Mugabe threatens to reject Zuma

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

19/02/2012 00:00:00
    by Gilbert Nyambabvu

PRESIDENT Robert has stepped-up his campaign to force fresh elections this
year by warning Zimbabwe could reject SADC-appointed mediator and South
African president Jacob Zuma.

Mugabe wants new polls held this year but faces stiff opposition from
long-term rival and coalition partner, Morgan Tsvangirai who is demanding
that reforms agreed under the terms of their power-sharing pact must be
implemented first.

And President Zuma and his facilitation team have riled Mugabe and his Zanu
PF party by appearing to side with Tsvangirai and insisting political
reforms must be completed to ensure the poll outcome is not disputed.

But speaking in a series of interviews with state media ahead of his 88th
birthday Tuesday, Mugabe – who is frustrated by delays in completing work on
a new constitution -- said Zimbabwe may be forced to reject Zuma as
mediator.
“Zuma tinokwanisa kumuramba masikati machena (we can reject Zuma very
easily). Takatomuudza izvozvo tikati aiwa (we have since warned him that) we
are not forced to, but we don't want to do that, tinoda kunzwanana,” Mugabe
was quoted as saying in an interview with Radio Zimbabwe expected to be
broadcast Monday night.

He said rejection of Zuma would not affect Zimbabwe’s relations with South
Africa emphasizing that the ANC leader was mediating on behalf of the
regional SADC grouping and not his country.

"Facilitators that we are given are leaders selected on the basis of their
standing to assist a country that has differences so that the country can
find a common ground and resolve its differences," Mugabe said.
"Facilitators do not carry the name of their home country to the countries
they would be facilitating."

The Zanu PF leader said there was precedent for such change of mediators in
the region, recalling that ex-Botswana President Sir Ketumile Masire was
rejected by Lesotho after the government there accused him of bias towards
the opposition.

Mugabe has previously expressed exasperation with Zuma’s efforts to broker a
deal leading to new elections between the country’s warring coalition
partners.

The Zimbabwean leader reacted angrily last April when a report by Zuma
resulted in Zanu PF getting an unusually strong rebuke from regional leaders
at a SADC meeting in Zambia.

Mugabe returned home to tell a Zanu PF meeting that he would not take
instructions from Zuma on how to run the country.

"We will not brook any dictation from any source. We are a sovereign
country. Even our neighbours cannot dictate to us. We will resist that,” the
Zanu PF leader charged then.

"The facilitator is the facilitator and must facilitate dialogue."
"He cannot prescribe anything. We prescribe what we should do in accordance
with our laws and our agreement."

MDC using reforms to get rid of me — Mugabe

http://www.businessday.co.za

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accuses political rivals of trying to use
constitutional reforms to get rid of him
CRIS CHINAKA
Published: 2012/02/20 08:16:08 AM

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe accused his political rivals — who he
said were barking like "dogs" — of trying to use constitutional reforms to
get rid of him, the state-owned Sunday Mail reported.

Mr Mugabe, who turns 88 tomorrow and was forced into a coalition government
after disputed elections in 2008, is seeking to extend his 32 years in power
in an early poll he wants to be held this year, a year ahead of schedule.

Mr Mugabe charged that lawyers hired to draft a new constitution, and rivals
from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), had "erred" by including issues not gathered from a public survey.

Mr Mugabe mocked Mr Tsvangirai and the MDC as impotent, for protesting at
his recent reappointment of security commanders, accused by the opposition
of blocking democratic reforms.

"We don’t pay attention to that because they are like barking dogs with no
bite, and every village has such dogs," he said in Shona.

Mr Mugabe also attacked Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a senior MDC figure,
for slowing Zimbabwe’s economic recovery by starving the farming sector of
funds.

In the past Mr Biti has denied accusations that the MDC is deliberately
withholding state loans to farmers from Mr Mugabe’s party who had seized
white-owned commercial farms. Mr Biti maintains Zimbabwe’s slow recovery
from a decade of severe economic recession caused by Mr Mugabe’s policies is
largely due to delays by Zanu (PF) in adopting reforms.

Asked about clauses in the first draft of the constitution that could bar
him from running for another term of office, Mr Mugabe said although he had
not yet read the document, such a proposal — and the inclusion of gay
rights — would not be accepted by his party.

"Such a constitution would be thrown out by Zanu (PF). We would not accept
that. They erred if it is like that," he said.

A draft constitution published early this month trims presidential powers
and limits terms to a maximum of 10 years, barring Mr Mugabe, who has been
in office since 1980. Mr Mugabe has been nominated as his party’s candidate.
Under the power-sharing deal with Mr Tsvangirai, elections must be held by
next year with a new constitution drawn up before the poll.

Meanwhile, a Valentine’s Day march was crushed by police, who beat
protesters calling for peace in Zimbabwe.

Reuters

President Mugabe still in charge at almost 90

http://news.monstersandcritics.com

By Jan Raath Feb 20, 2012, 15:03 GMT

Harare (dpa) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is expected to be
presented with a very large cake on his 88th birthday Tuesday, ahead of
elaborate and costly official events to mark the occasion in the
impoverished nation.

The aging and reportedly ill Mugabe, who has been at the helm of since
independence in 1980, has insisted repeatedly in recent weeks that he will
continue to run Zimbabwe for the foreseeable future.

As it does every year, the media is likely to capture Mugabe as he marks the
occasion, posing with the birthday cake presented by family and staff.

In the days that follow, the festivities that have been organized by his
special '21st of February Movement', are to kick off.

Some 5,000 members of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and their families are expected
to attend the main party, which is to be followed by the finals of a special
football tournament - the 1-million-dollar Bob '88 Super Cup.

There will also be a Miss February 21 beauty pageant.

Mugabe is believed to be recovering from prostate cancer, and last year flew
repeatedly to Singapore, for what observers said were 'rejuvenation
treatments.'

At key public events last year, including party conferences, Mugabe was seen
falling asleep and generally appeared to be weakening.

However, since his most recent return from the Far East last month, Mugabe
has embarked on a strong public relations campaign.

The president has held a wave of interviews and public speeches and, at a
football event, was photographed puffing into a 'vuvuzela,' the plastic horn
made famous at the 2010 football World Cup in South Africa.

His reinvigorated appearance has been accompanied by a firm stance on his
future political role in the southern African nation.

'All the people support that I stand,' Mugabe said about the next election.
'There is no one (else) who can stand at the moment,' he told state media in
an interview at the weekend.

While Zanu-PF says it wants to hold elections this year, the rival Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) and civil society groups say they want
constitutional reforms to be concluded first.

The MDC is part of the coalition government in place since 2008, when
Zanu-PF was forced by its regional neighbours to share power, following
elections that were marked by violence and allegations of fraud.

Observers say Zanu-PF wants its veteran leader on the ticket for the next
election, in part, as no one else in the party has been groomed to take over
the job.

Officials in neighbouring South Africa - which is in charge of monitoring
the fragile and often violated coalition deal - have already publicly
expressed concern about a messy succession in Zimbabwe, should Mugabe die
while in power.

Mugabe ups the ante on elections

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
20 February 2012

President Robert Mugabe has heated up the rhetoric over elections, saying he
will definitely call them this year, while describing as ‘cowards’
politicians who say polls cannot be held until 2013.

He also threatened to reject South African President Jacob Zuma as
facilitator for the shaky power-sharing government, formed to stop the
country’s political melt-down.

The ageing ZANU PF leader told the state-run Radio Zimbabwe that, ‘they
(ZANU PF) can reject Zuma in broad daylight.’ The interview will be aired on
Monday ahead of his 88th birthday on Tuesday.

