http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 07:21
Tendai
Zhanje
THE financially-beleaguered Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) needs close
to US$240 million to bankroll the constitutional
referendum, clean-up the
voters’ roll, delimit constituencies, and conduct
elections if they are to
be held this year.
The estimated
budget comes after ZEC chairperson Justice Simpson
Mutambanengwe’s admission
on Tuesday that the commission was too bankrupt to
hold a general election
before year-end as wanted by President Robert
Mugabe.
Mugabe and
some hardliners in his Zanu PF party insist that money for the
polls would
be found despite Finance minister Tendai Biti’s insistence that
government
coffers were empty.
According to ZEC’s five-year strategic plan, the
commission needs nearly
US$94 million for the referendum, US$8,6 million for
the delimitation
exercise, US$20 million for the voters’ roll and US$117,45
million for the
elections. The strategic plan was launched in the capital on
Tuesday.
The US$94 million for the referendum includes money for
pre-referendum
preparations, voter education, election materials and
conducting the
referendum.
For the delimitation, ZEC will use the
US$8,6 million for logistics,
allowances, administration and compiling the
delimitation report.
Their estimated expenditure for general elections
includes money required
for pre-elections preparations, voter education,
election materials, vehicle
hire and conducting the
elections.
The commission also pointed out that they would need about
US$30,5 million
if there were going to be by-elections in 2011.
Biti,
currently abroad on government business, could not be reached
yesterday on
whether the treasury would make available the money.
In an interview with the
Zimbabwe Independent on Tuesday, Mutambanengwe said
it was improbable for
ZEC to conduct elections this year given their
financial
position.
“I don’t know if there is going to be enough money for
elections,” he said.
“In order for us to have the capacity to hold elections
this year, we need
the resources, which we do not have at the present
moment…cleaning up of the
voters’ roll involves voter education, training of
personnel, among other
things.”
He said the cleaning up of the
shambolic voters’ roll was a “must, a
necessity” and that if resources were
available it would take “at least two
to three months” to undertake the
task.
Last year, Biti in the 2011 national budget allocated US$30
million for the
referendum on the new constitution and set aside $20 million
for
by-elections, voters’ roll, delimitation of constituencies and
infrastructure for ZEC, although Mugabe had asked him to provide $200
million for the referendum and elections.
On Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s call for the country to adopt a
bio-metric voters’ roll
as one of the steps towards attaining a free and
fair election,
Mutambanengwe said: “For the time being I can’t say it’s
possible, but we
will want to go bio-metric.”
He said the commission was in touch with
people and organisations that can
help them set up that
system.
Mutambanengwe said his commission was also looking at how
other countries
have succeeded in using it.
On politically
motivated violence and intimidation, which has flared up in
Harare and other
parts of the country since Zanu PF launched its election
campaign, he said
it was not ZEC’s responsibility to deal with it.
“Violence isn’t the
responsibility of ZEC as such,” said Mutambanengwe.
The
constitution-making process, which is supposed to lead up to elections,
has
stalled due to lack of funds.
Mugabe has said elections would be held
with or without a new constitution.
He said they can always revert to the
old constitution, minus Amendment
No19, if the new constitution is rejected
or inconclusive.
Tsvangirai said last week: “I want to tell you
today, that executive
authority in this country is shared and the president
has no power to
announce an election date without consulting the prime
minister.”
He said the key to achieving a free and fair election was
to ensure “a new,
biometric voters’ roll, a stable and secure environment, a
credible
electoral body with a non-partisan secretariat, a non-partisan
public media,
security sector reform and a referendum on the new
constitution. We cannot
have an election before we achieve these key
milestones”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 07:26
Dumisani
Muleya
THERE were furious scenes at a stormy high-level
government meeting on
Tuesday attended by President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai over the missing US$174 million in diamond
revenues, with Finance
minister Tendai Biti reportedly breathing fire over
the issue and the
intensifying internal squabbles on civil servants’
salaries.
There are also questions over U$125,8 million
realised in January 2011which
has not been remitted to Treasury. In total
US$300 million has not been
accounted for.
Top official sources
told the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday that Biti “hit
the roof” and grilled
Mines minister Obert Mpofu at the meeting held at
Munhumutapa Building over
the US$174,2 million which cannot be accounted
for.
Biti told
parliament on Tuesday last week that he had not received the
US$174 million
as claimed by Zanu PF ministers and more specifically by
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) chairman Godwills
Masimirembwa.
“Information on hand as supplied by ZMDC indicates
that an amount of
US$174,2 million should have been remitted to Treasury,
while an additional
U$125,8 million realised in January 2011 remains
outstanding,” Biti told
parliament.
“However, Treasury has only
managed to reconcile US$62,1 million including
accruals to both Zimra
(US$17,7 million) and the Exchequer account (US$42,9
million). Clearly, ZMDC
and (Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe)
MMCZ are not remitting in
full the revenues which they have themselves
declared as due to the
fiscus.”
There are fears that the US$300 million has either been
stolen or was being
kept secretly somewhere by Zanu PF ministers as a war
chest for anticipated
elections.
Sources said Biti hammered Mpofu
at the Tuesday meeting over the missing
funds and indirectly attacked Mugabe
who recently said in Ethiopia that
civil servants’ salaries were going to be
increased because there were
diamond revenues to foot the
bill.
Biti’s slamming of Mpofu and firing across Mugabe’s bows was
said to have
forced Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa to join the fray to
rescue
Mugabe.
“There was a deadly fight at the meeting,” a
cabinet minister said. “Biti
was fuming over the issue of the diamond
proceeds. The money seems to have
disappeared because no one is able or
willing to account for it.
“Biti was angered by insistent and persistent
claims from Zanu PF and ZMDC
officials that his ministry has been given a
total of US$174 223 814,88
since January last year. He said that was a lie
because Treasury had only
received US$62,1 million in collective diamond
revenues. He challenged
everyone, from Mugabe to the most junior minister in
there, to say where the
money is.”
The minister said Mnangagwa
reacted to Biti’s remarks, saying he had no
problem with what he was saying
but was bothered by insinuations that the
president had misled the nation on
civil servants’ salaries.
Sources said Biti also queried Mugabe’s
claims that there was no money to
pay the civil servants, saying he had no
such funds. He asked Mpofu where
the money was and there was no response, it
was said.
Mugabe said last month while in Addis Ababa there was money
from diamond
sales to hike salaries of civil servants.
“It was a
heated and tense meeting. The meeting had more questions than
answers and in
the end it was resolved that Biti and Mpofu must do
reconciliations on
diamonds revenues and get to the bottom of the matter.”
In the
meantime, Biti has instructed the Auditor-General and the
Commissioner
General for the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to verify figures of
the diamond
proceeds received so far. In addition, he has also ordered the
Comptroller
and Auditor General to audit the books of the relevant
parastatals involved
in the sale of the diamonds.
Zanu PF officials are resisting the
diamonds revenues audit, saying Biti has
no powers to order an investigation
into the issue. Biti said at the Tuesday
government meeting that if Mugabe
and Zanu PF officials thought he had
stolen the money then they should agree
to an audit.
“Biti argued that if there was anyone who thought his
ministry had
mishandled the money then they should support the call for an
audit of
diamond revenues,” a source said. “If you are accusing someone of
failing to
account for monies they received then surely you must demand an
audit, but
Zanu PF is opposed to it. Why?”
Masimirembwa has
accused Biti of playing politics, saying he had the money
but was refusing
to pay civil servants in a bid to incite an “insurrection
so that we have
another Egypt or Tunisia in Zimbabwe”.
North African Arab states and
other Middle East countries are currently in
flames due to popular uprisings
by pro-democracy movements against dictators
and their failed policies.
Former Tunisian president Ben Ali and ex-Egyptian
president Hosni Mubarak
have been overthrown through street riots, while the
Libyan leader is
fighting for political survival. There is sweeping unrest
in Algeria,
Bahrain, Yemen and other countries in the region.
Biti has demanded
the enactment of a Diamond Act to regulate the mining and
sale of the gems
in Zimbabwe. “It is important that there be enforcement of
transparency in
dealing with public resources such as Marange diamonds for
the common good
of the country,” he said on Tuesday last week. “As I
indicated in the 2011
budget, a Diamond Act is imperative.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
07:32
Leonard Makombe
THE European Union (EU) is willing to review
sanctions against Zimbabwe and
corporations periodically, departing from the
annual examination based on
real positive political developments in the
country, the bloc’s Ambassador
to Zimbabwe has said.
Aldo
Dell’Ariccia said last week’s delisting of 35 personalities, who
include
wives of army, police, intelligence and senior government officials,
was
taken in the framework of the re-engagement between Zimbabwe and the
bloc
since the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in 2008 and
the
institution of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in February two
years
ago.
In an interview yesterday, Dell’Ariccia said: “The
important part that has
been underestimated by many observers (after the
council’s meeting to review
the sanctions last week) is that the EU has
declared to be ready to revisit
the decisions at any time if we receive,
from Zimbabwe, the evidence of
further developments in respect of the rule
of law, human rights and
democratic reforms.”
The ambassador said
its decision-making process was informed by “the
parties” commitment
towards the GPA and towards the elections to permit the
will of the people
to prevail.”
The delisting of 35 personalities from the sanctions
list was seen by some
sectors as ineffectual especially because the spouses
of army, police,
intelligence and government listed persons could transact
business on behalf
of their partners.
Dell’Ariccia said the wives
and other politicians were delisted in their own
capacities and they could
do their own business as they were seen not to be
undermining the rule of
law, respect for human rights and democratic
reforms.
The
review came against a background of a surge in violence blamed on Zanu
PF
although the party has vehemently denied the accusations and in turn
blamed
the MDC-T.
“The review was a result of the assessment since February
last year; the EU
took stock of the progress in addressing the economic
crisis and the
improvement in service deliveries, in particular education
and health,” said
Dell’Ariccia. “Unfortunately the progress on the political
front was not
equivalent and that is why we could not go any further (remove
more people).
Whenever we receive a message from the country that the
situation is
improving, we are ready to review the decision.”
He
added that there was also a possibility of further tightening the
restrictive measures should the political situation worsen with the eruption
of political violence.
The EU slapped Zimbabwe with “targeted
sanctions” in 2002 after violent
polls which led to the re-election of
President Robert Mugabe.
During the election, Zimbabwe had invited
individual countries from the EU
to observe the elections, but evicted
Pierre Schori, then Swedish ambassador
to the United Nations, as the head of
the bloc’s observer mission.
The institution of the GNU saw Zimbabwe
re-engaging the bloc and in July
last year a team of ministers representing
the three political parties in
the inclusive government met the EU High
Representative for the European
Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine
Ashton.
Dell’Ariccia said that further to that meeting, and based on
the
presentation by the three re-engagement team ministers on the progress
in
the implementation of the GPA, the EU had notified to the government of
Zimbabwe that 138 million Euros from the European Development Fund (used to
support development in African/Caribbean/Pacific countries) were earmarked
for Zimbabwe.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
09:19
Leonard Makombe
FOLLOWING the ouster of Egyptian leader
Hosni Mubarak, many Zimbabweans are
of the view that the ejected head of
state and his Zimbabwean counterpart,
President Robert Mugabe, are mirror
images of each other.
There are uncanny similarities between
the two in terms of their policies,
time in office and relations with
Western countries.
Political analysts said both leaders
wielded too much power, built a system
of patronage and a culture of
corruption while paying lip service to
addressing problems facing ordinary
people.
Mubarak, with a strong military background, became a darling
of the West
upon his ascendancy to power in 1981.
