http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News,
Politics
PARTISAN politics has marred the on-going voter registration
exercise
countrywide with reports from civil society groups and MDC-T
officials in
Manicaland, Mashonaland Central and Matabeleland alleging that
village heads
and various registration offices are prohibiting people from
registering to
vote on the basis of their political
affiliation.
Tendai Marima/Herbert Moyo
The voter registration
exercise launched last month by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Zec) has
also come under the spotlight after police
this week raided offices of the
National Youth Development Trust in Bulawayo
and Zimbabwe Peace Project in
Harare confiscating mobile phones and office
equipment alleging the groups
were involved in illegal voter registration
activities.
Last week
hordes of army, police officers and their relatives were
reportedly being
bussed in from barracks and camps in Harare and Bulawayo
allegedly for
forced registration.
MDC-T national spokesperson and Nyanga North MP
Douglas Mwonzora told the
Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday that party
supporters in his constituency
were being turned away by officials and
village heads were refusing to issue
them with letters required as proof of
residence.
“Most youths in my area are being turned away at the registry
office in
Nyamaropa. They are not registering people at all,” said
Mwonzora.
“One day people go to register and they (officials) say they
are not
registering, the next day they would say they have too many people,
even if
only 20 people would have come. People are not being given letters
by their
kraal heads and some are charging people US$1 for the
letter.”
Mwonzora further alleged there were Zanu PF supporters resident
in
Mozambique crossing the Kairezi River on the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border
to
register in Nyanga, while MDC supporters resident in Zimbabwe were being
denied registration.
Details received by the Independent on Wednesday
showed in the Zanu PF
stronghold of Mashonaland Central, village heads
called for meetings where
they decided to refuse to register MDC
supporters.
Sources say village heads are collecting photocopies of
people’s identity
documents to keep a register of those registered to vote,
but residents in
these rural communities fear the photocopies could be used
to track down
opposition supporters in future.
Thabani Moyo, director
of Bulawayo Agenda, said there were numerous problems
in the Matabeleland
provinces and blamed Zec for lack of organisation.
Moyo also said Lupane
village heads were refusing to register people because
they are not
accepting voter registration as a government but political
party initiative
while in parts of Hwange those intending to register are
reportedly being
charged US$2.
“The reports we are getting are that people in Gwanda,
Lupane, Gokwe, Hwange
and Bulawayo are experiencing challenges with people
accessing voter
registration because of the manner in which Zec is
conducting itself,” said
Moyo.
“In Lupane, traditional leaders are
not upfront; they are not willing to
give people letters because they say
voter registration is not a national
process, but a party-driven process so
people are told to go to their
parties and register.”
He added the
lack of uniformity in voter registration requirements and the
registration
process raised fears of a low voter turnout in the
constitutional referendum
and general election due to be held this year.
“We are concerned at the
lack of preparedness and we fear this will reduce
the number of people who
will come out to vote.”
Meanwhile, the Registrar-General (RG) and Zec
have been accused of abetting
the military’s intervention in the
make-or-break polls.
Sources told this paper the RG’s Office has set up a
clandestine satellite
voter registration point at the United Bulawayo
Hospitals’ out-patients
department catering exclusively for
soldiers.
“It is a secret unmarked point consisting of one table which is
supposed to
be known only by the soldiers who are bussed in from their
barracks at
Imbizo and One Brigade Headquarters to register as voters. They
have letters
signed by their commanders confirming proof of residence,” said
one source.
Bulawayo East MP Thabitha Khumalo (MDC-T) said it was
disturbing that the
out-patients department had been turned into a voter
registration point for
soldiers who are being bussed in from as far as
Mbalabala in Matabeleland
South and even Manicaland.
“They (Zanu PF)
have realised that it will be difficult to win, hence these
desperate
measures,” said Khumalo.
The MDC aspiring candidate for Bulawayo Central
Qhubani Moyo expressed
outrage over the satellite voter registration point
and said he would be
filing a complaint with Zec.
“Clearly, the
credibility of the elections is under threat and I will be
engaging Zec,”
said Moyo. “It (Zec) must put its house in order and act on
the illegal
behaviour of the Registrar-General,” he said, adding that the
electoral body
should “shoulder the blame for the intervention of the
military which is
trying to save (President) Robert Mugabe from defeat”.
Zec did not
respond to the questions sent to them.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News,
Politics
PRIMARY elections are set to be fiercely contested across the
political
divide as the new draft constitution presents new dynamics with
regards to
the election of senators.
Elias Mambo
Most
senior politicians had expressed their intentions to contest senatorial
positions leaving a new crop of young turks battling for House of Assembly
seats.
Some were even working closely with aspiring MPs with the hope
they would
represent their respective parties in senatorial
elections.
However, the new constitution proposes that the senate
consists of 80
members, of whom six are elected from each of the country’s
provinces by a
system of proportional representation.
Sixteen are
chiefs, with two being elected by the provincial assembly of
chiefs from
each of the provinces, excluding the metropolitan provinces.
There are also
the president and vice-president of the National Council of
Chiefs and two
elected to represent persons with disabilities.
The draft constitution
says women should be given special preferences in
party lists. The new
charter also states that male and female candidates be
listed alternately,
with every list being headed by a female candidate.
The new
constitutional requirements present a challenge for most political
bigwigs
from all parties who have been propping up young hopefuls in order
to take
over as MPs in their previous constituencies.
One aspiring Zanu PF MP
said the new charter has forced those who wanted to
join the Upper House
change their minds as senatorial appointment is no
longer in their
control.
“This new requirement has presented challenges to most of us who
were being
groomed to contest the parliamentary elections,” said an aspiring
Zanu PF
MP. “What it means is that focus has shifted towards the primaries
because
old guard officials who were eying the senate are now back in the
ring.
Imagine I now have to contest with my mentor and sponsor in the
primaries,”
he said.
A source within Copac said parties need to
educate their members on the new
draft constitution because some party
members are already on the ground
campaigning to be senators, yet the onus
would be on the party to select
senators based on proportional
representation.
In Zanu PF, battle lines are already drawn as the old
guard is campaigning
for senatorial positions. In Masvingo Callisto Gwanetsa
is gearing to square
off for a Chiredzi senatorial seat with Masvingo
governor Titus Maluleke.
Retired Colonel Claudius Makova will battle it out
with former Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono’s adviser Munyaradzi Kereke
for the Bikita West
senatorial seat.
The Chivi senate seat is eyed by
former Masvingo governor Josaya Hungwe and
Samuel Mumbengegwi, while
Dzikamai Mavhaire will face competition from
Clemence Makwarimba. Whilst
most MDC-T senators were strategically
positioning themselves secretly,
Chisipite senator and Justice deputy
minister Obert Gutu has been openly on
the ground vigorously campaigning to
retain his senatorial post.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News, Politics
NATIONAL
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairperson Lovemore Madhuku has
described as
“nonsense” and “meaningless” the move by the inclusive
government to hold a
referendum on the draft constitution in four weeks’
time, saying it gave
insufficient time for people to study the document.
Staff
Writer
Madhuku said this in an interview yesterday following Wednesday’s
announcement by Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric
Matinenga that the referendum would be on March 16. Matinenga said his
ministry would hold two meetings per province while Copac would hold one
meeting in each district to explain the draft to the people in the run-up to
the referendum. But Madhuku described Matinenga’s pronouncement as
“ridiculous”, and indicated the NCA would wait for the gazetting of the
draft constitution expected today before filing a High Court application to
halt the process and allow people to get two months to go through the draft
constitution. Coordinator of the International Socialist Organisation
Munyaradzi Gwisai has slammed the constitution-making process saying it
fails to address “fundamental issues of severe poverty, gender and social
inequality”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News, Politics
ZIMBABWE
Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Justice Simpson
Mutambanengwe was
allegedly pushed out of the electoral body for his
outspokenness and
independent views by a Zanu PF clique that viewed him as a
danger to their
political survival ahead of watershed elections, according
to senior
government sources.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Mutambanengwe was appointed
Zec chairperson in 2010 but some Zanu PF
stalwarts expressed reservations
about his suitability for such an important
commission.
Mutambanengwe’s resignation comes hot on the heels of
Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission chairperson Regis Austin’s departure under
unclear circumstances.
Sources said Mutambanengwe was summoned to the
Ministry of Justice and
forced to step down immediately purportedly on
health grounds. His forced
resignation was said to have been immediately
accepted by President Robert
Mugabe and communicated to the state-controlled
daily Herald as a
smokescreen.
“Mutambanengwe was called to Minister
(of Justice Patrick) Chinamasa’s
office where he was told to resign
immediately,” the source said.
“Shockingly Mugabe was said to have agreed to
the resignation and the issue
was released to the Herald for
publication.”
Ironically, Mutambanengwe has no known medical condition
that has troubled
him in the last two years or been admitted to a medical
institution during
that time.
Another source said the “resignation”
was timed to coincide with the
announcement of the date of the much-awaited
referendum to prevent it from
becoming the talk of the
town.
Chinamasa was not immediately available for comment.
The
prime minister’s office has expressed shock and surprise at the sudden
resignation of Mutambanengwe and is frantically seeking a meeting with him
for clarity.
“We were taken by surprise and we are currently trying
to meet him to get to
the bottom of the issue,” said a senior staffer in the
prime minister’s
office.
