Zimbabwe currency plunges to four million to the U.S. dollar

International Herald Tribune

By Brian Latham Bloomberg NewsPublished: December 5, 2007

JOHANNESBURG: The Zimbabwe currency slumped to four million to the dollar on
the black market Tuesday on a shortage of Zimbabwe dollar notes.

"The rate went from 1.2 million Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. on Friday to 4
million Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. today," a currency trader, Nixon Gumbo,
said in a telephone interview from the Road Port market in the capital,
Harare, where many illegal money deals take place.

Banks in Zimbabwe ran short of local currency last month before the central
bank was planning to print new notes and reduce denominations by removing
three zeros. The central bank governor, Gideon Gono, said last week that the
change of currency was "imminent" and would take place unannounced.

Zimbabwe is in its ninth successive year of economic recession following a
land-seizure program implemented by President Robert Mugabe in 2000. The
southern African nation has the world's fastest-shrinking peacetime economy
and the highest inflation rate, estimated at 14,841 percent in October.

"People are sleeping outside banks so they can be first in the queues in the
morning," Gumbo said. "Many of them head straight for the Road Port and
change Zimbabwe dollars into foreign currency. because many places will
accept it, even if it's illegal."

Without cash, Zimbabweans will have a bleak December, Felix Gurumatunhu, who
also trades currency on the black market, said in an interview from Harare.
"It's 4 million to 4.1 million to the U.S. today and probably 4.5 million by
Friday," he said. "People want to go to South Africa to buy groceries
because there's no money here and there is nothing to buy, either."

The U.S. currency has officially traded at 30,000 Zimbabwe dollars since
Sept. 6, when the Zimbabwe currency was devalued by the central bank.

The country has suffered shortages of food, fuel and household appliances
since Mugabe ordered all retailers, manufacturers and service industries to
cut prices by half in June in a bid to curb inflation.

Central bank representatives declined Tuesday to comment on exchange rates
on the black market.

In awe of Mugabe

modernghana.com

Kofi Bentil5-12-2007

Feature Article - Wed, 05 Dec 2007
ACCRA -- African Union leaders meeting their European Union counterparts in
December are supposed to represent our future but when it comes to Robert
Mugabe they are stuck in an ideological time-warp: Mugabe is a
freedom-fighter and Zimbabwe is a victim of Western depredations, including
threats to boycott the meeting.

Even democratically-elected Ghanaian President John Kufuor, Chairman of the
African Union, recently observed equivocally: "When the leader of the
opposition gets beaten up, for good or ill, naturally all concerned should
be worried."

At least Mugabe is honest: “Some are crying that they were beaten. Yes you
will be thoroughly beaten. When the police say move, you move. If you don’t
move, you invite the police to use force,” he said about trade-union
activists arrested in September last year.

Paralysed by hero-worship, the Southern African Development Community summit
in August supported Mugabe’s claims of a UK plot, our Heads of State gave
Mugabe a podium and a standing ovation in Kenya in May, most of them backed
Zimbabwe’s cruelly ironic election to the UN Commission on Sustainable
Development this year and the whole AU boycotted a 2003 summit with the EU
because Mugabe was excluded.

Their pretext is the sacred mantra of non-interference and respecting
sovereignty--meaning the sovereignty of ruling cliques, not of
long-suffering citizens.

Our leaders have to recognise that Mugabe is not an ideological dictator in
the mould of their heroes Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Julius Nyerere in
Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia or Milton Obote in Uganda, nor even like
ideologues such as Hitler, Stalin or his own hero Kim Il Sung: he is a
straightforward kleptocrat determined to hold on to power at any cost.

Even the democratic African leaders, including Kufuor and South Africa’s
Thabo Mbeki, like to hear Mugabe blaming the West for Zimbabwe’s and all our
ills, as he did in Nairobi at May’s Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA) summit.

He was applauded for complaining about commodity prices being fixed by the
West, although free markets do not fix prices in the way that African
governments fix prices and monopolise commodity sales.

SADC leaders in Lusaka even backed Mugabe’s claim that Zimbabwe is a victim
of economic sanctions although the only measures, by the EU and the USA, are
travel and financial restrictions on about 130 members of the ruling clique
(in fact, the UK is the second biggest provider of humanitarian assistance
to Zimbabwe). SADC executive secretary Dr. Tomaz Salomao said in November:
“for us they are sanctions and our approach has been to have them lifted."

Many also shared Mugabe’s economically-ignorant call for self-sufficiency.
But no developed country is self-sufficient in commodities (nor even most
manufactured products) and we Africans cannot live on a diet of cocoa beans
and tea: selling it is much more profitable.

Manufacturing and adding value are great economic aims but they do not
happen successfully by government decree--right now, Africans suffer heavy
import tariffs for essential inputs (such as fertilizer) and medicines,
state control of exports, lack of property rights, obstacles to private
enterprise and a ubiquitous corrupt bureaucracy.

Yet our leaders do not accept that the key to our future is allowing our
people to create wealth: we cannot free ourselves from poverty without
economic freedoms such as property rights, the rule of law and free markets.

But the Mugabe version remains attractive because we all like to believe
that our failures are someone else’s fault.

And Mugabe remains in power after 27 years, at the age of 83. It seems true
that evil men live long but that is because every day an evil man lives is
like eternity to the oppressed.

Neither South Africa’s “quiet diplomacy” nor Western restrictions on
money-laundering can influence a man who is cocooned in delusions and
treated with deference by his neighbours.

Our new crop of elected African leaders, blithely talking of an African
Renaissance, should be emboldened by their own democratic authority to face
up to people like Mugabe (and the leaders of Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia).

