Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
CHAOS was the order of the day throughout the country
yesterday
as Zimbabweans changed over from the old bearer cheques to the new
ones.
Even before the expiry of the deadline for use of the
old bearer
cheques, shop owners, supermarkets and transport operators were
refusing to
accept them, leaving many people stranded.
People who had travelled long distances from rural areas went
back
empty-handed after being told that they could not make any withdrawals.
Soldiers who were paid last week were among those affected. Normally,
soldiers do their shopping on the weekend of their pay
week.
Bank workers who did not want to waste their time
explaining,
just showed disappointed customers a notice from the RBZ which
stated that
they were only open for people exchanging the old bearer cheques
for new
ones.
There were heart-rending reports from areas
such as Gutu,
Chiredzi, Chinhoyi, Gwanda and Beitbridge of rural dwellers
stranded after
failing to access their money yesterday. They had not heard
about the
announcement that banks would not offer full services on
Saturday.
In major cities such as Harare, filling stations,
shops and
commuter buses did not accept the old currency, which will cease
to be legal
tender tomorrow. This was despite a warning by the Reserve Bank
Governor,
Gideon Gono, that those refusing the old bearer cheques would be
dealt with
accordingly.
Even the government controlled
National Railways of Zimbabwe
appeared suspicious of Gono's arrangement.
Notices pasted at the Harare main
train station informed travellers that the
parastatal was no longer
accepting old bearer cheques.
"We wish to advise that as from Saturday, 19 August 2006, cash
transactions
with the NRZ shall be conducted using the new currency."
At
fuel service stations around Harare, attendants refused to
accept the old
bearer cheques, leaving motorists stranded.
"We have been
told by our employer not to accept the old bearer
cheques because he fears
the RBZ might refuse to accept the old currency in
exchange for the new
notes," an attendant told The Standard.
Several kombi drivers
who needed to buy fuel using the new
currency retaliated by demanding the
new notes from commuters.
A fuel attendant at a service station
in the city centre was
taken away by plain-clothes officers after she was
caught rejecting the old
bearer cheques.
At flea markets
around Harare, stall-holders were also not
accepting the currency being
phased out. "Some of us have savings accounts
and banks will not accept
explanations that we are cross-border traders who
make money on the informal
market. We are just playing it safe."
A shop owner in
Highfield said: "We are not doing anything
criminal but the kind of
explanations the RBZ would insist on for returning
old bearer cheques are
just too many and would waste my time."
Even banks felt the
pinch as early as Friday when they were in
the final stages of realigning
their systems for the changeover. The RBZ's
Real Time Gross Settlement
(RTGS), an instant money transfer system,
temporarily broke down leaving
banks stranded with nowhere to get the money.
The central
bank's public relations office did not respond to
questions sent by this
paper yesterday but officials from the banking
industry confirmed that
business ground to a halt at most financial
institutions on Friday
morning.
"The RTGS was down the greater part of (Friday)
morning but we
did manage to get the money that we wanted later in the day,"
said an
official from Stanbic.
An official with another
bank confirmed that his bank faced
problems accessing funds from the central
bank although the problem was
resolved "later".
A top
official from the central bank, however, said the problem
could have been
limited to individual banks given the conversion of computer
systems to the
new currency.
The Standard heard that there was commotion
outside the RBZ
building emanating from the problem but the official said
that was routine
given the number of customers it had to deal with.
Anti-riot police were
also manning the RBZ entrance around 6PM on
Friday.
The RBZ made last minute efforts to send money to
remote areas
through private logistics trucks which were escorted by heavily
armed
anti-riot police.
The chaos has had its light
moments. In Gokwe a traveller from
Harare nearly faced instant justice from
shop owners when he tried to use
the new bearer cheques. Shop owners said
they had had enough of "crooks
from Harare" and wanted to beat him
up.
He was told any money changeover should have been
communicated
through chiefs.
The man bemoaned the lack of
information, particularly in rural
areas, saying in Gokwe many cotton
growers were still holding onto the old
currency in the hope of using it to
purchase agricultural inputs.
Zim Standard
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
THE Presidential Guard, a specialised army unit
charged with
protecting President Robert Mugabe, has been hit by an outbreak
of Sexually
Transmitted Infections (STIs), The Standard can
reveal.
STIs common in Zimbabwe include gonorrhoea and
syphilis, which,
if left untreated, can cause mental
disorders.
The outbreak occurs at a time when the Ministry of
Health and
Child Welfare, aid agencies and non-governmental organisations
have
conducted sustained HIV/AIDS campaigns aimed at discouraging people
from
indulging in unprotected sex.
Thanks to these
campaigns, a marked decline has been recorded in
STIs and HIV/AIDS cases
countrywide as many people abstain, stick to their
partners or use condoms
whenever they have sex.
But this isn't the case in the elite
unit based in Harare which
is required to be fit all the time in order to
offer maximum protection to
Mugabe.
Sources told The
Standard many soldiers in the unit were
shunning condoms, resulting in the
disturbing rise in cases of STIs.
So serious is the problem that
it featured at a top level
meeting of the Medical Directorate held on 17
July at the Army Headquarters
in Harare.
Colonel C T
Basera, the Director of Medical Services, chaired
the meeting which came up
with strategies to contain the rise in STIs.
Sources said the
meeting was informed the problem was getting
out of hand as cases of STIs
kept rising.
Basera directed that a scientific investigation
be conducted.
Stressing the urgency of the matter, sources
said the
directorate tasked an army medical doctor with collecting relevant
data
urgently for the investigations.
Basera could not be
reached for comment yesterday but Lieutenant
Colonel Simon Tsatsi, the army
spokesperson, said he was not aware of the
matter.
"You
don't expect me to know that. The medical condition of a
person is
confidential unless you confirm with a doctor. Even ethics for
medical
practitioners show this is confidential," Tsatsi said.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
CHIMANIMANI - Opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
pro-Senate leader, Professor Arthur Mutambara yesterday held a
homecoming
rally in his home area, Nhedziwa in Chimanimani district, amid
song and
dance from local traditional leaders who welcomed
him.
At least eight sub-chiefs, who were part of the 2
000-strong
crowd that graced the occasion, performed rituals and sang
traditional songs
to welcome their "son" home.
Chiefs and
other traditional leaders are usually viewed as being
aligned to the ruling
Zanu PF party but the eight embraced their offspring,
who aspires to be the
President of Zimbabwe.
Two beasts were slaughtered at the
rally to feed the people,
some from as far as Nyazura, Mutare and Mutasa to
hear from the man they
believe could redeem them from the current
crisis.
Among the sub-chiefs who graced the rally are Zebedia
Mutambara,
Karu Mutambara, Zitanei Mutambara and Eria
Munjoma.
Chief Mutambara, Jana Chinenzura, who is a known Zanu PF
activist, was however said to be "committed" elsewhere.
Speaking at the rally, Mutambara who led a number of
demonstrations as a
student leader at the University of Zimbabwe, said his
faction will not
reverse the chaotic land reform programme initiated by Zanu
PF.
"We will not take away land from people but we will
conduct a
productive assessment to see who is using the land productively
and who is
not," Mutambara told the gathering of mostly
villagers.
Commenting on the MDC split, Mutambara said the
break-up was a
necessary evil that made them realise their weaknesses and
strengths.
"The split was necessary because it made us
realise who we
really are as a party," said Mutambara, who however could not
say whether
the two factions would soon re-unite.
He also
did not make any mention of Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads
a rival faction of
the MDC.
Several senior officials from the Mutambara faction
attended the
rally. These included the party's vice president Gibson
Sibanda, Paul
Themba-Nyathi (director of elections), Glen Norah MP Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga and St Mary's MP, Job Sikhala. Sikhala used the
opportunity to lash out at Tsvangirai saying he was no longer the legitimate
leader of the opposition.
Zim Standard
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
MANICALAND prosecutor Levison Chikafu last
week refused to
present his final arguments in the corruption trial of the
Minister of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa,
saying, "the
first rule of life is self-preservation".
Chikafu, who has complained about intimidation, said he wanted
the $100
million lawsuit against him by the Minister of State for National
Security,
Lands and Lands Reform and Resettlement, Didymus Mutasa for
defamation
finalised first.
"Your worship, I feel that I am under siege
from this court and
I am failing to understand why this honourable court
wants this matter
finalised quickly," he said.
Chikafu
told the court that Mutasa's lawyer, Gerald Mlotshwa,
had given him a letter
of demand "and the deadline is tomorrow (18 August)".
He
continued: "There is no way I can proceed with the
submissions under the
circumstances. The first rule of life is
self-preservation, so before I make
my submissions I need to defend my
case."
Chikafu is
expected to submit his written submissions by 28
August.
Mlotshwa, Mutasa's lawyer, demanded Chikafu retract the alleged
defamatory
statements by 18 August or face the lawsuit.
Chikafu has not
retracted the statements.
Mlotshwa could not be reached for
comment yesterday.
Meanwhile reacting to Mutasa's lawsuit,
legal practitioners said
suing a public prosecutor for comments made in
court was not only uncommon
in Zimbabwe but could be a way of "intimidating"
the judiciary.
This could ultimately lead to miscarriage of
justice, they said.
