IOL
August 26 2006 at 04:20PM
Harare - The head of Zimbabwe's state-run grain company has been
arrested on charges of corruption, a newspaper reported on
Saturday.
Samuel Muvuti, the acting chief executive officer of the Grain
Marketing Board (GMB), was arrested on Friday and is being questioned by police,
spokesman Andrew Phiri told the state-controlled Herald.
"He will appear
in court as soon as we are through with our investigations," Phiri said.
"We believe that he could have done a lot of illegal activities at the
GMB."
The paper said Muvuti is being charged under the country's
Prevention of Corruption Act. He is alleged to have used workers from the grain
company to work on his private farm in northern Zimbabwe.
Muvuti
allegedly paid the workers close to a million Zimbabwe dollars out of GMB
funds.
As the head of a key parastatal, Muvuti is a well-known figure in
Zimbabwe, frequently interviewed in state media.
In a speech earlier this
month President Robert Mugabe, whose government is pursuing an anti-corruption
drive - warned Zimbabweans wrongful self-enrichment will not be allowed to go
unpunished.
However, critics say only political lightweights have so far
been caught. - Sapa-dpa
IOL
August 25 2006 at
06:58PM
Hundreds of peasant farmers in south eastern Zimbabwe have been
left with sacks full of worthless money after they failed to meet a currency
swap deadline, it was reported Friday.
Angry cotton farmers from Chipinge
district have been left holding billions of old Zimbabwe dollars, the official
Manica Post newspaper said.
They say they did not have time to travel the
long distances to commercial banks to exchange their old money before Monday's
deadline.
People in my constituency are cotton farmers and they sold
their cotton recently on cash basis. They have huge sums of money that they are
failing to exchange, said the MP for the area, Enock
Porusingazi.
Last month Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor
Gideon Gono gave Zimbabweans three weeks to change old bank notes for new ones
with three zeros less.
The move was an attempt to halt skyrocketing
inflation now hovering just under 1 000 percent - and outwit black
marketeers.
Porusingazi said that with no radio or television reception
in his constituency, the farmers had not benefited from the central banks
publicity campaign on the currency changeover, the Manica Post said. - Sapa-dpa
Asian nation is providing
political,economic help to their governments
By Terry Leonard, The
Associated Press
August 27, 2006
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — On a parade
ground in the Zimbabwean capital, the national commissioner of police recently
told police academy graduates that they should learn Chinese. And why not;
African regimes such as Zimbabwe, largely shunned by the West, are turning to
China for economic and political salvation.
Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe, under targeted sanctions by most Western governments because of his
country's human rights record and its retreat from the rule of law, has declared
a "Look East" policy.
China, hungry for energy and raw materials as its
economy expands, has invested heavily in Africa. At the same time, it has
offered limited political and economic help to repressive governments in Africa.
Western governments are more likely to tie engagement to political and social
reform, though they, too, have a history of backing African dictators.
Africa is also a battleground in China's rivalry with Taiwan. Chad recently
ended ties with Taiwan and resumed diplomatic relations with China after a break
of nearly a decade.
Bilateral trade between China and Africa has increased
more than 300 percent since 2000 and now exceeds $40 billion a year.
"There
is a potential of political leverage for China. The West is worried about
growing Chinese influence. But the political effect so far is less than might
have been imagined," said Stephen Friedman, a senior research fellow at the
Center for Policy Studies in Johannesburg.
"The argument is that they have
helped Mugabe. But they haven't much. It has been more of a symbolic gesture."
But Friedman said repressive and corrupt governments may nonetheless
increasingly turn to China for economic development and political cover.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, on a visit to South Africa in June, insisted
China's interest in Africa was based on mutual respect, and that both sides
would benefit.
"We respect the social system and development strategy
pursued by African countries in light of their particular national conditions,"
Wen said in a speech during his visit. "We do not seek to export our own values
and development models."
"We respect the principle of equality, mutual
benefit and noninterference in other's affairs," he told reporters at another
stop on his South African tour.
China is now the largest exporter of oil
from Angola. It also exports oil from Sudan, without condemning that government
for the killing in the Darfur region that the United States has labeled
genocide.
At the United Nations last September, China worked to dilute a
resolution condemning Sudan for the killings in Darfur.
China has come to
Africa seeking oil and raw materials, such as Zambian copper, and to make
investments that include such big ticket items as roads and refineries, usually
built with Chinese labor.