A cabinet minister confirmed that moves to
remove Mutambanengwe started last
year and intensified in the past few
weeks.
“Mutambanengwe was asked to relocate to Zimbabwe from Namibia in
December
last year or to resign from Zec,” the minister said. “When he came
we all
thought he would continue, but he is said to have resigned from the
blue.”
A senior civil servant close to the Ministry of Justice confirmed
some
government officials were not comfortable with his independent
mindedness.
“The idea of pushing him out has been in escalated motion
since around
December last year. They feared his outspokenness and
independence,
especially ahead of the elections,” the official
said.
The sources said Mugabe is unlikely to appoint a substantive Zec
chairperson
before the elections, thus leaving room for deputy chairperson
Joyce Kazembe
to take charge of the referendum and elections.
Kazembe
was Zec deputy chairperson during the controversial 2008 elections
when the
electoral body took five weeks to announce the presidential poll
results.
Zanu PF hawks, according to sources, also never really
forgave Mutambanengwe
for his support for the Nhari rebellion during the
liberation struggle.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News, Politics
THE
current stampede by local politicians to represent their parties as
candidates in the next crucial elections expected later this year further
shows they view political office, not as a means to serve the public, but a
route towards business and wealth accumulation, analysts
say.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
While politicians claim this is democracy at
work, the conduct of ministers
and MPs during the inclusive government
demonstrates they are more concerned
with self-aggrandisement than service
delivery.
As reported in this paper last week, ministers from the three
main parties
in the coalition government are demanding exit packages
consisting of houses
in leafy suburbs, residential stands and
top-of-the-range vehicles which
they want delivered before the Government of
National Unity (GNU)’s tenure
ends in June.
Analysts say it is the
realisation that political office offers huge
material benefits which has
triggered the ongoing mad rush across parties by
officials who want to
contest primary polls and feature as candidates in the
general
elections.
Development specialist Maxwell Saungweme said the demand of
houses, cars and
stands by ministers has created the ongoing jostling by
senior party
officials to stand as candidates in the next elections. He also
said
ministers’ requests were outrageous given their monumental failures in
service delivery.
“After presiding over the collapse of the education
and other social service
sectors in the country, and squandering millions in
dubious processes like
the constitutional review exercise, these politicians
want to get pensions
in the form of houses and cars for the disservice they
have rendered to the
nation,” Saungweme said.
Long-suffering
Zimbabweans’ initial relief at the formation of the unity
government
comprising erstwhile rivals, Zanu PF and the two MDC formations
with
expectations of a new start was short-lived as hope soon turned into
despair
when the three parties conspired to establish a bloated cabinet with
44
ministers, including the Attorney General who is ex-officio.
This was
exacerbated by the appointment of a further 10 governors and 19
deputy
ministers who enjoy ministerial perks although they do not sit in
cabinet or
act as ministers when the incumbents are away.
Each of the ministers
received two personal vehicles in 2009 upon assuming
office and they got a
new fleet in 2011, which included Land Rover
Discoveries, latest Mercedes
Benz E-class, Jeep Cherokees, Toyota SUVs and
Isuzu KB320 D-techs, among
other brands.
However, Education minister David Coltart broke ranks with
colleagues when
he turned down some of the executive perks on moral grounds.
He said it was
untenable to squander so much money of cars while learning
institutions
received paltry funding.
Finance minister Tendai Biti
has complained about VIP’s endless foreign
trips, which gobble millions of
dollars, with very little to show for the
globetrotting.
These benefits
were also extended to MPs and councillors at local
authorities. MPs and
councillors also received perks that among other things
included off-road
Isuzu and Toyota bakkies.
Their luxury is partly sustained by punitive
taxation of the few operating
corporates and the estimated 10% of
Zimbabweans still in the taxable bracket
of formal
employment.
Analysts say politicians’ benefits and demands are not
matched by service
delivery which in cases continues to deteriorate. Most
residents in urban
areas often go without access to clean drinking water for
longer periods,
hospitals remain inadequately staffed and under-equipped,
and power cuts
continue, among other things.
To compound matters, the
public transport system remains shambolic while
many roads are badly
potholed.
As a result analysts say ministers’ demands are “criminal”
considering
government is broke and people are overtaxed.
“If it is
indeed true that ministers are demanding exit packages then they
are
shameless and self-centred,” political analyst Charles Mangongera said.
“Ministers are not executives of blue-chip firms who must get golden
handshakes when they leave office. They are public servants who must be
driven by national interest, not personal gain and must therefore always
exercise frugality in their use of national resources.”
Political
commentator Blessing Vava, who is also National Constitutional
Assembly
taskforce member, said ministers were greedy and insensitive.
“It goes to
show the greed and insensitivity of our political leaders,” said
Vava.
“Theirs is the politics of their bellies rather than serving the
nation.
Asking for exit packages from where and what for? Did they apply for
those
jobs or it was voluntary? They should not expect any packages above
what
they got already, which is too much anyway.”
Former student leader Clever
Bere questioned the calibre of Zimbabwean
politicians, saying it is time the
electorate looked for alternatives if the
country is to move forward. “It is
incumbent upon the people to organise
themselves and campaign against this
sort of abuse of power and wasteful
management of public affairs,” Bere
said. “We cannot keep quiet while
politicians loot state coffers at the
expense of important and what should
be priority national projects which are
being sacrificed due to lack of
funding, while ministers abuse public funds
to maintain lavish and
extravagant lifestyles they can’t
afford.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Business,
News
TOURISM minister Walter Mzembi says the country has missed the
chance to
benefit from legacy projects which are by-products associated with
co-hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
conference in August.
Herbert Moyo
Mzembi told the
parliamentary portfolio committee on Natural Resources,
Environment and
Tourism this week that other government ministries had not
moved fast enough
to ensure the country fully benefited from the event.
“I must say we are
ready to host the conference even if we never received as
much as US$1 from
treasury,” Mzembi said, adding that they would erect
temporary facilities
for the convenience of visiting delegates.
The legacy projects proposed
included the construction of a conference
centre as well as the upgrading of
the Victoria Falls Airport.
Mzembi said although the failure to deliver
these projects does not
compromise preparations, Zimbabwe was wasting a
golden chance to create
legacy projects that would serve the country long
after the UNWTO.
“A temporary VIP tent will be constructed next to the
Victoria Falls Airport’s
holding area. The designs and costings have been
completed amounting to
US$200 000,” Mzembi said.
Zimbabwe needs
improvements at its ports of entry, including Victoria Falls
Airport and the
Beitbridge border post, which are perennially congested.
“The OR Tambo
International Airport is 20 times what it was before the 2010
World Cup in
South Africa. That event planted its own legacy projects in the
form of the
road network in Johannesburg and other cities, as well as the
stadia,”
Mzembi said.
In contrast, the Zambian government has provided US$20
million for the
conference.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in
News
After leasing two A320 Airbus planes at a cost of US$500 000 a
month, Air
Zimbabwe is considering increasing frequencies in the aviation
golden
triangle of Harare, Victoria Falls and Johannesburg in preparation
for the
world tourism indaba in August.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Air
Zimbabwe (AirZim) interim board chairman Munesu Munodawafa said this
week
this would greatly enhance the airline’s market share during the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly in Victoria
Falls.
Munodawafa, who is also the Transport, Communication and
Infrastructure
Development permanent secretary, told the parliamentary
Transport and
Communication portfolio committee that the two planes would
double AirZim’s
flying fleet to four, boosting the airline’s capacity to
service the
domestic and regional markets.
AirZim was grounded for
close to a year over its ballooning debt, which now
tops US$188
million.
“The availability of the Airbuses, particularly at the start of
the new
season in April, would improve our frequencies in the golden
triangle,”
Munodawafa said.
“This would enable us to adequately
service delegates to UNWTO who fly in
through other
airlines.”
Munodawafa said despite the US$188 million debt, the country
was still
better placed in the region to benefit from the expansion of the
aviation
industry.
“Zimbabwe’s geographical position makes it the
second natural hub for
aviation in the region. We will therefore use AirZim
as a feeder to the big
airlines plying into Zimbabwe like Emirates and
(Dutch airline) KLM, meaning
we will have to synchronise our timetables.”
Foreign airlines, with the
exception of South African Airways, are not
licenced to fly to Victoria
Falls. This creates an opportunity for AirZim to
benefit. Government is yet
to take over the airline’s crippling debt because
a number of procedural
matters must be tackled first.
“Government is
still to table in parliament for consideration the Debt
Assumption Bill for
it to take over AirZim’s debts,” Munodawafa said.
AirZim acting group
chief executive officer Innocent Mavhunga said the
airline needed an urgent
US$52 million capital injection from government for
it to operate at an
optimum level.
Mavhunga acknowledged that the current AirZim business
model was not viable
since they were using unsuitable planes on the domestic
and regional routes.
“We need smaller planes for the domestic and
regional routes with a
configuration of 50 to 70 seats for the business to
become viable,” Mavhunga
said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News
SIXTY
companies in Bulawayo are on the verge of collapse and urgently
require
US$73 million capital, according to a report by the Ministry of
Industry and
Commerce.
Gamma Mudarikiri
The number is adding to 85 companies
which closed in 2012 as the city
continues to de-industrialise.