President of the Law Society of Zimbabwe
Joseph James said while
it is legally possible to sue prosecutors for
comments made in court, such
actions should be
"discouraged".
He said prosecutors would feel intimidated
thereby hampering
them from discharging their duties professionally. "If we
have a trend of
suing prosecutors it may fetter the discretion of the
prosecutors," said
James.
Zimbabwe Lawyers' for Human
Rights litigation lawyer, Otto Saki,
said the lawsuit was "frivolous" and it
will be an uphill task for Mutasa to
prove that the statements are not
"qualified statements" as legally accepted
in court.
"It's a frivolous lawsuit because one would need to satisfy the
court that
the words uttered are outside the orbit of a qualified privilege
statement,"
he said.
Another lawyer, who requested anonymity, said
statements made by
MPs in Parliament or officials in court "are qualified
statements meaning
that the person cannot be sued unless the statements are
so malicious that
they are outside this world".
National
Constitutional Assembly chairman, Lovemore Madhuku,
said Mutasa was wasting
his time taking the matter to court because the
prosecutor was protected by
qualified privilege.
"He will obviously lose the case. His
chances are next to
nothing. The man is abusing the courts," said
Madhuku.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - Soldiers
severely beat up scores of Lupane villagers
in Matabeleland North recently
after their cattle fed on maize planted under
"Operation
Maguta/Sisuthi".
This took place at Fatima Farm, 40 km south
of the provincial
capital, Lupane.
According to
authoritative sources, Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA)
soldiers severely
tortured and beat up villagers after their cattle strayed
into a maize field
under "Maguta/Sisuthi".
The soldiers accused the villagers of
being reckless by failing
to guard their cattle, the sources
said.
He added they were made to roll in the mud and
assaulted with
sjamboks.
Some of the villagers who
reportedly suffered severe body
injuries include Elvis Nyoni, Stephen
Ndlovu, Lawrence Mdlongwa and a one
MaNdlovu.
Sources
told The Standard that the soldiers later gave the
villagers soap and told
them that the matter had been settled. The ordeal
lasted about four
hours.
The villagers made a report at Jotsholo Police Station
but no
action was taken against the soldiers.
The
Standard learnt that police officers told the villagers to
go home, saying
the matter had been resolved, much to villagers'
disappointment.
A spokesman for Jotsholo Police Station
referred all questions
to the regional press officer Assistant Inspector
Augustine Zimbili, who was
not immediately available for
comment.
But Lupane Member of Parliament, Njabuliso Mguni,
confirmed the
beatings."How can they say the issue has been resolved
amicably yet
defenceless villagers have been left with severe injuries?"
Mguni asked.
"The incident brings back sad memories of the
past to the
villagers and I will take up the matter in Parliament," he
promised.
Villagers in the area were victims of 5 Brigade, a
crack North
Korean-trained unit that caused widespread atrocities in the
region.
Soldiers placed under "Operation Maguta/Sisuthi" have
been
accused of beating, ill-treating and denying villagers and plot holders
food
despite forcing them to work for long hours without
rest.
The operation began late last year in a bid to increase
maize
production.
The scheme involves the co-operation of
the government
Agricultural Rural and Development Authority and the
Agricultural Research
and Extension Services who together with the army are
supposed to identify
under-utilised land for command agriculture,
spearheaded by soldiers.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
MASVINGO - British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Andrew
Pocock, says
his country has not yet been officially informed about
mediation efforts
spearheaded by Benjamin Mkapa.
He,
however, said there was no need for the former Tanzanian
President to try to
"mend bridges" between the Harare and London.
UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan two months ago gave the green
light to Mkapa to mediate
between the two countries whose relations have
remained strained since
2000.
Britain accuses President Robert Mugabe of running down
a once
prosperous country and pursuing policies that have undermined human
rights
and the rule of law. On the other hand, Mugabe maintains the former
colonial
master is bent on effecting a regime change in Zimbabwe and
recolonising
the country.
Speaking to journalists at
Vhurumuku Primary School in Zaka
after officially handing over a classroom
block recently, Pocock said his
country would talk directly to Harare if
there was need to resolve the
differences.
He therefore
saw no need for Mkapa's role.
"Why would we need a mediator
to solve our differences? If there
is need to solve our differences we can
do that on our own. What we need is
change of policies by government,"
Pocock said.
The Ambassador also disclosed that discussions
to resolve the
differences between London and Harare had not taken off, as
the British
government had not been officially
approached.
"We are not even aware of this. We have not been
formally
approached so we don't know how the differences will be solved and
it's not
possible to build bridges when we have not been approached," he
said.
Addressing people at Vhurumuku School, Po-cock said,
nevertheless, Britain was committed to helping the needy in
Zimbabwe.
"The British government will continue to assist the
needy in
Zimbabwe and has set aside 35 million pounds for orphans and
vulnerable
children, HIV and education despite our differences with the
government," he
said.
The British Embassy also
commissioned another classroom block at
Chananga Secondary School in Zaka
East.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
MASVINGO - Beneficiaries of "Operation Garikai" in
Masvingo have
been dealt a heavy blow after Masvingo city council refused to
approve plans
to extend their houses.
Latest full council
minutes show proposals submitted by the
beneficiaries to extend their new
"match box" houses were turned down after
the council engineers noticed they
were built without plans by government.
Councils in Zimbabwe
prohibit the construction of houses without
approved plans but government
fast-tracked the construction of the houses
after enduring heavy criticism
for "Operation Murambatsvina". The clean-up
operation left nearly a million
people homeless.
Though beneficiaries of the first phase of
Garikai in Masvingo
had been given the green light by the government to
extend their two-roomed
houses, Masvingo city council refused to give them
the go-ahead.
Masvingo city Chamber Secretary, Shadreck
Tanyanyiwa, said there
were several "grey areas" that needed to be cleared
with the Ministry of
Local Government, Public Works and Urban
Development.
"The council cannot approve the extension of the
houses at
present because there are many things we still need to consider.
For
instance the beneficiaries do not have plans for their houses as the
ministry did the construction so we cannot allow them to go ahead," he
said.
Tanyanyiwa added it was difficult for a person to
extend his or
her house, as the ministry was still to hand over the houses
to them. He
said at the moment the ministry owned the houses and therefore
no individual
could claim ownership of the houses.
The
government constructed the houses on unserviced land near a
cemetery in
Mucheke high-density suburb.
The project has been mired in
controversy across the country
with allegations of corruption levelled at
officials responsible for
allocating the houses.
There
have been several cases of government officials allocating
some of the
houses to their children.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
AN unidentified old man received a thorough beating
from the
police after he attempted to give a dead squirrel to Vice President
Joice
Mujuru at a rally in Masvingo North recently.
The
Standard witnessed the incident.
Mujuru was addressing a
rally to commission Sipambi Vocational
Training Centre in Masvingo North
constituency when the man in his late 70s
emerged from the crowd declaring
he had a present for the Vice President.
Mujuru stopped her
speech to take a glimpse of drama before her
alert security intercepted the
old man and whisked him away. They handed him
over to the
police.
The man, who tried to resist arrest, pleaded with the
police to
allow him to present his gift to the VP. "Ndisiyei mhani ndipe mai
Mujuru
shindi yavo yandavavhimira (let me present the squirrel to Mujuru, I
hunted
it for her."
Zim Standard
BY
GIBBS DUBE
BULAWAYO - A critical shortage of maize- meal in
Matabeleland
region has plunged the south-western part of Zimbabwe into a
food crisis.
Grain Marketing Board (GMB) depots have run out
of maize while
thousands of people face starvation in drought-prone
areas.
Non-governmental relief agencies, government officials
and GMB
sources have indicated that the shortage of maize-meal has been
exacerbated
by low prices offered to farmers by the GMB and the parastatal's
bungling in
the distribution of maize imports from South
Africa.
The worst hit areas are most parts of Matabeleland
South where
more than 500 000 people have been on drought relief aid during
the past
year owing to the disastrous 2004/2005 agricultural
season.
Households in cities, growth points and settlements
under the
land reform programme have been equally affected as big and small
millers
last received maize deliveries from the GMB two weeks
ago.
According to relief agencies and government sources the
situation has gone out of hand in Bulawayo, Tsholotsho and Gwanda with most
people unable to afford a decent meal a day.
A spokesman
for a relief agency said: "Shops have no maize meal
in most parts of the
region and the situation is worse in Matabeleland
South. We stopped
supplying free food to villagers who failed to record good
harvests in the
2004 and 2006 agricultural season in May this year.
"The
situation is pathetic because villagers in the region are
starving. We used
to supply barley to the starving population under the
World Food Programme
but stopped in May to assess the situation. Indications
are that the more
than 500 000 people who were under the programme are now
failing to get a
decent meal a day due to maize meal shortages."
A spokesman
for another relief agency said his organisation was
expected to start
delivering maize to the needy in Matabeleland region last
week but had since
stopped as GMB depots in Bulawayo, Gwanda and Tsholotsho
were
empty.
Government and GMB sources indicated that maize
supplies started
dwindling three weeks ago when international companies
tasked by the GMB to
import maize from South Africa dumped the grain at the
Beitbridge border
town.
