part as the Ministry of
Finance, we have caused an audit into the
books of Farmer’s World to see
where the money was going. We know that they
were getting tractors and other
farm equipment. we know that they were
selling and disposing of them in hard
currency, therefore there should be no
reason for default,” he
said.
Biti said he had spoken to President Robert Mugabe about the
matter.
However, ZFDC finance and administration director Thomas Nherera
said the
money was never borrowed by Farmer’s World. He said rather, two
loans were
secured then by the central bank, on behalf of government for on
-lending to
ZFDC.
“Our books are ready for audit, we have nothing to
hide, we still have close
to US$15 million worth of equipment. As far as we
are concerned, it’s a
normal audit because government has a fiduciary role
to audit businesses in
which it has interests,” said Nherera.
He said
government had been called on to make repayment in its capacity as a
borrower and guarantor while all conditions pertaining to on lending had
been agreed to by China, as a core principal.
Nherera said challenges
that farmers were facing due to low production were
having an effect on
repayments.
The Chinese loans had a 10-year tenure at interest rates
lower than 10%,
while on- lending to farmers was at a rate of
5%.
Farmers in need of the equipment were expected to pay a 20% deposit
and the
balance was to be paid over five years.
Farmers without cash
for deposit had the option of paying using their
current crops or livestock
with a value equivalent to 20% of deposit.
Equipment bought included
tractors, eight bulldozers, hard disc harrows,
planters, ploughs, lorries,
combine harvesters, front-end loaders, reapers,
30 and 10-tonne trucks,
among other equipment.
Nherera said arrears by farmers amounted to US$35
million.
“It’s really a question of the agriculture sector’s performance
rather than
of loan mismanagement,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Business
PREPARATIONS
for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
General Assembly
in Victoria Falls and Livingstone have now shifted to its
policy agenda as
stakeholders meet in Tunisia this week.
REPORT BY HAZEL NDEBELE AND
DALPHINE TAGWIREYI
The UNWTO 20th General Assembly runs from August 24 to
29 and will be
jointly co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia.
A UNWTO
commission for Africa 54th meeting and international conference in
Tunis
this week is set to address current challenges and issues of African
tourism
ahead of the August meeting, Tourism and Hospitality Industry
minister
Walter Mzembi said last week.
“I am heading for Tunis next [this] week
for the UNWTO Commission for Africa
meeting. I will be a panellist and we
are going to discuss Africa’s agenda
for the general assembly,” Mzembi
said.
“My journey in return marks a shift in our state of preparedness
from the
tangible infrastructure issues to the intangible software issues of
the
general assembly.”
African countries are still facing challenges
to compete internationally,
despite the fact that tourism has been
identified as an important
contribution for economic growth and employment
creation in the region.
Some of the major issues to be discussed at the
Commission for Africa
meeting and conference in Tunisia are visa
facilitation and connectivity,
financing tourism development in Africa and
the role of technology and
communications.
Visa facilitation and lack
of competitive air connectivity are some of the
main challenges that African
countries face when it comes to tourism
development.
UNWTO forecasts
that Africa will in 2020 receive 85 million international
tourist arrivals
and 134 million in 2030, representing respectively 6,3% and
7,4% of
international tourist arrival at the world wide level.
Zimbabwe’s
preparations have been held back by infighting in the inclusive
government
raising fears that the event would be moved away from Victoria
Falls.
Despite making financial commitments, Zimbabwe has been slow in
releasing
funds required for preparations.
The country requires
US$11,2 million and treasury recently released US$1
million as time runs out
for Zimbabwe. Zambia’s preparations are financed by
a US$20 million purse
from the country’s treasury.
The UNWTO General Assembly has been equated
to tourism’s World Cup and has a
potential to either make or break Zimbabwe
and Zambia.
Analysts say the co-hosts won’t get immediate benefits from
the UNWTO
General Assembly, but are set to capitalise on the spin-offs
arising from
the successful hosting of the event.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Business
THE
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) chief executive officer Karikoga Kaseke
will approach police chief, Augustine Chihuri to discuss the many roadblocks
on the country’s major highways, which now pose a threat to the growth of
the tourism industry.