They should make Mugabe unwelcome at civilized meetings like the EU-AU
summit in Lisbon and put legal pressure on him by consensus, as West African
leaders did to force out Charles Taylor in Liberia.

Our leaders managed to evade any action at the recent Commonwealth Summit
because Zimbabwe is no longer a member but the AU-EU summit puts Mugabe
centre-stage: he has confirmed he will go and Britain’s Prime Minister
Gordon Brown has confirmed his boycott.

They should heed the call of Ghanaian former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
who said recently: "Africans must guard against a pernicious,
self-destructive form of racism that unites citizens to rise up and expel
tyrannical rulers who are white, but to excuse tyrannical rulers who are
black"

Before embarrassing themselves again, our leaders must come to their senses
and join the huge majority of Africans who reject the barbaric Mugabe: by
embracing economic freedoms to save their own countries, they would offer
hope to Zimbabweans for the day after Mugabe.

Kofi Bentil is a lecturer at Ashesi University and a consultant in business
strategy in Accra, Ghana.

“We Have Degrees in Violence”: A report on torture and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe

Open Society Institute (OSI)

Date: 31 Dec 2007

I. SUMMARY

The 2008 Presidential campaign has already begun. This violence is the
strategy of the ruling party. They want to eliminate opposition now so that
the situation will appear calm in the period before the election.

-Zimbabwean Human Rights

It is less than one year before Zimbabwe will hold the presidential and
parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2008. Since early 2007 the
country has been subject to an upsurge in political violence that has
seriously undermined the democratic process and created a presumption that
these elections will not be free and fair. State-any individuals or groups
who are perceived to be critical of President Robert Mugabe, his government
or his policies, manifests a strategy to demobilize Zimbabweans from
mounting or supporting an organized opposition campaign. The international
community and Southern African Democratic Community (SADC) have attempted to
play a role in encouraging a democratic process by introducing South Africa’s
between the ruling and opposition parties. However, the international
community remains ineffective in its efforts to stop states-sponsored
violence in Zimbabwe.

On March 11, 2007 a coalition of church and civic organizations known as the
Save Zimbabwe Campaign, organized a township near the capital Harare. Police
used violence and arrests to prevent the peaceful prayer rally. They shot to
death an unarmed activist, Gift Tandare, and subsequently arrested several
leaders of the major opposition party—the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) as well as rank and file attendees. While the brutal beatings and
interference with medical care of the prominent MDC leaders following March
11 received considerable media attention, the persisting torture and
political violence,(1) particularly that perpetrated activists, against have
not been documented by international health and human rights experts. This
sponsored violence that occurred in the wake of the highly publicized events
of March 11, 2007.

Researchers from the Advocate for Survivors of Torture traveled to South
Africa and Zimbabwe during the last week of April and first two weeks of May
2007 nongovernmental organizations to evaluate reports of torture and
political violence. This report is based on the detailed testimony and
medical examination of 24 individuals who were subjected to torture or
political violence during March and April 2007. Additionally, interviews
were conducted with more than 30 health professionals, human rights
advocates and violence directed representatives of non-governmental
organizations in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

This investigation, the health professionals with expertise in the
evaluation documentation and treatment of torture victims since the March
2007 violence, provides evidence that the Zimbabwean government is
systematically utilizing torture and violence as a means of deterring
political president, Thabo Mbeki, as a mediator opposition. This
state-low-level political organizers sponsored violence in Zimbabwe in
addition to the prominent members of the political opposition. The medical
evaluations of recent victims of torture and political violence document
physical and psychological evidence of violent human rights abuses and the
devastating health consequences of rally in Highfield, a such political
violence. Victims were detained under inhuman conditions and denied
appropriate access to medical and legal assistance. Members of civil
society, including doctors and lawyers assisting victims of political
violence, described being subjected to rank and file attendees.harassment by
government authorities.

Note:

(1) For this report, individuals subjected to torture if the experience(s)
they reported were considered by the examining physicians to meet criteria
for torture as defined in the Torture. (See Methods Section Individuals were
classified political violence if the experience(s) they reported was
considered, by the examining physicians, to be a violent act as a result of
their political activities or beliefs, but which was not considered,
necessarily, to constitute torture.

Mugabe bill leads to ‘smash-and-grab’

Financial Times

By Alec Russell

Published: December 5 2007 02:35 | Last updated: December 5 2007 02:35

The approach to buy one of the larger South African manufacturing companies
still operating in Zimbabwe was conducted with a punctilious regard for
form. First there was an introductory meeting, then terms were laid out in
an official letter.

But the offer price from a consortium linked to officials in President
Robert Mugabe’s government was a fraction of the company’s worth and, the
chief executive recalled, he was clearly not meant to turn it down.

“They made an appointment and asked: ‘Are you aware of the bill [the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill, which calls for black Zimbabweans to
have a 51 per cent stake in foreign-owned firms]? Do you know what it means?
We don’t want to put any pressure on you but have you considered who your
future partners will be?’”
The “indigenisation” bill was passed by parliament in September in the face
of outrage from business people, who warned it would force foreign-owned
businesses to close.

As Zimbabwe’s econ­omic implosion accelerates, with the official rate of
inflation at 15,000 per cent, more companies are coming under pressure to
sell, even though Mr Mugabe has not yet signed the bill into law.

Officials say the bill aims to redress past injustices, but the opposition
sees it as a brazen attempt by officials to exploit political uncertainty by
seizing assets.