“The
Ministerial Task Force on the revival of industry has revealed that 60
companies are under severe distress and required financial assistance in the
form of working capital and capital expenditure amounting to US$73 million,”
reads part of the report.
From the companies which closed, 22% were
from the clothing and textile
sector, 74% from the motor industry and 4%
from the construction sector.
Government continues to struggle to avail
funds to revive industry in
Bulawayo. According to the report, government
last year only managed to
avail US$5 million from the allocated US$10
million. This fund managed to
cater for only 30 companies from the initial
target of 45 companies.
“Budgetary constraints militated against availing
of the initial envelope,
resulting in the eventual reduction of the envelope
to US$5 million, which
translates to a cut in the number of beneficiaries
from 45 to 30 companies,”
reads part of the report.
The report said
the availed amount would be split to cater for the 13
companies in the
clothing and textile industry, representing 31% of the
total envelope, five
in the food industry, 10 in the metals and electrical
industry, five in
leather and footwear, four in the motor industry, five in
the wood and
furniture industry, two in the pharmaceuticals and one company
in the
packaging industries.
Last week the state media reported that only US$13
million had been
disbursed to companies across the country from the US$40
million Distressed
Industries and Marginalised Fund (Dimaf).
In
Bulawayo, 13 companies are reported to have received funds amounting to
US$6,5 million from Dimaf while five more companies are yet to receive a sum
of US$2,9 million.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in
News
A VISITING Kenyan civil society delegation has said coalition
governments
are undesirable for Africa as they are expensive and tend to
increase the
power of the elites over the masses.
Wongai
Zhangazha
The delegation that is on an Utetezi Exchange Programme was
sharing with
local civil society and artists experiences, lessons and
challenges from the
governments of national unity in Kenya and
Zimbabwe.
Like Zimbabwe, Kenya has a coalition government made up of
Orange Democratic
Movement leader and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, and Party
of National Unity
leader and incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.
The
unity government was formed in the aftermath of ethnic political
violence
following flawed and controversial presidential elections in 2007.
A
member of the visiting delegation Maina Muhia said coalition governments
usually did not deliver as they emanate from conflict-ridden
processes.
“Coalition governments are very expensive because they
comprise a party that
was already in power and those planning to take over
power who look for
funding from day one to eventually become the ruling
party,” said Muhia.
“Those who have just got into power would not have
tasted that power before
and, as they say, power corrupts. They work and
seek funds for their next
election campaigns, which is not good for the
people. Developments is
hamstrung; there are too many arguments and passing
of bills is slow.”
The Kenyan delegation however said their coalition
government brought about
checks and balances not provided for in the
previous government, while local
civil society felt Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai was more of a junior
partner in the countey’s Government of
National Unity.
Harare Residents Trust director Precious Shumba said:
“Coalition governments
are good for ending direct conflict. They have
however proved to be very
expensive to the masses. In the current set-up
politicians make decisions
and release statements like they are speaking on
behalf of the nation when
they are actually serving their
interests.”
Muhia said reconciliation in Kenya has been ongoing for the
past 25 years at
different levels due to ethnic conflicts which intensify
after every five
years during elections.
“In 1992, it was politically
connected people coming together to talk about
reconciliation. Then it was
politically connected tribal chiefs who came
together. These efforts flopped
as they did did not last for even a year.
“The reconciliation meetings
did not have a time frame, compensation and
permanent membership.
Reconciliation only succeeded when less politicians
were involved,” said
Muhia.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Business,
News
ZIMBABWE is on an unsustainable growth path and the country’s
business model
must change if it is to avoid a muddle, a leading economic
expert has said.
Staff Writer
Presenting an economic outlook paper
at an Alpha Media Holdings strategy
planning conference in Harare this week,
University of Zimbabwe Graduate
School of Business head Professor Tony
Hawkins said pushing the country’s
growth trajectory onto a new, higher
plane was contingent on tackling a
range of long-running structural problems
besetting the economy.
“Meaningful socio-political change in the sense of
a more committed, more
competent and more economically-oriented
administration with a focus on the
population as a whole –– not a narrow
elite of rent-seekers –– is the key to
better future performance,” said
Hawkins. He stressed that this was not a
matter of economic expertise or
even of resources, but of political will.
Hawkins pointed out five key
constraints, which he said were the “big five
economic unsustainables” that
needed to be addressed before the economy
could be steered onto a
sustainable recovery and growth trajectory. These
were the unsustainable
national budget, the hugely adverse balance of
payments position, the
country’s external debt, the imbalance between
consumption and savings, and
the country’s infrastructure deficit.
Hawkins singled out excessive
consumption as a major economic challenge;
consumption had to fall while
savings had to rise, he said. Zimbabwe was
consuming more than 90% of GDP,
with half of that reflected as net
exports –– meaning foreigners were
financing the difference. As the country
was not productive enough, the high
demand for consumption was spilling into
the external sector as import
demand, fuelling the external deficit.
“Excessive consumption which is
currently financed by offshore borrowing,
aid and diaspora inflows must soon
be replaced by increased savings in the
form of reduced consumption at home
and increased domestic investment,”
Hawkins pointed out. He lamented that
many Zimbabweans –– in both the
private and public sectors –– saw foreign
capital inflows as a soft option;
a way in which to continue to over-consume
while foreigners, including the
diaspora, picked up the
tab.
Outlining major risks in 2013/14, Hawkins said export growth would
be
constrained by weak global demand and soggy prices as well as the binding
supply-side constraints such as the country’s poor electricity supply. He
said import growth would slow down further but the signs were that the trade
gap would remain unsustainably high –– at more than US$3 billion. Hawkins
said Zimbabwe was not creating productive jobs while wages were rising
faster than productivity.
“As a result, the country is becoming
increasingly uncompetitive. Wages must
be tied to productivity because, with
a fixed exchange rate, Zimbabwe cannot
devalue its way to competitiveness as
it did before 2009,” he said.
Zimbabwe, despite being a tiny player with
a US$10,7 billion gross domestic
product in a US$72 trillion world economy,
has also suffered global
turbulence which had a major impact on domestic
economic performance.
“Sovereignty space” in Zimbabwe’s open and
foreign-dependent economy was
very limited, both by the structure of the
economy and the extent of
manoeuvrability available in a dollarised
environment.
“The IMF estimates the US dollar today is 15% too strong for
Zimbabwe,
making the economy highly uncompetitive. Zimbabwe, ranked 132nd on
the
Global Competitiveness Index, is using the same currency as the US,
ranked
seventh. How viable is that?” Hawkins asked.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News
SOON after the
formation of the MDC in 1999, the state broadcaster, Zimbabwe
Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC) carried and repeatedly aired television
footage of party
leader Morgan Tsvangirai gleefully clapping his hands as
white farmers
queued up to sign away cheque donations to the newly-formed
organisation.
Report by Herbert Moyo
Before the formation of
the MDC, Zanu PF received and used money from donors
at home and abroad,
including white groups and organisations. The late
British tycoon Tiny
Rowland was for a long time a major Zanu PF donor.
The party still
receives donations from white-owned businesses as shown by a
story in this
newspaper last week.
The Zimbabwe Independent reported last week Meikles
group mogul John Moxon
donated vehicles to Zanu PF last year to boost
President Robert Mugabe and
Zanu PF’s bid to remain in power.
By
donating the vehicles, Moxon was however not breaking new ground, but
simply
became the latest in a long list of travellers along the well-beaten
path to
the Zanu PF headquarters which has been traversed by many companies
and
individuals.
Moxon’s case is all the more intriguing, given that not so
long ago he was
reportedly targeted by Zanu PF bigwigs during the Kingdom
Meikles Africa Ltd
demerger saga. He was specified but later the measure was
lifted. Only
recently he applied for a diamond mining
licence.
However, after ZBC aired its footage showing Tsvangirai
receiving money from
white commercial farmers, Zanu PF went into overdrive
and agog about it.
Zanu PF spin doctors claimed the MDC was a
white-funded and controlled
party. From then on, all sorts of pejorative
descriptions have been used
against the party: “Western-sponsored front”,
“puppet”, or “running dogs of
imperialism”, among others.
Not long
after that whites in general found themselves on the receiving end
of a
violent farm invasions.
Legislation such as the Political Parties
(Finance) Act was crafted in 2001
as Zanu PF sought to block foreign funding
for political parties in a bid to
choke the nascent MDC.
However,
President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF continue to receive funding for
their
party’s activities openly from local businesspeople and companies as
well as
mysterious “well-wishers” as in the case of the controversial US$20
million
presidential input scheme.
As elections draw closer, opaque donations
will surge. This has led to
debate about whether or not these donations do
not amount to chequebook
politics and their impact on elections and
democracy.
All over the world — from Asia, Europe and across the Americas,
let alone
Africa — party political funding is controversial.
Analysts
say even if they are bitter rivals, it seems Zanu PF and the two
MDC parties
agree on one thing: refusing to declare sources of their secret
funds.
“All major parties in Zimbabwe, that is Zanu PF and the two
MDC formations,
agree on one thing: they don’t want to disclose sources of
their secret
funding,” one analyst said.
“Without making it
impossible for parties to function, there is need for
clear funding laws,
rules and regulations because chequebook politics is
destroying the right of
voters to choose their leaders freely and eroding
democracy.”
In a
paper done for the Institute for Democracy in South Africa analyst
Judith
February says private political party funding poses a serious threat
to
democracy.