The Chinese "never make any pretense that they are
anything other than hard nosed and want to take away a profit," said John
Robertson, an independent economist in Harare. "My biggest fear is that Zimbabwe
has become so weakened that at some stage the Chinese can say, ¿We can bail you
out,' and in exchange we not only will repay money but sell their products in
the region.
"In other words, we will become the tool that wipes out the
clothing, footwear and textile industries for the whole of Southern Africa, and
the Chinese will have the market to themselves," said Robertson.
At the
level of the working man, China — and especially imported Chinese workers — are
seen as a threat to already meager livelihoods. In Zambia, local workers have
rioted to protest the Chinese.
Chinese companies have been accused of
flooding Nigerian markets with fake and substandard goods, notably textiles. In
December, Nigerian officials took the dramatic step of shutting down several
shopping centers run by Chinese traders in the commercial capital, Lagos.
Even in South Africa, the richest country on the continent, unions fearful
of a loss of jobs, especially in the clothing and textile industries, are
pressing the government to renegotiate trade agreements with China they believe
are advantageous to the Chinese.
South African imports from China exceeded
$4.4 billion in 2005 compared with $1 billion in exports, according to
government figures.
South African firms — from mining giant Anglo American
to Internet service providers and beer brewers — have invested some $400 million
in China, according to government figures. China has put about $130 million in
South Africa, most in a chromium mine.
In Angola, where most people live in
extreme poverty, Prime Minister Fernando Da Piedade Das Dos Santos last week had
to respond to rumors that he had authorized the immigration of 4 million Chinese
workers into Angola.
"The Chinese are coming to Angola within specific
projects and after those projects come to an end they will return to their
country," he said without confirming or denying the rumored figure.
In
Zimbabwe, "Look East" has generated deep resentment of the Chinese, said John
Makumbe, a political analyst at Zimbabwe University and a critic of Mugabe's
policy.
But Friedman said he believes despite any resentment in the streets,
corrupt and repressive African governments that have nowhere else to turn will
look to China for political legitimacy and protection. Even if China has offered
little political help so far, it presents itself as a leader of the Third World.
Democratic governments in Africa will look toward China because their
businessmen will be pressing for access to China's huge market potential.
Friedman said China believes its investment in Africa, beyond bringing it
the energy and raw materials for expansion, also has the potential of creating a
windfall profit in geopolitical influence in the future.
Zim Online
Mon 28 August
2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe authorities at the weekend insisted that a US$50
million fuel supply fund arranged with French bank, BNP Paribas, was still
active, even as a long-running fuel shortage that worsened in the last three
weeks threatens to bring the country to a complete halt.
Under the
fuel procurement deal, the French bank provides the
state-owned National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) with cash to import
fuel. In return President
Robert Mugabe's virtually broke government uses
earnings from Zimbabwe's
lucrative nickel mining industry to repay BNP
Paribas.
Zimbabwe's
giant nickel producer, Bindura Nickel Corporation, has
pledged a percentage
of its export earnings to meet the loan repayments.
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, a key architect of the
fuel deal, at the
weekend told ZimOnline that the deal was still in place,
adding that the
country was set to receive 37 million litres of fuel
supplied under the
arrangement.
Gono, who refused to answer more questions pertaining to the
fuel
supply deal, would not say when exactly the fuel shipment he said was
on its
way to Zimbabwe would arrive in the country.
"The fuel is
coming but the authorities at NOCZIM can confirm that,"
was all Gono would
say.
NOCZIM chief executive officer, Zvinechimwe Churu, also told state
media at the weekend that Zimbabwe had over the past week taken delivery of
25.7 million litres of fuel worth US$15 million, which was supplied under
the deal with BNP Paribas.
Previous fuel supply deals with oil
suppliers from Libya and Kuwait
collapsed after Harare failed to
pay.
And there was little evidence at the weekend that Zimbabwe was
getting
any substantial supplies of diesel or petrol, with long and winding
queues
of motorists at the few garages - mostly operated by small companies
who
source their own fuel - that were selling fuel in Harare and other
cities.
Fuel queues had disappeared in most cities and towns in Zimbabwe
following the deregulation of the energy sector last year.
But the
government has re-imposed controls on the fuel industry
ordering suppliers
two weeks ago to lower pump prices of diesel and petrol
to levels fuel firms
say are below cost and would condemn them to financial
ruin.
