Nothing to lose.
I have just been into the largest wholesaler in
Bulawayo. We are quite large
buyers and the staff greeted me cheerfully. Then
I collected a trolley and
started to walk through the company premises - I
came out in a state of
shock. Whole rows of shelving were absolutely empty -
to the roof. There was
no soap powder, no bath soaps, no cooking oil, no
fats, no sugar and no
maize meal, no flour and no rice, no milk products of
any kind and no
children's foods.
We walked out empty handed and I
said to the floor manager that I was
shocked - he simply nodded his head and
said, "what can we do?" Frankly, I
find this situation very scary.
We
need 36 000 tonnes of basic food imports a week, these will cost about
US$20
million. One of my friends sat in a fuel queue yesterday for 13 hours
to get
a tank of petrol. Most garages have queues outside their premises -
even if
they have no fuel. It has never been so bad as now. To top this
serious
situation we have started to experience load shedding by the State
controlled
electricity utility.
When we had an economy to speak of, we used about
5,5 million liters of
petroleum fuels a day - I would guess that today we use
about 3 million
liters. Even that will cost about US$700 000 a day - or
nearly US$5 million
a week - so just for the basics we need US$25 million a
week. In fact we
earn about that from our exports each week but that leaves
no margin for
anything else.
Yesterday I saw the new Chinese fighter
jets fly over - we have just spent
US$400 million on these plus some Mig
23's, attack helicopters and military
vehicles. Most of it from China. We
have also just purchased two Chinese
passenger jets for regional routes to
augment the three remaining aircraft
still flying for Air
Zimbabwe.
These ill-advised purchases have flattened our foreign exchange
resources,
in fact I hear that we have sold 25 tonnes of gold forward (US$500
million)
and we have also sold our tobacco production forward. The main
problem with
these transactions is that we no longer can produce 25 tonnes of
gold in a
year and we have produced a very small and inferior tobacco
crop.
Last year Gideon Gono was the local hero when he succeeded in
herding all
local foreign exchange resources into the coffers of the Reserve
Bank but in
doing so he has effectively spelled the death of the export
industries that
fed the system. His hope of harnessing the US$75 million a
month that comes
back to local families from Zimbabweans working abroad has
flopped totally -
after handling a mere US$45 million in the past year,
receipts are now
virtually zero.
The election results and the
aftermath have not helped - we remain
completely isolated, people have no
faith in the future, capital flight is
accelerating and the parallel market
has taken off into the stratosphere.
The fact that the Reserve Bank was going
to devalue by nearly 100 per cent
was leaked last week and there is a sudden
frosty silence in that quarter.
The first month of sales on the tobacco
floors - always an important period
in Zimbabwe, has yielded prices in
Zimbabwe dollars below last years. This
simply puts paid to any hopes of a
tobacco led recovery this year, or next.
The reaction of President Mugabe
to these shocking facts was to hold a
"Silver Jubilee" celebration, which
costs billions. Undertake a spending
spree for the air force in a country
where we have no external or internal
threats and a vague promise by a muted
Gono that a "recovery plan" is being
prepared. Oh yes - they fired the poor
GM of the Grain Marketing Board and
kept that idiot Made (Minister of
Agriculture) in an enlarged Cabinet.
We have had confirmation from
official sources that the maize crop now being
reaped is a disaster - our
estimate of about 400 000 tonnes seems about
right. There is a flurry of
activity going on to try and get a wheat crop
into the ground before the 15th
of May but it is unlikely they will get more
than the 50 000 tonnes or so
they grew last year. So we are now faced with a
severe famine and no foreign
resources with which to buy the food and other
products we need. In fact, if
we had the resources we could hardly move this
volume given the parlous state
of our infrastructure.
Official UN sources estimate that we have nearly 6
million people who need
food aid - donors are feeding about 1 million people
at present - mainly
children. This leaves 5 million people at risk of
starvation out of a
population of 11 million. The rest of us will simply have
to fend for
ourselves - faced with rising prices, shortages and other
problems. It seems
to me that South Africa will have to step in and pick up
the pieces, as it
is very largely responsible for this sorry state of
affairs.
The big question is what do we do about this situation. The one
thing that
sticks out a mile is that Zanu has no solutions and we simply
cannot let
things stand as they are. The MDC has put its own plans into
action and at
this stage they are saying: -
1. The MDC does not accept
the results of the election.
2. The MDC now accepts that neither
democracy nor the legal system here
offer any way forward at
present.
3. The MDC demands the resignation of the new government and the
negotiation
of an interim administration to begin to resolve the immediate
crisis
situation we are in.
4. The MDC demands the convening of a
constitutional conference involving
all civic groups to draft a new
constitution for the country with fresh
elections to be held under the new
constitution and under the supervision of
the international
community.
To back up these demands a broad coalition of civic groups is
being formed
and will be charged with taking mass action against the new
government. The
MDC will employ all forms of political action required to
support the
efforts by civil society to rescue the country from the grip of a
small,
self-seeking elite that simply refuses to allow the people to select
the
government of their choice. It will call on the armed forces to support
this
initiative in the broader interests of the country and its
people.
The Ministry of Defense has stated that it will "crush" any mass
action
launched by the opposition or civic society. On Monday last week
thousands
took to the streets in Bulawayo after a football match on
Independence Day -
it took the Police and the Army 7 hours to stop the
rioting. To local
observers the policemen involved had little heart for the
activity they were
involved in - next time it will be worse.
Eddie
Cross
Bulawayo, 26th April 2005
New Zealand Herald
Mugabe orders wildlife reserves to kill
animals
27.04.05
by Basildon Peta
JOHANNESBURG - Fresh from his disputed victory in Zimbabwe's
parliamentary
elections, President Robert Mugabe has turned his sights on
the country's
wildlife reserves in a bid to feed thousands of famished
villagers.
Zimbabwe's National Parks have been ordered to work
with rural
district councils to begin the wholesale slaughter of big game.
Parks
rangers said they had already shoot 10 elephants in the last week and
their
meat was barbecued at festivities to mark Zimbabwe's 25 years of
independence.
The 10 elephants were killed by National Park
rangers. Four of the
giant animals were reportedly shot in full view of
tourists near Zimbabwe's
Lake Kariba, the largest man made lake in Africa
and a major haven for
wildlife.
Five years after ordering the
confiscation of white-owned farms, the
Mugabe regime has turned the country
once dubbed the breadbasket of Africa,
into a famished land with an
estimated four million rural poor suffering
from food
shortages.
The directive is a major blow to efforts by
conservationists to
rehabilitate the wildlife sector which was devastated
after Mr Mugabe
ordered his supporters to invade and confiscate white-owned
farms in 2000.
The chaotic farm invasions saw party militants
storming into
conservation areas - both private and state-owned - to
slaughter animals.
Unscrupulous South African hunters also joined in the
looting, paying hefty
kickbacks to politicians to go into conservation areas
and shoot lions,
leopards and cheetahs for trophies.
But
because of the general abundance of certain species of wildlife in
southern
Zimbabwe and the establishment of the trans-frontier park, which
allows
animals from Mozambique and South Africa's world famous Kruger
National Park
to move freely into and out of Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou (home of
the elephants)
National Park, there have been high hopes among
conservationists that
Zimbabwe's wildlife sector could be restored to its
former
glory.
Zimbabwean conservationists have been particularly scathing
about the
killings of the elephants for independence celebrations. Meat from
a giraffe
killed to feed rural peasants in the Binga area during the
independence
festivities disappeared. It is believed that police and army
officials
appropriated the meat for themselves and it never reached its
intended
beneficiaries.
Rural peasants in Zimbabwe have relied
on their own livestock in the
past three years of unprecedented famine,
induced by Mr Mugabe's chaotic
land seizures. Their plight had even worsened
since the government stopped
international donors from distributing food aid
so he could take charge of
the process himself and punish those who did not
support him.