In his
inauguration speech, Mubarak stated that he would pursue policies his
predecessor Anwar el Sadat had initiated, especially peace and
“reconciliation with Israel inside internationally recognised borders”,
which won him a lot of respect and hearts, especially at the height of the
Cold War.
To many in Zimbabwe, this reminded them of Mugabe’s
reconciliation speech a
year earlier, when he said: “I urge you, whether you
are black or white, to
join me in a new pledge to forget our grim past,
forgive others and forget,
join hands in a new amity, and together, as
Zimbabweans trample upon
racialism, tribalism and regionalism, and work hard
to reconstruct and
rehabilitate our society as we reinvigorate our economic
machinery.”
Mubarak, who was booted out after 18 days of protests
against his rule,
served as the country’s president for 30 years after
Sadat’s assassination
in October 1981.
A lot was expected from
Mubarak when he took over, but last week, Middle
East analysts said he was
to be known “more for what he was expected to do
than what he
achieved”.
Mugabe enjoyed good relations with Mubarak, which explains
why the
Zimbabwean president had a habit of stopping over in Egypt en route
to the
United Nations Summits and other destinations.
Macdonald
Chibika, a researcher and political analyst based in Harare, said
it was
interesting to note the similarities between the two leaders.
“They
(Mugabe and Mubarak) ruled for 30 years under harsh conditions and
they
wanted to retain power at all costs,” said Chibika.
He added that
Mugabe had used the GPA to retain power and Mubarak tried a
number of failed
strategies to do the same when Egyptians marched demanding
his
exit.
Dewa Mavhinga, a South African based analyst, said Mubarak’s
authoritarian
rule closely resembled that of Mugabe in that he resorted to a
“raft of
emergency laws and other draconian pieces of legislation to keep a
disgruntled electorate muzzled”.
“Again like his Zimbabwe
counterpart, Mubarak relied heavily on the military
and the police to
maintain a grip on power,” he said.
Another political analyst,
Charles Mangongera said it was not necessarily
true to say the two leaders
had similarities but the political systems in
the two countries were the
same.
“The systems thrived on repression and the use of security
apparatus,” said
Mangongera. “In most cases the police is used and at times
the military when
it is necessary to do so especially during
elections.”
Mangongera said the problem could be that there has not
been leadership
transformation in the two countries.
Apart from
the excellent relations between the two and their “autocratic
leadership”,
they adopted almost similar policies.
In 1991, Mubarak embarked on
economic reforms prescribed by the
International Monetary Fund and this was
undertaken a year after Zimbabwe
embarked on the Economic Structural
Adjustment Programme (ESAP).
Just like with ESAP, the economic
reforms in Egypt saw a jump in gross
domestic product per capita based on
purchase power parity –– a comparison
of the standard of living between
countries by taking into account the
impact of their exchange
rates.
However, an increase in the GDP per capita based on purchase
power parity
was not matched with political reforms as Mubarak continued
governing the
country like a monarch and his National Democratic Party
controlled all of
the 454 seats in the assembly.
Until a 2005
constitutional amendment, Mubarak was the only presidential
candidate in
referendums which were held every six years to approve his
candidature for
the top post. Mubarak won by 87% in the first multi-party
elections held in
September 2005 and the losing candidate Ayman Nour of the
El-Ghad Party was
subsequently arrested on phony forgery charges.
While the Zimbabwe
constitution did not debar presidential aspirants, there
were times when
Mugabe stood unopposed after candidates withdrew from the
1996 presidential
polls and the June 2008 presidential election runoff.
In 1996, Zanu
Ndonga president Ndabaningi Sithole and Zimbabwe Rhodesia
Prime Minister
Abel Muzorewa withdrew shortly before the election, though
their names
remained on the ballot.
Sithole, who was under virtual house arrest
due to charges of attempting to
assassinate Mugabe, withdrew after claiming
that Mugabe’s Zanu PF was
undermining his campaign, whilst Muzorewa pulled
out after the Supreme Court
turned down his bid to postpone the elections on
the basis that the
electoral rules were unfair.
While, MDC-T
president Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from the presidential
run-off citing
violence and intimidation during that period which MDC-T says
its lost more
than 200 of its supporters while thousands others were
assaulted and
maimed.
Like Mugabe, who persecuted his opponents by arresting them
as he did with
Sithole and Tsvangirai who were charged with treason, Mubarak
arrested Nour
in January 2005 and charged him with forging Powers of
Attorney to secure
the formation of the El-Ghad party.
After a
strong intervention from European parliamentarians, Nour was freed
in March
2005 and began campaigning for the Egyptian presidency. However, on
December
24 2005, he was sentenced to five years in jail and was released in
February
2009 on health grounds.
Unlike his Zimbabwean counterpart who has
refused to deal the succession
issue, Mubarak, sensing growing frustration
over his rule, had started
grooming his son Gamal to take over from him.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
09:07
Leonard Makombe
THEY say “figures do not lie,” but in
Zimbabwe statistical data is of
limited use as it is either unavailable or
antiquated making it practically
impossible to measure social, economic and
demographic activities taking
place in the country.
Anyone
interested in getting statistics in Zimbabwe is naturally directed to
various government departments — particularly the Zimbabwe National
Statistical Agency (Zimstat), the main source of official statistics in
Zimbabwe.
Zimstat, without a substantive director for
close to six years, is mandated
to play a co-ordination and supervisory role
within the National Statistical
System, but logging onto their website gives
one the impression that
statistics do not matter in
Zimbabwe.
Figures are outdated with the unemployment rate said to be
at 9,3% when it
is now estimated to be at 90%, while literacy rates are at
90,5% “as at
2004”!
It is almost impossible to ascertain simple
statistics like the total number
of pupils leaving schools each year and how
many of those get employed
thereafter.
This is surprising in this
“information age” where all necessary data should
be readily accessible but
in Zimbabwe the only available figures are
useless, outdated or both — you
mainly get data collected during the time
when the country’s statistical
office was still reliable in the 1990s.
The net effect of the archaic
enumeration system has been a total failure to
statistically account for
what is produced, mined, sold, imported or
exported by the
country.
As Tony Hawkins, a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe
Graduate School of
Management, said during a presentation two weeks ago that
a substantial —
unknown — proportion of consumption spending is funded
offshore.
Zimbabwe is grappling in the dark trying to quantify the
amount repatriated
by its citizens living abroad.
Other countries
are able to enumerate almost everything including minute
details such as the
number of buttons sold during a given period but
Zimbabwe has failed to give
details on how much diamond has been mined and
sold so far, leading to the
recent fight between Finance Minister Tendai
Biti and Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) .
Biti last week ordered an audit of
diamond sales revenues. He said figures
on his desk indicated Treasury had
so far got $62,1 million, while ZMDC and
the Minerals Marketing Corporation
of Zimbabwe indicated that he had
received $174,2
million.
Marange’s alluvial diamonds were expected to boost the
country’s economic
revival but a failure to enumerate what is taking place
could be a pointer
to massive leakages.
Diamonds are not the only
precious stones lacking accountability. The same
can be said about gold and
platinum production.
One has to muddle through other social, economic
and demographical
information to come up with some data on Zimbabwe. While
Zimstat has failed
on its mandate to collect data, other bodies such as
local authorities are
equally inadequate as they are unable to give figures
on houses constructed
or hospital admissions during a given
period.
Investors could be impatient and may not be able to piece
together the data
scattered across several offices in different departments
and this could
prove costly to the country’s intention to attract
investment.
Businessperson and past president of the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of
Commerce Luxon Zembe said: “One of our biggest
challenges is lack of
accurate, up to date and sufficient
data.”
Zembe said knowing who was producing what and in what
quantities would give
both local and international investors pointers on how
much they could pour
in and be expected to get as returns.
He
said in the absence of figures on how much the country consumes, it was
difficult for investors and policy makers to plan.
This basic
information, John Robertson, a business consultant said was
important in
decision making by local authorities and central
government.
Robertson said it was difficult to establish, for
example, the vehicle
population in the country yet it was important for road
network development.
“An increase in traffic requires a decision to
reduce congestion maybe
through road dualisation,” said
Robertson.
He said the policy makers would make better decisions if
they used correct
figures.
“If you guess the numbers, you are not
going to achieve what you want,” said
Robertson.
Using the rule
of the thumb in policy making and implementation comes at a
cost as figures
are regularly revised leaving planners wondering where they
are
going.
This was the case with tobacco production last season which
was initially
projected at 77 000 000 kgs only to be revised upwards by 16
000 000 kgs.
Just when market watchers thought that was the final
figure, tobacco figures
were further revised upwards to 115 000 000 kgs and
by the time the season
closed, 123 000 000 kgs had been
auctioned.
Analysts said players in various sectors were also to
blame as they had a
culture of not taking part in data collection or data
compilation.
“They do not attach value to data collection,” Zembe
said suggesting that
legislation be passed to compel companies to release
data. Zembe suggested
that legislation be passed compelling all businesses
to fall under a
representative body which could be used for data
collection.
In the absence of clear and reliable data, the country
remains susceptible
to manipulation by business, prejudicing government of
revenue. Government
planning is also heavily inhibited by abject failure to
have reliable ways
of enumerating and quantifying all economic, social and
demographic
activities.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
08:27
Paidamoyo Muzulu
THE country has witnessed an upsurge in the
number of senior MDC-T members,
including legislators, being prosecuted
since President Robert Mugabe
announced that elections will be held this
year with or without a new
constitution, analysts said this
week.
The analysts interviewed by Zimbabwe Independent argue that
Zanu PF has
since Independence persecuted its opponents by arresting and
detaining them,
with the highest number of detentions occurring since 1999
when the MDC-T
was formed.
MDC-T legislators — Douglas
Mwonzora, Rodger Tazviona and Nelson Chamisa —
have been arrested or
arraigned before the courts in February facing
different
charges.
The pattern, analysts believe, shows a trend of politically
related
persecutions of Zanu PF opponents reminiscent of the 2000 era when
many MDC
supporters and political activists were arrested and detained on
charges,
which in most cases fell away before plea.
Crisis
Coalition in Zimbabwe chairman Jonah Gokova said the premature
election
calls by Zanu PF triggered the arrests.
“Everything happening in the
country now has everything to do with the
premature call for elections,”
Gokova said. “We are worried that politicians
are talking of elections even
before the guarantors of the GPA have given
the go ahead for
polls.”
Zanu PF leadership has expressed its intent to have elections
this year,
ending the lifespan of the inclusive government formed in
February 2009.
Media Centre director and political analyst Ernest
Mudzengi said the
election fever has contributed to the arrests the country
is witnessing.
“The arrests are connected to the election call,”
Mudzengi said, “More so,
it has to do with Zanu PF’s wish to hang on to
power by whatever means.”
Since the inauguration of the inclusive
government, more than 13 sitting
legislators from the MDC-T have been
arrested on various charges that range
from denigrating and belittling the
office of the President to politically
motivated violence and rape
charges.
Among those arrested and arraigned before the courts since
the formation of
the inclusive government are Tendai Biti, Blessing
Chebundo, Lynnette
Karenyi, Iain Kay, Tongai Matutu, Mathias Mlambo, Pishai
Muchauraya, Shuah
Mudiwa, Roy Bennett and Morgan Komichi.
The
MDC-T said the arrests show that the police force is partisan and is
used to
harass Zanu PF opponents every time there is talk of an election.
It
said in a statement the arrests were political and intended to frustrate
it
especially now when Zanu PF is pushing for an early election. They argued
that if the police were not partisan why then were Zanu PF supporters not
arrested at all for violence.
“What we find strange is that it is
only members from the MDC who are being
arrested when it is very clear that
it is Zanu PF that are perpetrating
political violence,” the MDC-T
information department said, “Last week,
Honourable (Douglas) Mwonzora held
a well attended rally in his constituency
but Zanu PF hooligans who were
clearly annoyed by the high turnout of the
rally attacked MDC members at the
meeting.”