REPORT BY MUSA DUBE
Kaseke last week
said he would formally present complaints from travellers
who allege
harassment by traffic officers on the country’s highways.
“The police
commissioner general has allowed me to go to his office and
suggest how best
we can solve the problem. I hope by the end of this month
after the
Independence holiday, I will meet him and present to him what the
tourism
industry thinks should happen,” he said.
“There are a number of
suggestions from ZTA on how best the issue of
roadblocks can be
resolved.”
Kaseke said the industry had received complaints from
travellers who have
narrated their ordeals at the hands of traffic
officers.
Last year President Mugabe castigated corrupt traffic police
officers for
soliciting bribes from motorists.
Bulawayo-based
economic commentator Eric Bloch last week said the tourism
sector had a
potential to revive the economy “if we get it right, like
ensuring that
tourists are not delayed and harassed while travelling”.
“We need to have
a means of traffic control. For tourists to travel from
Beitbridge to
Victoria Falls, and be stopped for as many as 18 times on
these roadblocks,
is not good,” said Bloch.
“We should have a system that when a vehicle
has been stopped, checked and
has been cleared, it should be given a dated
sticker so that it can be waved
through on other roadblocks on that
day.”
He also said “the excessive amount of roadblocks and the
irrationality of
demands at those roadblocks were denting the country’s
strides in becoming
the prime tourist destination”.
Bloch added that
the congestion at the Beitbridge border post was also a
deterrent to the
tourism industry’s recovery and needed to be dealt with.
Kaseke said ZTA
had set up a board to carry out comprehensive research on
the impact of the
challenges being faced by tourists passing through the
Beitbridge border
post.
“We think by mid-May we would have compiled our report. We can only
estimate
the impact on what is happening at Beitbridge, but we want a
scientific
report on the impact on tourism,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in
Business
ALL diamond mining firms should be required by law to publish
contracts and
agreements to ensure transparency and accountability, a lobby
group has
recommended.
REPORT BY OUR STAFF
The recommendations
by the Centre for Natural Resource and Governance (CNRG)
are likely to put
the spotlight on Marange diamonds, where transparency and
accountability are
alien, according to civil society organisations.
“All diamond mining
companies should be compelled by law to publish their
contracts, MoUs
[Memorandum of Understanding] and any other agreements
entered into with
government and local authorities. This will enable the
local community to
monitor implementation of the agreements and demand
accountability,” CNRG
said in an analysis of the Diamond Policy.
Last year, government launched
the Diamond Policy containing a roadmap on
how the industry would
operate.
Among its major thrust is that the policy advocates sovereign
ownership of
resources by Zimbabweans through the state.
“If the
people of Zimbabwe are to maximise benefits from the country’s
diamond
wealth, it is important for the state to hold a controlling stake in
all
diamond ventures, so as to widen its revenue base and minimise
exploitation
by foreign interests,” CNRG said.
CNRG said that diamond mining is a
technical industry and expertise is
needed from partners to unlock value
taking a leaf from Botswana where
Debswana, the venture between the Botswana
government and De Beers, has
resulted in diamonds becoming the mainstay of
the economy.
“Qualifications such as a proven track record in diamond
mining and sound
financial standing should be stated in the policy to ensure
the country does
not award tenders to bogus or controversial mining
corporations,” CNRG said.
It said transparency was key to ensure that
predatory elites do not mono-
polise diamond revenue.
At an inaugural
Diamond Conference last year, former South African President
Thabo Mbeki
said Zimbabwe’s political leadership should ensure that the
diamond benefits
cascaded to the masses.
“. . . all the parties which serve in the current
inclusive government
established because of the GPA, must absolutely ensure
that the diamond
mining industry is not governed by a predatory elite which
uses its access
to state power to enrich itself, against the interests of
the people as a
whole, acting in collusion with the mining companies,” Mbeki
said.
CNRG recommended a strong oversight role by parliament.