National Parks officials say many of the peasants
living in areas
bordering National Parks have already been venturing into
these parks to
hunt and kill animals with snares. But they said the impact
of snare hunting
by the villagers was limited compared to what would happen
if armed National
Parks rangers were allowed to enter conservation areas to
kill for meat to
feed millions of hungry peasants.
"Killing of
animals for any reasons other than conservation can be
very disastrous,"
said one National Parks official, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
"The politicians think we have enough animals to
feed people without
wiping out different species. We as professionals don't
think so. We are
talking to them (the politicians) and we hope we will reach
consensus on
protecting our wildlife heritage."
Other
government officials said Mr Mugabe was so happy about his rural
constituency which ensured him a majority of seats in last month's
parliamentary elections and wanted to do everything to please the
peasants.
Mr Mugabe's party lost nearly all seats in urban areas,
strongholds of
the opposition, and won in rural areas where it had created
more
constituencies. He has even created a new ministry to specifically look
after the rural electorate.
Food ran out in Zimbabwe soon after
the election and the country has
experienced acute power and fuel shortages
over the past two weeks. Basic
commodities have disappeared from supermarket
shelves.
Mr Mugabe has promised to jail manufacturers whom he
accuses of
creating shortages to encourage people to revolt.
-
INDEPENDENT
BBC
Zimbabwe faces 'food catastrophe'
The opposition in
Zimbabwe says the country has all but run out of
maize - the staple
crop.
A Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Renson Gasela
accused
the government of failing to act while the country faced "a national
catastrophe".
Last year President Robert Mugabe accused the MDC
of exaggerating the
problem of food shortages, and turned down offers of
international aid.
There are also shortages of other basics like
toothpaste and
margarine.
Mr Gasela said Zimbabwe would harvest
only about 500,000 tonnes of
maize against a demand of 1.8m
tonnes.
Shortages
"Any honest government, having
misled the nation that there was more
than enough maize, even to the extent
of stopping donors, would apologise to
the nation for its omission or
commission," he said.
Ahead of parliamentary elections in
March, President Mugabe did admit
that Zimbabwe would have to import grain
following drought and a poor
harvest.
The country is facing a
foreign exchange crisis, with production of
cash crops such as tobacco only
a fraction of what it was before the seizure
of white-owned
farms.
Critics blame food shortages on the land reform programme
which has
seen thousands of white farmers forced to leave their land in the
past five
years.
The government blames food shortages on
drought and economic sabotage
by Western countries, led by the UK, opposed
to land reform.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Minister in land row
Clemence Manyukwe
Senior Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-28
THE newly appointed Deputy
Minister of Science and Technology, Patrick
Zhuwawo, has allegedly occupied
part of Little England Farm in Mashonaland
West, displacing several settlers
who had been allowed to stay there,
courtesy of a High Court
order.
Impeccable sources close to the goings on at the farm told The Daily
Mirror
yesterday that the lawmaker for the newly created Manyame
constituency had
caused the displacement of the settlers to pave way for
himself.
"Little England Farm has a number of sub-plots, one of which Zhuwawo
has
recently taken and pushed out settlers on the part he now occupies," the
source said.
Because of persistent threats from unidentified people, the
sources said,
settlers have been moving off the property since last year
with the last
batch being kicked off allegedly at Zhuwawo's
behest.
However, the youthful politician immediately dismissed his
involvement in
the fiasco and instead implicated unnamed relatives.
The
new Member of Parliament countered: "I did not occupy that place. It
falls
under my constituency and at times I go there to hold meetings in
places
such as Ivhu Tatora. I have a farm somewhere and I don't need any
other
place. It is my relatives who were given part of that farm. It is my
brother's wife and children who occupied it."
In an earlier interview,
Zhuwawo's mother, Sabina Mugabe - President Robert
Mugabe's sister, and also
MP for Zvimba North - told The Daily Mirror that
the farm belonged to the
Mugabe family, before she began threatening to deal
with this
reporter.
"Nzvimbo iyoyo ndeyevanhu vekwaMugabe. Asi haudi kuti hama
dzavaMugabe
dzipiwe minda? (That land belongs to the Mugabe family. Don't
you want
(President) Mugabe's relatives to be allocated land?) If you write
that
story, I will come there and personally deal with you," Mugabe
said.
Soon after speaking to Mugabe, this reporter received a telephone call
from
someone claiming to be an officer within the ministry of lands advising
him
to stop writing about the Mugabe family and Little England
Farm.
"What is your interest in Little England? If you write the story, it
will be
the last story in your career. In fact, we know where you live," the
unidentified caller threatened.
Little England is said to have been
earmarked for State House employees,
according to a court document by former
Lands and Resettlement Minister John
Nkomo in a case in which he was seeking
the eviction of the settlers. The
matter is still to be heard.
When
Zhuwawo was made aware of his mother's threats, he asked for the phone
number this reporter had used to contact his mother, which after being told
he acknowledged as the correct one.
He then asked this reporter to hold
on while he spoke to his mother.
Although this reporter did not hear
Mugabe's voice, he could hear Zhuwawo
pleading with his mother not to
threaten journalists.
He then apologised for his mother's behaviour.
Zim Online
Army digs up ex-MP's farm in search of weapons of war
Thu
28 April 2005
CHIMANIMANI - Zimbabwe army soldiers and the police
have for the last
three days scoured jailed popular opposition member, Roy
Bennett's farm,
digging up large swathes of land in search of arms of war
they claim are
hidden on the farm, ZimOnline has learnt.
The
security forces have already arrested one of Bennett's workers,
Rueben
Mangiza, who is employed as a security guard and are believed to be
planning
to arrest more workers at the farm, known as Charleswood Estate,
over the
suspected weapons cache.
An operations manager at the farm, James
Mukwanyayi, yesterday told
ZimOnline that the security forces have since
Monday used heavy duty earth
moving equipment to excavate large areas on the
farm saying they had
information that there were weapons cached at the
farm.
He said: "They are looking for arms of war at Charleswood but
there is
nothing there . . . the excavations have been going on for the past
three
days and they are using graders and caterpillars. Both members of the
police
and the army are doing the excavation."
Mukwanyai said the security forces might have been misled into
believing
there were weapons cached at Charleswood by a disgruntled former
worker
fired by Bennett for allegedly stealing a car from the farmer.
It
was not possible to immediately get an explanation from defence or
police
headquarters in Harare on what might have led them to suspect there
were
weapons hidden at Bennett's farm.
Bennett's wife, Heather, was also
not reachable on her phone
yesterday. Bennett's lawyer, Trust Mhanda,
yesterday said he had been
informed of the arrest of Mangiza and the
presence of security forces at
Charleswood but said he was still to go to
the farm to ascertain what was
taking place.
"I am still to go
there but I have been informed that the police have
actually arrested Rueben
Mangiza a former security guard for Bennett. I will
have to go there as I am
told the police are looking for more people,"
Mhanda said.
White and popular among both black and white Zimbabweans, Bennett is a
former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party Member of
Parliament for Chimanimani constituency under which his Charleswood Estate
falls.
He was jailed last year after ruling ZANU PF party
parliamentarians
used their majority in the House to vote for his
imprisonment for shoving
down Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa during
debate.
Bennett was unable to contest last month's parliamentary
election and
his wife who stood in his place lost to ZANU PF's Samuel
Undenge.
Chimanimani is among 16 constituencies whose results the
MDC is
challenging in court in what the opposition party says is an exercise
to
demonstrate how Mugabe and ZANU PF stole the March 31
ballot.
The government has in the last three years ignored several
High Court
orders not to expropriate Charleswood under its chaotic land
reforms instead
sending the army and its violent youth militia to occupy the
farm on several
occasions in a bid to displace Bennett.