Mugabe said that he had already told Zuma that he could be rejected, adding:
‘We have said no, we are not forced to accept him. But we don’t want to do
that (reject him), we don’t want to fight each other,’ Mugabe said.

His ZANU PF party has been riled by Zuma’s facilitation team for pushing for
implementation of the reforms agreed to in the Global Political Agreement.

Mugabe wants to end his partnership with long-term rival and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, insisting the arrangement, facilitated by SADC after the
disputed election in 2008, was no longer workable.

But despite Mugabe’s defiant words on elections, Tsvangirai’s MDC party has
said polling cannot go ahead until constitutional reforms are complete.
Civil Society Organisations and human rights organisations in the country
also said Zimbabwe is not yet ready to have elections.

‘Mugabe is day dreaming and he knows that. He’s merely politicking in
threatening to call elections this year. There were a raft of measures put
in place by SADC for elections to happen in Zimbabwe and one of them is to
have a new constitution before a new poll,’ a top MDC-T official said on
Monday.

The official said Tsvangirai was to meet Mugabe for their usual Monday
meeting and the MDC leader would it clear to him that their party will be
ready for a vote only once basic reforms have been carried out. We were
unable to confirm if the meeting did actually take place or if it was
cancelled at the last minute, as happened last week.

Dewa Mavhinga, regional director for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition told
SW Radio Africa that Mugabe’s birthday interviews were just political
grandstanding.

‘This has become tradition for Mugabe to say something on his birthday and
most of the messages are meant for his supporters and they are clearly not
policy decisions.

‘This is a birthday reflection with no policy values whatsoever. It’s not
relevant and certainly not an important pronouncement,’ Mavhinga said.

Political commentator Blessing Vava told us it is clear Mugabe and his party
never wanted a new constitution, as a new constitution would make it harder
for them to rig the next election.

‘Besides, Mugabe is also taking into consideration his age and health. I’m
sure he’s pretty much occupied with the fear that he might not be in the
best of shapes when it comes to the rigours involved with electioneering,’
Vava said.

Political blogger Lenox Mhlanga said he believes Mugabe wants early
elections before the new constitution is out: ‘ZANU PF believes elections
under the current conditions, with all the oppressive laws like AIPPA and
POSA still in place, would give them an advantage over MDC.

‘Mugabe is just posturing knowing full well he will lose any election. He
wants to give the impression that he is for elections while the MDC is
perceived to be reluctant because they fear losing,’ Mhlanga said.

Mugabe may also have angered many in his party by insisting he will not step
down because he has not found a successor. He said grooming a successor
would ‘cause much more divisions within the party.’ He has been on the
throne since independence in 1980 and at the helm of ZANU PF since 1976.

The Parliamentary management committee spearheading the drafting of a new
constitution and the COPAC team overseeing the process will also meet in
Harare on Monday night to review progress. SW Radio Africa is reliably
informed the meeting, if all parties are in agreement, might come up with a
date or month for a referendum.

Mugabe will block constitution

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Peter Marimudza     Monday 20 February 2012

HARARE – President Robert Mugabe has vowed to block a new constitution that
would prevent him from running for president, while also insisting he would
not permit restructuring of the armed forces seen as the backbone of his
three-decade stay in power.

In an interview with state media ahead of his 88th birthday celebrations
later this week Mugabe also repeated calls for elections this year saying
those that say polls can only be held in 2013 were “cowards” too afraid to
face him and his ZANU (PF) party at the ballot box.

Senior ZANU (PF) officials have previously said the party would block a
proposed new constitution unless a clause in the draft charter barring from
running for president anyone who has held the office for 10 years is
removed.

Mugabe said he has not yet seen the draft that was leaked to the public more
than a week ago but said that if the proposed charter contains such a clause
then his party would reject it.

“Such a constitution would be thrown out by ZANU (PF). We would not accept
that. They erred if it is like that. But I am yet to get sight of the
 draft,” said the veteran President who turns 88 tomorrow.

Under a political pact known as the global political agreement that gave
birth to the Harare unity government, Zimbabwe must first write a new
constitution and implement several electoral reforms before holding new
polls.

But the constitutional reform process is terribly behind schedule, slowed
down by incessant squabbling among the political parties over what to
include in the new charter as well as a shortage of funds.

Barring further delays, a referendum on the new constitution should be held
later this year, the final step before the document, if approved by
Zimbabweans, is taken before Parliament which must pass it before Mugabe
signs it into law.

Tsvangirai and his MDC party have said even if a new constitution was
adopted this year there was need to give the charter time to take root
before new elections are called, which would see Zimbabwe going to polls
only next year.

But Mugabe said Zimbabwe would be going to polls to choose a new
administration to replace the government of national unity this year.
"Elections can happen at any time ... definitely, yes, this year,” he told
his interviewer.

He rejected protests by Tsvangirai over his decision to reappoint Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri as well as calls by the Prime Minister for
comprehensive reform and restructuring of the security forces as the barking
of a toothless dog.

The appointment of national security commanders was a sensitive matter which
only the office the President could handle, he said.

"This is an important issue to do with national security. It is an issue
that rests with the President only,” said Mugabe, who was speaking in the
vernacular in the Shona language.

"We don't pay attention to that (Tsvangirai’s protests) because they are
like barking dogs with no bite, and every village has such dogs," he said.

Mugabe’s party controls enough seats in Parliament to block passage of the
new constitution while the President could also use his powers to block a
draft he does not agree with by simply refusing to call a constitutional
referendum because under the law only he can call such a plebiscite.

Alternatively, Mugabe could also refuse to sign the draft into law once it
is passed by Parliament.

Zimbabweans hope a new constitution will guarantee human rights, strengthen
the role of Parliament and curtail the president's powers, as well as
guaranteeing civil, political and media freedoms. -- ZimOnline

Mugabe Not Going Anywhere

http://www.radiovop.com/

Bulawayo, February 20 2012 -War Veterans leader ,Jabulani Sibanda said MDC
formations and some Zanu (PF) members who want to block President Robert
Mugabe from contesting next elections using the new constitution are wasting
their time, as “he is not going anywhere”.

Speaking to Radio VOP on Sunday Sibanda, the Zimbabwe National Liberation
War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) leader  said Mugabe is still the Zanu (PF)
candidate in next elections and nobody  inside or outside the party will
stop him.

“The President Mugabe is not going anywhere, and  I tell you no-one within
the party or outside will stop him from  contesting  next elections; we are
in a struggle and in every struggle there are counter-revolutionaries,”
said Sibanda.

"As war veterans we are watching that draft constitutional making process
closely and we also are waiting patiently to see what it comes out with,”
added Sibanda.

Sibanda  once led the Zanu PF's "One Million March”, in support  for Mugabe
ahead of the March 2008 presidential election.

Last year at Zanu (PF) annual conference in Bulawayo he labeled some senior
party who were quoted in Wiki-Leaks website as worse than dogs.

Zanu (PF) is currently at loggerheads with Constitutional Parliamentary
Committee (COPAC) after a clause which could block Mugabe from contesting
next elections was included in the first constitutional draft.

The clause that has got Mugabe and his loyalists running scared reads: “A
person is disqualified for election as President if he or she has already
held office for one or more periods, whether continuous or not, amounting to
10 years.”

If adopted, the clause would block Mugabe, who turns 88 tomorrow, (Tuesday)
and has ruled the country since independence in 1980, from running again.

COPAC  is a parliamentary body driving the crafting of a new constitution,
viewed as a critical foundation to credible elections after the disputed
2008 presidential poll run.

GNU will not be extended: PM

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Taurai Mangudhla, Staff Writer
Monday, 20 February 2012 15:13

HARARE - Zimbabwe's shaky inclusive government will not be extended, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said.