The police, however, denied the allegations and maintained
that they are
professional in discharging their duties.
Police
chief spokesperson, Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena
dismissed
the MDC-T allegations that the police were a willing tool for Zanu
PF as no
arrests have been made to date.
“It is a reality on the ground and if
somebody commits a crime they would be
arrested,” Bvudzijena said, “If it is
for Mwonzora and Tazviona they are now
both before the courts and we believe
we have a strong case against them.”
Tazviona is facing charges of
inciting and committing acts of violence in
the company of MDC-T activists
in Kwekwe.
MDC-T, however maintained that the police are partisan and
have gone on to
introduce a motion in the Senate that calls for the police
to do their
duties professionally, impartially and only in accordance with
the laws and
constitution.
The motion was moved by Senator Morgan
Komichi after demonstrations by
suspected Zanu PF- aligned youths in
Harare’s central business district.
After the police-sanctioned
demonstrations by Zanu PF youths that rampaged
through Harare’s central
business district, no arrests have been made yet.
The youths ransacked
foreign owned shops at the Gulf complex and looted
goods and merchandise in
the name of indigenisation.
Police said the ransacking that took
place at Gulf Complex was not done by
a Zanu PF-aligned youth group, Upfumi
Kuvadiki that had organised the
demonstration.
“Police approached
the youth group leadership to call off the demonstration
and they complied,”
Bvudzijena said, “The looters were from other groups and
thus we cannot hold
Upfumi Kuvadiki leadership responsible for the mayhem.”
Upfumi
Kuvadiki secretary general Tatenda Maroodza said their planned
demonstration
was called off after they were advised by the police. He said
the violence
in town had nothing to do with them.
“Yes, we called for a
demonstration but as we waited for a police escort we
then heard that
another group had started ransacking the Gulf Complex,”
Maroodza said, “Our
demonstration never took off after we complied with the
police order to halt
it in view of what was happening in the city centre.”
“Other
opposition political parties in the country have had no members
arrested for
violence because they are not violent. Look at MDC-M, Mavambo
or
Zapu.”
The MDC-T said the state, seemingly in partnership with the
police and
judiciary, have perpetuated this perception of partisanship by
denying MDC-T
members freedom after they are granted bail by the
courts.
Tazviona and Mwonzora were granted bail earlier this week by
magistrates in
Kwekwe and Nyanga respectively but the state invoked Section
121 that allows
persons granted bail to be further detained for up to 21
days as police
continue with their investigations.
On the other
hand, Chamisa was arraigned before the courts this week on
charges of
negligent driving, which he allegedly committed in January 2009.
Chamisa’s
lawyer, Chris Mhike, said the developments could not be
interpreted
otherwise except that they are political.
“Judging by the manner the
papers were furnished in the state outline, this
is a rushed prosecution,”
Mhike said, “This is just an act of politics where
they are after MDC people
so they can persecute them.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
08:14
Stewart Chabwinja/Chris Muronzi
FRESH from a trip to
Singapore where he had gone for medical treatment,
President Robert Mugabe
this week blew out several candles to mark his 87th
birthday.
He
was looking rather subdued when he appeared on state television on Monday
receiving gifts from staff in his office. As usual, a big birthday bash is
slated for tomorrow, which should lift his spirits if indeed he was feeling
a little under the weather.
A day before his birthday,
supporters in the political violence hotbed of
Mbare allegedly forced
traders to attend a rally to mark Mugabe’s birthday,
while party loyalists
and mainly state enterprises sent the customary
gushing congratulatory
messages to newspapers and broadcast media.
The state broadcaster,
ZBH, led the way with songs and messages in praise of
the “great leader” —
the tributes taking up a sizable chunk of airtime.
A man who was
interviewed on one of the programmes last Saturday and who
claimed to be
from the 21st February Movement had this to say:
“Zimbabwe is
blessed and Africa is proud to have President Mugabe. Not like
other leaders
like the Italian Prime Minister (Silvio Berlusconi), who has
been fidgeting
(sic) with teenage girls… Or Idi Amin who stole most of his
country’s
wealth…President Mugabe is a philanthropist.”
Berlusconi is due to
stand trial not on charges of “fidgeting with teenage
girls”, but for
allegedly paying for sex with an underage girl and abuse of
office.
Maybe the clincher came from a member of the War
Collaborators Association
on the same day. His eulogy will take a lot to
beat. “I only wish President
Mugabe could be born again,” he said, “and
start leading the country at 10
or 15 years old so that he can defeat
sanctions and silence his detractors!”
Traditional loyalists —
cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and
parastatals — splash scarce
money on big colour adverts mainly in the state
media, in which they
glorified the president using superlatives. As
expected, it was game on last
week.
Mugabe’s chief secretary, Misheck Sibanda, who last year
praised the aging
leader for having “telescopic foresight,” said Mugabe had
“visionary
stewardship.”
In an advert in a state daily, Sibanda
said: “Through his visionary
stewardship, the nation has remained strong in
defence of its sovereignty
and independence, despite numerous
challenges.
“His endurance, commitment to the ideals of national
unity and peace has
helped engender an environment conducive for robust
economic growth and
development.”
He added that: “Indeed through
his principled leadership and commitment to
broad-based empowerment, the
aspirations of the historically disadvantaged
indigenous majority to control
the levers of the country’s economy are
steadily becoming a
reality.”
“As we celebrate the 87th anniversary of the birth of this
legendary icon,
we continue to draw inspiration from his selfless dedication
in rendering
service to the nation and the peoples of Africa. May the lord
Almighty
continue to shower him with more blessings.”
The
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board chairman David
Chapfika extolled: “…. We therefore wish the country’s beacon many years of
good health and continued wise leadership.”
Justice and Legal
Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa wrote: “Indeed, the
ministry continues to
be inspired and guided by His Excellency’s illustrious
and visionary
leadership. We wish you many more!”
But the president’s birthday
story would not be complete without Absolom
Sikhosana, the Zanu PF youth
secretary under whom the 21st February Movement
falls. Sikhosana hibernates
for most of the year, only to emerge and enjoy
considerable state media
attention when the president’s birthday is just
around the
corner.
The 21st February Movement was established in 1986 “as a
welfare
organisation for youths and as a medium to inspire youths to be well
behaved
through emulating the exemplary character of their patron, President
Mugabe”,
the organisation claims.
Addressing journalists at the
Zanu PF headquarters, Sikhosana was quoted as
saying private media reports
that they (21st February Movement) were begging
for money were
unfounded.
Either Sikhosana was just not telling the truth, or
someone forgot to tell
him that his movement was regularly flighting an
advert soliciting for funds
towards the president’s birthday bash. For good
measure the advert gave the
account number where donors could deposit their
money, and even thanked
would-be donors in advance for contributing to a
worthy cause.
And as is customary, the state media published a
12-page supplement carrying
no less than 50 pictures of the president, in
which mostly state
institutions praised Mugabe in glowing and
all-too-predictable terms.
It carried stories pointing out that the
nation’s “born-frees” were forever
indebted to the president as “children of
all ages are able to hold their
heads high in any place in the world”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 07:57
Nqobile
Bhebhe
MDC-T Bulawayo province, which is rocked by factionalism ahead of
its
elective congress in May, wants party leader Morgan Tsvangirai to order
State Enterprises minister Gorden Moyo to stop campaigning for the
provincial chairman’s post because he is not eligible to contest in party
elections.
In an interview with Zimbabwe Independent on
Wednesday, MDC-T provincial
information and publicity secretary Felix
Magalela Mafa said Moyo only
bought his party membership card two months
ago, which disqualified him from
contesting the
elections.
According to the party requirements, eligible candidates
should have been
members for at least two years.
He said the
provincial leadership resolved last week to talk to Tsvangirai
to “rein in
on minister Gorden Moyo who is causing havoc” in the province.
Mafa
said the provincial leadership accused Moyo, whom they said was causing
friction within the party, of “wily nily violating protocol by causing the
arrest of party members who oppose him”.
Last week, Sibonisiwe
Nyoni , Sikhangezile Sibanda and Sanani Sibanda
appeared in a Bulawayo
Magistrates’ Court after spending four days in police
custody for allegedly
threatening a party member, Caphina Maseko (52). They
were charged with
contravening Section 45 (b) of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform)
Act and were remanded out of custody.
Mafa said: “It’s true that Moyo
is eyeing the chairmanship, but as per our
constitution he does not qualify.
As recent as two months ago, he bought a
party card making him a member. But
his actions of late, that of causing the
arrest of party members opposed to
him, is shocking.
“Possibly next week, we will send representatives
to Tsvangirai to explain
the havoc that Moyo is causing in the
party.”
Moyo has continuously refused to comment on the issue arguing
that it was
party business.
According to Mafa, many in MDC-T in
Bulawayo view Moyo as a “hired hand” by
Tsvangirai, who was now trying to
hijack the province through the Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association -
an arm of Bulawayo Agenda.
Moyo is the former chairman of Bulawayo
Agenda, a pro-democracy group based
in Matabeleland.
While a
source in the provincial executive said: “There is a strong feeling
in the
province that Moyo is less qualified for the post and they base this
on
requirements under the party’s electoral guidelines that says someone
should
be a member of the party for at least two years.
“Such incidents
would only get worse towards congress and both camps are so
determined to
land the post at any cost.”
Agnes Mloyi is the current provincial
chairperson and his deputy, Mzilikazi
senator Matson Hlalo confirmed on
Wednesday that he wanted the post but
“only when nominated by the
people”.
“It’s not part of our protocol to tip yourself to any post.
But when members
express their desire to elect me to chairmanship I would
not turn them
down,” said Hlalo.
In January, MDC-T Youth
Assembly said ministers invited by Tsvangirai to the
party are “welcome but
they should not take advantage of their invitation by
the party to usurp
powers in the party”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
07:45
Paidamoyo Muzulu
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti says he will
not pay over US$300 million to the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for
vehicles “allegedly” acquired for the
state between 2007 and
2008.
Biti told the parliamentary portfolio committee on public
accounts last week
that there was no legal paper trail of the vehicles’
acquisition or
documents showing who asked the central bank to purchase
them.
“Treasury will not pay the RBZ the over $300 million
till we have
clarifications of who contracted them to purchase the
vehicles,” Biti said.
“They also have to show where did the vehicles come
from, where they were
registered and if they had paid duty to the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority
(Zimra). No debt should be contracted without
parliamentary approval as set
out by Section 115 of the
constitution.”
The central bank had in the past dabbled in
quasi-fiscal activities, playing
the role of the treasury in allocating
resources to government ministries
and departments. Such actions were only
brought to a halt by the enactment
of the RBZ Amendment Act last
year.
The amendment steered through parliament by Biti, among other
things,
restricted the central bank to its core business of crafting
monetary
policy, regulating and supervising of banks and other financial
institutions. More importantly, all resource allocation was made a sole
preserve of the treasury.
Biti added that the treasury did not
have records to show how many cars were
received by the state and how they
were distributed.
“Government has systems and we do not have records
of the vehicles,” the
minister said. “The Central Mechanical Equipment
Department (CMED) should be
able to say what happened to the cars and who
was issued what.”
The minister said he was surprised that the
Information and Publicity
ministry received most of the vehicles, yet most
of the ministry’s
activities were “desk room operations”.
Biti
said reforms at the central bank would continue and treasury was
looking at
ways to retire the over US$1,1 billion debt the bank owed to
various
creditors, among them foreign banks, non-governmental organisations,
exporters and foreign countries.