“Why does the regulation of private funding to political
parties matter and
what is the link to poverty, underdevelopment, human
rights and corruption?”
she asks.
“To function properly, democracies
require strong, independent political
parties operating in an open and truly
competitive political system.
Parties, in turn, need money in order to
adequately fulfill their role.
Similarly, a well-informed electorate that
can exercise equal influence over
the decision-making processes is a
condition for genuine participatory
democracy.”
February says
unregulated private political party funding distorts the
electoral playing
field and hence undermines the role of the ballot in a
democracy.
“Where there is no control over private funding given to
political parties,
a situation of unfairness and distortion of electoral
competition may arise,
ultimately undermining the equal value of each
person’s vote,” she says.
“When wealth is allowed to buy influence and
access by unregulated secret
donations, or the perception of such, the
effect on political rights and
participatory democracy could lead to the
average citizen’s voice being
silenced.
“All groups, including the
poor and marginalised, should have an equal
opportunity to influence the
political processes through participation.”
However, parties everywhere,
including Zimbabwe, have subverted laws to
receive secret funding to pay
their bills and finance electoral campaigns.
Political commentator Godwin
Phiri said the Moxon case shows the Zanu
PF-business nexus which existed for
a long time.
“It is no coincidence that Meikles applies for a diamond
mining licence
after Moxon’s huge donation to the party that we all know
controls who
participates in that industry,” said Phiri. “Moxon is greasing
the hands
that dish out the licences. With the same stroke, he has probably
secured
his investments from the indigenisation policy targeting non-black
businesses.”
MDC-T treasurer-general Roy Bennett recently said:
“There is a relatively
small but very significant network of whites that
work closely with Zanu PF.
The message will come down from on high that ‘he
is one of us; leave him
alone’.”
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute
executive director Pedzisai Ruhanya said: “They
(whites) have to play ball
or risk losing their investments. Apart from
getting contracts from
government, individuals and companies also donate to
protect their
investments and businesses in a hostile investment climate
where threats of
company seizures are the order of the day.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Business
UNIVERSITY of
Zimbabwe Business School head Professor Tony Hawkins says
indigenisation
deals recently clinched with big mining companies amount to a
“Ponzi scheme
gone mad”.
Staff Writer
Hawkins said the transactions between
companies like Zimplats, Mimosa and
Unki and the National Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Fund for the
transfer of 51% of foreign-owned companies
to locals were bad deals for the
country because of the unworkable and
unsustainable funding arrangements
which he likened to Ponzi finance
schemes.
He said under the Zimplats transaction, for instance, the
country would
effectively borrow almost US$1 billion –– 8% of the gross
domestic product
(GDP). All the deals made so far amount to billions, which
means government
and its specially selected group of penniless investors
would mortgage the
whole GDP of the country.
“These deals do nothing
to create jobs or increase output and exports, but
only ensure majority
domestic ownership,” Hawkins told an Alpha Media
Holdings strategy planning
meeting in Harare on Monday.
“However you evaluate them, this Ponzi
finance operation is a bad deal for
Zimbabwe.”
Typically, a Ponzi
scheme is an investment scam that appears to be actually
paying high returns
by disbursing supposed returns out of the affected
people’s own
capital.
“Firstly, the arrangement provides for the repayment of the
capital loan and
interest from future dividends. Zimplats is presently not
paying any
dividend and is unlikely to start doing so in the near future,”
Hawkins
said.
Dividends are paid out to shareholders from free cash
flows or net income of
a business after meeting all of the company’s other
commitments. However,
Zimplats is a company that is still expanding and
needs funding to finance
growth.
“Technically, a Ponzi scheme is one
where you plan to pay virtually all
business expenses from uncertain future
cash flows. If anything goes wrong
within Zimplats to negatively impact the
future cash flows of the business,
the whole funding model will collapse on
itself as the dividend flow will
dry up,” he said.
Hawkins said the
problem with such models is that they “inevitably fail”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Business
MINES minister
Obert Mpofu has tightened screws on platinum miners amid
indications
government will ban exports of ore in two years’ time to compel
them to
establish beneficiation plants locally.
Taurai Mangudhla
Mpofu
this week repossessed 28 000 hectares of excess claims from Zimplats
amid
looting and speculation concerns, a development he says is to allow
other
players to invest in the sector.
He said the excess ground would be
allocated to at least five new big
investors, adding this would allow the
country immediate benefits from its
natural resource wealth. With the move,
government intends to set the tone
for what it sees as an industry-wide
remedial exercise which, among other
things, is expected to promote local
beneficiation of all minerals.
The Mines minister said the decision was
effective as at the time of the
announcement, and similar developments, to
be followed by close state
monitoring, were expected in the next few months
across the extractive
industry.
Mpofu said platinum miners had to
start providing implementation plans on
how they were going to comply with
the ore export ban. Platinum miners have
been arguing it is not economical
to have a refinery in Zimbabwe as output
was too low.
Sources say the
move is government’s tough stance to deal with players who
hold on to
mineral claims for speculative purposes while cracking the whip
on miners
who have been making all possible excuses to avoid establishment
of
beneficiation plants locally.
A local mining expert told businessdigest
the big platinum producers had
invested in extra refining capacity in South
Africa on the back of their
Zimbabwean production and were therefore
reluctant to make further
investment in full value-addition of the mineral
locally.
“They have been giving a lot of excuses, including that there is
erratic
power supply in Zimbabwe, whereas the refineries can be designed
with their
own power plants to run continuously,” said the
expert.
However, miners say Zimbabwe’s lack of adequate power makes it
difficult
build refineries as they require lots of
electricity.
Responding to questions from the media, Mpofu said
government’s decision to
repossess idle claims was meant to encourage local
beneficiation, plug
mineral leakages and increase revenue
collection.
“You know when Zimplats bought the platinum company from BHP
they had some
base metal refinery in Selous. The new buyers (Zimplats) had a
refinery in
South Africa, so they chose to refine there. We have taken an
action which
will remind them (Zimplats) to go back to their drawing boards
and look at
locally value-added products,“ said Mpofu, adding “We can no
longer continue
having our minerals refined outside the country because it
is detrimental to
our economic objectives and goals.”
He said
platinum producers had an option to convert Bindura Nickel
Corporation’s
refinery unit into a fully-fledged beneficiation plant at a
cost of about
US$60 million.
The minister said platinum is referred to as part of the
platinum group of
metals (PGMs), meaning it contains a number of high value
minerals like
gold, palladium, rhodium and nickel, which are not declared at
the time of
export, but are extracted during beneficiation. As a result, the
country had
lost out on billions of potential revenue.
Geological
information indicates the total ground granted to Zimplats and
the mineral
endowment therein has a lifespan of more than 400 years at an
extraction
rate of one million ounces per year.
Mpofu said he was also homing in on
chrome producers like Zimasco whom he
said were holding on to huge claims
that were lying idle.
“Companies like Zimasco own the whole of Shurugwi and
the Great Dyke, and
make our local miners who don’t have ownership their
tributors and force
them to sell to Zimasco for nothing. We are going to
rectify that,” he said.
“As you have seen we have cancelled licences for
EPOs (Exclusive Prospecting
Orders) and new investors are taking them up.
There are people who have got
coal concessions which they are not using and
we will be cancelling that
too. Some have speculated and sold what is not
theirs and they will be in
trouble.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
THERE was
understandable excitement from some quarters after the conclusion
of the
constitution-making process, albeit after intolerable delays and the
consumption of extensive resources.
Column by Wilfred
Mhanda
It is, however, important to put things in their proper
perspective to help
people understand the significance of this
development.
Zimbabwe’s problems partly lie in its authoritarian
political culture,
undemocratic processes, unaccountable government and lack
of respect for the
rule of law, not merely the need for a new
constitution.
These problems have driven millions of Zimbabweans into the
diaspora and
they are precisely the same factors that precipitated the
constitutional and
legitimacy crisis we experienced a few years ago premised
on the
inconclusive electoral process of March 2008.
The political
crisis culminated in the signing of the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA).
The country’s current constitution, read together with the
relevant
provisions of the Electoral Act and schedules, provided that in the
event of
an inconclusive presidential election (in this case March 29 2008),
the
run-off has to be conducted within 21 days from the date of election,
which
would have meant it should have been held not later than April 19
2008.
However, what eventually transpired is that the presidential
election
run-off was slated for June 27 2008, exactly three months and one
week after
the expiry of the window period to hold it in terms of the
law.
Furthermore, the result of the presidential election was only
announced five
weeks after the date of the poll.
These two unlawful
developments precipitated the constitutional and
legitimacy crisis as there
was no longer any legitimate or lawful government
or head of state after the
expiry of the legally prescribed period for the
presidential
run-off.
It is noteworthy that this was a constitutional crisis and not a
crisis of
the constitution, as some would have us believe.
The crisis
did not emanate from the constitution per se, but from the misuse
of the
institutions meant to buttress the constitution: in other words, it
was a
political crisis; a subset of the much deeper crisis in which Zimbabwe
was
and still is enmeshed.
Could it then be reasonably concluded the
country’s constitution and
Electoral Act accounted for the crisis? Clearly
no rational view would
subscribe to that.