This comes as political uncertainty, mainly as a result of ambiguity on the
inclusive government’s lifespan and President Robert Mugabe’s persistent
calls for early elections, has been cited as the main reason why
international investors are in waiting mode on Zimbabwe.

Local business people have been complaining about the way the GNU is being
run saying they needed capital but investors were waiting on Zimbabwe’s
political fate to release their funds.

“The Government of National Unity (GNU) cannot be extended because it will
be undemocratic…extending the GNU, no I don’t think so because that is not
possible.

“This will be undemocratic because we have to do that between political
parties that are in the GNU only,” he said responding to business executives’
questions attending KM Financial Solution’s CEO roundtable in Victoria Falls
on Saturday.

“At the same time, we will be denying Zimbabweans an opportunity to decide
their destiny,” Tsvangirai added.

The business executives, who were discussing imperatives on the country’s
targets to achieve a $100 billion economy by 2040, had suggested formal
extension of the inclusive government to stabilise the local market.

The Premier said the three parties in government, Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations had agreed on a roadmap to free and fair elections to restore
confidence in the economy.

“The GNU cannot promise anything here because of the nature of our politics
but we are creating a roadmap that will help us have a definitive roadmap to
the next election.”

Tsvangirai said the roadmap requires the country to complete constitutional
reforms and other Sadc requirements before elections are held.

Deputy Prime Minister Author Mutambara said lack of a termination clause in
Zimbabwe’s GPA is slowing down investment.

The GPA gave birth to the country’s inclusive government in 2009 between
Mugabe’s Zanu PF and two MDC formations led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Mutambara after disputed elections in March 2008.

Mugabe has frequently called for early polls, but his counterparts insist on
elections only after tangible reforms.

“It creates instability because investors will say I will put my money after
elections or when someone else is in power. As politicians, we want to say
let’s go for elections today so that we feel good, but this creates
uncertainty because elections could be tomorrow or any time,” he said,
adding investors were more comfortable in a predictable environment.

Mutambara said the inclusive government should have been given a specific
life time to avoid political and economic uncertainty.

“We have been in election mode for the past two years. We should have said
we will collapse it in two years, in one year nine months we work and the
last three months we fight (but) in the GPA that I was also part of.”

Zimbabwe is failing to secure foreign direct investment as a result of low
investor confidence.

Although the Zimbabwean economy has recovered from a decade-long stagnation,
investors — who say the country has no rule of law and lacks property
rights — are still worried of losing their fortunes.

Currently, foreign- owned companies in Zimbabwe are required to cede at
least 51 percent of their shareholding to Zimbabwean locals under the
Indigenisation Act.

The move has sparked fears of expropriation among foreign- owned companies.

The inclusive government has also been divided on the empowerment law,
resulting in further confusion on the market.

Mutambara said there should be policy consistency to avoid confusion.

“A bad policy is better than policy inconsistency,” he said.

Last week, Tsvangirai also said the discord in government over policies was
worrying and deterring progress.

“This confusion is worrying surely, you can’t have discord in the same
government,” he told a government works programme conference.

Former commercial farmer remains detained

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
20 February 2012

A former commercial farmer in Zimbabwe has remained locked up over the
weekend, over the ongoing legal wrangle for his home.

74 year old Peter Hingeston was arrested more than a week ago after failing
to appear in court for medical reasons. He has been held behind bars ever
since, despite his own lawyers assuring him that he could miss the court
date on medical grounds.

He is now expected to appear for a hearing on Tuesday after the police have
repeatedly delayed his previous bail attempts. Last Friday he was meant to
appear for a hearing but the police ‘mislaid’ his case documents.

Hingeston was forced off his Lowveld sugar cane farm in the mid 2000s and
‘retired’ to a house and plot of land in Vumba. But it’s believed that a top
police official wants that property and for the last four years Hingeston
has been fighting to stay there.

The President of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), Charles Taffs, told SW
Radio Africa last Friday that Hingeston suffers from high blood pressure and
“is not a well man.”

A very angry Taffs also said that the farming community has been left to
fend for itself in the face of ongoing persecution in and out of the courts.

“We have no one to turn to. No courts, no political party, no police to
help. No one. And it is completely unacceptable! This madness must stop!”
Taffs said.

Many Zimbabweans set to lose free to air TV channels

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
20 February 2012

Many Zimbabweans are set to lose their access to free-to-air TV channels
like SABC 1, 2 and 3 among others, after the High Court in Johannesburg
ordered signal carrier Sentech to encrypt its signal within the next three
months.

For several years now viewers in countries like Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia,
Lesotho, Mozambique and Malawi have used a range of decoders like Wiztech,
Philibao, Fortec Star and Vivid, to illegally view television channels
beamed from South Africa without subscription.

But last year eBotswana, a subsidiary of South Africa’s eTV, took the matter
to court demanding that Sentech encrypt its signal to prevent this cross
border signal piracy. Sentech was also accused of knowing about the problem
and not doing anything about it. Last week the court ruled against Sentech
and ordered it to pay the costs of eBotswana’s application.

With the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation virtually nothing more than a
campaign platform for ZANU PF, viewers have switched off, choosing instead
to watch foreign stations.

The court decision now means many in Zimbabwe will lose access to channels
as not everyone can afford the subscriptions required. In a country where
the state has a broadcasting monopoly it can only mean a set back in terms
of the free flow of news and information.

Meanwhile a potential clash is looming between Transport and Communication
Minister Nicholas Goche and Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Minister Nelson Chamisa, over plans by Econet Wireless to install a fibre
optic cable linking Zimbabwe to the high-speed undersea cables in
Mozambique.

Goche is blocking Econet, claiming the service is already being provided by
state-owned TelOne and that its government policy that “service providers
must not compete for the provision of infrastructure, but on the provision
of services.” Chamisa however contradicted this saying it was not government
policy.

“I am yet to talk to Minister Goche about it. It is government policy to
make sure that we have access to the undersea cables, as of yesterday,”
Chamisa told the local NewsDay newspaper.

Draft constitution suspicious' - Moyo

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

By Staff Reporter 1 hour ago

The leaked draft constitution has exposed Copac drafters as sinister forces
behind the constitution-making exercise whose work is suspicious and
objectionable, says Zanu PF Politburo member, Professor Jonathan Moyo.

Moyo was speaking to State media.

“The fact that it was leaked is a rather sad comment on this process. Copac’s
work should be public, accessible to the public, transparent and
accountable. That it isn’t is most unfortunate,” he said.

Moyo said the draft constitution is against the core values and principles
upon which the nation of Zimbabwe is founded.

He said, “The fact that we now know the contents of this...whether they call
it the first draft or not it’s not relevant – it is quite shocking because
it is a scandalous content because you have a first draft which is supposed
to be a constitution for Zimbabwe that has turned out to be a draft
constitution against Zimbabwe, against Zimbabwe’s founding historical,
cultural and moral principles... against the legacy of the liberation
struggle and more particularly, it is shocking and scandalous because it is
targeting a particular individual  - President Robert Mugabe.”

He added that the leaked draft has clauses that seek to bar President Mugabe
from contesting in elections expected this year, saying it is “seeking to
disqualify him from contesting the next elections when in fact he is the
First Secretary and President of one of the major parties in the Global
Political Agreement.”

Moyo lashed out at the drafters and those seemingly behind them for using
the constitution-making process to launch a direct attack on the President.

“Not only a direct attack, but also a very stupid attack. It’s a political
attack and people are free to make. It should not make sense that we should
be a country that is governed by people who are 70 years and below. And
there is no precedent for a thing like that in the civilised world.