“It’s a desperate and cynical smash-and-grab,” said Paul Themba Nyathi, a
leading figure in the bitterly divided opposition Movement for Democratic
Change. “Officials sense the government cannot last for ever and so want to
have a foot in business for when the situation improves.”

The chief executive said the move against him had been clearly timed for
when his morale had already been hit by the government’s price-cutting
campaign.

In a crude attempt to drive down inflation five months ago the government
ordered a 50 per cent cut on basic commodities.

The manufacturing company was one of many businesses that had to sell their
stock at about a quarter of the market price.

“I took the bulk of my stock across the border to Botswana but even if I
wanted to produce flat out, the supply chain has just about broken,” the
chief executive said. “We are now running at about a quarter of our old
levels.

“We enjoy credit from our parent company but we wouldn’t if we no longer
owned a controlling stake. And what is the point for them of owning 51 per
cent of a company that is heading into oblivion?”

Most business people see the offensive as a refinement of the move against
commercial farmers seven years ago, when hundreds of mainly white farmers
were driven off the land in a crude and belated attempt at land
redistribution. Then, as now, elections were looming, and, analysts say, Mr
Mugabe needed a populist move to shore up his ­support.

“They’ve looked at the farms and realise that if you take 100 per cent there
is nothing left,” said the chief executive, in a reference to the many
commercial farms now lying untended.

The bigger foreign-owned businesses are refusing to give way. Stanbic and
Standard Chartered are believed to have made clear to the government that
they would withdraw rather than hand over a 51 per cent stake.

“The authorities are hoping people will concede without a fight,” said the
chief executive of another manufacturing company that has been invited to
sell a controlling stake. “It’s a rattling of sabres.”

His company also suffered from the price controls. He had to close his
factory temporarily and dismiss most of his 70 workers. Now they sell only
about 7 per cent of their old output from the warehouse floor and do most of
their business informally.

Business people pin their hopes on the law never being signed but concede Mr
Mugabe usually follows through with his threats.

At a meeting of Bulawayo’s chamber of commerce, Paul Mangwana, the minister
of indigenisation, recently scoffed at warnings. “When the world runs out of
chrome [of which Zimbabwe has large assets], the world will come to us on
its knees,” he said.

Graves tell the story of Mugabe's misrule

The Telegraph

By Sebastien Berger
Last Updated: 2:29am GMT 05/12/2007

      In the far corner of Kumbuzi cemetery, a mile from the entrance, is
the evidence of Robert Mugabe's misrule.

      Simple metal plaques on tightly-packed graves are painted white with
the names and dates of the dead, with birthday after birthday in the 1970s.

      Escort Tauzeni was 29 when he died. On one side is Vimbai Mazana, 30.

      On the other lies Kennedy Bono, 36. Behind him is Monica Mhlanga, who
expired six weeks short of her 30th birthday. Next to her is Ophardy
Dingiswayo, 32.

      The ages at Harare's biggest cemetery, south of the city, might appear
shockingly young, but in fact they are a brutal illustration of a Zimbabwean
statistic and entirely average.

      A World Health Organisation report last year put life expectancy in
Zimbabwe at 37 for men and 34 for women, the lowest in the world. The
African average was 47 for men, 10 years longer, and 49 for women - a full
decade and a half more.

      "These days there's more and more funerals," said a cemetery worker.
"There's more than 20 a day. That's the limit, we don't have enough grave
diggers."

      Aid organisations say the death toll is largely the result of
HIV-Aids, but point out that the effects of the epidemic are exacerbated by
the non-availability of drugs for adults in Zimbabwe's wrecked health
service, and the shattered economy.

      Cemetery number 6, in Magwegwe, on the outskirts of Bulawayo, has been
open for less than two years but already holds thousands of bodies.

      "There's always a burial going on during the day," said an aid worker.
"People will be standing on the other graves. Right now I'm surprised
there's only two funerals."

      "HIV and poverty is not a very nice combination," he said. South
Africa, he pointed out, has a similar HIV epidemic "but people can afford to
buy food".

      In a culture where funerals are an important rite of passage, those
who are given one - maybe supplemented later by a granite headstone - are
the lucky ones, according to Stella Allberry, health spokesman for the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

      Families too poor to pay for the ceremony are abandoning their sick,
she said.

      "When they can't afford to bury them they take them to hospital, drop
them off under another name, and say 'bye bye, I love you, bye bye' so they
die as paupers and the government buries them.

      "People are dying but we are very very polite. You will see a whole
casualty room of people sitting quietly, they are tolerant and they are
good, the gentlest dog that's been kicked and kicked and kicked.

      "One day he's going to turn around and bite - or maybe he's just going
to die of his wounds."

Sokwanele Newsletter : Zimbabwe Election Watch : Issue 12

Zimbabwe Election Watch
Issue 12: 04 December 2007

Executive Summary

Reportedly riled when South African President Thabo Mbeki raised allegations of continued violence against opposition supporters during their meeting in Harare late last month, President Mugabe dismissed them as the "usual accusations" made by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

However, the MDC has provided Mr Mbeki with a substantial dossier of cases of violence against its members. Other aspects of major concern highlighted by the opposition and civil society include the crushing of rallies, meetings and protest marches by riot police, and the politicisation of traditional leaders and food distribution.

According to human rights documentation in the possession of Dr Jendayi Frazer, US Assistant Secretary for State, this year is the worst to date for human rights abuses. On record are about 6 000 instances of abuse, more than 90 cases of politically motivated kidnappings and abductions, and 3 463 detailed cases of torture.

As President Mbeki flew out of Harare, 22 activists from the National Constitutional Assembly were severely tortured by state security agents and ruling party enforcers at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare.