Zimbabwe
has battled severe fuel shortages since 1999 after the
International
Monetary Fund withdrew balance-of-payments support to Harare
following sharp
disagreements with Mugabe over monetary policy and other
governance
issues.
The fuel shortages have resulted in most private and public buses
being forced off the roads with many commuters being left with no option but
to walk or cycle to work. - ZimOnline
Mail and Guardian
Godwin
Gandu
25 August 2006 06:00
The daughter of Zimbabwean
Vice-President, Joice Mujuru, has
helped herself to Ashcott farm, situated
on prime agricultural land about
150km northeast of the capital,
Harare.
Armed with an offer letter issued by Intelligence and Land
Reform Minister Didymus Mutasa, Kumbirai Madzima and her husband, Tapiwa,
arrived three weeks ago on the farm and told the owner, Darryl Zietmann, to
pack, giving him just two days to vacate the land.
Her mother,
Mujuru, is known as a staunch supporter of the
government's expulsion of
white farmers, and has herself benefited from the
policy, living on the
requisitioned farm, Alamein, 70km south of Harare.
The Mail &
Guardian has learnt that the Madzimas arrived with
four helpers in their
Ford pick-up on the 341ha farm. Zietmann had to
hurriedly borrow a
neighbour's truck to pack most of his belongings, which
he took to Harare,
where he is now staying. The rest of his goods he is
storing on a friend's
farm in the area.
Ashcott is in the Mashonaland central province,
situated on the
wheat and orange belt that has sustained the country with
food.
Zietmann last season produced 40ha of soya beans, 10ha of seed
maize, 10ha of commercial maize and 40ha of tobacco, which he harvested,
paying off a loan he obtained from the AgriBank.
"Fortunately for him
the couple stormed in just after he had
harvested and settled his loans,"
the M&G was informed.
Zietmann got a call from the Madzimas on August
2 advising him
that they were the new owners of the property.
A
meeting was hastily arranged the following day and Zietmann
got to know of
his fate in person and immediately "indicated he was prepared
to leave given
the profile of the individual he was dealing with ."
But the couple also
made a further offer when they arrived on
the farm. "The wife [Kumbirai]
said she wanted to buy plates, sofas,
tapestry and a piece of art," an
eyewitness told the M&G. The farm owner
indicated that he would compile
an inventory. Everything in the farmhouse,
according to rough estimates, is
worth about Zim$700-million (R46 000). The
owner took it with him to Harare
but hasn't heard from the Madzimas who have
since settled on the
farm.
More than 20 new settlers have also joined them on
Ashcott.
Zietmann did not want to comment. Tapiwa Madzima denied that
they were already occupying the farm, saying the couple had applied but were
still waiting "to get a farm like any other citizen".
And while the
land resettlements continue unabated, President
Robert Mugabe has recently
warned that new black farmers should produce food
on farms taken from whites
or have the land seized by the government.
Former Grain Marketing Board
chief executive, now opposition
Movement for Democratic Change secretary for
agriculture, Renson Gasela, has
expressed his concern that most of the land
reform beneficiaries "haven't
got the slightest idea about
farming".
"They are relying on the expertise of remaining farm workers,
who have to advise them what to plant, when to plant, pesticides needed and
estimates of financial resources required," he added.
There was such a crush we had to
make room by taking down two of the banners penning us between the four maple
trees. “Wake up World! Zimbabwe is Dying!” and “No to Mugabe and No to
Starvation” gave way before the bursting dancers. A bus brought down a large
contingent from Leicester who made a day of it going on to a fundraiser
organised by North London MDC. A car load came down from Manchester – finally
making it after their last attempt ended in breakdown on the motorway! Two
separate groups came from Newcastle and another from Leeds.
The Vigil
was further augmented by WOZA supporters whose graphic photos of recent
“sheroic” demonstrations drew lots of attention from passers-by. Lois Davis, on
behalf of WOZA, urged Zimbabweans to help with their campaign to phone police
stations holding WOZA women – apparently it’s best late in the day when the
overnight policeman is more likely to be receptive to being told to look after
his mother and sisters! (Police station numbers are available from WOZA-UK so
if you want to take part in the campaign please email:
wozasolidarity2005@yahoo.co.uk.)