Mugabe
last year openly called on ZANU PF supporters in Chimanimani to
seize
Charleswood, which is one of the most successful agro-firms in the
country.
- ZimOnline
Zim Online
Rights activist urges US to tighten screws on Mugabe
Thur
28 April 2005
HARARE - A Zimbabwean human rights activist has called on the
United
States (US) to sever all economic and political ties with President
Robert
Mugabe's administration as punishment for its appalling human rights
record.
In a letter to the US State Department, Ralph Black, of the
Association of Zimbabweans Based Abroad (AZBA) pressure group, said targeted
sanctions imposed by Washington and Brussels against Mugabe and his top
officials three years ago were not enough saying continued trade between
American and European companies and Zimbabwe firms was helping sustain the
Harare government.
"Despite American rhetoric and megaphone
condemnations of (President
Robert) Mugabe, American companies continue to
trade with the prescribed
outpost of tyranny. For the impoverished
Zimbabweans, this apparent
duplicity is tantamount to betrayal and is viewed
as aiding and abetting
Mugabe's murderous agenda," said Black.
The US and European Union imposed targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his
top
lieutenants after the disputed 2002 presidential election which the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change says was rigged in Mugabe's
favour. But the targeted sanctions appear to have failed to nudge Mugabe
towards the democratic path.
The US has also labelled Zimbabwe
"an outpost of tyranny", together
with other countries like Burma, Cuba and
North Korea.
Reacting to the call for more sanctions against
Harare, ruling ZANU PF
party secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa,
who is also State
Security Minister, rebuked Black's assertions that tougher
measures were
needed to force Zimbabwe into democratic reform.
"This guy is aligned to the MDC and is simply parroting what the MDC
has
already told its Western masters to do - to further impoverish ordinary
Zimbabweans through unjustified sanctions.
"Zimbabwe is a
democratic country and recent elections have vindicated
us. We are a country
that shines as a beacon of democracy, by any
standards," said
Mutasa.
Washington this week indicated it was already working on a
new and
wider sanctions regime against Mugabe and his lieutenants but did
not give
details of the new measures. - ZimOnline
'Madhuku to Be Charged for Peddling Falsehoods'
The Herald
(Harare)
April 27, 2005
Posted to the web April 27,
2005
Harare
POLICE will soon be charging National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) chairman
Dr Lovemore Madhuku with spreading
falsehoods.
Police chief spokesman Assistant Commissioner Wayne
Bvudzijena said the
delay in charging Dr Madhuku had come about because a
number of issues were
still being attended to by the police at the
moment.
The NCA last month produced a report in which the civic group
alleged that
widespread violence was being perpetrated by the security
forces against
opposition political parties in the run-up to the recent
parliamentary
polls.
The report for the month of February - which was
entitled "Consolidated
Election Climate No 1" - was distributed to the
foreign Press and diplomatic
missions.
"Madhuku is certainly going to
be charged with (spreading) falsehoods. Once
a crime has been committed,
accused person no longer has control over that
incident. It's up to us who
are investigating the case," said Asst Comm
Bvudzijena.
In his
report, Dr Madhuku made unsubstantiated claims that uniformed forces
had
embarked on a reign of terror by restricting freedom of movement in two
constituencies, committing sexual assaults in about seven more and making
unlawful arrests in 24 others.
The report also accused the uniformed
forces of arbitrarily closing schools
and further alleged that the
Government was operating bases for military
groups throughout the
country.
Although Dr Madhuku was given March 24 as the deadline by which
to prove the
claims contained in the NCA report, he failed to do so,
resulting in police
handing over the case to the Law and Order Section of
the Criminal
Investigation Department.
Zim Online
Analysts see no change of heart by IMF
Thur 28 April
2005
HARARE - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) visits Zimbabwe next
week
for consultations but analysts yesterday said President Robert Mugabe
should
expect no change of heart from the Bretton Woods institution which
cut
financial support to Harare six years ago.
The May 3 visit,
which falls under the IMF's article IV arrangement
providing for regular
consultation between the institution and member
countries, will last two
weeks during which fund officials will hold talks
with government,
opposition, business and labour representatives.
"The government's
policies are unacceptable to the IMF, the (state
economic) reforms are not
radical and far-reaching so government should not
accept any change of heart
from there," said University of Zimbabwe business
studies professor Tony
Hawkins.
Zimbabwe's disputed election last month only helped make
it even more
difficult for the IMF to its approach towards Harare, according
to Hawkins.
Zimbabwe plunged into its worst ever economic crisis
after the IMF
withdrew balance-of-payments support in 1999. A foreign
currency crisis that
ensued after the multilateral institution pulled out
has led to acute
shortages of fuel, food, electricity and essential drugs
because there is no
hard cash to pay foreign suppliers.
Chaotic
and often violent government land reforms also compounded
Zimbabwe's
economic crisis after disrupting the mainstay agricultural
sector. Analysts
say only resumption of IMF aid, which will unlock billions
of aid and
support from other donors who take a cue from the institution,
will help
bring Zimbabwe's once vibrant economy back to its feet. -
ZimOnline
SABC
Zimbabwe opposition urges Mugabe to appeal for
food
April 27, 2005, 18:45
Zimbabwe's main opposition
party said today that the country had
virtually run out of the staple maize
grain and urged President Robert
Mugabe's government to launch an appeal for
foreign donor aid.
Aid agencies say around 4 million people, a
third of the population,
will need food aid this year after a poor harvest
due to drought and
inadequate support to peasants who largely benefited from
the government's
controversial land reforms. Renson Gasela, shadow
agriculture minister for
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the
party estimated maize
output from the just ended cropping season at about
500 000 tonnes against
domestic requirements of 1.8 million
tonnes.
No maize
Gasela told a news conference that the
country did not have adequate
stocks to see it through to the next harvest
and that some districts in
drought-prone areas were already out of food. "In
simple terms the country
has run out of maize and this is a fact," Gasela
added, bemoaning what he
called failure by the government to quickly
approach international donors.
"A lead time of three months is required to
land maize in the country if
such maize comes from South America, for
example. From South Africa the lead
time is two months," Gasela said, adding
that millions of Zimbabweans could
not wait that long.
Mugabe
has repeatedly denied that his policy of seizing large tracts
of white-owned
farms to redistribute to blacks has resulted in food
shortages.
Critics say it has destroyed commercial incentives for farming and
that
those resettled on the land have not received the support needed to
make
their plots viable. Government officials could not be reached for
comment on
the MDC's assessment of the maize situation. - Reuters
Lawyers Network to Engage Government
Media Institute of Southern
Africa (Windhoek)
PRESS RELEASE
April 27, 2005
Posted to the web
April 27, 2005
Zimbabwe media lawyers, who met under the auspices of
the Media Lawyers
Network in Vumba from April 21-23, 2005, in Manicaland
Province, resolved to
engage the government as part of efforts towards the
repealing of repressive
media laws that have seen the closure of four
privately-owned newspapers and
the harassment and arrests of journalists and
media workers.
In a communiqué issued on April 23, 2005 at the end of a
two-day MLN annual
general conference organised by MISA-Zimbabwe, the
lawyers stressed that
they would not tire in pressing the government to
repeal or amend sections
of the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act, (AIPPA),
Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) and Public Order and
Security Act (POSA).
The lawyers noted that the repressive media and
freedom of expression
environment in Zimbabwe, has resulted in many social,
economic and political
problems for citizens of Zimbabwe. It was also noted
that the conduct of
government business in secrecy has contributed to food
shortages and has
also affected such national programme as combating the
HIV-AIDS pandemic.