“In
the spirit of separation of powers, parliament should be granted
unfettered
access to diamond mines and to all information pertaining to
diamond mining
activities,” it said.
In 2011, the parliamentary portfolio committee on
mines and energy battled
to secure a hearing with the diamond producers in
Marange. The producers
only came after MPs had threatened to invoke
parliamentary powers to punish
the producers.
In his state of the
economy statement last week, Finance minister Tendai
Biti said President
Robert Mugabe would soon sign into law legislation
compelling diamond
producers from Marange to remit half of its revenue to
the treasury. This
came after diamond revenue to treasury has been trickling
in despite the
producers having recorded sales.
who is into diamond mining in
marange?
Four companies — Mbada, Marange Resources, Diamond Mining
Corporation (DMC)
and Anjin — are mining in Marange. Government, through the
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) wholly owns Marange Resources
and is in a
50-50 joint venture with foreign investors in Mbada and DMC.
Anjin’s
shareholding is unclear amid revelations that the army is partnering
the
Chinese to mine in Marange.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in
Business
MULTINATIONALS and Chinese firms should leave tobacco out-grower
schemes to
indigenous players if government’s empowerment drive is to be
meaningful,
the Zimbabwe Economic Empowerment Council (Zeec) has
said.
REPORT BY OUR STAFF
An out-grower scheme refers to an
agreement between a buyer and farmers,
which establishes the conditions for
the production and marketing of an
agricultural product. The farmer agrees
to provide set quantities of a
specific agricultural product, meeting the
quality standards and delivery
schedule set by the purchaser, while the
buyer in turn commits to purchase
the product.
Zeec and Tobacco
Association of Zimbabwe president Temba Mliswa said Chinese
companies were
rapidly taking over the country’s tobacco sector through
contract farming
and making profits across the board.
“An overview of most contracted
farmers in the tobacco growing areas will
show that the majority of them are
in arrears and can hardly break even. The
[Chinese] firms have put
substantial mark ups on inputs supplied, an
administration fee, an extra top
up charge on fertilisers, while tractors
brought in from China are charged
too,” he said.
Mliswa said the Memorandum of Understanding signed between
the Chinese and
the Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development
Ministry
effectively pushed out the indigenous sector’s involvement in the
out-grower
scheme as the Chinese can easily secure capital amounts to be
availed to
growers.
He said the out-grower scheme was basically a
response to the liquidity
crunch that prevailed soon after the land reform
programme as there were no
banks available to support the agriculture sector
at the time.
“The minister [Saviour Kasukuwere] has the whole empowerment
concept with
regard to the tobacco sector wrong. He is not consulting all
relevant
players and stakeholders in the tobacco industry. Let not
empowerment be
about allowing people to reap where they have not sown,” said
Mliswa, adding
that empowerment should benefit local companies already
involved in the
out-grower scheme.
Statistics from the Tobacco
Industry Marketing Board showed that the average
price for contract tobacco
was US$3,70 on Tuesday compared to US$3,91 during
the same period last
year.
On Tuesday at least 58% of the tobacco sold came from contracted
farmers
with the remainder coming from auctions.
Mliswa said prices
being offered for contract tobacco are being determined
by a cartel made up
of a few players.
“Why would the Chinese bemoan the quality of tobacco
yet the tobacco is
checked and supervised by field officers who monitor the
process from
planting and reaping, right up to harvest? Moreover, contract
farmers are
subjected to interest rates of 11% to 12,5% of the money availed
to them by
the Chinese,” he said.
Late last year, Chinese tobacco
contract farming and purchasing firm Tian Ze
Tobacco Company bemoaned what
it termed “poor quality” of last year’s cured
leaf.
The company
urged local farmers to invest in the process between the field
and the
auction floors in order to derive more from their produce.
However, some
discontented farmers have approached banks attempting to gain
independence
from contract farming arrangements but have generally received
little
support from financial institutions.
Tian Ze Tobacco Company deputy
managing director Cai Bing criticised
contracted farmers who were involved
in side marketing and said this would
negatively affect
funding.