“There are people who are electoral cowards, who have failed to use the
electoral process to deal with President Mugabe and they think they can use
the constitution-making to do that. They tried it 1999 and 2000; we stopped
them in the constitutional commission. We will stop them again and again and
again until they stop it.”

Zanu PF no longer has confidence in Copac, said the Professor. “We cannot
have work in progress containing scandalous provisions. We are very thankful
as a country to The Herald for publishing that draft otherwise we would not
have known that Copac has such dirty work in progress behind the nation’s
back.

“That work in progress must have right from the start reflected the views of
the people. When Copac uses that argument they assure an outcome against
themselves, we lose confidence in them. You cannot have such unacceptable
content as work in progress... So this is really an example, this particular
clause, of the lack of integrity of this process.”

‘Zim's new fees will cripple mines’

http://www.iol.co.za/

February 20 2012 at 04:47pm
By Reuters

Zimbabwe's new mine licence fees and resource rentals will significantly
raise the cost of mining and threaten the sector's viability, with as much
as 60 percent of mining revenues going to the government, an industry body
said on Monday.

The southern African country hiked pre-exploration fees for most minerals by
as much as 8,000 percent in January, with registration charges for platinum
and diamond claims going up to $2.5 million and $5 million, respectively, in
a move it says is meant to curb the speculative holding of mine titles.

Miners now must also pay annual ground rentals ranging from $500 per hectare
for chrome to $3,000 per hectare for diamonds, according to a government
notice.

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines told a parliamentary committee hearing that
the new fees, coupled with royalty increases of 7.5 percent for gold and 10
percent for platinum announced in the 2012 budget, would seriously hurt
miners who have yet to fully recover from a decade-long economic crisis.

“The fee structure is unworkable. The industry is already overburdened by
the totality of statutory charges, royalties, levies and commissions,” the
chamber's vice president, Allan Mashingaidze, told the parliamentary
committee.

“It's estimated that 60 percent of every dollar earned in revenue goes to
the government, making Zimbabwe one of the most expensive countries to
 mine.”

Industry players estimate the increase in fees could cost the sector up to
$1 billion, sending miners close to bankruptcy.

“We believe the way forward is for government to suspend the new charges,
pending consultations with the industry,” Mashingaidze added.

The mining industry, which has overtaken the stricken agriculture sector as
Zimbabwe's main foreign exchange earner, contributed the bulk of the
country's $4.4 billion export earnings in 2011.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti's $4 billion budget for 2012 is anchored by an
expected $600 million in revenues from the alluvial Marange fields, where
the government has a 50 percent shareholding in all five mines licensed to
operate there.

Zimbabwe has the world's second-largest platinum reserves after South
Africa, as well as significant gold, diamond, coal, iron ore and chrome
resources.

The world's largest platinum miner, Anglo American Platinum , and number two
producer Impala Platinum both have operations in Zimbabwe, while global
giant Rio Tinto has a diamond mine there. - Reuters

Implats concerned about Zim statement

http://www.iol.co.za/

February 20 2012 at 04:03pm

Impala Platinum (Implats, IMP) said on Monday it noted with concern the
statements made by the Zimbabwean Minister of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, to the media on Sunday,
19 February 2012 with regard to Implats' stake in Mimosa Platinum (Pvt)
Limited.

Kasukuwere reportedly said that in order to facilitate indigenisation,
Implats should dispose of its interest in Mimosa and leave Aquarius Platinum
Limited as the shareholder of reference for funding and technical support.

Implats said that to date, the company had not received any official
notification in this regard from the Government of Zimbabwe. - I-Net Bridge

National Parks slammed for involvement in elephant deaths

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
20 February 2012

Zimbabwe’s National Parks Authority has been slammed for its involvement in
recent elephant killings, after it emerged that Parks staff killed three of
the animals within a conservancy last week.

The employees from Chipinda Pools went to Chiredzi River Conservancy last
Thursday and shot three elephants, including two lactating cows and one
young bull. It brings to seven the number of elephants killed in the
Conservancy in the past 35 days, where the elephant numbers are dwindling.

According to Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation
Task Force (ZCTF), the Park staff are working with illegal land invaders,
who have all but taken over the Chiredzi River Conservancy. He explained
that the invaders are deliberately trying to get rid of the wildlife there,
to make way for farming.

“The settlers claimed that the animals had attacked them and instead of
investigating these claims, the Parks staff just went in and shot them,”
Rodrigues said, blaming ‘criminal elements’ within the Parks Authority.

The Parks employees removed the ivory from the dead animals and left the
land invaders to remove the meat from the carcasses. Rodrigues said the ZCTF
is still trying to track down where the ivory has gone.

Rodrigues meanwhile had strong criticism for National Parks, saying: “It
appears that National Parks headquarters in Harare are not aware of what
their counterparts are doing in the Lowveld and it is of great concern that
the guardians of our wildlife are participating in this criminal activity.”

Rodrigues meanwhile said the increasing demand for ivory and the complete
lack of the rule of law in Zimbabwe is fuelling this kind of assisted
poaching, with detrimental affects on the elephant population.

“Parks insists that there is an abundance of elephant in Zimbabwe, but this
just isn’t true. In Chiredzi alone there were 72 elephants, now there are
just 40,” Rodrigues said.

The demand for ivory has seen poaching levels across Africa soar in recent
weeks. According to the Reuters news agency, Cameroon’s elephant population
has been seriously hit, with poachers killing more than 200 elephants in
just six weeks.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) reportedly called the
killings a “massacre’ that has “no comparison to those of the preceding
years.” Meanwhile, the conservation group TRAFFIC has warned of a surge in
elephant poaching in Africa to meet Asian demand for tusks.

Diaspora prepares for second Free Zim protest

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
20 February 2012

Zimbabweans in the Diaspora are set to gather on Tuesday for the second
monthly ‘Free Zimbabwe’ protest, taking place outside South African
embassies and consulates around the world.

The protests, being dubbed the 21st Movement, kicked off last month and are
going to continue on the 21st of every coming month. This month, the mass
protests are coinciding with Robert Mugabe’s 88th Birthday.

The movement has been organised by the MDC-T and its executive branches
across the globe, and the demonstrations are targeting South Africa as the
mediator in the ongoing political stalemate in Zimbabwe.

Protesters from around the world will be calling on the South African
government to help solve the ongoing crisis as well as force ZANU PF and
Robert Mugabe to honour the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Petitions with
these and other demands will be handed over to embassy and consular staff
during the demonstrations.

Tonderai Samanyanga, the MDC-T’s UK and Ireland Chairman, told SW Radio
Africa on Monday that the final preparations are underway for the Tuesday
protest in London, where Zimbabweans from across the UK will be gathering.
He explained that the protestors will first gather outside the Zim embassy
before moving to South Africa House.

Meanwhile, similar action is also expected elsewhere in the world, including
in South Africa, America and Australia.

For more information, visit the Facebook events pages:

https://www.facebook.com/events/281363895255674/

and

https://www.facebook.com/events/226807500736116/

Zesa mum on chefs’ electricity bills

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Sharon Muguwu, Staff Writer
Monday, 20 February 2012 14:31

HARARE - State power utility Zesa Holdings has refused to explain its
stratification that has seen cabinet ministers and other top government
officials owing thousands of dollars in electricity bills exempt from
disconnections.

There seems to be a conspiracy of silence between the relevant minister
Elton Mangoma and Zesa Holdings as they are throwing the matter to each
other.

Mangoma told a parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and Energy last
week that Zesa Holdings is moving to disconnect legislators that had
defaulted on the power bills.