What then were the factors
that precipitated the crisis? It can be cogently
argued that the political
impasse was occasioned by institutional
weaknesses. This requires some
elaboration.
Had the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the
Attorney-General’s Office,
judiciary, state security sector (which
subsequently unleashed an orgy of
violence against the electorate), the
Registrar-General’s Office, the
state-controlled media and the traditional
authority structures discharged
their constitutional mandates and operated
within the framework of the law
and defended the country’s constitution, the
political crisis after the 2008
elections would not have
materialised.
The weaknesses of these institutions lay in their failure
to discharge their
constitutional mandates and to operate within the ambit
of the law.
Could it then be argued that a new constitution, like a magic
wand, would
make all these institutional weaknesses disappear overnight? As
long as the
institutional weaknesses that brought about the crisis subsist
and are not
resolved, it would be wishful thinking to hope for credible,
free and fair
elections whose outcome would not be contested.
Let us
put things in perspective again in simple language. The constitution
and
concomitant statutes constitute the software for governing the country
with
the constitution as the operating system upon which laws run.
The laws
are the software packages that have to be compatible with the
operating
system and the constitution.
State institutions on the other hand are the
hardware that houses the
operating system. In this day and age of
information communication
technologies, it is common cause that any software
without compatible and
matching hardware drivers delivers no
value.
This is not to say that the focus on the constitution and
legislative reform
are pointless. But such reforms would help much if the
problems affecting
the hardware are not addressed.
The hardware
constitutes what is known as state power. Whoever controls
state power calls
the shots. The objective of the GPA was to reclaim,
restore and to
democratise the control of national institutions so that they
serve the
national interest, not narrow partisan interests.
State institutions are
the base while the constitution and the country’s
laws are the
superstructure. There is a need to strike a dynamic and
dialectical balance
between the two.
Focusing on one without the other is clearly
counterproductive. This is the
reason why Sadc has been insisting on both
constitution and refroms that
encompass both software and hardware changes
if it is to facilitate genuine
democracy.
By now it should be clear
that it was not the governance software that
precipitated the crisis, but
the institutional hardware. More than four
years have now been wasted at
great cost on barking up the wrong tree. It is
not too late to change focus
however.
When calls are made for institutional reforms, they are not
meant to
facilitate an MDC victory, but to pave the way for democratic rule
and
practice, accountable government and laying a solid foundation for
entrenching the rule of law. Political parties in power are never
comfortable with strong institutions as they constrain their room for
manoeuvre.
They would rather have pliable and weak institutions that
they can easily
manipulate to serve their interests.
It would
therefore be folly and misguided to pin hopes on an MDC victory
with the
notion and expectation that they would, once in power, embark on
reforms to
strengthen state institutions. Doing that would be tantamount to
subcontracting the struggle for democracy and only live to fight another
day. The struggle for democracy must be citizen-driven to ensure
accountability.
What is to be done in light of the foregoing, now
that we have a new
constitution, however flawed? Is it enough to just
entrench democratic rule?
Would it be in the national interest to call for
elections before the
problems of the hardware have been resolved? Surely,
that would be a recipe
for disaster.
Besides, as has been previously
argued by Ibbo Mandaza writing in this
paper, there will be urgent need for
reforms and to harmonise and
synchronise the country’s laws with the new
constitution. Talk of deadlines
to hold elections becomes trite and
immaterial in the circumstances.
What is required is addressing the
country’s underlying problems, not a mad
rush to meet self-serving deadlines
that only trigger the re-emergence of
the same problems sooner rather than
later.
Effecting institutional reforms of necessity requires transitional
arrangements in terms of the timeframes, mechanisms and framework that
enable the process.
The debate should now be about reforms that guide
and facilitate the holding
of credible elections and transitional
arrangements thereafter.
Calling for elections now, without the requisite
institutional reforms would
be tantamount to putting the cart before the
horse.
Mhanda is an ex-Zanla commander whose liberation war name was Dzinashe
Machingura.
He recently wrote a book titled Dzino: Memories of a
Freedom Fighter.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in News
I HAVE
been asked to write an opinion on why the people of Zimbabwe should
vote in
favour of the Copac draft constitution.
Opinion by Alex Magaisa
I
must from the outset declare my interest: I was a participant in the
constitution-making process as a technical advisor to the MDC-T team. I am
now an advisor to the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan
Tsvangirai.
In the next few weeks Zimbabweans will find themselves at a
critical
juncture in the course of their nation’s history. They will be
asked to
choose whether to vote “Yes or “No” on the Copac draft
constitution.
There is no middle ground, unless one elects to abstain
from the referendum.
It is an historical moment because for the second
time in just over a
decade, Zimbabweans are being asked to vote on whether
they want the
relevant draft to be the supreme law of the land. The first
time such a
question was a put before them, they resoundingly rejected the
Constitutional Commission draft in 2000.
Therefore, while the current
formal process has taken the better part of
three years, in its totality
this is the culmination of more than a decade
of struggle for a new
constitution.
This struggle was mainly championed from the late 1990s by
the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) and later by the MDC, itself a
political party
whose DNA is traceable to the NCA. It is therefore a moment
to pay tribute
to all those who have fought for a new constitutional
dispensation.
If adopted the new constitution will be no mean
achievement.
While the current draft may not be perfect, it is important
to always look
at it in the context of the bigger picture. A constitution
speaks to power
and power is inherently
political.
Constitution-making is therefore an intensely political
process, which
invariably has the imprint of political players, among other
stakeholders.
No doubt the content of the Copac draft will be the subject
of much
commentary and academic treatises, presently and in years to come.
The
courts will be called upon to interpret its clauses and these judicial
interpretations will also be subject to much scrutiny.
I have no
doubt that some deficiencies will be identified and that
parliament and the
people will be seized with the task of making corrections
to
it.
These natural challenges notwithstanding, I believe there is much in
its
favour that must persuade the people to vote for the adoption of the
Copac
draft at the referendum. I will deal with the content later but the
bigger
picture refers to the place of the constitution in the development of
democracy in this country.
Zimbabweans have waged a peaceful and
non-violent struggle to change the
manner in which their country is
governed. For the first time in 2008, they
inflicted an electoral defeat
that could not be ignored – locally,
regionally or
internationally.
However, they were denied the opportunity to claim and
exercise their
electoral victory – the result being the compromise in the
form of the
inclusive government.
Through the Global Political
Agreement (GPA), under which the inclusive
government was established, the
people managed to once again place
constitutional reform on the political
agenda.
Clearly disappointed by the “No” vote in the 2000 referendum,
Zanu PF had
thrown a tantrum and abandoned constitutional reform as a
non-issue. The MDC
consistently fought for a new constitution and the fact
that the process has
taken place and that the draft constitution has been
achieved is down to MDC’s
patience, persistence and resilience of the
people.
I will highlight the key features that I find
persuasive:
Checks & balances
Since at its core a constitution deals
with the relationship between the
state and the individual and society at
large, it must ensure that those who
are vested with the power to govern are
limited and that those who are
governed have their fundamental freedoms
protected from intrusion. The Copac
draft does a far better job than the
current constitution in both respects.
The Copac draft specifies in clear
terms that both executive and legislative
powers are derived from the people
of Zimbabwe. The executive and parliament
only exercise these powers at the
pleasure of the people who being the
primary source of power, are the
ultimate principals.
In order to limit the abuse of state power, it is
distributed among the
three arms of the state, namely the executive,
parliament and the judiciary.
The principle of checks and balances, under
which the powers of one arm of
the state are checked and balanced by one or
more of the other arms, is a
critical part of the draft
constitution.
Principle of term limits
The constitutional limitations
on power are also evident in the principle of
term limits that will become a
prominent feature of the constitution.
Hitherto, the principle of term
limits has been conspicuous by its absence
in the constitution and
Zimbabwe’s political culture.
Principle of non-partisanship
The Copac
draft also represents a departure from militarism towards
constitutionalism
– a significant movement from politicisation of state
institutions that
should otherwise be neutral, apolitical and non-partisan.
Key sectors in
this regard include the security services and the civil
service.
The
Copac draft makes it very clear that the defence, police, intelligence,
correctional services and the civil service must be politically non-partisan
and must serve the national interest without the constraints of
politics.
Broader bill of rights
The Bill of Rights is probably one of
the most persuasive aspects of the
Copac draft, although some clauses could
have been improved. These
challenges notwithstanding, the Bill of Rights is
conspicuous by its
wide-ranging character – for the first time covering not
only civil and
political rights but also providing in good detail for
socio-economic rights
such as the right to education, health, food and
water, environment, etc.
The current constitution has always been
criticised for its failure to
account for these socio-economic rights and
the Copac draft corrects this
anomaly.
Civil and political rights,
such as the freedom of expression, freedom of
assembly, right to personal
liberty, etc have been expanded and written in
more specific terms with very
minimal claw-backs. The rights of arrested and
accused persons are
extensively articulated in precise terms, while new
additions are the right
of access to information, and for the first time the
freedom of the media is
provided for in the new constitution.
Women’s rights
Probably the most
significant feature of the Copac draft is its sensitivity
to issues of
gender equality and equity. Not only is the state obliged to
fulfil the
objective of gender equality, the Bill of Rights and the election
rules go a
long way to advance the cause of women who have long been saddled
with
constraints arising from custom and tradition that privileges
patriarchy.