Although the army has traditionally supported Mr Mugabe, a retired army colonel, Bernard Matongo says the regime is in denial about the violence and the only way the opposition should go for elections is if the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sends monitors six months in advance.

Harare political scientist Eldred Masungure says the new electoral laws that have been published provide a better electoral framework, but free and fair elections will only take place if President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party honour them.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition says there is an urgent need create a conducive electoral environment for all parties and to deal with issues surrounding the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which is packed with Zanu PF sympathisers.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a civic election monitoring group, notes that legislation alone cannot prevent malpractices. Their recent report cites numerous discrepancies in the registration process, as well as allegations of bribery and corrupt practices.

In a letter to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the MDC says a recent audit shows that the voters' roll is unusable and is full of "dead and ghost voters". The party also says it cannot accept the current flawed delimitation exercise.

Despite requests to shelve the exercise until the conclusion of the current talks, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission insists it will press ahead with demarcation of constituencies.

A national survey conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute finds that most Zimbabweans eligible to vote have not received any worthwhile voter education.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project has documented 267 cases in September in which food and other forms of aid, such as the provision of seed, were carried out along political lines.

No changes on the ground as Zanu PF manipulates talks
Source Date: 23-11-2007

As Zimbabweans debate the progress of talks between Zanu PF and the MDC in South Africa, an analyst working for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said Zanu PF is playing games with the opposition.

Pedzisai Ruhanya, the group's Programmes Manager, said …. Robert Mugabe has managed to use Constitutional Amendment 18 to solve his own succession dilemma. The act allows him to handpick a successor.

He said there was an urgent need to deal with the administrative body that will run next year’s election, including the creation of a conducive electoral environment for all parties….

To make matters worse the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, which is packed with Zanu PF sympathisers, has gone on to appoint soldiers, Central Intelligence Organisation members and other party supporters to the Delimitation Commission.

The commission is meant to redraw electoral boundaries and has in the past been used to manipulate voting patterns in favour of Zanu PF.

A lot of issues to do with the composition of the ZEC, the voters' roll, ballot papers and polling stations still remain unclear….

He reiterated that as long as state institutions were not demilitarized, structures like the Border Gezi militia disbanded and a free media created, participation in the election was ill advised.

Violence in the country continues unabated, opposition rallies and meetings are disrupted, as are protest marches, which are brutally crushed by riot police.

Source: SW Radio Africa (ZW)
Link to source: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news231107/talks231107.htm

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.2: Freedom of association;
• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 2.1.6: Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for
• 2.1.7: Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions …
• 2.1.8: Voter education.
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 4.1.3: Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration;
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.6: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections;
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …
• 7.9: [The member state holding elections shall] Encourage the participation of women, disabled and youth in all aspects of the electoral process …

As Mbeki flies out, CIO tortures 22 NCA activists
Source Date: 23-11-2007

As South African President Thabo Mbeki flew out of Harare, 22 activists from the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) were severely tortured by state security agents and ruling party enforcers, at Zanu PF headquarters….

The 22 NCA activists had taken part in a demonstration (alongside an estimated 400 others) near Mbeki's motorcade earlier in Harare….

Police arrested … and later released them after they had paid fines at Harare Central Police station. According to one of the victims it was then that a minibus, suspected to be owned by the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), pulled over and they were forced into it. They were then taken to Zanu PF's Jongwe headquarters.

Fifteen suspected secret service agents and Zanu PF militiamen then submitted
them to eight hours of torture. This included being forced to stand on their heads for an hour, being beaten under the feet with metal bars and large wooden planks, cleaning out toilets with bare hands, and being made to roll naked in a mixture of ash and broken glass….

Identified victims: Mr Melusi, an activist from the National Constitutional Assembly

Source: SW Radio Africa (ZW)
Link to source: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news231107/postvisit_torture231107.htm

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.2: Freedom of association;
• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 4.1.1: Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …

Election monitoring group says Zimbabwe Electoral Reform Bill flawed
Source Date: 03-12-2007

Electoral system reform legislation making its way through the Zimbabwean parliament would effect some "significant" changes but falls short in many respects, according to the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a civic election monitoring group.

The organisation, which mobilized thousands of monitors in the 2005 general election, has issued a new report which concludes that the “effectiveness of any electoral reforms depend on how electoral laws are applied and enforced in practice.”

The ZESN report notes that the legislation introduces provisions to make certain forms of intimidation of participants in elections criminal offences, and also stipulates that an intimidating practice will at the same time constitute an electoral malpractice.

But for this new regimen to be effective, it says, an “independent" electoral commission needs to be given powers to direct the police chief to ensure that proper investigations are conducted. It adds that “legislation alone cannot prevent malpractices.”

The organisation said the legislation should ensure there is an impartial, efficient and active electoral commission and that there is rigorous observation and monitoring of all stages of the electoral process. It added that before final delimitation of constituencies such an independent commission should take into account public comments.

ZESN noted that the proposed electoral law amendment bill does not address misuse of state funds for electoral purposes, which it described as a serious defect because it would allow the ruling party to “exploit an unfair advantage."…

Source: VOANews (USA)
Link to source: http://voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2007-12-03-voa49.cfm

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.6: Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for
• 2.1.8: Voter education.
• 4.1.1: Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.1: [The member state holding elections shall] Take necessary measures to ensure the scrupulous implementation of the above principles …
• 7.3: [The member state holding elections shall] Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel …
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.6: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections;
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

MDC accuses ZEC of bias
Source Date: 29-11-2007

The Morgan Tsvangirai-led faction of the MDC yesterday wrote to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) alleging that it (ZEC) was being used by the government to rig next year’s harmonised elections on behalf of Zanu PF through the manipulation of the voters’ roll and delimitation of ward and constituency boundaries, among others.