These companies were previously
sub-contracting Zimbabwean
companies and the National Railways of Zimbabwe
to ferry the maize from
Beitbridge to other parts of the country. The
arrangement has since
collapsed.
"This has resulted in
the deterioration of the situation with
maize stuck at the Beitbridge GMB
depot while people are starving. We do not
know why the GMB contracted
companies that do not have the capacity to
deliver maize to the country's
main depots. This needs thorough government
investigations," fumed a senior
government official in Gwanda.
GMB acting chief executive
officer retired Colonel Samuel
Muvuti, declined to comment, adding: "I can't
say anything now."
Zimbabwe reportedly imported over 900 000
tonnes of maize from
South Africa between April 2005 and March 2006 to cover
serious food
deficits owing to the government's skewed land
reforms.
The Minister of Agriculture, Joseph Made, indicated
early this
year that Zimbabwean farmers were expected to record a bumper
harvest
contrary to international organisations' observations that the
nation was
set for another disastrous agricultural year.
Zim Standard
BY WALTER MARWIZI
A revised mid-term
2006 Consolidated Appeal for Zimbabwe (CAP)
paints a grim picture of the
next six months as the economy continues its
free fall.
The appeal, directed to donors, governments and the private
sector, predicts
further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in a
country with the
highest inflation in the world, outside a war zone.
CAP, a
collaborative effort of United Nations agencies,
governmental and
non-governmental organisations seeking to raise resources
for millions of
vulnerable people in Zimbabwe, says a grim scenario is
likely to prevail in
the coming months.
"Among the expected developments are:
decreases in the quality
of and access to basic services; deepening of urban
poverty; continued
difficulty for people previously employed in the informal
sector in
re-establishing their livelihoods; continued emigration, both
legally and
illegally; and deepening overall vulnerability to natural
disasters," says
the appeal.
The appeal which has so far
raised $145 738 249 out of a
projected US$ 257 704 411 says unless
appropriate humanitarian action is
taken, "the use of negative coping
mechanisms (such as sexual transactions)
could increase, placing vulnerable
persons at further risk, deepening
poverty and reducing opportunities for
recovery".
"The priorities for the next six months and beyond
will be to
save lives, enhance positive coping mechanisms and livelihoods,
mitigate the
impact on vulnerable populations, and ensure a comprehensive
and
co-ordinated humanitarian response from national and international
actors."
The appeal bemoaned the absence of a comprehensive
assessment of
the problem at hand, which placed limitations on humanitarian
planning and
response.
A much-awaited report of the
Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment
Committee (ZimVac), which could have
filled that void, is yet to be
finalised. Central Statistical Office acting
director, Moffat Nyoni, said
the report was still being prepared. It had
been scheduled to be released
last month.
"It's not a
regular CSO report. It's a joint effort. It's being
worked out," Nyoni
said.
Donors say the report would clear the air over the
numbers of
people requiring aid in Zimbabwe. Conflicting figures have come
from aid
agencies and government making it difficult for proper planning for
humanitarian relief to take place.
The ZimVac has carried
out the survey in the rural areas.
It is expected the report
will produce reliable data on the
humanitarian situation in the country. An
urban assessment would be
undertaken afterwards.
Zim Standard
BY SANDRA MANDIZVIDZA
A clinic and parts of Glen Norah
high-density suburb have been
without electricity for the past month after
two ZESA transformers were
destroyed by fire.
An official
at the ZESA Holdings subsidiary, Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission and
Distribution Company (ZETDC) on Friday told The
Standard that the parastatal
did not have any new transformers with which to
replace the burnt
ones.
"We do not have anything in stock now. There are no new
transformers in the country. We have to wait for other damaged transformers
to come and be recycled. We are aware that a clinic is affected but we don't
have a choice," said the official.
But strangely, James
Maridadi, the spokesperson of ZESA
Holdings yesterday claimed that the
transformers were being attended to.
"The guys are actually
fixing the transformers right now as we
are speaking. The transformers were
vandalised by thieves. They are worth
about $2 million each
(revalued)."
But residents of the high-density suburb say the
first
transformer at Chitubu Shopping Centre in Glen-Norah A was burnt
beyond
repair last month while the second one near the shopping centre was
also
burnt last week.
On both occasions the Fire Brigade
is reported to have attended
the scene late.
Most
affected by the blackout is Bethasaider, a private
Clinic, which has been
forced to refer patients to other clinics.
"We do not have a
generator. We use candles in the maternity
ward, we can't help many people
now and we have to close earlier than
before," said one of the staff at the
clinic.
Residents who spoke to The Standard expressed
displeasure at
ZESA, saying the power utility was failing to execute its
mandate. The
residents said they were informed it would take between two and
three months
for ZESA to replace the transformers, because they were out of
stock.
"The matter was reported last month and up to now
nothing has
been done.
"We are very disappointed with
ZESA, all they do is make us pay
a lot of money every month while we don't
have electricity," said a resident
who requested
anonymity.
Many people have resorted to using firewood, which
is readily
available but expensive.
"Electricity is
cheaper than firewood because everyday I spend
about $600 (revalued) on
firewood and candles," said another resident.
Oliver
Nyakudya, another resident, said: "Some of us threw
away or cooked all our
meat, as we couldn't keep it in the refrigerator
without
electricity."
Zim Standard
By Our
Staff
RELIEF is in sight for troubled ZESA Holdings after
Hydro
Electrica Cabora Bassa agreed to increase energy supplies by an extra
250
Megawatts.
But the deal is not a cause for
celebration yet as the threat of
foreign currency and coal shortages still
loom large and could continue to
negatively impact on the power utility's
capacity to produce electricity.
ZESA Holdings general
manager for corporate communications,
James Maridadi, said the extra 250Mw
his company had sourced from the
Mozambican utility was enough to meet the
energy needs for Harare.Harare
requires 240Mw at any given
time.
"We are getting the 250Mw meaning there will be more
electricity
available," Maridadi said last week but could not give figures
on how much
the power imports would cost the country.
But
sources said the deal is not a cause for celebration, as the
parastatal is
not producing adequate supplies of the commodity.
"This means
Zimbabwe will be getting 450Mw in total from HCB but
this does mean ZESA's
problems are over yet. They still have to deal with
the shortage of foreign
currency to import spares," said one official.
Zimbabwe
imports 35% of its energy provisions but has had to
contend with diminished
supplies after both Eskom of South Africa and Snel
of the Democratic
Republic of Congo failed to meet their contractual
agreements since the
vandalism of their transmission towers recently.
Both
countries were supposed to be supplying 100Mw each while
Zimbabwe was to
generate the extra 65% to augment imports.
However, the coal
shortage and unavailability of foreign
currency shortage for replacement
spares have slowed down generation of the
commodity.
Zim Standard
BY
DEBORAH-FAY NDLOVU
THE tobacco industry says there will be no
respite for the
sector this coming season with 60 million kg expected to be
produced.
The RBZ had sought to rescue production for the
coming season by
introducing a host of incentives that include the 15%
Foreign Currency
Retention scheme but industry players said these would only
bear fruit in
two years.
For now, said the tobacco
industry, the free fall in production
would continue with only 60 million kg
expected to be produced in the next
season.
"Based on the
seed sales we are looking at producing about 60
million kilogrammes. The
monetary policy was only announced on 31 July and
by then people had started
sowing seedlings. The incentives were a bit late
for the season because
planning starts in January and whatever happens in
the year cannot impact on
production," said Tobacco Industry Marketing Board
technical sales director,
Dr Andrew Matibiri.
He, however, said he was optimistic that
production would
increase in the next two years because of the
incentives.
Tobacco production peaked at 200 million kg in
2000 but has
since been on a decline due to the shortage of critical inputs
such as
fertiliser, late disbursement of funds and erratic fuel supplies
.
This season's production is expected to drop to an all
time low
of 50 million kg from last season's 74 million
kg.
So far only 44,5 million kg have been delivered to the
auction
floors, ahead of the close of the selling season in two weeks with
US$89
million having been earned from the sales of the crop. Last season
around
this time 46,2 million kg had been delivered, earning the country
US$70,39
million.
The development has however spurred the
increase in prices with
the crop fetching US$1,91 up from last season's
US$1,61.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
HIGH metal prices on the international market
earned RioZim
Limited a historical profit of $1.2 trillion in the six months
ended 30 June
2006.
In a statement accompanying the half
year ended 30 June 2005
results RioZim said it had made a historic profit of
$52 billion in the
period under review. However, the feat was achieved on
the back of a
decline in production in the six months ended 30 June
2006.
Gold production at Renco, at 367kg was 8kg lower than
the
previous year. It said that combined metal production at the Empress
Refinery was 5 307 tonnes compared to 6 240 in the previous year. But gold,
coal and diamond miners bemoaned ZESA load- shedding and the unavailability
of critical supplies as a hamstring to production.
It
said Murowa Diamonds produced 126 000 carats compared to 133
000 during the
same period in 2005. RioZim said the operation recorded a
profit after tax
of US$3.6 million compared to a profit of US$11 million in
the same period
last year.
"Changes in product mix and the timing of sales
affected the
outturn," RioZim adding that commercial coal production at
Sengwa was 87 000
tonnes in the first half of the year.