The bank used the money for farm
mechanisation programmes, purchase of
vehicles and lent out to depressed
companies during the hyperinflationary
era. Individual foreign current
accounts and those of NGOs were liquidated
arbitrarily to save critical
government projects.
“We are going to create a special purpose
vehicle (SPV) to deal with the
central bank’s debts,” he said. “Some of the
debt is sovereign debt like to
Malawi (US$20 million), African Development
Bank (US$55 million), PTA (US$50
million) and China (US$25
million).”
Biti added that the treasury will appoint a trustee to
administer the debt
and disposal of all quasi-fiscal assets owned by the
bank. Revenue realised
from the sales would be used to pay creditors a
dividend per dollar owed.
RBZ’s activities have been severely
constrained since dollarisation of the
economy and the bank needs capital
injection form the shareholder,
government. Last year, the bank was given $7
million dollars so that it can
resume its duties as a lender of last resort.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
07:36
Paidamoyo Muzulu
CONSTRUCTION of the Batoka hydro-power
station, with a potential to generate
in excess of 3 000 megawatts daily,
has stalled because Zimbabwe is failing
to settle a US$260 000 000 debt it
owes Zambia for the shared Kariba
infrastructure the country inherited at
Independence.
“The ultimate solution to our power energy lies in the
construction of
Batoka, which will generate something between 2 500 to 3 000
megawatts,”
Biti said in a ministerial statement to parliament. “We,
however, have
serious disputes with the Zambian
government.”
The minister explained that the dispute revolved
around an unpaid debt for
infrastructure that Zimbabwe inherited at
independence from the Central
African Power Corporation (Capco) during the
federation era.
Most of the physical infrastructure of Capco was
located within Southern
Rhodesia.
“When this company split in
1980, we had to compensate the Zambians for the
infrastructure that was on
the Zimbabwean side,” Biti said. “So, we owe
Zambia about US$260 million,
which they are saying we must pay first before
they can allow us to
construct.”
The issue is being handled politically and efforts to
compensate the
Zambians in kind have not yielded any positive
results.
“We have tried to persuade them and ask them to give us the
go-ahead so that
we find money for Batoka, then we give them for free a
proportionate and
pro-rata energy which is equal to the debt,” the minister
explained.
“Unfortunately, as honourable members would know, the issue has
become very
political as the Zambians think that Northern Rhodesia developed
Southern
Rhodesia, so Southern Rhodesia should pay more. The issue has
become
problematic.”
Investment in Zimbabwe has been subdued in
the last decade as Zesa has
failed to provide uninterrupted power supplies
to industries and
manufacturers. The electricity authority sometimes
switches off consumers
for up to 12 hours in their haphazard load-shedding
schedules.
All the power stations in the country, including Kariba,
Hwange, Munyati and
Bulawayo, are generating slightly above 50% of their
capacity. The country
has to rely on imports from South Africa, Mozambique
and the Democratic
Republic of Congo. The power plants are producing about 1
300 megawatts a
day against a daily demand of above 2 000
megawatts.
Zesa has debts close to a billion dollars owed to
different power companies
that supplied power on credit in the
past.
Essar Holding from India are said to be interested in
refurbishing and
developing Hwange Power Station phase 7 and 8. The company
is also
negotiating with the government to buy a 54% stake in
Ziscosteel.
“Essar has expressed an interest in refurbishing Hwange.
This would help the
country along,” Biti said, “Negotiations will start
soon.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 07:35
Paul
Nyakazeya
THE National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) this month
embarked on a
restructuring exercise which will result in 106 out of 379
employees being
retrenched.
Energy minister Elton Mangoma told
journalists in the capital yesterday that
the restructuring followed
cabinet’s approval for the re-organisation of
Noczim into two firms, one for
trading and the other for infrastructure.
“Negotiations on the
retrenchments are going on and expected to be resolved
by Monday,” Mangoma
said.
The restructuring of Noczim into two companies was done on
December 31 last
year and the firms started operating on January
1.
The companies have the same board members, Justin Mupamhanga (the
Energy
ministry permanent secretary), Morgan Mudzinganyama (Director
Petroleum) and
Ndomupei Chikonye (Director Power).
“The two new
companies are being given a fresh start and a break from
mismanagement and
fraudulent activities at Noczim. Substantive boards will
be put in place as
soon as consultations are completed,” Mangoma said.
He said his
ministry was working on building confidence in fuel suppliers to
store their
petroleum products in Zimbabwe.
“The country has over 500 000 000
litres of storage facilities which are
more than double that of Beira,” he
said.
He said a forensic audit conducted by Ernst & Young on
Noczim revealed that
its management had committed fraud, taken third party
stocks, misrepresented
facts regarding amounts due to Zimra, failed to
account for strategic
reserves and debt redemption
levies.
Mangoma exonerated himself from the recent corruption linked
to fuel
shortages and at Zesa Holdings saying: “I am particularly allergic
to
corruption, greed and patronage. Zesa will be purified. Noczim will be
sorted out. The Rural Electrification Agency (Rea) will be distilled. The
guilty are afraid and no amount of noise and vilification by corrupt forces
will stand in my way in pursuit of excellence and delivery for real
change.”
He said a senior official at Rea had unprocedurally
authorised three members
of management to get US$656 000 as housing loans on
3% interest over 17
years.
“This amount was not part of the
budget and therefore should not have been
paid. This is a corrupt practice,”
said Mangoma.
He said Zesa needed viable tariffs to not only
stabilise the current power
supply, but to invest in new
capacity.
“Zesa has come up with a proposed tariff which I have put
on hold whilst the
necessary consultative processes are being carried out,”
he said.
There has been no investment in new power generation since
the commissioning
of Hwange Power Station units 5 and 6 in
1984.
There has also been no meaningful repairs and maintenance to
both the
generation plant and transmission.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
07:32
Faith Zaba/Brian Chitemba/Paidamoyo Muzulu
THE two MDC
formations yesterday told South African President Jacob Zuma’s
facilitation
team that the Global Political Agreement (GPA) should be fully
implemented
first before fresh elections are held to ensure intimidation
and
violence-free polls.
Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC and smaller MDC
formation led by Welshman Ncube and
the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee (Jomic) met separately
with Zuma’s facilitation
team.
A Jomic member who declined to be named said Zuma’s
facilitation team said
they were concerned about the sluggish approach in
implementing the GPA’s
outstanding issues.
“The facilitation team
is keen on seeing improvement in interaction among
parties to the GPA,” the
Jomic member said. “They want the GPA to be
implemented fully and
urgently.”
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told the Zimbabwe
Independent after a
two-hour meeting with former cabinet ministers Charles
Nqakula, Mac Maharaj
and South African ambassador to Zimbabwe Mlungisi
Makhalima yesterday that
they demanded some guarantee from Zuma’s team that
the process of drafting
the roadmap to elections would not be “another
talk-shop and futile
exercise”.
The facilitation team is in
Zimbabwe gathering information regarding the
elections
roadmap.
“The roadmap must be an agreed document,” Chamisa said. “But
we made it
clear that the GPA must be implemented to the full first before
we can have
elections in Zimbabwe. Non fulfillment of the GPA undermines the
roadmap to
elections. The GPA is a prescription to a free and fair and
violence-free
election,” said Chamisa, who attended the meeting with MDC-T
negotiator
Elton Mangoma.
MDC-T has 21 minimum conditions for a
free and fair election which they
presented and these include drafting a new
constitution, guaranteeing the
security of people, an end to violence, the
introduction of a biometric
voters’ roll, a transparent and impartial
delimitation process, full audit
of electoral processes, Sadc monitors six
months before and six months after
the elections and security sector reforms
and its realignment to prevent
political abuse by the military, intelligence
agencies and youth militia.
It also wants media freedoms, prevention
of Zanu PF abuse of state
resources, in particular diamonds in Chiadzwa, and
an impartial and
professional Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission.
MDC-N secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga
and Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs Moses Mzila-Ndlovu met the South
African facilitation
team on Wednesday and made it clear that the full
implementation of the GPA
was paramount to ensure a credible, free and fair
election.
“We told the team that the outstanding 23 GPA agreed points
should be
implemented first before any fresh elections,” Mushonga said. “We
also
proposed that a team be set up to come up with a road map that would be
forwarded to facilitators and Sadc, the guarantors of the
agreement.”
Some of the outstanding issues include media reforms,
deregulation of
broadcasting, operationalising the Human Rights Commission,
electoral
reforms, security sector reforms and constitutional
reforms.
Sources close to the meetings said the facilitation team
told them that
conducting free and fair elections was Sadc’s mandate and
they would not
support anything short of a credible and undisputed
poll.
“They were very clear – they told us frankly that Zimbabwe’s
instability was
a threat to the region and they would want to make sure that
elections are
free and fair and they would not accept anything less. They
also told us
that we are destroying our own country and economy through
violence that
erupted in recent months and they want it to stop,” the source
said.
“We asked them for a reassurance to ensure that this whole
exercise is not a
futile one where we agree on a roadmap and Zanu PF refuses
to implement.
They told us that it will be implemented without any doubt,
but they couldn’t
tell us how they will make sure Zanu PF implements the GPA
and roadmap.”
Sources who attended the meeting with Jomic said Zuma’s
facilitation team
said Zimbabwe was not ready for elections this year due to
several critical
electoral and democratic reforms that needed to be
implemented first.
The team –– led by Zuma’ international affairs
advisor Lindiwe Zulu,
insisted that elections were not feasible this
year.
Co-Jomic chairperson Mangoma confirmed that Zulu and her team
agreed that
the roadmap for elections could not be fully implemented this
year.
He said Zuma’s facilitation team said there was an urgent need for
reforming
state institutions such as the army and the ZEC to make them
non-partisan to
avoid officials tilting poll results in favour of certain
political parties.
“The facilitation team was clear that it was
impossible for Zimbabweans to
go for elections this year given that we need
a new constitution, reforming
State institutions and establish laws that
give power to institutions like
the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission,” said
Mangoma.
Last week, Zulu said Zuma was concerned about the wave of
political violence
gripping Zimbabwe, adding the current political climate
was not conducive
for free and free elections. Mangoma said Zulu and her
team said they feared
a repeat of the 2008 orgy of politically-motivated
violence if critical
reforms were not put in place.
He said Jomic
and the South African facilitation team agreed that a voters’
roll was in
shambles and needed an overhaul. Earlier this year, it emerged
that the
voters’ roll was shambolic with babies and the dead appearing on
the
register.
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa has said US$20 million
is required for a
new voters’ roll. President Robert Mugabe has reiterated
that he wants
elections this year with or without a new constitution and has
once
threatened that he would dissolve parliament and call for
elections.
Zanu PF has already launched its campaign across the
country code-named
“Operation Ngatizivane”.
“The facilitators
want to see the crucial reforms implemented before
elections and as Jomic we
support that,” said Mangoma.
Zanu PF met Zuma’s facilitation team,
but the Independent could not get
details of the deliberations at the time
of going to press last night as the
party’s negotiators Nicholas Goche and
Patrick Chinamasa were not answering
their mobile phones.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 10:37
Tendai
Zhanje
THE Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) says government
needs to
consult before signing Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection
Agreements (Bippa).
Economist and ZNCC member Brains Muchemwa
was speaking before a
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Foreign Affairs,
Regional Integration
and International Trade on Tuesday.
“In as
much as the government consults business, it doesn’t take it to the
consultation tables with other countries,” said
Muchemwa.
Meanwhile, the Bippa between Zimbabwe and Botswana was
signed on Wednesday,
a day after ZNCC had complained at the meeting with the
portfolio committee
over lack of progress on signing the
agreement.