In the letter signed by the party’s secretary for elections, Ian Makone, the MDC said it had pointed out to ZEC in previous correspondences that the recently concluded mobile voter registration exercise was "opaque, biased in favour of perceived ruling party strongholds, poorly publicised and executed".

The MDC said it would not accept the exercise.

"Given the problems surrounding the exercise and a pittance of new voters who got registered, the MDC would like to disassociate itself from such an exercise which was carried out in disregard of Zimbabweans’ democratic right to register as voters," Makone wrote.

He said an audit recently carried out by the MDC shows that not only is the voters’ roll unacceptably flawed, but it is also unusable.

"It is full of dead and ghost voters," Makone wrote. "To this should be added a significant number of people who were displaced by Operation Murambatsvina from urban centres, who are predominantly MDC."

He said this had disenfranchised a "whole segment of our society and your commission has a responsibility to ensure that these people are re-enfranchised, wherever they may now be residing.”

Makone also alleged that as a result of a poorly-executed voter registration exercise, the delimitation programme would also be ipso facto flawed.

"The MDC cannot be expected to accept a delimitation exercise that is based on inaccurate statistics of registered voters," he complained.

The party said it does not recognise the current delimitation, arguing that this process must await the outcome of the SADC-initiated talks between the opposition and Zanu PF….

Source: Zimbabwe Independent, The (ZW)
Link to source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200711300804.html

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.2: Freedom of association;
• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 2.1.6: Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for
• 2.1.7: Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions …
• 2.1.8: Voter education.
• 4.1.1: Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 4.1.3: Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration;
• 7.1: [The member state holding elections shall] Take necessary measures to ensure the scrupulous implementation of the above principles …
• 7.3: [The member state holding elections shall] Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel …
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.6: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections;
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Electoral body ignores MDC call on election boundaries
Source Date: 26-11-2007

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says it is will press ahead with demarcation of constituencies for next year's elections despite pleas by the opposition to shelve the exercise until the conclusion of talks with the ruling Zanu PF party.

ZEC public relations director Shupikai Mashereni said the commission had the "legal mandate" to prepare for the polls including drawing up constituency boundaries, adding it would only stop doing so if ordered by the government.

"We work according to the law and as things stand, we have the legal mandate to draw the (constituency) boundaries," Mashereni told ZimOnline….

"We will only stop when we are told to or if the law changes," the ZEC official said, adding that it was only reasonable that the commission starts its work now or it would fail to meet deadlines….

Source: Zim Online (ZW)
Link to source: http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=2372

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.6: Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for
• 4.1.3: Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration;
• 7.1: [The member state holding elections shall] Take necessary measures to ensure the scrupulous implementation of the above principles …
• 7.3: [The member state holding elections shall] Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel …
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Top army officer to head ZEC in Manicaland
Source Date: 29-11-2007

A senior officer in the Zimbabwe National Army, Colonel Moffat Masabeya, has been appointed as the provincial elections officer for Manicaland.

Described as a die-hard Zanu-PF man, Colonel Masabeya lost in the 2005 primaries to represent the ruling party in the Chimanimani constituency, currently held by State Enterprises and Anti-corruption minister Samuel Undenge….

Facing perhaps their biggest electoral challenge from the opposition MDC, Mugabe and his ruling party have become increasingly reliant on the military for political survival.

Mugabe continues to appoint serving and retired members of the armed forces to the ZEC, despite a provision in Constitutional Amendment number 18, barring the military, police and prison officers from any involvement in elections, beyond providing security.

Almost all elections in the country have been tainted by charges of electoral fraud and complaints over the role of the military in the running of the polls.

Source: SW Radio Africa (ZW)
Link to source: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov30a_2007.html

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.7: Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions …
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.1: [The member state holding elections shall] Take necessary measures to ensure the scrupulous implementation of the above principles …
• 7.3: [The member state holding elections shall] Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel …
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Financial irregularities unearthed at Zim elections body
Source Date: 03-12-2007

The Comptroller and Auditor General, Mildred Chiri, has unearthed financial irregularities and mismanagement at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), casting a dark shadow on the commission’s ability to manage large sums of cash it received for next year’s polls.

The commission, that runs elections, was last week allocated Z$209 trillion to cover costs for next year’s joint presidential, parliamentary and local government elections. The commission received $27 billion for the 2005 parliamentary polls.

However, an audit report by Chiri’s office dated May 3, 2006 … revealed disbursements of cash to teams running the 2005 poll were done haphazardly with little or no accountability.

The report says there was no proper financial control of funds and that in some instances people who conducted voter education were paid twice, while in some cases large sums of money were transferred between ZEC teams in different constituencies without proper procedures being followed.

The report did not say how much money exactly could not be accounted for, but noted that due to lack of financial control systems it was difficult to do reconciliations for cash advanced to electoral teams….

Under new constitutional provisions enacted last August, the ZEC oversees voter registration, delimitation of constituencies and the general conduct of elections.

Source: Zim Online (ZW)
Link to source: http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=2406

SADC standards breached

• 7.3: [The member state holding elections shall] Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel …
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.6: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections;
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Corruption and economic crisis mar voter registration
Source Date: 21-11-2007

Rampant corruption and the economic crisis hampered the much-vaunted mobile voters' registration exercise, an independent electoral body has said.