Patson Muzuwa, Chair of the Zimbabwe
Association, updated people about the asylum situation and said that reports of
many people being detained were inaccurate but he repeated that Zimbabweans in
the UK should not give the authorities any reason to act against them. He said
the ZA was doing everything it could to support asylum seekers and urged people
not to panic. Good news from one of our Leicester supporters: Bernadette has
received her papers.
Further on the Zimbabwean Delegation to the Home
Office (see posting of 11th August): for reasons we do not accept, the decisions
of this meeting have not been supported by the Refugee Council. After being
lobbied by various elements, they called another meeting on 23rd August, which
was less representative, less inclusive, and attended by fewer people than the
first one. This meeting has chosen a new team to go to the Home Office. We
cannot support this. We will continue with our own initiatives to support
asylum seekers.
Alois and Wellington of Free-Zim Youth showed us the
reply from Lord Triesman, Minister responsible for Africa, following their
submission of a letter to the Prime Minister at a demonstration at 10 Downing
Street (see Vigil Diary of 28th July). Lord Triesman says “We have always said
we would be ready to respond positively to a real commitment to a sustainable
reform in Zimbabwe. Sadly we see no evidence that there is any intention by
Mugabe to move in this direction.” Lord Triesman makes a revealing comment
about the so-called mediation by former President Mkapa of Tanzania. He says
“Mr Mkapa has also made no approach to us. But if he can persuade Mugabe to
undertake the policy changes that Zimbabweans urgently need for a more stable
and prosperous future, we will support his efforts in any way we can.” He goes
on to say “We believe Zimbabwe’s neighbours must recognise and respond further
to Zimbabwe’s sad decline so British Ministers take every opportunity to press
African leaders to seek positive change in Zimbabwe. We are seeing some welcome
African efforts.” Lord Triesman points out that the UK is one of the main
contributors to humanitarian relief efforts for what he estimates as 4.5 million
people starving in Zimbabwe and concludes “Zimbabwe remains a top priority for
this government. We will continue to work with our African and UN partners for
the return of democracy to Zimbabwe.”
Finally, we were saddened to hear
of the death of our supporter Patricia Zinyemba. Her friends, Irene and
Ottiliah, told us she died of a chest infection this week. The Vigil observed a
minute’s silence for her and took a collection. We will miss her. So many
deaths.
`
For this week’s Vigil pictures:
http://uk.msnusers.com/ZimbabweVigil/shoebox.msnw.
FOR THE RECORD: 104
signed the register.
A REMINDER: It is a public holiday on
Monday, 28th August so there will be no Zimbabwe Forum on that date.
FOR
YOUR DIARY: Monday, 4th September, 7.30 pm: there will be a branch assembly for
all members of the MDC Central London Branch. This will be in place of the
Central London Zimbabwe Forum. Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John
Adam Street, London WC2 (cross the Strand from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go down a
passageway to John Adam Street, turn right and you will see the pub).
Vigil co-ordinator
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest
against gross violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe.
http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Zim Online
Mon 28 August
2006
JOHANNESBURG - The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is
pushing for a customs union for the region by 2010, according to a South
Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa.
Addressing the
media at the weekend, Mpahlwa said the issue of
monetary integration for
SADC had received "a high level of attention" at
last week's summit for
heads of state in Maseru, Lesotho.
The South African minister said trade
and finance ministers in the
region were already discussing the modalities
for the implementation of the
monetary integration and were expected to
deliver a report to regional
leaders at the next SADC summit early next
year.
But analysts and observers say economic turmoil in Zimbabwe - once
the
SADC's second strongest economy after South Africa - could scuttle
efforts
at achieving greater economic integration in the region.
For
example, Zimbabwe, in its seventh straight year of recession, has
the
world's highest inflation of nearly 1 000 percent and which is forecast
to
rise further. But most countries within the region have succeeded in
whittling down inflation to single digits.
An influx of Zimbabweans
fleeing worsening economic hardships to
especially South Africa and Botswana
is straining social services in those
countries and in some cases causing
friction between Zimbabwe and its
neighbours.
Besides hyperinflation,
Zimbabwe's economic crisis is also marked by
shortages of fuel, electricity,
essential medicines, hard cash and just
about every basic survival
commodity.
Critics blame the crisis on repression and wrong policies by
President
Robert Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's 1980 independence from
Britain.