RioZim said: "The search for a suitable partner to construct a
power station
at Sengwa continued and in this regard a memorandum of
understanding was
signed in June to allow investigations into the project."
Zim Standard
marketwatch by Deborah-Fay Ndlovu
PROPERTY and foreign
currency prices are likely to double in the
next weeks as investors shift
their funds from the stock market, analysts
predicted last
week.
The equities market is benefiting from the drop in
interest
rates sparked by a shift in policy by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
but
analysts believe it will not be long before investors look elsewhere for
alternatives to place their money.
"After the money
market, an investor's first port of call would
be the stock market but when
prices rise as they are doing now people then
start looking for other forms
of investments including property and
obviously foreign currency," said a
stockbroker with a leading broking firm.
Monetary authorities
reduced the secured and unsecured
accommodation rates to 300% and 350%
respectively to enable banks to lend to
productive sectors of the economy a
fortnight ago.
The move, mostly seen as a strategy to contain
government debt
presently standing at $50 billion (revalued), has seen the
181 day TB rate
going down to 250% and deposit rates following suit at
present 10% for 7
days, 30% for 60 days and 100% for 91
days.
The stockbroker said he did not see deposit rates going
up any
further and expects the rally on the stock market to continue with
financial
counters leading the bull-run.
"It is a circle
that keeps repeating itself, I do not know why
investors want to act
surprised every time it happens.
"Excitement on the stock
market should last longer this time
because there is really no money market
to talk about and banking counters
should push the gains. Word is they made
a lot of money on the CPI linked
Treasury Bills. But after this investors
should be moving on to the
properties and parallel market," he
said.
The industrial index was hit by the holiday fever to
open the
short week 0.98% points up on Wednesday at 189 406.99
points.
Gains were mostly in TA, which upped $16 to
$136.
The quartet of Afdis, Circle, Hunyani and Seedco rose
$10 each
to $130, $37, $60 and $90 respectively.
Profit
taking however took its toll on Ariston, Cottco and
Econet, which lost $5
each to $35, $55 and $1 410 respectively.
The mining index
also made good gains, upping 12.45% points to
close last Wednesday at 99
048.17 points.
This was due to gains in Rio Zim, Falgold and
Bindura which
added $500 to $3 0 00, $5 to $40 and $3 to $160 respectively
last Wednesday.
Zim Standard
Comment
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe trained as a teacher by
profession, but
since 2000, his government has conducted a purge that has
emptied rural
areas of most of their professionals and sowed seeds of
insecurity in parts
of the country that need teachers the
most.
Last week Mugabe acknowledged that teachers were
getting a raw
deal and then indicated his government's commitment to address
their plight.
Many in the profession must have wondered what
this doublespeak
was intended at because the government's record shows that
it distrusts
teachers.
Mugabe told newly qualified
teachers during a graduation
ceremony at Belvedere Technical Teachers'
College in Harare that teaching
cannot be a profession if it is underrated
and that it can never assume its
dignity if it is underrated. "We don't
treat teachers well, we don't give
them accommodation," Mugabe
said.
Perhaps the declaration was meant to impress the
Namibian
contingent among those graduating. But among those already in the
profession
the statement is a mockery. It is a mockery, because this is not
the first
time that an acknowledgement of the plight of teachers has been
made by the
government. There are several possible conclusions to be drawn
from the
statement: either there was really nothing to say; it was made in
aid of
something - such as the impending rural district council elections;
or to
single out teachers so that they will see no justification in joining
intended protest marches because of the carrot dangled before
them.
For seven years the government consistently ignored the
plight
of teachers and forced the majority into poverty. The main reason why
teaching continues to attract recruits is because of lack of alternatives;
it would serve as a stepping stone to other employment opportunities; or
prospects of relocating to countries in he region or abroad
beckoned.
Teaching used to be a noble profession and in
society teachers
were role models while their lifestyles were the envy of
many in communities
they operated. But things changed after 2000 when
teachers in rural areas in
particular were accused of prevailing upon
communities to vote for the
opposition MDC. Right up to 2003 teachers were
fair game for ruling party
supporters and their militias. Zanu PF's open
hatred for teachers was
palpable. Many teachers not only fled the rural
areas, they fled the country
too.
Law enforcement agents
were nowhere near to offer protection and
the result was an exodus on
grounds of insecurity. Others, desperate to
remain, bought ruling party
membership cards for their own and their
families'
protection.
During last year's internationally condemned
"clean-up" exercise
teachers and their families bore the brunt of the forced
urban-rural
migration. But before that neglect by the government, which is
their major
employer, and poor salaries and conditions of service had driven
many into a
survival strategy of offering "paid extra
lessons".
Today it would be interesting for the government to
declare just
how many of the teachers benefited from "Operation
Garikai".
Teachers were left out. So, many wonder when Mugabe
says "we don't
give them good accommodation". Who does he expect to when his
government
does not?
Sadly, the education ministers are too
pre-occupied with keeping
their own jobs.
Zim Standard
eyewitness
by Deborah-Fay Ndlovu
NO one understands the inconveniences
of being on Zimbabwean
soil more than those who have travelled to South
Africa by road.
When they tell you their stories you will
probably think they
are lying - that is until you experience it
yourself.
It happened to me a week ago. The trip was a
disaster from the
start, beginning with the shoddy service I got from a bus
I should have
never boarded in the first place. It took us 24 hours to get
to
Johannesburg, not to mention the delays at Beitbridge border post
prompted
by one passenger who decided to unwisely smuggle cartons of
cigarettes to
our southern neighbour in an old cupboard.
The South African police arrested him but only after he had
failed to pay
the R300 bribe that was demanded. If I was any wiser all this
should have
given a sense of foreboding to what I was to experience on my
way back and
an insight into the difficulties of being a cross-border
trader.
It began just at the entrance to the Zimbabwean
border where we
were met by police and the militia who demanded that we
queue outside the
bus with our purses so they could check whether or not we
were trying to
smuggle back any local currency.
We were
to meet several other roadblocks all stemming from
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Governor Gideon Gono's monetary policy that
announced a change-over to a new
family of bearer cheques. Gono said there
would be searches as the local
currency was being smuggled in and out of the
country.
Unfortunately for the police most of the passengers on the
bus had about
$200 each, which was a wonder how they would all get home
loaded with goods
as they were. It was probably just an indication of the
loss of value of the
local currency as one passenger said, but to their
detriment, as that
statement nearly got them booked by the police.
For me it was
just a lesson to watch what I say because one
never knows who is listening
in this undemocratic country. The drama did not
end there. A young boy
attracted the wrath of other passengers when he told
the police that his
mother hid her money in her brassier!
Then there were Zimra
officials with their regular checks that
took us almost two hours at the
border post. We arrived at the post at 9PM.
It was not until 1AM when we
left. As if this was not enough, Zimbabwean
authorities decided none of us
should be getting home early - never mind
that the bus had left Johannesburg
at 1PM last Thursday intending to arrive
at 6AM the next day. I was due to
report for work by 8AM. Just 10 minutes
after driving off from the
Beitbridge we encountered yet another road block
and endured the same search
only this time faster because we guessed the
police were probably
tired.
There were several more searches in places I will
admit to not
knowing before we got to Masvingo.
We were
relieved because a police officer at the next roadblock
just asked if any of
us were carrying the stipulated amount of $5 million
and also made
impassioned plea that we change our foreign currency with the
banks instead
of the parallel market. In his words: "We are begging you
parents to change
your money at the proper places because going to the
parallel market is what
is destroying our economy. Let us help build
Zimbabwe."
His plea was touching really, but we were all still bitter with
the memories
of other searches. We encountered another search in Chivhu that
took us
another hour and by then it was 7AM and already I had abandoned
thoughts of
getting to work by 8AM.
When we finally arrived at Roadport
at 9AM, Zimra officials were
also waiting for us. Had we declared our goods
accordingly? It took us
another hour. At this point I had the opportunity to
survey the goods that
were bought by my fellow passengers and could not
believe that people were
buying eggs, potatoes, onions and tomatoes from
South Africa! For some it
was all the goods they were carrying exposing the
extent of food shortages
and unaffordability.
After this
encounter I would have vowed never to travel to South
Africa by road again
but then again it would require a real economic
turnaround for me to afford
any other form of transport.
Zim Standard
sunday view by Obert Chaurura Gutu
The
new currency regulations in Zimbabwe were promulgated by
Statutory
Instrument 199 of 2006 that came into force on 1 August 2006.
These
regulations were made by the President in terms of Section 2 of the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act (Chapter 10:20). This
particular Act of Parliament enables and empowers the President of Zimbabwe
to make laws, albeit for a limited period of time, particularly in
situations that require urgent legislative interventions which intervention
might be so urgent that it cannot wait for the normal Parliamentary
legislative process to run its full course. Put simply, therefore, the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, in a normal democratic
dispensation, should be used sparingly.