Muchemwa said the signing of the Bippa would ease the
burden on both
business and the country to access credit. Zimbabwe has not
been able to
access lines of credit from the traditional creditors, World
Bank and is
also struggling to get Foreign Direct Investment.
“We
had hoped that the Bippa would make it easier for business to access
lines
of credit that could come handy as Zimbabwe is failing to get it and
banks
are giving expensive short term credit,” said Muchemwa.
Committee
chairman, Tapera Mukanduri, said that there was nothing much his
committee
could do as some of the matters raised by ZNCC were the
responsibility of
committees to do with finance.
“You can give us your questions and we
will put them across to other
ministers and raise them in parliament,
because Bippas don’t fall under our
jurisdiction and lines of credit falls
under the committee that deals with
Finance and the Ministry of Industry and
Commerce,” said Mukanduri
ZNCC also raised concern over the influx of
genetically modified products on
the Zimbabwean market, a development that
has seen the market flooded with
cheap products.
“Local producers
are not allowed to use GMOs. These GMO products are causing
a competitive
challenge on our local producers as they are unable to produce
as much as
the foreign companies who produce bulk in such a short time,”
said Muchemwa.
“The domestic manufacturing sector may also be wiped out
because of these
GMOs since we don’t have the technology and expertise to
manufacture.”
He called on the Standards Association of Zimbabwe
to adequately certify
goods that enter the country especially sensitive
products that deal with
mass consumption.
“SAZ is not well
capacitated to deal with issues of standards and quality
control. Its role
has to be redefined in a manner to regulate standards of
what comes into the
country,” said Muchemwa. He called on the government to
make sure that SAZ
controls all the products that enter the country through
border
posts.
“SAZ should evaluate the quality of foreign products and how
they are making
their way into Zimbabwe,” said
Muchemwa.
Mukanduri said that SAZ falls under other portfolio
committees but added,
“SAZ will not have the capacity to man all the border
posts.”
He assured ZNCC that their queries will be tabled in
Parliament.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
10:29
Chris Muronzi
BARELY a month after Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa threatened foreign
owned companies who did not castigate the
imposition of sanctions on Zanu Pf
officials and family members, TA boss
Shingi Mutasa’s remarks appeared in
sync.
And strangely
so.
Mnangagwa gave foreign businesspeople few choices;
castigate sanctions or
lose shareholding, a whole lot of
it.
Analysts discounted the threat as a desperate bid to have
President Robert
Mugabe and party heavyweights removed from United States
and European
imposed sanctions.
“We will ask them if they support
sanctions or not,” Mnangagwa said. “Those
who indicate that they do not
support sanctions will be asked to go live on
national radio and tell the
nation and the rest of the world their company
does not support
sanctions.”
The money realised from the 90% share takeovers would go
into a new
“anti-sanctions fund”, Mnangagwa said.
The fund would
be used to finance a campaign against restrictive measures
and “all foreign
companies operating in the country (would be) compelled to
assist,” he
said.
While many could have dismissed it as mere talk then, Mutasa’s
comments two
weeks ago could just be the beginning of a long list of
corporate leaders
coming out against sanctions.
His comments met
Mnangagwa’s dictates; it has to be public and the message
clear.
And Mutasa’s remarks were just that: public and
clear.
“The sanctions issue is very real. It’s not a fake issue, it
is real. I
personally think that the issue of sanctions is wrong. We
shouldn’t be
having sanctions in this country. It’s something that is an
issue,” Mutasa
said.
This, analysts say could see corporate
leaders parroting Zanu PF’s line in
order to keep their business, if
Mnangagwa’s threats are anything to go by.
But Mutasa’s circumstances are a
bit different.
He said Masawara plc –– which holds a 40% stake in
Joina City and 30% in
diversified concern TA Holdings –– nearly failed to
list on the Alternative
Investment Market (AIM) of the LSE and lost a key
investor after a company
linked to him was accused of holding shares in a
formerly blacklisted local
bank.
Masawara, an investment company,
eventually undertook an IPO last August
raising US$25 million after legally
defending the allegations.
But the point had been made; sanctions are not
cool for business.
It was not all parroting.
He told
delagates that Zimbabwe had tight exchange control measures in
Zimbabwe that
could frustrate companies seeking capital abroad.
Official figures
put the number of white and foreign-owned companies still
operating in the
country at around 500. Mnangagwa’s comments came after
Mugabe warned
European companies with operations in the country could face
takeover unless
sanctions were removed.
“We have been far too good for malicious
people for countries which seek to
destroy us,” Mugabe told a Zanu PF annual
meeting last year. “Why should we
continue to have 400 British companies
here operating freely with Britain
benefiting from us?
Zanu PF
views sanctions as punishment for its land reform policies.
The party
claims sanctions are at the centre of economic problems that
characterised
the economy in the last decade.
Western countries say sanctions
target only senior government and Zanu PF
officials accused of rights abuses
as well as those stifling democracy and
the rule of law.
Zanu PF
has also accused its partners in the unity government –– MDC-T— of
not doing
enough to have sanctions removed.
Analysts say the latest push to
involve the corporate world in its sanctions
fight is mainly meant to target
European companies in the country, for long
the target of takeover under
indegenisation and empowerment regulations
gazetted last year.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 10:26
Bernard
Mpofu
ZIMBABWE’S manufacturing sector is poised for growth on the back of
a
firming South African Rand which is expected to subdue demand for imports
despite driving year-on-year inflation, an independent research has
shown.
A report compiled by Renaissance Capital projects prices for basic
commodities predominantly imported from South Africa will rise this
year.
The investment firm expects the Rand to trade at ZAR7,00/US$1 from an
average of ZAR7,30/US$1.
Zimbabwe’s imports from South Africa
according to ZimTrade — the country’s
trade development and promotion
organisation — grew by 53% between 2005 and
2009 during a command-type
economy which accelerated economic decline and
company
closures.
SA imports, official figures show, rose to US$2 billion in
2009, accounting
for 60% of Zimbabwe’s imports.
The manufacturing
sector, currently operating at an average of 45% capacity
owing to limited
capital inflows and high operating costs, last year grew by
2,7%, a distant
third from agriculture and mining which averaged 30%.
Household
consumption expenditure, according to the report, will soar
driven by “a
sizeable wage hike for civil servants”, an increase in foreign
exchange
remittances from Zimbabweans living abroad and a recovery in
consumer
finance.
These developments, Renaissance Capital further said, would
ease the
liquidity problems facing the economy, which Finance minister
Tendai Biti
expects to grow by double digit figures by year
end.
Treasury last year announced that the public sector, accounting
for 250 000
of the country’s workforce, would this year have a 40% increase
on its wage
bill, a figure much lower than government workers
expectations.
The downside of the firming Rand according to
Renaissance Capital would
inflate the cost of inputs and
equipment.
“Although the agriculture sector has exhibited a strong
recovery over the
past couple of years, this has been off a very low base.
This implies that
the agriculture sector is not yet able to meet the
manufacturing sector’s
requirement for inputs, so manufacturers still rely
on imports,” the report
reads.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
10:17
Nqobile Bhebhe
INDUSTRY and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube
has said the finalisation of
the deal to buy Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company
(Zisco) by India’s Essar
African Holdings now hinges on the disposal of the
steel making firm’s
subsidiaries.
Ncube told businessdigest the
Attorney General’s office is currently sifting
through the draft
agreements.
“The draft agreement is now with the AG’s office
and they have since raised
issues which I have not been fully apprised of,
for which they need
explanations,” Ncube said. “But one of the other issues
is to do with the
disposal of subsidiaries which are owned by Zisco which
they want us to deal
expressly with.”
Buchwa Iron Mining Company
is one of the subsidiary’s which owns and
operates several iron ore mines
and limestone quarries.
Ncube said the objections raised would
impact on the finalisation of the
much-awaited deal.
“We wanted
them (AG) to finish going through the paperwork before end of
month so that
we can sign the agreement soon. But it appears it would take a
bit longer,”
said Ncube.
Last week, State Enterprises Restructuring Agency (Sera)
executive director
Edgar Nyoni told the State Enterprises and Parastatals
Management
parliamentary portfolio committee that it would “take a little
longer to tie
up the deal”.
Nyoni said Essar representatives had
since gone back to their headquarters
for further
consultations.
He said differences in evaluating how much Zisco was
worth had held up
progress while Essar thought that iron ore resources were
part of the deal.
Ziscosteel, once a major foreign currency earner, is the
largest steel works
in the country but over the years the company has faced
many operational
problems and has been dogged by corruption
scandals.
Full scale operations came to a grinding halt in 2008 at
the height of
Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown after the company had accumulated
debts of
around US$300 million, which Essar intends to settle as part of the
deal.
The Zisco/Essar deal has been on the cards since last year when
the
Mauritian-based company agreed to buy 54% of the company for a reported
US$60 million. The company will also assume Zisco’s
liabilities.
Essar Energy Holdings Ltd operates as a holding company
which, through its
subsidiaries, engages in exploration and production,
refining and retailing
of petroleum products. It is a subsidiary of Essar
Global Ltd.
The company is reported to have a market capitalisation
of US$10 billion and
is said to be planning a listing on the London Stock
Exchange.
Government has been looking for investors for the iron and steel
company
since it disbanded a $400 million deal with Global Steel Holdings
Limited of
India years back.
This followed disagreements over
operational modalities between the two
partners.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 10:16
Taurai
Mangudhla
ZIMBABWE Platinum Mines (Zimplats) management has vowed to take
legal action
against the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) if it insists on
a further
US$26, 9 million increase on Additional Profit Tax (APT)
liability.
In a move described by Zimplats as “incorrect
interpretation” of provisions
of the 22nd and 23rd Schedules of the Income
Tax Act, Zimra’s audit section
reviewed the APT assessment and concluded
that the deduction of income tax
assessed losses in the derivation of net
cash receipts, on which APT is
chargeable.
The effect was
that Zimplats would have to pay US$50,4 which is a further
US$26,9 million
from the US$23,5 million for the period 2001 - 2007, which
the company had
already paid for in full.
Zimplats CEO, Alex Mhembere, said his
company would fight to the end against
the proposed move by
Zimra.
“Shareholders are aware of the long drawn dispute between
Zimplats and
government on whether or not Zimplats was liable for APT in
view of the
written undertakings given by Government in 2001 that the
company would be
exempted from the tax,” he said.
“Management and
the company’s tax advisers strongly believe that Zimra’s
interpretation of
the deduction provisions of the 22nd and 23rd Schedules of
the Income Tax
Act is incorrect and accordingly, an objection to the amended
assessment has
been lodged,” said Mhembere.
Zimplats which is 87% own by Implats was
last year accused of owing
government US$260 million in taxes and penalties
by Washington based, Alex
Stewart International.
Alex Stewart
International was contracted by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in
2006 to
conduct an audit of the country’s mining sector. The company has
representatives across the world in the field of operational auditing of
mining concerns and hydrocarbon producers, the certification of mineral
imports/exports, the inspection and analysis of foodstuffs, the control of
medicines and pharmaceutical products, customs revenue optimisation
services, and procurement auditing.
In a letter to the country’s
Finance minister Tendai Biti, Alex Stewart
International president and CEO,
Enrique Segura wrote: “During the time that
we provided services to the
government of Zimbabwe we achieved the following
excellent results… we were
able to identify and report to the Reserve Bank
on taxes and penalties due
by Zimplats to the government, on the final,
reviewed amount (exchange of
correspondence) of US$260 million.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
10:13
Taurai Mangudhla
MINES and Mining Development deputy
minister Gift Chimanikire blasted mining
companies for lack of
accountability that has seen Zimbabwe incurring
massive economic
losses.