The Bill of Rights specifies the rights of women,
including the rights to
equal treatment, equal pay, receive at least three
months paid maternity
leave, equal citizenship rights, protection against
domestic violence, equal
opportunities, custody and guardianship of
children, and all laws, customs
and cultural practices that violate women’s
rights are unconstitutional.
In the political field, 60 seats in the
parliament are reserved exclusively
for women and where seats are allocated
on the basis of proportional
representation, such as in the senate, a method
of selection that favours
women candidates is provided for.
Dual
citizenship
The Copac draft protects from erosion the rights of persons who
are citizens
by birth. Parliament has no power to prohibit dual citizenship
in respect of
citizens by birth.
It is important to note that the
Copac draft has an expanded definition of
citizenship by birth to include
persons who are born outside Zimbabwe where
one of the parents is a
Zimbabwean citizen. This means that persons who may
have been regarded as
citizens by descent under the current constitution may
actually qualify as
citizens by birth if they satisfy the conditions.
Further, it must be
emphasised that even in respect of citizens by descent
or by registration,
the Copac draft does not specifically prohibit dual
citizenship. Finally,
the Copac draft guarantees restoration of citizenship
by birth to persons
born in Zimbabwe who may have previously lost their
citizenship on the basis
of laws that affected the so-called aliens.
Devolution of power
By far
the greatest transformation to the structure of governance is
contained in
the provisions for devolution of power. This is a radical
departure from the
highly-centralised governance structure under the current
constitution. It
ensures that people will be able to govern themselves more
effectively at
the local level.
The provisions respond to widespread calls for the
distribution of power
across the state to enable local governance and
prevent marginalisation.
Dr Magaisa is the secretary for legal affairs in
the Office of the Prime
Minister and was the MDC-T technical expert during
the constitution-making
process.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
The
Chiefs’ Council recently called for peace and tolerance during the
forthcoming referendum and elections.
Column by The
MuckRaker
The chiefs, reports ZBC, resolved to preach the gospel of peace
and
tolerance in their communities to complement the GPA principals’ efforts
of
ensuring a violence-free referendum and harmonised
elections.
Chief Fortune Charumbira, Chiefs’ Council President, said
chiefs were
by-standers in the electoral process but said in the forthcoming
polls, they
will be in the forefront calling for peace and
tolerance.
“We have made a position that we should be actively involved
in preaching
the gospel of peace, we want our people to tolerate each other
so that we
can build our nation. We have been able to agree on the draft
constitution
and that the process should go on smoothly,” said
Charumbira.
Charumbira went on to declare that a peaceful referendum and
election will
“put to shame” the country’s detractors who “peddle
falsehoods” during any
electoral processes.
Jabbing
Jabulani
Meanwhile at Mubaira Growth Point in Mhondoro the youthful war
veterans
leader Jabulani Sibanda described Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
as an
“agent of the devil” warning traditional and church leaders against
accommodating MDC-T supporters, NewsDay reports.
“As traditional
leaders, you should make sure that you don’t have anyone
with MDC-T cards in
your areas,” Sibanda snarled. “We should work hard to
ensure that we restore
the country from the MDC-T. They don’t believe in our
own God, but in Satan.
I am shocked there are pastors who are in MDC-T
structures.”
Despite
accusing the MDC-T of being Satanists, Sibanda went on a blasphemous
tirade,
likening Zanu PF to the biblical “first fish” from where Jesus
Christ’s
disciples fished a coin when they ran out of cash.
“Zanu PF is your first
party. (President Robert) Mugabe is your first
leader. Jesus said the first
fish, not second, third or fourth. President
Mugabe is your salvation. He
represents the people’s interests, while
Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube (MDC
leader), Dumiso Dabengwa (Zapu) and all the
other parties are puppets of the
West.”
Curiously chiefs Chivero, Ngezi, Mashayamombe and Ziruvi were in
attendance
as Sibanda spewed his pungent vitriol. So much for chiefs no
longer being
by-standers!
Choosy beggar
Zanu PF chairman Simon
Khaya Moyo has told the United States and Switzerland
the country’s
political leadership will not allow any West-sponsored forces
to interfere
in the forthcoming referendum and elections to be held this
year, ZBC
reports.
It seems Cde Khaya Moyo is out of the loop considering the
principals have
tasked Finance minister Tendai Biti and Justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa
to hold out the begging bowl to fund the referendum and
general elections.
In last week’s edition, Biti and Chinamasa revealed
Zimbabwe only has a
combined budget of US$25 million with the two processes
estimated to cost
US$250 million.
Moyo, however, unperturbed by this
state of affairs boisterously told-off
the US and Swiss envoys Bruce Wharton
and Luciano Lavazzari respectively.
Zimbabweans, Khaya Moyo declared, do
not expect continued interference by
the West in the country’s affairs
through NGOs, “which instigate violence to
tarnish the country’s
image”.
Khaya Moyo’s ominous attack on NGOs comes amid a renewed onslaught on
civil
society with the police storming the offices of Jestina Mukoko’s
Zimbabwe
Peace Project on Monday. On the same note Khaya Moyo would also
want the
repeal of the “illegal” Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery
Act
(Zidera). He obviously wants his cake and to eat it too.
However,
Wharton was unequivocal in his response saying while his ambition
is to have
Zidera removed, his hands are tied as the embargo was “put for a
purpose”.
‘Public’ media abuse
In as much as we commiserate
with Information minister Webster Shamu over
the loss of his mother, the
shocking abuse of the supposedly national
broadcaster cannot go
unmentioned.
The bulk of Monday’s main news broadcast was dedicated to
Defence minister
Emmerson Mnagagwa and ZDF commander Constantine Chiwenga’s
visit to the
Shamu homestead to pay their condolences.
Mnangagwa and
Chiwenga were away last week on national duty in Mozambique
and Sudan
respectively, ZBC dutifully explained. The duo went on to describe
the late
Gogo Shamu as a “unifier, pillar of strength and an advisor who
showed love
to everyone”.
For more than five minutes viewers were barraged with an ad
nauseam oration
of the virtues of Gogo Shamu. Strange isn’t it we are only
hearing about
Gogo Shamu and her wonderful deeds now!
Since the
burial we have been told of one group or another “consoling” the
Shamu
family. On Tuesday we had the Johane Masowe church from Rusape sending
a
delegation to the Shamu homestead to pay condolences.
Considering the
minuscule coverage other parties in the inclusive government
are allotted,
it clearly smacks of abuse. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
can only dream
of getting such coverage on our so-called “first and
permanent
choice”.
Media reforms cannot come soon enough!
State-of-the-art
again
One of the oft abused words in the Zimbabwean lexicon was once
again in
action with ZBC having received two “state-of-the-art” digital
outside
broadcasting units donated by the Chinese government to “enable the
co-operation (sic) to meet the digitalisation thrust”.
They must have
meant corporation!
“The new equipment includes the latest outside
broadcast van equipped with
8-plus-1 high definition cameras with a super
slow replay facility and a
high definition satellite uplink van,” a beaming
ZBC employee stated.
“The outside broadcasting equipment is capable of
bringing live coverage of
events between two points linking them to viewers
as they occur.”
The equipment, we are told, “will improve the quality of
transmission while
bringing events to the people as they happen”. Haven’t we
heard this before?
In the same week that ZBC was announcing its broadcast
prowess, the
corporation ran 20 minutes of news without the sound.
A
stunning achievement!
What’s in a name
Malawian President Joyce
Banda has taken flak for a costly directive to
print new portraits to
accommodate her new doctoral title.
South Korea’s University of Jeonju
awarded Banda an honorary doctorate in
economics for her achievements in
“furthering global peace, economic reforms
and furthering the dignity of
mankind in the world”.
The initial portrait has a “Mrs” on the title but
with the new accolade the
Malawian government intends to replace thousands
of portraits with those
bearing the new title of “Dr”.
Defending the
move Malawian Information minister Moses Kunkuyu said it was
important that
the president’s new title be featured on the portrait as it
was an “honour
to all Malawians”.
Former president Bingu wa Mutharika also spent
millions of Kwacha to change
his portrait bearing the title “Dr” to
accommodate “Professor” soon after a
Chinese University recognised
him.
A few months into office, Banda had already coined a lengthy title
of: “Her
Excellency the State President and Commander in-Chief of the Malawi
Defence
Force and Malawi Police Service, Minister responsible for the Public
Service, Statutory Corporations, Civil Service Administration, National
Relief and Disaster Management and Nutrition and HIV/ Aids.”
No
guesses where the inspiration for all this came from.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
For many years the
world has been aware that “Diamonds are forever!” This
stemmed from
advertising by De Beers, who for a long time were the world’s
largest
producer of diamonds.
Opinion by Eric Bloch
It is correct that
diamonds are virtually indestructible. But this has no
substance for those
who believe that a country’s diamond resources are of
endless
availability.
Ultimately, all that can be extracted from the diamond
fields will have been
taken out and the resource will cease to
exist.
That was wisely foreseen by Sir Seretse Khama when diamonds were
discovered
in Botswana, whereupon he vigorously sought that that country’s
diamond
revenues should be applied to the development of other economic
resources,
to assure the country’s continued economic wellbeing as far as
possible once
the diamond fields had been fully mined and denuded of their
deposits.
There is also a grievous misconception that the finding of
diamond fields is
an immediate trigger for bountiful national
wealth.