The repression the media faces in Zimbabwe, as a result
of undemocratic
laws, has meant that challenges facing society are not
finding space for
discussion as journalists exercise self censorship and
newspapers are shut
down. Media lawyers resolved that they would use all the
available laws at
their disposal in assisting the media to access
information held by public
bodies such as the National Aids Council and
National Social Security
Authority to ensure transparency and accountability
on their operations and
use of public funds.
Following, is the full
text of the communiqué and resolutions of the annual
general conference
attended by a total of 21 lawyers, journalists and human
rights
activists.
*************
We, the Media Lawyers
Network,
Reflecting on the development of the right to freedom of
expression and
media freedom in Zimbabwe in the pre- and post independence
era.
Recalling the suppression of freedom of expression and the media
during the
colonial era.
Reiterating that freedom of expression is an
inalienable right, which is at
the core of the ascent and development of
humanity.
Observing that there is in existence obnoxious and draconian
pieces of
legislations that suppress the right to freedom of expression and
freedom of
the media, which are not likely to change in the near
future.
Further observing with increasing concern as the government of
Zimbabwe
clamps down on journalists, newspapers and other human rights
defenders, and
as documented by the official African Commission for Human
and Peoples'
Rights fact finding mission report on the human rights
situation in
Zimbabwe.
Lamenting the decline in the quality of life,
the continuing misgovernance
and the breakdown in the justice delivery
system in Zimbabwe as a result
thereof.
Re-affirming the need to
speedily deal with infringements of the freedom of
expression by the
judiciary who are custodians of the Bill of Rights
Now therefore resolve
the following:
1.. To actively engage government at all practical levels
on the following
issues; · The opening of the airwaves
· The
re-opening of closed newspapers
· The promotion of community radio
stations by licensing potential community
broadcasters because of their
potential impact at community level
2.. To continue to lobby at both the
local and international level on the
government's attitudes on regional and
international human rights
instruments
3.. To engage the judiciary
and in particular the Constitutional Court to
exercise its mandate of
administering justice and upholding the
Constitution.
4.. To engage
and lobby parliamentarians to amend or repeal current
repressive laws such
as AIPPA, POSA and BSA which militate against media
freedom.
5.. In
addition, parliamentarians should be conscientised on the adverse
effects of
the proposed criminal code on the exercise of the right to
freedom of
expression
6.. To use all necessary lawful means to obtain /access
information from
public bodies such as NAC and NSSA on their operations and
use of public
funds.
7.. To lobby the Minister of Information and
parliamentarians for the
creation of an independent media regulating
body
8.. To continue litigating and flood the Constitutional Court with
cases,
notwithstanding that the cases may be unfavourably decided upon in
order, to
keep a historical record of the court's shortcomings.
New Zimbabwe
Searching for water in Harare
This is an
eye-witness account by a Harare resident Jack Mutume on the
worsening water
crisis in
Harare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last
updated: 04/28/2005 01:33:53
HARARE has run dry.
"Water rallies", as they
are now dubbed in Tafara and Mabvuku, continue
unabated in many parts of the
Zimbabwe's capital where tap water supplies
have become erratic.
Gone
are the days when the city council would deploy water bowsers to
affected
areas and serve residents with water whenever there was a crisis.
The
crisis is worsening as the people flock to fetch contaminated water from
streams, sink wells, discover "natiral water springs" and vandalise some
pipelines to survive. The increasing crowds are fast becoming a nasty
scenario, where as they jostle for the liquid, people engage in fist
fights.
The local authourity run by a commission comprising President
Robert
Mugabe's appointees remains mum on the water issue except hammering
on the
"burst pipes" excuse and not indicating when and how the problems
would be
solved.
The worsening crisis has been festering for more
than six years when the
Zanu-PF-led council was fired by Mugabe's government
for failing to deliver.
The government then appointed a commission to run
the city. The commission
was replaced by the Movement for Democratic
Change-led council elected in
June 2000.
The MDC council resigned
after its executive mayor, Elias Mudzuri was
expelled for daring to remove
ghost workers among other anomalies, from
council records. The ghost
workers, all of whom are Zanu-PF supporters
continue to be paid regularly by
the council. Prior to 2000 Mudzuri was
employed by the council as an
engineer.
As the problem escalates, residents who own boreholes are being
compelled to
sell water to poor neighbours.
The chairman of the
Combined Harare Residents Association, Mike Davies said
his association
received numerous complaints but there was nothing the
organisation could
do.
The water crisis is worsening in many suburbs now because of the
shortage of
water treatment chemicals obtainable only with foreign currency
which is in
short supply in the country.
Some public bars in Harare
which are the municipality's main source of
income are open with the toilets
inside closed for lack of water.
Asked how patrons were relieving
themselves a barman said: "Just go round
that corner and see how you can
help yourself."
Investors Pull Out of IDBZ
The Herald (Harare)
April 27,
2005
Posted to the web April 27, 2005
Harare
THE opening of
Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) could hit
a snag amid
revelations that some of the investors have pulled out of the
"yet-to-be-opened" banking institution.
Sources close to the
proceedings told Herald Business this week that the
bank could fail to take
off due to capital constraints after it failed to
attract "meaningful"
investors.
Initially the bank was expected to open mid-March capitalised
to a tune of
$1 trillion, but failed to do so after some investors pulled
out," said
sources who asked not to be named.
"Presently, we are
working flat out to attract investors who are interested
in acquiring the
remaining 30 percent stake on offer."
The Government and the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe will be major institutional
investors holding the remaining 70
percent stake.
Among the investors who have pulled out from the
much-waited bank, according
to sources, include Zimre Holdings, one of the
major shareholders in the
Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB), which is being
transformed into a new bank.
Although the bank would be a transformation
of the ZDB, it would replicate
some of the former's functions such as
providing funds for
developinginfrastructure in the various sectors of the
economy.
"The latest developments have resulted in the bank being heavily
undercapitalised and could not open as scheduled," sources said.
When
contacted for comment, the Minister of Finance, Dr Herbert Murerwa,
could
neither confirm nor deny, but insisted that they were working to solve
few
problems which have delayed the opening of the bank.
"I cannot comment
but I will come to you when we have finalised some issues
which have delayed
the opening of the institution. But the bank will open to
the public very
soon," said Dr Murerwa.
However, the sources said the bank has already
started financing a number of
projects though it has not officially
opened.
"So far we have financed several projects to the tune of more
than $400
billion and are already underway," the sources
indicated.
Last year the Government announced its intention to transform
ZDB into a
more formidable institution, which would provide financial
assistance for
infrastructural development.
Unlike ZDB, whose primary
objective is to provide funds to the distressed
companies, the transformed
institution would be much wider in terms of
entailing the funding of key
national projects among them roads, electricity
infrastructure and
dams.
In light of the land reform programme, the bank would be expected
to channel
resources to the new farming communities where infrastructure is
in poor
state.
In particular, there is an urgent need for the new
dams and roads to create
an efficient transport network among the new
farmers and their potential
markets.
Infrastuctural Development Bank
is expected to offer wider financial
services through subsidiaries. If fully
operational, it would comprise
divisions namely ZDB Ventures Private
Limited, ADB Development Bank,
Financial Services and the institute of
Development Fund Trust.
The Scotsman
Wed 27 Apr 2005
10:11am
(UK)
Zimbabwean Opposition Supporters Victimised after Election, Says
Mdc
"PA"
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF
party has intensified
acts of post-election violence and intimidation
against opposition
supporters, according to the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the party said
opposition supporters and
polling agents in rural areas have been the
victims of arson and looting,
chased from their homes and some forced to
relocate.
"ZANU-PF acts of retribution in the rural areas are only
being carried out
because the party knows it lost the rural vote, hence the
need to cow down
the electorate and instil fear in the people ahead of
future elections," the
MDC said in its statement.