Advantages of contract tobacco farming include access to inputs
and
production services, access to credit and assured
markets.
Zimbabwe’s 2009 to 2011 economic growth was partly led by
tobacco, produced
increasingly by smallholder farmers in new contract
farming arrangements,
and supported by high international prices.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Business
IRAN will not be
participating at this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade
Fair (ZITF) where
16 countries are expected to exhibit at the annual trade
showcase.
Report by our staff
The 2010 ZITF was officially
opened by Iranian President, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, with companies from the
Persian country dominating the show.
More than 40 companies exhibited in
halls three and four.
The dominance of Iranian companies was hailed by
Zanu PF who said this
showed close ties between the two countries. The MDCs
were against
Ahmadinejad’s visit to Zimbabwe.
ZITF chairman, Bekithemba
Nkomo confirmed Iran is not exhibiting at this
year’s ZITF.
He
however said despite the absence of Iran, 95% of exhibition space had
been
taken up.
“Iran is not participating this year. All is now in place for
the trade fair
to commence and as we speak, we are now in the final stages
of selling
exhibition space. Ninety-five percent of the space has been taken
so far,
and we hope to sell the remaining 5%,” Nkomo said on
Wednesday.
Last year, 94% of exhibition space was taken up.
This
year’s ZITF runs from April 23 to 27 under the theme Building Value,
Enhancing Growth. It will be officially opened by Malawian President, Joyce
Banda.
South Africans are this year’s biggest exhibitors, ZITF’s
incoming general
manager, Nomathemba Ndlovu said.
South Africa is
Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner. China was the largest
exhibitor in
2012.
“South Africa has booked the largest exhibition space after taking
up 800
square metres up from last year’s 400. China has maintained its 600
square
metres that it had taken up last year,” Ndlovu said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Opinion
On
Thursday, Harare’s Chinese-built National Sports Stadium which has failed
to
host premier league soccer matches due to the bad state of the pitch
finally
came out of its slumber and reverberated with the song and dance of
a
country commemorating 33 years of Independence.
Report by Dalphine
Tagwireyi
The defence and other uniformed forces performed their usual
drills marching
up and down and pointing their guns at an imaginary foe,
various musicians
also performed for the thousands who thronged the stadium
and a soccer match
pitting the hand-picked Highlanders and Dynamos turned
out to be the icing
on the cake.
As always, President Robert Mugabe
was on hand to give a speech describing
colonialism as “a stubborn and
obstinate beast, that would not yield to
peaceful means of seeking a
settlement to the question of majority rule.”
“Hence, it had to take an
armed struggle to bring the settler colonialists
to agree to majority rule,”
Mugabe said as he mounted his hobby-horse of
detailing how the liberation of
this country was achieved. At every national
occasion, Mugabe seizes the
opportunity to remind Zimbabweans of his and
Zanu PF’s role in liberating
the country. The real question however is, 33
years after independence,
should Zimbabwe be reflecting merely on this
history, however important,
while regressing in terms of tangible benefits?
While colonialism was
repressive, marginalising the majority Africans and
denying them democratic
space and opportunities for economic advancement,
Zimbabweans born after
1980 know nothing about the oppressive nature of the
colonialists.
Theirs is still a grim struggle against poverty and
political repression,
which also begs the question of whether there is any
real independence to
talk about. Has a new black oppressor simply stepped in
to fill in the shoes
of the yesteryear white oppressor?
Thirty-three
years on, politicians should stop focusing on past personal
sacrifices,
which do not improve Zimbabweans’ lives in the here and now. It
is the time
for them to take concrete action in implementing policies to
finally bring
the majority out of grinding poverty and repression into a new
dispensation
of democracy and economic opportunities.
On April 17 1980, in his
Independence speech, Mugabe said, “As we become a
new people, we are called
to be constructive, progressive and forever
forward looking, for we cannot
afford to be men of yesterday, backward
looking, retrogressive and
destructive. Our new nation requires of every one
of us to be a new man,
with a new mind, a new heart and a new spirit.”