The new currency
regulations introduced a new currency system in
Zimbabwe with effect from 1
August 2006 by basically introducing new bearer
cheques and replacing the
old bearer cheques - those bearer cheques that
were issued by the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe before 1 August 2006. In simple
terms, all the old bearer
cheques, including all the other old coins and
notes, will cease to become
lawful money at 12 midnight on Monday 21 August
2006 and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe shall not, on and after that date, be
required to make payment to
the holders of those bearer cheques and/or old
coins and notes. On or after
12 midnight on 21 August 2006, no financial
institution shall exchange or
accept an old bearer cheque.
This situation can only be
changed provided the President of
Zimbabwe promulgates new currency
regulations allowing the extension of the
cut-off date from 21 August 2006
to another future specified date.
I am not too sure whether
it was necessary to introduce the new
bearer cheques whose main purpose is
basically to remove the last three
zeros in the old bearer cheques. The pros
and cons of such a move are, in my
humble view, better dealt with by someone
with an economics background.
Suffice to state that it is quite possible
that the cost of introducing the
new bearer cheques might be so colossal as
to run into trillions of Zimbabwe
dollars. Again, I am not too sure whether
our battered economy is in a
position to sustain such a huge expenditure in
the midst of a debilitating
foreign currency shortage coupled with galloping
inflation.
Many people might have wondered why the Governor
of the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe appears to have taken such a central role in
the government's
efforts to turn around the economic fortunes of our
motherland. I have read
numerous articles, particularly on the internet,
that propound the argument
that the Reserve Bank Governor is virtually the
de facto Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe. I leave readers to make their own
evaluations as to whether or not
the Reserve Bank Governor has gone outside
the scope of his mandate in terms
of both the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act
(Chapter 22:15) and the Banking Act
(Chapter 24:20).
However, for the benefit of my readers, I will briefly outline
the core
responsibilities of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which are clearly
set out
in section 45 of the Banking Act and these are:
To
continuously monitor and supervise banking institutions to
ensure that they
comply with the provisions of the Banking Act;
To conduct
investigations into any particular banking
institution or class of such
institutions, where the Reserve Bank considers
such an investigation
necessary, for the purpose of preventing,
investigating or detecting a
contravention of the Banking Act or any other
law;
To
monitor associates of banking institutions; and
To ensure
that the banking institution complies with the
provisions of the Banking
Act.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is
appointed by the
President and he shall hold office for a maximum of two
five-year terms. The
Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's main
responsibility is to
regulate the monetary system in Zimbabwe and ensure
that the financial
operating environment is safe and
sound.
It is beyond the scope of this article to analyse
whether or not
the present Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has gone
beyond the
powers of his legislative mandate of running the monetary system
in
Zimbabwe. Some critics have even suggested that the Governor of Reserve
Bank
of Zimbabwe is now also delving into fiscal policy issues that should
be the
preserve of the Minister of Finance. Some have gone even further to
argue
that the functions and responsibilities of the Minister of Finance
have been
subordinated to the functions and responsibilities of the Governor
of the
Reserve Bank.
The new currency system is thus
meant to ensure the introduction
of new bearer cheques that will facilitate
an easier and more convenient
method of doing business in Zimbabwe. As many
people are now familiar with;
due to the massive publicity campaign in both
the print and electronic
media, there are some limitations on the exchange
of old bearer cheques. For
instance, a trader, a parastatal or a person
other than an individual - that
is - a company is allowed to deposit or
bring for exchange at any single
financial institution a maximum of $5
billion or such other amount as the
Reserve Bank may specify by notice to
financial institutions generally. In
the case of individuals, the maximum
amount of money that one can deposit or
bring for exchange between 1August
2006 to August 2006 is the sum of $100
million or such other amount as the
Reserve Bank may specify to financial
institutions
generally.
The issue that has become of major contention
these days is the
problem being faced by people at police road blocks and
border posts where
searches are conducted on people, their luggage as well
as their motor
vehicles. There is growing concern the police officers,
members of the
National Youth Service (Green Bombers) and other security
agents are
subjecting people to humiliating and degrading searches as well
as
unlawfully confiscating their money.
In terms of
Section 12 of Statutory Instrument 199 of 2006, no
suit, prosecution or
other legal proceedings shall be instituted against the
government, the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, a financial institution or any
employee of the
State, the Reserve Bank or a financial institution in
respect of anything
done by on or on behalf of the Government, the Reserve
Bank or a financial
institution with due diligence and in good faith, in the
exercise of any
power or other performance of any functions under the
regulations.
This is a very controversial provision in
that before anyone can
succeed in instituting a legal suit against the
Government, the Reserve Bank
in terms of these regulations, he/she must be
able to prove that the actions
of the person(s) complained against were not
performed with due diligence
and in good faith.
In my
view, it would be pretty difficult and expensive for an
ordinary citizen to
successfully prove that the actions of the person(s)
complained against were
performed without due diligence and good faith. This
particular provision
makes it virtually impossible for anyone to
successfully institute legal
action seeking redress for any harm that might
be caused by government
and/or Reserve Bank officials whilst they are
enforcing the provisions of
Statutory Instrument 199/2006.
It is my respectful submission
that immunity should not be
granted to anyone in any circumstances since
this is tantamount to a severe
attack on a citizen's inherent Constitutional
right to seek appropriate
legal redress against the unlawful actions of
agents of the State and/or
quasi-governmental institutions in
general.
To sum up therefore, Statutory Instrument 199 of
2006 is very
controversial in more aspects than one and one really wonders
whether it
will be the panacea to the serious socio-economic and political
problems
that are presently making everyday life a nightmare especially for
the
ordinary Zimbabwean. Was this not a question of fire-fighting? Rushing
to
cure the symptoms of a disease instead of curing the main cause of the
disease itself?
* Obert Gutu is a legal practitioner.
Zim Standard
sunday opinion by Todd Moss
DRAMATIC
photos reveal two different tragedies of land in
Zimbabwe, both of which
will have to be addressed if the country is going to
recover and prosper in
the future.
The first tragedy is the creation - and
continuation - of a dual
land tenure system that denies small-scale black
farmers the full potential
of their property. During the colonial period the
best farming land in
then-Rhodesia was taken by white settlers and turned
into large commercial
farms and ranches. Black farmers were mostly pushed
onto lower-quality
"tribal trust lands", similar to the reservations used in
North America.
While these confiscations were a gross historical injustice
and land was
perhaps the most salient rallying cry of the liberation war,
the Zanu PF
government did little to change it after independence in
1980.
Re-allocation of commercial land to indigenous farmers
(even
after the 10-year "willing-buyer, willing-seller" clause expired) was
painfully slow and riven by corruption. But perhaps just as damaging, there
were no steps taken to give property rights to farmers in the tribal trust
(now communal) areas.
Instead, the old system, whereby
the land is nationalised and
land use is determined by local chiefs,
perpetuated a cycle of
underinvestment and low productivity. This is why the
photos show such
distinct lines between commercial and communal lands. In
other words, even
where the soil is of similar quality, the results are so
dramatically
different because the farmers own the land on only one side of
the line.
The second tragedy is that the huge investment in
commercial
farms has mostly been lost. It was the infrastructure - dams,
irrigation
systems, roads, and the like which were mostly financed through
the banking
sector using land as collateral - that allowed Zimbabwe to
weather highly
erratic rains and become an agricultural
powerhouse.
The country had at one point, for example, more
than 10 000
man-made water reservoirs, many of which were still visible by
satellite a
few years ago. But the recent violent seizure of farms unleashed
by the
government has not only forced 85% of the commercial farmers off the
land,
but also appears to have destroyed the physical farming systems that
had
been constructed.
The same area viewed this year (and
after above average rains)
shows the water basins almost all gone. It is
thus no surprise that
agricultural output in the country has
collapsed.
One interesting observation from the photos is
that the communal
areas have also been adversely affected. Even though
Zimbabwe's rains were
greater than normal in 2005, the current photo shows
even more deterioration
(more brown, less green) on the communal side. This
is likely because there
was cross-use between the two farming areas;
communal farmers sometimes used
commercial tractors or had access to
fertilizer and seed. More importantly,
the whole economy has gone into
freefall, which hurts the small communal
farmers, who are mainly low-income
and with few options to absorb shocks,
most of all.
Despite
the growing evidence that the "land reform" programme is
the main source of
hardship, the government has refused to budge from its
claim that the
benefits are imminent. In his July 2000 address to
parliament, President
Robert Mugabe claimed that "The land resettlement
programme is being
accelerated.This should result in increased agricultural
production and
promotion of economic indigenisation." But agriculture has
instead
plummeted; commercial production of maize, and tobacco (the main
farm
export) have each declined by about three-quarters since
2000.
Agriculture, of course, had been the mainstay of the
economy and
its collapse is the driving force behind a 40% shrinkage in real
GDP over
the past six years - a decline that has pushed the average
Zimbabwean's
purchasing power back to levels last seen in the late 1940s.
Nevertheless
Zimbabwe's Ambassador in the US, as recently as April, was
publicly sticking
to the story that the long-promised bounty from land
reform was right around
the corner.
When it does admit
there might be a problem (e.g., when
inflation hits 1 200% as it did in May
or when up to a third of its people
need UN food to survive) the government
blames anyone other than itself: the
IMF, the British, or some plot cooked
up in the increasingly paranoid mind
of President Mugabe.