ZANU-PF claimed 78
of the 120 elected seats in the March 31 parliamentary
elections. The MDC
won 41 and President Robert Mugabe nominates 30 others,
which guarantees him
the two-thirds majority required to amend the
constitution at
will.
The ruling party has not responded to the latest MDC allegations.
However,
police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said they planned to bring
charges against
human rights campaigner Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the
National
Constitutional Assembly, a pro-reform umbrella group of
lobbyists.
Bvudzijena said Maduku, a university law professor, will be
charged under
laws making it illegal to make false statements prejudicial to
the state
because he refused to give police the names of witnesses quoted in
a report
he distributed saying journalists and embassies would become
targets of
violence during the election.
The report also alleged
uniformed forces and youth militia terrorised rural
constituencies, making
unlawful arrests and perpetrating sexual assaults.
The MDC alleges it won
up to 94 of the elected constituencies but was
deprived of victory by
rigging. It has lodged 14 petitions against results
with Zimbabwe's high
courts, which it says are a "token" protest after
prolonged legal appeals
failed to dislodge any ruling party legislators in
the wake of the last June
2000 elections.
New Zimbabwe
CHIDO MAKUNIKE: WORD ON THE STREET
Overcoming Zimbabwe's 'Messiah Complex'
Last updated: 04/27/2005
18:36:57
MANY Zimbabweans are desperate for change from the ruinous
path that
the country has been on under the long ruler ship of Robert
Mugabe. Much of
the frustration that the change did not come about at the
recent general
election is focused on the leader of the main opposition MDC
party, Morgan
Tsvangirai.
It is natural that passionate,
disappointed party members as well as
sympathizers call for the scalp of the
head of the losing party's leader. It
is not uncommon for many such leaders
under pressure to be forced to resign.
In Zimbabwe the anger at Tsvangirai
may simply be part of this universal
reaction to disappointment, but I
believe there is an additional interesting
dimension that is a reflection of
where we are in our development as a
society.
That element is
Zimbabweans' desire for a "messiah." To succinctly
illustrate the sentiment,
I will quote Bob Marley in his classic protest
song, "Get up, stand up."
"Some people think, great god will come from the
sky, and take away
everything; leave everybody feel high." Many Zimbabweans
are similarly
waiting for some great leader to emerge among them to sort out
the terrible
mess. Hence the anger directed at Tsvangirai, every bit a mere
mortal as the
rest of us and one who has done more for his country than most
of us will
ever do. The anger is partly because more of us than ever before
are
disappointed to realize that he cannot be our single knight in shining
armour. Many had hoped he would swiftly depose Mugabe the Destroyer, but do
it with little danger or cost to the rest of us, miraculously making
everything all right after he has sent Mugabe packing. Many are not sure
exactly what they think Tsvangirai should be doing differently, but
nevertheless want the ease and convenience of thrusting the responsibility
of meeting our political challenges on one man.
It is beginning
to sink into an increasing number of Zimbabweans that
the struggle that
faces us may be a long one, and that it certainly will not
be easy. Those
who had hoped that it will be waged and won while we watch
from the relative
safety and comfort of nice homes, cars and offices in
Zimbabwe or from exile
without getting hurt, only emerging to cheer, now
realize that we may be
forced to play a more active part when we would
rather not, whether out of
lethargy or fear. We would like someone else to
do the dirtiest aspects of
cleaning up the mess Mugabe is leaving us.This
"messiah complex" of hoping
for easy, one-man solutions to complex
challenges applies in many other
aspects of life as well, not just politics.
When the national
soccer team loses consistently, coaches are blamed
and changed one after the
other. Few people are interested to also ask if
issues like psychological
and material motivation of the players could be
more of reasons for the poor
performance than who occupies the position of
the coach, as important as
that may be too.
Various fundamentalist religious sects have taken
hold in Zimbabwe in
recent years. One man, whom the followers relate to as a
virtual god in his
own right, effectively runs many of them. In many of
these sects it is
difficult to tell whether the entity that is being
worshipped is God, or
whether it is the all-powerful, "anointed"
pastor/preacher/bishop/"prophet."
Otherwise intelligent people who would
normally expect and demand
accountability at work, the golf club or
elsewhere are often very timid and
over-trusting of the often
larger-than-life head of the sect. It can be run
as a private fiefdom for
years as all sorts of things go wrong while the
flock cow-tow to the
unquestionable "shepherd." Often what forces some
members to say "enough is
enough" is sexual or financial scandal involving
the "anointed" leader, by
which time there is so much dissension and
disharmony the "messiah" can
never quite regain his credibility and the
organization is in
shambles.
On the economic front, the media in general in Zimbabwe
very much
treated Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono as a miracle worker who
could walk
on water when he was first appointed a year and a half ago. We
read his
lavishly, reverentially written profile many times, sometimes
accompanied by
a colourful portrait-type picture taking up more than half a
newspaper page!
Glowing editorials were written about his every guess or
prediction;
interviews were often slavish and completely un-edifying. He was
billed not
just as a dedicated professional (which he was and is) who might
help the
country deal with just a few of the symptoms of its many
self-inflicted
problems, but also as pretty much an economic messiah. No one
was much
interested when it was pointed out that however competent and
dedicated the
man was, it was inevitable that he would be constrained by the
un-enlightened political environment obtaining under the ruler ship of
Mugabe.
Many who should have known better, including Gono
himself, chose to
believe that where many others before him had come up
against that ultimate
political brick wall, he would somehow be able to
transcend it and achieve a
miraculous economic turn-around. Like any
believer in a fundamentalist
cause, they did not want to be confused with
facts! Any one pointing out the
issues of the country's declining
productivity in agriculture and all areas
of industry and commerce, its
terrible international reputation and so forth
as political impediments to
any abiding economic turnaround that had to be
dealt with first, was
dismissed as a "heathen" detractor of the "one true
faith," obviously sent
by the devil to lead us astray from the "messiah's"
efforts!
Alas, less than a year later, the poor hard-working Gono is crashing
against
the reality of all the political causes of Zimbabwe's economic mess.
My only
hope for poor Gono is that if and when his efforts come to naught
because of
the clue-less ruler ship we have, he will not be used as a
convenient
scapegoat by that vicious and cruel regime. Some of the media
hired guns who
followed orders to feature him in the most favourable,
unquestioning light
in TV and radio interviews, newspaper editorials and
even cartoons might
just as easily "turn around" and slaughter him when
given the word to do so,
should it be found politically expedient when the
"economic turnaround"
fails to materialize!
For both Zimbabwe as a society, as well as
for the individuals who
have the crown of "messiah" thrust upon them, there
are many pitfalls. The
society will have to learn that the kind of problems
we face are not
amenable to simply having a charismatic leader to lead us to
their solution,
as might be more the case in a guerilla war or a labour
protest for
instance. They are complicated issues to do with national and
international
political and economic structure that require thinking and
strategizing on a
broad scale, rather than by a "messiah" waving his magic
wand. For the
individual "anointed" with the unenviable but flattering title
of "messiah;"
whether in the religious, political, economic or sports
sphere, there can
only be a messy decline from that lofty position. As
ego-boosting as it may
be for a short while, for an ordinary person to
accept the unrealistic
mantle of "messiah" thrust on him by a desperate
public unwilling to play
its proper role in its own salvation; the end is
often quick, his good work
forgotten in the recrimination of him having
predictably failed to do the
impossible.
Zimbabweans, there is
no individual messiah who is going to emerge
from the sky to lead us to the
Promised Land. Charismatic, enlightened
leadership certainly has its role to
play in rallying people around a cause.
But a cause as important and
daunting as snatching a beautiful, ruined but
potentially great country out
of the hands of a ruthless, dim-witted clique
who have dragged it through
the mud will involve the deeper and greater
involvement of more of us than
many of us have been willing to face up to.