Clearly, the ululations
from April 18 1980 have turned to cries that are
falling on deaf ears. Yes,
Zimbabwe was once a new nation but the order of
today shows otherwise and
like His Excellency rightfully pointed out, we
cannot afford to be men and
women of yesterday, but rather our new nation
requires us to be new
men.
With the current situation in modern day Zimbabwe, can one clearly
define
their freedom? This brings the question of what new developments the
nation
and its people have enjoyed since the attainment of Independence in
1980.
For the older Zimbabweans, Independence Day is a time to celebrate
the end
of the bloody Chimurenga, but surely they must regret that their
children
and grandchildren are suffering the same problems they suffered in
Rhodesia.
For the youth, Zimbabwe is strife-filled as basic necessities
are still
luxuries for many. Unemployment is rife and freedom of speech
remains
shackled. Independence Day for them is therefore meaningless.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Opinion
Last
Thursday Zimbabwe marked 33 years of independence after gallant sons
and
daughters of this great republic dislodged the settler regime and
brought
independence to a people who had endured a century of oppression.
Since
the settler occupation in 1890, the black people began a fight, a very
long
battle that gave birth to heroes and heroines such as Sekuru Kaguvi,
Mbuya
Nehanda, Herbert Chitepo and Josiah Tongogara, among a host of other
fallen
heroes. They fought for equality, they fought for human rights,
identity,
freedom and they preached peace.
The dawn of independence drew wild
celebrations across the country as people
looked into the future with
hope.
However, 33 years after Independence, all hope has evaporated. The
group of
revolutionaries that assumed power at Independence did not have the
time to
continue from where the settlers had left, in as far as economic
growth is
concerned. Instead they instituted a genocide that saw over 20 000
people
being murdered in cold blood in Matabeleland under
Gukurahundi.
Before the dust had barely settled, the revolutionaries were
at it again,
looting state resources and engaging in corrupt activities that
embarrassingly exposed the regime when the Willowgate scandal revealed their
unpalatable dealings and abuse of office for personal
enrichment.
What followed were disastrous economic policies that led to
famine in the
early 90s and peeked with the war veterans’ madness of 1999
when war
veterans sent the Zimdollar tumbling after claiming compensation
for taking
part in the war of liberation. Some of them claimed huge amounts
for
suffering as a result of war.
The chaotic and violent land reform
of early 2000 summed up a reign of
terror that flattered to deceive at take
off.
The land reform has since been an easy avenue to make money with
some
politicians grabbing more than five farms all in the name of land
redistribution, while the majority of the poor fight for small pieces of
land. Now it is indigenisation, a policy that is clearly crafted to shield
daylight looting of companies and industries that has led to the unpopular
Nieebgate.
Since 2000 to date, elections have been violent, which has
seen hundreds of
people perishing while others have been maimed for life as
diehards fight
for Zanu PF to remain in power.
Youth Agenda Trust
looks back at the achievement of this government with
despair and agony. It
has failed to honour its Independence promises. The
people of Zimbabwe today
remain one of the poorest under the sun, living on
less than US$2 a day,
despite the fact that the country is sitting on vast
mineral resources which
are being monopolised by a clique of greedy
politicians.
The tragedy
of our country is that those who were our liberators have turned
into our
oppressors. It is unfortunate that when everyone expected to be
freed from
shackles of colonialism, it has turned out that what happened in
1980 was
merely the changing of hands. In fact, we continue to see our own
black
government trampling upon fellow poor black people’s rights with
impunity.
The people of Zimbabwe want the fair distribution of
resources and not
having them concentrated in the hands of a few
individuals.
The young people of Zimbabwe want jobs and the elderly want
decent pensions
for all the years that they have worked for this country.
The women of this
country have for long been yearning for bread to give to
their children, but
it has not been forthcoming.
The people of
Zimbabwe want freedom, they want to be given an opportunity to
choose a
government of their own choice and not to be beaten or killed for
simply
exercising their democratic right to vote. Youth Agenda wants to
remind the
government that one of the reasons why our heroes and heroines
went to war
was “One Man One Vote”.