Mugabe denies mismanaging Zimbabwe and says the country's troubles
are
because of economic sabotage by Western nations opposed to his
government. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 28 August
2006
BULAWAYO - Five people died on the spot on Sunday when a
Bulawayo-bound National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) train collided head-on
with a Spoornet train near Dete, along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls railway
line.
More than 30 others were injured in the accident and were taken
to
Hwange District hospital for treatment. About 20 of them were treated and
discharged while the rest were admitted, according to hospital
officials.
NRZ spokesperson, Fanuel Masikati confirmed the accident but
told
ZimOnline its cause was yet to be ascertained.
"I can confirm
the accident and that five people died. But we are yet
to establish what
really happened," said Masikati.
However, one engineer with the NRZ who
did not want to be named told
ZimOnline the accident occurred as a result of
poor communication between
the two trains.
A shortage of foreign
currency to revamp an aged communication network
has forced the NRZ to
resort to ancient methods to control train movement on
its equally aged rail
network, a situation that has resulted in several
serious
accidents.
For example, Sunday's train collision is the second such
accident on
the same line in less than three months. The worst accident
occurred in 2001
when 50 people perished after two trains crashed into each
other again
because of poor communication.
Details of the latest
accident were still sketchy last night but NRZ
officials said goods worth
billions of dollars were destroyed when parts of
the collided trains caught
fire. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 28 August 2006
HARARE - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor Gideon Gono has
warned Zimbabweans not to stock up cash in homes as
the country's final
transition to a new currency will be sharp and
swift.
Speaking at the weekend, Gono said the final leg of currency
reforms
he says are meant to shore up the near-worthless Zimbabwe dollar
would be
implemented within 24 hours.
"Next time round, the
implementation process will be short and,
therefore swift. It will require
less than 24 hours notice and will have
much tighter cash limits for
allowable deposits. So Zimbabweans take heed.
Don't say you were not
warned," said Gono.
The RBZ chief earlier this month introduced a new
family of bearer
cheques with less zeroes as part of currency reforms that
also included a
devaluation of the local dollar by more than 60
percent.
Bearer cheques are promissory notes first introduced by the RBZ
three
years ago at the height of cash shortages in Zimbabwe. They are not
official
legal tender but are used in the same way as
money.
Zimbabweans were given 21 days to hand over the old notes and
switch
over to the new currency. The new measures created a siege for most
Zimbabweans as the police and national service youths seized cash from
individuals at roadblocks mounted around the country.
The tough
measures sparked chaotic scenes in most urban areas as
Zimbabweans rushed to
beat the deadline.
Thousands of villagers in remote parts of the country
were also left
holding on to heaps of worthless money after failing to meet
the deadline
forcing the RBZ to last Friday extend the deadline for rural
areas only up
to 2 September.
Gono urged people not to stock up the
new bearer cheques but to make
use of the banking system to avoid being
caught unawares by the next
currency switch.
"Ladies and gentlemen
don't store cash under your pillows and don't
operate mini central banks
because the day of reckoning is coming," he said.
Gono has in the past
accused Zimbabweans of operating "mini central
banks" by stashing cash in
their homes for speculative purposes on the
thriving but illegal parallel
market for foreign currency. - ZimOnline
IOL
August 27 2006 at 03:12PM
Harare - Oil-starved Zimbabwe has received 25.7 million litres of fuel
from Kuwait under a deal financed by French bank BNP Paribas, a state weekly
reported on Sunday.
"Zimbabwe has taken delivery of 25.7 million litres
of fuel worth $15-million (about R108-million) under the $50-million facility
which the country recently signed with French bank BNP Paribas," the Sunday Mail
reported.
National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) chief Zvinechimwe
Churu told the weekly that 8.5 million litres of petrol and 17.5 million litres
of diesel were being brought in from the Mozambican port city of
Beira.
"The product (diesel) is being pumped from Beira and we have
already received the full consignment of petrol," Churu
said.
"Since the supplies are now in the country, the arrangement
is for the public and the private sector to access the product. However, first
priority will be given to certain sectors of the economy, especially
agriculture, as the country gears up for the forthcoming season."
In May,
Zimbabwe signed a $50-million loan deal with French bank BNP Paribas to purchase
fuel and ease shortages that are threatening to bring the economy to its
knees.