Perhaps that realization among
more Zimbabweans will have been one of the
positive long-term developments
to come out of all the reports and evidence
of the many structural ways that
the political process has been deeply
flawed in recent years. If that is one
of the outcomes of the last three
elections and the atmosphere that
accompanied them, then it can be counted
as Zimbabwe's welcome evolution out
of the messiah complex that has not only
been so unrealistic, but has failed
us so miserably.
The worse things get, the more fervently many of
us pray for a messiah
to relieve us of the scary burden and responsibility
of being the agents of
change. Yet more of us, collectively and
individually, will have to "get up,
stand up for our rights" rather than
waiting for some lone saviour out there
to bring change, freedom and
prosperity to Zimbabwe. We should spend more
time looking at ourselves in
the mirror than at blaming Tsvangirai and other
supposed "messiahs" for what
has not yet come about, but that we would like
"someone" to bring about.
Whom, if not you/me/us? - chidomakunike@yahoo.com
Further observations made by BBC Monitoring in the week commencing 18
April
2005, show continued but intermittent interference to the short
wave
broadcasts of Short Wave Radio Africa.
SW Radio Africa describes
itself as "the independent voice of Zimbabwe" and
began broadcasting via
short wave and the internet on 19 December 2001. On
11 March 2005, the SW
Radio Africa web site (http://www.swradioafrica.com)
reported
"jamming" on the 4880 kHz frequency forcing the SW Radio Africa to
use
an
alternative frequency. [ Jamming was first detected from Harare on March
7th.
by this observer. Ed.]
BBC Monitoring confirmed the deliberate
interference of 16 March 2005 and
periodic checks during March and April have
shown the continued use of
rotary type jammers against transmissions.
BBC
Monitoring observed what appears to be interference specifically
targeted at
both 15145 and 12145 kHz frequencies used by SW Radio Africa on
18, 19 and 20
April, although no jamming was audible on either 21 or
22
April.
Typical of the results observed by BBCM were those of the 18
April, the 1630
gmt English transmission from SW Radio Africa was jammed from
1630 until
1644 gmt and then again from 1659 to 1714 gmt on 15145 kHz. On
12145 kHz
jamming was observed from 1645 until 1659 gmt and also 1715 until
1729. The
deliberate interference was again noted on 15145 kHz from 1729
until 1743
gmt and on 12145 kHz from 1744 to 1758 gmt.
On the same
day, no jamming was noted on the 11770 kHz frequency used by SW
Radio Africa
between 1830 and 1900 gmt. The 3230 kHz, 3300 kHz and 4880 kHz
frequencies
used for the early morning 0300 gmt transmission were checked
daily 18 - 22
April, however they were noted as clear of jamming or
inaudible at the time
of the observations.
In March 2005, Paris-based organization Reporters
Sans Frontières reported,
that the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ),
a Harare-based
independent watchdog, said the jamming of SW Radio Africa's
broadcasts is
being carried out from Thornhill airbase - located outside the
southwestern
town of Gweru, between Harare and Bulawayo - where the
government has a
transmission station.
According to the International
Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), a US federal
government entity, the equipment
being used for the jamming comes from
China, which has close trade links with
Zimbabwe, especially in
thetelecommunications
domain. Source: BBC
Monitoring research 26 Apr 05 (via
DXLD)
Sudan Tribune
Zimbabwe to send 34 troops for peacekeeping mission in
Sudan
Wednesday April 27th, 2005 06:30.
HARARE, April 26 (AFP) --
Zimbabwe is contributing 34 soldiers to a
10,000-strong UN peacekeeping
force being deployed to support a January
peace deal which ended 21 years of
civil war in southern Sudan, state
television said Tuesday.
Defence
Minister Sydney Sekeramayi told the officers to maintain
professionalism
while on duty there, the television report said, adding that
the troops
would be expected to leave soon.
Zimbabwe's defence forces have been involved
in other peacekeeping
operations in Angola, Mozambique and Rwanda. In 1998,
up to 10,000
Zimbabwean troops were deployed to help prop up government
troops against a
rebel uprising in the Democratic Republic of Congo in
1998.
The UN Security Council on March 24 approved the deployment of 10,000
UN
peacekeepers to shore up the January 9 peace agreement which put an end
to
the 21-year-old north-south civil war in Sudan, Africa's largest
country.
The war pitted the mainly Christian and animist south against the
Muslim-dominated central government based in the north and has left an
estimated 1.5 million people dead and four million displaced.
Business Report
Zimbabwe's gold slump dents hopes
April 27,
2005
Zimbabwe's gold output dropped 17.6 percent in the first quarter of
this
year amid continued economic uncertainty, denting hopes of record
production
this year, statistics from the mining chamber
showed.
Earlier this year industry officials said the country expected
gold output
to rise nearly two-thirds to a record 35 000kg. But Chamber of
Mines data
released yesterday showed output fell to 4 200kg between January
and March,
down from 5 100kg in the same period last year.
Zimbabwe's
total gold production last year reached 21 300kg, which saw
foreign currency
earnings surge to $273.8 million (R1.7 billion) from $152.3
million in
2003.
The government has forecast economic growth of between 3 percent
and 5
percent this year on the back of an expected recovery in the mining
sector,
which earns a third of the country's exports.
New Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe officials break ranks over food crisis
By
Staff Reporter
Last updated: 04/27/2005 09:44:49
ZIMBABWE'S new security
minister's claims that there were no food shortages
in Zimbabwe have been
contradicted by government officials.
Didymus Mutasa whose ministry has
taken over food distribution across the
country dismissed as "lies" reports
of critical food shortages, especially
in parts of Matabeleland South
province.
But confirmation of a cover-up came from an unlikely source on
Tuesday when
the state-run Chronicle newspaper nailed Mutasa's lie in a
headline story
announcing: Food shortages hit communities.
"The food
shortage is reported to be more serious in the drought prone
Matabeleland
South Province which has been experiencing perennial droughts
in recent
years. The hardest hit area are Beitbridge and Gwanda where there
are
reports of people sleeping in queues for several days at Grain Marketing
Board deports hoping to buy maize in vain," the Chronicle
reported.
The paper quoted Matabeleland North governor Thokozile Mathuthu
who also
blamed the food crisis on "a long dry spell".
"The grain
situation in the province has been made more critical because
most farmers
planted maize, which does not do well in the region. The
smaller grains
perform better but very few people planted these," said
Mathuthu told the
paper.
Midlands Governor Cephas Msipa also admitted to a food deficit in
the
province.
He said: "There is not much grain to talk about; we are
relying on maize
from the Grain Marketing Board, to a large
extent."
In an interview with SW Radio Africa last week, Mutasa accused
Archbishop
Pius Ncube, journalists and aid agencies of lying about food
shortages.
"If there were people starving some of them would be dead and
you would have
actually seen the number of people dying in Bulawayo
increasing," a defiant
Mutasa said.
Zimbabweans are reeling under a
serious shortage of basic commodities,
compounded by erratic power supplies.
Experts are partially blaming this on
dwindling foreign exchange reserves
and a poor harvest.
Long power outages have become the order of the day
in the capital Harare,
affecting business operations, while for those at
home, candles have
disappeared from shop shelves as demand outstrips
supply.
Zimbabwe imports electricity from South Africa and the Democratic
Republic
of Congo, and this week, the power utility blamed the shortages on
transmission faults.
The national staple cornmeal is snapped up
within hours if available, while
margarine and even toothpaste have run out
in shops. Milk and butter
supplies are erratic.
Queues for fuel are
common as some gas stations run dry for days in the
post-election period.
The shortage of fuel has partly been blamed for
non-collection of refuse in
Harare.
Water cuts running for days in parts of the country are becoming
normal.