The threat prompted counter-accusations from the Mines and Energy committee
chairman Edward Chindori-Chininga that the permanent secretary in the
ministry of Energy and Power Development Justin Mupamhanga actually owed
Zesa Holdings more than $30 000 and he was not switched off.

He further said Chris Mushohwe, the Manicaland governor owed well in excess
of $100 000 but he was not switched off.

The disclosures provoked furious responses from Zesa Holdings’ ratepayers
who protested the stratification of customers in terms of disconnections.

The revelations come at a time the company has been switching off ordinary
people for bills as low as $50.

Fullard Gwasira, the company spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.

“On that issue, I have nothing to say. You will have to talk to the minister
of Energy as he knows what will be done,” he said.

The minister was also tongue-tied when asked by Chindori-Chininga why the
chefs were being exempt from the disconnections.

Ruvimbo Moyo, a Harare ratepayer expressed disgust at the disclosures.

“It is really unfair what these people are doing,” she quipped. “Last year I
owed Zesa (Holdings) $70 which I had been trying to clear since
dollarisation and they switched me off.

“I was appalled when I learnt that these top officials owe Zesa that much.
It is just unfair and all of them have backup generators at their homes.
Honestly how does a bill run up to $30 000 and Zesa do nothing about it?”

The ordinary residents have had to contend with rolling power outages and
estimated bills.

At the beginning of this month, Mozambique’s Hydro Cabora Bassa threatened
to stop supplies to Zimbabwe over a mounting debts estimated at $94 million
for electricity imports.

Zesa Holdings owes about $800 million in legacy debts, but Mangoma said the
utility does not have money to settle the bill.

China ripping off Zim: Mutambara

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Taurai Mangudhla, Business Writer
Monday, 20 February 2012 10:09

HARARE - Chinese diamond miners exploiting Marange diamond fields are
ripping -off the country, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara says.

“We are being savaged by the players in Chiadzwa because we are signing
foolish claims, we give them a claim worth billions for free,” he told
business executives at the KM Financial Solutions CEO Roundtable.

“I don’t know how much minerals under the ground are worth, but I am sure
they are not worth nothing.

“They come here to mine our resources after investing only $30 million and
they will pay off their investment in just two sales,” Mutambara added.

He said lack of value addition of the gems and transparency in Chiadzwa
diamond mining activities will affect the country’s projected growth
targets.

“I was with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in Chiadzwa on Thurday and I
asked one company there how much their claims were worth and they refused to
tell me.

“I then got information of how much they expected to mine so I did
calculations based on the least prices one can get per carat I came up with
$500 million,” the deputy prime minister said.

“We won’t have a $100 billion economy in 2030 if we don’t stop what I saw at
Chiadzwa.

“These companies are raising money to start mining our resources based on
our claims, but we cannot even put value on them,” he said.

Zimbabwe has vast mineral deposits ranging from gold, platinum, coal and
diamonds.

The country’s Marange fields are believed to hold for more than 25 percent
of the world’s diamond deposits.

Revenue from their sale is expected to reach $600 million in 2012 following
certification by the  Kimberly Process (KP) of three mining companies-Anjin
China, Marange Resources and Mbada Diamonds-in November last year.

Another Marange based diamond miner, Diamond Mining Company, was recently
certified by KP is expected to boost diamond production in Zimbabwe.

Global diamond trade watchdog Rapaport Group (Rapaport) reported that
Zimbabwe has ramped up production at the four concessions in the Marange
fields to more than 1million carats per month and the influx of the stones
had caused diamond prices to fall in the short term, particularly for low
colour, low quality rough gems.

Rapaport told its 6 750 members in 78 countries, Marange gems were throwing
the market out of balance, with cautious trading activity expected to
continue as polished buyers wait for clearer signs of stability before
making large volume purchases.

Rapaport however barred its members to trade in Marange diamonds citing
continued reports of human rights abuses related to the gems.

The United States and the European Union have also banned Zimbabwean
diamonds.

Zimbabwe: how we aid profligacy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

As Robert Mugabe turns 88, David Blair asks if our aid to Zimbabwe is
funding the dictator’s excesses

By David Blair

12:09AM GMT 20 Feb 2012

Suppose a government chooses to spend nothing on equipping secondary
schools, while blowing 1 per cent of public expenditure on trips for the
president and the prime minister. Imagine if the two men at the top of this
sorry administration reckoned their own offices were more deserving
recipients of taxpayers’ money than, say, capital expenditure on health and
education for a country of 12 million people.

Step forward the government of Zimbabwe under the leadership of President
Robert Mugabe, the ageing autocrat who will celebrate his 88th birthday
tomorrow, and Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader turned prime
minister. Leaf through Zimbabwe’s national budget for 2012 and you discover
the grotesque sense of priorities of the two men who run one of the poorest
countries in the world.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai spent US $45.5 million on travel last year, accounting
for 1.2 per cent of total public expenditure (if David Cameron and Nick
Clegg followed suit, their bill for foreign trips would be more than £7
billion or $11 billion).

Meanwhile, “capital expenditure” for secondary education in 2011 was, well,
a blank. If page 207 of the national accounts is correct, Zimbabwe’s
government spent precisely nothing on capital assets for secondary schools
last year, an omission that was probably unique in the world.

In fairness, the figures show that Mugabe and Tsvangirai budgeted $5.3
million for this purpose, generously conceding that the next generation was
worth 11.6 per cent of their travel allowance. But this sum does not appear
to have been spent: the amount actually disbursed was, in fact, zero.

How fortunate, then, that Britain is helping to fill the gap. The
Mugabe-Tsvangirai government evidently believes that kitting out secondary
schools is not worth a penny of Zimbabwean citizens’ money, but our
Department for International Development (DFID) thinks that British
taxpayers should write the cheques. We have duly paid £6 million ($9.5
million) to a United Nations programme that distributed 15 million textbooks
to Zimbabwe’s schoolchildren.

DFID has also spent £16.5 million (about $26 million) on “emergency”
medicines for Zimbabwe’s public hospitals. This is good news for the country’s
suffering patients: Mugabe and Tsvangirai do not worry much about health.
They reckoned that state hospitals should make do with $14.6 million (£9
million) of capital expenditure last year.

Their own offices, however, were far more worthy causes. Mugabe spent $109.3
million on his (by way of comparison, total capital expenditure on the
entire health and education systems was only $32 million). Meanwhile,
Tsvangirai’s office cost a relatively modest $10.9 million – a mere 75 per
cent of capital spending on health. If Cameron shared Tsvangirai’s sense of
priorities, the budget for running Downing Street would be well over £3
billion ($4.7 billion).

And so it goes on: Zimbabwe’s national accounts stretch to 356 pages and
most reveal some glaring absurdity. Mugabe spent $5.1 million on “state
residences” (i.e. palaces) last year; all the primary schools in the country
made do with less than $25,000 of capital expenditure. More than two million
pupils use those schools: little wonder that most have no chairs.

Meanwhile, Tsvangirai managed to spend $218,000 on “hospitality”. This is a
man who courageously opposed Mugabe’s tyranny for two decades, only to form
a coalition with the old dictator and end up spending more on parties than
on renovating primary schools.

No one would seriously defend this sense of priorities, certainly not the
reforming finance minister, Tendai Biti, who was honest enough to call the
travel budget of his two bosses a “cancer in the management of our public
finances” (although he still signed the cheques). Nor, I suspect, would the
energetic and dedicated education minister, David Coltart, view these
decisions with anything except horror.

But are we partly to blame? If we pick up the bill for textbooks and
medicines, does this serve only to perpetuate a grotesque misallocation of
resources?