The latest report by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) points to numerous discrepancies in the registration process, heightening doubts over the transparency of next year's crucial elections.

According to findings of a ZESN report that came out Wednesday, chances of a free and fair election under prevailing conditions in the country are slim.

Chief among the disparities identified by ZESN are allegations that registration officials were demanding bribes from the rural poor before recording them on the voters’ roll. The report attributes the corrupt practices of the officials to the low allowances the registrars receive.

The report also notes that the country's general economic crisis, characterised by power outages and fuel shortages, also affected the mobile voter registration process. In addition findings of the 'Mop-up Mobile Voter Registration Report' state that posters advertising the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission were barely seen in public areas.

ZESN head Noel Kututwa said most people did not participate in the process as lack of publicity and poor selection of the registration centres brought adverse effects.

He said: "Very few people learnt about this process. We observed that the majority of the people were unaware that there was voter registration going on but were aware that national ID cards were being issued….”

Source: SW Radio Africa (ZW)
Link to source: http://www.swradioafrica.com/news211107/corruption211107.htm

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.6: Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for
• 2.1.7: Independence of the Judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions …
• 2.1.8: Voter education.
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 4.1.3: Non-discrimination in the voters’ registration;
• 7.3: [The member state holding elections shall] Establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel …
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.6: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections;
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …
• 7.9: [The member state holding elections shall] Encourage the participation of women, disabled and youth in all aspects of the electoral process …

Voter education lags far behind
Source Date: 02-12-2007

Although elections scheduled for early next year are only a few months away, most Zimbabweans eligible to vote have not received any worthwhile voter education, according to a survey by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI).

The national survey on Zimbabwe Electoral Processes and Reforms, conducted in all the provinces and released recently, says 68% of the potential voters in Zimbabwe have not received any voter/civic education….

On voter/civic education by party affiliation, the survey revealed that supporters of the Morgan Tsvangirai-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were the worst affected, with 75% of the sampled supporters saying they had not received any voter education.

Sixty-four percent of the Arthur Mutambara faction said they had not received any voter education.

For Zanu PF, 60% of the members were in dire need of voter education.

Another finding of the survey was that 32% of potential voters had still not registered at the time of the inquiry….

Source: Zimbabwe Standard, The (ZW)
Link to source: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/dec2a_2007.html

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.8: Voter education.
• 7.6: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the availability of adequate logistics and resources for carrying out democratic elections;
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …
• 7.9: [The member state holding elections shall] Encourage the participation of women, disabled and youth in all aspects of the electoral process …

Coercion and intimidation? Just the usual election preparations
Source Date: 28-11-2007

With three months still to go before the country's presidential and parliamentary elections, it seems coercion, intimidation and evictions have begun in all provinces.

This week The Zimbabwean talked to activists for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare, Chitungwiza and Masvingo province.

They told how gangs of Zanu PF hitmen had ordered them to leave the area or be killed.

Munjodzi Mnashe, in Zengeza Two of Chitungwiza, said: "These youths accused us of working for a puppet party which is pursuing the interests of the West. I thought of going to the police for help, but when I realised who was behind these evictions, I knew I would be wasting my time."

In Masvingo, 15 men and their families moved to an MDC safe house after Zanu PF officials evicted them….

Source: Zimbabwean, The (ZW)
Link to source: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov29_2007.html

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.1: Full participation of the citizens in the political process;
• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 4.1.1: Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Villagers punished for supporting MDC
Source Date: 28-11-2007

An entire ward in rural Bindura has been denied farming inputs and equipment as punishment for supporting the opposition MDC.

Angry villagers from Ward 18, which comprises 14 villages in Mashonaland, told The Zimbabwean last week that their ward was the only one in the area denied ox-drawn ploughs and other equipment sourced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe under the government's recent farm mechanisation scheme.

The ward, located within a Zanu PF stronghold under Elliot Manyika, voted overwhelmingly for the opposition during last year's rural council elections. Since then, it has not benefited from any scheme organised by the Government.

"The whole thing is so unfair. Everyone should be allowed to choose a political party of his or her choice. Even criminal is the use of inputs acquired through tax payers' funds for partisan purposes. This is vote buying," said MDC Bindura Rural Acting Chairperson Alfred Chitonho.

Source: Zimbabwean, The (ZW)
Link to source: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov29_2007.html

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Former military men continue to take over gvt departments
Source Date: 20-11-2007

A high number of senior Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) officers continue to take over control of several government companies and departments in a move that has been described by some as a "military coup in the public sector"….

Over the years President Mugabe has been putting faith in the military commanders to make sure they help run the crisis-ridden country, an apparent show of no confidence in civilians around him.

Yesterday former Police Senior Assistant Commissioner Albert Mandizha was appointed general manager of the strategic Grain Marketing Board (GMB), taking over from Colonel Samuel Muvuti, who had been acting for the past four years….

The GMB has in the past been accused of not giving food aid to suspected opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters….

Source: zimbabwejournalists.com (ZW)
Link to source: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/nov21_2007.html

SADC standards breached

• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.5: [The member state holding elections shall] Take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging…
• 7.8: [The member state holding elections shall] Ensure the transparency and integrity of the entire electoral process …

Bias widespread in food aid distribution, Zimbabwe civic group charges
Source Date: 25-11-2007

Millions of Zimbabweans are depending on distributions of food aid to survive due to a poor harvest last year and the economic crisis besetting the country, but a new report by a nongovernmental organisation says food is being handed out on political lines to reward backers of the ruling party and exclude supporters of the opposition.