Captains of industry and trade union leaders say the shortages were
anticipated.
The country's main labour movement blames government for
the economic woes.
"We have been harping on the fact that the idea by
government to pretend
that the situation was normal, was actually
treacherous. It's a war against
the people's minds, playing football with
people's brains," said Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary
general Wellington Chibebe.
Observers say shortages have partly been due
to controlled prices of basic
commodities which producers say are not
viable. Some goods are however
available on the black market where they
fetch much more.
The government has meanwhile promised to review
state-imposed price controls
on essential goods.
"In the next two
weeks, the shortage of goods will be behind us," said
colonel Christian
Katsande, secretary in the trade ministry in the
state-owned Sunday
Mail.
The government, aiming at a two digit inflation rate by year end
from the
current 123.7%, is battling to keep a lid on the prices of basic
commodities.
Pitpass.com
John Love
(1924 - 2005)
27/04/2005
Former F1 driver John Love has passed
away.
Six times South African F1 Champion in the 1960s, this Rhodesian star
had
originally shone in the European Formula Junior firmament back in
1961-62 as
a member of Ken Tyrrell's Cooper-Austin team.
An unfortunate
accident at Albi resulted in a very badly broken arm and
effectively
thwarted his chances of moving into full-time F1, but he came
close when he
was nominated as Phil Hill's replacement in the works Cooper
team for the
1964 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Nevertheless, he became a regular
contestant in the South African Grand Prix
and was leading the 1967 event at
Kyalami in his 2.7-liter Climax-engined
Cooper when a misfire prompted him
to make a precautionary stop for extra
fuel and he dropped back to finish
second behind the works Cooper-Maserati
of Pedro
Rodriguez.
Published: 27/04/2005
Copyright © Pitpass 2002 - 2005. All
rights reserved.
Zim Online
Bank governor steps on ex-army general's toes
Wed 27 April
2005
HARARE - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono
is headed
for a clash with powerful former army general, Solomon Mujuru,
after he
closed an asset management firm controlled by the general, sources
told
ZimOnline yesterday.
They said rumours last week
suggesting Gono had attempted to resign
from his post were in part sparked
by revelations that Mujuru - believed to
be second only to President Robert
Mugabe in power and influence in ZANU
PF - owned a controlling stake in
Mercantile Asset Management, shut down by
the RBZ last Thursday for
irregular trading.
Gono vehemently denied he had contemplated
stepping down vowing to
press on with his job and insisted he was not under
pressure from anyone to
quit as governor.
"Mujuru owns
Mercantile Asset Management firm through a nominee
company. Ray Kaukonde,
who was helped by Mujuru to become governor of
Mashonaland East province is
chairman of the asset firm," said a source in
the country's financial
services sector, who insisted on his name not being
mentioned.
He added: "We were not going to be
too surprised if Gono had resigned
because the firm he closed is strongly
linked to the powerful Zezuru
(tribal) clique in ZANU PF."
Neither Gono, Kaukonde nor Mujuru could be reached last night for
comment on
the matter.
Belonging together with Mugabe to the same Zezuru clan
of Zimbabwe's
majority Shona tribe, Mujuru is regarded as the kingmaker in
ZANU PF and the
government.
He quietly flexed his muscles last
year to catapult his wife Joyce, a
lightweight in ZANU PF and virtually
unknown outside its ranks, to the key
post of second vice-president of the
ruling party and the government and
position her ahead of the pack to
succeed Mugabe when he and his first
Vice-President, Joseph Msika, retire in
three years' time.
Mujuru, who ZANU PF veterans say was critical in
helping Mugabe to the
helm of the party in the 70s, is said to have blocked
former parliamentary
speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa from the vice-presidency as
punishment for
attempting in the 1990s to prevent the former general from
taking over giant
chrome concern, Zimasco.
Until the emergence
of Joyce with support from her husband, Mnangagwa,
for long regarded as
Mugabe's preferred choice of heir, was the leading
contender for the
vice-presidency.
A clash between Mujuru and Gono, who insiders say
has direct authority
from Mugabe to clean up the corruption-riddled
financial sector and help
turn around Zimbabwe's troubled economy, could
have far reaching effects for
both ZANU PF and the government.
According to RBZ insiders, Gono is adamant Mujuru's asset firm must
remain
shut down and its top officials prosecuted after a probe he ordered
revealed
the firm was conducting banking business in violation of the Asset
Management Act (Chapter 24:26).
The firm was also
unprocedurally using depositors' money to fund fuel
purchases with most of
the firm's income generated through interest charged
on loans to fuel
importers.
As at December 31, 2004, interest paid on fuel loans
constituted 95
percent of total income of $2.2 billion while fees accruing
as a result of
core asset management business accounted for a mere one
percent. The four
percent was attributed to "other" income.
In
addition, a review of the firm's asset management portfolio
revealed it did
not separate clients' assets from its own properties as
required under
regulations.
The RBZ investigation also showed that accounting was
being done
manually, rendering the books easy to manipulate. Resignations of
directors
were also not communicated to the central bank while there was no
board or
management committee to supervise the operations of the firm as is
required
under new regulations and guidelines governing asset management
firms.
For example, a meeting called by the RBZ on 20 April 2005
with the
board of directors failed to materialise as no one from the firm
pitched up.
The board had also never met since the firm was granted
an operating
licence in July 2004 while the executive management team only
met four times
since licensing, with the last meeting of the committee being
held in
October 2004.
Mujuru's firm is the fourth asset
management firm to be closed in less
than a year. Others are Sunshine Asset
Management, First Factoring and GP2
Asset Management Company. -
ZimOnline
The Herald
No extension in sight as RBZ facility nears
expiry
Business Reporter
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Productive
Sector Facility (PSF), which
benefited nine major sectors, expires on June
30 this year and no mention
has been made that the facility would be
extended.
There has been wide speculation and misleading media reports
that the
central bank would roll over the PSF after its expiry on June
2005.
A total of $2,47 trillion of the PSF was disbursed during the
period from 1
January to 31 December 2004 of which $880 billion was repaid
leaving an
outstanding balance of $1,59 trillion as at 31 December
2004.
Sectors that benefited include agriculture $1,05 trillion,
manufacturing
$892 billion, mining $320 billion, transport $79,3 billion,
tourism $69,2
billion, construction $23,8 billion, distribution $15 billion,
communication
$12 billion and health $3,4 billion.
In his fourth
quarter monetary policy statement presentation, the Reserve
Bank Governor,
Dr Gedion Gono, did not say what would happen once the PSF
expires.
All beneficiaries of PSF funds are expected to have fully
repaid their
borrowing by 30 June 2005.
"It is critical that
producers prime their cash flows ahead of this
deadline, so as to avoid
working capital crunches come 30 June 2005.
"Disbursing banks should give
their customers prudent advice as under the
facility arrangement, the
Reserve Bank will recover any outstanding amounts
from the banks concerned.
Up to the expiration date, all PFS loans will
continue to attract a
concessional interest rate of 50 percent per annum,"
said Dr
Gono.
According to RBZ, successful dis-inflation requires that attentive
focus be
placed at both demand-management policies as well as supply side
policies
among other critical policy levers.
It was against this
perspective that monetary authorities introduced the PSF
meant to benefit
the productive sector.
Dr Gono said the potential inflationary effects of
these facilities was
forestalled by the fact that during the year total
disbursements were more
than offset by liquidity withdrawals through
statutory reserve payments.
The Reserve Bank has maintained a tight
monetary stance through adept
liquidity management under the open market
operations (OMO) functions.
The disbursements induced a positive impact
on capacity utilisation, with
average capacity increasing from around 30
percent in January in 2004, to
the year end levels of between 60 percent-70
percent.