Speaking at a meeting with small scale miners in Mazowe
District on Tuesday,
Chimanikire said smuggling and leakage of minerals were
a threat to the
economy.
“Whether you are talking of
Mimosa, Blanket Mine or How Mine, declaration of
produce is not being done,”
said Chimanikire.
Chimanikire added that minerals were not being
accounted for, especially in
Marange where miners are reported to be bribing
law enforcement agents to
smuggle the precious stone to neighbouring
Mozambique.
“This (smuggling of diamonds to Mozambique) draws back
national development.
Look at Botswana; they have managed to develop growth
points into towns,” he
said.
To counter mineral smuggling,
government last year proposed a Zimbabwe
Diamond Act, meant to specifically
regulate alluvial diamonds deposits in
Marange.
The proposed law
would not only give the state exclusive diamond rights, but
establish
criteria for the selection of mining partners and set a policing
and
anti-smuggling framework.
The Diamond Act, meant to forestall leakage
and smuggling, comes in the wake
of revelations that Zimbabwe could have
lost more than US$30 million worth
of diamonds mined in Marange as of last
year.
Chimanikire said government was looking at provisions to
allocate 10% of the
Marange proceeds for community development and economic
empowerment.
“We want to empower our people, illegal miners should
register and become
small scale miners, small scale miners should become
medium scale miners and
medium scale miners should be the large scale
miners,” he said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 09:30
By Andrew
Mitchell/Vince Cable
WE live in a world where we are more connected than
ever before. The United
Kingdom is linked to Zimbabwe through ties of
business, friendship, and a
wealth of common interests.
These
international connections offer huge potential for growth in trade and
investment, as long as markets are open and countries are able to trade
freely with one another.
The fastest growing countries tend to be
those with the fewest trade
barriers. So to realise our potential we must
commit to open markets
globally. We must not slip back into
protectionism.
That is why the British government published on 9
February its Trade and
Investment White Paper: an ambitious strategy to
nurture international trade
and investment relationships, strengthen the
multilateral system, build up
our domestic business environment, and enable
developing countries to build
their own paths to growth.
The
paper demonstrates that trade and investment are critical for the UK to
achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth in the future.
It
makes the case for open markets and the dangers of protectionism,
removing
trade and investment barriers and improved market access for
British
business within the EU and beyond; helping to conclude the Doha
Development
Round of trade talks in 2011; working to strengthen the World
Trade
Organisation; supporting the early conclusion of priority EU Free
Trade
Agreements; supporting trade and regional integration in Africa; and
working
with G20 members towards these goals.
Our most immediate task is to
finalise the Doha trade negotiations. This
historic agreement, once signed,
will boost the world economy by US$180
billion. So we must all move quickly
to make 2011 the year that the Doha
trade talks are finalised. Momentum is
building. We will be working on
plans and roadmaps to meet this
goal.
A result here will benefit us all. Trade is not a game where
some countries
win and other countries lose, quite the reverse. We all
become richer when
trade increases. This helps people to pull themselves
out of poverty.
That is why the UK is also redoubling its efforts to
enable developing
countries to follow their own paths to growth through
trade and investment,
and to build the capacity for this, especially in
Africa.
We will do all we can to support African leaders to implement
their plans
outlined in the 1991 Abuja Treaty— to develop Free Trade Areas
in each
regional economic community as building blocks for a continent-wide
customs
union and ultimately an African Economic Community.
We
are launching an African Free Trade initiative to help break through
trade
barriers like bureaucracy and prohibitive tariffs. In Zimbabwe, we
have
already helped facilitate regional trade through funding a “One Stop”
border
post at Chirundu.
We will support Africans in making trade in Africa
faster and easier, and
encourage African entrepreneurs to grow their
businesses by opening up
access to new markets. We are pleased that trade
between the UK and Zimbabwe
is increasing — in 2009, Zimbabwe’s exports to
the UK were worth almost £50
million — but we want to expand this further.
However, we cannot promote
global trade alone and we call on international
partners to join us in this
effort.
We also want to provide
greater market access for the poorest. The UK urges
all G20 countries to
provide 100% Duty Free Quota Free Access to their
markets for least
developed countries. This could increase their exports by
over 40%. We
call on all countries to join us in pressing for this.
And all of us
need to ensure all developing countries can negotiate trade
agreements, and
that global trade rules reflect needs in all countries, and
not just a
select few.
Finally, we want to build the networks that help us grow
in partnership, and
to get behind businesses to support them in trading with
the world. British
government ministers have embarked on a programme of
overseas visits with
business delegations for exactly this
reason.
We have visited all partners in the major emerging markets,
as well as the
US and our partners in Europe. The business leaders that
accompanied us
say that this opens a huge number of doors to them for trade
and
collaboration with businesses in other countries.
Investment
is the other side of the coin. The UK is an international hub for
investors
and currently the world’s second biggest investor.
We welcome
overseas investment. The UK has more European headquarters than
any other
country, and is one of the easiest places in the world to do
business. We
plan to remain so by cutting regulation and corporation tax.
So a big
challenge is before us. It is to keep building an open global
economy and
trading system that benefits us all. This will drive growth,
jobs, and
create wealth around the world. We are confident this is a
challenge which
the UK, side by side with its international partners,
including Zimbabwe, is
able to meet.
This article was written jointly by two British
government ministers, Andrew
Mitchell MP, Secretary of State for
International Development, and Vince
Cable MP, Secretary of State for
Business, Innovation and Skills and
president of the Board of Trade.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011 09:24
By Eddie
Cross
IN 1983 I received a call from a Catholic nun who told me that she
was
speaking from the district of Lupane in Matabeleland and that an army
unit
was creating havoc in the district with hundreds of people injured or
worse.
It was the start of Gukurahundi, a four-year campaign to crush
the spirit of
the Ndebele people and wipe out Zapu as a political party.
Thousands died in
the subsequent campaign, which used violence and torture,
killings and mass
starvation. In 1987 the leadership of Zapu conceded and
the “unity” accord
was signed and Zanu PF’s goal of eliminating this
long-term rival was
achieved.
I sat in my truck watching
the people of Lupane vote, 20 years later, after
yet another tough and
violent election campaign. Villagers walked out of the
bush from all
directions and reported first to their village headmen who
were seated in
the shade about 200 metres from the polling station. They
then walked down
to the school, passing a large pile of 50kg bags of maize
that had been
dropped there by the Grain Marketing Board five days before.
On the top of
the pile was a policeman with an AK 47.
Inside the polling station
were several policemen, some known CIO operatives
and in front of these the
peasants had to give their names, see them checked
off the register, then
collect a numbered ballot, fill it in behind a screen
and then put it into
the box. They then had to go back to the headman to
confirm they had voted.
The people had been told: “We know whom you vote
for. If your area votes for
MDC, the maize goes back to the GMB and you
starve and we will then return
and repeat what we did to you in 1983/4”.
They voted for the
MDC.
There is a limit to the value of violence as a political tool
and after a
while it is actually counter-productive. Matabeleland has always
voted
against Zanu PF — first because they voted for Zapu and then simply
because
they could not forget what Zanu PF did to them in the 1980s. The
hurts are
real and deep and are not forgotten or forgiven and are now
translated into
support for anyone who is opposed to Zanu PF
rule.
Zanu PF has a political culture that has violence at its
epicentre — in the
1960s the government banned both Zanu PF and Zapu, not so
much because they
were a threat to the status quo but because of widespread
violence and
intimidation — against each other’s supporters. Our gardener
carried both
party cards — when confronted he would pull out one or the
other and give
the appropriate slogan; if he got it wrong, the result would
be a beating.
Today Zanu PF has metamorphosed into factions, one
is in favour of violence
as a means of avoiding an election that they now
recognise they cannot win,
others are for an election using their old
tactics — manipulate the voters
roll, distort and control the delimitation
based on a distorted roll,
control the balloting and the counting and if
necessary (as in 2008) simply
falsify the results.
This faction
would also use violence and intimidation — targeted killings,
disappearances, beatings and torture, threats to family, destruction of
property and even banning people from their homes.
Such tactics
and plans were far advanced in 2010. They have not resulted in
an election
or in the failure of the Global Political Agreement government
simply
because of regional pressure. Recent violence has its origins in both
pro
and anti election factions. The former because they really believed that
they could get away with a snap election — first in October 2010 and then in
May 2011. They set up the structures, deployed the thugs and leadership and
have simply not been able to curb their eagerness to get
started.
The violence planned by the other, more radical group is
much more serious
and sophisticated and was best illustrated by the
so-called riots in Harare
on Monday. This group knows full well that they
simply cannot win an
election — not even if they are allowed to get away
with all the nonsense
that the other faction has planned. They therefore
want a solution that
would leave power in their hands.
So first
they planned a strategic assassination, followed by a declaration
of a State
of Emergency and the arrest of MDC leadership, the formation of a
Government
of National Salvation as a front for a thinly disguised military
junta.
Headed off by the region they now want an “Egypt” solution.
I am
astonished at the naivety of those who see in the riots and protest in
Egypt
a model for change in Zimbabwe. What do we have in Egypt today — 48
hours
after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, a military junta
with a
civilian facade.
For the hardline faction of Zanu PF today such
an outcome is exactly what
they want to see happen here. The engineered
riots on Monday were a clumsy
effort to evoke a response from the people of
Zimbabwe and they had hoped
that in the subsequent mayhem they would find
justification for a crackdown
and the abandonment of the GPA and its
wretched road map to elections.
I hear that even more violence is
planned and that this will be more
serious, not just looting stores and
allowing the young Zanu PF thugs to
keep what they can steal. This time I
would not be surprised if they burn
down some big buildings and engineer
some real street battles.
The problem is that we are not buying it.
The MDC is telling its supporters
to keep cool and stay out of it. Do not
retaliate if attacked or provoked.
This is not weakness but real strength
and discipline. We decided 12 years
ago that we wanted a peaceful, legal,
democratic transfer of power to new
leadership. We are not about to change
our stance.
We knew the GPA government would not work, we did not
even like the
arrangement, but we accepted it because it was the only deal
on the table
that would take us to a free and fair election. This time,
violence will not
help Zanu.
Eddie Cross is MDC-T MP for
Bulawayo South.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
09:09
THIS is the time of year when sychophancy plays its distasteful
role in
heaping praise upon our venerable leader. Public officials, party
leaders,
government departments and paraststals compete with each other to
see who
can deliver the most lickspittle paean of praise to the president on
his
birthday.
This year’s winning entry in the Herald’s
line-up of slavish adulation came
from their own columnist, Kurai Masenyama
wo recalled the triumphant arrival
of the Mugabes at the funeral in Orlando
of Walter Sisulu.
The entire stadium erupted when Zimbabwe’s
first couple arrived, we are
told. South Africans literally forgot about
Madiba, Zuma and Mbeki with the
Mugabe magic sweeping across the packed
stadium.
What makes Mugabe so distinctive as a leader, Masenyama
asked himself? And
what makes his name resonate with Africans across the
continent and with
black people around the world?
The answer, he
claims, lies in the fact that Mugabe is “the de facto
empowerment leader of
black people and has for decades been at the forefront
of the fight against
racism, imperialism, neocolonialism, global financial
apartheid and
generally the oppression of the developing world by the West”.
It is
a pity his own people don’t see him in such generous terms. “Since his
emergence on Zimbabwe’s political terrain, which he has largely dominated
for 40 years, President Mugabe has been a true revolutionary, consistent and
articulate cadre of the liberation movement.”
So how do we
explain his rejection by the electorate in 2008? Wasn’t it
precisely because
he had over-stayed his welcome, Mubarak-style, and lost
the confidence of
the nation?