Under the deal signed in the capital, Zimbabwe's Bindura Nickel
Corporation (BNC) put up a percentage of its export earnings as a guarantee for
the loan.
Zimbabwe requires $40-million a month to meet its fuel
demands.
The supply, the first under the deal, was sourced from
Independent Petroleum Group of Kuwait, which bagged the tender, Churu
said.
Zimbabwe has been struggling with fuel shortages for nearly seven
years due to a foreign currency crunch.
The shortages have spawned a
burgeoning black market where private importers sell the commodity for as much
as double the government-fixed price of Z$320 (about R9.20) per litre of diesel
and Z$335 for petrol.
The government blames the shortages on sanctions
imposed by the United States and European nations on President Robert Mugabe and
his inner circle following presidential elections in 2002 which the opposition
said were rigged. - Sapa-AFP
26 Aug 2006 13:23 GMT DJ
Copyright © 2006, Dow Jones Newswires
HARARE, Zimbabwe
(AP)--The central bank Saturday gave rural Zimbabweans another week to exchange
their old currency bills for new ones, saying about one-fifth of old notes were
still unaccounted for despite being phased out earlier this month.
Banking officials planned to tour Zimbabwe and offer exchange services
to rural populations, some at least 60 miles from the nearest banking services,
Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono said in a statement.
In Zimbabwe's
hyperinflationary economy, the central bank said it was introducing new bills -
removing three zeros from the old denominations - in order to combat
black-market currency dealing, profiteering and money laundering.
About
22% of old notes in circulation are "missing from our radar," Gono said. The
extended deadline, only for rural people, gives them until Sept. 2 to change
bills that became obsolete with the official currency changeover Aug. 21.
Gono said, however, that some areas resisted the change, and that he and
his staff had received death threats and faced "naked personal hatred" over the
changeover rules.
From Aug. 1, individuals were allowed to exchange a
limit of 100 million old Zimbabwe dollars, equal to about $400, for new currency
in a single transaction each week. Those attempting to exchange more or found
with more at police roadblocks were required to prove they earned or received
the money legally. Businesses could exchange 5 billion old Zimbabwe dollars a
week.
Gono said in that in the three-week period up to Aug. 21, police
and central bank officials reported 9,320 cases in which people holding excess
money could not account for its origin. Seized money was being held in
government bonds, Gono said, adding "those unable to acquit themselves will face
the full wrath of the law."
The central bank "apologize unreservedly"
for misunderstandings, tensions, frayed tempers, scuffles, arrests and alleged
harassment at roadblocks across the country.
Police and central bank
inspectors were searching vehicles for hoards of illegal cash.
"Quite
often, good things have some temporary hurtful consequences," Gono said.
Zimbabwe has suffered more than five years of political and economic
turmoil that followed the often violent seizures of thousands of white-owned
commercial farms to transfer land to black Zimbabweans.
Disruptions in
the agriculture-based economy led to record inflation of nearly 1,000%, the
highest in the world, and acute shortages of food, hard currency from exports
and tourism, gasoline and essential imports.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 26, 2006 09:23 ET (13:23 GMT)
CricInfo
New first-class competition unveiled
Cricinfo staff
August 27, 2006
Zimbabwe Cricket has announced
a revised domestic cricket structure that will see five national select sides
play in a national first-class competition beginning next season.
Cricinfo
understands that the competition will retain the Logan Cup name, but that the
traditional provinces - Mashonaland, Matabeleland etc - will no longer compete.
Instead, five new sides - , the national team, Zimbabwe A, a Board XI, Zimbabwe
Development and the National Academy - will take part.
At a meeting on
Friday, ZC said the objective of the new national league format was ''to create
a professional, well organised and competitive domestic league that is free from
individual politics".
It continued: ''The technical challenges being faced
by ZC today relate to the lack of a clearly defined technical structure. ZC
needs to put in place a technical structure that is well defined in terms of
role with clear and defined outputs in order to measure performance.
"It is
against this background that a workshop on structure development is required
before the onset of the 2006-07 season. This workshop will deal with issues of
communication, job descriptions, politicking among others.''
ZC came under
intense fire after it failed to stage the Logan Cup in 2005-06. At the time a
spokesman insisted that it had merely been postponed and that the seasons had
been rejigged.
Cricinfo first broke the story that the board was planning
the domestic overhaul earlier in the year.
© Cricinfo