The law of unintended consequences works more perniciously in the field of
aid and development than perhaps any other. DFID has embarked on the most
ambitious expansion of its short history, aiming to spend £11 billion ($17.4
billion) in 2013/14, a 29 per cent jump in one year from the £8.6 billion
planned for 2012/13. In the process, Britain will keep its promise to spend
0.7 per cent of national income on aid.

DFID’s operation in Zimbabwe will spend £80 million ($126 million) in
2011/12, ensuring that children get textbooks, patients get medicines and
slum-dwellers get sanitation, and many other useful things.

But the government of Zimbabwe clearly has the money to do all of this. Last
year, capital expenditure on the army plus the costs of the offices of
Mugabe and Tsvangirai came to more than $181 million. Cut that by 90 per
cent and Zimbabwe could pay for the entire DFID programme and have plenty
left over.

By covering the cost of basic essentials that the government chooses not to
fund, we risk underwriting – albeit indirectly – the monstrous way in which
Zimbabwe’s leaders spend their country’s resources. The mistake is to
believe that a poor nation simply lacks money, which leads to the obvious
answer that we should step in. Often, as in Zimbabwe, the situation is more
complex: how the government spends its budget is at least as much of a
problem.

If you simply offer more cash, the risk is that you make an indefensible set
of priorities “sustainable”, to use a word beloved of DFID officials.

So what is the answer? After all, there is a genuine dilemma here. Pay for
the textbooks and you perpetuate the Mugabe-Tsvangirai sense of priorities.
Hold back the funds and the government of Zimbabwe will not develop a
conscience and find the money for children to get an education. Instead, the
kids will go without books and Mugabe and Tsvangirai will carry on exactly
as before. It’s also worth remembering that no DFID money goes directly into
Zimbabwean government coffers: all the funding is channelled via the UN or
international development agencies.

The best of two terrible options is probably to carry on picking up the
bill. But this is not exactly the inspirational case for aid made by Andrew
Mitchell, the International Development Secretary. Last month, he told the
Telegraph that “by building up governance structures in the Middle East and
by getting girls into school in the Horn of Africa”, Britain would make
itself “safer”.

The truth is more prosaic. In a country like Zimbabwe, we pay for school
textbooks because the men in charge are so rotten that they prefer to spend
money on parties and trips. They don’t care about their people, but we do –
and so we pay up.

But what if the leaders are spending their money on far worse things than
palaces and entertainment? Suppose they skew their national budgets towards
building up big armies, while leaving us to fund health and education?

In the 1990s, Uganda received about half of its budget from foreign donors.
President Yoweri Museveni duly constructed a powerful military machine which
he used to invade the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998, helping to start
one of the bloodiest wars in modern history.

Uganda could only fund this military campaign because outsiders were willing
to pay such a big share of the nation’s bills. Inadvertently and indirectly,
foreign donors ended up subsidising a conflict that laid waste to Congo.
With hindsight, it would have been better for Africa if Uganda had not
received a penny of foreign aid.

None of this suggests that aid is always damaging, nor that DFID’s budget
increase is necessarily unjustified. But delicate case-by-case judgments
have to be made. On balance, giving aid to Uganda in the 1990s was wrong;
doing so for Zimbabwe today is probably right, but only as a policy of
despair.

The danger is that if you start with the belief that aid is the way to make
Britain safe – and your budget is rising by 29 per cent in one year – there
is a greater chance that you will get these decisions wrong. If so, the poor
will pay the price.

Eddie Cross: Are we making Progress?

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

Eddie Cross
Harare, 18th February 2012

In February 2009 the MDC accepted a compromise forced onto it by the region
and negotiated by Thabo Mbeki, the former President of South Africa, and
entered into a Unity Government that was meant to be a transition to free
and fair elections in two years. In that agreement were 37 different reforms
to the way we are governed that were meant to make the government more
representative and the electoral system more democratic and the electoral
playing field, more even.
If all had gone to plan, the agreements reform agenda would have been
implemented in full by February 2011 and in the following months we would
have held an election for all 2400 seats in both local and central
government. These elections would have been under a new constitution and
backed by a complete overhaul of the electoral system itself. The elections
would have been supervised by the region and I have no doubt (and neither
does Zanu PF) that the MDC would have emerged as the clear winner with a two
thirds majority in both Houses and with Morgan Tsvangirai as President.
That was the plan – endorsed by the region, the AU and the global community,
with the sole exceptions of China and Russia who remained on the outside
looking in and perhaps plotting mischief.
The MDC has played its part, gone into a deal that should never have
happened, accepted compromise in the interests of national salvation and
brought sanity back with real recovery and progress to every area of the
State where it has full executive authority. There can be no argument about
that. The region has played its part – sticking to its position and
encouraging the players in Zimbabwe to do their part. The international
community, led by the G8 leaders (minus Russia) have done their bit – poured
in over $3 billion in humanitarian aid and assistance with essential
reforms.
What has Zanu PF done? They read the GPA with a sinking feeling,
appreciating for the first time that it was no victory for them, it only
bought them time. They appreciated immediately that if it was implemented
they were finished, metaphorically and politically. So they began a devious
and carefully crafted programme of action designed to slow down
implementation and to subvert the outcome.
As a result, here we are in February 2012, three years down the GPA road,
still with a road map, but making very slow and hesitant progress. The Zanu
strategies are clear; they have slowed down the constitution making process
and successfully derailed its “people driven” character. They have
maintained the parallel government that they constructed in the months
leading to the formation of the Unity Government and foiled all attempts to
get their hands off the real levers of power – electorally and from a
security perspective.
Media reform has been significant but the main driver of the Zanu propaganda
agenda, the State controlled media, electronic and print, remains firmly
under their control and direction and much of the alternative media is
either controlled, influenced or neutral to Zanu PF. MDC remains without a
voice, not even the Prime Ministers letter is being maintained and published
even though this was his only means of reaching the people with his message.
So where are we in this game? First we must recognize that the central
strategy that Zanu PF has adopted to foil the GPA and frustrate the GNU has
not succeeded and now looks as if it will have to be abandoned, with dire
consequences for Zanu PF. This strategy was adopted in mid 2010 after Zanu
PF failed in its alternative efforts to collapse the GPA and the GNU.
Its content was quite simple: they argued that the GNU was dysfunctional
(they should know, they were responsible), the GPA was running out of time
and would lapse in 2011; the recovery was not taking place (again Zanu PF
knew full well why, they were responsible with certain deliberate
interventions such as indigenisation). They argued that we needed an
election NOW and cannot wait for the reform process, in any event, we are a
sovereign State, we have a constitution; the State President has the right
to call an election any time. That was the mantra.
Under this mantra, they first called for an election in October 2010, then
March 2011, then October 2011 and finally (and irrevocably) March 2012. In
the middle of this process their worst nightmare became a real possibility,
Mugabe’s health began to deteriorate, the fuse on the final event began to
burn and its progress was visible for all to see. No amount of Singaporean
water could extinguish that fuse!
The key to the failure of this strategy has been the region. Steadfastly,
regional leaders, led by South Africa and several other key States, have
refused to allow the renegades in Zanu PF to pull the trigger, either on a
military coup (favored by the security chiefs in JOC) or a political coup
(favored by Zanu PF hardliners). We have no idea what they have done to
enforce this but it has been effective and that is what matters.
So here we are, all of us, Zanu PF and the MDC, in February 2012 and still
no clear indication as to where we go from here. The final straw that has
broken the back of Zanu PF (although it seems that they do not yet
appreciate this) was the AU summit in Ethiopia. There, the President of
South Africa, speaking on behalf of the SADC States put forward a report on
the Zimbabwe situation, the progress made so far and the obstacles to
completing the exercise. It was adopted without a dissenting voice and in so
doing the AU stated that Zanu Pf has run out of time, that the Continent,
not just the SADC, recognized the need to hold a legitimate election in
Zimbabwe and that there was no going back on the deal we signed in September
2008.
Mugabe flew home a subdued man. On the following Monday he met with Morgan
Tsvangirai for over two hours and then repeated the process on Wednesday –
in the presence of Mutambara, the third Principal in the GPA. This time the
minutes were captured by the Chief Secretary to the President and
subsequently released to the public. Both MDC leaders called a Press
conference and announced agreement on almost all outstanding issues, but in
particular: that elections can only be called by the three Parties acting in
agreement; that the next elections would follow completion of the remaining
reforms as set out in the GPA road map; and that the reappointment of senior
figures in the government, including the Commissioner General of the Police,
could only be carried out in “consultation” with the Prime Minister.
This constituted the first real progress in the implementation of the GPA in
two years and must go down as a seminal event in the history of Zimbabwe. As
if to confirm that they were still in place, the hard liners immediately
launched a media blitz – “Chihuri reappointed” was the Herald headline even
though it was patently obvious that he was there only in an acting capacity
and his future was in the balance.
In recognition of the progress in the process of political reform, even
though below expectations, the EU reviewed its position this month and
announced it was switching from a policy of isolation to one of strategic
engagement and was partially lifting the travel restrictions on 51 persons
on the list and 20 companies. Zanu PF was strangely silent on this news
knowing full well what it meant. This was no lifting of “sanctions” on the
former regime; it was a relaxation of the restrictions, contingent on the
progress made so far not being reversed in any way and the reform process
continuing.
So Zanu PF finds itself in a fight where it has loaded its gun and suddenly
discovered that it cannot pull the trigger. Its left with a burning fuse
that is now 14 months shorter than it was when it was first lit. As those of
us who went through the bush war well know, there is nothing as dangerous as
an ambush that goes wrong.