Those abetting dictatorship must one day account
WE are watching
helplessly as if paralysed or hypnotised as this
maelstrom created by the
Mugabe regime consumes us. We have become fodder
for sustaining the
insatiable appetite of the Zanu PF regime, the appetite
of dehumanising the
people of Zimbabwe.
No one in his/her right senses could
enjoy such a harrowing
spectacle. We are going down without even a flicker
of displeasure or
resistance.
I don't think the tested
scientific theory that to every action
there is an equal and opposite
reaction holds true to the people of
Zimbabwe. We have put up for a long
time with the outrageous actions of this
regime. At the rate at which our
quality of life is declining, we are fast
approaching the historical
watershed of our destiny as a nation.
Are we going to be
another failed and disintegrated African
State? The quiet diplomacy of Thabo
Mbeki yielded nothing. President
Olusegun Obasanjo left us empty-handed. Now
we hear of Benjamin Mkapa -
another wishful thinking attempt to resolve our
crisis - and in reality,
mere ploys made to buy more time for the
dictator.
This is what we call African brotherhood at the
expense of the
long-suffering people of Zimbabwe. How else can one explain
the mission of a
man whose terms of reference remain clouded in mystery save
for the
reference to a fictious bilateral problem between Harare and
London?
Who can believe that the crisis in Zimbabwe is a
result of the
fallout between Harare and London unless of course one is
thoroughly
indoctrinated through the discredited Border Gezi militia
training camps?
One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to tell that bad
governance,
populist economic policies, erosion of the independence of the
judiciary,
endemic corruption in government, among a host of other ills
cherished by
the regime, are the root causes of our
crisis.
It is not Tony Blair who created POSA and AIPPA. What
does
Constitutional Amendment (No. 17) Act have to do with London? After
closing
down the most widely distributed and read daily paper, The Daily
News, now
the regime is coming up with the Interception of Communications
Bill that
will further erode the remaining space citizens were left with to
communicate. If anyone wants to know what a dictatorship is like, here is a
classic example.
Dictators don't go to sleep. They are
afraid even of their own
shadows so they have to try and get support from
every part of society. The
Church is one avenue of gaining a false sense of
hope - hope that the
downtrodden people will find comfort in seeking God and
avoid tackling the
daily realities unfolding before them. And what a better
way to achieve this
than use the men and women of cloth!
I wish well Trevor Manhanga and company in their "mission
impossible". To
talk sense to a government which has become irrational and
reactionary is
expecting too much. There is neither good faith nor goodwill.
The government
has conveniently departed from reason. Its obsession is only
with power.
This regime hasn't grasped the gravity of our situation or it
has chosen to
see itself as the nation and therefore will hold on until
everything is
lost.
To Bishop Trevor Manhanga and his colleagues - there
cannot be
peace in the country without justice. God is always on the side of
the
oppressed. He is a redeeming and liberating God. And one day, we all
have to
account for our actions, for our sins of commission and omission,
for
acquiescing with the oppressors and for standing by the side watching
while
the people suffered.
Rev. Fr. Norbert Fokisa
O.Carm
St Killian's Mission
Rusape
--------
The riddle of Chibebe
'assaulting a corpse'
I could not believe my ears as I
listened to ZBC news last
Thursday. The news reader said: "The ZCTU general
secretary, Wellington
Chibebe, was arrested at a roadblock for assaulting a
corpse."
I am sure I was not dreaming because I was
taking a bath
at the time. I have known Chibebe to be a sane and rational
person. Has he
suddenly gone "bonkers" as Archbishop Desmond Tutu would
say? Why would he
assault a dead person and what would a corpse be doing at
a roadblock
anyway?
Indeed, some of the police
officers at our many roadblocks
are now so tired they look like zombies.
Did one die and Chibebe assaulted
the corpse thinking it was a living
person?
The next day, while still confused by it all, a
Herald
headline caught my attention. In bold letters it announced: ZCTU Boss
Assaults Cops. This immediately cleared the air for me. The poor radio
announcer wanted to say cops instead of corpse. I had misunderstood his
Shonalised pronunciation. I said to myself, if he mispronounces the English
language so much then he must not be doing this job, in fact, he shouldn't
even be seen within a hundred yards of a public radio
microphone.
Another question then came to my mind. How
many cops did
Chibebe assault? He certainly is no Mohamed Ali or Jackie
Chan, the TV Kung
Fu master. I know him to be an intelligent and respectful
man who, as a
non-violent trade unionist, fights for the rights of workers
with logic and
truth.
I asked a friend who was
reading The Herald to let me have
a look at his copy. Personally I never buy
that shoddy propaganda imitation
of a newspaper, if I can help it, I just
read the first paragraph of the
story and gave it back in disgust, it reads:
"Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Union (ZCTU) secretary general, Wellington
Chibebe was on Monday arrested
after he allegedly assaulted a police officer
at a roadblock along Simon
Mazorodze Road."
Isn't
this disgusting? The headline announces that Chibebe
was arrested for
assaulting cops. The story underneath says he assaulted a
policeman, meaning
one. I will not affront your readers' intelligence by
trying to explain such
plain stupidity. It's an open assault on the
honourable profession of
journalism.
Pius Wakatama
Harare
------------
Only one strong
opposition party will oust Mugabe
IT is everyone's
democratic right to support a
political party of their choice but let's
support political parties for a
purpose. Politics is not only about numbers.
It is about support base.
Zimbabwe is in a mess
because of the policies of
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu PF.
We therefore do not need
six political parties to remove Mugabe and his
government from power. My
suggestion is that we have one strong opposition
party that then focuses on
getting rid of the people responsible for the
mess this country is in.
I do not think that the
various small opposition
parties command sufficient support to remove Zanu
PF from power. The
unfortunate thing is that most of these parties only add
to the existing
confusion among members of the public, yet it is important
for Zimbabweans
to understand that they should not be deceived by power
hungry individuals
and Mugabe's people who are sent to divide the electorate
through formation
of various political
parties.
To all the representatives of opposition
parties
that attended the meeting called by the Bulawayo Agenda on 22 July
my
suggestion is that this is not the time to
experiment.
It is no use spending your time
telling people what
you intend to do when you get into power. What most of
us who attended the
meeting wanted to hear was the remedy to cure the Mugabe
virus.
Unless we have a new constitution, we can
forget
about removing Mugabe from power.
Vegas Majies
New Magwegwe
Bulawayo
------------
Without property rights, new farmers are no better
than
squatters
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's daring
threats on
fresh farm seizures during the Heroes' Day commemoration only
serve to
confirm the quagmire we find ourselves in following the erosion of
property
rights in our laws.
Our
celebrated heroes did not wage the war so
that Mugabe can willy-nilly
possess and repossess land like the
possessed.
There are various reasons why
there has been
no significant productivity on our farms which need to be
addressed but we
cannot also just ignore the rights
issue.
Mugabe is reliving the legacy of the
white
colonial settler by promoting non-existent distribution of property
rights
to blacks. The liberation fighters waged the struggle so that the
final
means of conquest for the sons and daughters of Zimbabwe be law and
not
war.
For a farmer to be able to do
her best on land
she needs to be guaranteed that if she plants maize, she
will own the
produce.
Now, such
threatening statements of eviction
from the Head of State will exacerbate
the uncertainty of farmers on whether
they have a right to reap the harvest
if they invest in the crops.
Farmers need
rights so that they can feel
secure and are able to contribute freely
without fears from the powers that
be. Failure to address this will mean
that we remain "food beggars".
If Gideon
Gono, with Mugabe's unholy
blessings, had the audacity to command the
unruly Border Gezi youths to
seize indiscriminately poor people's
hard-earned cash, what guarantee is
there that Joseph Made will not be
sanctioned to unscrupulously seize the
poor farmer's
grain?
Farmers, including those closely
connected to
the so-called presidium, are living in constant fear because of
the nature
of its unpredictability. The Heroes' Day threats do nothing to
mitigate the
situation. Given the people's fresh memories of the sponsored
violent
invasions and harvest seizures, it is a foregone conclusion that the
government only has to sharpen its food begging skills. There is a danger
that the nation will retrogress towards the ages of shifting
cultivation.
In Tanzania since July 2004
squatter rights
for 5 000 plots of unplanned settlements have been
formalised and there are
even plans to cover the remaining 400 000 plots in
Dar-es-slaam.The
occupants are now entitled to compensation if evicted by
the State. Thus the
people are secure and willing to invest their energies
towards
nation-building. Holding people to ransom is politics of
stupidity!
For the land to be of value
there is need for
there to be land rights defined in a pro-poor paradigm.
There is need to
base entitlements in rights rather than discretionary
policy. Land rights
should be
enforceable.
Farmers' rights should provide
tenure security
and this will make a benefit stream to be established as a
right and hence
difficult to have it re-captured. Strengthening and
providing tenure
security will secure rights to land, encourage investment
and aim at
breaking down the traditional patronage ownership. It is not
enough for
benefits to flow only from policy interpretation. If they are not
firmly
anchored in rights, the benefits can be re-routed away and hence
farmers are
not secure enough to commit to intensive production and
investment.
The current leases are not even
worth the
papers that they are written on and are a source of more confusion
and
controversy rather than security. The 99-year leasehold cannot in any
way
create secure property rights out of an insecure
environment.