As we celebrate Independence, we must not forget
that we have unfinished
business that those who perished during the
liberation struggle were
determined to deliver.
Their ideals were
dumped at Independence by those who took over power and
have never bothered
to revisit them. We make a clarion call to the youth of
Zimbabwe to demand
their Independence today! We cannot be oppressed anymore.
Our Time is Now!
Long live Zimbabwe!
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Opinion
President Robert
Mugabe struck the right note on Thursday when he instructed
police to arrest
perpetrators of political violence.
He also tasked Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri to fully brief
him over their
progress in rooting out violent elements in the society.
Mugabe’s key
remarks were made in a speech at the 33rd anniversary for
Independence held
at the National Sports stadium. They appeared to be
well-timed to calm the
nerves as Zimbabwe prepares for harmonised elections,
whose date is yet to
be decided.
The veteran politician, who has boasted of having degrees in
violence in the
past, earned plaudits when he denounced violence noting that
he and his
erstwhile enemy Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had ironed out
their
differences.
He called on their supporters to do the same in
order for Zimbabwe to hold
violence free elections.
While Mugabe’s
instruction for the police to deal with political thugs was
loud and clear,
it remains to be seen if it will be heeded by the partisan
officers who are
openly biased in favour of Zanu PF.
Under Chihuri, an avowed Zanu PF
supporter, police have allowed terror
groups linked with the party to
terrorise MDC supporters.
Some of these groups, like the Mbare- based
Chipangano, have operated with
impunity, restricting people’s right to
freedom of assembly.
Police have also not acted on thousands of reported
cases of political
violence over the years. Prominent among the suspects is
Joseph Mwale, a CIO
operative who stands accused of petrol-bombing MDC
activists Talent Mabika
and Tichaona Chiminya 13 years ago.
Despite
fervent calls for justice, police have not bothered to bring Mwale
to
account and he has been roaming around the country as a free man.
As we
head towards elections, Zimbabweans will be keen to see if police can
positively respond to Mugabe’s call for peace. Police also need to abandon a
campaign of harassing civil society organisations, especially those which
monitor the political environment in the country.
They should instead
partner the CSOs to ensure that peace prevails in the
country.
Quote
of the week
We are all Zimbabweans although we differ in ideologies. As
we go for
elections, go and vote your own way, no one should be forced to
vote for
anyone. The people will make their choices; they are now educated
and clever
to decide who they want,” President Robert Mugabe urging
Zimbabweans to vote
peacefully.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
April 21, 2013 in Editorial, Opinion
Zimbabwe
has a US$10 billion economy, while the global economy is pegged at
US$700
trillion; a speck of dust on a megalith. Economically, Zimbabwe lags
behind
most countries in sub-Saharan Africa including Mozambique. If
Zimbabwe puts
all its ducks in a row, it will overtake Mozambique’s gross
domestic product
(GDP) by 2015, that of Botswana by 2018, Zambia by 2022,
Tanzania by 2026
and that of Angola by 2040.
Report by Nevanji Madanhire
Zimbabwe
needn’t be where it is; it should be closer to Angola than
Mozambique,
GDP-wise. It is this realisation that should have sobered us as
we
celebrated 33 years of independence. More than at any other time, this
sad
fact must have awakened us to the reality that we should face forward
rather
than backward.
In one of his great books, Dambudzo Marechera describes a
scene in which a
dwarf approaches a giant and sneeringly tells the giant
that he was walking
on a big crutch. The giant proudly looks himself up and
down and tells the
dwarf that he wasn’t holding any crutch, upon which the
dwarf says, “Your
mind!”
Listening to radio in the run-up to the
Independence Day festivities, one
would have been amazed at how every speech
and how every announcer was
encouraging listeners to look backward. Every
programme was about the war of
liberation, which ended all those three
decades ago. Old combatants were
dusted up and hauled before the mics to
extol the virtue of their courage.
Granted, the war is an important part of
our history, but it should not
continue to fetter our thinking.
Like
the giant encumbered by his mind, Zimbabwe is also shackled by this
giant
crutch — its history.