Eddie Cross: Can we do it?

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Eddie Cross
Harare, 17th February 2012

I think one of the greatest challenges I face in my day to day labors is a
thing called Afro Pessimism. I find it in the old Rhodies who inhabit the
region and who justifiably claim that Ian Smith was right when he said we
were not ready to govern ourselves. They point to the awful track record of
every State that has come to independence and been subsequently governed by
some sort of regime drawn from the indigenous peoples of the continent.
There is no gainsaying that the record is abysmal.
I come across it in many young Africans (of all shades and backgrounds) with
some experience of the developed world and who look at Africa and ask if it
can really be fixed? The most shameful group are those who fought for
independence, believed in their new freedoms and the power to do things
their way, only to find that behind that cardboard front that the liberation
Parties presented to the world was a collection of greedy, self opinionated
and power hungry monsters who simply used their freedom and power to rape
and pillage.
The result is a continent that has lost its faith in its self. In their
millions they have left their homes in Africa and travelled to other
countries where they try to seek out a living and send their families at
“home” a little each month to subsist on and to salve their conscience.
Worse is the flight of our human capital; doctors, scientists, accountants
managers and entrepreneurs who very often make it big in the countries to
which they go, bringing a hunger for success and achievement that many
raised in the softer environments have lost.
But the reality is that all countries have gone through what we are
experiencing – it’s part of the learning curve that everyone has to go
through and countries are no different. What matters is what we do with that
experience and how quickly can we get through this painful phase in our
history and start to build a new and better society for all our people? The
other reality is that it cannot be done from the outside, transformation
starts inside us and is then translated into how we live and what we do with
what we have.
What many are missing is the emergence of a new Africa out of the ashes of
the old. Just as the newly Independent States emerged after 1956 and started
to make their impact on their countries and on the world, now one by one,
slowly the new Africa is emerging and the most tangible measure of this is
the growth trends now being manifested by the continent. Many African states
are now growing as fast as the Asian tigers, overall the growth of the
continents output this year will be higher than almost any other continent
other than China and the Far East.
But it’s also manifest in microcosms within States. Several years ago I met
a struggling young engineer, Strive Masiwa who was running an electrical
engineering company in Harare. Strive sold his company for Z$3 million and
turned to the field of cell phones. After a struggle with the corrupt
autocracy in this country he was eventually given a license to start and
Econet was the result. Econet is now one of the largest black owned
multinationals in the world and two thirds of our population uses his
network to communicate here every day.
This morning I visited the CEO of the Company in Harare and walked into a
spacious, modern office complex, pretty girl behind the reception and tight
corporate security. A guide took me upstairs, opened the door with his
finger print and let me into the executive wing. I could have been in New
York, London or Tokyo. Fresh flowers on desks, quiet air conditioning and
deep pile carpets. Not a white in sight and not a single expatriate
executive or technician. Strive lives outside the country partly because the
regime under Robert Mugabe made it quite clear that if he did not play the
patronage game and accept that dues were due to the politically powerful,
that he was persona non grata. His is a publically quoted company today and
large, powerful and rich.
The other day I was the guest of Zimplats management outside Harare at their
mines on the Great Dyke some 70 kilometers from the City. For those of you
who know the country, how often have we driven over the Dyke at Chegutu and
not spared a thought for what was in the ground; we always knew about
Chrome, but someone found a seam of platinum bearing rock in the geological
formations of the Dyke complex.
The biggest mining company in the world came and invested several hundred
million dollars in the Dyke at Chegutu – establishing two mines and a
smelter designed to process 2 million tonnes of ore a year. They built
houses and their investment constituted the largest single foreign
investment in the country. The problem was they could not make it work. The
geology was complex and the mining difficult. After several years they
abandoned the project and returned to Australia.
A small group of Zimbabweans looked at this venture and decided to make BHP
an offer. The offer was $1.00 and take over any liabilities locally. In six
months they had worked out how to mine the resource and had started to make
money. They drilled the Dyke complex for a 100 kilometers and proved huge
reserves on their claims. They did not have the money to take it further but
they had the technology, the largest Platinum mining company in the world
came and looked, liked what they saw and bought the whole thing. The result
was Zimplats.
They now have 6 mines on the Dyke, the two originals, three operational
mines and one about to start production. They have refined their
technologies and are mining deep into the Dyke complex and extracting some
4,5 million tonnes of ore a year, all of which is being processed at two
refineries that employ complex technology. Last year they turned over $600
million and made a profit before tax of $200 million. They are investing
every cent back into the mines and plan to raise output to 15 million tonnes
a year at which stage they will be one of the largest mining and smelting
operations in the world.
Everything I saw at the complex was world class, the laboratories, the
refineries, the roads and infrastructure, the new town they are building
that will eventually house 50 000 people, the mines, running deep into the
hard rock of the Dyke and making the difficult task of tracking the seams
and extracting the ore seem easy, even when you know that the problems beat
the best and the largest mining company in the world.
And do you know what really rocked my boat during that visit and made me
intensely proud to be a Zimbabwean? The company employs 5000 people, six of
whom are white and the rest black and not a single foreigner or expatriate.
From the little lady geologist that took me underground and showed me the
teams mining at the rock face to the Chief Executive, they were black,
Zimbabwe trained and home grown.
Can we do it? Of course we can and we are doing it right now. We are
changing the way we are governed; we are winning the struggle with the old
Africa and gradually bringing in the new. Our people are hard at work and we
are expanding our centers of excellence and growth. But if you want to be
part of this process, you have to be here, at home, where it matters and
then you too can make a difference.

Keynote speech by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the CEO Africa Roundtable

Victoria Falls

18 February 2012

“A $100 billion Economy for Zimbabwe by 2040”

Cabinet Ministers here present
The President of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce
Mr Binha
The President of Business Council of Zimbabwe Mr David Govere
Our Hosts KM Financial Solutions and Mr Mafukidze
Delegates to the CEO Africa Roundtable
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with pleasure that I stand before you today to address business
leaders on the key issue of ensuring a $100 billion economy in Zimbabwe by
2040.