African-Americans have deserted him in droves. Black
South Africans would be
unlikely to repeat their Orlando welcome
today.
Muckraker met Sisulu in 1994. He was a genuine veteran of the
struggle and
at the same time a thoroughly principled and decent individual.
And if it
were true that the Orlando crowd “literally forgot about Madiba”
to salute
Mugabe, he would have been mortified.
Watching the
event on TV that evening it is true that the Mugabes got a
rousing welcome.
But so did all the other heads of state attending! And the
house did not
“literally break down,” as Masenyama laughably suggests.
Mugabe had
initiated presidential scholarships, Masenyama tells us. And who
paid for
those scholarships. Was it not you and I?
As for the significance of
that rousing welcome, it was fascinating to watch
Col Muammar Gaddafi being
greeted by his fan club in Tripoli on Sunday
night. Here was another
revolutionary hero who had passed his sell-by date,
and who claimed to be
the authentic voice of Africa. Now his subjects are
dispensing with that
claim.
It was great to watch the crowds massing against their
erstwhile ruler in
Tripoli, Gaddafi’s headquarters. Tens of thousands of
them. And now Iran is
rising to the call of freedom.
Zanu PF’s
friends are going down like tenpins one by one. And there are no
tears
here!
Meanwhile Tafataona Mahoso continues to regurgitate the tired old
tale about
thousands of whites flooding back into the country in 2008
because they
thought the MDC had won.
Indeed, most people thought
they had won! So did the South Africans and our
other neighbours. Which is
why we have a government of national unity.
But Mahoso, who remains
on the board of the Media Commission, is using that
platform to reconstruct
the events of 2008. The free press should insist
that he attends to his
bureaucratic functions and stops telling whoppers.
Why is he still
there?
Two crazy statements recently demonstrate what a dysfunctional
society we
have. Major-General Paradzayi Zimondi was quoted as saying the
food served
in prisons matched that served in society as a
whole.
“I find it disheartening,” he said, “that detractors always
want to paint a
bad picture about our prisons without looking at the bigger
picture.”
At the height of our economic woes some media reported that the
government
had neglected prisoners, Zimondi said. (Actually it was a High
Court judge.)
“They did not mention that the situation in prison is
also changing for the
better,” he said. “If the country survived on
vegetables prisoners will also
eat vegetables. He denied that prisons were
over-crowded.”
Meanwhile, ZMDC chair Godwills Masimirembwa has hit
out at Tendai Biti for
not selling diamonds.
“It seems Biti is
not interested in us selling our diamonds,” Masimirembwa
said.
“His statements are political. He is trying to get an
excuse for not paying
civil servants. He should instead audit his own
actions. He wants an
insurrection so that we have another Egypt or Tunisia
in Zimbabwe.”
Is this the same Masimirembwa who was responsible for
emptying supermarket
shelves? Whose economically illiterate policies on
prices drove the country
to the cliff’s edge?
Perhaps he should
shut up for a while before we wave goodbye to the ZMDC.
Muckraker is
intrigued by the logic of the EU in lifting sanctions on the
wives of some
of the most reactionary officials in the country.
They are not a
threat to democracy, we are told. That’s good to know. And
they will tell us
when they are, we suppose! Meanwhile, ZUJ has “slammed”
the EU’s continued
sanctions against state journalists who deny the
existence of torture in
Zimbabwe and portray the country’s woes as the
product of “illegal” EU and
US measures.
Next, ZUJ will tell us why it is OK for journalists to
accept land as a
reward for their partisan devotion
Our political
“analysts” were conspicuous by their silence in their usual
quest to
“explain” to us the events unfolding in North Africa. The likes of
Chris
Mutsvangwa and Goodson Nguni who, at the height of protests in Egypt
that
led to the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, had attributed these developments
to
Mubarak’s” pursuing Western interests for the past 30 years at the
expense
of the Arab world”.
Mutsvangwa, ZBC reported, said the events in
Egypt should come as a wakeup
call to US pawns across the
globe.
It seems they have been left tongue-tied this time around in
trying to
comprehend events in Libya where Muammar Gaddafi’s 42 year rule is
hanging
by a thread. The Mutsvangwas and Ngunis surely cannot accuse Gaddafi
of also
pandering to the dictates of the West. The puppet tag cannot stick
on
Gaddafi since he was a thorn in their backside for so many
years.
Naturally as events in North Africa take a familiar twist, the
“analysts”
take the convenient quiet route lest they get on the wrong side
of political
correctness. In fact there are many similarities between
Tripoli and the
regime in Harare. Both regimes have used brute force over
the years to
suppress any form of dissent and both use the banner of African
solidarity
and anti-West rhetoric as a ruse to gloss over their
abuses.
Both view their respective countries as personal fiefdoms
where they hope to
rule for eternity despite the protestations of the
majority.
Mutsvangwa had also reminded ZTV viewers that the people
can only rise
against a party that is against the wishes of the people. It
seems, however,
that Zanu PF has realised it is indeed a party that is
against the wishes of
the people judging by their swift arraignment of
Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45
other social and human rights activists for playing
video footage of the
Egypt uprising allegedly “to inspire and motivate
people to demonstrate
against the government”.
According to their
lawyer, Marufu Mandevere, they were just exchanging views
on the situation
in North Africa. It seems that it is no longer permissable
anymore with
police spokesperson James Sabau saying police would “not allow
any plots to
take Zimbabwe the Egypt way” and would clamp down mercilessly
on plotters of
any sort.
As was expected the state media boldly stated that “Nation
celebrates
President Mugabe’s 87th birthday” with congratulatory messages
coming from a
“cross-section” of people.
“We wish our president
many more years,” said one. “This is mostly because
he has been a true
Pan-Africanist, an exemplary statesman, whose leadership
qualities can never
be questionable.
“We commend the president for spearheading the
economic empowerment drive
and because of his dedication to see Zimbabweans
become masters of their own
destiny, we say long live President Mugabe,”
said another.
“As Zimbabweans, we boast of the highest literacy rate
on the continent
because of President Mugabe’s dedication to educating the
nation. He,
himself is so educated, his desire is to pass the legacy of
education to all
Zimbabweans,” said one University of Zimbabwe
student.
Perhaps he can read this: “Time to
go!”
Muckraker’s favourite greeting came from Zinwa where water
supplies were
switched off to mark the president’s birthday (with a little
help from the
City of Harare).
What amused Muckraker was the fact
that this “cross-section” of people
interviewed by ZTV all seemed to reside
at Zanu PF headquarters. They were
all interviewed at different locations in
the building. Muckraker wonders
whether interviewing the real cross section
of Zimbabweans would elicit less
favourable responses and hence the safer
route: Zanu PF activists posing as
ordinary people.
But no matter
how hard ZTV managed to work up a patriotic froth around the
president, it
will be those crowds in Libya that remain etched in the memory
on February
21.
Zanu PF can no longer pretend that all is well when history
lessons are
available on every TV screen across the nation. That is the
reality ZTV is
so keen to escape.
Al-Jazeera vs ZTV. Take your
pick. Who do you believe?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
08:48
ZANU PF “youths” are on the prowl. Moving around neighbourhoods
door-
to-door style and in their numbers, they demand the names of those
eligible
to vote from households so that they can update their party’s
records, and
for the purposes of “issuing party cards and marking registers
at future
neighbourhood party meetings”.
The Zanu PF jingles are
receiving airplay ad nauseum; political violence is
on the increase with
Zanu PF, the police and the state media laying the
blame on the MDC; members
of the opposition and civil society are being
arrested with some being
charged with treason; and a sustained, rancorous
smear campaign of Zanu PF’s
opposition is in top gear in the state media.
Unmistakably
the tell-tale whiff of yet another election is in the air. Zanu
PF has
clearly decided that it has made the most of the time it bought to
pause and
reorganise itself courtesy of the Global Political Agreement, and
is in a
haste to campaign for and hold elections. This election mode is
maybe the
clearest indicator yet to Zimbabweans and Sadc — guarantor of the
GPA — that
Zanu PF has virtually thrown the accord out the window.
Zanu PF, as
voters have repeatedly found out, does not take rejection
lightly as most
recently proved by the 2008 presidential run-off which
turned bloody after
the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai had outpolled President
Robert Mugabe. It would
appear in Zanu PF’s version of democracy the people
have a choice: They can
only vote for Zanu PF!
While there is a predilection for violence in
Zimbabwean politics, it is
Zanu PF that has made it its stock-in-trade; the
motif that stands out in
each and every one of its election campaigns. It is
little wonder that
Tsvangirai has since blamed Mugabe for the resurgence of
violence.
Last week Sadc facilitator South African President Jacob
Zuma condemned the
politically motivated violence and intimidation that has
flared up since —
revealingly —Zanu PF launched its 2011 election campaign
despite there being
no clear indication as to when the elections would be
held.
And in what has also become a familiar refrain, Zuma earlier in
the week
dispatched his facilitation team to Zimbabwe yet again, to check on
the
progress in implementing outstanding GPA issues and assist in the
drafting
of a clear election roadmap. Given the lack of progress after
several such
visits, Zimbabweans can at best only be guardedly optimistic.
The team will
have to contend with a party — Zanu PF —which is on record
bragging that the
country is a democracy merely because it has held
elections regularly and on
time!
Hopefully, the recent outbreak
of violence will serve as the direst warning
yet that Zimbabwe is not out of
the woods yet and the spectre of a bloody
and disputed election still looms
large. The crucial reforms thus need to be
implemented without any further
ado.
Local government ministers from Sadc who were attending a forum
in Luanda,
Angola, were this week reported to have reiterated the need to
“immediately
lift illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe”, saying they were
hindering the
country’s development.
While it is Sadc’s
prerogative to speak out against sanctions, it should be
even more vocal
about the non-negotiable nature of far-reaching reforms as
outlined in the
GPA as anything less is a recipe for another Zimbabwe
crisis.
Without a doubt, Zanu PF’s shenanigans in regard to the
above is tantamount
to a middle-finger gesture to the GPA it signed —
ostensibly in the national
interest.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
09:17
IT is widely acknowledged that one of the many constraints upon
Zimbabwe's
economic recovery is the lack of funding available to
enterprise.
Almost all businesses have a pronounced insufficiency of
resources to
finance operations in general and, in particular, to maintain
and increase
volumes of production and sales, let alone adequately maintain
fully and
enhance holdings of operating stocks, plant, machinery and
equipment, or
even to pay adequate salaries and
wages.
Expansion and diversification is far beyond the means
of most, and very few
can even contemplate new investment. The paucity of
finances not only has
severe limitations upon the businesses, but also has
negative downstream
economic repercussions. These include minimal consumer
spending power due to
the inadequacy of employee remuneration, and poor
inflows to the fiscus by
way of direct and indirect taxes.
The
initial trigger to the monetary drought was the cataclysmic
hyperinflation
that prevailed in 2008. Inflation soared upwards at an
accelerating pace
never before experienced anywhere in the world. So great
was that inflation
that the then Central Statistical Office became unable
to determine its
extent after July 2008, at which time it had assessed the
annual rate of
inflation to be 231 million per cent. By November, 2008 some
estimates
placed inflation as high as more than 650 trillion per cent
(highlighted by
Zimbabwean currency denominations being as great as 100
trillion dollar bank
notes).
That rampant inflation necessitated that all required many
trillions more
working capital to fund holding of manufacturing and other
operating inputs
and stock in trade than they had previously required, and
they were almost
wholly unable to access such funds, let alone to fund the
extension of
credit to customers.