Africa has of late been described as the continent
of the future. The
Economist has said so, and so have other reputable
publications and
economists. It is projected that Africa will begin to grow
at breakneck
speed and in the near future could equal the Asian Tigers, if
not overtake
them. It has been projected that by 2048 Zimbabwe would have
overtaken
Singapore, Egypt and Greece in GDP but the projection is
conditional on a
change of outlook.
While other countries in the
region are looking forward and figuring out how
they can maximise on the
new-found optimism, Zimbabwe continues to pride
itself in the past, citing
its “historic land reform programme” and its
sovereignty.
The
possession of land should not be an end in itself. The land has to be
productive. More than 10 years after the redistribution of the land,
productivity still remains low and the country is importing food from
countries which it fed 15 years ago. Lots of land is lying fallow, yet the
land is the only sure asset that can turn round our economy. Instead of
harping on how we repossessed it, a forward-looking leadership should look
at how it can be used commercially to raise our GDP.
Many analysts
have said Zimbabwe is not mineral rich, it’s only mineral
diverse. It has a
bit of everything. There is justifiable excitement about
diamond fields in
Marange and goldfields which seem to be everywhere. Then
there is the
platinum reserves which political guesstimates say will last
400 years. But
the value of all those minerals cannot be compared to the
value land has the
potential to produce. Food shortages are going to hit the
world hard in the
next few years, that’s a scenario we should begin to
anticipate by investing
in the productive use of the land. Minerals get
exhausted with time, indeed,
analysts are beginning to see beyond the
diamonds, which they say will all
have been dug up in the next few years.
Alternatives to platinum are already
being invented around the world, so our
400-year reserves might soon come to
nought.
Besides optimal utilisation of the land, what other
future-oriented issues
should we have begun to interrogate as we celebrated
our 33rd anniversary?
In their book, The Fastest Billion, Charles
Robertson and others, have
looked at the drivers of Africa’s growth. The
most important thing they and
others interested in Africa have seen is that
the continent is becoming more
democratic. All countries which are making
great leaps forward are enjoying
democratic governance. Zimbabwe is hampered
by its democratic deficit.
Democracy ensures that a country has among other
things, better government
finances and better fiscal policies.
In
Zimbabwe we have seen the lack of transparency characterising diamond
revenue and other sources of income. This lack of openness is born out of an
undemocratic governmental system which doesn’t open itself up to public
scrutiny. The country’s fiscal policies are almost non-existent due to the
lack of a national currency.
What ought to be exercising our minds at
the moment is how we can
re-establish our national currency, but this will
begin only with
accountability as far as the exploitation of our national
resources are
concerned.
Tonnes upon tonnes of our gold are smuggled
out of the country every year
and the finger points at corruption in high
places as the main driver of
this illicit trade in the precious mineral. No
one really knows what is
happening at the diamond mines. What is visible is
the increase in the
number of the newly rich. Good governance will ensure
all holes are plugged
and our mineral wealth, though very finite, leads our
economic growth. It
will also weed out corruption.
In the information
age we live in, surely the concept of sovereignty has
been redefined. It’s
really no longer about borders and isolation. This is
shown by how the major
drivers of economic growth in Africa have been
services more than minerals
and farming combined. Telecoms have been the
major driver, so have been
banking services.
But all these drivers thrive in an environment that
makes doing business
easy. Zimbabwe needs foreign direct investment but this
will not come in an
environment of the uncertainty created by bad or unclear
investment
policies.
Zimbabwe is generally a young population, this
demographic fact can be used
fruitfully to develop the country. Instead of
using our youths to kill each
other at political bases, we better redirect
their energy towards national
development. Education becomes a crucial
factor. A significant drop has been
recorded in the country’s literacy
levels. This has to be corrected as
quickly as possible so the youth’s
energy can be harnessed for development.
In less than 20 years, Zimbabwe
will celebrate its golden jubilee; there
will be precious little to show for
it as each new year sees us look further
into the mists of the past. Each
Independence Day takes us back to a
romanticised past rather than to the
mountain where the sun should rise.