There is a well-established inverse correlation between capacity
utilisation
and changes in the general level prices-inflation.
The
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) last week made it public that
it
was pushing for the scrapping of the Productive Sector Facility while at
the
same time proposing an alternative way of assisting distressed
companies.
"While appreciating its essence, there was a realisation
that it is
impossible to control the use of the funds as it is feared they
are
contributing to money supply growth, which has an effect on the rate of
inflation," an official from CZI said.
One of the perceived side
effects of the facility was increasing money
supply growth and fuelling
speculative activities such as parallel market
foreign currency
dealings.
The tight liquidity management through the Reserve Bank's open
market
operations (OMO) supported by continued fiscal rectitude has ensured
that
money supply growth levels are consistent with the set dis-inflation
programme is now feared could slow down if the facility continues.
In
line with this, an active liquidity mopping up programme put in place
last
year with a number of bills introduced to withdraw excess money from
the
market could also face a lot of stumbling blocs and rejections.
These
include RBZ Bills, RBZ Financial Bills, Special Zimbabwe Treasury
Bills and
ZTB OMO Bills.
Zim Online
Media commission summons Daily News boss
Wed 27 April
2005
HARARE - The government's Media and Information Commission (MIC) has
summoned banned Daily News boss, Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, to a hearing on
Friday.
Nkomo, who is chief executive officer of Associated
Newspapers of
Zimbabwe which publishes the Daily News and its sister Daily
News on Sunday,
confirmed to the press yesterday that he had been summoned
to a hearing by
the MIC. Efforts to contact MIC chairman, Tafataona Mahoso,
on the nature of
the Friday meeting failed.
The two papers were
shut down in September 2003 for flouting the
government's Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act that
requires all media houses and
journalists to be registered with the
commission.
The paper
took the case to the Supreme Court challenging the
constitutionality of the
registration requirement. In a much-awaited ruling
last month, the Supreme
Court ordered the Daily News to reapply to the
government
commission.
"We will go to the meeting but we know that we
satisfied all the
conditions in our application and believe that we should
be granted a
licence," said Nkomo.
More than one hundred
journalists have been arrested in Zimbabwe in
the last three years as the
government cracked down on dissenting voices.
A total of four
newspapers, including the Daily News and Daily News on
Sunday, which were
deemed too critical of the regime, were shut down in the
last two years for
breaching the draconian press Act. - ZimOnline
Hi Everyone!
When I sent out the request for donations to Hannes
Botha's worthy cause, I made an error with his cell nos...the correct nos is 084
5893221(got the 8 & 9 the wrong way around). Also....his land line is
013-7900934.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Remember he leaves on
his next trip on 10th May...so don't delay. The trip after
that will be in August.
Thanks,
Colleen.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Water problems rock
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-28
WATER problems experienced in Mabvuku
and Tafara suburbs have reached
alarming levels with most residents now
fetching water from unprotected
wells dug in nearby home industries and
settlements.
Residents there yesterday said the situation was unbearable and
were now
living in fear of a major disease outbreak.
"People are now
fetching water from a nearby farm where some people settled
during farm
occupations in 2000.
"The problem is that the water is untreated and we fear
that they might be a
disease outbreak," said Sydney Dimingo of Old
Tafara.
The farm popularly referred to as KwaBob was occupied by home seekers
in
2000, while squatters at Porta Farm were transferred and re-settled on
the
same property by government last year.
Another resident, Lovemore
Kapunzeni, said it was now difficult to get to
work on time due to the water
crisis.
He added that they were being forced to walk as far as Zimre Park to
buy
water from people with boreholes.
Kapunzeni said: "We have to get up
as early as 2am to look for water, and if
you are lucky to find any you also
have to fight it out for transport to get
to work."
Harare City Council
spokesperson, Leslie Gwindi, said they were battling to
restore normal
operations at the Letombo Pump Station after it had broken
down and
added
the situation was
likely to return to normal at the
weekend.
Other areas that have been affected include Greendale, Highlands and
Chikurubi.
Claris Antonio said she had resorted to boiling the water
before using it
due to the unhygienic state of the wells adding the little
water that was
occasionally coming out of the tapes was dirty.
Gwindi
denied knowledge of the existence of dirty water adding they had not
received such reports.
"We only act when we have received such reports
and so far we haven't
received any. If we had, we would have acted on the
situation," he said.
Harare has been facing serious water problems since last
year due to
perpetual breakdowns at its treatment plants and erratic supply
of water
treatment chemicals.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Govt defends Chinese aircraft
Shame
Makoshori
issue date :2005-Apr-28
TRANSPORT and Communications
Minister, Chris Mushohwe, was yesterday
defensive, shooting down spreading
speculation that the two MA60 aircraft
that government had acquired from
China were sub-standard and therefore a
threat to public safety.
Mushohwe
touched down at the Harare International Airport midmorning and
headed
straight to the boardroom to set the record straight, accusing the
negative
suspicions as being peddled by people who were not happy to see
economic
prosperity in Zimbabwe.
On Saturday last week, Zimbabwe took delivery of the
US$22 million 60-seater
planes in Xian, China amid speculation in the
Chinese media that the brand
would be taking to the skies for the first
time, making Zimbabwe pioneers in
the purchase of the aircraft.
"There is
suspicion on the reliability of the aircraft, but I am pleased to
say that
AVIC (the manufacturer of the planes) is the major supplier of
aircraft
components to major international airlines such as Boeing, Airbus,
Bombardia
and others.
"There are no questions on the inferior quality of these planes
and there is
no doubt about what these aircraft can do. Our problem is that
there is a
misguided mindset that it is only the West that is capable of
producing the
best products.
"Even Australian Prime Minister (John)
Howard has admitted that China is an
awakening giant in terms of industrial
development," Mushohwe told The
Business Mirror.
He added that several
other countries such as Fiji, Eritrea, Congo
(Brazzaville), Angola, Oman and
Namibia were scrambling for the Chinese
brand.
This trend had showed the
confidence that the aircraft had generated in the
region, the minister
added.A beneficiary of a $1.1 trillion central bank
facility for
realignment, Air Zimbabwe has been struggling to service
several domestic
and regional routes such Kariba, Buffalo Range, Beira and
Cape Town.The long
range Boeing 737s had in some cases plied these routes.
Mushohwe added that
the routes would get immediate attention and the sphere
of influence would
be further widened as soon as Air Zimbabwe received a
third plane that was
donated by the Chinese government.
If all the planes from China arrive, they
will bring the fleet complement to
eight.However, the minister suggested
that while demand determined the
number of aircraft that Air Zimbabwe
needed, the company required at least
two long hauls, two medium range and
another two cargo planes to
sufficiently service the market.
The first
two of the three MA60s left India yesterday and were expected to
refuel in
at
least five countries before arrival in Harare tomorrow.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
MDC agent claims victimisation
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-28
MDC youth chairman for ward 6
in Guruve North, Alfred Chideme, claims his
property was removed from his
house and dumped at his father's home by a
group of Zanu PF youths on the
instruction of a ruling party councillor
(name supplied) and a kraal head
(name supplied) on 23 April 2005.
The youths allegedly destroyed the door to
Chideme's house and forced
themselves in took property which included a bed,
bedding and clothing,
plates, put them in a cart and dumped them at his
father's house about 600
metres away.
Chideme was an MDC
election
agent at Kasuwo School in the March 31 election.
The MDC
information office says
when Chideme initially reported the
incident at
Mawuwe Police Station, the officer who heard the case said there
was
nothing they could do to help as the officer responsible for such
cases had
left the station.
A second report was allegedly made to
Constable Usika by Chideme's uncle,
RRB 0337049. However, no arrests have
been made to date.
Efforts to get comment from the police on this issue
proved fruitless
yesterday-Mirror Reporter.