That can be so, depending on the magnitude of the available
diamonds and
upon the available quantity thereof over a period of time, but
this cannot
be the fuel for vast economic transformation
overnight.
And yet that has been the general misconception by the
Zimbabwean government
and the majority of the populace following the
discovery of the Marange and
Chiadzwa diamond fields.
Although some
diamond resources in Zimbabwe have been known and exploited
for many years —
near Zvishavane and in the district of Beitbridge — it
cannot be gainsaid
that the finds in the eastern districts, a few years ago,
were of far
greater magnitude.
Moreover, there are almost undoubtedly other diamond
fields in Zimbabwe that
are yet to be identified and
exploited.
Immediately following the discovery of the Chiadzwa diamond
fields in
Marange, a nationwide anticipation of an economic metamorphosis
developed
within the corridors of government among the residents of the
eastern
highlands, and to a very significant extent within other economic
sectors,
and amongst the population in general.
But, as yet, that has
not happened, and it was an immense misconception of
most to have expected
that to occur instantaneously.
This erroneous expectation was especially
pronounced in government in
general, and within the Ministry of Finance in
particular, and demonstrated
a total absence of appreciation of
realities.
First of all, before substantive extraction of the diamonds
could be
achieved, the diamond fields had to be developed, entailing
considerable
time-consuming labour and very considerable expenditures on
development and
equipment.
Secondly, customer markets had to be
accessed and reciprocally beneficial
relationships cultivated. Doing so
necessitated vigorous constraints to
contain inevitable misappropriation and
smuggling of the diamonds, which was
irrefutably existent from the moment of
the first discovery of the diamond
fields.
At the same time, in order
to deal and transact with reputable and up-market
diamond customers, it was
a prerequisite that Zimbabwe attain Kimberley
Process Certification (KPC),
only available upon irrefutable evidence of
intense containment of smuggling
and on the diamonds not being “blood
diamonds” from war or like
events.
Thus, the indisputably advantageous discovery of the diamonds
could not, and
did not, trigger an immediately strong and viable economy,
and a relief to
the immense poverty which has afflicted the majority of
Zimbabweans for far
too long.
Notwithstanding, the discovered diamond
fields and those yet to be found
will progressively become very major
elements of a virile Zimbabwean
economy, and of the wellbeing of many
Zimbabweans.
The misplaced expectations of huge inflows of diamond
revenues into the
fiscus, ameliorating the state’s gross inadequacies of
funds, were as
intensively misconceived as the erroneous anticipations of
most of the
populace.
Over and above the fact that treasury received
no direct revenue from the
proceeds of smuggled diamonds, it could also not
do so until the formalised,
KPC-approved sales commenced.
Once those
sales were being achieved, the fairly rapid fiscal inflows could
only
emanate to the extent of 15%, being the legally prescribed royalties
payable
on all diamond sales.
Moreover, the pipeline for the inflow of the
diamond revenue inflows was,
and is, an extended one, as such royalties are
payable in the first instance
to the Minerals Marketing Corporation, which
in turn must onward transmit
them to treasury. In time, other
diamond-related revenues will accrue to the
fiscus, primarily in the form of
income taxes on profits from the diamond
field operators.
But taxable
profits only materialise once the operators’ revenues exceed
their
operational costs and the tax allowances on expenditures incurred on
plant,
equipment and other assets that were used to make the fields
productive.
Indirect revenues will also progressively accrue to the
state, such as taxes
on salaries and wages of the employees, and from the
increasing numbers
employed within the country as a whole as the economy
surges upwards in
response to downstream operations. This includes increased
employment
created by the expenditures of the diamond field operators and
their
employees.
Similarly, that downstream economic beneficiation
becomes a stimulant for
greater inflows of value added tax on the enhanced
consumer spending, and of
income tax on improved profits of the businesses
benefitting from the
increased consumer spending.
In due course, once
the diamond field operators have recovered their
establishment and
developmental costs and are realising meaningful profits,
the fiscus will
also benefit from the withholding taxes on dividends
declared by the
operators to their shareholders.
Further, massive economic benefits will
be forthcoming once value-addition
operations in respect of diamonds come
into being.
When Zimbabwe is no longer only selling uncut, unpolished
diamonds to world
markets, but has established the long talked-about
diamond-cutting and
polishing industry (that could possibly include the
production of diamond
and gold-based jewellery) many further revenues will
inflow into the
economy, and to the exchequer. But, despite the apparent
issue of some
licences that has yet to occur, there will be a transitional
period before
such projects become significant economic
contributors.
Also key to the diamond finds being catalysts of economic
growth and
stability on an ongoing basis is that, as was the case with the
late Sir
Seretse Khama in Botswana, it must be recognised that the diamond
resource
will progressively be depleted and that, therefore, some of the
wealth that
will flow from the diamond fields operations must be injected
into the
development and creation of other fields of beneficial economic
activity,
including agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and infrastructure
development.
The diamond revenues must not be used exclusively for
the funding of
recurrent governmental operational expenditures. If this is
assiduously and
constructively pursued, then indirectly Zimbabwe’s diamonds
will be
“forever”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
ZIMBABWE is currently
emerging from a decade of severe economic slowdown,
and is beginning to look
forward with ever increasing confidence.
Opinion by Mthuli
Ncube
The country is intent on recovering and rebuilding on the gains it
registered after independence, particularly the progress in reducing poverty
and inequality, and joblessness.
The economy had been in decline
since 1996 and recorded negative economic
growth at a time when most African
economies were booming.
Disruptions in agriculture due to land reforms
explain the decline in
agricultural production, while manufacturing went
into decline mainly due to
a shortage of foreign currency. Hyperinflation,
which peaked in 2008,
poisoned the investment climate and ravaged the
economy.
Alongside this downturn in productivity came a sharp fall in
disposable
incomes and employment. The decline of employment in low skill
sectors like
agriculture and construction caused unemployment to rise,
especially among
low income households, some of whom are still caught in the
poverty-trap.
During the recent years, and in response to the more stable
and liberalised
economic environment, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is
expected to
continue showing positive growth into 2013 and 2014, contrasted
to a decline
of about 14% in 2008, for instance.
The recovery is
underpinned by the restoration of business confidence and
anticipated
recovery in agriculture and manufacturing. Hyperinflation was
brought to a
halt; inflation is expected to remain in single digit for the
next two years
while the United States dollar remains the base currency
mostly in use under
the multicurrency regime.
1: Zimbabwe – Gross Domestic
Product
Recognising the centrality of a sustainable economic pattern,
policy-makers
should embark on an inclusive-growth agenda where recovery
generates
improvements in the economic and social conditions of the people
of
Zimbabwe, especially in job creation and food security.
In the
projections to year 2050, estimates for Zimbabwe show that GDP per
capita,
although relatively low, would reach US$927 in 2050, and US$ 780 in
2030,
compared to US$595 in 2010. Over the projection period, real GDP per
capita
is projected to increase by around 40% to reach US$673 in 2050
compared to
US$483 in 2010.
Zimbabwe has experienced rapid increases in poverty and
declines in survival
indicators. Due to the economic and social conditions
in previous decade,
the prospects of achieving most of the Millennium
Development Goals remain
weak. The poverty rate increased significantly and
inequality is high.
2: Zimbabwe – Population and 3: Zimbabwe: Life
expectancy
During the same time, the HIV/Aids epidemic remains a dominant
reproductive
health issue. A combination of rampant unemployment, social and
political
tensions simply provides an environment that fuels the epidemic,
with the
overall situation making it difficult to mobilise a consistent,
effective
response to spreading infection. These factors have contributed to
the
deterioration of Zimbabwe’s human development indicators.
In the
decades ahead, the challenge facing Zimbabwe is highlighted by
prospective
trends in population and demographic indicators, which
constitutes essential
factors in boosting economic growth.
Projections to year 2050 show that
Zimbabwe’s population is expected to
reach 20,6 million, compared to a level
of 12,6 million in 2010, assuming a
moderate slowdown of fertility
rates.
In fact, Zimbabwe’s progress on health seems to have stagnated in
recent
years and provision of key public services also suffered as the
government
failed to keep critical services such as education, health and
infrastructure running.
But, Zimbabwe has experienced a decline in
fertility of almost two births
per woman over the past two decades, with the
fertility rate falling to 3,3
births per woman in 2010, which would reach
1,9 births by 2050. With the
HIV/Aids pandemic, life expectancy at birth in
the country has fallen to
about 50 years. The estimates for decades ahead,
show modest progress and by
2050, a baby born in Zimbabwe could expect to
live to 65,7 years.
4: Zimbabwe – Under-five, infant mortality
rate
Similarly, infant mortality is a critical issue in Zimbabwe. Information
for
2010 indicates that infant mortality rate was 53 deaths per 1000 live
births, while the under-five mortality rate was 83 per 1000 live
births.
Child mortality is consistently lower in urban areas than in
rural areas.
The impact of the Aids epidemic is also evident in child
mortality rates,
with more than half of all deaths among children under age
five due to Aids.
Meanwhile, on the reproductive health front, Zimbabwe
has had one of the
most successful family planning programmes in sub-Saharan
Africa. In
parallel with the demographic trends reported above, under-five
mortality
rate is expected to decline clearly over the next decades from 83
per 1000
live births in 2010 to 46 in 2030 and then to 32 per 1000 live
births by
2050.