Their funding needs were
therefore further intensified by the fact that most
of their suppliers could
no longer provide them lines of credit. These
greater working capital needs
applied to virtually all within the economy,
irrespective of whether they
were engaged in manufacturing, wholesaling or
retailing, farming, tourism or
any other economic activities.
The under-capitalisation circumstances
of 2008 intensified when on February
3 2009 Zimbabwe’s currency was
demonetised, and a multi-international
currency system came into
being.
What little monies were still held by enterprises were
effectively rendered
worthless, conversion to hard currencies being at an
effective rate of Z$20
trillion: US$1! At that stage, virtually the only
capital resources
remaining for businesses, in all economic sectors, were
their fixed assets
(such as land and buildings, plant machinery, furniture,
fittings and
equipment), and the limited trading stock that they still
held.
Primarily because of the demonetisation of Zimbabwean currency
and the start
of the international currency regime coupled with a belated —
but
nevertheless commendable — recourse to partial fiscal frugality,
Zimbabwe’s
horrendous hyperinflation ceased in 2009.
That year’s
inflation rate was less than 4%. But that did not reverse the
hyperinflation created need for vastly more business working capital than
that required prior to the hyperinflation era. It merely halted the
escalation in funding needs.
However, other circumstances have
continued to impose a growing need for
greater business funding. Most
businesses had been sustaining losses in the
years preceding the slow
economic recovery that began in 2009.
The economic upturn enabled a
slow diminution in the extent of the losses,
but for many did not suffice to
eliminate losses entirely and bring about
profits. On the one hand, the
working capital limitations prevented
businesses being able to operate
fully, and as a result further losses were
sustained, which yet further
eroded capital resources.
Losses also resulted from there still being
constricted consumer spending
power and the resultant limited domestic
market demand.
Concurrently, export market competitiveness had
markedly decreased as the
hyperinflation and low production rendered many
Zimbabwean products
non-price competitive against products of other
countries.In desperation,
business looked to the financial sector for
funding, but availability has
been extremely limited.
Not only
had the sector also experienced the hyperinflation created erosion
of its
capital resources, but in addition the inflow of deposits from all
economic
sectors, and from the populace in general, was miniscule. On the
one hand,
many were devoid of funds to deposit and, on the other hand, most
were very
wary of placing such monies as they had into the banks.
They feared
that Zimbabwe would reconvert to its own national currency, with
the
depositors forfeiting any foreign currency held on their behalf by the
banks. Many also feared that there would be a recurrence of Reserve Bank or
governmental expropriation of their foreign currency holdings, without due
compensation being forthcoming, as is still the case of many funds of
exporters, NGOs and others that were held by the Reserve Bank in the period
prior to 2009.
These “expropriations” included the funds which
were replaced with allegedly
tradeable gold bonds due for redemption almost
two years ago but still not
redeemed because of the Reserve Bank’s
bankruptcy, and the failure of
government as yet to assume the
debts.
On the other hand, the financial sector has had very limited
access to
critically needed international credit lines. There are many
international
finance organisations, banks and other institutions that are
willing, in
principle, to provide substantial credit lines to Zimbabwean
banks. But
that willingness is muted and contained by Zimbabwe’s
exceptionally low
creditworthiness rating, it being perceived as a very high
credit risk, and
most credit insurers being unwilling to insure against that
risk.
That lending reticence has been exacerbated and intensified
over the last
year. In part, that is due to the recurrent confrontational
berating of the
international community by some of Zimbabwe’s political
hierarchy, in part
by Zimbabwe’s prolonged default in settlement of debt
arrears and, over the
last year, by Zimbabwe’s declared intents and
legislation for economic
indigenisation.
Understandably, there is
a profound reluctance to lend to enterprises whose
ownership and management
may change to unknown parties whose business
integrity and operational
ability is unknown.
In like manner, most foreign suppliers to
Zimbabwean businesses are fearful
of extending credit to those businesses,
being concerned that the country’s
financial circumstances, and its
policies, may well prevent timeous payments
being forthcoming — intensifying
the possibility of the suppliers sustaining
bad, irrecoverable
debts.
This is yet a further intensification of the capitilisation
needs of almost
all businesses, whatever their fields of operation in the
economy.
Until Zimbabweans, and the world at large, feel assured that
Zimbabwe will
not revert to its own currency until it has a fully stabilised
and thriving
economy, and that the politicians will place the needs of the
economy and
the populace ahead of their megalomaniac and racist beliefs,
substantial
foreign funding, credit lines and supplier credits will not be
forthcoming,
and the monetary inadequacies of the economy will continue.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 25 February 2011
08:46
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe turned 87 on Monday amid growing
speculation about
his health.
The issue, which has been
badly handled by his spin doctors, is creating a
great deal of discomfort in
the corridors of power, including within Zanu PF
ranks and securocratic
structures.
It’s not difficult to understand why. The issue raises so
many fundamental
and sensitive political questions which authorities would
prefer not to
discuss, at least in public. The matter also lies at the heart
of local
politics and the future of the country.
Given Mugabe’s
role and footprints in Zimbabwean politics since he joined
the liberation
movement around 1960, the issue of his health becomes
critical, apart from
his family and relatives, to the survival of Zanu PF
and well-being of the
nation.
Even though Mugabe and Zanu PF’s anachronistic ideology is
fast eroding, and
the myths and symbols of their system becoming
increasingly unstable and
gradually collapsing, he remains an influential
figure in local politics and
his continued presence or departure would shape
the future of the country in
significant ways.
The careers of so
many influential political and even business elites in
Zimbabwe are tied to
Mugabe’s future and they would naturally become anxious
about the
discussion. Their economic fortunes and even security depends on
his
well-being. That is partly why Mugabe’s health is such a touchy subject
to
them.
Upon his return on Sunday from far-flung Singapore, Mugabe did
not waste
time before circuitously dealing with the matter.
After
his spokesman claimed he had gone all the way to Singapore for a
review
after a “small medical (eye) procedure” last month during his annual
holidays to remove a cataract, Mugabe weighed in to contain the debate and
douse the fires.
Reacting to reports that his travels on health
grounds were now disrupting
government business, Mugabe said if there were
people who thought “we have
lost pace” cabinet could meet twice a week.
Cabinet was postponed last week
because of Mugabe’s trip to Singapore, which
meant that by that time it had
only met once – on February 8 — since the
beginning of the year. Ministers
say they are getting edgy about the
issue.
However, there are some people around Mugabe who are not
comfortable to
openly discuss the issue. Mugabe’s state media hacks are also
showing
growing anxiety over it. One only needs to have read the ranting and
raving
in the last editorial comment of the state-controlled Sunday Mail,
headlined
Long Live President Mugabe!, to understand this.
With
all due respect to the editors there, the comment was based on
contextual
misrepresentations and an undisguised Straw man argument. It was
also laced
with North Korean-style propaganda and excessive vitriol. The
editor of The
Voice (Zanu PF’s mouthpiece, and equivalent of Pravda) would
have been green
with envy after reading it. But then that’s beside the
point. The real issue
is that the health of a head of state is an issue of
uncontestable public
interest. Few things, if any, demand greater
accountability to Zimbabweans
than the president’s state of health.
The fiasco which surrounded the
deteriorating health and later death of
Nigerian President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua should teach us a lesson. The
president and his spokesmen denied
for two years he had any health problems
and even threatened to sue the
media, but then we now all know what happened
later.
So let’s not
have a boiling frog syndrome when dealing with such serious
issues.
In the United States they have had to find a way of
striking a delicate
balance between the public’s obvious interest in the
health of its next
president and the candidate’s need to retain some measure
of privacy.
Questions about the health of a prospective president are
more acute with
age. John McCain, who has suffered bouts of skin cancer and
was 72 in 2008
while contesting against US President Barrack Obama, had to
release 1 173
pages of medical records spanning eight years to reassure the
public he was
fit for office. This material was on top of copious medical
records —
including psychiatric evaluations — which McCain had made
available to the
media during his 2000 campaign.
History counsels
that, as a general rule, the public’s interest should be
paramount. Franklin
D Roosevelt’s failing health as he ran for a fourth
term, John F Kennedy’s
Addison’s disease and Paul Tsongas’s recurrence of
the lymphoma, which would
have killed him during his first term, are some
examples, among many, to
learn from.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 25 February 2011 08:36
IT seems like a
regime a day, tumbling in deference to the demands of
democratic
demonstrators.
At first there was Tunisia, arguably one of
the most prosperous of the North
African Arab states with its thriving
tourism sector whose rulers flaunted
their immense wealth, even plundering
the central bank before departing and
then suffering the humiliation of
being rejected by France which inspired
the national elite to live the sweet
life.
After President Ben Ali and his kleptocratic family had settled
in Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, the most powerful and influential of the Maghreb
states,
faced the demands of over a million demonstrators. Its octogenarian
ruler,
Hosni Mubarak, at the helm for over 30 years, tried to hang on by
promising
the multitudes a new start. But the overwhelmingly young
insurrectionists,
equipped with Twitter and Facebook, weren’t buying it.
They had a tryst with
destiny that they were not about to
betray.
When Mubarak finally gave way, retreating to his estate at
Sharm el-Sheik,
it was only a matter of time before the foundations of
another desert
fiefdom began to tremble.
It wasn’t Algeria where
the army has a firm hand; nor Jordan or Morocco
where monarchs enjoy a
measure of popularity and could, as in Bahrain, buy
time with strategic
concessions. It was the most unlikely candidate of all —
Libya where the
one-man rule of Col Muammar Gadaffi ensured no departure
from the
totalitarian script.
His discomfort was first advertised by an
address in support of Ben Ali
warning Tunisians not to push him
out.
The heat was turned up by Mubarak’s departure which showed the
much smaller
Libyan population that anything was
possible.
Gadaffi has since then conducted a vicious
counter-revolutionary policy that
has involved attacks on demonstrators from
the air. In so doing he has
attracted the wrath of the Arab League and the
UN. Two airforce pilots fled
to Malta with their jets rather than kill their
countrymen. Then Gadaffi and
his son gave demented TV speeches to the nation
which convinced many
observers that the wheels were coming off. Indeed
Libya’s ambassadors to
several far eastern countries resigned their posts
after listening to the
harangues.
Zimbabwe is a close ally of the
Libyan autocrat. They work closely together
in the UN and AU. So long as
Gadaffi survives Zimbabwe will stick by him.
Sadly the MDC doesn’t seem to
have a foreign policy. If it did it would be
able to stand up for freedom
and democracy in North Africa. Because what we
are seeing now is a new form
of protest; not the burning of US flags and
fists waved at the West
Iran-style, but genuine movements in favour of
democracy.
For
North Africa this is a monumental sea change. But there are comparisons
with
Zimbabwe. The repression that ignited the revolution in Tunisia and
Egypt,
and now Libya, has become a feature of Zimbabwean life. People have
been
arrested and detained for exercising their constitutional
rights.
Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 colleagues have been arrested
and incarcerated for
watching videos of events in Egypt. Nyanga North MP
Douglas Mwonzora and 24
MDC-T activists remain incarcerated on charges of
political violence,
vicitims of the iniquitous Section 121, designed to
thwart court rulings on
bail. No Zanu PF activists have been arrested
despite their cited role in
violence.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights has said it is worried by the seemingly
partial behaviour of the
police in handling cases of political violence.
Executive director Irene
Petras said the partisan behaviour was a trend
observed over the years in
which supporters of one political party and human
rights defenders were
being prosecuted and charged but the prosecution never
succeeded.
Zimbabweans are witnessing almost daily cases in which
rights are trampled
on and law-enforcement is arbitrary, partisan and
unprofessional. That is
the terrain for profound public dissatisfaction. And
for those elements of
the state that believe they have successfully coerced
the country into
obedience, we have one word: Libya.