The Zimbabwe Peace Project said it documented 267 cases in September in which the distribution of food and other forms of aid, such as the provision of seed, was carried out on political lines.

Such discrimination, which in some cases included harassment and violence, occurred nationally, according to the organisation. But the pattern of discrimination was strongest in Masvingo and Midlands provinces, it said.

It cited "malicious damage to property, physical attack on community members and in a serious case a village head was allegedly shot in a dispute over food aid. For women, some food distributors were demanding sex in exchange for food aid."

In 70% of cases, those denied food or other aid were opposition members, said the civil society group, while 8% of the victims were members of the ruling party, and 3% were penalized for an affiliation with some nongovernmental organisation.

The Peace Project report said instances of discrimination on grounds of political party affiliation or participation in NGO activities "abound in the food distribution process."

The report said such abuses were most commonly associated with distributions by the Grain Marketing Board, the Zimbabwean state cereals monopoly….

Source: VOANews (USA)
Link to source: http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/Zimbabwe/2007-11-25-voa13.cfm

SADC standards breached

• 2.1.3: Political tolerance;
• 4.1.1: Constitutional and legal guarantees of freedom and rights of citizens
• 4.1.2: Conducive environment for free, fair and peaceful elections
• 7.4: [The member state holding elections shall] Safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens …

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Cash-rich platinum producer shrugs off risks

Financial Times

By William MacNamara in Johannesburg

Published: December 5 2007 02:44 | Last updated: December 5 2007 02:44

For Impala Platinum, the world’s second largest producer, leaving Zimbabwe
is not an option.

As demand sends the price soaring, the principal sources of the metal remain
concentrated in two small regions of South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Impala, through its subsidiary Zimbabwe Platinum, controls significantly
more platinum assets in the country than any other international miner and
is one of the largest foreign enterprises still operating in the country.
Its Zimbabwean concessions encompass about 90m ounces of platinum reserves,
although it extracted only 89,000 ounces last year.
The most difficult thing was not being able to exploit Zimbabwe’s potential,
said David Brown, chief executive, at the company’s Johannesburg
headquarters. Even maintaining a limited operation requires ever more artful
manoeuvres.

Cash-rich Impala is spending $340m (€230m, £170m) in Zimbabwe to expand its
production capacity, but the risks grow by the day. In late November the
Harare government drafted a bill that would hand the state 25 per cent of
all foreign-owned mining interests in the country.

“We are hoping that it is more about electioneering than intent,” said Mr
Brown. “But we cannot discount that it has an element of intent in it.”

The mining bill is part of wider “indigenisation” legislation aiming for 51
per cent Zimbabwean ownership. “We are firmly supportive of indigenisation
principles,” said Mr Brown. “The number is the problem: 51 per cent is not
practical. It means asking investors to fork out 100 per cent of the risk
for 49 per cent of the return.”

Impala has shored up its standing with government by swapping 36 per cent of
its mineral exploration rights for indigenisation credits.

Britain handing propaganda victory to Mugabe

The Telegraph

By Sebastien Berger in Harare
Last Updated: 2:19am GMT 05/12/2007

      President Robert Mugabe denounced British "interference" in his
country yesterday as analysts said that Gordon Brown was handing the
Zimbabwean leader a propaganda coup by boycotting this weekend's EU-Africa
summit.

      Crowing over his invitation to the Lisbon summit in his annual state
of the nation address, Mr Mugabe told the Harare parliament that "the
sinister campaign by Britain to isolate us continues to disintegrate".

      He thanked "our brothers and sisters for their solidarity with us in
the face of sustained manipulation and arm-twisting manoeuvres cunningly
spearheaded by Britain".

      He added: "Let the message ring clearly to our detractors that as a
sovereign nation we will not brook any interference in our domestic
affairs."

      Mr Brown is refusing to attend the gathering of European and African
heads of government in protest at Mr Mugabe's abuse of power, which has seen
him rig elections, destroy the economy and leave four million Zimbabweans
needing food aid.

      Britain will instead be represented by Baroness Amos, a former
international development secretary. But the Prime Minister's boycott is
believed by many in Zimbabwe to suit Mr Mugabe's agenda. He consistently
claims that his country's turmoil is no more than a dispute between London
and Harare.

      He also retains the respect of many of his countrymen as an
independence hero.

      Mr Mugabe's government has waged a brilliantly effective propaganda
campaign, believed by millions of people across Africa, blaming supposed
Western sanctions against Zimbabwe for the destruction of the economy, even
though the only measures the EU has imposed are a visa ban and asset freeze
on named officials of the regime.

      "I think Gordon Brown is making a mistake," said Professor Eldred
Masunungure, the professor of political science at the University of
Zimbabwe. "He should go there not to confront Mugabe but to participate in a
bigger agenda. He could contribute more meaningfully to the resolution of
the Zimbabwean crisis by being there and extracting as many concessions as
possible."

      The professor believes that Mr Mugabe is willing to retire, but only
on his own terms and "with his tail up".

      "That's one reason why he is so keen on attending the Lisbon summit,"
he said. "For him and his lieutenants that's a major victory.

      "The West, principally the US and UK, mostly they have insisted on him
leaving with his tail between his legs and it was a major tactical error.
That's never going to work given the psychological make-up of Robert
Mugabe."

      Ibbo Mandaza, the executive chairman of the Sapes Trust, a
Harare-based thinktank, and a well-connected member of the ruling Zanu-PF
party, said Mr Mugabe's presence in Lisbon, and Mr Brown's absence, would
only bolster his "exaggerated self-importance".

      "Initially the threat shook the edifice but now it has projected
Mugabe's image, especially as the British didn't have the wherewithal to
follow through," he said.