5: Zimbabwe – Urban/Rural population
The context
of a rapid urbanisation in next decades exposes policy-makers to
further
pressures in terms of proper urban planning and provision of
services to
cater for the growing cities.
More investment in water and sanitation
services, urban housing, electricity
provision, health services, urban
transport, and ICT services, among others,
is required. Zimbabwe is ranked
among the lowest countries in the world on
information technology. Compared
to other countries in the region, Zimbabwe
has been slow in harnessing the
commercial and governance potential offered
by the new ICT
developments.
This can be attributed to a weak investment climate. Growth
of the ICT
sector in Zimbabwe, although slow, will accelerate, with respect
to mobile
telephony and through new and innovative services like
mobile-banking. The
potential for this industry to generate jobs is already
evident and
policy-makers will embrace such developments, especially if they
improve
financial-inclusion.
6: Zimbabwe: Communication indicators
and 7: Zimbabwe – Electricity
consumption
Prospects for Zimbabwe
generally look bright for the next few decades to
2050. However, certain
policy choices need to be made to keep and sustain
the current recovery
momentum.
Professor Ncube is Chief Economist and Vice President of the
African
Development Bank Group. He is former Barbican Bank CEO and Dean of
Wits
Business School, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
Reserve
Bank governor Gideon Gono and Finance minister Tendai Bit have been
on a
crusade of financial inclusion.
Candid Comment with Itai
Masuku
They mean the same thing but perhaps for different reasons. For
the Reserve
Bank financial inclusion refers to the “unbanked”, basically
people who do
not have bank accounts.
Reasons for this may vary from
not having readily accessible banking
facilities, as might apply to rural
areas or simply not earning enough to
justify a bank account. On the other
hand treasury is more interested in
getting those funds into its own
coffers.
Both men have a problem with the fact that at any given time,
for the same
amount that circulates officially in Zimbabwe, through the
banks, almost an
equivalent amount is circulating outside the
system.
That means neither Gono nor Biti have access to those funds. Blue
chip
Innscor has an axiom that goes; “follow the money”. And as anyone can
see,
these guys do follow the money.
Following that maxim, one
decided to examine where the money has gone and
found what one may liken to
Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. In one
aspect of our country we have
the classical Marxist Leninist scenario where
wealth (and in our case
liquidity) is concentrated in the hands of a few.
This is the economy of
the people whom we see speeding around in huge
automobiles with V8 and
four-litre-plus engines running on petrol at that.
Many of them live in
mountain-built mansions, are in the process of building
some or are
renovating them for the umpteenth time.
If we call to mind what ended up
being dubbed the “Warren Buffett tax
proposals” that US President Barack
Obama mulled on for the better part
before his re-election campaign, we can
draw some parallels with our own
situation at home.
These super rich
pay a very small proportion of their income towards tax. In
fact, the
supercars and mansions may be means of avoiding tax. This leaves
the only
remaining tax base as the “unbanked”. This is the second part of
our tale of
two countries.
It’s now difficult to call them the working class, or
proletariat, given the
dismal unemployment levels in the country. Experts
tell us those in formal
employment in the country amount to 800 000 people,
out of Zimbabwe’s
approximately 12 million, a mere 6,7% of the populace. The
rest are the
unemployed, semi-employed, or self-employed.
The last
category therefore constitutes the remaining tax base. I call this
the
dollar economy because here, most things are sold for a dollar or less.
If
government wants to follow the money immediately, this is where they
should
go. However, morally this is unsound as it implies robbing the poor
to give
to the rich.
Politically this is calling the devil from the vast deep.
But there are
proposals to amend Zimbabwe’s tax laws, and a cursory glance
suggests, like
the Buffett proposals, the net may be closing in not so much
on the bottom
tier economy but on the fat cats who have enjoyed the reverse
of the Robin
Hood phenomenon.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Retired Justice Simpson
Mutambanengwe’s resignation this week — officially on health grounds amid
reports he had been forced out by Zanu PF — compounds the severe credibility
deficit bedevilling the controversial electoral body ahead of the referendum
on the draft constitution and general elections.
Zimbabwe Independent
Editorial
Zec’s role in the electoral system is central and critical so
its
credibility must be solid and unassailable. Elections run by a body
perceived as partisan and lacking integrity cannot produce credible outcomes
respected by the contestants and voters.
In fact, they create a
legitimacy crisis for those claiming victory. Without
the consent of the
governed, rulers effectively become dictators imposing
themselves on the
people against popular will. Their mandate would simply be
illegitimate and
thus open to challenge in the courts and the streets.
In this connection,
the last thing Zimbabwe — still struggling to resolve a
decade-long
political stalemate which triggered serious economic problems —
needs is
another disputed election, but as matters stand the country is
hurtling down
that familiar path.
While government officials say the referendum is in
March and elections in
July, the reality is that the political situation and
electoral environment
has not significantly changed.
Zec is still the
same organisationally, structurally and administratively.
It is still
staffed by the same officials who in 2008 spent five weeks
withholding
results of the first round of the presidential election which
President
Robert Mugabe had lost.
Their credibility took a knock as a result of
that, especially after the
presidential election run-off which was marred by
violence, intimidation and
all sorts of irregularities which forced Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
drop out of the race, leaving Mugabe to claim
a dubious victory.
While officially it is said Mutambanengwe resigned on
health grounds, we
have information to show he was pressured to go by Zanu
PF officials who
never wanted him because he is perceived as opposed to the
party’s policies
and had unfinished business with the current leadership
dating back to the
liberation struggle.
He may well have been ailing,
but political pressure was brought to bear on
him to quit. This has serious
implications for Zec’s standing and conducting
of the next
elections.
The constitution requires that Zec commissioners be chosen for
their
integrity, experience and competence in the conduct of affairs in the
public
or private sector. However, while Zec has some people of high moral,
academic and professional standing, it is also staffed with personnel with
security backgrounds.
In other words, those who worked for the
security forces — police, CIO or
the military.
That is why the issue
of Zec was subject to party political negotiations for
some time.
The
issue of the secretariat and staffing was debated, but there was no
solution.
The MDC parties wanted new staff appointed, but Zanu PF
refused in the way
it opposed security sector reform. This is a recipe for
yet another disputed
poll.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
February 15, 2013 in Opinion
REPORTS show Zanu
PF’s controversial indigenisation programme is riddled
with serious problems
characterised by client politics — which have a strong
interaction with the
dynamics of identity politics — and corruption in the
form of extortion,
bribery, cronyism and patronage.
Editor’s Memo with Dumisani
Muleya
These reports intensify our persistent worries that although the
empowerment
drive is necessary, this current model has been discredited by
its
implementers who have reduced it to a rent-seeking
campaign.
Architects of the indigenisation and empowerment programme
claim they want
to overhaul the economic structure and correct historical
imbalances in
economic ownership, control and benefit. They say it’s a
transformational
agenda which is an expression of the ideals of the
liberation struggle that
included land reform.
Engineers of
indigenisation — who are also basically proponents of resource
nationalisation — say the liberation struggle was not simply about majority
rule but also economic freedom.
However, their critics argue that
although the principle of indigenisation
is justified, its execution and the
motives of those behind it are
questionable and must be interrogated. They
fear that if implemented in an
opportunistic and chaotic manner — in other
words without a structural
approach — it would destroy the economy
struggling to recover from an
unprecedented meltdown in the decade preceding
2009.
Critics also say the trouble with this model is that in its current
form, it
amounts to rent-seeking. They view it as some sort of a Ponzi
scheme on a
framework dependent on unknown events and calculations open to
manipulation
and corruption.
Those spearheading the programme are
widely seen as opportunists trying to
make money like Russian oligarchs
during the end of the Soviet era under
Mikhail Gorbachev, later Boris
Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.
The oligarchs — known by some as billionaires
from nowhere — emerged as
well-connected entrepreneurs who started from
nearly nothing and got rich
through participation in the market via
connections to corrupt senior
government officials during Russia’s
transition from a command to a
market-based economy.
In the
Zimbabwean case, Zanu PF officials are trying to use their power and
influence to redistribute wealth to themselves through political lobbying
and collusion rather than creating new wealth and increasing overall
efficiency of the economy, while creating jobs.
This is the trouble with
this indigenisation process.
To start with, it is highly politicised and
is designed to serve the
political and specific electoral agenda of Zanu PF.
There is nothing wrong
with Zanu PF campaigning on that platform, but if the
execution is seen as
designed to benefit the triumvirate of the party’s
elite, a narrow clique
for that matter, their partisan business
collaborators and military chiefs
then it becomes a problematic
issue.
Had it been well-articulated, sold to politicians across parties,
business
and the public in a non-partisan manner and explained in a way that
it is
seen as a programme to fulfil the people’s aspirations, it would have
stood
a better chance of being embraced on a national scale.
But
Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere and his clique has tended to
make
inflammatory statements, undermining their cause while sending shivers
down
the spines of investors.
As a result, the indigensation debate has
poisoned national economic
discourse, with populists insisting they can
build a new economy with a wide
ownership base through an equity model while
critics argue this rent-seeking
approach to empowerment will not only fail
to create new wealth, but also
have a disastrous impact on the economy
leaving the intended beneficiaries
more impoverished and miserable.