Let me say from the outset that I am proud that as a nation we have begun to
envision the Zimbabwe we want by the year 2040.

The Holy Book, Proverbs 29 verse 18, says “Where there is no vision people
perish”and the issue we address today means as a people and as a country, we
are envisioning the Zimbabwe we want for ourselves and our children.

Firstly, let me say that as a country and as people, we have seen the worst
especially in the years 2007/ 2008.

We have now weathered the worst part of the storm and that is why I
congratulate the organizers of this conference for making us talk of the
future.

It is also good that you have dragged politicians like me to talk about the
future.

By nature, most politicians are averse to discussing the future because they
are afraid of setting the benchmarks upon which they will be judged.

My species would rather talk about the past; indeed we would rather
concentrate on our historical achievements rather than exercise our minds on
laying the ground for the future that we want as a people and as a country.

So I am glad that you have dragged me here to talk about that future!
But let me begin with the past!
The year 2008 must surely stand out as one of the worst period ever
experienced in this country as all social indicators had sunk to an all-time
low.
The key social sectors of health and education had all but collapsed, our
money was worthless and our collective pride and dignity eroded. Our people
were scavenging food and our economy had received a severe knocking.

In the past three years, despite our problems as a troubled coalition, we
have brought some modicum of stability to this country. With a sustained
growth rate now approaching double digits, Zimbabwe is now experiencing a
growing economy, albeit at a pace much slower than wished.

Yet there is still a lot of work to be done by all of us!
I say this because it has a bearing on what we are discussing here today.
Because in 2008, no one would have thought that we would be where we are
today.
But we are here, with some restored dignity and at least we are proud to be
Zimbabwean! Four years ago, we were the most embarrassing African story!

So because we have done it before where no one gave us any chance, there is
no reason why we cannot believe that we will have a $100 billion economy by
2040.

The good news is that we have the ingredients that poise us as a people to
achieve our vision; a hard-working people and a blessed land pregnant with
opportunities.

I am pleased to learn that since the last Chief Executives’ Round Table,
there has been resonance across the country that our collective momentum can
ensure the achievement of a $100 billion economy in Zimbabwe by 2040.

I have also learnt with pride that the Business Council of Zimbabwe has now
moved a step further to set up imperatives for the achievement of this
target as well as assigning champions for the achievement of key
imperatives.
As government, we are proud of the momentum that is beginning to gather
around this issue.

There is a role for everyone in government, labour and business to ensure
that we all work towards the fulfillment of this dream. We must start seeing
our financial and savings institutions becoming more creative, insurance
players, bankers and Pension Funds, all harnessing their effort towards this
vision.

Savings and capital markets no doubt have to play a pivotal role in
developing this economy.

Indeed, our own capital markets have the potential to create great
opportunities for themselves as we work towards this vision.

I am also pleased that the thrust for the 2012 Round Table is one geared to
the setting of identifiable opportunities and action items that will foster
the achievements of key targets, unlocking potential and speeding up
critical enablers that will ensure that our economy is worth $100 billion by
2040, or earlier!
But I want to challenge you as the business community; that you must be
principled and unshakable in your motivation to achieve the national vision.
The cry-baby mentality must go and if we all agree that we want to achieve
this target, let us make sure we achieve it come hail high water.
Some of you are even afraid to come to my office for fear of the unknown. I
urge you to come to my office in broad daylight so that we can discuss this
country’s future in an open and frank manner.
I want to assure you that as government, we have the biggest role to play in
this agenda by ensuring that there is policy consistency and policy
predictability!
Mixed messages from the same government, violence, hate speech andlack of
implementation of agreed reforms cannot set the correct tone for our
national dream.

As a nation, we have to address our poisoned politics if we are to confound
our critics and create the necessary environment for growth and investment.

I was in Chiadzwa since Thursday and saw massive equipment and machinery
tearing the belly of the earth.

I told Ministers and the management of all the companies that are mining
diamonds there that all those diamonds will mean nothing if they do not
change the lives of the people of this country.

I called for transparency in the mining and sale of diamonds because surely,
we cannot achieve a $100 billion economy by 2040 if we have a kleptocratic
government, porous systems and weak and corrupt national institutions!
So transparency, accountability, hard work and sincerity are going to be
critical factors as we move towards strengthening and growing our economy.
But to achieve this dream, we have to lay the groundwork by making sure we
deliver on the basic enablers that will enable us to achieve our target of a
$100 billion by 2040.
With our estimated current GDP of between $5 billion and $6 billion, we must
be able to project what we need to do first to make a realistic projection
of when we can able to achieve this target.
As long as we deal with the basics first, I am convinced that this is
achievable.
Firstly, we have to deal with infrastructural development. Our roads,
railways and other basic infrastructure should be upgraded to lay the
foundation for kick-starting our economic vision. |
Other key enablers such as energy and ICTs must be enhanced to make sure
that we have a solid base on which to anchor our dream.
In agriculture, we must deal with the controversy around our land tenure
system by giving title deeds to land holders in order to give value to that
finite asset, but this can only be done after a comprehensive land audit
which should establish who owns what land. Agriculture is the mainstay of
this economy and we must ensure optimum production and food security.

We must restore noise in our silent factories by ensuring that our
manufacturing sector retains its erstwhile position of 23 percent of GDP.

But ladies and gentlemen, let me also say that the key ingredient towards
growth and sustainable development is peace!
Peace will unlock all the doors to hidden opportunities.
Peace and tolerance will ensure that we all live harmoniously, despite our
political, tribal and religious differences.
Peace will always be a key factor today, tomorrow and the day after.
Peace amongst ourselves will unleash our collective potential and guarantee
that we lift each other up, irrespective of whether one runs a small or a
big business, or whether one is Zanu PF or MDC.
Indeed, peace is the missing link in this country.
We can lay plans, draw up lofty visions, craft comprehensive economic
policies but all that can only be achieved in an environment of peace and
tolerance.
So as the leadership of this country, we will strive to create and encourage
peace in Zimbabwe so that everyone has the freedom to pursue and live their
dreams.
Last week, I attended the National Day of Prayer for Peace and I was humbled
by the thousands of people who turned up to pray for a peaceful Zimbabwe,
especially as we go towards the next election.

I am quite aware that my speech there was misquoted by I will repeat what I
said in the full hope that you will agree with me on this one.

As chief executive officers and key players in business, I urge you to pray
for us as the national leadership so that God guides us and gives us the
necessary wisdom as we navigate this delicate transition.
Indeed, President Mugabe and I deserve your prayers as we have been
entrusted with the stewardship of this nation.

Pray for us in your factories, in your homes and in your churches but above
all, pray for Zimbabwe so that his land is blessed and that we achieve our
collective dreams and aspirations.

Without God, we are doomed to fail.

So while we pray for a $100 billion economy by 2040, I also want to say
Zimbabwe for Jesus by 2040!
May God bless You.
And May God bless Zimbabwe

I Thank You

Radio Interview in Australia

Margaret Throsby will interview Peter Godwin, Author of Mukiwa, When the
Crocodile eats the Sun, and The Fear,  on Thursday February 23rd, at noon.
The interview will be on ABC Classic FM and available on the website
http://www.abc.net.au/classic/program/midday/  later in the day.

Bill Watch 5/2012 of 18th February [Parliamentary Update ; No Progress on Implementation of AG's Office Act]

Bill Watch 6/2012 of 18th February [Uncertainty over Key Appointments Continues]