The so-called leaseholds under
the current
political gangsterism have only exacerbated corruption by Zanu
PF "fat cats"
who are using their political influence to seize the deeds, in
some cases
confiscating the existing customary property rights of poor
communities and
violating bilateral
agreements.
History has proved that it is
precarious to
national economies to dilly-dally on the issue of rights.
Addressing this
issue in the context of others will contribute to long-term
focus on
development. However, it remains a tall order without addressing
the broad
twin towers of constitutionalism and
legitimacy.
Phillan
Zamchiya
Johannesburg
South
Africa
---------------
Who will save the public from overzealous cops?
ON Friday, 21 July 2006 at around 6PM, several
men were nabbed by officers
from the cycle patrol unit in Chinhoyi for
drinking in public at Kuwadzana
Township in Banket.
After a lengthy
detention at the charge office
at Banket Police Station three of the
drinkers sought permission to answer
nature's
call.
To the utter amazement of fellow
drinkers and
women present, the three were told to urinate on the floor.
After initially
hesitating the men disgraced themselves and then went on to
mop up the urine
with their shirts.
I
wonder if those higher up in the police
ranks know that we have such
overzealous officers in the Zimbabwe Republic
Police. Surely this kind of
conduct is what was expected of Rhodesian or
Apartheid South Africa's police
force.
Who will police the police when
custodians of
the law go out of their way to promote public indecency?
Could the Police
Commissioner deal with these unruly
elements?
S
Cuth
Banket
---------
Without robust agriculture Gono's
theatrics
are futile
LET us all awaken to
the grave realities of
the futile and tragic theatrics of our Governor of
the Reserve Bank, Dr
Gideon Gono, in his efforts to revive the country's
collapsed economy.
One media person wrote
that the bottom line
is that "you cannot turnaround an agro-based economy
without robust
commercial agriculture". In my view that summed up the
ultimate failure of
our governor.
Previous RBZ governors adhered to their
traditional terms of reference and
quietly worked out things basing on the
composition of the economic
realities on the ground. Remember Dr Kombo
Moyana and Dr Leonard Tsumba.
They could and did so persistently, and
reminded the government that the
economy of Zimbabwe (since the creation of
the modern economy in the 1890s)
was based on agriculture and mining.
Period.
But Gono is acquiring extra
powers of even
seeking the services of the unpopular, corrupt and
counter-productive "Green
Bombers." This is tragic and unfortunate. He knows
that only the restoration
of agriculture and mining to their previous
productive levels will ignite
the economy back to Zimbabwe's glorious days
when it was the breadbasket in
Southern
Africa.
The trillion dollar question
(after removing
a zero or two) is why not use the same energies of the CIO,
the army, "Green
Bombers" and all others involved to restore our agriculture
and mining
fortunes?
This is better
than using these groups to
terrorise the already downtrodden citizens in the
name of a false, expensive
and already failing economic turnaround plan
which, so far, has only
amounted to ambushing and criminalising people for
possessing their own
national
currency?
After all, are these not the
very same
terror institutions (with help from Joseph Made's Ministry and
Professor
Jonathan Moyo) that actively and zealously destroyed and wiped out
the once
prosperous agricultural and mining industries in
Zimbabwe?
I stand to be corrected if my
opinion is
wrong. Gono should wake up to these realities rather than
unleashing
Operation Murambatsvina II on the majority of Zimbabweans. I hope
all
concerned people will condemn this behaviour more than ever before
because
barbaric theatrics will not
work.
However, to his own advantage, Gono
will
certainly get a handshake for shifting the blame for this man-made
economic
disaster onto the back of the hapless majority and getting "tough"
on the
same impoverished populace.
Indeed, this has consistently been the
hallmark of Mugabe's political stance
since he commissioned and then
unleashed the Central Intelligence
Organisation, the army, war veterans,
"Green Bombers," Made and Moyo to
destroy the commercial agriculture from
2000.
Denford
Moyo
South
London
United
Kingdom
----------
Personality cult, the achilles
heel of
opposition parties
THE reason why
opposition forces are in a
political deadlock is quite simple - most, if not
all opposition parties in
this country are deeply entrenched in the
personality of their leaders. As a
result, we find ourselves stuck with a
personality cult deeply borrowed from
Zanu PF giving us a false sense of
hope. The current crop of leaders will
not deliver us from evil.
Period.
No matter how much we might want
to lie to
each other, Professor Arthur Mutambara's robotics, or Morgan
Tsvangirai's
trade unionism, or Professor Jonathan Moyo's "intelligence"
will never be
the panacea to our problems. In fact, these leaders are our
major problem.
Unless we shake off this
"our-leader
is-better-than-yours" mentality, Mugabe will continue to use
this
divisionist tactic to rule us, even after his
death.
What is needed now as a matter of
urgency is
the formation of an umbrella organisation, a united democratic
front
opposition party that encompasses all the opposition parties, civic
groups,
churches
into one formidable
force - something along
the lines of the National Rainbow Coalition in
Kenya.
This organisation would be a loose
front for
fighting this regime. They could then choose a leader from outside
the
present opposition spectrum (so that other opposition parties might not
feel
cheated). This leader must then have an advisory board comprising
leaders of
the various opposition parties and civic
groups.
The leader of this formation
must not be
Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara, Jonathan Moyo or Daniel
Shumba. In
fact, in the event that a congress is held to choose a leader,
these leaders
must not be allowed to stand for
election!
I am personally disappointed with
the
present crop of opposition
leaders.
Tony
Namate
Harare
----------
Police terror in
Chinhoyi
FOR the past two weeks residents
of Chigaro
have experienced hell on
earth.
People have been subjected to the
most
brutal of attacks after police officers failed to arrest a suspect. As
a
result of failure to arrest this person they started assaulting innocent
members of the public, accusing them of not supporting their
operation.
At the time of writing more
than 70 people
had been assaulted, some of them as young as 12 years of age.
The matron of
a local mission hospital can confirm admitting and treating
people who were
assaulted.
The police
officers have established a camp
at the mission and the suspect's wife and
the wife of the suspect's young
brother had been detained for 12 days up to
6 August .
Local people were asked to
provide food for
the detained women. After seeing what the two women went
through and fearing
the worst, the villagers
complied.
Where are human rights
organisations? They
need to come and investigate this blatant abuse of
people's rights. In any
case does the Minister of Home Affairs and the
Commissioner of Police
approve of these tactics, which give the country a
bad name?
Terrified
Chinhoyi
------------------
Zupco crews abetting
crime
THE clearing of criminal elements
from Mbare
Musika must never be a public holiday exercise only. It should be
a
continuous everyday exercise by the
police.
On Wednesday 26 July around lunch
hour, I
was at Mbare Musika where travellers board Mutare-bound buses. What
I saw
and witnessed was incredible organised chaos by a Zupco conductor and
loader
in conjunction with Mbare Musika criminals. There were many
passengers who
wanted to board the parked Zupco
bus.
The Zupco conductor and loader
started to
open and close the bus' door at intervals in order to give
pickpockets a
free reign in stealing from desperate passengers. That was
extremely bad for
Zupco employees to become part of such an evil
act.
Surely law-abiding citizens must
always get
police protection especially at such public places. I appeal to
the Officer
Commanding Harare Province to act decisively against these
criminals now and
always and not only during public
holidays.
D R
Mutungagore
Mutare
Sunday August 20, 2006
The
Observer
Zimbabweans went on a panic-buying spree this weekend ahead
of a switch to a
new currency tomorrow that will see three zeroes deleted
from the old
tender.
Under the move being introduced by Robert Mugabe's
government to offset the
country's hyperinflation, which is at 1,000 per
cent, an old Z$50,000 bill
will be replaced by a new Z$50 bill. The value
will be the same, just under
50p.
Shoppers with bags of notes were
buying any asset that would hold its value,
from refrigerators to whisky and
goats.
'Everyone is counting their money to figure out what to buy so
they won't
get caught with the old currency,' said Iddah Mandaza, a Harare
shop
assistant.
People are only permitted to convert Z$100m (£88) a
day into the new tender.
Anyone caught with more must prove how they earned
it - difficult in an
agricultural economy where farmers rarely bother with
receipts. Police are
seizing trillions of the old currency. 'There are
roadblocks everywhere and
police are searching cars and buses. They do body
searches. They are
confiscating money,' said Mandaza.
The new
currency, called bearer cheques, is printed on flimsy paper. 'It
looks like
toilet paper and it won't hold its value as long as that,' said
Mandaza.
Economists say there will be a short-term gain in
convenience but inflation
could end the year at 2,000 percent, adding back
the zeroes. 'It will take
more than just lopping off zeroes to fix the
economy,' said Professor John
Makumbe, of the University of Zimbabwe.
'Corruption must stop, agricultural
and industrial production must revive,
but the government is not willing to
do those things so Zimbabweans will
continue to suffer.'
Zimbabwejournalists.com,
By a Correspondent
The
Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) says it is concerned at
the
Zimbabwe government's increasing attacks on the Law Society of Zimbabwe.
Noting articles published in state-controlled Sunday Mail and The Herald
last week, the SALC said it is clear the government's intention is to clamp
down on the Law Society.