      A Western diplomat in Harare, who did not want to be identified,
added: "First of all the EU-Africa summit is not about Zimbabwe. It is about
the EU and Africa.

      "The government-controlled press is certainly going to use this summit
as much as possible to promote Zimbabwe or perhaps suggest a victory for
Zimbabwe. Mugabe will probably try to take advantage of that."

Exiled Zimbabwe Opposition Figure Bennett Urged To Seek His Old Seat

VOA

      By Patience Rusere
      Washington
      04 December 2007

Senior Zimbabwean opposition figure Roy Bennett, who spent eight months in
prison in 2004-2005 for shoving a minister in parliament during a heated
debate in May 2004 and later sought political asylum in South Africa, said
Tuesday he would consider standing for election to his old Chimanimani seat
if his safety is guaranteed.

Bennett was released from prison in June 2005 after serving eight months of
the one-year prison sentence imposed by parliament's ruling ZANU-PF majority
for shoving Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa during a debate on land
reform. He sought asylum in South Africa after the government alleged in
early 2006 in that he had conspired with others to assassinate President
Robert Mugabe on a visit to Mutare.

Bennett, now treasurer-general of the Movement for Democratic Change
grouping led by Morgan Tsvangirai, said he was approached in South Africa by
a representative of Chimanimani community leaders who urged him to consider
seeking the seat.

Bennett told reporter Patience Rusere that his decision depends on whether
or not the opposition, now in South African-mediated talks with the ruling
party, can hammer out a deal that will ensure free and fair elections and
the safety of MDC candidates.

But Bennett expressed doubts, saying that as matters stand in Zimbabwe he
believes the government would conjure up charges against him as soon as he
returned.

Hotels Defy Prices Body

The Herald (Harare)  Published by the government of Zimbabwe

5 December 2007
Posted to the web 5 December 2007

Martin Kadzere
Harare

Accomodation rates for most hotels in the country have shot up since last
Thursday, putting domestic tourism under threat.

Herald Business has established that the new rates are well above those
approved by the National Incomes and Pricing Commission last week, chairman
Mr Godwills Masimirembwa confirmed.

NIPC pegged four and five-star city hotel rates at $85 million and $97,5
million (double standard rooms) for the cheapest overnight accommodation.
These exclude 15 percent Valued Added Tax and 2,5 percent Zimbabwe Tourism
Authority levy. Approved rates for three-star hotels range between $70
million and $85 million.

For two-star hotels, the rates are between $65 million and $70 million.
However, it has emerged that hotels are charging prices well above those
stipulated by NIPC. In Harare, hotels are charging not less that $100
million for overnight accommodation. At popular five-star hotels, Rainbow
Towers and Meikles Hotel, the cheapest double standard rooms are going for
$140 million for overnight bedding. Meikles was charging $28 million while
Rainbow Towers rooms were priced at $80 million per night before the latest
price increases.

Overnight accommodation at Holiday Inn, a three-star hotel in Harare's
Avenues, is priced at $128,5 million, up from last week's rates of $40
million. Bed and breakfast at Crowne Plaza Monomotapa, a four-star hotel in
the CBD, is pegged at $181,8 million, from $100 million last week.

Those booking into the Holiday Inn Bulawayo and Mutare will fork out $100
million a room. In the resort town of Victoria Falls, accommodation at
Zimsun's five-star Elephant Hills Hotel now costs $181,8 million. A similar
room at Kingdom Hotel now costs and $114,4 million per night. Holidaymakers
have to part with $209,2 million for overnight bedding and breakfast at
Troutbeck, a four-star Hotel in the scenic Nyanga mountains and $155,8
million for the same package at the three-star Caribbea Bay Hotel in Kariba.

Ironically, the old rates were also above those approved by the NIPC as at
November 12. The NIPC's approved rates were as follows: $25 million-$30
million (five-star); $20 million and $25 million (four star), $15 million
and $20 million (three-star), $12 million to $15 million (two-star). Hotel
officials interviewed by this newspaper said holidaymakers who had paid in
advance would be required to top up. Those who decided to cancel would be
refunded 50 percent of what they had paid.

Mr Masimirembwa admitted that most hotels were not toeing the line. "We have
received a lot of complaints and we have already communicated that to (Mrs)
Chipo Mtasa (the president of Zimbabwe Council of Tourism.) "We will look at
the source of the problem and we are hoping to get a solution before the end
of this week," said Mr Masimirembwa. When contacted for comment, Mrs Mtasa
denied paying lip service to NIPC guidelines. "We are charging prices
approved by the NIPC, but our rates are higher because of the VAT and ZTA
levies," said Mrs Mtasa. "We always encourage our members to abide the NIPC
stipulated rates."

ZTA chief executive Mr Karikoga Kaseke described the behaviour by hotel
operators as "criminal". "We cannot sit back and watch," said Mr Kaseke.
"This is totally unacceptable and we need to intervene. "What they are doing
is simply killing the domestic industry which has been driving tourism."
According to a research and development report by ZTA for 2006, the domestic
market recorded 86 percent growth during the year. The report said a total
of 162 847 locals visited various tourist destinations in the country
followed by South Africa with 25 494 visitors.Mr Kaseke said although ZTA
supported calls for the tourism industry to be exempted from price controls,
he felt it might be necessary "to review our position if things are going
this way".

"If they are pushing for that (removal of price controls) to behave as they
are doing, then there is need for even more stringent controls," he said.
"Tourism is instrumental in reviving the economy and it should no longer be
treated as a luxury."