The first article written by Tafataona
Mahoso, chairman of the
government-controlled Media and Information
Commission, and titled, "Lawyers'
body fights for return of Rhodesia",
accuses the LSZ of being sponsored by
foreign powers to destabilise the
country and lead to a change of
government.
Mahoso writes that
'the LSZ has consistently encouraged and worked
with external forces and
organisations opposed to Zimbabwe's African land
reclamation
movement.'
The article is "particularly sinister" for its
exhortation that
Zimbabwe must 'figure out what it wants government to do
with the LSZ', said
SALC. The Mahoso suggests government action against the
society is imminent.
The second article - A Lawless Society - was
written under the by-line
Nathanial Manheru, which is said to be the
pseudonym of President Mugabe's
current spokesperson, George Charamba. The
article by the shadowy Manheru,
who hints on government policies and actions
before they are announced, is
even more disturbing, said SALC as it seems to
want to strike fear into the
heart of lawyers in the LSZ.
"Not
only does it make reference to a vague 'operation' that is
intended against
the LSZ, but it expresses the hope that the operation will
be 'replaced by
its equally concussing sequel meant to make foreign
opposition funding
forbiddingly expensive'."
This, says the SALC, is a clear reference
to Zimbabwe's NGO Bill,
passed in 2004, which bans foreign NGOs as well as
foreign funding of local
NGOs. President Mugabe has yet to sign the Bill but
the author seems to be
signalling that he will soon do so.
Both articles seek to discredit the LSZ by pointing to its recent
challenge
to Zimbabwe's money laundering legislation, insisting that the LSZ
was
motivated by its own interest in fermenting economic and political
instability. In fact, the action was motivated by a desire to protect
lawyer-client confidentiality, independence of the legal profession and of
the judiciary and follows on a long tradition in the LSZ of acting for its
members and their professional interests but also in the public interest,
SALC said.
Following so close on each other, the articles seem
a co-ordinated
attempt to discredit the LSZ in the eyes of ordinary
Zimbabweans, but also
to threaten the LSZ with more repressive action should
it continue its
opposition to the Zimbabwean government, the lawyers body
said.
"The legal profession has largely been standing in between
the
unbridled power of the state and the people of Zimbabwe and offering a
safety net to human rights defenders facing persecution. It therefore comes
as little surprise that the state is now angling itself for an attack on the
independence and self regulation of the legal profession in Zimbabwe,"
explained Arnold Tsunga, the LSZ's secretary.
Zimbabwejournalists.com,
By Bill Saidi
HARARE - GIDEON
Gono, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
must be at his wits'
end. Not many hard-nosed economic analysts are
convinced that his latest
monetary madness is likely to contribute much of a
solution to he country's
crisis.
Once again, they are inclined to believe that he is only
tinkering
ineffectually on the periphery of the problem. He has yet to
tackle the
nitty-gritty core of the crisis.
He had previously
promised the bearer cheques were a temporary
measure. Now, it seems, they
are here to stay.
There is an element of desperation in his
actions. The expense
squandered on the 'sunrise" programme has a very dark
side to it. If the
present economic situation calls for austerity all round,
then the
high-profile publicity and the top-of-the-range vehicles bought for
it must
raise deep questions about the state of mind of everyone
involved.
Yet the most startling action by the governor must be the
invitation
to a South Korean economics professor to give a lecture on the
"economic
miracle" in his country.
Doowoo Lee was in his
element at the Harare International Conference
when he delivered his lecture
last week to a packed audience of academics,
captains of industry,
economists and others who are driven, most likely, by
an insatiable desire
to hear anyone propose a sure-fire panacea to the
problem that Zanu PF has
inflicted on this country since independence.
What many in the
audience may not have been aware of were the
circumstances in which the
South Korean "economic miracle" worker, Park
Chung Hee, achieved his
feat.
Moreover, even Gono should have been aware of this dictator's
fate, in
spite of what he had allegedly done for his country.
Park
Chung Hee became the chairman of a military junta which took
power after a
coup in 1960.
By 1961, he was the president of South Korea. His
export-driven
economic policies achieved remarkable results. Until his death
in 1979,
South Korea remained one of the most admired countries in
Asia.
What must be recognized and was not highlighted during the
lecture was
that Park Hung Hee, like President Robert Mugabe, had zero
tolerance for
dissent. His enemies were invariably given short
shrift.
He himself was accused of having worked for the Japanese during
World
War II. Yet he himself punished severely those he suspected of having
worked
with North Korea.
In general, Park Chung Hee was a nasty
piece of work. He was accused
of womanizing and drinking while in
office.
In 1979, he was assassinated by the head of the Korean Central
Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae Kyu.
The charitable view would be that
the above should detract from the
value of his "miracle". Yet his iron fist
style of government cannot be
dismissed so lightly. He was in power for 18
years; at the same time that
the standard of living of the Korean people was
rising as a result of his
economic policies, many people were dying because
they fell foul of his
style of government.
Professor Lee, in
his lecture, referred to Park Chung Hee's insistence
on a "strong"
government to bolster his economic policies. What this
amounted to, in real
terms, was that there was not much democracy during his
long reign.
The freedom of the media was curtailed; opponents of the ruling party,
particularly students and workers, were treated harshly (does that ring a
bell?)
It would be simplistic to suggest that Gideon Gono,
ergo, believes
that our economic turnaround programme will succeed only if
we have a
"strong" government in the shape of one which has zero tolerance
of dissent,
like South Korea's during the "miracle" years of Park Chung
Hee.
Mugabe would love such a scenario. There is no secret of his
disdain
for 'bleeding heart liberals", or politicians who believe the people
deserve
to be treated with kid gloves because, basically, they are the
object of
whatever the government does or doesn't do. Government is about
looking
after the people's welfare, not retaining power for its own
sake.
Increasingly, we have all begun to suspect that Gono himself
is a
closet admirer of Mugabe's dream of a one-party, one-leader
Marxist-Leninist
state.
In Asia, leaders such as Mahatir Mohammed
of Malaysia, and Singapore's
Lee Kwan Yew, come to mind. They have also been
criticized for achieving
economic success for their countries at the expense
of democracy.
Mahatir compounded this with his scandalous treatment
of his deputy, a
man apparently popular enough to succeed him without his
help. Mahatir
ensured he would not succeed - whether or not he had committed
the crime for
which he was jailed is neither here or there.
For
Zimbabwe, the fallacy that our economy is the victim of so-called
illegal
Western sanctions must be wearing a bit thin. During question time
after
Professor Lee's lecture, a deputy minister stood up to declare that
our
problems were more political than economic and had to dealt with in that
context.
Mugabe has spoken vaguely of "building bridges" with
the British
government, for instance.
He is contemptuous of any
suggestion that the bridges he ought to
build must be with the people of
Zimbabwe, specifically those groups which
represent the majority of the
people disaffected with his government.
There is a very substantial
opposition to his Zanu PF. If it were not
for the nimble manipulation of the
voters' roll and the electoral machinery,
Zanu PF would not routinely win
such thumping majorities in every election.
Obviously, the calls for a
level electoral playing field are perfectly
justified. The rest of the world
appreciates the validity of these calls.
There are international
standards to be recognized and implemented if
elections are to be
universally declared free and fair.
In a number of instances, in
Zimbabwe, this has not been the case.
After the 2000 parliamentary
elections, the courts declared many so-called
Zanu PF victories invalid. If
the seats had been contested afresh, there is
no telling what kind of
Parliament would have emerged - and what laws might
not have been
passed.
For many Zimbabweans, the way forward is simple enough: the
government
must work its way out of the present rut by returning to the
international
community. It must seek re-acceptance as a respectable,
law-abiding member
of the world community.
The land reform
programme would not have been such a burden for the
country and for its
erstwhile friends if it had not featured gratuitous
violence. Most of the
people were killed needlessly.
Why is it often forgotten that the war
veterans, who were hired by
Zanu PF to boost its election campaign, and who
were responsible for most of
the violence, had acquired a reputation for the
disregard of human life long
before the farm invasions?
Moreover, to look back even farther, if the land reform programme had
been
properly planned and executed, with the professionalism that many
experts
called for at the time, all the bloodshed and political isolation
would have
been avoided.
It is true that this is like crying over spilt milk. Yet
to insist
that it is not Zimbabwe to blame but those countries which have
imposed
these "illegal sanctions" is to be obtuse in the extreme. The people
of
Zimbabwe are the victims, it is true, and perhaps not the targeted
leaders,
whose girths continue to bulge as the ordinary people find they
have little
flesh on which to tighten their belts.
What the
leaders ought to ask themselves is whether a victory over the
Western powers
- getting them to lift the "sanctions" without requiring the
government to
do anything in return -is worth the privation of millions of
innocent
people.
If independence means anything at all to the leaders - the
freedom of
the people from the hunger, poverty and ignorance they endured
under
colonialism - then they must sacrifice their pride (for that is what
is at
the root of their reluctance to accept reality) and admit they were
wrong.
As long as they don't climb down from their high table of
pomposity,
the people will continue to suffer - until they decide they would
have
absolutely nothing to lose if they dislodged the leaders from their
high
tables and consumed the food that is there.